by Jools Louise
“Okay,” Craig said, following behind. “Come on, fella,” he said to Elvis. “There’s plenty of room for you, too. Amos built this place with an army in mind.”
Amos snorted, laughing as he switched off the lights, leaving just the fire in the grate, a fire guard across the hearth. “We’re big guys, and I was thinking it would be handy to have plenty of spare rooms. There’s only five guest bedrooms, you know. This isn’t the Hilton.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Finch snarked, entering the room again, clad in camo gear and wearing his combat gizmos.
“Don’t start that again,” Blaze said, chuckling. “Our little firebrand will kick your ass.”
“Don’t remind me,” Finch said ruefully, grabbing a can of cola before heading outside.
“I’ll stay up, Finch,” Blaze said, removing the half-eaten pie and dirty plates. “I have a bad feeling about those guys showing up. Ruin won’t let that slide.”
“I know,” Finch murmured, watching Elvis and the others heading upstairs. “I need to go and move that land rover. No sense advertising they’re still here.”
“Let’s go,” Blaze said, and they left.
Craig, hearing everything with his super hearing, frowned as his sense of foreboding increased. Two attacks already in just over twenty-four hours. From what he’d heard and seen of the Ruin pack, those bruisers wouldn’t be at all happy that their two favorite punching bags had flown the coop.
“They’re coming, aren’t they?” Elvis asked, his attitude all gone, and he looked every inch the scared teenager that he was.
“Yes,” Craig replied, hugging the small shifter tightly. “I imagine, given their issues with status and dominance, that even though they appear to hate you and Carter, the fact that their enemy is protecting you won’t sit well.”
“We’ve fucked up,” Elvis said, his voice muffled against Craig’s chest. “I’m so sorry. We were so scared, and after what they did to Carter, I couldn’t let him stay there.”
“You did the right thing,” Amos said, placing his hand on Elvis’s shoulder. “After what they did, you had to get him to safety. Well done.”
Craig felt Elvis shudder, his tears soaking through Craig’s blue shirt. “Hey, let it all out, hun. Sounds to me as though you’ve been through hell. I know what that’s like. Don’t let Finch’s crappy attitude upset you. He’s just worried, that’s all. We all are. You didn’t bring trouble, it was already on its way. You’re welcome here. For as long as you like. That’s the whole point of being in a pack, to help those in need. To support one another. Your folks appear to have forgotten that fact.”
“Sweetie, this was always gonna happen,” Garnet said after putting Carter in one of the spare rooms. “Ruin has done this before. As soon as he found out we were coming home to stay, that was enough of a reason. I’m still a little confused why he’s so determined, but hey! He’s not known for his common sense.”
“Thank you,” Elvis sniffed, easing away from Craig finally, his eyes swollen from his crying jag. “I didn’t really have a plan. Getting the hell out of Ruin territory was the best I could come up with. Carter’s the one who suggested coming here. Thanks for not killing us.”
Craig, Amos, and Garnet all chuckled at that. “Generally we aren’t prone to killing people without good reason,” Amos said dryly. He jerked his thumb at the stairs. “Those two?” he said, smirking wickedly. “Not so sure.”
“Finch doesn’t like me, does he?” Elvis sighed.
“He’s my beta,” Amos said, grinning. “His job is to make sure none of us gets killed. You showing up right after that attack on the road…that just pushed his buttons. Wouldn’t you be a little touchy? Trust me, if he didn’t like you, he wouldn’t have let either of you leave the vehicle. He’d have sent you on your way.”
“Honey, I’m always touchy,” Elvis retorted, finding his snark again. “Now, if you don’t mind I’m exhausted by all this emotional stuff. I’m heading to bed.”
“Do you want to share with Carter or have your own room?” Craig asked.
“I’m not letting Carter out of my sight,” Elvis said, firming his resolve. “We’ve been through a lot, and I need to know he’s safe.”
“Good night, then,” Craig said, kissing Elvis’s cheek, then shooing him off. “You have the en suite.”
Elvis smiled finally and jumped up and down. “So this really is the Hilton?” he said, grinning, before heading to bed.
