Remus reached down and petted Marco’s hair, trying his best to reassure the guy. He knew his friend had to be scared. So far, he hadn’t been involved in the war. Now he was getting firsthand experience at how ugly it could be.

  Well, he got that experience from Jayson, but being chased wasn’t fun either. Remus knew deep down inside that Marco’s innocence was now gone. He had been exposed to the cruelty of this war.

  But he was praying it didn’t change the guy too much. Remus loved Marco just the way he was. Remus froze for a second on the word love, but quickly pushed it to the back of his mind to be examined later.

  “We all are,” Bryson said. Remus glanced at the speedometer and saw they were going ninety-five. He could officially say he was scared now. They were on a back road with twists and turns. One wrong move and all three of them could end up at the bottom of a ravine.

  “Just take the highway,” Remus said.

  “But, Rick always said—”

  “I think every bad guy out there knows we take the back roads.

  I’m willing to bet my nuts they won’t be expecting us to take any major highways.” Remus was taking a gamble that could very well lead them right into a military convoy, but they had no choice. The trucks behind them were gaining speed and there wasn’t much maneuverability on this two-lane road.

  “I hope you’re right.”

  So did Remus.

  Bryson shoved his foot into the floor, taking off toward the interstate. Bullets began to hit the truck. Remus bent over Marco, trying his best to protect him. Marco’s fingers dug into Remus’s shirt, pulling him even closer.

  “I don’t like this shit,” Marco said quietly.

  “Me either,” Remus said as he kissed Marco’s neck.

  Remus pried Marco’s fingers away long enough to look out the back window. “I think it’s working,” he said when he saw they were outrunning the other trucks. It helped that the men following them were driving older, more worn models. Bryson was driving a newer truck. Remus wasn’t sure if the werewolf had borrowed this truck or not, but he was glad as hell.

  “Are they gone?” Marco asked as he started to sit up. Remus held him close, using his back as a shield just in case those yahoos miraculously caught up with them.

  They drove the rest of the day on the highway. Remus was surprised it was so empty. Not once had they been stopped by a checkpoint official or any other being. They had seen no one. By the time dusk came, Bryson was yawning and Remus was fighting not to close his eyes. He hadn’t slept for fear of running into another obstacle. But he was ready to sleep for the next six or eight hours.

  “How about getting a room?” Remus asked when he saw Bryson yawn again.

  They exited the highway, Remus going on alert. He watched the area they were passing through as Bryson pulled into a driveway.

  They weren’t at a motel. They were at someone’s house. “Do you know these people?”

  “The garage is open, and there aren’t any vehicles,” Bryson said.

  “The house is dark and I don’t see anyone looking out. I figure we can hide the truck in the garage and get a good night’s rest.”

  Remus was all for that. They just had to check the place out first to make sure no one was actually home.

  “You stay with Marco and I’ll check the place out,” Bryson said as he pulled the truck into the two-car garage and got out.

  After about five stressful minutes, Bryson came back to the truck.

  “No one is inside.”

  Remus helped Marco from the truck and then closed the garage door. All three headed inside. It was a one-story house with two bedrooms. Remus and Marco took one, Bryson took the other.

  “I’m going to call Rick and let him know where we are,” Bryson said right before he went into his bedroom.

  Remus was dead on his feet. Without thought, he stripped naked and climbed into bed, finally closing his eyes after a long-ass ride.

  He felt the bed dip and then a warm, naked body was pressing into his back. Remus was exhausted, but he turned over and pulled Marco close. “Scary day.”

  Marco nodded. “But it wasn’t so bad. No one was hurt.”

  There was that. Remus was glad his friend wasn’t freaking out.

  Marco could become very dramatic. He had once seen the guy go spastic when he found colors mixed with whites in his washing machine. Remus had tried to be nice and do Marco’s laundry. He never went near the damn machine again. But Marco wasn’t freaking out. Instead, Remus could feel something very hard poking him in his stomach.

  He only needed one guess to figure out it was Marco’s hard cock.

  Remus gazed down at the man, Marco’s dark eyes growing sultry as he blushed.

