Sometimes you have to decide if helping others is more
important than your own safety.

Finn has been free from the lab for months, but he still isn’t
happy. After finding out his mate didn’t want him, he went
back home to his tribe, where he is once again beaten and
ignored. The mansion is the only place in which he feels safe,
if only he didn’t have to face the mate who doesn’t want
him...

Bryce has been heartbroken since Keenan left him. He was

sure he didn’t want Finn as his mate, but finding out that the
Nix is being hurt changes that. He knows he will have to
grovel for Finn to forgive him, but he will gladly do that and
much more to insure that Finn is safe.

While they find their way to each other, Finn uncovers a

secret that might tear him apart. Will Bryce be able to win
Finn’s trust and keep him safe?

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Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and
do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of
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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.

Finn

ISBN: 978-1-4874-0178-8

Cover art by Latrisha Waters

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the
reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part
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Finn

Whitedell Pride 4

Catherine Lievens

Dedication

To Laura and Jay, my wonderful editor and editor in chief. Thank

you for making this whole experience so easy.

Chapter One

he day was cold around Finn, too cold to be outside, but
he didn’t have any other place to go. He tried to bundle

even more in his flimsy coat, but it didn’t help much. At
least the snow had stopped falling and he wasn’t sitting on
the cold ground, since he had shimmered up in a tree. From
there he could see inside the mansion without too many
problems, even if he did feel like a peeping tom.

Finn knew he could go in and no one would tell him

anything, but it was getting harder and harder to see the pity
in the mansion inhabitant’s eyes. Finn didn’t even know
why he still insisted on coming here. Bryce had been clear
the few times he had talked with him. He didn’t want Finn,
even if he was his mate. Finn had thought that for shifters,
mates were about the most important things in the world,
but it seemed that he was wrong, at least in Bryce’s case.

But he saw how the mated couples in the house acted

toward each other, and he knew that the problem in their
mating was him. The cougar didn’t want him, he wanted
Keenan. It would have been better for everyone if Keenan
had been Bryce’s mate, but because of Finn the three of them
were miserable. He had tried to keep away, thinking that if
Bryce was happy with Keenan he wouldn’t interfere.
However, Keenan had rejected Bryce when he had found out
about him.

As he watched the cats inside the house decorating it with

Christmas decorations, he thought about the first time he
had met Bryce. He had escaped from the laboratory he was

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being held in with Jamie. They had shimmered into the
pride Alpha’s office and Bryce had been there. Finn had
immediately recognized him for what he was, Finn’s soul
mate. Nix didn’t rely on their sense of smell like shifters to
identify their mates. They didn’t have enhanced senses like
them, but they had magic, and they recognized their soul
mates by sight.

When Finn had come back with Oliver, his heart had

broken at seeing Keenan sitting in Bryce’s lap, the cougar
kissing him even though Finn was sure Bryce knew they
were mates. He hadn’t known why his soul mate was
kissing another man, but he’d later found out that his mate
was in love with Jamie’s brother. He had thought that Bryce
would still give him a chance, since he knew how important
mates were for shifters, but the man had denied him even
when Keenan had ended their relationship, and he had
refused to talk with Finn since then.

Yeah, Finn should probably go away and never come

back, but he just couldn’t. When Jamie had told him he
could come and live here after escaping from the lab, Finn
had never been so happy. He wouldn’t have had to go back
to his clan. That dream had shattered right away, though.
He’d had to go back, even if the way he was treated by his
clan was even worse than before. So Finn passed as much
time as he could on the pride’s property. Dominic had told
him he was welcome to move in with them if he wanted to,
but Finn just couldn’t. Instead he stayed outside in the trees,
watching people come and go and wishing he could be in
there with them. It would have been too hard to face
Keenan’s hurt and Bryce’s anger at seeing him all the time.

“Why don’t you come in? You have to be freezing up

there.”

Finn jolted when he heard someone talk from below him.

Scrambling to avoid losing his hold on the branch he had

Finn

been huddled on and therefore crashing on the hard ground
under him, Finn looked down, his eyes meeting the Alpha’s
amber ones. That man seemed to always know when Finn
was around, even when he didn’t actually enter the house.

“Don’t worry, both Keenan and Bryce are out right now,

so you won’t see them.”

Finn thought about his options. He could refuse and stay

out there, freezing, or go back to his clan. The second option
wasn’t really an option, though. He had come there in the
first place to avoid seeing the clan’s second after he had
beaten Finn up for some imaginary offense. Finn just didn’t
have the courage to go back until night fell and everyone
went to sleep. There was the third option, though. He could
do as Dominic suggested and go inside the mansion.

Sighing, Finn shimmered next to the Alpha, shivering as

the cold air touched him now that he didn’t have the relative
cover of the tree’s wood around him. He looked up at the
lion, their eyes locking together, and he winced when he
realized what he had done. Dominic growled, reaching for
Finn’s face, and Finn snapped his eyes back down. He
shouldn’t have looked up in the lion’s face, he should have
known better. No one was allowed to look in the eyes of the
leader of the clan or of the second, and he had done just that.
Finn felt Dominic’s hand on his jaw as the lion angled his
head up before asking, “Who did this to you?”

Finn frowned at the question before remembering that the

clan’s second had hit him on the face, probably leaving a
bruise, and that was what Dominic was seeing now. He let
out the breath he had been holding. He knew Dominic
wasn’t like his clan’s leader, he had seen enough proof of
that, but Finn couldn’t help always thinking the worse.

Dominic growled, bringing Finn’s attention back to him.

“Who did this?”

“My—my clan’s second.” Finn’s voice was so low as he

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answered that he wasn’t sure Dominic would hear him.

The Alpha looked into Finn’s eyes and Finn had to fight

not to close them. It felt as if the man saw right through him,
read him, when he looked at him like that. “Let’s go inside.
I’ll fix you a mug of hot chocolate and we’ll talk.”

It always amazed Finn to see how the man behaved as if

he was a normal member of the pride. He did everything on
his own, not expecting anyone to grovel for him, and it
actually wasn’t the first time that he’d cooked for Finn.

He followed Dominic into the kitchen and sat down when

the man gestured in the chair’s direction. He watched as the
Alpha gathered everything he needed and put a small pot
full of milk on the stove before taking out bread and cold
cuts and making a sandwich he put down in front of Finn.
Finn’s stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten
since the night before. He’d had to skip breakfast because
the second had called him into his cabin, and when the
second called, one obeyed.

Grateful, he looked up and smiled at Dominic before he

started eating. Soon a steaming mug appeared in front of
him and Finn grabbed it, thankful for the warmth.

“Does it happen often?” Dominic asked, indicating Finn’s

face.

Finn had never talked to anyone about the way he was

treated in his clan. He hadn’t actually had anyone to talk to
until he had met Jamie and Oliver. Although as much as he
considered the men his friends, Jamie was Keenan’s brother,
and Oliver had bigger problems on his hands than Finn
being roughed up.

Finn shrugged. “I guess about twice a week, sometimes

more.” The lion in front of him growled and Finn flinched,
even if he knew it wasn’t directed at him.

“Why don’t you move here? I know you still have

problems with Bryce and Keenan, but I don’t want you to be

Finn

hit like this. Even if Bryce is being stubborn, I still consider
you part of this pride, and I want you safe.”

Finn rotated the mug, watching as the dark liquid inside

it sloshed around. He knew that would be the best solution
for him. That way he wouldn’t have to be hit and ostracized
anymore, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. “I...I want
Bryce to be happy, and he won’t be if I’m around. Besides,
it’s not so bad.” Finn shrugged. “I usually manage to stay
out of Karun’s way, but sometimes it can’t be helped. I’ve
had worse than this, so it’s no big deal.”

Dominic opened his mouth to talk but he was interrupted

by the noise of several people entering the house. “Stay here,
Nix.” The lion got up and headed for the kitchen’s door,
disappearing into the hallway. He came back soon after.
“I’m sorry, I have to go, but I want you to stay here. I want
you to move in, so we’ll talk about it when I’m done, okay?”

Finn nodded even though he knew he wouldn’t wait for

the lion to come back. He waited until Dominic exited the
room before shimmering away to the woods behind the
small cabin he lived in.

* * * *

Bryce watched as Dominic walked back to the kitchen. He
knew who was there, he had smelled it on his Alpha, and his
cougar was roaring in the back of his mind to go and get his
mate. It was becoming increasingly difficult to resist, but
Bryce refused to be a slave to his animal’s wants. He should
be the one to choose who he wanted to spend the rest of his
long life with, not his cat. Still, he felt a bit guilty for the way
he had been treating Finn since Keenan had broken up with
him. It wasn’t the kid’s fault if he had ended up being
Bryce’s mate, but the whole situation was a mess.

Dominic returned and pointed in the direction of his

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office. The Alpha wanted to talk with the man they had
brought home, since he was a guard in one of those
laboratories that experimented on shifters. Just thinking
about it sent Bryce in a rage.

He knew they had experimented on Finn. Jamie had told

him about the many times the Nix had been taken to the
scientists and had returned with stitches and wounds, and
the thought of the small man hurting made Bryce want to
turn around and go grab him. He wanted to hide the fae in
his room and never let him go, but then Keenan’s face
appeared in his mind, making him groan. Nate looked at
him, cocking an eyebrow in a question that Bryce couldn’t
answer, so he shook his head and turned back to Craig, the
guard. The small white weasel that the man had been trying
to free was still in his arms. They had tried to take him away,
to bring him to the infirmary, but the small shifter had
refused to let go of the human, which was weird. Wasn’t
that man working in a lab with people that had hurt the little
guy?

They all piled into Dominic’s office, Casey and Nolan on

the couch while Ward sat on one of the chairs and Nate on
the other. Bryce indicated the last chair for Craig and stood
behind the man.

“You’re the one who saved Nolan?” Dominic asked. Craig

looked both stunned and worried, and Bryce could
understand that. He might save small shifters when he
could, but he probably wasn’t used to being with so many
shifters in a room without any type of security.

“Yeah.”
Dominic looked down at the weasel. “Is it something you

do often?”

The man seemed to think about it before he answered,

“As much as I can, but it’s not easy. Shifters are controlled
by the scientists, so I have to either fake a death or forge fake

Finn

transfer papers, and I can’t do that too often.”

“Why do you do it?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Wouldn’t you do it if you were to find

humans in that situation? You might be different, but it’s not
a good enough reason to make you suffer like that. I just
wish I could do more.” Craig turned to Nolan. “I’m sorry I
had to leave you like that in the middle of the street, but I
couldn’t take you home with me. I would have risked being
found out, and I can’t afford that.”

Nolan nodded. “It’s okay. It was actually thanks to that,

that I ended up here and that I found my mate, so I’ll never
be able to thank you enough for what you did for me.”

“Would you be willing to work with us?” Dominic asked,

bringing the attention back to him.

“Depends what you have in mind, I guess.”
“We are trying to close those laboratories and to rescue

the shifters, but we can’t seem to find enough information to
locate them. I would like you to work for us from the inside
of the Glass Research Company. You would continue to do
your job for them, but on the side you would give us enough
information to locate and close the labs. We would take care
of every shifter we would find in them, of course.”

“How do I know I can believe you? I don’t know if you’re

aware of it, but some of the people who provide us with
shifters to experiment on are shifters themselves.”

Dominic’s face hardened. “We know about that. We

found out a few weeks ago that the Alpha of a nearby pack
sold some of his members to the Company. Luckily that man
is now dead, but we weren’t able to find the wolves he sold.
That’s why we need your help.”

Craig stayed silent for a while before slowly nodding his

head. “I ‘ll do what I can to help you, but I need to go home
soon. We’re not usually controlled outside of work, but I
wouldn’t put it past the Company to check on our

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relationships and on what we do in our free time.” He
looked down at the white weasel. “Can I leave him here?”
The small shifter reacted immediately, scrambling up Craig’s
chest as he tried to hide against his neck.

“Of course, we’ll take care of him.”
“You might have a hard time separating us, though. I

don’t know why, but he seems to have attached himself to
me.”

“I think I might know the perfect person to take care of

him right now.” Dominic gestured to Jamie to come over to
his desk. When the human got there they whispered for a
little while before Jamie nodded and exited the room,
returning soon after with his cell phone in his hand. Bryce
should have guessed what Dominic had in mind when he
saw his Alpha looking at him and the air in the middle of the
office trembled as Finn shimmered in.

Bryce stared at his mate, his cougar roaring in his mind to

reach for the small man and grab him, to push him down on
the closest flat surface and finally claim him. The Nix’s clean
scent reached Bryce and he felt his dick thickening in his
pants, oozing pre-cum in only an instant. It was a side effect
of not claiming his mate immediately, and Bryce couldn’t do
anything to stop his lust from rising. Their gazes clashed
together and he lost himself inside the green orbs for just a
few seconds before his mate turned away. Bryce could tell
the fae was as affected as him by their sudden vicinity. His
cheeks were flushed, his hands trembling as Dominic talked
to him.

Bryce took his fill of his mate, tracing Finn’s body with his

eyes until he reached his face. That was when he really
noticed the bruise on his mate’s jaw and the black eye. A low
growl filled the room and he realized he was he one doing it
when everyone turned to watch him. Finn’s eyes were wide
and full of fear, as if he thought that Bryce was growling at

Finn

him, and Bryce could only blame himself for making the Nix
wary of him. It hurt him, though. He didn’t want his mate to
be scared of him.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to meet Nate’s

eyes. He knew he had to calm down. Finn might be his mate,
but Bryce hadn’t and wouldn’t claim him, so it was none of
his business what had happened to the man.

He struggled to keep his cougar under control as he

watched Dominic talking to Finn and the Nix going down
on his knees in front of Craig. Another growl made his way
through Bryce’s throat, but this time he managed to keep it
in. Even so, a jealous rage filled him. His mate should kneel
only in front of him! The hand on his shoulder tightened as
Bryce tried to step forward—it stopped him from doing
something foolish.

Bryce took a deep breath and watched as Finn softly

talked to the white weasel, coaxing him first into peeking at
him from Craig’s neck, then into leaving the man’s lap and
climbing into Finn’s arms. The man stroked the white fur as
Dominic told him which room he could take the small shifter
into, and Bryce couldn’t take his eyes off the small hand
sinking into the soft fur. His cat longed to feel their mate pet
him as he was doing with the weasel. A spike of jealousy
rose as Bryce realized that the weasel might be in animal
form right now, but was actually a male who could steal his
mate from him.

This time Nate had to grab Bryce’s waist to keep him

from jumping forward and wrenching his mate away from
the shifter. Finn’s eyes widened in fear right before he
popped out of the room, disappearing from Bryce’s sight.
The cougar roared, needing his mate to be near, but various
hands on him kept Bryce away from him.

* * * *

Catherine Lievens

“So, how about you shift so that we can talk a bit?” Finn
looked at the small weasel he had deposited on the bed of
the spare bedroom Dominic had told him to use. He needed
the distraction so that he would not think about how Bryce
had reacted at seeing him. Finn’s mate had never been
violent like that. Usually he ignored Finn, walking out of the
room if he saw him in it, but this time he had growled and
tried to jump on him.

Maybe it meant that he had had enough of Finn hanging

around the mansion. He probably thought if Finn stopped
coming, Keenan would go back to him, and maybe he was
right. Maybe Finn really was the only thing keeping them
apart.

The small shifter in front of Finn squeaked and bumped

his head against Finn’s arm. It was a sweet gesture that
spoke of reassurance, and it brought tears to Finn’s eyes. It
should be his mate doing that, not an unknown shifter. Finn
raised his hand and petted the shifter’s head, snatching his
hand back as he felt the fur under his fingertips ripple. It
didn’t take long before Finn found himself sitting in front of
a naked man.

His long white blond hair was ruffled and matted, so

dirty in some places that it looked brown. It reached the
middle of the man’s back and framed his lovely face. A pair
of powder blue eyes was looking at Finn from a face that
was so delicate that it seemed almost feminine. The blue
orbs peeked from under long, dark lashes that clashed with
the blond hair and the porcelain skin. Finn couldn’t be sure,
but he thought the shifter might be about his height, maybe
a tad smaller.

“Hey, how are you doing?”
“I—where am I?” The man’s voice was hoarse from being

unused for so long. Finn couldn’t know how long the shifter

Finn

had been in the scientist’s hands. He did know that most
shifters stayed in their animal form in the lab, and from the
way his body was emaciated and scarred, Finn could guess
he had been there for a while. He could also see more than
one wound, all of them stitched.

“In Whitedell, southern Wyoming. This is a feline pride in

which lions, tigers and other kinds of big cats live together.
There are also humans and a wolf. You’ll be safe here.
Dominic is a good Alpha, and he’ll take care of you.”

“I’m sorry.” The weasel’s voice was soft.
“For what?”
“I didn’t want to put myself between you and your mate,

I was just...scared. I’ll apologize to him, too.”

“I don’t have a mate.” It hurt Finn to say something like

that, but the best thing he could do was to get used to it. He
would never mate with Bryce.

“Oh, but that man, he reacted as if he was jealous and as if

he had been challenged for his mate. I didn’t mean for it to
happen, though.”

Jealous? “Look, there’s nothing between Bryce and me, so

it’s okay, really. Why don’t you tell me your name? Then
you can go and shower if you want to, and I’ll bring you
something to eat.”

The small man’s eyes gleamed at the mention of a hot

shower and food. “I’m Jayden.”

“Okay, Jayden. The bathroom is that way, and you can

find clothes in the dresser. I’ll be right back with food, and
once you’re clean I’ll heal you.” Finn could heal the wounds,
but he couldn’t do anything for the malnutrition and the
exhaustion.

“Wait! What about...what about you? What’s your name?

Are you a shifter? Am I...am I really safe here? I know Craig
didn’t want to come, but they didn’t do anything to hurt us.”

“I’m Finn, and I’m a Nix.”

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Jayden frowned. “What’s a Nix?”
“A water fae. No one is going to hurt you, don’t worry.

The Alpha will want to talk with you about the time you
spent in the lab, and he will call your family, if you want to
go back there.”

“What if...what if I don’t want to go back?” Jayden was

looking down at his hands, but Finn could see the anguish in
his eyes. It reminded him a bit of himself, and he knew
somehow they would become friends.

“If you don’t want to go back for whatever reason,

Dominic will help you find a new place to live.” He leaned
in and patted Jayden’s hand. “You don’t have to worry
about anything but getting better right now, and everything
else will be solved later, don’t worry.” With a last smile Finn
shimmered into the kitchen, startling a busy Casey. The
cheetah was cooking at the stove and gave a loud yelp as
Finn appeared next to the fridge. Nolan was sitting at the
nearby table, laughing like a loon.

“Gosh, Finn, do you really have to do that?” Casey asked

as he raised a hand to lean it against his chest. “You’ll give
me a heart attack.”

“Sorry. I’m just too used to shimmering around.” This

was something Finn would miss once he stopped coming
here. Casey was one of the few who had tried to become
close to Finn, and he considered the big cat a friend. Maybe
Finn could find out a way to continue seeing his friends
without coming here to the mansion. They could meet in
town, or at the mall. Finn had never been to either, but he
could manage. He didn’t want to go back to being alone, not
now that he knew what having a friend was like.

He explained to Casey that he needed food for Jayden

and sat with Nolan while the cheetah got it ready. Finn
could cook if he needed to, but this wasn’t his kitchen, and
the variety of food he saw in the fridge when Casey opened

Finn

it baffled him. In his clan, they grew most of the things they
ate, and they hunted the rest.

“Umm, was everyone all right once I shimmered out of

the office?” Finn hoped Bryce had calmed down once he had
disappeared from his sight.

“Yeah. Bryce calmed down, but Dominic asked him to

stay there. I guess he wanted to have a little chat with him.”
Nolan looked at Finn. “He’s still being stubborn, right?”

Finn shrugged, trying to look as if he didn’t really care.

He wasn’t sure he succeeded, however, because Nolan
frowned, so he decided to explain. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve
tried to make him accept me for months and nothing’s
changed, so I’m giving up. I can’t spend the rest of my life
going after a man who doesn’t want me. I’d rather find
someone else, even if it wouldn’t be my mate.” God, it hurt
to say that, but it was true. Finn’s life might not be much, but
maybe he could leave his clan and find another place to live.
Sure, he didn’t have a job or money, but he could find a way.

Finn watched as Nolan narrowed his eyes and he waited

for the cat to tell him that he should hang on, that Bryce
might yet realize what he was losing, but Nolan surprised
him. “Good. It might be hard in the beginning, but you
deserve to be happy, and if Bryce can’t or won’t give that to
you, then you should go on with your life.” He patted Finn’s
hand. “You know that if you need anything you just have to
ask, right? Maybe you could go and stay with my family for
a while.” Nolan’s eyes lingered on Finn’s bruised face. “Or if
you need money...just ask.”

Tears flooded Finn’s eyes. For all the hurt Bryce had

caused him, this was the good thing that had come out of it.
“I’ll...I’ll think about it.”

Before he could embarrass himself even more by crying in

front of the couple, Casey handed him a tray with something
that smelled like chicken broth and a slice of bread. “Here,

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take this up to Jayden and I’ll let Dominic know that he
shifted. He’s going to want to talk to him.”

Finn nodded. He was going to have to talk to the Alpha,

too. The man had been great with him and had done
everything he could to help Finn given the situation. He
would go once he was sure Dominic was finished with
Bryce, and in the meantime he would talk with Jayden.

* * * *

“You can’t go on like this.”

“I’m doing just fine.”
“Bryce, what you just did was not being fine. We had to

stop you from jumping on Finn or worse, hurt the weasel
shifter. You could have seriously hurt someone, and for no
good reason. You’ve been denying your cat for too long
now, and I don’t think he will let you do it for much longer.”

