by Lynn Hagen
Torem could feel the hairs on Sidney bristle as he growled out his threat.
“What about a woman?”
Torem caught the teasing gleam in Dino’s eyes, but obviously Sidney hadn’t.
“Ew, you’re kidding right? I’ll bitch slap her with my claws if you even think about it.” Sidney stomped his foot and pointed his finger at Dino. Torem rocked as his emphatic mate tried to take a step forward.
“You are sexy when you’re pissed.” Dino chuckled, and then his eyes rose to Torem questioningly.
Torem gave a slight nod and Dino pushed away from the doorframe. His swagger was enticing as hell. Torem scented Sidney’s arousal as it spiked higher, his chest expanding and contracting at a higher rate.
Torem didn’t let Sidney go. The idea of holding Sidney in place while Dino explored their mate had him hard as hell. If Sidney asked, he would release him. But Sidney’s hands curled around Torem’s arms instead, as if holding Torem in place.
“Let me get this straight.” Dino’s hand cradled Sidney’s face. “I get to have both of you all to myself?” Dino’s lips were mere inches from Sidney’s as he asked the question.
“Uh-huh.” Sid’s body leaned forward, puckering his lips for Dino’s.
Dino quickly glanced up at Torem, as if asking permission to move forward with Sidney.
“You don’t need my permission. You need his.”
Dino’s nostrils flared, his eyes churning with lust as he closed the gap and kissed Sidney.
This would be so much better if they were naked.
Sidney moaned and gripped Torem’s arms tighter, his ass pressing into Torem’s erection.
Dino broke the kiss and stepped back, licking his moist lips. “That was real nice.” A crooked smile displayed sexy-ass dimples, and Torem’s cock leapt at the sight. “I’ll let you guys know.”
Torem stood there stunned as Dino walked out of the bedroom. What the fuck just happened? “Wait.”
Dino stopped at the door and shoved his hands into his front pockets, his tongue running along his inner bottom lip. “Look, this is a lot to take in. First I find out we got more than humans living here, which by the way, my brain hasn’t worked that out yet. And second, you tell me we got this cosmic thing between the three of us.” Dino pulled one hand free, running it over his head as he exhaled. “Give me time to think about this. That’s all I’m asking.”
“How will we know what you decide?” Torem asked.
“I’ll come to you.” Dino walked out of the bedroom, the door shutting behind him.
“I feel like I’ve just been slapped, flipped off, and kicked in the balls and all the guy did was kiss me.” Sidney’s voice trembled.
“Give him time. He’s right. That was a lot to take in.” Torem held on to his mate, wondering if Dino would accept what had happened and what they were to each other, or if the man was going to decide this was too much and walk away.
Torem released Sidney and dropped to his knees as his head exploded in pain. He gripped his temples as images shattered through his mind.
He was no longer standing in his bedroom with Sidney but in the backyard of the mansion, staring down at a man that Jackson said tried to kill him.
“I beg you. I didn’t try to kill your Alpha. He’s lying.”
“You’re calling me a liar?” Jackson snarled. “Kill him, Torem.” Jackson turned his head and glared at him. Torem could see the madness in his Alpha’s eyes. He couldn’t do it. This wasn’t who he was. His hand trembled as he raised it to run through his hair. There had to be a way out of this place.
Torem cried out as Jackson backhanded him. He was caught off guard, or he would have never uttered a sound. Jackson extended his claws and laid it at the man’s throat. He slowly turned back to Torem, insanity clear in his eyes.
“This is what will happen to you if you disobey a direct order again.” He pressed the tip of his claw into the man’s throat. The man cried out and begged Torem with his eyes to save him.
The Alpha snapped his fingers, and a few of his radical followers forced Torem to the ground. His jaw clenched and his stomach twisted as they cut off all of his hair. A painful knee dug into his back as Torem braced his hands on the hard earth and tried to dislodge the shifters, but there were too many.
“Kill for me, or be killed, your choice.” Jackson snapped his fingers again, and Bald Eagle was forced to the Alpha’s side. “Better yet.” Jackson looked around at all the soldiers, his eyes landing on every one of them. “Disobey a direct order again and Eagle will pay the price.”
