Laughing and struggling, Logan rolled across the bed, pretending to try to get away.

Kisses soon progressed to the best blow job Logan had ever had, complete with Ian’s fingers up his ass. By the time Ian’s cock took the place of his fingers, Logan wasn’t thinking of his aching ass cheeks at all.

The next morning, after a long night of lovemaking, Logan slept late, and got up to find Ian gone. He’d left him a note to come and see him after breakfast. He’d be working in the council room.

After a hurried breakfast he made for himself in the small kitchen and a futile attempt to find a shirt that would fit him, he made his way to the council room dressed only in black leather pants and found Ian at work looking at maps.

“Hi, babe. I was looking over these maps you drew us of the compound layout. Which of these buildings isused to store munitions?”

Logan leaned over the maps, standing beside him. Damn, Ian smelled good to him. He wasn’t wearing cologne, but his natural smell drove Logan crazy. He caught Ian sniffing at him too, but he quickly turned to the maps when Logan pointed.

“Here. This building.”

Ian nodded. “I think the best thing to do would be to take out the munitions warehouse. Get rid of their ammunition they use against us. That would give us some time. What do you think?”

Logan glanced up in surprise. “You really want to know what I think?”

“Of course. You’re the one most familiar with their operation.”

“But I thought…most of the time you treat me as little more a kid.It’s like you don’t think of me as a man, Ian.”

Ian regarded him for a long time before he cocked his head, saying softly, “You say that a lot, Logan. About being a man.What does that mean exactly?”

“What does it mean to be a man? You know exactly what it means!”

“No, I really don’t. Not if you’re using it as a synonym for being strong or brave or fearless. My mother was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer when she was thirty-three years old.Our doctors couldn’t do anything for her, and my father’s blood only managed to help ease the pain a little bit. She was in intractable agony, Logan, for weeks before she died. She couldn’t eat, and she could barely walk. Yet she got up somehow every morning, took care of me, and tried to keep going as long as she could, knowing there was no hope. That was courage, honey. Real guts and real courage.So I’m not sure why you think being a man means you’re something special. My father died two weeks after she did.He simply couldn’t make it without her, because she was his life.”

Logan dropped his gaze.“You knew what I meant.”

“Honey, I’ve told you before you’re wrong about the way I treat you. We wolves are possessive, yes, and I suppose overly protective of our mates, but I love you and respect your opinion. I don’t think of you as a child at all. I realize you must think that because I used a belt on you last night.I’m sorry if I’ve given you that impression. I didn’t like hurting you and felt like shit afterward, but if you are too resistant, if you can’t control your baser instincts, there’s a chance you might become feral. Especially right after you’ve been turned. I saw it happen oncewith the alpha’s mate, and it scared the shit out of me. I guess that’s why I used the belt on you last night.” He rubbed his hand over Logan’s hips and Logan stirred uncomfortably.

“Hmm. Feral? What exactly does that mean? Explain it to me.”

Ian sighed. “I don’t want to scare you. You’ll be fine as long as you feed regularly or you aren’t allowed to run wild. But you remember the old werewolf movies on TV? Sort of like that…the body starts to shift. You don’t shift completely, but your body would change. Your face—when Nicky changed it was horrible. He’d stopped feeding because of a whole thing with Marco. Those two had a rocky start, Logan. The change that came over him was terrifying. His handsome face became something like awolf’s. It’s hard to explain, but he was vicious, attacking anyone that came near him. I think if we hadn’t been close by and reacted so quickly he might have been lost to us.”

“Damn.” Logan shifted uneasily. “And why exactly did this Nicky not feed?” “Nicky is very independent, like you. He hated the idea of being dependent on anyone, even Marco. He fought against the collar and the leash,which you won’t see much of anymore, and against spankings and discipline, all the old traditional methods passed down to us. He was skeptical of our claims, I guess. Like you are.”

Logan smiled at Ian. “Okay, maybeyou’ve convinced me I have to keep feeding. Not so much the ass whipping though.I might have a bad temper, but I always have had. I’m not changing into some kind of monster. Now, do you really want to know what I think about the warehouse?”

“Absolutely.”

“I think it’s a job for one or two men. Sneak in, plant the charges, and get out. They should have some kind of remote switch. Like I say, fast in, fast out. You and I could do it, easy.”

Ian frowned. “I don’t know about that.”

