Several of the male wolves and nearly all the females were watching him too, some of them with a hungry look in their eyes. Dr. Tate watched him like he was something to eat as Nicky walked toward him, his gaze roving up and down Nicky’s body. Possessive jealousy seared through Marco, and leaving Casey in mid-sentence, he stalked across the room to lay claim to his mate. When he saw Tate with both hands wrapped around one of Nicky’s, he was filled with fury. Tate was being deliberately provocative, and both he and Marco knew it.
Did this human think he could steal his mate from him? Over his dead body. Just before he could tear Nicky away from him, the doctor released Nicky’s hand, but Marco still swatted Nicky’s ass to show his possession of him, and pulled the boy closely to his side. He’d never had such strong reactions to anyone before, and he fleetingly wondered what the hell was going on inside his mind. After sending Nicky upstairs, he glared down at the doctor. He wished he was a member of his pack so he could show him proper discipline. As it was, he clenched his fists by his side, fighting to keep his voice calm. He noticed with another, calmer part of his mind that both Ian and Casey had arrived to stand slightly behind him.
“We appreciate your coming today, Tate, but we don’t want to keep you away from your duties at the hospital any longer. ”
Jeremy Tate stood up to face him. He wasn’t as tall as Marco, but he was well over six feet and muscular. His eyes held a challenge that Marco’s wolf responded to with an urge to leap across the table and rip out his throat. He restrained himself with a steely concentration as the damn man smiled at him. “Thank you, alpha. It was good of you to invite me—oh, but that was Nicky, wasn’t it? You know you’re a damn lucky man to have someone like him. I hope you realize it. I wouldn’t like to see him mistreated. ”
Was the arrogant son-of-a-bitch actually standing here in Marco’s house lecturing him on how to treat his mate? Holding onto his temper by a thread, Marco bared his teeth back at him. If he wanted to think it was a smile, so be it. “I hope you realize he belongs to me. And I don’t need your advice on how to treat him. ”
The doctor stared steadily back at him. “Oh, I think maybe you do. And I’ll leave you with a word of advice even if you don’t want it. A man like Nicky Henderson should be treated like a precious gift, or he just might decide to go where he’s respected and loved for who he is. ”
If it hadn’t been for Ian and Casey, he would have attacked the man right there, but they held onto his arms tightly, not allowing him to pull away. Nicky Henderson, his ass! The bastard was deliberately using Nicky’s human name before he became mated to Marco. He wondered fleetingly how he even knew that, but before he could latch onto the half-formed memory, it was gone. Tate turned around and walked quickly away and out the front door before the other two men finally released Marco. Tate’s gamma brother-in-law bowed deeply to the alpha and his closest aides, hurriedly escorting his pet, the doctor’s young sister, from the table.
Casey stepped up closer to speak urgently to Marco. “Alpha, he’s not worth it. Don’t do this in front of everyone. I’ll have a word with him and tell him not to come back. ”
“Do that,” Marco said angrily. “The bastard is lucky I didn’t kill him. Did you see him pawing over my mate? Did you hear him call Nicky by his human name? That asshole!” He set his face angrily and turned to Ian. “Make my apologies to everyone, Ian. I need to have a word with Nicky. ”
“Marco,” Ian said in alarm. “Don’t—don’t be too harsh with him. ”
Marco looked at him sharply. “You too, Ian? Is everybody in the Nicky camp now? Guess I need to get re-acquainted with my mate to see how he’s managed to get everyone wrapped around his little finger. ” He turned to go and found his nephew Rory standing in his way. “Yes?” he said sarcastically. “Do you have some words of advice for me too, Rory?”
“Just this,” he said quietly. “I’ve never seen anyone so upset as Nicky was when we thought you were dying, and it was real, Marco. I really think he would have died too, if anything had happened to you. He loves you, and I want you to remember it. ”
Marco blew out his breath in a frustrated sigh. “I have no intention of hurting him, Rory. I’m only going to talk to him. ”
Rory put a hand on his arm. “Remember how you reacted when Casey tried to lay the law down with me when we first mated? Remember how furious you were? You were my champion and got me out of there until you could talk some sense into Casey. Who’s Nicky’s champion, Marco?
