Friends and Foes Ch. 04

This story contains m/m and m/f relationships and sex scenes.

Thanks once again for the votes and comments, it's always great to get feedback, and fun to see how you guys see the story and the characters, and particularly fun that I got to surprise you!

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4

When morning came the house was almost empty, but those present were on edge. Dill tried hard to keep Tilly calm, but she was almost more nervous than the rest of them and finding it hard to shut out the combination of excitement and unease that they all felt. None of them could be sure how this was going to go, and as much as Sam and Tilly wanted to see their brother, it had been a very long time and they could not be sure what he was like now, especially knowing that he was involved with Adam. Sam in particular wanted to know more about that because he couldn't understand how any Were could say a human was his mate.

It seemed to take forever for the clock to move round to midday, but almost as the chimes struck on the large clock in the hallway they heard the buzz of the gate, and Sam pressed the security switch to open the gate to let Jake in. They could see from the cameras that he was alone. The four of them filed out to the top of the steps, Tom and Dill hanging back a little as they were aware this was more about the family reunion for the moment.

Tilly thought that it seemed to take a long time for the car to actually arrive at the house. The driveway was long, but she wondered if Jake was taking his time since he would probably also be nervous of this meeting after so many years. As he finally pulled up she had to resist the urge to run up and hug him, knowing that Sam would disapprove. They waited and watched as Jake got out of his car and headed towards them. He looked so much more grown up than the last time she had seen him, and a wealth of feelings overcame her at the sight of her long lost sibling, who for a long time they had thought might not even still be alive. The thought of that had her running down the steps despite what Sam might think, and she threw her arms around Jake to hug him hard.

She was relieved when the hug was returned, although Jake seemed to try and disentangle himself quite quickly. The look on his face was amused when he managed to pry her off him a little and take a proper look at her.

"I need to breathe sister! It's good to see you too, but I would like to make it inside in one piece." He stood back and took in the sight of the house. "Strange to see this place again."

Jake then looked up at the three men stood at the top of the steps. He was glad Tilly had gone with the informal greeting because Sam didn't look quite so pleased to see him. The other two men were standing back from the action. He knew from seeing them outside the restaurant who they were, and had it confirmed that the man he had seen with the lions was Tilly's mate, although he didn't as yet know his name. He slowly climbed the steps, holding Tilly's hand as she seemed unwilling to let him go, and stood in front of Sam, bowing his head slightly to his Alpha.

Sam smiled a little at seeing the gesture of obedience from his younger brother. "Glad to see you remember how to greet your kind. Even if Tilly doesn't seem to."

"You are still my Alpha, Sam. I may not have chosen to stay with the pack, but I don't have another."

Sam growled slightly. "I thought your "mate" would be your Alpha now."

Jake knew that was a sore point even before he arrived, but the tone of Sam's comment made it very clear he was going to get given grief over that.

"It can't work like that and you should know that I have respect for our ways. If I'd mated with another Alpha it would be different, but he doesn't have any rank with our people so I'm still in this pack. Assuming you haven't disowned me."

Sam just stared at him, surprised that he was admitting to being part of his pack.

"We didn't know if you were still alive Jake, we didn't consider disowning you."

He left it unsaid, but that was crossing his mind now that he knew Jake was with Adam. Despite that, he was still happy to see Jake, and wanted him to know that before the difficult conversations that were to come.

"It is good to see you though brother. I just wish it wasn't under such circumstances. And you already know I really wish you hadn't decided to mate with a human, especially not Adam."

Jake couldn't resist a little dig. "I see you've mated with a cat brother. Seems you aren't quite so strict on yourself."

He knew he had gone a little far when he heard Sam growl again.

"He's Were. Species isn't important. And our sister is a cat too if you remember."

Jake looked upset. "Of course I remember."

Tilly decided to break the rising tension between the two brothers. "Jake, since Sam has omitted the introductions, this is his mate Tom." The two men nodded to each other in acknowledgement. "And this is my mate Dill." she continued, smiling broadly as she introduced him and Dill stepped forward to say hello.

