STORY EXCERPT

It was a shifter. He could tell as he closed in. Testosterone, and high levels of it, so definitely a male.

And it belonged to him. The male was his.

He was going to take it. Take him. Chronos was going to fuck him and fight Mattis off if the other man thought for one instant that the male belonged to him.

Where was he? Where was he? That feeling of being at peace with his inner lion began to disappear on him. He struggled to control himself as he soon realized he couldn’t find the male that scent came from.

He needed that scent. He needed the man, whoever he was. He needed to stake his claim before Mattis got to him!

He could see the other lion, running proudly through the trees. Mattis kept a long distance, barely visible through the brush from where he ran. Far enough away that he could follow the scent while still keeping out of reach of Chronos’s claws.

And he felt his chance slipping away from him.

So he pumped his front and hind legs faster.

Closer. He was getting closer, he wasn’t going to allow Mattis to take him.

Shit!

Chronos dug his paws into the dirt, the sharp pain of pine needles stabbing at him, but that was easy enough to ignore when he realized that he’d run past the source of that scent.

He was hiding. Whoever that beautiful smell belonged to was hiding, and Mattis clearly realized the same thing as he turned, as well.

But now Chronos was ahead of him, he could practically taste that wonderful scent on his tongue.

So close. So close.

There!

Chronos jumped. He saw the head peeking out from the shrubs growing out from an overturned tree.

So that was why he’d missed him.

The other male looked up at him, hazel eyes flying wide as his mouth dropped open in a near scream. Likely something to do with the massive clawed paws reaching out for him, but that wasn’t going to be an issue for him in a moment.

Chronos pushed his claws back where they couldn’t hurt the other man just as he touched the guy’s chest. He’d only needed them to pull himself faster through the forest, and now that he had what he wanted, the male and him falling back, he was fine.

The other man threw his arms up, as though to defend his face from an attack he thought was coming, but of course Chronos didn’t attack him.

He just looked.

He looked, and he enjoyed the sight and smell.

He could hear the heavy beating of the man’s heart. It was a fine, strong heart, the sort of heart that Chronos wouldn’t mind owning.

Figuratively.

He purred. Chronos didn’t often purr, and he could hardly believe he was doing it now, but he didn’t exactly try to stop himself from purring, either, as he leaned in closer, bumping the man’s chest with his nose, letting him feel more of the purring, more of the comfort that Chronos wanted to give him.

He was not going to hurt this man. He would never hurt this man, and he just needed the guy to know it.

Mine. This is mine.

The male lowered his arms, slowly, when he realized there was no attack coming for him. He looked up at Chronos with those pretty eyes, soft shades of brown like glowing sand, if sand could glow, staring up at him with wonder.

And fear.

He smelled like a dog.

Ah, so that was why.

Mattis snarled behind him. “You should get off him, Chronos.”

Chronos whipped his tail around behind him. He wasn’t going anywhere, and the low, warning growl in the back of his throat was more than enough to let the other man know just that.

“H-help,” said the male, his blond hair splayed out around him, pine needles and some twigs tangled in the golden mess.

Help? Really? Chronos was honest to God hurt by that.

He shifted, not wanting to be in his lion shape if his own mate was going to fear the sight of him. Chronos definitely sensed a difference in the beating of his heart. No longer so afraid of being ripped up when there wasn’t a literal lion with a huge mane sitting on top of him.

But as much as Chronos wanted to comfort him, he turned back to Mattis, baring his teeth, readying himself for a fight. “Why the fuck should I listen to you?”

Mattis popped his knuckles. “You either get away from my mate, or we’re going to come to blows there, friend.”

Mate?

Chronos’s eyes flew wide. He looked down at the blond-haired male, then back at Mattis, at the way the male snarled, the stance of his feet and the look of his hands.

As though he was about to jump into a fight and didn’t give a damn about anything else.

“This is my mate,” he snapped back.

Mattis looked just about as confused as Chronos felt.

They looked at each other, then down at the wolf shifter. It seemed to click for the both of them at the same time. “Oh fuck,” they both said.

They had to share their mate with each other, just like Elias and Cerberus.

