Rough River Coyotes 9

Taming a Wild Mate

Caged his whole life and subjected to horrific experiments, Chance is wary of humans until he’s saved by his mate. Even though Chance isn’t like the other shifters of the Rough River Ranch, he knows Spencer “Doc” Hall is the only man for him.

Doc has had patients fall for him before, but he’s never had a problem keeping his distance. All that changes with Chance. When hiding behind his profession doesn’t work, Doc insists he’s too old to be Chance’s mate. Two decades is a lifetime.

Determined to respect Doc’s choice and finding a devastating reason why they shouldn’t be together, Chance moves on. But the wild beasts inside the men’s souls refuse to be tamed.

Surrender means sacrifice, and if they choose submission they start the shifters on a new path of reclaiming those who were stolen and wrongly imprisoned.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal, Shape-shifter Length: 38,114 words

TAMING A WILD MATE
Rough River Coyotes 9
Anitra Lynn McLeod

EVERLASTING CLASSIC MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

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TAMING A WILD MATE
Copyright © 2012 by Anitra Lynn McLeod E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-369-0

First E-book Publication: November 2012

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DEDICATION

For the dedicated fans of the series. Enjoy!

TAMING A WILD MATE

Rough River Coyotes 9
ANITRA LYNN MCLEOD

Copyright © 2012

Chapter 1

Spencer “Doc” Hall had never seen a more heart -wrenching sight. Locked in a cage, abandoned, the man would have died without them showing up on the Wyoming farm. As things stood, he still might. Doc had gone with the other men of the Rough River Ranch to try to find answers for their newest member, Cody, but instead they’d found only more questions and the man Doc had dubbed Chance. If anyone needed a chance in this world, the man they’d found caged on the remote farm was just such a man.

Carefully, Doc opened the cage, hoping like hell that Chance didn’t just run off. But he needn’t have worried. He was so weak that he’d barely been able to lift his head and acknowledge their presence.

“How long do you think it’s been since he’s eaten anything?” Dooley, the ranch veterinarian, had called Doc over to the outbuilding when he’d discovered Chance.

“I don’t even want to speculate.” Given how much his ribs were showing despite the layers of filth, it had probably been several days, but Doc doubted the men who’d held him captive had fed him with any regularity. “The only reason he survived was because he had access to water.”

There was some kind of scuffle at the main house where the other men were investigating. When Doc heard them talking about a fire, he looked at the battered building Chance was being held in and the long, dry grass that surrounded the ramshackle structure. One spark could set the entire spread ablaze. Summers in Wyoming were just about as dry and unrelentingas they were in Utah, but Doc still couldn’t wait to get back home.

“We have to get him out of here.” Dooley reached into the cage, but Chance whimpered and backed away. “Help me out here, Doc.”
Unsure if adding two large men to extract him would do anything but terrify him more, Doc was stunned when Chance’s gaze connected with his. A timeless moment spun out. In those tawny depths there was a wary, animal intelligence that called to the hunter in Doc. Not to give chase, but to claim. Doc shook off the notion. All he wanted to do was get this man back to health, and then help him return to his rightful home. Certainly, this farm of horrors wasn’t where he belonged.
“I swear, I’m here to help you.” Doc offered out his hand.
Chance stared at him for a long time. Given that Doc was six and a half feet tall and two hundred fifty pounds, it wasn’t much wonder that the diminutive man would be intimidated. At best, Chance was five two and maybe one hundred pounds. The only things that stood out under the layer of dreck that covered him was his uniquely colored eyes and the emaciated state of his body.
Doc was on the verge of retracting his offered hand and trying something else when Chance reached out and clasped it. His grip was weak, but the fact that he gave any sign of acceptance was nothing short of miraculous.
Carefully, Doc brought him forward. “Get a blanket or something to cover him up with. I don’t want him to feel any more exposed than he already does.”
From the side area where a gruesome array of tools was kept, Dooley found a surprisingly clean blanket. “Will this work?”
The cover was old, soft, and small, but it smelled like it had been dried in the sunshine. “It’s perfect. Thank you.” Doc slipped the blanket over Chance’s hunched shoulders. For a moment, he was worried that Chance wasn’t standing all the way up because he was afraid of being hit, but then Doc thought he might simply be too exhausted to stand tall. And then he looked at the cage the man had been kept in. It wasn’t big enough for him to stand up. If he’d been contained in there for any length of time, which Doc thought he had, Chance would have to relearn how to stand. Hell, he was probably going to have to relearn how to walk considering the awkward steps he took.
“Do you want me to carry you?” Dooley asked.
Chance shrank into Doc, clutching at his hips the way a frightened child hides behind the safety of a parent.
“He really seems to like you.”
Doc considered Chance’s head. His hair was a long, shaggy mess of what looked like mud, leaves, and bits of colored thread. Curious, Doc reached down to work one of the strands loose, but Chance looked up at him. Another soul-pulling glance made Doc acutely aware of himself in relation to Chance. He’d never felt so powerful. But what was different was that he didn’t feel brutal. The power he had wasn’t about might being right but the strength of firm convictions and solid compassion.
“I think I like him, too.” Doc smiled down at Chance, who tilted his head the way a dog does when a curious sound is heard. And then Chance lifted the edges of his lips in mimic of Doc’s smile. It was a strange sight to see. Chance was copying the motions, but the sentiment wasn’t behind the action. Clearly, the man wasn’t happy, and Doc didn’t blame him. “We’ll take you to safety.”
“No more cage?” Chance’s voice was husky and so dry it almost sparked when he spoke.
“No more cage ever. I swear. Cross my heart.” Doc crossed his heart with his index finger and Chance tried to mimic the motion, but his movements were uncoordinated. “We’ve got to get him something to drink, something with electrolytes.”
“We’ve got to get him the hell off this property.” Dooley looked toward the main house, and when Doc followed his gaze, he saw a lazy tendril of smoke curling up.
“Help me get him into the van.” Eight men from the Rough River Ranch had ridden up to Wyoming in a large white van so there was plenty of room to take Chance back with them. While Doc and Dooley helped Chance make his awkward way over to the vehicle, the other men with them grabbed the boxes of paperwork from of the outbuildings. They didn’t know if it would answer their questions about what had been done to Cody or Chance, but it was at least some hope of uncovering answers. Not that Doc needed to know the details. Whatever the men of this farm had been doing, it was as evil and depraved as anything Doc had ever had the misfortune to read about. Normal, sane people didn’t lock others up for any reason, not like this.
Chance had been kept in a cage so small he couldn’t even stand up, and Cody had been kept in a red-painted room where such atrocities were committed against him he couldn’t even recall the details. Not while he was awake. But the mind was a most curious thing. In the night, when Cody tried desperately to sleep, the nightmares came and replayed everything the men of this farm had done to him. Since the men didn’t want to use their real names, Cody was only allowed to call them Owl and Weasel.
Cody had broken free of the farm by shifting into his coyote form and running to his mate, Billy Dornan. Chance had not been so lucky. If the men of the Triple R hadn’t come, Doc knew Chance would have slowly starved to death in his cage. The thought alone made his gentle grip on Chance tighten.
“I no run from you.”
Doc and Dooley exchanged curious glances. Chance’s voice was more breath than anything, but what was so odd was the way he spoke. It was halting and oddly structured, almost as if English wasn’t his first language.
“Spanish?”
Doc shrugged. It was hard to tell Chance’s ethnicity when he was so hopelessly dirty. And that really didn’t matter. To Doc, he was now his patient, and he was going to do everything he could to help him recover. No matter who he was, where he was from, or what Doc had to do to get him well, he was committed one hundred percent.
Carefully, they got Chance into the van and settled in the middle bench seat so that anyone looking in wouldn’t be able to recognize him. Although, Doc doubted anyone would. In truth, they were more trying to protect themselves from being seen with someone who was so obviously abused.
“We don’t want anyone to see you. Okay?” Doc settled in next to him. Chance sat down on the seat and then curled up into a ball on his side. Doc noticed the way he pressed his back into the seat and then hugged his legs with his spindly arms was reminiscent of the way that Marshal’s old hound would curl up on the front porch. “Can you hand me one of those blankets?”
Doc had loaded the van with a supply of items to combat any kind ofweather. Since the blanket on Chance didn’t cover him all the way, Doc wanted to make sure he had another to keep him warm. Given how thin he was, the hot, dry day might not feel too warm to a man with zero body fat.
Cody grabbed a blanket, but rather than hand it to Doc, he got into the back seat, leaned over, and placed the covering over Chance. Chance looked up and yipped. Cody yipped back and then tucked the blanket around him. Chance closed his eyes, and he went to sleep.
“What was that?” Doc asked, keeping his voice low so as not to awaken Chance.
“I don’t know, exactly. It was purely instinct.” Cody reached over the seat and rubbed his hand over Chance’s arm. From what Doc could see, Cody was trying to reassure Chance that he was safe. A hundred questions popped into Doc’s mind about Cody and Chance, but it was clear that Chance needed to rest and Cody had enough to deal with. Rather than assuaging his curiosity, Doc would put his patient first.
“Come on.” Marshal climbed into the driver’s seat, and his mate, Elliot, took the passenger seat. In the first bench seat, Dooley, Tristan, and Paul settled in. Cody and Billy took the back seat. Once everyone was in, Doc closed the door as quietly as he could, and then they were off.
A few miles away, they stopped at a convenience store. Using the payphone inside, Tristan placed a call to the fire department. As much as Doc would love to see the entire farm burn to the ground, he didn’t want the fire to harm other people. While Tristan called, Doc grabbed a drink specially formulated for children. It would be easy to digest and hopefully would replenish Chance’s electrolytes. As much as Doc wanted to start treating him immediately, he recognized that sleep might be the best medicine at the moment. What little slumber Chance had gotten in the cage was probably short and not very restorative. Here, in the van, on a cushioned seat with blankets swaddled around him and a trusted man to look over him, Chance was probably getting the first good rest he’d had since his ordeal began. What ate at Doc was wondering just how long this poor man had been in the clutches of those monsters.
Repeatedly, Cody rose up to look over the seatback at Chance. He didn’t say anything, but it was clear from the look on his face that Cody was worried about him. Again, Doc had a ton of questions but didn’t ask them. The time would come for answers but not now.
“Will he be okay?” Cody asked Doc. His voice was so quiet it was barely a mummer over the sound of the wheels on the pavement.
“I don’t know. I didn’t really get a good look at him, but he seems malnourished.” Doc looked up at Cody. “Do you have any idea who he is?”
“No. But I know he’s been through hell.”
Doc nodded and placed his hand gently on Chance’s hip. Through two blankets he was still able to feel the sharp thrust of bone. He shivered. What in the hell had Owl and Weasel been doing? From what Cody had said while he, Doc, and Billy were in the house, Owl and Weasel were trying to form their own pack of coyote-shifters. How they were going about that was a mystery still. However, Cody had also said some crazy thing about Doc being the center of the Rough River Ranch coyote pack, but Doc thought the very idea was ludicrous. If anyone was the center of the group, it had to be Marshal. It was his land that everyone had been drawn to. He was the first among the men living on the Triple R to get a mate and gain the ability to shift. The only thing Doc had done was to help push Elliot and Marshal together.
When Cody rose up to look at Chance over the seatback again for the umpteenth time, Doc began to wonder if there wasn’t a deeper connection between them. Cody and Billy’s mating had been plagued with difficulties. Cody blamed the evil machinations of Owl and Weasel, who had clearly interfered with his normal physical form. When Cody had first come to them, he’d been short, submissive, and clearly beta. In the span of several days, Cody had grown a foot, become far more dominant, and obviously more alpha. Given the fact that Billy was clearly alpha, Doc thought their pairing was headed for major trouble.
Doc looked over the seatback separating them. Billy and Cody were seated close together, but they weren’t holding hands, not like they had been on the drive up. One look at Billy’s face and Doc saw his concern. All was not right between them. Doc sighed hard, turning his attention to the windshield. He had enough of his own things to worry about. He’d given up on finding a mate of his own. Such a notion just didn’t seem that it would ever happen for him, not like it seemed to be happening for the other men of the ranch. Doc thought that maybe he was just too old at forty-six. It was unlikely some sweet young beta was going to take an interest in a guy who was almost twice his age.
Since Doc had driven on the way up, he didn’t take a turn on the way back, not when he had a charge to care for. Treating those around him was something that Doc had always wanted to do. When he was a child, he’d tended first to his sister’s dolly collection. His mother had been horrified to walk into Willa’s room and find every doll she owned covered in bandages. Their father had laughed his ass off for days, and nothing their mother said could get him to stop. He said it looked like some crazy war zone where dolls had been humanity’s last hope. In the photo album of his youth, there were several shots of the carnage. Even thinking of them now brought a smile to Doc’s face. Those had been the days. Back before life had become too serious.
He’d gone from treating dolls to treating pets, and then he’d had his first major catastrophe. While their parents were out, Willa had fallen on her skates. Rather than a simple skinned knee, she had fallen in such a jumble she’d broken her leg. Numb with shock, she had let Spencer take care of her, which he did in a such a calm, collected manner he earned himself the nickname Doc. The title had stuck with him all through high school, college, medical school, his very first job, and now his very last.
As the miles rolled by, Doc continued with his lingering nostalgia bath. He had nothing else to do at the moment so he indulged himself. It was funny that he found himself on the road but gained himself a patient. Marshal had been teasing him that he kept saying he was going to take a vacation but never did. This was his first in a decade, and he’d promptly ended up with a ward to care for. Not that he minded. If anyone needed the love and support that filled Doc’s soul to the brim, Chance was that man.
Looking at him now made Doc think of the inner-city clinic where he’d taken his first job. There he thought he could do the most good for humanity. He was woefully wrong. Drug addicts, hookers, and criminals kept the revolving door spinning so fast Doc could barely finish treating one before another was dumped into his care. Keeping up the relentless pace for ten years burned him out to a veritable cinder. He’d withdrawn from work and did the American version of an Australian walkabout. However, since his feet wouldn’t get him far from New York, he’d done his journey in a battered Ford Escort.
In his travels, Doc had gone from clinic to clinic, hoping to find a place he fit in, a place where he could do the work that he loved, but he still wasn’t satisfied. He was able to help the people he treated, but he was only able to put them on the road to healing. Other doctors continued their treatment and ultimately got to see the fruits of his labors. Doc never got to see if what he’d accomplished had done the person any good. That was what kept him driving ever onward. He wanted to see the end result of his care, but he didn’t quite know how to make that happen.
Doc had been driving down a Utah scenic byway on his journey when the Ford blew a tire. He managed to get over to the side of the road but then discovered that the spare was as flat as the rear passenger tire. Rather than anger, he bundled up what little he had, and started hitching his way toward the next town. When a gorgeous man in a battered blue Ford truck pulled up, Doc thought his luck was definitely on the upswing. He climbed into the pickup and discovered an instant affinity with Marshal. No sexual sparks, nothing like that, but there was something about the magnetic rancher that told Doc he was just now starting down the road to where he belonged.
Doc remembered the feeling as such a curious thing because he was the least metaphysical man in the world. He didn’t believe in God, or spirits, or even karma. His stint caring for the dregs of humanity had stripped him of a belief in much of anything, let alone some kind of magical influence in the world. But that day, on the River Road, something mystical had been at work, something that wasn’t coincidence or any other rationalization he could come up with.
Rather than take him into Scorpion, Marshal had taken Doc out to the ranch to look at one of his hands who had been thrown from his horse. Paul said he was fine, but he hadn’t been eating right or even walking right since it happened. It took Doc only a few seconds to recognize that Paul hada concussion. It wasn’t severe enough to warrant a trip to the local hospital, but Doc forbid him to do any strenuous activity. Paul had argued about the restrictions, but he was no match for the combined force of Doc and Marshal. Paul found himself in bed with the other hands making sure he was kept entertained with books, videos, and visits.
When Marshal asked if Doc wanted to continue into town, Doc had said that he would stay and make sure Paul was fully recovered before he moved on. Finally, Doc would be able to see the end result of his care. Watching Paul recover and ride out to work with the herd filled Doc with the pride he’d thought he’d lost. But once Paul recovered, another wrangler had gotten a nasty gash from some barbed wire. So Doc stayed for that. And then another injury had kept him on the Rough River Ranch. Eventually, Marshal had his car towed there so one of the hands could fix it.
“And I just never left after that.”
Paul turned and looked at him from the front bench seat. “What?”
“Nothing.” Doc shook his head and closed his mouth. He watched Paul turn his attention toward the front of the van. Doc had ended up treating Paul four more times after the day he’d come onto the ranch. Luckily, it had always been something minor, and Paul healed quickly. As Doc stared at the back of his head, he wondered what kind of a mate Paul would find. Given his odd combination of chemistry and cow punching, Doc imagined he would have to have a uniquely talented mate to keep him interested.
Maybe that was the key for Doc as well. It wasn’t often the jobs of wrangler and doctor were combined. But Doc loved his life. At times his little house got lonely, but when it did, he just headed on up to the big house and surrounded himself with cowboys. After a few hours in their boisterous company, Doc was once again appreciative of his little slice of privacy. Lately, he’d found himself going up to the big house more often. When he came home, he felt the pang of loneliness far more deeply. There were times when he would see someone there with him. A flash just out the corner of his eye. When he turned his head, the apparition vanished, but for that split second he was with his rightful partner.
His gaze turned to Chance, and he wondered if they had come not so much to help Cody recover, but because Chance was destined for one of the men on the ranch. Cody and Paul both kept looking at Chance, and that made Doc wonder if one of them were the right man to help Chance recover and find his rightful place. Doc could heal his body, but he had no idea how anyone would ever be able to repair the damage to the man’s mind, not to mention his soul. Just trying to wrap his own head around that level of suffering broke Doc’s heart.
The group debated stopping at a motel for the night, but everyone just wanted to get home, Doc included. The idea of trying nurse Chance in a motel room wasn’t a good one. The place they’d stayed on the way up had been nice and clean, but the room had been like most temporary rooms—small with a bed dominating the area. Doc didn’t want to add to Chance’s burden by making him worry that anyone would attempt to force him into some kind of physical intimacy. Just watching his eyes as he’d taken his hand had told Doc that Chance expected to be hit. He hadn’t examined him in detail, and probably wouldn’t unless he deemed it absolutely necessary, but he wondered if Owl or Weasel had violated him sexually. That could account for his terror and why he curled himself up into a ball.
Doc lifted his hand from Chance’s hip, thinking that even that casual touch might send the wrong message, but when he did, Chance whimpered until he put his hand back. Doc patted him a few times then settled in. If the contact helped him to feel safe, Doc was more than happy to keep his hand right where it was. More than anything in the world, Doc wanted Chance to know he was among friends.
It was late when they returned to the ranch. Since Doc didn’t have a clinic per se, he had taken to using Dooley’s makeshift animal hospital in the barn. At first he worried that Chance might think he was taking him in there to conduct further experiments, but when Cody helped Doc guide Chance into the back of the barn, he didn’t startle when he saw the cages against the east wall. Maybe he innately trusted them or perhaps he cognitively realized the containers were far too small for him. Either way, Doc was relieved when Chance seemed willing to accept the room for the time being.
Treating him became almost impossible, though. Whenever Doc moved away, Chance would whine pitifully and cling to him. His cries touched the part of Doc that had started him on the road to being a doctor. With Chance, Doc would be able to actually see his care transform him back to a healthy young man.
“He reminds me of Tristan.” Dooley settled on the floor near where Doc had placed a makeshift bed of blankets and pillows for the two of them. He would have tried to get him into a bed, but something about sharing that level of intimacy with Chance bothered Doc. Here, at least, there was a built-in sense of distance.
“Chance does seem similar. Well, except he’s human and Tristan was stuck in his coyote body.” Doc kept his hand on Chance’s hip while he slept.
“I think his path of treatment will be similar.” Dooley looked over the verylimited information that Doc had entered on his chart. “I like the name you gave him.”
“I tried to find out his real name, but he just looked at me with the emptiest expression. It was like he had no idea what I was talking about.” That look would stay with Doc for the rest of his life. What in the hell had those bastards done to him that he didn’t even remember his name?
“Were you able to examine him in more detail?”
“No, but I didn’t really try. I think he hasn’t had decent sleep in ages. Right now, it’s the best healing I can give him.”
Dooley nodded and slipped the chart up on the countertop without rising. “Do you need anything?”
“Thank you, but no. Elliot brought me a veritable picnic.” Doc pointed to the hamper of food and the small cooler of drinks. “I offered some of the chicken to Chance, but he didn’t want it. I’m not sure if it’s the spices or what, but he just didn’t seem interested.”
“Did he drink all of that stuff you got him?”
“Baby formula, and yeah. He kept that down. And water. But I don’t want to push him too fast.”
“No IV?”
“No. He’s not dehydrated, and I think if I came near him with a needle he’d completely freak out.”
“I don’t blame him.” Dooley reached out as if he would stroke his hand over Chance, but he stopped. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Again, thank you, but for now we’re good.”
“You’re going to sleep out here?” Dooley rose.
Doc swore he felt Chance tighten below his hand. “I can’t leave him.” Once Doc said that, Chance relaxed. “Have you made any headway on deciphering that book we found at the compound?”
“Some. It looks like the way they tracked their exper—people”— Dooley hastily corrected himself—“was by branding them.”
Another surge of impotent anger washed through Doc. Man’s inhumanity to man was something that never ceased to horrify him. “Cody and Billy were in here earlier asking me if Chance had a brand. Is that why?”
“Probably.” Dooley shook his head. “What hasn’t dawned on them, and maybe that’s a good thing, is there are pages and pages of coded information on a multitude of brands.”
Doc swallowed hard. “How many men?”
Dooley looked away and shrugged. “I don’t know. I lost count after about two hundred.”
“Mercy.” Doc took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Are you certain we didn’t leave anyone behind?”
“Positive. While you and I were getting Chance, Marshal, Elliot, and Paul were grabbing paperwork and checking all the buildings. Chance was the only one there.”
A sudden horrible thought occurred to Doc. “What if that’s not the only compound?”

