“This whole thing is crazy.” Kevin stopped walking down the path they were on that led into the woods, shoving his hands down into his pockets. “I’ve got to get out of here, before I’m as nutty as the rest of you.”

Richard turned to stare down at him. “Damn it, don’t you listen? We’ve been over this. We can’t let you leave.”

“Yeah? Well, what if I took off right now? Just took off running and got away from you?”

“Not going to happen.”

“Really?” Kevin suddenly shoved Richard hard, surprising him and making him stumble back off the narrow pathway into the bushes. Kevin leaped off the other side, plowing through some thick bushes to get to a more open area in the woods. He took off as fast as he could, losing the flip flops after about three or four steps, but forging on despite the beating his bare feet were taking, dodging around trees and rocks, hearing Richard crashing through the brush behind him. Suddenly, strong arms lifted him off his feet and held on tight, crushing his body back into a solid, large form. He struggled wildly, kicking back against Richard’s legs, pulling fiercely against the arms around his waist. He fought to escape, but his struggles were useless. He couldn’t break Richard’s grip around his waist, no matter how hard he tried. Breathing hard, he cursed and went limp, letting his head fall back against Richard’s chest. Only then did Richard let him go to sink down to the ground and sat down beside him while he caught his breath.

After a few minutes, Kevin glanced up at him, a little out of breath. “Not my best escape attempt ever,” he managed.

Richard glared at him, but his lips twisted up a little. “Had a lot of escape attempts, have you?”

“Not really,” he said, with a shrug and a short bark of laughter. “That one played out better in my head than in actual execution, though.”

“Damn it, Kevin, you have to accept this. You can be happy here if you just let yourself. We’ll find someone you’ll like. He can train you to be a good mate.”

“Train me? Like a dog? Fuck you, Richard.”

“You can cuss me all you want. It’s not going to change a thing. You’ll still be mated to a member of our pack.”

Kevin snorted. “I don’t want to mate with anybody! You’re talking about sex, right? Forget that.”

“You didn’t seem to mind it so much last night,” Richard said quietly.

“Damn you. Get this through your head. I’m not fucking mating with anybody. I don’t want that!”

“Oh, yeah? Even with me?”

The question seemed to surprise both of them. Kevin caught his breath with a hitch as he stared at Richard, almost nose to nose. The tension between them was thick, and the air felt charged. Kevin could hear the faint sound of voices way far in the distance, but the woods where they sat were dense and solid. They could almost have been the last two people on earth. He felt his cock strain against the zipper of his jeans, and looked down to see the front of Richard’s pants bulging too. He suddenly wanted to see Richard’s cock very badly. He was so big and muscular. Would his dick be on the same scale? What was wrong with him that he was so attracted to this guy? How could he want him so much?

“Answer me, Kevin. Would you want to mate with me?”

“What?” He started at the unexpected question, coming a little too close to what he was thinking. “I-I thought we sort of already did a little of that.”

“Not yet. I’m talking about something more, Kevin. A commitment. If you became my mate, I’d keep you with me forever. Make no mistake.” He leaned over and put his lips next to Kevin’s ear. “I think you want someone to make you feel things you’ve never felt before. I could do that for you. I could take you in hand, make you want to be on your knees with my cock buried deep inside you.”

His breath caught when Richard began stroking him through his pants. They both watched as he unzipped him and pulled Kevin’s cock out. It sprang to life in Richard’s hand, growing thicker and longer. “Then I could have this whenever I wanted it, and as often as I wanted it.”

“Like hell.” He pushed on Richard’s chest as hard as he could, but the man never budged and never stopped stroking.

“Tell me to stop, then, baby. Tell me to leave you alone. I will, if you ask. If you tell me you don’t want this…”

“I’m not your baby. Stop calling me that.”

“I think you are. And before I finish with you, I think you’re going to tell me you are.”

Chapter Four

Richard looked down at his prey and his wolf leaped inside him. From the moment he walked in on Kevin and saw him with a towel wrapped low around his hips, water droplets still clinging to his chest from the shower, he’d wanted him in a primal, powerful way that had nothing to do with the way a good beta acted with someone like Kevin, someone who wasn’t yet a member of the pack, and who was supposed to mate with another wolf. The thought of anyone else’s hands on him made him furious, though. He’d been relieved when Tucker came in that morning, bringing him clothes, but then Kevin had put on those damn tight jeans. He looked so delicious it made Richard want to gather him up in his arms and take off somewhere with him. Whatever cologne the man was using still clung to him too. It was maddening, and he had to breathe through his mouth to keep his erection at bay.

