Chapter Eight

UNTAMED INSTINCTS

Midnight Falls 26

LYNN HAGEN

Copyright ? 2024

Chapter One

“ D u d e, I don’t get what you’re waiting for,” Harris said with exasperation.

“Do you need me to hold your hand through it?” Layne’s expression would’ve seemed sincere, but a hint of laughter danced in his eyes. “I may not be interested in guys, but for my little brother, I would gladly stand next to the bed and hold your hand while you lose your V card.”

All Noah said was installing a condom dispenser in the men’s room was a great idea and wondered if the women’s room had one as well.

Harris was acting as if Noah was waiting for Prince Charming to sweep him off his feet, and Layne just seemed determined to get him laid.

“First of all…” Noah interjected as a new song blared from the jukebox. There were conversations all around them, and the sounds of laughter and the clacking of pool balls echoed from the other room of Fearless Fox. “ Don’t call me ‘little brother’ when you’re talking about helping me with sex, which is never even going to happen.”

“Here we go again,” Harris muttered under his breath.

Noah narrowed his eyes at his best friend. “If you didn’t keep making such a big deal about it, it wouldn’t seem like one.”

“When you say it’s never going to happen, are you talking about sex?” Layne furrowed his brows.

Grabbing a fry from the basket in the center of their table, Noah tossed it at his brother. “I’m talking about you holding my hand as I have sex, idiot.”

“Listen…” Layne’s expression turned serious, no hint of a teasing smile. “I get it, man. Even though I’m married now, I still remember how crazy nervous I was my first time.”

“Stop.” Noah raised his hand in front of his brother’s face. He and Layne had always talked openly about sex, but that didn’t mean Noah wanted details, which Layne would give him if Noah couldn’t shut him up.

“But you’ll never experience the best gift to man if you don’t take the plunge.”

“Just to clarify for your virgin mind, Layne is talking about sex,” Harris chimed in with a mischievous grin and a wiggle of his eyebrows. “You should let something get plunged.”

“While neither your obnoxious best friend nor I can tell you what it’s like to be with another guy, I’m almost sure there’s still a slot A and a tab B involved.” Layne seemed to consider that for a moment then gestured toward Noah’s crotch. “I won’t let my little brother turn twenty-six in two weeks without ever experiencing a mind-bending blowjob.”

Tired of them teaming up on him, Noah crossed his arms on the table and leaned toward his brother. “So let me get this straight. In order to make that happen, you’re going to stand next to the bed and hold my hand while some guy gives me head? Do I have that right?”

Layne blushed as pink as cotton candy. “No. I meant I would provide all the moral support you need.”

“That’s not what I heard.” Noah turned to Harris with a shit-eating grin for confirmation. “Did he not just offer to physically be there during my deflowering?”

Harris was laughing too hard to respond, causing Noah to burst out laughing as well. They’d been friends since kindergarten when Harris stopped a little girl from stealing Noah’s raisins during snack time. They’d been inseparable since.

“You two are immature jerks,” Layne responded. “If Harris was gay, you guys would make the perfect asshole couple.”

Layne had made that joke so many times over the years that Noah suspected his brother secretly wished they were actually together.

But Noah had never seen Harris as anything more than his best friend. Well, except for that confusingly brief moment in high school when he felt jealous of a girl making out with Harris before gym class.

Harris had explained that Noah’s jealousy stemmed from his fear of someone interfering in their friendship. Which Harris had assured would never happen.

“I’m grabbing another drink.” Noah slid out of his chair, completely over the two. So what if he hadn’t had sex. He didn’t understand the big deal.

Men hit on him, asked him on dates, but when things looked as if they were heading in the direction of sex, for some reason, Noah ran for the hills.

It had to be some kind of birth defect. The thought of being intimate shouldn’t cause him to react that way. It was a natural, biological drive everyone experienced.

Everyone except him. He’d yet to experience sex and was starting to wonder if he ever would.

“Admit it,” Harris said, recovering from his laughing fit but still chuckling. “You’re just avoiding the conversation.”

“You’re damn right.” Noah shook his head and walked toward the bar, leaving Harris and Layne bickering behind him.

“What can I get for you?” Jake asked, a hint of good-natured amusement in his electric-blue eyes. “Another beer or do you need something stronger?”

Had the bartender overheard them? With the loud music and other noises in the bar, Noah had assumed their conversation was private. And my embarrassment keeps growing. “Can you do me a favor and forget you heard those idiots?”

Jake smiled warmly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Noah.”

“Then I have no idea why I’m thanking you. Can I get another beer?” He gave Jake an appreciative smile just as a mountainous man walked out of the pool room and took a seat at the bar, two stools down from where Noah stood.

Midnight Falls was known for its tall and muscular residents, and this stranger was no exception. Noah might not have had sex before, but he had a very vivid imagination.

And his mind was doing a whole lot of imagining as he swept his gaze over Mr. Mountain. Noah couldn’t recall ever being this overwhelmingly attracted to someone. The stranger did something to his insides. He rubbed the center of his chest, wondering why he had an urge to melt into the man’s arms.

When their eyes met, Noah quickly looked away, feeling the heat of embarrassment spread across his face and ears.

This is exactly why the only relationship you’ve ever had is with your hand.

Yeah, but if I’m going to lose my virginity, I’d rather it not be with a guy who probably has a dick the size of an anaconda.

You’re pathetically hopeless.

What in the hell was going on inside his head?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the stranger sniff the air and then frown as he turned his gaze back to Noah.

“Here you go.” Jake set the bottle on the counter.

“Thanks.” Noah took a drink, still aware of the stranger’s curious gaze on him.

Harris joined Noah at the bar, tossing an arm over his shoulders. “I’m just giving you a hard time about having sex. Although I think Layne is serious,” Harris said. “Never seen him so adamant about a blowjob.”

Giving the massive guy his back, Noah turned his attention to his best friend, but he could still feel the man’s gaze burning into him. “You two need to stop pressuring me into having sex.” He furrowed his brows. “My brother totally offered to hold my hand while I got a blowjob.” Sticking out his tongue, he gagged at the thought.

In truth, Noah knew damn well what Layne meant, but he’d been trying to get the spotlight off of himself. And it was fun teasing his brother. The guy was too easy.

“I can’t believe he said that either.” Harris chuckled. “Since I have to get up early, I’m heading out. Layne’s giving me a ride home, seeing as he has to pass my house. Are you leaving?”

“As soon as I finish my beer.” If Noah had known the two were done for the night, he wouldn’t have ordered it. He wasn’t ready to head home to his empty apartment anyway.

“I’ll call you tomorrow.” Harris gave him a quick hug. “Drive safe.”

As Noah sat on a stool and exhaled deeply, a bowl of pretzels slowly moved down the counter toward him.

“Wanna share these with me?” the stranger asked, hooking a finger over the edge of the bowl and pulling it back slowly. “Going once, twice.”

Noah mirrored the gesture, gently tugging at the other side of the bowl, their hands locked in a playful tug-of-war. “Hey, you offered them to me, so why are you trying to take them back?”

The stranger’s smile caused his gray eyes to sparkle. “You took too long.”

“I took two seconds,” Noah countered with a laugh.

“I’m Quinton Everhart, by the way.” He stuck out his beefy hand.

“Noah,” he said as he shook it.

* * * *

Quinton suppressed a growl, unsure what was more beautiful, Noah’s smile or his sweet laughter.

Or what confused and pissed him off more, those guys trying to pressure his mate into having sex with them, or the fact… Had the blond really said Noah’s brother ? That couldn’t be right. Quinton must’ve heard him wrong.

What exactly was going on with his mate?

“Nuh-uh, wait.” He snatched the pretzel before Noah could eat it.

“You’re just one big pretzel tease, aren’t you?” Noah huffed, appearing genuinely annoyed.

Quinton’s bear softly growled. “I propose a game.” He held up the pretzel he’d taken from Noah.

His mate spun to face him, and damn if Quinton didn’t want to tug the skinny human onto his lap. “What kind of game?”

Who can get undressed the fastest.

“Each person asks a question,” Quinton stated. “If the other person answers it, truthfully, they can eat a pretzel.”

Noah smiled softly, causing Quinton’s dick to harden. “So, just to clarify, we’re playing a high-stakes game of getting to know each other.” He tapped his chin in the most adorable way. “What happens if we don’t answer?”

“Then you have to buy the other a drink.”

Noah seemed to consider his offer, and Quinton swept his gaze over the guy’s handsome face. He was staring directly at Noah, simply blown away at the fact his mate was seated right next to him.

Now he knew how his best friend, Kalen, had felt the morning he’d met Delta. No wonder the wolf shifter had acted like his mind was short circuiting.

That was exactly how Quinton felt at the moment.

“Okay, but we don’t get too personal,” Noah finally agreed, picking up a pretzel. “Go ahead and ask.”

The first question that popped into his head was asking who those men were and why the fuck they were trying to pressure his mate into having sex with them. Also, would he need to kill them?

“How old are you?” Lame, but he wanted to put his mate at ease.

“Twenty-five.” Noah smiled before tossing the pretzel into his mouth. Quinton’s perverted gaze zeroed in on Noah’s swanlike neck as his mate chewed then swallowed.

He’d just met his mate, and his bear wanted to claim the human, to bend him over the bar and fuck him, which only fueled Quinton’s arousal.

Picking up a pretzel, Quinton held it close to his lips with a sly grin. “Ask whatever you want, handsome.”

“Are you single?” Noah’s cheeks blossomed with the prettiest blush Quinton had ever seen.

Not anymore. “Yes. I haven’t been in a relationship in some time, and, no, I currently don’t have anyone on speed dial for booty calls.”

He had to erase those numbers pronto.

Using the tip of his tongue, Quinton drew the snack into his mouth, watching how Noah’s cute nostrils slightly flared.

His mate absentmindedly reached for the bowl, his gaze still locked on Quinton’s mouth. Quinton smiled when Noah knocked half the contents out of the bowl before picking up a pretzel.

It was good to know he could easily fluster the guy.

“Who were those men with you?”

“My brother and best friend.” He ate the pretzel. “How old are you?”

That was a tricky one. Quinton couldn’t reveal his true age, which happened to be 324. The human wouldn’t believe him, of course, and then he would call an end to the game.

“How old do I look?”

Noah studied him, his dark green eyes reminding Quinton of cat eyes.

“Late thirties, possibly early forties?” Noah tilted his head. “I’m gonna go with forties.”

“Does that bother you?” As they asked questions, they ate the pretzels.

“That you’re old enough to be my father? I’m not sure just yet,” Noah answered honestly. “Right now, I’m just enjoying our game.”

So was Quinton. Whose turn was it? He flipped back through their conversation to remember. “When was your last relationship?”

Are you screwing around with your best friend? He didn’t outright ask but was dying to.

“I’ve never been in one.” The pretzel froze halfway to Noah’s mouth, as if he hadn’t meant to reveal the fact.

There were so many ways to interpret his answer. It was possible Noah was afraid of commitments. He could’ve also been flat-out lying, but his expression said otherwise. Maybe he’d just recently come out of the closet—a phrase Quinton wasn’t particularly fond of.

“Care to elaborate?” He held up his hand then ordered two beers before turning his attention back to his mate, who still appeared stunned.

“I guess I’m buying.” Noah cleared his throat. Damn, his blush had grown a darker shade of red.

“Nonsense.” He tested the waters by resting his hand on his mate’s knee. “You answered my question. We already said nothing personal, so you’re not penalized for refusing to answer.”

Jake set the bottles on the counter, refilled the bowl with fresh pretzels, then asked the guy standing behind Quinton what he wanted to drink. The bar was getting crowded, and now Quinton was dying to finish their game in a cozier setting.

“Do you want to continue our little game outside?” He leaned in close, his chest almost touching Noah as he reached for some napkins.

He had done that on purpose to allow his scent to invade Noah’s lungs, hopefully enticing his mate to join him.

“Dad, are you coming back to play?” Ryker hollered from the entrance to the pool room.

Would it be considered illegal to kill a firstborn if they’d just ruined an intimate moment? Quinton saw the moment realization dawned on Noah who Ryker had been shouting at.

“Dad?” His mate’s gaze flickered between father and soon-to-be-dead son. “You have a son my age?”

If Noah had guessed Quinton to be in his forties, would it have been too far a stretch to consider he had adult children?

Apparently, that hadn’t crossed his mate’s mind.

Until now.

“We’re just talking,” he reminded Noah, hoping like hell his mate didn’t end their fun. “Just having a good time, right?”

Note to self. Stop on the way home for milk, get laundry done, strangle Ryker.

Quinton would have expected Killian to kill the moment. His second oldest son had a knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment.

The guy was too much like his mother. Quinton slammed a lid on that thought so fast it was as if it hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“Pick up a pretzel.” Noah nodded at the bowl. Quinton wasn’t fond of the look in his mate’s cat-green eyes.

The pint-sized human’s hand trembled as he did what Quinton demanded.

“How many children do you have, and how old are they? Do they still live at home, or do they have their own places?”

“ That’s four questions, cub. That means I also get four, and since you just got personal, I can do the same.” He grabbed a handful of pretzels. “I have three sons, they’re grown, and, yes, they live at home, which means they don’t have their own places.”

There had been plenty of times over the centuries Quinton had seriously contemplated suggesting that to them. But as much as they drove him crazy at times, he loved them deeply and couldn’t imagine his boys not living under the same roof.

Quinton ate the pretzels then washed them down with a long swig of beer. He couldn’t get drunk off of human alcohol, but he liked the taste.

And since Noah had gotten personal, that allowed Quinton to ask the burning questions at the forefront of his mind.

“Why was your friend pressuring you into having sex with him? Was your brother seriously going to be a part of it, and do you need me to shut that shit down? Because I heard you arguing against the idea. No means no, but it seems your friend has boundary issues.”

That was only three questions, but he really wanted his mate to answer them.

Noah stared at him like Quinton had just spoken a foreign language. His chestnut-brown eyebrows were squished together, and his cute nose was wrinkled.

Then the guy burst out laughing. Now Quinton was the perplexed one. “Unless I completely misunderstood the conversation.”

“You did.” Noah wiped at his eyes. “They’re trying to get me laid, not do it themselves.” His hands dropped as he stared wide-eyed at Quinton. “Why do I keep telling you things I don’t mean to?”

“Why are they trying to get you laid?” Was his mate going through a dry spell? Was it some kind of dare to have sex with someone Noah found repulsive? No matter the reason, Quinton would gladly fuck his mate in any position, on any surface, at any location the man desired.

“Dad!”

Oh my fucking god! Ryker really was trying to die. “What!” Quinton bellowed without looking away from his mate, whose face had gone up in flames. It didn’t take a genius to figure out Noah was embarrassed for revealing the subject of the conversation he’d had with his best friend.

That blush was turning Quinton on even more.

Ryker strode over, and Quinton forced himself not to bare his canines. Noah glanced up at Ryker then quickly spun in his seat, giving them his back.

“Are you going to finish our game?” Ryker held the pool stick over his shoulders, his hands dangling on either end. “Why is it taking you years to grab a drink?”

Quinton jerked his hands toward Noah’s back with a stern expression. Swear to god, it took Ryker a full minute before realization dawned in his eyes.

His son winked while smirking. Quinton gave him a death glare.

Finally , Ryker walked away.

Sweet fucking Jesus. Quinton thought he would have to resort to hand signals or air drawing the reason Ryker needed to piss off.

Turning his attention back to his mate, Quinton gently touched Noah’s shoulder. “ We good, cub?”

Noah spun on his stool to face him. “I should get going. It was nice meeting you, Quinton.”

“Noah.” He stood and followed, his massive size parting the crowd. His mate didn’t stop until they’d spilled outside. “Can we just talk for a moment? Who says we can’t be friends?”

If they had to start out that way, Quinton would take it. A preternatural searched their entire life for their mate, and now that he’d found his, Quinton would bend over backwards for him.

“Friends?” Noah’s expression said he hadn’t thought of that possibility.

Neither had Quinton until it just popped into his head, but the idea had merit. Being friends would allow Noah to get to know Quinton and his sons without any pressure.

Noah even considering the idea meant he felt the pull, an unseen force that drew them together and made Noah want to be near Quinton.

“Yes.” Quinton smiled. “Friends. Would you like to have breakfast with me?”

Normally, he met up with Kalen a few times a week at Deep Dish. They used to have breakfast then ride their motorcycles afterward, simply enjoying the peace and quiet of the early morning.

Then Kalen met his mate, a server at the diner. Now when they met up, it was so Kalen could eat breakfast and ogle the human.

It was sweetly disgusting how the massive guy turned into a puddle of goo around his mate.

Now Quinton had a mate to twist his head inside out, and he was ecstatic.

If Noah agreed to meet him at the ass-crack of dawn.

“What time?” Noah kept stealing glances at him, but each time he quickly looked away.

Quinton stopped himself from pumping his arm. “How does six sound to you?”

Noah glanced at his phone then frowned. “You want to meet in a few hours?”

“Or we could head there now.” He shrugged. “I could use a bite to eat. How about you?”

Quinton wanted to kiss those lips his mate was nibbling on. “I’m going to be completely honest.” When the breeze blew stray hair across his face, Noah brushed them from his eyes. “I’m kinda broke right now.”

“As your official new friend, it’s my treat.” The hairs along Quinton’s arms started to prickle, causing him to covertly scan the deserted street. Despite not seeing anyone, he felt eyes on him.

“Then it’s my treat next time,” Noah said, unaware of the danger. Quinton wanted to keep it that way.

They walked to the parking lot, Quinton keeping one step behind so he could continue to glance around.

Noah stopped at an older model black sedan. “I’ll meet you there?”

“I’ll follow right behind you.” He didn’t want Noah driving separately, but Quinton had no choice. Luckily, his pickup was only a few spaces down. He waited until his mate was secure in his car before he trotted to his vehicle and jumped in, wondering who or what was watching him.

Chapter Two

As soon as Noah slid inside his car, he locked the door. His hands trembled as he started it, positive he’d felt eyes on him. It had to be Toro. He was the only person Noah could think of that would watch him from the shadows.

Damn it. All Noah had wanted was a night to forget his problems, to hang out with his best friend and brother, although Quinton had been a pleasant surprise.

The fact he was a father honestly didn’t bother Noah. Why should it when he had no plans to take things any further? They’d had fun with their little game, and it had been a nice distraction.

So why had he agreed to have breakfast with the hunk? Living under the constant threat of a beatdown had to have eaten away at some brain cells, but he couldn’t deny how attracted he was to the guy.

Breakfast was harmless enough. Afterward, Noah would be on his merry way to figure out his funeral arrangements. Then again, there might not be enough of him left to bury.

When he parked, Noah got out and discreetly glanced around but didn’t spot anyone watching him. Then again, Toro could be anywhere. Spotting someone, even in a small town, wasn’t as easy as the movies made it seem. Toro could be hiding anywhere. The possibilities were endless.

Noah was living a double life that Layne and Harris knew nothing about, though it wasn’t by choice. Now he was going to pay the ultimate price for it.

A large cherry-red pickup pulled in next to Noah. He waited for Quinton to join him before they headed toward the diner entrance. Noah was too nervous to eat but needed to at least have some toast. If he didn’t, he would soon feel queasy from drinking on an empty stomach.

Quinton held the door for him. The man was so tall that Noah didn’t have to duck under his arm.

He stepped inside the nearly empty diner and took a deep breath. If Toro was looking for him, then why not enjoy a last meal and good company?

Soon none of it would matter.

They took a seat halfway down the row of booths. Quinton waited until Noah slid in before he took a seat across from him. Quinton’s smile was soft and sweet, causing Noah’s insides to flutter.

He tucked his hands between his knees. “I don’t think we can get a bowl of pretzels here.”

It was still dark outside, and with the dim lights in the diner, all Noah could see was his reflection.

How could Quinton smile at him when his reflection showed stark fear? Didn’t the guy see it, or was the lighting too low?

Noah’s gaze flicked to the men seated in the last booth, looking half awake. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a teenager sulking across from an older man, maybe father or uncle, who was scrolling on his phone. The adult was either ignoring him or oblivious to the kid’s attitude.

Noah turned back around when Quinton tapped his foot against his. His gray eyes appeared more gunmetal than steel like they had in the bar, darker from the lighting inside the diner.

“You seem lost in your own head, cub.” He pulled at the soul patch under his bottom lip, watching Noah closely, as if trying to guess what was on his mind.

The guy could guess for the next hour, and he wouldn’t come anywhere close to figuring it out.

“I think the lack of sleep is catching up to me.” Noah sat up straight and placed his hands on the table. “So, what do you want to use as a reward for our game, or are we finished playing?”

“Hang tight, Noah.” Quinton stood and walked behind the counter. That was the first time he’d said Noah’s name, and Noah liked how it sounded in such a deep, honeyed voice.

Quinton spoke too low to Roman, the owner and cook, for Noah to make out what they were saying.

With a nod, Quinton returned with a small plate that held two pieces of French toast. “Roman said to let him know what we want to order. He’s not coming out right now since he’s busy groping his mate.”

Noah glanced at Quinton, embarrassed he’d only caught half of what the guy had said. His attention was on the way Quinton meticulously cut the French toast into even cubes.

“Now we have our reward.” He stabbed a cube then handed Noah the fork. Cinnamon and vanilla wafted toward him, making his stomach rumble.

“I heard that,” Quinton’s eyes gleamed with gentle warmth and amusement. “But you can’t eat it until you answer my question honestly.”

“Can I at least have a cup of coffee?” Noah’s mouth tasted like stale beer, and so had the small burp he’d just let out.

“How do you take it?” Quinton stood again, reminding Noah just how tall the man was. His bulk shouldn’t allow him to fit inside the booth, but he’d somehow managed.

“If you keep running to get everything, you might end up on Roman’s payroll.” He chuckled, but the emotion behind it wasn’t there.

Quinton’s eyes said he’d heard the hollowness.

“Just cream.” Noah was uncomfortable with the way the man’s gaze seemed to burrow right into him.

When Quinton walked back behind the counter, Noah squinted to see out into the darkness, still feeling like he was being watched. It might have been the darkness, along with the quiet of the night, that spooked him. Toro might not even be out there.

“Excuse me?” one of the men in the last booth called out.

Quinton turned and looked at the guy. “Yeah?”

“If you’re done with your break, I could use some service over here. Haven’t been waited on in half an hour,” he complained with a bite to his voice.

Noah’s gaze darted from the angry customer to Quinton, wondering who in their right mind would talk crap to a guy the size of a small mountain.

It was also early morning in a small town. The guy should consider himself lucky the diner was even open at the late hour—or early hour, depending on how you looked at it.

“What do you need?” Quinton asked as if he really worked there. He brought Noah the cup of coffee he’d poured from the carafe, a small bowl of creamers in his other hand.

“For starters, my coffee needs refilled,” the stranger grumbled. “You could do your job and clear away these dishes, too.”

Had the guy not seen Noah and Quinton enter the diner not ten minutes ago? Maybe he assumed Quinton had just started his shift since he kept going behind the counter.

Whatever the stranger thought, that was no excuse for being a jerk. Noah had been to plenty of restaurants with slow service, but getting an attitude only made the server work more slowly.

