Trevor Read online

  “Trev?”

  Trevor blinked at Micah. “No one has ever called me Trev.”

  “Can I?”

  “Yes. I like it.”

  Micah smiled. “Then I’ll be the only one to call you Trev. Ready to go now, or would you rather have me go back home?”

  Trevor shook his head and took Micah’s hand. He needed to tell him, but the mansion’s parking lot wasn’t the right place to do that. He wanted Micah to be able to sit down, just in case. Not everyone took the news nicely, and a hint of fear passed through Trevor. What if Micah couldn’t accept it? What if he didn’t want anything to do with Trevor after that?

  Trevor shook his head. He had to trust the mate bond. Mates rejecting each other was very rare, even when those mates were human. Even when they did run away, it wasn’t usually for long, and Trevor had to believe Micah liked him enough to stay and to listen to his explanation.

  He tugged Micah along to the front door and unlocked it, letting Micah’s hand go to close the door and lock it again. Micah waited for him, looking around the entrance with wide eyes.

  “You know, I still can’t get over how big and luxurious this place is,” he said as Trevor walked closer.

  “It’s not luxurious. Sure, the entrance is,” Trevor added at Micah’s incredulous glance, “but that’s it. The other rooms are made to be comfortable. You’ve seen my room, and the kitchen and the dining room. They’re not luxurious.”

  “This place is, though.”

  Trevor chuckled. “Nysys has been trying to get the chandelier down for a while. He says it doesn’t suit the rest of the house, and I agree, but Dominic says it’s too much work.”

  “Can’t blame him. That thing is huge.”

  “And ugly.”

  “Yeah, that too.”

  Trevor looked at the top of the stairs, but he let Micah decide when and if he wanted to climb them. Micah noticed—of course he did—and he took Trevor’s hand, pulling him along as he climbed and walked toward Trevor’s room. He didn’t need Trevor to tell him which way to go, and Trevor liked it. He liked the fact that Micah remembered where his room was even after only one visit.

  Micah paused in front of Trevor’s room and Trevor opened the door.

  “You don’t lock it?” Micah asked as he followed Trevor in.

  “No. No one will come in if I’m not there, and those who might enter have ways to get around locked doors. It wouldn’t be useful.”

  “I sense a story there.”

  “There is, but it’s one for later, if it’s all right with you.”

  “Of course it is.”

  Trevor took his jacket off, then his shoes. He sat on the edge of his bed, suddenly nervous. “So, I have something to tell you.”

  Micah looked amused. “You do? I thought you’d already told me all your secrets over dinner.”

  “Ah, no. Well, this is not really my secret. It’s more a secret all the people living in this house share.”

  Micah arched a brow and dragged the chair Trevor kept in front of his desk toward the bed. He placed it in front of Trevor so he could see him as Trevor talked, and Trevor looked away. He didn’t think he could look at Micah as he confessed the whole shifter mess. He wouldn’t be able to bear the eventual disgust or fear he might see on Micah’s face.

  “You sound serious,” Micah pointed out.

  “I am. I feel you need to know this before anything else happens between us.”

  “Now you’re scaring me. Are you guys part of a sect or something? Serial killers?”

  Trevor could hear the laughter in Micah’s voice, and he hated to take it away. “No, none of those, but we do live together for a reason. It’s in part like I told you, because most of us don’t have a family, but it’s not the only reason.”

  Trevor startled when Micah took one of his hands in both of his. “Tell me, Trev. It can’t be that bad.”

  Trevor laughed, and even to him it sounded weak and trembling. “Depends on how you feel about animals, I guess.”

  “Animals?”

  Trevor took a deep breath. There was no reason to prolong this. “Me and the others, well most of us are able to become animals. I know it sounds crazy, but I can show you if you want me to. I won’t hurt you, not even in my animal form, I swear.”

  Micah let go of Trevor’s hand as if it were on fire. Trevor swallowed, fear gripping his heart.

