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Surrender to the Wolf Channing’s Wolves 2 By
Taylor McKay
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eBooks are not transferable. This ebook cannot by sold, shared or given away as it infringes on the copyright of this work. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. Surrender to the Wolf COPYRIGHT © 2011 by Taylor McKay All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or Demanding Romance except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Contact Information:
[email protected] Demanding Romance Publishing History First Demanding Romance Edition, September 2011 Cover art by Morgan Lee Published in the United States of America
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Surrender To The Wolf Gavin leaned back in the hard plastic chair. Hairs on the nape of his neck tingled and his nerves were strung tight. Wolf instinct sensed danger. Tension built. “And they think we’re animals.”
Representatives from the state and federal government were here for input on the wolf introduction program. Ranchers, folks from town, activists, and conservationist filled the auditorium…and they were getting restless.
A hard-assed rancher, Cliff Jenson, vaulted from his seat. “I want every last one of them dead,” he bellowed to the city council members and officials from the US Fish and Wildlife Service sitting behind the long scarred and nicked table.
“Please refrain from outburst. We can conduct this meeting with decorum and have a respectful debate.”
“Wade.” Gavin glanced left and right, ascertaining their position and making sure there was a route for escape.
“Easy.” Wade leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Patience. We listen…then we plan.” He might sound calm, but Gavin could feel the tension rolling off his boss. This wasn’t a simple town meeting.
“The wolves have rights.” One of the conservationists tried to reason with the dissenters. But Cliff wasn’t alone in his thinking. For years, wolves had been hunted, nearly to extinction and pushed farther and farther out of their environments. With the
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increase of elk and other animals, natural predators—wolves—were reintroduced into the remotest areas of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Their numbers had grown and now they were targeted again.
Gavin glanced to Wade Channing from the corner of his eye. Wolves ran wild on Channing land. But Channing’s wolves weren’t causing problems for the ranchers. By night these wolves hunted in the woods and mated in the thickets. During the day, they worked the land. Men with secrets—shifters who lived on more than fifteen thousand acres, their sanctuary in eastern Idaho. They coexisted with humans and used their distant wolf cousins as camouflage. Gavin was one of the pack. Wade was their Alpha.
A few incidents and ranchers like Cliff wanted the wolves gone. Channing’s wolves would lose their cover.
“I have a right to make a living. Are you going to pay me for the loss of my stock? The only good wolf is a dead wolf.”
The meeting continued. Wade didn’t contribute to the debate. However, as one of the largest landowners, Wade’s opinion carried a lot of weight in the community.
“There isn’t a rancher in these parts that ain’t going to shoot a wolf on sight.”
Wade shifted, his chair legs scraping along the floor. A few heads turned. Wade didn’t smile, didn’t speak. Gavin wanted to jump from his chair but he followed his Alpha’s lead.
“You got something to say Channing?”
Wade arched a brow. “Wolves are safe on Channing land.” www.DemandingRomance.com
Grumbles erupted from several ranchers and a few conservationists clapped.
“Then your input isn’t needed in this debate. Ranchers in these parts want the wolves gone.”
Wade pushed off his chair and slowly rose. “Not all of us.”
“You agree with your boss?” Cliff asked Gavin.
Gavin stood, showing solidarity. “Do you really need to ask?”
Wade stalked towards the door, but Cliff blocked his way. “I’ve got traps set. I catch one of those wolves you’re so fond of, I’ll send it your way gift wrapped.”
“Step foot on my land and you’ll be buried on it. I shoot trespassers.”
“But you won’t shoot a worthless pack of wolves.”
“I’d give a wolf my last scrap of food while I watched you starve.”
The sea of bodies parted and Wade strode out of the room. Disbelieving words were whispered in his wake.
“Watch your back, Channing.”
Wade didn’t respond to Cliff. He didn’t have to. Six-two, solid muscle and a don’t-fuckwith-me attitude were enough to keep most people at a distance. But not everyone. Cliff Jensen stood with several other ranchers, glaring at Wade as he walked away, the www.DemandingRomance.com
sound of his work-worn cowboy boots on the hard floor a harsh echo of his position. He was done talking. If the anger in Cliff’s and the others’ eyes and the hard line of their mouths were any indication, the wolves weren’t the only thing they wanted to see dead.
“We listened,” Gavin said. And nothing they’d heard gave him a reason to think this dispute was going to blow over.
Wade gruffed. “They’re full of shit. The wolves keep the elk population under control. No fucking way this is about wolves. This is about land and resources.”
“They sounded serious to me.”
“We need to plan. The others need to understand. If Channing land harbors wolves, and the ranchers sway the Fish and Wildlife Service to sign off on their proposal, we’ll have hunters all over our territory.”
“Do you think they will?” Gravel crunched beneath their boots as they crossed the parking lot to Wade’s truck.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve had to defend Channing land. Won’t be the last. We need Shiloh.” Shiloh and Wade had a special connection. Shiloh had been on Channing land as long as Wade. They’d built the ranch together. Lifelong friends. But only friends.
None of the men on the ranch longed for the traditional ways of the lycan. Neither had they the instinct to take females as mates, had no desire to breed. But that hadn’t lessened their need to hunt, to chase, and fuck. Whether to dominate or submit, it would only be to another male.
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“We’ll need to set up patrols.” Wade opened the driver’s side door of his truck and Gavin climbed into the passenger side. “No one goes out alone.”
“Maybe it would be best if the pack stayed close to home.”
Wade keyed the ignition. “And live like a caged animal? I’d rather be dead.”
Gavin nodded. The wolves of their pack would feel the same way. Channing land was their territory to defend. Even to the death.
“Shiloh understands the seriousness of the situation.” But the wolves that hadn’t been around long would need to be cautioned. “No one outside the pack is to be trusted.” Wade snapped his gaze to Gavin then turned back to the road. “Talk to Cole and the others.” He sighed. “I need to talk to Calan.”
