Evan’s eyes grew wider and he tried to pull away. “No! I can’t believe it!”

Brett shrugged.“Suit yourself, but it’s the truth. Elias Winters wants to create a new breed of soldier.He thinks he’ll be able to create a squadron of feral Hunters to fight us. He even has a name for the plan—Operation Wolfsbane.You were to be the first.”

“Why should I believe any of this? You’re lying!”

Brett tightened his grip on Evan’s arm.“Watch your mouth, love.I’m a lot of things, but I’m no liar. I’m a gamma in the Dark Hollow Wolf Pack.That’s sort of like a soldier. Rank and file, you know?It’s pretty large—three branches of the family spread out all over these mountains. That’s what we are, I guess. A family. Many of us are related, and since we have the same ideas about marrying cousins that you humans do, we have always brought in humans to mate with us, if other wolf packs weren’t around or we couldn’t find our mate among them. We don’t force our mates, though, or almost never. The beta of our pack did take a captive Hunter as his mate, but that was so they wouldn’t have to execute him. I understand they’re very happy now.”

For the first time, Evan looked up and nodded.“He’s still alive? But you’re talking about Logan Winters. He was...is the son of our leader and went missing over a year ago. We were told he was dead, murdered by the wolves.“

“A total lie put out by his crazy father.I’ll introduce you to Logan if you want. We hate the Hunters, but we’re not murderers. Besides, he’s the beloved pet of the beta of our pack. Why would we kill him?”

“The beloved what? Wait a minute—you hate Hunters? Do you hate me because of who I am?”

“Absolutely not! Totally different situation, honey. Logan was a soldier, part of a Hunter squad that attacked the alpha and almost killed him. They also shot the mate of the battle commander. As the son of old Elias, Logan was totally brainwashed too. It took our beta a lot of work to get that shit out of his head. No, those Hunters put themselves in a bad situation and they were well armed.”

“Still, I’m a Hunter.”

“I know.Luckily you haven’t been one for very long, though I do have to question your judgment in joining up to start with.We’ll have to talk about that little lapse. No, I’m not crazy about the idea of your being a Hunter, but I can’t hate you, honey. Blood match, remember?”

“Why me, Brett?I’m confused! How did you find me? I never saw you before that night they brought you past the guard station!” His voice was becoming a little hysterical, rising higher and higher.

Brett took Evan by the shoulders and gave him a little shake. He calmed down some, though his eyes widened at Brett’s action. He seemed to all at once realize he was half lying across the body of a very aroused wolf, and he squirmed uncomfortably, trying to move away from Brett’s erection. When he licked his lips, the tip of his pink tongue darting out between his luscious lips, Brett was almost done for.

Brett closed his eyes and bit his own lip.“Goddamn, man, you’re going to have to stop squirming around and looking at me likethat. I’m hanging on by a thread as it is.”

Immediately, Evan stilled, almost holding his breath until Brett got control.“Sorry,” Evan said with a tiny smile. “Didn’t mean to get you all...you know...aroused.” Another deep breath and Brett started again.

“You know I was only capturedbecause of you, Evan.”

He looked startled as his gaze bored into Brett’s eyes. “But how?”

“I first saw you in that little steak place in Brevard. You know the one with the cowboy theme?” At Evan’s nod, he continued. “You were with a group of Hunters, and I could smell you all the way across the room.”

“Smellme?”

Brett chuckled.“Not because you stink, honey. To me you smell absolutely delicious. Like something sweet.Have you ever noticed that about me?”

Evan turned his head as he thought about it.“Yes, a couple of times when I came in your cell. I thought I was going crazy.”

“It will get even more intense after I bite...uh, after we mate. That smell is a sign of our blood mate. Some chemical in our blood—somewolves say it’s supernatural—calls to us when we see our blood mate, the one we’re fated to be with forever. Wolves mate for life, and we only get one blood mate. Well, that’s the theory, anyway.For me, it’s you.”

“Me? No, you must be mistaken!” Evan shook his head in disbelief. “Why me?”

“No one knows. Anyway, I have to tell you I was pissed at first.Now don’t get upset again, but I didn’t want a human and especially not a Hunter. I actually struggled against it—that was before Imet you.” He had to stop and drop a kiss on Evan’s face because of the hurt look that had lodged there.“Once I met you, I was totally hooked.”

“We met in the prison.”