Bryce sighed. He knew Dominic was telling the truth, but

there was nothing he could do about that. “Look, I’ll try to
avoid him. That way I shouldn’t have problems controlling
my cat.”

Dominic scrubbed his face with his palms, a frustrated

expression on his face. “Bryce, you know I usually try to stay
out of personal business, but I can’t let you go on like this.
You’re hurting two other people with your stubborn
attitude, and they are members of the pride as much as you
are. I have to be there for them as much as I am for you, and
at least they let me help them.”

“Since when is Finn a member?” That would make things

so much harder. How could he avoid the Nix if he started
living there?

“Since I said so. Have you even noticed that your mate is

being beaten at least twice a week? Have you ever looked at
him in the eyes and seen the bruises and the black eyes?

Finn

Have you seen how sometimes he has problems speaking or
bending over? He didn’t ask to be part of this pride, but I
won’t let him get hurt even more than he has already been
just because you’re being an ass.”

Bryce wasn’t used to seeing his Alpha like this. Dominic

was usually friendly with him, but now he was using the
tone he used with those who hurt someone he cared for, cold
and menacing. “I’m sorry to say that if I have to choose
between the two of you, I won’t choose you. The man has
lived through enough already—he deserves a bit of
happiness, and he won’t get it if you keep on acting like this.
You know you’re being stubborn without a good reason,
and you’re driving both Keenan and Finn away from you.”

“I have a good reason for doing this! I love Keenan!”

Damn, why was it that no one seemed to understand that?
They all acted like he was being a bastard, but no one ever
thought about how hard this was for him.

Dominic shook his head. “Look, I understand where

you’re coming from. You were in love with Keenan, the two
of you were in a relationship, and then Finn came around
and Keenan left you. The two of you knew it was going to
happen sooner or later, so why is it that he is the one acting
like you should? You’re a shifter, you know what happens
when you meet your mate. I’m not telling you to go and
claim Finn right now, but give the man a chance and let
Keenan go. You’re going to lose them both if you don’t.”

Bryce felt all the fight he had in him drain out, leaving

him exhausted. He knew his Alpha was right. He knew he
couldn’t keep on fighting his cougar, and that he was
hurting Finn and Keenan. He just couldn’t seem to let it go.
He was angry at the fact that he didn’t have a choice in this,
that for being who he was he had hurt a man he loved, a
man who didn’t deserve any of this.

“Keenan asked me permission to leave the mansion.”

Catherine Lievens

Bryce’s head snapped up. “What do you mean?”
“He wants to stop living here. He can’t deal with this

anymore.”

“What did you tell him?” This was his entire fault. He

was driving Keenan away from his only family. God, what a
bastard he had become.

“That as much as I would prefer for him to live here since

I consider him family, I wouldn’t stop him if that’s what he
wanted.”

“What do I do?” Bryce grabbed his face in both his hands,

desperate for a solution.

“Let him go. Go and talk to him one last time, tell him

you understand him and that you won’t ask him to take you
back anymore. Then go and talk with Finn. Give him a
chance to show you how good you can be for each other. Let
go of the guilt and let your cat guide you. Sometimes we
tend to think too much, and it only ruins things in the end.”

Something clicked in Bryce. He didn’t know what was

different this time. He’d had this conversation with a lot of
different people, and everyone had told him the same thing,
yet it seemed to him that he was hearing it, really hearing it,
for the first time today. Maybe it was the fact that Keenan
was thinking about leaving, or the fact that Finn was being
hurt and he should have been the one to help him and he
hadn’t done anything. Bryce didn’t know, but he finally
understood what everyone had been telling him.

He would continue to cherish the time he had spent with

Keenan, but it was over now. Fate had given him the other
part of his soul, someone who would perfectly complement
both him and his cougar, and he couldn’t reject such a gift.
His wasn’t the only life they were talking about, and he
should cherish Finn for the gift he was.

“What if I’ve ruined everything? What if Finn doesn’t

want me anymore?”

Finn

“I can’t promise you everything will be all right, but I

know Finn wants you to be happy. He just thinks you’re
happy when you don’t see him, and he’s been thinking
about not coming to the mansion. You’re going to have to
grovel and make him trust you, and it won’t be easy, but I
don’t think it’s impossible.”

“He wants to stop coming here?” Bryce knew the Nix had

been hanging around the house in the hope that he would
finally decide to mate with him, or at least talk to him. When
that hadn’t happened, he still had come to be with Jamie
and, lately, with Casey and Nolan, but he had avoided
trying to talk or even being seen by Bryce. Bryce had been a
little disappointed, but he hadn’t wanted to confess that to
anyone, stubborn ass that he was. He hadn’t even wanted to
admit to himself that even though they had talked only once
and that Bryce had rejected Finn, he missed seeing him
around, seeing the soft smile playing on Finn’s lips when he
was with his friends. Bryce longed to be the one to put it
there. Yeah, it was time to embrace what Fate had given him
and hope he hadn’t fucked it up beyond repair.

“Tell me about Finn. Who is hurting him?”

Catherine Lievens

Chapter Two

inn knocked on the Alpha’s office door and waited for
him to answer before opening it and slipping in. He

released the breath he had been holding him when he saw
that Bryce wasn’t there. He’d been scared he would have to
meet the man, but it seemed Dominic had already finished
talking to him. Finn wondered what had happened, but he
quickly scolded himself. It didn’t concern him, and it never
would.

“Finn. How is the weasel shifter?” Dominic asked,

indicating one of the chairs in front of his desk. Finn sat,
shifting nervously in the chair.

“He’s fine. I healed his wounds, but he’s going to need a

little time to get better. His name is Jayden. I’m not sure
what happened to him and I didn’t want to pry, but I told
him he would be fine here and that you will talk to him
about it. I also told him that if he didn’t want to go home
you would help him find a new place to live. I hope I didn’t
assume anything, but he looked terrified when I told him he
could go home.”

“No, you did well, don’t worry. As long as he’s not a

danger for the pride’s security, I don’t have any problems
taking him in. What about you? Are you going to move in?”

Finn fidgeted under the lion’s amber gaze. He wanted to

say yes, god he wanted to, but he knew it would only end
up with him being even more hurt, and he couldn’t afford
that. It would be too hard to see Bryce and Keenan together

Finn

once the human realized that Bryce really had no intentions
to mate with Finn. It wouldn’t take long for them to get back
together, and Finn didn’t think he could bear to see how
happy they would be, knowing that he should be the one in
Keenan’s place.

“I don’t know, Alpha. I—can I think about it?”
“Finn, I know why you don’t want to move here, but I

talked with Bryce, and I know he wants to talk with you. I
think I finally managed to convince him to give you a
chance, and I don’t want you to be hurt because now you’re
the one being stubborn. It’s obvious that you’re not safe in
your clan, but I can’t force you to come here. Give Bryce a
chance, please.”

Finn had never seen the Alpha so agitated. It actually

made him a little warm to see the man worrying so much
over him. It had to be the first time it happened in his life,
and it was...nice. The man was right, though. Finn knew he
would give his mate a chance to prove he had finally
changed his mind, even if it scared him to death. He would
forever regret it if he walked away now.

“All right, but it’s the last one. I don’t think I could

survive being cast aside once more, especially not by him.”
Finn’s gaze was on his hands and he knew he wasn’t being
respectful. His clan leader would have already ordered to
have him whipped if he had done something like that with
him, but Dominic was different. The lion looked hard and
serious, but his heart was made of gold.

“I’m not asking you to give him more than one last

chance. If Bryce doesn’t come to his senses, I’ll help you find
another place to stay and a job. I have a few friends that I
know would welcome you in their prides or packs. There’s
the Gillham pack not far from here, for example.”

Finn couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t know these

people, not really. Sure, he had been in and out of the

Catherine Lievens

mansion for months now, but the only people he’d really
talked to were Jamie, Casey and Nolan. Yet they would help
him without questions. “Thank you, Alpha. Nolan already
told me that I was welcome at his parent’s house if I needed
a place to stay, but for now I’ll stay in my clan and see what
Bryce has to tell me. Only then will I decide what to do.”

Dominic nodded and Finn could see the lion wasn’t

satisfied. “Fine, but if I see you coming back here with
another bruise or any other wounds, I’ll go and get your
things myself, and I’ll give a piece of my mind to your clan
leader while I’m at it.”

Finn paled at the thought. Nix might be physically

weaker than shifters, but Leold was a mean leader, and he
didn’t play nice. He had many connections with dangerous
people, and Dominic going there and insulting him would
mean bringing danger to the pride and to Finn’s friends.
“That won’t be necessary, please! I’ll go back one last time to
take what I need and to say goodbye, then I’ll come back
here, I swear.”

“I believe you, Finn. Come and tell me when you’re

planning to go back there, and I’ll expect you to be here the
day after at the most.” Finn nodded frantically and Dominic
groaned. “God, I feel like a bastard forcing you to move
away from you home. Do you have someone you wish to
come with you? Your parents, siblings?”

Finn shook his head. “I don’t really have a family. My

parents died years ago and I never really had a home in the
clan, just a place in which I sleep. I don’t consider any of
them my family, not after the way in which they treated
me.” Except for one of them, but he knew Ani would be
better without him.

“Do you want to talk about it?”
Finn didn’t think it would be a problem since Dominic

accepted humans in his pride, so he decided to tell him. “My

Finn

mother was human. My father knew she was his soul mate
when he first saw her even if she was from another race. So
they mated and he left the clan because they didn’t accept
mating with humans, or with any other species, really. When
I was five my mother died, and my father had just the time
to bring me back to his clan and beg for them to take me in
before he followed her. I don’t know why they accepted, but
they never treated me well.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Here you won’t have any of those

problems. We have more than one human mate, so you
know we are accepting.”

Finn nodded. He knew now that the way he had been

treated wasn’t right, even if it had seemed normal to him
until he had started coming there.

“Now that we settled this, I have a favor to ask from

you.”

Finn frowned. What could the Alpha possibly want from

him? He nodded anyway, ready to do just about anything to
thank him for his hospitality. “Anything.”

Dominic smiled. “I saw how easily you related with

Jayden, and I know you were friends with Oliver.” Finn
thought about the once-human man. He had barely seen
Oliver since they had escaped the lab in which they had
been trapped. He had tried to talk to him in the beginning,
but Oliver had refused any kind of interaction and Finn had
had other problems to deal with, so he had let go, but he
regretted it now. “He doesn’t come out of his room anymore,
not even to eat. He doesn’t talk to anyone and lately he has
been refusing to see Jared, the pride’s doctor. I want you to
try and get to him, if you can. It’s not good for him to be like
this.”

“I’ll do what I can, but I don’t know if he’ll listen to me. I

tried when I first started coming here, but he told me to
leave him alone.”

Catherine Lievens

“I know, but we have to try again. Maybe once your

personal problems are solved, you will be able to
concentrate on him.”

Finn nodded then excused himself. He had a soul mate to

find, and it terrified him.

* * * *

Bryce had been in Keenan’s room plenty of times, but he had
never felt so nervous about it, even when he was still trying
to get the man back. This time, though...he felt like he was
holding the future of the three of them in his hands, and
Bryce just knew he was going to fuck up somehow.

Taking a deep breath, Bryce knocked on the door and

waited. The door flung open, revealing Keenan. The
beautiful smile that was spread on his face disappeared as
soon as he saw that it was Bryce outside the door, and Bryce
cursed himself for that. He had been the one to put this
distance and this unease between them, when before,
everything had always been so easy and fluid. That was
when he realized that what he longed for was the friendship
the two of them had had, not the love.

Looking at his ex-lover’s face, Bryce discovered that he

didn’t love him anymore, at least not as a lover. Keenan
would always be dear to him, but as a friend, or at least he
hoped so.

“Bryce.” Keenan’s tone was cold, something unusual for

him.

“Hi. I, uh, I wanted to talk to you if it’s possible?”
Keenan frowned. “I already told you I won’t come back to

you, no matter what you say. Why don’t you just let it go?”
He started to close the door, but Bryce couldn’t afford it. He
stuck his foot in it and faced an angry Keenan face on.
“What the fuck, Bryce? What more do you want from me?”

Finn

“I wanted to apologize. I know there’s nothing left

between us, and I won’t ask you to come back to me.” Bryce
watched as Keenan’s eyes widened, the surprise clear on his
face.

“Okay. Come in, then.”
They both sat on the couch, the silence between them

awkward, and Bryce couldn’t help but think that this wasn’t
them. It was so far from the fun and affection that they had
always shared, and he wanted to get that back. “So, umm, I
talked with Dominic.”

“What’s different this time, Bryce?” Keenan went right to

the point, probably not convinced Bryce was really telling
the truth.

“I don’t know, not really. Maybe it needed to sink in,

maybe it’s because he told me you were leaving. I don’t
know why, but I finally realized I’ve been hurting both you
and Finn just because I was stubborn.”

“Dominic told you I was leaving, huh?”
“Yeah. If you’re leaving because of me, maybe you can

reconsider it? I know how much you like living here, and I
won’t bother you anymore, I swear.”

Keenan smiled, and it had been so long since he had last

smiled to Bryce that his heart warmed. They could do this.
They could be friends, he knew it.

“Well, yeah, I’m leaving because of you. I thought that

maybe not seeing me anymore would make you realize that
you needed to take your head out of your ass and talk to
Finn. You’ve been making his life hell, you know?”

“I know. I’ll try to talk to him after I’m done with you.”
“Yeah. I know I’m not innocent, either. I avoided him as

well as I could instead of making him feel welcome here. I
didn’t think about how awkward the situation might
become when he finally came and lived here, but I’m getting
over it.” The smile Keenan gave Bryce was sad. “I’m getting

Catherine Lievens

over you, finally. You certainly didn’t help by not wanting to
let me go, but it seems we realized that it would be the better
thing to do at about the same time.”

“I miss being your friend, you know? I know it’s my fault,

but I hope we can get that again.”

There, the smile he got now was the blinding Keenan

smile! “I hope so too, and I really want to meet your mate. I
have to apologize for making his life difficult.”

“So, you’re staying?”
“If you promise that you’re finally over me, I’ll stay.”
“I promise.”
“Okay, then. It’s a deal. Besides, I hadn’t really thought

about where I would go, you know? And when you make
up with Finn, let me know.” Keenan reached over and
squeezed Bryce’s hand. “I want you to be happy. Now, go
on and find your mate. You’ll need to grovel quite a bit for
him to forgive you.”

Bryce thought about where he could find the Nix once he

got out of Keenan’s room. He felt as if a huge weight had
been lifted from his chest, but there was an equally heavy
one still sitting there, one that only his mate could lift.

Bryce thought about calling Jamie, but he wasn’t sure the

man would answer. Lately he hadn’t wanted to talk with
Bryce, and it made him realize how his pigheadedness had
impacted more than their three lives. Their friends had also
been worried.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t see the

cat until he stepped on it. Bryce’s foot ended up on Nolan’s
tail, or at least he thought it was Nolan. There weren’t any
other cats in the mansion, but it seemed that new members
were popping in often lately, so he wasn’t really sure.

The cat yowled and hissed, batting at Bryce’s pants. He

danced away from the small claws, not wanting to get
scratched. “Sorry, sorry! Umm, Nolan? Is that you?” The cat

Finn

was black like Nolan, but then all cats looked similar to
Bryce.

The cat hissed again, and Bryce wasn’t sure of the

meaning. Did it mean it was Nolan? Bryce crouched down
next to the small feline and tried to sniff the air around him.
The cat did smell like shifter and like Nolan, but cougars
weren’t known for their good sense of smell, so Bryce
couldn’t actually tell if the scent really was cat shifter or
something else. “Come on, I didn’t do it on purpose, I just
wasn’t looking at where I was going. To be honest, I was
thinking about Finn. Have you seen him?”

The cat mewled and Bryce took it as a positive answer.

“Can you tell me where he is? I promise I’ll pet you if you
tell me.”

“I don’t let anyone pet me except Casey, but thanks for

the thought.”

Bryce jumped in surprise, but the cat in front of him chose

that moment to walk between his feet and thump him with
his head, and he ended up sprawled on his ass right there in
the hallway. “Nolan! I thought I was talking with you!” The
cat shifter was standing behind Bryce, his shoulder leaned
against the wall while the black cat Bryce had been talking
too had settled on his stomach and was purring loudly.
Bryce looked from one to the other then pointed to the cat.
“If that’s not you, then who is it?”

Nolan smiled and reached down, grabbing the cat and

hauling it up in his arms. “It’s Marian’s new cat. It seems she
was really happy at having a pet, so when she found out I
was a shifter, Carl got her a real one. This is Fluffy.” Nolan
grimaced at the name and Bryce just knew there was a story
behind it. He would have to go and nag Casey later to make
him spill the beans. “By the way, if you had looked better,
you would have realized it wasn’t me.”

“How?”

Catherine Lievens

“It’s a girl.”
Bryce let out a booming laugh, not able to control himself.

“Sorry, but I wouldn’t have looked under there. What if it
was you and Casey caught me looking at your family
jewels?”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I just saw Finn in the living room.”
“Thanks.” Bryce gave Nolan a little wave but before he

could head toward the living room the cat shifter stopped
him with a hand on his arm.

“You’re not going to hurt him, are you?”
“I’d never hit him!” Was that what the others thought of

him?

Nolan smiled. “I didn’t mean that. You don’t have to hit a

person to hurt him—words do as much damage as fists
sometimes.”

In that moment Bryce was grateful that even if he had

been an asshole and hadn’t been there for Finn when he
needed it, he’d had his friends to help him. “No, I’m going
to go down on my knees and beg him to forgive me, then I’ll
beg a little more just to have him consider the idea of mating
with me.”

Nolan’s eyes widened. “Well, I don’t know what

happened to you, but I’m glad you’re finally coming to your
senses. Remember, though, if you hurt him...” Nolan didn’t
need to finish the sentence, Bryce already knew that if he
hurt Finn again, Dominic was going to boot him out of the
pride and the others were going to eat him for breakfast.

“I swear, I’ll do everything I can to make him happy from

now on.”

* * * *

Finn had already gone knocking on Bryce’s door, but no one
had answered, so he had tried the kitchen, then the living

Finn

room, and he still hadn’t found Bryce. He decided to go once
more knock at the cougar’s suite, but if he still couldn’t find
him, he would give up for now. It wasn’t like it would
change anything. They had been in this situation for the last
four months—a few hours or even days more wouldn’t be a
problem, except for the fact that Finn’s heart was longing for
his soul mate.

He had longed for him during all these months, and he’d

hurt because of the way Bryce had treated him. Now it
seemed that Finn’s body couldn’t be without its mate
anymore, like he had reached a point of no return when
Dominic had told him that Bryce had changed. Finn was still
scared to death that it was all an illusion, but the Alpha was
right. Finn might have avoided talking to Bryce just because
he was scared to be hurt even more, and he might have
passed on the possibility to finally be with his soul mate. He
had to give the man this last chance.

Still, if he didn’t find Bryce, Finn would go back to his

clan and pack up the few things he had that were important
to him. They were so few that it shouldn’t be a problem
shimmer with it, even if it was a box or two, maybe three if
Finn decided to take all his clothes with him. He knew that
Dominic wouldn’t have problems giving him money to buy
new ones if he needed it, but he felt as if he had already
gotten so much out of his relationship with the lion while
Dominic hadn’t gained anything. Anything except another
mouth to feed, that was, and Finn swore to himself that as
soon as things were settled he would go out there and find
himself a job. It might not be an easy thing to do since he
didn’t look completely human, but if he managed to hide his
ears under a hat or maybe find a job that wouldn’t have any
contact with humans...

As Finn walked up the stairs and turned into the hallway

that led to Bryce’s suite of rooms, he finally dared to hope

Catherine Lievens

that from now on his life would be different. He knew no
one here would hurt him like Leold and Karun did, and he
knew no one cared that he was half human. He might have
to keep the tub filled with water to satisfy his need for it,
though, but he could deal with it.

“Here you are.”
Finn looked up, finding Bryce in front of him.

“I...Dominic told me you wanted to talk with me?” God, it
was so strange to have his soul mate finally looking at him
and talking to him.

“Yeah...do you want to come in?”
Finn nodded and followed Bryce into his suite, settling on

the couch when Bryce indicated it. Once they were both
facing each other, an awkward silence filled the room. Finn
wasn’t sure if he had to say something, to be the one to start
this conversation, or if he should just wait for Bryce to say
what he had to say and go from there. They stared at each
other for a while, and Finn could feel himself blushing. He
hated his fair skin in that moment. He wanted to be the
superior one if Bryce told him he wanted him to go away,
but he knew everything he felt was showing on his face.

Bryce startled him when he raised a hand and skimmed

its knuckles on Finn’s face, right over the bruise on his jaw.
“Dominic told me you’re having troubles at home.”

“Yeah.” Finn leaned away. He wasn’t sure he could keep

himself in check if Bryce touched him. That soft contact had
been enough to make him want to launch himself into
Bryce’s arms and never let go. The cougar was so handsome,
and Finn used the time it took Bryce to think about what he
wanted to say to rake his eyes on his body. He couldn’t see
all of it, since they were both sitting down, but he knew
Bryce was tall, nearly a foot taller than Finn’s five foot five
height. He kept his golden blond hair on the short side,
carefully styled in spikes, and Finn couldn’t help but being

Finn

aware of how plain he was confronted compared with the
shifter. He kept his hair long like most of the fae did, since it
was easier to hide his ears that way, but his was a dull
mouse brown instead of the beautiful blond the other Nix
had.

Bryce was also muscled, lean and sensual with every

move he made, while Finn was small and too thin, with little
to no muscles. Call him vain, but this house was full of hot
men, and he couldn’t help but compare himself to them.
Even the smaller ones like Nolan were so much better than
him. Maybe Finn could talk with the cat and ask him to help
him change things a bit.

