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Paranormal Wars: Stone Haven 4

Mating the Predator

Zeke Torres was always picked on because he was a scared mouse
shifter. When his mother married a hawk shifter, he had to suffer

through his stepbrother’s cruelty on a daily basis. He fought hard
for his independence and vowed to never be under the control of
anyone else.

Rangi Ku was an eagle shifter and Director of Communications for
the Alliance’s Northern Territory. Working late one night, he was

shocked when his computer was hacked (a feat that no one had
ever done), with a message asking for help. He saved the man

who hacked into their network, and was surprised to find Zeke
was his mate.

When Alek, their Alpha Primus, accuses Zeke of being a traitor,
Zeke must find the courage to put aside his reservations and trust
Rangi to protect him. A predator mating his prey may not seem

plausible, but Rangi is determined to show his little mouse he is
more than just a bird of prey.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Futuristic, Paranormal, Shape-
shifter
Length: 41,091 words

MATING THE PREDATOR

Paranormal Wars: Stone Haven 4

Shea Balik

EROTIC ROMANCE

MANLOVE

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

MATING THE PREDATOR
Copyright © 2014 by Shea Balik
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-035-1

First E-book Publication: July 2014

Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
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All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance
to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of Mating the Predator by Shea Balik
from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also,
thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or
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This is Shea Balik’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect
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MATING THE PREDATOR

Paranormal Wars: Stone Haven 4

SHEA BALIK

Chapter 1

For the last twenty years Zeke Torres has done everything in his

power to keep his distance from Raptor, which, considering they were
stepbrothers, wasn’t always easy. Now, just as he’d finally started to
relax and enjoy his life with a job he loved, a decent place to live, and
a best friend, Raptor not only came to visit, he came to hide from the
most powerful man on the planet, Alpha Primus Aleksi Rykov.

It had all started when Zeke stepped off the elevator to his

fifteenth-floor apartment to find his door ajar. At first he thought it
was his best friend, Gibson, who had his key in case of emergencies.
Except there never was an emergency. He just liked to hang out in
Zeke’s apartment.

It wasn’t until he walked into the living room that Zeke noticed

two large, extremely muscled men sitting on his brand-new black
leather sofa. A part of him was incensed as they were sitting there
eating chips and salsa, getting it all over his couch. But the saner,
scared part of Zeke noticed these men looked like they would rather
kill Zeke than talk to him.

“Hello, Squeak,” Raptor said from behind him as he closed the

door and Zeke’s only way out. Damn! He should have run when he
had the chance.

Mating the Predator

All those memories of that hard, cold voice tormenting him during

his childhood had Zeke shaking where he stood. He knew from
painful experience that showing his fear was dangerous but he hadn’t
expected Raptor to be here, which left Zeke unprepared.

A malicious smile appeared on Raptor’s face. Crap! The man had

sensed Zeke’s fear and was going to make him pay for it. Even after
twenty years of proving himself to be an intelligent, capable man, just
seeing Raptor threw Zeke back into being a scared little kid with no
way to defend himself.

Hadn’t the thousands of hours of therapy taught him that Raptor

wasn’t any better than Zeke just because the man could beat him up?
Didn’t the fact that Raptor had to use his fists to prove he was a man
make him weaker than Zeke? If he was ever going to get Raptor to
respect him enough to stop terrorizing him, Zeke had to stand up to
the man.

Somehow he found the courage to do just that. “Raptor, I don’t

remember inviting you into my home, and my name is Zeke, not
Squeak.” Okay, not exactly ordering the man from his apartment but
still he was proud of himself for saying something.

Laughter filled the room as Raptor and his two goons found

Zeke’s bravado funny. “Oh, little brother, sometimes you kill me,”
Raptor said as he stepped in front of Zeke.

Normally this would be where Zeke would back away, too afraid

of what Raptor would do, but not this time. This time he was going to
stand up to his stepbrother. He may be a mouse shifter, but that didn’t
mean he always had to act like his animal.

Without warning Raptor’s fist snapped out, punching Zeke in the

throat. Dropping to the floor as he fought to drag air in his damaged
esophagus, Zeke curled himself into a ball just in case Raptor planned
to kick him too.

Instead Raptor sank down into a squat with cold, hard eyes that

told Zeke just how deadly he was. “Because you are my brother I will
allow the one slight, but do it again”—he paused, waiting for Zeke to

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look at him—“do it again and I will kill you, Squeak, and not even
Talon will be able to save you.”

Zeke immediately lowered his gaze once more, afraid Raptor

would take it a sign of aggression and beat him just for the slight like
he used to when they were kids. As proud as Zeke was of himself for
standing up to Raptor he should have remembered his stepbrother was
a hawk, which made Zeke his prey.

Why Raptor was so different from his brother Talon, Zeke never

understood. Whereas Raptor took delight in torturing Zeke, Talon just
left him alone. Most of the time Zeke wasn’t sure Talon knew he even
existed, though they had lived in the same house growing up.

The only time Talon ever acknowledged his existence was when

he took on Raptor for beating Zeke up. Not that it was a hardship for
Talon as he was much bigger than his brother. He also made sure to
tell Zeke to stop being such a weakling and stand up to Raptor. Easy
for a six-foot-six walking wall of muscle to say.

Unfortunately, when Zeke turned fifteen Talon joined the Alliance

Army, leaving no one to stop Raptor. Zeke prayed to the Gods for
help, but they never did. One time Raptor heard him praying and
laughed at him, telling him the Gods put shifters like Zeke and his
mother on this Earth so that predators would have someone to play
with.

Now, his tormentor was back again and taking over his life. It had

been a month since they’d arrived and Zeke hadn’t been allowed to
step out of his apartment. The only time he’d been allowed to touch
his phone was to call his boss and quit. That had killed Zeke as he
really loved his job. Quitting without notice on his record would make
finding another job nearly impossible.

About two days into his imprisonment he’d heard his best friend

Gibson knock on the door. Boris, one of Raptor’s goons, told him
Zeke had moved out and he had no idea where he’d gone. Whether
Gibson had believed him or not Zeke didn’t know, but nevertheless he
hadn’t come knocking again.

Mating the Predator

So, Zeke was stuck with no way to ask for help. Raptor had

kicked him out of his own room, forcing Zeke to sleep on the couch.
He would have snuck out when everyone was asleep but one of the
first things Raptor had done was to install a lock on the inside that
only he had the key to.

With no phone and no way to go outside Zeke had been

scrambling to find a way to communicate with someone on the
outside. He thought of yelling out the window or putting up a sign for
help but since he was fifteen floors up he doubted it would help and
he’d only get beaten for his efforts. Maybe he should anyway but after
getting punched in the throat he’d reverted right back to the scared
little mouse Raptor always called him. Zeke hated himself for being
so weak.

“Hey, Squeak,” Raptor called out from the bedroom.
Zeke hated when his stepbrother called him that nickname. He

couldn’t help that he squeaked when he was scared, it was his mouse.
For years Raptor laughed at him every time that happened, eventually
giving him the nickname.

“Squeak, get your skinny ass in here before I come out there and

get you,” Raptor yelled.

Knowing Raptor would do as he threatened Zeke reluctantly went

down the hall to his old bedroom, for that’s what it was. After Raptor
and his goons finally left, Zeke would be moving as far away from his
stepbrother as he could.

A computer tablet was running on his desk. Zeke did his best not

to show how excited he was. Raptor was glaring at it like it had
somehow personally offended him but Zeke didn’t care about that. If
he could just get two minutes on that computer he could get out a
message for help.

“This damn program isn’t working. Aren’t you some sort of

computer geek?” If Raptor only knew how true his words were.

Zeke shrugged casually, desperate to not let his stepbrother know

just how good he was. The job he’d been forced to quit was a

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computer programmer-hacker for CompTech, one of the leading
computer companies in the Alliance.

His main job was to hack into unhackable systems and help them

fill in the holes in the security. It was more of a life calling than a job
to Zeke. He was one of the lucky few who truly loved what he did.

“Sort of. I worked for CompTech as a programmer.” He tried to

downplay just how good he was but he knew he had to add enough
truth for Raptor to believe him.

Raptor eyed him over as if judging his honesty. After growing up

under his tyrannical thumb Zeke had learned how to appear too meek
to be a threat. Dropping his gaze to the floor, he hunched his
shoulders just enough that his stepbrother would believe he was too
cowed to actually lie.

“Good, then get over here and fix this stupid thing,” Raptor said

as he got up, stretching his long, lean body for a moment before he
dropped onto the bed to lie on his back with his hands behind his
head. “Just remember, no funny business. I’ll be watching every move
you make.”

Zeke had always wondered how such a gorgeous male could be

rotten to the core. At six feet, with a body that clearly showed he
worked out, Raptor could clearly have any woman he wanted yet all
he seemed interested in doing was tormenting others.

“Uh-umm, what exactly am I supposed to fix?” he asked. Zeke

already knew the answer for he helped create the program on the
screen but Raptor didn’t know that. Hell, his own bosses didn’t know
that. His coworker, Peitro, had been asked to develop a program that
would allow a satellite image of any given territory. It would not only
show the terrain but it would also be able to show how many humans,
shifters, mystics, and psy were in the area.

Peitro asked Zeke to look at the program because the man was

having trouble. The trouble was Peitro was not advanced enough to
write the program. With tears in his eyes and promises to be Zeke’s

Mating the Predator

slave, not that Zeke would ever ask anything of the man, Peitro
begged Zeke to fix it, so he did.

He’d cancelled his weekend of virtual games with Gibson to work

on the program for Peitro. The man never told his bosses he hadn’t
written the program, nor had he ever bothered to even talk to Zeke
again after that, the ungrateful jerk.

What Zeke didn’t understand was what Raptor was doing with the

program. According to Peitro it was being designed for the Alpha
Primus and wouldn’t be available to anyone else. As he looked at the
information Raptor put in, Zeke knew immediately what his
stepbrother had decided to do. He was hoping to spy on the Alpha
Primus in the Northern Territory. What an idiot.

First of all, no one was allowed to spy on the Northern Territory.

They had the most sophisticated programs on Earth to ensure their
privacy and no one had ever hacked into them. Well, Zeke had, but it
was just to see if he could. He hadn’t even let anyone know he’d done
it. The last thing he’d wanted was to be locked away for spying on the
Alpha Primus.

“If you don’t even know what you’re looking at, you clearly

aren’t much of a programmer,” Raptor sneered.

Zeke refused to rise to the bait. It would serve him better to act

like someone who only had limited knowledge of computers. “Sorry,
Raptor, but maybe if you told me what you were doing wrong I could
figure it out.”

Raptor jerked up into a sitting position. “I didn’t do anything

wrong. I’ve been using it the whole time we’ve been here. I just
changed what location I wanted to look at, that’s all,” he snarled out.

“Sorry,” Zeke squeaked, “I meant when the program went wrong.

Give me some time and I’ll see what I can do.” Yeah, he probably
shouldn’t have goaded Raptor like that but Zeke hadn’t been able to
help himself. Maybe he wasn’t a meek as he thought.

Doing his best to hold onto that little bit of bravery, he hacked

directly into the Alpha Primus’s communications network. Within

Mating the Predator

Chapter 2

“Fuck me,” Rangi Ku whispered in awe as he watched someone

remotely take over his screen and write a message before
disappearing. Rangi closed his eyes and shook his head, fearing he’d
finally reached his breaking point. After all, he hadn’t slept more than
an hour or two a night for the last month. Maybe he was just
hallucinating.

Opening his eyes, the message was still on his screen. Well, it

wasn’t a hallucination. Right now he wasn’t sure if that was a good or
a bad thing. At least he wasn’t going crazy but it also meant someone
had just hacked into Alek’s state-of-the-art system. One that Alek
took pride in knowing no one had ever hacked, except someone just
did.

Not only did that person get into the system but they managed to

get to Rangi’s personal computer, which Alek himself had secured
even beyond their normal security. The only computer more secure
was Alek’s.

He wasn’t sure how he was going to tell Alek, the Alpha Primus

of the Alliance, that someone had hacked into Rangi’s computer,
commandeered it, wrote a message, and logged out as if they’d never
been there. This was Alek’s baby, something he’d worked his entire
life developing. The only thing more important to the Alpha was the
man’s mate, Seth.

Rangi would run a trace to see if the hacker had left a trail but just

the fact it was done was beyond impressive. They would have to find
this person and hopefully recruit them, for Alek wasn’t stupid enough
to allow anyone who could do this to remain outside of his protection.

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Over the years they had managed to recruit anyone who had

gotten close to infiltrating their system. Some called what they did no
better than the psy. Of the three paranormals races, the psy were the
most power hungry. The majority of the psy were given the gift of
mental or emotional control over humans. Basically they could take
over a human’s mind and make them do whatever the psy wanted,
kind of like a puppet.

With the ability to control someone like that it made the psy’s

need for more power insatiable. Because of this the psy had been
kidnapping and imprisoning humans and paranormals to run twisted
experiments. Humans weren’t their only guinea pigs. Shifters and
mystics had been granted a much longer lifespan than the psy. In fact,
so far no shifter or mystic had died a natural death. The psy on the
other hand generally only lived around a hundred and twenty years.
The psy wanted to change that.

Rangi understood why some may think they were no better than

the psy by not giving the would-be hackers a choice but it was to
protect them. Well, it was to protect the Alliance, too, but the fact
was once it became public knowledge that someone was close to
getting into the Alek’s system they would have a target on their heads.
Not to kill but to take by any means necessary and force that person to
try and take down the Alliance.

So far Alek never had to force anyone to come live there at Stone

Haven. Mainly because Alek would offer them a deal they would be
stupid to refuse. And no one ever refused Alek.

This was the last thing Rangi needed. First he’d lost Raptor, the

Alpha for the Latin Territory. To make matters worse his inability to
find Dr. Reid’s family was putting them all on edge, for until they
found his family Dr. Reid was stuck creating more werecreatures for
the psy. But the icing on the cake was not being able to find their
second-in-command, Wolfe, after he disappeared to look for his mate
Dr. Reid. For weeks Rangi had been in the doghouse and this
definitely wouldn’t help.

Mating the Predator

It was why Rangi was here working even though it was late at

night. He had three targets to find and Rangi was determined to find
at least one of them.

Raptor was a corrupt Alpha that Alek planned to kill for not only

working with the enemy but helping them kidnap and torture innocent
victims. Rangi had promised Alek to keep a satellite tracking the
man’s movements but somehow he’d lost him. No matter how many
times he went over the satellite images there was no sign of the man.

There had to be some sort of tunnel system he’d used. Still Raptor

would have come out sooner or later but no matter how hard Rangi
tried he couldn’t figure out where the man had gone.

Then when they brought back psy scientist Dr. Caleb Reid, who’d

been changing humans into were-creatures, sort of a half man, half
animal, they found out the doctor was being forced to do this. His
family, which included his now six-year-old sister and eight-year-old
brother, were being held by the psy and they’d threatened to start
cutting them up into pieces if the doctor didn’t do as they asked.

Determined to help find Caleb’s family, Alek allowed the doctor

to return to the psy in hopes of using the once-a-month teleconference
Caleb was allowed to have with family to locate them. When the time
came Rangi and his team frantically tried to trace the call but failed in
finding them.

On top of all that Wolfe, Alek’s second-in-command, had realized

Dr. Reid was his mate and disappeared after Alek had released the
doctor to return to the psy. Before leaving, Caleb begged Alek to not
allow anyone to tell Wolfe about his family. Caleb figured it would be
easier on Wolfe to stay away if he thought Caleb willingly went back
to the enemy.

Apparently he was wrong, because as soon as Wolfe found out

Caleb returned to the psy, Wolfe took off and hadn’t been heard from
since. Rangi had assumed he went to find his mate, but they weren’t
sure because once more Rangi and his team failed at finding him. It
seemed like Rangi and his team were failing more than they were

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succeeding anymore and Rangi really didn’t want to have to be the
one to tell Alek something else had happened.

His whole life Rangi had taken pride in his ability to see a

problem and fix it. Even while imprisoned by the humans, Rangi
found ways to manipulate them into making him and those around
him a little more comfortable.

It hadn’t been easy growing up in a human lab as they did

experiments on the newly created paranormals. Why the Gods would
create three new races in order to save the Earth from human stupidity
only to have the humans commit terrible acts upon the paranormals’
birth, Rangi couldn’t fathom a guess.

If the Gods had felt the humans could no longer be trusted to take

care of an entire planet, what did they expect to happen when those
same humans saw newborns turning into an animal or one of the
elements? Based on history, any idiot knew they would freak the hell
out.

Those babies were either killed instantly or taken by the

governments for “observation.” The only observation Rangi had
witnessed was when they pumped the paranormals full of some
chemical and waited to see how they would handle it.

Fortunately for those imprisoned paranormals many hadn’t been

turned over to the government. Alek Rykov was one of those people.
After a hundred years he managed to raise a large enough army to
attack the human labs and rescue the paranormals.

After Alek freed him, Rangi took his organizational skills and

developed them even further. Now he was the head of
communications, with nearly three hundred people under him. At any
one time there were usually at least ten sources of information he was
taking in and organizing.

Never once in over the one hundred years he’d been doing this job

had Rangi even become flustered or been without an answer for a
question asked, until now. It was completely frustrating to have so
many problems with no solution. He found himself floundering for

Mating the Predator

the first time in his life but he refused to give in. Instead he worked
longer hours, trying to find one piece of good news that would get
him back on track.

Yet once more he was being thrown a curveball and he wasn’t

sure what to do about it. It was seriously pissing him off. The need to
be back in control was starting to turn to anger as he couldn’t seem to
get it back.

Glancing at the clock, he winced when he saw the time, 11 p.m.

Did he run the risk of getting Alek up? The fact that he didn’t know
the answer to that question before he even asked it was a sure sign
Rangi had lost his ability to effectively do his job.

He stared at the message someone had left him on his computer

for a few minutes more before he really read it. Finally, he focused
enough to actually comprehend the words.

Sitting up straight he stared slack-jawed at the screen for a

moment before he activated the warning system through COBI, which
stood for Communication and Biometric Interface. Most likely Alek
would have his earpiece out but COBI would sense this and emit a
blaring horn that would wake even the soundest sleeper.

If the earpiece was in it would still emit the noise but at a much

softer tone so as not to blow out someone’s eardrums. This allowed
them to take out their earpieces when they were in their rooms but
still be alerted when necessary.

Two voices practically growled at the same time. “What?” they

snapped. It was Alek and Maui, Alek’s enforcer. Wolfe, Alek’s
second-in-command, normally would have also been notified but
since he went MIA it was just the two.

“I need you both down here ASAP,” he said in way of explanation

because he really didn’t want to try and explain everything over the
COBI.

“This better be good,” Alek warned him before once more

clicking off his earpiece.

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“Are you kidding me?” Maui asked. “Do you have any idea what

Ian was about to let me do to him—”

Rangi cut him off. “Don’t rub it in,” Rangi said as he turned off

his own earpiece. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy for his friends for
finding their mates but having been alone for as long as he had, he
could totally admit to being jealous as hell.

He knew he needed to just get laid. The problem was he knew

everyone in this town, and those he would consider dating he already
had at some point. The next time Alek sent someone out in the field
maybe he should volunteer. That way he could take some time for a
little action.

Both Alek and Maui lived at least fifteen minutes out and since

they probably wouldn’t be willing to leave their mates alone,
especially since Rangi hadn’t told them why they were being called
in, he knew he had some time to kill. The Alpha would be rightfully
pissed for several reasons, so Rangi figured he would use this time to
see if he could find any trace of how the hacker got in.

He had to admit he wouldn’t mind meeting whoever this person

was. Intelligence had always been a turn-on for Rangi and it didn’t
matter to him if it was a guy or a girl as he never let gender get in the
way. If he had to pick a preference, it would probably be a man with
all those hard muscles and there was something about sucking cock
that turned Rangi the hell on. But on the other hand he loved petite
women he could just pick up and position any way he wanted. His
dick throbbed just thinking about it.

The slam of the door against the wall as Alek and Maui strode in

with their mates, Seth and Ian, in tow doused Rangi’s lust-filled
thoughts better than a cold shower ever had.

“So what’s the emergency?” Alek asked as he stood next to

Rangi.

Rangi toggled back to the message that had been left on his screen

and let Alek and Maui read it for themselves.

Mating the Predator

Please help me. Raptor, the Alpha of the Latin Territory, is hiding

out in my home and holding me against my will at 68 Longhorn Circle
just outside San Antonio in the Latin Territory.

Alek looked at Rangi for a moment as if he were trying to choose

his words carefully. Maui didn’t have that problem. “Seriously you
got us out of bed for this? Don’t get me wrong, good job on finding
the bastard, but this could have waited until tomorrow.”

“Since he managed to disappear once I thought you’d want to

know right away,” Rangi snapped back.

It was Alek who finally noticed the message was written by

someone else. “This isn’t an e-mail, so how did you get this
message?”

Rangi rubbed the back of his neck as he explained. “I was sitting

here working to find Raptor but I wasn’t having any luck. Suddenly
someone took control of my computer and this message was typed
before the hacker disappeared.”

“Are you saying we were hacked?” Alek asked, although his tone

said he was ready to rip someone to pieces.

“Yeah, we were.” He couldn’t help but sound as impressed as he

was. The fact was, Alek spent a ton of money and his own time
making sure their system was impenetrable. Alek was one of the first
shifters born in 2012. He’d attended MIT, back when it still existed,
and was considered a genius even there.

While growing up he’d hacked into various databases before

going to college. His parents were some sort of conservationists who
studied the wildlife in the northeast Russian wilderness, leaving Alek
with a lot of time on his hands. In order to keep what he was hidden,
Alek’s parents had remained in Russia while Alek grew up but they’d
wanted him to know about the rest of the world so they gave him a
computer at the age of four and he took to it like a fish to water.

While at MIT he’d developed a site and dared anyone to hack it.

No one could but as he developed more and more systems for
businesses he became known for his skills and soon every hacker and

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hacker wannabe was trying to breach his system. But it never
happened. Word had quickly gotten around and companies started
paying him billions to develop their systems.

Even though his time was consumed as the Alpha Primus of the

Alliance, Alek still kept programming. It was his passion and after
nearly three hundred years no one had ever hacked him. To do so now
was something Rangi found quite amazing. Of course, that’s not how
Alek saw it.

“How did this happen?” he asked. The muscle in Alek’s jaw

ticked.

To make matters worse Maui, Seth, and Ian were snickering about

it. Not that it was a laughing matter, but at the same time Rangi did
see the humor in how their dominant Alpha was pouting like a
petulant child over someone beating his computer skills.

“To be honest, I have no idea.” Rangi could feel the heat enter his

cheeks as he had to admit he once more didn’t know something. It
was like a never-ending cycle lately with him and Rangi was getting
sick and tired of not knowing what was going on. “I ran diagnostics
and tried to trace the breach but I couldn’t find anything. It’s like the
hacker was never in our system, yet here’s the message.” He pointed
to the screen at the proof.

That tic seemed to start beating faster as Alek took the

information in. “Well, we know where the hacker is and since Raptor
is apparently there we can kill two birds with one stone.”

As an eagle shifter, Rangi never really liked that expression. But

then Alek knew that, which is probably why he’d said it.

“I want a plan in place within the hour,” Alek ordered. “Let’s

wake up the troops.”

Mating the Predator

Chapter 3

Zeke prayed someone had seen his message and actually believed

it, or at least was curious enough to check it out. After an hour of
trying to “fix” Raptor’s problem with the surveillance program he had
to admit defeat.

He probably could have fixed it but that would have gotten him

into a lot of trouble with the Alpha Primus for hacking into his system
in order to use it against the Alliance. Sure he’d already hacked in to
leave the message, but he could only hope since it was to lead them to
Raptor he would be forgiven for his transgression.

He also wasn’t about to help Raptor. Of course, since Zeke

couldn’t do what Raptor wanted his stepbrother used it as an excuse
to once more beat him to a bloody pulp.

Currently Zeke lay in the shower stall curled into a ball so the

blood dripping from his various wounds wouldn’t get all over the
carpet. He hadn’t even had enough energy to start the water as the
spigot was just too high from his position.

The hard tile was really uncomfortable but he was just in too

much pain to shift to start the healing process. He hoped in a couple
of hours his wounds would start healing a little, allowing him to shift,
but for now he would lay here in misery.

