by Shea Balik
Second, he felt bad for the shifters that were being hunted by the humans. His skills were nowhere close to Arjun’s but they were good enough to slow the humans down. It was the least he could do, since it was Miracle who had taken them in and given them a home.
Third, and this was the one that truly convinced him to get on that plane, if the humans really did attack, Tevin would let himself die. Once he had all the bombs rigged to be triggered when the humans got close, he would stay behind and allow that last one to put him out of his misery.
It seemed fitting, since he and Arjun had been dealing with explosives since they’d met. It had been Tevin’s hobby, but with Arjun’s genius, setting up booby traps had turned it into a passion.
But never once had he considered he’d be staring at a lion who smelled like sunshine and maple. A combination that would blend well with Arjun’s scent of fresh cut grass and cinnamon. Except, Arjun was gone. And this lion, despite what he would have thought was impossible, was his mate, too.
Which, unless fate really was the cruelest bitch of all, meant he was Arjun’s mate, too. But, because Tevin was an asshole, they would never get to meet.
Either way, fate seemed to be bitch slapping him. Considering the way he’d treated Arjun, it was probably deserved, but it didn’t seem fair. Worse, he’d just met the reason why he’d been unsettled all these years, yet he had no doubt, whoever this lion shifter was, he would hate him for causing their other mate to run.
It was better to die.
Turning away from the lion, he waited for the humans to either shoot him, or trip the detonation and blow him into a million pieces. It had been a waste of time, since if he were the lion and his mate were waiting to die, there was no way Tevin would allow that to happen.
A second later he was thrown over a very broad shoulder and given an excellent view of his mate’s ass as the man ran from any possible carnage. They passed Saber and his men, who’s expressions ranged from amused to shocked, but his mate didn’t slow down until he was at the helicopter that was currently on the ground.
Much to Tevin’s dismay and mortification, his mate elbowed his way passed the line. “My mate tried to get himself killed on purpose. I need him to be on this helicopter, away from danger,” he told Baxter.
Baxter’s look of confusion wasn’t misplaced. “But I thought Arjun was Tevin’s mate.”
Suddenly, Tevin was on his feet again and the man with the gorgeous golden eyes, mixed with hints of darker shades of brown, stared hard at him. That hard, unrelenting glint of possession glanced at the mating mark Arjun had given him where his shoulder met his neck.
What Tevin had expected his new mate to do, he wasn’t sure, but it hadn’t been for him to growl out, “Mine,” then bite the other side of his neck.
The moment Baz’s canines sank into his flesh, Tevin felt what it was he’d been missing all these years with Arjun.
Complete.
It hadn’t been that they weren’t mates, but that they’d been missing a piece of their souls. The other part of them that would make them whole. If only…
Tevin cried out as the pain of what he’d done to Arjun overwhelmed him. How could he have been so careless with his own damn mate?
He didn’t deserve to be happy. He didn’t deserve to have found their other mate. It should be Arjun there, not Tevin.
“We have another mate?” his new mate asked in complete and utter wonder. “How is that possible?”
Tevin didn’t know. Nor did it matter. Because of him they’d lost him. It was going to kill him to admit it when it was obvious his new mate, and he still didn’t know his name, found out what he’d done.
“We need to get this bird in the air,” Baxter called out as he pointed to another helicopter coming from the north.
Tevin’s mate nodded. Then he leaned in and pressed his firm lips to Tevin’s and for one brief moment, Tevin almost thought things might be right in the world. But when his mate picked Tevin up, and put him in the helicopter, Tevin knew it was just a matter of time before this mate would hate him, too.
“By the way, Tevin, my name is Baz.” His tone turned hard as he said, “And you are to be alive when I’m done here, got it?”
It was impossible to do anything else but nod his agreement when his new mate used that tone. It was kind of like when Saber had ordered him to come on this mission.
In return for his nod, Tevin received a blinding smile. “I’ll be seeing you, my mate.”
