STORY EXCERPT

Axel already crossed the boundary. He knew he shouldn’t be hanging around Ryan’s yard, and his wolf thought there was nothing wrong with checking on their human. Ryan wasn’t their human, he reminded his animal, no matter how much both wolf and man wanted Ryan.

He found a spare blanket from the closet and placed it over Ryan’s still unconscious form. Maybe Axel could linger just a little longer, just to make sure Ryan wouldn’t go into an attack again. According to his data, the police had a fifteen minute response time.

First though, Axel looked at himself. Seeing a naked man would probably shock Ryan as much as a seeing a werewolf. He jogged upstairs, memorizing scents along the way.

Axel found a pair of jogging pants and a big shirt that could fit on him in one of the drawers in Ryan’s bedroom. He put those on and looked around Ryan’s room. Everything here smelled of his little human, and Axel found himself touching surfaces, a gay romance book Ryan had been reading, a tablet, some socks. It was as if Axel wanted to memorize Ryan’s scent.

That way, he could easily track his human and—shit. Axel was doing it again, presuming Ryan was a conquest he planned on winning over. No, conquest was a wrong word, because Ryan was so much more.

Mate, his wolf finally identified. Axel froze. That couldn’t be. For all his jokes to Zane and the others about not needing a mate, there was a truth he’d hid, even from his best friends. That men like him who racked up plenty of sins didn’t deserve a mate. Axel had a feeling his friends harbored the same sentiments.

“He’s too good for us,” he told his wolf.

The beast inside him growled in disagreement. In the eyes of most of the world, Ryan might be considered an oddity, a freak, but not to him. Ryan hadn’t known it, but the past three days, he’d revealed so much of himself to Axel.

Hearing a crash sent Axel running back downstairs, only to find Ryan, clearly fine, wide awake, and holding onto a baseball bat.

“Don’t you dare come close,” Ryan warned, eyes flicking over him. The human swallowed, as if he wondered if he could take on Axel.

Axel extended a hand, a peace offering. “Hurting you is the last thing on my mind, little human. Put the bat down before you hurt yourself.”

“Hurt myself?” Ryan spat, fire in his eyes. “I’m the one with the weapon, buster.”

Oh, this was new. Axel hadn’t expected to see defiance in Ryan, and damn, but it only made him want his little human even more. Screw it. His wolf already knew in his bones what Ryan was. Mate.

Just to see what his little human would show him next, he shifted his offered hand to claws and gave Ryan a toothy smile. “Untrue.”

* * * *

Seeing the human hand of the intruder sporting long, wicked claws, Ryan knew he was done for. Savage but eerily beautiful yellow eyes peered back from a face made of hard but handsome angles. God, he knew it was inappropriate, but Ryan couldn’t help but admire how gorgeous this intruder was. Well-built and made of muscle, the stranger must have been six-foot-three at least, and every inch of skin that peeked from his clothes showed ink.

His clothes, Ryan told himself. Something was definitely wrong with him, because the first thing that popped in his mind was how attractive his attacker was. Damn it.

It wasn’t like Ryan never spoke to anyone else. He communicated to his boss and other team members on the phone and the delivery men and women who brought him his groceries and other shopping. Sure, it was hard, and he dreaded those days, but he managed.

None of those interactions ever stirred him up completely the way this man did. Then again, this man broke into his home and—

A vital piece of information clicked into place. This man had short black hair and those unique, inhuman eyes, just like the wolf he spotted.

“You’re the werewolf,” he whispered, feeling foolish for only piecing the picture together now. He hadn’t been aware of taking a few steps backward until his back hit the wall of his living room.

The werewolf sheathed his claws and actually had the nerve to grin at him. The alarms in his head no longer rang, but he was still wary of this stranger who could easily end his life.

“Guilty as charged,” the werewolf said, tone clearly amused.

“What do you want? Look, the cops are coming. You set off my alarm,” he quickly said, hoping the man would heed his warning.

Ryan didn’t know if his thinking was naïve, but he woke up on his couch with a blanket over him. If the intruder wanted to harm him, the guy would have done so already. Ryan thought that no matter how dangerous the werewolf looked, he wasn’t an assassin sent by Raines.

“By my estimation, they would only be here in eight minutes. Plenty of time for you and me to have a little chat, get to know each other better.”

Fear clogged his throat. He felt like an idiot for thinking this man didn’t mean him any harm. The werewolf growled under his breath, making him jump. Ryan didn’t miss the slightly sharpened edges of the intruder’s teeth.

“I smell fear on you, little human.”

