The Vampire District 9

Protecting His Mate

Alex Romonoff, a vampire noble, was on his way to freedom
before he sacrificed himself so his brother could escape, now he's

running for his life against a group of werewolves, the sun is
rising, and things aren't looking so good.

Acelin Lowell immediately scents his mate in the fleeing vampire,

and he gives chase. But Alex is a Romonoff, and not only is that
noble house in shambles, but his pack mates will kill Alex if they

find out.

Unable to do anything else, Lowell abandons his pack to defend

his mate. He's won the battle, but the war against the sun, and
vampire assassins still hunting them, is still on. Their only choice

is to flee to Lowell's pack alpha. Lowell is confidant the man will
accept them, but when secrets are revealed about a mass murder
of wolves, they both have to wonder whether or not Lowell can

succeed in keeping his mate safe.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal,
Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 37,393 words

PROTECTING HIS MATE

The Vampire District 9

Marcy Jacks

EVERLASTING CLASSIC

MANLOVE

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PROTECTING HIS MATE
Copyright © 2013 by Marcy Jacks
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-050-3

First E-book Publication: June 2013

Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

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PROTECTING HIS MATE

The Vampire District 9

MARCY JACKS

Copyright © 2013

Chapter One

Alexei Romonoff pumped his arms and ran as quickly as he could.

He was a vampire, and there was a wild werewolf chasing after him,
growling and barking.

There had been three of them when he’d jumped out of the Jeep

that his father’s guards had been trying to stop. He’d had to jump,
even though it meant leaving behind his own brother and likely never
seeing freedom. Alex was a noble vampire, and he’d hoped that
jumping out, pretending to be hurt, and playing the kidnapping victim
would be enough to make the guards pull back to allow his brother
Robin and his injured human lover to escape.

It had been enough, thankfully. The vampire assassins had

stopped chasing after the Jeep to check on him. They had been about
to bring him back to his father when the growls had sounded through
the shrubs.

Three werewolf heads appeared. One arctic white, the other a pure

black, and the third had been grey. The assassins had ordered Alex to
run back to the house, but there was no chance two guards could have
stopped three wolves. Especially wild werewolves.

The proof was in the fact that one of the wolves was chasing after

Alex right now, and he was no trained assassin. He didn’t have the

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speed or strength that they did to fight back against a werewolf whose
intent was to rip his head off.

He had to try. He didn’t want to live under his father’s roof any

longer, especially with another older brother who would just as soon
kill him in his sleep, but he would prefer risking that than being
ripped to pieces or frying in the sun that would rise in twenty minutes.

Alex didn’t want to die like this. He didn’t want to die!
His legs moved faster than he’d ever moved them before in his

life. He pulled the energy from somewhere to do it, to ignore the
aches and pains in his body that he’d received after jumping out of a
moving vehicle, and for a fraction of a fraction of a second, he
actually believed there was a chance to make it back to the manor.

His speed was his downfall, however. Everything started to blur

around him, even as he began leaving the howling wolf in his dust,
and of course, he was running through the woods, not on a clean,
paved road.

The fallen tree he managed to avoid by leaping over it just in time,

but the heavy branch of the other tree that had been reaching out right
in front of it seemed to appear from nowhere, and Alex slammed into
it. His feet kept going forward from the sheer momentum even as he
saw stars and fell on his back.

He was going to have an incredible headache from all this rolling

and ducking and slamming into the ground and trees he’d been doing
in the last ten minutes.

If he lived for much longer.
Alex rolled over onto his stomach. His head felt like it was

swelling up and everything on him hurt so much more than it had
when he’d jumped out of the jeep.

Then that pain was put on the back burner of his mind as he noted

the incredibly large white paw of a wolf, directly in front of his face.

His body tensed as he stared at the claws. He didn’t want to look

up. From the position of the legs, he could tell that the creature was
staring down at him, like it was considering how best to eat him.

Protecting His Mate

9

Werewolves, wild werewolves especially, hated vampires. Alex

didn’t think it would do him any good to try and explain that he never
agreed with slavery. Just saying that word would likely send the wolf
into a fit of rage, and that was assuming the creature had enough of its
wits about it to know what he was even saying.

Alex could smell blood, and he didn’t know where it was coming

from until he felt a warm trickle under his nose. He slowly brought
his hand up and wiped at his upper lip. Bright-red blood came back
smeared across his dirty hand. He imagined he was covered in dark
earth and leaves and twigs right about now. Though he hardly knew
why he bothered with checking any injuries he had when there was
something much more frightening to be worried about.

The wolf actually sat down in front of him, a huff escaping its

furry chest.

Was it just going to stare at him? Did it expect him to beg for his

life? Alex had been told a number of times that he looked like he
could be one of the guards, considering his size. He wasn’t a small
man, and he had muscle, but that was a product of genetics, rather
than any real training.

Really, he was a coward, and considering he was starting to feel

the heat of the sun rising while he lay at the feet of a wild werewolf,
he was willing to do whatever he needed to if it meant he would get
out of here alive.

He took the chance and looked up, his entire body shaking.
The wolf was so…big. There was no other word for Alex to

describe it. Its golden eyes stared down at him, and the white head
was cocked to the side just a little as it looked at him. It was almost as
if the creature staring into his soul, igniting something that previously
hadn’t been there before, and it called to Alex, in a strange way he
didn’t understand, or know how to respond to.

The ears were perked up, and not back, and the hair down its spine

was also not raised up high. The classic sign of an angry dog, even
Alex knew that.

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Marcy Jacks

This one looked perfectly tame.
“Are…” Alex had to get some moisture into his dry mouth before

he could speak. He was out of breath and thirsty, and at this point he
doubted he would be able to get back to his feet and start running
again. “Are you going to kill me?”

The black nose on the white-furred face came down and started

sniffing loudly around Alex’s hair and neck. Alex held stock-still,
aware of just how close he was to a set of teeth that could sink into
him so easily. Werewolf teeth and claws were said to be sharper than
a vampire’s fangs. That was why vampires feared them and tried to
tame them.

Nothing like having tame werewolves to protect a man against the

wild ones.

The wolf stood up, its tail actually starting to wag as it continued

its inspection. Alex guessed that whatever it was he was doing, he
was doing it right if the creature was this pleased with him.

The nose was cold and wet, and Alex actually jumped a little

when he felt it touch down on his forehead.

That was all he needed to jolt him back into awareness, and he

scrabbled away.

The wolf cocked its head again, but didn’t move to follow him.

Alex tried to get up, but it was a struggle just getting to his knees. He
and the wolf stared at each other. He was five feet away from the
creature, and while that was hardly enough space, it did make him
feel safer.

“You’re not a wild werewolf, are you?” Alex asked, though his

heart was still thumping with fear and…something else.

The wolf smiled and stepped forward. Alex tensed up, but he

didn’t get the chance to find out what the wolf would have done
because the other two it had been with previously, the pitch-black
wolf and the grey wolf, which were both just as large as the one that
had chased down Alex, leapt into the tiny clearing where just a minute
ago everything hard been starting to calm down.

Protecting His Mate

11

Alex didn’t know how he couldn’t have heard them coming, but

now that they were here, he could smell the blood of the guards
they’d killed on their fur, as well as hear the beating of their hearts as
they stared at Alex, and then the white wolf.

Clearly, they were ready for more.
“No,” Alex said. Death was right in front of him, and he wasn’t

the least bit ready for it. He tried to get up, but when he put his weight
on his feet, he collapsed back onto his face.

Fucking perfect. One of his ankles was sprained or something. He

hoped it wasn’t broken, but either way, he wasn’t running out of here.

The two wolves growled as they moved toward him. Alex

revealed his fangs and hissed at them. It only put a slight pause in
their step before they smiled their wolfy smiles and kept right on
coming. All Alex could do at that point was continue to push himself
backward and pray to God that someone would be nearby, another
guard, or even his bastard brother with his bow and arrow. Alex
didn’t care!

The white wolf jumped in between Alex and the two wolves who

had been approaching him. It raised its hackles high, bent its head,
and while Alex couldn’t see its face, from the sound of the ferocious
growl that came out of its throat, he was glaring at the other two
something fierce.

The two wolves did stop, and they raised their heads and ears.

Alex had no idea what they were saying, or even if they were
speaking at all since he didn’t know much of anything about
werewolves and how they communicated, but if they were talking,
there was clearly a whole lot of confusion going on. Alex could tell
that much.

Then the black and grey wolves growled back at him. Alex’s

white wolf protector actually barked at them.

Alex could do nothing but watch. He had no idea what was

happening, and he was starting to think that perhaps these weren’t

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really werewolves at all. Their sheer size said otherwise, but
werewolves didn’t turn against each other for no reason, did they?

Alex didn’t want to breathe a sigh of relief just yet. At least not

until the other two wolves decided that eating Alex wasn’t worth it,
and that the white wolf wasn’t just protecting Alex because he wanted
to eat him all by himself.

Yeah, that wouldn’t be so great.
It was the grey one that seemed to be getting especially angry.

Alex started to sweat, but it had less to do with the pink that was on
the horizon and more to do with the fact that he was being glared at
by what was possibly or possibly not a wild animal. He’d never
realized how intense the snarl of a wolf could be, especially with its
lips pulled back to reveal all of those teeth.

The black wolf tried to step forward again, but the arctic wolf

snapped at its leg, making it jump back with a whine.

That whine was quickly turned into another angry snarl and

snapping of teeth, this time directed at the wolf itself, rather than at
Alex.

They snarled and barked and glared at each other some more, and

then the grey one grabbed the black one by the scruff of the neck with
its teeth and yanked.

Alex thought it would rip the slightly smaller wolf’s head off, but

it seemed more for the sake of getting attention.

The black werewolf, because now Alex couldn’t believe that these

were wild animals, looked at his…leader? Whatever they were to
each other, both wolves threw one last glare in the arctic wolf’s
direction before turning around and stalking off.

Alex had no idea what had just happened, but he couldn’t get his

heart to slow down. If one more crazy thing happened, he was going
to pass out.

When the white wolf turned around to survey him, he thought

maybe passing out would be a good thing. He wouldn’t feel the pain
of being eaten alive if he was unconscious, would he?

Protecting His Mate

13

“W–why did you save me?” Alex asked, still wondering if saved

was the right word he should be using in this situation.

The wolf actually lifted itself up onto its hind legs, and a ripple

passed through its body as the white hair shed away. Alex thought he
heard tree branches snapping somewhere, but then realized it was the
bones of the wolf breaking and realigning as it shifted back into a
man.

Alex’s heart actually stopped in his chest. Really, it did, and the

effect was all over his body as he had trouble taking in a breath or
moving.

His cock almost immediately stood on end and pushed against the

material of his pants, and that strange calling that had been there
before perked up louder than ever. His blood began to sing, to yearn
for the man.

Alex wanted to fuck him and be fucked by him. Mostly he wanted

to be fucked by him.

He was gorgeous. He had sand-blond hair that was shaggy without

being overly long that stopped just before it reached his broad, tanned
shoulders, and he was all muscle. His stomach was flat and accented
nicely with the sort of abs that that Alex imagined himself trailing his
tongue across.

Did that thought really just go through his head? Well, now that it

was there, Alex couldn’t get it out.

He went back to observing his rescuer, unable to take his eyes off

the man. Even though Alex was still on his ass, the man appeared to
be around his height. No, actually he was taller. That wasn’t
something Alex came across every day considering he was six foot
two.

He was also very naked and completely aroused. His cock stood

on end, dark in color and curving up toward his belly, thick and
proud. The fire in his eyes as he stared down at Alex was just…God
damn, he was in trouble. The man looked like he wanted to eat Alex
alive.

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Marcy Jacks

Okay. This is fine. It’s just the adrenaline that’s doing this to us. It

has nothing to do with how beautiful he is.

Fuck.
The man walked over to him, as casually and carefree as though

his bare feet weren’t stepping on sharp little twigs and rocks. Alex’s
heart drummed faster in his ears, and his face became unbearably hot
when the man got down onto his hands and knees and crawled over
Alex’s body, his naked skin so close, and his dick touching Alex's
clothes.

Alex shivered. He was still wearing clothes, but his body was

reacting to the closeness of the other man as though they were both
naked and touching skin to skin. He then realized what that calling
was that he’d felt before. It was easy for him to put it together,
because it seemed to simmer down now that he and this man were so
close to each other.

It wasn’t that he wanted to fuck the guy, he did want to, but it was

almost as if he needed to.

“I saved you because you’re mine,” the man said, and then kissed

Alex hard.

Protecting His Mate

15

Chapter Two

Acelin Lowell could hardly believe he was with his mate. It was

hard to believe he’d found the man in the vampire district of all
places, but also how close he’d come to losing him immediately after
they met.

Theo and Daryl would probably never forgive him for this, but he

didn’t care. He didn’t care about the mission or what his orders were.
He would die before he ever let them sink their claws into this man’s
face. Orders or no orders.

His beautiful face. Lowell had really lucked out with that. His

mate was by far the most handsome man he’d ever laid eyes on. Just
looking at him made his dick react, and Lowell desperately wanted to
rut against the man right there and then until he'd had his fill. Lowell
had never seen hair as bright red as what was on top of his head, but
his skin was so fair and pale. He didn’t have a freckle on him.

He had the longest eyelashes on a man, and his lips were full and

dark, either because they were naturally like that, or because of how
red in the face the man was after his run. Lowell didn’t know, but it
looked pretty damn good on him.

His lips were also completely unmoving as Lowell showered him

with his affection.

Ah, right. His mate wasn’t a werewolf and wouldn’t know about

the urges that were running through him, even if Lowell could smell
the man's arousal. He was willing to bet that if he put his hand
between the man’s legs, he would find that his cock was hard and
waiting for Lowell to do something with it. They didn’t know each
other, either, which probably only made things even stranger for the

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Marcy Jacks

other man, and Lowell was acting rather forcefully. He had to force
himself to pull back and rein in the urge to take the man and complete
their mating right then and there and damn all the danger. He smiled,
intending on explaining himself, but a hard punch to his face had him
thrown backward.

He landed with a thud on his back. “Ouch.”
Lowell shook his head out as the pain bloomed over his cheek.

The man had a strong arm. Very nice.

“Stay away from me!” he shouted. He continued to try and get to

his feet, but always he fell down with a sharp cry of anguish.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to scare you,” Lowell said, and he got

to his feet.

The man scrambled backward, and it didn’t escape Lowell’s

notice the way he used the strength of his arms to do so rather than his
legs.

“Are you injured? Let me see.”
“I said don’t come near me!”
Lowell stopped immediately. The man was clearly panicking, and

now that he was taking a minute to really look at him, he could see
that the red in his face was not going away as it should have now that
he was no longer running for his life. Or thought he was running for
his life.

If anything, it was increasing, but not from rage. Sweat was also

starting to build on his brow and moisten his clothing.

Lowell looked up at the sky. The stars were gone, and the sun was

clearly rising. There was hardly any shade at all here to keep a
vampire safe from the heat and light, and if Lowell didn’t do
something soon, it wasn’t other werewolves he would have to worry
about. He would be forced to watch his mate burn to death in front of
him if he didn’t get the other man to trust him quickly.

Any arousal he felt quickly vanished at that thought as his

protective instincts took over, and Lowell forgot all about his cock.

Protecting His Mate

17

Lowell got down on one knee, wishing he had some clothing with

him. He was going to have to steal some later, but right now he had to
do this naked. “My name is Acelin Lowell. You can call me Lowell.
Everyone else does.”

He paused, waiting for the vampire to offer his name in return.
He didn’t. “What do you want from me?”
Lowell looked up at the sky. It was turning a brighter shade of

blue. He looked back down at the younger man. He looked younger.
With vampires you could never tell, but there was something in the
way the man acted and held himself together that suggested he wasn’t
one of those vampires who was over a hundred years old.

“I want to keep you safe. Nothing more and nothing less.” Well,

that wasn’t entirely true. He did want to get his clothes off and fuck
him hard, but now was not the time for that. “You can’t walk right
now. I’m not sure how long it takes for vampire healing to kick in, but
I’m betting it’ll take too long for you to find any shelter.”

“My house isn’t that far away,” he said.
“You mean that big mansion that you were trying to escape from?

I was hiding in the shrubs not very far away when I saw that one
vampire launch an arrow into that man’s chest. I doubt it’s very safe
for you to go there.”

The man made a face, and he brought his hand up to wipe at his

brow, which only smeared dirt across his forehead.

“Please, tell me your name,” Lowell begged.
The vampire regarded him for a second, then looked up at the sky

before back down at him. “Alexei Romonoff.”

“Romonoff?” Now Lowell was at risk of falling on his ass. “But

the Romonoffs own this property. I thought you were a half-breed
trying to escape, not one of the nobles.”

This complicated things. The only reason why he’d been able to

get Theo and Daryl to leave was because he’d managed to convince
them that releasing one lowly vampire wouldn’t hurt anything,
especially if that vampire was Lowell’s mate. If they’d known that

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Marcy Jacks

Alexei was one of the nobles who ruled in that mansion, then it
wouldn’t have mattered what Lowell said. They would have killed
him. Only their pack alpha would have been able to call them back
from that particular action, and Nick wasn’t here.

As it was, Lowell wasn’t even sure what to think about that.
Alexei continued to stare at him. It was clear he was waiting for

some sort of decision or judgment.

“You’ve taken a risk telling me your last name,” Lowell said.
Alexei swallowed. “Yeah, I know. So, are you going to help me

before I fry? Or are you going to leave me here now?”

Fuck, he couldn’t do that. This was his mate, and Lowell needed

him to live. Lowell knew nothing about him, and now that the
possibility had come up, he prayed that his mate wasn’t the monster
slaver that his surname suggested that he was. Well, regardless of
what he was, and that Lowell hadn’t completely connected with him
yet, they belonged to each other, and Lowell couldn’t live without
him.

“Let me help you over to those trees. They should keep you

hidden from the sun long enough for me to find you some proper
shelter,” Lowell said.

Though time was not on their side, he made sure to move slowly

as he approached the other man. Alexei was clearly still wary of him,
and Lowell hesitated only slightly as he reached out and put his arms
around the man’s shoulders and under his knees.

He lifted him easily, and a small gasping breath left Alexei’s

mouth. Whether it was caused by his shock at how easily Lowell
lifted him, or the natural tingle that would have gone through him at
Lowell’s touch, he couldn’t be sure.

“This is embarrassing,” Alex said.
Lowell chuckled. “Hard to complain about it in the current

circumstance, though, am I right?”

Protecting His Mate

19

Alexei grumbled, and Lowell only needed to move another twenty

feet or so before he was in a thicket that he was satisfied would keep
the other man safe from the sun.

“Is it too hot here? I can move you to somewhere more sheltered

if you like.”

“Any more sheltered and I would be in a cave,” Alexei said. “This

is fine. Will those other wolves come back?”

Fuck. Lowell had forgotten about them. It wasn’t like hiding him

in the shrubs and trees like this would mask his scent from Theo and
Daryl if those two decided to come back looking for him.

“They won’t come back,” he said. Please God, don’t let him be

lying about that. “I chased them away and they won’t want to risk it.
They have other things to see to.”

“Like my house?”
Lowell shut his eyes and took in a deep breath. “Considering what

I have just done for you, I am no longer welcome in my pack. I’m
officially a wanderer now unless I can get my pack alpha to welcome
me back in, but yes, their mission is to find and kill all the vampires
they can in or around the house. Do you have any reason to give me
that they should not be doing that? If there’s some mistake on our
part, tell me now before it’s too late.”

Alexei bit his lower lip and looked down at his hands. “I—they’re

my family.”

Fuck. He said it in such a helpless way. He didn’t say they were

innocent or that they didn’t deserve to die, just that they were family.

“Well, that might explain why you would choose to run instead of

staying and killing them in their sleep. I’m told vampires are fond of
doing that to enemies or family members they don’t particularly like.”

When Alexei glared at him, Lowell knew he should have kept his

mouth shut.

He cleared his throat, pretending like he hadn’t just said what he’d

said. “I’m going to come back. I won’t be gone for more than an hour
and if you do somehow manage to get away, I’ll be able to track you

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down. I have your scent now, and I’ll follow you to the ends of the
earth if I have to.”

“Why do you care so much about what happens to me?” Alexei

asked. “If someone from my house did find me here and bring me
back, why would you bother with me after that?”

Lowell’s lips thinned. The possessive streak in him was rising up,

even though he knew it was the wrong time and he still had to figure
out exactly who Alexei Romonoff was and where he stood as far as
enslaving humans and werewolves. He reached for him and fisted
both of his hands in Alexei’s red hair, bringing him so close that their
noses were touching.

“Because you’re mine,” he said. Lowell planted a hard kiss on

Alexei’s mouth, biting down even and savoring the sound of the other
man’s pained gasped against his lips before ultimately pushing
himself away and rising to his feet.

They were both out of breath. Lowell could scent the other man’s

arousal, and it was pretty clear from his wide eyes that he could see
Lowell’s cock was hard again.

All Lowell had to do was reach down and put his hand between

Alex’s legs and it would pretty much be over. The other man would
let Lowell do with him as he pleased.

Not the time. Now was not a good time.
Lowell didn’t want to examine Alexei’s face too closely. He

feared he would see absolute terror on the man’s face instead
of…everything else he expected—hoped—the man was feeling.

“Please don’t think I’m a lust-crazed psycho,” Lowell said. “I’ll

come back soon!”

He turned into his wolf form and shot off into the woods before

Alexei could give him some sarcastic reply that he would have
deserved, considering he’d just begged for the man to not think of him
as being a lust-crazed psycho, after he’d forcibly kissed him for a
second time.

