| The Whole Truth

* * *

Elliott rubbed his head. If he didn't do something to calm Nate quickly, things were going to turn shitty. “Alright. Easy, boy. We’re just a little surprised, and worried about you. About all of us.” Elliott threw a clean, white bar towel to Nate who caught it at the same time Darrell rose from the couch, walked towards him, and held out his hand to Nate who quietly placed the broken glass in his hand. Satisfied, Darrell processed to pick up the remaining pieces of glass from the floor and threw them in the trash next to him. “Give me the towel for a second,” he said to Nate and Nate handed it to him with a grimace as Darrell began wiping the blood off his hand. They were treating him like a child and although he didn't like it, it gave him a weird but comforting feeling.

“It's okay, I've got it, buddy," Nate finally said and collected the towel from Darrell. Darrell smiled and picked up the trash can while Nate proceeded to wrap his nasty wound up.

Darrell walked away with the trash can in hand and as he stepped into the kitchen, Danny, who was still standing by the balcony door finally asked, “So tell us, Nate, What did you do with the body?”

Remembering, Nate dropped his head and closed his eyes, blocking out the visual. “I left it there.”

“YOU WHAT?” Danny barked.

Nate shrugged heavy shoulders. “What was I supposed to do, get caught carrying a carcass to the water? Even if I was successful the body would be found eventually and it’d be obvious an animal did it. If an animal killed the guy, what’d the animal do then, try to hide the body in the fucking Bay? Smart animal.”

Darrell walked back into the living room, processing out loud, “Right. An animal would just leave it there and not give a fuck.”

“Well, I give a fuck,” Danny growled.

“Yeah. Wow. So now what?” Nate asked.

“Let’s wait for the news and find out,” Elliott muttered as he handed Nate a fresh, full glass of Scotch. “Because it’s sure as hell going to be on there.”

“This is why we don’t kill,” Danny asserted, gravely.

Nate dropped onto the couch and took a generous gulp, not flinching as the heat hit his throat.

“What about your prints?” Danny asked. “What about cameras?”

Nate looked at him. “No cameras. I checked before I shifted. I’m not an idiot.”

“What about the girl?”

“She’s not a girl. She’s a woman,” Nate corrected him, aware of the immediately exchanged glances around him. He rose. “Look, I’m tired. I’m going to bed.” He downed the scotch and laid the glass on the elegant coffee table. As he passed Elliott, he received a supportive swat on the shoulder. It was much needed, especially with Danny looking at him like he’d never been more disappointed in anyone.

Darrell called to his back, “We’ll know more tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

Walking down the short hallway to his room, he heard Darrell say, not too quietly, “What the hell was that about? The woman thing.”

Danny concurred, “You tell me.”

But Elliott assured them, “Don’t worry. Nate’s too smart to let a woman get under his skin. He just likes to play the hero. We all do.”

Nate closed his bedroom door knowing it had been more than that. He’d felt something when he’d locked eyes with the brunette who was having a bad night in the club. His wolf had caught her staring at her friend's panties from across the bar and she had been modified. But when she’d opened her mouth to apologize and correct his impression, something had hit him. First, she was adorable with her beautiful wavy hair flowing around her like an organized mess - which he was sure she wasn't even aware of. Second, those eyes of hers, he felt like he’d looked into them before. Something snapped inside of him like he’d found something. And when she’d held his stare, that feeling only got worse. They had engaged in a few flirty conversations and he'd had fucked it all and asked her out if her friend hadn't gotten into trouble with a rude drunk customer. When he'd used his commanding tone to warn off the guy, he'd instantly smelt her arousal and that had done him in. Because he'd been one smell away from losing control of his wolf, he'd run.

Ran to escape it. Then he'd found himself telling the boys to go home without him, to take a cab and leave the sedan with him so he could pack some stuff up with it. What they hadn't known was that he'd done that so he could secretly follow her home and find out where she lived. That way, he didn't have to explain to the boys why he was stalking someone. But then she’d taken her drunk friend home instead and had naively walked home. There were no cabs downtown at that time of night. She should have known it was dangerous and called someone. He’d considered offering her a lift, but that would have looked too obvious. She would have known he’d stalked her, and that couldn’t happen. So, distracted he’d stared down at the keys trying to will himself to turn the car on and go. He blocked everything out since he was trying to force himself to do something he didn’t want to. When he’d looked up, she was gone and the sounds of a struggle arrested his heightened aural senses. Swearing at himself for not paying attention, he’d rushed to save her, and when he’d gotten his teeth into the guy’s neck, the sight of his near-flaccid penis hanging out of his dirty jeans enraged him. The idea that this vial human being was about to hurt her and not only that but take what was his, took away his control. He couldn’t stop himself from killing the sonofabitch.

Lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, Nate heard Darrell and Danny go home. A few moments later, a knock came on his door.

“Come in.”

Elliott walked into the dark room and didn’t bother to switch on the lamp. They could both see easily in the dark, and from the look on Elliott's face what he was about to say didn’t need more light on it. He stood by the wall with the sixty-inch flat screen T.V. set and growled, “You're gonna tell me what happened now that they’re gone. And I won't take anything but the truth. The whole truth.”