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Of Dragons and Wolves 4

Taking Another Man’s Mate

Beta werewolf Quin Abbot knew it was his turn to go up the
mountain and mate with the second in command of the dragon

clan. A deal had been struck for peace, and he had to keep it. He
never thought he would feel an instant attraction to a man who
was chosen for him, and he's pleased. His future husband is his

true mate, and he couldn't be any happier.

But then he discovers the man he's standing in front of him is not

his future husband at all. Lennox Barrach is a dragon warrior, and
he has no right to claim Quin as his own, despite how his body

screams for the wolf.

Lennox won't stand for it. Though it tests his friendships with his

leader and the second in command, he will risk an all-out war
between the pack and the clan to take what's his. All he has to do
is convince Quin to say yes.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary, Paranormal,
Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 35,352 words

TAKING ANOTHER MAN’S

MATE

Of Dragons and Wolves 4

Marcy Jacks

EVERLASTING CLASSIC

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove

TAKING ANOTHER MAN’S MATE
Copyright © 2014 by Marcy Jacks
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-020-7

First E-book Publication: July 2014

Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance
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PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

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TAKING ANOTHER MAN’S

MATE

Of Dragons and Wolves 4

MARCY JACKS

Chapter One

Quin Abbot was excited. He probably shouldn’t have been,

considering he was about to get married off to a dragon warrior who
lived on the black mountain.

He was going to be mated off to one of Aris Macleod’s dragon

warriors of the Firethorn Clan.

That clan and Quin’s pack had been fighting for pretty much all of

his life and then some. Then one day the old leader of the clan died,
and the fighting dwindled down until Aris sent a message to the pack
that he wanted peace.

The way packs, clans, and even humans attained peace in the old

days was to marry off the children of noble families to each other.
Simon Abbot, Quin’s father, hadn’t been happy about the idea at all,
but even he couldn’t argue with the logic of it. Even humans still
married their children off in this day and age, and there had been
enough fighting and death.

What the man hadn’t wanted, however, was to send his youngest

son, Conner, off first. Conner was an omega, and ever since a dragon
attack at a young age, he’d suffered from a bad knee and heart.
Conner had wanted to be the first to go and be mated. His claim at the

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time was that, if it was a trick, then at least Simon wouldn’t lose any
valuable betas or alphas.

Of course, no one liked that idea, and no one liked Conner’s

reasoning either. Conner was the baby of their family, the youngest of
the six brothers at the age of twenty-five, the only omega, and
because of his weakness, he was constantly treated as such. No one
wanted to let him go, but then the council had gotten involved, and
that was that. Conner went.

The next several weeks had been filled with sleepless nights and

tense days as everyone in the family waited for the message that
Conner had been accidentally killed while in the dragon’s lair, or
even that Aris was going to kill him if they didn’t move their pack off
of the bottom of the mountain that the dragons and the wolves had
been fighting over for so long.

Those messages had never come. In fact, Conner had come to visit

the pack with Aris’s blessing. Of course, that had also happened when
Templars had been attacking Aris, trying to shoot him and Conner out
of the sky, but that wasn’t the point.

Aris made a regular habit of flying his mate down to see his

brothers from time to time. Usually on the weekends, but it wasn’t the
same when Simon, Quin, and the others had to watch him fly away on
the back of a red dragon.

Enough time had passed that it was clear the peace treaty was real.

Another dragon had been offered for a mating, and when Simon had
to offer another one of his sons, Quin didn’t hesitate.

He wanted to be the one to go. He was the second youngest, and a

beta. At age thirty-five, he was still considered incredibly young for a
species that lived well into the hundreds, and for that reason, Conner
and he had been close. Quin wanted to see his brother every day, and
from the stories that Conner told him, the dragon’s lair was a beautiful
place to live.

Besides, he knew his older brothers had no interest in being mated

off. Garret, the oldest, had stepped forward at one point to save

Taking Another Man

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Conner from having to go, but he was too strong willed as an alpha to
be happy with living on a mountain and taking orders from a dragon.
Garret had offered himself again when it came time for another
mating, but like Conner, Quin wanted to save his brothers the hassle.

Garrett clearly didn’t want to be mated to a dragon, and Stan was

another alpha who likely wouldn’t enjoy being trapped on a mountain
and needing help just to fly down and let his wolf run wild. Kyle was
another beta, and he’d secretly told Quin that when the time came
again, he would offer himself to one of the dragon warriors in order to
spare his alpha brothers the hassle. Richard was a good alpha, and the
man just might offer himself up when the time came without
complaint.

The dragon clan wasn’t satisfied with just a single mating. Aris

wanted to make sure that his clan and Quin’s pack were so connected
that there would never again be a fight between them. It was actually
an intelligent move, if one ignored the nearly heartless nature of
arranged matings.

But Quin wasn’t about to let himself think about that. The good

news he was facing this day was that he was going to see his little
brother again. They were going to be under the same roof one more
time, and their father wouldn’t have to be worried over the fact that
his sons were alone on the mountain.

Besides, Conner had told him all about the man that Quin was to

be mated to. A strong and handsome dragon, the second in command
even. Quin didn’t much care about the position, not really, but he was
glad when Conner described him as being fair and kind when needed.
A dragon who would treat Quin with respect.

That wasn’t exactly a bad deal.
His brothers, on the other hand, were escorting him up the

mountain like they were leading him to his death. Was this how
Garret and Stan had acted when they had to bring Conner up to meet
Aris? That must’ve scared the poor guy half to death.

“I’m going to be fine, you guys,” Quin said. He was sweaty and

Marcy Jacks

huffing just a little bit, but he managed to hold his own. They weren’t
going all the way up the mountain. That was impossible without
flying, at least as far as they knew. The wolves had searched for a
path up the mountain for decades, but had never found one. Of course,
it was a huge mountain.

They were just heading to a meeting point, where the dragons

would come down and pick Quin up, flying him the rest of the way to
their castle. His alpha brothers made the climb look like it was
nothing. Even when they had to shift back into their human forms
when the inclines became too steep for wolves to travel up.

Quin was only having a mild amount of trouble. As a beta, he was

in naturally decent shape, but he was still getting hot and
uncomfortable as the sweat built. He could only imagine how much of
a pain a climb like this had been for his omega brother.

“We know you’re going to be fine,” Stan said. “That doesn’t mean

it’s easy to let you go.”

Quin hadn’t even thought of that. It was no wonder his father had

hugged him so tight before leaving. When Conner had to leave to go
up the mountain, he could remember being angry with his dad,
wondering why the hell the man had barely touched Conner at all.

He knew now that it was because he’d been afraid he would break

down at the thought of his son leaving and possibly never returning.
Now that Simon Abbot knew Quin would at least be coming back
from time to time, it was all right for him to hug his son without fear
of crying. There was no need to cry when he knew his child would
return alive.

“I’ll come back and visit as much as I can. Every time Conner

comes down, I’ll come with him.”

“You make sure to watch out for your brother, too,” Garrett said,

ever the mini alpha among all the brothers. “You’re his only family
up there. I don’t care how well Aris treats him, I’d feel better knowing
one of us was watching out for him.”

“There’s other wolves up there now, too. We’re not going to be

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completely alone,” Quin said, but even as the words left his mouth he
knew there was a difference. There was a difference between being
with pack and family, and being with wolves who were neither.

“Just make sure you both look out for each other, but mostly you

stick with Conner,” Garret said.

Quin wondered if his brother really thought there was a reason for

needing to protect Conner, or if he was just being a big brother and
trying to make sure his younger siblings stayed safe.

Either way, Quin didn’t say anything else. He figured now wasn’t

the right time to be getting into these little mini arguments when it
could be a week or more before he saw any of his brothers ever again.

When they finally made it to the meeting spot, Quin could have

dropped to his knees and thanked God. He definitely pulled a water
bottle out of his bag and drank almost the whole thing before taking a
breath.

Stan slapped him on the back, laughing at him the whole time.

“That’s what you get for packing so much shit in your bag.”

“Or for packing more than one bag at all,” Garrett said, and even

he was smiling.

“I have a love for my stuff, leave me alone,” Quin grouched. At

least the dragons weren’t here yet, so he didn’t have to deal with
meeting a future mate while he was all sweaty and gross.

A roar sounded from above, and Quin knew he shouldn’t have

even thought such a thing when a large shadow flew over his head.

He looked up from his spot on his knees just as three Dragons

swooped down and landed in a puff of rising dust on the small flat
area that was even available to them.

Quin had to lift his hand to his eyes and turn his face away just to

keep the dust from blinding him. When the wind from the landing and
flapping wings finally settled, he got a good look down at himself, at
his hands and clothes, and he groaned.

He was covered in dirt, and it was clinging to him now thanks to

how sweaty he’d been. That was just fucking perfect.

Marcy Jacks

He looked up, scowling at the three men who were standing where

three dragons used to be.

He knew the one in the middle was Aris. Quin had already met

him a couple of times thanks to Conner’s constant visits.

Quin could hardly pay attention to him at all when his eyes zeroed

in on the gorgeous specimen standing to his right.

That had to be Roman. Quin’s heart started pounding, and even

though he was pretty sure he looked disgusting, he got to his feet and
stepped forward, unable to take his eyes off of the man who was
going to be his mate.

Not going to be. Was. This was so much better than just signing

up for a mating for peace because it turned out that the man he was
supposed to mate to was already his destined mate. He could smell it
in the man’s scent, and he could see it just by looking at him.

Roman had black spiky hair, but he didn’t look like he gelled it or

anything. Somehow, it seemed like that was a natural look for him,
which was amazing. Roman was taller than Quin was by almost a full
head, which was normal since Quin was short for a beta at only five
foot ten.

Conner never told Quin that Roman had the bad boy look going

for him, what with the piercings on his nose, brows, and ears. He even
had a black dragon tattooed on his throat, which was also amazing to
look like with its Celtic design. It almost looked like the dragon was
hugging Roman, which was about what Quin wanted to do right then
and there. He didn’t care how filthy he was or the fact that he was
only just seeing the man for the first time in his life. He wanted to
grab the man by the hand, yank him to the nearest set of bushes for
privacy, and demand to be claimed right then and there. His dick
hardened at the thought. Not even the fact that his brothers were
standing right next to him could deter his cock from wanting what it
wanted.

The best part about all of it? Was the way Roman was staring

back at him, nostrils flaring, like he wanted exactly what Quin

Taking Another Man

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wanted.

He was so fucked, and he couldn’t wait for it.
Garrett stepped forward, hand outstretched, which Aris took hold

of and shook. “Good to see you again,” Garrett said, releasing Aris’s
hand and stepping back. “How is Conner? I half expected him to be
here to meet up with Quin.”

“Sick in bed, unfortunately,” Aris admitted, which was just

enough for Quin to stop thinking with his prick and actually look at
the redheaded dragon.

“He’s all right. He’s just nauseous. Kristoff is caring for him, and

he’s still awake and very upset for being in bed. Quin can come and
see him when we’re back up the mountain.”

Quin sighed. “Great, so let’s go,” he said, and he immediately

walked up to Roman, smiling wide when the man tensed up at his
approach. Was Quin about to be mated to a shy dragon warrior? That
was so damned cute.

“You’re Roman, I take it?” Quin asked, and he offered the man

his hand. “I’m Quin. I’ll be mating with you tonight.”

Roman didn’t move. In fact, now he looked somewhat horrified as

he turned his gaze to Aris. “I don’t…Aris, what do I do?”

Quin slowly lowered his hand, and when he looked to his

brothers, they both had horrified expressions on their faces.

Quin looked to Aris, and the man’s lips were pursed, but there

was no irritation anywhere in his demeanor. He stepped aside,
drawing Quin’s attention to the third man who had been standing
beside him all that time.

He was also tall, broad in the shoulders as most warriors were

expected to be. He had hair that went down to his lower neck, and
unlike Aris’s bright color, this dragon’s was a darker shade. More of a
red-brown than anything else. “I’m Roman,” he said softly. “I’m to be
your mate. That’s Lennox.”

Quin tensed up, and he looked up at the black-haired dragon in

front of him, who was staring back down at him with a mix of pity

Marcy Jacks

and sadness in his eyes. It was a look that was contagious, because
now everyone was staring at Quin with that same expression.

Quin shook his head and stepped away from the man he didn’t

know, but who his wolf had chosen for his mate. His wolf had chosen
this man, but he was supposed to be mated off to someone else?

“No.”

Taking Another Man

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Chapter Two

“There has to be something that can be done,” Roman said.
Lennox Barrach watched the man, jealousy and anger surging

through him like an electric current that his body couldn’t contain. He
wanted to release it all and take all of his anger out on the man, a man
he respected and followed into battle with the wolves and Templars
two hundred times before, and yet now he wanted nothing more than
to strangle him.

All of that anger and hate for a wolf he’d met only two hours ago.

The wolves really did know how to cast spells. He hadn’t believed it,
hadn’t really trusted the notion of an instant mating, but now he was
discovering for himself that it was true.

And just the thought of Roman getting down on his knees and

giving Quin one of his scales in front of the entire clan was enough to
make Lennox’s blood sizzle.

“Garrett and Stan are already back at the bottom of the mountain

explaining the situation. I’m sure Simon Abbot won’t have a problem
with his son being mated to someone other than my second in
command, but they have a council that must be dealt with. It’s not as
simple as it would be here.”

“And what’s your decision?” Lennox asked. His arms were

crossed, and he was staring at his leader with nothing less than anger
in his eyes. He didn’t want to have to go through with this at all. It
was bullshit and a waste of time.

Aris carefully studied him. Lennox hadn’t felt like he was being

sized up by his clan leader in such a long time. He didn’t much like it
right now when it was a struggle to stay away from the handsome

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little wolf who belonged to him.

Him, not Roman.
Aris finally spoke, but there was nothing in his posture that

suggested he was about to be pushed around on the issue. “I’m going
to respect whatever the wolf council decides.”

“You can’t do that!” Lennox snapped. “He’s mine!”
“We signed a contract, Lennox,” Roman said. His voice was stern,

but there was nothing harsh about it.

Lennox didn’t care. “Don’t give me that bullshit excuse. You

don’t want to mate to the wolf any more than he wants to mate with
you. Everyone knows you have an eye for Kendrick. Mate with him
instead.”

“I can’t when I signed a contract. What about that do you not

understand?” Roman said, and this time there was a hint of a fight in
his eyes and voice. His body became stiff, and black and brown scales
started to appear over his skin, the way they did whenever a dragon
was itching for a fight.

Lennox hissed back at him, letting his own black scales come to

the surface. “Come on then,” he said, feeling his teeth lengthen and
sharpen next.

“Enough! The both of you!” Aris snapped.
Their redheaded leader snapped his head between the two of them,

and his eyes were blazing with fire, and talons were growing out
where his fingernails used to be. “For the love of the Gods. My
second in command and one of my warriors getting ready to fight like
hatchlings. Unbelievable!”

Lennox wouldn’t be shamed, however. Not in this. “He’s mine,

Aris.”

“I believe you,” Aris said.
“I don’t care whether you believe me or not. I care about whether

you’ll force him to get into bed with Roman based on what some
wolves say.”

“You say the word wolves like it’s an insult,” Roman said. “You

Taking Another Man

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do remember that the man you want so much is a wolf himself,
right?”

Lennox could feel his electric currents rising up inside of him, and

he wanted nothing more than to blast the man in front of him.

“Knock it off, the both of you,” Aris said, and he turned his

attention back to Lennox. This time, there was an angry snarl on his
face. “Roman and I both signed agreements. He has to mate with one
of Simon’s sons.”

“So make him choose someone else!” Lennox snapped.
“We can’t!” Aris shouted back. “That was the wolf who was sent

up, so he is the one who will be mated to Roman unless Simon can
convince the council otherwise. I offered myself and my second in
command, everyone else is on a volunteer basis, and you didn’t
volunteer, so your name isn’t even on the list.”

“I’m volunteering now,” Lennox said, and it was a fight to keep

from clenching his hands into fists. He was that angry with everything
right now.

“I know you are, but this…” Aris seemed to be having trouble

looking for the right words, which was rare for him. “This might not
be an agreement that we can change very easily. Simon and I have
come to an agreement, but his council is still searching for ways to
pick fights. They could see it as an insult that I’m suddenly no longer
offering my second in command to them. They could demand war,
and Simon’s pack is big enough that some of his wolves might just
demand it, or go off on their own to hunt down other dragons who
leave the mountain.”

Lennox wanted to hiss at the thought of that, but in reality, he

knew it was a sound argument. The peace that was being built
between the wolves and the dragons was fragile at best, and that was
just between one pack and one clan. There were hundreds of other
clans and packs who were still at war with each other, and there were
many dragons even in this clan who hated the thought of werewolves
coming onto the mountain.

Marcy Jacks

They saw it as an insult to the dragons who came before them who

had fought so hard to keep the wolves off of their territory.

Lennox couldn’t stand for this. If he had to watch Roman go

through with a mating ceremony with Quin, then he was going to lose
his mind.

“I don’t even know that wolf. I don’t know his likes or dislikes,

whether we’re compatible or not…how can this even be happening?”
Lennox asked.

“It’s the mating,” Aris said. “It’s different for wolves than it is for

dragons, but it seems we can feel it just as deeply as they do, so long
as it’s happening with them.”

Lennox wasn’t sure if that even made sense or not, but he

supposed he was going to have to run with it. He’d always expected
that he would be able to choose his mate, not have one chosen for him
by nature, or whatever this was.

Yet here he was, on the verge of attacking his friend Roman over

a wolf that he wouldn’t have given a second thought about had he not
ever met him.

“I’m sure Simon will do everything in his power to make sure his

son isn’t forced to mate with someone who isn’t a natural mate,” Aris
said. “Garrett and Stan will be speaking for the both of you. They
were there to see when Quin first met you. They know their brother
isn’t faking this.”

Lennox wasn’t faking anything either, but he still didn’t trust the

council, and he didn’t trust Roman either, which was a terrible thing
for him to be thinking about the man who led him in battle when Aris
wasn’t around.

He couldn’t help but sneer at the other man. “Why the hell would

you agree to be mated off to a wolf when you’re in love with
Kendrick? What’s the matter with you?”

“That’s enough, Lennox,” Aris snapped.
“It’s all right, Aris,” Roman said.
Lennox had enough. He put his hands up and backed out of the

Taking Another Man

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study where this entire farce was being held. “Yes, it’s perfectly all
right because how dare I question the high dragon and his second in
command? Right?”

“Don’t do this, Lennox,” Aris said, and the man sounded

incredibly tired.

Lennox remembered then that his mate was ill in bed, constantly

throwing up with no sign of getting better. A spear of guilt lanced
through him, but he couldn’t stop himself now. He couldn’t back
down. His pride wouldn’t allow it. Not when his friends were talking
about giving his mate to someone else based on a contract.

He turned around and left the study. He was putting an end to this

right now.

* * * *

Quin was just happy to see his brother was awake and sitting up in

bed. From the way Aris had silently brooded about the whole thing—
after the shock of realizing Roman was not the handsome man he’d
mated to—Quin had feared that he’d come across his brother on the
verge of death.

Conner was definitely pale, and he looked a little thinner than he

had the last time he’d come to visit the pack, but he was awake and
smiling as the two of them caught up on what was happening at the
pack.

“Dad’s still pissed off with the council, and George is still being a

pain in the ass. I swear he’d probably try and fight for the position of
alpha if he wasn’t such a puss.”

Conner stopped smiling at that. “Well, hopefully he doesn’t make

too much of a fuss. Not if you’ve mated to Lennox.”

Quin’s heart actually skipped a beat at the mention of that name,

and he had to look away from his brother’s face. “I can’t believe…it
was so embarrassing. You should have seen it.”

“Wish I could’ve. But if he’s your mate then it’s all right,” Conner

Marcy Jacks

said. “You’re allowed to be a spaz around your mate.”

“It’s different if I’m not allowed to mate with him.”
Conner didn’t have anything to say to that. Really, what could the

man say? They both knew what an asshole George was, and he was
basically the head of the council. He could sway this whole thing one
way or the other.

Quin had every confidence in the world that his father wouldn’t

see a problem with Quin wanting to be with his chosen mate. George,
on the other hand, could stir up all kinds of shit for no good reason.
The man would make a mountain out of a molehill, and let the whole
pack think that Quin was being taken advantage of somehow because
he wouldn’t be mating with the second in command, as was arranged.

The bigger problem, however, was the fact that Quin wasn’t

entirely sure he was going to be able to keep his hands to himself
while this whole thing went down. If he was so much as alone with
Lennox, then there wasn’t going to be time for an introduction before
he pushed the man up against the wall and tried to have his wicked
way with him.

Lennox was his chosen mate, but if the pack decided that Quin

had to be with someone else, then was he really going to be strong
enough to say no and risk the peace between the dragons and the
wolves?

His cock hardly seemed to care about peace between anyone. The

only thing it wanted was to sink into a tight, warm space and lay
claim Lennox’s body.

