Full Moon Lockdown (9 page)

“How the hell did this happen?” Malach turned back, facing Sloan.

There was no time to explain. “Please, he needs me.” Sloan’s damn wolf was demanding to make his presence know. Gritting his teeth, he tried to hold it at bay just so he could get over to Colin.

Malach shook his head.

Elder Lewis came up, inspecting Colin who was crying in a fetal position on the floor of his room. The hall was getting much louder as the rest of the people started their shift.

Elder Lewis stood. “Let Sloan through.”

“But—” Malach began to protest.

“Sloan needs to help his mate. They’re both going to need each other tonight.” Elder Lewis simply stated, going for his belt, which held manual locks.

Sloan's shift was upon him. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stave it off.
Please, I just need more time
. He begged his wolf.

Guards lined the hall two deep, cattle prods in both hands from his room to Colin’s. Sloan felt his wolf giving him the big
fuck you
, and his insides began changing. Moaning, he held his mid-section as the guards prepared to open the door. Colin let out another pitiful wail, one that wasn’t entirely human anymore. His vocals were changing. They didn’t have much time.

The door shot open, and on instinct, Sloan roared before falling on the ground as his wolf fought him tooth and nail to be released. The sucker wanted to run, be free…Colin. They wanted Colin. Through the pain, Sloan stumbled his way across the hall. The distance seemed miles when it was really just a few yards.

Focus.
Sloan stared at his goal; Colin stared back with tears welling in his cerulean eyes. Sloan crawled the remaining distance and finally made it to Colin, grabbing hold of him and lying next to him on the cold floor. The door slammed closed behind him.

“Sloan,” Colin whimpered.

“I’m here. I got you.” Sloan panted.

“Hurts so much.” Colin ended with another scream.

With the last reserve of his strength, Sloan pulled Colin to the mattress and got him as comfortable as possible for the hell he was about to go through.

“Gonna die.” Colin choked out.

“Stay with me; it’ll be over soon,” Sloan’s damn eyes were tearing up. He knew this pain. Lived it and to see the one he loved going through it was killing him.

Grabbing Colin’s hand, he held the man’s gaze with his own, murmuring nonsense words to him as the shift caused more bones to break, skin to tear. He never took his gaze off of Colin’s the whole time. Sloan couldn’t. If he would have seen the damage the shift was causing Colin, he wouldn’t have been strong enough to help him through it.

Finally, when the man was gone and Colin’s wolf remained, Sloan let out a pathetic sigh, closing his eyes as he let the pain come to a head. It could only get worse than it had been while holding it off to help Colin through his first shift.

But it didn’t. For the first time, Sloan and his wolf worked as one, and he simply slid into his wolf form. They had common ground with helping their mate.

As the distant screams slowly died down and the growls echoed through the hallway, Sloan’s wolf felt at peace. Getting up, he snuffed Colin before curling around his mate, falling into a restful sleep for the rest of the night.

The next morning, there was a flurry of movement around Colin and Sloan. Colin tried to block it all out as he curled into Sloan’s side, trying to recover from shifting. He couldn’t believe he had gone into an early shift. It wasn’t even heard of.

And Sloan, glancing over, Colin thought the man looked ten times better than what he'd seen on previous days after a shift. There was no blood or bruising. No, Sloan just laid there next to Colin, stroking his hair.

However, he must look like a hot mess. Just glancing down at his body, he could see all the dark purplish and blue bruises. Scratches and cuts, the skin changing. His muscles hung loose on achy limbs. Car wreck couldn’t describe the toll that had been taken on his body the night before.

The physicians had come to his room first. Dalton popped in with a
what the fuck happened to you last night
face. He could only stay for a moment then went back to Brendan who had a pretty rough first shift. He really wished he could go to his friend, but getting up was not an option right now.

The surprise of the morning was seeing Elder Lewis walk through his doorway. “Morning, gentlemen.”

“Morning, sir.”

“Good morning, sir.”

A guard brought in a chair for the Elder to sit on. Clearly, the Elder was here to pay a visit.