“Okay, if you don’t want to talk about it I’ll let it go.”
Finn realized that Bryce had waited for him to talk, but

instead he had spaced out. He blushed again and reached for
the cougar. It was a move based on instinct, and Bryce’s eyes
widened when Finn took his hand. He quickly squeezed it
before releasing it, but his heart thundered in his chest at the
too brief contact and at the sensations it created in him. Finn
really hoped Bryce had finally decided to give them a
chance, because his body was definitely on board with
getting physical. He might be a virgin and embarrassed
about it, but he knew he wanted it. “I’m sorry. I—yeah, I
have problems at home. Let’s just say that me being half
human has always been a problem for my clan and they
never pass on an occasion to remind me of it.”

“They’ve been hitting you because you’re half human?”
Finn nodded, then explained to his mate the same thing

he had told Dominic earlier. He told him about his parents
and his childhood, about the short time he had had with
them before their deaths, and about what had happened
after that.

“Why don’t you heal yourself?”
“Because I can’t. I can heal others, but not myself.”

Catherine Lievens

“Huh. Anyway, you’re not going back there.”
Finn cocked a brow at his mate. “And who are you to tell

me what to do?”

The man grimaced before answering, “Sorry, I know I

don’t have the right to tell you what you should do, but I
can’t let you be hurt again. I want...I’d like for you to give
me a chance. I talked with Dominic and Keenan today, and I
realized that I’ve been an ass and that I was wrong. I know
we didn’t begin this mating well, but I’d like things to get
better. I’d like to get to know you better, and I want you to
be safe.” Bryce shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think
my cougar will let you go back home now that we know
what happened.”

Finn opened his mouth to talk, but Bryce stopped him. “I

know I don’t have a say in this, and I’m not telling you this
to be an ass, it’s just how my cat is reacting. I’ve denied him
for so long that now that we finally got close to you, he’s
giving me a hard time staying away, even only for this short
distance.” Bryce indicated the space between them.

Finn’s heart warmed. Maybe...maybe Bryce wants me! But

he had to be sure. “Are you saying you stopped loving
Keenan?”

“I think I stopped loving him a while ago, I was just too

stubborn to admit it. I didn’t like not having a say in who I
get to be with for the rest of my life, but I realized that I liked
the things I know about you.” Bryce reached out and
grabbed Finn’s hand.

A jolt of...something ran straight to Finn’s groin as he felt

the rough skin of the cougar’s hand on his own softer one,
making his cock react and twitch in his pants.

“What I’m saying is I would like for you to give me a

chance to prove I finally understand I was wrong. I want to
get to know you better, and hopefully one day I want to
mate with you.”

Finn

* * * *

Bryce looked at Finn, hoping that against all odds the man
would forgive him, or at least give him a chance. For now
Finn looked like a deer in headlights. His eyes were huge
and his mouth slightly open, giving Bryce a view of the tip
of his tongue. Seeing that tiny bit of pink muscle led to a
whole lot of inappropriate thoughts and images of how
those pretty lips would look around Bryce’s cock. God, I’m an

animal!

He wanted Finn to like him, not just to lust after him.

Groaning, Bryce tried to ignore his plumping cock and
pushed those thoughts far away from his mind. Then he
waited.

It took a little while for his mate to process what Bryce

had just said and to come up with an answer, and Bryce
wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or a bad one.

“If I give you this chance, what are you planning to do?”
Okay, that was one baby step toward Bryce’s goal. He

could work with that. “Well, I plan on asking you out on a
date after I make sure you’re safe. Then we’ll see where it
goes from there. I know it will take time for you to trust me,
and I won’t push. I just want the opportunity to show to you
what we can have together.”

“A date?”
“Yes. We can do whatever you want. That way we can get

to know each other.” Finn thought about it for a while
longer, and Bryce began to fidget in his seat. He was
beginning to think that the Nix was going to say no. Maybe
he had fucked up too much and Finn couldn’t forgive him.
He couldn’t blame the man if he didn’t want to give it a try,
not really.

“If I say yes, you have to know that this will be your last

chance. I can’t go through those last months again, Bryce. It

Catherine Lievens

was painful enough to go through it one time. If you hurt me
again...”

“I promise I won’t hurt you like I already did. I can’t

promise I won’t fuck up again, and we’ll probably fight, but
I’m serious about this. Just...have a little patience, okay?”

Finn slowly nodded and Bryce’s heart just about stopped.

Is he saying yes?

“All right. I’ll go out with you and give you one last

chance. If you cast me aside again or if you hurt me, I’ll
leave.”

“No, if I hurt you again, I’ll be the one to leave.” Of that,

Bryce was sure. Not only had Dominic told him that he
would be kicked out of the pride if he did, but Bryce
couldn’t make his mate leave the only safe place he knew
and his friends. He would rather leave everything behind
than do that.

They looked at each other, and for the first time since he

had started dating all those years ago, Bryce didn’t know
what to do. He knew he couldn’t kiss Finn like he would
have done with any other date. Hell, he wasn’t even sure the
fae would let him take his hand, but he had to try. They had
to start somewhere, right? Bryce leaned forward, but just
then Finn jumped up from the couch. Had he understood
what Bryce was about to do and had wanted to avoid it?
Maybe he didn’t want to have any type of physical contact
with Bryce yet.

“I, uh...” Finn crumbled back on the couch. “I don’t know

what to do right now.” The Nix blushed, and oh, what a
pretty look it was on his face. “I’ve never dated anyone, and
I’m still scared to open up to you, but I also feel this need to
get near you, to touch you, and I don’t know how to deal
with this, and, oh god—” Finn groaned and buried his face
in his hands.

Bryce still saw that the red color on his cheeks had

deepened, though, and he liked it more and more as the

Finn

minutes passed. Finn had always seemed so timid and quiet
when Bryce had seen him around the house, but right now
he seemed overwhelmed by his feelings and flustered, and it
made Bryce want to cuddle him.

Bryce patted Finn’s knees, hoping the Nix didn’t take

offense. “Hey, it’s okay, we don’t have to do anything you
feel uncomfortable with. Just...tell me what you want and
we’ll do it. When do you want to go out?” Bryce hoped it
would be soon, really soon.

Finn peeked in between his fingers, one lone green pool

looking straight at Bryce before he slid his hands off
completely and rested them on his tights. That brought
Finn’s hand near to the one Bryce had on his knee, and he
thought the Nix would push him away, but he stayed
immobile.

“I think we should wait until I move here, maybe?”
“Of course. You know that if you need a hand to do that

you can ask me, right?” Bryce didn’t want to let Finn go back
on his own, but he wasn’t in a position in which he could tell
him that, unfortunately, so the only thing he could do was
offer his help. “And what did you have in mind? What do
you want to do?”

Bryce barely contained the growl that rose in his chest

when Finn’s eyes dropped to his lips and his pink tongue
came out as he licked his lower one. Bryce could see lust in
the green eyes that were looking at him, and he realized then
even though Finn was not a shifter, he was feeling the
mating pull, just maybe not as strongly as Bryce. It made
him wonder if his mate was a virgin. He had said that he
had never been on a date after all, so maybe he had never
had any serious relationships. Just the thought of being the
one to initiate Finn to the pleasures of sex made all the blood
in Bryce’s body pool in his groin as his cock went from half-
mast to fully erect. He was going to have a serious problem

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hiding his erection to Finn if the Nix happened to look down
at his lap.

“Would a movie be all right? I’ve always wanted to go see

a movie on one of those big screens, but I wasn’t allowed.”

Bryce’s cougar growled at that, but he reined it in. He

didn’t want to scare Finn away, not now that they were
making progress. “Sure, a movie is fine.”

Finn’s face was illuminated by his smile. “I’ll put a hat on

so that the humans won’t see my ears!” Those pointed ears
were so sexy that Bryce had had a fantasy or two regarding
them, but he would never admit that. He let Finn rant on
about the few movies he had seen with his friends in the
mansion’s living room and Bryce listened to him, charmed
by the enthusiasm the man was putting in this. Finn stopped
mid-sentence and started biting on his lower lip, and Bryce
sat straighter, knowing something was up.

“What’s wrong, Finn? Do you have to go?”
Finn shook his head. “No, Karun hasn’t called me back

yet, but I don’t have much time. I’ve been here since this
morning. No, I was wondering if, well...”

“What?”
“Never mind.” Finn jumped up and started for the door,

but Bryce stopped him, grabbing his wrist as he passed next
to him and stood up so that he could look at his mate in the
eyes.

“What’s wrong? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”
“I was wondering if maybe we could, you know...” The

end of the sentence was said so softly that Bryce couldn’t
hear it, even with his shifter’s hearing.

“I didn’t hear you.”
Finn looked up at him, his eyes fierce as he grabbed

Bryce’s nape and pulled him down, crushing their lips
together and shocking the hell out of Bryce. The Nix’s lips
were soft and hesitant, betraying his lack of experience as he

Finn

stayed there, suddenly frozen in indecision. It seemed that
his brief moment of rebellion had already ended, but Bryce
wasn’t ready for their first kiss to end, not like this.

Enclosing Finn’s face in his hands, he skimmed his lips on

Finn’s, softly asking for entrance. When Finn didn’t react,
Bryce nipped at his lower lip, earning himself a gasp and an
opportunity to delve into his mate’s hot mouth. He tried to
stay calm and not get carried away, but it was so hard,
especially when Finn started to respond as Bryce caressed
his mate’s tongue with his own. He coaxed Finn’s tongue
into his mouth, sucking lightly on it before releasing it and
stroking Finn’s gums and the roof of his mouth, learning his
over’s mouth.

Finn timidly started to explore, too, and he mimicked the

things that Bryce had done to him. It was almost too much to
stand, and Bryce was both relieved and sad when the kiss
ended not long after that.

His mate’s pretty face was flushed with arousal this time,

his eyes glazed over, and he was feeling smug for being the
one to put that look on his face. “You better go now. Go and
pack your things.” Bryce sipped a few more kisses from
Finn’s lips before letting him go, not daring to deepen them.
He knew he would have a hard time releasing the man if he
did that.

To his surprise, Finn rose on the tip of his feet and gave

him one last kiss before shimmering away and leaving him
alone in his living room, stunned by what had just
happened.

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Chapter Three

inn shimmered into the woods near the small gathering
of houses his clan lived in. He needed a little time to

think about what he had just done and to compose himself.
It wouldn’t do any good if Karun or Leold saw him this
flustered. That would only lead to them keeping a closer eye
on him, and he couldn’t afford that if he wanted to be back
to the mansion soon.

Leaning against the nearest tree, Finn raised his hand to

his mouth and stroked a finger on his lips. He still couldn’t
believe he’d had the courage to kiss Bryce. Well, he had
initiated the kiss, but then he had stopped, unsure of what to
do. Sure, he knew the mechanics of it, so in theory he had
known what to do, but actually doing it had been different.
When his lips had met Bryce’s, his heart had just about
exploded and his knees had gone soft, making it hard to stay
upright. His brain had just stopped working as all of Finn’s
blood gathered in his groin.

Luckily Bryce had taken over, and Finn could swear he

could still fell those soft and hot lips against his, the slick
muscle of Bryce’s tongue exploring his mouth. That was
when Finn had finally snapped out of it and really gotten
into the kiss, when he had finally tasted his mate, and it had
been heaven. No one should taste that good, it just wasn’t
possible. It had been hard to step away when Bryce had told
him to go, but he understood the cougar’s reasons.

They would have gotten carried away if they had

Finn

continued, and they would have ended up doing things that
Finn might have regretted later. Sure, in that moment he had
been ready to pull Bryce on top of him and kiss him some
more before taking off their clothes and finally, finally,
making love, but he knew he would have felt bad about it
later. He wanted to trust Bryce when he said that he wanted
them to mate, but his heart wasn’t completely convinced yet.

Still, Finn hadn’t been able to resist giving his mate one

last kiss before shimmering away. He couldn’t believe how
good kissing him had been, and he wondered if it was
always like that or if it had been special with Bryce because
he was Finn’s soul mate. Not that he wanted to go and test
that theory, and he hoped Bryce wouldn’t give him a reason
to.

Finn was so lost in his thoughts that he barely realized

how cold the air around him was until the snow started
falling again, the white flakes falling in front of his eyes
distracting him from his thoughts. His clan lived deep into
the Colorado Mountains, as isolated as it could be. Finn
actually wondered why Leold wanted to stay here. It wasn’t
like Nix had particular problems with the cold, but they did
live better in a more temperate weather. He had never heard
about clans living up north like they did, but then he didn’t
really have contacts with anyone outside his clan, so it could
be that he just didn’t know about it. He did know that most
of the clans lived in isolation, both because it was easier to
hide their slightly different physical appearance and because
that way they didn’t have problems shimmering. It was
mostly tradition, though, and most clans still lived where
their ancestors had. It wasn’t like they needed to be near a
town anyway, since they just had to think about where they
wanted to go and they could be there in mere seconds. That
made it easy to buy what they needed.

Shivering, Finn finally decided it was time for him to get

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back home, for the last time. He wouldn’t miss anything
there, and the fact that he wouldn’t have to come back made
his heart so much lighter in his chest. With this move and
the new developments with Bryce, he felt like he was
starting a new life, and while he was scared of what would
happen to him, he knew that he wouldn’t be left alone, not
ever again.

Walking in the snow, Finn stopped for a few minutes near

the pond. It was close to the clan, since Nix needed water to
survive, and as he dipped his hand in the freezing water he
knew that this was the only thing he would miss. The
mansion didn’t have a pond or anything similar, so he
would have to do with a full bath tub. Even if it wasn’t the
same as having a natural pond, it would be enough for him
to survive, and he would have so many other things to make
his life a happy one that he wasn’t worried.

With a last ripple created by his fingers, he shimmered

right into his small house. It wasn’t a house, not really. The
cabin had only one cold room that contained a small bed, a
dresser and some bookshelves on one side and a small table
and a lone chair on the other. The tiny bathroom was on that
same side. The cabin didn’t have electricity or heating, and
the whole clan ate together in the cabin that was used as a
common area. They grew their own food and used the pond
for water. It wasn’t an easy life, but it was the only one
possible here in the mountains, although Finn wouldn’t have
minded having at least a lamp.

Finn got the small bag he used in the summer to gather

berries he found in the woods from under the bed, putting it
on the table. Looking around, he knew he had to take only
the things he really couldn’t do without. The bag was too
small to contain much more than a few changes of clothes,
and he knew the clan leader wouldn’t let him come back to
get the rest. He also knew that Karun wouldn’t be happy to

Finn

lose his personal punching bag, so he hurriedly folded a few
pair of jeans and three t-shirts before stuffing them in the
bag, putting four of his favorite books on top of them.

After listening to be sure no one was round, Finn knelt on

the wooden floor and got to work on the loosened board.
That was where he had hidden his most precious
possessions. It wasn’t much, but he had a little money he
had managed to gather selling those berries, and three
pictures of him and his parents. Then there was his mother’s
pendant. It wasn’t anything expensive, just his mother’s
initial twined with his father’s, but the two golden letters
were the only thing he had left from them. It had been a gift
his father had given her when Finn was born, and he had
been the one to give it to Finn right before he died.

Putting the board back in place, Finn rose to his feet and

put the golden chain around his neck. He didn’t have a
motive to keep it hidden now that he was leaving the clan,
but he still slipped it inside his shirt, just in case. Giving one
last glance around the small room that had been his home
since he had turned eighteen, Finn concentrated on the
mansion. He was about to shimmer out when the door
opened and the clan’s second entered.

Finn froze. He knew he had to get out of there, he knew it,

he just couldn’t seem to be able to do it. Karun looked at him
and took in the small bag in Finn’s hand.

“What are you doing? It’s not the right season for picking

berries.”

Finn tried to think about a good reason he might have to

justify that bag, but obviously he wasn’t quick enough,
because next thing he knew a fist came flying at him, hitting
him square in the jaw and making him see stars. He fell, his
hand never letting go of his small bag, and landed against
the wall, the impact making all the air in his lungs whoosh
out of them.

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“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“I—I was just going to—”
“You were going back to that cat, weren’t you?”
Finn froze. How could Karun possibly know about Bryce?

He had never told anyone he had found his soul mate or
where he had been going all that time. Had the man
followed him somehow?

“Oh, no, you’re not. I was prohibited from touching you

because you had to be intact for those human scientists, but
if you’re going to offer your ass to a damn shifter, I’m going
to be the first one taking it.” What? Karun wanted him in
that way? Since when? Homosexuality wasn’t a problem for
faes in general, so it wasn’t that that surprised Finn, rather
the fact that the man in front of him had beaten him so many
times without doing anything that could indicate he wanted
to rape him. Finn didn’t have the time to think too much
about that, though, because the second part of Karun’s
speech finally reached his brain. They had given him to the
scientists?

The sound of Karun’s belt opening made Finn come back

to the present situation. It took only one look at how the
man’s hands were slipping in his pants to take his dick out
for Finn to panic and shimmer out of the cabin without a
specific location in mind.

* * * *

Bryce looked at the clock again and swore. Finn had been
gone for five hours already, and not one of his friends in the
pride knew where he was. It was dark outside, the snow had
really picked up, and Bryce was worried.

He didn’t know how it was possible for him to care so

much for Finn in so little time, but maybe it was just because
the man was his mate. Or it could be because Bryce used to

Finn

watch him when he was at the mansion and he knew Finn
was sweet, affectionate and always willing to help, among
other things. He really wished they could already be
mated—at least then he would know if Finn was fine from
his emotions, but he didn’t even have that, and it was only
his fault.

Bryce didn’t even know where to look. Finn could have

decided to shimmer into any room of the house, and Bryce
wouldn’t know it. It wasn’t like he could go and check all of
them, and if that was what Finn had done, it meant that he
didn’t want to see Bryce.

Groaning, Bryce scrubbed his face with his palms and

sprawled back on the couch. He didn’t even know where
Finn’s clan lived. Even hoping the Nix had just decided to
stay away from him, Bryce couldn’t help but worry that he’d
had problems with his clan leader. From what he had
gathered, the man didn’t like Finn, but that didn’t mean he
would let him go without problems. Maybe Bryce could go
and see if Dominic knew something more.

He was about to get up when Finn appeared out of thin

air right on top of him, emptying his lungs of the air they
contained. Bryce made a weird squeaking sound and
grabbed the fae around the hips before hauling him up and
settling him back down on his lap once he righted himself.
Finn was clutching a small brown bag and he was shivering,
but the thing that really told Bryce something was wrong
was the haunted expression of Finn’s green eyes. Crooning,
he passed his hand up and down on Finn’s back, trying to
sooth him as he gently took the bag from his mate’s hands
and put it on the couch next to him.

Finn reacted when the bag slid out of his hands, his eyes

snapping up as he moved backward. Bryce just had the time
to grab him before he ended up on the floor and he let out a
relieved sigh when the Nix snuggled against his chest and

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clutched at his shirt like a frightened child. At least he had
recognized him. Murmuring soft words in Finn’s ear, Bryce
waited for the panic his mate felt to ebb before trying to talk
to him.

It took a little while, but Finn slowly stopped shaking.

Thinking that maybe it was time to find out what had
happened, Bryce jumped when he felt a hot tongue on his
neck, sliding up and down before a pair of lips started
sucking. Finn had probably ended up leaving a hickey by
the time Bryce managed to untangle his arms and grab
Finn’s shoulders, pushing away so that he could look at him
in the eyes. The Nix whimpered, but rage rose in Bryce’s
chest when he saw the new bruise on his jaw.

“What happened, baby?” He needed to keep his voice

controlled. Finn might not understand his anger wasn’t
directed at him, and Bryce didn’t want to spook him, not
now that he was finally letting Bryce in. Finn seemed to
come back to his senses as he started blushing, keeping his
eyes on his hands.

“Sorry.” The voice was so soft that Bryce had trouble

hearing it.

“For what? You have nothing to be sorry about, Finn.”
“I—I basically attacked you! I’m sorry!” The distress in

his mate’s face hit Bryce’s heart like a ton of bricks. Bringing
Finn close one more time, Bryce folded his arms around the
smaller man.

“You didn’t attack me. Believe me, I very much wanted

you to continue what you were doing, but I think we have
things to talk about before taking any steps in that
direction.” Bryce placed a kiss on the top of Finn’s hair,
inhaling the Nix’s natural scent. He smelled of fresh cut
grass and sunshine, reminding Bryce of a hot summer day.
“Are you going to tell me what happened, baby?”

Bryce watched as Finn took a deep breath and clutched at

Finn

the pendant hanging from his neck before answering, “I
went back home and gathered my things, and I was about to
shimmer back here when Karun, the clan’s second, came in.
He hit me, and h-he knew about you, and that I spend time
at the mansion. He told me that someone had prohibited
him from touching me because the scientists wanted me
intact, but that since I was going to give myself to you he
would—he would take me first. I shimmered, but I wasn’t
thinking, so I ended up in the place I used to go when I had
to think or stay away from reality. I had to calm down before
I was able to come back here.”

Now it was Bryce’s turn to take a deep breath. He needed

it to calm both himself and his cougar, because the only
thing they wanted was to run to that man and hurt him like
he had hurt their mate. “It’s okay, you don’t have to go back,
ever.”

“What if they come looking for me? What if they hurt you

or Jamie, or anyone else because they’re trying to get me
back? They can shimmer in and out of this house if they
want to, and no one would even know! I have to go back!”
Finn tried to scramble down from Bryce’s lap, but Bryce was
having none of that.

“Calm down, babe. We’ll find a way to keep them out,

and in the meantime you can sleep with someone. I know it
might not be ideal, but that way there will always be
someone to protect you from your clan.” It didn’t please
Bryce’s cougar to think about other men watching their mate
sleeping, but he would do it if he needed to. Finn’s safety
came before anything else.

