Hagen, Lynn - Riley's Downfall [Brac Pack 30] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

Brac Pack 30

Riley’s Downfall

Riley is one confused bear. He is quiet, moody, and aloof. He isn’t
even mischievous like his six younger brothers. So why on earth is
his mate a peculiar man that is Riley's polar opposite?

Sterling loves the Lakeland ranch. He is especially enamored with
one big bear shifter name Riley. The problem is, Riley won’t give
Sterling the time of day. The man ducks and dodges Sterling
every step of the way.

But when Maverick calls in a favor for Riley to be the temporary
leader of the fey, Sterling finds himself in an elven village far from
the ranch, and Riley isn’t too happy that Sterling stowed away in
the back of his truck to get there.

Riley has been handed a huge responsibility. Maverick even called
in a favor and had Max, Eagle, and Chey come to help Riley out.
But his concerns aren’t with the fey. It’s with one slim human that
just might be Riley’s downfall.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal, Shape-shifter
Length: 45,477 words

RILEY’S DOWNFALL

Brac Pack 30

Lynn Hagen

EVERLASTING CLASSIC

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove

RILEY’S DOWNFALL
Copyright © 2012 by Lynn Hagen
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-105-4

First E-book Publication: September 2012

Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED:  This  literary  work  may  not  be
reproduced  or  transmitted  in  any  form  or  by  any  means,  including
electronic or photographic reproduction, in  whole or in  part, without
express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance
to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of Riley’s Downfall by Lynn Hagen
from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also,
thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or
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This  is  Lynn  Hagen’s  livelihood.  It’s  fair  and  simple. Please  respect
Ms. Hagen’s right to earn a living from her work.

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www.SirenPublishing.com

www.BookStrand.com

RILEY’S DOWNFALL

Brac Pack 30

LYNN HAGEN

Chapter One

Riley Lakeland wasn’t a happy bear.
As a matter of fact, he was downright baffled.
He sat on his horse—a brown Arabian named Warrior—staring at

the ranch from the other side of the corrals, wondering if Sterling
Lagrange was going to come bolting out the back door like he seemed
to do every morning, and praying that the man didn’t.

Sterling flat-out confused Riley, and he didn’t like being

confused.

Riley liked his nice, boring life.
And Sterling was anything but boring.
The  man  bubbled  with  excitement  and  babbled  on  and  on  about

nothing  in  particular.  Riley  had  never  heard  anyone  talk  so  damn
much  in  his  life.  It  was  like  someone  filled  the  guy  up  with  sugar
every  morning  and  let  him  loose  on  the  Lakeland  household.  Riley
was  quiet, observant,  and not  so  sure he could  handle a  chatty  mate.
He  was  never  too  keen  on  chatterboxes,  and  Sterling  was  the  poster
boy for chatting about absolutely nothing anytime he was near Riley.

Or anyone else.
There were times when Riley would swear his ears were going to

bleed from Sterling talking so damn much. The guy even talked to the

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animals on the farm. He sure as shit hoped his mate wasn’t looking
for them to respond. But with Sterling, no one really knew.

The man bounced around the ranch from one thing to the next

when he wasn’t working at the diner. Riley had never seen anyone in
such  good  spirits  all  of  the  time  either.  Sterling  was  always  smiling,
always  waving  at  one  person  or  the  next,  even  strangers.  The  man’s
light-grey  eyes  seemed  to  always  glow  with  some  unknown
enjoyment.

Didn’t the guy ever have an off day?
“If you stare at the house any harder, you’ll go cross-eyed,”

Chance, one of Riley’s younger brothers, teased. Riley was the eldest
brother of seven sons. He was a single birth, while Chance had a twin,
Chauncey.  Then  there  were  the  triplets,  Olsen,  Bryce,  and  Gavin.
Roman  was  the  youngest,  and  the  only  other  single  birth  besides
Riley. It was a daunting role to be big brother to  so many, but Riley
had taken on the roll and felt he did a pretty decent job helping his pa
keep them in line.

But the twins and triplets still managed to cause havoc around the

ranch. The twins mainly, but Bryce wasn’t too far behind them. “He’ll
be out here before you know it, running around trying to pet cows and
chasing behind Pa or Abe.”

“Don’t you have some work to get done?” Riley groused. He

didn’t like the fact that Chance could read him so well. He also didn’t
like the fact that his mate ran behind his pa or that incompetent fey.
Sterling shouldn’t be running behind any man except Riley.

Sadly, his mate had run behind Riley, until Riley had bit Sterling’s

head off about following him around. Now Sterling steered clear of
Riley, and he wasn’t sure what he should do to fix the situation.

Riley wasn’t even sure if he should.
He didn’t want his mate following him around like a lost puppy,

but he didn’t want his mate following any other man around either.

Fuck, he was so damn confused.

Riley’s Downfall

Riley had wanted a mate just like any other shifter, even if he had

hooped  and  hollered  about  not  needing  one.  Maybe  it  was  his
protesting that landed him Sterling. Maybe fate was paying him back
for all the times he scoffed at his brothers for acting like damn idiots
for  their  mates.  He  wasn’t  sure  the  reason  why,  but  fate  was  getting
her just due right now. And it was in the form of one sexy and chatty-
as-hell mate.

Maybe he should hide all the sweets in the house. That just might

calm the man down. But Riley had a feeling that his mate’s excited
demeanor was all Sterling.

And that was a fucking scary-ass thought.
“Pa’s coming,” Chance warned and then rode off, leaving Riley to

stare at the back door a moment longer before he, too, took off.

He may be his pa’s right-hand man, but Malcolm Lakeland didn’t

screw around when it came to getting work done. And Riley had done
nothing  this  morning  except  watch  for  his  mate  to  bound  from  the
back door. His pa would be pissed if he knew Riley was screwing off
like  this.  They  had  a  ranch  to  run,  and  all  Riley  had  managed  to  do
lately was duck and dodge Sterling, hiding at every turn.

How in the fuck did a human turn Riley into someone who

shucked his work just to make sure the guy didn’t spot him? He was a
bear.  A  big,  dominant,  take-no-shit  bear  shifter,  and  some  slim,
happy-go-lucky  human  had  come  along  and  put  the  fear  of  god  into
him.

He was so screwed.
He pulled his Stetson from his head, running a hand over his hair.

It was an irritating habit he had developed lately around Sterling. He
found himself running his hand over his head anytime he became
frustrated.

He was surprised he wasn’t bald by now.
Just as Riley tucked his hat back on his head and turned back

around to see his pa heading his way, he also saw Sterling bolt out the

Lynn Hagen

back door, waving his hand toward Riley’s pa with a big goofy grin
on his handsome face.

God, he was fucking sexy when he grinned like that.
Riley quickly looked away. It wouldn’t do for Sterling to see how

interested he truly was.

Sterling was too damn young and too exuberant for Riley. It was

true that Sterling was twenty-one, but Riley was a lot older, and a lot
wiser than the cub. He was wise enough to know that his mate was
nothing but trouble with a capital T.

The man was going to disrupt Riley’s quiet world, and had

managed  to  do  that  already.  Riley  couldn’t  even  sit  down  to  read  a
book  without  Sterling  grabbing  one  himself  and  sitting  next  right  to
Riley. How in the hell was he supposed to concentrate on what he was
reading with  Sterling sitting next  to  him, humming as he read? Who
hummed when they read?

The man made absolutely no sense to Riley.
His eyes snapped to his pa when the man approached. He prayed

his pa hadn’t seen him ogling Sterling. He prayed Sterling hadn’t seen
it either. Riley still wasn’t sure what to do with the man, so it was best
Sterling not get the wrong impression.

“You have those fences mended, son?” his pa asked as he slowed

his horse, Lover Lost.

Riley dipped his head in a nod as he tried to covertly sneak a

glance at his mate. It wasn’t that he was interested. He just wanted to
make sure Mr. Hyper wasn’t heading their way. Really, that’s all it
was. He wasn’t wishing the man would bug him just so he could have
a little of Sterling’s attention once more. Riley had made sure he had
put a stop to that. So why in the fuck was he hoping Sterling came
their way?

Fuck, Riley was a walking contradiction.
“Good. I need you to go into town to the feedstore and pick up my

order,” Pa said as he clasped both hands on the saddle horn, eyeing
Riley intently. “And you can take Sterling with you.”

Riley’s Downfall

Riley’s eyes snapped up as he gaped at his father. Had the man

finally lost his damn mind? “Why?” he blurted out before he thought
better of it. Damn it. Now Pa was going to make Sterling go just
because he knew Riley was protesting.

His father was getting ornery in his old age.
“Because,” Pa said, his whole face spreading into a wide smile,

“he needs to learn the ropes if he’s going to be sticking around here
on the ranch.”

That made absolutely no sense to Riley. Why would a dishwasher

need  to  learn  about  ranching?  His  pa  knew  Riley  was  quiet  and
reserved. His pa also knew Sterling could talk the ear off of a statue.
Why  was  his  pa  torturing  the  shit  out  of  him  with  Sterling?  He
couldn’t  remember  doing  anything  lately  to  warrant  his  pa  trying  to
get even with him.

“But he already has a job at the diner.” Damn, if he didn’t sound

like he was pouting. Riley was going to have to work on his tone
when he objected. He might as well have stomped his foot in the
process.

Riley knew he was in trouble when the twinkle in his pa’s eyes

started to shimmer. “I’ve decided to hire Sterling as a ranch hand.”

Riley’s jaw dropped. “You what!”
Pa chuckled, and it was an ominous sound. He had an evil twist to

his lips as he smiled at Riley. His pa leaned over and tapped the
bottom of Riley’s chin. “Close your mouth, boy. You’re going to let
all the flies in.”

Riley quickly closed his mouth, his eyes wandering over to where

Sterling was talking to one of the cows.

Lord, help me.
“Why would you hire someone who knows absolutely nothing

about ranching?” And why would his pa do this to him?

Riley was trying to keep his distance from Sterling, not work next

to the man all day long. His cock already grew ramrod straight
anytime Sterling was five feet from him. He knew it was the scent of

Lynn Hagen

his mate that kept him hard, but he also admitted that Sterling was a
gorgeous man.

This was going to make working almost impossible. He couldn’t

run from his help and expect Sterling to learn the ropes. No matter his
objections, Riley would do what his pa asked. He was a loyal family
man and respected his pa. But why couldn’t the guy ask him to tame
Hell Raiser—the meanest black stallion Riley had ever come across—
instead? That would be a lot easier than working around Sterling all
day.

“I have Abe working the ranch and you don’t argue about it,” Pa

pointed out.

Yeah, but Abe wasn’t his mate. Riley could leave Abe to his own

devices. Riley knew for a damn fact his bear wasn’t going to let
anything happen to Sterling. It roared at Riley every time he ran from
Sterling.

Riley gave up the argument. He knew it was a lost cause. When

his pa made up his mind, that was that. “I’ll head into town.”

Pa chuckled as he turned Lover Lost around, heading back toward

the house. “Don’t sound like I’m sending you to your death, son. It’s
just Sterling. He’s as harmless as a fly,” he shouted over his shoulder,
and then laughed as he trotted away.

Riley narrowed his eyes. That man knew something. Riley hadn’t

told anyone that Sterling was his mate. But Riley knew his pa knew.
His pa had to know Riley and Sterling were mates or he wouldn’t be
torturing Riley like this.

Turning Warrior toward the house, Riley groaned, knowing that

Sterling was not only going to be his downfall, but his undoing as
well. He could see it coming, and Riley was at a loss on how to avoid
that train wreck from happening. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to avoid
it or if he wanted it to happen.

Riley dismounted his horse and handed the reins off to his

younger brother, Bryce, when he got close enough to the barn. He was
not looking forward to the ride into town. Riley had been a prick to

Riley’s Downfall

Sterling, and now he was going to have to sit next to the man and deal
with his actions. “Can you take care of Warrior for me? I have to go
into town for Pa.”

“Sure,” Bryce said as he grabbed the reins. “I ordered a new

saddle last week. Can you see if it’s there while you’re at the
feedstore?”

Riley tilted his head in a nod, wondering how he could get out of

this in the next five seconds and knew he was wasting his time trying
to ditch Sterling.

“Oh, and Riley,” Bryce called out as Riley began to walk to his

truck. Riley turned and wished he hadn’t when he saw the wicked grin
on his brother’s face. “Have fun on the drive into town.”

Riley growled as Bryce busted up laughing, shaking his head as

he walked Warrior to the back of the barn. Riley wasn’t sure who
figured out his relationship with Sterling, but it was a sure bet that if
Bryce knew, everyone knew.

Damn it.
“I’m told I have to ride into town with you, sir.”
Riley’s steps slowed, and then he paused in his walking, glancing

back  at  his  mate.  Sir?  Where  in  the  hell  did  that  come  from?  Riley
fully  turned  to  see  Sterling  standing  there,  his  big  light-grey  eyes
filled  with  something  Riley  didn’t  want  to  decipher.  “Why  are  you
calling me sir?”

“Because,” Sterling said as he grinned, making Riley’s cock

harden and his heart melt, “Chauncey told me you liked to be called
sir.”

Riley inwardly growled. One of these days he was going to teach

his brothers a lesson. They played around a little too damn much. Just
wait until he got his hands on the troublemaking twin. Riley balled his
fists at his sides, ready to go find Chauncey and knock some sense
into the man.

“Don’t call you sir?” Sterling asked, his mouth dipping down into

a deep frown.

Lynn Hagen

“Call me Riley.” He headed toward his truck, not waiting on the

young man. Halfway to his truck, Riley spun around so fast, he nearly
fell over his own feet.

“What’s wrong?” Sterling asked, blinking innocently up at him.
“You just touched my ass!”
“I did?” Sterling lifted his hands, looking at them as if they were

their own entity. “Dang things must have a mind of their own.”

Riley sighed in exasperation, waving a hand toward the truck.

“Get in.”

Sterling jumped into the truck so quickly, all Riley could do was

shake his head. He couldn’t believe that his mate had patted his ass.
What the hell was the guy thinking? Riley didn’t even want to begin
to think about how much he had liked the light ass pat. That would
make his head explode.

When Riley opened the driver’s door and jumped in, he nearly sat

on Sterling. “Why are you sitting in the middle of the seat?”

Sterling pointed to his waist. “Because it has a seat belt.”
Riley leaned forward, pointing around his mate. “And so does the

seat by the door.”

“I’m fine where I’m at.” Sterling tucked his hands between his

knees. A smile remained on his extremely handsome face as he stared
out of the windshield like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“You’re not going to move?”
“Nope.”
Brat.
Riley ground his teeth together as he started the truck, jamming

the  gear  into  drive.  Not  only  were  his  pa  and  brothers  out  to  torture
him,  so  was  his  mate.  Were  they  all  conspiring  against  him?  Riley
pressed  his  left  side  into  the  door,  trying  to  put  as  much  room  as  he
could between him and the exuberant young man. But for every inch
he moved away, Sterling seemed to follow.

“Can you move over?” Riley asked as he turned onto the main

road. Riley felt so out of his depth that he was drowning. Not only

Riley’s Downfall

was Sterling excitable, he was one stunning man. If Riley had to
describe his mate, it would be one word.

Pretty.
Riley swallowed hard as he caught a glimpse of Sterling’s face out

of the corner of his eye. Gods, his mate was so fucking pretty.

“Am I in your way?”
“Yes,” Riley growled.
Sterling scooted over a sixteenth of an inch. “How about now?”
Riley  groaned.  This  was  going  to  be  one  long-ass  ride.  “I  need

you to move over by the door.”

“Why?”
“Because I need room to steer.” And he needed room away from

his mate so his hard-on would go away. Having his mate sitting
almost in his lap was playing havoc on his body, but toss in his mate’s
scent and Riley was about to…what? Fuck the guy?

“Move over,” he grumbled.
Sterling audibly sighed as he unsnapped his seat belt.
Riley hit the brakes so fast that he had to sling his arm out to stop

his mate from lurching forward into the windshield. “Why did you
unsnap your seat belt? Don’t you know how dangerous it is to ride
without one?”

“But you just told me to move over,” Sterling protested. “How can

I move over if I’m strapped in?”

Riley ran a hand over his head and then pointed to the seat belt

resting on the back of the truck seat. “Just put it on.”

Sterling eyed him warily as he scooted over and snapped his seat

belt into place. “Is this better, Mr. Contradictor?”

“Mr. what—” Riley shook his head as he pulled the truck from the

soft shoulder and started driving toward town again. He was not going
to get into another debate with the man. Sterling was good for pulling
Riley in and confusing the shit out of him.

Not today.

Lynn Hagen

The skinny little guy could try and bait Riley all he wanted. Riley

was not going to be pulled in. He just wasn’t. He refused. He needed
all of his marbles intact. And that meant not letting Sterling—

“You’re passing the store,” Sterling said as he pointed toward the

feedstore Riley was driving by.

“Shit,” he grunted as he hit the brakes, making the truck swerve

slightly.

“Yeah, a seat belt is a good idea,” Sterling grumbled as he

unsnapped his and slid out of the truck, slamming the door behind
him.

“Where are you going?” Riley asked as he watched his mate walk

around the front of his truck.

“I can walk the ten feet to the store. I’m not so sure you can drive

it.” He turned, walking up onto the sidewalk and disappearing into the
store.

Riley backed the truck up, and then parked it in the empty spot in

front of the store. Pocketing his keys, Riley stepped into the feedstore
and immediately growled. Sterling was laughing and talking with the
man  behind  the  counter  like  they  were  old  friends.  Sterling’s  smile
was  so  irresistibly  devastating  that  Riley  wanted  to  throw  a  blinder
over  the  other  man’s  eyes  so  the  stranger  couldn’t  witness  the
beautiful expression in them.

He marched over by the counter, pushing close to his mate

without actually touching him, and stared indignantly at the man who
had been flirting with Sterling and making his mate give him a smile
that belonged solely to Riley.

The man tilted his head toward Riley, a friendly smile on his face.

“How can I help you?”

By not flirting with my mate. “I have two orders to pick up.” And

a cashier to knock the fuck out if the man didn’t stop ogling Sterling.

* * * *

Riley’s Downfall

Sterling could tell that Riley was ticked off. Maybe he had a

chance with the bear after all. From the way Riley Lakeland had acted
toward Sterling lately, he had thought the man didn’t want him. He
had dodged Sterling at every turn, ignored him most of the time, and
snapped at him when he did give Sterling the time of day.

The guy was a sourpuss and a gloomy man, but Sterling had been

hoping that Riley would come around in his way of thinking and start
to like him.

Since the first time Sterling laid eyes on Riley, he had been

enamored. And then when Riley turned into a bear and protected
Sterling? That was hot as hell.

Well, not the part where Riley turned into a bear, because thinking

a bear was hot was gross, but when Riley turned back into a human
and was buck-ass naked…

“Is there anything you need?” the man behind the counter asked

Sterling. Oh, this man was so openly flirting that Sterling wanted to
laugh at the scowl on Riley’s face.

Yeah, for Riley to notice me.
“Nope, I’m with him.” He chucked a thumb over his shoulder at

the towering man behind him. Sterling knew men noticed him. Hell,
even females flirted with him. He just was never comfortable with it.

“I have two orders for the Lakelands,” Riley said as he stole quick

glances Sterling’s way. Gods, he could so get lost in those stormy
grey eyes. Riley was this powerful, commanding, sexier-than-air man.

Wait, was air sexy?
Whatever.
The  man  was  the  total  package,  and  Sterling  wanted  it  all  for

himself.  If  only  Sterling  could  get  the  stick  out  of  Riley’s  ass,  they
just  might  have  a  chance  with  each  other.  But  he  had  a  feeling  the
damn  stick  was  lodged  between  the  man’s  butt  cheeks  like  rebar  in
old cement, and it would take a miracle to pull it free.

“Lakeland?” the man asked as he hurriedly began to tap on the

keyboard of his computer. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you wait.”

Lynn Hagen

Sterling looked back at Riley with the clerk’s odd reaction, but the

bear  just  nodded  his  approval  and  began  to  look  over  the  shelves  in
the  feedstore.  Sterling  rolled  his  eyes  and  looked  back  at  the  clerk.
The bear needed to lighten up.

“So,” the clerk said when he saw Riley walk away, “are you

seeing anyone?”

Sterling turned toward Riley, seeing the scowl on the man’s face

as he pretended to be real interested in a jar of jam. He waited for
Riley to say something, anything…but Riley said nothing.

Turning back toward the clerk, Sterling shook his head, feeling a

little dejected. He had wanted Riley to shout at the clerk that Sterling
belonged to the grumpy bear. He had wanted Riley to stake some sort
of claim. But the bear didn’t say a damn word.

“No, I’m not seeing anyone.” And damn if saying that didn’t sting

a little.

Riley let out a low growl as he released the jar and turned toward

Sterling, a warning cloud settling over his features. He grabbed a bag
from the shelf and slammed it on the counter. “He’s seeing someone,”
Riley bit out gruffly. His lips thinned until Sterling almost couldn’t
see them any longer, and Riley had a strange tic jumping in his jaw.

“Oh, really?” Sterling asked, curious to know if Riley was finally

staking his claim. “And who am I seeing?”

Both Sterling and the clerk glanced up at Riley for the answer.
Riley glanced away and gave a slight shrug. His handsome face

had become brooding. “You just are.”

“What kind of an answer is that?” Sterling asked in exasperation.

He was tired of pussyfooting around with the man. He wanted to
know if Riley was interested or if he was wasting his time. The bear
acted as if Sterling carried the black plague, running from him every
time Sterling was one hundred yards from the guy. Yet he stood here
looking as if he was ready to rip the clerk’s head off for flirting with
Sterling.

The bear was confusing the shit out of him.

Riley’s Downfall

“A good enough one. Now can I get the items I came for or do I

need to speak to the manager?” His voice, though quiet, held an
ominous quality that promised he would do just that.

Sterling could feel his temper rising. It wasn’t often it reared its

head,  but  Riley  was  acting  like  a  total  ass.  Sterling  snapped  his
fingers,  pointed  at  Riley,  and  then  toward  the  door.  “Outside,  Mr.
Lakeland.” He saw the shocked disbelief written all over Riley’s face
before Sterling headed toward the door, knowing somehow that Riley
would follow.

Once out on the sidewalk, Sterling blew out a deep breath,

because if he didn’t, he was going to strangle the man. Riley baffled
him.  He  didn’t  understand  the  man’s  motives.  Riley  pushed  Sterling
away,  yet didn’t want  anyone else to  come near Sterling. It made no
sense to  him at  all.  The  bear was  a  walking, talking encyclopedia of
contradictions, and it was giving Sterling a headache trying to keep up
with the guy’s ever-changing moods.

“Did you just command me to come outside?” Riley asked as he

walked out of the feedstore, his brows pulled down into a frown.

“Why are you acting like this, Riley?” Sterling asked heatedly,

crossing  his  arms  over  his  chest.  The  man  better  have  a  damn  good
explanation  for  the  way  he  had  acted  inside.  The  clerk  had  done
nothing but harmlessly flirt with Sterling.

Riley hadn’t staked a claim on Sterling, so he was free game. He

didn’t  want  to  be  free  game,  but  Riley  hadn’t  said  otherwise.  And
damned  if  he  was  going  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  life  alone  because
Riley  couldn’t  get  the  stick  out  of  his  ass.  If  Riley  didn’t  want  him,
someone would.

“Because,” Riley muttered.
Sterling rotated one hand in front of him, telling Riley that there

better be more in ways of an explanation than because.

“You’re not available to date anyone,” Riley snapped and then

headed back into the store.

Lynn Hagen

Sterling stood on the sidewalk for a moment gaping at the closed

door.

Really?
That was his reason?
Sterling wasn’t sure if he should be happy that Riley didn’t want

Sterling to date anyone or angry that Riley wouldn’t acknowledge that
he wanted Sterling.

One thing was for sure. Riley confused the shit out of him.
Sterling headed back into the store, glancing around until he

spotted Riley gathering some items from a shelf. He studied the large
man’s backside, licking his lips as he wondered what it would be like
to feel that hard, muscular, rigid body covering his.

Damn, now Sterling was standing in the middle of the feedstore

with a boner. “I’ll wait for you in the truck,” he called out to Riley.

Riley only grunted.
Sterling had a feeling that he could tie Riley down and interrogate

him until the cows came home and the man still wouldn’t
acknowledge that he wanted Sterling.

Sterling groaned. The image of tying Riley down wasn’t helping

his stiffy.

Riley’s Downfall

Chapter Two

Riley Lakeland tossed his head back as he rode his horse with

such masculinity that all Sterling could do was stand there and drool
at the man. He wanted to be on that horse with Riley. He wanted to be
the horse and let Riley take the reins.

It was something he had been yearning to have for some weeks

now. Sterling watched Riley from afar and snuck quick glances at the
man anytime the opportunity arose.

As Riley neared him, Sterling held his breath, waiting, wanting,

needing. He prayed Riley rode past him and gave him one of those
award-winning smiles. He hoped that Riley dismounted his horse and
pulled Sterling into his arms.

As Riley neared him, Sterling felt his groin tighten. He wanted,

wanted desperately.

Riley stopped his horse, dismounted, and pulled Sterling in his

powerful arms, laying a kiss on his lips so severe that Sterling feared
his lips would split in two. The man was mastering him, taking the
control into his own hands and showing Sterling just how much of a
master he truly was.

Sterling lungs began to burn, but he refused to pull back from the

kiss.  He  didn’t  want  to  pull  back.  He  feared  that  if  he  pulled  back,
Riley  would  take  his  sweet  lips  with  him  and  ride  away  into  the
sunset.

“I’ve waited for someone like you my whole life.” Riley growled

into Sterling’s mouth.

Lynn Hagen

“I’m right here, big boy,” Sterling replied and then wrapped his

arms around Riley’s neck, pulling the man closer, taking the kiss
deeper.

The horse whinnied, and Sterling felt his cock thicken as Riley

plunged his tongue deeper into Sterling’s mouth. He wanted Riley to
lay him down on the soft grass and make love to him.

“Take me,” Sterling begged breathlessly. “Take me away with

you.”

Riley ran his hands over Sterling’s head, grabbing a handful of

hair and tugging Sterling’s head back. Sterling groaned as the pain
exploded into pleasure. “Harder.”

Riley inserted his leg between Sterling’s, giving him something to

rub his cock all over. Sterling hissed as his balls crushed into Riley’s
long, sturdy leg. “Yes!” He threw his head back as Riley bit into his
neck.

“God, yes!” His cock exploded in his pants as Sterling cried out

Riley’s name.

“What in the hell is going on in there?”
Sterling blinked as he slowly opened his eyes, the image of Riley

slowly fading away and reality making its unwelcomed presence
known. A wave of disappointment washed over him as he realized he
was in his own bed. Alone.

It had just been a dream.
He groaned when he felt, and smelled, the cum that was all over

his stomach once more. It seemed every single night he was having
that same dream, and he was no closer to getting Riley to notice him
than he was to having his Dream Riley fuck him.

Sterling wasn’t sure if he should laugh or cry at that thought. It

was  crazy  to  keep  throwing  himself  at  a  man  who  obviously  didn’t
want  him.  But  Sterling  couldn’t  seem  to  walk  away.  His  body
responded  to  the  gruff  bear  anytime  he  was  near  the  man.  It  was
driving him crazy with want and making him wonder if he were truly
insane.

Riley’s Downfall

“Nothing,” Sterling shouted toward the door, recognizing his

brother Darcy’s voice. “Go away.”

“Then stop shouting Riley’s damn name.”
Sterling stilled.
Oh, god!
Had he shouted the big bear’s name? Who else had heard him? He

didn’t even want to think about the possibility of Riley hearing him
begging the man to fuck him in his sleep. It was embarrassing enough
that Sterling threw himself at the man on a daily basis while awake.

Tossing back the covers, Sterling got out of bed and headed

toward  the  bathroom.  Not  only  did  he  have  to  wash  the  spunk  from
his  body,  but  he  had  to  get  ready  for  another  day  of  being  ignored
while working next to Riley on the ranch. He wasn’t sure how much
more of this he could take.

One thing at a time this early in the morning, like getting cleaned

up.

Sterling had contemplated cornering Riley and demanding

answers, but from the way the big, quiet bear reacted to Sterling
getting too close, he knew it wouldn’t be easy.

After showering and dressing, Sterling headed downstairs. He

spotted Riley sitting at the table with his brothers and their mates. The
man looked intense as he stared at his toast. Sterling knew that toast
wasn’t interesting, so he must have heard Sterling coming and was
doing his usual avoidance routine.

Sterling wanted to scream.
“I need you to man the ranch today, Riley,” Pa said as he grabbed

a cup of coffee from the counter and sat down. “I have to go meet
with Maverick this morning.”

“Is everything all right?” Bryce asked and then shoveled a forkful

of pancakes into his mouth. Sterling had never seen men eat the way
the  Lakelands  did.  Each  and  every  one  of  them  ate  like  they  were
going  into  hibernation  and  had  to  consume  as  many  calories  as  they
could.

Lynn Hagen

It was a wonder none of them were nine hundred pounds by now.
“Everything is fine,” Pa answered and then took a sip of his

coffee.

Sterling took a seat next to Riley, the only chair available at the

table, and grabbed the platter of pancakes, tossing a few onto his
plate. He wasn’t really that hungry, but he had to do something to
pass the time before he went to work. Pushing pancakes around on his
plate with his fork was just as good as anything else.

“He just wants to discuss the newcomers in town. The one’s

staying over at the Manchester place,” Pa said to Riley.

“Is it true that Kenway is a buffalo shifter?” Olsen, one of the

Lakeland brothers, asked.

