Skye’s Limits

Sometimes  when  you’re  at  your  lowest,  when
you’re  at  your  saddest,  and  just  when  you  think
that  things  can’t  get  any  worse,  along  comes  a
hero to save the day and to win your heart away.

Skye  has  always  lived  life  like  it’s  one  big  party.
He  makes  his  own  rules,  and  consequences  be
damned.  But  one  night  when  he  takes  things  too
far,  his  older  brother  steps  in  and  demands  he
cleans up his act.

In comes Alden, known as one of the toughest

trainers at the feline coalition, he takes on the job
of turning Skye’s life around. The last thing the
Tiger shifter expects is to find himself drawn to
Skye, despite his bratty ways.

Will Alden be able to help save Skye from

himself? Or will Skye self-destruct and shatter
both of their lives?

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entirely coincidental.

Skye’s Limits

ISBN: 978-1-77111-637-4

Cover art by Angela Waters

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Chapter One

kye took another drink of booze and shivered
as it burned a path down his throat. Since the

alcohol  was  a  special  brand  that  made  only  for
shifters  and  the  only  kind  that  could  get  them
drunk, he had to put up with the vile taste. It was
either  that  or  nothing  and  he  was  willing  to  do
anything to get a buzz.

Anything to forget that night so long ago. That

night  that  forever  changed  his  life.  The  one  that
took his parents from him and changed his  older
brother.  The  night  where  his  life  had  gone  from
perfect to fucked up in the span of one hour.

Skye took another drink, once again shivering.

He knew Branson was going to be pissed as hell at
him for coming home drunk again. But at least he
wasn’t high this time. So, that had to count for
something—right? Skye hadn’t touched the shifter
drug TAR since one of his buddies had OD’d on it
a couple of months ago. If that hadn’t had been a
wakeup call, then nothing would have been. Skye
might be stupid, but he wasn’t dumb.

“Hey, Skye, do you need a refill?” one of his

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buddies, Ace, asked.

In answer, Skye held up his half empty cup.

“You know I do.”

Even as he watched the cup being refilled, his

stomach  started  to  rebel.  He’d  already  had  six
cups  of  the  gross  liquid,  and  he  didn’t  think  he
could take another, but he didn’t want his friends
to  think  he  was  a  lightweight.  They  could  be  a
judgmental group and turn on somebody quicker
than a pack of jackals. Why he called them friends
he  didn’t  even  know.  Maybe  because  they  were
the only ones in the coalition who didn’t turn their
noses  up  at  him.  Or  maybe  it  was  because  they
were  all  even  bigger  losers  than  Skye  was.
Whatever  reason,  he  seemed  to  find  himself
hanging  out  with  the  same  bunch  of  jerks  every
night.

After three sips of the drink, Skye knew he

wasn’t  going  to  make  it  through  the  glass.  His
stomach was doing more flips and twists than an
Olympic  gymnast.  He  took  several  deep  breaths,
but it didn’t help. He could feel a sweat break out
on  his  brow,  and  his  vision  began  to  get  blurry.
Oh shit, he was going to get sick, right in front of
everybody  and  they  were  never  going  to  let  him
live it down.

This. Really. Sucked. Big. Time.
The door to the apartment opened, and Gage

came storming in. While Skye should have been

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pissed to see his brother’s mate there to crash his
party, instead he was glad. Now he had a way to
save  face.  He  could  do  his  puking  at  home  in
private  instead  of  all  over  the  floor  of  the  party
room.

Standing, Skye decided he still needed to put

on a show. “What are you doing here?”

Gage glowered at him. While Gage might be on

the thin side, Skye knew that he was a good
soldier for the coalition and could hold his own in
a fight. What’s more, so did all of Skye’s friends,
so they grew silent and waited to see what would
happen next.

“I came here to take you home,” Gage said, his

dark brown eyes bright with fury. “Your brother is
worried about you.”

Skye tried to make a raspberry noise, but didn’t

quite pull it off. “Like Branson gives two shits
about me.”

“He does, and you know it. Now get your crap

together, and let’s go, or do I have to drag you out
of here?”

It wasn’t an empty threat, and Skye knew it. If

he had to, Gage could very well drag Skye out by
his collar. It wouldn’t be a pretty scene, either. So
in  order  to  save  some  of  his  dignity,  Skye  got  to
his  feet,  wobbled  a  bit  and  made  his  way  to  the
door.  If  he  didn’t  walk  a  straight  line  there,  who
could  blame  him?  It  wasn’t  like  he  was  taking  a

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field sobriety test or anything.

Turning he waved sloppily to his friends. “See

you later.”

“No, he won’t,” Gage said with dead certainty.
“Who are you to say that?” Skye challenged.
“Let’s just get you home. We’ll talk more

there,” Gage replied in a tight voice.

Oh boy. Gage was pissed. Which was kind of

shocking, since he was usually the more easygoing
of the pair. Skye realized he must have fucked up
big time. He would have tried to figure out what
made this event worse than all the others, but he
was too busy trying not to puke. Skye took several
deep breaths and swallowed a few times then told
his body that it only had to wait a few more
minutes than it could throw up all it wanted.

He made his way up the basement stairs from

the spot where they had been partying and
followed Gage back to the apartment they shared
with Branson. All the while there, the only thing
Skye could think was, Don’t puke. Don’t puke. Don’t

puke.

Once they got back to the apartment, Skye

pushed  his  way  past  Gage  and  ran  to  the
bathroom. He made it just in time. Dropping to his
knees, Skye prayed to the porcelain god. He threw
up  and  threw  up  and  threw  up  until  there  was
nothing left but his stomach lining. Even then, he
continued  to  have  the  dry  heaves,  and  boy,  did

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that hurt like hell.

The entire time he could hear Branson and

Gage having a heated conversation outside.
Although Skye couldn’t hear what they were
saying, he knew it was about him. Oh boy, if this
wasn’t turning out to be the best night of his life.
Since he’d had some doozies in the past that said a
lot.

By the time he was done throwing up, he felt

like his body had been turned inside out. He stood
up, flushed the toilet, then went to the sink. After
he rinsed out his mouth and brushed his teeth, he
looked at himself in the mirror. He moaned at the
reflection. He could hardly believe that it was
himself in the reflection.

His blond hair was a mass of tangles and

looked like a rat had set up a  nest in it. His blue
eyes  were  all  red  and  swollen,  and  his  face  was
equally bloated. Dried pieces of puke still stuck to
his face and his lips were cracked and bleeding in
places.  To  say  that  he  didn’t  look  his  best  would
be a vast understatement.

There was a knock on the door, then Branson

said, “Get out of there. I want to talk to you.”

Skye let out a sigh. Time to face the lecture.

God, how he hated them. He had gotten them so
many times that he knew them by heart by now.
When would Branson get it that Skye didn’t give a
damn?

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Skye rinsed off his face, then opened the door

and brushed past his brother. He went to the sofa
and plunked himself down. Even though his
brother was blind, he still felt like Branson could
see every one of his faults. Branson had a way of
doing that.

Gage was leaning against one of the walls, his

arms  crossed  over  his  chest.  He  had  on  his
uniform.  He  must  have  just  gotten  off  duty.  He
looked  tired,  and  he  must  not  have  been  too
happy having to deal with Skye’s issues yet again.
Well, too bad. Skye hadn’t asked him to butt in.

Okay, Skye took that back. A part of him did

feel  a  bit  guilty  over  making  Gage  have  to  deal
with his issues yet again. Gage had never asked to
deal  with  a  bratty  brother-in-law.  He’d  just
inherited it when he’d mated with Branson. Since
Gage was a great guy, Skye felt bad that Gage had
yet again had to drag him home. Especially, given
Gage’s past with his mother.

Branson sat down in the chair opposite to Skye

and  looked  at  him.  Well,  he  really  didn’t  look
since  he  couldn’t  see,  but  his  stare  seemed  to  be
probing  nonetheless.  Despite  himself,  Skye  felt
himself fidgeting under it.

“Just get the lecture over so I can go to bed and

crash,” Skye finally snapped.

“There isn’t going to be a lecture this time,”

Branson said a sad expression coming over his

Skye’s Limits

face.

That was the last thing Skye was expecting.

“Huh?”

“No, obviously that’s not working with you. So

I’ve decided to do something different with you.”

Now Skye was really getting worried. What

was going on? Was Branson going to kick him
out? Send him away from the coalition? Make him
live on the streets?

“What are you going to do?” Skye asked as he

began to play with the rip in his jeans.

“I’ve talked to Mitchell.”
Oh boy. Things were really getting serious if

Branson had gone to the leader of the coalition
about him. Skye broke out in a sweat, and the last
of his buzz completely disappeared as his gut
grew tight with dread. Had he finally pushed his
brother too far?

“About what?”
“You and your drinking and drug problem.”
“I haven’t taken any drugs in a while. I promise

you. I stopped when that Cougar shifter OD’d,”
Skye blurted.

“That may be true, but you’re still drinking way

too much, and it’s become a problem. What’s
more, you aren’t contributing at all to the
coalition. You’re just dragging it down.”

Skye breathed harder as he realized he was in

really big trouble. “So what are you guys going to

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do? Kick me out?”

Branson shook his head. “You should know

that I would never do that to you. You’re my
brother, and I swore to Mom and Dad I would
take care of you. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

“What do you mean?”
“Mitchell and I have decided you need to work

one-on-one with somebody that can help you
clean up your act. Since you won’t listen to me or
Gage, you need somebody who is trained for
handle special cases like you,” Branson said.

“And just who will this person be?” Skye asked.
While he was relieved he wasn’t going to be

kicked out, he was scared at the thought of being
stuck with a special handler. He’d seen some of
the guys who trained the special cases, and they
were scary looking guys.

“Alden,” Branson announced.
Skye’s stomach dropped. Alden was the scariest

of the bunch. With dark hair and even darker eyes,
he just exuded meanness. Seriously, the guy
looked like he ate nails for breakfast, lunch, and
dinner.

“Did you just say Alden?” Skye asked, his voice

shaking a bit.

“Yes, I did. If we’re going to do this, it’s going

to be done right.”

“Are you’re trying to get me killed?” Skye

asked in a high-pitched voice.

Skye’s Limits

“No, I’m trying to save your life. If you keep on

going the way you are, you’re going to end up like
that Cougar shifter,” Branson said.

“I’m just drinking, I’m not taking drugs,” Skye

argued.

“My mother used to say the same thing,” Gage

interrupted. “Look how she ended up.”

“I’m nothing like her,” Skye argued.
“Not from where from I’m standing. To me,

you are exactly like her,” Gage snapped back.

Skye looked away. He remembered the way he

looked  in  the  mirror,  how  bloated  his  face  had
been,  his  bloodshot  eyes,  the  way  his  hair  had
been  in  disarray.  At  that  point,  he  knew  he
couldn’t  argue.  He  was  in  trouble,  and  he  did
need help. If he kept going down the road he was
going, he would end up an addict or worse. But to
have  to  train  with  Alden  of  all  shifters.  The
thought terrified Skye. Although, what choice did
he have? He had to do something or else he would
end up nothing more than a loser or dead, and did
he really want that?

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Skye said, shocking himself by

how easily he turned over.

But, yet again, what other choice did he have?

At this point in his life he was going nowhere. He
thought back to how sad Branson looked moments
earlier. Branson didn’t deserve that. He should
have a brother he could be proud of. Not one that

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was the laughingstock of the coalition. So, Skye
owed it to him to at least give this a try.

The relief that came over Branson’s face was

almost  heartbreaking.  It  wasn’t  until  then  that
Skye  realized  just  how  much  his  behavior  had
been hurting his brother. All of a sudden, Skye felt
like  a  selfish  jerk.  While  he  had  his  own  reasons
for  wanting  to  drink  his  problems  away,  he
shouldn’t have dragged Branson into it.

“Thank you,” Branson said.
Gage ran his hands through his hair and let out

a sigh. “It’s about time. You won’t regret it, Skye.”

“Yeah, tell me that tomorrow after I have to

face a session with Alden.”

“He’s not as bad as you think. You’ll see for

yourself,” Gage reassured him.

“So you say, but I’ve heard that he’s tough,”

Skye countered.

“He is, but you’ll do okay. I believe in you,”

Gage said.

Skye wished he had faith in himself. But that

was one thing he’d never had and never would.
He’d always been a fuckup and always would be.
That would never change, no matter how much
Branson wanted it to.

Skye let out a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll give it a

shot. It can’t hurt.”

His mind was screaming, are you kidding? You’ll

never succeed! You never have before, so why should

Skye’s Limits

this time be different? You’ll just end up disappointing

Branson again.

Skye stood up. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to

go take a shower.”

“That’s a good idea. You may want to get to

bed,  too.  Alden  is  expecting  you  at  seven  in  the
morning.  He  said  for  you  to  wear  some  sweats
and  to  be  ready  for  a  good  workout,”  Branson
said.

Seven in the morning? That was only five hours

away. Skye didn’t know whether to cry or
whimper. He settled for a resigned sigh. “Okay,
I’ll be ready.”

He went and quickly took a shower. He got

dressed in sweats to save time in the morning and
set his alarm. He lay down, but, try as he might,
he couldn’t get to sleep. Maybe it was because he
knew that with all the shit that had gone down
that evening, he would have it. By that, he meant
the nightmare that had plagued him ever since the
evening they’d lost their parents.

Skye had been so young at the time that, by all

rights, he shouldn’t have remembered that day,
but it still was burned in his mind. He could recall
each event in stark detail.

His mother had been making dinner. Skye had

been excited because it had been his favorite, fried
chicken. He had loved the drumsticks the best. She
had always made it with her homemade mashed

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potatoes and gravy.

His father had just arrived home from work. He

was  a  soldier  for  the  coalition.  The  coalition  had
been  much  smaller  than,  since  it  had  still  been
rebuilding  after  the  mass  Raven  attack  five  years
prior. Branson was home, too, he was studying for
school. He was angry at Skye for keeping the TV
too  loud,  but  Skye  had  ignored  him  because  his
favorite show was on.

Everything had seemed so normal. It was just

another  day  at  their  house.  Then  the  Ravens  had
attacked.  It  wasn’t  a  small  noise  or  a  flutter  of
warning  but  rather  a  blast  of  the  window,
shattering immediately.

His father and mother had shifted, then tried to

fight  them  off,  but  they  were  outnumbered.
Branson had even taken a baseball bat and tried to
fight  them  off,  but  the  Ravens  had  taken  it  from
him and used it against him. They had bashed him
in  the  head.  That  was  what  had  made  him  blind
for the rest of his life.

Skye had escaped injury by climbing into one of

the  lower  cupboards  and  hiding  out.  It  wasn’t
until the Ravens had set the house on fire and left
that  Branson had somehow managed to find him
and  drag  Skye  to  safety.  How  Branson  had
managed  to  do  that  in  spite  of  his  injuries  was  a
miracle.

And Branson had been dragging Skye ever

Skye’s Limits

since  then.  Skye  buried  his  head  in  the  pillow.
When  was  he  ever  going  to  learn  to  stop  hiding
and face what had happened that night? Could he
ever  have  the  courage  Branson  showed?  Or  was
Skye going to keep on being that same scared kid?

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Two

lden arrived at the training center a couple of
minutes before seven to set things up for his

newest  trainee.  He  still  didn’t  know  why  he  had
taken on yet another problem case. He had sworn
to himself after the last one that he was done with
brats  and  their  troubles.  But  when  the  leader  of
the  coalition  had  asked  him  to  take  on  one  last
case,  Alden  had  crumbled  and  agreed.  After  all,
who  could  say  no  to  their  boss?  Well…Shane
could,  but  then  that  was  a  whole  different  case
altogether.

Alden sighed as he wondered what he was

going  to  face  this  time?  Some  rich  kid  who  had
daddy  issues?  Or  was  it  going  to  be  a  brat  who
didn’t get enough love from Mommy? Or maybe it
was some spoiled DB who had too much time on
his hands and just wanted to party too much. God,
but  Alden  was  sick  of  being  the  go-to  when  it
came  to  the  head  cases  of  the  coalition.  Why
couldn’t  parents  handle  their  own  offspring

Skye’s Limits

anymore?

He heard the door of the training room open

and turned to face his newest pupil. When he got
a good look at the shifter, Alden sucked in a
breath. Wow, that was not what he had expected
at all. Not by a long shot.

The young man had to be one of the best

looking  guys  he’d  ever  seen.  Slim,  but  not  too
skinny,  with  slightly  long  blond  hair,  baby  blue
eyes, and full lips, the man was sexy without even
trying  to  be.  It  didn’t  matter  that  he  had  bags
under his eyes and that his sweats were ten sizes
too big for him. He still made Alden hard and full
of  need,  which  was  odd,  because  it  had  been
forever  since  anybody  had  garnered  that  kind  of
instant reaction from Alden in a long time.

Alden shook his head. What in the hell had

gotten into him? He was here to turn this young
man around, not maul him like he was some kind
of chew toy. But damn was it hard to remember
that. Especially when said guy kept licking his lips
in a nervous manner, and all Alden could think of
was what interesting things he could do with that
tongue.

