Leo leaned in toward Dwayne. “I’m not sure who we should be more worried about right now. The one with fangs or the one with fur who lost his shit and looks dangerously close to losing it again.”

Dwayne opened his mouth to comment, but whatever he saw when he looked at Bram and Jonathan left him closing his mouth quickly.

Bram fixed his attention on Jonathan. The vampire radiated such a sense of dominance that Jonathan could feel it permeating the atmosphere. There was a deep, yet silent, hum to it. Not to mention the push coming from the vampire brought with it the taste of acid into Jonathan’s mouth.

The wolf hammered within Jonathan, demanding freedom. It was torn equally between wanting to tuck tail and wanting to challenge the vampire. It knew, on some level, that the vampire held power over it. That the vampire could force submission if he so chose, but the wolf had direct access to Jonathan’s inner desires. His want to stand his ground combined with his overall fear of ending up like his brothers.

Of cracking and breaking mentally.

“Bram,” said Jonathan, his jaw tight. It took all of him to keep from snarling.

Dwayne eased forward slightly, giving a nod of encouragement to Jonathan. “We didn’t call him or tell him about this.”

Bram arched a brow and tipped his head in Dwayne’s direction. “And why is that?”

Leo cleared his throat. “Uh, well, we know you’re super busy, and this didn’t seem to warrant bothering you.”

Jonathan chortled. That was bullshit, and everyone who was there knew as much. Bram should have been contacted the second Jonathan lost control.

“Leave us,” said Bram to the other men.

They hesitated, and Bram turned to face them.

That was all the motivation they needed. They hurried away, leaving Jonathan alone with Bram.

“Stop scaring the help,” said Jonathan with a partial laugh as he struggled with his wolf.

Bram faced him and grinned. “It would take the fun out of my existence.”

Jonathan lifted his head. “I don’t know what happened.”

“So I gather,” returned Bram. “Has the hunger for blood increased?”

Jonathan shook his head.

Relief showed for a fraction of a second on Bram’s face.

The two men had been through the fires of hell together. Their friendship ran deep.

“How did you find out about this?” asked Jonathan.

Bram watched him closely. “I sensed something was wrong with you. I called. Your wolf tried to hide the truth from me.”

Jonathan knew that Bram meant Dwayne.

“When I demanded to speak with Leo, he too tried to hide this from me,” said Bram, seeming almost amused. “I believe they feared what I may do to you.”

“Gee, wonder why?” asked Jonathan with a snort.

Bram grinned. “I have the worst reputation.”

Jonathan laughed. “You do.”

Bram sighed. “Jonathan, I tried to reach you on our shared mental pathway. Something or someone was blocking me.”

Jonathan’s head snapped up. “What do you mean?”

“It felt like Dracula,” said Bram. “Almost as if he was trying to protect you from afar.”