Sterling’s fork came to a stop midway to his mouth. A buffalo

shifter?  There  was  such  a  thing?  He  was  beginning  to  see  that  there
were  more  than  bears  and  wolves  that  could  change  back  and  forth
from  man  to  beast.  But  then  again,  Abe  had  told  him  that  he  was  a
fey.  Whatever  that  was.  And  Darcy  had  told  him  that  Raven  was  a
vampire.

Sterling’s eyes had been opened wide to the world around him,

and  he  liked  it.  He  liked  the  fact  that  not  everyone  was  human.  It
made  life  a  lot  more  interesting,  and  a  bit  scary.  He  didn’t  want  to
meet  one of the bad nonhumans. He already saw what  the  bears  and
wolves  were  capable  of  when  the  fight  had  broken  out  a  few  weeks
ago  on  the  ranch.  Wolves  that  could  turn  into  men  had  attacked  the
Lakeland ranch, trying to kill every bear in the house. Raven, Darcy’s
mate, had popped right into the living room, pulling Luke away from
the bad wolves. Then the fight was on. More wolves showed up, but
Sterling was told they were good wolves.

It was all so confusing, but it had taught Sterling that there was

good and bad, even in this bizarre world.

Pa leaned back in his chair, scratching the stubble that had started

to form on his chin. “It’s true, son.”

Riley’s Downfall

Roman gave a low whistle. “I haven’t met them yet, but I hear

they are pretty damn big.”

Sterling had seen one of them in the barn the night the fight had

broken out, and they were pretty damn big. At least the one in the
barn was.

He shoveled the pancakes into his mouth, listening to Pa tell

everyone about the new shifters in town. It didn’t hurt to get the
lowdown on everyone, especially if Sterling was planning on making
Brac Village his home. But if Riley kept avoiding him like the plague,
Sterling just might consider moving on.

But he really didn’t want to. Aside from having the hots for Riley,

Sterling liked this small town. He liked the bear family the most.
They were a bunch of great guys, and Sterling didn’t want to leave.

“I’m not real sure what the rest of the men are, but from what little

bit Maverick has told me, they aren’t all buffalos,” Pa informed them.

“And he wouldn’t tell you any more about them?” Riley asked as

he tossed a few more sausages onto his plate. Sterling sat there in awe
at  how  much  food  Riley  had  already  eaten.  The  man  must  have  a
bottomless  pit.  When  Sterling  had  come  into  the  kitchen,  Riley  was
scarfing down a stack of pancakes and scrambled eggs. Now he was
eating the sausage as if he were starving.

His eyes flickered down to Riley’s large, tanned, and scarred

hand,  and  Sterling  could  feel  his  face  heating  up  at  the  remembered
dream.  What  he  wouldn’t  give  to  feel  that  hand  on  any  part  of  his
body.

Although Sterling’s cock would be his first choice.
“No.” Pa shook his head and then took a sip of his coffee. “He

said that wasn’t anyone’s business unless they wanted to share.”

“Well, it would be nice to know just in case we run into one of

them in their animal form.” Riley finished off his breakfast and
grabbed his mug of coffee, taking a long drink before his eyes cut to
Sterling.

Sterling grinned widely at him, tossing in a seductive wink.

Lynn Hagen

Riley quickly cut his eyes away and then stood, taking his dishes

to the sink.

Grrr.
“That’s one of the things I’m going to talk to Maverick about,” Pa

said as he laced his fingers together and tucked them behind his head.
“The Manchester place isn’t too far from here. I want fair warning if
one of them is going to be on my land.”

“You can tell Maverick that if he doesn’t give us fair warning,

then whatever happens isn’t our fault,” Riley said before walking to
the kitchen door and heading outside, leaving Sterling sitting there
hard as hell and feeling dejected.

“Man,” Chauncey said as he leaned back in his chair, tossing his

arm over the back of his mate’s chair. “Riley didn’t just fall from the
grumpy tree. He was gangbanged by the whole damn forest.”

“Leave him be,” Pa warned and then slid his grey eyes toward

Sterling. “Why don’t you go help Riley?”

Sterling stood, taking his dishes to the sink, and then walked

outside. He smiled when he saw the cows. He liked cows. Sterling
had never seen one before coming to the ranch, and he found them to
be the gentlest creatures.

“Morning,” he called to them and then hurried to catch up to

Riley. His breath caught in his throat when Riley mounted his horse.
Sterling’s dream was coming to life right before his very eyes, only he
knew Riley wasn’t going to dismount and kiss him, professing his
love.

And didn’t that just suck?
“Pa told me to work with you today.”
“Go find Bryce,” Riley said as he grabbed the reins.
Sterling narrowed his eyes as he pointed up at Riley and then back

at the barn. “Saddle me a horse, Mr. Grumpy. I’m working with you
today whether you like it or not.”

An arched eyebrow indicated Riley’s surprise. “Did you just order

me to saddle a horse for you?”

Riley’s Downfall

Sterling walked into the barn, not waiting to see what the sourpuss

was going to do. He glanced around, spotting a small room toward the
back of the barn and heading toward it. He had never ridden a horse
before, but he was sure it wasn’t that dang hard.

Sterling saw a few saddles in the small room and grabbed the

smallest one. Damn if the thing wasn’t still heavy. He carried it out,
although it took a bit of a struggle, and glanced at the horses he had to
choose from.

He was not liking his options. They all seemed too large for him

to even try to saddle. One was eyeing him suspiciously, as if it
wondered if Sterling was stupid enough to even try.

“Are there any small ones around here?” he asked himself as he

walked down the row of stalls, starting to feel like he had wasted his
time coming in here. He finally came to a black horse that wasn’t as
big as the others. He set the saddle down and unlatched the gate,
smiling up at the pretty horse.

“Are you going to let me ride you?”
The horse made a strange sound and lifted his head as if nodding.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Sterling stepped back and waved the horse

from its stall. “I need to saddle you, so you have to come out.”

“Don’t. Move.”
Sterling glanced behind him to see Riley standing in the large

opening of the barn, his eyes locked onto the horse Sterling was trying
to get out of the stall to saddle.

“Why?” he asked, glancing from Riley to the horse, and then back

at the nutty bear. Was Riley mad because Sterling decided to try and
ride a horse without anyone’s help?

Riley’s grey eyes never left the horse. “Because you just opened

Hell Raiser’s stall.”

Sterling turned to look at the black horse, wondering what Riley

was talking about. The horse looked as harmless as a fly. Riley was
talking as if Sterling had just opened the gate to hell. “Hell Raiser?

Lynn Hagen

Why do you call him that?” The horse didn’t look like a Hell Raiser.
He looked more like an Ed, or a Black Beauty.

Riley moved cautiously toward Sterling, his eyes still locked on

the horse. “Move slowly away, Sterling. Don’t make any sudden
moves.”

Was the man nuts? The horse wasn’t doing anything wrong. He

was just standing there, eyeballing Sterling like he was waiting to be
saddled.

Sterling shook his head decisively, refusing to put the horse back

because Riley disapproved of Sterling taking matters into his own
hands. “He’s not going to harm me.” Sterling reached down and
grabbed the saddle, heading toward the horse. “Since you won’t come
out, I’ll just have to come in.”

“Sterling!” Riley shouted, but it was too late. The horse reared

back, making a crazy noise as its eyes went wild. Sterling dropped the
saddle just as Riley turned into a bear, charging straight for Sterling
and the black horse.

“Don’t eat him!” Sterling shouted at Riley, tossing his hands out

as if he could stop Riley when the bear reared up on its hind legs and
roared at the horse. “You just scared him, Riley.”

The horse backed up, but still raised its front legs, almost as if

warning Riley away. Sterling held his hands up at Hell Raiser—and
he most certainly did not think that an appropriate name for the gentle
creature—trying his best to calm the horse.

“Whoa, boy, calm down. The big bad bear isn’t going to eat you. I

promise.” Sterling turned toward Riley, glaring at him. “Are you,
Riley?”

Riley was still on his hind legs, but took a step back, and then

dropped to all fours. He grunted, gave a low roar, and then took
another step back. Hell Raiser dropped to all fours as well, but
remained in his paddock.

Riley’s Downfall

“Now both of you calm down.” Sterling reached up and ran his

hand down the horse’s nose. “I don’t think riding you right now is
such a good idea. The bad bear scared you, didn’t he?”

The horse snorted and shook his head back and forth.
“Well, even if he didn’t scare you, I’m still going to forgo any

riding.” Sterling back away and latched the stall closed. He reached
into the bucket on the floor and pulled a carrot out, feeding it to Hell
Raiser as he patted him on the nose.

“Well, I’ll be damned.”
Sterling glanced at the entrance to the barn to see almost the entire

household standing in the doorway. He grinned as he plucked another
carrot from the bucket and then fed it to the horse. “What is everyone
looking at?”

Pa took a step forward, shaking his head in disbelief. “Son, no one

can  get  near  that  horse  without  coming  away  with  an  injury.  I  just
bought  him  a few weeks ago,  and he’s  the meanest  damn  horse  I’ve
come  across  in  a  very  long  time.  And  you  just  walked  right  into  his
stall.”

“He’s not mean,” Sterling said and then turned around, scratching

Hell Raiser down the side of his mouth. “Are you, boy?”

“You sure have a way with animals.” Bryce chuckled. “I’ve never

met anyone who talked to cows before.”

“They have feelings, too,” Sterling pointed out. “Now, which

horse can I ride today?”

Sterling heard Riley grunt, but ignored the bear. He was going to

learn how to ride or he was going to saddle every damn horse in the
barn and teach himself.

* * * *

Maverick waved Malcolm into a seat across from him. His face

was grim as he sat behind his desk. Malcolm knew a grim alpha was
never a good thing.

Lynn Hagen

“I asked you here today to talk about the new shifters in town, but

it seems we have other matters to discuss.”

Malcolm leaned back, giving the alpha a cautious nod. “Go

ahead.”

“I had a visit from Papa Smurf today.”
Malcolm chuckled. Maverick loved messing with people, leaders

in particular. He seemed to get a damn adrenaline rush from his
follies. Ahm—that was who Maverick was referring to—was the
leader of the shadow elves, and his skin was actually blue. “And what
did Ahm want?”

Maverick sat back in his chair, kicking his booted feet up onto the

desk, and pulled at his soul patch. “He turned white.”

Malcolm’s eyes widened as he sat forward, resting his arms on his

thighs. “Say again?”

“I know, weird, huh? But apparently when a shadow elf turns five

hundred years old, he loses his blue pigmentation. And let me warn
you, he isn’t a happy Keebler Elf.”

He could just imagine, but Malcolm knew there was more to the

story than Maverick was telling him. It was in his grey eyes. “And?”
he asked.

“And I respect you, Malcolm.”
Oh, jeez. The man was going to lay a bomb on his lap. Malcolm

could see it now. “And?”

“And the wood elves are in an uproar because they are leaderless.

Ahm has had to stop a few of the wood elves from trying to join his
tribe. They’re desperate, Malcolm.”

Malcolm cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair. “As

much as I want to help others, and I have, mind you. I don’t think I
can bring a whole tribe of wood elves to my ranch. I just don’t have
the room.”

When Maverick gave Malcolm a tight grin, he knew he was sunk.
“I don’t want you to bring the elves to you. I want you to send

them a temporary leader.”

Riley’s Downfall

“I’m not sending Luke!” Malcolm roared before he thought better

of  it.  He  was  not  sending  his  mate  back  to  those  backstabbing
bastards.  They  had  tried  to  take  Cole  from  Luke.  What  tribe in  their
right minds would try and separate a papa from his cub? There was no
way Malcolm was even going to consider sending his mate. As much
as he respected the alpha, this was going too far. He wouldn’t do it.

“Not Luke,” Maverick replied, his eyelids slanting down just a

fraction.

Now Malcolm was really confused. “Abe?” That wouldn’t be a

wise choice. Abe was a good guy, but a leader he was not.

Maverick chuckled, the sound sliding down Malcolm’s back and

sending a cold shiver through his body. “Hardly.”

Did Malcolm really want to know? There was a reason Maverick

had mentioned this to Malcolm, but he was sitting there confused.
“Then who?”

“Riley.”
Oh, hell.

* * * *

Riley was angry and shocked at the same time. He was pissed

because Sterling had put his life in danger by going into Hell Raiser’s
stall. The horse was so ornery that even Riley was leery of the damn
beast. The horse had already tried to kick him twice. If he hadn’t been
so quick, the damn horse would have broken quite a few of his bones.

Not that he couldn’t shift and heal them, but fuck if it wouldn’t

have  hurt.  The  horse  became  agitated  every  time  anyone  went  near
him.  And  his  very  human  mate  had  waltzed  right  into  the  stall,  as  if
Hell Raiser was Buster, their gentle quarter horse, and tried to saddle
the damn beast.

Was the guy nuts?
Scratch that. Riley knew for a fact that Sterling didn’t think like

anyone else. But he didn’t think the man was suicidal. Sterling was

Lynn Hagen

this skinny little human who couldn’t weigh any more than a buck
fifty, soaking wet and rocks in his pockets, and he had acted as if Hell
Raiser was the gentlest creature on earth.

It also shocked him how serene Hell Raiser became once Sterling

started petting the damn horse. The black stallion ate the attention up.
He  not  only  leaned  toward  Sterling’s  hand,  which  gave  Riley  a
fucking  aneurism,  but  he  had  eaten  carrots  from  it  as  well.  He  was
baffled and amazed at the same time. He had never seen anyone who
could  tame the wildest  of animals,  and Riley wasn’t  sure he liked it.
Hell Raiser could turn on Sterling at any moment, and his mate could
be killed by the horse’s hoof alone.

“Are you mad at me?” Sterling asked solemnly as he walked

Buster from the barn, fully saddled.

After getting some damn clothes on, Riley had agreed to teach

Sterling how to ride. If he didn’t, he had a feeling Sterling would try
and  teach  himself.  And  Riley  knew  that  was  a  disaster  waiting  to
happen.  One  coronary  a  day  was  enough.  So  the  only  way  to  keep
Sterling safe was to teach the man how to ride.

“I’m not happy, Sterling,” he admitted as he pulled Warrior

closer, hating the sad look  on his  mate’s  face.  Riley may throw a fit
about  Sterling, but  he wasn’t  a complete asshole. He didn’t  want  his
mate to look so unhappy. It tugged at a spot deep inside Riley. A spot
he wasn’t sure he wanted to examine.

“Hell Raiser could have seriously hurt you, or worse.” And it was

the worse part that scared Riley to death. Sterling really seemed to
have no concept of how much danger he had been in.

He thought Hell Raiser was just a damn horse and not the spawn

of Satan like everyone else knew he was.

Riley doubted the man would last much longer on the ranch and

he couldn’t figure out if he was glad about that or sad. There were so
many things that could happen to the human. Sterling was way too—
“Sterling?” Riley spun around in a circle when he lost sight of his
mate. “Where in the hell are you?”

Riley’s Downfall

Riley spun around again and then squatted down to look under the

horse’s belly. He saw a set of jean-clad legs sticking out of a stall at
the other end of the barn. Riley closed his eyes and leaned his head
against the side of his horse.

Sterling was driving him mad.
“Sterling, what are you doing?”
When he received no answer, Riley walked around his horse and

over to the stall Sterling was half lying in. Riley paused at the edge of
the  stall  and  looked  over  the  top  railing.  Sterling  had  squirmed  his
way  under  the  bottom  railing  and  lay  on  the  straw  floor,  halfway
inside the stall.

Oh hell, he was cooing softly to a pile of piglets as he stroked his

fingers down their backs. Surprisingly, the mama sow was just lying
there. In Riley’s experience, mama pigs with new piglets didn’t let
anyone near them.

“Can I have one, Riley?”
The eagerness and hope in Sterling’s voice cut him to the bone.

Riley  was  surprised  at  the  feeling.  He  knew  he  had  to  say  no.  He
needed  to  say  no.  Pigs  were  for  meat.  They  were  not  pets.  But  the
pleading  in  the  light-grey  eyes  staring  back  up  at  him  stripped  away
any  of  Riley’s  intelligent  thoughts.  He  found  himself  nodding  even
though he knew it wasn’t a good idea.

Whether Riley wanted to openly admit it or not, Sterling was

worming  his  way  inside  Riley’s  heart.  How,  he  wasn’t  sure.  But  he
could  feel  the  soft  emotions  fighting  to  surface,  and  Riley  felt
powerless to stop them.

“Really?”
Riley’s breath stuttered in his throat at the glowing smile Sterling

sent him. He was so busy basking in it that he was totally unprepared
for Sterling to jump to his feet and hug him. Riley awkwardly patted
Sterling on the back while trying to ignore how good Sterling felt in
his arms.

Lynn Hagen

He especially didn’t want to think about how Sterling’s jumping

and bouncing made his cock harden in his jeans. Every time Sterling
bounced, he brushed up against Riley. It was driving him crazy.

Damn piglet.
“Okay, pick one out, and I’ll tell Pa that it’s yours.” Riley couldn’t

believe he was doing this. It was so…un-Riley. He was giving in to
his mate just because Sterling had looked so breathtaking when he
smiled up at Riley.

Sterling whirled around with a happy little squeal. Riley rolled his

eyes when Sterling dropped to the floor again and scooted under the
lowest railing. When he started talking to the little buggers, Riley had
had enough. They were farm animals for crying out loud. You didn’t
croon to them.

“Can I have this one, Riley?” Sterling asked as he held one of the

little piglets up into the air.

Riley didn’t even look. He just couldn’t. “Pick out whichever one

you want, Sterling.”

“Yes!”
Riley blinked when Sterling scooted back out from under the

railing, a small pink piglet cradled to his chest. Oh good lord, he’d
picked the runt of the litter. The damn piglet couldn’t weigh more
than two or three pounds at best. He was baby pink from head to toe
except for his corkscrew tail and a patch over one eye, and those were
both as black as midnight.

“Isn’t he adorable?”
“Yeah.” Riley grimaced as he glanced around, making sure none

of his family members were listening, especially one of the twins. He
would be razzed until the end of time if they heard him right now.
“Adorable.”

“I’m going to go show Darcy.”
Riley’s mouth dropped as he watched Sterling race out of the barn

with the damn pig clutched to his chest. What in the hell happened to
learning to ride the damn horse?

Riley’s Downfall

Chapter Three

Sterling was so happy he could have done cartwheels right there

in the front lawn as he ran toward the house. Not only did he finally
have his first pet ever, but Riley had given it to him. That had to mean
that the guy was interested.

A guy didn’t give a gift unless he liked somebody.
Right?
Sterling had started to give up hope. There was only so much

rejection a man could take before he started getting the idea that he
wasn’t wanted. Sterling was almost there, but this little piglet proved
that he had been wrong. Riley did like him.

Maybe the bear was just shy.
“Darcy!” Sterling shouted as he pulled the back door open and

raced into the house. He quickly scanned the kitchen and then ran for
the living room. He had to show his brother what Riley had given
him.

“Whoa, slow down, little man,” Olsen said as he caught Sterling’s

arm and pulled him to a stop. “Where’s the fire?”

“I wanted to show Darcy my piggy.” Sterling beamed as he

looked down at the little guy. “Riley gave him to me.”

Olsen’s eyebrows shot up. “Riley gave you a…piggy?”
Sterling nodded so hard that his bangs flopped against his

forehead. “He said I could pick any one that I wanted.”

“Does Pa know about this?”
“Riley said he would tell Pa.”
“Uh-huh.” A smile curved up the corners of Olsen’s mouth. “He is

kind of cute.”

Lynn Hagen

“He’s adorable. Riley said so.” Sterling’s smile grew so wide his

face hurt. “I’m going to call him Bacon.”

Olsen made a small noise like he was being strangled and then

started coughing. Sterling looked at him in concern. “Are you okay?
Do you need some water?”

“No.” Olsen’s smile grew until both sides of his mouth curved up.

“No, I’m fine. But Bacon might need a little something. He’s kind of
young to be away from his mama. Maybe you should take him back.”

“No.” Sterling shook his head emphatically. “Riley said I can

keep him.”

“I think he meant you could keep him in the barn, Sterling.”
Sterling’s mouth dropped. “He’s just a baby. He can’t live out in

the barn. He’ll freeze to death.”

Olsen looked like he wanted to argue. He even opened his mouth,

but then he shook his head, a small chuckle coming from his lips.
“Okay, Sterling, but if you’re going to take on the responsibility of
having a piggy, you need to know how to take care of him. Pa has a
book in his study you can read. It should tell you everything you need
to know.”

“That would be great,” Sterling said as he followed Olsen into

Pa’s study. He crooned and stroked his piglet while Olsen searched
around for whatever book he was looking for. It was actually smaller
than he had thought it would be when Olsen handed it to him.

“Read this, Sterling. It should tell you most everything you need

to know about raising piglets. If you have any questions, I’m sure
Riley can answer them for you.”

Olsen looked pleased as punch, and Sterling knew there was more

to his offer of help than just being friendly. He suspected that it had
something to do with Riley. He just couldn’t quite figure out what it
was.

“Thanks, Olsen. If anyone comes looking for me, I’ll be upstairs

reading this and giving Bacon a bath.” Sterling wrinkled his nose.
“He’s kind of stinky.”

Riley’s Downfall

Whatever he said sent Olsen into peals of laughter. Sterling didn’t

know why. The piglet had been living in a barn with nine brothers and
sisters. He smelled like, well, he lived in a barn.

Sterling took the book upstairs to his bedroom, careful not to

jostle the pig too much. It was a baby after all. He laid Bacon on the
bed, piling pillows all around the piglet, and then rested his back
against the headboard as he turned to page one.

“Okay, Bacon, let’s see what needs to be done to take real good

care of you.”

* * * *

“Where’s your help?” Pa called out as he climbed out of the truck.

He closed the door and headed toward Riley. “You better not have
snapped at him again, Riley.”

Riley sat in the saddle, glancing down at his pa and wondering if

he even wanted to tell the man where his mate was. He knew he was
going to catch some shit over this. No one in the house was going to
let him live this down.

He just knew it.
“I didn’t snap at him, Pa,” Riley said as he swung his leg over the

saddle and dismounted. “Sterling is in the house with his pig.” The
words were spoken so low that Riley prayed his pa didn’t hear him.

His pa stopped dead in his tracks, cocking his head as he studied

Riley intently. Yep, the man had heard him. Damn shifter hearing.
“Did you hit your head, boy?”

And it began.
“No,” he grumbled. “Sterling found the sow and her piglets.”
Pa’s eyes lit up and a grin formed on his face, spreading until the

smile reached from ear to ear. He gave a deep chuckle as he shook his
head. “You have one interesting mate, Riley. Strange, but
interesting.”

Lynn Hagen

“Who said he was my mate?” Riley winced. He wasn’t trying to

deny  Sterling.  Even  saying  the  words  tasted  bitter  in  his  mouth.  He
just wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the man. Sterling was a
walking, talking paradox to  Riley.  The man baffled Riley  from  head
to  toe,  and  everywhere  in  between.  But  he  knew  that  Sterling  was
beginning to make a chink in Riley’s armor. All he had thought about
in the barn was making the man smile.

“Son,” Pa began and then sighed, looking as if he was letting

whatever argument he was gearing up for fade away. “Very well. We
have other matters to discuss right now anyway.”

Riley didn’t like the solemn look on his pa’s face. That look never

boded  well  for  any  of  them.  He’d  grown  up  at  the  man’s  side,  and
Riley  had  gotten  pretty  damn  good  at  reading  his  pa.  He  didn’t  like
where this story was going.

“Let’s talk inside,” his pa said and then climbed the front steps,

leaving Riley standing there for a moment wondering if he wanted to
follow.  Sighing  deeply,  Riley  trotted  up  the  front  steps  and  walked
inside.  He  found  his  pa  in  the  kitchen,  making  a  pot  of  coffee.  He
looked tired, weary, and Riley wasn’t sure what to think.

His father had always been strong, a force to be reckoned with.

But today, Malcolm Lakeland looked his age. Riley took a seat at the
table, glancing at his pa as the man made two cups of coffee and set
one down in front of Riley.

The man was starting to worry Riley.
“Is everything okay?” Riley asked as he picked the mug up, taking

a small sip.

“You know, son. There are some days when I wonder why I even

get out of bed,” Pa said as he took a seat at the table.

That sentence scared him. Riley wasn’t used his pa talking like

this.  It  just  wasn’t  him.  The  man  was  an  unyielding  force  that  Riley
relied  on  for  guidance  and  reassurance.  Riley  was  a  grown  man,  but
even  grown  men  needed  a  shoulder  to  lean  on  once  in  a  while.  And
his pa was that shoulder.

Riley’s Downfall

“What happened at Maverick’s?”
His pa stared into his cup for so long that Riley didn’t think the

man was going to answer him. He had a faraway look, like something
was troubling him. Whatever it was, Riley wanted to find out so he
could dismantle it and take that look off of his pa’s face.

“Maverick asked me to do something today that I’m not sure I

want to do.”

“Then I’ll do it for you,” Riley instantly said. “Just tell me.”
Malcolm’s eyes rose slowly, the steel grey looking more like soft

wisps of cloud. The fire wasn’t in his pa’s eyes, and Riley wanted to
kill whatever was upsetting his pa.

“The wood elves don’t have a leader. Not since Luke killed

Shanta. Maverick needs someone to bring back order to their tribe
until Ahm can find them someone suitable for the position.”

“And he wants you to be their temporary leader?” Riley was

shocked. The man had a ranch to run, people who relied on him. His
pa had decided to open his ranch to those in need, and he wouldn’t be
able to do that from the wood elf tribe. Maverick was nuts. What had
he been thinking?

And Riley couldn’t imagine a day of working without his pa

somewhere close by. He was his pa’s right-hand man, his best friend.
“Why would he do that?”

Malcolm shook his head, the worry in his eyes deepening. “No,

son. Maverick wants you to be their temporary leader.”

Riley sat there stunned.
“He wants you to settle them down and let them know that they

haven’t been abandoned. It was my mate who took their leader away,
no matter how much Shanta deserved to die. So if you don’t want to
do this, I understand.” Pa reached over, laying his heavy hand on
Riley’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “I created this mess, so I
should be the one to clean it up.”

Riley couldn’t let his pa shoulder such a big responsibility. The

man had already raised seven sons, on his own no less. And now he

Lynn Hagen

had a mate, and a new son, who wasn’t even a year old yet. He knew
that  if  his  pa  went  to  the  village,  so  would  Luke  and  Cole,  and  that
would  defeat  the  purpose  of  Luke  running  from  them  in  the  first
place. Shanta may be dead, but  Riley was  quite sure there was  more
than one fey harboring ill feelings toward the elf.

“No,” Riley shook his head, balling his fists up in his lap. “I’ll

go.”

“What about Sterling? He has never lived in a tribe, Riley. He

wouldn’t know how to live without modern conveniences.”

“My mate is stronger than he looks.” Although Riley wasn’t sure

he wanted to take Sterling. It was hostile territory over at the wood elf
tribe. He didn’t know one person over there and wasn’t sure he could
keep his mate safe. Sterling was safest here where Riley’s family
could watch over him.

Pa grinned. “So you finally admit he’s your mate.”
Riley blew out a long breath, running a hand over his head.

“Yeah, I just don’t know what to do with him, Pa. He’s the opposite
of everything that I am.”

Malcolm stood, patting Riley on the shoulder. “You just have to

love him, son. Everything else will fall into place.”

It couldn’t be that easy. Riley had seen how his brothers were total

goobers around their mates, and he wasn’t going to fawn after
Sterling. Just because Riley had found his mate, it didn’t mean instant
love or instant trust.

And it especially did not mean instant dick-whipped.
His pa leaned his hip into the counter, taking a drink from his

coffee before speaking. “And if you don’t let Sterling in, Riley, you
are going to lose the best part of your life. Trust me, I know.”

Riley didn’t know about that, but he had to admit, he had been a

little standoffish with the man. Maybe he should get to know the
peculiar human. There had to be something they had in common.

Riley’s Downfall

Riley left his pa in the kitchen, going in search of his mate. He

still felt like he was too old for the guy, but Riley wasn’t stupid.
Stubborn, but not stupid. He didn’t want to lose his mate.

He just had to figure out what to do with the man.
Riley knocked on Sterling’s bedroom door. He heard his mate

talking  quietly,  so  he  opened  the  door  and  stuck  his  head  inside.  To
his amazement, and utter disbelief, his mate was reading to the damn
pig.  And  it  honest  to  god  looked  like  the  pig  was  listening.  Its  little
head was tilted up toward Sterling as his mate read.

Riley listened for a moment and realized that Sterling was reading

a book about how to care for pigs.

He stood in the doorway for a moment, watching his mate. A

slow,  warm  tingling  sensation  started  in  his  gut  and  reached  up,  the
feeling  wrapping  itself  around  Riley’s  heart.  He  felt  a  small  smile
tugging at his lips as he listened to his mate read.

His mate had changed shirts, and was wearing one without

sleeves.  Riley  had  never  noticed  how  tanned  Sterling’s  skin  was
before,  or  how  well-defined  his  upper  body  looked.  He  didn’t  have
huge  muscles  like  Riley,  but  he  wasn’t  a  runt  either.  The  man  had  a
gorgeous six-pack from what he could see behind the tight ribbed tank
top.

Sterling may only be twenty-one, but as Riley watched his mate,

he saw years of weariness in the man’s light-grey eyes. He wondered
what exactly Sterling had been through in such a short time.

Sterling’s brother Darcy had claimed that Sterling was immature

and never took anything seriously, but Riley was starting to wonder if
that wasn’t a façade. He hoped not. As quirky as his mate was, Riley
didn’t want the man to change.

“Is there something you need?” Sterling asked as he looked up at

Riley.

You.