Chapter 2

Drifting in and out of sleep, Chance heard the two men talking about the place where he’d been kept. They called it a compound, but Chance had always thought of it as the cagesince that’s where he’d been kept most of his life. Not that the name mattered. It was a place where all he’d known was fear, hunger, and pain. There had only been one time where he hadn’t felt any of those things, and that was when he’d been near the one they called Cody. That was the only time he’d ever felt safe. But that hadn’t lasted long. His sense of time was different from the humans, but Chance had learned to track things their way just as he’d learned to speak their language and use the body they’d given him.

More than anything, Chance wanted to return to what he’d been formerly. There was a time before the compound where he’d lived in a true pack with his father, his mother, and his siblings. They were all gone now. His pack was destroyed in the endless quest of Owl and Weasel to capture the secrets of the coyotes.

An image filled Chance’s head, one that he wished he could chew out of his mind, but he knew that he would never be able to do so. The horror would be with him forever. Even when he’d been happy near Cody, the sickening sight had still been there. A mound of bodies stacked so high he couldn’t see all the way to the top. The beautiful fur matted, the eyes clenched closed in agony, their limbs twisted into grotesque shapes. As Chance grew accustomed to his first cage, he watched the bodies pile up behind where he was kept. All winter the stack grew until Owl and Weasel feared being caught by what they called the authorities. In haste, they doused the bodies with a pungent liquid and set fire to them. The smell of their burning fur and the sound of the bones snapping in the fire were just as permanent in his mind as the horrific image.

Chance had hoped that others would see, hear, or smell the fire and know to stay away, but it seemed the two men had an endless supply of coyotes to perform their perversions on. When Chance had yipped and whined in an effort to tell his brethren to run, the cruel men with the cold hands had muzzled him. That was the first time he’d heard them talking about the authorities. They’d gotten away with the fire by doing what was called a “controlled burn,” but a wild animal baying into the night would bring the authorities down on their heads. Chance had a choice of shutting up or being shut up permanently, so he quieted himself down. Besides, his cries didn’t seem to do anything other than irritate Owl and Weasel.

Since the two brutal monsters spoke of the authorities in hushed terms, Chance figured they must be a thousand times worse than Owl and Weasel. But later, he realized they feared the authorities because if they caught the two men, the authorities would put a stop to what they were doing. After than realization, Chance begged the gods to bring the authorities down on their evil heads. When Doc and Dooley had come, he thought that was what they were. Finally, the authorities would put an end to the killing. But now he wasn’t so certain. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was pleased with his new name, especially since it had come from the one called Doc.

Chance was glad he had a new name for a new place and a new man who had such deep kindness in his eyes. Chance had instantly bonded to him. There would be no other for him but the one they called Doc. He was older than anyone Chance had ever seen, but with his age came wisdom, compassion, and something so intangible Chance didn’t understand it exactly, but it pulled at his instincts. Humans didn’t have the kind of gut inclinations that he’d had in his other body, but he was learning to assimilate them. Chance trusted his gut. Even before he was able to think using his much bigger brain, his instincts told him Owl and Weasel were evil. They were wrong in so many ways his nose couldn’t keep up with all the terrible smells of them. Just as innately, he understood that Doc was good. He was a man who made mistakes, but he learned from them. But more than that, Doc was a man who never intentionally harmed another. His care and compassion shone out from his features almost like an inner light.

Chance let out a long rumble that dissipated his tension. For the first time in ages, he was safe. Doc wasn’t going to let so much as a stinging fly near him. Of that, Chance had no doubt at all. And somehow, some way, Chance would find a way to return Doc’s kindness. Maybe, if he was very lucky, Doc would be able to restore him to what he should be. Excitement shivered over his form. Two legs would never feel as natural to him as four. Returned to his true self, he would be able to go back…to what?

Everyone he’d known was long gone, burned up in the pile of bodies. The thought of returning to his homeland alone terrified him. He couldn’t have a pack of one. His kind didn’t live alone well. Some did but not often. A pack was more than a family. It was a way to hunt bigger game and a way to share resources. After all that had happened to him while he was alone,Chance didn’t ever want to be by himself again.

Lifting his head, he looked at Doc, who was curled on his side, his hand still on Chance’s hip. Perhaps he could learn to be human enough to stay with Doc. The very idea made him feel things that he’d never fully grasped as a coyote. His kind didn’t have emotions, not the way humans did. The first time he’d cried he hadn’t understood what was going on. He did now. Owl and Weasel made him cry so many times he couldn’t even count how often it had happened. But Doc wouldn’t do that to him. What he felt when he was near Doc was something he didn’t know how to name, not exactly. His instincts drew him near to safety and the power of a good provider, but there was something else, too.

After lifting Doc’s hand, Chanc e rolled over and moved closer to his side. He placed Doc’s hand back on his hip and then placed his head on Doc’s chest. His heat and the scents that infused his skin made a rich essence that Chance knew he’d be able to track anywhere. Closing his eyes, he decided that he would stay human and Doc would be his mate. All he had to do now was find a way to make that happen.

Chapter 3

Dreams of running through high grass left Doc with a strangely empty feeling as he awoke. What in the world was bringing those dreams on at such frequency? He thought perhaps they were wishfulfillment dreams, given how much he’d longed to gain the ability to shift from human to animal. Not that he ever would. His life was a solo one and that was the way things were going to stay.

Doc felt pressure on his chest and looked down to see Chance looking up at him. Tawny eyes were wide and speculative. Was Chance trying to understand why Doc was taking care of him? He feared how far the damage to him had gotten, given his halting mode of speech and the way he’d yipped with Cody. And that brought another question to mind of exactly how old was Chance? He looked to be in his midtwenties, but Doc honestly had no idea. It was difficult to set an age even if he examined Chance in detail, but his best guestimate was twenty-five.

“Good morning.”
“Hungry.”
Doc grinned. “Good. Let’s get you something to eat.” “Want you.”
“I promise to be with you until you feel better.” Doc would have

crossed his heart again, but Chance was taking up most of his chest. The intimacy of the contact was tempered by the layers of blankets between them. Doc was relieved. He certainly didn’t want Chance getting the wrong idea.

“Want you with me.”
“I want to be with you, too.” Doc patted his head and realized that if they got anything done today, he had to get him cleaned up. “Food and then a bath?”

Chance made a face. For the life of him, Doc again flashed on that old hound who would lumber away whenever Marshal tried to wash him up in the big galvanized tub behindthe farmhouse. Doc wasn’t going to put Chance in there, but maybe he could coax him into the shower that some of the hands had built behind the house. There were times when they came in off the range so muddy that they had to wash up outside or risk packing the inside plumbing with dirt.

“Food?” Doc thought he’d try again.
“Sex.”
Doc’s eyes widened, and he sat up, which unfortunately made

Chance slide down his body. When Chance landed with his face in Doc’s lap, he scrambled out of the makeshift bed. From the countertop he grabbed his glasses and slipped them on.

Chance was still looking at him, and all his putting distance between them had done was sharpen the heat in his gaze.
Doc swallowed and took a step back. Although he was perturbed by Chance’s bold longing, he was reassured that it at least answered one of his questions. If Owl and Weasel had sexually abused Chance, the last thing he would want was any kind of sexual contact with him. So ultimately, Chance hitting on him was a good thing. Overall it was a good thing. Doc just had to be professional and resist him. But then another, far more horrifying idea filled his mind. What if Owl and Weasel had made Chance perform in order to get food?
“You can have food without sex.”
Chance tilted his head, clearly baffled by what Doc had said.
“What I mean is that I won’t ever make you do anything—I swear to take care of you without any type of payment. Ever. Really. The medical care, the food, a place to sleep—all of it is yours without any strings. You don’t owe me anything.” Doc stepped back, and his hand landed on some clothing that Elliot thought would fit Chance. Given how many naked men had been showing up on the ranch, Elliot had been buying simple sweatpants and T-shirts in a variety of sizes so that they always had something on hand. Grasping the pants, Doc offered them out to Chance. “Get dressed and I’ll get us something to eat from the goodies Elliot left last night.”
Chance looked at the pants but didn’t take them.
Had they kept him naked all the time? The implications of that seemed to compound his notion of him performing sex acts to get fed.
Doc pointed to his pants. “Pants. To cover you.”
This time, Chance shook his head. “No want to cover me.” But then he frowned and looked up at Doc with concern. “You no want to look at me?”
Baffled how to answer that question, Doc skipped right over it. “What if we eat, then wash up, then get dressed?” Doc felt like he was negotiating with a child. But that wasn’t quite right. It was more along the lines of negotiating with a wild animal. There was just something so untamed about Chance that Doc didn’t think he could ever take the wild out of him. And maybe he didn’t want to. Out here on over seven hundred thousand acres of land, Chance could be as primitive as he liked.
Chance considered Doc’s offer. For a moment, Doc thought he was going to put a demand in that chain of events somewhere, but he didn’t. Chance simply looked up at him and said, “Okay.”
Relieved, Doc went to the fridge where he’d stored the picnic basket items from last night. He shifted the contents around, looking for something that would go down easy. Given that Chance had been starved for a long time, too much food too soon would only make him throw it all up. None of the items in the fridge were quite what Doc wanted.
“Well, it looks like we need to go over to the big house and have Cassidy whip you up something special.” Normally, Doc would have just walked on over, but Chance wasn’t going to let him leave. “Want to come with me?”
“Stay with you.” Chance rose awkwardly to his feet and took Doc’s hand.
Doc figured the men of the ranch weren’t going to be put off by Chance’s nudity, not if they understood his story. He was a bit on the ripe side, but again, cowboys who often worked in the field for days without a shower weren’t going to bat a lash. The most important thing was making sure Chance was comfortable and cared for. If his nudity didn’t bother him, it wasn’t going to bother Doc.
Together, they left the clinic and then walked through the main part of the barn. There weren’t any animals inside since it was only used to quarantine the ill ones. Marshal had built a separate barn for the horses. Chance looked around at the interior, but he didn’t seem all that interested. When Doc pushed open the right side of the double doors, the shock of bright sunlight made both of them wince.
“It’s a lot later than I thought.” Doc looked down at his watch and realized it was ten in the morning. Everyone else had probably been up for hours. Not that anyone would think he was slacking off, just that Doc generally woke up early to get a good jump on his day. Which reminded him to check his phone. Just as he was pulling the instrument out of his pocket, Chance let go of his hand and took off running across the yard.
“Chance!” Doc’s body went into overdrive. If he’d suspected that Chance was going to run off, he never would have brought him out of the clinic. Doc shoved his phone back in his pocket and went running after him, but Chance wasn’t heading up the long drive. He was running in a diagonal path that would put him right into the lower pond.
Running full tilt in his awkward way, Chance plowed into the water and then disappeared under the surface. Doc’s heart was practically in his mouth as he hurried to toe his shoes off and wrench off his pants. He jumped into the water and went for the spot where he’d last seen Chance.
Like a fish jumping to pluck flies out of the air, Chance burst through the surface of the pond. He shook his head hard, flinging water droplets everywhere. He looked up and saw Doc.
Grinning, he said, “Bath.”
Relief made Doc laugh. Just the thought of losing Chance had practically broken his heart. “Yep. This is one way of getting a bath.” Frankly, it was a far more fun way than what he’d had in mind. Since he was already wet, Doc didn’t bother to get out. He considered removing his shirt but then thought better of it. He didn’t want Chance to get any wrong ideas. If he kept his boxers and his shirt on, it would send a better message than if he stripped down like Chance.
On land, Chance was as gangly as a newborn colt, but in the water, he moved with ease and grace. He didn’t swim in the classical sense, not by extending his arms, but he dog-paddled around and seemed utterly at ease. Perhaps this was how Owl and Weasel had gotten him clean. Doc recalled that from the Google Earth image he’d seen of the compound, there was a pond not too far from where the buildings were situated. There was also a huge charred area that someone had covered up with fresh earth after the picture had been taken. As curious as Doc was, he also didn’t want to know. His gut told him whatever they’d been burning hadn’t been because of something good.
“You wash?”
Doc was just standing in the water not doing much of anything. He wasn’t sure what Chance was asking him until he swam over and turned away. “You want me to wash you?”
“Hard to get my hair clean.”
Doc looked down into the hopelessly matted strands. If he was very diligent, he might be able to get the mass untangled.
“What in the world are you two doing?”
Doc looked over his shoulder and found Dooley on the shore. “Taking a bath.”
“We happen to have indoor plumbing.”
“It was Chance’s idea.” Doc eased his fingers through his hair, smoothing it as best he could. “Do me a favor and get some towels, shampoo, conditioner, and soap. Since I’ve got him here, I don’t want the opportunity to pass.” Luckily, Chance had chosen the lower and deeper pond. The upper one was shallow and used for ice-skating in the winter. This one had some type of fish in it, but if they used a minimal amount of product and stayed near where the pond ran off toward the lower creek, they shouldn’t do any harm to the wildlife.
In short order, Dooley returned with a basket of items. He settled themon the shore. “Want me to bring something out to you?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.” Given how Chance was luxuriating in being groomed, Doc didn’t want to disturb him, and he knew if he moved away, Chance would react.
“He looks like he’s in heaven.” Dooley handed Doc a bottle of shampoo. “It’s biodegradable. From my last camping trip.”
“Heaven,” Chance said but didn’t turn around.
“Yes. A good bath is definitely heaven.”
“No.” Chance looked back at him as Doc poured shampoo into his hands. “You touching me is heaven.”
When he turned back around, Dooley flashed Doc an expression that was difficult to interpret. It was almost comical and yet suggestive. “Someone’s got a crush on you.”
“He’s my patient.” Doc did not want the clear lines between healer and patient toget messed up. “Besides, he’s simply repeating what you said.”
Chance didn’t say anything so Doc rubbed the shampoo over his hair and scalp. As he worked it into the strands, untangling them as he went, Chance let out a low rumble that was almost like a purr.
“Are you going to stand there the whole time?” Doc asked Dooley.
“I was wondering if you had a chance to see any, uh, marks on him yet.”
Doc knew Dooley was referring to the brands they’d talked about last night. “I didn’t see anything, but then again, we’ve been in the water since we got up.”
“Well, since I’m already here.” Dooley dunked below the surface and then rose. He palmed some shampoo and sudsed himself up. He then put some in Doc’s hair.
“I was planning on taking a shower later.”
“But you’re here now.” Dooley reached over and started to unbutton Doc’s shirt, but Doc wrenched himself away.
“What in the world has gotten into you?” Doc straightened his clothing while Chance turned to watch him.
“Why not just clean up out here?”
“Because it’s not appropriate. He’s my patient, Dooley.”
“Mate.”
Doc and Dooley looked over at Chance. Suds streamed down the sides of his head and then onto his tanned shoulders. For the life of him, Doc had never seen a more intrinsically handsome man.
“What?” Dooley asked Chance.
“Doc is my mate.” After saying this, Chance smiled and pointed for good measure.
Doc refused to let his mouth tumble open in shock because Chance’s attachment to him wasn’t a surprise. “He just thinks that because I rescued him.”
“I was there, too, but I don’t see him clinging on me.”
“Because you have a mate,” Doc pointed out.
“Yeah, but how would he know that?”
“Because you smell different.” Chance dunked below the water, and when he came back up, all the suds were washed out of his hair. With the sunlight gleaming off the newly cleaned strands, Doc was able to see that his hair was chestnut brown. The rich color highlighted the unusual tawny color of his eyes. Without another word, Chance paddled away, leaving Doc and Dooley standing in the more shallow end of the pond, watching him.
“Long hair. Just like you like it.”
“Stop it.” Doc rounded on Dooley. “It’s terribly inappropriate for you to encourage his interest in me because you simply want to tease me.” Doc had played an untold number of pranks on his fellow cowboys, but in this instance, messing about was no joking matter. “I realize you owe me plenty, but encouraging Chance in his attachment disorder is just cruel.”
“Hey, whoa.” Dooley lifted his hands to his shoulders, palms open and out. “I’m just saying that he fits what you said you liked in a man. Remember that day when we were all sitting around, envious of Marshal’s mate, and talking about what we wanted in a mate of our own? You were the one who said you liked masculine men with long hair. I was just saying that Chance fits that bill to a tee.”
“I may have said that, but I didn’t mean him.” Doc hastily sudsed his hair and then rinsed off. When he rose out of the water, he realized he still had his glasses on.
“What’s the big deal with you?” Dooley frowned. “Usually you’re the one joking around, but now you’re all serious.”
“He’s been hurt, and my job is to heal him, not take advantage of him.”
“He said you’re his mate. So far, every beta has known exactly who his mate is.” Dooley glanced over at Chance and then back at Doc. “Don’t you feel anything for him?”
The problem was that Doc did feel something for Chance, and it wasn’t strictly a medical man caring about the health of one of his charges. Chance was beautiful. Even before, when he’d been covered in dreck, Doc had still seen his masculine beauty. But just because he felt something toward him didn’t make the feeling right.
“He’s a boy who has been wounded so dreadfully it’s almost beyond my ability to comprehend. I’m not about to take advantage of him again.”
“He’s a man. And he’s old enough to know when he’s found his mate.”
“It’s not me.” Doc looked over at Chance and then away. “As much as I would like it to be, it isn’t.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because all of the mates have been irresistibly drawn to one another. Pheromones, right?”
“Yeah. So?”
“I don’t have that with Chance, and he doesn’t have that with me.” Doc sighed. “He just feels safe with me is all. If I can get him healed, I guarantee you he’ll find his rightful mate.”
“Suit yourself.” Dooley shrugged. “But I think you’re throwing away what could be the right man for you.” He moved toward the shore. Once he was out, Dooley tossed the shampoo back in the basket then brought out the conditioner and soap. “Might as well go whole hog.”
“Might as well.” Doc was grateful that Dooley dropped his desire to see Doc paired off with Chance. It wasn’t like Doc hadn’t thought about such a thing, because he had, but he also realized that he wouldn’t act on those feelings. Like he said, Chance was attracted to him because he felt safe. Doc was attracted to Chance because he was a prime example of a stunning beta mate. Chance would make some alpha very, very happy, but Doc was not that man. “Do you want me to finish?”
Chance looked over, and Doc waved the bottle.
“Finish my hair?”
“Yes. It will make it easier to comb out the tangles.”
Chance swam over and allowed Doc to smooth conditioner on his head. It smelled like peaches. Dooley did up his own locks and then squirted some on Doc. Since he was most of the way there, he decided what the hell, took off his shirt, and tossed it toward shore.
“You will comb my hair?” Chance asked.
“When we get out.” Doc handed Chance the soap. “Use this to wash your body.”
Chance frowned down at the bar of green soap in his hand. “Use?”
“Rub it on yourself.”
“You do it.” Chance handed Doc back the bar of soap.
Dutifully, Doc rubbed the soap over his chest. “Like this.” “You do me.” Chance stepped close.
Doc got a little lost in his gaze. His eyes were the exact same color as a tiger’s-eye stone Doc had back at his home. Looking down at the soap in his hand, Doc tried to think of a valid reason why he shouldn’t. But he couldn’t. Trying to keep his reluctant feelings to himself, Doc built up a good lather between his palms and then smoothed his hands over Chance’s chest. Despite his somewhat emaciated state, he was still covered with sleek muscles. Just like he had while Doc was washing his hair, Chance leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
Washing him gently, Doc worked his way around his upper body. When he lifted his arms, he confirmed his assessment that Chance was indeed a beta because he had no armpit hair. His chest was also bare.
“More.” Chance walked toward the shore, exposing the lower half of his body.
Doc turned to look at Dooley, but he had his back to both of them, affording them privacy. Somehow, having him there helped Doc keep his motions professional. He joined Chance and then eased the soap over his lower back and then his bottom. High, tight, and firm, Chance’s buttocks were beautifully formed. Doc found himself dawdling. Rather than berate himself, he justified his behavior by convincing himself he was simply assessing Chance. And then he found a brand. It was oddly colored and stretched out, indicating to Doc that Chance had likely been branded when he was very young.
“Dooley?”
“Don’t you want privacy?”
“I think you need to come and see this.”
Chance looked over his shoulder.
“It’s okay.” Doc reassured him. “Dooley takes care of people just like I do.”
“He tends animals,” Chance pointed out.
“Yes.” It was strange how Chance knew that, but maybe he’d heard them talking or he could smell it on Dooley, just like he could smell that he had a mate. “But he helps me sometimes. Is it okay if I show him something?”
“My mark?”
Doc swallowed. That answered whether or not Chance knew about the brand.
“You can show him my mark.”
Dooley came closer to the shore and peered at Chance’s bottom. “Can I take a picture of it?”
Chance looked to Doc and Docwasn’t certain Chance understood what a photograph was, so he explained. “Having one would help me understand it better.”
“Okay.” Chance didn’t seem all that concerned about the mark or its implications.
Dooley retrieved his cell phone from the basket on the shore then clicked several shots of the mark on Chance’s right buttock.
Once he had a good picture, they examined it. “It looks like a C with an arrow pointing to an H.”
“With that glyph contained in a circle.”
“What the hell does it mean?” Dooley did something with his phone and showed Doc the mark that was on Cody’s buttock. It was an E, but it was outside a circle. Only the bars of the E bled into the circle but not very far.
“Did you make any headway on the book last night?”
“No. Too exhausted. I was going to clean up here and then go in and try again.” Dooley looked over at Chance. “I’ll find out what it means.” Dooley paused. “Unless you know…”
“They marked me when I was very small. I don’t remember what they said when they did it.”
From all Doc could tell, Chance didn’t seem upset by the mark. As far as he was concerned, that was good. He didn’t want to add anything to the burden Chance already carried.
“Finish me.” Chance pointed to the soap in Doc’s hand.
“I’ll, uh, let you get to that.” Dooley was out of the water and headed back to the house as fast as he could get his flip-flops on. All the way there he trailed water off his cargo shorts.
Doc realized this was the universe paying him back for what he’d done to Marshal and Elliot. What seemed a lifetime ago, Marshal had found Elliot tucked down in a field with a head injury. He’d called Doc and had him come out onto the range to check on Elliot. Doc saw the sparks between the two men right away. Doc also realized Elliot’s injury wasn’t severe, so rather than putting Elliot in the truck and taking him off Marshal’s hands, Doc had left Elliot with Marshal. Since Marshal was on horseback, Marshal had to carry Elliot on his lap to the farmhouse. Given Elliot’s injury, Doc insisted that Marshal do this as slowly as possible so as not to further hurt Elliot. Doc had jumped in the truck and driven away whistling lightly while Marshal did a slow burn. It seemed that now Dooley was doing the same thing to Doc.
“You forgot your towel, smart-ass.”
“That’s okay. I’ll grab one off the line.”
To the side of the house, there were hundreds of feet of clothesline strung on sturdy metal posts. Cassidy insisted on drying everything outside. The only time he used the dryer was when it was too cold to hang the clothes out.
“Finish.” Chance looked at the soap then motioned to his body.
Doc swallowed hard and told himself he was simply taking care of his patient. Again, he rubbed the bar briskly between the palms of his hands to build up a solid lather then started at Chance’s waist. Smoothing the bubbles over him allowed Doc to assess his musculature and ensure there weren’t any other signs of torture or abuse on him. When he hesitated to lower his hands to his genitals, Chance cupped his hands around Doc’s and helped him slide over his uncut cock and hairless balls.
“Feels good.”
Obviously, what Doc was doing did because Chance got hard. Again, Doc tried to stay detached and simply note that his body was functioning correctly, but that was difficult when Doc’s body reacted. Since all he was wearing were his thin boxers, it was only a matter of time before Chance noticed.
“I wash you.” Chance took the bar of soap in one hand and pushed at Doc’s underwear with the other.
“No, I can wash myself.” Doc smiled and stepped back, but he knocked himself off balance and toppled into the water. Embarrassed, he sputtered up to the surface only to find Chance close to him, trying to help him up. “I think we’ve had enough of washing up. Let’s get something to eat.”
Chance shook his headand swam closer. “Sex.”
“I don’t think you understand what it is you’re saying.” Given how halting his rhythm of his speech was, it wasn’t that unlikely that he didn’t fully understand all the meanings of the words he used. Doc once again wondered if English was his second language, but even with Chance clean, he didn’t note any particularly strong ethnicity.
“You mate with me now that I am clean.”
“Oh, no. That’s not why I wanted to wash up.” Doc scrambled to explain. “You need to be clean so I can heal you.”
“Heal me?”
“I want you to be better so you can find your true mate.”
“I found him.” Again, Chance moved close. “You are my mate.”
“No.” Doc swam backward, but Chance stayed right on him almost as if they were tethered together. Somewhere in all the chaos the soap was lost because both of Chance’s hands were empty.
“Is it because of the mark?”
“What? No. It’s because you are too young for me.” Out of all the reasons he could have given him, that seemed the least damaging. There was nothing they could do about their respective ages so it was an obstacle that simply couldn’t be overcome.
“I am the age I should be.”
“Indeed.”
“As are you.”
“Well, yes. You are just as you should be, and so am I. But I am simply too old for you.” Doc wanted to list the other reasons why they couldn’t be together, but then he would get into a long ethical debate that was not going to help matters one damn bit. Frankly, Doc was so used to being alone he wouldn’t know what to do with a mate if he had one. Or that’s what he told himself because the idea that maybe he was too afraid to try disappointed him deeply. He’d never considered himself a coward, but perhaps he was.
“You know.” Chance hung his head and his eyes seemed to lose their gleam.
“Know?”
“What I am.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Owl and Wesel said that I was never to mate. Cody was my only hope, but he was wrong smelling to me. They said that was only because I am wrong.”
“You’re not wrong, Chance. You’re perfect just as you are.” Doc couldn’t believe he was making such a mess of this. It wasn’t the first time a patient had gotten a crush on him. He’d always handled the matter with care and kindness. The problem this time was that Chance’s interest was reciprocated. Despite the age difference and all the ethical dilemmas, Doc was fully interested in Chance. But he still didn’t want to take advantage of him. Even if they came together now, Chance would realize his mistake when Doc’s age really started showing after a decade. He simply didn’t want to end up being a burden to a healthy, vibrant young man.
Chance shook his head and swam toward shore. “I am coyote.”
“But so are the other men here.”
Chance looked back at Doc with heartbreak in his gaze. “They are human who can step into coyote feet. I am coyote stuck in human feet.”
As Chance left the water, Doc stared after him and the curious brand made a terrible kind of sense. C pointing to H in a circle. “Coyote turned to human.” Chance wasn’t a human who could shift. He was a coyote that Owl and Weasel shifted into a human.

