STORY EXCERPT

Davin Hart stared at his mate. He felt so small and insignificant standing before Mark. An alpha wolf. A creature that could destroy Davin in an instant if he really felt like it.

They were in their kitchen, a kitchen they'd fucked in so many times Davin couldn't count them.

Right now, the space felt cold. It felt like Davin didn't belong there, and he wished he were anywhere else other than right here.

"I'm not doing this to hurt you."

Empty words. Davin knew that, and he was a hundred percent sure that Mark knew it, too, because this was clearly hurting him.

"I wish it didn't have to be this way."

Mark's eyes glinted, a hint of anger coming forward, catching Davin off guard. "It'd be real easy to believe that if you weren't doing this to us."

Davin flinched, the worst kind of shame and guilt eating away at him.

Which was strange because he'd never had feelings like that in front of Mark before. Not once did Davin ever feel small or guilty or helpless when it came to his mate.

He did whenever the hunters tried to get to him, but not ever in front of Mark.

But he did so right now. Of course he did. He and Mark were finalizing their separation.

A separation Davin had asked for.

"I'm sorry," he said. Davin forced himself to look Mark in the eyes. It was the least he could do after everything Mark had done for him.

Mark had been there for him so many times, had saved his life on occasion, but the times when he couldn't be there had slowly started to outweigh the times when he could.

And after being kidnapped by hunters for a third time, it got to the point where Davin no longer cared who was coming to save him and why. He knew Mark would come to save him eventually, or that he would try.

That didn't make the experience of having his life in danger any better. Davin knew that his mate cared for him, and Davin loved Mark so much in return.

But Davin didn't want to be a victim anymore. He didn't want to be used against the man he loved or the people he respected and adored in Bodolf's pack.

He wanted to go back to being normal.

He didn't want to be a wolf soul, and while he knew that was something he could never entirely avoid, he could still try.

"You don't have to do this."

Mark stood in front of him, arms crossed, but it was a defensive position rather than an offensive one. Davin could see that from a mile away.

"I know you still love me."

Davin did, and that was the thing he struggled with the most.

"I do."

But he wasn't so sure that Mark loved him, not even because the man hardly ever said it. Davin knew words couldn't always convey what a person was feeling, but this seemed so much more important. This seemed like…

Sometimes it seemed more like Mark was playing a part. Of course he would care for the man who was his mate, the man who might carry his children one day, but that was a mating instinct. The mating heat was what the wolves called it.

Davin thought he could stick around long-term for a man who only cared for him, especially considering the life Mark offered him.

It wasn't always dangerous to live here, but being kidnapped three times over the course of four years had taken its toll on Davin.

He swallowed hard. "I just…I know you were trying, and you knew this was coming. We talked about this."

"Right, and I was hoping you would come to your senses."

Mark looked at him up and down, as though he'd never laid eyes on Davin before, as though he were a stranger.

"Do you know what it will do to us if you try to break off a mating? Do you have any idea the pain you'll go through?"

Davin flinched. "You're worried about the pain of breaking off a mating?"

"Did I say anything about me?" Mark snorted, turning away from Davin. He paced a little and ran his hand through his hair before pushing his gray suit jacket back and letting his hands rest on his hips.

"You're the one who will get hit the hardest. Not me. I'm an alpha. I can handle it."

Davin pressed his lips together. "Then it should be fine for you to let me go."

Mark turned back to look at him, his eyes a bright shade of gold. They looked anything but human, and in that moment, Davin was positive it was the wolf he was looking at and not the man.

"I…I need to do this."

And the only way to sever a mating was if both parties were on board. One couldn't do it without the other. That was how this sort of thing worked.

At least, that was how Mark had it explained to him. He wasn't a wolf, so everything he knew about werewolves came as a product of living here for a little over four years.

"I don't want to do this—"

"Then don't!"

Davin jumped when Mark punched his fist through the wall. The alpha pulled his hand back, looked at the drywall crumbling to the floor, then looked at Davin before he turned and walked out.

And Davin's heart went with him. He didn't want this. He didn't want to leave his mate any more than Mark wanted Davin to leave, but Davin wanted a normal life. He didn't want to have to fear for his life ever again.

He didn't want someone to put a blade to his throat because he was the mate of a wolf shifter. He didn't want to have to keep secrets from friends outside of the pack.

But as Mark walked away, all of those things seemed so utterly small and insignificant in comparison to having the man he loved back.

ADULT EXCERPT

The wolf inside him, growling and ready to pounce, sprang to life and wrapped itself around Davin the moment their mouths touched.

Mark licked at the crease of Davin’s lips, tasting him, growling as he did so because the wolf was involved.

“Baby, I love you.” Mark pulled Davin into his arms. His mate wrapped his legs around Mark’s waist, staring right at him, as though he were looking into Mark’s soul, before Mark set him down onto the kitchen counter.

“I love you,” he said again. Mark was never going to get tired of saying that, especially now that he knew Davin felt as though Mark hadn’t been saying it enough.