But God, he’d needed to do it.

Protecting His Mate

21

He had to be quick. He had to go back to where those assassins

were likely dead, if the blood on Theo and Daryl’s snouts were
anything to go by. Their clothing was probably in tatters, but there
had to be something Lowell could salvage. Even a pair of pants would
make him more decent than he was when in human form around the
other man.

Next he had to find a proper shelter. There were streams nearby,

so he could find a spot that could keep Alexei safe from the sun where
he could also wash up, and maybe travel along so as to lose their
scent. Lowell had seen that other wolf who was chasing after that
vampire, and if he was here, then Lowell didn’t want to think about
how many more werewolves could be in the area, all of whom were
likely searching for vampire flesh to tear into. Maybe Lowell’s scent
would be enough to keep the others away. He hoped that would be
enough.

Ilya had come to the werewolf district with a few surviving

members of his pack, all of whom had escaped from a house of
vampires just like this one. That vampire house had massacred its
werewolf servants after one of their own mated with one of the
nobles.

Lowell hadn’t believed it at first, that a werewolf could mate with

a vampire. It was absurd, but he was willing to go into the fight if he
had to. Too long vampires had been ruling over their share of the land
with an iron fist, leaving werewolves to hide in their own district,
starve, and in some cases, become wild.

Now Lowell knew the truth. It was possible for a werewolf to

mate with a vampire, and he’d done just that.

God, but if he was a cruel vampire lord and a slaver—
Lowell cut that thought off before it could go any farther. No. It

didn’t matter. It was a fate every werewolf in his or her life prayed
would never happen to them, but if this was Lowell’s mate, then he
was going to protect the man and see to his well-being, regardless of
what he was.

22

Marcy Jacks

Chapter Three

Alex had to get out of there. His rescuer was a naked werewolf

who seemed to have boundary issues. It didn’t help that his kisses
made Alex feel hotter than the sun ever could, but that wasn’t the
point.

The man kept on saying that Alex belonged to him, like he was

something to be owned.

He’d never agreed with the treatment vampires heaped upon the

humans and werewolves, but at least now he understood, in part, the
frustrations that they must go through every day to be told they
belonged to other people.

Maybe it was a form of punishment, or even revenge. Alex had

told the man what his name was, and Lowell didn’t exactly react so
well.

He didn’t kill Alex right then and there either, but it was clearly

upsetting for the man to hear that Lowell was part of the Romonoff
family. Maybe he saw it as his chance to enslave Alex. A werewolf
with a vampire slave, that might just make the rest of his pack laugh
out loud.

But he’d said he’d walked away from his pack when he defended

Alex from those other wolves.

Alex wasn’t certain about anything other than he was injured,

thirsty, and couldn’t go home. The sun was too bright in the sky for
him to leave the safety of this spot, even if he didn’t have to worry
about going back.

Protecting His Mate

23

The wolf had been right about the dangers he would face. His

brother Sasha had tried to kill his other brother, Robin, and if that
human hadn’t stepped in the way…

Alex hoped they were both all right. In a strange way, he even

hoped that Sasha was all right. He hadn’t seen what had happened to
him after that red-brown wolf, Marrok, had chased him away, and
Alex was angry as hell, even if he wasn’t surprised, that the man had
done such a thing.

Still, he wanted his brother to live.
He also wanted his father and both of his brothers to come

together and be a nice big happy family, but thoughts like that were
foolish and had no place in reality.

Alex thought about leaving. He contemplated ducking his head

under the neck hole of his shirt, and his arms into the armholes, like
some sort of turtle, and seeing how far away he could get.

Yeah. He’d not only look like a complete idiot, but he would also

be walking around blind, probably slowly burning to death as well.

He wanted to leave, but he had no choice but to stay where he

was. He kept an eye out in case some of the assassins in their daylight
uniforms happened to walk by. He could call out to them, maybe
think of another way to escape before Sasha and his father realized he
was back at the house.

No, that wouldn’t work either. Robin’s lover had slashed the tires

of every car that had tinted windows in the garage.

Cars were a rare enough luxury in a world where there were

almost no paved roads connecting each vampire manor and the lands
they owned, but without the tinted windows, driving them, even on
the paved property, was useless.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before Lowell

returned, but by the time he did, Alex was actually glad to see him.

The heat in the air, and his thirst, felt like it was starting to kill

him. All he could do was lie back against the base of one of the many
elm trees that were sheltering him at this point and take deep breaths,

24

Marcy Jacks

but the air was so hot it felt like he wasn’t breathing at all. Even if his
ankle hadn’t been injured in his run and fall, he didn’t have the
strength to lift himself up.

Alex would take his help no matter what at this point. He’d kiss

the man a thousand times over, though he doubted he looked good
enough for kissing. His face was probably red all over from his time
in the sun, and from the wide-eyed look Lowell was giving him, it
was probably peeling as well.

Lowell rushed to him and fell on his knees. He was in his human

form and wearing a pair of pants now. His chest was still bare, and
maybe it was the sunstroke he was suffering from, but Alex couldn’t
help but noticed how close his face was to the man’s pecs.

He worked out. He had to in order to get that kind of definition.
“Jesus! I shouldn’t have left you for so long. I thought you would

be fine in this shade.”

Lowell genuinely sounded shocked and maybe a little afraid. Alex

smiled. “It’s hot out today,” he said. It felt like a record breaker to
him, and few species were aware of the fact that heat also played an
important factor in a vampire’s comfort.

The sun produced heat. Fire was hot. The sun lit vampires on fire.

It was pretty easy to put together.

“Was already in the sun for a bit, too,” he said, all but gasping for

breath.

“God,” Lowell said. “Do you need my blood? Can you drink

werewolf blood?”

He was actually offering? Just thinking about having that life-

sustaining fluid inside of him made him crave it even more.

Alex nodded and wet his lips.
He tried to. His tongue was hot and dry, and his lips felt like they

were starting to crack.

He hadn’t been like this before Lowell left. It must be really hot

out this morning. On a day like today, he would have made sure to
keep the air conditioning on in his room while he slept, and if he’d

Protecting His Mate

25

woken up early or gone to bed late, he would have spent those sunlit
hours beside the indoor pool back at the house.

Damn. The heat was actually making him want to go back to the

place where his life was in danger just so he could cool down.

He was crazy.
The scent of blood filled the air, and then it was under Alex’s

nose. He looked down and saw that Lowell had put his wrist just in
front of Alex’s mouth. He must’ve bitten himself to get his skin to
open up like that.

He hadn’t needed to go through the effort. Alex’s fangs were still

up for the job.

He bit down hard, smiling weakly at the sound of Lowell’s pained

grunt.

Served him right for kissing him so suddenly both of those times.

The blood splashed inside of his mouth and oh! God, it was so good.
It tasted better than anything Alex had ever drank before in his life.
Was it because the man was a werewolf? Alex had never drank a
werewolf’s blood before, so he didn’t have anything to compare it to
other than the human blood he’d always had.

This was by far superior. It was just what his body needed, and

where his heart had previously started to slow down without his even
noticing it, now it began to pick up again as life flared through him.

His skin suddenly didn’t feel quite as hot as it had before, or as

loose on his bones. He felt hydrated, and moisture entered his mouth.

His cock hardened as well, magnified by the fact that he was in

the arms of the handsome man who had not only saved him, but was
now feeding him. He ignored it as best as he could while he continued
drinking, hoping that Lowell wouldn’t point it out. The man had to
feel it was there. They were pressed so tightly together. He would still
need to take in some water before his body would be at one hundred
percent again. Not a lot, however.

Despite the strength that surged through him, energy was not

something that came to him. Otherwise he would have been able to

26

Marcy Jacks

stay awake as he drank. Oddly enough, drinking the blood of this
man, while it rejuvenated him in a way, also left him with the urge to
sleep.

His eyelids felt heavy, and taking a nap seemed like a good idea.
“Stay awake. Stay with me,” Lowell said.
That wasn’t happening. Even though Alex tried to do as he was

told, he felt as tired as though he’d just finished eating a big meal and
was now listening to white noise.

Maybe he’d had enough blood to drink. Alex let his fangs slip

from Lowell’s skin. His body was warm and inviting, and it only
made him sink farther into sleep.

“Alexei!”

* * * *

Lowell couldn’t believe it. He clutched the man tightly to his

chest and put his fingers to the vampire’s neck, searching desperately
for a pulse.

He breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his face with his hand

when he found it.

“What the hell just happened?” he asked, his heart thumping like

crazy at the scare he’d just had.

Then he realized it. Of course. How stupid could he be? This was

a vampire in his arms. He was recovering from what was essentially a
terrible sunburn from having been out on such a hot day, even in this
shade, and then there was his ankle. It must have taken a lot out of
him before his vampire healing could kick in. Also, didn’t vampires
usually sleep during the day? Add exhaustion along with everything
else the man had suffered from, and of course he would pass out.

Lowell gently laid him back down against the tree before leaving

the shade. The sun was so damn bright. Not a cloud in the sky.

A howl sounded in the distance. The vampire manor was so close,

and Theo and Daryl were there. How many vampires had they killed?

Protecting His Mate

27

They wouldn’t be able to take out everyone in the house by
themselves, especially now that Lowell had turned into a traitor.

They would be forced to leave very soon, and vampire guards and

assassins would be sent out to search the property for anyone dead or
left behind.

Lowell had to get them out of here. Quickly.
He got to work, quickly snapping off the branches of the trees that

were heavy with leaves. He wished those bodies of the dead assassins
that Theo and Daryl had taken out were in better shape. As it was,
only the pair of pants that Lowell wore now was usable, and it still
had slash marks ripped through in certain places. There was nothing
usable elsewhere, so this would have to do. Lowell only prayed that it
would be enough.

* * * *

Marrok thought that now would be a good time to flee. He’d only

managed to sink his teeth into the leg of that bastard who shot at his
companions before another vampire assassin had come along and
sucker punched him in the snout.

It was enough that the first vampire he’d been chasing could

escape, but it didn’t save the assassin when Marrok tore his head off.

Oddly enough, he hadn’t expected two more wolves to show up to

try and help him as he made his attack on the vampires.

Marrok was glad for their help. The rush of the hunt and the scent

of their blood was nearly enough to drive him wild, and having them
around, after so long of not being near other alpha wolves, was
exactly what he needed to center himself.

Sometimes a pack mentality was a good thing needed to keep

some of the wolves in line during a fight. It had been so long since
Marrok was in a battle like this, and he’d never been in one this
intense by himself.

28

Marcy Jacks

They were still outnumbered. The only reason why Marrok didn’t

leave right then and there was because the two wolves who’d come to
help him were still in the midst of their battle. The idiots were clearly
not planning on leaving right away, and if Marrok didn’t know any
better, he would have thought that their sole purpose was to kill as
many vampires as they could.

God knew they weren’t getting into the house, especially when the

assassins stopped trying to slice at them with silver-plated blades and
began shooting at them with bows and arrows from the roof of the
mansion.

Marrok deftly dodged one arrow that very nearly pierced his

chest. Then another, and another.

How many archers did he have aimed at him?
Then the sound of a gunshot banged through the air.
Marrok froze. He hadn’t been shot, and he looked to the black and

grey wolves who had been fighting with him. Dead vampire bodies
were littered all over the place, but neither wolf was down either.

Marrok looked up. That vampire, the one that he’d bitten earlier

but didn’t get the chance to kill, had pointed the barrel of a rifle in the
air and let loose a warning shot.

Then he spotted Marrok and smiled.
Marrok growled, but he turned around and ran for the trees before

the man could point his weapon in his direction.

The other wolves must have also taken the hint, because Marrok

could hear them running behind him.

Enough was enough. Marrok had done far more than what he said

he would do when he helped Anderson get to this house so the man
could rescue his mate, and now all Marrok wanted to do was get back
to Tristan’s side.

The Romonoffs had been one of the families who had come

together in an attempt to kill Tristan and his brother through
underhanded and sneaky means. Marrok would have liked to have
killed some of their nobles before leaving the house, but helping two

Protecting His Mate

29

of those nobles escape, and killing several of their assassins, would
have to be good enough.

He thought it was odd when he ran in the direction of Tristan’s

manor, and the two wolves continued to follow behind him.

It was possible that they could simply be headed in that direction,

but after thirty minutes of running nonstop at his top speed, Marrok
wasn’t willing to believe that it was a mere coincidence and they were
simply taking this route back to the werewolf district.

He skidded to a halt and turned on the both of them with a growl.

They also skidded to a sudden halt at the sight of him, although the
grey one did so with a little more finesse.

Marrok was about the same size as the grey one, which made him

think that this would be the wolf he would be speaking to. The larger
wolf tended to be the one who was put in charge.

He shifted back into his human form. It was a risky thing to do,

since shifting was never an instantaneous process, and it always left a
couple of seconds where he was at his most vulnerable, but he needed
to speak with these guys.

Thankfully, they did him the same courtesy of shifting as well.

They were all vulnerable at the same time, and they were all in their
human forms at the same time. No one was on an unequal foot.

He’d never seen either man before in his life. One was definitely

older than the other, though not by much, and Marrok could only tell
by the fading scars that were crisscrossed all over the face and body
of the man who had formerly been the grey wolf.

The other wolf had to be in his early twenties or so. He had black

hair, just like the color of his wolf, and he regarded Marrok with
suspicious eyes.

“Who are you?” Marrok asked. “What were you doing at the

Romonoff house?”

“We could ask you the same thing, not that we’re not grateful for

the help,” said the older male.

30

Marcy Jacks

“My name is Marrok,” he said. “I came here to help a friend.

That’s all.”

“No surname?” asked the eldest of the two. “A former slave,

then.”

Marrok clenched his fists. He had a surname, of a sort. Tristan

liked to say that they now shared the Fenrir surname, since they were
mated and together. Marrok wasn’t about to tell these men that,
however, until he knew who they were and what their agenda was.

“Marrok,” said the younger wolf. “That sounds familiar.”
The elder wolf only looked at his younger comrade, and then back

at Marrok. “That it does.”

Marrok wasn’t sure whether or not he should be worried, but he

settled for cautious as he waited for both men to make up their minds
about who he was.

The older wolf eventually shrugged. “I hardly think that matters at

this point anyway. You helped us back there, and together we took
out a lot of vampires.”

“We did,” Marrok agreed, though he still wished he could have

really taken a proper bite out of that bastard who’d shot that arrow
into Dorian’s chest.

“My name is Daryl, and this is Theo. We had another with us, but

now he’s gone.”

“Dead?” Marrok asked, pity rising inside of him.
“Traitor,” said Theo, his fists clenching. He looked ready to shift

back into the wolf with just how angry he was.

“Traitor?” Marrok asked.
“We won’t get into details with you just yet, but we didn’t leave

the werewolf district alone. There are other groups of werewolves out
there, groups of three or more, like us. If you are a lone wolf, you
could join us. Our pack takes in any stray who’s escaped from the
vampires. Alphas who know how to fight are especially welcome.”

Protecting His Mate

31

Marrok ignored the offer. “Why leave the district at all? I can

understand taking in wolves who’ve escaped, but why wage war with
the vampires? Why even come to this house?”

“You said you came here to help a friend. Theo, myself, and

Lowell all thought it was strange to see two wolves running away
from the Fenrir house as though their lives depended on it. We were
told that all the wolves in that house had been massacred. It was
stranger still to find you coming here instead of escaping, but now I
have my explanation for that.”

Marrok’s heart started pumping incredibly fast. “What were you

doing at the Fenrir house?” he asked.

Theo and Daryl looked at each other, and then back at him, their

eyes narrowed.

Marrok snapped when they didn’t answer him. “Tell me, or I will

tear you both to pieces!”

He could already feel the way his fingers lengthened to become

claws as hair sprouted over his body. He held back the transformation
though. He had to keep his head or else he would never get the
answers he sought.

“A few months back, we had a few werewolves come to us, led by

their alpha. He claimed they were the last to survive an act of
genocide on their pack. It seems that the head of the Fenrir house
discovered that his son had mated with one of the werewolf guards,
and so he had the wolf killed. Naturally, the others rebelled, and it
didn’t go so well for them before the vampire assassins came in and
murdered the lot of them. We have been preparing ourselves for quite
some time. With the help of that alpha, we will get revenge for all the
innocents slaughtered and kill as many vampires as we can.”

“It’ll be a fine lesson that the vampires can’t cage us as easily as

they do the humans,” said Theo.

A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Marrok’s neck. This guy,

these two werewolves, they didn’t know half of what had happened,
but it didn’t matter. Even if Marrok explained to them that Tristan

32

Marcy Jacks

was the one who mated with Marrok, and that everything was fine
now, well, Tristan had still been the one to order the execution of the
werewolves.

Marrok understood and he forgave. These two wouldn’t, and

neither would their pack.

And Marrok had left Tristan and his brother practically alone in

that giant mansion, with only a few guards to protect them while other
werewolves were closing in.

He shifted completely back into his wolf form without another

word to either man, and then began running back to the house, leaving
the two men in his dust as he pumped his muscles faster and harder
than he ever had before.

Please, oh God, do not let me be too late.

Protecting His Mate

33

Chapter Four

Alex awoke to a strange tingling sensation all over his body. His

eyes snapped open as he jolted awake, and the first thing he realized
was how completely naked he was, and the way Lowell had been
touching him.

The man’s hands immediately came up. There was something

glistening on his palms, some sort of fluid.

Alex’s eyes widened right before they narrowed and he showed

his fangs.

“This isn’t what it looks like,” he said.
Alex flew at him. His hands wrapped around the wolf’s neck

without any trouble at all, and he pushed the man down onto the floor
of the…cabin? They were in a cabin?

Alex looked around himself. Indeed, he was in a cabin. It

appeared to be only one room, and Alex had just knocked over the cot
he’d been sleeping on, but this certainly explained why he was no
longer suffering from heat exhaustion now that he was in some proper
shade.

The sun was still up. He could tell that much by the way the

windows had been carefully boarded up, or covered with whatever
heavy material Lowell could nail to the walls. Alex probably only
woke up during the daytime because of all the fresh blood he had in
his body.

“I won’t hurt you,” Lowell said.
Alex looked down at the man, suddenly recalling that he had his

hands around his throat. Lowell’s brown eyes were calm, and he
didn’t look like he was fearing for his life.

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Marcy Jacks

Which he should be, considering that Alex had woken up to find

him doing…what he’d been doing.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t rip you apart,” Alex

said through his teeth.

He could feel the pulse of the man’s heart through his neck, and it

was infuriating how not afraid he was of Alex’s threat.

“I saved your life,” Lowell said simply.
Did he? Oh wait, the other werewolves, and the blood that Alex

had drank, that had come from Lowell. Alex could see the bite marks
on his wrist.

Then he recalled the absolute brain-numbing lust he’d felt for the

man, and the way Lowell’s body had responded in kind whenever
they’d kissed each other.

He wanted to crawl into a hole and die from the embarrassment.
“What were you doing just now?” Alex asked. He lifted himself

off of Lowell and realized that while the man was still bare chested,
he was also wearing the pants he’d gotten from somewhere out in the
woods.

The tingling on his body was gone, but there were still some spots

on his face and arms that were still a little wet.

“What is this stuff?”
“Salve,” Lowell said, rising to his feet. The assassins I stole it

from were dead, but they had some supplies on them that I thought
could be of use. I wanted to travel a little farther, but even with the
cover of the trees, sunlight would still reach through the branches and
burn your body as I moved you.”

“You were applying a health salve on my body?” Alex sat down

on the cot. Only then did he realize that he’d just put pressure onto his
ankle, and it hadn’t hurt so badly like before.

The man really had been just taking care of him.
Still, Alex was completely without clothing. There was no

blanket. Actually, now that he looked, he could see that the blanket
was acting as the curtain that was nailed to the wall.

Protecting His Mate

35

He was glad that Lowell was taking these precautions, but he

wished he had something to cover himself with. His dick just did not
want to go down, and it wasn’t like putting his hands on his lap would
make it any less obvious that he was hard as all hell.

Couldn’t werewolves smell that kind of thing, too?
“You were cherry red by the time I found this place. I had to make

a gurney for you to lie on while we travelled. I would have carried
you, but I don’t think I would have been able to keep you properly
covered with the other branches and leaves if you were in my arms.
Of course, despite my efforts, they kept on falling off of your body as
we moved.”

That explained the dirt that was on his body.
“I don’t recognize this place,” he said, looking around. “Where

are we?”

“Not safe, I’m afraid. I was only able to travel maybe two hours

away from your estate before I found this spot. It looks like it could
have belonged to a former tenant of your house. Maybe someone who
saw to the land, hunted animals, or collected herbs to sell.”

Alex looked around the small hut.
Aside from the cot he was sitting on, there was a small table and a

chair, along with a counter on the far wall that had several buckets
and jugs beneath it. There were also cabinets that could have any
number of things inside.

Someone had definitely lived here at one point, but the heavy

layer of dust and cobwebs in each corner suggested the place had
been empty for a time.

“Sometimes my father would pull random humans into the throne

room and feed from them until they died,” Alex admitted. “I never
knew where they came from, or what they had done to deserve it, but
I think it was to show the other servants what would befall them if
they did not work hard enough, or ever tried to rebel against him.”

36

Marcy Jacks

Lowell, to his credit, didn’t start lecturing Alex about the horrible

nature of his family, or what a coward he’d been for never doing
anything to help those people.

He sighed and got to his feet instead. “There wasn’t much salve

left in that small jar. I think we should save it until it’s time to travel
again. Until then, I saw a well outside. I’ll boil some water for you to
drink and prepare a small bath. Your clothes are over there. You
might want to wait until after before getting dressed.”

