“What are you doing on the floor?”
Bit turned his head, looking at Chay. “I hit the bed and just kept rolling. I couldn’t stop.” He was so cute, his face all red from laughter.
Chay grinned. “Are you okay?”
Bit nodded, still giggling. “Are you?”
“Ye—”
There was a knock on the wall, followed by Joe’s amused voice. “Would you boys go to sleep, for crying out loud.”
Oh God.
Heat suffused Chay’s face. He’d never be able to face his father again.
Bit, the jerk, started laughing so hard he started wheezing.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Grrr…Bit.” Chay threw his hands in the air, letting the bow tie drop to his shoulders, and turned away from the mirror. He put his hands on his hips and glared at Keaton. Even irritated, he made quite a fetching picture in a tux. “I can’t believe we have to wear tuxes to draw your brother out.”
Keaton wiped the last of the shaving cream off his face and walked over to his mate. He reached up and grabbed Chay’s tie. “We are wearing tuxes for the party, not for Aubrey’s benefit. And you agreed that a party to celebrate our mating would be a good idea.” He tied the tie, kissed Chay’s chin and went to find his cuff links.
“Yeah, but I didn’t think it was going to be this huge shindig.”
“This isn’t huge, trust me. You haven’t seen huge. This is tiny, miniscule, itty-bitty for my mother. That woman was born to throw dinner parties and this one is, in her words, ‘cramping her style’. It was all my dad could do to keep her to a guest list of thirty. It’s basically only pack and friends of the pack.”
“But tuxes? Was it necessary to wear tuxedos?”
Keaton chuckled, digging through another drawer. Where had he put the studs to his tuxedo shirt? “You don’t know my mother. Party and formal wear are synonyms.”
“I can’t believe you made me buy this tux and you wouldn’t even let me get a clip-on bow tie,” Chay grumbled as he flopped down on the bed.
“Sit up. You’ll get wrinkled and my mother will have a fit.”
Chay heaved a sigh and sat up, smoothing out his pants.
Keaton threaded a stud through a buttonhole. “We bought the tux, because with me getting along with my parents again, you’ll likely need it and you are not wearing a clip-on tie. Trust me when I tell you, my mother will check for a clip-on and she’ll stroke out if you wear one.” Keaton finished buttoning up his shirt and tucked it in.
“Okay, okay. God, your family is weird.”
Keaton arched a brow and grinned as he fastened his cummerbund. “You’re just figuring this out?”
“Nah, it was readily apparent when we stepped off the plane.”
He chuckled. “It should have been obvious when my brother attacked your friend.”
“Well, yeah, that too. Tell me this plan again. Maybe it will make more sense to me this time around.”
Keaton grabbed his jacket off the hanger and put it on. “We are supposed to leave the party and go make out in the gazebo in the formal garden. Jake, your dad, my dad and my dad’s Betas are going to follow us, hide and wait.”
“It’s still a stupid plan. Your brother isn’t going to attack you with a house party going on.”
Keaton tied his own bow tie and crossed to the bed, positioning himself between Chay’s legs. He pulled his mate to his feet. “My brother isn’t the brightest bulb in the bunch. Think about it, he attacked Remi on our property. He had to have known that we’d figure out who did it. He hasn’t exactly been sneaky.” He rose up on his toes, kissing Chay on the lips.
“Mmm. You look good, Bit.” Chay nipped Keaton’s bottom lip. “My pretty baby.”
Keaton wrapped his arms around Chay, tilting his face up for better access.
Chay kissed him, really kissed him. His tongue slid across the seam of Keaton’s lips.
He sighed and opened up, his eyes closing automatically. His tongue met Chay’s, rubbing together lazily.
“Hey, guys…” The door opened and shut, Remi cleared his throat.
They ignored him for a few more seconds. Finally, Chay nipped his bottom lip again and pulled back without letting Keaton go.
Keaton snuggled in, laying his head against his mate’s chest, and turned his head to face their intruder.
Remi looked nice in his tuxedo. Keaton gave him a good once over and noticed his eyes were lupine. Remi’s face was pale like he was fighting it. Or maybe that was just his discomfort at finding Keaton and Chay kissing. Keaton wasn’t certain which. He and Chay hadn’t made any effort to hide their affection in front of Remi, but Remi seemed fairly accepting of Keaton and Chay’s relationship since the night he was attacked.
Chay rubbed Keaton’s back absently. “You all right?”
