by Marcy Jacks
One of them was taking care of Davin and showing him the time of his life. Showing him what he would be missing out on if he left.
He needed to show Davin that staying here with him would be well worth anything these fuckers happened to dish out.
When Mark opened the front door and smelled fresh bread baking, he inhaled deeply, his eyes sliding shut as he and his inner wolf both took in the undeniable sensation of coming home.
Warmth and goodness. The smell of hard work and something tasty.
But then he opened his eyes and snapped out of it.
Davin only baked at home when he was either in a fantastic mood or when he was hurting.
Mark growled. Based on what he'd come home to, he was willing to bet it was the latter.
Mark walked into the kitchen, knowing that was where he would find his mate.
And of course, that was where Davin was.
Davin hated it when people said he was the domestic one, but Mark couldn't help but think it was true.
Davin was a bit of a homebody. He didn't just like cooking. He'd made a career of it. He didn't much appreciate surprises, and even before he'd been taken for the first time and all of these problems had started to manifest themselves, he'd always liked to be around wherever his home happened to be.
The fact that he was still doing his cooking here, instead of going to the bakery, was a sign Mark couldn't put his finger on.
Good, because it meant his mate was still cooking here. Or bad, because he didn't feel safe enough to go to the bakery and use the much better ovens in his work kitchen.
And considering their souls were still joined, Mark figured it wasn't a good sign that Davin hadn't even noticed he'd walked through the door.
Mark walked up to the table where Davin sat, setting the bag with the noodles, rice, and chicken balls down onto the table.
Only then did Davin jump. He looked up at Mark with terrified eyes, and in that hair of a second, Mark knew he'd brought Davin back to that moment when he'd been taken.
When Davin came out of it, Mark also knew that Davin wouldn't want to be asked about it.
"I brought your favorite. Something smells good."
"I, uh, decided to make some bread."
"Nice. What kind?"
"Just French bread. I've got a banana loaf ready to go in when it's finished."
God, Mark loved it when his mate cooked. He also loved it when his mate made so many loaves of banana bread that they had to be wrapped up and put into the freezer.
"I hope this isn't your way of making sure my fridge is stocked for when you have to leave."
He hoped that came out sounding light and airy, like a joke. He couldn't be sure with the way Davin looked at him.
The man stood suddenly, walked around the side of the table, and, without giving Mark a chance to react, wrapped his arms around Mark's middle.
Mark froze, briefly, but then he melted, letting his arms come around Davin's middle.
He held his mate close, kissed the top of his head, and then thought about how lucky he was to have this man for his mate.
The wolf inside Mark's head was suddenly purring, as though it were a fucking cat or something.
"We started the seven days right now, right?"
Mark blinked. Was that what he was worried about? He wanted to start now?
Mark couldn't deny him. He wanted this for his mate. He wanted to give Davin anything and everything he could possibly need that would give him some sense of comfort.
"Yeah, we start right now."
"Good."
Davin stunned Mark again when he pushed himself up to his toes and pressed their mouths together. Rarely did Davin ever take the lead in anything, let alone try to be the one who dominated Mark.
But this was definitely one of those times as he let his tongue slide across the crease of Mark's mouth.
Mark’s cock stiffened, throbbed with the desire and instinct to mate, to rut, to fuck, filling Mark up with all kinds of desires. He couldn't rein it in, even though his soul was right here and the entire point of wolf souls was to help shifters calm their inner beasts.
No. This would not be contained.
Except he didn't want to burn the house down.
Mark pulled his mouth back. "Go shut off the oven."
Davin shook his head. "I've got the timer going."
"The oven doesn't turn off on a timer."
"No, I mean to let me know when it's finished, but you can give me a quickie before then." Davin's palm came to rest against Mark's cock through the jeans he wore. Davin added pressure. He kissed Mark again, and this time there really was no chance of going back.
"I need you."
Oh God. Mark needed to hear those words. He needed them so badly he couldn't stand it, and this was one of those days where he wasn't going to ask questions.
The wolf agreed.
Mark picked up his mate, slung the man over his shoulder, and made off with him.
Not to their bedroom. But to the sitting room.
The sofa was big enough for them and closer.
Mark needed to take his mate.
So this was the start of their seven days.
Chapter Six
The sex was amazing. Enjoying some of the hot French bread Davin had made earlier with peanut butter spread onto the steaming slices after the fact was almost better.
God, that felt good. He'd needed that, and getting the chance to enjoy sex with his mate, guilt-free over the coming end to their relationship, was even better.
Mark fucked into him like he'd done earlier that day.
As though he were in a mating heat. As though it were one of their first times together instead of the last brought Davin back all kinds of memories.
He loved the sex. He loved his mate, and he loved being here with him.
The next day they fucked again, and Mark took him out on a date. Way out of town in a restaurant they could just barely afford on his salary.
"You don't have to bring me places. This…isn't about that."
