Unthinkable

Book One of the Tate Pack Series
By Vicktor Alexander

Richard Tillson was happy with his life...well...sort of. He has spent the last few years of his life making a name for himself in the dance community, has a very expensive apartment in Manhattan and he knows he's gorgeous. So why is he so miserable?
Enter Vernon "Vet" Tate. The older brother of Richard's best friend Amanda Lynn. The first time the two men meet it's when Vet is saving Richard's life from an oncoming vehicle. Moments later Vet is turning Richard's life upside down by telling him that his baby sister, who had passed weeks before, left her three newborn children to Richard, to share custody with Vet.
Things wouldn't have been so bad for Vet if Richard wasn't also his mate, his very human mate.
So how will Richard cope with becoming a father, giving up his sophisticated New York lifestyle for a ranch out in Wichita Falls, Texas, and finding out that not only do shape shifters exist, but he's the mate of the Alpha?

DEDICATION

To the love of my life Daniel. I wrote this before I met you, before I realized that I was searching for my own soul mate and before I realized that I’d find him in someone who despises Twilight as much as you do.

Te quiero mucho, my gorgeous Brit.

Trademark Acknowledgements:

Gucci

Baby Bjorn

Wrangler

Wal-Mart

Ford Expedition

Lady Gaga Thank you to Katharina, Suzi, Kat, Becky, Kate, Luci, Sid and Laura for supporting my writing and pushing me to keep writing “more and more and more.” You guys rock my face off!

And to Thorny (my T-T-B-B) and his Jazz , Matt and his Brad, for inspiring this skeptical Army vet to believe in love again. I love you boys! “Only thing worse than a cowboy getting’ hitched to a city girl, is him getting’ hitched to a cow…or a New Yorker.”

-Vernon “Vet” Tate

Chapter One

The first thing that Richard Tillson noticed

were his hands. They were large, manicured,

tanned hands. Gorgeous hands. Hands that were

made to caress, made to thrust, made to turn

another man on. All sorts of naughty ideas went

rushing through his mind as he saw those hands

coming towards him, he could almost imagine

those same hands caressing him, holding him down, those long, wide fingers filling him

before....

He screamed when he was abruptly jarred

out of his fantasy by those same hands grabbing

him and pulling him out of the way of the big

truck barreling down the road. He felt himself

flying through the air, towards some unknown

destination. Okay, so maybe he wasn't flying, but it

felt like it, especially when he landed on

something hard and then rolled onto something

soft, with something large and hard on top of him. "I'm dead. I just know it. I'm dead," he heard

his own breathless voice.

"You're not dead, I just knocked the wind

outta 'ya," he heard a deep Southern voice say

above him. That same voice chuckled softly

seconds after reassuring him

Hearing the tinge of amusement in the voice

of his savior, he peeked open first one blue eye and

then another, before his breath completely escaped

him. It couldnt be possible. He was staring into

the most amazingly beautiful, clear green eyes that hed ever seen in his life. Black hair fell forward

onto the forehead of the larger man, his thin lips

pulled back into a smile, his thin nose flared

slightly as if he smelled something delicious.

Richard felt like wrapping his arms and his legs

around the larger man, who appeared to be almost

three times as large as his own 5'4" 119lbs frame.

That was something very much out of character for

him. He may be very open about his sexuality, he

was a proud gay man, but a slut he was

not...although, if the stranger asked him to get

naked and dance around Times Square, he'd do it

in a heartbeat. As long as he promised to fuck him when the dance was over. He waited for the other

man to rise off of him. He hoped that it would be

quickly, especially with the gathering crowd asking

if they were okay, and the not-so-subtle erection he

had pressing against the front of his too tight,

low-rise jeans. He gasped as he felt a rumble in the

larger man's chest and had to give himself a mental

shake when he thought he heard the other man

breathe the word "Mine".

You ever plan on getting off of me there

cowboy? You know so I can breathe?" he asked

flirtatiously, a little shocked at his own audacity, but feeling a little saucy while underneath the

muscled stranger. Even though he might just get

his ass kicked for coming onto the obviously

straight man.

"I hadn't planned on it, but I guess if you

gotta breathe to live. Although I plan on having

you underneath me soon," the larger man rose off

of him and stretched out a hand to help him up.

Richard rose gracefully with the man's help, two

decades of dance training making themselves

known. He smiled and nodded at the crowd of

people that asked him if he were alright, his gaze continuously returning to his hero, who stood

silently beside him, almost in front of him, as if

protecting him from being touched by anyone

else.

When the last person finally left and walked

away, having gone out of their way to check on

him and now returning to the hustle and bustle of

New York City life, Richard turned towards the

other man, his eyes drifting up and up and up. He

felt his face flush and swallowed deeply.

"Thank you for saving my life," he said shyly.

The other man merely nodded; his gaze

intense upon Richard's face. When a long minute

passed without a word being spoken by either of

them, Richard reached down and grabbed his bag,

which had amazingly been saved in all of the

chaos.

"You Richard Tillson?" the other man

asked as he pulled a picture out of his pocket along

with an envelope. Richard froze and turned to face

the other man. How did this man know his name? He didnt owe anyone any money and he was

talented but he didnt think that the government

was looking for him. He hadnt done anything

illegal and he had no family that would be looking

for him. Realizing that it had to be for a totally

different reason that the man in question knew his

name and had a picture of him, along with an

envelope, he nodded, unable to speak. Maybe he

won the lottery?

"I was comin' to yer place when I saw ya'

leave. Just kinda followed you, planned on talkin'

to ya, or at least introducing myself when I saw you gettin ready to cross the street with the car

comin' right at 'cha," the other man explained,

obviously seeing the fear in Richard's face. "My

name is Vernon Tate, you knew my baby sister,

Amanda Lynn?"

Richard felt the fear lift off of him at the

mention of his best friend, Amanda Lynn, whom

he called AL, from college and graduate school.

He smiled at the other man. So this was AL's older

brother? He was hot! He stood at about 6'7", he

was all muscle on top of muscle, his neck thick

like a linebacker, his skin tanned by the sun. He could remember AL telling him about the family

farm down in Texas; that was probably how he got

so tanned.

"Oh my god! Yeah! You're Vet?" Richard

asked excitedly, his naturally bubbly personality

shining through as he thought about his best friend.

He sobered almost instantly. AL and her husband

had passed a few weeks ago in some kind of weird

hunting accident. Some hunters shot them when

they mistook them for wolves. Richard had been

on tour in Paris and by the time the news had

reached him, the funeral had already taken place. "I'm so sorry for your loss," he said

compassionately. Vernon, or Vet as AL called him,

merely nodded, blinking away the moisture in his

eyes.

"Um...so why were you looking for me?" he

asked as he led Vet over to the benches in the park.

He sat down gently, feeling a little sore after his

tumble with the other man a few minutes earlier,

he crossed one leg over the other and smiled when

Vet practically flopped onto the bench, and his legs

spread wide. "I don't really know how to say this, but, see

Mandy, she and her husband, well they thought

quite a bit of you, they felt real bad that you had to

miss the wedding but still stayed in contact and she

just gave birth to triplets, you know a few months

before the...uh...accident and the lawyer said she

left instructions for the care of the triplets," Vet

paused here, his eyes locking onto Richard's as if

imploring him to understand. Richard wasn't stupid

by any stretch of the imagination. Contrary to what

his father and brothers thought, he had an above

average IQ that wasn't diminished or negated

because he was gay or because he danced for a living. Even with that it took him a while to really

grasp what Vet was saying, but when he did he

gasped.

"You HAVE to be joking! AL and Cameron

left their triplets to me? Why would they do that?

I'm single, unmarried, GAY, and I have a very

successful career as a dancer! I mean, well, a

somewhat successful career. I'm not working right

now, but still!! They lived in Texas and AL said

you both came from a very traditional, if slightly

unusual family. How are they going to feel about

AL leaving her babies to me? And how am I supposed to support them? I'm all by myself? What

was AL thinking? I can't-" Richard's words were

cut off abruptly when Vet leaned forward and took

his lips in a hard and passionate kiss that fried his

brain. Everything faded away, the ever-present

sounds of New York became a soft buzzing noise,

the bench he sat on became as comfortable as

though he were sitting on his king-sized bed, and

he felt as if he were floating and weighted down

simultaneously. After a few minutes, when air

was essential for them both, the two men pulled

away from each other. Richard stared at Vet in

shock, his blue eyes dark with desire. "They left the triplets to you because they

trusted you. Both sets of parents are dead. They

left money, a house, cars, a college trust fund for

all three babies, everything you could possibly

need, they left it for you. They trusted you. Besides

you really only have partial custody," Vet smirked

at the look of trepidation that crossed Richard's

face.

"Who am I sharing custody with?" he

asked, although he suspected he knew the answer.

"Well, that's why I'm here. You're sharing custody with me and I came here to fetch you and

bring you back to Texas to help me

raise...well...our children."

Chapter Two

Vet didn't spend much of his life smiling.

There just wasn't much in his life to smile about.

His parents had died when he was barely eighteen,

leaving him in charge of his sister Amanda, the

head of their family, and with his father's death,

he'd been named Alpha by default. It wasn't

something that had shocked him too much, he'd

always been made aware that he would be alpha

one day, unless someone challenged him for the role and he lost. The timing was just wrong. Vet

had just met the greatest guy, Michael. Michael

was tall, thin, with a firm ass, and pouty lips and

Vet had fallen instantly in love with him. The two

of them had had to sneak around, not because Vet's

family wouldn't understand about him being gay,

although that's what he'd told Michael, it was

because he was a shifter and Michael wasn't.

Vet had grown up knowing he was a wolf

shifter, what it meant, and the proud heritage of his

people and how important it was for him to keep

that part of himself a secret from everyone but other shifters and his mate.

His mate. Vet looked at Richard where the

man paced back and forth from his bedroom to the

living room of his tiny New York apartment,

packing, muttering and protesting going to Texas.

Vet had never smelled anything as delicious as the

smell of his mate. Richard smelled like burning

wood, baked apples and melted caramel, his

favorite candy. When he'd first began following the

smaller man, he hadn't been able to detect his

scent, his nostrils filled with the stench of New

York City. How could anyone stand all of the noise and the smell of broken dreams, despair and

garbage? He asked himself for the fifth time. The

instant he'd rescued Richard, however, the younger

man's scent had wrapped around him like the

softest blanket, making him feel at home, making

him want to rub against the smaller man and

mingle their scents together. He'd also wanted to

make love to him and mark him so everyone knew

who he belonged to. He sighed as the man in

question stepped back out of his bedroom, nibbling

on his bottom lip. He was about to protest again

and Vet was actually considering knocking the

other man out and whisking him back to Texas. "I'm not sure this is a good idea. I mean, I'm

supposed to just drop everything and move to

Texas? Texas?! They kill men like me in Texas!

Besides, I have a life here and I'm not really sure

that I'd make such a good parent. I mean...I'm kind

of high maintenance you know? Self-centered. I

only think about myself. These babies will be

better off if you raised them alone. Do I need to

sign something? I'll give you everything-"

Richard's words cut off when Vet stood up and

approached him. He'd heard enough, the younger

man was going to worry himself sick with all of

the accepting and denying, packing and unpacking.

"I don't believe any of that for one second.

There's no way Mandy woulda stayed friends with

you iffen you was selfish and self-centered. Yeah,

you might be high-maintenance, but then so was

Mandy and we got along right nice. 'Sides, I work

all the time. I ain't really got the time to be a single

parent. Got a bunch of folks counting on me to

look out for them and I take my responsibilities

seriously. And we got gays in Texas. I'm gay, been

gay all my life and ain't nothing happened to me

yet. Now you just stop looking for ways to be wrong for these babies. They depending on both of

us to care for them, so was Mandy or she woulda

never left them to us. You'll be fine, the babies'll be

fine. I'll be fine, we'll all be fine. You just come

and we'll try it for six months, iffen you still can't

do it...well, I guess we'll worry about it then," Vet

offered, ignoring the voice in his head that told

him that he'd never let Richard go. The man was

his mate, created by the fates just for him. They

were destined to be together, and they would be,

just as soon as Vet could convince Richard to get

on a plane for Texas. Then he'd tell him about

shifters and mates and they'd be mated and raise the babies together and live happily ever after.

Easy as apple pie. He shrugged off the feeling that

things would never be as easy as he was trying to

make it seem. He smiled as Richard's blonde head

nodded in agreement, his eyes still filled with

uncertainty, his teeth still nibbling on that full

bottom lip that he couldn't wait to suck on or feel

wrapped around his cock, and he bit back a moan.

It wouldn't do him any good to scare off the jittery

man with his overzealous hormones, but his wolf

wanted its mate and he was having a hard time not

picking up the smaller man, stripping him of all his

clothes and fucking him up against the wall, just to take the edge off. Then he'd lower him to the floor,

flip him onto his stomach and lick and suck and

fuck his ass with his tongue, he'd smile at the

sound of the younger man's moans and gasps of

pleasure. Then when Richard was clawing at the

carpet, he'd push his large cock deep within him

and fuck him until they both couldn't move or

speak.

"Vet?" the sound of his name pulled him out

of his erotic musings and he looked down at the

other man, focusing on his face, the desire in his

eyes slowly receding. "Yeah?" he replied, smirking when his nose

detected the faint smell of the other man's arousal.

So his little man was turned on too, huh? Maybe

this whole mating thing wouldn't be that hard after

all.

"Where exactly are the triplets right now?

You didn't leave them by themselves did you?"

Richard asked, a small note of panic creeping into

his voice. Vet bit his lip to keep from grinning.

Yep, even for all of his bluster and denials, Richard

was going to be a great parent. "Naw. Got an aunt who moved to

Connecticut with her mate-err, her husband, and

they met me here in the city. Got 'em watching the

babies in a hotel," he stated as he closed the fifth

and final suitcase that Richard had placed near the

door. For a man who had no plans on leaving his

home forever, Vet noticed that Richard hadn't left

anything behind, except the furniture, which he

wouldn't need anyway. "Reckon we better get

going. We gotta pick up the triplets and get to the

airport."

Richard nodded his head but didn't move. His eyes darted around the room, never staying on

one item for long, not making a sound. Vet could

detect a stall tactic better than the next man.

Scenting the air, he picked up the lingering smell

of Richard's arousal, his fear, his denial and

his...excitement? Could it be that Richard wanted

to come to Texas to raise Amanda and Cameron's

kids? It would certainly seem so. Vet knew then

that Richard needed to have his options taken from

him, at least in this matter. Make it so that the

smaller man wouldn't have to think at all, just

follow and do what he was told. He was sure that

the other man wouldn't always be so accommodating, but for now, he needed the firm

hand of an alpha to guide him. It made him the

perfect mate. It made him Vet's perfect mate.

"Alrighty then. Grab your bags baby, let's go

get our kids from the Hilton and fly on to Texas,"

he commanded his mate, grinning when the other

man moved forward to do so without another word

or thought. He hadn't even noticed the term of

endearment that Vet had snuck into the command.

Vet chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders as

he lifted up the rest of the bags, stepping out of the

now almost bare apartment, walking the bags down to the large rental black SUV, that he'd left

waiting in front of Richard's Manhattan apartment.

He knew enough about New York real estate to

know that if Richard was able to afford an

apartment in Manhattan, then his dancing career

paid him very well. He also knew enough about

body language and human psychology to know

that Richard wasn't as happy as he projected

himself to be. He would make his mate happy.

They would raise Amanda's children as if they

were their own and he would spend the rest of his

days, trying to make his little mate, with his long

blonde hair that fell to his shoulders, big crystal blue eyes, pouty lips, thin nose, and thin but toned

frame, happy. He always succeeded when he put

his mind to it and he wasn't about to fail now. He

had too much to lose if he did.

Chapter Three

I’m not crazy….I am crazy….I have to be
crazy….why the hell am I doing this? Oh yeah
because I’m crazy, Richards inner monologue was

going to actually drivehim crazy if he didnt calm

down. Wiping his hands on his jeans, he slid his

gaze over towards Vets profile. How could the

other man be so calm about all of this? Did he

often fly halfway across the country to give people

shared custody of newborns whose parents had died and then pack them up to move them back to

Texas with him?Maybe that’s why he said he had
an unusual family, maybe they’re like a cult or
something, he thought irrationally. He grunted, he

knew that he was being silly now, hed known AL

for years and shed never given off the vibe that

she had been raised in a cult, she and Cameron

seemed completely normal. So why was it that

being around Vet, talking with him, packing up to

move with him, just felt so…right? Especially

since, it was so weird.

