Under Sean’s Protection by Lisa Oliver

Chapter Six

“Hey there, lovebirds.”

Sean felt relieved, seeing Ranger come in the front door, although he couldn’t pinpoint why. He knew his bike would be all right, and now Kyle was bitten – they had claimed each other – things should be resolved with the council soon enough. But even so, there was something positive to be said for knowing Ranger had his back.

“How’s my bike?” Sean joked.

“Broken taillight, dented fuel tank, and a rip in the seat cushion,” Ranger said as he tossed Sean the keys, “but you won’t notice any of that once you see the bent frame. I guess it doesn’t jump as well as I thought it would.”

“Funny guy,” Sean replied, as Kyle came downstairs, flushed and tussled with freshly fucked written all over his face.

“I take it you got done what you wanted - needed - to get done,” Ranger said. “You look happy, Kyle. Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Kyle said as he wrapped his arms around Sean’s waist. Sean was thrilled his new mate showed no hesitation in being affectionate with him.

“So, now Kyle and I have claimed each other…”

“Yeah, about that. It’s time to go, pal,” Ranger interrupted him. “If his old man wheels up and sees you here, there’ll be hell to pay.”

Sean tightened his arm around Kyle’s waist. “Sorry, Ranger,” he said, “but I’m not leaving his side. Not now.”

Ranger glared, his alpha powers suddenly oozing around the room. Sean’s wolf bristled but he didn’t back down. He knew it wasn’t what Ranger expected but things were different now.

“Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you correctly,” Ranger snarled.

“It’s simple. Either I stay here with Kyle, or he comes with me,” Sean repeated. “He’s under my protection now. Not yours. Not his father’s. Or anyone else’s. He’s mine.”

“Don’t fuck this up, Sean,” Ranger warned. “Not now.”

“How would you be feeling right now if this was you and Aiden? There’s no way you’d leave him unprotected.”

“He’s not unprotected. He’d have me here. We don’t have time to get into this, Sean. I moved heaven and fuckin’ earth to give you two hours. I thought that’s what you wanted. The chance to claim your mate.”

Sean stood his ground and held Ranger’s eyes. Everyone knew mating laws trumped everything and anything else and he was determined.

“Look, I get it, I honestly do. You have every right to want Kyle with you because you’re fated. And technically, I guess I don’t have any legal right to stop you from doing that. But…”

“But?” Sean repeated. This had better be a brilliant fucking explanation.

“But this situation doesn’t just involve you and Kyle, it impacts all of us. There are lawyers involved thanks to old man Hyam. The council is in town, and you know they’ll be looking for the slightest excuse to stay and snoop around. You shouldn’t have even been here today, considering this is still Hyam’s house. No one else knows this happened. Not Hyam. Not the council. Only Aiden, you, me, the enforcers who are on their way back, and Kyle. That’s it and that’s the way it has to stay for just a few hours more.”

Sean shuffled his weight from one foot to the other. Fucking lawyers. Fucking council. Fucking Hyam.

“If you’re still here or he’s not when they get back, you can kiss whatever peaceful future you have together goodbye, and so can the rest of us.” Ranger shook his head. “Marcus and Shadow, Cam and Levi, me and Aiden, not to mention Tron. We’re all wanted – you know damn well the council wants us back. We’ll end up with a lifetime of being on the run or being bogged down with hassle and paperwork. I’m sorry, my friend, but that’s the way it is.”

Sean glanced down at Kyle who’d remained silent through Ranger’s tirade. He knew what Ranger was saying was true, and there wasn’t anyone he trusted more than his brother assassins. But his wolf was edgy and didn’t want to leave. Kyle needed to be protected at all costs.

“I’m not sure what’s going on with the assassins, but you know the alpha mate is right,” Kyle finally whispered. “I don’t want to be on the run for the rest of our lives – not if that means leaving Mom and Michael, and your friends… we can’t do that to them either.”

“Sean, what’s happening in this house is purely a legal matter right now.” Ranger pressed his point and while Sean couldn’t blame him, he didn’t like it. “It’s not a security issue – this business with Hyam has got nothing to do with us assassins. It might not get worked out overnight. Kyle might have to have dinner with his dad and sleep in his own bed this one last time. But you can guarantee Newton will sew things up first thing tomorrow morning. By lunch time, your mate will be in your arms where he’s supposed to be, at the latest. But that’s only going to happen if you get the fuck out of here, now.”

Sean held Ranger’s stare for a long minute. He knew, if it came down to a fight, he wouldn’t stand a chance against Ranger although it would be one hell of a fight. But it would hurt Kyle, and Aiden, not to mention the long-lasting damage such a battle would do to their long-standing friendship.

Fuck! Everything in him was saying something wasn’t right, and everything outside of him was saying it would be fine – even Kyle.

Kissing Kyle quickly, Sean snuck a whispered message in his ear as he hugged him good-bye. “I won’t be far.”

Sean broke the embrace and pushed Ranger with his shoulder as he walked reluctantly to the door. He would have been better off trying to shove a cement wall, as Ranger didn’t budge, and Sean was stopped by a heavy hand pulling on his shoulder before he was out of the house.

“Hang on,” Ranger spoke.

Sean knew that tone. It was Ranger’s ‘we’re not quite done here yet’ tone.

“What did he say to you, Kyle?” Sean heard Ranger ask. He wanted to turn around and give Kyle a glance to stop him from speaking, but he knew it would blow everything up. So, he waited.

