Wolfsbane (Dark Hollow Wolf Pack 5)

“Yeah, and he was saying stuff about my body and he c -called me his little bunny. ”

Logan looked astonished for a moment and then convulsed in laughter, leaning over and holding his sides. “I’m so sorry, Evan, I’m not laughing at you, really. I just got a sudden image of Ian’s face if I got a letter like that. God, to a wolf, that’s justifiable homicide. ”

“I haven’t led him on, Logan, really. The last letter I got I just threw away. Brett saw me throw it away. ”

“Yeah, Brett has left the building right now, Evan, or his rational self has. From the sound of things in there, he’s now in full wolf mode. ” Brett could see reinforcements running toward their room as snarls, loud thuds and shouts drifted down the hall.

“C’mon with me, and let’s go upstairs. We need to help Nicky anyway, and you can’t go back in there anytime soon. You’ll just remind him how much he wants to kill yourex. ”

“But Nicky and Marco. . . ” he trailed off as he saw Marco sprinting down the steps on the way to their room, barefoot and still fastening up his jeans. Evan’s shoulders slumped. “Now Nicky will be pissed off too. ”

Logan looked speculatively after Marco. “Oh, he finished his uh. . . business with Nicky. Why do you think he’s the last to arrive?” Laughing at the look on Evan’s face, he pulled him up the stairs and over to the alpha’s quarters.

Rapping his knuckles on the door as he entered, Logan called out. “Nicky! Evan and I are here. Get decent and come out to the living room. ”

Nicky appeared a few moments later, blond hair tousled and sticking up all over his head, cheeks reddened from Marco’s beard, and still managing to look gorgeous. “What’s all the commotion downstairs?Marco took off out of here like the place was on fire. ”

Logan told Nicky about the letter and he chuckled sympathetically. “First time he partially shifted in front of you?”

“No, the second,” Evan said, “but I didn’t like it any better. ”

Nicky plopped down on the sofa and put his bare feet up on the coffee table. “They’ll get him calmed down in a few minutes. Now before they get here, tell me about this guy who wrote the letter. Were you guys together long?”

“A little over a year. We met in college and moved in together for a year or so after we graduated. He cheated on me almost from the beginning. The last time was with another friend of ours, and I walked in on them. It was an ugly breakup and I don’t even know why my mother talked to him about me. She was angry with him for a long time. ”

“Better the devil you know. . . ” Logan said.

“Maybe. Anyway, she’s the one who gave him my address. ” He wrung his hands together for a moment, realized what he was doing and jammed them in his pockets. “Will they punish him now? They wouldn’t hurt him, right?”

Nicky snorted. “More likely help him plan your ex-boyfriend’s murder. No, they’ll just calm him down some, empathize with him, slap him on the back and tell him not to take it out on the furniture next time. ”

“Brett won’t go after my ex or anything, will he? I mean, they wouldn’t really m-murder him. . . would they?”

Logan laughed and shook his head. “No, Evan, don’t worry. He should be perfectly safe so long as he stays away from the compound. That’s not to say Brett won’t have a word with him if he keeps bothering you, but they’re not savages. ” Nicky rolled his

eyes, and Logan smiled at him. “Well, not totally. ”

Nicky cocked his head to one side as they heard loud voices on the stairs. “Oh hell, here they come. Logan, you can help me with the dishes. Evan’s going to be busy for a while. ”

Evan stood up and backed toward the kitchen. “Oh no, he’s not coming near me. He scared the shit out of me just now. What if he starts thinking about it again and starts to shift all over again?”

Logan patted his shoulder sympathetically. “You don’t have to go with him. Tell Marco if you want to stay here for a while. ”

Nicky shrugged. “You can, but Marco may not want to get involved in this one. My advice is just to go with him. Let him fuss over you and apologize and have his way. If you don’t he’ll just get even more jealous and think you don’t want to be with him. ”

Marco came in the room, followed by a somewhat subdued Brett, who was back to his human form. Brett came immediately over to Evan and put his arms around him. “I’m sorry, honey. Are you okay?I didn’t mean to scare you. ”

The minute Evan saw him, his handsome face creased with worry and concern, he melted and allowed Brett to pull him into his arms. What was there about these wolves that made them so compelling and hard to resist? Other than the fact that they were beautiful. And sexy. And hot as fuck.

Murmuring to him, Brett drew him to the door. Evan looked back over his shoulder in time to see one of Nicky’s eyelids drop in a slow, deliberate wink.

Brett led him downstairs and back to their room. He watched Evan look around the main sitting area to see that the debris of the chair and vase had been cleaned up and the room straightened. The pets they called in from the clean-up crew worked pretty fast. He wondered if this kind of losing control thing happened often enough with a wolf that they had the clean-up down to a science. Maybe all the wolves needed to learn a little better self-control. Okay, make that definitely.

Brett wasted no time either, turning to kiss his mate the minute he closed the door behind them and then walking Evan backward to the bed until the backs of his knees hit the mattress. He let his hands fall to thefastening of Evan’s jeans, and then he pushed Evan down to pull off his shoes and tug his jeans, underwear and socks off in one practiced pull. His own jeans hit the floor beside Evan’s, and he picked Evan up with one arm around his waist to move them both farther up onto the bed.

Unable to help himself a moment longer, he dragged Evan closer and gave him a hard and possessive kiss. Too hard. Evan could taste a hint of blood on his tongue as his lips jammed againstBrett’s teeth, and he made a loud cry of alarm. Instantly, Brett drew back, looking at him with concern. “I-I’m sorry, baby! I’m having a hard time being gentle. ” He seemed to make himself fall away from Evan onto the bed beside him to give himself a minute to gain control. He glanced over at Evan and the tears gathering in his eyes must have shamed him

“I should have left you alone for a while. I should do it now. I should get up off the bed, apologize and go for a run or something. I’m sorry, babe. ” Evan leaned ove r him and kissed him gently. Brett’s mouth was hot, his sweet tongue slipping past Evan’s lips to touch his tongue and sweep over the inside. Brett opened his arms and drew him in closer, tasting him. He rolled Evan back under him and pushed his knees up. Evanknew this wasn’t going to last very long—Brett was too keyed up, wanted to possess him, to own him too much. Brett reached blindly for the lube on the table beside the bed and smeared some on his cock.