Maybe it’s because it doesn’t feel weird to you at all. You feel like you’ve been waiting your
whole life to meet this guy and now you’re trying
to talk yourself out of it. He already gave you a
way out and you know AL, this is just her style,
leaving her children with you and letting you find
out when you didn’t have a way to argue back with
her, Richard reasoned with himself. He scoffed

mentally at his musings. He sounded like one of

those mushy, hopelessly romantic, helpless

characters in one of those romance books that AL

was always reading. Yeah, right, who would write

a romance book about gay men anyway? “Here we are,” Vets deep, smooth as melted

chocolate voice yanked him out of his musings and

soothed his racing thoughts as well.

“How do you that?” he asked without

thinking. He watched as Vet pulled the key out of

the ignition and after unbuckling his seatbelt

turned to face him.

”Do what?” he questioned, dark, bushy

eyebrows raised in amazement then lowered in

confusion and Richard wanted to scream that he

watched their movement with fascination. He was sick…no, he was horny and he needed to get

laid…like yesterday.

”I dont know. Talk,” he responded, not

making any sense. He watched Vets eyebrows

lower further as if in complete consternation

before he burst into deep, rumbling laughter.

Richards watched as the older mans mouth

opened as he laughed with his entire being and his

heart caught in his chest…were those dimples in

his cheeks? He groaned, someone in heaven was

laughing at him, wanting to see him squirm. “Well, like most people, I open my mouth,

think words and they come outta my voice box,

same as you,” Vet responded in amusement,

chuckling again when Richard huffed in

annoyance.

“You know what I mean! You talk and I

dont know…I feel peaceful, like someones

wrapping me in a blanket. How do you do that? Is

that some sort of Southern hospitality, magic kind

of thing?”

Vets body became rigid and then and Richards eyebrows rose at the reaction to his

questions. What had he said to make the big man

act in such a way?

“Do you believe in that stuff?” Vet asked,

trying for a nonchalant tone.

“What stuff?” Richard asked as the two men

finally exited the vehicle and walked into the posh

hotel and making their way towards the elevator.

Vet didnt respond at first, his face set in an

impassive mask, his lips set in a grim line, if

Richard didnt know better hed think that the other man was nervous about something. There

was only one other couple in the elevator when

they stepped on,a young couple, who couldnt

seem to keep their hands off of each other.

Richard tried to look away but his eyes kept

returning to their passionate kisses and bold

caresses of each other.

”Is that normal?” he heard Vet ask from

where he stood behind him, his voice sounding

strained and Richard wondered if the large Texan

was as turned on by the other couple as he was. “For New York? Yeah, it actually is,” he

responded, grinning widely when their voices

finally carried over to the other couple who froze

and as if slowly becoming aware of their

surroundings and the fact that they were in a public

place, they separated and grinned sheepishly at

them.

”Sorry,” the smaller man, a gorgeous little

blonde, said. ”We just found out that they legalized

gay marriage in our home state.”

Richard nodded with a grin, hed reacted much the same way when New York had done

it…except he couldnt remember the name of the

man hed had sex with to celebrate that night, these

two looked as if they were in it for the long haul.

”Are you two planning on getting married

then?” Vet asked politely as the elevator doors

opened and the other couple prepared to step out.

”Well, weve been together for years,

adopted a son, had a daughter by surrogate, were

already a family andtell people that were married,

but yeah, were going to make it official, just as soon as we can pack and fly back home,” the larger

man, dark haired, with a Stetson on his head

replied.

Richard laughed silently; it was like looking

at mirror images of him and Vet almost. Well,

except for the fact that the other couple was in a

committed relationship.

”Thats really great, wheres home for you?”

Richard asked, hoping that the two didnt mind

that they were holding them up from leaving.

”Ohio,” the two men answered simultaneously before they both burst into

laughter. It was the happiest sound that Richard

had ever heard.

”Oh honey, we have to go call Vee, she

promised to perform our wedding when it was

legal,” the smaller man replied.

”Well, lets go call her then,” the larger man

responded. Right then a phone rang and both men

chuckled, “Thats probably her. Nice to meet you,”

the blonde answered and the two men stepped out

of the elevator completely and walked away, chattering happily with their friend over the phone

and planning their wedding.

”Im so happy for them,” Richard responded

quietly to Vet, his mind imagining his own

non-existent, improbable wedding and marriage.

”Yeah, me too,” he heard Vet sigh behind

him and he turned to look at the larger man as the

elevator continued to move up to their floor.

”So…what stuff?” he asked again, picking

up their conversation from the car. ”Oh. Yeah, you know, like magic and

shapeshifters and stuff,” Vet responded, the

tension returning to his body.

Richard considered the question. He wasnt

sure why the other man was asking him such an

absurd question. Was he trying to prove that he

was unfit to raise ALs children? Well, no, it

couldnt be that; hed talked Richard INTO

coming, why would he be trying to talk him OUT

of it now? Maybe he meant it as a joke? Richard

shook his head mentally; Vet didnt really seem the

type to joke around like normal people. Deciding to take the question at face value, he decided to

answer honestly.

”Yeah, I guess I do kinda believe that stuff.

There are too many things that cant be explained;

besides it would be the height of arrogance for

humans to believe that were so special were the

only species around that can talk. I mean, if we

cant discount aliens, then we cant discount

werewolves, or shape-shifters, or wizards and

witches. Besides Jacob Black from the Twilight

series is hot!” Richard responded with a smile. Vet laughed and nodded, the tension easing

from his body as if Richards response had eased

his mind of some unspoken worry. Before Richard

could ask the other man about it, however, the

doors opened to the Penthouse suite and Richard

followed the larger man through the entryway into

the living area of the suite. Hed been a little

shocked that Vet had the money and the reputation

to have a Penthouse suite in the hotel, but he

hadnt questioned him, how would he know how

much money one could make as a farmer and a

cowboy? Maybe they made a lot. Ridding his mind

of the image of Vet in a pair of brown leather chaps and a Stetson, much like the one the man had in

the elevator, his muscles rippling and sweaty from

working outside all day, Richard tried to

desperately think of anything that would make his

erection dwindle.

Acne, bunions, my grandmother naked, my
parents having sex, wearing clothes completely out
of season, that last thought was so absurd that he

gave a snort of laughter and realized that his

erection had died somewhere along the way.

Waving his hand at Vets look of question, he

pasted a smile on his face as he stepped fully into the room and smiled at the couple sitting on the

couch before turning to look at the babies, two of

them sleeping in their carriers, while one stared

right at him from his. Richard felt his heart catch

in his chest and lost it at that moment to those

triplets. There was no way he could walk away

now.

I guess I’m going to be a cowboy now.

Chapter Four

Vet watched Richard walk towards the

triplets with a small smile on his face. He had been

hoping for a reaction of caring from the smaller

man, but the expression of wonder and instant

caring was more than he could have ever hoped

for. Looking over at his aunt, a tall

robust woman with black hair that fell to her waist,

ample bosom and dancing green eyes, the two of

them shared a look. He knew that she would be cornering him to ask about Richard sooner or later,

and he would be ready for her, but not at that

moment. He stepped forward to stand beside

Richard where he stood before the triplets.

”Let me introduce you. This is Amy, Curt,

and…” he looked over at Richard, who stood

staring at the triplets, his eyes fastened on the baby

boy who was still awake, wanting to see his

reaction when he said his name, “Richard Jr. We

call him RJ though.” He saw Richards eyes widen

and his mouth drop open in shock before he turned

to slowly look at him. ”AL named one of her babies after me?” the

smaller man whispered, his eyes filling with tears

that he quickly blinked away. Vet merely smiled

and nodded his head. ”Why?” Richard asked

looking back at the babies again. Vet shrugged

before responding,

“I reckon its because you were a friend of

hers, or because, as she said, you were the reason

she was at that store where she met Cameron and

she wouldnt have „em if it werent for you.”

Mandy had never explained what she meant by

that and Vet had never asked, but he was curious about it and wanted to know. He saw Richard

smile softly at the memory and quirked an

eyebrow.

”AL and I had gone to this party, gotten

really drunk and stumbled back to our apartment in

Brooklyn. I got really sick and we didnt have any

ginger ale in the house. I begged and cried for her

to go get me some, Id never been that sick from

drinking before. Well, she went and she met

Cameron at the store, he came back with her and

after they gave me the ginger ale and some aspirin,

they went back to her room and they fu” Richard stopped talking abruptly, his face flaming red as he

sheepishly grinned at Vet. Vet chuckled, he could

understand what happened even if Richard hadnt

continued. Cameron was a wolf shifter, just like

Mandy, so they both understood about mating and

the mating heat. Even though Vet felt it, like an

itch that could never be scratched, a throbbing

erection that would never be satisfied, Richard was

a human who didnt know about wolf shifters or

mates and Vet knew he had to tread lightly. It

sucked…well, nothing was sucking at that

point…but it was really bad. Giving himself a

mental shake Vet turned towards his aunt and her mate.

”Richard this is my aunt Tricia and her mate,

her husband David,” Vet introduced them, nodding

at David, a large bear of a man, his size was

practically overwhelming, but that was probably

because David was a bear shifter, his shaggy

brown hair coupled with his hairy face and body

gave him the look of a bear posing as a human, but

Vet knew he was a teddy bear. ”Auntie, David, this

here is Richard. Mandys best friend, the babies

new guardian and my” he merely lifted his

eyebrows, hoping that they would catch on to what he wasnt saying. When they both nodded he knew

they understood and when Richard turned to look

at him with surprise and confusion in his eyes, he

finished his statement, “My co-parent and

hopefully new friend as well.”

Richard smiled sweetly at him before

shakinghands with Tricia and David. ”Its very

nice to meet you,” Richard stated before turning

back to the babies. ”Vet, I think if were going to

go, we should go now,” he said almost

apologetically. “Yeah, we kinda figured, so we already got

all your stuff packed up and ready to go. Well do

the check-out for you. You kids go ahead and get

going to the airport,” Tricia said with another

sweet smile at Richard. Vet was surprised, he was

certain she was going to corner him to interrogate

him about his new mate, but she was just letting

them go? Not just letting, encouraging them to go?

Damn near pushing them out of the room. What

was with her? Nodding his head at his aunt,

making a mental note to call her later, Vet reached

out to grab the carriers for two of the babies. He smiled as Richard picked up the last

carrier that held his namesake before walking over

to pick up some of the bags on the floor. He stood

nibbling on his bottom lip, seeming to be in deep

concentration. ”Whatcha thinkin „bout over

there?” Vet asked, his Southern drawl becoming

more pronounced as he felt himself growing

aroused. This was not the best time for it, he was

holding two babies for heavens sake!

”How the hell are we supposed to get all of

this shit downstairs?” Richard asked in

exasperation. He sounded so adorable and flustered that Vet and his aunt and uncle all

laughed. Vet gestured for Richard to go ahead of

him.

”We make a couple of trips, but dont worry,

when we get to the airport, well add your „shit

and then itll really be interesting,” he ignored

Richards glare as he chuckled and led the smaller

man over to the elevators. He couldnt help feeling

as if he were forgetting something and he

continuously looked behind him, but seeing

nothing, he shrugged and entered the elevator

behind his mate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richard sighed as he sat down in the waiting

area of Terminal 41 in the LaGuardia Airport in

Newark, NJ. He was exhausted! It took them an

hour and a half to get through security because of

all of the baby carriers, then Curt woke up

screaming, which woke up Amy and set off her

own brand of screaming. It had taken him and Vet

thirty minutes to calm them down and while the

babies were still awake, they were now happily

sucking on their pacifiers and kicking their legs in happiness.

”Our daughter is the same way. She screams

for a few minutes and then settles down happily as

if nothing were ever wrong,” Richard looked up at

the voice speaking to him and realized that it was

the short blonde from the elevator at the hotel

earlier. ”Hi, nice to see you again,” he smiled at

the other man as he sat down across from him,

holding out a picture towards him. Richard took

the offered picture and smiled at the image. It was

of the two men and two children, one a young boy

of two or three with brown hair, hazel eyes and a shy smile, the young blonde man was holding a

baby in his arms, the little girl grinning straight at

the camera as if ready to take on the world.

”They are beautiful,” he smiled. He watched

as the other mans eyes softened as he took back

the picture.

”Yes they are,” he said with a happy smile,

before looking back at him and offering his hand,

“My names Thorny, my husbands name is Jazz,”

he gestured at the larger man who was walking

back with a large Vet, holding an awake Curt in his arms, and two bottles of Coke in his free hand.

”Nice to officially meet you. My name is

Richard and this is Vernon, but everyone calls him

Vet,” Richard gestured to Vet who sat next to him,

moving Curts empty carrier to the floor, Amy,

held in Richards arms and RJ content to lay in his

carrier next to Richard, playing with the lights on

the ceiling.

”Do they call you Vet because youre a

veterinarian?” Thorny asked with a shy smile, full

of love at his husband Jazz when the other man handed him a bottle of juice.

”Naw, names Vernon Tate, my baby sister,

Mandy, couldnt say Vernon. One day I got in

trouble and my mama said my whole name. Well

Mandy tried to imitate her and said Vet instead.

Name just kindastuck I guess,” Vet offered with a

grin. Richard nodded, hed heard the story from

AL when they were in college when hed asked

how her brother had gotten the nickname as well.

He smiled at the consideration that Jazz

seemed to offer Thorny, the gentle care and his air of protectiveness, Richard wanted that for himself

and hoped that one day he would find someone

who wanted to care for him as much as hed want

to love them. Without warning, his eyes slid over

to Vet, they hadnt talked about the kiss theyd

shared in the park, and he could only hope that it

wasnt a fluke. Maybe the gorgeous cowboy could

actually want him one day?

”…she told me later on that she had been

thinking about admitting herself into one of those

assisted living hospices, you know for like

disabled people, because she felt like she was being a burden to her family and she didnt really

have anyone to talk to. She said she was starting to

become depressed. I didnt think anything of it, but

she said she read a blog post of mine that inspired

and uplifted her to not only accept where she was,

who shed become after this injury but to make her

situation better. I wrote her back to thank her for

thanking me and weve been talking ever since.

Shes a published author now and dedicated two of

her book series to me and Jazz. We felt really

honored, especially when she said shed perform

our wedding,” Richard heard Thorny saying,

before the small blonde blushed and ducked his head shyly.

”Youll have to excuse Thorny. Hes not

usually so talkative, hes actually the shy one, but

if you ask him about Vee, or our kids, or our family

and well, he just sort of lights up,” Jazz replied

with an indulgent smile at his partner before

kissing the smaller man on his temple.

”Your friend Vee? The one you called on the

phone? She said that to you?” Richard clarified.

Thorny nodded, “Shes a disabled vet, was

in the Army for a while. She encouraged me and Jazz to come to New York this weekend, said she

had a good feeling. She even paid for our tickets,

said it was her way of saying thank you,” Richard

watched as the blonde shrugged. ”I dont think I

really did anything, but she said Id never really

understand how special I was.”

”Aint that the truth,” Jazz agreed with a

grin and the two men shared a sweet kiss before

breaking apart with a smile.

Richard turned to Vet and the two men

found themselves locked in a heated gaze. He couldnt understand his reaction to the cowboy, he

wanted to drag him off to the nearest room, strip

off all of their clothes and have him fuck him so

hard he couldnt walk for the next week. An

announcement over the PA system, snapped them

out of their reverie and they both cleared their

throats and smiled over at Thorny and Jazz who

were standing up preparing to leave.

”I remember when Jazz and I used to get

lost in each others eyes like that,” Thorny smiled

happily. ”We still do honey. When you have a

connection like us, a deep love like ours, that never

goes away,” Jazz reminded him, before with a

wave and placing his handon Thornys lower

back, he led the smaller man towards their plane.

”I want that,” Richard sighed dreamily, not

really speaking to Vet, but needing to put out the

desire into the universe.

”I believe that youll have that. In fact, I

know you will,” he heard Vet state, the Texans

deep voice caressing his body and leaving goosebumps and shivers of delight behind. Richard

turned to look at the other man and although he

couldnt be sure, he thought he could hear the

unspoken end to his statement: I believe that youll

have that. In fact, I know you will…with me.

Chapter Five

Richard cringed as Amy began crying in

Vets arms again and sighed as he looked over at

the man directly across the hall from him. ”Do you

need me to take her again?” he asked, his tone

sympathetic and slightly pleading. Hed become

one of those people. The kind that brought their

sobbing, bawling, miserable babies on board an

airplane and made everyone else suffer because of

it. Giving the passengers all behind him a sheepish

and apologetic look, he checked to be sure that Curt and RJ were still asleep…they were…before

standing up and walking across the aisle to take a

squirming, crying Amy from her uncles arms.

”We should have drove,” Vet mumbled for

the eighth time.

”You dont think I wish we were a little

farther into this trip? That maybe the trip was

already over, or better yet, wasnt even a

necessity? I do, with all my work with the babies

and dealing with you so far, I totally understand.

But if we had driven, we would have been on the road for a week,” Richard pointed out before he sat

back down.