Kyle, true to his mate, stayed silent. Sean’s heart leapt at the solidarity he felt with his new partner. It’s not easy for any wolf to refuse Ranger’s requests and that was before Ranger mated with Aiden and effectively became Kyle’s alpha mate.

With the hand still on Sean’s shoulder, essentially holding him in his spot, Sean could hear Ranger dial his phone quickly with his other hand.

“I need an extra twenty minutes,” Sean heard Ranger say. Who the hell is he talking to?

Ranger pocketed his phone.

“I’m going to ride back with you to the house, and then return here before Kyle’s father gets back,” Ranger said.

“I can ride myself,” Sean grumbled. “Trust me.”

“I do trust you. I trust you to do exactly what I would do, which is to say you’re leaving but not go anywhere.”

“Listen,” Sean started to say, but Ranger cut him off with his instructions to Kyle.

“Stay here, lock the door, and don’t open it until I’m back, do you hear?”

Kyle nodded and Sean hated seeing him so worried.

“You’ll see each other again soon enough. But this way there’s a way forward for all of us.”

Sean didn’t move.

“Are you going to walk out to the bike, or do I have to carry you like a child?”

Sean’s feet finally let go their grip on the floor, and he marched out to his bike, threw his leg over, and moved up the seat to allow Ranger to sit behind.

Ranger gave him a look.

“Don’t push it, Ranger,” Sean said, “I’m not riding on the back of my own fucking bike.” 

Ranger nodded brusquely and climbed on behind.

Sean’s last look at Kyle was through the red dust of a taillight’s glow, his one true mate standing shirtless in the door frame, waving like someone out of a bad movie. Somehow Sean felt the climax of that movie hadn’t come yet, and things were only going to get worse.

/~/~/~/~/

Kyle set about returning the house to the state it was in before Sean arrived. He put the oil back in the kitchen, did his best to wipe off the come stains on his bedspread and flip it over, not that his dad ever came to his room, and opened the window wide to dilute the smell of sex. Then he pottered about, picking up his clothes and folding them, thinking about what it’d be like when he packed his clothes and moved for good. Shit, better put a t-shirt on too.

As he worked, he played over the last couple of hours in the cinema of his mind, making sure to remember each and every second of his glorious session with Sean – his first ever intimacy with another man and that man was his mate. Kyle could still smell his mate on the pillow. Gods, but it smelled wonderful.

There was a big part of Kyle that wanted to dance with excitement. Meeting Sean, being claimed by him was like he’d just won every lottery on the face of the planet at once. Still dreaming about Sean and his claiming, Kyle was surprised to hear the front door opening. It couldn’t have been twenty minutes already. Shit, I locked the front door like Ranger told me too. Which could only mean…

Kyle hurried downstairs just in time to see the two enforcers wheeling his dad inside, parking him in his dad’s favorite spot by the couch. The two enforcers went to the door, and stood on either side of it, guarding it, although Kyle didn’t have a clue why. He looked around for signs of Ranger, but the alpha mate hadn’t had a chance to get back yet. Knowing it wasn’t a good idea to ask about him, Kyle headed towards the kitchen, keeping his head down.

“Kyle,” his father said, “come sit with me for a minute.”

Something about his dad’s voice was different. There wasn’t the trace of anger and resentment, of impending violence in it that was almost always there. He sounded calm. Peaceful. Like he used to sound before the accident. While Kyle was glad his dad had a good time while he was out, he was still nervous about going anywhere near him. He didn’t think the goons by the door would stop his dad if he started hitting him again.

“Dad? Are you alright?”

“I’m good, my boy,” his father said cheerily. “Oh, I’ve had a few too many, that’s a fact, but it was great to get out of this house for a change. It’s been far too long. Come, sit with me a minute. I have something I want to say, and I’d like to say it before the feeling passes. Please.”

Please? Kyle couldn’t remember the last time he heard that word come from his father’s mouth in any context. He went around and squatted down by his dad’s wheelchair. It was fully dark now, but Kyle could see the face before him clearly. Rather than being tight and contorted with pain, his dad’s face looked relaxed, and even content.

“Dad? You look really good. Are you feeling all right?”

Before his father could reply, his vision went dark as something was thrown over his head and some kind of cloth was being tied around his neck. The material had to be really dense, Kyle couldn’t see any shred of light, even with his wolf pushing forward. Scared, he cried out, raising his hands, but before he could touch the bag, his arms were pinned to his back, and he was pulled to his feet; someone was taking him out of the house. The enforcers!

His hearing tuned in, and he could hear his father’s voice crying out as if in pain.

“Kyle! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry,” he heard his dad calling. “Don’t you dare hurt him, you sons of bitches. Don’t hurt him!”

“Dad? Ranger? Sean!” Kyle yelled as loud as he could, but his voice was muffled against the heavy dark hood, and every time he took a breath to yell louder, his mouth would draw in more of the material.

His skin got goosebumps from the cool late afternoon air. He was outside the house now but could still hear his father calling him.

“Kyle! Kyle! I’m sorry. I…”

A hand on Kyle’s head shoved him down, the sound of his father’s voice cut off with the slamming of a car door. He was in the back of one of the council cars and as he felt the car speed off, Kyle realized that he was no longer being held by the men that took him. His hands were now in cuffs, behind his back, and he was sitting on a leather seat, lurching left and right as the car negotiated the road.

What was his dad about to say? “I…” what? Love you? Was his father actually going to say something affectionate?

Impossible.

Kyle slumped against the back seat, bracing his feet as best he could, thinking about his father’s betrayal. His heart sunk further when he thought he heard, in the distance, the sound of a motorcycle heading in the direction he was being driven away from.