He placed his hand over Quinton’s, unsure how the giant would react to such rudeness. Noah felt the thick tension in the air, but thankfully Roman entered the dining area, a shorter, slimmer man following.

The twink had kiss-swollen lips and a dazed look in his eyes. Since Noah really didn’t know Roman—only that he owned the place—he could only guess the slim man was his boyfriend.

Or a hookup.

“Talk to my customer that way again, Hank, and I’ll be forced to tell your wife you’re really not at work at this hour but hanging out with her enemy’s husband.”

Hank glanced at Quinton. “My bad. I thought Roman hired another server.”

“You know damn well to come to the window or just yell for me if you need something until my servers show up at five,” Roman snarled.

Quinton slid into their booth. “Glad to see you didn’t eat your reward,” he said as if the tense moment with Hank had never happened.

So, Noah pretended as well. He took a sip of his coffee and groaned. “There’s nothing better than freshly brewed.”

“What’s on your mind?”

It took a second for Noah to realize they were playing their game. “Since Roman doesn’t serve alcohol, what’s the consequence if either of us fail to answer?”

The side of Quinton’s mouth curved into a smile. “The other has to pay for coffee.”

His smile spoken volumes of something other than coffee.

Something much more interesting and possibly carnal in nature. Some kind of wicked pleasure.

Noah might’ve protested out loud if that had been the case but wondered what it would feel like to kiss Quinton’s full lips.

“I already told you I’m just tired,” he replied, handing the fork across the table.

“That’s one round of coffee you have to buy.” Quinton grabbed the fork, but his gaze never left Noah’s.

“You’re saying I’m lying?”

“Through your teeth.” Quinton hovered the piece of French toast at his lips. “Ask so I can take a bite. I’m starving.”

Noah wasn’t sure he wanted to play this anymore. It had been a lie at first, but exhaustion was really starting to set in, so would the delayed truth count?

“Why are you so interested in me?” Noah had seen plenty of hot guys in the bar, and better-looking twinks than him, since they were the “type” Quinton seemed interested in.

Not that Noah was putting himself down. He was genuinely curious to know what Quinton saw in him.

“I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

Of course not. Quinton probably never had an insecure day in his life. “ You’ve never been in the middle of a conversation or caught someone’s eye and wondered what that person thought of you?”

Noah couldn’t be the only person who had done that.

“You two decide what you want for breakfast?” Roman asked when he stopped at their table.

“Noah can go first,” Quinton offered. He looked a little intimidating when he folded his arms over his chest, those thickly honed muscles popping out.

“Some toast would be fine. Thanks.” Noah smiled at Roman, his mood spiraling downward.

What was he doing with Quinton? The guy didn’t want to be friends, yet Noah had allowed himself to believe the lie. It was clear from Quinton’s attention he was interested in more.

Like the way he was eyeing Noah at that very moment. This had been a huge mistake.

And there was the infamous panic that always set in. Noah wondered when it would strike. He was surprised it hadn’t already happened.

“Excuse me.” Noah wasn’t sure which man he was saying it to. He got up and made a beeline toward the exit.

* * * *

Ryker stepped out of the side door of Fearless Fox at closing time, the hairs on his body instantly rising.

The temperature had dropped since he’d arrived but was still comfortable enough.

Killian stepped out of the side door not too long after him. From his brother’s stance, he felt it too.

“Just wait until the humans clear out,” Ryker said under his breath as they stood there. It wasn’t necessary to speak any louder with their heightened senses.

A threat was somewhere close. Not only had his hairs risen, but his bear was softly growling.

Killian strode leisurely to his motorcycle, acting as if he was unaware of any problems. Ryker did the same.

“You know damn well I kicked your ass the last game,” Ryker stated. It wasn’t a performance. Things had gotten heated between him and his brother. Two large wolf shifters had inserted themselves to stop things from getting too out of hand.

“You cheated.” Killian jabbed a finger in Ryker’s direction with a growl. “I saw you bump the table to make the ball roll that last inch to drop into the side pocket.”

“I didn’t bump the goddamn table!” Ryker forced himself not to close the distance. Not to knock the shit out of his brother for calling him a cheater and a liar.

Killian gave a slight nod.

Ryker felt it too.

Whoever it was had grown closer.

“Admit it,” Killian snarled then rounded his bike, heading toward Ryker, who had his back turned away from the dumpster not ten feet behind him.

“Don’t walk up on me if you’re not prepared to get your ass handed to you.” Ryker removed his leather and draped it over the seat of his motorcycle. “ It’s been a good minute since you’ve felt my right hook, bro.”

Killian bared his canines in the nearly empty parking lot as he advanced toward Ryker. The only vehicles that remained—aside from their bikes—was Jake’s pickup and someone’s SUV.

The owner more than likely had too much to drink and hitched a ride with a friend knowing Jake wouldn’t have it towed.

“Admit you cheated.” Killian’s voice had grown deeper, indicating just how pissed he was.

Ryker hadn’t cheated. “Admit you’re a sore loser,” he countered.

Killian slammed his palms into Ryker’s chest. He purposely stumbled backward, bringing himself closer to the dumpster.

His brother landed a right hook. Ryker once more staggered back but not intentionally this time.

With a deep snarl, Ryker attacked, going for blows with Killian. Normally, Hyett would be the voice of reason. But he was at home with his mate. Something about stacks of laundry, but Ryker hadn’t been listening.

Killian struck him with a lucky punch. Again, Ryker’s stumble wasn’t deliberate, but it put him in the perfect position to pivot around the dumpster and grab hold of the person hidden behind the container.

Killian stood at Ryker’s back, his anger coming off of him like heat off of pavement.

“Toro.” Ryker grabbed the vampire by his shirt front. “I thought I smelled something putrid and decaying. Why are you watching us, maggot?”

“It’s not always about you, Ryker,” Toro sneered. His teeth were slightly stained with blood and the metallic scent of his breath told Ryker the vampire had recently fed.

“Your donor better have volunteered.”

“What are you doing in Midnight Falls?” Killian demanded.

Ryker was still stuck on Toro’s feeding. Vampires, in general, were lowkey and bedazzled their donors, wiping their memories clean afterward.

Toro derived some sick thrill from his “meals” being fully aware fangs were about to sink into their jugular. He not only fed off of their blood but also their terror.

Even though he wiped their memories when he finished feeding, his method was sadistic.

“I don’t have to answer any of your questions.” He yanked backward, freeing himself but leaving ripped fabric in Ryker’s fist. “I really liked this shirt.” He narrowed his eyes.

“What are you doing in this town?” Ryker repeated Killian’s demand. Uncurling his fingers, he let the scrap of fabric fall to the ground.

Roughly two months ago, Ryker and his family had moved to Midnight Falls, leaving behind their old lives, as well as old problems.

Nothing good could come from Toro being there. Aside from his inhumane feeding habits, the vampire offered his services to preternaturals who needed a problem taken care of.

Ryker was willing to bet Toro was in town to fulfill a bargain.

“As delightfully nauseating as this reunion has been, I have matters to attend.” Toro used his inhuman speed to disappear before Ryker could find out what the vampire was up to.

“We need to tell Dad and Hyett that Toro is in town,” Killian ground out.

As Ryker pulled out his phone, his brother grabbed the torn piece of shirt off the ground.

“If Toro becomes a problem, we’ll give this to the cops so they’ll have his scent.”

Ryker really hoped it didn’t come down to that.

Chapter Three

Quinton pushed from the booth and went after his mate, who had simply gotten up and walked out.

Ever since he’d asked Noah what was on his mind, he’d noticed a shift in the human’s behavior. Noah had become a little defensive and somewhat aloof.

No sooner had Quinton walked toward the exit than his phone started ringing in his back pocket. He reached in and hit the side button to silence it.

Nothing was more important right now than catching Noah before his mate drove off. They hadn’t exchanged phone numbers, and Quinton didn’t know where his mate lived.

He didn’t even know Noah’s last name.

When Quinton pushed open the diner door and walked toward the parking lot, he noticed it was lightly sprinkling. The temperature had dropped since they had been inside the diner, enough to where he would have to grab his jacket from his truck.

But first he had to figure out why Noah had up and left without a single word. Was the guy upset Quinton had called him a liar?

Technically, he hadn’t said the word liar, but Quinton was splitting hairs. He was used to being honest with his sons, but not everyone appreciated being called out on a blatant lie.

He slowed his long strides when he spotted Noah standing at the driver’s door of his car. The man’s brows were knitted, and his hand rested loosely on the door handle.

“I was determined to leave, but once I got to my car…” Noah shook his head, his gaze focused on the side of Quinton’s truck. “Since you walked out of the pool room, I’ve felt this… I don’t know how to explain it.”

“It’s called the pull.” Quinton approached his mate cautiously. Any sudden movement might snap Noah out of his musing and make him run from Quinton again.

Noah tapped his chest with the pads of his fingers. “Yeah, that’s it. That’s how it feels.” His mate glanced at him. “I reached for the handle of my car, but it felt like some unseen force was trying to pull me back to you.”

Quinton stepped a little closer as the sprinkles turned into light rain. “ It’s our connection, Noah. You feel it as deeply as I do. An overwhelming need to be near each other.”

He didn’t explain any further. He wanted Noah to acknowledge their connection before he continued. It would make explaining the unexplainable a little easier.

If only Quinton actually believed that. He would have better luck hitting the lottery than Noah calmly accepting what Quinton had to tell him.

Noah rubbed his arms and shivered. The light rain had turned into a steady drizzle. Quinton hit the fob attached to his key ring, remote-starting his truck before he unlocked it, and then opened the passenger door. “Hop in. The interior will heat up quickly. You don’t need to catch a cold.”

For a long moment Noah studied him then turned and climbed inside. Quinton closed the door with a prayer. As soon as he slid into the driver’s seat, he reached into the back and grabbed his jacket, handing it to Noah.

Quinton’s phone rang again. Once again, he silenced it. “There’s a reason you feel drawn to me.”

His phoned chimed, signaling he had a text message.

“Maybe you should see who it is,” Noah suggested. “At this hour, it could be important.”

“I will, but first—” Quinton snarled when his phone chimed again. He was ready to throw the damn thing out the window.

Instead, he yanked it from his pocket. The missed call was from Ryker, and so were the two texts.

Toro is in town. Just had an up-close conversation with him.

Quinton’s canines threatened to lengthen. What was he doing in Midnight Falls? He would think Toro had learned his lesson after the last ass-beating Quinton had given the vampire.

He read the next text.

Call me. He’s up to no good.

That was a given. Anywhere Toro went, chaos ensued. It was like the vampire couldn’t help himself. Quinton understood working for a living, even if that work was questionable, but Toro always took it an extra step.

The last town Quinton had lived in, Toro had shown up to “handle” a problem for some demon or… Heck, he couldn’t even recall. What he did remember was the person Toro had come after was a friend of Quinton’s.

No one hurt the people he cared about, regardless if they had done wrong. Quinton had beaten the vampire senseless, saved Jacob, and hadn’t seen Toro since.

“Is everything okay?” Noah hugged the jacket around his shoulders. As large as it was, his mate looked as if the fabric was swallowing him.

“Just an old acquaintance in town.” Quinton tucked his phone back into his pocket. “I wanted to explain to you why you feel the pull.”

His phone chimed again. Quinton clenched his jaw and pulled it out again.

Did you get my texts?

Toro was a pain in the ass, but Ryker was acting as if the vampire was running around town draining humans. As sadistic and unhinged as the vampire was, he always kept a low profile.

Quinton texted him back.

I’m kinda in the middle of something. Stop blowing up my phone!

Ryker’s response was almost immediate. That hot little number from the bar? We have more pressing issues.

“I should go.” Noah shrugged off the jacket and set it aside. “It seems your old friend really wants to see you.”

“But you’re the one I’m interested in spending time with.” Quinton slid his jacket back around his mate’s shoulders. He liked seeing Noah wrapped up in it. The sight made his bear softly growl.

Noah’s gaze flicked to the windshield when the now-steady rain tapped against the glass. He seemed lost in his own head as Quinton studied his side profile. Something was still weighing heavy on his mind.

Then he turned his head and gazed at Quinton. “I’m sorry we didn’t have breakfast together.”

That couldn’t have been what the man was deep in thought about.

“Would you...” Noah cleared his throat, and Quinton wondered why his mate was blushing so hard. “Would you like to go to my place for some coffee?”

Was that code for “wanna have sex,” or was Quinton just a little too hopeful? “I could use a cup.”

Noah’s cat-green eyes rounded slightly as his blush reached the tips of his ears. “Okay. Um, you can follow behind me.” He started to slip the jacket off.

“Keep it on,” Quinton insisted. The longer he wore it, the more his scent would permeate the fabric. “Your car is going to be cold. You can give it back later.”

Noah stared at him a moment longer. Quinton could see the wheels turning in the guy’s head. He just didn’t know what they were turning for.

Then Noah grabbed the handle and slipped out, hurriedly opening his car door. The rain was coming down harder now.

The sedan came to life, headlights shining against the brick wall in front of it before the wipers swished back and forth. Quinton could see his mate shivering a little in the oversized jacket.

Going to Noah’s was better. Quinton would rather find out where the guy lived before he told him everything. It would also give him time to think of a way to break the news to Noah that he was a bear shifter and they were mates.

Noah reversed from his parking spot and headed onto the street, Quinton right on his tail.

His phone erupted in the quite interior of his truck. Of course it was Ryker.

“What?” he growled when he answered.

“Why are you not hitting the roof that Toro is in town?” his eldest demanded. “Am I the only one who recognizes the danger? You’re acting just like Killian.”

Quinton connected the call to his truck then mounted the phone, keeping a close eye on Noah’s car. “Did I not tell you I was in the middle of something?”

“Since you answered your phone, I’m assuming you wrapped that up. Are you heading home?”

Was it Quinton’s imagination, or had Noah sped up to get through the amber light, leaving Quinton with a red one?

Thankfully, it was still too early for a lot of traffic. He ran the red light, wondering why his mate sped up.

Had he changed his mind and was now trying to lose him? Quinton wasn’t sure, but his mate had tried to ditch him once already.

Quinton was beginning to feel like he was pushing himself on Noah, and that was a feeling he didn’t like. If the human hadn’t been his mate, Quinton wouldn’t have bothered to go after Noah when he walked out of the diner.

He didn’t chase men. Not the ones who didn’t want to be chased. Quinton didn’t have a problem landing a guy in bed.

But this was entirely different and a whole new level for him. Noah was his mate, and no matter how frustrated he felt, Noah was one man Quinton couldn’t wash his hands of.

“Dad?”

Shit. He’d forgotten Ryker was on the phone. “Yeah?”

“Jesus. Where’s your mind? We have a psychotic threat in town, and you’re acting like this isn’t important.”

“Look…” Quinton blew out a breath. “That hot little number is my mate. And by the way, don’t ever fucking call him that again. I’m busy pulling a Hyett right now, so, no, Toro isn’t at the forefront of my mind.”

“ Why didn’t you tell me he was your mate?” Ryker sounded even more pissed than he had about Quinton’s disinterest concerning the vampire.

“Keep using that tone with me and I’ll teach you some manners when I get home,” Quinton growled. “Now, if it won’t cause your head to explode, I’m going to hang up.”

Noah pulled behind an apartment building and parked in the dimly lit parking lot.

The place needed better security lights. The ones at the far end weren’t even on, causing the back half of the lot to become a predator’s playing ground.

As soon as he parked, Quinton got out, going straight to the driver’s door of Noah’s car. The human was throwing too many mixed signals.

Quinton waited until Noah exited the car then shut the door for him. “Were you trying to lose me at the light? When you have someone following you, it’s courtesy to either wait at the traffic light with them or pull over if the follower gets stuck at it.”

“Can you chew me out when we get inside? I don’t want to turn into a drowned rat.”

Noah took off toward the back door of the building. Once again Quinton was right behind him. He felt as if that was all he’d been doing since they’d left the bar.

Dogging his mate’s heels.

Quinton caught the door before it closed. Was Noah always so rude?

They climbed to the second floor in silence. His mate fumbled with the lock at his door, dropping his keys twice. The second time, Quinton swiped them off the floor and unlocked the door then held up the keys. Noah took them before hurrying inside, leaving Quinton standing in the hallway.

With a shake of his head, he walked into the apartment and closed the door behind him. He would have said something to Noah about his rudeness if he knew where in the hell the man had gone.

The unit wasn’t very big. The living room consisted of a couch, side table, and an area rug, leaving little room for anything else. The small flat-screen television was mounted on the wall with a few framed pictures on either side.

None of them were personal photos, just pictures of flowers and beaches and an old, covered bridge.

The rest of the walls were bare.

Nothing in the room gave off a cozy, lived-in vibe.

Looking to his left, Quinton spotted a fridge past the doorway. The kitchen. He wandered to the room and peered inside. It was the size of a large closet. Only a few cupboards above a sink with maybe twelve inches of counter space on each side of it.

The room wasn’t even big enough for a table.

Quinton pulled back when his mate stepped out a door to the right of a tiny hallway, if you could call it that.

With his massive size, Quinton felt like his presence shrank the apartment to an even smaller space.

“I’ll get the coffee started.” Noah whizzed past him, hurrying into the closet-kitchen.

Quinton had seen cats at bath time less nervous than his mate. The guy had a frantic energy that caused him to act edgy.

After Noah started a pot of coffee then tried to hurry past him again, Quinton gently gripped his slim upper arm.

“Why do I get the impression you don’t want me here?” He pulled his hand away but was ready to grab it again if necessary.

“I’m just exhausted.” He covered a yawn with his hand. A toddler could’ve given a better performance.

A soft, irritated growl rolled up his throat. “Please do not insult my intelligence, Noah.”

His mate looked him over. Quinton took a step back, realizing his height was intimidating to a person Noah’s size.

“I just want the truth, cub.” Quinton softened his voice, dropping the growl from his tone.

Noah glanced nervously around. “I know this sounds cliche, but it’s not you.”

And now Quinton felt like his mate was moments from sending him on his way. “Then what is it?”

His mate’s shoulders slumped as he let out a deep sigh. “You’re the first man, aside from my brother and best friend, who’s ever been in my apartment.”

Call him thick-headed, but Quinton still didn’t understand. “And that somehow makes you nervous?”

Plenty of people went to the other person’s house for a hookup. Quinton never brought anyone home. Made things less complicated that way.

When the fun was over, you didn’t have to find a polite way of asking your bed partner to leave. You just dipped out from their house and made your way home.

“Yes,” Noah admitted, still refusing to look at him.

“Can I ask why?”

“I think the coffee is ready.” Noah shot past him and nearly ran into the wall. Wincing, Quinton quickly reached for his mate, but Noah moved lightning-fast into the kitchen.

His mate was definitely an enigma. Quinton couldn’t figure him out. At the bar, Noah had been engaging and smiling, even a little flirtatious. At the diner, he had started to cool off.

Now? Quinton couldn’t make heads or tails of the guy.

“How do you take your coffee?” Noah asked after poking his head out.

“Black is fine.” He wasn’t so sure his mate needed to drink the caffeinated coffee. He was already jittery enough.

Noah walked out with a mug in each hand than offered one to Quinton before leading him to the couch. More like walked to it and left Quinton to invite his own self to sit down.

“I can’t believe how tired I am.” The next yawn seemed more genuine. Quinton was used to very little sleep. He’d been that way for at least six decades.

He could function with no problem with as little as four hours of sleep.

“Noah.” Quinton set his cup on the rug and turn to face his mate. “Please tell me what’s really going on. I’m a good listener, and it takes a lot to upset or shock me.”

His mate nibbled on his lower lip, drawing Quinton’s attention to their plumpness, and he had to fight not to kiss them.

“You make me want things,” Noah finally said like he’d had to muster all of his courage just to say that.

Want things ? Preternatural couldn’t get drunk off of human alcohol—though he’d learned that fey could—but Quinton began to wonder if those beers had gone to his head.

“Can you be a little more specific?” Although Quinton was ninety percent sure his mate was referring to sex, he didn’t want to assume anything.

But he sure as hell was hoping that was what Noah wanted. His mate was extremely handsome, his chestnut-brown hair purposely styled to look as if he’d just rolled out of bed. He had expressive green eyes and a long, slim neck Quinton wanted to run his lips over. His features were a combination of boyish and masculine, creating the perfect blend of beauty.

“Specific?” That red-hot, burning-as-hot-as-hellfire blush returned, setting his face ablaze.

Now there wasn’t a question in Quinton’s mind what his mate was talking about.

If Noah didn’t know how to ask, Quinton had no problem taking the reins. He cupped Noah’s jaw and leaned forward, taking his mate’s mouth in a searing kiss.

Noah clutched at Quinton’s arms, like he was holding on for dear life. He yanked the man closer, Noah’s coffee sloshing, spilling some on them, and then Quinton heard the cup hit the floor.

The intensity of the kiss heightened until Quinton’s mind was empty of everything except Noah. He explored the inside of his mate’s mouth then gently bit his lower lip.

Quinton sprinkled kisses down his mate’s throat, smiling when he felt the vibration of Noah’s moan.

Fuck. He was so damn hard it was almost painful. Leaning back, Quinton pulled his mate with him, draping Noah over his chest.

Cupping the back of his mate’s neck, Quinton lowered the man’s head until his lips brushed over the shell of his ear. “I want to suck your cock, sweetheart.”

He palmed Noah’s ass and pressed their bodies together, grinding against the guy to show Noah just how hard he was. “I’m dying to feel your soft lips sucking me off.”

Noah went rigid.

Quinton at once pulled his hands away, holding them out at his sides. He wasn’t sure why his mate had reacted that way, but he wanted to make it clear that Noah was free to get up if that was what he wanted to do.

“Did I say something wrong?”

Noah lifted his head and gazed at him. “Why would you ask that?”

He seemed genuinely confused. Quinton stared at his kiss-swollen lips, his mussed hair, and the shine in his eyes. “You…” Fuck. His mate wasn’t the only one confused. “Are we good?”

The man’s blush was out to kill him. “Yes.”

That was all Quinton wanted to hear. He reared up and placed his mate on his back. Quinton’s foot kicked his own mug, adding to the soaked mess on the rug as he unfastened his mate’s pants and tried to work them down.

“Lift your hips, hon.”

Noah complied, his hands fisting the cushions. Quinton could hear how quickly his mate was breathing as his hard cock slapped his stomach.

“So goddamn pretty,” Quinton murmured. Despite Noah’s cock being a bit shorter in length, his girth more than made up for it.

Quinton scooted back and then dipped his head, licking around the mushroomed head.

Noah gave a sharp cry, his hips bucking. Quinton’s lips sank onto his mate’s prick, taking the shaft down his throat.

Using his throat muscles, he created a suction on his way back up, stunned when Noah orgasmed, his semen flooding Quinton’s mouth.

Without missing a beat, he swallowed, licking his mate’s cock clean. Quinton suckled the head for a few seconds before he let the softening flesh slip from his mouth.

“Sorry!” Noah covered his face and groaned. “I can’t believe I only lasted five seconds,” he grumbled behind his hands.

Quinton couldn’t believe it either. He tugged at his mate’s hands. “ There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, hon. I just wished I’d known you had an easy trigger. I would’ve gone slower to draw out the pleasure for you.”

“Stop trying to remove my hands,” Noah whined. “They are now permanently attached to my face.”

