Little Wolf (60 page)

“You don’t have to do this,” Tim told Nathaniel for the second time, and nearly fell against Zoe when Nathaniel glanced at him. But Tim wouldn’t allow himself a flinch. He didn’t care if Nathaniel killed Luca or sent him to prison for any of the things he’d done. He didn’t care if it ruined what was left of the Dirus name. Nathaniel could have destroyed Luca at any time, and he hadn’t because of Tim. He was bleeding because of Tim.

Nathaniel turned away from Tim to face Luca again. “Get up,” he ordered. Tim didn’t think he was the only one in the crowd who quivered at his tone. “Get up. Tim would.”

Tim shook his head. He was a weak, cowardly little thing. He would not have been getting up for more. Yes, he’d continually escaped, even knowing he risked encounters with Luca, but that had been different. It hadn’t been this. But Luca glanced around, meeting Tim’s eyes for one moment before considering the crowd.

No one was interfering. Luca had no one to save him. Maybe that was why he got to his feet although his wounds were bleeding profusely. He had puncture marks around his throat as well. If no one gave him a chance to rest and heal, if Nathaniel hit him a few more times, he might bleed out.

Luca was used to fighting, rough sparring among other weres to keep the senses sharp. But snarling and shifting wildly only left openings for Nathaniel to hit him again and again, breaking bone at least twice more, sending splashes of blood to the dirt more than that. Luca stayed on his feet as much as he could, surprising Tim and possibly himself, although there was no way he would win this now. Even Luca had to see he would never win this.

“How does it feel?” the sheriff of Wolf’s Paw asked Luca as Luca retracted his claws and shifted to human to spit out his own blood.
Nathaniel
was speaking, the Nathaniel who deserved a throne and a kingdom that stretched to the mountains. “How does it feel knowing I’m bigger than you and no matter how you struggle you’re never going to seriously hurt me?” Nathaniel leaned down over the kneeling Luca, seemingly disregarding any further threat, although Tim didn’t believe that for a second. This was an alpha wolf, a real one, one who led an entire fucking town full of werewolves. Luca snarled at him, but there was no strength in it. Nathaniel swatted Luca’s attacks away easily and once again curled his hand around Luca’s throat. There was a growl in Nathaniel’s voice. “Does it make you feel little?”

“He always feels little,” Tim answered in a frozen sort of voice. “Isn’t that what you wanted me to know?”

Zoe released him, a fact that took Tim a few seconds to process, but by then he was already moving forward.

He wasn’t quiet; he’d never move as quietly as Nathaniel, so of course Nathaniel turned as he approached. Tim was more startled that Nathaniel rose to meet him. He rushed the last few steps until he bumped against Nathaniel, and then Nathaniel growled again. The sound was low and serious and didn’t stop until Nathaniel’s arms were around Tim and Tim curled his hands into Nathaniel’s shirt.

Hurt feelings smelled nothing like the blood of actual wounds, Tim discovered, pushing his face into Nathaniel’s chest to listen to his breathing. Smokey sweet fire and coppery blood and residual anger quickly overwhelmed his senses. He gulped and tightened his grip, shoving his palms roughly against Nathaniel’s muscle and gentling only when Nathaniel grunted. Even that wasn’t much; Tim wasn’t about to let go. He slid a touch down to Nathaniel’s side, only to whimper before he’d reached the holes in the fabric. Luca had dug in, and the punctures had torn when Nathaniel had thrown him. Blood continued to seep out, trickling down to his pants. Tim had an urge to lick it away, which he resisted in order to keep his face where it was.

Nathaniel’s warm hands stroked down Tim’s shoulders, careful motions that did nothing for Tim’s shaking or the fast way he was gulping down air. Tim turned to rub his cheek into Nathaniel’s chest and winced at the pain. For a moment he’d forgotten his own injuries. The hands at his back stilled, and then Nathaniel eased Tim away to look at him, something Tim did not want.

He shook his head forcefully, ignoring Zoe and another khaki-clad deputy prowling over to stand over Luca, and ducked in to keep Nathaniel close. Nathaniel curved a gentle touch over the hot, puffy side of Tim’s face anyway. Tears pricked at Tim’s eyes, which somehow was the most embarrassing part of everything that had happened in the past half hour. He kept his head stubbornly down and mumbled to keep from being overheard. But between his sore jaw and the way his face was pressed to Nathaniel, even he couldn’t tell what he meant. He lifted his head with sudden decision, blinking back tears and gritting his teeth. He stared Nathaniel right in the eye. “Lift me the fuck up.”

