Chapter Sixteen

“Please, babe, stop smothering me. I swear I’m okay.” Clive was at his wits end. He didn’t remember much about the hospital, or the operation to remove the bullet from his shoulder. He did remember Roy’s worried face was the first thing he saw when he woke up and he’d been seeing it damn near every waking second of every day since. A week home from the hospital and Roy was still treating him like a cripple and his loving mate was starting to fray his last nerve.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if Roy had taken care of the hard cock he’d been sporting since they slept together their first night home, but apparently that came under ‘strenuous activity’ and although Clive knew his mate was horny too, Roy refused to touch him except for health related purposes. Now he just wanted five minutes to himself. “Why don’t you shift and go for an amble in the garden. No one will see you out here.”

“But what if you need something.” Roy looked as miserable as Clive felt, but likely for different reasons. They’d had the “It’s not your fault,” talk the first night Clive was allowed home. Roy wasn’t convinced. Apparently, being a bear shifter should come with super powers including precognition and the ability to pluck a bullet out of thin air, but Roy was taking his wound and slow recovery hard.

“I won’t need anything,” Clive said calmly for the millionth time. “I am going to stay right here, on the couch and watch television. Okay?”

“Then I’ll sit with you.” Roy plonked himself next to Clive. “We can watch television together.”

Fuck. “Babe, come on, we’ve been through this. You need to let your bear out and there’s no room for him in here. You’ve been growly for days.”

“I’m growly because you’ve been shot.” The stubborn set of Roy’s jaw and the way he picked up the remote and stabbed at it meant Clive wasn’t going to get any peace in the next few hours without getting some helpful intervention.

He got up. “Where are you going?” Roy immediately stood up too.

“I’m just going to the bathroom and no, I don’t need you to hold anything for me. I’ll only be a few minutes. Why don’t you make us some grilled sandwiches for lunch? We can have them on the couch.”

Roy hovered, clearly torn between sticking to Clive’s side like dried paint on a carpet or getting the sandwiches Clive asked for. Hunger won out and Clive had to give him credit. He only looked back twice over his shoulder as he ambled to the kitchen.

Walking slowly, because Roy would have a fit if he moved any faster, Clive ducked into their bedroom, and picked up his phone, then he headed to the bathroom and closed the door firmly. Shoving down his boxers and peeing one handed wasn’t a problem. Trying to hold his phone and type a text one handed was slightly harder. The bullet had been dug out of the fleshy tissue next to his shoulder joint. The doctor said he was lucky, and healing faster than the medical team expected. Just not fast enough. Although he could still use his left hand, Clive’s shoulder ached when he did. But he couldn’t make a call, because Roy with his super power ears, something that did work, would hear him.

Help, I am being smothered by a bear. He sent the text to Trent and then quickly muted his phone as a reply came through in less than a minute.

Physically? Or is he driving you nuts with his over-protective attitude?

The second one. Help.

He’s not letting you scratch your ass by yourself, is he?

No, he’s not. Help.

LOL. I bet you’re hiding in the bathroom.

Good guess, asshole, now be a good friend and help me.

Are you sure you’re up to visitors?

Don’t you start. Get around here. Bring cake and Marly.

Can I take him for a run with me?

Who, Roy? Yes. Damn it, he needs it. Get here.  

“Babe, are you okay in there?” Roy’s concerned voice was clear through the door.

“Won’t be a minute.” Shutting off the phone, Clive flushed the loo and managed to pull his boxers up enough to cover his junk. Shit. The phone. Roy would be waiting outside the door. Looking around, Clive discounted the bathroom cabinet. If Roy found his phone in there, he’d know Clive was up to something. Stuffing it inside the sling the doctors and Roy insisted he wear, Clive hoped it wouldn’t be seen. With luck, he’d find time to drop it down the side of the couch or somewhere similar.

“Hi, babe,” he said opening the door. “All safe and sound. Hmm, those sandwiches smell good. I hope you made enough for both of us.”

“Do you need anything? Pain killers, a drink or something else?” Roy hovered as if not sure what to do with his hands.

“No, I’m good, babe. Let’s see if there’s any sport on tv.” Wrapping his free arm around Roy’s waist, Clive led him back to the living room.

/~/~/~/~/

Roy knew Clive was getting annoyed with him. The agitation tinged his mate’s heavenly scent along with the almost constant smell of arousal. He discreetly nudged his own aching balls and tried to pay attention to whatever was playing on the screen. It wasn’t easy. He felt as though he had ants crawling under his skin, but there was a leaden weight in his gut he couldn’t shift that had nothing to do with the six grilled cheese sandwiches he’d consumed.

