by Lynn Hagen
Winding the gauze around his mate’s injury, Wolf vowed to find and eradicate as many hell dwellers as he could find. They would pay for what happened to his mate, and any other innocent that had been unlucky enough to cross a dweller’s path.
Wolf grabbed a chair from across the room, setting it right next to the bed, and took a seat, resting his chin on his fists as he waited to see if his zaterio would fever.
Now that his mate was here, the mating heat would start. It was the last thing Wolf wanted to happen right now.
Not now, not when his zaterio was injured.
He couldn’t even think of his mate in a sexual way as he lay there possibly fighting for his life. Wolf just wished he knew which injury his zaterio had sustained. It would make the waiting a hell of lot easier if he knew which outcome to look for. Maybe not, especially if the man had been bitten. Gods, he was going nuts already, and the clock had just started ticking.
“Wolf?”
He heard the commander enter his bedroom behind him, but Wolf couldn’t think of anything to say. He knew it was forbidden to bring a human into the castle, but the man was his zaterio. What else was he supposed to do?
“He was bleeding.” It was the only plausible excuse he could give his commander about why he had brought a human into their home. He couldn’t think straight right now, not when he was so filled with worry that he thought he would be sick. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. All he wanted to do was be with his mate. Wolf’s eyes locked onto the wound, seeing that the blood was seeping through the bandage, spreading over the white gauze like a hand of death, trying its best to claim what rightfully belonged to Wolf. It worried him to see that the wound wasn’t healing.
“Who was bleeding, Wolf?” Nazaryth asked.
Wolf held back the sob as his eyes roamed over his mate’s perfect profile. His thoughts were scattered, and he wasn’t sure he could even string an intelligent answer together. “I’m not sure if he was bitten, so I have to watch him.”
“Who is he, Wolf?” the commander’s voice was probing, but Wolf honestly didn’t care. The only things that mattered were getting his mate better and praying he wasn’t bitten.
“Why have you brought a human here?” Nazaryth asked.
Wolf held his breath when he saw the bandage seeping even more blood. This can’t be good.
“Tell me who he is.”
Wolf blinked back the tears as he stared at the most handsome man he had ever seen. Would he lose him before he got to know him? “He’s my zaterio.” He felt Nazaryth’s hand on his shoulder, but it wasn’t in the least bit comforting. Wolf was staring down at his mate, waiting to see if he was going to die. An overwhelming sense of loss filled him at the thought of never even knowing his mate’s name, hearing his voice, or being graced with his smile.
“Have you checked his wound?”
Wolf nodded. “It’s a long gash on his arm, running from shoulder to elbow, but I’m not sure if he was bitten as well,” he said. “But I have to watch him.” If his mate was bitten, the fever could come at any time. Wolf had to be prepared to help his mate as much as possible, even though he knew the fever meant he was going to lose the precious man. He didn’t want his zaterio to suffer in any way.
“We need to clean his wound, Wolf.”
Wolf knew this, but he feared leaving the human’s side. What if his mate died while he was getting what he needed to clean the wound? He couldn’t chance that. His mate was human. And that thought scared the hell out of Wolf. Humans were so delicate.
“I’ll get some fresh gauze and some clean water,” his commander said before leaving Wolf’s bedroom.
Wolf nodded, his eyes fixed on his mate’s handsome face. He wanted to see his pretty eyes again, only not filled with abject fear this time. Wolf wanted to see his mate smile. He bet the man was stunning when he smiled.
He heard Nazaryth leave his bedroom. Once he knew he was alone, Wolf leaned forward and brushed his fingers over his zaterio’s forehead, wanting any kind of contact he could get. The man didn’t move.
Wolf moved closer, sitting on the side of the bed, staring down at the one man who was chosen for him to spend all eternity with. Sadness washed through him at the thought of being alone for the rest of all times. He knew he wouldn’t be able to handle that loneliness that surrounded a winged beast. It would be too much to bear after knowing that he had lost his mate. He would go mad and have to be killed. Once a beast went mad, there was no going back. But Wolf didn’t care. He wanted to be with his zaterio, in this life, or the next.
