Little Wolf (26 page)

“Please don’t bring me into this.” Zoe continued to be mesmerized by breakfast food.

“Did you?” Nathaniel considered Tim for a long time, then exhaled and got up to pour himself more coffee. He poured more into Tim’s cup as well, then left the rest for Zoe. Tim should have been nicer to Zoe. She hadn’t said a word about finding Tim tense and terrified. But right now she seemed to be on Nathaniel’s side.

Tim was not appeased by more coffee. “So you have a phone to take pictures. Ever use it as a phone?” This was a tad hypocritical of him, since he’d been the dumb one who hadn’t called Zoe or stayed at the station until Nathaniel had returned. He was hoping Nathaniel had been too busy with the bear to hear that part.

Zoe had called the station for word around one. Tim had called a few minutes later to confirm Nathaniel had still been out with the park rangers.

Nathaniel sat back with his hands wrapped loosely around his cup. Tim refused to get distracted by the shadows under Nathaniel’s eyes, the stunned quality to his soft, parted lips. He cleared his throat. “Then I’m sure you didn’t come home or call because you had some other more important thing to do.”

Nathaniel hadn’t taken his eyes from Tim. “If I had been in distress, you would have known. They would have told you, or I would have howled for assistance.”

Tim had no reason to question that statement. Even Nathaniel wouldn’t risk himself when he had a town of weres ready to help him if necessary. But then Tim thought about the committee routinely demanding things from Nathaniel, who had indulged them. “Yeah, okay.” Doubt dripped from the words. “Sure.”

Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed. The air between them sparked. Tim remembered the electric scent from their fight outside the café. “I would have called for help if I needed it,” Nathaniel insisted, gripping his coffee cup tighter.

From the corner of his eye, Tim saw Zoe shooting glances between them. Tim guessed people didn’t usually doubt Nathaniel’s word. Too bad for Nathaniel. He should have kept Tim afraid of him. Tim crossed his arms and glared. Even Nathaniel’s offended dignity was hot. It was also slightly intimidating. But Tim kept his chin up until Nathaniel abruptly relaxed.

“Are you offering to help me fight off predators in the future?” Nathaniel’s posture was almost liquid. So was his gaze. Tim didn’t know where to look. Nathaniel’s intent expression was making anger difficult to hold on to. In its place was something equally warm, which was not okay, because Tim had every right to be pissed off, and Nathaniel was calming him down one low, compelling word at a time. “I’ll call next time, even if only to tell you I’ll be late. So you can wait for me somewhere
safe
.”

Shit
. Nathaniel knew. Tim fought the urge to fidget so he could maintain his stare.

Nathaniel didn’t seem as tired anymore. He pronounced each word with a slow, happy emphasis, but he was almost energized. “I wouldn’t want you to worry.”

“What?” Tim straightened up. “I wasn’t…. I had no ride home. A bear is dangerous! Even for a full-grown were. Graham said you’d—” He put his coffee cup to his mouth and drank though it was too hot. The burn would heal, but the pain made Tim think of his teeth on his bottom lip and Nathaniel’s displeasure at the sight. Then he thought of Nathaniel’s mouth, his breath, his hands pawing at Tim, pressing him back, leaving him spread open and wanting and….

Tim looked down.

“Gift shop busy yesterday?” Nathaniel didn’t quite change the subject, though his innocent tone wasn’t even fooling Zoe.

“Lots of rumors floating around town,” she commented while plating some eggs.

“Was there a bear?” Tim did not address the rumors, even if they all knew one of those rumors had been true; Tim
had
been kissed out of his mind by the sheriff in the street yesterday morning. Tim had then gone into work reeking of come.

“No.” Nathaniel seemed very satisfied for a man who hadn’t slept. Tim sensed Nathaniel’s eyes on him but resolutely concentrated on adding cream to his coffee to cool it. “Not a bear.” Nathaniel’s tone and scent changed, becoming something more muddled. “It was something else. Poachers maybe, or a few drifters camping out in high country.” Tim lifted his head, and Nathaniel frowned as if something didn’t make sense. He kept his gaze on Zoe, who paused briefly to stare at him and then nod. Nathaniel turned to Tim. “It
smelled
like were. But weres should know better than to make a mess or to leave a fire in the woods. And weres, most weres anyway, would know they were welcome in town even if they had nothing.”

