by Dakota West
He’s found out already, Trevor thought. That was faster than I anticipated.
By now they were in the workshop, his father leading him into the big meeting room. Everyone in the pack was there, thirty or forty wolves, all sitting around quietly.
Trevor felt watched. No, more than watched. He felt like he was under a microscope, almost like he was prey. The thought made him stand up taller.
You could run, he thought. Prey would run.
There were wolves in front of the door, and the workshop didn’t have windows. Trevor was trapped and he knew that there was only one way out — through the other wolves.
This is payback for Olivia, he thought. This is what I deserve.
He sat on a stool, watching his father.
Buck stood in front of everyone. As much as Trevor didn’t agree with his father, he had to admit that the man had charisma. Who else could get this many other wolves to be here, even after getting two of their comrades killed? Who could have them all hanging on his every word?
He waited until the big, echoing metal room was totally silent before he spoke.
“As most of you know, we’re almost ready to put the plan into action,” he said.
Trevor blinked.
What?
“The time is right for the wolf to rise up and take what’s his,” he went on. “No more being under a human thumb. Wolves first, now and forever!”
On that cue, there was a screech of metal from the back of the room, and Trevor turned. Two enormous metal cabinets were pulled open by two wolves, a man and a woman, the horrible sound of metal on metal clattering through the workshop. Inside the massive cabinets he could only see shadow, but in the pit of his stomach, he had a terrible, terrible feeling.
“Wait,” said his father. “Not yet.”
His eyes, copies of Trevor’s own, raked the room.
“First we demand loyalty,” he said.
What the fuck is going on, Trevor thought, just as his father’s eyes slid over to him.
“As we all know, loyalty is the most important thing to a wolf pack,” his father said. “Bring him out.”
The office door opened, and a human teenager came out, led by a big, burly wolf. The kid’s hands were tied behind his back, and he already had a black eye.
The kid looked terrified, and Trevor could feel his wolf rise to just beneath his skin, fueled by adrenaline and danger.
“Trevor and Rick, we’re going to need a show of loyalty,” Buck said.
Trevor stepped forward, along with a younger wolf.
“What did he do?” Trevor asked.
His father shrugged.
“Why’s he here?” he asked, his voice rising.
“So you can show us that you’re not going to betray your own people,” his father said, his voice hard. “Don’t worry, I’ll go first.”
He looked almost casual as he slugged the kid in the stomach, making him double over in pain.
Trevor felt like he might throw up. Had he just been tossed into bizzarro-world, where one minute he was telling his niece to write a book report and the next he was supposed to punch a kid not much older than she was?
“Your turn,” his father said.
Trevor walked up to the kid, his mind spinning. The kid was on his knees on the floor, and when he looked up at Trevor, there was nothing but pure terror on his face. He couldn’t have been older than fifteen.
He could go to school with Lizzy, Trevor thought.
“Get up,” his father said to the kid. The burly wolf behind the kid yanked on his arm, and the kid stood.
“Untie him,” Trevor managed to say. “Make it a fair fight.”
His father laughed.
“Fine,” he said, then pulled out a pocket knife and cut through the rope around the kid’s wrists.
Trevor raised his fists, taking the kid in, and the kid did the same, even though he clearly had no idea how to fight.
Then Trevor swung. His fist sailed past the kid’s face and got the wolf behind him, blood spurting from the man’s nose.
“Run!” Trevor shouted, and the kid didn’t have to be told twice. What he lacked in fighting skills he made up for in escaping skills, as he darted between all the men trying to grab him. Trevor stopped to punch someone else, though this time he was off-balance and he could feel something snap in his hand.
It didn’t matter. They were at the door, then they were out of the workshop, both sprinting across the lawn, the wolves not far behind. Trevor reached in his pocket, grabbed his keys to the truck, and tossed them to the kid.
“Drive like hell and don’t look back!” he shouted, and didn’t wait to hear a response before he shifted, sprinting across the grass and into the woods at top speed. Every time his right front paw hit the ground, it hurt a little more, but he didn’t stop, barely slowing down to watch a pickup truck zoom down the long driveway, then crash through the gate, stop, lurch forward, stop again, and then finally pull onto the highway, three wolves coming up behind it and stopping short.
Trevor ran. It was all he did, blanking out everything in his mind except for the need to get away and the pain in his paw. That was the only thing he couldn’t blank out, but after a little while, he came to terms with it.
He hoped the teenager got away and went to the police. He was on the highway, and that was a good sign.
I hope I at least saved that kid, Trevor thought. His lungs burned in his chest, and his tongue lolled out as he ran, practically dragging on the ground. The pain in his paw was slowly becoming torture.
Finally, Trevor slowed to a walk, limping along.
The wolves behind him were gone.
I don’t know anything, he thought. I think dad probably just wanted me out of the pack.
He didn’t even know whether the pack knew about Austin. Maybe it had been coming for months, and now was just the time that they chose. It could be a coincidence.
All the same, a pang of loss shot through his heart, and he closed his eyes for a moment. His whole life, he’d had his pack and his family, almost no matter what. When his older brother David and his mates had died, they’d taken in his kids without question. When his Papa died, the pack had coalesced around his father Buck, supporting him through that awful time.
