The Linchpin (Tundra Wolves Book 3)

by Maggie Walsh

  He spun around to face his computer again and brought up his latest book. It was time to get down and dirty with his other pen name and make the subs at that club cream their pants. Maybe he would research that power drill fucker and find a way to put it in this book. Alex giggled as he switched to Google.

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  Alex stood at the counter of the mechanic’s barn waiting for someone to come help him. His gaze roamed over the counter to the back room and he spotted a nice, hard ass bent over the edge of a truck into the engine. The muscles he could see running up the back were big and tight, they looked so strong. A thrill of desire raced through him and Alex wanted to know who the guy was. Was it maybe Raiden? As he told Bo, he really didn’t know the man, so he had no clue if this was him.

  You would think that as a pack of Tundra Wolves living in the middle of nowhere that everyone would know each other, but sadly not. The York pack was one of the biggest packs in the region and had lately expanded. When Alpha Stuart, a neighboring pack alpha had wanted to take over both the York and Heart packs—but they were able to stop it—a lot of Alpha Stuart’s pack members fled. Some came to their own alpha, Dell, for protection and to swear their allegiance, and Dell had taken in a few dozen. Alex also heard that Ridge, Caleb’s true mate and Alpha of the Heart pack had also allowed a few into his pack as well.

  Not that Raiden had come from that group, but Raiden hadn’t been born and raised in the York pack like most either. He had come to them years ago from down in the southern packs from what Alex had heard about the guy. There were two Tundra Wolf packs in the lower region of Alaska where most of the females of their breed lived. The females hated living this far north, but those packs also had quite a few males as well to help protect them. Raiden was one of the men who requested to come up here in hopes of finding a mate. Not a true one of course, but a mate. Seeing as most of the females were also gay and dick did nothing for them, Raiden wanting a man anyway, coming here was his best bet.

  “Hey, Alex, what can I do for you?” Timber, one of the pack delta’s, asked as he stepped through the door coming from the back.

  “Hey, Timb. My snowmobile is acting up and could really use a look at to see what the problem is. I was wondering if there were any openings coming up?”

  “Sure, let me check the schedule,” Timber answered, as he stepped up to the counter and began flipping through a notebook. “Here we go. Raiden has an opening in three days on Monday. If you want to drop it off around ten he’ll take a look and let you know what the issue is and how much it’ll cost.”

  “That would be great, Timber, thanks,” Alex replied, with a relieved sigh.

  “No problem, I’ll pencil you in. So, I heard you were at the little gang bang the other night,” Timber said, with a knowing smirk.

  Alex smiled and made a face. “Yes, I was there, but it was not a gang bang. It was far from it. But I really wasn’t into it. I just kind of walked around, ya know?”

  “That your bike out there blocking my garage bay?” A grumpy voice interrupted them.

  Alex looked up and his gaze met hard, cold, blue ones that looked like they wanted to burn him alive. Alex swallowed hard as he trembled. “Um... no. I... I don’t.”

  “It’s okay, Alex, Raiden’s just cranky today. I think he needs to get laid,” Timber teased, as he threw a wink toward the big, fierce man who came up beside him.

  “And I think you need to shut the hell up, troublemaker,” Raiden bitched, then turned that gaze on Alex again. “If it’s not yours, then who’s is it, because it’s blocking my door? I’ll run that fucker over if I have to.”

  Alex shook his head as his mouth dropped open. Holy shit. This guy was hot as all fuck but scary as hell. Alex just wanted to run in the other direction. “I-I d-don’t know. I’m-m, s-sorry.”

  The man stared at him for a minute, then just spun on his heels and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him, making Alex jump.

  “Shit. Is he always like that?” Alex asked, his gaze still focused on the closed door.

  Timber smiled. “Nah, he’s just on his period. Something’s crawled up his ass lately and I think it died, which is why it’s giving him a sour mood. Don’t worry about Raiden. Just bring your machine on Monday at ten and we’ll take care of it.”

