slightly irritated glance over his head. Ian shrugged and smiled back at him.

Inside the large dining area, Nicky had directed a head table to be set up, with Marco in the center and Nicky at his right side. Ian, Logan, Casey and Rory made up the others at their table, and once they were all seated, the servers brought out the food. Fried chicken, ham, pinto beans, collard greens, fresh corn, even banana pudding, still warm from the oven—all Marco’s favorite

“No speeches,” Marco growled in his ear, and Nicky laughed, so happy to have Marco home and there beside him again. They all tucked into the feast, and though Nicky still didn’t have much appetite, he enjoyed watching Marco eat. Nicky had always been a picky eater, hating most vegetables and especially the southern staples, though he’d been born and raised near Atlanta. He’d chosen these dishes for Marco and was content to just watch him enjoy his meal.

At one point, Marco glanced over at his still full plate. “You need to eat something.” He picked up a bowl of pinto beans and put some on Nicky’s plate. “Eat some beans. They’re good

for you.”

“None for me,” he said with a laugh. “Redneck vegetables make me sick.” “Redneck vegetables—what the hell is that?” His eyebrows pulled together in a frown, as he

seemed to be trying to decide if Nicky meant the remark as an insult.

Nicky rolled his eyes. “It’s just all the vegetables my mama used to try to make me eat when I was little, so I called them names to make her mad. Collard greens, pinto beans, fried green tomatoes.” He made a little face. “All that southern stuff. I swear my mama got me mixed up in the hospital. I was always convinced as a kid that somewhere out there some little rich kid was

living the life that should have been mine.”

Marco gave him a puzzled little smile, as if he didn’t quite know what to make of him. It suddenly seemed so familiar—Marco had given him much the same smile almost every day since he’d met him.

“Well, eat something else, then. That’s an order from your alpha.”

Nicky glanced up at him, and found him smiling at him, so he smiled back and took a big

bite of mashed potatoes. Marco grinned and nodded. “Good.”

Nicky would have been much happier at his approval if he hadn’t felt like Marco wanted to pat him on the head. He’d worked so hard over the past year and a half to make Marco understand that the pets of the pack weren’t children to be taken care of and patronized. If Marco had forgotten him and everything associated with him, then that might mean he had all that work to do over again. Only this time, Marco didn’t seem to be as crazy in love with him as he was before. Tears threatened to spring to his eyes again, but he ruthlessly forced them away. He would make Marco remember what they used to have if it was the last thing he ever did. He had

to.

Nicky ate a little more and moved the rest around to make it look like he’d eaten some. He really had no appetite. He glanced up and saw Dr. Tate sitting with his sister and her mate across the room. The doctor was watching him very closely, so Nicky smiled and gave him a little wave. He looked over at Marco to find him watching him too, and frowning with disapproval. Was he a little jealous? Nicky remembered how possessive he’d been at the hospital when the doctor put his arms around him. He filed the information away to possibly be used later. If appealing to the possessiveness of his big, bad wolf was what it took, then that’s what he would

Some soft music was playing in the background, and as the meal ended, people began to leave their tables and stand around in small groups. Nicky drifted over next to Logan, while Marco was talking with Casey and Rory.

“How are you holding up, Nicky?” Logan asked. “Any sign he remembers you yet?” “No,” Nicky sighed. “But he’s still a wolf, and he’s apparently still possessive as hell, even

if he doesn’t quite remember me. I waved at Dr. Tate just now and got a very dirty look.” Logan smiled. “No surprise—even if he doesn’t remember you, he knows you’re his mate, and his pride won’t let him react any other way. Maybe that’s a good sign though—he’s definitely not indifferent to you.”

“I think I’ll take advantage of that fact right now. Come with me, Logan.” Pulling Logan along with him, Nicky went over to stand by Jeremy Tate’s table.

“How are you, Nicky?” The doctor’s warm voice felt like a balm for his still tender feelings and made him instantly relax. While Marco was in the hospital, he’d come to realize the doctor liked him, maybe a little too much, but his frank admiration was flattering and soothing. Nicky

gave him a bright smile in return.

“I’m fine, now I’ve had some rest. I wanted to thank you again for all you did for me and Marco in the hospital. I know it couldn’t have been easy, keeping things so private and hush hush.”