Wolf shifters in the southern Blue Ridge were the ultimate predators, outside of wildcats and bears, but even the bears took a backseat to the huge beasts of the Dark Hollows pack. Something ancient and primal took over in Richard’s brain as he watched his prey running from him, and now after the short chase through the woods, his wolf was clamoring to stake a claim on his mate. This man was his, damn it, and it had been all he could do to sit passively when Russell had come to the table at breakfast and looked Kevin over with lust written on his features.

He moved his hand up under Kevin’s shirt. His skin was warm and soft under his fingers, and there was a slight trembling. Was he frightened, staring up at Richard with those wide eyes, or was he excited? Kevin’s groin was still bulging in his pants, his hard cock straining for freedom. Richard rubbed his palm across it and listened with pleasure to Kevin’s little whimper.

“Don’t be scared. If you want me to stop, I will. But I don’t think that’s what you want, is it?”

Slowly, Kevin shook his head. Then he leaned over to kiss Richard. His lips parted, allowing Richard to slip his tongue inside to explore Kevin’s mouth. He heard Kevin’s soft moans of pleasure, and it made him wild to have him underneath him. He wanted all of him. He wanted to put his scent and his mark on him so everyone would know whom he belonged to. He released him for a moment and pulled his hands away to give him his instructions. “Strip. Get those damn jeans off. Now.”

Kevin scrambled to his feet, his hands going to his fly. In seconds he had them off and began on his shirt, not even bothering to unbutton it, but just pulling it over his head and throwing it on the ground beside his pants. He was breathing hard as he stood there, letting Richard look his fill as he skimmed off his own pants, but kept his underwear. Kevin didn’t know about his knot, and it wasn’t yet time for him to find out.

God, he was beautiful. Richard had seen his cock before, of course, but now he had time to truly admire him. His body was lean, yet well-defined. His pubic hair was as blond as the hair on his head, and his cock was thick. Not as long as Richard’s, but very nice. Perfect, really. It was sticking out from his body, dark red and fully erect. A glistening drop of pre-cum was poised on the tip and Richard fell to one knee in front of Kevin to catch it with his tongue.

Kevin’s knees buckled, and he might have fallen if not for Richard’s hand on his hip, steadying him. He knelt in front of Kevin, looked up at him with a grin and swallowed him down in one smooth motion. Kevin’s whole body convulsed and he made a sweet little sound like a moan. Richard licked slowly up the length of his shaft, following the pulsing vein to the head. He played with that for a few seconds, dipping his tongue into the slit and then sucking hard at the entire head while he fondled his balls.

“Wait, I’m going to come!”

Richard pulled his head away. “No you won’t. Not yet.” He pulled him down beside him and onto his stomach. Kevin squirmed as Richard explored his rounded ass, first kissing each delectable ass cheek and then running his tongue down his crease. Kevin was pushing his stiff cock against the ground below him, obviously trying to get some relief.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Richard said. “You won’t come until I tell you.” Getting up on his knees behind him, Richard pulled Kevin up so that he was sitting on his lap. He was careful to keep Kevin’s gaze to the front so he couldn’t get a glimpse of his cock. Like all the wolves, he was well-endowed, but he also had an extra ring of flesh around the base of his penis that humans didn’t have. Used during the first mating, the ring swelled to lock the wolf together with his mate for over an hour, while the gland secreted chemicals to complete the mating. Wolves called it their knot, and it wouldn’t do for Kevin to see his at this point.

He took Kevin in his hand and pumped him. Kevin gasped out loud, and Richard laughed softly in his ear. Still pumping his dick, he murmured to him. “Now, I believe you were about to tell me whose baby you are.”

Kevin moaned and shook his head, squirming under Richard’s hand. “Stubborn boy…all you have to do is tell me. C’mon, sweet boy, don’t be defiant.”

Moving his hand more quickly, he listened to his boy’s moans with pleasure. He put him back on his knees and held him there, pushing his head down to lie flat on the ground, his ass in the air. He put his fingers on either side of his ass cheeks and pulled his crease open to reveal his pink hole. He thrust his tongue inside it, holding Kevin firmly in place when he tried to pull away with a muffled scream. Burying his face in Kevin’s ass, he laved it with his tongue until Kevin was practically squealing. Pre-cum was dripping from Kevin’s cock, puddling on the ground beneath him.