To his credit, Luke didn’t groan or roll his eyes. He just nodded, but then a small smile appeared. “I had the same talk from Jared and Nathan. Not sure I dare let Seb out of my sight.”
That brought a smile back to Tim’s face. “Sounds like a great plan.”
Feeling a little better about going, he walked through the doorway and headed to his car.
Alec met Tim at the doors to his building and escorted him inside. “They’re waiting for us in Cam’s flat,” he said, holding the stairwell door open and gesturing for Tim to go through.
“Not in the meeting rooms?”
The floor below Cam’s flat held two large meeting rooms that opened to make a room big enough to house the whole pack, plus visitors if necessary. For some reason, Tim had expected to use one of those spaces. He glanced over his shoulder in time to see Alec shake his head.
“No. This isn’t exactly a formal gathering.”
Okay, then.
They walked the rest of the way in silence until they got to Cam’s floor. There Alec paused before leaving the stairwell. Tim turned to face him. “What’s wrong?”
“I wanted to apologise.”
Tim frowned. “For what?”
Alec gave him a pointed look and took a deep breath in. Tim felt some of the colour leave his face. “If I’d known you’d get this involved so soon, I would have insisted someone else do it.”
Anger flared inside Tim at the thought of anyone being that close to Seb, and he closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down. “It’s not like that.”
When he opened his eyes again, Alec was watching him, nonplussed.
“It’sexactlylike that. Maybe not for him,” Alec conceded when Tim went to protest, “but for you, definitely.”
Tim sighed, no point denying it. It wasn’t just their one night together. All the buildup beforehand, then Seb being injured and letting Tim take care of him. Getting to kiss, touch, and taste him had just brought it all together. Alec was far from stupid, though. “You had a fair idea how I felt when you suggested it. That’swhyyou suggested I do it.” He trusted Alec completely, but he wasn’t naive enough to think that Alec wouldn’t push those boundaries for the good of the pack.
“It is.”
“Then why are you apologising?”
Alec glanced at the floor before meeting Tim’s gaze again. “I thought…hopedyou’d get it out of your system once you’d fucked him a few times.”
Tim scoffed. “That’s not—we’ve not—”
“From what I recall, he doesn’t want the bite or to bond.” Alec waved his hand in a semicircle. “Or any other part of this.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?” Alec asked, voice hard. Tim had never been on the receiving end of this side of Alec and really didn’t like it. “He’s not Jared, and you’re not Nathan. You can’t just go ahead and bite him and hope he forgives you afterwards.”
“I would never!” Tim ground out, his anger back in full force. He grabbed Alec by the front of his shirt and slammed him back against the wall, teeth bared and claws slicing through the material like butter. “Yes, I want him. Yes, I wish he’d let me bite him and let a bond form. But I wouldneverdo it without his permission.Never.”
“Even when you’re deep inside him and he tilts his head just so…. All that skin begging for your teeth?”
Tim stared back at him, letting his words sink in, and imagined Seb spread out like that underneath him, neck bared. Would he want to bite him?Yes.
But then he pictured Seb’s horrified face, betrayal marring his features, and Tim shook his head. He didn’t want that. Having Seb look at him like that would break him. Even with the bond, he’d always know that he’d stolen something from him, that it hadn’t been given freely. “Not even then.”
“Good.” Alec met his gaze steadily, keeping eye contact until Tim caught on.
“You were testing me?”
“As your beta and head of Cam’s security unit, I had to be sure. One illegal bite in the pack is enough for this year, don’t you think? We don’t need to give Newell any leverage against us.” He looked pointedly at Tim’s hand, still fisted in the material of his shirt, until Tim retracted his claws and let go.
