The moon was almost gone, and Declan had run and run, trying to get the sight of Danny out of his mind. His Danny, fighting the wolf with everything he fucking had and not even knowing it.
Tail and ears drooping, Dec climbed up on the porch, shaking off the dew that clung to his belly from the patch of tall grass over the septic tank.
Danny was sitting on the porch, glowing in the fading moonlight, arms around his skinny assed legs. The smell on his mate was pure despair, but Declan still got a warm smile. “Morning, Dec. Good run?”
Declan pushed his body up against Danny’s, rubbing, sharing scent. He wanted petting, maybe grooming.
“Mmm.” Danny’s fingers stroked through his fur, finding each and every mat, every burr, and easing them out. Such a good mate, even if Dec could smell his worry. Danny feared the wolf. Not Declan’s, but his own.
He vocalized softly, wanting Danny to be with him, to focus on them. Here and now. They had to live in the present.
The wolf would come only when Danny let it. He licked and nuzzled, then trotted to the front door. Sleep. Danny needed sleep.
“I’m coming.” Danny let the dogs in and closed the door. “Get in bed, Dec. I’m going to give the hooligans kibble.”
He stretched, then headed for bed. His wolf didn’t want to leave him, wanted Danny’s drawn out. He heard the sounds of dry food hitting the bowls, the running of water. Normal sounds. Good sounds.
Danny came to him then, and Dec curled up, nose on his tail, butt against Danny’s arm.
“Sleep, Dec. You’ve had a busy night.” Danny stroked his ears, the touch so welcome, so warm.
Dec rumbled, a happy sound, deep in his throat. He moved his head to rest on Danny’s leg, yawning as he did. Yes. Sleep.
* * *
Danny watched Declan for hours, until he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he needed to move, to go and head out so he could get far enough ahead that Declan wouldn’t track him.
He slid from the bed and walked away, leaving his bag behind, his shoes, his shirt. Declan would forgive the loss of the old sweats.
He turned west, his face toward the sun.
Of course, he made it three or four steps off the porch before strong hands landed on his shoulders. “What the ever-loving fuck are you doing?”
He closed his eyes. This was no fair. “Taking a walk.”
“Yeah? Just wandering off into the sunset like some martyr monk? Fitting, baby.”
“That’s me.” Danny could handle a little mocking if it made it easier for his mate to let go.
“So, you tell me where you’re going.”
“Away. I’m broken, Dec. You know I am. I can’t change.” They’d broken him. He hadn’t been strong enough to hold on.
“No. No, you’ve given up. I know the wolf is in there. I felt him last night, and you pushed him down. You panicked.” Declan’s brows drew into a tight, angry line.
“I did not!” The growl built up inside him, and he wanted to bite. “You don’t know how much I tried!”
How much it hurt.
“You’re right. I haven’t seen a goddamned bit of try. Just you trying to leave me. Again.” Declan was shouting now, looming over him.
A pure, white-hot rage filled him and he slammed his hands into Declan’s chest, pushing the man back a step. “You don’t know me! You don’t know how much it hurts!”
“I used to know you, baby.” Declan’s eyes burned in the setting sun, shining bright. “I knew everything inside and out. You can’t run from us. That’s why you came back.”
“I tried. I wanted to be real, too. I needed to.” But he wasn’t. Mother had been right. He was broken.
“No. You are real.” Declan took his shoulders in both hands and shook him. “You’re mine. Damn it, that has to be real enough. You’re my mate.”
“I don’t want you to have a ruined mate.”
“You don’t get to decide that. This isn’t something we should fight.”
“I’m not fighting against you!” He reached for Declan, not sure what the hell he was going to do once he had his mate in hand.
“Good. Then work with me. Fight for us instead of trying to kill what we have!” Declan yanked him close, his chest bumping Declan’s hard enough to steal his breath. Danny swallowed hard, his hands sliding up Dec’s upper arms, his fingers digging in. Declan’s green eyes began to glow, lips pulling back in a lupine smile. “Well hey, baby. There you are.”
“I don’t understand you.”
Declan ran hot and cold. How could anyone get what was going on with him?
“Yes, you do. I see you. I see all of you,” Declan told him.
“I ache for you, goddamn it! I want to…” Danny wanted to change. He wanted to shift. He wanted to run with his mate.
