He could hear the guards’ sharp intakes of breath at the words, and felt Evan’s heart thumping wildly in his chest. His mate was frightened of him!Surely he knew Brett’s rough voice was only for the guards’ sakes.Their only chance lay in making the guards think he’d go through with it.

There was a tense silence as the guards tried to figure out what they should do next. Brett yelled at them.“I said put the goddamned guns down or I’ll kill this worthless human! Do you think I won’t do it?”

He tightened his grip slightly again and Evan choked, clawing at his arm in a vain attempt to get air. He kept up the pressure for about tenseconds, or until he was sure he had the guard’s attention before easing off. This time Evan collapsed over his arm, and Brettsaw that he’d passed out, probably as much from fear and anxiety as from the grip he had on his throat. He pulled his body up more securely and watched the guard drop their weapons.

Backing up a few steps, he called out to them.“Slide those rifles and cell phones over here. Now!”

They put them on the floor and quickly slid them toward him. He laid Evan on the floor carefully, his eyes never leaving the guards and picked up the rifle closest to him.“Get in that closet over there,” he said tersely, nodding toward it.

They scrambled over to get inside, and he closed the door on them, dragged a chair over with one hand to jam it in the door handle and called to them.“You can save your breath, boys. This room is sound proof. Sleep tight. Somebody should be along by morning.”

Brett chuckled and went back over to Evan. He was waking back up and flinched when Brett pulled him back into his arms. It killed Brett to see it, but he had to make it look good to protect the doctor, not to mention Evan if anything went wrong. He dragged Evan out into the corridor, looking around quickly, spotting the security cameras right away. Once he escaped, they’d be sure to pore over the tapes, so he had to make it look good. He held Evan up with one arm around his waist, but made sure his toes were dragging the ground, so it would look at lot rougher than it actually felt to Evan. Evan was making breathy little moans that tore at Brett’s heart. He hated having to scare him this way.

He wanted to whisper reassurancesin Evan’s ear, but this had to look real. Evan’s body was limp as Brett dragged him up the steps and out into the main corridor. Moving with supernatural speed, Brett made it down the hall to the central lobby, completely surprising the guard on duty there.

He stepped out of the shadows with Evan in one arm and an AK-47 cradled in the other. “Throw your weapon over here, and I might not kill you both.Cell phone too.”

Caught completely by surprise, the guard took one look at Evan’s panicky expression and put his phone and handgun on the floor, sliding it over to Brett. Brett bent over to pick it up, motioning with his head to a nearby broom closet.“Get in there.”

The guard quickly complied and Brett closed the door, then with one hand pulled a big display case over in front of it.

He smashed the phone casually with his foot then gathered up the gun. Holding both guns in one arm and Evan in the other, he again moved with supernatural speed, tearing out the door and runningtoward Evan’s car. He already knew from his investigations into Evan’s routine exactly where he parked it every day. He put Evan in the front seat beside him, buckling him into a seat belt.He found Evan’s car key on the ring in the dash, started the car and drove quickly toward the gate.

The guards, no doubt recognizingEvan’s car, stepped out routinely to check him. With the gate still closed in front of him, Brett floored the gas pedal. As the guards jumped to get out of his way, he slammed through the gate, smashing the front of Evan’s car, but tearing through and out onto the highway and freedom.

Driving swiftly down the road, the wind in his hair and his mate beside him, Brett experienced complete exhilaration. The adrenalin pumping through his body made hair sprout out on the back of his neck and his claws extend. Evan was slumped beside him, the only movement the rapid rise and fall of his chest. When Brett started to shift, he suddenly opened big blue eyes to gaze directly at Evan.

He didn’t react at all for about three seconds, and then it hit him—he was alone in his car with a big, bad wolf already about a quarter way through a shift, and it seemed to be the last straw for him. He startled violently, unsnapping his seat belt and shying away from Brett as far as he could. He probably would have jumped from the car had Brett not been using the childproof locks.When he saw he couldn’t get out, he backed up against the door as far as he could and stared wild eyed at Brett.

Brett tried his best to force his wolf back down.He couldn’t speak very well when he was shifting, so he stayed silent, concentrating on calming down until he felt his claws retracting. Finally, he felt as if he could articulate normally and turned toward Evan, who was clearly panicked and almost in shock.