Jake was pleased that Dill also seemed to be friendly, as Tom was clearly taking Sam's side in this dispute and was polite but unsmiling when he was introduced. He understood them being wary of him, but it was hard to see how little Sam trusted him. They had never got on incredibly well, but he did respect his brother and wanted him to approve of what Jake did, even though it was clear that his choice of mate was not going to get approval, at least not yet. He really hoped he could persuade them to believe him, and soon, because it was going to be hard being away from Adam while this visit went on.

Tilly took charge and lead the way into the house. She could sense that Dill was tired, needing a lot more sleep than usual while he was still in the recovery stage. She smiled at him and let go of Jake's hand for the first time since he had got there to go to her mate.

"Do you want to have a nap babe? I'll fill you in later."

Dill just nodded, and then kissed her lightly before heading up the stairs. The others watched him leave, Tilly's face showing her concern for her mate. When she turned back to the others, it was Jake's face that drew her in first. Sam and Tom knew why Dill was heading off, but Jake shouldn't. His expression and emotion were slightly confused, but he seemed to know something. He looked at her and decided to brave the question on his mind.

"Was it him that Simon attacked?" Jake didn't need to hear an answer when he saw the look on Tilly's face, the horror and fear at the remembrance of that moment showing clearly. "Sorry Tilly. I don't want to upset you, but I did wonder what had made you react like that. I could hardly believe it was you in that film, but it makes sense if you were protecting your mate."

Tilly looked close to tears, and Sam wanted to stop this line of questioning, knowing it was upsetting her. "It was Dill, but we would prefer not to talk about that. There are other things to discuss that are more important. Shall we head to my office?"

Jake just nodded at Sam, but moved to put an arm around Tilly to reassure her. "Sorry." he said quietly. He needed to keep her on side, because she was his best hope of getting anywhere with Sam. He knew she could feel his emotions too, and it would help his case if they knew he was being honest about him and Adam.

The four of them headed down the corridor in silence and filed into the office. Jake remembered the room well from his youth, when their father had spent much of his time in here. He took a deep breath to scent the leather bound books and it brought back so many memories, particularly of sitting on his father's lap as a pup, and latterly his fights with Sam when he didn't want to carry on in the family business. That part of the memories he needed to keep under control, because this was going to take a lot of talking, and he would do better not getting annoyed about anything.

The four of them sat in Sam's office. It was already slightly uncomfortable with tensions between them, particularly between the men. Tilly wished yet again that she didn't have to keep putting up shields to protect herself from the emotions that floated around. It was even harder knowing that her brothers did not trust each other and were each wary of the others' motives. On the other hand, she understood the distrust because it was down to Adam. If he hadn't been involved with the facility that kidnapped and experimented on Weres then Sam still probably wouldn't be happy about Jake's choice, but with that taken into account even she felt uncertain about why Jake wanted to be with them again.

Jake started the conversation. "I know this isn't going to be easy, but we really need to start talking about things so hopefully you will start to trust Adam and I. And as much as I am glad to see you, I want to be able to get back to my mate."

Sam stiffened at the word mate, and Jake saw it. "You may not like it Sam, but he really is. I heard of the connection that you feel to a mate, and I never expected to find it in a human or because I knew I was looking for a man, but it's there. And imagine how you would feel if someone told you to separate from Tom for a week or more. I suppose I should be grateful you let us have one last night together." Jake drifted off, thinking about what they had done that night.

Tilly felt the emotions coming from Jake when he stopped talking. His feelings for Adam were certainly strong, and last night must have been eventful. She decided to interrupt since Sam was just looking at him puzzled.

"Jake, you're broadcasting." she said, letting him know she could sense what he was thinking.

Jake looked surprised for a moment then grinned at her. "I forget about your abilities sister. Since you're getting the gist anyway, why don't I show you something?" He put an image into her head before she had time to object.

Tilly jumped out of her seat. "Holy shit!" was her reaction to the image she saw.

It was a still from the night before of Jake's view of Adam, tied to their bed naked and gagged, his eyes showing his desire for Jake and his want for whatever was about to happen. Tilly didn't really need any clues about what happened next. She calmed herself and sat back down, giving Jake a dirty look.

