Page 43 of Lost Mate

“No. But no shifter is gonna mess with Peter and Joe Senior. At least that’s what Owen told me, to get me to agree.”

“I admire you guys for being a mixed pack,” Dylan said from the back. “Shifters don’t like mixed couples.”

“Oh, we know,” Zeke said wryly. “The only reason they put up with us is because they want us to take out the hunters. The humans are good enough for that.”

Ross agreed with him. This all started from Joe asking Eli for help. The world wouldn’t know about the atrocities being perpetrated on shifters if it wasn’t for one human making a phone call. They weren’t saviors but they sure as hell didn’t deserve to be treated as cannon fodder.

“You have to understand, it’s been hard for shifters.” Dylan sounded resigned. “We either stay within our packs like Cal did or walk between two worlds where we must hide who we are. If we come out of the shifter closet, we’re hunted or dissected.”

“I get it, but it doesn’t make it any easier to leave my mate in the company of a wolf who thinks he should be killed.”

“Is that what the doc said?” Dylan asked.

“No. That came from the new alpha, Cal’s brother. And the worst thing is, I can’t protect my mate from these assholes. Me.”

The big, strong, tough, silent and scary man felt as weak as the rest of them. Ross knew just how he felt.

Dylan leaned forward and squeezed Zeke’s shoulder. “It’s not always about being tough. Sometimes it’s about being his home.”

“You think that’s how Owen sees me?” Zeke’s voice softened a fraction.

“You know he does. You’ve given him the one thing he didn’t have, a home.”

“Do you think it’s the same for the other wolves?” Ross asked, looking over his shoulder at his mate.

“Cal got to be who he really is, thanks to his mate. Milo stepped out of the shadows to be himself, which is hysterical considering he’s with the most alpha human possible.”

“And you?” Zeke asked.

Dylan gave Ross a smile that made his toes curl. “I saw a beacon in the darkness. Someone calling to me. I was lost.”

“And now you’re found.” Ross didn’t know how he’d become a beacon, but he was more than happy to be Dylan’s.

I was so alone.

Ross had an image in his head of the darkness lit by a solitary flaming beacon.

You don’t have to be alone again.

He was so busy staring into Dylan’s eyes, he tipped his cup to take a swallow of coffee, missed his mouth somehow and ended up with coffee down his chin and running down his neck. Dylan curled up in a ball of laughter.

“Classy,” Zeke said and handed him tissue.

Ross mopped up the coffee and sighed. He was never going to be suave and sophisticated.

Dylan squeezed his shoulder. No, but you’re mine and that’s all I need.

That was all Ross needed too.

It was quiet in the kitchen of Sapphire Ranch, but Joe appeared as Dylan shut the door.

“Morning, Cal’s dealing with the critters while I was busy. He made me promise I would feed you.”

“I can do it if you’re busy,” Ross suggested.

“Would you mind?” Joe looked grateful. “I’ve got a problem with a delivery. Eli and Niles are dealing with a Cavalry issue. I think they’ve gone into town and then are heading for the office.”

Ross would have preferred a heads up, but it wasn’t like the office was their home and he hadn’t left anything out to do with the case because there wasn’t anything to hide.

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