Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild)

12

Tinker shifted before the rest of the pack had returned and lifted Annie, still in wolf form, in his powerful arms. Lily had told him about Tinker, but Sebastian hadn’t truly imagined the guy’s massive size and amazing presence.

He was, without a doubt, the largest African American man he’d ever seen, and when he’d made that lightning fast shift from massive wolf to huge naked man, Sebastian had almost gasped aloud. Tinker’s mate stayed in wolf form, but Sebastian caught her thoughts as she raced down the hill, that she was going home to make Annie’s room ready.

Tinker cast a quick glance at Alex, but he didn’t say a word, and Sebastian sensed Alex’s dismay. Was it guilt over Annie’s injuries? Did Tinker blame Alex? He hoped not. That didn’t seem fair. He’d been the object of speculation and accusation often enough to know how painful it could be.

Liana sat back on her heels, and Alex blinked, shook his head, and slowly struggled to a sitting position. He leaned close to Liana and ran his tongue across her cheek. She laughed and batted him away.

“Thanks, but no thanks, Alex. Now take it easy. Don’t overdo it, and you should feel fine tomorrow. Adam said Annie’s going to need some rest, too. You know how it works—we can put stuff back together, but it needs time to settle and stick where we put it.”

She kissed his nose, hugged Lily, and then turned to Sebastian and stuck out her hand. “I’m Liana. It’s nice to meet you, Sebastian. Even though we’re both starkers.” She laughed, and it was such a wonderful sound he found himself grinning in response, not feeling quite as naked as he had. “We’ll talk tomorrow, preferably with clothes on, but Adam is calling.” She smiled, and suddenly he was staring at a beautiful gray wolf. Then she was gone, racing after her mate.

Sebastian watched her go before turning to Lily. Alex lay curled up beside her, still a wolf, but Lily was every inch a beautiful woman. A beautiful naked woman.

Trying not to laugh, Sebastian wrapped his fingers around the back of Lily’s head and pulled her close for a kiss. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been introduced to a naked woman before. Interesting, especially since I haven’t got clothes on, either.”

Lily kissed him quickly. “Get used to it. Unlike the werewolves of fiction, our clothing doesn’t shift with us. We essentially ignore nudity, unless we really want to see it.”

She raised an eyebrow and looked him over. “And I have to say, I love what I’m seeing.”

“That works both ways. Are you ready to go back?”

“Not yet.” Lily glanced toward the woods. “I want to give Alex a few more minutes to recover, and I’m waiting for the others to get back. I just heard from Dad. They lost the trail. It appears the rogue wolves must have gone into the caverns at some point. There are any number of tunnels connecting your father’s property and ours. If they’ve learned the tunnel system in these mountains, it could be really bad. They’re all connected, and it will make it almost impossible to guard against attack.”

“I had no idea there were caverns around here.”

“Their existence isn’t well known, but we’ve used them for years, as kids to play in, as adults for safety. The whole pack once took refuge in them when a forest fire ripped through this valley and burned my parents’ house to the ground. That was almost twenty-six years ago.”

He didn’t hear a sound, but before he could ask for details, the small hilltop was suddenly filled with wolves, slipping out of the forest like dark ghosts and gathering close around the three of them. Sebastian had no idea who they were, though he was almost certain the large black wolf in the lead was Lily’s father. Another wolf, similar in markings to Alex, stood beside the black one, but all obviously deferred to the black wolf. Lily had referred to her father as their über-alpha.

The alpha shifted, as did the three wolves standing closest to him. Lily’s mother and father and two people he assumed were Alex’s parents quickly knelt beside Alex. Sebastian realized he still had his left hand on Alex’s shoulder, but the wolf was asleep and he didn’t want to disturb him. He left it there.

“Sebastian, you’ve met my parents, but these are Alex’s. Stefan, Xandi, this is Sebastian Xenakis.” She smiled at them. “He’s with me. His father owns the property next to this one.”

Stefan held out his hand, and Sebastian took it. He’d not seen Alex in his human form and wondered if he looked like his father. It was strange, realizing the people he was meeting were probably in their seventies or eighties. They all looked his age.