Chapter 4

Chance didn’t look back to see if Doc was following him. He knew he wouldn’t. He was a powerful member of the human pack. He wouldn’t want a mangled specimen like Chance. No wonder he’d balked at washing him. He probably didn’t even want to touch him in case the ugliness that was on Chance got transferred to him somehow. For all Chance knew, he’d filled the water with his horrible affliction. Maybe anyone who touched it would change.

This idea caused him to look back, but Doc was still there in the water, and still human. Chance was at once relieved but sad, too. Maybe if Doc changed then they could be together. But not if he were healthy and Chance wasn’t.

“Please don’t run away from me.” Doc slowly made his way out of the water.
Chance considered running, but he had no idea where he was. The vehicle they’d been in last night had made travel so much faster than anything he could ever do with his paws or his feet. Doc did not want him, but running wouldn’t solve that problem, either. However, when he looked back, Doc was still hard, just like Chance was. A hard cock indicated desire. Owl and Weasel said so. They had gotten very angry when neither he nor Cody hardened when they put them together in the red room. What they didn’t understand was that neither of them were old enough to mate and both of them were beta. Although, when Chance had seen Cody again, he was astonished to realize he was now alpha and clearly old enough to mate. But he was with another. The one they called Billy was Cody’s mate. Chance had cried when he’d seen their hands clasped because he’d been happy that Cody was alive and had found his mate, but now he was sad because he didn’t have one of his own.
Maybe Doc didn’t think Chance was old enough to actually be able to mate. Owl and Weasel might have left a note or something that bothered Doc. He was a man of letters and learning. Would he take their word over Chance’s?
“I am old enough to mate.” Chance turned and confronted Doc directly.
He stopped advancing and stood on the shore, water dripping off his big body and making a puddle around his feet. Droplets clung to his glasses, which he took off and wiped with a towel from the basket. With his hair wet, the strands of gray above his temples gleamed.
“I know you are old enough to mate. I also think you are too young for me.”
“That makes no sense.” Chance considered Doc’s powerful form from his big bare feet up to his powerful chest, shoulders, and arms. “Are you too old to mate?”
Doc stiffened as if insulted, but then something changed about his features. “Yes. I am too old. You must set your sights elsewhere.”
Chance didn’t believe him. It was odd because Doc had taken great care to never lie to him, but he did now. What was so strange was that the lie was obvious. Doc was older than any of the men Chance had seen, but he was not an old man. He wasn’t doddering or decrepit. He was vigorous and clearly able to complete mating. His cock, his rather large cock, given how it tented the fabric of his clothing, was as firm as anyChance had ever seen. Not that he’d seen a lot, but he’d seen enough while in his cage. However, Doc wanted Chance to think he was too old so that Chance would stop trying to get him to mate.
And then the answer struck. Owl and Weasel had once talked about the notion of seduction. It was what one mate did to another who was not so sure about the possibility of completing the act. There was forced seduction, but that had sounded unpleasant to Chance because it reminded him of what Owl and Weasel had done by forcing him to try to mate with Cody, but then there was casual seduction. This was the idea of making Doc think mating was his idea and not Chance’s. Unfortunately, Chance had no idea how to accomplish something that tricky. He was a student of how humans interacted, and he didn’t think Owl and Weasel were the best teachers.
Still, if he left, he would never have a chance with Doc at all. If he stayed and kept his eyes and ears open, he might learn how to seduce his mate. Because Chance was certain that Doc was the right man for him. He was big, strong, and clearly a protective mate who could provide all that Chance might ever need, but the longer Chance was around him, the more he thought that he could give back to his mate in similar ways.
“I won’t run.”
“Good. I’d rather not chase you.”
“If you do not want me, why would you follow me?”
Doc frowned and turned slightly way. “Because I want to keep you safe, even from your own foolishness.”
“I am not a fool.” Owl and Weasel had called him that for years before Chance understood what it meant.
“No. I’m sorry.” Doc was by his side with several long strides. “You are not a fool, but if you ran away, it would be foolish because everyone here, including me, wants only the best for you.”
Chance believed him, and now he understood more that sometimes words, just like the yips and howls of the beast, could be confused. Just because they sounded alike didn’t mean they were alike. That was why he thought the wordless pictures his kind could share was the superior way of communicating. With those images, little was lost in translation.
“I am hungry.”
“Good.” This time, Doc’s smile was entirely genuine. “You’re recovering so quickly it’s amazing, but I know if we get some good food into you, it will make you heal even faster.”
Doc seemed driven to restore him to full health. Was that so he could get rid of him sooner? Chance decided that he would not be as healthy as he actually felt. He hunched over just a little bit more and walked just a little more unsteadily than heactually was. He didn’t want Doc to declare him fit and then walk away.
“You won’t leave me?”
“No.” Doc wrapped a towel around Chance’s body and rubbed gently at his stilldripping hair. “I’m going to be with you until you’re fully healed.”
“Promise?” Chance would make sure that he was never totally well if it would keep Doc near him.
“I swear it.”
“I want to be near you.” At that, Doc’s chest expanded and Chance feared what would come tumbling out of his mouth, so he lowered his head submissively. “I don’t trust anyone but you to be near me because I am unmated.”
Apparently, it was the right thing to say. Indicating he worried about another alpha swooping in and laying claim to him straightened Doc’s spine and engaged all his protective instincts.
“Not a man on this ranch would hurt you. I can vouch for all of them.”
“Not a man.” Chance looked to the foothills. “What if I would shift and then one of the wild ones, a coyote…”
Doc’s grip on his shoulder tightened as he, too, looked at the buttes.
“Will you stay with me?” Chance slumped his shoulders and made his eyes as big as he could when he looked up.
“Of course.” Doc smiled, but it seemed forced. “You can stay at my house.” As soon as Doc spoke, he seemed surprised at himself, and sensing he was on the verge of rescinding the offer, Chance wrapped his arms around him and hugged him hard, thanking him profusely. He was very careful that their erect cocks did not touch. That would come later.
“Are you angry?” Chance asked as he reluctantly let go of Doc and stepped back.
“Not at all. I’m glad that we now have an understanding.”
“I am also glad.”
Doc picked up the basket and carried it into the barn. “You can dress in these pants for now. I’ll find you some shorts after we eat. I think it will be far too hot for sweatpants today. We’re supposed to have a long run of unseasonably warm weather.”
Chance dressed while watching Doc do the same. He turned his back, but Chance was able to see that Doc’s cock was indeed long and strong, nestled in a tuft of black hair. More black body hair dusted over his thighs and down to his ankles, but his chest, back, and buttocks were bare. His skin wasn’t bronzed, not like some of the other men, but his flesh was firm without any marks. When Doc looked over, Chance dropped his gaze to the floor. Out the corner of his eye, he noticed that Doc seemed at once relieved Chance wasn’t looking at him, but disappointed, too. How strange.
“What do you like to eat?” Doc turned once he had his pants on. Since his underwear and shirt were wet, the khaki slacks were all he had on.
“I like meat.”
“That seems fitting.” Doc grinned. “Cooked?”
“When I was coyote, I liked it raw and the blood was so—I can’t eat it that way in this body.” He wasn’t certain if describing the taste of a fresh kill was the best way to seduce his mate, so he stopped.
“I think that’s for the best.” Doc’s gaze roamed over Chance.
“I am dressed for the house?” Chance had understood the line that Owl and Weasel drew between the building where he was kept and the place where they lived. The only time he had been inside their house was when they took him in to attempt a mating with Cody in the red room.
“You look fine.” Doc fished around in the basket and withdrew a comb. Chance knew what it was even though he hadn’t used one because Owl would comb his hair over to cover his balding head. “Do you want me to comb out your hair?”
Chance nodded but then looked around, unsure what he should do.
“You can just stand there. I’m a bit taller than you, so I can see just fine.”
Doc stepped up behind him, and as soon as he did, Chance felt his body heat radiate into his flesh. How would it be to feel his body against his, skin to skin? As much as Chance wanted to ease back to make that happen, he knew if he did, Doc would simply step away. He needed to get him in a situation where he couldn’t just walk off.
“Turn around.”
Chance faced Doc and found himself staring at his chest. His nipples were low, dark brown, and very tight. He wondered what would happen if he stroked one, but he didn’t. He distracted himself by closing his eyes and enjoying the feel of Doc’s caring hands upon his head. Each time he hit a snag in his hair he would slow down and carefully work it out. It was the kindest thing anyone had done for him.
“There.” Doc smoothed his hand over Chance’s hair and then stepped back.
“It is good?”
“It’s really beautiful. Like a chestnut.”
“What is a chestnut?”
“It’s a nut, a thing you eat, and it has this exact same shade of brown.” Doc stroked his hand tenderly from the top of Chance’s head down to his shoulder.
Their gazes connected, and for a moment Chance thought Doc was going to pull him close and kiss him. He’d never been kissed, but he knew what one was from the television shows that Owl would watch. Doc seemed to catch himself at the last moment, and rather than press his lips against Chance’s mouth, he cupped his shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze.
“Okay, let’s go get breakfast.”
Chance followed him out of the barn, but when they went to cross the yard, Chance let out a howl.
“I forgot about your feet.” Doc shook his head.
All around the yard was soft, reddish dirt, but there was a big circle of hard, pointy rocks in front of the big white house.
“Why are the rocks here?”
“When it rains, which it doesn’t do that often, it turns the driveway into a swamp so Marshal had the rocks put in. That way we can still get the trucks in and out without making a mess.” Doc looked down at Chance’s feet. “Elliot must have forgotten the flip-flops.” Doc looked up. “Let me carry you.”
Chance nodded enthusiastically. The idea of being taken up into Doc’s arms was another good push toward where he wanted to go.
Doc cupped a hand behind his back and one behind his knees, picked him up, and carried him across the yard. He did this easily, which told Chance he wasn’t too old to mate. Once they reached the porch, Doc set him down, and they stepped into the big white house. As soon as they entered, Chance was bombarded with scents, all of them pleasant. There was the smell of age-old wood below his feet and the slight mustiness of ancient furniture. Oil for cleaning, oil for food, and even oil for bodies tinged the air. There were flowery fragrances from laundry soap and dish soap, but he also noted at least three different colognes. But then the most intoxicating aroma made him head straight through to the kitchen.
A tall man with curly hair and the light covering of a beard and mustache was at the stove. He turned toward Chance and grinned. Just like Doc, his eyes were filled with kindness.
“Hi! I’m Cassidy. Chief cook and bottle washer.”
“Best cook in the county.” The man who spoke had gray hair and cold eyes, but they were cold in color not in emotion. When the man with the cloud-colored hair looked at Cassidy, his eyes turned dark with lust but brightened with love. That was the look that Chance wanted to see in Doc’s gaze. Lust, love, longing, and the firm commitment that they would be together no matter what.
“Keep it up because flattery will get you everywhere.” Cassidy left off the food he was cooking on the stove, leaned over, and kissed the man with shiny gray hair. “This is Storm, my mate.”
“Your hair is very pretty.”
“Thank you.” Storm grinned. “Have a seat at the table and we’ll set you up.”
“Any restrictions on what he can have?” Cassidy asked Doc.
“I think he’ll be fine with just about anything.” Doc turned his attention to Chance. “Just don’t overdo it, okay? I’d hate for you to sick it all back up.”
“Me also.” Chance settled at the table and frowned when Doc sat across from him. But then he thought that would be better than sitting side by side because this way he could look at him while they ate. He found he liked watching Doc move. He was very smooth in his motions, almost like he was fashioned of fluid.
“Eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast.” Storm settled a piled-high plate in front of Doc and then a less-filled plate in front of Chance. “Don’t worry. If you want more, there’s plenty. Let’s just see how you do with this.”
Chance nodded.
“Do you drink coffee?”
“No. Owl did. I thought it smelled burnt.”
“Another sad soul who doesn’t know how to make coffee.” Cassidy sighed, but from the way he pressed his hand against his chest, Chance realized he was kidding. Jokes were something he had a difficult time understanding since Owl and Weasel only did jests that were cruel. The men here did the opposite.
“Thank you for making breakfast this late for us.” Doc dabbed a napkin to his mouth before he spoke, something that Chance didn’t understand. Manners? He remembered something on one of Owl’s shows about having good table manners was a way to show respect to his dining companions.
“Thank Dooley for letting me know.”
Doc made a little grimace at that information, but since Chance didn’t understand all the nuances of human expression, he turned his attention to his plate. He didn’t recognize anything there. When he looked across the table, he noticed that Doc was using utensils, like what Owl and Weasel used. Chance had always used his hands, and both men snickered and called him an animal. If he wanted to seduce his mate, he was going to have to learn to eat without his hands and without snarfing and gulping his food down.
Doc looked up at him and then leaned across the table. “If you want something else, don’t be shy about asking. I’ll get you anything you need.”
Chance wanted to say he needed him, but that would be too bold so he shook his head. “I was just smelling. Your food smells much better than what Owl and Weasel had.”
“Aren’t you sweet!” Cassidy smiled at him as he washed dishes with Storm’s help.
Chance watched them with curiosity about how they interacted. They were mates, and he wanted to learn the way they worked together. There was an odd little sound that Storm made at the back of his throat that made Cassidy lean into him. It was a gentle cry. Not one of pain, but one that seemed to call his alpha mate to him. Chance wanted to imitate that sound, but not here, not now. They were eating, so he tucked that information away for later.
After a moment, Doc went back to eating, and Chance observed how he held his utensils. Trying to imitate him, Chance picked up his fork, but he didn’t have the skill to hold it, scoop up food, and then bring it to his mouth. It felt unnatural and awkward. Frustrated, he kept trying because he needed to show Doc that they were similar enough to be mates. If he couldn’t even eat like a human, he was going to put himself too far away from Doc to catch up.
Doc noticed his clumsiness, and Chance wanted to shrink away. How in the world was he going to impress his mate? He was almost totally uncivilized, just as Owl and Weasel had said he was. When humans became coyotes, they could probably assimilate into that world far easier than the other way around. Chance only understood how inept he was from what Owl and Weasel had said. If not for television, Chance wouldn’t have any idea that what he was doing was wrong.
“Did you know that in many countries in the world they don’t use knives, forks, or any kind of eating utensils at all?”
Chance shook his head. He didn’t know much about the world other than what he’d learned in the cage from Owl, Weasel, and television. Owl liked shows about people fighting and fucking while Weasel liked shows where people laughed. Chance liked the ones where people talked and then did things together. Those helped him understand language and the meanings behind human facial expressions. Coyotes had just as much information in their yips and how they moved their features, but it was different for humans.
Doc set his utensils down and lifted his hand. “In many cultures people eat with only the right hand.” He lowered his hand to his plate, gathered some food by pinching it, then brought it up to his mouth.
Relieved, Chance followed suit. He didn’t know what names belonged to what foods, but he liked the crunchy brown-and-white strings blending with the bright yellow-and-white things best. When he asked, Doc told him those were hash browns and eggs. They were so good Chance thought he could eat them every day.
“Why only the right hand?” Storm put one of the bigger dishes away then returned to the sink to help his mate.
“The left is used for bodily functions.”
“Ah.” Storm chuckled. “That makes sense. I wonder also if that has anything to do with people thinking that left-handed people are inherently evil.”
“Left-handed?” Chance understood the concept of right and left, but that expression confused him.
“He’s talking about which hand is dominant in someone.” Doc explained as they ate their meals. He had a wonderfully easy way of sharing information. Hedidn’t make Chance feel stupid for not knowing. Rather he made him feel smart for asking. Doc said with more learning, Chance would know such things in the future.
The food was very good, but Chance felt full after only a few bites. Concerned, he told Doc that usually he ate a lot.
“That’s not surprising that you’re full already.” Doc motioned to the plate. “Can we wrap that up so he can come back for more when he’s ready? I’m thinking every two hours or so.”
Storm took the plate, covered it, then placed in the refrigerator. “Just holler and I’ll heat it up for you.”
After washing their hands, Chance followed Doc back out to the clinic. “What will we do now?”
“If you’ll let me, I’d like to take some readings. Blood pressure, stuff like that. I’d also like to see if there’s a tracker on you.”
“Tracker?”
“We suspect that Cody had one. That’s how Owl and Weasel were able to track him to Utah.”
Chance stopped where he was as every sense heightened. His awareness expanded out from his body in all directions. “They are here?”
“Oh, no.” Doc turned and took his hand. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” Doc moved to his side and placed his arm around Chance’s shoulders. Instantly, he felt safe. “Owl is dead, and Weasel is in jail. They aren’t ever getting anywhere near you again.”
For the first time since he saw his family tossed in the pile of bodies and burned, Chance felt safe. He was so comfortable with Doc that he didn’t even flinch when he showed him the medical equipment he planned to use. Normally, he trembled and curled up in the corner of his cage when Owl or Weasel came toward him with those kinds of things in their hands, but Doc wasn’t an evil man. His hands were warm, and he explained everything before he even brought the equipment out. Doc allowed Chance to touch all the tools and even let him perform tests on Doc so that he understood what the items were for.
“I don’t think you have a tracker.” Doc made a note on the paper on the clipboard.
“Is that bad?”
“No.” He smiled with genuine warmth. “That’s good.”
“The only time they let me out of my cage they had the harness on me and the stunner.”
“Stunner?” One sleek eyebrow rose over Doc’s right eye.
“It was this stick that shocked me. When I didn’t do what they said, they would stick it here.” Chance touched his cock through the pants and then looked up to find Doc wincing. “After two times, I did what they said.”
It was clear Doc wanted to say something, but the words seemed stuck in his throat. In the end, he opened his arms and wrapped them around Chance, pulling him against his chest. On television, Chance had seen people doing this, and many times it was a prelude to sex. It felt good. But to be fair, any contact from Doc made him feel sheltered. It seemed the most normal thing in the world to tilt his head up and look at Doc’s face. When Doc lowered his head, Chance forgot about his seduction plans and kissed Doc.