“Not true. We coulda been there in three

days,” Vet pointed out.

“Staying in hotels? Really?” Richard

questioned him. He rocked Amy gently in his arms

smiling when the infant began to calm down.

“Whats wrong with staying in hotels?” Vet

asked petulantly. Richard grinned at the pouty look

on the big mans face, so out of character with his

stature that he almost laughed. “Staying in hotels is fun when kids are older

or when its just the parents, but having infants in a

hotel? Especially when youre travelling? It

doesnt sound like fun to me,” Richard stated with

a shrug, before noticing that Amy had finally fallen

asleep.

“Youre really good with „em,” Vet smiled.

Richard merely blushed before standing carefully

to put the baby back in her carrier. Taking out a

pair of earplugs he gently placed them in her ears,

before placing a pacifier in her mouth, which she

began to suck on in her sleep instantly. Turning to repeat the process with Curt and RJ he found his

hand grabbed by Vet and he stopped. Turning to

look at the other man, his eyes widened at the

desire burning in his green eyes. Letting his eyes

drift down he saw the very large erection straining

against the front of Vets Wranglers and felt his

own erection surging in his designer jeans.

“You..Uh…you wanted something?” he

asked in a choked voice. Vet opened his mouth to

respond when the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign flashed

and the pilot began speaking. Richard heard Vet

growl softly in frustration and felt his mouth pull up in a small smile. When Vet released his hand, he

leaned forward and quickly kissed him before

returning to his seat between Curt and RJ, who

were blessedly, still asleep. Quickly putting in their

earplugs and pacifiers, he fastened his seatbelt and

sat back with a sigh. What was it about Vet? He

always had the urge to curl up in his lap and rub

himself all over the other man, or to rip off his

clothes, spread his legs and beg the bigger man to

fuck him six ways from Sunday or…most

embarrassingly, he wanted to tilt his head to the

side and beg the other man to bite him. Hed never

been into BDSM or S/M or whatever it was that Rihanna was singing about, so he had no idea

where the urge to be bitten came from. Giving

himself another mental shake, to prepare himself

for landing, he glanced over at the man in question

only to find Vets eyes fastened on him. He smiled

weakly at him, feeling as if he were being

undressed with Vets eyes and wishing he knew

what the other man was thinking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vet groaned as he smelled Richards arousal hanging heavily in the close confines of his Ford

Expedition. They had been able to grab the triplets,

a luggage rack and get to where hed parked his

“Expo” with minimum fuss. As soon as theyd

settled in the car, however, hed smelled Richards

arousal and felt himself fighting his wolf for

dominance. He felt his canines trying to extend, his

body struggling to grow bigger and his hair

beginning to grow longer and thicker in some

places and he inhaled to calm his racing heart.

Which was a bad idea, of course, because with that

inhale the smell of Richards cloying arousal

pulsed through his body. This time he couldnt hold back the growl in his throat. He saw Richards

gaze fly towards his and he responded.

“Youre killin me here babe, with all your

wantin me and bein all turned on and shit,” he

explained, reaching down to try to give himself

some room in his jeans, although there was none to

be had. All shifters were well endowed but he was

still bigger than most and for that reason, he often

had to buy larger sized jeans and wear a belt, just

so he wouldnt feel choked all day, but to be trying

to drive, in his Wranglers, hard and getting harder?

Well it was damn near becoming a fucking magic trick.

“How did you know I was-” Richard

questioned, not finishing the question. Vet sighed,

he could give some flip answer but his momma

had always taught him that you dont lie to your

mate, even if it would be in their best interest.

Turning onto the long dirt driveway that lead to his

family ranch and working farm, filled with acres of

wild forest, left there for the members of the pack

to be able to run and hunt, Vet didnt answer as he

pulled up in front of the home his parents had left

for Mandy after hed insisted that hed stay in the bachelor house hed built for himself that sat a

ways behind the main house, the alpha house. He

tried to see the home through Richards eyes and

could see why the New Yorker sat with his mouth

open. All of the properties in New York were tiny

but cost a lot of money, real estate in Texas was

more of the “bigger is better” variety and so while

everything in Texas was actually bigger than just

about anything in New York, the cost was actually

cheaper. His home rose three stories from the

ground, boasted of six bedrooms, in addition to the

master suite, a nursery, a library, an office, family

room, gourmet kitchen, formal dining room, breakfast nook, outdoor pool, greenhouse out back,

with a vegetable garden that his mother had started

and Mandy had continued. They had a very large

working ranch, where he raised and bred horses,

getting them reading for rodeos and competitions.

They also had cattle, sheep, and goats on their

farm, which none of the pack ever hunted,

knowing that the animals helped to bring in money

for them.

“Oh. My. God. Im going to be living here?”

Richard breathed and Vet smiled, not answering

before turning off the vehicle and climbing from the car. He walked towards the back, opened the

door and after unbuckling them, lifted up the

carriers that held Curt and RJ, deciding to stick

with the boys, as he carried them towards the

house. He heard Richard following him and smiled

and the sounds of awe and wonder the smaller man

made as he walked up towards the large, white

clapboard home.

“This used to be a plantation. You know a

long time ago. When the Civil War broke out

though, the slaves were freed by this mysterious

group of people who drove off the slave owners and gave the slaves their freedom. A lot of them

stayed, some of them moved north, some of them

stayed in town, but this land has been a part of my

family ever since,” Vet gave Richard the history as

he finally opened the door and led the smaller man

inside. He heard the other man gasp again as he

saw the large entryway. There was a large wolf

image imprint on the floor, put there when his

father was still alive. As they walked through the

house, heading towards the nursery, he pointed out

each room to his mate. Each room had a different

theme and was painted in a different color. As a kid

hed found it all fascinating, as an adult he found it just a little scary.

“Your parents couldnt decide on one

color?” he heard Richard ask and he laughed.

“My grandparents did this. My parents just

kept it the way it was, so did Mandy. You could

change it if you want.” He heard Richard grunt and

wondered at the sound. Walking up the stairs and

turning right at the top he pointed out the other

bedrooms, letting Richard know that while no one

lived there currently they were sometimes used by

his “close friends and employees when theyd been working late,” unsure of how to explain “Beta”

and “Gamma Guards” to the smaller man. Walking

up the second flight of stairs he led his mate to the

nursery and walked inside the bright yellow room.

“Gah!” he heard Richard yelp and chuckled.

His grandmother had really liked bright colors and

the yellow was so bright it was almost neon.

“I had nightmares of this room as a kid,” he

laughed, picking up Curt and placing the sleeping

baby in his crib, before taking out his earplugs and

covering him with a light sheet. “I bet you did. I think I will too,” he heard

Richard say as he picked up RJ to repeat the

process with him. All three sleeping babies settled,

he grabbed his mates hand and, after turning on

the baby monitors and security cameras, he walked

down the hall towards the master suite.

“Youve got some really high-tech security

going on in the nursery there. Are there a lot of

people out to kill wealthy cowboys out here in

these parts?” Richard teased. Vet merely pulled the

smaller man into the bedroom before shutting the

door and pushing the other man up against it, his hands on either side of the younger mans head as

he bent low to speak into his upturned face.

“Only when youre as important as me. We

had someone attempt something right after the

triplets were born. Weve had to take extra

precaution now,” he said before capturing his

mates mouth with his own. Richards taste burst

across his tongue and he growled low in his throat

again. His wolf wanted its mate…NOW and if he

didnt do something and fast, he was going to do

something hed regret later. Like mate Richard

without his permission. He felt the smaller mans hips thrust against his own and felt his erection

rubbing against his aching one and he knew that

the time was now or never. With a teasing nip to

the other mans full bottom lip he pulled away

slightly, grinning at Richards whimper of protest

and resisting his clutching hands.

“I want you Richard,” he started.

“And you can have me, right now, so lets

go,” he heard the other mans breathless voice.

Vet merely grinned and shook his head,

placing a finger on Richards lips before taking a small step back. “You need to know something

first before you decide if you still want me or not,”

he explained before he began to strip off his

clothes.

“Not that Im not enjoying this, but what do

you have to tell me that involves you taking off

your clothes? I know youre not a woman, I felt

your dick grow hard against me, so thats not it,

and I can tell its not small so what is it?” Richard

asked curiously. Vet merely continued undressing,

sitting on the edge of the bed to pull off his boots,

socks, jeans and then his boxers, he stood before Richard completely nude and completely aroused.

“Good god almighty,” he heard Richard

breathe and he smiled in spite of the seriousness of

what he had to say. He watched as Richard stepped

forward slowly as if in a trance before sinking to

his knees before him.

“You can tell me later,” he said before

sticking out his tongue to lick up the liquid that

had collected at the end of his engorged shaft. Vet

growled again, his body shaking, before he felt his

canines lengthen, his hair growing thicker and longer and his cock growing in size. He looked

down at his mate, on his knees in a position of

submission and knew that he wouldnt be able to

stop the change from taking over him this time; he

needed to claim his mate…and he needed to do it

now.

“Oh my god! Is your dick getting bigger?”

he heard Richard exclaim in shock

and…happiness? He never would have though his

mate was a size queen, but apparently he was.

“Listen Richard,” he spoke, his words slightly slurred because of his elongated teeth,

“Im not like other men.”

“Obviously,” Richard agreed, his eyes still

fastened on Vets still growing erection. ”Oh, we

are going to need a lot of lube and a lot of

stretching, if you plan on fitting that thing inside of

me,” the smaller man teased.

Vet groaned at the image and reaching down

to grab Richard by the shoulders he lifted him up

so he could look into the mans face. He knew

what he looked like, his canines had extended, his hair had grown to just past his shoulders, his chest

was broader, more heavily muscled and soft hair

covered it lightly, his normally ten inch cock was

now around eleven and a half inches and had

grown thicker as well, his hands had grown and he

had to watch his nails that had lengthened and

strengthened into claws.

“Vet? What the fuck!? You look like a wolf

man!” Richard breathed and Vet sniffed the air,

scenting his slight fear, his curiosity and

amazingly, his arousal was still there. “Thats what I been trying to tell you. Im a

wolf shifter. Hollywood calls us“werewolves” but

were shape shifters, we aint bound by the moon,

we can shift at will into our wolf forms or into our

half wolf, half man forms like you see. But we

only shift into this third form when were fighting

a challenge or when were about to claim our

mates,” he explained. He saw Richards eyes

widen.

“M-mates? Whats that?” he grinned

wolfishly at Richards question, before lowering

his head and inhaling the scent of his mate. His wolf howled in pleasure within him and he rubbed

his face in the crook of the mans neck before

lifting his head to answer.

“Wolves mate for life. Wolf shifters are the

same. Fate has one person, sometimes two, that is

created just for us. We know them by their scent.

When we find that person or persons, we feel the

urge to claim them, to make love to them and to

bite them, here,” he said pointing to the very spot

hed nuzzled earlier as he sat back down on the

bed and pulled Richard down to sit on his lap.

”When we bite them, we mark them so that everyone knows that they belong to us, that they

are claimed that they are mated. So when I mark

you, everyone will know that you belong to me.

The Alpha of the Tate Pack.”

Richard moaned and tilted his head back and

Vet wondered if it was a conscious movement or

not. Deciding not to overanalyze it, he licked the

spot where Richards neck joined his shoulder and

then lightly grazed is canines over the spot. He felt

Richard shudder and no longer willing to wait, he

used one nail to tear into Richards clothes before

yanking them from the younger mans body. He swung the smaller man up onto the bed and pulled

off the high-end boots the other man wore, before

pulling off his socks leaving him blissfully naked

and throbbing.

“Im your mate?” he heard Richards

breathless voice.

“Yeah, and now Im gonna claim you, mark

you, and fuck you until you pass out,” Vet

promised before leaning over to take his mates

leaking cock into his mouth, he had to taste him.

The taste of his mate flooded his tongue and surrounded his senses. He heard Richard moan

loudly and felt his hips surge forward as he tried to

shove his dick into Vets throat. He chuckled and

held down the smaller mans hips. Swirling his

tongue around the head of the other mans

throbbing erection, he dragged his tongue down

one side before licking up the other side, pushing

lightly on the vein he felt throbbing there. He stuck

his tongue into the slit at the tip of the smaller

mans erection, savoring his flavor on his tongue

before he kissed his way up his body to his

puckered pink nipples. He moaned in appreciation

at the sight before taking one into his mouth. He licked and sucked on the hardened tip, the fingers

of his left hand, plucking and squeezing the right

nipple so that it didnt feel abandoned. Biting

gently on the nipple in his mouth he heard Richard

pant his name and plead with him to just “do it

already.”

He shook his head before kissing and licking

his way across his mates toned chest to the other

nipple, raising his right hand to the other wet tip as

he repeated the process. He tortured the hardened

tips until he felt his mates body trembling beneath

him. Raising his head he moved up before he lowered his lips down onto the other mans opened

mouth. Their tongues tangled together, their

breathing harsh with want and desire. He felt

Richards arms wrap around his neck and his legs

wrap around his hips and groaned as the tip of his

own throbbing erection rubbed against the

clenching puckered entrance of his mate.

“Vet, please. I want you inside of me, now,”

he heard Richards voice, laced with desire reach

down and grip his cock in its embrace.

“I wanted to take my time and make it good for you,” he panted, groaning when Richard lifted

his hips.

“Take your time next time, but this time I

want you to fuck me and I want you to do it now!”

Richard grinned, it seemed as if his mate was

going to be a bossy bottom, rather than the

submissive man hed thought him to be. It turned

him on even more. No longer able to constrain

himself, he reached over to jerk open the top

drawer of the nightstand and yanked out the bottle

of lube hed put there when hed had to move in

after Mandys death. Shoving out thoughts of his dead sister and her mate, he sat back on his knees

and opened the cap on the bottle of lubricant.

Pouring some on his fingers, he almost dropped

the bottle when he saw Richard grab hold of his

own erection and begin to stroke. He watched for a

moment, his tongue coming out to lick his lips as

he remembered the taste of the younger man,

before he slapped awaythe other mans hand.

“Mine,” he growled before taking one lubed

finger and circling around the smaller mans

puckered entrance. Both men groaned

simultaneously and Vet grabbed one firm cheek and squeezed it gently before slowly pushing in

one finger. The velvet heat of his mate, clenching

his finger, the tightness that surrounded his digit,

made him whimper and almost lose his firm hold

on his wolf. He had to hurry up and prepare and

stretch his mate or he was going to embarrass

himself and come all over the sheets before he

even got a chance to be inside of him. Slowly

thrusting his finger inside Richards hole, he

waited until he felt his entrance relax some before

he pulled his finger almost all the way out and then

pressed two inside. “Hurry up Vet, please,” he heard Richard

plead, the younger mans hands clenching the

sheets of the bed tightly in his grasp.

“Not yet baby, Im way bigger than this,” he

admonished him before slowly pressing in a third

finger. He thrust his fingers inside, turning them

gently and finding the mass of nerves that was the

other mans prostate. He pressed on the button and

felt Richards hips thrust up, a small yelp leaving

his throat. ”Oh yeah, baby, just like that, let me

hear you,” his voice rumbled from his chest and

focusing on that spot he thrust his fingers in faster and deeper, pressing in a fourth finger when he felt

the muscles surrounding his mates entrance

loosen. No longer able to hold himself back, he

pulled out his fingers and coating his aching

erection liberally in lube, he pressed the tip of his

cock to his mates entrance and paused.

“Do it Vet, now!” Richard demanded and

Vet had to stop himself from thrusting in at that

point.

“You understand that when I do this, Im

going to bite you at some point, mark you as mine forever. Youre going to belong to me, and Im

going to belong to you. Mated forever. I wont ever

let you go after this Richard,” he stated firmly. He

watched Richards eyes open and let those crystal

blue eyes lock with his clear green ones. After a

few seconds he saw Richard nod and he smiled.

“I understand Vet, now will you please shut

the fuck up and mate me already?” Richards

words ended on a gasp, when Vet pressed in

slowly, stopping with just the head of his cock

inside, allowing the smaller man to adjust and

relax before pressing all the way inside. Both men groaned and Richard locked his legs around Vets

waist and nodded his head, telling the other man he

could move. So move is exactly what Vet did.

Pulling out until only the tip of his cock remained

inside, he pressed back in, fully and deeply. He

pulled back and then thrust back in slowly before

building up speed until he was pounding his cock

into the smaller mans entrance, the only sounds in

the room moans, pants and flesh slapping against

flesh, the most beautiful sound that Vet had ever

heard. He felt Richards muscles clench his cock

and knew that his mate was about to come, moving

his hands from where they rested on the bed, he slid them under the smaller mans back and lifted

him up until his mates neck was bared to him.

