“Shut up.” Zack leaned over to kiss him thoroughly to shut his smart mouth.“If I have to, I can keep this up all the way home.”

“Mmm…sounds good tome.” Gabe said, as he leaned his upper body back for another kiss, cursing the uncomfortable collar.

Chapter Four

Zack looked in on Gabe for probably the third time in an hour, only to find him still sound asleep.He’d made him keep the cervical collar on, even though they’d had a huge fight about it. After Zack fed him, Gabe said he wasn’t even sore anymore, but Zack wanted to follow at least some of the doctor’s orders. He insisted he wear the collar for a minimum of twenty-four hours, just to make sure. The resulting fight had been ugly, with Gabe trying to kick him and head-butt him as he held him down until Zack had to stretch out full length on him to hold him in place and stop him from hurting himself. Gabe was so furious it took him almost half an hour to go to sleep even after drinking Zack’s blood.

Zack got such a cockstand from it he had to take a cold shower. God, Gabe was stubborn. Zack hoped he had given him enough blood so he’d sleep for a good while.He’d been worried about his neck, and he’d maybe given him a little too much.

He went back to his office where his top aides waited for him. His beta was Jamie, a taller than average wolf, with a shock of red-gold hair. Zack trusted his good judgment with his life. Tim, his cousin and lead gamma, was also present, along with Scott, another gamma leader and his best fighter, an expert on the Hunters. They were his team, and he relied on them for help in solving problems—like who was trying to kill his mate.

Scott spoke up from the end of the table. “Is he still asleep?”

“Yeah. I hope he’ll stay asleep for a while.He’s wearing me out.” He pulled out a packet of old fashioned headache powders from his pocket, opened the paper, and swallowed the powder down, chasing it with a glass of water.

“Have a headache, Zack?” Jamie asked.

“Hell, yeah. He’s rightnext door.”

The men around the table all smiled.They’d never seen their normally rough and tough alpha so frustrated by anybody before.Since Gabe had arrived, he’d been run ragged trying to keep him safe and satisfied, and the whole pack was amused by it. Not thatthey’d ever openly let Zack know it—they valued their own skin too much.

Scott shook his head.“I don’t see how you take those things. They taste terrible.”

“They’re fast, and I don’t taste them.I just swallow them.” He looked around the table. “Okay, answer my question.Who do you think is trying to kill my mate?”

“What makes you think someone is trying to kill him?” Tim asked.“Isn’t it possible the cut brake lines were just simple vandalism?”

Scott spoke up thoughtfully.“Anything’s possible, I guess, but there’s nothing simple about it.You’d have to knowwhat you were doing, and you’d have to be pretty vicious to do something like it,willing to kill or seriously hurt somebody.” Scott leaned forward as he spoke, his green eyes glittering dangerously.“And if it was just vandalism, why not break some windows or spray paint the truck? No, I think Zack is right. I think it wasdeliberate.”

“Who would want to hurt Gabe, Zack?” asked his beta.“Do you have any idea?”

“No and that’s what bothers me.According to what he’s told me, he’s totally alone in the world. His parents are both dead, no brothers or sisters, or any close relatives.He’s been a nomad, no close friends, either.”

“So who would even knowwhere he was?” Tim asked.“It has to be a coincidence, Zack.”

“Maybe so, but I want a twenty-four hour a day guard on him. Scott, can you handle that for me?”

“Of course, Alpha. I’ll put my best men on it.”

“Thanks. Until then, everybody needs to keep their eyes and ears open.It’s possible someone has been snooping around the lodge.I don’t knowwhat the hell’s going on, but I won’t rest until I find out. Thanks everyone, and we’ll meet again tomorrow.”

Zack went back to his room and thankfully found Gabe still asleep. He was pretty exhausted himself and didn’t feel up to fighting with Gabe again. He took off his clothes and lay down next to him, wanting to spoon him, but knewGabe would probably rather he didn’t. He’d been spitting mad when Zack held him down earlier.Honestly, the man was the most stubborn he’d ever met. Pack life required a certain amount of obedience to the alpha, even for the alpha’s mate. An obedience Gabe chose to ignore outright. Zack was going to have to do something about his behavior and soon,or Gabe was never going to be a proper mate. Trouble was he didn’t know what to do. In most of the packs, the old ways were still followed. If a mate really started acting out, the dominant mate would spank them and put them in restraints. As hard as it made his cock to think of Gabe’s sweet ass over his knee, he knew it wouldn’t work too well with the man.If he really thought Zack meant it as more than love play he’d go ballistic, and Zack could hurt him trying to restrain him. Hecouldn’t bear to harm him, and Gabe knew that fact very well. Locking him up somewhere didn’t even bear thinking about. Once he got out, he’d leave and never look back.