“Squeak, what are you doing in my shower?” Raptor came in,

taunting him.

Zeke didn’t bother to answer him, not that he could have even if

he wanted to. He was in too much pain to make more sound than a
moan.

Shea Balik

“Gods, you really are pathetic, Squeak,” Raptor said as he stood at

the toilet, unzipped his pants, and started peeing. “I should do the
world a favor and just kill you.”

A part of Zeke wished he would. He’d forgotten just how brutal

Raptor was, although he knew it had been worse when they were kids.
Not that it mattered as he knew he couldn’t go through the daily
beatings again.

“Raptor, we have reports of the Alpha Primus heading this way,”

Boris called from the other side of the door.

Raptor zipped back up his pants and didn’t even bother to wash

his hands as he turned to Zeke’s prone form with a snarl. “What did
you do, Squeak?”

Zeke wasn’t sure why his stepbrother suspected him but knew he

couldn’t admit to anything or he’d be dead. He might be anyway but
if the Alpha Primus was on his way, Zeke had a chance, granted a
small one, but still a chance to get away from his sadistic stepbrother,
hopefully alive.

So he stayed quiet, knowing if he even tried to defend himself in

any way in Raptor’s mind it would make him guilty. Through barely
open eyes, Zeke saw the boot just before it made contact with his
abdomen.

The breath was knocked completely out of his body by the force

of the kick and he gasped as pain unlike anything he’d ever
experienced ripped through his body. He was sure there was internal
damage. Another kick hit, but this time in the hip as he’d just turned
to his stomach when he felt himself ready to throw up from the pain.

The red haze of pain made it hard to know if what he threw up

was blood or if his vision was turning red. Once more that booted foot
made contact, this time with his head. Blackness descended as he
heard Boris once more call through the door. “Raptor, man, we have
to go, they are only twenty minutes out.”

What happened after that, Zeke didn’t know as he let the darkness

take him under.

Mating the Predator

* * * *

Rangi waited for the aircraft to land about a mile out from the

location the hacker had given him. He along with Alek and twenty
other men and women were on their way to capture Raptor for his
crimes against the Alliance.

In researching the location of the message, Rangi found out a

mouse shifter, Zeke Atwater, lived there. He was considered the best
computer software designer at CompTech, one of the few other
computer companies that directly competed with Alek’s company,
Rykov Industries.

How the mouse shifter slipped through the cracks and wasn’t

hired by Alek, Rangi still wasn’t sure. According to their records,
Zeke hadn’t even been interviewed. Alek had teams of recruiters that
kept an eye on all high school, college, and technical school students
to find any with the potential in computers, science, and various other
specialties that would give them an advantage in this war.

Actually Rangi thought Alek just liked his toys and would spend

obscene amounts of money to create the most advanced
environmentally friendly toys. Whatever the reason the Northern
Territory was years beyond anyone else on Earth.

It didn’t make sense that Zeke wouldn’t have been brought in for

an interview. Rangi was determined to find out the reason when he
got back to Stone Haven but for now he needed to focus on the task at
hand. Normally Rangi didn’t go on missions, at least not since the
Great War. His job was to oversee the missions, watching all the
pieces from a distance to make sure nothing was missed.

Even though he hadn’t been involved in a battle in just over a

hundred years, he still trained daily. If there was one thing he’d
learned from being a shifter, it was to always be prepared. So at just
over six feet he was two hundred pounds of hard muscle.

Shea Balik

Every day he started his day by doing an hour of weights. Then he

would do another hour of running. Instead of listening to music as so
many others did, he listened to the reports from the third shift, so he
would be completely caught up by the time he went to work.

His lunch hour was spent training with one of the elite soldiers,

those Wolfe and Maui directly trained. Rangi took a lot of pride in
making sure he was fit and ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

The only reason he’d been allowed to go on this mission was

because Maui was needed to stay behind to protect the mates and
Alek needed someone at his side. It should have ruffled his feathers
that they didn’t trust him to take care of the mates but he was too
excited to actually go on this mission to take offence.

His eyes went to the picture on his tablet once more. Zeke’s face

looked back at him so defeated it made Rangi want to take him in his
arms and promise to always protect him. The picture had been taken
when he’d graduated high school. How someone so young could feel
such sorrow Rangi wasn’t sure.

The information about Zeke showed that his father had died when

Zeke was young. His mother remarried many years later. She had
married a hawk shifter named Hawk. Could his parents have been
more original with his name? Hawk had two younger sons, Talon and
Raptor. Reports had come back that Talon was an upstanding soldier
for the Alliance, who had more than proved himself in battle.

Raptor on the other hand was a sadistic son of a bitch. After high

school he’d also joined the Alliance Army but had been kicked out
because of conduct unbecoming. Apparently he’d been caught beating
those smaller than himself and had raped several female soldiers.

The last straw had been when he’d been found raping innocent

civilians in towns they had been battling the psy in. Unfortunately all
charges had been dropped when he’d agreed to go back home. For the
next ten years he went to work for the Alpha in the Latin Territory,
who had been a weak Alpha but fair to his people.

Mating the Predator

Then about five years ago the Alpha suddenly died in an attack.

Suspiciously Raptor and ten of his men had been the only witnesses to
the attack. Alek had sent a couple of men down to investigate but they
hadn’t found anything suspicious and brought back proof of the attack
by the psy.

With no proof of foul play, Alek didn’t feel he had any right to

interfere with Raptor’s election as Alpha. The Cadre down there had
never been very useful. In fact it was suspected several of them were
taking money from various people to keep silent on certain matters.

Rangi was sitting next to Alek, who was clearly kicking himself

for allowing this farce to continue. But having so many other
problems dealing with the war against the psy, he just hadn’t had time
to investigate the issue himself.

“I need you to get in there and secure this Zeke. If he was good

enough to hack into our system I want him on our team.” Alek’s hard
glare met his. “You are in charge of keeping him safe at all costs,
understood?”

Not feeling a verbal answer was required, Rangi just gave him a

nod before bringing the schematics of the building and the
neighborhood back up on the screen. All the while he was listening in
one ear to all the chatter from his team until one caught his attention.

“Satellite showing three men, one fitting the description of Raptor

leaving the target’s apartment building,” Tardis, Rangi’s second-in-
command, said over the line.

“Tardis, do satellites have a fix?” he asked.
Alek sat up straighter as he waited for Rangi to give his orders as

the Alpha knew Rangi was the best at taking whatever was thrown at
them and finding a way to deal with it.

“Yes, I was able to fix a target on him and the satellite is

following.” A target was like a GPS transmitter except since they
couldn’t actually place one on Raptor, as no one was close enough to
do so, the satellite, given a few moments and a clear line of sight, was
able to send out a signal that would effectively do the same thing.

Shea Balik

It didn’t last long but since they were minutes from landing it

would hopefully give them a chance to find their target. “Are you one
hundred percent positive the target is Raptor?” he asked. That’s how
Raptor had lost him the last time. The man was smart enough to know
how the Alliance’s satellites worked and so he sent out a decoy that
Raptor’s team followed, allowing the man to get away.

“No. We still have the second satellite watching the apartment

building just in case,” Tardis informed him.

“Good. Make it obvious we are following him and let me know if

anything changes,” Rangi ordered.

He filled Alek in even as their aircraft landed. Once they were in

the vehicles that had come with them in the back of the aircraft they
took off toward the apartment building. Since they couldn’t be sure
the target wasn’t a decoy, they had decided to go ahead with the
original plan. If Raptor wasn’t there, they would then go after
whoever the satellite was following.

Rangi, along with two other bird shifters, would shift and fly in

through a window. The others would come in through the back and
front of the building. Each exit would be guarded while the others
used the stairs to reach Zeke’s apartment. About a half mile out Rangi
and the two other bird shifters, Larson, a falcon shifter, and Vaughn, a
raven shifter, got out before the SUVs took off once more.

Shifting was always Rangi’s favorite thing to do. The freedom of

flying through the air as his eagle always soothed his soul. The fact
that his eagle was nearly five feet tall with a wingspan eighteen feet
long made Rangi one of the deadliest predators in the skies.

The long hours lately hadn’t given him much of an opportunity to

stretch his wings. As he let the air current lift him into the sky, he
gave himself a moment to relish the feeling before focusing once
more on the task at hand. In mere moments they were at the
apartment. Vaughn, being a raven and less likely to draw attention to
himself, flew by the window to look inside.

Mating the Predator

Not able to talk in this form, they had come up with a series of

signals through gestures and vocalizations that would convey
information. It wasn’t the easiest way but it usually worked enough to
get the basic information across.

Vaughn shook his head before heading back to the window to sit

on the sill for a better look. It appeared no one was in the living room
of the apartment. Flying over to look for himself, Rangi landed next
to Vaughn while Larson kept watch by flying in a pattern just above
them.

Confirming there was no one inside both Vaughn and Rangi lifted

off once more, but this time Rangi approached the window alone and
using his razor-sharp beak he broke through the flimsy window with
ease. Once he was through the window he shifted back into his human
form to search the apartment with Vaughn and Larson right behind
him.

As they reached the last bedroom, the front door crashed open and

Alek and his team entered the small apartment. Rangi continued his
search of the last room, stopping short when he reached the attached
bathroom. His heart stopped beating as he saw a small figure curled
into a ball, beaten to a bloody pulp.

Shea Balik

Chapter 4

“Zeke,” he whispered before rushing to the man’s side, praying to

the Gods he was still alive.

Carefully, so he didn’t jostle the injured man, Rangi crawled into

the shower stall next to him. How he knew this was Zeke, Rangi
couldn’t say, for the man was so bloody and bruised he couldn’t make
out any of his features. But Rangi knew deep in his soul who this was.

When he heard steady wheezing as Zeke breathed, Rangi let out a

sigh of relief that he was still alive. His hand shook as he reached out
to brush Zeke’s hair away from his face. The feel of that silky hair
against his fingers had Rangi’s heart speeding up.

But when his fingers brushed against Zeke’s skin Rangi’s cock

went rock hard. Jerking his hand back at his reaction to an injured
man, Rangi shook his head as if trying to clear it. It was so
inappropriate to be lusting after someone who had clearly been beaten
and left to die but he couldn’t control the desire racing through his
veins.

“Is he alive?” Alek asked from the doorway.
Too choked up to speak Rangi just nodded. The thought that he

could have lost Zeke before meeting him had tears springing to
Rangi’s eyes. Refusing to let those tears fall, Rangi went to work on
stabilizing the injured shifter.

He was aware of the chatter around him, both from his team over

his earpiece and the team in the apartment, but for the first time Rangi
didn’t follow it. Instead he concentrated on assessing Zeke’s injuries.
He was afraid to move the small man, as any movement could make
things worse, but he knew Zeke needed medical attention.

Mating the Predator

Alyssa, a new field medic who had trained under Dr. Adam Pratt,

the Alliance’s head doctor, came in to assess Zeke. The shower stall
was too small for all of them to fit but Rangi was unwilling to leave
Zeke’s side. “Rangi, get out so I can help him.” It was more of an
order than a request as Alyssa wasn’t about to allow Rangi to stay.

He gave her a hard stare. “If you hurt him I will hold you

personally responsible.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, sir,” she said sarcastically. “Although I

think I should point out, you’re the one not letting him get the help he
needs.”

She was right and Rangi knew he was being an ass but he was

afraid he’d somehow never see the little mouse again if he left his
side. Not responding to Alyssa’s comment, Rangi stepped back out of
the stall and let her work. He refused to leave the bathroom though, as
he watched her work on Zeke.

Her softly spoken words of comfort to Zeke put Rangi more at

ease. Not enough for him to leave the room but enough that he was
starting to refocus on the chatter around him.

“Do we still have visual on Raptor, Tardis?” Alek asked over

COBI.

“Yes, sir. Sending you the coordinates now.” Within seconds a

map appeared on their tablets with a swift moving target now miles
away.

“Let’s mount up,” Alek ordered before turning to Rangi. “Your

job doesn’t change,” Alek said. Pointing to Zeke, who was still
unconscious, he ordered, “He is your priority. Keep him safe and get
him back to Stone Haven.”

Grateful he was allowed to stay with Zeke, Rangi agreed.
Alek left two men to guard the door but then took the rest of the

team and left without another word. Rangi’s attention snapped back to
Zeke when he heard a small moan, along with what he would swear
was a squeak.

Shea Balik

Rushing over to the edge of the shower Rangi did his best to make

sure Alyssa wasn’t hurting him. Sensing his concern she said, “I gave
him a shot to help him wake up. He’s in pretty bad shape and if we
can get him to shift at least once it would help a lot.” Her hands never
stopped working on Zeke’s various wounds as she spoke. “If we can’t
get him to shift he may not make it back to headquarters.”

Her words just about stopped Rangi’s heart as he thought about

losing this man that he didn’t even know. How he could care so
deeply about someone he hadn’t even officially met, Rangi wasn’t
sure, but he knew he would do whatever it took to help this man.

He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until he saw

Zeke’s eyes flutter and Rangi was able to take a deep breath once
more. Dropping back down to the floor he reached out to touch Zeke,
but with all his bruises Rangi wasn’t sure where to touch him so he
settled for gently stroking his silky hair.

Zeke’s eyelids fluttered once more but this time he was finally

able to hold them open to stare straight at Rangi. It felt like Rangi’s
heart stopped as he saw pain deeply etched into those gorgeous light
brown eyes. “Hey, Zeke, my name is Rangi. I’m the one you sent the
message to.”

Even as he said it Rangi knew it sounded stupid. The man had

been almost beaten to death. He probably didn’t even remember
sending a message, nor would he care that it was Rangi that had
gotten it.

An adorable little squeak came out of Zeke’s mouth before he

strained to speak. “Are you here to save me?”

“Yes, baby, I am.” The endearment just slipped out before Rangi

could stop it, but he had to admit he liked the sound of it.

“Zeke,” Alyssa said. “You need to shift.” Her words were softly

spoken but the order was clear, Zeke was to shift or she would have
something to say about it.

“I tried,” Zeke started but was having trouble finding his voice to

finish what he was going to say.

Mating the Predator

Alyssa looked at Rangi. “You need to move him to the bed.”
“But what if moving him causes more injury?” he asked.
“I’ve checked him out and it doesn’t appear he has any spinal

injuries. It looks like he took most of the beating to his front and
side.” She pointed to the neck brace. “I put a neck brace on but I can’t
assess him completely in this cramped shower.”

Praying she was right, Rangi lifted Zeke into his arms and carried

him into the bedroom. The problem was once he had this small man
in his arms he found he didn’t want to put him down. When he got to
the bed he just stood there unsure what to do.

“What part of put him on the bed didn’t you understand?” Once

more Alyssa’s authoritative command helped him to do what needed
to be done.

As much as Rangi wanted to snap at her for speaking to him like

that he held his tongue. Zeke was what was important and Rangi had
to admit she got him to put Zeke on the bed. His arms felt
unbelievably empty and he had to fight to stay by the edge of the bed
instead of crawling on the mattress to cuddle with Zeke.

Another little squeak escaped those lush lips and Rangi couldn’t

stop himself from sitting on the edge of the bed to gently hold Zeke’s
hand in comfort. He found the sound endearing—worse, it made him
want nothing more than to bury his cock deep within the man’s body.

Why he kept lusting after a man who was bloody and bruised

Rangi couldn’t figure out but he refused to dwell on the inappropriate
thoughts. Needing a distraction he paid more attention to the chatter
in his ear.

“The target is now in a tan van heading south on Monterey

Highway,” Tardis said over the com.

“Raven, Larson, do you have visual yet?” Alek asked.
Alek must have had the two bird shifters flying as they could

often catch up to a target faster than a vehicle. The SUVs they had
brought were fast but since they generally had to stay on roads and
birds could fly a straight path, birds were often used in recon.

Shea Balik

Two squawks came over COBI, indicating they did in fact have

visual. “Good,” Alek said. “We are less than four minutes from
apprehending so don’t let them out of your sight.”

A gunshot from the front of the room startled Rangi. Dropping

Zeke’s hand Rangi pulled out his gun before he rushed down the hall
to see what was going on. Just before he went into the living room he
saw one of his guards lying prone with blood running over his chest.

Not wasting a second he activated his earpiece. “We’re

compromised,” he told Alek as he ran back to the bedroom, locking
the door and shoving the dresser against it.

Alyssa, who was putting back her supplies, as she’d done all she

could on stitching Zeke up, looked up at him in surprise. He didn’t
mince his words. “We’re under attack.”

He went to the window and opened it wide even as he asked her,

“What are you?” It wasn’t meant to be an offense. In the paranormal
world it was a common question.

“A dove,” she answered.
Well it wouldn’t help him with Zeke but at least she would be able

to get away. “I need you to help me wrap him in the blanket. I’ll
change into my eagle and be able to grip the edges of the blanket with
my talons.”

“He might be small but there’s no way you’ll be able to hold his

weight,” she said.

Yeah, he knew it wasn’t a great plan but it was the only one he

had. When a bullet came through the door he asked, “Do you have
any better ideas?”

Shaking her head she immediately went to work to help him

secure the blanket around Zeke as more bullets started pelting the
door. Rangi shoved Zeke and Alyssa to the floor right under the
window and quickly shifted into his eagle. Once he was done he
hopped out the window and hovered just outside while Alyssa placed
the edges of the blanket into his talons.

Mating the Predator

Once he had a firm grip, gently as possible he lifted Zeke out the

window with Alyssa following in her dove form. Unfortunately
Alyssa had been right. Rangi wasn’t able to hold Zeke for long like
this which meant he had to get to the ground fast. Not that it was a
problem since the weight of Zeke dragged his eagle down to the
ground in seconds.

The ground rushed up at him fast. Thankfully they were in an

alley so no one was beneath them to get hurt if Rangi slammed into
the ground. Determination to not hurt Zeke more by letting him fall
into the pavement below had Rangi using every bit of strength he had
to slow his descent. “Another foot, Rangi, and he’ll be on the
ground,” Alyssa called from the ground. She must have seen he was
in trouble and dove to the ground in order to help him.

He could feel Zeke’s weight lessen a bit as Alyssa helped to carry

the mouse shifter to the ground. “Okay, he’s on the ground,” Alyssa
called out once more.

Trusting her, Rangi quickly landed and shifted back. Unwilling to

put them in any more danger than they already were, Rangi bent down
to pick Zeke up in his arms even though he could see just how
terrified the man was by the whole ordeal. Needing to reassure him
Rangi whispered in his ear, “I promise to keep you safe.”

It was a promise he intended to keep. What he hadn’t expected

was to hear Zeke whisper in fear, “Please don’t kill me.”

Confused Rangi wasn’t sure what he was talking about. Why

would the man think Rangi would harm him? “Baby, I promise you’re
safe with me,” he tried to reassure Zeke once more even though it was
clear Zeke didn’t believe him.

With no time to alleviate his fears, Rangi walked out of the alley

with Zeke in his arms and Alyssa following close behind. Alek had
sent one of the vehicles back to help Rangi but it was still several
minutes out and Rangi wasn’t about to stick around and hope they
made it before whoever was shooting at them realized they were
outside.

Shea Balik

A shadow fell over Rangi giving him just enough time to duck

from the razor-sharp talons that tried to dig into him. “Fuck!” he
yelled as he put Zeke down. Turning to Alyssa he pointed at Zeke.
Before he could say anything she said, “Guard him, got it. You just
kick that son of a bitch’s ass.”

Rangi didn’t know what to make of Alyssa but he didn’t have

time to figure her out. Turning he searched the sky to see Raptor
coming in for a second attack. “Alek, Raptor is here attacking us,” he
told his Alpha over COBI just as Raptor reached him.

Fighting a bird in flight, especially one that was four feet tall with

a wing span of ten feet, wasn’t exactly easy but as a bird himself,
Rangi knew Raptor’s weaknesses. Just before a talon would have
gouged his face, Rangi turned his body to the left while reaching out
with his right hand to grab Raptor’s wing and squeeze.

The sound of bones crunching was satisfying, especially to

Rangi’s eagle who wanted out to fight the smaller bird. Keeping his
eagle reined in at the moment wasn’t easy but he knew that was
Raptor’s plan, which meant there were others ready to grab Zeke as
soon as Rangi left him defenseless.

“Stay the fuck away from him, you cretin,” Alyssa shouted from

behind Rangi.

Immediately turning to check on what was happening he stood

there stunned and would have broken out laughing if the situation
weren’t so serious. Two of Raptor’s goons had clearly tried to get
close to Zeke but Alyssa had them both on their backs with her foot
pressed against one of their necks, cutting off his airway if the bluish
tinge his face was turning was any indication.

The other one looked like he’d been knocked out as he wasn’t

moving. Glancing over at Zeke he saw the man point behind Rangi.
Dropping to the ground without a second to spare, Rangi felt the air
move over him as Raptor tried to attack him once more.

The squeal of tires announced the cavalry had arrived. Rangi

scooped Zeke up and ran to the SUV that would take Zeke and Alyssa

Mating the Predator

to safety. Alek and the others had already turned back to help but in
the meantime it was up to Rangi to track Raptor.

Once he got Zeke tucked away with Alyssa next to him checking

to be sure none of his wounds had reopened, Rangi stepped away
from the vehicle and shifted into his eagle. Once airborne he chased
Raptor with all the skill and speed that made him the deadliest
predator in the skies.

When Raptor had seen the Alliance vehicle show up, he had left,

trying his best to get away, but Rangi refused to let the man go free
once more, especially after what he’d done to Zeke. Rage poured over
Rangi as his eagle flew faster than ever before.

Raptor had a good lead on Rangi but the hawk was no match for

Rangi’s eagle, especially since Raptor was injured. He kept the shifter
in his sights, flying higher than the hawk. He suspected Raptor was
too stupid to think Rangi would waste time flying above him.

Rangi felt once Raptor thought he’d lost him he would head for

his real destination. As much as he wanted to rip the hawk to shreds
Rangi knew he had to find the location of Raptor’s followers or this
territory would never know peace. So he bided his time and continued
to follow Raptor until he landed at a remote house about an hour
outside San Antonio.

Without a sound Rangi landed in one of only a few trees on the

barren property. It looked like an old cattle ranch but clearly only the
house remained. He was just far enough away not to be seen, but yet
close enough he could keep an eye on the place. Shifting back to a
human he made contact with Alek.

Alek spoke first. “We’ve been tracking you and are about twenty

minutes from your position.”

“How’s Zeke?” he asked.
“Stable. When things went to hell I had my private aircraft flown

down and he and Alyssa are headed back to Stone Haven. Adam is
aware he’s coming and ready for him,” Alek assured him.

Mating the Predator

Chapter 5

Zeke didn’t think it was possible to live through what he had just

lived through. First he’d been beaten and left to die, only to be
rescued by the sexiest guy Zeke had ever laid eyes on. Rangi had to
be six feet with muscles that made Zeke want to lick every dip. His
hair was the most unusual shade of white blond, which now that he
knew he was an eagle made sense. With piercing blue eyes that
appeared to be able to see into Zeke’s very soul, he’d been ready to
beg for the sexy man’s number.

He should have known it was too good to be true. But never in his

worst nightmares had he expected his savior to turn out to be a bird of
prey. After being terrorized by his stepbrother during his childhood
and then again this past month, Zeke wasn’t sure he ever wanted to be
near another bird of prey, even if he was the hottest person Zeke had
ever seen.

Gods, all those muscles rippling against Zeke’s body when Rangi

had carried him turned him the fuck on. Even in tremendous pain, his
dick had tried valiantly to get stiff when that rock-hard body had
gently held Zeke.

But it was hopeless to think anything could happen between the

two of them. Zeke was a mouse shifter, prey to Rangi’s predator. The
only thing that would happen was eventually Zeke would get hurt.
Hadn’t his stepfather, Hawk, and Raptor taught him that lesson?

Hawk had claimed to love Zeke’s mother, at first anyway, but

eventually she was his punching bag. When she’d finally died after an
especially brutal beating Zeke refused to be in that kind of
relationship. He’d learned that lesson too well. Now he was

Shea Balik

fantasizing about a guy who would end up giving in to his animal’s
instincts to do the same to Zeke.

No, it was better to just stay away from Rangi and not allow any

feelings Zeke already had to develop further. Too bad his heart didn’t
want to get on board with the idea.

After the harrowing escape that, if Zeke was honest, he hadn’t

thought he’d survive, the trip to Stone Haven was tame. Stone Haven
was the unofficial capital of the Alliance or at least that’s what Zeke
considered it, since the Alpha Primus lived there.