"Don't do that again. There is such a thing as too much information, you know."

Jake just laughed. Sam and Tom sat looking puzzled, only knowing that whatever Jake had shown her was bound to be sexual in nature, but wondering what could shock Tilly. Sam was particularly keen to know.

"What was that in aid of?"

"Just proving to Tilly that you guys really are wrong if you think Adam keeps me in chains."

Jake laughed again when he saw Tilly's face, her look somewhere between amused and shocked. He wasn't sure if it was due to what he had shown her or his comment to Sam.

"Are you okay sis? I'm sorry, but it was too good an opportunity."

"For you maybe. I may never be the same again!" Tilly replied, smiling at him to indicate he was forgiven, and she wasn't too horrified.

Sam was rapidly putting two and two together and not liking the answer. His growl of displeasure got Jake's attention.

"Please tell me you were not showing my sister pictures of Adam in some bondage game."

Jake's glare and growl were clear, but Sam wasn't sure why for a moment.

"Our sister. And I'll do what I like."

"Well, that's pretty clear. Running off and leaving us not even knowing if you were dead or alive was the first clue. And then when we find out you are still in the land of the living it's only because Adam needs our help. You wanted nothing to do with us for years, and now you'll do what you have to to protect a man who's imprisoned and tortured our kind. Would you like to read about what he did to them?"

Jake snarled. "He didn't do anything. He hired the wrong people. And I know what was done to them, and I hate it just as much as you do, and so does Adam, although you won't believe that."

Sam laughed bitterly. "No, I don't believe it. He hired them, paid them, and financed the whole operation because of his obsession. Why would I believe he had no idea what was going on? Perhaps you are having trouble seeing past your obsession with his ass to what's really going on."

Sam and Jake squared off during their argument, ending up almost nose to nose and snarling at each other. Tom and Tilly looked at each other and both made the decision to move. Tom took Sam's arm gently, trying to pull him back and calm him down but got a growl for his efforts. Tilly took the more direct route and moved between the pair of them, pushing them apart.

"Stop it, both of you. We need to be calm and rational about this, not end up fighting. You're grown men now, not pups."

The two backed away a little, but continued to glare. Tom tried again to calm his mate. "Sam, this isn't helping babe. We need to talk to Jake."

He pulled him back further and sat down, taking Sam into his lap as he went. Sam turned to him, surprised to find himself sitting like that, and Tom just smiled at him. "This way I can keep you under control." he said, wrapping his arms around Sam's waist both to reassure him and to hold him back if he decided to go for Jake again.

Meanwhile Tilly was backing Jake off and sitting him back down as well. "Chill brother. It's been hard on us with you disappearing like you did, and Sam's right, you have only come back because you want something from us. So you need to start talking and let us try and work things out."

Jake looked at her sadly. "I know. And I am really sorry for not letting you know where I was. I felt like I would always be living in Sam's shadow and while you seemed happy with that I knew I never could be. I only planned on it being a short break, but the longer I left it the harder I thought it would be, so I was a coward and didn't. I spent a long while wandering, living as human most of the time but letting my wolf free when I travelled from place to place. A couple of years in I met Adam at a hotel."

"Didn't you know who he was? His company is pretty well known, and has been in competition with us for years." asked Tilly, glad that Sam was staying out of this for the moment.

"It was a long way from here, and it didn't occur to me when I first heard his name. Well, to be honest, I didn't find out his full name until the next day anyway."

Jake blushed slightly, recalling how they had hooked up in the hotel bar and enjoyed their first night together. Tilly cleared her throat to bring him back to the present.

"When I realised who he was I gave him mum's surname as mine so he wouldn't make the connection. I wanted to see him again, and I thought if he knew who I was he wouldn't be interested. He said later that it wouldn't have made a difference, but I still think if he had found out then, especially given his history with Sam, I wouldn't have seen him for dust."

"When did he find out who you really were? And when did you find out he knew Sam and I?"

