plik

Sometimes, the one love you seek is closer than
you ever imagined.

As an Elf Owl shifter, Kayden is the smallest one
in  his  Parliament.  But  that  hasn’t  stopped  him
from being  an  important  member. An IT tech, he
can hack his way into any computer system. Plus,
he’s in charge of his own group’s security. Now, if
he  could  only  get  their  leader,  Austin,  to  notice
him for something more than his technical skills.

Austin takes his job as the leader of his small

Parliament of Owls seriously, which leaves little
time for himself. However, he can’t help but notice
the cute, small tech, Kayden. But Austin knows he
has no time for romance. Not if he wants to keep
his group safe.

Will Austin and Kayden find a way to get

together? Or are they forever doomed to be alone?

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fine of $250,000.

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and do not participate in or encourage the electronic
piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the
author’s rights is appreciated.

This  book  is  a  work  of  fiction.  Names,  characters,
places,  and  incidents  either  are  products  of  the
author’s  imagination  or  are  used  fictitiously.  Any
resemblance  to  actual  events  or  locales  or  persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

An Owl Surfaces

ISBN: 978-1-77111-885-9

Cover art by Carmen Waters

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YLVLW 683(5,25=25* IRU PRUH PP ERRNV

Chapter One

ell, this certainly wasn’t how he’d expected
to spend his weekend. Kayden pulled on

the collar that was around his neck. Attached to
the collar was a long, heavy chain that was drilled
into the stone wall of his cell.

Beside him, his cell held one other Owl shifter,

a smartass named Gene. With more tattoos and
piercings than an entire boy band, he seemed to be
off-putting at first, but shocker of all shockers,
Kayden was actually beginning to like the guy.

“You may as well stop pulling on the collar, it

won’t come lose,” Gene drawled from the corner
of the cell.

Aside from the chains his captors had put on

him, Gene had a few of his own as embellishments
on his checkered red and black clothing. They
went well with his torn jeans and shirt with a
marijuana leaf on it.

Undaunted, Kayden closed his eyes and tried to

shift.  Since  he  was  an  Elf  Owl,  which  was  the
smallest  of  all  of  the  breeds,  he  would  be  able  to
slip  easily  from  the  collar.  But  to  his  dismay,  he

VXSHULRU]RUJ

An Owl Surfaces

found that he couldn’t shift. Just like all the other
times he’d tried.

Well, shit. If his current situation didn’t just

suck.

Gene let out a sigh. “How many times do I have

to tell you? That collar they put on you prevents
you from shifting. I feel like I’m talking to a brick
wall here.”

“Maybe you should count yourself lucky they

didn’t put you in a cell with somebody who wants
to kill you for once,” a voice called from a couple
cells down.

“Yeah, well, fuck you, Andrews. Just because

you have small dick issues, don’t take it out on
me,” Gene yelled back.

There was a snarl of anger before Andrews

screamed, “You better hope I never get out of this
cell, because if I do, I’m going to rip you to
shreds.”

Kayden found himself glad he wasn’t in Gene’s

shoes. Gene, on the other hand, didn’t seem the
least bit bothered. He just rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, like I’m going to lose any sleep

worrying about that.” Gene made a raspberry
noise.

Kayden gaped at Gene. “Do you have a death

wish? I saw that guy when they brought me in. He
was frigging huge. He’d squash you like a bug
and not even lose his breath.”

Gene gave Kayden a sideways look. “Maybe,

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but Andrews is so stupid I’m not worried about it.
The  guy  can’t  chew  gum  and  walk  at  the  same
time.  I  mean,  he  literally  can’t.  I  saw  him  try  it
once,  and  he  ran  into  a  pole.  He  nearly  knocked
himself unconscious. The asshole gives all Spotted
Owls a bad name.”

“Is that what kind of Owl you are?”
“No, I’m a Long-Eared Owl.”
Kayden was confused, a state he found himself

in constantly during the short time he’d known
Gene. “Then why do you care if he if gives Spotted
Owls a bad name?”

Gene just shrugged. “I dunno, I just do.”
Kayden just let out a sigh. “So are you going to

finally tell me how you ended up in here?”

Gene gave a wicked grin. “I’ll tell you, if you

tell me.”

After letting out a huff of aggravation, Kayden

decided he’d have to spill. After all, there couldn’t
be any problems with him sharing, and Gene
would find out the truth soon enough when
Kayden’s Parliament came to rescue him.

“You know the Great Horned Owl that is

running this place?”

Gene cocked a brow. “You mean Stern? As in I-

love-to-kill-and-make-others-suffer-just-for-the-
shit-of-it Stern?”

“That would be the one.”
“What about him?”
“He’s been after my Parliament for a while

An Owl Surfaces

now.”

“Do you have any idea why?” Gene asked.
Kayden shook his head. “Our leader, Austin,

hasn’t ever told us why Stern has such a vendetta
against us. Probably because we’re too busy
running from place to place trying to stay safe.”

“Well, you haven’t moved fast enough, because

he managed to catch you.”

It hurt, but Gene did have a point there. At least

as far as Kayden was concerned. They had all been
sleeping in their final remaining safe house when
they’d  last  been  attacked.  While  the  others  had
managed to shift and fly away, Kayden in his Elf
Owl  form  had  been  too  small  and  slow  to  get
away.  Austin  had  tried  to  double  back  and  help
him,  but  by  that  point,  it  had  been  too  late.
Kayden had been surrounded. There was no way
that  Austin could fight his way through all those
Owls in order to get to Kayden.

So here Kayden sat, his ass on a stone floor,

with  just  a  smattering  of  straw  between.  One
simple  bucket  in  the  corner  for  him  to  piss  in.
Ewww…how about a little privacy here, folks? In
a  real  we-ain’t-kidding-ya  dungeon.  It  did  have
windows  in  it,  but  they  were  too  high  up  for
Kayden to look out. Even if he could get to them,
they were barred. The place even leaked in several
places,  so  there  was  the  constant  sound  of
dripping water.

“Don’t you worry. My Parliament will be here

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to save me soon. I’ll have them take you, too, if
you want,” Kayden promised.

“I can hardly wait,” Gene drawled.
“Why don’t you believe me? We have one rule,

and that is we never leave a member behind.”

“The security at this place is mad crazy. There

is no way anybody can break through it.”

“You haven’t met my friends. One of them was

a Navy SEAL and another a Green Beret. They can
get through anything. You just wait. They’ll be
here any moment now.”

But as Gene and Kayden sat there, the minutes

ticking  into  hours,  and  there  was  still  no  sign  of
Kayden’s  Parliament,  Kayden  began  to  feel  the
doubt  wafting  from  Gene.  Kayden  began  to  look
everywhere  but  at  Gene  as  his  embarrassment
rose.  He  was  so  going  to  get  his  friends  for  this.
For  while  Kayden  had  no  doubt  that  they  were
going to rescue him, they could hurry it up a bit.

“Here,” Gene said, breaking off the silence. In

his hand was half a hunk of bread. “Eat this. They
only feed us once a day, and you weren’t here
when they passed out our allotment.”

Kayden took it. His stomach had been

growling. “Thank you.”

“Well, it wouldn’t do to have you die. They

would take forever to drag your dead body out of
here, and then you’d begin to stink the place up.”

Kayden was beginning to learn that, under the

layers of all that snark, Gene was hiding a caring

An Owl Surfaces

soul. The Owl just didn’t want people to know it.
It made Kayden wonder what happened in Gene’s
past to make him so jaded.

“So how did you end up here?” Kayden asked.
Gene acted a bit startled by the question, almost

as if he’d hoped Kayden had forgotten all about
asking it. “Me?”

“Yes, you.”
“I got caught stealing some food from one of

the local markets.”

Kayden shook his head, once again confused.

“Why didn’t your family or Parliament just pay
the fee to get you out?”

Gene leaned his head against the bars behind

him. “Because my Parliament and parents have
disowned me.”

“What for?” Kayden asked, feeling bad for

Gene. Everybody should have somebody to cover
their back.

“Because of my bad attitude, my penchant for

getting into trouble, but mostly, it was because I
was gay.”

Kayden nodded in understanding. “That’s what

happened to all the guys in our Parliament. That’s
why we’re all different species of Owls. We found
each other and started our own Parliament. We
were all castoffs.”

Kayden took a bit of the bread and almost

choked on in. It had to be three days stale, and he
had no water to wash it down with. He still

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managed to work it down. He didn’t know how
long it would take for the guys to come, and he
needed to keep his energy up for the escape.

“That must be nice,” Gene said. “To have a

group of guys there to watch your back. Of course,
you did still end up here. So maybe it didn’t help
you in the end.”

“They’ll be here. It’s just taking them a while.”
Gene gestured with his hands. “You keep

saying that, but they have yet to show up. Face it,
kid. They abandoned you.”

Kayden felt his stomach drop. Surely, they

wouldn’t have left him. Austin had always sworn
they would take care of one another and never
leave a member behind, no matter what. But, then
again, what did Kayden have to contribute to the
group, besides some computer skills? He couldn’t
fight; he held back the group because he flew so
slowly. He was more of a hindrance than an asset.

He shook his head. No, Austin would never do

that to him. The rest of his Parliament wouldn’t do
that, either, for that matter. They all cared too
much for each other to leave one of them to stew
in a dungeon. No matter how much of a hindrance
to the group he might be. They would be there for
Kayden, and he just had to be patient and keep
faith.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when

there was a snapping sound, followed by a
scream. Kayden was so startled that he jumped,

An Owl Surfaces

his heart beating a million miles a minute.

“What’s that?” he asked.
“They’re whipping one of the prisoners,” Gene

replied, for once looking grim.

“Why? What did he do?”
Gene gave a shrug as his dark eyes blazed with

anger. “Who knows? Maybe he looked at a guard
the wrong way. Or maybe he tried to nick another
piece of bread. Or he could have just breathed too
much. These assholes don’t need an excuse to tie
us up to the whipping pole.”

All of the sudden, Kayden felt nauseated.

“Have they ever whipped you?”

He could tell that Gene had been there for a

while.  Just  the  way  Gene  acted  and  how  he
seemed  to  know  how  the  system  worked
screamed it. Plus, the Owl had a haunted look in
his  eyes  that  said  he’d  seen  way  too  much  for  as
young as he was.

“Yeah, they’ve whipped me a couple of times,”

Gene admitted.

Kayden’s heart went out for the other Owl.

“What for?”

“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but my mouth

doesn’t exactly know when to shut up
sometimes.”

“That still doesn’t give them the right to tie you

up and whip you. Did they at least treat your
wounds when they were finished?”

Gene let out a bitter laugh. “No way in hell.

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That would actually be an act of kindness on their
part. They just threw me back in here and placed
bets amongst themselves on whether I would live
or die.”

Kayden couldn’t believe it. He’d heard that

Stern  was  sadistic,  but  Kayden  had  never
imagined  anybody  could  be  that  mean.  That  was
just pure psychotic. And to think he had so many
who  followed  and  adored  him  made  it  all  the
scarier.  The  sooner  Kayden  got  out  of  here,  the
better.

“It’s only going to be a matter of time before

they get to you, too,” Gene said in a sad voice.

Kayden pointed to his chest as fear spiked

through his body. “Me? Why would they want to
whip me? I haven’t done a thing.”