It was the first time Davin had brought up the coming end to their mating. He wasn't sure if he should say anything at all, but Davin took it well.
"It's not just that," Mark said, going over the menu, the both of them searching for cheaper items to eat without admitting it to the other. "I told the chief I was sick. Massively sick."
"Really?" Werewolves didn't get sick all that often, so he had to wonder exactly what Mark told him.
"What did you say?"
"I said I had the world's worst food poisoning. I don't think you want me to go into any more details than that considering we're about to eat."
Davin blinked, and then he laughed, understanding exactly what the other man meant, and he thought it was the funniest thing in the world.
Other patrons in the restaurant looked at him, as though he was being rude or a lunatic, but he didn't care as he had a laugh at Mark's expense.
And when Mark smiled at him, his stomach melted.
It melted again when the other man got him back home and ripped his clothes off.
And Davin loved being fucked then as much as he did the next day and the day after.
And then he was starting to get a bad feeling about this.
He'd walked right into this knowing Mark was trying to convince him to stay, that the whole seven-days thing was just a way to buy time so Davin had to think a little harder about what he wanted.
And maybe it would be just enough time that he was forced to change his mind.
And he was starting to rethink all of this. A lot. He didn't want to admit it, but he was thinking of backing out.
Which was why Davin paid Bodolf a visit. He tried not to look at Bodolf's new mate, Dexter. Every time Davin did look at the man, he was forced to see how happy they looked together, to realize this was something Davin not only never really had but maybe, just maybe…
"Do you want me to just make him do it?"
Davin s
wallowed hard. He clenched his hands into fists on his knees as he sat across from the alpha. His alpha. The man Davin had obeyed for years of his life while he hoped and prayed for things to improve.
Davin didn't want to admit it, but there were times when he blamed Bodolf for the state of his relationship.
He blamed Bodolf for being the alpha within the pack but then making sure it was Mark who acted as though he were in charge on the outside.
He blamed Bodolf for not being able to keep the pack, or its citizens, safe enough that not only had Davin gotten taken multiple times but that people in the pack died when no one was looking out for them.
"Davin."
It was a command. The sound of his own name was a command, and, while Davin was not a shifter, he'd lived here long enough that he snapped his attention to the other man.
Bodolf's wore a patient expression, but there was something in his eyes that went against that narrative.
"Did Mark hurt you?"
"What? No!"
Davin didn't think he could shake his head fast enough.
"Are you sure? This whole arrangement you both are doing—"
"Is fine." Davin shot to his feet. Even while he was standing and Bodolf was sitting, he was barely taller than the other man. "There's nothing wrong with what we're doing. We're both adults, and I knew what I was getting into."
Bodolf raised a brow at him, as though he didn't entirely believe that.
"You remember you're the one who knocked on my door with that kicked-puppy look on your face, right?"
Davin was scandalized. He barely knew what to spit out with an accusation like that. "I did not look like a kicked puppy."
Bodolf shrugged. "Makes no difference to me whether you are or not. Just don't come bothering me for something and then change your mind in the middle of it."
"Y-You accused Mark of trying to hurt me!"
"Not on purpose." Bodolf took his beer bottle off the coffee table, as though none of this were any skin off his back.
For a human more trouble than he was worth, maybe that was the case.
"So then what were you saying?"
Bodolf's eyes glowed red at the question. He smelled the challenge, and if Davin didn't want to see his wolf, then he was going to have to pull this back a little.
Davin swallowed hard. "Well?"
Bodolf actually growled at him. "I was saying that even an idiot can see that the two of you going through this bullshit dance is only going to hurt the both of you in the long run even more than it is now. If you want out, then let me know and I'll make Mark let you go. All he has to do is open that channel, right?"
Davin nodded. "R-Right."
"So then let me help you. I don't want my second-in-command out of commission for so long that we're exposed. The hunters are still out there. The people who tried to sell Dex to a bunch of fucking weirdos are out there. I'm sorry things have been rough for you, but this isn't entirely about you. The longer you draw this out, the worse it will be for the both of you and the more exposed we will be."
Davin blinked. Not once had he thought of it like that.
It was true. The longer he did put this off, the more it would hurt.
Both of them.
Not that Davin was a wolf shifter or anything, but he'd heard the stories. Some wolves stayed bedridden for days, sometimes weeks, if a mate severed the connection. Either on purpose or through death.
Of course, death was worse because it meant the other mate was never coming back but also that the mating had been severed by force, entirely from one side.
A terrible sensation so powerful, no one thought it was possible to do such a thing.
Break a mating when both mates were still alive.
No one seemed to want to test that theory either.
“Well? You keep staring at me. What do you want me to do for you?”
Davin swallowed. He knew what the alpha wanted him to say, and he knew what he should say if he really wanted to break this off.
But no. He needed more time. He wanted this time.
“I need to go.”
