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Jack didn’t even react when headlights appeared behind him. If it was his crazed fan, maybe the guy would be doing him a favor. Even if Jack accepted everything McKenna had told him, he had cancer. What kind of future was there for him if the treatments didn’t work?
He was suddenly so damn tired. His angry outburst, the energy it had taken to even go through what he’d just been through, had drained him. Now his adrenaline was gone, and Jack knew he was crashing. It had happened before to him, so he knew the signs.
A shape moved to stand by the driver’s window. Jack looked up to see Mendez standing there. The vehicle behind him pulled away, and Jack saw his sister in the passenger seat, tears in her eyes.
God, he hated to make her cry. It gutted Jack, but a bomb had been dropped in his lap, and he’d reacted badly.
Mendez opened the driver’s door and hunkered down. The guy didn’t say a word as Jack forced himself back under control. “What are you?”
“A wolf.”
Jack closed his eyes. God, Mendez was a walking, talking freaking wolf. He wasn’t even sure how to process that. “Fate handpicked me for you?”
“Yes.”
Jack blew out a breath right before Mendez reached in and pulled him out. He walked around to the other side of his Mercedes and tucked Jack into the passenger seat. Mendez closed the door then slid into the driver’s side. They didn’t say a word as Mendez pulled away.
“I’m not ready to go back to my mother’s.”
“Not taking you there.” Mendez’s voice was low, deep, mild, while Jack’s insides were a rioting mess. He had no clue where they were going, but when he pulled into someone’s driveway, Jack turned to look at him. “A friend’s house. He’s letting us use it for the night.”
Jack nodded, but it was mechanical at best.
After Mendez parked, he came around and opened Jack’s door. Jack spilled out, his legs weak and his chest hurting. His energy had bottomed out, and he wasn’t sure he could even walk to the front door.
In one fluid motion, Mendez scooped Jack into his arms and carried him. That was how out of it Jack was, because he didn’t even protest. Mendez carried him inside and went straight to the back of the house. He didn’t stop until they’d entered a bedroom. Mendez laid Jack down then stripped him down to his underwear before taking a seat on the side of the bed.
“Ask me anything you want.”
Jack gave a hysterical laugh. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
“McKenna was right. Gender doesn’t matter to us. Taylor didn’t look at you in any other way except that you’re my mate. That’s all that matters to him.”
Jack turned over, giving Mendez his back. When the guy tried to roll him back toward him, Jack found the energy to shoot into a sitting position. “Don’t touch me. You don’t get to touch me.”
“Why?” A thunderous glare passed through Mendez’s eyes, his brows drawn low. “Because McKenna and Taylor know your secret? Because I’m not human? Because I didn’t tell you—a guy I just met and knew nothing about—that I’m a wolf shifter? Why can’t I touch you, Jack, when I know damn well that’s the only thing you want right now?”
“You don’t know what the fuck I want,” Jack shouted, his gut reaction to lash out, to push Mendez away. “You don’t know anything about me except I apparently give good head.”
That growl in Mendez’s chest grew louder. A storm brewed in his gray eyes. “Don’t diminish what we shared.”
Tears filled Jack’s eyes as he collapsed to the bed, his anger draining away. His entire body hurt. Now that he knew why, Jack closed his eyes and tried to curl in on himself. He had cancer. On top of everything else spiraling out of control, he had fucking cancer. The word kept circling around in his brain, and his will to deny it came crashing down.
“I know you’re pissed and lashing out, but just talk to me.” Mendez laid a hand on his arm. “Tell me what’s going on with you. I know it’s something deeper than what happened tonight.”
Instead, Jack looked into Mendez’s handsome face. “What’s a mate?”
Mendez’s eyes softened. “Like McKenna said, it’s when fate handpicks someone for a nonhuman. We feel it to the depths of our souls. I knew you were mine as soon as we were introduced. I felt it in my chest. It means when I claim you, our souls will be bound forever, Jack. There’s no reversing it. It’s my number-one priority to keep you safe and to make you happy. You’ll never catch human diseases, and you’ll age as slowly as I do.”
Wow. Jack hadn’t been expecting all that. He’d listened to every word Mendez said, but the one thing that caught his attention made Jack struggle to sit up. Mendez frowned but helped him rest against the headboard. “Like cancer?”
Mendez nodded. “You don’t have to worry about any of that.” He tapped the space on Jack’s skin where shoulder met neck. “I’ll bite you here, and my saliva will transfer something to you. An immunity, for lack of a better word.”
Jack didn’t dare hope. “What if a person was already sick?”
“Jack, I—” Mendez studied him for a long moment. “Your yearly checkup wasn’t a yearly checkup.”
“No.” Jack grabbed the pillow next to him and cradled it in his arms. “I was feeling exhausted on the tour, more than usual. I was thirsty all the time and had a lot of pain. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, so when we got to Vegas, I made a phone call and the doctor saw me right away. A battery of tests revealed I have bone marrow cancer.”
