An Alpha's Pride [tribal bonds 2] (11 page)

“I’m open to ideas,” Roman said. “I can get at least six heavily armed men here in under an hour.”
“I can get another ten,” Carlton said.
“And while I can add more to the mix,” Daniel said, “we may have a problem.”
“Like?”
“If any of these people know anything, they will be able to tell a wolf shifter coming from a hundred meters.” Daniel shrugged when Carlton growled. “Face it, anamchara, wolves are pretty hard to hide.”
“Um.” Luca cleared his throat. “That might not exactly be true.”

Seth stood there looking like he was going to be sick. Daniel watched him closely and then cut his glance over to Roman, who kept stealing glances at Seth, looking like he was constipated. Daniel couldn’t figure out what was going on between the two men, but he knew something was.

“You want me to help with a hunt?” Seth asked in shock. “Why the hell would I help out a damn hunter? Have you seen what they’ve done to our race, your race,” he bit out as he glanced over at Daniel. “You’re asking me to help the very same humans who slaughter us?”

“No,” Daniel replied as he unfolded his legs and stood, clasping his hands behind his back as he casually walked over to Seth. “I’m asking you to help people who had nothing to do with the slaughtering.”

“How do you know this?” Seth shouted the question at Daniel. “Because he”—Seth jabbed a finger at Roman—“said so? And you believe him?”

