He pulled back, looking down at his mate with utter astonishment.
No one ever said no. Would that void any further attempt?
Holy shit, what had Tangee done?
* * * *
“Why did you deny me?” Loco looked really pissed off. Tangee wasn’t sure what to do. He pushed at the muscular chest again, this time Loco moving for him to roll from the bed.
“I–I—oh shit.” Tangee ran from the room, his head in a whirl.
Could it be? Was it possible?
“Tangee, stop,” Loco called after him, but Tangee couldn’t. The odds of finding another like him were astronomical. Never in his twenty-three years had he crossed paths with anyone else who could extend their teeth.
“You have to go,” Tangee cried as he gathered his jeans in his hands and punched his legs into them. He couldn’t deal with this right now, and why were his jeans being so difficult? He hopped around until the denim finally relented and his feet appeared.
“Not until you tell me what’s going on,” Loco demanded. The guy stood there with his arms crossed over his enormous chest, naked and glorious. Tangee couldn’t think of that right now. There was only one
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thing to do. Showing would be better than any explanation he could give.
“This,” Tangee shouted as his little canines descended. They were small, about the size of a domestic housecat’s. Not large or thick like Loco’s had been.
“Fuck, you’re a half-breed.”
“Tell me, Tangee.” Loco growled. “If you’re a were-creature, then you know about the claiming, and you know you shouldn’t have said no. I’m not sure of the ramifications behind the denial. I’m not even sure I can claim you now.”
He took a step back, the back of his legs hitting the couch. Tangee didn’t like how angry Loco looked. He didn’t know him well enough to know whether Silver would get physical.
“I don’t know anything. I don’t know what I am or why I have teeth that can elongate. Why my eyes turn red or why I have the urge to howl at times.”
Tangee fell to the couch, crying into his hands. He couldn’t put any hope in Loco explaining it all to him. He had sought answers for too many years, and to have someone standing in his living room who could give those to him scared him to death. Why he was afraid was a good question. Maybe he was scared of finally finding out what he was.
“How do you not know? Which parent is wolf?” Tangee gasped. “I’m a wolf?”
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Chapter Three
Loco pulled Tangee into his arms, trying his best to alleviate his mate’s anxiety by stroking his back. “My dad, I would guess. My mom told me she had a one-night stand, and nine months later I was born. When I was a child, I got angry this one time, you know, having a fit as children do. Well, my fit consisted of my teeth lengthening.
My mom said I had to hide it, and we were never to talk about it. So, no, I have no idea what a claiming is.” Tangee wiped his eyes.
To see his mate cry tore at Loco’s heartstrings. He would do anything to take that pained looked away.
He wondered if he would be able to attempt the claiming again, or was it a onetime deal? He was too numb right now, too confused, and too busy calming Tangee to become angry. His mate hadn’t known.
How could he stay upset with him if he had no clue what he was?
“Oh, pup.” Loco pulled Tangee onto his lap, kissing him softly as he brushed his hand through his mate’s hair. “You have half a wolf inside of you. Being a full breed, I can shift into its form. We are granted one mate per lifetime, and you are mine. Claiming you would bind you to me and connect our souls.”
“Are you really loco? You don’t even know me. Why would you do something like that? That’s such a big step when we’ve only met.” Loco smiled, and his mate had grabbed his shoulders trying to shake him. “I know I jumped the gun sleeping with you so soon.” Tangee lowered his head. “But that’s physical.” Loco tucked a knuckle under Tangee’s chin, lifting his head so their eyes could meet. “Because we live one thousand years, and that’s a mighty long time to be by yourself. I’ve already lived one
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hundred and twenty three of those. I’m a pup compared to most of the warriors.” Loco chuckled. “But don’t tell them I said that.”
“Wow, that is a long time. How long will I live, being half?” Some of the tension left his mate’s body, being replaced with curiosity.
“Five hundred, but if you bonded with me, you would live as long as I did.” Humans would kill for the longevity the wolves experienced, among other attributes, and this is why they guarded their secret closely. None of them wanted to end up as a lab experiment.
