03-Strength of the Mate (13 page)

Pulling his shoulders back, Adam stood at his full height, hoping he looked bigger than he really was. He met Carson’s rage-filled gaze, lifting his chin defiantly, determined not to let his fear show.

Before he knew what was happening, the only thing Adam could see was the back of Dawson’s neck and shoulders. He stood between Carson and Adam, tension obvious in the lines of his back. Dawson growled loudly, his voice more animal than human. A chill ran the length of Adam’s spine and stirred his cock.

Carson stopped moving forward. He growled in response, but it lacked something; commitment, strength, or maybe just balls.

“The True Alpha is already gonna kick your ass,” Dawson snarled viciously. “Do you
really
wanna make it worse by doing
this
?”

“You have to win the Challenge, first.” Carson sounded dismissive, like he believed Dawson didn’t stand a chance.

“Not the first time I’ve had to take out the trash,” Dawson replied. “Now get the fuck out of here.”

“You can’t be with him every second.” Carson’s words dripped with menace.

Adam wondered who Carson was talking about. It didn’t make sense if he meant Granger.

“That’s a hell of a stupid threat to make,” Dawson said icily. “If he gets hurt, the True Alpha will be the least of your problems. He’ll be in line behind me, not to mention the major.”

Shit. Carson was talking about Adam.

“I never said I’d hurt him.” There was a sinister hiss to Carson’s words.

Dawson’s answering snarl was all wolf. “Get the fuck out of here.”

Carson hesitated, looking like he was going to push the confrontation. Instead, he brushed past Dawson, and Adam started breathing again. He and Dawson both watched Carson storm out the door. He slammed it on his way out.

As Dawson turned toward him, Adam was ready to make a smart-assed comment about temper tantrums. Before he got out a single word, he was pressed hard against Dawson’s chest, strong arms wrapped tightly around him. He put his hands on Dawson’s shoulders, trying to get some space between them so he could breathe.

Dawson pressed his face to the side of Adam’s neck and took a deep breath. Adam’s body caught fire from the inside. Dawson loosened his arms enough for Adam to breathe, but they stayed wrapped firmly around him. Adam slid his arms around Dawson’s shoulders. He was surprised to feel Dawson’s heart racing, where their chests pressed together.

“I recognized Carson’s scent,” Dawson said, his lips brushing against Adam’s sensitized skin. “I recognized it from yesterday, when it was all over you.”

Fuck. Adam froze. He didn’t know what he should say, he had no idea what was going on in Dawson’s head. Did this change anything? Did it change everything?

“It doesn’t matter,” Adam said firmly. “I handled it. It’s over.”

“You need to be careful, until I take over as pack leader, and can get things under control.” Dawson ran his hands up and down Adam’s back. In between his words, Dawson pressed soft kisses to Adam’s throat.

Adam thought he felt a tremor run through Dawson’s large frame. At first, he was sure Dawson was angry. When he felt Dawson release a shaky breathe, Adam realized it was worry over Carson’s threat.

“I’ll be fine,” Adam said reassuringly. “I’ve been dealing with his shit since my first month here.”

“It’s different now.” Dawson pulled back slightly, cradling Adam’s face between his palms. “The stakes are higher for the werewolves.” Adam started to protest that he’d been taking care of himself for a long time, but Dawson stopped him. “Please. I’m asking you to do this for me. Don’t go anywhere without one of your werewolf friends, until it’s safe.”

Because Dawson asked, Adam agreed. “Okay. I won’t.”

“Thank you.” Dawson pressed a kiss to Adam’s lips. “I hated smelling him on you yesterday. The only werewolf scent that should be on you is mine.”

Adam almost laughed at Dawson’s outrageous possessiveness. Instead, he nodded his agreement. If he was honest, he liked being the center of Dawson’s attention and focus. But it was a werewolf response to a werewolf situation, and Adam’s disappointment was surprising.

“You smell so fucking good,” Dawson whispered roughly. “Christ, I want to mark you.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Need swelled up inside of Adam as Dawson pulled him close again. Dawson’s confession seemed so strange, but it still made gooseflesh prickle all along Adam’s skin. Dawson’s breath was scorching when he exhaled against Adam’s throat. Adam gasped at the sensation, his senses filling with Dawson’s scent. The need inside Adam was a voracious hunger. He slid his arms back around Dawson’s shoulders, pushing their bodies together harder.

