Elijah shivered as the setting sun plunged the yard into deep shadow, so William
snuggled closer sharing as much warmth as he could. For practicalities sake
they should leave, go back to their rooms with their hot drinks and hotter grates,
but leaving would mean separating and neither of them was yet ready to say goodbye.
“I feel I should say thank you again, but fear it will lead to more… er, and really, I think that would be quite beyond me.”
William chuckled into Elijah’s coat and then raised his head, smiling up at the look of contentment on his friend’s face. “You may surprise yourself,” he said, twisting around so he could lean more comfortably and still see Elijah. “I can tell you from personal experience that it is entirely possible to do that for hours.”
The arm around his back tightened and a brief expression of intrigue flitted across Elijah’s face, quickly replaced by something darker. Jealousy, perhaps? William wished it were.
“I don’t like to think of you with them,” Elijah said, post coital honesty lending him extraordinary courage. “They are bullies of the first water and not worthy of such as you.”
An unlikely blush stained William’s cheeks at the compliment and he shook his head in protest. “You do not know them as I do,” he argued. “’Tis I that is not worthy of them,” adding silently, until I proved myself a wolf and thus one of them.
“But the stories, William,” Elijah protested. “The things they have done. Or, if you are able to dismiss those as lies, the things Brutus has done to me!”
Only because you allowed him to, William wanted to say. You looked at him with those beautiful eyes that scream ‘hurt me’, what else was he supposed to do? Aloud he said, “There are things, concepts you do not understand. If I could explain then maybe-”
“I cannot believe there is anything that would explain such despicable behaviour. The boy is a cad and a bully.”
It was true. Brutus was a bully, he had proved that time after time, but there was a side to him that belied that simple description. Annoyed at being unable to totally refute Elijah’s claim, William sat up bristling and answered with an angry retort; “Then all I can ask is that you believe me when I say I would not give them up for the world.”
Elijah took one look at his bristling friend and held out a placatory hand. “Would you give them up for me?” he asked.
The question took William’s breath away. Would he? Could he? Having had the attention of four other boys could he confine himself to one? Even if that one was Elijah? It wasn’t fair to be asked such a thing, and his rejoinder escaped before he had a chance to stop it. “Would you leave behind Spencer and Osborne to be with me alone?”
For a few seconds there was silence, Elijah staring at William’s chest whilst William wished he could reverse time and take the question back, then, quietly, Elijah said, “If you asked it of me.”
The words opened up an entirely new world of possibilities in William’s mind. Yes, in passing, he had considered, mentioned even, the idea of Elijah joining him but never in his wildest dreams had he believed it would come to pass.
“You would?” he said, shock and no small measure of gratitude imbuing his voice with a childlike quality.
Elijah’s gaze rose to meet his own, more confident now. “I would do anything, if it were you asking.”
It took William’s breath away to hear that blind trust. What had he done to deserve it? Nothing he could fathom. But, oh, if this were real then William could have everything he wanted; each one of his motley band of lovers with Elijah’s sweet kisses as the gilt on the gingerbread. For a few seconds all he could do was stare, open-mouthed, at his friend and then he scrambled to his feet, tugging Elijah up behind him.
“We’ll go. Right now,” he enthused. “Cropper will take you on, of that I am sure, then you will be with me and I can truly protect you from Jones and his cronies.”
“Wait!” Elijah squeaked, pulling his hand from William’s grasp and backing away few steps. “I cannot… No, it’s entirely impossible!”
“But you agreed,” William argued, following him. “You said you would give up Spencer and Osborne to be with me.” Being rejected after such hope cut William to the core and the words spilled out before he could stop them. “They don’t give a damn about you anyway. Osborne chose Spencer over you when Cropper gave him the chance. You can rot for all they care.”
“Chose Alex?” Elijah mouthed. “What- what do you mean?”
A nasty smirk curled William’s lip. “Exactly what I said. Cropper gave Osborne the choice of protecting you or Spencer and he didn’t think twice,” that was a blatant lie but William was in no mood to be either kind or truthful. “At least I am willing to make sacrifices for you. I gave myself to Brutus so you would be safe, you cannot ask for more than that.”
Emotions flitted across Elijah’s face, anger, fear, sadness, before settling on guilt. “You’re right,” he said eventually, “I owe you more than I can ever repay. What you did for me, giving yourself to him, was – was beyond the call of duty from one friend to another.” Taking William’s hand, he brought it to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on the backs of his fingers. “I have no choice but to offer myself in exchange.”
To take Elijah on such false pretences was, in truth, the height of dishonour and yet William could not bring himself to care. The lure of having his young lover at his side was too much to resist.
Catching Elijah in his arms, he kissed him passionately and said, “You will not regret this, I give you my vow.”
Words deserted William for a moment as he studied Elijah’s fearful face and ran his fingers through dark, silky locks. Maybe he should explain, a little at least. He owed Elijah that much. “It won’t be easy,” he said, pursing his lips and unable to meet Elijah’s eyes. “There are things… frightening things, some even a little painful, but we will be together, I promise. You will be safe; a wolf, like me, I will accept no less from Cropper whatever he asks for in return.”
“A w-wolf?” Elijah stuttered, and William frowned at him, confused momentarily by his friend’s lack of understanding.
“Yes,” he said, “There are wolves and rams and…” he shook his head, “It’s too complicated for me to explain, Cropper will do a much better job. All you need to be sure of is that no one, not even Brutus, will be able to hurt you again.” More white lies, William thought to himself even as he spoke, and yet didn’t Elijah deserve a little happiness, and hadn’t he said he would give up his other friends to be with William alone? Surely that was enough to justify whatever he said to keep Elijah by his side?
