A Moment in Time(23)

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