The Alphas Pet (Dark Hollow Wolf Pack 1)

“Had his way with us? Damn, I mean, dang, Marco, it sounds like an old, very bad movie. ”

“Make no mistake, Nicky, he meant you harm. Why, baby? Why did you run away from me? I was hoping…I thought you were falling in love with me and settling in. ” Marco continued to stare into his eyes, but they shifted away a little with the last sentence, as if he were embarrassed to show he cared so much.

“I am in love with you, Marco. I didn’t run away. What makes you keep saying that?”

Marco narrowed his gaze. “You mean you didn’t get away from Rory and run into the woods?”

Nicky began to understand. Rory had lied just as he said he would to keep Marco’s wrath off himself and put the blame squarely on Nicky’s shoulders. He opened his mouth to set the record straight but hesitated. Maybe he could work this to his advantage. Having Rory in his debt might be useful in the future. “Oh, well, not really. I mean, I was playing ball with Adam, and he went to the woods to look for a ball. I went to look for him, and those guys were there. I fought them. See?” He pointed out the cuts on his lips. “They hit me to keep me quiet. ”

Marco leaned down and licked the cuts slowly and sensuously, the feeling going straight to Nicky’s cock. He moaned and held his lips for a kiss, but Marco leaned back, stroking his fingers down Nicky’s chest.

“You haven’t explained why you were outside away from Rory to start with. After I told you not to even go out because of rogues in the area. ”

“Oh, well, I just wanted to go for a walk in the gardens. Then we ran into Adam, and…” He looked up into Marco’s eyes. “I was only having some fun. ”

Marco sighed. “I want you to enjoy yourself, baby, but when I give you an order, it’s for a good reason. My job is to keep you safe. I should punish you for not following my orders. ”

Nicky bit his bottom lip and looked up at Marco, fluttering his eyelashes a bit. Marco smiled and leaned over to kiss him again, taking his time with it, sweeping over his lips with his tongue, and swirling it inside his mouth, leaving Nicky panting for breath. “I won’t though, because you’ve been hurt. ”

“Thank you, Marco. ” Nicky tried his best to sound humble.

“Until tomorrow,” he said, grinning down at him. “Tomorrow, you’re mine. ”

“Uhh…what does that mean?”

He smiled. “You’ll see. Get some sleep, baby. You might need it. ” He dropped one more kiss on his forehead and lay back down, pulling Nicky close and wrapping him in his arms.

“Well, what do you mean, Marco? Aren’t you going to tell me? You can’t just go to sleep. ”

“Hush. We’re both going to sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow. ” Marco closed his eyes and squeezed him gently, absolutely refusing to say another word. Nicky knew from experience all he could do was shut up and go to sleep. He sighed and snuggled back into Marco’s groin trying not to think about Marco’s threats about tomorrow.

* * * * The next morning when Nicky awoke alone and naked in bed. He stretched luxuriously, rolled over and saw Rory sitting sullenly by the side of the bed, staring at him.

Nicky jumped, startled. “What the hell?” He pulled the sheet more securely over him. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“Too long. Marco has put me on babysitting duty again because of yesterday. Believe me, I’m no happier about it than you are. ”

“You lied to Marco yesterday. ”

Rory flushed. “Yeah. Sorry. It would take a lot braver wolf than me to tell Marco I was careless enough to go to sleep when I should have been watching you and Adam. ” He shifted around nervously in his chair. “I’ve never seen him like that before. When he caught the scent of the Ridge Clan along with yours and Adam’s…let’s just say I was glad it wasn’t me he was hunting down. ”

“Is that who they were? Ridge Clan—what is that?”

“It’s another family of wolves. They live in the area, fairly close by, but the Mountain pack has always been at odds with them. We’re pretty sure that’s who they were. Shawna, one of our wolves from the rogue pack—you know who I mean?”

Nicky nodded impatiently.

“Well, she said it wasn’t any of the rogues. So we think it had to be some of the Ridge Clan messing with us, trying to start something. Or maybe they just thought they could get some ransom money. ”

“I heard them mention ransom. ”

“You did? That must have been some of their wolves then. The younger one, the one who had Adam, threw him at us and ran. We lost him in the forest. The other one, the one who had you, is dead. ”

“What?”

Rory shrugged. “He hit you, held a knife to your throat, planned on raping you. My brother heard him say so. What do you think?”

“Marco k-killed him? Because of me?”