Chapter 5

Doc tried to stop himself from lowering his head and kissing Chance, but once he started the descent, he couldn’t seem to stop. He just wanted so much to protect him, to reassure him, to wipe away every bit of horror that Chance had ever suffered. When the contact came, Doc felt a spark flash across the surface of his skin and ignite something primitive in his brain. Chance’s mouth was soft, and when Doc increased the pressure by pulling him closer, Chance uttered a whimpering cry of surrender that pressed even deeper into the primordial center of Doc’s baser urges.

All the excuses he’d tossed up to keep them apart fell away in a pure moment of shared comfort. Chance had been through so much, and Doc wanted to do anything, everything, to help him get past the pain. Their bodies meshed perfectly. Chance was smaller, and with his head back, he was at the perfect height to press against Doc in all the right places. Turning into his embrace, Chance hungrily clung to Doc, his hands sliding up to his shoulders. Chance dug his fingertips in as if he was afraid Doc would make him let go at any moment.

Part of Doc insisted he do that right now. This was morally, ethically, and even spiritually wrong. Chance was hungry for safety, and Doc represented that to him, but he could never be what Chance needed. When he was once again secure in the world, his wants would change. He’d wake up and realize he’d hitched himself to an old man who wouldn’t be able to keep up with him. Oh, but how good he felt in Doc’s arms. His body was firm and solid, squirming deliciously against him. When their cocks—both hard—rubbed together, Doc swore the friction almost made him climax.

Doc wasn’t sure what made him lift Chance up and settle him on the countertop, but he did. Maybe the idea was to set him there so he could move away, but he didn’t. Doc parted Chance’s legs, stepped between them, and ground their cocks together, all without missing a beat from their penetrating kiss. Lifting his legs, Chance wrapped them around Doc’s hips. By locking his ankles together, he was able to tighten his legs and pull Doc even closer. Friction made heat, and each movement was bringing him closer to climax. When Chance rocked his hips, working his body tightly along Doc’s, he reciprocated.

How long had it been since he’d taken a lover? Doc couldn’t even remember the last man’s name. His face was there in the recesses of his mind, butthe rest of the details about him were lost. He’d worked at one of the clinics Doc visited during his drive across the US. The man had been like Chance—small, submissive, sweet—but he’d also been hungry for status, something that Doc had no intention of giving him. He’d wanted a big house, shiny cars, and all the trappings of wealth. Doc wanted exactly what he had now. A little house in the country and the satisfaction of doing an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. What he made on the Triple R wasn’t much, but Doc didn’t need a lot to be happy because his joy came from within, not without. To even have one night with Chance would be a blessing. Just one night to remember what it was like to be touched and physically loved by another man.

Grasping his high, tight buttocks into his hands, Doc pulled Chance off the counter and plastered him against his body. The sound Chance made was music to Doc’s ears. He answered in kind by growling and groaning as he lifted and lowered Chance in a mimic of sex. Each pass made them wilder. Each grinding press lifted his need until nothing was going to stop him from finding release.

Tearing his mouth away with a feral cry, Doc lowered his lips to Chance’s neck and bit him as he climaxed. Chance’s fingers dug almost painfully into Doc’s shoulders, but he didn’t stop climaxing and biting Chance until the madness passed. Panting, shocked by the brutal way he’d attacked Chance, Doc settled him back on the countertop and tried to pull back, but Chance wouldn’t let him. Instinctively, he clung to Doc almost as if he knew Doc would be filled with regret for what he’d done. By determinedly refusing to let go, Chance was wordlessly telling Doc that he wasn’t angry, ashamed, or anything other than pleased.

Chance uttered a satisf ied whimper and rolled his hips. “You are strong.”
Doc shook his head. “If I’m so damn strong, I should have been able to say no.”
“No?”
“To you.”
“I didn’t ask you a question.”
Doc laughed, but it was an utterance of frustration rather than joy. “You ask a question without saying a word.”
Chance leaned back so he could look at Doc. His beautiful tawny eyes were curious and speculative. “What question do I ask?”
As crazy as it was, Doc thought discussing Chance’s inherent sex appeal might actually be a way to intellectually distance himself. “You ask a man to toss away his scruples and do what I just did.”
“Did you feel good doing that?”
Doc nodded and then looked down at Chance’s lap. A wet spot on his sweats told him that Chance had enjoyed their rubbing up, too. It was a little shocking to Doc that he’d been so overwhelmed he hadn’t even known until now if Chance had climaxed.
“I also felt good doing that.” Chance touched the wet spot on Doc’s khakis. “I wish to do it again without all these clothes in the way.”
An image of Chance kneeling on Doc’s bed, his whimpering cries drawing him near, made Doc shiver. He would look so beautiful against those salmon-colored sheets. His gleaming hair and sparkling eyes would practically light up Doc’s bedroom.
“We won’t be doing this again.” Reluctantly, Doc stepped away. He’d never lost control with a patient before. Never even came close. What was it about Chance that made him unable to keep his damn hands off him?
Down went Chance’s face as he hung his head. His shoulders slumped, and he slid off the counter. He turned away and Doc saw that his body hitched as if—
“Please don’t cry.” Doc reached out to place a comforting hand on Chance’s shoulder but stopped himself. He was afraid of comfort turning to lust again, and that was not the message he wanted to send. “It’s my fault.”
“I can’t help that I am a coyote.”
“That has nothing to do with this.” Doc felt a veritable explosion of information struggling to come out, but he didn’t want his guilt erupting all over Chance. “At heart we’re all animals.”
Chance turned and lifted his gaze but not his head. “You are an animal, too?”
“I think I just very clearly proved that.” Doc smiled, but Chance frowned.
“Explain.”
After a deep breath, Doc tried. “You are very appealing. You’re young, healthy, beautiful—all the things that make you desirous as a mate.”
Chance grinned and stood taller.
“Not for me, though.”
He slumped and frowned. “You just showed you want me the way I want you.”
“Yes, well, that’s lust, not love.”
“Love?”
“It’s complicated.”
“I am too stupid to love?”
“No!” Doc sighed and struggled to find the words to explain. He considered just walking away or changing the subject, but that would only agonize Chance and leave the door open for more interactions. Eventually, he was going to have to make Chance understand why this was inappropriate. “You aren’t stupid. Not at all. If anyone is the fool here, that would be me.”
“You aren’t stupid, either. You are…” Chance trailed off as he sought the right word. “Horny!”
At that precise moment, Cody and Billy stepped into the clinic with Dooley right behind them. At Chance’s outburst, all three men lifted their eyebrows and darted curious gazes between Doc and Chance.
“We thought we’d share with you what we’ve learned so far.” In his arms, Dooley had the leatherbound book they’d found at the compound. Dooley looked at Doc’s lap, then Chance’s, then up to Doc’s eyes. “Seems you two are having a little learning session of your own.”
“Doc is teaching me about love because he’s horny.”
Why didn’t the earth open up and swallow him when he really needed it? Everyone was looking at Doc with speculative eyes and cheesy grins.
“Horny and love often go hand in hand. I know with my mate, Tristan—”
“What did you find out?” Doc pointed to the book in Dooley’s hands.
“I want to know about Dooley and Tristan.” Chance jumped up onto the counter. “Does he whimper only when you love him? In the kitchen, I heard Storm make a mating noise while he and Cassidy did dishes. Is that a part of the matingprocess?”
“For Cassidy, it is.” Dooley snickered. “A man doing dishes totally turns him on. But I think you’ll have to do something else with Doc.”
“You realize that as a doctor I know a dozen ways to kill you without leaving evidence, right?” Doc had meant it in jest, but Chance’s reaction was one of pure terror.
Chance shrank away by sliding across the countertop and dropping off the far side.
“I was kidding, Chance. I’m not going to hurt Dooley.”
“Why do you anger at him so much?” Chance kept his distance. For a moment, Doc was relieved to have some space between them, but he didn’t want to turn Chance’s lust into terror.
“Dooley is a smart-ass who only wants to cause trouble.”
“No, Dooley is a wise man who only wants to help Doc get what he so richly deserves.” Dooley set the book on the countertop.
“What’s that?” Chance asked.
“A mate.”
“That’s what I’m trying to give, but he won’t take me!”
Again, everyone darted their attention from Doc to Chance.
“Please stop.” Doc met Dooley’s gaze. “You’re only making this so much harder than it already is.”
“He wants you. You want him. What’s the problem?”
“He’s not human.” Cody looked up at Chance, who looked away.
Doc took offense to Cody’s bald statement. “Technically, that might be true, but as I was just telling Chance, we’re all animals. There’s no difference between a coyote and a man other than the obvious. Inside, we’re all basically the same.”
“Except animals are not capable of love.”

Chapter 6

“That is what you want me to understand. Animals do not love.” Chance repeated those words while watching Doc’s face. His features twisted up, and it was clear he was struggling to explain. While they were sharing food, Doc had conveyed information with ease, but out here he was full of halts in his speech, and his gaze seemed to go everywhere but at Chance. Well, he did look at him, but only briefly, almost as if he couldn’t let his gaze linger for long. “I cannot love because I am not human.”

“You arehuman.” Doc took a step toward him, but Chance backed away. He no longer wanted to be close to a man who thought so little of him.

“Not human enough to be your mate.”

Doc stopped advancing, but he didn’t correct Chance. He only looked at him through the lenses of his glasses. Unlike Owl, Doc’s spectacles didn’t make his brown eyes look big like the animal Owl was named for. To Chance, the glass hardly changed Doc’s features at all. But in a way the glasses were like a shield. Doc wore them to keep himself separate from others. Perhaps he did need them to see, but he also used them to distance himself.

“You are afraid of me.” Instinctually, Chance knew he was right. Doc wasn’t afraid of him in the way that Chance had been afraid of Owl and Weasel. Doc feared Chance for another reason. Perhaps what he had felt when they’d rubbed together had been too intense, and it scared him. It had frightened Chance a little, but only because it felt so good he thought maybe it was a dream.

“I am not afraid of you.” Doc looked to Dooley. “What did you find out?”

“You were happy to rub against me, but now that they are here you are…” Chance wanted to bellow he was so frustrated. Human words were difficult for him to speak sometimes, especially when he was angry. “Ashamed. You are ashamed that you lust me.”

“Oh, for the love of Pete.” Doc dropped his head into his hand.

“Who is Pete?” If Doc already had another, then where was he hiding him?
“It’s an expression,” Cody said. “There is no Pete. I didn’t know what that meant either when I got here. It’s something people say when they don’t know what to say. Cassidy is the one who says it the most.”
“You have a mate.” Chance pointed to Billy. “Dooley has a mate. If Doc has no mate, then why can’t he have me?”
“Because Doc is an old man who’s afraid—”
“Damn it, Dooley, I am not afraid!” Doc slapped his hand to the counter hard enough for Chance to feel the vibration at the far end. “I don’t think it’s funny that you feel you can stick your nose in this. It’s none of your business. All you’re doing is hurting a man who has been hurt enough.”
Chance realized Doc was talking about him. After suffering the hurts from Owl and Weasel, Doc decided that he was hurt too much to ever be whole again. That had to be the answer.
“You said that you were too old for me. You say you’re not afraid, but you are. I smell your fear.”
“And did you ever think that because of what we went through, especially Chance, we’re far older than you think?” Cody touched the book and then took his hand quickly away, almost like it had burned him.
“In the cage, I saw Owl change the calendar twenty times. I didn’t understand what it was at first, but I eventually did. Twenty times that I remember.”
“That would make you at least twenty-five, maybe twentysix.” Dooley’s eyes widened. “They kept you in that cage all that time?”
“I watched as they worked on the others, the coyotes in my pack. What they did failed. Over and over. Some would start to shift, but then they would stop. They died in the middle as half-human and halfcoyote.” The memories of their twisted bodies flashed through his mind. “They put them in the pile behind where my cage was. I saw through the window.” Chance didn’t look up. He didn’t want to know what they thought of him not doing anything but watching. He was too little to help or to fight. All he had been able to do was pace the length of his cage and jump up to peek out the window. “They feared the authorities would come because of the smell, so they burned them.”
There was silence in the room.
“The burned mark.” Doc was looking somewhere else other than where they were. His eyes went unfocused, and it was clear he was seeing something that wasn’t in front of him. Chance thought he was seeing a picture in his mind, which actually gave him hope that if they were to mate, they could communicate with thought pictures. “On Google Earth, I saw a big charred mark. They must have covered it after the image was taken.”
“They ripped up the burned dirt and smoothed it around to hide what they had done. After that, they took the bodies somewhere else.” Chance looked upat Dooley and Doc. “When you came, I thought you were the authorities that they feared so greatly.”
Another guilty look crossed Doc’s face, but at least this time he didn’t hang his head. Chance decided he was probably never going to understand all the little things that made Doc the way he was. He was what they called complicated, and Chance found that far more interesting than the people that Owl had described as basic. Basic people were easy to understand. Owl and Weasel were basic. They wanted what they couldn’t have and didn’t care who they hurt to get it. Doc wasn’t like that at all. He cared about not hurting—“Is that what you are afraid of? Hurting me?”
“Yes.” Doc nodded and held his gaze. “You are one of the most amazing people I have ever had the honor to meet, and I think you’re more human than most people I know. But I would only end up hurting you.”
“We will go slow.” Although, after what they’d done just moments ago, Chance wasn’t so sure they would be able to manage that. Doc’s scent and the sounds he made swept over Chance and made him crazed.
“I didn’t mean it quite so literally as that.”
“You are talking about hurting me.” Chance thumped his chest. “Not my hole.”
“Fuck!” Dooley looked down at the ground. “Talk about just laying it all out there.”
“Shut up, Dooley.” Doc moved closer to Chance, and he seemed relieved that Chance didn’t try to move away from him. “You’re right. I’m not worried about the act of sex hurting you physically. I’m concerned that it would hurt you emotionally. You are human, Chance. You have feelings, and you can be hurt.”
“I am more hurt that you reject me.”
Doc looked around at the others then back to Chance. “I’m sorry. I honestly am because if I would have controlled myself, what just happened between us never would have happened. That’s my fault, not yours. Do you understand?”
“No.” Chance looked at the others, too. All of them were listening without trying to seem like they were. Humans were so strange sometimes. In the pack, when two coyotes had troubles, everyone listened and became involved because that was the only way the pack could be strong. They all had to work together, or they would all die together. “I am the only one left of my first pack. This is my new pack. I want to fit in. I want to be a part of things. If they will listen to our problem, then they can help.”
“Oh, whoa.” Billy shook his head, and his long black hair tangled around his face. “I think maybe now isn’t the time for us to be sticking our noses in this.”
“You’re already here. What’s the point of you going and pretending you don’t know what’s going on?” Doc took off his glasses and rubbed them clean with a cloth. “Chance, you fit into the pack fine on your own. You don’t have to have a mate.”
Chance frowned. “If I am to be seen as an adult in the pack, I must have a mate.”
“Then we’ll find you one.” Cody nodded and smiled. “There are lots of men on the ranch. Most of them alphas.”
Out the corner of his eyes, Chance watched how Doc reacted to Cody’s offer to help him find a mate. Doc flared anger and then deliberately composed his facial features to appear unconcerned. However, his hand tightened to a fist and stayed clenched. He did not want Chance for himself, but he did not want him with another, either? It was preposterous. And then Chance remembered a very strange human emotion called jealousy.
“You will help me be more human?”
“Sure!” Cody wrapped his arm around Chance’s shoulders and gave him a sideways hug. “I can do that and help you find the right mate.”

Chapter 7

“I have never seen a young man so happy.” Marshal sat down next to Doc, but his gaze was on Chance, just as Doc’s was. Around the bonfire Chance went again, his hand locked to Cody on one side and Paul on the other. Paul Ditterson was a chemist and a cowboy, not necessarily in that order, but tonight he was all courting alpha. His blue-eyed gaze rarely strayed from Chance. Each time Chance looked at him, Paul smiled. And damn it all to the hell, Paul had a dazzling smile.

Doc wanted to see simple lust in Paul’s gaze so he could warn Chance that Paul didn’t have honorable intentions, but there was a lot going on in Paul’s fascinated gaze. He was truly and utterly smitten with Chance. Damn. Doc watched as Chance took cues from Cody on how to flirt and keep Paul’s interest keen. Chance was a quick learner. And Doc felt like the biggest fool in the world for letting him slip through his fingers.

Another song started up as soon as the last ended. Wade had his fiddle in fine fashion tonight. The man was tall, dark, and silent, but once he had that instrument in his hands, he was a one-man party. Doc wondered just how long it would be before he took a break and everyone settled down to rest for a while. He was hoping it was soon so he could go and caution Cody about what he was telling Chance to do. And then he told himself to stay out of it. What Chance wanted to do was his business. Doc had no right to reject him and then expect him to pine after him. Sadly, that was what his idiotic ego wanted when intellectually he knew that was nothing but foolishness.

“Dooley told me about the book.”

Right now the disgusting book and the delusional plans of two sick men were about the furthest things from Doc’s mind, but he turned his attention that way. Anything would be better than watching Chance find another when Doc wanted him for himself. That encounter in the clinic two weeks ago had reminded him of just how lonely he was. He could have had Chance if he wanted, but he knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. As his doctor, Doc was here to care for Chance, and that was all. It was up to another man to love him, take care of him, and show him all the wonderful ways their two bodies could fit together. Paul was ten years Doc’s junior and about ten years older than Chance. That was about the right age spread, he supposed. A decade was far better than two decades. Even though Doc didn’t want to admit it, Paul was a good man. He would never hurt Chance, and he was far more age appropriate than Doc.

