Baiting Ben (4 page)

Drinking his water, Ben felt as if everything was

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right in his world. He had yet to tell Thomas what he did

for a living. He'd just wait until the man threw the bank

statements across the room again before admitting he was

an accountant. From the growl in his lover's voice when he

left, it shouldn't take much longer.

"There you are," a familiar voice growled in his ear.

Ben spun around on his stool, shock making him

stare mutely for a long moment. "D-Dillon! What are you

doing here?" Without any will of his own, Ben's eyes

dragged up and down the wolf he'd always considered the

epitome of werekin. Comfortably over six feet, Dillon was

all muscle and attitude. His job as a landscape architect

kept him fit and firm while his brilliant mind was just as

captivating. Lost in a pair of dark green eyes, it took a

moment before the other wolf's words sank in. "Why are

you here?"

"I'm claiming my mate."

Pain ripped through Ben. He knew once he mated

with Thomas, Dillon was history, but the thought of the

man he wanted all his life claiming another was almost

more than he could take.

What a selfish ass he was.

"Congratulations on finding your mate," he choked

out. It was a bitter pill to swallow; even thoughts of his

lover weren't quite enough to dull the sharp stabbing ache

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in his heart.

"Thank you. I'm sure we'll be very happy together."

Ben searched for a polite phrase of support but it

was beyond him. As much as he wanted Dillon happy, he'd

gladly rip off the head of the bastard who had the gall to

attract the man he'd always secretly wanted as his own.

His mind spinning, Ben was taken by surprise when

large hands plucked him from his stool. Firm, masterful

lips took him in a show of complete domination before he

could object. Long buried desires came to the surface as

Ben melted in the larger werewolf's hands. He tasted so

damn good and smelled like sunshine.

"Get your fucking hands off my mate," the words

were said in a low growl, but even so, they cut through the

noise of the club like a hot knife through butter.

* * * *

Dillon let go of his mate and turned to confront this

new threat, tucking Ben protectively behind him.

"Stay there, honey."

For some reason, his words inflamed the strange

werewolf.

"Don't you honey him. He's mine," the other

werewolf growled. He could see fangs descending as rage

took over reason.

"He's my mate." Dillon didn't care about the other

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man's posturing. There was no way he was giving up

Benjamin. He'd tracked the kid halfway across the world,

he wasn't going to hand him over to this werewolf-come-

lately. It didn't matter to him if the man looked like a model

in his well-cut suit, a suit that highlighted the other man's

delicious body.

Ben growled behind him. "Dillon, don't you hurt my

mate."

"Mate?" he shouted as his heart skipped a beat.

"He's not your mate. I am."

"Not in this lifetime, good luck with the next," the

strange wolf piped up with a smirk.

Dillon's hands shifted into claws as he let out a loud

growl. "No one takes what is mine." Pouncing, he ripped

through the other man's shirt, shredding through cloth to

get at the man hiding inside. The urge to rip out his enemy's

heart burned through him. How dare this newcomer claim

what was his? There was no doubt in his mind that he

would have to kill this interloper. His wolf demanded

blood.

He barely dodged in time to avoid the other man's

shifted claw attack. Dillon growled and with an impressive

show of reflexes, grabbed the other werewolf by the throat

and slammed him against the bar. In a show of domination,

Dillon lowered his head and bit the other man, his teeth

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sinking into the strange werewolf's neck. His concentration

was thrown off when his cock hardened against the other

man. The wolf smelled like cocoa and berries, happy

memories from his childhood. His fangs retracted in

surprise.

Taking advantage of his distraction, the stranger

lifted Dillon up and slammed him onto the hard dance

floor. He heard something snap inside, pain screamed

through his system sending his body into convulsions as he

fought the change. Shifting was any werewolf's reaction to

damage, but he didn't want to lose the time it would take to

shift. He couldn't leave Ben unprotected.

"Don't hurt him," Ben shouted. Dillon was pleased

to hear concern in his mate's voice even as pain splintered

his head and his world greyed out.

He was changing.

Dillon blinked awake as a deep voice growled,

"What the hell is going on?"

Lying on the floor, he watched as the biggest

werewolf he'd ever seen stalked into his vision. The

werewolf was followed by a slim, beautiful blond man who

had a slight smile on his face as if he found the whole thing

incredibly amusing. Did he glow? Nah. Must be the blow to

his head.

"Aren't you a pretty wolf," the blond said in a

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singsong tone. He would've growled at the other man but

he smelled so good and he scratched. Yesss, right there. His

leg thumped from the attention.

"Stop petting him," the alpha ordered. The big

shifter leaned down to grab the good-smelling man and

Dillon snapped his teeth at him aggressively.

The alpha growled. Instinct had Dillon rolling over

and showing his belly. He tried to send an apologetic look

at the smaller man who petted him on his head before going

to stand next to the alpha wolf.

"You always have to cause trouble, don't you?" the

big wolf said, planting a gentle kiss on the smaller man’s

cheek.

"Yep."

"Dillon," Ben whispered, sliding to the floor to

cradle the wolf’s head in his lap. His eyes glowed in the

dim club light. Ben's eyes were his best feature. Warm and

expressive, they let anyone watching know what the

younger man was feeling. Dillon turned his head, pressing

his nose close to his mate's crotch, inhaling the delicious

smell of arousal. The human in him whimpered with need.

