Bear the Burden (Midnight Falls #25)

Chapter Two

It had to be the pain making Wesley act this way. He wasn’t a mean guy. In fact, he was the opposite. But it was also fear that had him pushing Hyett away when all he wanted to do was pull the gorgeous man toward him.

Wesley was even avoiding looking at Hyett because, why should he gaze at someone he could never be with? The way that rando had crushed Wesley’s self-esteem when he’d already felt at his lowest point wasn’t something he could recover from.

“You’re still holding me,” he pointed out, even though it felt so damn good to have someone’s, anyone’s, arms around him. It was just him and his dad, and his father sure as hell didn’t hug him. Not since before…

Human beings were social creatures, as well as tactile. There were times when all Wesley wanted was a hug, someone to hold him when he was feeling so damn lonely.

And now that he had strong arms around him, he was pushing the guy away. He wished his brain would make up its mind.

Hyett’s smile robbed Wesley of his breath. “I guess I am.”

Finally, the guy let him go, and Wesley instantly missed the warmth. He wanted those freaking arms back around him so badly.

“I promise I had nothing to do with your tire going flat,” Hyett said. “How do you know it didn’t just lose air?”

He didn’t. Although Hyett’s brother looked guilty as hell, Wesley didn’t have any proof. “I’m just… I’m sorry I acted that way. That’s not like me.”

Wesley needed to get home because he was a little too high. He’d been so busy trying to rid himself of the pain that he hadn’t paid attention to which bottle he had in his hand or even the appearance of the pills.

While Wesley’s medication was legit, Jackson’s wasn’t. His father’s insurance had stopped paying for them because they were no longer covered under his current plan.

Which caused Jackson to find other, not-so-legit avenues to obtain pain relief. Although Wesley despised going to get them for his dad, it was better than dealing with his father without them.

Unfortunately, Wesley had taken his father’s pills by accident, and they were starting to kick in. He had no idea exactly what might happen, but if he didn’t get home by the time they took full affect, he might do things he would regret.

Like beg Hyett to sleep with him.

“You can give me a ride home.” Wesley had no other choice if he wanted to make it home to the safety of his bedroom before shit got crazy.

Hyett pulled out his cell phone.

“What’re you doing?” Wesley wrinkled his nose.

“Texting my brother and telling him to call the house for a ride. And to take my food with him but to keep his paws off of it.” Hyett focused on his text while Wesley swung his head toward the window and watched as the brother threw his arms up with a comically exasperated look on his face.

“I don’t think he’s happy.”

“Hon, for all I care, he can change into a bear and tromp his way home through the woods.” Hyett winked at him.

What an odd thing to say . Even so, Wesley chuckled. Shit. He needed to get home. He knew he should have made a pit stop at home to drop off the pills before he’d driven to work.

His body started buzzing, and his jaw began to tingle. Wesley blinked a few hundred times at the brother, who simply stared at him with a cheesy grin.

“My ride’s this way,” Hyett said, but Wesley couldn’t make his body move. He was stuck, unable to even look away from the brother.

Oh boy.

Suddenly, he was looking at a muscular chest. Forcing his gaze upward, Wesley stared into the prettiest smoky eyes.

“Are you okay?” Hyett frowned. “Why are you eyeballing my brother?” he asked with a hint of a snarl.

“ He was eyeballing me !”

Maybe… Wesley wasn’t sure who started staring at who first. He scrunched his face, not liking this feeling at all. His medication mellowed him out and took away the pain.

The stuff his dad bought… What was he just thinking? Wesley lost his train of thought. “What was I just thinking about?”

He was back to staring at Hyett’s chest. The guy was too tall, and Wesley didn’t want to keep tilting his head back to look at him.

Hyett squatted, lowering his body until they were at eye level. The guy studied him. “Are you high?”

Wesley laughed and then grew quiet. “No.”

“Jesus.” Hyett stepped behind Wesley, gripped both upper arms, then guided him to a shiny dark blue SUV. He opened the passenger door and helped Wesley into his seat before buckling him in. “Maybe you should talk to your doctor about lowering your dosage, Wesley. I think it’s too high.”

Now all Wesley could concentrate on was Hyett’s really nice hair. The guy knocked something off of the center console and bent to get it off the passenger floor.

“While you’re down there…” Wesley curled his lips in.

Hyett simply turned his head, still bent over, and arched a brow. “Say that to me when you’re sober and I’ll gladly bend between your legs.”

“You say that now,” Wesley murmured.

He really wished his body would stop floating and the buzzing in his head would shut the hell up. Despite picking up the pain pills for his dad, this was the first time he’d taken them, by accident, and he’d taken two of them no less.

But damn, this was how his father felt when he popped them? How in the hell did he function? Wesley wanted them to wear off this instant.

Hyett cupped Wesley’s jaw and turned his head to lock gazes with him. “You’re baked, hon. And you said you can drive like this?”

Wesley snaked his tongue out and licked Hyett’s finger. It tasted salty.

