They ran almost silently, their paws barely making a sound. Bowen caught the scent of coyote, knew what it was because it set his hackles up and it reeked of enemy. There was no other way for Bowen to describe it. He snarled and lengthened his strides, almost passing Jonas, who snapped at him.
The scent led them along the outskirts of town, to the east and Bowen knew then where they were going. The Mastersons had lost their farm a few years ago, and no one wanted to purchase the land due to the back-taxes owed. There was nothing around the place, no neighbors to hear…anything.
Jonas shot in front of him and the other wolves, then barked out a series of orders. The pack slowed and stopped almost as one unit.
The scent of coyote was heavy in the air. The faint odor of human and wolf were detectable, but only just.
Jonas cocked his head and sniffed, then he looked at Bowen.
Bowen had never seen a wolf shake its head, but Jonas did just that, then rolled his eyes.
What the fuck kind of alpha is he, anyway?
Before Bowen could ponder his own question, a pair of howls rent the night air—and they didn’t come from any wolf in the pack.
Not coyotes. Wolves. Chiz—that’s Chiz! He started to run but Jonas knocked him to the ground. Bowen was pinned on his back with Jonas, huge and angry, leering over him.
Jonas bared his teeth in a threat that wasn’t empty. Bowen tucked his muzzle to his chest. Jonas was right to be pissed—Bowen had given his word to obey orders.
Jonas nipped him hard enough to hurt, then he growled at Bowen. A second later, a very naked Jonas hovered over him, one hand planted on Bowen’s chest.
“Try that shit again, and you’re done,” he said firmly.
Bowen didn’t ask how done he’d be.
“There are two wolves in the coyote pack. One is Chiz. Who do you think the other might be?” Jonas shifted back as soon as he finished speaking.
Bowen’s head was spinning. He got up when Jonas moved off him. Jonas tipped his nose up, and Bowen did the same as coyotes yipped and yowled approximately a hundred yards away.
As one, the wolves howled, a song of attack and death. Bowen moved with the pack as if he’d always been one of them—which he had, though no one had bothered to tell him. Their pack howl had brought the coyotes’ attention to them, and as the two packs ran to meet in a fury of gnashing teeth and tearing paws, Bowen recognized the howl of the unknown wolf.
Chapter Twenty-Four
He chose it. He chose it—but I could have said no. Chiz still felt like shit about turning Dare.
Dare, who’d morphed into a gorgeous, huge tawny-brown wolf. He was stunning, powerful, his chest bulky with muscles under his pelt. As Chiz watched, Dare used his massive paws to tear off a strip of wood in the barn.
“What—” Chiz clamped his mouth shut as Dare plucked out a nail from the wood, then he returned to his human form and picked the locks on the cuffs.
“You are…amazing,” Chiz whispered, feeling as if his eyes were the size of saucers. The UFO kind.
Dare held a hand out to him. “No. I don’t—everything’s a mess in my head. We gotta go.”
“Yeah.” Chiz winced and big back a moan as pain shot through his shoulders and down his arms and back.
Outside, the coyotes were still making a ruckus.
“I think they’re fighting with each other,” Dare murmured. “Maybe we can sneak out?”
Chiz eyed him warily. “Do you not know how huge you are as a wolf?”
“Uh. No?” Dare looked to be blushing in the dim light. “I—I felt like a wolf, that’s all. It was so weird and so cool and—”
“Kill anyone who doesn’t listen,” Maxwell bellowed outside.
Although, he didn’t sound like he was very far from the barn at all.
Chiz and Dare exchanged a glance, then without a word between them, they shifted.
Chiz wished to hell they’d had time to form a plan, discuss some kind of strategy—anything, but that wasn’t the case. The barn door was flung open a moment later, and Chiz just prayed that Dare would follow his lead.
Fighting in human form was something Chiz knew how to do. It seemed his wolf was keen on it as well. He didn’t have to think. Chiz let his wolf take over and he lunged at Maxwell.
Maxwell let out a shout, then shifted. Chiz expected an attack, but, instead, Maxwell scuttled backwards, then spun around and bolted.
Less than a second later, Dare zoomed past Chiz.