Calan was Wade’s mate. But the young gray wolf hadn’t been a member of the pack for long, still carried some of the skittish qualities of a wolf who’d been on his own, who hadn’t been able to count on a pack. And he wasn’t familiar with the boundaries of Channing land.
Unlike the wolf that Gavin ached to call mate. Cole Rolet. “I’ll talk to Cole, but he isn’t likely to listen.” Cole and Gavin weren’t mated. Not technically. That Gavin submitted to Cole every night, sucked his cock, gave his ass to Cole—and his heart—hadn’t forged a bond beyond pack mates. Gavin was ready for exclusive. Cole wasn’t.
The first smile of the evening curled Wade’s lips. “I’m sure you know how to get through to him.”
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Yeah, one would think so. But after five years together, Gavin hadn’t demanded more from Cole.
Wade passed through the electric security gate at the main entrance to the Channing ranch. The twenty feet high iron girders looked decorative, but served to make a statement. Channing land was private property. But they didn’t surround fifteen thousand acres, just the main points of entry.
The truck bounced along the gravel road, leading deep into the property. Wade and Calan lived in the main house—a small log cabin when measured against the wealth of the man.
“Do you want to talk to everyone tonight?”
Wade slowed the truck as he approached the cabin. The porch light was off, but the glow from the main room of the cabin poured through the large window and cast a silhouette of the lone figure waiting on the porch. “I doubt Cliff and the other ranchers will make trouble tonight.” Wade turned the ignition but left the keys dangling in the steering column. “We can meet for breakfast.”
Gavin slid from the vehicle. He couldn’t blame Wade for wanting to wait to talk. As Wade approached the porch, Calan stepped forward to meet him. Wade wrapped an arm around Calan, kissed him with an open mouth, and backed him toward the door. Calan tugged Wade’s shirt from his jeans, then his palms slid beneath the waistband.
Gavin stayed in the shadow of the truck. His cock warmed and a low growl rumbled in his chest. Wade and Calan didn’t speak. Wade shred the shirt from Calan’s lean muscular body. He dropped to his knees, kissing Calan’s chest, swirling his tongue around Calan’s nipple and gently nipping the tip. Calan’s eyes shut as he leaned against www.DemandingRomance.com
the closed front door, tugged open the fly of his jeans, and pushed them down his hips. Before he could finish undressing, Wade swallowed Calan’s dick, sucking him deep. Wade’s cheeks hollowed. Veins in his neck swelled with blood, straining from the effort of sucking. Calan moaned as he fisted his hands in Wade’s dark hair.
Calan was submissive to Wade. All Channing wolves were submissive to Wade, but Gavin had never seen Wade submit to another wolf. He pleasured Calan—for Calan. A knot twisted in Gavin’s gut. He wanted that for himself—for Cole to care as much as he did.
Calan stretched his neck and howled. The power of his release shattered the still night. Wade remained on his knees, sucking Calan, finishing him off with mouth and fist. Wade caressed Calan’s balls, worked a finger deeper, and prodded Calan’s hole. Calan panted, whimpered, and finally sagged forward, wrapping his arms around Wade when Wade finally stood. As he kissed Calan, he tugged off his jeans, his erection oozing fluid. Calan dropped to his hands and knees, his head limp and hair falling forward. It didn’t matter. Gavin didn’t need to see Calan’s face to know he offered more than his body to his lover.
A tidal wave of need, harsh and controlling, washed over Gavin. He turned away, shrugged off his shirt and willed his body from man to wolf. Hot rushing blood scorched through his veins. Muscles flexed, tendon and bone popping and morphing. The pain bordered on pleasure with the emergence of his wolf. His legs narrowed, and his jeans dropped to the ground. Free of clothing, he took a last look at Wade as he mounted his mate, his hard cock penetrating Calan and making them one. Gavin tossed his head, spun on his paws and he sprinted into the darkness.
Channing land was home. Tall oaks, evergreens, scrub and ground growth. Much of the land was used for ranching, but most was forested with rich earth and natural wildlife. www.DemandingRomance.com
Gavin crossed the river, rushing water splashing his flanks. He dipped his muzzle into the cool runoff, drank deeply and launched onto the soft damp ground of the north bank. Almost home.
No. His home was a mile to the south, nestled against a rocky ravine. His small cabin and barn for his horses overlooked the west acreage. It was more rugged terrain. He was going to Cole.
His pulse raced with the pounding of his paws. A ribbon of fear coiled in his gut. Maybe it was the threat to the wolves, or maybe it was Cole. Gavin ached for Cole in ways only a mate wanted.
Gavin paused in the clearing. Putting his muzzle in the air he sniffed, detecting the faint scent of Cole…and Shiloh. Sex perfumed the air. Jealousy burned hot in his belly. While he had no open claim on Cole, his heart ached, not just with betrayal, but with longing.
He paced the ground, trying to decide whether or not to go in—whether or not he’d be welcome.
Crickets chirped and wind whispered through the trees surrounding the cabin. He pivoted again, retracing his paw prints in the soft soil.
“Are you coming in?”
Gavin jerked his gaze to the left. Six-four, two hundred and twenty pounds of solid strength, Cole stood in the doorway, leaning against the jamb with his muscular arms crossed over his chiseled chest. Mussed sandy blond hair fell around his shoulders. Arched brows feathered over narrowed green eyes. High cheekbones cut his face and
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hollowed his cheeks. Cole was beautifully masculine with full, red lips but a hard square jaw. His eyes remained focused intently on Gavin.
“What do you want, Gavin?” The voice was dark and seductive. The intent of Cole’s words as clear as his cock swelling and stretching toward his navel.
Gavin’s heart pounded. Instincts reigned. This was his mate regardless of whether he was Cole’s or not. He glanced left and right. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Cole flinch. Muscles tensed. Blood heated. Gavin knew what he wanted. Time to see what Cole wanted.