Then Baz turned on his heel and strode back into the dense jungle. The trees swallowed him up almost instantly, but not before Tevin watched him shift into a massive lion.
He should have known. Tevin hadn’t been able to protect Arjun from the world, but Baz would have no problem in that area. It really should have been Arjun there instead of Tevin. Neither mate would miss him.
Who was he kidding? Once Baz found out about Arjun, neither mate would want him. Nor could he blame them. Tevin had failed.
Watching the thick forest below them speed by until a grassier terrain appeared, Tevin wondered if he should have just tripped that last wire and blown himself up instead of waiting for the enemy. At least then he wouldn’t have to wait for his second mate to reject him.
CHAPTER 5
The battle against the humans had been brutal, but Baz had to admit, Saber and his men didn’t fight to win, they fought to destroy. Considering the humans had everything from handguns, rifles, grenades, to even rocket launchers, Baz appreciated Saber’s willingness to do whatever it took to defeat them.
That included using their animals within the trees. Many humans had been cut down before they even realized a shifter was above them, or sometimes even standing right next to them using the foliage for cover. It was a sight Baz would never forget. Then again, it had been what he was trained to do from a young age.
Panting heavily, his lion looked over the carnage wishing his parents hadn’t had to die because of these men. Shifting, he gratefully took a pair of shorts from one of Saber’s men. “Mind telling me how this started?” Saber asked him once they both had clothes on and Saber’s men were spreading out to check for survivors.
“I wish I knew.” Baz shook his head to negate what he’d just said. “From what one of the shifters who came to us for help said, human poachers were going after an elephant shifter.”
The young man, who wasn’t all that young, yet seemed innocent compared to Baz, had been devastated to watch his father and mother shackled. “They’d shifted to try and stop the humans from killing them, but that made things worse.”
“Since when did poaching need five thousand well-armed soldiers?” Saber asked as he looked down at the uniforms of some of the men. They weren’t all the same, as several different armies had banded together.
They didn’t. That was the problem. “We’ve kept our existence hidden. There are a few governments in Africa that know about us, but usually it’s because a family member is mated to a shifter. I think once they discovered our presence, all they thought about was the money they could possibly make off of us. How? I don’t know, but they weren’t trying to kill at first. There are hundreds in cages. It was only when they faced my pride that the humans realized just how much danger they were in.”
“Shit,” Saber swore as a man with a whole lot of swagger came up and put his arm around the much larger man. Some of the anger that had been radiating off of the ape shifter dissipated instantly.
“Baz,” Saber said. “This is my mate, Chadwick. He’s a part of Alpha Edrick’s inner circle in Miracle.”
Chadwick stuck out his hand ignoring Saber’s growl of unease at having his mate touch Baz. “Don’t mind him. I’m not entirely sure how we’re going to find room for everyone back in Miracle, but we’re planning on relocating those you saved there.”
Baz felt his shoulders drop as he realized there was a damn good chance none of them might ever return to their homeland again. “I’m not sure how any of this is going to work,”
Baz admitted. “These people, including the few that survived from my pride, literally ran from their homes with nothing. The faster ones shifted, leaving them without a stitch of clothing.”
Seeing the way Chadwick pressed up against his mate, as well as how Saber not only visibly relaxed, but had his arms around Chadwick, reminded Baz he’d just found his own mate. Sort of. Two. Who would have thought?
“Have you ever heard of having two mates, not just one?” he asked.
Saber nodded, while Chadwick widened his eyes in shock. “Yes,” Saber told him. “It’s rare, but I have met a few.”
“You have?” Chadwick looked up at his mate in awe. “How lucky can a person get to get two mates?”
That caused Saber to growl at his mate.
“Never mind. One is more than enough,” Chadwick said. “Although, I have to admit, I wouldn’t have minded having someone who didn’t feel it necessary to boss me around all the time,” he said under his breath.
“Kitten, you better watch it, or you’re going to find yourself confined to our bed,” Saber warned.