Alex nodded automatically. He was so used to people doing things

for him that it took him a moment to realize that Lowell had said the
word travel. “Wait a minute, where are we going?”

Lowell stopped with his hand on the door handle, and then he

looked at Alex over his shoulder. “It’s safer if you stay with me for
the moment. I didn’t know you were part of the Romonoff family
until you told me, and if those other wolves had known that, then
nothing I would have said to them would have stopped them from
ripping you up. They would have killed me first because I wouldn’t
have let them touch you so long as I was alive to prevent it.”

Alex was stunned by the declaration, and the fire in Lowell’s eyes

as he’d said it. “Why are you doing this? And don’t tell me it’s
because I belong to you. I don’t belong to you. If you’re so against
slavery then you would know why it bothers me to hear you say that.”

Lowell stepped away from the door, that same fire burning

brightly in his brown eyes as he approached the cot.

He didn’t get down onto his knees. Instead he stood incredibly

close, so close that Alex could feel his body heat, not to mention the
fact that his face was practically at eye level with the man’s dick. He
kept his eyes firmly pointed up at Lowell’s face as the man leaned
over him.

“I’m going to keep you safe, regardless of what your history is

and what past misdeeds you have done, because the moment I caught
your scent, I realized that you are my mate.”

“Your…your mate?” Alex asked.

Protecting His Mate

37

Lowell nodded. “Yes.”
Alex looked away from him, but he could barely think straight.

“The only reason why you didn’t kill me was because you mated with
me?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t realize it could be as random as

this, but yes. I chased you down because I knew that if one of my
former pack members had caught you first, you would be dead.”

Alex felt an absurd laugh bubble out of him. “And here I thought

all the mine stuff was because you were being a jerk and trying to
punish me.”

He stopped smiling when Lowell didn’t join him by smiling and

laughing along with him. This was serious. They were stuck with each
other. Alex needed this man because he most certainly didn’t want to
die out here. He’d had a moment of bravery by telling his brother
Robin exactly what his views on human trafficking were and begging
to go with him, and then another rare moment of courage had come
upon him when he’d jumped out of the jeep to stop the assassins from
flipping it over as they were driving away, but that was about the
extent of all the courageous acts he’d ever had in his life.

There were werewolves out there who would want to kill Alex the

moment they knew who he was. They would want to kill him just for
being a vampire. And if he’d made it back to the mansion? Well, he
would have spared himself from burning in the sun, but likely only to
be stabbed through the stomach by either his father or Sasha for being
a sympathizing traitor.

“It was no punishment, just a simple statement of fact. You are

mine now, but I am equally yours, if that brings you some comfort.
You are not my possession, but you are clearly not an alpha, and since
I am, that makes you my responsibility.”

Alex thought about that for a few seconds. “I think…I think that

does make me feel better. Knowing that this isn’t like the slavery my
father and the other vampire families have. You saved my life, and I

38

Marcy Jacks

should have offered you my gratitude, no matter how many kisses you
wanted,” he said, smiling at the thought.

Really, a few kisses were hardly a troublesome payment, all

things considered.

Alex was glad when the other man actually smiled back at him

this time. “You’re not as terrifying when you’re not frowning or
scowling.”

The smile faded from Lowell’s mouth. “It wasn’t my intention

to—”

“I know, I know that now, but all the same, you should smile

more often.”

“The situation hardly calls for it, but if it will ease the process and

make you happy, then of course I will.”

He was still speaking like some kind of automaton. Maybe he

wasn’t as comfortable with this situation as Alex previously thought
he was. Maybe this bothered him, too.

Then he said, “Wait a minute, what do you mean by easing the

process? What process?”

Lowell audibly sighed. If Alex thought he appeared

uncomfortable before, it was nothing to how he looked now.

“We are mated. Do you recall the state I was in the first time I

shifted into a man in front of you?”

“You were naked, yes,” Alex said.
“And?”
It was the quirk of his eyebrow that made Alex recall his erect

cock. Lowell’s body had been tense, his kiss had been passionate and
desperate, and Alex could still remember what it had felt like when
the man had pressed his body against Alex’s.

Alex had wanted the man to fuck him then. He'd wanted Lowell to

take Alex's clothes off and put that cock of his to good use like it was
clearly meant to.

He wasn’t a virgin, but he was hardly experienced either, and the

memory made his face incredibly hot once more. What was all the

Protecting His Mate

39

more humiliating was Alex’s own reaction to it. He wanted the other
man. Badly.

“You were aroused,” he said. At least he’d managed to keep

control over his voice.

“Yes, I was. I still am,” he said.
Without thinking about it or intending to do it, Alex’s eyes moved

down to the man’s cock. It looked about the same as before, but
maybe the black pants were hiding it well enough. He sniffed the air
and…

He shouldn’t have done that. Now he knew there was a

concentration of blood in that particular part of the man’s anatomy,
and Alex’s cock reacted in kind.

“Why did you have to go ahead and do something like that?”

Lowell practically moaned the words in despair.

“I don’t know,” Alex said, mortified.
“It’s enough of a chore when I must keep from touching you

sexually even now, or before when I was applying the salve to every
inch of your burned body, but when you do things like that, my wolf
feels like you’re trying to claim me, and it wants to react in kind.”

Alex’s body went stiff. “What will happen if you don’t claim

me?”

“If we don’t claim each other,” he clarified. “I have never had this

happen to me before, for obvious reasons, but I have been told stories.
We will crave each other. Some wolves have fought against it, and
have even turned to others to try and seek comfort, but the craving
never leaves. Some have driven themselves mad by denying
themselves. They turn into wild wolves.”

“Why would they bother denying it if it’s an instinct? If it can do

that to them, to us, why would we fight it?”

“I have no intention of fighting it,” Lowell said, and he looked

pointedly at Alex. “Not for long, but if your intent is to deny me, then
I will release you.”

“None of what you just said makes any sense,” Alex said.

40

Marcy Jacks

“We have spoken too much already. There is much to do, and we

will not be claiming each other now anyway, not when the threat of
death hangs so closely over us.”

He opened the door, just a crack, but the temperature in the

cottage instantly shot to the roof. Some sunlight came in, but with the
position of the door and the way it opened, none of it touched Alex’s
body as Lowell slipped out.

“I will prepare a tub, and you will wash away as much as you can.

I will give you your privacy before taking my bath outside.”

“Why bother if we’re in such danger?” Alex demanded.
“We’re not traveling anywhere until night falls. I would like to

take advantage of the opportunity to feel somewhat human again
while we have this respite. Even as a wolf I’d rather not have itchy
skin and filthy matted fur to distract me if I’m expected to be on
guard.”

From what Alex could feel in the temperature, night wouldn’t

come for another seven hours or so.

Well, he supposed if they had to wait that long, he might as well

enjoy cleaning himself up a bit. Might be the last bath he ever got for
a good long while, and he was starting to feel pretty disgusting with
all the dirt and salve drying on his body.

“I want you to think about your father’s guards while I am gone.

How many people are in his employ, when he sends them out, and
how. I know how my pack operates, but now I must also learn about
how the Romonoff family hunts down its traitors and kills
werewolves.”

Lowell shut the door behind him, leaving Alex in a cool darkness

with a lot to think about.

He was mated to a werewolf. That was…unexpected. He didn’t

feel shocked about it when he knew that he should. Perhaps that
would kick in later. Perhaps it wouldn’t. His body had been telling
him all along just how much he wanted the other man. Even now, he
was only looking forward to his bath just so he could take care of the

Protecting His Mate

41

problem that seemed to constantly be between his legs ever since he
first saw Lowell. Alex didn’t think his cock would give him any peace
even after that, but he was too damned horny around the other man.

Everything in his life had just changed, and he wasn’t sure if it

was for the better.

He hoped to God that Robin was having an easier time of his new

life than Alex was.

42

Marcy Jacks

Chapter Five

It was a sheer, sweating-bullet kind of torture for Lowell to stand

outside while his mate bathed in the small shack he’d found in the
woods.

Always on guard. He was trained for this. If there was a man

down, then it was his responsibility to see to their safety until such a
time when both pairs of eyes could be used.

For Lowell and Alexei, that meant that during the day, Lowell had

to pick up the slack, but God dammit if it wasn’t killing him to
attempt to do just that when he knew his mate was in that little
wooden tub Lowell had brought inside and filled with water, naked
and soaking himself down. If the sounds and smells he was sensing
from within were any indication, he was touching himself as well.

That made Lowell want to burst in there and take the man. He

wanted to bend Alexei over and fuck him hard and fast, claiming the
man as his own. His inner wolf demanded it.

He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t even go into the trees to take care

of himself because he had to remain vigilant.

He’d told Alexei the truth before. His touch had been innocent

when he’d applied the salve to the burns that had made their way even
beneath his clothing, but he hadn’t wanted it to be innocent. He was
going to go to hell for this, but the whole time he’d cared for his mate,
all he could think about was how perfect his skin was, even before the
salve started to take its full effect.

He wanted to claim the man, to go into the little cabin and throw

him down and fuck him, regardless of the danger.

Protecting His Mate

43

Ironically enough, by not doing so, he was putting them both in as

much danger as he would be even if he did let his baser instincts take
over. He wasn’t exactly keeping a clear head like this, and that was
exactly what he needed to do if they were going to get out of this
alive.

“I’m finished,” Alexei called through the door.
Thank God.
“Are you dressed?” Lowell asked. If he walked in on the man and

he was naked, Lowell wouldn’t be able to stop himself to save the
world.

“You’ve already seen me naked, so what does it matter?”
It did matter. God, but it did.
Maybe his hesitation had been a bit too long, because Alexei

snapped through the door. “Stop trying to defend my virtue. I’m not a
woman, and I don’t care that we’re mated. Get in here and take the
tub so you can have your turn.”

Lowell’s eyes widened. Alpha his mate was not, but he was hardly

an omega, either.

He smiled and did as he was told.
He was only marginally disappointed to see that Alexei was

partially dressed. His feet and chest were bare, and the water that
dripped from his shoulder and ran down his muscles somehow
captured even the faintest of light that was inside the cabin.

His pants clung to him, and Lowell wanted to tear them off. He

wanted to kiss Alexei again and lap at the water that was glistening on
his chest before sinking to his knees and sucking the man’s cock into
his mouth, regardless of whether or not Alexei was ready for it.

Yes, he was most definitely going to hell for this.
Alexei looked down at himself as Lowell stared. “There wasn’t

anything to dry off with, so, I’m thinking I’ll stay like this for a bit
until I’m dry enough to put my shirt and shoes back on.”

Lowell had forgotten about that. The man was no shifter or wolf.

He couldn’t simply shake himself until he was properly dry.

44

Marcy Jacks

“I’m sorry for that, Alexei. I didn’t think about that.”
Alexei blinked at him. “Oh, you called me…well, right. I guess I

never bothered to tell you. Just call me Alex. I don’t really like
Alexei.”

It was Lowell’s turn to blink. “You don’t? Why?” He thought it

was a handsome name, fitting for a handsome man.

Alexei—Alex—grinned at him. “Why don’t you like to be called

Acelin?”

Lowell groaned. “I had hoped you would forget that name. I hate

it. It leads to people calling me Ace, and there’s nothing I despise
more than that.”

Alex shrugged. “I hate Alexei because it sounds so…proper. I

guess you and I are opposite like that. Lord Alexei is not what I am.
It’s too stiff and has all kinds of rules with it. I like being more casual
about who I am.”

“I like being casual, too,” Lowell defended. “I just hate being

called Ace.”

Alex laughed a little. “Fair enough. I suppose we now know each

other a little better.”

Did they? It took Lowell a minute to catch on to what Alex had

been doing.

He moved over to the wooden tub. It had only been filled about

halfway, and the water was now a sort of putrid pale brown, and there
were a few dead leaves and small twigs in the water from where they
had gotten caught in Alex’s hair during the chase.

He easily picked it up and moved back toward the door. Alex

wisely stepped away, knowing Lowell was going to have to open the
door wider, letting in more light, just to exit the little hut with the tub
in his arms.

“I told you that I won’t be claiming you if you don’t want me to.

You don’t have to try to get to know me if you don’t want.”

Protecting His Mate

45

“I want to,” Alex said. “You said that people went mad when they

fought against their instincts anyway. I don’t relish the thought of
losing my mind.”

Lowell closed his eyes when he was at the door and prayed for

patience. “The wolves can lose their minds and become wild. You
might not. You’re a vampire. I don’t think you’re at risk of—” Lowell
dropped the tub. It landed on his foot, but his brain didn’t register any
pain as the wood smashed into pieces, breaking the tub apart and
splashing water all over the dirty wooden floor.

Alex swore and jumped back, but it was too late for Lowell to

bother with commanding him to silence.

He hadn’t been on guard. He hadn’t done his job properly, and

what was worse, the shock of the scent that caught his nose had made
him drop the stupid tub and make even more noise.

If they were close enough that he had scented them, they had most

definitely heard him and Alex.

“Lowell? What is it?” The gentle touch on his shoulder snapped

Lowell out of his panicked thoughts. He looked at Alex and saw the
worry on his face. His deep, dark-blue eyes were so trusting of him
already, despite what Lowell had revealed to him earlier.

Lowell wasn’t about to stand by while those evil fucking vampires

took him back to that house of blood.

“I promise,” he said, grabbing onto Alex’s shoulders. Just

touching his mate skin to skin was enough to center him and give him
strength. “I won’t let them take you.”

“Who’s out there?”
“Come on out, wolf. We know you’re in there and that Alexei

Romonoff is with you.”

Lowell noted the way Alex froze.
“They addressed you by your full name instead of your name and

title,” Lowell said. “And they said you were with me instead of held
hostage by me.”

46

Marcy Jacks

“My brother must have told father that I was trying to leave the

manor with Robin. Father must have sent some of the assassins out
searching for me.”

And it wasn’t like Lowell had done a good job of hiding his tracks

whilst he’d been carrying Alex away from that small clearing in the
woods.

He should have known he hadn’t travelled far enough. He should

have seen this coming!

“Come out now, or we will come in after you!”
“Alexei Romonoff no longer has the protection of his father. Do

not think that hiding in there will save either of you. We will drag him
into the sun if we have to.”

Alex shivered at the threat.
Lowell gripped his shoulders even tighter. “I promise,” he said,

and then he opened the door and stepped out quickly before any more
sunlight could get inside of the cabin.

* * * *

There was nothing to be done for it. Alex had no choice but to

stay inside of the little hut, sit on the cot, and wait to find out whether
or not the assassins outside would win the fight and come for him.
Would they actually drag him out into the sun? Or would they force
him back to his father so that the older vampire could have that
honor?

He had a split second of fear that, despite any promise Lowell had

made, the man would simply shift into his wolf form and run away
the second he had the chance. Alex wouldn’t have blamed him for it.
The fact that he risked so much for a virtual stranger was already
intense, but fighting multiple vampire assassins on his own was
complete madness.

He did shift. Because Alex couldn’t so much as look out one of

the windows without risking burning himself—God, one of those

Protecting His Mate

47

assassin’s daylight uniforms would be nice right about now—all he
had to work with were his ears, and Alex heard the bones breaking
and the groaning coming from Lowell’s mouth as he changed into his
wolf form.

He didn’t know how many vampires were outside, but he did hear

a shocked yell immediately following a low growl and frightening
bark.

There was a scuffle. The wolf whined outside suddenly. One of

the assassins must have hit him with something. Alex winced at the
noise. He winced again when Lowell cried out even more. The sound
went right to his heart, and he wanted to go out there and be with him,
fight beside him and help him.

Alex was a coward, but being trapped inside of this house while

Lowell was out there, by himself, doing all the work, was killing
Alex. It might also be killing Lowell, from the sound of another sharp
and painful cry.

He shot to his feet. Water was still sloshed around the wooden

boards of the floor, and he trudged through the dirty water to the door
and put his hand on the handle.

The scream from one of the vampires, and then the sudden curse

of another, forced him to stop. Was the tide turning in the battle? Was
Lowell going to win?

“You fucking monster!” yelled one of the assassins.
Alex couldn’t take it anymore. He opened the door.
The blast of heat that hit him right in the face was painful, and he

had to shut his eyes and raise his hand to protect himself. His hand
offered enough shade that he could open his eyelids without blinding
himself, literally. He was in direct sunlight at the moment, and if he
opened his eyes to it, then his eyeballs might just melt out of his skull.

That was the story that was told to vampire children, anyway.

Alex wasn’t about to test it out to find out if it was true.

He scanned the clearing as quickly as he could, his instincts and

the pain in his body demanding that he get back into the shade.

48

Marcy Jacks

He slammed the door shut and fell into the cool but dirty water

that was in massive puddles on the floor. It helped. God save him, but
it helped. He splashed it on his burning face and put his hands into it.
So much for cleaning himself up with the bath, but he didn’t stay as
he was for long. He shot to his feet quickly and went to one of the
cupboards.

Two of the assassins were down, with the third standing above the

bloody white wolf that was Lowell. The bastard was kicking Lowell
in the ribs while he was down and unable to defend himself. Even
now Alex could hear the pained whines of the wolf as it was tortured.

Alex grabbed the first heavy thing he saw inside of the cupboard.

An old iron frying pan.

It would have to do.
He went back to the door, took in a deep breath, and opened it

again.

The burning pain was so much that he almost didn’t have the time

to do what he wanted to do. He didn’t even get the chance to aim. He
just threw the thing and hoped to God that it would hit its target.

There was a loud metallic sound, like someone had struck a gong,

and the frying pan flew up high, spinning around a dozen times after
it had struck the vampire’s head.

An object in motion will stay in motion, he’d always heard.
It came down hard, landing beside the head of the fallen vampire.

Whether the man was dead or not from the impact of having such a
hard object hurled at his skull, Alex didn’t know. He didn’t know
anything as the heat suddenly became too much, his body quickly
losing blood and other fluids as it fought to keep from burning alive.
He fell backward into the dirty water that was sloshed on the floor and
closed his eyes. At least he wouldn’t be awake when his body finally
caught fire.

Protecting His Mate

49

Chapter Six

Lowell floated back to consciousness to the smell of burning

meat. He was stuck in a nightmare where he couldn’t move, and
Alex…

Alex!
A rush of energy surged through him, and Lowell jumped to his

paws. Then he immediately coughed up blood. The scent of blood
was everywhere, and some of the blood from those vampire assassins
he tore into was even on him. His sides felt cramped, and it hurt to
breathe, but he followed his nose to the burning smell and…no.

He shifted, not stopping in his run to get to Alex. The door was

wide open. He’d left it shut. He also thought he was going to die
when he’d attacked those three assassins. Had they left him for dead
and pulled Alex into the light as they’d threatened to do?

He grabbed the man under the armpits and pulled him farther into

the house before kicking the door shut behind him.

His face was blackened in some places, but it had been turned to

the side in the water, so half of it was relatively normal in appearance,
save for a deep red swelling.

He hadn’t caught fire though. Lowell couldn’t have been

unconscious for long if he hadn’t caught fire. That was the only bit of
good news he could comfort himself with.

“What the hell happened?” he asked.
Of course no one was there to answer him. All that mattered was

that Alex’s chest was still rising and falling, even if the breaths that
came from his throat sounded incredibly wheezy, almost as bad as
how Lowell’s breathing sounded.

50

Marcy Jacks

He had to be careful with what he did next. He’d seen burns like

this on a man who’d left a candle lit and fallen asleep. His bed had
burned, and by the time others realized he was inside and pulled him
out, his skin had peeled away at the lightest touch like paper.

Lowell put his hands under Alex’s body, where there was less

burning thanks to the spilled water. None of Alex’s skin peeled away,
thank God, and he brought the man back to the cot.

The health salve. Vampires and humans alike bought it because of

how well it worked against burns and cuts and other injuries. There
wasn’t enough left in the jar that Lowell had stolen, but he was
willing to bet that those dead bastards outside had something on them
that could be used. They were usually well equipped for anything they
might need.

Usually. Assassins weren’t expected to get hurt in their jobs, and

when they were, they were supposed to push through and ignore any
pain they felt.

Hopefully those men outside, despite the uniforms, would be

guards, and not assassins.

Lowell rushed back outside to check the bodies. There were three

of them. He’d been sure that he’d only managed to kill two, and yes,
there were their bodies, but the third man was definitely down and out
for the count, but he didn’t look like he had a single scrape on him.
Lowell hadn’t so much as had the chance to get his claws into the
man.

Lowell jumped a bit when the guy actually groaned and shifted.

Then Lowell saw the frying pan next to his head.

Jesus. Did Alex throw…? It didn’t matter. Lowell quickly stepped

over the man, leaned down, and took his head in hand before twisting
hard. The snap was comforting as it was grim. One less vampire out
there to try and harm himself and his mate.

He began searching through the pockets, but then had to stop and

gasp for breath. He clutched at his chest, but then pulled his hand
away at the pain as he continued to gasp for air.

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51

He didn’t cough up any more blood, which was a good thing.

Maybe that meant these bastards hadn’t managed to break any of his
ribs. Having shattered bones puncturing his lungs and chest wasn’t
something that Lowell thought he would particularly enjoy. They
definitely felt bruised though, at the least.

“Yes!” he hissed when his hand found what he was searching for

in one of the seemingly endless sets of pockets on the man. Not only
were there dozens of small blades and even a couple of poisoned darts
in little plastic containers, but there was also a full jar of health salve,
and even some burn cream.

This guy was a real trooper for being so prepared that he would be

carrying both like this. If Lowell hadn’t just killed him he might have
thanked him.