“The book?” Marshal prompted.
“Yeah.” Deliberately, Doc turned toward Marshal, putting the heat from the bonfire on his right side. “Dooley broke the code, and he’s been slowly translating the pages. We got a bit of heads-up from something Chance said. Apparently, they were trying to make men shift to coyotes, but then they got the bright idea to see if they could make it work the other way around.”
“From coyote to human?”
“Right. That’s what Chance is. From what Dooley discovered, Owl and Weasel got part of the formula from some unnamed source.”
“Which confirms our worst fears that there are more of these compounds and more men like Owl and Weasel running them.”
“Unfortunately.” Doc swallowed hard. The very idea that there was a network of men devoted to stealing the secret of shifting was unnerving to say the least because it seemed to Doc if they couldn’t obtain the ability for themselves, they might very well make it their sworn duty to destroy those who could do what they couldn’t.
“We knew there were enclaves of our kind when Storm got that letterfrom his true fathers, so I guess it’s not any wonder there are groups of men coveting our skill.”
“Right.” The romance between Cassidy and Storm seemed forever ago when it was only two months. “We haven’t been able to locate any of them mainly because wedon’t know how to go about looking for them. Our kind, I mean. Well, I guess that applies to the sickos as well. Anyway, Owl and Weasel were able to alter the formula, and eventually they got a coyote to shift to a human.” Both men looked again at Chance,but Doc jerked his gaze away. “When that worked, Owl and Weasel then got the warped idea to try the serum on humans. In the notes it doesn’t say what they expected, but it killed the subjects as soon as they gave it to them.”
“How many…”
Doc felt his bilerise. “At first they kept names, dates, and other information in their coded way, but eventually there are just a series of checks. There’s easily one hundred fifty of those marks.” Each one represented a human life. Someone who had hopes, dreams, and longings all destroyed by two sick men. “Chance remembers being a coyote. Thankfully, he doesn’t remember his transition to being human.” Doc leaned a little closer to Marshal. “None of his family survived the event, so I imagine it was utterly horrific.”
“It doesn’t hurt when I shift back to human.”
“But we don’t know what gave you the ability. It certainly didn’t come out of one of Owl and Weasel’s sick experiments.” Doc sighed as he watched Chance settle down to rest in between songs. Paul left him there alone but probably not for long. Sure enough, Paul came back with a drink for Chance. Doc was on the verge of rising and putting the nix on anything alcoholic, but Paul had brought him a soda, not a beer.
“He told me about the brand on Chance. I’m assuming like Cody he has his own page in the book?”
“Yeah. The pages are marked by the brands and then a two-digit code and a three-digit code. The two numbers designate the state where the subject was from and the three-digit number is a unique identifier.” Doc explained that together they’d worked out what the capital letters meant. “E stands for expendable. If it’s centered in the circle, it means that subject is completely expendable.”
“Cody’s mark is an E bleeding into a circle.”
“That means it’s questionable if he’s expendable. Apparently, they kept some back because they might be of use in mating or using for other experiments.”
“Christ.” Marshal shook his head. “Do I even want to know the rest?”
“Probably not, but I think you should know anyway. P stands for prime, as in prime breeding stock.”
“We haven’t come across one yet.”
“No. We don’t know what happened to them. The pages for the primes in the book end rather abruptly. Chance said he remembered other men coming to the compound and taking some men away. As best we can figure, it was the primes being moved somewhere else, probably for mating.” Marshal looked as ill as Doc felt. “You remember the brand that was on Weasel?”
“The one that Billy had a picture of?”
“Yeah. After some detective work we figured out it was a W in a circle.”
“And it means?”
“W is for worthless. Since it’s in the center of the circle, the man we call Weasel is confirmed worthless.”
“That’s why he tried to obliterate the brand.”
Doc nodded. “I think it was why Weasel was so driven to unlock the secret to shifting. If he could shift, he could prove to himself and whoever branded him that he was not worthless.”
“I thought Owl and Weasel branded Cody and Chance.”
“We did, too. But after looking at all the information together, that may notbe right.” Doc took a breath when Chance rose. For a moment, he thought he was headed his way, but he turned and held his hand out to Paul. Clearly delighted, Paul took Chance’s hand. Since the music hadn’t started up, Doc had no idea where Chance was taking Paul, but he followed along willingly. Doc stared at them as they escaped the circle of light cast by the bonfire.
“Stop.”
Doc turned his attention to Marshal, who was peering at him with such intensity it was almost frightening.
“Either get up and go get him right now or let him go.”
“It’s none of your business.” Doc shrugged off Marshal’s order.
“No, it’s not, but you are making it so.” Marshal polished off the bottle of beer in his hand. “I remember the day I found you hitchhiking on the River Road. I remember how impressed and amazed I was by you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. You were driving across the continent, helping people as you went. Your possessions fit in that piece of shit Ford Escort. You had next to nothing, but you were the richest man I’d ever met.” Marshal leaned close. “Do you know why?”
Doc had no idea so he shook his head.
“Because you gave effortlessly.”
“You’re the one who stopped to help me, remember?”
“Right. And as soon as I found out you were a doctor, I drug you up here because I needed a doctor. Not just for Paul, but for all my men, for the spread I wanted to build. I needed a medical man who would stay and help me. You stayed because you realized you could have something here that you couldn’t have anywhere else.”
“A home.”
“That’s right. Here it is, ten plus years later, and it’s still your home.”
“What’s the point of this, Marshal?”
“You need a mate, and Chance is yours.”
“You don’t know that. He can’t even shift to coyote, so he can’t give that power to me.” Doc had no idea why that came out of his mouth because it didn’t matter to him in the least.
Marshal pulled back, and the look on his face mingled shock and disgust in fairly equal measure. “Is that why you rejected him? Because he can’t give you the power to shift?”
“No!” When everyone around the bonfire looked their direction, Doc lowered his voice. “That has nothing to do with this. I didn’t reject him. I—”
“Dooley, Billy, and Cody all told me that he flat-out said he was your mate.”
“He’s confused. Chance is only attracted to me because I saved him. It’s like Stockholm syndrome. You know? Where hostages become enamored of the man who took them hostage? They identify with him because they see it as a way to survive. It’s a mental trick about selfpreservation. That’s all.”
“Chance didn’t become emotionally attached to Owl or Weasel, did he?”
“Okay, maybe Stockholm syndrome isn’t the best way to explain it.” But Doc had nothing else to say.
“You realize that with Cody changing from beta to alpha that Billy can’t shift?”
“I’m not avoiding Chance because of that. I’m too old for him.”
“What?”
“I’m at least two decades older than he is.”
“So?”
“He needs a younger man. When time passes, and I start to age, he’ll still be young and beautiful, and I’m not going to saddle him with an old geezer.” Doc stood and walked off before Marshal could say anything. It was unbelievably childish to end an argument in that way, but Doc simply couldn’t hear himself speak those words anymore. Telling himself and then Chance the truth had been difficult enough. He didn’t need to tell everyone on the ranch. Hell, maybe he should just have it printed on a Tshirt so he didn’t have to say it anymore at all. When the topic came up, he could just point to his shirt and end the discussion before it got started.
As he walked down the long drive toward his little house, all the heat the bonfire had tossed against his side dissipated quickly. Since the sun had dropped behind the buttes, the night had cooled quickly, and the humidity went from practically zero to at least fifty percent. It ripped the heat from the fire right off his hide, but it didn’t do anything to cool the heat of Doc’s desire. Just because he intellectually knew he was wrong for Chance didn’t mean his body got it. Watching him dance tonight, seeing his smile, witnessing him embrace a new life with a new pack and a new man who wasn’t afraid to love him—Doc’s fist clenched.
Let Marshal believe the worst. Maybe if he thought Doc was a self-serving prick he would relent and never ask him about his motives again. And then the horrible truth struck Doc. If he couldn’t handle a night watching Chance flirt with another man, how in the world would he ever survive the rest of his life with that in his face?
If Paul and Chance did forge a bond, and they stayed on the ranch, because where else in the world would they go, every time the hands got together Doc would have to see them. Just the thought of that exhausted Doc. He wouldn’t be able to handle seeing them together and happy, knowing it could have beenhim. That day when they’d rubbed up on each other the feeling had been incredible, and it wasn’t just the feel of a strong, young body against his. It had been the feel of Chance against him. Plenty of men had looked at Doc with longing, and some had even maneuvered themselves close, but not a one of them made him lose his mind and go purely with his instincts the way Chance had.
Since that day, Doc had been careful to keep his distance emotionally, but that was difficult when he was so relieved that Chance recovered by leaps and bounds. Day by day he grew stronger and became more able to speak English without halting. Under Cody’s tutelage, Chance soon learned how to dress and groom himself appropriately for any occasion. Doc watched his wild mate be tamed, and he couldn’t help but feel that Chance was losing something in the bargain. He fit in better with the men of the ranch, but losing his animal instincts might not be the best thing for him. Still, it wasn’t Doc’s call. Chance wanted to be human in all ways, so Doc didn’t interfere. He simply stepped back and lusted after him from afar.
With the moon almost full, the night was amazingly bright once his eyes adjusted. As Doc looked down the long drive toward his house, he saw his life stretching out just like the road. He could keep pushing on alone, or he could turn around and fight for what he wanted. Who was he to make up Chance’s mind for him? Maybe he would age differently since he was a coyote transformed to a human. Maybe he wouldn’t age at all. Who could say. No one in the universe had the inside track on what could or would happen. That was the one thing Doc thought he already knew, but apparently he had to remind himself that the universe was infinite with possibilities.
Determined to go back and fight for Chance, Doc turned on his heel. He’d barely taken two steps when he found himself surrounded by coyotes. Their eyes gleamed, reflecting the moonlight back, making them appear possessed by unearthly spirits. Doc’s heart slammed in his chest. Fight-or-flight chemicals poured into his system. He opened his mouth to call out, but one of the coyotes yipped. Doc realized that they would drown out any cry he made. When he considered the idea of running, he realized he had nowhere to go. His house was too far for him to make it without them pulling him down. As he looked toward the bonfire, he realized it was about the same distance as his home.
That was when he knew he wasn’t dealing with ordinary coyotes. These creatures were cunning in that they had encircled him at the most vulnerable place along his path. A few minutes earlier or later and he might have been able to run to safety, but not here.
Doc looked around at them again. They weren’t members of the ranch. If they were, they wouldn’t do something like this. Besides, all the men of the ranch, shifter and cowboy alike, were at the bonfire. Once a month they held the get-togethers. Marshal called it controlled chaos. If he gave the wranglers a time and a place to go a little crazy and blow off steam, they were far less inclined to go into town and do it there. So far, his strategy had worked. Tomorrow there would be no chores for most of the men. They would sleep in and sleep off their hangovers.
Doc again considered the coyotes around him and wondered if he would be allowed to wake up tomorrow at all.

Chapter 8

Chance had kept tabs on Doc by looking out the corner of his eye. Just like Cody said he would, Doc was watching everything Chance did. Despite what Doc had said after their encounter in the barn, he wanted him. Pure and simple. What bothered Chance was that Doc believed what he’d said before. He really thought he was too old, but Chance didn’t think so, and neither did anyone else. However, when Cody and Billy had first suggested the plan to make Doc jealous, Chance had said no. He’d thought of it himself, but he didn’t want to lead another man on. In the television shows he’d seen, doing something like that never went over well. Someone always got hurt. Chance was willing to do just about anything to have Doc, but he wasn’t willing to deliberately mislead another man and hurt his feelings. Chance had learned the lesson well from Owl and Weasel that hurting others to get what he wanted was wrong.

“It’s not misleading him if he knows what you’re trying to do.” Billy grinned so wide the smile transformed his face from cute to extremely handsome. Chance was glad that Cody had found a good mate. Billy was attractive, but he was also attentive to Cody like a true mate should be. Chance had asked them about how they dealt with both of them being alphas, and they both said they dealt with it just fine. From the way they could barely keep their hands off one another, they were entirely honest. Even the fact that Billy couldn’t shift didn’t bother him. He said the ability might be there. He just didn’t know how to tap into it. Besides, Billy said there were other benefits that more than made up for that.

Chance realized he meant sexual benefits. And then he wondered if that was another thing that held Doc back. He said he was too old, but maybe he was holding out for a mate who could give him the power to shift because Chance knew he couldn’t. Owl and Weasel had information about other experiments done on those like Chance. To date, none of the coyotes turned human could return to their former state or mate in the full way of shifters. Chance could have sex, but the man he picked wouldn’t swell and tie to him. They wouldn’t in turn shift and mate as animals. Was that what really held Doc back? Given how horrified Doc was about the sick lengths Owl and Weasel went to try to become what they shouldn’t, Chance just didn’t believe Doc would place such a high value on the ability to shift. But then again, human beings were nothing if not complex, driven creatures.

An uneasy feeling suddenly constricted Chance’s gut. Every muscle tightened as his nostrils flared.
“Cody?” Paul was looking down at him. “What’s wrong? Is Doc coming?”
They had come to the side of the farmhouse to see if they could get Doc to follow them. Paul was ready to fight a little for Chance, but he would ultimately walk so Doc could win. It sounded kind of silly and almost obvious to Chance, but the others were better suited to decide what their kind would respond to. However, while he and Paul had been waiting and talking, Chance had lost sight of Doc. When he peeked around the corner of the farmhouse, he saw that the seat next to Marshal was now empty, so clearly, Doc had gotten up, but Chance didn’t see him anywhere.
“Something’s wrong with Doc.”
Paul, too, peeked around the corner. “I don’t see him.”
“Me, either.” Chance stepped out and drew in a deep breath. “I smell his fear.” The scent was pungent and unpleasant. Each passing moment increased the potency of the essence. By closing his eyes and allowing his other senses to dominate, Chance was able to feel where Doc was. “He’s on the long drive. He’s surrounded. Coyotes!” Chance was so shocked he opened his eyes and went running full tilt toward where his instincts told him Doc was. In his hard push forward to get to his mate, Chance ran his feet right out of his flip-flops. Rather than slowing him down, his bare feet gave him even better traction in the powdery red dirt.
Ahead of him, he saw Doc surrounded by at least a dozen coyotes. They were almost all uniformly sized and colored. In the moonlight they looked gray, but Chance knew they were actually reddish brown. His eyes blended the best of both coyote and human, allowing him to have excellent detail, but also his gaze tracked the most subtle of movement. As the coyotes circled Doc, Chance saw their fur rippling. He knew the precise moment when they saw him coming because the largest coyote of the pack turned and walked his direction.
What struck Chance was the animal came toward him. It was almost as if it were stepping away from the others to confront Chance. Were these loose members of his old pack? Chance didn’t see how. Coyotes didn’t live much longer than domesticated dogs, and Chance was well beyond that age. But again, the notion that he knew these animals struck him. Maybe he didn’t know them exactly, but he certainly felt an affinity toward them.
“Don’t come any closer, Chance.” Doc warned him off, his features twisted with fear. It was obvious he thought that if he came nearer, the coyotes would turn from him to Chance, but Chance didn’t agree. If they were going to kill Doc, they would have done so. They were encircling him for another reason. Had Doc inadvertently hurt one of them? No, that didn’t seem right. Revenge was something that animals didn’t feel. Chance had only wanted revenge on Owl and Weasel once he’d embraced his humanity.
“I don’t think they’re trying to hurt you.” The closer Chance got, the more he was able to hear the subtle communication between the beasts. Low growls, yips, and mewlings created thought-pictures that slowly worked their way into Chance’s mind. “I think they need your help.”
There was a hush from all the coyotes as they simultaneously turned and cocked their heads at Chance. He felt their confusion and then a bright burst of hope. As all of them slinked closer to him, Doc’s fear increased to a staggering degree. Chance sensed he was on the verge of running to him to protect him, but Chance lifted his hand, holding him off.
“Chance, don’t. They’re not like you.”
“No, they’re not. But I can almost…” He trailed off because he couldn’t have a speaking conversation with Doc and a thinking- picture conversation with the coyotes. It took longer to form the images and push them than it did to speak words, but in some ways the coyote way of communication was cleaner because it was far more exact. Little was lost in translation when detailed pictures were shared between them. The images they were showing Chance were of a fallen man. He was hurt, and they were unable to render any aid. They’d descended on Doc after learning he was a healer for his pack.
“They don’t want to hurt you. They want you to help them.”
“Help them how?” Doc’s fear scent lessened to a degree, but he wasn’t entirely convinced this was a safe situation.
“We need to get your medical bag and follow them.”
“Chance, are you sure that’s—I mean, I can’t help them much. Dooley would be better suited—”
“One of their kind is shifted into his human form and injured. Without your help, he’ll die.” Chance pushed the picture toward Doc, but his mind wasn’t receptive to the image. It was as if static damaged the picture, rendering it useless. Frustrated, Chance tried to describe the situation, but it seemed to take forever and he wasn’t sure he was entirely clear.
“They’re shifters, too?” Doc considered the coyotes surrounding him. “Why didn’t they just shift to human and ask me for help?”
“Because they don’t speak human. The only reason I do is because I watched over two decades of television.” Chance tried to explain that these creatures were different from what the other men on the ranch were. “Your pack shifts from human to coyote, but these animals shift from coyote to human.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“It’s not.” Chance waved off any further discussion. “Please. They are desperate to get help for their packmate.”
Doc didn’t argue further. “If someone needs me, I’m happy to help. But we’ll need equipment. Tell them we need to go to my house, gear up, and then I’ll gladly go and help them in any way I can.”
Chance translated, and the coyotes understood. They were on their way when they were suddenly surrounded by another pack of coyotes. Even though he’d never seen them shift, Chance knew these were Marshal and his men. They had come because Paul told them Doc was in trouble. Rather than risk anything becoming lost in translation, Chance projected images to them so that they would know in an instant what was going on.
Rather than attack, they fell into line, following Doc, Chance, and the other coyotes to Doc’s house. Once there, Doc and Chance entered. Doc grabbed his battered medical bag. He also gave Chance a pair of socks and a pair of muck-encrusted boots.
“They’re Elliot’s, so they should fit you okay.” Doc held them out and Chance made a face. “I know, they’re covered with dried mud. That’s why they’re here. Elliot was helping me with the gutter on the back of the house and—never mind. Just put them on. Out on the stoop, please.”
“I’m fine without them.”
“Not if you’re going up there to help me.” Doc added some water and what Chance thought was packets of food, but he wasn’t quite sure. He grabbed another bag out of his closet and proceeded to fill that with an eclectic array of items. Rather than argue, Chance pulled on the boots then slipped on the sweater Doc handed him. He didn’t think he needed that either, but he didn’t fuss when Doc’s scent enveloped him. It was like wearing a hug, so he gladly kept it on.
“Can you carry this?” Doc held up the pack, and when Chance agreed, he slipped it on his back. Doc then put a pack on his own back. “And we’ll need these.”
Doc had two lights that they could use to guide them, but they wouldn’t be holding them. These were fashioned on a band that went around their heads.
“I can see well enough without this.”
“I’m sure you can, but when we get to their injured man, we’re probably going to need the extra light so I can determine what’s wrong.”
“You are very smart.” Chance never would have thought of all the details the way Doc had.
“With age comes wisdom.”
“I hope someday to be as smart as you.”
“I think you’re already there.” Doc seemed on the verge of saying something else, but he chose not to.
Chance said nothing as Doc joined him on the stoop and closed the door. Paul and a few other men had come running up, but once they realized there was no danger, they offered to help with the wounded man.
“The more the merrier.” Doc nodded to the leader of the coyotes. “Show us the way.”
The smaller pack of coyotes led the groups up the foothills and over the top of the range of buttes. The leader of the coyote pack sent an image to Chance of where their wounded man was, and Chance in turn sent this image to Marshal. He told Doc and the other men rather than trying to show them.
“He’s up by the old ruins?” Doc asked.
After conferring, Chance nodded. “A sudden rockslide trapped his mate, so he shifted to free…him.” Chance stumbled over the sex because the beta mates were both male and female, so he wasn’t certain which gender designation was correct. The leader of the coyotes said that all their kind were considered male.
“What injuries did he sustain?”
“From the image their leader showed me, it looks like his leg was crushed by a boulder.”
Doc winced. “We might have to bring him down in order to heal him.”
Barely had Doc finished saying that when the leader rejected the idea outright. They would not show themselves to the others in human form. To do so was a grave sin. Chance didn’t understand why, and the leader was unable to explain other than it was simply their way.
Concerned that if Doc saw this member of theirs in his human form they would harm him, the leader brushed off the notion. He was willing to commit that small sin to do the greater good of restoring their true leader to the pack. Chance understood. The one who led them now was second to the great leader. To preserve the honor of his tribe, the leader had refused to let his pack get him help once they realized they couldn’t help him themselves, but his second refused to let him die. Basically, the second went against the leader’s orders because he knew with some aid he wouldn’t die.
Chance asked if they had names, which they did, but they didn’t translate well into human and Chance didn’t think Doc would be able to grasp the complex series of sounds. To compromise, Chance asked if he could gave each of them a descriptive name so that talking to them and about them with Doc would be simplified. The second-incommand agreed, and Chance named him Second. When Second laughed, Chance probed for the answer. Second said it just sounded funny to him because it was like the sound the pups made when they sneezed.
“Are you talking with them as we go?” Doc asked, climbing up and over another swell of sandstone.
“I am learning the structure of their pack. It is different from mine and different from yours.”
“I don’t have a pack,” Doc reminded.
Chance looked back at Cody, who met his gaze and shook his head. Doc didn’t believe he was the focus of the Rough River pack. Doc insisted Marshal was the leader, but both Chance and Cody instinctively felt it was Doc. Still, he saw no reason to argue that with him when it didn’t matter. In their human world, Marshal was the leader because it was his land. But in the other world, it was Doc who the coyotes had come to. And not just for his medical training. Second conveyed to Chance that Doc was a kindred spirit. He was not one of their kind, but there was something about him that drew them to trust him.
“Second says he’s sorry they frightened you. They didn’t know how to communicate that you should follow them.”
“Second?”
“I have named him that because he is second-in-command and his true name is difficult to say.”
“Ah. Tell him I’m not upset. But next time we’ll have to have a signal or something worked out because that just about gave me a heart attack.”
Doc was making excellent time up the buttes despite the fact that he was on two legs to their four. From what Chance could tell, he wasn’t even breathing heavily. Chance wasn’t so lucky. His body ached and his breathing was labored, but he didn’t want to stop, not when the life of their leader was at risk.
Paul stepped up behind Chance and took the heavy pack off his back. Doc looked at them but said nothing. Chance wanted to explain about the whole evening, but now was not the time. Telling him the truth in front of everyone would only serve to embarrass him, and that was the last thing Chance wanted to do. He kept his mouth shut, accepted Paul’s help, and continued hiking.
Second communicated that they were sorry they had been unable to help Chance during his captivity, but with his assistance now, they would be able to render aid. Confused, Chance wondered what they could possibly do for him. In a series of images, Second told him that they could give him back his coyote form, and he could take his place within a pack of creatures like himself. With his ability to think and speak human, Chance would be a valuable asset to all the shifting tribes. He could go anywhere and have his pick of mates.
Chance had thought if he went back to what he was he would be alone, but instead, he would be a shaman to not only this tribe, but all the tribes. Such a position of power staggered him because it was the equivalent of going from pauper to prince. But to claim his exalted place, he would have to leave Doc.
Chance’s gaze returned to Doc now, and the man moved with ease. The younger men with them, Chance included, struggled to keep up, but Doc looked ready to go for days. He was only old in his mind, apparently. Tonight Doc had shown that he was interested in Chance far more than he would admit to, given how his hungry gaze had followed him everywhere, but in the end, he had gotten up from the fire and left rather than follow Chance and Paul to fight for Chance.
As Chance considered his options, he realized that if he stayed with the men of the Triple R, he would eventually find a mate among them, but he and Doc would always be aware of one another. Hunger would be there. Longing would be there. Chance didn’t want a lifetime of second-guessing. If he went with the coyote pack, he would be celebrated and have his pick of mates. Eventually, the image of Doc would fade in his mind, especially if he weren’t around him daily.
When they reached the place where the leader had fallen, Chance realized his destiny was his own. Owl and Weasel had taken away his chance for a normal life, but now he had the opportunity to live happily and eventually forget by going with the coyotes, or he could live in a halfway-harmonious position that would drag out his hurt for ages.
Chance realized his choice was obvious.