  Remus’s hand was shaking when he reached for the hardened shaft. Marco’s dick was heavy and thick and felt hot to the touch.

  Now that he had it in his hand, it looked even bigger. Marco’s bush had grown thick and was untrimmed. The dark hairs spilled down onto his sack as well. He slid his hand up and down, mesmerized by the way the foreskin slid back and forth across the head.

  Remus slid down the bed and gave the underside of the head a lick, causing Marco to groan. He licked his tongue up and down the shaft, then sucked each of his hairy balls.

  “Suck me,” he begged. He grabbed Remus’s head and pushed it down onto his dick. “Take it in your mouth. Suck it.”

  Damn, it seemed Marco was a damn tiger in bed. Who would have thought?

  The hot head of Marco’s dick slid into Remus’s mouth. His foreskin retracted and Remus tasted the musky sweat underneath. He let out a groan and closed his eyes as the flavor burst across his tongue. He moved down as far as he could until he was about to gag, then pulled back up, sucking hard as he did so.

  As he sucked Marco’s cock, Remus pushed two thick fingers slowly inside Marco, up to the first knuckle. They slid in easily with the spit Remus had used. Remus began slowly moving his fingers in and out, and when he pushed them back in, he hit that spot inside Marco that had the man gasping in pleasure. “Remus!”

  Remus was staring into Marco’s eyes as he pulled the man’s cock free and whispered, “There’s the spot. You like that, don’t you? Just imagine what it will feel like when it’s my cock hitting that spot.”

  Remus grinned when Marco’s entire body shuddered. He rubbed the spot again and again, making his lover moan and whimper. A sweet scent of arousal wafted through the air. That scent was forever blazed into his memory from the very first time he smelled it.

  The leopard would no longer be denied what was his. He would no longer be denied his mate. Remus planned on making Marco his, but then again, it felt as though his best friend had always belonged to him. Remus had just been too blind to see the truth.

  The corner of Remus’s lip turned up and he growled low. The blinds were gone and he wasn’t going to hold back. He took his lover’s cock back into his mouth, sucking it all the way down his throat.

  “God…damn!” Marco shouted. Marco’s ass clamped down on Remus’s fingers as his body began to tremble. Remus eased back and then nuzzled in the wiry curls before licking his way up the fully hard shaft and sucking at the engorged head to savor Marco’s pre-cum. As he swallowed Marco’s cock once more, he felt a hand on his head and looked up to see his lover gazing at him.

  “I’m going to come if you don’t stop,” Marco warned on an unsteady breath. Remus could see the man’s chest rising and lowering quickly, his eyes liquid heat, glazed with pleasure.

  Remus was hit with a wave of lust. His cock stiffened even further. He ached to be inside Marco. All he could think about was claiming the small man. He wanted to mark Marco, to let everyone know the man was his and they better stay away. “I’m going to claim you, Marco.”

  Marco’s eyes grew wide as he began to nod his head. “Yes, please, claim me.”

  Remus looked around and saw a bottle of lotion on the nightstand.

  It would have to do. It smelled like flowers, but at the moment, Remus didn’t give a shit. He rubbed the lotion over his cock and then used a generous amount to lube Marco’s asshole.

  Tossing the bottle aside, he moved closer to Marco, settling between his legs. Marco eagerly spread his legs wide, allowing Remus to slide forward and position the head of his cock at Marco’s hole. One hard thrust buried his thick, steel-hard erection into Marco’s body to the hilt. Remus groaned as his cock was enveloped in searing heat and slick tightness. Marco’s body was trembling as Remus took in a shuddering breath. Marco was tossing beneath him, his hips bucking, driving Remus harder into the soft flesh of Marco’s ass, grinding against him.

  Remus grabbed Marco’s hips and pinned the man to the bed.

  “Calm down.” If Marco didn’t, Remus was going to come way too fucking soon. He slipped his hands under Marco’s ass and lifted him higher, giving the man a small warning growl.

  Marco licked his lips and nodded, telling Remus he would follow instead of trying to lead. That was much better. Remus was already having a hard enough time with his control. Marco’s scent of arousal was only growing, filling the room and Remus’s lungs.

  Marco whimpered.

