His to Claim by Alice Cain

last. It was a rather
confronting scene, but in his memory at least, Kyle had been the reluctant
participant, not the man being whipped.
    They really needed to talk this out. If Alex
could understand the circumstances of Kyle's involvement, maybe they could work
through it together. He walked a little faster, eager now to understand the
situation. He wasn't certain he would ever be able to accept whatever his lover
told him, but Kyle at least deserved the chance to explain.
    He was almost at the driveway to the home he
and Kyle had shared for nearly a month now when a child no more than eleven or
twelve stepped into his path.
    "About time you got home," the
girl said as she pressed a handgun to his chest and fired at point-blank range.
     

Chapter Twelve
     
    Thank fuck for safety mechanisms.
    Alex could barely believe he was still
standing when the young girl made a sound of distress, flipped the safety off,
and then tried to shoot him again. He grabbed for her, wrestling the gun out of
her hand even as the damn thing went off. He shook from the adrenaline rush
even as he tried to temper his strength. He needed to disarm and pin the kid
down until he could call for backup—unfortunately not an unusual situation for
him when he'd been on the police force.
    Of course, the kid choosing that moment to
turn into a hyena and biting his arm hadn't been something he'd been expecting.
    Nor was the raging, massive grizzly bear
that crashed out of the front door of the home he shared with Kyle.
     
    ~*~
     
    Kyle had only one thought—Alex!
    He hardly even noticed the change as every
instinct his grizzly bear side owned went into attack mode. Never before had he
felt so out of control, but the sound of a gunshot and the smell of his mate's
blood sent him into a rage he'd never truly realized he was capable of.
    He bolted toward where Alex was wrestling
with a hyena, but at the last moment managed to pull back his reaction. He let
loose a growl that would have all the neighbors calling animal control, yet
somehow resisted the urge to tear apart the hyena that was trying to tear apart
his mate.
    Kyle lifted his nose into the air,
desperately checking their surroundings for more danger before moving over to
where his mate was fighting a wild animal that owned really sharp teeth.
    Thankfully, it only took a few more seconds
for Alex to pin the small hyena under his much larger bulk, the animal's
pathetic growls turning to frightened whimpers as it realized it was trapped.
The wound on Alex's arm continued to bleed freely, but in his bear form there
wasn't much Kyle could do to help.
    Incredibly, Alex glanced his way and smiled.
    "Hey, sexy," he said, shifting
slightly so he could hold the hyena in place without hurting the pup. Judging
by its size the shifter was barely old enough to be shifting in the first
place. Thank the goddess Kyle had retained enough control of his human side to
stop his bear side from reacting instinctively. "It might be a good idea
to call one of your brothers before our neighbors start reaching for their
guns."
    Kyle knew he needed to go back into the
house, call Adrian, and grab some clothes, but his mate was injured and he
didn't want to leave his side.
    "I'm okay," Alex said with a
reassuring nod. "I promise I won't bleed out while you're gone."
    His mate gave him such a beautiful smile it
was hard to remember why the man had walked away from him at Adrian's.
Unfortunately, the memory swept through Kyle's mind once more and he almost
cringed when he realized their mate bond was still working even with him in
furry form.
    "We'll talk," Alex said with a
reassuring smile. Kyle nodded his big furry head and turned to go back into the
house. "Grab something to cover the
shifter too. She's just a kid and scared as hell."
    Kyle moved faster then, managing to call
Adrian, drag on clothes, and grab a quilt almost at the same time. The moment
Alex released her, the hyena tried to run, so Kyle wrapped her in the