Page 5 of Visions, Paws, and Claws

Saul raised his eyebrows but said nothing as he followed Horvan through the tent flap. Aric waited until he knew they were far enough away, then whirled around to face Brick, his hands clenched at his sides.

Don’t lose your cool. Stay focused.

Yeah,thatwasn’t going to happen.

He glared at Brick. “You don’t give a damn about me, do you?”

Brick widened his eyes. “What? Where did that come from?”

“Another raid and here you are again. In as big a mess as you were after the last one.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Brick lurched to his feet, wincing as he did do. “I’m doing this for you.”

“No, you aren’t. You’re doing it foryou. I don’t know if it’s some misplaced sense of guilt that you weren’t there to protect us—which you couldn’t have been, by the way, since you didn’t even know we existed—but whatever the reason, I am sick to death of seeing you come crawling back on the verge of death.”

“It’s not as bad as—”

Aric narrowed his eyes. “Don’t lie to me, Brick. When I’m near you, I can feel your pain. Do you think I don’t share it? He’smymate too, damn you. You’ve been cutting me out, running off and doing stupid things like this and—”

Brick grabbed him, and Aric felt his flash of pain. “You don’t yell at me,” Brick growled. “Youneveryell at me.”

“Well,someonehas to,” he cried out. “You need to stop being so… so selfish.”

Brick froze. “Define selfish. ’Cause I’m in the dark here.”

Aric forced himself to take deep breaths. “I’ve already lost Seth. So right now you’re the only thing holding me together. If I lost you, I would die. And that’s not me exaggerating, okay?” He gazed up into Brick’s eyes. “I can’t live without my mate. If you get your stupid ass killed, my mind, my heart, and my body will all simply shut down, and I’lldie.”

“Aric, you—”

“Die, Brick. I’m telling you, I will. A heartbroken cat can lose its will to live. And right now the only thing keeping me going is you.” He nudged Brick’s chin with his head. “Please, you have to stay safe—for both of us.” Tremors rippled through Brick’s massive frame, but Aric didn’t move.

Finally, Brick sighed, stirring Aric’s hair.

“I’ll try, but you have to understand. Seth is in my head, begging me to help him. When I hear his voice, I lose all sense of control. All I know is that somewhere out there, my other mate is suffering.”

“Then why can’t I hear him?” Aric whined.Damn it, I saw him first. Doesn’t that count forsomething?

Then he realized how dumb that sounded, and he was thankful he’d kept it to himself.

Brick’s hand was gentle on Aric’s head. “Maybe he’s protecting you? He knows you better than me. Would he want you to know he’s in pain?”

Aric wanted to say Seth wouldn’t care, but that wasn’t true. “He would do everything in his power to keep me safe.” His sighwas the equal of Brick’s. “Like he always does. If I’m honest, I think he’s waiting for you so he can stop worrying so much about me. Once I’m your problem, he’ll be a lot happier.”

Brick wrapped his hand around the back of Aric’s neck and pulled him in. “That’s bullshit, and you know it.” His gruff voice sent a delicious shiver through Aric, but he pushed down hard on the thoughts that followed it.

Down boy. Uh-uh.

“You said he loves you,” Brick continued, “so no way will he dump you on me. He’s going to be with us for a very long time.”

“Not if you don’t stop doing stupid shit.” Brick’s embrace had had one positive effect; calm had finally returned. He stood on his toes and kissed Brick’s cheek. “Look at it this way. If you die, he does too, because no one will find him. So by being this stubborn ass, you could be killing all three of us.” He gave Brick a hopeful glance. “I’m not saying don’t go out searching for him, okay? But please be smart about it. For all our sakes.”

Strong arms enfolded him, and Aric breathed him in. There was the coppery odor of blood, the medicinal tinge of the dressings, but under it all was Brick’s scent, warm and earthy and—

Dammit, Aric wanted to be nakedsobadly right then. With Seth and Brick. Learning to pleasure them, cataloging what drove each of them wild. He desperately wanted the chance to be with his mates.

And soon.

“I’ll be smart,” Brick promised. “Well, as smart as I can be, which probably isn’t saying a lot.” He kissed Aric’s hair. “Now go pack our stuff. We’re leaving in about fifteen minutes.”

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