by Odessa Lynne
Salvadore had been so busy watching him that he hadn’t noticed anyone else coming into the building, so when he saw Paul step up in front of Craig he couldn’t have been more surprised if Chen had walked up and sucker punched him in the kidney.
He pushed away from the wall just as Craig reached out and fisted his hand in the front of Paul’s shirt, yanking him forward and almost off his feet.
That brought Salvadore up short in a hurry and he stumbled back against the wall.
He wouldn’t say he’d learned his lesson, but the tension in Wolf’s shoulders made him aware of just how precarious his position was, and Paul was okay. That wolf hadn’t torn out his throat like Salvadore had imagined and now that he knew that, he needed to keep his mouth shut and let Paul deal with his own goddamn problems.
He had no idea what the fuck was going on, but Paul didn’t need him to come to his rescue. Salvadore had survived his confrontation with Craig and he couldn’t imagine Paul would do any worse. These were his people; he’d probably been spying for them for years.
Craig dragged Paul forward and then took hold of him by the back of his neck and shoved him down onto his knees right beside the wolf on the floor. Paul grunted and almost fell, but Craig’s hold on his neck stopped him. Craig pulled him up and pointed with his other arm toward Salvadore.
Paul’s gaze landed on Salvadore and he looked confused and scared and angry, and Salvadore’s stomach twisted. The last time he’d seen that look on Paul’s face had been the day Paul had almost died.
But Paul didn’t exist. Only this stranger named Matthew. It was time he remembered that.
“Explain to Ashikid your relationship with that human,” Craig demanded.
Salvadore started shaking his head. “I didn’t lie. I swear. We hadn’t fucked in at least a week.” His gaze shifted between Craig and Matthew. “Tell them, Paul—Matthew. Tell them.”
Matthew turned to Craig. “We had sex, that’s all.” At Craig’s nod toward the wolf on the floor, Matthew looked down. The wolf was staring back at him. Salvadore could see the sheen of sweat on his face from where he stood. “It was just sex. There’s no relationship.” He tone changed abruptly. “But I don’t see why it’d matter, it’s not like—there wasn’t—”
The wolf on the floor made a sound, a rumbling and the other wolves stiffened. The green-eyed wolf with his knee on the other wolf’s chest leaned in and growled.
Craig hadn’t released Matthew. “The human smells like you, still. That was understandable when he had your blood on his clothes, but now…” Craig looked at Salvadore again, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “He shouldn’t have any of your scent left. Unfortunately Ashikid’s heat was close and he reacted as if he’d been challenged for his right to claim you.”
“I don’t know why. I swear to God. I fucked him a couple of times and—and—he sucked me off a few times. That’s it.”
Salvadore hated hearing it all laid out like that. He glanced at Wolf to find Wolf watching him closely. Worried for him. Hurting, not with his own pain, but with Salvadore’s. Salvadore let his anger and his hurt slide away.
Paul, or Matthew, had been a moment in Salvadore’s life, nothing more. Wolf was forever.
Wolf’s eyes flickered over him, his expression easing. Warmth curled inside Salvadore.
Wolf cared about him, really cared, and that wasn’t a fantasy.
A second later, Matthew’s voice saying, “Condoms?” startled him into returning his attention to the confrontation going on between Craig and Matthew and he realized he’d missed something. He couldn’t even bring himself to care what. He wanted to be alone with Wolf and tell him what he’d realized and this—this was just getting in his way.
“Yeah, we used condoms.” Matthew was staring at Craig, and Craig had an intent look on his face that matched some of the looks he’d given Salvadore earlier when Craig been interrogating Salvadore.
Condoms? Then Salvadore’s neck and face heated as he realized what that meant. They were still talking about how Matthew and him had fucked. Actual details.
They’d definitely used condoms, of course they had—except—no, they hadn’t, not all the time.
