Colby and the Little Wolf

From the moment they met, there was an undeniable

attraction  between  Colby  and  Tobias.  Even  though
months  had  passed  since  they’d  seen  each  other,  the
sparks  haven’t dimmed one  bit.  When they  finally  met
again, it was only natural that they end up horizontal on
one of the coalition’s more popular conference tables.

Just as they are sure there is no doubt they are

destined together, their older brothers intervene and tear
them apart. Not because Colby is a Lion shifter. It’s not
because Tobias is a Wolf shifter either. The reason for
their split can be summed down to two words—they’re
runts. And in the shifter world, runt equals weak and
vulnerable. It’s only natural that their older siblings are
overprotective.

The one thing that their brothers fail to see is that

Colby and Tobias are determined to be together, even if
that  means defying their elders.  Will everybody  finally
see  how  perfect  Colby  and  his  little  Wolf  are  for  each
other? Or will the pair have to resort to drastic measures
to have any kind of happiness?

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Colby and the Little Wolf

ISBN: 978-1-77111-175-1

Cover art by Martine Jardin

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Chapter One

obias was going to kill his bodyguards. Provided
the Ravens that were tailing them didn’t jump the

gun and do the job for him first.

While the latter might have seemed like a better

option, since Tobias wouldn’t have to exert himself, or
get  his  new  jeans  all  bloody,  it  really  wouldn’t  work.
Not since he’d be the first one the birds attacked. It was
common knowledge that the  birds always  went  for the
weakest member of the pack first. Born a runt and still
as small as ever, Tobias fit that bill and then some. Plus,
as  Russell’s  youngest  sibling,  that  put  an  additional
target  on  Tobias’s  back.  Face  it,  he  may  as  well  be
wearing a t-shirt that read Fresh Meat on it.

Sigh…it so sucked being the younger brother of the

wolf  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  most  illegal  activity
this side of he state. Correction, make that former head
of  illegal  activity.  Ever  since  Russell  had  found  his
mate, he’d cleaned up his act. Now that he had two new
cubs to take care of, he was being even more of a Boy
Scout.  In  the  past  six  months,  he  hadn’t  so  much  as
ripped the tag off a mattress.

In truth, their small pack didn’t need to do anything

for awhile. While Russell had still been wearing the
black hat, they’d amassed a small fortune. But Tobias

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was quickly finding out that all play and no work, was
making for a very boring life.

At the moment, he was sitting in a small Italian

restaurant  with  his  two  bodyguards,  Ervin  and  Nico.
They  had  been  with  him  for  years,  yet  they’d  never
really become close friends. Be it because they resented
having  to  always  look  after  the  runt  of  the  pack,  or
because they thought Tobias  was  just a brat. Whatever
the reason, they’d never warmed up to him.

Letting out another sigh, Tobias spun his fork over

the cheap plastic red and white checkered tablecloth. At
the same time, he looked up from under his lashes at the
group of Ravens who were sitting only two tables away.

Tobias sighed again. “I just wish they’d attack and

get it over with.”

“They probably don’t want to call attention to

themselves since we’re surrounded by humans,” Nico
said.

With shaggy, chin-length brown hair and deep

amber  eyes,  Nico  would  be  good  looking  if  it  weren’t
for  the  purpetial  expression  of  annoyance  on  his  mug.
Even Ervin was hot, despite having an old man’s name.
His  hair  was  shorter…in  a  near  buzz  cut,  but  he  had
piercing blue eyes that made him catch the attention of
both  sexes.  Unfortunately,  Ervin  always  wore  pieved
expressions, too.

“Since when has a little attention stopped the

Ravens? From what I heard, they have been doing
everything to announce their presence these days,”
Tobias countered.

In fact, thanks to the damn birds, humans were now

discovering the existance of shifters. It had gone down

Colby and the Little Wolf

exactly like most of them had expected, too. Every day,
more groups of hunters were sprouting up. They had
already attacked several small shifter packs and
families. Tobias knew it would only get worse, before it
got better.

Ervin reached over and slammed a hand over the

fork. “Just play it cool. Maybe they’re here just to grab
a bite.”

Tobias shot him a duh glare. “Unless they have

rotten meat back there, this place doesn’t carry what
they like to call dinner.”

A look of revulsion came over Nico’s face. “They

really do eat that stuff? I thought it was just a myth.”

“Yeah, last time I was visiting the felines, Chance

told me so himself.”

“Does he eat that kind of thing?”
“No, Chance isn’t like other Ravens.”
As always, whenever he thought back to the

coalition,  Tobias’s  mind  instantly  fixated  on  one  cat
alone…Colby. Young and small like Tobias, the blond,
blue-eyed  feline  had  a  sweet  vulnerable  side  that
instantly called out to Tobias. The fact that Colby had a
rough  past  hadn’t  turned  Tobias  away  either.  If
anything, it had made the Lion all the more alluring. So
much  so  that  Tobias  wanted  to  wrap  his  arms  around
the  other  man  and  protect  him  from  ever  being  hurt
again.

“I still say the cats should never have taken in

Chance and his sister. Once a Raven, always a Raven,”
Ervin grumbled.

“I said, Chance is nothing like them. Besides,

Chance and Dulla are practically family to Ranger,”

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Tobias defended.

While he’d only met the Raven siblings on a few

occasions, Tobias had found them very likable. At least
they  could  hold  an  intelligent,  friendly  conversation,
which  was  a  lot  more  than  Tobias  could  say  for  Ervin
or Nico. Just the other day, Nico  had knocked over an
old lady and instead of apologizing, he’d told her to go
back  to  Rose  and  the  other  Golden  Girls.  Although  to
be  fair,  he  had  offered  to  buy  the  next  round  of
cheesecake,  but  Tobias  had  a  feeling  that  was  just
another cut-down.

“The only reason Ranger likes them is because he’s

odd, too,” Ervin said.

Anger sliced through Tobias. “Need I remind you

that Ranger is my cousin?”

There was a slight, awkward silence, not because the

other Wolves feared Tobias—not by a long shot. While
he might be second in command of the Wolf pack, it
was only because his older brother was the Alpha. They
all knew that Tobias would be hard-pressed to hold his
own if a real challenge were issued.

Not for the first time, Tobias wondered what the

others would say if they knew that he had other issues,
aside from being a runt. He had a sneaking feeling that
if his medical history was to become public, the rest of
the pack would turn on him, regardless of who his
brother was.

“I’m just saying that maybe Ranger would be more

happy living with a pack instead of a feline coalition.
We always do better among our own kind,” Ervin
hedged.

“Ranger is mated to a member of the coalition?”

Colby and the Little Wolf

“No, he’s mated to an Eagle. So, he could just take

his bird to a pack and they would be protected there,
too.”

“Did you forget that Ranger’s pack kicked him out

for being gay?”

Nico gave a dismissive wave. “We were all kicked

out  of  our  original  packs  for  the  same  reason.  That’s
why  we  joined  up  with  Russell.  Ranger  could  have
done the same. Instead, he chose to pick up strays  like
he was some shifter version of the ASPCA.”

“Well excuse him for actually trying to help others

instead of just stealing from them,” Tobias grumbled.

That comment earned him an arched brow from

Ervin. “You mean stealing, as in what we used to do
until Russell went legit?”

Shit! Damn! Fuck! The bastard had a very valid

point, and there was no way Tobias could agree with it
and still remain loyal to Russell. So, he did what he’d
always done best…avoided the topic and moved on.

“I wonder why those Ravens haven’t attacked us

yet?” he mused again.

“Maybe they are waiting until you answer my

question,” Ervin goaded.

Tobias lifted up the corner of his lip in his best snarl.

“Don’t fuck with me. I’m really not in the mood.”

It was an empty threat. At least it was unless Tobias

went  running  to  his  brother  to  tattle  on  Ervin.  That
would  never  happen  since  Tobias  wanted  to  keep  a
sliver of pride. The bad thing was,  the rest of the pack
knew  that  and  they  used  it  to  their  advantage.  As  a
result,  whenever  they  were  out  of  earshot  of  Russell,
nobody  bothered  to  hide  how  they  really  felt  about

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Tobias.

“Well, it sucks to be you then, because we’re fucked,

and not in the fun way either,” Nico declared.

Since Nico was gazing over in the Ravens’s

direction,  Tobias  immediately  knew  where  the  threat
would  be coming  from. Stifling a groan of annoyance,
he  cast  a  covert  glance  around  the  restaurant.  He  was
somewhat relieved to note that there were only a couple
of  humans  there  since  it  was  early.  That  still  didn’t
mean  that  Tobias  wanted  the  fight  that  was  barreling
their way.

With slow easy movements, he reached down and

wrapped his fingers around the butt of his gun.
Meanwhile, he glanced up from under his lashes to
watch the Ravens as they approached.

The trio of birds looked nothing like his friends,

Dulla and Chance. In other words, these Ravens looked
like  most  others  of  their  breed.  With  pasty  skin,  dark
hair  and  eyes,  and  a  stench  that  would  knock  out  an
elephant.  They  put  the  G  in  gross.  They  also  wore  all
leather,  from  their  ratty  dusters  to  their  thick-soled
boots.

Now that was just wrong on so many fashion levels

that Tobias didn’t even know where to begin with his
complaints.

“We don’t want any trouble,” Tobias said, fully

aware that he sounded like a character from a classic
western.

One of the Ravens smiled, showing off yellow,

rotted teeth. “Too bad for you, because it’s here.”

“I’ll tell you what. I have a coupon for half off for

some whitening strips. How about I give it to you and

Colby and the Little Wolf

then we call this whole thing even?” Tobias drawled.

The Raven let out a small snarl. “Oh, we’re going to

get way more than that for your scrawny ass. We know
who your brother is and we also know that he’ll pay a
ton to get you back.”

Tobias let out a sigh. Not another attempted kidnap

and ransom plan. If he had a nickel for every time…
Then again, that’s why Russell always made sure
Tobias had some muscle whenever he went out. It was
also why he’d trained Tobias to shoot.

Looking up, Tobias let out a snarl, too. “Fuck. You.”
The Raven blinked in surprise. No doubt because he

never thought somebody as small as Tobias would
stand up for himself. The stupid, empty look on the
bird’s face was so comical, Tobias had to ruin the small
victory by letting out a small laugh.

Fury crossed the Raven’s face before he pulled out a

gun and leveled it at Tobias. “Enough of this crap. Now
come with me.”

From the corner of his eyes, Tobias noted the

humans were all making a beeline for the door. Good,
now that they had less witnesses, they could fight back
fully without fear of harming an innocent bystander.

Tobias let out a fake gasp of distress, the sound and

reaction masking the fact that he’d turned his chair just
slightly so his legs were no longer tucked under the
table.

“I can’t go with you,” Tobias said.
“You can, and you will.”
The Raven waved his gun around. It did little to

impress Tobias since he had been on the barrel end of
firearms that were ten times bigger and badder. And

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yes, he knew that last one wasn’t really a word. So sue
him. Wolf packs didn’t exactly push the grammar
lessons. Teaching their cubs how to fight and survive in
their violent world tended to take precedence.

“No, I won’t,” Tobias continued to argue in a

deceptively calm tone.

“Do I need to shoot you in order to get you

moving?”

Well, that had to be one of the most ridiculous

threats Tobias had ever heard. He gave the comment the
reaction it deserved. Rolling his eyes, he let out a huff.
“How about I pencil in this whole kidnap plan for
tomorrow? I already have plans for today and I really
can’t cancel. It’s so hard to get a good hairdresser these
days and I don’t want to piss her off.”

When one of the Ravens pulled out a blade and

twirled it around a few times, Tobias heaved a huge
sigh. “I guess that means, no? Oh, and didn’t anybody
ever tell you that it’s not cool to be a showboat?”

Since the Raven was already advancing, Tobias

guessed the guy must have been absent the day they
taught that lesson at Bird School. Lucky for Tobias,
Russell had never let him skip class.

Moving swiftly and without even thinking about it

due to the hours he’d put in at the gym doing combat
training, Tobias jumped to the side. He made it without
injury, though it was close. The blade grazed his head
so closely that some hair was cut.

Okay, now he was really, really pissed. You could

call him every name in the book. Tell him he was a
bastard, and make fun of his shoes. Since it was all true,
Tobias could take it. The one thing he would never

Colby and the Little Wolf

stand for was somebody messing with his hair.

He landed on the balls of his feet in a crouched

position and turned around in time to see Ervin flip the
table  over.  In  the  confusion,  the  Wolves  had  time  to
pull  out  their  weapons.  The  only  problem  was,  it  also
gave  the  Ravens  time  to regroup  and  pull  out  more of
their own arsenal.

Tobias was just wrapping his hand around the butt of

his gun when one of the birds attacked. Moving fast as
fuck, the Raven tackled Tobias and took him to the
ground. Soon, he found himself pinned under over two
hundred pounds of man.

Usually, Tobias would be happy to find himself in

that position, but not when the other guy reeked of hell
knew what. Then Tobias realized he’d dropped his gun
when he’d been jumped.

Great. This just kept getting better and better. The

only thing that was missing was the laugh track and the
comical drumming sound.

Undaunted, Tobias grabbed the nearest weapon,

which happened to be a fork. With a snarl, he brought it
up and stabbed the Raven in the eye. It was gross as
hell, but it beat the alternative—becoming the bird’s
dinner.

The Raven let out a shriek as he rolled off Tobias.

Eager to get away, Tobias brought up his foot and
kicked the Raven across the room. The man landed on
top of a nearby table.

As he staggered to his feet, Tobias realized he was

covered in marinara sauce and blood.

Yeah, it was official. It sucked to be him.
His nose twitched as the scent of blood hit the air.

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He only needed to take in a few sniffs to know that it
was from one of the Wolves. He quickly scanned his
men, his stomach rolling when he saw Nico had a huge
gaping wound on his right flank.

Shit, that wasn’t good. Even if they did get away and

manage to drive back to their pack, the mansion didn’t
have the best of infirmaries. Okay, it really didn’t have
an infirmary at all—just a table, a couple of bandages,
and a Wolf who fainted at the sight of blood. While he
always assured them that he had training as a medic,
Tobias had always had his doubts.

The Raven that had gotten a piece of Nico was

moving  in  again.  Not  hesitating,  Tobias  grabbed  his
gun, then raised it. Letting out one shot, he hit the bird
in  the  back  of  the  head.  Nico  let  out  a  slight  gagging
sound  as  he  found  himself  covered  in  gore.  Tobias
figured it was better off to be grossed out than dead.

The sound of boots running through the door, made

Tobias  let  out  a  low  curse.  Shit,  just  what  they  didn’t
need—more  birds.  When  the  newbies  approached  and
Tobias  saw  that  it  was  a  group  of  felines,  he  let  out  a
sigh of relief. Hell, he didn’t even mind that their leader
was Shane. The guy who put the C in cray-cray.

As always, Shane seemed almost bored as he stared

at the carnage. Then his gaze settled on Tobias, and the
Leopard’s lips curled into a smile. “Hey, that’s a great
idea. Hide the blood with marinara sauce. Now, why
didn’t I ever think of that?”

Shane then raised his gun and shot the last standing

Raven. Cocking a brow at Tobias, Shane asked, “Why
don’t you take your injured to our infirmary? I’ve seen
yours and no offense, but it’s a joke.”

Colby and the Little Wolf

Since Tobias couldn’t argue that point, he just gave a

nod.

Damn, he’d been in a fight, killed one Raven,

maimed another and trashed a restaurant. All before one
in the afternoon. Tobias could only wonder what other
surprises the day had for him.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Two

n the end, Tobias was so happy to go back to the
feline coalition that he was bordering on giddy.

Mostly because they  had a medical van and that meant
he  didn’t  have  to  deal  with  a  bleeding  and  whining
Nico.  For  somebody  that  liked  to  flaunt  their  badass
status, Nico was the  biggest baby  in their pack…well,
maybe  second  biggest since  he didn’t faint at the sight
of blood. It was a close call, however.

They were just pulling through the second set of

security gates leading to the coalition, when Tobias felt
his chest growing tight.

Oh, fuck! Not here. Not now.
He tried to take in a few deep breaths, but it was as if

his lungs were full and didn’t want to expand all the
way. A buzzing sensation started in his head and Tobias
then knew he was in deep shit.

He was sitting in the passenger seat and Shane was

driving. Other than that, the car was empty, which was
a small blessing since the last thing Russell wanted
broadcasted was that his only living sibling was not
only a runt, but an asthmatic one at that.

A Wolf shifter with asthma. If he could have, Tobias

Colby and the Little Wolf

would have laughed at the sheer irony of it. It was as if
the  fates  had  it  in  for  him,  or  something.  It  wasn’t
enough that he was cursed to be small and scrawny. No,
they  had  to  throw  in  one  last  fuck  you  and  make  him
sickly, too, which took a lot of work, since most shifters
weren’t affected by diseases. So, one could almost call
Tobias  an  overachiever  when  it  came  to  the  loser
department.