Quinton chuckled. “Honestly, it happens to the best of us from time to time, especially when we’re with someone new.” He leaned over Noah and whispered, “Suck my cock and all will be forgotten.”

His mate’s hands slowly lowered. He eyed Quinton, and then his gaze slid down to his crotch.

Quinton worked his jeans and underwear down his thighs before he lay back, palming his throbbing cock. “Come here, Noah.” He thrust his hips playfully. “Show me how soft those lips are.”

His mate sat up. He looked sexy as hell all disheveled, his eyes glazed from his orgasm. Noah crawled languidly toward him, heightening Quinton’s arousal.

Lips parted, Noah stopped then stared down at Quinton’s erection with curious eyes.

“You’re killing me, sweetheart,” Quinton moaned. With his free hand, he massaged the back of Noah’s neck, encouraging him to lower his head.

Tentatively, Noah descended toward Quinton’s throbbing erection. If this was how his mate approached giving head, teasingly deliberate, Quinton loved it. It only added to the anticipation.

He hissed when Noah’s lips slid across the tip, his touch exploring. Quinton watched Noah lapping the pre-cum, smacking his lips as if he were trying to decide if he liked the taste.

His mate took a few inches of hard length into his mouth but pulled back and coughed, his eyes watering. He tried again, still unable to handle just a few inches, and then his teeth scraped Quinton’s sensitive flesh. “Teeth, baby! Watch the teeth.”

Noah eased back slightly, but Quinton saw the grimace. A thought was dawning on him. Either Noah was flat-out horrible at blowjobs, or… “Extend your lips just a little and that’ll create a buffer between your teeth and my poor dick,” Quinton said teasingly. He ran the side of his finger down his mate’s soft neck. “Try to relax your throat.”

Quinton fisted his cock, detracting inches from the length. He groaned when Noah heeded his advice. No teeth. No choking. Fucking perfect.

Bad blowjobs were worse than not getting one at all. But Noah was an exception. He was not only Quinton’s mate, but clearly, Quinton was Noah’s first.

Only a selfish bastard wouldn’t show gentle guidance. “Shit. That’s it, Noah.”

Quinton tilted his head back and groaned. Noah’s inexperience only skyrocketed Quinton’s arousal. A hard groan was yanked out of him. It was pure nirvana to watch his mate savor his cock, his greedy mouth sucking and licking, a look of pure ecstasy dominating his face.

The need to orgasm intensified. Noah’s hot mouth made Quinton tremble.

“Close, Noah.” He gripped a fistful of his mate’s hair while stroking his cock faster and harder. Quinton gritted his teeth. “About to come, Noah.”

His mate suckled the head harder. Quinton exploded, shouting his mate’s name. Hot jets of cum pulsed inside Noah’s mouth.

Although his mate appeared determined to return the favor, he gagged and pulled back.

Quinton pulled his mate up his chest and kissed him, sucking on Noah’s tongue. “So good,” he murmured, tucking his mate into his side. Noah wasn’t the only one exhausted.

Quinton didn’t even have the energy to pull his jeans and underwear into place. He dozed off with them down his thighs, his mate curled into his side.

Chapter Four

Noah lay nestled against Quinton’s chest, a grin tugging at his lips. But as the warmth of the moment gave way to the sharp edge of reality, the smile slowly faded.

The steady thrum of Quinton’s heartbeat, soft and rhythmic beneath his ear, was the only thing anchoring him, keeping the rising tide of panic at bay.

But even the soothing cadence couldn’t drown out thoughts of Toro.

How could he savor the sweetness of the moment when a deranged vampire was after him?

For once, Noah hadn’t run from intimacy—though it wasn’t for a lack of trying. He’d walked out of the diner, intent on escape, only to find Quinton at his heels, a steadfast figure refusing to let him slip away. He’d come so close to leaving, his hand poised on the car door, when something inside of him had screamed to stop, to turn around, to go back inside.

Whatever this was with Quinton felt unique, wild and unfamiliar, but real. Special. A spark that promised to illuminate a path he had never dared to tread before.

Even now, he was astounded by his own courage in inviting Quinton over, even though he’d almost sabotaged it by trying to ditch him at the red light.

Noah never denied being a hot mess, haunted by decisions that had led him into the nightmare with Toro.

Yet, amidst the turmoil, there was a silver lining—Quinton. The behemoth had swept him off his feet, giving him the most incredible, and only, blowjob he’d ever had, leaving Noah breathless and yearning for more. In a world filled with shadows, Quinton shone like a beacon, reminding Noah that even amidst chaos, there could be moments of sheer bliss.

Noah was embarrassed by his lack of stamina and his first attempt at giving a blowjob. He wondered if Quinton had actually enjoyed it, or if he was just trying to make Noah feel better. The guy had only gotten off when he’d taken matters into his own hand, literally.

Noah slid his palm over Quinton’s stomach, noticing how rock-hard his abs were. Then he glanced at the guy, making sure Quinton was asleep before Noah lifted his head and stared down at his groin.

His manscape was impressive. The hairs were short and well-groomed. Now he wondered if Quinton kept things tidy or if he had it professionally done.

Did such a service even exist?

Lowering his gaze, he stared at Quinton’s cock. Even soft it was impressive. Then again, the guy was nearly seven feet. It would have been a crying shame, tragic even, if a man his size had been cursed with a small package.

No wonder Noah’s jaw was sore.

And why he’d gagged.

Biting his bottom lip, Noah glanced up to make sure Quinton was still asleep.

Yep, he was out cold.

With his heart racing, Noah slid his finger along the length. The skin was soft and somewhat wrinkled. He glided the pad of his finger over the head, dots of cum still clinging to the slit then stuck the digit in his mouth.

Then grimaced. Tasting cum while sucking cock was different than sampling it… His eyebrows flew up as he watched Quinton’s prick slowly harden.

It was the craziest thing to watch. Noah had seen his own hard cock plenty of times, but to see someone else’s fill in was sort of fascinating.

“See what you do when you fondle me in my sleep?”

Busted.

He glanced up to see Quinton staring heavy-lidded at him.

“You’ve awakened the beast.” There was humor in his voice, but the man wasn’t lying. His cock, when erect, could be called a beast. It could’ve been called a lot of things, as silly, stupid pet names for his cock had come to mind.

“But first”—Quinton tucked his fingers under Noah’s chin, turning his head to stare into steel-gray eyes—“we need to finish our conversation.”

Ah, yes. The one about why Noah felt so attracted to the guy. Quinton could add an attribute to the reason for his attraction, and that reason rested between the man’s legs.

Putting his troubles from his mind, Noah relaxed his chin on his folded hands, which rested on Quinton’s broad chest. “I’m listening.” But his mind was elsewhere.

Namely between Quinton’s legs.

Noah, like any other guy, had watched some porn. But he’d watched it for educational purposes, as well as for obvious reasons.

One particular video had gotten permanently stuck in his head. The one where the men were similar in size to him and Quinton.

The “Quinton” actor had been hung. Swear, the guy had to have been a descendant of a sperm whale. Watching the “Quinton” guy penetrate the “Noah” guy, the real Noah had at once lost his erection.

Now that he thought about it, maybe that was why he had always run for the hills.

And now he was draped across the “real” Quinton, their pants and underwear halfway down their legs, cocks hanging out—one soft, the other vying for Noah’s attention—while Quinton wanted to talk.

Only in Noah’s life could a guy have him naked but not want to fuck.

“Either you know about my world, or you just completely zoned out on me.” Quinton knocked gently on Noah’s forehead like it was a door. “Did you hear what I just said?”

Noah hadn’t heard a word.

“Sorry. A particularly scary memory popped into my head.” Noah smiled apologetically at him.

“Want to tell me about it?” Quinton sounded sincere, his gray eyes growing soft. That tender expression wasn’t enough for Noah to share the porn story. He’d already humiliated himself once tonight by turning into every guy’s worst scenario.

A five-second man.

“Could you repeat what you said? I promise to listen this time.” Noah stared into those gray beauties. “My complete focus is on you.”

A knowing, shit-eating grin curved Quinton’s sensual mouth. “You were thinking about my cock.”

In a way. “Are you so sure it was your prick I—” Noah cut off the rest of what he was going to say.

One, it dawned on him that maybe what he was about to say was completely inappropriate. Talking about one guy’s prick in front of another while clothes were halfway shed was in poor taste.

Two, the storm brewing in Quinton’s eyes was evidence Noah needed to clean up that unfinished sentence.

“Was totally thinking about your cock.” Noah patted Quinton’s chest like he was making nice with a wild animal. “Now, what did you say?”

Noah couldn’t explain why, but something deep inside assured him that Quinton, no matter how angry he seemed, would never hurt him.

Quinton pointed a finger between them. “Are you sure you’re with me? Do I have your attention?”

“Yes.” With a playful grin, Noah slapped his chest, mostly because he liked the way it felt beneath his hand.

With a single nod, Quinton said, “I’m a bear shifter.”

Noah tilted his head, a smirk creeping up. “Polar, black, or grizzly?”

Quinton let out a low grunt. “You think I’m joking. You don’t believe me.”

“No, I believe you. So which one?”

“Grizzly?” He stared at Noah as if he didn’t trust his reaction. “Care to tell me how you know?”

“About your existence?” Noah scoffed. “My crappy-ass stepdad. He’s a wolf shifter, and a lousy one at that.”

He had been the first person Noah had gone to about his Toro problem, and Jack’s advice had been for Noah to make sure his will was up to date.

That had only been the latest in a long line of useless advice he’d given Noah and Layne over the years.

“Lousy?” That seemed to confused the hell out of Quinton.

“Yes. Lousy and lazy. Guy marries my mom, doesn’t do anything around the house. That’s a woman’s job.” Noah plucked at some lint on Quinton’s shirt, thinking of all the ways his stepdad was a loser. Not that he wanted to denigrate the guy, but he wanted to paint a picture of the shifters he’d been around for the past seven years.

“Jack has his buddies over at least twice a week, each one trying to prove who’s the toughest by either flexing or simply trash-talking the others. He gives the worst advice. And whenever I stop by, the bastard ruffles my hair, gives me five bucks, and tells me not to spend it all in one place. Nothing costs five dollars anymore!”

Jack’s toxic masculinity was one of the reasons Noah hadn’t come out to his family. The only people who knew were his brother and best friend.

Quinton was still looking at him skeptically.

“Don’t believe me? Go see what you can buy with five bucks,” Noah scoffed.

“Is your mom Jack’s mate?” Quinton asked, fighting a smile.

“I heard him use that word once or twice,” Noah admitted, now tracing the letters on Quinton’s T-shirt that spelled out Givenchy. “But soulmates? My mom and Jack? Hard to imagine.”

Noah’s finger stalled on the letter N as his thoughts began to piece together. His overwhelming attraction to Quinton. His inability to get into his car at the diner and drive away. Inviting the guy home when he’d never done anything like that before.

When he looked up, Quinton was just watching him, like he was waiting for Noah to connect the dots.

“Yes,” Quinton said softly, answering the unspoken question. “We’re mates.”

Noah’s breath caught. He knew what that meant, in a sense, but didn’t know the intricacies involved though. Jack as definitely a dick, though Noah envied the way the guy treated Noah’s mom, and the way Jack looked at her was something special. The love that shined in his eyes was enough to take anyone’s breath away.

Despite his mom and Jack being nothing alike, there was no denying how he felt about her, which demolished Noah’s earlier thought of finding it hard to believe they were soulmates. It made him wonder what having that kind of connection with someone would feel like.

Noah tried to get up, but he was stuffed between Quinton’s solid frame and the couch, making it almost impossible to move. When he finally managed to pull himself free—Quinton was no help—Noah had come close to face-planting on the floor, his legs tangled in his clothes still halfway down his legs.

“Whoa!” Strong hands caught him before he smashed his face on the carpet. Quinton eased him back, his grip gentle for such a large guy.

Now on his back, lying over Quinton—and his exposed cock—Noah lifted his hips to pull his clothes back up his legs, but his underwear had somehow twisted inside his pants.

The mountain under him began to tremble with a deep, semi-suppressed chuckle.

Noah tilted his head up and to the side to glare at Quinton. The guy didn’t even have the decency to look repentant.

“Need help?” Quinton smirked.

More than you know . Noah was trying to get away so he could have a moment alone to think, but his jeans and underwear were conspiring against him.

“ I’ve been dressing myself since I was a toddler. I got this.” Yet, when he tried to lift his leg, his jeans wouldn’t budge.

Giving up, Noah rolled off the couch with a thud.

“Jesus!” Quinton’s voice boomed as Noah hit the floor, whacking his elbow sharply.

“Ow!” he hissed, grabbing his arm, and then noticed his bare ass was wet, as was the left side of his face. The smell of coffee and damp carpet filled his nose.

Quinton straightened up his own clothes effortlessly then pulled Noah back onto the cushions.

“Why would you throw yourself off the couch?” His large, beefy hands patted Noah’s head, presumably to check for lumps or bumps, his fingers skimming tenderly through Noah’s hair.

“I didn’t hit my head.” Noah jerked sideways, crossing his arms over his groin to hide his cock, which was getting hard from Quinton’s touch. “I cracked my elbow. And I didn’t throw myself off the couch. I rolled.”

The cushion he was sitting on absorbed the wetness from the coffee, but his face still felt moist. Noah needed to clean up the damp spots under the rug before it caused damage to the wooden floor underneath.

He just wasn’t getting up with a half-hard cock, especially when Quinton stood, now towering over him. The guy would be able to see how aroused Noah had become.

“Can you grab the hand towel from the kitchen so I can clean up the spills?”

As soon as Quinton walked away, Noah stood, struggling to straighten out his clothes and pull them up.

He paused when he heard a smacking noise and Quinton curse. The kitchen really was too small, but for the price of rent, Noah had dealt with it.

When Quinton returned, Noah had only managed to untangle the underwear, his cock still exposed. He felt the man’s heavy gaze on him as Noah finally slid them up his legs, followed by his jeans.

“I couldn’t find a hand towel.” Quinton’s voice had grown deeper than it already was, a bit of an edge to it.

“Crap. It’s in the laundry basket. I’ll go get it.”

“You only have one hand towel?” Quinton asked.

Noah headed to his bedroom where the laundry basket was located. With so little space to work with, Noah had to get creative on where he stored things.

“Yep. And only two bath towels. I’m a minimalist.”

Not by choice. Noah could have continued to live with his mom and Jack, but for sanity’s sake, he’d found a dirt-cheap apartment to get away from the macho wolf and his friends.

Great. Quinton followed him to his bedroom. There was only a twin-sized bed, a tall dresser with four drawers, and a closet that barely classified as one. Looking at his room through Quinton’s eyes, Noah felt the drabness of his apartment.

He grabbed the towel out of the hamper next to his dresser and headed back to the living room. Quinton didn’t follow him. Noah lowered to his knees and pressed the towel into the rug, soaking up as much coffee as he could.

It was happening again. That need to run away. Only this time it wasn’t because of intimacy. It went much deeper than that. Noah knew very little about this mate thing. He’d never been interested enough to have a full-blown conversation with Jack. And although he and his mom were close, she wasn’t the type of person who gushed about her feelings, especially to one of her sons.

But the small bits and pieces he’d picked up here and there, mating was for life.

There was no running from this.

Quinton squatted next to him and took the towel from Noah’s hands. He flashed Quinton a tired smile. “You gonna sop up our mess?”

That wasn’t what the guy had in mind. Quinton held him in a tight embrace, and Noah hadn’t even realized how much he needed the hug until he was wrapped in Quinton’s strong arms. He melted into the warmth, feeling the weight of the moment settle over them.

Quinton kissed his forehead, and for the first time in a long time, Noah let himself feel safe.

Chapter Five

Lying awake on the couch, Quinton held his mate close, feeling the reassuring weight of Noah’s body against his own. He traced the gentle curves of Noah’s face, gazing at how peaceful his mate appeared, but Quinton knew peace was fragile.

As Noah shifted in his sleep and let out a soft sigh, Quinton felt a wave of protectiveness clench him. He wanted nothing more than to keep Noah safe from any pain, fear, or darkness that seemed to follow the human like a shadow.

But Noah wasn’t some fragile flower. He had a quiet strength, one that both intrigued and frustrated Quinton. As the head of his bear shifter family, Quinton was used to taking charge and fiercely protecting those he cared about without question.

With Noah, it wasn’t so easy. His mate had erected walls that Quinton was still trying to get his mate to lower. There was something in Noah’s past, something he wasn’t ready to talk about, and Quinton suspected it was the reason for his mate’s hesitation.

What secrets are you hiding from me, hon?

The soft morning light filtered through the living room window, causing Quinton to focus on the overcast sky outside. The clouds hung low and heavy, like a promise of rain, and the world beyond the apartment walls felt calm and peaceful. It was a quiet he didn’t trust.

Running his fingers softly through Noah’s hair, Quinton thought back to when Kalen had called nearly three months ago, asking the Everharts to help with a vampire problem. Quinton and his sons hadn’t hesitated for a second to drop everything and lend a hand. The unbreakable bond between them had been forged over two centuries ago, and the wolf shifters were like family in every way that mattered. So when someone like Kalen Frost called for help, you didn’t ask questions.

You simply showed up, ready and willing to eliminate the threat.

But the crisis had resolved itself. The vampires in question had retreated, and the town had gone back to its quiet way of life. Quinton had been prepared to return home, but something about Midnight Falls—its tranquility and charm—had drawn him in. More importantly, his sons had felt it too. They’d needed a fresh start, a place away from the old memories that clung to them like ghosts.

So, they’d stayed.

But once again, Quinton’s life was changing.

He had never been one to overthink or dwell on things—three centuries of life had taught him to deal with problems head-on. But with Noah, things were different. This was his mate. His future.

If Quinton were being honest with himself, he’d never thought to find his mate and had made peace with being alone. But that all went out the window the moment he’d laid eyes on the human he now held in his arms. Finding Noah had changed everything.

The moment Quinton had sat next to Noah in the bar, he’d instantly known, had felt the pull, that undeniable connection between mates.

Yet, something wasn’t right.

There was a tension behind Noah’s bright green eyes, a secret that weighed him down. Every instinct Quinton possessed screamed at him to protect Noah, but how could he keep his mate safe when he didn’t even know what he was protecting the human from?

As he scratched at his beard, Quinton inwardly cursed. Instead of enjoying their connection, of simply being with Noah, a creeping sense of dread wouldn’t go away.

Noah stirred, his body moving slightly against Quinton’s. For a moment, he thought his mate had woken up, but then Noah settled again, snuggling deeper into the warmth of his embrace. The small, unconscious gesture tugged at something deep inside Quinton, causing him to smile.

Noah was independent and feisty, sure, but there was also a vulnerability beneath that tough exterior. A part of his mate wanted to be protected, even if the guy refused to admit it.

Quinton was still lost in thought when his phone vibrated. He groaned inwardly, knowing it was probably one of his sons. It was way too early for anyone else to be calling him. Carefully, so as not to disturb Noah, he reached for the phone and checked the message.

It was Ryker.

You awake? I’m downstairs. We’ve got a situation .

With a reluctant sigh, Quinton gently slid out from under Noah, tucking the blanket they’d grabbed from the bedroom earlier around his mate. He pulled on his boots, grabbed his jacket off the carpet in the corner of the room, then slipped out of the apartment.

After he trotted down the steps, he walked out into the cool morning air, the faint scent of rain lingering from the night before. Ryker was waiting for him at the curb, leaning against his motorcycle and wearing a grim expression. Killian, Quinton’s second eldest son, stood next to his brother, arms crossed, his usual carefree demeanor replaced with something more serious.

“What’s going on?” Quinton asked as he approached them.

Ryker glanced over at Killian then back at Quinton. “We found out why Toro’s in town.”

Quinton’s heart skipped a beat as dread pooled in his gut. He didn’t know why the vampire was in Midnight Falls, but he couldn’t shake the feeling this wasn’t just a random coincidence.

Toro didn’t do random. The vampire always had a reason, and it was never anything good.

“It’s your mate,” Killian said bluntly, his voice tinged with frustration. “Toro’s here for Noah.”

Hearing Noah and Toro’s name mentioned in the same sentence made Quinton’s blood run cold. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, the protective instinct surging through him like wildfire. Noah was Toro’s target?

“How do you know for sure it’s Noah he’s after?” Quinton demanded, his voice sharp as his fear and anger skyrocketed. The vampire was a wild card, an unpredictable menace who thrived on chaos.

Ryker’s stance shifted. He was clearly uncomfortable with the gravity of the situation. “After I texted you last night, Killian and I went on the hunt for Toro to try and find out what the vampire was up to. We came across him behind the vet clinic and overheard him talking with some lackeys. He mentioned Noah by name.”

Quinton swore under his breath. He had been so focused on spending time with his mate, on trying to navigate their new bond, that he’d completely forgotten about Toro. If the vampire was gunning for Noah, that put the human in immediate danger.

“I won’t let that bastard touch him.” Quinton also needed to talk with Noah, to find out why the vampire was after him in the first place.

Ryker and Killian exchanged a glance then nodded in unison. “We’ll help,” Ryker offered, a hard glint in his eyes. “Whatever you need, Dad.”

“Thanks,” Quinton said, a menacing growl in his voice. “Because we’re not just going to sit back and wait for Toro to make his move. We’re going on the offensive.”

“It’s morning, so there’s nothing we can do until full dark,” Killian reminded him, then added, “Toro left his meeting using his inhuman speed, so we weren’t able to track where he’s holed up.”

Which presented a problem. Now that Quinton knew why Toro was in town, there was no way the human was staying at his apartment. There was too much at stake, which was why Noah was coming to Quinton’s house. The vampire was unhinged, and the last time they’d crossed paths, things had ended violently.

“ I’ll meet you boys at home. I have to talk to Noah.” Quinton turned and headed back upstairs. Just thinking about the vampire made him want to rip the bastard apart.

When he quietly crept back into the apartment, he saw Noah was still asleep on the couch. Careful not to wake his mate, Quinton headed into the kitchen, needing a minute to think, to clear his head. The apartment felt too small, too stifling, with all the unanswered questions hanging in the air.

As Quinton poured himself a cup of cold coffee from the pot his mate had brewed earlier, he wished he’d told his sons to stop at Bluebird Café. And maybe the bakery for a dozen or so sweets.

In desperate need of fresh coffee and some pastries, Quinton pulled out his phone and texted Ryker, putting in his order and giving his son the unit number.

After Ryker replied with a thumbs-up, Quinton strolled into the living room. His gaze was immediately drawn to Noah, who was sitting up now, his tousled hair falling in charming disarray around his face and his half-lidded eyes still showing traces of drowsiness.

Even in his disheveled state, he was breathtakingly handsome.

“How did you sleep?” Quinton sat next to him on the couch then set aside his cup of cold coffee. He pulled Noah into the crook of his arm, and his mate snuggled up against him as if it was the most natural thing to do.

Noah rubbed his eyes and let out a big yawn before answering. “I slept on top of a warm mountain,” he replied with a sleepy grin.

Quinton chuckled at the cute response, feeling a surge of warmth in his chest at the sight of Noah so relaxed in his arms. “I’ve been called worse.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re the size of one.” Noah gazed up at him with wide eyes. “Just how tall are you?”

