Salvadore's Luck

by Odessa Lynne

  “I wouldn’t release you even if I could,” Wolf said. “You really shouldn’t have followed me.”

  Meaning Wolf remembered exactly what he’d said two nights ago.

  Salvadore’s throat didn’t want to work and his voice came out hoarse when he spoke. “I didn’t follow you.” He gestured to Reed and Egan. “Those two found me and dragged me to that cabin.”

  Egan stared back glassy eyed, his gaze unsettling. Salvadore raked his free hand through his hair and stared down at Wolf’s fingers where they wrapped around his tingling wrist. “My hand’s going numb.”

  “I’ll release you—”

  Salvadore looked up, a smartass remark ready to leave his mouth so fast he barely stopped it.

  Teeth flashed. “I’ll release your arm, if you submit.”

  Just the word made Salvadore’s stomach clench. “No,” he said, breathless and weak.

  Wolf eyed him, his gaze a flicker of sharp interest. “I’m not asking for your submission as a mate.”

  Salvadore took a breath and let it out slowly, quietly, reining in the words that wanted to slip free.

  “Not yet,” Wolf added.

  A spike of fear shot up Salvadore’s spine, making the skin across the back of his scalp tingle. Son of a—

  He jerked his arm, trying to break free of Wolf’s grip.

  Wolf released Salvadore’s wrist and grabbed him by his upper arms and dragged him forward.

  Salvadore wrestled against Wolf’s hold but though Salvadore had enough lean muscle to lift and carry just about anything Mel had needed him to carry, all he got for his effort was a sharp shake. His human strength was no match for a wolf’s and he knew it.

  Salvadore clenched his teeth and stilled. “I hate you,” he said. “I absolutely fucking hate you.”

  Wolf’s eyes flickered. Their color wasn’t clear in the dusky light but Salvadore could see the lines of Wolf’s face, bold and strong and, like Egan, so goddamn attractive Salvadore hated even looking at him.

  “You’re afraid of me, and you’re mistaking fear for hate.”

  Salvadore looked over Wolf’s shoulder, catching Egan’s faintly glowing gaze. Egan’s expression—Salvadore didn’t understand it, but his gut told him Egan was concerned for him and Salvadore didn’t know what to make of that. He quickly returned his gaze to Wolf. “Bullshit.”

  Wolf looked to the side, his gaze lingering on the other wolves.

  “Of course you are, but what have I done to hurt you? You have no reason to be afraid of me as long as you submit.”

  The implication was obvious. Egan had attacked Salvadore. Wolf hadn’t.

  “He doesn’t—” But Salvadore shut his mouth because he’d been just about to prove Wolf’s point.

  “He doesn’t scare you the way I do, does he?”

  Salvadore was too pissed off to answer, because of course Wolf was right. How Wolf had known it though was beyond Salvadore.

  “Watcher,” Reed said in the wolves’ language. “Eebaenetakim is still healing from his injuries. The drugs won’t last as long as they should. We should go now.” His tone held some warning Salvadore didn’t understand.

  Wolf slowly dragged his hand down Salvadore’s right arm, taking Salvadore’s wrist again. When he released Salvadore’s other arm, he said, “Don’t try to run. Raeisikeille and Eebaenetakim don’t have as much control over their heat as I do. I don’t want to spend time fighting them when we could be making our way to a den where you’ll be much safer.”

  Safer.

  Not safe, but safer.

  Salvadore’s heart finally slowed to something like a normal pace, leaving behind a jittery tremble in his belly that probably wouldn’t go away until he was out of here, Chen and El and him leaving the protectorate behind for good.

  “Okay,” he said, forcing the word out. “Okay.”

  Wolf turned away. Salvadore didn’t fight Wolf’s hold on his wrist as Wolf led him toward the door they had all come through earlier, passing right by Egan and Reed who stared at him with eyes that glowed pale in the wash of fading light coming through the windows.

  Salvadore remembered that throb of bright pain when the door had slammed open against him and he raised his hand to his cheek, almost expecting to find broken skin. But he felt nothing, not even a tender spot where he was sure one should be.

  Before he had time to dwell on the luck that had kept him from cracking his face on the door, Egan reached out and snared Salvadore’s arm.