When Alyssa told him they were flying in the Alpha Primus’s

private aircraft, Zeke couldn’t help but wonder if he was in trouble. It
was common knowledge that those who’d come close to hacking into
Alek’s system ended up being “recruited.” Word had it, it wasn’t a
choice.

Still, anything was better than being Raptor’s punching bag so

Zeke decided to try and enjoy the ride. That might have been easier if
his body wasn’t throbbing in pain. Alyssa told him she didn’t want to
give him any painkillers, afraid that it might inhibit his ability to shift
since shifting would be the best way to heal.

The landing was so soft, Zeke wasn’t even sure they were on the

ground. Gods, he could get used to traveling this way, or at least he
would like to get used to traveling this way.

The door opened and two men came in to transport Zeke, since he

was strapped to a cot, into what looked like a small clinic. Once inside
he had to admit he was impressed as the place looked inviting, instead
of sterile like most hospitals and clinics.

They placed him on a gurney in a room that had various medical

instruments lining the walls. A guy in a lab coat approached him with
a smile. “My name is Dr. Adam Pratt. I’m the doctor for Stone
Haven.”

“Hey, doc,” Alyssa said as Dr. Pratt turned to greet her. “He’s

stable and getting better with every minute but he still claims he isn’t
able to shift so I’m a little worried.”

Mating the Predator

So was Zeke. Never in his life had it taken so long for him to shift.

Growing up with Raptor had often left him in too much pain to shift
but usually after an hour or so he would be able to. It had been several
hours and no matter how hard he tried nothing happened.

Adam gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, it happens a lot.

Why don’t I check you over and we’ll see if there’s anything we can
do to speed up your recovery in the meantime, okay?”

Zeke gave him a watery smile. He wished Rangi were here to hold

his hand. Realizing where his thoughts went, Zeke forced thoughts of
the sexy eagle out of his head. Hadn’t he learned his lesson already?
Whenever he tried to be brave, he got smacked down.

* * * *

While Rangi waited for Alek and the others, he had Tardis using

the satellites to scan the area for any indication this was a setup. Heat
signatures only showed ten men inside and only a crawl space under
the house.

As soon as Alek showed up they split up into two groups. Rangi

took the back door, while Alek’s team took the front. As one they
broke through the doors, taking down anyone who put up resistance.
Each room was searched but Raptor was nowhere to be found.

Frustration had Rangi exploding and taking it out on the first one

of Raptor’s men he came to. Grabbing the man by the front collar of
his shirt he yanked him up to his feet. “Where is he?”

“Who?” the man said, trying to play innocent.
Too bad for him Rangi wasn’t willing to play games as he threw

the man across the room. Hitting the wall hard the man was knocked
unconscious. Doing the same to the second man, who responded the
same way, Rangi once more sent another of Raptor’s men across the
room, knocking him out.

“Rangi,” Alek said in a tone that didn’t allow Rangi to ignore him.

“Let me have a try.”

Shea Balik

As much as Rangi wanted his pound of flesh he wanted Raptor

more so he stepped back to let Alek have a try. As Alek took two
steps closer to the three other men who were still conscious, the men
started shaking in fear. One even wet himself.

Alek just smiled. Well, if one could call that a smile. It was more

like a threat to kill, which impressed the hell out of Rangi as the man
did nothing more than lift his lips. “I see you’ve heard of me,” he said
to the three men before him. “So you know how this will go if you
don’t answer me.”

That was all he said before two started talking. “Trap door in the

kitchen.” That was where the crawl space was.

Alek crossed his arms, tucking his hands under his armpits.

“When did he leave?”

All three of them answered as one, “When he first got here.”
“Shit,” Rangi yelled.
For the next hour they interrogated the three prisoners. Well, with

Alek it wasn’t so much an interrogation as he asked questions and
they jumped over themselves to answer. As usual for Raptor’s men,
they knew nothing. Hell, they were too stupid to know anything
beyond the hideout they were staying in.

Why any Alpha in his right mind would want to surround himself

by idiots was beyond Rangi. Sure they were easier to control but in a
real fight they were no good in keeping Raptor safe, other than being
cannon fodder. Of course, no one could accuse Raptor of being smart.

Rangi would bet money these hideouts were Raptor’s father

Hawk’s idea. That man had been insanely smart and from reports so
was his other son Talon. Rangi just hoped he wasn’t as insane as his
brother and father apparently were. “Maybe we should call Talon
back from Asia,” he suggested to Alek.

“Why?” Alek asked.
“While collecting data on Raptor and Zeke, who are stepbrothers

by the way, I looked into Raptor’s brother Talon’s military record.
His superiors all gave him excellent reviews and were always sad to

Mating the Predator

see him go when he’s sent somewhere else. Based on what I could
find out about their father, the man was smart and Talon took after
him in that regard but had their mother’s integrity.”

“Let me guess, Raptor’s father was an underhanded, dirty cheat,

which is where Raptor gets it,” Alek said.

Rangi chuckled at the accurate description. “Yeah, but Talon may

know how to find his brother.”

“Okay, make the call and get him to Stone Haven ASAP,” he

ordered. Minutes later their team boarded the aircraft with their
prisoners locked up and headed back to Stone Haven.

Rangi had to admit he was anxious to get back to see how Zeke

was doing. Adam had been giving him updates but he wouldn’t be
satisfied until he saw for himself that his little mouse was healing.
Wait. My little mouse? Since when did he start thinking about Zeke as
belonging to him?

Hell, he’d hardly even spoken to the man. How could he feel as if

he had any rights to him? Yet he knew it was the way he felt. Maybe
he just needed to fuck the man through the mattress, get Zeke out of
his system. Something about that didn’t sit right with his eagle,
though.

Alek chuckled in the seat across from him. Rangi just waited

knowing the Alpha would eventually tell him what had him so
amused. Finally Alek said, “Sorry, I don’t mean to laugh but the fact
that we fight it so hard even when we know it to be true is kind of
funny.”

What? Not having any clue what the man was talking about,

Rangi went back to thinking about his mate. His eyes widened and he
could feel his mouth drop open as the realization that Zeke was his
mate finally hit him.

Alek slapped his knee. “Welcome to the club,” he said even as he

laughed harder.

Shea Balik

Chapter 6

Now that he knew Zeke was his mate, Rangi couldn’t wait to see

him again. Once he stepped off the plane he and Alek took one of the
four-wheelers into Stone Haven. Alek had driven so it only took a few
minutes until they were parked in front of Adam’s clinic.

He’d been getting steady updates from Adam so Rangi knew Zeke

was doing better physically. His wounds were healing nicely thanks to
his shifter DNA, but they still had a long way to go because of the
severe beating. Zeke would heal a lot faster if he shifted but for some
reason he wasn’t able to.

The only thing Rangi could think about was to see his mate so he

didn’t bother to talk to anyone until he stood in the doorway to Zeke’s
room. For several minutes he just drank in the sight of his mate’s
sleeping form. It pained him to see Zeke bruised with stitches all over
his body. Rangi wanted nothing more than to find Raptor and show
him what it felt like to have someone bigger beat him senseless.

A squeak came from Zeke’s sleeping form, making Rangi smile.

He found the sound endearing. How he could feel so much for
someone he’d only met a few hours ago he would never know. It may
seem weird that he would mate a shifter who was considered prey to
his eagle, but neither he nor his eagle cared. This man was theirs and
there was nothing going to get in the way of that.

Adam came up behind him to look in on his patient. “Are you

taking him home?” he asked quietly in order to let Zeke continue
sleeping.

Mating the Predator

Rangi nodded before he even thought about it. “Will he be okay

out of the clinic?” As much as Rangi wanted his mate safely tucked
away in his home, their home, he wouldn’t put his baby in danger.

“Yeah, like I said the worst is over, now he just needs time to

heal.” Adam touched Rangi’s arm to pull him out further into the
hallway. “I don’t want to alarm Zeke and it’s probably nothing but
from all the tests I’ve run, there is no reason why he shouldn’t be able
to shift.”

Rangi didn’t like the sound of that. “Do you have any ideas why

he’s not able to?”

Running his fingers through his hair, Adam seemed reluctant to

say anything more but Rangi needed to know what he was dealing
with. “Adam, please, if I’m going to help him I need to know.”

Adam crossed his arms over his chest as he just stared at Rangi for

several minutes. Finally, just when Rangi thought he’d strangle his
friend, Adam said, “It’s possible it’s not the physical trauma so much
as the emotional one.”

After what Raptor had put Zeke through, Rangi wouldn’t be

surprised if his little mouse was traumatized. Hell, the man basically
left Zeke for dead. How anyone processed that, Rangi wasn’t sure, but
add to it that Raptor was Zeke’s stepbrother, someone he should have
been able to count on, and Rangi could imagine Zeke would have
some emotional scars.

But Adam’s expression said there was more he wasn’t saying.

“Tell me,” Rangi demanded of the doctor.

“I know you’re mates but there is a possibility that being around

you may cause him more psychological harm,” Adam finally blurted
out.

Rangi was so stunned and hurt over his words he honestly

couldn’t have responded if he’d wanted to. All he wanted to do was
beat the living crap out of Raptor but since they couldn’t find the man
he was left to deal with the sick bastard’s mess.

Shea Balik

The thought of his mate not wanting to be around him was killing

Rangi but he understood. It may not matter to him that his mate was
considered prey but after everything Zeke had been through he might
care that Rangi was a predator. “Should I stay away from him?”

He felt Adam grip his shoulder. “I’m not saying that, but you need

to know what you’re dealing with. Ultimately the mate bond will be
what heals him the most.”

Rangi turned away from his friend to pace several feet down the

hall before turning back. Running his hands down his face Rangi
wasn’t sure what to do. “Are you sure he’s afraid of me?”

“There’s no way to know without asking but based on Alyssa’s

observations and Zeke’s reactions when you are brought up I think
it’s a pretty safe bet,” Adam answered.

If there were any way to help Zeke, Rangi knew he would do it

but he wasn’t sure how his eagle would react if he had to stay away
from his mate. Staying out in the hall wasn’t going to get his
questions answered so Rangi entered Zeke’s room to find his mate’s
eyes open and staring right at him.

Hesitant as to what was the right thing to do Rangi finally stepped

closer to Zeke’s bed. When his mate flinched he stopped in his tracks
and tried not to let the disappointment show.

“What is a mate?” Zeke asked.
“I will answer any questions you have but its late, so why don’t I

get you home first, then we can talk.” Rangi should have asked if
Zeke was willing to come home with him but the fear of his mate
rejecting him was too much for Rangi to bear. Instead he kept where
they would be going vague, hoping Zeke didn’t notice.

Zeke’s left eyebrow rose. “Home? From what I understand we are

in the Northern Territory. I don’t have a home here.”

Why he thought that would work Rangi wasn’t sure. Worse, he

found himself at a loss for how to deal with Zeke. His whole life he’d
faced things head-on, never backing down from anything, until now.
Rangi never thought he’d be brought low by a man, who had to be

Mating the Predator

only one hundred and twenty-five pounds soaking wet, when he’d
faced much bigger foes.

But this was his mate, the one person who could destroy Rangi.

Hesitantly he said, “I was going to bring you to my home.”

A flash of fear filled Zeke’s eyes as he quickly tried to hide it, but

Rangi saw. It was like a knife in the heart to know his mate was afraid
of him but he stuffed his feelings down for now. Making sure Zeke
was comfortable was more important than Rangi’s pride.

Rangi decided it would be better to be honest so he bit the bullet

and spent several minutes explaining to Zeke what the others had told
him about what mates were and what they meant to each other. “You
need to know even if you weren’t my mate I would never harm you
but as my mate it is my life’s purpose to keep you safe and happy.”

Zeke bit his lower lip as he thought about everything Rangi had

told him. It was such a cute gesture Rangi had to force himself not to
lean down and kiss the abused flesh. His cause wouldn’t be helped if
he forced himself on Zeke.

“Is that why I can’t stop thinking about you?” Zeke meekly asked.
Rangi’s heart soared at his mate’s admission but at the same time

it was crushed at how much Zeke sounded like he hated admitting it.
What would he do if his little mouse couldn’t stand to be around him?
Could he do what was best for Zeke?

It would be the hardest thing he’d ever have to do but Rangi knew

he would if his mate asked it of him. He just had to do everything in
his power to make sure that didn’t happen. “Yes,” he answered,
figuring being completely honest was a good place to start.

“For shifters, once our animals recognize our mates we become

consumed with being near them. We never feel completely at peace
unless we’re together.” At least that’s what the others described it like
to Rangi when he’d asked some of the other mated couples.

“But I’m a mouse and you’re a—” Zeke’s cheeks turned a

becoming shade of pink as he cut himself off. Clearly “eagle” wasn’t
what he’d been about to say.

Shea Balik

“Predator,” Rangi finished for him. As much as he hated this

conversation he knew it was important to his mate. To Rangi none of
that mattered, it never had. He’d never felt superior to those shifters
that weren’t as aggressive as his eagle was.

Hell, Rangi knew plenty of shifters who were extremely kind and

soft spoken who had an aggressive animal inside them. The animal
didn’t make the shifter, the man did. It was no different in the wild.
When animals resided in a pack they couldn’t all be dominant. Some
had to be more submissive in order to get along.

“Look, I can’t undo what Raptor did, but he didn’t do those things

because he was a hawk. He did them because he’s a sick son of bitch
who likes to torment those weaker than him.” Okay, so maybe that
wasn’t the best way to explain.

Anxiety gripped him as he tried to find the right words to say so

he started pacing the small exam room. “What I mean is just because
the animal inside of me is a bird of prey doesn’t mean I’m out to kill
anyone weaker than I am. First and foremost I’m a person. The
animal is just one aspect of who I am as a person. It doesn’t dictate
my behavior.”

He knew he was screwing this up but Rangi had never been good

with words, which was kind of ironic since he gave orders all day
long. But that was easier, he just passed information along.

“Okay,” Zeke said.
Rangi wasn’t quite sure what he was saying okay to. “Okay,

what?”

Those light brown eyes looked right into Rangi’s as he said, “I’ll

go home with you.”

Rangi knew he stood there looking like an idiot as his mouth hung

open. He’d just been so sure he’d never convince his mate to ever
trust him that he had trouble processing Zeke’s words.

As soon as his brain was able to work again, Rangi felt relief flow

through his body. That his mate was willing to take that step and trust

Mating the Predator

him meant everything to Rangi and he was determined to never let
Zeke down.

“Okay,” Rangi said. He knew he was being a doofus but he

couldn’t seem to help himself. Needing to get out of there before he
made a bigger fool of himself he said, “Let me get instructions from
Adam and then we can go.”

Zeke just nodded.
Not wanting to make his mate wait too long, in case he might

change his mind, Rangi went in search of Adam.

Shea Balik

Chapter 7

Oh Gods, oh Gods, oh Gods, what was he thinking agreeing to

stay with the sexy eagle shifter? Only bad things could come from
this. Maybe he should change his mind. How did he think he could
basically live with a guy who could end up like Hawk or Raptor?

Panic started to fill Zeke as he thought about all the things that

could go wrong. What if Rangi was lying about mates? Zeke had
never heard of them before and he was a shifter. What if it was a line
to get him out to some secluded place where Rangi would kill him?

Maybe that was why he was brought here. What if all those who

hacked into the Alliance’s system were brought here to be some sort
of toy for the predators? Their being hired by the Alpha Primus could
be just a story. After all, none of the hackers were ever seen by their
old friends or coworkers again. They just disappeared.

Zeke didn’t want to disappear. He’d just gotten his life on track.

Well, sort of. He’d been in therapy for the last ten years trying to get
over what had happened to him growing up. Gibson was the first,
okay, the only person he trusted enough to even allow in his personal
life.

Unless Gibson coerced him to go out, Zeke preferred to stay

home, hiding. Huh. His therapist had been right. He’d tried telling her
he just liked to be alone but that wasn’t true. He was just scared to be
around others. The fact was, Zeke was lonely.

Yet when he finally did something brave look what happened? He

was beaten up by his stepbrother and taken to the Alliance
headquarters to face the Alpha Primus. If that’s what happened,
maybe he was better off alone and lonely.

Mating the Predator

He wasn’t made to be brave, he was a mouse. But what did Rangi

say, something about not being the animal inside you? What if he was
right? What if Zeke had let Raptor brainwash him into believing that
because he was a mouse he was weak? What if he wasn’t weak?

The problem was, Zeke didn’t know if he was or not. He’d always

just believed what Raptor had told him growing up and acted
accordingly. What would happen if he tried once more to be brave?
Could he do it?

That look of pure joy, with a heavy dose of disbelief, on Rangi’s

face when Zeke agreed to go home with him just about broke his
heart. It was like the man didn’t dare to believe Zeke’s words. He’d
even run out of there like a bat of out hell to get instructions for caring
for Zeke like he was afraid if he gave Zeke time to think he’d change
his mind.

But wasn’t that what Zeke was about to do? He found himself not

wanting to disappoint the eagle shifter. He wasn’t sure why but
something inside hurt just thinking about it. What if what Rangi said
was true? Maybe they were mates.

As he thought about each minute he’d spent with Rangi, he found

himself smiling. Rangi had done nothing to warrant Zeke’s fear of
him, in fact he’d saved him. He’d even risked his own life by trying to
fly Zeke out that window and never once did he ask for anything in
return. Even now by taking Zeke home with him, it was to care for
Zeke.

For just a moment Zeke closed his eyes and tried to find the

courage he hoped he had. When he opened them a concerned Rangi
was staring back at him. “Are you okay?”

Was he? As Zeke contemplated the innocent question, he

continued to stare at Rangi. He watched as Rangi’s face of concern
turned to one of disappointment, probably having guessed Zeke was
about to change his mind. Rangi looked so sad, maybe a little
heartbroken. There was no way Zeke could reject him.

Shea Balik

With a small smile, for that was all he could manage while scared

to death, he said, “I’m good.” He might have pulled it off, too, if he
hadn’t squeaked. Damn that noise. There had to be some way to stop
from making it.

It hadn’t taken Raptor long to learn it meant Zeke was nervous or

downright terrified. It was only a matter of time before Rangi figured
it out and used it to his advantage.

When Rangi gave him a small smile before excusing himself once

more, Zeke knew he’d blown it. Now the man would either kick him
to the curb or use him because there was no doubt in Zeke’s mind,
Rangi knew what that squeak meant.

Within mere moments Rangi came back in with Dr. Pratt and

another man who stood close to the doctor. He was a little shorter
than Dr. Pratt or Rangi but still a lot taller than Zeke. Who was he
kidding? At five feet four most children were taller than he was.

“Zeke, I’d like you to meet Jason. He’s Dr. Pratt’s mate and they

have agreed to stay with us a couple of days until you’re more
comfortable around me.” Zeke was so stunned a feather could have
knocked him over at Rangi’s announcement.

It took every bit of his courage to meet Rangi’s eyes to see if he

was telling the truth. Tears spilled as Zeke realized just how much this
man before him cared about his well-being.

A squeak was startled out of him when he felt Rangi’s thumb

brush the tears off his face. Gods he was such a goober. It was a
wonder why Rangi didn’t walk away from Zeke while he still had the
chance.

As if sensing his internal turmoil, Rangi tried to make him feel

better. “I promise, one day you will know I speak the truth. I will
never hurt you. In fact I will spend the rest of my life doing
everything in my power to make you happy.”

Zeke couldn’t explain but for the first time in his life he wanted to

trust someone else.

Mating the Predator

The ride to Rangi’s house took longer because they had to stop at

Jason and Adam’s so they could pack a bag. Zeke felt stupid needing
a chaperone but he had to admit he felt a lot safer knowing they
would be there.

As Rangi pulled up to his house Zeke’s jaw dropped open. The

house was three stories built right into the trees. It was like a giant
treehouse. Since it was dark out Zeke couldn’t see all the detail but it
was made out of logs, giving it a log cabin feel.

Not that Zeke would know anything about them. Since he’d lived

in the Latin Territory his whole life he knew more about adobe
houses. But he had to admit it was breathtaking as the house soared
into the trees. At times the house and trees around it seemed to blend
until he couldn’t discern what was house and what was tree.

He couldn’t wait to see it during the daytime to see if that was still

the case. So enthralled by the home he hadn’t even realized Rangi’s
hand held his until he heard the man whisper into his ear. “I spent
years trying to get it just right. I really hope you like it.”

Staring up into the man’s piercing blue eyes, Zeke could see how

much his opinion mattered to Rangi. “I love it.”

That bright smile that appeared on his rugged face was worth

being brave enough to actually give his opinion. He wasn’t sure if he
was more fascinated by the house or that smile. The fact that he
couldn’t stop staring at Rangi’s face gave him his answer.

The very breath in his lungs was sucked out as he watched

Rangi’s eyes turn dark with desire. His heart stopped beating as Zeke
watched Rangi’s head dip toward his. Rangi went slowly, giving Zeke
time to decide if he wanted to be kissed or not. Spellbound, Zeke
didn’t pull away.

Since he’d never trusted anyone to get close enough, Zeke had

never been kissed, but he found that he wanted this even more than he
was scared. Too afraid to move and miss this opportunity, he waited
for Rangi to come to him.

Shea Balik

It was as if every dream he’d ever had about this one moment was

coming true. When those lips were less than an inch away Rangi
whispered, “As much as I want to kiss you right now I won’t unless
you tell me you want this, too.” With each word those full lips just
barely brushed against Zeke’s.

It was making him crazy to be so close to only have it yanked

away if Zeke didn’t find the courage to let Rangi know he wanted
this, too. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t do it. It wasn’t
until Rangi started to pull away that Zeke finally did what he wanted.

Pushing up onto his toes he slammed their lips together hoping

with everything in him that Rangi would take over because Zeke had
no idea what to do. Relieved when he felt Rangi’s lips move over his
in what had to be the greatest kiss ever, Zeke let himself savor every
second.

Rangi’s mouth brushed softly against his, leaving Zeke breathless

and moaning. He would have been embarrassed at his behavior but he
just didn’t care. There were just too many sensations racing through
Zeke’s body to focus on just one. He was drowning in this man with
no life raft in sight.

His body arched to get closer to Rangi. Strong hands gently

cupped Zeke’s face, tilting his head in a different angle as something
wet licked across his lips. His eyes popped open to meet Rangi’s,
realizing it was the man’s tongue.

Startled at the feel of that wet appendage tracing his mouth and

how good it felt, his lips parted just slightly. That small opening
allowed Rangi to dip into Zeke’s mouth and that’s when Zeke knew
he was lost. He sank into the kiss, even rubbing his own tongue
against Rangi’s.

One hand moved slowly down his left arm leaving behind a trail

of goose bumps. Then Rangi’s arm wrapped around Zeke’s back
pulling him against that hard body. The feel of their bodies touching
so intimately was putting Zeke on overload. He wanted something but
had no idea what as he began rubbing against Rangi.

Mating the Predator

The kiss turned carnal as Rangi’s tongue dove deep into Zeke’s

mouth, possessing him. This was everything Zeke had ever dreamed
about and so much more he hadn’t even thought to imagine. As his
mind reeled, a small part of Zeke screamed he wasn’t ready. He
needed to stop, but he wasn’t sure he could even if he wanted to and
right now he didn’t want to.

It wasn’t until they were both out of breath that Rangi pulled back

to place his forehead against Zeke’s. They gazed deep into each
other’s eyes and Zeke knew without a doubt he’d do anything for this
man, including being brave.

Shea Balik

Chapter 8

“Wow,” Zeke exclaimed when Rangi pulled back from their kiss.
Rangi couldn’t agree more but he knew he had to stop before he

scared Zeke off. Clearly his mate was as into it as he was but if Rangi
had to guess, this was Zeke’s first kiss, which meant he was a virgin.
As much as that thought made him desperate to sink deep within
Zeke’s body and claim him forever, Rangi knew his mate wasn’t
ready to go that far.

Standing up straight he held out his hand. “Why don’t we go

inside and I show you around?” His voice was much huskier than
usual, giving away just how aroused he was by his mate. When Zeke
placed his small hand in his, Rangi had to admit he was a little
surprised. He’d been afraid he’d gone too far.

Opening the front door he gave Zeke a moment to take it all in.

The entry way went up all three stories. On either side of the front hall
was a staircase that went up to the second floor where they met in the
middle of the second floor hall to go up to the third story.