  Alex swallowed again as he nodded, and said, “Okay. See you then, Timb.”

  He turned and headed toward the door, slipping out into the cold. Alex pulled his coat closed tighter around his neck. The days were getting shorter, twenty-four hours of night would be coming soon and he really needed his snowmobile fixed. Walking around even at noon in the dark could be dangerous, even for shifters with enhanced senses, but the cold could be worse. It was always best to get out and go to your destination fast, then get inside.

  In a way Alex was looking forward to the Dark Season, but in a way not. When you had someone it could be amazing. The members of his pack seemed to be hornier during the Dark Season and just fucked wherever they were at that moment without a thought to others, which was okay by everyone, it was how they were raised. But, if you were alone, the Dark Season just made it feel even lonelier, and seeing as Alex had no one to warm his bed, or fuck him in aisle eight of the supermarket at random, he knew it was going to be a long Dark Season.

  He sighed then stepped away from the large barn. If he got to Bo’s before the guy left to find a hookup, Alex could maybe get another of those toy boxes and make a few more dollars to pay the repair bill. He had loved everything about the last box, especially the extra-large rubber cock Bo had put in there, but that was two weeks ago. He needed some new toys to test and a few extra dollars. Alex quickened his pace, the crunch of the snow under his feet making him slip a little, but he righted himself and took off.

  CHAPTER 3

  “What’s up with the little dude?” Raiden asked, looking up from the engine he was working on, as Timber joined him again in the garage.

  “Oh, I don’t know, some big beta/delta coming in and scaring the crap out of him. Silly him for trembling,” Timber replied sarcastically, then moved back to the Sno-Cat he had been working on.

  “I did not,” Raiden grumbled under his breath, and grabbed a wrench.

  “Did too. So what’s gotten under your hood and fucked with your gears? Usually you’re not biting people's heads off.”

  Raiden sighed. “It’s Tug. I think he wants to take a break from our relationship and I’m afraid I’m gonna lose him, man,” Raiden confessed, as he stuck his head back under the hood of the truck.

  Timber scoffed, “Hell, no. That man is crazy about you. You guys have been together for what, a hundred years? He’s totally committed to you, man. You’re fucking mated, dude.”

  “I know, but you know as well as I do that a chosen mating can be broken. It’s not like a true mating where the two can never break the bond and will remain together for eternity. I don’t know what I would do if Tug broke our mating. I heard it’s painful,” Raiden worried.

  “That’s total bullshit. It’s like a divorce for the humans, man. Because we don’t find our true mates, well, except for Caleb, we choose our mates and can claim them with a bite or not, even though the bite doesn’t take as you know, but there is a bond. It’s nowhere near what a true mated pair share, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be together for life.”

  “I know, but I love Tug so damn much, and I know if I lose him I’ll never be the same. I’ll never recover,” Raiden said softly.

  A hand touched his shoulder and Raiden pulled back, then looked over his shoulder at his friend. “He’ll never let you go, man. If I know one thing about Tug, it’s that he loves you and will do anything for you. Anything. Why don’t you head home early and maybe cook the two of you some dinner. Candlelit maybe. Make it a good night, then maybe talk to the man, and find out what he’s thinking. Tell him how you’re feeling.”

  “I’m afraid to start the conversation and lose him,” Raiden confessed.


  “Then stay quiet and stressed, or learn to live with it, but I suggest you show that man how much you love him, then when you have him in a peaceful moment, ask him what’s bothering him,” Timber suggested, giving Raiden's shoulder a squeeze, then walked away.

  Raiden released a heavy sigh. Maybe. But, if he did and lost Tug, he was so going to kick Timber’s ass for this. He would do anything for Tug and always knew Tug would do the same for him, but recently something had changed in the love of his life, and Raiden had no idea what it was. Something was bothering Tug, and because of it their love life was a bit off. Tug hadn’t tied him down and flogged him, then fucked him for hours, in weeks, and Raiden missed it. He was in deep need of his Master.