“Then come with me.” Declan dragged him back to the house, not letting him get away. Not letting him go this time. “I’ll never let you go again.”
“What?”
“I’ll never let you go, baby. This time, any other time. I lost five years. You’re home now.”
But he hadn’t said anything, had he?
“You want to stay.” Dec dragged him into the bedroom, started working off his ragged sweats. “I know it. So stay and fight for us. Got it?”
“I fed your dogs, didn’t I?” Wait. Did that even make sense?
Declan laughed, the sound wild, almost a howl, then grabbed Danny and tossed him on the bed. “You did. I can think of better ways to show commitment.”
“Can you?” He blinked over at Dec, dazed as all get out. “You have a list or something?”
“Mmm. Yep. One of them is keeping your ass here in Texas with me. Not just Texas. This is a big state. On our acreage.” Declan stripped off his T-shirt.
“Our acreage.” He did love those words in Declan’s voice because they sounded like a promise.
“Yes. Yours and mine. Together.” The jeans went next. Declan had dressed for him, just in case he’d gotten far enough to have to chase. The thought shouldn’t warm him like it did.
“You’re a madman.” Danny adored him. “I hate the thought of not being enough. Of being a fuck up, still.” He’d been fighting that for his whole life.
“You can only fuck up by leaving me again. You came back because we’re mates. Bound together.” Declan crawled on the bed, predatory, beautiful.
He wanted to point out that he was sent here, that Sister Abby had told him to come, but part of him, a huge, deep part of him knew that it had taken all his courage, all his faith, to meet Dec’s eyes that first time. So he went with the deeper truth. “You’re my soul. I ache for you.”
“You don’t have to hurt anymore.” So certain, so confident. Declan covered him, all that skin sliding against his, hot and fuzzy.
He wanted that to be true, needed it to. “No?”
The flat belly fascinated his fingers and he moaned as Declan’s cock nudged his thigh, his hip.
“No, baby. You can be right here. I want to wake up beside you. Want you to make those ridiculous pancakes for breakfast.” Dec rubbed, up and down, full body contact.
“Oh…” His eyes crossed and it wasn’t the thought of the pancakes that did it. “I tried to change for you.”
Declan chuffed softly. “Tonight you’ll change for us.” The low voice brooked no argument at all. It made Danny want to believe, made him so hungry to run with his mate under the moon.
That couldn’t be bad, right? Not like The Brotherhood had insisted, drilled in him.
“Stop it,” Declan growled, the sound vibrating against him. “There’s not room for them here. No room, you hear me, Danny? They aren’t allowed in our bed, in our home.”
Dec leaned down and bit his ear hard, making him yelp and buck, his thoughts shattering.
The sting focused him, reminded Danny what was important. He reached down and slid his palm against Dec’s hard cock, the heat astonishing. His lips popped open, his tongue flicking out as if he could taste, right now.
Dec growled softly, head bobbing. “Yes, Mate.”
Then Declan crawled up along his body, knees trapping his arms above his head as Dec painted his lips with that fat, full cock, the tip wet and smooth.
He opened up, letting Declan push between his lips, the hard length sliding along his tongue.
“There. That’s it, Danny.” Declan’s voice was full of wonder, of need. “Never losing you again. Never. I will fight for you, I swear.”
His fingers curled into fists and something deep inside his chest seemed to crack, to pop open and allow him to breathe, replacing ichor with air.
Declan moved back and forth, hands on his head, fingers digging into his hair. “See? See what we have? What you make me feel?”
Yes.
Salted drops fell on his tongue and he swallowed convulsively, hungry for more. The flavor grounded him, the hands cradling his head let him relax, breathe and pull hard on the flesh in his lips.
More.
“I’ll give you what you need, Danny.”
He met his lover’s eyes, the bright green blazing down at him. You can hear me?
“I so fucking can.”
Oh. They’d never managed that before. Not once. Declan could hear him, was there in his head. Oh, fuck. His balls drew up, his toes curling.
He began to thrust in time with his suction, his hips fucking the air, cock unconcerned with the fact that his hands were caught. Declan was enough to make Danny come without so much as a touch and they both knew it.
Declan held his gaze, both of them locked together, the heat between them becoming a raging flame.
