in his eyes. Something was going on, especially since Gunny spoke softly to him.
Clutching the book to his chest, Nero reached out with his gloved hand and pulled Keata along with him. They ended up in Ricky’s office. The other boyfriends were sitting there quietly, obviously nervous and jittery.
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Lynn Hagen
Ricky was sitting behind his desk with Cecil in his lap, smiling kindly at Nero. “I won’t be long.” Gunny kissed him then ran his knuckles down Nero face. “Just stay here, okay?” Nero nodded as he watched Gunny close the door, leaving him behind.
Guiding Keata over to the leather sofa, Nero sat them on the carpet. He reached deep down for his courage then opened the book back up and started reading where he had left off. Kyoshi was sitting across the room, quietly interpreting for the others what Nero was reading.
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Chapter Eight
Gunnar cut to the right, effectively blocking in the rogue wolf. It snapped and snarled as its muzzle pulled back. Gunnar’s ears lay flat, and he growled menacingly.
The grey wolf was no match for him, and it knew it.
Loco and Tank had another wolf cornered, and Ludo and Murdock had killed the one closest to the house.
The rogue lunged, trying to fight his way out of the corner he was in, and the hairs along Gunnar’s spine rose.
There would be no handing this one over to the Alpha of the grey wolves.
The rogue would force Gunnar to kill him.
Thoughts of keeping Nero safe drove Gunnar forward, snapping at the grey wolf to submit. No neck or belly was exposed. The grey wolf wasn’t giving up.
Gunnar pulled to the left just as the grey wolf’s jaw clamped down on air that, seconds ago, had been his shoulder.
Without any other choice, Gunnar snapped his jaws down on the grey wolf’s throat, applying pressure until he heard the snap. The mates’ safety came before anything else. Killing was the last item on Gunnar’s least favorite thing to do list but the wolf left him no other option.
Dropping the carcass, Gunnar turned and was shocked. With his superior hearing, he knew more wolves had entered the backyard, but he had been so preoccupied that he hadn’t registered that rogue vampires had shown up.
What the hell was going on here?
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The Sentries had been warned that something was drawing them here. No one had figured out yet what it was. Racing across the backyard, Gunnar leapt onto a vampire, taking him down. Gunnar winced when another vampire’s fangs bit into his flank, but he wouldn’t give up the one he had his jaws locked on.
Grateful another Sentry got the ass-biting vamp off of him, Gunnar ripped into the undead’s throat, killing the thing.
He worried for a moment. He saw that every wolf was out here, and he worried about the mates, but he knew the Alpha would kill anything that came near them. They were in good hands.
Were the rogue wolves and vampires working together? How had they managed that, and what were they after?
* * * *
After what felt like a lifetime, the Sentries had managed to secure the Den, and cleanup was next.
Ludo had been hurt, but it was nothing he couldn’t heal from. It was in the wee hours of the morning before Gunnar could finally walk through the house and make his way upstairs to his mate.
Nero was asleep, curled up into a ball in the middle of their bed, still wearing his blue latex gloves.
Gunnar smiled at his little nutter before getting into the shower. It had been a long and draining night. All he wanted was to wrap himself around his mate and sleep like the dead.
Wrapping a towel around his waist, Gunnar walked quietly into their room, careful not to wake his sleeping beauty.
Maverick had told him how Nero had calmed the other mates by reading to them. He was proud of his little nutter, coming out of his shell to help the others when they were frightened. His little, blue-gloved hero.
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Grabbing Nero’s hands gently, Gunnar tugged the gloves off. His
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