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Storm winced. “But he’s being treated well?”

John nodded. “Yeah. Isaac took to hanging out with him since he’s a former hunter, too. Kid called him a traitor and wouldn’t speak to him for the longest time, but I think Isaac’s starting to get him to Hunted and on the Run

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come around.”

John handed Storm the extra clothes he’d brought with him, and Storm’s hand robotically reached out to take them when John’s comment registered.

“A former hunter? You have other former hunters in your pack?”

“Yeah, but I’ll tell you about that later. It’s not safe here. For all we know that hunter you convinced me not to kill is running back to his camp right now, and he might have others there waiting for him who will be coming back here soon.”

“And I assume you are taking me with you?”

John grinned. “Yup. Don’t even think about trying to get away.”

* * * *

It had apparently been the wrong thing to say. John wanted Storm to come with him, and he wanted Storm to have a place in DeWitt’s pack, but those things couldn’t happen if he thought that John was kidnapping him.

Old Maggie, the pack’s wise woman, always said that his sense of humor was going to get him into trouble.

They were so far away from his pack land that it meant that John had some time to convince the other shifter to stay with him, at least for now. John still had to explain that they were mated, but he didn’t want to force Storm to be with him.

Chance had said some things had been happening between Storm and that hunter that John had killed, so he needed to tread carefully.

With the cash he had packed away with him, he was able to rent a motel room on the highway for the night and then ordered pizza to take out.

Storm might not have been too pleased about John dragging him along, but the idea of a heated room, with beds, hot water, and a hot meal, was too appealing for even him to say no to.

“Why did you only get a room with one bed?” Storm asked, 26

Marcy Jacks

looking down at the single bed in the room and then at John.

John blushed and looked away. “I don’t really have a lot of cash on me, so…” He trailed off. “I’m not hinting or suggesting we share it or anything,” he said quickly. He would actually love it if they shared it. “I’ll take the floor, and you can have the bed.”

“Don’t be stupid. You paid for the room. I’ll take the floor.”

John’s inner alpha wasn’t about to be swayed. “The last time I slept in a bed was about a week ago. I’m guessing it’s been longer for you. You’re taking it.”

Storm growled low in his throat at the command.

John could remember all the way back when he was still a pup, probably no more than eight years old, and he had a pet dog and a pet cat.

The dog was totally an omega, and he followed John around like nobody’s business with one of those dog smiles constantly on its yap.

He was John’s best friend as a kid. The cat, well, John had a hard time figuring out the cat. His mother liked cats, which was strange considering her wolf heritage, but when John’s father brought home a puppy, she insisted on a pet of her own, so she’d bought a cat.

John could remember feeling only irritation with that fluffed-up, pampered thing. It had taken one look at their living room, and then climbed on top of the couch, in John’s father’s spot, and curled up to sleep, apparently deciding that it owned the house and everything in it.

John’s father explained that every cat was an alpha, and no matter how many times John barked, chased, or did whatever, nothing would change that mentality, and that was why dogs hated them so much.

John figured that must be what was going on inside of Storm’s head. He was an alpha, the cat version of it, anyway, and he didn’t like being ordered around, even when he was trying to give John control of the bed.

“I will, however, be taking the first shower,” John said, heading for the bathroom as quickly as possible. He stopped at the door and Hunted and on the Run

27

turned around. “You’ll be here when I get out.”

He didn’t make it a command, but he hoped it didn’t come out sounding like a beg, either.

Storm sat down stiffly on the edge of the bed. “To be honest, I’m too hungry to leave now, and you already ordered the food.”

Good. “Give me ten minutes and I’ll be back.”

He still didn’t trust that Storm wouldn’t want to run if the impulse took him, so when he entered the bathroom he made sure to take their bags of clothes with him.

John had never wanted a hot shower so much in his entire life.

The formerly white-tiled walls, which had been stained yellow from years of smoking guests, the tiny sink, and super small bathtub were all fit for a king as far as he was concerned.

He stripped out of his clothes, and now that he was finally alone, his body seemed to give his cock permission to stand up straight.

He’d been fighting his erection for the last hour, traveling alone with Storm, so close to his mate. It had been hard on him.

The only thing that kept him from sporting wood right then and there was probably the fact that they were both on edge as they slowly got out of the woods and onto the highway. There was still the chance that the hunter Storm wanted John to spare would come back for them with backup of his own.

Hunters were known for being a breed of human that believed in bloody revenge.

Nothing came for them, thank God, and now that John was alone in the bathroom and