For just one moment, Trevor had the urge to turn around. He could find some other high school kid and beat him to a pulp if that would get him back into the pack.
Then he saw the lights up ahead, and realized where he’d run to: the Double Moon Ranch. He’d jumped a fence without even noticing.
Trevor sat for a moment, catching his breath. His paw felt like murder. There was a slowly-expanding hole in his heart: for his pack, his family, his niece and nephew.
You should just leave, he thought. Let Austin and Sloane have a nice life together. If you stay, you’re just going to cause them trouble.
Trevor didn’t move. He just watched the lights of the ranch house, knowing that his mates were inside. He could practically feel them there, moving around inside its walls, happy and warm and safe.
All he wanted was to be safe in his mates’ arms, and damn the consequences. He couldn’t make himself leave. He couldn’t even make himself look away.
Trevor stood, trotting out of the forest with a limp. He walked across the driveway, shifting as he went.
Then he walked up to the door, stark naked, and knocked twice with his left hand, since his right was swollen to the size of a baseball.
Moments later, he could hear footsteps coming up to the door, and he braced himself as it swung open.
Then Austin was there, backlit by the warm, comforting light of the kitchen. He paused for a moment, taking in the sight of Trevor, naked, sweaty, and at his door.
“You look like hell,” Austin said, and pulled Trevor inside.
Half an hour later, he sat on one of the overstuffed couches, wearing an outfit of Austin’s that was the tiniest bit too big, drinking a mug of hot chocolate that Sloane had made, his ha
nd wrapped in half a mile of gauze.
“You have to go to the police,” she said, her dark eyes serious, her own mug of hot chocolate half-empty.
Trevor just looked down into his mug, like he could find the right words there.
“The kid they wanted me to beat up probably went,” he said. He knew that he was trying to justify not going himself.
“You should go too,” Sloane said. “Two peoples’ word is much better than just one. Trust me, these asshole cops probably won’t believe anything that some teenager says. I mean, they wanted to string me up with zero evidence.”
Trevor turned his head sharply toward Sloane, and his heart started beating faster again. He’d nearly forgotten that she’d also had a terrible night, and he slipped an arm around her without thinking.
She leaned her head under his chin, and he could smell the warm, floral, almost spicy scent of her hair. It flooded his senses, and it made everything that had happened in the past six hours fade until there was nothing in the world but him, her, and Austin.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Austin called in a favor for me. Oh, Austin, that reminds me, Julius told you to RSVP to his wedding.”
Austin sighed.
“Maybe I’ll go in the morning,” Trevor said quietly. “Packs are a little complicated. I think it’s wolf thing, but my whole life, I’ve learned that what I want matters less than pack and family. That’s how we think: family, pack, then self. It’s in my bones.”
“What if the pack is wrong?” Sloane asked.
“A lot of wolves wouldn’t acknowledge that such a thing is possible,” offered Austin.
Trevor gave him a look, and Austin shrugged apologetically.
“I’m not saying you,” he said. “But you know how wolves can be.”
“I’ll go,” Trevor said. “Just give me a couple of hours, okay?”
He heard the clunk of Austin’s mug against a side table, and then the other man kissed the top of his head and snaked an arm around him. Austin’s huge, warm bulk felt perfect against Trevor’s still-cold skin, and even though Trevor was still hyper-alert and twitchy, he could feel himself starting to relax.
Here he was, between his two mates. None of them knew what the morning brought. To be honest, he was really jumping the gun, thinking of Sloane as his mate, when in reality, she was some girl he’d never even kissed.
But he wanted her to be. He’d wanted it since the very first moment he’d seen her walking away from him in the hospital. Maybe this was the closest he was going to get.
Just as Trevor closed his eyes, letting his final guard down, he heard a door open somewhere else in the house, and his eyes flew open, every muscle in his body stiffening.
Seconds later, Barb stood in the doorway, wearing a puffy robe and slippers, squinting into the light.
Trevor sat up like a bolt, his heart hammering, his hands curling into the soft leather of the couch. He jostled Sloane, whose hot chocolate sloshed onto the couch. She cursed, and jumped up, running to the kitchen for paper towels.
“Oh, is that Trevor?” Barb asked, still squinting. “I don’t have my glasses on.”
“Yes,” said Trevor, his voice pinched with stress. “Hi, Barb, how are you?”
“What on earth are you doing here?” she asked.
Austin sat up behind him and slid one arm around Trevor. Trevor only stiffened, wishing that Austin would stop touching him, but not wanting to rebuff his mate in front of his boss.
“Trevor needs a place to stay for a little while,” Austin said. “Mind if he stays here?”
If Barb was at all surprised at the display of affection, she didn’t show it.
“Of course, Trevor,” she said. “Take as long as you need. Plenty of fences need fixing around here.”
“Thank you,” Trevor said.
“Turn out the lights when you go to bed,” she said.
Then she turned around and walked back down the hall, just as Sloane came back in, mopping up spilled hot chocolate.
Trevor didn’t move a muscle. Then, slowly, he turned to Austin.