He growled low when he saw the soaked bandage on his mate’s arm. Wolf wasn’t going to wait for his commander. His mate needed his wound cleaned now.
He knew he had to clean it. Wolf dashed quickly to the bathroom and grabbed a bowl from under the sink, filled it with water and grabbed a towel, and then raced back to the bedroom. He didn’t want to spend one second away from the man. Wolf wanted to memorize every single feature if his mate was going to leave him.
Wolf bent at the waist, brushing his lips over his mate’s forehead. “Stay with me, my zaterio. I promise to make you the happiest man in the world. But you have to promise not to leave me alone,” he whispered and then straightened.
He began to clean his human’s arm, being as gentle as he could. He heard Nazaryth come into his bedroom, but Wolf concentrated on cleaning the blood from his mate’s arm. There was just so much of it. His throat was constricted from holding back the tears as his commander came forward, Theo by his side.
“I brought the paste.”
Wolf stepped aside, swallowing repeatedly as Nazaryth showed Theo how to apply the healing plants to Wolf’s zaterio’s arm. Once Theo was done, Wolf wrapped his mate’s wound.
“Any signs?” Nazaryth asked. Wolf knew his commander was speaking of the fever.
“None. He holds no fever. Not yet at least.” Wolf brushed his hand over his mate’s head, praying to the gods that he woke up soon. He heard the two men leave quietly. Wolf took a seat and played the waiting game.
Jaycee inhaled sharply as his eyes fluttered open, and then he whimpered. His shoulder felt like a branding iron was being pushed into the flesh. As his vision cleared of sleep, Jaycee noticed a large, high-vaulted ceiling. His bedroom did not have a high-vaulted ceiling. It had tile, and one of the tiles was stained brown from a leaky roof.
He slammed his eyes closed, afraid to move. He wasn’t sure where he was, but from the feel of the soft mattress below him, he wasn’t in his backyard any longer. Or in his bed either. His bed wasn’t this freaking soft. Damn, he felt like he was lying on a cloud. Maybe he had died from the attack. Maybe he really was lying on a cloud. But if he had passed the pearly gates, then why in the heck did his arm hurt so badly? Wasn’t pain supposed to be a distant memory now?
He got gypped.
“How do you feel, zaterio?”
Oh shit. Where in the hell was he? The voice he heard was thick with accent, but Jaycee could have sworn the man just called him a Cheerio. That was what it had sounded like at least. Jaycee cracked one eye open, and then the other, wondering if he was dead.
The man hovering near him was a god! He had to be. No one looked that damn good and lived here on earth. None that Jaycee had ever seen in his life. “Where am I?” he asked, his voice sounding a little scratchy. He cleared it as he tried to sit up, but winced when pain shot down his shoulder.
“You are in a place that will keep you safe.”
What the hell kind of an answer was that? Jaycee glanced around the room he was in. Damn, could it get any fancier? It reminded him of a castle from the medieval days. There were rich fabrics that hung from the walls, bookcases galore, and the bed he was lying in was nothing to sneeze at. It had to have cost a mint. The four-poster bed was made from some sort of white marble with blends of grey running through it, and there were even curtains hanging from the canopy that were pulled back on both sides.
He might not have died, but from the
looks of this fancy place, he wasn’t in Pride Pack Valley anymore. They didn’t have castles in his town.
“Where exactly am I?”
The man moved closer, sitting on the side of the bed. Jaycee scooted an inch away. He remembered the man now. Some lunatic with sharp claws had attacked Jaycee in his own backyard, and this man had come running up the driveway just as Jaycee had passed out from blood loss. Was he in the insane man’s house? Was this one of the insane man’s goons? Jaycee knew he had to get out of here. The guy who had attacked him wasn’t right in the head. The guy was off his freaking rocker. Jaycee remembered those weird-ass eyes, too. He never wanted to see those eyes again. The man who attacked him chilled Jaycee down to his bones.
The man scooted back a little, like he knew Jaycee was afraid, and then offered a friendly smile. “Do not fear me, zaterio. I would never hurt you.”
Jaycee curled his fingers into the blanket, wondering how quickly he could get from the bed to the door before Hercules stopped him. “Why do you keep calling me a Cheerio?”
