"Thomas, you can't leave."
Tommy turned around to glare at his father, making sure he stood between Daniel and Elliot. "I can leave and that's exactly what I plan on doing. You can't accept Elliot? Fine, that is your choice. But I also have a choice and I choose to be with Elliot."
"You need a pack, Thomas. You won't be able to survive without one."
"Elliot and I will make our own pack."
"Elliot is not a shifter."
"No, but he is my mate."
Daniel's hands fell to his sides, a strange look coming over his face. "You really mean it. You'd leave your pack, your family, to be with him."
"In a heartbeat."
Chapter 6
Elliot's heart beat so rapidly in his chest he could barely breathe. He felt like his lungs were constricted as he tried to keep from crying at Tommy's words. No one had ever wanted him enough to make a second date, let alone leave their family for him.
"Very well, Thomas." Elliot pushed his face between Tommy's shoulder blades when he heard Daniel's words and felt their effect on Tommy. This wasn't how things were supposed to be between family members. Even with his limited experience with his own family, Elliot knew this.
"My mother died when I was just a baby. I never really knew her," Elliot whispered, feeling Tommy jerk as he talked. "And my father, my father is a man driven by greed. He never had any time for me or anyone else that didn't bring him some sort of advantage in the world. Don't let this come between you and your family, Tommy. You'll regret it and then you might start to hate me and … and I don't know if I could live with you hating me."
Tommy turned around and grabbed Elliot's arms. "Elliot, I could never hate you. You're my mate, the most important person in my world. I will never regret choosing you."
"Yeah, but-"
"No buts, pretty baby."
"If you mean to go through with this, Thomas, then we need to go
speak with your brother and make some plans. I suspect we won't have long before we find Philip Spencer on our doorstep and we need to be prepared. Your mother is also going to want to meet your mate."
Elliot's heart stuttered when Tommy stiffened and slowly turned to look at his father. He knew Tommy was angry at the way his father was acting. Elliot was too, but to give up his family was not something Elliot could let him do, not if he could prevent it.
"Tommy," Elliot stood on his tiptoes so that he could whisper into Tommy's ears. "Listen to your father. Don't let this come between you. At least listen to what your father has to say. If we don't like it, we can leave afterwards, but give him a chance. He loves you and you don't know how rare that is."
"I do love my son, Elliot," Daniel said. "I'm glad you can recognize that."
Elliot shrugged, although he wasn't sure Daniel could see it with Tommy standing between them. "It's not hard to recognize. You just want what's best for Tommy. But you need to realize that what is best for Tommy in your opinion may not be what he thinks is best."
"If Thomas chooses to be with you, so be it, but we still need to discuss this situation with your father." Daniel pointed his finger at Elliot. "You know as well as I do that he is a threat to our world, especially knowing what you now know. If your father were to discover our ability to shift-"
"He'd use it to his advantage," Elliot finished for Daniel.
"Yes."
"I agree, and I will help in any way that I can."
"Against your own father? I have doubts about that after what you just said to Thomas about not coming between us."
"My father hates me. He always has. The only time he's ever spent any time with me was the summer I turned fifteen and that was just because I was sick and in the hospital. After that, except when he wants something from me, I never even hear from my father." Elliot drew in a deep breath when he realized he had used up all of the air in his lungs then continued. "If you love Tommy like you say you do, and I believe you do, then I want Tommy to have that."
Elliot felt Tommy's hand reach back and give his hands a little squeeze. He knew Tommy was trying to reassure him and felt grateful for the small gesture. Elliot squeezed back then looked at Daniel again.
"I'll do anything to keep Tommy safe."
* * * * As much as he meant the words, Elliot didn't expect to have to put them to the test so soon. He'd no more said the words than Tommy and his father rushed him out of the house. They were on their way to Tommy's brother, the sheriff's house.
That in itself gave Elliot plenty to worry about. The last, and only time, he met the sheriff, the man had come to arrest Tommy. Elliot didn't want to see it happen again. Avoiding the man would have been his game plan, but now they were driving right to the man's house.
Now, Elliot not only had to worry about Daniel Nash but his wife and son too. He just knew someone was going to say something that convinced Tommy that Elliot wasn't worth the risk and then the man would leave him.
Elliot felt it deep in his soul. He was heading for his doom and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. Elliot felt like crying, but he knew that wouldn't do him any good. If Philip Spencer taught him anything, he taught Elliot that tears got him nowhere.
Elliot just bit his lip and turned his head toward the window, pretending to watch the night sky pass him by. He could feel the tenseness in Tommy's body as the man sat next to him and knew he dreaded the upcoming confrontation as much as Elliot did, just for different reasons.
"How are you doing there, pretty baby?" Elliot plastered a smile and his face and turned to look at Tommy. "I'm okay. A little nervous I guess. It's natural to feel nervous, isn't it? I mean, it's not like this is a usual situation or anything, right?"
"It'll be fine, you'll see. Once you get to know them, my family is not a bad lot. They just don't tend to let a lot of outsiders into their circle for obvious reasons."
Elliot nodded, inwardly cringing at Tommy calling him an outsider.
"Once they get to know you, though, they will welcome you with open arms, especially my mother. I think she will adore you."
"Yeah?" Elliot asked, hoping he sounded somewhat normal, and if he didn't, that Tommy would assume it was nerves. "Tell me about her. What's she like?"
"She can be a little intense at times, but what mother isn't?" Tommy chuckled.
"I don't know. I never really knew my mother."
"You said that before. How did she die?"
"I don't know, really, I think she got sick or something. My father refuses to discuss her with me. Every time I ask, he gets really angry so after awhile I just stopped asking." Elliot shrugged. "It seemed easier that way."
"I'm sorry, Elliot."
"It happened a long time ago."
"That still doesn't make any easier for you."
"No, I guess not."
"Well, you just wait until my mother finds out. She'll adopt you. She's already adopted Nate and told my brother Joe if he ever breaks up with Nate, she's kicking his ass to the curb and keeping Nate."
"Wait, I thought you mated for life?"
Tommy chuckled and patted Elliot's leg. "We do, pretty baby. I think she was just letting Joe know where he stood. She really likes Nate."
"Just because she likes Nate doesn't mean she's going to like me, Tommy."
"She will."
"You can't know that."
"My mother is one of the sweetest, kindest women I know, Elliot. She'd do anything for anyone. She's going to take one look at you and want to cuddle you all up."
"If she's so sweet, then how did she end up with your father? It would seem to me that he would eat her alive."
"Oh, don't let that sweetness fool you. My mother has a backbone of steel. I've seen alphas of other packs quake in their boots when she gets mad. I think even my father is afraid of her and he adores the woman."
"She sounds like a formidable woman."
"She is."
"And you love her a lot, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do."
Elliot nodded and went back to watching the night pass by. He knew now more than ever that he couldn't come between Tommy and his family. Despite the disagreement Tommy was currently having with his father, he loved him, and the rest of his family.
Elliot couldn't take Tommy away from that. Tommy would only regret it in the future, and Elliot didn't know if he could survive having Tommy regret being with him. There had to be some sort of compromise that they could come to, something.