by Lynn Hagen
“You attacked my pregnant mate,” Bobby Ray snapped. He kicked the son of a bitch again.
“Don’t kill him,” Clint said. “We need to hand him over to Jesse.”
“Fuck that,” Bobby Ray argued. “We caught him. We kill him.”
Clint scowled at him. “I don’t like it either, but if we ever want peace, sometimes we have to compromise.”
“You compromise.” Bobby Ray kicked him again. “I’ll kill this piece of shit.”
Bobby Ray swung at Duane when his brother tried to pull him away. “Chill, Bobby Ray.”
“He attacked Noel,” Bobby Ray gave the needless reminder. “By rights, he’s mine.”
“He’s right.”
Bobby Ray spun, growling when he spotted Jesse behind him. “What the fuck’re you doing here?”
Jesse curled his upper lip. “What the fuck do you think?”
Tension became so thick that it was cloying. Wade and Walker joined them in their bear forms. Jesse’s men slowly approached. The situation was a powder keg waiting to explode.
Bobby Ray was wrung tight. He was itching to take his anger out on someone, and the nomad would do. But if not, fuck it. He’d take down a few wolves. It wasn’t as if they were friends, anyway. Jesse already said the truce was over. Clint couldn’t get mad at Bobby Ray for handing them their asses.
Clint got to his feet, pulling the nomad up with him. “So you concede this nomad to us?”
Jesse looked between Bobby Ray and Clint. He shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. “Shit still ain’t right between us, but I live by the same code as you. If the nomad harmed Bobby Ray’s mate, then he has a right to exact retribution.”
Bobby Ray hated politics. But in this case, the code of the mountains was in his favor. He stepped forward, glared into the nomad’s eyes, then punched his claw into the bastard’s chest, yanking his heart out.
More than one brow rose as the nomad crumpled. Bobby Ray dropped the heart and turned on his heel, heading back to his mate. Noel’s question surfaced in Bobby Ray’s mind. Did he kill because he had to, or for enjoyment?
Because the nomad had attacked Noel, for the first time, Bobby Ray had killed for both.
* * * *
Noel stared at the gun gripped in Bart’s hand. His brother was a true psychopath. Noel didn’t care if it cost him his life, he turned and checked Trigger’s pulse. Relief washed over him when it beat strong under his fingers.
“I got no beef with him,” Bart said. “He ain’t the disgusting prick who fucked you.” Bart yanked Noel up by his hair and threw him toward the bed. “I told Mom and Dad you were a pervert, and you know what they said? They said that it didn’t matter to them if you were gay. What kind of twisted bullshit is that?”
Noel didn’t say a word. Anything he said would set Bart off. He knew that to be true because Bart loved finding any excuse to beat him up. Only this time, Bart had a weapon. Noel wasn’t sure this time he’d walk away from Bart’s wrath.
As Noel sat on the edge of the bed, he noticed some of Bobby Ray’s things piled on the dresser—a laptop, an iPad, and cash. There were also a few watches that looked pricey. “Robbing the place?”
“There’s a hidden safe in the closet wall and you’re gonna open it.” Bart waved the gun toward the closet. “Now get your ass up and empty it out.”
Noel had noticed the safe, but it hadn’t interested him enough to ask Bobby Ray about it. “I don’t know the code.”
“You’re a fucking liar.”
Noel howled in pain when Bart shot him in his arm. He instinctively gripped the wound, making the pain ten times worse as blood seeped past his fingers. Noel dropped from the edge of the bed to his knees, rocking as he gritted his teeth. Never in his life had he felt pain like this. It wasn’t so much the bullet as the whole it had created. The air touched his exposed nerves and Noel became dizzy, ready to pass out.
“Don’t you dare faint on me.” Bart grabbed Noel’s injured arm and yanked him to his feet. Noel cried out, struggling to get free. Bart backhanded him so hard that his head should’ve snapped off.
He was shoved into the closet. Bart pressed the barrel of the gun against Noel’s back. “Now open it.”
“What makes you think he gave me the code?” Noel argued, even though he knew that would further enrage Bart.
“He’s fuckin’ you,” Bart snapped.