Keisha touched his shoulder. “This probably isn’t what you imagined when you came to see our daughter. I’m sorry this happened. Especially to Alex and Annie.” She glanced at the wolf. “Poor baby. Xandi? Do you need help getting him home?”

Before Alex’s mother could speak, Sebastian interrupted. “Lily and I were planning to take him to Lily’s cottage.” He glanced at Lily, caught her smile, and relaxed. Even though they’d talked about it, he hadn’t been entirely certain. “Liana said he’s healed, but he needs to rest. I can carry him down.”

“Good. That’s good. We won’t worry, then.” Stefan glanced at Anton and nodded, and he wondered what Lily’s father had said. It must have been all right, since the four of them stood and stepped away from Alex. Lily stood beside her father.

Xandi kissed Lily’s cheek. “I want to talk to you tomorrow. What’s going on between Alex and Annie?”

Lily flashed a big grin. “Excellent things. I’ll let Alex tell you all about it.”

Laughing, Stefan hugged Lily. “I’d rather hear it from you. He leaves out all the good stuff.”

“Not this time.” She glanced at Alex, who still appeared to be soundly asleep. “We’ll make sure he’s okay. If you need us, we’ll be at the cottage.”

Anton stared toward the forest and nodded. “Lily? I’ve asked Mei and Oliver to escort you back to your place. The wolves weren’t alone. We picked up some human scent back there, too, though they might have shifted to escape. Until we know what the hell is going on, I think you should have a couple of guards along, at least until you reach your place. Just in case the rogues reappear. I doubt they’ll bother you once you’re home.”

“Thanks, Dad. They’ll definitely think twice about bothering us with those two for backup.” The four parents shifted and headed down the hill with the rest of the pack following. Lily sat again and grinned at Alex. “They’re gone. You can quit pretending and wake up now.”

The wolf opened his eyes. He sat up, but swayed and quickly adjusted his feet to keep from falling. Lily grabbed his shoulder to steady him. “Blood loss,” she said. “That was too damned close, Alex. Sebastian, he’s awfully heavy. Are you sure you can carry him?”

“I think so.” He glanced at the big wolf who glared at him as if he’d like to take a big bite.

Lily tapped the wolf on the nose. “Quit arguing, Alex. You’re too weak to make it off the hill on your own, and I don’t want to sit up here all night and wait on you to feel stronger.”

The wolf sighed and slowly collapsed onto the trampled grass. Without another word, Sebastian slipped his arms beneath the huge creature and lifted him close against his chest before standing. Alex was heavy, but he didn’t struggle. Just the opposite, in fact, as he settled close against Sebastian’s chest and hooked his right front leg over his shoulder to hang on.

Slowly, picking his way along a well-worn trail in his bare feet, Sebastian followed Lily down to her cottage. He sensed the two who protected them, but never once saw the pair of wolves.

It wasn’t until they reached Lily’s tiny cottage, tucked in beneath a huge cedar, that he realized they hadn’t been flanked by wolves at all.

A beautiful pair of snow leopards drifted out of the thick undergrowth, stopped to take a look at Alex, sniffed Sebastian’s legs, and then silently headed toward the main house.

“Mei and Oliver,” Lily said. “Beautiful, aren’t they?”

Stunned, Sebastian stared after the two until they disappeared in the shadows.


Sebastian carefully laid the wolf on the big bed while Lily dug through the closet. A moment later she emerged with a pair of loose shorts for Sebastian to wear and a teal blue sarong for herself. Watching Lily as she checked over Alex’s injury, he slipped into the shorts, though he realized he’d not been at all uncomfortable with his nudity.

That was something new. Something he needed to think about.

Lily ran her fingers through the wolf’s bloodstained coat, and Alex opened his eyes. “I know you’re not that badly hurt, at least not anymore, so when you shift, do it outside, okay? I don’t want blood flaking all over the bed.”