It was then that William noticed the shakes wracking Elijah’s body. He scooped him closer; wrapping him in a hug that was as much about reassurance as it was the cold evening air. “Go back to your dorm,” he whispered, “and try to avoid anyone. Tomorrow I’ll come for you and we can start a new life together.”
*
“Decent of you to come back and lend a hand.”
Elijah flinched guiltily as Spencer glared at him through punch-swollen eyes. After his initial panic, Elijah really hadn’t spared another thought for his friend, being too caught up in being with William. And that simply made him feel guiltier still.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, hurrying to his own bed and tugging at his clothes. He needed to wash; the evidence of his illicit liaison with William seemed grotesquely obvious in the well-lit room.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” Spencer said. “Truly it was better that you ran, they quickly decided I was tedious sport.”
“But your eyes?”
“Not as bad as they seem. And you would have been subject to much worse.” Spencer paused, his face screwed up in thought, then he said, “Elijah, you do understand what would have happened-”
“Yes,” Elijah interjected, shedding his trousers. “I may be naïve, but I’m not stupid. Brutus has seen to it that I have precious few illusions left.”
“It’s just that I worry. There may be times when there’s no one there to protect you and now that Jones has upped the stakes…”
Elijah sighed. The concern on his friend’s face was touching and this was probably as good a time as any to put his mind at rest. He stared down at his hands, not able to meet Spencer’s eyes as he spoke; “It will be of no matter after tomorrow as I am putting myself in Cropper’s hands. William says it is the safest route as Bonny cannot protect me any longer.”
Silence. For longer than Elijah could bear it. He glanced up and saw Spencer, his mouth gaping like a fish on dry land. “You’re surprised?” he said, feeling defensive. “What else could I do? Wait for Jones and his chums to catch me, as they surely would?”
“We could have protected you!” Spencer burst out. “It would have been challenging, that I’ll grant, but not impossible. Surely it would be better-”
“No, Alex, I am doing the only thing that will keep me safe. William has promised-”
Spencer leapt off his bed and stalked towards Elijah, his arms waving as he shouted, “William has promised! William has promised! Is this the same William that allowed Brutus to have his way with you all these months? Who has offered no help to any of the other boys that have fallen victim to that gang of ne’er-do-wells?”
Turning his head from side to side, Elijah backed away under the verbal assault. Retorts, cruel and vile, bubbled up in his mind, but he would not speak them, he would not.
“I will tell you what I think, shall I?” Spencer continued, not put off his stride one jot by Elijah’s reaction. “Bartlett is no better than Cropper. He will draw you into their filthy world and you will never escape. You will end up one of them, driven by un-natural desires. Condemned by God and man alike.”
Elijah heard no more. Unable to defend himself, he ran, because there, in Spencer’ words lay the foul and stinking truth. Elijah was already one of them, driven by his perverted lust for William, and if his friends discovered his secret then they would turn him out any way, proclaim his deviance to the world.
His sobs slowed his feet and, through his tears, Elijah saw the benches, cupboards and shelves that told him he was in Jake’s Hole. Sniffing quietly, he stumbled to the back of the room and opened the cubby-hole door. It wouldn’t be the first time he had spent the night here, though hopefully it would be the last. At least by giving himself to Cropper the last tatters of his self-respect may be salvaged.
*
“Leave us, both of you.”
At the snapped command Brutus and Brolly left the room leaving William alone with Cropper, and he gazed after them longingly, wondering why Cropper was so insistent on not being overheard.
“Tell me again,” Cropper said, leaning back on the sofa and crossing his legs. “And this time, please allow a scrap of decorum enter your speech. Really, you should know better than to gabble by now.”
William took a deep breath and explained. It was nothing like the story he expected it to be, not if he wanted to keep certain things secret. He managed to avoid any mention of his feelings for the other boy, which he still considered inappropriate for a wolf, or the details of his encounter with Brutus. Instead he claimed that he and Elijah had met up in the sickroom after Cropper’s visit, and that Elijah had told him of his desire to become part of their group.
Cropper’s face remained immutable, even when William described their latest escape from Jones and his gang, complete with an animated re-enactment of their flight and subsequent retreat into the private yard. When he’d finished, drawing a line under the story before he reached the more intimate details, William looked to his mentor for help.
For a moment Cropper was silent, and when he spoke it wasn’t to offer the aid William had requested.
“I fail to understand my involvement in this tawdry affair. Please explain exactly what you expect me to do?”
William gaped at him uncomprehendingly, and then gathering his wits with some effort, said, “Protect him. As you protect me.”
“I do no such thing. You have declared your intention to be a wolf, have passed the test and made your feelings perfectly clear on the matter. If you wish the boy protected, William, it is up to you to do it.”
The smug smile on Cropper’s face was enough to send William into apoplexy and it was with some difficulty that he controlled his temper enough to think straight. Not that his thoughts were at all rational. He worked his way through the problem, several times, but on each occasion came to exactly the same realisation.
It would be impossible for him to protect Elijah by himself. Persuading Jones to back off even for the few seconds it took for them to escape was something of a miracle, and once word got out that neither he, nor Elijah, were under Cropper’s protection, the bigger predators would start circling once again. Finally he came to the inevitable conclusion that he was as far from being a true wolf as he had been six months ago. Unable to fight his battles alone and without the network Cropper had at his fingertips, he and Elijah would not survive a week.
Through all of this Cropper said not one word. He simply sat on the couch and
studied William, waiting for the boy to discover the answer for himself, knowing
it was just a matter of time. Those slight proud shoulders eventually slumped
and Cropper held his breath, hoping he had played his hand truly. Desperate
blue eyes rose to meet his and when William fell to his knees, bowed his head
and said, “Please, sir. I am yours, if you will keep us safe,” Cropper
knew he had won.