Arlen Read online

  “I don’t know what to tell you. I care.”

  Arlen licked Gentry’s cheek again.

  “I know, son. I don’t think anyone would’ve found the implant for a while if you hadn’t, though, and that doesn’t speak well for the alpha.”

  “I know. Look, I’m going to hang up and call Kameron now. I’ll call you later and tell you what happened, okay?”

  “You do that. I’ll be waiting.”

  “It might take a while.”

  “Don’t worry for me. I’m old, I don’t sleep much.”

  Gentry wanted to protest like he always did when his father said he was old, but he had to take care of Arlen. “All right. Bye, dad.”

  “Bye.”

  Gentry hung up and looked at Arlen. “Ready to become human again?”

  Arlen yipped and wagged his tail. Gentry dialed Kameron’s number and waited for Kameron to answer.

  * * * *

  Nick opened the door and dumped his keys and cell phone in the bowl Gentry had put there for them after the tenth time he’d had to help Nick find his keys. Nick still usually forgot to put them there, but at least they had to look for them only half the times they did before.

  “Gentry? I’m home.” And wasn’t that domestic as hell?

  Nick had never thought he’d be the kind of guy to settle down. Not that he’d had anything against it, but his life wasn’t exactly an easy one. He was both a detective and the pack’s beta, and that left very little time for the rest, including a love life. Gentry had been a surprise.

  Nick had always thought that if and when he finally did settle down, it would be with his mate, but Nick still hadn’t met him. Being with Gentry made him feel guilty sometimes, but who knew where his mate was. Maybe he lived in Europe, or in Australia, and Nick would never meet him. Maybe he wasn’t even born yet.

  “Nick? We’re in the living room.”

  Nick frowned at the we and at the excitement in Gentry’s voice. Gentry was usually very calm and collected, and his tone right then was at odds with that. “Who’s we?” Nick asked as he took his shoes off and stuck them in the closet next to the front door.

  “Arlen and I.”

  “Arlen’s back?” Nick asked as he entered the living room. Sure enough, Gentry was sitting on the couch with Arlen, his hand buried into the wolf shifter’s fur. They both looked up when Nick came in.

  Arlen was wagging his tail and yipped, maybe to say hello. Gentry had a huge grin on his flushed face and looked about to burst. Something definitely was going on. “What’s up?”

  “We think we know why Arlen can’t shift back and how to get him back to normal.”

  Nick’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? That’s great!”

  “I was talking with my dad, and we realized that while Arlen has been examined by Jared, it was very superficial. He has an implant in his neck.”

  Nick sat on the loveseat arm facing Gentry and frowned. “Implant? How have we never realized it was there?”

  “It would’ve showed with an x-ray, but Arlen was never given one.”

  Guilt swamped Nick. “I should’ve thought about it.” Arlen whined as Nick crossed his arms on his chest. “I can’t believe he was never examined thoroughly.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “Of course it is! I’m the beta, I’m the one who should think about things like that.”

  “Look, it’s no use pointing out who should’ve done what now. We have to get the implant out.”

  “Have you already called Kameron?”

  “Yes. He’s coming here with Jared.”

  “They can get the implant out right away?”

  “I haven’t talked with Jared, but I think so, although they might want to run some tests before.”

  Arlen whined and Nick shook his head. “Nope, no tests. I want Jared to take it out right away, if it can be done without danger.”

  Someone knocked at the door and Arlen’s head snapped that way. Gentry made to get up, but Nick shook his head at him and went to the door. “Kam, Jared.”

  Kameron nodded. “Gentry told you?”

  “Yeah.”

  Kameron rubbed a hand over his face. He looked tired and worried. “I can’t believe we didn’t realize this before.”

  Nick let the two men in and closed the door behind them. He pointed toward the living room for Jared, who left them in the entrance.

  “I know. How could we forget about him?”

  “It’s not even that we forgot, it’s just...”

  “We had a lot of things going on. There was Zach, the inner circle, the demons, Cole’s brother, the Glass trial, all over a few months’ time. It’s all coming almost at once.”