Feeling his own orgasm rushing over him he

growled loudly, fiercely and possessively “MINE,”

and buried his teeth in his mates neck. He heard

Richard scream out with the force of his orgasm,

his seed spurting up between them before he felt as

if the top of his own erection flew off as he spilled

his own come deep within the channels of his

mates ass, covering them in his fluids, marking

him inside as his teeth marked him outside. He felt

their souls joining together, their mating link snapping into place and their hearts beating as one

and felt peace flood his spirit even as he felt both

the force of his own orgasm as well as Richards

rush over him.

Still shaking from the intensity of their

shared orgasm, Vet laid Richard back down on the

bed, withdrawing his canines before licking the

wounds closed and whining happily at the sight of

his mark on his mates neck. He stayed buried

within the smaller man until he felt his body return

to normal, his hairy slowly fading away, leaving

only the hair on his chest, his canines receding and his cock softening and returning to its normal size

before he was able to slowly pull out. Both men

hissed at the motion and Vet stood up from the bed

on shaky legs and walked into the large en suite

bathroom to wet a washcloth and grab a towel to

clean them both off. Having wiped them both clean

and then drying them with the towel, he tossed

both items toward the bathroom before climbing

into bed behind his new mate. He pulled the

smaller man into his arms, breathing in his new

scent, which was a blend of the both of them and

smiled in delight. Things had gone much better

than he could have hoped for. He had his mate, they were going to raise his sisters children

together, and his pack and his ranch were

flourishing. Everything was perfect. Nothing could

go wrong.

“You know youre cleaning up that mess

when we wake up,” he heard Richard mumble and

he chuckled softly. It seemed as if his little mate

was a neat freak. Well, he was a slob, so he could

see a lot of fun arguments ahead.

“Yes dear,” he would promise his mate

anything as long as he stayed in his arms. He sighed again, his body slowly following his mate

into sleep, yep, perfect.

“The only reason a New Yorker would be up at 6am is because they are just getting in from the club the night before. Other than that, the day begins thirty minutes before it’s time to go to work.”

-Richard “Rich Tea” Tillson

Chapter Six

When Richard opened his eyes he was

slightly disoriented for a few minutes. Where the

hell was he? Suddenly the past twenty-four hours

came rushing back to his mind with sudden clarity.

Vernon "Vet" Tate, his deceased best friend's older

brother, had found him and after saving his life had

informed him that he had partial custody of AL's

triplets. They had met a great couple in an elevator

at the hotel, he'd met the triplets and instantly

fallen in love, they'd been miserable on the plan ride back to Texas, arriving late in the afternoon,

they'd put the triplets down to sleep and then...his

eyes snapped open from where they had slowly

drifted closed. Vet had told him that he was a wolf

shifter, had partially "shifted" in front of him,

they'd had sex and he'd asked Vet to "mate" him,

then the other man...the wolf had bitten him.

He did a mental check of his body, his ass

was sore from the plowing he'd received from Vet's

huge cock, his neck was tender from the bite, but

there was something else...off. He felt a pressure in

his head...not like a headache, but like another presence...another person was in his head? Okay,

he had officially fallen off his rocker. He'd gone

crazy. Maybe he had actually been hit by that car

and he was now in a hospital room because in all

of those gay paranormal romance books he'd read,

none of the other men had ever freaked out like he

was about to.

Calm down baby. I know it's going to take
some getting used to, but I would never hurt you.
And you're not crazy, you just kinda been made
aware that the world isn't what you were taught to
believe it was. That it's bigger and more complicated than you can imagine, now will you
please stop freaking out? Because iffen I bring
these babies in that room and they smell your
anxiety and fear, it's going to set them off, he heard

Vet say in his head and he gasped. Sitting up

quickly in bed he looked around. Vet wasn't in the

room with him, no one was there, and lifting up the

sheet he saw that someone, Vet, most likely, had

put him in a pair of his pajama pants. He looked at

the door and saw the doorknob turning. Trying to

calm his racing heartbeat, he inhaled and exhaled

deeply. He could do this, he was fine, and

everything was okay. If Vet wanted to eat him, he would've done it last night. He heard Vet snort just

before the door opened.

"You think I wanna eat you?" he heard the

big Texan's voice as he pushed in Curt, RJ and

Amy in their stroller, all three babies wide-awake

and smiling at the appearance of Richard.

"Hey, no making fun of the human. I'm still

trying to wrap my head around this," he

admonished the other man before leaning over to

lift out Amy who had begun to fuss. Tickling her

lightly, he looked up shyly at Vet where the other man stood staring down at him. So what now? He

asked mentally, hoping the other man received the

question. He was unsure he would since he'd

done it consciously instead of the other times when

it just seemed as if the older man knew what he

was thinking.

Whatever you want. I've gotta meet with my
Beta, that's my second in command and a few of
my Gammas, but that's me. You can take the
triplets and go shopping or garden or read in the
library or watch TV...whatever you want, Vet

responded without hesitation through their mental link.

Richard was about to protest the idea of

being a kept man like he was some househusband,

when he looked down into sweet smiling face of

baby Amy. He could have his own pursuits in

between caring for the triplets.

"I'm not a househusband," he protested

stubbornly and heard Vet snort.

"Of course you're not. You're the mate of the

alpha. Trust me, you're going to be working hard in

no time," the other man said before walking over to place a gentle kiss on the top of Richard's head.

Richard smiled and lifted his head for a kiss. Okay,

so he was going to spend the rest of his life with a

man who could shift into a wolf. That wasn't

necessarily a bad thing right? From what he could

see, Vet was loyal, upstanding, strong, had a great

sense of humor, was possessive, but not overly so,

caring, compassionate, a great brother, a fantastic

uncle, a wonderful father and an amazing lover...he

could do a lot worse. And as their kiss deepened he

amended his earlier statement to add another great

trait, impossibly amazing kisser. Oh yeah, he could

do a whole lot worse. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later found Richard and the triplets in

one of the empty bedrooms, music playing, all of

the furniture pushed to one side, the triplets all

watching Richard from their baby swings as he

danced gracefully around the room. The music was

a fluid, pulsing beat, emotionally stirring, and

when Vet found them, he found himself wanting to

lie on the floor and just watch as Richard moved around the room. The man truly was amazing. Vet

sat down right inside of the doorway, not wanting

to get in Richard's way, but not wanting to miss

anything either. As Richard's legs and arms

extended and his body spun in graceful circles,

before sliding and leaping beautifully, Vet felt a

warm feeling spread throughout his chest.

His mate was amazing. He hadn't seen any

type of professional dancing, usually the only type

of dancing he saw was in one of the honkey tonk

bars in town or one of the gay bars in Dallas. What

Richard was doing, however, it was more than dancing, Vet felt like he was actually seeing the

music, the story, and he was watching passion,

heartache, pain, redemption and forgiveness in

motion. He was breathless and in awe at the

abandon with which his mate danced and he felt

himself growing erect behind the zipper of his

jeans. As the music faded away, he saw Richard

give one final turn and with a small leap land right

in front of him, his hand outstretched towards his

face.

The music ended, another song starting and

still the two of them remained frozen, their eyes locked on each other, Richard's hand still stretched

out towards Vet's face. Without thought Vet took

Richard's hand and pulled the smaller man into his

lap before taking his lips with his own and kissing

him deeply, trying to convey with his kiss how

watching Richard dance had made him feel.

Pulling back from the kiss Vet smiled down

into his mate's flushed face. "You dance

beautifully," he breathed across the other man's

face.

"Thank you," Richard breathed back. No other words were needed and so Vet kissed his

mate again, this time plunging his tongue inside

the smaller man's open mouth. He heard Richard

groan and growled in response. Their passion,

always simmering beneath the surface began to

boil out of control. Someone clearing their voice in

the hallway was the only thing to snap them out of

their passionate haze. Richard pulled back with a

gasp and turned to look at who had intruded on

their intimate moment. Vet didn't need to look, he'd

know that scent anywhere, and it was his Beta,

Anton Forrester, affectionately called "Ton" by all

who knew him. "Sorry to interrupt Alpha, but you wanted

me to let you know when those three new horses

you had bought arrived," the large man stated and

with a sigh Vet turned to look at him.

Ton stood a few inches taller than his own

6'7" and was about twenty pounds heavier, making

him the perfect beta for the Tate clan, a clan made

up of mostly alternative lifestyle families and

individuals, here in Wichita Falls, Texas.

"I could always take care of it for you Alpha

if you want?" he could hear as well as smell Ton's amusement at the fact that he'd caught his alpha

and his mate in a semi-compromising position.

"Well, if you could do it yourself then why

did you come and bother Vet?" Richard asked,

annoyed. Vet grinned with pride when he saw Ton

bare his neck instantly and lower his eyes in

submission.

"Forgive me Alpha Mate, it won't happen

again," Ton was instantly contrite and even though

Vet knew Richard didn't fully understand Ton's

reaction to him, the smaller man seemed to take it all in stride. Nodding his head he gestured with his

hand for Ton to raise his head.

"It's nothing, just don't do it again. What's

your name?" Richard asked and Vet sat back

against the doorframe, his legs spread wide on

either side of the doorway, he pulled Richard

around to settle him back against his chest and

wrapped his arms around his mate's torso and

waist.

"My name's Anton Forrester, Alpha Mate,

but most folks 'round these parts just call me Ton because of my size," Ton responded. Vet heard

Richard scoff at the nickname and smiled. You

could take the boy out of New York, but you

couldn't take New York out of the boy and it was

obviously going to take his mate some time to get

used to the way those in the South liked to give

everyone a nickname. He'd have one before long

and he probably wouldn't like it.

"Well, Anton, are you mated? Do you have

a mate yet?" Richard asked, his head tilting

slightly in a move of curiosity, unaware that he

was showing submission to Ton. Vet slowly and gently, straightened the other man's head, thankful

that he could trust Ton to not attempt to challenge

Richard for his show of submission. He knew he'd

have to explain things to Richard later, preferably

when they were alone, because the only person

that his mate should be submitting to was him.

Hopefully with a pair of handcuffs and a blindfold.

"No, not yet, Alpha Mate," Ton responded

and Vet felt more than heard Richard chuckle.

"Please, call me Richard, I'm begging you.

Alpha Mate is a mouthful," he pointed out smiling when Ton nodded. "Now then, we have got to find

you a mate, and soon, so you'll know how it feels

whenever you're near them. How do you feel about

cross-dressers?"

Chapter Seven

After hanging up with his friend Tommy,

Richard grinned and gave a happy sigh. He hadn't

seen Tommy since he'd returned from Europe and

he'd missed his friend who looked better as

a woman that he ever would as a man. He was

perfect for the large wolf shifter, Anton. Shoving

his cell phone into the back pocket of his jeans he

grabbed the handles on the stroller holding the

triplets and made his way towards the back door.

He wanted to check out the greenhouse and the vegetable garden. He was even thinking about

making dinner for his mate and his mate's friends.

His mate. The words were still strange to say. He

hadn't held out much hope that he would ever have

anyone to call his own or that he would ever

belong to anyone himself. It wasn't because he was

gay, he knew a lot of gay couples that were happy.

No, his disbelief in a "happily ever after" for

himself had more to do with the damage inside

than any sort of outside influences.

He sighed as he thought about his childhood,

his mind going back to the day that his mother

died…the same day that hed come out to his parents. Hed walked into the kitchen where his

parents had been sitting, the two of them laughing

as they read the paper and asked to talk to them.

Hed watched his fathers eyes harden and his

mothers jaw drop open in shock as he told them

that he was gay and that while he hoped to be

married some day and have children...he was

pretty sure that it wouldnt happen the way that

they expected it to. His fathers face had turned

red, his mother had begun crying. He hadnt

known what else to do except cry with her as he

apologized for being gay, for being a failure, for

not being the son that they wanted him to be. When neither of them had denied his words hed

felt his heart break for the first time. When his

mother grabbed her chest and collapsed to the

floor, dead before the paramedics could get there,

his heart had broken again. And when the guy

that hed been secretly dating, dumped him months

later because for him it was just “experimenting”,

hed felt his heart shatter.

He hadnt been the same since. He knew it,

his family knew it and they felt that it was

justified. It was his announcement, his lifestyle

that had killed his mother, her heart breaking because she couldnt take the idea of having a “fag

for a son,” as his father and brothers repeatedly

told him. He had thrown himself into dancing,

determined to be the best dancer that ever lived,

since he could never be the best son that ever

lived. He had decided that he would never allow

himself to get close enough to another person that

he allowed them to shatter what remained of his

heart. Hed barely escaped with his spirit intact,

much less his soul, he needed both to survive, his

heart was a small price to pay to have them.

Opening the sliding door to the backyard, he pulled on his sunglasses, the wide straw hat that

Vet had given to him, along with the garden gloves

that he pulled on and looked down at himself. He

snorted. What a picture he made, with his designer

boots, designer jeans, soft cotton blue T-shirt that

clung to his lean frame and cost him $200 and his

Gucci shades, whose cost he shuddered to think

about. Then there was the straw hat and the gloves,

both of which had maybe cost Vet $10...from

Wal-Mart. Who actually shopped there if they

could afford to shop elsewhere?

Richard cringed when he realized that he sounded a bit like a New York snob, then he

shrugged, he was a New York snob...sort of.

Hearing the chattering of the triplets, he

remembered what he was supposed to be doing

and stepped out onto the back pork backwards,

pulling the stroller with him gently. When he

turned he was happy to see that there was a ramp

down one side of the porch and turning the stroller

in that direction he headed that way.

He looked around the land that he now lived

on and felt his heart pounding in his chest. He had done most of his growing up in the

Bronx with his godmother and "godaunt” after he

left home at 16, some woman that his godmother

had sex with whenever she wasn't having sex with

this John or that John. He'd grown up knowing that

his godmother, his mothers adopted sister and best

friend, was a drug-addicted, prostituting lesbian.

He hadn't cared...or at least that's what he'd told the

kids at his school when they'd teased him about it.

When he'd gotten older, he'd cared even less when

the guys in the class started being the ones who

were paying to sleep with his godmother. When

she overdosed he'd been a little relieved and a lot alone. With only one year left until graduation,

he'd lied and told his school that his father had let

him return home and was taking care of him. That

was the year he'd started dancing in strip clubs for

money. He'd kept stripping and dancing for money

all through college, but he'd gotten a full-ride

scholarship so the money he made in the clubs he'd

used for nice clothes, dildos, shoes, dildos,

mani/pedis, dildos, hair styles, dildos, and more

sex toys than any one gay man really ever needed.

He'd met Amanda Lynn and she'd seen right

through his wall of bullshit. The two of them had

been inseparable and she'd been the only person that had ever truly loved him. Then she'd died

also.

He looked up from where he crouched next

to a tomato plant and found his eyes connecting

with Vet's where the other man stood watching him

from beside the barn. Now he had Vet and AL's

triplets. Maybe he would finally get to have a

happy ending, people that would love him forever

and wouldn't die any time soon.

His thoughts were cut off abruptly when a

pair of boots came into his line of vision. He looked up a pair of muscled legs encased in a pair

of form-fitting Wranglers and up a wide barrel

chest, square jaw, thin lips, a nose with a bump in

the middle, showing that it had been broken at

least once before, to a pair of grey eyes, wide

forehead and wavy blonde hair that brushed the

gorgeous man's collar of his checkered shirt.

"So I hear your name's Richard and you're

the alpha's new mate and the guardian of Mandy's

babies," the stranger stated, his voice deceptively

nice, but Richard could hear the disgust underlying

the pleasant words. He just wasn't sure if the disgust was aimed at him or Vet.

He stood up and pulled off the gloves, his

basket full of carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, peas,

green beans, lettuce, and amazingly, beets, all but

forgotten. Brushing off his hands on his pants,

cringing at the sight of the dirt that had still

managed to get underneath his manicure, he held

out his hand to the unknown man.

"That's right and you are?" he asked

pleasantly, aware of the sounds of whining coming

from the triplets as if they were upset by the stranger's presence.

"Name's Bobby Ray. I'm one of the

farmhands here and I'm the alpha's right hand

man," Bobby Ray said, puffing his chest out in

pride.

"I thought Vet's right hand man was Anton?"

Richard asked in confusion, shocked when Bobby

Ray's voice turned almost purple in rage.

"That big, dumb moose? He's a fairy just

like you," Bobby Ray stated and Richard realized

then that that show of earlier disgust had most definitely been aimed at him.

"Well, your alpha's gay, so does that make

him a fairy as well?" Richard asked with an

exaggerated lilt to his voice, just to piss off the

homophobic asshole. He stood his ground when

the larger man stepped dangerously close to him, a

growl emanating from his chest.

"Now you listen up you...butt monkey. My

alpha ain't a fucking fairy like you. I don't rightly

know what you did when he went up to find you

up there in New-Fucking- York-Queer City, but I'm gonna do all I can to change him back and either

get you booted off this land along with that

shit-packer Anton or I'm going to see you both

dead. We hang guys like you here in Texas,"

Bobby Ray threatened and Richard felt his face

flush with anger and dread. Before he could open

his mouth he heard a low, menacing growl coming

from behind Bobby Ray and saw the biggest, black

wolf he'd ever seen standing feet away from the

both of them.