The third floor was split in half. One half consisted of two rooms.

The room facing the front of the house was a soundproof workout
room with windows on three sides, allowing him a great view while
he exercised. The other room was a large rec room with a pool table,
darts, video games, and of course he had a copy of every movie ever
made.

The rec room led out to a large deck that took up the second half

of the third floor. He had it built to allow his eagle to have a place to
land when coming home but it worked great for barbecues, too.

Mating the Predator

The right side of the second floor was his bedroom, a sitting room,

a walk-in closet, and a bathroom Rangi had custom-made with a
walk-in shower that had ten showerheads along the walls with a rain
feature in the ceiling. Guest rooms made up the rest of the second
floor.

Through the staircase on the main floor was a great room that had

floor-to-ceiling windows with amazing views of the forest that
surrounded them. To the right was the kitchen and dining room. On
the left was a study and a communications office, in case he was ever
needed while at home.

Once the tour was over Rangi took Zeke downstairs to the kitchen

for something to eat. He wasn’t sure when the man had eaten last but
for Rangi it had been too long and his stomach was protesting.

Jason and Adam were setting out a plate of fruits and cheeses

when they walked in. “Thanks, guys, this is perfect,” Rangi said as he
grabbed two plates. Carefully he filled one with a variety of the
different foods before handing the plate to Zeke.

He could see the surprise on his mate’s face. When that surprise

turned to pleasure his eagle puffed up his feathers at pleasing his
mate. Quickly he filled his own plate and took a seat on the barstool
next to Zeke’s. Adam and Jason sat with them around the large island
in the kitchen.

Rangi had always loved to cook and so the kitchen was his pride

and joy. Because of this he planned for people to be able to gather in
the kitchen. Off to one side was a large rectangular table that sat
sixteen. But what he loved most was the block-style island that had
ten barstools along three of the sides with the fourth side facing the
kitchen and allowing him to use it for preparing food while still
talking to his friends.

As Rangi dug into his food he kept an eye on Zeke to make sure

he was eating. Rangi smiled as he saw his mate nibbling on the
various cheeses first. Friends had never understood Rangi’s
fascination with cheese. He always had at least six or seven different

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varieties in the house at any given time. He loved the stuff and used it
in a lot of his meals.

Watching Zeke enjoy it, Rangi wondered if somehow his eagle

had known his mate would be a mouse. Could it be possible they were
in some way destined to have a certain mate so their animals prepared
them for that mate?

If he took his own Alpha as an example his theory fit. Alek’s

mate, Seth, was wanted by his own kind, the psy. Rangi didn’t know
anyone else but the Alpha Primus of the Alliance who could take on
the entire psy army and refuse to give Seth back. Sure Alek was
strong. He shifted into an eight hundred pound Siberian Tiger who
could terrify anyone with his sheer size. But it was more than that.

Take Adam and Maui. Adam was an Earth mystic who had made

an entire building disappear as if it had never been. Maui on the other
hand was a fire mystic who could probably set the world on fire, his
ability was that strong. Yet even with all their power they followed
Alek.

Alek was a natural born leader with the ability to inspire others

with his cunning and bravery. It was as if the Gods had known Alek
would need to fight the entire psy army for his mate. He wondered if
he asked other mates would his theory hold. Not that it really
mattered, but it would be interesting to find out if it was true.

A small squeak turned his attention back to Zeke. His baby’s eyes

were heavy with sleep as he tried to keep his head up. Based on the
way it was hovering just off the table it was a losing battle. With a
glance to Adam and Jason, who mimed they would clean up, Rangi
gave them a smile.

Standing, Rangi bent down to pick Zeke up into his arms. Gods it

felt so good to hold his little mouse. His baby was so tired that he
didn’t even protest Rangi carrying him. Instead Zeke tucked his head
into the hollow of Rangi’s neck and fell asleep.

As he climbed the stairs he heard Zeke’s breathing deepen as he

lightly snored. The sound was so cute, Rangi couldn’t help smile. He

Mating the Predator

somehow knew Zeke would be embarrassed to know he snored, not
that Rangi was stupid enough to tell him.

At the top of the stairs Rangi turned right, taking his mate into his

room as his eagle wouldn’t accept Zeke sleeping anywhere else.
Gently so as not to awaken his him, Rangi pulled back the covers
laying Zeke on the mattress.

He slipped off Zeke’s shoes and socks before starting to unbutton

his pants. It wasn’t until he was sliding the zipper down and his hand
brushed against his mate’s groin that it dawned on him maybe he
shouldn’t be doing this.

Would Zeke be upset at Rangi’s undressing him? Although to be

fair Rangi was just trying to make the man comfortable. He hadn’t
planned on taking off Zeke’s underwear so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Decision made he slowly pulled Zeke’s pants down his legs. Once off
he lay them across a chair so they wouldn’t wrinkle any more than
they already were.

Next he lifted up Zeke’s shirt to reveal a taut abdomen. No

muscles but it was slim and smooth. He couldn’t seem to help himself
as he let his hands skim the rest of the way up Zeke’s body on the
pretense of taking off his shirt.

Rose-colored nipples lay flat on his chest. Rangi let his thumbs

brush over them as he continued to take off the shirt and they pebbled
into hard nubs. Biting back a groan as he wanted nothing more than to
suck those sweet nubs into his mouth, Rangi quickly took the shirt the
rest of the way off.

There was no doubt he was taking this too far, especially since

Rangi wasn’t sure Zeke would allow him such liberties if he were
awake. Shaking his head in disgust at his behavior he pulled the
covers over his mate. Since his own bed was now occupied and not
willing to leave his mate’s side Rangi plopped down in one of the
recliner chairs across the room.

He hadn’t planned to sleep as he watched his mate sleep but the

next thing he knew the sun was streaming through the windows that

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he forgot to cover. Slowly he came awake as his body protested the
position he was in. His hand touched the surface around him. Why
wasn’t he in his bed?

Zeke. His eyes popped open as he looked over at his bed to find it

empty. The covers were thrown back and Zeke wasn’t there. He
scrambled out of the recliner to search for his mate but his full bladder
had him detouring to the bathroom first.

In his desperation to find Zeke, Rangi hadn’t been paying any

attention to the sound of the shower. So as he entered the bathroom it
was to find his very naked mate with his eyes closed and his face
turned up to the water that cascaded down from the rain feature in the
shower.

Bliss was the only way to describe the look on Zeke’s face at that

moment as he enjoyed the way the water fell over his body. Rangi
knew he should back out of the room but he was transfixed. He
wasn’t sure he could have moved even if he wanted to and in the next
instant he was glad he didn’t.

Those small, delicate hands caressed that wet skin down Zeke’s

body until they reached a very hard prick. Rangi almost swallowed
his tongue as Zeke’s hand wrapped around his own cock, giving it
several strokes. Rangi’s dick hardened in an instant at the entrancing
sight, leaving him breathless with need.

When a small moan followed by a little squeak escaped those lush

pink lips, Rangi’s balls pulled up tight to his body as he fought back
his orgasm. He hadn’t felt this ready to explode without a touch to his
cock since he was a randy teenager.

He knew it was wrong to keep watching but he just couldn’t help

himself. Worse, he yanked open his jeans and pulled out his dick. His
eyes were glued to Zeke as he began to stroke that hard flesh. Zeke’s
other hand caressed his balls gently rolling them in their sac.

Zeke’s sweet pink tongue flicked out to lick the water from his

lips. Images of that same tongue licking Rangi’s cock almost had a

Mating the Predator

moan of arousal escaping his lips. The hand on Zeke’s cock started
stroking faster as Zeke’s body arched.

Rangi knew he was about to explode and he couldn’t stop himself

from getting a taste of his mate. Striding into the shower Rangi sank
down to his knees and engulfed his Zeke’s cock deep into his mouth
as streams of cum shot from the tip. Zeke gasped as Rangi continued
to suck every last drop while his own cock erupted all over the shower
floor.

Shit! Rangi knelt there with his forehead against Zeke’s stomach

as he berated himself for doing something so foolish. He’d told Zeke
he could trust him but at the first opportunity he broke that trust by
forcing himself on his mate.

Afraid to look into Zeke’s eyes that would probably be filled with

fear and hate, Rangi stayed on his knees praying his mate would
forgive him.

Shea Balik

Chapter 9

Zeke hadn’t meant to masturbate in the shower with Rangi in the

next room but he hadn’t been able to help himself as he thought about
the big sexy eagle. When he’d awoken to find himself in Rangi’s bed
while the man slept in the recliner across the room, Zeke knew
something inside him had changed.

His mouse trusted this man who was quickly stealing his heart. As

he stood under the shower with the water falling down his body, his
mind started to wonder what it would feel like if it was Rangi’s hands
stroking down his body instead of the water.

His head had fallen back at the picture his mind created of a naked

Rangi standing before him as his hands caressed Zeke’s skin. Last
night Rangi’s touch had left a trail of goose bumps down his arm and
Zeke couldn’t help wondering if the same thing would happen all over
his body.

The feeling had been delicious and Zeke couldn’t help but want

more. He hadn’t even realized his own hands started moving down his
body until his hand wrapped around his achingly hard cock. At that
point Zeke couldn’t have stopped his fantasy if he’d wanted to.

He didn’t know when Rangi had come into the bathroom but the

feel of that wet, silky mouth wrapped around his prick had Zeke
coming harder than he’d ever had in his life. White spots had blocked
his vision for several moments as he came down from that high.

Now he stood there not knowing what to do. Rangi was still on his

knees, not moving. Maybe he was waiting for Zeke to offer to take
care of his needs. But Zeke had no idea how to do that.

Mating the Predator

What if he messed it up and Rangi realized he was a virgin?

Would he laugh at Zeke before walking out on him? It was clear
Rangi had a lot of experience. Hell, with how hot the man was he
probably had men throwing themselves at him.

Fear had his body starting to tremble. He felt Rangi stiffen against

him. Great, now the man would think he was willing for Rangi to give
him pleasure but too afraid to return the favor. Wanting more than
anything to please this man who was close to owning Zeke’s heart, he
gathered up his courage.

“Do–do y–you w–want—” He was going to blow this if he didn’t

spit it out. Taking in a deep breath he said in a rush of words, “Do you
want me to do the same?” He was such a goober. He’d just had his
dick in this man’s mouth but he couldn’t even say the words.

Rangi looked up at him with surprise and, if Zeke read him

correctly, fear. He must be wrong. What could Rangi be afraid of? “I
came when you did,” Rangi confessed.

That wasn’t what Zeke had expected.
“Are you okay?” Rangi asked.
That wasn’t what Zeke expected either. “What?” he asked in a

daze.

Rangi got off his knees and turned off the water that was starting

to lose its warmth. With quick movements he took off his clothes and
Zeke just about passed out as all those rippling muscles were revealed
to him. It was a buffet and Zeke wanted to sample everything before
him.

He shivered at the thought of that body covering his as they made

love. Rangi must have thought he was getting cold for he reached out
and grabbed a heated towel. With more care than Zeke could fathom
coming from a predator, Rangi dried him off before getting another
towel to wrap around Zeke’s body.

Rangi swiped a third towel across his own body before casually

wrapping it around his hips. Zeke couldn’t deny he was a little

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relieved he’d covered his groin. He’d been enjoying the view a little
too much and it was starting to get him hard all over again.

They stood there staring at each other for several minutes. Zeke

would swear Rangi looked afraid to speak. It didn’t make any sense
but it helped Zeke feel a little more confident about himself. He’d
never imagined someone like Rangi would feel fear. Curious he
asked, “Why do you look scared?”

For a moment Zeke didn’t think Rangi was going to answer him

until he finally said, “Because I’m terrified you’re going to send me
away for what happened.”

Huh? “What happened?” Zeke asked, figuring that’s why Rangi

came into the bathroom in the first place, to admit to something he’d
done.

Rangi’s eyebrows rose as if he was surprised at Zeke’s question.

But that didn’t make any sense. How was he supposed to know what
Rangi was talking about when the only thing that had happened so far
was—oh. “Are you talking about what happened in the shower?”

Dejected, Rangi nodded.
Zeke was confused. “Why would I send you away for giving me

the greatest orgasm I’ve ever had?” Once the words were out Zeke’s
cheeks heated as he realized what he’d just admitted. Maybe Rangi
wouldn’t notice that part.

Based on the enormous smile that appeared on Rangi’s face he

heard Zeke just fine. “Really?” he asked in a hopeful tone.

If it was possible, Zeke’s cheeks heated even more. Gods if he

were any more embarrassed he’d combust. Unable to look at Rangi,
Zeke stared at the floor as if it were the most interesting thing he’d
ever seen.

Strong callused fingers caught his chin in a firm grip, forcing his

head up. Still Zeke kept his eyes lowered too afraid to see what Rangi
thought of his admission. More than anything he wanted the ground to
open up and swallow him.

Mating the Predator

“Zeke, look at me.” The words were softly spoken but there was

no denying the command in Rangi’s voice.

He lifted his gaze upward until he was staring into those beautiful

blue orbs that always left Zeke a little breathless. This time every
molecule of air had been sucked right out of his body as he saw the
desire burning in their depths.

A squeak came out unbidden, leaving Zeke feeling humiliated.

But Rangi wouldn’t let him look away, allowing Zeke to watch that
desire turn to an all-consuming lust. In all his years of Raptor
torturing him he’d thought it was the predator in him. But now seeing
Rangi’s expression turn to that of a predator ready to pounce, Zeke
understood what it meant to be prey.

Yet he wasn’t afraid. No, that’s not true. He was terrified, but not

of Rangi. His fear was based on being a virgin and knowing right now
in this moment he was about to be ravaged.

* * * *

Rangi had tried to slow things down. He’d tried to give Zeke more

time before claiming him but once he heard that squeak that turned
him the fuck on, he was lost. How such a little sound could unravel
him so much, Rangi wasn’t sure, but now there was nothing stopping
this, short of Zeke asking him to.

They stood there only inches apart and yet the distance was too

great. He continued to grip Zeke’s chin in one hand while the other
one snaked around his back, pulling him closer until Zeke was
plastered against Rangi’s body. Now the only thing separating them
was the towel around Zeke as Rangi had already dropped his own.

He would leave the small amount of protection it offered Zeke

until he had his mate begging to be fucked. Damn! The thought of
Zeke begging pushed all Rangi’s buttons. The need to possess his
mate had him throwing all caution to the wind as he smashed his
mouth onto Zeke’s in a searing kiss.

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As he devoured Zeke’s lips he skimmed his hands down his

mate’s towel-clad body until he reached the bottom edge. Dipping his
hands under the towel he cupped the most perfect ass he’d ever felt.
All that silky skin was driving him mad as he kneaded the muscle
beneath his hands.

The fact that Zeke was whimpering even as his hands reached up

to hold one of Rangi’s shoulders was driving him insane. When those
soft hands grabbed onto Rangi’s arms to pull him closer, Rangi
obliged, yanking at the towel that impeded their bodies from touching
skin to skin.

It was like a bolt of electricity ran through Rangi when Zeke’s

naked body touched his. Desire flared brighter bringing out Rangi’s
more dominant nature. His hands went back to Zeke’s ass to lift his
smaller mate. Turning to the wall nearby he pushed Zeke against it,
holding him up with his own body as his hands began to explore all
that exposed skin.

His lips left Zeke’s to trail a path down his throat needing to taste

his mate. “Fuck, baby, you taste so good,” he whispered as his teeth
scraped the juncture between Zeke’s neck and shoulder. Zeke’s moan
of need told Rangi just how sensitive the spot was. That would be
where he’d mark Zeke as his. He gave it one more nip before moving
his lips to the other side of his neck to give it the same treatment.

He just couldn’t get enough of his little mouse. Silky soft skin

rippled under his hands as he traced a path down Zeke’s abdomen to
his mate’s impressive cock. It was slim with a slight curve upward.
Rangi couldn’t wait to get it in his mouth once more.

Another whimper came from those sweet lips as Rangi’s mouth

captured his, once more demanding Zeke’s complete submission. The
need to make this man his rode him hard but those needy sounds
coming from Zeke were making Rangi come apart at the seams.

Not able to wait any longer Rangi lifted Zeke into his arms and

carried him to the bedroom. A groan fell from Rangi when Zeke
wrapped his legs around his waist putting Zeke’s tight little pucker

Mating the Predator

right against Rangi’s cock. Did his little mouse have any idea what he
was doing to Rangi?

With each step his cock rubbed that tight little ass just right,

making Rangi fight off shooting right then and there. Laying his mate
on the mattress, Rangi stood there staring at the feast before him.
Those beautiful brown eyes were heavy lidded, looking up at Rangi
with desire.

Rangi didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky to find this amazing

man but he knew now that he had him he’d never let him go.
Grabbing the lube from the bedside drawer he tossed it on the bed
next to his mate.

As much as he wanted to sink deep into his mate’s body, Rangi

knew he had to make sure Zeke was really ready for this. He crawled
up his mate’s body until their lips were a breath apart and asked,
“Baby, are you sure you want this?”

Those moments before Zeke answered might have been the

longest of Rangi’s life.

Shea Balik

Chapter 10

Zeke had been wondering that same thing as he watched those

lust-filled eyes staring down at him as if Rangi wanted to consume
him. At that moment he’d begun to question if he really could go
through with this. Up until now he’d never trusted anyone enough to
even think about giving his body to him.

But as soon as the question left Rangi’s lips Zeke knew the

answer. “Yes,” he said even as he lifted his lips up to press against
Rangi’s. Feeling braver than ever, Zeke even went so far as to slide
his tongue against those firm lips until Rangi opened them.

Not entirely sure what to do, he let his instincts guide him by

slipping his tongue inside Rangi’s mouth. His body moved restlessly
under Rangi’s even as he explored his mate’s mouth. When Rangi
started gently sucking on his tongue, Zeke felt ready to come apart.

As he felt one of Rangi’s fingers rub against his rim, Zeke stopped

what he was doing and held his breath. He wasn’t sure what he was
waiting for but he was suddenly nervous.

“Shh, baby, I promise I will make you feel so good,” Rangi

whispered against his mouth as he took back control and kissed Zeke
until his brain cells were oxygen deprived. The whole time Rangi’s
finger continued to play with his pucker, sometimes pushing against
it, other times just stroking along his crease.

Rangi’s mouth left Zeke’s to lick, nip, and kiss his way down his

throat and chest. When that talented tongue licked across one nipple
then the other, Zeke gasped in surprise. He had no idea men’s nipples
could be so sensitive.

Mating the Predator

Zeke’s body arched off the bed when Rangi bit down on the

sensitive tip. His hands gripped Rangi’s head to hold him close as he
begged with his body for more. At that moment he felt that finger that
had been playing with his ass slip into his relaxed pucker.

He wasn’t sure what to feel with something in his ass but when

Rangi’s teeth clamped down on Zeke’s other nipple all thoughts
scattered. “Please, Rangi, please,” he babbled. What he was asking
for, he didn’t know. He just knew he needed.

He felt Rangi smile against his skin as his mate started licking a

path further down his body. As his lips brushed across his abdomen,
Zeke felt his muscles ripple as if trying to get closer to the man. The
closer Rangi got to his cock the more on edge Zeke became.

His dick was straining over his stomach as if trying to reach

Rangi’s mouth on its own. Then every molecule of air left his lungs as
he felt Rangi’s lips ghost over Zeke’s prick. He screamed for more
when he felt the lightest brush of Rangi’s tongue against his turgid
flesh.

His eyes were glued to Rangi as the man worked his body with

expertise. Rangi’s gaze met his with a wicked gleam before his mouth
sank down on Zeke’s cock at the same time he pushed a second finger
deep within Zeke’s channel.

The sensations were too much and Zeke completely came apart in

his mate’s arms as his dick erupted in Rangi’s mouth. He would swear
he saw stars in his blissed-out state as Rangi licked every drop of cum
from his body.

He felt completely relaxed and yet at the same time restless, as if

he wanted more. Firm lips claimed his even as Rangi’s fingers
continued to move inside his body. They moved over something
inside him and Zeke’s dick went from limp to hard as a rock in an
instant. His squeak of surprise was swallowed by Rangi’s kisses but
the man still heard it.

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“Fuck, baby, you have no idea how much that sound turns me on.”

Pulling his fingers from Zeke’s body, Rangi used the excess lube to
coat his dick before placing it against Zeke’s entrance.

Rangi locked his eyes on Zeke’s as he pushed his cock into his

body. It was so erotic to know Rangi was watching his every reaction
as he pushed deep into Zeke. As if reading each other’s minds they
both looked down at where their bodies were joined.

Zeke couldn’t help it. Another squeak left his mouth at the sight of

that huge cock slowly entering his body. He felt Rangi’s body tense as
if trying to control himself but he just couldn’t. “I’m so sorry, baby,”
he said even as he drove deep.

The burn was almost too much to bear as Rangi entered him in

one deep thrust. He could feel Rangi holding himself on a tight leash
once more as he gave Zeke time to get used to his body being
stretched. He couldn’t deny it hurt but soon he found his body
becoming accustomed to the invasion and was once more restless for
more.

Once Zeke’s body started moving, Rangi didn’t waste any time in

sliding his cock back until just the tip was inside Zeke before
thrusting deep once more. He did that several times but Zeke couldn’t
stop from squeaking several more times and Rangi lost all control.

Lying atop Zeke’s body, Rangi’s arms wrapped around him to

grip his ass in those strong hands as he forced Zeke’s body to move
with his. Each plunge drove them closer to the edge until Zeke was
sure he would shatter. He felt his balls pull tight to his body and he
knew it wouldn’t be long.

A zing of electricity raced up his spine before forcing its way

through his dick. He was right there, but his body was waiting for
something and Zeke had no idea what. Teeth, razor sharp, pierced the
skin at the juncture between his neck and shoulder. Instant pain
speared through him before euphoria unlike anything Zeke had ever
experienced exploded through him.

Mating the Predator

Cum erupted from the tip of his dick as his ass clamped down on

Rangi’s cock. He felt Rangi’s groan where his teeth were still deep
inside his neck as he drew mouthfuls of blood. Deep inside Zeke felt
Rangi’s prick pulse as he spilled his seed within his body.

Spots danced before Zeke’s eyes, obscuring his vision. Rangi

extracted his teeth and licked the wound on Zeke’s shoulder. His mate
rolled off to the side and pulled Zeke into his embrace. Everything
within Zeke was at peace, even his mouse, as he cuddled into his
mate’s arms.

* * * *

Content for the first time in his life Rangi basked in the feel of his

mate against his. He knew he wore a goofy smile but he couldn’t
muster up the energy to be annoyed with himself.

Rangi didn’t know what he’d done in his life to find someone so

perfect for him. If he’d searched his entire life Rangi was sure there
was no one else out there who could hold a candle to his little mouse.
He fit into every fantasy Rangi had about a mate.

First and foremost he was a man, but he was small enough that

Rangi could pick up and maneuver him around as he wished without
straining his muscles during sex. Then to top all that he had been able
to hack into Alek’s secure network, which meant Zeke was extremely
smart.

From everything Rangi had gathered on the man, he’d taken care

of himself for the last fifteen years. Working his way up in the
world’s second largest computer company wasn’t an easy feat. The
fact that he’d risked his life to let the Alliance know where Raptor
was hiding out showed just how brave he was.

What little Rangi’d been able to research on his childhood showed

Zeke had been terrorized by Raptor for years, leaving little doubt as to
why Zeke didn’t have much confidence in himself. Rangi would

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gladly spend the rest of his life making sure his mate knew just how
strong he was.

A light snore next to him drew Rangi out of his musings. Looking

down at his mate he couldn’t help but smile. There was no way Rangi
was ever letting this amazing man go. Rangi would fight the Gods
themselves to protect Zeke. If that meant finding Raptor and killing
him, Rangi would gladly do it.

An alarm from across the room sounded. Fuck! He knew it came

from his earpiece. Clearly Alek was trying to reach him through
COBI. Gently so as not to awaken Zeke, Rangi slid his arm from
under his mate as he got out of bed.

On the table next to the chair Rangi had slept on the previous

night was his earpiece. Slipping it into his ear he said, “Yes, Alek.”

Technically it could have been anyone but in his gut Rangi knew

it was his Alpha. The man had been patient enough to give him the
night with his mate but Rangi knew Alek wanted to question Zeke.

