Skylar slid his hand into Justice’s and an electric current pulsed up his spine.
“Skylar Foxx.”
Justice contained the gasp that rose to his lips as warmth flooded his body at the touch of the young man’s hand.
“Pleasure to meet you.” Justice motioned to the outreach center. “Don’t you want to get back to the party?”
“That depends,” Skylar grinned.
“Oh? On what?”
“If you’re going back.”
Justice leaned down in to Skylar’s face and smiled. “After you.”
Skylar started walking but Justice stopped him.
“Hey, ‘Walking Dead’ — you dropped an ear.”
Skylar snorted, then laughed.
~*~
Dasan stood and chatted with Nikolai Markov. The guy was huge, and more than once Dasan had to look way up to talk to him. For a known killer, Nikolai had one hell of a sense of humor. Colin was across the room laughing with Chance Christianson and Nikolai’s eyes were fixed on his man. Dasan had to grin. The way those two looked at each other could set a room on fire.
He’d only just recently learned that Chance was a warlock when the man shrunk him. That was an experience he didn’t want to repeat. Nikolai’s snort pulled him out of his thoughts.
“Great. Just who I wanted to see,” Nikolai grumbled.
Dasan looked toward the door and couldn’t help the thrill that raced through him. The man he’d fantasized about, and whose life he had saved, was looking right at him.
A wry smile curved the man’s lips and then he was making his way over. Nikolai’s anger fairly seeped from his pores.
“Markov,” Ruslan drawled. “Always a pleasure.”
“Borkosky,” Nikolai seethed. “Always a pain in the ass.”
“Where is that beautiful Colin?” Ruslan smiled.
“Rude much?” Nikolai indicated Dasan. “Dasan, this is Clark — oops, wait, that’s the name he lied about. I meant to say Ruslan Borkosky. He’s an asshole.”
Dasan put his hand out, only to have it ignored by the man in front of him. He got a barely-there nod and then Ruslan stepped back from the two of them.
“I guess I shall find him on my own.”
“Never going to happen, Ruslan,” Nikolai grinned.
“He is still my friend, Nikolai,” Ruslan smiled back.
“I’m surprised you’re not dressed as a condom.” Nikolai tilted his head, observing Ruslan’s pirate costume.
“Oh? Why is that?” Ruslan crossed his arms.
“Well you act like a dick; you might as well dress up as one,” Nikolai grinned. Ruslan grunted and stomped off.
Nikolai looked down at Dasan. He looked like someone had punched him in the gut.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Nikolai placed a hand on the younger man’s shoulder.
“That was the guy in the enclosure. I saved his life,” Dasan whispered.
“What?” Nikolai ran a hand through his hair. “I knew he was a dick, but — ”
“I was in wolf form.” Dasan hung his head. “He wouldn’t recognize me.”
“He could still have said hello and acknowledged you.” Nikolai balled his fists. “I hate that ass.”
“Well, I think that ass is hot.” Dasan smiled up at Nik Markov.
“Dasan.” Nikolai looked into golden eyes. “Find someone else to lust over. Ruslan Borkosky is SO not worth your time.”
Dasan found Ruslan across the room laughing with Colin.
“I wish it were that easy.”
~*~
Lev stood with Hayden and Jude watching the festivities. He’d never been homophobic, and neither had Dane before Petey had come into their lives. In fact, he’d been with men before, as had Dane. Lev shook his head as he watched the kids laughing. Dasan deserved to be happy after everything that had happened to him.
“Oooh, the firemen have arrived,” Jude chuckled.
“The who? Are they in costume?” Lev’s eyes darted to the front door. His breath stopped in his throat. “Um, do you guys know Chaz Savage by chance?”
“Yeah, he’s one of our closest friends. Why?” Hayden glanced over at Lev. He seemed to have stopped breathing.
“Oh, this was such a bad idea,” Lev whispered. His eyes met with Chaz’s. The crystal blue eyes narrowed and then anger rolled off the man in waves.