Jackson removed his claw from the man’s throat and laid it against Eagle’s flesh. “Now, do as I have commanded.”
The knee lifted from Torem’s back, and he stood. His eyes glanced up from the man on his knees to Eagle’s. What the fuck should he do? The soldiers were outnumbered three to one. Torem would go down fighting, but Eagle’s throat would be torn out before he had a chance to make a move.
Torem stared into Eagle’s terrified gaze and extended his claws, swiping his arm out as he heard the gurgling sounds of death from a man he had never even met before.
Sidney watched the horror play across Torem’s face. What was happening to him? His mate was on his hands and knees, as if someone was holding him down. Torem cried out, and Sidney freaked out.
He ran across the hall and banged on Chey’s bedroom door. “Chey, get your ass out here now.”
“What’s wrong?” Chey came into the hallway and looked around. “Have you been drinking those Red Bulls again?”
Sidney didn’t have time for this. He grabbed Chey’s arm and pulled him into Torem’s bedroom. “He just collapsed and started doing that.” Sidney pointed to Torem who was standing now, his claws extended.
“He touched me, hugged me tight. The healing has begun.”
“That doesn’t look like healing to me,” Sidney argued.
“He has to relive his past in order to heal from it. Whatever he has gone through, he’s reliving it.”
“Oh, that’s just great. Did you tell him the side effects of your drug?” Sidney wanted to grab tight to Torem and hold him while he relived whatever torture he was going through, but the claws made him stay back.
“I was so lost in being reunited with Torem, I forgot. He hugged me in the store.” Chey pulled Sidney back when Torem’s head snapped around, his eyes boring into them. “Uh, I think we should get Zeus.”
“Good idea.” Sidney hauled ass out of the room and down the hall, Torem close on their heels. “You could have warned him, me, anybody. How the hell do you forget something like that?”
“Just find Zeus. He’s probably the only one who can help Torem now,” Chey yelled as they flew down the stairs. “Normally I guide a person through the process, but Torem is too far gone for that.”
“Fuck,” Sidney groaned when he saw Dino talking with Zeus by the front door. Now his mate would never want to be with them once he saw the state Torem was in.
“Zeus!” Chey yelled as they ran across the foyer. “Contain Torem. He’s having flashbacks.”
The Alpha stepped forward, shoving Dino behind him. “How?” Zeus thundered over Torem’s unearthly screams.
“He touched me. Now he’s reliving his pain in order to heal,” Chey shouted back as he ran behind the large shifter.
All four watched as Torem shifted into his wolf form and ran through the open door. This was a nightmare! “Come on, Dino. We have to catch him.” Sidney didn’t care what was going on. That was his mate and he was in pain. Neither heaven nor hell was going to stop him from helping Torem.
Zeus tossed his keys at Sidney. “Go after him. I’ll gather the men and follow. We’ll find him and bring him home, but think of your safety if he becomes a threat to you or Dino.”
All Sidney heard was blah, blah, blah. His vision had narrowed to Torem and finding him. “Did you see which way he took off?” he asked Dino as he ran around the trucks, hitting the fob to see which one was Zeus�
�s.
“Give me those.” Dino grabbed the ring of keys from Sidney’s hand and found the truck.
Holy shit, it had to be specially made for the Alpha. The damn thing was a monster truck. “Get in.”
Sidney was grateful for Dino taking charge. His brain was scattered, and he couldn’t think. He climbed up and nearly had to jump from the running board to get in. Dino started the thing and soon they were ripping down the back roads.
“What happened?” Dino asked as he picked up speed.
“You’re already wigging out about everything else. If I tell you, you’ll never want to be with us.” The thought of this construction worker sitting next to him and not being in his life physically hurt Sidney.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to be with you two. I said I need time to absorb all of this. Now tell me what happened, Sidney.”
Oh god, Sidney had to focus. Hearing his name on Dino’s lips made him forget what they were doing. He needed a fucking Red Bull. They always cleared his mind and helped him focus.
