Axel's Pup (62 page)

“If I’d moved in with you, it would have been impossible for you to find a mate,” she pointed out. Her scent made it clear she was humouring him. “You wouldn’t have brought a third wolf into the house, and you wouldn’t have asked me to leave when you found a mate either.”

Hope flickered. “Axel’s not a wolf. He said you can come to live with us and—”

“I wouldn’t have been able to ask you to leave if I found a new lupine mate either,” his mother cut in.

Bayden looked up. “You’ve found a new mate?”

She hesitated. “Maybe.”

Bayden automatically looked over both his shoulders, as if this possible mate might jump out at any moment.

“She’s not here today. But, perhaps there will be a time when I’m the one introducing my new mate to you rather than the other way around.”

Bayden’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t say you wanted to move in here to be with your mate.”

“No, I moved in here because I thought it would be the best for you and for me, and because I thought I could do some good here. I hadn’t met her then.” She set down her cup. “If I didn’t know you were a good wolf—a strong wolf who can take care of himself and anyone else who needs your help, I would never have accepted a place here. I’d have wanted to,” she stressed. “I would have regretted not being able to be here, but I wouldn’t have left you unless I knew you were strong enough to thrive. And I think that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

Bayden turned his attention to his knuckles and studied them for a while.

“That’s nothing to feel guilty about, love.”

He met her eyes.

“That’s the real problem isn’t it?” she said. “Things have worked out in a way that let you get on with your own life and be happy, but you feel guilty.”

Bayden closed his eyes. Six weeks. If his grandfather hadn’t died, if his mother hadn’t taken a residential place at Danville, he’d have had six weeks with Axel before he’d have had to give it up and go back to taking the kind of bets Axel would never have let his sub take.

Now, he might never have to give Axel up, but the price other people had to pay to make that possible. He shook his head.

“You’re allowed to be happy.”

“It’s just…”

“Stop trying to punish yourself. He’d have wanted you to be happy. You’re not respecting his memory by making yourself miserable. Throwing away what you could have with Axel isn’t going to bring him back.”

Bayden pushed his hand through his hair.

“Would he be disappointed that I’ve found a place where I can be happy and comfortable, where I can help other people?”

“Of course not.”

She smiled. “The same goes for you finding a good home with Axel. Accepting that things changed when he died and moving on isn’t the same as being glad he’s dead, love.”

Bayden swallowed. “He always thought I was too much like dad. He was right.”

“You’re very like your father in a lot of ways.”

Bayden looked down.

“But in one way you’re more like me. You’re not destined to be an alpha, love, but you’ll make a good mate for one.”

Bayden hesitated.

“You’re not wrong to see that in him. It’s there. He’s just as much an alpha as your father was. You’re right to think he cares about you a great deal, too.”

Bayden glanced across to Axel. “I love him.” He whispered it softly, as if Axel might overhear him if he said it just a fraction louder. “I didn’t mean to, but…”

“You didn’t mean to fall in love with a human?” she asked.

Bayden stared at Axel’s back. He nodded.

“That’s nothing to feel guilty about, either.”

Bayden took a deep breath. They were supposed to be talking about her, not him. “Is your mate an alpha too?”

“We’ll talk about her another time,” she promised. “Your mate is waiting to come back to the table.”

Bayden knew that tone of voice. He might technically be the most dominant wolf at the table, but only one of them was the mother. He was halfway to his feet when Axel glanced across at them and met his gaze.

When Axel re-joined them, Bayden was aware that Axel was trying to read his body language. Bayden smiled up at him, trying to make it easier for him. Axel set his hand on the small of Bayden’s back as he sat down. It felt nice. After a moment’s consideration, Bayden put his hand lightly on Axel’s thigh in return.

When Bayden looked up, his mother was smiling at them.

Half an hour later, as they got to their feet and said their goodbyes, Axel once again left Bayden alone with his mother.

Bayden took the money from the bet out of his pocket.

“Bayden.”

He smiled at the chiding note. “I know you don’t need it. But, maybe one of the other women here could use it—one of the women you’re helping.”

“Or you could use it yourself,” she pointed out gently.

 “It’s… Axel doesn’t like how I earned it.” Bayden looked down at the money. “He has a point.”