He lowered his head and gave a silent prayer of hope

that he didn’t start wheezing too loud. From what he’d
heard, Shane had ridiculous sensitive hearing, and if he
heard Tobias doing an unintentional impersonation of
Darth Vader, then Tobias’s secret would be out.

Luck was finally with him. Shane quickly found a

spot and parked the car. He’d barely turned it off before
Tobias was out. When Shane cocked a brow at his
eagerness, Tobias gave a shrug. “I just want to get in to
be with Nico.”

Ha! If that wasn’t a lie. While Nico wasn’t too bad,

it wasn’t as if he and Tobias were BFFs. Tobias didn’t
have any illusions. He knew the only reason that Ervin
and Nico even talked to him was out of fear and respect
for Russell.

While Russell might like to think otherwise, his pack

barely  tolerated  Tobias.  Worse,  a  number  of  them
resented  the  fact  that  he  was  the  official  Beta,  or
second-in-command.  They  all  knew  the  only  reason
Tobias  held  that  title  was  because  of  the  way  Russell
doted and protected him.

Whenever Russell wasn’t around, Tobias never

failed to hear scathing remarks from the others. While
they might always make sure to do it in hushed, or

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whispered tones, the words still hurt as much as if
they’d been screamed directly in his ears.

As they walked inside, Tobias’s chest grew tighter.

Shit, this was really, really, really what he didn’t need
at the moment. It was bad enough already that a bunch
of cats had to jump in and protect him. No…Tobias was
about to put a great big bow on his humiliation by being
the only Wolf shifter in history to have an asthma
attack.

He was so caught up in his own pity party that he

jumped in surprise when Shane grabbed him by the
arm. Leaning down, Shane whispered in Tobias’s ear.
“Let’s find you a room.”

Before Tobias could think of an excuse, he found

himself herded into one of the few private rooms of the
infirmary.  Like  the  rest  of  the  coalition,  it  was  filled
with  only  the  best  equipment.  While  the  cats  may  be
working  out  of  what  appeared  to  be  a  rundown  auto
factory,  it  was  all  just  a  façade  to  keep  nosy  humans
away.

Shane stuck his head out the door long enough to let

out a sharp whistle before he gestured Tobias to climb
onto the table.

Tobias started to argue, but when only a high-

pitched wheeze came out, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to
be obedient this one time.

The door opened and one of the many brothers of the

coalition  leader  came  in.  Since  he  was  wearing  scrubs
and  a  stethoscope,  Tobias  knew  it  was  Jacyn.  The
Jaguar  was  the  only  one  of  the  bunch  that  healed
wounds instead of making them.

Shane pointed at Tobias and told Jacyn, “He’s broke.

Colby and the Little Wolf

Fix him.”

If he could have, Tobias would have let out a bitter

laugh. Fix him. Yeah, like that was ever going to
happen. He’d been born a defect and that wasn’t going
to change any time soon.

Jacyn frowned, his amber gaze assessing Tobias. As

the  Jaguar  approached,  Tobias  felt  his  embarrassment
grow. Damn it, could this day get any worse? All he’d
wanted  was  to  get  some  lasagna  for  lunch  and  he
wound  up  fucking  it  up  in  so  many  ways.  That  would
teach him to carbo load.

“How long have you had trouble breathing?” Jacyn

asked gently.

Usually, Tobias would shoot off a flippant remark,

but  since  his  health  was  a  touchy  subject,  he  just
shrugged.  Jacyn  reached  over  and  put  a  hand  on  his
shoulder.  “Whatever  you  tell  me,  will  never  leave  this
room. I promise.”

Tobias still stayed silent. While he knew it was

stupid since the cat was already out of the bag…ha,
ha…his asthma had always been such a closely guarded
secret that he found it nearly impossible to open up,
even with Jacyn’s promise of confidentiality.

Shane let out an impatient, sounding growl. “Will

you just tell him already? It’s not like we don’t know
something is wrong. Your lungs are rattling louder than
a zombie on its deathbed.”

That last comment was so off that Tobias paused as

he cocked his head to the side. “Zom…bies?”

Wonderful! He couldn’t even talk now. Russell was

so going to have his ass in a sling for this mess. Tobias
would be lucky if his brother ever let him out again. He

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half-expected Shane to laugh at his pathetic ass, but the
cat just flashed his usual tight-lipped grin.

“What? You don’t believe me?”
Truthfully, one could never be certain with Shane.

Since Tobias didn’t have enough air in his lungs to say
that, he had to settle for an eye roll instead.

Jacyn began to bustle around Tobias. While most of

the  other  shifters  would  have  no  clue  what  medical
equipment  the  feline  pulled  out,  Tobias  had  the
misfortune to be intimately close to each one. The pulse
oximeter.  The  mask  used  to  administer  a  breathing
treatment  and  the  long  needle  used  to  get  an  arterial
blood draw.

When Tobias cocked a brow questioningly, Jacyn

smiled. “I’ve treated a couple cases of shifter asthma
before.”

That had been the last thing Tobias expected. He’d

always thought that he’d been the only one cursed with
the thing.

Jacyn moved quickly, pouring the medicine into the

bottom of the mask and hooking it up to an oxygen
supply.

By then, Tobias was so out of breath that it took all

his self-control not to lunge for the thing. Instead, he sat
back  and  let  Jacyn  slide  the  mask  into  place.  Little  by
little, Tobias could feel the full areas of his lungs clear
up  and  he  was  able  to  get  in  a  few  more  drops  of
precious  oxygen.  He  was  so  relieved,  he  didn’t  even
complain as Jacyn took the arterial sample. That said a
lot since that procedure always hurt like hell.

Once he had the vials of blood, Jacyn handed them

to Shane. “Can you take these to the lab for me? Put

Colby and the Little Wolf

them under a number and not a name, so we can protect
Tobias’s privacy.”

Shane grunted. “Since when am I the official

infirmary lackey?”

“Just consider it a small repayment for all the work

we’ve done on your ass.”

That comment actually got a chuckle from Shane.

“Okay, I guess you do have a point.”

After Shane left, Jacyn continued to move around

the small space, first taking Tobias’s vitals, then
checking to make sure the oxygen was flowing. By
then, Tobias had enough breath to ask, “How is Nico?”

His question was somewhat muffled due to the

mask, but Jacyn still must have understood, because he
replied, “He’ll be fine. Once he’s able to shift, there
probably won’t even be a scar.”

Well, that was some good news since Nico was more

vain  than  Paris  Hilton  and  Nicole  Richie  combined.
Swallowing  down  his  nerves,  Tobias  finally  forced
himself  to  voice  his  biggest  concern,  “So,  you  really
won’t tell anybody?”

Jacyn shook his head. “We all have the right to keep

some things private, you included.”

Tobias almost snorted at that. Living in a pack and

being the only brother of the Alpha, Tobias barely had
any privacy at all. It was just by sheer dumb luck that
all the others didn’t know how defective he really was.

“You said that you treated other cases?” Tobias

asked.

“Yeah, there are a few feline shifters who have this,

and a Hawk, too. It’s a lot like the human version of
asthma. Of course, their meds don’t work on us, so Doc

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and I had to dink around a little to come up with
something.”

Whatever they had was a whole hell of a lot better

than  what  Tobias  usually  used.  Russell  had  always
brought  in pills that took forever to work, or a weaker
version  on  Jacyn’s  breathing  treatment.  Tobias  didn’t
even  know  where  his  brother  got the  meds.  Whenever
Tobias had asked, Russell had just brushed him off.

“The other cases…were they like me?”
Jacyn paused, his lips pressed tightly together. He

seemed to be having some internal debate, but it lasted
only a second. “You mean were they runts?”

God, how Tobias hated that word. Most likely

because it was often used as an insult whenever it was
hurled at him. “Yeah.”

Jacyn took a deep breath. “They were all small like

you.”

“Did they ever get better? You know…after they had

their first shift, or something?”

That had been the only thing that had given Tobias

hope.  He  was  close  to the  age  when  Wolves  had  their
first  shift  and  he  knew  that  the  process  often  healed
wounds  and  other  things.  He  had  been  praying  that  it
would make his lungs well.

Those hopes came crashing down when Jacyn shook

his  head.  “I’m  sorry.  I  wish  I  could  give  you  a  better
answer. Doc and I think it has something to do with you
guys  being  so small when  you were  born. That  maybe
your  lungs  weren’t  fully  developed  when  you  were
delivered. It happens all the time with  humans and  we
think it carried over to shifters.”

“Great, out of all the things to inherit from them, it

Colby and the Little Wolf

had to be that,” Tobias scoffed.

He glanced away so Jacyn wouldn’t see the

disappointment that was,  no doubt,  written all over  his
face. Fuck. Shit. Damn. It was bad enough that he was
small and a burden to Russell. Now, Tobias was finding
out  that  it  would  be  that  way  forever.  He  would  have
been  better  off  if  his  pack  had  just  killed  him  at  birth,
like  most  other  shifters  did  whenever  they  produced  a
runt.

“We can treat it with meds. We’ve managed to come

up with some really good preventative drugs. It won’t
make the asthma go away completely, but it will make
the attacks less frequent.”

Tobias let out a bitter laugh. “A Wolf shifter with

asthma. If it weren’t so fucking pathetic, it would be
comical.”

Jacyn turned off the oxygen, then took the mask off

Tobias. “I won’t lie and say that it doesn’t suck, but at
least we can help some. So, not all the news is bad.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not stuck being

defective and a pariah. If you think it’s fun dealing with
that, let me tell you it’s not a trip to the circus by any
stretch of the imagination.”

“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. You just have a

condition. That doesn’t make you any less of a man.”

Tobias wanted to argue that point, but since he

didn’t want to appear ungrateful, he just nodded. Inside
though, he was rolling his eyes so hard it was a wonder
his Wolf didn’t get dizzy and fall ass over end.

Jacyn gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I have to go

check on some other patients. You try to get some rest
and I’ll be back in a little bit to give you another

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breathing treatment.”

No sooner had Jacyn left, then Tobias was sitting up

in  bed.  He  had  no  plans  of  sticking  around.  He  may
have  had  a  sucky  day,  but  there  was  one  silver  lining.
He  was  inside  the  feline  coalition.  Most  of  the  cats
lived off the premises, but there were a few that resided
inside the building. One of them happened to be Colby
and  since  the  Lion  never  left  the  place,  even  to  go  on
small  errands,  they  were  probably  just  feet  from  each
other.  Oh,  boy!  I  wonder  what  would  happen  if  we
accidently ran into each other.

There was no way in hell that Tobias was going to

let that opportunity slip by him. He’d rather risk another
asthma attack or have to take on twenty Raven shifters
and their grandmas, too

Ever since he’d first kissed the blond shifter at the

Christmas  party,  Tobias  had  been  trying  to  find  a  way
to see the Lion again.  It  seemed  like this would  be the
perfect time. One way or another, Tobias would find his
cat.  This  time,  he  wasn’t  going  to  settle  for  a  simple
kiss.

Colby and the Little Wolf

Chapter Three

s Colby studied that large room, full of felines,
Hawks and various other shifters, he realized that

coming to the cafateria during the early dinner rush had
been a bad idea. Ecspecially for somebody that still had
to  fight  the  urge  to  jump  in  fear  whenver  somebody
spoke  to  him.  Heck,  he  even  dreaded  it  when  then  so
much  as  glanced  in  his  direction.  Now,  Colby  was
about to walk into the jaws of the beast and for the first
time ever, that was a literal statement.

Ever since he’d been let out of the infirmary, he’d

been doing his best to avoid others. Despite the fact that
both  his  brother  and  Dr.  North  had  been  stressing  that
Colby  needed  to  integrate  himself  with  his  new  home.
Seriously  though,  what  did  they  expect?  A  year  ago,
Colby didn’t have a clue that shifters existed. Now, not
only did  he  find out the hard way that  he  was one, but
he was now living with a bunch of animals. That didn’t
mean that they were slobs with no manners or hygeine,
either,  but  that  at  anby  moment  they  could  switch  to
reall,  living,  breathing  beasts.  Sure,  most  of  the  times
they walked around in their human forms. That was just
a  cover  because  Colby  had  heard  enough  growls  and

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snarls to know that there was nothing human about his
new family and peers.

So, yeah, Colby usually liked to stay in his room and

avoid the others in HQ like they were carrying the ebola
virus,  or  something.  But  since  Colby  couldn’t  stand
another bite of his brother-in-law’s food, he would have
to  risk  it.  While  Colby  liked  the  Raven,  the  guy
couldn’t even  manage to cook  Ramen  Noodles without
burning them.

Keeping his head down, because the last thing he

wanted  was  to  call  attention  to  himself,  Colby  picked
up a tray and made his way through the buffet line. As
he grabbed various items, it struck him, not for the first
time,  how  normal  this  place  seemed.  Well,  that  was  if
he  didn’t  have  to  listen  to  the  insane  conversations
going  on  around  him.  Or  the  fact  that  most  of
individuals were carrying a gun,  or some other kind of
weapon.

Other than that, the cafateria could have passed for

any human one. There were coffee machines, a salad
bar, even an ice cream machine. They also had a soup
station, complete with crackers and croutons. The only
thing missing was a chocolate fountain.

Then, he spotted a tall, brickhouse of a man giving

him the evil eye, and Colby was, once again reminded
that he was surrounded by predators. They were all in
their human forms, but he knew that each and every one
of them could click their heels together and turn into a
Tiger, Hawk, Fox, or even a Lion. That last one, he was
real certain of, since that’s what he was.

He finished loading up his tray and scanned the

room for a safe place to sit. His heart raced as he

Colby and the Little Wolf

wondered  if  there  was  some  quiet  corner  where  he
could  hide out and be alone. Since  he was still  new to
all  this  shifter  stuff,  most  of  the  people  frankly  scared
him  a  bit.  Especially  since  a  lot  of  them  were  soldiers
and seemed capable of snapping him in half.

Not only that, but Colby knew nothing about shifter

life  and  customs.  He  was  terrified  that  he’d  say,  or  do
the wrong thing and piss somebody off. Something he’d
already  inadvertantly  done  a  few  times.  Once,  when
he’d  stepped  on  a  Cheetah’s  tail,  and  another  time,
when  stared  another  Lion  in  the  eye  and  the  guy  had
taken  it  as  a  challenge  and  started  to  charge.  Had
Colby’s  brother,  Thomas,  not  stepped  in,  things  could
have gone down really bad on that one.

“Hey, Colby! Over here!” a voice called.
Glancing up, Colby let out a sigh of relief when he

saw it was his friend, Xavier. Since the Eagle shifter
had been raised with Chance, that made him like family
to Colby and that meant safety as far as he was
concerned.

Not only that, but the dark-blond wasn’t much

bigger  than  Colby,  and  that  was  yet  another  thing  that
meant safety  for Colby. Some of the guys that were  in
the  coalition  were  so  huge  that  it  was  a  miracle  they
could  even  find  uniforms  big  enough  to  fit  them.  He
was beginning to wonder if they were lacing the drinks
with steroids, or something.

Colby took a seat, shooting Xavier a grateful glance.

“Thanks for letting me sit with you.”

“No problem. Let me guess, since you are here

instead of hiding out in your room, Chance is cooking
tonight.” Xavier smiled brightly.

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“Yeah, and he was trying some recipe he found on

the internet.”

They both let out a shudder. While the cafateria food

wasn’t the best, it still beat anything that Chance made.
The last time he had tried out something new, they’d all
found  themselves  eating  half-cooked  fish  that  had  half
the bones still in it. Worse yet, he’d left the heads on so
it  was  as  if  they  were  staring  at  Colby.  Lion,  or  not,
there  was  no  way  he  could  eat  something  when  it  was
shooting a please-don’t-hurt-me look.

“Dulla, the coward, ran out before I could con her

into bringing me back some fast food,” Colby said as he
tried his best to forget about that poor fish.

“That’s because she’s smart. As soon as she sees her

brother hunting the cooking channels, or websites, she
starts looking for a take-out menu.”

A loud snarl sounded from somewhere in the room.

Fear  shot through  Colby,  causing  him  to  jump,  almost
dumping  his  drink.  A  burning  sensation  covered  his
face  when  he  realized  that  it  had  come  from  several
tables  over  and  that  it  wasn’t  even  directed  his  way.
Damn it, how was he ever going to get used to this? It’s
not like he could hide out in his room forever. While he
might have never been the most sociable person, he still
didn’t want to be a recluse.

Xavier shot him a sympathetic glance. “I know it’s

hard at first, but eventually you’ll get accustomed to it.
I did and I grew up totally isolated from society.”

“I hope you’re right. I don’t want to disappoint

Thomas,” Colby mumbled.

“There is no way he can ever be disappointed in you.

He’s your brother and he’ll always love you.”