“You two had a pretty eventful night last night. Care to tell me why you didn’t inform any of the guards or Elders that you two mated?” Elder Lewis leaned on his elbows, fingers clasped in the middle. The man was chiseled and imposing and intimidated Colin to the point he felt like a mere child in his presence.

Sloan answered while Colin’s tongue was still tied. “We didn’t know we were, sir. While uh…we were together once, there wasn’t the all-consuming attraction that we’ve heard about before.” Sloan's cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

Elder Lewis shook his head. “You two didn’t meet under normal circumstances. A mating is about taking care of your other half’s needs before your own. Sloan, Colin came to you when he just lost his pack. There wouldn’t be a heat would there?”

What Elder Lewis was telling them all made sense. He had come into the compound physically and emotionally wounded. Colin recalled the many times over the last month when Sloan had been so protective of him and made sure he was okay. Even the first full moon when he didn’t know him, he hadn't wanted him to hear the sounds of his shift.

That would also explain why he was so afraid to tell everyone. He was trying to protect Sloan from getting in trouble for being so aggressive with him during their lovemaking.

“So mating turned Colin?” Sloan asked.

“No, what turned him is that he must have bitten you and taken in your blood. It’s rare, but it has happened. When I saw the bite on Colin last night, I assumed he bit you too. Your shifter blood would have kick started his own wolf.”

Colin nodded at Elder Lewis before glancing over at Sloan. Many emotions crossed his handsome features, and Colin didn’t like any of them.

“Hey, this isn’t your fault. You didn’t know. And maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Before I came here, I was dreading the unknown. And while last night hurt like hell, I know that I got you and one of the bad shifts behind me. I’m closer to the end rather than fearfully anticipating the beginning.” Colin reached over and swept a stray strand of dark hair out of Sloan’s eyes. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Sloan choked out.

“You’ll both have to be careful of that need. Most shifters have control of their wolf by the time they mate. This need you have to take care of one another has to be balanced. You’ve proven that you’ll put yourself in harm’s way to protect your mate. Make sure others around you help you out and listen to their voice of reason.”

Oh shit. The Elder must have known Colin was sick for the last two weeks without telling anyone. Fear for Sloan had put him in danger and basically made it so everyone was sucker punched when he went through his shift.

Elder Lewis stood. “I’ll go and explain to the guards what is going on. We’ll have to make some adjustments for you two. Being mated and separated just won’t work anymore.”

Elder Lewis walked out, taking the chair with him.

Colin stared at the stone ceiling for a moment, his body aching. “What are you thinking?” he mumbled when he could no longer take the silence.

“Is this what you want?” Sloan turned and faced him. “Do you want to be with me for life, I mean?”

Doubt crept into Colin. “Do you not…"

“No!” Sloan sat up on one elbow. “I love you. I want this. It’s just you’ve been through so much.”

“And you’ve been there for me every step of the way, even when I was virtually a stranger. I love you too. I want this as well.”

“Then, it’s you and me for life?” Sloan's full lips widened in a beautiful smile.

“For life.” Colin smiled back, feeling all the love consuming him.

Sloan reached over and gently adjusted Colin onto his chest, feeling completely at peace with the man he loved.

Three days later, Colin awoke for the day to utter bliss. The aches and pains were finally gone. Thank gods for his new shifter-healing ability. But what had him moaning and groaning was the feeling of a warm mouth wrapped tightly around his cock.

“Hmm, morning,” Colin moaned.

Sloan glanced up, smiling around his cock, hazel eyes full of mischievous intent.

Colin stared at his mate as the man licked, sucked and tasted every inch of his cock. The pleasure was getting so intense. Fire raced through his body, and a guttural groan escaped Colin.

Colin thought it couldn’t get any better until he felt Sloan circle his entrance with a wet, large finger. Sloan barely penetrated him before he felt the pleasure becoming too much.

“Sloan, I’m gonna—” That was all the warning he gave Sloan before he was shooting down his lover’s throat.

Sloan kept licking and tasting his cock while he probed two more fingers inside him. His dick twitched, and he felt it trying to rally back.

Sloan removed his fingers and sat up. Lining up his cock, Sloan slid home. The lovemaking was just as rough as the first time, wild like the shifters they now were.

