Revelations by Brannan Black

Sleeping with the boss has certain advantages. No one bitches if you’re late for breakfast. Not even if they’re waiting for you.

By the time we’d gotten cleaned up after Mace’s knock down with Tat yesterday, the weather had gotten too ugly for scavenging. So we were headed out today without Fang or Spike. Yes!

Yesterday’s drizzle was drying up fast. I drew a deep breath of fresh, clean air. One of the few benefits of society’s collapse — clean air.

Mace slapped my back as he passed. If not for being braced on my crutches, I would have fallen face down in the gravel. “Get a move on, brainiac. You’ve wasted enough time this morning.” He sounded perfectly serious.

Oh yeah, that was my fault! I was just standing at the sink shaving when someone pressed his hard on against my ass…

* * *

“Need some help?” Mace’s thick cock ground against my ass while his arms slipped around my waist. One went up, teasing a nipple. I sucked in a breath. His other hand cupped my balls, his thumb stroking my cock through my jeans.

A wave of fear rippled through me when he pulled my loosely zipped pants down, thrusting his hips into my ass. Without a word he turned me. He whispered over my lips. “I won’t hurt you, chosen.”

Our lips met, hard, hot, demanding. Our tongues dueled for dominance. He lifted me to the edge of the sink as if I weighed nothing. Hot kisses trailed down to my nipples, suckling first one then the other until they were both stiff and achy.

My cock thrust up, bumping his chin. So swiftly it took my breath, he engulfed my cock, sucking so hard I thought my balls would come out. “Agggghhhh…” He’d reduced me to moans again. A single finger wormed under my ass and found my hole.

“Fuck! Mace!” He rimmed me over and over while he sucked up and down my length.

“Fuck! Aaaahhhha!” My hips bucked up and he swallowed as I shot.

He stroked my back, pressed between my thighs. My heart settled back to a normal rhythm. “Let me off the sink. My ass is getting cold.”

He laughed and let me slide down his body until my feet touched. I let my knees bend, continuing down his body. I sucked a nipple and he gasped. My tongue played in his navel and his cock jumped against me, demanding my attention. I slipped lower until I knelt at his feet. Head tilted to watch his face, I licked the broad head.

His mouth parted on a sexy gasp, hands on my head, urging me to take him. I swallowed him down. His head tossed back, mouth open. Fuck, he was sexy! I went to work, wringing every bit of pleasure I could out of his cock. He whined and moaned and bucked into my mouth.

Relaxing my throat, I took him deeper than I ever had. He froze, balls tight, and I swallowed.

He bucked hard, body quivering as I swallowed pulse after pulse of his semen. “Daniel!”

* * *

“Daniel! You need some help?”

Shit! I’d gotten lost in remembering. And I was fucking hard again. Baggy pants, I needed to find some baggy pants. I adjusted my cock while Mace laughed.

* * *

We were hauling the last of the stuff I needed to the truck. Without warning, Mace shoved me down by the truck, covering me with his body. A distant gunshot echoed in the still air. At the same time I heard a howled groan. Slade lay nearly face to face with me. Blood dripped onto the broken pavement. He’d been shot!

“Fuck!” I wormed a bit trying to keep a piece of broken pavement from castrating me. A puff of concrete exploded behind us.

I felt Mace twist and from the corner of my eye saw him give a hand signal to Vegas. Struck me as odd. Military. A glass storefront shattered as the shooter took a shot at Vegas dashing for the alley. If he hadn’t been so fast, she’d have got him. Or maybe if she’d been closer. It wasn’t Glory, she’d have nailed both guys regardless. It could be Deb or Angie. There weren’t any other groups of refugees in the area. They had to be from my compound.

I drew a deep breath. “They might be looking for me. Let me the fuck up and I’ll find out.”

“Wait. Stay down.” Mace kept me pinned tight.

“Seriously? We just lay here until they get bored?” Did I have to sound so snide? I really was trying to be more submissive. It wasn’t going well.

Mace growled softly, a hair’s breadth from my ear. “No, brainiac, we keep them distracted until Fox can grab them.”

The shooters wouldn’t be expecting this group of well-organized wolfmen. Rabids, they attacked straight on. Mace’s pack had lookout posts in a few tall buildings and worked foot patrols. Which is how they spotted me in the first place. And used the same damned distract and bag tactic. “Fuck, Mace. You can’t just kidnap them.”

He arched a brow. “They’re in my territory, they shot Slade, and, in case you missed it, they’re trying to kill us. They deserve a lot worse.”

