Gregory's Rebellion (3 page)

Hayden was his mate.

“Uh, my name is Gregory Hale.” Gregory held out his hand for Hayden to shake. It trembled uncontrollably as it inched towards the young man.

Hayden’s eyes widened and he looked at Gregory’s hand as though it were something that could bite him. How the hell was Hayden so unaffected by their meeting? Gregory wanted to pounce on Hayden and rub himself all over the jaguar, to bathe him in his scent. But Hayden didn’t seem to recognise their bond at all. If he did, he wasn’t acknowledging it.

“How do you know who I am?” Hayden demanded.

Gregory knew he should tell Hayden he worked for the supernatural council. It was paramount that Hayden come with him. But his instinct to protect the shifter was so strong he couldn’t bring himself to utter the words. And there was no goddamn way Gregory could tell the council Hayden was his mate. Council members were discouraged from mating, and after the spate of killings that had occurred recently, he couldn’t take the chance. Not after what had happened to his partner Ashton’s mate.

The
official
story was that Tania had disturbed some thugs that had broken in to burgle their house while Gregory and Ashton had been away on an assignment. But the fact that other council members’ mates had died in much the same way had convinced Gregory that the council was behind her death, even though he hadn’t been able to prove it yet. Ashton had thought he’d found the person responsible for her murder and he’d died getting revenge, but Gregory was certain Ashton had killed the wrong man. He was convinced Dean was behind the murders and when he found the proof he needed, he
would
make him pay.

No. Gregory would not willingly hand over Hayden to the council, no matter what it cost him. For once in his life, he didn’t give a damn about the consequences. He’d fight every single member in the council if he had to…anything to keep Hayden safe.

“There will be men coming here to get you, Hayden.” Gregory kept his voice as calm as he could so that he didn’t spook the young shifter. “If you come with me now, I can protect you.”

At first, Hayden looked at him as though he were crazy. But then a faint trace of fear reached Gregory’s nose and Hayden began edging away. His eyes darted around as though searching for an escape route.
Crap
. Gregory couldn’t have that. Maybe he needed to be firmer with his mate, more direct.

“Running won’t do you any good. I know the diner you work at and I know where you live.” Gregory didn’t want to frighten the kid but how else was he going to get him to listen to him?
Whatever you do, Hayden, don’t run.

Hayden started running.

“
Fuck
!” Gregory took off at breakneck speed. Hayden was fast, but as they raced through the busy city streets, Gregory started to gain some ground.

“Hayden, wait!”

Hayden veered left, away from the direction of the diner and sprinted across a busy intersection, narrowly missing several passing cars. They honked their horns repeatedly, swerving to avoid him, but none of them stopped. Christ, if the kid wasn’t careful he was going to get himself killed.

“Goddamn it, Hayden. Wait up!”

Gregory picked up his pace, pushing his legs to work harder and, to his relief, Hayden ran into a narrow alleyway. This could work to his advantage. He prayed the alley would lead to a dead end. He couldn’t very well keep chasing Hayden around the city all day. The kid was fast, and Gregory had ten years on him.

Gregory thanked everything that was holy when the alley ended with a ten-foot brick wall. Unless Hayden had some major jumping ability, he wouldn’t be going anywhere.

“Hayden, please!”

Hayden spun around when he reached the wall. His eyes were wide with fear and Gregory could see the small, prickling movements that rolled over the jaguar’s skin.
Shit.
Hayden was about to shift. That often happened when a cat felt afraid or under threat.

“Stay back!” Hayden warned.

Hayden pinned his back to the wall and spread his arms wide. He closed his eyes and cried out as his face contorted with pain. His chest was rising and falling rapidly and his knuckles bulged as his sharp claws threatened to make an appearance. Gregory took a step closer. He might not have been mated before but he knew mates had a calming influence over each other if they were in close proximity.

Hayden’s eyes flew open. “I said stay back. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“It’s okay. You won’t hurt me…you can’t.”

