Determined Mate

Jason Matthews sat in his idling car on the side of the road staring at the sign in front of him. Welcome to Leyburn. Population 8653. How had his life managed to turn upside down in so short a time? Jason could still feel the tightness in the muscles of his healing body as he tried not to think about that fateful night not even a week ago. Thanks to his werewolf genetics, most of the bruises and cuts had healed while he was on the road. Jason knew it would take a lot more than the fading of his bruises for him to be able to live any kind of normal life again, and he hoped that coming here was the first step.


Brian had sounded so happy in his new life when he'd talked to him, and Jason hoped his friend might be able to help him heal. Friends since kindergarten, Brian had offered to share his blocks with a shy and uncertain Jason, and they had barely left each others' sides since. Which was why Jason had felt like he'd lost a brother when Brian had been kicked out of their pack. Jason missed his friend and could really use his help at the moment.


Running his shaking hands through his hair, Jason tried to pull himself together enough to make the phone call he knew he had to. Taking a deep breath, he picked up his phone and hit the button for Brian's speed dial. Jason listened as the phone rang in his ear.


"Jase. How are ya, man?" came the voice of his best friend as soon as the phone connected.


"Bri." Brian couldn't get anything else to come out of his mouth. He knew Brian would start to worry if he didn't pull himself together soon.


"Hey, what's wrong? You okay?" Brian knew him so well. Even after not seeing each other for weeks, he could tell when there was something wrong with Jason. Jason quickly gathered his nerves and plunged on with the reason for his call.


"Yeah, man, I'm okay. Hey, look, is that offer to visit still open?" Jason asked. He knew it was a lot to ask, seeing as Brian was newly mated and all, but he had nowhere else to go and could really use his friend right now.


"Hang on. I'll just make sure it's okay with the guys." Fuck. Jason had forgotten that Brian was living with Marcus and his three brothers. He started to shake thinking about being around so many men. Jason could hear Brian's muffled voice in the background talking to the other guys. What seemed like forever later, Brian came back to him. "Sure, man. When can you be here?"


"Umm. I'm sort of at the town limits now," Jason replied hesitantly.


"What! Shit, Jase, what the hell happened?" Jason knew Brian was going to flip when he found out, and he wasn't really ready to talk about everything that had happened to him yet.


"I'll tell you when I get there." He knew it probably wasn't what Brian wanted to hear, but it was all he could do for now; he was on the verge of tears as it was. It was taking everything he had not to break down.


"Okay," Brian replied.


After Brian had given him the directions on how to get to his and Marcus's place, Jason hung up. Taking deep breaths, he could feel the tears start to gather in the corner of his eyes.


"Shit! Get it together, man. You can break down later." Jason sat there on the side of the road, trying to gather his courage to start the short drive that would take him to his best friend. Five minutes later, he was finally ready to head out. He wiped his face to try and remove all evidence of his tears, but Jason knew he probably wasn't completely successful. Jason clicked his indicator on and pulled out onto the road.


Driving through the centre of town, Jason thought it looked to be a nice little town. He made note of a couple of the shops lining the main road. The local supermarket looked to be a decent size. There was a kids' arcade that was, at the moment, filled with teenagers, as it was the weekend, and what looked to be a tattoo parlour with the words 'Eternal Ink' in flowing script across the top of the building.


Jason followed the directions Brian had given, and less than ten minutes later he pulled to a stop outside the address he'd written down. Jason double-checked the paper to make sure he was at the right place. The house was huge, two stories. Jason thought it couldn't have been more than a couple of years old as the place still had that newly built look about it. The walls were painted a light cream colour with a deep blue trim running the length of the roof. There was a dark chestnut door with what looked to be a frosted glass centrepiece, allowing the afternoon light through but still maintaining privacy.


Taking a deep breath to settle his raging nerves, Jason got out of the car. As soon as he closed the door, he looked up and saw Brian standing in the doorway leading into the house. Jason didn't know what came over him, but at the sight of his best friend, he started running towards him. Brian engulfed him in his arms and gave him the hug he so desperately needed. Holding his best friend in his arms and having the familiar scent settle in his body, Jason broke down in tears. He knew Brian was worried about him and would have questions, but he just couldn't seem to pull himself together at the moment.


Brian tightened his hold on him and whispered in his ear, "Shhh, Jase. It's going to be okay. Whatever the problem is, we can get through it together."


Jason couldn't reply at the moment, because a lump had found its way into his throat and had decided to take up permanent residence there. He just needed to hold his friend. Eventually the sound of twin growls broke through the fog in his brain, and he started to pull back.


Brian looked back towards to house. "Marcus, cut it out. You know I love you. This is my best friend, Jason. Now give it a rest."