  “You’re a fucking shifter?” Micah asked.

  * * * *

  Micah couldn’t believe it. He’d thought he’d left the whole shifter thing behind when he’d broken up with Erik, but there it was again.

  “You know about shifters?” Trevor asked. He was gaping at Micah, and Micah knew he should try to explain. He wasn’t sure he could, though.

  Memories—bad ones—crowded his mind. It wasn’t Trevor’s fault, but Micah couldn’t stop it. Trevor couldn’t do anything about what he was, but Micah had sworn to himself that he’d steer clear of shifters for the rest of his life, and he intended to keep that promise, even if it broke his heart—or Trevor’s.

  He got up, the chair tumbling down, and Trevor jerked away, as if expecting Micah to hit him. That did break Micah’s heart, because he wanted to know why Trevor would react like that, what had happened to him in the past. He wanted to know, and he wanted to make it better. He wanted to protect Trevor, and wasn’t that ridiculous? Trevor was a shifter. He didn’t need protecting. If anything, Micah needed to be protected from him.

  “Micah?” Trevor sounded like he might start crying, but Micah couldn’t comfort him.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He started to go to the door, but Trevor’s voice stopped him.

  “Why are you leaving? I promise, I’m not crazy, and I won’t hurt you. I’d never hurt you.”

  Micah shook his head without looking at Trevor. “I can’t, I’m sorry. As much as I like you, I can’t do this, not if you’re a shifter. Let me go. Don’t... don’t call me again. Ever.”

  Micah opened the door and ran away. He wasn’t proud of that fact, but he couldn’t have stopped himself even if he’d wanted to, and he didn’t. He couldn’t be with a shifter, period. Not even if that shifter was as cute and loving as Trevor. Not even if Micah could see himself grow old with him.

  Micah snorted as he hurried down the stairs. Trevor wouldn’t grow old. Micah would have to watch him stay young while he did, though. How could he do that? How could Trevor?

  “What’s wrong? I thought we’d see you in the morning?” someone asked from Micah’s side.

  Micah looked at Nysys. “Are you one of them?” he blurted out, even though he hadn’t meant to.

  Nysys’ brows rose on his forehead. “One of who?”

  “A shifter.”

  Nysys’ smile fell. “Aww, he already told you about shifters? I told him to wait until you were in love with him.”

  “You are,” Micah accused.

  “No, I’m not a shifter.”

  “Then how can you live with them?”

  Nysys put his hands on his hips and glared at Micah. “Why wouldn’t I? They are people like you and me.”

  “But they’re different! Shifters and humans don’t mix. They can’t.”

  “Good thing I’m not human, then.”

  Micah’s eyes widened. “You’re not?”

  Nysys sighed. “No. I’m a Nix.” Micah knew his gaze was probably blank, because Nysys continued, “It’s a kind of fae.”

  “Like Tinkerbell?”

  Nysys threw his hands in the air. “Why does everyone think Tinkerbell when I talk about fae? And why isn’t Trevor running after you?”

  “Because I told him not to.”

  “What else did you tell him?”

  Micah straightened. “Not to call me ever again.”

  Nysys gasped in horror. “The fuck? Why did you do that?”

  “Because I want nothing to do with shifters.”

&nbs
p; “You’re hurting him! Don’t you care about that?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Then stop doing it.”

  “I can’t.”

  Micah turned away and walked to the front door. It was locked, but there were keys by it, and one was labeled front door, so it wasn’t hard for him to unlock it.

  “You can’t leave him like this,” Nysys tried again, but Micah had had enough listening to him.

  He opened the door and stepped out, but before he could close it again, Nysys’ voice stopped him. “You’re his mate. His soul mate.”

  Micah snorted. “As if I haven’t already heard that.”

  He slammed the door close and hurried toward his car, jumping into it and driving up to the gate before realizing he needed someone to open it for him. He put his hands on the upper half of the steering wheel and rested his forehead on them, wondering what the fuck he was doing and how he was supposed to leave.

