Chapter Sixteen
Asher clutched his mate to his chest and hoped he couldn't feel his trembling. Confusion didn't begin to cover how he felt at that moment.
He'd waved goodbye to Brady and had been in the process of beginning to run back--his sled loaded and tied behind him--when he heard his mate's howl. Asher had been in too much of a panic to bother unknotting the complicated harness, he sliced the ropes off his body and ran towards the howl. Brady followed on his four wheeler with his rifle.
He'd been so close he could have shouted to alert his mate, but he worried something like that would hasten an attack. When Asher had heard that first yelp of pain, he'd seen red.
Any thoughts of chasing after the coyotes whose stench still filled the air had disappeared when he saw his naked mate huddled against the ground and one of the wild wolves laying on her side, clearly injured.
"What happened Caleb?"
Caleb shook in his arms, even now his arousal was obvious. His mate had gone into heat in his absence. Asher cursed as his body reacted to Caleb's lust. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice muffled.
"Asher, I need to treat these wounds," Brady said. "I'll take her back to my clinic, but…" He looked around him at the other two wolves who alternated between staring at Brady warily and outright growling at him.
"We'll go together." Asher set Caleb down so he could pull off his shirt and give it to his mate.
"Thanks, I tied a pair to my leg but, I think they fell off somewhere."
Asher looked down at Caleb's leg noting that they were bare. More importantly, his left ankle was bruised and swollen. "You said you weren't injured!"
"I'm, well, that was from when I got caught in that rope. But I got out."
Asher's mouth set into a grim line. "There is a lot you are holding back."
"Can we please make sure the wolf is going to be okay first, before I go into the many mistakes I made today?"
Asher picked Caleb up again, holding him to his chest as they followed Brady on his four wheeler back to Riverside.
"Who is he?" Caleb asked quietly.
"A friend," Asher responded tightly. He didn't enjoy that his mate was holding something back from him.
Caleb picked his head up off Asher's chest, his blue eyes were wide. "That friend?"
"Caleb," Asher said warningly. "Brady is a friend and also happens to be a vet. He mostly services the livestock and working animals in Riverside and the surrounding isolated areas. He is a good man and a good friend." He emphasized friend in the hopes of alleviating any of Caleb's worries.
Caleb writhed against him but Asher thought that had more to do with the heat he was experiencing than any acceptance on his behalf. He rubbed the parts of his mate he could in an attempt to soothe him.
Brady's clinic was on the edge of the forest. To call it a clinic was a little generous. The building itself acted both as his home and work, which made for an interesting kitchen. One had to be careful when grabbing leftovers from Brady's fridge, you never knew what you were grabbing. Asher had known Brady for almost as long as he had been surviving on his own. They'd grown up together in a way and until Caleb, he was his closest friend. Brady had been delighted to see Asher again after two years, commenting that he had given him up for dead. Asher didn't believe that. If Brady had truly thought him dead, he would have at least tried to find his body.
Brady had also commented on Asher's changed appearance the moment he'd shown up, saying some bullshit about a glow or something. Asher had told him about his mate like an excited schoolboy and had left promising to bring Caleb with him to Riverside next year. He had no way of knowing that Brady and Caleb would be meeting much earlier.
Brady lifted the injured wolf up onto his table in the kitchen and began examining her further. "I'll need to shave her," Brady said hesitantly as if asking both Asher and the other two wolves who had followed for permission.
"Are the coyotes going to come back?" Caleb asked.
"They wouldn't dare come into town, not during the day anyway. Sometimes, when they are feeling frisky and extra stupid, a band of them will show up at the pub on a Friday night. But they get kicked out pretty soon," Brady replied with clear distaste. He was no fan of the coyotes.
"They knew about you, they called you the lone wolf," Caleb whispered.
