Hagen, Lynn - Nicholas's Wolf [Brac Pack 14] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Read online

  His head flopped back on impact. “Ah, fuck!” Nicholas hopped around. His face felt like it had just exploded. What was with multiple head injuries tonight? He spun around and turned the faucet on, splashing the cold water on his face to staunch the bleeding. Leaning his head back, he pinched his nose.

  “Sorry, I, uh, didn’t mean to take things out on you,” Brent offered as he tried to clean himself up. He handed Nicholas a handful of paper towels.

  Nicholas grabbed them. “What gives?” He wet the paper towels and held them to his face, a massive headache adding to his problems. This was going to swell. There wasn’t going to be any way of hiding from this.

  “I caught my long-time partner cheating. I guess I had a chip on my shoulder, wanted to take it out on someone,” Brent said as he shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the floor.

  “Not the right way to handle things. You just tried to rape me.”

  Brent’s head snapped up as his face paled, his jaw dropping to his chest. The smeared blood only made his expression more dramatic. “I–I, that, oh, fuck.”

  “Relax. If you promise not to pull any bullshit like that again, I won’t press charges.” Nicholas pulled a card from his wallet. “Here’s the number to a very good counselor that can help you get past this.” He shoved his wallet back into his pocket as he held the card out.

  “I promise, I swear.” Brent’s hand shook as he took the card. “You just carry these cards around?”

  Nicholas shrugged, regretting it as he winced. “I’m a doctor. It’s what I do.”

  Brent cleared his throat, looking thoroughly ashamed of himself. “I really am sorry.” He held the card up. “I promise to call. I’ve never done anything like this in my life. I’m an accountant, for fuck’s sake.”

  “Then let’s go dance since we have matching noses now.” Nicholas knew he should get home and put ice on it. Fuck it, let Father yell at him. He helped someone out tonight and that was why he had become a doctor in the first place.

  “What the hell happened to you, Nicky?” Rebecca gasped as Nicholas rejoined her on the dance floor.

  Nicholas looked over at Brent, who had hung his head. “It was that good.”

  Brent looked up from under his lashes. He looked astonished and grateful as a small smile tugged at his lips. He gave Nicholas a nod. “I promise.”

  Nicholas lost the urge to dance and led Brent outside. Once again that longing to have someone to call his own tugged at him as they walked over to what he assumed was Brent’s car.

  The two sat on the hood, observing the partygoers either heading in or coming out. The night air was warm, and the stars were out, as many as you could see in the city. Nicholas loved stargazing, but time and obstructed view prevented it. They must have been in the club longer than he remembered, transitioning from evening to night.

  Why couldn’t life be simple? You grow up, go to college, get a degree, and then put it to use doing something you really loved. How you wanted to do it. No parents to get in the way, no excruciatingly long hours, just at peace with every minute you were at work.

  “An accountant, huh?” Nicholas broke the silence.

  Brent blew out a ragged breath, lay back on the hood, and crossed his fingers over his chest. “Yeah, not something I really wanted to do. I followed my dad, and his dad, and so on.”

  It seemed they had one thing in common. Nicholas knew how Brent felt. To live up to your parent’s expectation seemed to steal a part of your soul when it wasn’t what you wanted.

  “I met Henry about three years ago. He was the perfect partner, at least in my eyes.” Brent shrugged his shoulders. “I figured if I wasn’t happy working, at least I could be happy at home. What happened caught me from left field, never saw it coming. I came home early today, knew something was wrong when clothes were strewn throughout the house leading to the bedroom. I heard them, heard the moaning.”

  Nicholas wanted to reach out when a tear ran down the side of Brent’s face, but he held back. He could see the pain in Brent’s eyes. The struggle he was going through, it was so raw it was heart-wrenching. It still didn’t excuse what he did, going from a victim to making someone else one wasn’t the solution.

  “I didn’t want to open that door. I knew I had to, couldn’t live with the not knowing.” Brent took a deep, cleansing breath and then continued. “There they were, limbs everywhere, and Henry taking it up the ass. He never let me top, but all of the sudden he’s a bottom? What the fuck?”

