It didn't take long to see results. The heart rate machine began to beep just as it hit the specs Drake needed. As he inserted the drugs he'd concocted into the plunger, he glanced down and blushed. Lyle's face was flushed. His mouth had dropped open as he panted, soft moans coming from his throat.
"Don't get too close," Phillip whispered, wrapping an arm around Drake's waist and pulling him away. "My brother doesn't mind people watching, but he's still a shifter." He grinned when Drake looked at him with a confused frown. "We're territorial," he whispered, leaning close.
"Oh," he muttered. Maybe being territorial was a wolf thing.
Suddenly, Lyle grunted in satisfaction and the smell of cum filled Drake's nose. To his surprise, his cock took an interest, thickening in his jeans. Phillip chuckled, shifting his grip to his shoulder and squeezing to get his attention.
"How long until you know if it works?" he asked, an amused smirk covering his face.
He had to blink several times to focus. Before he could answer, a low growl sounded from the doorway.
"What the fuck is going on in here?" Drake shrank back from a snarling Ailean. The man's 86
blazing eyes were glued to the hand Phillip still had on his shoulder. His nostrils flared as he took in the scents filling the room. With barely controlled aggression, Ailean closed the door and turned back to them. From the corner of his eye, Drake saw Todd slide out from under the blanket.
"What are you doing?" Ailean snarled.
Frustration sparked through Drake's veins. He knew it was childish, but he stamped his foot. "I know I screwed up by giving those guys my research, but how was I supposed to know that they'd do something like this with it?" he screamed, pointing at Lyle's prone form. "I'm trying to fix what they did."
When all Ailean did was glare at Drake, the bigger man's chest heaving and his eyes glowing in what Drake could only call disgust, his shoulders slumped. It didn't matter what he said. His past was too big an obstacle for Ailean to accept. He shouldn't have allowed himself to hope.
Phillip wrapped an arm around Drake's shoulders and began to steer him toward the door. The dark-haired wolf whispered words Drake didn't understand, his brain having frozen in his head. A loud roar echoed through the small room and a heavy body slammed into the pair, separating them.
Drake landed in a heap, his momentum making him slide across the floor to stop against the machines. Loud growling and snarling reached his ears. Crawling along the floor, he reached the foot of the bed and peeked around the side. A gasp escaped his throat. A large black cat crouched over Phillip's prone form, his lips peeled back, exposing long fangs as he growled.
He eased to his knees, his eyes rounding in shock. That had to be his mate in jaguar form, but why did he shift?
"Ailean?" he whispered.
For a second, the big, black cat stopped snarling and 87
turned his head toward Drake. He tensed when familiar honey-brown eyes focused on him, but a movement caught the shifter's attention and he began to growl again. Drake realized Todd must be over there, too.
He didn't know what to do, how to help his friends. He needed help. Slipping his phone from his pocket, he hit five on his speed dial.
"Hey, Drake," Declan's deep voice sounded through the device. "Did yer formula work?"
"I have no idea," he whispered. "I'm in the room now, and Ailean is here. He wasn't supposed to be on duty right now. And he got super angry, probably cause Todd had to give Lyle a blow job to raise his pulse to where the formula would work," he continued urgently, his eyes still fixed on the big cat on the other side of the room.
"Whoa, whoa, Drake," the alpha's voice cut through his ramblings. "Slow down. What's going on with Ailean?"
"He turned into a jaguar, and he's holding Phillip and Todd captive."
His words met with a long pause, and at first he didn't think the alpha believed him. "Declan?"
"Answer me this, Drake," Declan commanded, which had Drake nodding, even though the other man couldn't see it.
"Was either of them touching ye in any way when Ailean walked into the room?"
Drake frowned. "Well, sure. Ailean started yelling and I yelled back. When he just glared at me, Phillip tried to coax me out of the room," he admitted.
"Ah, then there's yer problem."
