The Lamb Who Cried Wolf (6 page)

Carson shuddered as the command sent tendrils of arousal through him. Instantly, his body reacted and he lowered his mouth over Brody’s prick, his entire being focused on pleasuring Brody. The first taste of his mate made him moan, and his own cock throbbed in need, demanding to be let in on the action.

Now more than ever, Carson felt thankful he hadn’t bothered to put clothes on. It made it easy for him to reach down and wrap his fist around his dick. Brody’s hands entangled in his hair as the wolf guided his cock in Carson’s mouth. “That’s it, little lamb. Take me.

And don’t come. I want you to come around my cock.”

Carson trembled at the command and forced himself to stop masturbating. He focused on the prick in his mouth, taking it as deep as he could. It wasn’t easy, given Brody’s size, but Carson breathed through his nose and did his best. He looked up at Brody, loving the way his mate’s green eyes analyzed him in possessive lust. “You’re doing great, Carson,” Brody continued to encourage him. “So great.”

With Brody’s voice and scent surrounding him, Carson lost himself in the pleasure. It was so amazing, so perfect, a teasing preparation for what would come later. But then, all of a sudden, Brody’s cock left his mouth. Carson blinked in confusion when he heard his mate curse. “Brody, what is it?”

For a few seconds, he thought he’d done something wrong, perhaps bitten Brody. Werewolf or not, Brody would not like having his cock bitten. But then, their connection cleared up, and through Brody, Carson acknowledged what was going on.
“Pack,”
Brody’s beast told him.
“Wolves.”

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While sheep had excellent senses and skill in detecting their predators, it was useless when wolves were downwind or, as it were, protected by walls. Brody, however, felt them, perhaps through a connection wolves shared.

“We have to go,” Brody told him. “Hurry. Put something on and move.”

Carson rushed to obey. He pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt.

He’d have considered grabbing some of their bags, but Brody dragged him toward the door, abandoning all their belongings. “Leave them,”

he said. “We don’t have time.”

They rushed through the fire escape and went down the few flights of stairs necessary. Finally, they were outside the hotel and very close to their car. Carson thought they were going to make it, but then, his senses were assaulted by the scent of predator as the wolves no longer bothered to keep their presence hidden.

There were more than a dozen men and women surrounding them, appearing from various spots. Carson shrunk closer to Brody, tasting terror in his mouth. He felt safer by his mate’s side, but his reason knew Brody couldn’t possibly take them all and win.

A tall wolf who looked somewhat like Brody took a step forward.

“You’re so predictable, little brother,” he said. “I just knew you’d do our work for us and try to escape.”

“Soren,” Brody said, and that one word dripped so much poison it shocked Carson. “What are you doing here? We established to meet at noon at the Observatory.”

The second wolf—Soren, apparently—sneered. “You fail to understand that I am Alpha and I give the orders.”

Brody narrowed his eyes. “I never questioned your leadership. I merely wanted to meet with you and explain that I found my mate.”

Soren snorted. “Your mate. Right. I heard all about your mate.”

His gaze turned to Carson, and Carson shuddered at the threat he saw there. These were the wolves the stories spoke of, the wolves who
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populated his nightmares, and who would have no qualms in eating him if given the chance.

“Cease this stupidity, Brody,” Soren said. “I can understand you wanted to have a little fun. But now that you have it out of your system, come back to the pack and let us deal with the lamb our way.”

“You will not touch a hair on his head,” Brody snarled. “Before I let you do that, I’ll kill you. I challenge you for the leadership of the pack.”

For the first time, Carson actually saw Soren’s self-assurance falter. The wolf must truly doubt that Brody and Carson were mates.

“You’d do such a thing for the lamb? You’d attack me, your Alpha and your brother?”

“You give me no choice,” Brody shot back.

“Fine.” Soren nodded toward the other wolves, and the beasts shot into action. Brody intercepted them and pushed Carson out of the way, but several of his opponents crowded in on him.

“Don’t fight us,” Soren said. “You’re just making the situation worse. The humans will see. We’ll just take you to pack lands. You can’t possibly expect to hold the challenge here, can you?”