  That was anyone’s worst nightmare when in a relationship. “I don’t know what to say, Brent. Henry was an asshole. Do me a favor and use that card I gave you. I know it seems like your world is falling down around you, but it does get better. I wouldn’t advise trying to date right now. You’ll only take it out on your new partner, and that’s not fair to either of you.” Nicholas squeezed Brent’s shoulder, trying his best to give support, to show that someone cared.

  “Crap, I can’t believe I screwed it up with you. You probably don’t want to set eyes on me again, but if I get the help I need, go to this counselor, can we maybe hang out sometime?”

  Nicholas knew he couldn’t. Brent had a long road ahead of him. The aggression he showed was only a part of a deeper problem, and he wouldn’t allow himself to become a part of that. “Get the help you need. I promise to check up on you, see how you’re doing.”

  “I guess that’s as good as I’ll get. Thanks, Nicholas.”

  “I’m going to check tomorrow. If you haven’t made an appointment, then I’m going to press charges. I know it’s forced therapy, but I think in the long run you’ll benefit from it.” Nicholas slid from the hood, searching the crowd that was exiting the club for Rebecca.

  “I want you to know I’m serious.” Brent reached into his wallet, extracted a business card. “Here’s my information. If I don’t call to make that appointment, I just made it easier for you to find me.” Brent smiled sadly at him before getting into his car and pulling away.

  With his business card in hand, Nicholas felt better about him being out on the streets. Brent was just in a world of pain. He just hoped Brent went somewhere and slept it off.

  Nicholas dropped Rebecca off once they had pulled over and she had changed back into her conservative clothing. It had been one hell of a night. He just shook his head when a truck honked at Rebecca’s exposed brassiere. She really was beautiful. If he was straight, he would be all over that. But watching her do her presto quick change did nothing for him.

  “We could make up a story. Tell your father we were accosted by a drugstore when we stopped to get cramping medicine.”

  Nicholas thought the offer was sweet. “I won’t lie.” He held his hand up to hush her. “I won’t tell him where we were or that you were with me, but I will tell him I was in a fight. It makes me feel dangerous.” Nicholas laughed.

  Rebecca shook her head. “Your neck.”

  “Gee, thanks, fiancée,” Nicholas joked as she climbed out of the car giggling.

  Taking a deep breath, Nicholas steered his car out of the drive and onto the main road. Tonight wasn’t exactly like he’d expected. Instead of getting laid, he counseled and intervened. He felt good about helping Brent out, but he was still horny as hell.

  Pulling into his drive and cutting the motor off, Nicholas climbed out and went inside. What a night.

  Just as he sat his cell phone down, it rang.

  He hit the send button without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

  “Dr. Nicholas Sheehan?”

  Nicholas blew out a breath. He knew that voice. He never would forget the deep timbre that demanded respect and immediate attention.

  “Hello, Maverick Brac.”

  Chapter Two

  “How the hell did I get volunteered for this?” Jason asked as he sucked his thumb. That was the second time he missed the nail. “What do I know about roofing?”

  “You shouldn’t have opened your mouth,” Tank grumbled as he leaned back on
his heels.

  Jason threw his arms in the air. “How is telling Maverick the roof is leaking volunteering?” He looked down at his thumb. It was redder than hell, but thankfully he was a shifter and knew there would be no lasting damage.

  Tank rolled his eyes as he pointed at Jason. “You saw it. You fix it. Duh.”

  That was the craziest motto he had ever heard. Who in their right mind told two Sentries to repair a roof just because they had noticed a leak? Jason flipped Tank off as he waved his sore thumb back and forth. The sucker really hurt. “And how did you get roped into this?” he asked as he picked his hammer back up.

  Tank narrowed his eyes and once again pointed at Jason. “Standing next to your big mouth,” he huffed.

  “An online printout of ‘How to fix your own roof’ does not make us professionals. Why couldn’t he hire someone?” Jason dug into his tool belt and gathered another handful of nails. He was going to have to figure out how to set them down without half of them rolling off of the roof. He tucked a few under both knees. Okay, that wasn’t the smartest idea, now his knees hurt.