But Matthew didn’t add that they’d wanted to save what few condoms they had for fucking and that Salvadore had been happy to have the excuse to suck Matthew off without them and Salvadore was grateful not to have that humiliation brought up. Salvadore had been eager and Matthew had made him feel fucking fantastic when they’d had sex and it had been the best it had been in a long time.
Instead, Matthew said, “No one said I shouldn’t or I—”
Craig cut him off with a raised hand. “No one’s blaming you for this.”
Matthew looked down at the wolf beside him. “He knows I—”
Whatever Matthew had been planning to say didn’t get said because Craig brushed his hand over Matthew’s head and Matthew jumped, clearly startled.
Matthew looked up at Craig.
“Ashikid made his choice. He expected you would have relationships with others while he waited to mate you.”
“What?” Matthew said.
What? Salvadore quickly looked at Wolf. Wolf raised one shoulder in a small shrug. So… Wolf probably had just about as much idea of what was happening as Salvadore did.
“He thinks he needs to continue to wait and it’s testing the very limits of his control, but he’s wrong. The time to wait has passed.”
“I don’t understand.” Matthew’s voice had an edge to it.
“You will mate.”
The shock on Matthew’s face sent unease skittering down Salvadore’s spine.
“What? You can’t make—”
“Submit,” Craig said and even Salvadore could feel the power behind his demand.
“But—” Matthew said.
Craig cut him off again. “Will you shame your mate by arguing with his alpha?”
The wolf whimpered.
Craig thrust out his arm toward the door. “Out.”
Salvadore tensed and he saw Matthew jerk, but Craig’s hand landed on Matthew’s neck again, keeping him in place.
“Not you,” Craig said. “You’ll stay here with Ashikid and mate.”
“Now just a minute—”
Matthew started struggling to free himself from Craig’s grip and Salvadore reacted without thinking. His forward step came to an abrupt halt as Wolf jerked him back by his arm. Salvadore stumbled and when he looked up Craig had Matthew’s arm pulled back over his head in a hold that stretched out Matthew’s torso in a painful bow.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Craig said, “but this is not the time to struggle against your fate.”
“I’m not struggling against my fate!” Matthew sounded panicked and it touched off a spark of anger inside Salvadore.
Salvadore turned a glare on Wolf. “What’s he doing to him? What are they going to do?”
Matthew said something while Salvadore was talking and Salvadore missed it, but he heard one of the wolves say, “It’s not time. He’s not ready.”
The voice belonged to the wolf on the floor, finally calmed down enough to speak in something other than a roar or a growl, proving that the drugs might actually be working after all.
The other wolves—those not holding down the formerly crazed wolf—had followed Craig’s order and were at the door, on their way out.
“This doesn’t concern you,” Wolf said.
Salvadore whispered harshly to Wolf, “The fuck it doesn’t. He’s my—” What? What was Matthew to him? “It doesn’t matter. It’s not right to make him—”
Wolf wrapped one arm around Salvadore’s waist and lifted Salvadore off his feet. Salvadore resisted, but he couldn’t match Wolf’s alien strength. Wolf hauled Salvadore toward the door.
“Son of a bitch!” Salvadore yelled. “It’s not right!”
Wolf hauled him over the threshold and out under the partly cloudy, cold morning sky and the door slammed closed behind them.
“They’re forcing him to mate that crazed wolf against his will! I know what I heard!” Salvadore raked his hand through his hair and stomped across the wide room—a room in a house set out in the woods and at the end of a narrow path that Wolf had dragged him into kicking and screaming after a few clipped words with a blue-eyed wolf back at that building they’d come out of.
The windows on all three outside walls had those same bars Salvadore had noticed earlier that morning, and although the room had all the normal furnishings: a bed, a padded bench, a few chairs and a small table pushed up against the wall with a view right into the upstairs room of another nearby house, everything was so neat and tidy and smelled so fresh that Salvadore had trouble believing anyone had ever lived here.
Wolf crowded Salvadore up against the edge of the wide square bed set almost in the middle of the room. The back of Salvadore’s knees hit and he sat—not that he particularly wanted to sit right then, but Wolf wasn’t giving an inch.
