Hagen, Lynn - Tater's Bear [Brac Pack 22] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

by Lynn Hagen

Olsen’s brows drew together as he gazed into Tater’s eyes. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “I heard you ask how to explain this to me.” Tater couldn’t understand why Olsen looked so perplexed. His mate’s expression changed in an instant, transforming into shock.

  “Tater, love. I didn’t say that, I thought it.”

  Tater lay there on the floor, feeling like he was drowning, confusion weighing him down and pulling him under. Nothing made sense to him. “How have I changed?”

  “Besides you reading my thoughts?” Olsen smiled. “Well, you’re a vampire, as I’ve said. You’re also twice the size you once were.”

  Tater bent his head, looking down at his body. He gasped when he saw that Olsen was right. Instead of his bear being the larger of the two, Tater now overshadowed his mate. And he didn’t like it one bit.

  “I want my body back the way it was,” he whispered helplessly. Tater liked the fact that Olsen was the controlling one of the two. This didn’t feel right. He hated it. His eyes snapped up when Olsen’s chest rumbled with a chuckle.

  “Don’t worry, love. I’m still the dominant one. Just try and test that, and we’ll see who ends up on his back.”

  Tater could hear the teasing in his mate’s voice, but he didn’t miss the challenge that was wound through it.

  As much as he liked Olsen dominating him, there was something inside of him that raged against it. Maybe it was his size, or the fact that he was changed now, but Tater knew in his heart that challenging his mate would be a mistake.

  Tater might have doubled in size, but Olsen was a force to be reckoned with.

  “You got that right.”

  Tater’s mouth hung open as Olsen commented on what he’d just been thinking. “That is creepy as hell.”

  Olsen laughed as he climbed up Tater’s body, resting his chest against Tater’s. “But I like it. Just think of all the kinky little things we can say to each other when someone else is around.”

  Tater laughed at his mate’s way of thinking. “Leave it to you to think of something like that.” In the next breath he was moaning when Olsen reached down and cupped his soft cock. It didn’t stay that way for long. Tater became instantly aroused, his shaft growing under his bear’s skillful handling.

  “We can’t,” Tater said reluctantly. There was nothing more that Tater wanted than to feel his mate buried deep inside of him. But he was afraid.

  “What are you afraid of, love?”

  Maybe this mind-reading thing wasn’t as fantastic as he originally thought. At the moment, it felt invasive. “My size, who I am now. What if I lose control and hurt you?”

  Olsen growled as he sat up, straddling Tater’s hips. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. I can handle my own.”

  Tater shot his hips up, nearly tossing Olsen off of him. “You were saying?”

  “Caught me off guard, buddy. That won’t happen—” Olsen flew forward, his hands slapping onto Tater’s chest and his fingernails digging and breaking skin. “Will you stop that!”

  Tater laughed so hard that Olsen was being bounced around. “I couldn’t help it. You left yourself open for that.”

  Olsen slapped his chest as he pushed himself back. “If you keep it up, I’m not going to fuck you.”

  Now that was a threat Tater was not willing to test. “But what if I—”

  “Hush, you won’t,” Olsen said as he scooted between his mate’s legs. “By the way, I’m killing my brothers for letting you feed from them when you were naked.”

  Tater could feel his entire body flush at Olsen’s reminder. He hadn’t been in control at the time, but now that he was, somewhat, he was going to die of mortification.

  “You have nothing to be ashamed of, love…They, on the other hand, better hope I forget.” He had no clue where his bear got the lube from, but the tube was dropped down next to Tater as Olsen’s fingers breached him.

  “Yes,” Tater hissed as his head rolled back.

  “Fuck. You look sexy as hell with those fangs,” Olsen moaned as he finger-fucked Tater until he thought he was going to lose his mind. Although his mate was doing a fan-fucking-tastic job of making him forget his own name, Tater was still afraid to really move. He didn’t care what Olsen said. With this new hybrid body, he wasn’t sure what his capabilities were, and he wasn’t willing to take a chance and hurt the man he loved.

  “Ow!” Tater yelped when Olsen smacked his hip.

  “You better care what I say, mister.”