“Ah, my name is Skye. I’m here for my

training,” the young man said.

Alden snapped out of his fog. Skye! Now it all

made sense. Alden had heard the rumors about
Branson’s younger brother and his problems. So, it

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looked as if Branson had finally wised up and sent
his brother out for help. Well, it was about time.

“Right, I’m Alden. Let’s get right to work. No

sense in standing around and talking. We both
know why you’re here.”

“Yeah, because I’m a fuck up, and you’re

supposed to work the hell out of me until I’m
better.” Skye continued to lick at his lips as he
looked everywhere but at Alden.

“That’s about it.”
Alden threw some sparring gear at Skye. “Let’s

start with this. That way I can see how good you
can fight.”

Skye clumsily caught it. “I can already tell you

that I fight like shit. They tried to show me before,
and they gave up.”

“Yeah, well, I’m different. I don’t give up.

When I’m done with you, you will know how to
fight.”

Skye gave him an if-you-say-so-buddy look

before  he  began  to  put  on  the  equipment.  As
Alden  drew  closer,  he  could  smell  the  lingering
scent  of  booze  emanating  from  Skye.  It  didn’t
come as a surprise to Alden. He’d been told Skye
had  a  drinking  problem.  No  doubt  the  brat  had
spent the night before partying. Well, by the time
Alden  was  done  with  him,  Skye  would  be  too
tired to even think of going out. All he’d want to
do was crawl into bed and crash.

Skye’s Limits

Once Skye got on the sparring gear, he gave

Alden a onceover. “Aren’t you going to put on
any protective stuff?”

Alden just let out a dark laugh. “I won’t need

it.”

Skye gave a hurt look. “I’m not that bad.”
Alden got into a fighting stance. “Let’s just get

going.”

Skye swung out, his punch clumsy and sloppy

at best. Alden easily deflected it and countered
with a blow of his own that sent Skye down to the
mat. Skye landed in an ungraceful pile and shook
his head as if he were trying to clear the birdies.

“Ouch! That hurt,” Skye protested.
“Just think of how bad it would have hurt

without all the padding,” Alden countered
without an ounce of sympathy.

Skye might be as hot as hell, but Alden still had

a job to do, and he was determined to do it well.
Even if Skye did look up at him oh-so-prettily, and
Alden knew that Skye wasn’t even aware he was
doing it.

To his credit, Skye quickly got to his feet and

back into his fighting stance. He once again swung
at Alden and once again ended up on the mat.
They kept this routine up for an hour until Alden
finally called a halt to the activity. By then, Skye
was sweating and probably sporting more than a
few new bruises, despite the padding.

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“What’s next?” Skye asked wearily.
“You take off your padding, and we go to the

shooting range,” Alden said.

Skye scrunched up his nose. “I don’t know if

that’s such a good idea.”

“Why’s that?”
Alden was just dying to hear this story.

Knowing what little he did about Skye it had to be
a doozy and probably was funny as hell.
Although, Alden was going to have to do his best
not to laugh.

“The last time I was there, I accidently shot in

the sky and winged a Hawk.”

Okay, that one was so funny Alden had to bite

the  inside  of  his  cheek  to  keep  a  straight  face.  It
had nothing to do with the fact he thought that a
lot  of  the  Hawks  were  jerks,  either…okay,  it  had
everything  to  do  with  the  fact  he  thought  most
Hawks were jerks.

“How do you accidently shoot in the air?”

Alden asked, once he had control of himself.

“Well, you see, I was trying to act like a sexy

cowboy, and I was doing a dance. I didn’t realize
my finger was on the trigger, and….well, I guess
you can figure out the rest.”

“You know that the shooting range is no place

to play around?”

“I do now.”
Alden pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why do

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I get the feeling you give Branson a lot of
headaches?”

“Because I do. He got really mad the time I

dyed my hair all blue.”

“How did he know? He’s blind.”
“Carson told him. He said that it looked like I

went headfirst into a village of Smurfs. Which isn’t
really fair, considering some of the things Carson
has done with his hair.”

Alden found himself silently agreeing with

Skye on that one. Carson was not only a smartass,
but the Goth had a habit of putting all kinds of
wild-colored streaks in his hair. So he really didn’t
have any room to talk. But then again, nothing
ever stopped Carson from running his trap in the
past, so why should a little hypocrisy?

“Just take off your padding, and let’s go to the

shooting range,” Alden said.

“Okay, but I warned you,” Skye mumbled.
Skye took off his padding, then put it up

without having to be told to. Which was a first in
Alden’s history of students. Not that Alden was
looking for ways to compare Skye to the others
and give him better marks—honest.

They went to the shooting range. It was busy,

and they got a lot of wary looks, most of them
from Hawks. When Skye stuck his tongue out at
them, Alden smacked him on the back of the head.

“Just ignore them,” Alden grumbled.

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“I try to, but they are so much fun to egg on.

Get it….egg,” Skye laughed at his own bad joke.

Alden just shook his head and got two guns,

along with ear and eye protection for them, half of
which he handed over to Skye. “Put this on, and
try not to shoot anybody in the process.”

Skye put on the protective gear, and damn if he

didn’t  look  adorable  in  it.  Once  again,  Alden
pushed  away  his  improper  thoughts  and  gave
Skye  a  gentle  shove  toward  an  empty  shooting
range.

“Come on. Let’s see if you can even hit at a

target first, so I know what I’m working at. And
before you ask, there is no dancing allowed.”

“Buzzkill,” Skye shot back.
Skye aimed at the target that was in the outline

of a Raven and fired. Alden was shocked when
Skye actually hit the target. It wasn’t dead on, but
it wasn’t too far off.

“Wow, I’m actually impressed,” Alden

admitted.

“I used to watch my dad and brother practice

all the time. That was before…” Skye trailed off
and shook his head. “Forget about it.”

But since Alden was there for more than just

training Skye, he couldn’t forget it. “No, tell me.”

Skye nipped at his bottom lip. “That was before

the Ravens attacked our home and killed my
parents and hurt Branson.”

Skye’s Limits

“How old were you at the time?”
“Five.”
“And you still remember it?”
“I still remember everything from back then. I

especially remember how I hid out in the
cupboard instead of being brave and fighting like
Branson did,” Skye said.

Alden could hardly believe what he was

hearing. Was Skye actually blaming himself for
not being braver when he was nothing more than
a toddler? If so, could that be the root of all his
problems?

“Skye, you were just a baby back then. If you

had come out, you would have just ended up hurt
or worse,” Alden told him.

Skye turned away. “How about we get back to

this shooting lesson?”

Alden wanted to press on, but he knew better.

If he pushed too hard now, Skye might never open
up to him again. He needed to earn Skye’s trust in
bits and pieces. He had already pressed enough as
it was. That was okay, Alden was nothing if not
patient.

“Sure, we can continue with the shooting

lesson,” Alden said.

They went on for a few hours, Alden giving

pointers here and there, and by the time they were
finished, Skye had improved even more. Alden
could see that Skye had great potential as a soldier

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when it came to shooting. Now if he could just
improve his hand-to-hand combat skills.

“Let’s go grab some lunch, and we’ll work on

small weapons,” Alden said.

“I can’t wait,” Skye said in a tone that spoke

that he could very well wait.

“Just get moving, smartass,” Alden said.
As they were walking away from the shooting

range, Alden saw Branson waiting for them.
Turning to Skye, Alden said, “Skye, turn in our
equipment while I talk to your brother.”

Skye made a face, but he did as told. As soon as

they were alone, Branson asked, “So how is he
doing?”

“Fine.”
“He hasn’t caused you too many problems?”
“No, in fact, I already figured out what’s been

causing some of his issues.”

Branson gave a half laugh. “One morning with

him and you already know why he is the way he
is? And I haven’t been able to figure it out in all
the time I’ve been living with him?”

“Well, I do this for a living, and you are a little

too close to the situation to be impartial. You need
to figure both of those in to the equation,” Alden
reminded him.

“Then enlighten me.” Branson held out both of

his arms.

“Skye is still carrying baggage from the night

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you guys were attacked by the Ravens.”

“How could he be? That was twenty years ago.

He can’t possibly remember it.”

“Oh, can’t he? He told me today he remembers

how he used to watch you and your dad go out
and practice shooting.”

When Branson went a couple of shades paler,

Alden knew he had hit home.

“He said that?” Branson asked.
“Yes, he also said he hid in a cupboard the

night of the attack. He said he felt he should have
been out there fighting with you instead,” Alden
said.

“But he was only five then. How could he even

think that?”

“I don’t know, but he does, and it’s been eating

at him. Now, I don’t want you to bring this up to
him yet.”

“Why not?” Branson demanded.
“Because I don’t want him to know that I told

you. If you want me to keep working with him, he
has to know that he can trust me and have my
confidence. If you spill now, that will be ruined.
Got it?”

Branson ran a hand through his hair, but he

nodded his head. “Yeah, I got it. But damn, it’s
going to be hard. I can’t believe that he’s been
feeling bad about that.”

Alden noticed that Skye was coming their way.

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“I have to go now. We can talk more later if you
want.”

“Yeah, thanks.”
Alden turned around and walked over to Skye.
“What did my brother want?” Skye asked

before he began to nip at his bottom lip.

“Nothing. He was just checking up on you,”

Alden said.

It was technically the truth. So why did he feel

so damn guilty, and why was he having trouble
meeting Skye’s gaze?

“Come on. It’s time for lunch.” Alden

deliberately walked in front of Skye.

“Wait up. I can’t keep pace with your super

legs,” Skye called out.

They went into the cafeteria, quickly got their

food, and sat down. Some of Skye’s friends called
out to him, but Alden guided Skye to a table made
for two. If he had his say, Skye would be dumping
those losers soon. He needed to be hanging out
with guys like Xavier, Baxley, and Riley instead.
They were the type of influence that Skye needed.

“Eat quickly, we still have a lot of work to do,”

Alden said.

“Yes, sir,” Skye said.
At first, he thought Skye was being sarcastic,

but when Skye began to eat instead of laughing,
Alden realized he was serious. Alden gave him a
droll stare.

Skye’s Limits

“Alden will do just fine, thank you.”
Skye looked up. “I wasn’t for sure. You know,

with you being my superior and all. I wanted to be
proper.”

Alden just rolled his eyes. “Eat.”
Skye began to eat like it was his last meal. For

as fast as he ate, at least he had manners. Alden
had to give him points for that. Usually his
trainees were so starved that they ate like animals.

As soon as they were finished, they took their

trays up front and then went back to the training
room. Once again, Alden pointed to the padding.
“Put it back on because you’re going to need it.”

Skye let out a moan. “Why do I have a feeling

that this is going to hurt again?”

Alden cocked a brow. “Because it is.”
At this point, trainees usually threw a fit, a few

even walked out. Skye walked over and put the
equipment back on. After he was done, he
returned to Alden and said, “Okay, what’s next?”

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Chapter Three

he next morning when Skye woke up, he was
so sore he could barely move. He tried getting

out  of  bed,  but  it  was  like  every  muscle  in  his
body  was  on  fire.  It  felt  like  Satan’s  hot  finger of
embers was touching Skye from head-to-toe. With
some work and plenty of cussing, Skye somehow
managed to roll his way to his feet, then shuffled
his  way  to  the  bathroom.  Turning  the  shower  on
its  hottest  setting  in  hopes  that  the  heat  would
soothe  his  aches,  he  stepped  under  the  spray.  It
helped some but not much.

By the time he got out, he saw he only had a

few minutes to make it to the training center. Shit!
The  last  thing  he  wanted  to  do  was  be  late.  That
was  a  sure  way  to  piss  Alden  off.  Usually  Skye
couldn’t  have  cared  less  about  something  about
that,  but  for  some reason,  he  actually  cared  what
the  Tiger  shifter  thought  about  him.  Which  was
crazy,  since  he’d  only  known  Alden  a  day  and
usually  Skye  didn’t  give  a  damn  what  others

Skye’s Limits

thought of him. He’d long ago built up a shield to
protect him against others thoughts of him. But he
couldn’t help it, with Alden it was different.

When Skye had first seen Alden, he’d expected

to  be  afraid…and  he  was.  But  he’d  also  been
turned on—a lot. Alden was nothing short of hot.
While  many  might  have  been  intimidated  by  the
man’s dark-eyed gaze, Skye found it sexy. He also
found  himself  wanting  to  run  his  hands  through
the man’s short dark hair and rub his hands up the
guy’s body, which Skye knew was a taboo since he
was  his  mentor.  He  wanted  Alden  bad,  and  he
couldn’t help himself.

Skye somehow managed to get his clothes on,

then get to the training center in time. Like the day
before, Alden was waiting for him. And as before,
he  looked  sinfully  good.  Skye  sucked  in  a  breath
as  he  checked  out  his  new  trainer.  Why-oh-why
couldn’t they have stuck him with somebody that
was ugly. It would have made it so much easier to
hate the guy who was putting him through all this
torture if he was hideous. Instead, Skye willingly
went along because he was so busy drooling after
Alden. Skye was putty in his hands. If Alden had
asked  him  to  jump  through  hoops  of  fire,  Skye
would have.

“How are you feeling this morning?” Alden

asked.

Since Skye had been expecting to get orders

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instead of a question about his well-being, the
question threw him off. So it took him a moment
to answer.

“I’m sore as hell,” he admitted.
“Have you shifted?” Alden asked.
“Well…you see, there is an issue about that,”

Skye hedged.

Alden cocked one dark brow. Skye noted he

had a habit of doing that whenever he was
displeased.

“What issue is that?” Alden asked.
“I still have trouble with shifting. I can do it but

not so smoothly. It hurts,” Skye admitted.

He didn’t add that it also scared the hell out of

him. He’d heard of some shifters who became
stuck in their animal form and couldn’t come
back. He didn’t want that to happen to him. While
he liked his Lion, he liked his Skye better.

“Well, you’re going to do it now,” Alden said.
Fear clogged Skye’s throat. “What do you

mean?”

“I don’t think that my statement was that

confusing. Now, shift.”

“I just told you that I’m not that good at it,”

Skye said.

Panic filled him. He didn’t want to shift. He

would rather do anything but that. He would even
rather go through a whole day of sparring minus
the padding.

Skye’s Limits

“You’re never going to get any better at it

unless you practice, and we can’t work with all the
pain you’re in right now. If you shift, you’ll feel
better,” Alden said without an ounce of sympathy.

“They were right about you. You are mean,”

Skye blurted.

“I’m not mean. I’m just tough on my trainees

and expect the best out of them. I wouldn’t ask
them to do anything I didn’t think they were
capable of doing. I know you can do this.”

“But what if I get stuck as a Lion?” Skye asked,

finally voicing his biggest fear.

“I won’t let that happen. Now, you have to

trust me.”

Skye took a few deep breaths. Did he trust

Alden? They had only met the day before. Alden
was asking a lot of him. Skye thought that over in
his  head  for  several  moments.  In  the  end,  he
decided that, yes, he did trust Alden. After all, his
brother  wouldn’t  have  thrown  him  with
somebody  who  didn’t  know  what  they  were
doing.

“Okay, but you have to promise me you’ll help

me if I get stuck,” Skye said.

Alden nodded. “I will. Now, I’m going to talk

you through the shift, so it doesn’t hurt. From the
sounds of it, you fear it, so it must be painful for
you. You’ve been fighting it. You need to relax,
and just let it take over. Close your eyes.”

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Skye did as instructed. Wondering how in the

hell that was going to help.

“Now, think of your Lion,” Alden said.
Skye did. As soon as he did, he began to

tremble. He couldn’t help it, just the thought of
having to shift scared him shitless.

“No, don’t fear it. Embrace it. It’s a part of you.

It  loves  you,  and  you  need  to  learn  to  love  it.
Think  of  all  the  freedom  it  gives  you.  Of  all  the
stuff you can do while you’re in the Lion form. Of
how  powerful  you  are  while  you  are  an  animal.
How much stronger you are.”

Skye did that. He thought about how he could

not be taken down so easily. How he could fight
Ravens better. How if he had been a Lion the night
of the attack, he could have saved Branson from
ever being blinded. How he could have saved his
parents. How he could have saved their lives from
being fucked up.

To his amazement, he began to feel the shift

take over. It didn’t hurt this time either. It was
smooth and effortless. Before he knew it, he was in
his Lion form. He paced around the training room
a few times and even let out a roar of happiness.

Alden came up and petted Skye. “See? I knew

you could do it.”

Skye gazed up at him. It was strange looking at

Alden through his animal form. Everything
seemed more vivid and intense. Even the scents

Skye’s Limits

were amplified. Wanting to get a better whiff of
Alden, Skye brushed by him. Ah, yes! It was so
nice. A dark, earthy smell. Skye likey.

“Okay, enough of the games. Time to shift

back,” Alden said.

Skye felt a moment of panic. This was it. The

big test. He let out a big huffing sound. If he got
stuck like this he would never forgive Alden and
he was so going to take such a big chunk out of
Alden’s ass.

“Don’t act that way. You can do it,” Alden

admonished. “All you have to do now is think of
your human side.”

