Page 11

LINK ROSE FROM WHERE he spooned Ezra, pushing the blanket aside. After pressing a kiss to his mate’s shoulder, he eased off their improvised sleeping pallet. Link grabbed his shorts from his satchel, then set about using his satellite dish and connecting to his tablet.

As much as Link wished he could have remained curled up with Ezra, the device strapped around his bicep had vibrated, waking him. Someone had sent him an alert that needed his attention. Even though Link was wooing his mate, he still had responsibilities to the Shifter Council.

Considering his friends knew where he was and what he was doing, whatever the problem was had to be damn important.

Once his equipment was hooked up and online, Link opened the message marked urgent. He frowned, his anger spiking. Link glanced over at his still-sleeping mate and tamped down his desire to growl.

Instead of continuing with his hike, Ezra had insisted on taking the day off with him. They’d spent most of their time lying around and exploring each other’s bodies. They’d also spent hours talking, sharing their hopes, fears, and even expectations of the future.

Link had been surprised yet extremely pleased that Ezra had insisted on taking a day out of his vacation to spend cementing their bond. He hadn’t expected that. While Link had heard that the mate-pull affected the human in the pairing, too, seeing it in action was something else.

Damn it. I will keep my mate safe.

With that thought, Link grabbed his satellite phone and powered it up. He called Theo, the man who’d sent the alert. When Link had started tailing Ezra, he’d turned over the monitoring of his systems to the technological expert.

“Hey, man,”

Theo greeted. “I’m so sorry to be the barer of bad news.”

“It’s not your fault,”

Link countered, keeping his voice quiet, hoping Ezra would sleep through his call. It wasn’t that he wanted to hide anything from his mate. Link just wanted him to get plenty of sleep, considering Link had woken Ezra up twice in the night for sex. Link just couldn’t get enough of his handsome, sexy human. “We knew going in that I was investigating hackers damn near as skilled as me.”

Some were even better than him, not that Link wanted to admit that to anyone.

“Well, at least we know who’s been selling information, now,”

Theo pointed out. “Unfortunately, Shawn knows you’re the one who figured it out, and he’s coming after you.”

Before Link could come up with a response, Theo added, “And he knows you found your mate and that you’re somewhere on the Appalachian Trail.”

Link grimaced, rubbing his hand over his bald head. “It’s not as if me finding my mate was a secret,”

he pointed out. “It’s why I’m off work, remember? Common knowledge.”

Then Link frowned, scowling at nothing. “But how did Shawn find out that I’m hiking on the trail?”

“I’m trying to figure out who was privy to that information,”

Theo told him, his voice sounding troubled. “But, honestly, finding a mate is instant gossip. There’s no telling who blabbed to him or even just while around him.”

“True,”

Link conceded. “So, Shawn disappeared from the headquarters before the enforcers could catch up with him.”

He spoke softly, musing through what they knew. “And he’s threatened revenge on me and Ezra because I outed him and the council named him rogue.”

“Yup,”

Theo commented dryly. “That about sums it up.”

It had been the information in his email, after all.

Link rolled his eyes. Still, he had to smirk upon hearing that response from his friend.

“What about Taleen?”

Link asked, referring to Shawn’s lover. They didn’t call each other mates, but they did live together. “How’s she taking this?”

“According to Taleen’s friend, Sherry, she said she’s going back to her mother’s bear clan,”

Theo told him, having obviously expected the question since he had the answer readily available. Plus, Theo was a very thorough human. “When the enforcers got to their place, the closet and bathroom were empty of nearly all her stuff.”

“Okay.”

Link had always thought Taleen a little shallow...being with Shawn for his position and money, working for the council and all. “Can’t say I’m surprised by that.”

“We want you to come in for your protection. You and Ezra,”

Theo told him. “Tell me your closest town, and we’ll send a couple of enforcers in an SUV to pick you up.”

Link knew Theo meant well, and by we, he meant Theo’s mate, Councilman Regales, but he still shook his head—not that his friend could see it. “No,”

he countered. “I’m not cutting Ezra’s trip short. He’s been planning this too long.”

Scowling, Link grumbled, “What? You think just because I’m a computer nerd that I can’t keep my mate safe? Hello, pot. I’m kettle. You’re black, too.”

Theo barked a laugh. “Yeah, yeah. I’m the pot calling the kettle black, huh?”

Scoffing, Link pointed out, “You’re just as big a computer nerd, and you’re a Navy SEAL, so—”

He paused and shrugged.

“Okay, so you’re not coming in.”

While Theo’s voice held a wealth of concern, he admitted, “Not that I blame you, but you do see that this is a little different, right? You do remember Shawn used to be an enforcer, right?”

