Dawson continued. “He set up a continuous guard on the most likely targets, hoping to snare someone in the leadership. He knew the smartest place for them to strike would be our munitions. We backed off on random attacks to watch their compound and radioed ahead as soon as your little group left there. Sure enough, that’s where you took them.”

“Yeah, it worked great, only the wolves thought I must have tipped you off. The big one you captured along with me didn’t believe me when I denied it.”

“It was all your father’s idea. Sacrifices sometimes have to be made for the good of humanity. I’m glad it turned out well in the end.” The smirk went full force. “I hope that didn’t make it even harder on you when they took you again. Well, if you’ve rested, let’s be on our way. Stand up, boys, and let me tie your hands.” He made a hand motion to the men with him.

Nicky jumped to his feet in alarm, and Logan stood slowly, putting a hand on Nicky’s arm to calm him even though five men had shifted to encircle them and cover them with their weapons.

“Whoa there, Dawson. You don’t need to tie us. We surrendered, remember? You granted us asylum.”

“That was beforeI got a good look at your friend here. Did you really think we wouldn’t recognize the alpha’s mate? We’re not going to let him slip through our fingers. Your father is going to be an exceptionally happy man when he sees you and your friend. He’s a brilliant man, and he damn sure read you right.He knew you didn’t have the balls to stand up to torture and would spill your guts. The only thing your father didn’t anticipate was them turning you into a wolf whore. Or did you think he wouldn’t know what it meant when you said they’d turned you to—what is it you called it—Werekin? You must have really twitched that ass of yours around, doing whatever it took to save your life, and getting the beta in the process. Yourfather didn’t buy any of that crap you fed him anymore than I buywhat you’re trying to feed me now. He put a bounty on your head, a nice big fat one. Them taking you off again fouled up his plans for you.”

Logan went dead inside. “What plans?”

“You didn’t think the doctor took all that blood from you and your fuck buddy just for fun, did you?” He chuckled. “No, he wanted to research what went on with your blood because of the feedings for a while before he killed that fucking wolf. Then he was going to switch you off to another wolf’s blood, to see if you really couldn’t survive on another’s, and if you did, take you off all of it to watch what happened to you. He wanted to see how much difference it made in you too, or did you think we wouldn’t have noticed you’ve put on a good fifteen pounds of muscle and healed in a matter of days after that flogging I gave you?”

Nicky gasped, staring at Logan. Logan commented calmly. “That’s about what I would expect from the psycho son-of-a-bitch.”

“You knew he’d do something like that to you?” Nicky exclaimed.

Logan shrugged slightly. “As far as he was concerned, I was as bad as a wolf. I tried to ignore or justify the things he was doing, but I knew, Nicky. There wasn’t any reason as far as he was concerned not to do the same things to me. I’m less than human in his eyes now, and God knows being his son meant nothing to him.” He asked Dawson, “He’s given that honor to you, hasn’t he? You’re the one to take his place?”

“He knew you weren’t strong enough to do what needed to be done. Why do you think you never took part in the interrogations?”

“The tortures,” Logan corrected in a mild tone, belying the emotions roiling inside him.

“Yeah,” Dawson said with a laugh. “That’s exactly what I meant. You were a weak excuse for a man before. Now you’re worse than the wolves—both of you. You let those animals fuck you just to save your pitiful lives.” Dawson’s gaze shifted to Nicky. “Now we’ll have two of you to experiment on.The fact that he’s the alpha’s pet will be icing on the cake.”

Logan swung his arm up with a punch that caught Dawson right in his mouth, knocking him down on his ass with an almost comical expression of surprise. He yelled over his shoulder to Nicky,“Run!”

Nicky turned to run, but one of the other men caught him by the arm and held him long enough for a second man to jump him. Nicky pulled back his fist to strike the first, but took a hard blow to the chin, knocking him down. Logan jumped to defend his friend. Three men took him down. When he started up even with the weight of three on him, a hard blow from behind crashed down on his head and put out the lights.

Logan came back to consciousness slowly, on his back, hands tied in front of him. His head ached and swam with dizziness. He opened his eyes to Nicky beside him, leaning over him. Like Logan, his hands were tied securely in front of him.

“Are you all right?” Nicky whispered fiercely. “You scared me to death.”

“I think so. Was I out long?”

“It’s just been a few minutesor so.”

“God, I’m sorry, Nicky. I told you I could get us out of here and now look.”

Dawson and one other man stood a few feet from them, holding their rifles on them.