Skye closed his eyes and embraced his human

side.  He  thought  about  not  only  himself,  but  of
home,  of  family,  of  being  back  with  Alden.  Soon
he  could  feel  the  shift  take  over  again.  This  time
was as easy as the last, and before he knew it, he
was back in his human form.

Skye looked down at himself. Smoothing the

wrinkles from his clothes. He still didn’t get why
their clothes remained in place while they shifted,
but then again, who was he to ask questions? He
had just shifted into a Lion, so clothes were the
least of the questions on his list of weirdness in his
world.

“I did it, and it didn’t hurt at all,” Skye said in

amazement.

He was so happy that he felt like doing a happy

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dance,  but  then  he  remembered  Alden’s  rules
about  no  boogying.  While  Skye  was  pretty  sure
that  only  was  for  the  shooting  range,  he  wasn’t
going  to  take  any  chances  at  pissing  off  his
mentor.

Alden smiled, and it did all kinds of things to

Skye’s insides. “See? I told you. It isn’t that hard
once you stop fighting it and let the Lion take
control. How do your muscles feel?”

Skye moved around a bit, surprised to find that

he wasn’t sore at all anymore. “I feel great now.”

“Good, because you’re in for another day of

hard work.”

Instead of feeling pissed at the thought of

another  day  of  grueling  training,  Skye  was
resigned  to  the  fact.  He  actually  was  looking
forward to it a little bit. After so many days of just
laying  around  and  doing  nothing,  it  was  kind  of
nice to do something productive with his life.

“Hey, I have a question for you,” Skye said.
He hoped that Alden wouldn’t laugh at him or

make  light  of  what  he  was  he  about  to  say.  If  he
did, Skye didn’t think he could take it. After being
marked  as  the  coalition  loser  for  so  long,  Skye
would be destroyed if Alden thought of him in the
same  manner.  Skye  didn’t  know  why  Alden’s
opinion meant so much to him, but it did.

“What is it?” Alden asked.
“Do you think I would ever be good enough to

Skye’s Limits

be a coalition soldier?”

Skye braced himself for Alden’s answer. Alden

paused a moment as he was thinking it over.

“With a little bit of training, I don’t see why not.

You are a damn good shooter. You need a lot of
work with hand-to-hand combat, but it’s not
something that we can’t work with,” Alden finally
said.

Skye couldn’t believe it. Not only had Alden

not scoffed or laughed at his question, but he had
actually  said  that  there  might  be  a  chance.
Suddenly  Skye  felt  ten  feet  taller.  For once  in  his
life,  he  didn’t  feel  like  a  loser  or  the  coalition
stoner.

“You really think so?” Skye asked.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Everybody else thinks I’m just some loser.”
“That’s because you never gave them a chance

to think otherwise. You need to show them that
you’re something else. I know you can do it if you
try hard enough.”

“Do you think they’ll even let me into the

soldier training program?” Skye asked.

“With my recommendation, sure.”
Skye shook his head. “Nah, I don’t ever see it

happening. To them, I’m just some stoner who is a
fuckup.”

Alden stepped closer and put his fingers under

Skye’s chin, forcing him to lock gazes with the

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trainer. Skye felt his breath halting as he found
himself getting lost in Alden’s dark eyes.

“You have to prove them wrong,” Alden

repeated slowly.

“I don’t know if I can. I’ve been such a fuckup

for so long it might be too late,” Skye answered.

“It’s never too late. You changed my opinion on

you.”

Skye swallowed hard. God, how he loved

having Alden touching him even if it was just his
fingers  on  Skye’s  chin.  The  moment  seemed  so
intimate,  yet  Skye  had  to  be  imagining  it.  There
could  be  no  way  that  Alden  had  any  feelings
toward  him.  Alden  was  his  mentor.  Plus,  Alden
was  one  of  the  best  warriors  in  the  coalition.
Somebody  that  everybody  looked  up  to.  There
was  no  way  possible  he  could  be  interested  in  a
loser like Skye.

“I have?” Skye asked, his voice filled with awe.
“Yes, I thought that I was going to be dealing

with a petulant brat. Instead, you have been
fulfilling all my expectations and then some.”

“It’s because I don’t want to become like Gage’s

mother.  The  night  before  I  came  here,  I  realized
that I needed help, and I knew that you were the
only one who could give it to me. Sure, there were
times  when  I  wanted  to  argue,  but  I’m  not  only
doing  this  for  me.  I’m  doing  it  for  Branson  and
Gage.  Gage  already  had  to  live  with  one  drunk.

Skye’s Limits

He shouldn’t have to live with another one,” Skye
said.

Alden feathered the pad of his thumb over

Skye’s cheek. “So that’s why you’ve been working
so hard. I wondered why I didn’t get any attitude
from you.”

“I want to make sure that I do this right. I don’t

want to fuck up this time,” Skye said.

It was so important to him to succeed this time.

For  once  in  his  life,  Skye  wanted  to  make  things
right. He wanted to stop being  the screw up and
make  Branson  proud  of  him.  Most  of  all,  Skye
wanted  to  stop  being  that  scared  kid  in  the
cupboard.

Alden abruptly dropped his hand and cleared

his  throat,  then  stepped  away,  and  just  like  that
the  moment  was  broken.  Skye  shook  his  head
slightly.  It  was  like  Alden  felt  they  had  crossed
some  line  and  he’d  done  something  wrong,
although  for  the  life  of  him,  Skye  couldn’t  figure
out what it was. It wasn’t like they had kissed or
anything.  Although,  Skye  wouldn’t  have  minded
if  they  had.  In  fact,  he  wouldn’t  have  minded  if
they had done a whole lot more.

But then that would have been crossing a line.

Alden was his teacher…his mentor, and that was
probably a big no-no. For all Skye knew, it could
get Alden in a lot of trouble if he got up close and
personal with his mentors. The last thing Skye

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wanted to do was to get Alden in hot water.

Alden went over and got the sparring

equipment. “Let’s spend most of the morning
focusing on your hand-to-hand, since that’s where
you’re the weakest.”

“Okay,” Skye said, even though he knew that

would mean he would spend most of the time
kissing the mat.

They got into their fighting positions, and, just

as expected, Skye spent most of the time facedown
on mat. In fact, he got on a first name basis with
the damn thing he spent so much time on it.

That still didn’t stop him. He would spring

back up every time and start fighting again. Now
that he’d mentioned wanting to be a soldier for the
coalition,  he  was  more  determined  than  ever  to
make  it  happen.  He  wanted  to  be  a  contributing
member  to  the  group,  and  he  could  think  of  no
better  way.  If  that  meant  he  had  to  learn  how  to
fight,  then  so  be  it.  He  would  put  up  with  the
bruises to his body and his ego.

Near the end of their sparring match, he even

started to get a few blows in here and there. Not
many, but enough to make Alden wince in pain.
Ha! Maybe he’d think twice about not wearing
any padding.

By that time, they’d gathered a small crowd. At

first, Skye was dismayed. That was until he heard
some of their comments.

Skye’s Limits

“Look at him, he won’t stop.”
“You have to give the little guy credit, he never

gives up.”

“He has some balls, I’ll give him that.”
“Wow, he’s a fireball.”
Skye realized they were actually rooting for

him. It was enough to push him on to continue to
fight. A sweat broke out over his body, and his
muscles screamed in pain, but he pushed on. No
matter how many times he was thrown down, he
got back up and fought on.

It wasn’t until Alden held up a hand that Skye

stopped.

“Great job. You’re actually improving some,”

Alden said. “Let’s go get some lunch.”

As Skye took off his equipment, he basked in

Alden’s praise. All the while wondering why it
meant so much to him that he had pleased the
Tiger shifter.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Four

few days later, Alden was in the middle of
training Skye when an alarm went off,

followed by a voice on the loudspeaker, “Raven
attack taking place. Alpha, Beta, and Cheetah
teams scramble.”

Alden let out a curse. They would have to call

out  his  team  when  he  was  in  the  middle  of
training  a  student.  It  was  unusual  since  his  team
was  one  of  the  most  elite  and  only  used  in  the
worst case scenarios. But he had no choice. He had
to go, duty called.

“That’s me. I need to go,” he told Skye.
“Go ahead. I’ll be fine on my own,” Skye

assured him.

“Practice on the obstacle course while I’m

gone,” Alden ordered.

Skye nodded. Alden figured that ought to keep

the brat busy. The obstacle course was so hard and
demanding that it would make an American Ninja
Warrior contestant weep in fear. Even most of the

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seasoned feline soldiers had trouble finishing it.
Skye would no doubt spend most of the time
picking himself off the ground.

Alden got to the van and met the rest of his

group.  Vapor,  Logan,  Andrew,  and  a  handful  of
other guys. Usually,  they  would be leading other
groups,  but  as  part  of  the  Cheetah  group,  they
were  a  new  elite  unit  that  had  been  formed  for
when  situations  were  at  the  worst  and  needed  a
heavy hand.

“What do we have?” Alden asked as he hopped

inside.

“It would seem that a group of Ravens have

attacked another group of feline homes,” Andrew
said.

While Andrew may look on the small side,

looks could be deceiving. He was the best fighter
out there. Not only was he a master at weapons,
but he could get in and out of any situation faster
than anybody. The guy was like a shadow
sometimes.

Vapor, who got his name for being much the

same way and also happened to be Andrew’s
mate, said, “Why these civilians keep insisting on
living in clusters is beyond me. They have to know
that they are making themselves a great big target
to the Ravens.”

Andrew shrugged. “Maybe they just like living

close to their family.”

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Andrew was Mitchell’s younger brother. The

whole Jaguar family and their mates lived in one
big living quarter in the back of HQ. Vapor turned
to his mate and rubbed him on the back, knowing
he’d touched a nerve.

“Yeah, but they don’t have the safety of living

where we do. They’re on the outside where it’s
more dangerous and open to attack. They need to
think of that.”

Silently, Alden agreed with Vapor. While it

might be hard to live away from one’s family, they
had to think of safety first. Living in one cluster
was just an open invite for the Ravens to attack.

The van raced to the location, making the men

in the back bounce around. Alden winced, he was
going to have some interesting bruises on his ass,
that was for sure. He would have yelled at the
driver had the situation not been so dire.

He smelled the smoke even before they reached

the  location.  He  leaned  forward  to  look  out  the
window and  saw the  smoke billowing  up. It was
black  ringed  with  gray  and  reached  high  up  into
the sky. The fact that no fire trucks were racing to
the location showed that the locals already knew it
was  a  shifter  situation  and  were  staying  as  far
away as possible.

They were the first team to arrive. That still

didn’t stop them from jumping from the back of
the van and getting right into the fray. It wasn’t

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like they were going to let something like being
outnumbered a hundred to one stop them. They
were too crazy for that.

Logan let out a war cry as he lifted his machine

gun and sprayed a line of fire into the air. Not to
be outdone, Vapor lifted his and shot at a group of
approaching Ravens who were in their human
form.

As always, the Ravens reminded Alden of a

bunch of guys who had tried to go Goth and got it
all wrong. With black hair, all dark clothes, and
pale skin, they had soulless eyes that reminded
Alden of onyx marbles. He didn’t get creeped out
by much, but even he got the shivers at the sight
of so many of them.

Alden took down about half of the Raven’s

with his shooting, but the rest kept going. He let
out a curse as he wondered where in the hell the
other teams were. Not only were they about to get
their asses handed to them, but all hell was
breaking loose.

Half of the homes were on fire. The civilian

felines  were  doing  the  best  they  could  to  defend
themselves,  but  they  weren’t  trained  soldiers.
Already, Alden could see a couple of bodies on the
ground  that  he  knew  were  feline  shifters.  He
cussed at the senseless loss.

“Where in the hell is our backup?” he asked.
No sooner had he said that when several black

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vans pulled up. The doors opened up, and
coalition soldiers both Hawk and feline began to
pour out. Half of them shifted, the Hawks taking
to the air while the feline began to run down the
Ravens who were in human form.

“It’s about damn time,” Alden said.
“Now you know how I feel most of the time,”

Shane said, coming up with an evil grin on his
face. “We assassins are always waiting on you
guys to show your asses up when we go on duel
assignments.”

“I’m just crying in my Cheerios for you,”

Andrew drawled.

“You should be since I ate the last of your Lucky

Charms,” Shane shot back.

Andrew cocked his machine gun. “Bastard,

that’s a killing offense in our house. You know
that. I thought that since you and Trevor got your
own place, you would be staying away from our
kitchen.”

Shane shrugged before he pulled out his Glock

and fired off a few shots, neatly killing off two
Ravens. “I was hungry, and we were out. What
can I say?”

Alden gave them an incredulous look. Here

they were in the middle of a battle, and those two
were arguing about cereal of all things. That
family was full of crazies.

Alden was so busy looking at them that he

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didn’t see the Raven flying his way until it was too
late. Claws raked his cheek and knocked him to
the ground. Pain exploded in his head as it hit the
hard packed dirt.

Quick as lightning, Alden got back up to his

feet only to be knocked down again when a Raven
hit him on the other cheek. Great! Now he had a
matching set of claw marks. This time Alden
landed on his chest, sprawled out like some green
soldier on his first mission.

Boy, if Skye could only see him now, he would

be laughing his ass off. But Skye wasn’t there. He
was safe back at the HQ, no doubt sweating his
ass off on the obstacle course.

“You look like you’re really having a rough

time there, slick,” Shane snarked.

“Bite me,” Alden growled.
“I would, but Trevor said it was rude, so I

stopped it.”

Knowing Shane, that was probably the truth.

Alden got back up on his feet, traded his machine
gun for a pair of Glocks, and started fighting again.
He took cover behind a car and began shooting.

Once the other teams arrived, they quickly got

things under control. The Ravens were numerous,
but so were the coalition soldiers. Before long,
they had the Ravens flying or running away.

Afterward, Alden looked around at all the

damage and let out a deep sigh of regret. While it

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looked like they had only lost two civilians, their
homes were all on fire.

Damn the Ravens! And damn them for their

hate!

Why did they always have to attack the

innocent?  It  made  Alden  think  of  Skye  and  his
family  and  the  hurt  that  had  been  caused  by  his
attack.  Of  all  the  baggage  that  Skye  still  carried
around.  How  years  later  he  still  hadn’t  fully
healed. How he might never be the same. It made
Alden  want  to  find  every  Raven  out  there  and
destroy them all.

Afterward, they stayed until the cleanup crews

came, and then they loaded up in the vans and
drove back to HQ. The entire time there, Alden
couldn’t wait to get back to Skye.

He let out a sigh. What was he going to do? He

knew  that  his  feelings  toward  Skye  were  wrong.
That Alden had more than crossed the line—he’d
hopped,  skipped,  and  jumped  over  it.  He  had
strong  emotions  for  Skye,  and  there  was  no
denying it anymore.

The van pulled into the parking lot of HQ, and

they  all  unloaded.  Alden  quickly  unloaded  his
weapons  and  debriefed  then  went  to  see  what
trouble Skye was up to. Logan went with him, no
doubt for the entertainment aspect.

He found Skye on the obstacle course. There

was a crowd around him, too. Since they were all

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cheering and clapping, Alden knew it couldn’t be
good.

“Oh, shit!” he said as he rushed forward to see

what his trainee had done this time.

He pushed his way through the crowd and was

stunned by what he saw. Skye was navigating his
way through the course, and he was doing it at an
amazing pace. One that most seasoned soldiers
couldn’t manage.

“Look at your little guy go,” Logan said as he

nudged Alden with his elbow.

“He is amazing, isn’t he?” Alden said with

pride.

“I didn’t know he had it in him,” Logan

admitted.

“You should see him shoot. He’s even better at

that.”

Logan cocked a brow. “Really? Sounds like he

has the makings of a great soldier.”

“Funny you should mention that. Skye said that

he would like to go that route. You wouldn’t be
interested in taking him on your team, would
you?”

Logan cocked his head to the side as he seemed

to be thinking it over for a moment. “If you get
him cleaned and straightened up, then sure. I
would be more than happy to make a soldier out
of him.”

A burst of happiness shot through Alden, and it

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was all he could do not to let out a whoop. He
used all his control to maintain a straight face.

“Great, I’ll let Skye know. He’ll be thrilled to

hear that.”

Logan studied him carefully. “Why do I get a

feeling that Skye means more to you than just a
student or mentor?”

Busted! Alden should have known that he

couldn’t get anything past Logan. He had known
the man too long. They could read each other like
a damn book.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”

Alden still said, shooting a nervous glance at the
crowd.

Logan grabbed Alden by the arm and led him

to an empty corner. Once they were alone, Logan
looked him straight in the face. “Fess up, buddy.
Tell me what’s really going on.”

“You know it would be improper for me to

have anything but impartial feelings toward
Skye,” Alden said.

“But you still do have feelings for him, don’t

you?”

For a moment, Alden thought about denying it,

but then he realized that it would feel good to
unload his secret on somebody. Letting out a sigh,
he said, “Yes, I do. Damn it all.”

“What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing. That’s the right thing to do.”

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Logan rolled his eyes. “Skye’s not going to be

your trainee forever.”