That didn’t make any sense to Noel. Just because two people had sex didn’t mean they revealed their life secrets. True, he and Bobby Ray were mates, but again, Noel hadn’t held any interest in knowing the code.
“If you were fucking a bank employee, do you think she’d give you security codes to rob the bank?” Noel argued. “No, she wouldn’t, you dumb shit.”
Bart slapped him again.
Instead of crying out, Noel growled. All his life Bart had knocked him around, and Noel had let him. But he was not only pregnant and had to protect his unborn child, but he was sick and tired of Bart’s tyranny.
Something inside Noel snapped. He threw his meager weight into Bart. His brother stumbled backward, caught off guard by the move. Noel leaped onto Bart, and they struggled for the gun.
Noel wasn’t above biting Bart. He sank his blunt teeth into one of Bart’s wrists, forcing himself not to crumple from the pain of Bart slamming his fist into Noel’s head.
“I’m gonna kill you for this!” Bart shoved at Noel, but Noel refused to let go. He had both hands curled tightly around Bart’s wrists, although the pain of his wound made him light-headed.
The gun dropped to the floor. Noel grabbed for it. Bart fought to get it. They grabbed the gun at the same time. It went off. Noel staggered off Bart, dropping to his ass as he stared wide-eyed at the blossoming blood spreading across Bart’s shirt. There was a bullet hole in the fabric right over Bart’s heart.
His brother collapsed. Noel kept scooting backward until he was in the hallway. His heart hammered. His throat went dry. Noel turned to his hands and knees and vomited just as he heard Bobby Ray yelling his name.
“Noel!” Bobby Ray raced down the hallway, scooping Noel from the floor. He cursed as he rushed Noel to the living room. “He’s been shot!”
“Trigger was knocked out. Someone needs to check on him,” Noel said.
Duane took off down the hallway.
“Put him on the carpet,” Clint demanded. He turned to Wade. “Got get the supplies we need to get that bullet out and close the wound.”
“Hang in there, babe.” Bobby Ray stroked his hand through Noel’s hair. Tears clung to his lashes as Bobby Ray held Noel on his lap. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”
“He was gonna kill me,” Noel whispered, still shaken by what he’d just done. “He wanted me to open your safe. When I said I couldn’t, he shot me.”
Bobby Ray glanced toward the hallway. His expression was dark before he looked at Noel again. “How’d you get away?”
“I fought him for the gun.”
Bobby Ray’s brows shot up. “Are you insane?”
“We struggled. I couldn’t let him kill me. I had to protect our baby.” Noel groaned. “Fuck, it hurts.”
Duane came back, his gaze intense as he looked at Noel’s wound. “Trigger’ll be fine. He has a nasty bump on the back of his head, but I coaxed him into shifting.”
“Put Noel down,” Clint said. “We need to get to work, Bobby Ray. He’s already lost a lot of blood.”
Noel tried to crawl away. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Not the first bullet I’ve dug out,” Clint said. “Sorry, but I can’t give you anything for the pain since your pregnant. I don’t know what will hurt the baby and I can’t take that chance.”
“This is bullshit,” Noel argued as he slapped at Clint’s hands. “You guys need a doctor for humans, not some thread and bottle of rubbing alcohol!”
Noel tried to slug Bobby Ray when his mate held him down. “I’m gonna neuter you for this, you bastard!”
&
nbsp; “I’m so sorry.” Bobby Ray’s jaw was clenched. “You can beat the shit out of me once Clint is done.”
When Clint began to dig the bullet out, Noel fainted.
* * * *
Bobby Ray stopped at the bottom of a mountain that rose high into the sky. He dropped Bart’s body and shouted, “Lazarus!”
The mountain had one entrance, and a person had to scale the side to reach it. Bobby Ray wasn’t sure if the snow leopards lived in the mountain like cavemen, or if the inside was decked out.
Did he really care? Hell no. It had taken him two hours to drive north, then another hour to carry Bart’s dead weight when he had to go on foot. He was tired, hungry, and ready to get back to Noel.
