Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 06 - Reverence (16 page)

“He’s already beginning to heal,” Val pointed out to Harley as they cleaned the worst of the wounds. “Can you tell us what happened?”
“I got jumped, isn’t it obvious?” Ryder snapped.
Harley pinched his ear. “You might be some badass alpha, but to me you’re just my brother. Stop being a dick.”
“Sorry,” Ryder groused, not sounding very sorry to Val at all. “I left here because, you know, I didn’t want to be in the way, and I believed that Val wouldn’t hurt you. I can sometimes sense the truth when someone’s talking. There’s a certain scent I’ve come to recognise—but anyway.” He shook his head. “I heard you two, and that was just kind of disturbing.”
“Oh God.” Harley moaned and his cheeks turned pink. “I didn’t think about how noisy we were.”
“You shouldn’t have to worry about it,” Ryder said before Val could. “It’s your place, yours and Val’s, I’d think. It wasn’t that I was really grossed out over it, but Harley, it’s been a while since I’ve been with anyone. The last time I was, I got turned into this!” He gestured at himself. “I don’t know the rules about being a werewolf—”
“Shifter,” Val corrected. “We prefer the term shifter, please.”
“Ohhh-kay.” Ryder rolled his eyes. “Anyways, as I was saying, I don’t know what the rules are or how this works, totally. Did the biting during sex turn me, or was it just the sex? I can’t remember. I know there was sucking, then pain and coming and it’s all bits and pieces and I don’t know if I’ll turn into a wolf while I’m fucking someone and rip their throat out or turn them or what.”
Val sat back on his heels and gave Ryder a sad look. “You’ve seen entirely too many werewolf movies, which is why we prefer to be called shifters. All that crap you see in the movies is just that, crap. Silver won’t kill you any more than lead or gold. The full moon makes us hornier, but it doesn’t force a shift. There are levels to shifter society, a government in place, even. Whoever did this to you has stepped over boundaries firmly and clearly laid out to all shifters. Their punishment will be death, and believe me when I say they know that. Turning anyone except one’s mate is very strictly forbidden.”
Ryder cocked his head to the side. “Huh. I didn’t know you could speak that much and actually say anything useful.”
“Fuck you,” Val bit out before he could worry over the fact he was cursing at a powerful alpha.
Harley did something that made Ryder yelp again. “Oops, sorry. Didn’t mean to scrub that gash quite so hard. You really should be nicer to Val.”
“Or you’ll make me hurt?” Ryder asked, sounding offended. “You’ll pick him over me?”
Harley stopped swiping at his leg and glanced at Val then Ryder. “He’s not being a dick. He’s trying to help you. You’re being a dick, and not helping anyone. Yes, I will take his side over yours, especially when you’re acting like a brat.”
Val felt a twinge of sympathy for Ryder. “He’s been alone for a long time, honey.”
“He had me,” Harley pointed out.
“I don’t need your sympathy,” Ryder snapped at Val. “And no, Har, I’d never been a good enough person to be around you. I thought I’d, I don’t know, contaminate you with my drug addiction and shit. And as a shifter, I was terrified I’d hurt you. It wasn’t like I knew anything about what I’d been turned into. I mean, I was a human, then I wasn’t, and no one told me the rules for what I’d been made into. Maybe if I’d been around, you’d never have gotten taken. Did they…? Were you hurt?”
Harley hesitated and that was an answer in itself that Val knew Ryder didn’t miss. “I was scared, and they hit me and stuff, but Joshua Dobson is dead. So are the other shifters who hurt me.”
Ryder snarled and hammered one fist against the couch. “God damn it! Why us? How did they find you? That Dobson, he must be related to the jerkwad who turned me, otherwise why would they have come for you—?”
Oh hell.
Val hated this part. Harley shot him an apologetic look.
“Um, because I went out one night when I was really lonely, and I picked up a guy to bring home. He happened to be a shifter, not that I knew it then, and before you ask, no, he didn’t hurt me, at all. Alex was—I’m sorry, Val, I know you don’t want to hear any of this— but Alex was nice, okay? Good to me, if you know what I mean. It was a hook-up, he left, then a few days later I was out cruising for company and made the mistake of thinking Joshua Dobson was interested in me.” Harley sat down and kept his eyes on the wound he was tending. “So that’s what happened. Dobson was being hunted by Alex, because Alex was the head of Marcus’ guards and he wanted revenge for Marcus being kidnapped and tortured. Dobson grabbed me just to use against Alex, except, you know, I didn’t really matter to Alex then. I was just a fuck.”
