Apollo's face was clouded with uneasiness, but his dark eyes conveyed all that he could not say. Grayson shared his mate's fury and mindless fear. He felt the same life-defining connection to the one man meant to be his that he could see shimmering in Apollo's eyes.
In that one single moment in time, Grayson knew that if Chad pulled the trigger and took Apollo from him, and his life would end right along with his mate's. Despite his love for his niece and nephew, he couldn't live without his mate.
Regret filled Grayson as he gave Apollo a short nod, which Apollo returned. He was surprised by the pride he could see in Apollo's eyes, but he understood it. Apollo knew what Grayson as going to do. He understood the sacrifice they were both about to make, and he supported it.
"Brandon doesn't even know you, and you certainly don't know him. How do you know he would make a good pet?" Grayson needed the barrel of the gun to move away from Apollo's head just a little, just enough for him to get to the guy and try to take the gun away. If he died in the process, so be it.
Chad's jaw dropped and he stared at Grayson like he had just announced that man never landed on the moon. "Have you seen him? Brandon is gorgeous. He's sweet and sexy and shy and … and … he'll make the perfect pet."
Grayson couldn't argue with that. Brandon was pretty sweet. "He might hate being a pet."
"No, no." Chad shook his head. ‘He said he wanted to be my pet."
Grayson's breath caught. "When?"
Chad grinned like he thought he had the answers to every question ever asked, and then pointed to the couch. "When I had him bent over that couch with my dick in his ass."
Brandon had been so quiet since their pack had been wiped out. Grayson had chalked it up to the grief. Until this moment, he never put it together with the injuries that had almost killed Brandon when they were attacked. He had blindly assumed that Brandon had been escaping because the pack was being attacked. He never dreamed he had been escaping for an entirely different reason.
Every rescue plan Grayson had devised to save his mate flew right out the window as an unrestrained fury filled him, overwhelmed him. He roared and jumped at Chad, uncaring that the man had a gun.
The living room window shattered just as a loud shot filled the air. Grayson felt something slammed into his chest, stealing his breath as he was tossed back across the room, hitting the wall with a thud before sliding down to the floor.
Grayson blinked as he stared across the room, his mind refusing to accept what he was seeing. Apollo was in human form, but it was unlike anything Grayson had ever seen. It was almost as if he had only shifted certain parts of his body.
A light smattering of dark fur covered his body. Thick black claws extended from his fingertips. His face had hardened, growing more angular. More menacing. He snapped his jaw over Chad's arm, his sharp fangs digging in deep until blood spurted up into the air, covering both Apollo and Chad. The growls that rent the air made Grayson's heart beat faster, his throat growing thicker, but not with fear.
With pride.
That was his mate protecting him, tearing Chad apart until he was in so many pieces he looked like a jigsaw puzzle.
When the screams finally stopped and Apollo turned, Grayson grit his teeth against the pain and raised his hand, silently calling for his mate. Apollo didn't disappoint. He rushed across the room and dropped to his knees next to Grayson.
His face paled as he pressed a hand against Grayson's chest. "You just had to go and play the hero, didn't you?"
Grayson started to chuckle but groaned instead when pain ripped through his chest. "It's just a flesh wound." He hoped. It might be a little worse than that. Grayson was afraid to look.
"Just hold on," Apollo said. "Ares is bringing Simon. If you can hold on until he gets here, he'll make you all better."
"Simon?"
"Simon is special."
Grayson smiled despite the pain he was feeling. "He's mated to a Roman brother. How could he not be?"
"I guess that makes you pretty special, too, doesn't it?"
"Of course." Apollo chuckled, but Grayson could hear the tremble in the man's voice. "I'm not going anywhere, mi corazón. I waited too long to find you. I'm not going to give you up now."
When the pain became too much, and Grayson started to slump, Apollo sat down next to him, leaning back against the wall before pulling Grayson up against him, still pressing his hand over the bullet wound. "Hang on, Grayson. Simon will be here soon. Just hang on another moment."
Grayson laid his head on Apollo's shoulder. He hurt, and he knew he had a pretty bad injury in his chest, but he wasn't dying. Fate just wouldn't be that cruel to him, not after everything he had suffered.
He pressed his hand over Apollo's, making sure his mate knew he was still there. "I need more than a moment, Apollo. I need a lifetime."
Chapter 12
Apollo chuckled as he watched CJ and Grayson toss a baseball back and forth in the front yard of their new house. He sat on the front steps of the porch, Molly playing with her blocks at his feet. Iben had given them the house since they needed one of their own to raise the pups in. It was within easy walking distance of the alpha house with a great view of the lake and the snow-capped mountains beyond.
He loved the two-story cottage but not as much as he loved sharing it with his mate, his very much alive mate. No man should watch his mate get shot. It was a devastating experience. Even after six weeks, Apollo still felt a twinge in his chest every time he thought about how close he had come to losing Grayson. That fear would probably live with him until his dying day.
Apollo's gaze was drawn to a slim man walking down by the edge of the lake. Brandon had been pretty quiet since he first arrived in Aberdeen Valley. Since Chad attacked them, he had gone almost silent. Something truly traumatic had happened to the shy man, and Apollo and Grayson both suspected there was more to it than the loss of his pack.
Brandon wasn't talking. He had explained things to Iben behind closed doors, but the alpha never spoke of what had been said. Apollo doubted he ever would. That was between the two of them.
Brandon didn't seem to do much more than walk the edge of the lake for hours on end. Apollo worried about the man, but Iben said he had some stuff to work out and he would join the living when he was ready.
Until then, he was to be left alone.
Everyone accepted that except Grayson. He refused to let Brandon linger in whatever hell he was drowning in. Since Brandon was staying with them, Grayson made him come down to dinner every night and hang out with the family. Apollo wasn't sure that was the right approach, but he didn't have a better one either.
Another movement caught Apollo's eye. He tensed until he recognized his brothers, Iben, and their mates, walking toward the house. A sense of peace he had only come to know in the last few weeks filled every inch of his body. He smiled as he waved.
"Molly, Uncle Iben is coming."
Molly's chestnut covered head snapped up, her eyes darting around until they fell on one of her favorite people. Letting out a squeal that could shatter eardrums, Molly shifted into her wolf form and tore off after Iben.
Apollo chuckled as he watched her run toward his alpha, yapping the entire way. He pushed himself to his feet, slid his hands into his back pockets, and followed after the happy little pup, stopping to kiss his mate along the way.
He was no longer worried that someone would see Molly shift and turn her in to the council. Every member of Aberdeen Pack had become fiercely protective of their only female shifter. She was an example of what the future could hold.
Granted, Alpha Sanchez and the entire Sanchez Pack shared in protecting Molly, but only because his daughter could shift as well. Iben surmised that a new genetic was coming out because their kind was slowly dwindling. If it wasn't lack of males being born, it was shifters trying to turn human females into slaves or refusing to accept humans. Either way, their numbers were growing smaller.
Iben also suspected that the council knew all about it and was trying to hide the fact from the paranormal world by eliminating the evidence-in this case, Molly and Teresa, and who knew how many other female shifters.
They had something to fight for now, something that would change their world. They just needed to keep it safe and kill anyone that tried to take it away from them. The council might have been trying to hide their little miracle, but she was bringing them together like they hadn't been in centuries, and maybe that was what scared the council so much.
Apollo just knew that he had a mate to love, some pups to protect and teach as they grew, and a pack that needed strong soldiers like him to fight and keep them safe so that they could experience their own moments.
THE END