“You couldn’t know they’d recognize me.” He tipped his head toward Dawson.“As soon as they hit us, they heard something from those bushes over there. Three of them went out to investigate.”

Logan sat up, wincing at the pain in his head. “What’s the matter, Dawson?” Logan taunted.“Does every little noise you hear, scare the shit out of you? Getting cowardly in your old age?”

“You’re a fine one to talk about fear. How long did it take you to turn coward and take getting fucked up the ass to save yourself?”

Logan smiled mockinglyat him. “Jealous? God knowsyou’re stupid. Werekin means just what it says, kin to them. It can be from a bite or born into it. Dear old Daddy needs to get that part straight. Being turned to Werekin doesn’t mean having sex, asshole, mating does, and they only mate with permission.”

“Logan,” Nicky warned.

Logan shook his head, telling at Nicky.“I just realized, after the Werekin bite when Ian asked my permission to mate with me, he never once told me I had to agree to save my life.” Logan remembered something else too. When he came to after that first bite, three gorgeous men stood in front of him. His cock ached and his hips wouldn’t hold still, yet all that desire didn’t take direction until he saw Ian. Was it the bite, or was his mind telling him something? Food for thought, but he didn’t have time at the moment.

“Permission?” Dawson exclaimed. “Are you saying he didn’t even have to rape you? You gave yourself to him?”

“Yeah, he asked my permission, and it wasn’t until after the mating bite that I had to have blood.” Logan grinned at him. “And any wolf’s blood would do. I don’t have to have only his.”

“Logan,” Nicky said in warning.

“They take care of their people too. Not one of them would leave one of their own to be tortured, just like they came after Ian and me. They share their wealth too. They’ve got mines, you know, sapphires and rubies.”

“Logan,” Nicky exclaimed in horror.

“No, keep talking. The general will be real interested in what you’ve learned.”

“Don’t worry, Nicky. He won’t repeat anything I say.”

“Yeah, and what makes you think a stupid thing like that?” Dawson taunted.

“BecauseI’m going to kill you.”

Dawson laughed, glancing over at the man with him. Logan didn’t give Dawson any warning, or Nicky either. He launched up and threw himself at both men, slamming his body into Dawson and kicking his feet into the other man. “Run, Nicky,” he shouted.

Landing in a three-man heap, Logan had a double-handed hold of Dawson’s rifle with his bound hands. When the other man tried to get up, he kicked him in the jaw so hard he snapped his neck. Nicky ran, but not away as Logan meant. He ran to the two struggling men to help.

“Stay away from the front of the muzzle, Nicky!” Logan screamed.

Nicky jumped over the two, and around, looped his tied arms around Dawson’s neck, choking him and biting him on the ear. Dawson screamed, letting go of the rifle with one hand to grab Nicky by the hair, all Logan needed to wrench the rifle free and throw it clear.

“Get off him and run,” he yelled at Nicky and jammed his tied hands under Nicky’s wrists and into Dawson’s throat, determined to strangle him. In his mind, Dawson represented everything he hated—his father, the hypocrisy, and the lies.He didn’t let the sound of gunfire and screams in the distance distract him, either. Dawson was going to die.

Nicky gasped when two huge wolves, one silver, one black, slunk out of the woods.“Oh, shit. Don’t move, Logan, don’t move,” Nicky warned.“They’re—”

Nicky didn’t finish. Dawson squirmed out of Logan’s shocked, lax hold, threw Logan back on his ass and bolted, running hell bent for leather. The wolves were behind him in leaping bounds. Nicky and Logan listened to a vicious, short struggle take place just beyond their line of sight, screams of a man in terror and then a deadly silence. Nicky helped Logan get to his feet.

“Why did you tell me to freeze?” Logan asked, trying to work at the knots of rope on Nicky’s wrists with his own still bound hands.

“Sometimes when they’re in their wolf and on the hunt, they can be unpredictable. It’s better to just—oh, shit.”

The last was barely a whisper when two wolves leaped from the brush twenty feet away, their muzzles covered in blood. Ian and Marco, in a full run, shifted back to naked human glory as they came.

Despite Nicky’s warning, Logan backed up a few steps, as Ian slowed to a stalking advance, not knowing what to expect. Fight or flight kicked in. He turned and ran, knowing as he did, it was useless. Ian overran him, locked his arms around him, lifted him off his feet, and hugged him fiercely, squeezing the air out of his lungs. Gasping for breath, he was startled when Ian threw him over his shoulder. Logan glanced back to see how Nicky fared.