Man to Man [Wolf Creek Pack 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (17 page)

“Don’t get hurt, Jim.”

“Nu-uh.” Jim felt tongue-tied at the heated glint in Donovan’s eyes. Had the man ever looked at him with such lust and tenderness at the same time? Had he ever looked at him with tenderness at all? Jim knew theirs wasn’t a match made in heaven, but they seemed to do okay together. Still, the mention of deeper emotions had never come into conversation before.

Even if Jim felt them every damn time he looked at the man.

“You’re mine, you know?”

Jim swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

“I don’t want to do this without you.”

“No.” Jim shook his head, mesmerized by the emotion glowing in Donovan’s eyes until Donovan’s words filtered through his fogged up brain. He frowned, confused by their meaning. “Do what?”

“Life.” Donovan’s smile was tinged with a bit of ruefulness. “I don’t want to go through this life without you by my side. Whatever we face, we face together.”

“Donovan,” Jim whispered.

He felt like his throat was going to close up as tears threatened to spring to his eyes. He swallowed hard, hoping to clear his throat, but the more that Donovan gazed at him, the bigger the lump in his throat grew.

Jim leaned into the hand that Donovan stroked down the side of his face. He almost shivered at the hard calluses he felt graze over his skin. When Donovan’s hand reached the bottom of his face, Jim grabbed it and pressed a small kiss into the palm of Donovan’s hand.

“I can sense you, Jim. I know you feel it even if you can’t say it.”

It?
Jim swallowed again, hard. All of a sudden he felt scared and nervous. Had Donovan guessed at the emotions that had been growing inside of him since they bonded?

“I can feel them”—Donovan’s hand pressed against Jim’s chest, right over his heart—“in here. I know they are there. I also know that one day you will be comfortable enough to tell me about them.”

“Donovan, I—” Jim licked his lips. They suddenly felt as dry as the Sahara Desert. He opened his mouth, but he didn’t have a clue what to say. He did care for Donovan, a lot. But did guys say that sort of thing? “Donovan, I…”

Donovan smiled again. “It’s okay, babe. I know, and for now, that’s enough. You’ll tell me when you’re ready. Until then, though, you need to keep your ass in one piece. You can’t very well tell me how you feel if something happens to you.”

Jim’s lips felt useless until Donovan leaned in and gave him a kiss. He groaned and pressed his body closer to Donovan’s, hoping the man could feel how much he was wanted. Jim needed Donovan more than he had ever needed anyone. He just didn’t have the words to say that would convey how much. He didn’t even know if there were words.

Some things couldn’t be spoken. They had to be felt.

But Jim had to say something. Donovan needed to know how he felt. Jim just had to gather the courage to tell the man that he was the most important person in his life. “Oh, Donovan, I—”

The rest of Jim’s words faded away when Donovan pressed his finger against Jim’s lips. “Sshhh, baby. Tell me when you’re ready.”

“But—” Jim mumbled against Donovan’s finger.

“And, Jim, just so you know.” Donovan grinned, a small twinkle coming to his hazel eyes. “I love you, too.”

Donovan would never forget the look on Jim’s face as his jaw dropped open and his eyes widened, not for as long as he lived. It wasn’t every day that a man told his mate he loved him. It was scary and frightening and downright terrifying, but the stunned look on Jim’s face was well worth any discomfort Donovan might have felt.

Donovan knew Jim cared about him, but despite his words, he didn’t know if Jim actually loved him. He could hope. He could wonder. But until Jim actually said something, Donovan just didn’t know.

Before Jim could reply, Donovan turned and headed for the back door. He couldn’t stand there and listen if Jim started to refute what Donovan hoped the man felt. He’d rather face whoever was waiting for them outside than hear Jim didn’t care.

“Jim, is Ethan ready to go?”
Donovan asked through the bond he had with Jim.

“Yes,” Jim said out loud from behind Donovan.