Val touched Harley’s shoulder, then ran the back of his hand over one smooth cheek. “You are more than just a fuck.”
“What he said,” Ryder muttered. “You sure that hooking up with the first shifter really was coincidence?”
Harley didn’t answer right away. Val waited, his attention focused on Harley. “Yeah. It had to be. I mean, I spotted him first. I knew it was a one-time thing, which was fine. I wasn’t wanting more and neither was he. Honestly, once he’d left, I thought Alex really was a homeless guy who needed somewhere to crash for the night.”
“You weren’t too far off,” Val told him. “That was well after you were turned, Ryder. I don’t see how there could be a connection. Maybe there is something about you two that attracts shifters? I mean, Harley and I are mates, so we are of course attracted to each other. I don’t know, it seems to me you both were victims of circumstance.”
“I think it’s more likely that we both engaged in risky behaviour,” Harley interjected. “It put us around people likely to hurt us. Alex was looking for a place to sleep for the night more than he was looking for sex, and he appreciated the food. Granted, he didn’t intend to hurt me, but he was using me as much as I was using him, and I paid a price for it. If I hadn’t been out looking for a hook-up, I’d never have been abducted by Dobson. Shifters probably use instincts to guide them to weaker prey, and that would be me, and you, Ryder, when you were strung out. I bet you seemed a lot less alpha-like then?”
“I hate that word,” Ryder said as he poked at a gash on his chest. “I don’t want to be a victim. Look, this place is way better than it was.”
“What happened today, Ryder?” Val asked, because either Ryder was stalling or he didn’t remember the question, or he simply didn’t care.
“What happened to your apartment?” Ryder gestured at Harley. “I meant to ask, because this isn’t anything like the dump it used to be.”
“Nathan and Marcus fixed it for me, and it’s mine. I don’t know how they managed it, but they bought two apartments and did this,” he waved an arm around, “to it. Now answer Val’s question already.”
Ryder narrowed his eyes at Val but said, “Fine. I just wanted to have a few minutes of not thinking about the fact that I almost died, but okay. I left here, but I didn’t go far. I kept feeling like you were in danger, Har. Not from Val, but because I know how I was turned, and I try to check on you every now and then. I didn’t do such a good job of keeping you safe, though, obviously. What a fuckwad I am. You don’t need to say it.”
“I won’t then,” Val said, but he smiled a little to let Ryder and Harley know he was teasing.
Ryder flipped him off. “Anyway, I thought I’d hang around the area a day or two, make sure no one followed me. Except I was too busy trying to watch your place to keep an eye out for anyone coming after me. About three this morning, I heard someone behind me. I took off running, my senses kicking in. I ran away from your neighbourhood, and I thought I lost them. I never saw who it was, but there was a scent that made me feel ill, ya know? So I thought it might be the fucker who changed me.”
“Was it?”
Ryder nodded at Harley. “I think so, because after I doubled back, worried that they’d found me in your area in the first place, I was jumped behind your building. There’s several empty houses back there. Guess they knew I’d come back.”
Val felt like he was having to pull every bit of information out of Ryder. “What did they look like? How many were there? We need to know these things so I can tell Marcus. He’ll send guards to eradicate the issue.”
“Eradicate the issue?” Harley scrunched up his face as he repeated Val’s words. “Really, I don’t know about your society.”
Val shook his head. “I’m sorry, but shifters like those are beyond dangerous. Do you believe they’ll just come with the guards and decide to be good guys? We don’t work that way, and our justice might not be as forgiving as human justice, but our repeat crimes are really, really low.”
“I’d imagine, since the criminals are all killed.”
“Not every shifter criminal is killed,” Val began, then saw the glint in Harley’s eyes. “Some swear fealty to their Alpha Anax, and they almost always abide by his rule afterwards. But we can be, as you know, a dangerous species. Things can’t be handled the same for us as they are for humans.”
