by Fel Fern
“Baby, it’s going to be fine,” Max told him.
“How can you be certain? Max, I wish I could see further ahead,” he blurted.
“Your vision was invaluable, Jack,” Candace told him gently. “The werewolf in charge of that area will get there in time.”
Fifteen minutes later, the phone rang again and this time, Candace picked it up. He rubbed his hands, anxiously watching for Candace’s reaction. Finally, Max’s grandmother said, “Thank you for the update, Roger.”
She turned to them, smile on her lips. “Roger managed to dive in just as Teddy accidentally pushed Amanda in. It seemed their older brother, who was in charge of looking after them, had fallen asleep.”
Max snarled softly behind him. “I’m going to give Wally a talking to when I see him.”
“Be gentle but firm,” Candace reminded him.
Relieved to hear the pups were safe, he leaned against Max.
“It mustn’t be easy, seeing the future,” Candace remarked once Max phoned someone, presumably Wally.
“I saw it as a curse most of my life,” he admitted, “a burden, but then, we had to hide our gifts to survive. Now, though, it kind of feels good, being able to use it for good.”
Candace reached across the table and patted his arm. “You’ll do, Jack. I think you’ll be real good for Max. I hope my grandson will also be worthy of you.”
Speechless, he could only nod, because no one had ever said such kind words to him in his entire life. Did she see something in him that she approved of?
Chapter Nine
Max woke up to the sound of Jack’s soft snores. His dick woke when Jack rubbed his tempting little ass against his dick. There was no doubt in his mind that Jack didn’t do it on purpose. Maybe even in his sleep, Jack thought of him. That was a nice little thought. Hard to believe that he used to sleep alone, but now? He had this sweet, gorgeous man next to him.
He opened his eyes to slits. Through the opening in his curtains, he noticed the sun only started to rise. Max still had a couple of hours with Jack before he started on patrol duty and his day got a lot busier. He slid one thigh over Jack’s hip, spooning closer to his mate.
“Jack, you awake?” he asked. No reaction.
Max sniffed the side of Jack’s neck, aware of the steady and confident beat of Jack’s pulse. A week had passed since Deacon gave Jack and his brother guest rights, seven days of Jack and him living under the same roof, and they slept in the same bed. Jack, and even Glenn, had begun interacting more with his packmates and the townsfolk.
Even after Jack saw the vision of Amanda and Teddy at the lake, both Jack and Glenn had made more helpful predictions, which saved Brenden, an eight-year-old and inquisitive werewolf pup, from a broken leg, and an Esper kid from falling into a ditch while playing with his werewolf friends.
He didn’t think he could hold back any longer. Max wanted to wake up, seeing his personal brand on the side of Jack’s neck, his mate mark.
When Jack pressed his ass cheeks against his balls and dick one more time, Max playfully bit the Esper’s neck. He felt the change in Jack’s breathing. So, his little Esper was playing at being asleep. Max knew one effective way to call Jack out. He slid a hand between Jack’s legs and gave Jack’s prick a squeeze.
Jack moaned. “Okay, okay, I give up.”
“Too late, little Esper. I have to punish sneaky little seers who think they can fool a wolf.”
He nudged his dick between Jack’s buttocks but didn’t push in, merely teased his mate while he swept away the pre-cum on Jack’s tip.
“Yes, I’ll accept any punishment you see fit.”
Max grinned, began giving Jack a handjob. Jack’s breathing changed, turned harsh, and knowing Jack was about to come soon, he pulled his hand away.
Jack let out a hiss of frustration. “Are you going to leave me hanging?”
“No, but you can’t orgasm until my say-so. Hands and knees, baby.”
He flipped his mate on all fours, grabbed a few of pillows, and placed them under Jack’s belly. Jack pressed his face and chest to the sheets, his ass at the perfect angle. Max’s dick got steel-hard in moments. He relished every opportunity to sink his cock inside his mate’s tight, little hole. Max grabbed the lube, which he left on the table next to his side of the bed.