Colby and the Little Wolf

How Colby wanted to believe that, but then he

thought back to his adoptive father. While the man had
never hit Colby, or anything, he’d done plenty of
damage with his words. Not a day had passed where his
father hadn’t pointed out how much Colby had failed to
meet his expectations. If it wasn’t that Colby was too
small, it was that he was too shy, or clumsy.

In the meantime, they had fawned over Colby’s

adopted  older  brother,  Vince.  They  hadn’t  even
bothered to try to hide the way they favored him. It was
so bad that near the end, days would go by where they
didn’t  even  speak  a  word  to  Colby.  He  doubted  that
they even realized he was supposedly dead at the hands
of some unknown murderer. . If they did, they probably
had only  breathed a sigh of relief,  then  moved on with
their lives.

“Thomas is probably bummed to find out how

scrawny I am. When he spent all those years searching
for me, I’m sure he didn’t expect to find somebody who
was under six feet and weighing one thirty-five.”

Xavier paused, his gaze probing. “You really don’t

think that, do you?”

Colby gestured to the crowd. “Look at how big these

guys are. Thomas looks just like them, too. So, it only
stands to reason that’s what his family should look
like.”

Setting down his fork, Xavier said, “I can tell you

with one hundred percent certainty that Thomas isn’t
nor ever will be disappointed with you. He was so
happy to have you back. That’s all that matters to him.”

“If you say so.”
“What was your human family like?”

Stephani Hecht

That question came as such a shock that Colby

jerked. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because you obviously have low self-esteem and

I’m just trying to figure out where you got it from.”

Idly playing with his food, Colby confessed, “My

dad was a big football jock in high school and college,
and he expected the same from us. When he found out
that I was never going to get bigger, he pretty much
decided to pretend that I didn’t exist.”

The odd thing was that had he given Colby a chance,

he would have been faster and stronger than any of the
other  players.  While  they  all  might  have  been  bulkier,
they were  humans and  no  match  for Colby’s enhanced
shifter  abilities.  Of  course,  to  be  fair,  not  even  Colby
knew  that  at  the  time.  In  fact,  as  soon  as  his  father
deemed  him  weak  and  unworthy,  Colby  had  just  slid
into that niche and never challenged himself.

Now, it was all different, because he was among

shifters, and they all were taller and stronger than him.
Colby knew that if he were ever to get into a fight, he’d
be taken out in less than ten seconds.

“No offense, but your human dad sounds like a big

jerk,” Xavier replied.

“None taken. He was a huge asshole. If there is any

good out of this whole mess, it’s that I was finally able
to get away from him. Don’t get me wrong, I miss the
rest of my family like crazy. I loved my mom and
sisters a ton. It was just my father and Vince that gave
me a hard time.”

That was only partly true. While his mother might

have been nice to him whenever they were alone, as
soon as his father had come home, she would become

Colby and the Little Wolf

just as aloof. At least, he’d had those brief moments of
love, and he’d clung desperately to them.

To make the situation even more confusing was the

fact that Colby knew Thomas loved him. Despite being
a big, muscular soldier, he’d never missed an
opportunity to tell Colby that.

Colby believed Thomas, but at the same time, he

couldn’t stop himself from waiting for the other shoe to
drop—for him to mess up in some way and then
Thomas would start treating Colby like a loser and
embarrassment.

“Thomas is nothing like your father,” Xavier said.
The Eagle was good at reading facial expressions

and knowing what somebody was thinking. A trait that
both amazed and annoyed Colby.

“I know he’s not…” Colby trailed off when Xavier

let out a gasp. “What?”

“Tobias is here and he’s walking our way.”
Colby’s heart began to pound with excitement and

nerves as all his other troubles fled his mind. Ever since
he’d seen the Wolf at Christmas, Colby hadn’t been
able to get the shifter off his mind.

Even before he got there, Colby could smell Tobias.

He had a nice scent, all woodsy and outdoors, as if he’d
just  come  in  from  running  through  the  forest.  Colby
decided  at that  moment  that  while  he’d  never  read  the
books,  or  seen  the  movies,  he  was  all  team  Jacob,
because he’d developed a Wolf fetish.

“Hey, guys,” Tobias said as he took the seat next to

Colby.

It was only then that Colby noted that Tobias also

smelled like basil, garlic, and tomatoes. Looking closer,

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he could see red streaks on the Wolf’s black jacket and
blue jeans.

“Is that blood, or spaghetti sauce?” Colby asked.
He was somewhat surprised that he was actually

having to ask that question, but it wouldn’t be the first
time somebody sported blood in the cafeteria.

Tobias smiled and Colby was struck at how beautiful

the Wolf’s eyes were. They were an interesting shade of
amber and there were also lighter flecks present that
one would call amber. They were framed by lashes so
long, they should have come off as girly, but on Tobias
they somehow worked.

Some time, since they’d last seen each other, Tobias

had cut his hair. While the brown locks were still
somewhat longer than most of the soldiers, they were
more under control and styled.

“I think it’s a little of both.” Tobias chuckled as he

glanced down at his own body. “We got into a fight in
an Italian restaurant.”

“Were you hurt?” Colby demanded, his gut

clenching at the thought of Tobias being in any amount
of pain.

Tobias shook his head. “Nah, but one of my

bodyguards was stabbed. They are stitching him up in
the infirmary.”

“Who attacked you?” Xavier asked.
“A group of Ravens. You’d think they’d have

learned not to mess with us by now.”

Even while Colby agreed, another comment struck

him as odd. “You have bodyguards.”

A slight blush came over Tobias’s cheeks. “Like I

told you before, my brother is way too overprotective of

Colby and the Little Wolf

me.”

That was something Colby could relate to. Thomas

didn’t allow him to walk out the doors of HQ unless he
had some muscle with him. While Colby knew Thomas
only did it out of love, that still didn’t make it any less
annoying. Some days, Tobias just wanted to be able to
dart out and grab a burger without there being a big
deal made out of it.

Tobias held out his hand. “Give me your cell

phone?”

When Colby hesitated, Tobias cocked a brow.

“Thomas did give you a phone, didn’t he?”

Fishing it out of his front jeans pocket, Colby gave it

to the Wolf. “Of course, he did. He wants to make sure
that he can reach me at all times. You’re not the only
one with an overprotective brother.”

When he saw Tobias punching in some buttons,

Colby frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Putting in my number. You told me to call you the

last time we met and I never could because we didn’t
exchange digits.” Tobias then pulled out his own phone
and began to add Colby’s number to his contacts.

Once done, Tobias handed it back with a smile.

“Now we can reach each other any time we want.”

That thought thrilled Colby. “I like that.”
Tobias stood, then held a hand out to Colby. “Come

on, let’s go for a walk. I want to get to know you, and
it’s too crowded in here.”

Colby didn’t have to be asked twice. He immediately

took Tobias’s  hand and  stood. A  shiver of desire went
through  Colby  as  he  realized  that  he  was  actually
touching  the  only  guy  he’d  ever  been  interested  in.

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Sure, it might only be holding hands, but it was a good
start.

Tobias leaned in until his lips were only inches from

Colby’s ear. “Do you know somewhere that’s more
private?”

Actually, Colby did. It was a conference room that

was barely ever used. Colby had sought refuge in that
place several times since he’d come to live at HQ.
Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that he’d
be sharing it with Tobias, though.

“I know of the perfect spot,” Colby replied.
Another shiver went through him when Tobias gave

his ear a gentle love bite. “Then take me there.”

Colby led Tobias out of the cafeteria. He didn’t look

back  once,  not  even  when  he  heard  Xavier  call  out
sarcastically,  “Oh,  don’t  worry  about  me.  I’ll  just  stay
behind and clean up this mess. No big deal. By the way,
it  was  great  seeing  you  too,  Tobias.  I’m  sure  Ranger
would love to visit with you.”

“Is he always this bratty?” Tobias asked.
“Are you kidding? Since he’s come out of his shell,

we haven’t been able to shut him up.”

Tobias laughed. “I guess that’s not a bad thing.

Besides, Ranger is crazy about him. As for me, I’ve
always had a kink for Lions.”

Colby knew that Tobias had only been kidding when

he said that last line, but desire still shot through his
body and went straight to his cock. Picking up the pace,
he all but dragged Tobias to the conference room.

If they didn’t get there soon, Colby was just going to

jump Tobias right there in the hall. While the thought
was sexy as hell, he wasn’t sure if Tobias was into

Colby and the Little Wolf

exhibition.

Colby realized there was a lot he didn’t know about

Tobias. Now that they’d been reunited, Colby was
determined to remedy that fact. First, though, he wanted
to kiss Tobias until they were both senseless.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Four

olby opened the door and peered in to see if it was
empty. When he found the room dark and vacant of

others, he let out a sigh of relief, then gestured Tobias
inside. As he shut the door, Colby debated over whether
he should turn on the lights, or not. They could both see
just as well either way, thanks to their advanced shifter
vision, but Colby didn’t want to come off as too eager
and slutty.

In the end, he settled for flipping on the lights, but

he  did  lock  the  door  behind  them  so  they  wouldn’t  be
interrupted.  Tobias  walked  around  the  long  table  that
took  up  most  of  the  conference  room.  As  the  Wolf’s
gaze  swept  over  the  room,  Colby  noted  how  nothing
ever seemed to escape Tobias’s attention.

Colby heard that Tobias’s pack used to be in all

kinds of  businesses that were on the wrong side  of the
law. It would stand to reason, then, that they’d probably
found  themselves  in  more  than  one  sticky  situation.
Even though Russell’s pack had supposedly gone legit,
Colby  wondered  if  Tobias  still  had  the  habit  of  being
overly cautious.

“So, you come here a lot?” Tobias finally asked.
Colby leaned his back against the door and struggled

Colby and the Little Wolf

to breathe. Really, it should be a sin for somebody to be
as sexy as Tobias was. Not only did he look hot as hell,
but every move he made, from just walking across the
room to his smile, screamed sensuality.

“Yes, it’s never used and always quiet. It’s a great

place for me just to get away from everything and
think,” Colby replied.

As he continued to study Tobias, Colby was glad

that he was wearing one of his baggier t-shirts.
Otherwise one look at his crotch would tell the Wolf
how turned on Colby was.

Then a horrifying thought occurred to Colby. What

if Tobias could smell his desire? Colby knew that Wolf
shifters had crazy sniffing skills. For all he knew, he
could be oozing oh-baby-I-want-you-now, pheromones.
Oh shit, that would be so embarrassing.

Tobias’s lips curled up as he tilted his head slightly.

“And just what do you think about when you’re all
alone in this room?”

You. How much I want you. All the wonderful,

naughty  things  I  want  to  do  to  you.  The  fact  that
whenever you look at me, I feel normal for the first time
ever.  That  I’m  terrified  that  I  won’t  measure  up  to
Thomas’s  expectations  and  that  he’ll  soon  be
disappointed in me, too. How scared I am because now
my life is filled with weapons, claws, teeth and war. Or
how for just once I would love to not be the freak in the
group.

Since Colby knew there was no way he could ever

blab those thoughts aloud, he simply shrugged. “Not
much. Just stuff.”

Walking over slowly until they were just inches

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apart, Tobias reached up and cupped Colby’s cheek.
“Do you want to know what I think about when I’m
alone?”

Arousal pulsed through Colby, making him

temporarily too dumb to talk, so he simply nodded.
Tobias didn’t seem to mind. He even fanned his thumb
over Colby’s flesh, his touch making Colby shiver.

“I think about doing this.”
Tobias briefly touched their lips together.
“And how I want to touch you.”
They shared another quick kiss.
“Not just on your lips either, but every inch of your

skin.”

Tobias, once more, lightly feathered their mouths

against each other.

“I also wonder why it is that ever since I saw you,

nobody else can measure up. Do you know how crazy
you’ve been making me?”

All Colby managed was a shake of his head.
“I can only think about you. Not only when I’m

awake, but when I’m sleeping, too,” Tobias whispered.

Fuck, if he kept talking like that, Colby was going to

come in his pants right then and there.

Then, moving quickly, Tobias spun Colby around.

When his ass hit the edge of the table, he didn’t have to
ask what was expected of him. He just knew. He
hopped onto it and even scooted backward to make
room for Tobias.

As he stretched out on his back, Colby gazed up at

the Wolf. Damn it, but all of Colby’s memories hadn’t
done the man justice. Tobias was so much hotter and
sexier than Colby had given him credit for.

Colby and the Little Wolf

Tobias pinned Colby down and even though he was

a Lion, Colby had a heady feeling of what it was like to
be prey. Tobias even let out a low rumbling growl
before he began to nuzzle Colby’s neck.

Colby gasped as he arched his hips up, desperate for

something  although  he  had  no  idea  what  it  was.
Luckily,  Tobias  must  have  actually  had  some  real
experience, because he had the answer to Colby’s pleas.
Reaching  between  them,  Tobias  gave  Colby’s  cock  a
gentle squeeze.

Colby continued to arch up, wanting even more

contact. Then, it occurred to him that he had two
perfectly good hands and they could be doing a lot
more than just lying there.

With slow, hesitant gestures…because he really

didn’t want to fuck up the moment …he brought his
arms up. One hand came to rest on Tobias’s hip and the
other one cupped the back of his head.

Colby knew he’d done the right thing when Tobias

let out a muffled groan before he continued to suck on
Colby’s neck. Emboldened by the reaction, Colby
carded his fingers through Tobias’s hair.

“What kind of shampoo do you use?” Colby asked.
He’d never felt softer hair in his life. Tobias pulled

back so he could gaze down at Colby. “Do you really
want to talk about what products I use? Or would you
rather we keep making out?”

Since Tobias punctuated his last question by giving

Colby’s cock another squeeze, the answer was pretty
easy to figure. Pulling Tobias’s head back down, Colby
replied, “I want you to keep kissing me.”

Tobias gave a wicked grin. “I thought you’d say

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that.”

Before Colby could even draw in the breath to reply,

Tobias  crushed  their  lips  together.  This  time,  the  kiss
was  neither  soft  nor  tender.  If  was  all  about  want  and
need.  Colby  felt  a  little  clumsy  at  first,  but  he  soon
caught  on,  his  tongue  darting  out  to  mingle  with
Tobias’s.

The Wolf tasted just like he smelled, if that made

any  sense,  since  Colby  had  never  licked  a  forest,  or
anything.  There  was  also  something  else  lingering
there,  a  sweetness  that  Colby  instinctively  knew  was
unique to Tobias.

“Fuck, I can’t get enough of you,” Tobias growled

between kisses. “I thought that if I got one taste, I could
move on from you. Instead, it’s only made me hunger
for more.”

Colby tried to reply, but all he managed was a very

un-macho  whimper  before  Tobias  pressed  their  lips
together  again.  At  the  same  time,  he  continued  to
squeeze  and  massage  Colby’s  cock.  After  making  out
for a  few  moments, Tobias tilted  his  head down, so he
could begin sucking on Colby’s neck again.

Even though he was wearing thick jeans and

underwear, it felt so damn good that Colby knew he
wasn’t going to last long. He squeezed his lips tight as
he prayed that he wouldn’t embarrass himself by
shooting off in under five minutes.

“It’s okay. Just let yourself go,” Tobias whispered,

before he started kissing Colby on the mouth again.

This time, Colby wasn’t even humiliated by the

whimper that slipped out. He was so close. All he
needed was a few more seconds and he was…

Colby and the Little Wolf

The jiggling of the lock was their only warning

before the door swung open. Gasping, Colby broke off
the  kiss  and  glanced  over  and  instantly  felt  himself
grow  sick  with  dread.  First,  none  other  than  Mitchell,
the  frigging  coalition  leader  came  in.  Then  just  when
Colby  didn’t  think  it  could  get  any  worse,  of  course  it
did.  Thomas  walked  inside  the  room,  followed  by
Russell.

If it could have, Colby’s cock would have let out a

frustrated  whimper  of  his  own  when  Tobias  jerked  his
hand away. Neither of them  made any move to get up,
however.  Colby  didn’t  know  about  Tobias,  but  as  for
himself he was too mortified to move.

He closed his eyes and prayed that a hole would

appear in the ground. That way, he could jump in and
save himself from the drama that was about to come
crashing down on their heads.

Sure enough, Thomas crossed his arms over his

chest and asked, “What in the hell is going on here?”

Aside from the fact that they both had blond hair,

blue eyes and could say Rawr, Colby and Tobias
couldn’t have looked any different. In fact, if he had not
seen the DNA test that proved the fact, Colby would
have called bullshit.

While he was skinny, clumsy and hardly ever spoke,

Thomas  was  muscular,  a  good  fighter  and  also  a
competent  team  leader  out  in  the  field.  At  least  that’s
what Colby had been told. There was no way the felines
would  ever  embarrass  themselves  by  sending  his
scrawny ass out into battle.

Tobias grinned, showing off a cocky attitude that

Colby couldn’t manage on his best day. Damned if the

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sight of it didn’t make him horny all over again, too.