“It’s a lot to think about, Loco. Can I have some time? I promise I’m not going anywhere.” Tangee looked up into his eyes, regret filling them. “I’m sorry I said no. I’m not ready, but I didn’t mean to cancel anything out. Can it be fixed?”
“I’ll have to look into it. In the meantime, can we please finish having sex? My balls are turning blue.” Loco stood with his mate in his arms, carrying him off toward the bedroom.
He laid Tangee down, running his tongue up Tangee’s stomach to his sternum, licking each nipple in turn.
Loco grazed the right circular disc with his canine, his mate shivering under him. His tongue lapped at the trail, following it to the other side.
Loco had no resistance when his cock slid back in, Tangee still stretched from moments before. His silver hair created a veil as he pushed up onto his hands and rocked his hips back and forth.
His mate ran his hands through Loco’s hair as he arched his back.
Loco dipped down to capture Tangee’s soft lips. He nipped and sucked, pulling the bottom one into his mouth.
“God, you’re good at this,” Tangee said on an exhale.
Loco grinned from ear to ear. “Glad you think so.” Loco’s knees spread further apart as he thrust deeper.
The feeling of soft flesh stretched around him had Loco coming to a quick release. He reached a hand down and grabbed his mate’s cock
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that had come back to life and thrust his hand, bringing his mate to euphoria as Tangee cried out.
“That’s it, baby, come for Loco.” Loco crooned.
Loco brought his hand to his mouth, licking the taste of his mate from his skin. That taste exploded on his tongue as Loco picked up his pace, rocking hard into Tangee’s ass now.
His spine tingled, then it escalated to his balls, and he exploded into his mate’s tight entrance. “Shit.” He hissed as all his energy drained away from him.
Loco pulled back, dropping to the bed and pulling his mate with him. “Mine.” Loco kissed his mate’s temple. Whether the claiming would work or not, Tangee would always be his.
* * * *
Tangee lay in his bed after Loco left, explaining to him that he had something called patrol to do. Loco had debated with him for some time about Tangee going with him, but that wasn’t something he was ready for. His mate left, letting Tangee know he would be back.
Mate.
Tangee’s mind swirled with ceaseless questions. Questions he hoped Loco could answer.
The one thing that kept returning to the forefront was how fate had chosen him as Loco’s? In one night he found out he was a wolf and that he had a mate. Forever was a long time, and Tangee needed time to think.
It felt so overwhelming. It’s not like they could break up if it didn’t work out.
This was for life, and a very long one at that.
Loco had practically begged Tangee to move in with him. How could he? First of all, he didn’t know the guy all that well. That was a stupid move, and although he was forgetful, he always thought things
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through first. What about his other responsibilities?
No, he had made the right decision. If Loco really wanted to be with him, the wolf would date him first.
He may have jumped the gun and fell into bed with Loco in the blink of an eye, but wanting a commitment would take more time.
* * * *
“What the hell am I supposed to do, Maverick? He refuses to come home with me. Insists we date first to get to know each other better. Is the claiming voided?” Loco paced the carpet of Alpha Maverick’s office.
After making love to Tangee two more times, he had talked until he was blue in the face, but Tangee wouldn’t come home with him, insisting he needed to work and wasn’t going to just move in with someone he just met.
Loco couldn’t understand the logic behind that. They were mates.
How much more could you know a man than that?
“Date him. What else can you do? I’ll look into the rejected claiming for you. See if it can be reversed. To be honest, Loco, I’ve never heard of a mate saying no. I hope there is something in the scrolls to answer your question.” Maverick pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m just dumbfounded.”
“Will you stop saying that? I feel like crap already,” Loco grumbled as he continued to pace.
“Why don’t you move to the city with him until he agrees?” Maverick leaned back in his chair, studying Loco closely.
Loco stopped pacing and stared at Maverick. “You know as well as I do that my wolf would go nuts living in a tiny space with no place to run, but I will be going there every chance I get.” Loco dropped down into the leather chair that sat in front of his Alpha’s desk.