Gavin darted left and raced for the trees. Would Cole give chase? Would he take from Gavin and demand submission?
***
Possessiveness, fierce and volatile raged within Cole. Gavin ran, but he didn’t really want to flee. He wanted to fuck. Pheromones saturated the air. Emotions rolled off him and Cole could sense every one. Anger, jealousy, want. Feelings all too familiar to Cole. Feelings he’d learned to ignore because he was a wolf who would never have more than physical encounters. All lies. He felt too much. And so did Gavin.
Cole had sensed Gavin outside the cabin. Even while Shiloh slept beside him, his body craved Gavin. With the beat of his heart, he shifted from man to wolf and sprinted into the clearing. Gavin was fast, but Cole was determined. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t fight the fire burning within him.
Only recently, since Wade had redefined his relationship with Calan, had Cole realized he didn’t have to hide the driving need to mate. He’d hidden his true wants because he www.DemandingRomance.com
didn’t ache for the heat of a female. He wanted the sleek wolf sprinting across the clearing toward the wooded grove. Now to convince Gavin.
Cole pushed hard, gaining on Gavin and catching up to him in a few long strides. A ferocious growl rent the air and he lunged. Using his weight, he pinned Gavin. Before Gavin could defend, Cole snapped his jaws. He bit hard into thick muscle, flesh and fur. Gavin howled in pain. Blood oozed from the puncture wounds, filling Cole’s mouth with his sweet essence. Sexual current ripped through his body. Bone and tendon quickly morphed back into man. The only reason a wolf had for fucking another wolf was for mating, for offspring. Shifters, Cole and the others like him—Channing’s wolves—fucked for pleasure. Fucked as men.
With the firm pressure of the bite, Gavin shifted from a cunning wolf into a strong virile man with long limbs and sculpted muscles. Cole canines receded into his gums and his mouth morphed from muzzle to lips and tongue. He kissed the puncture wounds, the smooth tanned skin of his man.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Cole whispered as he curved his palm over Gavin’s flank, onto his hip and then reached around and stroked Gavin’s erection.
“You have company and I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Do I detect a note of jealousy?” Oh yes, Gavin was jealous. He was hot and pissed. Cole growled and tightened his hold.
Gavin arched and Cole cradled Gavin’s balls in his hand. “I’d have to care to be jealous?”
“And you don’t?” He stroked Gavin’s cock again. www.DemandingRomance.com
“Care that you fucked Shiloh?” Gavin panted. A continuous flow of pre-cum leaked from his cock head and slicked Cole’s hand. “No more than you’d care that I fucked Wade tonight after the meeting in town.”
Cole froze, his fist locked around Gavin’s dick. He didn’t want anyone, man or wolf, touching Gavin, not without him. “You were with Wade tonight?” He sniffed the air but didn’t detect any sexual scents clinging to Gavin. Only his own.
Gavin backed his ass against Cole’s groin. “If you’d heard those assholes in town talk, you’d have been pissed, too. Wade was ready to tear Cliff Jenson to shreds. He needed a way to work out his aggression. I let him take it out on my ass so you might have to take it easy on me.” He moaned and deepened his arch. “It doesn’t bother you that Wade’s already fucked me tonight, does it? I mean, you’d have to care to be jealous. And we both know you were too busy with Shiloh to give a shit what—or rather who I was doing. It works that way for us. Right?”
Cole opened his palm and smacked Gavin’s ass cheek hard. His palm stung and a bright welt instantly reddened Gavin’s flesh. “Yes, I care. That was for making me jealous.” He smacked him again. “And that was for lying.”
Gavin moaned, bumping into Cole and rubbing his ass against Cole’s cock.
“He fucked me hard. I thought his dick was going to rip my ass apart.”
“And you wanted him. You wanted his big dick fucking your ass. Do you think it bothers me?” It did but Cole knew they were lies and brought about the twisted play between them. Gavin liked rough sex and then to be loved tender. “You want to be our Alpha’s bitch. How big was his dick?” www.DemandingRomance.com
“You don’t need me to tell you. You’ve been fucked by him.”
Cole reared back, spread Gavin’s cheeks and spit on his puckered entrance. “Since you’ve already been fucked once tonight, you should be ready for my dick.” Cole aligned his cock with Gavin’s hole and slammed inside.
Gavin tensed and a howl echoed through the trees. “Fuck, but he’s not as big as you.”
Cole pumped hard, the tight ring of muscle squeezing along his length and the soft, hot inner tissues caressing his shaft. Pressure tightened his chest. Gavin had been his best friend for years, since Gavin had wandered onto Channing land and found a home. Now, Cole couldn’t envision a life without Gavin with him. He pulled his cock from Gavin’s ass. Gavin whimpered with the loss.
“Roll over.”
Gavin rolled over, wrapped his hand around his outer legs at the knees and rolled his legs back, giving Cole his ass. Cole gripped his dick at the base and slowly pushed in again. This was where he belonged, between this man’s thighs, drowning in his sweet heat. This was his man and suddenly doubts were trickling into his thoughts. “Did you fuck him?”
“No, I came home for you and found you with Shiloh.”
Regret washed over Cole. He had fucked Shiloh. Hell, in the past the three of them spent time together. They were wolves with the perfect home. Land to work, a pack, friendship and sex. Cole and Gavin were usually together regardless of who else they included. Lately, Shiloh had been spending a lot of time with them. With Gavin at the www.DemandingRomance.com
meeting, Cole had gone with Shiloh on a hunt. They’d reveled in the freedom of running as wolves, killing a few rabbits and finally ending up here.
Cole hadn’t considered how Gavin might feel about being left out. Cole shouldn’t have gone with Shiloh, shouldn’t have brought him home and shouldn’t have fucked him— not without Gavin with them. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he slowly sank into Gavin. “We should have waited for you.”
Gavin looked away.
“Don’t turn away.” Cole bent down and kissed Gavin’s lips. “Talk to me.”