“Yeah, but you said yourself that Stern has been

hunting down your Parliament. He’s going to try
and squeeze every bit of information he can from
you.”

Kayden shook his head. “I don’t care what they

do to me. I’m not going to tell them a damn
thing.”

Gene gave a grim smile. “Somehow, I figured

you’d say that. You’re way too noble for your own
good.”

“They’re like family to me. I could never turn

on them.”

“Then get ready, kid, because you’re in for a

world of hurt.”

An Owl Surfaces

Kayden put his hand to his stomach as he

thought of all the possible ways they could torture
him. Each one was more painful than the last. But
it didn’t matter to him. There was no way he was
going to betray the others. They would never give
up on him, and he would never do that to them.

There was another snapping of the whip, and

the  prisoner  cried,  this  time  louder  and  more
drawn  out.  Kayden  couldn’t  help  but  tremble  at
the thought  of being  on the receiving end  of that
leather.  He  knew  it  was  going  to  hurt—bad.
Especially  since  he  was  all  skin  and  bones  and
didn’t have any fat or muscle to pad him. But he
had  to  mentally  prepare  himself  for  it  now
because  the  more  Kayden  thought  about  it,  the
more he realized that Gene was right. They would
torture Kayden in order to get information on the
others.

Kayden pulled his knees to his chest as he let

the dark cloak of depression fall upon him. He
might as well get ready for the inevitable. The
guards would be coming for him any second now,
and then it would be his screams echoing through
the hallways.

Just as Kayden was lowering his head, he heard

it—the  telltale  whistling  sound  that  only  he  and
his  older  brother  Kyle  used.  Body  buzzing  with
excitement,  Kayden  glanced  up  at  the  window.
Where  there  should  have  been  bars  appeared  his
brother,  and  by  that,  Kyle  was  sticking  halfway

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into the cell. He was on his belly, looking down at
Kayden.

“You’re here,” Kayden whispered.
“You didn’t think that we’d leave you behind,

did you? Even if you weren’t my baby brother, the
Parliament wouldn’t have left a man behind.
That’s rule number one,” Kyle said.

Kayden turned to Gene, “See, I told you they

would come for me.”

Gene smirked. “Okay, they got in. Now, let’s

see them get out.”

An Owl Surfaces

Chapter Two

ustin paced the ground as he waited for Kyle
to tell them whether they had the right cell or

not. Ever since they realized Kayden had been
taken captive, Austin had been on edge, torn
between rage at Stern and anger at himself for not
protecting Kayden better.

Finally, Kyle inched his way out of the cell.

“This is the right one.”

“Does Kayden look okay? They haven’t hurt

him, have they?” Austin asked, working hard to
keep his voice neutral.

Inside, he wanted to yell with rage and smash

the nearest wall. Just the thought of somebody
hurting the little Elf Owl made Austin shake. But
he couldn’t let the others know that. As the leader
of the Parliament, he wasn’t supposed to have any
favorites. No matter how sexy, cute, or utterly
irresistible they might be.

Austin shook his head. “No, he just looks a little

bruised and scratched up, but otherwise, he’s
fine.”

Stephani Hecht

Austin took in a deep breath. Since Kyle was

Kayden’s older brother, he was just as protective
of Kayden, so if there were any real injuries he’d
report them. They had managed to get to Kayden
before Stern did any real damage to the Elf Owl.

“Okay, lower a rope—Leon you go down and

cut away any chains they have on him and then he
can climb out,” Austin ordered.

The rest of the group did as ordered, and a few

moments later, Kayden was standing among
them, right where he should be. It was all Austin
could do not to run over and embrace Kayden. But
if he were to do that, then everybody would know
his true feelings for the other Owl.

“Let’s get out of here before we’re caught,”

Austin ordered.

“We can’t leave, yet,” Kayden argued.
“Why not?” Austin demanded.
“We have to rescue Gene first.”
“Who in the hell is Gene?”
Kayden blinked those big blue eyes at him, and

Austin could already feel himself softening. Then
a small burst of wind came through and brushed a
lock of Kayden’s short, blond hair into his face,
making him look all the more adorable, and
Austin knew he was putty. Damn it all! Why did
he have to be so weak when it came to Kayden?

“Gene is my cellmate. He’s my friend, so we

can’t leave him behind,” Kayden proclaimed.

“You only knew him for a few hours. How can

An Owl Surfaces

he be your friend in that amount of time?” Austin
demanded.

“He shared his bread with me. That’s why,”

Kayden replied simply.

The thing about Kayden, it was that simple.

While he had seen some harsh things in life, he
refused to let it tarnish his outlook on things. It
was as if he had built a shield around himself, but
instead of it being steel, Kayden had made his out
of cotton candy and rainbows.

“Fine, we’ll get Gene out, too, but he better not

hold us up,” Austin relented.

The blinding, heart-stopping smile that Austin

got  in  return  was  worth  it  all.  In  fact,  at  that
moment, Austin would have walked on hot coals
and  a  bed  of  nails  for  Kayden.  If  Kayden  only
knew  the  power  he  held  over  Austin,  the  havoc
the Elf Owl could create.

Once they got Gene out, Austin let out a sigh of

aggravation.  He  knew  a  troublemaker  when  he
saw  one,  and  Gene  was  one  with  a  capital  T.  It
looked  as  if  they  would  be  stuck  with  him  for
good, too. Something told Austin that Gene didn’t
have  any  friends  or  family  out  there  waiting  for
him. Just one look in the Owl’s desperate, sad eyes
told Austin that.

“Let’s get moving. I want to be as far away

from this place as soon as possible,” Austin said.

“Good luck with that,” Gene drawled. “They

have security cameras and sensors all over the

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place.”

“They’ve already been disabled,” Kyle said.

“Their monitors are now showing them old
footage from last night.”

Gene’s eyes widened a bit. “How about the

men guarding the perimeter?”

“They’re dead. But we only have so long before

their bodies are discovered, so we really should be
putting some boot to ground,” Leon, a Barn Owl,
said.

“Are you sure that they’re all really dead?”

Gene asked.

“Since I’m the one who killed most of them, I

should know,” Leon returned.

Leon was huge. Not only was he tall, but he

was muscular. With his dark hair in a buzz cut
and a face that hadn’t cracked a smile in a decade,
one didn’t doubt his claim. If he said the guards
were dead, then they were RIP.

“Okay, then. It looks like we’re all set,” Gene

replied in a high-pitched voice.

Austin had to hold back his laughter. It would

seem  that  Gene  was  afraid  of  Leon.  Which  was
nothing  new.  Everybody  who  met  Leon  for  the
first  time  was  terrified  of  him.  Not  Kayden,
though.  The  Elf  Owl  had  gone  straight  up  to  the
intimidating  man  and  made  friends  with  him.
Kayden was the whole reason why Leon was part
of  their  Parliament.  That  was,  if  one  could  call
seven…make  that  eight  now…castoff  owls  a

An Owl Surfaces

Parliament.

Using hand gestures, he indicated to the others

to follow him in a single line. While it would have
been  easier  to  fly,  Kyle  hadn’t  been  able  to  hack
into  the  system  that  controlled  the  floodlights  on
the  rooftop.  So  if  they  took  flight,  they  would  be
noticed  right  away  by  the  interior  guards.  That
meant, as frustrating as it was, they would have to
go it in human form.

Making sure that Kayden was right behind him,

Austin started to lead the group out of Stern’s
land. The journey seemed to take forever, and they
jumped every time they heard the slightest sound.
But they finally made it to the fence where they
had cut a hole through.

Austin held the fence open for everybody to get

out, making sure that his group was safe before he
himself slipped through. Once they were free, it
wasn’t until they were to their cars that Austin
finally allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.

That had almost been too easy. If Austin hadn’t

known better, he would have sworn that Stern had
let them come in and take Kayden back. Austin
shook his head. No, that couldn’t be right. If that
was the case, then Stern would have sprung a trap
when they had all been on his land. That way, he
would have finally had all the Parliament, just like
he’d wanted for years.

Unless he had planted Gene in Kayden’s cell to

be a spy. Stern probably knew that Kayden would

Stephani Hecht

insist  on  rescuing  the  other  Owl,  too.  Austin
looked  in  the  review  mirror  at  Gene,  who  was
huddled  in  the  backseat,  and  immediately
dismissed that thought.

Gene was too emaciated and beaten down to be

on  Stern’s  side.  That  Owl  had  suffered,  and  not
just  for  a  little  while.  He’d  been  in  that  cell  for  a
long  time.  Just  one  good  whiff  of  him  would  tell
somebody  that.  The  poor  guy  probably  hadn’t
seen a shower in months, let alone a decent meal.

Deciding to put his troubled thoughts behind

him,  Austin  turned  on  the  ignition  and  started
toward  their  new  safe  house.  There,  both  Gene
and  Kayden  could  get  a  hot  shower  and  some
good food in their bellies. Then they could sleep in
a real bed and not a dirty pile of hay.

“Did they hurt you any?” Austin asked

Kayden.

“Not much. They just roughed me up a bit. It

could have been a lot worse,” Kayden replied
before he shivered.

It made Austin wonder what the Elf Owl had

seen  and  heard  during  his  brief  imprisonment.
Austin  clutched  the  steering  wheel  harder  as  he
struggled to keep his rage down. Just the thought
of  Stern  or  one  of  his  men  doing  any  harm  to
Kayden made Austin want to destroy them bit by
painful bit. How somebody could do anything so
awful  as  to  lock  up  somebody  as  sweet  and
innocent  as  Kayden  just  flabbergasted  Austin.

An Owl Surfaces

Didn’t they realize how precious Kayden was?
How special he was?

Austin shook his head. He really needed to get

over  his  infatuation  with  Kayden.  If  he  didn’t,  it
wouldn’t be long before the other members of the
Parliament  noticed.  Then  it  would  look  as  if
Austin  was  playing  favorites,  and  he  didn’t  ever
want things to come off that way.

It took an hour for them to get to their new safe

house, so by the time Austin pulled into the
driveway, both Kayden and Gene had fallen
asleep. Austin shut the car off, then turned around
to wake the pair.

“Hey, guys, we’re home. Why don’t we get you

inside and cleaned up. Then we can feed you a
decent meal. You look way too thin, Gene.”

At the mention of food, Gene’s eyes popped

wide  open.  It  took  a  little  more  coaxing  to  get
Kayden to wake up, however. Kayden mumbled a
little  and  snuggled  deeper  into  his  arm.  Austin
couldn’t  help  but  smile.  It  made  him  want  to
gather Kayden in his arms and carry him up to the
house, then tuck him into bed.

Austin glanced over at Gene to see the Owl

shooting him a knowing look. Shit! Austin just
had to let his guard down, and it had to be in front
of the new guy, too.

“I don’t blame you, he’s a special man,” Gene

said.

Austin gave a shake of his head. “I don’t know

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what you mean. I don’t play favorites in my
Parliament.”

“Okay, if you want to play it that way, Chief, I

promise to keep your little secret. But only
because Kayden insisted that you rescue me too,
and I owe that little Owl a lot.”

Austin let out a sigh of relief. “I’m just glad we

got Kayden out of there before Stern was able to
get his hands on him and start torturing him.”

Gene scratched his head. “You and me both.

I’ve only known Kayden a few hours, but he’s
already grown on me.”