“Six-six,” Quinton responded with a small smile.

Noah’s lips parted. “Wow. You’re a big boy.”

It wasn’t the first time Quinton had heard that comment, but it still made him self-conscious at times. He was fully aware of his towering stature, but constantly being reminded of it could be tiresome.

However, hearing it from Noah didn’t bother Quinton at all. In fact, he quite liked it. “Can I ask you something?” He brushed some stray hairs off of his mate’s forehead.

Pulling back slightly, Noah furrowed his brows as mistrust returned to his striking green eyes. “I guess.”

Quinton searched for the right way to bring up Toro without triggering Noah’s defenses. “Do you remember the question I asked at breakfast?”

God, could he be any more vague? Quinton wasn’t one for beating around the bush, so why was he doing it now? His usual directness seemed to have abandoned him in this crucial moment.

“You’re asking a lot of questions this morning,” Noah said evasively, but the look in his eyes told Quinton that he knew exactly what question he was referring to.

“The one about what was on your mind.”

As Noah’s body tensed, he quickly looked away.

Quinton was done tiptoeing around the issue. His mate’s safety was at stake, and he needed answers, so he got straight to the point. “I know about Toro,” he stated bluntly. “What I don’t know is why he’s after you.”

Noah’s reaction was immediate. He jerked away from Quinton before he shot up from the couch. It was unclear where he was planning to go, since the living room was the size of a shoebox. His body radiated tension and panic, giving off the impression he was looking for an escape route.

“How do you…” Noah’s voice trembled with fear. “How do you know about him? Who are you?”

Quinton stood then realized his size might only intimidate Noah further, so he sat back down. But if his mate tried to leave the apartment, Quinton would have no choice but to physically stop him.

Even though it was daylight outside, the danger remained. Toro could have humans or preternaturals staking out Noah’s place.

“I’m still Quinton Everhart, a bear shifter and your mate,” he stated firmly.

The fear in Noah’s eyes seemed to momentarily fade, replaced by a droll expression. “And that’s supposed to magically clear things up? You could be lying your butt off about your name,” he retorted.

He noticed Noah didn’t dispute their connection as mates, only Quinton’s identity.

Regardless of whether or not the human trusted him, there was no denying the strong bond between them.

“I’ve had run-ins with Toro in the past, hon,” Quinton said calmly. “I know he’s a nasty piece of work.” He explained about the conversation he’d just had with Ryker and Killian downstairs.

The longer Quinton talked, the more Noah’s face drained of color.

“I need to know why he’s after you, sweetheart.” He patted the cushion beside him, but his mate refused to sit down.

Instead, Noah paced in front of the door while biting his thumbnail. “It was such a stupid mistake,” he admitted through clenched teeth. “I needed a loan because I was falling behind on my bills, but I didn’t want my family to find out I needed money.”

Quinton already knew a psychotic vampire was after his mate, but hearing the details still made his stomach churn. “Why were you concerned about your family finding out?”

Taking out a loan wasn’t an uncommon practice. People did it all the time.

“One word.” Noah stopped his pacing and scowled. “Jack.” He spit out the name like it tasted bad in his mouth. “My stepfather believes anyone who needs a loan is financially irresponsible. I would’ve never heard the end of it, and knowing him, he would have told his buddies. Every time I went to see my mom, Jack would have lectured me about how irresponsible I was being, even though I’m not.”

The more Quinton learned about the stepfather, the less and less he liked the guy. “But you didn’t have to tell him ,” he remarked. “You’re an adult living on your own. Your finances are your business.”

“That’s what you would think, right?” Noah scoffed bitterly. “But Jack is acquainted with a lot of people in this town. I couldn’t take the chance he would know the person at the loan place.”

Quinton rubbed his hand across his bearded jaw. “So, you turned to a shady lender instead.”

Noah gave him a look that confirmed his suspicions. “Those people don’t ask for proof of income, and they don’t make you sign any contracts. They also conveniently neglected to mention the exorbitant amount of interest they charge, which compounds every day you default on your loan.”

“Why are you defaulting?”

“Because of the exorbitant amount of interest they charge. Haven’t you been listening?” Noah’s voice was high-pitched, like he’d shatter at any second.

Toro’s involvement meant Noah’s debt had reached a critical level. “How much do you owe?”

“I’m not dragging you into this.” His mate shook his head as he began pacing again, but more frantically this time.

“You’re not dragging me into anything.” Quinton stood to his full height. It wasn’t to intimidate Noah but to show his mate he was a force to be reckoned with. “The last time I ran into Toro, he was after a friend of mine.”

Noah looked him over, a curious expression on his face, but Quinton couldn’t tell if it was from fear or awe. “And the vampire is still living?”

“A mistake I plan to rectify,” Quinton snarled. “He’s not getting anywhere near you, cub.”

“I can’t believe it took me this long to figure out why you call me cub.” Noah smirked. “You’re a bear shifter. It’s cute, but I’m not a child.”

“It’s like how adults call their partners baby,” Quinton pointed out. “I use the term cub in the same way.”

“Oh.” Noah pursed his lips in understanding.

In just five steps, Quinton crossed the small space between them and wrapped his arms around Noah, pulling him close and dropping a tender kiss on the top of his head.

His mate curled into him, covertly sniffing Quinton’s shirt, but he heard the small sniffs and grinned. Noah liked his scent.

With a content sigh, Noah melted into him. Their connection allowed his mate to feel safe and at ease in his embrace.

But Quinton couldn’t let himself be distracted from the issue at hand. “How much, hon?”

A knock on the door caused Noah to tense. Quinton cursed under his breath at Ryker’s and Killian’s terrible timing. While he appreciated them making a coffee and pastries run, they could have been just a little slower with their delivery.

“It’s just my sons,” he reassured his mate, running a comforting hand down his back. “They brought us some pastries and coffee.”

With a slight lean to the side, Quinton opened the door.

But it wasn’t them.

Two men and one woman barged into the living room, with the burly men heading straight for Quinton while the sleek woman went after Noah. His mate shouted and struggled as she grabbed him, trying frantically to get her off of him.

Reacting quickly, Quinton slammed the dark-haired man against the wall with a savage snarl before grabbing the bald one by the throat. With a powerful swing, he hurled Baldy, sending him crashing into the female who was trying to drag Noah away.

Not only were the intruders incredibly strong, but they also had different scents. Quinton could detect that the males were lion shifters while the female was a cheetah shifter.

“Get your fucking hands off him!” Quinton roared, unwilling to reveal the fact Noah was his mate. Toro would take great pleasure in torturing Noah to get revenge for the beatdown Quinton had given the vampire just six months prior.

Extending his claws, Quinton growled ferociously as he gutted the dark-haired man, desperate to get to his mate. Noah was fighting back, but as a human against a shifter ten times stronger than him, he didn’t stand a chance.

Baldy broke free and drove his claws deep into Quinton’s back.

“No!” Noah screamed, fighting to get to him. “Let me go! Quinton!” But the female had her arm tightly wrapped around Noah’s waist, easily carrying him out of the door.

In a desperate move, Quinton slammed backward, crushing the lion shifter against the wall, causing the man’s claws to sink even deeper.

Yanking forward, Quinton twisted to the side and grabbed the man behind him, dragging him from his back to his front. The son of a bitch’s claws was covered in Quinton’s blood.

“You’re going to take me to her.” Consumed with rage, he seized the lion shifter by the neck and dragged him out of the apartment, praying the woman hadn’t gotten far. If she’d succeeded in getting away, Quinton would never see his mate again.

The thought was too unbearable to contemplate. It had only been ten short hours since he’d met Noah, and he hadn’t even had the chance to claim his mate, to solder their souls and seal their bond.

Quinton stopped when he saw the cheetah shifter backpedaling toward him in the hallway, Ryker and Killian snarling as they slowly advanced on her.

They made an imposing sight.

“Guess I don’t need your help after all.” Quinton tore out the lion shifter’s heart then let him drop to the floor. He then focused all his attention on the woman who had her claws to Noah’s throat.

“Tell your lapdogs to back off or I’ll kill the human.” She sneered at Quinton, glancing over her shoulder.

In a flash, Quinton had her in his grasp, snapping her arm back until he heard bones breaking. She screamed as Killian swiftly ushered Noah into his apartment. The neighbors were sure to call the cops with the loud commotion outside their doors, but Quinton refused to take her inside Noah’s home. His mate had been through enough trauma already. Noah didn’t need his attempted abductor in the same apartment with him.

Ryker set the tray of coffee and the bag of what smelled like a mixture of muffins and Danishes on the floor before covering her mouth with his hand.

“Bitch, you wouldn’t be in this situation if you hadn’t let Toro manipulate you into doing his dirty work,” Ryker snarled at her, baring his canines. “Now shut up. You’re disturbing the neighbors.”

Quinton heard the creak of a door opening behind him, followed by a sharp gasp and then the slam of the door. Despite not wanting to cause a disturbance in his mate’s apartment building, Noah’s safety was his main concern.

“Take her downstairs,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. “The police should be arriving soon. Send them up when they get here.”

“Why do I have to take out the trash?” Ryker grumbled as he pulled the woman away from Quinton.

“Because I need to check on Noah.” He gave his son a meaningful look, silently telling him not to reveal the human was his mate in front of the cheetah shifter.

With an irritated groan, Ryker puffed out a breath. “Fine, but y’all better not touch my muffins.”

He dragged the woman behind him like a child struggling with a heavy backpack. The loud thud of her hitting each step echoed throughout the quiet hallway.

Quinton started toward Noah’s unit, only to remember the dead body on the floor a few feet behind him, the heart ripped out. Since he couldn’t just leave the corpse lying there, he leaned against the wall and waited on the deputies.

The pain in his back from getting stabbed with those claws was becoming so much worse. Quinton needed to shift into his bear so he could heal, but he couldn’t do that until this mess was dealt with. Hopefully the deputies showed up soon, because he could feel the blood trickling down his back to saturate the waistband of his jeans.

He could also smell the metallic scent of blood.

The pain was what he deserved for being so preoccupied with how much his mate owned some loan sharks that he’d opened the apartment door without checking first to see who had been knocking.

Quinton knew better. It was a careless mistake that could have cost Noah his life. If Ryker and Killian hadn’t shown up when they did, the cheetah would have gotten away with his mate.

Not five minutes before the knock, Quinton had stated vehemently that Toro wasn’t getting his hands on Noah, yet that was exactly what almost happened.

Quinton had suspected the vampire might have humans or some preternatural watching the place.

He hated when he was right.

Now he stood there slightly shaking at the close call—or possibly the blood he was steadily losing.

“Will you stop?” Noah came to the door, shrugging off Killian’s hand on his arm.

Normally, Quinton would be ready to kill his son for touching his mate, but he understood Killian was trying to prevent Noah from seeing the carnage.

“Please wait inside, hon.” Careful not to show how much pain he was in, Quinton moved to stand in front of the body, trying his best to block the massive hole in the guy’s chest from view. It was something his mate didn’t need to see.

“Will you get your paws off of me?” Noah narrowed his eyes at Killian.

Despite the gravity of the situation, a smile tugged at Quinton’s lips at his mate’s feistiness. Noah was human, was fully aware he was dealing with bear shifters, but that didn’t seem to matter to him.

“I would if you’d listen to me,” Killian argued. “Your mate wouldn’t want you out here where there’s danger.”

Noah jerked his hands toward the hallway. “Do you see any danger, aside from your dad?”

Killian glanced at Quinton with a shrug. “I tried, but your mate is stubborn as hell.”

Noah was going to get along fabulously with Hyett’s mate. Wesley was just as stubborn and sassy. “Killian, I need you to wait out here. Noah, I need you to turn around until he takes my place.”

Everything was spinning. If he didn’t get inside his mate’s apartment and shift, the neighbors were going to be even more freaked out than they probably already were.

Slowly, Noah’s gaze lowered to the floor, his eyes focused on the dead body behind Quinton. He paled and ran inside. Seconds later, Quinton could hear the man retching.

It was the last thing he heard before he hit the floor with a loud thud.

Chapter Six

“He’s going on a diet,” Killian grunted, struggling to lift Quinton’s heavy bear form with the help of Sheriff Dominic Harper, Deputy Denali Davis, and Ryker. They lifted Quinton's bear form from the hallway where he’d collapsed and carried him into Noah's small apartment.

The 700-pound bear took up most of the living room space, with its back against the couch and hindquarters reaching toward the kitchen doorway.

With Quinton lying there, the five of them were cramped and had little room to move around.

“What does your father eat?” Sheriff Harper wiped his brow with his arm. The sheriff was also a grizzly bear shifter—the largest in Midnight Falls before Killian’s family had moved to the small town—so if he was astonished at Quinton’s size and weight, that was saying something.

But Killian was more concerned about the fact his dad hadn’t mentioned being injured. He had smelled blood, but assumed it was from the two dead lion shifters Quinton had killed.

When his dad woke up, Killian planned on giving him a piece of his mind. Watching his father collapse right in front of him had been the most terrifying thing he’d ever seen.

Fathers weren’t supposed to crumple.

They were strong, invincible warriors who could take hit after hit and keep going. Or at least that was how Killian had always seen Quinton. Unstoppable.

But now, facing his father’s sleeping bear form, reality stared him in the face.

His dad wasn’t invincible.

Despite standing at six-foot-six and weighing 350 pounds, filled with pure muscle and a fierce attitude, Quinton hadn’t been able to stop the lion shifter from sinking its claws into him or prevent himself from collapsing due to blood loss.

“Killian?” Ryker gripped his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah?” Killian cleared his throat and answered the questions from the sheriff and deputy.

“What about Noah?” Sheriff Harper inquired after he was finished questioning Killian. “Since he was the intended target, I’d like to speak with him.”

Ever since Noah had thrown up, he’d secluded himself in his bedroom. Killian wasn’t sure if the guy was even aware of what had happened to Quinton.

“Can he come to the station later?” Killian moved aside, as much as the cramped space allowed so the coroner could attend to the dead lion shifter in the living room.

“Yes.” Sheriff Harper nodded. “When your father is back in human form, have him bring Noah in. That way I can speak with both of them.”

Ryker ended up lending the coroner a hand since one of their father’s furry front legs was draped over the lifeless body.

This was by far the smallest living room Killian had ever seen. Even his bathroom at home was bigger than this.

As Ryker and the coroner worked together, Killian turned his attention toward Noah’s bedroom door. Since he was stuck in this tiny space on the opposite side of the living room, he may as well check on the guy.

Knocking lightly, he watched as Ryker struggled to move their dad’s leg. It might’ve sounded simple enough, but Ryker had to maneuver around the massive grizzly in order to help.

With a smirk, Killian watched his brother’s clumsy attempts, nearly falling onto their dad at least four or five times.

When Noah didn’t come to the door, Killian knocked again. Still no answer. Now he stood there debating on what to do. His dad would skin him alive if Killian walked in on Noah changing clothes. The human had gotten sick, so it was possible he needed to change.

With a silent prayer that he wasn’t about to become a bear-skin rug, Killian cautiously opened the door just a crack. “Hey, Noah, just checking on you. If you’re changing clothes, throw a shoe at the door and yell for me to go away,” he called out, hoping to get some kind of response.

But instead of hearing anything from inside, Killian felt a slight breeze coming from under the door. Confused, he pushed it open farther and peeked inside.

Damn. The room was the size of Killian’s walk-in closet. It was so small he should have been able to see Noah wherever he was standing.

The only thing Killian saw was the window standing wide open.

With a curse, he quickly made his way into the room—bumping his arm on a tall dresser in the process—and rushed to look out the window. The room faced the back of the building, and just below it was the rear-entrance roof that would have been easy to climb onto.

Noah had taken off.

“Shit!” Quinton just might get that rug if Killian and Ryker couldn’t find their father’s mate. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the only person who could probably save his ass.

“Hello?”

“ Heey , Jaytee. It’s Killian. I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor?”

Jaytee Frost snorted. “What exactly did you screw up?”

* * * *

As Noah drove, every minute felt like an eternity, as if he was on an endless highway with no exits in sight. His mind was a chaotic mess of confusion and terror, struggling to process the events of the past few hours.

Was any of this even real?

For seven years he had dealt with Jack and his toxic friends, even knowing they were wolf shifters. But that was different because the preternatural world had never directly affected Noah.

Now it had, because of a fucked-up decision he’d made. Suddenly, the danger was right in front of him, crashing down on him like a violent storm.

This morning had been like something out of a wild nightmare. Noah’s heart continued to race from everything that had happened.

A wounded Quinton, a lifeless body guarded by his mate, another dead guy in his apartment, along with a demented woman who’d tried to abduct him… It was as if chaos itself had manifested in the form of dead bodies and deranged villains.

This was all Noah’s fault and his worst fear was that more bad guys would show up to kidnap him, only this time they might actually kill Quinton instead of just injuring him.

That’s why Noah had taken off, but even though he was only trying to keep Quinton and his sons safe, all he wanted to do was turn back around and go home. Quinton had been injured, though he’d acted as if the wounds hadn’t bothered him as he’d stood in the hallway.

What in the hell should I do? Noah’s mind was a frantic mess. He just needed a minute to breathe, to get his thoughts in order. His hand trembled as he turned off his car in Harris’s driveway. Noah wasn’t even sure why he’d come here since he had no intention of telling his best friend what was going on.

Closing his eyes, he couldn’t stop seeing Quinton stabbed with those claws.

In that moment, Noah had felt like his life was over.

In that moment, he had never hated anyone more than he’d hated that lion shifter.

In that moment, Noah had wanted the guy who had hurt Quinton to die.

“Shit.” He pressed the pad of his index finger and thumb against his eyelids. “Pull yourself together.” A humorless laugh escaped. “Right, how am I supposed to do that after what just happened?”

The worst part? Noah had just been through the most terrifying moment of his life, and all he’d wanted was to be held and given comfort, but Quinton had acted more like a hall monitor, sending Noah back inside his apartment.

Seriously?

Just because his mate was used to the insanity didn’t mean Noah was handling it like a champ.

He wasn’t.

Noah was not okay. He was very far from okay.

“I should’ve never left. I need my mate.” Just as Noah was about to start his car and pull away, his best friend walked onto the porch then hurried to the driver’s door.

As badly as Noah wanted Quinton, he got out and simply stood there, trying his best to hold himself together.

“Wasn’t expecting you.” Harris’s smile faded. “What’s wrong, Noah? Why are you shaking so badly?”

“I—” Noah started, but the words wouldn’t come. His throat tightened, his thoughts tangled like knotted string. What could he even say? How do you explain that your life just turned into a horror-fantasy novel without sounding insane? Worse, it was your own fault.

The world seemed so different now. The overcast sky felt darker, the sounds around him muted, and the breeze colder.

All the vibrant colors had bled away, leaving behind a world that felt eerily monochrome, drained of warmth and comfort.

Noah stood there, trembling, the weight of everything crashing down on him all at once. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d been holding in until now, standing before Harris, his best friend—the one person who had been there for him through everything.

Harris’s concerned expression was the final straw.

As Noah stumbled forward, his legs buckled. He barely caught himself on the car door. He began to hyperventilate, his heart hammering as he tried, but failed, to pull himself together.

Harris gripped Noah’s shoulders firmly and pulled him into a hug. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, hon. You’re safe here. Talk to me,” he said softly, his voice steady and grounding in the chaos of Noah’s mind.

Clinging to Harris, he felt like a child who had lost his way. The floodgates broke, and tears slid down his cheeks, hot and unstoppable.

Without a word, Harris led him to the porch. As soon as Noah sat on one of the plastic green chairs, his mind cleared a bit. The familiar scent of coffee and Harris’ cologne hit him, but it did little to soothe the tension coiled in his chest.

He slouched, pressing his hands together between his knees. Harris crouched in front of him, the concern etched deeper in his features now that he saw just how rattled Noah was.

“Talk to me,” Harris urged. “What happened?”

“ I’m... I’m in trouble,” Noah finally admitted, running a hand through his hair. “I got mixed up with something—something really dangerous.”

So much for keeping your best friend out of this.

Harris’s eyes widened, but he didn’t interrupt. He just waited, his attention unwavering, which only made Noah feel worse. He couldn’t dump all of this on the guy, but he couldn’t lie either.

“I can’t explain all of it,” Noah said, his voice low, “but some bad people came after me. Really bad people.”

“Are you serious?” Harris leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper as if the porch might have ears. “Like criminals? Noah, you have to call the cops!”

“Yeah… no. The cops can’t help me with this,” Noah muttered, rubbing his temples. He hadn’t realized how true that was until he said it out loud. The police wouldn’t stand a chance against someone like Toro. “It’s...bigger than that.”

Harris frowned. “Bigger how? Dude, you’re starting to scare me.”

Noah let out a dry laugh. “Join the club.”

As he glanced at Harris, who was still watching him with that worried expression, something in Noah shifted. He wasn’t the type to crumble—not completely. He’d been through tough stuff before. Not this level of crazy, but enough to know when it was time to stop spiraling and get his head on straight.

Just as he opened his mouth to tell Harris… Noah wasn’t exactly sure what, the tranquil street was ripped apart by the deafening rumble of motorcycles. Five massive Harleys roared into view, their engines growling like feral beasts.

Three pulled into the driveway, and two parked at the curb. Harris’s jaw dropped as disappointment filled Noah.

It was Killian and Ryker, along with three men he didn’t know.

Quinton wasn’t with them.

They cut the engines, the silence afterward feeling almost oppressive as they swung off their bikes in unison. Killian approached the porch, Ryker leaning against his bike, ankles and arms crossed.

The three men Noah didn’t know just stood there, scanning their surroundings like deadly bodyguards.

“Uh...who the hell are they?” Harris asked, voice low with an edge of wariness. “Are they the criminals you were talking about?”

Noah kept his tone casual, ignoring the tightness in his chest from Quinton’s absence. “No, despite their appearance, they’re actually the good guys… I think.”

“I thought we were cool, rabbit.” Killian leaned against the porch railing. At his height and wearing that leather, along with a scowl, Killian intimidated the shit out of him.

“I barely know you,” Noah replied, hating the fact his voice squeaked.

“And yet, you’re trying to get me skinned.” The bear shifter’s scowl deepened. “If my dad finds out you crawled out of a window and took off, he’ll string me up by my balls.”

“You want me to call the cops?” Harris whispered, nudging Noah. “Got my finger on the button. Just say the word.”

Killian’s gaze flicked to Harris before returning to Noah. It wasn’t a friendly look. If his best friend didn’t seal his lips, he might be the one strung up.

And what did Killian mean “if” Quinton found out? When Noah had left, his mate had been with his sons.

Just thinking about his mate made Noah’s emotions shoot all over the place. Even though Quinton had acted indifferent in the hallway, Noah missed him—more than he wanted to admit. Had missed his mate since slipping out of his window.

It was irrational, sudden, and way too intense for something that had barely started. But it was there, pulling at him like a tether he couldn’t break.

Walking down the steps, Noah glared up at Killian. “Why would he even care? He hasn’t called me since I left. If he—”

“He collapsed,” Killian interrupted, his expression grave and his voice low.

“What?” Noah shook his head, trying to make sense of what Killian was saying. Confusion clouded his thoughts as he struggled to understand.

“I’m guessing you saw the weapon used.” Killian’s brow arched, a subtle warning to be careful with their conversation in the presence of Harris.

