“I have no idea. I’ve never let wanting to fuck someone take over my life like this.”
“That’s what you think this is? A crush that’s got out of hand?” Devan spoke carefully, like he always did among wolves, as though they were unexploded bombs that could go off at any moment.
Zio frowned. “I wouldn’t call it a crush because I’m not twelve, but I guess so, yeah. The fuck would you call it?”
Devan blinked a few times, then shrugged. “Nothing. Whatever. Your words work.”
He was the one lying now, Zio felt it in every fibre of his being, but he didn’t have time for a deep and meaningful conversation.Fuck it. He gripped Devan’s chin and kissed him, crushing their lips together hard enough to draw blood from both of them. Iron coated his tongue, and he slipped his tongue between Devan’s lips, devouring him, dominating him until he abruptly found himself on his back, Devan pressing him into the nest of sleeping bags that smelt so deeply of both of them.
Devan kissed Zio hard, and then softer... sweeter, drawing a moan from Zio that sounded as though it had come from someone else. Soft hands combed through Zio’s hair, fingertips stroked his cheekbone, and then...
It was over. Devan pulled away, shaking his head. “You really don’t understand, do you?”
“Understand what?”
Devan let out a frustrated growl and gestured between them. “What this is. Gods, didn’t your parents, your alpha, teach you anything?”
Zio flinched. “I was raised by humans while my alpha fought a war that still isn’t won. You think he had time to fucking school me? I’m lucky I can read.”
“There’s more to life than war, Zio.”
“Clearly, but not right now. Fuck, I don’t have time for this, and neither do you. We’ve got raiding parties to intercept.”
“We?”
“Yeah. You’re assigned to Bomber’s team, if you agree.”
Devan held Zio’s gaze for a long moment, and then a tangible shift passed between them. The madness faded, and reality kicked back in. He rolled off Zio with a heavy sigh. “Of course I agree. Just because I fought you yesterday doesn’t mean I don’t understand how orders work. I’ll go wherever you need me.”
Mourning Devan’s touch already, Zio sprang to his feet. “Good. Then head west with Bomber. I’m taking a team east. Hopefully we won’t need you in two places at once.”
He fled the tent without waiting for Devan’s answer.
* * *
Devan trailed Bomber’s team through the undergrowth, chasing down the southern force who were approaching the camp from the west. Dread filled his every step. Zio’s plan to go around them and attack from behind was solid, but something in the air didn’t feel right.
Hormones. He kissed you. And you kissed him back. Nothing was ever going to be normal after that.
Truth, but as ever, Devan was locked in a losing battle to put Zio out of his mind and focus on the task at hand.How can he know so little about basic shifter biology?The answer was simple: Zio and his closest friends were orphans and misfits who knew nothing but war. Mostly unmated, to them, attraction was a function that killed time and gave them respite from violence and pain. From grief and fear. Varian knew more, he had to, but he was young too, by alpha standards at least, and no pack leader in the wolf world could’ve predicted the shitshow Devan and Zio were currently experiencing.
Your clan alphas didn’t predict it either.
The taunt came from somewhere deep within Devan, from a place where common sense reigned, and he knew that even if Zio ever recognised what was happening between them, it could go absolutely nowhere. Hopelessness washed over him. He needed to speak with Varian, Dash too. Perhaps there was another healer who could take his place, and he could return to Bratislava. The current between him and Zio would fade in time, die out through forced neglect, and with Devan gone, Zio would be free—
An explosion rocked the earth, tearing up the ground in front of Devan. The wolf he’d been trailing disappeared in a gruesome cloud of shattered flesh and pulverised bone.
Devan sailed through the air and hit the ground with a dull thud, his ears ringing, both arms broken.Damn fragile bones. Though stronger than the average human, they didn’t hold a candle to his shifter form.He bunched his stomach muscles and sat up, the fractures already healing, but that didn’t stop the pain, some his, some that of his pack mates ahead.
A huge gash on Devan’s leg seeped blood into the earth. With stiff, barely healed hands, he fixed it and crawled to the relative safety of a nearby ditch.
In the muddy puddle at the bottom, he found Danielo, hurt but conscious enough to flash a steely grin.
Devan healed him, and another brotherhood flared between him and the pack. “You’ve lost a lot of blood,” he said. “You might be dizzy when you stand. Give it a moment.”
“I don’t think we have a moment,” Danielo ground out. “And you’re one to talk about losing blood. Doing okay, Devan?”
Devan glanced at his own healed wounds. His arms throbbed and would for a few days, but the rest of it barely scratched the surface.My pack needs me. “I’m fine. You ready?”