  A screech made him look up. The gate was opening, and Micah silently thanked Nysys. He was pretty sure it was Nysys who’d opened it for him. He couldn’t imagine Trevor had left his room, not after what Micah had said to him.

  A pang of guilt and pain tightened Micah’s heart. He’d really thought he and Trevor had something.

  As soon as the gate was fully open, Micah drove away. He never looked backward. He didn’t want to.

  When he arrived home, he couldn’t bring himself to get out of his car right away. He leaned the back of his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. Thoughts swirled in his mind, and he didn’t know which one to start with.

  That wasn’t true. He knew exactly where to start. He wouldn’t see Trevor again. He’d forget about him and go on with his life. It didn’t matter how much he liked Trevor, or that Trevor had somehow managed to get Micah a better job a year before. The cupcakes didn’t matter, either. Trevor wouldn’t leave them on Micah’s porch anymore, and if he did, well, Micah would throw them away.

  Someone knocked on his window and he jumped, then swore when he saw it was his dad. He opened the door. “Dad, what are you doing down here? You know you shouldn’t walk down the porch steps on your own.”

  “You look bad,” was the only answer Micah got.

  He shrugged. “Yeah, well, I feel even worse. Come on, let’s go inside.”

  Micah’s dad didn’t say anything more until they were in the house, sitting at the kitchen table. Micah knew his dad wouldn’t let him go mope in his room. He wouldn’t force Micah to talk, but he’d stay there and share a cup of tea until Micah felt better. He’d done it last time, too, and Micah felt the need to talk again. His dad already knew all there was to know about the situation. Well, almost everything.

  “I had a date tonight.”

  “I know.”

  Micah snorted. “Of course you do.”

  “You came out of your room all pretty and told me not to freak out if I didn’t see you until morning. What else was I supposed to think?”

  Micah shrugged and took a sip of his tea.

  “Was it the cupcake guy?” his dad asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Was he a creepy stalker?”

  Micah chuckled at the thought of Trevor being creepy. “No. He’s actually very sweet.” He decided not to tell his father about the watching from afar thing, or the he found me a better job so I could move closer to him one. He didn’t think his dad would take it well, especially after he told him what Trevor was.

  “What’s the problem, then? You didn’t click?”

  “We did.”

  Micah’s dad arched a brow, apparently done with the questions. Micah sighed.

  “Trevor is very sweet, and gentle. He blushes almost constantly, and he’s painfully shy, but he opened up a bit to me tonight. I think I could fall in love with him, Dad.”

  Micah swallowed and looked at his dad. “But he’s a shifter.” Micah’s dad sighed and closed his eyes. He didn’t look surprised, and Micah frowned. “Dad?”

  “I’ve seen things around town that made me suspect there are shifters living here,” Micah’s dad finally said.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because you didn’t need to know. I didn’t think you’d find yourself with a shifter again.”

  Micah shook his head. “That’s my luck, I guess.”

  “What do we do?”

  “What should we do?”

  “We could leave.”

  “No.” Micah ran a fingertip on the edge of his mug. “I don’t want to. We have a nice house, and my company is going well. I don’t want to wreck everything just for a date gone badly.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Micah nodded. “I know you’re worried about Trevor, but I really don’t think he’ll do anything. He’s too nice for that, and I told him to stay away from me.”

  Micah’s father crossed his arms on his chest and stared at him. “Fine, but if I see or hear anything weird...”

  “Yeah, then we’ll move.”

  Chapter Four

  Trevor felt he had the right to stay in his room and mope. He’d just been rejected by his mate. He’d never have a better excuse.

  Yet someone was pounding on his door, asking to be let in. Trevor ignored it and pulled his blankets tighter around himself.

  When Micah had left the night before, Trevor was shocked. It had taken him some time to realize Micah had rejected him, and that since he didn’t want to see Trevor anymore, it was permanent. All those years spent dreaming about his mate, about their future and about being happy together, and that was the result. One word from Micah and all of Trevor’s dreams had gone up in flames.

