Chasing Seth (6 page)

“See? My hand is fine. I know you would never hurt me on purpose. Come lie back down.” His hand patted the bed beside him as the black wolf watched him warily. Kasey’s jaw clenched at the mistrusting gleam in those blue eyes he’d already come to cherish. He could hardly wait to meet his mate’s human side. He was certain the other male had quite a personality with the attitude the wolf had given him already. Smiling disarmingly, he patted the bed again. “Please?”

Elation soared through Kasey when his mate slunk forward and sank down on the bed beside him. He laid his hand on the soft fur at the nape of his neck, earning a slight growl, but his mate did not try to shake it off. Kasey stroked his fingers gently over the black fur, soothing the wolf as best he could. “No one will hurt you ever again, pup. I swear it,” he murmured.

Kasey felt the other shifter relax into sleep after a while. His thoughts wandered back over the reactions from his mate. Charlie had been right. It would take a lot of patience to earn his mate’s trust. He just prayed he would be able to find the patience inside himself. His pup’s scream of pain echoed in his ears, and he could only imagine what had happened to the wolf to cause him to make such a sound of agony. It spoke of such pain that it had almost shattered his heart when he’d heard it.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, so he merely lay there listening to his mate breathe. The leg would be healed by the time he woke again, and even if Kasey had to tie the wolf down, he wasn’t leaving until he shifted. He would not allow his mate to leave him without being able to find him again.

When the sun rose completely into the sky, he sat up and moved to the chair nearby. His eyes did not leave the black wolf resting in his bed.

The wolf stirred not long after he’d awakened and lifted his head to peer around the room. “Good morning, pup,” Kasey greeted him softly. “It’s time to show me your human form.”

His mate froze, eyes growing wary and watchful. Kasey sighed. “Come on, pup. I promise not to bite… yet.” He grinned seductively at the black wolf.

Seth shuddered at the implication behind that. There was no way in hell he was changing back to his human form in front of Kasey. The man would more than likely want to shoot him or even go so far as to kill him, after Seth had bitten his hand last night, once he knew who Seth was.

Kasey’s hand looked fine. There wasn’t even a blemish where Seth’s teeth had pierced the skin. He licked his lips in memory of the man’s sweet taste in his mouth last night.

Unless he jumped through the glass window, he had no way out, and it didn’t appear that Kasey intended to go anywhere anytime soon. A whimper stuck in his throat at being trapped again. He whined as he looked at Kasey. He saw the teasing gleam in Kasey’s eyes dull as the man sat forward, a serious expression on his face. “I’m not going to hurt you. Please shift back, pup. Please,” the man begged him.

Seth felt torn. He wanted to give in and believe what Kasey told him, but the image of those eyes turning from an almost tender look to a horrified one stopped him from shifting. The big Cheyenne wouldn’t want a scrawny little nobody, especially a white guy like him.

Wait a minute… what the hell was he thinking? He didn’t want this man to want him. Maybe if he did shift back, the man would leave him alone. It might be the only way to get him to stop insisting they were mates. Somewhere inside, the idea seemed to hurt, but he ruthlessly pulled on the cloak of numbness he usually wore around his emotions.

Steeling himself for the hatred the big man would certainly send his way, Seth closed his eyes and made the change. The bright flash of light caused Kasey to look away momentarily, but once Seth was in his full human form, the sheriff sucked in a deep breath. Rage began to glitter deep in those dark eyes. “What the fuck is this?”

Swallowing, Seth kept himself from shrinking back against the wall. He glared at the bigger werewolf. “What the fuck does it look like?”

“You’re one of the Created!” Kasey stood, knocking the chair over and causing Seth to flinch when the chair cracked against the wooden floor.

“I am not!” he shouted. “I was born this way.”

“You’re lying!” Kasey stalked closer to the bed, looming over Seth, who this time could not stop himself from shrinking back against the wall behind him. Fear etched itself all over his face. “You are not Native American. Only my people are born this way! You are a white man.”

Seth almost screamed when Kasey’s hands wrapped around his shoulders and shook him. “Stop,” he choked out.

“You told me you weren’t one of them! I won’t have one of the Created for my mate. You’re an abomination,” Kasey growled, his hands tightening painfully on Seth’s shoulders. “You don’t even smell like wolf in your human form. That’s not possible!”