“Come on, love,” Amos said, tugging Craig along the corridor. “We have some plans to make.”
“Yes, we do,” Craig said softly, frowning. “We need to prepare, don’t we?”
“Yeah,” Garnet added, accompanying, his eye alert as he stared out the window at the end of the landing. “War is almost upon us again.”
“You sense it, too?” Craig asked, feeling the pulse of energy fizzing in his veins again, heralding a change, plus his general horniness when around his lovers.
“Always,” Garnet murmured, kissing Craig’s cheek as they entered the master bedroom.
Craig found himself surrounded by his two gorgeous mates, who stripped him of his sweatpants and shirt within seconds, and then lifted him onto the huge bed, spreading him out for their delectation. They followed him down, trailing kisses from his toes to the tips of his hair, missing nothing in between. He moaned, moving restlessly under their erotic ministrations, whimpering at the fire touching his skin after every sultry kiss.
“Here, baby,” Garnet said huskily, feeding Craig his cock as Amos lapped at their lover’s musky crease. Craig latched on eagerly, humming with pleasure as he swirled his tongue around the plump head in his mouth, tasting precum, the thick veins that adorned Garnet’s dick throbbing urgently.
Amos plunged his tongue inside Craig’s clenching hole, driving Craig out of his mind as he writhed on the bed. Garnet cupped Craig’s head and then began fucking his face with abandon. Relaxing his gag reflex, Craig deep-throated his lover, enjoying the feel of the mate’s cock on his tonsils. He groaned gutturally when Amos filled him, shoving all ten inches of prime meat deep inside him in one smooth thrust. Wrapping his legs around Amos’s thick waist, Craig clung on for the ride, meeting his alpha’s dark gaze, urging him on.
“Fuck that’s a sexy look,” Amos grunted, moving with slow, strong thrusts. He caressed Craig, stroking him from thigh to chest, and then pinched his nipples sharply. “You look like a debauched angel, fallen straight from heaven into our arms.”
“His mouth is definitely gifted,” Garnet said, panting as he plowed Craig’s lips. “So fucking good.”
The two men continued driving Craig insane, fucking him with a skill that soon had him coming hard, spattering cum all over his abs. Amos ran his fingers through the mess, feeding Garnet the sticky cream. “Delicious,” he said, leaning over to share the taste with his lover.
Craig watched them, fascinated by their love for each other, the sexy sight something he wanted to witness again and again. He loved being part of their meaty sandwich, impaled both ends as they smooched above him, while fucking him into the mattress. Heaven indeed. He ground against Amos, digging his heels in and heard his alpha grunt, and then a hot stream of cum flooding his chute as Amos came. A moment later, Garnet followed suit, lashing Craig’s throat with his own seed before collapsing in a heap beside him and then kissing him hard.
Amos joined them, still linked to Craig, and they spent long minutes kissing and cuddling, savoring the aftermath.
“How many packs are there?” Craig asked suddenly, sighing as Garnet sucked at his nipples and then giggled at the man’s wry look. “What?” he asked, laughing still. “I love all this fondling and sexy time, but you said we were supposed to be planning.”
“We got distracted,” Amos said, grinning as he pumped Craig’s cock lazily. “You’re too sexy to leave unfucked for long.”
Craig slapped the man’s thigh, giggling again. “I love that you like being inside me, I really do, but we only made
love a few hours ago.”
“Yeah, way too long,” Garnet protested, nipping Craig teasingly and then sucking at the small wound until Craig was gasping with pleasure.
“I mean it,” Craig said breathlessly. “How many packs are there?” he repeated. “Perhaps we should have a gathering of alphas or something. Introduce ourselves and try to get some idea of who they are, and what kind of leaders they are.”
Amos sighed and sat up, leaving Craig’s ass bereft. He propped himself against the headboard, dragging Craig into his arms. Garnet rested his head on Craig’s shoulder, snuggling close.
“The packs are dispersed far and wide,” Amos explained, kissing Craig’s nose. “North, south, east, and west. Because of the need for secrecy, as I said before, there’s no written record of who they are, but we sort of all know and keep it under the radar.”