Grumbling, the wolf looked over the edge of the bed and then made sad eyes at Sebastian. No words were necessary. Sebastian lifted the big animal to the floor and opened the front door of the cottage. Alex walked slowly outside and down the steps to a large tree, lifted his leg, and peed. Then he walked back to the house, stood on the grass just beyond the front porch, and shifted. Tall and beautifully naked, he stalked back inside the house and glared at Lily.

“There. Are you happy?”

“Deliriously so.” She kissed him and then looped her hand through Sebastian’s elbow. “Where are your manners, Alex? The least you can do is say thank you. Sebastian and I were just getting to the good part when we had to break it up to go rescue you and your ladylove. And then he carried your sorry ass all the way down the hill.”

Alex grumbled at her, but he turned to Sebastian and held out his hand. “She’s right, I guess.” He glared at Lily. “I hate it when you’re right. You were right about Annie, too.” Then he smiled at Sebastian as they shook hands. “My apologies, and my thanks. I really do appreciate everything you’ve done, but if I can’t pick on Lily, my life’s incomplete.”

“No wonder you two aren’t mated.” Sebastian grinned, shot a quick glance at Lily, and then laughed at Alex. “It would be incest. You two bicker like you’re brother and sister.”

Lily drawled, “Well, not entirely,” and Alex just laughed. She tossed a pair of pants at him. He caught them against his chest, shook them out, and put them on.

“Alex and I were born just three weeks apart. We shared a crib as babies and grew up together, but I was always well aware he wasn’t a blood relation.” She jabbed him with her elbow. “We were each other’s first sexual partners.”

“Long before our parents had a clue,” Alex added. “In fact, they still don’t know when we started—quite literally—screwing around, but we were . . . what’s the word, Lil?”

“Precocious. Highly precocious. Unfortunately, our parents have been lovers for years, and expected us to take our relationship to the next level and make it a permanent bond.”

“But we don’t love each other like that,” Alex added. “Not that I don’t love Lily, because I do and I always will, even when I want to strangle her.”

“Or vice versa,” she added.

While Alex continued as if she hadn’t interrupted, “But the dynamic between us wouldn’t make for a good mating bond. We’d end up hating each other.”

“Or dead,” Lily said. “It would never work, which is why I’m so glad you’ve found Annie. You and I are not meant to be mates.”

“You have no idea how thankful I am for that.” Sebastian’s dry comment had Lily giggling, so he wrapped an arm around her and planted a big kiss on her very kissable mouth. He knew he was a bit too obvious and it probably wasn’t necessary, but he had to stake his claim, needed to tell Alex in the best way he knew how that Lily was most definitely his.

Obviously agreeing, she turned in his embrace, wrapped her arms around his neck, and held him close, kissing him back with all the enthusiasm he could have wished for.

Alex cleared his throat. “Uh, wounded guy here? You’re not supposed to be ignoring me.”

Lily broke the kiss and stared over her shoulder. “That’s because you smell like a rank combination of wolf and just-got-laid male. Go take a shower. Then we’ll pay attention.”

Grumbling, Alex headed into the bathroom. Lily took Sebastian’s hand and led him out on the deck. They sat close beside one another on the top step. Lily leaned against his side while he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Thank you,” she said. “I really do appreciate your carting his ornery carcass off the hill.”

“Any time. I’m just glad it wasn’t you who was injured. Alex and Annie were pretty torn up.”

“They’ll be fine. Thankfully we had Liana and Adam close by.” She sighed, still playing with his fingers. “Sebastian, I’m not sure how much you know about us, though you’ve probably figured out that we are extremely open, sexually. Are you okay, sharing a bed with Alex and me? Sharing sex with the two of us? Because that’s where tonight is heading. He’s hurting, and he’s going to be missing Annie something fierce. We’ve all been through a hugely emotional evening, and for Chanku, anything like that really ramps up the libido.”

Sebastian took a deep breath, let it out, and stared into the dark sky. “I don’t know.” He laughed softly, embarrassed by the wealth of feelings storming through him when he thought of sex with Alex. “There’s one way to find out. I’ve never been with a man. Never even thought of it before. Your dad talked about that tonight, about the open sexuality of your kind.”

