To protect Echo he agreed to become Revo’s property, but that had been a poor excuse. Echo was like an addict chained to his choice of poison. Ezra’s charade wouldn’t hold out long once Echo decided he needed to feed again.
“I can’t do this to you,” Ezra whispered to Revo’s sleeping form. He traced black ink wrapped around Revo’s triceps and biceps, his pectorals, the Hellhounds MC logo inked across his rock-hard abs. Ezra couldn’t seem to stop touching Revo. Mine. He couldn’t stop admiring the raw power of that one guttural word Revo uttered with such confidence.
Ezra didn’t know what possessed him to confess. Maybe their new mate bonds, the intimate threads connecting his life force to Revo made him guilty. Perhaps Ezra had gotten sick of lying to the only man in the world who saw him more than a one-night fuck, who considered him someone worth fighting for.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth, but I came here looking for my brother. He’s out of control, but that doesn’t mean he’s evil or he hurt those people on purpose.”
Ezra breathed hard when Revo closed his fingers over his. Amber eyes opened, the fury there unmistakable. In the daylight, Revo looked more imposing, feral, but Ezra knew Revo wouldn’t hurt him. Would he?
Revo snarled, the sight of his slightly pointed canines made Ezra flinch, but Revo easily overpowered him, rolling on top of him and pinning his wrists above his head. Ezra squirmed, but Revo’s body weighed him down, leaving him completely trapped. His stomach churned, queasy at the reminder Revo could easily break him into two if he wanted.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Revo practically growled out the words.
Lying came so easy to Ezra. “I—”
“Don’t you dare lie to my fucking face,” Revo warned. Ezra looked away, wondering why he felt like a guilty child caught doing something wrong. Revo easily transferred his wrists to one hand, using his free one to grasp Ezra’s chin, forcing him to look at him. “Mates don’t lie to each other. So spit the truth now before I do something I regret.”
“Mates? Give me a break,” Ezra demanded. “You claimed me because there was no other way out. What we have isn’t a relationship, it’s a lie half-built on attraction and desperation.”
Revo’s face twisted. Another rumble tickled from his lips. Ezra flinched, instantly regretting his words, but can two men so different from each other really build something more lasting and permanent out of a mess like this?
Fists pounded on Revo’s door.
“I’m busy. Fuck off,” Revo yelled, and then turned his attention back to Ezra. “Fine. You’ve made your point. What’s between us may be fucked-up, but you’re forgetting something important, pup. Nothing has changed. You’re my property and you consented to being mine.”
Before Ezra could formulate a witty remark, the door burst open, revealing Spider. “Revo, hate to interrupt, but you were right.”
“You better have a good reason, Spider,” Revo gritted out.
“It’s not your pup messing around in our territory, but another incubus. Get your ass out of bed. We’re going on a hunt. Once we’ve caught this fucker, you and your pup are cleared of suspicion.”
“Revo, please. I can explain,” Ezra began, but Revo didn’t look like he was interested in listening. Revo pawed at the floor, and grabbed his belt. Ezra tried pushing him away, but no good. Pissed, he fisted his hands, about to pound at Revo’s chest to get his attention, but Revo easily caught his hands and began looping the belt around his wrists.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ezra twisted, tried kicking at Revo. Revo grunted, using his legs to pin his down.
Ezra opened his mouth, about to bite him, but Revo’s warning look stopped him cold.
“Don’t make me gag you,” Revo said coldly. Once he finished looping the belt to his headboard, he got off Ezra. “You’re going to fucking stay here until I sort out this mess and you’re going to behave until I come back.”
“I’m not some pet you can tie up and leave behind until you come back,” Ezra sputtered in indignation.
Revo easily shut him up by tilting his head and taking his lips. Ezra stopped struggling, and yielded to the force of his demanding lips. Worse, Revo took his time, and Ezra obediently parted his lips so Revo could deepen his kiss. Heat and the taste of Revo seared down his throat. God. After being on the receiving end of Revo’s kisses, Ezra couldn’t get enough of them. Revo began stroking his chest, his ribs, his belly, calming his nerves and tense muscles.
