Drawn To You (boyxboy)

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Christian

We'd long since established that Peter's senses were sharper than even an alpha's, so I wasn't surprised that he'd heard people coming before I did. What surprised me is that I knew who they were – and that that didn't make me any less alarmed.

I turned away from the fence and pulled Peter, moving him behind me as my eyes began to glow in the immense darkness. I watched anxiously as they emerged one by one from behind the trees. Shane, Jake, Jamie, Eli, Carlos and Allison. They were all here. Somehow, they'd all found out everything.

I looked from one to the other. They were spread out in front of us, and the fence was behind us. There was no way we could climb it fast enough without at least one of them catching up; the twins, most likely. But at the same time, there was almost no chance of getting through them. I could've commanded them not to attack, but they'd have converged on us by the time I was through two of them.

We had gotten so close to our escape. We were literally inches away, but as usual I had to screw things up. I couldn't let them get us – not now that we were almost free. I had to make a decision, and fast. And I had to be ready to fight off my own friends. But which would it be?

"Geez, is this really what he think of us?" Eli scoffed, his blonde hair bouncing as he looked to the others. He brought his attention back to me, and rolled his eyes. "Relax, big guy, we're not here to bring you in. We're here to see you off."

The words had reached my ears, but the realization took a good few seconds. I blinked a few times, and the golden hue disappeared from my eyes. It couldn't be possible. "Even though you know what's happening? However it is you know?"

"Dannon called me," Shane replied, taking a step forward. "Let me know that the hunters were on the trail, so I called up the others." He shrugged a little. "But the way he said it... After I spoke to Peter last night, I began to suspect there was a lot you weren't telling us. And when Dannon said that both of you were leaving town, everything fell into place."

The night before, when Peter went to catch his breath, he'd asked Shane about the time he'd saved me. He'd probably realized how important Peter was to me, for me to tell him that. I pursed my lips. "So then, you all know..."

"That the two of you are the thing?" Allison questioned, her arms folded over her chest. "Yeah, we know. Why the hell didn't you tell us, Christian? We're your pack."

"I was terrified, Allison, of this very moment," I sighed. "I... I didn't know how you guys would react, and I couldn't risk losing you guys." I turned to Peter, who smiled slightly and put his hand in mine, as though he were giving me his strength. I turned to the pack and smiled. "Yes, Peter is my mate. It sounds crazy, for more reasons than one, and we sure as hell know it. But it's the truth. So if you guys never forgive me, I'll understand. But I will protect him with my life, no matter what."

My breathing was a bit labored by the time I'd finished. It was a bit of a dramatic proclamation, I knew that, but it was something I'd needed to say for a long time. Problem was that when I was done, that empowering feeling I'd had disappeared, replaced by the anticipation of what they would say.

They were quiet for a while, but Allison had that look in her eye – the one she had when she was going to rage out on someone. She threw up her hands. "What on earth ever gave you the idea that we would react badly about it?"

My eyes widened, and I blinked a few times. "I dunno, maybe the way you freaked out when I told you guys Peter was turned."

"That was some law-breaking biz – totally different scenario," Eli scoffed. "Okay, obviously it would've taken some time to get used to the idea of you being into dudes. And then there's the whole originally human mate thing." He gave me an earnest smile. "But we would've figured it out, together. We're a pack, man, we're all brothers. And sister."