  Remus purred.

  “Please, Remus,” Marco begged. “Please move.”

  Remus’s body was burning with need, a hard, urgent ache. Once certain he could move without losing control, Remus set up a slow, leisurely pace. He didn’t want to rush this. He was going to claim Marco. It was a night Remus wanted the man to remember for a very long time.

  Bracing one arm next to Marco’s shoulder, Remus leaned over to claim Marco’s mouth as his dick claimed the man’s ass. Marco became submissive as hell. He allowed Remus to take charge, his body becoming pliant as Remus moved inside of the small man, his tongue thrusting inside Marco’s mouth.

  Remus’s hands began to explore Marco’s soft skin, the man’s body imprisoning Remus in a web of searing arousal. He pulled one of Marco’s legs up on his hip and began to smooth his hand down the man’s thigh.

  He took his time, fucking and kissing Marco, touching and caressing. Marco lifted his other leg, tightening them around Remus, pressing his heels into the alternating flexing and relaxing muscles of Remus’s ass. He impaled his cock deeper, pressing his shaft hard into Marco’s silky channel.

  As he kissed Marco, sliding his tongue into his man’s mouth, he picked up the pace and his thrusting became more intense. Remus was losing control. God, he was losing control. Marco’s tight little body had become too much, and Remus knew he wouldn’t last as long as he had hoped for.

  Remus broke the kiss and leaned back, staring down where their bodies joined. It was a wondrous sight, one Remus could look at for hours. When he glanced up, Marco was watching him. “Are you mine, Marco?”

  Remus wanted to hear the words. He wanted to hear Marco give himself over to Remus.

  “Yes,” Marco said as his head began to thrash from side to side. “I’ve always been yours.”

  Remus leaned forward and sank his canines into the tender flesh at the base of Marco’s neck, claiming, possessing, making his best friend his. He was shocked beyond belief that he could partially shift and was grateful as hell that he could claim Marco properly. Marco’s nails dug into Remus’s shoulders, breaking skin as the small man tried to pull him closer.

  A single low grunt stopped Marco from trying to take over.

  Instead, he arched his back and cried out, his semen wetting their bodies as he writhed beneath Remus.

  Holding on to the man’s neck with his teeth, Remus began to pound into Marco’s ass with his cock. The scent of the man’s seed and knowing he just mated Marco sent him over the edge.

  Remus threw back his head, and with a primal bellow of Marco’s name, his seed flooded his mate’s still-shuddering body. He pulled his cock from Marco’s ass, watching as the man tried to catch his breath.

  “Are you okay?” Remus asked as he brushed aside his mate’s damp hair. “I didn’t hurt your wounds, did I?”

  Marco shook his head. “No.”

  “Good,” Remus replied as he lay down next to his lover, mate, and best friend, pulling him close as he finally closed his eyes and got some much-needed rest.

  Knowing he had partially shifted gave Remus hope that maybe what Jayson had done to them wasn’t permanent.

  Chapter Twelve

  Dorian walked out back of the diner to dump some of the trash into a can. He wasn’t sure what good that would do considering no trash man was going to pick it up. But he hated littering—which was ironic because the small town they stopped in looked like a war zone, but Dorian just couldn’t bring himself to throw the trash on the ground.

  As he emptied the bucket, Dorian caught wind of something. He wasn’t sure what it was, but his wolf was growling. That was the first time that had happened. He was still getting used to having the dang thing inside of him. Of course he knew growling was a bad thing.

  “Dorian Campbell.”

  It was a really bad thing. Dorian knew that voice. He couldn’t place it, but he recognized it. He glanced over the woods behind the diner, trying to scent where the intruder was. Dorian was still getting used to the whole sniffing thing, but he had the basics down pat. It was situations like this when he was thrown into unfamiliar territory.

  “Who’s out there?” Dorian set the bucket down, feeling his claws trying to emerge.

  “Tell me you don’t know who I am.”

  “Stop hiding and then I’ll—” Shit. In an instant Dorian knew who it was.

  Jayson.

  “Ah, I see it’s all coming back to you.” Jayson stepped from behind a large tree, a malicious grin on his face. “We meet again.”