Davin turned and walked toward the door. He ignored the look on Dex’s face as he walked out.
Whatever. He didn’t need this. He was an adult, and so was Mark. They could do whatever they wanted regardless of how much it hurt them.
Except this could have an effect on Mark’s ability to defend the pack.
When he got back into his own house, the house he wouldn’t be living in for much longer if he really wanted to go through with the separation, he wasn’t shocked to see Mark standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter.
He had an apple in his hand. His boots were still on, dirt on them, which Davin normally hated, but this time he didn’t care.
Mark had come back from checking on the tenants for the houses the pack rented out recently. Maybe while Davin was still in Bodolf’s home and they had been talking.
“Hi.”
Mark took a bite of his apple, speaking around it. “Hey.”
Davin inhaled a deep breath. “You heard that?”
Mark shrugged. “I heard enough. Sorry, I didn't mean to spy on you. I just went there and…are you going to ask him to do it?”
Davin rolled his eyes. “Why is it that if I want out of the mating, you’ll fight me at every turn, but if I were to get your alpha to order to let me out, you would obey?”
“Because he’s my alpha. He has that kind of control over me. You don’t. You’re my mate. My soul mate. It’s in my nature to want to keep you.” He took another bite of his apple. “Besides, I said I would anyway.”
“I know.”
“Did you get him to do it?”
Davin shook his head. “No. It…he asked me if you’d ever hurt me.”
“Yeah.” Mark’s eyes flashed. “I heard that bit, too.”
“Then you know I told him you never had.”
“I never said I was angry with you about it.”
Davin opened his mouth then closed it. Oh. That was right. “So you’re angry with Bodolf?”
“A little. I hoped the prick would have known me better than this.”
Davin’s heart sank. Was this was what Bodolf worried about? That their break-up would not only impact Mark’s work but his relationship with the alpha of the pack?
That could be a problem.
“I’m sure he only asked it because he has to. You have protocol you have to follow at work all the time. He already knows you wouldn’t hurt me. He just wanted to hear me say it.”
Mark snorted. As though he was still pissed off.
And Davin wanted to go to him. He wanted to wrap his arms around the other man and kiss him until he calmed down. Every instinct within Davin’s body told him to go to his mate and ease his pain. To rid him of these worries within him.
“I want to stay.”
Mark’s eyes flew wide. He looked at Davin as though he’d just grown a second head.
“But you already know that.”
Mark threw the apple into the sink and went to him. He took Davin’s hands, that same intensity in his eyes. “I will do better. I will keep you safe. I promise.”
“It wasn’t you that did this to me, though.”
Mark shook his head, as though he didn’t entirely believe that. “I wasn’t there.”
Davin’s heart pounded. This was it. This was the conversation he did and didn’t want to have. He didn’t like talking out what he felt about anything, especially when those feelings were so mixed up.
He wanted to be able to handle it on his own, and he hated that he couldn’t.
“It was never your fault. You didn’t do this to me. To us. It was just…I hate the fact that there seem to always be hunters out there trying to get me. I hate the fact that sometimes they come for me because they want to sell me, and I hate that sometimes other humans and omegas in the pack can get killed because of that.”
Well, that just came out of his mouth.
Other than pity. Of the mixture on Mark’s face, that one was definitely in there somewhere.
“I know it sounds like bullshit, and it usually is, but this isn’t you. It’s me.”
Mark shook his head. “Then believe me when I tell you that this isn’t on you either. I will leave this fucking pack. We won’t live here if that’s what will make you feel safe. We don’t have to live here. We do not have to do anything you don’t want.”
Davin’s throat started to close. He struggled against the ache.
Because he believed Mark. He believed one hundred percent that Mark would leave this pack behind, that he would break his vow to Bodolf if this was what he thought Davin needed.
And Davin knew he couldn’t ask the other man to do that for him.
If Mark did that, no other pack would ever take him in for the rest of his life, even if he wanted to go to another pack and even if Bodolf gave him a glowing recommendation.
Even the humans knew how packs felt when someone defected.
But Mark would do that to himself. Really?
“You would take that kind of risk? What if I said yes, we left, tried to make it work, and I changed my mind? You would be without a pack for the rest of your life.”
He knew Mark would be too proud to ask to come back to Bodolf. That was just the way he was.
Mark pressed his lips together. He looked so open and vulnerable.
“Then I live without a pack. I can do that. I can’t just sit around and know I didn’t do everything possible to make you feel as safe as you needed to feel to be here with me.”
And this was where it got awkward, and Davin hated his feelings.
“It’s so sick.”
Mark tilted his head a little, clearly confused by the comment.
Davin smiled at him. “I was starting to make myself believe that…because you were always at work, and because of your responsibilities with the pack, that you only cared about me because I was your mate. Because I’m your wolf’s soul or whatever.”
Mark’s shoulders tensed. “No, never. That’s not what that was. Not for one second.”