by Zoe Perdita
“Everything,” Caleb growled, shoving the little wolf against the lean-to’s wooden wall.
Wild yelped at the impact, his heart slamming in his chest. At least his mate agreed to touch him again, though Caleb’s eyes burned with the same startling rage as the night before. The smooth wooden wall was slick with condensation and his back slipped against it.
He grasped Caleb’s powerful shoulders, and the man flinched under the touch as if someone struck him. Then his muscular thighs slipped between Wild’s own, forcing them open.
Caleb’s lips hovered inches from his own, the man’s labored breath blowing across his mouth, almost touching his lips. Wild shifted his hips, and Caleb’s hand slid over the little wolf’s shaft slowly, as he reached for his own hardness.
Then tires crunched over the gravel driveway. A car rumbled to a stop, the engine clicking off as the door squeaked open.
The little wolf’s heart slammed in his chest, his whole body burning for this moment, only to be interrupted. Wild had been with him for over a month now and no one ever visited Caleb before.
“Fuck,” the white wolf muttered, and his hands slipped from Wild’s cock.
The smaller wolf’s chest heaved. “Who the hell is it?” he demanded.
Caleb didn’t answer right away. He splashed cold water on his face and took a deep breath as his erection subsided. Wild’s own was still painfully hard.
“You might want to take care of that before you come out and join us.”
“Who’s us?” Wild asked, his own arousal dying with the moment.
Whoever interrupted them was going to pay! His mate was about to kiss him – claim him – and then this happened!
The larger wolf slipped out of the lean-to and into the back door, avoiding the front of the house entirely. Wild didn’t have such reservations. Sneaking around the other side of the cabin, he glowered through the bushes at the beat-up blue car and sniffed the air.
Another wolf. One from that Eurasian pack.
Then he spotted the young man stepping toward the cabin. He was the same mid-ranked wolf from the day before, the one with auburn hair who stopped the beta from attacking Caleb.
He stood at the foot of the porch and squinted into the bushes were Wild huddled. The morning mist had all but burned away, and a shimmer of sunlight fell through the trees, like yellow silk, and across the man’s eyes. He looked about Wild’s height, and his face was smooth and handsome in a very unremarkable way.
“I can smell you,” he said, his voice edged with uncertainty.
Wild glared through the leaves and stood up straight.
The new wolf raised an eyebrow. “Oh. You’re that omega. Is Caleb here?”
Wild bristled. How dare this new wolf ask about his mate so casually. The little wolf certainly didn’t have to answer any questions if he didn’t want to. Plus, this stranger waltzed right into Caleb’s territory – his new home. The white wolf didn’t invite him.
Wild shifted, his body easily bending and cracking, and leapt at the intruder – this was his territory and his mate – he’d protect it anyway he had to.
“Wild! Enough!” Caleb boomed from the doorway, draped in a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt.
The new wolf stumbled back a few steps, though he didn’t shift to meet the attack. “What the hell is going on?”
Wild skidded to a stop, gravel flying through the air, then whimpered and lowered himself to the ground, pressing his chin flat to the dirt. Why would his mate stop him? Unless . . .
The big wolf creaked down the porch stairs. “Are you going to shift back into a human?”
Sam glanced between them, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Wild growled, but let his body slip back into his human shape as he stood.
“Who’s he?” he demanded, narrowing his eyes at the intruder.
“Sam. Now get your ass inside so we can have breakfast,” Caleb said, though his voice dripped with patience.
Wild stared at Sam, and Sam stared right on back. Then the new wolf turned and walked toward the stairs. “Breakfast sounds good.”
“You already ate,” the white wolf said.
Wild followed them both into the cabin, his eyes on the intruder the whole time. Sam hesitated at the door, glancing around like he expected something to jump out and pounce on him. When they settled at the kitchen table, his knee bounced in place.
Caleb turned his eyes to the little wolf. “Wild, will you please put some pants on?”