“Meaning?”
“Once you’re done training him and I take over,

he’s open takings for you,” Logan said in a duh
voice.

“Somehow, I don’t think others will see it that

way.”

“That’s always been your problem.”
Alden grew confused. “What has?”
“You care too much what others think. You

need to care only about what you think this one
time. Otherwise, you may lose the best thing that
ever came into your life.”

“Which is?”
Logan pointed toward the obstacle course.

“Skye.  He  could  very  well  be  the  mate  you’ve
been  looking  for  all  your  life.  Don’t  blow  it
because you’re too caught up on a set of principles
that  you  have  set  up  for  yourself.  That  kid
deserves better.”

With those parting words, Logan turned, then

left. Leaving Alden standing there all alone with
his mouth hanging open in stunned silence.

Alden looked back over at the course to see

Skye was just finishing up. Could Skye be his
mate? Sure, Alden had feelings for him—really,
really strong feelings, but he had never stopped to
ponder that Skye could be the one for him.

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Now that Alden rolled it over in his mind, he

couldn’t think  of anyone that  he would rather be
with.  Skye  might  make  Alden  want  to  beat  his
head  against  the  wall  at  times,  but  there  were
more times Skye made Alden want to smile. That
was  something  that  Alden  hadn’t  found  in
somebody in…well, forever.

Skye came running up to him. He took off his

protective headgear, leaving behind cowlicks. It
should have made him look dorky, but on Skye, it
just made him all the more endearing.

“Did you see me?” Skye asked, a big grin on his

face.

“Yes, I did. You impressed me.”
“Really?”
“Yes, not only that, but you impressed Logan.

So much so that he said that once I’m finished
with you, he’ll take you on as a trainee to be one of
his soldiers.”

Skye’s eyes grew wide. “You’re kidding me.”
Alden let out a small laugh. He just couldn’t

help himself. Skye’s reaction was so funny. “I
don’t kid about stuff that important.”

Skye gave a little jump before he embraced

Alden. It was a sweaty hug, but damn if Alden
didn’t enjoy every second of it. All-too-soon Skye
pulled away. “Oh my God, thank you so much! I
can’t wait to tell Branson and Gage. They aren’t
going to believe it. I’m not a fuckup anymore.”

Skye’s Limits

“Hey, you were never a fuckup. You were just a

little lost there for a moment.”

Alden hated it when Skye talked about himself

that way. Sure, Skye might have had a few
bumps…alright, a lot of bumps along the way, but
he was working hard at cleaning up his act.
What’s more, he had come there almost all on his
own, so he deserved some credit.

“You’re the only one who has ever said that to

me,” Skye said softly.

“I said it because it’s true,” Alden replied.
“Thank you. And I don’t just mean for the

comment. I mean for everything.”

“Skye, you did it all on your own. You have no

idea how amazing you are,” Alden said.

“No, Alden, you have no idea how amazing

you are,” Skye returned.

Skye reached up and gently touched Alden’s

cheeks. “You’re hurt. How did that happen?”

“I got taken down by a couple of Ravens. I’ll be

okay.”

“You need to shift and make sure that you

heal.”

A lump formed in Alden’s throat. Since he was

an orphan because he’d lost all of his family in the
mass Raven attack over twenty years ago, nobody
had ever cared about his injuries before. It felt
good to have somebody who gave a damn about
him.

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And it was at that moment that Alden realized

that Logan was right, Skye was the one for him,
and Alden wasn’t about to let him get away.

Skye’s Limits

Chapter Five

ver the next couple of weeks, Skye worked
hard with Alden to get ready to go into

training to be a soldier. Since he lacked the most in
hand-to-hand and small weapons fighting, that
was what they worked the most at.

Most nights, Skye went home so tired that he

could  barely  crawl  into  bed.  He  received  texts
from  his  old  friends  asking  him  to  go  out.  Every
time, Skye would respond the same way—that he
was too tired to go out. Eventually, the texts died
down,  and  they  stopped  bothering  him.  Skye
realized that he had probably pissed them off, and
they had ditched him as a friend. Instead of being
upset about it, he felt a sense of relief. It was as if
that  old  chapter  of  his  life  had  finally  closed  and
he could finally move on.

He no longer felt the urge to go out and party.

He  was  set  on  his  goal  to  become  a  coalition
soldier.  He  wanted  to  make  Branson  proud  of
him.  What’s  more,  he  wanted  to  make  Alden

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proud of him.

As Skye lay in his bed, all sore and tired from

his latest day of work, his mind drifted to his
trainer. While he knew it was wrong, he couldn’t
help but think of Alden in a sexual way. What
Skye would do just to get one piece of Alden. Oh,
who was he kidding? He wanted the whole man,
every from his toes to his scrumptious lips.

Gah! Just thinking about Alden made Skye

hard. Palming his erection through his sweats,
Skye thought about how sexy Alden looked. Even
when he was all sweaty from working out, he
managed to flip all of Skye’s buttons.

Skye moved his hand and threw it over his face.

He might as well forget it. Even if he did clean up
his act, there was no way there could be anything
between  the  two  of  them.  Not  only  was  there  no
way  that  Alden  would  ever  be  interested  in
somebody who was as young as Skye, but Alden
was some elite soldier. He was the best of the best.
While  Skye  was  some  bumbling  nobody.  Why
would he ever be interested in a nobody like Skye
who was ten years younger than him?

Yet there had been times when Skye could have

sworn  that  he  saw  a  spark  of  interest  in  Alden’s
eyes.  Of  course,  Skye  could  just  be  imagining  it.
Maybe it was his mind playing tricks on him. Only
wishful  thinking  on  his  part.  Or  it  could  be  that
Alden just had something stuck in his eyes at the

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time for all Skye knew.

Skye buried his head in the pillow. He was

driving  himself  crazy  by  thinking  of  all  the
possible  scenarios.  He  needed  to  face  facts.
Nothing was going to happen between Alden and
him,  period.  So,  he  just  needed  to  forget  about  it
and  focus  and  what  was  more  important,
becoming  a coalition soldier. That was his goal—
not getting a piece of dick.

Closing his eyes, Skye fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning when Skye showed up to

training, he was so tired from tossing and turning
the night before that he could barely keep his eyes
open. Of course, Alden had to notice as soon as he
saw him.

“I thought I told you to get a good night’s rest.

You weren’t out partying, were you?” Alden
asked sharply.

Skye, being a bit grumpy from lack of sleep,

immediately went on the defense. “No, I just had
trouble falling asleep. Why do you always have to
assume the worse with me?”

“What else am I to expect? You come here

looking like you have been dragged through the
mud and back again. Going by your track record, I
have no choice but to assume the worst,” Alden
shot back.

Skye immediately became wide awake as anger

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shot through him. “I haven’t gone out once since
I’ve started working with you. So what makes you
think that I would start now?”

“Because, you obviously didn’t get any sleep

last night so something is up.”

Skye let out a shaky breath. “What more do you

want from me? I come here every day, on time. I
give you one hundred percent. I do whatever you
ask and never complain. I even shifted when you
asked me to, even though it terrified the hell out of
me. I don’t know how much more I can give you
to show you that you can trust me.”

“Everybody relapses at least once or twice.

Nobody would blame you if you had,” Alden said
in a more gentle voice.

Skye held both arms out. “Do you want to come

and smell my breath or something? You’ll see that
there isn’t a hint of booze. In fact, I’ve lost all my
old  friends  because  I’ve  refused  to  go  out  with
them  anymore.  Not  that  you  give  a  damn.
Obviously, you don’t give a shit about me, or else
you wouldn’t be accusing me of this.”

Never in his life had Skye been more angry or

hurt. He had expected this kind of treatment from
Branson and maybe Gage, but never from Alden.
In the short time that Skye had known Alden, he’d
grown to trust the Tiger shifter, and this kind of
behavior was coming completely out of left field.
It felt like a blow to Skye’s gut.

Skye’s Limits

Alden’s stared at him for a moment. “You

swear to me that you didn’t go out last night?”

“On my life. Not that you’d believe me.”
Alden let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, I do believe

you. It’s just when I saw you coming in looking
like shit, I thought for sure you’d had a relapse.”

“Fuck you.”
“Hey! I’m still you’re mentor, and you’ll treat

me with some respect,” Alden shot back.

“That shit goes both ways. You haven’t shown

me any respect this morning with your
accusations.”

“I have every right to worry about you. You

don’t exactly have a stellar past,” Alden reminded
Skye.

Skye opened and closed his mouth a few times

as he tried to think of a comeback to that one, but
damned if he could think of one. Alden was right.
Skye didn’t have a good past, and there was no
arguing it.

“Can we just get to work,” Skye finally said.
He felt like his heart had been ripped out and

stomped  on.  Everything  he’d  feared  that  Alden
thought  about  him  had  been  confirmed.  All  this
time he’d thought that maybe…just maybe Alden
would be able to see  past all his fuckups, but no.
Alden  saw  Skye  like  the  rest  of  the  coalition  saw
him, as nothing more than a loser.

Why did Skye even bother? Even if he did

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become  the  best  soldier  in  the  damn  coalition,
everyone  would  still  think  he  was  nothing  more
than  a  loser.  The  worst  part  of  it  was,  Skye  had
nobody  to  blame  for  it  but  himself.  All  the
culpability lay at his size ten feet.

He began to put on the sparring equipment in

short jerky movements. Those Hawks had been
right, he was nothing more than a useless stoner.
He might as well give it up now. Why even try to
pretend that he was something that he wasn’t? He
may as well save Alden all the trouble and just
give up now.

“Are you done pouting? Can we get going?”

Alden asked.

Rage filled Skye. How dare Alden egg him on

when he was the one who started this whole
thing? Skye wondered what it was that he’d ever
seen in the guy in the first place. He was nothing
but a big jerk.

Getting into a fighting position, Skye nodded

his head. He wasn’t even giving Alden the
satisfaction of speaking to him. Let the asshole talk
to the wall for all Skye cared.

They began to spar. This time, Skye fought with

all his might. He used all his anger. His anger at
the Ravens who had fucked up his life. His anger
at those who had dissed him all along. His anger
at Alden. All of it.

At first, he missed most of his punches. But

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soon  he  started  to  get  some  punches  in.  Then  to
his  surprise  and  delight,  he  started  to  get  even
more  in.  Skye  continued  to  fight  on,  not  holding
back.

Then he got one good one in. It hit Alden

straight in the face. There was a loud crunching
noise and blood sprayed everywhere. Skye let out
a gasp of horror as he realized he’d broken
Alden’s nose.

“Shit!” Skye said.
Alden bent over as blood dripped all over the

place. Skye ran over and grabbed a gym towel,
quickly bringing it back over. “Here, hold this
over it.”

Alden did, the white towel becoming red as the

blood continued to flow.

“I am so sorry,” Skye said.
Alden shifted and so soon there was huge-ass

Tiger in Alden’s place. Skye took a couple of steps
back and said, “Like I said, I’m really, really,
sorry. I didn’t mean to do it.”

The Tiger came up closer and nudged Skye

with its big nose. Skye stumbled back. His heart
began to beat fast, hoping that Alden wasn’t
pissed at him and going to take a chunk out of him
for retaliation.

“Alden, I said I was sorry. What more do you

want?”

The Tiger shifted, and soon Alden was standing

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in its place. “Well, for one thing, you could be
congratulating yourself for finally getting in a
good punch.”

Skye gave him an incredulous look. “Are you

kidding me? I broke your nose and made you
bleed all over the place.”

“True, but you got in a well-placed blow. That’s

a first. We should be celebrating, not worrying
about a little blood being shed. It happens all the
time in training. You better get used to it if you
want to be a soldier,” Alden warned him.

“But I didn’t want to hurt you. I did it because I

was mad at you,” Skye admitted.

Alden let out a sigh as he ran his hands through

his short hair. “You had every right to be angry at
me.”

Skye shook his head to make sure he was

hearing okay. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, I’m not. I was being an asshole earlier. I’m

man enough to admit it.”

Skye nipped on his bottom lip. “Why did you

yell at me then?”

“I was worried about you. I care a lot about

you, and I was worried that you had messed up.”

Skye’s heart skipped a beat. “You care about

me.”

Alden looked up at the sky. “Yeah, I do. More

than I should, but I do.”

Skye wanted to pinch himself to make sure that

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he wasn’t dreaming. “Why? What’s wrong with
you caring about me?”

“You’re my student. I should be keeping my

distance from you.”

Ooooooohhhhh…so those looks hadn’t been

imagined after all. A thrill of happiness went
through Skye, and he almost did a happy dance.
Instead, he took a step closer to Alden.

“What would you say if I told you that I care

about you, too?” Skye asked.

“I would say that we are treading on dangerous

ground.”

Skye moved in even closer, and Alden didn’t

make any move to step away. Skye looked up
from under his lashes. “You know that I’ve never
been good at playing by the rules.”

“But I have been,” Alden countered.
“Have you ever considered breaking them once

in a while?”

“No.”
Skye’s heart skipped just a beat, but he wasn’t

going to be beaten that easily.

“How about bending them just a wee little bit?”

he asked instead.

“Skye, don’t tempt me,” Alden said.
By now their lips were just inches apart. Their

breaths mingling. The electricity in the room so
high that it was almost explosive.

“It’s just you and me in this room, Alden,

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nobody would ever have to know,” Skye said.

“But I would know,” Alden said.
“All I’m asking for is one kiss. That’s all.”
Alden let out a moan. “You brat, you know I

can’t resist you.”

Alden wrapped one arm around Skye’s waist

and brought him in close. It was a bit difficult
since Skye still had on the sparring equipment, but
they managed. Slanting his mouth down, Alden
brought their lips together in a heated kiss.

Skye let out a moan of his own as soon as he got

a taste of Alden for the first time. It was spicy with
a bit of wildness mixed in, just like Alden’s
personality. Skye found himself wanting to taste
even more and slid his tongue out to explore.

Alden let out a little growl. Maybe to let Skye

know that he was the one in charge. Skye found
himself loving that trait. He went pliant in Alden’s
embrace, letting Alden take the lead. Alden used
his free hand to pull at Skye’s hair, so he could get
at his mouth better. Skye opened up to give Alden
full access to his mouth.

Alden took advantage, plundering Skye’s

mouth.  Skye  grew  hard,  his  erection  pressing
painfully  against  his  pants.  He  wanted  to  rub
against  Alden  for  some  relief,  but  the  damn
padding got in the way. Skye wanted to rip it off,
so he could get closer to Alden. Hell, Skye wanted
to  rip  off  all  his  clothes.  Then  he  wanted  to  get

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down and naked on the mats and have some real
fun.

All too soon, Alden pulled away. Skye let out a

sound of protest and reached for Alden. Alden put
a hand in the center of Skye’s chest and held him
at bay.

“One kiss. Remember?” Alden said.
“One more?” Skye asked hopefully.
“You have no idea how tempted I am to say

yes, but we already have gone too far.”

“Alden, you have no idea how much I want

you,” Skye said.

Skye knew he was coming off as a bit needy,

but he was beyond caring. He was hard and horny
as hell. At this point, he was willing to do just
about anything to get what he wanted. He would
even run the obstacle course twenty times if that’s
what it took.

“Oh, I think I do. Because I want you just as

much,” Alden said hoarsely.

Reaching out, he ran the back of his knuckles

down Skye’s cheek. “We just have to wait a little
longer. I won’t be your trainer forever.”

“What are you trying to say?” Skye asked, his

breath catching.

“Once you start your training as a soldier, you

won’t be under me anymore, which means we can
be free to start a relationship.”

“Are you saying that you really do want to start

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something with me?” Skye asked, afraid to believe
what he was hearing.

“Yes, I do. I want you, Skye. In every way

possible.”

Skye smiled as happiness soared through him.

“I want you, too.”

Alden grinned back at him. “I was hoping you

would say that. Now let’s get back to work so we
can get you ready for Logan. The sooner you can
get to him, the sooner we can be together.”

Skye’s Limits

Chapter Six

lden continued to work Skye hard the next
few weeks, even though he knew that with

each passing day, it would bring their time
together to an end. Alden viewed that with mixed
emotions. While he wanted to be free to start a real
relationship with Skye, he was going to miss this
special time with his trainee.

Skye had a way about him that would lighten

up Alden’s workday. Be it a smile of delight when
Skye  learned  something  new,  or  the  way  Skye
laughed  when  he  knew  he’d  messed  something
up.  All  of  it  made  Alden’s  day  pass  faster  and
made him realize why he’d gotten into the role of
a  mentor  in  the  first  place.  Gone  was  the  jaded
feeling  that  he’d  felt  before,  and  in  its  place  was
the love of the job that he used to have.

He was getting the equipment ready for the day

when Skye came walking in. Alden did a double
take when he noticed that Skye had cut his hair. It
was now collar-length.

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“You cut your hair,” Alden said, never one not

to state the obvious.

Skye halted and touched it. “Do you like it? I

figured that Logan would have me chop it once I
joined up with him, so I figured I may as well do it
now.”

Alden smiled to put Skye at ease. “I love it. I

was just surprised is all.”