  Wolf reacted with startling swiftness. He grabbed Egan’s wrist with his hand and bared his teeth, growling in a way that crawled across Salvadore’s skin. Reed growled something harshly into Egan’s ear in the wolves’ language.

  Salvadore jerked his arm but Egan’s grip didn’t loosen, and he watched Egan’s eyes with his stomach in his throat.

  Egan shook his head in what looked like an effort to shake off the drug Reed had given him.

  Wolf growled again and slammed the heel of his hand into Egan’s chest, shoving him backward.

  Reed stumbled under Egan’s weight as Egan nearly went down and Salvadore with him.

  “Stop it!” Salvadore grabbed at the front of Wolf’s shirt, trying to stay upright between the three wolves. “What the hell are you doing?” His voice rose with the rush of adrenaline flooding into his bloodstream. He was surprised he had any left after everything that had happened but the feeling hit him hard and he yanked Wolf’s shirt again.

  Wolf’s eyes glittered in the fading light, his breath coming harsh and fast in Salvadore’s ear and Egan stared back at Wolf with absolutely no fear in his bright blue eyes.

  Salvadore’s insides twisted. “Let go,” he said, tugging harder.

  “Submit,” Egan said, his gaze falling on Salvadore with an unnatural slowness.

  “He’s not yours,” Wolf said to Egan, teeth flashing. He planted his hand flat against Egan’s chest, his wicked claws extending. His growl welled up from his chest, harsh and deep, and every hair on Salvadore’s body stood on end at the sensation that crawled along his nerves.

  “Stop,” Salvadore said again, his voice tight, panic beating at the edges of his control.

  “Submit,” Egan said. “Don’t be afraid.”

  Wolf bared his teeth again. “Eebaenetakim thinks he has a claim on you. When the drugs fail and my heat comes on, I’ll kill him if he tries to take you. If you want him to live, we’ll have to leave him behind.”

  “No,” Salvadore said quickly. “We can’t leave him.”

  “Submit,” Egan repeated.

  Wolf’s claws came out and he slashed at Egan’s arm, cutting across the flesh with a shocking speed. Salvadore jerked. Droplets of Egan’s warm, wet blood spattered against Salvadore’s neck.

  Egan grunted and released Salvadore’s arm, staggering back as Reed swiftly pulled him away, all the while speaking harshly to Egan in the wolves’ language, so quickly that Salvadore couldn’t understand a word of what he said.

  Wolf held his ground, his grip almost painfully tight on Salvadore’s arm. “Accept my claim or fight,” Wolf said.

  “You’ve mistaken my intent,” Egan said, his eyes brightening as he ignored the blood dripping slowly onto the leaves covering the floor.

  Were the drugs loosening their hold over him already? Salvadore shifted, trying to put Wolf between himself and Egan. Wolf didn’t take his eyes off Egan, although he did ease his hold on Salvadore.

  Egan’s gaze settled on Salvadore once more.

  Salvadore tensed.

  Egan looked right at Salvadore and Salvadore couldn’t seem to drag his gaze away. “Submit, friend, and don’t be afraid. Beintaegoer is a watcher. He can protect you from whatever it is you’re afraid of better than most.”

  Salvadore opened his mouth to object but his thoughts seemed stuck in a loop. “We’re not friends. You’re a wolf.”

  Egan’s gaze never wavered and Salvadore felt an uncomfortable twist in his chest.

  After a moment,
Egan looked away, toward Wolf. He nodded, a single slow nod. “I accept your claim on this one. He’s yours, watcher. Care for him well.”

  Chapter 7

  Salvadore had said no. He’d argued. He’d finally given up when not one of the wolves had paid his words any attention whatsoever as they’d left the old hospital and hiked out into the woods, despite Salvadore’s misgivings. The drugs might wear off again. Any one of them might attack him. And if one attacked, they might all attack.

  He’d seen it happen before.

  “I’ve got to pee,” Salvadore said. There’d been a creek a ways back and Salvadore had been so thirsty that he’d drank until his stomach felt bloated. Now it was his bladder that was the problem.

  Wolf stopped, and the sound of crackling leaves behind them stopped. Salvadore glanced back to see Egan and Reed halt in a spot that was almost at the limit of what Salvadore could see in the darkness.

