Salvadore's Luck

by Odessa Lynne

  Wolf snatched Salvadore’s hand, tugging hard. Salvadore stumbled into the side of the bed. “You don’t have to explain this to me. I know what he did. You’ve already told me.”

  “No, you need to hear this because it’s the only way I’ll know you’re not imagining something entirely different from what really happened. I planned it all out. I killed him. Premeditated and everything.”

  “I’ve seen it,” Wolf said. “You killed him swiftly and his lack of suffering eats at you.”

  “God.” Salvadore stared at Wolf, caught in that glittering, fierce gaze. “It does. I hate him. I wish he could have suffered a thousand times what they suffered. She was more than my boss. She was—she was like a second mother to me. Mel never said a bad word about anybody and Lacey made the best goddamn apple pie I’ve ever had in my life.”

  Salvadore reached up and scrubbed the heel of one hand across his eyes. “Shit.”

  “You cared for them deeply.”

  “And he just came in and killed them and stole their greenhouses, just like that. No one to stop him.”

  “And then someone came looking for him.”

  Salvadore dropped to the edge of the bed and sat there for a moment. “And then someone important enough to bring in the law from outside the protectorate came looking for him, and when they found him, I needed an airtight alibi because a witness claimed they’d seen me leaving the house that night. It took threats from a lawyer I couldn’t afford before they left me alone.”

  He laughed, the sound bitter and sharp. “Isn’t that funny? No one ever looked into Mel and Lacey’s murder but have a fucking killer go missing and everybody wants to know what happened.”

  Wolf’s arms came around Salvadore from behind, startling him, and then he realized Wolf was doing nothing more than hugging him, crushing and hard, but only a hug all the same.

  Salvadore patted Wolf’s forearm. “It’s okay. I’m not going to fall apart or anything.” He suddenly remembered Reed and turned to look, but the door had been closed and Reed wasn’t there. Salvadore sighed, relieved that only Wolf had heard him confess his story.

  “It’s okay to grieve for the fate you weren’t meant to have.”

  “Yeah.” But Salvadore shook his head. “Thinking about it all too much just makes me angry.”

  “Better angry than afraid.”

  Salvadore huffed softly, and then cleared his throat. “You can stop the platitudes. I’m okay with what I did. I wonder sometimes why it was so easy, if that means something, but mostly I just think somebody had to do it. Evil like that… I’m not going to stand around and let it go.”

  “You should be a watcher for your people.”

  Salvadore looked down at his fingers clutching so firmly to Wolf’s sinewy arm, the muscle and bone an extraordinary package that gave the wolves such great strength and stamina. “So that’s what you are.”

  “We report what we know to our alphas and act in their stead if the situation warrants it.”

  Salvadore was too young to remember much about the first few years the wolves had been on Earth—he remembered the first heat vividly, but not much else. His father had commented once, a long time ago, that everyone had believed the wolves must be naturally peaceful people, because there didn’t seem to be the first cop or lawyer equivalent, everything handled by the alphas themselves.

  Now Salvadore saw how that could be. Wolf was the wolves’ equivalent of law enforcement.

  “And now you can read human minds,” Salvadore said, wondering what that might mean for the future.

  But Wolf’s breath shivered across Salvadore’s ear as he said, “No. Humans don’t have the ability to communicate with us. I’ve only encountered one, until you.”

  “Does that mean some of us are psychic?” Salvadore asked, less skeptical than he would have been even yesterday. Wolf knew those things about him somehow, and Salvadore had had a few strange moments lately where he’d felt like he knew things he shouldn’t know—but only since he’d been around the wolves.

  “I can’t explain what it means, because what I suspect doesn’t agree with what I know to be possible, but I doubt it means either of you have advanced psychic abilities. But I’ll leave that for Alpha to determine.”

  “Well.” Salvadore didn’t move, too comfortable to react to the threat of meeting the alpha again.

  Wolf continued to rub his face against the back of Salvadore’s neck, his warmth soaking into Salvadore’s naked skin and his every breath tickling the hair at the back of Salvadore’s neck.

  Then Salvadore’s stomach rumbled.