“Right. I went back to Brevardto try to find you, but you’d moved inside the complex and rarely came out.I got inside...” He stopped again at Evan’s look. “Yeah, we can get in the barracks if we need to. It’s not so heavily guarded, and people are always leaving the back entrance unlocked. Very careless. Since Logan joined the pack...let’s just say we know more now. I went to your roomand looked around.”

“That’s where the smell in my room came from! It was you!” Evan had a slightly accusing look as he realized why his clothing and underwear and even his bed smelled like Brett.

Brettblushed. “Yeah, it was me. I lay on your bed, sat at your computer, sniffed at your clothes. The more I saw you and smelled your scent, the more I had to be near you. The blood mate thing is a bitch, baby.It drives you crazy!”

Evan smiled a little, seeming to be fascinated by the story as Brett continued.

“I live with the North Carolina wolf pack. They have a big lodge called Mountainwood. I’m sure you know about it. We’re the largest pack. Sometimes we’re called the Mountain Pack, and we’ve had a lot of Hunter attacks.”

Evan nodded. “Yes, we know exactly where it is.”

“Right. So anyway, Dr. Cornsilk had alerted us to the latest harebrained scheme of Elias Winters. Wintersdoesn’t really give a shit about Logan, you know.He’s just pissed because he’s ashamed to have a son mated to a male wolf—a powerful beta, at that. Marco, our alpha, called a meeting and I sat in as one of the gammas. That’s when I came up with this plan.”

“Was that after you saw me in Brevard?”

“A couple of days after, yeah. I got an idea to use their own plan against them. I convinced the alpha to get Dr. Cornsilk to suggest you for the experiment, and I allowed myself to be picked up outside the compound.”

“How did you know they’d pick me?”

“I told you I was in your rooms, honey. I saw your internet browser.That’s when I knew you were gay. Cornsilk used that to help get you chosen. To Winters, you were more expendable than a straight Hunter.”

“Oh my God!”

“Sorry, baby, but it’s true. That’s the kind of shitoutfit you joined up with.”

“It was so dangerous for you to be captured like that. And they beat you!Wasn’t there some other way?”

“Probably, but it was also a chance to see the inside of this operation and claim my mate right under their noses. Too good not to go for it.”

“Pretty damn arrogant.” He looked upinto Brett’s eyes..“So you actuallythink I’m your…bloodmate?”

“I don’t just think it, I know it. AndI have to tell you, it’s forever. I’ll never let you go once we’re mated.”

“What? What do you mean you’ll never let me go? I just agreed to let you fuck me, that’s all.”

“No,” Brett pulled his body tight against his possessively. “You’re mine, Evan. Get used to it. Everything you knew is about to change.”

“Change? W-What do you mean? The major told me some stuff and so did Dr. Cornsilk. Is it all true?”

“Probably—you’ll be stronger and faster and even more gorgeous. You’ll have to...uh...drink my blood.”

“No, I won’t do that!It’s like a vampire.” He struggled to get up again and move away, but Brett held him down again until he collapsed with a defeated sigh and a dirty look at Brett. “Damn it, let me go!”

“No. Not until you listen. The blood drinking is only once every couple of weeks once you settle in, and it will tastegood to you, I promise.”

“What do you mean, settle in? You mean, like forever?That’s bullshit! I don’t even know you! You even saidyou don’t much like humans. I’m just something this blood match thing forced on you. Go find someone else.”

“Just because I’m hooked doesn’t mean I don’t like it. We both still have free will to reject each other if we wanted to.”

“Well, I want to!” Evan cried out, pushing against Brett’s chest.

“Hush. It would make you miserable. We could do it, but I promise you that you’ll be sorry. You were all I thought about in my cell once I met you. I spent most of my time thinking about you, wondering when you’d be back, hoping you’d come soon.”

“Really?” Evan shook his head. “No, I-I can’t think straight. That damn scent radiating off you makes me feel almost drunk. What are you doing to me?”

“Just loving you, sweetheart.” He touched Evan’s face again. “You’re so beautiful. Pretty blond hair, big blue eyes. And this body...you were made just for me.” Brett drew his face down to kiss his lips.

The second their lips met, a spark flew straight to Brett’s cock. He deepened the kiss, licking at the seam of Evan’s mouth until it fell open. He filled it with his plundering tongue, and swept over the inside possessively, mapping out his territory.“Mine,” he whispered urgently against his lips, moving his hands down to wrap around Evan’s rigid cock, straining against the material of his jeans and pushing eagerly against Brett’s hand.