Donovan turned to see Ethan and Jim standing in the archway that led to the living room. Joey stood next to Ethan, clutching the man’s hand. Donovan nodded and turned back toward the door. He waited until he heard everyone walk up behind him and then reached for the door handle.

“Ethan, as soon as we get through the door, run for the woods as fast as you can.”

“Got it,” Ethan said.

Donovan chuckled when he heard Joey echo Ethan’s words. Even Carrie seemed to get in on it, letting out a small garble of sounds. Donovan cast one last look over his shoulder at his mate and then turned and opened the door.

He stepped outside as fast as he could. He wanted everyone outside and running toward the woods before whoever was waiting for them knew what was happening. Donovan started toward the woods, keeping a close eye on the trees. He prayed that they weren’t running into the woods exactly where their watchers were.

That would seriously suck.

Donovan kept Ethan and the children between him and Jim as they ran. He almost laughed when a crazy thought entered his head. Why in the hell did some people have to have such damn big yards? It seemed like they just kept running and running.

Just as the forest seemed within reach, dark figures in the tree line suddenly took shape right in front of them. Donovan weaved to his right and came to a stop in front of Ethan and the children. He held his arms out to his sides and started backing the little party of people he swore to protect back toward the house.

The shapes coming out of the tree line took form, walking into what little light was cast down from the half-moon hanging in the sky. Donovan instantly recognized Timmins and a couple of the others, all relatives of Timmins. The other men standing with Timmins were complete strangers, but from the strong scent of old blood he smelled, Donovan was pretty sure that they were vampires.

“Timmins.”

“Give us the boy, Donovan,” Timmins said, “and you can leave.”

At first, Donovan thought that Timmins was talking about Joey, and he felt an undercurrent of rage start to prickle just beneath his skin. When Timmins’s eyes moved beyond him, and Donovan turned to look, he realized that Timmins was looking at Ethan.

Still wasn’t going to happen.

Donovan shook his head as he turned back to Timmins. “Alpha Reece knows what you’re up to, Timmins, and he will put a stop to this sick plan of yours. He’s not going to allow you to sell any more of this pack to bloodsuckers.”

“This pack was getting too old anyway,” Timmins replied. “The only ones that are left the vampires wouldn’t take anyway. It’s time to move on and establish another pack of donors. I’m sure there’s a pack around here that would take in a refugee and his family, someone running from all of the violence created by this horrible conflict.”

The smirk that settled on Timmins’s lips sent a chill down Donovan’s back. He knew what the man was going to say before he even said it.

“Maybe even the Wolf Creek Pack.” Timmins glanced beyond Donovan again. “That is your mate’s pack, isn’t it? The Wolf Creek Pack?”

“Daniel Nash would never allow you to touch any member of his pack,” Donovan snapped.

“He can’t stop me if he’s dead.”

Donovan growled at the threat to his father-in-law.

“And neither can you!” Timmins shouted as he jumped back and two large wolf shifters took his place.

“Run, Jim. Get Ethan and the kids to safety,”
Donovan sent out to his mate as he leapt toward the two shifters, shifting in midleap. One thing Donovan knew he had in his favor was the speed in which he could shift. It had kept him alive more than once. He just hoped it kept him alive this time.

Donovan was fully shifted by the time he landed on top of the two wolf-shifters. He started biting at them before they could shift, hoping to take them out before they became too much of a threat to him.

Donovan pushed one of the wolf-shifters down to the ground and attacked him. He could feel the other shifter’s claws dig into his back as he sank his teeth into the shifter beneath him, ripping out his throat. The shifter gurgled for a moment, and then the light faded from his eyes.

Donovan immediately turned his attention to the wolf attacking him from behind. He spun around and lunged, snapping his jaw together several times before he felt flesh between his teeth. He bit down and yanked, pulling away with a good-sized piece of the shifter’s flank.