“Yeah,”

Link snapped, then glanced at Ezra. Upon seeing his human’s sleepy-eyed-gaze trained on him, he smiled while continuing his call. “Your point?”

“He’s a trained grizzly shifter,”

Theo pointed out. “Like you said, I’m a trained SEAL. Were you ever trained?”

“No,”

Link admitted. His eldest brother, Warren, was their head enforcer, so he’d been trained in combat and tactics, but Link had never been considered a fighter by his family. “But this is my mate, Theo.”

Holding Ezra’s gaze, Link declared, “I will keep him safe.”

The sound of Theo blowing out a sharp breath could be heard through the line. “Okay. Well, keep your eyes open,”

he encouraged. “Our enforcers lost his trail northwest of Savannah, so we know he’s headed your way. You know they’ll do their best to intercept the bastard before he reaches you, but be careful, my friend.”

“I will,”

Link assured. “And you know how to reach me if you have any updates that I need to be aware of.”

“Yep.”

With that, Theo disconnected the call.

Link lowered his device as he held Ezra’s gaze. His mate’s beautiful green eyes were full of questions. He smiled as he set down his satellite phone before returning to their makeshift bed. While Link didn’t look forward to explaining the situation to his human mate, he would never purposefully lie to him.

I’d just hoped to have him more settled within our culture before trouble came calling.

Wrapping his arms around Ezra, Link pulled him against him. “How’d you sleep, baby?”

he rumbled, nuzzling his beard against his temple. He loved the way Ezra pressed into his touch. His mate had become surprisingly tactile.

Another benefit of the mate-pull, I think.

Ezra chuckled softly as he pecked a kiss to Link’s jaw at the edge of his beard. “You exhausted me repeatedly,”

he teased, nipping at his neck. “So when you did let me sleep, I slept like a rock.”

Link chuckled, liking the play.

“So,”

Ezra began, putting a little space between their faces so he could meet his gaze. “That call sounded a little ominous. What’s up?”

Grimacing, Link took a deep breath, held it for a couple of seconds, then let it out in a sigh. “Yeah, afraid so. It has to do with my job at Shifter Headquarters, the council, and changing policies, and of course, a vengeful asshole who got caught trying to make money on the changes.”

“Ooookay.”

Ezra stared at him with furrowed brows. “You’re gonna have to explain a little more than that.”

Tracing along the side of Link’s beard, he added, “Your conversation made it sound like it’s gonna affect us.”

“It just might.”

Link rubbed up and down Ezra’s bare back, more to soothe himself than his mate. “I work in the tech department, keeping an eye on anything online that could hint at our existence, making certain it never sees the light of day.”

Giving Ezra a wry smile, Link admitted, “And you know I’m a hacker.”

Link explained briefly about what he’d been trying to do for the last couple of weeks—namely, find who was betraying their secrecy and selling information about shifters’ movements to those with nefarious purposes. That person had put more than one mate in danger. A fox shifter had nearly lost his life before his dragon mate had saved him.

“So, you wrote some kind of code that helped you figure out who this asshole is, and now the asshole is on the run,”

Ezra summed up.

“Yes.”

Link grimaced. “There are enforcers tracking him, but they say he blames me, and he’s headed this way.”

Ezra scoffed as he rolled his eyes. “Sounds about right. What asshole wants to take responsibility for their bad decisions?”

Easing to a sitting position, he reached for his backpack. “So, I imagine they think we’re in danger and need to cut our trip short.”

Link heard and scented Ezra’s disappointment.

“Yes and no.”

Link took Ezra’s hand, pausing his action of pouring water into a tin cup. “We’re not cutting your trip short, baby. We’re just gonna take precautions.”

Seeing Ezra’s questioning yet hopeful look, Link told him, “Instead of me following you in animal form, I’m going to hike with you.”

He smiled as Ezra’s look of surprise. “Don’t worry, I won’t hold you back.”

After nibbling his bottom lip for a moment—which Link found extremely distracting, but he knew his mate was still uncomfortable with morning breath and kissing—Ezra nodded once. “Okay. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, my mate.”

Link squeezed Ezra’s hand before releasing it so his mate could resume his morning ritual. “I know how much you’ve been looking forward to this, and I want you happy. Always.”

I’ll just have to remain vigilant to keep him safe at the same time.

While breaking down their little camp, Ezra shared what they should expect upcoming on the trail. He was so animated about the flora and views they should pass. Ezra also shared his hope of seeing an elk or other wildlife.