He had to stop thinking about this while he was sitting next to

Conner. This was his little brother right here, he was sick, and all
Quin could think about was sex. He was totally going to hell.

“I brought you some stuff,” Quin said, and that got Conner to sit

up a little straighter as Quin pulled out the books and new video
games that had come out since Conner had been on the mountain.

Conner’s face lit up at the sight of them. “These are so great!

Thank you!”

Taking Another Man

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“I figured it must be hard to get Amazon packages delivered up

here, so I took the liberty of bringing them for you myself.”

“You’re so awesome,” Conner said, flipping through the latest

book in the series he was reading.

“When you’re done with that one I want to read it next,” Quin

said. “I’ve been getting into that one since you’ve been gone.”

“No problem,” Conner said, and then they were shifting through

all the new games that had come out for Conner’s Playstation Vita.

Quin had brought his own, and soon they started a campaign

online to kill as many alien invaders as they could and take over new
planets.

It was so natural that they might as well have been doing this in

their own rooms. It was great, and almost enough for Quin to forget
about the fact that he was no longer at his pack, but in a huge castle
carved into the rock of the mountain.

Conner hadn’t been joking. This place was beautiful.
He also learned that one of the dragons here, a man named

Kendrick, owned a Playstation 4.

“You’ve got to introduce me to that guy,” Quin said, barely taking

his eyes away from the screen in front of him as he and Conner
captured more enemy bases.

“Yeah, he’s great. A little quiet though. You won’t see him out of

his room too much anymore. I’ll tell you why later on, but he’s a good
guy. Tom and Oliver like him, and they hang out with him a lot, too.”

“Tom and Oliver…they’re the other werewolves who mated with

the dragons here?”

“Yeah, interesting story, kind of romantic. You want to hear it?”
Quin did want to hear it. Knowing that his pack wasn’t the only

one that was tying itself to a dragon clan was insanely interesting, but
then there was a knock on the door.

They both looked up, and Quin expected his brother in law, Aris,

to enter so he could check on Conner.

It wasn’t Aris, it was the spiky-haired dragon with the piercings

Marcy Jacks

and tattoo.

Quin’s body immediately buzzed at the sight of Lennox. He

tensed up and gripped the Vita so tightly in his hands that Conner had
to quickly take the thing before he could crack the screen or
something.

“Hi, Lennox,” Conner said. “What…uh, what brings you here?”
Conner already knew, and the way his eyes flicked between

Lennox and Quin made that painfully obvious.

“I was just coming to check on you. I haven’t really seen you in a

bit,” Lennox said. His bright green eyes were doing the same thing
that Conner’s were. He was looking between Conner and Quin, and it
was a good thing this man was meant to be a warrior who dealt in
fighting and not stealth, because he wasn’t being very subtle.

God, Quin could smell him. Was he wearing something or was

that his natural musk? Whatever the hell that spicy-sweet scent was, it
was doing wonders for the little nerve endings inside of Quin’s nose,
as well as getting a reaction out of his dick.

“Is Aris almost done with his meeting?” Conner asked after a long

period of silence.

“Almost,” Lennox said as he smiled. He managed to look gentle,

despite the hair, piercings, and tattoo. Did he have another tattoo on
him somewhere that Quin couldn’t see?

He thought about peeling Lennox’s clothing off of his body and

having a look for himself, and then his stupid dick jumped at the
thought.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Can I steal him for a few minutes?” Lennox asked, looking at

Quin.

Quin tensed up in his seat. What was happening here? They

shouldn’t be alone together and Lennox had to know that.

Conner, being the little traitor that he was, just smiled at the other

man. “No problem. We were just wasting time anyway.”

Quin was only ten years older than his little brother, and

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sometimes he had to remind himself that Conner wasn’t a baby. He
was a twenty-five-year-old man. A young adult. He knew exactly
what Lennox wanted Quin for.

“But I was catching up with you. That’s not wasting time,” Quin

said, feeling kind of sour about the entire thing as he glared at his
brother.

Conner just smiled sweetly at him.
“He said it’s all right, so why are you worrying about it?” Lennox

asked.

The bastard. He knew exactly what the problem was here.
Quin knew he should probably make some other excuse, some

reason why it was better that he didn’t go with Lennox, but that sweet
and spicy smell was calling to him, as was the dragon’s handsome
face.

He would just go to talk. That was it. He and Lennox were going

to have a mature conversation about why this couldn’t happen. Then
they would both be on the same page. It was perfect. Quin had to have
this conversation with him eventually, so he might as well be doing it
right now.

Quin slowly got up out of his chair and went to the other man. He

felt like he was in a trance, or a long tunnel, and the exit was right
where Lennox was standing. He was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed
to be having reactions like that when he was trying to avoid being so
close to this man.

“I’ll see you later, big brother,” Conner called after him.
Quin just vaguely waved back at him. He might have said

something as well, but he couldn’t be sure. His entire focus was on
the dragon in front of him, and Lennox’s hand burned when it touched
Quin’s lower back.

No. No. No! Lennox shouldn’t be touching him because then

Quin’s traitor body was going to react and—

Too late.
It wasn’t skin-to-skin touch, but his flesh still flared up, alive and

Marcy Jacks

aware of everything around him, and his dick pulsed.

What would it be like when they were body to body? Would

Lennox kiss him? Or was he here to just grab onto Quin and fuck him
so that everyone in the clan, and down at the pack, would know that
he wasn’t going to be mated off to someone else?

That last bit hardly sounded romantic, but Quin was so desperate

for it that he would accept it gladly anyway.

Wait a minute? What? No! That wasn’t what he’d meant to think

about!

“Where are we going?” Quin asked, finally getting his lips and

tongue to work together to form words. Christ, he was a fully grown
beta and yet he was acting like some omega virgin, or a schoolgirl.
This was the worst.

They were out of Conner’s room and walking down the wide,

stone hallway of the castle. Quin had to rely on Lennox for this part,
because he was definitely not watching where he was going. He was
only watching Lennox’s face.

His gorgeous, amazing face that Quin wanted to put his lips all

over.

“Someplace private,” Lennox said, finally answering him as he

grabbed onto Quin’s wrist in a painful grip, as if he had no intention
of ever letting him go.

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Chapter Three

“You know he’s not going to be able to keep himself from

Conner’s brother, right?” Aris asked.

Roman sighed, and he rubbed his face. “For all I know, he’s

claiming the man right now.”

“Does that bother you?” Aris asked.
It seemed that his friend was trying to be gentle about this. Roman

appreciated it, but he didn’t need it.

“Hardly. I don’t feel any attachment to the wolf, even if I’m

supposed to mate to him. I can hardly feel jealous over a man I’m not
remotely in love with.”

Lennox had more of a claim to the beta than Roman did,

regardless of what some piece of paper said.

“I hate to admit to this, but I’m actually kind of glad that the wolf

mated with Lennox,” Roman said.

“You are?”
Roman shrugged. “If it puts off having to bind myself to him, then

I’m all for it.”

Roman thought of Kendrick just then. Kendrick, who Roman was

in love with, but now couldn’t have because he’d been so stupid. The
younger dragon had to know by now that Roman was expected to
give one of his scales to Conner’s brother. Would he be heartbroken?

Roman hoped not. He’d purposely kept his distance so that the

emotional attachment he felt to the man wouldn’t deepen anymore
than it already had, but he could recall how passionately Kendrick had
kissed that doppelgänger. A dragon in the clan was playing cruel
tricks on the man. It was hard to say how dangerous that particular

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dragon was, but he was definitely wanted for arrest.

It was a shame that no one knew who he was. The bastard

continued to change his shape, and he eluded capture the last time
he’d gone after Kendrick and threatened Oliver.

The dirty, evil, conniving shape shifter had made himself look like

Roman on more than one occasion, and he’d tricked Kendrick.
Kendrick had thought the stranger truly was Roman when they had
kissed, and there was no telling how far the shape-shifter would have
taken things had Roman not found them, stepped in, and put a stop to
it.

Kendrick had been humiliated and frightened to know that

someone was preying upon him, and Roman had done his best to be a
comfort to the man. He’d spent time with him, more time than he
should have, and he gave Kendrick expensive gifts to amuse himself
with when Roman couldn’t be there.

There had always been a shy sort of hope in Kendrick’s pale blue

eyes whenever Roman came to him, and Roman couldn’t lie to
himself about how badly he’d messed this up.

He’d always been in love with Kendrick. The handsome blond

had always had a place in Roman’s heart. But before, Kendrick had
been Aris’s lover. Roman would never have interfered with
something like that. How could he? Then, when Kendrick and Aris
were no longer together, Roman had never dared to hope that
Kendrick would start to see him as anything other than the best friend
of his ex.

For that reason, when Aris had told Roman of his plan to attain

peace by mating himself and several of his prominent dragon warriors
to chosen wolves from the pack at the bottom of the mountain, Roman
not only volunteered, but he swore an oath to it.

His name was on the list, an offering of the second in command of

the Firethorn clan. He was at the mercy of the wolf council now, and
even if they decided to let Quin be mated to the dragon of his choice,
Roman still would not be free to pursue Kendrick.

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It was all so very unfair.
“I wish you had told me,” Aris said, shaking his head. The high

dragon was doing that thing that he did whenever he was trying to
hide the fact that he was getting angry. He was biting down on his lips
and looking at anything but the object of his anger. “If you’d just told
me you had feelings for him then I never would have let you sign
your name—”

“I know that. Don’t blame yourself,” Roman said. He rubbed his

hand over his face. He needed to get out of here. He needed to stretch
his wings and try to not think about how utterly fucked he was.

“Permission to leave, sir?” Roman asked.
Aris raised a brow at him. It wasn’t often they were so formal

with each other, but he nodded anyway. “Go on, get out of here. I
should go and see Kristoff about Conner’s condition anyway.”

Roman nodded, and then he left the study. He moved to the

gardens where the launching pad was, and all the while he tried not to
think about Kendrick. How he was making the man miserable again
and again with almost no effort at all on his part.

He sighed. His coming flight was going to be filled with thoughts

of no one else but Kendrick. He knew that, now.

* * * *

Lennox pushed the young wolf into his bedroom, and he slammed

the door shut behind him. Quin’s dark chocolate eyes were wide, and
his chest was heaving as he stared at Lennox.

Like he was afraid.
Lennox frowned at that. “Are you scared of me?”
Quin frowned and vehemently shook his head. “No!”
“You look afraid.”
“Not afraid,” Quin insisted. “This is just…I don’t know. We

shouldn’t be doing this.”

Quin tried to walk back to the door, but Lennox got in his way. He

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was not letting this wolf out of his sight. No fucking way.

That seemed to just piss Quin off, and the man scowled at him.

“What are you doing? Get out of my way, right now.”

“No,” Lennox said, and he put his hand on Quin’s chest and

pushed back just enough to get the wolf away from the door, but
without using so much of his strength that he would send Quin flying
across the room.

Quin still had a stunned look on his face, his dark brown eyes so

damned wide, as if he couldn’t believe that had just happened.
“You’re…a lot stronger than I am,” he said.

Lennox walked up to the man, pleased when Quin didn’t

immediately back away from him. The wolf didn’t even flinch when
Lennox fisted that soft, dark brown hair. It was the color of rich soil,
and it smelled about as fresh as the earth did as well. “You’re
supposed to be mated to someone else,” Lennox said.

Quin nodded. Lennox wasn’t gripping him so tightly that he

couldn’t do that. “I know.”

Lennox couldn’t resist leaning in just to get some more of that

smell, but he didn’t do something as crass as loudly inhale through his
nose. Even he didn’t want to be as weird as that. “I won’t let you be
mated to someone else.”

Quin’s entire body tensed up in Lennox’s arms. “That’s not your

decision to make.”

“It is. It’s the most natural decision in the world. It’s your father’s

agreement that’s the problem,” Lennox said, and he reached down
and put his hand over the growing bulge between Quin’s legs.

Quin opened his mouth and gasped, a clear sound of pleasure, and

Lennox was completely transfixed on the man’s pink lips and tongue.

“Do you want me to stop?” Lennox asked.
Quin shook his head, and fuck if it didn’t make Lennox’s cock

and balls react when the man’s eyes flicked down to Lennox’s mouth.
“No,” he said. “I don’t want you to stop, but that doesn’t make this
right. That doesn’t mean we should do it.”

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Lennox scowled. “I don’t care about what we should be doing!”

he snapped. That was about as much self control as Lennox
possessed. He leaned in with a moan, forcing Quin’s head to angle
back so that he could fully claim the man’s mouth.

Quin shut his eyes and parted his lips immediately. “Mmph!” he

said, moaning when Lennox thrust his tongue inside of his warm, wet
mouth.

That was all it took. One kiss, one taste of that mouth and Quin’s

hands reaching up to grab onto Lennox’s black hair and he was
finished. There was nothing else he could say or do. He was taking
this man as his, and Roman, Aris, and that wolf council at the bottom
of the mountain could all go and fuck themselves.

Lennox vaguely recalled cleaning up his room before setting off

with Aris and Roman to meet the wolves at the halfway point on their
large, black mountain, and he was glad that he had so that he didn’t
have to bring his mate into the pig pen this place usually was.

Lennox fell down onto the bed with Quin beneath him. Quin

continued to moan, his hands were everywhere, and his body felt hot.
Hotter than it had even when Lennox pulled the man away from his
brother and began leading him to this place.

Quin’s cock was also hard. Lennox took advantage of that fact as

he pressed his pelvis down and humped against him, thrusting his hips
up and circling them as Quin panted and groaned helplessly from the
friction his cock was receiving. It was like the wolf was in heat, and it
was fucking amazing to experience, amazing to watch, and amazing
to have.

Quin pulled his mouth away, his cheeks flushed and lips swollen

and pink from the kissing. “How old are you?” he asked.

Lennox didn’t stop the slow thrust of his hips. He couldn’t, but his

ears still registered the question. Sort of. “What?” he asked, and he
leaned in to put his mouth along the curve of Quin’s throat. He tasted
so damned good.

“H–how old are you? I want to know more about you,” Quin said.

Marcy Jacks

“We can talk after we’ve fucked,” Lennox said, and he lifted up

the maroon shirt that Quin was wearing, but he didn’t have the
patience to get it off of his mate’s body. He only pulled it up enough
so that his mouth could find and make contact with Quin’s cute little
brown nipples. “I don’t want you distracting me with pointless
questions.”

Quin’s hands were gripping Lennox’s hair so tightly that it was

hurting him, but he didn’t dare mention that. “No. I–I want to know
more about you before we do this. I don’t…I never fucked anyone I
didn’t know before, and I don’t even know your last name.”

Lennox sighed, hating the interruption, but it seemed like a fair

enough question when it was put that way. At least he wasn’t
demanding Lennox to stop. “My last name is Barrach, and I’m
ninety,” he said, and then he let his tongue out and left wet kisses all
along the smaller man’s abs.

Quin was smaller, but he had amazing muscle definition. His skin

tone was also darker than Lennox’s. Likely that was a product of
being out in the sun for man hours of the day during his lifetime.

Quin puffed and panted. “N–ninety? Holy shit, you look like

you’re barely older than Conner.”

Lennox chuckled, and he let his hands massage Quin’s hips, right

before he hooked his thumbs into the beta’s pants and slowly started
to pull them down. “You say that as if it shocks you. You can’t be that
much younger than me, and you’ve aged beautifully. How old are
you? Seventy? Eighty?” Lennox asked, and with each number he
threw out there, he pressed another kiss down lower, until Quin’s hard
cock was starting to be exposed, and that was where Lennox’s lips
travelled to next.

Quin shivered. “Th–thirty-five. I’m thirty-five.”
Lennox immediately stopped what he was doing, and he could

feel his eyes going round as golf balls as he stared up at the younger
man. The a lot younger man.

“Thirty-five. Are you serious?” he asked. The man he was holding

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was practically a child.

Quin looked to be about mid twenties or so, the same as Conner,

but Lennox hadn’t thought for a second that this beta werewolf, his
new mate, could be that young.

Quin came out of his lust filled haze enough to realize that

Lennox had stopped what he was doing. “Is that a problem?”

“I didn’t realize you were that young,” Lennox said, and now he

almost felt guilty for touching Quin as he was. As if he was putting
his hands on a minor. Quin was so much younger than Lennox was,
and yet he seemed to have self-control by the bucket loads if he was
able to at least tell himself to stop what he was doing.

Unlike Lennox, who was plowing ahead with no thought of the

consequences.

The canine sounding growl above him had Lennox turning his

head back up to look Quin in the face, and the werewolf was snarling
down at him. His lips were pulled back, and his eyes were glowing
gold and everything. “That had better be a joke,” he said.

“Not a joke. There are so many brothers in your family that I must

not have heard right the age of the next wolf chosen to come up the
mountain.”

“I’m going to be forty in five years. I’m not a child.”
“I know that. Logically, but the age gap between us…I always

wondered how Aris was so comfortable with having a mate who was
barely out of his teen years. You are ten years older than he is, and I
can hardly believe even that.”

So young. So young for Lennox to be ruining his life like this, and

yet, because he was a completely selfish bastard, he didn’t want to
stop. He wanted to get the rest of Quin’s clothes off and fuck him
until the man couldn’t walk anymore, regardless of what it would do
to the rest of his life.

Quin was silent for a moment, but then he sat up. Lennox had

found himself on his knees in front of the bed, almost without even
realizing it. Quin hadn’t bothered to cover up his still-exposed cock.

Marcy Jacks

He just stared down at Lennox with a serious expression on his face.
“You and I are going to live very long lives.”

“Yes, but I’ll still die almost a full half century before you do.”
“You don’t know that,” Quin said, and then he shook his head and

frowned, like he was trying to banish the words he’d just said. “Not
that I care anyway. If you changed your mind, just say so and I’ll be
gone.”

Lennox tensed up at the threat, and he found himself gripping

Quin’s shoulders as tightly as he could just to keep the beta from
leaving this, this room, his life. “No, I don’t want you to go. It was
just a shock hearing that you were so young.”

Lennox wasn’t kind enough to either of them to want Quin to

leave this room anyway. He would do anything to keep Quin, along
with chaining him down and begging him until the other man gave in.
There was no going back.

“Oh,” Quin said, nodding his head as if Lennox’s words made any

sense at all. “Because if we’re really going to do this, then my age is
going to be the least of our problems.”

Lennox smiled, but only because he could tell that the wolf was

about to give in. “Oh? So you’re all right with this?”

“I never said that!” Quin said. “But…I don’t…I’m not all right

with the idea of leaving either.”

The way this wolf was speaking to him had Lennox confused.

“Are you sure you’re a beta? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you
were an omega.”

Quin scowled at him, and there was nothing omega about that

dark expression. “I’m not an omega. Don’t think for one second you
can treat me like one.”

Too late. Lennox had already dragged the smaller man in here,

had him pinned down, and made his cock hard, and he was planning
on putting his mouth, tongue, and hands everywhere.

Quin tensed up. The dark look vanishing from his eyes. “W–why

are you looking at me like that?”

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“Because I think you’re cute,” Lennox said.
Lennox placed his hands on Quin’s thighs, and he parted them.

There was only so much space that could be attained there, however,
thanks to Quin’s pants being stuck at his ankles. Lennox cursed as he
pulled the offending things off of him, bending down to push off
Quin’s shoes and jeans the rest of the way, leaving him only in his
socks.

Lennox looked back up into the dark eyes of his soon-to-be mate.

“If I do this with you, I will be betraying my entire clan. Your pack
could demand a war,” he said, and he leaned in, pressing his lips to
the head of Quin’s cock.

Quin shivered, hips thrusting toward Lennox’s mouth, but Lennox

didn’t take the length of Quin’s dick into his mouth just yet. He was
enjoying this slow teasing too much.

He also didn’t want Quin to think too much about the words

Lennox had just spoken. He wanted the man bathing in pleasure.

“M–my dad won’t let there be a war. Conner’s up here, and he

went through with the bargain. Besides,” he said, and then threw his
head back, opened his mouth and sighed as Lennox sucked on his
balls. “Y–you’re not the ones going back on the deal. I am.”

That wouldn’t do. If there were going to be consequences for this,

then Lennox didn’t want Quin to think for one second that he was the
one responsible for them.

Lennox was a dragon warrior. It didn’t matter if Quin was unsure

about this whole thing, Lennox wasn’t. It was his job to protect his
mate. Period. “I think what I’m doing would count against the clan. I
am a dragon, in case you forgot,” he said.

Quin’s dick was uncut, and he was enjoying sliding his hand

along the shaft, playing with the skin as he stroked the man, watching
as the bulb of the head appeared and disappeared.

“I…I didn’t forget,” Quin said, panting and puffing for breath.
Lennox wet his lips and leaned in. He swallowed Quin’s cock into

his mouth in one easy motion before pulling back as quickly as he’d

Marcy Jacks

gone in. “You mated to me after seeing me for only one second. Is it
common for wolves to make mistakes when they mate with each
other.”