He clutched at his bat, unsure if it would be of any help to him. To his surprise, he managed to come out with a witty retort. “Well, yeah. There’s a dangerous, handsome, big ass werewolf in my home.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Ryan panted. “Are you going to keep ripping all of my clothes?”

“It was in the way,” Axel said with a growl to his voice, and he saw Axel’s pupils were bright amber now. Ryan had a feeling it wasn’t just the man he was seeing but also Axel’s wolf, peering at him.

“Does your wolf approve of me?” he had to ask.

Axel chuckled, as if he asked the most obvious question in the world. “Little human, my wolf knew from the start you were meant to be mine. No doubts.”

Axel nuzzled his neck, scraped his teeth against his racing pulse point, before moving lower. The werewolf grabbed the bottle of maple syrup, uncapped it, and drizzled a couple of droplets over his chest. Axel set it down, lowered his head, and flicked his tongue over his left nipple.

He groaned, clawing at the wood as Axel sucked and nipped his way across the places where Axel dripped the syrup. Axel took his left nipple into his mouth, sucked, and at the same time, closed his fingers over his thickening shaft.

God. He was so aroused Ryan didn’t know how long he could last at this rate. Axel took the bottle again and gave his dick a few pumps. Ryan knew what was coming next but he didn’t mind, because no one ever looked at him the way Axel did, like he was the most desirable and precious thing in the world.

Axel let a few drops down his shaft, his balls. Then the werewolf bent down, tongued at his cockhead, licking away the pre-cum and sweet syrup. The cocky bastard took his time, tasting and lashing his tongue down his length. Axel also took in his balls into his mouth, sucking softly. All the while, Axel pinned his gaze on his, expression intense.

Ryan moaned as Axel ran a finger down his crease and found his asshole. He squirmed but Axel pressed his free hand on his belly, keeping him in place.

Axel paused from his task to say, “Fuck, little human. You taste so much better than I imagined.”

What could Ryan say to that? Axel had rendered him completely speechless, and Axel’s mouth and fingers felt too good. Axel fingered his hole and opened his mouth to take Ryan’s cock in. He gasped, watching his dick disappear down Axel’s throat.

Although Axel was the one giving him the blowjob, it was Ryan who was under Axel’s complete mercy. The werewolf bobbed his head up and down. When he was on the verge of coming, Axel pulled his mouth away, licking his lips.

He let out a hiss of frustration. “Why did you stop?”

“Because I don’t want you to come yet, little human. Remember, I lead the dance here, not you.”

Somehow, Axel’s words made sense, because when Axel ran the show, he realized he liked it, liked when his dominant werewolf gave him orders. Could he call Axel his? Did Ryan dare hope?

“Okay,” he whispered, excitement and anticipation running in his veins.

Axel got off him and picked up his discarded jeans, grabbing a condom and lube from his back pocket.

“Do you carry those with you all the time?” he asked. He hated sounding petty, but a good-looking guy like Axel would have no problem finding lovers. Why would Axel want him, if Axel could have anyone he wanted?

Axel silenced his doubts with a scorching look that was all naked, savage need. When Axel spoke, he caught a hint of sharp teeth under the dining room light. “I figured I might get lucky sooner or later,” Axel answered.

“With me?”

Axel walked over to him, giving his tormented prick a pull. Ryan nearly came then but he held back, not wanting to spoil the game. “Do you want to learn the truth, little human?”

Oh no. Axel sounded dead serious, even the look in Axel’s eyes scared him a little, but he knew Axel would kill himself first before harming him. “Yes?”

“I need to own you, to make you mine, because I’m a possessive, jealous fucker. I can’t let anyone else have you,” Axel said simply.

His heart started on a staccato rhythm. Those words should have made him a little weary, reminded him having a werewolf lover could be incredibly scary, but it didn’t. Instead, it gave him reassurance that this gorgeous man saw no other man in the world except him.

“It’s not like anyone’s lining up for me,” he joked.

“Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Devalue yourself. Enough. I’m going to show you how important you are to me. You’re the treasure I’ve been searching for my entire life.” Axel hefted Ryan’s legs over his shoulders, making him squeak. “My mate.”

Only now did Ryan dare to believe those words. He kept quiet as Axel uncapped the lube and applied a generous amount inside his hole. Axel pushed one finger in, added in a second, making him groan.

The werewolf began widening him for his access and making twisting motions.

“You ready?” Axel asked, and he nodded as Axel took his fingers away.

The last time Ryan had sex had been with his high school boyfriend Todd. It had been quick and messy, the act between two young men who had no idea what they were doing. With Axel, it felt immensely different. He gripped Axel’s biceps and nodded again.

“Yes.”

Axel replaced his fingers with his cock, angling it to Ryan’s entrance. He sucked in a breath as Axel breached his ass.