Work Text:
Mating Rituals series.
by Aiden
Chapter Four: It Happens In Three.
Speed was a puzzle Horatio needed to understand. Looking intensely at the other man, Horatio tried to figure him out, make the puzzle pieces fit. The young man lifted his chin and met his gaze, his eye filled with pride and power.
Nick laid a hand on Speed's shoulder. "Go see how Danny is doing," he commanded. He wanted Speed away from here for the moment.
Speed turned and looked at his leader. He nodded and walked away from the scene.
"What?!" Don yelled. "You're just going to let him walk away?! He practically confessed killing that man!"
"That man, as you call him," Nick tried to stay calm, "had but one goal in his life, like any other hunter - to hunt us down, to kill us all, until the last of our kind is gone from this earth." As hard as he tried, Nick couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice.
"Good ridden," Don spat.
Before anyone could respond to Don's vitriol, a woman came running down the path towards the clearing. "Has anyone seen Jacob?" she asked in a shaky voice.
She stopped in front of Nick and bowed her head. When he touched her shoulder, she looked up. "What happened?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," her words coming out in a nervous rush, "I let him out of my sight for a minute because of all the commotion and.. and then.. he was gone."
Frowning, Nick looked at Warrick. 'Call the trackers,' he told his second-in-command silently.
Immediately, Warrick nodded and called up all the trackers. In seconds, five large wolves came running down the path, bowing their head when they spotted Nick and Warrick.
When Nick looked at them intensely for a few seconds, the wolves suddenly spread out, heading in different directions.
Speed, Ryan and Greg ran out of the house, having heard the calling of their alpha. They were followed by an older woman.
"Alexx," Nick greeted her.
She bowed her head but it was obvious she wasn't submissive to Nick; not in the way the other members of the pack were.
"How is he?" Nick asked her.
"Grumpy." she smiled. "Don't worry about him. What's important right now is to bring the young cub back to his mother."
Nick nodded and looked at the three police officers. "Are you willing to help with the search?"
"In any way we can," Horatio said firmly.
Nick looked at his three young wolves. "Okay, Speed, take the south route with Lieutenant Caine. Greg, take the west route with Detective Taylor. Detective Flack, you can come with us."
Glaring at Nick, Don snorted. "Why? So you can show me you're not all evil?"
"At this moment, Detective Flack, this isn't about you or me. It's about a child that is missing. So, put your hatred aside for a moment and concentrate on finding that child."
Don looked down a blush creeping up his cheeks, embarrassed because Nick was right.
"Ryan, I want you to stay here in case Jacob comes back on his own, okay?"
The young man nodded. "Find him."
"We will," Nick promised.
The group split up and went on their way. Nick hoped they would find Jacob, alive and unharmed.
Heading down the path that led to the woods inside the compound, Horatio and Speed walked briskly, stopping every few minutes for Speed raised his head and sniffed the air. "Damn you, cub," he cursed. "They know better then to go wandering off."
"We'll find him," Horatio said, his voice calm.
"I'll hope so." Speed sighed. First the attack, then Danny getting hurt and now a child was missing.
Again he sniffed the air and stopped dead in his tracks. "Rogues were here," he said tightly. He let his eye roam the woods looking for any sign of them or the child. He growled in frustration when he didn't see anything out of place.
Horatio felt the tension radiating of off the young man and sighed. "Do you think they have the child?"
Speed looked at him, and Horatio was taken aback by the raw emotions he saw in the other man's face. Horatio felt something stir in his chest.
"If they did, the boy is dead," Speed said with finality, looking away from the red-head.
Horatio stopped and swallowed nervously. "What?"
Speed turned around and looked at him. "All these rogues want to do is destroy us. They work together with the hunters, and as long as I can remember, they've been hunting us down."
Horatio walked up to him. "So they would kill a young innocent child?"
"As far as they're concerned, there is no innocent cub, child or not. To them, this child is nothing but a future threat when he is grown up." Speed sighed.
Horatio saw the pain and sadness in his eye. "This has happened before?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.
Speed looked down and nodded. "They killed my brother," he whispered.
When he looked up again Horatio saw a single tear running down his cheek. There was something about he pain and vulnerability in the other man's face that made Horatio wrap his arms around Speed before he even realized what he was doing. Speed needed comforting, and he wanted to be the one to provide it.
Leaning into the touch, Speed laid his head on his mate's shoulder, drawn to the warmth and comfort he freely offered.
Suddenly, Horatio pulled back and blushed. "Sorry," he whispered.
Speed looked up and smiled. He knew this wasn't the right time to tell the lieutenant that he was Speed's mate, but his heart needed to say it out loud, to make it real. "You are my mate," he said simply.
"I'm your what?!" Horatio hissed, looking shocked.
"Don't tell me you didn't feel anything?" Speed asked sardonically.
Avoiding the other man's gaze, Horatio replied. "We should look for the child." His mind was whirling, not sure what to make of Speed's declaration. Horatio had to admit he'd felt something for the wolf, but.. mates?
Smiling softly, Speed lifted his head again to sniff the air. "This way," he said and walked further down the path.
end part 4