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  His man was up to something, Tug just knew it. Now he only needed to figure out what that was. Four nights a week he worked the nightshift at the pack bar, then he worked the dayshift for two days. As the manager, he was responsible for the schedule for himself and the staff, and today had been scheduled to work the dayshift, which he was happy about.

  Over the past few weeks, things had been getting a little busy at the pub, with different shifters coming into town to try to talk to their alpha and smooth the waters after a neighboring pack had attacked them. The alpha of that pack had dragged members in from other shifter breeds to help do his dirty work, but now that Dell had defeated him and absorbed most of his pack and all of his lands, the other breeds were getting nervous.

  Everyone in the region knew that the York pack was the strongest in the area and had the most members. Now that Dell had taken in a few dozen of Alpha Stuart’s pack members, they were even larger, although Dell still didn’t trust any of them. Those wolves would have to prove themselves to Alpha Dell and all of them before they would be completely accepted. But, with the extra people moving in and the other frightened breeds coming to kiss ass, the bar seemed to always be packed, so Tug had been working a ton of extra days and hours, and he really missed his man.

  All day he had been making plans for him and Raiden. He wanted them to have a very intimate night to reconnect. He knew Raiden had been feeling the stress and loss of their connection, but unfortunately, Tug didn’t have much of a choice except to work. When the alpha called upon him to run the pub, Tug had been honored.

  Being an alpha himself, others thought he would want to challenge Dell to be top dog, but that’s not how things worked for their kind. Other wolf breeds and animal shifters might work that way, but the Tundra Wolves were different. Their alphas came from the bloodline of the originals who settled in the region, and Dell was the next in line when his father decided to step down and retire him and his mate to one of the southern packs. Then Dell’s alpha son—if he had one—would be the next leader of their pack, and so on.

  Plus, even though he was an alpha, he didn’t want all the responsibility that Dell had upon his shoulders. Tug loved living the easy life he had with Raiden by his side, and running the bar just fit right with him. Tug had spent over twenty years working at the bar for the former owner, a wolverine shifter named Maximus. The little asshole was more like a weasel and would have sold his mother for a pocketful of cash.

  Tug always knew Max was a first rate piece of crap, but to betray the York pack like he had to make some quick pay from Alpha Stuart, was too much. Dell had taken care of Maximus, and the wolverines tried to make things right with Dell, kissing his ass and trying to keep the pub going, but they had no clue what they were doing, so Dell bought the pub from the wolverines, which had made their leader very happy, but things were still strained between the two shifters. Dell didn’t trust the wolverines, and they knew it, and were now terrified of Dell—which they should be.

  Tug had spent over twenty years working at the bar with the little shit as eyes for his alpha, Dell’s father. Tug was a warrior for his pack first and foremost, and their safety would always come first. Max had never quite figured out that Tug had been a plant for the alpha. How, Tug had no idea. He had seen Max do many underhanded things over the course of those years, but none that betrayed the alpha or the York pack, until Alpha Stuart came along.

  After the dust had settled and Dell purchased the pub, he asked Tug if he would continue with the mission he had started for his father, but this time he would be in charge. The bar would be Tug’s to run and take care of, and if he ever wanted to buy the place, Dell would sell it to him. Tug took the offer, it was what he was good at, and the pack and most visitors were used to seeing him there. The visiting shifters knew him and would still talk freely around him, giving Tug the opportunity to overhear things. Being the only bar or pub within five hundred or so miles, brought the Tundra shifters from all over when they were looking for a night on the town, so he would still be the eyes and ears of the alpha.

  Tug heard the engine of Raiden’s snowmobile as it pulled up in front of their home, and he smiled. He hoped his man was happily surprised to see him. Raiden had called him at work earlier and asked when he would be home and Tug had told him the normal time, but what Raid didn’t know was that Tug was already home when he called. He had a lot to get done before his lover came in, so Tug had left work early, leaving Jael to run things for the rest of the night until closing.

