Chasing Seth (15 page)

Seth struggled weakly for a brief moment before collapsing into Kasey. “No. It’s not okay. I can’t… I can’t need you,” he sobbed.

A warm, calloused hand soothed down Seth’s bare back in a gentle caress. “You can, Seth, because I need you just as much as you need me, if not more.”

Seth shook his head, denying his words, but his movements stopped abruptly when Kasey lightly cupped his chin, tilting his head back to look up at him. Seth tried to avoid the dark gaze glittering softly down at him, but Kasey wouldn’t let him. The rain had stopped, but beads of water clung to Seth’s lashes, sparkling on the tips like diamonds in the sand. “Look at me, Seth. Truly look at me.”

Tormented blue eyes opened reluctantly, meeting Kasey’s. Seth’s breath caught in his throat when he saw the depth of emotion shining from the larger werewolf. It was an emotion he’d never seen from another living being. He’d seen the same look between his parents when they’d been alive. His heart beat even harder against his ribcage, pounding like a terrified rabbit trying to escape a trap.

“I know you might not believe me, Seth, or you might think it’s too soon, but… I love you. With all my heart. You are the piece of my soul that has been missing all these years. I am not going anywhere, and I will give my life to protect you.”

Seth whimpered frantically, trying to pull away, but Kasey gripped his hands tenderly, lifting them to his lips. “These hands hold my heart, Seth. These amazing, gentle, sexy hands hold my heart so deeply inside them that it will never belong to me again. I know you aren’t ready to say it back, but I will be here, pup. As long as it takes. Just know I will always be here, with you.”

He could do nothing but stare at Kasey helplessly. Kasey loved him? “I… I can’t do this right now,” he stuttered out, almost choking on the panic still racing through him.

Kasey sighed, his heart aching, but he’d known Seth couldn’t accept it so easily. Seth was his now, no matter how much he wanted to fight it. He wasn’t ever going to let the stubborn vet go. Even if it took him a hundred years to earn his mate, he would do whatever it took. “All right, pup. I’ll let it drop for now, but it isn’t going away. The longer you deny it, the more your wolf will suffer. Your wolf knows the truth that you’re refusing to see.”

He handed Seth’s clothing to him, almost grinning at the missing buttons and the dirt smudges. Pure contentment rumbled through him with the knowledge that he’d claimed his mate. He wouldn’t allow any dark thoughts to dampen the euphoria he felt right then. He wouldn’t allow Seth to cut him from his life once the Triad situation was cleared up. Seth was his.

On the way back, despite Seth’s attempts to wiggle free, Kasey held his hand and lightly whistled while walking. “Nick is waiting at your house. I think he’s a little upset, rightly so, if you ask me, that you just left,” he scolded gently. He squeezed Seth’s fingers affectionately. “Promise me you won’t leave either Nick’s or my side again. Not while we are still trying to track the Triads, if they are indeed the ones who trashed your clinic.”

Tensing at the sound of the name he feared, Seth shuddered, unconsciously moving closer to Kasey’s side. Kasey’s arms snaked around his waist, pulling him into his body. “We’ll find whoever this is, pup. But until then I’m going to be by your side every step of the way.”

Seth knew it was unreasonable to believe he wouldn’t freeze like a solid block of ice if he did come face to face with Taggart. Despite the past two years of training he’d gone through, just the thought of that bastard’s name made his blood run cold. Sheer terror alone would render him immobile. Giving a heavy nod, he allowed the older wolf’s strength to seep into his bones. “I know I can’t face him alone,” he croaked. “But… please give me time to process what just happened.”

Kasey tightened his arm around Seth’s waist. “You have all the time you need, Seth. I never intended for our first mating to be quite so… ill-prepared,” he said, grimacing. “But I don’t regret that it happened.”

