CREED

Chapter 18

Yep, I was late :'( Don't kill me yet :)

I feel kind of bad for this chapter but also kind of worried...I don't know if everyone will be on board with what I've done :P

Anyways, I'm not making excuses for not posting last week. My reason for not being able to is good enough for me not to feel bad about it :D

I do hope you all enjoy this one. Like I say in all my A/N, please be so kind as to vote and comment :D I'd love it if you share your thoughts on this...I think I moved the timeline up but meh, no more games :D

PS* unedited so you know the drill :)

Oh, and thank you all for sticking with me so far...hope to see you back for the next update ;)

Much love, Recklis xxx

Nate:

Biting down on the one end of the string and gently tugging, he used his other hand to secure the bracelet onto his wrist. The sight of it was reassuring, the symbols familiar and slightly warm against his pale skin. Nate followed the discussion between the Supers quietly, for a change. The Shifters seemed overly cautious now that they'd discovered which pieces fell where on the playing field, but truth be told, so did the rest. His phone buzzed and he sneakily slid it out of his pocket, Roark peering over his shoulder while he checked the message, half his brain still following the conversation while the other half helped him message back.

It was Hope. Both she and Marco had tried Colin and gotten no answer so she wanted to know if everything was all right. Colin had probably turned his device to silent when they moved to the bunker, and he told her so. A second later, the reply flashed that they needed a ride to get back. Since Angelo and Creed were out of the question right now; too busy volleying with the Brie, he crept over to Caleb and passed along the job. As soon as the Shifter agreed, Nate let Hope know that Caleb was coming to fetch them.

Hope had gone to the pack house after stopping by at the club, and she and Spike were the only two missing. Colin had sent Marco and Lorena for her when Creed disappeared with Bryce earlier, but now they needed a quick return.

"Breathe, freak." Roark whispered, startling him from his thoughts. "It's unnerving. You're undead, not a corpse."

Nate scowled. Then continued to scowl as he dragged in some unneeded air and whooshed it out on Roark. He bristled and threw him an inaudible warning when his wolf came to the fore. Nate would have freaked out, should have, being Vampire and all, but he was too used to having shifters around him, and they didn't scare him one bit.

"Don't push it." Roark hissed.

Nate grinned, finding an unoccupied spot that had a good vantage point and called Roark over to join him. It was his lounging area first after all, filled with pillows and beanbags as opposed to couches and seats. He'd never thought he'd ever see the Elders in there. It had been their hideaway for so long, their own private clubhouse...Hell he'd never thought Roark would be such good company either, but his friends were all over the place now, and doing everything without him. The guy was cool in his books. Well, warm, oven warm like shifters usually are, but cool nonetheless. Kept him busy when his super brain almost hit self-destruct.

"You're gonna love this..." He whispered to Roark. Liam turned, curious as to why they were so relaxed when everything was going to hell in a handbasket, but then his attention was diverted and he looked away.

"Love what?"

"Wait for it..." Nate winked and Roark's eyes did a comical somersault.

Someone asked a question. Zeke...Wanting to know what they thought Maym was after. Colin made a silly statement that had him sniffing out a chuckle, but Creed was looking at Brie. Nate saw the exact moment when Creed understood what she was meant. He'd known his friend well enough before he turned, but his instincts after turning made the little details easier to notice. He frowned when neither of them mentioned the true reason, seeming rather relieved when Caleb interrupted to ask if he could make a quick run to fetch the missing trio. Or Quartet, if short-stack was still with Hope.