Well, wasn’t that a giant bitch?

ADULT EXCERPT

He reached between them, taking Watson’s cock into his slippery hand, stroking the other male while Mattis kissed him. Watson moaned against Mattis’s mouth. He pushed his thighs up against Chronos’s hand, pushing his cock between his fingers.

“You like that?”

Watson sighed, pulling his mouth away, panting for breath as he looked up at him. His eyes were incredibly dilated. “Yeah,” he said with a gasping breath. “I do.”

Good to know. Chronos tightened the grip of his hand, twisting it and letting his fingers play at the underside of Watson’s cockhead.

“You feel real good,” Chronos said, and he wasn’t just blowing smoke up the guy’s ass, either. His dick felt nice in Chronos’s hand. He was heavy in size, probably as thick as Chronos was, and he was uncut.

Which was just the way he preferred his males to be.

Uncut and heavy in the hand, giving him something he could really grasp onto, or enjoy in his mouth. And he couldn’t wait to enjoy his mate.

He was so busy enjoying the touch of Watson that it took him a second to notice Mattis wasn’t moving. He’d frozen, and he was looking at Chronos.

Right. He was still shuddering from the delusion that the male beneath him belonged only to him.

Chronos decided to have a little fun with that. “See something you like?” he asked, putting his hand behind Mattis’s head and yanking him close.

He definitely surprised the other male by kissing him, but at least Chronos was the first to do this, to get his point across that even though they were in Mattis’s bedroom, Chronos still had seniority and rank over him, and they were going to work together on this until a compromise could be made.

When he pulled back, it was petty and everything, but Chronos couldn’t help but enjoy the look of shock on Mattis’s face, and then he glanced down and noted the deepening blush on Watson’s face.

“Did you like that?” Chronos asked.

Watson nodded silently.

Cat got his tongue alright, and Chronos hadn’t even kissed him. He’d just traumatized his friend a little.

“Don’t do that again,” Mattis said with a low growl.

“Sure thing, whatever you say,” Chronos said. “Unless Watson wants me to.”

Mattis glanced down at Watson, as though just now remembering the other male was beneath him.

Watson shrugged helplessly. “Sorry, I thought it was… I thought you both looked really… good, you know?”

“You thought that?” Mattis asked.

“You don’t have to sound like that’s the most shocking thing you’ve ever heard in your life,” Chronos said. He happened to think he looked really good when kissing someone. Even if that someone was a stoic little shit like Mattis.

Watson nodded, and there was a hint of color blooming in Mattis’s cheeks at the revelation.

“Oh.”

Chronos almost laughed. The other man seriously thought their own mate wouldn’t find it hot to see them kissing in front of him.

Also, the fact that he was blushing at all was hilarious as all hell. Chronos was never going to stop throwing that in the man’s face for as long as he lived.

“Let’s give him another little show.” Chronos put his hand behind Mattis’s head, and it was almost cute watching as the other warrior seemed to get bashful all of a sudden, but he still allowed himself to be pulled forward, letting Chronos kiss him, his tongue tracing against the crease of his lips.

Chronos made sure Watson could see it when he slipped his tongue between Mattis’s lips. He also loved the sound of the other man’s moan more than he thought he would, and then there was the groan Watson let out beneath them.

That was the only reason why he didn’t tease and torment Mattis more than he knew he could get away with.

They were here to take care of their mate, not each other.

“You want to try that?” Chronos asked.

Watson nodded. “Yeah, kiss me, too.”

Chronos did, and as he kissed his new mate, he couldn’t help but think there was something erotic to this. That he would taste a little like Mattis as he kissed Watson, letting his mate take in a little of both of them.

Watson moaned, pushing his fingers through Chronos’s hair, gripping tight enough that it hurt, but it was a good kind of pain, the sort that let him focus a little more on what he was doing, that pushed his orgasm further to the back of his mind, preventing him from coming too soon.

Mattis already had Watson’s knees pushed forward, exposing his hole. All Mattis had to do was reach his still wet fingers down to Watson’s pucker, let his fingertips slide around the ring of muscle, and…

Watson groaned hard.