Chapter Three
Sometime later, as Davey was drifting in a post-orgasmic doze, he heard voices and doors banging among a general commotion coming from outside.
With care, he maneuvered his leg from the bed and moved to the window. He pulled back the curtain and saw the pack assembling around the dying embers of the fire.
As fast as he could, he dragged on his sweats. Luckily his leg didn’t feel too painful to put weight on. Whatever Flo had done had helped.
Limping to join the group, he studied his Alpha’s expression. He couldn’t tell if he were deeply aggrieved or beyond furious.
“I have just found out,” Aleco started, slamming his hands on his hips and glowering around the group, “that Titan has Julie.”
There were collective gasps.
“What the hell?” Greg said, pacing back and forth.
Davey studied the big shifter. The muscles in his arms strained against his sweater. As Beta male in the pack, Greg wasn’t a man to mess with.
But come to that, none of the pack were.
Titan, the Alpha of the Rocky Mountain group, was a fool to have messed with them.
“We’re going over there, now.” Pedro slammed his fist into his palm. “To get our woman back and kill anyone who has hurt even a hair on her head.”
“Davey, you stay here,” Aleco said, nodding at Davey’s injured leg. “The camp needs inhabiting by at least one shifter.” He turned to Patrick. “Get to the town, tell the others to meet us on the southeast border of Rocky territory, near the waterfall.”
Patrick, Greg’s mate, rushed toward his Jeep.
Davey nodded once, fast. He was sorry not to be going to help get Julie back from Titan and his men, but equally he knew Aleco was right. The camp needed one shifter to stay on site. Plus Flo was human, like Julie. It could be the case that Titan was after more of their females. And with Raul supporting Aleco and Flo’s other mate Malec away on business, she was vulnerable.
The shifters took on their dog forms and pounded into the forest amidst a cacophony of angry barks and yelps. They were riled up, hackles raised. It was a long way to the edge of their territory and farther still to Titan’s camp. But they wouldn’t tire. Adrenaline and fury would spur them on.
Davey glanced around the now still camp. The few other male humans had slipped back into their cabins to await their shifter mates’ return. Flo was hugging herself and staring at the darkness and the branches, which still held a shiver of movement. The low rumble of Patrick’s Jeep faded into the distance.
“It’ll be okay,” Davey said, resting his hand on Flo’s shoulder.
“Do you think?”
“Yeah. Of course. Have faith in the pack.”
“Titan is a nasty bastard.”
Davey huffed. “He is, but Aleco and Pedro will already be able to taste his blood on their tongues. He won’t stand a chance and getting Julie back here is the only outcome.”
“I hope you’re right.”
He bent so they were eye level. “I know I’m right.”
She studied him for a moment. “What’s happened to you?”
“What do you mean?” He frowned.
“I’m not sure.” She tipped her head. “You look different somehow.”
“Different?”
“Yes.” She peered closer. “Something in your eyes, there’s a sparkle.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Is there really?
Was it because he’d met the man he wanted to be his mate? Was it because he’d discovered he was gay?
“Yes, they have a new depth,” Flo went on. “I mean, they’ve always been a stunning blue, but now…well they look as deep as the ocean.”
“You’ve been reading too many of those romance books.” Davey stepped away and turned. He held up his right hand. “I’m going to rest. Bang on my door if anyone comes into camp.”
She hesitated for a moment, then said, “Yeah I will.”
Davey could almost feel the weight of her curious stare on his back as he hobbled to his cabin. The woman knew him too well—add in her intuitive nature and he didn’t stand a chance of hiding the fact he was in lust with a lion shifter.
But hide it he must.
Dogs and cats didn’t mate. It wasn’t the way of their world.
****
Davey waited in his cabin for the pack to return. He couldn’t settle as he had earlier, knowing he was the only shifter on site. A sense of pride went through him to have been trusted with the task. Clearly Aleco thought he was up to it, even though he was carrying an injury.
He stared around his bachelor pad cabin. It was compact but plenty big enough for two. He’d built it with the hope of finding a mate for life one day. Though back then he’d been in no rush to settle down.
Yet now…since he’d met the lion man…perhaps.
Damn, he didn’t even know his name. How was it possible to be fantasizing about a person he didn’t even know what to call?
He glanced at the kettle he kept on the gas stove. Would the lion shifter drink coffee, or was he one of those that stuck to water even in his human form? What did he wear when he was a man? The Redwood Shifters dabbled in ancient magic and all had one set of clothes, or one item, that would always be with them when they shifted to avoid embarrassment and unnecessary run-ins with the law. It seemed the lion shifter had never encountered such magic as he’d been gloriously naked with everything on show. Not a hint of embarrassment, but then again, he’d thought he was simply dealing with a trapped dog. He’d probably presumed Davey was a domestic pet that had wandered too far from home.
A pet! As if.
Davey reached for a black sweater and dragged it on. He couldn’t stay in the cabin anymore. It was weirdly empty.
He stepped outside, pulling the door closed quietly, and moving into the shadows so he could see all of the cabins inhabited by the humans left behind. He’d step up to the mark and stand on sentry duty. Nothing and no one would get past him.