Hurt punched Seth right in the gut, but he blocked out the pain. He’d known this would happen. Unable to take that punishing grip any further, he brought his arms up and slammed them against the sheriff’s bigger forearms, knocking them away. In the blink of an eye, he was across the room, his hands fisted at his sides. “I won’t be your mate either way, you son of a bitch. So you don’t have to worry about it.”

He drew himself to his full five foot eight inches and, hiding behind an icy expression he used to hide his true emotions, said, “Whether you choose to believe me or not is not my concern, Sheriff, but I was born a werewolf. And I don’t smell like one because it’s the only way to protect myself from assholes like you.”

Seth didn’t wait for a response. He ripped open the door and raced out of the cabin. The instant he hit the fresh air, he shifted again and, in a blur of black, crashed through the trees. He had no idea where he was, but at that moment in time, he didn’t care. His chest hurt. His assumptions the man wouldn’t want him afterward had been correct, but what he didn’t understand was the feeling of his heart being ground up into a million pieces.

He felt a wet heat running over his muzzle, soaking into his fur, and to his utter disbelief, he realized he was crying. What the hell? He should be happy he’d been right. Now the sheriff would leave him alone. He wouldn’t have to worry the man would—

His mind shut down those thoughts immediately. His heart already felt too raw from what had just happened to think about his past.

Kasey’s words that he’d never hurt Seth and his endearment of “pup” rattled around inside his mind over and over again. It’d all been a lie. And for some reason, that hurt the most. His mind filled with bitterness at how he’d actually begun to believe the sheriff wouldn’t hurt him. The grip on his shoulders had more than proved the man really had lied to him. And the words he’d used: “You’re an abomination.” Pain twisted deep in his gut. The words jabbed into his chest like knives. He’d always thought the same of himself until he’d found others like him. But now… now he wished he’d never dreamed of finding others, because all they’d ever done was hurt him.

Anger
surged through Kasey as he roared like a lion denied a kill, knocking over the table in the small kitchen area. Dishes shattered as they hit the ground. How could this have possibly happened? His fear of the black wolf being one of the Created had come to be true. And it turned out to be the infuriating veterinarian, to top it all off. Swear words spilled from his lips, turning the air blue.

Needing to burn off some of the rage coursing through this body, Kasey tore out of the log cabin and shifted on the run. A large black wolf leapt through the clearing and bounded into the trees, following a different path from the other wolf. His keen senses picked up the cinnamon scent of his mate. He growled at the thought of those words. His mate. He’d been overjoyed to find his true mate, but now he wished Seth had never come to Senaka.

A long howl shattered the silence as he raged at his gods.
Why? Why did it have to be one of them?

Seth’s dark-blue eyes flashed through his mind. Before the younger shifter had gotten control of his emotions, there’d been such pain in them. Kasey’s conscience pricked as he remembered the fear on Seth’s face as the vet had cowered beneath him. He’d sworn no one would ever hurt him again, not even himself, and he’d done exactly what he’d said he wouldn’t allow. His guilt waged war against his rage. The insult that he, son of the Alpha, had a white man and a Created for a mate stung his pride fiercely.

Yet the knowledge he’d indeed found his mate also swirled around in his mind with all of the other information he’d just learned. Had he not sworn he wouldn’t let his mate go now that he’d finally found him? But would his people be able to accept his mate as part of their pack? And what of Kasey being Alpha when his father passed on? He threw his head back again and let forth another howl that echoed through the trees.

His father would know what to do, and he was the only one Kasey could tell that his mate was one of the Created to without the rest of the pack finding out. Kasey loped off toward the reservation, heading for his father.

Kasey’s father, Jeremiah Whitedove, held the love and adoration of their people as a firm yet gentle leader. He did not use force unless absolutely necessary. The entire pack loved and respected him. Kasey could only hope one day they would feel the same for him.

The houses on the reservation were mostly empty when he arrived. Most of the others had jobs and left for work early. He knew there would be questions, because he’d been gone for two days. While his mate had slept the night before, Kasey’s deputy and pack mate, Julian Greywolf, had come to the cabin looking for him. Kasey had explained the situation to Julian, who’d immediately congratulated him on finding Seth. Julian would most certainly want to know why Kasey’s mate wasn’t with him when he returned to town.