“Why not? Don’t you trust me?” He made a short scoffing noise.“Hell, I guess I wouldn’t trust me either if I were in your place.”

“It’s not that. It’s dangerous. We’ve already talked about me not wanting you in danger. I wouldn’t want you hurt or killed, and we did discuss you not going out in the field.” “I wouldn’t want you hurt, either, but if we do this right, neither of us would be. I know the layout better than anyone. I pulled guard duty there during my duty rotations before they sent me out here, and you’d be with me to watch my back.”

“There are guards?”

“Perimeter guards. I remember the schedule. We’d have about thirty minutes to plant the charges and get out.”

Ian smiled at him. “I haven’t seen you this interested in anything since you came. You like doing this kind of thing, don’t you?”

Logan shrugged. “It’s what I was trained for. I can’t just sit around all day, Ian. It would drive me crazy.”

Ian nodded, chewing on the inside of his lip thoughtfully“Okay, honey. I hate the idea of putting you in harm’s way, but if I was there with you, maybe. Let me talk to Marco. It’s worth a try.”

“Are you serious? You’d actually trust me to go with you?”

Ian was silent for a long moment and then looked him directly at him. “Of course. I’ll talk to Marco.”

“Absolutely not. It’s out of the question.” Marco slammed his fist down on the table as he spoke, making Ian frown. “Why? It makes perfect sense.” Ian stood up and paced around the room. “Logan knows the layout and the operation better than anyone. He’s been trained in munitions and knows how to set up a remote switch. I would go along, mainly as muscle in case we encountered any guards, but Logan said we could watch them and verify their schedule before we make the attempt.”

“Logan says, Logan says.” Casey stood up and addressed Ian. “I’m sorry, but he hasn’t been turned long enough.He’s barely had time to come out of the transition, and he was a Hunter. How do you know he’s not saying all this just to get himself back to his people and get you captured?”

Ian tried to hold onto his temper. “I trust Logan with my life. He was a Hunter, past tense. He’s Werekin now, my mate. You know how the mating bite works as well as I do.”

“I know it’s possible to defy it!”

“If you don’t know it, he also despiseshis father!”

“Enough!” Marco ordered, furious atCasey’s reminderof Nicky’s defiance even if Rory had gone through some as well.

Suffering a stab of guilt, Ian knew it too. The defiance thing was something he hadn’t included when he told Logan why Nicky had stopped feeding. He did tell Logan he could reject their mating, but he hadn’t gone into details on how he had to defy the mating changes and compulsions to do it.

Marco shook his head. “Please, everyone sit down. Let’s try to discuss this reasonably. Ian, it’s not that I don’t trust Logan. I do. I still think it’s too dangerous for just two men.”

“Then others can come along to guard the perimeter of the warehouse—take care of any guards, but the operation itself is best for only two men.” He slanted a look at Casey. “Actually, it would be better for two human-sized males to do. My size or any wolf’s will stand out and draw attention. I thought the perfect wolf for the job would be Rory.”

Casey jumped back to his feet, fury on his face. “No! Not just no, but hell no! Leave my mate out of this crazy plan!”

“I anticipated you’d feel that way. I simply said he would be perfect for the job. He’s a wolf, but smaller than the rest of us.”

Casey threw himself back in his chair. “Out of the question!”

Marco spoke up, looking concerned. “Ian, I understand how important this could be, but you can’t ask any of us to risk our mates. It would upset the entire pack if something happened to one of them.”

“I know. Although I would like to point out I’d be putting my own mate at risk. I’m willing to do that, though, as long as I can go along to protect him, like I’m sure each and every one of you would want to do.”

Marco narrowed his eyes at Ian. “Uh-huh.I see what you’re doing, Ian, but I still think it’s too dangerous. Maybe if we sent a small group in, say, four wolves. Do you think it could be managedwith that?”

“Three wolves and Logan.”

Marco smiled and nodded. “All right. Agreed.”

Casey spoke up. “As battle leader, I claim a place on the team.”

Marco nodded. “I’ll go along too.”

Casey and Ian both immediately objected. Marco held up a hand for quiet.“If this mission succeeds, it could mean the end to the fighting for years to come. We might even be able to forge a truce with the Hunters that could lead to a lasting peace. It’s the job of an alpha to lead his people, and I want to do that. I’m going.”