Lynn Hagen

“I needed to talk to you.” He waved toward the pig. “If this isn’t a

bad time.” He couldn’t believe he was asking for time from the pig.
He really was losing his mind.

“Come on in.” Sterling smiled at him, and Riley had to look away.

The trust in that smile was more than he could handle at the moment.
He was already whirling with everything that was on his plate.

And he was not going to turn into a goober.
“I was just reading up on pig care. If you don’t mind, can you give

me a ride into town tomorrow? I need to pick up some basic needs for
Bacon.”

Riley’s brows shot to his hairline. “You named your pig Bacon?”
Sterling shrugged as he moved over, telling Riley without words

that he wanted him to sit on the bed. “He seems to like it.” Sterling
frowned. “Why, shouldn’t I have named him Bacon?”

Gods, Sterling confused the shit out of Riley. He wasn’t sure if he

should laugh, hug the man for his naïve ways, or tell the man that it
was the most inappropriate name he could have given the piglet.

He settled on a smile as he sat down, staring down at the

comfortable-looking pig. “You know, most folks don’t keep a pig in
the house.”

“But he’s my pet, Riley. Where else would I keep him?”
Riley could see that Sterling truly believed that. The man was

convinced that the piglet was like a damn kitten or a puppy, an animal
that belonged in the house. He wasn’t sure what to say. He knew the
only thing that would do was the truth.

“He’s a farm animal, Sterling. He belongs outside on the farm.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Sterling stated as if Riley were the one being

unreasonable. Riley decided to let it go. If keeping a pig in his room
made Sterling happy, Riley could concede to such a small thing.
Besides, he needed to talk to Sterling about something more important
than a baby pig snuggled in the man’s bed like he owned the joint.

“I have been asked to be the temporary leader for the wood elves.”

Riley’s Downfall

“When do we leave?” Sterling asked as he set the book down. “It

won’t take me long to pack. I don’t have much.”

Riley shook his head, dreading the next words. He didn’t want to

see  the  look  he  was  about  to  place  on  his  mate’s  face.  “It  would  be
better if you stayed here. I don’t know anyone there, Sterling. It isn’t
safe.  Pa’s  mate  killed  the  leader  when  Shanta  tried  to  kidnap  Cole,
and  I’m  not  too  sure  how  receptive  they  are  going  to  be  having  me
guide them.”

Sterling stilled. A shadow fell over his light-grey eyes, and for the

first time ever, the man remained quiet. He just sat there, staring down
at his pig, but said nothing.

“They live very modestly, Sterling. They have no electricity, no

running water, nothing. But I’ll still have my cell phone with me, and
I can charge it in my truck.”

Sterling gave a slight nod.
“Call me if you need anything, understood?” Why did Riley feel

like shit? Sterling’s face was unreadable, but Riley could feel the hurt
coming off of the man in waves. It was better this way. He needed to
go into the tribe and establish himself. He couldn’t do that and keep
an eye on Sterling as well.

“I need to go pack. Pa and my brothers will make sure you stay

safe, Sterling. They won’t let anything happen to you.”

Sterling gave a slight nod.
It was the hardest thing for Riley to do, but he knew he had to.

Sterling  wasn’t  safe  with  the  wood  elves,  and  as  much  as  it  pained
Riley  to  see  that  look  on  his  mate’s  face,  he  wasn’t  taking  any
chances with Sterling’s safety. He wasn’t going to be gone long. Just
as  soon  as  Ahm  found  a  replacement,  Riley  would  be  back  and
Sterling would be bugging him again.

Riley realized that he had never met Ahm. Not in all the time the

elves had been in this territory. Well, he guessed he would be meeting
the man soon since it was Ahm who would relieve him of this
responsibility.

Lynn Hagen

Riley didn’t want to go, but he wasn’t going to allow his pa to

take his place. His pa had other obligations, and Riley had one,
Sterling. But he knew Sterling would be safe here. His brothers may
clown around a lot, and they may slack off on work, but they would
protect Sterling with their very lives. Of this, he had absolutely no
doubt.

He gave one last long look at Sterling before Riley headed for the

bedroom door.

* * * *

“Why are we heading to a tribe of elves again?” Max asked as he

sat  next  to  his  mates  Chey  and  Eagle  as  Eagle  drove  down  the  long
stretch  of  road  on  Route  14.  He  couldn’t  believe  that  the  alpha  had
pulled  Max  away  from  Pride  Pack  Valley  General  to  go  visit  some
elves.  He  had  scheduled  surgeries  and  patient  appointments  that  he
had to hand off just to go frolicking in the woods. And he was still a
bit confused about why.

“Because,” Eagle said as he turned his blinker on and then made a

left  turn,  “the  wood  elves’  healer  has  disappeared  and  Alpha
Maverick  wanted  us  to  check  the  wood  elves  out,  make  sure  they
were  healthy,  and  possibly  help  the  tribe  until  a  replacement  is
found.”

“What the hell do we know about finding a replacement? I didn’t

even know there was a whole tribe of them to begin with until the
alpha ordered us to go. And from what Zeus tells me, they don’t even
have modern conveniences. I’m not pampered, Eagle, but hell if I’m
forgoing my morning cup of coffee.”

Eagle chuckled, which only ticked Max off. “Relax, Max. It’s

only temporary. Some shadow elf named Ahm is on the hunt for a
new healer. We’re only staying long enough for him to find one.”

“I think it’s kind of cool,” Chey said from between the two. “It’ll

be like camping. No electricity, no running water. Just us and nature.”

Riley’s Downfall

Chey let out a long sigh as if he were looking forward to living off of
the land.

Max was not.
“No running water?” Max felt like Eagle was driving them back

into the Stone Age. Okay, maybe he was a little attached to his
creature comforts because Max started to envision cooking out on the
open fire, having to wash all of his clothes by hand, and shitting in the
woods with nothing but a leaf… “Did anyone pack toilet paper?”

“You are so damn pampered,” Eagle teased. “You’re a shifter,

Max. Being in the great outdoors should be second nature to you.”

It wasn’t. Max shifted into his lion form and ran with his mates,

but he didn’t live in the damn woods. He and his wolf mates shared a
large  California  sleigh  bed,  and  he  liked  the  Tempur-Pedic  mattress
that  they  slept  on.  It  conformed  to  his  body  and  made  sleeping  with
two  grown  men  who  hogged  the  bed  worth  it.  For  some  odd  damn
reason,  Chey  turned  in  his  sleep  like  a  damn  hand  on  a  clock,
knocking  Max  to  the  edge  every  single  night.  He  was  seriously
considering  tying  Chey  down  when  they  went  to  bed.  But  then  of
course, he really wouldn’t get any sleep seeing Chey tied up.

But what in the hell was he going to sleep on in a tribe of

throwback elves?

Chey laughed as he smacked Max on his knee. “We have a

princess among us, Eagle.”

“Am not!” Max defended. “I’m a fierce lion shifter.”
“Who is crying about having to use an outhouse?” Eagle

interjected.

“An outhouse?” Max was horrified. The damn things were germ

factories. “They use outhouses?”

“Don’t worry, Max,” Eagle said as he reached across Chey to rub

a knuckle on the side of Max’s face. “I’ll protect you from any snakes
that try to bite your sexy little ass.”

Lynn Hagen

Max swallowed hard, wondering if maybe he shouldn’t have

stayed with the eastern pack while his mates helped out with the fey.
“There are snakes in the outhouse?”

“Oh, my god,” Chey said as he chuckled. “You are going to be so

easy to mess with.”

“One of the Lakeland bears has been asked to be the leader until a

new one is found. He will probably bring comfort amenities with
him,” Eagle said and Max knew his mate was trying to ease his mind.
He was glad Eagle was doing much better since being healed from his
past, but Max could do without the razzing.

He wasn’t an outdoor wuss. He really wasn’t. But damn, an

outhouse? What happened when the thing got full? Max wasn’t sure
he wanted to know.

“I’ll keep your mind occupied,” Chey said as he leaned up toward

Max and began to nibble on his ear. “I’ll make you forget all about
bugs and straw beds.”

Oh, god. Straw beds. Max was going to kill Zeus when they got

back to the eastern pack of grey wolves. Although Chey promising to
keep him occupied was sounding real good to Max. He loved having
the small omega under him, begging to get fucked or to suck his or
Eagle’s cock.

Maybe the great outdoors wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

Riley’s Downfall

Chapter Four

Riley pulled into the small village, wondering how in the hell he

was  going  to  pull  this  tribe  together.  From  what  Maverick  had  told
him  over  the  phone  before  he  left  the  ranch,  the  wood  elves  were
causing  nothing  but  mayhem  and  chaos  with  the  shadow  elves  and
any other paranormal creature that came their way.

He wasn’t sure how receptive they were going to be with a bear

shifter coming to pull them together. And the more he thought about
what possibly might happen, the more he was glad he had left Sterling
in the care of his family. Just the thought of anyone trying to harm his
mate made Riley’s bear want to tear someone’s throat out.

He put the truck in park, missing Sterling already. This wasn’t

home,  and  Riley  would  do  the  best  job  that  he  could,  but  he  missed
the exuberant man. He never thought he would see the day he yearned
for  a  guy  who  talked  his  ear  off,  patted  his  ass,  and  snapped  his
fingers, making Riley jump.

Gods, he really was becoming dick-whipped, and he hadn’t even

slept with the guy.

Riley climbed from his truck, stuffing the keys in his pocket, and

then walked around back to the horse trailer, opening the gate and
backing Warrior out. There was no way he was living here without a
horse to ride.

He saw some of the wood elves coming out of their huts, staring

at him curiously. Riley watched as one of them approached him, the
guy’s hands tucked behind his back. He instantly went on alert.

Lynn Hagen

“Let me see your hands, elf.” It wasn’t a request, and Riley

growled the words out menacingly. He had to establish from the
beginning who was in charge here.

The man splayed his hands in front of his body, but glared at

Riley. “Elven, not elf. Do I look three feet tall to you? An elf is a
short little creature, which I most certainly am not. You may refer to
us as fey if you wish. We are both, but not elf!”

This man was asking to get knocked on his ass and Riley hadn’t

even been there five damn minutes. The hostility coming off of the
guy could have been cut with a knife as Riley walked Warrior over to
the closest tree and tied him off.

“Who is in charge here?” He wanted to know who thought they

were in charge. He was given a job to do, and Riley was going to try
his damnedest to get it done. He just prayed like hell that Ahm found
a replacement soon. He could tell this wasn’t going to be a picnic.

“I am.” The man sneered the words. “Who are you, and why are

you unloading in my village?”

His village?
“Ahm sent me.”
The little shit grew quiet, his eyes raking over Riley like he was

the scum on the bottom of the man’s bare foot. “He’s not one of our
elders. He doesn’t have a right to ask you to come here. He isn’t even
a wood elven. He’s shadow.”

And the politics begin.
Riley opened his mouth to give the elven man a piece of his mind

when he heard small squeals coming from the back of his truck.
Walking away from the elven, Riley stopped when he reached the
tailgate and listened closely.

“Hush, Bacon, before you get us caught.”
Riley grabbed the edge of the tarp and pulled it up, groaning when

he saw Sterling lying between his luggage bags, Bacon tucked tightly
in his arms. “What are you doing here, Sterling?”

Riley’s Downfall

Sterling gasped and looked around the bed of the truck. “This isn’t

my bed.”

“No shit,” Riley snapped as he released the tarp and slapped his

hands on his hips. It kept him from trying to strangle Sterling. “I told
you to stay with my family, Sterling. I have no idea how these elves
are going to act.”

“Elven,” the elven man standing close by corrected Riley. “And

why would we harm a human? He hasn’t done anything to offend us.
It was your father’s mate who killed our leader. How dare Ahm send
the killer’s family to guide us!”

Riley moved closer to Sterling, ready to protect his mate if this

guy tried anything. He was pretty sure he could take the man down,
but he was one bear, and there were plenty of elves.

“If you harm my mate, you won’t live long enough to regret it,”

Riley threatened.

“Whoa,” Sterling said as he pushed from the bed of the truck,

holding Bacon close. “I’m your mate, and you didn’t tell me?”

Sterling sounded pissed off, and Riley was not in the mood to deal

with an irate elven and a pissed-off mate at the same time. “We’ll
discuss this later, Sterling.”

“Oh, buddy, you better believe we will.” Sterling turned toward

the elven, the angry lines on his face softening. “I’m Sterling. Who
are you?”

“I am called Iam.”
“You are…what?” Sterling asked, looking confused as hell.
“No, I-A-M.”
“Oh.” Sterling blinked a few times at the man, and Riley knew his

mate  still  didn’t  understand.  The  look  was  adorable,  even  though
Riley  was  pissed  at  his  mate.  The  man  just  couldn’t  seem  to  stop
putting himself in harm’s way. The idea of tying Sterling up came to
mind, but Riley had a feeling the man would somehow find a way out
of his bindings.

The dark-blond human was going to be Riley’s downfall.

Lynn Hagen

“Do you have a bathroom?” Sterling asked as he quickly glanced

around. “That was a long trip.”

“Over there.” Iam pointed to an outhouse.
Sterling shoved Bacon into Riley’s arms and then took off across

the village. Riley growled and went after his mate. He didn’t like
Sterling so far away from him when he didn’t know if these men were
hostile or not. And from the way Iam was acting, he was beginning to
think he would have to shove Sterling in his front pocket to keep the
man safe.

Sterling was holding a small bottle of blue stuff between his lips

and  rubbing  his  hands  together  furiously  as  he  stepped  out  of  the
outhouse.  Riley  arched  an  eyebrow  at  the  guy.  Sterling  rolled  his
eyes,  finished  rubbing  his  hands  together,  and  then  shoved  the  little
bottle into his pants.

“There’s no sink to wash your hands,” Sterling whispered. “Do

you  know  how  unsanitary  that  is?  I’m  not  sure  I  would  shake
anyone’s hand if I were you. They could be filled with germs and then
if  you  rub  your  hand  on  your  face…”  Sterling  shivered.  “People
aren’t  aware  of  how  often  they  actually  touch  their  faces.  Just  don’t
touch anyone.”

Riley gave his head a quick shake as his mate complained about

unsanitary conditions but took the piglet back into his arms. Sterling
even started crooning to the damn thing, kissed it on the head, and
then started back toward the truck.

And he thought the bathroom was unsanitary?
“I would be happy to take the piglet to the cooking dwelling if you

so wish,” Iam said.

Riley froze for a moment when he heard those words and then

took off running after Sterling. He could just see where this
conversation was going, and this time he was afraid for the wood elf.

“Really?” Sterling said as he started to hand the pig over, Iam

extending his arms, reaching for Bacon. “That would be so nice. He
needs some milk.”

Riley’s Downfall

“Milk?” Iam asked slowly, looking a bit shocked as his hands

slowly lowered.

“Yes,” Sterling said with a nod and a smile. “He has to eat every

few hours. He’s just a baby.”

Riley skidded to a stop and tucked his lips in when Iam sent him a

confused look. Don’t say it, don’t say it, he prayed, hoping Iam would
keep his mouth shut. Sterling would go ballistic.

“I am confused,” Iam said.
He was gonna say it.
“If he is to be prepared for dinner, why would we feed him milk?”
Damn! He said it.
Sterling inhaled sharply and tucked Bacon against his chest,

looking at Iam as if he was the devil himself. “I would never eat
Bacon. He’s just a baby. You are barbaric. Why would you eat a
baby? You should be locked up!”

Riley’s mouth dropped as Sterling kicked Iam right in the shin and

then spun around and stalked off. Yep, Sterling had gone ballistic. He
was just surprised that Iam was still standing, even if he was hopping
around, rubbing his shin.

“He is insane.”
Riley narrowed his eyes at the man. He might think Sterling was a

little  strange,  but  no  one  had  the  right  to  call  his  mate  names.  “His
name  is  Sterling,  and  he  is  not  insane.”  Riley  couldn’t  believe  the
words that were coming out of his mouth, but he was helpless to stop
them.  “He  loves  Bacon,  and  the  first  person  that  even  thinks  about
cooking that little pig will have to answer to me.”

“Just who the hell are you anyway?” Iam snapped as he lowered

his leg to the ground. “We do not need outsiders here. You should
leave.”

“Yeah, not an option, elf boy.” Wow, he wasn’t going to win

friends that way. “Maverick sent me to bring your backwoods asses
into the current century. He would like it if it was done without
bloodshed. I’m not so picky.”

Lynn Hagen

* * * *

Sterling sat on the tailgate of the truck, cradling Bacon to his

chest. He kept his face hidden in the pig’s sparse hair so no one would
see the tears welling up in his eyes. He didn’t know what made him
angrier—that someone wanted to eat his precious pig or that Riley
knew they were mates and never said anything.

Sterling wasn’t stupid. He knew what mates were. He had seen the

men around the Lakeland house, including his own brother. He saw
how things were between mates—the closeness, the love they shared.
He wanted that for himself. And he wanted it with Riley.

In the beginning, Sterling had pushed Riley’s gruff nature to the

side, knowing that the man wasn’t used to someone like him. Not
many people were. Darcy always said that Sterling was an acquired
taste. Some people liked him, and some people didn’t.

There were little things that Riley did, like giving him Bacon, that

made Sterling believe that Riley liked him. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

The man hadn’t said anything about them being mates.
Sterling sniffled as pain filled him up like a cup. There wasn’t an

inch of his body that didn’t ache. Sterling had to wonder just how
much agony a single person could take before he folded.

He lifted his head and stared over to where Riley was talking with

Iam. His mate. His big, beautiful, stinking, lying mate. Well, Sterling
supposed that Riley hadn’t really lied. He just hadn’t told the truth. A
lie by omission was still a lie.

But at least the truth had finally come out and Sterling knew that

the things he had wanted, had dreamed of, were never going to be.
Riley clearly didn’t want him like a mate wanted another mate.

Fine.
Sterling got the picture loud and clear. He’d leave the village and

go back to the ranch at the first opportunity. And from there, who

Riley’s Downfall

knew. Maybe he’d find a place in town. Maybe Cody would let him
rent the room over the diner. And that was assuming Cody took pets.

Sterling hugged Bacon to him, needing to feel like someone

wanted him. Riley sure as shit didn’t. Sterling wondered why the guy
even talked to him. And then he felt even worse when he realized that
the only reason Riley talked to him was because he pushed himself
off on the guy. Riley had tried in a million different ways to avoid
him. Sterling just hadn’t taken the hint.

He got it now.
Boy, had he gotten it.
It wasn’t something Sterling ever thought he would forget, not

again.  Riley  didn’t  want  him  even  though  he  knew  that  they  were
mates.  No  wonder  Riley  was  always  trying  to  push  him  off  onto
someone  else.  The  man  could  barely  stand  in  the  same  room  with
him.

Sterling wiped his sleeve over his wet eyes and then leaned back

to grab the bag he had packed when he had idyllic notions of running
off into the sunset with Riley. He looped the bag strap over his
shoulder and scooted to the edge of the truck bed, hopping down.

There had to be a way out of this godforsaken place. Sterling

started to walk toward a dirt road and then stopped when a dark truck
turned into the village and headed his way. He wasn’t sure who it
was, so he spun around on his heel and headed toward Riley. As much
as he didn’t want to rely on the bear for help, he wasn’t stupid enough
to be near strangers in this unfamiliar place.

Riley’s head snapped toward Sterling, and then he looked past

him at the truck approaching. For a moment a dark cloud had entered
the bear’s eyes, but then the clouds cleared and a confused look
replaced the expression.

“What are they doing here?” Riley asked as he walked past

Sterling.

“You know who it is?” Sterling asked as he glanced over his

shoulder at the truck that was drawing closer.

Lynn Hagen

“Yeah. I know Eagle and Chey from the time they came over to

help Tater with a small problem. But I don’t know the black-haired
man sitting on the end. Go over by Warrior, Sterling.” Riley pointed
toward his horse that was tethered to a tree about twenty feet away.

“But—”
Riley clenched his jaw, and then ran his hand over his head,

sighing. “Please.”

Sterling didn’t like being relegated over to where the horse was,

but he could see the worry in Riley’s grey eyes. If he hadn’t just
found out that Riley was his mate and had withheld that information,
Sterling would actually think the man cared.

Sterling rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
“Thank you.”
“Whatever,” he grumbled as he tucked Bacon under his arm and

headed over toward the horse. But once Riley turned his back,
Sterling walked back over by the newcomers. He was pretty sure that
Riley could take care of anyone trying to harm Sterling. The man was
a bear after all.

What could beat a bear?
He walked to the other side of Riley’s truck and ducked down,

watching.

“Chey, Eagle,” Riley said as the men climbed from the truck.

“What brings you this way?”

The guy Riley called Eagle and the unknown black-haired man

stepped close to the short one Riley had called Chey, as if protecting
him. Sterling rolled his eyes. As if anyone can beat my bear.

Sterling bit his bottom lip as he remembered that Riley wasn’t his

bear. He man had made it quite clear that he wasn’t Sterling’s
anything.

“Maverick called Zeus and asked for healers,” Eagle said. “He

told us that the healer of the elves was missing.”

“Elven,” Iam heatedly corrected the man. “Why can’t you shifters

get it right?”

Riley’s Downfall

Sterling walked over to Riley’s truck and sat on the ground,

placing Bacon in his lap as he stroked the pig’s head and listened.

“Where do we unload?” Eagle asked.
Sterling got back up and peeked at Riley.
“Iam?” Riley turned to the look at the elven man.
“We  only  have  two  dwellings  available.  You  men  will  have  to

work out the living arrangements,” Iam answered and then pointed
over at two huts behind Riley’s truck. “I’m going to go find Ahm and
see why the shadow elven would invite shifters into our village.”

Iam walked away in a huff, his lips so thin that the edges had

turned white. His hands were fisted, and his arms swung heavily back
and forth as the fey headed toward the woods. Sterling was curious
about where the man was going, but turned his attention back to the
four men standing on the other side of the truck.

“Riley, this is my other mate, Dr. Maximus Samuel.”
Sterling closed his eyes at the word mate. It seemed everyone had

one. So why was his mate denying him? Sterling just couldn’t figure
it out. Was he that unlovable? He knew he could be a pain in the ass,
but he hadn’t thought he was that bad.

“I guess we’ll take the hut on the right,” the doctor said and then

headed toward the back of their truck.

“Once you gentlemen are settled, come see me. We should discuss

what needs to be done around here and what problems the wood elves
have been having,” Riley said.

Sterling leaned his back against the door of the truck and slid

down  to  his  bottom,  wondering  where  he  was  going  to  sleep.  It  was
painfully obvious that Riley didn’t want him around. He could leave
the  village,  but  it  was  getting  dark  and  Sterling  was  not  in  favor  of
walking in the pitch black of night.

He chuckled to himself. When he and his brother first arrived in

Brac Village, Darcy had teased him about bears coming out of the
woods. Sterling had no damn clue at the time that one would be fated
to him.

Lynn Hagen

Gods, what a fucked-up mess he was in.
“You’re not by Warrior, Sterling.”
Sterling glanced up to see Riley towering over him. He shrugged

his  shoulders  as  his  fingers  gently  slid  down  Bacon’s  back.  “I  was
safe,  wasn’t  I?”  he  mumbled  as  he  pushed  to  his  feet.  “I’m  pretty
damn  capable of taking  care of myself, Riley.  I  don’t  need a bear to
do that for me. I’ve been looking out for myself for a long time now.”
Sterling  rounded  the  truck  and  saw  which  hut  the  others  were
unloading in, so he headed for the other one.

“Sterling.”
Sterling ignored Riley as he walked toward the hut. He didn’t

think they had anything to talk about. The bear didn’t want him. He
got that. Riley didn’t need to keep reminding him of that fact.

Sterling stepped into the hut, glancing around. It was modestly

furnished,  with  only  a  bed  that  was  sitting  low  to  the  ground  and  a
small  wooden  table.  The  small  side  table  looked  hand  carved  and
made  of  not  only  wood,  but  it  had  small  twigs  intertwined  in  the
finish.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, wondering if he could ask one

of the elven men if they had extra bedding. He wouldn’t want to put
Riley out by sleeping in the same bed with the grumpy asshole.

Sterling glanced down at his feet when Riley came through the

door with his luggage, setting it down by the far wall. Sterling let the
bag  slip  from  his  shoulder,  setting  it  by  his  feet.  He  watched  Riley
bring  everything  in,  neither  saying  a  word  to  the  other.  It  was  very
damn awkward.

“I’m going to see what they have to eat,” Riley commented when

he brought the last of his things inside.

Sterling nodded, waiting for Riley to leave. Once he was alone,

Sterling grabbed his bag and set it close to Riley’s belongings and
used it as a pillow as he curled up on the dirt floor, tucking Bacon into
the crook of his arms.

Riley’s Downfall

“At least you love me, don’t you, boy?” Sterling asked the pig.

Bacon made a small snorting sound and wedged himself deeper
against Sterling’s body.

“I love you, too.” Sterling wiped at the tears that were once again

falling as he turned his back to the door and closed his eyes, telling
himself that he would leave come first light.

There was no way he was going to stick around to watch what he

couldn’t have. And Riley Lakeland had been someone Sterling had
wanted desperately.

Too bad Riley hadn’t wanted him even a little.

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Five

Riley stood just outside the hut entrance, feeling his insides knot

at the thought of sleeping in the same bed with Sterling. It wasn’t that
he objected to the idea of having Sterling’s warm and lean body next
to his. It was the fact that he didn’t know what to do with the man.

Sterling was too young for him.
Sterling was too exuberant for him.
Sterling was too chatty for him.
You just have to love him, son. Everything else will fall into place.
Riley didn’t want to lose the best part of his life. So he knew he

was  going  to  have  to  do  better  than  how  he  was  acting  toward  his
mate. It was hard. Real hard. He wasn’t exactly set in his ways, but he
had  been  like  this  most  of  his  life.  He  was  quiet,  antisocial,  and  a
bookworm.  He  had  low  patience,  his  smiles  were  few  and  far
between, and he had always been aloof, moody.

Sterling was the polar opposite.
But damn if Riley could deny the man was like a burst of sunshine

anytime  he  appeared.  He  was  the  sun  to  Riley’s  dismal  clouds.
Sterling  was  the  laughter  to  Riley’s  solemn  moods.  Sterling  was  the
Chatty Cathy to Riley’s quiet aloofness.

And Riley had been blocking out the sun every chance he could

get.

Sighing heavily, Riley ran a hand over his head and walked inside

the hut with the plate of venison and vegetables in his hand. His mate
was probably starving by now.

Riley came up short when he saw Sterling curled up on the dirt

floor, fast asleep with Bacon sleeping on the man’s neck. The pig’s

Riley’s Downfall

snout was buried under Sterling’s shirt collar. He stood there studying
Sterling, a smile crossing Riley’s face as he watched the two.

His mate would have to go and pick the runt of the litter. And it

seemed  Bacon  was  just  as  enamored  with  Sterling.  It  was  ridiculous
as  hell  to  Riley  that  Sterling  treated  the  small  piglet  like  a  small
kitten. But then again, his mate made absolutely no sense to him.

Riley set the plate on the only table in the hut and walked over to

Sterling, bending down to  take his  mate’s shoes  off. He tossed them
aside  and  then  glanced  up  at  the  pig.  There  was  no  way  Riley  was
sleeping  with  a  pig  in  the  bed.  He  rifled  through  his  bags  and  came
away with a blanket.

Making a small bed next to theirs, Riley gently pulled the animal

from Sterling’s neck and tucked it into the blanket. Sterling would be
devastated if Bacon wasn’t properly cared for. Riley could not believe
he was making sure a farm animal was tucked in, but he did.

He slid one arm under Sterling’s neck, the other under his mate’s

knees, and then lifted Sterling from the floor.

“I’m right here, big boy,” Sterling mumbled as he sighed.
Riley raised a brow. What in the world was the man dreaming

about? He carried his mate over to the bed, laid him down, and then
as gently as he could, pulled Sterling’s shirt from his chest. Riley kept
his eyes averted.

Next he unsnapped Sterling’s pants and slid them down, folding

the jeans and setting them, along with the shirt, on top of his bags.
There wasn’t a washer here, so he wanted to keep the clothes as clean
as possible.

Riley undressed, keeping his boxers on, and then slid into the bed.

It was late, and he was bushed. After talking with Eagle and Max,
Riley had grabbed Sterling some dinner, but it seemed Sterling was
just as tired.

He lay there for the longest time, watching Sterling sleep. His

mate seemed so quiet now that he wasn’t bouncing on his heels and
talking a mile a minute. His features were serene. Riley scooted closer

Lynn Hagen

and slid one arm over Sterling’s waist, breathing in his mate as he
closed his eyes.

Damn if this didn’t feel right.

* * * *

Riley’s eyes flew open and immediately saw that it was still dark

out, only the glow of the moon shining into the small hut. He lay still,
glancing around the darkness. He had a keen sense of hearing, and
something had woken him.

A small whimpering noise broke the silence surrounding him.

Riley’s eyes flew to his mate, but the man was sound asleep, only he
had burrowed into Riley’s side. Riley ran a hand over Sterling’s hair,
waiting to hear the sound again.

And there it was.
As much as he hated to leave the warmth of his mate’s body,

Riley was sent here to help the fey, and that included late-night
whimpering.

He slowly slid from the bed, careful not to wake his mate, and

then tucked the covers back around Sterling. He glanced over at the
pig, seeing that Bacon was fast asleep as well.

Riley rolled his eyes as he grabbed his jeans and pulled them up

his legs. Was he really checking on a pig?

He walked toward the hut entrance. He stayed just inside the door,

his eyes scanning the surrounding area. He caught movement across
the way and saw Eagle standing just inside his hut door.