Remi shook his head. “No, I’m not all right.” He pointed at his own face. “Look at my eyes.”
“Are you doing what I told you to do?” Keaton asked.
“Yes. Deep, cleansing breaths, focus on seeing color. It isn’t helping.” Remi threw his hands up and let them drop.
“What were you doing when they changed?” Chay let go of Keaton and sat on the edge of the bed, facing his friend.
“Jake and I were exploring the grounds, looking for the best places to hide and stay out of sight of the gazebo.”
Chay looked at Keaton.
Keaton closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. He and Chay were thinking the same thing…Jake. Jake’s proximity made it harder for Remi to learn control. How in the hell were they supposed to tell the homophobic Remi that Jake was his mate? Keaton opened his eyes. “Remi, come sit down and do as I told you. Deep breath, focus on color. Concentrate. I want you to tell me what color the bedspread is.”
Remi crossed the room and sat next to Chay. “I’m trying to make my eyes shift back, but—”
Keaton shook his head. “No, I don’t want you to focus on trying to control shifting. Narrow it down, make it simple. Concentrate on color. Your eyes don’t see color in wolf form, by concentrating on color you are forcing them to shift back. It’s too complicated to think of it as changing back and forth.”
Remi took a deep breath and turned his head to look down at the comforter on the bed. “It’s blue.” He turned back and his eyes were their normal human green. “What I don’t understand is what is making them change in the first place. I wasn’t mad, or scared. You said that is what triggers them to change.”
“Or arousal,” Chay mumbled.
Keaton glared at him.
Remi snapped his head around to Chay. “How did you kn—”
There was a knock at the door, then Joe popped his head in. “Hey.”
Keaton chuckled. Saved by the bell, or rather by the knock. “Hey.”
Joe came in, closing the door behind him. The man was very handsome. It was easy to see where Chay got his good looks. Joe smiled. “You three look nice.”
“So do you,” Keaton said.
Joe smiled even brighter. “Listen, I came to tell you guys that there’s no sign of Aubrey yet, but Joanna wants you downstairs, guests are beginning to arrive.”
* * *
Bit licked a long line up Chay’s throat, making him shiver.
“Bit, you are getting way too into this. You are supposed to be paying attention to our surroundings,” Chay whispered against Bit’s ear.
“I am. No reason I can’t enjoy myself at the same time.” He nibbled on Chay’s earlobe.
“Try to remember we have an audience.”
“Mmmm… Actually I don’t know that we do. I don’t smell them.” Bit’s tongue pushed into his ear.
“You aren’t supposed to. That’s the point.” Chay sighed and relaxed. Well as much as he could, knowing that at any time Aubrey could pop out of nowhere and threaten his Bit.
Keaton gripped Chay’s cock and he about jumped out of his skin. He was concentrating on the area around the gazebo. He sucked in a breath and realized that his cock was hard. Chay may not have been paying attention to Bit, but apparently his body sure as hell was. He luxuriated in the feel of his mate for a few seconds. He buried his face in Bit’s neck and pushed up into his hand. Just a few seconds, that’s all he had. Someone needed to pay attention and Bit, despite what he said, wasn’t.
Keaton’s head jerked up, his eyes wide, startled. His hand left Chay’s prick.
Chay sniffed, taking in an unfamiliar scent. No, it wasn’t unfamiliar exactly. It was the scent he smelled the night he ran the man off outside of their house. The night Keaton’s brakes were cut.
“I see it didn’t take you long to replace me.” A tall blond man came into the clearing, holding a gun. It wasn’t Aubrey.
Keaton shook his head. “Jonathon?”
Jonathon? Keaton’s ex?
Chay positioned himself in front of Keaton. The gun wouldn’t do more than hurt a whole lot unless the bullets were silver, but he didn’t want his mate shot just the same.
Jonathon smiled a nasty smile. “Oh, now you remember me.”
“Jonathon what are you doing here?” Keaton pushed Chay back, maneuvering himself in front.
“You ruined my life.” Jonathon shoved the gun forward at Keaton for emphasis.
Chay pulled Bit back again, shielding his body. “Whatever it is you think Keaton has done, I’m sure it isn’t too bad. Maybe if you tell us, we can help you fix it.” Yeah, it was lame, but he didn’t want this bozo to shoot either of them. And it bought time for the cavalry to show up. They were out there hiding, weren’t they?
“You shut up. I wasn’t talking to you.” Jonathon glared at him.