“I–I doubt that. Oh fuck,” Quin said. “A wolf mating d–doesn’t

usually…I haven’t heard of a lot of wolves hating their mates.”

Quin blinked, and he was suddenly glaring down at Lennox as he

realized what he’d just said. “That doesn’t mean this is a good idea!
Strop trying to confuse me!”

Despite the way Quin snapped at him, Lennox had paid very close

attention to what had just been said.

So it was a possibility for mates to not like each other. Would

Quin one day hate him if Lennox pushed too hard? Regardless, it was
too late. Lennox wasn’t about to give up on his mate, and despite
Quin’s protests, he wasn’t trying to push Lennox off of him.

Lennox put his mouth around Quin’s cock again, delighting in the

sound of the man’s choked moan, and a thrill ran through Lennox’s
skin, down his spine, and all the way to his cock when Quin fell back
against the bed. He was done. He was Lennox’s, and Lennox was
going to take him and make sure he never forgot who he belonged to.

Lennox let his mouth go down even more. He deep-throated the

man until he felt the crown of Quin’s dick touching the back of his
throat.

Lennox moaned. He knew just how well those vibrations could

feel when someone was going down on him, and he wanted that same
pleasure for Quin.

It was difficult, especially with the way Lennox continued to bob

his head up and down along the column of Quin’s cock, but he could
see the way Quin was fisting that gorgeous brown hair of his. Were
his hands turning into claws? That was so fucking sexy that Lennox
couldn’t even describe it.

He had to touch himself. His prick was swelling and pulsing every

time he sank his lips down, every time his nose touched on that rough
patch of pubic hair. It was as if he was giving himself pleasure just by

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sucking off his mate, and it intensified when he curled his fingers
around his aching prick.

He was already close. He was going to come soon and it was clear

that Quin was, too, by the way he thrust his hips forward, faster and
faster. The wolf was suddenly no longer grabbing onto his own hair,
and he was reaching down for Lennox’s.

“D–do you have a tongue ring?”
Lennox snorted a laugh and had to pull away before he choked.

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling up at the other man, and he
wasn’t sure when the last time was that he’d felt this free and
comfortable laughing in bed with another person. “You’re only
noticing that now? I had my tongue in your mouth.”

Lennox couldn’t tell if Quin was blushing or not. His face and

body was already flushed red. It was a sight to see, it really was.

“I was…preoccupied.”
“Were you?” Lennox asked, and he let his hands trail up and

down the tanned flesh of Quin’s thighs. Quin had body hair on him.
Not overly dark or noticeable, and he wasn’t as hairy as Lennox
assumed the other wolves were when he imagined what they were like
when they were naked.

Simply for the sake of curiosity, and nothing more.
Quin had a decent amount of body hair. Not too much, and it

wasn’t so dark and thick that Lennox couldn’t see his skin beneath it.

“What are you looking at?” Quin asked, and the man was actually

squirming under Lennox’s stare.

Lennox smiled. His new mate might like to flaunt the fact that he

was an adult in his thirties, but there was still something incredibly
innocent about a man who could react that way to the attention that
Lennox was giving him.

He was still so damned young. A human might be a fully grown

adult, more than that, by Quin’s age, but werewolves were able to
hold onto their youth for a lot longer. He wouldn’t even be considered
a fully matured adult by his own people until the age of fifty. Until

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then, he was still a young adult.

“I was thinking about how lovely you are. I never thought I would

like body hair so much, but you don’t have as much as I thought
wolves would have.”

“We only get really hairy when we’re about to turn into wolves,”

Quin said, looking down at himself and running a hand over his firm
stomach. “I never really thought about it so much. You don’t seem to
have any body hair at all.”

“Most dragons have very little. It’s the reptile in us.”
“You’re lucky you have hair on your head then.”
Lennox laughed. “That I am, but I like your hair better,” he said,

and he crawled up the space of the bed, and he pressed his nose to the
soft locks on top of Quin’s head. This time he couldn’t resist inhaling
long and deep.

“You smell so damned good. Are you wearing anything?”
“I think that’s just the mating scent,” Quin replied, and his arms

wrapped around Lennox’s shoulders. “I can smell it on you, too.
Fuck, this is such a bad idea. I shouldn’t be doing this.”

There were those words again, but like before, Quin still wasn’t

saying the one word he needed in order to make Lennox stop.

He wasn’t saying no.
Lennox pulled up the T-shirt that Quin was wearing again. It had

fallen back down when Lennox had busied himself with sucking on
Quin’s dick, which was still dark and pointing up at him like it
wanted more attention.

Lennox pressed kisses to Quin’s stomach and chest. He stopped to

play with the man’s nipples, biting them gently and teasing the man in
front of him.

“F–fuck you’re good,” Quin said. “And you’re still wearing

clothes.”

That he was, but Quin didn’t think either of them were about to

get completely naked. Not right now. As Lennox climbed back onto
the bed, he slowly started to push Quin back into a lying down

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position. He pushed the man’s knees apart and settled between them.
His pucker looked tight. “Are you a virgin?”

The red around Quin’s entire body darkened, and his eyes

widened, but he did answer. “No.”

Lennox allowed his fingertips to massage over that little pink ring

of muscle. Quin shivered. “Have you ever had anyone here before?”

Quin shook his head, not hesitating, which was a surprise. “No.

Usually I top.”

“That’s going to change.”
“What do you mean?” Quin asked.
“I top exclusively.” Lennox had done that once before, and he

swore to himself that it was never going to happen again.

Quin’s face and body darkened, but this time the red seemed more

about anger than anything else, so Lennox quickly leaned down and
kissed him before he could shout anything at him.

“Mmph!” Quin said when his mouth was occupied, and Lennox

thrust his tongue inside, knowing that the tongue ring would distract
the man for sure this time, now that he was aware of it.

It worked, and Quin melted beneath him. He melted under the

heat of the kiss, and the gentle ministrations of Lennox’s fingers
against his asshole, and Lennox hadn’t even pushed them inside of the
man yet.

He was going to, however. He just needed something to ease the

way.

“You are so fucking beautiful like that,” Lennox said, and he

reached over with one hand for where he kept his lube hidden beneath
his mattress.

It wasn’t the most original hiding place, but he didn’t like keeping

it in his nightstand.

When he had the black bottle in his hands, he opened the cap and

poured some onto his fingers. He circled Quin’s asshole with them.
“Your clothes all disheveled like that, your hair sticking up
everywhere, your skin red. You smell like sex,” Lennox said, and he

Marcy Jacks

had to lean in again and press his nose to Quin’s collarbone.

So much for thinking that the sniffing thing was creepy, because

right now all he wanted to do was smell Quin everywhere, and rub his
scent all over the smaller man.

He’d never had the urge to do that before. Was this another wolf

thing.

Quin was panting heavily, but his eyes were dilated as he stared

up at Lennox. “I don’t…I don’t want this to hurt.”

“It will, there’s nothing I can do about that,” Lennox said, trying

to be as gentle about it as possible, but he wasn’t about to lie to his
mate either. “But I can promise you that it won’t last, and that you’re
really going to like what I’m gonna do to you,” Lennox said.

He stared up into Quin’s eyes, which were gold again. It seemed

his eye color changed from wolf to human and back again based on
his mood. What was his mood now? He looked anxious.

“Okay,” Quin said finally, and he nodded his head. “Do it.”
Lennox wasn’t a wolf, but he could have howled with the pleasure

those two little words gave to him.

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Chapter Four

Quin was still telling himself all the excuses he was going to make

up to the council to explain why he hadn’t mated to the second in
command of the dragon clan when it finally came out that he betrayed
his family and his pack.

He knew his father and brothers wouldn’t mind. They’d be

shocked, but Quin was blessed with having a large family that was
good to him. A dragon was a dragon as far as they were concerned at
this point, but Quin still couldn’t shake the feeling that what he was
doing was going to cause a ripple effect.

No matter how much he wanted this, part of him was still

screaming at him to say no. To put a stop to Lennox’s roaming hands
and his warm lips.

Quin couldn’t say a thing, however. His body was warm, and it

was getting hotter by the second as Lennox’s mouth moved down to
his throat. Quin was being swept away.

“Maybe we should think about this. Give it some time.”
“No more time,” Lennox said, his voice gruff. “I’m not going to

let you mate to someone other than me. You’re mine. You might as
well get used to that.”

“Yeah, but—oh!” Quin moaned and clutched Lennox’s leather

jacket tightly in his fists when the man reached down and palmed his
cock through his jeans.

Lennox knew just the right amount of pressure to give, and his

tongue and lips were still kissing and licking at Quin’s throat, right
before the man brought himself back up so that he could kiss Quin’s
lips.

Marcy Jacks

He felt like he was really being claimed, and that was the point of

this whole thing, wasn’t it?

But if Quin didn’t put a stop to it, then there wouldn’t be a chance

later on to go back, not without completely ripping his heart from his
chest.

Denying a mate was supposed to be painful enough, but breaking

up with a mate, with someone who had already offered the mating
bite, was incredibly rare for how awful that could be.

Fuck. He was so screwed. Why did he have to mate with the

wrong person? Why couldn’t he have looked at Roman and realized
that was exactly where he was meant to be? George was going to raise
hell just for the sake of getting attention, and stirring up shit with the
pack. He was going to create a problem where there wasn’t one, and
that could split the pack into two. One side following George, and the
other following Quin’s father, Simon.

That would definitely be a big problem.
But only if George could make the pack believe that this was a

ploy from the dragons, a way of getting out of the deal they’d made.
So long as Quin made it abundantly clear that he was the reason why
this was happening, that he was the one betraying the pack by not
being strong enough to say no, then hopefully there wouldn’t be much
trouble that George could cause.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about little wolf, but I want all

of your attention on me,” Lennox said, and then he really got Quin’s
attention when he thrust his slick fingers inside of Quin’s hole.

It was such a new and shocking experience that Quin’s entire

body tensed up and he grit his teeth. He couldn’t move for a few
seconds as his body adjusted. It took his brain a few more seconds
before he realized that he wasn’t in any pain. Not really. There was a
burning sensation to be sure, and Quin had never felt this full before
in his entire life, but it didn’t hurt. It felt like something else that he
couldn’t quite place.

Quin breathed, finally, and he looked up at Lennox who was

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smiling down at him as he wiggled his fingers inside of Quin’s ass.

“So what do you think?”
Smart-ass. “I think that we should stop this.”
Lennox’s face melted into something that was completely and

utterly unimpressed. “If you really thought that, you would be
fighting me off right now.”

“Maybe I should!” Quin said, and he pressed his hands against

Lennox’s chest and shoved him off.

Well, shoving him off had been the plan, but his body froze

immediately on contact. Not because Lennox had found and teased
Quin’s prostate. No, even he knew the difference here.

It was because he didn’t want to push Lennox off of him.
This was a mistake. This was a huge mistake.
But Lennox wasn’t forcing him to do anything. The man wasn’t

holding his hands down and he wasn’t exactly using his strength to
keep Quin in place. He was just staring down at Quin, waiting for him
to do something.

Quin wanted to howl with the frustration. The burning pleasure

was making his dick do the thinking for him, and he sighed and
panted with how good it felt as Lennox slowly started to move his
fingers back and forth. He thrust them in and out of Quin’s hole,
mimicking an act that Quin had never experienced before.

Not like this anyway.
“Tell me what you want,” Lennox said. “I’m not going to rape

you, that’s not what I am.”

Which meant that Quin was going to have no excuses for the

things that were about to come out of his mouth.

“I think…I want…”
“Tell me,” Lennox insisted.
Quin glared up at the man. It was so damned strange to want

someone, and yet be angry with them at the same damned time. “I
think that I’m going to need you to do a lot more than that if you’re
going to keep good on that promise of yours.”

Marcy Jacks

Lennox’s eyes flashed, and it made Quin shiver, watching those

bright green eyes, that were practically neon, turn into a blood red.

At first he thought that Lennox was genuinely angry with him, but

then the man leaned down and quickly captured his lips in another
searing kiss that had Quin’s toes curling.

“Mmph!” Quin said when Lennox thrust his tongue back into his

mouth. It was so damned good, better than anyone Quin had ever had
before.

And just like that, all the fight spilled completely and fully out of

him, though the little voice inside of his head was still telling him
how selfish he was being, it was too late. The fight was over, and
Lennox, and Quin’s body, had won.

Lennox’s fingers continued to move inside of Quin’s hole,

pushing deeper inside of him, stretching his pucker even more so that
it burned and even did start to hurt a little despite the pleasure that
was pulsing through Quin’s balls and his throbbing cock. Only then
did Quin realize that Lennox hadn’t even pushed his fingers inside all
that much.

Maybe he just had really long fingers.
“You’re starting to tense up. Stop it,” Lennox said, kissing him

quickly again. “Push out when I push in. It’ll make it easier.”

Quin couldn’t stop clenching his teeth. “This really is starting to

hurt,” he said.

All the pleasure he’d felt earlier when Lennox had been sucking

him off was gone, and his dick was wilting with the pain he felt.

Lennox’s stare softened, and he leaned down and pressed gentle

kisses to Quin’s face, his brow, and then his neck. “So sorry, my wolf,
I promise it’ll get better. Try just a little harder for me, okay?”

Quin wanted this. Even though it wasn’t what he was supposed to

have, he was taking it, and he wasn’t going to let something like a
little pain stop him from having what he needed so much. He’d let
himself feel like shit about the entire thing later. He’d think about the
shock on his father’s face and the glee that would be in George’s eyes

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after the fact. Just so long as Lennox never stopped touching him.

He nodded his head and did as Lennox told him, pushing out as

the man pushed back inside.

The pain was there, but it was manageable so long as he stayed

calm and did as Lennox told him to.

Then the pain vanished into nothing, and all that Quin was left

with was the burn, and even that started to feel pleasant until Lennox
found and pushed against his prostate.

Quin had thought the man had been touching and teasing it before.

He’d been wrong. That pleasant sensation was nothing compared to
the bright flaring lights that were exploding in front of Quin’s eyes,
sending shock wave after shock wave of pleasure to his cock.

Quin opened his mouth and moaned out loud. He was vaguely

aware of the way Lennox was chuckling at him, the bastard, but even
Quin could hardly bring himself to care about that considering how
Goddamned good it felt.

“Do you know what that is?” Lennox asked.
Quin’s face felt so hot he thought he was going to catch fire. Was

Lennox the sort of dragon who could make things catch fire? Quin
was going to have to ask, but when he opened his mouth, all that
came out was another moan as Lennox pressed his fingers deeper
inside of him, pushing against his prostate and opening him up even
more.

“Answer me,” Lennox said, practically singing the words.
“It–it’s my prostate,” Quin said, finally managing to get his mouth

and tongue to obey him. “H–holy fuck!”

Lennox chuckled again as he leaned down and covered Quin’s

mouth with his own. Quin wrapped his arms around the dragon’s
neck, clutching the man to him close as he just buried his face into
Lennox’s neck and held on for the ride. “Oh God!”

“Bet you would’ve bottomed a few times if you knew it could be

like this,” Lennox said.

The man was right, but Quin wasn’t about to put that into words

Marcy Jacks

and tell him something like that. No frickin’ way.

“You’re mine now, and I’m not going to let Roman or anyone else

have you. Got that?”

Lennox removed his fingers from Quin’s hole as Quin nodded his

agreement, but he grabbed onto the man’s large arms as he reached
for the lube again.

“So long as we’re being clear,” Quin said, and he had to summon

every last ounce of control he had for this part. He let his wolf out just
enough to make his point, while still containing it so that there
wouldn’t be a fight on their hands. “You’re mine, too. You don’t get
to be with anyone else after this. Ever.”

Lennox stared at him, as if he was stunned by the reaction he was

getting, or the demand, but then he was smiling and nodding. He
looked pretty damned eager as he pushed Quin down to his back.
He’d barely been aware that he’d sat up. “I can live with that just fine,
darlin’.”

“Got a Southern accent now, do you?” Quin asked.
He watched as Lennox poured some more lube into his hand and

stroked his hard cock with it, making it slick and shiny. That was
going to be inside of Quin very soon, and he shivered.

Lennox was still grinning as he nodded, and this time he went

full-on with the accent. “I reckon it’s mighty romantic. And besides,
all my romantic voices are Southern.”

Quin laughed, he couldn’t help himself, and he felt almost none of

the anxiety that he’d felt before when Lennox pressed the swollen
head of his cock against Quin’s stretched asshole. “So what accent do
you get when you’re making fun of someone?”

“A French accent. Becauze my insultz alwayz zound more refined

with ze Frenchman speaking, no?”

Quin couldn’t stop from laughing even if someone put a gun to his

head. It was too damned funny, and without realizing it, Lennox was
all the way inside of him. “You’re funny, and I’m pretty sure French
people don’t sound like that.”

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Lennox wiggled his eyebrows at him, and Quin touched his face.
“But I still like it.”
Quin did like it. He liked that his mate was handsome and strong,

and had a sense of humor. They were getting into this when they
absolutely shouldn’t be, when there were other people who could
suffer because of a few, very small minded and frightened people, but
at least Quin liked Lennox. He could tell already. This was something
they could build on, and they were going to need that small something
if they were going to survive the shit storm that was coming after they
did this.

Lennox kissed him on the mouth, and it was a gentle kiss this

time. “I’ll be whoever you want me to be, but only so long as you
don’t try and dress me up in some nurse’s uniform with a short skirt.
I’m not that kinky or playful.”

Quin chuckled, or he would have if Lennox didn’t pull back and

then immediately push forward again. The man’s cock touched
Quin’s prostate easily, as if Lennox had already had the spot
memorized and knew it by heart.

“Fuck,” Lennox said, and his eyes slid shut. When he opened

them again, the bright green was still there, but his pupils were in
sharp slits, like a snake’s eyes.

Or a dragon’s.
“You are so fucking tight. You fit like a glove.”
That was a bit cliché, but Quin didn’t exactly expect the man to be

all original when he was in the middle of fucking his mate.

Quin didn’t much care either as his prostate started to sing. Quin

completely let go. He moaned and gasped. He gripped Lennox tightly
by the thighs as the man thrust into him again and again, slow at first
but then steadily picking up the pace. Only then did he fully realize
that Lennox was still wearing his clothes. He’d only pulled his pants
down enough to get his cock out, but they were still on his legs, even
if they weren’t around his hips, and his tank top was still in place. It
was strange, and not at all what Quin had expected. Having sex with

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clothes on never seemed as romantic as when they were all off, in
some weird way.

But then Quin couldn’t even think about that when Lennox was

driving into him like his life depended on it. Quin was no longer just
being gently rocked against the mattress beneath him, he was being
fucked clean across it from the force of Lennox’s thrusts. Their flesh
slapped together, and all Quin could do was moan helplessly.

He loved every second of it. Why had he never thought to have

this before? This was great. It was beyond great and he never wanted
it to end. Quin could already feel his inner wolf binding itself to this
man. Lennox hadn’t come inside of him or bitten him on the throat,
but this was real and it was solid and it was never going away wither.
They were mates.

Quin reached down and grabbed onto his dick. The rough friction

he was getting from having it trapped between his belly and Lennox’s
cotton tank top was driving him insane, in the best possible way, but
he wanted more.

His balls tightened up, and the pleasure that was building just

behind his stomach burst free from him. The fact that he’d tried to
hold it back at all was a joke. He had no choice. He was coming and it
was already done.

Quin moaned as warm cum spilled onto his stomach and chest,

even getting his T-shirt, which was no longer pushed quite so high up
his body.

He was a puddle when it was all said and done, and it was the best

damn feeling he’d ever had in his entire life.

Lennox wasn’t done with him, and each forward thrust still

brought little spasms of pleasure to Quin’s tired body. He didn’t even
mind the growing discomfort as he reached his hands beneath the
black tank top that Lennox was wearing and pushed it up so that he
could play with Lennox’s nipples. They were already hard as he
pinched them, and Lennox squeezed his eyes shut and moaned
through every panting breath.

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“Come on, come for me. Come inside me,” Quin said. He was

totally going to have to do more of this later on. It was fucking great.

Lennox’s entire body tensed, and his cock actually swelled inside

of Quin’s body as the man panted and came. Quin was being filled up
with warm seed, and some of it even spilled out of him with each
thrust of Lennox’s cock as the man continued to push back and forth,
until his dick softened and there was nothing else he could do but
collapse onto Quin’s body.

Quin caught him, and he put his hands into Lennox’s sweaty black

hair, loving the way Lennox kissed his collarbone. “You have to bite
me,” he said.

Lennox groaned. “I forgot about that creepy wolf mating thing.

Can’t I just give you one of my scales?”

“It’s not creepy, it’ll solidify this. I’ll be your mate and everyone

will know it,” Quin said, though he was too damned mellow right
now to actually be angry about what Lennox had just said. “You can
give me a scale later, and I’ll love it, just please, bite me.”

