Jacks, Marcy - Mason Returns to His Mate [DeWitt's Pack 8] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

by Marcy Jacks

  “But we don’t have a werewolf with us. Ivan?” Derek put his hand on the other man’s shoulder when he didn’t immediately respond. The quake he felt in Ivan’s shoulder, in his entire body really, had Derek stumbling back.

  What the fuck?

  “What’s happening to you?”

  His night vision was shit, but he’d adjusted enough by now to be able to see the outline of the vampire he was with, so he could see when the shaking subsided.

  It hadn’t been a violent thing to begin with, so Derek hadn’t been

  Mason Returns to His Mate 75

  worrying that the man was having a seizure or anything like that, but

  still …

  “Hey, you all right?”

  “I’m fine.”

  Derek jerked back again when the voice didn’t match Ivan’ s. He tried to see around the vampire, thinking there might’ve been another person in the area with them.

  As far as he could tell, it was just the two of them.

  “How’d you do that with your voice?” Derek asked.

  Ivan turned around. This time, instead of glowing red eyes, the irises that lit up in the dark were gold.

  Derek squinted, thinking he might not be seeing this right. “How’d you do that with your eyes?”

  Ivan stepped up to him, and then strangely, held out his hand. “My name is Eric. I’ll be helping you to track Mason. Nice to meet you.”

  76 Marcy Jacks

  Chapter Eight

  Mason wasn’t much interested in being found. That was the sole reason why he’d left. He made his way over to the pond where he and James used to play when he was a pup and James was still bigger than him. He was happy to see it was still there and as beautiful as ever, if a little overgrown with weeds.

  He always felt better whenever he came to this place, so he approached the water, glowing under the moonlight, found himself the rock where he used to sit, and sat down.

  The boulder was flat, and partly out of the water, leaving the top dry, perfect if he wanted to cool his legs in the pond without getting his ass wet.

  He sat down and gently kicked his legs in the water, feeling the minnows and tadpoles tickling his toes.

  He was always calmer whenever he came here. After ten years away from this spot and, even though he didn’t want to admit it at the moment, from Derek as well, he didn’t know how he’d survived the last ten years without either.

  Now that his inner wolf had been let out to run, Mason was able to

  better think about his circumstances.

  He guessed Derek did have a reason to be pissed. That was exactly why Mason had kept it from him that his stay might be extended or even permanent if they couldn’t find and kill the hunters.

  He knew Derek would worry and that he would be angry.

  Mason hadn’t chosen to keep those things from him to be a prick or anything, and that was the one thing that pissed him off the most about all this. That Derek seemed to think that Mason got a kick out

  Mason Returns to His Mate 77

  of keeping secrets from his mate. He didn’t.

  The fact that Derek was his mate was also something of a secret, but he was working up to that.

  Mason sighed. Maybe ten years of being his own wolf and relying on no one but himself for his decisions had turned him into a pussy. He couldn’t handle the thought of what would happen if someone was to become upset with him.

  That was why he’d lost the challenge against James that day. He wasn’t fit to be the leader of a pack, much less to make decisions for his mate.

  “Mason!”

  Mason damn near jumped out of his skin as he half turned his body just in time to watch Derek come running after him.

  What the hell was he―

  Oh, he saw that vampire, Ivan, standing behind Derek in the shadows. He was naked, and his eyes were not red, suggesting that he’d been possessed by the ghost of Eric.

  He didn’t care how romantically the others spun that story. It creeped him out.

  “Mason.” Derek ran two feet into the water, soaking his shoes and the bottom of his jeans to halfway up his calves before he stopped.

  The rock that Mason rested on was on the other side of the pond, just on the other side of the small and gentle waterfall that came from the river and fed into the pond, keeping the water always fresh and clean.

  Because of the horseshoe shape of the pond, and the little waterfall in the center, the only way to get onto the rock where Mason sat was to either swim to it or jump to it.

  It forced both men to keep their distance from each other.

  Mason was glad to see his mate, but was still grumpy in the fact that he wanted to be left alone. “What do you want, Derek?”

  Derek winced, and Mason bit down on his bottom lip. He wasn’t meaning for these stupid snappy things to be coming out of his mouth.

  78 Marcy Jacks

  He just wanted some solitude to think.

  The thought of Derek turning around and leaving on that final note just so that Mason could have that solitude wasn’t so appealing.

  “Wait,” he called when it looked as though Derek was about to do just that.

  Mason got to his feet and jumped to dry land, landing at a crouch beside Derek.

  The other man’s face dropped in shock as he looked over at the rock and then back down at Mason. “I didn’t know you could jump that far.”

  “It’s a talent,” he said, then turned toward Eric or Ivan or whoever

  the hell that was. “We’ll be fine on our own for a bit.”

  Eric―at least, Mason was going to assume it was Eric considering the other man was naked, meaning he’d just transformed―nodded and then turned around, vanishing back in the shadows.

  The man would probably stay close by, just in case, but Mason wasn’t entirely looking for privacy at this point.

  “What are you doing here?” Mason asked.