Chiz snorted as he ran after Dare. No wonder Maxwell ran! Dare was scary-big, as if his human height and musculature translated into the wolf he was. And maybe that was the case—Chiz was a lot smaller in stature and so was his wolf.
Whatever the case, he followed Dare out into the barnyard without hesitation.
Coyotes yelped in fear and some of them took off for the hills. Maxwell collided with a few of his pack and barked out orders. A half-dozen coyotes raced to stand in front of Maxwell, then several more took places at his sides and back.
Chiz strained to reach Dare before Dare just plowed into the coyotes. He howled in warning, and Dare skidded to a stop, tipped his head up and howled back.
And the coyotes attacked. Dirty fighting fuckers! Chiz shot around Dare just as Dare stopped howling. Chiz blanked his human mind and let his wolf-brain rule. He took the first coyote out easily, tearing his throat open and sending blood spraying in a violent arc of red.
The coppery taste of blood fueled his wolf’s thirst for more. He bit and ripped at any part of the coyotes he could reach. Dare flung one broken carcass overhead and the dull thud of it hitting the ground registered faintly, right behind howls in the distance.
Chiz yelped when a coyote bit his flank. The pain wasn’t too bad—until another coyote bit him, this time on the back left leg.
Then he understood. They were taking him out first, and pulling him down to the ground so they could kill him. He tried to turn around but a coyote in front of him came dangerously close to getting his neck. Chiz growled and snarled even as he tried to kick his back legs, but there had to be a few attackers behind him—too many to fight off.
Another bite to his other leg, a settling in of teeth and pain so bright Chiz’s vision blurred. Chiz went down hard, a coyote landing on his back, teeth on his nape, and he knew he was dead.
Except he wasn’t. He couldn’t see what happened, but he heard the vicious snarls, felt the weight lifted from his back, his legs. Heard the thuds he knew were bodies landing several feet away, and when he took a shuddering breath, he smelled his own blood, and the familiar scent of Bowen as Bowen stood over him, fighting off coyotes.
Chiz struggled to get up, but his injured legs weren’t cooperating. Bowen killed any coyote that came near them while Dare bounded toward Maxwell.
A larger, even scarier wolf hit Dare, plowing into his side. Chiz yelped at his lover—one of his lovers, afraid that Dare was about to be killed by a wolf—Wait! What wolf is that? Belatedly, Chiz noticed other wolves in the yard. They were everywhere, and the biggest one leapt at the same time Maxwell did. They collided in air, and something snapped—a bone in one of the two beasts.
Maxwell yowled and the wolf, a hulking silver and blond monster, let out a satisfied growl.
The fight was over almost before it began. Maxwell landed on his side, and the wolf was simply too much, too big, too vicious. Blood flowed from Maxwell’s body, pooling under the moonlight which was reflected in the dark red stream.
Howls filled the night and Chiz shivered as he recognized the voices of his men. Men. My wolves. We’re going to make this work, damn it all. That determination burned brighter in him than did the pain. He wanted Bowen. He wanted Dare. They wanted each other, and they wanted him.
It was going to happen. Now that they were all shifters, there was no reason for Bowen to be scared of it.
Surely there was no reason why they couldn’t be together, the three of them. No reason at all.
Chapter Twe
nty-Five
Bowen shifted and reached for Chiz. Dare, who’d turned into a huge wolf, morphed as well and touched Chiz’s nape, beside the wound there.
“Baby,” Bowen began, only to have to give up speaking as tears clogged his throat.
Chiz shifted and whimpered. “M’not dying. Just feel like it.”
Bowen’s chest ached. Chiz had several deep lacerations—bites, along his thighs and one on his butt. He had another up close to the back of his neck.
“I’m glad they’re dead,” Dare muttered darkly. “Never thought I’d be okay with killing, but fuck those fucking fuckers.”
Bowen would have smiled at that had he not been so worried. Dare appeared uninjured, which was a relief, but Chiz…
“M’not dying, I said,” Chiz repeated. “Oh shit. Hurts.”
“You.”
Bowen turned to see Jonas pointing at Dare. “Don’t get in my way again. I’m the alpha of this pack.”