That brought Tim back to the question of money and the town’s income. Carl and the festival committee had all but said the tourist season was everything. Tim imagined there would be tourists in the winter too, for hunting or for the snow, but not nearly as many as the festivals brought in. Wolf’s Paw was a refuge, and providing jobs as well as food and rent to weres in need had to be pricey. But the festivals weren’t that new from what Tim could tell, so there must have been other ways of raising money before.

Back in the day the festivals had been small events for the locals. In fact the biggest one had been the Spring Thaw, which seemed more appropriate for werewolves than some summer party. Of course citizens of a mostly were town would be energized by spring. But humans traveled in the summer, so the August Full Moon Festival had gained in popularity over the years. From what Tim could tell, the past five years in particular had really shown a push for more tourism.

It didn’t seem like good planning to risk all their futures on one season a year, but Tim didn’t want to lose control of the conversation by asking about the town’s finances. Then Nathaniel would want to know why Tim had thoughts about budgets and revenue streams.

“So no bears, just random weirdos camping outside of town?” Tim could agree living in the woods was strange, but being in the woods at all was weird. “Would you say the woods are safe? How about the Meadows? Not that I know where those are, exactly.”

“Big grassy valley at the edge of the foothills to the north, bordering the forest,” Zoe supplied. Nathaniel set down his coffee cup. Zoe put a plate of eggs in front of him. Nathaniel pushed it at Tim. Tim pushed it back. Zoe gave Tim his own plate.

“I was invited there again.” It wasn’t a lie. Tim had been invited there… after asking if he was still invited. It had seemed a reasonable decision in the moment. Now Tim was wondering if the teenage pheromones in the car had warped his thinking. But even basic logic said Tim had to get some experience if he didn’t want to embarrass himself around Nathaniel a second time. He’d probably come on Nathaniel’s leg, which wouldn’t be much of an improvement.

“Who invited you?” Nathaniel was letting his eggs get cold. “Albert Greenleaf?”

“Yeah. Or really, they all did.” Tim’s momentarily burned tongue meant he couldn’t taste his coffee. “I guess they hang out there.” He looked over when Zoe snorted. “I like my eggs over medium.”

“You get scrambled.” Zoe glanced between Tim and Nathaniel and then glared at Tim. “Kids don’t go out there just to hang out.”

“Zoe.” Nathaniel was quiet.

“So it
is
a make-out spot. I figured as much.” Tim nodded. Nathaniel’s face was blank, and Tim couldn’t make heads or tails of anything in the air. He thought of something. “Do you think they all want to make out with me?” The idea was kind of horrifying. “Some of them are just kids.”

“They might be young, but don’t think they won’t try.” Nathaniel didn’t look like he was kidding. He seemed tired again, and his mouth was a firm, unhappy line. He still wasn’t eating. “At that age they have the freedom to experiment with each other, and they will want to show….” He stopped and gentled his tone when Tim took a sharp breath. “Sometimes younger weres feel the need to impress those they like. It’s natural for them.
You
shouldn’t act on it. In fact….” Nathaniel stopped again and picked up his fork to stab his eggs. “If you are going to experiment,” he growled, “it would be better for you to find someone older.”

“Like Albert,” Tim filled in, since that was where he thought Nathaniel was going with the lecture. Nathaniel looked up at the ceiling, made an inarticulate noise, and pushed his eggs away entirely. Zoe took them when she sat down and added them to her plate. She was silent, eating without once glancing up. She was also eating very fast, like she wanted to get out of there.

Tim would have embarrassed her more, but this was embarrassing enough for one person. He stared at his eggs and then at Nathaniel. Nathaniel was too beautiful to be real. Albert was beautiful too. Tim could imagine kissing Albert, touching him, but it didn’t create anything in him like the longing for Nathaniel currently shivering down his spine. “You want me to experiment with Albert after you and I kissed?” He hated how stupid he felt for asking.

“I didn’t say that.” Nathaniel pushed away from the table and stood up. “You don’t know enough about weres to know what you want,” he added, as if one had something to do with the other. Tim thought Zoe finally looked up, but Tim’s gaze was locked onto Nathaniel, so he didn’t turn to make sure. Nathaniel sounded angry, yet the air didn’t feel electrified. His scent was too conflicted for that, although Tim continued to wonder about Nathaniel’s anger, if it was anything like the force shaking through Nathaniel once he’d had Tim against the truck.