  Wolf sighed against Salvadore’s skin. “I see I’m failing in my duties again. I’ll have to do better if I don’t want you to ask Alpha to reject my claim.”

  Salvadore hadn’t even realized that was a possibility.

  Wolf seemed to struggle to pull himself away, his nose dragging over Salvadore’s collarbone and his hands splaying wide on Salvadore’s chest. But Wolf finally did it, and Salvadore watched the door shut behind him with a sense of calm he hadn’t felt in a good long while.

  Chapter 19

  “Who are you?” Salvadore asked Wolf, toying with the edge of the empty plate sitting on the bed between them. They were both completely naked, because when Wolf had returned with food, he’d refused to dress Salvadore until after they mated, and yet he hadn’t let Salvadore dress himself either. When Salvadore had complained, Wolf had stripped and joined Salvadore on the bed without a stitch of clothing.

  Salvadore had had a hard time keeping his eyes off Wolf’s dick there for a while, until he’d finally just had to force himself to keep his eyes on Wolf’s face. Wolf had a great dick and maybe it was because of the heat, or Salvadore’s human scent, but Wolf’s dick had been erect the entire time they’d eaten.

  Salvadore continued, “I mean, Egan said you weren’t even one of these guys, not until a few days ago. Were you one of those wolves that believe humans are supposed to be your slaves or something?”

  Salvadore had heard those rumors. Of course, that was why the groups of renegades that had formed after the treaty were still around. Some people kept them going by being persuasive, some by force. Gage fell into the latter group.

  Salvadore got a sick feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about how close he’d gotten to having to go on an actual mission where he might be expected to shoot someone who didn’t deserve it. He’d known for a while that if that happened he couldn’t do it, and, well, Gage wouldn’t have tolerated that.

  “I followed my alpha. That didn’t mean I always believed my alpha was infallible. But…”

  Salvadore scoured Wolf’s face, looking for a reason for Wolf’s hesitation. “Yeah?”

  Wolf exhaled. “But you aren’t going to understand the power the alpha has. There’s a compulsion to submit, a feeling that tightens, here—” Wolf rested his hand over his stomach, where a line of hair led downward, and then raised his hand to his heart. “—here—” Then he pressed his hand against his forehead. “—and here. We submit because we want to, we choose to, but we also submit because we have to.”

  “So you had to follow your alpha even if you didn’t agree with what he was doing.”

  “My alpha was female. She believes the Diviners’ prophecy has an alternative interpretation.”

  “Why?” And prophecy? The wolves were strange people.

  Wolf met Salvadore’s gaze. “Because I told her it did.”

  Salvadore hadn’t expected that. His hand curled against his thigh.

  Wolf reached for him, wrapping his hand around the back of Salvadore’s neck, and Salvadore’s back stiffened as Wolf pulled him forward. He caught himself on his hand to keep from falling onto the plate.

  “I am young,” Wolf said, his voice deep and sure. In that moment, Salvadore couldn’t have looked away or spoken if he’d wanted to. “My former alpha is also young, for an alpha. Some of the other watchers had been speaking of the prophecy and I thought I needed t
o listen. The Diviners have never given us a prophecy so large, and because it is so large, the signs aren’t always clear. I made a mistake, but I didn’t realize it until my alpha had already embraced this other view of what the prophecy means. She believes there is a true alpha waiting to take Traesikeille’s place. She believes her fate is tied to her continued resistance to First Alpha’s rule. I’m certain now that it is, but not in the way she believes. She would not sway when I admitted I had made a mistake, and so there was nothing I could do, other than what I did.”

  “You broke away from your alpha. Egan told me that’s really hard to do.”

  “It was so painful I thought I would die before I succeeded. I felt so alone, so bereft. I knew I needed to seek sanctuary from another alpha as quickly as possible.”

  “Is that how you ended up in the woods that night?”

  Wolf nodded. “I heard someone communicating distress and it seemed to be coming from a human transport, so I followed the call even though it was difficult to track through the woods. The scent of humans caught me by surprise. Humans don’t communicate with us.”