Hayden drew his eyebrows together then cried out again, from what must have been another burst of pain ripping through his body. He was fighting the onset of the shift, but Gregory didn’t think it was a battle his mate would win. He’d never seen a shifter this close to shifting before that had been able to remain human. He knew Hayden couldn’t fight it for much longer—the pain would be excruciating. Partial shifts were one thing but when the whole body began its transformation, a shifter could only go so far before there was no way back.

Hayden blinked and his eyes shifted to their cat form. A low hiss tore from his throat and, while Gregory watched, Hayden’s limbs began to elongate, his bones lengthening and changing shape in front of his eyes. It was too late, but Hayden still fought. The strangest thing was that Gregory couldn’t smell Hayden’s cat. At all. Considering how close Hayden was to a full shift, his cat’s scent should be prominent, but Hayden smelt damn near human.

“Hayden, listen to me.” Gregory kept his voice quiet, soothing. “Don’t fight it anymore, do you understand me? It’s better if you shift. The pain will stop.”

Hayden shook his head and continued to fight against the shift. Gregory took a step closer and pulled in a deep breath. There was still no trace of Hayden’s cat and when he next met Gregory’s gaze his eyes had shifted back to their human form.

“Ungh!” Hayden fell to his knees. His breathing was laboured and sweat poured down his face. His bones began to shorten and realign with sickening snaps and cricks. By the time Hayden glanced up at Gregory from beneath thick, dark lashes, every physical manifestation of ‘his cat had disappeared. Gregory couldn’t smell the jaguar inside him at all. If he hadn’t been here to witness it, he would have never believed it possible.

Kneeling on the ground in front of his mate, he placed his hand on Hayden’s shoulder and, to his relief, Hayden didn’t shrug it off.

“How did you do that?” he asked in amazement. “You were so close to a full shift. How did you stop it?”

“Can’t…shift,” Hayden panted.

Now it was Gregory’s turn to be confused. “I don’t understand. What do you mean you can’t shift?”

“Can’t shift—too dangerous. Hurt…people.”

Gregory watched in horror as Hayden’s eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground, unconscious. He didn’t even have time to protect the jaguar’s head before it slammed against the hard concrete with a loud crack.

Chapter Two

Pacing the floor of his rented unit, Gregory thought about his next move. He had managed to carry Hayden back without attracting too much attention but the young jaguar was still passed out on his bed. He made sure the door was locked and all the drapes were closed before walking into the bedroom and taking a seat in the small chair beside the bed. He studied his mate.

Only when he’d got Hayden back to the condo and resting on his bed had he been able to get a good look at him. Hayden was breathtaking. Truly spectacular. The only thing that marred the perfection of his face was a deep scar that ran from his left eye down to his lip. Gregory was surprised he hadn’t noticed it before. He’d been watching Hayden for three days. How could he have missed something like that? In his defence, he’d been keeping a safe distance from Hayden and the jaguar always walked with his head down, eyes to the ground. Maybe his scar was the reason why.

The more he looked at it, the more the scar stood out. It appeared to have been there for some time, judging by the colour and texture. Gregory had never seen a shifter with a scar like that before. But then, shifters changed into their second form regularly, so any wounds normally had the chance to heal. But if what Hayden had said was true, and he hadn’t shifted recently to his jaguar form, that would explain why the scar had never healed.

When the kid woke up, Gregory would have to talk to him about that. But it would be best to let him sleep, let his body recover. He had never heard of a shifter that fought the shift before. How had Hayden managed to do it? Cat shifters were different from wolves in that they weren’t governed by the moon, but his body would still have been trying to shift at regular intervals. How long had he been fighting it, denying his cat? The near-shift would have been extremely painful and have used up a lot of Hayden’s energy reserves. Gregory hoped he would feel better when he awoke. For the time being, he was content to sit and look his fill while he tried desperately to ignore the effect the young cat was having on his body.

 Since he’d started working for the council, Gregory had met many mated couples and he’d heard often what it felt like when a shifter found their other half. But the descriptions had been wrong. Maybe not wrong exactly, but they had certainly been understated. Gregory didn’t think he could put his feelings into words as he watched his mate sleep. Wonder, awe and an overwhelming sense of peace were some of the emotions that were the most potent.
Everything
about Hayden felt right.