He checked the rest of the pockets, not stopping until he was sure

he’d gone through every single one. The man had a first aid kit
scattered across his body. There were needles and surgical thread for
stitches, along with bandages and wraps and gauze and a bottle of
disinfectant.

Health salve, made and sold by mages, was one thing, but having

all of this now made Lowell feel so much better about what he could
do for Alex, and himself.

He rushed back to the house. There were at least six more hours

before night fell, and even if Lowell stripped that man out of his
daylight uniform and put Alex into it, there was no way they were
travelling anywhere at the moment anyway.

He hoped all of this would be enough to heal Alex’s burning

before night fell, otherwise someone was definitely going to come
looking for those missing guards.

Lowell dipped his hand into the jar of health salve, and he applied

it in thick globs over the blackened part of Alex’s face and chest.
Regardless of whether or not it worked quickly, he was going to be
scarred for the rest of his life.

52

Marcy Jacks

Lowell pushed away his feelings of guilt for being unable to

prevent such a thing, but then that would be making the situation
more about himself than Alex, and he was the one who would have to
live with this.

Lowell applied the burn cream everywhere that wasn’t black, but

just a deep red, saving the salve for everywhere else. It was
miraculous, watching as the blackened skin flaked away, but he’d
been right. The new skin beneath was scarred and lighter in color than
his regular pale complexion.

Maybe in time it would fade somewhat, but for the moment,

Lowell continued his work and hoped that Alex would forgive him.

* * * *

Alex was tired of feeling like he was always waking up from

unconsciousness.

If that made any sense.
When he opened his eyes, everything felt fine, physically, but

something was off. The temperature in the room wasn’t what it was
before he…

Before he opened the door.
“Hey.”
Alex looked over. Lowell had been sitting in the only chair in the

cabin, which he’d placed near the cot, but he got off of it and went
down on his knees. He reached out and took hold of Alex’s hand and
held tightly. “Are you…feeling okay? It’s only been about three hours
or so.”

“Three…?” Alex lifted his hands up to examine them. Only when

he moved did he note a certain stiffness in his limbs, but while it was
odd, he wasn’t in pain. Mostly it felt like his skin was just stretching
out a bit.

His skin. Alex stared in horror at his hands. There were large

white splotches all over his already pale skin. It was pink in some

Protecting His Mate

53

places. Nothing was blackened to a crisp, or missing, but he had
definite burn scars healing on him.

He looked down at his chest and noted the very same thing. It

looked like someone had bleach-stained his skin, with uneven places
that were darker than others. He touched his chest. Oddly enough, his
skin still felt smooth, not at all like he’d just grown new flesh to repair
what had been damaged. Then he touched his face.

He didn’t feel anything wrong, but from what he’d just felt on his

chest, that didn’t mean anything.

“I gave you some more of my blood, in the hopes that it would

speed up your healing and prevent the scars, and while it certainly
does not look as bad as it did only a few hours ago, well, you can see
for yourself,” Lowell said. “Please, I am so sorry. I did not mean for
this…why didn’t you stay in the house?”

Alex didn’t want to know what he looked like. He didn’t want to

look at Lowell either, who sounded like he was about to cry.

“They would have killed you if I hadn’t done something. I can’t

believe I’m alive.”

“Your body didn’t catch fire,” Lowell said. “I don’t know how

long I was unconscious for, but likely it was only a minute or two.
The smell of your…of your flesh as it started to blacken was what
woke me up. I think the water on the floor was what kept you from
catching fire, though any longer and it wouldn’t have been enough.”

Alex wanted to be sick. To burn in the sun was every vampire’s

worst nightmare. Part of him couldn’t believe he’d done something so
stupid and survived. The other part was immensely glad that he’d had
the balls to do what he’d done, regardless of what was on his face.

He was glad that Lowell was alive.
He smiled sadly and turned to the other man. “I guess now you’re

stuck with a mate who has a mismatched face,” he said, trying to
make light of the situation.

He stopped smiling the instant he met the brown eyes of his

protector.

54

Marcy Jacks

They were pale and somewhat glazed. His skin was almost as pale

as Alex’s damaged flesh.

He’d said he’d given him more of his blood. After Lowell had

already fed him once before and then carried him here, he’d given
more of his blood.

That was dangerous. Offering too much blood to a vampire could

kill anyone, even a strong werewolf. Maybe it was also just how pale
he was, but there was a darkness around his ribs, a bruise, that all but
blanketed his chest with blue and purple color.

“You’re hurt!” Alex said.
“I’ll be well enough with some rest,” Lowell said. His answering

smile was weak and tired.

“Bullshit. You need a healer!” Alex said. He swung his legs over

the side of the cot. He looked down at himself and realized he wasn’t
wearing the pants he’d put on before his bath, but…was he
wearing…? Yes, this was part of the sunlight-resistant uniform of the
vampire guards and assassins. His chest was still bare, but now he
was wearing a pair of pants from one of the dead men outside.

“Needed something for you to wear, in case you woke up and we

could leave. The whole uniform is in this house. I took it from the
vampire you put out of commission since his was the only uniform
that didn’t have slash marks from my claws in it. It should fit you.
The pants do.”

“Good, I can use it to go out hunting. They must’ve had weapons

and other supplies on them. I will bring you food. Werewolves get
their strength from the food they eat, yes?”

“As much as any other species does,” Lowell admitted. He

grabbed hold of Alex’s arm when he tried to get to his feet.

“Stay where you are. Knowing my mate is safe and healing will

be enough to keep me alive.”

“You were just beaten by three vampire assassins! You should be

dead! I have to help you!”

Protecting His Mate

55

“There will be others out there hunting for us. They might even

come searching around here for their missing comrades. I will not risk
you for anything.”

His grip on Alex’s wrist tightened, and that was when Alex

realized how perfectly serious the man was being. He was weak from
blood loss, which might not kill him in and of itself, but it would
definitely hinder his healing process. Werewolves burned through
more calories than any other species even when they were relaxed.
Lowell would need food to keep his energy up. If Alex couldn’t give
him a blood transfusion, then he could at least offer him this instead.

He just had to get the man to let go of him.
“I see the way you’re thinking about getting away. It’s written all

over you and I’d like you to stop.”

Alex did the only thing he could think of. He leaned down and

kissed him.

Though he was definitely not a virgin, no matter how much his

older brother Sasha liked to make fun of him, he couldn't let his
inexperience get the better of him. Now was not the time for him to be
shoving his tongue into the mouth of another anyway. He purposely
made it a chaste kiss. It was long. He didn’t pull away after only three
seconds, but a pressing of mouths was all it was meant to be anyway.

He noted the way Lowell’s heart sped up, as though they were

indeed having a passionate sort of kiss that came before or even
during lovemaking. The man’s frail hand came up and cupped the
back of Alex’s head, pulling him ever closer, and there was the
briefest touch of his tongue against Alex’s lips, and Alex had to
admit, it thrilled him. He wasn’t entirely sure it was just because they
were mated either. He genuinely liked kissing the man, and he
wondered if he would equally like taking Lowell’s cock inside of him,
having the man's dick burn and stretch him wide open.

Having his life saved a time or two apparently did a lot for

building trust.

56

Marcy Jacks

He pulled away before the kiss could go anywhere further than

that.

Lowell groaned, but he didn’t move his hand from the back of

Alex’s head. “You tease me like that just to stop?”

“Yes,” Alex said. “Let me go out and bring something back for

you. I’ll find a buck, or even several rabbits and squirrels with berries.
Anything that you can eat to bring your strength up. Let me do this for
you, for us. I will take the blood from whatever animal I find so you
will no longer feel pressured to feed me when you can’t.”

Lowell opened his mouth as if to argue, but Alex pulled him

forward for another kiss. His lips were soft, despite his brutal beating
at the hands of those vampires and having so much of his life fluid
given away. They were still incredibly soft and inviting.

He had to force himself away this time. He was the one in danger

of taking things further before it was time. “You said werewolves
needed their mates. Let me go out and do this for you, and I’ll kiss
you as much as you want.”

He was willing to do more if it meant getting out there and being

useful, but he wanted to hang onto that bargaining chip for just a little
longer in case Lowell was still resistant.

Instead of agreeing right away, Lowell actually removed his hand

and tried to pull away.

Alex quickly grabbed his arm. “What? Why pull back now?”
“Don’t make me offers like that because you feel you have to. I

need you, yes, and I’m sure you feel you need me as well. I’m still not
sure how this would work precisely since you’re a vampire. Do you
desire me as much as I do you? Will your mind leave you if you’re
not with me? Either way, I won’t have you feeling forced to be with
me because you’re afraid for me.”

Alex blew out a breath. “Christ, is that it? I thought you were

going to say something about how my face was so ugly now that you
wouldn’t want me anyway.”

Protecting His Mate

57

And why the hell did he have to go ahead and say something like

that out loud?

Lowell’s eyes widened briefly before they became sad. “If I had a

mirror to give you, I would show you that your face is still as perfect
and beautiful as it was the moment I first laid eyes on you. There is
some…discoloration, I can’t lie to you about that, but it’s much better
than I thought it would be when I was applying the burn cream and
salve.”

“And I bet that’s only because of all the blood you gave me,”

Alex said. “Let me put on one of those suits and go out hunting. I’m
not an omega wolf. You can’t shield me like this when you need
someone to take care of you, too.”

Only because he looked like he was still struggling with the idea

did Alex press on. He touched Lowell’s pale face with his hand, the
hand that had normal, overly pink, and pale skin patched all over it.
Lowell put his palm on top of Alex’s hand, and the touch was more
intimate than any of their previous kisses.

“I’m not being forced to do anything, but I am using this as a

bargaining tool, but only because you’re being stubborn. I won’t kiss
you again, and I won’t let you kiss me until you’ve eaten something,
which means I need to go out hunting.

“And if you’re still feeling guilty about supposedly forcing me

into anything”—Alex trailed his thumb over Lowell’s bottom lip—
“Then let me tell you that you’ve more than proven yourself to me. I
want it, too. I want you to fuck me hard until you've properly claimed
me and then do it again.”

Lowell blew out a hard breath. “You know how to strike a

bargain, I’ll give you that.”

“So?”
He was still struggling with it. Were all alpha wolves like this?
“All right, but for God’s sake, if you can’t find anything to bring

back after an hour, come back here. I don’t want to worry about you

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for long, and once the sun goes down it’ll be much more dangerous
since there will be more vampires out. We’ll have to leave here.”

“The sun won’t be down for several hours,” Alex said, not

understanding the time limit.

“Yes, but even with that as the case, and if you don’t find

anything, there is another way to boost my energy.”

Alex blinked at the new information. “Two mates having sex

can…heal each other?”

“No, but it sure does help boost morale.”

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59

Chapter Seven

Lowell didn’t have to worry for very long. Alex returned in less

than a half an hour, and he was dragging a bear behind him, of all
things.

It was a black bear, and not a big bear either, but it wasn’t small,

just the right size for a vampire of dwindling strength to drag by the
back leg, and Lowell was fairly sure the size was also an indication
that there wouldn’t be a mother bear out looking for revenge, or a few
cubs missing their mother.

“I’ll get a fire going to cook it,” Alex said, his voice only a little

muffled through the black mask he wore.

“No need,” Lowell said. Alex had been right. He was starving,

and it had been foolish of him not to try and find something to eat.
Vampires needed their blood, and werewolves needed their protein.

He shifted into his wolf form and tore into the bear, pulling off its

skin in several places before digging into the meat. He’d taken three
bites before he became aware of all the spilled and wasted blood that
was accumulating on his white snout.

Shit! Alex needed that.
Luckily, the man had been prepared, and he’d fetched a bucket

from the little shack and placed it in the spots that were spilling the
most blood, allowing the bucket to fill.

Lowell sighed once that was taken care of, and he began to eat

again. It had been a good long while since he’d had bear meat, and
while cooking it and eating it as a human would have been nice, that
would have taken more time, and he just couldn’t wait anymore now
that the meal was here and in front of him.

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He probably devoured half the bear before he forced himself to

stop. If he stuffed himself too much, he was only going to make
things difficult when it came time to run away.

Travel, like swimming, was not a good idea when one had a full

belly. It invited all kinds of stomach cramps that could slow them
down.

Not only had Alex almost filled the bucket all the way with bear

blood, but he also went to the well and pumped more water into yet
another bucket. He brought them both inside, and when he handed
Lowell the water, he gratefully used some of it to wash.

Alex took off the black mask and goggles that protected him from

the sun. There were still pale splotches on his face, and it made
Lowell sad to see them.

He was such a fool. Did he really think they would have faded in

an hour?

Alex sniffed at the contents of the bucket and wrinkled his nose.

He looked like he was staring into a bucket of vomit, rather than
blood he could drink.

“What is it?” Lowell asked.
“I’ve never had animal blood before. I’m told it can do little to

nothing to ease the thirst I would feel, and that it might even make me
sick.”

Lowell hadn’t known that. “Maybe you shouldn’t drink it then. I

just ate so I’m strong enough—”

“No, you’re not,” Alex said, cutting him off. “One meal doesn’t

mean your body has produced enough blood to give me any more. It
will be days before you’re ready.”

“But if it’ll make you sick…” Lowell said. “Christ, all the

werewolves in my pack always thought that vampires were just being
assholes about it. Drinking from humans and other humanoids instead
of the animals they farmed. None of us knew it would make you
sick.”

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61

“That is the story, but after learning about that human my brother

ran away to live with, I feel this might not be the case, though it will
be a risk to drink from a bear.”

He was right. It was a big risk. One that Lowell didn’t want him to

take, but there was no one else around. “Should I bring in those
vampires? I didn’t bury them that long ago, so their blood might still
be good.”

Alex shook his head. “The longer the victim is dead the more risk

you take. I would rather take my chances with the bear than I would
with them.”

Lowell bit his lower lip. “What symptoms will you get if you get

sick from this?”

Alex shrugged. “I have never seen it myself, but I have been told

that it can be anything from open sores on the body, to even death, but
I am risking too much by waiting any longer. I need to try it now
before any more time passes and the blood spoils.”

Lowell wanted to protest some more, to offer his own vein again,

but he couldn’t. The alpha in him knew that would be a stupid and
foolish plan. He needed his strength if they were going to escape this
place, and he wouldn’t have that if he was giving Alex every spare
drop of blood in his body.

It didn’t matter anyway because Alex took in a deep breath,

closed his eyes, and lifted the rim of the bucket to his mouth to have a
drink before Lowell could protest some more.

He pulled the bucket away almost immediately, gently smacking

his lips together and opening his eyes as he stared down into the
contents of his bucket.

“How does it taste?” Lowell asked.
Alex looked up at him, complete and utter shock on his face. “It’s

delicious,” he said.

That threw Lowell for a loop. “Really?”
Alex took another drink, a longer one this time instead of just a

sip. He licked away the blood on his lips and sighed when he pulled

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back, as though he was having a refreshing drink. “I cannot believe it!
It even tastes different than the blood that I’ve been drinking from the
feeders. I mean, it doesn’t taste as good as—” He stopped himself and
looked up at Lowell, a blush coloring his cheeks.

Lowell grinned, proud that Alex thought he tasted good, but he

spared the other man and didn’t tease him about it. “There’s a flavor?
To blood?”

“Yes!”
Alex appeared so excited by this fact, but Lowell was still worried

about possible illness. “Well, I guess it makes sense. Different meats
have different textures and flavors, so the blood must as well, right?”

Alex was drinking more from the bucket, and Lowell actually had

to reach over and gently pull it down and away from his mouth.

Alex looked at him oddly, but he licked the blood off of his lips

and waited. “What is it?”

“I just think you should slow down on drinking it. It doesn’t

disgust you, which is fine, but maybe we can put the bucket away,
and if you don’t develop any symptoms by tomorrow morning, I can
go out and hunt a different animal for you to drink from.”

Alex looked down into his bucket that he hadn’t finished drinking

from, and then he set it aside. “You’re right. I should wait.”

“I hope you’re right, though,” Lowell said. “It would be great if

you didn’t have to feed from people all the time.”

“I think that’s why the human was so eager to have Robin go with

him. I was not around them much, but there were times when I
walked by their room and heard them speaking. There are other
vampires who live in his human village. I think they have been
drinking the animal blood as well. That’s why I was willing to risk
drinking from the bear.”

Lowell rubbed the bottom of his chin. “Hm, well, I guess that

would work. Humans would be too paranoid and angry to let
vampires live with them if they were required to act as feeders. But

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63

I’d still rather you waited, just to be safe,” he said. “You’re not still
thirsty, are you?”

“No,” Alex replied. “I don’t need to eat, either. There was a berry

patch not far away and I had them.”

Fuck. Lowell wondered if there was any bear meat outside that

was still good, though the bugs were probably swarming around the
carcass by now. “A berry patch?”

“Raspberries and rhubarb. I wouldn’t eat anything that I didn’t

know what it was.”

“That’s smart of you. The next time we bag an animal though, I

won’t be such a greedy bastard and remember to share with you.”

“I think you have been the least selfish person throughout all of

this. After feeding me your blood so many times, and taking care of
me when you didn’t have to, how could I do anything less for you?”

Lowell’s cheeks became a little hot at those words. He cleared his

throat. “Now that we’ve both eaten and regained our strength, and you
have a suit for the daylight, I think we should move on.”

“Now?”
“It’s not safe to stay here. Other vampires will come to search for

their missing comrades. They will track them to this place and know
we were here, regardless of whether or not I buried the bodies, and the
smell of that bear will only attract other predators.”

Now Alex’s face darkened. Even with his new pale skin, he was

still handsome as ever when he blushed. “I didn’t think about that.”

“You weren’t trained to,” Lowell said. “That’s what I’m here for.

I haven’t been doing a good job of it so far, but until we’re far enough
away from here, I will protect you with my life. I will continue to do
so even after the danger has passed.”

Alex ducked his head a bit. He certainly didn’t have the

personality to fit his size. “Werewolves take this whole mate thing
seriously, don’t they?”

“Very serious,” Lowell said.

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The way Alex wet his lips only made Lowell want to kiss him,

and while he hadn’t forgotten about the deal Alex made with him, he
was perfectly aware that the man had only done and said the things
he’d done to get his way. Lowell did not wish to put any more
pressure on him than there already was.

“So, where are we going?” Alex asked.
The way he phrased that question gave Lowell some hope. “You

would not object to coming with me?”

Alex didn’t shrug or point out his own limited choices. He

actually smiled at him, rather shyly. “No,” he said. “I want to go with
you. I’m still new to this, but I trust you now, and I believe you care
about me. I’ll go wherever you go. Wouldn’t want you to go mad
without me.”

He said that last bit with a joking smile, but Lowell could see his

sincerity.

Lowell reached for the other man, allowing his fingers to thread

through his red hair, which somehow managed to stay somewhat soft
to the touch, despite falling back in the dirt and having his body
scorched.

“Thank you for the chance,” Lowell said. “God, I want to kiss

you. It’s torture holding back, you know.”

“Don’t hold back. I wasn’t offering to kiss you before just as a

bribe. I like kissing you.”

If that wasn’t a solid invitation then Lowell would wake up

tomorrow as a wereweasel or something. He held onto the back of
Alex’s head tighter and pulled him close, touching their lips together
in a move that was chaste at first, but then deepened the second
Lowell heard Alex’s small moan of approval.

He licked the crease between Alex’s lips and groaned in

satisfaction when the man opened up for him. Better still, Alex’s arms
wound around Lowell’s shoulders, pulling him even closer as Lowell
thrust his tongue into Alex’s mouth. Alex’s slick and velvety tongue

Protecting His Mate

65

caressed his in turn, and they moved back and forth against each
other, mimicking the act of sex.

Lowell’s cock swelled and hardened in response to that. He

wanted to claim the smaller man so much. He wanted to throw him
down on the cot, lift his knees up high, and have his way with him all
into the night, putting his scent all over Alex so that he would no
longer be a noble vampire that other wolves feared and hated, but the
mate of one of their own who could be accepted and protected.

Alex’s cock pressed up against Lowell’s. Lowell groaned and

gripped him by the hips, thrusting against him for that pleasurable
friction he’d been dying for, and the man even slid his hand around to
the front of Lowell’s chest and started to pinch and tweak one of his
brown nipples until it was a hard and sensitive nub.

God, he hated himself for this, especially now that he was so close

to coming, but they couldn’t do this here. His inner wolf was
demanding primal satisfaction, but it would not be had tonight.

It killed him a little on the inside to pull away from Alex and

break their kiss, and his heart was drumming in his chest like it was
about to burst through his ribs, but he had to stop.

“Any more of this, and we won’t make it out of this cabin.”
Alex’s eyes flashed with lust, and he smiled, but then that smile

quickly melted away at Lowell’s pained expression.

“Oh, right. Wrong place, wrong time.”
“Exactly,” Lowell said, pressing his face to the top of Alex’s head

and inhaling deeply. “God, you smell so good. I shouldn’t have kissed
you just now.”

Alex’s hands were warm on Lowell’s bare shoulders as he was the

one to separate them this time. “We’ll just have to get far away from
here, find somewhere safe where we can do it.”

Lowell took hold of the man’s hands. “Just you and me, on the run

and living off the land, claiming each other wherever possible?
Sounds kind of romantic.”

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If only his stupid cock would go down. He might be able to enjoy

that romance a little more. Considering the predicament they were in,
he wanted to enjoy everything he possibly could with his mate.

“You’re right, it is,” Alex said. “The sun is still up for another two

hours or so, so while we get out of here, we can get to know each
other a little more while we go to wherever it is you think we should
go.”