“Watch your tone, Seth,” Carlton warned. “Remember who Electus Everson is.”
Seth scowled but lowered his tone to a respectable level. “I won’t help murderers.”
“One of our people,” Rowan said as he slid from the couch, “was kidnapped as well, brother. Are you going to let her suffer?”
“Then why don’t you go?”
“Never!” Luca shouted as he jumped to his feet.
“But it’s okay to sacrifice me to the hunters?” Seth argued back. “Is that it? Am I that damn disposable?”
“You won’t be sacrificed,” Roman interjected from across the room.
Daniel saw how the human’s eyes glared sharply at Seth and then darted away just as quickly. It was as if Roman couldn’t look Seth in his eyes. Of course, Seth seemed to have no such problem. He glared holes into Roman every time he looked at him.
Strange.
“And that’s supposed to make me cheer and blindly follow right behind you?” Seth spat the words as if they tasted bitter in his mouth. “I don’t fucking think so.”
“You’ll have a few vampires with you as well,” Luca said. “You won’t be the only paranormal in this.”
Daniel could see Seth seething beneath the surface. He was pretty sure he knew why Seth was fighting against this, but he was their only hope if they wanted to find the hunters undetected. Seth didn’t carry a scent, giving the men he was with an advantage.
“Seth, please,” Rowan begged. “They have Annie.”
Seth’s jaw tightened and his nostrils flared. Whoever this Annie person was, she had a hold on Seth. Daniel could see it in the darkening of Seth’s eyes.
“Fine,” Seth spit out as he pointed to Roman and the other hunters, “but if so much as one of you comes near me, I’ll rip your fucking throat out.”
Roman yawned, as if unimpressed. “Then we need to get moving.” Roman and the other hunters headed for the door.
“Bastard,” Seth said under his breath as he passed Daniel.
Daniel wanted to chuckle at the strain between Seth and Roman, but he kept his face stoic. It wouldn’t do to piss Seth off after he had agreed to help. And he certainly didn’t want to piss Roman off. His shoulder still hurt.
“Be careful,” Rowan said as he gave Seth a tight hug, “and get Annie back.”
Seth gave a tight nod as he stepped out of the door.
“Who’s Annie?” Daniel asked when the door closed behind Seth.
Rowan grimaced as he curled up in Luca’s lap. “A childhood friend. She practically lived at our home growing up. She wasn’t very popular or pretty and was picked on a lot. Seth had made it his mission in life to protect her. She’s mated now with a pup of her own, but Seth still likes to think of himself as her guardian.”
“And Annie is the wolf that was taken from Carlton’s pack?”
Rowan nodded.
“That’s got to suck.”
“Seth and Annie are very close. He’s the godfather to her son. If anything happens to her, he’s never going to forgive himself.”
Daniel glanced back at the door for a moment, thinking hard. “Any idea what that was all about between Seth and Roman?” he asked, turning back to Rowan. “Is it anything that I need to worry about?”
Rowan frowned. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve never seen Seth hate someone so much on sight, though. He’s usually a pretty easygoing guy.”
“Really?” Daniel couldn’t remember a single instance when Seth hadn’t been wound up like a top, but then again, he barely knew the guy.
“He didn’t start really getting so uptight until a couple of months ago, about the same time I met Luca.”
“Does he have a problem with you being mated to a vampire?” If Seth did, he wouldn’t be the first.
“Not that I know of but—” Rowan shrugged.
“Yeah.” Daniel was finding out that he didn’t know as much about the people around him as he thought he did. He felt almost disconnected.
Sadiki was the perfect example. The man had been glaring at Carlton the entire evening. If he didn’t knock it off, Daniel knew he’d have to do something about it. He wasn’t taking any chances that Sadiki was like Ben. He especially wasn’t taking any chances with his anamchara’s life.
Which was why he planned to sneak out of the hotel before Carlton knew he was gone. Daniel knew Carlton would be pissed, but he’d be alive, and that was more important.
He walked over and leaned into Carlton’s side. “I’m going to hit the men’s room real quick, and then I’ll be ready to go.”
Carlton nodded.
Daniel glanced over his anamchara’s handsome face. No matter how many people they had on their side, this was still a dangerous mission. This could very likely be the last time he ever saw his mate. He wanted just a few more minutes alone with him.
“Care to donate to the cause?”
Carlton’s eyebrow arched up. “Just what did you have in mind?”
“Meet me in the bathroom in five minutes and I’ll show you.” Without another word, Daniel walked out of the room and headed to the closest bathroom he knew of. It wasn’t a huge bathroom, but it would do for his purposes.
Daniel had his clothes off and his ass stretched by the time Carlton walked into the small room five minutes later. He was bent over the counter with his ass pushed out and his hard cock jutting between his legs.
“Fuck me!” Carlton snapped when he opened the door. He quickly stepped inside and slammed the door closed, locking it.
Daniel wiggled his eyebrows as he glanced over his shoulder. “I’d much rather you fucked me.”
“Yeah, I can do that.”
Daniel heard Carlton’s zipper lower, and then the man grabbed his hips. Carlton’s hands were shaking. “Hard and fast, anamchara,” Daniel murmured. “We only have a few minutes.”
“Hard and fast, mate.” Carlton panted. “I can do hard and fast.”
Daniel groaned as Carlton’s cock sank into his ass. “Well, you certainly have the hard part down.” Fuck, he felt full. Carlton had the best dick in the world. It wasn’t too big, wasn’t too small. It fit perfectly inside Daniel’s ass, filling every inch of him until he wanted to scream out his pleasure. “Now give me the fast part, angel.”
Alpha or not, Carlton did exactly what he was ordered to do. Daniel had to slap his hands against the tiled sink backdrop to keep from sliding forward as Carlton slammed into him from behind. The hands digging into his hips only added to the pleasure rocketing through Daniel.
“Anamchara, please,” Daniel groaned as he reached back with one hand and wrapped his arm around Carlton’s neck. He wanted to feel Carlton’s canines sink into his flesh. He wanted to be claimed again.
Daniel cried out when Carlton’s teeth sank into his shoulder. His cock jerked once then sprayed the front of the counter with copious amounts of cum. Pleasure inflamed Daniel until spots danced in front of his eyes.
“Daniel!” Carlton shouted.
