Chuckling, Declan lifted the hand not holding his beer and tapped his nose. "I'm the alpha. I could scent it." His smile faded. "I scented a few other things, Deke," he added. Leaning close, his expression turned serious. "Lust, to be sure, but also pain, fear, even a bit of panic." Declan's brows drew together. "But mostly fear. Ye want to talk about it?"
Deke's knee-jerk reaction was to deny, deny, deny, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't force the words out. Snapping his jaw shut, he fought the burn of tears at the back of his eyes. He swallowed hard, trying to get a hold of himself.
"Ah, pup," Declan murmured. Reaching out, he rested his massive paw of a hand on the back of Deke's neck and massaged. "Ye went through somethin' hard on the heart. If ye want to talk, I have a good ear." He winked. "Part of bein' the alpha."
Frowning, Deke whispered, "Why would you care about me? How do you even know who I am?"
Declan smiled, his dark eyes warm. "I'm the alpha. It's me job to care for those in me pack. And while ye may not actually be part of me pack, ye are in me territory. So, anything ye want to talk about?"
Maybe it was the way the man seemed to peer directly into Deke's soul. Maybe it was how he gently massaged his neck. Hell, maybe it was because he was a complete stranger and Deke desperately needed to get what happened off his chest, but had feared judgment from his friends.
Deke nodded and, in quiet stilted whispers, told Declan exactly why he'd fled from Michael.
Chapter Two
A faint scent tickled Luther Caldwell's senses, distracting him from the game. He felt his blood heat, flowing southward in response to the pleasant smell. He cleared his throat before taking a long swig of his beer.
"You in?" Rowen St. Paul asked.
Luther returned his attention to the game, where it should be. "Fold," he stated, tossing in his eight-deuce off-suit. No point in losing more than the ante. Instead, Luther peered at the guys at the table.
Rowen sat directly to his left, and the science teacher stared at his cards through designer glasses. Luther knew Rowen wore the tinted frames to shield his eyes, hiding possible tells. Unfortunately, Luther hadn't had the heart to tell the dark-haired shifter that he gave more away with the twitches of his lips than with the dilation of his eyes. He'd do better if he grew a goatee.
"I'll meet your bet," Rowen said, finally deciding. "And raise you ten."
Next, was Parker Jones, a wolf shifter who worked as an on-call firefighter while writing gothic crime novels in his spare time. He'd heard through the grapevine that the man's prior lover, a human, had been a wiz at stocks and had left him loaded when he'd passed of cancer. Luther saw a lingering sadness behind Parker's green eyes and he hadn't heard of the shifter taking a lover since Donnie's passing twelve years before.
"I'll call," Parker stated quietly, his expression-impressively-completely neutral.
Toby Dallow scowled at his cards behind his thick, black glasses. The human research assistant pursed his lips and heaved a sigh. "I fold," he muttered. "I'm gonna get another drink." The pudgy, five-foot-nine human rose from his seat, pushing his chair backward with his thick thighs.
"What are ye drinking?" Shane Alvaro asked absently. The beta wolf didn't even look up from his cards as he decided what to do.
However, from the tension in his shoulders, Toby must have realized he expected an answer. Snorting, the human snarked, "Don't worry. It's sweet tea, Dad."
Shane turned his head, his brows shooting to his hairline. When Toby's face turned beet red, the beta smirked and chuckled. "Guess I deserved that." Then, his eyes narrowed, still filled with mirth. "Still, I happen to know yer birthday isn't for another couple of months. No alcohol."
"Geez," Toby muttered. "You're worse than my parents." Still, the man grinned. "Don't worry. I've tried beer and I think it's disgusting."
The other men chuckled while Lark-Declan McIntire's human mate-the final man at their table, piped up, "Hey, I prefer margaritas myself." The flamboyant blond winked. "When you turn twenty-one, I'll make you all kinds of nifty drinks. We'll find something tasty for ya."
"You're on," Toby agreed, grinning.