Chapter 9

“I need you to hold his leg very steady because this is going to hurt despite the injection of morphine.” Doc had quickly assessed the situation. Their leader, whom Chance had dubbed Leader, had a compound tib-fib fracture. Both his tibia and fibula in his lower right leg were broken and protruding from the skin. The damage was horrific, but thankfully, Leader had been smart enough to keep the injury covered and therefore free of dirt or other contaminants. When Doc had lifted the makeshift bandage, he’d puzzled over the fabric until Chance told him it was woven plant fibers. “We’re going to immobilize his leg so that I can get him down off the butte without further damage.”

Doc didn’t have to be a pa rt of the communication between Chance and Second to know that an intense argument was going on. Doc turned to Second and looked him right in the eyes. His headlamp reflected off his irises, making him look frightening, but Doc didn’t bat a lash. “He’s my patient now. If I have to strap him to my back to get him down where I can take care of him properly, I will. I don’t care if I have to fight you and all your pack off at the same time. Got it?”

Chance didn’t have to translate any of it because it was obvi ous Second was distressed.
Because of their fear of being seen in their human form by any creatures, Marshal and the other coyotes of the ranch, including the unshifted men, stayed well back from the area where Leader had fallen. Leader’s mate’s injuries were not life threatening, but Doc called Dooley over to check him anyway. “Better safe than sorry.”
There was some type of resistance by Second, but again, Doc told him the way things were going to be. Second didn’t acquiesce until Leader himself gave him a direct command to stand aside and let Dooley look at his mate. Since he was in animal form, there was no sin.
Speaking for Leader, Chance said, “He is in awe of you.”
“He is?”
“You are wise and strong. Clearly a good leader of your kind.”
Doc sighed. “I’m not—never mind. What does it matter if he thinks I’m the leader? If it will get him to listen to me, I’m all for it.” Doc used the lengths of several sticks and then supplies from his and Chance’s packs to immobilize Leader’s leg. He might appear delicate, but his bones were surprisingly strong and thick. He’d taken one hell of a hit from a boulder to break the bones the way he had. Wary of using drugs on him because of his unknown physiology, Doc erred on the side of caution by using drugs that were known to be tolerated by every species. In small, judicious amounts, morphine was quite safe for human and animal alike. Still, he injected a minute bit, waited for a reaction, and then administered more until most of the pain abated.
Unlike any human Doc had ever cared for, Leader was very small. He wasn’t childlike, but a curious cross between a human and a canine. His limbs were thin and short, and his head was small and pointed. His eyes were large and spaced widely over the bridge of his pug-like nose. At best, he weighed no more than fifty pounds and stood perhaps four feet tall. His skin color was a burnished reddish brown that reminded Doc of the color of henna tattoos, but it was thick, like well-worn leather. There was hair on his head that was about four inches long and colored the same as his flesh. When he grimaced at the pain, he revealed very white teeth that were pointed, indicating that they were fashioned to tear meat. Doc couldn’t help but be fascinated by Leader. As he ministered to him, he also took note of everything he could. He was fairly certain he was the first human to ever see one of Leader’s kind. Well, perhaps others had seen them, but only from a distance. That would explain the tales of little folk that pervaded so many cultures.
To distract him during the preparation to move him, Doc asked questions through Chance about his life. Leader was a wealth of interesting information that Doc hoped he would remember until he returned home to write it all down. Between the information he gleaned from Leader and what they had extracted from Owl and Weasel’s book, there had been coyotes who shifted to human long before there had been humans who shifted to coyote. Doc’s assertion that it was the same thing was inherently wrong. When a coyote shifted to human, it was a human form that true humans had outgrown millennia ago. Moreover, when Leader and his kind shifted, they cast no shadow, which was a great blessing as far as Doc could tell.
Chance was an anomaly in that he’d been shifted from coyote into the form humans had now. Leader had no explanation for such a thing other than it was the will of the Great One. As for humans shifting to coyotes, he said that was because long, long ago, some of the coyotes had tried to trick the humans and instead had given them the power to shift. But they shifted into larger coyotes and cast off half their weight as shadows when they did shift.
Lately, the shadows had left the shifters of the Triple R alone, but Doc didn’t think that would stand for the rest of time. Their primary goal was to become human. Nothing would ever make them stop chasing that dream. But now that the pack was aware of them, they lost the advantage of surprise.
“Ask Leader if he’s heard of others like Owl and Weasel.” Doc nodded to Chance, who in turn asked Leader.
“He says they know of them and their kind. Weasel is a shadow.”
“What?” Doc almost dropped the end of the gauze he was gently wrapping around Leader’s leg. He tightened his hold and continued to thread it around the braces to keep the exposed bone and cut skin clean. “They know of them and their compound?”
“They do—did. They know it’s now burned. They moved their kind as far from them as they could and the others like them. They’ve been maneuvering themselves close to packs like yours for safety.”
“It’s not my—never mind.” It seemed the more he argued against being the leader, the more they brought it up. “How can our pack afford them safety?”
After a pause, Chance answered, “Because they saw you as allies against those like Owl and Weasel.”
“That makes sense. Do they know who Owl and Weasel are? I mean, how they got started on their sick path?” Doc knew there was no excuse for what they had done. He simply wanted to understand them better. Knowledge was power, and if he could get a handle on those two, he might be able to track down more of their ilk. What he would do at that point he wasn’t quite certain. Although exterminating them came to mind, Doc wasn’t sure he could do something like that. More likely he would call the authorities and have them dealt with in an official way. “Why was Weasel working with Owl when Weasel had been branded worthless?”
“They met because…oh.” Chance seemed stunned by what he’d learned. “Owl is the one who branded Weasel.”
“And he then turned around and worked with him?”
“Weasel stole Owl’s rightful mate.”
“How?”
“Weasel was the shadow of Owl’s mate. He seduced Owl, which deprived Owl of the ability to shift, and Weasel realized too late that he became a human without any abilities at all.”
Doc remembered when Jake Tanner and Nathan McAllister had been forging their bond and Nathan’s shadow had attempted to mate with Jake. If the shadow had been successful, Nathan’s shadow would have become human and Nathan would have become his shadow. Or that was what Nathan’s shadow had told Jake. But to find out that Weasel was unable to shift, the more likely outcome would be that the real Nathan would simply cease to be. Doc decided that the shadow hadn’t told Jake the whole truth because he feared what Jake might do to him. Luckily, though, Jake foiled the plot. He and Nathan mated and their shadows went up into the hills with the other men’s shadows. Since they knew of their shenanigans, the shadows hadn’t been interfering with the men of the Rough River Ranch. Not lately, at any rate. But who knew what the future would bring?
“That was why Owl branded Weasel worthless. He can have sex, but he can’t mate. When Owl’s attempts to obtain another mate—a true beta mate who could give him the ability to shift—failed, he started on his quest to find a way to transform without having a mate at all.” Chance’s words were choppy since he had to translate images into words. Doc was in awe of his ability. However, when he told him so, Chance looked away, obviously upset, but Doc had no idea by what. “He was a shadow who tricked a man into mating with him. He gained the human body but found he’d been tricked by the Great One again.”
“Tricked? And I’m assuming the Great One is their supreme deity?”
“The shadows believe that becoming human is the most important thing. There are benefits to them, but they lose much, too. And they will never find love, not the way real humans do. Because they had to lie and cheat to become human, there is a permanent stain on their soul. Even though true humans can’t see this, they can sense it, and they will inherently avoid those who have stolen their way to being human.” Chance shook his head and lifted a hand to Leader. “I cannot interpret the word pictures so quickly.”
“You’re doing great. Really. I’m impressed that you can speak to them and translate for me.”
Chance gave him a look that brimmed with sadness, but before Doc could ask, Chance turned away from him.
“Is there more that they know about the shadows?”
“They have a—an—ambivalent relationship with them. Since Leader and his kind don’t spin off shadows, they have nothing to fear from them. But they don’t care to associate with them, either, given what they are and how they will do anything to become human. Such lust is beyond the understanding of Leader’s kind.”
Doc considered for a moment as he looked at Leader. “They do not lust?”
Leader smiled, and in the subdued light, there was something rather cute about him. Not that Doc was interested, but he had a feeling that among his people, Leader was considered quite a catch.
“They lust for sex just as humans do, but they do not lust for status, wealth, or frivolous things. Home, health, and happiness. Those are the three things they value most highly.” Chance paused for a moment, his headtilted curiously. “Oh, and honesty. They feel this is the basis of any good relationship.”
“My kind of people.” Doc smiled at Leader, who reached out and touched his cheek. “Why is he touching me?”
“The color and texture of your skin interests him. You are older than most in your pack, but you are stronger than most, too.”
“Stronger how?” Doc had no idea how an alien culture could make such judgments, but he didn’t mind hearing what Leader thought. Who knew what kind of insight a race like Leader’s could have?
“When we arrived, everyone was winded but you.” Chance was looking down at his pants. “You carried the bulk of the supplies, but you were not exhausted as the rest of us were.”
“You’ve been living in a cage your whole life, so it’s no wonder you weretired.” Doc patted Leader gently. “Tell him he honors me greatly. I’m not tired because I’m a man driven to help others. That, and I hike these hills almost every day.”
“I was trying to make you jealous at the bonfire!”
Doc turned and gave Chance a dubious frown.
“Leader said honesty is the most important thing, and I don’t want to go with that lie between us.”
“So you had no interest in Paul?” Relieved beyond what he would probably ever tell him, Doc let out a sigh that eased the tension in his chest.
“No. Paul is a nice man, but I only wanted you.”
“You should probably go and tell this to Paul before he starts building a home for you.” Doc had never seen a man look so utterly smitten.
“Paul knew it was a lie.”
“Oh.” Doc suddenly paused in his work on Leader. “What do you mean you had to tell me before you went? Where are you planning on going?”
Chance met Doc’s gaze. “I’m going to stay here with Leader’s pack.”

Chapter 10

“Will he live?” Chance was seated outside the clinic operating room. Doc and Dooley had been in there for hours with another man Doc had invited up to the ranch. As much as he wanted to do the surgery himself, Doc simply wasn’t qualified, but he knew a good man who would do the work and keep his mouth shut. The three of them had been operating on Leader without a break for most of the night. They came out just as dawn started to creep up the back of the buttes.

“He’ll live. He’ll have a hell of a scar and probably some aches when it rains, but luckily, we don’t see a lot of that in the desert.” Easton, Doc’s friend and surgeon, closed his eyes and rubbed his hand against his neck. His blond hair was tangled across his forehead, and there was a line around his face from the blue bonnet he had worn during the surgery. Chance had instinctively understood that they covered their hair and bodies in an attempt to lessen the dirt and germs that came into contact with Leader’s vulnerable flesh. He grasped this because Weasel and Owl had never bothered with such concessions. It was probably why most of their experiments failed, and why when they had success, they couldn’t duplicate their efforts.

“How long for him to recover?” Chance noticed Easton making a face at him, so he hastily explained, “I must tell his people so they do not worry.”

Doc stepped out, took a deep breath, and then leaned against the barn.
“He’s asking about the time frame.” Easton pointed to Chance.
“Given that he’s unlike any human or animal any of us have operated on, it’s very difficult to say. Perhaps anywhere from four to eight weeks.”
Chance didn’t have to tell the others to know they wouldn’t be happy about that.
“I know that sounds like such a long time, but in the greater scheme of things, it’s the blink of an eye.”
Chance sensed more behind Doc’s words, but he was too exhausted to puzzle them out. “Where will he stay? Who will tend to him?”
“He can stay at my place. It’s isolated and close to the foothills. I can even accommodate visitors if they give me some notice.” Doc smiled. “I really do understand their fear and the shame of being seen in their human form, but they should know now that they can trust me. As for the sin of being seen, we can minimize it to only those who have already seen him. Me, you, and Dooley. That should help, I would think.”
“I will tell them.” Chance thought the images to Second, who told the rest of the pack. Second wanted Chance to be there with Leader. If he would do this, they would give him the sacred elixir and welcome him as a shaman to their tribe. When Chance asked, Second explained that they had a loose connection with dozens of packs all over the southwest. Chance did not have to stay here or anywhere, really. He could go from pack to pack, sharing his wisdom and solving their problems. Chance would be welcomed and revered wherever he went. But they begged him to stay for the weeks of Leader’s healing. “They wish for me to stay with him.”
Doc’s brows went up.
“Once he is healed and returned to them, they will then give me the way to shift back to what I was.”
“Will you ever be human again?”
Chance asked Second, and he said yes, but he would look as he did now and not be fashioned in the way Leader and the others were when they shifted to human. He would not cast a shadow, so in coyote form he would be very big. Even though he didn’t want to tell Doc the truth, he did because he knew honesty was best.
Doc nodded, but Chance could tell he wasn’t happy about the situation.
“I will not bother you. I will stay in Leader’s room, and you can have your solitude.”
“That’s not a problem.”
“You seem upset.”
“I’m tired.”
Chance sighed as he looked toward where Leader’s pack made their home. It was cleverly hidden back behind the buttes where human feet rarely traveled. “I have no further plans to make you jealous or do anything of the sort. Since honesty is so prized by Leader and his kind, I have decided that from here on out, I will be nothing but completely honest with you and all the members of the pack.”
“I would really appreciate your help with him.” Doc didn’t comment on the rest, possibly because his friend was standing right there, and he didn’t want to explain the whole situation to him. Doc turned to Easton. “Thank you, for everything. Saying I owe you one is a horrible understatement.”
“I always knew there was something different about you and the men up here. Now I know.” Easton grinned as he stretched out his tall, lanky frame. “Can I catch a few hours of shut-eye before I drive back? I’d hate to fall asleep at the wheel.”
“Of course. I’m sure Cassidy has made us something to eat as well. Dooley said he’ll take the first watch, so I’ll come with you.” Doc walked off without once looking back at Chance. Apparently, he’d made his decision and he was sticking with it. Chance was sad, but he was not going to keep chasing after him. He had his pride. Instead, he went inside and found Dooley sitting next to Leader.
Tubes and wires led under the crisp white cover over Leader’s tiny body. He seemed so delicate and yet curiously strong at the same time. Chance felt his heart filling with gratitude that they had been able to help a great ruler of his kind. Leader cared more about his followers than most humans could probably understand. They were a family, but the ties ran deeper. They were spiritually bound to the land and one another. When Chance joined them, he would be a part of all that. The notion was a little frightening. To go from a creature in a cage to a revered member of all coyote packs was a little heady. Not that he would become full of himself. If anything, Chance would always remember his roots. He knew just how bitterly cruel others could be. He would not be like that. Chance was sad that he would not have Doc, but he was glad that he would have something else to fill his life and give him satisfaction.
“You can come in and sit by him if you’d like.” Dooley pointed to a chair on the other side of Leader. “I think he’d like that very much.”
“Can I speak to him?”
“He’s pretty out of it, but I don’t see any harm in you thinking soothing pictures to him.”
Chance did just that. He spoke with images of all the beauty of Leader’s home and his people. He showed that his mate was well and waiting for his return. He even shared pictures of Doc’s home and that he would be there to tend to him night and day until the time came to walk with him back up to his home.
“He’s relaxing.” Dooley stood, made a note on his chart, then settled back into his chair. “I knew having you here would be good for him.”
“Thank you. I can’t wait for him to be better and return to his pack. They already miss him so terribly.”
“He’s the, uh, chief?”
“Yes.”
“How old is he?”
Chance asked the other members of the pack. “They say Leader has weathered nine times his claws of winters.”
Dooley scratched his head. “What does that mean?”
“He has nine claws so nine times nine…” Chance was not very proficient in math.
“Eighty-one?” Dooley whistled lightly. “He doesn’t look his age at all.”
“The others tell me that they age differently. Something about their shifting back and forth.”
“I know for our kind there is a renewal that happens when we shift.”
Chance had no idea what Dooley was talking about. “Owl and Weasel were not very forthcoming about what happened to those who could shift. All they talked about was what they would do when they could.”
“What did they want to do?”
“They talked about infiltrating places and stealing things, mostly. There were other things they talked about doing, but those things they whispered about.” Chance had always suspected they were sexual given the natural inclinations of Owl and Weasel. “But tell me what happens to humans who shift to coyote.”
“Well, we regrow our foreskin, which wouldn’t mean a lot to you since you’ve never had yours snipped.” Dooley briefly explained what circumcision was, and Chance pressed his legs a little tighter together. “Yeah, it’s dreadful, but it’s a kind of cultural and religious thing. It’s losing popularity, though. Which is good. Um, let’s see. Oh, we also get a doover with our teeth, and we get this fabulous allover tan.” Dooley lifted his shirt sleeve, and Chance noticed he was the same creamy beige color all over. “We also seem to just generally tighten up, I guess. Like our body is renewed.”
And now Chance understood why Doc might be willing to hold out for a mate who could give him the ability to shift. If he had that, his age would no longer matter. By shifting with his mate, Doc could quite literally be reborn. As much as Chance wished he could give that to Doc, he couldn’t.
“Is that important to your kind? Being young, I mean.” It certainly seemed that way to Chance, what with Doc constantly insisting he was too old.
“It’s not about being young so much as it’s about being healthy.” Dooley noticed when Leader’s breathing hitched. He stood and checked all the tubes, wires, and machines.
“Is he okay?” If they lost Leader, his pack would be devastated.
“Yeah. I’m just a nervous Nelly when it comes to watching over recovering patients.”
“I thought you worked with animals?”
“Hey, animals are people, too.” Dooley grinned and sat back down in his seat. “I’m just as fussy over my furry friends as I am with my nonfurry ones. And Leader is unique in that he’s both. That’s why Doc and I collaborated. He’s like a blend of human and canine. We wanted to make sure we were treating him to the very best of our abilities.” Dooley sighed. “So, anyway, being young isn’t as important as being healthy. We all want that. Who wants to grow old and fall apart?”
“No one.” Chance realized that if he took what Leader was offering him, he would likely become like Leader and have an extended lifespan. If he rejected the offer, he had no idea how he would age. “Do I appear old to you?”
“No. You look about twenty-five or twenty-six, which is about what we’ve estimated your age to be from what you said and the information in the book.”
“And Doc. How old is he?”
“Doc is forty-six going on ninety.”
“What does that mean?”
“Oh, he thinks he’s ancient, but he’s not. Like, well, take last night. Everyone was huffing and puffing their way up the hill and he’s charging up it like he’s on a Sunday stroll. He put all us younger guys to shame. And I was in my coyote body, so it was doubly embarrassing.”
“So you are saying that physically he is a young forty-six?”
“Yeah. But he thinks he’s so old. It’s irritating.” Dooley paused, his eyes narrowing as he considered Chance across the bed. “What’s up with the questions? Don’t tell me you’re not interested in him anymore?”
Chance didn’t answer because he’d sworn to be honest but he didn’t actually know how to answer that question. He wanted Doc still, but he did not wish to cost him such an amazing gift. It would be selfish to lay claim to a man he could quite literally hasten to his grave.
“Chance?” Dooley asked his name in such a way it was clear he was repeating the question he’d just asked.
“I do not know what I want anymore.” And that was the most honest truth he’d ever spoken.

Chapter 11

“He’s healing so fast it’s truly amazing.” Doc closed the door that led to the patio after Leader’s visitors had cleared out and gone back into the hills. To make them more comfortable, he and Chance left them alone so that they could shift to human without committing a sin in the eyes of the Great One.