It baffled Seth why he didn’t feel regrets about it or anything other than a mind-numbing sense of panic that it was already too late to pull away from Kasey and protect his heart. Seth didn’t know what to say, so he remained silent. He could feel something growing between them. Some kind of connection that allowed him to actually feel what his mate felt, but it was more like he was a spectator than the feelings being his own. Pure happiness practically screamed from the other werewolf, and Seth couldn’t quell his own emotions answering Kasey’s. A small smile curled one corner of his mouth, and he buried his face in the side of Kasey’s chest to hide it.

That might have been a mistake, though, because the man’s musky scent stung his nostrils, and it sent desire spiking through him. Arousal settled low between his thighs, and he found himself once again semi-erect. Kasey chuckled against him, his strong fingers stroking lightly over Seth’s waist, but the sheriff didn’t say anything in response to the scent of his lust. Whenever he was near Kasey, it seemed almost impossible to keep his body from reacting. It seemed like he’d been horny since they’d met. Another emotion Seth wasn’t used to, either.

Nick stood waiting on the front porch, and the instant he saw them, his bright-green gaze widened. His lips pressed together firmly, and he gave a hardened look at Kasey but didn’t say anything, or else he’d give away his own secret before he was ready to. “Where’ve you been, Seth? Why’d you run out?”

Seth had the grace to look chastised before mumbling, “I had to, Nick. Just to get away for a while.”

Emerald eyes traveled over the both of them, noting the leaves and dirt clinging to their clothing. “So… is there something you want to tell me?”

A small sound left Seth’s throat as he dropped his gaze to his best friend’s feet. “I… uh….”

“We’ve mated,” Kasey said bluntly.

“Kasey!” Seth exclaimed, his cheeks blazing hotly, and he pressed his face into Kasey’s shoulder, hiding his expression.

Nick laughed then, breaking the tension. He reached out and clapped Seth on the shoulder. “No need to be embarrassed, Seth. I could tell that even without him saying it. But I’m glad. It means I’ll have some help keeping an eye on a certain wayward wolf.”

A scowl creased Seth’s brow, and he opened his mouth to refute the other’s statement, but Kasey smoothly interrupted him. “Why don’t you go take a hot shower, pup? It’ll help you relax, and then afterward we can talk, okay?”

Seth wanted to refuse, but he’d already been thinking of a shower because of how dirty he felt, not just from his romp in the grass with Kasey but also from being in the office at his clinic. His skin still crawled with the memory. “Fine,” he said tersely before stalking past Nick and into the house.

Nick waited until Seth was in the bathroom before he turned on Kasey and snapped at him, “What the hell happened out there? Did you force him?!”

Kasey’s eyes narrowed dangerously, flashing between canine and human pupils in his anger that Nick would suggest such a thing. He clenched his hands at his side to keep from slugging Nick. “I’m going to forget you said that. So let’s move on to another subject, like what we’re going to do about Taggart and the Triad.”

Not entirely accepting that Kasey didn’t push Seth into their first mating, Nick still had a skeptical look on his face, even though he let it go for now. He would talk to Seth later on when they had a moment to themselves. Turning, he entered the house, clearly expecting Kasey to follow him.

Kasey didn’t disappoint and was hot on his heels. The last time he’d been in Seth’s house, he hadn’t really paid attention to their surroundings. His attention had been entirely focused on Seth and getting through to his mate. What he saw brought him to a standstill.

The house was practically barren inside, with no personal effects to stamp the house as Seth’s. Kasey’s eyes roved over the empty walls and shelves. The only furniture in the room was a couch, an easy chair, a coffee table, and a small television set. On the bar between the kitchen and living room were a telephone and a rack holding some spices. There were more material items in the kitchen such as pots, dishes, and such, but still no personal “stamp” to it. “Is this… because he just moved in?” Kasey asked the other male werewolf softly, his heart pulsating with an ache that seemed to radiate through his body.

