Wolfsbane [Dark Hollow 5]

by Shannon West

  Nicky fiddled with the buttons on the front of Marco’s shirt and sighed. “Okay. You know, Gabe the Georgia pack’s alpha’s mate? Zack’s the alpha, right? Well, Gabe and I were talking about how they met, you know, just passing the time, and he told me he was feral for about a year before Zack found him and mated with him. He said he didn’t like changing at the full moon, or whenever he got too upset, but other than that, it wasn’t too bad.”

  Marco tipped his chin up. “Nicky, are you sure of this? Be serious, now, and don’t lie about this.”

  He looked up at Marco in amazement. “I never lie, Marco.” His voice was so hurt, so sincere and innocent that Evan was stunned for a moment. Nicky was playing Marco like a virtuoso plays a violin. Evan settled back to watch the master work. “Gabe told me. He was feral for a year after that wolf bit him and killed his mother. He said he changed at the full moon or if he got too stressed out. Like that time with me, remember? Only you thought I would die if you didn’t give me all that blood.” He shrugged. “Guess you were wrong.” He patted Marco’s chest a little to take the sting out of the words. “Gabe said he just went to sleep and then woke up the next morning back to normal. Until the next time.”

  Still holding him, Marco turned to Ian. “Why would Zack not have given us this information? We need to contact Zack right away and get him and Gabe up here to verify all of this. We need to question Gabe more too. Find out if he ever attacked anyone and how he controlled his urges.”

  “Wait a minute!” Nicky cried. “Gabe told me that in confidence. I don’t think he wanted anyone to know. I would hate for anyone to think I was a gossip or I spread rumors.”

  “Too late for that,” Rory said, laughing. “That train left the station a long time ago. Good job, Nicky.”

  Nicky made a fist and tried to get to Rory, Marco’s nephew, and a young man with whom he’d always had a close, but somewhat contentious, and teasing relationship. Marco held onto Nicky and raised his eyebrows at Rory in censure. Rory smiled and dropped his gaze.

  Nicky turned back to Marco. “You can’t say anything, Marco, or Gabe will know I told you.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but this is too important. I won’t tell him how we found out, okay? Zack should have told us months ago. Any information we can have about the ferals is vital now.”

  Ian jumped up from the table. “I’m on it—I’ll call Zack right now.”

  “Just tell him we heard about it, and ask them to come prepared to stay a few days,” Marco called after him. He finally released Nicky, who tried hard to catch Rory’s eye. Failing, he sat down at the counter, somewhat subdued.

  Rory spoke to Marco as he sat back down at the table. “Since Nicky went feral once, why not let him go again? He’s always wanting to fight, so this would be his big chance. He and I could finally face off in the ancestral ring, man to man.”

  “Oh yeah?” Nicky asked. “I could do that but where would we find the other man in your little scenario?” Nicky sneered at him as Rory started out of his seat, and this time it was Casey’s turn to pull his mate back down.

  Marco frowned at both Rory and Nicky. “Will you two stop it? In fact, let’s just adjourn for now and meet later when we know for sure when Zack and his mate are coming.”

  Everyone got up and filed outside, including Logan and Evan, who called out a promise to Nicky they’d help him clean up later on. As the door closed behind them, Evan heard Marco telling Nicky he needed to “take him back to bedroom for a while to have a little talk.” Chuckling, he walked down the hallway to catch up with Brett, who’d gone ahead to check the little box that held their incoming mail. He found Brett standing thoughtfully in front of the box, holding a letter in his hand.

  “Hi, babe. Are you ready to go back to our room?”

  “Oh, I’m ready, all right,” Brett turned a furious face toward him. “Ready to find out why this son-of-a-bitch thinks he can keep sending letters to my mate!”

  Chapter Six

  “What are you talking about, Brett? Is that my mail? Let me see.”

  Brett turned his back on him and walked quickly down the hall to their room, Evan behind him, half running to keep up with him. Brett slammed the door back on its hinges and threw himself down on the sofa, glaring up at Evan. He held up the letter and then flipped it over to him contemptuously. “Here. Read it if you want to, and then I’m writing a return.”