  Kameron nodded. “Yeah, but it’s not an excuse. We told Arlen we would do everything we could, and we haven’t.”

  Kameron shook his head and went to the living room. Nick followed him but stayed near the door, in case he needed to make a run for things Jared might need. The doc was already on the couch, Arlen sandwiched between him and Gentry. Gentry was murmuring to Arlen while Jared felt around Arlen’s neck.

  “I’ve never personally taken care of someone who stayed in their animal form for so long, but I know it’s going to take Arlen a little while to get used to his human skin again. He might have problems using his hands and staying upright, but he should be fine soon enough. The only problem is that I still don’t know exactly how long he’s been in his wolf form,” Jared said.

  “He’s been here since June.”

  “So that’s at least five months, but we still don’t know how long it was in the lab.” Jared frowned and seemed lost in thought for a while.

  Nick started to fidget. He didn’t know what they were waiting for, but everyone else including Arlen seemed so much more patient.

  He didn’t know why, but he wanted this to be over now. The need almost felt like an itch on his skin, and he knew only Arlen being back in his human form and being healthy would make it go away. He was about to snap at Jared when Jared nodded to himself and reached for the bag he’d put down on the coffee table.

  “Depending on how long he’s been a wolf, he could have problems talking. He’ll need a full checkup, but I think that can wait until tomorrow. If we do manage to get him back, I’ll check him as well as I can now, and we’ll do the rest in the hospital tomorrow. Is that all right with everyone?”

  Jared looked around the room and everyone nodded. Arlen huffed and bumped his head against Jared’s hand. Jared chuckled and took out some gauze and a scalpel from his bag, along with a red plastic bag and disinfectant. Nick watched as Jared cut some of Arlen’s fur off to clear the area he had to work on and disinfected it.

  Arlen whined and pressed closer to Gentry. He also looked at Nick, like he wanted Nick to come closer, and Nick complied. He sat right in front of Arlen and held his gaze with his own, hoping it’d be enough to give Arlen whatever strength he needed to get through it. They might be shifters, but being cut up still hurt like a bitch, even though they couldn’t get infections.

  “I’m going to start now. I cleaned the skin and numbed the area with a painkiller. I can feel the implant, so it’ll be just a little cut and you’ll barely feel it, I promise. But I want to warn you that I don’t know how long it’s going to take for the medicine the implant already released in your body to clear out. I have no idea what we’re dealing with, so it’s going to be at least a few hours, if not more. You can try to shift right away, but I doubt you’ll be able to until at least tomorrow morning.”

  Arlen huffed and buried his nose into Gentry’s side. Gentry smiled and held him close while Jared nodded and put the scalpel on Arlen’s skin. He made a small cut, no more than a few inches long, and pressed on the skin. Nick couldn’t see all that well from where he was, but Jared made a small victorious sound and reached for the gauze. He patted the area, and when he put the gauze in the red plastic bag, Nick saw something long and white
on the blood on the gauze.

  Jared took care of Arlen’s wound. “I’m going to call Noem. He has to bring me back home anyway, and he can heal you before we go. Do you want to try to shift?”

  Arlen untucked his head from Gentry’s side and licked his hand before closing his eyes. He stayed still for a few seconds, then huffed and hid his face again.

  “That’s what I thought. You need some rest now, and you can try again in the morning, all right?”

  Arlen wagged his tail but didn’t move. Jared smiled and took his cell phone out. He made his call and started cleaning up. A few minutes later, Noem shimmered in, healed a sleepy Arlen, then grabbed Jared and shimmered away with the promise to come back in the morning or any time they needed them.

  Nick walked Kameron to the door. The alpha paused before exiting, a hand on the wooden frame. “Call me if anything happens.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “I’ll be back in the morning.”

  Nick nodded, and Kameron walked away and disappeared between the trees. Nick closed the door and went back to the living room, where Gentry was slowly stroking Arlen’s fur. The wolf seemed to be sleeping.

  “Want to go to bed?” Nick asked.

