"Wolf or cat?" Clive said at last.
Marly was staggered. He'd been mentally preparing himself for a lecture on how Trent was off limits, and this man, who had known Trent so much longer than he had, was sitting there asking him such a loaded question. What. The. Fuck?
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said holding Clive's gaze. Omega wolf, he might be, but he didn't cower in front of any human, unless he had to.
Clive sighed and leaned forward his elbows resting on his knees. "I've seen a lot of things, especially when I was in the military. But I have never seen a man move so fast, or take out so many people, in such a short time, unless they were extensively trained by the military, or they were a shifter. I know Trent can do it, but I assumed he was military. I've never seen anyone like you do the same thing."
Swallowing hard at the thought that Clive even knew about shifters, Marly smoothed a hand down his black fitted t-shirt.
"And you didn't think I was in the military, why?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile.
Clive snorted, and then laughed. "You're too short and too pretty for that," he said, and Marly warmed at the humor in the man's voice. For what it was worth Trent trusted this man – took his orders and treated him like a friend. Marly wasn't going to lie to someone that important in his mate's life.
"Wolf," he confirmed, hoping like hell he could trust Trent's friend with his secret.
"So you and Trent are mates, then," Clive said and Marly noticed it wasn't a question. Shit, this was not good. If Clive thought he and Trent were together, then they might be moving sooner than he thought. But there was no way that Marly was prepared to deny his mate, to anyone. It had been hard enough back at the Epitaph's compound. He wasn't about to do it in his own home.
"Why do you say that?" He said instead, stalling, and was surprised when Clive laughed again.
"You didn't hear him when Jeff had you by the throat," Clive said. "Trent was ready to kill the man for just laying a hand on you, and I guess that's also why Bob got a hiding and Todd is still in hospital with a shattered jaw. Bob said you were one of the two men he and Todd bashed in the main street a while ago. I take it you didn't fight back because you were in a public place."
"Fine, yes, Trent is my mate, and yes he scented me on one of those idiots after me and my friend got bashed, which is how we met," Marly said. "But if you're worried about Trent causing any trouble, then don't, because he already promised me he would give up the club after that same idiot and his mates attacked me in the alley that second time. We'll move out of town and you won't have to deal with either of us again."
"Why the hell didn't you punch Stephanie in the face, for being all over your mate? I thought you wolves were all possessive and shit."
Marly snarled, and bunched his fists. He didn't want to think of his mate being smothered by some fucking woman who didn't understand the meaning of the word no. "Mates don't hurt each other either," he snapped out, "and I wasn't about to out my mate in front of his homophobic friends. You humans don't understand how intense the mating bond is, and how virtually impossible it is for any shifter to ignore it when they find the one they are fated for. Our coming together wasn't Trent's fault or mine."
Leaning back on the couch, Clive stared at the ceiling for a moment before saying, "I understand only too well. I was in love with a shifter and he left me when he met his true mate. He tried not to hurt me, but I could tell he would be miserable without the one he was meant to be with, so I let him go. That was almost twenty years ago, and I can still feel the pain of it today."
Ouch, Marly could see where that would hurt, and his heart went out to the rugged man on his couch. But then something else that Clive had said clicked with him and he asked, "He?"
"Yes, he," Clive said, sitting up straighter now and looking Marly right in the eye. "I'm bi-sexual. He was gorgeous, just like most of you shifters, and we had five years together before his mate found him. It took a year before he would tell me what was wrong, and then when he did, and he explained all about shifters and the mating bond, I knew it would only be a matter of time before he left me, so I walked away."
"And now you hate gays that much, you have your club members hunting them down in the streets? I'm failing to see any positives in your confession, as heartfelt as it sounds."
"It wasn't intentional," Clive said softly, his voice a light whisper in the otherwise silent room. "It's just, at the start I would get so angry seeing two men walking along the road together without a care in the world. This was twenty years ago mind, and it didn't happen very often, but I used to be like that with my partner. It fucking hurt to see the love that other men had with each other. I joined the Epitaphs, and the boss at the time was already homophobic, and I just did nothing to stop the habit, even after I was made President ten years ago."
Marly didn't know how to feel. On the one hand he was seriously pissed because the Epitaphs were a force to be reckoned with in Orlando, and Michael wasn't the first of his friends who considered leaving town because of the gay bashing. But on the other hand, he could see why Clive would feel the way he did. Jealousy and pain were powerful emotions. It was the thought of his bright friend heading to Amish country, which made Marly focus on his anger instead of his compassion.
You had no right," he snarled, standing up and pacing the floor, flinging his arms about. "One of my best friends is heading out of town to live in the backwaters because of what your club members did to him and me. I have another friend dressing in business suits for fucks sake, because he doesn't dare look gay. And believe me, if you knew Cat then you would know what a travesty that was. Your goon and his buddies were going to kill me in that alley. They had knives and knuckle busters and chains, and if I hadn't been a shifter, then I would be dead. You have no right spreading that sort of hate simply because you've been hurt by one man. That's just … "
Marly trailed off because he couldn't think of a suitable word, but when Clive said, "immature? Wrong? Petty minded? Stupid?" Marly couldn't help his excited yell of "exactly!"
"I know," Clive said. "I don't like the man I've become, and I don't think Jules would have done either. Things will change, I can promise you that, and not only because of what you and Trent did in the compound today. Trent had to have known you were in danger by bringing you along, and yet he did it, I presume, out of loyalty to me."
"That and he didn't trust leaving me on the side of the road," Marly said wryly, plopping down on the couch beside Clive. "But look, I meant what I said earlier. Me and Trent, we'll leave town. It's what Trent wanted to do anyway, and I'll, well, I'll just go along with it too. That way there's no hassle for you with other club members."
"Oh no," Clive started to say, but all of a sudden the front door burst open and standing in the opening was a very pissed off Trent.
"MINE!" He roared, advancing on Clive as though the man had a death wish he was happy to fill. Trent's fists were clenched, his eyes were bulging and Marly could see the veins popping out of his muscles. Trent was fighting a shift, and he knew he had to act quickly. Clive might know about shifters, but if Trent became wolf there was no guarantee he wouldn't eat his friend alive and enjoy every mouthful.
"Cut it out Trent, right now," Marly snarled, standing up and moving between Trent and Clive. Trent stopped and looked down at Marly in astonishment.
"Take some deep breaths," Marly said in a softer voice. "Get control of yourself. I'm here. I'm safe. It's all good."
Trent stood for a moment, his chest heaving, his eyes fixed on Marly. When he had clearly gotten over his desire to shift, he reached out, his big hand tracing down Marly's neck.
"You're hurt," he said whined, so unlike his typical grumble.
Marly had to stop and think for a moment. He'd totally forgotten that Jeff's knife had nicked his neck. He tilted his neck so Trent could see the wound had already healed.
"It's gone. It was nothing."
"It killed me to see you with a knife at your throat," Trent said, catching Marly up in his arms and burying his face in Marly's neck. His conscience warring between knowing that Clive was watching on with bemused tolerance and Trent's need for comfort, Marly stayed pliant in Trent's arms, gently stroking his man's shoulders as Trent licked up his neck, clearing away the dried blood, before he sniffed deep and then licked over Marly's mating scar. Marly felt a delicious shiver run right through his body, and he knew that Trent would smell his arousal as his cock filled.