“What happened, Thomas? Did Chance cut you off,

or  something?  I  think  it’s  pretty  obvious  what  we’re
doing, unless of course  it’s been so  long since  you got
some  that  you  forgot  what  it  looks  like,”  Tobias
retorted.

Russell pinched the bridge of his nose, and his lips

moved as if he were silently counting to ten, then back
down again, and then up once more. He finally let out a
deep sigh.

Thomas curled up his lip, showing off his teeth. “Get

off my brother.”

“It’s okay. I like him right where he is,” Colby

blurted.

For a second, a stunned silence filled the room.

Colby  wasn’t  certain  if  it  was  because  he’d  actually
spoken up for himself, or that he admitted to wanting a
wolf. Heck,  maybe  it was  both. Colby  barely talked at
all,  let  alone  disagreed  with  somebody.  Plus,  while  a
few  felines  had  mated  Wolves,  decades  of  prejudice
still made it kind of taboo to some individuals.

As for Colby, he didn’t see an issue. Had Tobias

been an Elephant mixed with Flamingo, he’d still be as
sexy as hell. Besides, now that Colby had finally gotten
a good taste of Tobias, he found that he wasn’t real
eager to move on.

So, when Tobias got up, Colby couldn’t stop the

small sound of protest that burst from his lips. It was all
he could do not to reach up and jerk Tobias back down.
It was only when he locked gazes with Mitchell and
saw the concern in his leader’s eyes that Colby sat up.

Mitchell gave a slight shake of his head. “I swear

Colby and the Little Wolf

this table gets more action than I do sometimes.”

Then, Colby remembered that Mitchell himself was

mated  to  a  Wolf.  More  so,  the  mate  in  question  was
Tobias’s  cousin.  So  maybe  the  coalition  leader  wasn’t
too  mad  after  all.  Then,  when  he  gave  them  a  slight
wink, Colby knew they had at least one ally.

Colby, once more, looked at the stony faces of

Russell and Thomas, causing him to come to the
gloomy conclusion that Mitchell could very well be the
only one of their side.

Tobias moved to get off the table, but not before he

leaned down and whispered so low that even with
shifter-enhanced abilities, only Colby heard him.
“Don’t worry. We have each other’s numbers now. So,
we can meet again. I’m not letting you go.”

That last comment sent shivers of desire down

Colby’s  spine  and  he  barely  stopped  himself  from
giving  off  an  eager  nod.  Tobias  then  got  really  ballsy
and  gave  Colby  a  kiss.  Sure,  it  was  a  chaste,  on  the
cheek  one,  but  the  message  was  still  clear,  You  can
separate us for now, but  we’re not  going  to  stay  apart
for very long.

Tobias slid off the table and walked over to his

brother. Russell turned to Thomas. “I’m sorry about
this.”

Colby blinked in surprise. Sorry? What the fuck?

They hadn’t done anything that Colby hadn’t seen a ton
of other shifters doing. What’s more, most of them had
been out in public while getting frisky. At least he and
Tobias had taken it to a private room. So, why in hell
were they getting so much flak?

“We were just kissing,” Colby protested.

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Okay, maybe there had been some touching, too, but

he didn’t think he needed to point that out right then. It
wasn’t as if it was anybody’s business anyhow.

Thomas didn’t even bother to glance in Colby’s

direction. Rather, he just gave Russell a curt nod. “I
appreciate your apology. Colby is still a little
overwhelmed, emotionally. It’s easy to convince him to
do things that he otherwise wouldn’t want to do.”

That comment was so harsh that Colby couldn’t hold

back a gasp. Wow, just fucking wow. At that moment,
he  really  did  feel  overwhelmed,  but  not  in  the  way
Thomas  thought.  Instead,  Colby  felt  hurt,  disrespected
and  betrayed. None of those emotions were directed at
Tobias,  however.  No,  they  all  landed  squarely  on
Thomas’s huge, muscle-bound shoulders.

Tobias must have sensed Colby’s hurt because the

Wolf opened his mouth to fire off a comment. Before
even one syllable could pass through his mouth, Russell
grabbed him by the back of the shirt and hauled him out
of the room.

Colby’s need to chase after Tobias became so strong

that  he  jumped  in  surprise  when  Mitchell  said,  “It
would  seem  to  me  that  Colby  is  adjusting  fine  and  he
knows exactly what he wants. By the  way, Colby, nice
hickey.”

Face burning, Colby raised his hand to touch the

area that Tobias had sucked on. Oopsies. Thomas’s
expression seemed to grow even angrier as he stormed
over and grabbed Colby by the wrist.

“No offense, Mitchell, but I know what’s best for

my brother and it isn’t some has-been criminal.”

Now, Colby was just getting pissed. He tried to jerk

Colby and the Little Wolf

his hand away without any success. “Don’t talk about
him that way.”

“Why not? It’s true.”
Maybe so, but that wasn’t Tobias fault. From what

bits of information he’d been able to glean, Tobias and
Russell had been kicked out of their old pack years ago
because they were gay. As a result, they’d been forced
to do what they had to in order to survive.

While the new Alpha of the pack had made it clear

he  has  no  issue  with  gay  members  and  had  invited
everyone back in, Russell and Tobias had been too hurt
to  accept.  While  most  shifters  attitudes  or  reactions
eluded Colby,  he  found  he could relate to the hurt that
the Wolf brothers must have experienced.

Colby gave another jerk, surprised when Thomas

actually  let  him  go.  Narrowing  his  eyes  at  his  brother,
Colby  snapped,  “You  don’t  know  anything  about
Tobias.  Nor  do  you  have  any  right  to  tell  me  whom  I
can and cannot see. So, back the fuck off!”

He then stormed from the room. As he walked the

long path back to their apartment, Colby couldn’t resist
from repeatedly licking his lips just so he could catch
any lingering taste of Tobias.

He meant what he’d said. He would be seeing

Tobias again and there was nothing that anybody could
do to stop them. After a life of always being told what
he  could  do,  Colby  was  ready  to take  charge.  Thomas
would  just  have  to  learn  to  accept  it.  For  while  Colby
may  be  small,  that  didn’t  make  him  a  wimp…at  least
not anymore. He’d been a doormat for too long and he
was sick of it. His Lion was out and ready to play. The
kitty was really, really pissed off, too.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Five

t was only because of years of training and the fact
that he always obeyed the Alpha that Tobias stopped

from  pulling  away  from  Russell.  With  each  step  that
they  took  away  from  the  room  and  Colby,  Tobias  felt
more at a loss. He could even sense the Wolf inside him
let out  a mournful  howl at the thought of  being denied
its mate.

Mate? Now where in the hell did that come from?
Sure, he was willing to admit that he was attracted to

Colby,  and  then  some.  Shit,  Tobias  only  had  to  think
about  the  other  man  to  get  hard.  He’d  spent  so  much
time  in  the  shower  the  past  few  weeks  that  the  rest  of
the pack was beginning to tease him about having OCD
and being afraid of germs.

Tobias just let the comments slide. While he might

be a smartass, even he knew not to shoot off that he had
to keep jerking off because of a certain blue-eyed Lion
who was just as small and runty as he was.

Ever since he came out of the closet, Russell had

been trying to find a mate for Tobias. The candidates all
had the same things in common, they were big, they
were muscle-heads, and they were all Wolves.

Colby and the Little Wolf

In other words, they would be capable of taking over

the task of being Tobias’s protector and keeper,
because, everybody and their frigging grandma knew
that runts couldn’t fend for themselves.

Even as that thought hit him, Tobias recalled all the

times he’d gotten into sticky situations and managed to
get out by himself. While Russell always tried to make
Tobias take bodyguards with him whenever he left the
pack, that didn’t mean that Tobias hadn’t snuck off
from time to time.

A couple of those occasions, he’d been targeted,

solely because of Russell. Shit, even the bad guys saw
Tobias as a second thought. How sad was that? It made
him wonder why he even bothered sometimes.

To add to his humiliation, Russell wouldn’t let him

go. Worse yet, he was basically dragging Tobias
through HQ and not bothering to hide that Tobias was
getting his ass handed to him.

“I need to go check on Nico,” Tobias protested.
“Ervin is watching over him,” Russell replied in

clipped tones.

Most people would have shook in fear if they were

on the receiving end of Russell’s anger. While he’d
mellowed a ton since he’d found his Dalton and the
cubs, Russell still could be scary when he wanted to.

To add to all that, Tobias had been by his brother

while he’d scratched and clawed his way up the
criminal ladder. As a result, he had seen Russell do
some pretty fucked up things. While it’d always been in
order for them to survive, or so he could protect Tobias,
Russell still could play the badass card with the best of
them.

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That still didn’t stop Tobias from arguing. “Nico is

my man, so I should be the one staying with him.”

Russell used his free hand to push open the door. He

didn’t even glance Tobias’s way as he hauled him
toward…a minivan? Oh shit, this was getting bad.
Next, Russell would be wearing Polo shirts and putting
his kids in a soccer league.

The only redeeming value the vehicle had was that it

was black. If it had to be a mommy car, it wasn’t white.
Then he revaluated that opinion when he saw the two
car-seats and toys in the back.

“You have got to be fucking me,” Tobias blurted as

he  stared  at the  Baby  on  Board  stickers.  Since  Russell
was  ignoring  him,  Tobias  was  convinced  that  was  the
theme  of  the  evening.  So,  when  Russell  spun  him
around,  grabbed  the  front  of  his  shirt,  then  slammed
him into the van, Tobias let out yelp of surprise.

Russell growled, moving in so their faces were only

inches apart, “Get in the van and shut your mouth.
You’ve already caused enough trouble for one night.”

Tobias wanted to protest that fact, he really did. But,

pack hierarchy was so ingrained in his head, he
immediately backed down. Lowering his gaze, he said,
“I’m sorry, Alpha.”

Russell took a deep breath, then released Tobias.

Free,  Tobias  moved  quickly  and  climbed  into  his
passenger  seat.  When  Russell  got  in,  Tobias  still  kept
his  gaze  down  and  fixed  on  his  hands,  which  were
twisted together in a tight fist.

He waited for Russell to start up the car, but instead,

his brother let out a sigh. “Put your seatbelt on.”

Wordlessly, Tobias obeyed, making sure to keep his

Colby and the Little Wolf

gaze down the entire time.

He knew that were it not for the fact that his brother

was  the  Alpha,  Tobias  would  be  Omega.  In  other
words,  lowest  of  the  low  and  the  unofficial  pack
punching bag. As such, Tobias should be more grateful
instead of making problems for Russell. That still didn’t
stop him from wanting Colby, though. His need for the
Lion  had  only  grown  and  now  there  was  an  aching
sensation in his chest.

The hurt grew as Russell started up the van and

pulled out of the lot. They didn’t speak again until they
were on the freeway.

“Is it because he’s a Lion?” Tobias asked in a small

voice.

He almost expected Russell to chew him, but

instead, Russell replied calmly, “No, you know it’s not.
I’m mated to a Lynx myself so I’m the last one to be
shifter biased.”

“Then why are you so mad at me?”
“Because you couldn’t have picked a worse feline to

play around with. Shit, there are some whothink Colby
is so emotionally scarred from those months that he was
trapped in his animal side that he lost some of his
humanity.”

“They’re wrong. He’s very nice. I like talking to

him.”

There was a long pause and Russell let out a long

breath. “I figured as much since you usually aren’t one
for public displays of affection. You still need to forget
about him.”

“Why?”
If Russell could have a feline mate, then why

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couldn’t Tobias go that route, too? Heck, as far as he
was concerned, he should be the only one who had a
say in who he dated and fucked. It was his life after all,
and he was damn sick of others dictating how he had to
lead it.

“Thomas is never going to let Colby be with you,”

Russell said.

That revelation felt like a punch to the gut. After

being  told  so  many  times  that  he  was  a  reject,  Tobias
knew  he  should  have  been  used  to  it.  If  it  wasn’t
because  he  was  gay,  it  was  the  fact  that  he  was  runt.
Either way, he never managed to measure up somehow.

“It’s not because of you,” Russell added. “Well, not

really. I just know that Thomas is very protective of
Colby and Thomas has never hidden that he doesn’t
like the type of work we used to do.”

Work. Tobias almost snorted. When Russell used

that  word,  it  almost  made  it  seem  like  they’d  all  worn
ties  and  sat  in  cubicles.  That  was  far  from  the  truth.
Instead,  they’d  worn  leather  and  guns  and  worked  on
alleys,  seedy  bars,  or the  docks.  Tobias  was  willing  to
bet,  runt  or  not,  he  probably  had  more  kills  under  his
belt than Thomas. The only difference was that Thomas
could  be  proud  of  his  accomplishments  because  he’d
been  a  soldier  for  the  coalition  at  the  time.  Whereas,
Tobias  had  to  hide  his  past  for  fear  of  those  seeking
retribution.

“Is that why you’re so angry with me?” He finally

dared a glance at his brother.

Russell’s jaw ticked as he gripped the steering wheel

so hard his knuckles turned white. “I’m not mad at
you.”

Colby and the Little Wolf

“You could have fooled me.”
“I’m sorry. I was upset and frustrated, and I

shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

Tobias almost reached up to check his ears to make

sure that there was nothing wrong with them because
there was no way in hell that Russell just apologized.

While his brother might be overprotective and dote

on Tobias, that didn’t mean he was soft. Russell wasn’t
the type to ever say, I’m sorry.

“Are you kidding me?” Tobias replied, realizing that

he was repeating the same sentence that had gotten him
up close and personal with the mommy van.

“I’m angry, but not at you.”
“Then why are you so upset?”
“I hate it when my bad deeds bleed all over onto

your reputation. Just because we’re brothers doesn’t
mean that you’re anything like me.”

Tobias blinked a few times, stunned by the

revelation.  Never  before  had  Russell  given  any
indication  that  he  cared  about  what  others  thought.  In
fact,  he’d  stated  on  numerous  occasions  that  he  didn’t
give a fuck what people said, or thought about him.

“I never knew that it bothered you,” Tobias said.
He realized that he was still twisting his fingers

together. Since he didn’t want to look anymore runty
than usual, he took a deep, steadying breath and forced
his hands to his sides.

“Normally, I don’t. But, when they start casting

judgment on you it pisses me off.”

More confused than ever, Tobias pressed, “If that’s

the case, then why did you apologize to Mitchell?”

“The apology was for the fact that one of my pack

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was using his conference table as their own private porn
set, nothing more.”

“Oh,” Tobias replied, too shocked to be a verbal

champion.

“I don’t think that you should try to see Colby

again.”

That ache in Tobias’s chest grew ten-fold. “Why?”
“I don’t want you ever to be in the position where

you can’t take care of yourself. You need a mate who
can protect you.”

Tobias let out a soft growl of frustration. “You make

me sound like a heroine from some sappy romance.”

“You know I don’t think of you that way, but I do

worry about you. I know for a fact that you had an
asthma attack tonight.”

“Jacyn swore that he would keep that a secret,”

Tobias burst out angrily.

Then he saw the satisfied look on Russell’s face and

realized he’d stumbled right into that trap. “You didn’t
know. You just tricked me into admitting it.”

“That still doesn’t change the fact you have them.

What would happen if an attack hit you while some
Ravens were attacking you and your home? You
wouldn’t be able to fight your way out and then where
would you be?”

Tobias pressed his lips together and refused to

answer. That still didn’t stop Russell from supplying
the 411. “You would be dead.”

Tobias lowered his gaze. He wanted to point out that

he’d been able to get himself out of a ton of threatening
situations, runt, or not. He knew it would be just a
waste of time, because Russell would just counter with

Colby and the Little Wolf

incidents when he’d had to bail Tobias’s ass out of
trouble.

It was at those times that Tobias felt his lowest.

Though  Russell  did  coddle  him,  he  was  also  quick  to
point out Tobias’s weaknesses. Had it been out of spite,
Tobias could have just gotten angry and fired off a, fuck
you, but since  he knew  it was out of  love and a strong
desire  to  protect  him,  Tobias  didn’t  even  have  that
luxury.

They were silent the rest of the way back to the

mansion  that  housed  their  pack.  As  he  stared  at  the
fountains, white pillars and  large double doors, Tobias
wondered  how  long  it  would  be  before  Russell  traded
his  digs  for  something  that  now  fit  his  new  life.  A
shudder  went  through  him  as  he  thought  about  his
brother  dragging  them  to  some  white-bread  and
gumdrop suburb where all the neighbors said hello and
knew each other’s names.

Gah! He’d rather move in with a pack of Ravens and

the rotting carcasses that they fed on.

As they walked in, Russell ordered, “Go up to your

room and get some sleep.”

Even as Tobias started up the staircase, he wanted to

shout back that he was twenty-one years old, so he
didn’t need somebody to tell him when it was jammie
time. As always—or at least almost always, he kept his
yap shut and just obeyed orders.