I failed my mate. I’m an officer of the law and a bear shifter and I just stood there like a stuffed toy while Clive got shot. I failed to protect him. He could’ve died. Gods, he could be dead, and I did nothing. On and on it went, his brain giving him no peace. Nightmares of holding Clive’s cold corpse invaded his sleep, his mate’s brilliant eyes glazed with death the only thing he could remember when he woke up. Every day the sling Roy insisted Clive wear was a bright white reminder of his failure as it contrasted with his mate’s tattoos. Roy was driving himself nuts and that’s without the damage he might do to their relationship if he didn’t pull his head out of his ass soon. But he didn’t know how to get past what happened.

His eyes narrowed as he heard a bike coming up the driveway. “Are you expecting anyone?”

“What? Oh yeah, Trent and Marly said they might pop in.” Clive went back to watching the screen.

When were you talking to Trent? Roy wanted to ask but he snapped his teeth together. He’d have heard a call if one came through, which means Clive must have text them, or the other way around. But how? Roy hadn’t seen him using his phone in days.

Fuck, I’m turning into a controlling creep. Pull yourself together, man. “Are you sure you’re up to having visitors?” Roy winced as a look of exasperation crossed Clive’s face and just as quickly disappeared.

“I’m fine. The doctor say’s I’m fine. The stitches are out, and you heard what the doctor said. In another week I should be strong enough to ride my bike again. He said it was a miracle I didn’t need physical therapy or anything like that, but you and I know it’s all thanks to your magic bite.” The smile on Clive’s face was tense and didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I’ll get the door.” Roy didn’t want to think what might happen if Clive decided to take off on his bike on his own. He had a feeling there’d be reports all over the internet of a lone grizzly sighting. Opening the door, just before Trent knocked, Roy saw matching smiles and a cake tin.

“You’d better come in.” Roy didn’t have the wherewithal to be a gracious host.

“My, you are a grumpy bear, aren’t you?” Marly breezed in, shoving the cake tin in Roy’s hands. “Clive, we thought you were on death’s door the way Roy described it. Apart from that sling, no one would know you were hurt.”

“It was only a small bullet.” Clive’s smile was genuine this time and damn it, if that didn’t make Roy feel like shit. “Come in, come in. Have a seat. What’s been going on with you since I saw you last.”

“You and I need to talk, outside.” Trent’s muttered growl caught Roy unawares and he immediately stiffened.

“I’m not leaving Clive on his own.”

“He’s got Marly with him and for fuck’s sake man, Clive’s not a cripple. Stop treating him like one.”

“He’s human.” Roy looked down at the tin. “What if….”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” The tin was torn out of Roy’s hands. “Marly, catch.” Trent threw it across the room, but before Roy had a chance to protest that the flying object could have hit his mate, Trent had his bicep in a tight hold and he was frog-marched out the door.

/~/~/~/~/

Clive looked at the tin, now safe in Marly’s hands, and then at the door. Marly giggled. “I do love it when Trent gets his alpha on,” he said, falling against the back of the couch.

“Will they be all right?” Clive knew it was him that asked the wolves to come, but he didn’t want Roy upset anymore than he was.

“They both might end up sporting a few bruises, but they’ll heal.” Marly didn’t seem to be concerned. “The problem with these alpha types is that they never know when to ask for help.”

“Roy isn’t like Trent. He’s a bear.”

“He’s still an alpha. A bit like you actually.” Marly turned to face him, curling his leg under him and flicking his long blond braid over his shoulder. “Admit it, part of the reason you find Roy so stifling is because you think you can do everything yourself.”

“Well, yes, there is that. But the wound really wasn’t that bad. The surgeons probably made more of a mess pulling the bullet out, than when it went in. The doctor was amazed at how well it’s all healing.”

“That’s because you’re a mate and our bite does something to speed up your healing abilities.” Marly nodded sagely. “I don’t know the science behind it, I just know it happens. Your biggest problem is what is going on in Roy’s head right now.”

“How do you mean?”

“He thinks he’s failed you,” Marly said simply. Clive was still no closer to working out what the pretty omega meant. “Look, in our world, the shifter world, a fated mate is something precious that only ever comes along once in a very long lifetime.”

“Jules said something similar when he left to be with his mate.”

Marly nodded. “When I say precious though, there’s not enough oomph in that word to really describe what a mate means. A mate will gladly give their lives a dozen times over to stop their mate from getting the smallest scratch. You should have seen Roy when you were in surgery. Thank goodness you had Trent listed as your emergency contact or there would have been hell to pay at the hospital.”

“Roy never said anything about that.” Clive was getting more confused with every passing minute.

“There was hair sprouting up and down Roy’s arms. His fangs kept elongating and you should have seen his eyes. He was ready to shift and tear down the hospital when they wouldn’t let him into the surgery area with you. Trent managed to get him calmed down and into a private waiting room, but my gods. Roy still had your blood on his hands. He was pacing the floor like a wild man, alternating between raging at Bobby and angry at himself. He didn’t do anything to stop the bullet.” Marly’s eyes were pleading with Clive to understand, but Clive still felt as though he was missing something vital.