  Evan caught the letter, shaking his head at the display of jealousy. “You have no reason to act like this, you know. I didn’t do anything. I certainly didn’t ask him to write to me again.”

  “I know,” he said through gritted teeth. “That’s why I’m so calm.”

  Evan raised his eyebrows. “This is your idea of calm?”

  “He knows you’re with me, damn it. Why does he keep writing?”

  “I have no idea. Eric is flirtatious and thinks he’s charming.” Evan opened the letter and sat down beside him so he could read it along with him. “Look, let’s read it together—you’ll see I haven’t been secretly corresponding with him.”

  “No, I don’t need to do that. I trust you—it’s this guy I don’t trust.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing.” Evan ripped into the back of the letter and began to read. “Dear Evan—I know I should have thought of this sooner, but since I got your mother’s letter, all I can think about...” Evan’s voice trailed off, and he got a dumbfounded look on his face. “Oh God...”

  “What?” Brett pulled the letter out of Evan’s hand and continued to read. “...since I got your mother’s letter, all I can think about is you, sweetheart. I made the biggest mistake of my life letting you go, and I know it now. Please come back to me...” The timbre of Brett’s voice dropped at least an octave as he read, and his eyes started to glow. He crumpled the paper in his hand and glared unbelievingly at Evan. He turned slowly back to the letter, straightening it out, then holding it up out of reach and pushing Evan back as he made a dive for it. “All I can think about are your luscious lips, and your sweet little ass I fit into so perfectly. You were mine first, and you’ll be mine again. All you have to do is get away from him and then call me and tell me where to meet you. Waiting for you, my little bunny.” Brett turned an incredulous, stunned gaze on Evan. “His little bunny? His fucking little bunny! Oh my God! I’ll show that motherfucker whose goddamn bunny you are!”

  He jumped to his feet, murder in his eye, and began to pace back and forth like a wild animal. Evan had seen him shift once before and he thought he was near that state again. His claws came out as he gripped the letter and hair began to sprout on his chest and face. With his already glowing eyes, he was a frightening sight to behold. He picked up a vase from beside the sofa and threw it against the wall and then he put his fist into the wall next to it, shattering the drywall and causing bits of plaster and insulation to float around the room. He picked up a chair next and bounced it off the door, splintering the legs and looked around for something else to throw as the door suddenly flew open, and Casey and Rory stood looking in with concern.

  Evan knew what they must be seeing—him cowering on the couch with his arms over his head to avoid the flying debris and Evan, half-shifted, wildly looking around for more objects to toss around the room. They only hesitated a fraction of a second before Casey made it over to Brett and put him in a headlock, while Rory, ignoring pack law, threw Evan over his shoulder and ran out of the room with him. He put him down outside when he saw Logan hurrying toward them.

  “Logan, watch out for Evan!” Then he rushed back in to help subdue Brett. Evan made one attempt to go back in, worried that Brett might be hurt, before Logan took him out to the main room and sat him down.

  “They won’t hurt him. They’ll just stay with him until he calms down. Did he shift?”

  Evan nodded. Logan smiled and patted his arm. “A wolf in full tantrum mode is pretty scary. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  Shaking his head, Evan folded his trembling hands together. �
��No, the furniture and walls got the worst of it.”

  “What in hell happened?”

  Evan put his head in his hands. “I got a letter from my stupid ex-boyfriend asking me to come back home to him.”

  Logan’s eyes opened wide. “Oh, shit.”

  “Yeah, and he was saying stuff about my body and he c-called me his little bunny.”

  Logan looked astonished for a moment and then convulsed in laughter, leaning over and holding his sides. “I’m so sorry, Evan, I’m not laughing at you, really. I just got a sudden image of Ian’s face if I got a letter like that. God, to a wolf, that’s justifiable homicide.”

  “I haven’t led him on, Logan, really. The last letter I got I just threw away. Brett saw me throw it away.”