“Hush, pup. It’s going to be fucking fine,” Revo murmured after releasing his lips. Feeling slightly disoriented, Ezra squinted at him, his chest rising and falling.
“Echo’s my brother, my only blood,” Ezra blurted while Revo began to dress.
“You’re going to see him again.” Revo didn’t need to finish his sentence. For the last time. “Those who break the law face the consequences.”
Revo’s firm tone and hard gaze booked no arguments. Whatever Ezra would say next, Revo wouldn’t listen. Part of him understood. By taking him, Revo had been backed against the corner by Mace and his brothers. Revo left the room without another word, locking the door behind him.
Once his footsteps faded away, Ezra experimentally wriggled his bound hands and tugged. Tight enough to limit movement, but not to cut his circulation—Revo really wanted him to stay put. He strained his ears, heard the rumble of engines outside, and counted maybe three or four bikes.
Okay. His chances were slim, but it was doable.
“You don’t understand. Echo’s my twin. We shared a womb.” Ezra gritted his teeth and pulled at the leather a couple of times until his wrists ached. Exhausted, he slumped against the bed, about to give up when something metal glinted on the floor. A pocket knife. Revo must’ve dropped it when he dressed.
Ezra eyed the distance between the knife and bed. Hard, but not impossible, and luckily for him, Revo didn’t bind his legs. It took him half an hour to reach the knife, and another thirty minutes to cut at the leather.
“I fucking hate you right now, Echo,” Ezra muttered to himself.
He dragged his jeans up, borrowed a plain white tee from Revo, which looked baggy on him, and decided on his next plan of action. Ezra crept out of Revo’s room, doing his best to keep quiet. Loud snores came from the room next to Revo, but the second floor corridor was otherwise clear.
Downstairs, he heard more voices and loud pumping from the speakers. Hard to tell how many Hellhounds were in residence and it looked like the only way out was down the stairs leading to the main bar area where most of the bikers hung around. One mistake and he was done. Even drunk, high, or barely awake, the werewolf bikers could sniff out his scent. Sure Revo mated him, but without Revo around to protect him, who knew how the other bikers would react? Remembering the way Sweet leered at him, or the way other Hellhounds asked Revo if he would share, Ezra shivered.
Ezra had no other choice out. He closed his eyes, and gently began to nudge at the aura of the shifters. His abilities might not be as potent as Echo’s, but he would work subtle magic. Metaphysically whispering lustful suggestions and planting seeds within the MC members inside the clubhouse turned out easier than he expected.
Since the Hellhounds were addicted to violence, sex, and intense emotions, it wasn’t hard to wake those again. Ezra couldn’t keep the spell up long, or make it work against more powerful shifters, but it would buy him a couple of minutes to escape. He counted himself incredibly lucky he didn’t brush against Mace’s bloodcurdling overpowering bestial aura.
Hearing the grunts and moans, Ezra made his move. He quickly went down the stairs, trying to keep his breathing and heartbeats steady. Most of the Hellhounds had started undressing, mounting club whores. He practically sprinted the last few steps, letting out a sigh of relief when sunlight hit him.
“What the fuck?” A growl. Ezra froze, turning, swallowing when he saw Sweet and Reaper getting off their bikes.
“Where do you think you’re going, boy?”
Sweet’s smile turned nasty. Ezra hesitantly took a step backward as the two large bikers neared him. His back hit the front door of the club. No fucking way.
Ezra desperately searched for a way out and saw no other path but the one he came from. He couldn’t waste another second sitting around. Echo needed him. Ezra hastily decided to do the last thing Sweet and Reaper expected. He ran straight at them, screaming nonsensical syllables.
“What the fuck?” Reaper hissed under his breath. “The little sex demon’s gone fucking insane.”
The two look startled, but not for long. Instinct would catch up, and Ezra would have no chance. Ezra darted past the two brothers, swung his leg one of the bikes they left running.
“You’re dead asshole,” Sweet hissed.