“Shiloh isn’t the one I want.” Gavin circled his legs around Cole’s hips and locked his ankles together. He wrapped his arms around Cole and held tightly, trapping his hard cock between them. His hole contracted, milking the length of Cole’s dick as he sawed in and out. Gavin moaned. He arched his back and hot cum spurted between their bodies.
The scent of Gavin’s cum and the erotic heat of his body pushed Cole over the edge. Rising pleasure surged through him. Shards of white light blinded behind his closed eyes. He drilled in harder and faster. Bracing his upper body on out stretched arms, he plowed into Gavin’s hole. Each slap of his sac smacking Gavin’s ass sent electric pulses through Cole’s shaft. Fire welled in his balls. Scorching cum streaked through his dick and he exploded into Gavin.
Gavin convulsed, another wave of release overtaking him. Cole opened his eyes and stared into the dark, smoldering depths of Gavin’s eyes. Sweat damped the hair at his temples. Gavin carried so much of his wolf in his human form. His hair wasn’t any one
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color, but a blend of grays, browns, black and reds. He was different from any wolf—or man—Cole had ever met.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, never having wanted to cause his lover to question his importance.
“Don’t be. I shouldn’t have expected you to be alone. I don’t have any reason to expect…anything from you?”
“Don’t you?” Did Gavin want monogamy, fidelity? Cole had been ignorant to the possibilities. He hadn’t dared covet more with Gavin…not until Wade claimed Calan as his mate.
Gavin pushed on Cole’s chest. “Get off.”
Cole’s cock slipped from his ass. “Since you asked so nicely.” He sat back on his haunches.
“You don’t like nice.” Gavin sat up and shook the twigs and leaves from his hair.
“You’re right. I like you dirty.” Cole wiped a smudge of dirt from Gavin’s cheek.
“Is there a veiled message in those words? Something you want that you aren’t getting?”
“Maybe.”
Gavin snorted and Cole chuckled. Gavin had an aggressive, kinky side and Cole did love it. www.DemandingRomance.com
“So do you want to tell me what’s really going on?” Cole propped against a tree and stretched his legs out in from of him.
Gavin rested folded arms on bent knees. “Where do you want to start?”
“How did the meeting go?”
“Worse than I think Wade is ready to admit. He wants to talk with all of us in the morning, but I think he’s looking to Shiloh to get us out of this shit.” Cole listened as Gavin retold the highlights and low points of the meeting in town. “I don’t think there is anything any of us can do, not even the great Shiloh Peta.” Gavin picked up a pebble and tossed it into the darkness.
Cole raised an eyebrow. “The great Shiloh Peta?” So he was angry and Shiloh was going to take the blame. “Shiloh and Wade go way back.”
“So do you and Shiloh.” Gavin shook his head. “I’ll shut up now.” He got to his feet and looked toward the sky. “I’m going home.”
Cole scrambled to stand. “Not yet.” He grasped Gavin’s arm. Gavin’s gaze locked onto Cole’s hand. “You shouldn’t be angry with Shiloh. He’s a good man…a better wolf.”
Gavin backed away, but Cole held tight to him. “I’ve heard enough about Shiloh and really, I don’t want to hear you spew all of his good qualities.”
“He’s your friend.”
“And your lover!” www.DemandingRomance.com
“And yours.” Cole pulled Gavin close and nuzzled against Gavin’s neck. The puncture marks from the bite were nearly healed, removing any trace of Cole’s claim on Gavin. A heavy weight settled in Cole’s gut. Marks or not, Gavin belonged to him. “I’m your lover,” he said with a softer voice. “I know there isn’t anything between you and Wade. There better not be anything between you and any other wolf.”
“There isn’t.” Gavin pushed him back. “But I can’t make the same claim on you.”
No, Cole had always fed his sexual appetite. Fucking was fucking. His relationship with Gavin went far beyond physical. “Shiloh has nothing to do with us.”
“What about the others?”
Male wolves, wolves without a pack, had made their way onto Channing land. Some stayed. Others moved on. Cole followed his instincts. He was an unmated male, accountable to no one but himself. Why hadn’t he realized how important Gavin was to his happiness, to making him complete? “There won’t be any others, not anymore.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” A small smile curled Gavin’s lips. “But I can’t help wishing for more.”
“Wishes can come true.” He was lycan, but he wasn’t an animal. He knew what was important.
Gavin shook his head. “We make wishes for those things we know we can never have.”
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Cole was ready to argue but Gavin kissed him, a quick meshing of lips without tongue, without passion. “See you at breakfast.” Movement in the distance drew Gavin’s attention. The smile left his lips. Cole turned around.
Shiloh stood in the doorway of his cabin. He yawned and scratched his stomach. Moonlight shimmered off his rich bronzed flesh. A curtain of shiny black hair fell to his waist. Dark brows and black lashes surrounded obsidian eyes. Cole had always been attracted to Shiloh’s native heritage. But Gavin’s wolf features turned Cole hot in ways he didn’t feel with other wolves. Instinctively Cole had always known Gavin was his mate, but males didn’t take other males as life mates.
Yes, they do. Wade did.
“Come inside.” Where Gavin belonged, where Cole wanted him. “We need to talk.”
“Not tonight. Three has become a crowd.” Gavin waved to Shiloh, dropped to his hands and knees as he shifted and then ran into the woods toward home.
Shiloh crossed the clearing. “Everything okay?”
“No.” For lots of reasons, but the main one, his relationship with Gavin wouldn’t be solved tonight. Cole and Shiloh enjoyed sex, but their connection was purely physical and they were friends. Part of the pack. Right now Cole wasn’t going to burden Shiloh with whether or not they’d ever fuck again. Shiloh had more important things to worry about, like how to protect the ranch and protect the wolves. “Wade wants a meeting at first light. Ranchers are restless and they’re out for blood…wolf blood.”
***
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Gavin poured a cup of coffee and listened to the bantering and laughter from the large open main room of Wade’s cabin.