  “Yes. Do you mind moving Arlen just a bit to the side? I don’t want to wake him.”

  Nick nodded and walked closer. He leaned forward and slid his hands under Arlen’s body, slowly moving him until Gentry could slide from under him. Arlen didn’t even react. Gentry kissed Nick’s forehead and walked away, and Nick grabbed a blanket and spread it on top of Arlen.

  He hadn’t spent enough time with the wolf, and he felt guilty. He reached out to stroke Arlen’s fur and froze.

  Arlen’s scent was changing, probably thanks to the medicine that was already disappearing from his bloodstream. Nick had never really been that close to Arlen, not close enough to smell him, anyway. He wondered if he’d have realized Arlen was his mate if he had, or if the drug in Arlen’s blood would’ve stopped him.

  Chapter Two

  Arlen blinked and opened his eyes. He was still on Nick’s couch, but the sun streaming through the window told him he’d slept the night away. It was something that hadn’t happened in a long while, probably since he’d been captured.

  He didn’t even know when that had happened. The days all seemed to blend together when he was in the lab, but he did know that it’d been December when he’d been taken, and he’d been released in June. He wasn’t sure if he’d been in the lab only six months or a year and a half, though.

  He stretched his arms over his head and froze. His arms. He’d stretched his arms. He hadn’t had arms in months, though.

  Arlen tried to jump up but someone had put a blanket on his him and his legs—his legs!—had tangled in it during the night. He flopped on the floor between the couch and the coffee table and hit his arm against one of its legs. “Oww!”

  Arlen heard a rustle somewhere in the house and steps coming his way. “Arlen?”

  “Down here.” It felt weird to talk, as if Arlen’s tongue was out of place and too big. He had to actually think about the way he had to articulate, and his voice had come out not quite right, but it’d get better. He knew it would.

  Nick’s head popped up over the back of the couch. “You’re human again.”

  Arlen clamped his lips together at the sight of Nick walking around the couch and coming close. He was wearing only sweat pants that rode low on his hips, and his hair was mussed from sleep. He even had a pillow mark on his cheek.

  He probably wanted to help Arlen, but that meant he’d find out Arlen was his mate. Not that Arlen didn’t want him to find out, but there was Gentry to think about, too. Gentry, who was too good for his own good and would probably try to fade away so that Arlen and Nick could be together. Gentry, who didn’t know Arlen was just as much in love with him as Nick was.

  “Let me help you up. How did you end up on the floor anyway?”

  Nick gently wrapped the blanket around Arlen again and literally picked him up from the floor. He put him down just as gently in a seated position and sat in front of him on the coffee table, his hands on his knees, as if ready to catch Arlen if he fell again. It was cute.

  “I was surprised.”

  “To realize you were human again?”

  Arlen nodded. God, he longed for breakfast. He wanted eggs, and bacon, and he wanted to eat them from a plate with a fork, and drink coffee from a mug. But Nick was looking at him, his head slightly tilted to the side. “You know, don’t you?”

  “What?”

  “That we’re mates.”

  Arlen nodded again. “Since the first day.”

  “I didn’t realize until last night, when I covered you before going to bed.”

  Arlen shrugged. He’d long ago forgiven Nick for not spending time with him, for leaving him alone most of the time, at least until Gentry had arrived. “It’s okay.”

  Nick looked at his hands. “You also had to watch me and Gentry together. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

  Arlen reached out and hesitantly put a hand on one of Nick’s. Nick looked up, his eyes wide, but Arlen didn’t move away. He thought about what he wanted to say and spoke slowly, trying not to stumble over his words. “You didn’t know. Besides, I like Gentry. He’s good for you, and he tried to be there for me.”

  “I... I’m not sure I can push him away.”

  “I didn’t ask you to.”

  “But... you don’t want me? As your mate?”

  Arlen flopped back against the back of the couch and looked up at the ceiling. “Right now, what I want is to just enjoy being human. I want to eat, and shower. God, I want to shower so badly. I want to get dressed and maybe read something, or write. All things I haven’t been able to do in months.”