He shrugged. Maybe they were his kind, too. Hard to know. He’d only had the one capsule, but Anton seemed to think that since he’d been shifting by magical means, it might only take a few days for his Chanku nature to appear.

“How do you feel about it?”

Her eyes were dark pools, but her aura glowed like a multicolored halo around her, so many different splashes of color she reminded him of the aurora borealis. She was all light and magic, and her aura excited him, but everything about Lily Cheval was exciting. “If you’re there,” he said, “I imagine I’ll feel perfectly fine about anything.”

Her smile lit her entire face. “Good. And here’s something else for you to think about, what Dad wanted me to tell you.”

“About your magic?”

She nodded. “About where we find the energy to power our magic. It’s such a simple thing, really. It’s all about love. Love and the sexual energy we produce. Years ago, when my father and Stefan were in the very early days of building the pack, they discovered that sexual energy could give my dad almost unlimited magical power. One of our pack was kidnapped, and with the combined energy from the pack members gathered here in Montana, Dad was able to possess a raven on the east coast and use the bird to find the missing packmate.”

He tried to imagine that kind of power, but it was totally beyond him. “That’s really hard to believe.” He looked into her sparkling eyes and believed. “You’ve learned to share energy?”

She nodded. “We’re all telepathic, and it’s a simple thing to create the energy, either through fantasy or actual sex, and then share it. Dad takes it into himself and then works it.”

“It’s that simple?”

“Yeah, though not without risk. Years ago, when I was just a toddler, there was a plot against the president . . .”

“Of the United States?”

She laughed. “That’s the one, and the entire pack was supposed to share energy at precisely the same time so that Dad would have the power to create a blackout in San Francisco where the president was scheduled to speak. At the time, the packs were scattered all around the country, but they all worked really hard at building up as much as they could.” She laughed. “We’re really good at producing vast amounts of sexual energy.”

“And it worked?”

“Oh, yeah. Much too well. Dad blew out power over the entire Bay Area, but the energy surge left his brain fried for weeks. He couldn’t connect telepathically with anyone, couldn’t concentrate or carry on a conversation. It was really horrible. The president was saved, but we were sure we’d lost my father. Personally, I thought it was a crappy trade-off.”

“What happened next?” He ran his fingers through her hair. It was so beautiful, gleaming the color of dark copper beneath the low porch light, soft as silk falling in long waves and curls.

“I don’t remember the details, but I somehow knew that part of my dad’s consciousness had essentially gone into hiding to escape the blast of power. I found it and put it back.”

“You what?” He really couldn’t stop laughing. “How?”

She actually looked embarrassed. “I recognized part of Dad was in my uncle AJ. I was about nineteen months old, barely talking, and I guess I kept jabbering about ‘Dada’s smile.’ ”

“His smile?”

Shrugging, she picked up his hand again and played with his fingers. “That’s what I called it, the part of him I loved so much. It was hiding out in AJ’s brain. I somehow knew how to take it from AJ and return it to my father.”

“Wow. Precocious doesn’t even come close, does it?”

Shaking her head, she gazed across the dark meadow. “I’ve been blessed by our goddess in so many ways.” She sighed, and then as she so often did, changed the subject. “Did you know that Adam’s mate, Liana, the one who helped Alex tonight, was once our goddess? I mean, she’s thousands of years old, but she screwed up and got kicked off the astral, and Eve, who was Adam’s first bonded mate, took over Liana’s job. What’s cool is they’re both happy with the way things turned out. Personally, if I’d been Eve I would have been pissed, ending up dead before my time because of Liana’s screwup, but she’s much nicer than I am. Definitely goddess material.”

He knew he was looking at her like she had two heads, but that was just a little over the top. “I think that’s a bit too much for tonight. It makes my head hurt.” He laughed and hugged her close. “I do like the idea of using love and sexual energy to power magic, though.” He affected a smarmy voice and said, “Blood sacrifices are just so messy.”

Lily snorted. Then she clasped both his hands and tugged until he looked into her beautiful eyes. He saw his reflection in their amber depths, and suddenly, it was as if his life opened up. Things he’d never thought of before because they’d brought him nothing but pain, but now, looking into Lily’s eyes, he knew exactly how terribly lost he’d been. He just hadn’t understood how lost. Not until Lily found him.