  “Yeah, Brett has left the building right now, Evan, or his rational self has. From the sound of things in there, he’s now in full wolf mode.” Brett could see reinforcements running toward their room as snarls, loud thuds and shouts drifted down the hall.

  “C’mon with me, and let’s go upstairs. We need to help Nicky anyway, and you can’t go back in there anytime soon. You’ll just remind him how much he wants to kill your ex.”

  “But Nicky and Marco...” he trailed off as he saw Marco sprinting down the steps on the way to their room, barefoot and still fastening up his jeans. Evan’s shoulders slumped. “Now Nicky will be pissed off too.”

  Logan looked speculatively after Marco. “Oh, he finished his uh...business with Nicky. Why do you think he’s the last to arrive?” Laughing at the look on Evan’s face, he pulled him up the stairs and over to the alpha’s quarters.

  Rapping his knuckles on the door as he entered, Logan called out. “Nicky! Evan and I are here. Get decent and come out to the living room.”

  Nicky appeared a few moments later, blond hair tousled and sticking up all over his head, cheeks reddened from Marco’s beard, and still managing to look gorgeous. “What’s all the commotion downstairs? Marco took off out of here like the place was on fire.”

  Logan told Nicky about the letter and he chuckled sympathetically. “First time he partially shifted in front of you?”

  “No, the second,” Evan said, “but I didn’t like it any better.”

  Nicky plopped down on the sofa and put his bare feet up on the coffee table. “They’ll get him calmed down in a few minutes. Now before they get here, tell me about this guy who wrote the letter. Were you guys together long?”

  “A little over a year. We met in college and moved in together for a year or so after we graduated. He cheated on me almost from the beginning. The last time was with another friend of ours, and I walked in on them. It was an ugly breakup and I don’t even know why my mother talked to him about me. She was angry with him for a long time.”

  “Better the devil you know...” Logan said.

  “Maybe. Anyway, she’s the one who gave him my address.” He wrung his hands together for a moment, realized what he was doing and jammed them in his pockets. “Will they punish him now? They wouldn’t hurt him, right?”

  Nicky snorted. “More likely help him plan your ex-boyfriend’s murder. No, they’ll just calm him down some, empathize with him, slap him on the back and tell him not to take it out on the furniture next time.”

  “Brett won’t go after my ex or anything, will he? I mean, they wouldn’t really m-murder him...would they?”

  Logan laughed and shook his head. “No, Evan, don’t worry. He should be perfectly safe so long as he stays away from the compound. That’s not to say Brett won’t have a word with him if he keeps bothering you, but they’re not savages.” Nicky rolled his eyes, and Logan smiled at him. “Well, not totally.”

  Nicky cocked his head to one side as they heard loud voices on the stairs. “Oh hell, here they come. Logan, you can help me with the dishes. Evan’s going to be busy for a while.”

  Evan stood up and backed toward the kitchen. “Oh no, he’s not coming near me. He scared the shit out of me just now. What if he starts thinking about it again and starts to shift all over again?”

  Logan patted his shoulder sympathetically. “You don’t have to go with him. Tell Marco if you want to stay here for a while.”

  Nicky shrugged. “You can, but Marco may not want to get involved in this one. My advice is just to go with him. Let him fuss over you and apologize and have his way. If you don’t he’ll just get even more jealous and think you don’t want to be with him.”

  Marco came in the room, followed by a somewhat subdued Brett, who was back to his human form. Brett came immediately over to Evan and put his arms around him. “I’m sorry, honey. Are you okay? I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  The minute Evan saw him, his handsome face creased with worry and concern, he melted and allowed Brett to pull him into his arms. What was there about these wolves that made them so compelling and hard to resist? Other than the fact that they were beautiful. And sexy. And hot as fuck.

  Murmuring to him, Brett drew him to the door. Evan looked back over his shoulder in time to see one of Nicky’s eyelids drop in a slow, deliberate wink.

  * * * *

  Brett led him downstairs and back to their room. He watched Evan look around the main sitting area to see that the debris of the chair and vase had been cleaned up and the room straightened. The pets they called in from the clean-up crew worked pretty fast. He wondered if this kind of losing control thing happened often enough with a wolf that they had the clean-up down to a science. Maybe all the wolves needed to learn a little better self-control. Okay, make that definitely.