That didn’t stop him from a melodramatic door

slam. He then leaned against the door and let out a
whispered, “Well that whole thing could have gone
better.”

How had this day become such a complete cluster

Stephani Hecht

fuck? Instead of being able to be happy at the revelation
that Colby very enthusiastically returned Tobias
feelings, he felt more miserable than ever.

He crossed over to the bed and threw himself down,

not  even  bothering  with  the  covers.  He  even  left  his
shoes  on,  and  since  they  were  his  rattiest  pair  of
sneakers,  they  were  probably  leaving  behind  all  kinds
of interesting stains.

Tobias tossed and turned, unable to get Colby off his

mind.  While  he  knew  that  he  should  be  a  good  Wolf
and  follow  his  Alpha’s  orders,  all  Tobias  could  think
about  was  how  he  could  manage  to  see  Colby  again.
Tobias needed to be able to hold the Lion again.

Damn! When he’d buried his face into the nook of

Colby’s  neck,  Tobias  was  sure  he’d  never  smelled
anything  so  sweet.  A  lot  of  felines  had  a,  well…catty
smell  about them.  Not  Colby,  though.  He  had  a  sweet
scent, like the milk and honey that his aunt used to feed
Tobias when he’d been young.

The very same aunt that had spat on him and Russell

the night they’d been exiled for the pack. Guess that
went to show that blood only ran so far in their society.

That was one of the many reasons why he and

Russell  didn’t  want  to  go  back  into the  pack.  It didn’t
matter that the  new  Alpha’s  younger  brother  was  now
mated  to  Mitchell.  Nor  did  they  care  that  they’d  been
told  on  numerous  occasions  that  they  were  welcome
back.  The  hurt  was  still  deep,  even  years  later.  Even
though Colby had been young at the time, he’d still felt
the betrayal as if it were a fresh wound.

He was just drifting off to sleep when his cell phone

vibrated. Frowning, he pulled it out of his pocket. Who

Colby and the Little Wolf

in the hell would be calling him this late? Then his
stomach clenched as he wondered if maybe Nico had
taken a bad turn.

Tobias glanced at the screen and saw to his

amazement that it was Colby. For a moment, as crazy
as it seemed, Tobias was afraid to answer. Not only
could Colby be calling because he had bad news about
Nico, but the Lion could be phoning to tell Tobias he’d
wised up and never wanted to see him again.

He realized he’d never know for certain unless he

answered the damn thing, Tobias put it up to his ear,
“Hello?”

Niiiiiice…that was real smooth. Giving the guy a

generic greeting like that was just going to knock his
socks off. Maybe, while he was at it, Tobias could add a
gee willikers and golly to the conversation.

“Are you okay?” Colby asked, his voice instantly

making Tobias hard.

Looked like he was in for yet another shower.
“Yeah, how about you?”
Colby gave a soft chuckle that still managed to have

a bitter edge to it. “I’ve been sent to my room.”

“Me, too,” Tobias confessed.
“You would think we were five.”
“Yeah, well when you’re a runt, you may as well be

a toddler,” Tobias retorted.

He winced at the venom in his tone. Fuck. Damn.

Shit. He so sucked at this type of thing. He would
probably end up scaring Colby away in the span of one
phone conversation.

“I know how you feel,” Colby said, gently.
Tobias didn’t know whether that upset him, or made

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him happy. While it was great to know that he wasn’t
the only one who felt repressed, he hated the thought of
Colby being sad in any way.

“I’m sorry if I got you in trouble,” he finally replied.
“I’m not.”
A thrill went through Tobias over those two simple

words. “Really?”

“I’ve been wanting to do that and more ever since

you kissed me on Christmas.”

Okay, now, Tobias was so jacked up he was going to

have to take two showers.

“I feel the same way,” he confessed. “So, where

does that leave us? There is no way Thomas is ever
going to let you see me.”

“He doesn’t have to know about it. In fact, neither of

our brothers needs to know. It’s our business, not
theirs.”

Tobias laughed. It would seem that Colby wasn’t as

timid as everybody thought. While he may be on the
quiet side, that didn’t mean he was tame.

“Can you sneak away? Or does Thomas have a

guard on you at all times?” Tobias asked.

“He does have guards on me, but it’s Dulla and

Dominic and they won’t say anything.”

“They have a Raven guarding you?”
While Dulla may be nice and not like the other birds,

it still shocked Tobias that somebody as overprotective
as  Thomas  would  go  for that.  Not that Tobias  thought
Dulla would ever harm Colby. More because of the fact
that  she  was  a  breathing  target  for  the  other  Ravens.
They  hated  it  when  any  of  their  own  kind  actually
showed  some  empathy,  heaven  forbid  that.  It  might

Colby and the Little Wolf

actually make their breed tolerable instead of just being
a drain on all of shifter society.

“Dulla isn’t like them,” Colby defended.
Tobias smiled, touched at the Lion’s protective side.

“I know she isn’t. I just thought that she’s a bigger
target than you.”

“She wants to be a soldier for the coalition. Since

she’s close to Dominic, Mitchell assigned him to be her
mentor.”

Tobias could relate to Dulla’s desire to be formally

trained. The most dangerous thing to be in their world
was helpless, or vulnerable. All those people that didn’t
believe in survival of the strongest, sure as hell weren’t
a shifter.

“Do you know where Ash Park is?”
It was a large patch of land only known to shifters.

While  Tobias  knew  it  was  risky  meeting  there,  it  was
still  safer  than  a  human-run  place,  especially  now  that
the  humans  had  gone  all  Buffy  and  Supernatural  on
their asses.

“Yeah, I know where it is,” Colby answered.
“Do you think you’ll be able to sneak away and meet

me there?”

“Sure, when?”
“Tomorrow,” Tobias replied much too quickly and

eagerly.

He clutched the phone as he waited for Colby to

either scoff at him, or hang up on his sorry ass.

“That sounds great,” Colby replied in a like tone.
Tobias smiled and for the first time since they were

separated, the ache left his chest. Then Colby added
something else and Tobias knew he was a goner, “I

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don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight. All I can think
of is you.”

“Ditto,” Tobias replied.
He knew that if Russell were to find out, he would

be  in  a  world  of  trouble.  For  the  first  time,  that didn’t
matter.  Tobias  now  had  something  that  overruled  the
need  to  always  please  his  brother.  He  had  a  mate  to
claim and, one way, or another, Tobias was going to do
just that. Thomas and Russell could both be damned.

Colby and the Little Wolf

Chapter Six

ice hickey, by the way,” Dominic smirked as
they walked over to the clearing leading to the

park.

Since that had been the twentieth time that the Tiger

had goaded him about that topic, Colby chose to ignore
him. While Dominic was one of his best friends, Colby
had learned long ago that it was better not to feed the
guy when he was in one of his moods.

With a slim build, bright blue eyes and blond hair

that  had  rainbow  colored  streaks,  Dominic  was  often
seen  as  a  ladies’  man  since  he  never  went  anywhere
without  his  harem  of  girls.  What  many  didn’t  realize
was  it  was  because  Dominic  preferred  their  company
and  not  because  he  had  any  romantic  feeling  toward
anybody of the female gender.

Much like Colby, Dominic easily felt intimidated by

the  bigger  members  of  the  coalition.  Even  after  he’d
been  trained  as  a  soldier  and  joined  their  ranks,  he
continued  to  be  wary.  It  made  Colby  wonder  what
happened  in  his  friend’s past to make  him  so afraid. It
must have been pretty bad. Every time somebody asked
him  about  his  childhood,  he  would  either  clam  up,  or

“N

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quickly change the subject.

Dulla tilted her head to the side as she studied

Colby.  Many  thought  that  she  was  simple,  or  slow.
Colby  couldn’t  disagree  more.  Sure,  she  may  have
eccentric  habits  and  mannerisms,  but  that  was  just  a
mask.  She  knew  and  saw  more  than  most  of  the
coalition combined.

She had also been one of the few who had reached

out to Colby when he’d been near catatonic and too
afraid to even leave his bed. Thanks to her gentle
persuasion and friendship, he was finally able to accept
his new life.

“I never got the whole hickey thing. If I wanted to

suck on something, it wouldn’t be somebody’s neck.
Not when there are so many other interesting areas on
the body to explore,” she mused.

Colby choked back a laugh while Dominic grinned

and shook his head. “You better not let your brothers
catch you saying that. They’ll lock you up and never let
you leave HQ again.”

She gave a dismissive flip of her dark hair. “They

can bite me.”

This time Colby couldn’t hold back his chuckles. He

treasured these moments when Dulla lowered her
shields and showed her real side. It made him feel as if
he was the only one who was allowed to see a priceless
piece of art. Not that he’d ever tell her that. She’d just
slug him in the arm and tell him to stop being so sappy.

“I’m sure they’d just love to hear that from you,”

Dominic drawled.

She shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time and it

sure as hell won’t be the last.”

Colby and the Little Wolf

“Maybe you can give me a lesson. I know Thomas

loves me, but he needs to let up a bit.”

“He’s so worried about losing you again that he

doesn’t realize he’s the one pushing you away,” she
replied.

Colby wondered how anybody could think she was

slow.  Her  comment  even  managed  to  calm  down  his
frustration  a  bit.  Since  he  treasured  both  her  and
Dominic’s  advice,  he  asked,  “So,  what  should  I  do  to
make him let up some?”

Dulla brushed away some strands of hair that had

been  blown  into  her  pale  face.  “Honestly,  I  think  it’s
going  to  take  some  time.  Look  at  it  from  his  point  of
view.  First,  he  lost  you  when  you  were  a  baby  during
the  mass  Raven  attack.  Then,  after  years  of  searching
for  you,  he  finally  gets  you  back,  only  to  have  you
trapped in your Lion form. Thomas probably feels as if
he failed you two times and he’s terrified that if he lets
it happen again, he won’t be able to get you back a third
time.”

When she put it that way, it made sense, but it also

didn’t give him much hope of a quick solution for his
problem. If anything, the prospect of him being able to
be with Tobias for good seemed to be dimming.

“It could be worse. All my family is dead,” Dominic

added.

Okay, now, Colby was feeling a bit like a dick. He

couldn’t  imagine  having  to  be  plunged  into  this  new
world without Thomas  by  his  side. Yet, that  is  exactly
what Dominic had done. Just like Colby, he’d been one
of  the  many  shifters  lost  the  night  of  that  attack,
whereas the coalition had managed to find Dominic and

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bring him back. He’d been faced with the horrible
realization that all of his birth family had died trying to
protect him.

Dulla put her arm around Dominic’s shoulders.

“That’s okay. We’re your family now. You’ll never be
alone again.”

“Thanks,” Dominic whispered.
The pain that briefly flickered through his gaze

nearly  broke  Colby’s  heart.  What  had  happened  in
Dominic’s past that was so awful that he couldn’t even
speak  of  it?  Since  they’d  all  seen  some  pretty  twisted
shit  as  shifters,  it  must  be  horrendous  for  Dominic  to
still be too afraid to share it.

There was no doubt that it was fear, too. Colby could

smell  the  emotion  rolling  from  the  man  like  waves.
There was also a little bit of humiliation wrapped in it,
and  betrayal.  Not the normal  everyday kind either, but
the  sort  that  rips  somebody  apart  so  badly  that  the
pieces can never be put back into place again.

The smell of Wolf hit Colby, breaking him from his

sad thoughts. He turned, already smiling when Tobias
approached. When Colby saw Nico and Ervin trailing
behind, he cocked a questioning brow.

Tobias gave a shrug. “I guess they actually like me

after all. When they caught me sneaking out and then
found out it was to meet you, they promised to keep it a
secret from Russell.”

“Wow, going against the Alpha. That’s a big deal,”

Dulla said.

Nico gave her a tight smile. “We know the brat will

just sneak off anyway. At least this way, we know he’s
protected.”

Colby and the Little Wolf

“Plus, Russell will be more pissed at us if Tobias

goes out unguarded than he would be for us disobeying
the, no Colby rule,” Ervin added.

“That doesn’t mean that Russell has to find out

about either one, right?” Colby stressed.

The last thing he wanted was for Tobias to get into

trouble on his account.

Nico flashed a full grin this time. “Don’t worry.

We’ll keep your secret. It will give us something to
blackmail Tobias with later on.”

Tobias rolled his eyes. “As if you guys need any

more blackmail material on me. You probably have a
lifetime’s worth by now.”

Laughing, Colby held out his hand. It was the first

time,  not  counting  the  phone  call,  where  he’d  initiated
contact. For a moment, he worried that he was breaking
some  unwritten  shifter  dating  rule,  but  then,  Tobias
gave him the sweetest of smiles before he reached out.
Linking  their  fingers  together, they  walked  away  from
the group.

They still made sure to stay within yelling distance,

but Colby wanted some privacy, so he led Tobias
behind a big tree.

Once they were out of sight, Colby’s control

snapped. Letting out a growling noise that he’d never
imagined would come from his lips, he pinned Tobias
to the tree.

Their lips were inches apart and though it would

have been so easy to start the kissing right away, Colby
still managed to hold back some. He didn’t want to
maul Tobias, or scare him away.

Then, Tobias’s eyes grew dark with desire and he let

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out a moan. “Shit, just when I didn’t think you could
get any hotter, you had to do that.”

Taking that as permission, Colby pressed their lips

together. At first, he took it slow, going in for short
pecks. Soon, though, their combined needs grew and
they were slipping their tongues out to do a proper job.

Then, just as suddenly, Colby broke the kiss. Tobias

sent  him  a  confused  look  that  was  so  adorable  that
Colby  couldn’t  help  but  chuckle.  “Sorry,  while  I  love
kissing  you  more  than  anything,  I  also  want  to  get  to
know you, too.”

Tobias put his arms around Colby’s neck. “Okay,

what do you want to ask? I promise that I’ll fess up
pretty much any of my secrets as long as you promise
to fuck me afterward”

Colby worked hard to think of a good question.

Somehow  the  standard  what’s  your  favorite  color,  or
what’s  your  sign,  didn’t  seem  right.  Finally,  he  asked,
“When  you  talk  about  runts,  what  exactly  do  you
mean?”

“Just like with full animal litters, sometimes there

are runts.”

Tobias began to toy with the back of Colby’s hair. It

felt so good that Colby had to struggle to keep on task.
“So, do they treat you bad because of it?”

“It could be worse. Russell protects me and makes

sure that nobody gets out of line. Sometimes, I hear
some remarks about how I should be Omega instead of
Russell’s Beta, but I try to ignore them. It could be a lot
worse. A few decades ago, the pack would have killed
me off at birth.”

Horrified, Colby gasped. “No way.”

Colby and the Little Wolf

“Yeah, and it wasn’t just Wolves either. Felines and

Hawks did it, too. I think some Ravens still practice that
tradition.”

“So, you do you think I’m a runt, too?”
Still playing with Colby’s hair, Tobias tilted his head

to the side in a slightly playful manner. “Of course you
are. No offense but you have to notice how you always
have  to  look  up  in  order to  make  eye  contact  with  the
other  members  of  you  coalition.  Didn’t  you  ever
wonder  why  you  were  so  much  smaller  than  all  the
other Lions?”

“I thought maybe they fed them all Wheaties, or

something,” Colby half teased.

“Don’t feel too bad. Some runts are never able to

shift. At least you already know you can do that.”

“Yeah, and the last time I did it, I could switch back

to my human form. Call me crazy, but I don’t think it’s
something I want to do anytime soon.”

A cold feeling came over Colby as he remembered

how terrifying it had been to be trapped and unable to
turn back. There were times where he was sure he’d
lost his mind. Other moments, his mind had gone to an
even darker place and, if he could have, he would have
killed himself just to end it all.

Tobias caressed Colby’s cheek. “That was only

because the Ravens poisoned you. Now that the feline
docs cured you, it won’t happen again.”

“How can you be so sure?”
“Growing up, I saw a ton of shifters manage to go

back and forth. Never before were any of them forever
stuck with four legs and fur.”

“Can you shift?”

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A blush came over Tobias’s cheeks. “I haven’t yet,

but I can feel my Wolf inside me. Russell says that’s a
good sign.”

Colby could really relate to that since he could feel

his Lion all the time. For several years, he’d known that
there  was  something  different  inside  him  and  it  was
more  than  him  being  gay.  It  was  as  if,  even  when  he
was  lonely,  he  wasn’t  truly  alone.  If  that  made  any
sense.

Now that he’d been plunged into all things that were

shifter, he realized it had been the other part of him that
was slowly awakening. Looking back, that metaphor
made sense. The Lion started out really soft spoken and
in the shadows, but as the years progressed Colby could
sense the presence growing stronger and scratching to
come out.

“I can’t wait to see you as a Wolf,” Colby replied as

he turned his face into the caress.

Some part of him screamed for more contact. If he

hadn’t thought it would be in bad manners, he would
have already stripped them both, just so he could rub
against every inch of Tobias’s body.