She cupped his cheek in her palm, and her look was so direct, so honest, it felt as if she sliced him open with her gaze, as if she spread his life out in front of her for observation.

“Sebastian, something my father said to me a long time ago finally makes perfect sense. The power of blood magic, power that comes from the sacrifice of a living thing, is finite. Once the life is gone and the power is used up, it’s gone forever. Along with an innocent life.

“Not so with magic powered by love. Love endures. It grows stronger with time, and its power is never ending. Once you learn to work magic with love behind it, you’ll discover there’s no limit to what you can do. Love is infinite. You don’t need to control it. You merely accept its strength, use it for good, and it will never fail you.”

Caught in her words, her honesty, and her gentle touch, he slowly became aware of Alex moving around inside, knew he had to get up, had to move away from Lily before he did something stupid. Why did her words make him want to weep? Why did it feel as if he’d just heard an epiphany he’d needed his entire life?

He stood and tugged. Lily rose gracefully before him, and he knew he couldn’t let the moment pass. Cupping her face in his hands, he lightly kissed her lips. “I promise you, I will never fail you, Lily Cheval. I love you, and that is my vow. I will not fail you.”

She blinked, but tears spilled from the corners of her eyes. Her lips parted, and he waited to see what she would say. She didn’t speak the words. No, they were much more intimate. Inside his head, winding around his heart.

I love you, Sebastian Xenakis. I don’t know how it happened so fast, but it’s real and I can’t walk away. I don’t want to walk away. I’d rather jump right into the middle of it.

“Works for me,” he said. Then he took her hand and led her back inside the cabin. Back to Alex and the night awaiting them.

Alex was sitting at the kitchen table with a cold beer and a roasted deli chicken in front of him. He looked up. “I missed dinner,” he said. Then he took another bite.

“So did I.” Sebastian sat across from him and pulled a leg off the bird. “Lily?”

Laughing, she shook her head and wandered over to the cupboard. “Cognac or cold beer?”

“That’s quite a selection. What are you having?”

“A glass of white wine, but Alex tells me that’s not manly.”

Sebastian shrugged. “Manly enough for me.” He raised an eyebrow at Alex. “I don’t doubt my masculinity, but you never know about some guys.”

Lily patted Alex on the head. He rolled his eyes and continued eating. Sebastian noticed a red slash across his bare shoulders. “Wow . . . that’s what Liana healed?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah. It’s still sore, but it feels more like bruising. That wolf was a big sucker, and way too strong.” He glanced toward Lily, who was setting a glass of white wine in front of Sebastian. “Any idea who the hell those bastards were? I’ve never seen wolves that big, or that ferocious. Even Tinker’s smaller than the one that went after Annie.”

Lily sat next to Sebastian. “You want to tell him what we think is going on?”

“Yeah.” He took a swallow of the wine first. “Lily said you’re aware of the experiments the military did, trying to find Chanku among the troops to train as super warriors? She said no one knows how many were found or whatever became of them because the program got canceled shortly after it started.”

“We think we know where at least six of them are,” Lily added. She gazed at Sebastian. “They’re bodyguards for Sebastian’s father. Sebastian recognized two of them as the ones that attacked us the other night. The same wolves whose scent I recognized from the site of that murder in Golden Gate Park.”

“Holy shit.” Alex’s gaze flashed from Lily to Sebastian and back to Lily. “You’re sure?”

She nodded. “Have there been any more murders since this morning?”

“Not that I know of, but I’ve been with Annie since this afternoon. But why? What purpose would Aldo Xenakis have for harboring killers?”

Sebastian glanced at Lily. “Maybe because my father is a powerful wizard, one who pursues dark magic. Blood magic. I think he’s using the life force of the young women to give him power for whatever magic he’s doing.”

Frowning, Alex stared for a long moment at Sebastian, before letting out a pent-up breath. “That’s sick. Really sick. But to what end? What kind of spell would require the deaths of so many young women? And rape? How do the rapes fit in? What is he hoping to gain by all of this?”