“You’re an optimist, aren’t you?”
“Possibly. It’s hard not to be, after the way today turned out,

knowing that I have a real chance of getting away from that house,
and with someone like you at my back. I feel pretty good.”

Lowell was glad that he was the one to give Alex that feeling.
He inhaled deeply. “I do not know where this fabled vampire-

loving human village is that your brother ran away to, but since I
don’t know where it is, I can’t take you there. The alphas who came
with me were all ordered to take out any vampires they could, but I
think if Nick, the leading alpha in charge of the entire pack, knew that
you and I were mated, he would welcome you. We just need to get to
him so he can give the order.”

“Are you sure he would do that? I mean, the other wolves didn’t

seem to want to let me go.”

“Nick is a fair alpha. His family has been running DeWitt’s pack

since before the Great War. He’s always welcomed people who were
mated to his alphas. Theo and Daryl were just being assholes. Despite
that, I think we should keep it quiet that you’re a Romonoff in case
we come across any other werewolves. Which is a real possibility.
The last place I knew Nick was heading for with the other alphas was
the Fenrir house, so we should go there, too.”

“Agreed,” Alex said with a sigh. “You won’t be getting any

arguments out of me there.”

“Good. Ready to run away with me?” Lowell asked, and he held

out his hand. His blood surged pleasantly when Alex took hold of it.

“Definitely.”

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67

Chapter Eight

It was hours before they stopped. Though Lowell could probably

keep running and not stop until they made it to their destination with
his wolf stamina, Alex wasn’t as strong as that. Even with the blood
he’d taken in, and being in pretty decent shape, he couldn’t run
nonstop for several hours at a time. For that, they were occasionally
forced to slow down their pace to a brisk walk so that Alex could
catch his breath before they started running again.

The entire time, Lowell kept his nose to the air, sniffing out any

possible threats.

It made Alex wish that he could be more useful to the man.
It was dark by the time they stopped, for real stopping, and Alex

had his daylight mask off for a good while now. The moment he was
able to withstand the heat and the sun was down almost entirely,
leaving the sky a pretty navy blue with stars making their appearance,
he’d taken it off.

It was getting hot trying to breathe in the thing anyway.
“I haven’t been away from home this far before,” Alex said, still

panting heavily, but he was smiling and glad. “It’s amazing.”

He sat down on a fallen log and leaned his back against another

perfectly healthy tree. The air was cooler now at least, and that took
away some of the discomfort from how thirsty he was.

Not for blood, but for water. He was getting dehydrated.
“I think we’re safe for the moment,” Lowell stated. “I don’t smell

anyone or anything having come by here recently.”

“That’s good, my feet are killing me.”

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“We’ll get you out of those bad habits your pampered lifestyle

instilled into you soon enough,” Lowell said, but it was clear from the
smile on his face that he was joking. At least partially.

Alex grinned back at him and wiped away the sweat on his brow.

“I’m told living off the land builds character, though everyone who
told me that growing up never tried it themselves before.”

“Well, that’s changing for you now,” Lowell said, and then he

really looked at him, his smile leaving. “Are you thirsty? We’ve been
running a long time and your heart is still thumping.”

Alex was still getting used to the fact that Lowell could hear his

heart beating just as clearly as Alex could hear his.

He wasn’t going to lie about this. He nodded. “My mouth is so

dry. You didn’t happen to bring any water with you?”

“No, but I’ve purposely kept close to a stream in case either of us

needed it to drink, or run through to lose our scent.”

“There’s a stream near here?” Alex asked, sitting up a little

straighter as his excitement came over him.

When Lowell held out his hand, Alex took it and stood up. “It’s

just this way. I made sure that I could always hear it while we
moved,” he said.

“How long have you been thirsty?”
Now the man was starting to worry. He didn’t need that on his

plate if he was going to be keeping the both of them safe. “Not long.
My mouth is dry, but I thought I could handle it for a little longer.”

“Keeping hydrated is important while traveling. I know you had

some fluids because of the berries and rhubarb you ate, but you
should drink water whenever you feel you need it. Don’t hesitate to
ask.”

Alex grinned as Lowell helped him through the shrubs and trees in

the direction of the clean, flowing water. “You know, if any of the
servants, or even any member of my family, treated me like this, it
would have annoyed me so much.”

Lowell’s eyes widened. “Oh, well, I can’t help it, it’s just—”

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69

“I’m not saying you’re annoying me. It’s different with you. You

actually care about my well-being. Everyone else only faked it
because I was one of the Romonoff heirs. Someone whose ass had to
be kissed because I might be able to help everyone else out in some
way later on down the road.

“The servants I understood, but I especially hated it when my

family, cousins, aunts, uncles, all faked worry over me when I was
sick, or tried giving me some kind of friendly advice, because I knew
it was all faked. You’re not faking it.”

“Damn straight I’m not,” Lowell said.
Even Alex could hear the bubbling rush of water as they came

nearer to it, and the sight of the stream, bright under the half-moon in
the sky, made Alex groan and rush over to it.

He fell to his knees and scooped the water into his mouth. He

drank several mouthfuls before he started rinsing his mouth out. He
hadn’t brushed his teeth since yesterday, and rinsing and spitting
some of the water definitely helped him. Lowell was doing the same.
He must have thought it was a good time for some cleanup as well.

Alex took that moment to try and see his reflection as best as he

could in the dark water. He winced at what he saw. The pale white
patches where his skin had been burned so badly ran all down the left
side of his cheek and down his neck. There were some places that
were dark, which he thought must have meant they were actually
pink. Somehow his eyebrows and lashes had been saved, which he
was grateful for, but he was suddenly wishing that he hadn’t bothered
to look at himself.

“Hey.”
Alex looked over.
Lowell was studying him, as though he was carefully trying to

choose his words. “There’s nothing wrong with how you look. You’re
still the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”

Alex didn’t believe that. Not really. Lowell was attracted to him,

yes, but Alex could hardly consider himself a prize worth having at

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this point. “I just have to make sure to put a mask over my face
whenever there are children around. Wouldn’t want to scare them.”

“Alex.” The sharp tone to Lowell’s voice startled him. Lowell’s

brown eyes were determined and a little hard. “Those are your battle
scars. You received them through a brave action, protecting your
mate, and you had to survive to get them. Never hide them for as long
as you have them,” he said.

Alex’s heart swelled with affection for the man, and his eyes filled

with tears. The latter of those two embarrassed him, so he blinked
them away quickly. “All right.”

Lowell put his hand on Alex’s shoulder and squeezed. “I love you.

Let’s enjoy the water some more and head out again. We can travel a
little longer before we have to make camp for the day.”

Alex noticed the way Lowell quickly changed the subject

immediately after proclaiming his love. Was he embarrassed to have
said it? Alex liked that he’d said it. He liked it because he believed the
man.

Still, if Lowell didn’t want to speak about it, then Alex didn’t

want to force the issue. He washed his face and took a few more
drinks of water before he realized something.

The water also wasn’t cold. It was a nice lukewarm, and that was

when Alex got his idea.

“You said we’re relatively safe here, right?”
Lowell scooped up some of the water and scrubbed it over his

hair. It gave the sandy locks a sort of dark and spiky look that Alex
found to be incredibly sexy.

“For a little while, yeah,” he said.
Alex was thinking about the bath that Lowell didn’t get to take

because they had been found by the vampire guards of his father’s
house, and the fact that Alex was filthy again, too, was part of what
made him act.

He stood up and began to remove the assassin’s uniform, and then

his clothing.

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71

“What are you doing?” Lowell asked.
Alex was suddenly a little wary of showing his now-discolored

body to Lowell, but that was so stupid. The man had already seen him
naked a number of times while he was caring for Alex, even after the
burns, so he might as well get the shyness out now.

“My bath was ruined before, and now’s a better time to take it, so

you might as well join me.”

“Join you?”
Alex stood straight and sighed. He looked down at Lowell, who

was still kneeling in the smooth rocks in front of the stream, staring
back up at him with clear desire in his eyes.

That desire didn’t make Alex feel scarred at all.
“You said you wanted this. That as a wolf, you needed it and I do,

too. I don’t feel like I’m about to lose my mind, but I would like to be
with you. You don’t have to fight against this anymore,” he said.
Also, Lowell had said he loved him, and Alex wanted to show the
man how much he cared.

Alex then dipped his foot into the water. Goose bumps pimpled all

over his skin. The water was a little cooler than he thought it was, but
his body adjusted quickly as he stepped in. He didn’t much feel like
having sex with this man, with his mate, for the first time while he
was filthy and stinking of sweat.

The stream wasn’t deep at all. In its very center, the water barely

reached his abs, but he ducked under for a second just to get his hair
wet. When he came back up for air, Lowell was out of his clothes and
walking in the water toward him.

Alex shivered, but not because he was cold. The water felt warm

on his skin now, and it was the anticipation of being touched by this
man, this man who was strong enough to drag Alex through the
woods to safety, and gentle enough to feed and heal him.

When Lowell did reach out for him, his dripping palm to Alex’s

cheek, he leaned into the touch and, oh, it was almost like he was

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already enveloped within the man’s arms. Alex brought his hands out
of the water to hold onto Lowell’s hand and wrist, keeping it in place.

“I’ve wanted you from the second I saw you,” Lowell said.
Alex looked at him, and he had a moment of complete honesty

with himself.

He’d wanted Lowell from the moment he first saw him as well,

and that had only been magnified and growing after their first kiss.

“Have me,” he said, and Alex reached for the back of Lowell’s

neck, getting the soft hairs that were there wet as he pulled the man
closer and pressed their mouths together.

They weren’t in Alex’s luxurious bedroom that he’d left behind,

on his massive bed with the silk sheets and soft music playing while
they opened their mouths to each other, but it was by far the most
romantic kiss Alex had ever experienced.

The slow and steady rush of water and the light chirping of

crickets was their music. The moon cast the setting in a soft glow that
he wouldn’t have been able to duplicate at home.

His cock swelled between his legs, and he became aware that

Lowell’s had done the very same, and now they were pressing against
each other, completely naked and flesh to flesh for the first time.

Alex had to separate from the kiss as he blew out a nervous

breath, but he held onto Lowell even more tightly than before. He
must have tilted his neck at just the right angle, because Lowell
moaned low in his throat and dived in to press his mouth there.

In turn, it made Alex moan and his knees go weak as Lowell

sucked on the place where his major artery pumped his life blood.

“F–forgot about that,” he said with a huff.
“’Bout what?” Lowell asked, his lips ghosting over Alex’s skin

and never quite leaving it.

“Werewolves,” he said, trying to take in a proper breath so he

could get this out. “They said werewolves, when you expose your
neck to them, they like it because it’s a sign of submission. Fuck,” he
said, clutching Lowell tighter as the man sucked on his throat.

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73

“Mmm, it is a sign of submission, but it depends on who it comes

from for us to like it,” Lowell said. Was that his tongue on Alex’s
neck?

He groaned, pleasure shooting through every nerve on his body.

“That feels good.”

“You taste good,” Lowell replied, and he reached his hand down

and found both of their dicks, stroking them both together as he gently
thrust against him. Alex practically jumped at his touch and moved
his hips in time with Lowell’s stroking hand. “I’m going to make you
feel even better,” he said.

Alex didn’t know how it could get any better than this as he pulled

his face off of Lowell’s shoulder and reached up for another long and
deep kiss.

He lost himself in it for a time, closing his eyes and just enjoying

the sensation of Lowell’s tongue in his mouth while the man stroked
their cocks together. The last person he’d been with, or even during
the lonely nights when Alex had touched himself, he’d never felt
anything close to this. It occurred to him that Lowell was the one who
was pretty much doing all the work here, and while that might be an
alpha thing, Alex wanted to participate as well.

He gripped Lowell’s shoulders, then ran his palms slowly up and

down his chest, trying to put as many sensations in as many places as
he could on the man through touch alone. The next thing he did was
scrape his nails gently over Lowell’s nipples before pinching them.
The other man’s cock twitched and jumped between them, and when
Lowell groaned and Alex felt a warmth ghosting between them, he
realized that he’d just made the man come.

“Fuck,” Lowell said, but his dick didn’t go down. Was that a

werewolf thing as well?

“You’re still ready for me,” Alex said, hardly able to believe it.
“I’ve been in the company of my mate for almost twenty-four

hours now. You’d better believe we won’t be done until I’m balls-
deep inside of you. More than once.”

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Alex shivered again. It was a near-violent thing, and he liked it. “I

love it when you talk to me like that.”

“Well, I’ll say more to you as often as you like, but I don’t think

we’re getting any farther by staying in the water,” Lowell said. He
dipped down a bit, the water almost rising to his shoulders, and his
arms around Alex’s thighs before he lifted him up.

Alex gasped and instinctively held on.
“Put your legs around me,” Lowell said.
Alex did as he was told, thrilled at being carried like this as

Lowell walked out of the water.

“You are very strong. I didn’t think anyone could lift me like

this.”

“You and I are going to get along famously,” Lowell said, and for

lack of a better term when describing the lusty smile on a werewolf’s
face, Alex couldn’t help but think of it as being, well, wolfish. It
certainly showed off his white teeth as he walked them right out of the
water toward the dry place where they had both thrown their clothes.

“I think I’m going to ruin your bath again by doing this, but we

can always go back in later,” Lowell said, and he got down on his
knees before gently setting Alex down.

Alex lay on his back. There wasn’t much grass beneath him, but

there were no pointy twigs stabbing at him, and the rocks were
rounded and smooth, so he felt perfectly comfortable where he was. “I
don’t mind,” he said, wiggling a little in his new space.

Lowell laughed and reached down to kiss him. Alex held him in

place gently by his ears, not wanting him to move at all from their
spot.

Lowell thrust his cock against his hips, groaning at the new

friction, and Alex panted as he opened his legs to the man and hooked
his feet around Lowell’s thighs.

“After we do this,” Lowell said, his breath warm against Alex’s

face. “There’s no going back. I’ll have claimed you, and you will

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75

likely need me as much as I will need you. I’ll never be able to let you
go.”

“I want this,” Alex said, so certain of himself that he was eager to

have that connection finally solidified between them. “I want you.”

Any other time in his life, this would have been considered a

disaster in the making. He barely knew Lowell at all, but he liked the
man, and trusted him. Maybe it was everything that Lowell had done
for him that made him love him so soon, but this was his choice that
he was making at least. He didn’t have to wait around his home for
the news that he would be married off to the wealthy daughter or son
of another house that he’d never had a chance to meet. Lowell loved
him, and he was giving him the choice, and his decision had been
made.

“I love you, too,” Alex said.
Lowell groaned and leaned down for another kiss. This time it

was crushing, claiming. Lowell kissed him as though it would be the
last kiss they ever shared together, and something clicked between
them that hadn’t exactly been there before. At least not for Alex.

He realized what it was immediately. Need. He needed Lowell.

He needed to touch him. He needed the man’s skin on him, his mouth,
his tongue, his cock, all of it.

Lowell hadn’t been kidding. This was a claiming, and now it was

strong for both of them.

Lowell pulled away only to reach for their clothes. He frantically

began fumbling through one of the many pockets until he came back
with the jar of health salve.

Alex knew what he was going to use it for. Health salve was

known to make a great lube because of how slick it was, and its
healing benefits.

“Fuck me. Hurry,” Alex said.
“I will,” Lowell promised. “I’ve got to get you ready first, and I

want to hear a whole lot more begging before I’m inside of you.”

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Chapter Nine

Lowell dipped his fingers in the health salve and felt the

immediate tingle of the slick cream as it worked its magic and
mended every tiny slit in his skin that he’d developed while traveling.
He put his fingers between the perfect swell of Alex’s ass, and he
stroked the salve over his pucker.

His cock jumped as Alex hissed and sighed. His entire body

trembled, and for the life of him, Lowell didn’t know why he was
bothering with this teasing. He was only teasing himself as well.

But then, the longer he waited, the greater the pleasure, and he

wanted to enjoy this while he had the chance. His mate was open for
him, willing, and had said he loved him.

Lowell was going to make this a night for the other man to

remember.

“You’re tight,” Lowell said, pressing one finger past the ring of

muscle of Alex’s ass. “I might have to take my time preparing you.”

Despite his words, he shoved his finger as far as he could inside of

the man, until he felt Alex’s prostate pressing against his fingertips.

Alex’s mouth and eyes opened wide as he moaned, but it was a

small sound. He was trying to stay in control of himself.

As much as Lowell wanted him to completely lose himself, that

wasn’t an option. They had to remain silent on the chance that there
were either wolves or vampire assassins lurking around somewhere in
the distance. He didn’t think there were any. His nose and ears were
telling him that they were perfectly alone, but he thought better than
to risk it.

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“That’s right, try not to make much noise. That sounds like a fun

game, right? Seeing how silent you can stay while I make you beg
and melt for me.”

Alex rubbed his face with his hands. His chest was rising and

falling at a rapid pace, and he panted heavily through his mouth. “M–
melting is a word for it.”

Lowell laughed. He added another finger, pressed them both

against Alex’s prostate, and then hooked his fingers before pulling
them out of Alex’s hole, quickly thrusting them back in.

He repeated that motion, never quite taking them out of Alex’s ass

as he thrust his fingers back and forth several times, mimicking the
act he wanted so badly to perform on him.

“God, you’re so fucking beautiful. I can’t believe you’re mine,”

Lowell said. His cock and balls were heavy as he stared down at his
fingers. He just wanted to fuck the other man, but he held himself
back.

Alex covered his mouth with both hands and shut his eyes. The

pleasure that showed on his face as he tried to hold back, as he thrust
his hips against Lowell’s fingers, was enough that Lowell was getting
physical pleasure just by looking at him.

“I need you to say it again,” Lowell said. “Come on, baby, tell me

that you love me. That you’re mine and mine alone.”

Alex moaned through his hands, and Lowell had to wonder if

Alex had even heard what he’d said.

“Say it, please. I love you, and I will do everything I can to keep

you. Tell me you’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” Alex moaned. “I’m yours, now please, for the love of

God, fuck me. I need it.”

“Say it again,” Lowell said, and he bent down and took one of

Alex’s brown nipples into his mouth. He wanted to lick and kiss every
inch of the man’s body so that his scent would be all over him. “Say it
again, and I’ll never stop making love to you.”

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“Oh! Lowell!” Alex said. He thrust his hips faster, clearly ready to

come, but Lowell didn’t want him to. Not yet.

He held Alex’s hip down with his free hand, calming him just a

little before using that same hand to hold onto the base of his dick. He
was thick and uncut. Lowell made plans to suck it deeply into his
mouth, but later. That would be for the after party.

“Tell me again,” he said, and he stroked Alex’s dick in time with

the thrusting of his fingers.

Alex bit his lips together and jerked. He was trying so hard to stay

silent, just like Lowell had asked him to. “You…you teasing fucking
bastard. Yes! I’m yours, I’m your mate. Now, if you don’t get over
here—”

Lowell didn’t let him finish. He’d teased Alex, and himself, as

much as he could. Any more and he would come again without even
touching his own cock, and regardless of what kind of stamina he had,
that would be just too humiliating to handle.

“Lift your legs,” he commanded, even as he pulled Alex’s knees

onto his shoulders. He took more of the salve, and with his trembling
hands he ended up putting more of it onto Alex’s ass rather than his
hole, but he still managed to get as much on there as he possibly could
before pressing the head of his cock against Alex’s tight hole.

Alex hissed and stiffened immediately after the head of Lowell’s

dick pushed through the ring of muscle.

Oh, God. “Are you a virgin?”
His wolf rumbled pleasurably at the thought that he would be the

first and only one inside of Alex, but his human mind was in a panic
for several reasons. If Alex was a virgin, then Lowell hadn’t prepared
him nearly enough for this, especially considering his size. He wasn’t
letting his ego get in the way by admitting to himself that he had a big
cock. That was definitely true and something he shouldn't just shove
into the asshole of a virgin.

Also, he’d never taken anyone’s virginity before. He was fairly

sure he was going to have to go slow, but he didn’t think he would, all

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79

things considered. Even just stopping and waiting for an answer was
grating on his inner wolf.

Alex blew out a breath after a time, his body relaxing as he

opened his eyes. “No. It’s just, been a long time. I’m not usually in
this position, you know?”

He didn’t know, but that would be something they would learn

about each other.

“I’ll do my best not to hurt you, but I don’t think I can be gentle,”

he said, already moving his hips, unable to stop himself as he slowly
sank the rest of his cock into his mate, and then he started to move,
slowly building momentum.

“Good,” Alex said, shocking him with how playfully evil his eyes

became. “Because I prefer it fast and hard.”

Then fast and hard he would get. Lowell moved. He pounded his

dick into him at a desperate pace, unable to hold back. Alex gripped
him tightly, his fingernails digging into his skin and drawing blood,
his eyes going wide as though he hadn't expected it to be quite this
fast or hard. He didn’t care. He didn’t notice any pain at all.

“Holy shit, you weren’t kidding,” Alex said. “Oh, God, fuck me

harder.” Alex grabbed Lowell’s face and brought him forward for a
sloppy kiss.

Lowell loved hearing Alex curse. He did it so rarely that it was a

turn-on hearing such things leave his mouth.

By now, the silence rule had completely flown out the window,

and the only thing that kept the noise level remotely under control
was the fact that their mouths were still connected, though they were
forced to pull away from each other eventually.

It was difficult to keep their mouths locked when their bodies

moved so frantically against each other.

Lowell groaned and came deep within Alex’s body a second time

when the scraped his nails down his back. He continued thrusting into
the other man as his orgasm seemed to just go on and on.

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He was inside of his mate, marking the man as his with his cum,

and that only added to his pleasure. His cock didn’t soften. Not yet.
He wasn’t done until he had Alex screaming his name.