“Are you...are you going to be the one sleeping with me?”
Bryce’s chest hurt at the question. His mate didn’t want

them to sleep together. He could understand it, but it still
hurt. “Not if you don’t want me to. I’m sure some of the
unmated soldiers will do it without problems, or even Nolan

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and Casey. They can all take turns, and—”

Finn’s face fell a bit. “You don’t want to be the one doing

it?” He tried once more to get off Bryce’s lap.

Bryce held him close. “Of course I want to be the one

sleeping with you. I just thought you didn’t want me to.
We’re progressing in this relationship, but I wasn’t sure it
was enough for you to trust me that much.”

“I trust you. Can I sleep here? I mean, can I sleep with

you in your bed, or do you want me to sleep in another
room? I could take the couch—” Finn’s face flushed as he
was talking, and Bryce couldn’t stop himself. Leaning down,
he cupped his mate’s face and pressed their lips together,
nipping on the lower one when Finn didn’t open for him,
then licking his way in. Their tongues dueled for a while and
Finn started squirming on Bryce’s lap. Bryce didn’t know
how Finn would react if he felt his growing erection, so he
tried to put some distance between them. However, Finn
held tight, rubbing even harder against Bryce’s cock until it
started leaking pre-cum. Bryce wanted nothing more than
undress his man and map Finn’s entire body with his tongue
before making love to him, but he knew they had to go and
tell Dominic what happened. Those damn scientists were
popping up everywhere now.

He ended the kiss, pressing his lips on Finn’s flushed

cheeks and letting him calm down his ragged breath. “Come
on, babe. Let’s go see the Alpha, then we’ll do whatever you
want to do.”

* * * *

Finn wanted to lose himself in Bryce. He wanted to forget
what he had learned only hours ago, what he had to repeat
to Dominic just now. He had told the whole story to the
Alpha, but there wasn’t much they could do. Dominic was

Finn

working to set up a network between groups of shifters and
other paranormal creatures, but it was hard work, and they
still had to set up a superior authority that would have the
power to stop and punish those who went against the laws.
Not that they already had laws, but they were working on
that too, and kidnapping, selling, or helping the scientists in
general was definitely against it.

Still, Finn’s clan lived in another state and Dominic wasn’t

used to dealing with faes, and it was too far to just go there.
They couldn’t do anything, but Finn thought he could live
with that. He had escaped, after all, and they were never
getting him back. He was just worried that Leold and Karun
had managed to sell other Nix, and they didn’t have names
or locations. He knew how hard the pride was working to
find where the sold shifters were and rescue them, and he
felt like he had somehow let them down. Maybe he could go
back and sneak into Leold’s office to see if he could find
some documents.

The only problem with that idea was that neither Dominic

nor Bryce would let him do it. “Please, I know I can do it. I
know when they go to sleep and I can shimmer in and out.”

“No.” Dominic’s tone was final. “It’s not your job to do it,

Finn. You’re finally safe, why do you want so desperately to
go back?”

“Because I can help people!” They didn’t seem to

understand, or maybe they didn’t want to. “I know what
they are going through, I lived that in my own skin. I can’t
let them suffer like that if there is even a remote possibility
we can find them!”

“You’re right, but I can’t risk you for that. I’m sorry, but

in this case you come before strangers, and it’s final. I’ll try
to find a way, maybe through Nolan’s parents, since they
live not far away, but you can’t be involved.”

Finn knew there was no way Dominic was changing his

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mind, so the only thing he could do was nod. That didn’t
mean he was giving up, though. It just meant that he would
have to wait for Bryce to let his guard down to go back to his
village and steal those files. He was nearly regretting asking
him to be the one to sleep with him tonight, because it
would have been easier to sneak out if it had been someone
else, but Finn couldn’t bring himself to truly regret it. He
needed his mate, even if it was too soon, even if he couldn’t
be sure that Bryce was telling the truth.

To be honest, Bryce had never lied to him. The cougar had

always been very clear on what he wanted and what he
didn’t want, so Finn actually believed him when he said that
he wanted to mate with him. Well, his brain believed him,
but his heart was torn. Finn wanted to believe he could
finally be happy, but he was scared that in two, three, four
years Bryce might regret it.

They left Dominic’s office soon after that and headed to

the kitchen to eat something, since Finn was starving. He
had been stuck for hours in Ireland, trying to calm down
enough to come back to the mansion, but he had been stuck
in a panic, scared that Karun would somehow find him
before he could get to safety. Anyways, he was hungry and
he wolfed down the sandwich Nolan made him. Those two
seemed to always be in the kitchen for some reason, but
since Casey was a very good cook, it went to everyone’s
advantage.

“Hey, Finn. I didn’t know you were here,” Jamie said as

he entered the kitchen. Finn shot up and hugged his friend,
happy to see him. Things between them had become
strained, what with Keenan being Bryce’s ex-lover, so he
hoped they could go back to normal now. They had too
much of a story together to stop talking like that.

“Yeah, he’s going to live here,” Bryce said from his seat,

and Finn could tell Jamie didn’t know things had changed

Finn

since they had last talked. Jamie’s eyes grew wide as he
looked from Bryce to Finn, especially when he noticed that
Bryce was holding Finn’s hand in his own. Finn had been a
little embarrassed at the PDA, but since he had seen more
than one couple in the house get hot and heavy in some of
the common areas, he had let him. It felt good.

Bryce turned to talk with Casey and Jamie came to Finn,

whispering, “We have to talk about this, man! Come and
look for me tomorrow!”

Finn nodded, grateful to see Jamie still wanted to be his

friend. That made him think about Jamie and Ward, and
how they had started dating each other. It made him realize
that if Jamie hadn’t taken that leap of faith and hadn’t
trusted Ward, they wouldn’t be so happy right now. Maybe
that was what he had to do, too. If he let his fears of a
faraway future rule him, he wouldn’t get to have any future
with Bryce.

Deciding that, something shifted in him, and he knew he

was making the right decision. He was still scared, but for a
totally different reason now. He had decided to take a big
step forward and ask Bryce to make love to him, but now he
had fears that every virgin with his first love probably had.
Was it too soon? Would it hurt? Would he be good at it?
What if he wasn’t, or if he came too soon? Maybe the trick
was to stop thinking too much and act on instinct. Even so,
Finn was getting more and more nervous as they said
goodbye and headed back to Bryce’s room.

As soon as Bryce closed the door behind them, Finn took

a deep breath and looped his arms around the cougar’s neck,
pulling him down for a kiss. He put the short practice he had
on kissing in it, stroking and sucking until they were both
breathless, but it wasn’t enough.

Letting his arms fall, Finn grabbed Bryce’s belt and

started unbuckling it, the need to be with his mate eating at

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him and making him anxious.

“Wait, wait, what are you doing, babe?”
Finn froze. Bryce didn’t want him? Or was he coming

onto him too strongly? Maybe Bryce liked shyer men, and
Finn was being aggressive. He wanted to slap himself. The
one time he was aggressive in his life and his mate didn’t
like it.

Stepping aside, he never stopped looking at his feet, his

face burning in shame. He felt Bryce’s cool fingers on his jaw
as his face was tilted up. He couldn’t avoid his mate’s eyes
like this, even if he did try to do it, looking everywhere but
at Bryce. His eyes always went back to him, though.

“What’s this all about, babe?”
“I wanted—well, I wanted to, you know...” Finn gestured

between them, thinking that what he wanted was obvious
and hoping Bryce wouldn’t reject him or push him away
again.

“You want us to make love?”
“Yeah.” A soft kiss landed on Finn’s lips, reigniting a

spark of desire and hope in him.

“I want to ask you a few things first, okay?”
Finn nodded and waited.
“I won’t ask you if you’re sure about this because I think

you’re old enough to know what you’re doing, but I need to
know if you want me to claim you.”

Okay, so Finn hadn’t thought about that. Did he want it?

He wasn’t sure, and he knew what it meant. He just hoped
he wouldn’t be the one to push Bryce away this time.

“Can we wait for that? I mean, I’m sure we’re going to

mate one day soon, but I’d like to wait a little bit more, just
the time to settle in this new life.” Finn tried to read his
mate’s eyes, and all he could see was acceptance.

“Of course. You just have to tell me when you’re ready.

Another thing I wanted to ask is if you’ve ever done this?”

Finn

Finn blushed and shook his head, unable to answer. He

hoped the shaking would be enough to make Bryce
understand.

Bryce chuckled in response. “Okay, so what do you think

you want to do, top or bottom?”

Finn’s jaw dropped. “You’d let me top you?”
Bryce shrugged. “Sure, why not? I do both, and I like both.

I’ll do what you feel more comfortable with, and maybe we
can switch next time.” The smile he gave Finn was cheeky
and promising, and he couldn’t wait.

“I’d like to bottom if that’s okay. I mean, I know I like it

when—” Finn snapped his mouth shut, too embarrassed to
continue, but Bryce still understood what he had been about
to say.

“You like being on the receiving side? Have you ever

fingered yourself down there? Maybe used a dildo?” A
wicked smile appeared on Finn’s mate’s lips when he asked
that.

Finn shook his head again. He knew he had zero

experience compared to his mate. “I, uh, I used my finger,
but that’s all.”

* * * *

Bryce couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had thought
he would have had to wait weeks if not a few months to
make love to his mate, but Finn wanted to do it now. He
desperately wanted to mate the little guy, but that would
have to wait, and he could understand why. Finn was
basically starting a new life from scratch, and Bryce was
happy he could be a part of it. Besides, Finn had just said
that they would mate, just not now, and it was okay with
Bryce. His cougar might want to do it now, but he was more
than his cat, after all.

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And the fact that he would be Finn’s first and only made

him feel like he was on top of the world. It wasn’t the first
time he would sleep with a virgin, since Keenan had been
one too, at least to gay sex, but this was even more special,
because it was Bryce’s mate. That did manage to make him a
little nervous, though. What if he hurt Finn? Sure, Bryce
knew what to do, but still. He knew first times usually hurt
at least a bit, but how did he tell that to Finn without making
him change his mind?

Bryce was still deep in his thoughts about everything that

could go wrong when he saw Finn move to the door.
Grabbing his hand, he pulled the Nix back. “Where are you
going? Even if you changed your mind and you prefer to
wait, we can still sleep together. I won’t touch you if you
don’t want to.”

Finn’s cheeks flushed. “No, I thought you had changed

your mind when I told you I was a virgin, that maybe you
wanted someone with more experience.” The fae’s eyes were
riveted on his hands, and Bryce could see a pattern there.
When Finn was embarrassed, he looked down.

“I’m sorry, I was just thinking about how lucky I am that

you decided to give me a chance, and that I’m scared to mess
up somehow and make you run.”

Finn shook his head, his eyes finally looking up to Bryce.

“I don’t think you can mess this up. Well, except if you try
weird stuff like hitting me or something. In that case, I’ll
definitely run.”

“I’d never hit you!” Bryce tilted Finn’s head, keeping his

fingers on his mate’s jaw to be sure he couldn’t look away. “I
hope you know that.”

“Yeah, I know.”
“And we’ll keep this time simple, just you and me. We

have all the time in the world to explore what you like in
sex.”

Finn

Finn’s eyes were wide again, but this time Bryce didn’t

give him the time to answer or to worry. Leaning down, he
captured Finn’s lips with his own, sucking on them before
asking for entrance with his tongue. He licked the seam of
Finn’s soft lips until the Nix moaned and opened, giving
permission to Bryce to explore his mouth. Their tongues
twirled together and Bryce was glad that Finn was already
feeling a little less shy as he felt his mate’s hands clutching at
his arms, trying to get him closer.

Coming up for air, Bryce decided to move them into the

bedroom. He didn’t want Finn’s first time to be on the
couch, but they could explore that later. “Jump up.”

“Huh?” Finn was looking at him with eyes glazed over by

passion, his lips red and swollen as his breath puffed out.

“Come on, jump up. I’ll catch you.” Bryce put his hands

on Finn’s hips and motioned for him to jump. His mate
seemed perplexed but followed his lead anyway, wrapping
his legs around Bryce’s waist when Bryce pulled him up.
Bryce groaned at the feeling of Finn’s erection against his
own hard cock. Gripping Finn’s ass so that he didn’t drop
the man, Bryce headed for the bedroom. Finn was making it
difficult for him to concentrate, all the while nipping and
sucking on Bryce’s neck, but they finally made it, and Bryce
let himself fall down on the bed, moving his hands to the
side of Finn’s body to avoid crushing him.

Their bodies plastered together from thighs to chest,

Bryce looked down in Finn’s eyes and smiled to his mate
before diving back down for another toe-curling kiss. When
they separated, both of them were out of breath, but Bryce
couldn’t wait to go back for another one. The feel of his
mate’s lips against his own was heaven, but he also wanted
to discover the hot body hidden under Finn’s clothes.

Sitting up, Bryce took his shirt off and gestured for Finn

to do the same. He wanted to see if the blush that covered

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his mate’s face went down all the way to his chest or if it
stopped at his neck. Finn did as Bryce had asked, but Bryce
could see the man was nervous. Leaning down, he licked a
heated path down Finn’s collar bones to his nipple, sucking
in the light brown bud before reassuring his mate. “You’re
perfect.”

The pleasure he saw in Finn’s eyes when he said it was

enough to make him want to repeat it again and again, until
the man was convinced of it.

Moving to the other nipple, Bryce teased it while his

hands explored the rest of Finn’s chest. It was hairless and
smooth, the skin a creamy white peppered with a few
freckles. Bryce traced a pattern from freckle to freckle with
his tongue until he reached the innie bellybutton, tickling it
and making Finn laugh between moans. Bryce made a
mental note to have some tickling battles with his mate soon,
but when he reached the seam of Finn’s pants all rational
thoughts flew out of the window.

Finn didn’t have a belt on, so it was easy to flick the

button of his jeans and lower the zipper, watching Finn
shiver as Bryce’s hot breath bathed the wet cotton of his
underwear. Slipping his fingers under the pants, Bryce
slowly drew them down along with the briefs, stopping at
Finn’s feet to take off his shoes and socks. When his mate
was finally naked in front of him, Bryce stood up and looked
down, taking in the gorgeous sight before him and sending
it to memory.

The five foot five of white skin called to him, but his gaze

was drawn to the slender erection that lay on Finn’s
stomach. God, Bryce couldn’t wait to feel it in his ass, but it
would have to wait. His cock reacted at the thought, a bead
of moisture oozing from it and wetting his jeans. He just
knew that if he looked down he would see the wet spot on
the front of his jeans expanding.

Finn

“Are you going to come back down here?”
Finn’s voice jerked Bryce away from his fantasies and he

hurriedly took off his shirt and jeans. There was something
to say about the eroticism of him taking a nude Finn while
he was still completely dressed, but they would have to try
that another time.

Before joining Finn on the bed again, Bryce went to the

nightstand and took out a bottle of lube, letting it fall on the
bed next to his mate. Bryce settled on top of Finn again,
taking his lips in an erotic kiss that left him needy and
aching. He needed to slip into his mate, but to do that he
needed Finn to be stretched. Letting his hands roam on the
lithe body under him, Bryce tweaked the two small nipples
before grabbing Finn’s erection, feeling it jerk in his hand.
He jacked it off slowly, listening to the soft moans and
groans coming from his mate. They told him he was doing a
good job until now, and he wanted to continue on that path.

“It would be easier for you if you turned around, what do

you think?”

Finn’s eyes opened and they looked at each other. “I trust

you. If you say it’s easier, then I’ll do it. But next time, I want
to be able to kiss and hold you, okay?”

“Of course, babe.” Bryce let go of the hardness in his hand

and watched as his mate presented him his ass. He groaned
at the image in front of him. Finn was on all fours, his
shoulders leaning on the bed and his ass high in the air,
beckoning him to come closer and take it. Bryce knelt closer,
melting his body onto Finn’s, their thighs flushed together.
Sucking his mate’s lobe in his mouth, Bryce stroked Finn’s
spine up and down with one hand while reaching for the
lube with the other.

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Chapter Four

inn’s heart was beating so, so fast. He was anxious,
impatient and horny, all thanks to the new sensations

that were coursing in his body, like the way Bryce’s thighs
were brushing against the back of his own, the short hair
crisp on his skin. Or the way Bryce’s lips felt on his heated
skin and his teeth on his ear lobe, or even the way his hands
were caressing Finn’s flushed skin. There were so many
sensations that Finn felt drunk on them, not that he had ever
been drunk, but this was the way he imagined it felt.

He jumped a little when he felt the tip of a cool finger

against his hole. He had been so lost in the rest of his body’s
reactions that he hadn’t heard Bryce opening the lube, and
the feeling of a finger not his own in his most private place
was both baffling and scary. Finn knew Bryce wouldn’t hurt
him, but still...

He knew he had to try to relax, but he kept expecting the

finger to breach him, and it didn’t help. He knew one finger
wouldn’t hurt, though. It was just that this was so intimate.
Bryce continued to swirl his finger against Finn’s asshole,
patiently waiting for him to relax while crooning soft words
in his ear and licking his neck, making Finn shiver in delight.

When Finn finally surrendered his body to his lover-to-be,

relaxing it as much as he could, he felt the tip of Bryce’s
finger penetrate him and massage his hole, while Bryce’s
other hand slid around his body to grab his cock. Finn
mewled, an unexpected zing of pleasure coursing in his

Finn

spine at the feeling of a foreign hand on his hard shaft. His
cock jerked, and he was embarrassingly close to coming. He
didn’t want to, though. He wanted to wait for Bryce to be
inside of him, for them to finally be one. They wouldn’t
mate, yet, but it was still a very important step in their
relationship.

The finger in his ass slipped deeper and a moan escaped

Finn’s mouth. It felt so very different from when it was his
finger, and he couldn’t wait for it to be Bryce’s dick, even if
it made him feel weird to have those thoughts swirling in his
head. Not that Finn was a prude or anything, he just had
never met anyone who pushed his buttons like Bryce, and it
made sense, he supposed. But then Finn was young, very
young compared to Bryce, being only nineteen to Bryce’s
seventy-two years.

He felt the second finger a bit more, but he tried not to

tense. He knew that the third one would be even worse, and
he concentrated on the other sensations. Bryce was playing
with his body, slowly jacking off Finn’s cock while his lips
moved on his back, following the line of his spine and
making him shudder. He was encased in Bryce’s body, and
nothing had ever felt so good.

Bryce smoothed the drops of pre-cum leaking from the tip

of Finn’s cock around its head, flicking his nail in the split
and taking advantage of the pleasure he was giving Finn to
slip the third finger in Finn’s ass. Finn tried to ride through
the pain, knowing that it wouldn’t last long, and he was
right. He jumped and yelped when Bryce touched his
prostate, moaning at the incredible sensation. Yeah, nothing

like when it was my finger.

He couldn’t resist anymore. Bracing himself on his

elbows, Finn started moving on Bryce’s fingers, fucking
himself on them as he tried to use them to stimulate his
prostate again. He whimpered when Bryce suddenly
withdrew his fingers, leaving him empty, but they were

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soon replaced by something bigger. Finn felt the head of
Bryce’s cock pushing against his hole and he held his breath,
even though he knew it wouldn’t help.

Bryce pushed and Finn felt him enter, just the tip, and he

whimpered for a whole different other reason this time.
Even though his mate stayed immobile, neither pushing in
or pulling out, Finn was feeling as if he was being split open.
How could anyone enjoy this? He felt his erection wither as
the tight muscle of his asshole stretched to accommodate
Bryce’s shaft, the pain radiating into his body.

His mate never stopped stroking Finn’s back and

murmuring soothing words to him, but Finn knew they
couldn’t stay like this forever. Not wanting to tell Bryce to
just get out and let him be, he concentrated on his muscles,
willing them to relax and let his lover in.

It took a couple of deep breaths but he finally felt the

muscle ease and the pain diminishing. Reaching his hand
backward and grabbing Bryce’s thigh, he squeezed it. “I’m
fine, Bryce. Come on, move.”

The man behind him did move, but it wasn’t in and out

like he wanted. Instead Bryce reached down, grabbing
Finn’s soft cock and stroking it with one hand while
fondling his balls with the other. That left him plastered to
Finn’s back, and Finn could feel every breath Bryce took and
every shudder that racked his lover’s body as he slowly slid
deeper into Finn’s chute. The triple sensation made his cock
spring back to life and Finn groaned as he felt Bryce
bottoming out and stopping once more.

It still hurt a bit, but the burning sensation was not merely

painful. Finn was surprised he actually liked it. He liked the
burn and the fullness, the feeling of his lover being inside
him and making them one. These odd sensations were not
unpleasant now that he was getting used to it.

Turning his head, he looked at Bryce and took in the sight

Finn

of his lover towering over him and shuddering from the
strain he was putting on himself. It made Finn fall a bit for
the man. Bryce had been only considerate of Finn, not
wanting to hurt him in any way, and now Finn was ready
for him to move. He longed to feel his mate move inside
him, bringing them both pleasure. “I’m fine, really. You can
move.”

Bryce’s eyes were shining with too many feelings for Finn

to read, but the man nodded and slowly started to pull out,
making Finn shiver as he felt Bryce’s cock stroking every
nerve end in his chute. Bryce kept the pace slow for the first
few movements, but it seemed that Finn wasn’t the only one
to be on edge. Soon the thrusts were more powerful, Bryce’s
grip on Finn’s hips so hard that he just knew he would have
bruises, but he didn’t care. He could feel his orgasm
approaching again, barreling toward him as Bryce plunged
into him faster and harder.

