Page 12

Chapter Eleven

M arric wasn’t sure when he came out of the foggy feverish haze and started sleeping, but when he woke up, he didn’t have the headache he normally had after a fever spell. In fact, he felt well rested and also gross. He was sticky with sweat and smelled like body odor.

He also had no idea where he was. He just knew wherever it was, his mate had been there. It smelled like the sheriff.

“Iven,” he called out after sitting up in bed.

He smelled bacon and heard people talking, but the sound was faint. It was more like ambient noise than anything else.

He didn’t think Iven had heard him, but he didn’t want to call out again.

His clothing lay on a chair, folded and possibly laundered. Someone unclothed him, except for his underwear. Hopefully that had been his mate, because it sounded as though more than one person was in the house. He really didn’t want it to be anyone else.

The room was large and seemed to have an attached bathroom. He saw tiles through the ajar door.

Marric had to pee so badly it almost hurt. He was halfway across the room when Iven walked in. Marric stopped dead in his tracks and turned toward Iven as if he’d caught Marric doing something wrong.

Iven stood on the threshold, blinking at him as if he hadn’t seen him before. And then he licked his lips.

A lightbulb went on in Marric’s brain and he knew why Iven stared at him as though he’d seen nothing better in his life. Marric hadn’t ever thought his body was anything someone would drool over, but Iven was closer than anyone ever had been before.

Marric’s instinct was to take off his underwear to give Iven more of a view, but he still had to pee. He raced into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He would have locked it, but he had a feeling Iven wouldn’t enter without permission.

Marric did his business and then washed his hands.

Then he sat on the closed toilet lid, trying to figure out what he should do next.

He’d been so sick he couldn’t get home afterward, and Iven saw.

Hell, Iven took care of him. How was he supposed to explain to Iven why he was sick? Did he trust Iven with the truth?

And then something occurred to him. He stood and wrenched open the bathroom door. A part of him thought maybe Iven had left the room. But Iven must have been getting ready to knock given his proximity to the bathroom.

“What did you give me?” Marric winced when he sounded accusatory. He’d never woken up from a fever spell without having a headache and feeling like runover shit.

“What?”

“My head isn’t fuzzy. What did you do? I need to know.” Marric put a hand on his hip and glared at Iven.

Iven smirked. “Good morning to you too, mate.”

Marric had enough good sense to avert his gaze. “Sorry.” He peeked at Iven through his lashes and couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips when he saw the lust in Iven’s gaze.

Iven chuckled. “I see how this is going to go.”

“And how is that?” Marric thought he knew, too.

“You’re going to make demands and I’m going to give in, despite my good sense telling me not to. And all you have to do is look at me like you are right now.” Iven showed his hand, which Marric wasn’t expecting.

Marric bit his bottom lip to keep from smiling. “What look is that?”

Iven leaned against the bathroom’s doorframe and chuckled. “How about we talk about the herbs?”

“Herbs?” What was Iven talking about?

But Marric couldn’t focus on it because he was getting cold. The temperature in the house wasn’t conducive to walking around in his underwear.

Iven frowned and felt Marric’s forehead. He seemed satisfied. “Do you want to shower? The water will warm you up.”

Marric nodded and smiled.

Iven took a step back. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen. You can talk to Zinnie about the herbs you’ll need.”

“Who is Zinnie?”

“My ex-wife.”

“You have an ex-wife? Do you have an ex-boyfriend or ex-husband too?” Marric was intrigued.

“Yes. And an ex-boyfriend as well.” Iven’s answer was a little unexpected but maybe that was Marric stereotyping since it was his ideal on what a cop was, which was some meathead alpha type with a superiority complex.

Being LGBTQIA in some way didn’t negate any of that but it sort of meant he wasn’t a prejudiced prick, right?

So that could mean he also wasn’t a meathead.

“I hope this isn’t rude, but can I ask you about your sexuality?”

“I’m probably closer to being bisexual, I guess.

Gender doesn’t factor in for me. But I’ve never thought much about how to label it.

” Iven made it sound like his sexuality wasn’t a big deal and it wasn’t a problem for Marric.