  Raid had been so upset lately, and Tug knew his man was feeling lonely and neglected, so he decided to use the fact that he was boss to his advantage and surprise his mate with what he hoped would be a night to remember. He pulled the roast out of the oven and placed it on a cutting board to stand for a few minutes before he sliced it, then smiled when he heard the back door open.

  Footsteps followed, but then froze. Tug never turned around, he just kept working on dinner as he listened to his mate’s movements behind him. Raid’s heavy boots were silent for a moment, then Tug heard them softly shuffle before they thudded against the floor in the mudroom, where they left their heavy winter things.

  The door behind him quietly opened, then closed, but Tug kept his attention on the task at hand. He pulled the salad from the fridge along with a bottle of wine and turned, bringing them to the table.

  “Tug, what’s going on? Why are you home?” Raid asked hesitantly.

  He hated hearing any kind of hesitancy or unease in his man’s voice. Raid was a strong, confidant, and amazing man, with a big heart. He was the most loving man Tug had ever met, and an amazing submissive for Tug’s desires. As far as he was concerned, Raiden was perfect in every way.

  Tug smiled brightly and looked up, meeting his man’s curious and surprised gaze. Gods he loved those eyes, so blue and inviting. Tug loved getting lost in them, especially when he was balls deep inside Raiden’s warm ass. The love and trust that Raiden gave to him always shone through and gripped his heart, knowing that his man trusted him with his mind, body, soul, and heart.

  Raiden trusted him with taking care of all his needs, and that trust was a very heady feeling. It honored him, and Tug would do anything for this man, which was another reason why he was doing what he was. He felt guilty. Raiden was everything to Tug, but lately he had been having fantasies about another. A certain someone who had caught his eye that Tug felt would be a good fit with both of them, but for some reason, it felt like just the interest alone was cheating on his mate.

  Tug’s smile broadened when he saw the smile Raid gave him in return. “I wanted to surprise you. I know things have been chaotic lately, especially since I took over responsibility for the pub and we’ve had to spend a lot of time apart. I wanted to apologize for that and to thank you for being you. For being so understanding and patient,” Tug explained, as he slowly walked toward his man, stalking his prey.

  He saw Raid swallow hard, and allowed his gaze to quickly shift lower, taking in the very large bulge that now pressed against Raiden’s zipper. Very nice. His man was getting primed and ready for him.

  Tug stopped before Raiden and raised his hand, then cupped the back of his lover’s neck and quickly pulled him in, claiming Raiden’s lips in a
hot, demanding kiss. Raid moaned as he melted against him. His lover's wide, hard chest pressed to his, then Raid moved in closer, so their cocks pressed together. Tug gripped a handful of Raiden’s long brown hair and pulled, breaking the kiss, but holding Raiden’s head close, so their gazes met. The heat and need he saw in his lover’s blue orbs affected him more than Raiden knew. Tug could see the burning need and the relief that Tug was taking control.

  “Dinner is almost ready. You have ten minutes to shower and clean yourself, then get down here wearing nothing but a smile. One second late and you’ll be punished. Make it back here in time and I will blow your mind with a reward.” Tug took Raid’s lips again, quickly, powerfully, then released him. Raid stood there stunned and panting, his pupils blown and hazy.

  “Your time has already started,” he warned, keeping his voice commanding, the way Raiden liked it. He watched as a shiver raced through Raiden, making him shake slightly, then suddenly understanding came to his man's eyes, and Raiden moved, quickly running from the room. Tug could hear his feet pounding up the stairs, and he laughed as he turned back toward the stove to complete their meal.

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  Fucking hell. Raiden thought, as he ran through their bedroom stripping his clothes, then tossed them into the hamper on his way by. He quickly went to the shower and turned on the water, then grabbed the supplies he would need. When he had opened the door and smelled his favorite roast cooking, Raid thought he was dreaming, but then when he saw his lover, his mate, standing in the kitchen cooking him dinner, his heart filled with love. When Tug turned to face him and Raid realized his man was wearing his I’m gonna fuck you long and hard Master pants that Raiden loved so much, he wanted to drop to his knees and beg to suck the man.