"That was pretty much at the same time. I came back from the conference with him two days after we met and stayed at his house. About a year after that Sam beat him to a contract he really wanted and he wasn't happy about it. Some of the things he said made me realise he knew Sam, not just as a business rival, so I asked about it. He told me he knew you both at university, and that he and Sam had had a brief relationship but it ended badly and you didn't speak any longer. I found out more details later."

"So you told him who you were?" asked Tilly gently, sensing Sam's discomfort at this whole discussion and wanting to get the information he needed without him getting involved.

"No, I didn't. I was sitting there in shock to be honest, because I never knew Sam liked boys too. Adam just started looking at me strangely, staring at my eyes. I guess he suddenly saw the similarity, because he said that he knew you had a brother called Jake, and last thing he'd heard Jake had done a runner. He just sat looking at me after that, but I couldn't look at him. I felt so bad for lying to the man I loved. I had to admit it and explain myself. I told him I didn't have contact with you and I had no idea he had been involved with Sam, just that he was a business rival and it might make him not want to be with me."

"How did he know you were a wolf?"

"That was weird. He didn't react badly to me having lied to him, he just sat there thinking for a moment and then straight out asked me if I was a werewolf. Of all the things I thought he might say, that didn't even cross my mind, and I was totally speechless. No-one has ever asked that; they've either been Weres and knew, or humans who have no idea we exist. I didn't answer, so he just started to tell me what he knew already."

"How much did he know?"

Jake looked a bit affronted at the question. "You mean how much have I told him?" Tilly shook her head. "He'd been researching for years, putting together details from folklore and eyewitness accounts over the centuries. You'd be amazed how much stuff is out there. Of course, most people don't believe it and just think it's fantasy, but Adam really accepted it was true. He explained he'd come across a test, using hair and some simple chemicals, that can show if someone is Were. When Sam first left he assumed he was just fed up of his obsession, but then he began to wonder and he ran the test on some hair he found. He couldn't believe it, but it explained a lot about Sam's behaviour, and yours Tilly."

"There's a test?"

"Apparently so. He said he wasn't going to run it on me. He loved me and it was up to me to tell him if I trusted him."

Sam's quiet and patience started to run out at that point and there was a noise expressing both amusement and disbelief before he spoke. "And you believed that?" The look he got from both Jake and Tilly shut him up again.

Jake carried on talking direct to Tilly, but his first words were pointed and directed at Sam. "Yes, I believed that. We had been together for a year and I knew him well and we both knew it was love. More than that, I knew we had the connection that made us mates, but I hadn't discussed that with him for obvious reasons. And I didn't just 'fess up immediately either. I thought about it for weeks. As much as I wanted to tell my mate the truth, I couldn't get past what Sam and our father always taught us about not trusting outsiders. In the end though, I decided he was family and he deserved to know."

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Jake thought back to the night he had decided to tell Adam, or rather show Adam, the truth. He remembered how nervous he had been despite him being fairly sure it would not come as a surprise. It was the training he received as a child and the constant reminders to keep their secret that had made him fear doing it. He remembered how they had made love, slow and gentle on that occasion, and afterwards he'd left Adam sated in their bed and headed to the bathroom saying he needed to clean up.

"I've got something I thought you might like to see Adam." he'd called. "You ready?"

"For you babe, I'm always ready." he heard in reply.

Jake wasn't entirely sure he was, but he'd made his decision. He took a deep breath before he started the change, feeling the familiar tingle as his fur grew and his ears and tail appeared. He stretched out and admired himself in the mirror for a moment, not having seen his wolf for a long time. Hopefully this was the end of keeping that secret. He padded out of the bathroom slowly, noting Adam's eyes go wide as he saw him. "Oh my god. Is that really you Jake?"

He gave a soft growl in reply, knowing he couldn't speak to Adam like that. He headed over to the bed and leapt up onto it, keeping a little distance in case Adam freaked out. He didn't seem scared, more fascinated as his eyes ran over Jake's new body. His hand reached out to touch but he seemed to stop himself before making contact, so Jake pushed his muzzle and then head under Adam's hand to encourage him. Adam started to stroke his head then and tickle behind his ears, and Jake growled again, enjoying the attention. He lay down at Adam's side, pressing his body to his lover and receiving more strokes as Adam gained confidence touching him.