He couldn't feel more confused. "What?"
"An unmated male tried to steal his mate."
"But he doesn't want me," Drake denied.
"Aye, he does, Drake," Declan assured. "He just has some baggage. Ye need to get between him and the others. Coax 88
him back to human form."
He could feel himself going pale. Get between them? Did Declan seriously expect him to approach the cat? "But … but he's a cat."
Declan sighed into the phone. "Ailean is still himself, even in his cat form. He's just running on instinct right now.
Instinct that says to keep his mate from single shifters who may try to steal him." He must have let out a squeak of protest because Declan added, "He does still want ye, Drake.
But his human senses are warring with his shifter instincts.
Don't let him do something he'll regret. He won't hurt you," Declan assured. "Ye're his mate."
Drake glared at his phone. "Not all hurt is physical," he muttered before putting the device back to his ear.
"I know," Declan replied as if he'd spoken directly into the piece.
He gritted his teeth when he realized the man's sensitive shifter hearing had allowed him to understand his muttered words.
"I told ye why the man has issues with humans.
Just … have faith in the mating link."
"Okay." Holding back a sigh, Drake snapped the phone shut and slowly rose to a crouch. He wasn't a brave man, so couldn't figure out why he followed the alpha's advice.
Maybe it was because he liked the doctor too much to let him do something stupid. And he certainly didn't want Ailean to get caught like this in a hospital full of humans.
What a disaster that would be!
All too soon, he found himself within a foot of the large cat. He forced in a slow, deep breath and whispered,
"Ailean. Mate? You need to let the wolf go." His words got the animal's attention. Drake could tell by the way the jaguar's body tensed. He could see the animal eye him as he cocked his head to look at him with one big 89
brown eye, then the cat sidled sideways, pressing his body against Drake and pinning him to the wall.
"You two need to get out of here," Drake whispered. He reached out tentatively and stroked his hands down Ailean's side. "Now. Make certain no one comes in," he added.
The animal pushed into his hands and purred loudly. He rubbed the animal's side again, his mind practically reeling in shock at how Ailean's cat reacted to his touch.
Phillip lifted his head and eyed him. "Thought you'd left," the man whispered.
The words hadn't finished leaving Phillip's throat before the cat's gaze snapped to the man. "Easy," Drake crooned, his hands moving to the cat's back, stroking the soft hair.
"You have me, Ailean," he whispered. "You don't need them."
To his relief, the cat backed a step and pressed its body against him again. Phillip took Todd's hand and led his brother slowly past the wary jaguar. It didn't escape Drake's notice that the shifter kept himself between Drake and the leaving brothers.
Phillip paused at the door. "You'll be okay?" Drake nodded, hoping he would be, but he kept his fears off his face. Phillip gave him a long look, but then nodded and slipped out the door, closing it firmly behind him. As soon as the man left, Ailean gave him a hard shove with his big head and Drake found himself flat on his back on the floor. He peered up into the black feline face as the jaguar crouched over him. For several seconds, his heart tripped in his throat. Then the cat rubbed his head against him and purred. Drake realized after several seconds that Ailean's cat was marking him with his scent.
He brought his hands up and ran them over his shifter's face, head, and chest, stroking the fur within reach. It felt so bizarre to be able to touch a wild cat like this, but then he 90
remembered this wasn't really a wild cat, and Ailean was horribly heavy.
"Hey," he whispered. "I'm having trouble breathing. Do you think you can get off?"
Suddenly, the fur receded, and bare skin slid under his stroking fingers. "Sorry, so sorry, Drake. I'm so sorry." Kisses from human lips scraped along Drake's jaw and neck.
The weight lifted slightly as Ailean levered himself onto one arm, while burying that hand into Drake's hair to hold him still. The other hand slid down to his hip, squeezing and stroking. "Please, please, please," Ailean crooned, nibbling and sucking. "Please forgive me. I didn't mean it. Missed you so much."