  He’d changed into his pajamas, throwing the nice clothes and underwear Nysys and Keenan had selected for him in a corner, hoping they would somehow disappear during the night, because he never wanted to see them again. Then he’d buried himself into his bed, made a blanket nest, and hadn’t left it yet. His bladder felt like it was about to explode, but he couldn’t bring himself to get up.

  It was ridiculous, but it felt as if once he got up, everything would be more real. Trevor could try to convince himself everything was fine if he didn’t look at reality in the face, and the way to do that was to stay in bed. If only the person at the door would stop pounding on it and leave.

  “Trevor, you’re going to open this door and you’re going to do it now. You know what I’ll do if you don’t,” Nysys said from the hallway, and Trevor groaned.

  Great. The one person who could get into his room even if he didn’t open the door. Why hadn’t Trevor friended someone else, like Benjamin, who was so quiet Trevor was a chatterbox next to him? But no, Nysys and Keenan had pushed their way into his life, and now he had to deal with the consequences of that on top of what had happened with Micah.

  “We’re worried for you. Casey is here, too, and he wants to talk to you. Come on, open the door.”

  Trevor squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face under the blankets. Everything was soft, comfortable and nice under there. He knew Dominic wouldn’t say anything about the fact that he might need money if he didn’t feel up to working for a while, but the pride was there for that. They helped their members in distress, and Trevor definitely was.

  Micah’s words wouldn’t leave his mind, even though it was the thing Trevor wanted the most.

  I can’t, I’m sorry. As much as I like you, I can’t do this, not if you’re a shifter. Let me go. Don’t... don’t call me again. Ever.

  Trevor couldn’t stop thinking about them, and they hurt every time he did.

  “All right, I’m done.”

  Trevor hoped it meant Nysys was giving up and leaving, but he should have known better.

  “We’re coming in, so I hope you’re dressed and still alive. Come on, guys. Give me your hands.”

  “All of us?” someone asked, making Trevor wonder just how many people were behind his door.

  He didn’t
have a lot of contact with most of the pride members. His close circle of friends and family included only Casey and Nolan, Elena and Steve, Nysys, Keenan, and Darin. Trevor talked to other people, of course, but he wasn’t close to anyone else.

  “Why don’t you just go in and open the door,” another voice said, and Trevor recognized Nolan’s voice.

  He could almost see the way Nysys rolled his eyes when he answered, “Sure, make everything boring, why don’t you.”

  There was silence for a while, then someone who shouldn’t have been so close sighed and murmured, “Oh Trevor.” Nysys was in.

  Trevor refused to come out of his nest anyway, even when he heard the lock on the door being opened and footsteps of what sounded like a big group of people come in. Someone sat by Trevor’s hip, someone by his feet, but Keenan and Nysys didn’t stop there, of course.

  They tugged Trevor’s nest open, not caring about his protests, and they slid into the bed with him, one on each side of him. Arms wrapped around Trevor, a chest pressed against his back, another one against his front, and he broke down.

  He had avoided crying until now. It hadn’t actually been hard. Trevor had felt numb ever since Micah left his room, and almost like he was dreaming. He had even slept decently. Why was his friends’ presence the one thing that pushed him over the edge?

  Hot tears rolled down his cheeks and Trevor sobbed. Nysys—who was in front of him—pulled him closer, cradling Trevor’s face into the crook between his shoulder and his neck, and Trevor clung onto him.

  “Aww, Boo. Don’t be like this. I know it hurts, but you’ll see, he’ll come back with his tail between his legs.”

  Keenan made an approving noise on Trevor’s other side and someone patted Trevor’s ankle. He laughed between the tears, almost unable to believe so many people were there to comfort him.

  Once he stopped crying, he pushed away from Nysys. “Shit, sorry. Your T-shirt is wet.”

  Nysys shrugged. “Who cares? It’s just a shirt.”