“We don’t hold a feline’s scent,” Tobias sadly

informed him.

Colby paused, embarrassment flooding him as he

realized that he’d actually been rubbing against the
other man. At least he hadn’t gone so far as to strip
them, but there was no denying that he was acting like a
kitty, purring against a clump of catnip.

“I don’t follow,” he admitted.
Somehow, it wasn’t so hard to say those words to

Tobias. The Wolf had a way of making Colby feel okay

Colby and the Little Wolf

with his ignorance. Instead of acting aggravated, or
surprised by his questions, Tobias never failed to
answer them in a gentle, caring tone.

“Felines coat their scent all over their partners.”
Oh. Colby now realized why Thomas was always

rubbing his cheeks over Chance’s face. Before that
moment, he’d just always thought his brother had a
fetish or something else.

“Do they do it with all their partners, or just their

mates?”

Colby winced as he realized he’d just spoken that

last thought aloud. Nice! Way to play things cool. No
wonder so many of the coalition still thought he was off
his rocker and tumbling down the porch.

Tobias smiled before he gave Colby’s bottom lip a

gentle nip. “Both, actually. Although once mated they
seem to become almost obsessed with it.”

Since that kind of let Colby off the hook for earlier

slip up, he dared to ask another question, “Why can’t
Wolves carry our smell?”

For some reason, the knowledge that Tobias

wouldn’t be marked in such a manner felt like a
crushing disappointment to Colby.

“Wolves have such a strong base scent that nothing

can  cover  it  up,  not  even  the  funk  the  Ravens  throw
off,” Tobias explained. He then gave Colby a soft kiss.
“Have  we  talked  enough,  yet?  Because  if  somebody
isn’t getting  fucked  in the  next  couple of  seconds, I’m
going to bust.”

Colby only had to gaze into Tobias’s passion-

infused eyes to have his answer. Desire pooled through
his body, making him both hot and horny. Which, while

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he was pretty certain that description probably was the
title of a porn, or two, there was no other way to convey
how he felt. His cock grew hard and ached so much that
this time, he didn’t even feel ashamed of the fact that
he’d started to rub against Tobias again.

Tobias let out a breathy laugh. “I guess that means,

yes.”

Colby gave a rumbling growl that he never thought

would  come  from  him.  All  the  while,  he  continued  to
grind  against  Tobias.  This  time,  Colby  didn’t  feel  a
shred  of  embarrassment  either.  All  that  he  felt  were
want, need, and bone-numbing desire.

“Do you want me to fuck you? Or would you rather

take me first?” Tobias gasped, his fingers moving to dig
into Colby’s shoulders.

Colby froze. “You wouldn’t mind if screwed you?”
Tobias gave him a sexy grin before turning around

so he was now facing the tree. “No, of course not. Just
so long as you promise that it’s my turn to top next.”

That sounded just fine with Colby and he couldn’t

nod his agreement fast enough. Tobias let out another
chuckle—a trait that Colby was quickly finding
addicting. Not only did it sound sexy as hell, but he had
a feeling that Tobias didn’t let his guard down like that
to too many others. So, to be on the receiving end was
like a special gift.

Tobias undid his pants before lowering them and his

briefs. For a moment, Colby was struck dumb at the
sight of Tobias’s ass. Firm, but not too small, it looked
like a quarter could be bounced, then rebounded against
it.

Just as Colby was moving in, a troubling thought

Colby and the Little Wolf

came to him. “Shit, I don’t have any supplies on me.”

Tobias glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I

have that covered.”

When the only item that Wolf passed to Colby was a

small tube of lubricant, Colby hesitated. “What about
the condom?”

“We don’t need that.”
“Like hell we don’t. I never have sex bareback. It’s a

good way to get yourself killed,” Colby snapped.

If Tobias was always this reckless with his own

safety, then it was clear why Russell insisted that
bodyguards protect him all the time. Shoot, Colby knew
how bad it felt to be repressed, and he was two seconds
away from locking Tobias away for his own good.

Tobias made a gentle shushing sound. “We don’t

need them because shifters don’t get STDs.”

Colby thought that one over. It could very well be

true,  since  he’d  heard  that  shifters  were  pretty  much
resistant  to  any  diseases  except  for  a  few  that  were
specific  to  their  own  kind.  He’d  just  never  thought  it
through enough to consider whether or not that included
all kinds of viruses.

Tobias gave him a probing stare. “I’m telling the

truth, but if you’re still worried, we can put this off. I
can bring condoms next time.”

Colby saw the caring and adoration in Tobias’s eyes,

and at that moment, he knew for certain that there was
no way Tobias would ever risk  his safety.  While there
were still  many points  in this  life that confused Colby,
he  was  confidant  of  this  one  fact.  So  much  so, that  he
was willing to do something that had always come hard
to  him—he  was  going  to  trust  somebody.  Not  just

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anybody either, but somebody that had the power to
break his heart.

Placing a soft kiss on Tobias’s neck, Colby then

whispered, “No, it’s okay. I believe you.”

Colby and the Little Wolf

Chapter Seven

obias dug his fingernails into the tree, not caring
that he probably was getting a shitload of splinters.

His  mind  was  zeroed  in  on  one  thing,  and  one  thing
only,  Colby  and  his  cock.  Which  technically  made  it
two things, but hell who would expect him to be able to
worry  about  something  as  stupid  as  numbers  at  a  time
like this?

If the hitched breathing and whimpers coming from

behind him were an indication of anything, then Tobias
would  have  to  say  that  Colby  was  just  as  worked  up.
The  Lion  let  out  a  small  growl  before  he  began  to
nibble  on  Tobias’s  neck.  Since  Tobias  knew  they’d
both  be  busted  if  he  came  home  with  a  matching
hickey, he pulled down the collar of his shirt.

Luckily, Colby got the message and moved his lips

down  to  Tobias’s  shoulder.  Once  there,  he  began  to
suck  in  earnest  as  if  he  was  eager  to  mark  Tobias  in
some  way.  Even  though  he  hadn’t  thought  it  was
possible,  that  idea  made  Tobias  harder  and  more
desperate to fuck.

“Don’t hold back on my account,” Tobias said.
Colby gave his shoulder a bite. “Stop being so damn

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bossy.”

“Then quit making me wait so damn long,” Tobias

countered.

He let out a gasp when he felt a slicked finger

circling his hole. Damn, that was impressive. He hadn’t
even heard Colby open the bottle. He would have made
a smartass remark about it, but when Colby slid his
finger in his hole, all of Tobias’s coherent thoughts
shattered.

Colby never moved his mouth from Tobias’s

shoulder,  as  he  worked  first  one, then  two,  and  finally
three  fingers  inside  Tobias.  Digging  his  fingers  even
deeper into the bark, Tobias began to rock back against
Colby’s  thrusts.  While  he  tried  to  keep  quiet,  not
wanting  to  shock  his  guards,  a  few  loud  groans
managed to slip out.

Ah, the hell with it. Nico and Ervin would just have

to deal with it.

“Fuck me, already,” Tobias ordered.
Colby curled his fingers, making Tobias hiss in

pleasure. Okay, this is one of the reasons why he loved
to  bottom.  To  hell  with  all  those  who  said  that  being
gay  was  wrong.  If  it  wasn’t  right,  then  whatever  God
they  believed  in  wouldn’t  have  gifted  males  with  a
prostate.

“There you go getting bossy again,” Colby

chastised.

“Yeah, we’ll see next time, when I’m the one driving

you crazy.”

Tobias would do just that, too. Before he finished

with Colby, the Lion would be screaming Tobias’s
name.

Colby and the Little Wolf

“I can’t wait,” Colby whispered before he slid his

fingers out.

No sooner had those words reached his ears, than the

sound of a zipper lowering, filled the air. Before Tobias
had time to say an about-damn-time, Colby was back
on top of him.

“It feels like I’ve waited forever for this,” Colby

said.

Tobias let out a cry of pleasure as Colby thrust his

cock  in  with  one  swift  movement.  While  there  was  a
burn,  it  was  soon  followed  by  the  delicious  sense  of
being  full.  More than the  fullness, was the connection.
One that Tobias had never felt with another.

At that second, he knew. Even though they’d only

seen each other a few times, he and Colby were meant
for each other and to hell with what anybody else
thought.

“You feel so perfect,” Colby breathed, unknowingly

echoing Tobias’s thoughts.

“Ditto,” Tobias replied, his voice a bit breathless.
“Is that going to be your answer to everything?”
“How about this? Fuck me like you mean it.”
That got him another bite to the shoulder. It was

worth it though, because Colby began to hammer into
Tobias.

Pleasure went through Tobias like a gunshot as he

had to brace his hands more firmly against the tree, so
he didn’t get a face full of bark.

His cock screamed for some special attention, but

since he couldn’t let up his grip and he wasn’t going to
get splinters in his dick, Tobias couldn’t jack off.

As always, though, Colby seemed to read his mind.

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Or maybe he was just good at knowing what Tobias’s
needs were. Whatever the reason, Colby reached
around and began to stroke Tobias’s cock.

“Fuck. Thank you,” Tobias panted.
“I’ll always take care of you.”
Had that comment come from anybody else, Tobias

would have bristled. Before then, it had always been
because they’d underestimated him just because he was
a runt. With Colby, it felt different. Even more, it made
Tobias feel important and special for the first time in
his miserable life.

“You better come soon, babe, because I don’t know

how much longer I can hold on,” Colby panted.

Damn, he hadn’t been kidding when he said that

he’d always take care of Tobias. With all of Tobias’s
previous encounters, his partners hadn’t given a damn if
he’d gotten off, or not. Some had even told him that he
didn’t deserve it since he was clearly an Omega.

“Stop thinking so hard and just come for me,” Colby

soothed before he gave Tobias another bite.

The combined gentleness and pain was finally

enough to tip him over the edge. Letting out a sound
that was equal parts howl and scream of pleasure,
Tobias allowed his orgasm to hit him.

He couldn’t remember the last time he shot off so

hard. Not only did it cover Colby’s hand, but some of it
managed to splatter on the tree. Tobias released a silent
prayer of thanks that they hadn’t done this in his car.
He’d never be able to get the mess out of the
upholstery.

Just as Tobias was coming down from his rush,

Colby jerked him back up, giving one last shuddering

Colby and the Little Wolf

thrust. Calling out a very impressive curse word, he
filled Tobias’s ass.

It wasn’t until Colby stopped shuddering that Tobias

quipped, “I hope that your use of that ten dollar word
means it was good for you.”

Colby slid out of Tobias, but didn’t move back.

Instead,  he  continued  to  nuzzle  Tobias’s  shoulder.
Tobias was probably going to have a hickey the size of
Texas,  but he didn’t give a damn. He only wished that
he  could  wear  the  mark  proudly  instead  of  having  to
hide it.

It made what they had seemed so cheap, when it was

anything but. Tobias would even go as far as to say that
it was one of the most life-altering experiences of his
life.

Colby finally stepped back and they clumsily

cleaned up the best they could before getting dressed
again. Tobias kind of expected the awkwardness to
continue, but that all fled when Colby pinned him to the
tree for another kiss.

The Lion could sure kiss, too. Tobias didn’t want to

think  about  how  he’d  become  such  an  expert  in  that
field, since Colby had obviously been so inexperienced
the  last  time  they  were  together.  Since  Tobias  had  an
pretty good feeling that the Lion would never cheat on
him,  the  guy  must  have  been  watching  porn  or
something. He as a damn good student and Tobias fully
took  advantage  of  that  newfound  knowledge.  He  even
slid out  his tongue to  show off some of his own  skills.
After all, he didn’t want Colby to think he was the only
one who knew his way around a mouth.

Once they broke apart, Colby took Tobias’s hand.

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“Do you think you’ll be able to sneak away again?”

Relief poured over Tobias. While he felt fairly

confident that Colby had shared his feelings, it was still
good to hear them vocalized.

“Yeah, just name the time and place.”
Colby gave him a smile that one could sweet and

innocent, were it not for the fact that Tobias’s ass hurt
like hell.

“Would it look too eager if I said tomorrow?” Colby

asked.

This time Tobias instigated the kiss. Pulling away,

he replied, “Not at all.”

In fact, Tobias knew he would be counting the hours

until he could see the other man again.

Colby and the Little Wolf

Chapter Eight

s Tobias grabbed his laptop and fired it up so he
could go over the pack finances for the month, he

couldn’t  remember  a  time  where  he’d  been  so  happy.
He  knew  that  made  him  just  like  a  character  from  all
those sappy movies he used to scoff at, but he couldn’t
help  himself.  His  cheeks  even  hurt  from  smiling  so
much.

It was just…damn, he’d never known that life could

be so good. He’d even go so far as to say the past three
weeks had been magical. Not only were he and Colby
getting closer, but they’d managed to be together
without their brothers being any the wiser.

He propped himself on the bed and pulled his laptop

closer. A huge part of him wanted to blow off the work
and  call  Colby.  Still,  one  of  the  many  pack
responsibilities  that  Tobias  held  was  going  over  the
various  bank  accounts.  Since  they  had  several,  both
local  and  international,  it  was  a  pretty  big  task.  If
Tobias ever stopped to think about it, he probably  had
as much experience as any accountant out there. He just
acquired his education on the shady side of life instead
of in some university.

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As always, he was so caught up in all the numbers

that he lost track of time. He finally glanced at the clock
and  was  shocked  to  see  that  three  hours  had  passed.
Working  out  a  crick  in  his  back,  he  then  saved
everything he’d been working on. One time, he’d failed
to  do  that  and  lost  every  damn  thing.  To  say  that
Russell  had  been  miffed  would  have  been  a  huge
understatement.

It was dinnertime and one of Russell’s rules was that

unless on a job, he expected the entire pack to be there.
It  was  at  times  like  these  that  Tobias  almost  resented
that  their  pack  was  so  small.  Then,  he  recalled  how
things  had  ended  with  their  so-called  family  members
and  Tobias  found  himself  happy  again  with  their
current situation.

He’d just shut down the computer when his bedroom

door  came  open  with  a  loud  slam.  Tobias  jumped,  his
hand  going  for  the  gun  in  his  nightstand  drawer. Then
he realized that it was only Russell, and Tobias let out a
sigh  of  relief…until  he  saw  the  fury  burning  in  his
brother’s eyes.

Roh-Roh! This was not good. All the other times

he’d seen Russell this pissed, it had always ended with
somebody either being dead, or bleeding. Neither of
those options seemed like fun.

“Do you need something?” Tobias asked, amazed at

how calm his voice was.

Instead of answering him, Russell stormed across the

room and jerked down the collar of Tobias’s t-shirt. At
first, Tobias struggled because his desperation to keep
his secret superseded his pack training. However, a
growl from Russell stopped all that shit.

Colby and the Little Wolf

Tobias stilled, at least on the outside. Inside, his

heart was hammering away, while his stomach did at
least a half dozen flips. He even felt a shiver of fear go
through him, and that was a new thing. While Russell
may have been mean toward others, he’d never directed
his fury in Tobias’s direction until that moment.

He knew the moment arrived when Russell spotted

all the hickeys—a fetish that both he and Colby shared.
While they thought they’d been careful by putting them
in spots that could be hidden by clothes, it would
appear that they hadn’t been cautious enough.

Well, that just sucked and not in the good way.
“I thought I told you to stay away from Colby,”

Russell growled.

“What makes you think it was him? I could have

gotten these from anybody.”

Russell jerked Tobias’s shirt. “Don’t be coy. Not

when I’m this pissed.”

Normally, Tobias would have had a smartass

comment over Russell’s use of the word coy, but he had
a feeling that would only earn him an ass-beating. So,
Tobias simply said, “I love him.”

Russell rolled his eyes. “You’ve only known him for

a few weeks. There is no way in hell you can fall in
love that fast.”

“How long did it take you to fall for Dalton?”
Tobias already knew the answer to his own question.

Russell  knew  that  Dalton  was  his  mate  the  first  time
he’d  met  the  Lynx.  The  fact  that  they  were  polar
opposites  hadn’t  mattered  either.  Once  Russell  had
decided  that  he  wanted  to  be  with  Dalton,  he’d  never
looked back.

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“It’s different with us,” Russell insisted.
“Why? Dalton is a feline, just like Colby.”
“I already told you why. There is no way that you, or

Colby could protect yourselves in the real world. The
moment you two stepped out into public, you would be
prey.”

Years of anger and resentment finally bubbled over

and blew all caution away. Jerking away from Russell,
Tobias took a couple of steps back, but only so he could
square up against his brother.

“Fuck you.”
The look of shock of Russell’s face was so funny

that Tobias would have been tempted to laugh if he
weren’t so damn angry.

“What did you just say?”
Without pausing a beat, Tobias repeated, “Fuck.

You. And the duck you rode in on, too.”

“How dare you speak to your Alpha like that?”
“How dare you treat a member of your pack like

he’s so weak? You have been trying so hard to protect
me that you made me look more Omega than ever.”