Daniel grunted as he felt pulse after pulse of Carlton’s release filling his ass. There was nothing else on earth like knowing he had brought his mate pleasure. It was a heady feeling, a powerful feeling.
And it sucked considering what Daniel knew he had to do next. He couldn’t look Carlton in the eyes as the man pulled free of him. He quickly grabbed a washcloth, got it wet, then cleaned himself off before helping Carlton clean up.
Once they both had their pants pulled back up, Daniel turned to press his body against Carlton’s. He liked the fact that Carlton was a few inches taller than him and several pounds heavier.
Carlton’s shoulders were broader, and that was just what Daniel needed, a place to lay his head for a moment and bask in the knowledge that his mate held him.
“Hey, are you okay?” Carlton asked.
“Yes, I’m fine.” Daniel swallowed hard and hoped that Carlton didn’t pick up on his nervousness, or if he did, that he attributed it to something else. Daniel raised his head to stare up at Carlton. He could see the confusion and slight worry in Carlton’s golden eyes.
Daniel rubbed his thumb along the wrinkles at the corner of Carlton’s eyes. “You know I couldn’t have chosen a better mate if I tried. You’re perfect for me. I just wished I had figured that out before we went through all of that heartache. I was a fool.”
Carlton’s lips turned up in a smile and the worry faded from his eyes. “You were human.”
“Was not,” Daniel snorted.
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do. But it still doesn’t excuse my behavior. I treated you like shit, and I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had kicked me to the curb. But I’m really glad you didn’t.”
“You’re my mate.” Carlton leaned down and planted a quick kiss on Daniel’s lips. “And I love you.”
Daniel licked his lips and purposely glanced at the pulse beating in Carlton’s throat. He felt like shit for what he was about to do, but he saw no other choice. He had to protect his anamchara.
“I need, Carlton.”
“Take what you need, mate.”
Daniel’s heart almost stopped beating when Carlton selflessly tilted his head to one side. His anamchara was never going to forgive him for this. Daniel almost hesitated, almost changed his mind, but the thought of Carlton being hurt reared its ugly head, and Daniel knew he had no other choice.
Daniel leaned forward and sank his fangs into Carlton’s vein. He closed his eyes against the tears that threatened to fall as he drew in drag after drag of Carlton’s sweet blood.
“Daniel,” Carlton whispered after a moment.
Daniel clutched at Carlton tighter.
“Daniel, mate, you need to stop.”
Daniel pushed Carlton back against the wall and pinned his body there.
“Daniel, I’m serious,” Carlton said. “I’m starting to get dizzy. I think you’re taking too much.”
Daniel cried when he felt Carlton’s body start to slump. He wrapped his arms around his anamchara and held him up as he continued to drain the blood from Carlton’s veins.
“Da–Daniel, p–please.”
Daniel felt Carlton’s pulse go sluggish and knew the man was on the verge of passing out. He hadn’t taken enough to end Carlton’s life, just enough to keep him from joining in on the fight. Carlton would need to rest before he could do anything.
Daniel withdrew his teeth, the taste of Carlton’s blood bitter in his mouth. He quickly licked the bite mark closed then lowered Carlton to the floor. The betrayal shining in Carlton’s eyes was almost his undoing.
Daniel squatted down next to Carlton and brushed the hair back from his head. Carlton’s eyes were fluttering, and Daniel knew he only had seconds with his mate. When Carlton awoke, he would be pissed and the life Daniel wanted with him would be over.
Daniel leaned over and placed a soft kiss against Carlton’s lips. “No matter what you believe, I’m doing this for you,” Daniel whispered. “I love you, and your safety means more to me than anything in the world. I know you’ll never forgive me for this, and as much as that breaks my heart, knowing you’ll be alive to hate me is more important.”
Daniel watched the pain in Carlton’s eyes slowly fade away as the man’s eyelids fluttered closed. He leaned down one last time and pressed his lips against Carlton’s, only letting the tears in his eyes fall now that Carlton would never see them.
Daniel stayed that way for a moment, watching Carlton sleep, knowing it would be the last time, and then he pushed himself to his feet. He grabbed a clean towel and placed it under Carlton’s head then turned and walked to the bathroom door.
Daniel refused to allow himself to look back as he walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. If he looked back, he might stay, and then everything he had just done would be for nothing.
It took just a moment for Daniel to stop and ask Rowan to keep an eye on Carlton. He didn’t give an explanation, just said that Carlton was in the bathroom and if he didn’t come out in a couple of hours, Rowan needed to check on him. He didn’t want to admit what he had done.
He just wanted Carlton to be safe.
Still, Daniel could see the knowing glint in Rowan’s eyes, and he was pretty sure the man knew exactly what he had done. Strangely enough, Rowan didn’t say a word. Rowan understood his need to keep his anamchara safe. He just hoped Rowan didn’t say anything to anyone or do anything until he was safely away from the hotel.
It took just a few minutes to reach the main lobby of the hotel where Seth and Roman were waiting with the others. He nodded to them and started for the vehicles waiting outside.
“Where’s Carlton?” Seth asked. “I thought he was joining us.”
Daniel wasn’t going to go into a long explanation. It was better to stick as close to the truth as he could. His actions had already doomed him. No sense in adding a lie to the mix.
“Carlton was detained. We’re going without him.”

Carlton was livid. He was also so weak he could barely lift his head. He had just enough strength to kick at the bathroom door, and that barely made a sound. He was going to strangle Daniel when he got his hands on the man.

He knew exactly what Daniel had done, and he even knew why. That did not lessen Carlton’s anger even a little bit. If Daniel thought he had been angry before, he had no idea what kind of hell was going to come for him the second Carlton regained his strength.

Carlton kicked at the door when he heard someone knock softly and call out his name. He didn’t want to call out for help because he wasn’t sure who was on the other side of the door.

The revenge he had planned for his mate was between the two of them. No one else needed to know that he had been caught unaware and laid out cold by his mate.