Nick’s lips pursed with distaste. “No. He keeps it this way because of the last two years. Moving place to place left him with very little home comforts, if you know what I mean. The only things he doesn’t let go are his books. He keeps the spare bedroom as his library. And I think he believes that he doesn’t deserve to have a home like most people. He thinks he did something to deserve all of the bad things happening to him. So he keeps it empty, easy to pack up and leave if necessary. His office at the clinic is the first thing in two years that I’ve seen him actually put effort into, and that bastard destroyed it. I have no doubt Seth is going to revert back to having nothing so he has nothing to lose. Aside from me and Bullet, you’re the first person I’ve seen him get so close to in a long time, Sheriff.”

Kasey sank down onto the couch in a daze. Seth lived like a monk because he was afraid. It made him finally understand what Seth had been saying out in the woods. He couldn’t need him, not because he didn’t want to but because he thought that if he let himself need Kasey, then he’d feel it so much more if he lost him. Kasey’s nails dug into the sofa cushion as he realized just what Taggart had stolen from his mate. “I think it’s time you call me Kasey,” he said suddenly, looking up very seriously at Nick. “Because if you are the one person he trusts most, I need you on my side to make him understand I’m not going to leave him.”

Nick’s green eyes shrewdly examined the Cheyenne sitting on the well-used sofa. Strength and sincerity shone from Kasey’s dark eyes, and the tension Nick had been feeling since the news of Seth finding his mate eased from him. He truly relaxed and gave Kasey a wide grin, emeralds sparkling in his lightly tanned features. “It’s about time Seth opened himself up to someone besides me, and I think you’re just the right one to make him do it. As a Rho, Seth has an innate need to be dominated. Despite his attempts to make himself stronger, his wolf side won’t allow him to do anything but be dominated in the presence of a bigger, stronger wolf. He’s peaceful by nature, and fighting has never been something he should have to do.”

Kasey nodded. “He won’t be fighting at all. And I think you should tell him the truth, Nick. About you. If you keep lying to him, and he finds out some other way than from you, it will hurt him far worse than if you tell him.”

A sigh whispered from Nick before he spoke quietly. “Even though my pack sent me to watch over him, and at first I thought it merely an assignment, Seth has been my best friend almost from the moment I met him. He became more than an assignment. He’s like my brother.”

“If Seth cares about you as much as I think he does, he’ll forgive you, Nick. You just have to be honest with him,” Kasey replied.

“Forgive him for what?” Seth’s voice interrupted their conversation, and Nick visibly tensed.

Chapter Eight

Seth
stood in the doorway, hair still damp from his shower, wearing a pair of soft blue jeans and a gray T-shirt. His eyes darted between them, and he frowned. Kasey’s gut twisted at the fresh clean scent coming from his mate, and it was all he could do to keep from going to him and kissing him senseless. He held out his hand for Seth to join him on the sofa. Nick had already claimed the easy chair across from him. Seth hesitated but slowly drifted over to the couch, sinking down next to Kasey just close enough to be able to feel the heat from the other’s body. “Forgive you for what, Nick?”

Nick knew there was no way around it and with a heavy heart began to explain what he’d told Kasey earlier. He couldn’t bear to watch as the light of betrayal entered those blue eyes, and his gaze dropped to his lap. Dead silence dominated the room when Nick had finished. Seth hadn’t said a word, which made Nick’s stomach sink even further.

Seth stared at his best friend of fourteen years. His heartbeat sounded loud in his ears as he listened to Nick telling him that their friendship was a lie, that he didn’t have to be alone, that he had a pack out there. Somewhere he could have belonged. Nick had been sent by them to watch over him and protect him. “Why, Nick? Why didn’t they claim me after my parents died?” he finally asked in a faint voice.

Nick winced and ran a hand over his face. “You’re a Rho, Seth. Until you found your mate, fights would break out within the pack over the right to claim you, and they couldn’t chance that. It was too unstable of a situation. Once you were born and your parents realized what you were, they chose to leave the pack out of fear for your safety. The Alpha didn’t entirely agree with your parents’ decision to hide you away, but he also felt the need to think of the sanity of our pack members. Perhaps things should have been handled differently, but they… we thought it would be safer for you if you didn’t know the truth. If you were left in the dark until you found your mate, it would be harder for any wolf to tell what you are unless they knew of your healing ability.”