  He looked at Nick again. “I don’t know how this is going to go. I just know I don’t want you to kick Gentry out. Maybe we could—I don’t know—see if we can all be together.”

  Nick looked surprise at Arlen’s words, but he didn’t say no. He gave Arlen a tiny smile instead. “Okay.”

  “I know we need to talk about this, all three of us together, but I also know I have to go to the hospital.” Arlen grimaced. “Not what I want to do, but yeah. I’ve already been a wolf for months just because no one checked me, so...”

  Nick winced and Arlen regretted his words. Still, it was the truth. “Do you think I can shower?”

  Nick stood up from the table. “Sure. Uh, do you need help?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Talking wasn’t so hard, but he still hadn’t tried to stand and actually walk on two feet rather than on four paws. So when Nick offered him a hand, Arlen wasn’t about to refuse the help. He held his blanket around his body as well as he could and let Nick haul him up.

  Arlen stumbled, but Nick was there, slipping his arm around Arlen’s waist and keeping him upright. Nick stayed still for a moment and let Arlen get used to his legs again. “Ready?”

  Arlen nodded and put one foot forward. Nick came along with him, holding him close. Arlen hobbled like a new-born colt, but he was able to walk. “I’m walking. On two legs. Wow, that’s... it feels weird.”

  He saw Nick smile from the corner of his eye. “You’ll get used to it again soon, you’ll see. Your voice is already smoother than before, and not that much time has passed.”

  “I hope so. I don’t want to depend on someone for too long.”

  “You know both Gentry and I will do what we can to help.”

  Arlen sighed. “Yeah. I’m just not sure how Gentry is going to react to all of this.”

  Nick paused in the middle of the hallway. “I have no idea. So, where do you want to shower?”

  “I have a choice?”

  “Yeah. There’s the master bathroom or the one in the guestroom. I guess you could use that one, since the guestroom will be your room from now on.”

  Arlen arched a brow and couldn�
��t resist teasing. “Yeah? Does that mean you’re going to continue sleeping with Gentry in the master bedroom?” Nick’s crestfallen expression made Arlen want to rewind time and undo his words. “Shit, sorry. Don’t mind me, I’m used to talking before I think, and it’s way too early to joke about this. So, guestroom, huh?”

  Nick shrugged. “If you want to.”

  “That’s fine with me. Perfect. At least until we all talk.”

  Nick helped Arlen hobble to the guestroom. He opened the door and led Arlen to the small bathroom, gently pushing him down on the chair next to the bathtub. Arlen’s blanket caught on something, maybe one of the clawed legs of the tub, and Arlen felt it slide down his torso.

  He didn’t try to hide himself, because hell, both Nick and he were shifters, and they’d see each other naked sooner or later anyway. He just wondered in what state he was. He looked down and grimaced at the sight.

  Not that he was ugly or anything, no. Arlen knew he was nice-looking. But he was a bit too thin now, and the muscles he’d worked so hard on getting were almost gone after a year of being stuck. At least he’d gotten better since he’d arrived in Gillham, because he had no doubts it would’ve been worse if he’d managed to shift as soon as he was released. He’d had the time to put on some weight with his time in Gillham.

  He was kind of dirty, though, and his legs ached. He sighed and looked up, and his gaze locked with Nick’s heated eyes. The glance Nick was giving him told Arlen he couldn’t be so bad looking. His mate sure seemed to want him, and he felt a twinge of arousal in his groin.

  He held his hands up. “Nope. Before I even think about having sex, I want to shower and eat.”

  Nick laughed, and Arlen was happy to see his earlier words were already forgotten. “Okay. So. I think it would be better if you took a bath, just to avoid you falling on your face. Of course, if you really want a shower we can go in the other bathroom, since there’s a bench there.”

  “How about I try that one tomorrow, huh? You can draw me a bath for now.”

  Nick smiled and opened the spigot. He held his hand under it until it became warm and closed the drain. “Stay here. I’m going to go look for some clothes we can give you when you’re clean and bring them to you. Do you need help to get in the tub?”