Austin shot Gene a dirty look.
The Owl held his hands up. “Whoa there, tiger.

My feelings are totally platonic. I like my men to
be a lot bigger and rougher.”

“So you’re gay, too?”
“That was the main reason my birth Parliament

threw me out,” Gene said, a bit of hurt leaking
into his voice.

“Yeah, the same thing has happened to all of

us,” Austin admitted.

“It sucks.” Gene started to play with a rip on his

jeans.

“Yes, it does. But you have a home with us for

as long as you want.”

Austin had no idea why he was offering Gene a

spot in their Parliament after knowing him for
such a short time, but it just seemed the right thing
to do. The Owl had such a beaten down, kicked-

An Owl Surfaces

too-many-times look about him that Austin
wanted to offer him some safety and stability. Or
at least the little bit of stability that they had.

Gene looked up with hopeful eyes. “You really

mean that?”

“Yeah, I do. You took care of Kayden, now

we’re going to take care of you.”

“Why?” Gene asked, clearly perplexed.
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Austin

replied simply.

He didn’t blame Gene for his confusion. There

had  been  a  time  not  too  long  ago  when  Austin
himself  would have been shocked by such  an act
of kindness. But that had been before Austin had
found  that  there  were  others  like  him  out  in  the
world. Ones that he could call friends. Ones with
whom  he  could  band  together  and  form  his  own
family of sorts.

Austin gave Kayden another shake, this one a

bit harder.

Kayden finally opened his eyes and looked

blearily at Austin. “Where are we?”

“At the new safe house. Why don’t you get

inside, take a shower, and get some clean clothes.
Rory is making some of his soup even as we
speak.”

That really got Kayden moving. Rory, or Matt

Damon, as they liked to call him whenever they
wanted to rile him up, was a phenomenal chef.
The Barred Owl could work magic in the kitchen,

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plus he could kick ass in the battlefield. The
Parliament would be lost without him.

Kayden immediately opened the car door and

jumped  out.  He  then  raced  to  their  new  home.  It
wasn’t  anything  special.  Just  a  single  ranch  thing
that was actually way too small to house the entire
group of men. But it wasn’t as if they had a never-
ending  source  of  income.  They  had  to  make  do
with whatever odd jobs they could pick up here or
there.

“I take it this Rory is a good cook?” Gene asked.
“He’s the best,” Austin replied as he watched

Kayden scramble through the front door.

“That’s all I need to hear.”
With those words, Gene got out of the car and

made a mad dash for the door. Austin felt sorry
for the Owl; it’d probably been forever since he’d
had a decent meal. He just hoped that Gene didn’t
overdo it and make himself sick, since his stomach
would be sensitive from not eating for so long.

By the time Austin got out of the car and made

his way inside, Kayden and Gene were already at
the  table,  eating.  Gene  held  the  bowl  close  to  his
chest  as  if  he  were  afraid  that  somebody  would
come by at any moment and snatch it away from
him.  While  Kayden  ate  at  a  much  slower  pace,  it
was  obvious  that  he  was  hungry,  too.  Kayden
might  be  small,  but  he  ate  a  ton,  and  for  him  to
even  go two  hours  without  food  must  have  been
torture for him.

An Owl Surfaces

Rory went up to Gene and put his hands on the

Owl’s shoulders. “We’re going to keep it to only
one bowl for now. The last thing you need is to get
sick from eating too much your first time.”

Austin expected Gene to fire off a snarky

comment, but all he did was nod and continue to
eat. Austin was astounded. He didn’t know what
magic Rory had over Gene, but he wanted some of
it, so he could get the brat to listen to orders better.

Austin went over to get himself some dinner.

On  the  way  over,  he  couldn’t  help  but  stop  long
enough  to  ruffle  Kayden’s  hair.  Just  thinking
about  how  close  they  had  come  to  losing  the  Elf
Owl that night made Austin tremble.

If Kayden were to leave his life, Austin didn’t

know if he would have the power to go on, which
scared the ever-living shit out of him.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Three

ayden woke up the next morning, and it took
him a few moments to realize where he was.

Then the previous night’s events came back to him
in a rush. His heart sped up until he looked at his
two roommates, Peter and Carter. Everything was
okay. He was safe and back with his Parliament.
That was all that mattered.

Slipping out of bed, trying to be as quiet as

possible  so  he  didn’t  wake  the  others,  Kayden
stole  from  the  room.  He  softly  shut  the  door
behind him, then made his way down the hallway
until  he  found  himself  stopping  at  one  room.
Kayden  didn’t  how  he  knew,  but  there  was  no
doubt in his mind this was Austin’s room.

When they had first started out as a group,

Austin had tried to insist that he share a room just
like everybody else. But the rest of the Parliament
refused to hear it. He was their leader, and, as
such, he deserved their respect. That meant he got
to have a room all to himself.

Kayden reached out and stroked the door.

An Owl Surfaces

What he would give to be able to just walk in and
announce his true feelings for Austin. To have the
freedom to kiss Austin and stroke that muscular
body of his.

But that would never happen in a million years.

Not only was Austin their leader, but he was a
Great Gray Owl. There was no way in hell he’d
ever be interested in a tiny Elf Owl like Kayden.

So no matter which way Kayden looked at it, he

was screwed, and not in the way he wanted to be.
He  knew  his  crush  was  hopeless,  and  he  also
knew  that  it  wasn’t  going  away—in  fact  it  was
growing stronger every passing day. It was to the
point that Kayden couldn’t look at any other man
without  comparing  them  to  Austin,  and  Austin
always came out the winner.

“He’s downstairs already,” a soft voice said.
Kayden looked up and saw Kyle. His brother

was the only one who knew Kayden’s true
feelings for Austin. That was because Kyle could
read Kayden like a book and had figured it out on
his own.

Kayden gave a small chuckle. “That’s okay. I

wasn’t going to knock or anything. I just…”

Kayden faltered, not knowing how to finish the

sentence without coming off as a stalker or
something.

“I know,” Kyle said, understanding in his voice.
Kyle came up and put his arm around Kayden’s

shoulders. “How about, after breakfast, you and I

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go out for a flight?”

“Really?” Kayden said, unable to keep the

excitement out of his voice. It was so rare that just
he and Kyle went flying together.

“Yeah, I think we need some brother time.

Don’t you?”

“I agree. It would be good to clear my mind.

Right now, I don’t know my tail from my beak.”

They both went into the kitchen and found

Rory at the stove, as usual. As soon as the warm,
delicious smell of food hit Kayden’s nose, his
stomach began to growl. He always ate like a pig
to begin with, and he still hadn’t caught up from
all the missed meals during his captivity. Even
though said captivity had only lasted a few hours.

Kayden and Rory filled up their plates and sat

down. It was only then that Kayden noticed that
they were the only three there.

“Where is everybody?” he asked Rory.
“As soon as they wake up, Carter and Peter

driving  into  town  to  see  if  they  can  pick  up  any
work.  Gene  is  still  sleeping.  Leon  is  trying  to  set
up  some  sort  of  security  for  this  place,  Austin  is
helping him. Then we have Devlin, who is playing
with the computer,” Rory said.

“So it shouldn’t be a big deal if Kyle and I took

a quick flight?”

Rory gave a shrug. “I don’t see why not. So

long as you stick close to the house and stay
together.”

An Owl Surfaces

Kayden began to shovel the food in his mouth,

eager to get outside and clock  some flying in. As
soon as he and Kyle were finished, they rinsed of
their dishes, then went to the back door. They then
stripped  and  shifted  into  their  Owl  forms.  They
were forced to do it inside since it was taking too
much of a chance to do so outdoors. The last thing
they  needed  was  some  nosey  neighbor  spotting
them  and  then  blabbing  to  the  whole  world.  The
only bad thing was, they were the only ones who
could shift inside since they were so small in their
owl  form.  All  the  others  had  to  risk  it  and  shift
outside.

Rory opened the door for them, and the

brothers  hopped  outside.  Once  they  were  there,
they  immediately  took  flight.  As  always,  once
Kayden hit the air, his heart began to beat just a bit
faster  as  he  soared  above  the  land.  There  was
nothing  more  magical  than  the  feeling  of  being
free  and  flying.  It  felt  so  good  that  Kayden  felt
sorry  for  those  who  could  never  experience  the
thrilling ride.

He and Kyle swooped through the air,

crisscrossing paths. They would playfully nip at
each other, before dodging each other. All the
while, they made sure that they kept close to each
other and on the lookout for any enemies.

After a couple of hours, they grew tired and

headed back to the house. After tapping on the
glass, the brothers sat at the doorstep and waited

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to be let in. To Kayden’s shock, Austin let them in,
and he didn’t look too happy.

He opened the door, and Kayden and Kyle

hopped in. No sooner had Austin shut the door
than he was on them.

“What in the hell were you two thinking?”

Austin fumed. “Going out on a flight by
yourselves in unknown territory? You could have
been recaptured or worse.”

Kayden just blinked up at him. It wasn’t like he

could say much, since he was still in his bird form.
Austin made an aggravated gesture with his hand.

“Will you two shift already? I feel ridiculous

yelling at a pair of tiny Owls.”

Kayden and Kyle did as commanded. Kayden

immediately rushed to get his clothes on. There
was no way he was going to get an accidental
boner in front of Austin. Kayden would rather go
back to that prison than have that happen.

“Why are you getting dressed so fast? Are you

trying to hide an injury from me?” Austin
demanded.

“No,” Kayden all but snapped. “I just feel a bit

ridiculous getting yelled at while I’m naked.”

“Why? We’re shifters, so we’re used to being

nude in front of each other.” Austin pressed.

Kayden let out a sigh. Why couldn’t Austin just

let this go? But, noooooo…he had to keep going
on and on about it, making the situation more
awkward. Kayden just wanted to curl up in a ball

An Owl Surfaces

and disappear.

“It’s a bit demeaning is why,” Kayden finally

came up with.

Austin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Kayden,

there are some days when I swear you are going to
be the death of me.”

More than a little offended, Kayden said,

“Why? What have I ever done to cause you any
trouble? I’m a good Owl.”

Very slowly, Austin looked up at him. “You

almost got mugged that one time you took your
wallet out in Detroit.”

“Well, the guy said he was homeless and asked

for some spare change. How was I supposed to
know that he was going to go ballistic when he
saw that I was carrying some real cash?”

“Then there was the one time you donated all

the money in our emergency cash jar to the animal
shelter.”

Kayden couldn’t help but feel like he was

getting attacked a bit. “You should have seen the
commercial. All those abused puppies and kittens
were on it, and they had sad music in the
background. I just couldn’t resist.”

It was then that Kayden noticed that Kyle had

slipped out somewhere during their conversation.
That little coward. How dare he leave Kayden in
his time of need?

“I thought you would have learned yesterday.

The world isn’t a safe place where everybody is

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nice  and  friendly.  We’re  surrounded  by  enemies.
While  I  think  it’s  endearing  that  you  see
everything  through  rose-colored  glasses,  I  don’t
want to lose you because you’re too trusting.”

A bitter rage built up inside Kayden and he

turned  on  Austin.  “The  day  our  family  and
Parliament  beat  us  and  exiled  us  was  the  day  I
learned  what  a  horrible  place  the  world  can  be.
Just  because  I  don’t  show  my  anger  and  hurt
doesn’t mean  it’s not there. I  just refused to let it
change  me.  They  took  everything  else  from  me.
They  can’t  have  that,  too.  I  won’t  let  them  have
that. Besides Kyle, it’s all I have left.”

