"Elliot, enough." Tommy laughed. "My father is not required to like you, but he does have to accept you. That's two different things, pretty baby."
"Is it?" Elliot pulled his hands away and pushed himself back into the corner of the couch. He started chewing on one of his fingers and Tommy wondered if it was a nervous gesture. "Is it really different? I know in the grand scheme of things that it probably is, but is it really? Can you imagine what family functions would be like if your father merely accepted me instead of taking the time to get to know me and maybe like me?"
"Elliot-"
"And what about the rest of your family? I know your brother, the sheriff, doesn't like me. He already made up his mind. I could see that when he came to arrest you. I haven't met your mother, but if she's anything like your brother or your father then I'm pretty much screwed here. How am I supposed to make friends with these people if they don't like me?"
"Elliot!" Tommy snapped as he reached over and covered the man's mouth with his hand. The conversation was going off in directions Tommy couldn't control. They needed to stay on track, especially since Tommy hadn't dropped his biggest bomb yet. "It doesn't matter if my family likes you or not, pretty baby. It only matters that I do."
"And you do?" Elliot asked as he pulled away.
"Very much so." Tommy grinned.
"Finish it, Thomas."
Tommy shot his father his evilest glare and turned back to Elliot. "There's something else a little different about my family, Elliot."
A loud snort filled the room. Tommy wished his father would leave or go into the other room so that he could tell Elliot his secret without comments from the man. His secret could lose him the most important person in his life, even if Elliot had been that person for only a few hours.
"I don't want you to be scared, Elliot," Tommy said softly as he stood to his feet then pushed the coffee table to one side of the room. He walked back over to stand in front of Elliot, praying the man didn't run screaming from the room. "I won't hurt you, okay?"
Elliot frowned. "Okay."
Tommy pulled his shirt off and dropped it on the floor then reached for the buttons of his jeans. He heard a small sharp inhale and looked at Elliot to find his eyes wide as he watched Tommy' every movement. His face flushed as he looked past Tommy to where Daniel stood, then back.
"Tommy, your father is here. Shouldn't we-"
"Just watch, Elliot." Tommy pushed his jeans down his legs and kicked them away, then let the change take him. His bones cracked, muscles stretching as his body shifted into the four legged form of his wolf.
Once the shift was complete, Tommy shook his head then lifted it to look at Elliot. The man didn't move a muscle, just stared. The look on his face wasn't one of horror, but it did hold shock and something else that Tommy couldn't quite define.
"This is our secret, Elliot." Tommy turned his head to watch his father walk over to stand next to him. As angry as he was at his father for his interference, Tommy couldn't help but lean into the hand Daniel used to scratch behind his ears. It felt really good. "Our entire family is like this, Elliot. Well, most of them, anyway."
Tommy turned back to see Elliot's reaction, but it hadn't changed. Elliot just continued to stare at him. It was starting to make Tommy nervous. Was his secret too much for Elliot? Tommy took a hesitant step toward his mate in the hope that he could bridge the sudden gap he could feel between them.
Elliot suddenly jumped up and ran into the kitchen. Tommy looked up at his father as he felt his heart start to break. Was Elliot rejecting him? He was born a wolf shifter. He'd been that way since the minute he breathed air. He couldn't change it and he didn't want that to be what cost him his mate.
"Not everyone can accept the wolf, Thomas. You know that." Daniel's face held sadness and a hint of regret. "I'm sorry, son."
Tommy felt his heartache start to overcome him. Elliot was his mate. Without him, Tommy would live a very lonely existence. He would never find another mate, not unless Elliot died, and that was unacceptable.
Determined to fix things between him and Elliot, Tommy started to walk to the kitchen when Elliot came barreling around the corner. He had a bottle of liquor in one hand, three glasses and a bowl in the other.
Elliot stumbled to a stop when he saw Tommy, his face paling. Tommy dropped to the ground and whined softly, trying to show Elliot he wasn't a danger. Elliot didn't say anything for a minute, just stared some more then he slowly held up the items in his hand.
"I don't know about you, but I could really use a drink. I think my buzz wore off somewhere back when your brother tried to arrest you and I don't think I can deal with this shit sober, not right now. Maybe later, after I get used to the idea of you going furry, but right now, no, I need a drink."
Tommy's mouth would have dropped open in shock if he were in human form. Instead, his head cocked to one side, his ears perked. Elliot wasn't running. He was just getting a drink? Not sure what to think, Tommy followed Elliot back into the living room.
Elliot was sitting on the couch once again. He looked down at the bottle and glasses in his hand then slid down to sit on the floor, his back pressed against the couch. He set all three glasses on the floor along with the bowl and poured the amber liquid into each one.
Tommy sat down across from Elliot, not too close and not too far away. He didn't want to scare Elliot, but staying away from the man was almost more than Tommy could handle. Maybe he should shift back?
Elliot held out a glass to Daniel, who took it and sat in one of the chairs next to the couch, then placed another glass and the bowl in front of Tommy. Elliot picked up his own glass and shrugged when Tommy looked at him.
"I didn't know if you needed a glass or a bowl. I mean, if you were human then a glass, right? But you're not exactly human right now and so I guess a bowl would be best." Elliot frowned as he waved his hand at Tommy. "Can you drink the way you are right now? Or does that affect you badly? Maybe you shouldn't drink." Elliot shrugged again as he chuckled. "I guess one of us drunk is enough, huh?"
Tommy watched Elliot take a long swig of the liquid in his glass then glanced over at his father. Daniel held his glass with both hands, but he seemed to be watching Elliot rather than drinking.
"Elliot, if you don't mind my asking, why are you taking this so well?" Daniel asked. "In my experience, by now most people are running for their lives and yet you sit here drinking with us."
"Tommy said he wouldn't hurt me."
"And you believe him?"
"Shouldn't I? Was he lying?"
Tommy dropped to the floor and crawled closer to Elliot, whimpering a little. He wouldn't hurt Elliot for anything in the world. He wanted Elliot to know that.
"No, I don't believe Tommy will hurt you."
"But?" Elliot asked. "I can hear the but in your voice and there's always a but. So, what is it? What aren't you telling me? Because I think I need to know everything."
"Thomas was born a shifter just as I was, just as many in our pack were."
"Pack, there's that word again. What exactly does it mean?"
"We're just like any other wolf pack or large family with one small exception, we can shift."
"You call that a small exception?" Elliot scoffed. "You turn into wolves. I'd call that a pretty big exception. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like something pretty big to me. Granted, I've never run into someone that can shift before, but still, it seems really big to me."
"Does our ability to shift bother you?"
Elliot's mouth dropped open and he slowly lowered his glass to his lap. "Are you serious?"
"Perfectly."
"You just told me that everyone in your family can shift into wolves and you're wondering if it bothers me?" Elliot leaned back against the couch cushion as he rolled his eyes. "I think the word bother is just a little too non-descriptive for what I'm feeling right now. Surprised would cover it better, maybe even shocked, but if you want to use the word bother, who am I to argue with you?"
"Yes, but does it shock you enough to deny Thomas's claim on you?"
Tommy held his breath as he waited for Elliot's answer. The next words out of Elliot's mouth could make or break him. Thomas tried to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. He couldn't force Elliot to accept him, no matter how much he wanted it.