Tim held his gaze for a long moment, and just as he started to speak, Jared wrenched the passenger-side door open. He leaned in and wrapped Seb in a careful hug. “Thanks for coming back here,” he whispered. “I know it probably pissed you off no end, but thanks. I felt all weird, and just needed to see that you’re safe.”
“Yeah, I know.” Seb patted Jared on the shoulder as he pulled back and then stood. “You and your freaky shifter habits.”
He sensed Tim still beside him, but Jared was fussing over him, drawing his attention.
“Do you need a hand getting out?” Jared looked so desperate to help that Seb took pity on him.
“Yeah, please.” Aware that things felt unfinished between himself and Tim, but not knowing how to fix that with Jared hovering by the open door, Seb put his hand on Tim’s arm. “Thanks again. I guess I’ll see you around.”
Tim nodded, his smile barely there this time. “Take care, Seb.”
As soon as Jared helped him out of the car and shut the door, Tim drove off. Seb watched him go until he turned the corner and disappeared.
“Everything okay?” Jared slipped an arm around Seb’s waist, taking nearly all his weight and holding Seb’s crutch in his other hand.
Jared’s increased strength wasn’t anywhere like that of a shifter, but it was a substantial difference compared to Seb’s own, and it still surprised him sometimes.
“Yeah. Let’s get inside. Looks like rain.”
Jared let Seb sleep until twelve o’clock before coming in with a cup of tea. “Fancy getting up? There’s a couple of people who’d like to talk to you.”
Seb eyed the mug Jared set down on the bedside table. He yawned widely. “A bacon sarnie would have worked better.”
“Nathan’s cooking you one.”
Jared looked all smug about that, and Seb rolled his eyes.
“And bypeople, do you meanactualpeople, or shifters?”
Jared cast a glance back through the open door out to the hallway, where Nathan—and whoever else was out there—could no doubt hear them, and then he walked over and closed the door. “Can you not?”
“What?” Seb inched himself upright with his good hand, shoving away Jared’s efforts to help.
“Shifters are people.”
God, it was too early to deal with Jared’s protectiveness, especially when it wasn’t aimed at him. Before Nathan had stumbled onto the scene, Jared wouldn’t have batted an eye at comments like that. Seb missed those days sometimes. “You know what I mean.”
“Nathan’s out there with Gareth and Alec.”
Seb sat up a little straighter at that bit of information. “I thought Alec and Nathan hated each other?”
He’d listened to some of what Jared told him about the pack. Just not everything. An in-pack feud tended to stick in the memory.
Jared shrugged. “I thinkhateis a little strong.” He glanced back to the door as if imagining what was on the other side. “‘Intensely dislike’ might be more accurate.” Seb laughed. “Which is all the more reason for us to get out there. The atmosphere was a little… frosty.” He grinned and Seb found himself grinning back. There was the old Jared he knew and loved.
“Yeah, okay.” Seb took a sip of his tea, savouring the warmth as he swallowed it down. “Give me five minutes to get dressed, and I’ll be out to give my statement.”
“They’re not going to interrogate you.”
“Mm-hmm. They just want to ask me some questions, right?”
Jared rolled his eyes, but he stood and headed towards the door. “Five minutes. The sooner we get Alec out of Nathan’s space the better.”
He put a finger to his lips before pulling the door open, and Seb nodded to show he understood.Damn shifters and their fucking super senses.
Dressed in a pair of Jared’s pyjama bottoms and a T-shirt, Seb grabbed his crutch and followed Jared down the hallway to the living room.
From the way Jared spoke about Nathan and Alec’s relationship, Seb had expected to walk into some sort of standoff, but everyone was sitting down and looking fairly amiable when he and Jared entered the room. It wasn’t until he caught a glimpse of the tight set to Nathan’s mouth and eyes that he realised there was any tension at all.
