Undercover Lovers [Urban Affairs 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) by Gale Stanley Page B

of the fight and repressed sexual tension loosened the tight control he held over his beast. Slade’s muscles started ripping under his skin. His face twisted, and his gums ached as his teeth lengthened.
    Mike’s expression changed from anger to shock to fear in a matter of seconds.
    Frightened prey turned Slade’s killer instinct on like nothing else—except jealousy. This human was a rival for his mate. Slade’s wolf wanted his blood. Bones snapped. His body contorted. The wolf dropped to all fours and cornered Mike against the bench. Baring long, sharp fangs, he snarled.
    The blood drained from Mike’s face, and he put his arms up to protect his eyes. “Slade. For God’s sake don’t do this.”
    Whose God? Not mine. Slade’s wolf had been restrained for far too long. The predator was out, and the prey was crying like a baby. He would have preferred a chase, but he’d settle for a quick kill.
    “Please. This will make things worse for all Weres. We can work it out.” Mike sank to his knees until he was eye to eye with Slade. He crossed himself. “They’ll frame Jaxon for this. You know it. Together we can help him.”
    Jaxon. Slade’s wolf stilled. He forced his brain to work. His mate would be captured, caged, killed…He could stop all that. Fur retreated, and the animal body shrunk into itself. Dazed, Slade shook his head. He was on all fours, his clothes hanging from his body in shreds.
    He looked up at Mike as if just awakening from a deep sleep. Mike let out a deep breath and raked a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. Slade stood on two feet and did what he could to fix his tattered shirt. Finally he took it off. “Did anyone see us?”
    Mike shook his head. “No. Hardly anyone comes to this area. That’s why I picked it.” He grabbed his crotch. “I think I peed myself.”
    Slade’s gaze went below the belt. “You wouldn’t be the first.” His blood lust had disappeared and left him empty of spirit. “Didn’t you ever see Jaxon shift?”
    “No. I asked, but he didn’t want me to see him like that.”
    “He was right. I’m sorry. When you hit me I lost control. It should never have happened.”
    “I shouldn’t have hit you.”
    “I deserved it. You and Jax are a couple. I’m the interloper here,” Slade said gruffly. “I just want you to know I only moved in on him because of the assignment. It meant nothing.”
    Mike looked back at him with a mixture of relief and skepticism.
    “Still want to kill me?”
    “I never did. You just pissed me off.”
    “Well, that’s a relief. Just to assure you, I had no intention of killing Jaxon, not unless he was involved in terrorist activities, and I don’t believe he is.”
    “Just to assure you , he’s not. I know him too well to believe that kind of crap. He stays out of politics, but if he did get involved he’d be all about peaceful integration.”
    “So. What now? Any ideas?”
    “Maybe. I think we need to go public.”
    Slade’s jaw dropped. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
    “It’s the only way. The Feds are trying to swing public opinion against the Weres. We need to swing it back. Believe it or not, there are a lot of human sympathizers out there.”
    “And how do we get them to hear our side?”
    “I know a man on the Hoboken Bulletin. It’s a local newspaper from Hoboken, New Jersey—”
    “A local rag won’t help us.”
    “Just hear me out. It covers local, regional and national news, but bulletinreport.com can serve the world. Our story will be picked up all by the major news portals. We’ll be on the front page of Yahoo! News, Google News, as well as nytimes.com, USA.com, and a host of others.” Mike’s face grew animated as he got more excited. “Think about the bloggers. We’ll go viral.”
    “What about negative publicity?”
    “Sure, there will be some, but the point is we’ll be untouchable. The Feds won’t make a move on us while we’re the center of attention.”
    “And what happens when