Austin grabbed Kayden by his upper arms.

“That’s not true. You have the Parliament. You
have me.”

For one heart-pounding moment, Kayden

actually thought Austin meant that they held a
special connection. That maybe Austin actually
did return Kayden’s feelings.

But Austin let go of Kayden and said, “What I

mean is you have me as your leader to guide you.”

Bone-crushing disappointment went through

Kayden.  He  knew  he  had  only  himself  to  blame.
He  should  have  known  better  than  to  get  his
hopes  up.  Austin  had  and  always  would  see
Kayden  as  nothing  more  than  just  another
member  of  the  Parliament.  Nothing  was  ever
going to change that.

Suddenly, Kayden wanted to be as far away

An Owl Surfaces

from  Austin  as  possible.  It  was  just  too  much  to
handle.  At  that  moment,  Kayden  was  so
overwhelmed  that  he  simply  couldn’t  be  in  the
same room with the man that he wanted so much.
Especially when said man had just made it plainly
obvious  that  he  held  no  romantic  interest  in
Kayden at all.

“Are you done with me? I’d like to go to my

room,” Kayden said, dropping his gaze to the
floor.

He noticed that the linoleum floor was cracked

in several places and had pieces missing in others.
Not that it was anything new. They weren’t
exactly swimming in cash, so the rentals they
acquired weren’t usually top-notch, nor were they
in good neighborhoods.

None of that mattered to Kayden at the

moment. All he wanted to do was go to his small
bedroom, which he shared with two other men,
find his small mattress and curl up. It might not be
much, but it was his own space, and it was the
only place where he could truly mope in peace.

“Have you had anything to eat this morning?”

Austin asked.

“Yes, I had breakfast when I first got up.”
“Okay, then you can go.” Austin made a

dismissive gesture with his hand.

With a heavy heart, Kayden turned and made

his way to his room. A tiny, foolish part of him
still hoped that Austin would call him back. But

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that never happened.

Peter was the only one who was still in the

room when Kayden got back. At least Peter looked
like he was about to leave. He was sitting on the
mattress, putting his shoes on. Tall and lanky with
a mop of black hair that never stayed in place, one
would never know the guy was a killing machine.
Peter almost made Leon look like a kitten out on
the battlefield. Kayden was just happy the guy
was on their side.

Peter was a North Hawk Owl, a breed that was

notorious for keeping to themselves. So Kayden
was shocked when Peter asked, “What’s up, little
Elf?”

“Nothing. It’s just me wanting something I

can’t have.” Kayden threw his hand over his face.

“Ah…you’re talking about your crush on

Austin.”

Kayden sat up, shocked by what Peter had just

said. “How did you hear about that? Who told
you?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Anybody with half a

mind can tell that you all but worship Austin.”

“Do you think everybody else knows?” Kayden

asked as panic began to build up within him.

If so, he was in capital S. H. I. T. Because that

could very well mean that Austin would know,
too. Kayden already came off as a pathetic loser as
it was. To be a pathetic loser who also had a crush
on the head honcho who was drool-worthy only

An Owl Surfaces

made things, oh, he didn’t know…one million
times worse!

“Austin is the only who’s clueless,” Peter said.
Kayden let out a pent-up breath. “Are you

sure?”

Peter gave him an are-you-fucking-with-me

look. “Have you ever known me to miss any detail
on any situation, no matter how small it may be?”

No, Kayden hadn’t. Peter could spot an enemy

Owl  flying  in  on  them  from  miles  away.  He  was
always  the  first  to  know  when  one  of  their  safe
houses had been compromised, too. There wasn’t
anything that the guy didn’t spot that was out of
place.  There  had  even  been  one  time  when  he’d
known they were in trouble because one blade of
grass was out of place.  One frigging blade of  grass!
Who  was  that  astute?  The  guy  had  to  be  part
wizard or something.

“So he doesn’t even notice me enough to know

that I have a crush on him,” Kayden said sullenly.

“If you ask me, it’s because he’s too busy trying

to put as much distance between him and you as
possible.”

Kayden frowned. “Why would he want to do

that? Does he hate me?”

Peter began to lace up his boots. “No, it’s the

opposite. I think he likes you more than he thinks
he should.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”
Peter shook his head. “Why do I have to spell it

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out to you guys so much, when the answer is right
there plain as day? Austin is just as attracted to
you as you are to him.”

Now it was Kayden who shook his head.

“You’re  wrong  about  that.  What  would  a  great
big, muscular man see in a tiny, scrawny thing like
me?  I’m  such  a  hindrance  to  the  group  that  I’m
surprised  he  hasn’t  tossed  me  out  a  long  time
ago.”

Peter pinned Kayden with a hard stare. “I want

you to get one thing out of your mind right now.
You  have  not  been,  nor  will  you  ever  be,  a
hindrance  to  this  group.  You  may  not  be  able  to
fight,  but  you  can  do  stuff  with  your  computer-
gobbly-gook  that  is  amazing.  The  Parliament
would  be  lost  without  you,  and  don’t  you  ever
forget that.”

“You have two other computer-savvy guys here

that could easily take my place.”

“Neither of whom is half as good as you, and

deep down, you know it.”

Kayden didn’t respond because deep down he

did know Peter was correct. Had he been behind
the keyboard the night of the rescue, those
floodlights on the rooftops would have been
down. Kayden had no doubt of it.

“Okay, so Austin hasn’t tossed me out because

of my wonderful hacking skills,” Kayden threw
his arms up into the air.

“That’s not it. Trust me on this, Austin has it

An Owl Surfaces

bad for you. So much so, that his self-control is
going to snap, and it’s going to be sooner than
later.”

Kayden’s heart skipped a beat. “What will

happen then?”

Peter gave a feral smile. “I have a distinct

feeling that you’re going to enjoy every moment of
it.”

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Four

ustin stood in the middle of the kitchen after
Kayden walked out. That had so not been the

way  he  wanted  the  conversation  to  go  down.
Instead  of  making  things  between  them  better,
Austin  had  planted  his  big,  fat  foot  in  his  mouth
and ended up making  things worse. Now Austin
didn’t  have  to  worry  about  the  others  ever
thinking  that  he  was  giving Kayden  extra  special
treatment. Not when the poor Owl thought Austin
hated him.

He let out a growl of frustration as he kicked

one of the kitchen chairs. Then he had instant
regret when pain shot through his big toe. He was
still hopping up and down when Leon walked
back into the kitchen. One look at Leon’s face told
Austin that the Owl wasn’t pleased with him.

“What?” Austin demanded as he reached down

to rub the hurt away.

“You were a little rough on Kayden, don’t you

think?” Leon asked.

“You guys seem to forget how little and

An Owl Surfaces

vulnerable he is. He can’t fight back like the rest of
us can,” Austin defended.

“True, but he has the urges we do. His Owl

wants out just as much as ours. You can’t keep
him cooped up all the time. It’s not fair to him.”

The sucky thing about it was Austin knew Leon

was right. All of them had the same desires to let
their Owls out on a regular basis and go flying.
Kayden was no different, so who was Austin to
deny him that pleasure? While Austin might want
to put Kayden in a protective bubble and always
keep him safe, it simply wasn’t possible.

“What if they get him again? I can’t stand the

thought of them torturing him. It would kill me,”
Austin said.

“Because he’s a member of the Parliament or

because he means a lot to you?” Leon asked
pointedly.

Austin opened and closed his mouth a few

times before he finally lied. “Because he’s part of
the Parliament. You know I don’t pick favorites.”

“Save it, Austin. You’re a great leader, but

anybody  with  two  eyes  can  see  how  much  you
adore  Kayden.  In  fact,  the  majority  of  us  are
wishing  that  you  would  get  it  over  already  and
just fuck him.”

Austin shook his head. “I can’t do that. To be a

good leader, I have to treat you all the same.”

“Have you ever stopped to consider that

maybe…just maybe, Kayden may be your mate?”

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That made Austin pause to think. No, more to

the  point,  it  made  Austin  pause  and  have  an  oh-
shit  moment.  What  if  Kayden  had  been  his  mate
all  this  time  and  Austin  had  been  denying  him?
Owls were only given one mate in life; there were
no  second  chances.  Austin  could  be  blowing  his
chance to be with his.

“That can’t be right. I would know if Kayden

was my mate,” Austin argued.

Leon nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. Because then

you would feel a nearly irresistible pull toward
him.”

Damn it! That exactly hit the mark as far as

Kayden was concerned. Since the first day Austin
had met the Owl, it was all he could do to keep his
hands off Kayden.

“Yeah, right,” Austin replied.
“Then you feel an overpowering need to protect

him,” Leon added.

Double damn it! Austin was so protective of

Kayden that there were times he wanted to lock
the Elf Owl in his bedroom just to keep him safe.
A bit extreme? Maybe, but it would be efficient.

“There’s that,” Austin said aloud.
“And he would be all you could think about,”

Leon continued.

Damn, damn, damn. Kayden haunted almost

every one of Austin’s thoughts in the day and at
night. It had gotten so bad that Austin had found
himself constantly looking to see what room

An Owl Surfaces

Kayden was in, just so he could see the Owl or
hear his voice. Austin had started calling it his
Kayden-fix.

Austin ran his hands through his hair. “Shit, I

am in so much trouble.”

“It looks that way to me,” Leon agreed.
“What do I do? I can’t just go up to him and say

Hey, I think we’re mates. Let’s go fuck.”

“Yeah, I’m no romantic, but I don’t think that

will work.”

“So what do I do?”
“I guess you’re going to have to do it the old

way and woo him.”

“Woo him? Have you been reading those old

romantic novels again?”

Leon pointed at him with a spoon. “Hey, there

are some really good stories in those. You should
give one or two of them a shot. It may help you
with Kayden.”

“Not unless I was a pirate and Kayden was

some  duchess  that  I  kidnapped  for  ransom,
but…wait  for  it…we  fall  in  love  before  we  can
collect  the  booty.  So  we  sail  off  into  the  sunset
together.”

“Not all the books end that way,” Leon

grumbled.

“Hey, don’t be so sensitive. At least you read

something that’s halfway decent. I caught Devlin
reading a tabloid magazine the other day.”

“Now, that would have been funny.”

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Austin laughed. “The thing that really cracked

me up was he actually believed the celebrity
stories that were in there. He refused to believe me
when I told him that they were all made up.”

“Well, I guess we all need an outlet from this

life we’re leading. It’s not easy being on the run all
the time.”

Austin had to admit Leon had a point. It was a

tiring, difficult life that they led. So if Devlin
needed a little fantasy in his life, who could deny
him that?

But that still didn’t answer Austin’s question as

to what he was going to about Kayden. Now that
Leon  had  brought  up  the  whole  mate  issue,  the
situation  had  taken  on  a  far  different  spin.  But
there  was  only  one  way  to  know  for  sure  that
Kayden  was  his  mate,  and  that  was  to  have  sex
with the other Owl.

Austin took a seat at the table and put his face

in his hands. What in the hell was he going to do?
If he had sex with Kayden and they weren’t mates,
then the results would be catastrophic. Then
again, if Austin didn’t have sex with Kayden, he
would be forever wondering if he was missing out
on his mate.

