STORY EXCERPT

Sam had no idea where they were going, and he wasn't sure how much he should be worried about that either.

He couldn't let go of Collin's fur, though. He didn't want to fall to the side and die. He didn't want his head to smash into a tree or be impaled by a branch.

"Collin! Collin! Stop!"

The wolf didn't stop. He didn't understand. Sam had always thought wolves were supposed to have more control of their other halves whenever there was a wolf soul nearby.

Maybe Sam just wasn't that good of a wolf soul.

Fuck, if this wolf ate him to death only minutes after Sam had sent his father on his way, then he was going to spend the rest of his life being majorly embarrassed by that.

Really? He was going to die after his dad offered to take Sam with him? That was some bullshit right there.

"Collin!" Same reached up, grabbing the wolf by its golden ears, trying to make it stop.

The wolf yanked his head away, growling back at him.

Should he jump off? Sam wasn't sure if he should. What if he was hurt? And did it even matter now when Collin had already taken him so far away from the houses?

There was no way in hell Sam could outrun Collin back to safety, and Sam was spending so much time second-guessing literally everything that he didn't think he'd be able to get out of here no matter what he did.

They went downhill. Sam’s teeth clacked together as the wolf ran with him. How in the hell was he supposed to get out of this?

Suddenly, the wolf skidded to a halt, kicking up rocks, and Sam flew right over his head and landed in…a lake.

He went far, his body slipping deep.

At least he thought so for the first hair of a second, but then his feet touched the bottom and he pushed himself up, sucking back a hard breath while shaking his hair out of his face.

The wolf stood there, watching him, and Sam glared at the thing, up to his navel in water.

"What the fuck is the matter with you?"

It probably wasn't the best idea for him to yell at a fully grown alpha wolf shifter like that, but he couldn't help it. After a scare like that, he was pissed.

"Collin! Are you serious right now? Ow, fuck." Sam started to limp his way out of the water, his leg throbbing as hot and hard as though he hadn't spent the last couple of days keeping it lifted and pressure off of it.

Sorry, but you shouldn't move around too much right now.

Sam stopped dead at those words. He looked up, watching as the wolf stepped into the water. It didn't come too close, as though it didn't want to get more than its paws a little wet.

They stared at each other. Sam waited for his senses to come back to him.

"Did you just talk to me?"

Yes, keep still. I'm trying to push it back.

Sam wasn't in a mood to think too much about that. So he held still.

"I thought wolf shifters were supposed to have more control when their mates were around?"

We are. Your father's challenge brought this out.

"Wonderful," Sam grumbled. He wasn't in a mood to deal with this right now.

Did I hurt you?

"Not really. Scared the piss out of me, though. I thought you were taking me out here to…never mind."

The wolf actually whined at him, as though Sam had hurt its feelings with that accusation.

Sam struggled to not let his guilt get the better of him with that one.

"What? You were the one who carted me off out here like I was…I don't know, some kind of prize. I can't believe I was just riding a wolf. Like Princess Mononoke or something."

Collin tilted his head to the side. What's that supposed to be?

"Never mind. Is it safe for me to come out of the water now?"

He wanted to go back to Collin's place. He wanted to get cleaned up and get ready for bed.

Another moment passed, a moment when Collin was strangely quiet. As though he were having some kind of internal debate with the wolf living inside of his head.

Eventually, the man reappeared, and Sam breathed a heavy sigh when he saw a human standing in front of him instead of wolf.

"Thank God."

He started wading forward. Collin came into the water, getting next to him and taking his hand.

Sam tried to pull away. "Stop. You're getting your jeans wet."

"And you're limping again. I'm sorry."

Sam shook his head, but he could feel it in the air that it would take some doing before he managed to get Collin to not feel guilt for this.

"You didn't do anything wrong. You're fighting an instinct here."

Collin growled, and at first Sam worried the wolf was coming out to play again, but then he realized that was just the noise he was making.

"The instinct should know to treat a mate more gently than that."

Heat immediately climbed into Sam's cheeks.

He had an idea of what the problem might be, but it was a strange thing giving voice to it.

It was because they hadn't fucked yet. Sam had spent a couple of days here already. The first night when he, Noah, and Gus had been brought here separately from all the other prisoners held against their will by the hunters, Sam had been coming down with something.

Not exactly romance material then. Gus was still sick.

And it seemed his mate wasn’t able to wait anymore.

ADULT EXCERPT

Sam sighed and stretched, snuggling himself a little closer against Collin's side. Then he curled an arm around Collin's middle.