And Gregory still couldn’t smell Hayden’s cat. It was as though the kid had pushed his jaguar so far inside himself when he’d fought the shift, buried it so deep, that only his human side remained. Gregory couldn’t understand how Hayden had managed to do that. He suspected that to be the reason Hayden couldn’t sense their mating bond. It was the animal side to a shifter that recognised their mate, but Hayden’s jaguar had been kept too far at bay. It saddened him that Hayden didn’t know who he was or what they were to each other. For Gregory, Hayden was the only light in a world of darkness.

A small smile played on his lips as he watched Hayden’s eyes flicker and his body twitch. He was dreaming. Gregory would love nothing more than to glimpse into his mate’s mind. As he watched Hayden in slumber, his cell began to vibrate. He fished the phone out of his pocket and checked the number. It was his superior at the council. Riley was the last person Gregory wanted to talk to, but he knew he couldn’t put off the call.

He got up from the chair and took the cell into the bathroom in the hall. He closed the door quietly and pressed a button to answer the call. “Gregory.”

* * * *

Hayden woke with a start and his eyes darted around the room while they tried to adjust to the low light conditions. How the hell had he got here? And what had happened to him? He felt exhausted—physically and emotionally. His head throbbed and every muscle in his body ached as though he’d run two marathons back to back. Slowly, the fog that clouded his mind began to clear and Hayden remembered running from the man—
Gregory
—on the street, being cornered and nearly shifting. He couldn’t believe it had happened again. More and more frequently Hayden’s body had been trying to shift, and each time it was increasingly difficult to resist. Hayden suspected he had passed out again. Had Gregory brought him here while he’d been unconscious?

Sitting up, Hayden looked around the small, sparsely decorated room. He swung his legs off the bed, fighting a wave of dizziness that threatened to topple him, when he heard a raised voice coming from what must have been the bathroom in the hall.

As quietly as he could manage, he slid off the bed and tiptoed across the room until he stood outside the door. He listened to the one-sided conversation.

“There was nothing I could do, Riley. He ran, got away from me. Yes, yes, I realise that. I don’t know—I went back to his apartment but he didn’t show up and he hasn’t turned up for work, either.”

At once Hayden thought about his job.
Shit
. Would Mac be pissed off at him for not turning up? Would he be worried? Hayden had never missed a day since he’d started working at the diner almost two years ago.

“I think he bailed,” Gregory continued. “No. there’s no need to bring anyone else in on this, I’ve got it covered. Fine, whatever. I’ll call you if I find anything.”

What the hell had that been about? He thought about making a run for it, but he didn’t see the point. Gregory knew where he lived
and
worked and he had no place else to go. Besides, he wanted answers—needed them. Mostly he wanted to trust Gregory, which was a damn crazy idea considering he’d only just met the man and knew nothing about him. But, for some reason, he didn’t think Gregory meant him any harm.

When he heard Gregory end the call, Hayden stood back from the door, leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. Gregory pulled open the door and the second he set eyes on Hayden his face broke out into a wide, genuine smile that morphed his face into the most beautiful thing Hayden had ever set eyes on.

Bangs from Gregory’s dark brown hair fell forward, slightly obscuring eyes that were the deepest shade of blue Hayden had ever seen. They were currently smiling at him. He tried to ignore Gregory’s delicious smell and the things it was doing to his body. He needed answers—now was not the time to think about his dick, even though it felt harder than it had ever been.
Focus, Hayden
. He glared at the man.

“You’re awake.”

“Perceptive,” Hayden scoffed. “I want to know what the hell is going on! Who are you and what do you want with me? Who is Riley? You said there were men coming for me—what did you mean by that?”

Hayden’s questions came out in a rush. He was so angry he even forgot to turn his head so Gregory wouldn’t have to look at his scar. He couldn’t blame people for looking but he knew it made them uncomfortable so he tried to save them the embarrassment. As soon as he remembered he lowered his head, even though Gregory hadn’t so much as glanced at it. He’d looked Hayden directly in the eye.