I want you to get your basket and the triplets
and go in the house, don't come out until I tell you it's okay, he heard Vet's voice in his head. Was that

big, black wolf Vet?

Vet? He questioned mentally.

Don't ask questions, baby, just do what I
said. No one threatens my mate and gets away with
it. I'm going to take care of this little asshole.

"A-Alpha Tate. I was just introducing

m-myself to y-your mate-" Richard heard Bobby

Ray stammering and as he picked up his basket of

vegetables and pushed the triplets back towards the

house, he almost felt sorry for the man. Almost. He heard Vet's growl grow louder and sped up, almost

running as he pushed the triplets towards the safety

of the house. He wanted Bobby Ray scared, yes,

because he'd practically scared the piss out of him

with all of his "we hang guys like you" talk, but he

didn't want Vet to kill him. Then he'd be no better

than the homophobe. Everyone was entitled to

their opinions, their beliefs and their right to live.

As he shut the sliding door he heard the sound of a

second wolf and wondered what was happening,

but not enough to turn around and look. He pushed

the triplets into the kitchen and after placing the

basket on the counter he placed each baby in their high chair, gave them each a handful of the small

chunks of peaches he'd cut up earlier and began to

wash the vegetables, getting them ready for the

stew he planned on making. He would put what

was happening outside out of his mind. He had to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vet couldn't remember ever being as mad as

he was at that moment. He circled around the

blonde wolf. Bobby Ray had shifted when his

attention had strayed a bit to make sure that Richard and the triplets had gotten inside okay, but

that was fine. Vet was easily twice as big as him,

the smaller wolf was no match for his daunting

size, besides he had a huge motive to stay

unharmed and to win...his mate. His heart had

nearly stopped when Richard's fear had reached

him through their mental link. He'd only seen

Richard talking with Bobby Ray but he knew that

whatever the other man was saying, it was causing

his mate undue stress. Without a thought he'd

stripped and shifted, making his way up behind

Bobby Ray quickly and quietly. He'd gotten there

just in time to hear Bobby Ray tell Richard that they "hung" guys "like him" and all he'd known

was rage. He'd wanted to tear the little bigot limb

from limb, but he didn't want Richard or the babies

to see. But now they were in the house and he

could take care of the little shit alone. He was

going to enjoy doing it.

Bobby Ray hadnt made it a secret how he

felt about Ton, Ross or any of the other gay male

shifters that were in the pack or mates of one of the

pack members. Vet had, for the most part, let a lot

of the bigots snide remarks slide, thinking that it

was his youth and the fact that he was raised in the

South, in the “Bible Belt” that really attributed to his narrow-mindedness. But that was not the

case. Bobby Ray was a homophobic asshole and

just like with most homophobes he had to put him

in his place, either through education and

enlightenment, debate, a punch in the face, or a

cock in his ass. Vet had no plans on fucking this

particular wolf, not with Richard waiting for him

inside. Education, enlightenment and debate

hadnt worked, so all that left was a punch in his

face. Seeing as how they were in wolf form,

however, he was going to have to do one better.

He was going to “wolf” him into submission. He

chuckled mentally at the thought and heard Richards answering groan. Sending an image of

him kissing the younger man after hed effectively

beat Bobby Ray in this blatant challenge, he put up

mental barriers to their link so that he could

concentrate on the task at hand.

He growled low in his throat taking a

menacing step towards the other wolf, giving him

plenty of time to back down and show submission.

When the other wolf did no such thing, he gave up

being cordial and pounced. The two wolves

growled, baring teeth, grappling, trying to find a

point of weakness on the other. He howled when he felt the other wolf's teeth bite his shoulder and

no longer trying to merely maim his opponent, he

was now going for the kill. He turned and latched

onto a paw with his massive teeth, biting down

hard until he heard the bone snap, the other wolf

howling in pain. Before he could go for the throat

however, the sound of pounding footsteps reached

his ears, he turned his head for a moment and

when he swung his head back the other wolf had

already taken off for the edge of the property. He

shifted back, not as quickly as before, his injury

slowing him down, but once he was human again

he placed his clenching fists on his naked hips and yelled towards Bobby Ray as loud as possible,

"You threatened the mate of the alpha and you ran

during a challenge like the coward you are. I want

you off my land and out of my pack you

asshole!!!"

He scowled when he heard the sound of

squealing tires and knew that they belonged to

Bobby Ray. The little shit didn't even have the

balls to respond. Turning back to the men who

stood there, all of them tense with the urge to

protect their alpha and the alpha's mate and

children, he grinned. "Don't worry boys, I took care of him. But,

Bobby Ray's been banished. He's not to step foot

back on this property ya' hear? I mean it. If you see

him, let me know. I'm not done with that asshole

yet," he admonished all of them, before turning to

walk slowly towards the house, not caring about

his nudity. He was going in the house to check on

his mate and their babies, shower, and then have

his still slightly damaged shoulder bandaged and

cared for. He rolled his shoulders and hissed at the

pain. It would probably take him a few more shifts

before he was better, while in his human form

almost any injury that he sustained could be healed with just one shift, if he was in his wolf form, it

took two or three shifts to heal any injury.

He opened the sliding door and stepped inside. He

heard the clatter of silverware and the sound of

Richard's running feet. He braced his feet and

opened his arms for the smaller man who launched

himself into his arms.

"What happened? Are you okay? Did you

kill him? I hope you didn't kill him. Was that him I

heard driving away all fast? Are you bleeding? Oh

my gosh, you're bleeding! Can't shifters heal from

that? Go take a shower and clean that thing and come back and I'll put a bandage on it and wrap it

for you. I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried

about you," Richard spoke rapidly and Vet blinked

his eyes at the verbal assault. He merely smiled in

the face of his mate's concern and with a deep kiss

on his lips, turned to walk upstairs to shower and

change so he could come back and be taken care

of.

Oh yeah, this being mated thing was turning

out rather well.

Chapter Eight

Richard took a deep breath and tried to still

his racing heart. Vet was okay. Hed just come

through the door, unassisted, he was able to walk

up the stairs and he wasnt leaving a trail of blood

so he was okay. He tried to reassure himself with

those thoughts, trying not to think of the large

wound on his mates bare shoulder. Trying not to

think of the fact that Vet was injured because of

him. Hed almost been killed, because he had mated him. Richard, a fag, a fairy. It was all his

fault.

Richard jumped slightly when Vets voice

burst through his mind sounding angry and

exasperated. It wasn’t your fault. None of this
was your fault. You didn’t turn me gay baby, I’ve
always beenthat way. Bobby Ray did this. It’s
his fault. Not yours, besides fate knew that you
were the perfect man for me. The perfect person
for me. You belong to me. Even if you had been
a woman, Bobby Ray would have found fault with
ya’. Now why don’t you stop frettin’ over something that ain’t your fault and come scrub my
back?

Richard felt his mates peace and assurance

wash over him and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked over at the playpen where the triplets

slept peacefully and turning on the baby monitors

and checking to make sure that the doors were

locked he walked upstairs to join his mate in the

shower.

He walked into the steamy bathroom and

saw the silhouette of his mate through the glass of the shower door. Richards mind filled with

images of being soapy and Vet pressing him up

against the wall as he fucked him. The image

then shifted and changed to one of Vet on his knees

sucking Richards hard cock. He groaned audibly

as his mind was assailed with the sensual imagery,

his hands furiously pulling off his clothes and

tossing them haphazardly towards the hamper in

the corner.

“If you get in here faster, I might just eat

your ass before I fuck you,” Vet promised and

Richard grabbed the base of his cock and squeezed it firmly, holding back his encroaching orgasm.

Breathing in deeply and exhaling after a long

moment, he stepped to the door of the shower and

opened it before stepping inside. His mouth went

dry instantly at the sight that awaited him.

Vet stood in the middle of the

four-showerhead shower, his cock hard, the head a

deep purple color, looking almost painful. He was

covered from his shoulders down to his ankles in

soap and he held a bottle of waterproof lube in his

hand. Richard swallowed thickly and felt his cock

head weeping with pre-cum. He heard Vet growl and looked up at the other man.

“You have no idea how beautiful you look

do you? Standing there, wet and hard, aroused to

the point that youre shaking and its all for me.

Its because you want me,” Vet stated in a rough

voice before hauling Richard into his arms.

Placing his hands underneath the smaller mans ass

he lifted him and then pressed him against the

shower wall.

“Do you want me to fuck you against the

wall or something else?” Vet asked. Richard bit hislip before he stated boldly, “I

want to ride you and then when Im jacking off

with you inside of me, I want you to open your

mouth so I can shoot my load down your throat.”

Vet groaned and put Richard down on his

feet before laying down on the floor of the shower,

his erect dick standing straight up at attention.

Richard looked down at his mate and watched as

the other man began to slowly stroke his hard

shaft. He felt his body shiver with unconcealed

delight and desire and lowered himself to his

knees. Pouring the lube over the fingers of one hand he reached behind his balls and slowly

pressed one finger deeply within his ass.

Moaning at the sight of his mate still stroking his

hard cock as he watched him, Richard knew that

he wouldnt be able to last much longer and with

that thought in mind he pressed another finger

inside of his velvet heat, right alongside the other.

Two fingers soon became three and he heard Vets

groan join his own.

Pulling his fingers from his ass he grabbed

the base of Vets weeping cock and placed the head

at his entrance. Locking his eyes with that of his mates, the water streaming down on top of them,

he breathed out and pushed down on the head of

his mates cock. He felt the muscles in his groin

clench as the head of Vets cock popped inside of

him and then he slowly, inch by blessed inch, sank

down further and further on the other mans hips,

until Vets balls rested underneath the plump

fullness of his ass.

“Move baby. Do something, dont just sit

there…gah!” Vet complained after a few moments

of Richard not moving, impatient for his lover,

only to groan loudly when Richard lifted his ass just a fraction before slamming back down.

Richard didnt want soft lovemaking at that

moment. He had almost lost his mate, he wanted

to ride him until neither one of them could walk.

He wanted Vet to fuck him stupid. He wanted Vet

to fuck him until that fear was gone, that heart

gripping, bone crushing fear that filled his veins

with ice and stole his last breath from him. He

needed to feel that Vet was alive, he needed to

know that the other man wouldnt leave him. He

needed to know that Vet would be around to accept

the intensely deep and eternal emotion that Richard felt inside. He needed his mate.

Vets thrusts sped up as he tried to give his

mate exactly what he needed and Richard began to

pant and groan alongside the bigger man as he felt

his orgasm approaching him like a passenger train.

Richard leaned forward on both hands and began

to lift and lower his hips in rhythmto Vets thrusts,

the water from the shower mixing with their sweat

and making the sounds of flesh slapping against

flesh sound that much louder. Their harsh breaths

echoed in the room and Richard felt his head

spinning, his heart began pounding in his chest furiously and he felt it, the tingling feeling began

in his toes and Richard arched his feet as he tried

to hold off coming. He wanted Vet to come with

him. He needed him too.

“Im going to come, love,” Vet groaned and

with that one word. That term of endearment,

Richard threw back his head and screamed out his

orgasm. Vet followed him over the precipice

shortly after and Richard coughed after a few

seconds as he choked on the water coming out of

the showerhead. He heard Vet laugh and he

opened his eyes and gave him a mock glare. “Yeah. In those romance books you love to

read and those pornos you like to watch, the main

character doesnt choke on the shower water huh?

Or have to be helped up from the floor, his back

covered in bruises because of all of the fucking on

the floor?” Vet teased him and Richard rolled his

eyes.

“Shut up dog boy,” Richard teased back with

a teasing grin. He saw Vets eyes narrow even as

his cock began to harden inside of him again.

Both men groaned at the sensation. “Okay, so here are your options. We can

get out now so you can bandage my shoulder and I

can go back to work. Or, I can go ahead and fuck

you into the shower wall, like I planned to in the

first place, and THEN you can bandage my

shoulder and I can getback to work,” Vet offered

with a lascivious grin.

Richard nodded his head as if considering

Vets offer, even as he drifted one hand up to his

nipples and began to play with them and squeeze

them. “You make a compelling argument there

alpha, but I choose option number two. Never let it said that I dont make sure youre clean,”

Richard replied with a cheeky grin, which Vet

kissed off his face, shortly before standing and

setting about to carry out his teasing threat.

Chapter Nine

Richard waved goodbye to Vet as the older

man retuned back to work and took a deep breath.

Gods, he felt completely worn out…but in a

wonderfully, delightful,

walking-funny-for-the-rest-of-the-night, kind of

way. He turned away from the back door and took

a three steps before the sound of the triplets crying

reached him. Alarmed, because honestly, these

were some of the most wellbehaved babies hed

ever seen, he ran quickly up the stairs and to the nursery. What he saw there made him pause only

seconds before he raced forward with a breathless

cry.

One of the triplets, Richard couldnt tell

which one at first glance, was hanging over the

side of the bed with their arms hanging down

trying to hold onto their siblings who were

dangling over the side of the bed. Richard didnt

know how theyd gotten themselves into such a

predicament, but he knew that it was definitely

something he was going to have to talk to Vet

about. “Youre wolf shifters! Not monkey

shifters!!! What the hell is wrong with you?” he

yelled out in a panic to the babies, his heart

pounding in his chest. He tried to shelter his

thoughts from his mate, knowing that Vet would

come running if he thought something had

happened to one of the babies, especially

considering what had just happened and when a

few minutes passed with him desperately clutching

both babies in his arms, pressing his hip into the

side of the nursery bed where, he looked over

quickly to identify which baby was still in the crib,

Amy, his brain processed was holding onto her brothers?

He checked again and sure enough, Amy

was still in the crib, and he was holding Curt and

RJ in his arms.

“Just like your damn mother,” he grumbled.

“You can never be like every other woman out

there, you just have to be different. Dont you

know that youre supposed to be the one hanging

onto one of your brothers hands screaming for

dear life? Not the other way around,” Richard

mumbled affectionately at the little girl who blew him a raspberry and flopped down on her tiny baby

bottom, the sound of her diaper crushing beneath

her making Richard smile. She even huffed like

Mandy.

“Im sorry honey, even if you are a wolf

shifter, as a female, you are considered the weaker

sex amongst humans. Although, if they knew what

I knew, that women are devious, evil and much

stronger than us, because of that very thing, theyd

think twice. Besides, I had a kidney stone once and

it hurt like hell when I had to piss it out, but your

mother,” Richard sighed in fond remembrance of his best friend as he put both boys back into the

crib alongside their sister. “Your mother gave birth

to the two of you. That to me is pretty amazing.

And brave. And so strong. And she was smart to,

because she left you with your Uncle Vet. Didja

know that he was my mate? You probably did

huh?” Richard nodded, sitting down in the rocking

chair that faced the crib and slowly rocking as he

talked with the triplets. All three babies were

facing him. Watching him intently as if they were

aware and could comprehend everything he was

saying and as if they found every word out of his

mouth, completely fascinating. “Yeah, your Uncle Vet is something else.

Hes pretty amazing you know? Hes kind and

attentive and he really knows how to fu”

Richards words cut off abruptly as he remembered

who sat in the room with him, hearing his every

word. He coughed nervously and cleared his

throat, and hed swear years later that RJ smirked

at him as if well aware of what his namesake had

been about to say. “Funnel a ditch for the cattle!”

Richard said with a laugh.

“Im pretty sure that talking about

„funneling with infants is inappropriate and grounds for being arrested,” a deep, velvety voice

said behind him and Richard turned, fully

expecting to see Vet, instead finding his eyes

traveling up a long pair of legs, covered by tight

Wrangler jeans, a thick waist and a broad, hard,

muscled torso, a square chin, a goatee, a pair of

light brown eyes, long black dreadlocks that hung

below the strangers shoulders and a big ass grin

all wrapped up in a milk chocolate wrapping, that

let Richard know that the other man knew that

hed been scoping him out, knew that hed seen his

very impressive…assetand that hed found

Richard similarly attractive. “My names Howell Marshall. Alpha Vernon

sent me to tell you that he might be a little late

coming back. One of the mares is having a bit of a

problem,” the big black man said and Richard

swallowed thickly before nodding. It wasnt so

much that he was lusting after the other man, but

he was appreciating him…hard.

Howell nodded before turning to walk away,

he took two steps before turning back around and

grinning at Richard, “Wolf shifter babies are very

understanding when it comes to „funnelingAlpha

Mate. They dont cry much in general, but when their parents are „funneling they tend to fall asleep

easily. Thats the reason why there are so many

little cubs running around in packs,” he said before

chuckling heartily and walking away.

