Page 11 of Lost Mate

“Gonna—” Dylan cried out and Ross felt the clenching of Dylan’s channel as he came, dragging Ross over the edge.

Ross tried to move to one side, but Dylan pulled Ross on top of him as they recovered their breathing.

“Wolf, remember?” Dylan traced lazy patterns on Ross’s back. “I wish I’d found you earlier, when I could remember things,” he murmured.

Ross raised his head. “It wasn’t the right time.”

“You sound so sure.”

Dylan looked so uncertain, and Ross ached to take away that expression.

“Why do wolves have mates, rather than just lovers?” he asked.

“Shifters have lovers just like humans, but the wolf gods gave us the gift of fated mates. Not every wolf finds their mate.”

“So maybe your gods knew you needed me now. Like Cal needed Joe and Joe Senior needed Peter and Owen needed??—”

Dylan placed a finger over Ross’s mouth. “I get it.”

Ross pressed a kiss against his finger and his cock stirred again. “It was the right time,” he insisted.

“Even if I am the traitor?”

“Your gods gave you to a member of the Cavalry. Do you think that was a coincidence?”

“I hope not,” Dylan said, “or we’re both screwed.”

Ross buried his face in the crook of Dylan’s neck so his mate couldn’t see his expression. What would he do if Dylan was a traitor? How could he lose his mate?

Chapter Four

They napped for a while, spooned around each other, glued together with sweat and cum. Dylan was still exhausted and Ross didn’t want to face the world, especially his boss. He fretted about the animals, but Joe had Zeke and Owen there as well as Joe Senior. He wasn’t trying to run Sapphire Ranch single-handedly.

“You should have a farm,” Dylan said sleepily, clearly following his train of thought.

“I’d like that,” Ross admitted, pressing a kiss to the nape of Dylan’s neck. Wolf shifters even smelled different to humans. He’d never realized that. He heard Dylan chuckling in his head and smiled against Dylan’s skin.

At first, caring for the animals had been just something else that needed to be done while they dealt with the hunters, to help Joe who was really a professor. But he’d developed a love for the critters he hadn’t expected. Joe had returned to take care of the ranch and his dying father. Now he was the alpha of a pack, trying to bring down the nastiest sons of bitches—Ross mentally apologized to his mom—they’d ever seen. Joe was trying to split himself ten ways to Sunday. But Ross loved the animals. Being away from them while he’d recovered from the car accident had been hard. And if he resigned from the Cavalry, he could still take care of the animals, protect his mate, and Eli couldn’t interfere.

“Quit thinking.” Dylan rolled over in his arms to kiss Ross’s mouth. “I can’t sleep when you’re thinking so loud.”

“You can hear everything I’m thinking?”

“Of course I can,” Dylan grumbled. “You’re a pup in mate terms. You’re not skilled enough to hide from me.”

Ross tried not to bristle, knowing his mate was right.

Dylan pressed another kiss to his mouth. “I’m sorry.”

He accepted his mate’s kiss, knowing Dylan was right, if less than diplomatic. “You can teach me, right?”

“To hide from me?”

“To stop broadcasting my thoughts,” Ross said. “Can the others hear me?”

“I don’t know how this pack works,” Dylan admitted. “In a normal pack they’d all hear you, but filter you out.”

Ross sighed. “We really need to talk to the others.”

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