“Nicky doesn’t need any champion, Rory. He has me, and I’ll take care of him. Satisfied?”
At Rory’s hesitant nod, Marco tried to step around him, but Rory grabbed his arm. “Marco, I know you don’t remember him, but Nicky has always been able to get under your skin. Without the blood bond—just remember, you two have a very complicated relationship. ”
“Thank you, Rory, for your advice, but I believe I can handle one small human male, whether or not I have a blood bond with him. Now if everybody will get the hell out of my way, I’m going upstairs to talk to my mate. ”
Marco walked with a determined step up the stairs and to his rooms—or he supposed he should say the rooms he shared with his mate. He opened the door to find Nicky sitting in a large, overstuffed chair in the main area, one leg thrown over the arm. He looked a little sullen, a little pissed-off and totally gorgeous with his blue eyes flashing at Marco as he walked in. Marco stood for a moment with his arms folded across his chest, wondering what in the world to do with this beautiful boy, despite his confident words downstairs. He felt as if he barely knew him, except to know that everyone seemed very protective of him. Ian had said he was a handful, and Casey had just grinned and rolled his eyes when he asked him about the boy. What the hell had he gotten himself into? If he was going to have any peace in his home he needed to show this boy who was in charge, and quickly.
“Nicky, I don’t want to fight with you on my first day home. ”
“No,” Nicky said quietly. “I don’t want that either. ”
“Well, at least we’re agreed on something. ” Marco walked over to sit across from him on the sofa. A sudden image of Nicky lying naked on this same sofa, his legs propped up on the sofa back, laughter on his lips as he held out his arms to Marco hit him hard. He shook his head at the memory that had seemed to come out of nowhere and he sat down. “Nicky,” he said quietly. “I don’t like to have to discipline you, but I get a strong impression that you do things your way. You knew you weren’t supposed to let the doctor touch you, yet you did it anyway. If we’re mates, I don’t understand why you rebel against things so much. Aren’t you happy as the alpha’s pet?
“If we’re mates?” Nicky shouted, pouncing on the word. “Do you doubt it? Do you think everyone is lying to you because you couldn’t possibly be mated to someone like me?” Nicky sat up indignantly in the chair, his hands gripping his knees so tightly his knuckles turned white.
“No,” Marco said, trying to be calm. “I never said any of that—I asked you a simple question, and I think you’re trying to deflect it. Let me rephrase the question. Why does Dr. Tate continue to put his hands all over you? Have you done or said anything to make him think you’d welcome such advances?”
Nicky bit the inside of his cheek and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never done anything to encourage him, I swear. ”
“Oh, I see. So you didn’t mean to reach for his hand downstairs? He just misunderstood? Going for something on his plate, were you?”
Nicky blushed, the pink color staining his cheeks and making him look absolutely adorable. He looked up from underneath his lashes at Marco and let his lower lip tremble just the tiniest bit. So this was how he did it. He made himself look so vulnerable and cute people couldn’t get mad at him. Marco wondered how long he’d been jerking everyone around like this, and why, knowing full well what he was doing, Marco was falling for it too. With difficulty Marco stifled the urge to put his arm around him and reassure him he wasn’t mad at him and that everything would be fine.
“No, of course not, Marco,” Nicky said softly. “I guess I just kind of forgot myself in the heat of the moment, you know? I was just so grateful to him for bringing you through that awful time in the hospital. I was so worried about you, Marco! Are you feeling better? Would you like to lie down for a while?”
“I’m fine, Nicky, and stop trying to change the subject. As the mate of the alpha, you aren’t allowed to forget yourself. The others look to you to set a good example. ”
“Well,” Nicky said, leaning forward. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the shaking hands thing. I mean, isn’t that carrying things a bit far? Couldn’t we bend that rule just a little?”
“As I recall, the doctor wasn’t shaking your hand, he was holding it and gazing into those big blue eyes of yours. Rubbing his thumb over the back of your hand too, I believe. ”