“Okay, but just for a little while. Don’t do anything strenuous and don’t you dare go outside. The Hunters may still be in the woods. We haven’t figured out how they got away. There was absolutely no smell of them at all, and we should have been able to track them. They might have developed some new chemical to mask their scent.”

“I don’t much like the idea of you out there either, you know. You could be shot or captured.”

“I’m a big, bad wolf, baby. I’ll be okay.” He leaned over to kiss Rory before he left and Rory clung to his neck.

“Yeah, well, Big and Bad, don’t do anything risky. Stay with the rest of the pack.”

“Of course!” Casey grinned and took off out the door, whistling loudly, leaving the room strangely empty without him. They’d grown much closer in the days since he’d been shot, with Casey staying by his side constantly, making love to him and holding him for hours while he slept. Neither of them had talked about the issues that still separated them—the fact that Casey hadn’t forgiven him totally for his brother’s death or how much submissiveness Casey was going to want.

He had, at least, not said a word when Rory continued to wear his own clothes. Rory hoped he’d not give him an argument about his continuing with his gamma duties as well when he recovered. That would be a deal breaker for Rory. Soon they would have to sit down together and figure this whole thing out. They were in a holding pattern, neither one of them wanting to push the issues, for fear of it coming between them.

Rory sighed and wandered over to the window to look outside. He watched as Casey neared several of his friends. They all started laughing together, their easy wolf camaraderie a thing which had to be in the past for Rory now. As a wolf’s mate, tradition forbade him letting another dominant wolf touch him. He was pretty conservative when it came to the traditions of his pack, and he would uphold them, Casey or no Casey. Still, he had a secret he hadn’t shared with anyone. When he was shot and he lay on the ground listening to the sounds of a terrible struggle going on with Marco and the Hunter, he had shifted a little. Not all the way, or even enough to change his body, but he did shift some when he was afraid Marco was in danger. He was pretty sure he’d be able to again if he really needed to. Maybe all the way the next time it happened when he was stronger.

He was happy his wolf wasn’t dead, as Casey thought, but what would the news mean to his relationship with Casey? Casey hadn’t said anything different about hating his wolf. If he knew his wolf was alive and if not well, at least healed a little, what would he think? His knot was still absolutely gone, so he knew he was no longer exactly a wolf, so what was he?

Watching them from the window, Rory was amazed to see them all suddenly transform into wolves. Casey was big and brown and as beautiful as he was as a human. They all sprang out into the woods together, howling and nipping at each other’s flanks playfully. Rory watched them go, not really wanting to join them, just worried about his mate.

He put his head back against the chair and lethargy overtook him. Damn Casey’s strong blood anyway! Maybe he’d take just a short nap. No sooner did he think it than he dozed off and woke up after about an hour. Gazing out the window into the woods he slowly came awake. From his vantage point on the second floor, he could see into the woods for a good little way, especially since the foliage hadn’t fully come out yet for spring. He got a glimpse now and then of a wolf darting by as they trained and hunted in the woods near the compound, ordered by Marco not to venture too far away.

Then, off on the opposite side of the woods from the wolves, perhaps a hundred or more yards away, Rory saw human forms moving through the trees, sneaking up quietly toward the compound. Hunters! For a moment he couldn’t move, and then he raced to the phone to call for help. He told the operator where he’d last seen the Hunters then he was out the door and running to warn Casey. He could feel the excitement building in him as he ran. He had to get to him, and he felt a low growl start in his throat.

With a sharp pain in his stomach and groin, he started to shift, pulled off his clothes as his wolf formed and ran through the woods, faster and faster. He howled in anger and outrage as he saw the Hunters taking aim on the group from a hiding place in the trees. They turned and saw him, and one of them turned his rifle toward him. Before he could squeeze the trigger, he was knocked to the ground, and wolves surrounded him on all sides, snarling and yipping, concentrating on one Hunter while the others ran, trying to control their rage enough to take the one alive for questioning.

