Eli reached down and grabbed him, and after throwing the other man over his shoulder, he carted him off to his bedroom fireman-
style.
He enjoyed the shocked noises Chris made at the new position, but would enjoy the pleasurable wails he made even more when Eli taught him the proper way to suck a man’s dick by leading through example.
* * * *
“Can we go back to the pond?” Chris asked. “I like it there.”
Chris had been asking this a lot lately. If Eli managed to get permission from James to go, this would be the third time this week.
Not that he could blame the other man for wanting the change in scenery, what with the lack of any difference in scenery in the main
camp.
Eli smiled and kissed him, they were still in bed, naked, and letting the cool breeze from the early morning waft in through the open windows. He couldn’t deny Chris what he wanted. Eli was going to have to ask James if that was normal of a mated alpha after he asked to go back to the pond. Of course, James wouldn’t always be
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able to spare the extra alphas to go with them as guards, just so that the pair of them could relax by the water.
“I’ll see what I can do. Going to go swimming this time?”
“Maybe,” Chris blushed as he stared up at the ceiling. “What are the odds that we’ll get to be alone while we’re there?”
Eli sighed. With several days having gone by since the last attack, Chris had grown complacent and seemed to think that the danger was over or at least had dwindled enough that it was safe for just him and Eli to go off by themselves.
No matter what Eli said, he couldn’t seem to truly convince his mate that he was important, and that he would always require protection, and that Eli wouldn’t always be strong enough to give it to him.
More of that fear bubbled up in Eli’s head. Chris was becoming antsy here and with good reason. Any normal human being wouldn’t want to be cooped up on such a small piece of land, never having the freedom to go wherever he wanted to go.
When he discovered that was the way it would always be, Eli wouldn’t stop him when he finally decided to leave and go somewhere where no wild and dangerous werewolves lived.
“I doubt it. Why?”
Chris still avoided eye contact with him. “No reason. Just thought we’d get some time alone.”
Time alone was always good. Eli wondered what he was up to.
“How many werewolves did Deacon make?” Chris asked, changing the subject suddenly. “It can’t be that hard if he’s still doing it.”
“I’ve never changed anyone before, so personally, I don’t know,” Eli said. “From how I understand it, though, it’s as simple as just scratching someone while in wolf form. Or biting, if you want the process to go any faster.”
“And then they just turn into wild werewolves?” Chris asked.
“Only if they don’t have another wolf around to teach them how
92 Marcy Jacks
to behave. It’s too easy to just let ourselves go in the beginning, to want to be more wolf than human. For myself now, it’s no problem at all. I don’t even think about it. But my brother and I were born werewolves, not changed, so I’m betting the experiences aren’t the same.”
Corey, James’s mate, had nearly gone wild due to his sudden change. Not only that, he’d also suppressed his inner wolf without knowing it, which was just as dangerous as letting it go entirely.
“But, say if you were to change me, there’s a chance I would go wild?”
Eli looked at him then shifted onto his elbow to better see Chris’s
face. “Do you want me to change you?”
He never lost that blush, like just asking was embarrassing or something. “I don’t know. Maybe if you did, I wouldn’t be so helpless all the time. I hate it.”
“You would still need protection,” Eli said. “I can already tell you would be an omega wolf.”
“Well, even then, I would still be fast enough to run away. And if they caught me, I could defend myself long enough for you to come, or maybe even get away on my own.”
Eli had to admit the idea held appeal. Turning Chris into a werewolf would practically guarantee that he couldn’t leave, and it would only serve to strengthen their bond. As two bonded werewolves, they would even be able to communicate telepathically.
That, and Chris was right. As a werewolf, he would be faster and stronger, able to better sense when danger was coming. He wouldn’t be at risk one-hundred percent of the time like he was now.
Why the hell not?
Eli got to his knees. “Are you sure? You want to do this?”
He would have to ask for James’s permission first, but if Eli told
him the reasons, he didn’t think his alpha would be against it. In fact
he was positive that James would be more than for it.
Chris smiled shyly up at him. He nodded then opened his mouth
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to answer when a loud wolf howl sounded outside, and then the
growls and whines of pain started.
Those could be explained away with the roughhousing the other wolves were constantly doing, but Eli heard the undercurrent that Chris did not. He caught the sounds of many padded feet running onto the land, the alpha wolves charging to meet them, and the scuffling sound of nails scratching in the dirt and teeth biting into hair as the fights started.
He got up and out of bed quickly, and only then did Chris seem to take note that something was off.
“What’s wrong?”
Eli heard it coming, and he got in front of the window. The curtains were closed, so hopefully the attacker wouldn’t be aware of Eli standing there.
“Get under the bed and don’t come out until I say so.”
“What?”
The window shattered, and razor-like glass flew around Eli in
