Nicky’s wolf didn’t retreat, however. Instead it leaped away back down the trail in the direction of the lodge. Marco jumped forward to follow him into the night, leaving Cade and Jax together, facing each other in the moonlight.
* * * *
The wolf, who was inside Nicky, but who was not Nicky, ran headlong down the trail, gaining speed. He wasn’t as large as the big silver wolf behind him, but he could run fast, and he ran now as if his life depended on it.
He wanted only to get away from the others, who would never accept him, never understand him. It had always been that way, since long before he awoke in this body. He couldn’t remember his life before, not really. It came back to him in brief images. Snatches of conversations and sometimes smells that made him remember—something. The beautiful dark-haired boy had been important to him once, but it was hard to remember why. All he knew was that he was possessive and jealous of anyone near him, especially the big alpha Marco whom he hated more than anyone else. Or was it Zack? They all looked so much alike, and things were so mixed up in his brain.
He remembered fighting him once—or had that all been a dream? Whatever it was, it was long ago and almost forgotten until he’d seen the dark-haired boy again. And talked to him. And touched him. It had almost brought the memories back. Almost, but not quite. They were so tantalizingly close, like shining fruit that hung just out of reach. It made his head hurt to think of them.
The big silver wolf had almost caught up to him and when it did, he wasn’t sure what would happen. Maybe he would fight. Maybe he would surrender at last, just give up and let it all go. He was very tired of running.
With a chuff of breath, he fell to his back and rolled as the big wolf leaped on him and forced him over. He thought he would feel its teeth digging into his throat, but the wolf stood over him, its sides heaving for breath. This wolf had protected him—had come to his aid along with the smaller brown wolf when the others attacked. Could it be the silver wolf meant him no harm? The huge wolf bent over his snout and gently placed its teeth around it, staring down into his eyes. He never bit down, just held him in place until his heart stopped its wild thumping. Then with a final little shake, the wolf released him and transformed back into a man.
The wolf inside the human relaxed for the first time that evening, thinking he should allow the human to call him back inside. The big silver wolf could have killed him so easily. Why hadn’t he? He gave the man one last look of confusion and sank down deeper inside the human than he’d ever gone before.
* * * *
As Marco watched, Nicky’s body returned to its human form. Nicky blinked his beautiful eyes up at Marco, disoriented, his brain perhaps still not fully human. When he finally recognized who it was that hovered over him, he held up both arms to him and spoke in a soft voice, still hardly more than a whisper.
“Marco.”
Whatever tattered fragments of control he’d managed to gather together since he’d shifted back to his human form blew up in Marco’s face. He fell down beside his mate, his only thought to care for him, to make love to him, to hold him close and never let him go. He spit on his hand and eased first one and then two fingers inside him carefully, stretching him as Nicky moaned and writhed beneath his hand. Suddenly Marco’s incisors were back, brushing his sensitive lips as he ached to bury them in his mate’s neck.
He stretched him as carefully as he could, fighting for control. When he was satisfied that he wouldn’t hurt Nicky more than he had to, he eased his big cock inside his mate’s tight, soft hole, gripping his hips and pulling him back toward him. Nicky cried out and he waited for Nicky to adjust, feeling his heart beat steadily along with Marco’s own. They were one body now, one soul. It was when he was joined with Nicky like this that he wondered how he survived the other times without him. It seemed like an amputation to be apart, like losing a part of himself that was the best part, the essential part. Easing in farther, he pulled Nicky’s hips onto his lap and angled upward to brush against the spot inside him that would make this easier for him. Nicky groaned with pleasure mixed with pain and pushed his hips down toward him.
“Harder,” he cried, panting for breath. “Take me harder. I need you.”
Marco sank his cock deeply into Nicky then, and at the same time he buried his fangs in the soft flesh at the side of his neck. After only a few hard thrusts Marco felt his semen flooding into Nicky, and the fierce possessiveness swept over him again. This man was his. No one would ever take him away or be allowed to come between them.
Easing out of him and panting for breath, Marco pushed Nicky’s limp body gently off his lap and back onto his side on the ground, then spooned Nicky gently as he curled up beside him. He looked down at Nicky and tucked a curly lock of hair behind his ear. His breathing was steady, though a little fast. Pulling him closer, he wrapped an arm around his waist and finally allowed exhaustion to overtake him. Just before he’d claimed him, Nicky had cried out to him, “I need you.” Marco closed his eyes and let those words sink deep inside him, bringing warmth and comfort.
* * * *
As soon as Jax saw Nicky’s wolf running down the trail toward Mountainwood with Marco right behind him, he sagged in relief. This might not be quite the disaster he feared after all. He heard a noise behind him and whirled to see Cade, in his human form crouching on the ground, looking a bit disoriented. The moon was still high overhead, exerting its strong pull.
Jax wasn’t as affected by the full moon as Cade was, maybe because his transformation wasn’t anything he’d been born with. At any rate, he was the first to recover and knelt down beside his mate. “Are you all right?” he asked, trailing the back of his fingers along Cade’s cheek.
Cade nodded and pulled Jax down beside him. “Where’s Nicky?”
“He ran toward home. Marco went with him.”
“Zack? Casey?”
“No idea. They ran off that way,” Jax said, pointing into the woods.
Cade nodded again and Jax sat quietly beside him, giving him time to get his bearings. After a few more minutes, Cade glanced over at Jax. “You’re angry.”
“A little, yeah. Nicky was right—that was like some kind of stupid gang fight. It wasn’t what I signed on for.”
“It got out of hand, but it had the effect I was looking for.”
Jax laughed bitterly. “What effect would that be? To drive a wedge between Marco and the rest of you? He won’t forgive what happened, you know.”
Cade turned his head to gaze into Jax’s eyes. “What exactly do you think happened?”
“You and the others jumped on Nicky. Casey and Zack were about to attack him, damn it.”
“No,” Cade replied, shaking his head. “Casey and Zack pushed Marco into taking a stand alongside his mate. Now maybe the wolf inside Nicky won’t look on him as an enemy anymore. Hopefully, he’ll begin to rely on him as an ally, and then they can work toward becoming a true alpha pair.”