Surfing with a Seahorse - Charlie Richards Page 0,25

everything he’d been feeling finally made sense.

“So... um, can I ask what kind of shifter you are?” Waylon hazarded. “Or is that not polite?”

“Well, while you can’t be asking that kind of question at random”—he winked—”you never know if an unknowledgeable human may overhear, but I’m happy to tell you. I share my spirit with a seahorse.”

“Oh, wow! A seahorse. Really?” Waylon couldn’t help it. He had to confirm.

Colton nodded. “And I’ll be happy to show you someday, but now isn’t the time. I’d need to be in saltwater.”

Waylon immediately nodded vigorously. “Yeah. Totally.” Then the pull in his side registered, as did his surroundings. “So, you didn’t take me to the hospital. What happened after I passed out?”

For a second, Colton stared at him with narrowed eyes, as if trying to figure him out. Then he slowly told him how he’d called in the cavalry using his phone on speaker in his pocket, and others from his pod—since they were aquatic shifters—weird—came to help. Everyone had been taken back to World of Aquatica for processing.

Processing... so weird.

In Waylon’s friends’ cases, they’d been told everything and were now entrusted with the secret of paranormals. Waylon felt warmth fill him when Colton had explained that it had been at his urging, since over the weeks, he’d come to realize that those three men were Waylon’s family. Plus, having friends to lean on in times of change was always a good thing, and Colton had wanted to give him that.

Waylon loved that Colton understood and hadn’t tried to alienate him from his buddies as Richard did.

Speaking of which.

“And Richard and his brutes?” Waylon couldn’t help but ask.

“Beta Williams is mated with the captain of a local police precinct, so he helped us smooth the way with charging them with assault and attempted murder.” Colton winked. “I’m pretty certain they’ll be going away for a long, long time.”

Waylon’s brows shot up. “You guys have ins... oh.” Something clicked. “Wait a sec. Pod. As in whale pod.”

Yeah, I like to watch documentaries.

“Beta, shifter, pod.” Waylon narrowed his eyes. “So as a shifter, you have a local leader, or alpha who runs the show. The beta, or second-in-command, is mated to a police chief.” Tipping his head to the side, Waylon couldn’t help but ask, “If the beta is mated with a police chief, who’s the alpha mated with? A governor?”

Colton shook his head. “No, it doesn’t work like that. Fate picks mates based on personality and who would best complement us, making us a better person.” Then his brows furrowed as he muttered, “Well, that’s my opinion, anyway. Not like anyone has ever had the chance to talk to Fate and ask.”

“So, why didn’t I end up in the hospital? Just because of my friends?”

Shaking his head, Colton eased off the bed. “No.” He whipped off his shirt and shorts. Then, before Waylon had a chance to enjoy checking out Colton’s hard erection, he climbed under the blanket next to him. “You were brought here because, since you’re mated with me, your healing has sped up.”

Suddenly realizing that he wasn’t in a whole lot of pain—little more than when he’d had his wrist in a brace when he’d sprained it his sophomore year of football—Waylon decided to take advantage. “Okay. Undress me.”

Colton’s eyes narrowed as a wide grin spread across his features. “So glad you decided to be on the same page.” Then he eased the blanket to Waylon’s waist, pausing to push down his board shorts.

Waylon spotted the bandage on the left side of his torso. He traced his forefingers along the top edge of it and asked, “So... how fast is my healing now?”

“Well, the bullet bounced off a rib, nicking and deflecting off it, but not cracking it. Once Doc Keller removed the bullet, chip, then stitched you up, it shouldn’t be too long. Instead of a couple of weeks, maybe three to five days.” Colton sighed deeply, shaking his head as he traced over the edge of Waylon’s bandage. “I’m so damn sorry you were hurt. My heart felt nearly gutted when I saw the blood oozing from you.”

Humming, Waylon decided nothing mattered but the man in bed with him. Ever since he’d met Colton, his life had slowly been improving. His sexy attentive lover had been ever-so-subtly trying to care for him since that day.

Well, and seducing me.

Waylon took in the concerned furrow of Colton’s brows and how he leaned over him. Wanting more of his care, more of