Slade shifted to sitting against the truck tire. He pulled his shirt out to examine the damage to his shoulder. The bleeding had already slowed to a trickle. “Hate to complain, but the bullet’s still in there. Hurts like hell.” He felt around the wound.

“Then quit poking it, dumbass,” Mace snorted.

Slade snickered.

Mace rolled to a sitting position and gave a nod to Jeff, crouched behind a derelict car. He dashed toward the alley, drawing fire and being just slow enough to get sprayed with pulverized brick.

A shot sprayed glass over us. Fuck! They’d shot my truck! Those bitches!

“Damn it, what’s taking them so long?” Mace snarled.

God damn stupid. Didn’t they know they should move after a couple shots? Damn rabids could trace a shot by sound just as well as Mace’s pack. The next one hit low, sending pieces flying under the truck to pepper my face.

Mace yanked me behind a tire. Mace and Slade froze. They got these looks like they were listening to something I couldn’t hear. Mace grabbed my shoulder. “Got ’em, now let’s get your stuff loaded and go home.”

What exactly did that mean? Got the shooters? Fuck, I hoped they weren’t dead.

Slade pulled out a whistle and blew it. Only I couldn’t hear a thing. Mace winced. “Warn a guy first, Slade. My ears are gonna ring all day!”

No fucking way. They used dog whistles to communicate?

* * *

The smaller truck from my compound sat out front of the pack building. Which of the women I’d lived with for the last few years would be getting a taste of wolfman hospitality? I really hoped they hadn’t roughed them up too much.

I followed Mace into the gathering room. Groping, growling, snarling beasts surrounded the small group of women. Crissy and Deb looked terrified. Angie looked ready to bust balls and take names. She’d obviously put up quite a fight judging by her bruises and the way she favored one leg. I craned my neck to see who was behind her.

Oh, fuck no! “Get your fucking hands off her!” For a moment, I forgot all about my bad leg as I lunged across the room. A fucking beast had his hands on my sister! I raised one of my crutches to smack him but Mace jerked it out of my hand.

I was so pissed I didn’t even slow down. “Get your fucking paws off! You wanna play, go rough Angie up, she’d probably like it.” I yanked at a beast’s arm. It distracted him from Lindsey but left me facing a pissed off beast. I glared back and seconds later I was smacked onto the floor with claws digging into my neck. With the wind knocked out of me all I could do was gasp for air and look away.

Just as suddenly, the beast on me went rolling from a well placed boot in his ribs. Mace stood over me snarling. “I swear, Daniel, are you really too fucking stupid to live?”

Baring my throat, I heaved a deep breath of relief.

“Back off the women, all of you.” Mace yanked me to my feet and shoved my crutches into my chest. I dropped my gaze and swallowed. Submissive, shit, I sucked at being submissive.

Lindsey launched herself into my arms. “My God, Daniel! It really is you.” She sobbed into my shoulder. Her jacket looked dirty, her hair mussed, but I didn’t see any blood. That was good, really good.

“Are you all right, Linds? Ah shit, Linds, did they…” I swallowed hard.

She shook her head against my chest. “No, they didn’t really hurt us, other than to capture us. Daniel, what the hell’s going on?” She leaned back and took a long look at my face and then at my crutches. “God, Daniel, what have they done to you?” Her voice wavered and choked. Her eyes flew wide.

I pulled her into a tight hug, rocking her slightly, pressing her head back to my chest. “It’s OK, Linds. I’m fine.” I tucked my chin over her head.

“Who’s your friend, little human?” Mace growled and took hold of her hair, jerking her face around.

“Mace! Fuck, let go, man.” Hot anger battled with the cold hand of fear clutching my guts.

He cocked a brow, waiting with a tight anger twisting his face. Jealous? Fuck.

“Mace, Lindsey Baker.” I grabbed his hand still wrapped in her hair. “My sister. Now, please, Mace, you’re hurting her.” Getting slammed into the ground had returned just enough sanity to keep me from yelling in his face.

He leaned closer and inhaled deeply. Fucking sniffed her like a dog.

“You never mentioned a sister. Such a good looking woman.” He turned his hold into a stroke of her red-brown hair.

God damn it all to hell. Bad enough a guy was hitting on my sister, but Mace? My lover and my sister? Oh, I don’t think so! I pulled her away, tucking her under my arm as best I could. “And why would I? It’s not like I was gonna invite her over for Sunday dinner.”

Yellow-gold eyes bore into me. What the fuck was he thinking? He snorted softly, eyes running down my length. Lindsey pressed into my side, and I wrapped my arms tighter around her. “It’s OK, Linds. What the fuck are you doing here?”