“Yes,” Noah confirmed, the image of sharp, deadly claws flashing in his mind.

“He lost too much blood.” Killian glanced at Harris again, as if willing the guy to go inside the house so he could talk freely.

Noah’s stomach twisted with dread as he processed the weight of those words. He had left Quinton behind, assuming everything was fine because his mate had acted like he hadn’t been injured in the first place.

“I have to go,” Noah said urgently to Harris.

“The hell you do,” Harris snapped. “You told me that you were mixed up in something really dangerous and some bad people came after you. Now you’re going to take off with bikers? What in the hell has gotten into you, Noah?”

Ignoring Harris’s protests, Noah hurried to his car, heart pounding with worry.

“Noah!” Harris yelled after him, sounding like a worried parent demanding their child come back immediately.

How much blood loss? Noah had learned that a shifter healed in their animal form. He’d gone to his mom’s house one day to find a huge wolf lying on the living room floor.

Noah’s mom had explained that Jack had fallen off the roof while making some repairs and hurt himself. They healed by shifting into their animal. Despite knowing it was Jack, Noah had been scared shitless at the sight of such a powerful creature lying on his mom’s floor.

As he raced to his apartment, he saw five loudly rumbling motorcycles in his rearview mirror following closely behind him.

Noah had worked himself up into a panic by the time he pulled into his apartment’s parking lot. He rushed up the stairs, barely aware of Killian and Ryker on his heels.

When Noah opened his door, he shouted and jumped back. A colossal bear lay stretched out across the living room floor, taking up almost the entire room. The sight of his mate rendered him speechless. Quinton’s bear was a force of nature.

Killian ushered Noah inside, forcing him closer to the massive furball. Blinking several times, Noah fought the urge to wait in the hallway until his mate was back in his human form.

Ryker closed the door. “He won’t hurt you, Noah. We’re cognizant in our animal forms. He’ll know who you are.”

That did not make Noah feel any better, especially since he had no idea bears even came in Quinton’s size. “He’s...enormous.”

Killian grinned, patting the bear’s hindquarters playfully. “He’s always been a big guy. You should see his—”

Noah gaped at Killian, his brows shooting to his hairline. “See his what , exactly?”

Ryker stifled a laugh, and Killian’s face caught fire as he quickly tried to backtrack. “His...bear form. You should see his bear form.”

“I’m staring right at it.” Noah flung his hand toward his mate.

With a loud groan, Killian rubbed his face. “Please, for the love of everything, don’t tell him I said that.” He dropped his hand. “And since we got you back here before he woke up, do Ryker and me a favor and don’t mention your Houdini act.” Killian stepped over the bear to get to the kitchen. “You got anything to eat? I’m starving and those pastries won’t put a dent in my appetite.”

Noah ignored them, his attention focused on Quinton. His mate lay there, unconscious, his breathing steady but slow. Despite the size and ferocity of Quinton’s bear, Noah knew the beast wouldn’t hurt him.

This was Quinton—his mate, his protector.

Slowly, Noah inched closer then poked the bear’s hindquarter, feeling the soft fur beneath his fingers. Quinton didn’t move, didn’t react.

He tried again, this time stabbing his finger a little harder, but he still got no response.

“Are you trying to poke a hole in him so he’ll deflate?” Ryker asked with humor in his voice.

“It’s my process, okay?” Noah said nervously. “You’re used to seeing your dad like this. Forgive me for being cautious around an animal that could probably fit my entire head in his mouth.”

“You don’t have any food.” Killian came back into the room with a pout. “No wonder you’re so skinny.”

Ryker slapped the back of his hand against Killian’s gut. “That’s our stepdad you’re talking to. Mind your manners.”

Eyes wide, Noah slowly turned his head toward them. “Do you really have to say that right now ? Can you let me get through one freak-out at a time?”

“We’ll just order some food,” Killian said, warmth in his gray eyes. “What do you want from the diner, rabbit?” He pulled out his phone, already dialing.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” The guy better not think Noah was cute and cuddly.

“You rabbited out of here.” Killian smirked at him then said, “Hey, Roman, it’s Killian Everhart.” He paused then frowned. “I’m aware it’s the lunch rush, but you don’t have to groan about it. Consider yourself lucky it’s just my dad, Ryker, and me ordering instead of all four of us. Oh, and the little birdie.”

Ryker slapped Killian again, only this time he cuffed his brother on the back of the head.

Noah was going to shelf the whole “stepdad” thing for now. Like he’d told them, one freak-out at a time.

“Rabbit?” Killian glanced at him. “You can go first, since you’ll probably want a salad or something.”

“Are you always an asshole?”

Killian ducked out of the way when Ryker tried to cuff him again, nearly tripping over the bear’s legs. “Stop hitting me, goddamn it.”

“Stop insulting our dad’s mate,” Ryker snarled.

At least he hadn’t called Noah his stepdad again. “I’m broke, so go ahead and—”

“If I’m ordering, I’m paying.” Killian looked expectantly at him.

“In that case, I’ll take a juicy cheeseburger, well done, on a pretzel bun, with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles. A large fry, with a side cup of steak sauce, a large iced tea, and a chocolate molten lava cake, ice cream on the side.”

Killian’s mouth dropped open slightly. “Color me impressed. You’re gonna fit in nicely. Maybe you can get Wesley to eat like that.”

Noah had no clue who Wesley was.

As if reading his mind, Ryker said, “He’s our younger brother’s mate.”

Noah vaguely remembered Quinton telling him he had three sons. With everything going on, he’d honestly forgotten.

While Killian and Ryker placed their incredibly large order, Noah glanced at the bear.

Might as well get used to it since I’m mated to the guy.

With a deep breath and hammering heart, Noah climbed over Quinton’s hind legs, settling himself against the bear’s warm body. The fur was soft under his cheek, and the rhythmic rise and fall of Quinton’s breathing started to calm the storm inside Noah’s head. For the first time since the attack, he began to feel safe again.

This was all Noah had wanted when he’d tried to approach Quinton in the hallway earlier. His mom once told him that simply touching her mate eased her anxieties better than any medication ever could.

She’d suffered from not only anxiety but depression since his dad had died three years prior to meeting Jack.

Noah thought it was just an excuse for the way the two were always hugging and caressing each other. But she had been telling the truth. All of Noah’s chaotic emotions melted away as he burrowed himself against his mate.

“Food will be ready in about thirty, rabbit,” Killian said.

Without moving a muscle, Noah replied, “I’d suggest you stop calling me that if you don’t want your dad asking why you’ve nicknamed me rabbit.”

“Good point, birdie.” Killian chuckled.

Noah groaned. “Can’t you give me a badass nickname so I’m not so intimidated around moving mountains?”

“There’s no need to be intimidated,” Ryker said with a gentle smile. “You’re a mate, which means you’re precious to us.”

Noah softly laughed. “Sorry. You made me think of Gollum when you said that. You know, Lord of the Rings ?”

“I like your sense of humor.” Ryker chuckled.

Noah sucked in a sharp breath when he felt an electrical current run along his body. One second he was pressed into soft fur, and the next, he was crushed against a very hard, naked body with strong arms holding him close.

“We’ll wait downstairs for the food,” Ryker said, but Noah wasn’t paying him any attention.

He was too busy gazing into steel-gray eyes.

Chapter Seven

“Are you okay?” Quinton rubbed his hand down Noah’s back, searching the man’s eyes. He’d been terrified of leaving his mate unprotected, even though Killian and Ryker had been with Noah.

What if another attack had taken place while Quinton was healing? He was still shaking inside from the fact Noah had nearly been kidnapped earlier. It had been so close, and if it hadn’t been for his sons…

“You’re the one who collapsed out of blood loss and you’re asking if I’m okay?” Noah placed his palm against Quinton’s chest, helping to calm the turmoil inside of him.

Although Quinton wanted to circle back to his earlier question of how much Noah owed the loan sharks, he didn’t want to ruin the intimate moment they were sharing.

“After what happened, yes, I’m asking if you’re okay.” He rested his hand on Noah’s hip, his bear snarling softly, frustrated that Quinton wasn’t sealing their bond.

“I had my own personal bodyguards. Plus, you were busy playing superhero.” Tension entered Noah’s pretty green eyes, causing Quinton to wonder what his mate was really thinking.

“Let me rephrase my question. How are you feeling?” Quinton slid his hand around Noah’s waist and tugged him even closer. What his mate had to say was important, but until Quinton claimed him, sex would be at the forefront of his mind.

Noah had to feel Quinton’s hard cock between them, and all Quinton could think about was the blowjob his mate had given him. Noah might have been inexperienced, but something about the innocence of his mate’s touch and his willingness to please was so arousing.

Which made him wonder if Noah was inexperienced in other aspects of intimacy.

“I…” The hand against Quinton’s chest trembled as a deep blush swept across Noah’s face and ears. “Very hot right now. You’re like a furnace.”

“Maybe you could cool off by removing some of your clothes.” Quinton ran his thumb over beautifully shaped lips, full enough to tempt and too soft to resist. Cupping the back of Noah’s head, he took possession of his mate’s mouth, groaning at how good he tasted. He turned them until he had Noah on his back and Quinton was lying half over him.

This is more like it .

Noah stiffened but soon relaxed, his fingers flexing against Quinton’s chest. The kiss was sweeter than he remembered, but now Noah’s lips were pressing hungrily against his.

Inwardly, Quinton smiled. His mate was getting used to kissing and touching him, and it thrilled him that Noah was becoming more comfortable with him. He wanted his mate to trust him, for Noah to know he could let his guard down around Quinton.

Noah slid his hands up, his fingers scraping along Quinton’s closely shaven beard.

Quinton started panting heavily, his cock so hard it ached. With a low growl, he took Noah’s wrist in a loose hold and guided his mate’s hand to his erection. “Touch me, beautiful. Curl your fingers around my cock.”

Noah’s touch was hesitant as he gently squeezed. Quinton let out a hard groan as the fire in his gut threatened to spread. Leaning forward, he inhaled Noah’s scent, burying his face in his mate’s neck, just breathing him in.

For the first time since… Fuck, Quinton wasn’t sure, but he was about to come from nothing more than slight pressure on his cock. He didn’t want to. Not yet. Noah’s hand hadn’t been on him nearly long enough. He couldn’t even tell his mate to ease up on the pressure because there was barely any to begin with.

Noah’s slight grip tugged up and down Quinton’s erection at an almost timid pace, as if he was unsure what he should do with someone else’s cock in his hand. Quinton teetered somewhere between languid enjoyment and desperate to get off.

He ghosted his mouth over Noah’s lips, coaxing a response out of his mate with long strokes of his tongue. Certain Noah no longer needed guidance, Quinton removed his hand and slid it down the back of his mate’s jeans, tracing the cleft of Noah’s ass with his finger.

Grip tightening, Noah groaned into his mouth, threatening to send Quinton over the edge as he traced Noah’s puckered hole in lazy circles.

“I want to fuck you so badly.” Quinton’s heart spiked. Just the thought of sinking into his mate’s tight heat had him closer to the edge, the buildup squeezing his balls.

If Quinton thought he would have enough time, he’d carry Noah to his bed and screw the man’s brains out. Quinton was drunk on sex, pulsing so hard he felt like he would explode in the next two seconds, unable to stop his body from fucking his mate’s fist.

It felt too damn good.

Noah’s finger slid over the veiny cock, his movements more assured. His mate pulled on Quinton’s tongue with his lips, moaning softly into his mouth.

The pressure on his erection grew tighter. He fucked Noah’s fist with quick thrusts then tore his mouth away and looked down, watching Noah jack his cock.

The small room filled with heavy breathing. This was not what Quinton had planned when he inquired about Noah’s feelings. He’d wanted to make sure his mate’s head was on straight, sort of like a mental-health checkup after the shitstorm that morning.

If there were issues, he would’ve tried to help Noah through whatever was bouncing around in his mate’s head.

Granted, Quinton had initiated this hot and heavy petting, but it wasn’t just the claiming that had him feeling so desperate and needy. It was also to strengthen their connection, to purge the fear inside of himself, the fear that spiked when Noah had almost been taken from him.

To ground their relationship and bring them closer.

And maybe this was Noah’s way of coping. Whatever his mate needed, Quinton would provide it.

His breath caught when Noah began to move down Quinton’s body, placing light kisses over his skin, a tender touch of lips, Noah’s hands petting him as his mate moved lower and lower.

It was a crash course in concentrated effort not to come as Noah’s lips trailed down his chest and abs. Quinton gripped the base of his erection to stop it from spurting out his release.

When Noah reached the head of Quinton’s cock, his mate stared up at him with uncertainty in his green eyes.

“Whatever you do is going to feel good,” he reassured Noah, his voice low and rough. “You already have me on the verge of coming. I’m strangling my dick like a son of a bitch to stop it from happening too soon.” He slid the head under Noah’s chin. “See what you do to me?”

The guy smirked, as if that was what he’d needed to hear. Quinton continued to hold the base, captivated as Noah parted his lips and licked his way around the head, lapping up the pre-cum with every stroke of his tongue.

Oh, fuuck .

Quinton lost the ability to think, that darting tongue wiping his mind clean, leaving behind nothing but raw need.

His cock throbbed heavily, pulsing in his fist as Noah sank his mouth down the length. He fucked his mate’s mouth gently, tenderly, running his fingers through his soft, silky hair. “So good, baby. So goddamn good.”

That need to bust a nut intensified. His mate’s hot, eager mouth made him tremble so badly that it shredded his senses and ripped the breath from his lungs.

His cock stretched Noah’s lips, and it was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. Quinton slowly pushed on his mate’s head, making it bob up and down, making those gorgeous lips ride his hard shaft.

It was the most incredible feeling in the world. Quinton propped one leg up, planting his foot on the floor, giving his mate more room to drive him insane.

Which was exactly what Noah did. Quinton stroked his cock faster and harder. Fuck, shit. He kept his hand on the back of Noah’s head so his cock stayed wedged in his mate’s tight, greedy mouth.

“I’m about to come,” he growled, gritting his teeth as Noah started sucking harder, that wicked mouth so goddamn amazing. Then he exploded, hot jets of spunk pulsed inside Noah’s incredible mouth.

A hard grunt was pulled out of Quinton as he convulsed. “Eat my cum, baby.”

Best. Orgasm. Ever.

Quinton gently pulled Noah off of his cock when his mate continued sucking him off. “Sensitive,” he said with a hiss.

Noah looked up at him, licking his lips and wearing a proud smile.

With a soft chuckle, Quinton pulled his mate back up his body and reached for Noah’s zipper, but his hand stilled when someone rapped their knuckles on the door like the wood was a set of drums.

Noah jumped up like it was his parents returning home. Quinton rolled to his back and threw his arm over his eyes. “Whoever said kids enrich your life had to be on drugs.”

The apartment was too small to take Noah into the bedroom to give him head. Quinton’s mouth watered to suck Noah off, but damn if he was allowing his sons to hear his mate’s sex noises.

Those were reserved only for him.

Noah ran into the bedroom like his sexy ass had caught on fire, returning a second later with a rumpled sheet. “Since none of my clothes will fit you, this is the best I can do.”

Instead of taking the sheet, Quinton gripped Noah’s chin tenderly then waited until his mate looked at him. “Take a deep breath, hon. You look too wound up.” He placed a soft kiss on Noah’s lips. “I could’ve gotten rid of that frantic energy for you if they’d taken ten more minutes.”

Noah inhaled deeply through his nose then let it out slowly through his mouth. He did it a few more times, causing Quinton to worry he would make himself pass out.

“I’m cool,” Noah said in a calm, serene tone. “Does my breath smell like semen?”

Quinton grinned so wide his damn cheeks hurt. “Let me check.” He kissed Noah again, this time more deeply. When he pulled away, his mate had a dreamy-eyed stare. “Smells amazing to me.”

It smelled just like his seed, and he loved it.

The knock started again. “Room service. I’ve got a 5-star feast here. And I only dropped it twice,” Killian called out.

With a snarl, Quinton stalked to the door and yanked it open.

Killian moved past him, half a dozen large, plastic bags in his hands. The Styrofoam containers were stacked all the way to the handles. The guy stumbled—over what, Quinton had no idea—causing him to lose his grip on one of the bags. It fell toward the floor, but Killian jerked his foot up, smacked the runaway bag with the side of his foot, then hooked his pinky around one of the handles.

“Who knew feeding a bunch of starving bears was an Olympic sport?” Killian grinned as Ryker walked in with even more bags and booty-bumped the door closed behind him.

The scent of delicious food made Quinton’s stomach rumble fiercely. That happened after healing in his animal form. He always woke up starving.

Arching a brow, Quinton scowled at Killian.

Ryker rolled his eyes, as if unimpressed. “Nice save, bro. I hope your hands are that quick in more important situations.”

Killian snorted. “You wish your hands were this quick.”

“I bet your dates wish they weren’t,” Ryker retorted with a smirk.

Noah stifled a laugh, causing Quinton’s features to soften into a warm smile.

With Killian’s smooth recovery and hearing his mate’s quiet amusement, Quinton appreciated the light moment amid the tension in their lives.

“Um…” Ryker looked around. “Since your kitchen is too small, I guess we can park our butts on the rug and eat.”

Quinton and Noah helped them with the bags, allowing Ryker to set aside the drink carrier. Killian went to work stacking the containers according to the orders. There wasn’t any room to lay them out side-by-side.

“What’s the other bag for?” Noah threw open his lid and grabbed a fry. “Don’t tell me that’s a second round for you.”

Killian winked at Noah. “I’m a big boy.”

An involuntary snarl rolled through Quinton’s chest. His bear was being possessive and territorial since Noah was unclaimed. Plus, it was pissed Killian and Ryker had interrupted them.

Killian picked up his containers and moved to the other side of Ryker, putting more distance—if that was possible in such a small room—between him and Quinton. “I’d move farther away from Noah, but there is no farther in this room,” Killian said.

With the three of them in the living room, the space felt cramped. Although Noah was significantly smaller, Quinton still didn’t see how his mate hadn't gone crazy over the lack of square footage.

When Quinton sat, his knee bumped one of Ryker’s containers, nearly causing an avalanche.

“It’s all I can afford.” Noah munched on another fry, speaking matter-of-factly, as if he wasn’t offended by their remarks. “I couldn’t live another minute under the same roof as Jack. Since him and his buddies were the only shifters I know, I was under the impression all shifters were like him.”

“You have your dipshits in every species,” Killian said while grabbing one of his containers off his stack and flipping the lid open.

Ryker scowled. “None more than fairies. They think since—” He glanced at Noah with a grimace. “Tell me you knew fairies existed.”

Noah held his burger with two hands, his mouth slightly open, but had frozen. “Fairies?”

Quinton gently bumped his mate’s arm with his. He couldn’t get pissed at Ryker since he’d screwed up a few times himself. “Our good friends live here in Midnight Falls. The Frosts. All three of Kalen’s sons are mated to fairies, though they preferred to be called fae. I can introduce you to them if you’d like.”

“One of them is a 4,000-year-old warrior,” Killian interjected. “Big guy, like us. His mate just gave birth to a cute little girl a few months ago.”

“His mate’s a guy.” Ryker grinned. “Let your brain stew on that one for a while.”

“You’re messing with me.” Noah took a sip of his tea. “Guys can make babies, but they can’t give birth to them.”

Picking up one of Noah’s fries, Quinton fed it to his mate. Noah’s face flamed with heat, but he opened and accepted the fry. “Things work differently in our world,” he said to his mate, pleased at the fact Noah was taking all this information in stride. “We have the Ultionem . They’re powerful leaders from every species. When Damon was cursed into a deep sleep by an ancient vampire, the leaders had to combine their blood as they used some spell to pull him out of it.”

“Whether you’re male or female, if you’re a descendent of Prince Christian, or are infused with his blood, you can become pregnant,” Ryker added. “Either way works.”

Quinton remembered Kalen calling him after all of that had gone down. They’d talked on the phone for five hours while his friend basically used Quinton as his therapist, which he didn’t mind.

When it came to the Frosts, he would go above and beyond for them, just as the wolves had done for Quinton and his family.

As they enjoyed Roman’s cooking, they entertained Noah with stories of the insane things they’d been through, a lot of them hilarious now that enough time had passed to be considered funny.

“Did you just say demon?” Noah stared wide-eyed at Ryker, his nearly eaten burger gripped in one hand. The fries had disappeared ten minutes into the stories.

“Never hauled ass so fast in my life.” Ryker chuckled. “Too bad the demon realm doesn’t have transportation. I could have gotten away from him a lot quicker. But thankfully I was near the Black Lake so I could dive in and get my ass home before that demon could turn me into fried bear.”

“Yes, demon.” Quinton reached over and gently tapped his mate’s chin. “Close your mouth before you catch flies.”

Noah pointed a finger at Ryker, started to say something, but lowered his hand. “I’m going to put that information in a box, set it on the shelf next to the ‘stepdad’ thing, and examine it in about ten years.”

“Too bad,” Killian said. “I have a ton of stories about them, rabbit.”

Noah stiffened. Ryker groaned. Killian sighed and tossed his corned beef sandwich into the container.

Quinton’s gaze flicked between all three of their guilty faces. His sons knew he didn’t like secrets kept from him. But before he could demand to know what was going on, a knock sounded on the door.

They were on their feet in seconds, standing shoulder-to-shoulder as a barrier while Noah stood behind Quinton.

After that knock this morning that had resulted in pure mayhem, none of them were taking any chances.

Ryker leaned forward and cracked the door open, a growl rumbling low in his throat.

On the other side stood an elderly woman in a lime-green track suit, her pale blue eyes widening behind her thick glasses. In her hand was a plastic storage container.

“Oh my.” She looked between the three of them. “I came by to drop these off to Noah.” She held up the container, and then her gaze slid over Quinton suggestively, lingering on the sheet around his waist. “Aren’t you a strapping man.”

He heard his mate snicker behind him.

Killian gently eased the container out of her frail hands. “We’ll make sure he gets these, ma’am.”

She fluffed her white hair and winked at Killian. “I see your father knows how to produce some big sixes. I’m right down the hall.” She batted her white eyelashes at him. “If you need help being with a cougar, I have some hooch and jive.” She turned but looked over her shoulder, eyeing all three of them. “The bank will always be open for you fellas.”

Killian just stood there gripping the container against his chest, as if she’d short-circuited his brain.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Quinton nodded politely.

She blew him a kiss then walked away before he had a chance to close the door. He now felt the same as Killian. It was like getting hit on by someone from the Jurassic period.

Noah poked him in his sheet-covered butt. “Thanks for protecting me from my ninety-year-old neighbor.”

“Hey, you never know,” Quinton replied, finally snapping out of his shock. “Those old-timers can be tricky. I might have just saved you from an intense round of bingo…or worse, a lecture on the ‘good ol’ days.’”

“Did any of you understand what she said?” Noah snatched the container from Killian then popped the lid, the smell of warm chocolate chip cookies instantly filling the air.

Quinton absentmindedly grabbed a cookie from the container, refusing to translate, and Killian’s brain still looked stuck.

Ryker suddenly burst out laughing. He turned and grabbed a cookie. “She said my dad knows how to produce some strong men. If we needed help with a cougar, she has booze and weed.”