“Not at all, it was my pleasure. I’m happy to see you feeling better.” No mention of Marco, Nicky noticed.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Marco watching him. Deliberately, he stuck out his hand to Jeremy Tate. He certainly knew better. One of the things he’d been trying to change for a while was this silly rule about never touching another wolf’s mate. Pets could touch each other all they wanted, but not any other male. It was a rule Nicky had long thought ridiculous. Why he felt the need to push the issue now, he couldn’t say, other than to crack that mask of cool indifference on Marco’s face whenever he looked at him. Some perversity inside him—the thing that usually got him in trouble—was urging him on.

Jeremy looked down at the hand he offered. Nicky and he had discussed this rule once during a long night at the hospital, and Nicky knew Jeremy was well aware that he wasn’t supposed to touch him. He couldn’t even touch his own sister, for God’s sake, except on rare occasions and then only after he’d asked permission from her mate. Dumbass rule, Nicky

thought, so he put out his hand and waited to see what might happen.

Instead of shaking it, like Nicky had intended, the doctor clasped it in his warm hand and smiled up into Nicky’s eyes. Feeling a little uneasy at his expression, Nicky tried to pull away, but the doctor held on and even added another hand to the mix, one of his thumbs slowly stroking over the back of Nicky’s hand. “Steady, Nicky.” Jeremy said softly. “Marco’s coming, and he looks pissed.” As Marco walked quickly across the room toward them, Jeremy finally

dropped his hands and sat back in his chair.

Before Nicky could move away, a big hand gave him a hard swat on the ass, surprising and embarrassing him in front of everybody. He put his hands back on the sting, but Marco pulled his arm, hauling Nicky up to his side. Standing between Nicky and the doctor, Marco leaned over and murmured softly in Nicky’s ear. “We need to start as we mean to go on, Nicky, and you know better than to do what you just did. I can only imagine you’re playing some kind of little

game. I hear you’re good at that. Go to our rooms, and I’ll be up in a minute to deal with you.” Marco let go of his arm and gave him a little push toward the door. Nicky felt his face flaming. He figured he’d make Marco a little jealous, but he hadn’t expected to be swatted in front of most of the pack and then sent to his room like a child. He briefly thought about refusing, but didn’t want to make any more of a scene than he’d already done on Marco’s first night home, so he turned on his heel and left the dining room as quickly as he could. He gave Jeremy Tate one glance as he left and found him looking at his retreating figure with concern in his dark eyes.

Marco watched Nicky walk out of the dining room too, admiring the sway to his perfect little rounded ass. He’d been watching that ass from across the room, noticing how the skintight jeans outlined his hips and accentuated his smoking hot body. God, he really was a gorgeous boy. Everything about him attracted Marco, from his golden, tousled curls to those big blue eyes. And his body—it was small compared to the wolves but perfectly formed. Marco wondered what he would look like beneath those jeans and that shirt stretched so tightly across his muscular back. He was half listening to Casey going on about the new construction that they always seemed to be involved in and half lost in admiration of this boy everyone said was his, when he noticed he wasn’t the only one in the room watching Nicky’s fine ass.

Several of the male wolves and nearly all the females were watching him too, some of them with a hungry look in their eyes. Dr. Tate watched him like he was something to eat as Nicky walked toward him, his gaze roving up and down Nicky’s body. Possessive jealousy seared through Marco, and leaving Casey in mid-sentence, he stalked across the room to lay claim to his mate. When he saw Tate with both hands wrapped around one of Nicky’s, he was filled with fury. Tate was being deliberately provocative, and both he and Marco knew it.

Did this human think he could steal his mate from him? Over his dead body. Just before he could tear Nicky away from him, the doctor released Nicky’s hand, but Marco still swatted Nicky’s ass to show his possession of him, and pulled the boy closely to his side. He’d never had such strong reactions to anyone before, and he fleetingly wondered what the hell was going on inside his mind. After sending Nicky upstairs, he glared down at the doctor. He wished he was a member of his pack so he could show him proper discipline. As it was, he clenched his fists by his side, fighting to keep his voice calm. He noticed with another, calmer part of his mind that both Ian and Casey had arrived to stand slightly behind him.

“We appreciate your coming today, Tate, but we don’t want to keep you away from your duties at the hospital any longer.”

Jeremy Tate stood up to face him. He wasn’t as tall as Marco, but he was well over six feet and muscular. His eyes held a challenge that Marco’s wolf responded to with an urge to leap across the table and rip out his throat. He restrained himself with a steely concentration as the damn man smiled at him. “Thank you, alpha. It was good of you to invite me—oh, but that was Nicky, wasn’t it? You know you’re a damn lucky man to have someone like him. I hope you realize it. I wouldn’t like to see him mistreated.”