“Please stop licking me, baby.” Heat flared in those smoky eyes.

“I’m giving you my phone number.” He licked Hyett’s hand again.

“Your tongue is not a pen.” He traced the pad of his thumb over Wesley’s bottom lip and brushed his fingers along the skin just under his ear.

Wesley knew that look. “You can kiss me.”

A warm, sweet smile surfaced. “As tempting as your lips are, I would prefer you to have a clear head for our first kiss.”

Hyett made sure Wesley’s arm was tucked in before he closed the door. The pills’ effect was getting even stronger. Wesley closed his eyes as the world spun around him, wishing Hyett would have kissed him.

* * * *

Hyett jumped into the driver’s seat, knowing full well Killian wasn’t put out that he had to call their dad or Ryker to come get him. Though he did owe his brother for letting some of the air out of Wesley’s tires. Not all of it, because Killian knew it would fuck up the rims if he did that.

His quick action had saved Hyett from having to argue with the human about driving.

Speaking of… He didn’t like how high his mate was. Hyett wasn’t a stick in the mud, but Wesley was at his job, dealing with customers, and he could have seriously hurt himself.

“Tell me where you live, hon.” He started the car then looked over at his mate.

Wesley was leaning against the door, eyes closed, lips slightly parted. Great. The guy was asleep. With a sigh, he called Killian.

“Is he all right?” his brother asked as soon as he answered. “He was looking at me all weird, like his brain had checked out. Don’t get pissed at me, but he looked kind of high.”

More than kind of . Wesley was in the zone. “He just fell asleep. Can you ask Cyrus to give me his address?”

“Oh, so he is high.” Killian sounded relieved. “For a second, I thought… Never mind. Hang on.”

Hyett had thought the same thing, that his mate had the hots for Killian. His bear had been ready to maul his own brother.

He watched Killian walk to the kitchen and heard him ask for Wesley’s address. Since Wesley was asleep, Hyett took a really good look at him. There was a smattering of faint freckles over the bridge of his nose, and he had thick eyebrows that rested over pretty almond-shaped eyes.

Wesley was such a stunning man.

“Cyrus cursed because he just realized Wesley left the address portion of his application blank,” Killian said. “What’re you going to do?”

“ He’s my mate.”

“I figured as much. Congratulations, bro,” he said with sincerity. “He’s also stubborn as shit and high as hell.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious.”

“And a meanie.”

Hyett growled. “You just had to add the last one.”

“Don’t get pissed at me because it’s true.” Killian walked to the window and waved at him with a shit-eating grin. Sometimes Hyett wondered about his siblings. He was the youngest, yet the other two were the ones who acted like juveniles.

“I’m going to take him home and hope like hell he doesn’t freak out.” Sober, his mate was as prickly as a cactus.

“Good luck with that, but since you’re headed home, I might as well ride with you.”

“You just called my mate a meanie. Walk home.” Hyett reversed from the parking spot.

“Are you serious?” Killian growled.

“Dead.” Hyett hung up and tossed his phone onto the center console. His phone chimed with a text as he drove down the street. Hyett grinned when he saw Killian sent him an exploding volcano and the middle finger.

Maybe next time he would keep his opinion to himself, even if he’d been right. He sent back the emoji with the puckered lips and the one with dark sunglasses.

A second later, his phone pinged again. This time Killian had sent him a GIF of someone throwing a punch. He wished the guy would come at him.

It had been a good minute since Hyett had had a good brawl. He thought he would have one roughly two months ago when he and his family had come to Midnight Falls to help out the Frosts, longtime family friends.

Too bad the goddamn vampires had played nice. Then he’d found out Jax, the guy he’d always gone on the prowl with to find some ass, had not only mated but would soon become a father.

So Hyett had gone solo to the bar. He’d scored, but he’d missed hanging out with the wolf shifter.

Jax ended up having twin boys. Cute little pups. Almost made Hyett want to become a dad, until one of their diapers had overflowed and the other one had thrown up on Jax.

Nope. Hyett was cool not having any responsibilities.

But he did now. His responsibility was sleeping off his high, and Hyett wanted to know why he needed those pills and what was wrong with his leg. To each his own, but Wesley was more than just buzzing along. He was stone-cold out of it. In Hyett’s world, that was asking for trouble, especially if you had an enemy at your back.

Wesley might be human, but he was now a part of Hyett’s world.

He headed up their long, winding driveway and pulled to the back of the house just as Ryker was walking outside.

“Did you really leave Killian in town?” His brother looked annoyed that he had to pick him up.

“He shouldn’t have talked shit about my mate,” Hyett said matter-of-factly as he parked and killed the motor.

Ryker stopped walking, his brows furrowing. “Did you just say mate?”

Clearly Killian had kept that to himself, allowing Hyett to tell his family. That was nice of him, but Hyett still didn’t feel guilty for leaving him in town.

He got out and circled the front of the SUV, heading to the passenger side. Ryker walked over and looked inside the closed window. “Why is he unconscious?”