There was a better chance of the council taking this new

development seriously if Quin showed up back at his pack with a
mating scar on his neck. Only the world’s biggest asshole could argue
against something like that.

Too bad that was exactly what George was. The prick.
Quin was still satisfied when Lennox opened his mouth and

leaned in to do exactly as he was told.

At first Quin gasped. The bite was sharper than he expected, but

that might be because Lennox’s dragon teeth were all longer than the
canines that were in Quin’s mouth whenever he was about to let his
wolf out.

His scar was going to be bigger than anything else that other

mated wolves had. Quin had seen Conner’s mating scar, and he’d
thought Aris had just been too rough with it. Now he knew how
wrong he was about that.

His cock hardened again as Lennox sunk his teeth deeper into his

Marcy Jacks

flesh, and a gentle orgasm rocked Quin’s body, making him thrust up
against the other man when Lennox did finally pull his teeth away and
start licking at the wound.

“There you go,” Lennox said, crooning and grinning down at what

he’d done. The smile on his lips made him look endearing.

“Not so creepy now, is it?” Quin asked.
Lennox smiled at him, and the man shook his head. How strange

was it to love a man so damned much, yet know almost nothing about
him.

“Is this the part where we talk and get to know each other?”
This dragon clearly didn’t understand werewolf stamina, and

Quin’s dick was already stirring between his legs, despite what they’d
just done. He pushed against Lennox’s chest and forced the man to lie
down on his back. The move was done so quickly that by the time it
was over and done with, Lennox was staring up at him with real
surprise on his face.

Quin just smiled down at him. “That can wait for later. Right now,

I want you out of those clothes, like, yesterday.”

Lennox’s eyes changed back into their dragon slits as he grinned.

The clothes came off so fast they were practically ripped from his
body at that point.

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Chapter Five

“What do you mean he’s pregnant?” Aris asked.
Kristoff shrugged his shoulders helplessly. “I’m sorry, there’s

nothing I can say about it. It is what it is.”

Aris was pacing around, shaking his head. Conner was still on the

bed behind the both of them, and Aris could barely force himself to
look at the man he loved.

He glanced over anyway, just real quick, and the shock on

Conner’s face was enough to force Aris to turn away from him.

“We didn’t have sex until after my heat was done. I made sure of

that,” Aris said, still shaking his head as if he could turn this entire
fucked up situation into a dream, something that wasn’t real and
ultimately harmless.

The fact that Conner didn’t even have any smart-ass remark to

throw back at him for that comment showed just how serious the
situation was. Conner was genuinely afraid, and Aris didn’t want that
for his mate.

“Well, clearly you didn’t wait long enough,” Kristoff said. “Your

mate is pregnant. I’ve run the test twice just to make sure.”

“But my heat was done!”
Kristoff pursed his lips. He was clearly getting irritated, and

although it must have been a struggle for him to deal with his high
dragon yelling at him, he still managed to stay respectful. “You might
not have been feeling the normal symptoms of your heat, but that
didn’t necessarily mean that your body was finished one hundred
percent. It’s always recommended for people who are holding off on
having children that they wait at least a full seven days and nights

Marcy Jacks

after the heat to guarantee that the body doesn’t produce a blank egg.”

That…actually made so much sense that Aris wanted to kick

himself for not having thought of that. The problem was that he and
Conner had been fighting so much, and Aris had spent so much time
avoiding his mate, that he’d had to go to the man, apologize and
explain to him what had been happening when it was all over and
done with. It was like a sense of desperation had come over him that
couldn’t be stopped for the world, and when they’d made up and
Conner had grudgingly said he understood, they’d had sex. It was
almost like the need to make up for lost time simply couldn’t be
ignored.

Yeah, it had been makeup sex, the best kind of sex there was, but

now that sweet memory was ruined by the fact that Aris had doomed
his mate, the love of his life, to die a painful death.

“So, what’s going to happen?” Conner asked, finally working up

the nerve to speak.

Aris looked down at his mate. His wonderful, brave, beautiful

mate that he’d fallen so hard for, that he couldn’t live without. Conner
had been sick for so long. There were dark spots under his eyes and
he was getting thinner by the day. He was almost an unhealthy weight
right now. His hands were practically skeletal as he gripped the
blanket, and his hair, which was usually a pale and unremarkable
color, seemed even more lifeless, if that even made sense. Why hadn’t
Aris realized what was happening sooner?

This was going to kill him. Even at this stage the egg was sapping

too many nutrients from Conner’s body, and soon his heart wasn’t
going to be able to take it anymore. His mate was going to die if
something wasn’t done. “How are male pregnancies terminated?”

“Aris!” Conner shouted, a lot more strength in his voice than had

previously been there.

Aris ignored him and stared hard at Kristoff. “How?”
Kristoff’s eyes were wide, but he was a healer, and this was his

job. “I have an injection that I give to expectant mothers whenever

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there’s a problem with the egg that can be harmful to overall health,
or cause death. Surgery will need to be performed since this is a male
pregnancy, but it’s a simple process and wouldn’t even have to
happen the day of the injection.”

“Aris—”
“Give him the injection. Right now,” Aris commanded.
“No! Kristoff, no,” Conner said.
Aris couldn’t make himself look at his mate. He stared right at

Kristoff. He glared at the healer with clenched fists.

Kristoff stared back at him for a full minute, which was much

longer than what Aris had wanted, before he sighed and looked to
Conner. “I’m sorry. He’s my high dragon and I have to do what he
says.”

“No, Kristoff, please no. I want to try. I want to see if I can do it.”
“I’m sorry,” Kristoff said again, and then looked back at Aris.

“I’ll bring everything that will be needed here. It’ll be better if he’s
comfortable and not moved around so much.”

Aris just nodded, and Kristoff quickly sped out of the room.
“Aris? Aris!” Conner shouted, and it was only when a lamp flew

by his head and crashed into the wall when Aris had to give his mate
his attention.

Conner was glaring at him. Fat, wet tears were streaming down

his cheeks. It was enough to put Aris’s heart into a clawed hand that
squeezed painfully tight. He sucked in a breath, and Conner was
shaking his head. “No.”

Aris had to go to him. He had to reach out and touch him and

comfort him, but Conner not only slapped his hands away, he slapped
Aris across the face.

The room was loud with the sound of Conner’s angry breaths.

There was a lot more force behind that strike than Aris thought there
would be.

Aris wasn’t shocked. What shocked him was the utter anger and

hatred that was bleeding from Conner’s pores. “Don’t you dare. Don’t

Marcy Jacks

you fucking dare—”

“You’ll die if we don’t!”
“If you don’t! You’re making this decision without me!” Conner

screamed back.

“I can’t lose you!” Aris yelled. He couldn’t hold himself back. He

grabbed onto Conner and yanked the man forward. He hugged him
tight. He didn’t want to dominate the man and he didn’t think he
could convey just how much he needed Conner with a simple kiss
either. Aris just wanted to hold Conner.

Conner didn’t fight him, thankfully. With the force Aris used to

hold Conner’s small, frail body to his chest, it was enough to make
Conner completely freeze up for the next long, silent seconds.

Conner’s hands slowly moved up and around Aris’s back. He held

Aris and hugged him as tightly as he could, which wasn’t that tight at
all, considering he was a werewolf. Aris could feel the man’s
weakness spreading throughout his body, and he couldn’t handle it.

“Let me try,” Conner said.
Aris shook his head. For a moment, he could see his future, a

future without Conner. This was his chance to make sure that future
never came into existence. He couldn’t live with himself if that was
what his future had for him.

“No, listen to me,” Conner said, and he pulled back from Aris’s

arms. Aris let him, but only because Conner was no longer trying to
push him away. “I want to try this. Listen to me. I don’t want to die,
okay?” Conner said when Aris shook his head.

“Then we have to do this,” Aris said.
“No, we don’t. We can just let this happen, until however long it

needs to. I’m not dead yet and I don’t feel like I’m dying. I want to
have your pups, your hatchlings.”

“I promised you pups. We’ll adopt as many as you want. Today if

it’ll make you happy. Conner, you can’t do this.” Aris was desperate,
and Conner continued to look at him like he wasn’t yet convinced that
this wasn’t the right thing to do.

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“Let me try. Aris, I told you I don’t want to die, and I don’t. If a

couple of weeks down the road something happens and I can’t take
anymore, I’ll…I’ll take the injection. Willingly. You won’t have to tie
me down or anything, and I won’t have to hate you for doing it to me
because I’ll let you. We’ll have decided this together.”

Aris’s breath hitched, and he hated himself for it, but he thought

that it didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

What the hell was he thinking? This was his mate’s life at stake.

“Conner—”

“I want to try. Aris, it’s already done. You finished your heat

almost three months ago. I’m that far in and I’m still here.”

“You’re bedridden.”
“Because you want me in bed. And I’m not complaining. I’ll stay

in bed and not move a muscle until it’s time for the egg to come out.
I’ll do that for you to make you feel better about this entire thing. Just
give me a chance. Please.”

Aris didn’t understand. Not in the least. “Why would you risk

your life for a child that you haven’t even met? Who’s barely even
considered a child at this point? I offered you as many pups as you
want. I will fulfill that promise.”

Conner eyes widened a bit, and then he looked down at his hands.

The tears were still in his eyes, and Conner sniffled with each word,
but he still managed to speak clearly for the most part. “It’s not about
that. It’s not even because I don’t want to feel useless. I know you
don’t see me like that, but…Any pups we adopt, they won’t be part of
you. I want to hold a little dragon-wolf baby and I want it to be yours,
and mine. I thought I was fine with the idea of just adopting before,
and I still am, I guess, but now that the chance is here, I want to take
it. If this is the only time in our lives that you’ll ever get me pregnant,
then I want to try because I want your baby.”

Conner was staring at him again with those watery, begging eyes,

completely sucking Aris into them. He didn’t even notice how tightly
Conner was gripping him until he looked down and noticed the man’s

Marcy Jacks

claws were out.

Goddamn him, but Aris couldn’t deny the man. He had to give in.

There was nothing else to be done for it. He grabbed onto Conner’s
face with both hands. “If you are in danger for even one second—”

“I know,” Conner said, nodding quickly.
“And Kristoff will be watching you the entire time.”
“I can handle that.” Conner was smiling now, and he lifted a hand

to wipe his tears away.

“Conner,” Aris said, wanting to be very clear about this. “The

hatchling might not survive even if we don’t do anything. I don’t want
you to get your hopes up just to have them dashed.”

“I know. I can handle it,” Conner said, and his eyes were still

shining with tears, but at least now he was smiling and pulling Aris
toward him instead of trying to shove him away.

Aris kissed his mate, hard, holding him tight and wanting to just

keep Conner there with him forever. His cock swelled as Conner
thrust his tongue between Aris’s lips in a rare show of dominance.

Aris allowed it, and not just that, he enjoyed it as well, but he had

to bring the kiss to a halt.

“Wait a minute, hold that thought. I need to go.”
“Where are you going?” Conner asked.
“To stop Kristoff,” Aris said, and the twinge of guilt that rushed

through him just for having to say that was going to stick with him for
the rest of his life.

Conner continued to smile at him, however, and that was making

everything well worth it as his mate waved him out the door.

Aris didn’t have to go far. He quickly shut the door behind him

and walked over to where Kristoff was standing, leaning against the
wall of the stone hallway, and looking very much like he didn’t have
the equipment required to terminate a pregnancy. “What were
you…did you even go back to the clinic?”

Kristoff shook his head. “No,” he said, and then he tucked a strand

of his blond hair behind his ear. “I figured you needed to talk it over

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with him first.”

Aris wasn’t sure he liked that one of his dragons had done that,

purposely dragging his feet on an order, but then again, perhaps this
was an order where it was better when feet were dragged.

“Well, you were right. We decided that it’s not necessary. For

now.” Aris was having trouble just getting his words out as some of
his panic returned to him. He had to push through it, however.
“Conner and I will wait. We’ll see how his body handles the
pregnancy. I will, of course, be needing you to keep a close eye on
him, but we’re only going to resort to extreme measures if his
condition worsens.”

There. He’d said it, and now that he said it, he felt like he couldn’t

take it back or change his mind either.

A leader who flip-flopped so causally was not a good leader.
Kristoff nodded his head, and he even managed to smile up at

Aris. “I was hoping to hear that.”

“You were?” Aris asked. “Then you’re hopeful he can carry to

term?”

Kristoff’s answering sigh was not so hopeful at all. “With the way

he is now, it’s hard to say. It’s definitely a risk to him, and he
definitely shouldn’t shift into his wolf anymore as the egg gets bigger,
but even if he can’t carry to term, I can always induce a premature
labor, not by much, but enough to prevent him from completely going
into the red zone while still giving your hatchling a chance to survive.
This is a risk, to be sure, but I’m glad you were able to work this out.”

Aris nodded. He was terrified all over again now that Kristoff was

confirming the risk, but at the same time, knowing the man had a plan
to work with was enough to ease some of his fears.

“Thank you,” Aris said, and then he turned to go back to his room,

back to his mate.

“Sir?”
Aris turned. Kristoff was standing in the middle of the hallway

how, his expression was calm, even if his arms were crossed over his

Marcy Jacks

chest.

“Yes?”
Kristoff pursed his lips. “I want you to know that I left your room

to give you the chance to speak with your mate, so that Conner could
see you agree with him on your own, without being forced into it.”

Aris frowned. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean, is that I didn’t go to my clinic to get the needle

because I was never planning to inject him. You’re my leader, and
you protect me and I’m grateful for that, but you will never, ever,
force me to go against the wishes of one of my patients. If I’m ever
going to inject him with anything while he’s awake and aware, then
it’s going to be done with his permission. Do you understand?”

Aris’s eyes widened just a little at that, and then he smiled.

“Kristoff, I’m proud of you. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

And just like that, Kristoff looked away, his face flushing red for

just a few seconds before he cleared his throat. “Yes, well, just so
we’re on the same page.”

They were. Aris understood completely. If Kristoff had held his

ground like this inside of that room, in front of Conner, then Aris
would be forced to give up, and Conner would still be looking at Aris
like he was a monster just waiting to spring. Because Kristoff had
given Aris the time he’d needed to come around to Conner’s side,
Conner could more easily forgive him, and see that Aris was at least
willing to give Conner the chance he wanted so badly. On his own
terms and without being forced.

“Thank you for your time, Kristoff. I’ll call you later tonight.”
Kristoff nodded. “I’ll do a complete examination then.”
Aris nodded, and he went back into the bedroom, returning to

Conner’s arms.

Taking Another Man

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s Mate

Chapter Six

“What does the letter say?” Lennox asked. He was looking over

Quin’s shoulder, eagerly trying to see what was on the piece of paper
that had been delivered with the carrier pigeons that had started to be
used once the pack and the clan started speaking to each other, that is.

Somehow, carrier pigeons were much more reliable than e-mail,

even when the pigeons sometimes were eaten by hawks and other
dragons that didn’t recognize them for what they were. The Internet
up here was never all that great to begin with.

They were sitting in the dining hall, and Roman had never made a

fuss about the fact that Lennox had basically stolen his chosen mate
from him. Lennox felt guilty now for ever having assumed such a
thing about his good friend, but Roman was still watching the both of
them with interest. As was every other dragon in the place.

Everyone in the hall had seen the little bird swoop in. They were

all eager to know what the pack had to say about the son of the alpha
mating with a lowly dragon guard, instead of the second in command
of the clan.

Quin’s expression didn’t bode well for the news. When he sighed

and started speaking, Lennox already knew there was no point to hope
for good news.

“George is trying to convince the pack that this was an insult and

a trick, done on purpose by the dragons. Basically, he’s going around
telling anyone who’ll listen that Aris is thumbing his nose at my
father and everyone else down there. Garret’s saying that not
everyone believes him. In fact, there are only twenty or so men who
are outright calling for a fight, and Dad’s managing to keep them

Marcy Jacks

under control, but they’re pretty riled up.”

“Twenty men is better than what we thought it would be,” Roman

said, and then he pursed his lips. “Did you mention that I am still
willing to be mated to anyone else that your father sends up?”

Lennox caught the way that Kendrick winced at those words. The

man was staring down at his plate, picking at his fruit and breakfast
meat. Apparently, he already knew about Roman’s deal, and for the
second time in only a few minutes, Lennox found himself feeling
incredibly guilty for the jealousy he’d felt toward Roman.

The man was clearly suffering, as was Kendrick. Neither of them

deserved this, and sometimes Lennox felt he had no right to feel so
happy when they were not.

“I did, and dad mentioned that, too,” Quin said, and even he was

carefully looking over at Kendrick, as if to make sure the young
dragon wouldn’t be too hurt by his words.

Quin had managed to make friends quickly. That was what

Lennox loved about his mate. That everyone else seemed to love him
so much. He also knew that Quin would be there to comfort Kendrick
when the time came, like the good friend that he was.

“What’s the problem?” Aris asked. The man wasn’t sitting at his

usual place in the large chair at the front of the tables. He was plating
many healthy looking breakfast options, including yogurt, fruit,
berries, granola, egg whites, and turkey bacon. He was only here to
collect the food and bring it back to Conner, who was still in bed.

“The problem is that George is an asshole. He’s determined to

prove that this can’t work, even if it means sabotaging all the progress
the pack and the clan made together.”

There were collective hisses at Quin’s words. Many dragons in the

room agreed with him, but there were some who might even see Quin
as being part of the problem.

That never helped with the guilt that Quin was constantly feeling.

The man never said as much, but Lennox could tell whenever he
caught him in a quiet moment by himself. It was clear to see that Quin

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was still anxious about the things that could happen to his pack and
the clan because he chose not to mate with Roman.

Lennox leaned closer to his mate’s side, and he eyed everyone

who might be hissing at his mate, instead of the horrible man Quin
was speaking about.

More than one set of eyes turned away from him.
“I’m sure it’ll work out,” Oliver said, who was sitting in the lap of

his mate, Fraser, picking off of the dragon warrior’s plate. Lennox
wanted to pull Quin into his own lap and feed the man the way Fraser
was feeding Oliver, spoiling his little mate rotten.

Grant and Tom weren’t doing that, although they had their chairs

pushed close together. “Hey, yeah, didn’t you say your pack was
pretty big? Twenty people can’t be that bad to deal with.”

Sometimes Lennox forgot that those two wolves hadn’t come

from the pack at the bottom of the mountain. It was easy to forget that
not every wolf came from Simon’s pack, when that was the only pack
Lennox had ever had to deal with in so many long years of his life.

“No, not really,” Quin said, sighing. “But it’ll still mean trouble if

those men break away from the pack and turn rogue. Or if they try
and fight my father for control of the pack itself. If he loses a fight
like that then we can all kiss this peace good-bye.”

“That won’t happen,” Lennox said, and he put his hand on Quin’s

shoulder, squeezing gently. “You and I will go down there ourselves.
You can show them your mating scar, and your amulet,” Lennox said,
touching the gray dragon-scale amulet that he had made for Quin.
“This will prove to them that we were serious, and that it was no
trick.”

“But I’m pretty sure we’re not going to deal with twenty rational

thinking people,” Quin said. “Especially if they’re willing to follow a
clear psycho like George.”

“You can only please some people some of the time,” Aris said,

and when he appeared in front of them, he had two plates in his
hands, and they were both stacked sky high. The servant boy Ailiwen

Marcy Jacks

was behind Aris, holding another tray with glasses of orange juice,
milk, water, and the cups of yogurt on it. He didn’t appear very happy
for having that particular job, and Lennox couldn’t much blame him.

“How does that man even manage to stay on the council if he’s so

unstable?” Lennox asked. He was always curious about the ways of
the wolf, and always wanting to know more about his mate and the
world that he came from.

Quin heaved a heavy sigh, and then he shrugged. “I guess he’s

just been there for so long, and he’s never really done anything that
was over the top. Nothing that would make the rest of the pack panic
and want to follow him. This is different. He’s been on the council for
so long that people have had the chance to listen to him when he has
sounded reasonable. There are some people who just think he’s overly
passionate or something.”

Lennox snorted. That sounded like a completely and utter

nuisance.

“I’m going to take this to my mate,” Aris said. “The two of you

work out when it would be best for you to go down the mountain and
speak with Simon. Roman can go with you.”

“I’ll come and visit Conner later today,” Quin said.
Aris just nodded and went about his way.
Lennox took note of the way Quin’s eyes followed the high

dragon as he walked out of the dining hall. He put his hand on the
man’s shoulder and squeezed ever so lightly. “He’ll be all right,”
Lennox said, referring to Conner, who hadn’t shown his face outside
of his room ever since being put on bed rest.

“I know, I guess, but I’m just worried. It sounds so bad that he

can’t get up and walk around, you know?”

Lennox couldn’t handle that his mate was so sad. He didn’t like

that Quin had anything to worry about at all.

Such a strange contrast compared to the day when he’d first

learned he would be accompanying both Roman and Aris down to
meet the next wolf who would be part of his clan.