With a heavy groan of embarrassment,

Richard dropped his head into his hands and

chuckled softly, very aware of the sound of the

triplets laughing from their play crib.

Chapter Ten

Later on that night Vet lay in bed waiting for

his mate to return from putting the triplets to sleep.

He was exhausted. He couldn't remember the last

time he'd been as tired as he was right then. He

yawned and settled more comfortably into the

pillows behind his head. He was trying to stay up

for Richard. After the fight with Bobby Ray he'd

showered with Richard, been bandaged up, had

lunch and gotten right back to work, making sure that he put some of his gammas on guard should

the rogue wolf decide to return. He hadn't seen his

mate again until dinner and by then the house was

full of pack members and their families. It wasn't a

usual occurrence, but everyone had wanted to meet

the alpha's mate and Vet had wanted to show his

little man off. He hadn't minded the looks of lustful

appreciation the women and some of the men

threw his mate's way, he knew his pack or rather

they knew him, no one would dare make a move

unless they wanted to deal with him. Besides, he

knew his man was gorgeous. Closing his eyes he thought about Richard's

tight little body, his delicious ass and those lips...he

moaned as he felt his groin tighten. He felt like it

had been forever since he'd last fucked his mate's

ass, although he knew that it hadn't been. Dropping

his hand to his erection he grabbed it in his right

hand, squeezing gently seconds before he yawned

widely.

"Oh now, I don't think I've ever seen

anything like that," he heard come from the

doorway. Opening his eyes he looked over at

Richard where he stood leaning into the doorway, his chest bare, wearing only his green pinstriped

boxers. He grinned and lifted his lips a little.

"Yeah, it is pretty impressive isn't it?" he

said with a smile.

"Oh, I wasn't talking about that. I was

talking about the way you were jacking off with

one hand and yawning with the other. That was

pretty darn impressive," Richard said with a

chuckle as he walked around to the other side of

the bed and climbed in. Vet turned to look at the

smaller man with a tired smile. "I want to make love to you," he said.

Richard smiled and nodded, pulling off his boxers

and getting underneath the covers, he rolled over

to put his head on Vet's chest, his fingers playing

with the smattering of dark curls that decorated

that firmly muscled surface.

"I want you to make love to me too,"

Richard agreed with a nod. Vet groaned, could he

work up the energy it would take? Could he even

make the effort? His cock was hard and ready to

go, it was just that the rest of his body felt like a

used dishrag. "I want to, but I'm just too tired," Vet

admitted and heard Richard chuckle.

"Oh thank god because I was totally going

to fake enthusiasm," Richard said with a laugh.

Both men laughed then, glad to know that while

their bodies wanted each other, their minds just

weren't up to the task and that was okay with both

of them.

"You know, it has to be about more than sex

for us or it will never work," Richard pointed out

just as he'd began to doze off. "Wha-huh?" he asked, trying to wake

himself back up.

"Us. I mean I understand about the whole

wolf mating thing, but mating doesn't guarantee

blissful happiness, no problems ever, and a happily

ever after. Regardless of what those stupid

romance novels say," Richard pointed out.

"Right..." Vet agreed, wondering how it was

that the smaller man could still be awake at, he

looked at the clock, midnight? It was midnight? He

was only going to get five hours of sleep and his mate was up talking about romance novels? Why?

Why wasn't he asleep? Vet looked at Richard, the

smaller man was sitting up now, his mouth moving

and words were obviously coming out but Vet was

too tired to even make sense of them and he really

needed to get to sleep. He knew of only one way to

achieve that.

Pulling back the covers, he pushed Richard

back onto the bed and gave him a deep and

passionate kiss, "No more talking, we'll talk later,"

he admonished him before letting his tongue trail

down the younger man's toned chest and abs to his hard and leaking cock. Licking at the slightly salty

and tangy taste that leaked from the tip of the

smaller man's cock he groaned at the taste of his

mate exploding on his tongue. The smaller man

had stopped talking so much, but he was still

making noise and he was still awake and that

wouldn't help with him trying to get to sleep

himself, so he opened his mouth and sucked down

Richard's erection, his cheeks hollowing as he

sucked up, his tongue swirling around the base of

the younger man's cock. His saliva dribbled from

his mouth, down Richard's shaft, over his balls,

down the crease and the cheeks of his ass until there was a very noticeable wet spot below him,

but still Vet did not let up. Tracing his tongue along

the vein in the firm shaft, he took one finger and

pressed it deep within the other man's clenching

channel.

He hummed in appreciation when his mate

began to pump his hips, as if confused about

whether to push up into his mouth or down onto

his finger, so Vet allowed him to do both. Lifting

his mouth away from the saliva coated erection,

Vet leaned down further to his mate's balls and

sucked first one and then the other into his mouth. He ran his tongue between the two sacks to the

younger man's perineum. Licking the area for a

moment, one hand still stroking Richard's dick,

three fingers of the other hand now thrust inside of

the young man's entrance.

Feeling Richard's legs tense, Vet lifted his

head and stared deeply into Richard's eyes.

"Give me all of it baby, every drop," he

demanded before lowering his mouth back over

the young man's erection. At that moment his

fingers pressed onto Richard's prostate and with a loud shout of Vet's name and a chorus of "YES!"

"YES!" "Yes!" "Yes!" "Yes." "yessssss," all

growing softer as he continued to speak, Richard

shot his seed into his lover's mouth. With a happy

moan Vet swallowed, pulling away slightly so that

he could get the full taste of the younger man on

his tongue, his fingers still thrusting within him.

When Richard's erection finally softened and slid

from his mouth, Vet slowly slid his fingers from

the other man's ass, his mouth, chin and chest wet

with saliva and traces of semen that had escaped as

he swallowed. He looked at his man and saw that

he was asleep, looking over at the clock he saw that it was only fifteen minutes past midnight.

With a sigh he climbed from the bed and

walked into the bathroom. Grabbing a washcloth

and a dry towel, he quickly wet the washcloth,

rubbed soap into it and walked back to the

bedroom. Gently using the washcloth on the

smaller man's chest, now flaccid cock, balls and

ass, Vet cleaned his mate before drying him

thoroughly. Returning to the bathroom, he set

about cleaning himself off, wiping down his face,

neck, chest and hands with the washcloth, he

quickly brushed his teeth, gargled with Listerine and dried off with the towel. Placing both items in

the dirty clothes hamper, he grabbed another dry

towel and turning off the lights in the bathroom, he

returned to bed.

Climbing back in bed alongside his now

peacefully sleeping mate, he pulled the man into

his arms and placed the dry towel over the wet spot

that was underneath his ass. Settling back against

the pillows again, he sighed as he closed his eyes

to sleep, his own cock painfully erect and sadly

neglected. Looking down at his mate, with his

sweet smile on his sleeping face, he didn't regret the last twenty minutes at all. He ignored his cock,

which called him a liar as it leaked more pre-cum

onto his stomach.

"Oh shut-up," he said before falling asleep.

“Shifter babies are some of the quietest babies in the world…that’s usually because they’re up to something.”

-Anton “Ton” Forrester

Chapter Eleven

Mornings came way too fucking early in

Texas. Richard yawned as he turned to walk down

the stairs to the kitchen to make breakfast for his

big hunky cowboy. He scratched his

toned stomach as he took the first step and then

screamed when he felt two strong arms wrap

around him, a hand pressed against his mouth.

"Don't scream or you'll wake your precious

babies," a deep raspy voice said behind him and Richard shivered in fear. He nodded to let the

person behind him know that he understood.

"We're going to go downstairs now, real nice

and easy like, no noise, you got me?" the man said

and Richard nodded again. He wondered where

Vet was and if his man was alright.

Vet? Are you okay? he questioned the other man

through their mental link. He walked in front of the

intruder down the stairs and towards the kitchen.

I'm fine why? he heard Vet respond and

sighed in relief. He walked into the kitchen and attempted to think of a way to get rid of the other

man.

There's a man in the house, I don't know
where he's taking me, but-Richard's words to his

mate stopped when the man behind him grabbed

him to pull him close to his big, hard boy, his thick

erection pressed to his back.

"He's taking you into the kitchen so he can

fuck you on the counter before he goes to work,"

he heard Vet's voice from directly behind him and

with a gasp he whirled around to stare at his mate. "Vet?!" Unable to say anything else or to ask

his mate why he was lurking around and scaring

the shit out of him in the dark, he grunted when

Vet lifted him up into his arms, pressing their lips

together in a sensual kiss. Richard felt his eyes

drift close as passion washed over him. His eyes

opened as he felt himself being seated upon a hard

surface and he realized that Vet had sat him on top

of the kitchen counter. He smiled at the look of

dazed passion in the other man's eyes and with deft

fingers unbuttoned the other man's red-checkered

shirt. "So are you making up for last night?" he

questioned as he leaned forward to allow his lips

and tongue to slowly kiss and taste the clean flavor

of his mate's neck. He felt Vet nod and knew at that

moment exactly what the bigger man needed. He

rubbed his lips along the tendons in the bigger

man's neck over his collarbone and with his hands

pushed off his shirt. He slid his fingers up both

arms, tracing and caressing the hard muscles that

were obtained not from a gym but from a day of

honest, hard work.

The muscles in his arms, his biceps, hell, even the ones in his shoulders were so firm and

hard that Richard heard himself whimper at the

feel of them. He pulled Vet closer and kissed one

shoulder deeply, before opening his mouth and

licking the muscle there. He heard Vet groan as he

continued to leave open mouth kisses over his

shoulder before moving to his biceps, his arms and

down to his fingers, making sure to taste the skin

there as well.

Vet's harsh breathing sounded in his ear and

he felt as the larger man's hands gripped the legs of

his pajama pants and ball them up into his clenched fists. He drifted his lips over to Vet's

neglected shoulder and repeated his attentions

there, the whole while his fingers touched and

caressed Vet's face, his hair, his chest, pinching the

hardened brown nipples and down to caress his

firm 8-pack abs. He was in love with Vet's body, he

hissed as Vet pulled him up flush against his body

as he took his lips in a hard crushing kiss, the

sparse hair on his chest rubbing against him

delightfully.

He drifted his hands down the planes of

Vet's wide and firm back, pressing himself against the man intimately, all thoughts of seducing the

other man, dragging out their lovemaking fleeing

in the presence of the other man's desire for him.

"I need to be inside of you baby," he heard

Vet's voice, deep and rumbling with

uncompromising need. He nodded and felt Vet

frantically pull down his pajama pants before

stepping between his open legs. He reached down

and opened the button fly on Vet's jeans, taking

special care not to bruise or injure the hardened

object within them as he unzipped the pants. "Damn Wranglers," he grumbled before

squeaking in surprise when Vet gave him a small

nip on his shoulder. "What the hell?" he pouted.

"We don't talk bad about Wrangler jeans

here in the South," Vet grinned before pulling out a

bottle of lube that he kept in a drawer in the

kitchen.

"You always keep lube in the kitchen

drawer?" Richard asked, feeling a small twinge of

jealousy that perhaps his mate had been in this

position before. Vet gave him a lopsided grin, "If you check,

there's lube in every room except for the nursery.

My sister and brother-in-law were insatiable, so

are Ton and some of the other guys who stay here

from time to time." Vet grinned before grabbing

Richard's legs and pulling him until his ass hung

off the edge of the granite countertop. With another

smile Vet lowered his head and spread wide the

cheeks of Richard's ass. With a loud moan Richard

lay back fully onto the counter. Reaching down he

pulled his knees up towards his chest, holding onto

the backs of his knees as he felt Richard's long,

wide tongue licking around his puckered entrance. "Fuck! Is everything on you big and long?"

he groaned out and heard Vet chuckle seconds

before pressing his "big and long" tongue deep

within him. It was too much, it wasn't enough, and

most of all, he wasn't anywhere close to touching

what Richard really wanted him to touch.

"Dammit Vet!" he growled, his feet

extending into points and stretching back as his

body was wracked with desire. When Vet stood to

his feet, he wasn't sure whether to whine at the loss

of his tongue deep within his ass or sigh with

happiness that he was finally going to be filled with the cowboy's hard shaft.

As he felt Vet slowly push within him he

settled for sighing. He'd bottomed and topped

different times in his life before but there was

something about feeling Vet's cock in his ass. He

felt so full, not just physically, but emotionally as

well. He tilted his head back as he felt Vet pull his

legs over his shoulders and press deep within him.

With a deep moan, Vet began to thrust into him

and Richard felt the fabric of the older man's jeans

and he whimpered in lustful need. There was something about knowing that he

was completely naked, laying on the kitchen

counter being fucked by Vet when the man had

been unable or unwilling to wait until he was

completely naked himself before thrusting his cock

in his ass.

He wrapped his hands behind Vet's neck and

pulled his lips down to meet his own. Their

tongues dueled, twisting around each other, Vet's

tongue thrusting in and out of his mouth,

mimicking the movements of his cock to Richard's

ass. Bringing one hand down from behind his mate's neck, he grabbed his leaking cock and

began to pump his erection in time with Vet's

thrusts. It wasn't long before he felt the muscles in

his ass tighten with his approaching orgasm and

felt Vet's thrusts speed up.

"That's right baby. Come for me. Cover me

in your come," Vet growled in him before licking

the mating mark on his neck and with a surprised

shout Richard felt his seed explode from the slit in

the top of his cock.

"Oh fuck you're so hot baby," he heard Vet's voice as if from a distance and music...sort of like

Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory" and he knew that this

was the best orgasm he'd ever had before in his

life. He felt Vet thrust once, twice, three times

before coming deep in his ass, the muscles in his

ass still trembling and clenching as if trying to

milk Vet's cock of every drop.

"Shit," he heard and with a gasp he and Vet

turned to the kitchen doorway to see Anton,

dressed in a pair of Wranglers, brown boots, and a

grey shirt that looked stretched to its limit over his

wide chest, and his friend Tommy, dressed in a pair of boots, a tight pair of jeans, a green silk shirt,

tied in the front, above his belly button, both men

standing there with their mouths hanging wide

open.

"You guys are fucking hot! If this is how

cowboys do it in Texas then I should really

consider moving here," Tommy said cheekily and

Richard groaned in the face of his friend's

amusement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I called you when we pulled up to make

sure you were awake," Tommy teased Richard as

he followed the now dressed man around the

nursery as he changed the babies. Vet had made

Ton show Tommy to an empty bedroom and the

two of them had hastily gotten dressed. He'd

walked funny as he hurried up the stairs to their

bathroom to do some major cleanup...and to get

over his embarrassment. Vet had done a quick

cleanup in the half bath next to the kitchen, before

wiping down the counter with bleach. The four of them had eaten a quick breakfast of eggs, toast and

sausage, with Tommy and Ton sharing heated

looks with each other and amused remarks with

him and Vet. He hadn't been able to look Vet in the

eyes since.

"I didn't realize that was my phone I heard. I

thought it was something else..." Richard hedged

as he handed Curt a bottle before moving to RJ's

crib to change and feed him.

"What else could it have been? Oh. My.

God! You thought you heard music when you were shooting your load all over him didn't you?"

Tommy squealed in delight. "You are totally falling

for the big cowboy aren't you?"

Richard shrugged and smiled down at the

gurgling baby on the table. "So what if I am? We're

going to be raising these babies together and

besides we've already sort of committed to each

other...sorta," he mumbled.

"What the hell? Richie! You just met the

man! I mean, I'll give it to you, he is one sexy ass

man and his cock is UH-MAY-ZING, but is that enough for you to be talking forever with someone

you haven't even known for two months?" Tommy

questioned him.

Tommy had always been the voice of reason

in his life, but how could he explain this to him?

The whole mates, wolf shape shifter, fate thing?

He could barely wrap his own mind around it.

"When you know, you know Tommy. That's

the only thing I can tell you," he deferred before

turning to stare at the other man. "Love,

commitment, it's not rational. It doesn't follow a set of rules. It doesn't care about race, gender,

education, time, what's rational or irrational, age, it

doesn't care about the natural, the supernatural, the

normal or the paranormal. Love is just love and

when you fall in love with someone, you don't let

that go because it doesn't fit in with someone else's

ideas about what love looks like. If you do, you

don't deserve to have it in the first place."

Tommy stared at him, his eyes wide, his

mouth hanging open. Richard grinned at him, his

back to the doorway as he waited for his best

friend to speak. He knew that he'd shocked him, he'd sort of shocked himself, but he meant every

word he'd said.

"Are you saying that you love this guy?" he

finally asked.

"That's a question I'd like the answer to as

well," Vet responded from the doorway, his eyes

wet with tears and Richard realized that he must

have heard the whole thing. Knowing that it was

impossible for him to speak anymore he merely

nodded his head in his mate's direction and tilted

his head to accept the kiss the bigger man pressed upon his lips when he rushed over to him and

swept him into his arms. It was the sweetest kiss

he'd ever had in his life.

