by Leah Blake
“Guess you have holes in your research? I’m surprised your boss hasn’t told you more about us.”
“He tells us a lot.”
“All reliable information, too.”
Mik groaned.
“Raul is the oldest living shifter on record. He hit his hundredth birthday last month. There is hope that shifters will start living longer. We do not age like humans, but our life expectancy isn’t much higher than humans either. Kind of like dog years, I suppose.”
“So there aren’t any shifters that have lived longer than Raul?”
“None that have been recorded.”
“What about the vampires? Jude learned that the head of the vampire estate was killed.” Maybe he could garner a little information and stash it away for later. “He’s been following a lead that there might be tensions between the shifters and the vampires.”
“He can speculate all he likes.” Nico’s hand crept lower until he held Mik by the waist. “I’m not giving you that information. I know you’re warming up to me, but I find it difficult to believe you’d throw twenty years of your determination to wipe out the paranormal communities aside in a day or two.” His fingers pinched Mik’s side. Mik jerked, arching into Nico’s side. “I also know you’re rooting around for information. Do yourself a favor. If you ask a question in hopes of passing it along to Jude, don’t ask the question.”
Mik’s shoulders sank.
Hunter logic: 0. Conscience: 1.
Chapter Nine
Nico hated shutting down the small talk about the Creek, but the moment he detected Mikhail’s curiosity shifting into interrogation, he had no choice. He would not place his friends and family in danger, regardless of his mating status to Mikhail.
At least his mate didn’t try to argue the point. He simply…shut up.
Holding Mikhail’s smaller frame close to his body, he stood on the porch looking out over the nightly rituals of the shifters after a long day of work. He kept a close tab on Mace, having already received a telepathic warning about Mikhail’s presence. Although he doubted the guard would actually threaten Mikhail, he wasn’t taking any chances with those who knew the man’s identity.
“That beast is sizing me up. Not sure I like it.”
Nico didn’t care for it either. “He won’t go against Raul’s decision. He doesn’t have to like it, but he’ll respect it.”
“This is my new normal until I leave.”
The resignation in Mikhail’s voice tore a little at Nico’s heart. It also gave him an idea.
“You want to show me how badass you are?”
“If I do that, I’d have every animal out there on me in a split second.”
“Not here. The gym. We can spar. Release some of your tension.”
“There’s a gym here?” Mikhail’s spirits lifted. The man stepped away from Nico and sized him up. “I’ve taken men your size, so I hope you’re ready to eat the ground.”
“Ah, but have you ever taken a man my size who happens to be a wolf?” Nico asked, his voice lowering to a seductive husk. Mikhail’s cheeks flushed and his eyes clouded. “I doubt it. Your kill sheet includes smaller shifters and weakened vampires.”
Nico saw Mikhail visibly swallow before his mate looked away.
“I have one request for you, Mikhail. Keep an open mind untainted by the stories you’ve been told. If you want to see exactly what you hunt, all you have to do is look around you. This is it. Men with a special gift to change into animal form. Men who work hard during the day to survive, and enjoy the company of friends. Men who put their lives on the line to protect their own, and then some. We will just as quickly take out a rogue shifter who is a threat to all communities as we would a lamabra. We deliver fair justice. Tell me. Is that how the hunters work? Do you protect humans who need protection? Or do you hunt behind the façade that you’re doing something to benefit humanity? A lost pup in the woods. Would you kill it? Or would you save it?”
“You’re shredding me, you know that?”
“Am I making my point?”
“Where’s this gym?”
There was an edge of anger to Mikhail’s question, one that Nico held no guilt over. Nor did he feel bad about the grind of his mate’s teeth behind thinned lips.
Nico guided Mikhail back to the manor. He brought his mate through a throng of men who had come in from the patio and had a close eye on the hunter among them. Nico caught every gaze and impressed a silent warning, pleased to find most of the hostile greeting committee turn away and return to their festivities.
By the time Nico and Mikhail had reached the door to the basement gym, Mikhail was seething beneath a strained expression. The man’s aggravation was almost palpable. When a momentary transfer occurred, Nico reeled back from Mikhail’s mind, unable to stand the cacophony of thoughts.