Taking Another Man

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That morning, he couldn’t have cared less about the unknown

wolf, or his feelings about anything.

Now, just a short couple of weeks later, and Quin had become his

world. His happiness was Lennox’s happiness, and there had to be
something he could do to cheer the man up, to take his mind off of the
fact that his brother was taking such a risk in order to carry Aris’s
hatchling.

Then a thought did occur to him, and he got up from his seat,

holding his hand out for Quin to take. “Come with me,” he said.

Quin looked up at him, clearly confused, his eyes so wide and

gorgeous. He still reached up and took Lennox’s hand, allowing
himself to be pulled along. Right out of his chair and out of the dining
room they went.

“Where are we going?” Quin asked.
Lennox grinned. “To the gardens.”
“The—?” Quin stopped himself and then he seemed to realize

what Lennox had in mind. “Really?”

Lennox’s smile grew wider as he heard the happiness that was in

his mate’s voice. That was always something he strived for, and he
was forever pleased when he was able to give just a little bit to his
mate.

“I know we haven’t gotten permission for it yet, but I think it’s

time, and you need it.” They both needed it.

“You’re going to like it, too, I promise,” Quin said, bouncing

along beside him like the puppy that Lennox had started to think of
the man as.

He might be only four and a half years away from turning forty,

but he was still so damned young, and the little things he did were a
constant reminder of that fact.

“I know I’ll like it. You told me as much,” Lennox said, and they

were in luck. There was no one waiting for them in the gardens, no
one who would rush to tell Aris that Lennox was breaking one of the
bigger rules that had been set up for him.

Marcy Jacks

He grinned, rounded on his mate, and pressed his mouth down on

Quin’s pink, full lips.

Quin tasted just like whatever sugary fruit he’d been eating for his

breakfast, and Lennox thrust his tongue deeper, needing some more of
it.

“Are you ready to be hunted, my little wolf?” Lennox asked, and

he started to quickly undress so that his skin could harden into scales,
and his body could change into the larger reptilian dragon that he was.

“More than ready. I’ve been carrying this around just in case,”

Quin said, pulling the tiny bottle of lube out of his pocket and
wiggling it between his fingers.

Lennox laughed, and he couldn’t stop himself, even when he was

completely in his dragon form. “You’ve really been carrying that
around with you this entire time?”

Quin looked at the bottle, as if he would read some new thing on

the description that hadn’t been there before. Lennox wondered where
his mate had come across it. “Well, not just in case we were finally
going to go down the mountain a bit, but in case you wanted to pull
me into some secret hidden alcove in the castle of something.”

“I’m not sure there are any. None that I know of, anyway,”

Lennox said.

Quin mock glared at him. “I know, or else I’m pretty sure we

would’ve been having sex in them long before now.”

Lennox put one of his clawed hands over his long face, and he

shook his head while he laughed. Quin had been nervous in the
beginning about being with him, and he still was, but then there were
times when he completely came out of his shell and really shocked
Lennox with his cute but bossy nature. “You are too much.”

Quin got down on his heels, and he put his hand over the scales of

Lennox’s new, longer face. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used
to seeing you talk in this form. It’s very interesting,” he said.

Lennox let his body slide along Quin’s, like a cat that was rubbing

against a master for some much needed attention. “I only wish you

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could speak as a wolf. I imagine that would make communicating
easier.”

Quin shrugged. “I guess so, but I don’t really worry about it. You

can do all the talking for me.”

“Good, now hurry, before someone sees us. Get on my back, and

I’ll take us down the mountain.”

* * * *

Quin had only ever once before ridden on the back of a dragon,

and that had just been to get himself the rest of the way up the
mountain, to go and live in his new home.

Now it was different. He was on the back of his mate, and the

wind was in his hair, blowing it all over the place while he enjoyed
the bird’s eye view of the many things beneath him.

He could vaguely make out the shape of his village in the

distance, and even with his superior sight, he couldn’t even see any
people walking around. The river was a blue vein running crookedly
across the land, and he could make out the snow peaks of the other
mountains in the distance.

“Do other dragon clans live in those mountains way over there?”

Quin asked.

“Lennox shook his head. “I don’t think so. Though the mountains

are liveable. We looked into it once before as a possible place to
settle, should your pack ever succeed in throwing us off the
mountain.”

That was enough to make Quin wince, though Lennox didn’t seem

to notice it, or to even realize what he’d said at all. There was still a
grin on his scaly lips as he kept his snake-eyes ahead, searching for
the perfect place to land.

After seeing the castle for himself, and knowing some of the

people who lived there, along with all the work they did in order to
make it such a beautiful place to live, it was enough to make Quin

Marcy Jacks

wonder what he and his pack had ever been thinking to want to try
and kick Lennox, Aris, and everyone else off of the mountain.

All that fighting, all that wasted time, and over a territory war. It

wasn’t just his pack either. Other wolves got into these sorts of fights
with dragons all the time. Both species were all about territory, and it
was ridiculous. It wasn’t like the wolves could even get all the way up
the mountain on their own anyway. What had all that fighting ever
really been about?

“What do you think about that spot down there?” Lennox asked,

pulling Quin out of his shamed thoughts.

He looked down and took note of the many trees, the turned-over

logs, the large rocks, plenty of places for him to hide while his mate
attempted to hunt him.

Quin grinned. “That looks perfect.”
“Then that’s where we shall be,” Lennox said, and he swooped

down in a place that wasn’t too crowded with trees. Quin’s stomach
rolled up a little at the sudden descent, kind of like how it used to do
when he was a kid on the swing set.

He was sorry to be out of the sky, but his feet were grateful to be

on solid land again.

Quin inhaled a deep breath through his nose, taking in the scents,

and he sighed. “This is the best.”

Lennox’s steel-gray tail flicked behind him. “I’ll give you only a

few minutes warning before I start coming for you, little wolf.”

“I’m not an omega, I’m a beta,” Quin warned, and he grinned over

his shoulder, looking right into Lennox’s eyes. “I won’t be so easy to
catch.”

Quin didn’t say anything else. In fact, he gasped a little.
Lennox tensed up, and he angled his head this way and that, as if

searching for an enemy nearby. It was easy for him to do, considering
how long his neck was. “What is it? What do you see?”

There was no threat, but Quin was still struck speechless.
“I never…I never saw you in light this bright before,” Quin said,

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and he really let himself admire Lennox’s scales.

When he first saw the man in his dragon form, that was to get

back up the mountain, and it hadn’t exactly been sunny that day.
Much more cloudy. The few other times he’d seen the gray dragon
had been in the castle, in one of the larger spaces provided so that
Lennox and the other dragon warriors could challenge and fight each
other. They kept in shape there and trained their bodies to become
better fighters, better protectors.

This was the absolute first time that Quin was seeing Lennox

under a blue sky with a warm sun shining down on him. The scales
under that light weren’t just a steel gray, they were sparkling a color
of blue that was more pure than the sky above them.

“You’re beautiful,” Quin said.
Lennox sat a little straighter, and the posture almost made Quin

think of a dog at attention.

Dragons and wolves really weren’t that different from each other.

It was amazing. He touched his own amulet and looked down at it,
realizing that the scale was glittering that same lovely color under the
sun.

He was suddenly a lot more proud of the fact that he got to wear

something like this around his neck all the time.

Then Lennox smiled, an almost predatory look on his lizard-like

face. “I see, you’re trying to distract me. Well, it won’t work.”

Quin shook his head. “I’m not distracting you.”
“Not buying it,” Lennox said, and he stepped closer, his tail

waving languidly behind him. Now Quin really was starting to feel
like prey.

“I’ll give you until the count of ten before I pounce,” Lennox said,

still with that smile on his face.

Oh shit. Quin turned around and started to run as fast as he could.

He could hear Lennox’s laughter sounding off behind him.

Marcy Jacks

Chapter Seven

Roman had to follow Kendrick. When he spotted the blond man

throwing down his napkin and getting to his feet so he could leave the
dining hall, there was no way Roman could just let him go by himself
to…wherever it was that he was going.

Roman wanted to tell himself that it was not even remotely his

business, but he couldn’t help it as he got to his feet and followed the
younger dragon out. He kept his distance, not wanting to scare
Kendrick, or to let him know that he was being followed at all.

Not to mention that, so long as Roman did make sure there was

space between them, he might even be able to spot the dragon who
was constantly harassing the poor man.

He saw nothing. Nothing except for Lennox and his mate Quin

rushing to the gardens, both with smiles on their faces. Kendrick
didn’t seem to notice them as he turned a corner.

Roman did. He also looked through one of the windows and

spotted Lennox getting into his dragon form, and then Quin climbing
onto his back right before the two of them flew out of sight.

He should probably tell Aris, or even go after them himself. With

so many Templar sightings, it wasn’t safe for Lennox to be off by
himself, even if he and his mate wanted to do the whole ceremonial
wolf hunting thing that they all seemed so interested in.

But now, Roman had let Kendrick out of his sight for long

enough, and perhaps he’d even been stopped by his stalker, and that
thought was much too frightening to want to take the risk on.

Roman gave chase again, going down the halls where he’d last

seen Kendrick, and then following the path where the man was most

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likely to have gone.

Where was he? Where was he?
“There you go, all fixed.”
Roman abruptly stopped himself before he could take one more

step. Then he had to yank himself back behind another wall before he
could be noticed.

That was too close. Kendrick had almost seen him.
“See? It still works,” Kendrick said.
“Thank you,” a young voice replied.
What was he doing?
Roman peeked around the side of the wall where he’d been hiding

to have a look for himself. Kendrick was on one knee, handing back a
plastic action figure, some sort of toy, to Brandon, Tom’s young,
four-year-old brother.

The boy had a red mark on his face and hand, but he was smiling

as he accepted the toy back from Kendrick.

He must have fallen and one of the pieces snapped off. Either

way, the boy was reacting as if he wasn’t hurt at all. Kendrick got
back to his feet and patted the boy’s hair. “Go and find Kristoff. He
can give you a Band-Aid, and I know he keeps chocolates for
hatchlings who are good and don’t cry, like you did.”

“Really? All right!” the boy yelled, and because he was just a

young child with almost no attention span, he immediately ran off to
find the castle’s healer and receive his chocolate, action figure in
hand.

Roman couldn’t stay hiding in his spot for any longer after that.

He stepped out. “That was a nice thing you just did.”

Kendrick gasped and spun around, blond braid flying. His eyes

were wide at the sight of Roman, and fearful.

Roman put his hands up, just enough to show he meant no harm

as he stepped forward. “Flying red elephants,” he said.

Kendrick immediately relaxed, and then he laughed a little as he

ran his fingers over his hair. “God, you scared the hell out of me,” he

Marcy Jacks

said.

“Sorry about that,” Roman replied.
The few times that Roman had allowed himself the chance to

speak with Kendrick, the both of them had come up with the idea of a
code phrase, something that wouldn’t easily be used in conversation,
so that Roman could prove to Kendrick that he was who he said he
was.

Or in this case, who he looked to be. The shape-shifter that

enjoyed turning himself into Roman so that he could harass Kendrick
was incredibly talented at what he did, though Roman hated to admit
to that.

Kendrick stopped smiling, and then he looked away from

Roman’s face as he grabbed onto his arm, clutching it, as if he needed
something to do with his hands. “So, you’re still going to be mated?”

Roman’s heart slammed around inside of his chest, and his blood

pumped incredibly fast all throughout his body. “I…yes, Simon is
trying to work things over with his council and his pack. He’s
reminding them that the offer to have one of his sons mated with the
second in command is still on the table.”

Gods, it was difficult enough for Roman to remind himself of that

when Kendrick was standing ten feet away from him, so lovely,
smelling as good as he did. Like vanilla and roasted pecans.
Kendrick’s favorite coffee.

That scent went right to Roman’s cock like a gentle, stroking

hand.

It wasn’t just lust either. Well, a lot of it was lust. Roman’s

swelling cock, and the constant fantasies Roman had of Kendrick
naked and in his bed at night were more than enough to remind him of
that.

Despite the lust he felt, even now when it was just morning, it was

love, too.

Roman was in love with this man, and the problem was that he

had to decide which was more important. The duty he had to his clan,

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or an emotional attachment he felt for a dragon for so many years
now.

“That’s…uh, I guess I should congratulate you?” Kendrick said.
“Don’t do that,” Roman replied, all without meaning to.
Kendrick’s pale blue eyes widened, and Roman was angry with

himself.

Too late, it was out now. “I don’t want to be mated to a wolf. I

don’t want to give one of my scales to a man I don’t know. If I could
get out of this, I would in a heartbeat.”

Now Roman had to look away from Kendrick. He hadn’t implied

anything, but the wide-eyed, hopeful look on the man’s face was
enough.

Roman shook his head. “That’s…I shouldn’t be saying things like

that to you. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Kendrick said. “I…I think I get it.

Your job is to help keep this clan functioning and safe. You can’t go
back on something like that just because…well, never mind. Either
way, I get it.”

It was very clear to Roman that Kendrick wasn’t getting it at all.
“I don’t want to dance around this anymore. You know of my

feelings for you.”

Kendrick’s eyes shot back up to stare at Roman again.
Roman looked right at him, and he had to clench his fists. He

needed something to do with his hands as well. His entire body was
shaking with the force required to keep himself away from the man in
front of him.

“I…” Kendrick took a step back. He half turned, as if he was

about to leave, but he stayed right where he was. “I know you care
about me.”

“And what do you feel for me?” Roman asked. “I think you love

me.”

Kendrick’s mouth parted a little in a silent gasp.
Yes, Roman had it right. He was right all along. And he was such

Marcy Jacks

a bastard for it as well.

“You love me,” Roman said. “And then you speak as if I think

you’re not important enough to make an effort for.”

“I don’t…the safety and honor of the clan is more important. I get

that,” Kendrick said, and then he shook his head and looked right up
at Roman. “I’m not going to fight with you, so stop trying to be all
confrontational about this.”

“Then you need to stop acting like you’re worth less than

nothing!” Roman shouted.

He didn’t know what was wrong with him. He didn’t want to be

yelling at Kendrick like this, but it was all that was coming out of his
mouth.

Kendrick scowled at him. “My lover of so many years didn’t want

me back, and then when I finally think you and I are getting close, I
find out that you’ve signed yourself away to be mated with a wolf,
just like Aris did. Sorry if that’s a little depressing!” Kendrick yelled.

Kendrick’s entire body was shaking. Now his fists were clenched,

and for the love of the Gods, he was a man who was even more
handsome when he was angry.

Roman couldn’t keep himself away if there was a gun pointed at

his forehead. He rushed to the other man. Roman curled one arm
behind Kendrick’s back and put the other in the man’s hair. He
yanked Kendrick’s face forward and kissed him hard on the mouth.

It was electric. His lips sizzled from the touch, and when Kendrick

immediately opened his mouth for Roman’s tongue, his blood heated
and he felt like he was on fire.

“Mmph,” Kendrick said, or was that a moan? It didn’t matter.
His cock throbbed and swelled, as if Kendrick was sucking on it,

rather than just Roman’s tongue, and it was so damned glorious he
nearly came from that alone. His balls tightened up almost all the way
into his body, and he thought it was happening, but somehow he held
himself back, even when Kendrick moaned into his mouth, wrapped
his arms around Roman’s neck, and then pressed his hips up and

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forward.

Their dicks were still clothed, but the friction from that alone was

wonderful.

Roman moaned, and a rush of pleasure overcame him when

Kendrick actually curled one of his legs around Roman’s, as if he was
searching for a better grip, and then pushed his hips forward again.

Roman pushed Kendrick against the stone wall, and he started

thrusting back. The both of them moaning and panting, their mouths
wet with each other’s saliva.

“Oh fuck. Oh fuck,” Kendrick moaned, and then his entire body

seemed to go into one big spasm. He threw his head back against the
stone wall, his muscles tightened as his grip around Roman’s neck
became unbearably strong, and then the scent of cum in the air was
strong as Kendrick moaned.

Roman wanted to kiss those lips as Kendrick had his orgasm, so

he did, pushing his tongue back inside of that warm, smooth space,
swallowing the man’s pleasure.

It was by far the most erotic thing that had ever happened in all of

Roman’s almost century of life.

He was still hard and hadn’t come yet, but he was panting and

breathing much the same way that Kendrick was. He pressed their
foreheads together, feeling everything that Kendrick was feeling,
wanting everything that the smaller man had to offer.

Then Kendrick opened his eyes and looked up at him, and those

pale blues seemed so much more intense up close. There were tiny
flecks of green in there as well that Roman had never noticed before.
It was like Kendrick became even more interesting, more handsome
and beautiful and all those other things that could be said about him,
every time Roman saw him.

“That was…” Kendrick said, still smiling but unable to finish.
“I know,” Roman said, keeping their foreheads together.
It was not surprising, but still a bit of a letdown, when the

gorgeous and carefree smile vanished from Kendrick’s face, and he

Marcy Jacks

lowered his leg from around Roman’s thighs. His hands still gripped
Roman tight, but there was a sudden distance between them, even
though Roman was still holding onto him.

“I can…I can handle us being friends, Roman,” Kendrick said,

looking down and shaking his head. “But I don’t think I can be your
friend with benefits. Especially not while you’re mated to someone
else.”

Roman’s heart squeezed. The saddened Kendrick was back, the

one who thought he was worth nothing and meant only to be thrown
away.

A rise of courage and decisiveness rose up within Roman, and he

made up his mind perfectly. “I want you,” he said.

Kendrick barely looked at him. “I know.”
“No, you don’t. I mean that I want you,” Roman said. “I want to

be with you. I want to take you as my own. I want you for my mate,
and I don’t want anyone to tell you ever again that you’re not worth
it.”

Kendrick’s blue eyes were so wide that roman thought he’d

horrified the man, but then Kendrick spoke. It took some doing before
his mouth would produce more than a stutter, however. “A–are
you…really? You’re serious?”

Roman was nodding his head even before Kendrick finished

speaking. “Yes. I am. I want you. If you’ll have me then I’ll only be
yours.”

Kendrick was breathing hard and fast. Roman could hear the

man’s heart beat banging around beneath his ribs. “E–even though—”

“Your relationship with Aris doesn’t matter to me. It never did,”

Roman said. “And I don’t care that you haven’t discovered your
powers yet either. I want you. I love you.”

Something within Roman snapped as he said those words.

Invisible chains that he’d put there himself. The chains that kept him
bound to his duty and responsibilities. He wanted to say them again.
“I love you.”

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Kendrick was smiling and crying now, and so was Roman as the

smaller man grabbed onto him by the ears and pulled him forward for
a long and drawn-out kiss. They looked at each other, laughed, and
kissed again.

Roman never experienced this much happiness at once. He never

thought it would be possible to be this happy, and he didn’t know
what to do with it all.

He did know that when Kendrick kissed him again, he had to

finish what he’d started There was a wet patch on Kendrick’s pants,
but that was soon not going to be an issue as Roman worked on the
man’s belt and fly.

“Wait, wait,” Kendrick said.
Roman stopped immediately. “What’s the matter?”
Part of him was terrified that Kendrick was going to change his

mind, and that this actually was not what he wanted.

Kendrick shook his head. His cheeks were flushed and his lips

were swollen. “Not here. People will see.”

Roman grinned at him. “I don’t mind. Let them see that you’re

mine.”

“It’s not that,” Kendrick said, pushing against Roman’s chest

when he tried to dive down for another kiss. That was when Roman
really started to pay attention. “I just…Everyone thinks I’m…you
know. I don’t want people to see me having sex in the hallway.”

Roman tensed up. Of course. How could he be that thoughtless?

More than half of the castle enjoyed accusing Kendrick of being the
local whore. Of course Kendrick wouldn’t want to give them any
ammunition to use against him. “I’m sorry, yes, I’ll take you back to
my room.”

There would be more than enough privacy for them there.
Kendrick smiled at him. “To your room? Really?”
“Really,” Roman said, and he picked Kendrick up, delighting in

the way the smaller dragon wrapped his legs around Roman’s waist.
They would finish this inside of his room, and then Roman was going

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to pack a few things before he took Kendrick back to his room, where
Kendrick was going to pack up the things that he wanted as well.

There was only one way for Roman could think of to help keep

the peace between the clan and the pack at the bottom of the mountain
if he did this, and he was going to do it.

* * * *

He watched as that wretched beast carried away his lovely

Kendrick, and all the while his claws carved scratches into the stone
wall as the two men kissed while Roman walked away with Kendrick
in his arms.

And Kendrick! The little traitor, he really was a whore, the sex-

starved slut that the old ladies liked to gossip about.

He had always tried to protect his little dragon, a man he thought

was the love of his life, but he’d been wrong. As wonderful as it had
been to see Kendrick’s face twisting in pleasure, the man hadn’t been
doing it for the right reasons.

He’d known that Kendrick was in love with Roman, but he hadn’t

thought that Roman would actually come forward and accept
Kendrick like this. Now he had to watch as Kendrick smiled, wrapped
his legs around Roman’s waist, and then went off with the man to
have sex.