Collin tensed. "What…"

Sam looked up at him. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he said. It seemed that his words were getting a little more terse as time went on. He couldn't help it. This was torture.

But if touch was what his mate needed to recover, to feel safe, then Collin was damn well going to give it to him.

Then Sam pulled back from him, and the loss of his body heat shocked Collin. Almost as much as the way Sam didn't seem to know what he was doing with every single little motion of his body.

It shocked him even more when Sam pulled his shirt off.

"Are you too hot?"

"A little. You don't mind, do you?"

It was on the tip of Collin's tongue to tell him no, to let Sam do whatever he wanted, but then he stopped himself, and he felt like a complete idiot in that moment.

He knew exactly what Sam was trying to do. Sam had that innocent look on his face, and he could pretend all he wanted, but the little bastard was trying to seduce him!

Him! This human was actually trying to seduce him.

There was something amusing about that, but he was determined to not be overcome by his wanton little mate.

"You're fine. But my body heat might be a little too much for you to handle if you want to keep leaning against me."

"That's fine," Sam said, and without hesitation, he let himself settle against Collin's chest.

Like a cat splaying himself out against a soft pillow.

This was a mistake. Collin didn't have the willpower to deal with this.

But he didn't want to be outdone by this man either.

But God, his skin felt good. Collin let his hands settle onto Sam's shoulders and back. The man was lying against him after all, trying to get as much contact as he possibly could. It was good for him. It was good for the both of them, so why not indulge in just a little touch?

Collin didn't realize he was slowly being outdone by the other man. It seemed this was exactly what Sam wanted because the moment he let his hands settle against his skin Sam sighed and wiggled his body a little.

"That feels good."

Collin cleared his throat. "It's supposed to."

Even something as simple as touch, even innocent touch, could offer so much to two mates who needed each other.

Except it didn't seem to be stopping there. Sam's hands were suddenly against Collin's cock, rubbing against his prick through his jeans.

Collin tensed, but he didn't push Sam away. "What are you doing?"

"Do you want me to stop?"

Collin clenched his teeth. "No."

He couldn't lie. Fuck, he couldn't.

"I'm sorry," Sam said, “but I just…I can't help it all of a sudden."

"You're still recovering."

Sam shook his head, pushing himself up to his knees. He straddled Collin's lap while his fingers worked to open his fly.

"I'm not recovering. I want you. Please. Just…even if you don't want me back—"

"That's not what this is." He couldn't keep the growl out of his voice. Collin needed to get this through Sam's head, and he needed to get it through right now.

"I have never not wanted you."

Sam looked at him, someone so small and fragile, and yet he had Collin absolutely wrapped around his little finger.

It was crazy, and it was madness that he was denying himself when Sam was basically throwing himself at Collin right now.

And the wolf agreed, so the thin, fragile thread of resistance that Collin had pulled together snapped, and then he didn't have the ability to say no anymore.

He groaned, sliding his hand behind Sam's neck and pulling him forward, their mouths crashing together.

Sam moaned as their teeth clashed, but it wasn't so bad that he had to pull back. If anything, Sam leaned forward, pushing his tongue against Collin's lips, but he didn't try to take control.

Interesting. Normally people at least made the attempt. Some thought there was something exhilarating in trying to control an alpha when there was no chance for that otherwise.

No, this was something different. Sam seemed to be coaxing Colling into taking him, into slipping his tongue between those lovely lips.

Collin had no issue with that, with pushing the other man down and settling himself between Sam's legs.

And Sam moaned, shivering as his hands continued to roam across Collin's body, but Collin was the one who was still mostly dressed. He was the one who needed to get out of his clothes so Sam could have something to touch.

Collin pulled back, yanking himself out of his shirt before tossing it away. He leaned back in to kiss that perfect mouth one more time, and the wolf in his head rumbled with pleasure.

All the while still snapping at Collin to hurry it up.

As though the beast didn't trust Collin to not back out of this.

Stupid animal. It wasn't like it was going to get in on this anyway.

But still, Collin did feel the intense need to hurry. To take what belonged to him before his better senses came over him and he put a stop to this.

The more Sam continued to make those sweet little mewling noises as Collin licked him deep, the more his hands continued to slide around Collin's bare chest and back, the more Collin realized that wasn't going to be a problem.

There was no going back from this. Not right now. Not when he was so close to coming in his pants when Sam kept thrusting their still-clothed cocks together.

Collin growled, throwing himself off of the other man.

Sam moaned, reaching out for him, but Collin avoided his fingers. "Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back. Be naked."