Until recently, the coyotes had stayed at the base of the mountain. It would be unusual if they hadn't heard of him in the years he'd been there. They coyote population had been there for much longer which just made their semi recent expansion weirder. If they weren't so closed off to the outside world, Asher would suggest sending a party out to them. Maybe they needed help? Except now, they had threatened his mate. Sending a welcome party wasn't high on Asher's priorities. He frowned and his chest felt tight, irritated by his conflicting desires. He wanted to alleviate the threat to his mate made by the coyotes, make sure the wild wolf was going to pull through, and above it all was the constant tugging of his inner wolf to take his mate and calm his heat. He shoved a hand through his hair.
"Looks superficial," Brady said with his eyes on the wolf. "Take care of your mate."
Asher gave him a look of thanks, taking Caleb to the free room that Brady lent out to travelers in need. Asher had never rented the room, never spending an entire night in Riverside, but he knew it was there, that it was empty and that it had a bed.
When they were in the room alone and with the door shut, Asher turned to his mate who looked smaller and paler than normal. His black hair like ink splattered against his skin. "What happened, Caleb?"
Caleb blinked, two shining blue saucers. Tears filled his eyes, sliding down his cheeks as he closed his eyelids again. Asher thought he wasn't going to respond. Then, he opened his mouth. "I was doing a good job alone and then the mating heat started and it felt like my skin was going to crawl off my body so I tried to distract myself by going through that coyote's bag but I found Lena's ring that her parents gave her on her last birthday and I thought they had her and that you had lied to keep me here and my plan was to get you to help me save the kids but now I am feeling really foolish and sad and guilty." He didn't breathe the entire time he spoke. When he stopped, he sucked in a mouthful.
Asher let all the bits and pieces of what his mate said sink into his brain. "You thought I lied to you?"
Caleb nodded, tears streaming down his face.
"But your plan was still to come and find me first and get me to help you?"
Caleb nodded again, worrying a button on Asher's shirt.
Asher sat next to Caleb, kissing away his tears. A mate in heat should only cry in pleasure. His kisses covered Caleb's face until he found his lips. The moment their lips touched, it was as if a trap had been sprung and their movements grew frenzied. Asher's lips covered Caleb's in a rush to claim. His tongue speared inside, dueling with Caleb's as they both moaned into the kiss. They'd been away from each other for less than twenty-four hours and yet it felt like forever. His hands went to the shirt he'd given Caleb as Caleb's hands found Asher's pants. In seconds, they were naked and Asher had Caleb bent over the mattress. He had the presence of mind to allow enough time for his pre-cum to cover Caleb's hole and relax the outer ring before slamming his length inside of his mate. Caleb hissed and immediately pushed back greedily.
Asher bent over him, holding him tightly against his chest as he began to thrust deeply. The pace increased quickly and he knew he wouldn't take long. As if listening to his thoughts, Caleb moaned as he came. Asher pounded into him, his knot already beginning to swell. Caleb twitched at the increase in pressure.
"Oh my god. Again. I'm coming again," he wailed quietly, shuddering as he climaxed.
Knotting his mate was the single most pleasurable experience Asher would ever feel. He was in a different place when he was locked inside of his love, floating high above it all. He felt his seed pump out of his cock, filling up his mate. He thought about why Caleb was there, what had almost happened to him and he growled, clamping down on the soft spot on his mate's shoulder with his teeth.
Eventually, his orgasm subsided and Asher pulled out. He got a towel from the in-room bathroom and returned, cleaning the proof of their love off of Caleb's skin as well as the dirt and mud Caleb had gotten all over him on his run. Asher paid special attention to Caleb's ankle, cursing himself for forgetting about the injury during sex. "Does it hurt?" he asked.
Caleb stretched his arms over his head and pointed his toes. "Nothing hurts anymore," he replied contentedly.
That would be the mating heat. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, Caleb would be fine for a few hours. The heat would build again until they had intercourse. That cycle would continue until Caleb conceived. The thought of Caleb pregnant filled Asher with as much excitement as it did dread. The mountain was no place to raise a newborn. What happened if the baby got sick? The nearest help would be hours away. Asher had little doubt that he would be able to care for his mate back in civilization. He wondered more what living among people again would do to him.