Chapter 17: Jeremy Stanton vs. Ryan Hicks Feral attraction in the midst of hatred… Guilt!

***

Jeremy tore out of the parking lot at breakneck speed. If Ryan shifted, it wouldn’t harm him much as his injury had already started healing. What Jeremy wanted to prevent was Ryan shifting in the full glare of all those people. Wolves were used to seeing each other’s nakedness so it wouldn’t be a big deal. But Jeremy just knew Ryan would hate for anyone to see him naked. He clearly remembered how quickly Ryan had pulled on his jeans after he’d shifted back into human in the cage. Jeremy also remembered the panic in Ryan’s eyes when he’d noticed his eyes on his dicks earlier that evening. Jeremy vowed to himself at that instant to ensure that Ryan became proud of his special nature. But for now, his main aim was to protect his mate’s sensibilities.

Jeremy burst into Ryan’s private room in the hospital and growled when he saw Philip soothingly stroking the beautiful white wolf…his mate. Philip instantly jumped off to the side of the bed and raised his hand in an act of peace. The nurses and doctors looked shocked at their alpha’s reaction but said nothing.

“What happened?” Jeremy asked the head doctor.

“He woke up before the expected time so I thought he was hungry. We put some food into a bowl for him and he instantly went berserk.”

‘I won’t eat like a dog.’ Ryan growled through his link with Jeremy, making the alpha really understand what the fuss was all about. He didn’t blame Ryan. He wasn’t used to all that.

“How bad will it be for his injury if he should shift now?” Jeremy asked quietly, his eye locked on Ryan.

“I won’t advise that now but it won’t be too bad.” Dr. Sanders responded. “We can always continue the treatment in his human form though it will take longer to heal.”

“I know. Please take off his cast and leave us.” Jeremy ordered quietly, his eyes still on Ryan. “Lip?” He stopped his friend when he made to pass by him.

“Yes Alpha?”

“I’m sorry about before.” He apologized quietly. Though it was only natural for him to act as he had when he saw another man’s hands on his mate, Jeremy thought he should apologize.

“Don’t worry man. I understand.” Philip responded with amusement in his voice. Jeremy knew he was going to get it so bad from his friend later, but he didn’t care. “I’ll go bring him some clothes to wear.” He said, slapping Jeremy on his back before exiting the room.

Jeremy went to the door and locked it after the last person had exited. Then he went to sit beside the beautiful white wolf on the bed. His mate. Jeremy tentatively reached out to touch Ryan but the wolf growled low in his throat. He obviously still didn’t trust Jeremy. The alpha’s heart sunk. Ryan was okay with Philip touching him but he obviously didn’t want him to. That was only to be expected but it still hurt.

‘I just want to help you shift.’ Jeremy said softly through their link. Jeremy tried again when Ryan stopped growling. The wolf’s eyes still watched Jeremy with distrust. But he allowed him to touch him, and then stroke him. And his touch felt so soothing and calming, Ryan leaned more into it. Philip’s hands had felt nowhere as good as Jeremy’s, which was rather strange to Ryan.

‘You can shift now.’ Jeremy whispered and watched with a content expression on his face as Ryan shifted with cheeky ease. The pain and discomfort that had accompanied each of his previous shifts was absent. Ryan blinked up at Jeremy, whose hand was slowly stroking his stomach, and suppressed a moan. As a wolf, he’d thought Jeremy was hot but from a human’s perspective, the man was gut-numbingly gorgeous. “You okay?” Jeremy asked softly.

Ryan could only nod. There was a fluttering inside his stomach that had nothing to do with hunger for food. He watched as Jeremy pulled the covers over his body and adjusted him so that he was propped up against the headboard. Then he reached for the bottle of water on the bedside table and brought it to Ryan’s lips. Ryan snatched the bottle and drank about half of the water. Jeremy took the bottle when Ryan was done and placed it on the table. Then he picked up the plate of food and grabbed a fork.

“Open up please,” Jeremy said softly.

Ryan’s eyes widened at Jeremy’s request. To say he was shocked at all the attention the Mean Man was giving him would be an understatement. The man was obviously on a guilt trip. Why else would he be acting that way?

“I’m not an invalid.” Ryan snapped. “I can feed myself.” He took the plate from Jeremy and proceeded to feed himself.

Jeremy remained quiet. He merely sat there and watched Ryan eat. He couldn’t help but notice how gentle his mate was. Even the way he ate. His mannerism. Jeremy couldn’t believe he was the same Ryan who had hulked out into a wolf-man and scared the shit out of him. And he couldn’t believe he’d actually treated such a gentle person so badly. But the harm had already been done. It was up to him to show his mate a different side of himself. He had to prove to Ryan that he wasn’t the monster he thought he was. What surprised Jeremy was the fact that his aim wasn’t to get the handsome man sitting in front of him to trust him enough to agree to officially mate with him, but rather to make Ryan actually like him.

Jeremy waited patiently till Ryan was done. Then he took the plate from him and went to open the door for Philip. Ryan heard them whispering but couldn’t hear exactly what they were whispering about. He watched as Jeremy again closed and locked the door and placed some clothes on the comfortable couch in the room. Then still without a word, Jeremy went to the en suite bathroom and came back with a bowl of warm water, a bottle of liquid soap, and a washcloth.

“What are you doing?” Ryan finally broke his silence.

“What does it look like? I’m going to wash you.”

“I think I can manage that on my own, thank you very much,” Ryan said, attempting to roll out of bed but Jeremy stopped him with a band on his shoulder.

“I don’t think it will be a good idea to put pressure on the foot, Ryan,” Jeremy said gently. “Please let me do this.”

“I’d rather someone else helped me.” Ryan insisted stubbornly.

Jeremy went still for a moment. Then he gave a deep sigh. “Who would you prefer?” Jeremy couldn’t recognize his voice. He felt so wretched inside.

“Anyone but you,” Ryan said, dropping his eyes to Jeremy’s hand which clutched the washcloth. His eyes widened when he noticed how badly Jeremy’s hands shook.

“Ryan, please,” Jeremy whispered.