  “You know Maverick doesn’t like strangers here with all the mates running around.” Jason watched as Tank tugged at the safety harness that was tightly wrapped around the guy’s humungous frame. It was amazing they made them that large. It had to be six times larger than a regular large.

  Jason grabbed a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his face and neck. The sun was beating down on them, making Jason’s skin turn a bright red.

  With his skin feeling as though it were burning in the hot sun and his thumb hurting like hell, he was downright irritable. “He could have locked them all in the dungeon or something.”

  Tank rolled his eyes as he swung the hammer. “We don’t have a dungeon, retard.” Tank drove the nail in and set the next one up.

  Jason ignored him. It was hot as hell up on this roof, and all he wanted to do was take his shirt off and wipe the sweat from his body like a normal person would do. The problem was, Jason wasn’t normal. His body was littered with scars from his days in the Eastern pack under Alpha Jackson’s rule.

  The now-dead Alpha was one sadistic bastard. The maniac had taken a cat o’ nine tails to him every time he disobeyed and then sprinkled minute amounts of silver in the open wounds so he couldn’t heal from them.

  His body resembled something that had gone through a meat grinder. To make matters worse, the new Alpha, who had challenged Jackson and won, had traded Jason off to Maverick like yesterday’s underwear.

  It seemed no one wanted his ugly-duckling ass around. That was fine by him. He didn’t need anyone anyway.

  “You wanna pay attention to what you’re doing before both our humpty-dumpty asses fall off and break numerous bones? Healing hurts like a bitch,” Tank called over to him.

  He had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed how close to the edge he had wandered to. Grabbing the safety rope, Jason pulled himself back up to where he was working.

  Jason lifted the hammer to strike the next nail when it flew out of his hand. He watched it smack the roof, skid down, and then fall over the edge. Jason crawled over to the edge, looking over to make sure it hadn’t hit anyone.

  “Hey, watch it,” Tank yelled.

  “Guess I’m done then.” Jason shrugged as he crawled over to the Timber wolf. “Unless you have an extra hammer?”

  Tank eyed him for a moment then grinned. “Nope, guess we’re done.”

  “Then let’s get out of this damn heat.” Jason unbuckled his tool belt and dropped it on the roof with all the other supplies rolling around.

  “Did I tell you I’m afraid of heights?” Tank peered over the edge, and shuddered.

  “You climbed up here and worked half the day and are just now telling me this?” Jason asked as he gathered the supplies and tools, trying his best to make them sit in one pile without rolling off of the edge. They should have brought a bucket up here.

  “Climbing down is the scary part.” Tank eyed the edge once more.

  “You’re tied off, no chance of falling.” Jason climbed onto the ladder then looked over at Tank. “I’ll go first. That way if you do fall and take half the roof with you, I’ll already be on the ground.” He made his descent before Tank could say anything else.

  Tank was his friend. His mate, George, was his other friend. Even though Jason lived in a house full of people, he pretty much stayed to himself. He was a Grey wolf living amongst beautiful people, and it bothered the hell out of him. More than it should. It was a constant reminder of what he wasn’t or what he would never have. A mate. Who would want someone as scarred or broken as he was?

  “Hold the ladder,” Tank shouted from the roof.

  “I swear you better not fall. Even a shifter wouldn’t recover from your fat ass breaking every single bone in their body,” Jason shouted back up to him. Tank was far from fat. He was over three hundred pounds of pure muscle, and having the warrior fall on him would be lethal.

  “Just shut up and hold it.” Tank groused as he began to climb down.

  Jason grabbed the ladder, making sure the shoes were planted firmly on the ground. Why didn’t Maverick just use scaffolding? It would have been safer than an extension ladder. Especially with Tank’s large frame scaling it.

  “Thanks.” Tank patted him on the shoulder as he set his feet firmly on the ground. Jason nearly fell over with the massive hands pounding on his back.

  Jason eyed the ladder and then looked up at Tank. “Think we should move the ladder?”

  Tank waved his hand. “Nah, who’s gonna mess with it?”