Ezra didn’t hesitate. Remembering the easy way Revo caught him, he started the bike, revving it up. He heard growls behind him, the scratch of paws against metal. A fraction of a second late and those deadly claws would’ve hooked into his leg, but the bike roared to life. Ezra gripped the handle bars tightly, heart thumping hard. He steered the lean black machine out of the compound and into the open road.
Revo might have a head start over him, but Ezra could one thing they didn’t. His connection with Echo. Supernatural twins were always spiritually connected, and Ezra had used the same built-in GPS to track Echo all across the country.
If by some miracle, Ezra successfully get Echo and he out of Wolf County, what then? The mark on his neck itched. Ezra absentmindedly rubbed at it. The thought of leaving Revo behind made his stomach drop. Didn’t shifters mate for life? What would happen to Revo then? No. What about him? Didn’t Ezra deserve to find out?
“Don’t think about the future. All I need to focus on is the present,” Ezra muttered under his breath.
The desert wind whipped against his face, the bike stirred up dirt. Ezra slowed when he caught sight of the main town proper. Ray, his one-night stand, the one who invited him to a tour to his brewery suddenly came to mind. How surreal it felt. Wolf County, picture perfect like the Fall never happened, when the rest of the world fell to tatters. Most of the remnants of civilizations Ezra had passed had fallen into anarchy, or what passed for ordered chaos. He suddenly understood why Revo would fight so hard to preserve all this.
If Echo hadn’t been his responsibility, Ezra would have thought Wolf County paradise. A good end after a long and exhausting journey where he’d find his mate, maybe settle down. Well, nothing so ideal. Ezra was still mated to a vicious Hellhound, but still, after a glimpse of what could have been, he couldn’t imagine moving on.
Revo was his mate, but Echo was still his brother. Same brother who he grew up with, fended off the neighborhood bullies with when they were eight, and experienced his first disastrous orgy with when their abilities bloomed when they turned eighteen. Echo was his mirror, and shared his soul. They were practically the same person, no matter how much Ezra hated him for losing his way.
“If Echo has to die, so would I.” Ezra increased the acceleration. He had always been a step too late when he chased after Echo, but he prayed to whoever was still out there in the universe he would make it this time around.
Chapter Eight
After spreading out and surrounding the property, Revo and his brothers killed off their bike engines. Club X was a BDSM club the Hellhounds had gotten off its original owner, a human who owed them a huge debt. The multi-story building had been wedged between two strip clubs, and right smack in the middle of Wolf County’s night district.
The street came alive at night, but during the early hours of the morning, it was practically a ghost town. It helped word got out to the folks around these parts earlier. Long-time residents knew when to get out of the way when the Hellhounds took care of business.
Spider and Mercy quickly shed their leathers and shifted. Revo retrieved his favorite sawed-off shotgun, quickly checked the bullets, while he watched Mace from the corner of his eye. Their President spoke to Payne, a retired Hellhound who had been in the BDSM scene for decades, and one of the managers Mace assigned to the club. Most of the cash flow they used to run and maintain Wolf County still came from their gun and drug business from long-time contacts, but Mace had started branching out to local businesses over the last month.
Fuck. Revo had planned on maybe taking Ezra to Club X after this entire charade was over. He still couldn’t erase the look of desperation that had settled on Ezra’s face. The way his lower lip trembled nervously and the way his entire body trembled with genuine white-hot fear for his bastard of a brother. Hell, Revo finally got the entire picture.
Truth be told, he had been a little relieved when Spider confirmed Ezra hadn’t been guilty of harming any of the townsfolk. Revo might still be pissed at Ezra for taking so damn long to confess, but he knew Ezra had his reasons. Revo couldn’t imagine how long Ezra had been chasing after his brother, but it had to come to an end.
“Payne says after he got the call, he put the entire building in lock-down mode after activating the security systems. After getting the members out, he and his security team managed to trap the fucking demon in one of the windowless scene rooms. Let’s get this over with.” Mace growled.
Revo glanced at the nervous bunch of hired muscle standing around. They hadn’t been Hellhounds, but all of them were members of the supernatural community. The men could probably hold their own in a fight, but apparently not this one.
Two gray-furred wolves, Spider and Mercy, went inside the establishment. They sniffed out the scene in case Payne had been wrong. After dancing to this thing’s tune and being a step too late, none of them took any chances.