Skye gave a crooked grin that went straight to

Alden’s cock. “I was hoping that you’d like it. I
did it last night. Well, I didn’t do it myself, I went
to a salon. But you know what I mean.”

“It looks great on you.”
“Great enough for another kiss?” Skye asked

hopefully.

Alden tossed the equipment at him. “Don’t

push it, brat.”

“Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying.”
Skye got the equipment on. This time, Alden

put some on, too. After the broken nose incident,
he wasn’t taking any chances. Skye had a mean
left hook now. After they suited up, they squared
off and fought.

Alden hated and loved that Skye was getting to

be one hell of a fighter. It meant that he was
getting closer to being ready for soldier training,
but once again, it meant that it was a close to their
time together.

There Alden went again, moping about losing

Skye’s Limits

his  Skye.  He  was  acting  like  a  teenage  girl  who
had  a  stalker-like  crush  on  a  teenage  heartthrob.
All  that  was  missing  was  the  poster  and  folder
with Skye’s picture on it then the picture would be
complete.

Alden was so distracted that he let Skye get in a

good punch. It hit Alden in the side of the head.
His skull rang as his brain bounced around a few
good times. Skye let out a gasp.

“I am so sorry,” Skye said.
Alden held up a hand. “You never apologize

for getting in a good punch. That’s the first thing
you need to remember.”

Skye nipped at his bottom lip. “Okay, I just feel

bad when I hurt you.”

Alden gave Skye an incredulous look. “After all

the bruises I gave you, I’d think you’d be looking
for some payback.”

“Yeah, but that was training. I care about you

and don’t want to hurt you.”

“Skye, this is part of training, too. You need to

learn how to fight if you ever want to make it out
in the field. You can’t hold back on your punches.
The Ravens sure as hell aren’t going to be.”

Skye nodded. “Okay, I got it. I won’t do it

anymore.”

They got back to fighting, and Alden was

pleased to see that Skye fought back with all his
might. This time when he got a good one in on

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Alden, there was no apology afterward. Alden
gave Skye a quick nod to show that he’d done
good as they continued to exchange blows.

Soon they were done for the evening. Just as

they had started putting away their equipment, an
alarm sounded, followed by a voice that said,
“Raven attack, teams Alpha, Beta, and Cheetah
scramble.”

“You go ahead, I can finish up here,” Skye said.
Alden gave Skye’s shoulder a quick pat. Then

Alden went running off to the armory to get
armed up. Since he was already in uniform, he
didn’t have to stop to get changed, so he made it
to the van in record time.

Even though they rushed to the sight of the

Raven attack, it was already too late. It was a
single family home this time that had already been
burned to the ground. The Ravens were long gone,
but they had left plenty of carnage in their wake.

They had laid the bodies of the feline family in

the  front  yard  in  some  kind  of  macabre  display.
They  went  from  youngest  to  oldest  and  were  all
dressed  in  bloodied,  tattered  clothing.  Their  eyes
had  been  pecked  out,  and  there  were  various
gouges and rip-like wounds on the bodies.

Alden could hear more than one of the soldiers

letting  out  retching  sounds.  Not  that  he  blamed
them.  The  bodies  weren’t  in  the  best  condition.
The  ones  who  weren’t  puking  were  letting  out

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various curses. Those were the ones that Alden
could connect more with. He felt such anger at the
moment that his entire body shook from it.

All the senseless violence made no sense to him.

Why were the Ravens suddenly upping the
attacks on feline homes? Sure, they had done it the
past, but never on this level. It just didn’t compute
to him.

“It’s because we’re shutting down their slave

operations. It’s their way of retaliating,” Logan
said as if reading Alden’s mind.

“The cowards didn’t even wait long enough to

fight us,” Alden said, waving an angry hand at the
sky.

“Of course not. It’s much easier to pick on a

civilian. They wouldn’t want to have to face a
soldier. Then they might have a real battle on their
hands,” Logan countered.

Shane came up. His usual angelic face was dark

with  rage.  Alden  recalled  that  it  wasn’t  too  long
ago that  Shane’s  own home  had  been  victim  to  a
Raven  attack.  While  Shane  and  his  family  had
managed  to  get  out  alive,  both  he  and  his  mate
had been badly injured.

“I will find out who is responsible for this, and

I’ll make them pay,” Shane vowed.

Somehow, Alden didn’t doubt that. While the

task might seem impossible for a normal person,
Shane had his way of finding out the impossible.

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Once Shane did find out who had done this,
Alden wouldn’t want to be the Raven responsible.

A shiver went down his back as he thought

about  ever  being  on  the  receiving  end  of  Shane’s
wrath.  While  the  guy  might  seem  on  the  small
side,  he  was  by  far  the  most  dangerous  feline  in
the  whole  coalition.  Deadly  and  cutthroat  to  the
bone, Shane didn’t have a remorseful part in him.
Alden  was  happy  that  Shane  considered  him  a
friend.

Since there was little that they could do, they

left the rest for the cleanup team and loaded back
into the vans. After they returned to HQ, they
were silent as they unloaded their weapons and
went to debriefing.

Afterward, Alden went back to his apartment.

As  part  of  the  Cheetah  team,  he  was  expected  to
live  on  base.  As  he  turned  on  the  light,  it  struck
him  that  he  had  never  decorated.  The  place  had
come furnished, and he had left it as it was.

The stark white walls now stood out to him and

made him realize just how lonely his life was. He
couldn’t help but wonder what Skye would do
with the place if he were ever to move in. Would
he put up crazy posters? Throw around some
outrageous nick-knacks?

While the thought of Alden’s personal space

being invaded in such a way should have
bothered him, instead it sent a warm feeling

Skye’s Limits

through him. He took a quick shower, then laid
down in bed. While it usually felt nice, now it felt
so cold and empty.

He would give anything at that moment to

have  Skye  with  him—and  not  to  fuck.  He  would
just love to hold the Lion to him and cuddle with
him.  They  could  simply  talk  about  stupid  little
things.  Alden  could  luxuriate  in  the  sound  of
Skye’s laugh.

But that wasn’t meant to be. At least not yet.

They  still  had  a  lot  of  hurdles  to  cross.  Hurdles
that  Alden  wasn’t  for  sure  that  they  could  make.
Only  time  would  tell.  Letting  out  a  sigh,  he  let
himself  fall  asleep.  That  night,  he  dreamed  of
Skye.

A couple of weeks later, the day that Alden had

both been looking forward to and dreading finally
came. Skye was finally ready to move on. There
was no longer any denying it. Now all Alden had
to do was break the news to Skye.

While Alden knew Skye was going to be elated

at the news…and Alden was too, it was going to
be sad to see their daily time together come to an
end. Alden only wondered how Skye was going to
react to it.

If Skye acted like it was going to be no big deal,

Alden knew it was going to hurt him. Maybe that
was a bit juvenile on his part, but he couldn’t help

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it. He had grown to care very deeply for Skye, and
while Skye said he cared for him as well, Alden
also knew Skye wanted to be a soldier. If, in his
excitement, he forgot all about Alden, it was going
to sting.

When Alden arrived to the training room, he

found Skye already there. Not that he was
surprised. Skye had been working so hard lately
that it hadn’t been the first time Alden had found
the trainee already working out on his own.

At the moment, Skye was running laps around

the gym. Ever since he’d heard that  running was
part of the training that soldiers were required to
do, Skye had been adding it to his daily regimen.
Alden  went  off  to  the  side  and  got  the  sparring
equipment  ready  while  he  waited  for  Skye  to
finish. He knew Skye wouldn’t want to end until
he got his five miles in anyway.

At seven on the dot, Skye was done. He joined

Alden and started helping him with the sparring
equipment. They worked in silence for a moment
before Alden finally got the courage to say the
dreaded words.

“Skye, this is going to be your last session with

me.”

Skye halted mid-motion, a look of panic

crossing his face. “Why? Did I do something
wrong? They didn’t find out about us, did they?”

Alden gave him a gentle smile. “No, it’s

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nothing bad like that. I promise you.”

“Then what is it?”
“You’re ready to move on to Logan.”
Skye paused a moment, and Alden carefully

studied his face, but it was hard to read the
younger man’s expression. Finally, Skye said, “I
guess that should make me happy.”

“Doesn’t it?”
“In a way, yes.”
“Then why aren’t you smiling?”
Skye nipped at his bottom lip. “Well, I’m going

to miss you.”

That touched Alden in so many ways that he

couldn’t even begin to count them. “I’m going to
miss you, too.”

Skye looked up from under his lashes, his blue

eyes full of sadness. “How long before I get to see
you again?”

“We should probably wait a few weeks. That

way people will know for sure that nothing was
going on between us while I was your mentor.”

Skye let out a soft laugh. “Come on, Alden, we

both know how people are. They’re going to talk
either way.”

“I know, but at least Mitchell and the others

that matter will know.”

Skye ducked his head. “What am I going to do

without you?”

Since they were the only ones in the training

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room, Alden felt it safe enough to tuck two fingers
under Skye’s chin.

Lifting Skye’s face so they were locking gazes,

Alden  said,  “You’re  going  to  do  what  you  have
been doing. You’re going to keep your head down
and  work  hard.  You  can  do  this,  Skye.  I  have
every faith in you. If I didn’t, I never would have
recommended  you  to  Logan.  No  matter  my
feelings for you. I know how bad you want this.”

Skye’s gaze brightened. “I do. I really want this

bad.”

“Then you have to keep fighting for it, even

without me by your side.”

“I will. I promise.”
“That’s all I needed to hear. You and I will be

back together soon enough. I promise you.”

“I just want you to know something,” Skye

said.

“What’s that?”
“I never would have made it this far without

you.”

“You did it all on your own, Skye. I just showed

you the way.”

“No, you helped me clean up my act. I’ll never

forget that.”

“You have no idea how amazing you are. You

just needed to believe in yourself,” Alden said.

“Maybe, but you were the first person who ever

believed in me, and that meant a lot to me.”

Skye’s Limits

A warm feeling went through Alden at those

words  but  so  did  a  small  spark  of  anger.  He
shouldn’t  have  been  the  first  one  to  be  Skye’s
cheerleader.  Where  had  his  brother  and  friends
been? It seemed they  had been too busy thinking
the worst of him to consider that there might have
been a good side to Skye. If only they had looked a
little  deeper,  it  could have  saved them  all  from  a
lot of heartbreak.

“You never gave me any reason to believe

otherwise,” Alden replied.

“I will be counting the days until I can see you

again,” Skye said.

“Me, too. Trust me when I say that.”
“I won’t cheat on you or anything. You’re it for

me, Alden. I just want you to know that. Maybe
you think I’m moving too fast, but I feel it
already.”

A feeling of happiness soared through Alden.

He had already known that Skye was the one for
him, but he hadn’t been for sure that the feeling
was reciprocated. Now that he knew, Alden felt
like he could take on the world.

“No, I don’t think you’re moving too fast. In

fact, I already know that you’re the one for me
too.”

Skye gave him one of those grins that always

made Alden turn to putty. “So I guess that three
weeks is nothing then. We will have the rest of our

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lives to spend with each other.”

“Yeah, three weeks is a drop in the bucket.”
Even as Alden said that, he knew those next

few weeks were going to be hell on him.

Skye’s Limits

Chapter Seven

kye had expected to go through basic training
or something, so he was surprised when he

was thrown into the team and expected to sink or
swim.  Sure,  they  helped  him  out  with  the
fundamentals,  like  how  to  handle  some  of  the
more advanced firearms and such, but other than
that,  he  was  treated  like  any  other  soldier.  The
only  exception  was  he  didn’t  go  out  on  any  real
missions  yet.  He  wouldn’t  until  Logan  deemed
them ready. For that, Skye was grateful. He knew
he  wasn’t  ready  for  a  real  battle  yet.  In  fact,  the
very idea terrified Skye a bit, although he’d rather
bite off his own tongue before he’d admit it aloud
to his fellow soldiers

Never before had Skye been more grateful for

all of Alden’s training. Without it, Skye would be
lost. He saw more than one newbie fumble around
and end up flunking out. Each time he saw yet
another green guy walk the long road home, Skye
said a silent prayer of thanks to all those long

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hours of preparation he’d put in. It may have had
been grueling at the time, but it had paid off well.

Logan took the team out for a morning run, and

Skye was pleased to find himself in the middle of
the pack. He wasn’t the first one, but then  again,
he  wasn’t  bringing  up  the  rear  like  some  of  the
newer  guys  were.  He  could  tell  by  the  way  that
Logan gave a half smile and cocked a brow when
he  looked  at  Skye  that  he’d  impressed  his  new
superior officer.

That didn’t stop some of the other members of

the  team  from  giving  Skye  dirty  looks.  It  would
seem that some of them continued to see him as a
lackey stoner, and they didn’t like him coming on
their turf. Worse yet, they didn’t like him beating
them  at  some  of  the  training  exercises.  In  short,
Skye  wasn’t  feeling  the  love.  But,  that  was  okay,
he  wasn’t  there  to  make  friends,  he  was  there  to
do  a  job  and  he  still  planned  on  doing  it  well,
friends or not.

As they were getting ready to go to the

shooting  range,  one  of  the  Hawks  on  the  team
accidentally  bumped  into  Skye.  It  hadn’t  been  the
first  time  something  like  this  had  happened,
either.

Skye stumbled a few steps before he turned and

said, “Do you have a problem?”

The Hawk, who was twice the size of Skye,

curled up his upper lip. “Yeah, we don’t have

Skye’s Limits

room on our team for a loser like you.”

Gage also happened to be on Logan’s team, and

he  instantly  inserted  himself  into  the  situation.
“The  only  loser  I  see  here  is  you.  In  case  you
forgot, you were the one who lost to a Raven the
last  time  we  had  a  battle.  How  many  days  were
you in the infirmary? Was it three days or four? I
forget because you’re there so much.”

“Go away, Gage, this doesn’t involve you,” the

Hawk said.

“I beg to differ. Skye is my brother-in-law, so

yes it does,” Gage countered. “Now, go on and get
your ass moving before I put it back in the
infirmary.”

As soon as the Hawk left, Skye turned to Gage.

“While I appreciate the help, you can’t fight all my
battles for me. If I don’t learn to handle the
situations on my own, they’re never going to learn
to respect me.”

Gage put his hands on his hips, looked at the

ground and let out a deep sigh. “You’re right. I’m
sorry. It’s just so hard to see those guys treating
you that way. I want to step in and beat them all.”

Skye smiled at him. “I appreciate you being all

protective  of  me,  but  I  have  to  take  care  of  this
battle  on  my  own.  Trust  me,  I’m  ready  for  it.  A
month  ago,  I  wouldn’t  have  been,  but  now  I  can
take  anything  that  comes  my  way.  Alden  taught
me well.”

Stephani Hecht

“I’m sure he did,” Gage said with a snort.
Skye immediately went stiff and grew

apprehensive. Had he done  or said anything  that
gave  them  away.  He  and  Alden  had  been  so
careful.  Skye  couldn’t  have  imagined  how  they
could have slipped up.

“What do you mean?” Skye asked, noting how

stiff his voice was.

Inside he was screaming, don’t say anything to

make him any more suspicious. Just act cool.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed how close you

two have gotten,” Gage said in a knowing tone.

“Of course, we got close. He was my mentor.”
“You know what I mean. Don’t play stupid

with me. I’ve seen the way you two look at each
other when you don’t think anybody is looking.”

Skye shook his head, still playing the dumb

card.  “There’s  nothing  going  on  with  me  and
Alden  at  the  moment.  He  would  never  start
something  with  somebody  while  he’s  mentoring
them.”

“Yeah, but I’m willing to bet that in the next

couple of weeks, you two will be all over each
other like two cats in heat,” Gage snapped.

Well, that wasn’t too far from the truth so Skye

decided that he wasn’t going to confirm or deny it.
Instead, he said, “And if it did happen, what
would be so wrong with it?”

“Besides the fact that he used to be your

Skye’s Limits

mentor, and he’s older than you? Are you fucking
kidding me?” Gage asked in a loud voice.

Skye looked around nervously. “Can you

please keep it down?”

“What? Are you afraid of everybody finding

out about your dirty little secret? It’s going to be
out soon enough.”

“There’s nothing dirty about it? So quit trying

to make it sound that way,” Skye fired back
angrily. “In case you forgot, my brother is older
than you.”

“That’s different.”
“How?”
“He was never my mentor like Alden was with

you.”

“Alden isn’t my mentor anymore, and nothing

happened while he was.”

Skye decided to leave out the part where they

shared the one kiss. It was nobody’s business but
his and Alden’s, and it would stay that way.
Besides, at the rate Gage was going, if he did find
out, he would flip a gasket.

“Wait until Branson hears about this,” Gage

said.

Panic filled Skye. “You’re going to tell

Branson?”

“Of course. He’s my mate. I never keep

anything from him, especially something this big.”

Skye leaned against the wall as dread filled

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him. Branson was going to blow his lid when he
found out about this. Skye needed to find a way to
warn Alden, but how was he supposed to do that
when they were keeping a distance from each
other for three weeks?

