Trevor Read online

  A tissue appeared in Trevor’s vision and he took it, drying his eyes and turning to smile at Keenan. “Thanks.”

  “Ready to sit up and tell us what happened?”

  “Not really.”

  “But you’re still gonna do it.”

  “Yeah.”

  Trevor pushed away the blankets and sat up. His bladder reminded him of itself, so he climbed over Nysys and hurried to the bathroom. He took care of business, washed his face, and frowned at his reflection. He looked like shit, and he felt even worse. Not that anyone in his bedroom right now would care about what he looked like anyway, so he shrugged and went back.

  Nysys held the blankets up for him, and Trevor scurried under them. He was immediately sandwiched by Keenan and Nysys again. They pressed their shoulders against his, and Nysys took his hand, squeezing it in his. Keenan smiled and patted Trevor’s thigh.

  Trevor looked at the people around the room. Nolan and Casey were on the bed, by Trevor’s feet. Elena was there, too, sitting in the armchair, her belly looking like it was about to explode. Steve was sitting on the arm of her seat, looking a bit out of place. Trevor and he weren’t close. They just had the brother-in-law relationship, nothing more, but Trevor was glad he was there.

  Elena tried to lean forward, but she couldn’t. She huffed and collapsed back into the armchair, her hands flying to her belly. “Tell us what the bastard did to you. We’ll kill him.”

  Trevor smiled at his sister’s fierceness. “I don’t want you to hurt him.”

  “Is it because you’re a shifter?” Casey asked, looking both sad and angry.

  Trevor sighed and rubbed his face. “Yeah, or at least that’s what he said. I think he already knew about shifters, though.”

  “He did?”

  “That’s the impression I got. I told him I and the other people in the house could become animals, and he said we were shifters.”

  “So, what—he’s scared you’re going to hurt him?”

  “I don’t know. I tried to talk to him, to tell him I would never hurt him, not even in my cheetah form, but he didn’t let me explain. He just said he couldn’t do this with a shifter, then—”

  Trevor’s breath hitched and he tried as hard as he could not to cry again. No one pushed him to continue. They gave him all the time he needed to get over it, and he took a few deep breaths before nodding. “He said not to call him ever again. So yeah, I think it’s because I’m a shifter.”

  “You know, I saw him after he left you,” Nysys said. “He was leaving, and I stopped him. I think he’s afraid of shifters for a reason. It didn’t feel random, especially with what he said at the end.”

  “What did he say?” Nolan asked, looking like he could kill someone.

  “I told him he was Trevor’s soul mate, and he said, as if I haven’t already heard that.”

  “So?”

  “What does it sound like? He doesn’t like shifters, he’s already been told he was someone’s soul mate...”

  “You think a shifter told him they were mates?” Casey asked. “But why?”

  Nysys shrugged. “Who knows? It obviously hurt him, though. And if his fake mate hurt him, then it’s obvious he won’t want another one. I also wonder what the shifter told him. It could be anything, from the truth to human mates have to be slaves to their shifter mate.”

  Trevor closed his eyes. If that was the case, he didn’t think Micah would come back to him.

  * * * *

  Micah should have known it. He should have known Casey would find him.

  Right now he was leaning against the door of Micah’s car, making it impossible for Micah to avoid the confrontation, unless he decided to leave his car in the parking lot.

  He shook his head and hauled the two bags full of groceries to the car, then dumped them on the ground next to Casey’s feet and straightened up. “What do you want?”

  “To talk to you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we’ve been friends for more than a year.”

  Micah snorted and unlocked the car. Since Casey didn’t look like he was going to move anytime soon, Micah opened the back door and stuffed his groceries inside. He closed the door, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned to look at Casey. “Are you a shifter?”

  “Yes.”

  Micah had expected it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. He’d trusted Casey, yet Casey hadn’t seen fit to tell him about the most important thing in his life. “Of course you are.”

  “You need to talk to Trevor.”

  “No, I don’t. I already told him we couldn’t be together.”

  “But you don’t understand what that means for a shifter.”

  “And you don’t understand what being a human mated to a shifter means.”

  Casey cocked his head and stared at Micah until Micah wanted to run away.

  “What?”

  “Show me your neck,” Casey said.

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Why should I?”

  “Because if whoever told you you were his mate really was your mate, then he bit you and you still have a scar.”

  Micah frowned and touched his neck. “I don’t.”

  “Then you never really mated. Will you tell me what happened?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Of course you do. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to. We’re not monsters. Some of us are, just like some humans are. Most of us just want to live in peace, though, like me and Trevor.”

  Micah sighed. “Right. Follow me home. We can talk there.”

  “What about your father?”

  “He’s with a friend for the day.” Micah had insisted after the night before. Not that he thought Trevor would do anything to hurt Micah’s dad, but he needed to be sure to be able to work in peace.

  Casey nodded and strode to his car, parked a few cars away. Micah climbed into his and drove away. He didn’t check whether Casey was following him. He knew Casey was, and he knew they needed to talk. He just wished Casey would have waited a few days. Micah would have had time to put some order to his thoughts, instead of just thinking he’s a shifter, stay away.