“Downstairs,” was all Alek said before cutting the connection.
Damn this couldn’t be good. It was apparent from his gruff voice

Alek was in a bad mood. Normally this wouldn’t bother Rangi too
much but Zeke was fragile right now after his traumatic experience at
the hands of his stepbrother.

Walking into the bathroom, Rangi started the water in the sink.

Giving it time to warm up he went to collect a washcloth and a towel.
Once the water was nice and warm he quickly washed himself off
before soaking the washcloth for his mate.

When he stepped into the bedroom he just stared at his mate’s

sleeping form for a moment. Gods, the man was beautiful. Rangi
could spend a lifetime just gazing at Zeke. Now that they were mates
he’d do exactly that.

As if sensing he was being watched those long, lush lashes

fluttered open to reveal soft brown eyes, sleepy and satiated. That was
a look Rangi planned to put on his mate’s face often.

Mating the Predator

Leaning down Rangi took a kiss from Zeke’s soft full lips,

lingering as he tasted his mate fully by dipping his tongue inside.
Reluctantly he pulled away, knowing if he didn’t get downstairs soon
Alek would just come up there and he refused to embarrass his mate
like that.

“Alek is waiting for us downstairs,” he said as he started cleaning

his mate’s groin.

Zeke gave a little squeak as Rangi used the towel to dry him off.

Rangi’s gaze snapped up to meet Zeke’s. He had to bite back a groan
as he saw how flushed his mate’s face was. Not that he wanted his
mate to be embarrassed but damn it was a good look on the man.

If he didn’t get away from his mate soon, Rangi knew they

wouldn’t be going downstairs any time soon so he stood up straight.
But then his gaze feasted on all that naked flesh laid out before him.
When Zeke gave another squeak he knew his eyes had become
predatory.

“Rangi, now,” his Alpha ordered over COBI.
That was better than any cold shower he’d ever taken. Turning to

his closet he pulled out a pair of gym shorts with a drawstring and one
of his sweatshirts. He knew they wouldn’t fit Zeke but until he could
get clothes for his mate they would have to do.

Shea Balik

Chapter 11

Zeke wasn’t sure what embarrassed him more, knowing the Alpha

Primus was downstairs waiting for him and probably knew the reason
he’d been kept waiting or having Rangi cleaning him like a little kid.
Then to top things off Rangi loaned him some clothes. The shorts
hung down to the floor and the sweatshirt was so enormous he was
lost in the material.

He looked like a kid playing dress up with his father’s clothes.

This was how he was to meet the Alpha Primus of the Alliance. Once
more he was wishing the ground would just open up underneath his
feet.

That thought had him flashing to the last time he’d thought that

and his cheeks flamed red once more. As he looked at his ridiculous
image in the mirror, he knew he was never going to live any of this
down. But then Rangi walked into the bathroom and his eyes went
dark with desire as he looked at Zeke.

Suddenly Zeke didn’t find the clothes that bad. If they made his

mate look at him like that, he’d be willing to wear them more often.
Those strong hands grabbed his butt to lift him so he was eye level
with Rangi before lips slammed down, stealing the very breath from
Zeke’s lungs.

When his back hit the wall as Rangi manhandled him, Zeke was

ready to try on the man’s whole damn closet. Firm lips trailed a path
from Zeke’s lips down his throat as Rangi said, “Fuck, you look so
good in my clothes.”

Yep, Zeke would definitely find a way to wear the man’s clothes

every day of his life.

Mating the Predator

“Rangi, last warning.” Zeke wasn’t sure where the voice had

come from but his mate gave a deep sigh of regret.

“That’s Alek. We need to get downstairs or he will come up

here,” Rangi explained.

Zeke felt his cheeks heat and he just knew he was blushing again.

Damn, when would he stop acting like a little kid who got
embarrassed at the slightest thing?

He heard Rangi give a little growl of frustration and Zeke worried

he thought the same as Zeke about his constant blushing. Fingers
gripped Zeke’s chin as they forced his gaze up to meet Rangi’s. “Stop
tempting me,” he said as his lips briefly touched Zeke’s before pulling
away.

What? Rangi wasn’t upset with Zeke’s blushing. He was turned

on by it. How was that even possible? He didn’t have time to think
about it as Rangi took his hand and led him down the stairs to meet
the Alpha Primus.

The voices coming from the kitchen told them where to find the

others. Once they stood at the doorway, Zeke froze and refused to
move another step as he stared at the biggest man he’d ever seen in
his life. It wasn’t just his size but his presence. It just screamed “I’m
the most powerful man in this room so don’t fuck with me.”

And Zeke definitely wasn’t about to do that. In fact if Rangi

would just let go of his hand he’d go find a place to hide until the man
left. Better yet he’d promise to never touch another computer again if
the Alpha would just let him leave.

There was no way he could ever hope to survive if this man

decided Zeke was the enemy. Hell, Raptor just about killed him and
he didn’t have a tenth of the power that emanated from this man.

He felt his mate’s hand squeeze his and he thought about having

to leave his mate. It wasn’t something Zeke wanted to do but if he
stayed the Alpha would probably demand his death.

Hands gripped Zeke’s head on either side and forced Zeke to look

up into brilliant blue eyes. It was in that moment with the love

Shea Balik

pouring from this breathtaking man that Zeke knew he’d gladly stay
and face whatever the Alpha wished to do with him for just another
minute with Rangi.

“Breathe, baby,” Rangi murmured against his lips. With each

breath his mate took he exhaled right into Zeke’s mouth, infusing him
with peace. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,” his mate
assured him as Zeke finally started breathing on his own.

Zeke nodded that he understood. His hands reached up to wrap

around Rangi’s wrists. Holding onto his mate for a moment his eyes
never left Rangi’s as he found the courage to face whatever the Alpha
planned to do to him.

Ready, he touched his lips to his mate’s briefly before pulling

back. “I’ll be fine,” he assured Rangi.

Rangi looked like he wasn’t sure he believed Zeke but he nodded

and turned back to Alek. “Alek, I’d like you to meet my mate, Zeke.”

Alek held out his hand. Zeke couldn’t remember ever seeing a

hand so large. He was worried every bone in his hand would be
crushed and was surprised the Alpha’s handshake was firm without
crushing Zeke’s much smaller one. “Congratulations to both of you,”
he said to them before turning his attention to Zeke. “It’s a pleasure to
meet the only person to have ever hacked my system.”

Zeke felt a shiver crawl down his spine at the Alpha’s tone.

Clearly he wasn’t happy his system had been hacked but that wasn’t
really Zeke’s fault. Okay, it was since he was the one to hack it but
make it more hack-proof and he wouldn’t have been able to. So really
it was the Alpha’s fault for not having a more secure system.

With his hand back in Rangi’s, Zeke followed his mate to the

large island. Food covered just about every available surface. There
were fruits, cheeses, pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, eggs,
cinnamon buns, various juices, water in pitchers, and a stack of plates.

Zeke couldn’t remember ever a time he’d seen so much food.

Rangi handed him a plate that had to weigh ten pounds with all the

Mating the Predator

food that was on it. His eyes bugged out of his head. Did his mate
honestly expect him to eat all this?

He watched as Rangi poured a glass of water and turned to Zeke.

“What would you like to drink, baby?”

He felt his cheeks flush at the nickname. He hated to admit how

much he liked that Rangi called him baby but not when everyone
could hear it. “W–water’s fine,” he said a little disconcerted.

Rangi put both glasses in one hand. Taking the plate from Zeke

with the other, he nodded his head to the kitchen table that was nearly
filled with guests Zeke hadn’t even known were there. Zeke wasn’t
sure what to do. Clearly the plate Rangi had filled had been for Rangi.
Should he fill his own or do as Rangi said and follow him to the
table?

Even though he was starving, Zeke decided it would be best to

just follow Rangi. As he walked past the plate of cheeses he reached
out to grab a couple of cubes. He didn’t want to draw any more
attention to himself but he just couldn’t resist. Rangi had the best
cheeses Zeke had ever tasted and he should know, he was a mouse.

In fact several of the different varieties he’d tasted last night had

been from his extended family on his father’s side. His father hadn’t
wanted to join the family business, finding computers much more to
his liking, so he’d left the European Territory and moved to the Latin
Territory to find his own way.

He’d done reasonably well. He’d worked for the same company

Zeke had ended up at and while neither of them had been rich
working there they had made enough to live fairly well. His mom had
told Zeke how he’d gotten the computer bug from his father. He had
to admit he liked knowing he was like him, even though he’d never
really gotten to know him since he’d died when Zeke was young.

Rangi put down their dishes and sat down. Zeke wasn’t sure what

to do since there wasn’t another free seat but Rangi took care of that
by pulling him onto the man’s lap. Mortified at the others seeing him
sitting on the man’s lap like a little kid, Zeke’s cheeks flamed.

Shea Balik

A chuckle from across the table had him looking up to see who

was laughing at him. A man with the most mesmerizing violet-
colored eyes sat next to the Alpha. “Sorry, I promise I’m not laughing
at you, just at the situation.”

Zeke didn’t see the difference. “Isn’t that the same thing?” he

meekly asked.

Seth’s laughter died as he realized Zeke was taking offense. “I

promise I’m not laughing at you. It’s just shortly after meeting Alek
he did the same thing and I had just about the same reaction you did.”

Zeke felt a little better at the man’s explanation but he was still

uncomfortable sitting on Rangi’s lap. No, that wasn’t true. He actually
loved it. He felt protected and cared for, especially as the hand Rangi
had behind his back started to caress him through the sweatshirt. But
to allow others to look at him like a baby in someone’s lap was too
much for Zeke and he wanted nothing more than to get down.

Seth seeing just how uncomfortable he was said, “My name’s Seth

by the way and if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m angry with my mate
right now since he tried to force my weapons trainer to go easy on me
I would probably be in his lap, too. It’s actually my favorite place to
sit.”

Zeke didn’t know if he could believe the Alpha’s mate. First of all

it was unlikely Seth was angry with his mate. The Alpha was too
scary to risk getting upset with. Second Seth looked too confident, too
self-assured to need the comfort of his mate’s lap.

Risking a look around Zeke realized no one was looking at him

weirdly. In fact most were just eating and chatting with each other. It
was as if they hadn’t even noticed Zeke sat in Rangi’s lap. Maybe it
wasn’t as bad as Zeke was making it out to be and with what he was
about to face, he could use the security he felt.

“Eat, baby,” Rangi whispered in his ear as he nudged the plate to

encourage Zeke to eat something.

Now that he knew the plate was for the two of them to share, Zeke

could understand why it was so full, although he couldn’t imagine

Mating the Predator

even two people being able to eat this much food. There was a pile of
the different cheeses on one section of that plate and he went for that
first.

As soon as the cube hit his mouth he couldn’t stop the moan of

pleasure at the sharp tang that exploded across his taste buds. When
something this good was available Zeke felt he owed it to his heritage
to savor every bite.

He wasn’t a picky eater when it came to cheese. With money

being tight he couldn’t afford the better cheeses very often so he’d
had to learn to take what he could get. Even with his salary now he
couldn’t hope to afford this quality, at least not on a regular basis.

After several more cubes he started looking at everything else

available. Choosing a piece of bacon, his stomach felt a little better
now that it had food so he turned his focus to those sitting at the table
with him.

Next to Seth was Jason with Adam to his right but he didn’t know

the others. Rangi must have noticed his curious glances and started
introducing the others.

“Next to me is Strafe, one of my best friends and our weapons

expert.” With his windblown hair and sky blue eyes, Strafe looked
more like a surfer than a soldier. The smell of wind coming from the
man told Zeke he was a wind mystic. Strafe gave him a big smile but
didn’t interrupt Rangi’s introductions. “At the head of the table are
Declan and Logan, they are training under Strafe.”

They each gave him a wave but Zeke just stared. His nose, which

was normally excellent at discerning the various races, couldn’t figure
out what they were. On the one hand they smelled human but they
also smelled of animal. Lion came from Declan and Logan was a
crocodile.

“The reason they smell different is because they are were,” Rangi

said.

Huh? His mate had said it as if Zeke should know what a were

was but he had to admit he’d never heard of one.

Shea Balik

“They are what my sadistic parents had created so they could have

a chance at fighting the Alliance,” Seth said from across the table.

Zeke wished he could say that explained everything but he was

still lost.

Apparently his confusion was evident as Seth said, “I’m a psy. My

parents build new labs in order to experiment on other paranormals.
One of their projects was to create a human-shifter hybrid.” Seth
pointed to Declan and Logan before saying, “That is what they are,
part human, part animal, part shifter.”

Wow, Zeke had really missed something because that just didn’t

make any sense. “But how would they make them fight?”

“By getting in our heads and forcing us,” Jason said. “We are

called weres and yes, I’m one, too.”

Boy had Zeke been out of it yesterday to not notice Jason’s smell

had been off, too, but now that he knew he could easily distinguish
the human and bear that came from the man. “But you’re a type of
shifter right?” Zeke asked. The three men nodded in response. “So
how can the psy control what you do?”

“Because we’re also part human,” Jason said.
“Hey, you guys are forgetting about me,” said a cute little blond.

Well, he was not as small as Zeke but compared to the others in the
room the guy was small. He gave Zeke a big smile and held out his
hand, stretching across the muscular man between them. “My name’s
Ian and I’m a weregorilla.”

Zeke shook his hand instantly liking the guy although he could

have sworn he mumbled under his breath something about hating
bananas, which didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Why did he think
Zeke needed to know that?

The man Ian had practically crawled across in order to shake

hands said, “I’m Ian’s mate, Maui.” Zeke shook the redheaded man
with the strangest copper-colored eyes before refocusing on Rangi.

Pointing across the table Rangi continued. “You already know

Adam and Jason. Next to them are Seth, who you just met, and Alek.

Mating the Predator

After that are Owen and Echo, who are here as computer experts for
our talk later on.” Zeke’s heart sped up at the reminder of having to
talk with Alek. He eyed the supposed “computer experts” and wasn’t
impressed. They were dressed as every other geek in ripped jeans and
obscure band T-shirts. Typical.

“At the foot of the table are Frank and Sandra. Sandra is part of

Northern Territory’s Cadre and Frank is her husband. They are both
mouse shifters,” Rangi informed him.

Zeke wasn’t sure why that was important. He’d never had much to

do with other mouse shifters since he’d grown up with hawks but still
he appreciated that someone thought they might make him more
comfortable.

“Then the other three on our side of the table are Shayla, Ian’s

sister and of course you’ve already met Maui, our enforcer, and Ian,”
Rangi finished.

What he didn’t say was Maui was here to make sure Zeke didn’t

escape before he was punished. He didn’t even know the man and he
was already afraid of him. Ian leaned over his mate to whisper in
Zeke’s ear. “I know they’re intimidating but I promise no one here
will hurt you.”

Maui, who had heard his mate, said, “And if they try Rangi will

be happy to gut them for you.”

Wait. What?
Rangi reached behind Ian and slapped Maui on the back of his

head. “Stop trying to help.”

Zeke had no idea what was happening around him and he wasn’t

sure he wanted to know. Why would Rangi gut someone? And was
his punishment really something they needed to joke about? Zeke
didn’t find anything funny about the situation.

Ian touched Zeke’s arm to get his attention. Zeke saw the pity in

the man’s eyes. “Don’t listen to them. It’s just a joke because Rangi’s
an eagle and fish are his main diet.”

That explained nothing to Zeke.

Shea Balik

Maui tried to explain it better. “You know because when eating

fish you gut it before cooking it.”

These people were insane. Had Zeke entered an alternate

universe? Maybe after being beaten by Raptor he’d never actually
woken up. Could he still be unconscious lying on his shower floor
having this insane hallucination?

“I told you that was never funny,” Rangi told Maui. “Why you

insist on still using it I’ll never know.”

“Probably the same reason you keep using ‘What’s up, doc?’ with

me,” Adam piped in.

Zeke couldn’t help it. He smiled and started to chuckle.
“Yeah, but that’s funny,” Rangi said. “Even Zeke is laughing at

that one.”

Which was true. Why he found it so funny he wasn’t sure but with

a lot of time on his hands hidden away in his apartment for so many
years he’d gotten into the old cartoons and Bugs Bunny was one of
his favorites.

“Okay, you idiots,” Alek said as he pointedly stared at Zeke. “It’s

time you and I had a talk.”

Crap!

Mating the Predator

Chapter 12

Rangi ushered those that were involved in the questioning to his

office on the other side of the house. Fortunately he’d made his office
roomy with two sofas that faced each other and on either end sat two
captain’s chairs. Owen and Echo sat on one end in two of the
captain’s chairs. Alek and Seth, who insisted on being a part of this,
sat on one of the couches.

Zeke sat next to Rangi on the opposite couch, while Maui sat in

one of the other chairs. It was feeling a bit like an inquisition to Rangi
but he would give his Alpha a chance before putting a stop to the
tactics he was using.

Once everyone was seated Alek started asking his questions.

“Zeke, can you tell me about the day you hacked our system?”

“Which time?” Zeke asked.
All of them sat there, not quite sure what to say. If the question

was real that would mean the day Zeke left that message about Raptor
wasn’t his first time hacking into the Northern Territory’s system.

“Okay,” Alek said. “Let’s start over. How many times have you

hacked into my system?”

This was going to go downhill very quickly if Alek was already

feeling this possessive over the computer network. Sure Alek had
built it but two other people had since had a lot to do with improving
it and making it better. Rangi knew Alek didn’t allow any upgrades
until he’d tested the code but still Owen and Echo were considered
just as good, if not better than Alek at programming.

Shea Balik

“Well technically three times, but once was just to see if you’d

made any changes since the first time I hacked in. Since you hadn’t it
made my last time a piece of cake.” Yep, downhill real fast.

Rangi squeezed Zeke’s hand, trying his best to warn his mate to

stop antagonizing Alek. The thing was Rangi wasn’t sure his little
mouse was trying to piss off Alek or he was just being honest.

Alek’s hands fisted, his knuckles turning white at Zeke’s

admission of how easy it was to hack the network. This wasn’t a good
sign and Rangi was starting to fear for his mate. But he honestly
wasn’t sure what was going on here. He’d been at many of the
meetings of the hackers who had come close to getting in and none of
those felt this antagonistic.

Owen, whose eyes looked ready to bug right out of his head,

leaned forward and asked, “You’ve hacked into us without anyone
knowing?”

Zeke just nodded.
“Bullshit,” Echo accused as he continued to slouch in his chair as

if bored. “There is no way you got into that system without us
knowing about it.”

Rangi felt Zeke’s back straighten a little at Echo’s accusation.

Those normally sweet brown eyes turned hard and angry as he looked
over at Rangi. “When I hacked into the Northern Alliance’s system,
then hacked into your computer and left a message, did I leave a
trace?” he demanded more than asked.

“No,” Rangi answered. He’d never been so proud in his life at

seeing his little mouse stand up for himself especially when he looked
over at Echo with vindication in his eyes.

Alek took back over the questioning. “What reason did you have

to hack into our network?” The Alpha’s voice was hard and
unyielding in his demand for answers.

It almost broke Rangi’s heart when he watched his puffed-up mate

suddenly slump his shoulders as if he were trying to make himself a

Mating the Predator

smaller target. It took everything in him to not tell Alek to back down
but really he hadn’t asked anything wrong as of yet.

“The first time I just wanted to see if I could. The second I already

told you I was checking to see if you’d made any changes that would
be more challenging.” Zeke’s voice was getting meeker as he spoke
as if afraid his words were going to get him hit. Rangi did his best to
soothe his mate by rubbing his thumb over the back of Zeke’s hand.

With a deep sigh Zeke said, “And the third was because Raptor

was holding me prisoner in my own apartment and I was hoping since
I’d overheard him saying he was hiding from you that you would save
me.”

For several moments the room was quiet as they all took in Zeke’s

words. But Alek didn’t wait long. “Or were you helping Raptor by
hacking into our network?”

Rangi wanted to rip Alek to shreds for accusing Zeke of being a

traitor. Now he knew why this supposed meeting didn’t feel right. Not
able to keep quiet Rangi warned, “Alek, you are treading on thin ice. I
suggest you watch what you say to my mate from now on.”

Alek’s low growl of warning to Rangi was heard by all but Rangi

didn’t back down as he sat slightly in front of Zeke to protect him.
“You are only allowed in here as a courtesy because he’s your mate
but make no mistake if you try to interfere I will throw you out
myself.”

Before Alek could order Rangi out Zeke asked his own question

of Alek. “Why would I leave a message for help if I were helping
Raptor?”

“Because you were afraid you’d be caught in our system so you

needed to make sure no one knew you’d done it willingly,” Echo said
as if he were happy Zeke was being grilled by Alek.

Zeke shook his head. “That makes no sense. Rangi just said I’d

left no trace and I’m sure you two have run your own diagnostics and
also found nothing so why would I leave a message that would point
directly at me?”

Shea Balik

“Maybe you were mad your stepbrother kept you a secret from the

world. After all, he’d become Alpha of the Latin Territory and you
were nothing but a low-level programmer who barely made enough to
keep a roof over your head,” Echo said. The man clearly had a talent
for telling stories, but Rangi knew none of it was true.

His words did remind Rangi of something. “Why weren’t you

ever interviewed for Alek’s company?” Rangi had searched their
databases and there had never been a mention of Zeke asking for an
interview or a request from his high school or college.

What was even more unusual was Alek’s own recruiters had never

once made mention of Zeke. Clearly his mate was talented so how
come no one had ever brought him to Alek for an interview?

“Yes, Zeke, how did you manage to become so anonymous that

no one here had ever heard of you?” Alek asked. Rangi knew Alek
was putting another nail in Zeke’s coffin with the question but Rangi
also knew his mate had done nothing wrong and he was hoping to
prove it.

“I sent an electronic request through CompTech during the last

phase of my internship. I received a response back from you, sir,” he
said to Alek, “denying my request.”

Zeke shrugged one shoulder as he said, “CompTech was the only

one who’d offered me a job so I took it.”

“Probably because you aren’t very good,” Echo taunted. Not

willing to listen to the man for a second longer Rangi stood before the
guy even knew he was there and wrapped his hand around Echo’s
neck. Not listening to any of the protests in the room, Rangi dragged
him to the door and dumped the guy on his ass before slamming the
door in his face.

“About time,” Maui said. “I would have kicked him out after that

first smart-ass remark.”

But it was Seth who had Rangi relaxing a bit when he turned to

Alek and said, “You really ought to have better standards when
choosing employees.”

Mating the Predator

“He’s one of the best computer programmers in the world,” he

said though clenched teeth.

Seth shrugged his shoulders before saying, “Yeah, but he’s an

ass.”

Alek opened his mouth to argue but clearly thought better of it

and shut it. Unfortunately he turned his frustration out on Zeke but
now that Rangi knew he had Seth and Maui as allies he felt a little
better about what was happening here.

“Your stepbrother is a traitor to the Alliance. By your admission

he was living in your apartment for a month hiding. You have hacked
into our network without a trace of you ever being there. How do I
know you aren’t as much of a traitor as Raptor?”

Tears streamed down Zeke’s face and his body shook with fear as

he faced the Alpha Primus. “I have never once done anything against
the Alliance. Even hacking into your system is something you have
challenged every hacker in the world to do. Raptor may be my
stepbrother but until a month ago I hadn’t even seen him since the day
I left for college twenty years ago.”

Rangi gave Zeke’s hand another squeeze hoping his mate knew he

believed in him. “I can’t help who my stepbrother is but I have
nothing to do with him or whatever he did against the Alliance.” The
slight weight of his mate’s body sagged into Rangi’s side.

Wrapping his arm around his little mouse, Rangi did his best to

comfort his mate while he waited to see what Alek would do. His
gaze bore into his Alpha’s as they sat there for several minutes. When
he saw regret in Alek’s eyes Rangi knew he was in for the fight of his
life.

“I’m sorry but unless you can provide proof of your innocence

I’m going to have to charge you as a traitor and have you arrested.”
Even though he knew the words were coming it was still like a punch
to Rangi’s gut to hear them.

Shea Balik

His mate’s sobs told Rangi his mate felt the same way but what

Zeke didn’t know was Rangi would never let Alek take his mate
away. If that meant he had to fight his Alpha, then he would.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Seth yelled, jumping up from

his spot next to Alek. “Did you honestly ask Zeke to prove he didn’t
do something? Exactly how in the hell is that supposed to happen?”
Seth asked, completely incensed.

