“Great! We’re all set then. As long as we can keep away from the Hunters, we should be fine.” He got very quiet for a moment. “Marco knows by now, and he’s upset. Ian too. I hate to cause him worry, but he needs to stop all his domineering bullshit. Casey still bosses Rory around too much, but he takes it. I can’t do it. I guess I’m too independent.”

Logan nodded. “Me too. I really do love Ian, you know. Though I never thought I’d say that about another man. Seeing him hurt at the Hunters’ headquarters made me realize how I feel about him. I know the bite mademe think I love him, but it’s more than that now. I love him, plain and simple. I wish he realized that.”

“He will. Give him a little time, Logan, and I promise he’ll come around.”

“I hope so. I can’t stand feeling like he hates me.”

Both young men were quiet, lying back on their pallets and feeding the fire as it grew darker outside, both lost in their thoughts.

Ian had never been so furious in his life. Not even when he came to the harsh realization Logan’s allegiance lay with the Hunters and he cared nothing for him.If it weren’t for his need for blood, Logan would never have come back with them. Logan choosing to live away from Mountainwood and only coming back for feedings infuriated him, though he did worry if he intended to come back at all.

Ian watched the interrogation in silence. Rory sat nervously in a chair with both Casey and Marco standing over him. Marco was browbeating the boy as much as Casey would allow. Occasionally, when Marco shouted too much, Casey would lean protectively over Rory and tell Marco to back off.

For over an hour Rory had doggedly stuck to the story he hadn’t seen Nicky or Logan . At last, his shoulders slumped, and he looked up at Casey, who squeezed his shoulder encouragingly.

“If you know something, sweetheart, tell them. It’ll be for the best, really. It’s dangerous for them to be out there with the Hunters around.” “Maybe Marco should have thought of that before he banished them,” he said, darting a quick glance at Marco.

Marco growled menacingly, and Casey slapped a hand on his chest to push him away. “Back off, Marco. Let him tell it in his own way.”

Rory sighed. “Okay. They went to my room and took some of my clothes, a couple of coats and stuff. Some blankets too.” He looked up at Casey. “I didn’t tell you I noticed it when we got home. I’m sorry, but Nicky is my best friend. Logan’s a nice guy too, and Ian has been really hard on him.”

Marco took a deep breath and lowered his voice a little. “I know, Rory, and I appreciate your loyalty to them. I really do. Of course, I was bluffing when I told Nicky he’d be banished. I would never have gone through with it with Hunters in the woods, but I was trying to force him to come around. Ian and I thought…well, no matter. Water under the bridge now. Tell us what you know, please.”

He sighed deeply. “They came to me for feeding. I fed them both enough to hold them, I think, for a couple of weeks. They’re supposed to come back and feed again in two weeks.”

“Where in the hell are they going to stay for two weeks? What will they eat? Hell, they could freeze to death out there at night.” Marco paced, running his fingers through his hair until it stood up around his head. Ian was calmer.

“Marco, they have coats and blankets. They’re not going to freeze. Surely Logan knows how to start a fire. That’s not my biggest fear. I’m sorry to say it, but if Logan is as traitorous as I’m sure he is, he might lead Nicky into a trap. They could capture Nicky and use him as a bargaining tool.” He paused and added, “Or bait.”

“Oh my God!” Marco sat down hard, his face drained of all color. “Or worse. What if they tortured him? You know that smart mouth of his.God, Ian, he couldn’t stand up to torture.”

Rory stood up. “Will you stop it?That’s not going to happen, Marco. I don’t believe it. Logan’s not like that, and Ian, you should know that better than anybody. He never resisted us one second, and we wouldn’t have gotten out of there so easy if not for the help he gave us. What’s wrong with you? Logan loves you,and you’re too stubborn to believe him. Get over it!”

Ian started up out of his chair, and again Casey jumped to protect Rory. The two growled at each other until Marco yelled sharply at them to settle down. “We can’t fight among ourselves like this. We have to find them!” He turned angrily to Ian. “And when we do, you need to step up and take care of your mate. I know what he did hurt you, but we all knew something like that could happen when you agreed to turn him and you have to accept it. You can’t walk away from your responsibilities. I won’t let you, and you’ll hate yourself for it in the end. No matter what, he’s a pet now and your mate. That used to mean something to you.”