After squirting a generous amount inside Jack’s ass, he slid one finger in, quickly adding in a second, and began scissoring his mate for his access. Each time they had sex, the passion never waned. It was the exact opposite, because it burned even brighter. Deeming Jack ready, he replaced his fingers with his dick.
This time, he went all the way in without pausing once. Jack moaned into the pillow as he reached over, gave Jack’s prick a few pulls.
“Keep it in, baby,” he ordered, and began to move, strokes slow at first. Max wanted a slow-buildup, to make sure his mate enjoyed every second.
“Faster,” Jack managed to gasp.
Fuck, but he couldn’t say no to that. He picked up the pace. They ceased to speak, letting their grunts and groans fill the room. Sweat coated his back as he drove deep and deeper inside Jack, a growl tickling from his lips as Jack’s inner ass muscles clamped down on his cock.
Max changed the angle of his thrusts, must have found Jack’s sweet spot, because the Esper whimpered, arching his back. He went for the spot repeatedly, curled his hand over Jack’s prick and gave it a squeeze.
“Max,” Jack pleaded.
“Do it, baby.”
Jack unloaded his seed all over his fingers, triggered his own release. Max pumped in and out of Jack a few times before emptying his load down Jack’s ass. They collapsed on the bed after, with him bringing Jack close to him.
Max found his teeth on the side of Jack’s neck again, paused when Jack gripped his arm and raised his eyes to his.
“Do it, please. I want to be yours.”
“You know what this means?” he asked in a harsh voice. Jack had been spending more time with fellow packmates, with Theo and Zack in particular, so Jack probably knew what it meant, when a werewolf marked his mate.
“Yes.”
“I won’t ask again.”
“You said so yourself, Max. I was born to be yours.” Jack rested his head on his chest. Max could hear Jack’s pulse racing a little faster, but there was no ounce of doubt or question in Jack’s eyes. The Esper wanted this as much as he did.
Fuck, would he give and do anything for his mate. It had only been a week, but he could see Jack adapting to his life here. After a month, he had a feeling Deacon would allow Jack and his brother to stay, especially after the two brothers helped prevent accidents from coming true. Soon enough, he’d also get word from some of their allies who roamed the country about news of Jack and Glenn’s parents.
Mine, his wolf thought, his inner beast so close to the surface. Max brought Jack close, unsheathed his fangs, and plunged them deep. Jack gripped his biceps hard but didn’t push him away or struggle. His wolf reached out to Jack. A second passed, then two. The mating bond rose, snapped into place, linking Jack and his life force together.
He pulled his teeth away, reached for Jack’s fingers and twined them together.
“Is that—is it done?” Jack asked.
“You have to bite me back,” he answered.
Jack smiled and left a small but matching neat bite on the curve of his left shoulder. Gone were the days when he would look at the other happily mated couples with secret envy, the lonely nights when Max wondered if there was something wrong with him that fate wouldn’t allow him to find his mate.
Finally, he was content.
* * * *
Heart racing as he watched a werewolf pup in wolf form leap from a ledge and to the ground, Jack expelled a sigh as the kid rolled as he hit the floor. One of the adults assigned to watch the pups in the kind of day-care area in the pack compound gave the errant pup a warning.
“Jeez, that one gave me a heart attack,” Jack muttered to Theo.
>
He and the magpie shifter, who happened to also be Joe’s mate, had grown close over the past two weeks. Jack didn’t think he’d fit in, but he soon made friends with more members of the pack.
“Raising werewolf pups is tough,” Theo admitted, biting into his sandwich.
After he and Glenn made those predictions days ago, and after Max mated him, he’d received an invitation to enter the pack compound. Theo told him it was an honor of the highest level, because the wolves seldom let any outsiders in, but that had changed. He felt touched, because he knew werewolves and any other shifters were protective of their young.
Since Glenn and he helped saved a few pups from running into accidents, a couple of werewolf parents had approached them, thanked them.
Spotting Wally, the older brother of Amanda and Teddy, waving at him from one end of the daycare playground, he waved back.
“You know,” Theo mused out loud, “if you weren’t mated to Max, Wally would have definitely asked you out.”