A primal desire clawed at Adam’s insides, responding to Dawson’s primitive desire. He was tired of everyone taking; Adam wanted something for himself, for once. Tilting his head back, Adam bared his throat to Dawson. “Do it,” he demanded in a harsh whisper. “Claim me. Mark me, so everyone knows.”

Dawson growled. His mouth was wet and hot against the pulse in Adam’s throat. Adam clutched the back of Dawson’s head, ready to insist if Dawson changed his mind. Adam moaned, his cock hardened when Dawson’s teeth sank into his skin. Dawson’s short hair prickled Adam’s palms. He held Dawson pressed against him, demanding he make his marks more obvious.

Adam arched against Dawson’s firm body. He panted heavily as Dawson sucked at his pulse point. It stung slightly as Dawson drew heavily on the patch of flesh between his teeth. Adam felt his blood rise to the surface of his skin. Dawson dragged his sharp teeth over the same place and Adam gasped.

Dawson released Adam’s bruised flesh. He found another sensitive place and suckled it hard. Heat rose to the surface. Adam pressed himself against Dawson, consenting and encouraging. Dawson selected a new patch of skin. His breathing was as harsh and rapid as Adam’s. His cock was hard and he rocked against Adam as he left another mark, then another.

Adam was painfully disappointed when Dawson pulled back. He pressed their foreheads together, mouths not quite touching. Their breath mingled. Adam didn’t want Dawson to stop. He tilted his head, wordlessly demanding Dawson leave more marks.

“Too much work to do, today,” Dawson said, between panting breaths. “Otherwise I’d take you back to my hooch and mark you properly.”

Adam shivered.

“Let’s go round up Mercer and Rodriguez.” Dawson almost sounded calm again. “I want to get the full story from all of you, about what’s been going on in this camp.”

For a moment, Adam considered demanding Dawson follow him back to his hooch, but he knew it was critical to hear what Paul and Jason had to say.

Dawson took Adam by the hand, and for a heartbeat, Adam thought he was being led to Dawson’s hooch. He quelled the selfish impulse though, following Dawson out of the building. The sun slammed into them, the heat stifling. Reaching for his sunglasses, Adam realized Dawson still held on to his hand. When he hesitantly tried to pull free, Dawson resisted, tightening his fingers around Adam’s.

“My scent is all over you,” he said casually. “You’re wearing my marks on your neck. It’s too late to be self-conscious about a little PDA.”

The realization of what they’d just done settled heavily on Adam’s shoulders. What the hell had he been thinking?

“You enjoyed it, didn’t you?” Dawson asked.

There was no point in denying it. Adam’s response had told Dawson the truth. “Yes.” He shouldn’t have been so reckless about the visible marks, but Adam had no regrets about the rest of it.

“Then there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Dawson said simply.

Before Adam could agree, Paul and Jason appeared out of nowhere. They fell into step on either side of Dawson and Adam.

“What happened, Gunny?” Mercer asked. “Everybody fled the building like it was on fire.”

“Adam’s secret identity was revealed,” Dawson answered with a smile. “And he called out a Lieutenant Carson. What do we know about that son-of-a-bitch?”

“He’s a platoon commander in India company,” Jason replied. “Not real popular, Gunny.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” said Dawson. “Let’s go to my office, gentlemen. I want to hear what you found out yesterday.” He led them between two sets of offices, toward a second row. Reaching the offices for battalion HQ, Jason opened and held the door for all of them.

Inside, Dawson opened the door to a small office. The sign beside the door said ‘Operations Chief – 3
rd
Battalion/3
rd
Marines (3/3)’. It hadn’t occurred to Adam that Dawson’s job was complex and significant enough to require an office.

“Rodriguez, retrieve a guest chair from the outer office,” Dawson ordered as he dragged one of the existing chairs around to his side of the desk. When Jason reappeared carrying another guest chair, Dawson said, “Shut the door, Corporal.”

Jason placed the chair beside the first, replacing the chair Dawson had moved. Dawson gestured Adam into the chair beside him. Adam hesitated. Dawson sat down in a fabric covered executive chair that had seen better days. Paul and Jason stayed standing.

A tense silence settled over the room.

“You might as well sit down so we can get started,” Dawson said with a hint of humor.

