Bad Blood (9 page)

Blaine had brought Colby’s body down from the mountain and laid him to rest beside their grandfather. He’d had a rough time since what happened on the trail above the lodge, but he was slowly coming to terms with it. He’d almost stopped blaming himself, realizing that in the heat of the moment, his wolf had taken over to violently defend its mate. It was their nature, and there was nothing they could do to change it.

As the thoughts of Colby flitted across Blaine’s mind, never far from the surface these days, he gave a soft sigh.

“Don’t think about it so much, pet,” Kerrick said.

“I’m trying not to, but it’s hard. If Colby had only left here when you told him to.”

“There’s no sign of any of them now. One of them had enough sense to get out of the mountains.”

“Probably Benjamin. He’s a gamma, but smart and resourceful. I think they’ll be all right.”

“They’ll be fine. They’ll join another pack in time or just keep on as they are. Stop worrying about things you can’t change. They could have come back to us if they’d wanted to, but they chose to keep going.”

“I know. I’ll just never understand why Colby attacked the way he did.”

“I told you—he was fascinated by you and very jealous.”

“He never gave me any indication.”

“Oh, pet, how would you know? You don’t even have any idea how you are.”

“Oh?” Blaine quirked an eyebrow. “And how am I?”

Kerrick smiled indulgently and cocked his head to look at him. “Fucking gorgeous for one thing, and you don’t even know it. That makes you even more attractive. You have this elegant, almost graceful way of moving too, but masculine and strong. Hot as hell, if you want to know the truth. And you have this purity about you…the first time I ever saw you bending over that stream, I…”

“Bending over the stream, huh? And you want me to believe you were looking at my purity?”

“Well, you do have a smoking hot ass, baby.” Kerrick pushed him to his back on the sofa and angled his body over him. “It’s sort of like a compass—round and true and I’d follow it anywhere.”

Blaine laughed and punched him on the shoulder. “You’re crazy, you know that, right?”

“Nevertheless…” Kerrick’s expression was stubborn as he cupped his hands over the ass in question. “I
would
follow it anywhere, but luckily I have it right here beside me. And it’s all mine.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m your bitch. Isn’t that what you said?”

Kerrick dropped his gaze. “I was hurt and angry when I said that. I thought you’d tried to kill me.” He smiled up at Blaine through his lashes. “I didn’t know then how crazy you were about me.”

“Well, now you do,” Blaine said softly. “And I’ll make sure you always will.” Kerrick kissed him hungrily, and that was the last thing they said to each other for a long while.

Shannon West currently lives in the South with her husband and large family. An avid reader of M/M romances, she began writing them a few years ago and now has over forty short stories, novellas, and novels to her credit. Her best-selling series about wolf shifters, the Dark Hollows Series and the Love Slaves of the Alphas have also produced sixteen bestsellers so far with four of them going to number one on the third party sites. Her latest series, Blackwater Falls, is about cougar shifters. She was a finalist in the Rainbow awards for 2013 and very honored to be an All Romance eBooks top ten author for 2013. She writes BDSM and ménage as well, and occasionally dabbles with M/F, though her first love is M/M. She loves men and everything about them, and believes that love is love, no matter the gender.

For more information on other books by Shannon, visit her official website:
ShannonWestBooks.com

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