He’d like to have a longer conversation about it, preferably when he wasn’t almost naked and in need of a shower.

“What about you? How do you label yourself?”

“Gay. Very gay. But I’ve never had a boyfriend or a girlfriend, unless I can count Kyrsten Bass who told me she was my girlfriend and that I had to walk her to the bus every day.

That was sixth grade. She’s still that bossy, although I did pull up my big boy panties and break up with her.

It took me the better part of two months.

In middle school terms that’s a full-on ten-year marriage. ”

Iven chuckled. “It doesn’t count.”

Marric didn’t want to change the subject, but he needed to know why he felt so good. “Your ex-wife helped me?”

Iven nodded. “She gave you some herbs at the start of your fever, which is what’s making you feel better now. But she’ll be able to confirm that and give you more, just in case your fever comes back.” Iven smiled.

He turned as if to leave the room, so Marric called his name. When he stopped and met his gaze again, Marric said, “Thank you. For taking care of me and stuff.”

Iven nodded and pulled the door closed behind him. The gentle click made Marric smile. It turned out the sheriff of Fortune Falls was a very thoughtful man.

Marric got the shower going, adjusting the water temperature. As soon as he stepped under the spray and let the water warm him, he felt a million times better. All the grime from his sickness washed down the drain as if it had never existed.

He wished it was a one and done situation, but he’d get sick again. When he did, he wanted those herbs even before the delirium set in.

It was as he was washing his body that he thought about how many days might have gone by.

His dad would be so mad at him for not checking in.

There was no way Marric would get away without telling him what had happened, which means he’d have to explain how Iven fit into the mix.

And Dad would be less than thrilled. Iven’s presence killed Dad’s dynasty dreams.

They had put the argument on hold when Emery had gotten sick, but that wouldn’t be the case when Kinnison found out about Iven.

Unless Iven had a uterus Marric didn’t know about. Maybe Marric should ask him just to save himself the headache of an argument. If Iven did have the right parts, it would be giving Kinnison exactly what he wanted, which wasn’t something Marric was willing to do.

It was unlikely anyway. He’d just have to listen to his dad bitch about not having an heir, as though Emery couldn’t give him one eventually. Or hell, Regan could too when he grew up, except he wasn’t a wolf.

Why did it have to all be on Marric? He’d never understood why his order of birth even mattered. He hadn’t thought about it when Tory had been alive, because Dad had focused on her being the oldest and left him alone.

The concept of creating a monarchy within the pack was ridiculous. No other pack picked an alpha from one family only. Most voted, like Fortune Falls. Some fought still, but it was never to the death anymore.

If Marric was to become the leader, his lack of actually being an alpha would become a problem.

Sooner or later, someone would challenge Marric the same way some pack members challenged the alpha to change leadership.

When that happened, he would be screwed and probably also dead.

The gods knew he wasn’t strong enough to fight with just his wolf.

He didn’t have a third form the way Kinnison did.

Using magic would put a target on his back.

The path to Marric’s destruction was rather clear to him.

As soon as he got out of the shower and got dressed, he sat on the bed and picked up his phone. He saw he had a dozen missed calls. He also noted the date and the fact that he’d been out of it for three days.

He cursed and pressed the button that would call his dad’s cell.

Dad answered on the first ring. “Where the fuck have you been?”

Marric rolled his eyes and wished his dad could see it. Instead, he gave his best sassy answer, “I missed you too, Dad.”

“Don’t fuck with me, boy. I’m worried sick.” Okay, that was Kinnison Ransome’s ‘I mean it’ voice, which meant he was about to lose his shit all over Marric. Which also meant he was halfway to the truck, ready to come and get him. And Marric really didn’t want to take Dad away from Emery or Regan.

“I’m sorry. A lot has happened. I’ll tell you about it when I get home.”

“The gossip has made it all the way to my door. I thought someone killed you until the news said it was a woman.” Shit. That was bad.

“I’m sorry for worrying you. I found the body. I called Iven, the Fortune Falls Sheriff. He knows I’ve been the one doing the break-ins and I think he might suspect why.” No use beating around the bush. He might as well get it said. “I had a fever spell right after calling him.”

“Did he arrest you?”