Then the answer came to him with crystal

clarity, he could tell Logan. He and Alden were
best friends. Surely Logan could be trusted to pass
along the message. Now all Skye had to do was
get Logan alone for a moment.

“I need some time to think,” Skye said as he

turned away from Gage.

“I’ll bet you do. Maybe you should think of a

way of not messing up everything you do,” Gage
shot back.

Skye wanted to flip Gage off for that one, but

that would have been a move the old Skye would
do. The new Skye just ignored him and kept on
walking. He finally found Logan talking to one of
the newbies.

Going up to him, Skye said, “Sir, can I have a

moment of privacy with you? It’s about an
important matter.”

Logan did that cocking of his brow thing,

reminding Skye so much of Alden that it hurt. But
in the end, he nodded and said, “Okay, we can go
to my office.”

Logan’s office wasn’t much bigger than a closet

and was a disaster of disorganization, but they

Skye’s Limits

both  somehow  managed  to  fit  in  and  shut  the
door.  Skye  immediately  wished  they  had  left  it
opened when the smell of dust overwhelmed him.

Logan sat behind his desk and said, “What do

you need?”

“Gage knows about me and Alden. Even worse,

he’s going to tell Branson,” Skye blurted.

“Shit, that’s not good,” Logan said, running a

hand through his short hair.

“I know! You need to warn Alden. I would do it

myself,  but  we’re  staying  away  from  each  other
for  the  next  three  weeks  until  we  go  public  with
our  relationship  to  protect  each  other.  If  Branson
goes berserk and makes a big deal about this now,
he’s  going  to  destroy  all  that  and  smear  Alden’s
good name. I  can’t let that  happen to him on my
account.”

Logan studied him. “Your reputation will

suffer, too. Don’t you care about that?”

Skye shook his head. “I’m used to having a bad

rep. I can live with it. Alden’s worked too hard to
be where he’s at. He doesn’t deserve to have to
deal with all the dirty looks and snide comments. I
know what it’s like, and I don’t want him to have
to live through it.”

Logan was quiet such a long time that Skye

began to fidget. “I was right. You are the one for
him.”

“Huh?” Skye said, more confused than ever.

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“You’re willing to put his needs before yours.

Only somebody that really cares for him would do
that.”

“Of course I care about him. He means

everything to me. Which is why you have to warn
him.  Please?”  Skye  begged,  praying  that  Logan
saw how dire the situation was. “I can try to calm
Branson down, but I don’t know how successful I
can be. He can be a bit of a hothead when it comes
to  me  at  times.  I  don’t  think  he’s  going  to  be
happy  when  he  finds  out  that  I’ve  fallen  for
Alden.”

“Yeah, I’ll warn him. I’m just worried about

you. Are you going to be okay?”

Skye gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “It

won’t be anything I haven’t gone through before.
Branson will yell at me a lot and threaten to kick
me out, but he won’t go through with it. He’s
done it a million of times before. I usually leave
for a few hours until things cool down.”

“You’re not going to go out drinking if that

happens, will you?” Logan asked.

“No, those days are long behind me. I’ve gotten

too far to fuck things up.”

Logan grabbed a piece of paper and wrote

something down before handing it over to Skye.
“Here is my number. If you need a place to crash
for a while, you call me. Promise?”

Skye took it. “I promise. Thanks, sir. It means a

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lot to me.”

“Okay, you’re dismissed for the day. Good

luck.”

Skye put his hand on the door handle. “Thanks,

I’m going to need it.”

Skye made his way back to his living quarters

with a heavy heart. He already knew what was
waiting for him there. He had no doubt that Gage
had beaten him home and filled Branson in on all
the gory details.

Just as he expected, as soon as Skye opened the

door,  he  was  meet  with  both  Gage  and  Branson.
Branson had his arms crossed over his chest, and
Gage  had  a  resigned  look on  his  face.  It  was  like
he was trying to say,  I’m sorry,  but I had no  choice
but to tell him.

“Shut the door and come inside. We need to

have a talk,” Branson said.

Oh boy, Skye knew that tone all too well.

Branson  was  not  happy  at  all.  Skye  did  as
instructed and made his way into the living room.
Usually  he  would  have  slumped  down  on  the
couch. This time he sat down on the edge and kept
his  back  straight.  He  had  nothing  to  be  ashamed
of, so he wasn’t going to act like it.

“So Gage blabbed to you about me and Alden,”

Skye said.

Might as well get right to the point instead of

dancing around the subject. If they were going to

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have it out, Skye didn’t feel like making a game
out of it. He was done with that kind of crap.

“Yes, he did. Is it true?” Branson asked.
“What part?” Skye asked carefully.
“Have you and Alden been screwing around?”

Branson demanded angrily.

“No, we have not had any sexual relationships

at all.”

“Then why does Gage think that you have?”
“Because he, like everybody else in the

coalition, assumes the worst in me,” Skye said.

Gage let out a gasp. “That’s not true, Skye.”
“Really? Then why didn’t you believe me when

I told you Alden and I haven’t had any relations?”

“Because you two have been making fuck-me

eyes at each other like nobody’s business.
Anybody can see that,” Gage said.

“I’m not going to deny that I have feelings for

Alden, but I haven’t acted on them. I wouldn’t do
that while I was still his trainee. It would be
wrong and ruin his reputation,” Skye said
carefully.

“And what about now that you’re not his

trainee?” Branson asked.

“That’s really none of your business.”
Branson slammed his hand on the table. “Yes, it

is my business. You are my younger brother.”

“A younger brother who is a full-grown adult

and capable of making his own decisions now.

Skye’s Limits

You may not always agree with them, but I am old
enough to be in charge of my own life.”

Branson let out a sarcastic laugh. “And you’ve

been doing such a stellar job of it so far.”

Okay, that one stung a bit, but Skye realized he

had it coming. “Maybe you could have said that in
the past, but not anymore. I’ve been doing well
these past several weeks. I haven’t gone out once.
I’ve even done well enough to make it on Logan’s
team as a coalition soldier. You would think that
my own brother would be proud of me instead of
giving me flack.”

“I’m giving you flack, as you call it, because

you’re about to drag a good man down with you.
Have you ever thought about what’s going to
happen to Alden’s reputation once this comes out?
No, all you care about is what happens to Skye.
That’s all you’ve ever cared about,” Branson shot
back.

Skye swallowed several times as those words

hit him like a ton of bricks. He and Branson had
said some hurtful things to each other in the past,
but that one had to be at the top of them. Skye got
up and went to the door.

“Oh, what? Are you going to storm out now?

Can’t you take the truth?” Branson asked.

Skye turned around and looked at his brother.

“No, I’m leaving before you say something else
that you’ll regret later on.”

Stephani Hecht

With those parting words, Skye slammed the

door and left. He stormed down the hallway and
made it out to the main common room before he
realized  he  had  nowhere  to  go.  He  could  phone
Logan,  but  part  of  him  didn’t  feel  comfortable
calling  his  commander.  Not  when  Skye  was  this
emotional.

“Hey, are you okay?” a soft voice asked.
Looking over, Skye saw it was Baxley, a small

Spider shifter Skye was only acquainted with. As
always, Baxley was dressed slightly Goth with
black pants and a matching shirt. He had a small
group of friends with him, most of whom Skye
only knew by name.

“No, not really. I just had a big fight with my

brother,” Skye admitted.

“Do you need to let off some steam? We’re

going out for pizza, and we’d love for you to join
us,” Baxley offered.

“Are you sure?” Skye asked. “I wouldn’t want

to be a downer and crash your fun.”

Baxley waved a dismissive hand. “Not at all.

We love us some good drama.”

Skye thought it over for a moment. He did need

some new friends since his old ones had ditched
him, and he didn’t have anywhere to go. “Sure,
why not.”

Baxley put an arm around Skye’s shoulders.

“Great. Before the night is over, you’ll forget all

Skye’s Limits

about that stupid fight.”

Somehow Skye doubted it, but at least he could

get his mind off of it for a while.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Eight

he next day as Alden went into the cafeteria,
he was delighted when he saw Skye sitting at

a table with Baxley, Xavier, Riley, and the others
in their group. It was nice to see Skye had made a
new, somewhat stable, group of friends.

He knew that Skye had a rough night before.

Logan  had  brought  Skye  in  the  first  thing  that
morning  and  had  a  talk  with  him.  As  soon  as  he
got the whole story, Logan had called Alden and
told  him.  To  say  Alden  was  pissed  at  Branson
would be a vast understatement.

While Alden knew Branson was a great guy

and probably had said those things in the heat of
the moment and hadn’t meant them, it still didn’t
excuse him from hurting Skye the way he had. As
soon as Alden had the chance, he was going to sit
down with Branson and have a long conversation
with the Lion shifter.

Skye chose that moment to look up, and he and

Alden locked gazes. While Alden knew he should

Skye’s Limits

glance away, he found himself powerless. Skye
licked his lips, and damned if it didn’t turn Alden
on like nothing else. He would do anything at that
moment to have Skye in a room with nobody else
around. The things he would love to do to Skye’s
toned body.

“I told you! They’re doing it right now,” Gage

said loudly.

Alden turned and saw Branson and Gage

standing right next to him. Neither one of them
looked pleased. Which was fine with Alden since
he wasn’t exactly happy with them either at the
moment.

“What exactly are we doing?” Alden asked.
“Screwing each other with your eyes,” Gage

said.

“Maybe you should be paying more attention to

your own business instead of worrying about me
and Skye,” Alden suggested.

“Since Skye is family, he is my business,” Gage

snapped.

“Gage is right. Skye is our business, and we

have every right to worry about him,” Branson
added.

“Last time I checked, Skye was an adult who

was capable of making his own decisions,” Alden
reminded them.

“And we all know that Skye’s not known for

making the best decisions in the past. So why

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should this be any different?” Branson challenged.

“In case you haven’t noticed, Skye has changed.

Or are you too busy judging him to notice that?”
Alden asked.

“Of course, I’ve noticed he’s changed,” Branson

defended.

“Then why did you treat him like shit last

night? You really hurt him bad.” Alden knew he
was being rough, but he didn’t care.

He glanced over at Skye who was watching the

exchange  with  wide  eyes.  He  looked  like  he  was
getting  ready  to  get  up,  but  Baxley  grabbed  him
by  the  hand  and  held  him  back.  Smart  of  the
Spider. Let Alden handle this, he was doing a fine
job.

“You do realize that once it gets out that you

and Skye are in a relationship, it’s going to hurt
your reputation?” Branson asked.

All of the sudden Alden didn’t give a damn

about his reputation. If it meant Skye was going to
get the brunt in the process of protecting Alden, it
wasn’t worth it.

“Fuck you and your high morals,” Alden said.
He then walked over to Skye and pulled him

up by his shirt collar. Skye looked at him in shock.
Never before had he looked so cute. His blue eyes
were as wide as saucers, and his mouth was in the
shape of an O, just in the perfect shape for kissing.

“What are you doing?” Skye asked.

Skye’s Limits

“Everybody is going to know that we’re an item if
you do this.”

“I suddenly don’t care anymore. You’re my

mate, and I want the whole world to know.”

“I’m your what?” Skye demanded.
“Come on, Skye, you have to admit you know it

as much as I do. You feel the pull, too, try to deny
it.”

Alden held his breath while he waited to see if

Skye was going to deny it. By now, the whole
cafeteria had grown silent, so if Skye were to
refute him it would be in front of a huge audience.
Talk about a huge letdown.

“Yes, I feel it, too,” Skye finally said. “You’re

my mate. I’ve known it for a long time.”

Alden pulled Skye in closer and gave him a

hard kiss. It wasn’t a gentle one but rather one of
ownership. Alden wanted everyone who was
watching to know that the Lion shifter was his and
nobody else better touch him.

Skye went pliant, letting Alden take charge. He

even  opened  his  mouth  so  Alden  could  slide  his
tongue  inside.  Alden  grew  hard  the  moment  he
tasted Skye. Skye’s flavor was so sweet and savory
that  Alden  would  never  get  tired  of  it.  He  knew
that  he  could  go  his  entire  life  sampling  it  and
never tire of it.

Alden pulled away and said loudly, “Mine.”
“Yours,” Skye replied.

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“Come to my room tonight,” Alden ordered in

a tone that left no room for argument.

“I will,” Skye said.
There were several catcalls and whistles from

the  room,  but  Alden  ignored  them.  He  was  too
focused  on  Skye  at  the  moment.  Branson  could
have  fired  off  a  gun  at  him  and  Alden  wouldn’t
have noticed, he was so caught up in Skye.

“You do realize what you’ve just done,” Skye

said. “Everybody knows about us now, and the
shit is going to hit the fan.”

“I don’t care. You’re more important.”
“What brought this on?”
“I heard about what your brother said to you

last night, and I realized it wasn’t fair for you to
take all the heat on this.”

Skye shook his head. “It was okay. I could have

handled it.”

“But you shouldn’t have to. We’re mates so

from now on, we face stuff like this together.”

“You’re amazing. You know that, right?” Skye

said.

“Yeah, tell that to Mitchell when he rips me a

new one.”

“I will if you want me to.”
Alden let out a small laugh. He could just

imagine Skye facing off against Mitchell. Knowing
Skye, he would win Mitchell over with his sparky
attitude. But this was a battle Alden had to face on

Skye’s Limits

his own.

Alden put his arms around Skye and embraced

him. “I appreciate the offer, but this is something I
have to do on my own.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind,” Skye said.
“Yes, I’m positive. I better go now. With the

way the gossip mill goes here, he’s probably
already heard about what went down. I better go
explain things to him.”

It wasn’t a conversation Alden looked forward

to,  but  he  knew  he  had  to  have  it.  He  needed  to
make  sure  Mitchell  knew  he  and  Skye  weren’t
messing around while Alden was mentoring him.
Sure,  they  might  have  admitted  that  they  had
feelings for each other, and there had been the one
kiss, but that had been the extent of it.

Giving Skye one last kiss, Alden left and made

his way to Mitchell’s office. As soon as he knocked
on the door and Mitchell told him to enter, Alden
knew the leader had already heard about the
incident in the cafeteria. Shit, did somebody go
running to tell on Alden? Probably, knowing this
place.

Alden went in and took a seat. All the while,

Mitchell glowered at him. Alden knew he was in
trouble and in for an ass ripping. Not that he
expected anything less. Of course Mitchell was
going to assume the worse. Had Alden been in his
place, he would have done the same thing.

Stephani Hecht

Alden sighed as he sized up the leader. A

Jaguar shifter, Mitchell was large with a body that
was  muscular.  His  hair  was  cut  short  and  a
speckled  brown  color.  His  amber-colored  eyes
were  dark  with  anger,  and  his  left  temple  was
ticking, which was never a good sign.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not what

it seems,” Alden said.

“So you didn’t just grab your trainee and claim

him in the middle of the cafeteria?” Mitchell
asked.

“Yes, I did, but Skye isn’t my trainee anymore.

He’s moved on and is now under Logan’s
control,” Alden reminded him.

“But you used to mentor Skye. Did anything

happen while he was under you’re tutelage?”

“Nothing like you’re thinking. We were never

intimate. We did admit we had feelings for each
other, but we both agreed we would not act upon
them until Skye was no longer my student. I told
him it wouldn’t be right, and he agreed,” Alden
said.

“You know how this looks?” Mitchell asked.
Alden let out a sigh. “Yes, I do, but I can’t help

it. He’s my mate. There’s no denying it. I’ll do
anything to have him.”

“Nobody is going to trust you to mentor their

problem kids anymore.”

Alden shrugged. “I was getting tired of that gig

Skye’s Limits

anyway. I can stick with the Cheetah team and just
focus on that.”

Mitchell sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that. You

were the best mentor I had.”

“I’m honored to hear that, but Skye is more

important than anything.”

“He really means that much to you?”
“Like I said, I’ll do anything to have him.”
“Even with his sordid past?” Mitchell asked

with a raised brow.

“That’s the past. This is now, and things are

different. Skye is different. He’s changed. Just ask
Logan. He’s doing great as a soldier. He’s more
than keeping up with the others. Logan says he
should be able to go out in the field soon.”

Alden didn’t add how nervous that made him.

Just the thought of Skye out there fighting in real-
life battles made Alden sick to his stomach. But
Alden knew that he had to let Skye go and live out
his dream. If he didn’t, then he was no better than
Branson.

“I don’t need to ask Logan. He’s already told

me. You may not know it, but I’ve been keeping a
close eye on Skye for a while. I’ve been worried
about him,” Mitchell said.

That was news to Alden. “You have?”
“Yeah, he seemed like such a good kid. I hated

to see him ruin his life the way he was. Plus, I
have a soft spot for Branson. He’s an important

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part of this coalition. I would hate to see his family
self-destruct.”

“Yeah, well right now, Branson and I aren’t

exactly on the best terms,” Alden spit out angrily.

It was going to take a while before Alden could

get over what Branson had done to Skye. After all
Skye had done to make his brother proud of him,
for Branson to throw it all back at him was a slap
in Skye’s face. Since it had hurt Skye so much, it
had made Alden mad.