Harley didn’t agree or disagree, he just turned his attention back to Ryder. “How many? And are you sure it was the guy who turned you? What’d they look like?”
Ryder rubbed at his forehead and hissed when he caught a cut. “Shit. Ouch. Okay. Um, there were four, but one hung back and didn’t fight. He got called some nasty names, but he still just wouldn’t fight. In fact, the second he saw me, he ran out of the room. I couldn’t tell you what he looked like because I was focused on the fucker who’d turned me. As soon as I heard his voice, that night came back.”
Val listened to the shifters’ descriptions, the three Ryder had seen and fought. All were males, and the one who’d turned him wasn’t anyone Val could recall ever seeing or hearing of. The other two had probably been turned as well. From what he heard, they were twinks who did whatever their alpha, whom Ryder had heard them call Master Drake, told them to do.
“Chances are like a hundred per cent they know where I am now,” Ryder pointed out needlessly. “And there’s gotta be blood all over the place.”
“Shit.” Val stood up and went to find the bleach and a mop. He couldn’t clean the whole building, but he could at least mop any blood out of the hall. It wouldn’t deter the other shifters, probably, and if any humans saw it they’d maybe call the cops, at which point Val would figure out what to do then.
“Should you go outside of this apartment?” Ryder asked when Val came back with the cleaning supplies. “Don’t you think that might be kind of, I don’t know, stupid?”
“Better to leave a bloody trail for any humans to see, have them call the authorities on us, you think?” Val shot back.
“I’m going with you,” Harley told him. “Don’t even tell me I’m not because I so am.”
“I’m not staying in here like some princess needing protection.” Ryder sat up and groaned, pressing a hand to his ribs. “Damn. Can’t you mop in a few hours?”
“Stay here, princess,” Val snapped, ready to smack Ryder with the mop, alpha or not. He was getting on Val’s last nerve.
“Fuck off.” Ryder stood, naked and bloody in a few places still. Well, Val wouldn’t exactly call him naked, because Ryder looked like he was wearing fur pants, he was so hairy from his ass on down. Val started plotting with duct tape.
“Let’s do this quickly.” He went to the door then pointed the mop head at Ryder. “Maybe you should put some underwear on, at least.”
“Don’t have any. I think my one set of clothes was ruined.”
Harley stifled what sounded like a sob as he rounded on his brother. “You should have told me! Damn it, Ry, you should have trusted me and at least, at least let me make sure you had more than the clothes on your back! If you weren’t already so beat up, I’d… I’d do something!” Harley stomped by Ryder, elbowing him when he tried to reach for Harley. “Don’t touch me! I’m so mad I could scream. Ugh!”
Val arched a brow at Ryder and gave him a thumbs up. “Way to hurt him, Ryder. Don’t cut Harley out again, please. He doesn’t deserve that.” Then Val turned away and looked out of the peephole while Harley handled getting his idiot brother dressed.

A few hours after they’d cleaned the hallway with no surprise attacks from evil shifters, there was a sharp knock on Harley’s door. He glanced at Val, who sighed and looked almost relieved. “Who is it, Val?”

Val stood and made his way to the door. “I could be wrong, but I expect it’s Marcus and Nathan, at the very least. I told Marcus what happened to Ryder and he was very unhappy.”
“Ryder’s not going to like this, but he will have to deal with it.” Harley followed Val to the door. Ryder was sleeping in the guest bedroom, and the rate he was healing was mindboggling to Harley.
“Yup, it’s the AA and Nathan,” Val said, referring to Marcus by his abbreviated Alpha Anax title. He opened the door after unlocking the bolts then stepped back. “Alpha Anax, Nathan. Hey, Keegan, Riley, Bon.”
Harley assumed those were guards who escorted Marcus and Nathan. They didn’t come in and Val shut the door. Harley held out his hand to Nathan first, because he was just more comfortable around him. “Nathan, it’s—well, I’m glad you had a safe trip,” he amended, because it wasn’t exactly good to see Nathan. Not under the circumstances, at least.
Nathan laughed and slapped him on the back while they shook hands. “I think I like your diplomacy, or lack of it, rather.”