Alex’s hand reached between them, and he jerked his cock as

Lowell slowed his movements, but kept each forward cant of his hips
a hard one.

“Come for me, baby. Let me see you do it,” Lowell said.
“I’m coming!” Alex squeezed his eyes shut, hissed, and threw his

head back as he shouted and came over his firm belly.

Lowell looked down at the drops of cum that were on him. He

gently pulled his softening dick out of the other man and leaned down
to lap them up with long strokes of his tongue. As he took in the
essence of his mate, he felt their connection grow even stronger as it
was a part of Alex that was now inside of him.

He looked up when he finished, a lazy smile on his face. Alex was

staring down at him with some bewilderment, his blue eyes wide and
disbelieving.

“What is it?” Lowell asked, his lazy smile never leaving his lips.
“You just licked…I mean you lapped it up! Right off my

stomach!” Alex said.

Lowell laughed at the shock on his face. “I take it none of your

previous lovers have ever done that before? Well, good. I like
knowing that I am still your first in some ways,” Lowell said, and just
to emphasize what he was doing, he took Alex’s soft dick in hand and
dipped his tongue onto the head, licking up the last of the cum that
had been on the slit.

“Why did you do that?” Alex asked, though he shivered at the

touch. His heart seemed to be calming down now that he was no
longer so stunned.

“It’s part of the claiming. I am inside of you, and now you are

inside of me.”

Bright red flushed over Alex’s cheeks, but he still smiled through

his embarrassment. “I see.”

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“Have you never taken a man’s cock into your mouth and

swallowed it down?” Lowell asked.

When Alex shook his head no, Lowell got excited all over again.
“I see stars in your eyes. Is that really something people do?” Alex

asked. Despite his words, his tone and the look on his face suggested
that he was intrigued.

“Many people enjoy it,” Lowell replied, and he reached for Alex’s

cock. He had excellent stamina as well. He was already half hard just
through their talk alone.

“I can show you how much I enjoy it if you like.”
He was already in position to take the man’s cock into his mouth.

Just to give Alex a preview, he sucked the head into his mouth before
releasing it with a wet pop.

“Oh yes, please,” Alex said with a moan, his dick already

twitching and half hard. “And after, I will return the favor.”

His face was so red as he spoke. He was clearly still new to this,

regardless of what he’d said about having previous lovers, and Lowell
had every intention of spending as much of the night as they possibly
could teaching him every way two bodies could be enjoyed.

* * * *

Alex was surprised when he shifted awake after dozing off. It was

the coming heat in the horizon that did it. It made him too
uncomfortable to sleep. Never mind the fact that he’d somehow
managed to fall asleep during the night away.

The sky was still dark save for the dim line of pink that came

through the trees. He and Lowell had been traveling, and making
love, for most of the night, so he must have only slept for about two
hours or so.

He wished he could go back to sleep, but snuggling into his

lover’s arms and hibernating the day away was out of the question.

He already had enough burn scars.

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“Lowell. Lowell, wake up.” Alex gently shook him by the

shoulder, and then kissed his neck.

Lowell groaned and shifted, then opened his eyes and shot up into

a sitting position, his eyes scanning the area.

“Oh fuck, did we fall asleep?”
“Only for a little while. The sun is on the horizon,” he said,

getting to his feet. He went to the stream and quickly washed off the
fluids that had dried on his body during his and Lowell’s night of
passion. The man seemed to be in a bit of a panic at the moment, but
Alex was willing to forgive him for that, all things considered.

“Damn. I can’t believe we fell asleep out in the open,” Lowell

muttered, and he, too, went to the stream to wash.

They had to be quick, and as the air got hotter and the sky lighter,

Alex rushed to the assassin’s daylight uniform and put it on quickly.
He felt instantly cooler, and safer, while wearing it. Though his breath
still warmed the mask, there was nothing that could be done about
that.

He watched as Lowell put his pants on, and once more felt a pang

of disappointment that they couldn’t stay where they were.

“This is a nice spot,” he said. “Now that I really look at it.”
Lowell looked at him and grinned before walking over to him and

lifting the mask just enough so that Alex’s mouth was exposed. “I will
remember this place until the day I die.”

Lowell kissed him, slow and gently, and God if that didn’t make

Alex want the man even more. He would remember this place as well.
He only wished they could come back to it, but he would be taking his
memories with him, and that would have to be enough.

“Come on,” Lowell said, pulling away from Alex and lowering

the mask back over his face. “I’ve distracted us enough. If we keep
running, we might make it back to the attack site Nick and the others
will be at within seven or ten hours.”

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83

“And, you’re sure they’ll accept me?” Alex asked. He was glad

that Lowell couldn’t see his face now, because he didn’t want the
other man to see the uncertainty that was there.

Lowell cupped his cheek. “You’ve claimed me just as surely as

I’ve claimed you. My scent is all over you as well.”

Alex’s face became even hotter at those words.
“Nick won’t let anyone touch you. Neither will I. And more and

more I suspect that no one else will wish you any harm either. At the
very worst, I would think that your last name would make the others
uncomfortable and we would be asked to leave the pack, but that’s
stretching it. I don’t think Nick will take things that far.”

Alex could hardly believe what he’d heard. “You would risk

getting thrown out of your pack for me?”

“You are my mate. Wherever you go, I go. I’ve risked a lot

already, so what’s this one more thing?”

He said it with a smile, clearly trying to make light of the

situation, and Alex believed him that he wouldn’t mind it if he was
forced to leave his pack just to be with his mate.

Alex wished he was strong-willed enough to say that he wouldn’t

let Lowell do something like that, to make the man promise him that
if his pack alpha forced him to choose, he would choose his pack.

But Alex wasn’t that strong. All he could do was put his arms

around his mate and hold the man as tightly as possible.

“Don’t worry,” Lowell assured him. “Theo and Daryl can be

idiots at times, and the other wolves we’ll have to avoid until we get
Nick’s blessing, but he will give it to us. I’ve known that man my
entire life.”

The problem was that, while Alex trusted Lowell, he couldn’t

relax because he’d never even met this Nick DeWitt before. For
Lowell’s sake, he hoped the man was as understanding and fair as
Lowell described him to be, because while he didn’t have the courage
to say it out loud, if it would save his mate from having to fend for
himself and care for Alex while living out in the wild, Alex would go

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his own way and leave Lowell with his pack. He just couldn’t force
that life onto the other man. Not after everything Lowell had already
done for him.

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Chapter Ten

It really wasn’t that long until Lowell led him to the mansion that

the rest of his pack was attacking. It really had only taken about seven
and a half hours to arrive, and all the while they travelled, they ran
into no vampire slavers or assassins.

It really was perfect, until they made it to the mansion and Alex

desperately wished they weren’t stopping here.

Alex was surprised at the sight of it. It was a large house, almost

as grand as his own, and it was surrounded by werewolves.

Some of them, most of them, actually, were in wolf form, but

there were a handful walking around who were naked men. There was
the occasional woman, but pretty much everyone in the group was a
male.

There was one male in particular who looked incredibly familiar,

and it took Alex a second before he recognized the red-brown hair. He
had to use the hair, since the man had been a wolf the last time he’d
seen him.

“Lowell, I think that’s Marrok,” Alex said, grabbing his lover’s

arm and pointing. They were still hidden in the tree line. Lowell
didn’t want to get too close yet while the sun was still up and have the
other wolves see the vampire wearing an assassin’s daylight uniform.

“Marrok?” he asked, looking in the direction that Alex had

pointed. “Wait, isn’t that the guy you told me about…?”

Alex nodded. “He came with the other werewolf, Anderson, to

help save his mate. He chased after Sasha after he shot at Robin’s
lover.”

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“Wait, didn’t you say he was a wolf at the time? How can you be

sure it’s him?” Lowell asked. Marrok was currently on his knees, his
hands bound behind his back with heavy chains, and there were
massive bruises on his face. He hardly appeared broken, however, as
he glared and snapped through the gag in his mouth at the people
around him who held him. They kept him down, however.

“The hair. It’s the same color, and I know that sounds stupid, but

really. I’ve never seen that particular shade of hair on any wolf or
man. See how it gleams some blond strands along with brown and red
in the sun. It has to be him.”

Lowell sighed. “You’re right, that is a long shot. Wait here while I

go and find out what’s happening. That guy there with the black hair?
That’s Nick. It looks like they have the house on lockdown, so it
should be safe for me to have a word with him.”

“They’re not going to hurt the people in the house, are they?”

Alex asked.

He knew it was a fool’s question the second it had left his mouth.

The sympathetic look on Lowell’s face was also an answer to that.

Lowell kissed his forehead through the mask he wore. “I’ll be

back. Stay safe.”

Alex could do nothing but watch him walk out into the light

toward the group of wolves who were standing several yards away
from the front door of the house. There were others surrounding the
property as well, not to mention some of the wolves who were
sniffing around that ugly big building in the back.

How odd it was for a vampire noble to build such a long house

right on the property instead of with the barns. It took up space on the
perfectly cut grass, and the windows weren’t tinted.

Was that where the servants lived? Alex’s father grouped all of

the human slaves into the barns with the animals far off the property.
Alex had never spent time at any other noble vampire’s home, so he
didn’t know what to expect as far as their treatment of their servants

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went. Could this house be caring for the slaves better than the
Romonoffs?

Alex told himself that it didn’t matter and was not his business.

He was against slavery, and if the only action he took to prevent it
was to stand by and allow these wolves to seek their revenge and free
the humans, then that was what he must do.

It didn’t explain why they were holding Marrok hostage, however.

He was a werewolf. One of them.

Alex watched Lowell carefully. Two men saw him coming. A

younger male who appeared to be in his early twenties or so with
black hair, and an older one. Though he was older, he was still young
in appearance.

Alex couldn’t decide what his age was with the grey streaking his

short hair. He was either prematurely going silver, or he simply
looked young for his age.

The crisscrossing scars on his face took away from any beauty he

might have had before, and both men snarled and marched toward
Lowell the instant they saw him coming.

Theo and Daryl, Alex realized with dread. The two people who

would be working their hardest to make sure that Alex and Lowell
were not allowed to live peacefully in his pack, mated or not.

Lowell raised his hands for peace, but when they didn’t stop, Alex

nearly ran out of his hiding place to join his lover and protect him
from whatever those wolves meant to do to him.

He didn’t need to do anything. “Stop!”
The voice was strong, even as it was shouted from far away. Nick

had apparently noticed that two of his men were rushing off to
potentially harm another member of his pack, and his voice was
strong as he commanded his troops to stop.

Lowell had told Alex all he could about Nicholas DeWitt. He

came from a long line of strong alphas, it seemed, many of whom
were adopted, as werewolves had difficulty finding and breeding with
females over the years.

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Nonetheless, the man was definitely an alpha that everyone took

their orders from. It was obvious by the way he grabbed both men by
their necks and slammed them down on the ground in an almost brutal
manner.

Alex was stunned with fear. This was the guy that Lowell had

been saying was so nice and understanding?

When he took his hands away from the necks of both men, they

didn’t try and get up again, however. Not until he gestured for them to
move, and they did, immediately out of his way, though they
continued to glare in Lowell’s direction.

Alex clenched his fists and growled. If either of them tried

anything, he was going to go over there and teach them a lesson of his
own.

Then one of them, the older male with the silver streaks in his

brown hair, looked exactly in Alex’s direction. He stopped breathing
for a second. Shit.

Lowell was clearly speaking with his alpha, but he noticed the

instant that Theo—or was that one Daryl?—started walking toward
him.

“Hey!” Lowell yelled sharply, but then the other wolf started

running for Alex, and Lowell chased after him.

Alex didn’t know whether or not he should run or just stand there.

Running would only make himself look guilty, and one of the other
wolves might kill him just trying to stop him from getting away.

Screw that. He was standing his ground.
It turned out it wasn’t necessary, because Lowell was running

much faster than the other man was, and he leaped and tackled the
guy around the waist, sending them both flying into the ground. They
rolled and threw punches at each other. Alex watched, fascinated, as
hair sprouted from the pores on both men’s skin and their fingers
lengthened into claws. Several werewolves rushed forward to try and
pry them apart, but the other male got a cheap shot in on Lowell’s

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face when they were finally off of each other and Lowell had lowered
his hands.

Four long claw marks that bled freely ran down his face. Had the

other man scratched at him just a little harder, he might’ve even taken
one of Lowell’s eyes out.

He was already walking out into the sunlight, his assassin uniform

protecting him, and his fists clenched.

The wolves were so focused on restraining him that they didn’t

even notice Alex was coming.

“He’s got a fucking vampire hiding in the trees! He’s a God

damned traitor! He—!”

The man turned to try and rush back to where Alex had been

standing, but Alex was already there, and he threw his fist out and
punched the man in the mouth. His hard teeth hurt like a bitch against
Alex’s knuckles, but the two men who had been restraining him
dropped him with the shock of what happened, and he fell on his ass,
clutching at his bleeding mouth.

Alex hoped some of those teeth of his fell right out.
“Alex!” Lowell shoved off the other men who had been trying to

help him, and he ran to where Alex was standing.

Alex, shaking his hand out from the pain, looked around himself.

He felt pretty damn stupid, considering he was wearing the most
offensive clothing to any free human or werewolf, and standing
amongst a pack of wolves who would all just as soon rip his head off.

“I told you to stay hidden,” Lowell said, putting himself between

Alex and the other wolves.

There was no point in arguing about how he’d lost his head when

he saw Lowell unfairly attacked like that. Lowell was clearly all right
and not as badly hurt as Alex had thought he was, and now Lowell
was clearly scared, for Alex’s sake.

Alex had just done something completely stupid, and he figured

he shouldn’t argue about it. “I know.”

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“Nick,” Lowell said when there were several low growls

surrounding them. “This is my mate, Alex.”

Nick leaned to the side and glanced at Alex, his brows lifted a bit

at the uniform Alex wore before he stood straight. “You didn’t
mention he was a vampire assassin.”

More growls sounded from the men and wolves surrounding him.

Alex lifted his hand and touched the back of Lowell’s arm. It centered
him and eased his fears, but only a little.

“I didn’t get the chance to, and he’s not an assassin. He’s only

wearing that because the sun’s still up.”

Lowell refused to step out of the way, and Alex had to look over

Lowell’s shoulder to see the pack alpha. Nick appeared to be about
Alex’s height, and considering the way Lowell was shielding Alex
from sight, Nick was forced to lean to the side just to get another look
at him as well.

“Uh, you think you might step out of the way so I could see him?”

Nick asked, his black brows lifting.

“He can’t take off the mask.”
“I wasn’t going to force the issue. I’m not going to attack him yet.

Just step aside so he can do the talking. Things are pretty chaotic right
now, and Daryl is bleeding all over the place because of this vampire,
so I’d like to hear what he has to say.”

“He fucking punched me in the mouth!” Daryl shouted, though

through the blood and his hands that were still clutching at his face, it
sounded much more muffled than that.

Nick glanced down at the man, but he otherwise ignored him.
“Move, Lowell. I won’t attack him,” Nick said.
Lowell’s body tensed, but he stepped aside. Alex was comforted

by the way Lowell took his hand and held it, though, keeping their
connection, even if he was no longer acting as a body shield.

Nick approached him, his blue eyes scanning Alex up and down.

Alex wasn’t sure what he was expected to do, so he said nothing and
let the other man watch him.

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91

He flickered his eyes to the side to see Marrok, the man he

thought was Marrok, anyway.

He was still being held down on his knees by two large men, and

he was looking at Alex with wide eyes.

Marrok had never seen Lowell before, and he’d only seen Alex

once and that was only for a few minutes. Did he know that it was
Alex who was standing here?

His slightly widened eyes as he looked at him suggested that he

did know. The daylight suits were designed to protect against the sun,
not stop his natural scent from getting out. That had to be how the
man knew.

“I can smell Lowell all over you, and you on him, so he must be

telling the truth,” Nick said. He shook his head before nodding to
Marrok. “That one over there has been claiming he was mated to one
of the vampires in that house, the head of house, if you can believe
that. I certainly didn’t.”

“That’s Marrok, sir,” Alex said, feeling the need to defend the

man after he’d come to try and help Robin. He hadn’t arrived at the
house for the purpose of helping Robin specifically, but really to aid
another friend, and because Robin was involved…well, it was
complicated and Alex didn’t feel like bringing all that up to the man
in front of him. “My family owes him a debt. He came to aid another
werewolf who was mated with my cousin, Noir. He also helped my
brother to escape the Romonoff house.”

“Great,” Nick said, and he looked to the sky and released a hard

breath, as though he was struggling for patience. “Why did you three
have to go chasing after him? If you hadn’t disappeared and stayed by
the house like you were supposed to, this wouldn’t be such a fucking
mess.”

“Are you sure this is the house?” Lowell asked. “It seems unlikely

that this would be the house owned by the vampire who killed all of
his werewolf servants, especially if he’s mated to one.”

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“It’s the house,” said another man, stepping forward. He was

middle aged, with black hair and only some silver lining it. He had a
haggard face with many random scars, and a trimmed black beard that
had about as many grays as were on the top of his head.

Marrok struggled even more against his chains, and he screamed

and bit down on his gag, but his words couldn’t be understood.

“Ilya,” Lowell said with a nod.
The way that the entire pack parted for the man, even the pack

alpha was offering him that respect, told Alex that this werewolf was
definitely important. Lowell had told Alex stories about this man. The
one who’d bravely fought against his oppressors before being forced
to flee, taking as many wolves with him into the werewolf district.

Alex imagined that his opinion of vampires likely wasn’t very

high, and he told himself to be as respectful as he could, even if he
shivered with discomfort simply standing near the man.

“I’ve heard of you, sir,” Alex said. “What you did for your pack

was incredibly brave.”

Ilya regarded him coolly, his arms folded over his chest, and then

he looked at Lowell. “Got him trained already? I guess the only good
vampire is a bitch vampire.”

“What?” Alex said. What the hell had he done to deserve that?
He kept his mouth shut, glad that the man couldn’t see the way

Alex was narrowing his eyes at him.

Lowell openly growled at him, however. “Don’t you fucking talk

to him like that, outsider.”

“Right,” Nick said, looking at Ilya. “I appreciate what you’ve

done so far, but please keep your comments to yourself when
speaking about mates of the pack. It doesn’t matter whether you or
anyone else agrees with it. This is apparently happening to
werewolves, and we need to find a way to handle it.”

“So Alex is welcome then,” Lowell said. It wasn’t a question.
Nick must have noted the challenge in his voice, because his eyes

narrowed. “I will have the both of you watched for a time. I would

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93

hope that you would at least understand my position on that, but yes.
You are a fine hunter and he is welcome.”

“This is bullshit,” Daryl said.
Nick’s hand snapped out and wrapped around Daryl’s throat. He

put the other man down on the ground again, and he didn’t loosen his
grip until Daryl stopped struggling and stretched out his neck.

Alex shivered. He was going to have to make sure never to get on

the bad side of the alpha in charge.

“What’s to be done with him?” Alex asked. Lowell squeezed his

hand, probably a warning to not draw too much attention to himself
just yet, but he had to make sure that Marrok would be taken care of.

“I owe him a debt of gratitude, and he hardly looks like he’s

enjoying being bound and gagged.”

“Yeah, that,” Nick said. He actually appeared a little bashful as he

scratched at the back of his neck. That was a bit of a change from the
ruthless leader Alex had seen only a second ago. “We had to do that.
He wouldn’t stop fighting us. Daryl’s nose is bloody now because you
were defending your mate, but there were a lot more bloody noses and
faces and arms when he was fighting everyone in the pack.”

“Have you had no contact with the people inside?” Lowell asked.
“They’re just cowards, always have been and always will be.”
“Yes, we’ve had contact,” Nick said. “Ilya, if you attempt to speak

for me again, you will be the one I put down on the ground the next
time.”

Alex expected the man to obey immediately, but he just glared at

no one in particular and crossed his arms. Still, he kept silent, so that
must have counted for something.

Alex had a lot to learn when it came to how werewolves

interacted with each other.

He looked to Lowell, and his mate smiled at him and mouthed,

“I’ll tell you later.”

God, he was so lucky.
“So what’s been happening?” Lowell asked.

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Alex was curious as well. He wanted Marrok out of those chains,

but he doubted his word, that of a stranger and a vampire, would carry
much weight to it.

“Well, after we came here and found you, Theo, and Daryl all

gone, we went on the attack. The human slaves have gone into
lockdown in that house over there and haven’t come out, even though
we’ve tried to communicate with them, and tell them that we mean
them no harm, they won’t so much as speak to us.”

“Probably scared out of their minds,” Ilya said. “Who knows

what’s in that building? It certainly wasn’t there when I served here.”

Marrok struggled and twisted in the hands of his captors some

more.

“I think he’s trying to say something,” Alex said.
“No one asked you,” Ilya snapped, and then he narrowed his eyes

at him. “Too big to be a stealthy assassin, that’s for sure. Are you sure
you’re not a guard?”

Alex was getting sick of this man, and his inner promise to show

him respect flew out the window.

“I don’t know, let me check for you,” Alex said, and then

purposely held still and kept silent for at least five seconds. “No. I’m
not a guard.”

Ilya growled.
Lowell went so far as to bare his teeth to the man. Long and

coarse hairs were sprouting out of his pores, but he held back on his
transformation, even if his teeth did get threateningly sharp.

Ilya stared at Lowell, his glare making the scars on his face even

angrier. What was it with werewolves and having so many scars? He
should feel right at home with these men once they saw what he
looked like.