“Only thing better than a gay cowboy, is a gay cowboy singing Lady Gaga.”

-Tommy “Tammy Walks” Wilkins

Chapter Twelve

He loved him. His mate loved him. No

matter how many times Vet reminded himself of

the fact that Richard loved him, each time he

thought it, the idea became more unbelievable than

the time before it. His mate, his man, his Richard,

loved him. Vet shook his head, well aware that the

big goofy grin stayed on his face.

"Oh, get that smug look off your face," he

heard Richard mutter as the smaller man walked past him, balancing one of the triplets on his hip.

Had it really been three months since he'd heard

those words? Richard had only said them once, but

Vet knew that he still meant them. It was in his

every touch, his every word. The way he kissed

him, the way he took care of him, the way they

made love. Yeah, Richard still loved him, he just

had to make the smaller man say it again.

"What? You got a problem with me

smiling?" he teased the other man as they worked

together to bring the triplets, the groceries, the

shopping bags, the feed, the mail, the packages, the deliveries, and the rest of Richard's furniture in

from outside.

"I got a problem with it when you're smug

for no reason," Richard huffed as he dragged in a

large bag of potatoes from outside.

"Well, why don't you ask me what I'm smug

about then," Vet grinned as Richard flopped down

onto the couch in the living room, smiling over at

the triplets who smiled and giggled back at him.

"I don't care to know," Richard pouted,

knowing damn well what had Vet grinning like a Cheshire cat. He did feel somewhat guilty, he

hadn't immediately told Richard that he loved him

when the smaller man had first said it, but he had

told him since and each time all Richard had done

was smile, kiss him and say "I know." Which he

guessed was something, but it just wasn't enough.

He wanted to hear his mate tell him that he loved

him again. He wanted to hear it every day, for the

rest of their lives together.

"So, have you heard from Tommy?" he

asked, deciding to change the subject as he came to

sit next to Richard on the couch. He heard the other man sigh in sadness.

"Not since he tore out of here when Anton

shifted in front of him. I don't even know if he's

okay. He won't answer any of my phone calls, text

messages or emails. I feel like such an idiot, I

really thought he'd be okay with the whole shape

shifter thing. I didn't think he'd spaz out, and the

fact that he and Anton are mates? Well, that just

makes me feel worse," Richard confessed. Vet felt

his heart clench at the sound of his mate's sadness

and guilt and pulled the other man snug against his

chest. "No one blames you. Ton doesn't even

blame you. He's hurting because his mate left him,

yes, but that's directed towards Tommy, not you.

He's grateful that you gave him the opportunity to

even meet his mate in the first place. Don't beat

yourself up over this, baby, please. It will work

out. It always does, fate doesn't make mistakes

when it comes to putting people together. Trust

me," he stated firmly before he kissed the other

man's temple. With a sigh Richard nodded and

then turned on the TV before snuggling into Vet's

chest, his arms wrapped around his big cowboy as

they lay on the couch watching some sappy movie.

"Gods above, where did all the good visual

entertainment go," Richard moaned and Vet

snorted. "What?" he questioned.

"Visual entertainment? Why don't you just

say movies man?" Vet chuckled. "Ain't nobody

here to try to impress wit' your ten-dollar words

and your New York education. It's all simple folk

here. Just say movies," Vet laughed as Richard's

face flushed with embarrassment.

"That's just how I talk Vet," Richard responded, embarrassed. Vet's eyebrows rose and

he realized that even after being mated for months,

making love, raising children, running a ranch and

a farm on top of being the alpha couple for the Tate

Pack, there was still so much about his mate that

he didn't know.

"I'm sorry baby. I wasn't tryin to pick on

you none, just don't want you to feel like you gotta

put on airs or nothing out here," Vet reassured his

mate.

Richard nodded and smiled, "Yeah, I know. And even though it doesn't seem like it, I'm more

relaxed here, and have been since I got here, than I

have been at any other point in my life. This is me

relaxed and comfortable."

Vet nodded and opened his mouth when he

caught a whiff of smoke. He lifted his nose to sniff

the air and smelled more than just smoke, he

smelled fire and he smelled wolves, lots of wolves

about ten different wolves, and these wolves that

had no permission to be on his property.

"Richard, baby, I want you to listen to me. I'm gonna get you and the triplets locked up safe

and tight in the pantry. There's a door in there,

unlocks by knocking on the wall behind the cereal

boxes, it leads you into a bunker downstairs that

leads into a hallway that leads you to another piece

of property at the edge of the forest. I want you to

wait in the pantry for two hours. If after two hours,

I haven't come to get you, I want you to take the

triplets to the bunker in the basement. Wait there

for a few more hours. If sunrise comes and I'm not

there, I want you and the triplets to go to that other

house, call my fried Ross, he'll get you all to

safety," he commanded his mate, "Do you understand me?"

Richard shook his head, "No. What the hell

is going on Vet? Why are you telling me this?

What's happening?"

Vet opened his mouth to respond and

smelled fifteen more wolves that had joined the ten

from before and with them he smelled one familiar

wolf and they were getting closer...Bobby Ray. He

looked over at his mate, memorizing his features,

caressing his face before he stood and quickly

grabbed a large duffel bag. Grabbing clothes, diapers, formula, bottles, wipes, shoes, and food,

he threw them all into the duffel. He grabbed the

baby Bjorn and lifting Amy into his arms placed

her inside before strapping her to Richard's chest.

He rushed over and opened the special order

stroller they'd gotten, the one with three seats,

made especially for the triplets. Pulling back the

visor on the back last seat, he put the duffel bag

inside of it.

He turned and saw that Richard had already

picked up RJ and was placing him into the stroller,

so he grabbed Curt and placed him in the front. Giving each baby their pacifiers, he hurried his

mate and their children to the pantry.

"Okay, so here's what's going on. Bobby

Ray is back, probably to get revenge and he's got

upwards of twenty five other wolf shifters with

him. They've already set fire to one of my

buildings, probably to smoke us all out of the

house so that we can attack. The other men'll be

waiting on me outside the back of the house, but I

gotta make sure you and the kids are safe before I

go out there and deal with this. I gotta save the

horses and the other animals. Gotta save the members of the pack that work and live her, most

of all I gotta make sure my family, you and our

babies are safe. So I gotta go out here and kick

some ass, but I can't do that if I'm worried about

you. Now you remember what I said for you to

do?" he questioned his mate, his words coming

rapid-fire, slurring slightly as his body became

poised, ready to shift at any moment.

Richard swallowed thickly and nodded

before lifting up on his toes and kissing him

deeply. "You just make sure you stay safe you hear

me Vernon Tate? I love you and I am not raising these kids on my own," the smaller man sniffled.

Vet's heart leaped in his chest. He'd said it

again! Granted he'd said it in a moment of extreme

emotional distress, but he'd said it nonetheless.

With a cocky grin he nodded. "I love you too and

that right there gives me a reason to make sure I

survive. Now go on, git." He pushed his mate into

the pantry and heard as the smaller man settled

down the triplets. Pulling his key out of his pocket,

he locked the door and then ripped the clothes

from his body and rushed towards his sliding door,

opening the door and then shifting. He'd let Bobby Ray get away once and he'd returned, seeking

revenge. The stupid man didn't realize that he'd

only returned to let Vet finish what he'd started.

This time, one of them wouldn't be walking away

alive. and Vet had everything to live for.

“Not that I’m against finding your mate, I just think that having a mate is a whole lot of trouble just to have ass on tap.”

-Howell “Howl”

Marshall

Chapter Thirteen

Richard coughed and wiped the dirt-streaked

tears from his face as he continued pushing the

stroller through the well-lit bunker hallway. It had

been eight hours since Vet had shoved him into

their pantry. Eight hours and he'd heard nothing

from his mate. Not through their link and the

cowboy hadn't shown up to let him know that it

was okay. He was supposed to leave the bunker an

hour ago, to make his way to the cabin at the edge of the woods and contact Vet's friend, Ross. He

had been frozen in place though, shock rippling

through his body, tears flowing down his cheeks,

the babies all sound asleep, and none of them

aware of what had taken place. He guessed he

should be thankful for that, it was a small miracle,

but a miracle nonetheless.

Sniffling, he paused and wiped his nose on

the sleeve of flannel shirt that he wore. It was one

of Vet's, he was glad that the other man had

accidentally thrown some of his shirts inside and

that they all smelled like him, it would help him to focus when he figured out a way to save his mate.

"Stupid man," he muttered as he continued

to push the stroller, happy that he still worked out

and his legs were not tired from the mile walk he

was on. "Going off to fight some stupid fight with

some stupid redneck, for what? Leaving these

babies with me, we need you," he muttered as he

kept walking, "You better not be dead, stupid

cowboy werewolf." He felt a sadistic thrill that

he'd called Vet a werewolf when the man

repeatedly told him that he was a wolf shifter and

not a werewolf. "You leave me alone with triplets while you

go and risk your life, you're a goddamned

werewolf," he hissed at his invisible mate. Looking

up from where his eyes had fastened on the wheels

of the stroller, he saw a ramp that led up to a door.

Aware that if Vet hadn't come to him that meant

that the other man...the bigger man...the stronger

man was in mortal danger, Richard knew that he

needed to take some precautions. Taking the duffel

bag out of the stroller, he placed it on the floor and

placed Amy in the stroller with her brothers,

folding up the Baby Bjorn and placing it in the

pocket of the stroller seat. Pulling the stroller to the side of the ramp, out of the way in case someone

charged from within, he grabbed the duffel bag in

both hands and made his way up the ramp and to

the door. Pulling out the key that Vet had hastily

shoved in his pocket, Richard inserted the key in

the lock and eased open the door, listening for any

type of movement.

Hearing nothing, he looked around the edge

of the door and saw a dark, abandoned cabin, no

furniture lay within and all around the cabin it

looked like deserted forest. With the duffel bag still

clutched in his hands he crept forward and towards the phone he saw sitting on the counter in the

kitchen. This is when the villain jumps out and

kills the stupid cheerleader in the movies, he

thought to himself, turning around quickly and

seeing no one. Grabbing the phone, he saw there

was only one number written on the counter in

permanent marker. Dialing the number quickly, he

rushed back to the doorway of the bunker, his eyes

still darting around the empty room.

"This better be a fucking emergency

Vernon," an extremely deep and husky voice

answered the phone gruffly. "Um..this isn't Vet, I mean Vernon. It's

Richard, his...um, partner. I've got the triplets in his

cabin at the edge of the property, someone came by

with a lot of other wolf-men and they attacked

Vernon, he told me to call you from here if sunrise

came and we hadn't heard from him," Richard's

words were rushed and frantic.

"Calm down man, I know who you are and

what Vet is. I'm one too. So you're Vet's mate

Richard and you're in trouble?" he heard the other

man ask, the sound of rustling, footsteps and three

doors opening and closing sounding through the phone.

"Y-yes. This is Ross right?" Richard asked,

wanting to smack himself for not asking that at the

beginning of the phone call.

Richard heard the sound of tires swerving on

the ground and the sound of the other man's deep

chuckle, "Yeah. I'm Ross. Prob'ly shoulda asked

me that at the beginning though huh?" He didn't let

Richard reply, his voice turning gruff and

commanding. "Look, I want you to go back into

the bunker and lock the door. When I get there I'll come and knock on the door three times, walk

away for a minute, I want you to count to sixty

seconds now, and then I'll come back and knock

twice and say Rio."

"Rio?" Richard asked, his curiosity

temporarily overriding his fear.

"Place where me and Vet came out to each

other. Plus, we both love that movie," Ross

chuckled. "Now, you got what's gonna happen?"

Richard nodded, before realizing that the

other man couldn't see him. "Yeah, I got it." He heard Ross sigh at the sound of fear in his voice.

"Just calm down New York, wolves can

smell fear and if you ain't in that bunker, that

means that fear is surrounding you big time. We're

gonna get you and the little ones to safety and then

we're gonna rescue Vet. How about that?"

Richard breathed a sigh of relief. Ross knew

without being told that he was going to want to

rescue his mate and had already volunteered to do

so. "That sounds great man, thanks."

"No problem. Now hang up the damn phone New York, I'll be there in five minutes."

Without another word Richard hung up the

cordless phone, unplugged it from the wall,

grabbed the permanent marker from the counter

where it sat next to the phone and blacked out the

number that was written there. He didn't want

anyone to trace them to Ross. Picking up the

unplugged phone and marker, he stuffed both items

into the duffel and hurried back to the bunker and

to the triplets. Pulling the door closed he locked it

and then raced down the ramp to the stroller.

Quickly checking on the babies he found them still sleeping.

"Must be nice," he muttered with an

indulgent smile, praying that the babies wouldn't

wake up until they got to wherever it was that they

were going. Taking out the Baby Bjorn, he moved

Amy back to rest against his chest, the baby girl

making snuffling noises in protest to being moved

again, and put the duffel back in the back of the

stroller. Pulling the stroller back up to the door, he

waited, barely breathing. A few minutes went by

and then he heard footsteps. Holding his breath he heard three knocks on

the door and then the sound of footsteps fading

away. He began counting immediately, when he

reached sixty he heard the footsteps return and

then heard two knocks and an extremely deep,

whiskey smooth voice say "Rio."

Unlocking the door, Richard looked up and

up and up and up into the beautiful hazel eyes of

an oak tree posing as a man. His mouth falling

open at this man who was bigger, taller and damn

near sexier than his Vet, Richard struggled to

remember what it was they were doing. "You can look at whatever you want as soon

as I get you into safety there New York," the

man-imposter, Ross said with a cocky smirk and

Richard scoffed.

"I don't want to look at anything. Just help

me with my babies and let's get the hell out of

here, I want to come back for Vet as soon as

possible," he commanded Ross in a haughty tone

before turning to pull the stroller the rest of the

way out of the bunker. The two men lifted the

stroller and walked swiftly but quietly through the

bare cabin, through the woods away from the house and to an open field where Richard saw

Ross's large Hummer parked.

"Could you be anymore ostentatious? " he

muttered as they lifted the stroller into the car,

babies and all and Richard climbed in after them.

"This is so dangerous, we could get pulled over,

arrested or in a car accident because the babies

aren't in car seats," he pointed out to Ross.

The bigger man said nothing, merely closed

the door and walked around to the driver's side,

climbed into the driver's seat, stuck the key in the ignition, started the car and then before taking off

caught Richard's worried gaze in the rearview

mirror.

"Then I guess you better hold onto that

stroller and make sure that that doesn't happen,"

the large man said before whipping the Hummer

around and taking off like a shot down the road,

showing no mercy to the road or the passengers

within his car. Richard held onto the stroller for

dear life, praying the whole time that they would

all get out of this alive. Five minutes later, they

drove onto the back of someone else's property, to the back of a large house, much like Richard's

home with Vet and Ross shut off the vehicle.

"See? You survived, nobody's hurt and

nobody's dead from riding in the car with me. Now

let's get these babies in bed and then figure out to

save your idiotic mate."

“I don’t understand the whole baby thing. Why would you want constant reminders of your own imperfections?”

-Ross “R2” Barber

Chapter Fourteen

Richard followed Ross through his small

kitchen and into his living room and froze. He

turned around and looked again. He hadn't left

Ross's house and entered the Central Intelligence

Agency, but he was surrounded by screens,

monitors, gadgets, cameras, robots, video cameras,

and all manner of spy devices. As he looked at one

screen he saw what appeared to be the back of

his home with Vet. His eyes widened as he realized

that it was a live camera feed of their home. Turning very slowly he turned to look at Ross with

suspicion, stepping away from the other man,

cursing the fact that he was standing so close to the

triplets who still slept inside their stroller.

"So...how do you know Vet?" he asked

suspiciously as he walked closer to the stroller and

began to pull the triplets away from Ross.

"Oh, me and Vernon go way back to

preschool. We both discovered that we liked boys

at the same time, lost our virginity to each other,

both of us topping the other, we shifted for the first time together," Ross sighed. "We've been together

for a really long time."

"So, I guess you were upset when you heard

that he'd found his mate huh?" Richard asked as he

continued to back away from Ross who had his

back to him. He watched as Ross's shoulders

stiffened.

"No, not upset. Vernon and I always knew

that we weren't mates," the larger man responded,

his voice tight with an unidentified emotion.

Richard nodded though he was aware that the other man could not see him. "So if you weren't

upset that he'd found his mate then why didn't you

go help him when you looked at your monitors and

you saw the huge battle he was running into?" he

asked quietly as he hid the triplets in their stroller

around the corner of the room, in the hallway. His

eyes jerked up at the sound of Ross's gasp and then

braced himself for the man's angry reaction.

It never came.

What Richard saw instead was Ross's

shoulders shaking and he wondered if the other man was laughing. He opened his mouth to rebuke

the man when he heard his sob. He was shocked

when Ross's hands came up to brace against the

edges of the desk he stood in front of.

