I let my mind go back to the dance floor. To the feel of Reid’s body against mine. I allowed my imagination to take it further, picturing how I might’ve taken him to a shadowy corner. Maybe lifted him into my arms so our cocks were flush against each other. Rutted against him until he was moaning my name.
I came with a blinding flash of pleasure.
Lying there on my bed, panting, my hand sticky, I was left with a single realisation.
There’s no way this was a one-off.
Rather than deal with any of the emotions keeping me up at night, or the constant masturbation sessions that followed whenever I thought about Reid, I threw myself into trying to solve the Clarkson mystery. I pored over ancient texts, seeking other examples of humans being born to shifter parents.
There were a few. It was rare, but it did happen. None of them provided any information on why the Clarksons might want Reid back with them though. Whenever theywere mentioned, they were always less than a sentence on the page. As if that was all their existence had meant to the history of their clan.
It made me incandescent with rage. Every member of the clan was important. Every damned one. It shouldn’t matter if they were shifter, human, or a fucking owl. They should be treated and respected the same.
From the little I’d read, I was guessing that wasn’t often the case. As much as it angered me, it didn’t surprise me. I already knew the McCarthy Clan was more accepting than others, and even with the McCarthys, that hadn’t always been the case. You didn’t have to look any further than Danny’s past to know that was true.
It was true now though. The inner circle had worked hard to instil our values in the rest of the clan. Those of acceptance. Respect. Protection. Security.
That Reid had grown up not experiencing those values from his family…it had my wolf pushing closer to the surface than ever before.
My wolf and I weren’t currently on the same page. He wanted us to be outside Reid’s flat every night. Hell, he wanted us inside it, sleeping at the foot of his bed. While he tolerated my research, he didn’t like the other thing I’d been doing.
Namely, keeping my distance from Reid. After the club, and yet another order from Finn, I’d made a conscious effort to stop stalking Reid. Days without seeing him had turned into weeks, and it was driving my wolf crazy.
Truth be told, it was driving me crazy too. I knew he was safe. Logan, Calan, and Finn wouldn’t let anyone close to him. That was all that mattered, right?
It should have been. That was what I kept telling myself.
It didn’t explain why I was isolating myself from my friends. Why food held no pleasure for me now. Why I couldn’t sleep.
None of it made sense. Instead of trying to understand it, I’d thrown myself into researching anything that might help solve the problems with the Clarksons.
That, and visiting Clyde.
None of my earlier attempts to extract information from the alpha of the Clarkson Clan had resulted in anything, but that didn’t stop me going back there. Logan had also been working his magic, but his usual sources hadn’t delivered anything useful.
It was driving me crazy. From the hints Clyde had dropped, he had no intention of just leaving Reid be to live his life. But the purpose he had in mind for him…that card he was keeping close to his chest.
I was standing in front of Clyde’s desk again, doing the same thing I had to do every time I saw his sickening face.
Imagining all the ways I could execute him, while reminding myself why I couldn’t.
“The terms of the treaty state that you cannot forcibly remove anyone from our lands,” I said to Clyde, forcing my voice not to betray how close I was to the edge.
From the smug smile the alpha gave me, I was unsuccessful. “You’ve told me that several times already, McCarthy. And, as I’ve told you each time, I don’t plan on kidnapping Reid. He’ll come back to me willingly.”
I remembered Reid’s pale face, full of fear as he asked me to confirm who’d come looking. The determination in his voice when he’d told Finn and the others that he was leaving. The insistence that he’d rather die than come back here.
“I can assure you that’s not the case.” My claws werepushing against my skin, but I fought to keep control. Killing Clyde here wouldn’t just upset Reid, it would start a war for my clan. I was furious, but not reckless. “Reid is happy where he is, living the life he has.”
Clyde twirled a pen as he gave me a mock sad smile. “All I want is to be part of that life. You can’t deny a father who wants to care for his child.”
I gritted my teeth, my grip on my wolf slipping. It was hard when I wanted him dead just as badly. “Maybe if you’d cared for Reid the way you should’ve when he was a child, you wouldn’t be in this situation now.”
The pen stopped twirling. “I see you’re still believing his tall tales.”
I leaned on his desk, letting my wolf rise a little. “They’re not tall when they’re true, Clyde. Is this really a path you want to tread?”
“Do you?” he threw back with a feline smirk. “Perhaps if you’d taken Reid seriously all those years ago, you wouldn’t be acting like a wounded dog who’s failed his owner.”