“You disappear for nearly two weeks and think no one is going to look for you?”

“I figured you’d think I was dead if I didn’t make it back after the storm. No point in looking for a shredded body.” She smacked me and then threw herself back into my arms. I hugged her tight to me, stroking her hair.

Mace paced around the other four women, looking them over carefully. He stopped in front of Angie. With her close-cropped blond hair and fatigues, she looked every bit the soldier she was. “Is that the only reason you’re in my territory?”

Angie drew herself up, falling several inches short of glaring straight in Mace’s eyes. She spit at him. Mace grabbed her by the throat, claw tips pressing in but not far enough to draw blood, yet.

Angie didn’t flinch. She was too busy trying to stare Mace down. His grip tightened on her throat, and blood started to well around his claws. “Go ahead, beast, smack me around, tear my throat out, rape me. Do whatever, but I ain’t giving you jack.”

I had a serious bit of déjà vu. Had I sounded that arrogantly stupid? Probably worse.

Mace growled, showing plenty of fang. Despite the catch in her breath and sudden swallow, she continued to stare.

“Ang, honey, unless you want the shit kicked out of you, don’t stare them in the eyes.”

She rolled her eyes to glare at me. She hated being called Ang. And honey? Back at the compound, she’d have busted my balls. Just for good measure I winked at her.

Her pale face flushed red and her eyes narrowed in obvious anger, but it took her attention off Mace. A heartbeat later she was face down on the floor with Cowboy’s knee in her back, one arm twisted behind to hold her even more firmly.

“I take it you know these women.” Mace didn’t spare me a glance as he looked over the trembling black haired sprite of a woman Angie had been shielding.

Sarah could shoot with the best of them but a too close encounter with rabids had left her badly shaken. She kept her head bowed with her hair draped over the scars on her face she’d carry the rest of her life. They were nothing compared to the ones you couldn’t see. What the hell had the Major been thinking sending her in? She cowered away from Mace, looking so pale I thought she might faint. He brushed the hair from her face. She jerked back with a soft scream and fell to the floor, shaking.

“Shit, she does that every time we touch her. Passed out when we grabbed them.” Fox looked totally confused.

“She had a run-in with rabids last summer. They held her for a couple days before she escaped.” Which in itself was a miracle. Unless they hadn’t been rabid at all. Maybe others like Mace’s group, only not as nice?

Nice? When the fuck did I start thinking of these guys as nice?

Mace looked the others over. Deb and Crissy looked shaken up but not badly damaged. Neither one would look Mace in the eye. “I understand looking for Daniel, but why shoot at us?”

Angie snarled from the floor, “What do you think, beast? Target practice.”

The tension in the room ratcheted up. Fuck, it was a bad day when I had to play peacemaker. “Look, with a rabid’s fucking strength and speed, it’s strike first or die for us humans. They didn’t know the difference. Hell, they didn’t know there was a difference. Mace, they’ve never seen pack, just like I hadn’t.”

Angie snarled, “Different? Are you shitting me? They’re all fucking beasts, Daniel.”

Mace growled, and Cowboy leaned more weight on her back and snarled in her ear. Shit, if that had been me, they’d have slammed my face into the floor.

“So, what are your former pack mates really doing here?”

“Despite what Lindsey says, I doubt they came looking for me. Not after all this time. They want the truck back.” I didn’t add they needed some of the supplies in it. “If they aren’t back by dark, another team, maybe two, will come in. Normally teams list what section of the city they’ll be in. The search’ll start there.”

“You’re a pathetic coward, a fucking traitor! That’s what you are, Daniel.” Angie snarled and struggled even harder. This time she did get cuffed upside the head.

I crouched down in front of her. “What I am is the guy who doesn’t want a building full of innocent women and children caught in a crossfire!”

Angie froze. “What children?”

At Mace’s order, Cowboy hauled her to her feet and turned her toward the kitchen where several women stood. Then he yanked her chin up. A dozen of the kids that called the den home stood or sat watching through the railing. A mother with her baby girl stepped forward into the light.

“Fucking son of a bitch.” Angie’s voice trailed off.

“Now you’re starting to see. This is a pack, a community, not so different from the compound.” Whoa, where’d that come from? Fuck if it wasn’t the truth.

“Daniel,” she turned to take a good look at me, “what the fuck? They don’t look, you know, like…”

I snorted. “Like they’ve been beaten, raped and gnawed on? No shit. They are different. This is Mace, he runs this pack.”