“He is so happy that you have shared so greatly with him.” “He’s welcome. Honestly. He’s given back to me more than I’ve given to him.” Leader had been very generous in allowing Doc to test his bodily fluids, his functions, and answering all his most probing questions. Once he’d gotten over the initial sting of allowing a human to see him in his human form, Leader was remarkably uninhibited about his physical body, his pack’s traditions, and even his own religious beliefs. In his own way, Doc was trying to write a book that would be the humane example after what Owl and Weasel had done. “If I can understand them better, maybe I can help future members of his pack.”
“He would like that.”
For the last month, Chance had been staying at Doc’s house and helping him care for Leader, but he’d been withdrawn. Doc thought he was distancing himself now so when he left with Leader hewouldn’t be as emotionally devastated. Despite all his claims to the contrary, Chance was deeply emotional. He would have a unique and interesting life living among the coyote shifters, but he would also be giving up a large part of his humanity. Doc vacillated between wanting to ask Chance to stay and celebrating the fact he’d found a place he felt he belonged. Whatever they could have had was now truly lost, and that saddened Doc because he knew he would never meet another man quite like Chance. In some ways, Chance had had the wild tamed right out of him, but in other ways he was freer than he ever had been.
Since Leader was in the lone guest room, Chance was sleeping on the sofa in the living room. More than once, Doc had awoken in the dark of night and come to watch over him. If Chance awoke, he would have simply stepped back into the shadows and returned to his room, but Chance hadn’t stirred so Doc hadn’t been discovered. Night after night, Doc found himself watching Chance sleep and wondering why he’d chosen to go with Leader. Each time Doc asked him about his decision, Chance changed the subject or found some way to distract himself away from the conversation. Doc couldn’t help but take it personally.
“Are you hungry? Cassidy sent over more food than an army could ever eat. All this in addition to the special things he’s been making for Leader.” Given his unique structure, Leader ate mostly raw meat, plants, and berries. Cassidy had become adept at blending those items in a pleasing way. Leader had made a friend for life when he’d asked Cassidy to tell his mate how to make such delectable food.
“I’m not hungry. I’m restless. I think I will go to the pond and swim.” From a basket by the couch, where he’d been keeping his ever-expanding cache of personal items, Chance took out a towel and slung it over his shoulder.
Doc nodded and turned away. Since a month had passed, the moon was again full, lighting the night and turning the range silver and black. Chance was now bathing at Doc’s house, but he still went to the pond whenever he had the chance. It should be good swimming since the new hands had just pulled all the waterweeds from the bottom. Every month or so they did this so the water was cleared for their pond parties. Even though Chance walked up there alone, he probably wouldn’t be by himself for long. It wasn’t hot in the evenings, but nothing felt as good as that cool pond water slipping over a body that had been working all day.
“Come with me.”
For a timeless moment, Doc didn’t think he’d heard him correctly. Chance had been distancing himself from Doc ever since they’d gotten Leader down off the butte. Chance’s request was surprising to say the least, but before Doc could read too much into it, he realized that Chance might be asking him up there so he could say good-bye.
“I’d really enjoy a swim in the moonlight.” Without questioning why he’d agreed, Doc hurried to the bathroom to grab a towel. He didn’t bother with swimming trunks because no one else did. Once Chance had assimilated more to the ranch and needed Doc’s medical services less and less, Doc’s unease with them being nude around each other faded. Chance was no longer his patient so Doc had no more ethical or moral dilemma.
“But Leader—” Doc turned. However just then there was a knock at the door. When he opened it, he found Dooley on the other side. Now he knew Chance had planned this. Tonight was the night when he would tell Doc good-bye. As much as he wanted to understand Chance’s decision to go, he didn’t want him to. After watching Leader and understanding the coyote way, Doc no longer saw such a vast difference between his and Chance’s ages. As Leader said, age, like many things, was relative.
“I figured you both needed a break.” Dooley carried a book with him so he could keep himself entertained while he watched over Leader.
“I’d appreciate it.” Doc wasn’t about to spoil what Chance had worked up the courage to do.
“Go on now. Have some fun.”
Side by side, Doc and Chance walked down the long drive toward the farmhouse. They didn’t speak, but it was a companionable kind of silence. If Chance was determined to go, Doc had no choice but to let him. Still, he decided that he had to do what Leader and his pack so prized. Doc had to be honest. He couldn’t let Chance go without telling him the truth that he did indeed want him as his mate. All the time he’d spent distancing himself had only put him far enough away to see Chance for who he really was, and Chance was a good man. He was kind, generous, honest, and he placed value on everyone he met. To Chance, all men and animals were truly created equal. It was a fascinating and endearing quality that had drawn Doc to deeper emotional attachment than he would have ever thought possible. Watching Chance interact with Leader had told Doc that he’d finally met the man who would understand when Doc couldn’t leave a patient’s bedside. Others had not been so inclined. They had bitched and moaned that Doc loved his patients more than he loved them, but Chance would never be that way. The one man out of many who would understand and Doc had pushed him away. Yet he had one more chance before Chance said goodbye. Tomorrow, Leader’s cast came off, and he would return to his people. Tonight was the last night for Doc to tell Chance how he really felt.
Once they got to the pond, Doc was surprised that none of the other hands were there.
“Where is everyone?”
“They went out to help Paul and his mate set up their new house, remember?”
“Oh, right.” Doc had completely forgotten about the house- building party forPaul and the man he’d met during the month that Leader had been healing. It was another example to Doc that there was a mate for every man. He just hoped like hell he hadn’t thrown away his chance, but he was afraid he had.
“Since the men work on the place all day, they’re staying out there at night to get a jump on the construction work in the morning.”
Doc nodded, remembering he’d been told all of that but given the other issues consuming him he’d forgotten. Since winter wasn’t too far off, Paul and his mate needed the place done so they could settle in. “Do you think it will be a harsh winter this year?”
“It feels like it will be.” Chance hung his towel up on one of the lower branches of the big cottonwood tree that grew near the pond. “Leader says it will be the harshest winter he’s ever known.”
“Feels it in his bones, does he?” Doc hung up his towel, too, and tried not to watch Chance toe off his flip-flops and slide down his pants, but he couldn’t help himself. Not that he berated himself too much. If his plan to claim Chance backfired, Chance would soon be gone, so Doc better enjoy the sight of his beautiful body while he could. He needed something to tide him over the rest of his life.
“That, and he says he can taste the snow brewing up north.” Chanceclosed his eyes and finger combed his hair back. He wasn’t preening or attempting to draw attention to himself. Chance simply enjoyed being naked. Given his true form as a coyote, it wasn’t much wonder he found clothing uncomfortable and confining.
“Can you feel it coming?” Doc asked.
With his hands clasped together and resting on the back of his head, Chance sniffed deep. “I think it will be a killing winter.”
“What does that mean?” Doc toed off his Tevas and then slid off his shorts. He hung them up near his towel and then put his glasses in the pocket. He could see well enough without them, and he’d rather be a little blind then lose them altogether. Leader had been fascinated by them. His people had nothing like them, but their eyesight didn’t degrade.
“There were times when the winter was so cold it would kill the pups in their sleep. I never saw such a sight, but…”
Chance didn’t have to finish that thought. He’d never seen it, but he’d seen visions far worse. “Your kind spoke of it?”
“They whispered of it.” Chance opened his eyes, and together they walked into the pond.
Lukewarm water lapped up his legs, calling him deeper with the promise of soft comfort. “They didn’t paint mental images to send to one another?”
“No.” Chance ducked below the water then emerged, brushing his hair back. “None wanted to have the image placed forever in their mind, so it was spoken in the way we talked. Yips, coos, that type of thing.”
“How can we help Leader and his pack?”
Chance startled back a bit. “You would help them weather the upcoming winter?”
“I thought I’d made it more than clear that I want to do anything I can to help them. I mean, really, after rendering medical care, putting him up in my home—I thought it was obvious that I would help them in any way I could.” Doc was surprised that Chance didn’t intuitively understand that. Maybe his deeper connection to Chance was all one sided.
“I think that might be all they will accept. It is already so generous.”
Doc ducked under the water and emerged with his head tilted back so the water would smooth his hair out of his face. “I would gladly do more. As would the others. We want to be friends with them, Chance. Not just for now, but for always. I think they can help us find and communicate with the other shifter enclaves.” A wealth of information was there between all the groups. Surely, if each could contribute what they’d learned, Doc could put together a book that would serve their kind until the end of time.
“So you can find a mate.” Chance looked simultaneously stricken and happy.
“Wait, what? You think I’m only trying to find out where the other shifter groups are so I can find a mate?” In a way, Doc was relieved that Chance had brought the idea up because he wasn’t sure how to get them started on that conversation. “I want to find them so I can—”
“A mate could restore you!” Chance seemed to realize he’d just yelled at Doc for no reason. He clapped his hand over his mouth, but it was too late. The information had been spilled.
“Restore me?”
“I should keep my thoughts to myself.” Chance swam away from him, but Doc followed.
“You really can’t swim away from me. The pond isn’t that big.”
Chance turned and met Doc’s gaze. “It is the one thing I cannot give you no matter how much I wish I could. I asked Leader if there was a way I could give that gift to you, and he said no. That was not something I could share.”
“You think that’s what I’m looking for?” Doc had well- documented proof that when the men shifted they extended their lifespan. The case was the same with Leader and his pack. They were not able to heal themselves by shifting, but they were able to restore themselves on a cellular level. If Leader had shifted back to coyote with his injury, he would still have a broken leg, but the cells themselves would have been renewed. “You think I’m holding out for a mate who can stop me from aging?”
“I don’t think you are deliberately doing that, but you would be wise to do that.” Moonlight made Chance’s tawny eyes look black and fathomless.
“So if I wanted you now, you would say no?” Doc didn’t know what the hell he was doing. He’d told himself he had to let Chance go, but then when he’d seen him with Paul he’d done a slow burn. Then finding out it was all a ploy to make him jealous actually gave him the courage to tell Chancethat he did want to be with him and they’d overcome whatever odds were against them, but then Leader had come along and offered Chance a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “We’ve been back and forth with one another, but it seems to me neither one of us is willing to make a commitment.”
“Are you?”
“I don’t want you to miss out on what Leader can—”
“I did not ask you that!” Chance swam close to Doc but not so close as to touch him. “I asked if you were willing to make a commitment to me no matter what is offered to me or to you or to anyone.”
A hundred reasons why they shouldn’t be together rose up in Doc’s mind against the one reason why they should be. Love. As much as he considered himself a hardheaded realist, it seemed he was a romantic after all. “I am.”
Chance stopped swimming and would have gone under but for Doc reaching out to pull him into his arms.
“I kept telling myself it wasn’t right, that you should be with a man your own age, or one at least much closer to it, but we don’t know what life will bring. Who knows what will happen? And whether I have one year or a hundred years on this Earth, I want to spend them with you.” Doc lowered his lips and kissed Chance. Bliss unlike anything he’d known filled his entire body. Squirming against him, Chance managed to wrap his entire body around Doc, clinging to him almost as if he worried Doc would send him away again. But he wouldn’t. Not this time. Each kiss built on the last until they were hungrily grinding together, using the water to float their bodies.
“I want you. I want only you.” Chance kissed Doc’s chin, his chest, and then across his shoulders. “Tell me that we will work this out.”
“We will. I know we will.” Doc pulled Chance from the water and up onto the shore. He wanted him with a hunger that was almost making him crazed, but he also wanted to make his first time magical.
“What is wrong?” Chance looked around as if he would see someone had come upon them, but there was no one.
“I want to give you everything.”
“Just give me you. I am not greedy.”
Doc chuckled and took Chance to the farmhouse. With most of the men out at the house building, they should have the place almost to themselves. He slipped inside and then took him up to the first floor. The bedroom down the hall and to the right was reserved for visiting guests. It had no bathroom, but it had a bed, and that was all they needed. With their hair still dripping, they tumbled into bed, and Doc explored every inch of Chance. Each time he touched him, his whole body responded. It was as if he were a wild creature slowly being tamed by Doc’s tender touches. Squirming, sighing, and stretching out along the entire surface of the bed, Chance silently begged for more, but Doc took his time.
“Please, I want to feel you inside me.”
Doc almost lost control right then and there. “I want that, too, believe me, I really do. But I don’t want to rush. You only have one first time.”
Chance looked up at him then, his eyes questioning. “How long has it been for you?”
“Ages.” Doc left it at that because he couldn’t even remember the last time since it had been so long ago. “But this time is the first of many.”
Chance’s smile was so wide it practically lit the room. “I will be a good mate to you.”
“I know.” Doc eased him onto his back and then teased his tongue around one nipple then the other. “You won’t miss what Leader was offering?” A part of Doc wanted him to shut up because asking would only remind Chance of what he was giving up, but he felt if he didn’t, they weren’t starting this off on the right foot. They had to go into this with their eyes wide open and their hearts and minds clear.
“I think I would have been lonely being what he wanted me to be. I would have been a part of them but separate from them, too. Here, with you, I am fully a part of things.”
“You will be. I promise.”
“And you would not take another?”
“No.” Doc eased his hand down and parted Chance’s legs. “I don’t want anyone but you.”
“Even though I cannot restore you?”
“Enough of that, do you hear me?” Doc teased his fingers over Chance’s straining prick and his tight balls. “Just being near you restores me plenty. Got it?”
Chance laughed and then gasped as Doc’s fingers slid lower. His eyes rolled up and then he closed them as Doc continued to stroke and tease the tight puckered flesh of his ass. Each caress caused a shiver to run through his mate, which somehow transposed itself to Doc. He swore he felt Chance’s pleasure radiate out and fill him. After trying so determinedly to let him go so he could find another, having him in his arms was doubly special because Doc knew this was right. No more second-guessing. No more sacrificing what he wanted in an effort to give Chance what he thought he needed.
“My only regret is that I wasted so much time.”
“I expect nothing less from a man who thinks as much as you do.”
Doc chuckled as he licked his way down Chance’s body. “Is that what it is?”
“You are who you are, and you wouldn’t be you without thinking something into the ground.”
Kissing his sleek, powerful form while gently working him open, Doc slowly eased his way between his mate’s legs, spreading them wide. In the moonlight, his hole was a dark spot against his tanned flesh.
“What—oh.”
Chance didn’t have to ask what Doc was doing when he softly tongued his tight hole. His entire body arched up as a cry of pleasure rose into a whimper of need. Just as the sound had before, it pushed something so primitive in Doc he was barely able to remember that he was human and not a beast. He tried to reject the animal that strained to come forward, but he was unsuccessful. Each cry, each squirming show of need, burrowed into the most primal part of his being until he answered in kind.
Growling, Doc rose up over Chance. He yanked open the bedside drawer, fumbled for the lube that his gut told him would be there. When he found it, he slathered his cock hastily and then smeared some over Chance’s cock. Just when he didn’t think he would have any control at all, he found one last shred.
“I want to taste you.” Doc stroked his hand up and down Chance’s prick, loving the way he rode against the strokes. His entire body was one long line of undulating muscle, primed for release.
“I can’t—I’ll never last if you—oh, fuck.”
Clearly the other hands had been teaching Chance dirty words because he certainly didn’t learn that from television. Doc lowered his mouth around the very tip of Chance’s cock and sucked while continuing to pump his fist along his shaft. Chance’s breathing was choppy, and he kept holding his breath, almost as if he would hold off his orgasm if he could just stop breathing for a moment, but of course, he couldn’t.
Rising up, Doc added to his torment by sliding one finger deep inside his bottom to rub his prostate while sucking and stroking him. Chance didn’t seem to know what to do with the onslaught of sensations, so he held perfectly still while Doc excited every bit of his form.
With a whimper of surrender, Chance came, and Doc didn’t stop with his teasing strokes until Chance went limp on the bed. Pleased with himself, Doc climbed up beside his mate and gave him time to recover.
“I think I saw a vision.”
Doc’s eyes went wide. “A vision?”
“Oh, yeah. I think you’re a god because you made me see heaven.”
“Smart-ass.” Doc pulled him close and kissed him. “That good, huh?”
“Completely. I knew it would be amazing after what happened in the clinic. I’ve never felt that intense, that overwhelming urge to blend my body with another.” Chance placed his hand on the back of Doc’s neck. “Finish me. I want to know you. All of you.”
Layering pillows behind his back, Doc had Chance recline, but his head was higher than his hips so that he could see everything Doc did. “I want you to watch me, and I want to watch you. I want to make sure I don’t hurt you, but I also want to see your pleasure.”
“That day in the clinic, you were so hungry for me.”
“I am now, too, but it’s tempered by the fact that if I’m not careful, I could hurt you. And I don’t ever, ever want to hurt you.”

Chapter 12

“I trust you completely.” Chance settled back on his mound of pillows as Doc knelt between his legs. Even though Doc had compelled the most body-shattering climax out of him, Chance was hard again. Even when he’d tried so desperately to leave him alone so he could find a mate who could restore him, Chance couldn’t help but slip his hand into his pants each night before he finally found sleep. Unsure if what he was doing was some kind of dark magic that might inadvertently bind Doc to him, Chance had finally worked up the courage to ask Leader.

Using images and low growling words, Leader explained that both man and coyote found solo pleasure. In the eyes of the Great One, there was no sin. Better to release the lust than to claim one who did not wish to be claimed. Chance had been relieved that he was essentially normal. Lately, belonging and fitting in mattered more and more to him.

Leader had told him that the time had come for him to decide what he would do because Chance stood at the crest of two widely diverging paths. One way would take him to become a respected shaman of the coyote packs. The other way would take him down a more obscured road as Doc’s mate.

Desperate for answers, Chance had probed Leader and his kind to see what they thought he should do. Everyone gave him a different answer. Without a clear consensus, he was even more confused, until Leader told him that no one but Chance himself could answer what he should do. In a beautiful word picture, Leader had told Chance to follow his heart. In life, and in love, only the heart could truly tell him what was most important to him.

Chance had walked away from their talk with his head spinning. There was so much to consider. So many different ways that he could go with a multitude of outcomes, but then he went out to the pond, stripped off his clothes, and sat very still in the water. For the first time, Chance listened to his heart. At first all he heard was the gentle lub dub of the organ beating, but once he moved beyond that, he heard other sounds. Chance heard the cries he’d made when he and Doc had rubbed together. He heard the hard, hot panting of Doc’s breath as he lifted him and crushed him against his powerful body. He heard the pain when Doc had seen Chance dancing with Paul. And then he’d heard the longing when Doc watched over him as he slept.

Astonished, because Ch ance hadn’t known Doc was doing such a thing, he’d kept his eyes closed and kept listening to his heart as it told him that despite what Doc had said, he wanted him almost desperately, but Doc didn’t want to stand in Chance’s way.

Opening his eyes, Chance had seen the world with entirely new eyes. He’d listened to his heart, and his heart told him that the path that would give him the greatest satisfaction was the path that included Doc.

Doc wouldn’t make Chance happy, as that was entirely up to himself, but his joy with his life, his sense of greatest pleasure, and his ultimate satisfaction was with Doc at his side. All he had to do was reach out his hand and offer himself to Doc.

Tonight, he’d done that. When he’d first asked Doc to come to the pond with him, Chance was ready for him to immediately say no, but he’d hesitated, and ended up saying yes.

Again, Chance had tried to give Doc an out by reminding him that Chance couldn’t give him as much as another mate could, but Doc hadn’t cared about that. All Doc’s decisions had been based on what he thought was best for Chance. Apparently, when Doc listened to his heart, he discovered that he wanted Chance just as much as Chance wanted him.
“I swear to be the best mate I can for you.”
“I swear I will do the same for you.” Doc lowered himself over

Chance. He balanced his weight on his strong arms, and Chance waited for the intimate contact to come. Ever so slowly, with their gazes locked on one another, Doc eased his cock inside Chance.

The initial contact was so intense Chance almost startled back, but instead he lifted his hips, embracing Doc with his body. Slowly he slipped inside, stretching Chance around him. The feeling of fullness was tempered by the longing to have Doc nestled all the way down and in. Chance wanted to wrap himself around Doc’s entire body, but he contented himself with grasping his buttocks in his hands.

Doc tensed, clearly afraid Chance would pull him in too deep too fast, but Chance just wanted to feel the potential power of his mate. Even partially flexed, Doc’s buttocks were strong, and Chance shivered because he remembered how Doc had rubbed up on him in the clinic. This time, there wouldn’t be anything separating them.

Deeper Doc went and Chance struggled to accommodate his girth, but the pain was transitory whereas the pleasure was abiding. When Doc withdrew entirely, Chance swore his soul cried out.

“Please don’t stop now!”

“I’m not stopping.” Doc was breathing hard. “I’m trying not to climax.”
“Oh.” Chance wrapped his legs around his mate’s hips, snuggling him back inside. “If you find release early, I won’t mind.”
“I will.” Doc grinned. “It’s an alpha thing. We typically like to last longer than one thrust.”
Chance laughed, and his movements tightened him around Doc.
“Oh, you beautiful creature, you.” Doc kissed him a dozen times as he settled in as deep as he could get.
Chance uttered a cry of surrender mixed with bliss. Finally, after what seemed forever, he was claimed by his rightful mate. Doc dug his hands into the bedcovers, grasping them in his effort to stave off his climax, but he was unsuccessful. Rocking gently, with Chance’s heels digging into his buttocks to pull him tight, Doc came, growling as he lowered his mouth to Chance’s neck.
Just as he had that day in the clinic, Doc sucked at his flesh, marking him as his climax tightened his entire body. Chance went limp below his dominating force, which only encourage Doc to go deeper and suck harder.
When Chance softly cried, “I love you,” Doc curved over him, tightening his hold, drilling his prick deeper, and darkening the mark on Chance’s neck.
Only when he’d stopped climaxing did Doc lift his head, meet Chance’s gaze, and whisper back, “I love you.”
Chance couldn’t remember ever feeling so happy. Finally, he was with his rightful mate. Reaching up, he stroked his fingertips over Doc’s face, loving the way he looked at him. It was the same look he’d seen Storm give Cassidy in the kitchen the first day he’d been on the ranch. Chance had envied that expression and desperately wanted to see Doc glance at him with those emotions in his gaze. Now he knew it felt even better than he ever imagined it would. It was a look brimming with lust, love, longing, and the firm commitment that they would be together no matter what.
As Doc continued to peer down at him, Chance noticed that something changed. Not between them but within them. Chance felt a new and far deeper awareness of himself and all the other coyotes near him. Whatever was happening inside his body, it was clearly affecting Doc as well because his eyes widened.
“Chance?”
“I’m here,” Chance whispered, kissing Doc lightly. Doc was right above him, but he seemed miles away.
“Do you feel that?”
“I feel something.” A true mating between a beta and his alpha produced a distinct physical transformation that tied them together. That had not occurred with him and Doc, but something else was changing. Chance didn’t know exactly what their mating had accomplished, but judging by the expression on Doc’s face, it was something far beyond what had happened to the other mated pairs.

Chapter 13

“So this is a list of the other shifter enclaves?” Marshal considered the paper as he sat at the kitchen table. Several other men gathered around as Doc and Chance shared what they’d learned. It was two days after his mating with Chance and the amazing transformation that he had yet to reveal to the others. Outwardly, Doc looked much the same, but inwardly, he was substantially altered.

“A partial list of those closest to us. And there were more, but some disappeared. Leader thinks that the groups of men like Owl and Weasel drove them out.”

“Did they—God, please tell me I’m wrong, but did Owl and Weasel kill them?” Marshal looked positively green, and it wasn’t any wonder to Doc. The very idea of Owl and Weasel wholesale killing their kind was sickening.

“Thankfully, no. They got wind of them and moved before those like Owl and Weasel could do anything to them.” Doc turned and met Cody’s gaze. “In doing our research on the book, and in speaking with Leader, who was able to confer with other packs, we realized something we thought about you wasn’t true.”

Cody obviously braced himself for bad news because his body tensed and he took Billy’s hand. Even though their mating had been different, the two were fully committed and deeply in love. Billy couldn’t shift, but Doc had a feeling it would eventually happen for him, and probably in a unique way.

