With perfect timing, the doorbell chimed.
“No.” Tim took two steps towards him and sank to his knees. “Please stay here until I can make sure it’s safe.”
“You said they were coming to apologise.”
“I know, and I’m sure they are. But just in case, let me go down there first. I can’t focus properly if I’m worried about you getting hurt.”
Seb wanted to protest. He hated being labelled as someone who needed protecting. But these were shifters, and even if he was fighting fit, he’d never stand a chance against them. Tim fixed him with a pleading expression in his big blue eyes, and the last of Seb’s resolve crumbled. “Fine. But shout me when it’s okay to come down. I’d like to hear this apology for myself.”
Tim smiled, obviously relieved. “Thank you, and I will.” He stood and walked towards the door.
“Wait. Are you going down there like that?”
With his jeans left undone and no T-shirt, you couldn’t miss the streaks of dried come all over his body, not to mention the mess Seb had made of his hair. There would be no mistaking what they’d spent the last hour or so doing.
“It wouldn’t matter if I put more clothes on.” Tim grinned at him. “They’ll smell me way before I open the door.” With that, he turned and walked out of the room. Or swaggered was more like it.
Seb shook his head and smirked. Even mild-mannered shifters could pull off the smug-arsehole look.
Chapter Ten
Tim heard them muttering on the other side of the front door as he walked slowly down the stairs. They were talking too quietly for him to make out the words, but it sounded like there were only two of them. Not bad odds if it came to a fight.
Tim might not look the part, but he wasn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty. Especially with Seb upstairs. His hackles rose as he heard Seb’s name, followed by laughter, and he jumped the last six steps and yanked open the door.
The two shifters leaned against either side of the door frame. Neither one looked overly bothered by Tim’s warning growl. Their scent was familiar in that it was definitely P-Pack, and Tim thought he might recognise them, but not by name. He stood up straight and crossed his arms.
The one on the right was tall, blond, and kind of cute—not that Tim was interested—and he smiled and let his gaze wander down Tim’s chest to his low-slung jeans.
He let out a low whistle. “If we had a pack doctor like you, I’d want to be injured as often as possible.”
Ignoring him, Tim turned to the other one, who was slightly shorter, with dark hair and a strong jaw.
The shifter stuck out his hand for Tim to shake. “I’m Mark, and this is Will.” He gestured to his pack-mate.
“Tim Walters.” Tim took his hand and shook it, then did the same with Will. He’d not washed his hands; the scent of come must be rolling off him in waves, but neither of them flinched.
Mark chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah, we were told you’d be around a lot.” He smiled and eyed Tim’s belly again. “Have to say I thought it was a way for your pack to keep an eye on Calloway, but now….” Mark breathed in deep and Tim caught the faintest hint of arousal in the air, and it wasn’t coming from him. “Well… even if it is, it looks like it comes with some pretty sweet benefits.”
Will laughed, and Tim opened his mouth wide enough to let his teeth extend.
Will stopped immediately and held up both hands. “Hey, we were just messing. No offence.”
Tim stared at them for a few seconds longer, the urge to half-shift stirring under his skin. He doubted these two posed a threat to him or Seb, but standing there with the evidence of what they’d just done all over him, their combined scents a heady reminder, Tim struggled to back down. There was nothing feigned about his reaction. Whether they were convinced or not, he couldn’t tell. “What can I do for you?”
Mark stood up straight, his smile slipping. “We came to apologise for what happened to Calloway.”
The hairs stood up on the back of Tim’s neck and his fingers itched with the need to let his claws out. “Was it you?” He hadn’t paid all that much attention to the scents surrounding Seb’s flat that night and couldn’t be sure whether they’d been there or not.
“No.” Mark glanced at Will, who looked a little uncomfortable.
“Then why are you apologising?”
“You and Calloway aredating—” Will’s gaze once again dropped to the open button on Tim’s jeans. “—so there was a good chance you’d be here when someone from our pack came. We thought it’d be better for everyone if we came instead.”
They were probably right. Considering how he’d reacted to these two, if confronted with the idiots who’d scared Seb into falling down the stairs, he might well have done exactly what Alec was trying to prevent. “Fair enough.”
But if that was the case, then—“Does Alpha Newell know you’re here?”