Mikhail was pissed. He wanted to throw the shifters who looked upon him with hatred to the floor and give them a reason to hate. He wanted to run from the manor and escape this prison. He wanted to divulge details of the manor to Jude. A bundle of angry thoughts that couldn’t break through the barriers of one simple fact.
Mikhail did not want to leave Nico. Not yet, at least.
Nico rested a hand on Mikhail’s shoulder. The man’s muscles were hard with tension.
“You’re not up to your full potential tonight. Take it easy on yourself, okay?” Nico suggested. He pushed open the door and motioned for Mikhail to head down the stairs. “Three days of limited movement has left your muscles weak.”
“Not as bad as you think. A little spar will help me.”
Nico followed his mate down the long set of stairs until they came to the large, open gym. A few guards were using the weight machines. The matted sparring area was empty.
“You did not just bring that fucking piece of trash down here. What the fuck is wrong with you, bro?”
Nico refrained from growling and pinned Jazz with a murderous glower. The guard’s upper lip peeled back from his fangs as he released the handlebars to one of the weight machines. The stack of weights crashed to the base, echoing throughout the room. Mikhail’s attention snapped to the weights.
“Jazz, lay off.”
“Better be worth it, Nico. Every fucking second, ’cause he’ll kill you in your sleep.”
“Doubt that.”
“You don’t get it, do you? Raul should have never opened our doors for that killer. The only reason his scalp is intact is because Raul ordered it.”
“He wants a fight?” Mikhail asked. Nico had been laying in a piercing glare to his friend so that he hadn’t noticed Mikhail step up to him. Nico lifted his arm, keeping Mikhail from marching across the room and instigating something with Jazz. “Let him challenge me.”
“No,” Nico growled down at his mate. “That’s what he wants. It’ll give him a reason to go to Raul.”
Mikhail’s fingers fisted at his sides. His eyes flickered with anger and his nostrils flared. Behind those lips that hadn’t relaxed from their thin lines, Nico listened to the grinding of teeth.
“Maybe Raul should kick me out. I don’t belong here.”
“At least the prick has a brain.”
Nico snapped his teeth toward Jazz. “Shut your fucking mouth, Jazz, before I shut it for you.”
Mikhail shoved Nico’s arm aside and stormed toward the weights. Jazz smirked, stepping out from his machine.
“Mikhail, stop.”
To his relief, Mikhail stopped his advance. Jazz mirrored him. Nico approached his mate, keeping his attention focused on Jazz until he placed himself between the two men.
“Go ahead, Jazz. I dare you.” The threat behind his words entwined with his wolf’s deep, resonating growl.
Jazz’s eyes narrowed, his dark brows slanting. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why do you care what happens to him?”
Nico held Jazz’s prodding gaze, completely aware that Mikhail leaned out from behind him to watch the challenge. The two guards that were worki
ng out with Jazz moved to the edge of the machines and watched.
Jazz’s fierce stare went wide. “Oh man.” His gaze dropped to where Nico suspected Mikhail now stood. “Damn, bro. I feel bad for you.”
“Why? I don’t feel bad.”
Jazz shot his arm out, pointing to Mikhail. “Him, of all the fucking people on this planet, it’s him. You’re better off alone.”
“I’ll be the judge of what is best for me.”
Rage flared along his back. He could almost feel the tension rolling through his mate. He stretched his arm out, a silent warning to Mikhail to stay put. Hopefully, his mate would heed his warning this time.
“You’re dick whipped already.” Jazz waved his hand and groaned. “Whatever. Just keep that shit away from me. I don’t have a tolerance for cold-blooded murderers.”
Nico moved around Mikhail as Jazz and his pals headed toward the stairs, keeping the man out of sight of his pissed off friends. He didn’t let his guard down until he heard the door to the basement close.
Mikhail shoved him from behind with enough force to send him stumbling forward. When he spun to face his mate, he dodged a flying fist, leaned back to avoid a rebound elbow, and jumped away from an arcing leg.
“You should’ve let me duke it out. I don’t need you to protect me.”
Mikhail moved quickly, his agility impressive. The benefit of being on the smaller side, but not enough to best Nico.