  He’d been stumbling along beside Wolf through the dark trees. Wolf hadn’t released him once since they’d left the hospital.

  Salvadore tried to shake off Wolf’s hold, but Wolf didn’t drop his hand from around Salvadore’s upper arm. “Come on, let me go long enough so I can get my dick out.”

  Wolf looked at him with eyes glowing bright under the first bit of moon the clouds had let slip through and said, “If you run, I’ll have to chase after you and if I do that, I won’t be able to control my heat when it returns. Holding on to you is safer for all of us.”

  Salvadore’s mouth went dry. He wet his lips with his tongue. “I won’t run. You have my word.”

  Not that long ago, Wolf had pulled him up short to listen carefully. Salvadore had barely heard the sound of a howl on the wind, but a tingle of fear had stiffened his spine anyway.

  “And what is your word worth?”

  Salvadore’s face flushed. He’d been lying through his teeth in the cabin and it seemed like Wolf knew it. “I won’t run,” he said again. “You can either believe me or not but I’m telling the truth.”

  “You think you are. But then your fear will take over and you’ll react without thinking, just like you did when you almost jumped to your death out of that window.” Wolf flexed his fingers on Salvadore’s upper arm. Even though Salvadore had been anticipating the prick of sharp claws from the moment Wolf had grabbed him, Wolf’s claws hadn’t jabbed into Salvadore’s skin once during their hike, despite the firm grip, Salvadore’s resistance, and the uneven terrain. “No, I’ll trust my own feelings on this.”

  “Fuck you,” Salvadore said. “I’m not lying. I can control myself enough to stay with the group.” He gestured around him. “Not like I want to be out here alone anyway no matter how far away those howls were.”

  Wolf turned, startling Salvadore, and then he curled his fingers around the top of Salvadore’s fly, pushing aside the hem of Salvadore’s t-shirt. The heat of Wolf’s hand seared Salvadore’s belly. “Open your pants.”

  “I changed my mind,” Salvadore said, stomach quivering against Wolf’s bare knuckles. “I can hold it a while longer.”

  Reed’s voice carried softly out of the dark behind them. “I have only one dose of the drug left.”

  Salvadore turned his head. He didn’t know why. He couldn’t see much in the faint moonlight, not like the wolves could.

  Wolf said, “It’ll be safer for you now than later.”

  Salvadore stilled. “God. Don’t say that.”

  Wolf leaned in, his breath feathering across Salvadore’s cheekbones. “The truth is safer than lies that are meant only to comfort. I’ll protect you.” Wolf’s teeth flashed under the moonlight. “You have my word.”

  “Yeah? And what’s your word worth?” Salvadore asked before he could stop himself.

  Wolf huffed, the sound low and soft. “Do you believe the universe has a plan for you?”

  “Yeah. I do,” Salvadore said.

  Surprise flared in Wolf’s expression. He let go of Salvadore’s waistband to grip Salvadore’s chin, just tight enough to push Salvadore’s head back. Wolf’s nostrils flared as he took a deep sniff.

  “Why do you believe when so many others don’t?” Wolf asked.

  “Because I don’t want to believe that everything that happens is just random shit—that the only reason I’m alive is because of some chemical accident that happened billions of years ago, followed by trillions of other random events. That’s why.”

  Wolf released Salvadore’s chin, turning Salvadore until they stood face to face. Wolf leaned in abruptly toward Salvadore’s throat.

  Salvadore staggered backward but Wolf had hold of Salvadore’s arms and he jerked Salvadore closer. He nosed Salvadore’s chin up, breathing in deeply. Several strands of Wolf’s soft, dark hair tickled the underside of Salvadore’s chin and a warm scent filled his nostrils. Salvadore turned his head away and swallowed against the surge of … something … he wouldn’t name.

  He didn’t want to be here; his body shouldn’t be reacting as if he did.

  “I’m a watcher,” Wolf said, dragging the bridge of his nose along Salvadore’s throat. His breath caressed Salvadore’s flushed skin. “I feel the truth of my people’s words. I feel something when you speak too, and I don’t know why—not yet.” Wolf took an even deeper sniff. “Your scent is changing,” he said, sounding troubled. “Whatever’s causing the change has accelerated.”

  Wolf raised his head then, putting some welcome distance between Salvadore’s throat and Wolf’s teeth.