Tim should have been scared in that moment, but his claws had nearly been in Nathaniel’s neck. He could have drawn blood. He could have tasted that blood in between kisses, and he thought Nathaniel had known that. Maybe he’d wanted Tim to claw at him to show the town who had the rights to him. Maybe he wanted to do the same to Tim in ways Tim couldn’t even think about doing to Albert. Albert should be petted, or protected. Nathaniel didn’t need protection. Nathaniel was heat and blood and equal, better than equal. Nathaniel was Tim’s to—

“
Dude
.” Zoe’s shocked voice broke into Tim’s thoughts. Tim put both hands on the table and drew in a long breath. He glared at Zoe in a sleepy, momentarily clouded sort of way and then down at his eggs. He couldn’t remember the topic, so he ate a few forkfuls.

Nathaniel went to make more coffee. Tim studied the stiff line of his shoulders, the length of his back. He imagined dragging his fingers down Nathaniel’s skin.

“Dude,” Zoe said again, as if Tim’s scent were very obvious.

“
Tim
.” Nathaniel didn’t turn, despite the ache in his voice. The tension in Nathaniel’s broad shoulders was fascinating.

“Sex would be nice,” Tim blurted. He had the control of Scott with Samantha half on his lap.

“So you’ve said.” Nathaniel’s scent was another surprise. The majority of it was that bitter smell,
hurt
or
disappointment
, but more crushing than anything else Tim could compare it to. That scent made him want to whine an apology until it went away, which in turn made him want to growl with frustration at one more thing he didn’t understand.

Tim tried to ignore the contradictory urges. “Albert wants to impress me, I guess. I can’t see why. You’re saying it’s the natural urge to show off and submit to someone who seems like they are in charge.” He was not going to think about all the young, inexperienced weres out there who threw themselves at older authority figures. Thinking of Luca around any of the baby wolves was enough to make Tim sick.

“Is that a big problem or just something else you worry about because you like to worry? You’d think this town with all its dating customs would… oh.” Tim blinked. “Are you worried that I want to impress you?” Nathaniel’s scent was raising the hairs on his arms, on the back of his neck. Tim’s throat felt tight and dry, like he wanted to swallow, or cry out, or howl. He could do any of that, or bury his face in Nathaniel’s shoulder, where it was the most tense. He had an almost overpowering need to have his face there. But his mind kept on working and his mouth kept throwing out questions. “Do you think the baby wolves think of me as being close enough to your authority that they’d need to impress me?”

“Was you calling me an asshole when you met me an attempt to impress me?” Nathaniel managed to sound amused, although Tim didn’t know if he truly was. He was still tense, although, strangely, Tim’s questions seemed to have a calming effect on him. He sighed before turning around. “The whole town heard about that. If you want to know why some of them might find you so interesting, you should consider your big mouth and complete lack of respect for me. I could take a bear if it came to it. You could try being impressed by me for once.”

“I don’t have a
complete
lack of respect for you,” Tim started, then gulped. “That came out wrong. Shit, though, I didn’t realize I was causing you that much trouble with my back talk. Have people been challenging you because you tolerate me?” Tim bit his lip and considered that. “You should put me in my place in public somewhere. Maybe in the café, where it all started.” Tim would try to take it and seem obedient if he could. Hopefully he wouldn’t get too hard when Nathaniel touched him.

“Put you in your place?” Nathaniel sat back down heavily enough to shake the table. “Why is everything so Shakespearean with you? I’m flattered that you’re taking my side in the factions you are imagining, but you, Timothy Littlewolf, are missing the point.” He shook his head, then dragged his hands through his hair. “Talking to you is like talking to a flirtatious pixy. I want to yell at you until you see sense, and then I want to—”

Zoe made a startled noise and stopped eating to look at Nathaniel as though she’d never seen him before.

“The point?” Tim scowled at him, mostly for show, because he wasn’t following at all.

“The point is that you stand up to me and I like it,” Nathaniel snapped at him, making Tim shut his mouth and stare. “He’s gone quiet now. Maybe he’s sick,” Nathaniel suggested in Zoe’s direction a few minutes later.

“Oh sarcasm! I see! The student surpasses the teacher!” Tim forced himself to speak. “You like it when I stand up to you?” He was unaccountably flushed. “That doesn’t matter. You still shouldn’t let me get away with it. People are going to start to think—” Tim didn’t know what, but probably nothing good. “—
things
,” he finished, then cleared his throat. “You shouldn’t tolerate my sassy mouth.”