“And the bank?” Noah shoved a cookie into his mouth, his eyes rolling back as he groaned.

If his mate kept making those noises, the sheet was going to turn into a tent.

“She’s up for kissing or making out,” Ryker provided.

Noah grimaced. “I’ve never seen her flirt before. She’s not a cougar, she’s a tiger, though I don’t know why the term tiger would be used for someone in their nineties.” He ate another cookie.

“Because they eat their prey.” Quinton grabbed another one, too. They really were delicious.

“I think the word you’re looking for is nonagenarian.” Killian shivered. “Her cataracts eye-banged me. I feel so filthy.”

“Apartment 215.” Noah licked the chocolate off of his fingers as he eyed the rest of the cookies. “She’s got hooch and jive, big six. Go make a deposit in her bank.”

Ryker and Noah fist-bumped.

Killian snatched a handful of the cookies and tossed one into his mouth, still watching the door as if he were afraid she’d return.

Quinton grabbed the container and pulled it out of Noah’s hands.

“Hey, give that back.” Noah scowled.

After eating two of them, Quinton eyed his mate and said, “No more cookies for any of you until you guys tell me what you’re hiding from me.”

* * * *

Harris paced his living room, mumbling, “Come on, pick up.”

Calling Layne wasn’t something he wanted to do. Harris felt like he was betraying Noah, but he wasn’t going to sit back and watch his best friend ruin his life.

And since when did Midnight Falls have biker gangs? That was news to Harris. Sure, a lot of residents drove motorcycles, but the men who’d shown up at his house were wearing leathers and looked as if they would have fit right in on Sons of Anarchy .

It was just a television show, but that was the only reference Harris could think of.

“Hello?” Layne said when he finally picked up.

“Why did it take you so long to answer?” Harris demanded in a panic.

“Dude, I’m at work. The only reason I answered is because my boss kept giving me dirty looks.”

“I think Noah has lost his mind,” Harris continued, ignoring Layne’s comment. “He showed up at my house in a panic, saying he’d gotten mixed up with some dangerous men, and then a gang of bikers whisked him away to destinations unknown.”

“Are you talking about my little brother?” Layne sounded confused.

“No, I’m referring to the Noah who built that big boat and turned it into a zoo,” Harris snarled. “Of course I’m talking about your brother and my bestie. Jesus. When we told him to get laid, I didn’t think he’d find a biker gang to deflower him!”

“Our meek little Noah? The same guy who’s clung to his virginity for twenty-five years? The same guy who ducks into the closest business when he sees ‘scary’ teenagers walking toward him?”

“The same guy who can’t watch horror movies because they freak him out for a good month. Yes, that Noah!” Harris shouted. “Stop making me clarify who I’m referring to and get your ass over to my house. We need to track him down, kidnap him, then deprogram him before it’s too late!”

Harris rubbed the heel of his hand against his forehead, wondering where he’d gone wrong with Noah. He’d just seen the guy last night at the bar. Something had to have happened after he and Layne took off.

The scary biker who’d approached Harris’s porch had said someone had suffered blood loss. Noah had crawled out of a window to get away. Why hadn’t Noah let him call the cops?

“I already told you I’m at work,” Layne whispered loudly. “I’ll be over as soon as I get off.”

“When is that?” Harris stopped pacing, wishing his massive headache would go away. They’d been friends for twenty years, and not once in all that time had Noah done anything dangerous or illegal.

The guy even refused to jaywalk for fear of getting a ticket and being labeled a criminal.

“In two hours,” Layne replied. “Are you sure Noah is involved in a biker gang?”

Harris gritted his teeth. “I was standing right there on the porch the entire time.”

“Then why didn’t you stop him?” Layne sounded pissed. Sure, the guy finally believed him and now wanted to blame him.

“Maybe because there were five of them and were built like the Hulk,” Harris shot back. “Do I look like I can take down one Hulk, let alone five of them?”

Sometimes Layne completely baffled him. Harris had said biker gang, right? How on earth did Layne expect him to stop Noah from leaving with them? By giving them a stern lecture?

“Jeez,” Layne groaned. “Okay, I’ll be over after work, and then we’ll figure out what to do.”

That would give Harris two hours to work himself into an even worse tizzy. “Come straight here. There’s no telling what kind of brainwashing they’re doing to him.”

“Just do me a favor,” Layne said.

“What?” Harris glanced out of the window for the millionth time, like Noah would pull into his driveway and tell him this was all a prank.

“Don’t call the National Guard.” Layne hung up.

“Like I have the power to do that, jackass,” Harris growled even though Layne couldn’t hear him.

Why had Noah waited until now to have a rebellious streak? Wasn’t that supposed to happen during the teenage years?

Harris was deep in thought when someone knocked on his door. Maybe it was Noah coming to his senses.

Crossing the room, Harris opened the front door. A good-looking stranger with striking blue eyes and hair the color of sandy beaches stood there wearing a gorgeous smile, hands tucked behind his back.

He reminded Harris of a surfer, the kind who wore coral necklaces and always had a surfboard tucked under an arm.

“Can I help you?”

The guy’s smile turned into a smirk, pulling his right arm from behind his back. He aimed a gun at Harris.

“Come quietly with me or your friend dies.”

Noah! “What have you done with him!” Harris demanded, his heart beating like crazy.

The stranger pulled out his phone with his free hand. “Your friend is currently with mine. If you make me repeat myself, I’ll send a text to kill Noah.”

Harris had no idea what his best friend was wrapped up in, but it had just landed on his doorstep.

Again.

Chapter Eight

Quinton was quiet the entire ride to his house. Noah had explained to him about leaving and how his sons had tracked him down—though neither Killian nor Ryker would tell Noah how they’d done it—but when he’d finished talking, all Quinton had said was to pack a bag.

Noah hadn’t argued. He’d simply grabbed a small duffel bag from his tiny closet and packed his clothes, along with his toiletries. The apartment had come furnished, and since it was so small, Noah hadn’t bought anything to make the space his own.

There hadn’t been enough room to add anything else.

His mom still kept his bedroom at home, and that was where Noah stored the bulk of his things. Even a lot of his clothes still hung in his old bedroom closet and were stuffed in his dresser drawers.

Since he had no idea how long he would be at Quinton’s, what he had in the duffel bag was everything he’d brought to his apartment when he’d moved in.

When they arrived at Quinton’s, Noah grabbed his bag from the back seat of the red pickup. He didn’t bother checking out the house when they entered. His mind was still rattled and confused from everything that had happened so far. Plus, he hated the fact his mate was angry with him. After he’d returned to his apartment and Quinton had woken up, Noah’s day had gone from terrifying chaos to enjoyable.

He even liked Killian’s and Ryker’s offbeat personalities. And Mrs. Baker? She’d blown Noah’s mind with her shameless flirting. If only Quinton hadn’t asked what they were hiding from him. That one question had tanked their good time and put everyone in a solemn mood.

Not even Ryker and Killian had said more than two words after Noah explained about his escape.

“This way,” Quinton said as Noah followed behind him. They climbed the stairs to the second floor, and then he showed Noah to his bedroom. “You can set your bag aside. I’ll clean out a few drawers for your things in a little bit.”

Noah had had enough of the silent treatment, something he’d always hated. Whenever his parents had done it to him, they’d made him feel like a bad kid, like he was a huge disappointment to them. Although it hadn’t been their intention, they’d nurtured his insecurities when they’d ignored him, causing his anxiety to skyrocket.

His stepfather hadn’t been any better. Jack had pretty much ignored Noah’s existence, unless the guy needed something or Noah went to him for useless advice. Then he’d had to endure a boatload of arrogance, especially when Jack’s friends were around.

What a jerk.

Thankfully Layne had always said what was on his mind, even if Noah hated getting read the riot act. But at least he’d known how Layne felt. The same with Harris. His best friend had always spoken his mind, which Noah appreciated. It was better than being ignored. The guy had always been there for him, had always had Noah’s back.

Which reminded him that he would have to call Harris soon and come up with some excuse for today. He’d left his friend with a bunch of unanswered questions and a lot of worry, which wasn’t fair to their friendship.

Fed up with the cold-shoulder treatment, Noah stormed over to the bedroom door and closed it, though he’d really wanted to slam it shut. “You’re pissed I snuck out, I get it,” Noah argued, “but can you blame me? My apartment was invaded, you got stabbed, two men died, one right in my living room, and I was nearly kidnapped. Forgive me for panicking.”

“This isn’t about you panicking!” Quinton snarled, the sound swiftly reminding Noah that his mate wasn’t human. “This is about your safety, rabbit . It’s about you taking off knowing Toro is after you. I mean, god, you were out there alone and unprotected.” He ran his hands over his head as he paced in a tight circle. “Anything could have happened to you, and I wouldn’t have been able to help because I was healing.”

“But nothing happened to me,” Noah countered just as heatedly. “Your world came crashing into mine, and I just needed a bit of normalcy for a moment, to ground myself, so I drove to my best friend’s house. I wasn’t even there ten minutes before a fleet of bikers showed up and whisked me back home.”

Quinton stopped pacing and stared incredulously at him. “Came crashing into your life? Think about that statement, Noah. Why did they show up? Were they there for me? Who were they there for and why? Don’t you dare try to pin this on me.”

“I’m not…” Noah took a deep breath. “I’m not trying to pin this on you, Quinton. I know I’m the reason those people showed up this morning. I’m also aware…” He paused once more, taking an even deeper breath to try and push back the tears that threatened to fall. “That I’m the reason you were stabbed and had to heal in the first place. Yes, I was scared, but honestly, I only ran to stop anymore bad guys from hurting you and possibly your sons.”

“You ran to protect me?” Quinton threw his arms up. “I don’t need you to protect me, Noah. And how would any ‘bad’ guys even know you were no longer at home?”

“That’s…a damn good question.” One Noah hadn’t thought about.

He wished to god he could go back in time and stop himself from taking that loan. Toro was only the “collector” and not the person he’d gotten the money from.

Desperation was one hell of an incentive to make the most irrational decisions, and Noah had been desperate to pay his bills so he wouldn’t be forced to move back home.

It had been Jack’s arrogant attitude that had caused Noah to make some shady back-alley deal instead of swallowing his pride and admitting he couldn’t afford to live on his own.

Even if Jack’s pretentiousness had been the driving factor, ultimately, it had been Noah who’d made the deal. His bills were now paid six months in advance, giving him some breathing room, but that breathing room was about to be cut short if he couldn’t come up with the money.

What seriously pissed Noah off was the fact Raphael had told him that he could pay the loan back in installments. Not according to Toro. Raphael wanted his money now, with an exorbitant amount of interest.

Like, three times the amount of the original loan.

“I understand how terrified you must have been.” Quinton scrubbed a hand over his bearded jaw, his voice much calmer. “Fight or flight is a normal reaction.”

Noah opened his mouth, but his mate held up a hand.

“But these aren’t normal circumstances, hon. This is my world you’re dealing with, and Toro isn’t a vampire to be underestimated. This morning is a perfect example,” he said heatedly. “While he might’ve been hired to collect money owed, I’m here to tell you that he doesn’t give a shit if you pay back that loan. I’m not trying to scare you, Noah, but you need to know how twisted and dark the guy is. He gets off on toying with people, head-fucking his victims, terrifying them before he goes in for the kill. If he gets his hands on you…” Quinton closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Noah didn’t need his mate to finish. He’d gotten the picture, and it was more frightening than he’d care to think about.

He was so screwed.

“This is why I need you to promise me you won’t pull a stunt like that again.” When Quinton opened his eyes, they were filled with so much fear that the expression nearly brought Noah to his knees. “You have no idea what you mean to me.”

“Then tell me,” Noah pleaded. “Make me understand, Quinton. I feel our connection, but it baffles me how I can feel this deeply for someone I just met.” He shook his head. “My mom never told me about this part of mating. Please…help me figure it out.”

What he really wanted was his mate’s arms around him, telling him that he was safe and how Toro would never hurt him. Noah had brought this on himself, but he desperately needed help getting out of it.

Quinton clenched his jaw, like he was trying to reel his emotions in. He took a couple deep breaths then blew them out slowly.

“You were destined to be mine before you were even born, Noah. Preternatural live for a very long time. I’m 324 years old. In all that time, I’ve always felt like a part of me was missing.” He moved closer and placed his hands on Noah’s upper arms. “You’re that missing piece. The moment I realized you were my mate, the emptiness inside of me vanished.”

Noah slowly licked his dry lips, remembering the moment he’d spotted Quinton walking toward the counter in the bar. How strongly he’d been attracted to him, the strange sensation Noah had felt in the center of his chest, and how he’d wanted to melt into the man’s arms.

“I remember the moment you realized it. Though, at the time, I had no idea what it meant.” He looked up into his mate’s steel-gray eyes. “You sniffed the air then frowned before you glanced at me again.”

Quinton gripped him under his arms and lifted him, making Noah squeak before he instinctively curled his legs around his mate’s waist. “Do you know how badly I wanted to bend you over that bar, handsome?” he asked, his voice low and rough. “When I heard you tell your best friend to stop pressuring you into having sex, I wondered if I would have to kill him and your brother.”

Noah’s brows shot to his hairline.

“My bear is very protective of you, Noah. I thought they were trying to pressure you into something you didn’t want.” He nibbled his way up Noah’s neck, his mate’s soft lips and tender kisses making him sigh. “It’s also very possessive. The thought of you having sex with someone else made my bear want to maul them.”

Noah softly chuckled. “I definitely didn’t want to have sex with either of them.”

The man’s lips were creating havoc inside Noah’s body, his cock already rock-hard. He slid his tongue over Noah’s Adam’s apple then suckled the flesh. Quinton made a sound low in his throat, a soft hum of pleasure that vibrated along Noah’s neck and caused him to moan in response.

Tangling his fingers in his mate’s hair, he tilted his head to the side as Quinton worked his way to the skin below his ear. “Have you been with a man before?” his mate groaned the words like an erotic pulse against Noah’s skin, his tongue circling the shell of his ear. “Be honest with me.”

Noah whimpered, grinding his hard cock against his mate’s rigid stomach, desperate for more friction. “Does it matter?”

“Not at all.” Noah sucked in a sharp breath when Quinton nipped his earlobe. “But I’m dying to know if I’ll be your first. I swear it doesn’t matter, honestly, but I really want to know, sweetheart.”

If it didn’t matter, why was he so insistent on an answer? Noah wasn’t ashamed of the fact, but he also hadn’t gone around bragging about his virgin status either.

“What makes you think I’ve never had sex?” He might not have given the best head—because Quinton had been his first as far as a blowjob—but he could’ve just sucked at it.

No pun intended.

Quinton gave him a pointed stare. Noah gave him one in return. With a roll of his eyes and a smirk, his mate’s lips resumed their assault on Noah’s senses. He rocked against Quinton, still needing the friction, but hissed in frustration when their clothes were making it impossible.

Suddenly, Noah landed on the bed, unaware they had been moving toward it. Quinton pulled his groin back, giving himself just enough room to unfastened Noah’s pants before he slipped his beefy hand inside and curled his fingers around Noah’s hard cock.

“Oh shit,” Noah breathed out in a whisper, his heart thumping wildly. The firm grip and slow stroking had him lifting his hips so he could fuck Quinton’s fist.

“Hang on. We need to do this the right way.”

His mate pulled his hand free, and Noah whimpered at the loss of such a great hand job. He wanted that tight fist back on his cock. Quinton grinned while he whipped his shirt off with one hand.

Showoff. The guy was preening, and Noah didn’t mind at all. In fact, his cock jerked and his stomach flipped as he stared at his mate’s amazing body. Even though he’d seen Quinton’s bare chest at his apartment, Noah would never tire of looking at all those gorgeous, lickable muscles.

After grabbing a bottle of lube from his night stand drawer, Quinton removed his shoes and pants, along with his socks and underwear. Now he stood there gloriously naked, his hard, beautiful cock protruding from his groin. His very thick and long cock.

Then his mate lowered to his knees and began to undress Noah. Was now a good time to become nervous? Sex was really going to happen, but as much as the size of Quinton’s erection intimidated him—as well as where that behemoth was headed—Noah refused to chicken out.

Even when Quinton slid Noah’s pants and underwear down his legs, removing his shoes and socks just as deliberately. Was his mate trying to seduce him by removing everything so damn slowly?

“On your elbows and watch me,” Quinton instructed in a deep, seductive tone. As if he was attached to a pulley, Noah rose up, resting on his elbows just as he was told.

Quinton’s fist was back on his erection, giving the hard flesh just the right amount of pressure. He stroked Noah’s cock a few times and then sank his mouth over the throbbing flesh.

Noah collapsed onto his back, spreading his legs as he loudly groaned. Now he knew why those muscled hunks in the pornos he’d watched looked like they were in heaven when the twinks sucked them off.

The feeling was so… Words failed him.

Quinton’s mouth vanished. Gnashing his teeth, Noah propped himself up again, scowling at his mate. “Why’d you stop?”

“You stopped watching what I was doing,” Quinton stated matter-of-factly. “No eyes, no head.”

“You are so cruel.” Noah glared at him, growing even more annoyed when his mate winked.

He hissed loudly and his eyes rolled back as Quinton descended on his cock once more. His tongue lashed the hard length, his head moving up and down in a steady rhythm, his mouth suctioned tight.

Watching Quinton, a man who was the epitome of strength and masculinity, sucking his cock was an incredible sight to behold, just as it had been earlier this morning. It made Noah feel empowered and desirable, two things he’d never experienced before meeting his mate. It was a drugging feeling he never wanted to end.

Quinton popped his mouth off of Noah’s erection then licked the length, his tongue gliding, his lips sucking along the thick vein as hunger radiated in his eyes.

Having Quinton’s focus solely on him, and that heavy-lidded gaze staring at him so intensely, made Noah’s dick ache and his stomach perform somersaults.

As his mate sucked Noah’s cock back into his mouth, trapping the hard length between his lips, he grabbed Noah’s ankles and placed his feet on the bed, which caused his legs to fall to the sides.

He saw Quinton’s arms moving, but his hands were too low to see exactly what he was up to. The mystery was solved when the crease of Noah’s ass parted. Wet fingers circled his ring of muscle in a slow, circular motion. Noah’s heart beat even faster, his breathing shallow.

He’d never had anyone touch the most intimate part of his body. Noah hadn’t even touched it when he’d masturbated, and he was shocked at just how sensitive the bundle of nerves was.

Pressure started to build. Noah’s puckered hole began to sting slightly. There was more pressure, a harder suction on his cock, as his mate watched him closely. Quinton deep-throated Noah’s erection at the same time his finger breached the ring of muscle.

Gritting his teeth, Noah fisted the blanket as he waited for the pain, but all he felt was slight discomfort. Quinton rose up fully onto his knees and unleashed on Noah, sucking his cock like he was finished playing around.

Unable to stop himself, Noah dropped back down, mewling, his legs trembling as Quinton added another finger. But Noah was too lost in the euphoria of his mate’s mouth on his prick to care. Quinton drove him close to the abyss and then pulled back at the last second, repeating his torture a few more times and making Noah ride the edge of delirium.

What was Quinton doing to him? Noah’s eyelids were fluttering, he was panting, and felt as if he was… He wasn’t sure how to feel because too many sensations were bombarding him at the same time.

Noah’s groans and words turned nonsensical, just a blend of noises as Quinton sucked his dick and fucked Noah’s ass with his thick fingers. His body didn’t even feel like his own anymore. His mate was playing it like a goddamned symphony, wringing out every writhing move and obscene noise from Noah, adding a third finger to stretch his ass until it burned.

“Q-Quinton.” He thrashed his head, trying frantically to draw breath into his lungs. He felt the buildup reaching a peak, the pressure growing even more intense.

Noah threw his head back and cried out, yanking on the blanket with his fists as his orgasm detonated, causing pleasure-packed shockwaves throughout his entire body. He convulsed, his seed pulsing hard and fast.

Quinton rose to his feet, clamped his hands on Noah’s inner thighs, and then drove his cock into Noah’s body. His thrusts matched each pulse of Noah’s release, like the guy was riding the waves with him.

When Noah stopped jerking, Quinton pushed them farther onto the bed, his hips rotating as he buried his shaft deep inside Noah’s ass.

“That was so goddamn beautiful,” Quinton murmured, taking possession of his mouth.

Noah curled his legs around his mate’s lean waist, the pain-pleasure making his back bow. He felt so…full. The fat cock thrusted in and out of him, grazing over his prostate.

“Quinton,” he moaned.

“Riding this high with you, sweetheart.” He kissed and licked along Noah’s neck, adding tiny nips in between. “Feels so fucking good, baby.” He shuddered. “So, so… fuck .”

“I need…” Noah knew what he wanted but found it hard to ask.

Quinton slowed his thrusts, gazing down at him. “Tell me what you need, baby.”

“I want you to…” Noah closed his eyes, yelling at himself to just spit it out.

His mate nuzzled him, groaning softly in his ear. Noah had never heard a more erotic sound. “What do you want me to do, Noah? You can tell me.”

“I want to get on my hands and knees.” Those smut videos flashed into his mind again, but the men always looked as if they’d thoroughly enjoyed the position. Now that Noah had finally succumbed to sex, he wanted to try it all.

Quinton growled softly. “Your ass will take my cock deeper. Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

Noah nodded, gripping his mate’s swollen biceps. “Um, how deep?” He furrowed his brows.

“I tell you what…” Quinton reared back, looking amazing kneeling between Noah’s legs. His hips flexed, rocking his dick slowly inside Noah’s ass. “We’ll try it, but if it’s too much, you let me know, okay?”

From the look in his mate’s eyes, the guy knew the truth, so Noah needed to stop insulting his intelligence. “Yes, you’re my first.”

He ran his hand down Noah’s chest and stomach. “We’ll try whatever you want, but you have to be honest with me about how you feel with each position.”

Each position? How many were they going to try tonight? “Okay.”

Quinton eased out him, his mate’s cock appearing even harder, bobbing slightly as it throbbed. Noah turned over and stuck his ass in the air, feeling vulnerable and exposed. It had never dawned on him how much trust was involved with sex.

Strong hands skimmed over his globes, a moan rumbling behind him. “You have no idea how gorgeous you look right now, Noah.” The pads of Quinton’s fingers slid over his swollen hole. “So damn pretty,” he murmured.

Noah held his breath when he felt the tip of his mate’s cock skim up and down his ring of muscle. He placed his hand on the small of Noah’s back then guided his erection back inside his body.

Quinton held on to Noah’s ass, thrusting slow at first, like he was waiting for Noah to protest. Not a chance. His mate was right. This position took his shaft deeper, and it felt so damn good.

“Fuck me harder,” Noah begged.

Taking him at his word, Quinton kicked Noah’s legs farther apart with his powerful thighs before he punched his hips forward, each intense thrust driving Noah’s arousal higher and higher.

Noah couldn’t hold back. Didn’t want to. He wailed and mewled, ramming his ass backward to meet every forward lunge. His cock was hard again, and he wanted another mind-blowing orgasm.

Placing his hand between Noah’s shoulder blades, Quinton coaxed him to lower his upper body. When Noah submitted, his ass rose higher.

“That’s it, baby. Just like that,” his mate crooned, his cock plunging even deeper, breathing heavily behind Noah.