He could have cried harder at how quickly Nathaniel tightened his arms around him again, how even wounded, Nathaniel didn’t hesitate. He hauled Tim up and took a few steps to get Tim’s back to the wall, using that to help him keep Tim up, although not once did he put any real weight against Tim. Tim sighed and wrapped his legs around Nathaniel. Fuck the town. Tim could think about them later. Now he was up high enough to bury his face in Nathaniel’s neck and breathe in, long and deep. He could hear Nathaniel doing the same, his nose in Tim’s hair. He would smell Luca there, but that would be gone soon.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Tim was not going to make this point again. It had better stick. Nathaniel huffed. His breath on Tim’s ear tickled. “I mean it,” Tim argued, not recognizing the hoarse, shocked note in his voice and blushing to hear his sniffles. “Just finish him next time.” He couldn’t be still anymore, so he put his mouth to Nathaniel’s chin, then his cheek. He nosed at Nathaniel’s jaw. “You could have. You could take a bear. I can see that. You’re amazing. You should be angry with me. You could have done this all along. You’re incredible.”

Nathaniel stopped the streaming babble with the brush of his thumb at the edge of Tim’s swollen lip. “He hurt you.” It could have been a question or a statement. His tone had fury in it, but regret too, as delicate as the pad of his thumb over Tim’s bruised cheek.

Half of Tim’s body was hot with injuries, which Nathaniel would know without asking. They were both bleeding. This wasn’t about that either. Tim finally turned his face away and soothed himself by inhaling as much
Nathaniel
as his lungs could hold. “I don’t want to talk about it now.”

He found it a terrible thing to have to say aloud. It was admitting there was something to be talked about later when Tim didn’t want to talk about it ever. He never wanted to, but around Nathaniel it seemed he did anyway. He supposed he felt safe enough to. He’d felt that way even before Nathaniel had vanquished his enemy for him.

He curled his hands into Nathaniel’s hair and let himself have one last Silas-shaming sniffle. “You are unbelievable.” And totally wrong about Tim, but Tim wasn’t going to say that to someone who had given Tim a gift like that. His thighs were trembling with the effort of staying up, but he ignored it to drag his hands down Nathaniel’s neck and pet the top of his spine. He kissed Nathaniel for the scar there, and for the scent of blood, and because putting his mouth to Nathaniel’s skin was the best thing. “I’ve never seen Silas do that. He respects the violence humans are capable of, but he’d never combine the two, never learn the one in the first place. You….” It occurred to him that some of that might have been Nathaniel showing off, and he hitched up higher to bite at Nathaniel’s ear. That display of power had been hot, but Tim didn’t want that, not ever again. “I’m sorry. I love you.”

“Sorry?” Nathaniel grunted. He grunted again when Tim licked a stripe down his neck before leaning back to let Nathaniel put his nose under his ear. The sound was quickly followed by the pleased rumble that was Tim’s favorite sound in the entire world.

“Not actually sorry.” Tim closed his eyes and squirmed at the unexpected tickle of Nathaniel’s fingers across his eyelashes, brushing away the tears Tim was already prepared to deny. But Nathaniel let out a long breath and said nothing.

“Sheriff?”

Tim turned his head to glare at the deputy who dared to interrupt them. Nathaniel surprised him by not moving until the second time the deputy—were and embarrassed, with “Pema” on her badge—tried to get his attention.

“Sheriff? I am so sorry but….” She trailed off without finishing.

Tim hoped it was because of the ferocity of his stare, but he didn’t think so. She was merely a werewolf trying to be delicate when delicacy didn’t come naturally to them.

Nathaniel, just to make Tim want him even more, continued to brush kisses over Tim’s face while he answered her. “If a were-strength cell is available, cuff him and take him to the station. Unless….” Nathaniel paused enough for Tim to catch the unspoken question. Startled, Tim shook his head, and Nathaniel carried on, giving Tim an extra, ridiculously soft, kiss over his split lip. “Then read him his rights, charge him with attempted kidnapping and assault against Timothy Dirus and Albert Greenleaf and then let him—”

Tim let out a short, pathetic excuse for a growl. Nathaniel slid a soothing hand to the small of Tim’s back. He sighed. “Charge him with hit and run as well. For my truck.” It made Deputy Pema’s eyes go wide, but Tim nodded and resumed allowing Nathaniel to do stupid, touchy-feely things to him.

“He’s stirring,” Zoe commented from somewhere Tim couldn’t see and had no intention of looking. But Nathaniel stiffened. Someone else might not have seen it, but Tim wasn’t about to mess with Nathaniel’s instincts now. Nathaniel wanted to stay on guard, and Tim wasn’t going to stop him.

