“Because I have no choice.”
“You could come with me to Jersey, or we could stay here!” Cole reached for Logan’s hand, clutching it tight.
Logan tugged him back into his arms, and Cole went willingly. “McKillan knows I’m alive and that I’m here. I can’t hide from him, and I won’t risk leading him to Jersey. For now the UK packs leave them be because they see them as no threat. If they learn that we’re shipping people there, then that’ll soon change.”
“He must have suspicions. There’s not many places you can hide that amount of people.”
“They know people flee London, but they have no idea how many. And it’s not the only place they get sent.”
“Where else do they go.”
“I don’t know. Because I don’t need to.” He buried his face in the crook of Cole’s neck and breathed in. “You smell so good.” Cole shivered. “I wish we could stay here forever, live by the sea with Mothecombe’s pack, spend full moons running along the beach.”
Cole liked the sound of that. Even the shifting part sounded okay when he was wrapped up in Logan’s embrace. “Me too.” He sighed. “Will you show me?”
Logan drew back to look at him. “Show you what?”
“How to shift, what to do.” He bit his lip. “The full moon’s tomorrow, right?” Logan nodded. “Then let’s go down to the beach, shift, and run along the sand.” If he couldn’t keep Logan, then he at least wanted to do this with him. There was no escaping what he was now, and shifting for the first time with Logan there, by his side, was the only way he could even contemplate it. “Please.”
Logan kissed him.
Not the soft, easy kisses from before. His mouth covered Cole’s with purpose, hands gripping his waist as he backed Cole up against the wall. Pressed against him like this, Cole felt the solid muscle hiding under Logan’s clothes, the dormant strength waiting to be unleashed.
Wearing only boxers, Cole was helpless to hide what this did to him, how much he wanted to take this further. He ground against Logan, a whimper escaping when he discovered he was just as hard as Cole. “You need to lose some cloth—” Footsteps sounded in the corridor, and Logan sprang back, flushed. His jeans did little to hide his erection, but Cole’s boxer briefs hid even less. He hurried to the bed and slipped the sheet over him as a hulk of a man appeared in the doorway.
Jesus, he was huge.
And he had a smirk that said he knew exactly what they’d been up to before he got there. “I see you’re feeling considerably better than when I last saw you, Mr Moreton.” He walked into the room, subtly sniffing the air before sending Logan an amused look.
Christ, the room probably stank of the two of them. Cole felt himself blush and tried not to breathe at all. He didn’t want to know how bad it was.
“I’m Isaac Mothecombe.” He held out his hand, and Cole took it automatically. “I operated on you. Removed that nasty little bullet lodged in your thigh.”
Cole had no idea how you were supposed to greet an alpha, so he just went with it. “Thank you.”
“May I?” He gestured to Cole’s bandages, and Cole nodded.
“I think these can probably come off now. The wounds are all but healed.” He peeled off the bandage covering Cole’s thigh, revealing a slightly jagged pink scar. Cole reached out and traced the length of it with his finger.
“I’m pretty sure your scars will fade altogether. Although it’s hard to tell, when you were changed after you’d already sustained the injuries.”
Scars were the least of his concerns right now. “Thank you for offering me a place in your pack.”
“You’re most welcome.” Isaac stepped back to dispose of the bandages. “The Jersey shifters have also granted you a place in their pack if you want it. Subject to two years parole, but you don’t strike me as a troublemaker.” He smiled and glanced between Cole and Logan, expression softening. “You have some decisions to make, so I’ll leave you to it. But I should mention your parents are in the waiting groom. I said I’d ask if you were up to visitors.”
“Yes. Of course.” Cole nodded, feeling like the shittiest son in the world right then. “Please, send them in.”
As soon as Mothecombe left, Logan went to follow him. “I’ll let you have some time alone with your parents. But I’d like to come back later if that’s all right. The full moon peaks at 4:44 tomorrow morning. But we can run at midnight, if you want?”
“Yeah.” In truth, Cole wanted him to stay, to hold his hand while he explained to his mum and dad that he was no longer human, no longer the Cole they knew. But this was something he had to do on his own. For their sake and his. “I’d like that.”
He watched Logan leave and braced himself for one of the hardest conversations he was ever likely to have.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Sit down, you’re making me dizzy.” Aaron glared at him from where he sat propped up against the headboard on his bed. “I’m sure it’s going fine.”
Logan scowled and resumed his pacing in front of the window. “It’s not that. Cole’s parents love him, they’ll accept what he is now.”