“What do I do?” Austin asked Leon.
“I wish I could give you some sound advice,

but it seems to me that you’re screwed both ways.
I do know that when he was missing, you were
crazy with rage, and that’s something only a mate

An Owl Surfaces

would do.”

Austin thought back to the time when they first

realized that Kayden was gone, how he’d nearly
torn apart everything around him. How he’d been
nothing but a ball of fury, and his only thought
had been I need him back by my side, now!

Yeah, he hadn’t been exactly in the right frame

of mind at that point. They’d had other members
of the Parliament captured before, but never
before had Austin’s reaction been quite as strong.
Okay, it hadn’t had been one-tenth as strong. But
that didn’t mean anything—did it?

“There’s only way to be for sure,” Leon said.
“I can’t just go up there and fuck him,” Austin

replied in an exasperated voice.

“No, but you could start by buttering him up a

bit. See how he reacts to you.”

“What if he tells me to fuck off?”
“Trust me, I’ve seen the looks he’s tossing your

way. There is no way he’ll tell you no.”

“What if he decides he doesn’t like me?”
Leon let out a disgusted grunt. “What are we in,

an  episode  of  My  Teenage  Life  or  something?
What’s  up  with  all  this  angst  and  drama?  If  he
doesn’t  like  you,  then  you  know  he’s  not  your
mate and you move on. No big deal.”

Austin clamped his lips together. He couldn’t

wait for the day when the boot was on the other
foot and Leon met his mate. Austin was so going
to throw all this shit back into the Owl’s face. He

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might even make up some more crap just to make
it all the better. It would be so nice to see Leon
taken down a peg or two.

“What are you doing sitting here?” Leon asked.

“Go find Kayden and see if he’s your mate.”

Austin got up from the table. “Okay, but I still

think this is a bad idea.”

Oh, how he would love to back out, but Leon

watched  him  until  Austin  was  at  the  door  of
Kayden’s  room.  Mouth  dry,  nerves  frayed  and
scared  to  his  bones,  Austin  raised  his  hand  to
knock. After a few seconds, Kayden answered.

“Austin?” Kayden’s nose scrunched up in

confusion. “What are you doing here? Did I mess
up and do something else wrong?”

“No, you’re fine, little Owl. I just wanted to talk

to you alone for a moment.”

Kayden waved Austin in. “You can talk to me

here. Both my roomies are gone. Kyle is probably
watching TV, and Peter is no doubt off killing
somebody.”

The sad thing was, Kayden was probably right.

Austin let out a sigh. He sure led a motley group.
That didn’t stop him from loving all of them like
family, though.

As soon as Austin walked in and Kayden shut

the  door,  Austin  knew  he  was  in  trouble.  The
room  was  small,  and there  was  nothing  but  beds
wherever  he  looked.  Damned  if  Austin  didn’t
want to throw Kayden down on one and have his

An Owl Surfaces

way with the Owl, too. Austin would do anything
to  bare  that  slender  flesh  for  his  viewing.  The
pleasure  he  would  take  in  licking  every  inch  of
that  succulent  skin.  How  he  would  revel  in
making Kayden moan in desire, making the Owl’s
face flush as he came, his cock shooting streams of
cum. Kayden did have one nice dick, too.

While manners might dictate that one didn’t

take a peek at another shifter when they stripped
down  or  got  dressed  again,  Austin  was  man
enough  to  admit  he’d  looked  a  time  or  two  at
Kayden.  Thus,  Austin  was  positive  of  all  of
Kayden’s  attributes,  and  damn  if  they  weren’t
good ones.

“Were you going to say something, or are you

planning on staring at me all day?” Kayden asked,
a bit hesitantly.

It was only then that Austin realized that he’d

been standing there, frozen like a statue. He could
almost see the nameplate right now Austin-The
God of Stupidity. Damn it, this was not how he
wanted to start the conversation.

Austin ran his hand through his hair in

frustration  while  he  thought  about  how  he  was
going  to  approach  the  topic  at  hand  without
making  a  fool  of  himself.  Or,  worse,  scaring
Kayden away.

“I want to talk about us,” Austin finally said.
“What about us?” Kayden asked with a slight

tilt of his head.

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“Come on. You have to admit that you feel it,

too.” Austin held his breath as he waited for
Kayden to deny it.

“Admit what?” Kayden asked as he looked

down and began to rub his toe around a ripped
hole in the rug.

“You’re attracted to me.”
Kayden’s head whipped up. His eyes were

wide with terror, and his mouth was in an O
shape. “Who told you?”

Austin reached out and cupped the back of

Kayden’s head. Austin almost let out a sigh when
he felt how soft Kayden’s hair felt. It only served
to make Austin eager to keep on touching, to see
how other places of Kayden felt.

“Leon made me realize that I’ve been an idiot

and missing all the looks you were throwing my
way.”

The most adorable flush covered Kayden’s

cheekbones. “Shit.”

Austin let out a small chuckle. “Don’t worry.

The reason I hadn’t noticed them earlier was
because I was throwing them your way, too.”

Kayden let out a small gasp. “You were?”
“I think I fell for you when we found you and

your brother hiding out in that dumpster. You
were so scared and alone. I would have done
anything to protect you from that moment on.”

“You don’t feel the same way about Kyle?”
“No, there’s somebody else that has those kinds

An Owl Surfaces

of emotions toward Kyle.”

“Who?” Kayden asked, his eyes once again

growing large.

Austin placed a chaste kiss on the tip of

Kayden’s nose. “That’s not my place to say. When
the Owl in question is ready to make his move,
we’ll all know. He’s just not ready yet.”

Kayden gave Austin a big frown. “Fine, but if

this mysterious Owl breaks Kyle’s heart, I’m going
to claw his eyes out. I don’t care how big he is.”

The funny thing was Austin could see Kayden

trying to do just that. While Kayden might be
small, he made up for it in spunk and fire. He had
to, in order to survive in the untamed world after
he and his brother had been exiled by their
Parliament.

“I wouldn’t worry about that. This Owl in

question would give his own life in order to
protect Kyle,” Austin assured him. “Now get
ready.”

“For what?” Kayden blinked up at him.
“I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Okay, but just so you know, I’ve never kissed

anybody.”

Shocked to his feathers, Austin paused. “You’re

twenty-two. How is it that you’ve gone this long
without kissing another man?”

Kayden shrugged. “Well, before, I didn’t dare

do anything because I was afraid of getting caught
and exiled. Then Kyle and I were a little too busy

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trying to stay alive to worry about anything else.
Then you guys found us, and I didn’t want
anybody to touch me but you.”

Stupefied, Austin asked, “So you’re a virgin?”
Blushing even more, Kayden nodded. “Does

this mean that you don’t want me anymore?”

As if. Austin just felt like he’d won the frigging

jackpot. His mate was untouched, pure…that was
almost unheard of. It was also as hot as hell. So
much so, that Austin nearly came in his pants at
that exact moment.

Austin was just going in for his long anticipated

kiss,  when  he  heard  it…the  cries  of  enemy  Owls
and the ominous thuds as they landed on the roof.
Austin  let  out  a  loud  curse.  How  in  the  hell  had
they  been  found  so  fast?  It  usually  took  them
several weeks to be discovered. None of this made
any sense.

Grabbing Kayden by his upper arms, Austin

said, “No matter what happens in the next few
minutes, you need to promise me that you will
follow my instructions to the letter.”

“O…okay,” Kayden said.
Good, that was all Austin needed to hear. If

everything worked as planned, there was no way
those damn Owls would get one claw on Kayden,
or Kyle for that matter.

Turning, Austin began to bark out orders. Not

that he had to anymore. After all, they had been
through this drill so many times, they all knew

An Owl Surfaces

what to do. It was old hat to them.

Austin let out a sigh. He wondered if their days

of running would ever be over.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Five

ayden froze as fear shot through him.
Normally, he didn’t react this way when

they  were  under  attack.  After  it  happened  so
many  times,  Kayden  had  learned  to  react
mechanically. But after last time, when he’d been
captured, things had changed. For the first time in
a long while, Kayden felt fear. It was so strong that
it  burned  like  acid  on  his  tongue  and  made  him
more than a little sick to his stomach. So it wasn’t
a pleasant feeling to say the least.

Austin turned to Kayden. “Shift.”
Confused, Kayden was finally able to move, but

it was only to back up a couple of steps. “Are you
kidding me? We never shift as a group until we’re
outside.”

“We’ll be doing things different from here on

out. Now shift.”

Since Austin was technically his leader, and

Kayden  had  vowed  to  always  obey  his  orders,
Kayden  gave  a  timid  nod,  then  readied  to  shift.
Great!  Even  though  Owl  shifters  were  generally

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much bigger than their real-life animal, that still
made it so Kayden wasn’t bigger than a kitten. So
all he could do if they were attacked was hiss and
scratch the enemies. A big, fat lot of good that did.

Kayden jerked off his clothing, noting how

Austin  didn’t  bother  to  look  away,  which  would
have  been  the  pleasant  thing  under  other
conditions.  Kayden  made  sure  the  show  was  a
short one, shifting  as  soon as he got his last sock
off. He wanted to laugh so hard when he saw the
disappointed  look  on  Austin’s  face.  That  should
be enough to teach him not to be bossy.

Once Kayden was in his Owl form, he stood

there  and  watched  as  Austin  picked  up  the
scattered  clothing  and  crammed  them  into
Kayden’s  backpack.  They  all  had  one,  never
unpacked, so they would be ready to move on the
drop should they  be attacked. Of course, because
Kayden  and  Kyle  were  so  damn  little,  another
Owl in the Parliament had to do double duty and
carry their packs as well.

Still knelt down, Austin pinned Kayden with a

hard stare. “And just so you know, the next time
you and I are alone and naked in the same room,
I’m going to have my full fill of you. Even if I have
to tie you down to the bed to do it.”

Kayden let out a chirp of shock, even as desire

coursed through every feather of his body. Just the
thought of being tied down and at the mercy of
Austin pressed all the right buttons for Kayden.

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Then Peter ran into the room and had to ruin

everything, damn it, by reminding them they were
under attack. Yeah, yeah, those were just
schematics as far as Kayden was concerned at the
moment.

“Do you have Kyle?” Austin asked.
Peter nodded. “He’s not too pleased with the

way we’re doing things. I never knew that kid had
such a potty mouth on him.”

“Did you just say potty mouth?” Austin asked.

That was the last thing he would have expected
the usually stoic, yet menacing Owl to say.

“I was going to say the mouth of a whore in a

convent of nuns, but I know we’re on a rush, so I
was trying to keep it short and sweet.”

Kayden had to bite back a laugh…that was, if

Owls  were  capable  of  laughing.  At  least  until  he
saw  Peter  flinch,  then  look  down  at  his  hand.
Kayden  was  horrified  to  see  that  Kyle  was in  his
Owl form and that Peter had been holding him the
entire time.

Kayden let out some angry chirps to let them

know he was so not okay with that. He didn’t care
if Peter was a stone cold killer or not, that didn’t
mean he had the right to carry Kyle around like he
was some cheap stuffed animal he’d won at the
fair. Kyle deserved some respect, damn it!