Letting go of Nathaniel was harder than it sounded. “Okay.” Tim was telling himself more than he was telling Nathaniel. “Okay. You can put me down now, if you need to go—” He bit his lip, then released it. “—do whatever.” To his personal satisfaction, Nathaniel didn’t release him even a tiny bit. “Seriously,” Tim continued anyway, conscious of the deputy watching them. “I’m all right. Well, I’ll be all right. It’s only some bruises.” And puncture wounds, and a sore arm. Nothing really. Later he might freak out. In fact, later he
would
freak out, but for the moment he was holding on, and trembling less and less with every second Nathaniel held him. But that couldn’t go on forever even if Tim wanted it to.

“Come on.” Tim forced himself to meet Nathaniel’s eyes. “You have work to do. You can put me down.”

He got an unhappy frown, but then he was sliding to his feet and wobbling as he realized it was a crate under him and not the ground. He righted himself, then glanced around, blinking to see Nathaniel staring up at him. With about an inch’s difference in height between them, Tim put his hands on Nathaniel’s shoulders. He considered him warily until he saw Albert move closer out of the corner of his eye.

He found it much easier to look at Albert than to acknowledge whatever it was Nathaniel thought he was doing by raising Tim up so high. “How about you?” Tim checked over Albert’s arm, which Albert was holding gingerly. Albert shrugged. He stayed out of Nathaniel’s reach, which was interesting. “Albert tried to save me,” Tim revealed, feeling stupid for no reason he could think of. Except maybe that most of the town seemed to be lingering around them and listening in. “I—thank you. I mean, you shouldn’t have done it, but—” How did people even thank one another for something like that? “Thanks.” He scanned the crowd again, meeting a few gazes. They were so
friendly
. No, friendly wasn’t the right word, but Tim was too wired to think of a better one. Accepting maybe, or just happy to see him all over their sheriff again.

“They’re relieved you’re okay.” Nathaniel saw more than he let on. Tim had to remember that.

He twitched and gave Nathaniel a narrow glare, but what came out of his mouth was quiet. “They saved me.” That was something else to worry about, owing a whole town for defending him. “I know that’s kind of this town’s thing, but I didn’t expect that, you know, for me. I’ve been a giant pain in the ass.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘giant.’” Nathaniel
would
try to be funny at a moment like this.

“I hate you so much,” Tim sniped at him pleasantly.

Nathaniel leaned in to rest his head against Tim. “I’m glad they stopped him. I ran—”

“You heard me?” Tim interrupted him and scowled at Albert’s smile to spare himself the humiliation of beaming at Nathaniel like an idiot. Tim hadn’t howled, but Nathaniel had heard anyway. And he’d come running, although Tim didn’t know when exactly Nathaniel had arrived. He licked his lips. “Did you hear the rest? I, um, said things to Luca. He wanted me. So I was trying to—”

“Little Wolf.” Nathaniel stopped him there. Tim nuzzled Nathaniel’s forehead with his cheek and observed the general contented glances exchanged among the crowd. Apparently the best way to thank them was for Tim to nuzzle their sheriff. That was so not a hardship.

But motion in the other direction caught his attention. Tim was tricked into looking over as they frisked Luca and bound him in cuffs and several ankle chains. Luca could break out if he didn’t mind shattering the bones in his wrists and ankles. Tim doubted he was in any condition to consider it. He wasn’t even sure Luca was conscious until his eyes opened and met Tim’s. Tim didn’t recognize the expression in them.

“Do you need something?” Nathaniel moved, and like that, Tim was on the ground and being gently but persistently urged to sit on the crate and rest.

“You are stupid ridiculous.” Tim sighed, mostly at the loss of contact. “I’ve been rescued like, three times in less than an hour. You don’t need to keep rescuing me.”

Nathaniel knelt down, probably just to make Tim’s insides flutter. “I like rescuing you. You don’t often let me.”

“Yeah, but….” Tim turned away from Luca, not wanting to know what Luca would think to see Nathaniel kneeling in front of Tim. Tim put his hand out instead, to feel Nathaniel’s cheek against his palm. “Someone could rescue you for once.”

Tim could tell from how Nathaniel lifted his eyebrows that Nathaniel thought he didn’t need rescuing. Maybe he didn’t. But with emotions cooling and Tim’s instincts leaving him free to think rationally again, he was aware of something Nathaniel wasn’t; Silas was probably in Wolf’s Paw at that very moment. Even operating under the assumption that Nathaniel had left Tim, Luca had been bold, or desperate, in approaching him at the café. Silas must have arrived and expected results.