The man’s deep and rich laughter boomed through the room as his emerald-green eyes sparkled with delight. Well, at least this lunatic was gorgeous.
Wait, he shouldn’t be thinking that right now. He should be thinking about getting the hell out of here. But Jaycee couldn’t deny the guy was hot, and the smile only made the guy even more attractive.
When the laughter slowed, the man shook his head, looking as if he were the happiest man on earth. Jaycee couldn’t understand that look. Not that he had any experience with men looking at him like that. Jaycee had known he was gay at a very early age, but no guy had ever shown any interest in him, and Jaycee had kind of gotten used to being ignored.
Living in a small town where he really didn’t know too many of the residents, the pickings were slim. He had lived here his entire life, but Jaycee hadn’t made many friends. He knew a few people he worked with, and his roommates, but mostly kept to himself.
But this man wasn’t ignoring him.
The heat in his eyes as he stared at Jaycee told him exactly what the guy was thinking. “I am calling you zaterio.” The man said the last word slowly, putting emphasis on each syllable and enunciating them slowly.
“Oh,” Jaycee said as he glanced at the man’s broad chest. That was better than being called cereal. Maybe, it all depended on what zah-tear-e-oh meant. Jaycee wasn’t even sure he cared right now. He just wanted to get back to his home where his loony-ass roommates would make Jaycee feel normal again. He felt like he should bow or something to the man sitting on the bed. Was he some sort of king? The room sure as shit seemed like that man should be.
“Look, thanks for the Band-Aid and your hospitality, but I must be shoving off.” He grinned tightly at the well-muscled man before slowly easing from the bed. He didn’t want to put any unnecessary pressure on his injury. It was already throbbing with pain.
“I am truly sorry, but you cannot leave.”
Jaycee spun around at the man’s words, swallowing hard when he saw the tips of fangs just under the man’s lip. Oh shit.
Chapter Two
Wolf wished he had chosen his words a little more carefully. He could see the panic in his zaterio’s eyes and that was the last thing he wanted, but hell if he was letting his mate walk out the door only to be attacked again. Wolf knew just how dangerous things were out there. His mate did not. So it was up to him to protect the guy from the hell dwellers. The hounds knew by now who his mate was, or at least where he lived. If his zaterio went home, he would only be attacked once more. And the next time, he just might be bitten.
How very tempted Wolf was to probe his mate’s mind right now. But he was not going to invade the man’s private thoughts and memories without being invited. It had been done to him eons ago, and Wolf still remembered the feeling of rage that the king would take such a privilege that had not been granted to him.
“What do you mean you can’t let me leave?” his mate asked, shaking his head in obvious confusion.
“What is your name?” Wolf asked. If nothing else, he wanted to know his zaterio’s name. He had to know it. It was a need so deep that Wolf wasn’t sure he could carry on a conversation until he found out.
“Jaycee.”
“I am Wolf.”
“You’re a wolf?”
Wolf chuckled. His mate looked so damn perplexed. The situation wasn’t funny, but the look on Jaycee’s face was a bit comical. “No, I am not a wolf. My name is Wolf.”
“Oh,” Jaycee said as he scooted closer to the door. “Nice to meet you, Wolf. Now can I leave?”
Wolf sighed as he rested his arms on his thighs. His mate was going to make this complicated as hell. Why did humans always fight against what they didn’t understand? Why couldn’t Jaycee just accept the fact that this was where he belonged? “No.”
His zaterio’s eyes narrowed slightly. “So if I tried to escape, you’d stop me?” Jaycee asked as he moved another inch toward the door. He wasn’t sure if Jaycee was trying to be casual about the steps he took, but Wolf wasn’t blind. He could see his mate trying his best to get to the door without Wolf noticing.
“You can’t just walk out of here, Jaycee. Those hounds will try to attack you again. Next time they may just bite you. It isn’t safe.”
“Bite me?” Jaycee paled slightly. “I don’t know what would happen if they bit me, but from the look on your face, that isn’t a good thing.”
“No, it’s not.” Wolf raked a hand through his hair, feeling a need to pull it out as his wings fluttered. He wanted his mate to see the inherent danger of leaving. “Theo was bitten and nearly died. You’re human. You will not live through a bite from a hell dweller.”