And he hadn’t. Mark could see that now. He hadn’t said it enough, not because Davin wasn’t worthy of hearing those words but because of other factors.

His job, his duties with the pack. The fact that Mark tended to think Davin would know he was loved regardless of whether or not Mark said anything at all…

He had so much more to work on than he thought, and he was just glad his mate wanted to give this a chance. The fact that Davin had stuck around this long, had defended him, was an excellent sign.

Mark’s fingers worked quickly to get Davin out of his jeans. No belt today, so that made things much easier.

“I love you.”

Mark slid his hand beneath the waist of Davin’s open jeans. He watched closely the look in Davin’s eyes, the way they widened and then darkened, with lust.

Davin bit down on his bottom lip. A move he knew drove Mark up the wall with desire.

“I love you, too.”

The wolf straightened up and howled at those words.

Mark grabbed Davin by the back of the neck, yanking him forward and kissing him again.

Davin shivered as Mark claimed him, licking deep in his mouth, swallowing the sweet sounds of his mewls.

It felt as though Davin was holding on to Mark’s shoulders for dear life as Mark kissed him. He felt the way Davin’s hands trembled on his shoulders even as he pulled Mark closer, as he turned his head to the side, encouraging the kiss to continue.

And Mark knew that, even as Davin said he loved him, that didn’t mean their issues were resolved.

There was still so much to do, but now, now Mark was finally able to kiss his mate with the assurance that Davin wasn’t going to leave.

He didn’t want to leave. He wouldn’t.

Mark pulled his mate’s thighs closer so that his ass hung right off the edge of the counter.

Mark couldn’t get enough. His hands needed to touch every inch of Davin’s skin. Even as he leaned down, freeing Davin’s cock, tasting the salty drop of pre-cum and pushing Davin’s shirt up so his fingers could reach and touch his nipples, it wasn’t close to being enough.

He needed more.

Davin ran his fingers through Mark’s hair, already thrusting into Mark’s mouth. Trying to. His hips did a little back and forth canting thing. It wasn’t as though he had much room to work being so close to the edge of the counter.

“God, Markus. Do it, please.”

He was always so shy. Mark pulled his lips back from Davin’s shaft.

“You want me to put your dick in my mouth?”

The color in Davin’s cheeks increased. Mark got an immense amount of pleasure from watching the way his Adam’s apple bobbed.

“Yeah. I want that.”

The wolf released a pleased rumbling noise from the depths of Mark’s head.

“Good, now say those words to my face. Tell me you want me to put your cock into my mouth.”

Another hard swallow. Mark could hear the heavy thumping of Davin’s heart. He could smell his lust, could feel the way his blood rushed through his veins about a thousand times faster than what should have been normal for a human.

He looked like prey. Like the sort of prey Mark’s inner wolf wanted to claim for his own.

“Say it.”

Davin cleared his throat, but it didn’t do anything to help with the color on his cheeks.

“I want you to put my dick in your mouth.” Getting a little braver, Davin seemed to steel himself. “Put my cock in your mouth and suck on it until I come.”

Mark snorted a laugh. He couldn’t believe his mate actually said it like that.

At the same time, it did the job, and he got to work worshipping Davin’s cock.

First he loved the head, giving it all the attention and affection that it needed with his mouth and tongue.

With each lick around the underside of the head, Mark felt the shiver that it pulled from Davin’s body.

And with each shiver, each moan and sigh, Mark was emboldened.

Asking for this seven days was the best damned decision he’d ever made in his entire life.

Mark sank his mouth down around the length of Davin’s prick.

He wasn’t as wide as Mark was, but he was a fair length, almost the same as Mark.

Mark loved knowing his mate was well endowed. It made Mark feel proud knowing he could take the man all the way to the root.

And as he gave his mate pleasure, it gave him pleasure. Mark’s body hummed with every moan. His cock throbbed as Davin thrust as deep into Mark’s mouth as he could go.

And Mark was into it.

He let his hands slide up, down, and around the back of Davin’s ass, his thighs, anywhere he could touch.

It was as though his hands needed something to touch, needed to feel Davin’s skin in order to feel sane.

It almost felt as though he hadn’t touched his mate in months. Now he needed to take his fill before some other damned distraction caught him off guard.

He could feel the coming orgasm from within Davin. It was in the way his mate thrust his pelvis, the sudden speed, the sound of his voice as he moaned with pleasure, the way he grabbed at Mark’s hair and gripped just a little too tight.

Mark could read his mate like a damned large print book, and though things had been rough, he knew Davin was about to come.

He welcomed it. He wanted it. Needed it. And now he was going to get it.

Mark sank his mouth down as far as he could go on the length of Davin’s cock, feeling the head tickling the back of his throat. He lingered there, knowing what was coming when Davin shouted.

Mark swallowed down everything Davin gave to him, and the wolf inside his head rumbled with approval as Mark had his taste.

A taste he loved and adored. A taste he wanted so much more of.