  Tater narrowed his eyes, puckering his lips in a pout but didn’t think any negative thoughts after that. It helped that Olsen had plunged into him and made his brain cells scatter to the four corners. “Olsen!”

  “I thought you needed help taking your mind off of things.” His mate chuckled, looking unrepentant. Tater’s eyes grew when his mate lifted his big, beefy legs up and tossed them onto his shoulders, showing Tater a strength he never thought Olsen possessed.

  “I told you not to worry.” Olsen thrust deep on the last word, making Tater cry out with pleasure. Tater didn’t care that they were on the carpeted floor or that he was twice the size of his mate, as long as Olsen didn’t stop, fuck everything else.

  “That’s right, baby. Fuck ’em all.” Olsen grabbed Tater’s hip and jackhammered into his ass, making Tater’s arm shoot out, trying desperately to find any kind of purchase to grab onto.

  “M–Make me come, Olsen. Please,” Tater begged as he felt something start to build inside of him. His fear spiked to an all-new high when claws shot out of his fingers as his skin began to give off a slight hum.

  “Olsen, something’s happening.”

  “It’s called an orgasm, and I’m not stopping until you come all over me.” Olsen’s face hardened, determination etching into fine lines around his mate’s eyes as he hammered into Tater’s ass harder.

  Tater’s back arched as an explosion of stellar proportion was set off inside of him, cum erupting from his cock so hard that Tater thought his balls were going to be pulled up into his body.

  He jackknifed, taking Olsen down and sinking his fangs into his mate as Olsen did the same, his canines embedding into Tater’s flesh as his bear’s cock pulsed inside his ass, signaling his release.

  Tater was breathing heavy, willing his fangs to let go of his mate. The harder he bit down into Olsen’s flesh, the harder Olsen bit into him.

  It was a war of wills until finally the storm inside of Tater began to diminish, his senses coming back to him. He whimpered into his mate’s flesh as he eased his fangs free. “Olsen, I’m so sorry.”

  Olsen growled around Tater’s neck, his body thrusting into Tater’s, knocking them both back, Olsen falling on top of him before his bear finally released him. “Are you okay, love?”

  Tater thought it an odd thing to ask, considering he was the one who hurt Olsen. “I hurt you.”

  Olsen chuckled as he rocked back onto his heels. “No, you turned me the fuck on with the power struggle. But, as I told you, you would be the one on your back.” Olsen smacked Tater’s bare hip as he winked at him. “Come on, babe. We need to go let the family know that you’re okay.”

  Tater snorted, waving a hand down at his body. “You call doubling in size being okay?”

  Olsen’s features hardened as his eyes perused Tater’s new form. “I call it being alive.”

  Tater caught the meaning. His bear didn’t care what he looked like, as long as he still had his mate.

  “You’re damn straight.”

  Fuck, he hated the mind-reading thing.

  Olsen had to give his mate clothes to wear, considering Tater couldn’t fit any of his own. Actually, it was Chauncey who donated a few things. The twin was the largest of the sons and was about the same size as Tater’s new body.

  “My things are still at the shelter,” Tater said as he walked down the steps behind Olsen. “I may not fit my clothes anymore, but I do have personal items as well.”

  Olsen led his mate into the li
ving room, where it seemed his entire family was gathered. His pa looked up, his eyes questioning.

  “He’s fine.”

  “Thank fuck. If I had to donate again, he was going to feed from my damn bear,” Bryce grumbled. “I don’t appreciate being tossed under you, Tater. No offense, but I like my men smaller than me.” He laughed the last part, giving Tater a wink.

  Olsen growled, hating the fact that his womb mate had seen his Tater naked. He hated the fact that someone else had to help feed his mate, but in all honesty, he was glad it was one of his brothers.

  He cocked his head to the side when he noticed Chauncey sitting off by himself, a scowl pulling his face down. Olsen glanced over at Chance, Chauncey’s twin, to see if he had the same expression. He wasn’t surprised when Chance had a large smile on his face. Olsen would never understand the twins’ relationship with each other. It was bizarre as hell at times.