The shifter howled and went down. Donovan was on him before he could get up. He didn’t like killing, but he would if he had to. Donovan clamped his teeth down on the shifter’s throat and applied just enough pressure to make breathing complicated, and then he waited, hoping.

Unlike the previous shifter, Donovan wanted to give this one a chance. Well, he had wanted to give the other one a chance, too, but he was being attacked from two sides at the time, and staying alive had been uppermost in his mind.

When the shifter lowered his eyes, Donovan relented and lifted his muzzle. He curled back his lips and growled deep in his throat at the others standing around without moving off the shifter. He kept his claws dug into the shifter’s fur, wanting to know exactly where he was at all times as he confronted the others.

Timmins was nowhere to be seen. Big surprise there. Cowards always ran when their evil plans of world dominance started to fall apart. The vampires, however, were standing just beyond Donovan, and they looked like they were ready for battle.

Well, so was Donovan. He’d take on a coven full of bloodsucking vampires if it meant he could keep Jim, Ethan, and the children safe.

He stepped back off of the shifter beneath him and put a couple of steps between them for safety, and then shifted back to his human form. He realized that he stood there naked, but he didn’t care, not even when one of the vampires gaped at him.

“You have two choices,” Donovan said. “You can leave and forget about this plan to buy members of my pack, or you can die. The choice is up to you. One keeps you alive, and one gets you dead.”

Donovan’s jaw almost dropped in surprise when one of the vampires hissed at him. He had never actually seen a vampire up-close and personal like. He decided on the spot that he hoped he never did. They were vicious-looking creatures.

Donovan was in no way surprised when two of them raced toward him. He expected it. What he didn’t expect was for the shifter that had submitted to him just moments ago, to jump up and rush him at the very same time. It was very bad form, and signed the shifter’s death warrant.

Donovan took him out first. He started his shift to wolf form. Once his hands had claws, he sliced them across the shifter’s throat before he could even reach Donovan. He finished the rest of his shift before the wolf-shifter’s dead body even hit the ground.

And then he turned to face the two vampires heading for him, only they seemed to be hesitating now. Donovan snapped his jaws at the vampires, warning them back. The idiots rushed him anyway.

Donovan jumped and took one of them to the ground, but he felt the other one jump on his back. Pain exploded in his shoulder, and he knew the vampire had bitten him. He was fighting on two fronts, the vampire in front of him trying to rip out his throat and the vampire behind him trying to drain him of his blood.

After just a few gulps of his blood drained from his body, Donovan could feel himself weakening. He knew he had to do something before the last of his strength left him altogether. He dug his claws into the vampire beneath him and used him as leverage to roll over onto his back.

More agony than Donovan thought he had ever experienced ripped through him as the vampire fangs embedded in his shoulder were dislodged. Donovan used the claws on his hind legs to slice at the stomach of the vampire on top of him, clawing with all of his might.

Within a couple of swipes, he felt hot liquid splash over his paws, saturating his fur. With a powerful thrust of his back legs, Donovan launched the vampire off of him. He heard the bloodsucker land several feet away but didn’t have time to see where he had landed. He still had one more vampire to deal with.

Donovan just couldn’t figure out how to get the vampire off his back. He rolled one way and then the other. Each way that he rolled, the vampire rolled. He was sticking to Donovan’s furry back like a second layer of skin.

Exasperated, Donovan shifted back to his human form. He knew it would leave him more vulnerable, but he might be able to catch the bloodsucker by surprise. And Donovan prayed with everything in him that vampires were built like wolf-shifters. He reached down between his naked thighs and grabbed the guy’s junk, squeezing with all of his might.

The vampire screamed and loosened his hold on Donovan just enough that Donovan was able to shake free. He shifted back into wolf form as he rolled onto his hands and knees, landing instead on his paws.

Donovan curled his lips back once again and growled as he readied himself to pounce. But the vampire was still groaning and moaning as he cradled his balls and dick with his hands, rolling back and forth on the ground.