No. He did not want to put pants on, please. But he marched into his room and slipped them over his nakedness all the same. The little wolf heard Sam say something about his five mates, and seeing enough naked men on a daily basis that nothing could surprise him anymore.
That mid-ranked wolf had five whole mates, and Wild couldn’t even entice one? He scowled.
When he stepped back into the kitchen, lingering by the door, Caleb turned up the heat under the skillet and pulled the bacon and sausage from the fridge, along with a dozen fresh eggs.
“So?” he asked and glanced at Sam.
“So yourself. You’re the one who has some explaining to do.” Sam’s eyes trailed over Wild, and the little wolf glowered at him.
This was his home now. That new wolf had no right to look at him like that.
“I’m not sure I do. It’s none of your business what I do in my territory. Wild, can you help me with this?”
At least he wasn’t rolling over for the other wolf – the rival wolf, Wild thought and cracked some eggs in a big mixing bowl.
Sam rolled his eyes. “You know that’s not why I’m here. Every single one of them, except Pasha, just reacted to the traps in the fields and blamed it on him. I want to know what’s going on.”
The bacon sizzled as it hit the hot pan, and Caleb turned around to face the new wolf – his arms crossed over his massive chest.
“Oh? You’re giving me the benefit of the doubt?”
Sam shrugged. “Yeah, so the least you can do is give me your side of things. And maybe offer me something to drink.”
The larger wolf actually laughed at that, his eyes crinkling.
Sam smiled, like it was an old joke between them.
Wild looked back and forth from his mate to the new wolf. What the hell was going on? How did they know each other? And what was funny about that?
“Why is he here?” the little wolf hissed as he tossed the shells into the compost bin.
Caleb sighed, and slid the sausage onto the pan before he took the bowl of eggs from the counter.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Sam said in an even voice.
The little wolf’s cheeks flushed, and he balled his hands into fists. His hold over this place was tentative; he couldn’t deny that. If Caleb kicked him out, he’d have no recourse to stay. The man might be his mate, but if he didn’t claim Wild their connection meant nothing. However, he had more of a claim than a wolf from a rival pack.
“I—”
“He’s my apprentice,” Caleb said. “Wild, this is Sam. Sam meet Wild.”
The omega glowered at the new wolf, and Sam nodded, though he furrowed his brow. “That’s it? Someone raided henhouses all over the valley. Even up on the bluff. Was it you?”
Wild flinched as the eggs crackled in the pan. “What if it was?”
Sam nodded. “Why?”
“Maybe I was hungry,” he growled.
The new wolf’s eyes widened, and he glanced at Caleb as if the big man had something more to add. The white wolf scrambled the eggs like he didn’t hear a word they said, though he obviously did – his ears were too keen not to.
“Why didn’t you . . . I don’t know, hunt or something?”
“I hunted the chickens. If those farmers didn’t want them eaten, why put them in cages so they’re easy to catch?” the little wolf spat, though he knew the answer. It was also easier for the farmers to catch them, and easier to collect their eggs, when the hens were caged.
Sa
m gaped at him, and threw another glance at Caleb.
The white wolf simply piled two plates with the breakfast food, the fragrance of eggs and cooked meat filling the room, and set them at the table. Then he poured three cups of coffee, one for each of them.
For the second meal in a row, Wild’s appetite eluded him.
Caleb took a large bite of eggs before he spoke. “You heard him – he was hungry and caught a few chickens. He’s here now, and he’s not going to bother those valley farmers anymore – if that’s really what you’re worried about.”
Sam frowned into his cup. “I’m not the one who’s worried, but when a new wolf shows up out of nowhere the Lowell brothers get . . . defensive.”
Wild shoved a whole sausage into his mouth and chewed. He was the new wolf, and he made a whole pack nervous – or the threat of a hunter did.
Caleb stared at Sam peaceably, without saying a word, and the mid-ranked wolf sighed. “Fine. I get it. You don’t want to tell me because I’m part of their pack now. I’m not here to spy on you.”