Peter rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m not

hurting him. Austin and I are just going to carry
you this time when we run away. We know you

An Owl Surfaces

two have trouble keeping up with us, so this is our
way of protecting you.”

Talk about a low blow. Now the rest of the

group didn’t even think that he and Kyle could fly
fast enough. Next, they would be holding both of
their dicks while they pissed, because they didn’t
think they were capable of that.

Before Kayden could squawk his indignation,

Austin picked him up and ran from the room.
They went out of the back door. Peter tossed the
brothers’ backpacks to Devlin before Austin gently
set Kayden down.

“Don’t even think of flying away. You know

this is the only way we can be certain that you
don’t end up in that creep’s dungeon again,”
Austin chided, his dark eyes pleading.

It was only because Kayden could see how

worried Austin was that he stayed in place while
Austin stripped to prepare to shift. Since fair was
only fair, Kayden didn’t bother to look away,
either.

Da’yam, but wasn’t Austin hot. He had just the

right amount of muscles under his tan skin and
the nicest cock that Kayden had ever seen in his
life. Thick and long, it wasn’t too big that it would
rip Kayden in two were they ever to have sex.

Then the beautiful view was taken from him

when Austin shifted and a Great Gray Owl stood
in his place. And of course, Austin had to look
stunning as an Owl, too, with its gray feathers and

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probing yellow-eyed stare that seemed to look
right through Kayden.

Austin lifted one talon, and even though all his

instincts told him to run, Kayden hopped toward
it. Austin then very gently wrapped Kayden in a
grip before taking off.

Austin flew so fast that Kayden had to close his

eyes  so  he  didn’t  puke.  While  he’d  flown  many
times, at that moment, it felt like he was strapped
to  a  fighter  jet  or  something.  If  flying  was  this
intense for the bigger Owls, then Kayden was glad
for the first time in life that he’d been born an Elf
Owl.  Shit,  how  could  they  even  see  where  they
were  going?  To  Kayden,  everything  was  just  one
big blur.

As soon as they burst through the trees that

lined the backyard, Kayden found that they were
in the midst of chaos. Owl battled Owl, using their
talons and beaks to rip at their opponents. So far,
Kayden could see that his team was winning, but
that wouldn’t last long. Every time he looked up
at the sky, he saw more and more of the soldier
Owls flying in. Soon, Kayden’s Parliament would
be outnumbered, and then there would be nothing
they could do about it.

Austin’s telepathic voice rang through their

ears.  He  didn’t  like  to  use  it  much,  since  every
Owl  in  the  vicinity  could  also  hear  it.  Kayden
realized  that  Austin  had  come  to  the  same
conclusion—they were fighting a losing battle.

An Owl Surfaces

Run! Retreat! Austin ordered all of them.
Well, damn it. Kayden hated to lose a battle.

Even if he had been in Austin’s grip the entire
time. It still counted, because Kayden had been
there and it had been his Parliament who did the
fighting.

Then Austin made a swooping turn that had

Kayden’s stomach doing all kinds of nice things.
Before he could even recover from that, Austin
was leading the group as they flew as fast as they
could away from the enemy.

Kayden tried to keep his eyes open, but that

made things bad because everything was  one big
blur. So he closed them, but that was even worse
because  he  didn’t  know  what  lay  ahead.  In  the
end,  Kayden  kept  one  eye  open.  That  way  he
ended up having the worst of both worlds.

Then, without any warning, Austin came to a

stop,  and  he  watched  every  member  of  the
Parliament fly by. It took Kayden a few minutes to
figure out what he was doing. Then realization hit
him  hard  and  made  his  heart  melt  a  bit.  Austin
was doing a head count, to make sure that all the
Parliament  members  had  made  it.  He  even
counted Gene, and he’d just joined.

It wasn’t until every member had flown by, that

Austin took off, flying fast to take the lead.
Kayden would have found solace in the fact that
they were all safe were it not for the fact that he’d
just seen several dozen of enemy Owls hot on their

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tail.

Kayden must have made a mewling noise or

something, because Austin dared to use telepathy
again.

Don’t worry. We’ve made it through worse, and

we’ll make it through this.

Kayden sent out a message of his own. If I’m

holding you back, or making it harder for you to fight,

just drop me. I’ll understand.

Austin let out a guttural growl. That’s never

going to happen, so don’t mention it again.

Okay, okay, okay. It looked as if Kayden had

touched  some  hot  buttons  with  Austin.  Kayden
knew  when  to  back  off.  At  least  for  the  moment.
He didn’t plan on keeping his mouth shut on the
subject  forever,  though.  He  would  be  having  a
long conversation with Austin, just as soon as they
reached their next safe house. Just because he was
some  big,  menacing  Owl  didn’t  mean  he  got  the
last say on everything.

Then the pursuing Owls caught up, and

Kayden didn’t have time to think about anything
other  than  curling  up  in  a  ball,  and  making
himself  as  small  of  a  target  as  possible.  Kayden
usually  just  sat  on  the  sidelines  and  watched  the
fighting,  so  he’d  never  been  this  close  up  and
personal before. He wasn’t too proud to say that it
scared the ever-living snot out of him, either.

A large Barn Owl crashed into Austin, the force

of the blow making every bone in Kayden’s body

An Owl Surfaces

jar. He didn’t even have time to recover from that
before the Owls began to claw at each other.
Although, it really wasn’t a fair fight since Austin
was still holding Kayden in one set of claws, thus
giving him a big disadvantage.

At that moment, Kayden almost wished that

they’d left him to rot back in that prison. It would
be  ten  times  better  than  to  have  to  watch  Austin
get  scratched  to  hell  and  back.  Kayden  then
decided  that  instead  of  moping  about  his
situation, he’d man-up and find a way to help.

Wiggling, he managed to get his head clear of

Austin’s  grip.  As  soon  as  he  did,  Kayden  bit  the
other  Owl’s  talon  as  hard  as  he  could.  The  other
Owl let out a cry of surprise, as if he hadn’t known
Kayden had been there the entire time. That gave
Kayden  the  opportunity  to  bite  the  bastard
another time. This time, Kayden managed to get a
bigger  hunk.  Kayden  even  shook  his  head  back
and  forth  like  a  shark  would,  so  he  managed  to
take as big a chunk out of the jerk as he could.

The bitter taste of blood flooded the inside of

Kayden’s mouth, making him gag. He sputtered,
spitting out both the piece of flesh and the crimson
fluid. He didn’t want any part of that creepy Owl
in him for any second longer than necessary.

But to Kayden’s utter shock, his biting worked.

The opposing Owl turned and flew away, large
droplets of blood coming down from his claw.
Guess he’d learned that even Elf Owls had a nasty

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bite to them.

While their group might not be a large one,

they  were  fast  flyers…although  Kayden  would
never  be  as  fast  as  the  rest  of  them.  It  was  a  gift
they had all picked up quickly in order to survive.
When Gene started to falter some, Leon urged him
on. Which was a wonder, since Leon was not only
carrying  his  own  backpack  but  another  bag  that
contained all of their cooking essentials in it. Rory
never went anywhere without them.

They flew on and on, Kayden eventually

getting used to Austin’s speed. He even drifted off
to sleep for a while. He might not admit it to the
others,  but  he  was  still  weak  from  his  short
confinement.  It  was  probably  because  his  captors
had  sedated  him  in  the  beginning.  That  part,
Kayden kept to himself. It was his greatest shame.
Who knew what those evil Owls had done to him
while  he  was  out?  It  made  Kayden  sick  just  to
think about the possibilities.

Kayden woke up from his nap, and they were

still flying. He looked around to see if there were
any of the enemy Owls still around, but all
Kayden saw was the dark starry night. They were
safe and home—for now.

Austin swooped down toward a house. As

usual, it had  seen better days. But Kayden didn’t
care. Just so long as it came furnished like all the
others  had  before  it.  At  that  moment,  all  he
wanted  to  do  was  find  a  place  to  curl  up  and

An Owl Surfaces

sleep.

As soon as they got dressed, they met in the

kitchen. Peter grabbed Gene by the front of his
shirt and slammed him into the wall, “How was it
that they found us so fast? Did they send you in to
spy on us?”

Gene, for his part, didn’t look scared at all.

Which was shocking as hell. “Please, they didn’t
trust me enough to work in the kitchen, let alone
become a spy. In fact, I was set to be executed in
the morning because they were running out of cell
space.”

“Why should we believe a word you say?”

Peter snapped.

“Because I don’t have anywhere else to go.

There’s nobody else in my life. If I were to turn on
you, I would be lost. Okay? You’re all I have. Is
that pathetic enough for you?”

The entire room stilled. Peter let go of Gene’s

shirt and took a few steps back.

“Besides, I can tell you how they found us so

quickly,” Gene said.

“How is that?” Austin asked.
“They must have planted a tracker on Kayden.”
Kayden reached over for the edge of the

counter as the breath left his lungs. If what Gene
said was right, then Kayden was, at that moment,
leading danger to their front door.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Six

ustin reached out, grabbed Kayden and
pulled him to his chest. “What do you mean

that he has a tracking device in him?”

“You said that Stern wants your entire

Parliament. I’m guessing it’s because you’re all
gay. We all know how Stern and most other Owls
feel about that. If they could, they would just
shoot us on sight and be done with us.”

But now, that meant that the only viable option

left  was  to  debug  Kayden,  a  thought  which  both
terrified and sickened Austin at the same time. He
glanced  over  at  Kayden  and  could  tell  that  the
small  Owl  was  feeling  the  same  way.  He’d  gone
several  shades  paler,  and  his  eyes  were  so  wide
that they were about to pop out of his head.

“Where would they have planted a bug on

me?” Kayden asked.

“Most likely they would have injected it into

you  when  you  first  came  to  the  prison  for
processing,” Gene said. “Was there any  time that
they  had  to  sedate  you?  I  remember  when  they

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first brought you to the cell, you were pretty out of
it.”

Kayden looked around the rest of the group

before he lowered his eyes and mumbled, “Yes.”

“That must have been when they put it in you,”

Peter surmised. “We need to get it out as soon as
possible, before they find us again.”

“Where would be the most likely place they

would hide it?” Austin asked Gene.

“They usually put them in an ass cheek. That

way they’re less noticeable.”

Kayden shook his head. “I’m not dropping my

pants and bending over for the entire group to
gawk at me.”

Austin let out a sigh. He didn’t blame Kayden

because he would feel the same exact way. So
instead, he grabbed Kayden’s hand and led him to
one of the bedrooms.

“I’ll check him out. Since I know the most

medically and will have to be the one who is
digging the damn thing out, I may as well be the
one who hunts for it. That way Kayden can keep a
little of his dignity.”

Devlin tossed Austin the first aid kit, which was

large, since they tended to need a lot of mending.
It wasn’t as if they could walk into a local ER for
help. Not unless they wanted to end up in some
government lab and forever be known as subject
#3075.

Austin could hear a resigned sigh come from

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Kayden. Austin was willing to bet his last dollar
that Kayden had rather drink a cyanide margarita
with broken glass on the rim, than do this, but he
really didn’t have a say in the matter.

They went into the closest bedroom, and

Kayden began to undo his pants. “The only reason
I’m doing this is for the good of the Parliament. I
don’t just let anybody feel up my ass.”