“Can you not mention this to anyone else? I don’t need Cecil stealing a car and running off to the city to try and talk sense into my
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mate.”
Maverick shuddered.
The Alpha’s mate, Cecil, was mischievous but well-intended. He would actually go and try to help Loco out.
He knew Maverick loved his mate with every breath in him, but everyone wished at times they could cuff Cecil to the couch in the den and never let him go. It became tiring tracking the man down, especially when he talked the other mates into going with him.
“Not a word,” Maverick promised.
“Thanks. I have patrol duty tonight, and then afterwards I’ll be driving in to see my mate.” Loco stood and shook his Alpha’s hand then turned to leave.
“I’ll do what I can for you. You know I will. If you decide the city is where you want to be right now, just let me know. Hawk, or anyone else for that matter, would never stop you from being with your mate.” Maverick clapped Loco on his back as they exited the office.
“I know. Thanks.” Loco jogged upstairs as he tried to think of a way to get his mate here. The city just wasn’t safe for him. Loco felt that nowhere would be unless he was by Tangee’s side.
He shook his head as he entered his bedroom, opening his dresser drawer and tossing clothes on top. There had to be a solution that he wasn’t seeing yet.
Loco had been honest when he told Maverick he couldn’t move to the city. He and his wolf would go stir crazy. They needed room to run and privacy.
The city offered none of that.
Loco looked down at the stacked clothes on his dresser once he came from the shower. The only reason he was putting any clothes on at all was because the warriors would be pissed if he walked through the house asshole naked in front of their mates.
For a pack, it was no big deal, but they tended to get very territorial when it came to their men.
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* * * *
It had been a month now since Loco started coming to the city to see Tangee, never pressuring him and always taking him out on the town when his mate didn’t have to work, which was rare.
Loco was falling head over heels in love with the sexy man. He knew he was the moment he laid eyes on Tangee, but the more time they spent together, the more he got to know his mate, and he really liked what he discovered about him.
They had sex every time they had a moment of privacy, but Loco never tried to claim him again.
He was still waiting on Maverick to find the answer and for Tangee to tell him he was ready.
The pull was driving him insane, but he managed to keep it together. It was getting harder and harder to leave him behind, though. When he left to go back to Brac Village, a piece of him remained with his mate. These pieces were starting to add up, leaving a big hole in him without Tangee.
Loco fed his mate another piece of the key lime pie they had bought at a bakery a few blocks over.
“Are you ready yet?” Loco had been patient, dating Tangee as requested and spending as much time together as their schedules allowed, but he was tired of going to bed at night alone, tired of the hole widening. This was the first time he had asked the question since that disastrous night.
“I can’t move away. I haven’t told you this, but…” Tangee took a deep and unsteady breath. “The reason I’m always so pressed for cash, working two jobs, is because I help my mom out. I have a five-year-old sister named Melonee. I help her out financially. She has arthritis really bad, and it’s hard for her to work full-time. She needs me.
They
need me.”
“I can help—”
His mate threw his hands up in front of him as he waved them
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back and forth. “No. I won’t have you supporting them. That’s my responsibility. No more talk of money.” Tangee picked the fork up and fed Loco a piece of the pie.
He leaned forward and kissed his mate while thinking how noble the act was but how it was wearing on him.
His mate always looked tired, and he suspected his forgetfulness was attributed to lack of sleep. Loco sat back on the crate in the back of the shop, admiring the hell out of Tangee.
“I asked my mom about my dad.” Tangee didn’t look at Loco as he threw the pie containers away.
“And what did she have to say?” Loco wiped his mouth. He knew it was a sore subject in his mate’s family, but Tangee wanted answers.
He had freaked out, thinking maybe Loco could be his father, but Loco had assured Tangee that he had never slept with a woman in his life. That would have been too screwed up.
Besides, he knew that Tangee’s father had to be the mate of his mother, which brought up the question of how the wolf could leave her.