“Well, you’re duking it out now, I see.” Nico dropped to the floor and swung his leg out, catching Mikhail at the ankles. His mate twisted, saving himself from a vulnerable fall, punched back to his feet, and rushed Nico. “Feel good?”
Nico rolled out of Mikhail’s way, caught the man at the waist, and hoisted him over his shoulder. Mikhail barked, kicking wildly, punching fists against Nico’s lower back. Nico groaned when one of those punches send a dull pain down his leg. His teeth tapered. He started toward the foam sparring mat where falls were cushioned a little more than on the wood.
“Let me the fuck down, wolf!”
Another brutal punch.
Nico growled, tightening his arms around the backs of Mikhail’s legs. He cocked his head and bit Mikhail’s ass.
“Shit!”
“Don’t you dare.”
Mikhail braced both fists along Nico’s back and pushed up. Nico flashed him a feral smile, teeth and all, when he caught his mate looking over his shoulder with an expression of shock and arousal.
“I told you I bite.” Nico ran his tongue over his teeth before he willed his wolf to settle. When he reached the matted area, he eased Mikhail to his feet and stepped back. His gaze lowered to the prominent bulge in the man’s jeans and he couldn’t help but grin. “You liked it. Now, are you going to spar or are you going to have another temper tantrum?”
Mikhail’s jaw set. “I did not have a temper tantrum. I think that dick was out of line with his comments.”
“Why is that?”
“He has no right telling you you’re better off without me.”
Nico’s grin grew as he watched his mate’s expression turn from frustration to realization. He rested heavily on his heels, pleased that Mikhail voiced exactly what Nico suspected.
“Because you know otherwise?”
Nico caught the subtle shift in Mikhail’s stance before he launched into a quick-paced spar. Nico maneuvered around each jab, punch, kick Mikhail delivered in his direction. Mikhail caught him in a rapid succession of jump and spin kicks, knocking him off balance for a split second. His mate took the opportunity to loop an arm around his neck and slam him to the mat. Nico could’ve easily gained the upper hand, but used the perceived disadvantage to his advantage.
Especially when Mikhail straddled his abdomen and pointed his fingers like an imaginary gun to Nico’s forehead. Mikhail’s excitement sparkled in his eyes and flushed his cheeks. His breaths were hard.
Nico intended to make him pant.
“Down, boy,” Mikhail breathed.
Nico chuckled. He grabbed Mikhail’s waist, forcing that sweet ass back until he was pressed to Nico’s swollen erection. “There. That’s where you need to be.”
The smile faded from Mikhail’s mouth. His finger-gun lowered, his entwined hands coming to rest on Nico’s chest. A faint tremor touched Nico’s arms as Mikhail drew that plump bottom lip between his teeth and his gaze lowered to Nico’s mouth.
“You think too much, little one.” Nico gathered the edge of Mikhail’s T-shirt with his fingertips until he could slip his hand beneath the fabric. His mate’s skin was warm, smooth, and made his cock jerk. He’d seen the man naked when he and Cael changed his clothes before his healing started. Mikhail was lithe and toned, muscled but in a graceful way.
Now, touching his skin and watching Mikhail slowly surrender to the hunger far surpassed any erotic fantasy Nico had previously dreamed up. Right down to the hitch in his mate’s breath and the flutter of his heart.
“Tell me, what is going on in that mind of yours?”
Nico traversed Mikhail’s firm belly with the palm of his hand, teasing the trail of hair from his belly button to his jeans. His mate gasped, his eyelids growing heavy. Nico pressed the tips of his fingers between the jeans and his lower belly. Mikhail’s lips separated on a rush of breath.
“Mikhail,” Nico murmured.
His mate’s arms trembled as he tried to keep himself braced against Nico’s chest. Nico dipped his fingers lower until the tips brushed the moist head of Mikhail’s cock.
“Tell me, little one. What are you thinking?”
“How messed up I am in the head right now.”
Nico smeared pre-cum along the wide head, growing taut with desire as his mate shuddered. “Why?”
“I shouldn’t want this. We’re so…different.”