“Well, that’s good for me, since I tend to be the

possessive side. I would get pretty pissed if I saw
other men feeling you up.”

Kayden shot him an are-you-off-your-rocker

glance. “I already told you, there is no man alive
that would be interested in my flat-as-a-pancake
ass.”

Kayden then took off his pants and bent over

the  bed.  Austin  paused  and  stared  down  at  the
pure  beauty  that  was  on  display  before  him.
Kayden’s  ass  was  the  best  thing  that  Austin  had
ever seen, from its perfectly rounded globes to the
way they had just the right amount of fat on them.
They  were  made  for  fucking,  for  grabbing  onto,
for  licking  for  hours  on  end.  The  best  part  was
that, in seconds, Austin’s hands would be rubbing
against  them  so  he  could  feel  for  the  tracker.  At
that  moment,  Austin  considered  himself  the
luckiest Owl in the world.

It wasn’t until Austin reached out to touch

Kayden that he realized how badly his hands were
shaking. After wanting to feel the Elf Owl’s skin

An Owl Surfaces

for so long and finally having the opportunity,
Austin felt like some kid having his first
experience.

Once his hands finally did make contact, Austin

had  to  bite  back  a  moan.  Kayden’s  skin  was  so
soft,  yet  muscular  at  the  same  time.  It  was  all
Austin could  do  not to squeeze those cheeks and
give them a real feel.

But Austin held back on his urges and instead

gently ran his fingers over Kayden’s ass. It didn’t
take Austin long to find the tracker. It was a little
bit  larger  than  a  single  piece  of  rice,  but  it  was
hard  and  there  was  no  denying  it  was  there.
Austin also knew that it was just deep enough that
it was going to hurt like hell when he had to cut it
out.  Even  worse,  the  Parliament  had  run  out  of
painkiller  or  sedatives  a  long  time  ago,  so  poor
Kayden was going to feel every second of it.

“Did you find it?” Kayden asked, looking over

his shoulder.

Austin looked into those innocent, blue eyes

and  suddenly  felt  like  the  biggest  bastard  in  the
world.  He  was  about  to  cause  the  man  he  loved
some  of  the  worst  pain  in  his  life,  and  there  was
no avoiding it.

“Yeah, I found it,” Austin admitted, with a

heavy heart. “It’s pretty deep, too.”

“Damn it! That means it’s going to hurt like a

son of a bitch to take out, doesn’t it?”

Since Austin had never been one to lie, he

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admitted, “Yeah, it is.”

“Shit! I was hoping you were going to say no.

Are you going to take it out now?”

“I have to get some supplies and towels set up,

so you don’t get blood all over the bed.”

Kayden stood and pulled up his pants. “Has

anybody told you that you have a rotten bedside
manner?”

“Hey, I’m not a doctor. I only play one on TV.”
Kayden gave Austin a droll stare. “You are so

funny. I’ll bet you wouldn’t be laughing so hard if
it was your ass that was about to get carved into.”

Austin reached out and pulled Kayden close to

him. “There are only two things that matter to me
in life, the Parliament and you. Just the thought
that I’m going to be causing you any pain is
making me sick.”

Kayden put his arms around Austin. Relief

flooded Austin, and he closed his eyes. He’d been
so afraid that causing Kayden so much pain
would break their already fragile new
relationship.

“I don’t blame you,” Kayden whispered into

Austin’s ear. “We have to do it to protect the
Parliament. It’s a small price to pay. Now, you go
get your supplies, and I’ll be waiting for you in
here. Just do me a favor and don’t let Kyle in here.
While he’ll never admit it, he always faints when
he sees my blood.”

Austin paused long enough to give Kayden a

An Owl Surfaces

brief kiss before he left the room to find some
towels. As soon as Austin left the room, the others
were on him like wet on water, all of them asking
questions.

“Did he have a tracker in him?”
“Is Kayden going to be okay?”
“Why were you in there so long?”
“Are you going to have to cut it out?”
Finally, Kyle broke loose from the crowd and

placed a hand on Austin’s arm. “What’s going on
with my brother?”

Austin knew there was no way he could keep

Kyle in the dark any longer. It would just be plain
mean. “He has a tracker in his ass. It’s small, but
it’s going to be hard to dig out, because it’s in
deep.”

Kyle’s bottom lip quivered a bit. “Isn’t there

some way we can knock him out or something?”

Devlin let out a sigh. “We ran out of all our

pain pills and sedatives a long time ago.”

Kyle sprang to his feet. “Then we need to go get

some.”

“And how do you suppose we do that?” Peter

drawled.

“I don’t know. We can steal them from a

pharmacy or something. It’s dark out now and the
places are all closed. If we fly in our Owl forms,
nobody will suspect a thing.”

“Okay,” Peter shocked Austin by agreeing,

“but, if we go, we leave now.”

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The pair left for their mission while Austin

collected  the  materials  he  would  need  to  extract
the  tracker.  As  soon  as  he  returned  and  saw  the
determined  expression  on  Kayden’s  face,  Austin
knew he was in trouble.

“Now what?” Austin demanded.
“You’re taking this thing out of me now. We

can’t wait until Peter and Kyle to come back with
the sedatives.”

“Don’t be unreasonable. The pain will be too

much for you to take.”

Austin learned that was the wrong thing to say

when Kayden got to his feet and stalked up to the
older man and put a finger in his chest. “I can take
anything that is thrown my way. You need to
remember the way Kyle and I looked when you
first saw us.”

How could Austin forget? They had both been

so emaciated, and bruised from head to toe. They
had  looked  so  afraid  that  Austin  and  the  others
were there to give them another beating. That still
didn’t mean Austin  wanted to cause Kayden any
more  pain  by  taking  out  the  tracker  without
sedation.

Kayden gave a savage look. “The longer that

tracker is in me, the more time it gives them to
hunt us down. We need to get rid of it now. You
know this as much as I do. Think of it as for the
good of the Parliament.”

Austin let loose a string of curse words that

An Owl Surfaces

would have made a whore proud. As much as he
hated to admit it, Kayden was right. It was a
sacrifice that they were both going to have to
make.

“Fine, let’s do this quick and get it over with.”
They spread the towels out over the bed. Then

Kayden took off his pants and lay on his stomach.
Sad. This time Austin didn’t feel much like taking
the time out to enjoy the view.

Grabbing a scalpel, Austin felt around the area

where the probe was. It only took him a second to
locate it. His stomach dropped, and he began to
hate himself for what he was about to do.

“I’ve got it. Are you ready?” he asked Kayden.
“Yes, just try and make it as quick as possible.”
“I promise I will.”
Austin then pressed the scalpel into the smooth

skin. As soon as he saw the first fine line of blood,
Austin  felt  like  the  biggest  bastard  in  the  world.
He  heard  a  muffled  yell,  and  it  was  then  that  he
realized  that  Kayden  had  stuffed  a  pillow  in  his
mouth so nobody would hear his cries of pain.

Austin shook off all those thoughts and,

instead, concentrated on the job at hand. It took a
little more slicing and a bit of digging, but Austin
finally found it—a small glass tracker. It blinked
red and white. Austin threw it to the ground and
stomped on it, smashing it to a million pieces. He
even spat on it for good measure.

“I got it, babe. It’s gone now.”

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When Austin got no response, he checked

Kayden more closely and found that his mouth
was slack and his eyes were closed. The poor little
guy must have passed out from the pain. A rage
filled Austin—it just gave him one more reason to
pay back those bastards one day.

Austin carefully stitched Kayden’s wound and

covered him with a blanket. He then ran his hands
through Kayden’s sweaty hair and placed a kiss
on his equally moist brow.

It was only then that he picked up the few

remains that he could of the tracker and took them
to Gene, who was out in the living room, watching
TV.

Sitting down next to the newcomer on the

couch, Austin held out his hand. “Is this the
tracker?”

Gene gave a little shrug. “I hate to say this, but I

don’t know. I’ve only heard about them. I’ve
never actually seen one. How’s Kayden doing?”

“He’s sleeping it off for right now. Can I ask

you a question?”

Gene gave another shrug. “Sure, I have nothing

to hide.”

“How long had you been in that prison?”
“Five years,” Gene admitted, a haunted look

coming over his eyes.

“And in all those times, there were probably

long stretches when you didn’t know where your
next meal was coming from, am it right?”

An Owl Surfaces

“I didn’t get this figure by going on the Atkins

Diet,” Gene replied dryly.

“Yet you gave some of your bread to Kayden.

Why? Especially when you didn’t have a
guarantee that any more food would be coming
soon.”

Gene paused for a few moments before he said,

“The God’s honest truth, I still don’t know why. It
went against every prison code I had beat into me
since  I’d  been  thrown  into  that  hellhole  myself.  I
guess  it  was  because  Kayden  was  the  first  good
person I’d seen in years, and I wanted him to stay
unjaded for as long as possible. That prison has a
way  of  making  even  the  kindest  men  turn  into
monsters.”

Austin studied Gene for several moments.

“Funny, you don’t look at all like a monster to me,
and I’m usually a pretty good judge of character.”

Gene looked down at his lap. “Yeah, well, you

haven’t seen some of the stuff I had to do in order
to survive while I was in there.”

“Maybe not, but you protected somebody who

is very important to me, and that’s all that matters
as far as I’m concerned. As for the rest, we all have
regrets. The true test is if we can learn to overcome
and live past them or whether we allow them to
drag us down for the rest of our lives.”

“What if I can’t?” Gene asked.
“Something tells me that you still have a lot of

fight left in you. You just haven’t realized it yet.”

An Owl Surfaces

Chapter Seven

ayden woke up in both bliss and pain—and
yes, that was possible. His ass cheek was on

fire  from  where  Austin  had  dug  out  the  tracker.
However, on the good side, Kayden was wrapped
in  Austin’s  strong  arms  and  he  was  actually
spooning  Kayden.  Better  yet,  both  he  and  Austin
were wearing only sweatpants, which meant there
wasn’t much fabric between them.

Ever being the curious one, Kayden wiggled his

butt against Austin’s cock, and a jolt of excitement
went through him again when he found that it
was hard. Emboldened, Kayden did it again,
loving the sensation of Austin’s hard dick pressing
against him.

Yessssssss….just like that. It felt so good that

when  Kayden  went  in  for  a  third  pass,  he  even
arched his back a bit. While the motion did cause
some  ache  in  his  wound,  the  spirals  of  bliss
overrode  that  and  made  it  so  he  didn’t  give  a
damn.  Besides,  what  was  pleasure  without  a  bite
of pain?

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“You keep doing that, I’m going to strip off

your pants and give you the real thing.” Austin’s
voice rumbled in Kayden’s ear.

Kayden jumped as he realized he had been

caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Here he’d
thought Austin had been asleep the entire time,
but it looked as if he hadn’t been. Yikes!

Recovering, Kayden said, “Maybe I want you

to.”

“You do realize you’re playing with fire? If we

do this and we find out that we’re mates, I’m
never going to let you go. I’m one protective
bastard when I want to be.”

“I don’t care. So long as I get to have you,”

Kayden said with a moan.

At that point, he would have drunk a glass full

of cinnamon to be with Austin. So when Austin
reached around, slipped his hands down the front
of Kayden’s pants and began to stroke Kayden’s
cock, Kayden almost broke out into song.

“Just let me know if anything hurts your

wound too much and we can stop,” Austin said.