“Don’t tease.”
“I’m not. You know how the unmated and younger generation of the pack see Espers as potential mates, right? If you weren’t taken, they’d probably be surrounding you.”
“Wait,” he said, thinking to how Glenn kept complaining that, lately, he seemed to be bumping into a lot of werewolves who found excuses to spend time with him. “Is that why Glenn always seems to be surrounded by other werewolves?”
“Yup, well, not anymore, not since Jared sort of staked his claim on your brother this morning.”
“Wait, what?” he demanded. “When did this happen?”
“Well, you weren’t at the pack house dining hall.”
Right. Jack had been happily snuggling next to his mate that morning. He still somehow found it hard to believe that this was his life now, that he could ever be this happy.
“So,” Theo went on, and leaned in close. Jack knew his brother. Glenn might look all grumpy on the outside, but he had a feeling Glenn was overwhelmed by all the attention, especially after needing to hide what he was his entire life. “Apparently, Luis asked Glenn out for coffee after his shift and Jared was suddenly growling at Luis’s face, telling him to back off his Esper.”
“Hoo boy,” he muttered, recalling Jared had been initially assigned to show Glenn around town.
“Of course, Glenn said he was no wolf’s Esper, especially not Jared’s,” Theo said.
“Of course,” he said.
Someone coughed, and both Theo and he looked up to see Theo’s mate Joe walking with Santino and—he gulped. Deacon Becker. He finished up his sandwich.
“Hey, baby,” Theo said, all eyes on Joe.
Joe grinned, pulling Theo to him for a kiss. Santino rolled his eyes and turned to the Alpha to say, “I’ll be over there.”
Jack didn’t act all lovey-dovey the way Theo did with Joe, did he?
“Jack Summers, I’ve been meaning to speak to you,” Deacon said. “Take a walk with me.”
They walked across the playground. The pups called it that, but it was mostly a fenced field with plenty of trees and some ‘activity equipment’ for growing werewolf pups. A couple of pups approached Deacon, both in human and wolf form. The hard-eyed Alpha actually took his time talking to them.
He was a good Alpha, he realized. Jack didn’t have many opportunities to speak with Deacon. The Alpha seemed busy all the time—not surprising, given Deacon was also the leader of the community. From what Max told him, Deacon could resort to ruthless means to protect his pack, but he was also fair. Witnessing Deacon with the young of the pack, he realized the Alpha had a good heart, too.
Once Deacon patted the head of an excited pup, he turned to Jack, who swallowed.
“Are you here to talk to me about how Glenn’s and my thirty days are nearly up?” he asked.
“Glenn and you have proven to be useful. You’re Max’s mate, too, essential to my enforcer. I’ve never seen Max like this and I’ve known him since childhood. You, you’re already part of the pack, can you not sense it?”
Jack blew out a breath. “I’ve never felt at home in my entire life. Back home, all the Esper families I knew were scared, relied on each other out of desperation. Here, everyone knows everyone else and they have each other’s back. I just wanted to make sure I was welcomed here.” Jack paused. “Wait, how about my brother?”
“Glenn has a place here, but it’s up to him whether he chooses to stay or go.” The Alpha looked thoughtful. “It would be nice if Glenn chose to mate one of my wolves, but that’s his decision.”
Jack knew what the Alpha meant, because his brother seemed restless, still wanted to find out if their parents were alive or dead. Max’s source had come through and confirmed their parents were killed, but Glenn still refused to accept that fact.
“Thank you, that means a lot,” he told the Alpha.
They parted ways, Deacon probably had more duties to attend to. He was about to head into town, maybe see if his brother wanted to get some lunch, when a vision hit him. His head reeled as he leaned against a tree for support.
In his mind’s eye, he saw Glenn standing over an unfamiliar car, yelling at Jared. He also saw the duffel bag Glenn had with him. No, he thought in panic. Did Glenn plan to leave without telling him? Without hesitating, Jack ran out of the daycare area. He tried zeroing in on his brother’s location and remembered seeing the town in the background. The Honey Bee Inn.