Like Noah was doing any better. He started drooling, listening to Quinton softly swearing, the pounding growing harder and faster. “I’m about to come, baby.”

Something sharp pierced Noah’s shoulder, sank right in like small knives penetrating his flesh. Noah shouted, bucked, the pain morphing into pleasure as his second orgasm ripped him apart, much more intense than the first one had.

“Quinton,” Noah whimpered, unsure what he was feeling inside his chest. It was like when he’d laid eyes on Quinton in the bar, only the sensation was a hundred times stronger and kept growing. Then, like an arrow released from a bow, a deep, resonating “twang” jetted through his entire body, driving his orgasm higher.

His mate held him down, pistoning into Noah’s ass while snarling around his canines, which were still embedded in Noah’s shoulder. With one last thrust, Quinton extracted his teeth and let loose a slew of obscenities. Noah felt his mate’s cock pulsing deep inside his ass. Quinton thrust a few more times, his arms curled tightly around Noah’s upper body.

The room was filled with heavy breathing and smelled like sweat and spunk. Noah’s limbs trembled, and his mouth was bone-dry.

With a deep hiss, Quinton withdrew his softening cock. He licked at Noah’s shoulder, his tongue gliding over his sweaty skin. Noah didn’t have the energy to lift his head, let alone talk. He’d just had the best sex of his life. If he’d planned to date anyone after Quinton, which wasn’t going to happen, but still, if Noah had, this man had just set the bar so high that no other man would ever come close to pleasing him that way Quinton had.

“What was that I felt?” Noah found an ounce of energy to ask the question, though he was already dozing off to sleep.

“Our souls binding,” Quinton replied, his breaths just as ragged. He said something else, but Noah couldn’t fight off the exhaustion of everything that had taken place today.

He would ask his mate to repeat whatever he’d just said tomorrow.

Chapter Nine

Noah woke feeling even more exhausted than when he’d fallen asleep. Glancing behind him, he saw Quinton sprawled out on his back, one arm curled over his head, the other lying across his chest. Thank goodness the guy owned an oversized bed, or Noah might have found himself sleeping on the edge.

Quinton was a bed hog. Noah wondered what other things he would discover about his mate.

As he let his gaze drift downward, his face doused in flames as he stared at his mate’s flaccid cock, remembering how incredible the hardness had felt buried in his ass.

Now Layne and Harris could get off his freaking back since Noah was no longer a certified, card-carrying virgin.

Quinton had ripped that card up then set it on fire.

Layne wasn’t going to freak out too badly that Quinton looked like a mountainous biker. Just like Noah, his brother knew about mates.

It was Harris that Noah might have to smack around. From the moment Killian, Ryker, and their friends had pulled up to Harris’s house, Noah’s best friend had judged them.

He loved the guy dearly, but Harris could be a tad judgmental. He would have to get over it, though. Quinton was Noah’s mate, and they were stuck together for life.

Okay, he would have to find a better way of saying that. “Stuck” sounded too miserable and resentful.

After Noah sat up, he looked around for his phone, finding it across the room where his mate had lifted him off his feet and Noah had curled his legs around the man’s waist.

Glancing back at him, Noah blushed again as his eyes landed on his mate’s cock.

I am definitely getting some more of that.

His brows knotted when he saw ten missed calls from Harris. Why hadn’t he heard his phone ring? The first call was made after Noah had arrived at Quinton’s. But he’d been in the same room with his phone the entire time.

Checking the side button, he rolled his eyes when he saw it was on vibrate. With his and Quinton’s arguing and subsequent sex, he hadn’t been paying attention to anything but his mate.

Noah doubted he would have noticed a herd of elephants stampeding past the bed. Quinton knew how to make someone focus solely on him and what he was doing to their body.

Quickly digging through his bag, Noah pulled out a pair of board shorts and a T-shirt, forgoing underwear. He would shower or go back to sleep after he talked to Harris’s overreacting ass.

It was six in the morning, so his best friend should be up and getting ready for work.

After stepping into the hallway—ooh, the carpet was so soft beneath his bare feet—he dialed Harris then took a seat on the top step of the stairs.

He didn’t even hear it ring before the guy answered. “Noah?”

“I know I owe you an explanation.” Noah sighed. “It was wrong of me to dump that on you and then bounce.”

It was surprising Harris wasn’t already giving Noah a piece of his mind, especially after what he’d revealed to his best friend and then taken off with what looked like a gang of bikers.

“Well, I am miffed,” Harris replied coolly. “How long have we known each other? And then you pull a stunt like that on me? Consider yourself lucky I even answered the phone.”

Noah frowned. Damn, his best friend was seriously pissed to say something like that. Harris always spoke his mind, but he’d never been bitchy before.

What was he even talking about? Clearly Harris wanted to talk to him, or he wouldn’t have called so many times last night.

“I promise to make it up to you.” Noah ran a hand through his hair.

“You can make it up to me by joining me for breakfast,” Harris said pointedly. “My treat, though it should be yours since you’re the one who has to make up for basically using me.”

Noah pulled his phone away from his ear, frowning as he glanced at the screen. He’d called the right number, but Harris wasn’t acting like himself. They’d never, not once, kept score or accused the other of “using” them.

How many times had Harris been dating some girl and called Noah with a crisis, only to hang up without telling him what was going on? More than a dozen.

Was Harris really that angry at him? Noah sat there biting his nail, uncertain breakfast would fix this. He’d never seen or heard Harris so hostile before.

The guy would normally act catty, groan, or chastise, but he was acting downright pissed off over something he’d done himself in the past.

“So now you’re going to ignore me?” Harris huffed.

Another thing his best friend wouldn’t do. There were times when they’d hung out on the phone, both too lazy to drive to the other’s house, so they’d pretty much left their phones on speaker as they puttered around the house and talk, many times falling silent for a long stretch of time.

“I’m not ignoring you,” Noah gently argued. “I’m thinking.”

He was trying his best to recall if Harris had ever behaved this way before. Honestly, twenty years was a long time, and an incident or two might have slipped his mind.

Though Noah was pretty sure he would recall his best friend acting like a dick to him. They’d had plenty of arguments in the past. No one with a two-decade friendship escaped them. But they usually resorted to name-calling—sometimes it was effective, as long as you didn’t cross a line—then someone would crack up at a stupid name and the argument would be over.

After racking his brain, Noah thought the closest they’d come to a really heated argument was five years ago when Harris had had a pregnancy scare.

Noah had read him the riot act for not using protection. The two had ended up in a verbal slapping match then stolen some of Harris’s dad’s beer. They’d gotten wasted and were sick to their guts the next day.

That night Noah had learned not to drink copious amounts of inexpensive beer—the kind that never went on sale because it was already the rock-bottom cheapest.

“What is there to think about, Noah?” Harris asked angrily. “It’s a simple yes or no invite.”

“I get you being upset with me.” Noah stood and stormed back to Quinton’s bedroom. “But that’s not an excuse to act like snot for brains.” He walked into the bedroom, forcing himself not to slam the door.

Quinton was awake, lying there with a sheet draped partially over his lap, a sexy hipbone showing. For a moment Noah forgot he was in the middle of the worst argument he’d ever had with his best friend.

Now all he could think about was crawling onto his mate’s lap and bouncing on his fat cock until his brain was rattled.

“Oh, that’s so mature,” Harris shot back. “Name-calling? Grow up, Noah.”

Before he said something he was sure he’d regret, Noah hung up.

“Is everything okay?” Quinton sat up, the sheet slipping farther off his mate’s lap but not enough to reveal his cock.

Noah had to blink several times to reboot his brain and clear away all the smut circling his thoughts.

“ It’s Harris. I guess me taking off with your sons and their friends pushed him over the edge.” He shrugged. “He invited me to breakfast, but who in their right mind wants to be bitched out over their pancakes and sausage?”

His phone beeped. A voicemail. Jesus. Just how many calls had he missed yesterday? Noah’s phone had decided to blow up on the one evening he was finally getting laid.

“Hey, Noah. It’s Layne.” Noah only listened to a small part of the message, starting it over so Quinton could hear it as well.

“Your bestie called me two hours before I got off work, having some kind of tizzy meltdown about you being involved with dangerous men and letting a biker gang deflower you.”

That part Noah wished to god he could’ve skipped over, but his mate had leaned across the bed and grabbed the phone from him.

The bastard had the nerve to give Noah an air kiss after the word “deflowering.”

“Harris demanded I come over. Which I did, but he wasn’t there, and his front door was open. I get that we live in a small town, but have a talk with your boy about at least closing the damn thing. And about having one of his meltdowns all over me. It was not fun.”

Noah gagged. Gross. It was also the part he’d stopped the recording so he could play it for Quinton.

“Anyway, I’ve tried to call him several times, but he hasn’t answered. Oh, and by the way, I stopped by Mom’s to talk with Dickhead, seeing if maybe he knows anything about the situation you’re involved in.”

Noah tried to snatch his phone back, scared of what Layne might say. Lord only knew what would come out of his brother’s mouth, and Noah didn’t want the guy embarrassing him.

But Quinton held the phone above his head like a flipping toddler. When Noah scrambled across the bed, Quinton jumped up, the phone still in the air, the sheet gone.

Along with Noah’s ability to concentrate.

“Are you completely out of your goddamn mind, bro?” Layne shouted through the speaker on the phone, snapping Noah out of his dick daze. “Really, bro? Loan sharks? I’m beating your ass as soon as I mount a rescue operation to get you away from those bikers, bro! Jesus. We said to lose your virginity, not your fucking mind,” he snarled.

And so did Quinton.

Anytime Layne repeatedly used “bro,” he was beyond pissed off.

“You better call me,” he went on with his never-ending voicemail, which Noah wished had ended ten minutes ago or had never been sent to begin with. “And have a damn good excuse why you’re with those guys. I swear, if they passed you around—”

Noah launched off the bed toward his mate, desperate to get the phone from Quinton. But all he’d managed to do was get smashed against his mate’s body when Quinton caught him around the waist.

“—Jack’s asshole buddies to kill their asses.” Layne finally hung up.

“So glad to see not even Midnight Falls escapes judging someone before they get to know them,” Quinton snarled as he set Noah on his feet, belatedly handing over his phone.

“Only a handful,” Noah argued.

“Only humans,” Quinton fired back too rapidly for it not to be the truth.

“Well…” Noah crossed his arms, glaring at his mate. “Glad to know you have an issue or two with humans. By the way, hi, I’m Noah, your human mate.”

“But it’s okay for Harris to have an opinion about men he has never even met? My sons and our close friends?” Quinton argued. “If I remember correctly, it was those same friends who dropped everything and showed up to protect you while they got you back to me. Not Harris or Layne. My people.”

“How is it my fault they’re narrow-minded kumquats?” Noah retorted. “I can’t control what they think, Quinton, no more than you can control how our family and friends think.”

Quinton opened his mouth then frowned. “You can’t win an argument by taking my side,” he said, as if he was genuinely confused Noah had outwitted him.

But that wasn’t what he’d done. Noah had simply spoken the truth. He was mated to Quinton, so his sons were now Noah’s, as were their friends.

“Do you hear how you sound?” He walked over to his bag and rummaged through it, using the moment to set aside his hurt. He couldn’t control what his brother or best friend thought when it came to men like Quinton and the people around him.

When Noah had first spotted Quinton in the bar, he’d thought the same thing. Biker. Only because his mate had been wearing a leather and looked like one.

But Noah had still talked to the guy, had played Quinton’s silly, but fun high-stakes game of get-to-know-you. Noah really liked Killian and Ryker, and he assumed he would like Hyett when he finally had the chance to get to know the youngest brother.

He didn’t believe in prejudging anyone. But whether people admitted it or not, everyone had done it at one point in their life.

Appearances were the first thing someone noticed. That didn’t make them a bad person for prejudging. It gave them room to grow. If they refused, it was their loss on meeting new and amazing people like Noah had.

“Sweetheart.” Quinton crouched next to him, placing his hand on the small of Noah’s back. “ I’m sorry. I’ve just been alive for over three centuries, and that’s an exceptionally long time to deal with…” He sighed. “You’re right. You can’t control what someone else thinks, and I’m sorry for taking out my grievances on you. I don’t care if you’re human, babe. Hyett’s mate is human, and Wesley is a wonderful man, just like you.”

“Something isn’t right with Harris.” Noah grabbed the same pair of socks three times, only to toss them aside just to grab them again.

“ I’m going to refrain from sarcasm, but I will point out that you left that statement wide open for attack.” Quinton grabbed the socks Noah kept taking out. “Tell me why you think something is wrong, hon.”

His back still hurting from his extensive workout last night, Noah sat on the carpeted floor. “The Harris I just spoke with is not the Harris I’ve known for twenty years, Quinton.” Noah explained the shift in personality, the snide and hurtful remarks. “Plus, he wouldn’t call Layne in a panic then not be there.” He looked his mate in the eye. “Harris has never left his front door hanging wide open, and he has never called off from work because he wants to have breakfast with me.”

“Get dressed.” Quinton stood.

Noah jumped up, ignoring how tired he was. “Why?”

His mate tapped his nose. “We’re going to Harris’s. Call him back and say you’ll meet him for breakfast. When he leaves, Ryker, Killian, and I will sniff out his house. Would you happen to know if he has nonhuman friends so we can rule them out?”

Quinton was already pulling clothes from his drawer. Then he picked up his phone and began typing, presumably to tell his sons to get dressed.

“He hangs out with coworkers, but I’m the only friend who goes to his house.” Noah quickly dressed. “What are you thinking? Please tell me.”

“You have a vampire after you.”

Noah nodded while pulling on his jeans.

“Toro has already tried, and failed, to send people to grab you. If he can’t get to you because of me and my family—”

“He’ll try to get to me through my friends and family.” Dread filled Noah. “Layne has a wife and two little kids.”

The thought of something happening to Elisa or his niece and nephew made Noah’s blood run cold. Sarah was only two, and Benji had just turned four.

“But I just talked to Harris,” he pointed out.

“Did that sound like things Layne would say to you on that voicemail?”

“Unfortunately, yeah.” Noah snorted.

“Then we can rule out he’s been tampered with.”

“Rule out what?” Noah grabbed his mate’s thick bicep, telling himself not to get distracted by all those muscles. “Will you hold still for five seconds and tell me what you’re talking about?”

“Vampires,” Quinton said, as if the single word cleared everything up.

“Will you stop feeding me breadcrumbs and give me the entire loaf?” Noah demanded.

“Sorry.” Quinton smiled. “Kind of got lost in your pretty green eyes.”

“Flattery just scored you brownie points.” Noah grinned back at his mate then scowled. “Can we both keep our minds off the other’s body for a minute?”

“Not a chance.” His mate growled playfully.

Despite seeing Quinton’s bear with his own two eyes, Noah still had a hard time believing this man and that humongous beast were one and the same. “Vampires?”

“That whole bedazzle thing you’ve seen in movies,” Quinton replied.

“Look into my eyes,” Noah said in a creepy, poor imitation of Dracula.

“Already did.” Quinton winked, his smile soft. “ They’re beautiful, baby.”

“Are you saying vampires can really do that?” Noah’s lips parted. “Do you think Toro fiddled with Harris’s mind? Is that why my bestie is a dick now?”

Quinton sat on the bed to put his boots on. “Normally, no. A victim doesn’t turn into a jerk, but look at the vampire we’re dealing with. And, yes, vampires can really do that, but they mainly use the talent to subdue people they want to feed from. Which makes me think Harris is under Toro’s control, though you can bet it’s not to feed from him.”

Noah saw the look in Quinton’s eyes. “But he won’t pass up a chance to feed when he has a hypnotized human.” He covered his neck with his hand. “Are all vampires…”

He didn’t want to ask since he’d just had a heated argument about prejudging people, but damn. They were talking about vampires .

His mate rested his hand on his knee as he sat up. “You have your bad apples in every species, babe. Not all vampires are evil. Jax, one of the men who showed up to protect you, has two mates, one of which is a vampire. Arion is a real nice guy. Then you have vampires like Toro, who make a bad name for their kind.”

“Wait. Two mates?” The thought of sharing Quinton with someone else made jealousy rear its ugly head. The bear shifter was his.

“It happens.” His mate stood. “Ready? I’m only taking you along for the meeting with Harris. I want you to lure him outside.”

“Then what?” Noah was still stuck on the two-mate thing.

“Then we snatch him and find a vampire to undo whatever Toro has done to Harris’s mind. Simplest way is to have the vampire who performed the hypnosis undo it, since only they know exactly what was done. But we both know Toro isn’t going to.”

Noah’s gut told him that whatever Toro had done to Harris was going to take a miracle to reverse, if that was even possible at all.

Chapter Ten

The meeting at Deep Dish with Harris was set. Quinton had called Roman, the owner, to give the snow leopard a heads-up. It also wouldn’t hurt to have an extra set of eyes and, just in case, extra muscle.

Hyett had dropped Wesley off at work, and although Quinton’s youngest son despised letting someone else protect his mate, Wesley’s boss, a wolf shifter, vowed to guard the human.

Quinton also asked Kalen to help, and without hesitation, he’d agreed, telling Quinton he would bring the twins with him.

Which meant Raidh, Jaytee’s mate, along with Casimir, Damon’s mate, had cast protection spells over all three Frost men.

Quinton would love to have a fae at the ready to cast those kinds of spells over him and his family.

At the moment, he and his boys were at Harris’s small bungalow, along with Noah. His mate was seated on the couch, glancing around, but he could tell Noah was still upset about the human remark.

He wanted to kick himself for letting that slip out. Of course Quinton didn’t think all humans were bad. He’d started to tell Noah that he’d lived for over three centuries and had seen so much violence and hate.

After a while, Quinton had lost count of how many shifters had been hunted and killed by humans and how many vampires, especially back in the day when superstitions ran rampant, had been staked or beheaded.

It was just…when Quinton listened to the voicemail Layne had left, saying he was going to “rescue” Noah from a biker gang, and heard how Harris felt about Quinton’s sons and longtime friends, even threatening to call the cops, rage filled him.

Call the cops for what? Wearing leather and riding a motorcycle? For being extremely tall and muscular? For looking pissed that Noah had taken off, putting his safety at risk?

Killian and Ryker had told Quinton they’d needed help to find Noah since his mate used a car, which made it almost impossible to track.

It’d been Raidh, a biker’s mate, who’d used a location spell to find where Noah had gone. If it hadn’t been for the fae, Noah would have been at Harris’s when the hyena shifter had shown up.

And that was exactly what Quinton smelled. A hyena. That was how Toro was able to get his hands on Harris before full dark.

“Hyena,” Killian spat, picking up the scent the same time as Quinton. Hyett deeply inhaled then scowled.

“Hate them sons of bitches,” Ryker grumbled, joining them from the rear of the house. “I didn’t see anything disturbed back there. You might want to talk to your boy, Noah. I think he might have a little problem with obsessive cleaning. I’ve never seen a bathroom that sparkling before.”

Noah glanced up at Ryker, the glint in his green eyes dulled. “There’s a reason behind the madness, but it’s not my story to tell.”

Not only was Noah still upset with Quinton, but being in this house, knowing Toro had targeted Harris because of the deal he’d made, had to be eating away at his mate.

“There’s nothing else here we need,” he said to his sons. “Let’s head toward the diner.”

No sooner had everyone walked outside than Noah stood at the bottom of the porch steps, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply before letting it out slowly.

Quinton moved in behind Noah, careful of his strength, and began working his mate’s stiff shoulders, kneading the tightness, unsurprised at the numerous tension knots he felt.

Quinton was developing his own trying to navigate their relationship. So used to being a bachelor, he had a lot of readjusting to do himself, but it appeared he wasn’t off to the best start.

“Is there any way to talk this out, hon?” He pressed his fingers into a tough spot on Noah’s left shoulder.

“ I’m just really worried about him. I’m also afraid to talk to him in the diner after the conversation this morning.” Noah moaned, his head lulling to the side, making noises Quinton forced himself to ignore.

Moving to the other side of Noah’s shoulders, he worked an exceptionally hard, stubborn knot. The guy had clearly never had a massage before, or it had been a long while.

Quinton was going to give them to his mate on a regular basis. “It must be tough. It’s never good to see someone you care about change before your eyes.”

“ You’re speaking from experience.”

“I am,” Quinton replied. “It was a friend I knew. He was human and had Alzheimer’s. This was before the disease had been given the name. It progressed to the point he didn’t even know who I was.”

“Did you stop visiting him?” Noah’s shoulders started to go lax. His head tilted back, and his eyes were still closed.

“I visited him every day until he died. Just because he forgot who I was didn’t mean I forgot who he was. Gus was one of the few humans who knew I was a bear shifter. We were friends for fifty years.” Quinton chuckled softly. “Used to curse me for staying young while he grew old and gray. I think he called me every name under the sun except my given.”

“And you stayed friends with him?”

“Made the worst apple pie, but thought it was the best. Someone had to keep up the pretense to save his pride.” Quinton used the pad of his thumbs to work the tension at the nape of his mate’s neck. “You don’t give up on someone just because they kept catching raw deals in life so they decided to push everyone away. Sometimes you have to read between the lines and understand where their pain is coming from.”

“Where was his coming from?” Noah asked, curiosity thick in his voice.

“Gus’s mom died when he was twelve, followed by his sister six months later. His dad was an alcoholic, who abused him. Then his wife died giving birth to their first child, but the baby didn’t make it, either.”

“No wonder he was ornery.” Noah glanced up at him, sympathy brimming in his green eyes. “Who could blame him?”

“Gus just needed one person in his life he could care about that wouldn’t die on him.” Quinton rested his hands on his mate’s shoulders.

“How did you two meet?” Noah leaned back into him, and Quinton felt as if his world had righted once more.

“I met him in a saloon, falling-down drunk, cursing everyone in the place. I made sure he got home, poured him into bed, and saw the handcrafted crib he’d made for the child that would never spend a single night in it. Sometimes friendships are forged out of pain and loss, hon.” He curled his arms around his mate, resting his chin on the top of his head. “I don’t hate all humans, Noah. Just the ones who deserve it.”

“There was nothing we needed to talk out, Quinton. My anxiety isn’t from you. I let our spat go the moment I walked out of our bedroom.”

Quinton liked how Noah kept claiming more and more of his life. “I might not be the easiest person to get along with. I’ve been single for a very long time.”

Noah chuckled. “You’re my first relationship, so we both have some adjusting to do.”

“You guys ready?” Hyett called from the SUV.

“He just wants to get back to his mate,” Quinton whispered. “Just remember a ton of people have your back.” He kissed the top of Noah’s head, worried about letting his mate be a part of this. No one knew all the variables, and things could go to hell too quickly.

Quinton’s only priority would be Noah, and no one could make him fail at keeping his mate safe.

* * * *

Outside the diner door, Noah briefly closed his eyes and exhaled. He turned his head and looked down the sidewalk at his mate who stood on the other end of the building, just past the windows so Harris couldn’t see him.

Since Harris had yet to meet Quinton, he wouldn’t recognize Noah’s mate, but he didn’t want his best friend seeing them together.

Quinton gave him a nod. Noah knew the guy didn’t want him to do this, that his mate would rather keep him tucked at home and out of harm’s way. But if they couldn’t find Toro, Noah would never know any peace.

Walking into the diner, he glanced around. Customers were seated at various booths and tables, but Quinton had told him no one in the diner would be human.