  “Paul, or, uh, Matthew, I mean, and me and Chen.” Even as he said it he wondered—

  “It wasn’t you communicating with me. It was Matthew. He’s the one other human I’ve ever known to do that. He wanted to get away from you, but he was also concerned for you. I helped him. I don’t believe he understood that.”

  Salvadore swallowed, the sting of pain at Paul’s desperation to get away from him fresher than he’d expected. But, God, had it only been a few days? He felt like it had been so much longer.

  “My alpha had sent others after me and I had to be vigilant so they wouldn’t find me.” Wolf’s fingers pressed harder against Salvadore’s neck, pulling Salvadore another few inches closer, until Salvadore could feel the heat of Wolf’s breath on his chin with every word. “If I hadn’t been concerned about those tracking me, I would have claimed you then. But I suspected it would be difficult to keep your fear under control and I couldn’t risk accelerating my heat’s onset by bringing you with me.”

  “So you gave me a warning.”

  Wolf’s teeth flashed. “I considered it a promise to be kept.”

  “Well.” Salvadore licked his bottom lip and tasted leftover salt from their meal. “You definitely kept that promise.”

  “It’s time we mated,” Wolf said, “Alpha Craeigoer will be here very soon and it’ll be safer for everyone if it’s already done.”

  Insight whipped through Salvadore. “You want it done because you’re afraid.”

  Wolf’s nostrils flared wide and the prick of claws tickled the side of Salvadore’s neck. “I’m not afraid of Alpha Craeigoer,” Wolf growled out. “I respect his power and influence, but I’m not afraid of him.”

  “You’re afraid of something.”

  An image of Paul came to mind, swiftly making connections Salvadore wouldn’t have imagined being there before. “What are you doing? Are you pushing thoughts into my mind? Can you do that?”

  Wolf kissed him, harsh and swift.

  Salvadore jerked back. “I want to know—”

  “Submit,” Wolf growled.

  But Salvadore already knew what was going on. Wolf didn’t want him to know how terrified he was—of Paul. But why? Why would Wolf be afraid of Paul?

  “We fucked,” Salvadore said. “I didn’t even know who he was. I can’t love somebody I don’t even know. If he’d been who I thought he was, I don’t know if I’d be saying that but I definitely don’t—”

  Wolf nipped at Salvadore’s ear hard enough to sting.

  “What the fuck,” Salvadore said, pushing Wolf’s head to the side.

  Wolf yanked Salvadore forward. Salvadore’s knee hit the plate and it spun off the side of the bed, crashing to the floor with a resounding thwang.

  Salvadore had to straddle Wolf’s thighs to stay upright and Wolf’s hands landed firm in the center of Salvadore’s bare back.

  “You don’t have to be afraid,” Salvadore said. “We made a bargain.”

  “You don’t understand,” Wolf said, his accent more pronounced.

  But Salvadore had seen the truth and he wasn’t ready to let it go. He threaded his fingers in Wolf’s hair. “What are you afraid of?”

  Wolf’s eyes closed. He leaned into Salvadore and rubbed his face over Salvadore’s collarbones, back and forth, back and forth, Salvadore’s anxiety winding tighter each time. Finally Wolf spoke: “He feels a certain loyalty to you, but his true loyalty is to one of us. When he’s asked, he won’t lie about your involvement with the renegades.”

  Every muscle in Salvadore’s body tightened and his fingers clenched in Wolf’s hair.

  They would kill him. Or turn him over to his own government, and he’d die in some prison, an example to everyone else who joined up with the renegades, whatever their reasons.

  “Alpha could already know you’re one of them.” Wolf squeezed his arms around Salvadore until Salvadore could hardly draw in a breath. “If Alpha asks, do not lie. There are drugs that’ll make you tell the truth and any lies you’ve told will only make your situation worse.”

  “Why—why are you telling me this?”

  “How can you trust me if I lie to you, even if it’s to ease your fears?”

  Salvadore took a shaky breath and eased the finger-numbing hold he had on Wolf’s hair. Wolf hadn’t complained but Salvadore knew he’d been pulling too hard. He hadn’t meant to.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, although he wasn’t sure if he was apologizing for the hair-pulling or his involvement with the renegades.

  “If we’ve mated, you’ll still face consequences for your actions, but the threat won’t be as dire.”