“What the fuck!” Chaz roared.
The whole room came to a silent stop. Lev backed into the wall as Chaz stomped across the room, rage evident on his face.
“Chaz.” Lev smiled weakly.
“What the fuck are you doing here?! I haven’t seen you in six years!”
“I should probably…” Lev motioned to the exit.
“I’m going to rip your fucking nuts off!” Chaz bellowed.
“Chaz, calm down.” Cole looked around the room at all the dropped jaws. “This is not the time, nor the place.”
Cole looked at Lev with narrowed eyes. “You should go right now before I can’t control him.”
Lev inched around them and made his way to the door. “I’ll see you back at the house, Hayden.”
“Uh huh.” Hayden nodded, somewhat dazed. Damn, the anger coming from Chaz filled the whole room.
Cole waited for the door to close before releasing his hold on Chaz. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.
“No I’m not okay!” Chaz roared, storming towards the door.
“Um, should we…?” Jude pointed towards the door.
Cole looked over his shoulder as Chaz slammed the door shut. “No, I think this is something that has to be done.”
“Were they an item?” Hayden asked.
Cole nodded slowly. “Yes, they were.”
~*~
Lev had almost made it to his rental car when he heard the door to the center slam shut. He froze in his tracks as the sound of footsteps echoed in the parking lot.
“You’ve got some fucking nerve, Chirkoff!”
Lev turned slowly. Jesus, Chaz was even more beautiful now than he’d been six years ago. He swallowed the lump in his throat and eyed the man he’d loved so many years ago.
“I’m sorry about this. I had no idea you would be here.”
“That’s it?” Chaz shouted. “That’s all you have to say to me after all this time?”
“Would anything I said make you feel better?”
“An apology would be nice!”
Lev sighed. “I am sorry, Chaz; you’ll never know how sorry I am.”
“No, I won’t, because I never want to set eyes on you again.” Chaz turned on his heel and strode back to the building.
Lev watched the love of his life getting further and further away. How could he ever explain why he’d had to leave? No, this was better. Having Chaz hate him would be better than the man finding out what he was. That was the reason he had disappeared to Canada. Why fall even more deeply in love with Chaz when there was no hope it would last once the man discovered his secret? Once in Vancouver, he’d found a pack to join. When his closest friend headed to Siberia, he also went.
Fuck. What a mess.
~*~
Jaxon watched Elijah across the room. The younger man was smiling, but when Jaxon caught his eye now and then Elijah looked away. What the hell was going on with him?
Jaxon made his excuses and crossed the room.
“Elijah? Would you dance with me?”
Elijah turned to look at Jaxon Salvatore.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am.” Jaxon took Elijah’s hand and led him to the dance floor. A slower song came on and Jaxon shot a glance at the booth. Jesse was manning the DJ booth with a very large grin on his face.
Jaxon turned his gaze back to Elijah’s face. The huge blue eyes were searching his face.
“What is it?” Jaxon asked.
“Why are you dancing with me? You’ve made it clear I’m too young for you.”
“So we can’t dance? I wanted to talk to you.”
Jaxon pulled Elijah closer and leaned into his ear. “We care about you.”
“I’m fine! God, I wish people would just leave me alone!”
“You would tell me, wouldn’t you? You have to know you can trust me, Elijah.”
Elijah backed away.
“Is that what this is about? You think because I have some crush on you I’m going to reveal my deepest, darkest secrets? Well, let me clue you in on something, Jaxon — I’m a big boy and I can take care of myself. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had about enough of Halloween.”
Jaxon followed Elijah as he stormed across the floor; he gripped his wrist just as Elijah reached the door.
“If you don’t want to talk to me, that’s fine, but don’t shut out your friends, Elijah,” Jaxon said quietly.
“Back off, Jaxon!”
Jaxon was surprised when the candle on the wall next to him flared bigger. Elijah’s eyes widened and he ran out the door. Jaxon followed him out, but Elijah was already running.