Wolf kicked off his boots and reached for the hem of his shirt.
“What are you doing?” Salvadore asked. It was a stupid question because he could see exactly what Wolf was doing.
Distracting him.
Wolf dragged off his t-shirt, his arms and abdomen stretching taut, his powerful muscles on full display. The sight was enough to make Salvadore’s mouth water and his cock twitch.
“We’re going to mate soon. I need to fuck before the drugs wear off so I won’t lose all control over myself when they do.”
“Oh.”
Wolf started opening his fly but stopped to point at the richly carved wood frame of the bed. “There should be lubricant in that drawer.”
Salvadore leaned forward, looking down between his knees. Sure enough, there was a seam there that might be the edges of a drawer. He reached down and fingered the seam. When nothing happened, he tried pushing the wood. The drawer slid open with a soft sigh. Several jars sat inside. He took one, slid the drawer shut, and sat back.
Wolf was naked, his alien penis fully hard and jutting toward Salvadore.
Salvadore licked his lips and said, “I wasn’t done talking.”
“Then talk. Quickly.”
“I can’t think with your dick staring me in the face.”
Wolf closed the distance between them until his dick was pushing against Salvadore’s chest.
“That’s not any better,” Salvadore said. He clenched his fist to keep from reaching between them and touching that hot, hard rod poking at him.
Then—
Fuck that.
He wrapped his fingers around Wolf’s penis.
Wolf exhaled a soft gasp and quickly grabbed Salvadore’s hand. “We’re very sensitive.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Wolf slowly released him.
Salvadore didn’t do anything more than hold Wolf. Even that made Wolf’s breath come faster, and a sheen of sweat appeared on his shoulders, chest, and abdomen.
Salvadore wrapped his other arm behind Wolf, letting his hand rest on Wolf’s firm backside, then leaned forward and kissed Wolf under the tight circle of his belly button. The soft hair there tickled Salvadore’s lips. Funny how much alike their species were. It didn’t make sense that they had so much in common, and yet… Salvadore was glad. He liked Wolf and he was glad he was here.
He was especially glad Wolf had a dick that was such a tight fit in his ass. God, he wanted to feel that again…
“No,” he said. He released Wolf and moved his hands to his sides.
Wolf let out a soft growl, reached out, but stopped short. His arms fell to his sides, his hands flexing and his claws peeking from under his dark fingernails.
Salvadore clutched at the bedding and licked his lips. If Wolf had been human, Salvadore would have had that dick in his mouth already, and that thought more than anything made him grind his teeth. He wasn’t like them. He would have no excuse for not being able to control himself if he gave in when he had other things on his mind. Important things.
“This isn’t right,” he said. “I want to know what they’re going to do to Matthew. I—he—shit.”
Salvadore dug his fingers into his hair and pulled, letting out a frustrated growl of his own. He shouldn’t care what happened to the guy. He shouldn’t. “I still like him. I shouldn’t, I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t stop thinking about him, and—dammit. I don’t mean that the way it sounds.”
Salvadore grabbed Wolf’s hands, but then let go immediately when his fingers grazed Wolf’s claws. “No matter how much I keep trying to make the way I feel about what happened between him and me all his fault, he just didn’t act like an asshole to me, that’s all, and just because I thought that meant something else—that wasn’t his fault either. I can see that now. I just—I wasn’t thinking straight at the time. I don’t really know who he is, not now, but for a while, when I needed somebody, he—he wasn’t a jerk, that’s all.”
“He was your friend.”
“He was. And I want to know he’s going to be okay, that nobody’s hurting him.”
“No one is hurting him.”
“When it comes to mating, you guys take whoever you want.”
“You’re wrong.” Wolf’s teeth flashed in a sharp grin. “We only take whoever we want if we can prove our worthiness with strength and cunning.”
Salvadore pointed at Wolf. “And that right there proves my point.”