“Sidney, will you tell me what happened?” Dino asked in a gentler voice.
“My best friend Chey has this thing he can do. Well, he’s my brother technically since he was raised with my family. He’s Torem’s real brother though. I was kinda jealous when I found out—”
“Sidney, what happened tonight?”
“Chey touched Torem. Torem began to heal from the inside, started having flashbacks, and turned into a raving maniac. He chased us down the steps, and by the way, that was Chey screaming like a girl, not me—”
“Sidney,” Dino said in warning.
“Well, you know the rest. You were standing right there.” Geez, what did Dino want, a play-by-play account?
“What do you mean Chey had this thing? What thing?”
“You have to promise not to tell anyone.”
Dino gaped at him. Why did Sidney think the look was sexy? Now is not the time, focus. “Promise me.”
“Hell, I promise. Now tell me.”
“Chey is an Omega and can heal superficial wounds and deeper ones, the ones that affect your soul.”
“A spiritual healer?” Dino snorted, letting Sidney know he was a big nonbeliever.
This was not going well. “I guess you could say that. I never thought of it that way. He found out he could do it when—”
“Focus, Sidney. What did he do to Torem?”
“He hugged Chey, and now he’s reliving his past in order to heal from it.”
“Sounds like voodoo shit to me.”
“You can say what you want, but you saw him. He…Hey, is that him?” Sidney pointed to the field to their left. A Grey wolf was limping only ten feet from the road. Had Torem hurt himself?
Dino pulled the truck over and put it in park. “I want you to stay in the truck. If it isn’t him, then I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“And what are you, Superman? You’re human. That wolf will tear you to pieces if it isn’t Torem. I should go.” Sidney grabbed the door handle, not believing that Dino thought he could take on a shifter. The guy had to be nuts.
“No. You’re not going out there.” Dino grabbed Sidney and pulled him back. “I can handle him.”
Dino got out of the truck and slowly approached the wolf, his hands down at his sides. He cautioned Sidney to stay back when the hardheaded man walked closer. If this wasn’t Torem, he didn’t want Sidney to get hurt.
A ripple of unease ran down Dino’s spine when the wolf gave no acknowledgement. He started backing away, his arms held out to stop the wolf from advancing toward Sidney.
A whine broke from the wolf, and Dino lowered his body, getting to his knees as he held one hand out. “Come here, Torem.” Relief washed over him when the wolf lowered his head. The wolf limped to him, and Dino folded his arms around Torem. “Are you okay?” He rolled his eyes. Did you think he would answer you?
“Why isn’t he shifting back?” Sidney asked as he approached the two.
“I don’t know anything about shifters, but we need to get him back to my place.” Dino used every ounce of strength in him to lift Torem in his arms and carry him back to his truck. Torem lay there limp, almost as if he had given up.
He wondered what Torem was reliving. It had to be pretty painful to send the guy running off the way he did.
And that soul-wrenching scream? Dino would remember that sound for years to come if not the rest of his life.
Even though he was confused as hell about what was going on, no one should be left alone to deal with something that was obviously painful. Dino didn’t have it in him to do that.
“I wasn’t going to leave.” Dino tried to set Torem’s mind at rest. He gently settled Torem on the seat and got in, Sidney jumping in on the other side.
“You are beautiful, Torem.” Sidney brushed the fur along Torem’s back with his hand. “Can you fetch?” he teased.
Torem lifted his head and laid it on Sidney’s lap, staring up at him.
“I don’t think he’s in the mood to play, Sidney.” Dino pulled the truck off the shoulder and turned it around, heading back to his rental. Now how the hell was he going to get a Grey wolf into his house without anyone noticing?
“He smells off. Do you think it’s because of his flashbacks? He doesn’t smell like Torem.”
“I have no clue what a wolf is supposed to smell like. Maybe he fell in something.”
Dino was good when it came to the bedroom. He was good when it came to leadership on the job. He sucked when it came to his personal life.