Finn held on for the ride, trembling when he felt Bryce’s

tongue on his neck. He suddenly wanted his mate to bite
him. He knew it wouldn’t mate them, but it would begin the
bonding process. He would have to drink Bryce’s blood too
to finish it.

Tilting his neck, Finn whispered, “Do it. Bite me.”
Bryce’s rhythm faltered, the strokes slowing but not

completely stopping as he growled, “You sure?”

“Yesss,” Finn hissed as Bryce nailed his prostate again,

making him see stars. “Please, bite me. I want it, I know
what I’m doing. Please!”

Bryce’s hips snapped as the man started to pound into

Finn’s ass, his hand echoing the rhythm on his cock. Finn
was close, so close as he started to push back against Bryce’s
hips, the sound of flesh slapping against flesh loud and
arousing.

Then Bryce struck, his teeth embedding deep into Finn’s

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flesh, the pain only a blip before ecstasy filled him, pleasure
coursing in his blood and detonating in his cock. Cum
spurted from his slit, landing on the comforter under him
and on Bryce’s hand as spurt after spurt left Finn’s body,
leaving him completely sated and exhausted.

Finn felt Bryce’s thrusts becoming erratic as the man

sucked on his neck, the sensation reverberating in Finn’s
entire body. Bryce’s mouth left Finn’s neck as the man
roared his release and Finn felt his insides warming as hot
cum filled him, marking him from the inside out. He knew
how important scent was for shifters, and he knew how
satisfying marking him this way had to be for Bryce.

His mate sagged on top of Finn’s back, the weight nearly

bringing him down before Bryce managed to slid to the
right, his arm holding Finn’s waist so that they both went
down on their sides, avoiding the wet spot on the bed. They
were still joined when Finn felt Bryce’s tongue moving on
his neck, closing the mating bite and making him shiver.

“Wow that was...” he whispered, unsure how to describe

it.

Bryce chuckled behind him. “Glad I could leave you

speechless.”

“Yeah, it was that good.”
Bryce fingered the mark on Finn’s neck and asked, “I was

surprised when you asked me to do this. I though you
would have wanted more time.”

Finn shrugged. He didn’t know why he had wanted to

begin the bonding process so much, but it felt right, and he
wasn’t regretting it. Actually, he couldn’t wait to finish it. It
was time to stop being scared and try to go for what he
wanted. “I was surprised too, but it felt right. We can wait to
finish if you want to, though.”

“I can’t wait to finish, love, but I’ll leave it to you. My

neck is at your disposal whenever you want.”

Finn

* * * *

Bryce slid from under Finn, careful not to wake his mate. He
still couldn’t believe he had woken up this morning with
Finn in his bed. He had half thought that Finn would have
shimmered out during the night, but it seemed the man had
decided he wanted to keep Bryce. They had made love
another few times before literally collapsing from
exhaustion, but Finn hadn’t finished the bonding process
yet. Bryce had felt a little disappointed, but then he had
thought about the fact that it was already a big step for Finn
to trust him enough to give him his virginity and passing the
night together not even a day after they had talked and
decided to give a try at having a relationship.

They had already made so much progress, and Bryce

couldn’t have been happier. He wanted this to work.
Grabbing his jeans from the floor, he headed toward the
door, stopping at the dresser to take a shirt. He was going to
go down to the kitchen and bring back breakfast for Finn.
The poor man had to be tired with what had happened the
day before, and Bryce wanted him to sleep as much as he
could. His only concern was that someone could pop in the
room while he was away, but he was going to be really
quick and hopefully nothing would happen. He didn’t know
how long they could stay vigilant in their own home,
though. That was the place in which one should be able to
relax, and it wasn’t the case now. They would have to come
up with a plan to stop Finn’s old clan leader from looking
for him.

Stepping down the stairs, Bryce heard voices coming from

the dining room. Looking up at the clock in the entrance, he
winced. He hadn’t thought it was already so late. Luckily for
him he worked for Ward, so he knew his friend would

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understand. After all, Bryce had pitched in for him when
Ward was trying to woo Jamie into accepting him as a mate,
and they were best friends.

Peeking in, Bryce took care to be seen only by Jamie and

motioned to him to make Ward get out of the room. Bryce
wasn’t ready yet for the stares and smiles he knew the other
members of the pride would give him when they found out
he had finally given in and admitted he wanted Finn. He
loved them all, well, nearly all of them, but they could be a
nosy bunch when they wanted to and he wanted to enjoy his
nearly mated status a little bit more before starting to answer
the thousand questions that would come his way. Jamie
would already ask a lot of those, since he saw the human
getting up and following his mate as Ward came up to him.

“What’s up?” Ward took in Bryce’s disheveled

appearance and smiled, probably knowing very well what
was up. Shifter’s sense of smell was a bitch when you were
trying to hide something like that.

“Can I take today off work? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you

before but things went faster than I thought.”

“Things, huh?” Jamie asked, staring at Bryce’s neck.
He would never have a mating bite since Finn wasn’t a

shifter, and it saddened him a bit. He knew he did have
some pretty big hickeys, however, and he liked the fact that
Finn had marked him, although from Jamie’s scowl he
hadn’t understood it had been Finn to put them there.

“Yeah. I might have to take more days off until we get a

grip on the situation.” Looking around, Bryce checked that
no one was eavesdropping and motioned his friends to the
kitchen where he started piling pancakes and bacon in a
plate. “I’ll have to talk to Dominic and you have to ask Finn
for more details, but someone might be after him, and since
Nix can pop in and out the house I don’t want him to be
alone.”

Finn

Jamie frowned. “What’s going on? Where did he sleep? If

he needs someone to stay with him at night he can come and
sleep on our couch.”

“Uh, there’s no need for that.” Bryce wasn’t sure about

how much Finn wanted their friends to know, so he tried not
to tell too much, but understanding dawned in Jamie’s eyes.
At least he would stop scowling and probably stop planning
Bryce’s slow and painful death for presumably sleeping with
someone other than his mate.

“Oooh, so he slept with you!”
Bryce didn’t answer, concentrating on filling two mugs of

hot coffee.

“He doesn’t drink coffee. If you want to bring him

something hot, make it tea, or even better, an infusion.”

Bryce stopped, a little embarrassed that he hadn’t known

that. “Do we even have infusions in the house?”

“Yup. Dominic stocked the kitchen when he found out

Finn was coming here regularly.”

Bryce would so have to thank his Alpha for that. It

seemed the lion had taken better care of Finn than Bryce,
and he wasn’t even his mate. Bryce couldn’t help the flash of
jealousy that ran through him, even if he knew there was
absolutely nothing between them but friendship. Dominic
was always present for those he considered family, and since
Finn was Bryce’s mate, he had adopted the Nix.

“So, are you going to tell me what happened?” Jamie

pushed. Ward was looking at his mate, a fond smile on his
face. Bryce sighed. He knew he couldn’t get out of this
without being rude, and it was the last thing he wanted. He
liked Jamie.

“I won’t tell you any details—if you want those, you’ll

have to go and talk to Finn, but I can tell you that he’s
having trouble with his clan, has been for a while.”

“Yeah, I kind of suspected something like that. I saw the

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bruises more than once, but he never wanted to talk about
it.”

God, had everyone known but Bryce? Was he that lousy

as a mate? Pushing a mug full of water in the microwave,
Bryce looked around the cupboards, unsure on where he
could find those infusions. Jamie indicated the one on his
right, and Bryce found them right there. He was feeling
more and more like a bastard, but he didn’t know what to
do about it except what he was already doing.

Jamie grabbed the coffee Bryce wouldn’t need and fixed it

with sugar and cream before taking a sip and looking back
at him, his eyes piercing as if he was trying to read Bryce.
“You’re not going to hurt him anymore, right?”

Bryce was glad Finn had friends who stood up for him.

Now, if they could be a little less nosy... “No. I finally got
what all of you were trying to tell me. We talked, and we’re
working on our relationship.” What Jamie saw on Bryce’s
face must have been enough, because the human nodded
and returned to his coffee.

“Good. I’ll trust you this time too, but if you so much

think about breaking up with him, I’ll hunt you down and
nail your balls to my living room wall.”

Bryce’s legs involuntarily tightened and he had to resist

the urge to cup his balls. He knew Jamie might not be strong
enough to actually do what he had just said, but Dominic
and Ward were. “Don’t worry, I already had a similar
conversation with Dominic. He’ll kick my ass out of the
pride if I hurt Finn, and I don’t intend to do that.”

Taking the dried mix of herbs out of the steaming mug,

Bryce grabbed the plate he had prepared and nodded to his
friends before slipping a fork and a knife in his pocket. “I’m
going. I’ll let you know if I need more days off, but I think
you shouldn’t count me in for at least a week.” Bryce let
Jamie kiss him on the cheek, happy to see that even though

Finn

he’d kept his distance from his friends in the past months,
they had forgiven him.

Once in front of his door, Bryce had to set the mugs on a

nearby table to open the door. Closing it back, he anxiously
walked to his room. He knew he shouldn’t have left Finn
alone, and he was relieved to see the Nix still asleep in his
bed, his arms around Bryce’s pillow and his face buried in it.
The sheet had slipped down Finn’s body, stopping right
above the swell of his ass. It was a damn erotic vision to
walk onto, and Bryce cock answered, twitching in interest.

Bryce almost couldn’t believe it. They had made love

three times in a bunch of hours—he should be sated right
now! But he had seen how things went with the other mated
couples in the house, and he knew that they never would
have enough of each other now that they had given in.
Smiling, he put breakfast down on the nightstand and
leaned over Finn to give his mate his wake up call.

* * * *

Finn woke up at the feeling of hot lips running along the
skin of his back. It might have startled him if his face hadn’t
been buried in Bryce’s pillow, his scent surrounding Finn,
letting him know exactly where he was. He did not have a
heightened sense of smell like shifters, but his mate’s scent
soothed him just like it did for them.

Finn stretched his back, feeling Bryce’s lips smile against

it, and that was when reality slammed into him. What
happened on the morning after? He didn’t have any kind of
experience with that, and he could already feel himself
blushing at the thought that he was completely naked under
the sheet.

Everything had been easier in the dark, and now he

couldn’t help but wonder if Bryce liked what he saw. Finn

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knew he was still too thin because of the time he had spent
with the scientists. He didn’t have muscles, he was short and
scrawny, and he had been a virgin until a few hours ago.
Thinking about it, he could understand why Bryce had
resisted for so long.

“Hey, hey, what are you thinking about, babe? You

seemed to enjoy what I was doing until a few seconds ago.
What changed? Did I do something wrong?”

The tone of Bryce’s voice and his concern were such a

contrast to his bulk. He had been so sweet and
understanding last night, and Finn still couldn’t believe he
had let him bite him. He didn’t regret it, though, but he
knew he needed a little time to get used to it.

“No, you didn’t do anything.” Turning around, Finn

clutched the sheet to his chest and tried to hide as much of
his body as he could before looking around the room to see
if he could find his clothes. Of course, they had to be so far
from the bed that he would have to get up to get dressed.
Moving the sheet around, he was about to get on his feet
when a hand on his bare shoulder stopped him and made
him shiver. God, he still wanted the man, so much!

“Come on, tell me what’s wrong, please. I can’t make it

better if you don’t tell me what I did wrong.”

Finn sighed. He so didn’t want to tell Bryce what the

problem was, but he didn’t want his mate to think Finn’s
bad mood was his fault. “You didn’t do anything, in fact,
you were perfect.” Finn shrugged. “I just don’t understand
what you see in me.”

Bryce’s eyes widened. “Where did that come from?

You’re sweet and always there for your friends, you’re
understanding but you don’t let anyone walk all over you,
you’re sexy and cute, and I can’t seem to stop touching you
when you’re near. Don’t sell yourself short, babe.”

Finn wasn’t sure he could believe Bryce, but he didn’t

Finn

want to fight, not today, so he let it go. “Okay.” Bryce didn’t
seem convinced, but Finn noticed the plate on the nightstand
and his stomach chose that moment to growl, distracting the
cougar. They ate together and Finn though it had been sweet
of Bryce to bring him breakfast in bed. He would have never
thought the cougar would be one to do things like that. It
made him feel...important. He knew that his friends cared
for him, but this was a different type of caring, and it made
Finn feel warm inside.

Bryce left him with a kiss after telling him he needed to go

to work for just a few hours to make sure everything would
be all right for the next week or so. Finn decided to look for
Jamie, since he knew he shouldn’t be alone. He was still
scared that Karun would find him and he was waiting for
the man to shimmer in at any second. It would do him good
to think about something else.

Finn found Jamie in the library, curled up on one of the

leather couches with a book in his hand.

“What are you reading?”
Jamie jumped a bit, making Finn laugh. “Nothing much,

just a romance, but since you’re here I’d rather hear about
your romance.” Jamie patted at the free space next to him
and Finn sat down, his eyes on his hands and his legs curled
under him. “So, are you going to tell me what happened? I
saw how Bryce was holding your hand yesterday, and he
said you slept in his room.”

Finn nodded. “We talked yesterday and I decided to give

him one last chance.”

“Yeah, I talked with Keenan and he told me Bryce talked

with him too. He told him that he had finally decided to be
with you. I’m glad, because I know that Keenan has started
seeing someone else.”

Finn hadn’t known that, but it wasn’t like he was friends

with Keenan, not that he blamed the guy. He could only

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imagine how hard it must have been for him breaking up
with Bryce because he had found his mate then having Bryce
pursuing him for months and knowing there was no way
they could get back together. Finn was actually happy that
Keenan had moved on, both because from what he knew the
guy deserved it, and because he still looked at him as a
threat for his budding relationship with Bryce, even if he
shouldn’t. Settling deeper in the couch, Finn sighed,
thinking that he shouldn’t be so negative. It wasn’t that
Keenan was better than him, they were just different. The
man was so outgoing and friendly with everyone, while
Finn was painfully shy and rarely talked to someone he
didn’t know. He knew it came from the way he had been
treated by the clan, and as much as he wished he was
different, he wasn’t sure he could be.

“What’s that? He claimed you? You’re mated?” Finn felt

the collar of his shirt move to the side as Jamie slid his
fingers in it to see better. He blushed even if he had nothing
to be ashamed of, but he knew Jamie would worry for him.
“Isn’t it too soon? You made up only yesterday.”

“We’re not mated yet. He drank my blood, but I didn’t

have his, so the bond is only half complete.”

“Huh. I didn’t know it was possible. What does it mean?”
“It means that he has dedicated himself to me. He mated

me, but I haven’t mated him yet.”

“I guess it makes sense. He didn’t force you, right?”
Finn’s eyes snapped up. He knew Jamie was only worried

for his friends, but he had known Bryce longer than him.
How could he think the cougar could do something like
that? “No! I asked him to claim me!”

“Okay, okay, I just wanted to be sure you were fine.”

Jamie squeezed Finn’s knee. “So, if you were the one to ask,
why didn’t you claim him too?”

Finn didn’t really have an answer for that. Why haven’t I

Finn

claimed him? “I’m not sure. I guess I want to get used to this
new life first.”

“Or maybe you’re still scared that he could run away, and

you needed to know he wouldn’t. Since he bit you, that
means he has completely accepted you as his mate, right?
Maybe you just needed to be reassured.”

Finn shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know what I was

thinking at the time, it just felt right.”

“Are you going to claim him?” Jamie asked hesitantly.
Finn thought about it. He wanted to claim the man, but

what was stopping it from doing it? Was it the fact that he
was still scared that Bryce would leave him, or was it more
the fact that he wasn’t sure he was worth it? He had always
been treated like crap, told that he wasn’t worth being
treated better because he was only half fae. It had been
ingrained in him that he never was enough and that he
didn’t deserve more. Could he really believe they were
wrong? He didn’t have any easy answer right now, as much
as he wanted to. Jamie seemed to understand that because
he changed subject.

“Sooo...did you two sleep together?”

* * * *

“So, what do we do? How do we protect Finn?”

Dominic sighed, his hand rising as he pinched the bridge

of his nose. “There’s nothing we can do, unfortunately. We
can’t attack the clan when they didn’t do anything.”

“They hurt Finn! They have been hitting him and god

knows what else for years! How is that not doing anything?”
Bryce was so angry. He needed to protect his mate, but he
didn’t know how.

“From what Finn told me, only the clan leader and the

second actually hurt him physically. We can’t attack the

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entire clan for that.”

“What about the scientists? His leader sold Finn to them,

and he might not have been the only one. Are you going to
let them get away with it?”

“We can’t attack the clan, and that’s final, Bryce. It would

be like what the wolves did to us. Besides, only Finn knows
where the clan lives exactly, and I don’t want to risk him.”

“I know that. I don’t want to either, but I also know that

not helping those people is eating him alive with guilt.”

“I could shimmer you in and come back here

immediately.”

Bryce jumped. He had been so engrossed in his

conversation with Dominic that he hadn’t heard his mate
entering the room.

“How many people can you shimmer with at the same

time?” Dominic asked.

Bryce didn’t like it. There was no way Finn was doing

this.

“Two for now, but the number will increase as I age.

Anyway, I could leave you there and come back to get you
after an hour or less.”

“No! You can’t go back. You know they would hurt you if

they found you!” Bryce said, his voice rising. He knew he
shouldn’t talk to Finn like this. His mate was more than able
to decide what he wanted to do on his own, but Bryce
couldn’t stand even the possibility of losing him after he had
just found him. They had lost so much time. He couldn’t risk
losing Finn, he just couldn’t.

“I’ll be in and out in a matter of seconds. Besides, if they

know where the mansion is, they could just come here and
take me if they want to. I don’t think that’s any different
from going there for a minute or two.” Bryce could see that it
was important for Finn, but he couldn’t let him do it. Call
him a controlling and selfish bastard, but there was no way

Finn

his precious mate was going back where he had been
tortured and sold.

Bryce turned to Dominic, practically begging the man

with his eyes. The Alpha had to say no, and Finn would
have to listen to him, since he was now a member of the
pride.

“Let me think about it, okay? I know you want to help

whoever might have been sold, but I won’t risk your safety.
I’m sorry to say this, but if I have to choose between the
safety of a family member and the safety of a stranger, I’d
choose you. I’ll see what I can do, but I’d like to talk to you
about the Nix. Can you tell me more about your kind? I
knew you existed, but that’s about it.” Dominic gestured to
one of the chairs in front of his desk and Finn started to sit
down in it, but Bryce grabbed the smaller man and settled
him on his lap. He enjoyed seeing the pink color on his
mate’s cheeks, and Finn didn’t try to fight him and to go sit
elsewhere. It gave Bryce’s cougar a measure of peace to
know their mate was right there.

“There’s not much to say. We usually live in clans, but

some of us enjoy living on their own. It’s difficult to blend
with the humans like you do because of our ears, but some
manage to do it. We need to live near water, though, but if
there is none we can do with a full bath tub, even if it’s not
perfect.”

“What does the water do for you?” Bryce was curious. He

had known about the need for water, and he had planned to
do something about it. He thought about the surprise he had
for Finn. He had asked permission from Dominic and it had
been granted, but it would take at least a week to finish it.
Still, he wanted to show it to Finn as soon as they got out of
the office.

“We need it to survive. It’s like for Krsniks, they have to

consume both blood and food to survive. We have to both

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eat and be near water. It helps us to heal faster, it calms us
and helps us focus. It’s better if it’s a natural pond or river,
but a pool or even a bucket can do if we don’t have
alternatives.”

“Do I even want to know what Krsniks are?”
Finn smiled. “I would have thought you already knew

them since they share shape shifting with shifters.” Bryce
looked at Dominic to see if he knew more about Krsniks,
whatever they were.

“They’re both shifters and vampires. I’ve never met one,

but I know they are nearly extinct.” Dominic looked at Finn.
“Am I right?”

The Nix nodded. “Yes. I don’t know much about them

either. Anyway, Nix are usually removed from civilization.
That’s why we live in the mountains. We grow our own
food, we have no electricity and things like that. That’s about
all.”

“Do you have other powers other than shimmering and

healing?” Bryce asked.

“Only if you consider being gifted in music a power. We

can play about any instrument after hearing and watching it
once.”

“That’s nice, but I don’t think it’s a power, babe.” It

wouldn’t stop Bryce from buying his mate a violin and a
guitar, maybe a piano too. He might have to put the last one
in the common living room, though. They didn’t have that
much room in their suite’s living room.

“So there’s no organization, like a council or something

like that?” Dominic brought Bryce back from the fantasy in
which Finn was leaning on the piano with Bryce’s cock deep
inside him. He filed it for later and concentrated on the
conversation.

“No. Each clan leader has his own laws.”
The lion nodded. “I’ll let you know, Finn.”

Finn

The conversation was clearly over and they were being

dismissed. Bryce put Finn back on his feet and took his
hand. “I want to show you something. I wanted to wait, but
I think you might like something to cheer you up.”

The Nix followed him outside. “What is it?”
“It’s a surprise. I hope you’ll like it.” Bryce decided to go

up to their room first, where they both grabbed a heavy coat.
It was softly snowing outside, and the sky was already
turning dark. The world around them was muffled and
silent. It felt as if they were alone in the woods, even if the
mansion was only a few feet away.

Bryce started walking between the bushes. He would

have to build a path, but he wanted to finish his surprise
first. Finn could just shimmer to it in the beginning.

It took only a few minutes of walking in the snow before

they reached the small clearing Bryce had chosen. Stopping,
he slid behind Finn and raised his hands, covering his mate’s
eyes. “This is what I was doing this afternoon. I had the help
of several pride members, and it’s not finished yet, but I
hope you like it.” He had asked Ward to come here and light
candles before his meeting with Dominic, and as they slowly
made their way to the border of the clearing, Bryce could see
his friend had indeed come.

Ward had even gone a little overboard, and the clearing

was illuminated by what seemed to be a million candles, the
soft buttery light reflecting on the white snow. “Are you
ready?”