“Thanks,” Harley muttered before turning to Marcus. It was hard to meet Marcus’ eyes, but Harley forced himself to do it. He could feel the power in Marcus, and realised that was part of why he feared the shifter. “Marcus. Welcome.”
Marcus shook his hand and nodded at him. “This place looks good. Nathan has a flair for decorating.”
“One of us has to,” Nathan sniped. “Otherwise we’d have cowhide rugs all over the place and milk crate furniture.”
“Which works, but isn’t as nice as this.” Marcus smiled slightly and looked at the couch.
“Oh!” Harley blushed at his lack of manners. “Sorry, sorry. Please, have a seat. The couch is clean-ish.”
Nathan walked to it and sniffed, quickly covering his nose with his hand. “The hell, it smells like major BO.”
“My brother,” Harley mumbled.
Val came to his rescue. “He’s been on the streets since he was changed. Ryder didn’t think he had any choice. He—”
“Can speak for himself,” Ryder barked. Harley turned and glared at him. “Sorry, Har. I’ll behave.” Ryder came into the room, the sweats Val had lent him stretched tight over his thighs and hips. “I’m Ryder Johansen.” He thrust a hand out towards Marcus, not having any problem looking him in the eye.
At first Harley felt it, a swell in the air, power flowing out from Ryder, then from Marcus. It was like a pissing match to see who the real man was, and, with a flare of energy that made Harley want to drop to his knees, and had Val sitting and offering his neck to Marcus in a show of submission, Marcus knocked Ryder’s attempt at intimidation right out of the park.
“Jesus,” Ryder gasped as he slowly lowered himself to his knees. “What’s happening?”
“Don’t ever challenge the Alpha Anax,” Nathan said with a clear note of amusement in his voice. “That’s something he won’t tolerate, for good reason. A show of his strength generally makes all the wannabe bad wolfies accept their place in the chain of authority. You can always refuse to kneel, if you think you want to try to take Marcus’ position as leader of the North American shifter packs.”
Harley felt a little bit bad for his brother, but he’d seen that almost bullyish attempt of his to intimidate Marcus. That was something Harley hated, and while some might say Marcus was doing the same thing, to Harley, he wasn’t. Marcus had thousands of shifters to protect, to lead, and any weakness in the shifter world, like in the animal kingdom, would probably result in chaos.
“Sorry, I’m sorry,” Ryder started saying as his knees hit the floor. “Please! I won’t—”
“Do you submit to me?” Marcus asked, his dark eyes almost completely black as he focused on Ryder. “Will you accept my authority even if you aren’t a member of my pack?”
“Yes,” Ryder ground out, tipping his head down and to the side. “Jesus, don’t fucking make me roll over and show my belly, please don’t do that.”
Harley didn’t doubt Marcus could do it, and if he’d needed to press his point, he almost certainly would have. But, proving to Harley that he wasn’t cruel unless he had no other choice, Marcus gave a clipped nod and stepped back.
“Then get up and do
not
fuck with me in any way. My patience is in short order right now.”
Nathan took Marcus’ hand and led him to a chair. “Less stinky. And yeah, we’ve got no sleep the past few days. Things in Amsterdam went all screwy for Gabe and Mika, and their friends, Todd and Adam.
Really
screwy.”
Marcus looked at Val. “About that, Shania might have something to help you. Something kind of disgusting, but, if you’re willing to try it, perhaps it will help heal your leg completely and stimulate your wolf to come out of its funk.” He gestured with two fingers. “Come here, please, you two.”
Since he was looking now at Harley and crooking his fingers at Val, Harley took that to mean them. He walked the few steps over to Marcus. Nathan stood from where he’d been sitting on the arm of the chair. He walked around him and Val, sniffing at them.
“Well, I can tell they’ve had sex, but with Val’s wolf so deeply hidden, the mate bond is indiscernible to me.” Nathan tipped his chin at Marcus. “You try. And you,” he flapped his hand at Ryder, “you need a few showers, but you can get up. I’d suggest the couch since it already reeks.”
For once, Ryder kept his mouth shut. He got up and sat on the couch while Marcus stood and began circling them slowly. When Marcus stopped in front of them and stared right into Harley’s eyes, he wanted to squirm, but something, perhaps Marcus’ will, held him in place. Marcus’ lips twitched and he grunted before turning his attention to Val.