  Dorian’s instinct was to go after the bastard, but a voice in the back of his mind warned him to be careful. There was no telling if Jayson was alone. This could be a trap. He knew the guy was a piece of shit when he worked with him, but he never imagined…yes he did.

  Jayson was the type to join the radicals.

  “What do you want?” he asked as he put the lid on the trash can. “You’re a douche bag, Jayson, even before all this started.”

  “And you had to go and join the wrong side, Dorian.” Jayson moved a little closer. “Why would you take up with the animals?”

  Dorian blinked. It hit him that Jayson hadn’t a clue that Dorian had been converted. The guy wasn’t aware that Dorian was now one of those animals. “Whatever happened to Cherry?” Dorian asked, avoiding Jayson’s question.

  Jayson gave a hearty, evil laugh. “As much shit as she talked, the bitch mated one of those animals. I killed them both.”

  A shiver of repulsion slid down Dorian’s spine. He had never been too fond of Cherry, but he had never wanted her dead. She had been a little off, but harmless in his opinion. “You’ve caused a lot of grief.” That was an understatement. Bryson had called to say Jayson had not only nearly killed him, but Remus’s best friend as well.

  Dorian knew in that moment that Jayson couldn’t be allowed to live. Well, he had known that all along, but he knew it was he who would have to take this scumbag out. The man had killed, maimed, and tortured too many, and Dorian wanted the guy’s head on a platter.

  “I’ll give you a chance to live, Dorian,” Jayson said as he walked until he was about ten feet away. “Give me Enrique and you can join my group instead.”

  “Are you fucking stupid?” Dorian asked in total exasperation. “Pick you over him?”

  Jayson looked confused, as if he truly thought Dorian would switch sides. God, the man was an even bigger idiot than Dorian had first thought. Evil, but an idiot. How this guy managed to stay alive this long was a mystery.

  “Fine,” Jayson finally snapped. “Then you’ll die like all the rest of them have.” Jayson smirked, looking at Dorian with a gleeful grin.

  “By the way, did you know it was me who killed that little immigrant’s parents?”

  “Miguel?” Dorian asked in utter shock. “You killed Miguel’s parents?”

  “Oh yeah,” Jayson admitted with pride. “I called the cops on that house. They raided it, but I was the one who made the kills. It was kind of my initiation into the Breed Hunters.”

  Dorian felt his stomach rolling, his food threatening to come back up. He thought about how Miguel had looked the day he had come to join them. The man had been devastated.

  In the blink of an eye, Dorian was in front of Jayson, slicing a long line down the man’s arm. Dorian moved back to the trash cans just as quickly.

  “What the—” Jayson looked down at his arm and then back at Dorian, his eyes growing round. “You’re one of them!”

  “I am,” Dorian admitted as the scent of blood hit him hard. He fought tooth and nail not to attack.

  “What was the point of cutting me?” Jayson asked, his astonished look vanishing. Now he looked pissed. “You truly are an—”

  The back door to the diner opened and Dorian watched the changelings slowly move outside. Their eyes were flecks of yellow, glowing in the evening light. Rick was at the forefront, his lip curling back when he spotted who was bleeding.

  “Miguel,” Dorian said when Miguel and Benito pushed to the front. “Jayson just shared a very interesting bit of information with me.”

  Jayson’s eyes damn near fell out of his head when he saw Miguel standing there. “You aren’t supposed to be here.” The man started to back away, but some of the bears had circled in behind Jayson, trapping him.

  “Why did you come here?” Dorian asked.

  “I was only supposed to scout this place. But when I saw you…”

  Jayson shrugged, holding a hand over his bloody arm. “I couldn’t resist.”

  “You should have,” Dorian replied. “And you shouldn’t have confessed to me that you were the one who killed Miguel’s parents.”

  No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Miguel leapt, slamming his body into Jayson’s and taking the man down. Dorian watched as Miguel and his cousin tore Jayson apart.

  Okay, he could have done without seeing the bastard get eaten, but once the frenzy had begun, everyone joined in. Dorian’s wolf was trying to drive him forward, to join the others, but Dorian was not going to eat the man.