“Got a cup for me?”
He stiffened at the sound of Wade’s voice behind him. “Sure.” He took a mug from the sink strainer, grabbed the coffeepot and filled the mug. “Is everyone here?” He turned and handed it to Wade.
“Thanks. No, not yet. We’re still waiting on Shiloh.” Wade took a sip and glanced over his shoulder. “And I don’t think Cole is here yet either.”
“I’m sure they’re together,” he mumbled.
“You okay?”
“A little tired and worried about the pack. I think there is going to be trouble from the ranchers.”
“I knew you were upset last night, after the meeting. And then when we drove up to the house, and you saw…” Wade shrugged. “I worried when you took off.”
Gavin looked toward the main room. Calan sat on the arm of the couch. He looked at home, bare feet poked out from worn jeans with a frayed hem. A white T-shirt hugged his chest and a reddened hickey darkened the flesh of his neck. “I shouldn’t have watched.”
Wade wrapped his palms around the mug. “Why did you?”
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“I don’t know.” He couldn’t look Wade in the eyes, couldn’t voice the words that admitted he wanted what Wade had.
“Don’t you?” Wade sighed. “I think you do. Nothing worth having is easy, Gavin.” Wade nodded toward the clearing outside the kitchen window. “Here come Shiloh and Cole.”
“I’m not surprised.” The coffee in Gavin’s stomach soured. Cole’s silvery coloring contrasted against the fierceness of Shiloh’s pitch black coat. Shiloh had strong features, with dark eyes and a long snout. Scars marked his face, a battle-hardened wolf, a wolf Wade expected to help defend Channing land. What would he expect from the rest of them?
“Ready?” Wade topped off his coffee.
“For what?”
Wade chuckled and slapped Gavin on the back. “To figure out what we’re going to do to protect what’s ours.” He cocked his head. “We have to claim what we want. And after we take what’s ours, we hold on to it.” Wade glanced to the door as Shiloh entered.
Because they were shifters and walking around naked after shifting wasn’t exactly socially accepted behavior, everyone kept jeans on hand. Cole followed Shiloh into the house while still buttoning up a pair he’d taken from Wade’s porch. Cole paused when he saw Gavin with Wade. Cole’s smile faded and his shoulders tensed.
“Are you ready to take what’s yours?” Wade’s words sent a shiver down Gavin’s spine. “I’m not blind, Gavin. I’d say Cole is part of why you watched me and Calan.” www.DemandingRomance.com
Wade didn’t wait for Gavin to deny him. Instead he walked to Cole and Shiloh and welcomed them. Not all the wolves needed to be here. Wade counted on those he considered brothers, those he’d trust with his life and his land.
Gavin entered the room, but stayed in the back and leaned against the wall. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from Cole as he whispered something to Shiloh. A heaviness weighted Gavin’s chest. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to watch Cole socialize with the others knowing tonight he might lie down with one of them.
Wade sat next to Calan, a hand on Calan’s thigh, as he spoke. “So we need to set up patrols. During the day, we all keep watch. No shifting in the open.” He cast a quick glance around the room, making eye contact with several men, his gaze finally resting on Cole. “That means, for now and until circumstance in town change, you fuck in private.”
“Why are you looking at me?” Cole asked innocently.
“You tell me.” Several men laughed. Gavin didn’t. “I want you to pair up, but if you can’t control your wolf, choose someone you don’t want to fuck.”
Lance laughed. “Then I’m not sure you should be out there with Calan.”
Wade’s eyes narrowed and his gaze hardened. “Calan is mine to protect. We stay together.”
Shiloh smiled, leaned into Cole and whispered something. Cole nodded and his gaze refocused on Gavin. Gavin hated this feeling of insecurity. He hated wondering what thoughts rolled through his lover’s mind. Did Cole see him as desperate as he felt? www.DemandingRomance.com
Wade made notes on a yellow legal tablet. “Cole and Shiloh will take tonight.”
Gavin pushed away from the wall, turned and walked toward the kitchen.
“I’d rather partner with Gavin.”
Gavin paused. Nausea churned in his gut. The truth, like a knife lanced through his chest. Pain squeezed his heart and his knees weakened. How much more would it take for him to finally accept that loving Cole was only going to hurt? Rejection didn’t get much clearer. Cole couldn’t partner with Shiloh because Cole couldn’t keep his dick out of him.
“Are you good with that?” Wade asked Gavin as he walked away.
Not really, but he didn’t have much of a choice unless he was willing to make a scene and probably come off looking like an asshole. “Fine.” He walked through the kitchen and out the backdoor. He’d had enough of the pack—of Cole and Shiloh—for today.
***
Cole’s heart ached at the confusion on Gavin’s face. He didn’t understand, but he would. They had years, history, and they would have a future together. A mated future. However, he wasn’t going to stop Gavin now and reveal his feelings, not in front of the pack.
“Anything you want to talk about?” Wade leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.
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“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“If someone tried to tell me my business, I’d tell them to fuck off. But these aren’t normal times. Is there a problem? I don’t need fighting among the pack.”
Cole glanced at Shiloh and then back to Wade. “There is a misunderstanding between me and Gavin.” Cole sighed. “There are a few details I still need to work out.”
“Get it worked out before tonight. I need you focused.”
“I will be. You don’t have to worry.” He turned to Shiloh. He wasn’t torn in his decision. Shiloh was a pack brother. He cared for him, but Shiloh wasn’t his mate. Gavin completed him. “I’m sorry.”
Shiloh patted Cole’s leg. “Nothing to be sorry for. Make it right with Gavin.” He stood and strode across the room, showing the pack that he was putting distance between himself and Cole. There wasn’t anger in his eyes, just understanding that whatever he and Cole had together had changed—had ended.
An energized need, a want to get to Gavin welled within Cole. He had to believe Gavin felt the same way. Their relationship made sense. It made him happy. “Is the meeting over?” He jumped to his feet. “There’s someone I need to talk to.”