Dare held up one hand. “What—”
“I knocked you on your ass once when you got in my way. Don’t think just because you’re bigger than I am, I can’t whip your ass.” Jonas glared. “And you aren’t even supposed to exist.” He leveled that glare at Bowen.
Bowen was going to take the blame, but Chiz spoke up first. “I did it, and if I hadn’t, we’d be dead, so fuck you very much.”
“Did you not hear the part where I said I’m the alpha here?” Jonas’ voice carried a dangerous note to it.
“He doesn’t understand what that means,” Bowen quickly interjected. “Just like I didn’t, except even…less.”
Jonas bared his teeth. “There is a penalty to be paid for turning a human. We had this discussion.”
“So you’d murder innocents who never knew?” Bowen snapped back.
Jonas nodded. “That’s the way it’s always been done.”
Dare gasped. “What? No! I told him to do it! And what kind of…of…ruler or whatever are you? You suck!”
Jonas looked stunned for a moment, then he simply looked furious.
“Hey, let me look this guy over,” said another man, a tall, rangy guy with blond-brown hair and hazel eyes.
Bowen suspected he was trying to defuse the situation.
Jonas put a hand to the man’s shoulder. “Arin, you need to stay out of this.”
Arin slipped past Jonas’ hand. “Nope. My job is to treat wounds. I’m a healer, and you need to cool off and actually think.”
“Arin,” Jonas rumbled.
Arin waved him off. “You can’t scare me. I sucked teat beside you, bro. Stop being an ass.”
Bowen wondered where the hell Arin had been before this.
“I’m the alpha,” Jonas snapped.
“Right. We all know that. If you keep repeating it, it just makes you sound insecure.” Arin had a small brown leather bag that he set on the ground as he squatted beside Chiz. “Ouch. Bud, these look like they hurt.”
“They do,” Chiz told him.
“You’ll heal up faster than a human, but unfortunately, no miraculous instantaneous recovery will happen.” Arin opened the bag. “Hence my position as pack doctor.”
“Jesus Christ!” Jonas snarled, shoving his fingers through his thick black hair. “Why are you so calm, Arin? They made another shifter! Out of a human!”
“I see that.” Arin took a bottle labeled antiseptic from his bag.
Jonas wasn’t done bitching. “I can’t allow this!”
Bowen ignored him after a quick glance. “Chiz, try to keep still while Arin cleans the wound.” Chiz had several deep wounds, bites that luckily had missed any major arteries.
“You’re gonna be okay,” Dare said from Chiz’s other side.
“He’s gonna be fine, but I ought to—” Jonas stopped. “This conversation will wait until Arin is done.”
Arin snickered almost soundlessly as he dabbed at the deep gash on Chiz’s butt.
“Ow,” Chiz hissed. “Fuck! Is that going to leave a scar?”
“Your ass will be just as gorgeous as ever even if it does,” Bowen said. His eyes and nose kept burning off and on. Sometimes his vision blurred. He’d come awfully close to losing Chiz and Dare.
Jonas grumbled and walked over to some other members of his pack.
Arin snickered again. “He’s all huff and puff right now. Cut him some slack. Jonas isn’t a bad guy, but he has a lot of responsibility. Keeping humans from finding out about us is a huge one.”
Bowen took hold of one of Chiz’s hands. Dare held the other.
“He wants to be mad, but he’s got a romantic’s heart,” Arin continued. “So if he starts in about the penalty for turning a human being death, just give him a line about true love and mates and destiny, and he’ll probably just make y’all swear fealty to him and take the alpha’s bite.”
“Alpha’s—what?” Bowen asked as Dare grimaced.
“Fuck,” Chiz rasped. “I don’t want any other shifter to bite me.”
Arin eyed him. “Got to take it from the alpha to be pack.”
“He said I was part of his pack and he never bit me,” Bowen pointed out before whispering soft words of comfort to Chiz.
“Yeah, well. Your parents were bitten, and I guess Jonas figured that carried over in your case.” Arin shrugged. “Your folks were lovely people but they didn’t want to hang with pack. Jonas respected that and stayed in the shadows. His instinct is to keep his people…well, wolves, together. Pack. It was hard on him to stand aside. Don’t think he will manage it anymore.”