Brody ignored him and still tried to push his attackers away. He managed to get rid of a couple, but while he was distracted, the other wolves crowded in on Carson. Carson hated being a burden on his mate, and he tried to defend himself, but fear crowded his mind. His body ceased functioning and at one point, he just stood there, frozen.

“Fine,” he heard Brody say. “I’ll come with you. Just leave Carson alone.”

“Oh, I think not,” Soren answered. “Grab him,” he told the wolves.

One of Carson’s attackers lifted him up and draped him over his shoulder. Carson couldn’t help a sound of terror, and he had to focus not to turn into his lamb form. Before these last forty-eight hours, he’d never lost control of his animal, but now, the presence of the
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predators seemed to be triggering his innermost fears. It would just make the situation worse.

Thankfully, the wolves didn’t attempt to hurt him. They just stuck Carson in a car and climbed in next to him. Carson dared to hope Brody would come with him, but he realized they’d put his mate in another car.

It was the panic of this separation that gave him a strength he didn’t know he had. “Brody!” he shouted. Outside, he heard Brody howl like an animal. He fought to open the car door, surprised when the latch gave. It seemed the wolves had not expected him to try to make an escape while cornered. And surely, Carson knew he couldn’t get away, but the thought of losing Brody just made that a distant, unimportant reality.

The wolf who’d caught him before cursed and reached out, grabbing Carson just as he was leaving the car. “Fucking lamb. Stand still if you don’t want to be eaten.”

A female wolf who’d taken the driver seat glowered at the man.

“Stop it, Lester. Maybe they really are mates. What do you know?”

Carson thought he heard a bit of compassion in her voice, but even so, he doubted she would help him. “Don’t get all softhearted now, Carlie,” Lester said. “The Alpha won’t like it.”

As if summoned by Lester’s words, Soren appeared and sat in the front, taking shotgun. It surprised Carson that he would let Carlie drive, but soon, he realized why. As the female werewolf started the car, Soren turned toward Carson and said, “I don’t know what your game is, lamb, but you’ve messed with the wrong wolf. By the time this is over, you’ll pray Brody had killed you the night you met.”

Carson tried to ignore the Alpha, but with every second that passed, it was getting increasingly difficult. The car seemed to be heading out of the city. His only comfort was that he could still sense Brody close, which meant they were being taken to the same place.

All throughout the trip, Soren continued to spout insults at Carson, as if urged on by his silence. Carson wanted to talk back, to defend
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himself and his mate, but he was only a lamb. What could he do against these wolves? He needed to keep his mouth shut and stay alive.

And then, their connection was flooded by Brody’s warm voice.

“Don’t panic, little lamb,”
Brody said.
“I’ll get us out of this. I
promise.”

“Why do they hate us so much?”
Carson couldn’t help but ask.

“We just want to be left alone.”

“I know, Carson.”
Brody sighed.
“It’s a little more complicated
than that. My family is very keen on tradition, especially my father.

I’d hoped Soren would be on my side, but apparently not.”

If Brody’s father was worse than Soren, Carson didn’t think this situation would get any better. Carson gulped and stared at the wolves in the car with him. He was beginning to think there wouldn’t be a way out.

“Don’t think that, Carson,”
Brody’s voice said again
. “Just trust
me. I won’t let you get hurt. Trust me.”

“I do trust you, Brody.”
It was their cruel fate Carson didn’t trust, the same fate that had thrown them together even if they were so different. What did Brody’s earlier words mean? Would he really challenge his brother? What would it entail? Carson feared the answer to his own questions.

* * * *

The car Brody rode in followed Carson’s, and it was the only reason why Brody remained inside, no longer fighting once his mate was out of his reach. Soren didn’t play fair. His little gang of cronies had overpowered Brody. Of course, Brody couldn’t expect his brother to answer to the challenge in the middle of a human city, but that didn’t make Soren’s behavior more acceptable.

Brody focused on his connection with Carson, trying to calm his mate down. He placed his hopes in the challenge. Even if Soren was
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older than him, Brody had confidence that he could beat his brother.

