Tim scoffed. “This is so not the same thing, Nate. I’m not bonded to Sebastian Calloway and he’s not my mate. He’shuman.”
“So is Jared,” Nathan shot back.
“Yeah, but you bit him and then fucked him.” Tim sighed. He was finished with this conversation. “I’ve done neither of those things.”
Nathan leaned in close and whispered, “But you want to.”
His words made Tim’s jaw tingle with the need to shift and bare his teeth. His heart thudded.
Nathan added a bit more. “You want him to be yours. And that’s why you reacted like that.”
Fuck.The idea of sinking his teeth into Seb’s neck, feeling that snap of the connection as it bound them together… it made his chest ache and his dick throb. “Seb doesn’t want any of that. You know he doesn’t.”
“Neither did Jared,” Nathan replied softly.
Tim snapped his gaze up. “I’m not going to force—”
“I didn’t mean that, for fuck’s sake.” At least now Nathan looked as horrified as Tim felt. “I just meant that people can change their mind, that’s all. Get to know him better. If his opinions of shifters are anything like Jared’s were, then you need to show him that you’re not like that.”
“Like what, exactly?” Tim knew all about Nathan biting Jared and then essentially kidnapping him, but by the time he met them, the bond was well and truly in place.
“When I first met Jared, he hated all shifters on principle. Thought they were arrogant, selfish, with no regard for humans whatsoever.” Nathan glanced up at the ceiling and smiled.
Tim sighed. “Nate, you and Jaredbonded, for fuck’s sake. You had a little help changing his mind. How am I supposed to convince Seb that we’re not all like that, when his best friend was first put in the hospital by one and then bitten and kidnapped by another?” Nathan growled but Tim dismissed him with a wave. Too bad if he didn’t like hearing the truth. “And anyway, Jared still thinks most shifters are arrogant arseholes.”
Nathan was silent for several tense seconds, and Tim wondered if he was about to be asked to leave. It wasn’t as though he had any official business here, after all. “I didn’t say it would be easy.” He glanced at Tim and smiled, small but honest. “But if there’s any chance you could feel like I do, then you need to take it.” Keeping his gaze locked with Tim’s, Nathan ran a hand over his own chest. “Being with Jared now is worth all the shit we went through to get here.”
Tim looked at him, unsure what to say to that. All he’d wanted to do was come and see how Seb was. Bonded? Did he want that? And if he did, did he want it with Seb? He shook his head at the thought. “Look, Nate, I’m happy that things worked out for you and Jared. But I can’t imagine that Seb would want me to bite him, and we both know that’s my best hope of creating a bond.”
Nathan cocked his head to one side. “If you have no intention of pursuing this, then why are you here? Me and Jared can take him to hospital.”
“I know that. I just—”Just what?“—wanted to check up on my patient.”
“Uh-huh. Of course you did.”
And yeah, Tim totally deserved the sceptical look Nathan aimed at him.
All this talk about Seb and bonding had set him on edge. The full moon was almost two weeks away, but he felt his wolf close to the surface, his body itching to shift. He shook out his shoulders in an effort to quell it. “Are you going to take me up, or are we going to stand here and chat all day?”
The roughness of Tim’s voice had Nathan raising his eyebrows. “Calm down, doc. I’m not taking you up there like that.”
Tim took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “I’m fine.” Thankfully he sounded back to normal, and he followed it up with what he hoped resembled a smile. “Really.” Nathan continued to study him, subtly scenting the air, and Tim fought to regain his usual calm. “Honestly. I just want to check the swelling on his ankle and wrist.”
Nathan pushed off the wall with a sigh. “Come on, then.”
Jared met them in the hall after Nathan let them inside the flat. Jared’s face was a picture of surprise when he saw Tim. “Oh hey, Tim.”
“Hey.”
“Wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.” Jared smiled and glanced down the hall to the bedrooms. “Come to check on Seb?”
Jared didn’t seem to think it was odd, not like Nathan had, and Tim relaxed more. Maybe Nathan hadn’t mentioned anything to him.
“Yeah.” He lifted his medical bag a little for Jared to see. “How’s he doing?” Jared laughed and made a seesaw motion with his hand. “That bad, huh?”
“Let’s just say he’s discovering how difficult it is to do things with an injured wrist and ankle, and he’s not very impressed.”
“Pissed off and grumpy as fuck,” Nathan chimed in. “Unless he’s perked up in the last fifteen minutes?”