“Just don’t forget, no shifting—or fucking—out in the open,” Wade said. “And I need you back here at dusk.”
“Not tonight,” Shiloh interrupted. “You need to go,” he said to Cole. “Take care of your personal business.” He turned to Ryker, a wolf who’d been among the pack for about a year. “Do you mind?” www.DemandingRomance.com
“Not at all.” Ryker stood and cocked a crooked smiled. “See you back here at dusk.” Normally Ryker was a loner, but he was also fiercely protective. Cole glanced between them. They’d make a striking couple. Both dark and exotic. And while both could be counted on, they could also both be the biggest pricks in the pack. He mentally chuckled. Should be an interesting night for Shiloh.
The meeting broke and Cole went in search of Gavin. No more hiding from the truth. Ingrained ideals had fucked with Cole. Gavin had paid the price. Gavin had a soft center. He was good and honest. He gave his heart when he shared his body. Cole hadn’t given much in return. He’d taken everything wonderful about Gavin, his passion, playfulness, the wolf and the man…and his loyalty. While Cole had fucked around…afraid of wanting what a gay wolf couldn’t have. A mate for life, not a female, but Gavin. Emotionally Cole had already bound himself to Gavin. But he’d never told Gavin. He had to believe it wasn’t too late for them.
Cole ran across the property, but he was slower than shit in his human form. Wade had insisted no shifting in public. And until they could guarantee the protection of the pack, remaining human was safer. Too bad it was inconvenient as hell. He ducked beneath a low lying branch. Muscles burned but he wasn’t fatigued. Energy surged through his system. He was going to his lover.
Darkness of the forest surrounded him. This was home. Crickets chirped and birds screeched from the canopy of foliage overhead. Cole howled as he broke into the clearing around Gavin’s cabin. The sound echoed off the rocky surroundings. He slowed and drew in harsh breaths. Blood pounded through him, his pulse a thundering rhythm from his exertion.
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He jogged up to the door. Knocking wasn’t necessary. Gavin wasn’t here. The house was too quiet. Cole couldn’t sense him and without shifting into his wolf, he wouldn’t be able to track him.
“Gavin,” he hollered in case he was nearby. Only the hollow echo of his voice answered. “Shit.” He had to go inside.
Inside the cabin, Gavin’s scent filled his nose and hardened his cock. In the privacy of the cabin, Cole stripped out of his clothes, focused his mind and willed his form from man to wolf.
As a wolf, Cole easily detected Gavin’s scent. Sweat and impending rain sweetened the air. Instinct riled the primal animal within him. Pheromones called to his wolf, to find and claim his mate. Cole howled and rushed into the woods.
Memories rushed through his mind with the same speed of his paws on familiar Channing land. He remembered their first meeting, their first kiss, the first time he sank his teeth into Gavin’s flesh and the first time he plunged his cock into Gavin’s ass.
Cole ran faster. He thought of falling asleep with his lover in his arms, hunting together, and making love in the woods under the stars. How could Gavin doubt his feelings? Throughout the years, Gavin was the only constant in Cole’s life.
Thunder boomed. Dark clouds crawled over the mountains in the distance, an ominous sign of the storm about to come into Cole’s life. He ran through the pastures. Cattle grazed on the land, safe from Channing’s wolves. They hunted elk and small game, but Channing land was a working ranch. Running the ranch offered them the perfect balance between human and wolf needs.
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Cole tracked Gavin to the small barn west of Gavin’s cabin. Cole inwardly smiled. He should’ve known. Gavin was nothing if not predictable. Cole loved that about him. Loved everything about him, including his passion for his horses. Gavin was part wolf and the rest cowboy.
The barn door was ajar. With silent steps, Cole nudged the door wider and slipped inside.
Winds from the storm rolling in blew through the rafters. Gavin whispered to his horse as he stroked his hand over the shiny brown coat. Jeans molded to his ass and a western-style button down shirt with the cuffs rolled hung open, billowing in the breeze.
Cole took another step into the barn and the horse nickered.
“What are you doing here? I’ll meet you at the main house at dusk.”
Cole retreated to the shadows of the barn, heeding Wade’s warning to shift out of sight. He had to tamp down the need of his wolf—the need to stake claim on this man— because right now, Gavin’s needs were more important. Bones lengthened and his blood warmed. Tendons and ligatures stretched as his body morphed from wolf to man.
Once erect, he took a step toward Gavin. “We need to talk.”
“I think we’ve said enough. At least I know I’ve heard enough.”
A crack of thunder rattled the barn and the horse jumped. Gavin rubbed her neck and slipped a bridle over her head. www.DemandingRomance.com
“I’m sorry.” Cole seemed to be saying that a lot lately.
“For what? For fucking me or for fucking with me. You made it clear you’d prefer to be with anyone else, so leave me the fuck alone.” He shifted his stance. “And by the way, telling the pack you’d rather take patrols with me is a fucked up way to say you can’t control yourself with Shiloh.” Gavin led the horse out of the stall. “So since you’d rather fuck Shiloh, you can go with my blessing. Fuck you and fuck off. I have work to do before we patrol tonight.”
Cole turned, shut the barn door and slid the bolt into place. “Not tonight.”
Gavin paused. He stared into Cole’s eyes, but his gaze kept slipping lower. Cole’s cock was erect and thick against his groin. Cole took a step closer. Dark thunderheads blocked the fading light and the barn was warm. Intimate and ripe with tension.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Claiming what’s mine.”
Gavin shook his head. “I’m not that easy.”
Cole chuckled. “No shit. What about us has ever been easy?”
Gavin raised a brow.
So maybe Gavin hadn’t exactly been hard to fuck, but that was the way of the wolf. They were pleasure seekers, wild and fierce.
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“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll take the blame. I thought…it doesn’t matter what I thought. Fucking is fucking and I’m not interested anymore.” Gavin rested one hand on the horse’s back and held the reins with the other.
