Page 52 of Lost Mate

Ross leaned against Dylan while he processed that for a long moment. He was mated to a magical being. Yeah, that was kind of hard to handle.

“Can your ancestors tell me what happened to the other shifters that left with Dylan?” Eli asked, breaking the silence.

Ross had a feeling Eli had been talking to Milo in the silence to get some perspective. The sheriff had the ability to calm Eli like no one else. Maybe it was because he had always walked between two worlds, wolf and human.

“Ah.” The doc nodded. “That’s down to Dylan and Ross to find out. The ancestors want you to find them and bring them home.”

Dylan furrowed his brows. “Why don’t the ancestors know where they are?”

The doc shrugged and Ross got the feeling he was holding something back.

“It’s something to do with Sapphire Ranch, isn’t it?”

“The ancestors are being closed mouthed about this. They’ve given their orders.”

Niles levered off the wall where he’d been watching the proceedings in silence. “Which means the road trip is still on.”

Chapter Fifteen

Moonlight highlighted the angles of Dylan’s face, and his beauty took Ross’s breath away. They were naked in bed, needing time together to push away the stresses of the day. Ross had never understood how much he needed skin contact before he met Dylan.

“You have Slavic features,” Ross murmured, tracing Dylan’s cheekbones. “I wonder if your pack originated from Scandinavia, especially with a surname like Anderson. Although I guess you can’t send your DNA off to be genetically tested.”

Dylan chuckled wryly. “We might freak out the nice people at the testing labs. Human and shifter DNA is very different.”

“Has it ever happened?”

“I don’t know.” Dylan tapped his head. “But I feel shifters know how to handle unexpected exposure.”

“I guess so,” Ross agreed.

“Did I tell you Eli asked Peter to hunt for my pack? Humans contacting them might freak them out.”

Ross hummed in agreement, smoothing along Dylan’s sleek brows. “Peter is proving to be very useful to the pack.”

“He’s a good wolf,” Dylan agreed. “But now I want to talk about something other than the pack.” He rolled over to lay on his belly, his head buried in his arms. “Your hands feel good,” he mumbled. “Need them all over me.”

“I could do this forever,” Ross admitted, then pressed a kiss between Dylan’s shoulder blades.

“It works for me.” Dylan sighed as he stretched, then put his head down again.

Light from the almost-full moon glimmered over the curves and planes of Dylan’s shoulders, back and ass, and Ross followed the light with his hand, feeling the path of his spine and the taut muscle of his ass.

The full moon pack run was planned for the next day, and then Ross and Dylan would start their hunt for the missing shifters. Ross couldn’t help feeling nervous about the assignment. He was used to being part of a big team, not flung out to fend for himself. He admired his mate even more for being undercover all those years. How did Dylan cope by himself?

Ross caressed a long sweep down Dylan’s back. Dylan had been very quiet since meeting the doc. Ross wanted to take him back to bed, put the covers over their heads and hold Dylan to his heart so his mate could talk out his concerns. But Dylan hadn’t wanted to talk. He just wanted to be held and touched and Ross wasn’t willing to push his boundaries. The whole day had unsettled them both. Ross had to admit he was still quietly seething about the way the doc had caressed his mate. He heard a gentle chuckle in his head.

“You need to get over that.”

“I’m never going to get over other wolves touching you,” Ross growled.

Dylan rolled over to look into his eyes and Ross found himself drowning in the dark depths. Then Dylan cupped Ross’s cheek, and Ross leaned into the touch.

“You’re my mate. Once wolves find their fated mate, there is no one else. You could look like Brad Pitt or Danny DeVito and there would still be no other man in my life. Our Gods don’t get it wrong, Ross. They know our hearts.”

A thought occurred to Ross, and he hoped he wasn’t offending some wolf god somewhere. “What if they gave you a woman as a fated mate?”

Dylan shrugged. “The Gods know what my heart and body desired. They wouldn’t give me a female. It wouldn’t be fair on either of us, and I’d hate that. I’m not bisexual and I couldn’t be attracted to her.”

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