“Not everyone likes it, obviously. The collar is no more than a mark of ownership they allow us to put on them. We’re very jealous of our pets, because we love them so much, and we need them so much. If they left us, we’d die. Wolves are dominants by nature, so we need submissives as our ideal partners. We complete each other, and the dominance is a part of that, but it’s not real, Rory. Do you understand?”

“Kind of, I guess. If it was just sex play like when he spanked me, I could stand it. I might even like it a little, but Casey wants to strip me of everything. He wants to punish me. He said so.”

Ian shrugged. “Maybe he does, a little. He has whole other issues with you. He’s trying to punish you because he blames you for his brother’s death. I think I need to speak to Casey to make sure of his intentions. It sounds like he might be confused himself. And you need to get the idea that being a submissive is shameful out of your head. Some of the strongest people I know are submissives. Look at Nicky.”

“True.” Rory shrugged. “He really does run Marco, doesn’t he, but Marco lets him and allows him freedom to be himself.”

“Nicky lets Marco think he gives him freedoms. It’s all a kind of game, Rory. Nicky does whatever he pleases, and he and Marco both know it. It just took Nicky a little time to catch on.”

“That isn’t what Casey plans on.” Rory sighed and glanced up at the clock on the wall in worry. “Where’s Casey? I want to see him.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“He’s my blood match. I think I have to be with him.”

“No, Rory, you don’t have to be—not if you don’t want to be, or if the two of you can’t work things out. I know some of the others have said you can’t fight it, that you can’t live without him. It is possible to live without your true mate, even if it’s hard. Unfortunately, I know that for sure.”

Rory dropped his gaze, remembering how terribly the beta had grieved for his mate after she died. The entire pack had mourned along with him and had been upset by his inconsolable grief.

“I don’t know how you do it,” he said softly.

Ian shrugged. “You do what you have to do.”

“I don’t want to stay away from him.”

“Nicky did until Marco gave in and realized he had to make the changes. If you feel as strongly about the total submission, and Casey can’t accept that, you can too. If you and Casey can’t work it out, it doesn’t mean you have to be alone forever. You can love someone again—it may not be a blood match, but you can fall in love. Maybe even deeply in love.”

Rory shook his head firmly. “There’s no one else like Casey. I still want him. I just don’t know if I can forgive him for wanting to deliberately hurt me, Ian. He doesn’t mean his dominance as any kind of love play. He means it to hurt me. He hates me.”

Rory couldn’t help it; his eyes filled with tears. Ian nodded. “All right. Let me see what I can do. If that’s true, you need to know it now, so you can walk away.” He went over to the phone, dialed a number and spoke softly into the receiver for a few moments. “Marco’s bringing him. Rory, are you sure about this? He hasn’t changed, you know. He’s the same Casey he was a little while ago.”

“I know. I still need to talk to him. I said some things I maybe shouldn’t have because I was so hurt and angry. Now that the shock’s over, maybe we can talk.”

“We’ve never had a pairing like this before, Rory—two wolves. We don’t know exactly what it means for the two of you even without the added issue of his vengeance for his brother. Do you think your wolf is really gone?”

“I did at first, but a while ago, when I heard Casey howl, I felt something. I wanted to shift and go to him. I don’t know if I could have or not. I think maybe if I needed to shift—to protect my mate or for some other really good reason—I think I might be able to.”

Ian patted his hand. “I heard your howl. For now though, I suggest you keep that to yourself.”

Marco opened the door and pushed Casey into the room in front of him. Casey’s hands were tied in front of him, and his face was flushed with anger. His eyes searched the room for Rory, and he seemed to relax a bit when he saw him sitting on the couch.

Rory got up immediately and went to stand by him, appealing to Marco. “Please, Marco, untie him.”

“No, not until I find out exactly what’s going on. Sit down, both of you.” Marco shoved Casey, and Casey turned to snarl at him.

Rory took his arm. “Please, Casey. Sit down with me.”

Casey pulled away from Rory’s touch, but allowed him to sit beside him on the sofa. He was sullen and furious, his face bruised high on his cheekbone. He glared up at Marco. “When I get my hands free, we’ll finish this, Alpha.”

Marco laughed shortly. “You’re already finished. The only reason I haven’t thrown you in a jail cell already is because of Rory, and I still might.”

Ian came over to stand beside his alpha. “Rory says he hasn’t been abused. I’d like to talk to Casey about the way he’s seeing things, but not now, I think it’s best if everyone calms down tonight and gets some rest. We can talk in the morning.”