It was a stunning sight to see when Marcus put his forehead to Val’s and cupped his nape. An electric wave seemed to ripple through the room, and Val trembled and moaned softly. It wasn’t a sexual sound, but rather one of a burden eased. Harley didn’t know what transpired between Val and his Alpha Anax, but it seemed to bring Val some measure of peace he’d not had.
“They are mates,” Marcus said as he raised his head, still holding Val’s nape. “His wolf is trying, but he doesn’t know how to come out of the sleep he’s in. There’s a sense of shame about him, am I right, Val?”
“Yes,” Val rasped, “I don’t know how to assure him he didn’t fail me. He couldn’t have kept me from being hurt.”
“Time will help, but, as Nathan said, we might have something to speed you and your wolf along on the road to recovery. We’ll discuss it when we are in a secure location.” Marcus squeezed Val’s nape then released him. “Have a seat.”
Harley and Val took the other chair, Harley settling on the arm rest at Val’s right side. Harley steeled himself for what he was certain was coming.
Marcus touched Nathan’s knee but kept his gaze on Harley and Val.
Nathan cleared his throat and leaned towards them. “We’d like all three of you to return with us. Now, before you say no, there are a few reasons you might consider it. First, we do have something we hope will help Val. He might not want to try it, though.”
“Why not?” Harley couldn’t help but asking.
Nathan gulped and Harley would swear he actually turned a couple of shades paler than his usually ivory. “Well, because it’s really…gross. But very powerful medicine. That’s all I can say right now.”
“In front of me, you mean,” Ryder said.
Nathan shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much. You challenged my mate, the leader of all the North American packs. Trust is something you have to earn, Ryder. By the way, in case you haven’t caught on, I’m Nathan and this gorgeous man is my mate Marcus.”
“I kinda got that. I’m not as stupid as I appear to be…sometimes.” Ryder actually looked ashamed of his earlier behaviour. Harley almost fell off the arm of the chair. “What, bro? You think I can’t admit when I fuck up?”
“You can, I just didn’t think you ever would.”
Nathan laughed. “Geez, Marcus, they sound like you and Aidan!”
“They do,” Val added. “Must be a brother thing, which, being an only child, I would know nothing about.”
“Same here,” Nathan said.
Harley looked at him. “I take it Aidan is Marcus’ brother?”
“Identical twin brother,” Val clarified.
“But,” Marcus held up a finger, “
I
am the oldest.”
Nathan nodded. “Yeah, those twelve or thirteen seconds made alllllll the difference.”
Marcus growled and Nathan laughed. “Anyway, back to our reasons why you three should come back. There’s the medical help, the support of your AA and myself, and I think, all things considered, it’d be great for you, Harley, to live with us and not feel you were being kept as a prisoner. We really would love to have a chance to show you how vicious we aren’t—and earn your trust, like Ryder would have to do with us, too.”
“Why the hell would I want to come live with a bunch of shifters?” Ryder asked, anger tinting his voice. “Look what one of you did to me!”
Marcus cocked his head and scowled. “
Not
one of us. That was no one from any of the packs I lead. Believe it or not, I know who our members are. Being tortured and almost killed taught me the value of knowing who I’m leading. The men Val said you described? I am very eager to find them and have them tell me where they came from, and, of course, to put a stop to what their leader, this Drake fool, is doing.”
“You’re going to kill them all?” Harley asked, a sick sensation bubbling in his stomach.
Marcus considered the question before hitching a shoulder. “Drake, almost certainly. I can’t imagine what justification he has for what he’s doing. In fact, there is none. There could, of course, be extenuating circumstances, like he was raised in a twisted shifter cult in the Andes mountains and never learned that turning people unwillingly was wrong—although, even that will be hard to forgive. Still, I will listen to his explanation, and his victims aren’t necessarily guilty of anything, considering what’s been done to them. I don’t think I’m an unfair man, Harley, but I will do everything necessary to protect my packs, which in a way includes you, as Val is one of my favourite members.”
Val snorted softly but didn’t argue. Marcus zeroed in on him. “You don’t believe me?”
Val shrank down in the chair. “I just don’t understand the reasoning.”
