“You feeling okay?” Tim snapped his fingers and Seb startled, mortified to realise he’d been staring at Tim’s mouth.
He swallowed down his embarrassment and wiped at his face again. “Sorry, just spaced out for a sec. Still feeling a bit dodgy, to be honest.”
“We’ll take a bowl in the car.” Tim laughed as Seb grumbled, and then he turned to face Jared. “You two might as well go home. I’ve got my car outside, and we could be at the hospital for a while.”
Jared started to protest, so Seb decided to nip that in the bud. “It’s all right, J. I’ll be in Dr Walters’s very capable hands.”
For some reason that sounded dirtier when said out loud. Judging by Jared’s smirk, he thought so too.
Tim smiled. “Call me Tim, please. Dr Walters makes me sound ancient.”
“Seriously, I’ll be okay withTim,” Seb added. “There’s no point either of you waiting around.”
“But we still need to discuss what happened tonight. Jesus, Seb, there were shifters….”
Seb sighed. He hadn’t wanted to admit to this, but his head ached, his limbs ached, and he just wanted to get this hospital trip over and done with. And if Jared and Nathan came along, they’d probably take the opportunity to question him endlessly, and he couldn’t face it. Not tonight. “Look.” His voice came out surprisingly strong considering how delicate he felt. “It’s not the first time something like that’s happened.” Admittedly they’d never lingered around his front door before, but whatever. “Nothing ever comes of it. They just like to remind me they’re close by, I think.”
Jared’s expression went from worried to outraged in the blink of an eye. On second thoughts, maybe Seb should have kept quiet. His mental reasoning wasn’t the best at present.
“That settles it.” Jared glanced from Seb to Nathan and then back again. “You’re definitelynotgoing to the hospital on your own.”
“Jared—” Nathan’s tone held a warning, but Seb struggled to understand what it was for.
Either oblivious to it or choosing to ignore Nathan, Jared carried on. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this before now.”
“It’s nothing—”
“It’s not nothing!” Fisting his hair with one hand, Jared closed his eyes as though trying to rein in his temper. “Do you realise how much danger you could be in?”
Nathan tried again. “I don’t think they’d actually do anything to him, J. The repercussions would be—”
“I don’t give a fuck about the repercussions, Nathan! Seb could be dead by then. And no way is he leaving this flat with no one to protect him when God knows what could be waiting for him out there. It’s not fucking safe!”
Even in his fuzzy state, Seb was aware that Jared was overreacting. Jared worried about Seb, yes, but not like this. Never over-the-top protective and unreasonable.
A low growl rumbled through the ensuing silence. Seb felt it deep in his bones.
“He won’tbeon his own.” Tim leaned against the wall, body rigid and hands clenched into fists. His top lip curled slightly and Seb noticed with some interest that yes, his teeth did go pointy like Jared’s.
Every time Seb had run into the doctor at Jared’s place, he’d always appeared easy-going, happy. In fact, he displayed so few of the traits Seb associated with shifters—aggression, arrogance, possessiveness—that sometimes he almost forgot that Tim was one. Seb had never seen him look like he did now, all coiled power and confidence, and maybe a little pissed off too.
The sudden change in Tim’s demeanour was startling and a little disturbing, and it might be the alcohol talking, but Seb found it really hot too. His dick stirred in his boxers and he hastily rearranged the quilt in case anything might show.
The movement made his wrist twinge and he sucked in a breath at the stab of pain. On the plus side, it took care of his burgeoning hard-on.
Jared’s mouth fell open, seeming as shocked as Seb by this turn of events. So obviously, he’d never seen this side of Tim either, but Nathan appeared resigned, almost as if he’d known it was going to happen.
Tim flexed his fingers. The smear of blood on his palms was a clear indication that his claws had lengthened too.Really pissed off, then.
Tim cast a wry glance at Nathan’s hulking form. “I might not look as intimidating as some.” Compared to Nathan, Tim wasn’t as broad or as tall, but he was still about six foot, and Seb would bet good money that underneath his slim-fitting top, he was all lean muscle. “But I assure I can protect Sebastian just as well as anyone else in my pack.”
Oh.Seb hated his full name.Usually.But something about the way Tim said it made him feel all funny inside, and it definitely wasn’t the beer this time. It might be the roughness of Tim’s voice, thicker than normal and affected by his lengthened teeth, but whatever it was, Seb liked it and didn’t feel the need to correct him.
Jared raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing.
While Nathan and Jared were busy having some sort of silent conversation, Seb let his gaze linger over Tim’s shoulders, noticing the way the material clung in certain places when muscles flexed as Tim stood and stretched out his hands. Yes, Seb had no doubt Tim Walters could protect him. His gaze wandered higher to Tim’s face. One moment he was looking at blue eyes, full lips, and a strong jawline, the next he was faced with a snarling shifter—all sharp teeth and menace—Fucking hell.
Seb’s breath caught in his chest, all his aches and pains forgotten in that instant, but before he had chance to utter a word, Tim was back to normal.