Instead of Lazarus coming out of the entrance, he moved in behind Bobby Ray, his sharp claws at Bobby Ray’s throat. “You’re on my land uninvited, bear. By rights, I should kill you.”
Bobby Ray wanted to roll his eyes. The threat wasn’t anything to laugh at, but he’d had it up to his eyeballs with politics. “I brought you a gift.”
With his claws still at Bobby Ray’s throat, Lazarus moved slightly to his right and glanced at the ground. “You should’ve brought him to me alive.”
“He tried to kill his brother. Noel fought for his life and killed Bart. Sorry, but all you get is the corpse.”
Lazarus lowered his claws. It took everything in Bobby Ray not to punch the bastard. “Then peace between us has been restored.”
“I’ll let Clint know.” Bobby Ray threw up a peace sign and headed back to his truck.
* * * *
“Come on now, darlin’.” Bobby Ray threw the covers back and stared down at his mate. “What do you mean you don’t want to fool around?”
Noel glared at him. “Look at me. I’m as big as a whale. My feet are swollen and I swear our baby is pressing against my bladder on purpose.”
Bobby Ray brushed his hand over Noels’ swollen stomach. He was two weeks away from his due date, and there wasn’t anything about Noel that turned Bobby Ray off. “You’re breathtaking, Sugar. Now give me some ass.”
“No.” Noel struggled to get up, but made it only halfway before he rolled back. “Damn it!”
Bobby Ray hid his grin. “I’ll help you up once you have sex with me.”
“No.” Noel wiggled his way to the edge, gave up, and lay with his legs dangling over the side.
Bobby Ray got out of bed and moved to stand between Noel’s legs. “This is perfect.”
“Don’t make me pop you on the head, Bobby Ray.”
Grinning like an idiot, Bobby Ray curled his hand around Noel’s cock. He gave the hardened flesh a few strokes. “Still telling me no?”
Noel moaned. “N-no.”
“No, you aren’t telling me no, or no, you still don’t want to have sex?” Bobby Ray spat on his hand before wrapping his fingers back around Noel’s shaft. “Which is it, Sugar?”
Noel’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as his hips jerked upward. Yeah, that was what Bobby Ray thought. The little devil could deny Bobby Ray all he wanted to, but in the end, Noel always gave in.
Bobby Ray placed his hands behind Noels’ knees and lifted his mate’s legs. He pressed the head of his cock against Noel’s hole, waiting for his natural lubrication to relax his mate’s entrance.
“I’m too big to move,” Noel whimpered as he threw an arm over his eyes. “How can you want to fuck me?”
“Easy.” Bobby Ray slid inside his mate. He groaned as he bottomed out. “You’re glowing with beauty. You’re carrying my cub. You’re sexy as fuck. Do I need to go on?”
Noel peeked from under his arms. “Yes.”
Bobby Ray chuckled. “Darlin’, you’re breathtaking when you’re pregnant. I plan on knocking you up as many times as I can. We’ll have a houseful of cubs running around.”
“Says the man who doesn’t have to have his body stretch all out of shape.” Noel slid his legs around Bobby Ray’s waist. “Now stop talking and fuck me.”
“But you just said I had to keep giving you reasons why you’re attractive to me.” Bobby Ray winked at him. “My dick is giving you all the reasons you need.”
Noel burst out laughing, then moaned. “Shut up and fuck me already.”
Bobby Ray grinned. “Yes, sir.”
As with any other time he was inside Noel, Bobby Ray was gentle. Shifters could sometimes be rough with sex, and he never wanted to hurt his mate. He moved fast enough to bring them both pleasure, but not enough to rattle Noel’s bones.
“Bobby Ray!” His mate cried out as he came. Of late, Noel had a short fuse when it came to sex. That was fine with Bobby Ray. He loved seeing his mate shatter beneath him.
Careful of Noel’s swollen belly, Bobby Ray leaned forward and bit into his mate’s shoulder, cementing their bond even deeper as he came inside him.
Bobby Ray’s life might have been seven kinds of fucked up being saddled with a parent as evil as Clarence had been, but fate had taken mercy on him and given Bobby Ray a small slice of heaven. Life couldn’t get any better than this.
THE END
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