“So…” Bowen winced when Chiz whimpered. “Sorry, baby. He’ll be done soon.”
Arin shot him a look that said bullshit. There were several injuries left to attend to on Chiz.
“So what?” Arin prodded.
Bowen had to backtrack his thoughts. “Oh. He’s going to make us give up our lives and live in some kind of freaky shifter commune?”
Arin laughed at that—a musical, honest laugh. “No, God no. That’s not how pack works. Or not this pack, anyway. You’ll attend pack meetings of course, and do things to help out. You’ll be social with your pack. Jonas doesn’t control the way you live down to every last action.”
“He just thinks he can kill us, though,” Dare said.
Arin stopped wiping at the bite on Chiz’s leg. “Look. That’s the way things have always been done, but my brother isn’t a logger-headed fool. Let him have some breathing room. Jonas has never enjoyed killing, not even when it’s necessary, like today. And if you told him I said that, I’ll break your face.”
Dare blanched. “Seriously?”
Arin resumed working on Chiz. “Really. I’m tougher than I look, and I’ve trained in several martial arts as well as in the, hm, well, let’s say I’ve learned how a drop of this or that can kill in an instant. I’m not the biggest, baddest wolf around, but I am very likely the deadliest.”
“Why does everyone in this pack threaten people?” Chiz wondered before biting his bottom lip while Arin cleaned his wound.
“He nailed it in one,” Bowen noted. “And Chiz hasn’t even been around y’all yet, not really.”
Arin nodded. “Because we are pack, and we protect one another with our lives. Y’all aren’t pack yet. If you stop being macho rattletraps, y’all might be able to join us. And joining us is better than the alternative, though I suppose Jonas might give y’all the opportunity to clear out of his area and start your own pack. None of y’all are alphas, though.” He nodded at Dare. “And you might be a big son of a bitch, but you’re not even a beta. You’re just a wolf. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but you aren’t a born leader. Bowen might be closer to being an alpha. Still aren’t one.”
“And me?” Chiz asked.
Arin grinned. “Pure trouble, I’d bet, but in the good way. It’s no wonder you’ve got two mates.”
“Two mates?” Dare blinked. “Like—”
“Like y’all were all made for each other,” Arin interrupted. “And none of y’a
ll would be fulfilled without the others. It happens. I’ve seen mated packs. Blew my mind, but there was a dozen or so, men and women, all mates.” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine the drama, but I bet the sex is phenomenal.”
“Or confusing,” Dare said. “I mean, twelve people? How—I just can’t.”
“Never been part of an orgy?” Arin asked.
Dare blushed scarlet. “No!”
Arin winked at Bowen. “Well, he’s a little uptight, hm?”
Dare looked at Bowen.
Bowen had to reach over and caress his hot cheek. “He’s just fine the way he is.”
“Aw, see? That’s sweet.”
“It is,” Chiz agreed, looking at Bowen with one eye. “So we’re together?”
Bowen swallowed. “If y’all can forgive me for being a fucking idiot.”
Dare touched his cheek in return. “I can.”
“Hey, he didn’t deny you’re a fucking idiot,” Arin pointed out.
“So can I,” Chiz agreed.
“Now all y’all have to do is convince Jonas not to kill y’all.” Arin sounded entirely too cheery when he spoke.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“You’re lucky you aren’t an alpha.”
Dare nodded at the man named Jonas. He couldn’t bring himself to look Jonas in the eyes.
Jonas sighed. “What a fucking mess.”
“What do you mean?” Dare asked softly. He had a bad feeling about this meeting with Jonas, and hoped if he kept the guy talking, maybe there wouldn’t be bloodshed. Dare was catching on and remembering things he’d heard about wolves, and guessed the same hierarchy applied to the shifter variety.
“I mean,” Jonas began, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees as he looked at Dare.
Dare shivered.
“It wasn’t all that long ago that any humans-turned-shifters were killed, along with whoever made them,” Jonas continued. “No begging for mercy—or no listening if anyone did beg. Just, automatic death sentence.”
Dare gulped. “T-that’s h-harsh.”
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