They nodded at each other and then glanced around.
The whimpering continued, off to Riley’s left. He signaled for

Eagle to circle around the back of his hut as Riley did the same. He
crept around the circular structure, his steps quiet and measured as he
neared the front, catching the low growl when he saw two men off in
the shadows.

Riley’s Downfall

Riley’s eyes snapped up when Eagle joined him at his side. He

hadn’t  seen  or  heard  the  man  approach.  He  was  good.  Eagle  tapped
Riley’s  shoulder  and  nodded  toward  a  dirt  path  running  alongside
Riley’s hut.

They moved quickly, soundlessly, toward the shadowed pair.
“You smell so damn sweet.”
Riley cocked his head, hearing the underlying intentions in those

words. They were not a pretty invitation to sex. The words were more
of a prelude to something the other man truly didn’t want. Not from
the whimpering sounds he was making.

Eagle moved faster than lightning, placing a choke hold on one

man while Riley grabbed the other, doing the same. He wasn’t sure
who was the bad guy here, and he wasn’t taking any chance.

“What’s going on here?” he asked as he tightened his hold on the

squirming man.

“H–He’s a vampire,” the man in Riley’s arms squeaked.
Eagle growled when the man he was holding began to fight to get

free. Riley saw the pointy ears on his captive and let the man go. “Get
back to your hut.”

The man nodded quickly and took off, making a beeline back to

his residence. Riley turned his attention toward the vampire struggling
in Eagle’s arms. He swung his arm, his fist slamming into the
vampire’s gut.

“You come to prey on the weak?” he asked when the man howled

out in pain. He could see Eagle tightening his hold, one hand locked
over the opposite arm.

“I could snap your neck with my bare hands, bitch,” Eagle snarled

into  the  man’s  ear.  The  expression  on  the  wolf’s  face  gave  Riley
pause. It was cold, deadly, and Riley knew Eagle  would do just that.
“Try  me.  I’ve  learned  very  inventive  ways  to  bring  a  person  pain.  I
was taught by the best.”

“Eagle.”

Lynn Hagen

Riley turned to see Max standing ten feet away. His tone had been

commanding, making Eagle look up as well.

“Give him to Riley, Eagle.”
Riley glanced back at the grey wolf. Eagle had his eyes locked

onto  his  mate,  but  his  grip  had  tightened,  his  knuckles  so  white  that
they  were  tinged  with  pink.  There  was  a  wildness  in  Eagle’s  eyes,  a
savageness that belied his calm exterior.

Max walked briskly over to Eagle, placing a hand on the man’s

shoulder. “Let him go, Eagle,” Max said a little more gently. “Give
him to Riley.”

Riley wasn’t sure if he was the better choice. The vampire had

come here seeking to drink someone’s blood. And from the red
rimming his black irises, Riley instantly knew this vampire was a
rogue. The vilest of creatures. A vampire who would have drained his
victim until there wasn’t a drop of blood left in the victim’s body.

What if he had captured Sterling? What if this vampire had tried

to drain Riley’s mate? No, Riley was not sure he was the better choice
to take charge of the vampire. When it came to those Riley cared
about, he had no mercy to the enemy.

Iam came running across the village, something clutched in his

hand. “Put these on him and then tie him to the tree.”

Riley saw shackles dangling in Iam’s hands. “They are laced with

silver. He won’t be able to dissipate. It will give you enough time to
call his prince and have his leader come fetch him if you aren’t going
to kill him.”

Riley had never heard of shackles that could render a vampire

unable  to  disappear  into  thin  air.  He  knew  D,  the  vampire  who  had
stayed  with  the  Lakelands  for  months,  couldn’t  disperse  his
molecules, but that was only because the man could never get it right.

“Where did you get those?” Riley asked as Max grabbed the

shackles and clamped them around the vampire’s wrists. The vampire
snarled and fought, but Eagle tightened his hold.

Riley’s Downfall

“It is something we fashioned for vampires eons ago. Our blood is

very sweet smelling to them. It calls them from miles around. We had
to find a way to protect ourselves.”

Riley remembered being told that Melonee, Maverick and Cecil’s

daughter,  had  attracted  a  whole  score  of  vampires  when  she  was
younger.  Riley  wondered  why  the  entire  vampire  rogue  population
wasn’t attacking this village.

“Do they come here often?” he asked Iam.
Iam nodded. “We use different herbs to ward them off. The herbs

disguise our blood scent. But a few always manage to get through.”

“What else has been going on around here?” Riley asked. “Where

is your healer and how did he come up missing?”

Iam turned, heading back across the village. “Interrogate me at

dawn. I’m going back to bed, shifter.”

Interrogate?
Oh, Riley was getting really tired of Iam and his smart little jibes.

A thought suddenly occurred to Riley as he stood there watching Iam
until  the  man  disappeared  into  his  hut.  Maybe  Ahm  didn’t  have  to
search  for  a  new  leader.  Maybe,  just  maybe,  Riley  could  whip  Iam
into shape. The man had potential. He was  fiercely loyal  to  his  tribe
and  looked  out  for  their  well-being.  The  man  was  a  pain  in  the  ass,
but  Riley  could  see  the  hard-nosed  determination  in  the  fey  to  keep
his people safe.

“What happened to the sentinels that are supposed to guard this

place?” Riley asked Eagle and Max as they tied the vampire off to a
tree.

“I haven’t seen any around,” Max answered as he began to dial his

cell phone.

“We need to fix that,” Riley said as he waited for Max to finish

his call to Prince Christian. The rogues were Christian’s problem, and
Riley knew that the prince would come get this piece of shit.

“What are you saying?” Eagle asked.

Lynn Hagen

“I’m saying that we need to find brave men here that have the

capability inside of them and train them to guard their village. You’re
a soldier. You could teach them.”

Max glanced over at Eagle and then turned his sights on Riley. “I

don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“It’s a great idea, Max,” Eagle said. “It will allow me to give these

men something I have learned over the years, and it will also give me
a purpose.”

Max cupped Eagle’s jaw, his eyes shining with love as he smiled

at Eagle. “If that’s what you want.”

Riley looked away. All his brothers, except Bryce, had mated.

What he saw between them and their mates, and what he saw between
Max and Eagle, Riley yearned for deep down inside. He had just been
too blind to see it until now. He wanted that closeness. He wanted that
private intimacy between mates.

Riley wanted Sterling.
“Do you have this covered?” he asked the two men.
“Yeah, go back to your mate,” Max said as he and Eagle stood by

the vampire, talking privately together.

Riley turned on his heel and headed back to his hut. He would just

love Sterling and let everything else fall into place. Although he was
quite sure he was going to need a heavy supply of sedatives being
around his mate full-time. The guy was way too energetic.

Riley entered the hut as quietly as he could and shucked his jeans.

Crawling back into bed, he pulled Sterling close to his chest. He
buried his nose in Sterling’s neck and took in a lungful of his mate’s
scent.

“Riley?” Sterling yawned out Riley’s name. “What are you

doing?”

“Loving you, Sterling.” Riley couldn’t believe he had said that out

loud, and then he smiled at how liberated he felt saying it. He was
positive he wouldn’t turn into a goober like his brothers did with their
mates, but there was nothing wrong with showing Sterling that he

Riley’s Downfall

wanted the man. There was nothing wrong with letting his mate know
that he cared.

Sterling turned in Riley’s arms, confusion clouding his light-grey

eyes. “I don’t understand.”

Gods, if he had to explain sex to his mate, this was going to take a

lot longer than Riley was hoping to spend talking. “About sex?”

Sterling snorted and rolled his eyes. “No.”
Damn, that was a relief.
“I don’t understand what you’re after.”
Riley chuckled as he slid his hand down to cup Sterling’s ass,

giving it a light squeeze. “Do you want me to say it?”

Sterling’s eyes grew so round that Riley thought they were going

to pop right out of the man’s head. But the light grey that usually
sparkled turned dark, arousal swimming in their depths.

“You want to have sex?” Sterling asked, as if the idea was

something he never thought of. The man was confusing Riley again.

“We’re mates. That does come with benefits,” he answered,

pulling Sterling closer and refusing to let the man go. He had pushed
Sterling away for too long already. Riley didn’t want to waste another
minute. Once he made his mind up, he always stuck to his decisions.
And Riley had decided to give this mating a chance.

“But you don’t want to be mates.” Sterling sounded so dejected

that Riley wanted to kick his own ass. He had done this. He had put
that doubt in Sterling’s mind and made the guy think he wasn’t
wanted.

Well, he was about to change that.
“I just needed time to figure you out, Sterling.” He was not going

into detail about all of his insecurities and doubts. That would take not
only all night, but probably a month or two.

“So, did you figure me out?” A smile turned up Sterling’s lips, the

teasing apparent in his voice.

“Hell, no,” Riley grunted. “And we are talking way too much

right now.”

Lynn Hagen

“Okay, okay. But you have to say one thing for me before you go

all grumpy quiet.”

Riley quirked a brow, wondering what in the world Sterling would

want him to say besides let’s fuck. “What?” he asked cautiously.

A blush stole over Sterling’s face, and Riley became eager to find

out just what his mate wanted him to say.

“You have to say, ‘I’ve waited for someone like you my whole

life.’”

Riley stopped the laughter that was threatening to spill from his

lips. That was the cheesiest line he had ever heard, but he saw the
hope glimmering in Sterling’s eyes. Gods, was he really going to say
it?

Riley rolled, tucking Sterling under him as he situated his body

between Sterling’s legs and then used one hand to cup the man’s face,
staring heatedly into his mate’s eyes. If he was going to sink to the
bottom of the dick-whipped barrel, he might as well do this right.

“I’ve waited for someone like you my whole life, Sterling.” Riley

lowered his head, sealing his words with a kiss and realizing just how
true the words rang.

The kiss started out slow, exploratory. Then Sterling made the

strangest  noise  and  wrapped  his  fingers  in  Riley’s  hair  and  plunged
his  tongue into Riley’s  mouth, taking him by total surprise. The kiss
turned demanding, unrelenting, and told Riley that Sterling was taking
charge.

Riley knew his mate had a little fire in him from the way he had

snapped his fingers at Riley a few times, but he had no idea just how
aggressive the man was in bed.

Fuck, he liked it.
The take-charge attitude was turning him on and making his cock

so  hard  that  it  was  almost  painful.  Sterling  wrapped  his  legs  around
Riley’s  waist,  groaning  and  growling  as  his  tongue  skimmed  over
every single tooth in Riley’s damn mouth.

It was the sexiest little growl Riley had ever heard.

Riley’s Downfall

“Sterling.”
“No,” Sterling said as his grip tightened around Riley’s hair.

“You’re not making any excuses and leaving my side.”

“I’m not leaving your side, baby,” Riley reassured him. “I was

just going to tell you that you’re pulling my hair out.”

“Oh,” Sterling squeaked and then released the chunks of hair that

Riley had feared the man would rip out. “Sorry.”

Riley ran a hand over his head, making sure he didn’t have any

bald patches. “You can be aggressive, hon. Just don’t maim me.”

“I–I can?”
Riley tucked his arms under Sterling’s shoulders, bringing his

mate closer as he kissed each side of Sterling’s mouth. “I like it.”

“Y–You do?”
Riley nuzzled Sterling’s neck, hiding the grin. He was sure

Sterling wouldn’t appreciate the laughter right now when he was
being so damn cute. “Yes.”

“Then lie on your back.” Sterling’s voice became commanding as

he pushed at Riley’s shoulders, unwrapping his legs. “I’m going to
ride my horse.”

“Your what?” Riley asked as he pulled back and then lay down.
“Never mind.” Sterling grinned. “It would take too long to explain

my dream, and I want that thick cock in my ass.”

Riley groaned.
“Lube?”
Riley  pointed  over  toward  his  bags.  “In  the  black  and  red  bag  at

the bottom of the pile.”

Sterling jumped up, tossing his underwear aside as he searched

through Riley’s belongings. Riley took the time to kick his boxers off
and then stared at Sterling’s naked ass as he bent over.

Damn if the man didn’t have the sexiest backside. He couldn’t

wait until he was balls deep inside of his mate.

“Bingo!” Sterling shouted triumphantly and waved the bottle of

lube around in the air. The man bounced excitedly, and all Riley

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could focus on was the hard cock that bounced right along with
Sterling.

“Do you want me to stretch you, or…can I watch?”
Sterling looked confused for a moment, cocking his head to the

side, and then his eyes widened slightly, just a hair, as his entire body
flushed a nice pink. Riley was discovering that although Sterling was
aggressive in some aspects, he was shy as hell in others. And talking
about sex seemed to be one of his shy points.

This was going to be interesting considering sex was the only time

Riley became the chatty one. He loved talking dirty while having sex,
and Sterling was about to find out just how much.

And hopefully he could get Sterling over his shyness because

Riley loved being talked dirty to just as much.

“I…uh…“ Sterling glanced down at his feet, tapping the bottle

lightly on his naked thigh.

“Come here, hon.”
Sterling neared the bed, kneeling down onto it and resting his

hand on Riley’s knee. His leg was bent, and Riley pushed it toward
Sterling as he palmed his cock. “You don’t want to give me a show?”

Sterling swallowed hard but nodded.
“Then get on your hands and knees with your tight little ass facing

me.”

Sterling sat the bottle of lube down and then did as Riley

instructed. Riley picked the bottle up, opened the cap, and drizzled
some of the clear gel down the crack of Sterling’s ass.

Sterling jumped.
“Easy, hon. I can go as slow as you need me to.”
“It’s cold.”
Riley set the bottle aside and ran a hand over one firm mound.

“Give me your hand.”

Sterling reached back and Riley curled his fingers around

Sterling’s wrist, guiding the man’s fingers toward his small puckered
hole. The angle was no good.

Riley’s Downfall

“Straddle my legs,” Riley instructed as he lowered his bent leg

and watched as Sterling climbed over them. Oh hell. The man’s hole
was right there in front of Riley. He had an urge to lick the man silly,
but he wanted to watch Sterling stretch himself even more.

Riley took Sterling’s wrist and guided it back to his ass once

more, brushing Sterling’s fingers over the quivering ring. “Do you
feel that?”

“Y–Yes.”
Riley curled Sterling’s fingers in, leaving only one still standing

out, and then pressed it into Sterling’s body until the finger slid past
the band of muscles and sank all the way in. He released his mate’s
hand.

“I think you know what to do from here.” He sat back, palming

his cock once more as he watched Sterling’s finger slide back out and
then glide back in. Riley grabbed the base of his cock. It was
throbbing so badly that he was afraid he was going to come on the
spot from the erotic sight.

Sterling stretched himself stiffly, as if it were a chore more than

something  sensual.  Riley  reached  a  hand  up  and  traced  his  mate’s
fingers,  pushing  Sterling’s  fingers  in  every  other  stroke.  Riley
uncurled Sterling’s fist, and helped his mate slide another inside.

“Does it feel good, baby?” Riley asked. “Because it sure as hell

looks good from back here.”

His mate groaned as he dropped his head. “You’re going to drive

me crazy, Riley.”

Riley slowly stroked his cock, watching how the skin stretched for

his  mate’s  fingers.  He  couldn’t  stand  it  any  longer.  The  sight  of
Sterling’s  ass  sucking  his  fingers  in  was  too  much.  Riley  scooted
down  the  bed  until  he  was  under  the  man  and  then  took  Sterling’s
cock  into  his  mouth,  feeding  his  dick  to  Sterling.  He  grabbed
Sterling’s  hips,  rocking  the  man  up  and  down,  feeding  his  mate’s
shaft to himself.

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Sterling whimpered, sucking at Riley’s cock, his tongue caressing

the  sensitive  flesh.  Riley  used  one  hand  to  push  his  fingers  in
alongside Sterling’s, wanting the man stretched completely before he
fucked  and  claimed  his  mate.  The  tension  in  Sterling’s  body  was
gone. He was riding Riley’s cock with his moist mouth aggressively,
plunging down on every downstroke.

His bear was anxious to break free, anxious for Riley to claim

Sterling,  but  Riley  kept  him  at  bay.  The  pressure  in  his  balls  was
mounting,  and  a  hunger  was  unleashing  inside  of  him  at  an
unbelievable rate of speed. He wanted to consume this man, to stake
his  claim  and let the world know that Sterling  Lagrange  belonged  to
Riley Lakeland and anyone dumb enough to fuck with his mate would
pay the ultimate price.

The possessiveness was all-consuming, the need to bite was

mounting, and the pleasure inside of him was growing to a fevered
pitch.

Riley released Sterling’s cock with a growl, pulling his mate off

of him and dropping the man to his knees. “I’m going to fuck you so
hard and so fast, baby,” he snarled right before he plunged his cock
deep inside his mate.

Sterling hissed and then shouted as he spread his legs wider. Riley

gripped Sterling’s hips and then exhaled a long breath. He had to slow
down. He couldn’t take Sterling this way. Not their first time together.

Maybe the next.
Riley tucked his hands behind his back, reining in the out-of-

control freight train that was barreling full speed ahead. He had to use
patience, control, and care. “Fuck me, Sterling,” he commanded as he
watched his cock slip in and out of his mate’s ass. It took every scrap
of control Riley possessed not to thrust, but he managed to remain
statue-still.

But that didn’t mean he had to remain quiet.
“You like fucking my cock, Sterling? Do you like feeling this

thick piece of flesh splitting you in half?”

Riley’s Downfall

Sterling moaned as he rocked back onto Riley’s cock harder and

faster.

“Answer me, hon.”
“Yes.”
Riley’s eyes flickered up to his mate’s head to see that it was

rolling on his shoulders, and then his eyes were pulled back down to
Sterling’s puckered ass like a magnet.

“I like it.”
“You like what, Sterling?”
Sterling lowered his shoulders to the bed, wiggling his ass around.

“I like your fat cock in my ass. Fuck me, Riley. Please…god, fuck
me.”

Riley placed one hand flat between Sterling’s shoulder blades and

the other on the small of his mate’s back. He thrust into Sterling with
a little more strength than he had meant to as he watched Sterling
bounce forward. “Is this what you want, baby?”

“More,” Sterling cried out. “I want more.”
Riley’s canines descended as he pistoned into Sterling’s body. He

was claiming his mate, and the pleasure was mounting higher. “Fuck,
Sterling. I don’t ever want to leave this ass.”

Sterling cried out as his band of muscles began to milk Riley’s

cock, his mate’s orgasm pushing Riley closer to his. He stilled, the
muscle pulsing too tightly for Riley to move properly. Once Sterling
shuddered, Riley let loose. He placed his hands on the wall in front of
him and fucked Sterling so hard that his mate was sliding up the bed
until Sterling had to grab the wall or knock his head into it.

“This ass is mine, Sterling. You are mine!” Riley wasn’t sure

where the words were coming from, but they were falling freely from
his lips as he slammed into Sterling so fast that he just knew the man
was going to go through the wall. “If you flirt again, I’ll spank this ass
until it’s rosy red. No one gets inside this ass but me.”

“No one!” Sterling howled as Riley gave one more good thrust

before he bit into Sterling’s shoulder and came at the same time. The

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spurts of cum seemed never-ending. They went on and on as Riley
ground his cock into Sterling’s ass.

He finally had the right frame of mind to release his mate’s

shoulder, but Riley knew it would be a moment before the swelling in
his cock eased enough for him to slip out of Sterling’s ass.

“Damn, I didn’t get to ride you.” Sterling panted out the words.
Riley licked at the wound, one arm coming away from the wall as

he circled it around his mate’s waist. “Give me a second to recoup my
strength and you’ll have your chance.”

Sterling chuckled as Riley slowly lowered his mate, careful that

they were stilled joined together.

“I don’t know what it is that has you stuck inside of me, but I love

it.”

Riley sure as shit hoped so, because he planned on staying “stuck”

inside his mate every damn chance he had.

Maybe being mated to the peculiar fella wasn’t going to be so bad.

Riley’s Downfall

Chapter Six

“Hold still, Bacon,” Sterling said as he struggled to harness the

pig. “You may not like having a harness on, but trust me, fella, around
here, it’s for the best. I don’t need you running off and getting eaten.”

“Where did you get that?” Riley asked as he sat on the side of the

low-lying bed and tied his boots up. Sterling was still a little amazed
that Riley had changed sides so quickly. The man was  acting if they
were a mated couple who were comfortable around each other, which
was  odd  considering  the  man  had  been  surly  as  hell  just  yesterday.
After all these weeks of chasing after the bear, Riley had just come to
an abrupt halt and accepted Sterling.

Sterling swore the man would never stop completely and utterly

confusing him.

“What, the harness?” he asked. “Iam gave it to me. Although I

still don’t trust him. He was eyeing Bacon pretty heavily this
morning. I would swear the man was licking his lips.”

Riley waved his hand at Sterling. “Bring him here and let me see

if I can adjust the harness.”

Sterling was a bit surprised Riley wanted to help with Bacon. The

man had told Sterling more than once that the pig was a farm animal
and should be left outside. He thought Riley was going to have a fit
this morning when Bacon woke up and then struggled to get into bed.
Sterling had taken mercy on the pig and pulled him up and tucked him
in between them.

But Riley hadn’t said a word.
Not even when Bacon had tried to feed from Riley’s nipple. Now

that had been funny as hell, only Riley hadn’t laughed. But he hadn’t

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snapped at Bacon either. Maybe the bear was really trying to change.
Sterling hoped so. He liked this new Riley.

Sterling scooped Bacon up and handed him over to his mate.
He secretly smiled whenever he thought of that word. Gods, Riley

had mated him. Sterling still couldn’t believe it had happened.
Especially the sex. His bottom was still achy as hell, but he wouldn’t
change last night for all the world.

“Uh, Sterling…” Riley picked Bacon up, lifted the pig high in the

air, and glanced under the belly.

“What!” Sterling said in a panic. “What’s wrong with my pig?”
Riley turned Bacon over and then chuckled. Sterling loved Riley’s

laugh.  It  was  deep,  sensuous,  and  made  Sterling  sigh  every  time  he
heard  it.  He  hadn’t  heard  it  often,  but  when  he  did,  his  cock  always
jerked in his pants.

“Nothing, hon. But Bacon is a girl.”
“Are you sure?” Sterling asked as he looked over Riley’s arm.
“I’m sure, Sterling. She’s missing the vital parts that would make

her a boy.”

“Well, damn,” Sterling said as he sat down next to Riley and

watched his mate tie the intricate knots to hold Bacon’s harness.

“Disappointed? We could always trade her for a boy when we get

home.”

Home. Sterling loved the sound of that single word. “No,” he

replied. “It just means that I’ll have to be extra careful with her. Girls
are very delicate.”

Riley finished the knot and handed Bacon off to Sterling. “Just

keep her away from Iam.”

“If he comes near her, I’ll…I’ll toss him over the pit and roast

him!” Sterling was not about to let anyone eat his little girl for
breakfast…or lunch, or dinner for that matter. “He’s barbaric and evil.
Only evil men would want to eat a baby pig. I swear, I’ll kick him in
the shin again if he even thinks about trying.”

Riley’s Downfall

“Calm down, Sterling. No one is going to eat Bacon.” Riley

glanced at Sterling and then laughed. “Not your Bacon, at least.”

Sterling swatted Riley on the shoulder and glared at his mate

before  taking  Bacon  outside  for  her  morning  walk.  He  had  to  find
some milk for her. She was just a baby and needed her nutrients. The
supply  he  had  brought  with  him  was  almost  gone.  He  had  found  a
feeding  bottle  in  the  barn  before  they  left  the  ranch,  and  then  stored
some  milk  in  a  jar  and  shoved  it  in  his  bag.  But  the  jar  was  almost
empty.

“Excuse me,” Sterling asked the first elven man he spotted. “Do

you perhaps know where I might find some piggy milk?”

“Piggy milk?” the man asked, looking at Sterling as if he were

daft. “I’m not even sure I’ve ever heard of that. But there is a sow in a
pen past the outhouses. You can leave the piglet with the sow if you
want to fatten him up.”

What was with everyone trying to eat Bacon? Sterling wasn’t sure

if he should yell at the man or just ignore him. It didn’t seem to do
any good when he had a holy cow fit. So he chose to ignore the man
and head toward the pen.

Maybe the mama pig would let Bacon have some milk straight

from  the  source.  The  piglet  had  been  a  little  ornery  eating  this
morning,  and  Sterling  knew  it  was  because  the  milk  he  had  brought
along with him wasn’t warm.

If the sow let Bacon nurse, his little girl would be in heaven.
“Sterling, right?”
Sterling stopped in midstride and turned to see Chey walking up

behind him. He switched the rope to his other hand and stuck out his
right to shake Chey’s. “Yep, and from my eavesdropping, I take it that
you are Chey.”

The man studied Sterling’s hand for a moment but didn’t shake it.

Instead he smiled politely and nodded. “I’m Chey. I’m sorry, Sterling,
but I don’t touch people. I have a gift and a curse and I wouldn’t want
to…set you back.”

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They exchanged a polite, simultaneous smile.
Yeah, okay. This guy wasn’t strange in the least. “I was heading

over to the pigpen. Do you want to come with me? Bacon needs to
eat.”

“Did you just call your pig Bacon?” An arched eyebrow indicated

his  amused  surprise.  Sterling  was  getting  really  tired  of  people
making  fun  of  his  piglet’s  name.  What  the  hell  was  wrong  with
Bacon?  It  was  adorable.  He  didn’t  think  anything  was  wrong  with
naming  his  pig  Bacon,  but  it  seemed  everyone  else  had  a  different
opinion. Sterling just wished he knew  why everyone looked so  dang
surprised when he said his piglet’s name.

“I did,” Sterling grumbled as he walked away, heading for

Bacon’s breakfast. He didn’t like people making fun of his pig.

“I wasn’t trying to offend you,” Chey said as he caught up with

Sterling. “It’s just an odd name for a pig.”

“Why?” Sterling asked. “I don’t get why everyone gives me

shocked looks when I tell them my pet’s name. What was I supposed
to name her, Fido?”

Chey chuckled, shaking his head and waving for Sterling to lead

the way. “No, Bacon is a fine name for the little pig.”

Sterling spotted the pen and was amazed that there was only the

mother  and  her  four  little  pigs.  From  the  way  the  elven  men  acted,
there should have been a whole pen full of them. He scooped Bacon
up  and  pushed  through  the  bottom  rung  of  the  wooden  fence,  going
right  into  the  muddy  pen.  Ew,  the  place  was  a  mess.  Why  on  earth
would anyone let pigs lay in a muddy pen?

“Are you sure you should be in there? Don’t mother animals get

cranky when people go near their babies?” Chey asked, placing his
hands on the top of the small wooden fence.

“Nah, she’s fine.” Sterling walked over and knelt down in front of

the mama pig, holding Bacon out for her to sniff. When she didn’t
protest, Sterling sat Bacon down and nudged her on the bottom
toward a nipple. “Eat your breakfast, Bacon.”

Riley’s Downfall

Bacon ambled up to the mother, sniffed, and then began to eat like

she had been starving for days, making the cutest little grunting
noises.

“Wow. You’re good with animals,” Chey commented as he stuck

his foot on the last rung, resting his chin on his hands, offering
Sterling a bemused smile. “Aren’t you a little afraid?”

Sterling gave a shrug of his shoulders. “Not really. It’s just a pig.”
Bacon backed up and bounced toward Sterling, happiness in her

steps. “Did you get a full belly, girl?” He scooped her up and leaned
down,  shoving  himself  between  the  wood  and  stepping  out  on  the
other  side.  “Thank  you,”  he  said  to  the  mama  pig  before  glancing
back over at Chey.

His and Chey’s heads snapped around at the same time when they

heard a truck pulling into the village. “There sure are a lot of people
showing up lately,” Sterling said as he watched Riley walk quickly
from their hut.

He glanced around until he spotted Sterling and then pointed at

Sterling to stay put. Even from this distance Sterling could see the
clench in Riley’s jaw and the seriousness in his grey eyes. Sterling
saluted Riley. His mate shook his head, the tips of his mouth curving
up slightly before he turned and walked toward their visitor.

Riley was unaware of the captivating picture he made when he

smiled.  It  had  been  a  small  smile,  barely  there,  but  it  was  there.
Sterling would get the stick out of the man’s ass yet. He wanted to see
the  tentative  smile  turn  into  a  full-blown  one.  The  man  had  only
smiled  a  handful  of  times,  and  he  was  simply  stunning  when  he
showed teeth. It always made Sterling’s cock hard as he turned into a
babbling idiot.

“Is it me or is Riley a little intense?” Chey asked as he stood next

to Sterling.

“He’s intense,” Sterling answered as he watched Bryce climb

from the truck. All was well in Riley’s kingdom. It was only Riley’s
brother. The most damage that bear could do was make someone want

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to strangle him. Bryce was always smiling, always laughing. Sterling
liked  him.  Bryce  was  fun  to  be  around.  Sterling  liked  all  of  Riley’s
brothers.  The  twins  were  hilarious  and  seemed  to  always  get  into
trouble with Pa. Now those two bears knew how to have a good time.
Maybe Sterling could have them teach Riley how to relax and laugh.
The man was way too serious most of the time. The perpetual scowl
on Riley’s face wasn’t doing the bear any justice.

“Well, that’s Riley’s brother. I’ll catch up with you later.” Sterling

clapped Chey on the shoulder.

“God, no!” Chey shouted as he backed away, his brown eyes

filled with horror. “Please don’t tell me you have something awful in
your past that you don’t want to relive.”

Sterling cocked his head, wondering what in the hell was wrong

with the strange man. “Uh…I once ran over a frog in midleap when I
was driving. I felt like crap for days.”

Chey blinked at him, and then a smile formed on his lips. “I like

you, Sterling.”