She hesitated.

Bayden shook his head when he realised what she had to assume. Even if he’d never told her what he’d done to earn money, he knew she’d guessed a long time ago. “I just threw a fight. He doesn’t like it when I get hurt.”

She took the money and slipped it into her pocket.

“I’ll see you again soon?” Bayden asked.

“Whenever you want.” She smiled. “Both you and your mate.”

* * * * *

“Well?” Axel asked, as they got into his car.

“She likes you. She said we can visit whenever we want.”

Axel nodded. He’d hoped Bayden would say more, but he fell silent. Axel gripped the steering wheel tightly and tried to keep his scent calm while he waited. They were halfway home and the steering wheel was close to getting permanent fingertip impressions in it before Bayden was finally ready to speak.

“She’s met a new mate.” His tone gave away nothing.

“That’s good?” Axel hazarded.

“She’s helping a lot of the other women who live there.”

“Good.”

“She said she can look after herself. She’s there to help wolves, not to get help off humans.”

“That’s good, too,” Axel said, a little more confidently.

Bayden nodded. “She’s a good wolf, sir.”

Axel changed gears and took a risk. “Is she good in the same way as your father or the same way as your grandfather?”

Silence descended again. Several minutes passed.

“Good in her own way. I think, maybe there’s more than one way to be a good wolf,” Bayden said, very softly.

Axel nodded, but the knife-edge still remained.

Several miles passed before Bayden spoke again. “She said my granddad would understand that adapting to the way things changed when he died isn’t the same as being glad he died. He wouldn’t think that made someone a bad wolf.”

Axel’s grip on the steering wheel finally eased.

“I hear there’s going to be a bike up for sale.”

It wasn’t about someone wanting another beer. It wasn’t exactly an unusual topic of conversation. Bayden let the words flow around him as he dried one of the glasses he’d just washed and set it back on the shelf.

He glanced across to where Axel was working at the other end of the bar and smiled slightly. Maybe his mother was right—it was okay to smile. It was okay to be glad that he could have more than six weeks with Axel, even if he hated the event that made that possible.

“Bayden.”

He turned around. Tolmore and Hale sat next to each other at the bar.

“Is it true that Axel’s putting your bike up for sale?” Tolmore asked, his voice just a fraction too innocent to be believable.

“No, it’s not true,” he said, with forced calm. Tolmore was just trying to wind him up, that was all. Being an arsehole was pretty much Tolmore’s default state. Bayden’s fist still tightened around the cloth at the idea of anyone talking about his bike that way.

“So you’re not his sub? You just call him sir because you work for him?” Tolmore asked, in that same fake casual tone.

“I’m his sub,” Bayden corrected. His knuckles turned white.

“A real sub rides on the back of his master’s bike. That’s why it’s called a bitch seat. Seems kind of suitable for a werewolf…”

Bayden knew that it wasn’t just Tolmore who was waiting to see what kind of reaction he’d get. Hale was taking in every detail. A cop was paying attention. Axel’s friend was listening.

A hand landed on Bayden’s shoulder. “Time for your break.”

It wasn’t anything of the sort, but Bayden didn’t argue. He followed Axel into his office.

“I didn’t growl at him, sir.” Bayden offered. That counted as progress of a sort, didn’t it? Surely, it meant he was a little closer to acting like a human, even if he wasn’t all the way there yet.

“Why not?” Axel demanded.

Bayden hesitated.

“Why didn’t you growl at him?” Axel asked again. “Because a good wolf wouldn’t, a good sub wouldn’t? Because you didn’t think I’d like it if you did?”

Bayden shrugged.

Axel leaned against the edge of his desk. “A few months ago, you’d have had him by the balls for calling any wolf that word.”

“That was before, sir.”

“Before you started submitting to me?”

Bayden nodded.

“I may not have liked the rich tosser act, and I hated the lies. But I never had a problem with your attitude. I’ve never told you not to stand up for yourself. I think that part of the act was actually a damn sight closer to the real you—to what you’d be like if you weren’t checking your instincts all the time.”

Bayden pushed his hands into his pockets.

“You said before that you could tear any of their throats out whenever you wanted.”