He was going to get back at him for this. He was going to get back

at the both of them for doing this to him. He’d seen Kendrick first.
He’d made his move first! It wasn’t fair!

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Chapter Eight

Quin ran and ducked beneath another pine tree. He was panting

heavily, and he had to spit out the jeans that he held inside of his
mouth in order to let his tongue loll so he could cool off.

He was in his wolf form, and he was scanning the tops of the

trees, using his nose to try and sniff out anything that wasn’t a rock or
a squirrel. Lennox had almost caught him that last time, and while
Quin was looking forward to when he was actually going to get
captured by the man, the chase was too exhilarating to give up so
easily.

He panted until he was sufficiently cooled off, but even then he

still couldn’t find where Lennox had gone. Where the hell was he?
Quin was pretty sure he hadn’t run that quickly.

He stepped out from his hiding place, stretching out his neck so he

could sniff the air. Lennox was nearby, very close, but where—

A loud screech above him pulled Quin’s attention to the sky as

Lennox swooped down on him, wings spread and claws stretching
out.

Quin scrambled, completely caught off guard, but it was too late.

He was caught, and now Lennox had him pinned down.

Quin still panted and smiled up at the dragon. He was caught, he

was captured, and now he was Lennox’s. The game was over and
Lennox could do as he pleased with Quin’s body.

Lennox immediately shifted back to look like a man. The change

was always amazing to watch, especially as Lennox’s body became
smaller, and human skin slowly replaced the scales. Midway through
the transformation, the scales were still present on Lennox’s body,

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making him look almost like a snake man of sorts, especially with
those eyes.

But then he fully in his humanoid form, completely naked, and his

cock was dark and hard, pointing up at his belly, pre-cum smearing
ever so slightly on his firm abs as he stared down at Quin’s body. “I
caught you,” he singsonged.

Quin snorted, and he shifted back into his own human shape. His

heart was still pounding as he pushed himself back on his elbows and
stared up at his mate, letting Lennox see for himself that Quin’s dick
was also hard. The hunt and the chase was an excellent form of
torture, and Quin was more than ready to give up. “Yeah, you caught
me, now what are you going to do with me?”

Lennox’s green eyes brightened, if that was even possible. The

man was clearly pleased at Quin’s playful nature, and he leaned down
and pressed his mouth to Quin’s.

Quin immediately shut his eyes and pressed back against

Lennox’s body as much as he could, as much as Lennox would allow
him to.

In the beginning, he’d been so shy and worried about this entire

thing, but after they’d had sex once, it was like the floodgates had
been opened. After all, there was no point in denying themselves over
and over once the deed had been done, and every time after had
always been easier than the first.

Lennox thrust his naked cock against Quin’s hard-on, and Quin

moaned into the kiss, his mouth parting just enough for Lennox to
swoop in and take advantage. He was so good at it, too, the prick. He
knew just how to tease Quin with that tongue ring of his. The slick
sensation of his tongue coupled with the hard, metallic little ball that
was inside was wonderful. The dual sensations were always enough to
make Quin’s body warm, and his heart race.

Quin raised his knees, keeping Lennox between his thighs as the

man above him pressed him down on the soft moss and grass, kissing
him into submission.

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Every time they had sex, Quin always told himself that he was

going to lay down the law this time and be on top, but it never
happened. Lennox was too damned good at sweeping him away, and
Quin was slowly finding himself not minding. He liked it, and he
liked the way Lennox touched him again and again. He liked the way
the man’s hands moved, sliding around his chest, fingers touching his
sensitive nipples and making them harden and beg for attention.

“L–Lennox!” Quin said, throwing his head back as his entire body

started to shake. His dick was hard as a steel rod, and he didn’t know
how much longer he was going to be able to hold himself back.

“Say it, tell me what you want and I’ll do it,” Lennox said, and the

bastard reached one hand down and let his fingertips massage and
tease his asshole.

Holy fuck, every single time was a learning experience. He

couldn’t believe that it could ever feel this good.

“I’m not hearing anything out of you,” Lennox said. “I need

words, sweetheart.”

Quin frowned up at the man. “Are you really that dense? Of

course I want you to fuck me!”

Lennox chuckled, and he leaned down, let his tongue out just a

bit, and let it slide along each crease of muscle on Quin’s abs.

Quin shivered. Lennox continued to stare at him with those

predatory eyes.

“I love how you get all mean in bed when I don’t give you exactly

what you want right when you want it.”

Mean? Him? Really? “I…I don’t get mean in bed,” Quin said.
Lennox’s hand was down on Quin’s dick, fingers curling around

the shaft, the grip just right as he slowly pumped Quin again and
again. Quin’s hips started to move, fucking up into that hand. “Yes
you do,” Lennox said, but he was all patience and adoring smiles as
he stared down into Quin’s face. “Don’t worry. It’s cute.”

Quin would’ve frowned if he wasn’t so busy enjoying his hand

job. He was always torn whenever Lennox referred to him as being

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cute. That seemed like a word meant only for girls, or weak omega
boys. Not him, but then again, Lennox only ever used that word
whenever he was in the middle of giving Quin an amazing amount of
pleasure, and it was difficult to remain angry when his body was
receiving this sort of physical high.

Then Lennox’s mouth was between Quin’s legs. The man was

actually moaning as he tongued and sucked on Quin’s balls. It was
incredibly strange how Lennox did it as well. He was probably the
only man in the world who could put his mouth on another man’s
testicles without seeming lewd about it. He even closed his eyes as he
did it, as serene and sexy as if he was licking or kissing Quin’s thighs,
and Quin’s hands immediately went into Lennox’s black head of hair
as he moaned and shuddered.

“Lennox, please, get me ready. I want it.”
“You want this?” Lennox asked, still pressing his fingertips

against Quin’s hole, but not doing much more than that.

Quin nodded. “Uh-huh,” he said. Fuck. Could he sound any more

pathetic and needy? It was torment being this painfully aroused. His
stupid cock didn’t know when to quit. It was embarrassing and
exhilarating all at the same time. Quin had never felt this exposed and
helpless before in his life.

It seemed that was what came with the territory of giving up his

power and letting someone else take control, letting someone else top
him. Quin must be a masochist or something, because the more
Lennox did it to him, the more he loved it and needed even more.

This was another one of these things that Lennox didn’t seem to

mind, however, as he reached over for the pair of jeans that Quin had
been carrying around inside of his mouth. He searched the pockets
before he yanked out the small bottle of lube.

There was no more finesse when it came to this part. Quin was too

eager for it, and Lennox was damn near trembling as he poured the
lube into his hand.

Quin spread his thighs wide, needing what he was about to receive

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more than anything else in the world. He needed Lennox’s cock
inside of him. He needed to be owned and right now.

As much as the thought of being inside of Lennox’s body held its

appeal, Quin had quickly grown to love the sensation of Lennox’ dick
inside of his ass. Sometimes it was the only thing Quin could think
about, even when they weren’t in bed together.

Then Lennox was pushing his fingers inside of Quin’s hole,

stretching him out for what he was about to take, and Quin moaned as
he arched his back.

The pleasure was so damned good. So was the pain. All of it, and

only because it was Lennox who was doing this to him.

Quin couldn’t help but tighten his grip on Lennox’s hair just a

little more as he stared down at the man. Lennox was so focused on
his task that he didn’t realize he was being stared at.

Quin could hardly believe he’d had second thoughts, that at one

time he’d argued against this, said it shouldn’t be done. Now, just the
thought of George trying to use some excuse to tear them apart made
him so damned scared, so beyond utterly terrified that Quin literally
had no idea what to do with all of that fear.

What would he do if George managed to start up the fight

between the pack and the clan again? Quin’s family would be
expected to fight again, his brothers and father whom he loved.
Lennox would have to go out and fight. Someone could die. Lennox
could die. Lennox could be forced to kill one of Quin’s brothers in
self-defense, or Lennox could be killed by one of Quin’s brothers.

Quin wouldn’t allow something like that to happen. Something

like that couldn’t happen. There could be no life, no happiness in a
world where Lennox didn’t exist.

“You still with me?” Lennox asked.
Quin blinked, and as he came out of his thoughts he realized that

the man was staring up at him. He’d caught Quin, and now Quin
couldn’t speak. He just gripped the back of Lennox’s head and hair
even tighter. “Just get up here and kiss me.”

Marcy Jacks

Lennox did as he was told. There was no cocky smile on his face

this time, and no smart-ass remark. He just lunged forward and put his
mouth over Quin’s.

Quin moaned, opening his legs wider so Lennox would be able to

settle in more comfortably. Quin wound his arms around his mate’s
back and held on tight. He tensed only briefly, letting out a small
noise as he felt himself being breached. Even through the kiss,
Lennox knew what he was doing as he positioned his hard prick and
pushed forward. The head went through with an easy pop, and the rest
was a calm slide that filled Quin right up to the brink.

He moaned, and inexplicably he felt like he could cry. He was

probably hurting Lennox’s back with his claws, but Lennox wasn’t
saying a damned thing as he pulled back and pushed forward.

The thrusting was shallow at first, but as Quin adjusted, so did

Lennox’s rhythm. The man damn near pulled his cock right out of
Quin’s entrance at one point before slamming it back inside of him.

Quin threw his head back and yelled out loud. He hooked his legs

around Lennox’s waist and thrust his ass against the man’s surging
prick.

“Oh fuck, that’s what I want,” Lennox said, and the man grinned

as the motion of his hips sped right up. He moved hard and fast,
fucking Quin with everything he had.

Quin fucking loved it.
He loved it, but something was missing. Quin had a bite mark on

his shoulder, and he had Lennox’s amulet around his neck, but at the
same time, there was just one small, tiny little detail that was missing,
and it was bothering Quin to all hell.

His inner wolf knew what it was before he did, and as Lennox

moved on top of him, inside of him, Quin quickly figured out what
the problem was.

His wolf’s teeth came out, and he leaned up and bit Lennox hard

on the side of the throat. Lennox tensed up and yelled. It sounded like
he was in pain, but Quin couldn’t stop himself to save his life, and

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then it didn’t matter anyway because Lennox’s entire body was
tensing up, he was moaning, and his cock was swelling inside of
Quin’s ass.

Warm cum filled him up, and then Quin was moaning as he felt it

inside of him, splashing against his prostate as Lennox’s still-hard
cock plowed into him even faster and harder as the dragon rode out
his orgasm.

Quin let his teeth fall from Lennox’s throat as he groaned and

sighed, a happy smile on his face as the shocks of his pleasure
continued to spasm gently through him.

“You bit me,” Lennox said, pressing his face into Quin’s shoulder.
Quin stroked the man’s back. His hands were back to normal now

instead of having claws or little bits of wolf fur. “Yeah, sorry about
that.”

Lennox laughed, and the shaking of his shoulders and chest, along

with the puffs of breath on Quin’s neck, were wonderful. “Just
couldn’t resist, could you?” he asked.

Quin shook his head. “No, not really,” he said, and then he leaned

in and licked at Lennox’s bite wound, which would turn into a scar in
no time. Had he been a cat shifter, he could have purred at the sight. It
actually looked really good.

“You’re actually proud of yourself right now, aren’t you?”

Lennox asked.

“A little. That’s going to turn into a really nice scar.”
Lennox reached up to touch it. “I didn’t know a wolf had to bite

me. Did Conner ever bite Aris?”

Quin let his hands slide up and down the firm muscle of Lennox’s

arms. They were still connected, his legs were still around Lennox’s
waist and the man was still inside of him, but they were just talking
normally, as if they had been lovers for so much longer than just two
weeks.

“I doubt it. Omegas don’t usually put mating scars on their mates.

Betas don’t always do it either.”

Marcy Jacks

“No?” Lennox asked, blinking those big eyes of his and looking

so damned cute.

Now Quin was the one using that word. He really needed to get a

grip.

He laughed a little and scratched his nose with his thumb. “Uh,

no. I guess I’m a little on the possessive side.”

Lennox smiled and leaned down, and then his warm mouth was

covering Quin’s once before he quickly pulled away. “I guess that
makes me pretty damned lucky then, doesn’t it?”

Quin smiled. He opened his mouth to tell Lennox that was maybe,

probably, falling in love with him just a little bit, but then Lennox’s
hand clamped down on top of Quin’s mouth, stopping everything that
he was about to say.

Quin struggled for half a second before he got one good look at

Lennox’s face. The man was looking up and around them, his eyes
were wide and his body was tense. There was such focus on his face,
sort of like what happened with Quin’s older brothers whenever…

Whenever there was an enemy nearby.
Lennox’s hand slid away, and Quin knew better than to make a

sound. He just lay there, keeping his ear open and his nose at the
ready.

It took him a few seconds before he noticed the smell.
There was something burning somewhere. Likely a fire, which

meant there were humans in the area because no self-respecting
dragon or wolf could come to this spot just to camp out.

Lennox briefly looked down at him, and he put a finger to his lips.

He didn’t need to do even that. Quin knew he had to be quiet right
now. He nodded his head as Lennox pulled himself off of Quin’s
body.

Lennox got up, but he remained in his human form, not bothering

to shift into his dragon as he started to quietly walk over to where the
smell of smoke was at its strongest.

Quin’s first instinct was to go with the man. He followed, but only

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got two steps before Lennox abruptly halted his steps, half turned and
glared so extremely at Quin that he felt frozen in place.

It was like Lennox’s real power was to turn people to stone with

just a look, because that was exactly what Quin was getting out of
those mean-looking eyes.

Lennox pointed at him, and then pointed sharply at the ground.

Any idiot would know that as the command to stay that it was.

Quin wanted to punch him. Lennox was commanding Quin to stay

behind? Who the fuck did he think he was? Quin was a capable beta
werewolf who had been in his share of fights. He’d been trained to
fight and defend himself. He wasn’t an omega!

Lennox didn’t seem to care. Every time Quin tried stepping

forward, Lennox grabbed onto his arms and put him back down in his
place. He even grabbed Quin by the hair and gave him a hard shake
that had Quin grunting with pain.

“Stay,” Lennox said under his breath. The word was spoken so

quietly, but there was still such a great degree of anger, such a
commanding tone to his voice, that Quin’s wolf immediately
recognized an alpha’s command, and he nodded his head.

Lennox seemed to relax a bit after that, and he relaxed his grip,

even massaging Quin’s hair for one second before nodding and
turning to go.

Quin thought maybe Lennox had touched his hair like that to

convey that he was sorry for having to grab onto him so roughly, but
he was too pissed off to want to look very deeply into it. All he knew
was that his mate was going off by himself, which was the stupidest
thing any warrior could do, to investigate the strange smells that were
coming from the other direction over there.

Quin paced around, grabbed onto his jeans, angry that Lennox had

left him alone, and he was just getting ready to put them on when he
stopped himself.

The two of them weren’t even supposed to be down here. Aris had

mentioned that Templars had been attacking dragons in his clan

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lately, which was why everyone was basically on lockdown. Not only
were the two of them not supposed to be here, but they hadn’t told
anyone else they were coming down here either.

What if it was Templars? What if they were surrounding Lennox

right now and getting ready to spring? Quin’s muscles tensed up at
the thought of his mate in danger. Lennox would definitely fight back
and he could end up dying because of it. They would either kill him at
worst, or severely injure him at best, and neither option was
something Quin wanted to think about.

Even if it wasn’t the Templars, it could be one of the wolves that

George was getting all riled up from the pack. Would any of them be
this far out and away from the pack? It wasn’t likely, but Quin
couldn’t take the risk.

Quin threw down his jeans and went running. He chased after his

mate. He had to go and find him! Right now!

Taking Another Man

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Chapter Nine

Lennox couldn’t remember precisely the last time it was that he’d

seen hunters before. It had been years, and they hadn’t changed all
that much since then.

Still a group of men, mostly humans in middle age who were

either out for revenge, or wanted to experience the thrill of killing a
man, without feeling like they were going to burn in hell for it.

Human laws stated that murdering a werewolf was the same as

murder, but there were some who were just crazy enough to think that
it didn’t matter, and that they were not only entitled to hunt the
wolves, but also had the right to do it as well.

Lennox had to find his mate. He had to get back to him and get

the hell out of here before these men realized they were so close to
their prey.

Lennox rushed back the way he came. He’d had to take several

zigzagging paths, making sure to avoid the metal traps he’d found
along the way. These hunters were good, and they’d made sure to
fortify their little base so that nothing could sneak up on them.

Nothing that moved like a regular animal, that is.
Within two minutes, Lennox was back to the place where he’d left

his mate. The area wasn’t hard to miss since it still smelled of the sex
they’d had together. The only problem was that Quin was nowhere to
be seen.

Lennox searched around for his mate. Where the hell had he gone

off to? Was he hiding? That was probably the smart thing for him to
do, considering the dangers that were around.

“Quin? Where are you?” Lennox asked, keeping his voice low,

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just in case there were more hunters nearby, which was a very real
possibility with all the bear traps that were around.

Quin didn’t appear, and Lennox’s heart started to pound, and then

he heard the shrill scream that rose up above the canopy of trees.

Quin!
Lennox ran back, this time moving along the area that was slightly

easier to navigate. He had to leap up into the trees and jump between
the heavier branches in order to more easily avoid the traps that had
been lain out for him and any other unfortunate shifter who just
happened to be in the area.

Quin was still crying out, still screaming. He was hurt! Lennox

had to get to him!

He stopped immediately when he was overtop of his mate. Quin

was in his human form, naked and scowling, and he was trying to pry
apart the metal teeth of the trap that had him with one hand.

The other hand was useless, as the metal teeth were locked onto

the wrist. There was no way that Quin could have bent down and put
his hand on a trap, or even the ground without seeing it was there.
He’d been running in his wolf form, and now he was shifted into a
man, and through the tears of pain in his eyes, he was glaring up at the
three humans who were surrounding him.

“Is it a werewolf?” asked one of the men, the youngest who had

the fewest grays in his hair.

“He’s naked with a trap on his wrist, of course he is. That

would’ve killed a normal man.”

The third man just held his gun even closer and chuckled.
“Get away from me, you fucking hicks,” Quin snapped.
Lennox winced. That wasn’t a smart move, especially not if Quin

wanted to get out of this alive.

Lennox still barely managed to hold back a hiss of displeasure

when the hunter holding the gun slammed the butt of it into Quin’s
eye. Quin yelled with the pain, but he didn’t stay down and cower.
His tail wasn’t out, but even if it was, Lennox didn’t get the

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impression that it would be between his mate’s legs right now.

Quin was brave, but Lennox couldn’t be proud of that fact when

he was pants-shitting terrified that these could be the last seconds of
Quin’s life.

“Brave one,” said the older of the three men. “What’s your pelt

look like, boy?”

“Fuck you.”
The hunter chuckled, and all the while, Lennox silently moved

through the tree branches, getting himself in just the right position
that he wanted. These weren’t the only hunters. There were still the
men back at the camp, so he had to take them all out swiftly and
silently, then get his mate on his back before Lennox could get them
both back into the air.

“You’ll be a little more willing to talk once we start playing

around with your fingernails,” said the hunter, and Lennox decided he
was going to be the first to die.

“You guys got the silver chains on you?”
“I don’t know about this,” said the younger hunter. “I’m getting

weirded out, I don’t think I want to do this anymore.”

It was when the older hunter grabbed onto his collar and shook

him that Lennox’s eyes found Quin’s and he realized that his mate
was staring up at him.

Quin quickly looked away, likely to not give away Lennox’s

position, but even still, it was like a thin knife between Lennox’s ribs,
seeing that sorry expression on Quin’s face.

Quin could be sorry all he wanted and Lennox would always

forgive him, but only if the man survived what was about to happen.

The older hunter was yelling into the face of his young

companion, and during the distraction, Lennox jumped down on the
hunter holding onto the rifle.

His death was quick, which was more than what he deserved.

Lennox thrust his claws into the hunter’s back, and after a quick grunt
and gasp, he was limp.

Marcy Jacks

“What the fuck!” screamed the older hunter, shoving the other

man back as he reached for something at his side.

He was quick for an old human, and Lennox lunged at him. He

swiped his claws out, slicing the human’s hands, and the hunter
screamed good and loud as one of his thumbs was damn near taken
clean off with the force of Lennox’s cutting claws.

He gripped his hand, and Lennox pushed him down, opened his

mouth, and prepared to make a killing bite on his throat.

“Don’t do it!” Quin screamed.
Lennox immediately stopped, stunned to all hell that he was even

being told to do something like that.

Lennox didn’t look at his mate, but only because he was

determined to keep his eyes on the worthless little shit that was
beneath him right now. The hunter’s eyes were wide. His heart was
beating erratically, and there was even the scent of warm urine in the
air. “Why the hell should I? He was going to do the same thing to
you.”

“I know, but he’s down now. The other guy was self-defense, but

he won’t be if you kill him. Humans won’t look kindly on you if you
kill him. You won’t just be putting a target on your head from the
hunters, but you’ll have police after you, too. They’ll lock you away,
Lennox. Don’t do it.”