“I’m just suggesting that you take the gag from his mouth and

give him a chance to speak,” Alex said. There was something about
Ilya and the way he held himself that made Alex not trust him.

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95

Marrok was completely flipping out every time the man spoke, like he
was trying to warn them.

“He was gagged because he kept trying to bite everyone who

came too close,” said Daryl. He was still clutching at his nose, but his
voice didn’t sound quite so wheezy any longer.

“Because he was trying to defend his mate from you all,” Alex

argued, and then he looked at Ilya. “If you used to be a servant in this
house, then you and he must know each other. Why not let him speak
for himself? Surely you could keep him calm and prevent him from
attacking anyone.”

Marrok and the men who held him down were a good twenty feet

away, but their werewolf hearing made sure that they could hear
every word that Alex spoke. Marrok was no longer struggling,
wiggling, or attempting to kick away the men who held him by the
arms. He was watching quietly, and there was begging in his eyes.

That was how Alex knew he was right. “Like you said, if I did

know him, I would be able to control him, but I can’t. I can’t do it
because we don’t know each other. He was clearly brought in after the
fact.”

Marrok made a brief struggle again and attempted to yell

something through his gag.

Alex looked at him, and then at Nick and Ilya. “It seems he

disagrees with you.”

“Are you saying this house is innocent of Ilya’s claims?” Lowell

asked. He seemed to have put on a constant glare as he looked at the
wolves standing around him. He was all but daring anyone to come
forward and call Alex a vampire-sympathizing liar.

“I’m willing to consider this,” Nick said.
“Sir!” Daryl said.
Alex grinned widely beneath his mask. Lowell had been right.

Nick was a fair leader, as he was willing to hear a vampire he didn’t
know based on good logic. Despite the gasps and mutters that went

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throughout the crowd, Ilya was the only one who got up in Nick’s
face.

“That fucking mutt over there will attack and kill anyone he can to

stop us from putting justice on the heads of the vampires who killed
so many of my pack mates,” Ilya said.

Nick’s face remained passive. “I know you were the leader of

your pack, but you’re not the alpha in charge here. Step off, Ilya. I
want to speak with Marrok before we try and break those doors
down.”

“Thanks, Nick,” Lowell said, his voice sounding like even he

could hardly believe Alex’s words were being heeded.

Nick nodded at him before he turned around and started walking

over to Marrok.

Ilya and pretty much everyone else followed on his heels.
“You can’t do this! He’s a fucking traitor mutt! He’ll lie and

attack you!”

“He has deep scarring on his back, which suggests torture. I don’t

believe this man would side himself with vampires lightly, and when
we came here, the humans ran away from us even though we’re
clearly not wild. They fear us when we came here to set them free,”
Nick said, and he stepped in front of Marrok until he was barely a foot
away from him.

“I want to speak civilized to you. If I take that gag out, are you

going to try and attack me again?”

Marrok frantically shook his head, and all the while he shot the

nastiest glares at Ilya, who was still trying to convince Nick to stop
what he was doing.

“You would listen to a vampire and a nearly wild werewolf over

me?” Ilya shrieked. “How fucking dare you? I told you what those
vampires did to us! I fucking told you!”

“Someone hold him down. I’m getting tired of listening to him,”

Nick said.

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97

Alex was stunned to see Theo and Daryl immediately step

forward. He would have thought that they would be the first to ignore
an order when things were beginning to get out of hand, but they
quickly moved to do as their leader commanded them.

“No!” Ilya yelled. He deftly jumped out of the way of their

reaching hands. Lowell stepped protectively in front of Alex, but Ilya
wasn’t going for him.

He rushed to Marrok.
He grabbed the bound man by the throat, his hands becoming

claws, and he began pulling back.

“Don’t any of you fucking come near me. I’ve survived worse

than the lot of you,” he said.

Marrok was forced to his feet, but he didn’t seem to be in any

immediate danger, yet. The look on his face suggested he was more
annoyed, even when Ilya’s claws began to dig into his neck,
producing tiny drops of blood.

“Odd choice of hostage,” Lowell said. “You’re right, Alex, he’s

hiding something.”

Lowell made sure to say it loud enough so that everyone standing

around would hear him.

Alex was staring at Ilya and Marrok, noting the fast and panicked

beating of Ilya’s heart. If they were not careful, he would kill Marrok
and there would be nothing anyone could do about it.

Nick remained calm, to his credit. “Ilya, I can see that you’re

frustrated and that you want justice for the things that happened to
your pack, but you’re not going to get it if you kill him. If you kill
him and he’s really mated to the vampire who’s in charge, do you
really believe he’ll show his face to us if you murder his mate?”

“No, he won’t,” Ilya said. The man had balls on him, because he

turned his back on the pack, still holding tightly to Marrok’s neck
with both hands, keeping the man at an arm’s length.

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“I know you’re watching in there!” he screamed. “I’ve had

enough of this. Either get your ass out here and face me, or I’ll snap
his fucking neck!”

Alex opened his mouth to point out that, while the sun was getting

low on the horizon, it was still in the sky, and there wasn’t a cloud up
there to act as a shield from it. No vampire would dare come out with
that kind of danger.

Then the front door was thrown open, and a young man with a

frantic look on his face appeared there. The sun and building were at
such an angle that he was shielded from any direct sunlight, but only
barely.

Marrok flipped out at the sight of him, but Ilya held on tighter.

“Lord Tristan,” Ilya said.

“Please, Ilya, don’t hurt him! I’ll come out and I’ll confess, just let

him go!”

Right. Of course. Alex had braved the sun for the sake of his

mate. He should have known that the mate of another wolf could only
hold himself back for so long.

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Chapter Eleven

This was a new development. Lowell had been questioning

whether or not the werewolf named Marrok really was mated to a
vampire inside of that house, considering the way no one had arrived
to even make an attempt to negotiate for him.

He supposed that wasn’t a fair thought, considering Nick had said

there was some communication before, and every vampire was
frightened of being out during the day, so of course the man couldn’t
show his face earlier.

It must have been hell for the guy to look through those tinted

windows of his and see his mate, gagged and chained up, so close and
yet so far away.

Every werewolf in the pack stared at the vampire, who was

clutching at the doorframe in desperation. There was already sweat
building on his brow from being so close to the sun. He was only
barely in the shade of his home. It sounded like someone was yelling
at the man from behind him to get back inside and close the door, but
the vampire, Tristan, wouldn’t do it.

Alex clutched his hand tighter. Lowell put his arm around his

mate’s shoulder, knowing how the other man felt as he watched
another vampire brave the sun.

“Come out here and tell these wolves what you did. Be a fucking

man for once in your life, you pampered little shit.”

Tristan looked at Marrok. “I…”
Though Marrok struggled, Ilya held him up just a little higher so

that the man was forced up onto his toes just to keep breathing. “I
swear I will kill him if you don’t face me right now. I will let him go

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if you come out here and confess to what you’ve done. I’m reasonable
like that.”

Tristan’s eyes widened, and he scrubbed his hands helplessly

through his short blond hair before he turned around and disappeared
behind the door.

There was a mild gasp through the pack, and Lowell knew what

everyone was thinking. He even thought it.

Was the man actually going to abandon his mate?
No. Tristan appeared again, this time wearing a hood and cloak,

along with a pair of black gloves to protect his skin. It was all
probably something that he pulled out of a closet behind the door.

He kept the hood over his head, and it was so big that it hid away

most of his face, leaving hardly anything but his nose and mouth
visible.

When he stepped out into the light, a hesitant and fearful step, his

entire body shaking, it shielded his face and body enough from the
light that he didn’t burn, but it was clear that the man was struggling
with every step.

Lowell felt sorry for him.
“Nick, this has gone on long enough,” Lowell said. “Look at what

that vampire is doing. Clearly Marrok is his mate.”

“Marrok is not of your pack and Nick can’t decide his fate!” Ilya

snapped, never taking his eyes away from Tristan as he moved ever
closer.

Marrok appeared to be trying to shake his head, as though

warning Tristan away, but the man kept right on coming.

“You say that now,” Nick said, “but you didn’t let that bother you

when my pack took you and your wolves in, and I said I would help
you get justice against the vampires.”

“And justice there will be,” Ilya said.
“We can’t let him do this,” Alex whispered. “That’s a good

vampire. Not all of my species are evil.”

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“I know, babe,” Lowell said. “Nick does, too, but we have to

wait.”

“I’m here now,” Tristan said. “Let him go.”
Lowell looked back up to the door. There was another vampire in

the doorway. He could tell by the fangs, but there was also a human
beside him with a gun, a rifle, in his hands, pointed at Ilya.

“Nick,” Lowell said, and then nodded to the door. The last thing

he wanted was for his pack alpha to get hit by mistake.

Nick took note of it and nodded back to him, then moved off to

the side. He signaled the rest of the pack to do the same, and they all
followed suit.

Ilya didn’t even notice. He only had eyes for Tristan, and his grip

around Marrok’s neck seemed to be getting even tighter.

“Confess! I offered to spare you, for his sake, but after what you

did…” he trailed off and growled. “Confess to what you did. You
ordered the slaughter of every single wolf who worked under your
house. Even the ones who were loyal to you!”

Though the lower half of his face was shadowed, it was easy to

see the way his lips thinned. Marrok continued to shake his head, to
try to anyway, but it was clearly difficult for him to keep his balance,
being held the way he was with his arms still tied behind his back.

Tristan nodded. “I did it,” he said.
Everything was silent. Even nature. The wind didn’t so much as

blow through the trees.

“Did what?” Ilya asked. “Be specific.”
Tristan wet his lips, and when he spoke again, he did so louder, so

that the entire pack could hear his words. “After the rebellion was put
under control, I gave the order to have all the werewolves in my home
put down. Even the ones who aided my family. They’re all dead.”

“And that,” Ilya said, tossing Marrok to the ground, “is exactly

why I want you dead. I promised him I would leave you be.” Ilya
barely glanced at Marrok as he struggled to get to his feet. “But the
wolves who really wanted blood wouldn’t be satisfied, so I relented.

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Then your vampire friends came along and chased us out. I would
have vanished forever. I thought I’d scared you enough to teach you a
proper lesson, but I stuck around. Good thing, too, because I stayed
long enough to find out that you’re a worse monster than your father.
Ordering the murder of every wolf, even the innocent ones!”

Ilya’s fist flew out, and he caught Tristan on the right eye, sending

him flying backward. There was a split second where he cried out
from the pain, likely not from being punched, but rather as his hood
flew back and his face was exposed to the sun.

It was only for the tiniest of seconds. He didn’t catch fire, and

likely there would be no scarring like there had been with Alex, but
only because Tristan’s gloved hands scrambled to get a hold of his
hood and secure it back over his head.

Ilya wouldn’t stop coming for him though. “Fucking evil,

bloodsucking murderer!”

He raised his fist, looking like he was getting ready to rain hell

down on the man, but a loud shot echoed through the air. The bullet
struck harmlessly next to Ilya’s foot.

Everyone looked over and saw that the human with the gun had

stepped outside. He had a serious look on his face as he lifted the
weapon back up and pointed it at Ilya’s chest.

“The next shot won’t be a warning,” he called.
Ilya smiled at him. “I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”
“Vaughn,” said the human. “And if you don’t back off right now

I’ll put a bullet in your chest.”

Nick was the one to speak this time, loudly and clearly, making

sure his voice travelled over to Vaughn. “Sir, I appreciate that you’re
loyal to your master, but you just heard the man confess to murdering
innocent werewolves. I can’t save him now even if I tried and he
needs to face justice. As a slave, you must appreciate what’s
happening here. Don’t you want to be free?”

“I am free,” Vaughn snapped. “I am an equal in that house, and

Lord Daren Fenrir is my husband.”

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There was a confused murmur that passed through the pack. Even

Nick frowned as he, in all likelihood, tried to understand if Vaughn
was telling the truth, or was another brainwashed slave.

Alex was the one to react. He ran quickly, breaking away from

Lowell’s protective hold, and he rushed to Marrok. Lowell had
expected him to go to the vampire lord and offer his protection,
considering they were of the same species, but it was Marrok he chose
to defend.

No one stopped him as he pulled the gag from Marrok’s mouth

and helped the man to sit up.

“Ilya lies! Tristan never ordered their murder!”
Ilya rounded on him. “You’re the liar! That you would lie for

this…this filthy bloodsucker is despicable! Mate or not mate!”

Marrok turned to Nick. His hands were still behind his back. Alex

didn’t have the key to his chains and neither did Lowell, but Lowell
went to stand with his mate. He wanted to see where this was going,
and he was going to make sure no one tried to hurt Alex while it
happened.

“You’re the leading alpha of this pack, yes? You should know that

Ilya has been lying to you the entire time. He was my pack alpha. He
knew that I mated with Tristan, and he used that to have me tortured
and sold to another house so that the werewolves here would rebel.
He wanted them to attack, and he didn’t care who died while it
happened.”

“He’s lying!” Ilya shouted. “He’s the liar!”
Ilya tried to step forward, probably to silence the man, but Lowell

reached out and put a hard hand on the man’s shoulder. Ilya looked
down at the hand that stopped him, and then at Lowell. Lowell was
ready for any fight that might be on his hands for this, but it didn’t
come to that. Theo and Daryl, along with several of the other wolves
in the pack, came to stand closer to prevent Ilya from attacking
Marrok or Tristan anymore.

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Nick looked between the two men and then down at Tristan, who

was still on the ground, clutching the cloak and hood to his body as
though he was terrified it would be ripped away from him.

“All right, I’m listening.”
Marrok sighed. “The scars on my back are a product of Ilya’s

doing. He told Tristan’s father that a werewolf was having an affair
with his son, and the man whipped me one hundred times for it. Ilya
set everything in motion. Tristan was forced to kill the werewolves
who murdered his father and brother, because while I didn’t care for
them for obvious reasons, they could have killed Tristan and his last
two brothers.”

“He’s lying. The vampire had them all murdered! Even the wolves

who tried to help him!”

Nick looked back at Marrok, waiting for an explanation.
Marrok exhaled deeply, clearly struggling for the right words.

“There are werewolves, all of whom are omegas, in that house right
now. You can ask any one of them and they will all tell you they are
part of the old pack. They will vouch for Tristan. The human servants
will, too, and not because they’re afraid.”

“Then why would humans put in a good word for a vampire if not

out of fear? I’ve never heard of a human speaking anything but praise
for their jailers because they feared punishment,” Nick said, crossing
his arms.

“They would stand up for him because he treats them well. They

don’t get paid money, no, but they’re fed decently, medicine is
provided, and now they’re learning how to read and write. The
vampires here don’t bleed them dry or force them to overwork either.
These humans wouldn’t be able to care for themselves in the outside
world, but their children might, and Tristan is giving them the chance
to do that for themselves. For the humans and the wolves.”

“Can you prove it?” Nick asked.

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“See that big house over there? The one that looks incredibly out

of place where the humans all ran and locked themselves into when
you all arrived?”

“I see it,” Nick said.
“Tristan had that built for them. It has heat, electricity, and

running clean water. Before they were all sleeping in the barns, and
even though some of them were being used to being fed and bled
nearly dry, they were still forced to work under Tristan’s father’s rule.
That doesn’t happen anymore. The reason they all ran away at the
sight of alpha wolves coming was because they remembered what
Ilya’s men did. From what I’ve heard, Ilya himself killed a number of
wolves who wouldn’t join him, so he’s not the noble and innocent
hero he painted himself to be.”

Nick looked over at Ilya. There was clear suspicion in his eyes

now, and he narrowed them as the two men surveyed each other.

“Some of his wolves were left behind with the rest of my pack,”

Nick said. “Knowing they’re there gives me great cause for concern.
I’ll have to question them all more thoroughly when I get back.”

“I did what I had to do!” Ilya spat. “I did what any general would

do when a soldier disobeys. You can’t tell me you haven’t done the
same thing when one of your pack members flies off the handle and
completely disregards your orders.”

“Actually, I can,” Nick said. “Thank you for making this

incredibly easy by confessing. You came to my pack with those other
werewolves and told me a sob story. I took you all in and fed you, and
you would have me risk the lives of my alphas so you could get
revenge for something you had a part in?”

“I’m telling you Marrok is lying!” Ilya said.
“Earlier you told me that you didn’t know who this man was,”

Nick said. “Now you’re basically admitting to not only knowing him,
but being his alpha.”

“Former alpha,” Marrok muttered. “Can someone get these chains

off me? I need to see to my mate.”

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The alphas all looked amongst each other, but Nick nodded.
That was apparently the signal they’d all been needing, because

another man came forward, one of the few who was still wearing
clothing, and he pulled a small ring of keys from his pocket.

When Marrok turned around to be released, he faced Alex.

“Thank you, friend. I won’t forget this.”

“We’re even for what you did for my brother,” Alex said.
“No! You can’t just let this vampire go! We have him!

Werewolves almost never attack the vampire district, and now we’re
here! We can do something about this!”

“I won’t kill every vampire in the world just because most of them

are guilty,” Nick said. “Besides, I hear the humans are doing a fine
job of getting some traction on their own.”

“The vampires are dangerous! They have too much power, and

they use it to leash us!”

“Some people would also say that all werewolves are killers and

monsters, and I would disagree with them on that, too. This vampire
is mated to one of our own. He can be an ally,” Nick said, looking at
Alex. “If he would still want to be after all of this. As for the people
of your pack, I’m going to speak with the wolves here, and the
humans, find out what happened, and then I’m going to question your
pack members and find out if they took part in any of the cruelties
they’re being accused of.”

Ilya roared. His body began shifting, faster than Lowell had ever

seen any werewolf shift, but he was only in the in-between, a man for
the most part with dark wolf fur on his body, claws, and the head of a
wolf.

That was dangerous. Lowell had never seen another werewolf

successfully become this sort of wolf before. There were several
names for it, but the sight was actually so frightening that Lowell
couldn’t even think of what they were.

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107

His brain was too busy putting his body in motion as he and the

rest of his pack mates jumped on Ilya’s back and brought him down
before he could attack Nick.

Nick wasn’t a damsel in need of saving, however, as he was right

in there with everyone else as they tore into Ilya’s body.

The only way to stop a wild half-wolf and half-man was to kill it

before he could kill all of them.

There was a brief whine of pain from out of Ilya’s snout, but that

was cut off quickly as Marrok was the one to get his massive arms
around the abomination’s neck and twist until there was a heavy snap.
He had a look of complete and utter rage on his face, and he didn’t
stop attacking even after that. No one did until the body was
completely dismembered.

Lowell panted for breath when everything started to calm down.

He was covered in blood, caught up in the urgency of protecting his
pack alpha, and his mate, by taking down a wolf who had shifted into
the in-between and gone wild.

The odd thing about it was the way the vampires in the area, the

ones who were supposed to be the bloodthirsty species that everyone
feared them for, were staring at all the blood-covered wolves as they
came away from their kill.

Lowell couldn’t see Alex’s face because of the mask, or Tristan’s

face because of the hood, but he didn’t doubt their eyes were wide.
Tristan’s mouth had certainly dropped, and that other vampire, who
was still standing in the doorway of the large mansion, looked pale.
For a vampire.

“Baby,” Marrok said. He had as much blood on him as anyone,

but he rushed to his mate. He stared down at the vampire and
hesitated, as though he was worried about touching the other man in
his current state.

Tristan quickly got to his feet and threw his arms around the

man’s wide shoulders, despite the blood.

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Lowell thought it was actually very nice, watching them hold each

other like that, regardless of the mess they were making of Tristan’s
expensive clothes.

Lowell looked to Alex, hardly expecting the same treatment, but

Alex was already on him. He’d gotten up and approached him when
Lowell hadn’t even been looking.

He put his arms around Lowell’s shoulders, and though Lowell

also hesitated, not wanting to get blood all over the uniform and have
his mate walking around in that filth, he decided to hell with it, and
held the man back just as tightly.

Alex’s hands slid up until he was cupping the back of Lowell’s

head. Lowell didn’t know what he was doing until Alex pressed their
foreheads together.

Not a kiss. Alex wouldn’t be able to kiss him outdoors until the

sun was down, but it was still pretty damn nice.

“You scared the hell out of me,” Alex said. “What the hell was

that?”

“It happens sometimes, to werewolves who lose control.”
“That was a wild wolf?”
“Of a sort,” Lowell said. “They don’t always look like that, but

it’s one of the more dangerous types.”

Alex shivered.
“It won’t happen to me,” Lowell assured him.
He looked over to the side. Marrok’s face was all but buried inside

of the deep hood that Tristan was wearing, and it was clear that they
were kissing desperately. Lowell wished he could be doing the same,
but there was no way he was lifting Alex’s mask and risking his skin
touching the sun, not even a little.

That human from before was standing near them, his gun in hand

and a pink blush on his cheeks as he purposely avoided looking at the
two men as they shared their private moment. He really was a loyal
human, protecting a werewolf and a vampire like that.

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“You did a brave thing,” Lowell said. “Helping Marrok like that.

It really turned the tables for him. I’d hate to think of what would’ve
happened to him or his mate if Ilya had his way and didn’t let him
speak.”

“I don’t know why I did it. I’m such a coward.”
That shocked Lowell. Alex thought he was a coward? He’d

braved the sun for Lowell, run away from his home to try and be free,
and after going to the aid of another werewolf…he and Alex were
going to have to have a long talk later on.

“You’re the furthest thing in the world from a coward.”
“But—”
“Trust me,” Lowell said.
The sound of Nick clearing his throat pulled everyone out of the

stupor they were in. Whether it was kissing or holding a mate, or even
standing around, hardly able to believe that the outsider they’d
allowed into their pack had gone so insane with rage that he’d half
shifted and turned wild.