  “The wolf physician would like to take a few samples of your blood. Is that okay with you, Tater?” Pa asked as he stood from his recliner, walking across the room to stand in front of them. “It’s fine if you choose not to. It’s your body.”

  Olsen reached out and placed his hand on his mate’s lower back when Tater moved an inch closer to him. “I don’t mind, but what’s he going to do with it?”

  Pa smiled gently at Tater, his hand landing on Tater’s shoulder. “He just wants to see what’s going on inside of you.”

  “Do you know why they attacked?” Olsen asked as he pulled Tater’s large body into his arms. It was strange cuddling his mate when Tater stood at least a foot taller than him now, but Olsen didn’t care. The fact that he could cuddle him, that Tater hadn’t died, was all that mattered.

  “Well,” his pa said as he ran his hand over the back of his neck, turning to face the others. “From what Maverick told me, the blue guy—”

  “Blue guy?” Riley asked.

  Pa frowned at the eldest son. “If you hadn’t been up in your bedroom being antisocial instead of down here at the cookout, you would have seen him shimmer into the backyard.”

  “I was reading a good book,” Riley defended grumpily.

  “Anyway,” Pa continued after rolling his eyes at Riley, “the blue man told him that some very nasty people weren’t too happy about Alex’s stepfather, Tater’s uncle, disappearing and the drug lab being destroyed. Apparently they had invested a lot of money in what Clark was doing in that big red barn.

  “It wasn’t a fucking drug lab. It was my refuge.”

  Olsen felt the anger rolling off of Tater in waves. “I’m sorry you lost it, love.” And Olsen truly was. He hated to see anything upset his baby. After everything that Tater had gone through, was still going through, he wanted to make his mate happy.

  “So they sent rogues to do what? Wipe the entire fucking town out?” Chance asked angrily. “What kind of fucked-up thinking is that?”

  “I, along with the alpha, don’t know, son. But I have a feeling that this isn’t over. I want all of you, including you three”—Pa pointed to Alex, Steven, and then Tater—“to watch your backs. Keep your guard up at all times until this mess is resolved or we get the all clear. Got it?”

  The room nodded, a few grumbling their answers as Olsen ran his hand up and down Tater’s back. “How is Christian?”

  “What happened to Christian?”

  Olsen liked the fact that they could talk privately like this. It made him feel closer to his mate. “When he had to convert you to save your life, he took in your tainted blood. We were kicked out by his mates when Christian’s body started freaking out. He changed into this weird thing and was raging,” Olsen explained out loud so everyone would know.

  Tater turned toward him with his mouth hanging open. “Seriously?”

  Olsen nodded. “I’m not sure what was going on, but his mates charged into the room and demanded that we leave. I was so worried about you, I didn’t stop to ask questions.”

  “Damn.” Chauncey finally snapped out of whatever soured his mood, and whistled low. “That’s truly fucked up.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Pa agreed. “I’m waiting on Maverick to call me. He said that as soon as he hears something, he’d let me know.”

  Olsen felt terrible about the vampire. He had immediately jumped in, no qualms about helping to save Tater’s life, and now he may be damaged or insane.

  Olsen had a feeling that whatever was going on had only just begun.

  Chapter Eleven

  Olsen cocked an eyebrow as Tater grunted. He wasn’t sure what his mate wanted to show him, but Tater had dragged him outside, telling Olsen he had to see this.

  Whatever this was.

  Tater shook out his hands, exhaling loudly, and then stood as still as a statue. Olsen slapped his hands onto his hips, waiting for something to happen. There was no way Tater brought him out here to show him how still he could stand.

  “Hush. You’re breaking my concentration.”

  Olsen chuckled. “I didn’t say a word.”

  “No, but you’re thinking too loud.”

  Olsen shook his head. That was the first time he’d ever been accused of something like that.

  “Olsen,” Tater thought in warning.

  “Well, what do you want me to do? I can’t stop my brain from working.”

  Tater growled and then became still again. Olsen leaned against the side of the house as Bryce and Gavin joined him. All three stood there silently and watched Tater.

  Olsen jumped back, gasping as Tater’s skin began to glow an eerie shade of green. The same green that it had been when he was first converted.