  Somehow Jason doubted Tank’s words. The mates were always into something, and a ladder leaning on the side of the house would be a huge temptation, especially to the Alpha’s mate. Cecil had a way of causing trouble even when he was sitting still.

  “Okay.” Jason shrugged as he followed Tank into the house. What he needed right now was a shower to get rid of the grime he could feel covering his body.

  They both made their way upstairs, only to be sidetracked by a group of shifters standing outside of Melonee’s door. She was the little human girl who lived here. Jason didn’t interact with her, but she was still cute as a button. He didn’t want to scare her with his scars, so he kept his distance from her.

  “Why does she have all those red bumps?” Maverick asked from the doorway. He looked terrified to go into her room.

  Tangee, Melonee’s brother, shrugged. “Maybe chicken pox or measles, not sure. She’s had her shots, though.”

  “Is that why she’s scratching everywhere?” Maverick took a step into the room when she whimpered but then stepped back. “Is she contagious?”

  Tangee rolled his eyes. “You can’t catch human diseases, remember?”

  “Get a hold of that human doctor, what was his name?” Jason watched as Maverick tapped his chin in concentration before snapping his fingers. “Dr. Nicholas Sheehan.” Maverick looked over at Melonee then shuddered. “Never mind, I’ll go call him.” The Alpha took off down the stairs.

  “Wuss.” Tangee chuckled as he walked into his sister’s room.

  “What’s chicken pox and measles?” Jason asked the warrior Remi, who was standing outside the bedroom door with everyone else.

  “Beats me.” The warrior shook his head as he stared into the room.

  “It’s something human kids get. Little red bumps show up, you scratch your skin off, your mom puts some pink stuff on it, and then it goes away.” Remi’s mate, Drew, answered Jason’s question.

  “Your skin comes off?” Jason was horrified. An image of the seven-year-old little girl skinless was disgusting. Humans were some strange creatures.

  “Not literally. It just feels like it. Someone needs to find out which human mates have had it. Those who haven’t could catch it, and it can be deadly to adults.” Drew looked from Remi to Jason as if they should go around and take a survey.

  “None of you can get it, pup.
You’re immune to human diseases now,” Remi said to his mate.

  Jason wasn’t so sure about what Remi had just said. He didn’t want to take any chances of having his skin fall off. “It’s contagious?” Jason liked this less and less.

  “Not to wolves, humans.” Drew rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air. “I’m gonna go call my mom, see if I’ve had it.”

  “You can’t get it,” Remi called out, but Drew ignored him.

  Jason looked back into the bedroom. The little girl was crying while her brother tried to stop her from scratching her skin off. The image was still gross. Even though he hated his scarred skin with a passion, he preferred it over being skinless. Though Drew had said it was a figure of speech, the image plagued Jason’s mind.

  He knew very little about humans. Even though there were humans in Pride Pack Valley, where the Eastern pack resided, Jason never mingled.

  Until he came here, there was no need for him to find out. Now he found himself ignorant as hell when it came to humans. George tried to teach him, but there was so much to learn.

  “The doctor is on his way,” Maverick yelled upstairs.

  “Sorry, I can’t hear you. Why don’t you come up and tell me?” Tangee shouted down.

  “Not likely. Nice try, though,” Maverick shouted back as he laughed.

  Confused at the conversation, Jason left it alone. He would probably sound stupid asking someone to explain it to him. His father had kept him isolated growing up, and then Alpha Jackson did the same when he was a soldier, so the everyday things people took for granted were lost on him.

  Sadly, even humor. His father had been ruthless with his upbringing, and Alpha Jackson had been cruel beyond imagination. He hadn’t really known humor. There was never an occasion for it in his life.

  “My mom said to get some calamine lotion,” Drew shouted down to Maverick.

  “On it,” Maverick yelled up then ran out of the front door.

  “Chicken.” Drew laughed as he walked into the little girl’s room.

  “Won’t you catch it?” Jason called after Drew.

  “Nah, my mom said I already had it.” The mate helped Tangee stop his sister from annihilating her skin.