That had Chadwick grin. “I have to admit, I’m not sure how to answer that. Do I go with, I’d like to see you try? Or…” The glint in his eyes turned positively mischievous. “Not seeing a downside to that threat.” Then he shrugged. “Either way, I’ll have plenty of orgasms, so go for it.”
Saber tilted his head back and laughed. Then he bent down and kissed his mate until Baz was sure they’d forgotten he was even there.
Just when he thought it might be best to leave them alone, Saber lifted his head and looked right at Baz. “I take it that means Tevin and Arjun are your mates.”
When Baz nodded, Chadwick came over and gave him a hug. Saber practically ripped his mate from Baz, which earned him a glare from Chadwick. “What? You know he’s going to need it when he finds out Arjun ran away. I know I’d be devastated to find out my mate had disappeared.”
This time it was Baz who growled, which earned him a glare from Saber as well as a returned warning growl.
“Lord save me from testosterone,” Chadwick quipped.
“You do know you have testosterone too, right?” the man Baz was fairly sure Saber had called Draco earlier said.
Chadwick rolled his eyes at the man. “Yeah, but I have the normal amount.”
Not wanting to get into another back and forth when he had a mate that had apparently left him before Baz had the chance to even meet him, he asked, “Why would Arjun leave? I saw the mark on Tevin’s neck. They claimed each other.”
“Yeah, see,” Chadwick started. “Arjun tends to be… well, batshit crazy.”
The growl that emanated from Baz was instantaneous and full of outrage. Saber might have returned it, but he didn’t give a damn. Not when it came to his mate. “How dare you insult my mate.”
That only made Chadwick chuckle. “I don’t consider that an insult. More of a compliment, since most who meet me say those same words.” Chadwick forced his way in front of Saber, which wasn’t an easy feat since Saber seemed intent on keeping Chadwick behind him and out of danger. “Cut it out,” Chadwick admonished his mate before finally standing directly between Baz and Saber.
“Arjun is a genius, and I’m not just saying that. The man is like, insanely brilliant.” He couldn’t be sure but it seemed that Chadwick’s voice held a lot of awe, mixed with sorrow.
What Baz couldn’t figure out was why. Being smart should have been a good thing, right?
“But sometimes, his ideas tend to create other problems,” Chadwick told him, to which Saber grunted.
“Shortly after we met Arjun and Tevin, Arjun decided to help defend our home with booby traps. He put them in to give us a warning since we were often hunted for being a pack of gay men.” The man who had first warned them Tevin was going to get himself killed said. He held out a hand to Baz. “Name’s Crash and I’ve been riding with Tevin and Arjun for decades.”
Baz shook his hand and grinned.
Then Crash turned to the man who had been trying to pull Tevin away from the bomb he’d created. “This is Mannix, the one who can tell you the most about that first set of booby traps.”
“It wasn’t funny,” Mannix said with somewhat of a pout. “I smelled of maple syrup for two weeks after that.”
Crash laughed. “Yeah, but you have to admit, if we had been under attack, it would have stopped them in their tracks.”
“Because he mixed the syrup with some compound that had the ground underneath turn into freaking quicksand,” Mannix complained. “Thank God it only was three feet deep or I would have disappeared before anyone knew something had happened.”
“According to Tevin, Arjun had planned it that way. He didn’t want anyone to die,” Chadwick added. “He just wanted you all to have a chance to get away.”
“Plus,” Crash laughed harder. “It kind of was your fault. He did warn us about the booby traps.”
Mannix only scowled harder. “Yeah, but he told us it was on the north side of the property.” Mannix’s gaze landed on Baz. “That was when we found out, Arjun tends to be a bit forgetful on what he’s done. The trap was on the east side of the house.”
“Actually,” Crash added. “There was something in all directions, he just got the east side and south side mixed up, which meant when Draco tried to bypass it, he did it wrong and ended up caught in Arjun’s trap.”
“But despite the mistakes,” Saber told Baz. “Arjun has helped to keep Miracle safe from anyone trying to attack us. We have to have him followed in order to write it all down, but the man knows how to create some of the most elaborate deterrents.”