After everything that had taken place, he still wanted the two men. Maybe he was nuts. And why did Sidney keep asking him questions about shifters, like he fucking knew?
“I’ll run in and grab a blanket to wrap around him.” Sidney jumped out when Dino pulled into the drive.
“Just grab the one off of the couch,” Dino called out to Sidney. He prayed Mickey and Quinn were asleep. That’s all he needed was his friends to see this.
“Here we go.” Sidney ran back to the truck with the throw blanket. He grabbed it from Sidney and tucked it around Torem. Sidney opened the truck door as Dino slid out, pulling Torem along with him gently. How the hell did he get caught up in this?
Dino carried his load into the house and straight to his bedroom. Thank fuck Mickey’s loud mouth wasn’t around. “The second door on the left,” he instructed.
Sidney opened the bedroom door as Dino carried Torem over to the bed and laid him down.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Sidney asked as he paced around Dino’s bed.
“Let him get some rest. We can go grab a bite to eat in the kitchen.” Dino reached down and petted Torem’s soft fur. He was amazed how small Torem was in wolf form when he was so tall and massive as a human. “We won’t be far,” he reassured the wolf.
“Get some rest, Torem. Howl if you need me,” Sidney said through tears.
“No howling. I don’t want Mickey or Quinn to wake up.” He wrapped his arm around Sidney’s shoulder and gave a light squeeze. “Come on.”
Dino led Sidney from the room, closing the door quietly as Torem slept. The wolf looked exhausted. He would be, too, if he ran that far. Torem was fucking fast.
Tristan looked around the room and wondered who those two men were. It really didn’t matter. His deranged boyfriend was no longer chasing him and he had a warm place to sleep. It sucked for whoever Torem was. The guy was probably still out there looking for these two.
Maybe he should tell them he wasn’t Torem.
Chapter Six
Zeus didn’t like the fact that no one could find his Beta. They had searched half the night, but there was no sign of Torem anywhere. Eagle, Taz, and Sully were still out looking, but so far there was no word from them.
“I need to discuss something with you guys that’s highly sensitive and I would prefer it stay in this room.” Zeus watched Chey shift around in his chair uncomfortably. He really hated to do this to the guy, but after wh
at just happened to Torem, he felt obligated to at least warn the other shifters in his household.
“If you haven’t met Chey, he’s Torem’s younger brother.” Zeus splayed his hand toward the nervous-looking man.
“No shit.” Jaxxon sat forward. “I thought Jackson killed our families when he took us from our homes.”
“I was hidden away.” Chey spoke softly.
“Are you sure that’s his brother?” Memphis asked.
“Enough, I didn’t ask you in here to interrogate him.” Zeus knew these men would be suspicious. It was their nature after their life under Jackson’s thumb. “He has a gift I want you to be aware of.”
“What kind of gift?” Caymen slowly asked. “What exactly is wrong with Torem?”
“Yeah, you never did say why we were looking for him. If he’s gone rogue, I think we have the right to know.” Ian looked around the room at the rest of the soldiers, his stance uneasy. “I’m not going to hunt him just so you can kill him, Zeus. He’s our brother.”
Zeus knew all the men felt kinship toward each other, and this was not how he wanted the discussion to unfold. He needed to get them quiet. “I don’t want another word out of any of you until I have said what needs to be said and you hear Chey’s side of this,” he commanded.
The room became silent, and Zeus continued. “Chey is Torem’s real brother. He has a gift of healing. Chey can heal superficial wounds and wounds that go much deeper, the kind that eat away at your soul.”
Gasps sounded through the room, but Zeus pressed on. “I am only telling you this because if Chey comes in contact with you physically, the healing begins. You start to relive your past in order to mend.”
“That’s what’s wrong with Torem right now,” Chey added. “He hugged me when he came to rescue me, and now he’s reliving his past. I’m sorry, I had no idea how painful it would be, although I don’t have a clue what took place here. I just wanted to make everyone aware.”
Zeus felt for the wolf. It must be a lonely existence to have people fear your touch. “Wait, why didn’t the Beta from the other pack go through this? You said that you and him…you know.”
