Jacks, Marcy - Eli's Reluctant Mate [DeWitt's Pack 5] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Marcy Jacks (best ereader under 100 .txt) 📗

Maybe it had been a mistake to teach Chris how to properly throw a punch.

On the other hand, he did deserve it.

When Chris continued to shake his hand out, Eli reached for him.

“Let me―”

“Stay away from me!” Chris snapped. He jumped to his feet and  ran away, and Eli sank back into his bubble of misery.

If he could have ended his own existence with a thought, he would  have done it. Jesus Christ, someone had tried to force themself on

Chris less than a day ago, and Eli had to be that rough with him. Chris had never been responding because of lust. That had been fear and adrenaline to make his heart thump like that and  give him his erection.

God, he was so stupid.

Maybe he could go to the other man, apologize, and explain how it was just his instincts that made him act the way he did, that he didn’t mean to scare him like that.

But then he’d be lying, because it hadn’t been just that. He’d

50                          Marcy Jacks

wanted the other man, so much so that he got stupid and pushed when  Chris wasn’t ready.

Eli released a deafening roar, his clothes stretching and ripping as  he shifted into his wolf, breaking free from his human skin. He  howled into the air, a long, mournful sound filled with all the selfloathing he could put into it.

There was only one way Eli knew of that was good for helping  him to forget his shitty life when he screwed up like this, and unless  the trees magically produced his favorite drink, he was going to have  to use the second best method.

Eli went for a run. He hadn’t been watching which direction Chris ran off in, but his nose was telling him that it wasn’t back to the houses.

Eli had to find him and bring him back before he got into any

trouble.

Eli’s Reluctant Mate                       51

Chapter Six

Fuck it. He would take his chances with the wild werewolves of

Brampton before he went back to that place, where he knew Eli would be waiting for him. That psycho motherfucker and all his talk of being mated and belonging to each other.

Chris was so mad he wanted to punch something else, but he didn’t want to injure his hand any more than he already had. The knuckles throbbed and the skin had split open from where he’d hit the other man.

That guy had a face that was as  hard as rock. He wouldn’t have thought so, considering it hadn’t felt that way at all when they’d kissed.

Chris settled for just running and seething. The next time a man transformed into a wolf and was injured in a territorial fight, Chris was going to go about his day like he never saw a thing.

Unfortunately, Chris had never been a gym class kind of kid, and the same was true as an adult. He had to stop and catch himself on one of the heavy trees. He was sweating so much it was dripping off his face. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened to him. He’d kill for water.

He sat there for a good one minute, catching his breath and still growing all the more thirsty.

The problem with sitting and thinking like that was that he was able to remember that all of his things had been taken from the motel and were back at that camp filled with werewolves, who all thought he was some kind of good luck charm.

And Eli was there.

52                          Marcy Jacks

Three times in his life, Chris had to feel the power of a larger man holding him  down, trying to get his clothes off. The last time was with  Eli, and thankfully he’d had the self-control to stop the second Chris had asked him to. The time before with that other no-name werewolf,

whom Eli had fought off and who was injured for it―he was not

going to feel guilty about that. The time before that―

He didn’t want to think about it.

The worst part was when Chris had gotten hard for Eli. As the other man pressed him down and kissed him, his body reacted to it.

He liked to think he was smart enough to know when his body was working under the influences of fear or adrenaline, but it had been neither of those things.

He’d liked it when Eli had kissed him. It had felt kind of nice, he

supposed. Maybe he could admit to that much, but how was it he  could even like something like that? After everything that had  happened to him, was it possible that Eli was right and he really did  have an attraction to other men?

Well, only Eli, he supposed. He ’d certainly never thought of anyone else like he  did that man.

He had to stop that thought and take in a deep breath, thinking back.  Eli wasn’t being violent with him when they were kissing. He was being a little eager, definitely, but Chris had enough experience to know the difference passion and violence.

He couldn ’t lie to himself about this. It had been the reaction of

his body to scare him, not what Eli had been doing.

He had to go back. Chris looked up and around and realized how  far away from the pack he was. He had been warned about being by  himself. Werewolves were officially real, and part of their belief  system said that a person with multicolored eyes was a good-luck  charm that they had to have.

That one wolf had tried all right, and Chris wasn’t able to fight  him off  on his own. Eli had to save him that time. If he came across

another one of those werewolves while he was by himself out here…

Eli’s Reluctant Mate                       53

Chris pushed himself away from the tree. He would go back, and he and Eli were going to talk.

“Well, hello, hello.”

Chris jumped. He’d rested well enough, but the unfamiliar voice was enough to have his heart thumping around again as though he’d just finished running around the block ten