  Derek wet his lips, and he didn’t look Mason in the face. “I was worried you’d try and leave again.”

  Mason hesitated and then decided to just go for it and put his arms around Derek’s shoulders. To his extreme relief and delight, the other man held him back. “I wouldn’t do that to you again. I just needed some time to think.”

  “Didn’t want to risk it,” Derek said against his shoulder.

  He felt good there. Warm and solid. Mason loved having him against his body. He could stay like this forever.

  “Sorry I worried you. I just…I did what I did so you wouldn’t worry.”

  “I know that,” Derek said, pulling away enough to look up at him. “But I’m not a werewolf, or an omega or whatever. I’m human, and I don’t like other people deciding what I should and shouldn’t know about my safety without my say-so. I’m sorry if that goes against

  Mason Returns to His Mate 79

  what you are, but this is how I am,” Derek said.

  Again, Mason fought the urge of his inner alpha to demand to be given the right of way in everything. If Isaac and Tristan could do this, then he could, too.

  “Okay. I’m sorry it came out that way, but I can’t be sorry for trying to protect you,” Mason said. He needed to be stubborn in this thing, at least.

  Derek looked at him long and hard. “Protect me from people who want to hunt and kill me, not from the emotional stuff. That I can

  handle.”

  He could do that. “Deal,” Mason said.

  “But Isaac did offer to go target shooting with me to bone up on my aim with a pistol,” Derek said, smiling. “Just in case.”

  Just in case. Christ, there wasn’t going to be a single thing about this that wasn’t hard.

  Clenching his jaw, Mason nodded. “Just try not to get into any trouble, all right? These guys are usually more skilled than the average human.”

  “You have my guarantee that I am too much of a coward to do more than hide under the bed if some guy comes at me with a gun or knife.”

  Mason was
about to argue against that and say that his mate was no coward, but the look on Derek’s face, that same shit-eating smile,

  told him that his mate was joking.

  He might be serious about not running straight into their next

  battle, but Derek was no coward. Mason knew that. Derek wouldn’t

  have survived that first encounter with the hunters if he had been.

  “All right. I’ll hold you to that, and the next time we might have to keep you at the pack for an extended period of time, I’ll let you know first.”

  Derek kissed him. It was a gentle and chaste pressing of their lips,

  and no kiss had ever been as sweet.

  “I’m just glad you’re staying,” Derek said.

  80 Marcy Jacks

  “I won’t leave again,” Mason said, putting his fingers into Derek’s

  hair. Even if he did ever decide to leave, this time he would make sure

  to take Derek with him.

  While Mason loved the press of their bodies, there was still that one more tiny detail that needed taking care of. “Ah, Derek, since you don’t want me keeping emotional touchy feely stuff from you and all, there’s something else you should know.”

  Mason gently pushed them away from each other, and he and Derek held each other at an arm’s length, but they didn’t completely

  separate.

  Neither wanted to let the other go.

  Derek frowned a little, but his face hardly turned angry, nor did Mason get that vibe out of him.

  “All right, what is it?” Derek asked.

  “It might make you angry.”

  “Spit it out, DeWitt,” Derek said.

  “Okay, here it is,” Mason said, gripping Derek’s shoulders tight. “We’re mates.”

  He shrugged and smiled to mask how nervous he felt. “Ta-da?”

  Derek blinked at him a couple of times, his brows lifting as he put together exactly what something like that would mean.

  “You mean, like, we’re together now? Because I already figured that part out,” Derek said with a grin, trying to get closer to Mason again.

  “Yes, we are, but not in the way you’re thinking,” Mason said, pushing Derek back a little, ever fearful of the building confusion on his lover’s face.

  He had to explain himself quickly. Derek wasn’t known for his short fuse, but everyone had a limit on what they could take.

  “A mate, for a werewolf, isn’t the same thing as taking a lover or a partner. It’s not just attraction, and it isn’t always based on love. There are a lot of weres in the world who find themselves mated to

  people they can’t stand. When I say we’re mates, what I mean is that

  Mason Returns to His Mate 81

  you and I are spiritually connected. Pretty much for the rest of our

  lives.”

  Beyond that, too, if he remembered the story about Ivan and Eric right, but he didn’t want to get into that too much.

  Derek’s brows shot right into his hairline. “We’re married?”

  Mason shrugged. “If that’s a good way for you to look at it, then yes.”

  “Holy shit.” Derek rubbed his face with both palms before sliding his hands into his hair. He looked like he was struggling to not lose it.

  “I don’t want this to be another choice you think is being taken away from you,” Mason said. “I know we haven’t been together for that long”—not long at all—“so I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything. I want to be with you, so much, but if you ever want to go, when the hunters are dealt with, you can go back to Brampton or wherever you want to go and I won’t stop you.”

  Derek looked up at him sharply. “That’s why you walked out back there? Because you thought I wanted to leave you?”

  Fuck. Mason wasn’t good with these kinds of things. “I just don’t want you to think you’re trapped here.”