  Micah parked in his driveway and had already taken the bags from the back seat when Casey arrived and parked on the street. He walked closer, then took the bags, ignoring Micah’s protests. Micah rolled his eyes. He really should have noticed Casey was a shifter. He held the bags as if they weighed nothing. He probably had been very careful of what he did and said when he was with Micah, but still.

  Micah unlocked the front door and led the way to the kitchen. Casey dumped the bags on the table and started putting away the things inside them.

  “When did you become so familiar with the house?” Micah asked, watching him.

  “I spent at least an evening a week here for the past year. You’d be as familiar with the mansion as I am with your house if you’d done the same.”

  Micah thought of the chandelier and the mansion’s entrance. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

  Micah sat at the kitchen table as Casey finished putting things away. Then Casey opened the fridge, took two beers out of it, and placed one in front of Micah. The gesture was so familiar it hurt Micah when he thought he wouldn’t see it again after that night.

  He wrapped both hands around his bottle, but he didn’t drink. He watched as Casey did, and they both stayed silent until Casey finally asked, “Tell me about him.”

  Micah sighed. There was no way around it. “His name’s Erik. I met him four years ago, and I was smitten with him right away. He was tall, handsome, fascinating. He moved in a way I’d never seen anyone move before, and I knew he was out of my league. Then he came up to me, asked me out, and I said yes. I couldn’t believe my luck.”

  Micah rubbed at his neck, where Erik used to bite him. “After a few months, he told me he had something to tell me. He said he was a shifte
r, and that I was his mate.”

  Micah swallowed and drank from his bottle. When he didn’t start talking again, Casey gently pushed. “What did he say about mates?”

  “That since I was human, he was the dominant one in our relationship. He bit me every day, to keep the bond strong, and I had to do what he wanted, when he wanted. He said it was the way it worked, and that I’d die if he stopped biting me.”

  Casey sighed heavily. “I get why you don’t want Trevor.”

  “I can’t submit that way to anyone else. I just can’t. And I can’t stand the idea of being bitten every day. It’s already hard enough to let anyone get close to my neck.”

  “Even Trevor?”

  “I don’t know. Probably. See, it can’t work.”

  “What happened to Erik?”

  “One day I had enough. We lived together by then, and I was the only one to work and do anything around the house. He stayed home all day, drank, partied, things like that. I came home one day, and I found out he’d used the rent money to play poker. I filled my suitcases and went back home to my parents.”

  “What did Erik do?”

  “He tried to get me back, told me I’d die if I didn’t. Then he threatened me, and I had to tell my parents about what he was.”

  “So your father knows about shifters?”

  “Yeah. Dad did something, and Erik stopped calling.”

  “What did your dad do?”

  “I don’t know. Since he used to be a cop, well, I thought he went over to Erik’s, maybe scared him. I didn’t really care.”

  “Did Erik ever hurt you? Apart from biting you?”

  Micah shrugged. “Sometimes. It didn’t happen often, but sometimes when he was high or drunk, he hit me.”

  “He abused you.”

  Micah cringed at the word. “No. It happened only sometimes.” Casey clearly didn’t believe him, but Micah was done talking. “I like Trevor, but I can’t do this again.”

  Casey tapped his finger on the side of his bottle. “You’ve seen me and Nolan together.”

  Micah frowned. “Yeah. What does it have to do with anything?”

  “Does it looks like one of us is submissive to the other, or unhappy?”

  Micah leaned back in his chair and looked at Casey. “Oh, of course. He’s your mate. I didn’t even think about it.”

  “He is. We’ve been mated for a year and a half, more or less.”

  “So?”

  “Most of what Erik told you is bullshit, Micah.”

  Micah closed his eyes. Of course he’d thought about that. When he’d realized Erik was a bastard, he’d thought about the shifter things a lot, and when he’d gone home and hadn’t had as much as a headache when Erik had said he would die if he left, he’d realized Erik was a liar. Would that be enough for him to get over it, though?

  “Tell me the truth,” he told Casey.

  “Every shifter has a mate somewhere. We don’t always find them, because we don’t know where they are, or even if they’re human, shifter, or something else.”

  “Like Nysys.”

  Casey nodded. “Like Nysys. Mates are revered by most shifters. Having a love life is hard if we haven’t found our mate. We have a choice about being with a human. In that case, we either keep the truth to ourselves and have to leave them when they start noticing we’re not aging like them, or we can tell them the truth. If we’re lucky, they’ll stay with us anyway and we’ll have to watch them die. Or we can be with other shifters, which is what most shifters do, but there’s always the possibility one of us will find their mate, and when there are marriages and kids involved, it’s always hard. Some of us just stay on our own, having one-night stands, never opening our hearts. It’s a lonely life.”

  Micah nodded. Erik certainly hadn’t explained it that way. “What happens when you meet your mate?”

  “It’s like every other couple. You fall in love, fit together naturally. There’s no submissive anything, unless it’s what you want. Most shifters mate right away if their mate is another shifter, but some of the couples in the pride have dated, even for months.”

  “So I wouldn’t have to submit?”