After Toby had left, the game moved on.
Luther watched his fellow players, the hand progressing quickly. Within two minutes, Parker laid down an ace and a king. Combined with the community cards in the center of the table, he had a full house, ace high, winning him the hand.
Shane groaned, tossing in a suited king, queen. "Shit, missed my royal straight because ye had the fucking ace," he grumbled.
Parker grinned, raking in the chips. "Can't use language like that around your new toddler, so you gotta get it all out here, huh?" he teased.
"Damn straight," Shane snapped.
The beta's mate, Caroline, had had their cub nearly a year before. It had been the talk of the pack when the she-wolf had scolded Shane in public when he'd cussed. He'd evidently taken to cussing a blue streak everywhere except around his mate and cub.
Luther sucked in a gasp to start chuckling, and nearly groaned as the heady, sweet scent of … something, wait, someone, someone he recognized-Deke Sommers! Gritting his teeth, Luther swallowed hard. He'd tried to get the memory of the sexy human, how he'd looked, smelled, spoken, out of his mind … at least, until he could do something about him. It hadn't worked. In the dark hours of the night, Deke's handsome visage had entered his dreams, driving him to experience some of the most amazing wet dreams of his life.
While Luther loved the feelings, he feared the implication all at the same time. The life that he prepared to turn upside down wasn't just his own life. It was his daughter's as well. He feared how Stephani would take the news that his mate was a man.
Now, Luther swept his gaze over the room. He spotted Lex, a vampire he'd met in Vegas-one who'd seemed a little too friendly with Deke.
"Luther, what's wrong?" His beta's question yanked Luther out of his thoughts.
Luther suddenly realized he growled softly and had the attention of everyone at the table. Shit! Clearing his throat, he frowned at his pile of chips. "Sorry. I … " He paused, knowing if he lied, every other shifter at the table would know it.
"Guess that's my queue that I need a break," Luther muttered. He shoved from the table. He took a couple of seconds to scoop his pile of chips into his pockets, then strode from the table. He fully expected Shane to follow and demand an answer, so when he reached the kitchen sink, grabbed a beer, and turned to find the beta directly behind him, Luther wasn't surprised.
Opening his mouth, Luther planned to ask to discuss it later, except, at that second, he glanced over Shane's shoulder, and his throat constricted. Seated on the sofa, right next to Declan, was Deke. Luther snapped his jaw shut as his mouth went dry. The slender blond wore comfortable charcoal gray slacks with a black, form-fitting t-shirt. He sat with one sneaker-clad foot tucked up under his firm, round bubble butt, the other foot resting on the floor.
Even dressed conservatively, Deke was the sexiest thing Luther had ever seen.
Then, Luther spotted the tension radiating off Deke's lean frame. The human leaned close to Declan. His fists clenched together in his lap, knuckles nearly white, as he whispered earnestly.
In response, Declan rested his right hand on Deke's neck. His fingers moved rhythmically, betraying how he massaged Deke's neck. The human seemed to press into his contact, taking reassurance just as another shifter would.
What the fuck is going on?
"Luther, what the hell, man?" Shane snapped, gripping his upper arm and giving him a hard shake.
Yanking his gaze away from his obviously distressed mate, Luther stared at the beta.
Awe, fuck! When did I start thinking of him that way?
"What's going on with ye?" Shane demanded, scowling. His scent told that he was more concerned than upset. "Ye're suddenly acting like ye have a burr in yer paw. What's wrong?"
Taking a deep breath, Luther struggled to get his pulse under control. He set the unopened beer aside and focused fully on Shane. "I don't really want to talk about it," he muttered. He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and discreetly peered Deke and Declan's way again.
To his surprise, Declan no longer sat beside Deke. Instead, Lark had taken the alpha's place-when he'd left the poker game, Luther had no idea-and the nurse's hand had replaced Declan's own. Deke had his head between his knees and appeared to be doing some deep breathing exercises. Whatever they'd been speaking about, it had seriously upset the man.