Bayden stepped forward. He put his hand on Axel’s arm the way he knew Axel didn’t mind. “I wouldn’t do that, sir.”

Axel waved away the reassurance, even as he slid his arm around Bayden and welcomed him close. “Is there a middle ground?”

“Between being a wolf and a human?” Bayden asked.

“No, between killing them and letting them talk shit whenever they feel like it.”

Bayden frowned.

“Can you make it clear there are certain things that a human can’t call a wolf without seriously hurting one of them?”

Bayden ran his fingers over Axel’s T-shirt—so familiar with Axel’s body he could easily trace the line of a tattoo that was hidden away. “I’ve had a lot of fights with humans. I’ve never lost my temper. I’ve never killed one.”

“Can you make your point without risking you getting hurt at all?”

Bayden nodded.

“At all,” Axel stressed.

He looked up. “Yes, sir.”

“Do it.”

Bayden’s fingers fell still. “A wolf can’t react every time a human says something stupid, sir.” Memories rushed through his mind. It was a nice fantasy, but a wolf couldn’t do it. He shook his head. “It would cause too much trouble, draw too much attention.”

“In my pub, a wolf can do whatever I give him permission to do.” The tone was pure alpha.

Bayden met his gaze.

“I’m not telling you that you have to throw down with every idiot in the world, pup. But if you’re going to be part of this club, part of this pack, you need to be able to make sure the other guys know when they’ve screwed up. Maybe in other pubs we have to be more careful, but not here. Here, it’s safe for you to be a wolf.”

It was a fantastic tone of voice. It sent a shiver down Bayden’s spine and blood rushing to his cock. Bayden was pretty sure Axel didn’t intend it to be erotic, but, God, it was.

“Any questions?” Axel said.

Just one. “Why?”

“Because there are some lines they have to learn not to cross. They push—you push back. If you can make damn sure they never make the same mistake again, all the better.”

He was teaching Bayden how to be the kind of sub he wanted—what a human expected off a member of his pack, regardless of species. It was what Bayden had wanted for so long. “Yes, sir.”

“Just remember that I meant what I said, pup. I’m giving you permission to make an example out of the next person who calls you that, not to kill anyone off entirely.”

Bayden nodded. He was halfway to the door when he paused. “Is it like bets and fights, sir?”

Axel raised an eyebrow.

“Not when I’m on the clock?” Bayden specified.

“No. You can do it whenever you want.”

Bayden nodded to himself. He went back to work. Axel did the same. One glance at the men on the other side of the bar and Bayden knew that most of them thought that Axel had taken him out of the room to read him the riot act.

Be polite to customers. Be polite to club members. Be polite to doms.

The only ones who didn’t seem so sure that the lecture had taken that course were Griz and Hale. They looked from Bayden to Axel and back again. Griz smiled into his drink. Hale rolled his eyes.

Tolmore, apparently oblivious to all that, sat up straighter. “Setting a price on your bike?”

Bayden looked him up and down as far as possible from his side of the bar. “There are some things it’s a really bad idea to call a wolf.” His words were softly spoken and calm. He met Tolmore’s gaze and held it.

It was a clear warning. Tolmore had heard it. He was sober enough to understand it.

“I’m terrified,” Tolmore drawled.

Bayden shrugged. He’d warned the man. It wasn’t his fault if Tolmore was too stupid to take it.

Tolmore laughed. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say. Bloody hell, you should at least talk a better game. Even a dom’s bi—”

Axel’s orders hadn’t stopped in Bayden’s human mind. It was permission from Bayden’s alpha and it had sunk in, right down to the instinctive wolf part of his psyche. Bayden didn’t stop to think. He didn’t even wait around to hear the second half of the syllable.

Anger rushed through Bayden, and for the first time in so many years, he didn’t try to check it. He launched himself across the bar, shifting mid-air. Tolmore toppled as Bayden’s paws connected with his shoulders.

Tolmore hit the floor, hard. Bayden landed on top of him. A growl reverberated in Bayden’s throat, but it was nothing like the noise he made with a human voice box. This sound came from an entirely lupine throat.

Most of his clothes had fallen away as he shifted. He shook away the tattered remains of his vest. Tolmore tried to push him off and scramble to his feet. Another growl from Bayden killed that idea in its tracks.