Lennox could hardly control his breathing. He was still panting

for breath from the adrenaline that was rushing through him. The
human’s fear was bleeding in through Lennox’s pores. He could feel
the man’s heartbeat and in a strange, thrilling sort of way, it was
exciting to know that this human was terrified, because he knew that
each breath could be his last if Lennox wanted it to be so.

He angled his head just enough to look up at the other hunter, the

younger human with only the smattering of grays in his dark hair.

The guy was frozen, and panting just as hard as Lennox had been.

He was on his ass with his back pressed up against the nearest birch
tree. His eyes were wide as he stared at Lennox, like he’d never seen

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a dragon before in his life.

Lennox snarled at him. “Get a new hobby, or else I won’t be so

nice to you the next time. Understand?”

The human nodded dumbly, his mouth gaping.
Lennox wasn’t entirely convinced. “You come after my mate

again, me, or any of my friends, and you’ll be worse than the hunter
over there. I’ll tear your fucking head off and eat the thing. Now, tell
me you understand,” Lennox said, and he felt the crackle of his
electric power rush through him.

The human tensed up. “I understand! I understand!”
Lennox still wasn’t sure about this. It was hard to tell what

humans were thinking, but if this was what his mate wanted, then
Lennox was going to give it to him. “Good. Now get out of here
before I change my mind.”

It took the human a couple of seconds to respond, but he did

finally manage to get to his shaking feet, and he ran through the trees
as if his life depended on it.

Which it did.
The others from the camp would be here soon, if they hadn’t

already heard the screams.

Lennox stared down at the hunter he was still gripping in his

claws. The man’s eyes were wide, like he was staring at the devil
himself.

The fact that Lennox was speaking to him while he was in his

dragon form was probably creeping him out as well. “I could’ve
killed you just now. I fucking want to kill you. That wolf over there
spared your life. You’d better remember that,” Lennox said.

The human swallowed hard and nodded. “I-I got it,” he said.
Lennox doubted it. This guy reeked of experience. He’d hunted

werewolves before, and killed them. This wouldn’t stop him, but
Lennox was determined to be the man that Quin wanted him to be.

That meant he had to show mercy where he thought there was

none to be given.

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Lennox removed his claws from the hunter’s chest, and when he

was no longer pressing the man down, the hunter immediately
scrambled to his feet and ran away, in the same direction as his
partner.

Lennox had to be quick. He was lucky no one had sprung at him

or started shooting at him next.

“Lennox, I’m so sorry. I thought it was Templars, or some of the

wolves that George was getting all riled up.”

The metal teeth from the trap were cutting deep into Quin’s wrist.

It was probably hitting the bone, and it was lucky that Quin’s wrist
was angled in such a way that his artery hadn’t been cut. The
werewolf healing would take care of the rest, but only if they got out
of here and got to Kristoff before anything else happened to it. “Your
pack is clear on the other side of the mountain, you little fool, and I
can handle Templars myself without you rushing into anything
without thinking.”

Quin sniffled. He actually sniffled, a sound that Lennox never

thought he would hear coming out of his mate. He looked up at him,
and was stunned to see the way Quin was staring down at his wrist,
jaw clenched and with tears in his eyes. His shoulders were trembling,
and the wound looked that much meaner even to Lennox’s eyes now
that his mate was sobbing over it.

It was a reminder that, as strong as his mate looked, and as much

muscle as he had, Quin was not an alpha. He was a beta, which meant
that he was much more open with his emotions, and it was easier to
make him cry.

And Quin’s tears were Lennox’s tears. He loved this man, and his

pain was Lennox’s pain. If only he could take it from him so that
Quin wouldn’t have to feel it for himself.

“This will hurt. Give me one second,” Lennox said, and he had to

change his talons just enough, shifting so that it felt more like he had
hands again.

Hands with strong scales that would protect him from the sharp

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spikes.

Quin let out a pained yell when Lennox ripped the trap apart,

freeing his mate and throwing the offending thing away. He didn’t
even want to see where it landed. His eyes were on the nasty wound
left behind.

Quin immediately grabbed onto his injured wrist, and Lennox

scooped the man into his arms and held onto his tightly. “Don’t ever
scare me like that again.”

Quin was remarkably still as Lennox held onto him. It was like

he’d stopped breathing, and Lennox would have been worried if he
hadn’t been able to hear just how hard Quin’s heart was pounding.

“I’m not a girl you know. You don’t have to protect me,” Quin

said.

“The hell I don’t!” Lennox snapped.
“They’re over this way!”
Lennox and Quin both turned to the sound of the voices. Voices

that were coming straight to them.

“There’s no time for this. We need to go,” Lennox said. He put his

mate back down on the ground. He briefly thought that it was a good
thing one of Quin’s legs hadn’t been caught in the trap, otherwise the
man wouldn’t be able to stand by so easily while Lennox shifted into
his dragon shape.

He crouched down when he was ready, and Quin didn’t even need

to be told when he climbed up onto Lennox’s back, settling himself
between his wings.

Lennox didn’t say a word. He spread his wings and launched

himself in the air.

The fact that Quin was only holding on with one hand, using his

thighs to squeeze Lennox’s back and keep himself from falling off
was a major concern, but there were no gunshots coming at them, and
they were on their way back to the castle without any more problems.

“Aris’ll need to know about the traps and the hunters down there.

That’s still part of the Firethorn territory, isn’t it?” Quin asked.

Marcy Jacks

If the bastard was trying to make Lennox forget about what had

just happened, then he was sorely mistaken.

He answered the man anyway. “I’ll let him know, and Roman will

likely send an e-mail down to your father so he’ll know about them as
well.”

Hunters were never good news for werewolves, and those hunters

would come across Simon Abbot’s pack soon enough. Lennox didn’t
much care for the man, but he was Quin and Conner’s father.

They went straight back to the castle, and Lennox landed quickly,

shifting back into his human shape the moment Quin slid down off of
his back.

“Let me see it,” he demanded.
Quin was clutching at his wrist again, and he reluctantly handed it

over to Lennox for inspection. It was still bleeding freely, and that
was a concern. A wound that deep would take time to heal even for a
werewolf.

“Come on, I’ll take you to Kristoff.”
“I can get myself there,” Quin said.
A rush of anger flooded Lennox so hard, heavy, and fast that it

spilled right out of him. “What the hell’s the matter with you?” he
snapped.

Quin’s eyes widened.
Lennox couldn’t stop himself. “You could have been killed! I

nearly lost you because you had to rush off like that when I
specifically told you to stay behind! Those hunters were going to skin
you alive if I hadn’t gotten there!”

Lennox had to stop and turn away when the mental image of that

made his voice crack. He didn’t want his mate to see him as weak as
that, but he knew it was too late. He could feel Quin’s eyes on his
back, staring at him hard.

Lennox had to take in a deep breath. “Next time, do as I say. Now

come on. I’ll take you to Kristoff.”

Lennox tried to step forward, but he got one step before his wrist

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was grabbed and he was pulled back. He turned, stunned, and was just
in time to see Quin leaning up toward him, right before their mouths
were connected.

The kiss was warm, and Lennox’s open mouth made it easy for

Quin to slide his tongue inside. Smooth, wet, tasting exactly like
Quin. Lennox’s dick hardened. Everything inside of him pulled him
to this man. Every blood cell in his body belonged to Quin and called
out for him, and the thought that he wouldn’t be here…that he could
be murdered by people who didn’t care for him the way Lennox did…

The fact that Lennox wouldn’t be having this kiss, wouldn’t be

experiencing these reactions in his body, if he’d been just five
minutes late, made him angry again, and he pushed Quin back. Their
mouths separated, but Lennox’s skin still burned, on his mouth, and
his shoulder, everywhere Quin had touched him. “Stop trying to
distract me.”

“I’m not,” Quin said, and he was clutching his wrist to his chest.

Blood was drying on his chest, and he never looked more vulnerable
than he did right then. “I just…I’m glad you care enough to be that
angry with me. I know you care about me, and that you love me, but I
never thought you would be so angry if I was in danger.”

“Are you out of your mind? Of course I would be!” Lennox

snapped. “Honestly! Of all the stupid things to say—”

“It’s not stupid.”
Lennox stopped his tirade, shocked at the hard look Quin was

giving him right now.

Quin continued. “I’m a beta, and that wasn’t the first time I’ve

ever rushed into trouble for someone I love. I’ve gone up against
hunters before to protect my family, and though that was probably the
first time I was every caught by them, I’d do it again.”

It took Lennox point zero one seconds to let that catch up to his

brain, and he shook his head. “Well, it doesn’t matter now, and you
don’t have to rush into trouble. You’re mated to me and I’ll protect
you. You won’t have to fight anymore.”

Marcy Jacks

“And if I want to?”
Lennox’s heart damn near stopped, and the red blood on Quin’s

wrist and chest was looking a lot brighter all of a sudden. “Don’t do
this.”

“Do what?”
“Argue with me about something like this, especially after you

were nearly killed.”

“It’s worth it to me to risk my life for you. I’ve done it before and

I’ll do it again.”

“You were nearly killed!”
Quin took in a deep, calming breath, and it pissed Lennox off to

no end. “You’re right, and that was my fault. I wasn’t completely
focused. I should’ve seen that trap, but I didn’t because all I could
think about was finding you before you got yourself killed.”

Lennox’s heart stopped again. Quin really knew how to get those

painful reactions out of him.

His mate wasn’t going to give up on this. “I’m asking you nicely.

Please don’t go up against hunters or Templars for me. I couldn’t…it
would kill me if you died. I can barely look at you now because the
blood on you…fuck, my body’s shaking. I nearly lost you. I barely
had the chance to have you.”

There. Lennox had let it out and he’d done it rationally, speaking

with his emotions and everything.

Quin didn’t grab him with his hand again. Probably because he

was too busy clutching his injured wrist, or maybe he didn’t want to
put anymore blood on Lennox. He did, however, step forward and
lean his forehead against Lennox’s chest.

It was like he was being hugged, and it completely melted all of

the anger right out of him, leaving Lennox just exhausted and
shaking.

“I can’t lose you,” Lennox said, reaching up and grabbing onto

Quin’s shoulders.

“I know,” Quin said, and he looked up at him, and there was so

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much understanding in those deep, dark brown eyes of his, that
Lennox was blanketed in it.

“I’ll…I won’t go out and fight with you, if that’s what you really

want. It would be hard for me to get back up here anyway, you
know?”

Lennox sighed, and he curled his arms around Quin’s shoulders.

“Thank you,” he said.

“But,” Quin added.
Lennox almost wanted to laugh. “Should’ve known this was

coming.”

Quin just smiled up at him, but it was a cautious one. “I can’t…I

won’t promise you that I’ll never chase after you, especially if you’re
ever in trouble, or if someone in my family is in trouble. I was trained
for that, and if I can ever add any muscle to the group, then you’re
going to have to chain me down, because there’s nothing that would
ever stop me from wanting to save the people I love. That especially
includes you.”

Lennox rubbed his mate’s back, and then his new bite scar that

Quin had given him itched and throbbed, as if it was agreeing with
what Quin just said, which was an odd enough thought in and of
itself.

“I guess I can handle that. I’ll just have to buy some chains,”

Lennox said.

Quin laughed, but Lennox knew his mate was aware that Lennox

was most certainly not joking.

“And I want to train with you and the other dragon warriors.

Seriously, I’m getting soft,” Quin said.

Lennox put his hand on Quin’s lower back, and he started to walk

his mate to where he could get some antibiotics and bandages for his
wrist. “Don’t push your luck.”

Lennox might have to start with chaining Quin down once they

got back to their room. He would be nice about it, though. He would
only chain his ankles to the bed, and not his wrists. It wasn’t good to

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Chapter Ten

“They…they eloped?”
Quin blinked stupidly while Kristoff took care of his bandages.

The man’s hands were surprisingly gentle, for a dragon his size. Or
maybe Quin was just too focused on what was happening in front of
him in order to really feel what was happening with his wrist.

Aris nodded his head, still speaking with Lennox while Quin sat

on the side of one of the hospital-type beds, getting his treatment. “It
was actually Ailiwen who told me about it. Apparently he bumped
into them as they were rushing out. According to him, they were
holding hands, and each of them had a suitcase.”

Lennox seemed dumbfounded, and Quin genuinely felt sorry for

him. The poor man. He’d had to deal with Quin’s injury today,
hunters, and now he was finding out that one of his good friends was
just gone, without saying a word.

Craig and Clatcher, two of the other dragon warriors that Quin

had seen sparring with Lennox, Roman and the twins from time to
time, were standing behind their leader. They looked miserable.

Because their friend was gone? That made sense. No one ever

wanted to say good-bye to a friend. In this case, they hadn’t gotten to
do even that.

“B–but…where’s he gonna go? Did he leave a note? Anything?”
“Yes, actually,” Aris said, and the man even smiled a bit. “I won’t

go into details, because it was addressed to me, and there were some
personal things mentioned in it, but he told me to tell everyone that
he’s happy, and that he’s sorry for betraying the clan.”

“It’s not the clan we’re worried about,” Craig muttered under his

Marcy Jacks

breath.

Clatcher was nodding his head, red spiky hair appearing a little

limp. He appeared the most depressed out of everyone in the room.
Had Roman been his close friend? Or had the man hoped for
something more?

“That’s exactly right,” Lennox said, jarring Quin out of his

thoughts.

Had the man read his mind or something?
No. Lennox had just been commenting on what Craig had said.
“He shouldn’t have felt the need to run away. We wouldn’t have

held anything against him!” Lennox said. For the second time today,
it looked as if Lennox was shaking with over boiling emotion and
anger. “If…if he didn’t want to get mated to one of Quin’s brothers,
then none of us would’ve made him.”

Quin gasped at that. Fuck. He’d entirely forgotten about that.
“What is it?” Lennox asked.
Quin looked up, and he tensed when he realized that all eyes were

on him. Lennox must’ve been paying real close attention to Quin’s
every move, especially after the accident. “I just…well I was
thinking, if George was making an issue out of the fact that I didn’t
mate with Roman, what’s he gonna do when he finds out that
Roman’s not going to mate with anyone?”

Shit, this wasn’t good at all. George could raise all kinds of hell

that would be hard for Quin’s father and brother’s to get settled. An
outright refusal from Roman could really get some of the wolves
down there in a snit, and more could join George as he attempted to
split the pack and make his own.

“I already thought of that,” Aris said, being as helpful as ever.
Quin stared up at him. “You have?”
Aris nodded. “Conner and I came up with this. Mostly it was his

idea. Anyway, we knew Roman left because he was worried about
being forced to get mated to someone from your family, or for the
backlash Kendrick would get from other members of the clan. Either

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way, with him gone, I can just tell your father, and your council, that I
banished him as punishment.”

Quin tensed up. “But isn’t that a bit risky? What if he hears about

that and thinks you’re really mad at him?”

“I don’t think he’ll think something like that. We’ve known each

other for too long. If he does hear of it before I can explain, then I’m
more than sure he’ll understand. Even then, I don’t have to say it’ll be
a permanent banishment. After a couple of months, I can forgive him
for his betrayal, and then just invite him back. The only problem is
that he won’t be my second in command anymore.”

Quin didn’t have to ask why, or try and talk Aris out of that

decision. As the son of an alpha, he knew perfectly well that it didn’t
look good when a second in command left his post. Roman very
likely knew that when he left. The fact that he took Kendrick and left
anyway was kind of romantic.

“Who’ll take the position?” Lennox asked.
“You will.”
Lennox’s entire body became stiff, his emerald eyes were wide,

and it was kind of interesting, seeing a guy with piercings and tattoos
with that sort of expression on his face. “Me?”

“Yes, you,” Aris said, and then he narrowed his eyes. “Of course,

I’m still going to have to speak with you about your responsibilities,
like how a second in command shouldn’t be setting such a bad
example for the clan by taking his mate and leaving the castle when
it’s clearly so dangerous.”

Lennox ducked his head, appearing genuinely ashamed of

himself. “Yes, sir,” he said.

His fists were clenched, and Quin stared at those trembling hands

for a few seconds. Was that what Lennox’s earlier outburst had really
been about?

It made sense, at least partly. Lennox felt the need to be the alpha

of the relationship, probably because he was an alpha by nature, even
if he wasn’t a wolf. Alphas felt the most responsibility for the safety

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of their mates, and yet it had been his idea to take Quin down the
mountain for their hunt.

He’d taken Quin down there, so could he possibly be feeling

guilty about it? Was that why he was so angry when they came back
up? When Quin was caught and injured?

If that was the case, Quin was going to have to talk to him about

that later on. It wasn’t right that he felt that sort of responsibility.
Quin had been the one moping around, wanting to go, after all, and he
was a beta, not an omega, he should have been able to take care of
himself.

Fuck. The fact that he hadn’t was only going to make things so

difficult from here on out. Lennox was always going to be
overprotective now.

“Anyway,” Aris continued. “This will mean that Quin still mated

with my second in command, even if it turned out to be someone
different than who was offered. From what Conner tells be about
George and the council, this will only help a little, but it’ll give Simon
something to use to argue back against if George tries an uprising.
Simon will still have control and be able to save face in front of the
pack.”

Quin smiled at that. “You’ve really thought this through, haven’t

you?” he asked.

Aris looked at him, and his serious expression softened a bit.

“Yes, I have.”

And to think, it had only been a little less than six months since

the offer for a mating between the clan and the pack had been made.
Before that, Quin doubted very much that Aris would’ve given two
shits if Simon Abbot was having trouble leading his own pack. Now
here he was, doing everything he could to not only keep the peace, but
also make sure that life wasn’t getting difficult for Quin’s father.

He knew the man was mostly doing it for Conner’s sake, but he

was still grateful. “Thank you,” he said.

Aris nodded.

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101

“That should do it,” Kristoff said finally.
It was a reminder that the man was even in the room with him,

and he looked down to see what was happening. Kristoff was pulling
his own hands away, and he was smiling softly as the glow of his
fingertips dimmed to nothing. He was no longer using his healing
powers on Quin’s wrist.

“You’re healing should be right on track now, and I don’t think

you’re in trouble for infections. You should be fine, and if you have to
shift into your wolf, keep off of this paw for a while,” he said, tapping
the hand that was attached to the bandaged wrist. “Though I’d prefer
it if you stayed in human form for a while. I don’t want the bandages
to come off for a couple of days at least, and I don’t want anything to
happen to the stitches if you change.”

Quin frowned a little at that as he looked at his wrist, which was

clean and no longer dripping blood. It was so not fair that dragons
could shift and still speak and keep whatever piercings they had, like
Lennox, but when Quin shifted, he couldn’t speak, and everything fell
away. So not fair.

“Thank you for everything, Kristoff. I appreciate it,” Lennox said,

and he was looking at Quin with that same shameful expression on his
face.

Yeah, he definitely felt guilty. Quin was going to have to do

everything he could to get those sad thoughts out of his mate’s head.

Kristoff nodded. “I’ll be checking on him daily, changing the

bandages and whatnot.”

“But, just make sure you give priority to my brother,” Quin said

quickly. “I already promised Lennox I’d be careful, and he’ll make
sure of it. I won’t wreck your bandages.”

Kristoff just smiled at him. “All right, be sure that you don’t. I’ll

come and see you between my visits to Conner.”

Quin inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, though he was pretty sure

that Kristoff would have given Conner his priority anyway,
considering Conner’s pregnancy, he still didn’t want the healer

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devoting too much thinking time to Quin and his wrist injury. That
was nothing compared to Conner’s life.

Quin frowned at that. If something happened to Conner, he would

go out of his mind, the same as if something happened to Lennox.
Yeah, maybe Lennox had needed to yell like that before. He’d needed
to get what was built up off of his chest before he erupted.

Aris spoke some more with Lennox, about the new duties he

needed to take on, and how the two of them would soon go to explain
to Simon what was happening in person, along with the e-mails they
were sending out through the shitty Internet that got all the way up the
mountain. Then they left.

Lennox, again treating Quin like he was an omega, actually

helped him down off of the bed he was sitting on before they also left
Kristoff’s clinic, back to their own room.

Quin didn’t complain about the way Lennox held onto him, as if

he were an invalid or something. It was hard to be irritated about
something like that when Lennox’s hand around Quin’s waist felt so
damned nice, not to mention how he was constantly watching Quin
for any signs that he’d stumble and fall.

Quin thought he could actually get used to someone caring that

much about his every little injury. When he was in training with his
brothers, the basic attitude for him and Kyle, the only other beta of his
brothers, was to just suck it up.

They had. Quin didn’t think of either himself or Kyle as being

weak, but having someone treat him gently was also incredibly
warming to his insides.

“Do you want me to get you something to drink?” Lennox asked

when they made it to their bedroom. “Kristoff was telling me that
tea’s supposed to be good for—Mmph!”