Finn nodded and Bryce slowly moved his hands, slipping

his arms around Finn’s waist. He looked up and tried to see
what Finn was seeing instead of the project he had in his
head. The clearing wasn’t big, but they had started digging
what would become Finn’s private pond. Once the spring
came, Bryce planned to plant flowers and bushes and add
fish to the water, but until then he would have to limit

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himself to filling the hole in the ground with water. Maybe
he could add a bench or two, too, and some lamps. “I know
right now it’s just a hole in the ground, but this will become
your pond. It’s going to be completely dug and filled with
water by next week, but you’ll have to wait for the rest.”

Finn didn’t say anything but Bryce felt the hold his mate

had on his arm tighten. He didn’t know if it was a good
reaction or not, and when his mate stayed silent, Bryce
worried he had made a mistake. Finn had said the water
source should be natural and this one wouldn’t be, but there
wasn’t any around the mansion, and Bryce had thought this
would be better than a bath tub.

“If you don’t like it...” He didn’t know what he would do

if his mate didn’t like it. Maybe close the hole?

Finn turned around in his arms, surprising him. He just

had the time to slip his hands under Finn’s ass as the Nix
jumped up, his hands locking on Bryce’s nape and his legs
winding around his waist. Finn slammed their lips together,
and Bryce let himself get lost in the kiss. He had never seen
his mate this aggressive, except maybe when he had first
kissed him, and he liked it. Tightening his arms, Bryce
brought his man closer to his body as much as he could with
the heavy coats on.

When the kiss ended, Finn leaned his forehead on Bryce’s,

both of them breathing hard. “I love it. No one has ever done
something like that for me. Thank you.”

“It’s okay if it’s not natural?”
“It’s perfect.”
They didn’t stay long since it was so cold, but Finn kept a

beautiful smile on his lips for the whole evening.

Finn

Chapter Five

inn was getting used to his new life. A little over two
weeks had passed since he had left his clan for the last

time, and he loved living in the mansion. He had gotten
used to being in the house, and the members of the pride
had gotten used to seeing him around even more than
before. They had celebrated Christmas and the New Year all
together, like a big family, and it had been magical.

By now everyone knew that he was with Bryce, even if

they still hadn’t completed their mating, and Finn wanted to
rectify that. He had wanted to do it right after Bryce had
shown him his pond, but something had stopped him still.
He wasn’t sure what it was, but it had dissolved more and
more as the days passed, and now it was gone. It had been
hard to really trust his mate, but Finn had watched him in
those two weeks. He had watched as Bryce talked and
laughed with Keenan, he had even been jealous, but he had
seen that the two were only friends. He didn’t want to ask
that Bryce stay away from Keenan. Finn knew that while the
cougar had a lot of friends, only a few were really close to
him, and Keenan was one of them.

Keenan had also started to talk with Finn, and he had

found that he actually liked the man. He was funny and
curious as hell, and he had adopted Finn as a friend and
made him feel at home. The mood in the mansion was
lighter now that their relationships were clear. The way the
three of them were now friends, or at least tentative friends,

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might seem weird to some people, but it worked.

Right now Finn was looking at a present Keenan had

bought him. It seemed that the man had decided to be the
one to do the basic shopping for those who arrived at the
mansion without clothes, like Derick. The wolf often wore
the t-shirt Keenan had bought him, the one that said “Who
needs tits?” on the front and “When you have an ass like
this” on the back, and Finn had hoped Keenan would have
bought him one that was more...sedate. He had already been
shopping with Bryce after all, so he didn’t really need other
clothes, but this was a gift, so he couldn’t refuse it.

Finn grabbed the thing and took it out of the bag. Keenan

was bouncing on his feet next to him, waiting to see his
reaction. He was just like an excited puppy waiting for
approval.

The shirt was blood red with black writings that said

“Mostly human.” Okay. It wasn’t that bad, even if Finn
usually wore darker colors like black and dark green.

“Mostly human?”
“Hey, it’s funny because it’s true!”
“But no one should know that, Keenan.”
Keenan shrugged. “Well, it’s still funny because we know

it’s true.”

Finn couldn’t find it in him to tell the guy he didn’t like it.

It wasn’t even that he didn’t like it, it was more that he was
perplexed, but he would still wear it.

“Thank you.”
Keenan waved. “It’s nothing. If I had enough money I

would buy one of these for each member of the pride.”
Keenan plopped down on the bed “So. Are you two mated
yet?”

Finn blushed. He didn’t have problems with Keenan

anymore other than a little jealousy, but he wasn’t sure he
could talk about his sex life with him yet, or ever. It made

Finn

him uncomfortable to think that his mate had had sex with
the man in front of him, but Keenan was like that. He
probably didn’t see what the problem was.

“Umm, no, not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Keenan, leave him alone,” Bryce said as he entered the

bedroom and gave a quick kiss to Finn. Finn let out a breath,
happy at having avoided that particular question.

“Okay, okay, I’ll leave it to you. I’m going. I have a date

anyway.” Waving, Keenan exited the room, leaving Finn
alone with his mate. Bryce sat down next to him and hugged
him tight, and Finn took a moment to bask in his mate’s
scent.

“Don’t you want to know?” he asked Bryce, his face still

hidden in the man’s neck.

“What?”
“Why we’re not mated yet.”
“I’d like to, sure, but I figured that if you haven’t told me

you probably want to keep it to yourself.”

“Just like that?”
“Just like that. We might be mates, but it doesn’t mean we

have to say everything to each other. Sure, I want you to tell
me the major stuff, but you’re allowed to have your secrets.”

“I want to finish the bond,” Finn blurted. He hadn’t

meant to say it like that, but yeah, he wanted it. “I’m not
sure why I wasn’t ready until now, but I know I am.”

Bryce put his hands on Finn’s shoulders and gently

pushed so that they could look at each other’s faces. “Are
you sure? If we do this I won’t let you go, ever. You’ll be
mine and I’ll be yours.”

“I want that.” Finn leaned in, deciding that he would

have to convince Bryce with his body. He had become less
shy since the first time they had made love. “I don’t think
you’ll let me go even with only half a bond anyway.”

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He pressed their lips together, his hands rising from

where they were on Bryce’s waist to his chest. He needed so
little to be ready to make love with Bryce—a kiss, a caress,
and he was hard as a rock, just like now.

“Since you are the one who has to do the claiming, I’d like

for you to top me.”

Finn froze. Those last two weeks they had made love

every day, several times a day, but he had always been on
the receiving end. He knew how it worked, so he could do
it—in theory—but he wasn’t sure he would be good at it.
“What if I hurt you?”

Bryce smiled. “You won’t. Just do what you know makes

you feel good, and I’ll be fine.”

Finn thought about it and found out that he did want to

try, but was he willing to do it this time? It was an important
step in their relationship. Looking up, he tried to read
Bryce’s eyes. He would never have thought the man would
want to bottom. He was so much taller and bigger than Finn.
Finn knew it really just was a stereotype, and that as long as
everyone felt good there were no rules in sex. He could see
how important it was for Bryce, and he could understand it.
He had been through it, and it had made him feel like a part
of Bryce was in him. It was only logical that Bryce wanted to
feel the same thing.

Nodding, Finn brought their lips together again as he

started to slide his hands under Bryce’s t-shirt. The position
was awkward, though, so Finn ended the kiss and stood up,
taking off his shirt and his pants before lying down on the
bed. Now that they had begun, he was eager to continue.

Bryce didn’t lose time, his clothes joining Finn’s as he too

climbed on the bed. They were both naked, yards of tanned
skin at Finn’s disposition, and he couldn’t let the
opportunity pass. He explored Bryce’s body, even though he
should have known it by heart by now. He still managed to

Finn

find something new every time, like a freckle he hadn’t
noticed under Bryce’s armpit or a small scar on the back of
his hand.

He inhaled his mate’s scent, the clean sweat and male

scent going straight to his groin and making his cock jerk
and ooze pre-cum as Bryce circled it with his hand and
started jacking him off.

“You...if you don’t stop that, I won’t make it inside of

you.”

The smile Bryce gave Finn was wicked. “And we don’t

want that, do we?” Bryce released him and moved, reaching
into the nightstand to take the lube before he flopped down
on the bed. “I’m all yours. What are you going to do to me?”

Finn had a pretty good idea, actually. Reaching for the

lube, he tried to squash down the anxiety by doing
something he had already done. He settled between Bryce’s
legs and leaned down, engulfing the hard, leaking cock in
front of him in his mouth. Bryce moaned above him and
Finn felt his lover’s hand twining through his hair. He
actually liked the fact that Bryce gently gave him directions
on what he liked and wanted that way.

Finn bobbed his head up and down a few times before

concentrating on the swollen head as he opened the lube. He
sucked the cap before swirling his tongue over it and
spearing his tongue in the small slit on top, searching for
more of the slightly bitter fluid he liked so much.

Sucking harder, he waited until Bryce was writhing under

him to push one lubed finger in his mate’s rectum. It was hot
and tight, and Finn moaned when he thought about how
this was going to feel around his cock. He couldn’t wait.

He continued to take care of Bryce’s dick as he stretched

him, taking his time to be sure he was doing things right. As
he slipped the third finger inside his mate, Finn felt a small
bump on the inside wall of Bryce’s chute. Guessing at what

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it could be, he sucked hard on his mate’s cock, hollowing his
cheeks as he pegged the small gland. Bryce’s hips jacked up
as he groaned, his hands pulling on Finn’s hair as hot cum
spurted into Finn’s mouth and down his throat.

“Umm, do you think you’re ready?” Finn asked as he

took his fingers out. He knew he was probably killing the
mood, but he wanted to be sure.

“More than ready. Come here, love.” Bryce grabbed Finn

arms and pulled him on top of him, their groins bumping
against each other and making Finn moan at the contact. He
yet had to come, and he could feel Bryce was still hard
against him.

They came together in a sloppy kiss, Finn grinding

against Bryce, their cocks sliding together. Bryce hooked his
hands under his knees and pulled his legs up, completely
exposing himself to Finn’s eyes. Finn nearly swallowed his
tongue at the sight, his mouth going completely dry. He felt
a bit of worry coming back, but he tried not to think about it
as he kissed Bryce one more time before gripping the base of
his cock. He hissed, the contact almost too much on the
heated flesh. He was so close, but he didn’t want to come
before he was in his mate.

“Come on, love. Make me yours.”
Angling his cock, Finn gently pushed against the tight

ring of muscle. It took more force than he thought, but he
finally felt the head popping in. Slowly, gently, Finn pushed
in until he was fully seated. He kept his eyes on Bryce’s face,
making sure his mate didn’t feel pain or even discomfort,
but the only thing he saw in Bryce’s face was pleasure and
love. His lover’s eyes were glazed over with passion and his
cheeks were flushed, making the man even more gorgeous
than he already was. It was a sight Finn would never get
enough of.

Leaning down until their chests were flushed, Finn

Finn

paused a moment just to feel. Bryce’s hole was tight and hot,
so hot, and he felt as if he could come with just the slightest
movement. Taking a deep breath, Finn started to move.

* * * *

Bryce locked his legs around Finn’s back, pushing his heels
into his mate’s ass cheeks. Finally, finally, Finn was going to
claim him. It wasn’t necessary to do it during sex, but it was
an act of love, and Bryce wouldn’t have wanted it any other
way. The fact that Finn was making love to him was a
bonus. It had been a while since he had been on the
receiving end, and he felt like it gave a special meaning to
this. He was about to become a part of Finn.

A moan escaped Bryce’s mouth when Finn pegged his

prostate. He had already come once, but he felt on the brink
of his second orgasm already, thanks to the way Finn was
sliding in and out of him, stimulating every nerve of Bryce’s
passage. Bryce clutched to him, meeting every thrust with
his hips.

“Bryce, I—”
Finn didn’t finish what he was saying but Bryce

understood anyway. His mate was close, and he wanted to
claim him. Raising one hand, he let one finger shift, his claw
coming out as he slashed into his neck. The wound stung,
but it was necessary, since Finn couldn’t use his teeth. Bryce
felt the blood start trickling out, but Finn didn’t go to it right
away. Instead, his mate straightened and looked at him in
the eyes, the green pools so full of passion and love that
Bryce felt his heart skip a beat.

They hadn’t said those three little words yet, but he knew

he loved Finn. He was just scared that he would send him
running because it was too soon. He shouldn’t have worried,
though. Finn’s next words brought him peace and a

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happiness unlike anything he had ever felt.

“I love you, Bryce.”
Finn didn’t give him the time to answer. He bent down

and latched on the wound on Bryce’s neck, sucking hard as
he sank his blunt human teeth around it. The feeling of those
teeth pushing on his flesh made Bryce yowl, sending a spark
in his loins and his orgasm running along his spine until he
exploded. An intense heat radiated from Bryce’s chest and
his cock spurted wave after wave of sticky cum, until both
their stomachs were slick with it, their movements against
each other smearing it on their skin. Finn was still sucking,
each and every pull directly connected to Bryce’s groin. He
felt Finn’s presence appearing in his mind and he knew he
would never be alone anymore.

Bryce could feel the utter happiness Finn was feeling, but

also the worry in the back of his mind that he wouldn’t be
enough. He didn’t know how to reassure his mate right
now, he just couldn’t think past the feelings his body was
experiencing, so he acted on instinct. Moving up, Bryce felt
his canines emerging from his gums as he struck,
embedding them in the soft skin on Finn’s neck, right where
he had claimed him the first time. Finn went rigid on top of
him and Bryce felt warm fluid invading his chute as he
withdrew his teeth and licked the wound in Finn’s flesh
clean.

Finn shuddered with every pass of Bryce’s tongue on the

abused flesh, and Bryce could tell he was trying very hard
not to fall on top of him, even if Bryce was strong enough to
take the hundred and thirty something pounds his mate
weighed. Bryce reached up, wounding his arms around his
mate and pulling him down. Finn couldn’t resist and he
crashed on Bryce, knocking the air out of his lungs.

“What did you do that for?” Finn muttered from Bryce’s

neck, sounding utterly exhausted.

Finn

“I wanted to feel you.” He felt a small tongue sliding on

the wound in his neck and he wondered if Finn’s teeth had
penetrated when he had bitten him. He fingered it, wincing
at how tender it was.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you. I don’t know what

happened, it just...came out.” Finn tried to get up but Bryce
stopped him.

“Did they leave a mark? Did they penetrate?” His finger

was clear of blood, but Bryce hoped they had. He wanted to
wear his mate’s mark on his skin for everyone to see.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bite so hard.”
Bryce cupped Finn’s jaw and gently moved his face until

he could see him. “I’m not. I hope it scars, actually.” Finn’s
eyes widened. “You have my bite on your neck, and I want
yours. If it doesn’t scar, I might ask you to bite me often just
to get a new wound.” Bryce stroked the mating bite on
Finn’s neck, feeling smug. Yeah, everyone knew Finn was
taken.

“It’s that important to you? That everyone knows you’re

taken?”

Bryce shrugged. “I guess it’s a shifter thing. How do Nix

mate?”

Finn looked down to Bryce’s chest and pointed to his

heart. “Like this.”

Bryce looked down and gasped. On the skin right over his

heart was a mark that hadn’t been there that morning. It was
dark brown, much like a birthmark, but from what he could
see it had a precise pattern. He stroked a finger on it and
asked, “Is it...are those our initials?”

“Yes. This happens when we decide to mate. We mate

with sex, but only if we really want to. It has to be a
conscious thought.”

Moving a little, Bryce peeked at Finn’s chest, and he felt

his heart beat faster when he saw the same mark in the exact

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same place. Pushing Finn on his back, he slithered down his
mate’s body until his eyes were at the mark’s level. It was
beautiful, the two initials written in calligraphy and woven
together just as their bodies were right now. It wasn’t big,
just about the size of Finn’s entire nipple and about the same
color. Bryce remembered the moment in which he had felt
the skin heating, and he realized Finn must have claimed
him then.

“You don’t mind, right? I know I should have asked you,

but you had already bitten me, and—”

“I love it. I can see myself spending many hours tracing

this with my tongue.” Bryce placed a kiss on it before
leaning his head against it. “The pendant you wear...is it
your parent’s mark?”

“Yes. My father had it made for my mother.”
“How do Nix recognize their mates? I know you don’t

have the sense of smell shifters do, so...”

“By sight. From the first time I saw you I knew that you

were my soul mate.”

Bryce couldn’t help but think back at that first time they

had met each other. He remembered that even knowing Finn
was his mate, he still had kissed Keenan right in front of
him. God, he was such an ass. He didn’t want his mate to
think about that now, though. Bryce had felt the sorrow Finn
was experiencing when he had mentioned his parents, and
he didn’t want his mate to feel sad. “I might have to run
around bare chested to show it off.” It worked, because he
felt Finn’s chest move under him as his mate laughed.

Bryce was about to kiss his mate senseless and maybe

start another round of loving when he suddenly felt
someone else in the room. He turned around, keeping Finn
behind him as he faced the danger and crouched on the bed,
not caring that his body was bare. It would only make it
easier for him to shift if he needed to.

Finn

He didn’t know the man standing in front of him, but he

looked vaguely familiar and the ears peeking from under his
blond hair were pointed just like Finn’s. He was so small
and thin that he looked like Bryce could knock him over just
by breathing on him, but Bryce still remained on his guard.
“Who are you? What do you want?”

Bryce felt Finn move behind him and gasp. “Ani? What

are you doing here?”

He looked at Finn. “You know this guy?”
“Yeah, he’s my cousin.”
So Ani was family. He saw the Nix’s eyes zeroing on the

mark above Bryce’s heart before the little guy opened his
mouth. “Oh my god, Finn, you’re mated!”

* * * *

Finn wasn’t exactly comfortable with his cousin seeing him
naked, and he was downright jealous about him seeing
Bryce naked, so he grabbed the sheet under him and
wrapped it around them both. It wasn’t easy since Bryce was
still in fighting mode, his body rigid as he stared at Ani, but
he did it anyway.

Finn didn’t know what to make of Ani’s sudden

appearance. Yeah, they were cousins, but they barely talked
to each other, although not because it was what Ani wanted.
Finn just knew it would only make Ani’s life harder. He
hadn’t wanted to drag his cousin in his problems, to make
him a target for Karun, so he had always ignored the guy.

Not that it was easy. Ani was a determined man, and he

had pestered Finn with attention. He had given him food
when Karun didn’t want him to have any, he had taken care
of Finn’s wounds when he had been beaten up, as well as
covered for him when Finn had disappeared to his refuge in
Ireland. In short, he had never taken no for an answer and

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he had wormed his way into Finn’s heart.

He had been the only thing Finn had regretted leaving

back home, but he had thought it would have been better
this way, letting Ani live a normal life in which he didn’t
have to play nurse for Finn. It seemed his cousin wasn’t
letting go, though. “How did you find me?”

Ani blushed and looked down, suddenly very interested

in his feet. “I, well, I followed you once, and you came here,
and have you seen how many hot guys live in this house? I
mean, is it something in the water or is it because they’re
shifters?” Finn recognized this for what it was—a way to
distract him from the fact that Ani had followed him.

“Why did you follow me?”
Ani looked straight at Finn. “You were always so sad. I

knew you were working on what happened to you in that
lab, but it was more than that. I wanted to know what was
happening, but you weren’t talking, so I followed you. You
came here and I managed to find out what was going on.”
His gaze moved on to Bryce and Finn nearly laughed at the
fierceness in Ani’s face. “You hurt my cousin. Don’t ever do
that again because I...I’ll hurt you!”

“It’s okay, we made up.”
Ani smirked. “I can see that.” Finn blushed. Okay, time to

talk about something else.

“So what are you doing here?”
The smile on his cousin’s face fell and Finn’s heart filled

with dread. It couldn’t be good. “I don’t know what
happened with Karun, but he wasn’t happy. He called me
into his cabin and asked me about you, but I didn’t even
know you were gone until he told me, at least not for sure.
He also told me that he knew where you were and that he
could have come and taken you but that it wasn’t worth the
trouble. He said that if one cousin wasn’t available he still
had another one. He tried to-to touch me, and when I

Finn

pushed him away he said that our family had always been a
pain in the ass and that he was going to sell me like he did
with you. What did he mean, Finn? Did he...who did he sell
you to?” Ani’s gaze went to Bryce as if he suspected it might
have been to him.

“No, no, it wasn’t Bryce. Bryce is my soul mate.” Finn

fingered the bite on his neck almost unconsciously. “Karun
sold me to that lab. He was the one who gave me to the
scientists.” Finn couldn’t believe Karun had been about to
sell Ani too. He was the only real family Finn had left. Well,
Ani’s mom was still alive, but she seemed to think that Finn
wasn’t good enough, just like their clan’s second, so he
didn’t think about her that way. He turned to Bryce. “Do
you think Dominic would let Ani stay here? I know it
doesn’t have anything to do with the pride, but—”

“Of course he will. Apart from the fact that those labs

have to do with all the paranormals since they experiment
on us, you know he considers you family, and since Ani is
your cousin, he’s family too.” Bryce started to get up. “Come
on, we’ll go and talk to him. It’s not that late yet.”

Finn had to stop his mate before he revealed all that

naked flesh. “Ani, shimmer into the other room, please.
We’ll get dressed and come to you in a minute.” Bryce
smirked and Finn knew Bryce knew why Finn had told Ani
to basically disappear.

“Aww, you’re jealous. That’s so sweet.”
Finn smacked his mate on the arm, soothing the hurt

when Bryce made a show of whimpering. He couldn’t
believe how comfortable he was with the man. Finn was
usually shy, and he was wary of others since he had been
treated badly since he was a child. He tended to stay away
from most people and observe them before letting them in.
He liked the way in which Bryce was making him take baby
steps out of his shell, at least with him. In time, he hoped he

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would come to act like this with all the other members of the
pride. He knew that by mating with Bryce he had just gained
a thirty-member family.