“Roy said when we got home, he felt responsible. I told him it was one of those random things. If anything, it was my fault for not telling Roy about the email Bobby sent me in the first place. We both might have been more on our guard if I’d told Roy how unstable he’d become.”

“You played the blame game,” Marly nodded, “but in both cases you were both blaming yourself when the only one responsible was Bobby. What happened to him, by the way?”

“He’s in jail, pending sentencing. He pled guilty straight away, not that he could really do anything else. Cat and his new fiancé saw the whole thing. I asked the prosecutor if Bobby could get some drug addiction help, but I’m not sure if that will be included in the final sentence. There’s no need for a trial, which is a good thing.”

“Definitely. It’s in Bobby’s best interests that Roy never sees him again. But that is one of the problems Roy’s having. You know shifters have a lot of their animal instincts, right?”

“Like being protective of those they care about.” Clive nodded.

“That’s part of it. But in the shifter world, things are a lot more cut and dried. Put bluntly, Bobby hurt you, you’re Roy’s mate, so in the shifter world Roy had the right to kill him on the spot. There is no plea bargains, excuses, or sentences to be carried out. If he’d been in his bear form, Roy wouldn’t have stopped to think about it. Bobby would be dead. Simple as that.”

“So, this hovering over me is because he didn’t get the closure of Bobby’s death and thinks that the man is still a threat to me?” That kind of made sense in a backward way. But Marly shook his head.

“That’s only a small part of it. Roy’s lived among humans for decades, centuries even. I don’t know how old he is, but he does know how to control his basic instincts. No, the problem is, Roy will be tormenting himself. You said it was only a small bullet, but you had to have surgery to get it removed. A shifter would’ve just shifted and expelled the bullet that way.”

“So, he’s pissed at me because I’m not a shifter.”

“Definitely not. Roy loves you. Most paranormals don’t care what species their mate comes from.”

“Seems strange to a human to be considered a species,” Clive mused, “but then I guess in the larger scheme of things, that’s all we are. Just another species.”

“And not the only sentient one.” Marly grinned. “But, mean as it might be to say so, humans don’t have the same protections, strengths and abilities paranormals do. They die more easily.”

“But I didn’t…oh.” Clive had a lightbulb moment. “Roy was faced with my possible death and isn’t handling it well?”

“That would be a huge part of Roy’s angst. You haven’t been mated very long, but Roy’s as tied to you now as if he’d known you his entire life. The length of time a mated couple are together has no bearing on the depths of their feelings for each other.”

“Roy was trying to stem the bleeding. I remember that much from that night. And when Bobby confronted us, Roy couldn’t do anything because….”

“Because an oversized grizzly can’t be seen in downtown Orlando. Roy was hit with a double whammy. His shifter strength and skills weren’t enough to stop you getting hurt, and he had to face your mortality.”

Nodding, Clive understood a bit better now, but he still had one more question. “How long before things go back to normal, though? I understand better now, but it doesn’t change the fact Roy’s driving me crazy. I haven’t done anything but sit on this damn couch or bed since we got home from the hospital.”

Marly looked towards the door again. “If I know my mate, and I do, he and Roy will be letting off some tension with a fight, because they’re both stubborn men who can’t just sit down and talk about their problems. Oh no. Fists will be involved. But don’t worry, they won’t do too much damage to each other. They both care too much for you and me, to go overboard about it. Then Trent will convince Roy to shift and they’ll have a play together because that’s one of the joys of being sentient in our shifted forms. Roy won’t feel the need to eat Trent because he knows who he is, and Trent won’t see Roy as a threat to his territory. They’ll probably be out most of the afternoon.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question,” Clive chuckled at the idea of a huge bear and a wolf playing in his yard.

“No, but it does give us time to eat cake and watch Say Yes to the Dress. Then I suggest we cook some dinner, because they’ll be starving when they get in. After we leave, you’re going to seduce your mate.”

“He won’t touch me while I’m wearing this.” Clive scowled as he held up his sling wrapped arm. “It doesn’t matter how often I push my cock in his direction, or try and get ahold of his, he evades me every time. He’s stubborn when he wants to be.”

“Then it’s time to change tactics. Take yourself in hand and make a lot of noise when you do it.” Marly winked. “I do promise you though, once Roy’s satiated himself on your hunky body, he’ll be a lot more like his regular self. Don’t ask me why, but sex between mates seems to be a reinforcement to their inner self that all is well again.”

“Well, go and get the plates and a knife, young pup and I’ll find that program you want to watch. If nothing else, it’s damn nice to not have him hovering over me for five minutes.”

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy having him hover over you later. I know Trent will be all over me when we get home.” Marly hopped up with a sway of his hips and a giggle, hurrying towards the kitchen. Clive knew he should be worried about his mate. Despite their different animal spirits, Trent and Roy were evenly matched in their human form. It was going to be one hell of a fight, if it came to that. “Oh well, maybe having a few bruises of his own will stop my honey from worrying about mine,” he muttered as he picked up the tv remote.