Adam felt awkward, sitting beside Dawson on the serious side of the desk. Jason and Paul hadn’t made a scene about Adam’s hickeys, but sitting right beside Dawson felt like it made them even more obvious.

Reluctantly, Adam sat down. Paul and Jason immediately dropped down into their own chairs. Adam was surprised. It looked almost like they were including Adam in the deference they showed Dawson. Sighing inwardly, Adam realized he needed to call Tim. Fuck his pride, he was drowning, and he needed his brother’s help to understand what was going on. He didn’t want to fuck things up just as they were going to improve, just because he was clueless.

“During the battalion’s briefing, I found out the werewolves have been subjected to even more unnecessary danger than I’d first thought,” Dawson said morosely. “Granger hasn’t been providing the battalion with all the policy and info updates from TECOM. He probably hasn’t kept the hospital and the corpsmen updated, either.”

“Why the hell not?” Mercer looked confused and angry. “What does he have to gain from that?”

Dawson shook his head slowly. “I can only speculate. I’ll discuss it with the True Alpha and let him decide how to handle it. Now, tell me what the two of you found out, yesterday.”

“That we all should have been paying more attention to what Granger has been letting certain weres get away with,” Jason said angrily. He turned toward Adam. “Why didn’t you ever tell anybody?”

“You keep asking that,” Adam snapped. “I’m human. You’re all fucking werewolves. If this isn’t how things are supposed to be, why the hell didn’t any of you know what’s been going on?”

“We’re all friends, you know,” Jason persisted. “This is something you could have talked to us about.” His anger had a familiar ring to it, like they’d had this argument before.

Adam realized Jason’s eyes didn’t hold the same anger as his words. He looked worried, and maybe a little scared. In Adam’s experience, Marines didn’t handle either of those emotions very well. “Are the things you learned about yesterday really the kinds of things you guys bring up over a couple of beers?” he asked calmly. More anger wouldn’t help anything. “Think about it, Jase, if you were in my place, would you mention getting felt up while lifting weights with a bunch of Marines?”

An uncomfortable silence settled over them. Jason at least looked abashed.

“You guys are the werewolves,” Adam continued, some of his anger finally bleeding through. “You know how things should work during the full moon in a combat zone. Granger told everyone this is how you all behave in combat. We’re friends, but being a shifter isn’t common ground for us.” Adam sounded patient and rational to his own ears.

Oh, Christ. He was becoming Tim.

“I figured out something was wrong, my first month here.” Dawson’s softly spoken words broke the silence. “What excuse do the two of you have?”

“We don’t have any, Gunny,” Paul replied. He lifted both hands helplessly. “We hid out and ignored the small things that annoyed us, like the un-refereed fights and public sex. It probably made Granger bolder, until he was encouraging physical and sexual assaults. If I’d had any idea humans were being molested like that…”

Dawson held up a hand, palm out. Mercer immediately fell silent. “By ignoring the early infractions, you silently condoned the behavior. Adam’s right, he shouldn’t have had to tell anyone what this
sippe’s
been up to.”

Paul nodded his understanding. Both he and Jason looked chastised.

Dawson took a deep breath, exhaling harshly. “So. Are things as bad as I think they are?”

“I don’t know what you’ve already figured out,” Paul answered. “But Granger and a group of about fifteen werewolves spend the day after the full moon picking fights that aren’t refereed, physically intimidating more submissive pack members, and having sex in public. There’s an awful lot of humans being molested, if not outright assaulted.”

Dawson looked over at Adam. “Do you have more to add?”

Adam felt everyone’s eyes on him, but he looked directly at Dawson only. “I think you get the picture,” he replied. “Everyone’s been spending the day hiding out, trying to avoid getting their ass kicked or their dick grabbed.”

He paused. Dawson’s face was void of expression, but Adam sensed he was pissed. “If you’re asking whether anything happened to me that was worse than getting pinned to a wall and groped,” Adam continued, still looking directly into Dawson’s darkly swirling violet eyes. “The answer is no.”

Dawson’s expression never changed, but his eyes did lighten, until they were their usual lavender.

“Do you have a plan, Gunny?” Jason asked.

Turning back toward them, Dawson replied, “I have several. First, I need to know who, besides Granger and Lieutenant Carson, are a part of this lawless band of assholes.”

Paul and Jason looked at one another briefly.

“We can tell you who we came across yesterday,” said Paul. “But there might be others.”