Alek held out his hands, trying to reason with his mate as he tried

to explain. “Seth, it’s not that easy. What if he’s working with Raptor
and used this as a way to get into our inner circle?”

When Alek made his announcement Maui had moved to stand

behind Rangi and Zeke but hadn’t actually made a move to arrest
Zeke. Instead Maui said, “So when Wolfe accused your mate of the
very same thing and you threw him across the room and out the door,
you’re now saying he was right and so I should go ahead and arrest
Seth, too?”

Seth moved to stand in front of Zeke, crossed his arms over his

chest, and glared at Alek. “And Jason and Ian, since they had stayed
with psy for so long, maybe they’ve been programmed to infiltrate us
so they can be used against the Alliance.”

Rangi hoped his friends were getting through to Alek because as

much as he would die to protect his mate he didn’t want to have to
leave his friends. Don’t get him wrong, he would and willingly if
that’s what it took to keep Zeke safe but these people were his family.

“Both of you are being unreasonable,” Alek snarled.
“What proof do you have that Zeke’s done anything wrong?”

Rangi asked him.

“He hacked into my network,” Alek stated as if that explained

everything.

“How does that make me a traitor?” Zeke asked. “Then why

challenge hackers to try?”

Owen, who had been relatively quiet, asked, “Why did you keep

what you did a secret?”

Mating the Predator

Zeke clung to Rangi as he whispered, “Because I was afraid you

killed those who did.”

Rangi’s hard stare met Alek’s. “You know I won’t let you take

him.”

Alek glanced up at Maui, who still stood behind the couch Rangi

and Zeke sat on. “Don’t look at me, boss. I’m not about to lock Zeke
up, especially since you don’t hold the same view about your own
mate.”

“He’s proven himself to be an asset to the Alliance,” Alek said in

defense of his mate. “Seth’s loyalty isn’t in question.”

“How do you know?” Seth asked. “Maybe my plan is to get your

total trust before taking you and the Alliance down. You said Zeke is
guilty because his stepbrother is a traitor. Well my parents have
created a whole new race of paranormals in order to fight the Alliance
so how can you trust me?”

“Because you’re my mate!” Alek roared.
The door opened as Adam, Jason, and Ian came in. “We weren’t

eavesdropping,” Adam said.

“That’s because Alek’s loud enough the Outback Territory could

hear him,” Ian said sarcastically.

Rangi saw Maui put his hand over Ian’s mouth to keep his mate

from getting into trouble. Adam and Jason moved in front of Rangi
and Zeke and stood shoulder to shoulder with Seth. “We aren’t going
to let you arrest Zeke,” Adam said with steel in his voice.

A muscle in Alek’s jaw ticked. “And just how do you plan to stop

me?” Alek asked, the challenge clearly in his voice.

A fire lit a path along the table that separated the couches. It

wasn’t big but present enough to be noticed. “We may not be able to
stop you, although I think we probably could, but I know we can slow
you down enough for Rangi to get Zeke out of here,” Maui
threatened.

“You all want to fight me?” Alek asked stunned at their reactions.

Mating the Predator

Chapter 13

Zeke couldn’t believe what was happening. First, he was being

accused of treason, and then people he hardly knew were standing up
for him. It was enough to give him hope. Too bad it was clear the
Alpha Primus wasn’t going to budge for Zeke would like to get know
these amazing people.

It was Rangi he wished things could be different for. Zeke was

starting to understand the mating bond wouldn’t allow Zeke to leave
without Rangi. At best it would mean Rangi would have to leave the
people he’d developed a family with. At worst he’d be devastated
when Alek had Zeke killed.

The problem was he just couldn’t allow what was developing to

actually happen. This could start a battle no one would truly recover
from. These men, who were so close they were more like brothers
than friends, would be forced to fight each other and for what? Zeke?
He just couldn’t allow it no matter how touched he was they were
standing up for him.

“Kotёhok, he hacked into our network and told no one. Every

hacker in the world is trying to beat our security and if they’d gotten
in, not one of them would remain quiet about it. Hell, they’d be
shouting their success to anyone who would listen.

“Then to make matters worse he admitted to logging in a second

time to just make sure we hadn’t changed anything. That doesn’t
make any sense, especially since he once again told no one. The final
time just happens to be with Raptor, a known traitor and his
stepbrother happens to be in Zeke’s apartment,” he said as he gripped
Seth’s arms as if pleading with his mate to believe him.

Shea Balik

“Then he sends a message telling us where to find Raptor, only

Raptor seems to have known we were coming and was able to escape.
But Zeke gets a personal escort into our Territory and now”—Alek
pointed to where Zeke sat next to Rangi—“he seems to have
magically joined our inner circle by mating Rangi.”

When laid out like that Zeke could see why the Alpha was

suspicious. Zeke knew he was innocent and he still wanted to jump up
and shout “Guilty!” His decision had already been made but after
Alek’s version Zeke knew he had only one real choice.

Disengaging his hand from Rangi’s he stood to approach Alek.

The others looked ready to pull him back if Alek tried anything. He
stood there scared out of his mind and could only hope it wasn’t too
obvious. “My whole life I’ve tried to live in anonymity. I only have
one friend and that’s because Gibson wouldn’t take no for an answer.
I don’t go out much nor do I accept social invitations at work.”

Why he was telling Alek just how pathetic he was, Zeke wasn’t

sure but he felt it important to get this out. “What you request of me is
impossible, but I think you already know that. How is someone
supposed to prove they didn’t do something, especially since there is
no actual proof they did?

“You have twisted the facts to fit some convoluted story but for

what only you and the Gods know. I can’t tell if you’re pissed you
were hacked or if there’s more you’re not telling us. There is one
thing I know. I won’t allow your friends to become your enemies
because of me.” He felt the tears as they tried to blur his vision but he
was able to force them back.

“So I will submit to your imprisonment.” There were several

gasps but Zeke only heard Rangi shout, “No!”

He felt his mate’s arms encircle him as Rangi pressed against

Zeke’s back. But Zeke wouldn’t be deterred. “I love being a shifter
and I won’t dishonor my heritage by running from this.” He was
actually a little proud of himself for being so brave when he was so
scared he was ready to pee himself.

Mating the Predator

“Thank you, Zeke,” Alek said. “Maui, take him to town and lock

him up.”

Maui crossed his arms over his chest and planted his feet. Ian, his

mate clearly understanding, did the same. “No,” Maui said.

Alek growled at his enforcer but Maui didn’t budge. “Strafe,

Decan, Logan, get in here,” Alek called through COBI.

Seth went over to where Maui and Ian stood and whispered

something to them. All three then glared at Alek and went to the door.
Just before Seth opened the door Alek called out to him. “Kotёhok,
please.”

Seth stood there for a moment before turning to face his mate.

“Until you come to your senses I won’t be living with you.”

Power emanated from Alek as he tried to exert his will onto Seth.

But Seth didn’t back down, he just walked away. A roar so loud Zeke
swore it shook the house came from Alek as he watched his mate
walk away.

It didn’t take long for Strafe to get him handcuffed and put him in

the back of his SUV. “Baby, please. I can fly us out of here in
moments,” Rangi begged through the car window.

Zeke shook his head. “No. I’m done running. I did it for twenty

years when I tried to hide from Raptor and look how that turned out.”
He refused to let this family fall apart and he knew if he left they
wouldn’t recover. If he stayed they had a chance of finding their way
back to each other. Zeke just hoped he was right.

The ride to town didn’t take too long but it was long enough to

give Zeke too much time to think about what he’d just done. Sure he
felt this was right but what if he was wrong? What if this ended in his
death? What had he done? Maybe there was still time for Rangi to get
him free.

He was a mouse shifter for Gods’ sake. He should be able to break

out of prison by crawling through a crack or something. What if they
made him shift and put him in a small box of some kind? Zeke was
claustrophobic. He would go crazy if they did that.

Shea Balik

The vehicle came to a stop. “Sorry, Zeke, but we’re here,” Strafe

announced. He watched as Rangi’s friend climbed out of the driver’s
seat. When his door opened a small squeak escaped. Thankfully
Strafe didn’t comment on Zeke’s clear reaction to his fear.

They climbed several steps to a small building. At the door Strafe

punched in a combination on a keypad at the door. With an audible
click the door unlatched and Strafe easily swung it open. The main
room had two desks that faced the front door in the back of the room.

Their footsteps echoed as they crossed the marble flooring to the

back of the room. Another locked door that required fingerprints this
time opened when Strafe placed his entire hand on a hand plate.

A light flicked on as the door opened to show a set of stairs that

led down under the building. Once they reached the bottom of the
stairs Zeke saw a line of cells on either side of the hallway. At the end
was a door that required another code to enter.

Entering Zeke saw it led to a small hallway with two doors.

Opening one of them Strafe turned to Declan and Logan. “Stay here
and stand guard.”

Zeke tried to tell himself he wasn’t shaking but he knew it for the

lie it was as he and Strafe entered what looked like the observation
room into the interrogation room next door. Did Strafe take him into
the wrong room? It didn’t make much sense to Zeke that they’d be in
here.

“ID match Strafe Winchester, Wind Mystic, Weapons Specialist,”

Strafe said to the far wall.

Oh great. It was bad enough Zeke was being imprisoned but being

taken by a crazy person? Although considering how Zeke’s life was
going he supposed it was only fitting.

Suddenly part of the wall slid away to reveal another set of stairs.

Yeah, Zeke was starting to freak out. First of all, he was
claustrophobic? Being two stories underground was not helping that,
at all.

Mating the Predator

Second, why were they taking him to a cell so secure it was

behind a hidden door? Were they going to kill him? His steps slowed
as they neared the bottom. He’d wished he’d told Rangi how much he
loved the man. If he was never going to see his mate again he would
have liked him to know at least that.

Relief rushed through him as he only saw more cells. He hoped

this meant they weren’t about to kill him. Not that being stuck two
stories under a building was any comfort but he figured anything was
better than death.

About halfway down the hallway Strafe stopped and opened a cell

door. Swinging it open he gestured for Zeke to go inside. Strafe shut
the door behind him. “Bring your hands here and I’ll release you from
the cuffs,” he offered.

With his back to Strafe, Zeke gave the man his hands. Once the

cuffs came off, Zeke rubbed at his wrists as he saw they were slightly
red. Turning back to Strafe to ask what would happen he was stunned
to see Seth in the cell across from him.

“What are you doing here?” Zeke asked.
Seth grinned at him. “You didn’t think I’d let you have all the fun

did you?”

Zeke couldn’t help but chuckle at Seth’s antics. “You know Alek

will be here to force you home as soon as he realizes you’re here
right?”

“Not if he can’t get into this cell,” Maui said as he stepped into

Zeke’s line of sight.

“Maui here set this cell to only be opened by one of the two of

us,” Seth said as he pointed to Maui, who had come from a small
room at the end of the hall. “So Alek can rant, rave, and even roar but
he isn’t getting into this cell.” Seth sounded so proud of himself.

“Thank you for doing this but I don’t want to cause a rift between

you and your mate,” Zeke protested.

Shea Balik

Seth gripped the bars on his cell and said, “There is no way in hell

my mate, the Alpha Primus of the frickin’ Alliance, is going to get
away with bullying.”

The thing was, Alek could. What Zeke didn’t understand was

why? From what everyone had ever said of the man he didn’t seem
like the type so why Zeke? Why put him in jail?

“Okay, guys, I have to go report back to Alek but if you need

anything there’s a button in each of your cells.” Strafe pointed to the
button about two feet into the cell on one of the walls. “It will let us
know you need something and we will come as soon as we can.”

Over his shoulder he yelled back, “By the way, chow is at seven,

one, and six every day.”

Maui was still there and handed each of them a small backpack.

“There is extra food and water in each of these. I’ll bring more
tomorrow because I’ve had what they serve in here and it’s barely
edible.”

Zeke wanted to laugh at the absurd situation but nearly started

crying as he realized he was already missing Rangi and he’d only
been away from the man for less than an hour. Needing the comfort of
his mate, Zeke was glad he was wearing the man’s clothes as his scent
helped to calm him a little. How was he going to survive without
seeing his mate?

Mating the Predator

Chapter 14

Rangi was barely hanging on as he’d watched his mate being

taken from him. Rage filled every cell in his body as he turned back to
the house to kill his Alpha. He knew he didn’t have a chance at
beating the man but maybe if he attacked, Alek would arrest him and
put him in jail with Zeke. At least then he would be near his mate.

With each step his anger grew as he thought about the way his

mate had been railroaded by Alek. Since being freed from the human
labs Rangi had followed Alek without question. He trusted the man,
probably more than anyone he’d ever known.

Not once in the nearly two hundred years that he’d known the

Alpha had Rangi thought Alek would do what he’d just witnessed.
Hell, he’d seen the man give more chances to someone with a lot
more evidence against him to do the right thing. So why didn’t he
even give Zeke a chance?

Was Zeke right and Alek was pissed that someone had hacked his

system? Rangi just didn’t understand it. Sure the man had an ego the
size of the Grand Canyon but he never thought the Alpha would act
like a petulant child who’d had his favorite toy destroyed.

None of this made any sense and Rangi was going to get some

answers. He threw open the door satisfied to hear it slam against the
wall. When this was all over and Zeke was back in his arms he’d
probably regret putting a hole his wall but right now it fueled his
anger.

Rangi paused when he saw Alek stand there looking like he’d just

had his heart ripped out of his chest. But with thoughts of Zeke sitting

Shea Balik

in that cold cell Rangi faced the man he’d considered a friend. “How
dare you put my mate in prison?” he shouted.

Alek’s gaze snapped to his and Rangi would swear he saw hurt in

his golden eyes. But why would Alek be hurt? He was the one who
caused all this. Rangi swore he was getting a headache just trying to
figure all this out.

Anger replaced that hurt almost instantly as Alek said, “I guess I

can’t blame you for defending your mate but the man is a traitor and I
plan to prove it.”

“You know ever since you rescued us from those labs I have

always looked up to you. I may not have always agreed with your
way of doing things but even then I never questioned your actions
because they were still honorable. Today is the first time I’m ashamed
you’re my Alpha,” Rangi admitted.

This time Rangi clearly saw how much his words hurt Alek but he

refused to dishonor their friendship by lying to the man. “Even if you
thought Zeke was a traitor, which no matter how much you try to
convince us otherwise I’ll never believe, I’ve never known you to
steamroll a person without a chance to prove otherwise.”

Alek stood there with his hands on his hips, not once wavering in

his beliefs. “I gave him a chance to give me proof but he couldn’t,”
Alek defended.

“That’s just it, you didn’t. Not only did you not give him any way

to defend himself, you didn’t actually provide any proof of what he
did.” Rangi knew he was fighting a losing battle as Alek was making
it clear he wasn’t changing his mind. “I know as paranormals we have
different rules than humans but you had always said the fundamental
system was the same, no man would be found guilty without proof.”

Not able to look at the man he’d considered a friend until now

Rangi left Alek. Climbing the stairs he didn’t stop until he stood on
his deck and gave in to his eagle’s demands. Shifting into his eagle he
lifted into the air and made his way to town.

Mating the Predator

He wasn’t sure he’d be able to get into the prison as it was the

most secure building in Stone Haven. It had its own security system
that didn’t access any other network. It was completely cut off from
the mainframe. This allowed only those in charge of the prison access,
but even that was only based on their shifts.

Alek, Wolfe, Maui, and Strafe were the only ones able to get into

the prison anytime for any reason. The others who guarded the
prisoners were constantly monitored to be sure they hadn’t in some
way been compromised.

When there were no prisoners, none of the guards was allowed in.

Currently Zeke was the only prisoner, so the guards would have to be
notified and reactivated. Rangi knew there was little chance they
would let him in to see his mate but he had to try.

He was surprised to see Maui and Ian standing outside the front

door when Rangi landed. “It’s about time. We’ve been out here
forever,” Maui exclaimed. A backpack with an extra set of clothes
was handed to him.

“Forever is a bit dramatic don’t you think?” Ian said as he rolled

his eyes. “And he says I’m the drama queen,” Ian told Rangi.

“That’s because you are, my mate. I’m guessing you put a lot of

cheese in Zeke’s backpack right?” Maui asked his mate.

Ian crossed his arms over his chest as he stomped his foot. “I

watched him eat cheese, so I know he likes it,” Ian defended.

Rangi was grateful Maui had remembered clothes since he’d been

so upset he’d left the house without the bag he could carry in his talon
that held his extra set of clothes. That was something that irritated
him about the mystics. Not that he didn’t love Maui but he didn’t
think it was fair that whenever Rangi shifted, his clothes ripped apart
but Maui could literally go up in flames and his clothes remained
intact.

He quickly dressed before asking, “Um, what are you two doing

here?” If Rangi hadn’t been desperate to see Zeke, he would have let
the two continue for they were always amusing to watch.

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Shea Balik

Both of them turned to Rangi as if just realizing he was waiting

for them. “Right,” Maui said. He turned to the door and punched in a
code before opening it. “We’re here to let you in to see your mate.”

Not waiting for Rangi to respond, Maui and Ian headed inside.

With the door about to shut Rangi hurried after them. He couldn’t
believe the lengths he had to go to get to his mate, or that there were
no guards. “Why aren’t there any guards?” he asked.

Maui shrugged. “Alek didn’t call them back to duty. Strafe and I

will be guarding Zeke for now.”

Yeah, that didn’t sound ominous. “I thought you weren’t going to

help Alek?” Not that he would blame Maui if he changed his mind.
Maui was a lot closer to Alek than Rangi was. He’d also been by
Alek’s side guarding him for nearly two hundred years. Rangi would
understand if he felt his loyalty to Alek was too important.

“I’m not but on the other hand I don’t trust what’s going on and

would feel much better if it was just Strafe and myself watching over
Zeke,” Maui explained as they reached the bottom of a set of stairs
that had been hidden.

As one of the inner circle Rangi had known about the secret cells.

No one, not even the guards who watched over the other prisoners,
knew about them. Only those deemed too dangerous were put down
there.

Not only was this level not on the blueprints but it wasn’t

mentioned anywhere in their network. Since those who usually were
put on this level were sentenced to death there was no one to tell
about it existing. As it was completely soundproof the prisoners
who’d stayed down here were not able to alert anyone above.

It was actually built to be completely bombproof. About the only

thing that could destroy it was an Earth mystic burying it deeper in the
ground so no one could reach it. Even then it would still be intact.
This feature ensured that those who were down here couldn’t be
broken out.

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101

A part of Rangi was nervous about what that meant but he also

felt a little better that it would be his friends who would watch over
his mate.

“Well it’s about time you visited your mate. What took you so

long?” Seth said as Rangi reached the cell Zeke was in. Surprised to
see Seth in the cell across the corridor Rangi just stared at him with
his mouth hanging open.

Seth’s hands fisted on his hips as he faced Rangi, looking insulted.

“I told you I was going to fight until Zeke is given a chance.”

Rangi blinked as if trying to reconcile what he was seeing. “Yeah,

but prison?”

“Well it will get Alek’s attention, won’t it?” Seth asked with a

shrug.

It would definitely get Alek’s attention and Rangi wasn’t sure he

wanted Zeke right across the corridor from Seth when Alek realized
what his mate was up to. But it wouldn’t really matter since Alek had
access to all the cells. There was no way they could keep the Alpha
from dragging his mate home.

“I don’t suppose you’d let me in there with Zeke for a while?” he

asked Maui.

Maui just smiled as he opened the door and bowing from the waist

he said, “Your room, sir.”

Rangi couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s antics. Not wasting a

second, Rangi strode into the cell and pulled Zeke into his arms. Zeke
was trying so hard to be brave in front of the others but Rangi could
tell he was losing the battle. Not wanting to draw attention to his little
mouse, he got back to the topic at hand.

“You know once Alek finds out you’re here he’ll just come and

force you home with him.” Looking around the tiny cell Rangi finally
decided to sit on the cot with his back to the far wall. Arranging Zeke
on his lap he tucked his mate’s head against his neck as he let his little
mouse have time to cry.

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Shea Balik

When he looked back up at Maui, Ian, and Seth he saw their

mischievous smiles. Not in a hurry, he let them have their fun until
they felt like telling him. With Maui and Ian it didn’t take long as
neither of them could keep a secret to save their lives.

“I reset the lock for this cell so only I or Seth could open it.” He

looked so proud of himself, actually all three of them did.

Rangi really hated dashing their hopes but as one of the designers

for the security system, not the programming but the overall
functionality, Rangi knew their plan wouldn’t work. “I hate to burst
your bubble but other than Alek’s main access he has an override that
will bypass the entire system.”

Their faces fell. Seth looked like he was about to cry at having his

fun dashed. “But, but, but…” Rangi wasn’t sure what Seth wanted to
protest since he couldn’t get anything more than the one word out.

“That’s not fair,” Maui said as he started to pace. “There has to be

a way to override his override.”

His friends’ antics were amusing but it was hearing Zeke’s

chuckle that had Rangi smiling. He would never be able to repay his
friends for all they were doing for him. Even their misguided attempt
to lock up Seth in protest made his heart a little lighter.

“Guys, seriously, we have to do something.” Ian practically threw

a hissy fit. “We can’t let Alek win. What do we have to do to make it
so he can’t get in?” Not really paying attention to the others Ian
answered his own question. “I know. What if we got chains to wrap
around the bars and padlock them together.”

Seth just stared at Ian in disbelief.
Ian stomped his foot. “You promised to stop giving me that look,”

he pouted.

“Angel, Alek is too strong. He’d be able to break through chains,”

Maui said gently trying to spare his mate’s feelings.

“Oh,” Ian said. “What about those paranormal restraints?” he

asked.

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103

Both Seth and Maui got excited at that idea. Unfortunately it

wouldn’t work either. “I really hate to bring this up but Alek has the
master key to all those restraints,” Rangi said.

Zeke laughed against Rangi’s neck as they watched their friends’

faces fall as if they’d been delivered a crushing blow. “Better?” Rangi
whispered into his mate’s ear.

Zeke shifted a little so he could look at Rangi. “Yes,” he

whispered. “Thank you.”

Curious Rangi asked, “For what?”
It wasn’t much but Zeke’s lips lifted in an attempt at a smile. “For

sharing your friends with me.”

“Guys, come on, we can’t give up. How do we override this

override?” Ian asked.

Silence filled the cells as they all thought. “Rewrite the code,”

Zeke said as if were a simple matter. As Rangi stared at his mate he
realized for his little mouse it might be just that simple.

104

Shea Balik

Chapter 15

With each keystroke Zeke was fast learning the prison’s security

system. Too bad it was apparent Alek was watching and listening.
From the access logs Zeke didn’t think he was watching them in real
time but he really didn’t want to waste time figuring that out.

There was no way Zeke could have known the others would take

his suggestion so seriously. Sure he could do it, but since he was
charged with treason based on hacking, he didn’t actually think they
would give him the access into the prison’s security.

“Um, guys, just in case you didn’t know, this place has video with

sound.” Four pairs of eyes stared at him like he’d spoken in Chinese.

“We use it to spy on the prisoners—” Realization dawned in

Rangi’s eyes. “Please tell me Alek isn’t watching us now.”

Zeke didn’t want to lie. “I can’t say it’s Alek but someone is.”
Not once had Zeke stopped from letting his fingers fly across the

attached keyboard. Even as the others sat there wondering how long
they had, Zeke knew it wouldn’t be long if it was Alek that was
watching them and it was pretty safe to say it was. Either finding out
the man’s mate was in here or Alek finding out they were about to
deny him access to Seth would bring the Alpha here.

A little alarm went off on the tablet Maui had brought him. Zeke

had programmed it to go off if the video file that was being watched
was stopped. Maui, Seth, and Ian were arguing over how to best
handle Alek’s spying. Seth had taken the mature approach and flipped
off the camera.

As much as he appreciated their efforts at helping, he didn’t really

think any of their antics were going to work. He’d tried to tell them

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105

Alek was probably on his way but they were too busy discussing the
merits of a bucket of honey above the door followed by a fan blowing
feathers.

The sight might have been funny but how they thought it would

slow Alek down, Zeke wasn’t sure. Fortunately Rangi sat next to him,
not engaging in the other’s antics.

“What is it, baby?” Rangi asked as Zeke’s eyes met his in fear.
Zeke let himself stare into those piercing eyes that always

reminded him of a crystal-blue lake until he felt himself calm slightly.
“Alek turned off the video file he was watching.”

