“I love you, too, Ahm.” Bryce pulled him closer, melding their bodies together.
Ahm winced. “You’re pulling my hair.”
Bryce laughed as he moved until Ahm had his hair free and then he settled back down against his mate.
“Don’t ever cut it. I love how long it is.”
Ahm gazed up at Bryce. “Hadn’t planned on it, but now that you mentioned—” Ahm shouted as Bryce rolled them, his mate growling as he nipped Ahm on his ear.
“Cut it and I’ll show you just how angry a bear can get.”
Ahm grinned from ear to ear as his reservations about the man were slipping away, replaced by a knowledge that Bryce would never hurt or betray him, would always be there for him and love him unconditionally.
His foolish pride was stripped away and left in shreds on the floor, leaving in its place a feeling of worth in who he was and the mate he had been given. The big bear shifter was his, and Ahm would die to protect the man.
Chapter Twelve
“This is a really dumb idea,” Chance said as he gave a shake of his head. “You want us to sneak into Shadow elf territory and steal some file from your office?”
“Then you won’t do it?” Ahm asked as he stood in front of Buster’s stall, staring at the horse as if trying to figure out how a horse worked. Bryce was simply fascinated with Ahm’s wonderment. He had never met anyone who was so fierce he made an entire tribe of Wood elves tremble, yet he looked at the things around the ranch almost through a child’s eye.
It was yet another layer Bryce was dying to peel back and explore. The man knew shifters, but Bryce was starting to wonder how much interaction Ahm had had with naturally born animals.
If it was the way he interacted with people, the animals were in trouble.
Chance looked at Ahm as if he were daft. “Of course I’ll do it. I just wanted to point out that this was a really dumb idea.”
His brother’s words brought Bryce back to the subject at hand, although he kept an eye on Ahm and Buster. The marshlands were the last place Bryce wanted to be, for his mate to revisit. There was nothing but danger awaiting them. But he knew how important this was to Ahm. The man was hell-bent on saving his species, even if that very species wanted Ahm dead.
It said a lot about Ahm’s character as not only a man, but a leader. He was still willing to fight for his people, even though they had turned their backs on him. Bryce would have given them a one-finger salute and left them to their fate.
But he was starting to see that his mate’s heart was bigger than he let on. Ahm argued with passion, fucked with hunger, and he fought with steely determination. There were many layers to the man and Bryce wanted to peel back each and every layer to find out who the Shadow elf truly was.
“Do we get hazard pay for this shit?” Chauncey asked. “Because if something happens to me, Curtis is going to be all over your ass.”
Bryce bit back the snicker when Ahm rolled his eyes. That was something he thought never to see in the stout leader. His mate was starting to loosen up. Bryce liked that and was determined more than ever to get the guy so loose that he never thought twice about laughing or just being himself.
“There is no hazard pay, bear. There is only my deepest gratitude,” Ahm answered with a mixture of irritation and begrudging appreciation.
“Oh, no,” Chauncey said as he held up his hand. “You are at least going to buy that new part for my bike that I’ve had my eye on for two months.”
“Goddamn, you are fucking cheap,” Chance said as the sides of his mouth tilted up into a smile. “How does Curtis live with such a tightwad?”
“He’s very good at saving.” There was pride in Chauncey’s voice when he spoke of Curtis. “Although he tends to be a little more of a spender than I would like.”
“Dude, you have a fit if he spends over a dollar. I’m glad as hell I’m not mated to you. Do moths fly out of your wallet when you open it?”
“I’m not cheap with Curtis,” Chauncey argued. “I lavish and spoil him.”
“Buying him a coffee from the very place he works is not lavishing, Chauncey,” Chance pointed out.
“My mate is a man of simple taste,” Chauncey argued heatedly. “I don’t have to blow my savings to impress him.”
“I don’t have to do that with Seth, but I at least buy my mate and son things more than once a month when the mood hits,” Chance countered.
“Can we get back to planning?” Ahm asked. He looked like he was at his wits’ end with the twins. Ahm better get used to it because that was how the twins made everyone feel—although Bryce wouldn’t have any other man at his back than these two. They were immature as hell, but fierce when it came to protecting the ones they cared about.