“I would give Branson some leeway, he’s had it

tough with Skye,” Mitchell said. “I’m sure
Branson said some things in anger that he wishes
he could take back.”

“He hurt Skye bad. I hope he knows that,”

Alden replied.

“I’m sure Branson is kicking himself over that.

Trust me, Branson is a good man. He loves Skye
just as much as you do.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t show it last night.”
“Give him another chance. I’m sure he’s going

to be doing some serious groveling.”

“Well, if he doesn’t, then I’m having Skye move

in with me. I won’t have him live in that kind of
environment. It’s not good for him,” Alden said
angrily.

Come to think of it, Alden was going to ask

Skye to live with him regardless. He wanted his
mate where he belonged, by his side at all times.

Skye’s Limits

Well, at all times when they weren’t working.

“I’m thinking that will be Skye’s decision,”

Mitchell said.

“He’ll want to be with me,” Alden said with

confidence.

“If you say so. I’m sure it’ll be an interesting

conversation nonetheless,” Mitchell said.

“Are we finished here, sir?” Alden said.
He wanted to go back to his place, take a

shower, and get things ready for when Skye
showed up. Alden wanted everything to be
prefect for his mate.

Mitchell stood, and Alden did the same. “Yes. I

just hope you’re ready for the fallout that’s going
to happen from all this. Even though you waited
until after you were done training Skye to start
your relationship, people are still going to talk.”

“Let them. I can handle a little gossip. So long

as they keep away from Skye, things will be fine.”

Mitchell shook his head. “You must really be

his mate. You sure are protective of him.”

“I would die for him, and I’m not just saying

that.”

“I feel the same way about my mate, so I know

what you’re talking about. Good luck to you.”

Mitchell shook Alden’s hand and let him go. As

Alden left the office, he released his pent up
breath. Well, that went better than he thought it
would. Mitchell hadn’t yelled at him. Sure, he had

Stephani Hecht

been stern at times, but overall, he had actually
been supportive.

Alden went back to his place and quickly

cleaned  up.  He  put  fresh  sheets  on  the  bed  and
made  sure  the  lube  was  within  arm’s  reach.  He
didn’t  want  any  fumbling  around  when  the  time
of  claiming  came.  This  was  his  first  time  with
Skye, and Alden wanted everything to be perfect.

Next, Alden lit some candles. Maybe it was a bit

of overkill, but he wanted to impress Skye. If he
could have, he would’ve spread rose petals on the
bed, but there were none handy.

He went to his stereo and put on some soft

music then he got out some sparkling grape juice
and some wine flutes. No real booze, given Skye’s
past. Even though human alcohol wouldn’t have
any effect on Skye, Alden wasn’t taking any
chances.

He had just gotten everything ready when there

was a timid knock. When Alden opened the door,
Skye stood on the other side. He still had his
uniform on, showing that he had come straight
from his training. Good boy, he hadn’t wasted any
time at all.

“I’m here. Just like you ordered,” Skye said.
Desire shot through Alden at the sight of Skye

in that uniform. If Skye only knew how damn sexy
he was. Letting out a growl, Alden grabbed Skye
by the waist and hauled him into the room.

Skye’s Limits

Chapter Nine

kye kicked the door closed behind him and
wrapped his arms around Alden’s neck. He

buried his nose into Alden’s chest, inhaling deep,
savoring the scent of the man. Ah, how he’d
missed that smell. It had seemed like a million
years since Skye had scented it.

“Was I here too early?” Skye asked nervously.
In fact, he was just plain out nervous. While this

was Alden, and Skye was certain that  he was his
mate, it was a big step that they were taking. Once
they did this, there would be no going back. What
if  once  Alden  really  got  to  know  him,  he  found
that  he  didn’t  like  Skye  after  all?  What  if  Skye
didn’t measure up to all of Alden’s expectations?

Then Alden kissed him, and all of Skye’s

worries went to the wayside as passion took over.
Oh  wow,  could  Alden  ever  kiss.  Not  that  Skye’d
had many lovers with which to compare him, but
Alden  outdid  them  all  easily.  Skye  kissed  Alden
back for all  he was  worth, trying to keep up and

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100

not let Alden down.

Skye was so caught up in the kiss he didn’t

realize  that  Alden  was  leading  them  to  the
bedroom  until  they  were  halfway  there.  Skye’s
heart  skipped  a  beat,  but  this  time  it  was  in
excitement.  By  that  point,  the  kiss  had  him  so
turned  on  that  he  wanted  some  relief,  and  he
knew  that  the  bed  was  the  place  where  he  was
going to find it.

When Skye heard the soft music playing and

saw the candlelight, his heart melted a bit. Alden
had gone to such trouble to make this moment
special. The last bit of Skye’s nerves went away.
How could he doubt such a special moment when
Alden had been so sweet to make it perfect?

“I’ve waited so long for this,” Alden said as he

ran a finger down Skye’s cheek.

“Me, too, I didn’t think it would ever come,”

Skye replied.

Alden leaned forward and rubbed his face over

Skye’s cheek. Skye just tilted his head back and let
him, a moan  slipping  past his lips. He knew that
Alden  was  putting  his  scent  on  Skye.  It  was  a
feline’s way of letting others know that Skye was
taken  and  to  stay  away.  Skye  had  never
understood it before, but now he reveled in it. He
wanted  to  be  owned—no,  he  needed  to  be  owned
by Alden.

“Take off your shirt,” Alden ordered.

Skye’s Limits

101

Once Skye did, Alden began to rub against his

chest. When Alden got to his nipples, he stopped
to suck and nip at them. Skye cupped the back of
Alden’s head and let out a groan of pleasure. By
God, did that feel good.

Alden only stayed there a few moments before

working  his  way  down  lower,  until  he  was
kneeling  down  in  front  of  Skye.  When  he  got  to
the waistband of Skye’s pants, Alden worked the
button  open  and  slowly  undid  the  zipper.
Lowering  Skye’s  pants  and  underwear,  he  freed
Skye’s penis.

Skye’s cock sprang free. It was fully erect, and

the tip was wet with pre-cum. Alden’s tongue
darted out and licked it clean. Skye sucked in a
breath as pleasure shot through him.

Letting out a dark laugh, Alden said, “Does my

little Lion like that?”

Nodding his head, Skye said, “Yes, I like it a

lot.”

“Do you want more?”
“God, yes.”
Alden ran his tongue over the crown of Skye’s

cock. “Like this.”

“Ah huh,” Skye said, his voice coming out a bit

whiney.

“Or more like this.”
Alden opened his mouth and sucked in the

entire length of Skye’s cock. Skye rose on his toes

Stephani Hecht

102

and let out a hiss. “Yes, like that. That’s more like
it.”

Alden let out a laugh, the vibrations sending

shock waves of pleasure through Skye’s body.
Skye let out a sound that could have been a groan
or a cry, it was hard to tell. Skye was that caught
up in the moment.

Before Skye even had time to recover, Alden

sucked, creating the perfect vacuum, and pulled
back until only the tip of Skye’s dick was in his
mouth. Then Alden took him back in.

Alden repeated the process for several

moments. Skye tilted his head back and just rode
it out. He reached down with one hand and
threaded it through Alden’s short, dark hair to
urge him on, letting him know without words just
how much he was enjoying the special attention.

All too soon, Alden pulled back and let Skye’s

cock  slip  free.  Skye  didn’t  utter  a  complaint.  He
knew  there  was  much  more  fun  yet  to  come.
Alden  reached  down  and  with  the  upmost  care,
unlaced  Skye’s  boots  and  took  them  off.  He  then
helped Skye finish removing the rest of his clothes.

Once Skye was naked, he climbed on the bed

and watched as Alden undressed. He’d waited for
so long to see Alden without his clothes on that
Skye would pay for a front row seat for the event.

Alden slowly pulled off his shirt to reveal a

perfectly chiseled chest with washboard abs so

Skye’s Limits

103

tight that Skye could have bounced a whole roll of
quarters off them. Skye licked his lips at the
thought of being able to taste them.

Next, Alden undid his boots, then took off his

pants and underwear. When Skye finally got a
look at his mate’s cock for the first time, Skye let
out a small gasp. To say that Alden was big would
be understating things. Alden was frigging huge.

Alden stroked himself. “Do you like what you

see?”

“I love it, but you better make sure you stretch

me out good. Otherwise, I’m never going being
able to take that thing,” Skye said.

Alden laughed. “I love how you never hold

back. You always say the first thing that comes to
your mind.”

Skye got to his knees and beckoned with his

finger. “Enough talky. Now come and give me
what I’ve been waiting for. Claim me as yours.”

Alden’s eyes darkened with desire. “That’s

something you don’t have to ask twice for.”

He climbed on the bed and stalked Skye until

Skye was on his back and Alden was looming over
him. Gazing down at him, Alden said, “After
tonight, you will be all mine. Are you ready for
that?”

“I’ve been ready since the first moment I saw

you,” Skye answered truthfully.

Alden crushed their lips together, then reached

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104

over  and  grabbed  the  bottle  of  lube.  When  he
opened it and squirted out a liberal amount, Skye
was  a  little  more  than  relieved.  It  was  sure  to
make  a  mess,  but  Skye  wanted  to  be  good  and
slicked if he was going to take a cock that big.

Kissing Skye again, Alden reached between

them and sought out Skye’s hole. Circling it with
his finger a few times, Alden slid in one finger.
Skye moaned. While it didn’t hurt, it had been so
long since he had been breached it felt a little
weird.

“You okay,” Alden asked.
“I’m perfect,” Skye said.
Alden began kissing him again, at the same

time working the finger in and out of Skye’s hole.
After a few moments, Alden added a second
finger. This time it didn’t feel as odd, and Skye
took it easily, he even felt himself rocking against
Alden’s hand.

“I think you like this,” Alden said between

kisses.

“I think I do, too,” Skye replied.
Alden added a third finger and pegged Skye’s

sweet spot. Skye let out a cry as pleasure rocked
through his body. “Oh, you can so do that again.”

So Alden did. Skye dug his hands into Alden’s

biceps and let out another cry. “You keep that up,
and I’ll do whatever you want for the rest of your
life.”

Skye’s Limits

105

Alden removed his fingers and gave Skye

another kiss. “Be careful of what you promise. I
may just keep you to that.”

Skye narrowed his eyes at Alden. “Everybody

knows that promises made in the heat of passion
don’t count.”

“Says who?”
“Says me.”
Alden slicked up his cock and lined it up to

Skye’s hole. “I didn’t know that you were in
charge of that kind of thing.”

“I so am. I…ahhhhh…” Skye cut off whatever

he was going to say as Alden thrust inside of him.

Alden stilled and said, “How are you doing?”
“Just give me a second to get used to your

monster dick, and I’ll be fine.”

Alden cocked a brow. “Did you just say monster

dick?”

“Yeah, I did, got a problem with it?”
“I’ve just never heard that term outside of a

porn flick.”

“Yeah, well, now you have. So there.”
Alden was patient though, taking his time and

waiting. All the while, he rained kisses on Skye’s
face and murmured words of love to him. Finally,
Skye was ready. He nodded to Alden, and Alden
began to slowly move.

Skye soon found himself caught up in the

passion and wanting even more. Wrapping his

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106

legs around Alden’s waist to drive him in deeper,
Skye said, “Faster. Harder.”

“Are you sure?” Alden asked.
“Yes, I need it.”
So Alden began to pound Skye into the

mattress. Alden rode it out, his breath coming out
in  pants.  Every  time  Alden  thrust  into  him,  his
dick  hit  Skye’s  sweet  spot,  plus  the  friction
between  their  bodies  rubbed  against  his  dick.  It
wasn’t  long  before  Skye  found  himself  on  the
edge.

With a loud cry, he came, his spunk covering

both his and Alden’s stomachs. After a few more
hard thrusts, Alden joined him, his cock filling
Skye’s ass.

They stayed that way for a few moments before

Skye let his legs slide down. Alden was heavy, but
not so much that Skye couldn’t take his weight. So
Skye let him stay there. Skye even rubbed his face
on Alden’s cheek and shoulders, transferring some
of his scent on his mate. After all, turnabout was
only fair.

“Are you scenting me?” Alden asked.
“You bet. I don’t want some slut to try to come

on to you. I want the entire coalition to know that
you belong to me. If they try to touch you, I’ll
scratch their eyes out,” Skye said.

“Knowing you, you probably would.”
“You better believe it. You’re mine now, and I

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107

don’t share my toys.”

Skye began to run his hands up and down

Alden’s back. Wow, the guy even had muscles
back there that were amazing. Skye couldn’t wait
for round two, he was going to take his time and
lick every inch of Alden’s body. That was after he
had made sure the man was saturated in his scent.

“I love you, Skye.”
Skye stilled. It was the first time that Alden told

him that. It sent a warm feeling through his body
and made him lightheaded with joy at the same
time.

“I love you, too.”
“Will you move in with me?”
Skye hadn’t expected this so soon. Although,

now that he stopped to think about it, he should
have. Of course Alden would want his mate to live
with him. It only made sense.

“Are you serious?” Skye asked.
Alden rolled off Skye and went up on one

elbow so he could look at him. “I’m deadly
serious. I want my mate with me by my side.”

“Are you sure you won’t get sick of me?” Skye

asked, voicing his biggest fear.

Alden rubbed the back of his knuckles against

Skye’s cheek. “I could never get tired of you. You
are the other half of me.”

Skye felt a heat come over his face. Nobody had

ever said anything so sweet to him in his entire

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108

life. “Well, in that case, then yes, I will move in
with you. I’ll start packing tomorrow.”

“How do you think your brother is going to

take it?” Alden asked.

Skye thought that one over. He wasn’t for sure

how  Branson  was  going  to  take  it.  His  brother
could  either  be  happy  to  get  rid  of  him  or  angry
because  he  was  moving  in  with  Alden.  At  this
point, Skye wasn’t certain how Branson was going
to go.

“To tell you the truth, I have no idea. Branson

has been so wonky lately anything is possible,”
Skye said.

“Well, I think we should go tell him together. It

will be better that way,” Alden said.

“You don’t have to do that,” Skye said.
“Hey, we’re mates now. We face everything

together from now on. That includes angry
brothers.”

Skye was so touched he didn’t even know how

to say thank you, so he settled for a kiss. “I am so
lucky to have you,” he said once they had pulled
apart.

“Let’s go take a shower, before we get too

sticky. Will you stay the night with me?” Alden
asked.

“Of course, I will. Just let me call Branson and

let him know where I’ll be. You go ahead and get
started.”

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109

After Alden went into the bathroom and the

sounds  of  the  shower  was  going,  Skye  fished  his
cell  out  of  his  discarded  pants.  With  somewhat
trembling  hands,  he  called  his  brother.  When
Branson picked up on the first ring, Skye knew it
wasn’t a good sign.

“Where are you?”
“You know where I am,” Skye answered.
“So you did go to him.”
“Yes, I did. You had to know that I would.”
“He’s not good for you.”
“He’s my mate, Branson,” Skye snapped.
“Look, I know I said some terrible things to you

the  other  night,  and  I’m  really  sorry  about  that.
Come home, and we can make things better. You
don’t  have  to  go  this  drastic  of  measures,”
Branson  said.  “We’ve  fixed  things  between  us  in
the past, we can do it again.”

Skye felt his heart melt at his brother’s apology.

While he was quick to get angry at Branson, Skye
was  always  quick  to  forgive  him.  That  was  the
way  things  had  always  been  in  their  family.
Otherwise,  there  was  no  way  that  Branson  could
have put up with all of Skye’s crap for so long.

“It’s not because I’m angry at you. It’s because

he’s my mate, and I love him.”

“You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

Branson asked.

“Yeah, I am. He’s the one for me, Branson.”

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110

Branson let out a sigh. “I suppose this means

you won’t be coming home tonight?”

“No, I won’t, but I will be home after work.

Alden and I need to talk to you.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then. And again, I’m really

sorry for what I said to you the other night. I know
I was a dick, and you didn’t deserve it.”

“It’s okay. I still love you,” Skye said.
He turned the phone off and tossed it on the

nightstand. Well, that had gone better than he had
hoped.  Alden  appeared  at  the  doorway,  wearing
nothing  but  a  towel.  Skye  looked  him  up  and
down,  then  licked  his  lips.  Damn,  was  that  hot,
and it was all his.

“How did it go?” Alden asked.
“It went a lot better than I thought.”
“Good. How about you take a shower and we

go for round number two?”

Skye smiled. “That is the best idea I’ve heard all

day long.”

Skye’s Limits

111

Chapter Ten

he next day when Skye showed up for
training, he lined up with all the other

soldiers. As Logan passed them all, he paused by
Skye and sniffed. Skye could have sworn that he
saw the leader smiling, but he could have been
wrong.

They were just getting ready for their morning

run when an alarm sounded off, and a call for
team Alpha came out.

“All right, men, that’s us. Everybody suit up

and let’s go. That includes you, Skye,” Logan
ordered in a loud voice.

Skye’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He’d

never gone out on a live mission before. He was
both excited and nervous as hell at the same time.
He followed the others to the armory and got
armed up, then went into one of the vans.