“We have more than sex between us and you know it.”
“How would I know?” Gavin raised his voice, tossed down the reins and attempted to walk past Cole.
Cole grabbed his arm. “I don’t have to tell you.” He backed Gavin against the barn wall and growled. “You feel it.”
Gavin gasped a breath. “The only thing I feel is your dick digging into me. Could you back off?”
“No.” Cole shifted his hips, grinding against Gavin’s solid erection. “Knowing my cock is hard is making your heart pound.” Cole flared his nostrils and inhaled. “I can smell you.” Cole ripped open the fly of Gavin’s jeans and plowed his hand inside. Gavin’s shaft was like hot velvet in his palm. “I didn’t ask Wade to partner me with you because I can’t control myself with Shiloh.”
“Why then?”
Warm breath fanned against Cole’s lips. “I’m not letting you go anywhere without me again. You’re mine to protect.” He closed the space between them, desperate for a kiss—a kiss to prove his love for Gavin.
***
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Emotion welled in Gavin’s throat. Cole was finally speaking the words he longed to hear, but fear tightened his gut. He couldn’t pretend he didn’t want for more and Cole couldn’t be the mate he needed. He turned his head, denying Cole’s kiss.
Cole laughed. “It’s too late to play hard to get. You’re mine, Gavin.”
“I know.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “But are you mine?”
A low growl from Cole vibrated into Gavin. “Don’t tell me you don’t know. You feel the bond as strongly as I do. We’ve both been too afraid of what a mating would mean for us.” He wrapped his arms around Gavin and held him close. “Like Wade and Calan, we belong together.”
Gavin nodded, tears slipping from his eyes. He clutched Cole as his lover’s hands roamed beneath his shirt, smoothing over his chest, and pushing it off his shoulders. Gavin shivered. Cole’s touch left a scorching trail of heat over his flesh.
Gavin’s head rested against the barn wall. Cole went to his knees in the fresh straw, tugged Gavin’s jeans open and pushed them down his hips. Gavin’s cock dropped forward. A rush of blood left him dizzy and Cole’s touch made him throb. Strong fingers circled the girth and a slow stroke milked cream from the slit.
“I love your dick.” Cole pursed his lips and blew a stream of breath against Gavin’s sweat-dampened flesh. “I love you.” Cole angled the shaft of Gavin’s cock toward his mouth and closed his lips around the glistening head. Cole moaned as his tongue swirled around the cap and his lips lowered down the length.
“Ah fuck.” Those words had never been spoken between them. Love. Fuck. He’d beg to hear them again but Cole’s wicked mouth was sucking his cock, swallowing him to the www.DemandingRomance.com
base. Gavin pushed his jeans lower and gripped his sac. He tightened his fingers, pinching off the instant need to blow his load down Cole’s throat. But it seemed Cole was determined to make him come. He gripped Gavin’s ass and relaxed his throat. Gavin pumped his hips, fucking Cole’s mouth. Wet heat surrounded the head. The smooth tissues and light suction caressed the length.
Gavin watched his cock slide into Cole’s mouth. This was how Calan must have felt with the man he loved on his knees, putting his pleasure first. Warmth rushed through him. Weak yet strong. Powerless to his emotions yet ready to be vulnerable. Cole would be there to protect him, to defend their territory together, to be as one—mated.
Gavin stretched his neck and howled. Cole’s mouth and tongue bathed the shaft as he sucked and pumped his fist. The gentle pull, the awareness of Cole’s breath against his sensitive flesh sent him over the building crest of orgasm. Pressure released and his nuts contracted. Hard shocks pumped cum through his shaft. He gasped for breath and then his legs buckled.
Cole released his cock and opened his arms. Gavin kicked off his jeans and settled over Cole’s lap, his thighs resting alongside Cole’s flanks. He grasped Cole’s shoulders, crushing up against the solid muscular wall of Cole’s chest.
God, we wanted to ask Cole if he meant those words or if they were just spoken in the heat of passion. But he didn’t want to come off clingy and needy, because damn it, he was clingy and needy—with Cole. He wasn’t complete without him, loved him to the deepest part of his soul, and that was how he knew Cole was his mate.
But Gavin couldn’t stop the images of Shiloh and others from flitting through his mind. “When did you know?” Gavin sat back and stared into his Cole’s eyes.
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“That you are my mate?”
Gavin nodded.
“I’ve always known. But you and I are different. There were no mated males in the pack I was born to.”
“For me either.”
“I’m sure there are a lot of Channing’s wolves that believed the same way we did. When a male lycan realizes no female will make him complete, he leaves his pack. I did. You did.” Cole stared out the window to the darkening sky. “Until I met Wade I hadn’t believed I’d ever belong to a pack.” His focus returned to Gavin. “Until I met you I never believed I’d have a mate to share my life with.” Cole took his hand and held him palm to palm. “But I wasn’t sure if you felt the same. I didn’t know if I could ask for more.”
“Is that what you’re doing? Are you asking for more?”
Cole’s fingers tightened. “I was afraid of what loving you would mean. But I’ve always known you were special to me.” Cole’s softly spoken words bridged whatever distance remained between the jagged crevices keeping them apart. “I love you.” He towered over Gavin, forcing him to his back. “I want to fuck you, want to make love to you. Are you going to deny me?”
Deny the man he’d longed to call his own. Never. “You want me, take me.”
Gavin had dreamed of this moment. Cole sealed their lips, sliding his tongue into Gavin’s mouth. Their cocks rubbed together, heated friction making him hard again. www.DemandingRomance.com
Gavin’s sphincter clenched and released, hungry for Cole’s cock. Cole sucked on his own fingers, then wedged the hand between them and pushed into Gavin’s ass. Scissoring his spit-slicked fingers, he stretched Gavin’s opening.
Gavin growled. “I need you inside me.” His body was on fire. Sweat beaded on his skin. Muscles burned.
“After tonight, no matter what happens, we face it together.”