“Are we?” Pulling his hand free of the jeans, Nico gathered Mikhail’s shirt and slid it up his body. Mikhail lifted his arms as Nico tugged it off. Nico grazed his hands along Mikhail’s arms and over his chest, committing each fine line and curve of muscle, each light-colored scar to memory. “Not terribly different. We hunger for the same things. Food, shelter, safety.” Nico rolled over, bringing Mikhail beneath him. “Companionship.”
Mikhail sighed as Nico lowered his head and pressed slow, airy kisses along his neck. Nico’s balls tightened when his mate sank his fingers into his hair and fisted the strands against his scalp. Pleasure raked down his spine as he licked and kissed a delicious mix of man and salt from his mate’s skin.
“We’re enemies.”
“The only enemy here is the one inside your head.” Nico scraped his fangs over Mikhail’s pec. He sealed his lips around the man’s hard nipple and sucked the pebbled flesh between his teeth.
Mikhail bowed, a pleasure-filled sound filling Nico’s ears. Damn, his mate’s sensitivity was intoxicating.
Nico drew circles and slashes with his tongue, then crossed to Mikhail’s other nipple. He nipped, sucked, lashed at the hardened flesh, relishing in his mate’s gasps and sighs. Then he trekked lower, tracing each cut of muscle in his abdomen with his tongue, teasing the goose-bump flesh with his teeth, until he reached Mikhail’s jeans.
“W-what are you doing?” The question came out in a breathy gasp, igniting another fire of desire inside Nico’s spirit. He didn’t answer, pressing open-mouth kisses over the rough fabric, tracing Mikhail’s dick. “Nico, this isn’t…this…”
“Just tell me to stop, honey, and I will.”
In the meantime, he would indulge in these stolen moments.
One of Mikhail’s hands abandoned his hair. Nico lifted his gaze as he moved lower along his mate’s erection, applying a little more pressure when the fabric thickened. The man pressed the heel of his palm to his forehead, an expression twisted between pleasure and worry playing over his pretty face as he gnawed at his lower lip.
Nico sighed and abandoned his small step into foreplay. He drew over Mikhail until his hips were cradled between the man’s l
egs. He gazed down into the conflict-strangled gaze of his mate. His eyes had darkened, a storm enhancing the beautiful copper color. In that storm, Nico caught the depth of his mate’s internal battle.
Nico remained silent, waiting for Mikhail to speak. His little mate needed to find his own words, his own path, and discover what it was he wanted more.
“Nico.” Mikhail’s furrow deepened. A bolt of pain stabbed through his eyes. He lifted a hand and touched Nico’s cheek, the very tips of his fingers tracing the bone. Nico held his breath, absorbing the tender touch of his mate as he traced the lines of his face, brows, nose, and lips. Mikhail scraped his nails lightly along his jaw. “I’m so confused.”
Nico nodded once, but kept his mouth shut.
“My body, my mind, it all wants this. It’s a craving, a hunger that is so strong it has taken me in a grip that is forcing me to forget who I truly am. I can’t forget that. I can’t forget me. The hunter inside me seethes. That side of me wants to destroy what is here. I’m stuck in this limbo, Nico. A place where I keep reminding myself that I am your enemy when I don’t feel like I am. I’ve killed your kind. For that, these shifters will never forgive me. I will always suffer their hatred, their brutal stares and their comments. That doesn’t bother me.”
Mikhail’s hand fell away. He turned his head, breaking their gaze, and stared out across the room.
“I’m not blind. I’m not naïve, either. I know you and that guy had words. You had a conversation that I wasn’t privy to. I don’t know how you can communicate telepathically, but I know you did. The look he burned into you, your friend, is what bothers me. You have a family among these men. I don’t want to ruin that.”
Nico sensed the tension growing inside his mate once more. Tension that warned him Mikhail withheld something crucial.
“You’re creating a wedge between us. Why?”
“You haven’t been listening to me, have you?” Mikhail squirmed out from beneath Nico, sat up, and draped his arms loosely around his drawn up knees. Nico pushed back to his knees. “You and me. This is a Romeo and Juliet story in the making. Your family despises me, and vice versa. We can’t be together and have a romantic happily ever after. Maybe we’re mates, but that doesn’t mean it’ll work.”