Only Noah and Harris.

Some of the faces he recognized, and it shocked him to know the residents sitting there weren’t human. The guy who owned the Sugar Well, Tillman, sat at one of the booths. In the next one, Jake, the owner of Fearless Fox, was enjoying his breakfast as he spoke to Fire Chief Dillon Scott, who sat across from him.

Harris was in the last booth at the back of the diner.

His best friend hated sitting by restrooms. Harris always swore he could smell them. Truth was, the guy was picked on in high school, always in the boys’ bathroom at gym time.

Noah hadn’t even known about it because Harris had been too ashamed to tell him. He’d only discovered the truth when he’d walked into the bathroom one day and caught three boys trying to give Harris a swirly.

Noah had raged out, and they’d never picked on Harris again. It had cost him a week’s suspension but was well worth it.

“I was wondering how long you were going to keep me waiting,” Harris snapped as soon as Noah was close enough.

Just as he feared. He was going to have to deal with whoever this was playing marionette with Harris’s body.

Noah had stupidly hoped he would walk into the diner and his cheery best friend would greet him.

“So, explain to me what in the hell that was at my place yesterday.”

Had it only been yesterday? Noah wondered if he could do this. Harris wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but he’d been there for Noah his entire life. They’d cried, laughed, bitched and moaned together.

Noah had paced with him when his best friend had had that pregnancy scare. Harris had been there for him when Noah had fallen apart after his father died. They’d gone through their ugly acne years together, poking fun of each other so it would hurt less when others were cruel.

They had even gone to prom together, just as bros, because neither had a date but they hadn’t wanted to miss out on the fun.

“The dangerous man’s name is Toro.” Noah crossed his hands on the table and watched for Harris’s reaction.

The corner of his friend’s mouth twitched just the slightest with a microscopic smirk.

The small giveaway told Noah that Harris was indeed being controlled by the vampire. “He’s a piece-of-shit wannabe who has to resort to scare tactics because he has to compensate for his micro-phallic issues,” he said flippantly.

Rage simmered in Harris’s eyes. “That still doesn’t tell me how this person is dangerous.”

A slow realization dawned on Noah, only coming to mind just now.

It wasn’t Harris staring at him through those eyes, but Toro.

How was that even possible? Quinton had said vampires could bedazzle someone. He never mentioned them having the ability to see through their victim’s eyes.

Noah wanted to ask his mate, but he couldn’t. He sat there frozen, staring into those evil eyes as he tried to come up with a way to leave the table without rousing suspicion.

And if Toro could see Noah, that meant he would know who Quinton and the members of his family were. When Noah noticed a server hadn’t approached their table, he stood. “I’m going to put my order in. I assume you already told them what you wanted?”

Harris stared at him, a little cock to his head. Noah had to be careful. It might be Toro looking at him, but the evil son of a bitch was using Harris’s mind. If that was the case—Noah wasn’t sure—he couldn’t take any chances the vampire would irrevocably damage Harris.

“Yeah, I already ordered,” Harris finally said.

With a tight smile, Noah turned and headed toward the counter, forcing himself to walk at a normal pace. None of the normal servers were in the diner, and Noah didn’t recognize the one who stood at the table talking with identical men. He recalled seeing one of them yesterday at Harris’s, but he wasn’t sure which twin had been there.

The one on the right flicked his gaze at Noah, gave a slight nod, then glanced away. All the tension Quinton had massaged out of Noah’s shoulders had returned. His body felt sluggish as he approached the counter.

So far, Quinton and his sons were still outside watching the building, but at any second, Noah’s mate would walk through those doors. What would Toro do when he spotted the bear shifter?

Noah’s main concern was stopping the vampire from causing catastrophic damage to Harris’s psyche. Noah could only rely on information he’d seen in movies because he had no other references.

When he didn’t see anyone approach to take his order, he walked behind the counter and rapped his knuckles on the cut-out window Roman used to set the dishes on.

The owner strode over, and that was when Noah saw Quinton and his sons inside the kitchen standing off to the side. His mate locked gazes with him, and he could see how badly Quinton wanted to pull him out of there.

“Morning.” Noah smiled. “I hope you don’t mind me coming behind the counter.”

Roman waved him off as he joined Noah, standing on the other side of the window. “It’s all good. What can I get you?”

The vampire was using Harris’s eyes, and now Noah wondered if the bastard might have access to superior hearing as well. He prayed Toro didn’t.

Turning slightly so Harris couldn’t see his lips moving, Noah said, “Just keep smiling so it looks like we’re simply talking.”

Roman chuckled. “Sure.”

Noah’s gaze flicked to Quinton, wanting so badly to run into his mate’s strong arms. “Could it be possible for Toro to see through Harris’s eyes?” he whispered. “Like hijack his vision so he can see what Harris sees?”

The round of curses in the kitchen, along with a few from the tables behind him, said it was more than possible.

“Can he hear me right now, you know, the super hearing you guys have?” Noah still doubted it, but it never hurt to ask.

“No,” Roman replied.

“I want you back here right now,” Quinton snarled, heading toward the kitchen exit.

“No,” Noah hissed. “What if he screws up Harris’s brain? I can’t take that chance with my best friend.”

Quinton stopped, but he didn’t look happy about it. “I told you he likes toying with his victims,” he snarled.

Was Noah or Harris the victim he was toying with? “He keeps asking me to explain my situation, which, if it’s Toro, he already knows.”

“You have to play along while he’s inside your friend’s head,” Hyett said.

Noah just wished he’d figured that out five minutes earlier. “I might have insulted Toro before I knew he was in Harris’s head.”

“What did you say?” Hyett asked.

“That he’s a piece-of-shit wannabe who has to resort to scare tactics because he has to compensate for his micro-phallic issues.” Noah winced, realizing just how bad that sounded.

Killian grinned. “Ouch. Why’d you have to tell the guy he had a small dick? Brutal.”

“I’ll call you,” Quinton said. “Pretend you’re talking to your mom and make an excuse to leave.”

“I want a hug.” Noah didn’t care who heard him. He wanted to feel those arms curled around him so he could feel safe again.

“I want to hug you too.” Quinton gazed at him.

“I want one.” Killian pouted.

Quinton cuffed him on the back of the head then gave him a quick hug. Noah liked that his mate wasn’t too “masculine” to show his own child affection.

Jack would never hug another guy, not even his stepsons.

Reluctantly, Noah returned to his seat. It struck him that he hadn’t placed an order.

“So, what—”

Noah’s phone rang, interrupting whatever Harris-Toro was about to say. “Ugh, it’s my mom.” He answered, “Hello?”

“It’s your mommy,” Quinton said in a dainty voice he failed to pull off.

A burst of laughter escaped before Noah could stop it. Shit. “Good one, Mom. What’s up?”

“I should have never let you be a part of this. I hate the fact he’s looking right at you.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Noah replied. “You know I hate depressing topics.”

Harris studied him. Noah pointed at his phone and rolled his eyes. The guy gave a tight smile. Bastard.

“How about we discuss some new positions then?” Quinton growled softly. “Getting on your hands and knees for my cock aroused the fuck out of me. I couldn’t get into your ass fast enough.”

Heat rushed over Noah’s face. Was Quinton saying that in front of his sons and Roman? Noah was going to kill him. “Where’s Jack?”

“I stepped into the alley,” Quinton replied. “The others are still in the kitchen. No one can hear me but you.”

Thank god. “What’s the emergency, Mom?”

“My cock needs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

Noah’s brows shot up. He glanced at Harris who was staring out the window. “You know, uh, you know I’m not so good at that.”

“Then you and I have very different memories,” Quinton replied. “Because, as I recall, both times you had me shooting off within minutes, and the second time was right in your mouth, gorgeous.”

“I’m having breakfast with Harris. You should find someone else.”

“To suck my cock?”

“No! Jesus fucking Christ,” Noah grumbled. “I’m on my way.” He hung up then shook his head.

“I heard.” Harris curled his lip. “Guess your life is too busy for me.”

It really hurt Noah to hear those words coming from Harris’s mouth. He had to stop himself from cursing at Toro. “You know my mom.”

Harris shrugged.

“We’ll try again soon.” Noah stood, ready to haul ass out of there, but hated to leave his best friend knowing his mind was being fucked with.

Harris glanced up at him, the side of his mouth curled upward. “See you soon, Noah.”

The pleasantry made icicles slide down his spine. “Okay.”

Turning, Noah hurried from the diner. Thankfully, he hadn’t parked in front of the windows. He walked a block down, and as soon as he passed the end of the building, Quinton was there, pulling Noah into his arms.

Chapter Eleven

“Can’t we take him to Kalen’s?” Ryker asked.

The Everharts and Noah stood in their kitchen at home. And that was how Noah saw it now. This was his home.

He just wished he hadn’t paid his rent and bills six months in advance for a place he refused to ever step foot in again.

There might have been good memories there—of hanging out with Harris and of Quinton and his sons—but he couldn’t live where a dead body had been on his floor.

“They have kids now,” Hyett reminded him. “ We’re not bringing trouble to their house.”

“I keep forgetting,” Ryker admitted. “They’re just the first people I think about when trouble rears its ugly head.”

Noah sat at the table pushing his food around his plate, too worried about Harris and what Toro planned to have an appetite.

Quinton lounged, resting his arm on the back of Noah’s chair. “We do what we always do, boys. Defend our home and lives.”

Noah glanced at Wesley. So far, he hadn’t had a chance to get to know the guy and felt guilty for getting him involved.

“I’m sorry I pulled you guys into this.” Noah stabbed the tines of his fork against his plate, accidentally scraping it.

“Ow.” Killian scowled. “Sensitive ears, remember?”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Quinton said. “We all make mistakes. It’s no reason for a psychopath vampire to come after you.”

The pads of Quinton’s fingers grazed lazily over the back of Noah’s neck, causing him to shiver. The guy did it again. Glancing up at Quinton, Noah saw him smiling, adoration in his steel-gray eyes.

It was the sweetest, most beautiful look ever aimed toward him. There was nothing sexual about it. It was just pure affection.

“We’ve been in deeper trouble than this, Noah,” Hyett replied. “And we’ve dealt with Toro in the past.”

“That’s one of the reasons we’re even in Midnight Falls,” Killian added. “Came to town to help the Frosts with a vampire problem and decided to stay.”

Quinton had said not all vampires were bad, but Noah was finding that hard to believe.

Damn. Hadn’t he and Quinton just had an argument about judging someone? And now Noah was doing the same thing.

Though, to be fair, their argument had been about prejudging people.

“I just feel bad for—” Noah glanced around the table when he heard a collective rumble of deep growls, yet another reminder the men weren’t human. But it was their menacing expressions that made fear sink into Noah’s bones like lead.

The bear shifters could sense something he couldn’t. Some kind of danger. Time felt like it stretched out, making minutes feel like hours.

Then Hyett’s chair scraped, and he was out of it, reaching for Wesley as Quinton rose to his full height, his razor-sharp claws sliding free from his fingers. He moved his bulky frame in front of Noah in just three steps.

“What is it?” Noah asked, even though he knew the answer.

“Where is he?” Killian’s voice was low and dangerous as everyone looked around.

The tension in the room was thick, like a weight pressing into Noah’s skin. Ryker and Killian took off, heading out of the kitchen toward the living room. Noah curled his fingers into Quinton’s shirt, clinging to him while trying to breathe. He glanced over at Wesley, who was doing the same, holding on to Hyett, his eyes closed.

Noah’s trembling worsened when he heard something crash in the next room as snarls erupted, followed by loud hissing. A blur shot around the kitchen so fast Noah had a hard time following it. He could hear the growls from Quinton, feel the vibration of the noise as he touched his mate’s back.

Then Quinton was yanked forward by the blur and thrown across the room. Whatever had the strength to hurl someone Quinton’s size was not someone Noah wanted to face.

He started to scramble around the table but stopped when he gazed at Wesley. Noah didn’t want the blur going near the guy. None of this was fair to Hyett’s mate.

Something gripped Noah’s shirt and yanked him backward, the fabric now tight around his throat, making it impossible to breathe.

“Did you think you could escape me?” Toro’s voice rang hot and heavy in Noah’s ear, a foul smell reaching his nose. He imagined the vampire feeding off of someone, leaving behind the noxious scent on Toro’s breath.

In an attempt to stop the fabric from strangling him, Noah curled his fingers into the collar of his shirt. “Where’s…Harris?” he choked out.

A roar filled the room. Noah couldn’t turn his head to look, but he didn’t have to. It was Quinton’s bear. The floor trembled as the massive bear stormed forward, causing Noah to brace himself for the impact.

Hyett shoved Wesley under the table then jumped on top of it and ran toward Noah, snatching the front of his shirt and yanking him back just as the bear slammed into the vampire.

Noah shouted as Hyett rolled them down the center of the table, away from the fight, and then landed on his feet before setting Noah down. “Get under the table.” Hyett shoved him to his knees, but not before Noah saw Quinton shift back into his human form and power-drive his fist into Toro’s jaw.

Noah sprang back up as soon as Hyett sprinted around the table to tackle a stranger who entered the room.

Just how many people had Toro brought with him? Ryker and Killian had yet to return, and the fighting in the other room could still be heard.

His gaze swung to his mate, flicked over his nakedness, at all those corded muscles flexing as he exchanged blows with Toro. How had the vampire survived one of those blows, let alone several dozen?

Someone yanked on the bottom of Noah’s pants, causing him to shout until he saw it was Wesley peering up at him. “Get under here!”

The panic in the man’s voice told Noah that he didn’t want to be alone under there. One demented glare from Toro was enough to make Noah drop and scramble under the table to join Wesley. The guy huddled in Noah’s arms, his eyes squeezed shut.

Noah shouldn’t have been the one comforting Wesley considering he was just as terrified. He watched legs moving around and knew the identities since Toro was still fully clothed and Quinton’s legs were bare.

And very hairy.

Even his mate’s calves were well defined, muscular, and as powerful as the rest of his body.

Noah and Wesley huddled under the table, both of them trembling as chaos ensued around them. They screamed when the table was lifted off of them, the opposite end smashing toward the floor.

The two hurried from under it, moving toward the corner. Noah saw what had caused one end of the table to flip upward. Quinton had crashed onto it, that side of the table turning to kindling under his massive weight. Their end looked like jaws opening up, the legs resembling teeth.

Thank god the entire table hadn’t collapsed on top of them.

Toro glared at Noah. “Hang tight, human. I’ll be right there as soon as I kill this piece of shit.”

The vampire’s face was a swollen mess, blood oozing from his nose and the side of his mouth. Even through the cacophony of fighting, Noah could hear how badly Toro was wheezing, as if Quinton had broken a few of the man’s ribs.

Noah was unable to hold Toro’s gaze. It was too evil, filled with too much hatred. Just glancing at him made Noah want to take a scalding-hot shower to scrub the gross feeling off his skin.

Quinton rose up from the floor, towering over the vampire. “That’s the last fucking time you threaten my mate.”

Spinning, Noah yanked Wesley’s head to his chest, holding him tight when Quinton’s hand punched through Toro’s chest. The sound of breaking ribs made him want to vomit.

“Hyett isn’t going to let anything happen to you,” Noah found himself saying repeatedly to Wesley in an effort to stop the man from trembling so badly.

“I know, but it’s still scary as hell, especially since I just went through something similar with a demon,” Wesley replied.

Noah was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that demons existed.

“The noise stopped,” Wesley pointed out.

Noah glanced over his shoulder. Quinton’s hand was bloody, and Hyett stood over a prone body, breathing heavily. Ryker and Killian returned, seeming no worse for wear.

Hyett charged across the kitchen, and Noah let Wesley go, stepping aside so the bear shifter could seize his mate and haul Wesley into his arms.

Quinton went to the sink and washed his hands. Noah’s gaze slid down to his nicely rounded ass, focusing on the strength in those buns so he wouldn’t focus on the dead bodies lying around him.

Then Quinton charged toward him and scooped Noah into his arms. “Close your eyes, Noah.”

He did as his mate asked, feeling Quinton walking. He didn’t open them again until they were in their bedroom, away from the carnage.

“Is Toro really dead?” Noah refused to let go when Quinton tried to place him on his feet.

“Yes.” Quinton kissed his forehead. “Now we’re going to discuss how much you owe.”

* * * *

Quinton hung up and set his phone on the nightstand.

“Well?” Noah asked from beside him.

Lying back, Quinton slid his arm around his mate, pulling Noah into his side. It had been a week since he’d killed Toro. The following morning, Quinton had tracked Raphael down and paid him the fifty grand Noah owed.

He’d also gone to Harris’s and found the human just sitting on his couch, staring off into nothingness. Quinton and his sons had called Prince Christian and explained the situation. Since Toro was the only person who knew exactly what had been done to Harris’s mind, asking just any vampire to undo the damage might cause further harm.

That was why Quinton had gone to the firstborn vampire, the most powerful, to try and untangle the mess Toro had made.

Christian had sent someone to retrieve Harris, and Noah’s best friend had been with him for five days now.

“Christian said he’s still working on him.” Quinton kissed the top of Noah’s head and wondered if even the prince could undo the mess Toro had left behind. Although Quinton hadn’t met Harris, his mate cared about him.

Even if Christian was successful, Harris would never be the same. Who would be okay after a vampire had not only bedazzled him but violated his mind in such an intrusive and nefarious manner?

Noah glanced up, his eyes filled with such sadness that Quinton could practically feel gray clouds forming over his mate’s head. “Harris didn’t deserve what happened to him.” He rested his cheek on Quinton’s bare chest. “Because of my stupid decision, he paid too high a price while I got off pretty much scot-free.”

“Hey, none of that.” He pulled Noah up, bringing him closer. “You can’t blame yourself for what a deranged vampire did. Wallowing in guilt isn’t going to accomplish anything.”

But Quinton knew that no matter what he said, Noah would blame himself. If it had been Noah who’d had his brain scrambled because of Quinton’s actions, he would feel the same way. A hundred times worse, even.

He ran his hand down Noah’s slim back then rested it on his mate’s hip. Noah tried to covertly twist his ass so Quinton could cup it. The guy wasn’t fooling anyone.

So Quinton made sure to keep his hand away from Noah’s backside, just to see what his mate would do next.

A low, frustrated grunt rumbled in Noah’s throat.

“Is something wrong?” Quinton asked curiously, hiding his smile.

They’d had sex not even an hour ago, and Noah wanted him again. Quinton loved that his mate couldn’t get enough of him, that he wanted to feel a hard dick in his ass constantly now.

The virgin had turned into a dick fiend.

Noah glanced back up at him with so much need in his green eyes that it stole Quinton’s breath. His heartbeat quickened when Noah pushed up then slid a leg over his waist.

Since the first time they’d had sex, Quinton had let Noah set the pace and the position since it was all new to him. So far though, his mate hadn’t ridden his cock.

He looked beautiful perched on top of Quinton, his green eyes drowsy with lust. Quinton’s cock instantly hardened as he placed his hands on Noah’s hips.

“Finally ready to ride the Polar Express?” Quinton teased, sawing his cock up and down the crease in Noah’s ass. His mate groaned, dropping forward and placing his hands on Quinton’s chest.

“You’re a grizzly,” he sassed, his voice rough with arousal. He lifted his ass higher, pushing back on Quinton’s cock as it slid up and down his cleft.

“Does my sweetheart need fucked again?” Quinton grabbed the base, squeezed it tight to hold back his orgasm. He couldn’t get enough of Noah either. His mate was the first man in Quinton’s life to bring him so close to release in such a short amount of time.

With Noah, he had to fight to maintain stamina. Every time he slid his cock into his mate’s ass or mouth, Quinton was ready to shoot off within the first few minutes.

Totally embarrassing at his age, but that was how aroused Noah made him.

“Bring your ass closer,” Quinton groaned a shuddering, breathy sound. Then he jerked slightly when Noah’s lubed ring of muscle touched the tip of his cock.

His mate was still slicked up, his hole loosened from their sex not even an hour ago.

“Push your ass onto my cock.” Quinton could barely get the words out.

Noah cried out, instinctively riding back, impaling himself on Quinton’s cock. “God, yes.”

“Shit. Ride my dick, Noah.” He kept a steady grip on his mate’s sides, captivated as he watched Noah bounce backward. “Sit up…” He panted out the words. “Sit up and ride me.”

He planted his feet on the bed, his fingers flexing against Noah’s hips as his mate rose upward, his palms pressed like iron against Quinton’s chest.

But Noah didn’t move. He sat there breathing heavily, his fingers curling and uncurling.

Quinton waited for Noah to adjust to the girth, his cock throbbing deep inside his mate’s tight heat. If Noah didn’t move soon, Quinton would embarrass himself. The ring of muscle was still tight, even after the two dozen times they’d fucked already.

“Let me figure this out,” Noah groaned, staring down at him.

“I won’t move,” Quinton promised. “But please, do something soon before I bust a nut in your sweet ass and end this too soon.”

Noah wiggled his ass, driving Quinton insane. He loved trying new things with his mate, loved that Noah wanted to explore Quinton’s body, but if his mate kept wiggling his ass, Quinton would take over and pound the man raw.

“Bounce, Noah. Lock your knees into my sides and bounce your beautiful ass on my cock.” Quinton involuntarily thrusted. “I can’t hold back much longer.”

Whenever Noah found a rhythm during their lovemaking, he went all in. He began to bounce like Quinton’s hips were made of rubber, driving his ass down hard on the cock buried in his ass.

Quinton matched his pace, punching upward, lost in the sensations and the gorgeous sight sitting atop him. “That’s it, baby. Ride my dick.”

Watching Noah’s hard cock bobbing up and down was too tempting to pass up. Quinton curled his fist around the hard flesh, stroking the pre-cum out of the slit.

“Oh god…Quinton…” Noah gasped, his body jarring every time Quinton thrust hard and deep. “I-I love this position.”

“About to go fast,” Quinton warned, locking one hand on Noah’s hip so his mate wouldn’t fall forward and hit his head on the wall.

He pistoned his cock into Noah’s ass, cursing at how good it felt. It was even better when Noah’s nails cut into his skin. His mate’s jaw clenched then fell open as his eyelids fluttered closed.

Hot jets of cum hit Quinton’s chest as Noah shouted. His ass clamped down on Quinton’s cock, refusing to let go. He yanked Noah down to him, sank his canines in, then buried himself as his body convulsed with his release.

As tiny aftershocks pulsed through Quinton, he extracted his teeth and licked the wound closed. He curled his arms around his mate when Noah settled in, their breathing ragged.

“I love you,” Noah murmured, his voice drowsy with exhaustion.

Quinton tightened his arms when Noah tried to jerk upward. He was just as shocked at the declaration, but he wasn’t going to let his mate run from it.

“I love you, too.” He kissed Noah’s temple then whispered, “Just stocked up on pretzels. Care to play a game with me?”

Noah’s body slightly shook with laughter. “As long as you don’t ask anything personal.”

Quinton grinned, hugging Noah tighter, never wanting to let his mate go. The guy had survived so much, including dealing with his brother when Layne had shown up at the door, pissed off, until he learned the truth.

Noah hadn’t lost his mind with a biker gang. He’d found his mate in a family of bear shifters. Quinton would throw down to keep his mate safe and happy and right where he belonged.

THE END

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