“Aw, shucks, thanks,” he teased Chey before jogging over to

where Riley and Bryce were standing.

Bryce and Riley were talking with each other until Sterling neared

them. “Hey, Sterling, my man. Pa wanted me to bring you some milk
for your pig.” Bryce reached into the front seat of his truck and pulled
out a knapsack. “He was worried that Bacon wouldn’t find anything
to eat.”

Riley’s eyes widened, and then a faint yeah right look flashed in

their grey depths. “You’re telling me Pa was worried about a pig?”

Bryce winked at Riley and then handed the knapsack over to

Sterling. “Find somewhere to store the milk so it doesn’t spoil.”

Sterling wasn’t stupid. He knew Bryce had come here for other

reasons than milk. He took the sack and wandered off, trying to figure
out where in this village he could store milk. It wasn’t like they had a
refrigerator or cooler.

Riley’s Downfall

He knew Bryce wanted to talk to Riley in private, so Sterling

made himself scarce.

* * * *

“Spill,” Riley said as he rounded on Bryce. “I know damn well Pa

did not send you all the way out here for milk.”

“Suspicious, are we?” Bryce teased, knowing Riley was probably

going to hand him his ass for fucking with him. The man didn’t have
one damn humorous bone in his body.

“No. I know my family like the back of my hand,” Riley said as

he leaned back casually against Bryce’s truck, his arms folding over
his chest. “So, why are you out here?”

Bryce gave a nod, knowing he couldn’t fool his eldest brother. He

scanned the village, seeing a few elven men glancing his way
curiously, and spotted Chey standing over by the outhouse, talking
with Max. “I see the grey wolves made it here.”

“They came in last night. I wasn’t aware they were coming,

though. Maverick should have told me he was sending medical help
as well as someone to train the sentinels.”

Bryce looked over his shoulder at Riley, his brows furrowing.

“Sentinels?”

Riley squatted down, picking up a stick from the ground and

tossing it. “They have a few men who are supposed to guard the
village. But they aren’t doing a bang-up job. Vampires keep attacking
because of the feys’ sweet-smelling blood. Eagle has agreed to train
the sentinels so they can defend their people better.”

“Huh, I didn’t know about that. I thought Ahm was supposed to

only find a leader and a healer for them.”

Riley shrugged, gazing over to where Sterling was standing.

Bryce could see the love gleaming in his oldest brother’s eyes as he
studied his mate. It did Bryce’s heart good to know Riley had finally
found his mate. But he also knew that Riley wasn’t going to skip

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down the road to blissful mating happily. The man was going to
grouch his way down the entire path.

No matter how much he and the twins had tried to pull the

proverbial  stick  out  of  Riley’s  ass  over  the  years,  his  brother  had
squeezed  his  butt  cheeks  tightly  and  kept  it  lodged  deeply.  It  was  a
shame,  too.  The  few  times  Riley  did  laugh  or  joke,  Bryce  found  the
man  witty,  and  his  humor  was  well  timed.  He  would  have  made  an
excellent prankster if he hadn’t been so moody.

“It’s only been one day. Besides”—Riley stood, brushing his

hands off—“this place isn’t so bad. It lacks modern conveniences, but
I’ve dealt with worse.”

“Pa sent me to ask how bad the attacks are. He wants to know if

you need Maverick to send some of his sentries.” Bryce hadn’t been
looking  forward  to  giving  that  bit  of  news  to  Riley.  The  man  prided
himself  on  taking  care  of  his  family,  and  Bryce  wasn’t  sure  if  Riley
would be pissed that help was offered. Sometimes Riley could be too
damn proud.

“I’m not sure, Bryce. There was an attack last night, but Max,

Eagle, and I handled it. Until I see how bad it really is, tell Maverick
to hold off on help. I don’t want shifters crowding the village and
making the fey feel as if they are being taken over.”

Bryce blinked at Riley. Had the man just talked calmly to him

about having help? Maybe being mated was a good thing for Riley, or
maybe the man was a clone. This new Riley was scaring Bryce. He
wasn’t used to his oldest brother acting this way.

He was going to have to tell the twins, just as soon as he got over

his goddamn heart attack.

* * * *

Riley couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of his

mouth as he watched Bacon follow behind Sterling with a happy
bounce. There was a gentleness in Sterling that even the animals

Riley’s Downfall

could detect, and Riley was starting to see it as clear as day. He had
been so busy running from his mate that he had never taken the time
to get to know what made Sterling tick.

The man looked at the world with an amused wonder, and he was

starting  to  make  Riley  do  the  same.  Who  would  have  thought  that
Riley  would  have  been  the  one  to  change?  He  had  sworn  that  he
wouldn’t give his heart to his mate once he found him. He had sworn
that  he  would  never  fall  in  love.  And  Riley  had  also  sworn  that  his
mate was going to do what he said and that was final.

Oh, how wrong he had been.
He was starting to see what his pa meant when he had told Riley

that he would understand when he found his mate. Riley had thought
his pa foolish at the time, but now he was seeing that his pa knew
what he was talking about.

He was starting to see why his brothers acted like goobers for

their  mates.  Sterling  had  Riley’s  heart  in  the  palm  of  his  hand,  and
Riley hadn’t even realized his mate had taken it. A grin overtook his
features  as  he  watched  Sterling  talking  to  Warrior.  His  horse  was
probably just as confused as Riley felt, but the damn horse looked like
he was listening. The grin on Riley’s face was so wide that his cheeks
began to hurt.

“Oh, my god. Is that a smile on your face?” Bryce asked in mock

astonishment.

“Shut the fuck up.” Riley glared at Bryce, but couldn’t hold the

expression. Sterling was definitely getting to him. He chuckled as he
turned his back to his brother. “Go harass an elven.”

Riley started when a tall and elegant fey appeared right in front of

him. He hated when the fey or vampires did that. It was creepy as
hell.

Before Riley had a chance to ask the elven man what he wanted,

he heard a quick intake of breath and glanced over at Bryce to see his
brother’s eyes grow wide and then narrow as he growled.

Lynn Hagen

“Whoa!” Riley shouted, but was too late to stop his brother as

Bryce punched the fey square on his jaw. The fey flew off of his feet,
hitting the dirt hard.

“You bastard!” Bryce shouted as Riley grabbed his brother,

pushing him back from the fallen man.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Bryce?” Riley asked as he

blocked Bryce from getting another shot in. “Calm the hell down.”

“You fucking knew and you kept it from me!” Bryce stabbed a

finger at the man as he took a step back, his eyes becoming flat and as
unreadable as stones.

The fey pulled himself up from the ground, his jaw clenching as

he raked his eyes over Bryce. It wasn’t a friendly look. “It was better
this way.”

“For you!”
Riley watched as Bryce’s grey eyes went from unreadable to pain

filled in under a second. They were glowing with hurt as his brother
spun around and headed for his truck.

Riley turned toward the fey, totally lost. “Who the hell are you?”
The man’s eyes were fixed on Bryce, but he answered Riley.

“Ahm.”

This was Ahm? He wasn’t blue. He was white. Riley could have

sworn he was told that the leader of the shadow elves was blue.

“What in the hell is going on?” Riley asked Ahm.
“That is between Bryce and me.” Ahm disappeared, leaving Riley

to scratch his head. Bryce’s truck tires spun, the truck leapt forward,
and then his brother was hauling ass out of the village.

What in the hell had he missed?
He hadn’t even found out why Ahm had appeared in the first

place.

“Is everything all right?” Sterling asked as he neared Riley, a

worried expression on his face.

“Hell if I know,” Riley answered honestly. “But it has nothing to

do with me.” Even though he didn’t like the hurt he had seen shining

Riley’s Downfall

in Bryce’s eyes. He would do anything to protect his family, but he
had a feeling this was out of his hands.

Riley glanced down at Sterling and almost groaned. His mate’s

grey  eyes  were  compelling,  magnetic  as  he  gazed  up  at  Riley.  His
cock  jerked  and  then  began  to  thicken  in  his  pants.  He  had  a  lot  to
accomplish  today,  but  all  he  could  think  about  was  fucking  Sterling
into the dirt floor of their hut.

Surprise showed deeply in Sterling’s eyes, and then a knowing

smile turned his lips up. “I’m going to take a nap.”

Not if I have any say about it. Riley glanced around and then

hurried behind his mate, twisting his lips as he glanced down at Bacon
who was trailing behind Sterling. He picked the pig up from the
ground and quickly jogged over to Chey.

“Pigsit for me.” He shoved Bacon into Chey’s arms and then

raced back across the village, hurrying into his hut. Riley stumbled
and his back hit the wall when Sterling leapt at him.

“Hold still.”
“Yes, sir.” Riley wasn’t sure what his mate was about to do, but

he was anxious to find out. The heated look in Sterling’s eyes was
only promising that Riley was about to have a good time. He was all
for that. He would take whatever Sterling had to offer, and more.

Sterling dropped to his knees, quickly freeing Riley’s cock, and

then he moved swiftly and engulfed Riley’s straining erection down
his throat.

“Oh, fuck!”
Sterling sucked hard and fast as he reached down and cupped

Riley’s sac in his hand, rolling his balls around and massaging them at
the  same  time.  Riley  leaned  heavier  into  the  wall  as  his  fingers
grabbed Sterling’s dark-blond hair gruffly, feeling his knees begin to
shake  already.  The  man  knew  how  to  suck  cock.  He  was  using  his
throat  muscles  to  milk  Riley’s  erection  and  send  him  into  the
stratosphere. Sterling was acting as if he didn’t have a gag reflex.

Fuck yeah!

Lynn Hagen

“That’s it, hon. Suck my cock.” Riley hissed and moaned, his legs

quivering when Sterling began to hum, sending vibrations down his
shaft and straight to his nuts.

His body tightened, and Riley clenched his jaw, fighting back his

release.  Sterling’s  mouth  was  so  hot  and  moist  that  Riley  never
wanted to leave it. Riley’s cock glided in and out of the moist heat at
an  alarming  rate.  As  much  as  he  wanted  to  stretch  this  out,  Riley
knew Sterling’s talented lips were going to push him over the edge in
no time flat. He was willing to bet that his mate could suck a golf ball
through a water hose.

Riley could feel Sterling’s tongue tracing the veins of his cock, his

cheeks hollowed. He was sucking hard, fast, and ferociously. The wet
slurping sounds of his mouth gliding up and down Riley’s erection
made Riley’s toes curl and his fist tighten in the man’s hair.

Sterling grabbed Riley’s hips, stopping him from thrusting into

the younger man’s mouth. Riley fought to stay still, but the blow job
was so fucking amazing. Sterling knew what the hell he was doing as
he bobbed his head back and forth, taking Riley down his throat.

Riley gave a low growl when Sterling glanced up at him, a

mixture of amusement and heat in his eyes. Riley cupped his mate’s
jaw, feeling the muscles under his fingers work as Sterling worked to
bring Riley off.

With their eyes focused on each other, Sterling pulled his lips

tight  over  Riley’s  shaft.  The  move  was  slow,  leisurely,  as  Riley’s
cock  slowly  appeared  from  between  Sterling’s  swollen  lips.  Riley
threw  his  head  back,  feeling  it  smack  against  the  hut.  If  he  kept
watching his mate, he was going to explode.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, Riley’s eyes slowly moved back

down to what Sterling was doing. His eyes hooded when their eyes
locked, and then Sterling grabbed Riley’s cock as his tongue licked a
path up one side of his shaft, a moan rumbling in his chest.

The little imp was seducing him!

Riley’s Downfall

Sterling swallowed him down, teasing and stroking Riley’s cock

to  some  inaudible  beat.  He  was  pushing  Riley  to  a  rapid  climax,  the
man’s  tongue  pressing  against  Riley’s  pulsing  length.  Riley  groaned
as  he  felt  his  cock  swell  further  inside  Sterling’s  mouth,  pressing
against the roof as Sterling opened wider.

Riley shouted and rose up on the balls of his feet when Sterling

pulled  at  his  sac  and  swallowed  him  down  to  the  root.  Riley’s  grip
tightened  in  the  younger  man’s  hair  to  the  point  Riley  was  afraid  he
would  rip  Sterling’s  hair  out  as  his  cum  splashed  down  the  back  of
Sterling’s  throat.  His  mate  pressed  his  face  into  Riley’s  groin,
drinking  down  every  last  drop,  and  then  pulled  back,  lapping  at  the
head as if he wanted more.

“Sensitive,” Riley said as his body jerked.
When Sterling leaned back to smile up at Riley, he saw that his

mate had his own cock in his hand, his fingers shining from his
orgasm.

The man was out to kill him. Oh, yeah, definitely.
Riley was boneless as he leaned against the wall, his legs

quivering. “Now I’m the one who needs a nap.”

Sterling grinned and then frowned. “Where’s Bacon?”
Riley tucked himself back into his pants. “I’ll go get him.” He left

Sterling as he went in search of Chey. He knew that he wasn’t going
to get any rest until his mate knew his pet was safe from Iam and his
posse of pork eaters.

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Seven

Riley smacked his cell phone on the palm of his hand, cursing

when  he  still  had  no  bars.  He  would  have  to  be  in  the  middle  of
bumfuck  nowhere.  How  was  he  supposed  to  call  his  pa,  smoke
signals? He walked around the village, holding his hand high up in the
air as he tried to catch a signal anywhere.

“You look like you’re worshiping a cell phone god,” Sterling said

with a wide grin on his face as he walked over to Riley. “You better
watch out or Iam will try and roast that next.”

“He might as well. It’s useless.” Riley lowered his arm, smacking

the phone with his hand again. “The damn thing has never lost signal
before.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had one.”
Riley’s brows shot up in surprise. “Never?”
Sterling shook his head. “Nope.”
“How in the hell do you live without one?”
Sterling shrugged. “I can’t miss what I’ve never had. Besides,

who was I going to call?”

God, Riley would go nuts if he couldn’t use a phone when he

needed to. He remembered the time before cell phones were invented.
It had been a pain in the ass to try and find a pay phone, and he had to
drive all the way back to the house when out and about if he wanted
to talk to anyone at home.

Of course, back then, he hadn’t lived in a rural community like

this. But he still had a signal on the ranch.

“Eagle, Max, and Chey have a fire going. They’ve invited us to sit

with them. Maybe one of them has a phone that works.” Sterling

Riley’s Downfall

offered Riley a small, shy smile, and then he walked across the village
to the spot where a fire was brightly crackling.

Riley swallowed hard.
He’d had sex with Sterling. He had claimed his mate. He even

received some damn good head. But now was the time to put up or
shut up. He was either going to openly cuddle his mate with witnesses
or run and hide in their hut.

He was sweating bullets.
Riley shoved his cell phone into his pocket and glanced around.

He saw a few fey mingling with each other, talking quietly, and a few
laughing at what the other said. He glanced over at the fire and saw
how Eagle held Chey in the apex of his legs as Max leaned close and
whispered in his ear.

He also saw Sterling sitting across the fire by himself, looking a

bit nervous and so damn breathtaking that Riley’s chest hurt. Sterling
was trying to smile as he replied to something Chey said, putting all
of his attention on the small piglet cradled in his arms as if that was
all he needed in the world.

Riley shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked across the

village to the roaring fire. He saw Sterling’s eyes flicker up to him
and then dart away, and he wished more than anything that he hadn’t
put that hesitant look on his mate’s face. Sterling didn’t know what to
expect from him, and it seemed that the gorgeous little man was too
afraid to ask.

Riley sighed. He had done this. His standoffish ways had made his

mate hesitant to ask for what he wanted. Sterling wasn’t asking for the
world. He wasn’t even asking Riley to run around the village
professing his love. He just wanted to be shown a little kindness and
affection from his mate outside the bedroom.

You can do this, Riley told himself as he walked past the fire to sit

on  the  log  next  to  Sterling.  He  just  had  to  figure  out  how  to  do  it.
Open  displays  of  affection  were  not  something  Riley  was  used  to,
despite  having  grown  up  with  his  father  and  his  brothers.  He  didn’t

Lynn Hagen

mind the occasional slap on the back, but he knew nothing about
cuddling with his mate.

And that kind of sucked now that he needed that knowledge the

most.

Especially since Sterling kept shooting him little looks under the

fall  of  his  hair  as  if  waiting  for  something.  As  the  minutes  passed,
Riley  could  see  Sterling’s  shoulders  start  to  slump  as  if  he  realized
that  Riley  wasn’t  going  to  cuddle  with  him.  Sterling  drew  in  a  deep
breath  and  straightened  his  shoulders,  hugging  Bacon  closer  to  his
chest like a lifeline.

And then he smiled as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
Riley glanced across the fire to where Eagle sat with Chey cradled

between his legs. Chey was talking to Sterling, and Sterling was even
replying. Eagle and Max just kept looking at Riley strangely.

Riley couldn’t stand it anymore. The inch or two between him and

Sterling seemed a mile wide. He scooted over just a little and nudged
Sterling’s shoulder with his thigh. Sterling glanced at him, his face
flushing furiously before he looked away.

Riley grinned and scooted closer until their bodies were pressed

together. Riley could feel every breath that Sterling took and they
were increasing in speed. He even felt the hitch in Sterling’s breathing
when he looped his arm around Sterling’s shoulder.

And then he tugged.
The air rushed out of Sterling’s lungs in a loud whoosh, and he

almost dropped Bacon as he lost his balance. Riley quickly reached
down and put his hand under Bacon’s rump and pushed him back up
against Sterling’s chest.

“Careful, baby,” he murmured into Sterling’s ear. “Bacon could

get hurt if you drop her.”

Sterling’s light-grey eyes were huge on his face as he tilted his

head back and looked up at Riley. He seemed to have lost the ability
to speak, which was stranger than shit. He just nodded. Riley liked

Riley’s Downfall

that he could make his mate speechless. It felt kind of like winning
the lottery.

He wanted to experience it again.
Riley scooped Sterling and Bacon up in his arms and placed them

between  his  legs.  He  wrapped  an  arm  around  both  of  them  and  then
slid  down  the  log  to  sit  on  the  ground,  leaning  back  against  the  log.
Sterling’s body was stiff when Riley pulled the man back against his
body, but after a few moments, he slowly began to relax.

When Riley looked up, Eagle, Max, and Chey were all grinning at

him. Riley kind of felt like the world’s biggest goober, but he wasn’t
doing anything that they weren’t doing. And Sterling was smiling.

Did anything else matter?
Riley let his right arm dangle over Sterling’s shoulder, as he bent

his right leg up, sitting back casually, letting his mate get as
comfortable as needed. It felt good no longer being “the guy without a
mate” when everyone else had theirs right next to them.

Although Riley wasn’t sure about all the kissy-face things he had

seen his brothers do with their mates when they were out in the public
eye. He wasn’t sure he was up for that yet.

One step at a time.
“Zeus tells me you’re the oldest of seven boys,” Max said

conversationally. “That’s a lot of siblings. I would have gone nuts
with so many brothers.”

“He’s an only child.” Chey supplied the information about his

mate.

Riley waved the dangling hand slightly. “It has its moments.”
Sterling snorted and waved a hand up at Riley. “His brothers drive

him  nuts.  They  are  comical  as  hell  and  like  to  play  practical  jokes
pretty  much  all  of  the  time.  Riley  is  the  serious  one.  His  face  goes
seven  shades  of  red  when  the  twins  mess  with  him.  I  only  have  one
brother, but from the way the Lakeland men act, I would love to have
them as brothers as well.”

Lynn Hagen

Riley’s heart skipped a sudden beat. Didn’t Sterling know that he

was family now? They may not be his brothers, but he did have
fifteen brothers-in-law to keep him happy. In the Lakeland household,
that was pretty much the same thing.

Max and Eagle must have been thinking along the same lines

because they stared at Sterling strangely, and then their eyes flickered
over to  Riley. He  realized in  that moment  how piss-poor of a job  he
had  been  doing  with  his  mate.  The  guy  didn’t  know  the  first  thing
about what it meant to be mated.

“Sterling,” Riley began and then cleared his throat, feeling

uncomfortable  as  hell  saying  anything  in  front  of  their  company.
“You have  fifteen brothers-in-law and two fathers-in-law.” He made
sure to include Oscar and Cole.

Sterling’s head snapped up at Riley, his eyes wide, as if he hadn’t

thought about that fact. Riley saw the sheer joy bounce in his mate’s
light-grey eyes as he laughed. “I do, don’t I?”

Riley licked his dry lips, staring down Sterling’s smile and feeling

a need rise in him to taste that bit of sunshine. Oh, gods, he was
actually going to kiss his mate in public.

The skinny little chatty human had become Riley’s downfall.
And he couldn’t find it in him to care at the moment.
The hairs on the back of Riley’s neck stood on end when a loud

scream suddenly tore through the darkness. Riley stiffened as anxiety
filled him. He tightened his hold around Sterling and then lifted his
head into the air, waiting for another one—something, anything, that
would tell him which direction the scream had come from.

When the gut-wrenching sound came again, Riley jumped to his

feet, dragging Sterling up with him. “Max, can you and Chey go with
Sterling back to our hut? I’m going to feel a lot better if you all stay
together.”

“On it,” Max said as he jumped to his feet and reached back for

Chey.

“Riley—”

Riley’s Downfall

Riley grabbed Sterling’s face between his hands, leaning down to

claim a small kiss before staring into his mate’s terror-filled eyes. “I
need you to stay here, Sterling. I need you to be safe. Can you do that
for me?”

Sterling swallowed, but nodded, clutching Bacon to his chest.

Riley smiled and reached down to ruffle Bacon’s head. “Take good
care of Bacon. We’ll be back soon.”

Riley had a very hard time concentrating on anything as he

watched Max and Chey walk away with his mate. He knew Sterling
needed to be somewhere safe. The man was not a fighter. But not
having Sterling under his watchful eyes was agonizing.

“Come.”
Riley tore his eyes away from the doorway Sterling had

disappeared through and turned to face Eagle. The man was already
hurrying away into the darkness, his moves stealthy and quiet. Riley
hurried to catch up. They were headed to the south end of the village,
the direction the screams came from.

But, now, it was eerily quiet, almost too quiet. Granted, it was

dark  out,  but  there  had  been  people  out  and  about  just  moments
before.  Now,  the  path  that  wove  between  dwellings  was  totally
vacant. Riley found it rather strange that no one ran in the direction of
the screams or even peeked out of the doorways in curiosity.

Everyone was curious, weren’t they?
Who didn’t look when chaos could be heard?
He thought it was a normal reaction, but apparently these elves

didn’t think so.

Unless the fey here knew more about what was going on than they

were  telling,  which  Riley  was  strongly  beginning  to  think  was  the
case.  He  had  been  met  only  with  resistance  since  the  moment  he
arrived.  Maybe  there  was  just  a  bit  more  going  on  here  than  anyone
really knew.

Riley stepped everywhere that Eagle stepped, ensuring his moves

were just as quiet. He wasn’t sure who or what was out there, but he

Lynn Hagen

wasn’t going to announce their arrival by snapping any twigs or
rustling any leaves.

The darkness felt like a black veil of evil had settled over them,

and  the  only  thing  lighting  their  way  was  the  sliver  of  a  moon  that
illuminated parts of the forest around them. It was so quiet that Riley
couldn’t  even  hear  the  crickets.  There  was  something  out  there.  He
could  feel  the  chill  deep  in  his  bones.  A  twinge,  a  twang,  a  niggle,
whatever it was, settled in the back of Riley’s neck, making him ultra-
aware that he and Eagle were not the only ones in the woods.

Riley had roamed around in his bear form at night, but he had

never been a soldier and wasn’t used to creeping up on the bad guy.
The Lakelands had their fair share of fighting, but he had never gone
covert like this before.

Eagle raised his hand, signaling Riley to stop.
Riley stilled, holding his breath as he looked past Eagle’s shoulder

and felt ice fill his veins. There were two men standing by an oak tree,
and they had a fey pinned to it. The fey’s eyes were rolled to the back
of his head as one of the men leaned forward and bit into the fey’s
shoulder.

Riley’s lip pulled back into a growl. He was not going to stand by

and watch the fey be drained by two vampires. Not while he still held
air in his lungs. He rushed forward, taking the men by surprise and
knocking the one drinking from the fey on his ass.

And then things went south.
“Riley, no!” Eagle shouted from behind him. “They’re not

vampires!”

Riley glanced over his shoulder and thought better of taking his

eyes off of the men a little too late. He was backhanded so hard that
he flew off of his feet and landed a good five feet away. His head hit
the ground and his saw a burst of stars before his eyes.

Riley rolled to his hands and knees, shaking it off, and then he

was kicked in the gut. His breath whooshed from his body as he rolled
through the forest, his hands scraping against rocks and twigs.

Riley’s Downfall

Just what in the fuck were these things?
“Stay down, bear!” the intruder warned in a lecherous tone that

made Riley want to obey. But, he was Riley. That wasn’t going to
happen. He was stubborn if nothing else.

Riley chuckled and it was dry and cynical as he pushed to his feet.

He could see Eagle fighting the other man, and the grey wolf wasn’t
winning. He was pinned to the tree, fighting to get the other man off
of him.

“Behind their ear!” Eagle shouted as he head-butted the guy.

“Stab them in the mark behind their ear, Riley.”

“Yeah, Riley,” the creature said mockingly as his fingers waved

toward the palm of his hand in a challenge. “Come stab me behind my
ear…if you can.”

“They’re hellhounds. Don’t let them bite you,” Eagle shouted

before shoving his elbow into the creature’s face. Riley could hear the
crack from where he was standing. Eagle had broken the man’s nose.

Riley thought quickly as the man in front of him started to circle

around  Riley.  He  didn’t  have  anything  on  him  to  stab  the  man  with.
As  he  crouched  and  circled,  a  feeling  of  total  misery  washed  over
him. He felt like he would never be happy again.

Why was Sterling even wasting his time on someone like Riley?

He was boring, aloof, and a moody bastard. If he was Sterling, Riley
would have left his  ass  from the beginning.  Sterling deserved better.
He deserved a mate like Bryce or Chauncey, someone fun loving, not
grouchy  and  moody  like  Riley.  Sterling  was  too  young  for  him,  too
innocent.  Riley  should  just  walk  away  from  the  slim  human  and  let
him find real happiness.

Wait, that wasn’t right. Riley knew that it wasn’t him who was

making all of his insecurities and doubts surface. Someone else was
pushing his worst fears to the light. Everyone had worries when it
came to the most important person in their life. But there was no way
in hell Riley was giving Sterling up.

Lynn Hagen

He pushed the thoughts deep down inside, crushing them under

the  weight  of  how  he  truly  felt  about  Sterling.  He  wasn’t  going  to
second-guess  his  feelings.  He  wasn’t  going  to  allow  any  negative
thoughts to ruin what he was just discovering.

It had to be the hound making him feel this way.
Riley fell to his back and rolled when the man lunged forward. He

saw  the  lethal  claws  the  man  had  swiped  at  him  scratch  the  air  his
head only moments  before  had  occupied. He quickly rose to  his  feet
and took a boxing stance. Hell, he didn’t have any other choice. Even
if he shifted, he wasn’t sure he could win.

The man threw his head back and laughed. “Are you fucking

serious?”

Riley shrugged and then feigned left, catching the man on the jaw

with a right hook. He shuffled his feet around, taunting the man.
“Stick and move, asshole, stick and move.”

The guy growled and shifted, turning into the biggest fucking

rottweiler Riley had ever seen. Taking a step back, Riley shifted as
well. He had no choice. Either shift or get mauled. Besides his father,
Riley was the biggest of his brothers in bear form, but he wasn’t too
sure even with his added weight that he could take this dog down.

Riley roared when he saw Eagle fall on his ass, and then the wolf

kicked  his  foot  into  the  man’s  gut,  effectively  flipping  the  guy  over
Eagle’s  head.  Damn,  the  man  was  good.  He  would  be  an  excellent
trainer for the elves.

“Don’t worry about me,” Eagle snapped. “Watch your hellhound.”
Riley snapped his head back around just in time to see the hound

lunge at him. He couldn’t let the thing bite him. He didn’t know why,
but if Eagle said biting was bad, then Riley was going to listen.

Riley reared up on his hind legs and slapped the dog in his face

with  one big bear  claw  as  soon as  the hound was  close enough. The
dog  fell  back  to  the  ground,  shook  its  head,  and  then  circled  back
around.

Riley’s Downfall

Now that the guy was in dog form, Riley wasn’t sure where the

mark that he needed to stab was. He dodged the dog’s snapping
mouth and ran around to the other side of the tree where he had more
room to fight when he stumbled backward, watching two men come
flying down from the sky toward him.

The one with long braids trailing down his back snarled and then

grabbed the dog Riley had been fighting, grabbing a sword from his
back and fighting the hellhound, luring him away from Riley.

Riley shifted back into human form and took off toward the

fighting pair.

“Stay back!” the man with the braids warned.
Riley skidded to a stop, glancing back to where Eagle was. The

second man who had flown in was fighting the other hellhound, Eagle
growling as he landed a few punches to the hound’s gut.

Riley felt stupid standing there with no one to fight. Everyone was

engaged in battle but him. When the hound he had just been fighting
stumbled back, Riley leapt on the dog and held on for dear life,
locking his arms around the dog’s neck in a choke hold as the man
with the sword charged toward them.

He prayed like hell the man didn’t miss.
The sword looked damn sharp as the moonlight gleamed off the

polished metal.

“Now!” the man shouted, and Riley released the struggling mutt,

rolling to his back and tossing his arm up to cover his face when the
blood sprayed out from the dog’s body. That was so fucking gross.

“You dumb-ass fuck!” the man shouted in Riley’s direction as he

sheathed his sword. “If that hound had bitten you, you would be
fighting for your life right now.”