Marcus gave him a half smile. “Always tactful, something too many people lack. Val, you are one of the strongest men I’ve ever met. You should have died, according to Shania, but you didn’t. You didn’t wake up from the coma you were in and start bitching and crying. Sure, you probably felt sorry for yourself, but you didn’t roll in it. You got up. You built your strength back, and you accepted the limitations that couldn’t be changed, and worked on the ones that could. What’s not to admire about that? Of course I consider you one of my favourites, though,” Marcus sighed and rolled his neck, “I really shouldn’t have favourites. But the fact is, I need friends, so does Nathan, just as any other normal person does. I consider you a very good one, Val, and if Harley would learn that I don’t bite unless forced to, perhaps he and I could be friends as well.”
Harley was more than a little stunned to hear that Marcus wanted to be his friend. Was it really only his own fear that was keeping him from being comfortable with Marcus? As he examined the man, Harley realised that yes, it truly was him putting up walls. He would have to work on that. He tuned back into what Nathan was saying.
“—because Ryder is definitely an alpha, one of the strongest we’ve met in a while, and what we do know about alphas, Ryder, especially strong ones?” Nathan scooted to the edge of the chair’s arm. “We’ve come to understand that without a pack and guidance, without a commitment to follow good men like Marcus, a strong alpha tends to be trouble. Lost, angry, alone—not something any alpha handles well.”
Ryder looked contemplative as he sat on the couch. He didn’t say yes or no, but he was listening.
“So, come back with us, and let us help you learn what being a shifter means, and how to be a leader that others will respect and follow. Who knows, you might end up Alpha Anax of South America or something. There’ve been rumours of a coup there, too, haven’t there, Marcus?”
“Yes, there have been. The economy tanking and the stressors in the world don’t just affect humans, they hit us, too. Like any governing body, we face challenges and sometimes those are things, situations, and other times, they can be fights to the death.” Marcus shrugged. “It’s part of an AA’s responsibility, and why an AA must be concerned with the safety and care of his people as much as he’s concerned for his mate’s safety and care.”
“I don’t understand a lot of what you’re talking about,” Ryder admitted, “but maybe… Maybe I’m tired of being alone and, God, I fucking hate to say it, but I’ve been scared for so long, longer than I’ve been a shifter.” He looked at Harley, and Harley nodded. He’d go, if it helped them all, and he believed it would, actually. “I think I’d like to give it a shot. I’m tired of being a dick to cover for everything.”
“A wise man doesn’t worry about admitting to fear. Fear makes us sharp, attentive, stronger. To not fear anything means a person is arrogant, and arrogance means one is a fool, and doomed to failure.” Marcus stood and stretched, and that wave of power rippled through the room again. “I don’t think any of us wants to fail.”
Nathan stood as well and smiled brightly. “So, why don’t you two pack some clothes and stuff, and Ryder can go scrub himself with a bottle of bleach?”
“What about the shifter who turned me?” Ryder asked.
Nathan’s smile stretched wider and took a mean turn to it. “You didn’t think we only brought the four guards with us, did you? There’s a dozen more rounding up Drake and his victims right now. In fact…” Nathan took his phone off his clip and hummed. “Yup. See, I told Kelly to text me when she had them all, and since my phone buzzed a few minutes ago, we have some people to interrogate.”
“Do I get to help?” Ryder asked, cracking his knuckles.
Marcus looked very much like he wanted to roll his eyes at the macho display. “No, you don’t, but I will consider letting you sit in on the questioning if you can refrain from acting like a twit.”
“A twit?” Ryder parroted. “I’m—”
“Shower,” Nathan ordered, “And scrub everything at least twice with soap. If I smell anything foul on you, Marcus and I will hold you down and scrub you ourselves.”
“Yes, we will.” Marcus grinned and cracked his knuckles, mimicking Ryder’s show of machismo from a moment or two earlier. Ryder ran into the bathroom. “He doesn’t take jokes well, does he?” he asked Harley.
Harley swallowed down a giggle. “To be fair, you’re scary as hell when you’re joking, apparently. You should work on that.” He took Val’s hand and, feeling extremely brave, winked at Marcus and Nathan before leaving them to pack his and Val’s clothes.