"I was fucking some closeted football player when

it started. I rushed him out of the door when I

heard what was going on, hours later. I was just

about to shift and go down to help when you

called. I knew that Vernon would want me to help

you, more than he'd want me to help him. So I

came to help you," a sniffle, a groan of despair and

then a growl emanated from the bigger man's

direction. "I don't regret helping you and the babes, but my best friend is out there somewhere, maybe

hurt or worse and I-"

Ross's words were cut off by the sound of

rapid pounding on the door. Ross turned and

sniffed the air before a big grin broke out over his

face.

"Then again, the bastard could be on the

other side of the door," he stated excitedly before

rushing over to the door and swinging it wide

open. Standing there, supported by Ton and

Howell was Vet, looking bruised and bloodied but alive. So wonderfully alive. And to Richard, he'd

never seen anything better.

"Where's my mate?" Vet's voice rasped out

moments before Richard launched himself into his

mate's arms. Vet lifted his arms from Ton and

Howell's shoulders and caught the smaller man in

his arms, sinking to the floor and pressing his face

into his air and inhaling deeply. Richard felt his

throat tighten, and his eyes burn with unshed tears.

His mate was okay, he wasn't going to have to try

and live without him. Everything would be okay

now. "So what happened? Me and the little guy

were just about to come down and join the party,"

Ross teased thought everyone could hear the

emotion in his voice. Vet growled and clutched

Richard to him tighter.

"Well," Howell, a broad shouldered black

man with long dreads that hung down like thick

black ropes to his shoulders and stormy grey eyes,

said with a tilt of his lips, "seems as if Bobby Ray

was a little bit upset that our alpha is a gay man

with a gay man for a mate. So he went out and

found a group of rogue wolves to try to take over the Tate Pack. He didn't tell the other wolves why

he wanted to overthrow Vet though. They didn't

find out until after we were all fighting and biting

and snarling at each other. The one of the rogue

wolves heard Bobby Ray yelling about finding the

alpha's 'queer mate' and stringing him up and he

sort of stopped fighting. He yelled out in anger and

raced towards Bobby Ray and started to fight

against him."

Richard lifted his head from Vet's shoulder

and looked at Howell in confusion. "Turns out that

they were rogue wolves because they were thrown out of their pack for being gay and many of them

are mates. Of the twenty five men that came with

Bobby Ray, only three of them are single," Vet said

and Richard stared at him with wide eyes. He

leaned into the hand that Vet pressed against his

cheek and closed his eyes with a purr of

contentment.

"So the fighting pretty much stopped a few

hours in, but we couldn't find Vet, seems as though

he was supposed to be beaten and kidnapped, so he

could be 'reeducated' about his new role as a

gamma to Bobby Ray or some nonsense," Ton rumbled. "So we tied up Bobby Ray and took him

with us while the rogue wolves took us to where

they were supposed to meet up and start Vet's

lessons. The other wolves explained what was

going on and Vet was released, badly bloodied and

bruised. We were going to let him just kill Bobby

Ray right there, but he wanted it to be honorable so

the two of them shifted and fought to the death and

well..."

"You won. You survived. You came back to

me," Richard whispered, love and gratitude that his

mate had survived shining through his words. "I promised you that I would beautiful and I

always keep my promises," Vet responded before

pulling his mate into a deep, loving kiss.

“Only one person in the world could handle my
brother and my children and still come out
looking fabulous on the other side…and after me,
that person is Richard.”

-Amanda Lynn Tate

Epilogue

"VET!!! GET IN HERE QUICK!!" Richard

yelled and Vet felt his heart stop in his chest before

it sped up quickly. Hearing his mate's frantic voice,

he slid out from underneath the sink and raced

towards the living room.

"What happened? What's wrong?" he panted

out, his eyes darting around the room looking for

the source of his mate's panic when he saw nothing

he looked back at his mate and then stopped in his tracks. Richard was sitting on the floor with RJ

standing in front of him, his hands on the baby's

waist. RJ was facing Vet, his hands stretched out

towards him.

"Watch Daddy. Look at what our baby can

do," Richard said with a grin before looking at RJ.

"Show Daddy what you can do RJ. Go to Daddy."

Seconds later Richard released RJ and Vet's heart

stuttered in his chest as the baby took one step,

then another, then another. Tears stung his eyes and

he knelt before the little boy his arms open as the

infant stumbled into his arms. Lifting him into his arms, he clutched the baby to him tightly, tears

rolling down his face.

He missed his sister Mandy so much at that

moment. Mandy should have been there to see her

baby take his first steps. She should have been

there to see them grow up, to celebrate with them

when Amy had said "Papa" for the first time while

holding Richard's face. He couldn't help feeling a

little guilt because he knew that had Mandy still

been alive he probably wouldn't have met Richard

when he did and he wouldn't trade his life with his

mate for anything in the world. It had been six months since the battle with

Bobby Ray. Six blissful months with the triplets.

They had welcomed all twenty-five of the rogue

wolves into the pack, the farm and the ranch were

flourishing, Richard had started teaching dance to

some of the cubs in the pack, he had also started

planting and maintaining their vegetable garden

and their greenhouse. Vet was extremely proud of

him. The triplets were thriving, growing up

quickly, learning to walk and talk, always smiling

and laughing and happy and Vet knew it was all

because of his mate. With a final hug for RJ, he

placed the little boy down on the floor and strode over to his mate. Richard stood up with a smile on

his face.

"Aren't you proud Daddy?" Richard asked.

The two of them had taken to calling each other by

what they wanted the triplets to call them

whenever they were around. Vet thought it was a

little silly. At least he did until Amy had called him

"Dada" and then he'd grinned like an idiot for five

hours.

"I am so proud and so happy Papa," he

responded before taking the smaller man into his arms. "You have made me the happiest man in the

world. I love you more each day. Thank you."

Richard blinked up at him before a wide grin

split his face, "I love you too my big puppy

cowboy." Richard laughed and took off running as

Vet growled playfully and gave chase. "I'm a wolf

not a dog!" he yelled out before tossing his smaller

man over his shoulder and heading towards the

kitchen, where he laid his mate down on the

counter and showed him the difference between a

puppy and full-grown wolf shifter. Vet had never expected to find his mate

in New York, had all but given up on having

children of his own, but it turned out that what he'd

thought was impossible and unthinkable turned out

to be the greatest thing to ever happen to him. He

couldn't have asked for anything more.

Vicktor Alexander “Vic” (formerly V. Vee) wrote his first story at the age of 10 about his youngest sister and her destruction of the world…with her breath. Much to his youngest sisters dismay the story was a hit and became the first story of a series all dealing with the planets that were destroyed by his siblings and their strange quirks and body odors. Vic moved on to horror stories and then to stories about his friends. Always one who pushed the edge of convention, it wasnt long or much of a shock, before he was writing interracial historical romances. However, Vic realized that his heroes seemed much happier when they were hanging out with other guys and that was when he discovered the M/M genre.

Vic now enjoys writing about shifters, humanoids, cowboys, firemen, rent boys, fairies, elves, dancers, doctors, Doms, Subs, and anything else that catches his fancy, all sexy men falling in love with each other and having lots of naughty, dirty, man-on-man sex. He already has two books published about shape-shifting cowboys, a dancer and a cross-dresser: Unthinkable and Inconceivable, books One and Two of The Tate Pack Series. Vic is a huge fan of the “happily-everafter” ending but while his characters all ride off into the proverbial sunset, all sexually satisfied and in love, they all bear the scars of fighting for that love, just like in real life. Nofluff writer here, Vics stories can be slightly gritty, dark and hard hitting, but the reason for that, is that love is sweeter when its been fought for and won. Never satisfied with only one genre, every book that Vic writes falls into more than one category and has each main character experiencing more than one orgasm.

Out and proud, Vic does not believe that love only comes in one form, one race, one gender and that not only is gender fluid, by sexuality as well. Vic loves to make people laugh and when hes not writing, or rather, procrastinating in writing, hes reading, playing the Sims 3, hanging out with his very supportive adopted family, being distracted from his writing by his partner Daniel and drooling over pictures of John Barrowman and Shemar Moore behind Daniels back.

You can contact Vicktor Alexander at:

Itsbostonredsoxthenbreathing@gmail.com

You can also follow his blog at:

Vicktor-Alexander.blogspot.com

Or follow his random tweets at:

Twitter.com/VVeeB

He can also be found on Goodreads:

http://goodreads.com/vicktoralexander

The Tate Pack Series
Unthinkable
Inconceivable
Coming Soon From The Tate Pack Series
Unassumed
Impossible
Untouchable
Other Books Coming Soon From Vicktor:
Wooing Elijah
Passions Hero: The Alpha King
Daddy’s Boy
The Dom Series: Mark Me cUm: Chance, Utopia & Micah
The Virgin Special Forces: The Alpha Team
Cowboys of Mercy Ranch: The Cowboy’s Fireman
Damien & Roman: Forever
Love’s Enslavement
The Agean Tasks
The Last Men on Earth: Discovery Sacred Duets: Special Song

Inconceivable

Book Two of the Tate Pack Series
Sneak Peek

"I'm on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the

edge, the edge, THE EDGE. I'm on the edge!"

Tommy sang along with Lady Gaga as he lined his

eyes with black eyeliner and put on his

mascara. Tilting his head to the side, he let his

long, wavy, black hair fall to the side and smiled at

his reflection. Puckering his lips, he blew a kiss to

himself and turned to grab his bag from the toilet

seat before leaving the bathroom. Turning off the

light and his iPod, he opened the door and stepped

into his bedroom. He was ready to go out

tonight. He needed to find himself a big, strong, SANE man who didn't turn into a fucking

werewolf, and get himself laid. Whistling, he

adjusted his bra inserts and then screamed

loudly. Sitting on his bed was the one man he was

trying so hard to forget.

"TON! What the HELL are you doing here?"

he yelled out at the overgrown cowboy who sat

with his hands resting on the bed behind him and

his long, muscled legs stretched before him and

crossed at the ankles. Tommy swallowed thickly

and let his eyes peruse the Texan that lay before

him. Ton was a big man...no, scratch that, Ton

was a HUGE man. Named Anton Forrester, the man who stood at 6'7" and weighed about 240 lbs.

looked like a walking tank, his own black hair was

cut extremely short, in the military style, and his

body was almost like one huge muscle. Tommy

couldn't stop the whimper from escaping his

lips. He'd been hot and horny for Ton's body since

the day he'd met him. Tommy groaned as he felt

his cock start to thicken. Hissing in pain, he

turned and hurried back into the bathroom before

Ton had a chance to reply, to free him from the

tucking he'd done to appear like a

woman. Groaning at the feel of his cock enlarging

fully, freed from its tight confinement, he wondered why in the world Ton was there and how

in the hell he'd gotten into his apartment. At that

thought he turned and yanked open his bathroom

door, unaware that the tight blue silk dress he'd put

on was bunched around his waist, his cock

displayed proudly.

"How did you get in my apartment?" he hissed

out as he glared at Ton. The bigger man merely

smirked before standing to his full height and

walking towards him. He stopped once he stood

directly in front of Tommy, looming over him and

without answering, grabbed Tommy's erection and

began to stroke it. "I fought in a battle back in Texas, trying to

keep Vet alive and keep Richard and those triplets

safe and when I survived it I asked myself what

would I have regretted if I had died?" Ton began

speaking; his deeply rich voice washed over

Tommy and lengthened his erection even

more. He groaned as Ton twisted his hand over

the top of his cock before stroking it back

down. "I realized that I would regret not coming

after you. Just letting you leave me and run away

like that. You're my mate Tommy. I know you

know what that means, I explained it to you. But

just in case you need to hear it again, that means that you belong to me. You're mine. Do you hear

me? You don't get to leave me. You don't get to

run away back to New York because you don't

understand something or because something

frightens you. You're mine. This here," Ton

stated, squeezing Tommy's dick, which was

leaking pre-cum, "this belongs to me." Ton

reached around Tommy's waist and squeezed his

ass, "And this? This ass is mine too." Without

hesitation, Ton spun Tommy around to face the

bathroom sink and pushed him forward slightly

until his bubble butt stuck out further. The

cowboy groaned. "I ain't giving you up without a fight. I was

planning to tell your landlord that you were my

cousin and that the family had sent me out to stay

with you for a few days but that I thought you

might be at work and I just wanted to check but

turns out, your landlord is a wolf shifter too. All I

had to tell him was that you were my mate and he

let me right on in. I heard you in the shower so I

waited and I'm glad I did," Ton leaned over to

speak into Tommy's ear and he shivered. He

couldn't believe that the Texan had flown all the

way to New York, dealt with traffic and navigating

through Greenwich Village, just to find him. He couldn't believe he was here and he couldn't

believe that he was sucking and nibbling on his

ear, his neck and his shoulder.

"I just don't think I'm really who you need

Ton," Tommy's breath stuttered out of his chest. "I

mean, I understand that your pack or your family

understands about the gay thing, but I'm a

cross-dresser also. I like to dress in drag. In

women's clothing," Tommy pointed out, hoping

that Ton would leave after that. The other man

just shrugged.

"And your point?" Ton asked as he pulled

Tommy's dress over his head and dragged his tongue down the smaller man's spine to the globes

of his delicious ass.

"Some people may have a problem with that,"

Tommy pointed out, gasping when he felt Ton bite

one cheek and then the other before kissing both.

"Well then, fuck them. I don't need their

permission to mate you. Their approval means

nothing. The only people whose opinions matter

outside of yours and mine is Alpha Vet and Alpha

Mate Richard and both of them are fine with

it. Ecstatic even. So let's get to the root of all of

your problems," Ton rationalized as he dragged his

tongue down the crack of the smaller man's ass as his hands held the cheeks apart.

Tommy groaned as he felt the tip of Ton's

tongue flickering his taint and then gasped when

that tongue traveled up and pressed lightly into his

tight entrance.

"Shit almighty!" Tommy moaned as he pressed

his ass further back. He jumped lightly as Ton

smacked one side of his ass.

"No moving until you answer my

question. What are you afraid of, really? Are you

scared I'm going to eat you?" Ton asked before

returning his lips and tongue to his warm channel.

"No! I'm not scared you're going to eat me!" Tommy gasped, his mind turning to mush beneath

the onslaught of Ton's oral attack on his body. His

body jerked when Ton jerked him back firmly on

his tongue, one hand pulling the left cheek of his

ass to the side while the other hand reached around

to stroke his cock. He was in heaven. He felt his

orgasm approaching quickly and then whined

when he felt Ton pull away from him. He was

turned again and felt himself looking up, up, up

into his cowboy's eyes. His cowboy had the most

beautiful blue eyes ever and Tommy felt himself

sinking into his gaze.

"C'mon baby. My beautiful, beautiful little man, tell me why you ran from me. Was it really

the wolf shifting thing?" Ton asked and Tommy

heard the sadness and confusion in his tone and

knew that he had to be honest, both with Anton

and with himself.

He shook his head no and sucked his bottom

lip in between his teeth. "What if you mate me

and then you meet someone that you want

more? Someone who isn't as big a freak as I

am? What if I give up my life here like Richard

did and move out to Texas with you and then you

change your mind? What if I'm not enough for

you?" Tommy gasped as he felt himself lifted into

Ton's arms and carried back into the bedroom

without another word being spoken. He was laid

down on the purple duvet and opened his mouth to

ask Ton what he thought about what he'd just

admitted to when the larger man leaned over him

and took his lips in a deep kiss. He moaned. It

had been way too fucking long since he'd tasted

Ton. They'd kissed a few times when he'd been in

Texas and each time had been more amazing than

the one before but this time? This time he felt like

he was coming home. He felt as if his heart and

his soul were righting themselves within him, finally coming alive. He felt whole and complete.

He groaned again as Ton rubbed one finger

around his puckered entrance before slowly

pushing inside of him. He lifted his hips and

pushed his head back into his pillow, Ton's name

on his lips.

"Mmm, that's right baby. Feel me. You're

mine. Give it to me. I want it all," Ton rasped in

his ear before moving his lips down Tommy's

chest, blowing air over his groin and then taking

the smaller man's very erect cock into his mouth at

the same moment he pushed in a second finger.

Tommy's orgasm took him by surprise and he came thickly down Ton's throat and panted out the

larger man's name. His body trembled as he felt

Ton continued sucking him his now softening

cock, his fingers still thrusting inside of his still

clenching channel.

"Oh. My. God," he breathed and heard Ton

chuckle. The bigger man pulled out his fingers

slowly and crawled over him.

"You're perfect for me baby. That's why fate

gave you to me. Now that you know that, no more

running. You're coming home with me to

Texas...where you belong," Ton stated gruffly and

Tommy could do nothing but nod. He could only hope that Ton was right and that the cowboy

wouldn't regret bringing him back to Texas.