Jack prayed he’d reach Glenn in time, because who knew what his brother would do next?
Chapter Ten
“What I do is none of your business,” Glenn was yelling at Jared. “You’re not my babysitter or bodyguard.”
“You stubborn-headed Esper,” Jared spat back.
Glenn slid into the driver’s seat without another word, followed by Jared. Neither men noticed Jack slipping in the back seat until Glenn took the road out of town.
“Glenn, where do you think you’re going?” he interrupted the two arguing men.
Glenn nearly lost control of the wheel, but Jared easily grabbed it. He didn’t miss the way his brother breathed hard when Jared’s fingers brushed over his.
“I got it,” Glenn grumbled as Jared, wisely, sat back. “Jack, where the hell did you come from?”
“Did you forget? I can see the future, too.”
“Wise-ass,” Glenn muttered.
“Stop the car, Glenn. Please. Did you see something? Talk to me.” Jack pleaded.
“See? Even your brother thinks this is a bad idea,” Jared said.
“If you think that, why did you insist on coming?” Glenn threw back.
“Because I care about you,” Jared threw back.
Why did Jack have a feeling this wasn’t the first time these two argued? It seemed like he ran smack into a lovers’ spat. Were these two—together? Then again, Glenn wasn’t exactly the sharing type, especially when it came to his love life.
Ignoring Jared, Glenn answered his question. “I saw the inside of a Squad van, Jack. Familiar faces inside it. You remember the Carters?”
He did. “Of course, they’ve been coming over since we were kids. They’re the only Esper family who stuck around, who didn’t seem only interested in Mom’s or your abilities.”
“The Carters live a floor above Mom and Dad’s place. What if that van has both them and our parents?”
“But Max—” he began.
“Jack, what if Max’s source made a mistake? You know the Squad has a knack for making shit up. What if they painted Mom and Dad as dead, but instead, captured them?”
Jack couldn’t argue with that. Hope flared inside of him and part of him understood why his brother would recklessly go on this mission, but Glenn forgot one vital factor.
“Glenn, I get it, but what do you think we can both do alone? Neither of us are warriors,” he said.
“That’s why we have Jared here, so thank you for coming along,” Glenn said.
Jared cursed so creatively, he gave Max a run for h
is money. “You conniving Esper. You knew I’d chase after you.”
Glenn snorted. “Did you really think I have plans to leave Devil Hills? The place and everyone else has grown on me, but unlike you, I’m not yet part of the pack. I preferred not to take you, either, Jack. You seem so happy with Max.”
“Glenn, I’m here to make sure you don’t do anything stupid,” he said, because once Glenn set his mind on one thing, his brother never backed off. Shit. Max was going to be pissed once he learned he took this little trip.
Jack felt a tug on the mate bond connecting him to Max. Max had warned him there would be side effects as the abilities from the mating bond grew with time. One of them was being able to sense his mate’s emotions. He didn’t hide what he was feeling—apprehension mixed with determination—from Max.
“Shit, Glenn. I’m just one guy. Drive back, we need back-up,” Jared said.
“No, there’s no time. I saw the position of the sun in my vision. If we make a detour, it’ll be too late. I can still stop, drop you off—”
“No way in hell,” Jared interrupted. “I’m coming with you, crazy seer.”
“Did you bring weapons?” Jack asked, sensing an answering response from Max. Sooner or later, Max would be on their tail, or he hoped so, at least.
“Of course. This is Jared’s car, he always has weapons,” Glenn said proudly.
Jared muttered another curse under his breath, and Jack realized the duffel next to him didn’t contain Glenn’s clothes and belongings as he initially thought.
“Will we be really all right?” Jack wondered out loud. Just a moment ago, things were going so well. Deacon just welcomed him into the pack, and he planned on dropping by the grocery store to pick up a roast and some vegetables, surprise Max for dinner. Now, this. He shut his eyes and prayed to God his brother knew what he was doing.
* * * *
The moment Max sensed worry and fear through the mate bond connecting him to Jack, he knew something was terribly wrong. Max stopped his rounds and instantly found his second.