The best case scenario would be that he’d manage to do so without killing Soren and surrender leadership of the pack in exchange for being left alone. The worst entailed him losing and getting both himself and his mate killed.

The car left the city and headed out into pack lands. Unlike sheep, wolves didn’t have town-like settlements. Instead, they lived in small packs with Alphas ruling over them and an elder as a general authority. Unfortunately for Brody, their elder was his father.

In truth, he should have known better than to believe Soren would defy their parent. He’d relied on their bond of brothers and had put his mate in danger because of it. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to his mate because of his misplaced trust.

The familiar scenery told Brody they were close to their home. At last, the vehicle slowed down and stopped in front of large, iron gates.

The gates opened, leaving the path clear for the convoy. A few minutes later, the cars halted once more, and this time, the driver cut the engine.

“We’re here,” the wolf said to no one in particular.

Brody ignored him. He’d grown up together with these men and was now being manhandled by them as if he were some sort of criminal. His only crime had been taking a mate. Why was that unacceptable for his pack?

His guards gestured him out of the car, and Brody obeyed, mostly because he sensed Carson out there. As soon as he left the vehicle, he caught sight of Carson standing next to Soren. His wolf rebelled and the fear he still felt coming from Carson fueled his anger.

He broke free of his guards and lunged forward. Soren just gave him a cool look, seeming completely unfazed by Brody’s display. “Be patient, little brother,” he said. “You wanted a challenge and you’ll get it. But for the moment, we’ll have to secure your lamb. We wouldn’t want anything unpleasant to happen to him.”

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Carlie appeared by Soren’s side. “I will take the lamb, Alpha, if it’s all right with you.”

Hope emerged inside Brody. Carlie was Liam’s sister. She and Brody weren’t exactly friends, but from all the people present here, he would much prefer to entrust Carson to her. Unfortunately, Soren shook his head. “Lester will take him.”

“You can’t be serious,” Brody protested. Lester hated him and would love to torture Carson, just to hurt Brody indirectly. Alas, he was also Soren’s Beta, along with his brother Geoff. Brody would never understand why his brother had chosen the two men as his trusted aides.

Soren rolled his eyes. “Take the lamb inside, Lester, and don’t hurt him. Brody, you’re trying my patience. If you win the challenge, you can do what you want. Now follow me.”

Brody growled at his brother, intending to continue the argument.

But then, Carson’s gentle voice appeared through their connection.

“Don’t worry about me, Brody. I’ll be fine. Just focus on the
challenge and come back safe. Imagine we can get out safe and be
happy.”

Brody took a deep breath and nodded. “Fine,” he said out loud to his brother. “Just keep your word and keep him safe.” Through his bond with Carson, he added
, “I’ll get us out. I promise.”

He watched as Lester directed Carson into the mansion, feeling helpless and stupid.

Soren started to walk away from the mansion doors and toward the adjoining hunting grounds. The pack owned quite a bit of land in this area, a more recent purchase due to finding out about the sheep town’s location. The elder—aka Brody’s father—often distributed their forces according to where the prey was located. Once, it had made sense. Now, it just seemed cruel and unnecessary. Why did they have to continue hunting the sheep, the deer, and all the other shape-shifters? They didn’t need the meat. They could purchase it from the supermarket, like humans did, or hunt animals and not shifters. It
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suddenly seemed like a sort of cannibalism to Brody, and he couldn’t believe that he’d accepted it before he’d met Carson. It was simply grotesque.

Still, everyone else looked quite convinced he was in the wrong.

His brother led him into the meeting grove, where all fights for the Alpha position took place, and Brody realized with dismay there were already many wolves gathered around to see the upcoming battle.

Most gave him ugly looks, but remained silent, respecting the institution of the challenge. It was the smart thing to do, since if the contender won, he would not be lenient toward the ones who’d spoken against him. Brody wondered where Liam was. He didn’t think Soren would have hurt the man just for helping transmit a message, and Carlie hadn’t seemed in mourning or anything like that.