Russell gave a slow shake of his head. “That’s not

true.”

“Yes, it is. You’re just too damn stubborn to see it.”
Tobias was yelling by now, but he couldn’t find it in

him to give a fuck.

“I should flog Nico and Ervin for not telling me

about your buddy fuck sooner,” Russell fumed.

Tobias growled. “Colby is not just a buddy fuck, and

you will not do anything to my guards. They were only
doing their job.”

“Bullshit, part of their job is to report back to me on

Colby and the Little Wolf

everything that you do.”

Hurt sliced through Tobias and he had to work hard

not to break as the truth finally slapped him.

“You never thought of me as anything more than a

runt who disappointed Mom and Dad.”

“That’s not true at all.”
A bitter laugh burst past Tobias’s lips. “Yeah, it is.

You may try to fool yourself by giving me the Beta
title, but we all know that’s all it is…a title and nothing
more. If I were really your Beta, then you wouldn’t
hesitate to let me go out and fight. Instead, you assigned
two of your men to look over and protect me.”

“I was only trying to make sure that you weren’t

hurt.”

“You made me look weak and helpless,” Tobias

countered. “You may as well have left me with the old
pack. At least there, they wouldn’t bother to hide how
they  felt  about  me.  They  flaunted  all  their  hate  and
disgust  for  me.  They  didn’t  hide  it  behind  layers  of
I’ve-got-your-back,  or  I-will-love-you-no-matter-what.
In  fact,  if  I  think  about  it,  what  you  did  to  me  is  ten
times  more  fucked  up  because  it  actually  made  me
think that I could be something other than be the runt of
the pack.”

“You are more than that,” Russell protest.
Tobias somehow managed to smile, even while he

felt like a puppy who’d been kicked and then pissed on.
“No, I’m not, and I never will be. Not with you
smothering my free choice and trying to run my life.
Just like all Alphas do with their Omegas.”

Russell reached out for him. “I wouldn’t do that to

you.”

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Tobias took a step back to avoid his touch. “Then let

me be with my mate.”

“And what happens the next time he gets trapped in

his Lion form? He’ll take one look at you and see
nothing but a meal.”

“That’s not going to happen. Colby is better now.”
“Okay, then, how about if you have another asthma

attack?”

Tobias shrugged. “Then he’ll take care of me, just

like I will take care of him whenever he needs it. It
won’t be any different than what you and Dalton do for
each other. It’s part of being a good mate.”

Russell opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of

gunshots echoing through the mansion drowned out
whatever he said.

Years of training had Tobias responding on sheer

instinct. He dove toward the nightstand and pulled his
gun out. Keeping low, he quickly made sure it was
loaded and the safety was off.

The big, bad Alpha had a completely different

reaction. Crying out Dalton’s name, Russell made a
direct beeline for the door.

“Yet, I’m the weak one,” Tobias muttered.
Well, shit. Somebody had to cover Russell’s ass, so

it may as well be him. Standing up, Tobias rushed after
his brother. He wasn’t a moment too soon either. As he
cleared the door, he saw a black clothed figure aiming a
gun at Russell.

“I don’t think so,” Tobias muttered.
He took the guy down with one quick shot to the

head. Before the body had fully fallen, Tobias sensed
another attacker approaching. Spinning around, Tobias

Colby and the Little Wolf

quickly took that asshole out, too.

“And he did it with only two shots. Let’s give the

man a round of applause,” Tobias said.

Normally, Russell would have rolled his eyes and

told Tobias to stop with the cheesy remarks. Instead, he
ran down the hall that led to his bedroom. Tobias had to
work double-time to keep up, but he was determined, so
he managed.

Russell rushed into his room, letting out a cry of

relief when they found Dalton and the cubs unharmed.

“Thank god you guys are okay,” Russell said.
“Yes, for now. We need to get out of here. I’m no

soldier, but I think there are going to be more bad guys
coming,” Dalton replied.

Tobias wanted to retort that they were usually the

bad guys, but a hail of gunfire stopped him short—and
not just a normal bam-bam kind. The assault was a
long, drawn out barrage that rained down on them, and
reminded Tobias of the Sonny-bites-it scene from The
Godfather.

Russell threw his body over Dalton and the babies.

Meanwhile, Tobias moved so he was shielding Russell
from the door, where all the volley seemed to be
coming from.

It seemed to go forever, although it was probably

only a few minutes. As soon as the sound cleared,
Tobias was on his feet. “Get the kids and Dalton out of
here.”

Russell hesitated, obviously torn. Tobias shot

another intruder, then turned to his brother. “I’ll be
okay. Now get your family the fuck away from this
mess.”

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The profanity seemed to work. Or maybe it was

because Tobias had already dropped three men. Russell
grabbed one of the babies from Dalton and hustled
them through a secret door in the back of his room.

Tobias stayed put and shot attackers as they

continued to pour into the room. He couldn’t see any of
his other pack members, but he  had to take some hope
at  the  sound  of  gunfire  coming  from  the  other  rooms.
As  twisted  as  it  sounded,  maybe  that  meant  that  they
were alive and kicking ass, too.

Yet, Tobias knew he couldn’t retreat until he knew

for certain. While they might think he was Omega, his
official title was Beta and he wasn’t leaving until he
knew his pack was safe.

He began to shoot his way out of the room.

Somewhere  along  the  way,  he  ran  out  of  clips,  so  he
used  the  butt  end  of  his  weapon  on  one  guy  until  the
fucker  gave  up  his  gun.  Tobias  left  that  one  alive,  but
unconscious because not even he was big enough of an
asshole to kill somebody with their own weapon.

Along the way, he finally managed to catch a whiff

of the intruders’ scent. It wasn’t easy, given the air was
thick with gun smoke, but Tobias was good at what he
did.

Jackals.
That form of shifter being on their turf could only

mean one thing. Hendrix had decided to take out the big
dog in the criminal world so he could have all the
power for himself.

He must not have gotten the memo that announced

Russell was going legit.

Tobias fought his way down the stairs, now stained

Colby and the Little Wolf

with blood. Thank you very much, Hendrix. Everybody
knows how hard it is to get rid of stains caused by body
fluids.

“Follow me out. We’ll meet the others at the

rendezvous site,” Tobias told his guards.

Nico nodded, getting the hidden message in those

words—Russell  and  his  family  were  safe  and  we  need
to clean house, so we can go and protect them. It gave
Tobias  a  bit  of  an  ego  boost  that  neither  Wolf
questioned his ability to get the Alpha out safely. They
just  acted  as  if  Tobias  was  another  Beta  and  had  done
what was expected given that title.

As they came down the steps into the large foyer,

Tobias’s  gut  clenched  at  the  sight  of  so  many  dead
bodies,  and  not  because  he  couldn’t  handle  the
violence. Hell, he’d all but teethed on that kind of thing.
No,  it  was  because  three  of  those  bodies  were  pack
members.

“Make sure the fuckers don’t make it out of here

alive. We need to send a message out so others will
think twice before they screw with us,” Tobias growled.

Even as he gave the order, he took two more out

with clean, precise shots. Since he’d spent most of his
training time with Nico and Ervin, neither one of them
looked surprised over his skill.

“Where did you get that piece of shit gun?” Ervin

asked.

“I ran out of ammo and had to borrow one from the

Jackals,” Tobias replied simply, as if he spent most of
his time lifting guns from assholes.

Ervin let out a sigh and then traded guns with

Tobias. It took Tobias a moment to catch up since that

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was the last thing he’d ever expected to happen.
Everybody knew that Ervin treasured his gun more than
his dick.

“Thank you,” Tobias said before raising the weapon.
“No…thank you, Beta,” Ervin countered.
For the first time ever, Tobias didn’t feel like a poser

for being addressed that way. Giving his best fuck-them
grin, he said, “Now, let’s go kick some ass.”

Colby and the Little Wolf

Chapter Nine

fter they finished clearing the houses of Jackals,
Tobias and the others rushed to their old pack.

Well, actually it would be better to put it as their old
pack with some modifications. Since they’d moved to
Michigan and were now led by Chris, it sure wasn’t the
same hellhole that had shit on Tobias and Russell.

That still didn’t mean that Tobias was eager to spend

much time there. Even with the new change of
management, there was too much hurt lingering in
Tobias’s heart. There was no way that he’d ever be able
to spend more than a few hours there, let alone become
part of the pack.

As they walked into the large dormitory-style

building,  Tobias’s  main  regret  was  that  they  had  to
leave  their  dead  behind  at  the  mansion.  While  they’d
squashed all the Jackals that had been present, he knew
it  was  only  a  matter  of  time  before  more  showed  up.
Jackals were like that—one could say that they were the
herpes of the shifter world.

As they opened the front doors, they could see that

all hell had broken loose—

which was to be expected given the situation. Chris

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and Cassie were running around, trying to find room for
the refugees, while at the same time, deploying their
own soldiers to go back to Russell’s mansion.

“We took care of the first wave, but more will be

coming,” Tobias announced as they walked up.

Cassie ran over and threw her arms around him. “We

were so worried about you.”

Tobias stiffened. “Just because I’m a runt doesn’t

mean I can’t take care of myself.”

She stepped back so she could punch his arm. She

didn’t hold back either. It took everything he had not to
yelp in pain. Shit, she had a mean left hook. She could
probably take on half the pack without batting an eye.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I know that you can

handle yourself. I was worried because you’re family
and I love you, asshole,” she fumed.

He almost fired off an I love you, too, you beyotch!

But he decided that some would see that as
disrespectful. He did file it away to use later when they
were alone.

“Thanks,” he said.
As they pulled away, Tobias turned to Russell. “Just

give me time to ammo up and I’ll go back to the
mansion.”

The moment he spotted the facial expressions on

Russell and Chris, Tobias knew something was up.
Both the Alphas had that whole get-ready-because-he’s-
going-to-piss-kittens looks on their mugs.

“What the fuck is going on?” he demanded.
“We’re not going back to the mansion,” Russell

replied.

“For how long?”

Colby and the Little Wolf

“Forever.”
Tobias froze as his stomach dropped. “Are we going

to get a new place?”

“We’re going to merge with Chris’s pack.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Tobias took a step back because the shock and

betrayal  almost  felt  like  a  physical  blow.  How  could
Russell  forget  all  the  wrongs  the  pack  had  done  to
them? More so, how in the hell did he expect Tobias to
forget them? Shit, Tobias still had the spit- stained shirt
he’d  worn  the  day  they’d  been  given  the  boot.  That’s
how much that incident had messed with his head.

Cassie came forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Things are different now. Neither Chris, or I will put
up with any bigoted attitudes.”

“I don’t care about your promises. Not when I can

still see some of the very same pack members who
kicked us when we were down.”

“They have been punished and if they dare say

anything against you, Chris will banish them.”

Shrugging off her hand, Tobias spun fully around to

face Russell. “Don’t do this. Please.”

Their whole world was about to be shaken up and

stirred.  Not only  would  Russell  not  be  an  Alpha  since
his  pack  would  be  absorbed  by  Chris’s,  but  Tobias
would lose his status, too. He wasn’t an idiot, either, he
knew  that  all  the  promises  in  the  world  were  going  to
matter once the rest of the Wolves got a good gander at
Tobias. They would immediately see that he was a runt
and they would treat him accordingly.

Russell gave him a sad look. “I don’t have a choice.

My past has caught up to me and is biting my ass. It’s

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the only way I can protect my family.”

Tobias wanted to scream, What about me? I thought

I was your family, too. Or have you shoved me aside
like everybody else?

He didn’t bother speaking that aloud because he

could tell that Russell had already made up his mind
and there was no changing it.

Tobias’s fears were confirmed when Russell walked

over to Chris. Even as Tobias shook his head in denial,
Russell bowed before Chris and exposed his neck in a
sign of submission.

How fucked up was that?
A soft whimpering sound filled the air, and Tobias

was horrified to realize it was coming from him. Great,
he hadn’t even been officially sucked into the pack and
he was already acting like an Omega.

It all became too much—the attack, the deaths of

their pack  members and then the sight of somebody as
strong  as  Russell  acting  all  submissive.  Tobias  spun
around and ran for the doors. He heard them calling his
name, but he didn’t bother turning around. After all, it’s
not as if any of them had any real use for him. He had
always  been  nothing  more  than  the  freaking  runt  and
he’d been a fool to think that would ever change.

He had driven his own car there, so at least he had

that to be thankful for. As he rushed to it, he pulled out
and sent out a short text to Colby. Everything has gone
to shit. I need you.

Colby paced the clearing to the park as he waited for

Tobias to show up. Even though the message had only
been two sentences long, Colby could sense the

Colby and the Little Wolf

desperation. As a result he was worried, and he knew
that he wouldn’t be able to calm down until he had
Colby safe and in his arms.

All the while, Colby could sense his Lion pushing to

get  out  because  his  animal  side  felt  the  same  concern
for  their  mate.  And  Colby  now  knew  without  a  doubt
that that was exactly what Tobias was. Colby could no
longer  deny  the  truth  to  himself,  or  anybody  else  for
that matter.

As soon as he got to Colby, he was taking the Wolf

home  for  good.  If  Thomas  couldn’t  deal  with  it,  then
Colby  would  go  to  Mitchell  and  request  a  separate
apartment.  He  had  a  feeling  that  Mitchell  would  not
only  grant  his  wish,  but  that  the  leader  would  be
supportive.

Just as he was about to call Tobias, the other man

came running up. Colby immediately wrapped his arms
around his mate. Then he noticed that Tobias was
wheezing and he appeared to be sucking wind making
Colby’s heart start to thud with worry.

If he hadn’t known better, Colby would have sworn

that Tobias was having an asthma attack. Since, one of
Colby’s adoptive sisters suffered from that disease, he
knew the warning signs all-to-well.

That couldn’t be, though. Not since shifters were

immune to human diseases. Then, just as quickly as that
thought came to him, it was followed by another. How
Tobias had once confided that sometimes runts were
weaker and more fragile.

At the time, Colby just assumed that it was due to

their size and nothing more, but he now realized how
wrong he was. In fact, the more he thought about it, the

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more it made sense. His birth sister had been a preemie
and her lungs had never fully recovered. So, who was to
say that the same thing couldn’t happen to shifter?

“Do you have a rescue inhaler with you?” Colby

asked.

Tobias shook his head. “No, the only thing that

works for me is the kind that it attached to oxygen.”

That made sense, too, given that the medication was

more concentrated that way. Colby may still be
ignorant of some shifter facts, but he did know that they
had to take meds in higher doses than humans did.

He ran his hand up and down Tobias’s back. Since

they didn’t have any drugs, he was going to have to
improvise. “That’s okay. I just want you to listen to me
and think of nothing else but following my orders.”

Tobias gave a nod as he rested his cheek on Colby’s

chest.

“Breath in, now breath out,” Colby said, making

sure to keep his voice even and steady.

He kept repeating that same sentence again and

again. All the while, he continued to rub Tobias’s back.
For a while, Colby worried that it wouldn’t work, but
soon, Tobias’s breath evened out some and most of the
wheezing disappeared.

“Now, tell me what happened,” Colby urged.
In short bursts, Tobias told him about the attack and

the  incident  with  Chris’s  pack.  With  each  word,
Colby’s heart broke a little more. He knew how Tobias
felt  about  his  old  pack.  Even  though  what  Russell  did
was  understandable  given  the  circumstances,  it  still
must have been a real blow to Tobias.

“Come back to the coalition with me,” he said once

Colby and the Little Wolf

Tobias finished speaking.

Tobias jerked his head up in shock before he let out

a snort. “Yeah, like that could ever happen. Thomas
would piss a whole litter of kittens if I showed my
mug.”

“I don’t care anymore. I love you and I’m sick of

hiding it.”

“What did you just say?”
Smiling at the hesitation in his mate’s normally

sarcastic tone, Colby repeated, “I love you.”

“Well, isn’t that just sweet?” a strange voice said.
Glancing over Tobias’s shoulder, Colby saw some

freak approaching them. And since that insult had been
thrown at him numerous times in the past, Colby didn’t
use that term lightly.

There was no other way to describe the dude,

though.  Dressing  in  head  to  toe,  black  clothes  that
looked  as  if  they’d  come  from  the  rejection  bin  of
Goodwill,  he  looked  like a cross between a thug  and  a
bum.

Even the guy’s scraggly brown hair and dirt-creased

face managed to be an insult. Then he came closer and
Colby  nearly  gagged  on  the  stench.  For  a  moment,  he
wondered  if  maybe  Mr.  Smelly  was  a  Raven,  but  the
scent was different. It was more gamey and ripe instead
of  carrying  the  bite  of  decay.  Colby  would  have  been
quick  to  dismiss  the  guy  as  any  threat  had  it  not  been
for the fact the man had a gun pointed in their direction.