  “How can you know that? You’ve just switched sides in your own conflict. They might not care if we’re mated.”

  A deep inhale was his only answer as Wolf nosed toward Salvadore’s underarm. Salvadore tried to block the move and Wolf hesitated, his hot breath exhaling right over Salvadore’s nipple.

  Salvadore’s whole body jerked in reaction. He leaned back.

  Wolf pulled Salvadore right back into position, taking another deep sniff. “It’s time to mate. I hear Raeisikeille waiting. He’s becoming impatient. Your questions will have to wait.”

  “You mean Reed? What’s he waiting for?”

  “He’s going to be my witness when I mate you.”

  “Oh.” Was there some kind of ceremony they needed to perform, words like a human would say in a marriage? A legal binding contract of some sort? “Does he have to sign something later saying it was the real thing?”

  Wolf huffed softly against Salvadore’s shoulder while trailing his fingers along Salvadore’s spine, the touch light enough to tickle. Salvadore wiggled against the sensation.

  Wolf pressed harder along the bones of Salvadore’s spine, the nerve-tingling feel of one of his claws dragging over Salvadore’s skin.

  Salvadore gasped and his back bowed. He clapped his hands down on Wolf’s shoulders.

  “He’ll watch you turn your spine to me when I fuck you,” Wolf said, “and he’ll report to Alpha what he witnessed.”

  “Please tell me that’s another bad joke you’re trying out on me.”

  “This is our way. It is, in fact, how we claim and accept any mate pairing meant to last longer than our heat.” Wolf’s voice deepened, his accent becoming so thick Salvadore had trouble understanding. “It’s a small price for such a good bargain, if you prefer to think of it in those terms.”

  “No.” Salvadore tried to push his way off Wolf’s thighs. “You can’t be serious. The drugs are almost gone, he said so himself just an hour or so ago. It’s too dangerous. He can’t watch.”

  Wolf didn’t give an inch. He pressed a hot, damp kiss at the base of Salvadore’s throat. “I can’t mate you if I don’t have a witness, and he’s willing to act as a witness despite the risk.”

  “I can’t do that. I’ll panic, I’ll—”<
br />
  “Submit,” Wolf commanded, and Salvadore froze in place, his words cut off, a tingle crawling across the back of his neck along with an inexplicable urge to relent.

  Wolf cupped Salvadore’s cheek and stared into his eyes. “You won’t panic. You need me to do this. For your protection.”

  “Why’re you so willing to do this for me? What’s in it for you? There’s gotta be something besides sex. Or—or is this just a scent thing and you’ll regret this after your heat ends?”

  “I’ll never regret this,” Wolf said. “Never. You are mine, and after I mate you, you’ll belong to me, forever.” Wolf’s powerful thighs lifted them both and Salvadore landed flat on his back on the mattress, Wolf looming over him. “Now we mate.”

  Chapter 20

  Spine up meant exactly what Wolf had said: spine up. It had never even occurred to Salvadore to wonder why they hadn’t had sex in that position, with him on his knees for Wolf. He wondered now. Wolf had flipped Salvadore onto his stomach the moment Salvadore had finished lubing his asshole.

  His lube coated fingers slid along the quilt and he fisted his hands tight in the bedding because Wolf was already pushing inside.

  Salvadore hissed through his teeth at the sudden stretch. A slow glide would’ve been easier but Wolf had succumbed to his heat; he’d come several times while Salvadore had been preparing himself, despite how quick Salvadore had been, and Salvadore’s abdomen and the hair around his cock and balls were soaked with the thin, alien semen Wolf had smeared all over him.

  “Mine,” Wolf said, powerful, purposeful, nearly unintelligible beneath a thickening accent and a rumble from deep in his chest.

  “Oh fuck,” Salvadore muttered.

  He clenched his eyes shut and that only made the feeling of being so full he could hardly breathe harder to ignore. He wanted to know when Reed entered the room, but his body had other ideas and Salvadore pushed his face into the quilt and groaned hard. Wolf felt so thick inside Salvadore, stretching him out with an unrelenting forward thrust, that it made his thighs tremble.