“Why the hell would he call you an old man?” Wyatt asked. “He can’t be that much younger than you.”
Draven took a deep breath and slowly unclenched his hands. He turned to the shopping cart and walked away. “He was just being an asshole. Forget about him.”
Wyatt hurried to catch up with Draven. “It looked as if the two of you were ready to tear into each other, literally.”
Draven came to a sudden stop. “Rick is no concern of yours. Like I said, forget about him.”
“But he said he’d been looking for you.”
“So?”
“Aren’t you a little worried he might try and confront you again?”
Draven turned a hard look on Wyatt. “He can try, but I guarantee he won’t come out of it unscathed. The bastard knows better than to challenge me.”
“What did he mean about his being a lone wolf? And what was the crack about me probably not knowing the truth about you?”
Chapter Five
Draven started them walking again. He pushed the cart down the next aisle he came to. He felt Wyatt’s gaze following him as he walked. That fucking Rick. He’d said a bunch of shit Draven wasn’t ready to tell Wyatt about. Now Wyatt had questions he wanted answered.
“Draven? Are you just going to ignore me?”
Yup, Wyatt definitely wanted answers. “Let it go. The bastard was talking crap just to see if he could get a rise out of me.”
“Well, he must have, because I don’t think it would have taken much to have you swinging a punch at him.”
“Oh, it would have been a lot more than me using my fists on him, believe me.” He turned his head toward Wyatt. “Look, let’s get what we came for, all right? I really don’t want Rick to mess up the day we had planned for ourselves.”
“Fine, but if he comes around again, I might be the one throwing the first punch.”
Draven came to an abrupt stop once again, causing Wyatt to almost run into him. “No, you won’t. Do I make myself clear?”
Wyatt scowled. “Why? I might not be much of a fighter, but if threatened I don’t back down.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about. You don’t know what he’s capable of. I’ll put it to you this way, if you fought him, you wouldn’t come out of it in one piece.”
Wyatt gave him a cool look. “Whatever you say. I obviously don’t know him as well as you do.” He then maneuvered around the shopping cart and walked farther down the aisle.
Shit. Now Wyatt was pissed off at him. Just another reason why he should go wolf all over Rick’s ass. The asshole had deserved to be kicked out of their pack, forced to go lone wolf. Rick had sold drugs to some of the younger members. Alone, that crap was bad enough, but how it reacted to the magic all werewolves carried inside them was even worse. It messed with their ability to shift. Certain drugs, if taken long-term, took it away completely. Forever, with no way to get it back. Unable to ever take on their wolf forms again, it wasn’t unheard of for the affected person to end their life. Draven shuddered at the thought of never being able to shift.
He silently followed behind Wyatt as the other man turned down the next aisle. This one was where all the personal hygiene products were, along with condoms and lube. He watched Wyatt go to the shelves where those items were and pick up one of each. Without another word, he turned toward Draven and walked over to him before he threw the things he carried into the cart.
“That’s everything I needed to buy,” Wyatt said.
“Should we make a trip to The Beer Store before we hit the rental?”
“I brought a twelve pack up with me. We only had one each out of it.”
“I brought one as well. So I guess we don’t need to go there. Let me get some snack things, then I’ll pay for all of this.”
That accomplished, Wyatt remained silent as they stood in line, and even after they carried the bags out to Draven’s car. With them stored in the trunk, Draven got into the driver’s side, but he didn’t turn the key in the ignition.
He looked at the man sitting in the passenger seat. “Are you pissed off at me, Wyatt?”
“Not really.”
“Then why the silent treatment?”
Wyatt turned to look at him. “I’m trying to figure out this other side of you. Before Rick came along, I felt you were more open with me. Now it feels as if you’re keeping something back like the prick said. I’ll tell you this right now—I don’t like being lied to.”
“I’m not lying to you about anything. There’re just some things I’m not comfortable talking about. The subject of Rick is one of them. I didn’t mean to be sharp with you. I was only angry at him.”
“All right. I can accept that. He pissed me off too.”
“He’s gone now. Let’s move on.”
“Fine with me.”
Draven started the car and pulled out of the grocery store parking lot. With Wyatt’s directions, he drove to the rented cottage. The narrow gravel trail that led to it was in as much of a neglected state as everything else on the property. Draven was sure no car would be able to drive down to it come winter time. Not with the amount of snow Muskoka got.
He parked next to Wyatt’s older-model car. Following his would-be mate to the cottage door, Draven noticed the rust mixed in with the faded red paint job. He made a mental note to buy Wyatt a brand new vehicle. As his mate, Draven had the right to ensure all of Wyatt’s needs were taken care of. That included making sure he didn’t have an old beater to drive. The other man didn’t know it yet, but once Draven claimed him, Wyatt’s life was about to change. He wouldn’t want for anything ever again.
Wyatt unlocked the cottage and Draven walked in behind him. “Why don’t you go grab your things while I pack up the food to take with us?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Wyatt said in return. “You’ll find the boxes I used in the kitchen on the floor near the back door.”
Draven nodded and walked to where Wyatt indicated. He picked up one of said boxes and went to the fridge. It didn’t take him very long to pack the food for the trip to his lake house. He carried them one at a time out to his car and put them in the trunk with the other groceries.
He’d just come back inside to grab the beer when Wyatt came out of the single bedroom carrying a large duffle bag. “I have everything.”
“I already put the food in my car.”
“Then we’re all set. I’ll follow you to your lake house.”
Draven nodded and led the way outside. He waited as Wyatt locked the cottage, then got into his car. Once Wyatt was behind the wheel, Draven headed for the trail to the main road with the other man following behind.
It wasn’t too long of a drive, since they were just looping around the lake. At his place, Draven brought the groceries he purchased inside, then helped Wyatt with his things.
As Wyatt put away the last of the food, Draven took the other man’s duffel bag up to his bedroom. There was no question why Wyatt wouldn’t be sharing his bed. Starting today.
After his run-in with Rick, Draven had to bite the bullet and tell Wyatt about werewolves and what it meant to be a mate to one. Even though he hadn’t said as much to his would-be mate, he had a feeling they hadn’t seen the last of Rick. And Draven knew it was going to come down to the other werewolf challenging him, which meant a fight in wolf form.
Draven set Wyatt’s duffel on the floor at the end of the bed. Before he turned to leave the room, a package of condoms and lube flew past him and landed on the mattress. Draven spun around to find Wyatt standing behind him.
“I was just going to—”
Draven never got a chance to finish his sentence. Wyatt closed the small space between them and took his mouth. He sank his hands in Draven’s hair and held him in place as he increased the pressure on his lips, pushing his tongue past them.