“Yes, but how do you know who is in charge of what? Is it like real wolf packs, fighting over territory? I can sort of understand that, but we’re human, too. There must be some kind of a system in place. Why is it handbags at dawn all the time?” Craig needed to understand the hierarchy and politics that had fractured such a fragile society. He was a rookie when it came to being a shifter. They had the ability to live for at least five hundred years or more. Why waste all that time fighting? He didn’t understand it. “If each pack has their own territory already, why do they fight all the time?”
“They don’t,” Garnet said, kissing Craig’s chin. “They’re a bunch of families who think they’re in charge of everyone else. For some time now, they’ve weakened what was a perfectly happy community. My grandparents used to tell me of a time when we lived together peacefully. That changed somehow. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but some shifters began to want power, over everything else, as though they felt they were entitled somehow.”
He grimaced. “Ruin is the worst, and the McKenzies a close second. They control Scotland. Then there’s the O’Sheas in Ireland, the Pendrys in Wales, and the Crowthers of southeast England. Colliers rule the northeast England, Trelawneys pick up the southwest, and Hawkriggs control the northwest up to the Scottish border.”
“Those families, eight in all, are the ones who crave power. They’re ambitious and greedy, and think our people should be more powerful than they are. They play their stupid games, tit for tat, and hold everyone to ransom.” Garnet said sourly.
“Exactly,” Amos said, sounding disgusted. “Their families are fairly ancient, and they can all trace their heritage back a few centuries. We can, too, but we’re not considered to have any rank. I believe it goes back to when shifters first began to appear. Although the names have changed, they’re a bunch of snobs and bigots.”
“Only they aren’t that powerful, really.” Garnet picked up the thread again. “They just think they are, and they turn on anyone who refuse to do as they say.” He lifted his head and stared at Craig through eyes filled with grief. “People have been killed who defied them. My own parents were murdered when they went against the Crowthers. They refused to pay fealty, which is essentially an extortion racket, and the Crowthers sent their enforcers out. It was made to look like an accident, of course, but my folks were burned to death in their car when their petrol tank exploded. It had only just been serviced and given a clean bill of health.”
Craig clutched his mate close, stroking his beloved face gently. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“That’s how I met Amos,” he said. “It was about eleven years ago. I was about to go for SBS selection, and I heard the news. Amos knew my family. He found out what happened and came to see me. We couldn’t prove anything, but eye witnesses saw Bertram Crowther and two of his sons at the garage, a day before the car was totaled.”
“The power packs, as I call them, are a bit like the purebloods in those Harry Potter movies,” Amos said, smirking a little. “They don’t like to think of our shifter DNA being diluted by lesser mortals who aren’t in the main circle.”
Craig looked at him incredulously. “Bollocks!” he exclaimed. “Who the fuck are they? This is twenty-first century Britain, not the Dark Ages. Haven’t they heard of democracy or cultural diversity?”
“I doubt they care,” Amos retorted dryly, laughing without humor. “The worry is that they’ll expose us all anyway. Humans aren’t stupid, and with forensics as they are, there’s a chance that we’ll all end up lab rats if the power packs are allowed to continue. Killing people gets attention. And sooner or later, a smart detective will figure something out or stumble on one of our own at the wrong moment. Then we’ll be on every front page.”
“Why haven’t we been discovered before now?” Craig asked.
“When a shifter dies, his wolf dies, along with the magic that allows us to change. We revert back to our human form, as a safety mechanism. Otherwise, you’re right, we’d have been outed decades ago.” That was Garnet, his voice muffled as he nuzzled affectionately at Craig’s neck. “But if the power feuds continue, as Amos said, humans will sooner or later find out what we are. Our best defense is to unite again and work together to keep out of sight.”
“But we have been discovered, haven’t we?” Craig said. “That facility up in the Hebrides.”
“Maybe,” Amos said thoughtfully.
“You don’t think it’s anything to do with the government, do you?” Garnet said shrewdly, sitting up.
“I think it’s very convenient that no other packs have been raided,” Amos replied bluntly. “Think about who’s gone missing.”
“Sharpe,” Craig said. “Friend to Carter Ruin and Elvis McKenzie.”