“He’s sleeping off his high.” Hyett scowled. He should have pulled Wesley off the door before he’d gotten out.

“Is there a reason your mate is high?” Ryker gestured toward the door. “I’ll open it, you catch him.”

“Pain killers. Something’s wrong with his leg. His dosage is too fucking high, no pun intended.” His mate was in a seatbelt, but Hyett didn’t want his head to flop sideways when he slumped. The guy was already in enough pain.

When Ryker yanked open the door, Hyett quickly cradled Wesley’s head in his hands. He was still out cold.

“I’d say so.” Ryker glanced at him. “Congratulations. How did you meet him?”

“Works at Papa’s.” Hyett reached in and unsnapped his seatbelt. When he pulled it off his mate, Wesley curled snugly in the seat, causing his loose-fitting jeans to ride up a little, exposing his ankle and a few inches of skin above it.

Hyett saw patches of discoloration, some shiny spots no bigger than a dime, and a little scarring. Honestly, he was expecting a lot worse from the pain his mate was in.

But he now knew how his mate had gotten those scars. Hyett had seen skin like this before.

Fire.

“You go there for lunch and bring back a mate. I’m gonna go get the brother you abandoned.” Ryker walked to his truck. “The next time you two have a spat, leave me out of it. He’s going to be a bitchy bear the entire ride home.”

“Tell him not to forget my damn food,” he hollered as Ryker pulled away. Cyrus would put it on Hyett’s tab, but Killian was paying for it if he ate it.

Turning back around, he gently pulled the fabric of Wesley’s slacks up a little higher, exposing more of the same thing. If you asked him, his mate had healed pretty damn nicely.

Except for his pain, making Hyett wonder if there had been nerve damage or something else. He knew shit about humans and this kind of thing, but he was going to find out. He would research everything he could about leg burns so he could be better prepared to help his mate.

Releasing Wesley’s pant leg, Hyett reclined the seat all the way back to make the guy more comfortable. Then he sat on the ground with his back to the car.

Moments later, his dad strode outside with the full kitchen trash bag. He glanced at Hyett, and then his gaze flickered to the car, but he kept going, disposing of the bag in one of the outside cans.

Hyett watched as his dad headed his way. He saw the moment Quinton noticed someone was in the passenger seat. “Do I need to get a shovel, son?”

Hyett chuckled.

“You’re laughing, but I’m serious.” He stopped a foot away and sniffed. “Human. He’s skinny too. Accidental kill?”

Quinton asked because the Everharts didn’t hurt anyone smaller than them, especially someone as thin and wiry as Wesley.

Hyett was tempted to see how far his dad would go with this. “And if it was?”

Okay, so he couldn’t resist.

His dad squatted in front of him. “ We’ll take care of this. But first, tell me what happened.”

God, he loved his dad.

Wesley moaned and shifted in the seat a little. Quinton frowned then scowled. “I should beat your ass for making me think you killed him.”

“I should hug you for having my back.” Hyett grinned. “Dad, this is my mate, Wesley.”

Quinton stood and placed his hands on his hips, his expression once again confused. “Did you drug him to bring him home?”

“I’m taking that hug back. Jeez. Thanks for having so much confidence in me.” Hyett pushed to his feet and dusted off his backside, explaining to his father what happened at Papa’s.

“So why haven’t you brought your mate inside so he can get the rest he needs? I’m pretty sure the seat of a car isn’t doing his leg any favors.”

Hyett glanced at his mate curled up like a kitten. He reached over and pulled the back of his shirt down when he noticed it had risen to show a few inches of flawless skin. “I already kidnapped him. I don’t want him to freak out if he wakes up in my bed.”

Sober Wesley was a cat with claws, and Hyett didn’t want his mate rejecting him again.

“Then lay him on the couch,” his dad said. “Don’t make your mate sleep in a car.”

Hyett really might need a shovel because his mate was going to kill him when he woke up.

No sooner had Hyett pulled his mate out of the car than Wesley’s phone erupted with a parody of “Turn Down for What,” only the lyrics had been changed to “Pick Up for Dad.”

“Sounds like his father is calling him.” Quinton moved in front of Hyett and opened the back door of the house for him.

Hyett had his mate partially over his shoulder. “Should I answer it?”

“I wouldn’t.” Quinton walked in behind him.

“What if his dad heard about what happened? It would be pretty fucked up to leave him worrying.”

He lay Wesley down on the couch and used the throw blanket draped over the back to cover his mate’s slim body.

“Don’t you think he’d panic even more if a stranger answered his son’s phone?” his dad asked.

He had a point. Hyett set the phone on the coffee table then took a seat on the couch, placing Wesley’s feet over his thighs.

“I’ll make sure no one disturbs the two of you while he gets some rest.”

“Thanks, Dad.” He rubbed gentle circles over his mate’s ankles.

“No problem.”

Hyett grabbed the remote and turned on the television as he waited for his mate to wake up.