“Settle down, baby,” Brett said, keeping his voice steady and low-pitched.“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Evan simply kept staring at him, his breathing ragged and harsh. He wet his lips, looking as if he wanted to say something. At first nothing came out, and Brett winced, cursing himself for not knowing his own strength when dealing with him. He must have hurt his throat. It had been so long since he’d been this intimate with a human he’d forgotten how fragile they could be. Evan tried again, and this time his voice came out, though hoarse and slightly cracked.

“You already did. W-where areyou taking me?”

“Don’t be scared.I’m taking you to the wolf pack.”

Evan’s big blue eyes opened even wider than Brett thought possible.“Just let me go, okay? Please—put me out here on the side of the road, and I won’t tell them anything. Just let me go!”

Brett could see he was quickly becoming hysterical, so he pulled him away from the door and slid Evan over toward him.“Calm down, damn it,” he said sternly.“I told you I’m not going to hurt you again.”

“Let me go, Brett.”

“What the hell are you talking about?You’re my mate. I told you I’d never let you go!”

Even though his back was now pressed against the seat instead of the door, Evan was clearly a wreck. His hands were clenched so tightly they were white, and his eyes were wide and staring. Brett musthave scared him more than he’d thought when they made their escape. Of course, it hadn’t helped that he’d seen him as less than human for the first time.

His voice came again, this time speaking to him like he was some kind of beast he was trying to calm. “I helped you, remember? I wasn’t the one who hurt you, Brett.If you’ll let me go, I swear Iwon’t say anything. Just stop the car.”

“I’m not going to kill you, damn it!” Brett yelled at him and he watched Evan shut his eyes tightly and bite his lower lip.“Please, baby, be calm. Of course I remember,” he said softly, cursing himself for losing his patience. He was scaring him pretty badly. He had to remind Evan of his earlier feelings. And he really needed to feed him again.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Evan’s hand snaking slowly down toward his boot. It occurred to Brett he might have a weapon hidden in that boot.

“Evan,” he said, trying to defuse the situation, “why are you so scared of me? I know you saw me partly shifted, but you know who I am. It was all that adrenalin, honey.I’m back now, and I won’t shift again. I promise.I told you I won’t hurt you, sweetheart. I’m your mate.” Brett glanced over at him.“You weren’t so scared of me before, back at the complex.”

Evan was silent, biting his lower lip and looking down. His hand continued to move downward whenever he thought Brett’s attention wasn’t on him.

“Talk to me, Evan. What’s changed?”

“You weren’t an animal back at the complex—I forgot for a while what you are.”

“Oh?What I am?”

“A fucking werewolf!” He shuddered and cast another frightened glance over at Brett. His hand had reached his boot, and now swung upward wildly, holding a wicked looking switchblade. Brett’s reflexes were lightning fast. His hand flashed out and struck Evan’s wrist, knocking the knife andEvan’s wrist away at the same time, causing Evan to cry out and clutch his wrist to his chest his face filled with pain, while Brett fought for control of the car. Brett cursed loudly. He had miscalculated his strength again. Damn it!He’d wind up hurting his own mate if he wasn’t more careful with him.

A road was coming up to the left—or more of a grassy track, really, leading off up the mountain. Brett suddenly turned off the headlights and veered into the small, deeply rutted path. Evan cried out in fear and bounced on the front seat, grasping desperately with his good hand at the dash. Brett drove up the track at what must have seemed a breakneck speed to Evan. Actually, wolves could see quite well in the dark, and he knew every crook of this trail. He was aware of Evan ricocheting back and forth from the back of his seat to the dash, crying out in alarm. Brett threw out his arm protectively to hold him in the seat. He pulled the car over and cut the engine, turned in his seat and hauled Evan roughly into his arms.

Evan’s face was right up against his, and Brett briefly registered how terrified he looked before he bent his head and took his lips in a searing kiss.He thrust his tongue inside Evan’s mouth, sweeping it over his lips and the inside of his mouth, teasing with his teeth, holding him there until Evan went limp in his arms.

He allowed him to fall back against his arm then and look up at him with glazed-over eyes.

“I’m sorry I hurt you!Let me see it.” He pulled Evan’s wrist toward him and felt around it as gently as he could.“Damn, it’s bruised pretty badly, sweetheart, but it’s not broken. Still, I’d like to get you to one of our doctors right away.”

He bent down and kissed his wrist, then turned to his lips, licking at them until they fell open. He whispered into his mouth.“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I forget sometimes how fragile humans can be.”