Rory stopped at the edge of the trees, panting in relief and reaction, resting for a moment before he tried to make it back to his room. He was about to shift back when a big, brown wolf stalked toward him. The wolf bared huge, glistening fangs, emitting a warning growl as it moved forward. It was Casey. He knew Casey recognized him too, yet looked like he was about to attack, and there was no way he could stop him. Instinctively, Rory dropped to his belly and began to crawl toward the giant wolf. Casey stood still, his large yellow eyes glistening. When Rory got to within a few feet of him, he rolled over on his back and offered his throat, making his surrender clear. Casey could kill him if he wanted to. He would offer no resistance. Casey’s wolf whimpered and came closer, sniffing at him. He straddled Rory’s body and brought his snout right down to his neck. Yet instead of ripping out his throat, his tongue flickered out, and he licked Rory’s mouth and nose before he jumped off and ran away into the woods.

Rory got to his feet, shaking and shifting back to his human form. Still trembling, he made it back to the compound and up to their room, falling to the bed in complete exhaustion. Shifting took a lot of energy, and it was obviously energy he still didn’t have. There was the added trauma of seeing Casey and exposing his secret. He knew deep down Casey wouldn’t kill him, yet there had been just a moment in the woods when he was a little doubtful. Still he’d offered his throat to him, and Casey had licked him. Licked him! That had to mean he forgave him. Didn’t it? His mind whirling over the possibilities, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. In his dreams, he hunted alongside a big brown wolf, and they ran together under the moonlit night sky.

When he awoke, Casey sat quietly in the chair by the bed, staring at him.

Rory cleared his throat nervously. “Hi.”

“How long?”

“Huh? Oh. You mean how long since I knew I could shift? Just since the day I got shot. I shifted a little when Marco was fighting the Hunter. I think I can only do it when someone I love is threatened.”

“And you didn’t think you should share this information with your mate?”

“Well, I guess. I…uh…”

“And today?”

“I saw them from the window. I called for help and then ran to warn you. I shifted on the way. It wasn’t a real decision—I just did it because I was so worried about you.”

“Your wolf gave me complete submission.”

“Of course. I love you, Casey. I’ll do whatever you tell me to.” He batted his eyelashes at Casey as he’d seen Nicky do so many times, while both understood whatever came with conditions.

“Mmm-hmm. Except stay inside when the Hunters are around. God, you’re going to be just like Nicky, aren’t you? You’ve learned from the master, I guess. You’ll do whatever I want you to as long as you want it too. I believe I told you specifically not to go outside.”

“Well, yeah, but I had to. I had to go to you.”

“So you’ll be glad to follow my orders, except when it doesn’t suit you.”

“But Casey…”

“No buts! Do you know the Hunter tried to shoot you again? Do you have any idea how it made me feel?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Right. Okay, Rory, your safe word is tornado.”

“My what?”

“Your safe word. Ian said, you have to have a safe word so if you’re uncomfortable when I spank you it all stops.”

“Okay, then tornado.”

Casey smiled grimly. “No, baby, it doesn’t work like that. You can only use it during the punishment, and then only if you really need to. Then we’ll wait and try it again later. But the punishment happens, one way or another. Best to get it over with. So what do you say?”

“What-what exactly are you going to do?”

“I’m going to spank you, Rory. Take your clothes off, put you over my knee, and spank your bottom. Probably for a while. You have to learn when I give you an order it’s for your own safety. Now take off your clothes and put yourself across my lap.”

Rory got up off the bed and slowly took off his clothes. He walked over to Casey and hesitated. “One thing. When Nicky gets a spanking, Marco takes him to bed afterward and makes love to him. Are you going to do that to me?”

Casey tried to hide his smile as he reached up and touched Rory’s erection. “Would you like me to?”

“Oh yes,” Rory said, nodding his head.

“Then I think that most definitely can be arranged, darlin’.”

Rory lowered himself across Casey’s knees with a satisfied smile on his face. He arranged himself so his cock rubbed firmly against Casey’s thighs. This discipline stuff might not be half bad.

*THE END*