“Which was what ended up causing him to leave,” Chadwick told him. “He’d basically made an iridescent glitter bomb go off. Kirill, Tevin’s old Alpha who also lives in Miracle, wasn’t too thrilled when he and his mate were covered in the stuff.”
“Actually, kitten, it was more about the automatic weapon being fired at Kirill’s mate that pissed him off,” Saber corrected.
“They were blanks,” Chadwick defended. “But yeah, Kirill didn’t known that and sort of freaked the hell out. When he confronted Arjun, it wasn’t pretty.”
Crash let out a snort. “It was more about Tevin not defending Arjun that caused him to leave.”
That couldn’t be right. “Why wouldn’t Tevin have defended our mate?” Admittedly, he would have understood this Kirill’s issue, but Baz still would have stood up for his mate.
“It’s not that easy,” Mannix explained. “Most people just don’t get Arjun. His brain works on a different level than the rest of us. Tevin, although he’s a wolf shifter, knows he wouldn’t be able to stop someone like Kirill, who’s a polar bear shifter, from hurting Arjun if he got pissed enough.”
“It’s not like Kirill would have actually hurt him,” Crash said. “He was just upset. He might of shaken Arjun a bit, but he would never truly hurt anyone, well, unless his mate was threatened.”
“Which was kind of what happened,” Chadwick interjected.
“The point is,” Mannix said with enough emphasis to stop the others from interrupting. “Since he fears he won’t be able to protect Arjun, Tevin does his best to placate whoever is pissed at Arjun. That way, his mate doesn’t get hurt.”
“But Arjun feels Tevin is embarrassed by him. And that’s why he’s constantly explaining Arjun’s actions,” Crash added. “It never helped that Tevin always felt as if something were wrong with their mating.”
Mannix chuckled. “Little did they know, he was right. They were missing you.”
“So, you’re telling me that one of my mates left because he felt my other mate didn’t want him, because Tevin could feel there was something missing in their mating?” The men around Baz nodded with the exception of Chadwick who grinned.
“See why I thought you’d need the hug?” Chadwick told him. “On the bright side, like Saber tells me every day, life will never be boring.” Then he tilted his head back and laughed.
Baz had to admit to being tempted to punch the guy in the mouth. Saber must have sensed that because he quickly pushed Chadwick behind him.
“I need to go talk to Tevin, but I also need to show you where the shifter towns had been.” Baz hated feeling torn, but the last thing his mother had told him was to do whatever it took for his mate. Little had she known he’d have two, but Baz was going to listen to her. “I can show you on a map. You’re going to need those helicopters if there is any hope of finding the shifters the humans captured.”
“Let’s get back to the planes,” Saber ordered. “We’ll make plans from there.”
Baz just hoped Tevin was safe and that they could find Arjun, because no matter what, he was going to make it his life’s mission to help his two mates find the peace they desperately needed.
CHAPTER 6
“Shouldn’t we go with them?” Tevin was feeling a bit better since Baz came back. He’d honestly been afraid this mate would leave him, too. Of course, he still didn’t know the situation with Arjun, which would definitely turn Baz against him.
Nor would Tevin blame him for doing so. Hell, he wanted to kick his own ass for not doing more to show Arjun how much he loved him. It was odd how everything had been put into perspective the moment he realized Arjun had left him.
But none of that mattered at the moment, for his other mate needed him. Finding out about what happened to Baz’s parents, Tevin couldn’t continue to mope. He might not have done enough for Arjun, but he was going to help this mate.
Those golden eyes stared at him as if assessing Tevin for his sincerity. Or, more likely, if Tevin was still going to blow himself up if he and Baz went with Saber and his men to free the shifters that had been captured.
“If Tevin is good with going, I have to admit we could use him,” Saber said. “If you’re right about the armies from several countries banding together, we don’t begin to have enough men to fight them all.” Saber’s gaze went from Baz to Tevin. “We’re going to need his expertise to create diversions and hopefully even the odds.”