Like he hadn’t been doing just that.
“Don’t fucking yell at me!” Riley roared as he lowered his arm

and stood. He had had enough bullshit for one day. He wasn’t about
to let some stranger stand in the middle of the clearing and hand him

Lynn Hagen

his ass. He had fought with everything in him and didn’t deserve to be
chastised for it.

The man growled as he tossed something on the beheaded dog and

then the body burst into flames. Riley stood there numbly as he
watched the flames lick higher and higher, wondering what realm of
insanity he had just walked into.

Never in his life had he seen anyone set a body on fire. The smell

was enough to make him gag. It was noxious and made the hairs in
Riley’s nose curl from the pure stench that filled the air around him.

“Nice, dick,” the man said as he brushed past Riley and headed

toward Eagle.

Riley growled low as he spun on his heel and followed. This

asshole  was  asking  for  it.  He  wasn’t  sure  who  he  was,  but  Riley
wasn’t  going  to  let  anyone  walk  all  over  him  like  he  was  a  mere
whelp. He could feel his claws itching to extend and teach this bastard
a lesson.

The other hound was down, and his body was burning to a nice

crispy fried Cajun meal as Eagle walked toward Riley.

“Pretty gross, huh?”
Gross was an extreme understatement.
“What in the hell is going on, Eagle?” Riley snapped, glancing

between the two dead bodies.

“In short,” he said as the two men who had flown in flew out,

leaving Riley and Eagle with the mess, “those guys were Dog and
Ruthless. They are winged beasts. You just had the pleasure of
working with Dog.”

Riley wasn’t sure he wanted to hear any more, but he knew he

needed to know what was going on around here. He watched Eagle
walk over to the fey who was on the ground, lying as still as death.

“Those hounds we were fighting are from hell. Their bite is not

only poisonous,” Eagle said as he lifted the man into his arms, “but
smelly as all fuck. I know shifters have a fifty-fifty chance of
surviving the bite. Humans have zero. I’m not real sure about fey.”

Riley’s Downfall

Riley studied the man in Eagle’s arms and cursed. The male

couldn’t be any more than sixteen or seventeen. Why on earth was the
kid out here in the middle of the woods in the dead of night? Where
were his parents and why had he snuck out?

Nothing was making any sense to Riley.
He felt as though he were the last man to be informed. He was

struggling  to  put  all  of  the  pieces  together.  Why  would  hellhounds
victimize  feys?  What  had  the  elven  people  done  to  warrant  such  an
attack, or was it random? Riley hated all of the unanswered questions
spinning around in his head. He wanted answers, and the village was
about to wake the fuck up and give them to him.

He was asked to come here and help out. But how could he help

when no one was willing to give him a fucking clue as to what was
really going on around here? Riley wasn’t stupid. He knew there was
more to this than met the eye. He would get the answers he needed or
pound the shit out of every resident in this backwoods place.

Eagle carried the man down the dirt path, his steps speedy, but

measured. “We have to watch for fever. If he makes it through the
next few hours and doesn’t develop a fever, he should be in the clear.”

Riley walked back toward the village, anxious to get to his mate.

Sterling was human, vulnerable against the hellhounds. Fuck, he was
vulnerable  against  any  of  the  preternatural  creatures  that  existed  in
Riley’s  world.  It  hit  home  just  how  dangerous  his  life  was  for  his
mate.

Riley had been so damn terrified when he saw the man shift into a

dog. If the hound scared him that badly, a bear shifter, Sterling didn’t
stand a chance. Riley shuddered to think of anything bad happening to
Sterling. The man was innocent, naïve, and wouldn’t know how to
handle a large dog. Granted, his mate was great with animals, but
Riley knew for a fact that this was one beast Sterling couldn’t tame.

“What about the burning bodies?” Riley asked as he glanced back

in the direction they had just come from. Smoke was still billowing up
from the freshly burned bodies.

Lynn Hagen

Eagle shook his head. “There is no need to worry about them.

Once they are done burning, there won’t be a trace of them
anywhere.”

Huh.
As they neared the village, Riley noticed that there were onlookers

standing outside their huts. Their eyes were locked onto the body in
Eagle’s arms, their eyes narrowed.

“Whose child is this?” he shouted as he slowed his pace and then

stopped, pointing at the child in Eagle’s arms.

No one responded.
Riley felt his anger hit an all-time high as he glared at the elves.

“He belongs to no one?”

One lone man stepped forward, his face a mask of disgust and

hatred. “He belongs to Ishka and Erowyn. You had no right to
interfere!”

“Interfere in what?” Riley asked as his entire body chilled. What

in  the hell  was  going on around here? What  were these people into?
His  took  a  few  steps  forward  until  he  was  standing  in  the  middle  of
everyone, watching most  of them  glare  back at  him, while a handful
looked terrified.

The man speaking to Riley pointed at the limp man in Eagle’s

arms,  snarling  his  words  as  he  spoke.  “He  was  a  sacrifice,  and  you
interfered.  Now  the  hounds  will  descend  upon  us  and  kill  every  last
man, woman, and child in our tribe, shifter. I hope you have a better
plan.”

Riley ran his hand over his head, staring at the people he was

supposed to temporarily lead, and knew he had to get the hell out of
here before he himself killed every last bastard that had sacrificed this
boy to those creatures.

Riley exploded with anger as Eagle carried the young man to his

hut. He spun around, glancing at the hostile faces all around him, and
then he threw his head back, his voice so loud it felt raw as he
shouted. “Ahm!”

Riley’s Downfall

Chapter Eight

Sterling sat on the floor next to the bed the young man was lying

on. Riley stood to his right, talking heatedly with some scary-looking
white elven man. Chey had told him the man’s name was Ahm, but
knowing the man’s name didn’t comfort Sterling.

The fey still looked like he could kill someone with just one glare.
“Why didn’t you tell me they were sacrificing their own fucking

people to the hellhounds!” Riley’s face was a mask of fury. Sterling
had never seen the bear so mad before. Riley’s grey eyes were like
stone as his jaw clenched tightly.

“I had no idea,” Ahm answered calmly. Sterling didn’t trust that

calmness. Somehow he knew it belied a storm inside the man. He just
looked like the type who would kill someone with a calm smile on his
face.

“You told me they needed help, yet you don’t even know what’s

going on around here?” Riley asked, the incredulity clear in his voice.

Ahm narrowed his eyes. “I am not their leader. The wood elves

and  shadow  elves  were  at  war  not  too  long  ago.  A  war  they  started,
mind  you.  I  don’t  have  to  do  anything  for  them.  It  was  one  of  their
very  own  people  who  raped  and  killed  my  sister,  and  you  question
me?  I  am  not  responsible  for  them.  The  only  reason  I  went  to
Maverick  was  because  I  was  tired  of  them  showing  up  in  my  lands,
looking for refuge!”

Wow. Sterling was looking at the man in a whole new light. Even

after the wood elves had done something so heinous, the leader of the
shadow elves was still willing to help. He had a newfound respect for
the man.

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But he was still creepy.
And if the creepy man yelled at Riley again, Sterling was going to

kick the man’s ass. No one yelled at his bear. Well, maybe Pa, but
that was about it. He stood, ready to go over to Ahm and give the man
a piece of his mind when Chey grabbed Sterling’s arm, giving him a
thin-lipped expression as he shook his head.

Sterling snatched his arm away. He wasn’t afraid of Ahm…much.

But he would brave the likely anger to defend his mate. “Don’t yell at
my mate!”

The room grew deathly quiet as all eyes turned to Sterling. He

swallowed and felt a slight shake begin, but he stood his ground.
Riley was his, and he was going to stand up for his mate.

“Sterling,” Riley began, the warning clear in his voice.
“No, Riley,” Sterling began. “I am truly sorry for your tragedy,

Ahm. But Riley had nothing to do with it. He was asked to come here
as a favor to  you. And when things get funky around here, you want
to  yell at  him? You better be damn  lucky he doesn’t  pack his  things
and go home. He is the one that doesn’t have to do anything for them.
But  my  bear  is  nice.  He  wants  to  help.  So  stop  yelling  at
him…please.”

Riley’s brows shot to his hairline as Ahm stood there motionless,

his expression stoic. Oh, hell, Sterling prayed the man didn’t open a
can of whoop ass on him. No, he didn’t care. He was standing by his
mate, even if it meant getting his ass handed to him by the creepy fey.

“Anything else, human?” Ahm asked, his voice unreadable.
“Yes,” Sterling said as he jutted out his chin and crossed his arms

over his chest. “Tell Iam to stop trying to eat my pig.”

“I—” Ahm blinked and then looked at Sterling once more. “I’ll do

that.”

“Thank you very much,” Sterling replied politely.
“There are serious problems here,” Riley said to Ahm, but kept

glancing over at Sterling as if he couldn’t believe Sterling had stood

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101

up for him. Sterling gave his mate two thumbs up and a wide grin and
then sat back down by the sick young man.

“I had no idea it was this serious, shifter. But I’m at a loss of what

to do about it. I will not bring them to my lands. The wood elves have
grown selfish and unreasonable. They think of nothing but their own
hides. I can’t have that around my people. We are a proud race, but
we live as peacefully as we can. The wood elves would destroy that.”

Riley turned to Eagle, a defeated look marring his handsome face.

“Bring Iam in.”

Eagle gave a firm nod and exited the hut.
“Despite what they have done, we can’t leave them defenseless,”

Riley said, sounding so damn tired that Sterling had an urge to run to
his mate and hug him. “I’ll never understand how they sacrificed their
own people, but I acknowledge why they did it.”

“They are leaderless and live in fear.” Ahm nodded. “But they

could have found a better way. They could have gone to Maverick, or
Zeus, or even told me about the vicious hounds. But they tried to
handle it on their own and made matters worse.”

Sterling crossed his legs, feeling the tears gather in his eyes as he

stared at the young boy. He looked so peaceful lying there. He
couldn’t imagine being handed over to such hateful beings by his own
parents.

What was this young man going to think when he woke up?

Sterling  wasn’t  sure  “I’m  sorry”  was  going  to  cut  it.  This  guy’s
parents  were  supposed  to  protect  him  from  the  monsters,  not  hand
him  over  to  them.  Sterling  hadn’t  known  his  father.  The  man  died
when  he  was  two  years  old.  But  he  was  pretty  sure  his  dad  would
have fought tooth and nail to keep him safe.

“Why am I being brought in here?” Iam asked as he shrugged

Eagle’s arm off of him. Eagle didn’t look too happy, but released the
man and took a stance by the door. Didn’t the guy know elves could
pop in and out of places?

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“Because we want an explanation,” Riley growled as he pointed

toward the bed. “Why in the hell would you people hand over a child
to those monsters?”

Sterling’s thoughts exactly.
Iam sputtered for a moment as if offended by the question, and

then he sighed and his shoulders slumped. In that moment, he looked
twenty years older. The lines around his face deepened, and Sterling
noticed dark circles under the man’s eyes that he had never noticed
before. “I tried to stop them.”

“Not hard enough,” Sterling growled.
“I am just one man,” Iam argued. “I can’t rein in an entire village.

I told them not to make a deal with those hounds.  I argued that they
couldn’t  be  trusted.  The  tribe  threatened  to  disown  me  if  I  didn’t
comply.”

“So you just kowtowed to them?” Riley asked in disgust. “You

just let them hand over your children?”

Iam shook his head. “No. The healer took most of the children and

went into hiding. But some refused to leave their parents. I tried to
reason with the young ones, but they wouldn’t listen. They insisted
that their families would never allow any harm to come to them.”

“Why didn’t we know children were missing?” Max asked from

the corner of the room where he had been standing quietly.

“I let it slip to Ahm that the healer was missing. I caused trouble

with Ahm so he would interfere. They were feeble attempts for help
so my tribe wouldn’t know I was actually seeking assistance.”

“What was the deal they made?” Riley asked.
“The deal was if the hounds stopped the vampires from attacking

us,  then  we  would  provide  them  with  one  fey  a  month  for  their
personal  use.  I  don’t  think  the  people  in  the  village  realized  the
trickery.  I  saw  it  for  what  it  was.  They  weren’t  going  to  stop  the
vampire  attacks.  Even  the  words  ‘personal  use’  should  have  been
enough  for  them  to  fight  the  hounds,  but  they  cowered  in  front  of
those vile creatures and agreed.”

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103

“Why children?” Ahm asked.
This time Iam’s face clouded with anger. His dark-blue eyes

turned  into  two  pits  of  fire.  “That  was  something  that  happened
behind my back. As soon as I realized what was happening, I had the
healer smuggle them out.  The  elven  excuse was  that the  young ones
were  easy  prey.  They  didn’t  fight  and…”  Iam  turned  away,  but  not
before Sterling saw the tears in the man’s eyes.

He wanted to go out there and pound the snot out of each and

every person in the village. Sterling had never hated anyone in his
life. But at that moment, he hated every damn person in the village
who had given their child away to those things.

“What should we do to them?” Ahm asked.
Iam turned around, shock written all over his face. “Why are you

asking me?”

“Because I think you would make a good leader,” Riley replied.

“You just need to learn how to rule your tribe.”

Iam backed away, shaking his head. “I can’t lead them. They

don’t even listen to me.”

“Then I will teach you how to make them not only listen, but obey

your every command,” Ahm said adamantly. “Now, tell me which
adults gave their children away.”

“There have only been two sacrifices involving the young ones,

and Terrik is the second.” Iam pointed over toward the bed. “I can
show you which adults are guilty.”

“And you will make an example out of them,” Ahm replied

heatedly.

Ahm turned toward Riley, and something passed between the two

that  Sterling  couldn’t  decipher.  But  both  men’s  jaws  tightened,  and
their lips turned down as if they were contemplating something really
bad.  Sterling  didn’t  like  it,  but  he  was  finding  that  he  didn’t  like
several things that had happened tonight.

“I had no idea it was this bad here,” Ahm said as he turned to look

around the room. “I will send some of my shadow warriors to guard

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the village while Iam is taught how to lead his tribe. The healer will
bring back the children.”

“I guess that’s my cue to pack my bags?” Riley asked.
A microscopic twinge tugged at the corner of Ahm’s mouth as he

gave one regal bow of his head. “It is.”

“Thank fuck,” Max blurted out and then quickly turned away.
“Excuse my mate. He is a pampered lion,” Chey said with a grin.
“So,” Eagle began, “does this mean I don’t have to teach the elves

how to fight?” Sterling could see the disappointment in the grey
wolf’s face. He must have been really looking forward to the lessons.

“No, stay. Teach them how to fight and defend their village,”

Ahm said. “They could use all of the help they can get.”

“Oh, hell,” Max mumbled.
Riley reached for Sterling, grabbing his hand and heading for the

door at a fast pace. “Are we leaving?” Sterling asked as he jogged
behind his mate to keep up.

“Not until we know the young man is out of the woods. But once

we know he is all right, we’re going home.”

Home! Sterling wanted to do a happy dance. He didn’t mind

roughing it for a while here, but there was nothing like cable
television and a flushing toilet. He was never going to take those
things for granted again.

* * * *

Riley sighed happily as Sterling’s tongue licked leisurely up the

side  of  his  neck  and  then  back  down  the  other  side  until  he  reached
Riley’s throat. The tip of his tongue lingered around Riley’s Adam’s
apple,  teasing  it  gently  with  his  teeth  as  his  mate  moaned.  Sterling
was draped over him, his cock digging into Riley’s stomach, and the
moisture leaking onto his abdomen only reminding Riley that he had
one  sexy-ass  man  lying  above  him.  He  had  his  hands  tucked  behind
his head, his legs spread, and Sterling lapping at his skin.

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105

His mate’s hands were causing havoc with every inch of skin that

they  reached  and  stroked.  The  man  seemed  to  know  just  where  to
touch  Riley  in  order  to  drive  him  out  of  his  mind.  Sterling’s  fingers
lingered on the body hair Riley had an ample amount of, tugging at it
gently as he made his way around to Riley’s ear, nibbling on the lobe.
Riley  gave  a  little  growl  at  the  sensations  rushing  through  him.  The
pleasure felt like soft currents lapping through his body.

Sterling kissed Riley’s jaw and then licked his way around to the

other  side,  doing  to  the  same  to  the  opposite  ear.  He  was  taking  his
sweet time and driving Riley nuts. He shivered when Sterling leaned
to  his  side  and  began  to  kiss  and  lick  one  thick  bicep.  The  man
seemed to be enthralled with Riley’s large muscles, as if he couldn’t
get enough of them.

His mate’s hands were caressing his pecs, his fingers pinching and

pulling at Riley’s nipples. Riley groaned, turning his head so he could
watch his mate lick his damn muscles like a seducer. The man knew
what he was doing and was doing it very well.

The moves were slow, lazy even, but Riley could see Sterling

closing his eyes as if he were enjoying every second of what he was
doing. Riley sure as hell was.

Riley had worried that things between them would be strained

when they returned to the ranch. He worried that he wouldn’t feel as
comfortable being affectionate with his mate as he had at the village.
He had feared that once they came back to his bedroom, things would
be awkward between the two of them.

He was so fucking wrong.
They had barely gotten in the door before Riley was pulling

Sterling up the stairs to claim him again, and Sterling had seemed just
as anxious to be back in Riley’s arms. All Riley could think about was
how proud he was to be Sterling’s mate, and how special he had felt
when his little mate stood up to a man who scared even Riley, just to
defend him.

Had anyone ever had a more wonderful mate?

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He had wanted to toss Sterling to the dirt floor in the hut everyone

had been standing in, not caring who was watching as he claimed his
sexy,  braver-than-he-truly-was  mate.  It  had  made  his  cock  hard
hearing Sterling tell Ahm  off.  It had been even  sexier when Sterling
had proclaimed that Riley was his bear in front of everyone.

Sterling was perfect.
Riley almost laughed at how hard he had fought his mating with

the human. He had been so stupid to deny Sterling. He finally
understood why all of his brothers, and his father, too, turned into
such saps when it came to their mates.

They couldn’t help it.
And now Riley could see why. Sterling had become the best part

of  his  life.  Riley  didn’t  want  the  man  to  leave  his  side—which  was
one big-ass  contradiction to  how he had been acting just a few short
days ago.

How the mighty have fallen.
Although he would never speak it out loud to a single member of

his family, he felt that he had gotten the best mate out of all of them.
Sterling  might  drive  him  to  distraction  with  his  peculiar  ways,  but
Riley  was  pretty  sure  he  would  die  if  anything  ever  happened  to  the
man.  He  just  wouldn’t  want  to  live  without  his  little  blond-haired
mate who drove him crazy and made him love every inch of the man
at the same time.

“Sit on my cock, baby,” Riley said as he gripped his mate’s sides

and lifted Sterling’s hips up into the air. “Ride me.”

Sterling’s light-grey eyes sparkled like twin diamonds as he sat

up, his hands resting on Riley’s chest. Riley knew this was something
Sterling had fantasied about, and he had plans to fulfill each and every
one of Sterling’s fantasies.

Scratch that.
He had every intention of fulfilling each and every one of

Sterling’s fantasies that was humanly, or bear-ly possible, to fulfill.

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107

With Sterling, one never knew. But if it was within Riley’s power to
do it, he would.

“You are so fucking sexy, mate,” Riley whispered as he watched

Sterling  slowly  lower  himself  down  onto  Riley’s  cock.  He  watched
where  their  bodies  met,  his  breathing  growing  more  rapid  with  each
passing  second.  He  couldn’t  tear  his  eyes  away.  Watching  Sterling
sink  down  onto  his  cock  was  erotic  as  hell.  “Just  look  at  you,”  he
murmured. “Your ass was made for my cock.”

“Yesss,” Sterling hissed as his head fell back on his shoulders.
Riley’s eyes slowly moved up Sterling’s body, past the man’s flat

abdomen  to  his  well-defined  stomach  and  then  his  lightly  muscled
chest.  He  gloried  at  the  way  Sterling  was  built.  The  man  wasn’t  a
skinny  guy  with  a  narrow  body  and  no  definition.  No,  his  mate  was
cut,  chiseled,  and  was  erotic  as  hell  to  look  at.  The  man  was  well
tanned  all  over,  and  Riley’s  favorite  spot  on  his  mate’s  body,  aside
from his ass, was the well-defined V that started on either side of the
man’s stomach and ran down between his legs.

And it didn’t hurt that the man was hairless at his groin. Quite the

opposite of Riley’s hairy body, but sexy as sin to look at. It gave him
an unobstructed view of Sterling’s thick and long cock.

Riley’s eyes ran back up Sterling’s body to the brown-hued

nipples on each side of Sterling’s chest and knew they were a work of
art.

They were even more beautiful after Riley reached up and

tweaked  them  between  his  fingers.  They  pebbled  and  turned  white
before  fading  to  pink  and  then  back  to  their  golden  tanned  color.
Perfect.  But  the  sweet  hiss  that  fell  from  Sterling’s  lips  was  even
better.

“Do you like that, baby?” Riley asked as he tweaked the little

nubs again.

Sterling nodded rapidly, his eyes taking on a dazed hue, darkening

from light grey to a steely grey. It looked like the clouds themselves
were moving inside his mate’s eyes, and it was breathtaking. It

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amazed Riley that he could do that to another being, that he could
bring this much pleasure to a man he was falling deeply in love with.
He never wanted that sensual rapture to leave Sterling’s face.

Riley lay there for a second, feeling his heart expand and

encompass the man straddling him. How could he have ever tried to
push this guy away? Gods, he had been such a thickheaded jerk. “Did
I tell you how sexy it was when you stood up to Ahm?”

Sterling licked his lips, his glazed eyes lowering down toward

Riley. “I…I thought he was going to kill me.”

Riley’s eyebrows peaked as surprise rolled through him. “And

you still stood up for me?”

“You’re my mate!” Sterling growled, doing a pretty damn good

imitation of a bear, and Riley loved the sweet growly sound. He loved
it  even  more  that  Sterling  had  claimed  him,  even  to  the  point  of
standing  up  to  someone  he  was  scared  of.  That  was  what  mates  did
for  each  other.  He  knew  that,  but  it  had  still  surprised  him  that  the
slim man had done it.

“And you’re my mate, Sterling. I’m never giving you up.” Riley

didn’t miss the tears that misted in Sterling’s eyes at his words. He
knew his mate craved the pretty little words spoken between mates.
He just didn’t know how to express them verbally.

Riley wrapped his hand around the back of Sterling’s neck and

pulled him down until their noses almost touched. He moved his hand
around until he could cup the side of Sterling’s face, rubbing his
thumb along the soft skin of his mate’s cheek.

“I wish I knew the words, Sterling.”
Sterling’s eyes sparkled with little chips of molten grey. He

smiled. “You do,” Sterling whispered. “You’ll tell me when you’re
ready.”

Riley wished he knew when that was, if ever. He knew he would

never be sappy like his brothers or his father. He just wasn’t built that
way. But he wanted Sterling to know how much the man meant to
him.

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109

Riley started to grow frustrated with his inability to express how

he felt about Sterling. He gritted his teeth and searched his brain for
the right words, but none came to mind, none that he could speak,
anyway.

“Ssshh,” Sterling whispered as he pressed a soft kiss to the corner

of Riley’s mouth. “You’ll find the right words when you’re ready.”

Riley wanted to say something, anything. Sterling deserved it. But

then the man started moving, jerking his hips up and down at a rapid
pace, and Riley forgot his own name, let alone trying to speak an
entire sentence.

“Sterling,” Riley groaned as he grabbed Sterling’s hips and started

thrusting upward, driving his cock in and out of his mate’s tight  ass.
He dug the heels of his feet into the mattress and met Sterling’s rapid
movements  every  time  the  man  came  down  and  impaled  himself  on
Riley’s  cock.  He  could  feel  the  skin  around  his  mate’s  entrance
expanding, giving as Riley’s cock drove inside his mate’s body over
and over again.

“Fuck, Sterling, how do you—” Riley groaned and snapped his

mouth closed when Sterling started some sort of circular motion with
his  hips,  gyrating  them  and  driving  Riley’s  cock  further  into  his
mate’s body. Gods, how did he know how to do that? It was driving
Riley  crazy.  Sterling  seemed  to  squeeze  his  inner  muscles  around
Riley’s cock at the same time he dropped down onto him.

Sterling fell forward, swiveling his hips in a quick motion as he

bowed his back, staring right into Riley’s eyes. “Are you going to bite
me, Riley?”

Riley stared up at Sterling, unsure of how comfortable he felt at

the wicked grin on his mate’s face. Sterling was kind of scary when
he seemed that happy during sex.

Sterling wiggled his dark-blond brows. “Well, big boy, are you?”
Riley was suddenly reminded of Sterling calling out to someone

in his sleep that he referred to as “big boy.” Had Sterling been
dreaming of him? The mere thought that Sterling had been fantasizing

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about him, even in his sleep, all of a sudden took hold of Riley and
overwhelmed him.

He growled, flipping Sterling over onto his back. What madness

had control of him, Riley would never know. He grabbed a handful of
Sterling’s hair with one hand and hiked the man’s leg up to his chest
with  the  other.  He  had  Sterling  twisted  into  a  pretzel.  His  mate’s
knees  were  touching  his  ears  as  Riley  slammed  his  cock  into  his
mate’s giving ass. Riley pressed both hands into the mattress on either
side  of  Sterling’s  head,  his  mate’s  feet  at  his  ears.  Gods,  he  was  a
debauched  mess,  and  Riley  was  turned  on  even  more.  The  man  was
bent in half and smiling up at him.

Smiling!
“Mine!” he growled right before he struck, sinking his teeth into

the soft flesh between Sterling’s shoulder and his neck. The first
sweet taste of his mate’s life-giving blood ripped the last of Riley’s
control away from him.

He threw his head back as his loud roar filled the room, shaking

the windows, as his release took hold of him and tossed him over the
edge into bliss. As his cock thickened inside of Sterling, swelling to
the point of trapping him inside his mate’s body, Riley heard his own
cry of release echoed in his mate’s soft cry.

Riley pounded into Sterling’s pulsing ass, licking the wound

closed  as  the  last  of  his  seed  emptied  from  his  tight  balls.  His  arms
quivered  as  sweat  dripped  from  his  face.  His  mate’s  stomach  was
covered  with  his  own  cum  as  Sterling  lay  there  jerking  slightly,
satiation riding his features hard.

Riley had enough of a brain cell to roll to the side when he

dropped down onto the mattress, taking Sterling with him. Riley
wrapped his arms around Sterling as the man snuggled into his chest.
He could hear a happy little sound come from his mate, and he
couldn’t help but smile. Sterling really was something else.

“Riley?”
“Yeah, baby?” he whispered against the top of the man’s head.
“Where’s my pig?”

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Chapter Nine

Maverick walked into the diner, glancing around. He spotted the

wolf physician he was there to meet almost immediately. He nodded
at a few of the townspeople and smiled at a little girl with wide blue
eyes as Maverick crossed the room.

The little girl reminded Maverick of when Melonee was that age.

He remembered the first time he had laid eyes on her. Maverick had
been afraid he would break her. She was so damn small. He had
wanted to give her the world.

And still did.
His adopted daughter had grown up so fast that Maverick yearned

for the days when she ran around the den causing havoc and had
every warrior wrapped around her little finger.

The warriors were still wrapped around her finger, but she was

grown now, or almost. She had turned into a beautiful young woman
and had a fierce attitude to match Maverick’s. But as he glanced over
at  the  small  girl  with  long  brown  ringlets,  he  wished  he  could  make
time stand still so  his  little Melonee wouldn’t  let  her mate  claim  her
and then leave him. Melonee was his right-hand girl.

His mate, Cecil, was his best friend and everything else Maverick

had ever yearned for in a mate, but Melonee was his sidekick, his
buddy, and his get-into-trouble partner. What was he going to do
without her?

“Is everything all right?” Dr. Carmichael asked as Maverick took

a seat.

Damn, his eyes were misty. When in the hell did he ever get

misty-eyed?

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Duh. When he thought of Melonee.
Maverick cleared his throat and nodded. “I’m fine. What did you

find out?” His nostalgic moments of his daughter were for him alone.

“Well,” Dr. Carmichael began as he lifted his cup of coffee,

“Cole’s blood test came back.”

“And?”
The wolf physician shook his head, took a sip of his coffee, and

then set the cup down. “The blood I drew from Seth and the blood I
drew from Cole have been tested. Although Seth has been converted
into a bear, he has a minute trace of the drug Liquid Wrath in his
system.”

Damn. Maverick had prayed that Seth, Chance Lakeland’s mate,

wouldn’t be infected. The Lakelands weren’t going to like this news.

“And Cole’s blood?” He still gritted his teeth to think that Shanta,

the deceased fey leader, had tried to use the whelp for monetary gain.
The otherworldly residents of Brac Village kept the news that Cole’s
blood contained the cure for Liquid Wrath a well-hidden secret. They
didn’t want another psycho coming after the babe. Cole’s father,
Luke, hand had a hard enough time keeping his son safe when he ran
from Shanta. Malcolm’s mate didn’t need any more bullshit coming
his son’s way.

“I tested the child’s blood against the small sample of the drug I

have. It’s still the cure for that horrendous paranormal drug. But when
I tested his blood with the mutated version of Liquid Wrath, it was
useless. The mutation allows for a human being to be converted into a
shifter, vampire, demon, or whatever his mate is, but Cole’s blood is
useless in neutralizing the mutated version of the drug.”

Maverick was both angered and relieved. He was angry that Cole

was still a target, but relieved that his blood had gone down on a
notch on the most wanted list. Malcolm and Luke would at least get
some good news.

Maverick nodded at Tangee as the mate brought him a chai tea.

The man knew his weakness. “Thanks.”

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113

“Are you going to order anything to eat?” Tangee asked as he

tapped his pencil on an order pad.