“Look, Jonathon, I don’t know what you think it is I did, but—”
Jonathon scoffed. “You left me.”
Keaton scoffed right back. “You had a girlfriend, you dumbass.”
Chay groaned. He and Bit were going to have to have a talk about antagonizing crazy men with guns. The man was a wolf, he had to know a gun wasn’t that big a threat to other wolves.
“And you could have had one too, or a boyfriend. I didn’t care. I’d have overlooked it. We could’ve led your pack together. All of it could have been ours. All of this…” He waved his gun around, indicating Reynolds Hall. “We could have been happy, it would have been easy to overpower your father and take over, but you had to run off. And what do you do, at the first opportunity, you run off to New Mexico. I tried to scare you by shooting you so you’d come home. But then you replaced me.” He glared at Chay. “With this…this…injun. Really, Keaton, your taste is deplorable.”
Keaton growled. His whole body tensed, readying for attack. His hands shifted.
Chay stepped in front of him just as he charged.
Jonathon pulled the trigger.
Keaton screamed.
Ouch.
Chay staggered back. That bastard shot him.
A blur of white fur streaked past the gazebo, launching itself at Jonathon as Keaton’s arms wrapped around Chay. The gun went flying. Jonathon tried to shift, his eyes and teeth changing instantly, but the wolf didn’t give him the chance.
Keaton turned to Chay, his eyes wide. “Where are you hit?”
Chay glanced down at his side.
Keaton’s eyes followed. Bit ripped his jacket and shirt.
“Damn it, Bit. We just bought those.”
Keaton’s hands shifted to claws. “Deep breath. I gotta get it out. If it’s silver it could kill you.” He sliced his nails into Chay’s side, digging in.
This time it was Chay who screamed. Fuck, he was woozy. That hurt, bad. Chay blinked the tears back and tried to focus on anything but what Bit was doing.
The wolf bit into Jonathon’s neck, blood flying everywhere, covering the pale fur. He jerked his head back and forth, tearing the man’s skin.
Jake, Joe, Remi, Howard and his Betas, all still in human form, came running into the garden from the direction of the house, the same direction the white wolf had come from.
“Got it.” Bit gasped and suddenly the pain from Chay’s side receded into a dull ache.
Chay’s eyes met his father’s. Joe looked worried.
Chay’s brain was a little on the foggy side. From the pain he supposed. His eyes shifted and then Bit shoved his wrist against Chay’s mouth. Chay staggered and his knees hit the ground.
Keaton stood over him. “Drink.”
Chay drank.
The wound closed and Keaton opened it up again, pressing it back to Chay’s mouth. By the third time, Chay felt much better. He could think again. The ache in his side was gone completely. He pushed Bit’s wrist away and looked down at his side. It was healed.
Oh shit
.
He’d been so dazed he’d forgotten about Jonathon. Chay spotted the gun lying on the grass. He ran down the gazebo steps and grabbed the gun. He glanced around, finding the white wolf and Jonathon.
Jonathon lay lifeless and pale in a huge puddle of blood. The large wolf still growled and shook the mangled flesh denying it a chance to heal.
Howard walked up to the wolf, placing a hand on its shoulder. “Aubrey, let go. He’s dead.”
The blood-splattered wolf released Jonathon’s neck, turned toward the house and left.
Wow.
Aubrey hadn’t been responsible for Keaton’s accidents?
Man.
Chay felt like a…well he felt like an ass. Make that an ignorant, slightly confused ass.
They all stood staring at the limp body for the longest time.
“Chayton? Are you all right?” Joe asked.
Chay frowned. “Where the hell were all of you? Bit could have been shot. You guys suck as a rescue squad. You’re all fired.”
Bit took the gun, opened the revolver and dumped the bullets into his hand. “Silver. Glad I got that out of you.” He touched Chay’s arm. “How do you feel?”
“I’m fine. I guess we owe Aubrey an apology and a thank you.”
Joe nodded. “Indeed you do. Aubrey talked to us all before we came out here.” He shot a sheepish glance toward Jonathon’s lifeless body. “That is why we were late. Apparently, Aubrey came to find Keaton as a surprise for his parents.”
“The night Remi was attacked, it was Aubrey who ran Jonathon off.” Jake held out his hand to Keaton, silently asking for the gun and bullets. “He said he was going for a run, he went back by your house and heard Remi scream. He chased Jonathon all the way to the rez. He recognized Jonathon’s scent. Aubrey thought Remi was already dead, so he kept after Jonathon.”