Tossing and turning, he tried to remember what his father did with his mother, another strong-willed human who agreed to submit her own dominant tendencies to his father out of her deep love for him. Two dominant personalities found it next to impossible to mate, unless one of them willingly submitted. The nature of wolves was to protect and dominate their mates, while the mate was the spoiled submissive partner, the beloved mate who had to defer to the wolf in all major decisions. Gabe refused to accept the role.

His independent mother had found it very difficult to submit to his father. The conflict had nearly wrecked his parents’ marriage. He remembered one occasion when he was a small child. His mother had gotten in the habit of threatening to leave, and one day his father had simply called her bluff. He told her if she wished so much to leave him, he would no longer stand in her way. She had to make a decision then to stay and submit or leave and live her life somewhere without him.In the end, she’d chosen to stay, deciding she loved his father more than she loved her wish for control. While it would be scary as hell to give Gabe the chance to leave him, he thought he had to do it, for both their sakes.

The next morning, he was awakened by the cervical collar being thrown into his face. Gabe was on his feet next to the bed, already dressed in his old clothes, and as predicted, mad as hell.

“How dare you treat me like I’m some kind of not very bright child! I won’t stand for you manhandling me every time I disagree with you!I won’t! I’m giving you fair warning, Zack!”

Zack sat up. He had never been a morning person, and this was not a pleasant way to wake up. Not in the least. He glared at Gabe.“If you don’t want to be treated like a child, why do you persist in acting like one?”

“You asshole! I’m going out for a walk to clear my head. I need some space!”

Gabe sat down, pulled on his shoes, and stomped to the door, giving Zack one long backward dirty look as he walked out. Zack rubbed his forehead. His headache was coming back.

Getting out of bed and getting dressed, he made his way downstairs for coffee. He saw Tim and Scott and sat down beside them with a sigh.

“You okay?” Scott asked.“You look a little pale.”

“Damn headache is back. Maybe some coffee will help.”

Tim looked out toward the patio.“We saw Gabe leave a few minutes ago. Said he was going for a walk.Scott’s got one of the guys following him, from a distance, of course.”

Zack nodded.“Good.” Distracted, he gazed out toward the door Gabe had left by. Where was he going, and when would he come back? Pretty bad when he couldn’t stand to be away from him even for a short time.

Tim’s phone rang, and he took the call, speaking into the receiver for a moment. He put his hand over the small mouthpiece and looked over at Zack.“This is Gabe’s guard. He—uh—he says Gabe is out in the woods smoking. You said to let you know if he did anything against the rules.”

Zack pressed his lips together in a grim line.“Damn him. Tell the guard to confiscate the cigarettes and bring him back in here. He has my permission to put hands on him if he refuses. Don’t hurt him, but use force if necessary.”

“Yes, sir.”

Tim spoke into the phone and disconnected, glancing over at Zack. Whenever the alpha was upset, it made the whole pack nervous, and Zack was definitely upset. He stood up and spoke to the men tersely.

“Tell the guard to bring him upstairs to our room. I’ll be waiting for him.”

He turned on his heel and walked quickly back upstairs. He knew Gabe would be right behind him. Gabe was doing everything he could to deliberately defy him. Where in the hell did he even get the damn cigarettes? He remembered he went into the quick shop alone to buy his drink and candy. He either picked up the cigarettes then, despite the trip to the jewelry store, or had them hidden in his duffle bag all along. Zack hoped, at least, he’d had them hidden.

He heard Gabe shouting on the stairwell long before the door opened. The guard had been pushing him along ahead of him by holding both his arms pulled behind him. Gabe was furious. The minute the guard opened the door and shoved him inside, he whirled around and swung on him. The guard managed to duck and get the door closed before he could swing again.

Gabe turned and took out his fury on Zack.“That does it. I hate you! I hate this stupid lodge, your stupid pack, and everything about you stupid wolves!I’m leaving!Don’t you dare try to stop me!”

“You can leave whenever you want to, Gabe. I won’t stop you. Obviously, this is not working out for you.”

“What?” Gabe had stopped in mid-rant and stared at him.“I’m not kidding, you know. I’ll really leave.”

Zack shrugged.

Gabe got a mean look in his eye.“Oh, you don’t give a shit! I see how you are. It was all lies, wasn’t it? Yesterday when you said, ‘I love you Gabe, don’t ever doubt me.’ You never meant any of it.”