Catch A Tiger By The Tail (THIRDS 6)

Thomas nodded as he gritted his teeth. His skin was red, his veins bulging as he struggled fiercely to keep himself in control. If they weren’t careful, he could shift before they administered the sedative.

“You hold down his arms. I’ll hold down his legs,” Calvin told Sloane. He wrapped his arms around Thomas’s legs and held on tight while Sloane managed to get a good grip on Thomas’s arms. Julia got to it, taking the injector and placing it to her husband’s neck.

It wasn’t so much the holding Thomas down that was difficult. It was the screams of agony. They were heart-wrenching and terrifying. Calvin held on to Thomas, waiting on Julia’s signal to turn him onto his stomach. This was going to be rough.

After the injection to Thomas’s arm, Julia gave them a nod. It was time. Calvin and Sloane struggled to turn Thomas over. Despite his condition, Thomas was still a tiger Therian. He wasn’t as strong as his sons, but he was still stronger than Calvin, which meant Sloane had to do most of the heavy lifting. At one point Sloane’s hand slipped, and Thomas managed to elbow him in the face. Sloane cursed under his breath and grabbed hold of Thomas as blood trailed down from his nose. They flipped Thomas over and held on as Julia placed the injector to Thomas’s spine. Darla quickly wiped the blood from Sloane’s nose and mouth with a wet towel. As soon as she stepped back, Julia pulled the trigger.

Thomas’s scream shook the windows. He arched his back violently, and his body went into horrific spasms, followed by what resembled an epileptic fit. Except it wasn’t, because if they released Thomas now, he’d shift into his Therian form and have no control until the medication set in.

As they held on for dear life, Julia did her best to calm her husband, talking to him softly and running her hands over his face and head. She kissed his brow and smiled warmly. The love they had for each other shone in their eyes, and Calvin was forced to look away. He’d always thought it so unfair that Thomas suffered the way he did. He’d given so much for his country, and what did he get in return? A virus that didn’t kill him yet tortured him every day of his life. Still, Thomas fought it with everything he had, for his wife and his boys. Maybe what hurt Calvin most of all was how much Ethan looked like Thomas.

When Thomas settled down enough not to pull at them, they turned him onto his back. It seemed like forever, but he finally calmed, and soon he was out. Darla returned from the bathroom with a damp hand towel and fussed over Sloane, who obviously had no experience with that sort of thing. Poor guy didn’t know what to do with himself. It suddenly occurred to him that several of his friends had spent only a little time with their moms before losing them. The thought saddened Calvin. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t miss his dad. His dad had been a royal dick. If he hadn’t been, maybe Calvin would have felt the same loss. In Cael’s case, he couldn’t even remember his biological parents.

Julia’s voice snapped Calvin from his thoughts.

“Thank you.” She took hold of Sloane’s hand, her eyes filling with unshed tears. She was flushed and a little shaky, but her relief was evident in her smile. “Thank you for sparing Ethan. This would have been difficult for him. And I’m so sorry about your nose.”

Sloane waved a hand in dismissal. “I’ve had much worse. Don’t you worry about it.”

Darla ushered them outside and left the door slightly ajar. They headed downstairs into the living room, where she left to make some coffee. Julia took a seat on the couch with a weary sigh. “Thomas didn’t want me to call. He didn’t want to put Ethan through that.”

“I’m glad you called,” Calvin said. “Thomas might have hurt you or Mom, and the pain would have gotten worse until he passed out, if he didn’t shift first.”

“Mom? Are you okay? I got your message.” Rafe rushed into the room in full tactical gear. He came to an abrupt halt when he saw Calvin and Sloane. “What are you two doing here?”

“I asked Darla to call them,” Julia said gently, standing to greet her eldest. Darla returned from the kitchen and quietly took a seat beside Calvin, her hand going to his knee. She knew him too well. Encounters with Rafe rarely went well for him these days.

Calvin would say Rafe looked pissed, but he always looked that way. Ash had nothing on Rafe Hobbs. Even Ash was known to smile and laugh every once in a while. Calvin had never heard Rafe laugh in all the years he’d known him. Smirk, maybe. Look not as angry, definitely. Smile? Calvin couldn’t remember. Laugh, definitely not.

Rafe turned to his mother. “How’s Dad?”

“He’s sleeping. The boys helped me.”

“Where’s Ethan?”

“I told Calvin not to tell him,” Sloane said. “I came instead.”

Rafe shook his head. “You can’t keep your nose out of my family’s business, can you?”

Sloane stood, and Calvin tensed. He kept an eye on the two, hoping there wouldn’t be a repeat performance of the epic fight they’d had after the shooting incident that had cost Seb his place on Destructive Delta. Rafe had punched Sloane, and Sloane’s retaliation had been just as brutal. Tension had been high enough without Rafe making things worse. It had taken several Therian agents from Unit Alpha to break up the fight. Both had walked away with bruises and split lips.

“I was helping,” Sloane said steadily.

“You’re enabling. You’re as bad as the rest of them, babying him. He’s never going to be normal if everyone keeps treating him like a spaz.”

“Watch your mouth,” Calvin growled, jumping to his feet. He got up in Rafe’s face, not caring that Rafe towered over him by nearly a foot and a half. “Maybe you don’t give a shit about your brother’s health, but the rest of us do.”

Julia took hold of her son’s arm. “Please, honey. You know your dad doesn’t want Ethan to see him like that. He feels guilty enough.”

“Well, he shouldn’t. Ethan’s an adult. He should have grown out of this by now.”

Calvin couldn’t believe the arrogance. “Grow out of it? Do you go around telling people in wheelchairs to walk it off? Or tell people with disabilities to grow out of it? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Baby,” Darla warned gently. She put her hand on Calvin’s shoulder, and he told himself to calm down before he planted one in Rafe’s face. His mom was right. The last thing

they needed was another fight. There was enough pain in this house.

“Forget it. Like you give a shit.” Calvin sidestepped Rafe and kissed Julia’s cheek. “Take care. If you need anything at all, you call me.”