“Not today.”
Tangee nodded. “Okay, call me if you change your mind,” he said

and then walked away to take some else’s order.

Maverick waited until they were alone and then turned back to the

doctor. “Tell me, doc, why did Ahm turn white?”

The physician looked shocked, his brows jumping up into his

hairline. “He’s not blue anymore?”

Maverick shook his head.
“I’m afraid I don’t know too much about the shadow elves,

Maverick. The shadow elves are elusive. In all my life, I’ve only met
one, and that was Ahm. Did he give you a reason?”

Maverick chuckled and then sipped his tea. “The Keebler Elf says

it happens when a shadow elven turns five hundred years old. I’m just
wondering if there is more to his story than he’s telling. But be
warned, he isn’t too happy about not looking like Papa Smurf
anymore.”

Dr. Carmichael clucked his tongue, shaking his head at the same

time. “I swear, alpha. One of these days you are going to poke fun at
the wrong person and they are going to poke back.”

Maverick grinned at the wolf physician, and he knew his smile

was more demonic than humorous. “Let them try, doc. Let them try.”

* * * *

Sterling had big plans for Bacon. He wasn’t sure if other people

would consider his plans “normal,” but he didn’t care. Bacon was his
little girl, and he was going to pamper her like a princess.

“Chauncey?” Sterling said the man’s name as he walked into the

kitchen and spotted the big guy eating right from the ice cream
container. He was going to have to make sure he forwent any ice
cream in the future.

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The man leaned against the counter scooping the treat out, but

Sterling noticed that Chauncey’s moves were a little uncoordinated.
He looked like he was scooping just a little too slowly, and his wrist
kept jerking.

“Would you mind taking me into town?” he asked, smiling at

Chauncey.

Chauncey licked the spoon as if he would never taste ice cream

again, and then he gave a slow nod, as if only half listening to
Sterling. “I can do that for you, Sterling. Do you want to go now?”

“Now would be nice.”
Sterling wasn’t sure if Chauncey was the right person to ask. His

movements were still jerky, and he was walking a bit slow. Sterling
was actually a little concerned.

“Is everything all right? I can ask someone else.” He wanted to

say  more,  but  Sterling  wasn’t  sure  if  asking  the  man  why  he  was
walking  funny  was  any  of  his  business.  He  may  be  a  chatterbox  at
times, but he knew when to butt out of someone’s business.

“I’m cool,” Chauncey replied. “I was in an accident not too long

ago. Even though I’ve recovered, sometimes my coordination screws
with me. I go right when I want to go left, or I miss the toilet seat
altogether.”

Yeah, Sterling so did not want to know about that last part.
“But I can take you.”
This man was about to give him a ride into town? He was going to

be behind the wheel of a truck? “Uh…maybe I should ask—”

“I’m fine,” Chauncey said as he wiggled his brows. “Just make

sure you wear your seat belt.”

Sterling took a quick step back.
“Just kidding.” Chauncey chuckled. “You’re too easy. But you are

going to wear a seat belt. Besides, it’ll give me an excuse to harass
my mate at work.”

Okay.

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115

“I’ll be right back.” Sterling shot up the steps and grabbed Bacon

from the small pen that Riley had constructed in their bedroom. It
wasn’t big, but then again, neither was Bacon.

“Where’s the fire?”
“Going into town,” Sterling shouted to his brother over his

shoulder and then skidded to a halt. “Why aren’t you at work?”

“It’s my day off. I do get those, you know.”
Sterling narrowed his eyes as he walked down the hallway toward

his brother. “You didn’t ask for a vacation package and a 401K, did
you?” The last town they were in, his brother had done just that. They
nearly weren’t hired.

“And Cody said after my ninety days, I would get it.” Darcy

looked smug. “I told you I knew how to negotiate.”

“I guess.” Sterling turned and walked down the hallway, heading

back downstairs.

“Hey, Sterling,” Darcy called out.
Sterling turned.
“Maybe later we could hang out?”
He had missed his brother. They lived under the same roof, but

Darcy worked as a prep cook during the day and spent his nights with
his vampire mate. Sterling hadn’t seen much of Darcy in the past few
weeks, and he really missed hanging out with the guy.

“Okay.” He grinned as he ran down the steps.
“Ready?” Chauncey asked.
“Yep.”
As they approached the truck, Sterling became confused when

Chauncey  headed  toward  the  passenger  side.  Maybe  Chauncey  was
going  left  when  he  should  be  going  right.  That  thought  did  not
comfort Sterling.

“Want to drive?” Chauncey asked as he dangled the keys in front

of his chest.

It had been too long since Sterling drove. He had a valid license,

but didn’t own a car. “Really?”

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“Sure.” Chauncey tossed Sterling the set of keys. Sterling caught

them in midair, nearly dropping Bacon. He scooted her back up his
chest and climbed into the truck.

“You’ll have to hold Bacon so I can drive,” Sterling said to

Chauncey as he held Bacon out to him. Once Chauncey took the pig,
Sterling reached down and readjusted the seat. His legs were too short
to reach the pedals. Of course, he wouldn’t have that problem if a
single one of the Lakeland men was built like a normal person.

Sterling chuckled lightly to himself. He wasn’t sure he would like

them as much if they were. He certainly knew he wouldn’t like Riley
as much if he wasn’t so tall and sexy and—damn. He needed to stop
thinking about his mate or he’d never make it out of the driveway.

He watched in amazement as Chauncey buckled Bacon into a seat

belt between them. He never would have thought of that. Sterling
started the truck and pulled from the drive, heading into town. He was
so excited that he was driving that he hadn’t watched his speed limit.

“Cops are behind us,” Chauncey said as he looked over his

shoulder. “And their lights are flashing, speedy.”

Sterling felt panic well up in him. He had never been pulled over

by a cop before. What if they took him to jail? What if they threw him
on the ground and handcuffed him? He didn’t even know a lawyer he
could call.

“Should I try and outrun them?” Sterling asked as he glanced in

the rearview mirror.

“You could try, or you could just pull over,” Chauncey said with a

snicker. “But I would opt for pulling over. I’m too pertty to go to
jail.”

“Yeah,” Sterling said as he licked his lips, feeling his mouth dry

out,  “me,  too.”  Sterling  slowed  the  truck,  pulling  over  to  the  soft
shoulder,  and  put  the  truck  in  park,  turning  the  key  and  shutting  the
motor off.

He was sweating bullets.

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117

His entire body stiffened when the cop slid from his patrol car and

walked toward the truck, his towering frame seeming larger than life.
Sterling saw bars in his future.

“He’s coming toward us,” Sterling whispered to Chauncey from

the side of his mouth.

“They tend to do that when they pull you over.” Chauncey

chuckled.

Sterling was a nervous wreck. He had never been stopped by cops.

Ever.

“Do you know what speed you were going, son?” the cop asked as

he  approached  Sterling’s  side  of  the  truck.  The  man  was  wearing
mirrored  sunglasses,  hiding  his  eyes.  That  was  not  helping  Sterling
relax. He imagined big,  bloodred eyes that  would  hypnotize Sterling
into  confessing  everything  he  had  done  wrong  in  his  life.  He  was
ready  to  jump  from  the  truck  and  beg  to  man  not  to  arrest  him  for
running that frog over.

“No,” he whispered, averting his eyes, terrified the man was going

to haul him from the truck as Sterling was kicking and screaming.

“The speed limit is fifty-five, son. You were going seventy.”
“I’m dyslexic?”
He heard Chauncey laugh beside him as the cop pulled his

sunglasses down the bridge of his nose, his stern blue eyes filled with
bafflement. “That still makes it fifty-five. And the word is dyscalculia
when it pertains to numbers.”

Oh, hell. Sterling would have to get stopped by a cop who knew

his shit.

“Is that a pig in a seat belt?” the cop asked as he leaned into the

truck. “Why isn’t he in the back of the truck?”

“Ask him.” Chauncey pointed to Sterling, looking as if he was

having a real good time with this. Sterling was glad someone found it
amusing. He, on the other hand, was scared shitless.

“She’s just a baby,” Sterling said softly, unable to look the cop in

his face.

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The cop pulled back from the window, scratching his fingers over

his chin. “I’m gonna let you go this time, only because you are too
damn peculiar. Watch your speed and”—he waved at the seat—“get a
car seat if you’re going to haul a baby pig into the front with you.”

“Really?” Sterling asked in surprise. He never thought of that. It

would be a smart thing to do.

“No.” The cop shook his head as he walked away.
“You’re dyslexic?” Chauncey asked and then fell into the

passenger door, hoots of laughter filling the cab. Sterling frowned as
he slowly pulled back onto the road, watching his speed very
carefully.

They drove into town, without any more incidents.
“I’m going to the feedstore first. I have to get a few things for

Bacon,” he said as he parked the truck and unbelted his piglet, pulling
Bacon to his chest and climbing out. Chauncey slammed the truck
door and joined Sterling on the sidewalk.

“Good, I need to pick a few things up as well.”
Sterling spotted the same flirtatious clerk standing behind the

counter, but this  time Sterling avoided the man.  He was  mated now.
He  was  in  a  solid  relationship.  No  man  would  ever  do  it  for  him
except Riley. And his big bear had claimed him. Sterling couldn’t be
happier.  He  walked  around  with  a  big  goofy  smile  on  his  face  now
every  time  he  thought  of  Riley.  The  man  was  the  cat’s  meow  in
Sterling’s book.

Or was that the bear’s…growl?
“Back again?” the man asked, a knowing smile on his lips.
Jeez.
“I just need to pick up a few things for my piglet.”
“Where’s  your  nonboyfriend?”  the  man  asked  as  he  leaned  over

the counter, openly ogling Sterling from head to toe. He didn’t like it.

“At home,” he answered and then grabbed a few things from the

shelves he thought Bacon would love. Chauncey walked into the

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119

feedstore, and Sterling noticed the clerk straighten. He must have
realized that Chauncey wasn’t Riley, because he relaxed once more.

“I’ll take these items, please,” Sterling said as he approached the

counter, setting down the things he had picked pick out for Bacon.

The man pulled the items closer to ring them up, but grazed

Sterling’s hand. The move was slow, intimate, and done on purpose.
“I could make going out with me worth your while.”

Sterling pulled his hand back. “No, thank you.”
The clerk set the harness down and grabbed Sterling’s hand,

rubbing his thumb over the knuckles. “Are you sure?”

“He said no, dipshit.” Chauncey growled, leaning over Sterling’s

shoulder, crowding him, and stared menacingly at the clerk. “Now
release his hand before I break yours.”

The clerk quickly released Sterling’s hand and rang his items up

so fast that Sterling was finished and out of the door in less than five
minutes.

“Thanks.”
Chauncey winked at him as he stored his items in the back of his

truck. “You’re family, Sterling. No one messes with my brother-in-
law.”

Sterling felt ten feet tall. He had always wanted a big family, and

he had one now. He had so many brothers-in-law that he worried he’d
go broke come Christmas. But it would all be worth it just to feel the
love and camaraderie he felt every time he was surrounded by these
men.

“I have one more stop.”
“Anywhere you want to go, shorty.”
Sterling quirked a brow.
“Well, you are short,” Chauncey pointed out.
Chauncey  had  him  there.  Sterling  laughed  as  he  walked  down  to

the barbershop-slash-nail-salon.

“Getting a haircut?” Chauncey asked as he opened the door for

Sterling.

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“No, I want to get Bacon’s nails done.”
Chauncey paused, glancing down at Sterling and then at the pig in

his arms. “No shit.”

“She’s a girl and should be pampered,” Sterling defended his

reason.  He  didn’t  want  anyone  making  fun  of  his  pig,  but  he  knew
Bacon  would  love  the  royal  treatment.  This  was  Sterling’s  first  pet,
and he wasn’t sure if he was taking good enough care of her. Giving
her a day of pampered treatment seemed logical to him.

“Hey,” Chauncey said as he placed his hand on the small of

Sterling’s back and ushered him inside. “I ain’t said nothing about it.
Have fun with Bacon. I’m going to get a trim while I’m here. I have
to look spiffy for Curtis.”

“Hello, gentlemen.”
“Hey, Heaven,” Chauncey called out, “one trim job for me and

one pampering job for the pig.”

Heaven placed his hands on his hips, eyeing Chauncey like the

man was joking. Sterling was starting to think that maybe he would
just buy a bottle of nail polish at the grocery store and call it a day.

“I’m serious.” Chauncey chuckled. “Give Bacon the works.

Sterling wants his pet looking like a beauty queen.”

Heaven eyed Sterling, and all Sterling could do was nod.
“Okay.” Heaven tossed his hands up. “At least I can add polishing

a pig’s nails to my portfolio.”

“Can you give her a pink bow around her neck, too?” Sterling

asked once he saw that Heaven was going to pamper his pet.

“Honey, by the time I’m done with your little piglet, she’ll be the

talk of the town.”

Sterling wasn’t sure if he liked the way Heaven’s blue eyes

sparkled with merriment. Was he making fun of Bacon?

“Have a seat over there, and just as soon as I’m done with

Chauncey, we’ll hook Bacon up.”

* * * *

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121

Chauncey chuckled at Riley’s mate. The man was too much. Not

only did the dang pig have sparkling pink nails, but she also had a
cute pink bow to match around her neck. Sterling was carrying the
damn thing in one of those papoose carriers that belted the pig to the
front of Sterling’s chest. The nutty little fella was treating the pig like
she was his damn kid.

Never in his life had Chauncey ever thought to see someone treat

a pig like a whelp. It was comical as hell, and he was loving every
damn minute of watching it.

“Are we done, or do you want to take Bacon for a mud bath?”

Chauncey hooted with laughter as Sterling growled at him. For a
human, it wasn’t half bad.

Chauncey leaned against his truck, crossing one arm over his

chest as he answered his cell phone, which had been vibrating at his
hip. He was still chuckling. “Yello.”

“Hey, have you left town yet?” Riley asked.
“Not yet,” Chauncey answered, grinning at Sterling as he stood

outside the barbershop talking to Heaven. “Why, what’s up?”

“I’m done repairing the fence Hell Raiser knocked down, but I

tore my work gloves up. Can you pick me up a few pair?”

“No problem.” Chauncey waited. He knew Riley wanted to ask

how Sterling was doing. His oldest brother had been up at the crack of
dawn and was out of the house early. It was late afternoon, and Riley
hadn’t seen his mate all day.

The guy was jonesing, and Chauncey knew it.
Fuck, this was priceless.
“How’s…uh…how’s shopping going?”
Chauncey held back the laugh. “Just fine.”
“Did you…uh…get what you needed?”
Chauncey had to cover his hand over his mouth to bite back the

laugh. Riley had never asked him about shopping and if Chauncey
had gotten everything he needed. He was going to make the man ask.

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Damn, this was fun.
“Yep.”
There was a long pause on the other end, and Chauncey just

leaned against his truck, snickering to himself as he waited Riley out.

“Well, hurry back with my gloves and drive extra careful.”
“Sure, I wouldn’t want your gloves harmed in any way.”

Chauncey couldn’t hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing,
placing his free hand on his knee as he bent over, feeling tears stream
down his face.

“You bastard. Wait until you get back here. I’m going to kick

your ass.”

Chauncey stood, wiping at the tears, and then sobered when he

saw Sterling pointing up into a very, very large man’s face, yelling at
the guy.

“Oh, shit!”
“What!”
“Gotta go save your mate from getting pounded into the ground.”
“Chauncey!”
Chauncey tucked his phone into his pocket, racing toward the

barbershop. Sterling looked pissed as hell, and the man standing in
front of him looked downright confused.

Oh, hell. It was one of the new shifters, Kenway. The man was

fucking  bigger  than  Chauncey.  Any  other  time  Chauncey  would
welcome  the  challenge.  But  with  his  coordination  being  so  off,  he
might  swing  at  Kenway  and  accidently  clock  Sterling  on  the  jaw
instead.

And Chauncey would rather face a pack of hungry wolves than

Riley when he was really pissed off.

“What’s going on, Sterling?” Chauncey asked as he stepped closer

to the small human.

“This…This…man laughed at Bacon and called me a weirdo!”
“I didn’t mean any harm,” Kenway defended. “But you have to

admit that carrying a pig around like a baby is stranger than hell.”

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123

Chauncey hated to admit it, but he agreed with Kenway. But what

could he do? Sterling was family. Right or wrong, Chauncey had his
brother-in-law’s back.

“That’s because you are a big brute who wouldn’t know the first

thing about loving something so special!”

Kenway’s features darkened as his fists curled at his sides.

Somehow, Sterling had hit a chord in the guy. His deep blue eyes
filled with hurt, and Chauncey knew he had to defuse the situation.

“Calm down, shorty.”
“Calm down?” Sterling huffed. “He calls me a weirdo and pokes

fun at my pet and you want me to calm down?”

Chauncey didn’t think it was that big a deal. It would have been

something  he  would  have  ignored.  But  it  was  obvious  that  Sterling
was  taking  the  strike  against  the  piglet  personally.  Chauncey  wasn’t
sure why, but he knew he had to calm the short man down.

“Why don’t you go sit in my truck while I handle this?”
Kenway’s black brow rose, but Chauncey ignored it.
“I—”
All  three  heads  turned  when  two  trucks,  filled  with  Chauncey’s

brothers, came to a screeching halt in front of the barbershop.

Fuck.
Riley was going to hand him his ass for this. Chauncey was

beginning to wish he had just continued eating his ice cream and kept
his big mouth shut.

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Chapter Ten

Riley’s heart was beating so fast that he feared he might have a

heart attack when he spotted Kenway, the large buffalo shifter,
standing in front of his mate. If that damn shifter touched his mate, he
was going to tear the man apart with his bare hands.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Chauncey shouted, holding his hands up as

Riley made a beeline straight for Kenway. Riley growled when
Chauncey stepped between him and his target. He wanted blood.

“What in the hell is going on here?” his pa shouted as he climbed

from the second truck, looking as if he were about to hand everyone
in a ten-mile radius their asses. Riley didn’t care. His mate was in
trouble, and he was going to make the bastard who fucked with his
mate pay.

“It’s just a misunderstanding,” Chauncey said quickly.
“What’s to misunderstand?” Riley bit out as he pushed against the

hands Chauncey held against his chest, stopping him from moving
forward. “You said that Sterling was about to get pounded into the
ground. It sounds pretty clear-cut to me.”

“Son, what’s going on?” his pa asked Sterling, pulling Riley’s

mate aside.

Riley stood there glaring at Kenway, daring the man to say one

single damn word. If the shifter so much as stepped one toe out of
line, Riley was going to make the man regret moving here.

“I don’t want to say,” Sterling said quietly, his eyes snapping

rapidly from Riley to Kenway.

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125

“Did you threaten my mate?” Riley snarled, taking a step in

Kenway’s direction, but Olsen grabbed him by the arm and helped
Chauncey pull him back.

Kenway crossed his big, beefy arms over his chest, twisting his

mouth to the side. “I would never threaten anyone smaller than me.”

“That includes just about everyone,” Chance said and then held

his hands up when Riley glared at his brother.

“Talk to me, Sterling. What happened?” Pa asked Riley’s mate.

“No one is going to harm you.”

Sterling glanced at each and every man standing there. Riley had

rallied the posse, bringing every brother with him except Roman, who
was working on expanding the rec center. A virtual army of Lakeland
men surrounded the area.

“It’s stupid,” Sterling murmured as he adjusted the…was that a

baby carrier Bacon was sitting in? Riley wasn’t sure giving the pig to
his mate had been such a wise choice. His mate was treating the piglet
like a small child.

Maybe he should have given him a goldfish instead.
“Sterling.” His pa said Sterling’s name in warning, but gently.
“He called me a weirdo and laughed at Bacon!” Sterling shouted,

his eyes misting. Riley stood there gaping at his mate. All of this was
because someone had picked on Sterling’s pig? Riley groaned.

What in the hell was he going to do with his mate?
The man was impossible!
Riley  walked  over  to  Sterling,  grabbed  him  by  the  back  of  his

neck, and hauled Sterling into his arms, planting the biggest kiss
imaginable on his mate’s lips. He could feel his face, neck, and ears
heating up to the point that it felt like the sun was scorching him when
he heard hoots and laughter coming from behind him.

Gods, he wished his brothers would get a life.
This was the first time Riley had openly showed any kind of

affection toward his mate in front of his family. He was aloof, moody,

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and quiet. But for Sterling, Riley would fall headfirst down that road
into blissful mating.

“You finally fell on your ass!” Chance hooted from behind him. “I

told you it would happen.”

Riley turned his head, feeling a growl vibrating in his chest. Even

he was surprised when a chuckle fell from his lips instead. He hugged
Sterling to his chest and grinned, enjoying the knowledge that his
mate was safe.

Strange, but safe.
“Holy shit!” Gavin said as he took a step backward, his arms

going wide as if to ward off trouble. “He’s smiling. I think the world
is about to end. Save the children!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Riley shot at Gavin, but he couldn’t stop

grinning.

“Did I miss something?” Kenway asked, looking so damn

confused that all Riley could do was continue to grin.

“How about you come to dinner at the Lakeland ranch, and we’ll

tell you all about it?” Pa asked the buffalo shifter.

“I definitely missed something,” the man muttered, shaking his

head in confusion.

“What about Bacon?” Sterling whispered against Riley’s chest.

“He made fun of my pet.”

Riley placed his hand on the small of Sterling’s back, guiding his

mate toward his truck. “Hon, we really need to talk about this pig of
yours.”

* * * *

Sterling grumbled under his breath as he sat at the kitchen table

with the rest of the ever-growing Lakeland clan. He was really
starting to get tired of everyone making fun of his pet. So, he spoiled
the pig?

So the fuck what?

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He got it that pigs usually lived outside in the barn. He knew pigs

were for meat. He even understood that he had probably gone a little
overboard with the whole baby carrier and pink painted nails thing.

He had just never had a pet before, and he had adored Bacon from

the second he set eyes on her. Receiving her as a gift from Riley just
made her that much more special. What was he doing that was so
wrong?

Riley loved his horse. He created a place in the barn for him and

hand-fed him carrots and apples. He had even bought Warrior a
special blanket to wear under his saddle. Was that any different than
what Sterling was doing with Bacon?

Sterling frowned when someone else made a joke about the pink

nails. He was too upset to pin the voice down, but it had to be
someone at the table, which meant it was most likely a family
member of some sort.

He couldn’t stand it anymore.
Sterling pushed himself away from the table, grabbed his half-

filled plate, and carried it over by the trash can. He quickly scraped
the food off into the garbage and then rinsed his plate and set it in the
dish drainer.

He paused at the sink, listening. He hoped that someone at some

point would stick up for him, but they all just thought he was weird.
Not even Riley said anything.

Sick to his stomach with heartache, Sterling walked into the living

room and retrieved his pig. Bacon was sleeping peacefully in the soft
little cat bed that Sterling had purchased for her. She looked like an
angel in pink toenails and a bow.

He really didn’t see what was so wrong about what he had done.

He loved his pig. He cradled Bacon in his arms wondering if maybe
everyone was right and he was crazy. It was certainly looking like it.

Maybe he should just let Bacon live in the barn like the rest of the

animals? Maybe she would be happier in the barn. Sterling walked

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right out of the living room, which was now full of people, and out
the front door. He stepped off the porch steps and headed for the barn.

Was he being cruel to Bacon by keeping her in the house? What

did he actually know about pigs beyond what he had read in the book
in Pa’s library? Maybe pigs really needed to be outdoors. Maybe
Bacon needed to be with her family.

Sterling’s heart weighed heavy in his chest as he walked into the

barn  and  crossed  to  the  pen  holding  the  sow  and  her  piglets.  The
mama  pig  was  resting  but  raised  her  head  when  Sterling  stopped  at
the  railing,  as  if  she  knew  he  was  there.  After  sniffing  the  air,  and
making a small piggy  grunt,  she dropped her head back  down to  the
straw.

“What do you think, Bacon?” Sterling whispered softly to the

little piglet as he held her up to his face. “Is this where you want to
be?”

Bacon snorted and wiggled her little feet furiously.
“Well, that’s no answer,” Sterling huffed and settled down onto

the floor in front of the pigpen. He cradled Bacon to his chest for a
moment, stroking his hand down her back as he considered what he
was about to do.

He loved Bacon, but he loved Riley even more. If he continued to

spoil Bacon then people would continue to make fun of him. Not only
did it hurt Sterling’s feelings, but it made Riley angry. And an angry
Riley was a very bad thing.

Sterling knew what he had to do.
Tears started to fill Sterling’s eyes and spill down his cheeks as he

pulled the bow from Bacon’s neck and then set her on the floor inside
the pigpen. He pointed her toward the mama pig and her piglets and
then scooted Bacon toward them with a hand on her rump.

“Go on, Bacon,” Sterling whispered.
Bacon snorted, sniffed the ground, and then spun around, making

a beeline right back to Sterling. As soon as she reached him, she tried

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129

to climb up onto his lap. Sterling rolled his eyes and picked her up,
setting her right back inside the pig enclosure.

“Bacon, you need to go to your mama.” Sterling hiccupped, trying

to suppress the cry building up in his throat at the idea that his
precious little pet was about to become just a pig again. “Go on,
Bacon.”

“Bacon, now that’s a delicious-sounding word, but I prefer

human.” Someone laughed quietly from the shadows. “Humans taste
so much better.”

Sterling yelped and spun around so fast that he fell backward,

hitting his head on the wooden railing of the pigpen. He rubbed the
back of his head as he righted himself and searched the barn for the
source of the words.

A shadow moved in the corner, sending shards of fear spiking

through Sterling. It wasn’t so much the shadow that scared him but
the sharp-looking fangs in the man’s mouth.

Oh, he was in such deep shit.

* * * *

Riley frowned as he walked into the kitchen, the very empty

kitchen. He thought that was the last place he had seen Sterling. He
spun around and went upstairs, looking for his mate. Kenway wanted
to apologize for making fun of Bacon, but Sterling needed to be there
for that to happen.

The bedroom he shared with Sterling was just as empty as the

kitchen had been. Riley started to grow concerned when he searched
the rest of the upper floor and found no sign of Sterling anywhere.

He paused for a moment in the middle of the hallway and rubbed

the back of his neck as he tried to figure out where Sterling could be.
A sudden thought hit him. Riley ran back to the bedroom and
searched the room for Bacon. He even looked under the bed.

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Riley ran out of the room and down the stairs as fast as he could,

grabbing  the  handrail  at  the  bottom  to  stop  his  forward  momentum.
He  started  toward  the  living  room  when  he  heard  a  loud  squealing
noise  coming  from  the  door  in  the  kitchen.  Riley  instantly  changed
directions and ran into the kitchen, pushing the back door open.

He just about fell back on his ass when Bacon darted into the

room and tried to climb his leg, squealing as loud as he had ever heard
her. Riley bent down and picked the scared little piglet up in his arms.

“Where’s Sterling, Bacon?”
The piglet squealed and squirmed until Riley set her down on the

floor. The second her feet touched the hard tile, she ran toward the
door and started rooting at the edges with her nose. Riley pushed the
door open. His jaw dropped as Bacon took off toward the barn as fast
as her four little legs would carry her.

“Pa, Sterling’s in trouble in the barn,” he shouted just before he

darted out the door after the damn pig. He was about halfway across
the yard when he heard the kitchen door bang open and several sets of
pounding feet followed after him.

Riley slowed his running down to cautious steps when he neared

the barn. Bacon was wiggling and squirming for all she was worth as
she tried to squeeze under the edge of door and get into the barn.

Riley quickly picked her up and rubbed his hand over her head.

“Ssshh, Bacon,” he whispered. When he heard someone come up
behind him, he turned and held Bacon out, knowing it was one of his
family. He had called for help, and they would come. That was what
family did for each other.

“Take Bacon and keep her safe,” he murmured in a low voice.

Olsen nodded and grabbed the little pig.

Riley turned back toward the barn. He pushed the door open just a

crack and peered through the slim  opening. At  first,  all he could  see
was  the  dimly  lit  inside  of  the  barn,  but  as  his  eyes  adjusted,  Riley
spotted  Sterling  crouched  up  against  one  side  of  the  barn,  a  dark
figure standing over him.

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131

His heart thundered in his chest, almost drowning out the sound of

the barn door crashing open as he slammed his hands into it and
barged into the barn. Riley had only one thought in mind—save
Sterling.

Riley started across the barn, hell-bent on killing the man who

was gripping his mate, holding him against the wall.

Riley was sick and tired of danger all around his mate. He knew

realistically  that  they  lived  in  a  dark  world.  A  world  filled  with
paranormal  creatures  that  could  turn  rogue  at  the  drop  of  a  hat.
Creatures  so  vile  that  most  humans  would  go  insane  when  coming
across them. But he was fed up with his mate being so close to them,
even being attacked by them.

Riley was going to keep Sterling safe if he had to wipe out every

single rogue on the planet.

“No, wait!” Sterling called out.
Riley wasn’t sure if Sterling was talking to him or begging the

man who held him captive. He wasn’t taking any chances. Riley may
have  ducked  and  dodged  Sterling  when  his  mate  first  arrived  at  the
Lakelands’, but in the past few days the little human had taught him
more about living life and loving than Riley had learned in a lifetime.
He  finally  felt  free,  finally  felt  invigorated,  and  wanted  his  mate  to
know just how much he loved him.

He was not going to wait.
Riley roared as he grabbed the vampire by the back of the collar

and  tossed  him  across  the  barn.  When  the  man  landed  by  Warrior’s
stall,  Riley  rounded  and  headed  toward  the  guy.  His  steps  slowed
when  the  vampire  didn’t  get  up,  but  cowered  in  a  ball  on  the  hay-
laced floor.