Quin shut his mate up with a kiss, wrapping his good arm around

the man’s neck and holding him close. He kept it quick, just a fast
brush of his tongue against Lennox’s lips, but their foreheads were
still pressed together when Quin broke it off. He didn’t even mind that

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Lennox was taller than him or anything. Maybe he had more omega in
his blood than he thought he had. “Don’t you ever feel guilty about
what happened down there.”

“What?” Lennox asked.
Quin lifted his injured wrist. “This. Don’t feel guilty about this. I

think that’s what’s been going through your mind, and I’m telling you
that you don’t need to be worrying about that.”

“How can I not worry about that?” Lennox asked, his hands on

Quin’s hips. “I’m supposed to protect you, and you could’ve died
because my stupid careless—”

Quin kissed him again. Lennox’s lips were warm, and they were

giving Quin those same hot tingles he’d been getting when they were
kissing and pressing their bodies together down the mountain. Quin’s
dick was getting hard beneath the sweat pants he’d borrowed just
thinking about that, and he so wanted more of it.

It didn’t help when Lennox’s large hands went to Quin’s waist,

and then slid down and around to cup his ass. The man gave it a brief
squeeze, but there was nothing playful about the move. Lennox was
still being distant.

Quin couldn’t have that. He pulled away from Lennox’s amazing

mouth so he could look his mate in the eye one more time. “I’m going
to get into trouble from time to time, and I love the thought that you
would come and save me, but I’ve been living a dangerous life even
before I met you. Things are going to happen. I don’t want you
blaming yourself if I get hurt, and especially not if I die.”

“Don’t even say that,” Lennox said, shaking his head. This really

had rattled him.

Quin put his hand, his good hand, behind Lennox’s neck. “I love

you, and you fought to get me. Don’t ever let yourself feel bad if
something happens to me. There’s always going to be people out
there who want to hurt us. Templars, hunters, rival packs.”

“I know, but—”
“Shh,” Quin said, and he was done with speaking. This seemed

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like the right time to be acting, to be kissing and showing his mate
just how much Quin loved him.

Lennox was a bit more pliant this time around. The man allowed

Quin to do as he wished with him. He moaned when Lennox thrust
his tongue inside of his mouth, but there was an immediate push back.

Dominate or be dominated. Lennox was an alpha, through and

through. It didn’t matter if dragons didn’t use those kinds of words to
separate each other out. Lennox was pure alpha, and if Quin wanted
this to work, and he very much did, there were going to have to be
some things he was going to be compromising on.

If Lennox didn’t want him on the battlefield, then Quin could do

that for him. He didn’t much like fighting anyway, but the man was
out of his mind if he thought Quin was going to spend the rest of his
life confined to this room like a wife.

Talk like that could come later. Quin’s heart raced when he

reached down to palm Lennox’s cock through the pants he’d also
been given after getting to Kristoff’s clinic.

Lennox’s moan vibrating through Quin’s mouth was wonderful.

The dragon was hard, and Quin gripped the heavy prick even tighter.

Lennox chuckled. “You keep doing that and I’m not going to get

you into bed.”

Quin grinned up at him. “Why, does it make you hot?”
“Very,” Lennox said, and Quin could see the crackle of blue

electricity in the man’s green eyes.

Quin shivered. “That’s perfect,” he said, and he fell down to his

knees.

“What are you doing?” Lennox asked, as if what he thought Quin

was doing was cute or something.

Quin easily managed to get Lennox’s pants down, especially

because it was just an elastic waistband. His heavy cock sprung free
the moment the pants were down and around his ankles. Lennox
stepped out of them, leaving him as naked as when he’d brought Quin
back up the mountain.

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Those big hands were in Quin’s hair, and it was obvious that

Lennox knew what was coming.

“You have a very pretty cock,” Quin said, grabbing it in his hand.

It was so thick that his fingers just barely touched when he fisted it.

“Don’t think anyone’s ever called any part of me pretty before,”

Lennox said.

“Do you like it?” Quin asked, and he stared up at his mate, all the

while stroking the man’s cock in his hand.

Lennox groaned. “You can do whatever you want to me, call me

whatever you want, and I’ll never complain about it so long as you
keep doing that.”

Quin laughed, and that was about when he thought it was time to

stop teasing his mate. He leaned in, letting his tongue slide along the
slit that was leaking pre-cum. Quin wouldn’t have thought there’d be
any left, considering they’d had sex already that day, but Lennox
always seemed to be ready for him, and his body was always
producing the white substance.

Wolves and dragons might not be meant to mix, but they sure

were similar.

Lennox’s hands went into Quin’s hair, and when Quin looked up,

it almost seemed like his mate was in pain, considering the look he
was giving to Quin right then. “Baby, seriously, stop teasing me
already.”

“I’m not teasing you,” Quin said, and he slid his tongue along the

shaft of Lennox’s hard dick, feeling every raised vain with his tongue,
tasting clean skin and maybe a little bit of salt. It was just the way
Lennox always tasted. “I’m so glad I get to be doing this to you and
not someone else,” Quin said, and then he palmed Lennox’s balls in
his hand, gently squeezing them and massaging them. He wasn’t
using his other hand.

Though it wasn’t specifically his hand that was injured, the wrist

it was attached to was causing some problems, and likely would for a
while as it healed. Even clenching his fist hurt, and at the moment,

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Quin wanted this to be about pleasure for the both of them.

He thought about the way Lennox had rode to his rescue, like

some sort of knight in shining armor, and how angry he’d been with
himself and with Quin for the close call.

There was love in every action that Lennox made, and Quin loved

him back so damned much it was scary considering the short amount
of time they’d been together. It was no wonder mated pairs often
drove themselves crazy. The sudden rush of feelings and emotions
were practically too much to handle.

Quin opened his mouth and sank his lips around Quin’s cock.

Lennox moaned and thrust forward, but he was careful about it,
always careful. He didn’t slam his cock forward because he knew it
would choke Quin, but he still let himself gently thrust forward.

“Fuck, yeah,” he said, and then he arched his back and looked up

at the ceiling. “That’s really…fucking nice.”

Quin moaned in appreciation for the compliment, fully knowing

that the vibrations of the noise would send his mate over the edge.

They almost did. Lennox hissed, and Quin looked up at him and

had trouble not smiling as Lennox glared down at him. “You’re trying
to make me lose it, aren’t you?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Quin said, and the vibrations from even that small

noise made his lover hiss and tense up. The man’s cock was swelling
in Quin’s mouth. His balls felt hard and were rising up into his body,
but for some reason, Lennox was doing an amazing job of holding
himself back.

Quin was genuinely impressed.
“Stop, baby, stop that,” Lennox said.
Quin did as he was told immediately, and he couldn’t help but rub

it in a little. “What’s the matter? Having trouble taking it?

“You’re such a brat,” Lennox said.
It was the first time Quin had ever heard that word out of

Lennox’s mouth, but there was something endearing about it. “I’m
thirty-five, in case you forgot.”

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“And you’re still a brat. Now, get onto the bed so I can properly

teach you a lesson about doing as your mate commands.”

Lennox actually pointed to the bed, but again, there was nothing

stern in the tone of his voice, or even in the way he looked at Quin.
He really was just playing.

All right. Quin could play this game as well.
He got to his feet, crossed his arms, and smiled right up at the

taller man. “Make me,” he said.

Lennox’s eyes widened, and in a motion so swift Quin barely had

the chance to see it, he was grabbed around the waist and lifted right
into the air before he was tossed onto the bed.

He let out a shocked sound as he bounced a little, but otherwise

that had been incredibly fun.

Lennox was over him in an instant, staring down at him with wide

and terrified eyes. “Fuck, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about your wrist.
Are you okay?”

Quin just smiled up at the man. “I’m perfectly fine. We’re back

home, safe and sound, remember?”

“But I hurt you,” Lennox said, and when he reached for Quin’s

wrist, Quin yanked it away before the man could get a look at it for
himself. “No, you didn’t. Stop being so dramatic. I only made that
sound because it shocked the hell out of me being tossed like that. It
was fun, though.”

Lennox sighed. It was a small miracle that he wasn’t asking Quin

whether or not he was sure.

“I’m not made of glass, you know,” Quin said, and he cupped

Lennox’s cheek. “I’m not an omega. You can be a little rough with
me if you want. I think I’d even like it.”

He’d certainly liked being tossed onto the bed. That had a real fun

quality to it.

Lennox looked at him for a few seconds before he managed a

small smile. “All right, but, uh, I think I’m going to try and tone it
down a bit until you’re all fully healed.”

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“Shouldn’t be too long,” Quin said. “Being a werewolf, if you

feed me enough protein and have lots of sex with me, then my body
will turn all that good stuff into healing energy and I’ll be right as rain
in no time.”

“Not that I’m against the suggestion, but how does me having sex

with you help with your healing abilities?” Lennox asked, and there
was a cute smile on his face, as if he was humoring Quin’s strange
behavior.

“I don’t know,” Quin said, shrugging his shoulders, and he was

grinning as Lennox’s hands came down, first on his stomach, right
before sliding up his chest to pinch and tease his nipples. Quin had
trouble speaking as he gasped. He was incredibly sensitive,
considering everything that had happened.

Maybe the adrenaline of nearly dying had done something to him,

because all he could think about was having Lennox’s cock inside of
his ass, of having his prick teased mercilessly as their stomachs
rubbed over it, because there was no way Quin was getting on his
hands and knees for a while. Not with his injury.

“You don’t know?” Lennox asked.
Quin shook his head. Fuck, it was so hard to focus when Lennox’s

fingers were tweaking his nipples like that. “No, uh, I guess it just, ah,
get’s the blood flowing…and all that good stuff.”

“Well then, if it will help with your injury, then I have no choice

but to give you as much as you need, right?”

Quin’s heart jumped around inside of his chest. “Totally,” he said.
Lennox grinned, and he was getting that predatory look in his eyes

again. “We can’t have you getting bored of me either, can we?” he
asked.

Quin immediately shook his head. “Never. I’d never get bored of

you.”

Especially when the man kept making him crazy by touching him

like that. It was so much better when Lennox actually leaned down
and took one of Quin’s nipples into his mouth, tonguing it and

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sucking on it.

Quin raised his knees, trapping Lennox right between his thighs

and holding him in place there. “I love you,” he said.

Lennox looked up at him sharply, and his grin was so wide and

big that he almost looked like a harmless puppy, despite the piercings
and tattoos.

“What? What is it?” Quin asked.
“That’s the first time you ever told me that.”
“What? No, it can’t be.”
“It is,” Lennox said. “But that’s okay. You just made me so

damned happy that I…fuck, I can hardly stand it.”

Had it really been the first time? Quin was sure he’d said it a time

or two before, or at least hinted at it. Mates always fell in love with
each other, regardless of how they met. The fact that Quin had never
said it, even though they’d been together for a couple of weeks now,
was just too damned crazy.

He opened his mouth to say it again, so that Lennox wouldn’t

have any doubts about where Quin stood, but he was too late as
Lennox swooped in and captured his lips in a wet kiss, mouth and
tongue moving quickly to dominate him.

It was by far one of the more passionate kisses Quin had ever

received in his entire life. He moaned into it, pressing his body closer,
curling his arms around Lennox’s neck as the larger man slid his
tongue between Quin’s lips.

Quin sucked on him as he thrust his cock up into Lennox’s hard

dick. They dry humped each other on their bed, their kiss making loud
smacking noises, but it was the greatest damn thing ever.

Quin didn’t want it to stop. He wanted to come just like this, could

feel his orgasm building within him, just right there, within reach, but
then Lennox abruptly pulled away from him, with a groan, as if the
act pained him.

“No, no,” Quin said, reaching for him, but Lennox wouldn’t be

brought back as he leaned over and reached for the usual place where

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they kept their lube.

“Still have to get you ready, baby, or did you forget?”
Smart-ass.
“Just get back here and be quick,” Quin said.
Lennox leaned in and kissed him. “I love it when you’re bossy,”

he said, and then he opened the cap and squirted some lube onto his
hand.

“Just put it on your cock. I’m still good to go from earlier,” Quin

said, and he spread his legs wide in preparation for what was coming.

Lennox stroked his cock until it was shiny with lube. “I really

love it when you’re bossy,” he said.

Quin just grinned at him, and he opened his arms to the man.

Lennox fell into them, and he expertly pushed the head of his cock
into Quin’s exposed asshole. It went in with an easy pop, likely
because of the sex they’d had just that morning.

Quin’s body easily accepted it, and after that, it seemed to be all

over for the both of them. Lennox couldn’t hold himself back, and he
was immediately pushing back and forth, spearing Quin again and
again as he moaned and gasped.

It was difficult for Quin to hang onto Lennox with only one hand,

but he tried to make up for it by keeping his arms locked around the
dragon’s back as he was fucked so mercilessly hard.

There was pain, but the pleasure…the pleasure was monumental.

Quin cried out and moaned helplessly like he was having sex for the
first time in his life.

He really didn’t understand why he’d never wanted anyone to do

this to him before. Lennox was going to love it when Quin finally got
to top.

“Oh fuck!” Quin moaned, and he wanted to reach his good hand

down to his cock, wanted to stroke himself since the friction he was
getting from their stomachs wasn’t anywhere close to being enough.

The problem was that when he even tried to let go of Lennox’s

back, he felt like he was falling.

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“Want me to take care of that for you?” Lennox asked, smiling

through the panting and sweating.

Quin nodded quickly. “Yeah.”
Lennox leaned in close. “Then tell me you love me again. I wanna

hear you scream it.”

This was a no-brainer. “I love you,” Quin said.
“Louder,” Lennox replied, like the bossy jerk he was.
“I love you!” Quin yelled, not quite at the top of his lungs, but

pretty damn close, all things considered.

Then, finally, Lennox put his hand on Quin’s cock, wrapped his

long fingers around the pulsing shaft, and then squeezed and stroked
him.

Quin only needed the man’s hand to do it once. That was all it

took before he was writhing and coming, the pleasure exploding out
of him like it had been attached to a stick of dynamite.

He nearly bucked Lennox right off of him, and as warm cum shot

onto his belly, even getting him in the chin a bit, he squeezed his
asshole around Lennox’s still-surging cock.

“Ungh, fuck,” Lennox said, pushing forward for one last, hard

thrust before he spilled himself deep into Quin’s body.

Which was exactly what Quin wanted. Lennox’s scent on him, in

him, proof of their mating on both of their necks.

“That was great,” Quin said, and he already felt the urge to sleep,

even as Lennox leaned in to kiss him on the mating scar at his throat.

“I love you, too,” he said softly, his voice warm against Quin’s

skin.

Quin looked up at him, and he smiled softly as he ran his good

hand through Lennox’s black hair. It was flat at the moment, no
longer spiked thanks to all of the excitement, and the sex.

He never looked better. “I’m glad I mated with you, and that

everything’s going to work out with Roman and Kendrick.”

Lennox nodded, and he started nuzzling Quin’s neck. It kind of

tickled. “I’m glad as well. I would’ve hated to have to fight one of my

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friends for you.”

“Hmm,” Quin said, thinking about a response to that. “I guess I

couldn’t blame you, since I would be inclined to murder anyone who
wanted you for themselves, too.”

Lennox chuckled, a warm and deep sound, and that was about

when Quin finally, really and truly, knew that he and Lennox were
staying together for the rest of their lives.

He pulled Lennox down for another kiss, already eager to start

another round. Suddenly he couldn’t even think about sleeping.

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Chapter Eleven

“When did you realize you loved me?”
Roman reached up and touched Kendrick’s cheek, cupping it in

his palm. Kendrick leaned into it, and that made Roman so damned
happy, and he wasn’t even sure why. It was just a simple touch, it
wasn’t like he hadn’t already touched Kendrick everywhere else there
was to be touched.

The fact that they were both lying naked under the heavy blankets,

on the bed that was made up of even more blankets on the hard stone
floor, was proof enough of that. Kendrick’s hair was mussed up out of
the usual braid he kept it in, and his iPod was docked on a battery
operated radio. The Black Keys were playing “The Only One.”

Roman thought it was kind of appropriate, especially the words of

the artist. They were exactly what Roman felt for Kendrick.

The man had control over his soul. Even though he’d tried to deny

it, it was just as simple as that, just as the singer claimed.

“Roman?” Kendrick asked, cocking his head to the side, the way

he did when he was curious about something. So damned cute.

Roman sighed and put his hand down. “Let me think. I guess the

exact time would’ve been shortly after I met you.”

Kendrick blinked, and his eyes were so wide under the moon and

stars in that moment. “But…that was right after I came to the clan. I’d
just gotten together with Aris.”

Roman leaned back on his hands, and he nodded. “I know.”
“That was more than two decades ago,” Kendrick said, still

stunned to hear such things coming from Roman’s mouth.

Roman could only nod.

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Kendrick’s pale blue eyes shone, as if he was getting ready to

shed tears again. “I…I’m so sorry. I never knew.”

Roman touched his mate’s face again, and like before, Kendrick

leaned into it. “That was the way I wanted it. You were with my best
friend, and I was never going to get in the way of that.”

“God, I’m so dense,” Kendrick said, shaking his head.
“Don’t let yourself think things like that,” Roman said. “Even if

you knew, you were in love with Aris, there was nothing you could
have done for me. It was better that way.”

“I know, but—”
Roman cut off whatever his chosen mate was about to say with a

kiss.

Kendrick inhaled sharply through his nose, as if he hadn’t been

expecting such a thing, but then he quickly melted into it.

Roman grabbed onto his mate by the hips and pulled him back

into his lap. Kendrick was hard again, and his cock pressed against
Roman’s belly, which got his own blood stirring all over again as he
looked into that beautiful face.

“Don’t think about it, everything’s perfect right now,” Roman

said, but then he caught himself and looked around their
surroundings. “Or, it will be, once I’ve put some time into making this
place livable.”

When Roman had flown away from the castle with his mate, the

only thing he knew for sure to do was stay up high where the
Templars wouldn’t easily get to them.

He’d found a cave in the neighboring mountain. It was dry, and

not so high up that Kendrick would have trouble getting his exercise
with his weak wings. After some work, once Roman got the walls
properly carved, maybe put a sunroof up and brought up real doors,
this would be a proper home. As it was, they were sort of camping
here, and their luggage was in the corner of their new home.

Kendrick didn’t seem to see the little flaws that Roman did. He

was looking up and around himself as if he was in his own personal

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palace. “It’s already perfect. Take your time with whatever it is you
need to do. I wish I could help, though. I feel bad leaving it all to
you.”

“Don’t worry about your lack of powers. They’ll come to you

someday, and until then, you can tell me how many bedrooms you
want in this place, cook anything I bring home, and keep me properly
sexed. I think we’ll be about even after that.”

“Hmm, I guess if I have to be your wife, then it’s a pretty fair

trade if part of the offer is a lot of sex,” Kendrick said.

“And it most certainly is,” Roman replied, kissing his mate again.
Kendrick wrapped his arms around Roman’s neck. “Do you really

think I’ll still get powers? I mean, I think I’m too old for that now.”

“I don’t believe that,” Roman said, sliding his hands up and down

the milky white flesh of Kendrick’s body. “Every dragon has a gift.
Some take longer to appear than others. You might even already have
a gift without realizing it.”

Kendrick stared at him, blinking a few times before he laughed.

“You really are the best, you know that?”

“You might need to remind me,” Roman said, and Kendrick

willingly and easily came forward and let Roman claim his mouth.

He loved this man so much that it hurt. His heart physically hurt

him with how much he was in love with Kendrick.

“I love you, too,” Kendrick said, barely separating their mouths in

order to say those words. And he had more trouble speaking when
Roman gripped both of their hard dicks together. “I’ll…I’ll do
everything I can to make up for all that lost time. I promise…I’ll love
you as much as you did me for all those years.”

Roman was touched. “You don’t have to offer something like that.

I already know, but it is appreciated. I like hearing words like that
coming out of your mouth.”

They kissed each other again, and it looked as if they were about

to make love again, which was just fine with Roman.

But then the song changed on the iPod, and instead of the Black

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Keys, Kina Grannis came on, singing “The Fire.”

Roman wasn’t exactly sure why this song bothered him, not when

he should be enjoying the way Kendrick moved against him, and the
way the smaller man sat on his cock, pushing his ass up and down,
taking Roman deep inside of his tight hole.

Roman gave back everything he got, but still that song tormented

him, even as he kissed Kendrick’s chest and his neck, and then
tongued the man’s nipples.

Roman was the type of man to believe in signs, though he didn’t

necessarily think they came from some God, or any Gods. The Gods
were too busy doing other things to bother with his love life.

But the song itself made Roman fear that this wasn’t the end of

their troubles. The lyrics were like a dark prophecy, and definitely not
something to be making love to.

There was no running from the heat, and they would burn. They

would burn.

THE END

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marcy Jacks lives and works in Ontario with her hyperactive dog

and a full imagination, because real life isn’t always as fun and
exciting as the stuff werewolves get up to. She loves to hear from
readers and you can reach her at authormarcyjacks@gmail.com

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