Stop? Stop? Nothing short of an invasion or a

coronary was going to make Kayden call an end to
this. Not when he’d been waiting so long for it to
happen. He didn’t care if a damn nuclear bomb
went off over their head. There was no stopping
them this time.

“It doesn’t hurt. It just feels damn good.”

Kayden let his head fall back onto Austin’s chest.

An Owl Surfaces

“Oh, babe. We’ve just got started. We have way

more fun ahead of us.”

Kayden couldn’t help but let out a little keening

sound  at  those  words.  If  this  was  just  the
beginning,  he  didn’t  see  how  he  was  going  to
make it to the end without blowing his wad first.
Maybe that  wasn’t the most romantic way to put
it, but it was the most truthful.

Austin ran his thumb over the tip of Kayden’s

cock, making Kayden jump with pleasure. It sure
as hell had never felt that good when Kayden had
touched  himself  there.  Austin  must  have  some
special power in  his touch or something, because
the  magic  he  was  performing  on  Kayden’s  dick
was fantastic.

When Austin stopped, Kayden wanted to yell

at him. But then Austin began to pull off Kayden’s
pants, and Kayden let out a happy little hum.
They weren’t calling a halt to things, they were
just moving to the next level. Kayden could get on
board for that one.

Austin then got out of bed and pulled off his

own pants. Holy cheese on a stick, did he have a
killer bod, too. Kayden couldn’t wait to get his
hands on it, either. Hell! He wanted to get more
than just his hands on it. Kayden wanted to get his
lips, tongue and fingers involved, too.

After only pausing for a moment, Austin

reached into the nightstand and grabbed a bottle
of lube. Since Owls didn’t catch diseases like

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humans, he didn’t need to worry about a condom.

By this point, Kayden was about to leap from

the bed and throw himself at Austin. Not that
Kayden was impatient…much. Okay, he was very
impatient. After waiting for this moment so long,
Kayden wanted the really good stuff to start, now!

As it turned out, he wasn’t the only eager one,

so Kayden didn’t have to wait long. Austin made
his way into bed and pulled Kayden into his arms,
with Kayden’s back pressed to Austin’s chest.
Kayden couldn’t help but moan at the full-on
body-to-body contact.

Then things got oh-so-much better when Austin

began to rain kisses down the side of Kayden’s
neck. At the same time, Kayden heard a clicking
sound as the bottle of lube was opened.

Kayden was so into the sensation of being

kissed  on  his  neck  he  didn’t  realize  that  Austin
had  been  probing  his  hole  until  his  slicked  digit
slipped into Kayden’s entrance. Kayden sucked in
a  breath,  not  used  to  the  sensation  of  something
intruding his body.

“Are you okay?” Austin asked.
“Yeah, I’m just not used to this,” Kayden

admitted.

Austin placed a loving kiss on Kayden’s

shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll take our time. I
want this to be a memorable experience for you.”

* * * *

An Owl Surfaces

“I didn’t say what you’re doing didn’t feel good,”
Kayden replied, a slight flush coming over his
face.

Austin began to carefully thrust the one finger

in and out. He couldn’t wait to get his cock inside,
but Kayden was so damn tight. Austin knew it
was going to take a while to loosen up his soon-to-
be lover.

After what seemed to be forever, Austin felt

that  Kayden  was  finally  loose  enough  to  take  a
second finger. Ever so carefully, Austin slipped it
in,  all  the  while  making  sure  that  Kayden wasn’t
showing any signs of discomfort. The Owl winced
a  bit,  but  soon  bliss  took  its  place  as  Kayden’s
body stretched to accommodate the extra finger.

By that point, Austin’s own cock was so hard

that it was yelling for relief. Austin gave it a silent
stand down, soldier. He knew that eventually he
would be finding his own pleasure. He just had to
be patient about it.

Just to tease Kayden a bit, Austin curled his

fingers so he hit Kayden’s sweet spot. Kayden let
out a loud cry of pleasure, making sure that the
rest of the Parliament had no doubt as to what
they were up to.

“Oh, fuck! Oh, fuck! That feels so good,”

Kayden panted.

With his other hand, Austin reached around

and began to stroke Kayden off. It was a bit

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awkward since they were both on their sides, but
Austin made it work. Before he knew it, Austin
was able to add a third finger.

By that time, Kayden was letting out a flood of

moans and rocking back against Austin’s hand.
Austin whispered into Kayden’s ear, “Are you
ready to take me yet?”

“God, yes. If you don’t soon, I’m going to

come,” Kayden all but yelled.

Taking out his fingers, Austin slicked up his

cock. “Here, stay on your side, but lift up one of
your legs a bit. It’ll be easier for you that way.”

As soon as Kayden obeyed, Austin took the tip

of  his  cock  and  lined  it  up  to  Kayden’s  entrance.
He  then  carefully  and  slowly  entered  Austin.  It
was hard, though. Kayden was so hot and tight, it
took all of Austin’s self-control not to start all-out
fucking  the  other  Owl.  But  Austin  cared  for
Kayden,  and  he  didn’t  want  to  cause  his  lover  a
moment of unneeded pain.

After what seemed like a million years and then

some,  Austin  was  finally  fully  seated  inside
Kayden.  Once  there,  Austin  paused  for  several
more  moments  to  give  Kayden  the  chance  to  get
used to the sensation of being stretched and filled
so completely.

Finally, Kayden said, “If you don’t start fucking

me soon, I’m going to die here.”

Letting out a small chuckle, Austin began to

move. But he didn’t set a hard brutal pace, but

An Owl Surfaces

rather  a  slow,  sensual  one.  Like  lazy  waves
coming  onto  the  shore.  The  entire  time,  he
continued  to  kiss  Kayden  on  the  shoulder  and
neck.  He  also  whispered  words  of  love  into
Kayden’s  ear.  Things  that  Austin  had  always
wanted to say but never dared to utter before.

Even at the slow pace, Austin soon felt his balls

drawing close to his body, warning him of his
impending orgasm. He was just about to warn
Kayden, when the Owl had his own orgasm.

Then the strangest thing happened. It was as if

Austin’s  soul  fractured  into  a  million  pieces  and
mixed  in  with  pieces  of  Kayden’s,  making  it  so
they were forever linked together. It was the most
intense feeling Austin had ever had. It was as if he
were  being  reborn,  because  he  knew  without  a
doubt that  from this point on out, he would be a
different man.

When he finally came back to reality, Austin

glanced down at Kayden and saw that he had a
glazed over look in his eyes.

“Did you feel it, too?” Austin asked.
“Yeah, and it was freaky,” Kayden said,

dragging out the last word.

“It’s like you’re a part of me now.” Austin said,

all the while hoping that Kayden wasn’t so scared
by the whole situation that he would go running
for the hills, or flying for that matter.

Kayden put his hand to his chest. “Yeah, I

know. I feel same way. It’s like part of you is

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inside me now.”

“You’re not wigging out on me, are you?”
“No, in fact, I’m excited, because all this means

that we’re mates. It’s just a bit weird.”

Austin cocked a brow. “We can transform into

Owls. Everything in our lives is a bit weird.”

Kayden gave a bit of a shrug. “I guess you do

have a point there. Besides, I was really hoping
that we’d be mates, so I should be really happy
right now.”

Austin held Kayden just a bit tighter. “And are

you happy?”

Kayden snuggled into him. “Yes, I am. I think

I’m the happiest Owl in the world at this
moment.”

Austin let out a sigh of relief. He’d been afraid

that all this had been too much for his little Owl.
But like everything else in his life, Kayden had
taken it in stride. In fact, Kayden had a big grin on
his face.

“I think there’s a shower attached to the

bedroom. Why don’t we get cleaned up and go
find something to eat?” Austin suggested.

They found that there was indeed a shower

there,  and  there  were  even  some  towels.  They
quickly  rinsed  off  and  then  got  dressed.  As  they
entered  the  kitchen,  they  found  the  whole
Parliament there. The entire group of them gaped
at  Austin  and  Kayden,  as  if  they  each  had
suddenly grown another head.

An Owl Surfaces

“What’s the problem?” Austin asked,

somewhat sharply.

“Are you guys going to always be that loud?”

Kyle asked.

“Because if you are, dude, we have to start

looking for houses with thicker walls,” Gene
added.

“Or at the very least get a ball gag for shorty

over there,” Peter drawled.

“You’re all just jealous,” Kayden said as he

walked in and snatched up a piece of bacon.

“Well, yeah,” Carter said. “From the sounds

you two were making, you were having a great
old time. I haven’t had sex in so long my dick is
about to turn to dust.”

“Ewww…TMI,” Kyle said as he wrinkled up

his nose. Turning to Kayden, he asked, “So are
you two mates or not?”

A flush came over Kayden’s face. “Yeah, we

are.”

Kyle’s face broke out into a huge smile. “That’s

great news! You’ve been wishing for that forever.”

“Thanks for announcing it to the whole room,”

Kayden said in a tight voice.

“Please, kid.” Peter gave him a sideways

glance. “Like we didn’t already know.”

The room erupted in laughter, and Austin

couldn’t help but join in. He was just so happy
that he couldn’t help himself. Kayden walked by,
and Austin snagged him by the waist, pulling the

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smaller Owl to his chest.

“So I take it you found the tracker?” Leon

asked.

“Yeah, it wasn’t that big. I smashed it the

moment I got it out. Has anybody checked Gene
for one?”

Shooting Gene a dark look, Leon said, “I did.

Although I had to wrestle him to the ground to do
so.”

Gene threw his hands in the air. “Why would

they put one in me? I don’t have any family or
friends who would be interested in rescuing me.”

“If that was the case, then why did I find one?”

Leon asked.

Gene looked away, a slight pout on his face. “I

don’t know. They must put them in all the
prisoners when they first come in. It has to be part
of the processing system or something.”

“Or maybe there is somebody out there who

does care about you and is looking for you,” Leon
replied gently.

Gene gave a bitter laugh. “No, I burned that

bridge a long time ago, and there ain’t no
rebuilding it.”

“You never know,” Kayden interjected softly.
Gene gave him a sad smile. “There are a few

things that I’m certain of in life, and that’s one of
them.”

Austin couldn’t help but feel for the Owl, and

he had never been happier that he had agreed to

An Owl Surfaces

take in Gene. Now he didn’t have to face his
monsters alone. Whether he realized it yet or not,
he had the whole Parliament at his back and they
would never turn against him.

Holding Kayden just a little tighter to him,

Austin  realized  just  how  lucky  he  was.  Sure,  he
might  be  on  the  run.  Under  threat  of  constant
attack. Never sure what the next day would bring.
But  in  all  that,  he’d  still  managed  to  find  his
happily ever after.

In truth, who could ask for anything more? He

had his mate. He had his Parliament. What more
did he need to complete his life? After all, love
was the greatest gift of all.

About the Author

Stephani  Hecht  is  a  happily  married  mother  of
two.  Born  and  raised  in  Michigan,  she  loves  all
things  about  the  state,  from  the  frigid  winters  to
the  Detroit  Red  Wings  hockey  team.  Go  Wings!
You  can  usually  find  her  snuggled  up  to  her
laptop, creating her next book.

Contact her at:
Email Address: stephani@stephanihecht.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephaniHecht
Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/stephani.hecht