Gavin’s gaze locked on Cole as he spit in his hand, the wet sound an erotic warning that he was about to be penetrated. A rush of jism seeped from Gavin’s slit and trickled onto his stomach. He swirled his fingers through the slick and then grabbed his balls. “Fuck me,” he begged, squeezing his nuts and tugging them up, giving his ass to Cole.
Cole moaned as he slathered his shaft and cock head with saliva. “Mine.” With a harsh breath, he pushed into Gavin’s ass. He sank slow and steady, cramming the full length of his dick in then pulling out. But then the slow fuck quickly became a wild joining.
Gavin took each punishing thrust, rolling his hips back, taking Cole deeper. He wanted to feel cock, hands, mouth and body against his own. He gripped onto Cole, his fingers slipping on Cole’s sweaty skin.
Veins bulged in Cole’s arms and he thrust his hips, driving his cock into Gavin again and again. Powerful, dominant.
Mine, Gavin thought.
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Damp hair clung to Cole’s forehead. Tension tightened the firm sculpted muscles of Cole’s shoulders. He shorted his thrusts but quickened his pace. His cock felt longer, thicker and harder, hitting Gavin at just the right angle.
Gavin clenched. Every muscle contracted. “Fuck.” He could barely breathe. And then he came. Hot spurts of cum jetted from his cock. Cream crisscrossed his belly and Cole’s chest.
A growl rolled from Cole. Like the lightning from the storm, sexual energy crackled in the air between them. Cole was wild, fucking Gavin hard, driving him up the strawcovered ground. His face reddened and he shot. Cole gripped Gavin’s thighs as cum pumped into Gavin’s ass, marking him with Cole’s scent. Cole reared up and howled. The horses, on edge from the storm, nickered and stomped their hooves. Forks of lightning brightened the night sky outside the barn window and thunder exploded through the rafters. And it began to rain.
***
Cole laid in the straw, his arms wrapped around Gavin as they listened to the rain patter against the roof. The air was warm and damp and smelled of sex. Cole didn’t think he’d ever felt this good. He never wanted the moment to end. He kissed Gavin’s temple and he traced random patterns on Gavin’s stomach with his fingertips.
Gavin chuckled. “And we were supposed to be out in this.” He referred to the rain as another flash of lightning brightened the barn.
“I’m right where I belong.” Cole tightened his hold. “And so are you.”
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Gavin’s hand rested on Cole’s thigh. “I could stay out here all night, but I think I’d rather sleep in my bed. Should we make a dash for my cabin?”
A warning howl pierced the night. Danger. Cole scrambled from beneath Gavin and rushed to the window.
“What’s wrong?”
“Trouble.” Cole searched for a pair of jeans. He’d arrived in his wolf form and the only clothes on the ground belonged to Gavin.
“On the shelf.” Gavin pointed to a pair on the other side of the barn. “How do you know?”
“That was Ryker.” He turned to Gavin. “He’s in trouble.” Shiloh. Cole’s stomach cramped. There was only one reason Ryker would howl for help. It had started…the hunting of the wolves.
The End
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The story continues with Shiloh and Ryker in Hunting the Wolf. Coming soon from Taylor McKay and Demanding Romance.
Read how the story began in Claimed by the Wolf, out now from Taylor McKay and Demanding Romance.
Hunting the Wolf By Taylor McKay Coming November 2011 www.DemandingRomance.com The skies darkened and the heavy scent of rain saturated the air. Ryker’s heart pounded and a tremble rippled through him. Lightning streaked across the sky and thunder crashed. He tightened his knees against the horse’s sides and gently tugged the reins. The horses were skittish, not just from the approaching storm, but from the tension rolling off their riders.
Ryker adjusted his cowboy hat and tipped the brim to block the gusting wind.
Shiloh chuckled. “Are you rethinking your decision to ride with me tonight?”
Ryker’s pulse spiked. Rethink the opportunity to spend time alone with Shiloh? Never. Ryker loved to watch Shiloh ride—the way Shiloh’s ass molded to the saddle and the way his long, muscular thighs flanked his mount. One strong hand rested on the pommel and the other loosely rested in Shiloh’s lap. www.DemandingRomance.com
Ryker swallowed, imagining Shiloh’s cock—the taste and feel of his erection. Although Ryker didn’t have to imagine the size or look. Ryker remembered the first time he’d seen Shiloh naked and fully aroused. Like the rest of him, Shiloh’s cock had rich coloring with smooth skin. Dark, tightly curled hair surrounded the base. Blood-filled veins had threaded the shaft and fluids had seeped from the flared uncut crown…just before Shiloh shoved his dick into another man’s mouth.
Ryker snapped from the memory. He’d stumbled upon the scene, crouched on his belly in the woods and watched—wishing he’d been the other man. But before he could be discovered, he’d retreated, his paws digging in as he ran fast and far.
“Are you with me?”
Ryker shifted his gaze to Shiloh. God, he wanted to be with him. A storm was moving in, the night was dark…and they were alone. “Yeah, we picked a fine night for patrols.” Perfect, in fact, even as sprinkles began to fall.
Shiloh grinned and shifted his horse to the south. “I’m betting Cole is laughing his ass off.”
Yeah, or howling in pleasure as he claimed his mate. Ryker couldn’t help wondering how Shiloh felt about the shift in his relationship with Cole. Was he hurting from the separation? He’d ask, but wolves didn’t pry.
What the fuck. Maybe he’d pry a little. “Gavin looked upset.” Ryker wasn’t going to sniff around where his interest wouldn’t be reciprocated. Rejection from Shiloh would kill him. But so was loving him from a distance.
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Other titles by Taylor McKay Available from Demanding Romance
Rough Rider Cowboy Tamed Claimed by the Wolf (Channing’s Wolves Book 1) Surrender to the Wolf(Channing’s Wolves Book 2) Hunting the Wolf (Channing’s Wolves Book 3)
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