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Nathan didn t think now was the best time to explain why he hadn t answered his
phone. And really, he hadn t thought there was anyone he needed to check in with.
You know I closed the gym for two weeks. I needed a break, and a lot of the kids
won t be signing up for more classes until school lets out. I still don t get why you showed
up here. It wasn t the first time Nathan had taken a vacation.
Because, Rick thumped the table hard enough to make the legs slip and skitter on the
wood floor, you didn t come back! You think I don t check up on you all the time?
Nathan narrowed his eyes and started to speak but Rick waved him off with a firm slice
of his hand through the air.
Not like that, Rick snapped. You re a man, not a kid, and you ve been taking care of
yourself for a long time now, but that doesn t mean I don t make sure you re okay. I ve
always checked to make sure you made it home when you come out here or when you go off
somewhere else. This time you weren t back when you said you d be and it& it scared the
shit out of me, okay? Rick swallowed noisily as he looked down at the spot on the table he
was scratching with his thumbnail. I couldn t get you on the phone, and you weren t home
or at the gym. I just had to make sure you were okay.
Nathan thought his eyes were going to bug right out of their sockets as he tried to
process what Rick was and wasn t saying. There were too many fears churning in his mind.
Rick s fear of shifters, which Nathan had adapted to a milder degree and turned on himself,
his own casual although unintentional condemnation of Marcus, and what he realised
now was a possibly incomplete, if not outright erroneous, opinion on mates. And now Rick
was saying what?
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102
His confusion must have been evident because Rick drooped in his seat, his broad
shoulders sagging as he turned red-rimmed eyes on Nathan.
Rick squirmed for a second, then straightened his shoulders. Nathan thought he must
have fallen into an alternate universe when the big, gruff man reached across the table and
laid his hand over Nathan s.
I know I don t ever say it, but I always think of you as my son, Rick rasped out, his
voice quivering. And it s obvious to me I fucked up something fierce, raising you to hate
yourself like this.
I don t hate myself, Nathan protested, but even to him it came out sounding more
like a question than a statement.
Part of yourself, then; because I was afraid and angry, and& and ignorant. Rick
squeezed his hand, his long rough fingers stroking over Nathan s wrist. You never gave me
any cause to think you d turn out like your father, Nathan, not once, but I still held it against
you, didn t I? Blaming you for his sins.
Did you? Nathan clenched his hand into a fist under Rick s. Were you ignorant, or
did you deliberately use your hatred of my father to keep me from seeking out other
shifters? A prickle of awareness like a feather tickling down his spine told Nathan Marcus
was nearby. Rick s pinched expression confirmed it, as did the way his gaze darted from
Nathan to a point over his shoulder and back.
The truth, Marcus demanded from behind him. Nathan wanted to turn to him, to
offer his hand and feel Marcus bigger, rougher one folding around it. He wanted to feel safe,
when Rick was rocking every one of Nathan s beliefs. He wanted Marcus, but, after the freak
comment, would Marcus want him?
Always. The thought slipped in as Marcus scent surrounded Nathan. He felt a wave
of heat at his back, then the press of Marcus body against him, two scraped, scarred hands
coming to rest on his shoulders.
Nathan sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against Marcus stomach.
I m sorry. I didn t mean you were a freak.
Just other shifters are freaks, Marcus clarified in a neutral tone.
It s my fault, Rick said, when Nathan would have explained. How, he wasn t sure.
Nathan s mom, Brenna, she was& she was my mate. And it cost Brenna her life, because she
was his father s mate too.
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* * * *
That s not possible. Marcus knew better. He d seen the memories buried deep in
Nathan s mind. There is only one mate for a shifter, and that s only if a shifter is lucky
enough to find their destined mate. The majority of shifters never do, and so they marry
someone they love or desire, or take lovers as they choose. If they find their mate at any time,
any shifter, whether he or she was a spouse, a lover, a casual fuck the unmated shifter
would immediately step aside. That is one of our laws, and it s usually never necessary to
enforce it. Every shifter understands the importance of finding a mate and knows that all
lesser relationships are null when it occurs.
Rick was shaking his head before Marcus was halfway through trying to explain.
Nathan had tensed under Marcus hands but remained silent. Marcus carefully sent
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