Angie turned to stare at Mace, then turned in a circle looking, really looking at the wolfmen as if seeing them for the first time. Angie might be a hard ass, but she wasn’t stupid. She paled slightly when she saw Doc pulling the bullet out of Slade’s shoulder right there in the room. “Shit.”

Mace nodded, as if deciding something. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You two,” he pointed to Crissy and Deb, “will be escorted out of our territory with a message for your leader.” Mace paused, eyes narrowed in thought. “Since you won’t be missed until nightfall, you will stay for a few hours. Den-Mom, keep them in the kitchen out of the way.”

Den-Mom stalked forward, yellow eyes full of fire.

“They are not to be harmed, unless they try to escape.” Mace raised his voice. “Their health is your responsibility.”

She growled softly but nodded. “That way.” She gave Crissy a shove toward the kitchen.

“Oh my God! You’re… you’re a beast!” Crissy clapped a hand over her mouth and stumbled back.

Den-Mom snarled, flashing her full set of fangs. “I am not the monster! I don’t sit on rooftops shooting anything that moves. Now get your asses moving.” She growled and snapped, and both Crissy and Deb whirled and all but ran toward the kitchen. Laughter followed as Den-Mom swaggered after them.

“You three stay. Behave yourselves and you’ll go home in one piece, eventually.”

“You can’t just keep us here!” Angie whirled on Mace, all spit and fire.

He smiled coldly. “I can and will.”

“At least let Sarah go before she freaks out completely.” Angie crossed her arms in defiance.

He ignored her and searched the crowd on the second floor. Mace zeroed in on China and her bodyguards. “No, she especially stays. China, she’s with you. Wraith, Ice, guard her as you would China.”

“This is my team, I say who stays or goes. Send Sarah and Lindsey — ack!”

Mace had her by the throat and this time picked her off the floor. She clawed desperately at his arms. “Not your choice, little human. You would do well to keep your mouth shut or I may have trouble returning you in one piece.” He dropped her gasping to the floor. He towered over her. “Mind your tongue, do as you’re told and you might learn something about us.

“Daniel, your sister and Angie can follow you about today. Hawk, keep an eye on them. I want you to treat them like any new woman coming in.”

I sucked up my pride and approached Mace with as much humility as I could. “Not to be an ass, but send my sister home, please.”

He froze and looked at me with the most shock I’d ever seen on his face.

“What?” I winced as that came out harsher than I wanted.

“Please? No swearing?”

I shrugged and stared at the floor.

“I thought you’d like to spend some time with her. Let her see how you live.” He flashed a grin. “Let me get to know her.”

“Ah, no. Just no.” He arched a brow. “She’s my little sister, Mace. Last thing I want is any of you getting to know her.”

“Beasts not good enough?” The smile vanished.

I snorted. “No one is good enough, Mace. It’s my job to protect her, from, you know, guys that just want to fuck her.”

Lindsey just had to butt in. “I’m a big girl, Daniel. If you can live here, I’m sure I’ll be OK.”

“No. Fucking hell, no!”

Mace crossed his arms and stared at me, waiting.

“Fuck, Mace, you know how things get around here at night. I don’t want my sister in that.”

Linds mimicked Mace’s stance. “In what?”

Mace’s smile was anything but friendly. “Your brother refers to it as the nightly fuck fest.”

“Oh.” Lindsey’s face blanched white. “Um, and if we, ah, don’t want to join in?”

A shit-eating grin exposed Mace’s fangs. “If you’re like your brother, I’m sure you won’t be that hard to convince.” He ran his gaze down my body in a way not lost on Lindsey or Angie. He winked at them then strode off, long black braid swinging slightly with each step. My face burned but damned if my single-minded cock didn’t enjoy the view of that man’s ass.

Both women stared at me. Angie sounded disgusted. “Tell me you aren’t fucking that… that…”

“Wolfman? And yes, he is.” Doc joined us. “Which one of you bitches shot my mate?” She stood hands on hips, glaring at Angie, who looked taken aback. “Yes, that means I’m fucking one of them too. And one of you tried to kill him in cold blood!”

Angie lifted her chin. “I’ll take responsibility, since it was on my orders.”

Doc nodded, once. The sound of hand meeting flesh echoed around the room. A large red mark bloomed across Angie’s cheek where Doc had backhanded her. She turned on her heel, stalked over to Slade and practically crawled up his body and down his throat kissing him. She threw an arrogant glare over her shoulder before leaving the room.

Slade did a great deer-in-the-headlights impression before rushing after his chosen mate.