Marco hesitated, looking doubtful, perhaps still caught up in his anger. Ian put a hand on his shoulder. “Go on to your suite, Marco. You know Nicky will be dying to find out what’s going on.

Nicky was everybody’s favorite around the compound, because of his beauty, his quirky charm, and his courage in forcing Marco into making changes for all the pets. At the mention of his name, Marco seemed anxious to go, but he still hesitated in leaving Rory.

“What about sleeping arrangements for the night?”

“Rory belongs to me. He stays where I stay,” Casey stated in challenge and frowned at Marco belligerently.

“That’s not up to you, you son-of-a-bitch!” Marco took a step toward him, and Casey tried to get up off the couch but Rory pulled him back.

“I’ll stay with him, Marco. We need to talk.”

“They can stay here tonight in my other bedroom if that’s okay, Marco. You can post a guard outside if it will make you feel better about it.”

Marco nodded. “I will.” He looked at Rory. “Are you sure this is what you want? If you don’t want to stay with him, you can go to your own room or I’ll take you with me.”

Casey made a move as if to jump up off the couch again, but Rory put a restraining hand on his arm. “I’ll stay with Casey,” he said.

Marco nodded and left, casting Casey a warning look and closing the door firmly behind him.

“My other bedroom is through there,” Ian said, “along with the adjoining bathroom. Fresh towels are in the closet. If you need anything else, let me know.” He yawned behind his hand. “I’m going to bed, but make yourselves at home.” He bent over and untied Casey’s hands and smiling at both of them, turned to go to his bedroom.

Casey got up without another word and stalked off to the bedroom, not even looking back to see if Rory followed him. He threw himself on the bed and lay on his back, his chest heaving with emotion. Rory came hesitantly into the bedroom and stood in the doorway. Casey glanced over at him.

“Oh, you’re actually coming in here with me, huh? I’m surprised. I thought you rejected me as your mate. You said we were through.” His voice was angry and bitter.

“You hurt me, Casey. You meant to, and I-I was mad.”

“Yeah, well, no matter how mad I was, I’d never reject you.”

“You wouldn’t?” Casey came further into the room, easing the door closed behind him.

“No, and I wouldn’t call out for help to get away from you, or go off and leave you when you were being attacked by a bunch of big jerks either.”

“Did they hurt you?”

Casey made a dismissive sound with his lips. “Of course not.”

Rory perched on the bed next to him, ready to run if Casey made any threatening moves. He reached out to touch the bruise on Casey’s cheek, half thinking he would pull away, but Casey lay still and allowed him to rub his fingers gently over it. Rory was shocked to see tears forming in his beautiful green eyes. They didn’t spill out onto his cheeks, but glistened in the dim light.

This wasn’t Casey’s pack, and he was an outsider here. It must have been frightening for him to have been held down by so many of the other wolves, no matter what he said. Especially since his mate had just rejected him.

Knowing Casey’s pride, Rory knew he had to make the first move. Rory took Casey’s hand in his, heartened by the fact he didn’t jerk it away. “I didn’t mean it about rejecting you. I love you, but I can’t live like you said I would have to, and I can’t stand the idea of you hurting me for revenge. I don’t want to start hating you. I’m sorry about your brother, but what he did was wrong. When I attacked him, he was holding a knife to Nicky’s throat, making him bleed. I found out later, he told Nicky he was going to rape him and had the hard on to prove it. I’m sorry that it hurt you, baby. If we can forgive each other, I think we can be happy.”

Casey glanced up at him, but still stayed silent. Rory didn’t know what the silence signified, but Casey hadn’t shoved him away. Taking the silence as agreement or at least understanding, hoping he wasn’t suffering from a bad case of wishful thinking, Rory bent down and kissed the bruise on Casey’s face. He trailed kisses down to his lips. Casey didn’t pull away, encouraging Rory to gently lick at his lips until they fell open slightly. He pushed the tip of his tongue inside Casey’s mouth ever so slightly, running his tongue over his teeth and just touching Casey’s tongue gently. Casey’s mouth fell open a little more. Rory swept his tongue over the inside of Casey’s mouth, ending with a teasing little nip at his lower lip.

Rory whispered against his mouth. “Can you forgive me for saying I rejected you? I really… really…really…didn’t mean it.” Each really was punctuated by a soft little lick on Casey’s lips.