  “So he’s a lightning bug now?” Bryce asked as he cocked his head to the side. “All he needs are wings.”

  Olsen’s hand shot out, the back of it slapping Bryce in his chest. “You’re not allowed to make fun of my mate.”

  “Who’s making fun of him?” Bryce asked, but Olsen could see the mischievous glint in his eyes. “I think it’s cool as hell.”

  “Really?” Tater asked as the glowing began to fade.

  If Bryce said one smart-ass thing, Olsen was going to kick his ass from one end of the house to the other.

  “It’s okay, Olsen. I know I’m a freak now.”

  Olsen pushed away from the house, stalking over to his mate and grabbing Tater’s upper arms. “Look at me, love.”

  Tater glanced everywhere but at Olsen, and then his gorgeous green eyes settled on him. Olsen was thankful that Tater’s eyes hadn’t changed. He would have missed the pale beauties. “You are not a freak. Do you understand me?”

  “Hey, I was just kidding, Tater,” Bryce said as he took a step closer, stopping when Olsen growled a warning. “I’m serious. You’re family. It doesn’t matter who or what you are, you’re one of us now. You’re a Lakeland, and nobody, not even one of us, is going to fuck with you.”

  Olsen’s anger at his brother eased a little at Bryce’s words. He could feel Tater’s tension slowly draining as he nodded at Bryce. “Thanks.”

  “You want me to kick my ass? I’ll do it,” Bryce said.

  Tater threw his head back and laughed. “This I’ve gotta see.”

  Bryce growled. “You would have to say yes.”

  Olsen grinned as he pulled Tater back, waiting to see what his brother was going to do. He pushed the thought away from his mind about Tater’s trick. It wouldn’t do any good to think about it right now with Tater having been upset at Bryce’s comment. But he was going to find out later what the hell had just happened.

  “Now you know I can’t technically kick my own ass, right?”

  “Yes, you can.” Gavin grinned. “Go on, big mouth. Do it.”

  “Boys, get in here,” Pa shouted from the back porch.

  “Saved by the bell,” Olsen said as he grabbed Tater’s hand and led his mate inside. It had been three weeks since Tater’s ordeal with the rogue, and his baby seemed to be adjusting slowly. He hoped his pa didn’t have any news that would set his mate’s progre
ss back.

  “I’m fine.”

  Olsen rolled his eyes as he swatted Tater’s ass. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  “Settle down, fellas,” his pa said as he sauntered over to one of the recliners and took a seat, sitting with his arms resting on his knees. “Maverick called. It’s all been hush-hush about what happened to the prince.”

  Olsen stood straighter. He wanted to know what happened to the man that had saved his mate’s life. He’d inquired a few times but was told time and again that no one knew what was going on with the prince of vampires.

  “How’s he doing?” Olsen asked as his hand slid over Tater’s back.

  “From what I’ve been told, not so good. He keeps shifting back and forth from his vampire form to his original form. It’s slowing down and the physician is hoping that it will soon stop, but nobody really knows what’s going to happen.”

  Fuck. Olsen felt like he should do something. After all, the vampire had saved Tater. Even if he hadn’t, Olsen would still feel compelled to help. That was who he was and how he was raised.

  “You know there’s really nothing we can do, Olsen,” Tater gently reminded him. “He’s the original vampire, according to your father. I’m pretty sure we would be out of our element with him.”

  Olsen sighed. He knew his mate was right. He just hated sitting around doing nothing. “Did anyone find out who is behind all of this upheaval?”

  “Not a clue,” Pa said. “Maverick suspects it’s rogue vampires, but there’s no way to tell.”

  Olsen glanced at Tater when a small frown began to work across his face. “What is it, love?”

  “It’s probably nothing.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “D seemed to know one of the vampires that attacked us,” Tater said. “He told me that the guy wasn’t very nice.”

  “Not a nice guy?” Olsen cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t say.”

  Tater’s eyes narrowed. “Bite me!”

  Olsen grinned.

  “Can you be serious here for a minute?” Tater snapped. “D might know who these guys are. I think we should talk to him or at least have Maverick talk to him.”