“I don’t know.” Sebastian squeezed Lily’s hand. “He wanted me to get to know Lily, though I’m not sure why. When I told him I’d lost it when she and I were running on Mount Tam and had almost raped her, he seemed disappointed, as if my not hurting her went against his plans.”

Lily stared at him. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“I know. I told your father about it, and I’m sorry but I didn’t know how to say anything to you. It’s just so damned wrong. At first I wanted to think I was misinterpreting what he said. He’s my father.” He shrugged and looked away. “It was really hard to admit he’s a murderer, but I’m convinced he’s got some kind of plan that includes you and me. I just don’t know what it is. The man’s dangerous. He’s got to be stopped.”

“Where is he? Here or in San Francisco?” Alex pushed the half-eaten plate of chicken aside.

“He was in San Francisco when I left, but if his wolves are here, he could have followed me. Unless he’s got more of them up here that I don’t know about.”

“Does he know you came to Montana?”

Alex’s questions reminded him of a cop show, only he was the suspect being questioned. “I don’t know. I didn’t hide my trail, if that’s what you mean, but I didn’t leave him a note, either. It was a spur of the moment decision. I took a cab to the airport and caught the first plane up here that had a vacant seat.”

“If he had you followed, he could know you’re here, which means that attack on Annie and me could have been aimed at you and Lily.”

Sebastian frowned. “Why would you think that?”

“Look at us, you and me. We’re like my dad and Anton. People always think they’re brothers, even though they’re not related. You and I are both tall and lean, both have dark hair. Even similar features. Someone doesn’t know either of us, they could get us confused. Hell, we look enough alike we could be related. Same with the girls. Lily and Annie are dark skinned, obviously mixed race. Annie’s smaller and she’s got short hair, but if they were looking for a tall, dark-haired guy and a mixed-race woman, she and I could be you and Lily.”

“But why would my father want to kill us? He could have done that at any time. Hell, I live with the man, here and in San Francisco. He’s had plenty of opportunities.”

“I don’t think he wants to kill you. I imagine he wants to capture you. Probably wants both of you to power some spell he’s got planned. Those wolves that attacked us today could easily have killed Annie and me without any help at all, but they didn’t go for the kill, and they weren’t alone. I’m positive there were more in the woods, waiting. I heard Anton say he recognized human scent. So maybe they hadn’t shifted. Maybe they were ready with restraints, but help showed up too quickly and they bailed.”

“That’s putting a whole new spin on things.”

Lily yawned. “It is, and like you said earlier, Sebastian, it’s making my head hurt.” She stood and planted both hands on the table. “Gentlemen. I am exhausted. It has been a very long, emotionally trying day, and I am going to bed. You may join me, or you can stay here and gorge yourselves on whatever Mom left in the fridge and talk rings around each other until morning.”

She kissed Alex and then planted a long, lazy one on Sebastian. He glanced at Alex, who merely shrugged.

“Your loss, boys.” Lily headed for the bedroom.

Alex grinned at Sebastian and then batted his eyelashes. “Actually, before we go in and f*ck, I’d really prefer to get to know you better.”

Laughing, Sebastian grabbed the wine bottle and refilled his glass. “I agree. I’m not that kind of guy. Besides, I want to hear more about Lily.” He glanced toward the doorway. “She’s absolutely amazing. I’ve never felt like this about any woman before, and I have a feeling that’s not going to change.”

Alex smiled at him and laughed softly. “It’s not. And believe it or not, I know how you feel about her. Part of me is jealous as hell that the two of you fit so well because I always wanted that with Lily, but I didn’t really understand what she and I lacked until Annie came back into my life.”

“Lily truly loves you.”

Alex cocked an eyebrow. “And that doesn’t bother you?”

Sebastian laughed. “Hell no, because as much as she loves you, half the time she’s thinking about killing you.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right.” Alex got up and grabbed another beer. “Let’s go outside. The cottage is small, and I don’t want to keep her awake. She’s had a damned long day.”