“The others are all gay or outsiders,” Garnet added pensively. “Thinking about it, you’re right, Amos. The government probably wouldn’t waste time with one or two shifters, they’d be targeting all of us. And if they have guys like Finch on their payroll, it wouldn’t be long before poor Sharpe was singing like a canary, telling all.”
“Costa’s involved, too,” Craig added. “What’s his role?”
“He’s an opportunist, we know that,” Amos said.
“Yes, and he has small-man syndrome,” Craig commented mockingly. “I’m not sure why he went for me, though.”
“Because you were part of that whole authority thing he’s so against?” Amos retorted. “The idiot enlisted in the fucking army, for God’s sake. What did he think it was going to be like as a rookie?”
They all laughed at that. “Yeah, it ain’t rose petals at our feet during basic,” Garnet drawled, chuckling.
“Rose petals? I must have missed that class,” Craig chortled, falling back on the pillow.
“Heads up!” Finch called, racing into the bedroom. “We got a lot of company coming.”
“Fuck!” Amos snarled, leaping from the bed. “Craig, go to Carter and Elvis. Head downstairs with them. There’s a hidden room in the basement, through the storage room and walk-in freezer.”
“I’ll show them,” Garnet said, dressing rapidly.
Craig left them, running for the spare room after donning sweatpants and a T-shirt to see Elvis and Carter already in motion. “Come on, guys, let my mates take care of this. They have a few surprises for our visitors.”
“Who’s coming?” Carter asked, limping along after them as they hurried downstairs.
“The whole frigging Ruin pack,” Finch said, running past them. “This could get a little heated.”
“Heated?” Elvis said incredulously. “If the whole Ruin gang are on the doorstep, it could be total annihilation.”
“Nah,” Amos said, smirking. “We got mad skills, boy. Don’t worry, we’ll have the last laugh.”
Elvis shook his head. “Don’t laugh!” he cried in horror. “Focus, man. There’s a war on.”
Amos bellowed at the reply, which had Craig and his mates all joining in. Elvis did have a way with words.
“Come on, sweet pea, let’s get you guys under cover,” Finch drawled, flicking a couple of switches that opened a panel in the hallway.
A rack of assault rifles emerged, plus a battery of weapons, including grenades, shotguns, and all manner of knives. A candy store of kick-ass.
“Here, sex muffin, take one of these in case they get through,” Finch said grimly, handing a rifle and ammo to his mate. “And take a handful of these, as well,” he added, donating a box of six grenades to the pile.
Wolves’ howls reverberated throughout the valley, and everyone froze. “They shifted?” Amos snarled furiously. “Are they fucking kidding? Are they that stupid to risk exposing us all like that?”
“Yeah, ’cos a pack of wolves roaming the Scottish countryside isn’t an invitation to send a team of wildlife twitchers or government officials this way, is it? I guess they’ve never heard of spy satellites, drones, or tourists,” Finch drawled sarcastically, locking and loading. “Carter, sweetie, your family have some screws loose.”
“Stay in human form, everyone,” Amos warned his crew, who nodded. “Those bastards are playing with fire, now. And don’t kill anyone unless you absolutely have to.”
Craig headed into the storage area, through the walk-in freezer to a panel that Garnet stood beside. It looked like a temperature gauge, but Garnet pressed a couple of buttons, and a panel slid to the side, revealing a bunker-type affair.
“Stay in here, baby,” the big SF soldier said, kissing Craig passionately. “If anyone but us comes through that door, shoot the fuckers.” He ushered Elvis and Carter inside, and then closed the panel after them.
Silence ensued for long moments, followed by the dull snarls of over three dozen idiotic wolf shifters, interspersed with gunfire.
Chapter Nine
Charles Costa grinned to himself, staring down at the battle raging below him. “Morons,” he said, talking out loud and giving himself a virtual pat on the back. “Those idiots have just revealed themselves to the world. It won’t be long until the whole fucking lot of them are destroyed. This is just too easy. Plant a couple of seeds to get things going, and they charge ahead with no hesitation. At this rate, I won’t have any trouble convincing the authorities that we have a bunch of freaks living on the earth. Right on their doorstep. Hahaha.”