A piece of bacon crunched between Caleb’s powerful jaws. “Oh? You’re not going to tell your mates all about this visit? I won’t have them messing in my territory.”
“Like you messed in theirs?”
Wild’s heart slammed in his chest, and he shoveled the eggs into his mouth. Not out of hunger per se, but he didn’t want to waste it. Plus he needed to do something with his hands.
“Touché.”
The new wolf shifted the cup between his palms and sighed. “Look. You owe me, especially if this affects my pack. Anyone could get hurt in those traps, not just wolves. Someone’s dog or cat – hell, even a kid. Whoever is laying them needs to be stopped.”
“I’m not doing it,” the white wolf said, his eyes narrowed.
Sam huffed. “I know! But first you get an . . . apprentice, then this shit starts happening? It’s–”
“It’s not his fault,” Caleb growled, and his fork clinked on the side of his plate.
The new wolf stared at him, eyes wide. Then he glanced at Wild, who glared though his heart thundered in his chest. His mate was defending him, yet again. Why defend him if he didn’t want to claim him?
“I wasn’t going to blame him, but it’s not a coincidence either. If we have a wolf hunter in our midst that’s not a good thing, so I’ve heard.”
The white wolf leaned forward. “And if we do, I’ll take care of it. Your pack has no right attacking anyone under my protection.”
Sam’s cheeks flushed. “Really? Does hypocrisy ever bother you?”
Caleb leaned back, his face draining of all color, and he crunched on another slice of bacon.
“Well, you know where I’ll be if you want to tell me what’s going on,” Sam muttered and stood up, his coffee untouched. “Remember that a hunter could kill any of us – the Lowell brothers included. I know you don’t like them, but I do.”
Wild’s stomach twisted. Why didn’t Caleb tell him they knew a hunter was out there? Why keep it a secret – unless those Eurasian wolves really would come for him.
“There is a hunter,” Wild said, the words little more than a whisper.
The white wolf snorted, and Sam stopped in the doorway, his eyes settling on the little wolf.
“Thanks. That’s all I wanted to know. And, for the record, I think this arrangement is a good thing, Caleb. Being alone isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.”
He left without another word, and Wild stared at his half-eaten plate of breakfast as the car rumbled to life and crunched back toward the road.
Finally, Caleb spoke. “Why did you tell him?”
The smaller wolf’s eyes stung – this was the part when he got yelled at – when Caleb told him how stupid and useless he was. “Because you didn’t. He has a pack to protect, and it’s my fault the hunter is here. If his mates died, that’d be my fault too.”
Even if he hated that other wolf and the way he looked at Caleb, like they both kept the same secret, he didn’t want to be responsible for someone’s death. Not like that.
A big hand engulfed his, squeezing it gently. “It’s not your fault.”
Somehow, Wild didn’t believe him.
Chapter 8
Sam’s words lingered in Caleb’s mind all day. Hypocrite. The damn kid was right, and the white wolf couldn’t say a thing to deny it. He’d hunted down Sam, ever since the boy came of age, with the intent to change him into a werewolf before the Eurasians could claim him.
It made sense at the time – protect another wolf’s bait from the painful fate he suffered. But Sam didn’t see it that way. Not at all. He thought Caleb kidnapped him out of spite for the Russian pack. Or worse – that the big wolf wanted Sam as his own mate.
Not a chance in hell.
Caleb hadn’t wanted a mate since . . . no. He couldn’t even think of Peter now without his stomach turning itself inside out.
The bastard.
In some ways, this was his fault.
Wild slumped in the corner of the workroom, bent over a table with the chisel in his hand. His slender fingers and keen eye made carving the intricate designs easy – at least easier than it was for the larger wolf. He still made mistakes, but he’d improved by leaps and bounds since he’d first started.
The white wolf didn’t want a mate, yet here the whelp sat.
Caleb sighed. The smaller wolf’s bare chest shimmered with sweat in the warmth of the day. Birds chirped outside, their song the only sound besides the blade slipping against the wood. Wild hadn’t managed to brush his hair or shave yet, so it still stood on end – his cheeks rough and dark.
