He didn’t want to become an icicle or a snack. Sherman was too sexy to be killed. He and Dalton had too much sex in their future for him to bite the big one.
Payton tapped Sherman’s shoulder and pointed to the men again. At first Sherman had no idea what his cousin was looking at, and then he saw it. A shadow moving in, getting closer to the statues.
Were those wolves? They were! Five wolves silently made their way toward the vampires. Sherman held his breath and waited to see what would happen. He might have been excited to do something James Bond, but he didn’t want to watch them tear each other apart.
“Tell me when it’s over.” Sherman closed his eyes.
“I’m usually the squeamish one,” Payton whispered. “What happened to your sense of adventure?”
“I left it in my other coat.” Sherman opened his eyes, horrified and in awe at the way the wolves took down the vampires without making any noise. It had been fast and lethal, turning the snow red.
“I want to be a wolf shifter when I grow up,” Sherman said. “Did you see how badass they were? They killed those vampires so fast and quiet that I still can’t believe it happened and it’s over already.”
“I’m finding you a hobby.” Payton pulled Sherman to the front of the house. “Since the backyard seems to be crowded, we’ll go in through the front.”
“Wait.” Sherman grabbed his cousin’s arm. “If there were vampire lookouts, that means Raphael is inside.”
“Isn’t that why we’re here?” Payton asked. “To rescue your mate?”
“What? No! I came here to find Dalton, not get killed by Raphael. We need to reevaluate our mission. Maybe it would be safer waiting in the truck…or at McDonald’s.”
Sherman’s stomach picked that moment to rumble. He needed to stop skipping meals. McDonald’s was still open. They could swing by for a cheeseburger… That made him think of Raphael calling him a cheeseburger, and now he was no longer hungry.
In fact, he might swear off cheeseburgers for the next decade. Normally Sherman could eat spaghetti over a dead body, but Raphael had succeeded in ruining one of Sherman’s favorite meals.
“We’ll eat once we know Dalton is safe,” Payton said. “It’ll be our reward for not dying. Hot fudge sundaes are on me.”
Something inside crashed. Sherman and Payton looked at each other for a split second before they rushed inside. Sherman shoved Payton out of the way just as Raphael crashed into the wall by the door. If he hadn’t moved his cousin, the vampire would have collided with Payton.
Sherman’s jaw hit his chest when he saw the humongous bear coming right for them. In the back of his mind he knew it was Dalton, but to see such an enormous predator—which, on all fours, was still taller than him—heading his way had Sherman shouting and scrambling to get out the door.
The bear stopped, cocked its head, and huffed before turning its attention on Raphael.
“I-I think your mate is pissed at you.” Payton was clutching Sherman’s arm so tightly that it hurt. “Oh my god, Sherman. He so fucking huge.”
Sherman started to crack a joke about something else on Dalton being equally huge, but his attention was diverted when the bear dropped its full weight—which looked to be about six hundred pounds—onto the vampire.
He noticed how the bear was favoring his right, front leg. Sherman’s fear drained when he saw the damage the silver poisoning had done, and now he was rooting for Dalton to kick Raphael’s ass. The vet had said that time might finish healing Dalton, but Sherman had a gut feeling the damage was permanent.
Payton slapped a hand over Sherman’s eyes. “You don’t need to see Dalton eating him.”
Sherman slapped Payton’s hand away. “I can handle—” God, why had he looked? The ginormous bear ripped the vampire’s throat out, and Sherman could hear bones crunching just as the wolves entered the living room through the kitchen.
Payton slapped his hand back over Sherman’s eyes. “Dumbass, I told you not to look.”
“Like you can handle this any better.”
“My eyes are firmly closed,” Payton said. “Now I wish I was deaf because that sound is going to make me throw up.”
“What in the hell are you doing here?” Dalton asked with a snarl. “Why didn’t you keep your ass at your mother’s house?”
Sherman eased Payton’s hand away and saw Dalton towering over him, gloriously naked. How was he supposed to talk when his brain melted from the sight of his nude mate?
“Because Payton has a bad habit of being where he shouldn’t be,” Miller said from the front door. “Apple pie, I’m bending you over my goddamn knee when we get back to the house. You could’ve been killed.”
Sherman ignored the rest of Miller’s lecture as Dalton lifted him off his feet and crushed their bodies together. “We’re gonna have a long talk about you following orders.”
“I see we weren’t needed,” Ben said.
When Sherman looked past Dalton’s shoulder, he saw a very naked Ben. Good lord, were all the men in this town gorgeous?
“Hey.” Dalton turned Sherman’s head. “You’re not allowed to stare at other naked men.”
“And you shouldn’t have lied to me.” Sherman wiggled to get free, but Dalton didn’t put him down. Instead, his mate looked at Ben. “I’ll be right back. Let me get dressed, and then we can talk.”
Dalton carried Sherman up the stairs and down the hallway, never letting Sherman go until they were in his bedroom.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t have lied to you.” Dalton rummaged through his drawers. “But you should have kept your ass at your mother’s. Why would you put yourself in harm’s way?”
“Because I love you,” Sherman said before he lost his nerve. “Because the thought of anything happening to you makes my insides freeze and my heart hurt. I don’t want to think about my life without you in it.”
Sherman no longer cared if he sounded needy, like he had with his past boyfriends. This was his mate, his forever, and not telling Dalton how he truly felt would be a mistake.
Dalton used his left arm to pull Sherman to him. “You love me?”
“From the top of your sexy head down to your gorgeous toes,” Sherman admitted. “You came charging in to save me, and I’m not talking about with just Raphael. You got me my job, make me laugh, and you’re a sweet and gentle guy. What’s not to love about you?”
Dalton’s smile was breathtaking. “I love you, too.”
“You’re still naked.” Sherman wiggled his eyebrows. He felt Dalton growing hard, his erection pressing into Sherman’s stomach. “I don’t think you need to get dressed right this second.”
“I think we can spare a few moments.” Dalton laid Sherman on the bed and stripped him of his clothing. “Though I’m still going to spank your ass for leaving your mom’s.”
Dalton moved over Sherman, his lips caressing Sherman’s skin. Sherman practically squirmed under the man, wanting Dalton closer as the moonlight spilled into the room. Dalton began to move lower, and a blast of heat flooded Sherman. His chest rose and fell as he watched Dalton take him into his mouth.