Link hoped for his mate’s sake that something made an appearance. He also vowed to keep quiet and his ears open. Maybe he would be able to hear something and point it out to his mate.

I’ll do my best.

Once they were ready, granola bars and jerky in hand, Link asked if Ezra wanted him to take a turn carrying his backpack. After all, all Link had was his light satchel. His mate refused with a laugh and a shake of his head.

“My hike, my responsibility,”

Ezra told him. He patted Link’s chest, possibly trying to soften the denial. Then he winked and led the way out of their secluded love-nest, saying, “Let’s get rolling, hot stuff.”

Link grinned, appreciating the nickname, and followed behind him.

As they hiked, Link found his attention drifting to Ezra’s ass and legs over and over. Following five feet behind his human gave him a fantastic view. The backpack covered part of the delectable mounds he liked to part, but his imagination more than filled in what was hidden. Plus, the flex of Ezra’s calves and thighs in those shorts were things of beauty.

It wasn’t long before Link was hiking with a boner that wouldn’t quit, and he resigned himself to a very uncomfortable morning.

LINK AND EZRA FELL into a new routine. Ezra set the pace, and with Link’s shifter strength, even though he’d rarely hiked in human form, he had no trouble keeping up. They stopped for lunch and shared a quickie, then continued on.

Their evenings were filled with energetic lovemaking before they both passed out in sated bliss.

The only real problem ended up being food. With Link staying mostly in human form, coupled with his shifter appetite, they were going through Ezra’s meals far swifter than planned. They agreed to head into a town the next day so Link could buy his own supplies, as well as replenish Ezra’s.

After setting up camp, Ezra set up his cookstove as normal. When he opened the packaged meal, the smell hit Link’s nose. He grimaced as he eyed the contents with trepidation.

Evidently, Ezra caught the expression before he could hide it. “Uh, not a fan of split pea soup?”

He motioned toward the simmering soup. “It has ham chunks in it.”

“No.”

Link shook his head. “Definitely not a fan.”

Wincing, he rubbed over the slight bulge of his stomach. “I’ll skip it and just eat a couple pieces of jerky.”

“Are you sure you don’t even want to try it?”

Ezra questioned, appearing concerned. “It’s a great brand.”

Scoffing softly, Link settled on their sleeping bag. “I’m sorry, no.”

He eased a little further from the cooking food to get away from the smell. “Hard no.”

Seeing Ezra’s look of surprise, Link fought back a blush as he admitted, “When I was young, I was playing truth or dare with my siblings.”

“Oh, no.”

Ezra winced. “Do I want to know where this is going?”

Link shrugged, rubbing over his upturned thighs. “Well, my dare was to open a can of split pea soup and eat it cold.”

Thinking back on that always brought bile to his throat, and he swallowed hard. “I ended up so sick.”

The wind shifted, bringing a wave of cooking split pea soup scent to his nostrils. Link winced and shook his head. “Now, just the smell—”

He paused and turned his head to get a breath of fresh air.

“Bummer.”

Ezra reached over and rubbed up and down Link’s calf. “Sorry, man.”

His concerned expression brightened. “Hey, why don’t you shift and head upwind to do some grazing? That way, you won’t go hungry.”

Desire to get away from the smell of Ezra’s dinner warred with his need to stay near him.

“Go on, Link,”

Ezra urged again, patting his leg. “You won’t be far. A shout away.”

Then he waggled his eyebrows and offered, “I’ll even brush my teeth after I eat so we can spend some time making out.”

Once Ezra had learned of Link’s love of necking, he indulged him often.

Link nodded. “Okay.”

He grinned and started stripping. “You got a deal.”

Before changing, Link leaned over and pressed a swift, hard kiss to Ezra’s lips. Then he moved off the blanket and called to his musk ox. The shift was smooth and seamless, and soon Link rubbed his big nose against his mate’s shoulder before lumbering into the trees to graze.

Less than ten minutes later, Link realized his mistake. He heard Ezra loudly state, “Who are you?”

“Name’s Shawn,”

a male replied with a mixture of cockiness and coldness, sending fear spiking through Link. “Surely Link told you about me.”

Link didn’t wait to hear Ezra’s response. He turned and began galloping through the forest, trampling small trees in his haste. Before he could reach the clearing where he’d left his mate, a large grizzly appeared in his path, roaring in challenge.

One sniff sent Link’s mind racing, and he fought back his panic.

Taleen hadn’t returned to her mother’s bear clan after all.

After another second of hesitation, Link bellowed, lowered his massive head, and charged. One thought reverberated through his brain—get back to my mate. When his heavy frame slammed into the huge bear, he drove her into a large tree trunk, making the earth shake around them.