“Shit, guys, Alek’s on his way,” Rangi said loud enough to

interrupt the others bickering.

Seth’s gaze met Zeke’s. “You have maybe ten minutes. I suggest

you work fast.”

Agreeing with his new friend Zeke dove back into the code. He’d

already found the override code. Going back to the area where the
individual cells were, he isolated Seth’s and inserted his own code
that would stop Alek from being able to get in.

It wasn’t sophisticated but for now it would work. Even though

Alek would probably be able to eventually find a way around the new
code, Zeke figured it would still take the Alpha a few days. Based on
how Alek wrote code Zeke knew the man was good but Zeke was
better.

Boots pounded down the stairs. “Time’s up,” Seth and Maui said

at the same time.

“Seth!” Alek yelled as soon as he reached the bottom step. “Get

your ass out here now.”

It wasn’t even Zeke who was being yelled at but he still wanted to

piss himself at the Alpha’s rage. The fact that it was the second time
in one day he was facing Alek’s anger wasn’t helping his resolve to
stay brave. More than anything he wanted to beg Rangi to just get him
out of here.

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Shea Balik

His mate must have felt Zeke’s anxiety as strong hands pulled his

back flush against the man’s chest. But it wasn’t until Rangi’s arms
wrapped around him that Zeke truly felt safe.

Seth refused Alek’s demand. Zeke noticed Seth stood an arm’s

length away from the bars as he talked. “The only way you are getting
me to leave is if you free Zeke.” The demand was clear and Zeke had
no idea how Seth wasn’t shaking in his sneakers.

They may be mates but still, Alek looked ready to kill at seeing

his mate behind bars. But Seth, Gods bless him, stood his ground,
refusing to give an inch.

Apparently Alek wasn’t about to continue this argument. He just

went to the cell door and punched in the override code. Pulling on the
door to open it, Alek found it didn’t budge. He yanked on it one more
time before realizing it wasn’t unlocked.

Disbelief etched his face as he punched in the override code once

more. Yanking hard enough on the door, Zeke was afraid he would
tear it off. Alek just stared at it as it once more didn’t move. The
Alpha’s gaze went to the smug expression on Seth’s face before
turning around to face Zeke.

His eyes landed first on the laptop before they met Rangi’s defiant

expression. Finally they landed on Zeke. For the briefest moment
Alek looked impressed at Zeke’s abilities but then those golden
brown eyes changed until they almost glowed gold.

Zeke couldn’t have stopped his body from shivering at the

predator he saw in that gaze. Alek didn’t say a word as his hand went
to Zeke’s door. He punched in the override code without taking his
eyes off Zeke’s.

His heart stopped as those large hands gripped the bars of the door

and pulled. It wasn’t until it held that Zeke realized he’d stopped
breathing. He gulped a lung full of air as his body sagged against
Rangi’s in relief.

Even though he’d programmed his cell also, Zeke couldn’t help

but be afraid he’d gotten something wrong. It hadn’t been until the

Mating the Predator

107

lock held that he knew he’d be safe. Once more he saw the admiration
flash in Alek’s eyes.

Unfortunately Rangi and Zeke hadn’t thought to get out of Alek’s

reach. They were both surprised when Alek reached into the cell to
latch onto Zeke’s shirt collar before yanking him against the bars.

Scared, Zeke was sure he was about to die. He hadn’t been

prepared for Alek’s voice to whisper into his ear. He could hear the
others shouting around them as Rangi tried to pull Zeke away and
Maui tried to pull Alek away but he didn’t pay any attention as Alek
spoke.

* * * *

Rangi didn’t know what had gotten into his friend but seeing Alek

grab Zeke had to have been the scariest moment in Rangi’s life. The
fact that he wouldn’t let him go was testament to how off his rocker
Alek actually was.

He used every bit of training to try and force Alek to let go of

Zeke but nothing he did seemed to affect his Alpha. Maui was doing
everything he could to do on the other side of the bars but it was like
they were pesky flies instead of well-trained soldiers.

Finally Alek released Zeke. Rangi didn’t waste any time forcing

his mate behind him as he faced off against Alek. “If you ever touch
my mate again, Alpha or not, friend or not, I’ll kill you.”

Doing his best to stay in front of Zeke, Rangi kept his hand behind

him in order to touch his mate. He felt Zeke moving but it was
minimal so he kept his attention focused on Alek. Except Alek didn’t
seem to even care he was there.

Instead Alek turned back to face Seth. “If you honestly think I’m

going to let you stay in here, you’re crazier than I thought.”

Seth crossed his arms in front of him and hitched his hip before

rolling his eyes at Alek. “Since you’ve just proven how nuts you are I
guess that makes us well matched.”

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Shea Balik

Before any of them even saw him move, Alek pulled Ian in front

of him. He used one arm across Ian’s body to keep him still while he
held up his other hand and let everyone see him change his fingernails
into claws.

Maui started after Alek but when the Alpha held one claw digging

into Ian’s skin Maui stopped in his tracks. “Open his cell,” Alek
ordered Maui.

“Maui, please don’t. He won’t hurt me, not really,” Ian pleaded

with his mate. “Is there a reason you’re an ass, Alek? I mean you have
this big bad reputation to uphold but this is taking things a bit far
don’t you think?”

Rangi didn’t know how Ian could keep talking with a claw

digging hard into this throat but the man didn’t seem to want to stop.
Fire engulfed Maui’s body as he watched his mate in danger, helpless
to save him. If he didn’t stop soon the fire would set off the sprinkler
system which would… “Maui, stop, he’s trying to set off the
emergency shutdown by setting off the sprinklers.”

It was ingenious actually. If the sprinklers went off, the computer

system would go into an emergency mode that shut down the
electronic locks. The locks would stay in place but now instead of
opening the cells electronically there was a lever in the wall near the
stairs that could be pulled to open the cell doors.

Alek’s head turned to glare at Rangi. “Shut the fuck up, Rangi.”

Maui used the distraction to yank his mate away from Alek.

Once free, Maui pushed Ian behind his back before he yelled at

Alek. “Are you out of your fucking mind? That was my mate you
used.”

Ian, who was keyed up, was practically bouncing as he said, “I bet

he’s on drugs. Ask him if he’s on drugs.” Not getting a response fast
enough Ian asked Alek, “Are you on drugs?”

Ian was unraveling fast. He could see Maui wanted to get his mate

out of here but the need to stand by his friends when Alek was clearly

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not thinking right was weighing on him. Since Seth, Zeke, and he
were safe in the cells, Rangi encouraged Maui to go.

He waited until Maui got Ian out of there before turning back to

face Alek. What Rangi didn’t understand was the guilt he saw in
Alek’s eyes. This whole thing just didn’t make any sense and Rangi
wasn’t about to sit around and wait for his Alpha to go completely
insane and kill them all. As soon as Alek left he’d take Zeke and Seth
to safety.

Relieved when he saw Alek walk to the stairs, Rangi hoped the

Alpha was going home. What he didn’t expect was the man to go to
the wall where the lever for the emergency release for the locks was.
It wouldn’t matter if he pulled the lever. It only took over if the
electronic locks were shut down from lack of electricity.

He gripped the lever and instead of pulling it down and away from

the wall, he pushed it further into the wall. A clang reverberated
throughout the room as another lock engaged on the cells.

Alek smiled over at him. “You never were good at poker, friend.”
Shit. Rangi should have known getting his mate out of here

wouldn’t be that easy. “We’re no longer friends, Alpha,” he spat out.

Again that look of regret appeared on Alek’s face. It flashed so

fast Rangi was sure he was imagining it but he knew he’d seen it.
Maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part but Rangi hoped that
somewhere deep inside Alek he knew what he was doing was wrong.

Without another word Alek climbed the stairs and left them alone.

“Is it just me or is my mate out of his ever lovin’ mind?” Seth said as
he stared after Alek.

Rangi agreed with Seth but what he just couldn’t figure out is

why? None of this made sense.

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Chapter 16

It had been an hour since Alek left them down in the basement of

the prison locked up with no way out. Without Rangi there to keep
Zeke somewhat calm he’d have freaked out by now. So much had
happened since he woke up to find himself in Rangi’s bed while the
man slept in a chair like a gentleman.

Since then he’d had sex for the first time, gotten mated, been

accused of being a traitor, put in prison, and not just locked in a cell
but locked in a cell with no way out until someone showed up to
release the manual lock. As if all that weren’t enough when Alek
grabbed him earlier, he told Zeke a secret.

He lay on his cot spooned against Rangi, who was against the

wall. As much as he didn’t want to move he knew if they were ever
going to get out of this mess he had to figure out what was going on.

Turning to face his mate he put his finger against Rangi’s lips in a

gesture for him not to say anything. Rangi nodded his understanding
even though there were questions in those beautiful blue orbs.
Relieved his mate trusted him enough without bringing attention to
themselves, Zeke leaned forward as if hugging his mate and
whispered as quietly as possible, “I need you to sit up and block what
I’m doing.”

When he pulled back he still saw the questions in Rangi’s eyes but

he did as Zeke asked. Using his small body to his advantage he
reached down and pulled out the tablet and keyboard he’d kicked
under the bunk when Alek had been distracting everyone by
threatening Ian.

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Rangi sat on the edge of the cot with his legs draped over the side,

which helped hide Zeke as he dragged the computer up the side of the
bed. He slid it under the pillow until it was in the corner of the cell.

Booting it up he turned back to Rangi and asked, “Do you think

Maui will come back with food later?” He widened his eyes a little,
hoping to communicate the need for conversation to cover what he
was doing.

“Don’t forget there’s food in the backpacks,” Seth called over

from the next cell.

Figuring eating would block what he was doing he asked Rangi to

get their bag. When Rangi placed the bag on the bed Zeke scooted
back some but kept his back to the front of the cell. The computer
wasn’t big and could be flat on the bed but Zeke’s movements had to
be hidden from the camera.

Fortunately Seth started talking so Rangi sat with his back to

Zeke, which probably completely blocked him from the camera’s
lens. “Do you think something is wrong with Alek?” Seth sounded
worried and Zeke felt guilty as he kept working.

His fingers flew over the keyboard as he heard Rangi try to

reassure Seth. Every time the pair grew quiet Zeke would nudge
Rangi’s back and his mate would start talking again.

The first thing he did was to secure the computer he was on so

whoever out there was after him wouldn’t be able to see him. He put
layers of security on the little computer with alarms all over the place
in case anyone hacked him.

Next he had to secure each path he took, which took more time

than he liked but he had to be sure no matter where he went no one
would see him. It had been how he’d hacked into Alek’s network
undetected.

That was the problem with most hackers, they didn’t take the time

needed to do things right. Instead they rushed through trying to
strong-arm their way into a network, not caring they were setting off
alarms along the way alerting others what they were doing.

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It was a long and arduous process and normally Zeke enjoyed this

part as much as actually getting into a system but now he didn’t have
time. So each step seemed to take forever and several times Zeke had
to stop himself from skipping a step. The odds were he didn’t need to
be as careful as he was being but each time he was ready to pass over
a step he would remember that was how hackers got caught and this
time, more than any other time in his life, he couldn’t get caught. This
time it wouldn’t mean jail time or a fine, it would mean his death.

“I’m sorry he’s doing this to Zeke and I will understand if you

can’t forgive him but he’s my mate. I’m still trying to give him the
benefit of the doubt.” Zeke heard Seth and he wanted to offer some
comfort but he had to keep going. “But what if I’m wrong?” Seth
whispered dejectedly.

Zeke hated himself for staying silent, especially since Seth went

against his own mate to stand up for Zeke. A warning flashed up on
the computer. Crap! Someone knew he was there and got through
Zeke’s first layer of security. He had designed the system to allow
access through the first couple of levels and he wasn’t too worried
about the breach.

What worried Zeke was whoever this was knew he was there. It

would only be a matter of time before this person would give up
trying to see what Zeke was doing and just come down to the prison
where he was a sitting duck. In a way he knew Alek believed he had
to set the manual override to protect them but it left them completely
vulnerable.

Alek assured him he would protect them but what if he didn’t get

here in time? Really the only way to ensure their safety was for Zeke
to catch this person before they did anything stupid like coming down
to the prison and kill them all.

Why did Alek have to put this all on Zeke’s shoulders? Zeke had

never done well under pressure unless he was hacking. That he
excelled at and that was technically what he was doing. But having to
face death as a failure was just a bit extreme.

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113

His fingers continued to fly over the keyboard as he tracked the

person trying to get through his security protocols. It was a
painstaking process that normally Zeke excelled at but right now he
didn’t seem to have any patience.

So he used a mental trick by thinking about other things while

waiting. A watched pot doesn’t boil, so if Zeke was sitting there
staring at the screen, waiting for something to happen, it never would.
Unfortunately his mind went immediately to Alek’s words to Zeke.

Someone is setting you up and I can’t find them. The only way to

keep you safe is in here. I’m sorry. As unobtrusively as possible keep
the computer and find this person. No one should have access or even
know about it so if they try that is our traitor. When I let go of you
please act like I just threatened you in case they are watching.

It only lasted seconds but they had to be the longest of Zeke’s life.

He was a computer programmer and hacker, not a soldier. He didn’t
do all this intrigue well.

Another alarm flashed on the screen. The second layer had been

breached. Zeke had designed it for the first two levels to be easily
broken through. It made the person hacking think they were smarter
and had a chance. The third level would take longer and offer a bigger
challenge but not so much of one that they wouldn’t be able to get in.

It was the fourth level that was nearly unbreakable. Someone of

Zeke’s level could do it but he doubted this person was that good and
even if he was it was doubtful they would take the time to figure it
out. Zeke could only hope he was faster than whoever was trying to
break in.

Methodically Zeke tracked the intruder’s steps until he was finally

in the man’s computer. Using a map of the network he was able to
find the location of the computer but then it shut down.

“Fuck,” Zeke swore.
Both Rangi and Seth asked, “What happened?”
Zeke didn’t let his fingers stop as he went through the company’s

files to find the video and pulled it up. Only static showed on that

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footage. If they were smart enough to erase the video of what they
were doing, they probably were smart enough to use someone else’s
computer. Still Zeke looked up the information.

Echo.
That actually made sense. The man was an ass so it would be easy

to believe he was a traitor, at least that’s what the real traitor was
hoping. Zeke just hoped whoever was really doing this wouldn’t be
successful. Sending out a distress signal to Alek, Maui, and Strafe
using their COBI system, Zeke prayed they would make it in time.

Turning to Rangi and Seth, Zeke explained what he’d been doing

and why. By their faces he saw just how shocked they were. What he
hadn’t expected were Seth’s tears.

“I should have trusted my mate more,” Seth said.
Yeah, Zeke wasn’t sure exactly what to say to that. Alek hadn’t

told anyone what he was doing, making it hard to understand just
what he was thinking when it looked like he was going off the deep
end. The man went out of his way at the end to antagonize everyone,
even threatening Ian.

Rangi stood and paced the length of the cell several times while

running his fingers through his hair. “Why didn’t he say something?
Maui is his enforcer and one of his closest friends but he said
nothing.”

“Because the person doing this was monitoring everything,

including COBI,” Zeke told them. He didn’t know this as a fact but it
was a natural assumption.

“And that person is heading here now?” Seth demanded more than

asked. Clearly the man was pissed but Zeke wasn’t sure what he
thought he was going to do since they were stuck behind bars.

Zeke nodded.
“Good, ’cause I plan to tear the man apart for what he’s done.”

Seth clearly wasn’t understanding the position they were in.

“Exactly how do you plan to do that?” Zeke asked. “If you

haven’t noticed we are trapped in a cell.”

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115

Seth smiled with wicked intent. “Can you open your cell door

electronically?”

Zeke wasn’t sure what the man was getting at but he answered

anyway. “Rangi can. When I locked Alek out I put Rangi on for my
door so he could come and go as he wished.” Rangi gripped Zeke’s
hand in appreciation for thinking about him. “But in case you forgot
Alek set the manual override. Even if we electronically open the
doors we still can’t get out.”

That smile got just a little brighter. “Did anyone ever tell you what

my ability is?” Seth asked.

Shaking his head he said, “No.”
“Telekinesis,” he said as the lever popped out of the manual

override position and the locks disengaged.

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Chapter 17

Rangi was having trouble keeping up with everything that was

happening. He felt like shit for treating Alek like the enemy when
he’d been trying to keep Zeke safe. Although, trapping them all in a
locked prison when the traitor could get in he didn’t quite understand.

As he replayed the entire day he knew Alek did what he felt he

had to in order to keep Zeke safe. Footsteps echoed into the room
from the stairs. Too bad his plans hadn’t worked out.

Both Seth and Rangi went to their doors and disengaged the

electronic locks. Just as the doors opened they turned to the stairway
to see a man step onto the main floor. Owen. It was always the quiet
ones.

If he wasn’t seeing this with his own eyes he would have never

believed it. Owen always seemed more like the boy next door, quiet,
polite, and willing to give a helping hand to those who needed it. Still
now that he thought about it, it made sense. If you were a traitor
trying to stay undetected the best way would be to act like one of the
team.

Surprise followed by anger filled Owen’s gaze when he saw them

out of their cells but quickly it turned to an innocent helpful
expression. “Oh thank Gods you’re all okay. Alek sent me here to
help you escape. Echo is on his way to kill you.”

He was actually quite convincing but now that Rangi knew what

was going on he could see the act for what it was. “Good try, Owen,
but there are several glaring problems with that. Like Alek would
never send down some computer geek to protect us.”

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117

“He didn’t have a choice. Maui won’t talk to Alek after he almost

killed Ian,” Owen said as he continued with his ploy.

What Rangi didn’t understand was what Owen was planning. He

couldn’t hope to overpower them. Rangi and Seth were both trained
soldiers, while Owen…well, he clearly wasn’t. That had to mean he
had a weapon of some sort, otherwise there was no way he could hope
to kill them.

Zeke stepped out from behind Rangi. “You know you missed your

calling. You should have gone into acting instead of computers,
’cause you suck as a programmer.”

“I hacked through your first two levels of security didn’t I?”

Owen taunted.

Rangi saw Zeke smile at Owen’s slip. “Only because I

programmed it that way. It was the easiest way to trap you. How you
ever managed to convince Alek you were a good programmer much
less a great one is beyond me.”

Owen laughed as he said, “By using your programs. Gods, you

really are an idiot aren’t you? This whole time you had no idea
CompTech was using you to help me infiltrate Rykov Industries. You
accepted Rykov didn’t even want to interview you and took a low
paying job at CompTech.

“You should have been paid millions by now for your programs.

Instead, I’ve been making that money while I spied on Alek and the
Northern Territory for the Cadre of the Latin Territory.” His laughing
turned a bit maniacal.

That and the fact that he didn’t seem to mind telling them

everything told Rangi that Owen was planning on killing them, and
by the way he was unraveling it wouldn’t be much longer before he
made his move.

With Owen’s focus on Zeke, Rangi used the opportunity to get

Seth’s attention. Based on the look they exchanged they were both on
the same page and Seth was ready.

“You won’t get away with this,” Zeke whispered.

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Rangi ached to pull Zeke into his arms in comfort. His mate

clearly felt heartbroken to know that his whole life had been a lie.
That’s why all this was happening. Once it was known that Zeke was
Rangi’s mate, Owen or his bosses had to know Rangi wouldn’t stop
looking into why Zeke had been missed by Rykov Industries.

“But I already have,” Owen said as he pulled out a gun.
Before he could point it in their direction, Seth used his ability and

yanked it out of Owen’s grip and into his own. At the same time Alek
stepped off the stairs where he’d clearly been listening. “Owen,
you’re under arrest for treason,” Alek said.

The look of complete shock on Owen’s face quickly morphed into

one of defeat. Not saying a word to give away what he was about to
do, Owen pulled out a knife and stabbed it directly into his heart.

Rangi just stood there in disbelief of what he’d witnessed. His

eyes tracked Owen’s body as it fell to the floor, the knife that had
been in the man’s hands clattered against the granite floor. Those
eyes, so full of malice and hatred earlier, now stared sightlessly up at
the ceiling.

A squeak pulled Rangi from his trance as he pulled Zeke into his

arms, hiding his mate’s head against his chest so he wouldn’t have to
see the horrific sight.

Rangi’s eyes once more went to the body on the floor. Owen had

taken the easy way out when he found himself in trouble. Not that
Rangi could blame him. But because of this one man, Alek felt the
need to lie to his mate and friends. After all these years he’d probably
figured they would stand by his side no matter what.

But they hadn’t and Rangi wasn’t sure if they would ever get back

to that place of friendship and trust again.

* * * *

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119

If Zeke never had to see another dead body for the rest of his life

it would be fine by him. As a picture of Owen flashed through his
mind once more Zeke started shivering.

The feel of his mate’s strong arms calmed him somewhat but he

just couldn’t get the picture of all that blood out of his head. Firm lips
captured his in a searing kiss and all thought of anything but his mate
fled. He knew that’s what Rangi was trying to do so when Rangi
pulled back Zeke smiled at him. “Thanks,” he whispered, hoping no
one else saw what was happening.

Soon after Owen killed himself Rangi took Zeke back home.

Home. It was weird to Zeke that he already thought of Rangi’s house
as his, too. Of course it probably helped that after everything he’d
been through in just twenty-four hours had made it feel like weeks or
months. Still it was surreal that just last night Rangi had brought Zeke
to his home.

Once more they sat in the kitchen with food covering every

available surface. Adam and Jason had everything ready when they
reached home. Within the hour Alek, Seth, Strafe, Maui, Ian, and
Shayla showed up.

For the last twenty minutes they had all sat around the table

silently eating. Actually, no one was eating more than a bite or two.
Mostly they were all pushing food around their plates, trying to avoid
the conversation that needed to happen.

Zeke felt bad that all these hurt feelings were because of him but

nothing would get resolved if someone didn’t start talking. He
glanced over at the Alpha, who looked like he’d lost his best friend.
Seth wasn’t any better as unshed tears filled his eyes each time he
darted a glance at his mate.

Not able to take it anymore Zeke spoke up. “I want each and

every person at this table to know how much I appreciated everything
you did for me.” His eyes fell on Alek first. “Alek, I know it wasn’t
easy for you to hide what you’d learned from your mate or your

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friends but you did it to save me and for that I will be indebted to you
for the rest of my life.”

Alek opened his mouth to respond but Zeke cut him off. “Please

let me finish.” Alek nodded his consent. “To the rest of you, you
hardly knew me and yet you stood up for me. You put your
relationship with Alek on the line to do the right thing. I’m not sure I
can ever repay you for that but I’m going to try.”

“We did what we had to,” Maui said, his voice tight with emotion.
“Actually that’s just it, you didn’t have to. You could have stood

by and let your Alpha throw me in prison with no proof. No one
would have blamed you for taking his word but instead each of you
took the harder road and challenged him.” Zeke’s vision was blurring
with unshed tears as he talked.

“I know everyone is feeling betrayed and guilty at the same time.

If you don’t talk about those feelings they will only fester and a rift
will divide you. I refuse to allow that to happen or Owen will have
won.” Several pairs of eyes that had been avoiding him suddenly were
staring at Zeke. He’d hoped that would get their attention.

There was nothing worse than knowing the enemy had done what

they’d set out to do, destroy them. “To get things started I will begin.”
He turned his focus on Alek. “It hurt to think my Alpha Primus
thought me a traitor but, knowing you did it to save my life, I forgive
you.”

“Just like that?” Alek asked.
Zeke smiled, knowing the Alpha was trying to understand how he

could just forgive, not because his offense to Zeke was that great but
because he was struggling to forgive his own mate for not believing in
him. “Forgiveness is a choice. If something, or someone, is important
enough there isn’t anything I couldn’t forgive them for. But I don’t
forgive for your peace of mind, I do it for mine.”

“What does that mean? Alek is the one who did wrong so how

does forgiving him give you peace?” Seth asked.

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121

Reaching across the table Zeke took Seth’s hand in his. “Because

if I don’t forgive and let all the pain and hurt feelings go, it will eat
away at me, festering deep in my soul. Depending how important it is
to me I will become bitter and hard, not trusting in those around me. I
for one don’t want to live like that.”

Tears streamed down Seth’s cheeks as he listened. This was going

to be a long night if they had any hope of getting past this. Not that
Zeke thought one night would solve all their problems but he knew
the healing had to start.

