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

Eli reached down and grabbed him, and after throwing the other  man over his shoulder, he carted him off to his  bedroom fireman-

style.

He enjoyed the shocked noises Chris made at the new position,  but would enjoy the pleasurable wails he made even more when Eli  taught him the proper way to suck a man’s dick by leading through  example.

* * * *

“Can we go back to the pond?” Chris asked. “I like it there.”

Chris had been asking this a lot lately. If Eli managed to get  permission from James to go, this would be the third time this week.

Not that he could blame the other man for wanting the change in  scenery, what with  the lack of any difference in scenery in the main

camp.

Eli smiled and kissed him, they were still in bed, naked, and  letting the cool breeze from the early morning waft in through the  open windows. He couldn’t deny Chris what he wanted. Eli was going  to have to ask James if that was normal of a mated alpha after he  asked to go back to the pond. Of course, James wouldn’t always be

Eli’s Reluctant Mate                       91

able to spare the extra alphas to go with them as guards, just so that  the pair of them could relax by the water.

“I’ll see what I can do. Going to go swimming this time?”

“Maybe,” Chris blushed as he stared up at the ceiling. “What are  the odds that we’ll get to be alone while we’re there?”

Eli sighed. With several days having gone by since the last attack,  Chris had grown complacent and seemed to think that the danger was  over or at least had dwindled enough that it was safe for just him and  Eli to go off by themselves.

No matter what Eli said, he couldn’t seem to truly convince his  mate that he was important, and that he would always require  protection, and that Eli wouldn’t always be strong enough to give it to  him.

More of that fear bubbled up in Eli’s head. Chris was becoming antsy here and with good reason. Any normal human being wouldn’t want to be cooped up on such a small piece of land, never having the freedom to go wherever he wanted to go.

When he discovered that was the way it would always be, Eli wouldn’t stop him when he finally decided to leave and go somewhere where no wild and dangerous werewolves lived.

“I doubt it. Why?”

Chris still avoided eye contact with him. “No reason. Just thought we’d get some time alone.”

Time alone was always good. Eli wondered what he was up to.

“How many werewolves did Deacon make?” Chris asked, changing the subject suddenly. “It can’t be that hard if he’s still doing it.”

“I’ve never changed anyone before, so personally, I don’t know,”  Eli said. “From how I understand it, though, it’s as simple as just  scratching someone while in wolf form. Or biting, if you want the  process to go any faster.”

“And then they just turn into wild werewolves?” Chris asked.

“Only if they don’t have another wolf around to teach them how

92                          Marcy Jacks

to behave. It’s too easy to just let ourselves go in the beginning, to  want to be more wolf than human. For myself now, it’s  no problem at  all. I don’t even think about it. But my brother and I were born  werewolves, not changed, so I’m betting the experiences aren’t the  same.”

Corey, James’s mate, had nearly gone wild due to his sudden change. Not only that, he’d also suppressed his inner wolf without knowing it, which was just as dangerous as letting it go entirely.

“But, say if you were to change me, there’s a chance I would go wild?”

Eli looked at him then shifted onto his elbow to better see Chris’s

face. “Do you want me to change you?”

He never lost that blush, like just asking was embarrassing or  something. “I don’t know. Maybe if you did, I wouldn’t be so helpless  all the time. I hate it.”

“You would still need protection,” Eli said. “I can already tell you  would be an omega wolf.”

“Well, even then, I would still be fast enough to run away. And if  they caught me, I could defend myself long enough for you to come,  or maybe even get away on my own.”

Eli had to admit the idea held appeal. Turning Chris into a  werewolf would practically guarantee that he couldn’t leave, and it  would only serve to strengthen their bond. As two bonded  werewolves, they would even be able to communicate telepathically.

That, and Chris was right. As a werewolf, he would be faster and  stronger, able to better sense when danger was coming. He wouldn’t  be at risk one-hundred percent of the time like he was now.

Why the hell not?

Eli got to his knees. “Are you sure? You want to do this?”

He would have to ask for James’s permission first, but if Eli told

him the reasons, he didn’t think his alpha would be against it. In fact

he was positive that James would be more than for it.

Chris smiled shyly up at him. He nodded then opened his mouth

Eli’s Reluctant Mate                       93

to answer when a loud wolf howl sounded outside, and then the

growls and whines of pain started.

Those could be explained away with the roughhousing the other  wolves were constantly doing, but Eli heard the undercurrent that  Chris did not. He caught the sounds of many padded feet running onto  the land, the alpha wolves charging to meet them, and the scuffling  sound of nails scratching in the dirt and teeth biting into hair as the  fights started.

He got up and out of bed quickly, and only then did Chris seem to  take note that something was off.

“What’s wrong?”

Eli heard it coming, and he got in front of the window. The  curtains were closed, so hopefully the attacker wouldn’t be aware of  Eli standing there.

“Get under the bed and don’t come out until I say so.”

“What?”

The window shattered, and razor-like glass flew around Eli in