  “It’s not about that, Mason. Jesus!” Derek said. “I love you. I’ve loved you since I was twenty years old. I’m kind of glad you told me about this. Really glad, actually, because now I know that I’m not insane for holding a candle for you for that long. You’re saying that the reason I never forgot about you was because of the way we’re connected?”

  Mason smiled at him, and he touched Derek’s face. He had such

  nice skin. “Yes.”

  “You never forgot me either.”

  Not a question, but the statement deserved an answer anyway. Mason could feel the way his face went stove-burner hot as he replied. “No.”

  Derek kissed him.

  Mason had been wrong before. This kiss was the sweetest.

  82 Marcy Jacks

  Considering he was still naked from his recent run as a werewolf, his immediate arousal was noticed right away by Derek, who started to shimmy out of his clothes.

  Mason wouldn’t have taken the other man for being the type to want sex in such an open place.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, just to be on the safe side.

  “No one’s around, right?”

  Seemed he was still a little shy.

  Eric was nearby, but Mason had no doubt that the other man, or men, whatever, would leave once he realized what was going on.

  That, and Mason wasn’t about to put a stop to what Derek was doing to him. He couldn’t.

  When Derek was just as naked as Mason, he kicked his leg behind Derek’s feet, tripping the other man and holding onto his arms tight enough to gently lower him down to the ground.

  “You bastard.” Derek laughed, and then they kissed again.

  Something was different about this, Mason noted. He wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but there was something about touching Derek’s skin now compared to before that was on an entirely different level.

  Everything in his body tingled, the harder he pressed himself against Derek, the better he felt, the more the nerves under his flesh responded, and the more they both shivered.

  “Fuck, what is that?” Derek asked.

  “Don’t know,” Mason replied, humping against him, pressing their cocks together, and putting his lips against Derek’s neck and jaw.

  It felt like his senses had been heightened. When he kissed Derek’s jugular, he could feel the rush of blood beneath the man’s skin as his heartbeat pumped within his chest. His lips could feel every inch of his skin, taste everything on him.

  He smelled like clean sweat, and Mason could even taste the

  water from the shower Derek had taken that morning.

  Mason Returns to His Mate 83

  Derek lifted his knees, groaning and pushing his hips back against Mason’s thrusts. He felt like a teenager in heat. He needed to get off, and he needed to do that on Derek, in him. He needed to claim him as

  his own.

  “You’re mine,” Mason growled.

  “Ah!” Derek said, a sound between a moan and a sigh as his fingernails tugged on the skin on Mason’s back.

  Derek tried kissing him, but Mason pulled away. “Tell me you’re mine,” he demanded.

  “I’m yours. I’m yours. Fuck me, already!”

  Mason complied, pulling himself off of his lover and flipping the

  other man around almost violently. He couldn’t help himself. He just

  needed to do this.

  Mason gripped Derek by the hips and placed a kiss onto his pucker. Derek shivered, his entire body clenching up. He knew what was coming, and Mason pressed his tongue against the waiting hole,

  pushing against the ring of muscle.

  Derek bucked and cursed and said all sort of things that Mason paid no attention to. His only focus was on his task, preparing Derek for what he was about to do.

  He didn’t listen to the words Derek said, but the sounds went

  straight to his balls and dick. His balls became heavy, and his cock thickened and pulsed with the blood that rushed into the organ. It was nearly becoming painful.

  When his tongue found that spot, the very tip ti
ckling along the edges, Derek shouted and fell down on his elbows, one hand reaching down to jerk on his cock while he came.

  The ring of muscle was now loose, and when he sensed that Derek’s heart was coming back down to a normal rate, Mason pulled his tongue out, but he wasn’t finished by a long shot.

  “Back on your hands and knees,” he commanded.

  Derek’s chest heaved for breath like he’d just run a marathon, and he turned to look over his shoulder at Mason.

  84 Marcy Jacks

  The sight of Derek’s own cum on his chin, just a little but still noticeable, was nearly enough to pull him out of this strange dominant haze he was in and make him laugh.

  Not quite enough, though. “I said, on your hands and knees.”

  Derek grinned and at him and did as he was told. His muscles shook ever so slightly as he struggled to obey the command, but obey he did.

  “Haven’t seen you like this since that night,” Derek said, that smile still tugging at his lips. “Check my pants pocket.”

  Mason was confused by the sudden command, but he did as he was told. He barked a laugh when he pulled out another one of those small bottles of hand lotion.

  “You’re carrying these around now?”

  Derek’s red face, bright with embarrassment, was endearing. “Yeah, yeah. Can’t exactly go to the store and buy the real deal yet, so I’ve been keeping that handy.”

  Mason made quick work with the hand lotion, using as much of it as he could before he grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back, catching his lips in a biting kiss as he lined up his aching prick and plunged deep inside until his balls touched on the back of Derek’s thighs.

  Derek’s moan was swallowed by Mason’s kiss. He didn’t wait for the other man to adjust to the intrusion. Derek didn’t need it. He was already humping back against Mason’s thrusting dick like a dog in heat.

  Mason loved every second of that. He was going to fuck this man until Derek passed out, just like the last time.