Wolf's Bounty (Love Slaves of the Alphas 6)

Tarr looked surprised, but a feral grin soon formed on his lips. Absently, he rubbed his belly, and Larsson knew he was having pain, but was just too damn stubborn to admit it or give in to it. Tarr took another step toward him. “If I fought you, I’d destroy you, you puny pup. ”

Larsson took a step closer to him and grinned. “Then you have nothing to be afraid of, do you?” He crooked a finger at him. “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty. ”

With a loud growl deep in his throat, Tarr dove for him, catching Larsson around the waist and slamming him into the gro

und, though he took much of the weight from the fall on himself. He rolled to his back, both arms around Larsson trying to trap him in a choke hold, but Larsson had seen it coming and had time to get one hand up between them before he crashed into him. He shoved this hand up and into the underside ofTarr’s chin, making him loosen his hold as he fell backward. Larsson rolled back to his feet and fell on top of Tarr, wrestling his arms up over his head and holding them there, leaning as much of his weight as he could on them.

Tarr grinned up at him and heaved his body over almost without effort, trapping Larsson under him. Larsson was momentarily shocked at this reminder of his strength. He tried to pull his hands away, but Tarr’s strength was too great. All he could do was turn his head to the side as Tarr pulled back his fist and smashedit into Larsson’s jaw.

The pain was blinding, even though Larsson knew he pulled his punch, trying only to subdue him rather than really hurt him. Still Larsson gave a little whimpering cry and went completely limp, letting his eyes roll back up in his head.

Tarr hesitated, staring down at him. Then he shook Larsson, gently at first and then harder. “Wake up! I barely touched you!”

Larsson continued to play dead, holding his breath. Tarr, sitting astride his chest, pulled him up into an embrace and shook him again. “Stop this Larsson. Stop it!Wake up, damn you!”

When Larsson ignored him, keeping his eyes closed and his mouth slightly parted, he could hear a hint of panic in Tarr’s voice. “Larsson! Baby! Nobyo, wake up. I’m sorry I hit you, nobyo. Please!”

Larsson let his eyelids flutter a bit, and Tarr kissed him soundly, then trailed kisses all down his face where he’d struck him.

Larsson fluttered his eyelashes again and allowed his eyes to drift slowly open. Tarr heaved a huge sigh of relief. “Are you all right?” he asked, kissing him again. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t even hit you that hard. Speak to me, sweetheart. ”

Chapter Four

Larsson raised one hand weakly and let his fingers trail down the side of Tarr’s face. Without warning, Larsson grabbed his ear and twisted—hard.

“Ow!” Tarr surged backward, trying to get away and Larsson followed him down, still twisting the ear savagely.

“You’re tearing my ear off!” Tarr yelped, and Larsson grinned down at him.

“Do you give up?”

“Yes, yes, damn you, I give up! Let go of my ear!”

Larsson let go and stood back on his feet, dusting himself off. Tarr sat up on the ground by his feet glaring up at him and holding a hand protectively over his ear. “You just pretended to be knocked out!” he said accusingly. “There was nothing wrong with you!”

Larsson tapped his forehead and smiled. “Brains, Tygerian. They win over brawn every time. ”

Tarr continued to glare up at him, just as a whizzing sound and a soft thud filled the air. Tarr glanced around in confusion and then back up at Larsson.

Larsson had a strange look on his face, and his eyes had glazed over. As Tarr watched, he slowly and gracefully collapsed forward, falling into Tarr’s arms. To his horror, Tarr saw a dart imbedded in his back. He pulled it out savagely and gathered his lover close to him. He was still breathing, thank the gods, but he seemed to be deeply unconscious. Backing away warily, with some half-formed idea of getting his back to the cliff wall and using the lean-to as a shield, Tarr saw movement in the trees. He growled deep in his throat, a fierce rumbling sound that was answered almost at once from more than one shadowy patch in the trees. One by one, figures stepped from the foliage and showed themselves.

There were at least six of them and they were tall, some as tall as Tarr himself. All had wild manes of hair in colors ranging from gold to an orangey red. Powerfully built, they wore animal skins around their waists, leaving their chests bare and displaying lean muscles and a wide expanse of golden brown skin, with black tiger stripes running just beneath the skin. As they stalked closer, Tarr saw they all had slanted eyes of gold-green. Tygerians! There was no mistaking their distinctive appearance, but what could they possibly be doing here? Dressed like this? Putting Larsson down carefully on the ground behind him, he stood to face them as they approached.

“Holayo,” one of the ones in the front of the group said, using an archaic form of Tygerian that once served as a greeting on Tarr’s home planet.

Tarr nodded, a slight inclination of his head. These men had injured his mate, and if Larsson was dying, he would take great pleasure in ripping out their throats. “Holayo,” he replied in Tygerian. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Their leader, or at least the one who seemed to be the spokesman for the group, tilted his head slightly. “You speak strangely. I understand your words, but your accent is odd. You are Tygerian, correct?”

“I’m Tygerian. And if you think I speak oddly, you should hear yourself. Who the fuck are you? Why have you attacked us? Ifyou’ve injured my nobyo, I’ll take great pleasure in killing you. ”

The man looked surprised, and several of the ones closest to him made a snarling sound and stepped closer in an uneasy fashion, darting savage looks at Tarr. The leader shook his head and held up a hand to stop them. They stopped where they were, but still glared at Tarr with undisguised hostility.

“I am Rabb Seneca. ” He glanced down at Larsson briefly before gazing back into Tarr’s eyes. “Your nobyo? But he is Lycan, yes? We saw you struggling with him and thought he had injured you. The dart we shot into him is not lethal. It will only make him sleep. ”

Tarr grunted a response and bent down to check Larsson again. He seemed to be breathing all right, but Tarr was still furious that the group had attacked his nobyo. He tried hard to swallow his anger and stood to face them again. “He seems to be all right for now. You should pray to your gods that he is. ”

The man nodded carefully. “I apologize if I damaged your property, but he should be fine. ”