“Me too.” Sebastian grabbed the wine bottle and his glass. “But I’m too keyed up to sleep.”

“Who’s talking about sleep?” Alex grinned as he opened the door. The two of them walked out on the deck, but Alex continued on down the steps, into the darkness.

The night didn’t seem as dark as it usually was. Could Anton’s pills already be working? No way. Not this soon. Sebastian followed Alex along a stone path that led to a small pond in the meadow. Alex took a seat on a stone bench and patted the spot beside him. Sebastian sat.

“So Anton’s given you the first of the nutrients. Notice anything yet?”

Sebastian glanced about, but dark was dark. “What’s to notice ? It’s only been a few hours. Did you ever take them?”

“Didn’t have to.” Alex took a swallow of his beer. “I was born to Chanku parents, and since my mother took them during her pregnancy, I was fully Chanku at birth. I’ve never needed them, though on occasion my body will crave the grasses and I find myself nibbling on them. Keisha, Lily’s mom, is a landscape architect, which explains the gorgeous gardens here, but she’s got the Tibetan grasses scattered all over the property.”

“You’ll have to show me which ones.”

“That’s the odd thing.” Alex’s teeth glinted in the darkness. “If you’re Chanku, you’ll recognize them. It’s like our bodies are geared to know what they are and how much we need to get the full benefit.”

“I’ll have to remember that.” All this talk of grasses, and yet Sebastian wasn’t thinking of them at all. He was thinking of Alex close beside him, the way his bare chest was so finely cut, his sharply defined muscles a pattern of dark and light.

He’d never been so aware of a man before.

So aware, or so curious. And for some reason, the fact that Lily loved this man, that she and Alex had made love throughout their lives, made Alex even more attractive to him.

He stared at the empty wineglass in his hand.

“More?” Alex held the bottle.

Sebastian shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. I’ve had two glasses; not enough to feel it.” He raised his head and stared into Alex’s amber eyes. “I know what you and I are going to do, and I don’t want to blame it on the wine. I don’t want to dull the experience.” He glanced away, embarrassed.

“Look at me, Sebastian.”

He slowly turned at Alex’s soft command. “Why?”

“Because you’re a pretty amazing guy. I don’t want you to think you can’t look me in the eye. You’re too good a man to look away. It’s a wolf thing.”

“Shit, Alex. How can you say that? My father may be a murderer, he may be trying to use me to get at your people. How can you stand to be near me?”

“You’re obviously not your father. Damn it, Sebastian, even in the very short time I’ve known you, I can tell that. You know nothing of our kind beyond what you’ve learned from Lily. Only what the media says and what you’ve heard from your father, who is obviously a bigot. You don’t know if you’re one of us or not, but you’ve already aligned yourself with the pack. You put yourself in danger to protect the pack. That takes courage. I admire courage. It’s a rare quality in this day and age. Besides, for all you know, we’re your people, too.”

“What am I, Alex? Am I Chanku? Am I one of you, or just a half-baked mage who’s at risk of being seduced by dark magic? Believe me, the lure of dark power is strong. I see my father do things, and I absolutely lust for that kind of power. What if I can’t fight it? What if it takes me?”

“It won’t.”

“How do you know?”

Alex smiled and put his hands on Sebastian’s shoulders. “Because Lily and I won’t let it. We’ve got your back, Sebastian. I think you’re one of us. Even if you’re not, you’re definitely worth saving.”

His throat clogged with tears, and it was hard to catch his breath. “How can you say that?”

Alex grabbed Sebastian’s hand and pressed his palm against his own chest, just over his heart. Sebastian’s fingers spread out over Alex’s hot skin, absorbing the feel of him, the solid beat of his heart and the soft tickle from the dusting of dark hair sliding between his fingers.

He didn’t breathe. He wasn’t even certain he could, but Alex held his hand there, tight up against warm, male flesh, and he gazed steadily into Sebastian’s eyes. “Because I feel you here, Sebastian. Inside, where it counts. Because Lily loves you, and she could never love any man less than her father. Just keep taking the capsules. Trust me. The man I see in you is every bit Anton Cheval’s equal.”