He stood in the damp night air for several hours, his thoughts colliding. Titan. The lion. Julie. His time in the trap. Aleco. The gentle hands that had released him. His empty cabin. The voice calling after him as he’d dashed, wounded, into the trees. He slipped his hand down his sweats and adjusted himself as his cock rose slightly, memories of masturbating to erotic images besieging him.
Patrick’s Jeep could be heard before it was seen. When it appeared, the engine roaring from its journey up the steep hill to the camp, Davey moved to the right of the central wall.
Flo appeared from her cabin and rushed to the vehicle. “What happened? Are you okay? Oh, Julie, thank goodness you’re back.”
Davey blew out a sigh of relief. They’d found Julie.
What a crazy fucking night.
Julie appeared from the Jeep and the two women embraced. Aleco and Pedro were close behind her.
As the women hugged, Davey stepped from the shadows. “I hope you look better than he does,” he directed at Aleco.
His Alpha was battered and bruised but upright, thank goodness. Though there did appear to be a gash on his neck that looked unnervingly like teeth marks.
Davey shivered. That was too close for comfort.
“Yeah, don’t worry about that. Titan is a mess,” Aleco said, glancing about. “Any of the others back yet?”
“No.” Davey shook his head.
Pedro peered closer into the woods. He had a concerned crease on his brow.
Davey followed his line of sight. There was something there.
“Show yourself,” Aleco shouted, his voice deep and commanding. A branch moved aside and a man with red hair stepped out.
Davey knew instantly who it was. “Rocky Pack.” He snarled and stooped, preparing to shift. Injured leg or not, this was no place for their enemy. “What the hell are you doing here?” He snapped as the first tingles of shifting raced up his spinal cord.
“I come in peace.” The man held up his hands, palms facing Aleco.
“Why are you on our territory?” Aleco set a hand on Davey’s shoulder.
The touch of his Alpha’s palm, the squeeze of his fingers, was a strong message to Davey that he couldn’t ignore. Aleco didn’t want him to shift. He wanted him in human form.
He beat down the sensation of shifting from one body to another. It took a few moments and required concentration. There was a time as a teen when Davey had had no control over shifting, but now he had the power to choose which form he took and when.
“I’m Carlos,” the man said breathlessly. “I needed to come and say for the record, that fight was not what we, Titan’s pack, wanted.”
“He was kind to me,” Julie said. “This man.”
Aleco glanced at her. “You sure?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “He was, very.”
“You got here fast,” Pedro said.
“I am fast.” He gestured to his naked body.
Pedro nodded.
“Go on.” Aleco folded his arms.
“Taking her, your woman.” Carlos nodded at Julie. “It was abhorrent to us, the elders of the pack. But once she was with us, when the younger ones who are scared of Titan had snatched her, there was not much we could do except hope for her speedy return to the Redwood Shifters and ensure she was unharmed.”
“Even having her for a second was too long.” Aleco growled.
“And on behalf of the pack, I apologize for that.” Aleco glanced at Pedro, then Julie. He nodded. “Go on.”
“I wish to speak to you about Titan as your neighbor and friend.”
“Friend,” Davey scoffed. “Yeah, right.” There was nothing friendly about anyone in the Rocky Pack.
“I can hope. We can hope.”
“I don’t understand.” Aleco swirled his hand in the air. “And I’m tired, I want to be alone with my mates. What are you trying to say?”
“That we’re sorry about our Alpha, Titan. He has become obtrusive and has delusions of grandeur. I want to warn you he is likely to cause more trouble with your pack and others who border our territory.”
“If enough of the elders feel this way, perhaps it’s time for the Rocky Shifters to instate a new Alpha.”
“That might be easier now than it was yesterday. His neck wound is severe.” Carlos touched his own neck. “Your doing.”
“And I won’t apologize for that.” Aleco frowned.
“I…We wouldn’t expect you to. It was what you had to do. A fight for survival.” Carlos turned to the forest. “I have to go. I have said my piece and I hope you remember your problem is with Titan and the younger members of the pack who are too afraid to disobey him, not with the older members.”
“While Titan is your leader, my problem is with all of you.”
“I’ll be sure to report that back and I hope soon it will not be the case that Titan is our Alpha.” Shifting into a large, lean dog, Carlos disappeared into the darkness, his russet fur melting into the shadows.
Aleco stepped up to his mates, concern on his face. He spoke to them in hushed tones then turned to Davey. “Can you hold the fort out here? Make sure everyone returns okay?”
“Sure. You go rest. You look like you need it, boss.”
Davey watched as Aleco, Pedro and Julie went into their cabin. As much as he was relieved Julie was back, he couldn’t ignore the emptiness in his chest. It wasn’t painful as such, more of a dragging sensation. A blankness.
He’d bet all his worldly possessions his Alpha never felt that. Not with two mates to share his life and bed with. Having a human and a shifter for lovers must be the ultimate satisfaction.
Davey wasn’t greedy. He only wanted one lover. Trouble was, the man he couldn’t stop thinking about was more off limits than Carlos from the Rocky Pack—though at least he was a dog.