“Hendrix,” Tobias whispered.
It took Colby a few moments to correlate that name

to the earlier attack on Tobias’s home. As soon as it
clicked, a wave of protectiveness came over Colby. He

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even lifted up his upper lip and let out a loud a long
growl.

Hendrix had the gall to laugh at them. “Like you two

are any threat to me.”

Tobias turned around and flipped off a cocky grin.

“Hey, Hendrix. Where are all your buddies? Did they
ditch you, or did I kill them all?”

The closest that got to an answer was a growl.

“Don’t fuck with me, runt.”

Tobias walked a couple steps to the side.
Colby curled his hands into fists as he realized what

Tobias’s  intent was. The punk was trying to get Colby
out of the line of fire. Colby didn’t know whether to be
flattered, or pissed. He did know one thing for certain—
he  had  the  overwhelming  urge  to  reach  out  and  tug
Tobias  behind  him.  The  only  reason  Colby  held  back
was  out  of  fear  of  how  Hendrix  would  react  to  any
movement.

Tobias casually kicked at the ground. “But I so love

fucking with you and you mongrel friends. It’s become
a hobby of sorts for me. By the way, where are you
living now?”

Hendrix let out a loud snarl. “Why do you care?”
“So, I can send you the cleaning bill. It’s going to be

a bitch to get the mansion back into shape.”

“You always have to be a smartass. I think it’s time

to teach you a lesson. While I’d just as soon kill you
and be done with it, I need you alive so I can make
Russell more cooperative.”

Colby frowned in confusion, but Tobias didn’t seem

to have any trouble getting the message. He yelled out,
“No!”

Colby and the Little Wolf

At the same instant, Hendrix leveled the weapon on

Colby. He didn’t even have time for an Oh shit! The
sounds of gunfire rang through the air.

Colby flinched, fully expecting to get hit, but at the

last moment, Tobias jumped in front of him. Colby
yelled at a denial, but it was too late. Two shots hit
Tobias.

The Wolf let out a grunt of pain as twin scarlet

patches appeared on his chest and back. The scent of
blood filled the clearing.

As he watched the man he loved crumple to the

ground, a red-hot fury filled Colby. With a growl, he
launched himself at Hendrix.

It wasn’t until he landed on four legs that Colby

realized he’d shifted. He let out a loud roar before he
took Hendrix down to the ground.

The other man tried to shift, but it was already too

late.  Working  on  pure  instinct,  Colby  sank  his  canines
into  the  front  of  the  Jackal’s  neck  and  tore  it  apart.
Blood spurted and filled his mouth, the metallic taste so
vile, Colby wanted to let go and spit it out. Still,, he had
an  even  stronger  urge.  The  one  to  avenge  his  mate.
Hendrix had dared to hurt Tobias, and Colby refused to
let that wrong go unanswered.

Hendrix screamed, or at least attempted to. All that

came out was a gurgling noise. Another bite to the neck
quickly ended that.

Once he felt certain that the jerk was dead, Colby

shifted back and rushed over to Tobias side. With great
care, he cradled his mate in his arms. Blood got all over
his t-shirt, but Colby could have given a damn. All that
mattered to him was finding out if Tobias was still

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alive.

Shit! There was so much blood. It not only covered

both of them, but it had soaked into the dirt, making a
reddish kind of mud.

“It’s okay, it’s safe now,” Colby crooned as he

brushed the hair away from Tobias face.

Tobias felt so cold that at first, Colby despaired.

Then his Wolf opened his eyes and Colby let out a sob
of relief.

Rocking Tobias back and forth, Colby said, “It’s

over now. He won’t ever hurt you again.”

He could hear various cars approaching and other

walking up to them, but Colby was so overwhelmed
with grief that it all seemed so distant to him. Then, he
sensed somebody trying to take Tobias away from him.
That just wouldn’t do at all.

With a loud growl, Colby tightened his hold. The

battle  went  on  for  several  moments.  While  various
voices  begged  him  to  let  go,  it  wasn’t  until  he  heard
Dulla’s  soothing  tones  in  his  ears  that  Colby  snapped
out of it and released his mate.

Dulla sat on that dirty, muddy ground with him. Her

clothes  had  to  be  getting  just  as  filthy,  but  she  never
uttered  a  complaint.  Instead,  she  just  held  Colby  as  he
let out his cries of agony.

Colby and the Little Wolf

Chapter Ten

ven though several hours had passed since they’d
been attacked, Colby still hadn’t changed his

clothes.  Sure,  they  may  be  covered  in  blood  and  God
knows what else,  but changing would  mean  he’d have
to  leave  Tobias’s  side  and  that  was  not  something
Colby was willing to do. Not even for a few moments.

Doc Featherstone and Jacyn had assured him that

Tobias  would  be  okay,  but  Colby  wouldn’t  feel  sure
until  he  heard  his  mate’s  voice.  Soon  after  help  had
arrived,  Tobias  has  slipped  into  unconsciousness,  and
he’d been that way ever since.

Colby rested his face against the side of the bed, his

fingers interlaced with Tobias’s. It had been the exact
same position they’d been in since they’d brought
Tobias out of surgery.

Several times, both Thomas and Russell had come in

and tried to persuade Colby to go get some rest. He just
ignored them. First, because he was still pissed at both
of  them.  Second,  because  he  didn’t  want  to  focus  on
anything else save  for Tobias. Maybe that  made  him a
selfish  bastard,  but  considering  what  their  bothers  had
put them through, he figured they kind of deserved it.

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A soft groan floated from the bed. Heart hammering

with hope, Colby jerked his head up and gazed down at
Tobias. When the Wolf opened his eyes, it was the most
beautiful thing Colby had ever seen.

Giving what was sure to be a shaky smile, he said,

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been shot two times,” Tobias quipped.
Colby laughed. Damn, how he’d missed that

sarcasm. “Maybe that’s because you played hero and
threw yourself into the line of fire to protect me.”

“I couldn’t let him hurt you.”
“I know. I felt the same way about you.”
A brief flicker of confusion crossed Tobias’s face.

“You shifted and killed him, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I’m not sorry either. I know I should be and

that it would have been better to turn him over to
Mitchell and Russell, but I couldn’t help myself. Once
he shot you, he was as good as dead as far I was
concerned. Nobody, and I mean nobody, hurts my mate
and gets away with it.”

Colby sucked in a breath as he realized what he’d

just let slip from his mouth. He tensed, scared that
Tobias would reject him, just like everybody else had.
Then, Tobias gave his hand a tight squeeze and replied,
“Ditto.”

Hope flared through Colby. “Really?”
“Yes, and that means I won’t allow you to do any

harm to yourself either.”

That last comment confused Colby and he found

himself  wondering  just  how  he  should  respond.  Then
Tobias scooted over a few  inches. He  moved slow and
let  out  a  couple  of  hisses  of  pain,  but  he  seemed  so

Colby and the Little Wolf

determined, that Colby didn’t have the heart to tell him
to knock it off.

“Hop in bed and get some rest. You look like you

about ready to fall over.”

Colby started to protest, but Tobias cut him short. “I

mean it. Just because I’m laid up, doesn’t mean that my
mate is going to suffer.”

My mate.
Those two words made a warm feeling flow through

Colby and he was powerless to resist. Kicking off his
shoes, he very carefully crawled into bed. Cuddling up
against Tobias, Colby rested his head on the Wolf’s
shoulder and breathed in his scent.

“I love you so damn much,” Colby confessed.
“Ditto.”
It wasn’t exactly the best declaration of love, but

since it came out slurred and weak, Colby decided to let
it go, for the moment. They would have the rest of their
lives to talk once Tobias was better and back on his
feet.

Closing his eyes, Colby allowed himself to drift to

sleep. The warmth of his mate’s body, making him feel
so happy and complete.

* * * *

“I guess there is no way we can tear them apart now,”
Thomas grumbled.

Russell looked over at the bed at his wounded

brother. Even though they were asleep, Tobias and
Colby had each other in a near death-grip.

“No, they’ve more than shown how much they care

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about each other. I just wish that we could figure out a
way to keep them better protected so something like
this never happens again,” Russell replied.

A soft scoffing sound came from behind them.

Turning, Russell saw that it’d come from Dulla. She
narrowed her black eyes at them. “Yet, they call me
stupid.”

Never one to take any insult lying down, Russell

cocked a brow at her. “Do you care to elaborate?”

“Colby and Tobias are more than capable of taking

care of each other. Or, at least they would be if you two
would just stay out of their business,” she shot back.

Thomas nodded toward the bed. “How do you

consider that capable? They both almost died.”

“But they didn’t. You want to know why? Because

they protected each other. First, Tobias did so by taking
the bullets. Then Colby when he killed the Jackal.”

Russell started to argue, before he finally got the

point.

Damn it, he and Thomas had royally fucked things

up.  The  worst  part  of  it  was  that,  by  being  so
overprotective  and  underestimating  their  brothers,
they’d nearly lost them.

Thomas must have realized the same thing because

he whispered, “Shit.”

Russell stared at Dulla. All along he’d thought that

she’d been slow, yet she’d clearly seen the truth all
along.

She must have sensed Russell’s confusion because

she gave him a grin. “Don’t try to figure me out. It will
just frustrate you and give you a massive headache.”

Okay, he was willing to accept that. He glanced at

Colby and the Little Wolf

Thomas. “So, where do you think they should live?”

“I would be more than happy to take Tobias in,” the

Lion offered.

Russell considered that for a moment and realized it

would be for best. While he was able to swallow his
pride and go back to their old pack, it had only been to
protect Dalton and the kids. There was no way that
Tobias should have to make that same sacrifice. “I think
that would be a good idea.”

Dulla reached up and popped them both on the back

of the heads. Rubbing away, Russell growled, “What in
the hell was that for?”

“Did it ever occur to either of you that you should be

letting  Tobias  and  Colby  make  that  decision?  Oh,  and
here  is  another  pointer…if  they  do  decide  to  stay  with
the coalition, I would  look into getting them their own
apartment.”

A warm heat came over Russell’s face as he realized

she yet again had a very valid point. Damn, at this rate,
he would be begging Dulla to come back with him to
serve as a consultant for Chris’s pack. The girl
obviously knew much more than she’d let on.

Tilting her head to the side, Dulla gave them a

knowing look. “Of course, I’m just the slow, dim-
witted Raven. So, why would you ever want to listen to
me?”

Without waiting for an answer, she turned around

and walked away.

“Damn it, when did she become the Oprah of our

coalition?” Thomas bitched.

“She’s right, though.”
“I know she’s right. Damn it if that doesn’t make me

Colby and the Little Wolf

Epilogue

olby put the last pile of clothes way in his dresser
and let out a sigh of relief. Finally! They had

everything moved into their new apartment.

Turning around, Colby allowed himself to gaze at

the bedroom. While it may have been just as small like
the rest of the place, it was all theirs.

Best of all, thanks to donations from other felines

and Wolves, they had been able to furnish all the
rooms. Sure, the couch may be old and ugly as hell, but
Colby couldn’t have been any happier had it been a new
set straight off the truck.

“Shit, thank God we’re done. I’m so tired,” Tobias

declared.

Despite his claims, he seemed pretty chipper as he

ran across the room and dove on the bed. Colby
laughed even as he chastised, “Hey, I just made that.”

Tobias rolled over and flashed a…well wolfish grin.

“You know what’s more fun than making a bed?
Messing it back up again. Now get your cute ass over
here.”

Once Tobias gave a sexy crook of his finger, Colby

was a goner. He even began to strip his clothes off as he

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100

walked across the tiny room.

“I like how you think,” Tobias declared as he began

to pull his own clothes off.

Since they’d had so much practice over the past

several weeks, it didn’t take them long to get naked.
Once finished, Colby walked over to the bed.

His intentions were to pin Tobias to the bed, but the

Wolf obviously had other ideas. Letting out a growl that
was so hot sounding, it made Colby gasp with desire,
Tobias rolled him over until he was face down on the
mattress.

“Don’t move an inch,” Tobias ordered.
Colby was more than happy to follow that

command, especially when Tobias began to pepper him
with kisses. He started at Colby’s shoulders, then
slowly made his way down.

Determined to be obedient, Colby fisted the sheets

and forced himself to hold still. It was hard though—so
damn hard. Especially, when Tobias reached the top
Colby ass.

Colby stilled, expecting to feel the cool touch of

slicked  fingers.  When  he  felt  the  hot,  velvet  slide  of  a
tongue  instead,  Colby  lost  all  control.  Letting  out  a
moan, he thrust back.

Tobias let out a chuckle. “I thought you would like

that.”

Before Colby could even think of answering him,

Tobias began rimming him again.

Fuck, when Colby had seen this on those porn sites,

he’d  never  imagined  it  would  feel  so  damn  good.  He
began  to  let  out  a  series  of  groans  and  pleas.  The  best
part  was,  he  didn’t  have  to  worry  about  how  loud  he

Colby and the Little Wolf

101

was since they finally had complete privacy.

Tobias fluttered his tongue over Colby’s hole.

Sparks of pleasure shot up Colby’s spine. Oh, hell, if
Tobias didn’t watch it, he was going to make him come
before the real screwing even began.

Colby soon learned that Tobias had only begun to

torment him. The Wolf slid first one and then two
fingers inside Colby’s hole. The bastard even made sure
he crooked his fingers just right, so they brushed
against Colby’s prostate.

“Fuck. Me!” Colby cried.
The wonderful sensations assaulting his body were

so intense , he just wanted to let go and come. But,
Tobias somehow was able to sense just when Colby had
reached the edge and every time the Wolf pulled back
at the last minute.

“Please, I need you,” Colby begged.
Tobias pulled out his fingers and soon Colby heard

the  blessed  sound  of  a  bottle  of  lube  being  opened.
Pausing  only  long  enough  to  slick  himself  up,  Tobias
then placed a gentle kiss onto the nape of Colby’s neck.

“You have me, babe. That is never going to change,”

Tobias breathed.

He then thrust inside Colby.
By that time, they were both too worked up for slow,

or gentle. It was going to be a fast and hard fuck. Colby
knew he was going to love every damn second of it,
too.

Taking a firm grip of Colby’s hips, Tobias lifted him

to his knees and began to give him the screwing of his
lifetime.

Colby yelled out his encouragement as he braced

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102

himself with one hand. He then reached down with his
other one and began to stroke himself off. The sounds
of skin slapping against skin filled the air as Tobias
rode him harder than a Kentucky Derby horse.

A tingling sensation danced over Colby’s body as

the most intense orgasm crashed into him. Screaming
Tobias’s name, Colby came. His cock jerked before
cum spurted over his hand and the sheets.

The sight must have sent Tobias over the edge,

because after a few more thrust, he gave a loud grown
before he came. Colby moaned, still riding his own
high as he felt the hot ropes of semen filling his ass.

After a second, Tobias rested his head on Colby’s

back. “Mine.”

“Yours,” Colby confirmed before he collapsed.
And fell right into a puddle of cooling spunk. Ugh!

Why didn’t they warn of this danger in romance novels,
or porn movies? Instead, they always portrayed the
sated couple, happily cuddling together. Colby decided
that the adult entertainment industry had never heard of
there being the always intrusive, post-sex, wet spot.

“Yuck,” Colby protested.
Tobias rolled over and pulled Colby to his chest so

they were both comfortable and gross-free.

“Better?” Tobias asked.
Snugging his head in, Colby sleepily replied,

“Much.”

They were silent for a moment before Tobias said,

“Hey, you know I love you.”

Smiling to himself, Colby quipped, “Ditto.” He let

out a small yelp when Tobias slapped him on the ass.
“Okay, I love you, too.”

Colby and the Little Wolf

103

“That’s what I thought.”
As Colby drifted off to sleep, he wondered at how

great  his  life  had  turned  out.  Who  would  have  ever
thought that the scrawny Lion could ever snag his little
Wolf?  Somehow,  though,  it  had  come  true  and  Colby
knew he’d never be alone again. What’s more, together
they’d  proven  that  size  doesn’t  matter.  Not  when  it
comes  to  matters  of  the  heart.  For,  at  the  risk  of
sounding  clichéd,  love  truly  does  conquer  all.  Be  it,
insecurities  from their  fucked-up childhoods, meddling
families,  friends,  pack  members,  or  homicidal  Jackals,
nothing could ever tear them apart again. Whoever had
said  that  runts  didn’t  belong  together  obviously  had
never met them.

Burying his face deeper into Tobias’s chest, Colby

dreamed that night of his Wolf and how they had the
rest of their lives to be together.

About the Author

Stephani  Hecht  is  a  happily  married  mother  of  two.
Born and raised in Michigan, she loves all things about
the  state,  from  the  frigid  winters  to  the  Detroit  Red
Wings hockey team. You can usually find her snuggled
up to her laptop, creating her next book.

Contact her at:
Email Address:archangelwriter@yahoo.com

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StephaniHecht

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Blog:
http://stephanihechtauthor.blogspot.com