Jaxon made to go after him, but his brother’s presence behind him stopped him.
“Let him go, Jaxon,” Justice said.
“I…can’t. I’m worried.” Jaxon sighed in frustration.
“Keep a closer eye on him. That’s all you can do. If you keep this up, you’ll push him even farther away.”
Jaxon narrowed his eyes in the dark. “I can be just as stubborn as he is. If he thinks pushing me away is going to work, he doesn’t know me very well.”
Justice chuckled. “He’ll be fine with you on his ass.”
Jaxon turned to look at his older brother. Justice was biting his lip to keep from laughing.
“Not funny, Justice.” Jaxon shoved past his brother.
“I thought it was.” Justice smiled and followed him in.
~*~
Hayden was so tired by the end of the night, he and Jude practically crawled back to their house. It was quiet. Dasan was spending the night with Skylar and Ryder, and Lev was holed up in the spare room. Hayden kicked his shoes off and dragged his tired ass to their bedroom. Jude undressed and slipped into bed with a sigh.
“Have fun, pepper?” Hayden chuckled.
“Sure did, salt.” Jude’s pulse raced as Hayden undressed. He’d never get tired of naked Hayden.
Hayden crawled under the sheets and pulled Jude close to him, inhaling the scent of his mate.
His mate!
A smile curved his lips at the thought. After years of longing for Jude, the man was in his arms.
“What are you thinking?” Jude sighed in contentment.
“How much I love you.”
Jude kissed Hayden’s jaw. “Yeah? You want to show me, too?”
Hayden grinned in the darkness.
“Oh yeah.” Hayden feathered light kisses across Jude’s lips. “You know I can bottom.”
“We can switch if you want, but I’m telling you now, I love your dick in my ass.”
Hayden lifted from the kiss, his eyes wide.
Jude chuckled. “What?”
“Such a potty mouth. I love it,” Hayden growled softly.
“I have no problem letting you pound me into oblivion. You being the top gives you the illusion of being in control when it’s actually me who is,” Jude grinned lasciviously.
“Oh is that right?” Hayden nibbled along Jude’s jaw.
Jude framed Hayden’s face in his hands. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Hayden whispered, moving in for another kiss.
~*Chapter Twelve*~
Hayden wiped his brow and shifted his eyes in the dark. They were in Morocco, right on the border of Algeria, to infiltrate a drug ring. This one had been linked to the loss of hundreds of lives around the region. The men who ran it were rapists and murderers, and were transporting their lethal drugs to the United States and other regions. Jude was maybe fifty feet from him, crouched low to the ground. Hayden signaled him and moved ahead through one of the long tunnels. This particular ring was built underground and was fully functioning. They were spread out by twos for miles through the facility and all the teams were reporting in.
“I’ve got some hairy hostiles here,” Josh chuckled into his mic.
“God, it smells like bad cheese in here.” Colin wrinkled his nose.
Nikolai stifled a laugh.
“The biggest concentration of them is in the cooking room. Which I have just found.” Vince peeked around the corner. “We’ve got maybe two thousand square feet to work in, about a seven-foot ceiling and about fifty guys to eliminate.”
“Coming to you now,” Mateo affirmed. “I need anyone who’s human to stay on the outside of that room. The fumes will be bad and if there’s an explosion, we don’t want to lose one of you.”
“Roger that,” Josh whispered. His eyes caught movement in the shadows and he crept low around the corner. “Um, guys?”
“What’s up?” Nikolai put his hand up to stop Colin’s forward movement.
“I think you need to come to me. I’ve found some prisoners.”
“Colin and I are on our way.” Nikolai motioned to Colin.
“I’m coming to you, Nik.” Vince looked over his shoulder at Seth Ralston. “You got this?”
Seth grinned. “When don’t I?” Seth eyed the men in the room. Most of them wore masks; a few didn’t. Seth narrowed his eyes and caught the slightest hint of yellow in one of the non-masked men. He sent a mental message to the wolves on the team. “We’re going to need to shift for this one. We have rogues and humans alike.”