He shifted to human form on his parents’ front porch and entered the house. “Hey, Dad, you home?”

“In the kitchen, sweetie,” his mother called out.

Smiling, he headed into the kitchen. His mother was a shrewd woman but one of the kindest you’d ever meet. Emily Whitedove wasn’t able to shift into wolf form, but she certainly would have made a beautiful wolf.

Kasey’s parents sat at the dinner table, but when his mother saw his face, she sat up straighter and looked him over in concern. “Did something happen, Kasey?”

Kasey scowled. What could he possibly say? With his shoulders feeling as though there were a huge weight on them, he sank down into the chair next to his father. His eyes shifted between wolf form and his human pupils in his agitation.

Jeremiah stared at his son and knew it must be serious with the scent of so many emotions rolling off him. “Is it one of the Created?” he asked sharply.

“Yes. No. I don’t know,” Kasey snapped. His hands clenched on his thighs. “I… found my mate.”

Emily squealed in excitement. “Who is she? Is she beautiful? What’s her name?”

“Emily,” Jeremiah admonished gently, a fond look in his eyes.

“Don’t go giving me any of that, Jeremiah Whitedove. It’s my son, and he’s finally found his true mate. I want to know everything,” she said, fire dancing in her voice. She wasn’t as submissive as she seemed when it came down to how fiercely she protected and loved her family.

Kasey ran a tired hand over his face. “It’s not a she, Mom. It’s a he.”

Her eyebrows rose to her hairline in surprise. She frowned. “That means no grandchildren from you. Well, I suppose there is always your brother, Thayne.”

Jeremiah looked at Kasey expectantly. “And where is this mate of yours, son? Or is there something else besides him being male that has you in such a state?”

A humorless laugh fell from Kasey’s lips. “You could say that. Aside from him being male, he’s also white and a Created.”

Horror filled his mother’s expression. A Created one? Her son’s mate was one of the Created? In all her years, she’d never heard of such a thing. She reached out and gripped his hand resting on the table, squeezing it in reassurance. “Are you certain he is your mate, Kasey?”

Lips twisting in a cruel smile, he nodded. “I’m positive. You’ve met him already, Mother. He’s the new veterinarian in town.”

Emily frowned. “But… he doesn’t seem like a Created. He doesn’t have the usual signs.”

Kasey realized Seth didn’t appear as the others, and the fact he didn’t smell of wolf, either, left him baffled. The Created ones were never able to focus on any one thing too long. They could barely contain themselves around humans, too eager to feed on them, more animal than human. Their eyes, even in human form, had a slight bleed-through to canine pupils. Frustrated, he curled his hand into a fist. “I know that. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Are you certain he’s a Created?” Jeremiah pressed.

“He’s white, Dad. What else could he be? Only our people are born naturally,” he replied bitterly.

To the pack’s knowledge, perhaps, but Jeremiah had long ago learned otherwise. He knew he would have to reveal the secret he carried. Sighing, he sat back from the table. “Kasey, there is something I have to tell you. As pack Alpha, it is my sworn duty to protect us, all of us, and sometimes secrets are kept in order to do so. Before you were born, a stranger came to our reservation. At first, everyone believed him to be one of the Created. When we attempted to run him from our territory, it became obvious he was different.”

A frown appeared between Kasey’s eyebrows. “I don’t understand. Was he another type of Created? Like a mutation?”

“I am saying he wasn’t a Created at all. I didn’t reveal my discoveries to the rest of the pack because I didn’t want to endanger them. It became a very real possibility one of us may mistake a Created for another wolf.” Jeremiah glanced at his wife to find her giving him a “we are going to talk later” look. He gave her a small roll of his eyes. She knew he couldn’t always reveal things to her despite the fact he often asked her for advice on some of the pack business.

“So it’s possible he told the truth, then,” Kasey mused aloud, not really speaking to his parents but more to himself.

“He told you he wasn’t one of the Created?” Jeremiah sat up straighter, an intense look in his dark-brown eyes. Kasey’s father might be in his late sixties, but he didn’t appear to be older than his late thirties, early forties. It would be hard for anyone to accept Kasey was his son if they hadn’t been the spitting image of each other. Jeremiah had olive-toned skin, raven-colored locks trimmed just below his nape except for one long strand braided over his shoulder, and a strong, muscular body kept in shape by frequent runs in his wolf form.