He found a seat in between Gage and Ash, then

took in a deep breath. Skye was wearing body
armor and had a helmet on. For the first time, he

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112

felt like a real soldier.

“You ready for this?” Gage asked, his eyes wide

with what had to be concern.

“Logan seems to think so. I’ve felt ready from

day one. Let me at some Ravens,” Skye said.

His comment was met with hoots of approval

from the rest of the soldiers in the van.

“That’s the spirit. Let’s go get them,” Ash said.
Gage rolled his eyes. “Don’t encourage him.”
“Why not? He needs to be gung-ho if he’s going

in. Especially if this is going to be his first time,”
Ash returned. “You and Branson can’t continue to
baby him for the rest of his life.”

At that moment, Skye could have kissed the

Hawk shifter. He had said the exact thing Skye
had been saying again and again to Branson and
Gage, but they had refused to listen to them.

“Don’t butt in,” Gage said.
“Why not? You obviously are being stupid and

need some advice. How old are you, twenty-five?
Twenty-six? Well, last time I checked, Skye is
twenty-five, which makes him around your age,
yet you treat him like he’s a teenager or a toddler.”

“That’s because that’s how he’s always acted,”

Gage snapped.

“Maybe in the past, but people change. Give

Skye a chance to prove that he’s done that.”

Gage clamped his lips together and looked the

other way. Skye made eye contact with Ash and

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113

mouthed, thank you. Ash winked at him and
mouthed back, no problem.

As they pulled up and there were no Ravens in

sight, just an old farmhouse, Gage let out a groan,
“Shit, it’s old man Hankens again.”

“Who’s Hankens, and why is Gage so pissed?”

Skye asked Ash.

Ash let out a sigh of his own. “He calls at least

once a week and swears that  he sees Ravens and
that  they’re  coming  to  attack  his  home.  Since  we
can never be too careful, we always have to send a
team  to  check  things  out.  But  it  never  fails.  It’s
always just his paranoid imagination.”

The vans parked, and the team got out. Logan

went to the front door to talk to the elderly shifter
while the soldiers fanned out and began to look
for any signs of Raven activity. Even Skye wasn’t
surprised when they found nothing out of place.
All they found were rows and rows of cornstalks
and a tilted scarecrow that looked like it was on its
last legs.

They finished their sweep and met Logan back

at  the  van.  The  elderly  shifter  was  there.  He  was
wearing a pair of baggy brown trousers that were
threadbare  at  the  knees  and  a  button-up
pinstriped  shirt  that was  untucked.  He  had  more
skin than hair at the top of his head, and he wore a
few whiskers on his chin.

“I’m telling ya, I really saw them this time.

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114

There was a whole murder of them. Ravens, I tell
ya,” the man said.

“I’m sure you did see them, Mr. Hankens, but

they’re gone now,” Logan assured him in a
soothing tone.

Mr. Hankens narrowed his pale blue eyes. “You

don’t believe me, do you?”

“Of course I believe you. But the Ravens aren’t

here now so there is nothing we can do about it,”
Logan said.

“You’re no better than that Shane character.

You know what he said to me?”

“No, but I have a feeling it wasn’t good.”
“He said that if he ever finds a Raven on my

property, he would mount and stuff it, then
replace my sad excuse of a scarecrow. I’ve never
met a ruder person in my life.”

Skye had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop

himself from laughing. While it might have been a
rude comment, it was pretty funny and typical
Shane material. Going by some of the coughs and
clearing of throats going around him, Skye wasn’t
the only one who was having trouble keeping his
laughter at bay.

Logan, on the other hand, kept a straight face.

“I’ll make sure to have a talk with Shane the next
time I see him.”

“Hmph…I’m sure you will. You both probably

think I’m just some crazy old man.”

Skye’s Limits

115

Skye was about to agree with that assessment

when he saw the first shadow fly overhead. It was
soon followed by another, then by several others.
Looking up, he was horrified to see not just one
murder but several of them coming in.

“Shit! This isn’t good,” Logan said.
Skye wanted to pin him with the most obvious

statement of the year award, but he was too busy
staring at all the Ravens who were descending
upon them. Skye and the other soldiers lifted their
guns in the air, but the Ravens were still too high
up to hit.

Logan keyed his mic. “We need help here

ASAP. We have several murders of Ravens
coming in on us, and we’re outnumbered. Send us
in all the help you can muster up.”

Logan then gave Hankens a gentle shove

toward the house. “Get inside and lock the doors.
Don’t come out unless the place is burning.”

Hankens didn’t need to be told twice. He ran in

as fast as his spindly legs could carry him. All the
way there, he kept yelling, “I told ya so, but ya all
wouldn’t listen to me. Oh, no, ya wouldn’t. Now
you’re sorry.”

Gage turned to Skye. “Stay as close to me as

you can during this. Things are about to get really
hairy.”

“You think?” Skye replied sarcastically.
He then aimed his gun up in the air and took

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116

aim. He was the first one to take out a Raven. The
bird swirled in the air before it hit the ground, a
wound directly in the center of his head.

“Damn, Skye, you are one hell of a shot,” Gage

said.

“If you’d stopped judging him long enough,

you would have noticed that he was out-shooting
us all in the gun range,” Ash said. “Do it again,
Skye.”

Skye shot a few more times, taking out more

Ravens. But he knew it was already a losing battle.
He’d take out as many as he could, but there were
too many of them. The soldiers were way
outnumbered. If help didn’t arrive soon, they were
up shit creek, and there was no damn paddle in
sight.

* * * *

After  hearing  the  call  for  the  Cheetah  team  to
scramble,  Alden  got  suited  up,  then  jumped  into
the  back  of the  van. When  he  noticed  that Logan
was missing, he was confused. The Cheetah team
members  were  always  there  when  called  upon.
They  had  their  second-in-commands  take  over
their  teams  and  joined  the  other  Cheetah  team
members in the van.

Then Alden realized why Logan wasn’t there,

and his heart skipped a beat. It was his team that

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117

was in trouble. Which meant that Skye could also
be in trouble. Logan had told Alden that Skye
would be going out on the next live mission.

“What’s going on?” Alden barked.
Andrew gave him an apprehensive look.

“Logan’s team is currently under attack by several
murders of Ravens. We’re going to help them.”

“What are we waiting for then? Why isn’t the

van moving?” Alden asked as his stomach
churned with fear.

All he could think about was how Skye could

be currently under attack by Ravens and fighting a
losing battle, and here they were sitting there
twiddling their thumbs. They needed to get
moving and help them now.

Vapor put a comforting hand on Alden’s

shoulder. “I know you’re upset because your mate
is out there, but we need to wait for the other
teams to scramble.”

While Alden knew Vapor was right, he still

wanted to run to Skye and help him. It was pure
torture waiting for the other teams. Finally, they
were there, and the vans started to move.

Even though the drivers went at a high speed, it

still seemed to take forever. All the way there, he
said a silent prayer that Skye was safe. It was only
his first mission, and he was still green. He would
be so vulnerable. The Ravens were sure to be able
to tell that and go for him first. The bastards

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118

always liked to go for the weakest and easiest kill.

They finally arrived at the scene, and Alden’s

stomach dropped when he saw how many Ravens
there  were.  He  had  never  seen  so  many  in  one
place  or  at  one  time.  There  was  no  doubt  in  his
mind that they had set up a trap.

“Those cowards,” Vapor said, showing that he

had come to the same conclusion that Alden had.

“They set up a trap. They knew we would only

send out one team because of all the false reports
Hankens had called in,” Andrew added. “They
must have really sent out a Raven this time so he
would call it in. Then when Logan and the others
showed up, they attacked.”

Alden swallowed hard when he saw that the

ground was already littered with the bodies of
soldiers from Logan’s team. While it was selfish of
Alden, he prayed that none of them were Skye.

Then just as he was about to give up all hope.

Alden spotted Skye. He was with Gage and Ash.
They had taken cover inside a shed and were
peeking out every so often to fire off some shots.
Alden couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride when
he noted that Skye was hitting his targets more
often than the other two.

Alden made to get out of the van and run to

them when Vapor put a hand on his shoulder.
“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To my mate? Where else would I be going?”

Skye’s Limits

119

Alden replied.

“You can’t just run out there. It’s got to be thirty

yards away, and the Ravens will be on your ass
before you make it halfway there.”

“I don’t care. I’m still going to him,” Alden said

stubbornly.

Vapor let out a sigh. “I thought you were going

to say that. At least let me provide you some cover
fire.”

They both jumped out of the van and began

shooting.  As  expected,  the  Ravens  were
immediately  on  them.  Vapor  and  Alden  were
ready for them since they weren’t on the Cheetah
team  for  nothing.  They  were  the  best  of  the  best.
They  easily  shot  their  way  through  the  throng  of
Ravens and soon were at the shed.

Pushing their way inside, Alden made a beeline

for Skye and threw his arms around his mate. “I
was so worried about you.”

“I’m okay. We just need to figure a way to get

all of us out of here. Plus, Mr. Hankens is inside
his house. We need to get him out and to safety.”

Alden let out a sigh of aggravation. It would be

easy enough to get Gage, Ash, and Skye to a van
and  to  safety.  They  were  trained  soldiers  and
knew  how  to  fight.  Hankens,  on  the  other  hand,
was  a  different  story. The  old  man  couldn’t  even
run  that  fast.  Leaving  him  behind  wasn’t  an
option,  either.  While  he  might  be  annoying,  he

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120

was still part of the coalition and under their
protection.

“Okay, let me relay this all to the others so they

know what’s going on,” Vapor said. He then went
into the corner and began to talk into his mic.

Alden ran his hands up and down Skye’s body.

“Are you sure that you’re okay? You’re not
wounded anywhere or anything?”

“I’m fine. This isn’t how I wanted my first

mission to go, but other than that, I’m just ducky. I
promise,” Skye said. “It does suck that we lost five
of our men.”

Alden could understand that. It was always

hard to see some of your team members go down
in  battle.  For  Skye  to  have  to  deal  with  it  on  his
first  mission  was  a  big  hurdle  for  him  to
overcome.  He  was  going  to  need  some  major
comfort once the shock of the battle wore off.

“Andrew says he’s going in to get Hankens,”

Vapor said once he rejoined them.

“Doesn’t that worry you?” Skye asked.
Vapor gave a wicked grin. “Nah, my mate can

get  in  and  out  of  any  situation  without  any
problem.  This  will  be  a  piece  of  cake  for  him.  I
wouldn’t  be  surprised  if  he  beats  us  back  to  the
van.”

Alden wouldn’t have been surprised, either.

Andrew had been raised with Shane and was a
master at breaking and entering. Before he’d

Skye’s Limits

121

joined the coalition, his old master had forced
Andrew to use his skills to make money for him.
Now Andrew was using his mastery for the good
of the coalition. Andrew had done some things in
the past that boggled Alden’s mind.

“Okay, let’s get the hell out of here,” Alden

said.

“But what about Mr. Hankens’ house? If we

leave, the Ravens are going to burn it to the
ground,” Skye said.

Alden let out a deep breath. “I don’t like

retreating  any  more  than  you  do,  but  we  are
outnumbered  here.  If  we  stay  it  will  be  suicide.
Mr.  Hankens’  house  is  just  going  to  have  to  be  a
causality  of  the  war.  I  know  it  sucks,  but  that’s
how it’s going to be.”

“That’s just fucking wrong,” Skye said.
“I know it is. But we don’t have any other

choice. We can’t win every battle. This is one that
we’re going to have to lose. We’ll get them next
time, though. I promise you that.”

Skye nodded, but he didn’t look happy about it.

Not that Alden blamed him. He wasn’t happy
about it, either. No good soldier liked to lose a
fight.

Vapor popped his head out of the shed and

said, “Okay, let’s go. I want everybody to have
guns blazing. We’re going for the second van on
the left.”

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122

They all ran out of the shed. Alden was careful

to keep Skye close to his side. They shot and
dodged bullets along the way. Ash took one to the
leg, but he kept on running. Most likely because
the medic was so used to being wounded it didn’t
even faze him anymore.

They were soon to the van. They helped Ash

into the back. Alden wasn’t the least bit surprised
to see Andrew was already there with the elderly
shifter. Mr. Hankens was looking at his home,
which was already in flames, tears running down
his wrinkled face.

“I knew they would get me. It was only a

matter of time,” the man said.

Alden’s heart went out to the shifter. It must be

hard  to  see  one’s  whole  life  literally  go  up  into
flames.  Alden  could  relate  since  he  had  gone
through  the  same  thing  when  he  was  just  a  kid.
He’d  lost  his  parents  and  home  during  the  mass
Raven attack so many years ago, yet the pain still
felt fresh in his heart at times.

Logan jumped into the back of the van. “Okay,

we can go. My entire team has been extracted. We
even managed to remove the dead, so the birds
couldn’t have fun with them.”

As they pulled away, the flames of the home

grew larger. Alden pulled Skye closer to him.
While they might have lost this battle, that didn’t
mean they were losing the war. It was just a little

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124

Chapter Eleven

nce Alden got home and cleaned up, he went
to Branson’s to meet Skye, so they could talk to

his brother. While Alden wasn’t looking forward
to the conversation, he knew it was one that had to
be faced if he was to have Skye as his mate and
living with him.

Alden had dressed his best. While Branson

might be blind, that didn’t mean he didn’t deserve
to have all his due respect. Alden didn’t realize
how nervous he was until he noticed his hands
were shaking when he knocked on the door.

Skye answered it. He was smiling, so that was a

good sign. Or at least Alden hoped so. With Skye’s
family, things could take a bad turn quickly. If
there was anything that Alden had learned about
them, it was that.

“Are you ready for this?” Skye asked.
“Yeah, is Branson in a good mood?” Alden

asked.

“He’s still feeling really bad about how he

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125

treated me the other night, so I think we’re hitting
him at a good time.”

“I hope you’re right.”
“Come in.”
Alden walked into an apartment that was much

like his but with a much homier feel to it. There
were various artifacts lying about, and the couches
looked worn and used. A large screen TV sat in
the living room. It was on, but the volume was set
to low.

Branson and Gage were in the kitchen, but

Branson turned his head as soon as Alden and
Skye walked in. “Alden, what are you doing
here?”

The question was one of curiosity, not out of

hostility, so they were off to a good start. Alden let
out a small sigh and rubbed his hands on his jeans.
He  knew  the  next  few  minutes  were  going  to  be
the  most  important  ones  in  his  life.  While  Skye
was  going  to  be  leaving  with  him  either  way,
Alden didn’t want it to be on bad terms. He knew
how  much  Skye  looked  up  to  his  older  brother,
and he wanted them to be able to continue to have
a good relationship.

“Skye and I need to talk to you about

something,” Alden said.

Branson let out a deep sigh. “I kind of figured

this would be coming.”

Alden cocked his head to the side. “You did?”

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126

“Yeah, ever since he came home reeking of your

scent. Right now, you smell like him. It’s obvious
you two have mated. I just have one question for
you.”

“What’s that?” Alden asked.
He and Skye exchanged looks. This was too

easy. There had to be a catch somewhere.

“Do you love him?” Branson asked.
Alden didn’t hesitate a beat. “With all my

heart.”

“That’s all I needed to hear. So when is Skye

leaving?”

“I was hoping that he could move in as soon as

possible if that’s okay with you,” Alden ventured.

“Damn it, I hate to see Skye go. I’m going to

miss him, but you were right the other day. He is a
grown man, and I need to let him go.” Branson
turned to Skye and put a hand on his shoulder. “Is
this what you want?”

Skye looked up at his brother. “Yes, I do. I’m

going to miss you and Gage, but it’s not like we’re
going to be that far away. Alden means everything
to me. I love him and want to be with him.”

“Then go be with him. But don’t forget about

me, okay?”

Skye let out a soft laugh. “Like I could ever

forget about you. You’re my big brother. Plus, I’m
still going to see Gage every day at training. I’m
sure he’ll make sure to drag my ass back here

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127

from time to time.”

“You better believe it,” Gage piped in.
“Well, we can’t have you guys packing on an

empty stomach. Alden, join us for dinner. You’re
family now, so it’s only fitting that you eat with
us,” Branson said.

As they sat down together to eat, Alden

realized that he did have a family now. He was no
longer alone, and it was all thanks to his mate.
Turning to Skye, Alden mouthed, I love you. Skye
gave that adorable smile of his before he mouthed,

I loved you, too.

It then dawned on Alden that, while he had

taught Skye so much, Skye had also taught him
something: that there was still happiness and love
in the world. And for that, Alden would forever
be grateful.

About the Author

Stephani  Hecht  is  a  happily  married  mother  of
two.  Born  and  raised  in  Michigan,  she  loves  all
things  about  the  state,  from  the  frigid  winters  to
the  Detroit  Red  Wings  hockey  team.  Go  Wings!
You  can  usually  find  her  snuggled  up  to  her
laptop, creating her next book.

Contact

her

at:

Address:

stephani@stephanihecht.com

Twitter:

http://twitter.com/StephaniHecht
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?ref=profile&id=110935385
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