“Remember when we thought they found you because they had placed a tracker in you?”
Cody nodded.
“They didn’t. What they did was allow you to think you were breaking free when actually they let you go so they could follow you.”
“Why?” Cody turned pale.
“They wanted to find another enclave of shifters. They thought if you followed your mate, as you did, you would lead them right to another group they could prey upon. But you only led them to Billy.”
“And I was living alone,” Billy said.
“Right.” Doc nodded. “That’s why they were trying to take Cody back. If he wasn’t going to lead them to others, they were going to take him home for more experiments.”
Cody turned even paler. He had come so terrifyingly close to ending up in their clutches a second time.
“I’m sorry to state it so baldly as that, but we need to get the truth out there. We need all of you to understand that even though Owl and Weasel are out of the picture, there are others like them. Other compounds scattered around the US. We need to be prepared.” Doc would play a major role in getting them ready even though he hadn’t wanted to. Now he knew why he so vigorously resisted the idea of being the focus for the pack. With leadership came tremendous responsibility. Tough times and difficult decisions were coming and all Doc could hope was that he’d be strong enough to see things through.
“How can we be prepared?” Elliot, Marshal’s mate, moved a little closer to Marshal’s comforting presence.
“We’re lucky in that we have the entire Rough River valley to ourselves. Because of the buttes surrounding us, we have a built-in barrier. They could get to us, but it would be difficult, and we’d see them coming, especially now that we’ve joined forces with Leader and his pack.” Doc explained how the coyote packs were able to communicate over vast distances because of their unique method of sending thought-pictures. “This gives them near-instantaneous communications, so if these sickos strike anywhere, we’ll know almost as soon as it happens.”
“How?”
“Because Leader can communicate with me.” Chance kept his voice low and even, but Doc could sense the glimmer of pride he had at being the only one who could communicate directly with Leader and his pack.
“When I’m a coyote, why can’t I communicate with them?” Dooley asked.
“Because your brain isn’t wired the way Chance’s is. Remember that he was originally a coyote and now he’s human. As much as I thought it was the same, it’s different.” Doc reached under the table and squeezed Chance’s thigh. There was so much more they had to tell everyone, but they were going slowly so as not to dump too much on them at once. Even though Doc had had two days after their mating to come to grips with what happened, there was still a part of him that simply didn’t believe the amazing gift he’d been granted.
Chance smiled at him, and they shared a moment of silent communication that none of the other couples could duplicate. Doc and Chance’s connection allowed them a deeper way to share information. It was a combination of words, images, sounds, smells— all their senses—sent to one another. There were times when Doc could taste what Chance did, and he could hear what he did, and vice versa. So far the others didn’t have anything quite like they did. Not that being unique mattered to Doc. The only thing that mattered was he and Chance were fully committed to their union. They may not havemated like the others, but that didn’t make their bond any weaker. In some ways, given what had occurred, their bond might be one of the most powerful.
“So, using this system, Leader would be able to tell Chance, who could tell us, where these evil compounds are?” Marshal’s brows lifted as if punctuating his question.
Doc didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking. “That’s right. And as they say, knowledge is power.”
“You’re thinking that we can go in, get the people—creatures— whatever—out of there, and then turn them—the bad guys—in?” Jake, their resident attorney, seemed to be completely behind that idea.
“I vote we just burn the places to the ground.” Storm lifted his hand and shook his head. “I know, we can’t do that because we might hurt innocent people. I’m just saying destroying everything would make me feel a lot better.”
“I can understand that. Really, I can. If anyone can understand wanting to utterly destroy those places, it’s me.” Chance touched his hand to the table, and Doc noticed how callused his fingers had become. With all the work he was doing to build the clinic on the ranch, he was becoming stronger and more self-confident every day. Having a trade in addition to his ability to communicate with the coyotes was important to Chance. Doc had innately understood. Chance had tried his hand at a multitude of tasks on the ranch and discovered that construction was something he had a natural gift for. He also loved creating something out of nothing. “The problem with setting fire to them is that yes, doing so might hurt innocent people, but we also risk bringing attention to ourselves. That’s something we want to avoid at all costs.”
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
“We’re going to need a group of men to go into these places.” Cassidy rose and retrieved the coffee carafe. He filled all the cups, set the carafe aside, then settled back at the table near his mate. “We need to remove all the people there, but we also have to get all the information. If Owl and Weasel had abook, I’m sure these other places do, too. We not only need that information to help us help those who were injured, but in the wrong hands…”
Doc nodded. “If someone were to crack their code, they might think they’d stumbled upon some delusional fiends, but it might be enough to lead them to shifter enclaves. I can’t even imagine what would happen if the authorities got wind of our kind.”
“Or Leader’s kind,” Chance added. “We need to make sure we go in and basically sterilize the place.”
“But what do we do with the perpetrators?” Marshal asked. “We can’t leave those kinds of loose threads around.”
“We let the police do their thing.”
“But that still leaves us vulnerable.” Vance rubbed his chin on the top of Skylar’s head since he was sitting in his lap.
“In a way, it does.” Doc agreed with Vance. “But we’ve already seen what happens to them once they are in jail. Weasel has been in police custody all this time, and he’s said nothing. They’ve charged him with several crimes, but he’s basically in limbo because he has no record and no papers to say who he is. He’d rather rot there than tell them who he is. I have no idea what will happen to him, but eventually he’ll probably be released since they really have nothing on him. It’s obvious he didn’t kill Owl since there are bite marks on Owl’s throat that aren’t human.”
“Then that means he’ll simply find another group and hook up with them.” Skylar shivered, and Vance wrapped his arms around him a little tighter.
“Right. And eventually we’ll come across him again. If he is picked up a second time, he’ll be in the system. Hopefully, there will be evidence of some kind of crime so they can put him away.”
“I don’t like the idea of him harming others between the time he gets out and the time they catch him again.” Storm seemed truly bothered that they didn’t have a more permanent solution.
“We can’t kill them.” Doc wished he felt differently, but he didn’t. To him, all life was sacred. Even the horrible fiends who could harm others without a qualm should be shown mercy.
“Why not? They kill, maim, and harm our brothers, so why can’t we retaliate in kind?”
“Because we’re supposed to be the good guys.” Marshal’s moral compass seemed to align with Doc’s.
“Yeah, well, good guys finish last if they finish at all.” Storm rose asif to leave, but Cassidy’s hand upon his arm convinced him to settle back at the table.
“We need to talk this out. You walking away solves nothing.” Cassidy turned to Doc, assessing him with those cinnamon-sweet eyes of his. “I know this will come as a shock to all of you, but I’m actually in agreement with my mate.”
“The former vegetarian and total pacifist thinks we should kill people?” Dooley shook his head. “I’ve got to ask why.”
“Because I don’t want them hurting anyone else. It’s like choosing the lesser of two evils. Killing is wrong, but if killing one man saves hundreds, then I have to vote my conscience and say we kill that one.” Cassidy sighed. “I know it sounds horrible, but some of these people aren’t even real people. Weasel is a shadow who basically stole his human body. How is killing him wrong when he’s not even human?”
There was silence at the table.
“Well, I guess Cassidy has said what I think we need to do.” Doc tapped his pen on the pad of paper that he’d written his agenda on. They’d discussed all the items that needed to be talked about, but now they were down to the nitty-gritty on the most pressing situation that had yet confronted their pack. “We have to vote on the best way to handle the men running the compounds.”
Another long moment of silence ensued.
“But let’s say half of us are for annihilating those wastes of space and half aren’t. How are we going to function when there’s dissension in the ranks?”
“We have to agree that majority rules.” Doc again tapped his pad. “It’s the only way this will work.”
“Unless Marshal claims veto power.”
“He’s not the center of the pack,” Chance said quietly. “Doc is.”
“Doc can’t even shift.” Right after Storm spoke, he apparently realized how cutting what he’d said was, because he instantly apologized. “I’m sorry, Doc. Really. I’m just tired.”
“We’re all tired. And I don’t think I’m the center any more than most of you. It’s just something that keeps getting tossed up in the air.” Doc again squeezed Chance’s leg to reassure him. He understood that Chance and Leader firmly believed he was the focus of the group, and maybe he was, considering the amazing powers he’d been given, but that didn’t mean they had to make everyone else agree with them. It didn’t matter to Doc in the least. “Anyway, I guess that brings up a point we better resolve first. Is this a democracy, or is it something else? What I mean is, everyone can have a vote, but if we all see Marshal as the leader, do we give him the right to veto regardless of the way the majority feels?”
“I don’t want to be the leader just because I own the ranch. Sorry, but that’s too much like—what do you call it when rich guys rule just because they’re rich?”
“The American political system?” Cassidy quipped.
“He means a plutocracy, which is rule by the rich.” When everyone looked at him, Vance shrugged. “Hey, I can’t help that I’m still in school.”
“What does Mickey Mouse’s dog have to do with anything?” Skylar, Vance’s mate, asked playfully.
“Funny,” Vance said.
“I try.” Skylar grinned and then kissed Vance’s cheek.
“Well, it wouldn’t be about you being rich because I do your books, and I know you’re not.” Vance was the accountant for the ranch. “We would look to you as the leader because the pack grew up around you.”
“I still don’t think that makes me the leader, so my vote is that we have a true democracy. One man, one vote, and majority rules.”
“Anyone disagree?” Doc asked.
Chance winced so hard he almost tumbled off the bench seat. Doc wrapped his arm around his shoulders, holding him up and pulling him close. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Chance shook his head hard. “I basically just got yelled at with pictures.”
“By Leader?”
Chance nodded. “He doesn’t think the decision is entirely ours.”
“He wants a say in how we run our pack?” Marshal asked, his incredulity clear by the tone of his voice.
“No, not that, the notion of how we will handle the compounds.”
“Oh. Well, that’s different.” Marshal eased back a bit.
“I don’t see how it’s their business at all since they can’t really do anything.” Everyone looked at Dillion. “I don’t mean to sound like a dick, but it’s not like they are doing anything about these assholes right now, so why should they get a say in what we’re going to do?”
“Because without them there isn’t a way for us to find these people.” Doc kept his voice calm even though he was getting a little frustrated. “Without Leader and his network of coyote packs, we wouldn’t be able to track these people, and saying that they aren’t doing anything isn’t fair because they are doing what they can to get their kind away from these places.”
“And leaving the humans behind.”
“That’s not fair.” Chance was ready, willing, and able to defend Leader. “They tried to get me out, but they couldn’t. It’s not that they didn’t want to. They did. They heard my cries for help, but they simply weren’t able to do anything.”
Another long beat of silence descended.
“We have to work together with them. And they don’t want killing because they fear that by doing so we are truncating the Great One’s plans for these monsters.”
“Religion. Great.” Storm rolled his eyes. “Sorry, but I’ve never been a big fan of decisions based on what god, any god, wants. The problem is that it’s always mankind, or in this case, coyotekind, interpreting the mind of god. That’s never a good idea.”
“I’ve never been a religious man myself, but I also don’t believe in belittling someone for their religious beliefs, whatever they may be.” Doc lifted both his hands to stave off another argument. “Let’s table that discussion for now, okay? I guess we’re all agreed that we’ll run the Rough River coyotes as a true democracy with each man’s vote having the same weight as any other man’s. Agreed?”
Everyone nodded.
“Now, as for Leader and his pack, we want to include them, Chance. Really, I’m sure everyone here does because without them we won’t be able to do anything, but we do need to vote about the idea of killing the men who run the places because if we don’t, everyone is going to wonder how the group feels.” Doc wanted to clear the air as much as possible.
“I think that’s wise,” Marshal said, and several other men nodded.
“A show of hands about using deadly force.” Without even counting, it was clear the men of the ranch didn’t want to exterminate the men at the compounds. “Okay, so—”
“But that doesn’t mean I won’t use deadly force if I have to,” Marshal, who hadn’t raised his hand, clarified. “I will be carrying a gun when we go to these places. If it comes down to one of my men versus one of their men, I will pull that trigger without one moral issue.”
After a moment, Chance said, “Leader understands that. Just as when Cody killed the man who was trying to reclaim him. That is something—the idea of killing or being killed—that they understand. What they objected to was the automatic or rather systematic slaughtering of anyone we find running one of these places. It is not our place to judge since we do not know their stories.”
“Like maybe they are there against their will?” Storm was obviously upset by that idea. “Okay, that’s a damn good point for not just killingeveryone.”
“Okay. Then it seems we’re closer in agreement than we thought.” Doc considered the blank page in front of him. The thought of leaving his home was almost intolerable to him, but he would have to go with them in case they found anyone in need of medical care. With what he’d learned from Leader, the book, and suppositions he’d arrived at on his own, he felt capable of rendering aid to any creature they found. “We need to devise a way to do this. Who stays, who goes, how we will cover all the workhere. As much as I’d love to make eradicating these places our primary objective, we still have the ranch to consider.”
“Wait. Why should we take this on alone?” Dillion asked.
“Leader and his kind have already agreed to assist us,” Chance pointed out.
“Not them, but the other shifter groups.”
Doc had wondered when someone would bring this up. He was relieved that he didn’t have to. “I think we could find strong allies there.”
“You sound like you’re hesitating.”
“I am.” Doc honestly had no idea how to tell them without sounding like a pompous jerk.
“Tell them,” Chance encouraged.
“I’m working on it.” Doc considered the blank paper and watched as he saw pictures moving across the page that weren’t there. Not in reality, at any rate, but in his mind. He’d only told Chance what had happened to him after they mated, and Chance had been ecstatic, but Doc cautioned him to silence. Still, within a day, Leader knew. He was pleased that he was correct in his assessment that Doc was the focus of the pack. Not that he doubted himself, just that he enjoyed the confirmation. Doc still didn’t quite know what he was, but he knew what he was capable of doing. Similar to how Chance could connect to Leader and his kind, Doc could connect to his kind. He knew exactly where the other coyote-shifting human enclaves were located. At first, the flood of information had been staggering, but he had it under control now. Still, he hadn’t made contact with any of them. He knew he could speak to them at any time, but he had nothing to say to them just yet, so he kept silent. As far as Doc knew from looking at the men on the Rough River Ranch, none of those shifters were aware of him. Not yet. But his gut told him that soon, possibly the first time he reached out, all of them, every shifter on the continent, would be aware of him. Unsure what he would feel when he was intimately connected to them all, he was putting the moment off for as long as he could.
And then, to add to their joy, Leader had given Chance the sacred elixir so he could shift from human to coyote and back again. It was a generous gift, but it came with the strings that Leader wanted both him and Doc to help shut down the compounds so that their packs could live in peace and harmony. It was a payment that neither one of them minded rendering.
“I’m not the focus for the Rough River coyotes.”
“Yeah, we know,” Dillion said. “We already talked about that.”
“I’m the focus for all the human-to-coyote shifter packs on this continent.”
After a very long beat of silence, it was Storm who quietly asked, “All of North America?”
“All of North and South America,” Doc confirmed.
“Holy shit.”
“But you can’t shift.” Storm shook off Cassidy’s cautioning hand. “Well, he can’t.”
Doc said nothing.
“Tell them,” Chance encouraged.
“I’m getting there, but everyone talks too much.” But the truth was that Doc was a little afraid of what he’d become. There was no outward change, but inside he was dramatically altered. Would the others be shocked that he’d been handed such a staggering gift? Would there be jealousy, disbelief, maybe even anger? Doc sighed and continued to stare at what seemed to the others to be a blank page, but he saw the multitudes of their kind dotted over the landscape of the continent. Even here in the kitchen, Doc was connected to all the little and big enclaves. They couldn’t feel him, not yet, but he could feel them. “I am different from you, and from Leader and his kind. When I shift, I—” Doc took a deep breath, still unsure if he should tell them because he feared they wouldn’t believe him. “I’m an elemental.”
“A what?” Marshal asked as all of the men leaned toward Doc. “He can change into anything,” Chance said proudly.

Chapter 14

“Are you tired?” Chance watched as his mate stripped down and slid into their bed. He loved the way his skin contrasted against the color of the sheets. Oddly, Doc had said the same thing to him.

“A little. I felt so strange doing that today. I felt like I was showing off.”
“They wanted to know what you’re capable of. You had to show them.” Chance had already seen what his mate could do, but watching him show the others made him feel proud. Doc had shifted effortlessly into a coyote, a bear, and a cow, but then he’d become wind, water, and fire. It was the flames that had terrified Marshal. Chance didn’t understand until he realized how dry the prairie was after a long, hot summer. Doc had shifted to water and doused the flames well, but Chance didn’t think either one of them would ever forget the look on Marshal’s face. For a split second, he’d been afraid of Doc. And that was Doc’s greatest concern. He didn’t want to lose his friends because he was different.
“I still felt uncomfortable. And some of the looks they gave me.” Doc frowned as he considered the ceiling. “It’s like some of them wereafraid of me.”
It was exactly what Chance had just been thinking. “They are in awe of you.”
“Awe is like afraid.”
“I still love you.” Moreover, he was pleased that, just like the others, he and Doc were renewed when they shifted. They would age at a decelerated rate. Chance slid under the covers and climbed on top of his mate. “I know that you aren’t all-powerful.”
“I’m not?” Doc slid his hands up Chance’s thighs and cupped his hips.
“Nope.” Chance leaned over and kissed Doc gently. “I know how to make yousurrender.”
“You do?”
“I do.” From under his pillow, Chance removed a sleek bottle of lube. He smeared some along the length of Doc’s cock. “Hands up, mister.”
“Okay, you’ve been watching too much television again.”
“Hands up or I’ll stop.”
Doc put his hands up.
“Good. Now leave them there. I’m in charge.”
“And apparently you’ve been watching porn.”
“Maybe.” Chance grinned down at his beautiful, powerful mate.
“I’m going to kill Dooley.”
“It wasn’t his.”
“Who?”
“I’m not telling, and don’t you use your powers to find out. That’s cheating.” Chance knew that Doc could reach into the minds of other shifters. He said he had no desire to intrude unless he had to, but he’d neglected to tell the others that information. Doc said they were freaked out enough after the shifting demonstration.
“I told you I will only use my powers for good.”
All while they talked, Chance was sliding his bottom up and down the length of Doc’s cock. Harder and harder he got until he was very close to climax. But Chance wasn’t going to let him come just yet. Reaching down between their bodies, he grasped the base of Doc’s prick and then guided it inside his ass. Together they let out moans of bliss. Chance lifted and lowered himself, riding Doc at a leisurely pace until he was a breath away from losing control. When he was, Chance stopped all movement.
“Ah!” Doc’s hand left the headboard, and he reached for Chance.
“Up.” Chance rose from Doc’s body.
Growling with frustration, Doc put his hands back up.
Slowly, Chance lowered himself untilDoc’s prick was once again buried deep inside. He then made circles with his hips, rolling his cock around, teasing Doc until he was breathing heavily.
Just when Doc was on the verge of climax, Chance stopped again.
A slew of expletives were punctuated with growls and snarls.
“Look at how out of control you are.” Chance leaned forward and kissed Doc, knowing that when he did, his rectum tightened around Doc’s cock so firmly it was almost crushing him.
“You’ve proven your point.” Doc laughed. “I’m surrendering to you.”
Chance smiled. “Just remember this the next time we argue about who’s going to do the dishes.”
“I could just install a dishwasher.”
“I think arguing and me sexing you up to get my way sounds like a lot more fun.”
“You have a point.” Doc dug his fingertips into the headboard. “I’m going totally crazy here. You realize that, don’t you?”
“I do. Oh, believe me, I do.” Chance lifted up until just the head of Doc’s prick was nestled inside him. He would hold there for a moment and then slide down. Each time he did, Doc bucked his hips, trying to generate enough friction so he could come. But Chance wasn’t ready for that yet. Watching his mate struggle to hold still was the most erotic sight he’d ever witnessed. Having sexual power over his mate was an incredible ego boost, but Chance would never get too full of himself. Not when his mate had the same power over him. Just when Doc clearly thought Chance would never set him free, Chance increased his up-and-down motions until he was bouncing on his mate’s hips. “Grab ahold of me to help steady me.”
Doc’s hands moved from the headboard to Chance’s hips so fast they made a blur. His big palms wrapped around the bones of Chance’s hips, holding him, helping him to ride smoothly up and down. Each pass worked Doc’s prick deeper and brought Chance closer to climax.
Working together, they hit the perfect rhythm. At the bottom of a plunge, Doc came, lifting his hips as he slammed Chance down. Chance clenched up tight around Doc as he climaxed, spilling across Doc’s taut belly. After holding still, both their bodies tight, they collapsed together.
It was a long time before they recovered.
“When I first realized I had feelings for you, I thought in a way I would be taming you by making you civilized, but now I know that’s wrong.” Doc made lazy circles on Chance’s back as he held him close.
“It is?”
“Yep. You see, you were the more civilized one of us. It was really you who tamed me.”
“I don’t see how.”
“You made me accept myself for exactly who and what I am. If not for you, I never would have embraced myself as an elemental shifter.”
“I think you eventually would have.”
“No. I think I would have kept pushing away from people and isolating myself. Oh, I saw the ranch hands and tended to their injuries, but I always kept myself apart from them.” Doc sighed and kissed Chance very sweetly. “You helped me see that I’m not just a part of things here in the valley, but I’m part of something much, much bigger than myself.”
“Then I guess we have tamed one another.” Chance kissed Doc and cupped a loving hand to his cheek. “Because I never would have become what I am without you.”
“Same here.”
They fell asleep twined together, knowing that whatever they faced in the future, they would do so together.

THE END

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Reading, writing, and white-water rafting are the three things Anitra Lynn McLeod enjoys the most. You can visit her at www.AnitraMcLeod.com.

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