Accepting His Human(16)

"How's it going?"

Ailean spun his chair around and found Grady standing 80




in the doorway. He didn't need to wonder how the sneaky cat managed to  move around the hospital undetected. There was a reason he made such a  great special ops soldier before becoming a detective. "Not good," he  said, rising and heading toward the coffee machine near the door.

As he drew closer, he caught his mate's scent clinging to Grady's own  and his hackles lifted. He couldn't contain a soft growl as he froze and  stared at the man. It had been four days since he'd seen or spoken to  his mate. And it had been hell, even with the distraction of trying to  help Lyle.

At the worst times, memories of Drake distracted him.

He'd remember the way Drake's firm flesh felt pressed against his, how  it felt to hold him in his lap, to kiss him, to open him up to take his  cock, the tight squeeze of his mate's ass around him. That last one  always left him hard, wanting, and frustrated.

His shoulder leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his  chest, Grady frowned. "You could just apologize. Fate only knows why,  but Drake likes you. He'd take you back."

Ailean snarled at the man, stalking forward to get that coffee. "He's just like the rest."

"You don't know that," Grady countered. "He was doing a job he'd been  hired to do. Why don't you give him a chance? Get to know him?"

"I know exactly what I'll find if I get to know him," he sneered,  letting his fears of getting hurt echo through his voice loud and clear.  "A human who puts his own wants and desires ahead of everything and  everyone else. Do you know what he said to me?" His heart in his throat,  he couldn't stop his hand from trembling as he thought about the words  that had haunted him every waking moment.

Without waiting for Grady to reply, he plowed ahead, "He said pheromones were mostly responsible for attraction.

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Then I find out he's a scientist for the very fucking company we are trying to stop. How do I even know he's my mate?

What if it was all a trick?"

"That's bullshit and we both know it. You can't fake a mate attraction!" Grady countered.

"We don't know that," Ailean shot back, although in his heart he knew  the tiger was right. A shifter's animal couldn't be fooled, even if a  human's nose could.

Grady heaved a sigh and stared at the ceiling, from the tension in his  neck and arms he was probably trying to rein in his desire to do  something physical to Ailean, like ring his neck. "Look," he said, his  voice quieting. "Declan told Drake a little about your past. Not a lot,"  Grady added, holding up a hand. "Just enough to explain why it would  take you some time to come to terms with how Drake was involved." When  he didn't respond right away, Grady stepped forward and settled a hand  on his shoulder. "Relax. He didn't say anything about what went on in  the attic." Ailean's eyes flew wide for a second before narrowing into  slits. He shook off Grady's hand and glared at the bigger cat. "But he  evidently said something to you. So much for trusting a friend to keep a  secret."

"No, he didn't," Grady growled back. "When I heard another shifter was moving into the area, I checked out your past."

"You son-of-a-bitch! You had no right!" He trembled with a mixture of  rage and humiliation. "And you can tell Declan thank you for allowing me  to live in his territory, but it's probably best if I moved on again."  Saying the words sent a stab of despair through him, but he kept his  feelings carefully masked.

"Fuck! You are such an asshole!"

Ailean snarled at the big detective. "I never claimed to be anything else!"

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"But you are a shifter," Grady reminded him coldly. "We don't dump our  mates just because they make a mistake. He did research for the wrong  people. So the hell what!"

"Get out," he roared. The man's words pricked at his already bruised ego  and extremely guilty conscience. He knew he should have allowed Drake  to explain, and now he didn't know how to bridge the gap.                       
       
           



       

Grady's lip curled in disgust. "Fine. I'll leave. For now." Instead of  walking away, the detective crowded close. "But know this, your mate is  working around the clock to fix his mistake. I don't think he's slept a  full hour in the last three days." His eyes narrowed to slits. "What are  you doing to correct your shortcomings?"

Before Ailean could get past the fact that his mate wasn't taking care  of himself and formulate an answer, Grady snarled at him again, truly  exasperated, and left. The Styrofoam cup in Ailean's hand popped from  his too-tight grip, but the nearly scalding coffee running over his hand  remained unnoticed. His mate wasn't sleeping? What about eating? Drake  didn't have any extra weight to lose. If he wasn't eating, how could he  gain weight?

His heart raced, his blood pounded in his veins, and his guilt quadrupled.





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Chapter Nine


rake's pulse rate increased exponentially the closer he got to the hospital.

D "Hey, relax, dude," the man driving the car said.

He looked over at Phillip, trying to spot the resemblance to his much  smaller brother, Todd, whom he'd learned was the man, shifter, standing  vigil over Lyle. Drake didn't see it.

"I can't help it," he replied. "What if-"

"He's not there," Phillip assured. "My brother said his shift ended at  ten this morning. We'll go in, you'll do your thing, and then we'll see  what happens." He reached over and gripped Drake's shoulder in a  supportive man-squeeze.

"Lark told me a little about how Ailean freaked when he found out you  worked for that corporation, but Ailean's not that bad a guy. He's had  some time to chill, so even if we did see him, I'm sure he wouldn't kick  you out again. Just relax." Nodding, he forced himself to take a deep  breath, and then a second one. "Okay. Yeah." Drake still didn't feel  ready to reenter the hospital he'd been kicked out of six days ago, nor  was he ready to face the owner of said domain. He didn't think he'd ever  be able to face Ailean again, who gave him the most pleasurable and the  then the most painful experiences of his life, all within a span of  four hours.

Drake fought back a sob. This was why he focused on work and didn't get involved with people. The possibility of 84




getting hurt was too high. He didn't know how his brother managed to do  it. And then to find out the guy was supposed to be a jaguar shifter and  Drake was his mate, and still Ailean didn't want him. This time the sob  escaped.

"Easy now," Phillip muttered, sparing him a concerned look. He grimaced.  "Sorry, Drake, but you gotta hold it together a little longer. Lyle's  life may depend on it." Nodding, he started deep breathing again. He  felt reasonably calm by the time they reached the hospital and Phillip  parked the car. He climbed out and followed the wolf shifter into the  building, down several halls, up an elevator, and into a room. Drake  felt amazed at the ease with which the man chatted and flirted with just  about every nurse he passed. He'd never been at ease with others like  that. Give him his microscope, vials, and test tubes any day.

They found Todd dozing in his chair by the detective's bed. The guy  jerked awake, rubbing a hand over his face for a second, before smiling  up at them. "How is he?" Phillip asked, crossing to his brother and  giving him a hug.

"The doctor has him sedated."

Drake crossed to the blinking monitors and cocked his head. "Do either  of you know how these work?" The brothers shook their heads, and Drake  turned back to the machines, slowly figuring out what the different  numbers and beeps meant. "I need his heart rate a little higher for this  to really be effective."

"How are we going to do that?" Todd asked.

"Higher heart rate, huh?" Phillip chuckled, his eyes twinkling  mischievously. "Oh, come on. He's your mate. I'm pretty sure you can get  his heart rate up, even asleep." Todd stared at his brother for a long  moment. "You've got to be kidding."

Drake glanced between the two men, not comprehending.

"How are you going to get his heart rate up?" 85




Phillip smirked. "You're an exhibitionist, Todd. We both know it, but if you want, we'll turn around and watch the monitors."

Understanding dawned, making Drake's face flame. Was he really …  He  watched in shock as Todd huffed irritably and then lifted the blankets  to crawl under them. Drake heard him mutter about how this was so not  how he'd imagined his first time giving his mate a blowjob would be  before he disappeared under the blankets and settled into an  unrecognizable, slow moving lump near Lyle's groin.