Colin grabbed his cock, jacking it in time to Sloan’s powerful thrusts.

Leaning down, Sloan took him in an all-out mouth-fuck. Teeth collided and bit, tongues dueled, and they captured each other’s moans.

When Sloan sat back, he gazed down at his slick cock as it went in and out of Colin’s ass.

Colin watched his lover’s savage face before he could no longer take it. With a hitch, Colin’s cock erupted, painting his stomach, chest and chin.

Sloan’s gaze followed the spray, then he leaned down and licked the cum off Colin’s chin. Afterward, he sat back up, roaring out his own release.

For sure, the whole damn hall heard since there were only bars for doors. Well, Colin hoped that somewhere down the line that could be remedied.

Sloan fell to the side, panting before he leaned over and began licking the rest of the cum off him. “Love how you taste.” Sloan’s hoarse voice ended on a groan as he gave one last lick to his stomach, eyes closed. The man was captivating.

Getting up, Sloan made his way toward the small sink and grabbed a cloth to clean them both up. Then, they got up, getting dressed for breakfast. It was their first full day back. Classes were about to resume, and now, Colin found himself in Omega
and
post-shifter classes. He was hoping that maybe he would get a couple of classes with Sloan.

They made their way out into the busy hallway. Dalton, Oren, Brendan and Knox were waiting for them just down the hall a bit.

Before they even got to them, Knox said, “Damn, boys. That was hot.”

Colin blushed, but Sloan growled. “Did you watch?”

Knox laughed. “Hell no, and you can thank us for stepping in and preventing others from coming down. But damn, you two sure are loud.”

Colin spotted Brendan. “How are you?”

Brendan appeared to be okay, but his puppy-dog eyes seemed to be a little haunted. “I made it.” Brendan glanced down.

That was about all you could say for your first shift. Colin knew the feeling. He'd made it. He didn’t need to elaborate about the pain or the fear. Others around them hadn’t gone through it yet, and they didn’t need to add to what they were already hearing on nights of the full moon.

“Colin!” A shout from down the hall had Colin staring into the crowd. His brother Peyton broke through, moving slowly toward them. Colin ran down the hall and hugged his brother.

“It’s so good to see you up and about,” Colin murmured into his neck.

“It’s good to be up. How are you feeling, shifter?” Colin could feel Peyton’s smile against his neck.

“Good because of you and Sloan.” Colin gave his brother one more squeeze before pulling back.

“I’m happy for you two.” Peyton walked over and embraced his brother’s mate.

A loud bang resounded down the hall, and a team of guards came in with the biggest motherfucker Colin had ever seen. The man must have been close to six foot ten. He looked young though—maybe twenty-four? Chains rattled as he walked down the hall. Colin observed the muscular man, seeing chains on his ankles and a metal belt around his lean waist that led to thick chains at each wrist. Looking up, Colin stared at the eyes. Completely wild. Shifter-feral.

Taking a step back, Colin collided with Sloan. Almost immediately, Sloan switched spots with Colin, protecting him from the crazed-looking shifter that was coming down the hall.

The shifter came even with the group before he stopped and whipped his head to the side, nose raised in the air, scenting. Sloan and Knox growled, guards intervened as the feral went after them. The guards took out their cattle prods, shocking the feral to his knees.

Colin thought he heard a whimper and a soft
no
off to the side, but everyone was shouting, growling.

Guards dragged the feral off into a room and slammed the barred door behind them.

Colin was rattled, and Sloan began inspecting him, but he stared slack-jawed as Brendan ran over to the door, standing in front of the bars but a couple of feet back. The feral let out a roar and charged the bars, and Brendan sunk to his knees, a quiet sob escaping him.

They all watched as Brendan crawled to the feral, guards shouting for him to stop. A hand shot out of the room, and Brendan was just about to touch it when guards pulled him away. The feral lost all fucking control. Wreckage resounded in the room.

Brendan was led away, protesting, screaming, but he broke free and ran back to lie on the ground before the feral. The Omega’s hand reaching across the ground toward the bars but not touching them. The room the feral was in went completely silent.

“Oh gods.” Colin couldn’t believe it. Knowing just what he went through, he could recognize the signs.