Sucking in a deep breath, Danny took Dec all the way to the root, his throat closing around the base of Dec’s cock.
Declan howled, prick spreading Danny’s lips impossibly for a few seconds before the flavor of need filled him. He pulled back enough to catch Declan’s seed on his tongue, needing that taste more than he needed to breathe.
Declan panted above him, eyes like lasers gleaming in the fading light. Night was coming.
“The moon is coming.” Declan’s smile was pure wickedness.
He nodded, rubbing the sensitive tip of Declan’s cock over his palate. His mate yelped, pulling back and covering him, teeth at his throat. He arched up, his needy erection poking into Declan’s belly.
“Mine.” The teeth against his throat made it hard to nod, so he cried out in agreement instead.
“Yours.”
The bite didn’t ease, the sharp canines pressing in, bruising him, marking him, and the ache was enough that he bucked, ready to beg.
You can beg all you want. I have you. You’re home.
“Declan!”
Yes. Keeping you where you belong, baby.
He drove up, humping himself against Dec’s belly, spreading his scent against his lover’s skin, his hands tangled in Dec’s heavy mane of hair.
Dec grabbed his cock and stroked it base to tip, adding another layer of sensation to his already overloaded nerves.
Better than the touches was the love that poured into him, searching out the black spots, the raw spots, and soothing them. Declan’s care was a balm to his soul, making him pant with need and love.
His orgasm built deep in the pit of his belly, the pressure making him twist and whine. His skin felt too tight, and the tension behind his eyes almost blinded him.
“Come for me, Danny. Show me how bad you want me and then we’ll run with the moon.”
But what if he couldn’t?
“No. Trust in me. Come on. I have you, I swear.” Declan’s big body overwhelmed him, the scent amazing him, deep and musky. That hand never let up working him, back and forth.
“You have me.” He arched, drove up faster, harder, pushing into Declan’s touch.
“I do. Now. Here.” Declan bit his lower lip, really letting him feel it.
His balls drew up tight, his howl splitting the air as he shot, seed pulsing from him, leaving him empty and shuddering.
“Now, mate. Let the wolf come. Now, before the moon hits you. Show me.” Declan’s voice brooked no argument.
He opened his mouth to argue and instead what escaped him was a wild howl, the sound splitting the air. The wolf took him seconds later, tearing out of him like it had never been stifled, like there had never been pain, never been agony.
Home!
Mate!
Mate!
He yipped, feet scrabbling on the mattress as he tried to move.
Mate! I’m here!
Declan shook his own man skin off, then came to Danny and bowed deep, offering him a greeting before chuffing happily and letting him run.
They bounced through the house, and he explored thoroughly, sniffing and tracking, running back to his mate to touch noses every few minutes.
He’d been lost. Hungry. Now he was home. Safe. He had to trust that.
They hit the door together, the moon singing for them, the night huge and wild and theirs.
Run.
Hunt.
Mate.
Home.
Their call filled the air in harmony, daring anyone to interrupt it.
* * *
Declan watched Danny sleep.
Two days of the lunar cycle and the man was already so much better. The lean body had filled out some, the hair was more blond than gray, and the scars were fading.
God, Danny was so beautiful. Dec had apologized two more times for doubting the man, and Danny had laughed and wolfed out and run in circles around him. He figured that was a good sign. The man’s mind was coming back, too, sharp and wickedly bright, the flashes of humor and laughter fucking amazing.
Bright blue eyes popped open, danced for him. “Mate. I was dreaming.”
He laughed. Danny had said that a lot lately. “Was it good?”
“It was. You were running with me.” Daniel rolled up, nuzzled his jaw, scenting him. “I’m hungry.”
“What do you want?” He’d thawed chicken and pork. He could cook stuff fast.
“Mmm. Meat. And milk. I want a glass of milk. Then you.” Danny’s chuckle was pure wicked evil.
“You can have it all, baby.” Declan took a kiss, then rubbed noses with his mate. “I love you, baby. I’m glad you’re home.”
“Yes. Yes, tell me I can stay.”
“You can and you will. I promise, baby. My mate.” He meant it with everything in him.
“Yours.” Danny was in his lap, rubbing as playfully as any pup. “Your own.”
Declan nodded, holding on tight. No one would ever take Danny away from him again. Not even Danny himself
God help those fuckers if they tried.