Just what in the hell was going on?
“Riley, stop,” Sterling said as he ran over to the fallen man and

placed himself between the guy and Riley.

“Sterling, move.”
“No.”

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“Sterling,” Riley warned.
“No, Riley. He came here looking for help. He had a creepy way

of asking for it, but he told me he was starving.”

The hairs on the back of Riley’s neck not only stood up, but slid

down his back. He knew how vampires fed. “Did he bite you?” Riley
felt the rage filling him mounting. No one was using his mate as a
blood donor, voluntarily or not. He was going to kill the bloodsucker
if he fed from Sterling.

“No, he didn’t bite me.” Sterling stood, but didn’t move away.

“He came to warn us that there is a planned attack against the wood
elves. He came to warn us so we could stop it.”

“When?” Pa asked as he stepped forward and guided Sterling over

to Riley, helping the vampire to his feet. “How do you know this?”

The man dusted himself off, glancing around at everyone with

fear in his black eyes. His hands were wringing together, and he was
shifting from foot to foot. He looked as nervous as a newborn calf
caught in a lion’s den.

“I have a friend at the village. But we aren’t supposed to be

friends because wood elves and vampires are enemies. Well, rogue
vampires at least. But the elves hate any kind of vampire, and Terrik
was afraid if anyone found out that we were friends, his tribe would
disown him.”

Riley had seen the heated glares aimed at him when he was in the

village of elves, and he was a bear shifter. He could just imagine what
the elves would do to a vampire, friendly or not.

“So how do you know that there is a planned attack?” Pa asked.
Riley watched as the man played with the ends of his very long

black hair, chewing at his bottom lip until Riley thought the man was
going to chew it right off. He shrugged and then glanced up at Riley’s
pa. “I’m from the Northern coven. It was a stupid bet, a bet that nearly
cost me my life.”

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133

“What bet?” Kenway asked, stepping forward and to the front of

the crowd gathered around the vampire. Riley watched the buffalo
shifter, seeing how Kenway’s eyes softened as he looked at the man.

“My friends bet me that I wouldn’t go down into the sewers where

the rogues live. They bet me I couldn’t stay down there for an entire
hour.  I  went”—the  man  swallowed  hard—“and  I  heard  them  talking
about an abundant feast  they were going to have when they attacked
the  wood  elves.”  The  man  suddenly  grabbed  the  front  of  Pa’s  shirt,
pulling at it. “You have to help them. Terrik is my friend. I met him in
the city when the guy came into The Manacle. He’s a sweet guy and
doesn’t deserve to die.”

Riley was stunned. Terrik was at The Manacle? The guy didn’t

look old enough to be allowed inside those walls.

“He’s a really nice man, and I don’t want to see him become food

for those nasty rogues.”

“Calm down…What’s your name?”
“Ross,” the vampire replied.
“Did you hear them say when they were going to attack?”

Kenway interjected, his eyes focused solely on Ross, as if no one else
was in the room. Riley had a sneaking suspicion the two were mates.
He pulled Sterling tight to his chest, breathing in his mate’s scent, and
thanking his lucky stars that his mate had been approached by a
friendly vampire. He wasn’t sure he could take his mate being
attacked again.

When Sterling and his brother Darcy had first arrived on the

ranch, Sterling was attacked by a wolf bent on mating Sterling. Riley
had thought he was going to rip the fucker from limb to limb. He
knew Sterling was a very nice-looking man, but no one was touching
a hair on Sterling’s head.

Ross nodded, his eyes darting over to Kenway and then back at

Pa. “They are going to attack tonight.”

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Since when the hell were rogues so organized? Riley was starting

to feel like he didn’t know the world he lived in any longer. Rogues
were solitary beings, covenless, packless, or tribeless.

He wasn’t too sure about the tribeless part. He’d never heard of a

rogue  fey  before.  But  he  knew  that  rogues  gave  up  their  humanity
when they decided to give in to the dark side. They also gave up their
chance at mating. A rogue couldn’t have a mate. They had no heart. A
rogue  vampire  craved  only  blood,  thinking  of  nothing  else.  A  rogue
shifter gave in to his animal side, caring for nothing but himself. What
did  a  fey  give  up  and  why  in  the  hell  was  he  wondering  this  right
now?

“I thought Ceri cleared out most of the rogue population down in

the sewers,” Pa said as he turned on his heel, heading for the door,
Riley right next to him, pulling Sterling along.

“Oh, my god,” Ross said from behind them. “How do you know

about Ceri? I thought the legends were just legends.” He suddenly
became paler than his normal vampire complexion. “The twins are
real?”

Pa stopped in his tracks, looking back at the vampire. “They are

very real, and the twins are awake.”

“How—How do you know this? How do you know Rhys and Ceri

are awake?”

“Christian let the leaders know, and Maverick informed us so me

and my boys could watch our backs.”

“This is not good.” Ross shook his head, once again chewing on

his bottom lip. “If the twins are awake, everyone is in trouble. I’m not
sure what rumors are true, but there is one rumor that the twin, Ceri,
likes to eat rogues, literally.”

Pa looked over at Kenway, and Riley saw something pass between

them. “Can you keep an eye on Ross?”

Kenway nodded at Pa, grabbing the vampire around the waist and

pulling him close. “With my life.”

Pa nodded.

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135

Pa began to walk again, talking to Riley as they made their way

back  to  the  house.  “I  want  you  to  call  Christian  and  let  him  know
what’s  going  on.  He  needs  to  get  over  to  the  village  as  soon  as
possible.  But  we  also  need  to  call  Maverick.  Even  though  Christian
will be there to defend the elves, I’m not too sure how well they are
going to take to vampires, friendly or not, invading them.”

“Ahm needs to know. He said he was going to have shadow

warriors guarding the village. He needs a heads-up. And the grey
wolves are still there.”

Pa glanced Bryce’s way, his eyes going gentle, and then he

sighed. “Call Ahm, but make sure Bryce isn’t around. I want Bryce to
stay behind with the mates, Roman as well. I don’t need an added
battle on our hands.”

And from the way his little brother had acted with Ahm, Riley

knew his pa was right. Bryce looked like he was ready to kill the man.

“I’ll call Christian while you get a hold of Maverick,” Riley said.

“And then I’ll call Ahm.”

Riley pulled Sterling into the house, Olsen handing Bacon to his

mate. “You and I need to have a long talk when I get back,” he said
before snapping his fingers at Sterling and then pointing to the steps.

Sterling looked surprised, but didn’t argue as he headed toward

the steps.

Maybe there was something to this silent pointing thing that

Sterling loved to do so much. Riley grinned. And when he got back,
he was going to show Sterling just how empowering it felt.

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Chapter Eleven

“I don’t like it,” Maverick said from the couch in Christian’s

office. “I thought you didn’t like politics, Christian?”

The prince of vampires sat back, a deep frown around his mouth

and  his  black  eyebrows  severely  pulled  down.  “I  hate  politics.  It
irritates  the  hell  out  of  me  when  the  elders  come  into  my  club  and
make  demands.  They  are  a  bunch  of  boring  old  men  who  act  like
women in a knitting circle.” Christian sat forward, his eyes snapping
around the room at everyone in attendance. “But this will be different.
If  we  don’t  form  a  council,  then  the  rogue  problem  will  only  get
worse.  Preternatural  creatures  need  to  learn  that  there  will  be
consequences if they choose to go rogue. There need to be penalties in
place, punishments.”

Maverick sat back, sighing. Not only had Christian called him

here  for  this  meeting,  but  he  had  also  called  Zeus,  the  alpha  of  the
eastern grey wolf pack. He had also assembled Panahasi, the leader of
the demon  warriors, Ahm,  the leader of the  shadow  elves,  Nazaryth,
the leader of the winged beasts, and Dante, the leader of the Northern
coven of vampires.

“So, you want the seven of us to form some sort of council?” Ahm

asked.

“For too long we have all operated independently, respecting each

other’s  territories  and  lending  a  hand  when  needed.  But  with  human
vampire  hunters,  the  rogue  population  getting  out  of  control,  a
paranormal  drug  sweeping  through  the  communities,”—Christian
stood,  walking  around  his  desk—“and  now  Maverick  tells  me  that
humans  have  begun  to  hunt  in  his  very  territory.  We  need  to

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implement some sort of plan for damage control and to stop any
person considering the dark side of our races.”

Gods, Maverick did not want to be a part of this. He stretched his

legs out in front of him, seeing the looks on some of the other leaders’
faces and knowing they felt the same way. But deep down he knew
that Christian was right. Something needed to be done about their
ever-growing problem.

He and his warriors had combed the woods when Malcolm called

him to report that human hunters had held shotguns to Chance and
Seth’s heads. Malcolm was spitting nails over having his son and son-
in-law threatened.

It seemed Maverick’s hunting signs weren’t doing the trick. And

he couldn’t dismiss Christian’s problem with human vampire hunters.
Sooner or later, those vampire hunters would learn about shifters and
come  after  not  only  his  pack,  but  all  shifters  in  general.  Zeus  had  a
pack of his own to look over, and a town full of people as well. Ahm
and  his  people  were  pretty  safe,  for  now.  They  lived  in  some
godforsaken watery marshland, but the wood elves were vulnerable.

Panahasi and his demons may be safe from hunters because the

demons lived in the demon realm, but Maverick wouldn’t put it past
the humans to find a way into the demon realm.

Nazaryth and his motley crew of winged beasts lived high up in a

castle that was built into the side of a mountain, but one could get in if
determined.

Their very world was being threatened, and Maverick knew that

something had to be done about that threat. It was long overdue, but
Maverick had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.

“Are we going to be called the council or have a cool name?”

Maverick asked. Fuck it, if they had to become the Avengers, they
might as well have cool names.

Christian chuckled, a twinkle sparkling in the depths of his black

eyes. “Ultionem.”

“Nice.” Dante chuckled.

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“Which means?” Maverick asked, admitting to himself that it did

sound pretty damn cool. But if he was going to be a part of this evil
plot  to  take  over  the  world,  Brain  had  to  tell  Pinky  what  the  word
meant.  He  also  noticed  how  Panahasi  kept  looking  at  Christian,
covertly, of course. Maverick wasn’t sure why the demon leader was
so interested in the prince of vampires, but if Panahasi wanted to eat
Christian, it wasn’t his business.

“Revenge,” Dante supplied, a smile tugging at his lips.
Maverick grinned when his phone began to play “Bad to the

Bone.”

“Really?” Panahasi’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s your ringtone?”
Maverick shrugged. “Cecil programmed it for me. Who am I to

argue with my mate?”

Christian’s phone began to ring as well, and then Ahm cocked his

head.

“The bears are calling me,” the shadow elven said.
Ahm shimmered out as Maverick answered his phone. “What’s

up?”

“There is a planned attack by vampire rogues on the wood elf

village tonight,” Malcolm said from the other end. “Me and my boys
are headed over there.”

Maverick shot forward the same time Christian quickly stood. He

must  have  gotten  the  same  call.  Christian  cursed  as  he  grabbed
Maverick,  Dante  grabbing  Zeus  at  the  same  time.  Panahasi  walked
backward  into  a  shadow,  as  if  the  demon  already  knew  what  was
happening,  while  Nazaryth  walked  from  Christian’s  office,  probably
taking flight right outside.

“Time to inform the paranormal world that the leaders are done

sitting on their asses,” Christian said as he reached up and grabbed a
sword above the mantel. “It’s laced with silver.” A determined look
entered his eyes as they disappeared from the prince’s office.

* * * *

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139

Riley was relieved that Terrik had survived the hellhound bite, but

it  would  be  pretty  fucked-up  if  he  died  from  being  drained  by  a
vampire. Riley wasn’t sure how accurate Ross’s warning was, or even
if  they  were  being  set  up,  but  he  couldn’t  leave  the  wood  elves  to  a
slaughter.

As unreasonable, narrow-minded, and hate-filled as the wood

elves were, Riley’s conscience wouldn’t let him sit idly by while the
race of elves became extinct just because he didn’t like them.

Riley, along with Kenway and Olsen, cursed when they turned

onto the long dirt path leading to the village, seeing the fighting had
already started. Riley pressed the gas, getting them closer, and then
jammed the gear into park.

The three shadow warriors were fighting expertly, but were

terribly  outnumbered.  The  men  were  tall,  lean,  finely  muscled,  and
had a look on their faces that said they meant business. Riley shifted
as  soon  as  he  cleared  the  truck,  heading  straight  for  Iam,  who  was
losing the fight he was engaged in.

“About damn time!” Iam shouted as he blocked a hit with his arm.

“There are too many to fight off.”

Riley spared a shadow of a second to be stunned as he watched

Kenway shift.  Never in  his  life had he seen a buffalo  shifter,  and he
was amazed at the sheer size of the beast. The buffalo had to weigh at
least fifteen hundred pounds and was about six foot long. His fur was
black  and  his  head  was  down,  lethal-looking  horns  decorating  his
head.

Kenway lifted his head, scented the air, and then charged. If Riley

didn’t need to help Iam, he would stand there in wonder and watch.

“Are you going to help or stare at that Bison all day?” Iam

shouted as he stumbled backward, losing his footing and landing on
his back.

Riley turned his attention back to Iam, charging in and leaping

onto the vampire’s back. He took the rogue down in seconds, but

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Lynn Hagen

another appeared. He felt like no matter how many he took down,
more replaced the fallen.

He locked his jaw on the next vampire that appeared and stopped

himself from gaping when one cheetah, and then another, took down
two vampires trying to get at Riley. Maybe having the new shifters in
town would benefit the community. It sure as shit benefited Riley’s
ass at the moment.

Riley killed the vampire and then took off across the village when

he saw Terrik running toward the woods from a vampire. Going into
the woods was the worst thing that fey could do. It would cut Terrik
off from the shifters, and made him easy prey.

Riley skidded to a stop when Christian and Maverick appeared

right in from of him. Maverick grabbed Terrik around the waist and
pulled him back as Christian wielded a sword and cut the vampire’s
head clean from his shoulder.

Damn, that was gross.
“Watch him,” Maverick said as he placed Terrik on his feet in

front of Riley.

What the hell?
He hadn’t come here to babysit. Riley had come here to fight. He

shifted back to his human form, glancing all around him before his
eyes settled on the young elven man.

“Do you know where the Lakeland ranch is?” he asked the

terrified young man.

Terrik nodded his head rapidly.
“Shimmer there and you’ll find Ross. Tell my brothers Bryce and

Roman that I sent you.”

Riley watched as Terrik shimmered out and then turned back to

the fight. At least the young fey was safe. He just couldn’t understand
why the rest of the fey weren’t shimmering out of there. They weren’t
fighters. They were outnumbered. They didn’t have a snowball’s
chance in hell of winning. Yet they fought.

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141

The fight went on and on, seeming as though it was never ending

in  Riley’s  mind.  But  eventually  the  rogues  that  had  invaded  the
village  were  all  dead.  Riley  stood  there  in  his  bear  form,  looking  at
the carnage around him, and then glanced over at the leaders. Zeus’s
grey wolf was so large that he rivaled Riley’s bear size. Maverick had
stayed in human form. He saw Ahm, Panahasi, Christian, and another
vampire he didn’t  recognize.  He also  saw a man who looked like he
could kill with one intent gaze.

“You are looking at the Ultionem. We are now your governing

council. Any who defy us, or the laws we have yet to set down, will
pay the price,” Ahm said to the wood elves. “I will inform you of the
new laws once they are decided. Iam, come here.”

The wood elf hurried forward, coming to a stop in front of the

shadow elven. “This man is your new tribe leader. If anyone opposes,
speak now,” Ahm called out to the crowd around him.

Riley glanced around, but no one said a word. A few didn’t look

too happy, but they kept their opinions to themselves.

Smart men.
All six leaders stood behind Ahm, as if backing up what he was

announcing. Riley was pretty damn stunned at the news. They had a
council now? How would that affect his world? Would it improve the
way things were or make them worse? What were the new laws going
to be?

He wasn’t sure of anything right now. Riley’s only concern was

keeping his mate and family safe. His world was changing so much
that Riley felt displaced. The events that had been taking place in the
paranormal world were changing his world, and Riley began to mourn
the loss of what was once a peaceful existence.

He began to miss the simpler times, and how rogues were far and

few between. He missed the times when the only shifters he knew to
exist were bears. But there was one change in Riley’s life that he was
grateful for and wouldn’t change for all the world, and that was
Sterling.

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Even if his mate was a little strange.

* * * *

“I’m ready,” Sterling announced as he walked into his and Riley’s

bedroom. His mate was standing over by the dresser, looking through
a drawer.

“Okay, hon. Just give me minute to find some socks.”
Sterling took a seat on the bed, folding his legs under him, and

watched his mate put his socks and boots on. He still couldn’t believe
that Riley Lakeland was his. It was like his dream had come true.

Although Riley hadn’t ridden in on his horse and swooped

Sterling  off  of  his  feet,  Sterling  still  felt  like  his  dream  had  become
reality. The man was strong, stunning, and starting to grow a sense of
humor.  His  once-grumpy  mate  was  starting  to  show  his  true
personality and Sterling loved it.

“You’re going to ride Buster. He’s the gentlest horse we have,”

Riley said and then tossed something on the bed.

Sterling kept the grin from his face because he knew Riley would

have a coronary when he saw who Chauncey had helped Sterling
saddle.

He just prayed Riley let him ride.
Sometimes Riley was a tad overprotective, and Sterling loved that

fact,  but  he  was  damned  and  determined  to  show  his  mate  that  he
could  take  care  of  himself.  Maybe  not  during  fights,  Sterling  was
never  a  fighter,  but  he  could  get  by  in  life  without  Riley  trying  to
wrap him in cotton.

He glanced down at a shiny cell phone, but knew right away that

it wasn’t Riley’s.

“Just in case you need to call anyone. I programmed everyone’s

number into it.”

Sterling sat there stunned. Riley had tossed the phone on the bed

like it was no big deal, but to Sterling, it meant everything.

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143

It meant Riley cared about him.
“Let’s go start your lesson,” Riley said as he grabbed Sterling’s

hand and pulled him from the bed.

Sterling felt like he was a thousand feet tall when it came to his

mate loving him. Riley was the best thing to ever happen to Sterling,
and Sterling was damn glad he and Darcy had come to this town.

“Going out for your lessons?” Pa asked as he wiped Cole’s face.

The baby was in his highchair, making more of a mess than eating.
Oscar was sitting next to the towering man, dunking cookies into a
glass of milk.

“My very first,” Sterling boasted proudly.
Just then Bacon ran through the small doggy door the Lakelands

had made for the pig. Sterling had been so shocked that the men had
done something so nice for him that Sterling had embarrassed himself
and cried like a damn baby. They said they did it because any pig that
defended his owner, the way Bacon had defended Sterling when the
pig ran for help, deserved to live in the house and be a pampered pet.

“Sorry, girl,” Sterling said as he picked Bacon up and ran a hand

over her head. “Papa’s got to ride by himself.”

“Can I play with her?” Oscar asked as he wiggled out of his chair

and hobbled over to Sterling.

“You sure can. But don’t give her too many snacks. She likes to

make a pig of herself.” Sterling winked at Oscar, the little guy
laughing at the pun.

Sterling handed his piglet over to Oscar and then walked outside

to join Riley. It was a bright, sunny day, the clouds fat and fluffy as
they walked side by side to the barn.

Bryce walked Warrior out, handing the reins to Riley.
“Where’s Buster?” Riley asked.
“I’ll go get him,” Sterling said quickly and then took off into the

barn. Riley was going to shit his own little pen of piglets when he saw
Sterling ride out on Hell Raiser. Sterling had been coming to the barn

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for weeks, talking to the black stallion, getting to know the guy, and
bringing him treats like carrots, apples, and sugar cubes.

He had even sat on Hell Raiser when no one was around to

protest,  trying  his  best  to  get  the  horse  used  to  having  Sterling’s
weight  on  his  back.  Saddling  him  hadn’t  been  easy,  and  Chauncey
kept  telling  Sterling  he  didn’t  like  Sterling’s  plan,  but  he  had
convinced  the  bear  that  he  was  confident  the  stallion  would  allow
Sterling to ride him.

He grabbed the reins, smiling up at the horse. “Are you ready to

show these bears just how gorgeous  you are and that you are a good
boy?” Sterling asked as  he opened the gate and led Hell Raiser from
his stall.

“If Riley wants to skin anyone, leave my name out of it,”

Chauncey said as Sterling walked the horse to the barn door. “I like
my ass right where it is.”

Sterling was hoping it didn’t come to that. There was only one

way Riley couldn’t stop Sterling. He mounted the horse, with
Chauncey’s help, and then clicked his tongue, the way Chauncey had
shown him.

Hell Raiser whinnied and then took off out of the barn. Sterling

held on tight, his legs locked against the horse, praying he didn’t fall
off as the horse cleared the barn and took off toward the fields.

“Sterling!” Riley shouted and began to chase him on Warrior.

“I’m going to kick your ass when I get a hold of you!”

Sterling grinned and then laughed, feeling the freedom all around

him as Hell Raiser slowed to a canter. He looked behind him to see
how close Riley was when he saw the horse’s tail high in the air.

Hell Raiser was showing off!
Sterling beamed as his mate approached.
“You have five seconds to dismount and take that beast back to

the barn.” Riley growled out his words.

“But why?” Sterling protested with a slight pout to his lower lip.

“He’s letting me ride him.”

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145

“He’s too ornery.”
“So were you.” Sterling winked at his mate. “But I managed to

tame you, didn’t I?”

Riley opened his mouth to speak and then closed it, studying

Sterling for a second. He grinned. “I guess you did at that.”

“So, give me a chance on Hell Raiser.” Gods, he prayed his

argument worked. Sterling had invested every free moment he had
had in coaxing the horse into letting Sterling ride him. It would all be
a waste if Riley made him take the horse back.

Riley rubbed his hand over his head and studied Sterling for a

moment.  Sterling  held  his  breath.  Riley’s  expression  was
contemplative,  and  it  looked  like  he  was  about  to  order  Sterling  to
take  the  horse  back.  “Fine,  but  the  first  sign  the  horse  is  becoming
unstable, you are off of him. Are we clear?”

Woo-hoo!
“Okay. Hell Raiser just did most of the work, and I learned the

basics already. So show me what I don’t know,” Sterling said with a
feeling of triumphant glee coursing through him.

“Who showed you the basics?” Riley asked.
“Oh, no. I’m not saying a word.”
Riley harrumphed. “One of these days Chauncey is going to make

me strangle him.”

Sterling snickered and then loosely held both reins in his hands.

“I’m ready for my lessons, sir.”

* * * *

Riley chuckled as he walked from the barn, their first lesson over.

Sterling  was  standing  by  the  corral,  bending  over  the  rungs  as  he
petted  a  cow.  Not  only  was  Riley  smiling  more  these  days,  but  his
heart felt lighter.

As Sterling would say, the stick was out of Riley’s ass.

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“I have something you can pet,” Riley said as he wiggled his

brows and palmed his cock through his pants.

Sterling glanced over his shoulder, his light-grey eyes filling with

a smoldering heat that made Riley’s cock hard and heavy every damn
time. He would never tire of his mate looking that way. It was a
heated look that Riley prayed stayed on his mate’s face for the rest of
their lives.

“Do you now, big boy?” Sterling asked seductively as he climbed

down from the fence and started the sexy little saunter that Riley
loved so much. He seriously doubted Sterling had a clue how sexy he
was when he just walked across the yard. “Care to show me just what
you had in mind?”

Fuck yeah!
“Come inside and I’ll do more than show you,” Riley teased as he

began to walk backward, giving his mate a heated look that rivaled
Sterling’s.

“And what do I get if I follow you inside?”
“A hard cock in your ass.”
“Mmm, I like the sound of that.”
“I left a blow job in our bedroom. Would you mind going to get

it?”

Sterling stumbled for a second, righted himself, and then

chuckled.

Not only had Riley grown, but so had Sterling. Riley had pulled

his mate out of his shyness when it came to talking in bed and had no
qualms  about  him  chattering  away.  It  was  hot  as  hell,  although  half
the  time  Sterling  made  absolutely  no  sense  when  in  the  throes  of
passion.

“Then come get some of this fat cock.” Riley grabbed his crotch

and hitched his hips, feeling the anticipation coursing through his
body as he licked his bottom lip.

“Fat what?” Pa asked as he stepped out onto the back porch. Riley

felt his face heat up to the point he thought his skin was going to burn

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147

off. He was a grown man with a mate, yet Riley felt like a cub that
had gotten caught stealing sweets from the pantry.

Sterling held a hand over his mouth, snickering.
“Uh…fat…” Shit. Riley couldn’t think quickly enough as the

knowing sparkle danced in his pa’s eyes.

“Have fun.” Pa chuckled as he walked over toward the corral.
“Busted,” Sterling whispered teasingly.
Gods, Riley wanted to crawl under a damn rock somewhere. That

had been embarrassing as hell. He grabbed his mate’s hand and took
off inside the house, racing upstairs before he ran into his pa again.
He just couldn’t face the man right now.

Peals of laughter fell from Sterling’s lips as Riley slammed the

bedroom door and then began to quickly strip off his clothes.

Sterling did the same and then stood in the middle of their

bedroom  gloriously  naked.  Riley  growled,  picking  his  mate  up  and
slamming  his  back  into  the  wall,  placing  Sterling’s  legs  over  each
arm.

Sterling grabbed Riley’s neck, seeming unaffected that he was

nearly bent in half. “Now, what were you promising me downstairs?”

Riley smashed his mouth against Sterling’s, feeling the wildness

of being so close to his mate begin to build inside of him. He would
never get enough of this pretty man. He slid his fingers inside his
mouth and then rimmed Sterling’s tight muscle, spearing two fingers
inside his mate’s tight ass.

“I was promising to fuck you into this wall.”
“Oh yeah,” Sterling moaned as he stuck his ass out even further.

“That was it.”

Riley removed his fingers, lining his cock up. “Fast and hard,

baby.”

“Give me your worst,” Sterling said desperately as he raised his

hips slightly higher, inviting Riley to plunge deep inside of him.

Riley wasn’t one to disappoint.

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There was a raw desperation in Sterling’s voice that Riley always

heard when they were hot and heavy like this. Riley loved it. It only
told him how much his mate wanted him.

Right away, Riley’s strokes became savage, Sterling sliding up

and down the wall as Riley thrust his cock into his mate’s tight ass
over and over again. He plunged his dick deeper still, wanting to feel
every inch of his mate’s tight channel wrapped around his cock.

Sterling dug his nails into Riley’s neck, his breath harsh and

ragged as he tried to meet Riley thrust for thrust.

Riley’s shaft throbbed as it glided in and out of Sterling’s body,

feeling every inch of his mate’s silky channel.

“Whose ass is this?” Riley growled.
“Mine!” Sterling shouted as his head fell back, hitting the wall.
Riley burst out laughing, but never broke stride. “Whose?”
Sterling blushed. “I meant yours.”
Riley gave one hard thrust, watching Sterling’s eyelids close. His

cries filled the room, growing stronger, and Riley knew his mate was
close.

“Riley, I’m gonna come!”
“Do it, baby. Wet us both.”
Sterling’s grip tightened on Riley as he shuddered and jerked, his

seed bursting from his cock to paint both of them. Riley bent Sterling
further, biting into his mate’s neck and feeling his seed spilling into
Sterling’s still-spasming channel.

He pulled his canines from Sterling’s shoulder, licking the wound

closed  as  he  lowered  his  mate’s  legs  and  wrapped  them  around  his
waist. Riley cupped Sterling’s face, running his thumb over his mate’s
sweat-slicked skin. “I love you, Sterling. You’ve brought me so much
happiness  that  I  don’t  want  to  ever  lose  you.  You  drive  me  insane
most days  and  I still haven’t  figured  you out,  but  I can’t  see my life
without you in it.”

Sterling opened his eyes, the light grey gleaming, the irises

turning so light they looked like flawless diamonds. “I knew you had

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149

it in you.” He hugged Riley, laying his head on Riley’s shoulder. “I
love you, too, big boy.”

Riley grinned as he walked them over to the bed and lay down,

Sterling straddled over his waist, the swelling still in place.

Sterling had changed Riley’s life, gave him a reason to smile, and

was the reason for Riley’s downfall, making him join his brothers and
father in the barrel of dick-whipped men. As he ran his hands over his
mate’s back, Riley smiled.

Now he knew exactly what his brothers, along with his pa, felt

like, and Riley was more than happy to join the rest down that road of
being blissfully mated.

* * * *

Ahm stood off in the woods, the light breeze blowing a few

strands of his hair around his face as he gazed over at the Lakeland
ranch. He saw Bryce sitting on the front porch swing, gazing off into
the distance, a serene, yet sad expression marring his handsome looks.

Elves did not mate outside of their race.
Ahm knew this.
It had been drilled into every fey since childhood.
It had been a lesson he had learned for the past five hundred years.
But  as  he  stood  there,  Ahm  felt  a  strong  connection  to  the  bear

that he had been fighting for so long. He knew he had to either claim
his mate, or leave the bear alone. Standing here time after time was
doing neither of them any good.

Ahm took a step back when Bryce’s head slowly turned, his eyes

locking onto the part of the woods Ahm was standing in. He knew he
couldn’t be seen, but the look on his mate’s face said he knew Ahm
was there.

Bryce studied the woods for a moment, and then his face became

hard. He stood and walked into the house, the screen door slamming
behind him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynn Hagen loves writing about the somewhat flawed, but

lovable. She also loves a hero who can see past all the rough edges to
find the shining diamond of a beautiful heart.

You can find her on any given day curled up with her laptop and a

cup of hot java, letting the next set of characters tell their story.

For all titles by Lynn Hagen, please visit