  Brett wasted no time either, turning to kiss his mate the minute he closed the door behind them and then walking Evan backward to the bed until the backs of his knees hit the mattress. He let his hands fall to the fastening of Evan’s jeans, and then he pushed Evan down to pull off his shoes and tug his jeans, underwear and socks off in one practiced pull. His own jeans hit the floor beside Evan’s, and he picked Evan up with one arm around his waist to move them both farther up onto the bed.

  Unable to help himself a moment longer, he dragged Evan closer and gave him a hard and possessive kiss. Too hard. Evan could taste a hint of blood on his tongue as his lips jammed against Brett’s teeth, and he made a loud cry of alarm. Instantly, Brett drew back, looking at him with concern. “I-I’m sorry, baby! I’m having a hard time being gentle.” He seemed to make himself fall away from Evan onto the bed beside him to give himself a minute to gain control. He glanced over at Evan and the tears gathering in his eyes must have shamed him

  “I should have left you alone for a while. I should do it now. I should get up off the bed, apologize and go for a run or something. I’m sorry, babe.”

  Evan leaned over him and kissed him gently. Brett’s mouth was hot, his sweet tongue slipping past Evan’s lips to touch his tongue and sweep over the inside. Brett opened his arms and drew him in closer, tasting him. He rolled Evan back under him and pushed his knees up. Evan knew this wasn’t going to last very long—Brett was too keyed up, wanted to possess him, to own him too much. Brett reached blindly for the lube on the table beside the bed and smeared some on his cock.

  Trying hard to slow himself down, he took a deep breath and eased one lubed finger inside Evan, desperate but still unwilling to hurt him without stretching him a bit first. Evan’s thighs opened wide, giving him access. For a moment their eyes met and rather than the possessive rage he thought he might see in Brett’s eyes, he saw a haze of lust before his eyelids closed again. Evan’s mouth squirmed as Brett’s finger probed inside him, locating the spongy gland he was searching for. Brett swept his finger over it and Evan came undone, arching his back and gripping his knees until his knuckles turned white as his cock spurted cum onto Brett’s chest.

  Before he even finished, Brett pulled out his finger and replaced it with his cock, plunging inside and fucking his lover hard. Evan moved his hands to Brett’s shoulders and clutched him just as hard, clenching his teeth and taking everything Brett had to give. />
  Passion and love filled him at the sight of Brett’s beautiful face so close to his. This man was his, and he wanted him to mark him as his own. He felt Brett sink his teeth into his neck, hoping to leave such a mark. Evan turned to give him more access, leaning toward him, baring his neck. Brett pulled back afterward and licked at the bite, noting the teeth marks with apparent satisfaction.

  He pushed into Evan’s body, embedding himself as he emptied his seed into him. Evan felt his body go lax as he collapsed on top of Evan and finally pulled away, falling off to the side and pulling Evan with him.

  Brett lay on his back for a long time, trying to catch his breath, stroking Evan’s back. Evan rolled off after a while and moved shakily to the bathroom. After a few minutes, Brett got up and came in to find Evan staring at himself in the mirror. Brett walked up behind him and put his arms around his waist. Evan leaned back into him and closed his eyes.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I was just admiring your handiwork.” He opened his eyes and put a hand to his throat, where the full set of teeth marks were already standing out against his pale skin.

  Brett touched the marks with his fingertips. “I’m sorry I hurt you, love.”

  Evan smiled back at him in the mirror. “I’m fine. I kind of like it because it marks me as yours.”

  Brett groaned and pulled him even closer, feeling his cock hardening again at the words. “One thing I don’t understand,” Evan said, peering at himself more closely.

  “Yeah? What’s that, baby?”

  “Why in the hell he called me his bunny? And then you did it too. What is there about me that screams rabbit?”

  Brett smiled, his hands roaming over Evan’s body. “Well, you’re soft and warm and cuddly and awfully cute.”