“That’s what happened in Golden Valley,” Brian said to himself. He had heard about the fire but not what caused it.
Keith nodded.
“Why did he do it?”
Keith shrugged. “I don’t know. Nobody does.” His jaw clenched and his brow furrowed. “I could tell he wasn’t right, but I didn’t understand why, and I was…” He frowned. “I don’t know what I was. It’s hazy when I think back to it. But I remember thinking he was my mate and that I had to help him, protect him, that I was responsible for him. When I failed in my responsibility, Rupert told me and everyone else that I wasn’t fit to lead Green Field. It was the only time in my life that I agreed with him. How could I take care of my pack when I couldn’t even take care of the man Mother Nature entrusted to me?”
In an instant, Brian was on his feet, palm curled around Keith’s nape. He brought their foreheads together and met Keith’s gaze. “You’re my mate. Not his. But even if—” He couldn’t finish that sentence. “But regardless, you aren’t responsible for someone else’s actions.” Keeping his hold on Keith’s nape firm, he cupped his jaw with his other hand, nipped at his lips, and then slipped his tongue past them and kissed him deeply, possessively.
When they parted, Keith grinned at him, clearly unbothered by the show of dominance. “Staking your claim?” he asked, making no effort to dislodge Brian’s hold. “Sexy.”
“You’re my mate,” Brian said again, voice slightly lower. “Mother Nature gave you to me.”
“I know. I told you that, remember?”
He had said that, more than once. Brian’s racing heart rate slowed.
“Something was off with Timothy Tillers and I need to get to the bottom of it.”
Brian growled again, seemingly unable to rein in his body’s reactions. “Sorry,” he said, embarrassed. “I normally have great control.”
“Don’t apologize. I like it.” Keith leaned back and into Brian’s hand on his neck. “Your wolf is close to the surface. It’s hot.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Looking amused, Keith arched his eyebrows. “I’m petrified. The big, bad Alpha wolf is going to eat me. Oh no.”
Any shifter should be nervous with an Alpha looming in his face and asserting his dominance, but his mate clearly wasn’t. Relieved but disarmed, Brian plopped back into his chair. “You confuse me.”
“At least I’m keeping you on your toes. You wouldn’t want to be bored, right?”
His life had been predictable, orderly. Things had always gone his way, stayed on track. Brian wouldn’t have described himself as bored but as he reflected on how he felt at that moment, he realized he had never felt as alive. Shaking off that thought to be considered later, he returned to their conversation. “You said you thought this man was your mate.”
Keith nodded.
“When you were with him, did you…” He swallowed down the sudden thickness in his throat. He hadn’t been insecure a day in his life and he didn’t like the feeling. Forcing his shoulders back, he took a deep breath and then calmly asked, “Did you feel like you do with me?”
“No,” Keith said firmly. He pushed away from the table and climbed onto Brian’s lap, straddling him. “I don’t think Ifeltanything. I rememberthinkinghe was my mate. It was strangeand completely different to how I feel with you, about you.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t at all comparable to this, and like I said, I don’t understand why I thought it.”
Refusing to fall victim to jealousy, he focused on the information he was learning. “That’s odd,” he said. “And very problematic.” Two words that reminded him of someone he had met that morning. Two someones and the pack they were leading. “Do you think Rupert Jackson and his son had something to do with it?” Brian asked.
“That would make sense, but I don’t know how.” Keith stayed silent for a couple of moments, his expression thoughtful. “I’ll figure it out.”
“We’ll do it together.” Brian reached for his hand and twined their fingers. He had sensed something very wrong in Green Field from the moment he had entered that territory. He couldn’t imagine what his orphaned mate had endured living in that atmosphere under Rupert’s control. “You aren’t alone anymore.”
Chapter 6
Cleaning up the kitchen didn’t take long and then they headed back upstairs. “Your place or mine?” Keith said once they reached the landing. “Actually, those two need to be the same place because I’m not going to sleep apart from you. I’m assuming you don’t want to move into the guest bedroom, because otherwise, you’d have already done that.” He inhaled deeply, taking all the surrounding scents into his body. “Plus, I don’t have anything here and your things are already in your room so that one makes most sense.” He clasped Brian’s hand and walked toward his bedroom, passing by several closed doors along the way. “Is there anything embarrassing you want to hide before I go inside?” he asked, hand on the door handle. “Because if there is, you can save us both time by pointing me in the right direction so I can see it quickly.” He opened the door and walked into the room. “It’s been a long day, and you’re beat. I don’t want to keep you up late snooping when we could be spending that time getting to it in bed.”
“How did you know this is my room?”
“It smells the most like you.”
“What?” Brian scrunched his eyebrows together. “I’ve lived here for going on a year. This entire house smells like me.”
“Sure. But you spend the most hours in here and your personal things are in here, so it smells themostlike you.” Keith inhaled deeply and reveled in the scent of his mate surrounding him outside and in. “You smell incredible,” he said, voice husky. He brushed his hand through Brian’s hair. “Aren’t you more interested in the other thing I said?”
“What do you mean it smells the most like me? How could you know that from the hallway?” He paused. “Getting to what in bed?”