  “No. The only person who could ask you that is Dominic, because he’s the alpha, but he’s not that kind of guy. Anyone else would have kicked out Nysys and Keenan long ago, but Dominic’s a softie.”

  “And... the mating? How does that work?” Micah couldn’t help reaching for his neck as he asked.

  “Trevor would bite you once.”

  “Only once?”

  “Yes, and you’d have to drink his blood. That would be enough to cement the bond between the two of you, and you’d be able to feel some of what Trevor feels, especially strong emotions.”

  Micah had never had that with Erik. He’d been unaware of most of what Casey had just said. “If I don’t want to?”

  “If you don’t want to see Trevor again, then I guess he’ll either be alone or try to find another shifter, maybe one who lost their mate. If you want him but don’t want to let him bite you, well, he’d have to watch you grow old and die.”

  “Wouldn’t that happen anyway?”

  “No, because once you’re bonded, your aging slows to match the shifter’s.”

  “So I’d live as long as him?”

  “Yes.”

  Micah slumped. “I need to think about this.”

  * * * *

  “Why are we doing this again?” Trevor asked, looking at the bag full of catnip Nysys had handed him.

  “To see if the guys really are big kitties.”

  “But you already know they are.”

  Nysys bumped their shoulders together. “You can’t tell me you don’t want to see Dominic roll around in this stuff.”

  “Maybe, but I also don’t want to be the one rolling around in it. You do remember I’m a cheetah, right?”

  Nysys eyed Trevor and Trevor felt the urge to run. “Open it.”

  Trevor’s eyes widened. “The bag?”

  “Yup. Let’s see if it does something to you.”

  “I wasn’t proposing myself as a guinea pig, you know.”

  Nysys batted his lashes. “Please?”

  Trevor sighed. “I should have stayed in my room today.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have. At least you’re having fun instead of moping around. You’ve had two weeks. That’s enough moping.”

  “You’d be moping around too if Morin had dumped you like last week’s dirty laundry.”

  “Weird. Why last week’s?”

  “Because it stinks more.”

  Nysys cocked his head. “I think you’re spending too much time with me.”

  “Probably, but I can’t stand Elena’s sad looks, and Casey’s been busy.”

  “Trying to get your man back?”

  “Don’t know. I don’t care anyway.”

  “You know that’s not true.”

  So maybe it wasn’t, but Trevor wasn’t going to admit it. Of course he wanted Micah back. He’d probably take him back if Micah ever asked, no questions asked. He hated himself for it, but it was the truth.

  “Why do you think he freaked out?”

  “I don’t know. Whatever experience he had with shifters, it obviously wasn’t a good one.”

  “It’s not a good reason to be an ass to you. Everyone here has had bad experiences, both with shifters and humans. If we all did like Micah, we’d live alone under a rock.”

  Trevor shrugged. What could he say to that? It was true. Trevor’s old alpha had tried to force him to get Casey to go back in Orston and had threatened him. Nysys’ family hated him, Nolan had spent time in a human lab. Everyone in the mansion had bad experiences, yet most of them didn’t run. Not everyone reacted to things in the same way, though, and Trevor couldn’t bring himself to blame Micah, or to hate him. He was still Trevor’s mate, even though he’d rejected him. Trevor would never hate him.

  �
�Do you think I’ll ever get over it?” he asked, immediately regretting it.

  “Over Micah?”

  Trevor shrugged.

  “I think you will, but I also think it’ll take you time. You’ve been pining after him for years. He’s been the center of your life and your dreams for that entire time. How can you erase him altogether? You need to have new dreams.”

  Trevor shook his head. “The only thing I want is Micah.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying. But you’ll get over it.” Nysys stole the catnip bag from Trevor’s hands and opened it just under his nose.

  Trevor’s nose twitched, and he groaned. “Fuck.”

  “How does it feel?”

  “It’s like I want to take the bag and stick my face into it.”

  “And you’re in human form.” Nysys snickered. “Wait until I throw the entire bag on the guys when they’re lounging on the porch.”

  “They’re going to kill you.”

  “Probably, but at least I’ll go down happy. Besides, they’ll forgive me. And I can shimmer away before they get to me.”

  He closed the bag and Trevor breathed easier. “Just make sure I’m not there when you do it, yeah?”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I’m going to need you to keep the bag open as I take the catnip from it and throw it around.”

  Trevor groaned. “I want nothing to do with this.”

  Nysys patted his shoulder. “I’ll shimmer you away if they want to kill you.”

  “Oh, you’re too good to me.”

  Nysys beamed. “I know, but I love you. I’ll rescue you any time you need me to.”

  Trevor knew it was true. Nysys would do that for any pride member, because he truly loved them all. They were a family, something Trevor still found hard to believe sometimes.

  His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he took it out. Surprised to see it was Isaiah, he answered. “Yes?”

  “Micah Riggs is at the gate for you. Do I let him in or do I let the dogs loose?”

  Trevor chuckled. “I don’t think Derick and Jonah would appreciate being called dogs.”

  “But they’d do it anyway.”

  “Yeah. Let Micah in. I’ll meet him at the front door.”

  “Okay. Call if you need someone to kick him out. I’ll send Denver and Nate your way.”