  The tension in Salvadore’s shoulders eased and he lowered his chin, meeting Wolf’s gaze. “It’s heat season and I’m a human—and male too and just lucky enough to be about the prime age to set you guys off. You want to fuck me. That’s what you smell.”

  Wolf watched Salvadore with eyes that glowed. “I smell your fear. It pervades your scent, so strong and sweet that it makes it hard for me to smell anything else. But there is something else there.” The glow of Wolf’s eyes flickered in the darkness as he blinked. “We need to mate before the drugs are gone.”

  “What? No.” Said quick and fierce, a reaction Salvadore couldn’t control. “I can’t. Don’t—”

  “We will mate.”

  “I can’t.” Salvadore tried to twist out of Wolf’s grip but Wolf held tight to Salvadore’s arms.

  “It’ll be too dangerous for you if we don’t. You won’t submit.”

  “I won’t. You’re right, you know that, I won’t and it’ll be—” A thought flashed through his mind. “Drug me then. If you’re going to do it anyway, drug me and do it. That’s the only way I won’t fight.”

  Wolf’s nostrils flared wide. “I won’t take away your free will just to mate you.”

  Salvadore’s disbelief came out in a bark of sound. “Free will? Who the hell has the free will to refuse? If I don’t submit, you’ll kill me because you can’t control the urge to fight.” His voice rose. “You know you will. You’ll fucking kill me, because I can’t let you…” He trailed off, breathing heavy and too fast, his chest so tight that every breath felt like a struggle.

  Wolf’s jaw looked hard and his eyes bright as the shadow of his head loomed closer, so close that his next exhale hit Salvadore in the face and Salvadore flinched.

  “You exercised your free will when you remained in our territory after the notices went out about the start of heat season. You had an entire day to leave our territory after I left you in the woods. You chose not to leave. Instead you followed that human into our territory and put yourself in our path. If you knew you couldn’t submit, you should have stayed away.”

  Salvadore wanted to object, but Wolf’s intimidating stare kept his mouth shut.

  “Your scent taunts us and destroys our control,” Wolf continued, “and we turn on each other in a way we haven’t done in a thousand years. Your kind can’t seem to grasp the simple truth that we’re here to stay and that for this one short season every three years, you need to stay away from us. And when you choose not to, you’re choosing to l
ive by our laws instead of your own. The protectorate is ours, despite your seeming belief otherwise. Those who stay, stay at our sufferance, and only because we don’t want to take from you what’s been given to us by your government.”

  “Okay,” Salvadore said. “I get it, okay? It’s my fault. I brought this on myself.”

  But he hadn’t and the words burned like acid as they came out. But he couldn’t very well say that he’d stayed not of his own free will but because someone had buried a tracker in his skin and sent him back into the wolves’ territory, knowing what would inevitably happen. He was the goddamn victim here and he deserved some consideration for that, but he couldn’t ask for it without giving himself away.

  How much worse would it be for him if the wolves found out about that tracker?

  Wolf switched to the wolves’ language and said, “You are mine.”

  The power behind those words sent a shiver down Salvadore’s spine.

  Salvadore suddenly remembered just how badly he needed to piss.

  “Hey,” he said, hoping to distract Wolf from whatever it was that was making Wolf stare so intently at him. “Hey, remember why I’m here? I’m going to pee on myself if I have to stand here much longer.”

  Wolf released Salvadore’s left arm and returned his hand to Salvadore’s fly. “I’ll hold the fabric tight so you can lower the zipper.”

  Salvadore had to tug the zipper several times before it started a downward slide. “You’re making this a hell of a lot harder than it needs to be.”

  “Really?” Wolf’s forefinger moved, sliding much too close to the soft bulge of Salvadore’s cock under his fly.

  Salvadore gripped Wolf’s hand tightly. A flush rose in his face. “That wasn’t funny.”

  White teeth flashed too close as Wolf huffed a soft breath that might have been a laugh. “You should choose your words more carefully next time.”

  “Stop laughing at me,” Salvadore muttered. “You know what I meant.”

  Another soft laugh fluttered by Salvadore’s ear. “I know what you meant. But humor’s a common way to ease someone’s fear, and I like it when you aren’t so afraid of me.”