He could kill himself for missing the claiming. He

hadn't known the exact date and his parents had purposely

arranged for him to be out of town on pack business. Father

was still recovering from the wounds Dillon inflicted when

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he found out his mate had not only left the pack, but the

state as well. It had taken a while to get things in order, but

luckily Ben had left word with a few friends as to where he

was heading. From there Dillon was able to track his

erstwhile man only find him mated to another.

"Well that was interesting," amusement filled the

blond's voice as he helped the other werewolf off the floor

and handed him a cloth to hold to his bloody neck.

"Thomas, what the hell is going on?" the alpha

demanded.

"That man is trying to steal my mate." Thomas

pointed at Dillon.

* * * *

Ben watched the entire scene like he was a spectator

in his own life. Somehow it didn't feel real. He was jolted

from his fog when Anthony smiled down at him. "Hey,

Ben, you found your other mate. Congratulations."

Busy inhaling Anthony's scrumptious smell, it took

a moment for the man's words to sink in. "Other mate?"

"Well, yeah, most fae need more than one mate."

He dropped the bomb nonchalantly, as if he didn't

just change Ben's world view. "What do you mean, fae?

My mother was human."

Ben stood up, carefully laying Dillon's head on the

floor. He wanted to be on his feet for this discussion.

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Thomas wrapped his arm around Ben for moral support. He

was grateful for the comfort but more than a little confused.

Confused and excited. What if he could have them both? It

was greedy and wrong… but oh, so tempting.

Anthony laughed, a light tinkling sound that danced

around the room like sparkling sunlight. "If she told you

that, she lied. You're at least half fae. I can always

recognize fae blood."

"You mean he's not a full wolf?" Thomas stared at

Ben as if trying to spot any genetic defects. "You can shift

though, right?" he asked after a long pause where Ben felt

sicker and sicker.

Ben nodded. He tried to pull away from Thomas but

the other wolf wasn't letting go.

There was a crackling sound as Dillon shifted. It

only took a few moments because his childhood friend was

a strong wolf. In no time at all the dark-haired man was

shaking his head and standing up to face them. His green

eyes focused on Thomas, or more specifically, his arm

around Ben.

"I know I'm Ben's mate, and if you think you're

Ben's mate then we have a problem. I'm not giving him

up." Ben saw the fanatical light in Dillon's eyes and knew

there would be trouble unless he laid some ground rules.

"Forget about it Dillon," he warned. "I know that

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look. If something happens to Thomas I'm holding you

responsible."

"Everyone settle down. Let's go to my office and

talk about this. We don't need another fight in the club.

You're lucky it isn't during our busy hour or I'd throw all of

your asses out." Silver led the way through a sea of

interested onlookers to a door at the back of the club. Inside

was a spacious office with a big desk, a pair of leather

sofas, and a trio of leather chairs. Everything was done in

rich brown tones. Silver sat on one couch, tugging his

smaller mate onto his lap.

Dillon took one of the large leather chairs. Thomas

took another one. They both looked at Ben expectantly. He

joined the alpha pair on the couch, pulling Anthony's feet

onto his lap. He needed the comfort of touch, even if he

barely knew the other man. Neither of his potential mates

looked like they were in the cuddling mood, and to choose

one over the other at this point could end in carnage.

Needing the reassurance of bare skin, he automatically

slipped off Anthony's sandals and started massaging his

feet.

"I'll give you about six hundred years to stop that,"

Anthony said, closing his eyes with a sigh.

"Don't go to sleep, sweetness. You were going to

tell us how you knew about Ben."

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Anthony leaned his head against the alpha's chest.

"Hmm. My father is half fae. I'm barely a quarter fae, but

there's always something that gives them away. With Ben

it's his eyes. I've only seen that color in the fae court."

"When were you at the fae court?" Silver asked in a

deceptively mild voice, but Ben could see the alpha narrow

his eyes as if getting ready for an interrogation.

He jumped in, instinctively trying to protect

Anthony. "Aren't we getting off track? What am I going to

do? I don't think these two are willing to share me." He

glanced at the hard faces of his mates. Matching

expressions of anger flashed back at him. "See."

Anthony shrugged. "Tough. They can either share

you or be alone. I've never heard of a fae who could live

with less than one mate."

A look of horror crossed the alpha's face. Ben saw

him swallow. "Does that mean you'll need a second mate?"

Silver asked, not entirely hiding his panic.

Laughing, Anthony turned his head and gave his

lover a kiss. "I'm only a quarter, sweetheart. I have all the

mate I can handle."

"Good." Silver hugged his mate tight. "Very good."

Thomas jumped to his feet and confronted the

alpha. "So you think it's all right for me to share, even

though you'd kill anyone who even thought of touching

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your mate?"

With a soft kiss, Silver lifted his mate to his feet

before standing himself. "I can't kill everyone who thinks

of touching Anthony or we wouldn't have anyone left in

our pack." Powerful grey eyes examined the three of them.

Ben felt the twitchy compulsion to show his belly to the big

alpha. Damn, he was strong.

"Like my mate said. You can either cope or you can

join the pack as a tri-mate. It has happened before, but as

far as I know it hasn't happened in the last hundred years or

so. The three of you must decide what you want to do and

all three of you have to agree if you're going to join the