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“I’ll try. If he’ll let me. He’s always had so much pride and anger inside him. From the very beginning. I don’t know if he can set that aside long enough to listen.”
Cade nodded thoughtfully. “Can you?” He came over to stand beside Marco and put a hand on his shoulder. “In the old days, it was always the male alpha in the pair who led the pack, even though he may not have been the strongest. Remember how it was with our grandparents?”
“God, yes. I think Grandmother hated Grandfather at the end.”
“Maybe not hate, but she sure resented him. She was stronger, yet she always had to defer to him. It ruined their marriage.”
“Nicky hated me for a while when we had that trouble between us. Or he thought he did anyway. Tate had a lot to do with that too, and he tried his best to come between us. I’d kill that son-of-a-bitch if I ever got my hands on him again.”
Cade nodded. “I’d help you. He’s a danger to all of us. He proved that when he attacked our pets on the mountain that day. In the old days, the Hunters mostly focused their attacks on the wolves and not on our mates and children.”
“All the better to demoralize us with. Tate’s an evil son-of-a-bitch, and he’s always had his sights set squarely on Nicky.”
“And now he’s made Nicky into a wolf. Two males to form an alpha pair, just like me and Jax.” Cade squeezed Marco’s shoulder. “Tate may just have created his own personal monster this time. It remains to be seen how strong Nicky will become, and he despises Tate for what he’s done.” Cade shook his head. “In the meantime, don’t let pride get in your way, Marco. Or you might just lose Nicky for good this time.”
“So what do you suggest I do?”
“Teach him. He’s not your pet anymore. Make him shift into his wolf and learn to be a member of your pack. If his wolf is damaged, then all the more reason to try to help him. If he can be healed, it will only happen while he’s in his animal form, and you know that. As his alpha and his mate, it’s your responsibility. Jax was frightened of his wolf at first, too, for very different reasons. I had to force him to shift.”
“How did you do it with Jax?”
“I took him out in the woods and challenged him. Maybe it’s time you do the same with Nicky. If his wolf wants to come out, Nicky will only be moody and restless until it happens.”
Marco nodded and stood up. “Thanks Cade. Keep me posted on what your father finds out in those old papers. I think it’s time Nicky and I had a heart to heart.”
* * * *
“Holy shit,” Gabe said into the cell phone, his voice low so he wasn’t overheard by his mate Zack in the office next door to their bedroom. “What did you say to him afterward?”
Nicky adjusted his phone to sit between his shoulder and his chin as he twisted the cap off a cold bottle of water from the refrigerator. “What the hell could I say? He didn’t give me a chance to say much of anything. Marco stormed out of the room so fast I never knew what hit me. I was looking out the window later and saw him running toward the perimeter. He runs like that when he’s upset about something. I guess the something is me this time. He’s probably heading up to Cade’s lodge to talk to him about me. He does that a lot now too. But hell, if he couldn’t figure out for himself what the fuck I was doing, I obviously wasn’t doing it right.”
Gabe’s voice was breathless. “Oh, he knew all right. He just didn’t like submitting to you. You didn’t like…force him, did you?”
“No. I wouldn’t do that to him. We both knew he could get away if he tried—he just decided not to try very hard.”
“I would have paid to see it, Nicky.” Gabe laughed gaily and Nicky’s stomach did a strange flip. He got a sudden longing to see Gabe and stare into those blue eyes of his again. And where the hell did that thought come from? Gabe was his friend. Nothing more. Nicky shook his head and leaned against the wall. What was wrong with him today?
“Really, Nicky. Macho Marco a bottom? Oh my God, to have been a fly on the wall.”
“You’re such a freak, Gabe. I didn’t do it to humiliate him or make him mad. I was only trying to show him that things are different now. More equal. He has to respect that, or I don’t know what’s going to happen between us.”
“Well, give it some time. Give Marco some time. This has to be quite an adjustment to him.”
“I know, but what about me? I never know what I’m going to see when I look in the mirror anymore. I mean, it’s me, but not me, you know? I’m bigger, of course, but even my face is changing. I look older…”
“Oh my God!”
“Shut up—not that much older. I mean, I’m still pretty, of course.”
“Of course,” Gabe said, laughing. “But tell me about this getting bigger aspect of it all. Like you’re bigger everywhere?”
“Hell, I don’t know. I don’t sit around and contemplate my dick, like you do.” He got a sudden image of Gabe’s nicely shaped dick. They’d been swimming together several times and always in the nude. Neither of them was shy. Gabe, in particular, was proud of his body and rightfully so. He was a good-looking guy with a great build, but Nicky had never had the slightest desire for him. He was a good friend, and that was all.
“I’d be glad to come up there and inspect your dick for you.”
Nicky shifted uneasily, the dick under discussion beginning to plump up. Gabe was so full of shit—always had been. Nicky knew he was devoted to his mate, Zack.
“Yeah, I’ll bet. And have Zack come down on my ass? No thanks. One enraged alpha to deal with at a time, thank you very much.”