“Good, I need a good shift,” Jude replied.
“Logan, where are you and Locke?” Hayden asked.
“On our way right now. Met with some resistance. I think we may have tripped the burglar alarm, so to speak. I ripped his throat out, but he may have lit the bat signal.”
The first sound of gunfire erupted and Seth glanced over his shoulder at the wolves approaching.
“Well, let’s give them a proper hello, shall we?”
~*~
Nik crept up behind Josh and tapped his shoulder. The assassin looked over his shoulder at Nikolai Markov and grinned.
“Seems we mere humans get to rescue some women.”
Colin peeked around the corner. At least ten women were lined up against a wall, all of them dirty, with rags hanging from their frail frames. Men ran into the room and started hauling them up roughly, shouting out orders in a foreign language.
“Is that French?” Nikolai tilted his head.
“Yes, it is.” Colin’s brows furrowed. “But it’s not their native language. The pronunciation is off.”
Movement behind them caught their attention and Nikolai swung around, knife in one hand, gun in the other. His father was making his way to them. Nikolai grinned.
“Hey, Pops.”
Vince grunted.
“We have to play this very carefully.” Josh surveyed everything about the room, the men in it and where they needed to attack first.
Colin stood up and moved a little closer.
Nikolai caught his father’s movement out of the corner of his eye and sprang into action. Jumping in front of Colin like a shield, he knocked Vince off his feet and threw his father into the wall.
“Nikolai! What are you doing?” Colin gripped Nik’s bicep.
“He’s not my Pops,” Nikolai snarled into the man’s face. “So, we meet again, Killian. Want to tell me why you tried to knife my boyfriend?”
“I’m testing a theory,” Killian drawled. “Besides, it would only take a minute for one of the wolves to heal him if I had succeeded.”
Nik looked over his shoulder. “Colin, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. What the fuck were you trying to do?” Colin spat.
Killian sighed and pushed Nik’s arm off of his throat. “I d
id nothing.” He paused. “You and Nikolai are different.”
“Can you please stop looking like my dad?” Nikolai growled at the shape-shifter. “And what the fuck does that mean?”
“What the fuck?” Vince stepped into the tunnel. “Who the fuck is that?”
“I’m you,” Killian grinned.
“There’s only one of me, jackass.” Vince pulled his knife out.
“As much fun as this is,” Killian motioned to the room. “I have work to do.”
“Dude, just…be yourself please. You’re freaking me out.” Nikolai stepped back. “Although I find your fascination with the Markovs shows unexpected good taste.”
Killian shifted and moved toward the room.
“Whoa, wait a minute.” Vince grabbed the man’s arm. “This is what we’re here for.”
“So am I. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Killian shook off the older Markov and stepped around the team. He looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Nice seeing you all again.”
“I don’t think so.” Josh pulled his gun out. “We’re here to wipe this place off the face of the earth. So get the fuck out of the way or help.”
“I don’t work with humans.” Killian’s nose twitched.
“Tough shit, freak.” Vince pushed Killian forward.
“When this is over, you have some talking to do.” Nikolai stepped around Killian.
The room became a bloodbath. Killian fought with razor sharp claws, ripping men to shreds. More than once, Nikolai had his attention diverted to the man. Colin and Josh had moved the women to safety and watched over them while the other men cleared out the room. A loud explosion shook the walls and Vince motioned to Josh.
“Get them up top. I think we’re going to be overwhelmed with fumes from the shit they’re cooking up.”
“Oh, no you don’t!” Nik grabbed the shoulder of Killian’s trench coat.
“Oh, yes I do,” Killian grinned and shifted.
Nik blinked. “Where the hell did he go?”
Vince sighed. “Who knows? This guy can become anything, right?”
“I don’t know. We can’t get a hold of him for more than five seconds to find out.”
“Well, maybe he can shift into a fly or an ant or something.” Vince looked around.
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