Strafe stood up. “Look, I don’t have any issues. I understand what

Alek did and don’t have a problem with it. So I’m going to go outside
and give you guys some time to talk.”

Shayla followed him as she hadn’t been involved with the

situation. Before she left she gave Ian a kiss on the top of his head and
whispered, “I hope you heard Zeke.”

Once the front door closed silence once more reigned. Zeke

wasn’t sure what more he could do if they weren’t willing to talk.

Rangi cleared his throat. “Look, I—” Rangi started to say but then

stopped. Zeke squeezed his mate’s hand hoping to encourage him to
keep going. Rangi’s gaze met his and he gave his mate a little smile.
“I understand you thought you were protecting Zeke,” Rangi said as
his eyes went to Alek.

When he didn’t continue Alek finally spoke. “I know I handled

this badly, I do. But you need to understand it all happened so fast
there just wasn’t time to get each of you alone and explain it. I knew
we were being watched. There were files on the servers that showed
our conversations were being taped. I couldn’t risk the traitor finding
out.”

The man’s hands fisted on the table as he tried to make his friends

understand. “I’m not sorry for trying to protect Zeke nor am I sorry
for how I did it. But I am sorry I hurt all of you,” his voice broke as
he glanced at his mate, who was still refusing to look at Alek.

Yep, this was going to be a long night.

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Chapter 18

Deep down Rangi knew Zeke was right. His friendship with Alek

was too important to have unresolved bad blood between the two. But
at the same time, he wasn’t sure he could forgive the man for putting
Zeke through being called a traitor, being thrown in jail, and then
having someone try to kill him.

His heart stopped each time Rangi thought about how close he’d

come to losing his little mouse. But Alek’s intentions had been good.
He was trying to save Zeke’s life. Maybe Alek could have handled it
better but Rangi understood why his friend had felt like he couldn’t
tell anyone.

A mistake wasn’t worth throwing their friendship out the door.

Not to mention Rangi worked closely for the man. It would strain that
relationship, too, if he didn’t forgive him. Plus Zeke was right. Rangi
needed to do this for himself. He needed to let go of the anger and
resentment.

Having come to a decision he looked Alek in the eye and said

three little words that instantly made him feel lighter. “I forgive you.”

“Thank you, Rangi.” Alek’s voice was thick with emotion. “I

can’t deny I was a little hurt when you didn’t trust me but since it was
your own mate I was putting in danger I can’t hold it against you. I
forgive you, too.”

Relieved as all those bad feelings began to fade, Rangi smiled

back at his friend. Zeke climbed into Rangi’s lap and pressed their
lips together for a brief moment before pulling back to smile up at
him. Zeke’s eyes shone bright at his happiness that Rangi had taken
his advice.

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123

Adam and Jason went next, although there wasn’t quite the

amount of betrayal or guilt felt by either of them. For the most part
they had tried to stay out of it, trusting their friends would call upon
them if they were needed.

There was a period of time after Adam had finished that Rangi

was afraid no one would speak. The minutes crept by at an agonizing
pace as they waited for the four remaining to speak. The silence was
like nails on a chalkboard, aggravating.

Just as Rangi was about to insist they talk, Alek spoke up. “Ian, I

want to apologize for scaring you so badly at the prison. I needed to
create a diversion so that Zeke could hide away the tablet unnoticed
and using you seemed the easiest way. It was wrong of me to do it
and I want you to know just how sorry I am. And I promise I would
have never physically harmed you even if it seemed that way at the
time.”

Tears started spilling down Ian’s face as he listened to the

apology. When Alek was done, Ian went to the refrigerator and
poured a glass of milk. Carefully, so as not to spill a drop, he brought
it to Alek with a tearful smile. “I forgive you and I’m sorry, too. Zeke
was right. We should have known something was going on with you
being a jerk.”

Rangi pressed his lips together hard to stop from laughing at Ian’s

dead-on statement. They should have known. After all these years of
being friends, Maui and Rangi should have known something was
wrong. Instead of trying to figure it out they’d just turned their backs
on that friendship.

Ian jabbed his elbow into Maui’s ribs when silence filled the room

once more. “Ow,” Maui growled out as he rubbed the injured area.

“You aren’t innocent in all this,” Ian said. “Now apologize.”
Maui’s mouth opened but nothing came out so he closed his lips

once more. Ian jabbed him again. “Fuck, angel, stop that.”

How Maui had given Ian the nickname angel was beyond Rangi.

The man was more devil than angel if you asked him. Shortly after

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Ian had come to the Alliance he’d given Rangi a dead fish from a
nearby lake. According to Maui, his mate was just trying to give
Rangi’s eagle a gift, which would have been a lot nicer if he hadn’t
left the thing in Rangi’s room. It had taken weeks to get the stench
out.

“I said stop it,” Maui yelled as he jumped up from the table to

move away from his mate.

Rangi was afraid Maui was just going to leave but was pleased to

see him go around the table to where Alek was and sit in the empty
chair next to him. “My problem isn’t with not telling me about Zeke. I
understand there wasn’t an easy way to tell us what was going on.”

When Maui’s head dropped as if he just couldn’t say what he

needed to, Alek said it for him. “I threatened your mate and you can’t
forgive that.” It was said with so much regret Rangi almost started
crying.

Maui just nodded. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as the

pain of watching his mate in that much danger was etched in his face
for all of them to see.

“There are no words to tell you how sorry I am for doing that. I

knew things were unraveling and all my plans were going to hell. At
that moment I knew I had to create a diversion and it was all I could
come up with,” Alek said.

Maui had raised his head as he listened to Alek to look into his

friend’s eyes as he apologized. “I know. I also know Zeke’s right. Our
friendship is too important to not forgive you. But even though I’m
willing to forgive you it’s going to take a while for me to forget.”

The two men embraced in a hard hug that expressed all the pain

and anguish they were feeling. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room
and they hadn’t even gotten to the hardest one yet. When they pulled
apart Maui made his own apology. “I should have trusted you more
when this whole thing started and for that I’m sorry.”

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Alek easily forgave him and turned back to Seth with hope

shining in his eyes. That hoped died an ugly death when Seth refused
to look at his mate. “Kotёhok, please talk to me.”

“Do you want us to leave while you talk Seth?” Zeke asked.
Seth shook his head. “No, since this happened in front of everyone

I don’t see any point in not finishing it with you here.”

Rangi would rather have left. This was an incredibly awkward

moment, especially since he didn’t know what Seth planned to say.
There had never been any doubt how much Seth loved Alek but on
the other hand sometimes it was the smallest things that split people
apart.

“Kotёhok, I don’t know what else to say except I’m sorry. I know

I should have taken the time to tell you what was going on but at the
time I just didn’t think that was an option. We were being watched
and I didn’t know how to tell you without exposing what I’d found
out to the traitor.”

“I know and I forgive you,” Seth said. His hands kept rubbing

over the wood of the table in agitation.

“You do?” Alek asked in a voice that clearly was afraid to believe

what he was hearing.

Finally Seth raised his head as his red puffy eyes looked into

Alek’s. “Of course I forgive you. You were trying to save Zeke. You
didn’t keep this from me to be malicious. You were just trying to do
what’s right.”

Alek’s fingers lightly brushed the tears off Seth’s face. “Then why

do you look like you’ve lost your best friend?”

Seth started to drop his head again but this time Alek captured his

chin between his fingers as he forced his mate to keep his head up.
Suddenly Seth wailed, “How can you ever forgive me for not trusting
you? I stood against you even when you begged me not to. I even
made Maui put me in that jail just to spite you.”

Alek smiled at Seth with so much pride and love it took Rangi’s

breath away to see it. “Kotёhok, I do forgive you. I forgive you for all

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of that because it’s who you are. You are a man who proved he’s
willing to fight for what he believes in. That first moment I met you,
you were running from the psy army because you refused to kill an
innocent shifter.”

Seth threw his arms around Alek and pressed their lips together

before saying, “Really? You promise you forgive me?”

“That’s the easiest promise I’ve ever had to make, kotёhok. I love

you, Seth. There is nothing I wouldn’t forgive,” Alek said before he
captured Seth’s mouth with his own.

Rangi stood up, pulling Zeke with him. “That’s our cue to leave.”
“Wait,” Zeke said. “It’s late, everyone take a spare room and stay

the night.” It was no surprise after everything they’d been through
that day that everyone took Zeke up on the offer.

Rangi didn’t really care as long as he got his mate alone and in

their own room. The anticipation of getting his mate in his arms again
was killing Rangi. He bent down and threw Zeke over his shoulder as
he practically ran up the steps and into their room.

He kicked the door shut but didn’t put Zeke down until he stood

over the bed. Gently Rangi placed his mate on the mattress and drank
in the sight of the gorgeous man lying there. The need to see more had
him reaching down to pop the button on Zeke’s jeans. He slid the
zipper down, letting his hand lightly press against Zeke’s groin the
entire time.

Rangi smiled when Zeke’s hips flicked up as if trying to get more

pressure against his cock. There was nothing more exciting to Rangi
than to see his mate respond to his touches. He gave his mate what he
was seeking by cupping him through the material and squeezing.

A needy moan of desire spilled from Zeke’s lips, causing Rangi to

lose all control. Yanking his mate’s jeans off, he found a pair of
boxers still covering Zeke’s skin. The sound of the material tearing
under Rangi’s hands amped up his desire for complete control.

Lifting his mate up into his arms, Rangi brought their lips together

in a consuming kiss. The fact he’d almost lost his little mouse when

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he’d only just met him was too much to bear. The lack of control he’d
had in keeping his mate safe had him wanting to dominate his mate.

He gripped Zeke’s rounded ass, pulling his mate tight against him

and forcing Zeke’s legs to wrap around Rangi’s waist. His hands
roamed across all that silky skin while his lips trailed a path down
Zeke’s throat until he reached his mating mark. Using his teeth he
scraped against the spot eliciting a squeak.

“Fuck, baby, you have no idea what that sound does to me,” Rangi

whispered against his mate’s ear. Carrying Zeke to the nearest wall he
pinned his mate to the surface while he used his hands to drive Zeke
out of his mind. Rangi wouldn’t be happy until he had the man
begging to be fucked and he planned to succeed.

Wetting a finger he found that tight little pucker and pushed in.

Zeke gasped in pleasure and his body started to move against Rangi’s.
There was nothing sexier in Rangi’s mind then his naked mate’s body
writhing against his clothed body.

“Please, oh please,” Zeke started babbling.
Loving how his mate was going out of his mind with pleasure,

Rangi gripped Zeke’s cock with his other hand and started stroking in
time with his finger pushing in and out of his mate’s channel.

“Ungh,” was all Zeke could get out, telling Rangi he was doing all

the right things.

He just needed to push Zeke a little further so he pushed in a

second finger and grazed his mate’s prostate. Zeke bucked against
Rangi several times as his head dropped back against the wall and his
mouth hung open.

Those beautiful brown eyes were filled with desire as they

pleaded with Rangi. “Please, Rangi. I need,” Zeke begged even as he
continued to buck into Rangi. First forward into his hand that was
loosely wrapped around his dick, then back trying to force Rangi’s
fingers in deeper.

Those sweet words were Rangi’s undoing. Grabbing the small

tube of lube he’d put in his jean’s pocket earlier, Rangi yanked the

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button of his pants open before unzipping them. He didn’t waste time
taking off the offending material. Instead he just opened the fly and
pulled his prick out.

Quickly lubing up, Rangi lifted his mate and in one swift move

completely impaled him with his cock. That tight wet heat was
intoxicating. As he gave his mate a moment to adjust to him, Rangi’s
lips started nibbling at the mating mark he’d put on Zeke’s neck.

“I was so scared I was going to lose you,” Rangi whispered as he

continued to use his mouth to drive Zeke crazy.

Zeke tilted his head to give him more room to nuzzle his neck.

“You were?” There was so much insecurity in those two words.

Pulling his head back to look down into the prettiest brown eyes

he’d ever seen Rangi gave Zeke his heart. “I love you.” The words
just spilled out and he started to wonder what held him back from
confessing his love to Zeke earlier.

His breath caught when Zeke’s lips lifted into the most beautiful

smile. “I love you, too.” His normally too shy mate leaned forward
to place his mouth over Rangi’s.

When Zeke’s hips started to gyrate against him, the need to claim

his mate once more shook Rangi to the core. Gripping those slim hips
he lifted Zeke up and down on his cock. It was so delicious to feel
that tight channel wrapped around his dick.

Rangi’s balls pulled up tight against his body and he knew he

wouldn’t last much longer but he wasn’t going to come until Zeke
did. “Baby, jack yourself off,” he ordered.

The fact that Zeke could blush at his words even though he had

Rangi’s dick shoved up his ass was erotic as hell. Even embarrassed
Zeke did as Rangi ordered. Rangi’s eyes were glued to his mate’s
hand as it stroked Zeke’s prick.

A squeak had Rangi’s gaze going to Zeke’s. He knew his eyes

changed to his eagle’s as another squeak came from his mate. Zeke’s
look of complete surrender pushed Rangi over the edge. He started
pounding into his mate faster.

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He felt his dick throb in Zeke’s ass and knew he couldn’t hold on

any longer. “Come for me, baby,” he ordered his mate just before he
sank his canines into Zeke’s mating mark. Thick ropes of spunk
spilled between their bodies.

Zeke’s ass clamped down on Rangi’s cock even as Rangi filled his

mate up with his seed. His vision went nearly black as he had the
most intense orgasm of his life. If he wasn’t holding his mate up
Rangi might have given in and let darkness take him. Some might
think it wasn’t manly to pass out after sex. After experiencing sex like
that Rangi knew such people probably weren’t doing it right.

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Chapter 19

The next morning everyone once more gathered around the

kitchen. Zeke really loved to cook so he’d gotten up early, much to
Rangi’s disappointment, to make everyone breakfast. He hated
disappointing his mate but Zeke felt he owed everyone for trying to
help him.

It was his best friend, Gibson, who’d taught Zeke to cook. He

wasn’t under any delusions he was as good as Gibson, who was a chef
at one of the fanciest restaurants in San Antonio. Still Gibson had
taught Zeke the basics and he knew he was pretty good.

He turned to the island to put out a plate of his blueberry pancakes

when he noticed Rangi place a couple of bananas on the plate where
Ian usually sat. Then Alek put down a jar of ants with a stick attached
to the jar. He had no idea what was going on but Zeke was sure he’d
find out soon.

Once he was done cooking, everyone in the kitchen grabbed a

plate and started digging in. They were about halfway through
breakfast when Maui and Ian finally joined them. The others had
already arrived and they were starting to talk about how to find
Raptor and Caleb’s family, who would be contacting Caleb in another
three weeks.

Much to Zeke’s amazement Alek was also asking him about

coming to work for Rykov Industries and upgrading their security. As
Ian walked in Zeke noticed Alek and Rangi’s attention shift to the
man but they didn’t stop their conversation.

“I want Zeke to work next to me, at least in the beginning,” Rangi

said.

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Zeke wasn’t sure how he felt about Rangi making demands on his

behalf but at the same time he would like to work beside his mate, at
least at first while they were still getting to know each other.

Ian brought his filled plate to the table just as Alek said, “As long

as Zeke agrees to it, I don’t—”

“Hey, who put bananas and bugs at my seat?” Ian demanded

while stomping his foot in displeasure.

All eyes went to the obvious joke. Zeke just didn’t understand it.

By the tears that were filling Ian’s eyes he didn’t either. Maui placed
his plate on the table before pulling out his mate’s chair. Ian stomped
his foot again and said, “I’m not sitting there. Why would any of you
do this?” Ian asked of the table, not sure who had put the items at his
place.

“Angel, they are teasing you,” Maui gently said.
“I know,” Ian wailed. “Why would they be so mean?”
Zeke wasn’t sure what this was all about but if Rangi had done it

to be mean Zeke was going to give his mate a piece of his mind.
Whether they meant to hurt his feelings or not, Ian was clearly hurt by
what they’d done.

Maui wiped the tears off Ian’s face as he explained, “You’ve seen

the way we joke around and I explained before it was what we did to
those we consider part of the group.”

Ian’s head snapped up to look at Maui with wide eyes before

landing on Rangi and then Alek. “Really?” Ian asked of the Alpha.
“You consider me part of the group?” How he’d figured out who put
bananas and bugs on his plate Zeke didn’t know.

“Of course we do, Ian. Whether you believed it or not we all liked

you right away,” Alek told him.

A squeal of glee erupted out of Ian as he ran around the table, first

giving Alek a big hug and then Rangi. “Thank you, thank you, thank
you,” Ian chanted. Instead of returning to his seat he started dancing
around the kitchen, or at least Zeke thought it was dancing, while
singing, “I’m part of the group,” over and over again.

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Zeke turned to Rangi and kissed him. “That was really sweet.”
Once Ian finally sat down they got down to the first issue that was

the most important. “Okay, we need a plan on how to find Raptor,”
Alek said.

“I’m not sure how to find him,” Rangi said. “He completely

eluded us the last time. If it wasn’t for Zeke, we never would have
known where he was the last time.”

Zeke had no idea how to find his stepbrother. He actually knew

very little about the man other than he liked to beat the crap out of
Zeke. “I can try digging into his past to see if there was somewhere
else he would run to. Other than that I have nothing. I stayed away
from for the last twenty years and when growing up I avoided him as
much as possible.”

“How does the man keep slipping away from us?” Alek asked.
“I think I know and to answer your previous question I will find

him,” said a voice from the kitchen door.

Zeke turned around and he just stared at a six-foot-four muscled

man who’d been his savior more times than Zeke could count. Talon.
After leaving home to join the Alliance military Talon had never
returned home. Zeke never thought he’d see him again but was glad
he was here.

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Epilogue

It had been just over two weeks since Zeke had been arrested.

Time had flown by, leaving Zeke’s head spinning with everything that
had happened. He still felt like this was some sort of delusion he was
having as it just couldn’t be reality.

After Talon had shown up Alek asked Maui, Strafe, Rangi, and

Talon to join him in Rangi’s communications room at the house.
What Zeke hadn’t been expecting was for Alek to ask him to join
them also. He’d never really been asked his opinion on anything at
CompTech and wasn’t sure what he could offer to this meeting.

They worked on what they knew about Raptor, although Zeke

didn’t know much as he’d always tried to stay away from his
tormentor. Quickly it was decided they needed a database to catalogue
all they knew and for Talon and his team to be able to utilize on the
road.

The others seemed amazed that Zeke quickly created what they

were looking for and started adding the information that had been
collected on Raptor. The praise for his efforts was appreciated but
Zeke had to wonder if it was really genuine. Maybe they were just
trying to appease him after everything he’d been through.

Still if felt good to get the recognition. At CompTech they never

said anything good about Zeke’s work. The only comments he ever
got were criticism. Not that Zeke didn’t deserve it for his mistakes but
a little praise would have been nice, too.

After Talon had left later that afternoon to start his hunt for

Raptor, Alek had asked Zeke to come to his office the next morning

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to discuss his new position. What Zeke found out from that meeting
made his blood boil.

Apparently CompTech had been working with Hawk, Zeke’s

stepfather, and then Raptor after Hawk had died, to keep Zeke’s
programming skills under wraps. They had paid his teachers and the
school to keep his name off their logs so Rykov Industries didn’t find
out about him.

When Zeke had sent his résumé to Rykov Industries, Owen, who

was on CompTech’s payroll to spy for them, had intercepted it and
sent it back, denying his request for an interview. Having no other
option Zeke took the low-paying job CompTech offered him.

The entire time he worked there they were using his programs to

further Owen’s career at Rykov Industries. From what Alek told Zeke
it was a very lucrative career, too. Zeke had been barely scrapping by
for fifteen years with minimal raises and Owen was making a fortune.

According to Alek, at Zeke’s level of expertise he should expect

an even higher rate of pay. The very next day Zeke started on his new
job as Vice President of Rykov Industries’ computer division.

It had been a completely surreal experience and Zeke still was

floating on cloud nine. Not only did he have the job of his dreams but
he got to work right next to the man of his dreams while doing it.

The only real downside was he still wasn’t able to shift. Adam had

run a bunch of blood work but so far everything looked normal. He
heard the doctor talking to Rangi about it possibly being
psychological. As much as Zeke wanted to vehemently deny it he
couldn’t argue the possibility.

Even though his injuries from Raptor’s beatings were completely

healed he had to admit he was still jumping in fear a lot. It had gotten
so bad that Rangi insisted on attaching a device to the door of the
communications center where they both were working that would
ding every time the door opened just so he wouldn’t be surprised
when someone unexpected was in the room.

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There were no words for just how embarrassed he’d felt at the

need for this but he’d still appreciated Rangi’s thoughtfulness and he
hated to admit how much it helped. Not that he didn’t still get scared,
but with how many people came in and out of the room he
appreciated being alerted to any newcomer’s presence.

“Shit, they’re early,” Rangi said as he turned to Zeke. “I hope

you’re ready, baby, they just called Caleb for his monthly video
conference with his family.”

Zeke sat up straight in his chair as he called up several programs

he’d need to track the origin of the call. “I’m ready,” he told Rangi
after just a few moments with more confidence than he felt.

Caleb’s COBI unit was put up on the speaker to monitor what was

said. Zeke ignored the conversation as he waited for the call to come
through. In the meantime he quickly hacked into the psy’s computer
system at the lab Caleb was being held.

Finding Caleb’s family was one of their highest priorities. They

had to wait until the monthly video conference Caleb received but
Zeke had done some preparing for it.

The very first thing he’d done was to use Caleb’s location to find

the lab he was working at and hack into their computers. It hadn’t
been hard and he’d found some very interesting information on some
of the psy’s experiments. Unfortunately he hadn’t found any
information regarding Caleb’s family.

Zeke placed a backdoor program on their computers, allowing

him to monitor them and give him easier access when the time came
for this call.

“The call is live, baby,” Rangi said just as Zeke heard Caleb say

hello to his family.

Once again Zeke tuned out the conversation around him as he

started to navigate the psy’s network. They bounced the signal around
but by using the psy’s own computers it was relatively easy to follow
the trail. He worked his way through one system after another while

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leaving his backdoor program on each computer he came across for
access later.

Zeke knew the psy wouldn’t take a chance of using too many

outside computers to bounce the call around. This meant the odds
were most computers he hacked into were psy owned, which Alek
would be interested in later. For now he continued to follow the trail
to the origination.

“Zeke, they are telling Caleb he has one more minute,” Rangi said

as he, Alek, and Maui watched the screen on the wall. It showed
Zeke’s progress, although since none of them seemed to know he’d
reached the source it was doubtful they knew what they were looking
at.

Times were being called out in warning but Zeke didn’t care. His

only concern was accessing the files that would tell him where this
computer was located exactly. After installing the backdoor program,
so if they got cut off he could get in again, Zeke started pulling files
of interest. He did this just in case they unplugged the computer and
he couldn’t access it again.

It was a risk, and since he didn’t have time to download the entire

computer he selected certain files in hopes it would lead them to the
computer’s location and that of Caleb’s family. While files were
transferring Zeke enabled the GPS locator from the Internet. This
would only be helpful if a satellite was pointed in the location’s
direction in order to give the coordinates. Not wanting to bog down
the computer by doing anything else he sat back and waited.

“There’s still twenty seconds. Why are you sitting there?” Alek

shouted.

Knowing how important all this was, Zeke didn’t take offense at

being yelled at. “I have to wait until this is finished. If I try anything
else I’ll just slow down the computer and we won’t get what we
need,” he answered.

Before Alek could yell some more, which it looked like he was

about to do, a world map appeared on the wall with a blinking red dot

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137

and an address next to it. Zeke smiled. He’d done it. He’d found
Caleb’s family.

Rangi ran over and planted a big kiss on his lips. “You really are

amazing, baby,” Rangi said against Zeke’s mouth.

For the first time Zeke thought Rangi might be right. Not about

Zeke being amazing but that he was a better programmer than he gave
himself credit for. Not that it mattered. All that mattered was that he
got to do what he loved with the man of his dreams by his side.

THE END

WWW.SHEABALIK.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shea Balik has always had a vivid imagination with stories

running around in her head. Often her stories are taken from
observations of other people with her own spin. Traveling is one of
her favorite ways of fulfilling her passion of people watching. You
never know, one day you may spark her imagination for her next
book.

Whether at home or traveling she is usually in front of her

computer writing or curled up with a good book.

For all titles by Shea Balik, please visit