It didn’t take them long to grab their clothes from the

floor and put them on, so they were soon standing in front of
Dominic’s office. The problem was that no one answered
when the knocked on the door. “Where can he be?”

“Probably on the deck,” Bryce answered. “He likes to

shift and lie there, even when it’s cold.”

Finn had seen the Alpha in his lion form, and he was

really, really big. He wasn’t afraid of him, because he knew
shifters understood everything in both their forms, but it
was impressive and a little intimidating.

The lion was indeed on the deck at the back of the house,

the three younger kittens of the pride running around him in
both human and animal forms. One of them, Kylie, a little
girl that couldn’t have been more than three years old, was
riding Dominic as if he was a pony, and it awed Finn that
even if he was an Alpha, he was comfortable doing things
like that. The lion was a good man.

Bryce opened the door to step outside and the huge lion

turned to watch them, his chest moving as he took a deep
breath. Finn heard Ani squeak behind him and the air shift,
indicating he had shimmered away. He turned around,
surprised at the fact that his cousin ran since there wasn’t
any reason to, but the commotion behind him made him
turn back to the Alpha. He saw Bryce grab Kylie from
Dominic’s back as the lion shifted back until he was standing
gloriously naked in the middle of the wooden deck, looking
at Finn.

“Who is he? Where did he go?” Dominic was always

intense, but never harsh, and his tone surprised Finn.

“That was Ani, my cousin. I don’t know where he went,

though.”

Finn

“Can you make him come back?”
“Maybe. Nix can call their family members mentally, but I

can’t be sure he will come back. Why do you want him to
come back?”

“Because he’s my mate.” Finn felt his chin drop on his

chest as he gaped at the lion.

Well, shit.

* * * *

Bryce didn’t know whether to smile or be worried. It was
obvious Dominic was on edge since Ani had popped out
without even talking to him, and he had to know Dominic
was his mate. Bryce hoped they would be able to talk and
solve whatever the problem was. Dominic was his friend as
well as his Alpha, and he was happy the man had found his
mate. He deserved to be happy after everything he had done
for Bryce and every single member of the pride, plus a lot of
other people. He always helped when he could and never
asked for anything in return, and Bryce was sure Ani was
going to be a handful and keep Dominic on his toes.

“How do you call him?” the lion asked Finn, and Bryce

was curious to know that too.

“I just have to think about him and think the message.”
“Is it mind reading?”
“Yes, but we can only read what the other is purposefully

sending. I can’t just read anything. And it has to be someone
blood related or a bonded soul mate.”

Bryce froze. “Does that mean that you can do it with me?

Or do the two have to be Nix?”

Finn blushed. “I should have told you about that, but it

didn’t cross my mind. We can do it too. If you think about
sending me something, I’ll hear it and you’ll hear me when I
answer. It’s because we’re soul mates. It doesn’t matter if
you’re not a Nix.”

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Since Finn seemed worried about not having said

anything, Bryce tried to reassure him. It’s okay, love. I actually

like sharing this thing with you.

Finn’s eyes widened before he smiled. Love you too.
Bryce heard him, the voice in his head caressing him and

making him feel so happy.

Dominic made an impatient noise, pulling Bryce away

from his thoughts. He understood how the lion was feeling
so he urged Finn to try and ask Ani to come back. Finn
concentrated for a bit before shaking his head. “He’s in our
room, but he doesn’t want to talk to Dominic.”

“Why not?” The Alpha was putting on a stoic face, but

Bryce had known him for many years and he could tell the
man was distraught inside. He wondered if that was what
Finn had felt in the beginning, and he felt even guiltier than
before. He knew things with Finn were good now, very
good, so he decided to help his friend get with his mate, just
as Dominic had done with him.

“We’ll go and talk with him, see what’s wrong. We just

wanted to tell you that Ani asked to stay here. It seems that
his clan’s second was planning to sell him just like he did
with Finn.”

Dominic’s eyes hardened. “Keep him safe until I can do it.

I’ll go and kill that man myself if I have to.”

Bryce knew his Alpha wouldn’t do anything like that

unless Ani really was in danger, and until the Nix remained
in the house it was unlikely to happen. His sense of honor
wouldn’t let him.

It didn’t take long for them to get back to their room, and

Finn literally rushed through the front door of the suite. Ani
was there, nestled in a tight ball on the couch, his eyes
vacant, and Bryce started to worry because it was obvious
something big was happening, and not in a good way. “Do
you want me to leave to two of you alone?” he whispered to
Finn.

Finn

“I’m not sure. Maybe you could just stay in the bedroom?

That way you won’t be far if we need you.”

Bryce could do that. Nodding, he stepped away and sat

on the bed. It was when the two cousins started talking that
he realized he hadn’t completely closed the door. If he got
up and did it now, he would interrupt them, and he didn’t
want that.

“What’s wrong, Ani? Why did you shimmer away?”
It took a little while before the other man answered. “I

was scared.” His voice was so low and soft that Bryce barely
heard it, but it damn near broke his heart. There was so
much pain in those three words.

“I want to help you, but I don’t know how. I don’t know

what’s wrong.”

“That man...he’s big.”
“You mean Dominic? Yeah, he’s quite big, I guess about

six foot six.”

“So he’ll hurt me?”
“What? No! Why do you think he’ll hurt you? Dominic is

a good man, he would never hurt you. He’s been so good to
me, and he’s going to be even nicer to you since you’re his
soul mate.”

“I don’t want to be. Big men hurt me.”
“Bryce didn’t do anything, though,” Finn pointed out.

“You weren’t afraid of him.”

Bryce was glad. He didn’t know what was going on

exactly, but he could tell that Ani associated height with
pain. He couldn’t help but wonder how tall the clan leader
and his second were.

“He’s your soul mate,” Ani said. “You would never be

with someone who would hurt me.”

Finn didn’t say anything, and Bryce waited to hear if Ani

would continue.

“Leold is tall. Karun, too.”

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Bryce could tell that Finn had understood the meaning of

Ani’s words from the loud gasp he let out.

“Did one of them hurt you?”
“Leold always hurts me. He touches me, and I don’t want

that. I don’t want anyone to touch me that way, and if I stay
here my soul mate will want to. He’s so big, I can’t stop
him.”

Dread filled Bryce. While Finn had managed to escape

being raped by the clan’s second, it seemed that Ani hadn’t
been able to. He listened as the small man quietly started
crying and heard the soft words Finn crooned trying to
sooth him, his heart breaking. He didn’t know Ani, but he
couldn’t help but feel for the man. He seemed so vulnerable
and sweet, it made Bryce want to protect him, and he knew
he would, right along with Dominic.

Finn

Chapter Six

ni had been living with Finn and Bryce for about a
week, and he was doing well. After that first night in

which he had confessed what had happened with Leold, he
hadn’t mentioned it again. It seemed he was trying to forget
about it, and he was doing a good job at showing other
people a happy face, but Finn had seen the anguish in his
eyes when he thought no one was looking at him. He still
refused to talk to Dominic, and he shimmered out to Finn’s
and Bryce’s room when he saw the lion or any one of the
biggest members of the pride, especially the unmated ones.
Dominic was both sad and worried, but nothing Finn had
said had changed Ani’s mind for now. He could just hope
things would get better in time, once he got to know
everyone better.

Maybe living in a safe place would do him good. He was

already opening to some of the shifters living in the mansion
and to most of the humans. He also tolerated Bryce and
Ward, even if they were big men, so there was still hope for
Dominic.

As happy as Finn was that his cousin was safe and

starting to heal, he still couldn’t shake off the feelings he had
for the whole situation, especially now that he knew he
hadn’t been the only one to be abused by those who should
have protected them. Ani’s situation was even worse than
Finn’s had been, and he suspected his cousin hadn’t been the
only one. He was also convinced that it couldn’t be the first

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time Karun and Leold had sold or planned to sell members
of their clan, or even outsiders. He just couldn’t prove it, and
even if he could, no one would do anything. His clan lived
too far off, and there was no upper authority who could deal
with it.

That didn’t mean they should leave those people in the

scientists hands, though. Finn had heard about the records
they had found in the office of the previous Alpha from the
nearby pack, and he was hoping Leold had something
similar. He couldn’t be sure, since the clan leader wasn’t the
type to keep archives, but he hoped so. Karun was a lot more
organized, so maybe he could check his cabin too. Finn had
tried to talk Dominic and Bryce into letting him go, or at
least into taking some of the pride’s soldiers there, but they
weren’t bulging. Dominic was too concentrated on keeping
the pride safe, and Bryce was scared for Finn.

It seemed like he would have to take the matter into his

own hands, and he was ready to do it. He couldn’t live his
comfortable life thinking that there was someone out there
being tortured and hurt while he could help them. If he
managed to find even only an address, he could shimmer in
and see if he could find anyone. Finn knew he wasn’t a
warrior, far from it, but he needed to do something.

He just needed to find the right moment. It wasn’t like

Bryce could come after him, since the clan lived more than
six hours from Whitedell. Sure, the man would be seething
when Finn came back, but he hoped it wouldn’t take too
long for him to forgive him. Dominic might be a little harder
to get around, though. The Alpha could even decide to
throw Finn out of the pride for disobeying a direct order, but
Finn knew that the lion had a soft spot for him, so hopefully
he wouldn’t.

Finn was ready. Bryce was at work, and Dominic was

Finn

doing whatever Alphas did. Keenan was still sleeping and
Jamie...Finn didn’t know what Jamie was doing, but he
hadn’t seen the man in a while, so he hoped he would stay
away for a bit longer.

Focusing on the woods behind the clan’s village, Finn

shimmered. He wanted to check that no one was around
before shimmering into Karun’s cabin, then if he had time,
into Leold’s. Not seeing anyone, Finn shimmered into a tree
near the fields in which the clan grew their vegetables. From
there he could see several clan members working the earth
under the greenhouses.

“What are you doing here?” a loud whisper asked from

the nearest branch. Finn yelped and held tight on the tree,
his fingers scrambling to get a grip on the rough bark.

“Ani! What are you doing here?” Finn frantically looked

around but it seemed no one had heard them. He kept his
voice as low as he could anyway.

“What are you doing here? I know Bryce didn’t want you

to come. What do you think you’re doing?”

Damn, Finn had forgotten to check what his cousin was

doing before shimmering out! “I have to do this, Ani. I can’t
let them suffer even more when I could help them.” Finn
looked up and saw Karun talking with Leold at the edge of
the field. He didn’t know how much time he would have, so
he had to hurry. “Go back home!” he hissed to his cousin,
hoping the brat would listen to him but not really believing
it. He shimmered into Karun’s cabin without checking if his
cousin had listened to him, but he should have known he
wouldn’t. Ani shimmered right behind him and continued
to try to convince him to go back.

Finn tuned him out as he started to go through the

drawers of Karun’s desk. He had so little time, and the
drawers were full of every bit of rubbish he could imagine,
which didn’t make his task any easier. He let out a disgusted

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yelp when his hand touched the battered tube of lube in the
back of the drawer. Finn didn’t even want to know why it
was there and what Karun did with it. He just slammed the
drawer closed and started on the next one. “Ani!” His cousin
hadn’t stopped talking since Finn had started. “If you really
have to stay in here with me, at least make yourself useful
and help me!”

Ani looked shocked, but Finn didn’t stop to reassure him.

He was actually pretty impressed that the man had had the
guts to come back after what he had confessed to Finn, and
he knew it was only because Ani was worried something
could happen to him. At least someone knew where Finn
was.

Finn scanned the next bunch of documents and finally,

finally, he found something. It looked like a list of names
and places, and when he looked to the right of the piece of
paper, Finn saw a column of numbers. Checking it, he
noticed his name and saw that he had been sold for twenty
thousand dollars, and it was the highest amount on the list.
He also noticed that not all the names were associated with
Nix or faes in general. There was a lot of information on
every transaction, including the species, and there were a lot
of shifters there, which meant that Karun somehow captured
them.

“Well, well. Look at what we have here.”
Finn jumped, his heart nearly jerking out of his chest at

the sound of Karun’s voice. He looked up, ready to
shimmer, but the man was fast, too fast for Finn. He
backhanded him, sending him flying against the wall.

“Finn!” Ani shimmered right beside Finn and he pushed

the documents in his hands. Ani couldn’t shimmer with him,
he wasn’t strong enough, so Finn had to hope he would at
least manage to hand over the documents.

“Take that back to Dominic and tell him what happened!”

Finn

Finn tried to shimmer, but he couldn’t concentrate. He had
hit his head on the wall, and it hurt like a bitch. He saw that
Ani was still there, petrified, probably by fear. He had to
make him move, so Finn reached out and slapped him. “Go!
Bring Bryce!”

That seemed to do the trick. Ani gave Finn one last look

and shimmered just in time. Karun had been about to grab
his arm, and he ended up with only air in his fist. Finn was
still trying to shimmer out, but his head was pounding, the
pain gathering on the back of his skull. Karun reached out
and grabbed Finn’s throat, partially choking him as he
pulled him up and dragged him to the desk. He opened the
last drawer, the only one Finn hadn’t explored yet, and
brought out one of those black collars that would stop Finn
from shimmering.

He fought as best as he could to avoid the thing, but

Karun was so much bigger and stronger than him, and he
was having trouble breathing with the hand on his neck
closing his airways. It took Karun only another punch in the
face to be able to slide the collar low on Finn’s neck, just
above his collarbone, and close it, dangling the plastic key in
front of his eyes.

“You’re mine now, little Finn.”

* * * *

Bryce was discussing the changes he would have to make in
the house they were renovating with his boss and best
friend. The client kept changing his mind, and Bryce wasn’t
sure he would manage to keep pleasing him. It was already
the fourth time he’d made a last minute change. First he had
wanted bigger windows, but then he’d decided that having
more cupboards was more important. Then he’d wanted a
bigger fridge, but he didn’t like the only place in which it

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was possible to put it. Usually Bryce loved his job, loved to
see the client’s dreams come true, but this one was becoming
more of a nightmare than a dream, at least for him.

“Ward, there literally no other place I can put that thing!

The kitchen already has too many cupboards for that, but he
just doesn’t want to eliminate some to make space for the
damn fridge! Where do I have to put it, in the bedroom?”

Denver, a fellow pride member and a tiger shifter, stayed

silent while the two of them argued. He never said much
anyway, but Bryce would have liked to have more input,
since Ward was asking him to just give in to the client’s
whims and there was no physical way in which he could do
that. He knew his friend was just as frustrated as he was by
the situation, and this was a big job, but they couldn’t do
miracles, either.

Bryce was about to be very imaginative as to where the

client could put his fridge when Ani shimmered in right in
front of him. The small Nix gulped loudly when he saw
Denver sitting with them, but he didn’t pop out right away
as he would normally have done. Denver was big, probably
as big as Dominic if not more so, and his body was thick
with muscles, so Bryce took it as an indication that Ani was
getting better until he saw the sheer terror on the man’s face.

“Hey, he won’t hurt you. Denver is big, but he wouldn’t

hurt a fly.” It wasn’t technically true, since the man was a
trained ex-military and Dominic had asked him to stay with
them to help protect the pride after Jamie had been
kidnapped, but Bryce knew Denver wouldn’t hurt anyone
who wasn’t a danger to their family.

Ani stayed silent, his eyes riveted on the big tiger as he

handed a stack of paper to Bryce. When Bryce didn’t
immediately react he pushed it in his hands and Bryce
finally looked down. Frowning, he read what seemed to be a
list of people. For every name there was a species and an

Finn

amount of money, and his stomach dropped. “Ani, where
did you find this? Did you go back to your clan? Dominic
will paddle your ass when he finds out about this!” Okay, so
it wasn’t the brightest thing to say to someone who was
scared of big men, but Bryce didn’t want the Nix to get hurt.
How could he have gone there after what had happened to
him?

Thinking about it, Ani didn’t seem to be the type of man

to do something like that, especially not in this situation.
Shit! “Ani, where is Finn?” Please, tell me he’s at home, safe and

waiting for me.

“H...he went there. I didn’t want to leave him alone, so

I...I followed him. Karun found us an-and he hit Finn, and
Finn told me to come back, and you have to go—” Ani’s
voice was getting more piercing and Bryce could literally see
the fear and panic pouring out of the man. Damn it, he
needed Ani to be calm so that he could shimmer Bryce to the
clan’s village! Finn had to be hurt or he would have already
shimmered back.

Hauling Ani up in his arms, Bryce ran to their office’s

door and to his car. “Get in the back with him, I’ll drive,”
Denver growled next to his ear, and Bryce was glad to give
him the keys. Not only was he too agitated to drive safely,
but he also needed to calm Ani enough for him to help them.
Right now the little guy was shivering and trembling in his
arms, but Bryce couldn’t say if it was because he was scared
of him or if he was worried for Finn. He just knew they had
to get to the mansion ASAP and tell Dominic what had
happened.

Bryce barely had the time to close the door before Denver

shot the car forward, gravel shooting all over Ward’s car.
Ward was following them, knowing that Bryce needed his
support just like Ward had needed it all those months ago.
Bryce could only hope he would get Finn back sooner. They
already knew who had him, so it was only a matter of

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getting there and hoping the man hadn’t moved Finn.

Shit, he was going to paddle his mate’s ass when he got

him back, and maybe put some sort of chip on him so that he
could always know where he was.

Bryce let out a groan when he realized that he did have a

way to find out what was going on. Finn? Love, can you hear

me?

Bryce waited, holding his breath as he prayed for his mate

to answer him. He also stroked Ani’s back, trying to sooth
the smaller man even if he knew the only thing that could
help him right now was the vicinity of his mate. He just
wasn’t sure how Ani would react to that, but they had to try.
If he couldn’t pull himself together, they would have to
drive up into the Colorado Mountains. It would take them at
least six hours, probably more with the snow, and he wasn’t
sure Finn had all that time.

Bryce?
Bryce’s heart skipped at beat at the soft voice in his head.

Thank god, Finn. Are you okay?

Yeah, mostly. I’m sorry, Bryce, I know I shouldn’t have—
It’s okay, love. We’ll talk about that later. Right now I want to

know how you really are. Did he hurt you? Ani told me Karun hit
you.

Yeah, but it’s nothing too bad. He locked me in his cabin and

went out, probably to tell Leold that we found those documents.
Did Ani give them to you?

Yeah. We’ll go over them once you’re back home. Why aren’t

you shimmering out of there?

I can’t. He put one of those collars the scientists had on me.
The car jolted to a stop and Bryce looked up, stunned that

they already were at the mansion. Denver must have broken
more than one law to get there so fast.

Love, I’m back at the mansion. I’ll get back to you as soon as I

talk with Dominic, okay? As much as Bryce wanted to keep
talking to his mate, he needed to find his Alpha and come up

Finn

with a plan.

Okay. I’m not going anywhere anyway. Bryce heard a faint

chuckle in his head and he smiled at the attempt to joke his
mate had made. At least he wasn’t losing his spirit.

Love you.
Love you too, Bryce. I’ll see you soon.
You can bet on it.
Bryce rushed Ani to Dominic’s office. He met Dominic

halfway there, Ward having informed him of what had
happened. The lion extended his arms to take Ani from
Bryce, and even if the Nix resisted at first, Bryce could see
him relaxing once he was in his mate’s arms.

“What are we going to do?” Bryce asked.
Dominic looked down at his mate, taking in his condition

before answering. “I already called Nolan’s family. Three of
his brothers have military training and they accepted to help
us. They’re closer, so they’re going to head over to the clan
and see if they can free Finn.”

“I heard from him. He says he can’t shimmer because

Karun put one of those collars on him.”

Dominic nodded. “I think you should get in the car and

start heading that way. Take Denver and Soren with you,
and Ward if he wants to go. As soon as Ani calms enough to
shimmer, I’ll call you and he’ll come to get you to shimmer
you to the clan.” The lion didn’t say that if Ani didn’t
manage to calm down enough they would have to rely on
Nolan’s family, but Bryce already knew it. He actually
trusted them to help his mate, but he wanted—no, needed—
to be close to Finn right now, so the sooner he got there, the
better it would be. Raising his hand, he ruffled the Nix’s
hair.

“Finn’s going to be fine. You just stay here and relax.”

Hopefully they’d still get there in time.

* * * *

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100

We’re coming, love. It will take a while since we’re coming by car,

but Dominic talked with Nolan’s brothers and they should be there
in a little less than three hours.

Is it safe for them?
Yeah, some of Nolan’s brothers are trained, so they should be

fine. It really depends on how many warriors you have in your
clan.

Just a few sentinels. The only ones who could create problems

are Leold and Karun, the rest of us are not trained.

It had been a relief hearing Bryce in his head. Why he

hadn’t thought about it before then he didn’t know, but he
didn’t care at this point. Finn was just happy to know his
mate was coming for him.

Okay then, I’ll let them know. How are you holding up?

I’m fine. Karun’s left me alone, so—
The door suddenly opened and Finn scrambled to his feet

as fast as he could. It could be only one person, and he didn’t
want Karun to see him kneeling in front of him. He might
not be able to take on the man in a fight, but Finn would not
voluntarily submit like that.

“You know, Leold isn’t very happy that his pet has

disappeared. Do you happen to know where your cousin
went?”

Finn stayed silent. He knew Karun was aware that Ani

was at the mansion, and it wasn’t a good idea to antagonize
the man. He would give Finn an enough of a hard time as it
was.

Karun moved so fast that Finn didn’t see him coming. He

wound his hand in Finn’s long hair, using it to wrench him
close. Their faces were so close that he could feel the man’s
breath on his lips. Finn shuddered, both in disgust and in
fear. He remembered well what Karun had wanted to do to
him last time, and he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to
avoid it now. He couldn’t defend himself and he couldn’t

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101

shimmer.