"I know you love me," Marcus said, "but could you please loosen your hold on your friend? I don't want to hurt him, and my wolf doesn't like the sight of you in another man's arms."


Jason pulled back and looked at his friend. Brian gave him an apologetic look, and Jason smiled at him to let him know it was okay.


"Jason, this big brute here is my obviously overprotective mate, Marcus."


Jason noticed Marcus had stopped growling almost as soon as he had let go of his friend. He smiled at Brian's description of his mate and turned to say hello when he realised he could still hear someone else growling.


Brian rolled his eyes. "And the even bigger guy behind him is his elder brother and the Leyburn pack Alpha, Alex. Alex, what's your problem?"


When Alex didn't respond, Jason glanced towards the big man and shrank back at the sheer size of him. Jason was not comfortable around big men after what he'd been through, and this guy was huge. Coming in at five foot six, Jason was short by werewolf standards, and anyone over six feet looked huge to him. This guy must have been at least six foot five and was sexy as hell. He had beautiful tanned golden brown skin, short dark wavy hair just long enough to rub your fingers through and deep chocolate-brown eyes. He also had what looked to be a fit, muscular body and must have topped the scales at two fifty. There was a hint of some tribal looking tattoo licking at the edges of his neck on his right side that continued down his arm past his elbow.


He was watching Jason with the sexiest smile gracing his lips. Jason tried to get his emotions under control and took a deep breath. This didn't help at all, as the most stunning scent he'd ever come across hit him. It was wild and masculine with a slight hint of sandalwood. Jason's eyes widened as his cock twitched and realization hit. He drew in a sharp breath then turned and ran.


He was in no shape to have a mate. The only person he'd been able to bear touching him in the last week was Brian. God, this had been a mistake, coming here was a mistake. What was he going to do now?


"Jason. Stop. Wait. Where are you going?" He could hear Brian yelling at him. He could also hear the thud of someone larger chasing after him. He just hoped he made it to his car, then he would be safe.


"Oh no you don't. You're not getting away from me that easily." Jason heard the words growled behind him just before he was tackled to the ground. Jason had tried fighting last time and it only ended in even more pain, so he curled himself into as small a target as he could and waited for the blows to land. He couldn't help it when he started to cry.


"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you." Alex voice was deep and went right through him. He could hear more running behind him, and suddenly Brian was there, pulling Alex away from him, his voice angry.


"Alex, you need to get off him. What's your problem? Since when do you go tackling people to the ground?"


"He's my mate!"


"What? Are you sure?"


"Yes, I'm sure" Alex growled. "I was almost sure after hearing his voice when he called this morning. Now that I've met him, I'm positive. Plus his scent is driving me crazy."


"Shit! Well, he's still my friend, and you need to get off him. Something's happened to him. The Jason I know would never have run from his mate. One look at you and he would have been all over you like white on rice. Now move." Alex slowly pulled away and stood up next to his brother. Brian knelt down on the ground next to Jason and gently started to rub his back, trying to calm him down. "Jase. Come on, man. You need to calm down. Take deep breaths. It's okay. No one here will hurt you. I promise."


Jason tried to take a deep breath to calm his racing heart as Brian suggested. In the back of his mind he knew he was safe with Brian, but his body had just reacted. Brian continued to rub his back and, after a minute, Jason was able to calm down enough to talk to his friend.


"I'm sorry," he whispered.


"Not your fault, man. Why don't we go inside and get you settled into your room? You look like you haven't had a decent night's sleep in a while. You can take a nap." Jason really could do with some sleep. He'd hardly slept at all since the attack. He'd even driven through the night last night, just wanting to get to Brian as soon as possible.


"Sleep sounds good," Jason said quietly as Brian helped him up. Jason noticed both Marcus and Alex still standing there watching what was happening. He felt like such an idiot. Great first impression he'd given. Oh well, not a lot to be done about it now.


Jason slowly made his way inside with Brian's arm wrapped around his shoulders. He didn't pay any attention to the inside of the house as he was still too worked up from freaking out. He was also a little tense with both Marcus and Alex following them into the house. It looked as if Alex had gone to his car and retrieved his bag. He didn't remember asking him to but couldn't make his brain work enough to care.


Brian opened a door and shuffled him into what he assumed was a guest bedroom. Jason made his way directly to the huge bed in the centre of the room, pulled the covers back then sat on the edge of the bed. He couldn't work out what he was supposed to do now. His brain felt like it was wrapped in fog. Brian knelt down in front of him and took his shoes off before standing and gently pushing him back so he was lying down. The covers were pulled up and Brian kissed his forehead before taking a step back.


"Try and get some sleep, okay, Jase? We can talk later." Jason just nodded slowly as he curled himself into a ball and closed his eyes. It didn't take very long before his exhaustion caught up with him and he drifted off into what he hoped would be a dreamless sleep.