A breeze picked up the little wolf’s musk and blew it around the room, and Caleb frowned. The telltale sensation prickled his senses, the ache in his groin and the tug on his heart, but he didn’t have to give in. If he didn’t claim Wild, the whelp wasn’t really his mate – that’s what made it official.
All he had to do was not have sex with Wild – easier said than done.
He didn’t even want to think what he might’ve done if Sam hadn’t interrupted them at the perfect moment. The little wolf’s lips, swollen with lust and waiting – his rock hard cock begging for the release only Caleb could give.
The white wolf knew the feeling – the intensity of desire that flowed through his veins. He felt it too, but that didn’t make it right. Didn’t make it okay to give in.
Wild might think he wanted Caleb now, but after he gained a few more years of experience, there was no guarantee he’d continue to feel the same. Being mates meant they’d be tied together for the rest of their lives. A curse of their instincts.
And after what the white wolf lived through, he didn’t trust his instincts in the least.
“You need to put the legs on,” Wild said, and shook him from his thoughts.
Caleb glanced at him and nodded. “I know. I was just thinking about something.”
The little wolf set his lips into a decided frown. “About him?”
“Him?”
“That stupid mid-ranked wolf. Sam,” he growled.
The larger wolf nodded. He’d been waiting for the question all day, sure Wild would ask as soon as Sam left. Instead, the little wolf seemed too preoccupied with his own thoughts.
“No, I wasn’t thinking about him.”
Wild lowered his eyes and twisted the chisel in his slender fingers. “How do you know him?”
“He’s a local wolf – I know all of them.”
The man had no reason to lie, but something kept him from telling the truth all the same. Would the little wolf still respect him if he knew what Caleb had done to Sam? Not to mention how jealous it might make Wild, no matter how little the white wolf’s fleeting relationship with Sam meant in the long run.
“You don’t talk to him like you talk to the other ones,” Wild muttered.
Caleb leaned against the worktable. “Oh? And how do I talk to Sam?”
The little wolf shrugged. “Like
you know him. Like you’re friends or something.”
Like I’m sorry? Caleb wondered, but he didn’t voice that to Wild. The whelp would never understand.
Instead, he sighed. “Not friends. We have a unique understanding. He’s a changeling too, and he came to me for help adjusting to life as a wolf.”
Never mind Caleb was the one who turned Sam into a werewolf in the first place. That little detail wasn’t important at the moment.
“Another changeling? No wonder he didn’t shift to fight me.”
The white wolf’s lip twitched at that, though he had a scar from Sam’s first time shifting. Looks like he still wasn’t used to his new form. It took everyone a different amount of time to adjust. Maybe Sam would never be fully comfortable in his new shape – the thought sent a stab right to Caleb’s heart. But he couldn’t change the fact that Sam was a wolf – no one could. Nor did he regret it. Being wolf’s bait was far worse.
“He’s not much of a fighter.”
Wild nodded, chewing his bottom lip. “You like him, don’t you?”
The white wolf raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?”
“You didn’t threaten him. You threatened his pack, but you let him come in and gave him coffee. And he’s a rival wolf!”
“A rival to who? He doesn’t think I’m his mate.”
The little wolf balled his hands into fists, his knuckles blanching. “I don’t think it; I know it. You do too!”
Caleb let out a slow breath between his teeth. Wild’s green eyes shone in the afternoon light, his lips pursed into a plea.
“If I don’t claim you, we aren’t mates. It has to be official, doesn’t it?”
The little wolf stood up so fast he knocked the workbench over. “Then claim me! Do it right here! You were going to this morning!”
The words set fire to Caleb’s skin – his body aching for the chance to give in to the desire – the allure of the other wolf. And maybe Wild was right. Who knows what might’ve happened if Sam didn’t show up right then. The little wolf was naked and willing – and the beast inside took over at moments like that.
But he was a man, not an animal.