Finn was vaguely aware of Bryce’s voice in his head, but

he chose to concentrate on the current situation, hoping his
mate would understand that something bad was happening.
Karun stroked the side of Finn’s face, the side on which he
had hit him earlier. “See, I wouldn’t have had to mark your
beautiful skin if you had been obedient. You changed since
you met those cats, and I don’t like it. Leold wanted to sell
you back to the scientists, but I managed to convince him to
give you to me. You better not make me regret it.”

What could Finn do? Karun’s hand was painfully tugging

at his hair as he tried to step away, and his other hand
moved to his throat, encircling it without problems. The man
was so much bigger than Finn that his fingers touched on
Finn’s nape. Karun moved, slamming Finn against the wall
and pressing his lips on Finn’s, and Finn jerked backward.
Well, he tried to, but he couldn’t move. A particularly hard
pull on his hair tilted Finn’s head higher and he felt Karun’s
thick, slick tongue probing at his mouth. He clamped his lips
shut, because there was no way he was going to let that man
kiss him! Karun bit at Finn’s lips, trying to make him open,
but he resisted through the pain.

Bryce, please hurry up. He’s trying to kiss me. Finn knew he

was hurting his mate by telling him this while Bryce
couldn’t get to him, but he needed the distraction. A loud
roar filled his mind, and he knew his cougar was angry.

Karun seemed to understand that Finn wasn’t going to

give up. He left his lips and reached for Finn’s collar, but he
froze. Finn knew the man had seen the mating bite when the
hand on his throat tightened painfully, closing his airway
until he saw black spots dancing in front of his eyes. It
seemed it was useless to jerk and move, trying to free
himself, because Karun didn’t budge. He did release Finn’s
throat, though, and Finn sucked in a deep breath.

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102

He was so intent on breathing again that he barely felt it

when Karun tore his shirt off his body, leaving him naked
from the waist up. It registered when the cold hit him,
making his nipples harden as he began to shiver. Finn tried
to wrap his arms around himself, but Karun stopped him,
grabbing his wrists and jerking them up until they were
above his head, his back flush against the cold, hard wood of
the wall. The second roared, his anger nearly palpable. “You
mated!”

Karun pushed Finn down, knocking his head against the

wooden wall. He couldn’t be sure for how long, but he
thought he had blacked out, because when he opened his
eyes again Karun was naked, standing in front of Finn with
his dick erect. Finn shuddered.

Bryce!
Karun leaned down and Finn closed his eyes. He knew it

was childish, that he was going to get hurt even if he didn’t
look, but he didn’t want to see how Karun was going to
violate him. Finn felt hard hands grabbing his hips and
pulling until he was flat on the floor. He jerked, his eyes
flying open as he raised his hand and nailed Karun right in
the eye. It was satisfying for about two seconds, until Karun
hit him back, Finn’s head snapping back under the force of
the fist.

A loud roar filled the cabin and Finn tried to roll into a

fetal position, thinking that Karun had had enough with him
and was just going to kill him, but nothing happened.
Instead, Finn heard loud noises and growls. Slowly opening
his eyes, Finn watched as a flash of tan fur moved past him
and jumped on Karun, aiming at the Nix’s throat.

Karun’s hand shot forward, grabbing the cougar—

Bryce!—around the throat and keeping it away from his
body. Bryce swept his paws across Karun’s stomach, blood
swelling from the gashes as Karun grunted. He didn’t
release Bryce, though, and Finn knew exactly what it felt

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103

like. Bryce roared and swatted his large paw at Karun’s face,
hitting him on the cheek. A large form appeared behind the
Nix, Finn’s eyes widening as he watched the tiger jump on
Karun’s back, his jaws open as he clamped them on Karun’s
shoulder.

Bryce fell on the floor, hitting the wooden planks with all

four paws before jumping back at Karun. The Nix was still
trying to dislodge the tiger from his back, but the beast had
slid his paws around Karun’s waist in a grotesque embrace,
and Finn could see the blood running down Karun’s groin
and legs.

A hand landed on Finn’s naked shoulder and he yelped,

swirling around and preparing himself to hit whoever it
was.

“Whoa! Calm down, Finn. I was just going to open that

thing.”

Finn sighed in relief and launched himself into his

cousin’s arms, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, Ani. You
brought Bryce here. Thank you.”

Finn felt Ani’s small arms wind tight around him and hug

him back. “Of course I did. I’m sorry we weren’t here earlier,
I was—”

“It’s okay, cuz. You got them here before anything

happened. I’m fine.” Finn felt hot tears against his shoulder
as Ani started to sob in his arms. He squeezed him tighter,
wanting to reassure him as he looked into the fight’s
direction. It was already over.

Bryce had his jaws around Karun’s throat and he was

growling, but even Finn could tell that Karun wasn’t going
to get back up. The pool of blood under his head and his
vacant eyes were enough proof of that. He watched as the
big tiger shifted, and he recognized Denver, one of the
shifters who lived in the mansion and worked with Bryce.
He didn’t really know the man, but he was glad when he

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104

knelt next to Bryce and softly talked to him, making him
release Karun’s body.

The cougar swung around and focused on Finn, quickly

moving until he was standing right in front of them. The
tiger came up to Finn and gently extracted Ani from Finn’s
arms, murmuring in his ear. Ani looked up, his eyes red but
dry as he waved and shimmered out.

I love you, Ani.
Love you too, cousin.
Finn looked at the big cat in front of him. The pain and

worry in those grey eyes touched his heart and he launched
himself at Bryce, hugging the fur-covered neck tightly as he
broke down. He didn’t care about the filth covering his mate
or about the blood. Finn had tried to stay strong for Ani, but
now that he was alone with Bryce he could let go, and he
did. Tears started streaming down his face as he felt Bryce
shift under him. Warm arms engulfed and held him until the
tears stopped falling and Finn felt lighter. He was safe.

“Let’s go home, love.” Finn nodded and let his cougar

take care of him.

* * * *

It took them a while longer to go home, actually. They had
had to wait for Nolan’s brothers to get there, even if there
was nothing more to do. Ward and Soren hadn’t had any
problems subduing Leold, the clan leader, but Bryce hadn’t
been sure about what to do with him until Dominic had
shimmered in with Ani.

The lion had taken care of the leader, taking payback for

what the man had done to his mate and for the people he
had sold to the labs. It hadn’t been pretty, but it had been
necessary. There was no upper authority that could take care
of him and imprison the man, and paranormals were used to
dealing with those kinds of things like this. It had also been

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105

difficult choosing someone to guide the clan, but with Ani’s
and Finn’s opinions they had managed. Bryce could only
hope this man would do better than the preceding one. They
would keep an eye on him in the beginning just to be sure,
though.

“That hurts!” Finn yelped when Jared started stitching the

wound on the back of his head. Apparently he’d hit it harder
than he thought, and Bryce saw red every time he thought
about what Karun had done to his mate. He still had to talk
to Finn about going on a stupid suicide mission on his own,
but at least they had gotten something good out of it.
Dominic had told Bryce that he had quickly gone over the
list Finn had found, and that they now had the precise
location of at least one of the labs, maybe more.

Someone, probably Isaiah, would have to study it more

accurately, but it was a start, and Dominic was planning a
recognizance mission to check on the one they were sure of.
Luckily for them, or maybe unfortunately, it wasn’t very far
from the mansion.

“You’ll be fine, just avoid washing your hair for a few

days. Bryce’s shifter DNA should make you heal in no
time.” With that, Jared was finished, and he finally could
leave them alone. Bryce saw him out, wanting to ask the
man a question.

“Doc, can we have sex?”
Jared stopped in his tracks and looked at him. “You’re not

shy, huh?”

“Come on, you’ve known me for twenty years, you know

I’m not! I just want to be sure I won’t hurt Finn.”

Jared chuckled. “I don’t see any problems for you to

reaffirm your mating bond.” Bryce should have known Jared
would have understood exactly what he was asking. His
cougar was driving him crazy because they had let Finn slip
out of their sight and he had gotten hurt. Bryce felt like a

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106

caveman for feeling that way, but his cougar wasn’t leaving
him any choice. The need to mark Finn as his again was
strong, especially because they could smell Karun’s scent on
him, even after Finn had showered. It was probably all in
Bryce’s mind, but still... “Just don’t be too rough, and it
would be better if he was the one on top, just to be sure he
won’t hurt his head on the pillow.”

“Umm...” It wasn’t exactly what Bryce had in mind, but

he would deal with it. He didn’t have problems with
bottoming, but he wasn’t sure his cat would be okay with it.

“I meant that he has to be on top, but not that he has to

top.” With a wink Jared stepped in the hallway and walked
away.

Bryce let his cougar surface, knowing he needed it. He

prowled toward the bedroom, taking in the sight of his mate
spread on the comforter, shirtless, his pale skin a stark
contrast with the dark fabric. Finn’s hair was unbound,
creating a soft looking halo around his face. Bryce could
literally feel himself becoming sappy as he thought his mate
really looked like an angel, and damn if it didn’t feel good
knowing he was the one debauching him.

It took Bryce only a couple of long strides to get at the

edge of the mattress, his clothes flying around the room as
he walked. He stopped in front of his mate in his birthday
suit and took his fill looking at him, letting Finn do the same.
It was amazing that even with the amount of sex they’d had
during the past weeks, Finn still blushed a little when Bryce
was so blatant about his body, but the pink color looked so
good on his mate that Bryce had started doing it on purpose.
Not that he would ever admit it to Finn, of course.

“Are you going to take those pants off?” he asked his

mate, watching as the blush crept down Finn’s chest. Finn
didn’t say anything as he complied, sliding the sweats down
his legs. Once his mate was naked, Bryce got on the bed with

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107

him and helped his mate to lie down, careful of his injury.
He decided his side would be the perfect position to start,
but now that the doc had told him about it, he really wanted
to watch Finn ride him.

Sliding behind his mate, Bryce stroked Finn’s side,

chuckling at the shiver that raked his body. Finn was so
responsive, and he loved it! He pressed a kiss on Finn’s
nape, moving his lips along his shoulders and reveling in the
soft noises Finn was letting out. Each moan, each groan and
whimper that Finn let out as his hand slid down Finn’s
stomach seemed to have a direct effect on Bryce’s cock. The
fact that Finn was pressing his ass hard against Bryce’s groin
might also have had to do with how hard he was right now,
though.

Using only the tip of one finger, Bryce traced the thick

vein that ran on the underside of Finn’s shaft before
caressing the cap, spreading the pre-cum that was already
leaking from it. It took so little to make his mate go out of his
mind, and Finn was already begging for more.

“Please, Bryce. More.”
Sucking a mark on Finn’s neck, Bryce reached for the

nightstand and snatched the lube from its drawer. Wetting
his fingers, he tried to put some distance between them, but
Finn was having none of it. He pushed back as if inviting
Bryce to enter him, and Bryce couldn’t wait. He just had to
be quick stretching Finn, since it was what they both
wanted.

Following Finn’s crease with his fingers, Bryce slipped

one of them in, searching for the tight muscle and pushing
the finger in when he found it. Finn wasn’t too tight, since
they had made love that morning, so Bryce was able to add a
second finger almost right away. Moving his fingers in and
out, he continued to torture Finn with his mouth, nipping,
licking and sucking his mate’s neck, shoulders and shoulder

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108

blades while his other hand was slowly stroking Finn’s cock.
The triple sensations had Finn writhing and moaning next to
Bryce and his cock hard as a rock. Bryce was going to come
all over his mate’s back if he didn’t accelerate things.

The third finger made Finn tense a bit, but he was soon

squirming again, and Bryce knew it was time. He slid his
fingers out, smiling at the whimper Finn let out, and let
himself fall down on his back, tugging Finn to let him know
he had to follow. His mate’s eyes were hooded and full of
passion, but they also widened a bit when Bryce gestured for
him to move on top of him.

“I don’t know, Bryce. I’ve never done it that way before.”
“Just do what feels good, love, just as always. I’m going to

love anything you do because it’s you doing it.”

Finn didn’t look so convinced, but he didn’t protest as

Bryce guided him on top of him. He straddled Bryce’s waist
and Bryce groaned as he felt his dick slide against the lubed
entrance. Putting one hand on Finn’s hips, he used the other
to keep his erection in the right position and guided Finn
until he felt the head enter the tight hole. From there he left
all the control to his mate, and Finn didn’t disappoint.

He slid down in one smooth thrust, his chute gripping at

Bryce’s shaft, sucking it in and making him moan. The first
movements of Finn’s hips were tentative, but he soon got the
gist of it and started bouncing up and down. Bryce stroked
the soft skin of Finn’s thighs, feeling the muscles move
under his hands as his mate brought them both pleasure.

The tingle in Bryce’s balls came way too soon, but he

couldn’t slow things down, not with the way in which Finn
was going wild on top of him, moving up and down and
rotating his hips as he learned what felt good in this
position. Reaching up, Bryce grabbed his mate’s nape and
pulled him down for a frantic kiss, moving away only when
he felt the first shot of cum explode from his dick. Finn tilted

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109

his head to the side, instinctively knowing what Bryce
wanted, and he bit down, the taste of blood invading his
mouth as Finn jerked above him, spurts of pearly fluid
shooting all over Bryce’s chest and marking him in its own
way. Bryce reached up as Finn shuddered through his
orgasm, lightly touching their initials on his mate’s chest.

Finn collapsed on top of him, and Bryce had never been

so glad that his mate was so much smaller than him. Moving
his arms, Bryce surrounded Finn, knowing he should get up
and clean them both but unwilling to move just yet.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again, Finn. Promise me,

you won’t ever do that again.” Bryce knew he sounded
desperate, but he really was, and he didn’t want to hide it
from his mate.

“I learned my lesson this time. I won’t do it again, don’t

worry. I’ve had enough adventure for a life time.”

Bryce laughed. “Yeah, but I’m only seventy two. That

means you’ll still have a long time to misbehave.”

Finn looked up, love and amusement shining in his eyes.

“You’ll have to be really creative and find new ways to keep
me safe in your bed, then.”

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110

Chapter Seven

inn knocked on the door but no one answered. He had
been trying to talk with Oliver for weeks now, but the

man refused to open his door. He was barely eating and
refused to see the doctor. Finn couldn’t even begin to
understand what he was living through, but it looked like
Oliver was trying to disappear from this world, and Finn
couldn’t let him do it. There was too much to live for.

“He’s not opening?”
Finn turned around and gave a sad smile to Sebastian. He

didn’t know why, but the lion was really worried for Oliver,
and he knew he came here every day to try and make Oliver
open the damn door. Although, watching Sebastian and
seeing how much he had changed in the past months, Finn
could make a not so wild guess as to why he was trying to
help Oliver. The lion had lost weight and the exhaustion
practically poured out of him, his eyes red and dark bags
under them. Finn knew Nate had had to take him off
patrolling duty, but Sebastian refused to tell anyone what
was wrong with him.

Finn watched as the lion neared the door and took a deep

breath, raising his hand until it was flat on the door, a
longing so deep in his eyes that Finn knew he was right. He
had seen enough mated couples to know what he was
looking at. “Does he know it?” he asked softly.

“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to talk to him, but I know

he runs into the bathroom as soon as he knows I’m outside

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his door. I tried to tell him, but I don’t know if he listened.”

Finn knew how much Bryce was worried for his friend.

He knew Bryce, Sebastian and Ward were best friends, and
that since Sebastian had started to withdraw, they had tried
to find a solution, even not knowing what was going on.

Finn hadn’t been sure he could do something for Oliver

when Dominic had asked him to try and talk to him, but the
heartbreak pouring out of Sebastian snapped something in
him. He was usually calm and composed, even shy, but it
seemed that in Oliver’s case it wouldn’t do. They had tried
soft and understanding for months and it hadn’t worked. It
was time to change their approach. Finn had to help those
two men in any way he could.

“Give me your hand.”
Sebastian eyes widened but he didn’t move, so Finn

grabbed it and concentrated.

“No, wait, you can’t—” It was too late for protests. Finn

had already shimmered them both into Oliver’s room.

It was a shock to pass from the well illuminated hallway

to the darkness of the room. All the blinds were tightly
closed, the only light coming from one cloth covered lamp
sitting on the nightstand. The room was clean and neat, but
the bed was in disarray, a small pile of blankets bundled on
one side of it.

“Oliver...” Finn ran to the bed, trying to get to his friend.

He was in the middle of the bundle, his eyes closed. Finn
could hear him breathe, so he knew the man was only
sleeping, but the paleness of his face and the way it was
gaunt scared him to death. Peeling the covers back, he
turned to Sebastian. “Go and get Jared. He’s been too long
without anyone controlling how he was doing.” God knew
what those scientists had done to him, and without regular
check-ups no one could know what was happening in
Oliver’s body.

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112

Oliver stirred under Finn’s hands, slowly opening his

eyes. Finn could tell the exact moment in which his friend
realized he was not alone in his room anymore. His eyes
widened and he jerked away, grabbing the blankets and
holding them near as if he was using them to shield his
body.

“Wha...what are you doing here?” Oliver’s voice was low

and hoarse, unused for so many months.

“I’m trying to get some sense into you.” Finn sighed.

“What are you doing, Oliver? I know we haven’t known
each other for that long, but we survived the labs, and that
created a bond between us. Why didn’t you come and talk to
me or Jamie if things were so bad?”

“I have nothing to talk about to any of you!” Oliver

hissed, anger making its way through his body, making him
tremble. “Why don’t you all leave me alone to die? I
shouldn’t have followed you when you escaped. Maybe I
wouldn’t be hurting anymore if I hadn’t!”

Finn watched as Oliver’s fingers morphed into black

claws, stunned at the demonstration that Oliver could shift,
at least parts of his body. Maybe they could find a way to
help him. He tried to hug his friend, but Oliver wouldn’t let
him, ranting on and on about how it would have been better
for him to die. Finn wasn’t sure what to do, so he slapped
the guy. It had worked with Ani, after all. It did stop Oliver,
his eyes wide at the idea that Finn had hit him, and Finn
would have laughed if the situation had been different.

“I’m sick of hearing how you would’ve rather died than

be here, okay? Everyone has been treating you with kid
gloves because of what you had to live through, but I’ve had
enough! It’s obvious this isn’t working, and I won’t let you
sink into depression anymore! You have friends, a mate who
would do anything he can to help you deal with this, and
instead you’re letting him slowly die with you! Do you hate

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us that much, do you hate Sebastian so much that you want
him to die?”

Oliver’s eyes were wide, so wide they seemed to eat his

too-thin face. His mouth was open in shock, although Finn
didn’t know if it was because he was acting different from
his usual sweet self, for the words Finn had said or for the
revelation that Sebastian was Oliver’s mate. Finn shouldn’t
have told him, it should have been Sebastian’s job, but he
didn’t know if the rest would have been enough to shock
Oliver out of his self-imposed depression. Leaning in, Finn
hugged his friend, nearly afraid to break him when he felt
Oliver’s ribs under his hands. “God, Oliver, I’m so worried
about you. Please, please, let us in. Please, let us help you.”
He felt Oliver stiffen in his arms as someone entered the
room behind him. Moving, Finn looked and saw Sebastian
standing near the door, his hand so tight on the wood that it
was white. He realized that as sick as Oliver was, Sebastian
was still an unmated male, and his mate was in the arms of
another man.

“Sorry, Seb, you know there’s nothing more than

friendship here.” Finn leaned away from Oliver anyway,
and Sebastian let go of the door, a relieved sigh coming out
of his lungs.

“I know, it’s just...Jared will be here in a few minutes.”
Finn nodded and moved from the bed as Sebastian

neared it, his big frame moving hesitantly toward Oliver.

“Is it true? That you’re my...my mate?” Oliver asked.
Sebastian nodded. “Yes. I thought you knew.”
Oliver shook his head, his now long hair moving wildly

around him. “I didn’t. I couldn’t understand why I reacted
like this to you, and I...I didn’t...I don’t know what it means.
I just know I couldn’t stand it if you were hurt, even if I’m
the one hurting you. I’m sorry.” Tears started falling from
Oliver’s eyes and Sebastian crawled onto the bed, delicately

Catherine Lievens

114

moving his mate until Oliver was in his lap, Sebastian’s big
arms surrounding him as he purred soft words in Oliver’s
ears.

Finn took that as his cue to go and find his own mate. He

softly closed the door and started walking down the
hallway, stopping when he saw Jared coming up the stairs in
a hurry. “Hey, doc, do you think you can give Oliver and
Sebastian a few minutes alone?”

Jared hesitated, so Finn leaned him and whispered,

“Oliver just found out that Sebastian is his mate.” Finn
didn’t think anyone knew it since Sebastian hadn’t told
anyone, but he knew Jared wouldn’t tell.

The doctor nodded. “I’ll just wait in the hallway for a

while. Thanks for telling me, and thanks for forcing this on
Oliver.” He shook his head. “I wasn’t sure what else I could
do to help him.”

“Well, I hope that now that we made the first step he will

come out of his shell.”

With that Finn left and headed to his room, impatient to

get into his mate’s arms and feel his love reassuring him that
everything would be all right. He had to believe it, because
he just couldn’t lose Oliver.

About the Author

Catherine lives in Italy, country of good food and hot men.
She used to write fantasy as a child, but it was reading her
first gay erotic romance novel that made her realize that that
was what she really wanted to write.

After graduating from college in English language and

translation, she divides her day between writing, reading,
taking care of her son and reading some more.

You can find her on Facebook and Twitter or on her

website: authorcatherinelievens.wordpress.com

Email: lievens.catherine@gmail.com

Document Outline

Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
About the Author

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