“She knows,” he said, his voice just above a whisper.
“She knows now,” said Austin.
Trevor jumped up and started pacing.
“I have to go,” he said. “I can’t stay here. She’s going to tell everyone, and then...”
Sloane was balling up paper towels covered in hot chocolate.
“Then what?” she asked. “You’re already here. You’re already out of your pack.”
The words sunk into Trevor’s brain slowly, almost as if they were penetrating his skull.
She was right. The worst thing had already happened. Sloane tossed the paper towels into the trash can, then walked up to him, looking up.
“Get some rest tonight,” she said. “Nothing worse is going to happen. Go to the police and probably the hospital in the morning.”
Austin stood and rested his chin on Trevor’s shoulder, his arms around his mate.
“If Barb was gonna sound the alarm, she’d have done that instead of going back to sleep,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t think Barb gives a shit who you’re mated to. She likes me pretty well after all.”
They’re right, Trevor thought. An odd elation swept through him.
I’m free.
He turned to Austin and kissed the other man so hard that their teeth nearly touched. He could feel the sharp point of Austin’s canines against his lip, but that didn’t stop him from pressing even harder against his mate, his tongue finding its way into Austin’s mouth and tangling with his, a low, deep growl coming out of the bear shifter.
When he finally broke away, he realized that Sloane was standing in front of him, eyes wide, cheeks bright pink. She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out.
Trevor grinned and leaned back against Austin.
Fuck it, he thought. Do what you want for once.
He crooked one finger at Sloane.
“C’mere,” he said.
Chapter Thirteen
Sloane
Sloane was glad she wasn’t holding her hot chocolate anymore, because she was sure she’d have dropped it.
Trevor and Austin kissing was easily the single sexiest thing she’d ever seen, and her body responded hard, totally unbidden by her. A wave of pure heat washed through her, watching their mouths work against each other, the muscles in Trevor’s forearm as he grabbed Austin’s head and held it against him.
“C’mere,” Trevor said.
True, she’d only known him for a day at most, but this was a hundred-and-eighty degree spin from what she’d thought he was like. Before he was quiet and a little reticent, and now he was almost teasing.
Both ways were dead sexy, she thought.
Before she could come up with a reason to stop herself, Sloane stepped forward. Trevor grabbed one belt loop and pulled her against him.
Their lips met almost before Sloane knew what was happening. Trevor was warm, almost hot, and his hand moved from her belt loop to the back of her head, anchoring her against him as he moved his lips and his body against hers, his body heat radiating through her clothes.
He was so cold a few minutes ago, Sloane thought.
Trevor opened his mouth against hers, biting her lip gently, and she parted her lips to let him through.
I guess not anymore, she thought.
She pushed her hands against his hard chest, feeling the muscles underneath the flannel of Austin’s borrowed shirt, and she could feel a low rumble coming from his chest as she did, vibrating through her.
Trevor snaked his good hand around her, pulling her body against his. She could feel him quickly hardening against her belly, and the feeling of it gave her a head rush, fueled by desire.
When they broke apart, Sloane realized that she was pulling on Trevor’s shirt, tugging at the buttons. He looked down at her and grinned.
Sloane blushed.
You’ve already seen him naked, she thought. From th
e waist up, anyway.
Now Austin had moved around his mate and stood to Sloane’s side, and he bent down and kissed her as well. He was a little softer, a little gentler, but no less urgent. She could practically taste his need on his lips, and he spun her around, pressing her backward into Trevor, until she was surrounded by both men, one of each side.
Sloane didn’t think, just reached up and started unbuttoning Austin’s shirt.
Just do something you didn’t plan, for once in your life, she told herself, revealing his hard, sculpted chest inch by inch. When it was down to his belt buckle, she tugged the rest of his shirt out and then slid her hands around him, pulling Austin close.
Trevor’s lips were on the back of her neck, then the side, licking and sucking and gently biting, making shivers run down her spine, and a quiet moan escape her lips. Trevor chuckled and moved his hand down her front, lightly over her breasts, and then slid it under her shirt, the rough skin of his palm against her belly.
Sloane was breathing hard, and she felt like her core had transformed into liquid, molten metal. There was absolutely no more denying her wild, unfettered attraction to these two men, and in that moment, she knew she’d do anything that they wanted.
Trevor pressed his erection against her back, and now she could feel Austin’s as well, even as she tugged his shirt down over his shoulders.
He bent to kiss her again, hard, then leaned their foreheads together.
“We’re still in the living room,” he murmured.
Sloane looked around, slightly surprised. She’d completely forgotten.
“Oh,” she said.
Austin grinned, and then, in a quick motion, snatched her up in his arms and carried her to the hallway and then to his bedroom, where he tossed her on the double bed. Trevor was close behind, and shut the door after them, the click echoing through Sloane’s bones.
Outside, on the highway, she could hear a fire truck going past, its wail fading into the background.
She’d no sooner landed on the bed then Austin was tugging her shirt over her head, Trevor virtually pounced beside her on the bed.
“Ow,” he said, landing on both hands, then sitting up and shaking his hurt hand, half-grinning. “That was dumb.”