“I proved you belong to me. Are you saying you wish I hadn’t?”
“At the time, I was pretty damn clear about what I wanted—or didn’t want and—”
“You told me to mate you. Have you forgotten?”
“Yeah, but—”
Wolf’s nostrils flared and he pushed Salvadore back on the bed.
Salvadore sat right back up. “—that was after.”
“After you begged me to fuck you.”
Salvadore exhaled forcefully. “And that was after, too!”
“You’ve enjoyed our fucking.”
“That doesn’t matter. I didn’t know I wanted you, so there’s no way at the time you could’ve known I’d end up being okay with it.”
“The universe told me you were my fate, so of course I knew.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“You told me you believe the universe has a plan for you. This is part of that plan.”
“That’s not how I meant it.”
“How did you mean it, then?”
“Not so… literally. That’s how.”
“You’re confusing me. I think our time would be better spent fucking. Maybe I’ll understand your point better after I calm my rising heat.”
“I’m too worried to fuck.”
Wolf told hold of Salvadore’s shoulders, his claws no more than a faint prick through Salvadore’s t-shirt. “Things aren’t always how they appear. Your own experiences should tell you that. Alpha Craeigoer believes they should mate. He wouldn’t force an unwanted mating on them, and we have to accept that he knows what’s best.”
Salvadore waved his hand. “Of course you’re going to think that. He’s your dad.”
“He’s alpha. What does it matter that he’s also my father?”
“It matters, that’s all. You aren’t going to be objective where he’s concerned.”
Wolf’s eyebrows rose and he released Salvadore’s shoulders. “And you say this with conviction after your comments about your own father when Alpha Craeigoer was questioning you?”
Salvadore eyed Wolf. “That was different.”
“How?”
“It just was.”
“It was different because it requires you to believe something unpleasant about someone you care about.”
“You’re being an asshole.” Salvadore crossed his arms over his chest and dropped back on the bed. He stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t like to change my mind. You better get used to that.”
“You’re young. You’ll eventually grow out of it.�
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Salvadore raised his head and glared. “You are too. And, no, you better not count on me growing out of it. My dad was just as stubborn and so was my grandma. It’s a family trait.” Then he dropped his head back on the bed and stared at the ceiling again.
How did the wolves make it glow with light that looked so warm and natural? He needed to figure out how to get his hands on a set of schematics. Would Wolf give him one? They were mates, after all.
Wolf’s voice interrupted his musing. “I’m young, but you are younger. I haven’t been a juvenile for more than ten of your years.”
Salvadore turned his head on the bed so he could look at Wolf without having to strain his neck. “I haven’t been a kid in just about as many. Couldn’t afford to be. But they’re your years too now, you know. If you’re really here to stay, you should just accept it, stop talking like the Earth is somehow separate from you and yours.”
He tried not to stare at Wolf’s hard dick, but his gaze wandered and, well, there it was. Long, thick, flushed with blood; Salvadore could see the dark veins bulging under the thin skin.
Dicks were much more interesting than ceilings. Would an alien dick taste different than a human one? The idea of having to wait for heat season to end before he could find out for himself…
God, he really wanted to suck Wolf’s dick.
Wolf said, “You’re right.”
Salvadore’s eyebrows rose. “I am?” Then, when his brain remembered what the hell they were talking about, “Well yeah. Of course I am.”
Wolf let out a quiet huff of breath.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks.” Salvadore deliberately returned his attention to the ceiling.
Wolf sat down on the side of the bed and leaned over Salvadore. He sniffed at Salvadore’s stomach. Salvadore slipped his hand into Wolf’s hair and rubbed his fingers along Wolf’s scalp.
He was surprised out of his contemplation of the ceiling by a soft rumble that skimmed along the nerves in his thigh where Wolf’s chest pressed against his leg.
He looked down to see Wolf’s eyes half closed as he rubbed his face against the front of Salvadore’s t-shirt. “You guys get something out of this, don’t you?”