“I think I need to sit down,” Jaycee said as he crawled back up on to the bed, but made sure he stayed on the opposite end, away from Wolf. His mate’s complexion was slightly green. “You said human. You used the word human. Only someone who isn’t human uses that word.” Jaycee’s words were coming out quickly, panic edging his tone. “I’m not sure I want to know what you are, or what a hell dweller is. But you called that man a hound, too. Oh god, I’m going to be sick.”
Wolf hurried to his mate’s side, wondering what to do for a panic attack. He’d never dealt with one before, but he thought Jaycee could be experiencing one. “Do you want a glass of water?”
Jaycee cupped the sides of his head as he shook it back and forth. “I want to go back to when it was just humans here on earth.”
Wolf bristled at his mate’s confession. “That’s not fair.”
His hands dropped and Jaycee glared at him. “Neither is being attacked or waking up in a wacky world. You try it and see how Mary Sunshine you would feel, bub.”
Wolf was slightly confused about who Mary was, but he let it go. “I have lived my entire life in a wacky world. I’m sorry that it has touched you, but stop crying about it.” His patience was growing very thin. Jaycee was looking as if Wolf had been the one responsible for everything that had happened.
He wasn’t.
The only thing he could do was try and make things as pleasant as possible for his mate. And to make matters worse, now that Jaycee was out of danger, feeling better, the heat of mating was kicking in and making Wolf’s skin tight and his temper irritable. His wings wouldn’t fucking stop fluttering either. Winged beasts’ wings fluttered when in mating heat, wanting to wrap around their zaterios and claim them. Wolf had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy to claim Jaycee, but he wanted to touch the man, to caress his skin to see if it was as soft as it looked. It was taking every ounce of control not to climb over to Jaycee and fuck the man back into unconsciousness.
“Crying about it?” Jaycee asked indignantly as he fisted his hands in his lap. “Oh, buddy, I can really show you crying if you want. This is child’s play compared to the fit I can throw.”
Wolf wasn’t sure if his mate was trying to threaten him or not. The guy was confusing as hell, and he could feel a ma
ssive headache coming on. “I don’t want to argue about this, Jaycee.”
“Then don’t.” Jaycee sniffed as he scooted from the bed and walked toward the bedroom door, his head held high and his hips rocking back and forth. Not in a sashay per se, but with determination. Damn if that sexy little ass wasn’t turning him on. Wolf growled and went after his mate. His cock was hard as steel right now from the flare in Jaycee’s temper. The human had no clue of the heat racing through Wolf’s blood right now. He wanted to shove his cock so far into Jaycee’s ass that the painfully hard erection throbbed in his jeans.
“I can’t let you leave.”
“Then stop me.” Jaycee spun around and glared up at Wolf. “Just try and stop me, Wolf. If that is your real name.”
“Be careful what you ask for, zaterio,” Wolf warned. He was not above grabbing his mate and putting the human over his knee. Sweat began to form on his body as he thought of spanking the man. The images were so erotic that Wolf had to blow his breath out slowly.
Too bad it didn’t help.
“I still think you’re calling me a damn Cheerio.” Jaycee’s hair flopped around his face as he cocked his head to one side. “Are you sure you’re not calling me a Cheerio?”
How the hell could his mate make him incredibly mad one moment and then make him laugh the next? Wolf was perplexed as hell. Jaycee made absolutely no sense to him whatsoever. It may have to do with the fact he hadn’t dealt with humans up close and personal in centuries, but Wolf had a feeling it was just Jaycee. “I am calling you zaterio. Of that I am sure.”
Jaycee quirked a brow, eyeing Wolf as he crept closer to the door. “You can’t keep me here. I’ll–I’ll call the cops on you.”
Wolf didn’t mean to laugh, but thinking of the human police coming in here to arrest him was just funny as hell. First, they would have to find the place. The winged beasts’ home resided in the side of a mountain. There were only two things visible. One was a balcony, and that was covered by mist. The second was the hangar, but with the spells around the mountain, the cops would feel a compulsive need to leave at once. And Wolf would really like to see someone, anyone, try and take his mate from him.