“Damages?” Revo asked Mace after he ordered Payne and his security goons to stay and circle the building from outside in case their extraction went wrong.
“A couple of zombie-like sex starved club members. Spider got word from the local hospital the mortals the incubus fed on won’t be able to fully recover. This thing has to fucking die, Revo,” Mace warned.
Revo snarled. “I know the stakes. You don’t need to tell me twice. Haven’t we been on enough runs, hell, didn’t we live through the fucking apocalypse together? You still can’t fucking trust me?”
“I trust you enough, but when it comes to your damn pup I don’t trust you one bit,” Mace scoffed.
Christ, Revo couldn’t remember the last time he wanted to break Mace’s face. Dream on. Mace might be slightly insane, but he was all they got. Without his leadership or vision, Wolf County wouldn’t be their own little private heaven in Post-Fall times.
“I place my brothers first and always, but we’re fucking shifters too, Mace. When it comes to our mates, the game changes. You know that.”
Spider let out an affirmative growl, signaling the coast was clear. Revo began to follow, but Mace suddenly slammed him against the wall near the doorway. His back hit hard concrete. Revo hissed, temper frizzling.
“What the fuck, Mace?” Revo knew reminding Mace about the mate he lost would provoke him, but he had to stand his ground.
Despite being a deceitful liar, Ezra still belonged to him. Tied to him so intimately and metaphysically the only road that lay open to both of them was the one where they both had to walk together.
A low whine from Spider by the doorway made them pause. Spider didn’t spook easy, but this time Spider flattened his ears, and bared his teeth. Where the hell was Mercy? A second later, Revo heard Mercy’s paws thumping up the stairs and his surprised yelp.
Mace let out a curse and let Revo go. “Mercy. Fucking reckless asshole let the incubus get to him.”
Revo followed Mace inside. Knew they had to set aside their scores and deal with the problem. Taking a step into Club X’s reception and lounge, Revo felt the first hints of the incubus’ power. He practically staggered reaching the stairwell leading up to the private scene rooms. Nearly dropped his gun too if he hadn’t used the nearest wall for support.
What the fuck? Ezra’s power hadn’t felt anythi
ng like this. The air permeated with thick tension, made it hard to breathe or focus. So tempting to drop whatever they were doing and ride back to the clubhouse, and wrap his lips around Ezra’s tempting cock. Hear Ezra’s sweet cries while he begged for mercy. Then fuck him hard until he couldn’t walk straight in the morning.
Shit. Don’t think about Ezra.
Mace let out a frustrated sound, and started tearing at his clothes. Revo’s spine crawled. Had Mace caved in? He let out a relieved sigh when Mace changed forms. Spider didn’t look that affected either. Revo assumed being a wolf must make it easier to resist the enemy’s call. Revo dispensed with his own clothes.
Once in his second form, Revo found it easier to think and move again. He remembered Mercy had been having girl problems when the mortal he’d been fucking refused to be his old lady. Revo could only assume Ezra’s brother leeched on their weaknesses and used it against them. They prowled up the staircase, careful and quiet, their paws barely making a sound on the hardwood floors.
They gathered outside the door where the incubus had been holed up, hackles raised and teeth bared. With their supernatural strength, they only needed one shove to break the door open. Revo agreed with Mace. Time to end this and head back home after. Ezra would hate him for killing his brother, but the emotional wounds Revo inflicted would heal.
Hell, if Ezra hadn’t lied to him in the first place—every muscle in Revo’s body froze. The metaphysical mate bonds connecting him to Ezra’s demon didn’t just tingle. It reverberated like a plucked bowstring, telling Revo the impossible. Ezra had somehow gotten free and was dangerously nearby.
Growling low in his throat, Mace flashed his teeth at Revo, a warning he sensed it too. Mace’s amber eyes narrowed and asked the silent question “What the fuck?” But Revo ignored him. Mace he could deal with later on.
Revo focused hard on their connection, trying to place his location, but he didn’t need to. Grunts and groans came from inside the room.
Revo's Property Page 5