Nick, to his credit, had something of a regretful look on his face,

which wasn’t out of place, considering he had led his pack here to
attack the house. “Lord Tristan Fenrir?”

“That’s me,” Tristan said from beneath the hood.
Marrok visibly held his mate even tighter, and the human,

Vaughn, gripped his gun closer to his chest.

“I hope you’ll accept my apology for this. It’s not every day I hear

about, or even come across, a situation like this. Werewolves mating
with vampires is definitely something I never thought I’d see, but now
I’m looking at two cases of it,” he said, his eyes flickering briefly to
Lowell and Alex. “And you also have a human beside you who’s not
only willing to fight for you, but for him as well.”

Marrok clearly appeared reluctant to trust, and Lowell couldn’t

blame him for that. The man was still stark naked, and the red marks
on his wrists where the chains had been too tight were still visible.

“Will you please get to the point?” Marrok asked.

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“Right,” Nick said. He was alpha of his pack, but now he was

speaking to another alpha on land that wasn’t his own. Regardless of
how many wolves Nick had with him, he was the one who was now at
a disadvantage.

“I only wanted to apologize,” Nick said. “Werewolves coming

together with humans and vampires can only mean good things for
everyone in the future, and if you would allow it, I would like to align
my pack with you. Not merge them,” he said quickly. “I would still
prefer it if we kept our home in the werewolf district, but if you
should need anything, or have any information about the resistance
against vampires, then I think we could benefit each other by keeping
in contact.”

Tristan pulled away from his mate and walked over to the leading

alpha of the pack who had, up until five minutes ago, been camped
out on his property, barking war at him.

Lowell could hardly believe it when the man held out his hand to

shake. Nick looked at it, likely wondering if there was an angle to
this, but then he smiled and they shook hands.

“Agreed,” Tristan said. “You, Marrok, and I will be allies. I don’t

agree with what other vampire nobles have been doing in the vampire
district, and it’s time that the slave runs came to a stop.”

Nick smiled. “My pack will come to you whenever you need it,

and you will give us any information you can about the vampires.
How they move, think, and when applicable, where they will attack.
Werewolves are kind of sick of them always pushing back the borders
on our land anyway.”

“Does this mean you believe Tristan to be innocent?” Alex asked.
Lowell wanted to know that as well, though he was pretty sure he

already knew the answer.

“Marrok is a good wolf to have come back here and seen to the

care of the omegas after Ilya attacked. Just the fact that there are
wolves in this house is all the proof I need,” Nick said. “If there is any
peace to be had between humans, wolves, and vampires, I think we

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111

should find it in all the places we can before everyone goes to war and
no one wins.”

“Agreed,” Marrok said. “In that case, we should tell you about a

little human village that also has its share of vampires and
werewolves, and even a fae and a few mages. I’m sure they’ll be
happy to have your aid.”

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Chapter Twelve

Alex sank deeply into the soaker tub of the guest room he and

Lowell had been offered to stay in within Tristan Fenrir’s house. He
sighed as the steam from the warm water wafted over his face. There
was only one thing missing here that would make this perfect.

The door to the bathroom opened, and he looked up and smiled. “I

was just thinking about you.”

Lowell stepped into the bathroom. He had a curious smile on his

face as he neared the tub. “I imagine you feel right at home in all of
this,” he said, dipping his fingers into the water.

“Yes, but I will still be happy to leave it when the time comes to

go with you and your pack,” Alex said. “I just wanted to enjoy a bath
that wouldn’t be interrupted or ruined immediately after the fact.”

This was the second day that the wolves of DeWitt’s pack had

stayed in the same house as the Fenrir vampires, and in that time, the
impossible seemed to happen.

A real truce, not one forged just for the sake of appearances, had

been made. Things had naturally been tense at first, but as soon as the
omegas came out to see the other werewolves, and the humans
stopped being so frightened, the air in the whole house seemed to
change.

Everyone was relaxed. They seemed to accept that werewolves

could mate with vampires, and as odd as it was for Alex to think
about, that was all it seemed to take for them to be okay with it.

“I would have thought that if mating with the enemy was all it

took for peace, werewolves would be doing more of it,” Alex had
once told him.

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113

“Baby, if that was the case and it was up to us, trust me, we

would,” was Lowell’s reply.

“So werewolves never get a choice?” Alex asked.
“Well, we can, sort of. If it hadn’t been instant for me and you, if

you were just another vampire, but I was attracted to you and I liked
you enough, I could possibly do it on my own. It’s way too
complicated for me explain right, though, but it is different for
everyone.”

Because of that, he hadn’t delved further into the workings of

werewolf courtship. Alex already had the only man he would ever
want, and he didn’t need to know any more than that.

“Nick spoke to us all today. We’re going to head out before dawn

tomorrow. Real early so you won’t have to be in the sun right away,”
Lowell said.

“But I will still be needing the daylight uniform,” Alex said. “I

suppose it is better than if we stayed longer and I became used to
sleeping during the day again,” he said.

Lowell continued to look at him, his face ever understanding.
“I regret nothing,” Alex said, reaching for Lowell’s hand and

dripping water onto the floor.

Lowell smiled at him. “I believe you. Besides, I don’t think it’s a

good idea for everyone to stay here any longer, you included, even
though you’re a vampire.”

“Why?” Alex asked. Now he was confused and he sat up a little.

He winced a bit, but then focused all of his attention onto his mate.

Lowell wet his lips and carded the fingers of his free hand through

his hair. “You can never say this to anyone, not even Nick,
understand?” he asked, his voice getting noticeably lower.

Alex nodded, worry lancing through him. “Are we in danger?”
“I don’t think so. In fact I doubt it. Lord Tristan and his family

really do seem like a decent lot. They don’t seem fake, and they speak
honestly about themselves and the other nobles in the area, but I

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overheard Marrok and Tristan in the library just now. It was sort of
private, so I didn’t want to hang by the door or anything, but…”

He trailed off, and Alex didn’t need to be mated to the man to

sense his discomfort. He wanted nothing more than to make
everything all right for the man.

“What happened?”
Lowell blew out a breath. “Keep in mind that I believe Tristan felt

it was necessary, and if Marrok and the humans in this house can stick
around, then that has to account for something. Also, when Marrok
realized I was listening in, they both explained to me what happened,
and I’m still alive, so…”

They were talking about Tristan, about something that Marrok

would want to hide from everyone else, obviously to keep his mate
safe.

It took Alex about a second to figure out what that was. “Tristan

really did have the werewolves killed, didn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Lowell said.
Alex blinked, feeling a lot less in the mood than he had been only

a minute ago. “I can’t say that I’m shocked. I would have done the
same thing for you, if the situation had been reversed, but are you sure
it’s safe to be here now?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I wouldn’t take any chances with you,” Lowell

said. “I’m telling you this because I respect you, and I don’t want any
secrets between us. Besides, I can’t entirely fault Tristan. He’d
apparently just watched the alphas from Ilya’s pack go wild, or almost
wild, and rip some of his family into bloody pieces. The only thing
that saved the rest of the Fenrir brothers from the same fate was that
other assassins and guards from different houses were sent to get
everything under control. It was suggested to Tristan to
just…eliminate all the remaining werewolves to make sure no one
would turn traitor again. I guess in his state of mind at the time, he
would have listened to about anything.”

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“So Marrok was lying to protect Tristan,” Alex said. “But there

are omega werewolves here. They’re servants. We’ve seen them.”

“And they have been lying cheerfully about it the entire time as

well. The servants here are loyal,” Lowell said. “I hesitate to call them
slaves, even though they’re not getting paid for just this reason. They
feel cared for and protected here. That’s another reason why I don’t
believe you, myself, or the rest of the pack is in any danger. But Nick
can’t know about this because even if he believed it, too, and he very
well might, considering his ability to understand, the pack would
demand that he bring justice to the man.

“You understand why that’s not a good idea now, right?” Lowell

asked. “I mean, the pack had enough of a shock when I explained you
were a Romonoff, this bombshell they might not understand.” He was
genuinely concerned that Alex would judge him for this, for taking
the side of a vampire who had ordered the execution of possibly
dozens of werewolves.

Alex cupped his face. “Of course I do. Tristan is going to help the

human and werewolf resistance, and that’s important. Maybe it can
even help him to make amends for what he’s done.”

“That was pretty much what they both told me when they begged

me not to tell Nick and bring the wrath of the pack back down on the
house,” Lowell said.

“No one is really innocent here anyway,” Alex said. “And, even

though it makes me think about the man in a new light, I’m not
exactly one to judge him. I’ve watched as many slaves murdered for
no reason, and done nothing countless times.”

“You’re doing something now,” Lowell said. “Don’t you doubt

that.”

Alex smiled at him, and then he reached for him. “I love you,” he

said.

“I love you, too,” Lowell replied, and he leaned down and met

Alex halfway for his kiss.

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Alex grabbed his lover by the dark T-shirt that he wore and pulled

him closer.

Lowell laughed against Alex’s mouth. “If you keep that up, you’re

going to pull me in the water.”

“That’s something of the point,” Alex said, and because he was

feeling somewhat dangerous, he licked the crease of Lowell’s lips.

Lowell shivered, and his eyes widened. He stood up straight, his

hands grasping at the bottom of his T-shirt before he lifted it over his
head, exposing his tanned and muscled chest. The borrowed jeans he
wore were tight, but they hung low on his narrowed hips, and Alex’s
heart beat faster as he looked at the soft line of hair that traveled from
his navel before vanishing beneath the waistline of his pants.

Lowell then kicked off his shoes before unclasping the buckle of

his belt, pushing the jeans and underclothes he wore beneath down in
one strong motion. Alex shifted inside of the large tub, making room
for his lover to enter with him.

Lowell stepped inside, first one leg, and then the other. He moved

slowly at first, as though he was testing the water and surprised at its
warmth.

“I keep forgetting the water will be hot,” he said, sinking down

and sliding his body over Alex’s. “It’s different than just being in a
lukewarm stream. The shower I had last night was especially
different.”

“And I am still displeased that you did not tell me you were going

in so I could join you,” Alex said.

“We wouldn’t have had any fun anyway. At first I turned the

water on and it was freezing cold, and then it was way too hot. Then I
nearly slipped on the soap suds collecting on the bottom.”

Alex laughed.
“I think I prefer just being in the water like this with you.”
“There are other streams where we can bathe together where your

pack lives, right?” Alex asked. He wasn’t much interested in using
small wooden tubs ever again.

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“You’d better believe it,” Lowell said, and he leaned up and

pressed his mouth to Alex’s lips.

Alex inhaled deeply, enjoying the kiss and the feel of Lowell’s

body weight on top of him. Then the man shivered.

“Damn.” He laughed. “My ass is hanging out of the water. The

bath is warm, but the air is suddenly a lot colder.”

“I can warm you up,” Alex said, rubbing his hands up and down

the muscled expanse of Lowell’s back.

Lowell laughed again. “I know how to pick a mate. You’re

completely insatiable. I would’ve thought you’d want me to leave you
alone for a while after last night.”

“I’ll never want you to stop touching me,” Alex said.
Lowell kissed him lovingly on the nose. “Mmm, you’re only

saying that now because we’re still so recently mated. You’re in the
honeymoon phase.”

“No, I really mean it. I woke up this afternoon aching for you, but

you weren’t there.”

Ever since Alex had come here, he’d begun sleeping later and

later into the day, and he knew he couldn’t expect Lowell to keep to
that schedule. He was a paranormal, and werewolves did enjoy
hunting during the night, but Lowell was still a man, and a creature of
the day in the grand scheme of things.

“Sure, sure,” Lowell said. “This time next year you’ll be sick of

me. We’ll be an old couple, and when I come to lie with you in bed,
it’ll be to find you reading some novel instead, swatting at my roving
hands.”

Alex sputtered at the mental image that gave him, but then he

realized that Lowell was having him on, and then he began laughing
as well.

“I’ll prove to you that I won’t tire of you,” he said, and then

crushed their mouths together, thrusting his tongue deep into Lowell’s
mouth.

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Lowell made a sound of shock as Alex dominated the kiss, and

then he melted into it and kissed back with as much passion and fever.

Alex’s cock swelled and became erect, and Lowell was already

entirely hard and ready for him. They thrust against each other in the
tub, which caused the water to sway back and forth like the tide of the
sea.

“Fuck,” Lowell moaned as they each pulled away from the kiss.

Their hips didn’t stop, however. “You never kissed me like that
before.”

“Like it?”
Lowell’s eyes flashed. “Hell yes.”
Lowell kissed him again, opening his mouth and easily allowing

Alex to take control once more. If he liked it then Alex wanted to
strive to do his absolute best to make sure that he gave Lowell as
much pleasure as could be had like this.

Interesting. His alpha wolf had a bit of a submissive side. He was

clearly still ready to take command as far as the sex went, Alex could
tell that much by the way Lowell thrust hard and fast against him, but
it made Alex wonder through the haze of building pleasure how far he
could take that submissive side to him.

Later. He would keep that for after he wasn’t so desperate to get

off.

“You really want it, now, don’t you?” Lowell asked. Apparently

he’d noticed that Alex was even more eager than usual.

“Yes, fuck me right now,” Alex demanded, grabbing Lowell by

the shoulders and holding onto him tight.

“I will, you just have to let me go so I can get the salve,” Lowell

said, laughing again and kissing Alex’s neck.

That almost sent him over the edge, and it definitely almost made

him release the other man.

He held on tightly, however, refusing to be teased to the point

where he did as Lowell commanded.

“I don’t need it. I’m ready for you,” Alex insisted.

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119

“Huh?” Lowell asked. He was so cute when he was confused.
Carefully, the man slid one hand down and around Alex’s back,

his fingers finding and dipping into the crack of his ass while he kept
his balance on the side of the tub with his other hand.

Lowell’s eyes sparked when he found what Alex had done.

“What’s this?”

Alex grinned. He wasn’t sure if his face felt hot because of the

steam that was rising from his bathwater, or because he was just
embarrassed to admit that he’d put something in his body. There was
a plug in his ass. He’d hoped to surprise his mate with it. “I, uh,
wanted to be ready for you when you came in.”

With how close they were, Alex could see the way Lowell’s eyes

dilated with lust. “That is the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard of. Where
did you even get this?”

Lowell pressed his fingers against the plug, which pushed it

slightly deeper into Alex’s body, nudging it against his prostate. That
made him shiver from top to bottom.

“Th–this is a vampire estate,” Alex said. “Ughh!—Under

Tristan’s father’s rule, there would have been parties a–and social
gatherings. All houses did this.”

“And this has what to do with you putting a plug into your ass?

Not that I’m complaining or anything.”

“Indeed,” Alex gasped. “You look like you’re having the time of

your life.”

Lowell’s answering grin was proof enough that Alex was right.
“Many vampire parties usually had private rooms,” Alex

explained before Lowell could start playing with the plug again.
“There always had to be fresh toys for when someone wished to enjoy
a personal audience with another.”

Most vampire social visits, the parties that they had with others in

polite society, turned into private orgies. It was during a party like this
that Alex had lost his virginity to some uncaring noble. To be fair,
Alex didn’t care for the man either when he’d fucked him, but this

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was the way of things. Vampires using everyone around them, even
each other, for their own comfort and pleasure.

“So you just grabbed one of these toys for us to use?”
“It was humiliating, asking a servant in a house where I do not

live if there are any such things still sealed and new in their
containers. The servant brought me this, and I decided to use it. I will
also be taking it with us if you would like to give it a try at some
point?”

“Oh, definitely yes,” Lowell said, and he pressed a hard, excited

kiss to Alex’s mouth. Their bodies were so close now that Alex could
feel the hard length of his mate's cock pressing against his own aching
dick.

It sent a thrill of pleasure through his balls, and it was a struggle to

not come right there.

“Can I take it out now?” Lowell asked. “I mean, are you ready? It

won’t hurt if I do, will it?”

“Maybe I will help you with this part,” Alex said, and he reached

down and took hold of the plug between his fingers and gently pulled
it out of his stretched hole.

He sighed when it was gone. He’d lubed it before inserting it, but

it must have dried up. Thankfully the bath oil in the water kept things
slick enough. He lifted the dark-colored plug out of the water and set
it down on the rim of the tub.

Lowell’s eyes followed it. They were as wide and excited as ever

as he looked at the phallus and then back at Alex. “You really are the
best mate in the world, y’know that?”

“I don’t know. I think I would like it if you showed me,” Alex

said.

“Nice hot bath water and a big bed. We should use them as much

as possible before we have to leave,” Lowell said, lifting himself up a
bit. The water was clear, and Alex could see the way his lover, his
mate, grabbed himself by the base of his cock before lining it up with
Alex’s stretched hole.

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121

“So nice that we can just do this without putting any more time

into preparation,” Alex said, spreading his legs and squeezing
Lowell’s hips between his thighs. “We should do this more often.”

“Not too often,” Lowell said, and his eyes slid shut as he sank his

cock deep inside, all the way he could go. “I kind of like that part.”

Even though he'd just had a plug inside of him, stretching him

wide open, Lowell's dick was bigger, and the pleasurable burn was so
much more than what that toy could've done for him.

Lowell pressed soft kisses to Alex's closed lids as his prostate was

nudged, and every nerve in his body seemed to develop a mind of its
own as he tensed and moaned.

Then Lowell was balls deep inside of his ass. Lowell thrust his

cock into him slowly at first, pulling back so much that only the head
of his dick remained squeezed inside of Alex's asshole, and then he
began moving hard and fast. Now the water really began to slosh over
the rim of the tub, soaking the tiled floor and knocking over the plug.

Alex didn't care in the least.
“I’m gonna…make sure…you never regret…mating with me,”

Lowell said between his panting and thrusting. Alex already knew he
wouldn’t regret it, and he clutched the man tightly, wrapping his legs
around Lowell’s waist as he just hung on for the ride and moaned. It
was next to impossible for him to thrust back against Lowell’s
punching cock with how slick the bottom of the tub felt. He tried to
open his mouth to speak, to tell Lowell that he loved him and to fuck
him harder, but no words would come out. All he could do was make
noise and breathe.

“You’re so fucking beautiful like that, you know?” Lowell said,

pressing a kiss to the sweet spot on the side of Alex’s throat. “Your
face all pink because my cock is inside of your ass, and your eyes
fighting to stay open as I pound into you.”

“Yes,” Alex managed to get out.
This was why he loved the man and wouldn’t regret being with

him. Not because of the passionate sex, but because Lowell was a

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man of nobility, even if he didn’t know it. He was what every vampire
noble wished they could be, but most of them weren’t.

He was honorable and brave, kind and caring, strong and fierce all

at the same time. And despite all of his excellent traits, he’d chosen
Alex to be his mate, and he thought Alex was still handsome and
worthy, despite his scars.

“Fuck, Lowell!” It was almost too much, and Alex reached into

the water to wrap his fingers around his dick to jerk himself as Lowell
fucked him, but then the man suddenly stopped and pulled out of him.

“Turn around. I want you on your knees,” he said.
Alex splashed in the water a little in his haste to do as he was told,

but he did manage to get onto his knees and put his back to Lowell
without falling beneath the surface of the water and drowning himself.

“That’s nice,” Lowell said, and his body heat was so much more

than the heat of the water as he pressed his body up against Alex’s
back, and his hard dick was standing up and nudging between Alex’s
ass cheeks.

“Fuck me,” Alex said. “I need it, put your cock in me.”
He kept right on begging even as Lowell did as he was told,

pushing his dick up and into Alex’s asshole, until he was stretched
and filled one more time.

It was a little hard on the knees, but he had to say that he liked this

position better since it allowed him to thrust down into Lowell’s
pounding cock while the man fucked him hard.

Lowell’s breath was hot and fast in Alex’s ear, and then Alex’s

jaw was grabbed in a gentle grip, and his face turned just enough so
that Lowell could press his lips to Alex’s, his tongue reaching out and
licking Alex deep inside of his mouth.

Feeling so loved with those thoughts in his mind, Alex came. He

shouted as his balls tightened and he spilled himself into the water.
His ass clamped down hard on Lowell’s cock, and after only a few
more quick thrusts, Lowell’s body tensed up as he came deep within

Protecting His Mate

123

Alex’s body, the warmth of his cum shooting into him and against his
prostate, which only prolonged his pleasure.

Alex caught his breath while holding onto his mate's arms with

one hand and trying to hold himself up with other. Pressed together,
chest to back, their hearts beat, not in sync with each other, but at a
lulling pace that called Alex to sleep. Lowell couldn’t lap up Alex’s
cum like he’d been doing for the last little while because of the water
and the position, but he did make little humming noises of approval as
he nuzzled Alex’s neck and kissed his shoulder. As his cock softened,
he gently pulled himself out of Alex’s body, the water sloshing a bit
as he moved and turned Alex around for a proper snuggle.

Alex must’ve closed his eyes, because Lowell chuckled and

pressed a kiss to them as well. “We should get out of the water and
clean up in here. I don’t want you falling asleep in the tub on my
watch.”

Alex smiled, feeling incredibly tired all of a sudden. “I would

rather fall asleep next to you.”

“You will, babe,” Lowell promised, and he rubbed their noses

together. Was that a wolf thing, or just something that was part of
Lowell’s personality? Either way, Alex found it endearing. “I’ll
always be next to you.”

THE END

WWW.MARCYJACKS.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marcy Jacks lives and works in Ontario, Canada, where she is

fervently pursuing the writer’s life while writing about lots of
gorgeous guys. She loves hearing from readers, and you can reach her
at [e-mail].

For all titles by Marcy Jacks, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/marcy-jacks

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com