Ian looked up with tears shining in his eyes.“It still does. He’s tearing me apart, Marco. I never thought I’d ever feel so strongly for someone after Maria, but I swear to God, I can smell him the same as if he were a blood mate. I love him just as much as if he were.I don’t know what to do.” He sat down at the table and buried his face in his hands. “I’m sorry. It was my idea to bluff them with banishment, but I never thought it would turn out like this.”

Marco blew out a long breath and clasped Ian’s shoulder. “We’ve both been foolish. Too much pride, I guess. We’ll find them. I won’t promise not to spank Nicky’s butt for him, but I have to try to come to terms with him too. He’s everything to me. Unfortunately, he knows it.”

“There’s one more thing you need to know. I think Nicky was bluffing or just fooling around, but you know how he is, Marco.”

Marco nodded grimly.“What is it, Rory? Tell us.”

Rory looked up and directed his gaze back and forth between the leaders. “He said—if you two don’t value them anymore, they might just ask for asylum with the Hunters.”

Ian paled visibly, while Marco dropped his face into his hands. He looked up after a moment. “Damn him! When I get my hands on him again, I swear to God I’ll lock him down for a month. Asylum, my ass!” He was quiet for a moment and then looked at Ian in horror. “You don’t think they’d actually do it? How do they think they’d feed?”

“We all know they take wolf prisoners from time to time—rogues mostly,” Casey said.

Ian shook his head in confusion. “They took at least a pint of blood from me. If they do that with all theirprisoners, they could have some banked.”

“What for?”

“They said they took it for research, to find a way to make synthetic blood to feed Logan.”

Rory spoke up. “Just the fact Nicky wouldsay it proves he’s not as happy here as you thought. The word asylum. It implies protection from a hostile society. Is that what he thinks he needs?I don’t completely understand, because I’m not a human, but if I was, I know I wouldn’t be able to stand the way you treat the human pets. The natural born pets are treated much better. Maybe you should think that over very carefully.”

Marco looked stunned and even Casey frowned down at Rory, saying,“Hush, Rory, you’ve said enough.”

Rory looked contrite, but he held his ground. “I’m sorry, Marco, Ian. I know you’re trying to follow the old ways, and I know Nicky scared you last year with what happened to him. He scared all of us. But there are two issues here—the feedings and the domination. The feedings they have to have. We all know that was why Nicky went feral, not because he showed defiance. They’re not supposed to be mindless slaves.They’re men, and you should treat them that way. The way you treat them is demeaning and destroys their self-esteem. Neither of them asked for this, you know. You took everything they were away from them, forcing them to accept being nothing more than a shadow of you, then punished them—”

“Has Nicky said something?”

Rory shook his head. “No. He loves you, and what you do in the bedroom is one thing. I think he likes being dominated there, just like I do with Casey.” He blushed at the look on Marco’s face. “Well, it’s true, Marco, but Casey treats me with respect the rest of the time. You don’t Nicky, and you don’t Logan, Ian. Casey’s protective, sure, but not fucking crazy like you two can be, like the way you make them dress and wear collars, and stripped them of their body hair.I’m sorry, but if you aren’t careful you could lose them both.”

Marco looked uncomfortable.“I just try to follow the traditions of our people. I respect Nicky.The collar is a sign he belongs to me.” Marco got to his feet and paced back and forth, deep in thought.

Ian had a twinge of guilt, comparing how he felt when they snapped the steel collar around his neck. Telling himself it was a completely different circumstance didn’t help much.

Marco knelt in front of Rory. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t know anymore. I only know I have to find them, Rory. Tell me exactly which direction they took when they left you.”

“They went north. Logan said he knew of a place they could go.”

“Do you know of a place they might be?” Ian asked anxiously.

“Dozens,” Marco answered. “We’ll just have to search them all. Casey, you’re in charge until we get back.”

Chapter Seven

Two weeks passed almost before they knew it. They had been lucky with the weather — cold nights, but sunny days, keeping the temperatures bearable. They spent the long days hunting for food, fishing in the streams, or gathering firewood. They cleaned themselves in the icy waters of the fall at night and dried off by the fire.

Logan had come to admire Nicky’s plucky spirit . He knew he missed Marco terribly, but he never mentioned it and tried to keep Logan’s spirits up as well, not always an easy thing to do. Nicky knew Marco wanted him back, while Logan was sure of the opposite about Ian, no matter how many times Nicky tried to reassure him.Logan knew Ian believed he’d betrayed him and if he took him back, which Logan doubted after the times he’d told him otherwise, it would only be as a responsibility he merely tolerated.Logan couldn’t live the way Ian would treat him, had treated him,and he certainly didn’t want anybody else.