The boy was growing more nervous at his inspection, so he reached out to shake his hand. The second Konnor’s hand touched the pup’s a jolt of pure adrenalin hit him so hard he thought he might pass out. A dizzying sensation swept over him at the first touch of his hand, and he felt his fangs descend from his gums. His hands, when they clenched in panic, had fully extended claws sprouting from his fingers.

Dropping the boy’s hand like it was on fire, he jumped back and yelled out the first thing that popped into his mind.“What the hell are you?”

His chest heaving, he fought for control. An overwhelming primal urge came over him, and he was in actual physical pain. His cock strained against the fastenings of his trousers in a strong bid for freedom, and he turned and took a couple of steps back toward the boy, fully intending to throw him on the floor and fuck him into it. It was the young pup’s reaction that stopped him in his tracks.

The boy’s entire body flushed, and he surged backward. Instantly, his head dropped, and he literally bent at the waist, wrapping his arms around himself. “I-I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me!”

Konnor froze in horror. Hurt him? He had no intention of hurting the sweet pup. Kiss him into submission, maybe. Pull his naked body into his and grind his cock against him, perhaps. Fuck him senseless, yeah. But hurt him? No way. The boy was his, and he’d never allow any harm to come to him. Konnor was still glaring at the pup, aware that both Larssen and his new candidate both were looking at them with alarm. Larssen sprang to his feet and crossed over to him quickly. “Konnor,” he said in a low voice. “What the hell?”

Konnor wrenched himself away from the beautiful boy, pulling back his claws and trying to force his fangs back into his gums. “Get him outside for a bit, will you, Larssen?” he whispered hoarsely, the extra teeth in his mouth making it hard to speak. “Not too far! Just-just out of my sight for a few minutes.” Larssen turned away and Konnor grabbed his arm. “Don’t scare him. And don’t-don’t touch him, all right? ”

Larssen gave him a long, suspicious look but moved away, and Konnor could hear him murmuring something to the young man, then directing his own candidate to wait outside as well. He came back over to Konnor and stood regarding him silently for a long moment.

“Care to tell me what that was all about?”

Konnor sighed in misery. “Oh damn it, Larssen. He’s my mate.”

“Your what?” Larssen looked from Konnor to the closed door and back again. “But-But that’s impossible. We don’t mate with other Lycan males! You’d both be too dominant. You’d wind up killing each other!”

“Yeah, well tell that to whatever fucked this thing up then. He’s my mate, I’m telling you. I smelled him when he first walked in the room, and when I touched him! God, I thought it would knock me down! I’ve already imprinted on him. I felt it the moment I touched him.”

Larssen was silent at first then nodded slowly with a wry smile. “Yeah, we all noticed your oh-so-subtle reaction to him. What now? I’ll do whatever you say, bro, including running like hell with you, if that’s what you want.”

That remark surprised a brief laugh out of Konnor and he shook his head. “You know that won’t do any good. I couldn’t stand to be away from him. No, I’ll just have to figure it out— bring him back in, please, Larssen. I don’t like him to be out of my sight.” Larssen turned toward the door and Konnor grabbed onto his arm, a terrified expression on his face. “Oh gods, you don’t think he’s an alpha, do you?

“Shit, I hope not. There are too many of us as it is, and as dominant as you are, you’d kill each other before the mating process was over. No, from the way he reacted when you yelled at him, I’d be surprised if he was anything more than a gamma, and a pretty submissive one at that.”

“What? Why? What do you mean? ”

“When you yelled at him he almost shit himself. An alpha would have yelled back at you. A beta would have asked you what the hell you were yelling about, probably. Even a gamma would have just looked at you like you were nuts, not…”

“Not what?”

“Dropped his head and hugged himself like he was scared to death of you. He almost got down on his knees.”

Konnor snorted. “No way! Because I yelled at him? Why, he’d have to be omega to do something like that.” His eyebrows rose almost comically. “An omega? Oh gods, Larssen. Do you think…”

Larssen shrugged. “Only one way to find out. Talk to him for a while. Most folks say they’re…uh…you know, mentally defective.” He raised both hands in a defensive gesture when Konnor growled fiercely at him. “Not me! I’m not saying that. But if you get him back in here, and talk to him…and get him to shift. You’ll be able to tell right away what he is.”

Konnor nodded thoughtfully. “He’s mine, whatever he is, but if he turns out to be an omega, then I’ll have to buy him from the council. You saw him. As beautiful as he is, the bidding would go high.”

“One step at a time, little brother, one step at a time. Let’s make sure of him first.”

“Bring him back in then, please, and give me a minute alone with him.”

Larssen nodded. “Get ready and I’ll send him in.” His eyes traveled down to the obvious bulge tenting out his trousers. “Might want to get behind the table before I bring them in. You’ve already scared him to death. Don’t want him passing out when he sees that.”

“Oh, very funny. Just get him, will you?” Konnor looked down at himself, though, and moved back behind the table where he’d been sitting earlier.

Larssen went to the door and motioned to someone in the corridor. In seconds, Ethan came hesitantly through the door, casting a fearful glance at Konnor before dropping his head. Larssen nodded at Konnor and shut the door, leaving them alone.

Konnor took a deep breath, inhaling his sweet scent. “Sorry I yelled before, Ethan,” he said quietly, not wishing to spook him again. “I…uh…remembered something and it surprised me, that’s all.”

Ethan nodded slightly, still not raising his gaze. Konnor tore his gaze away from the boy, looking blindly down at the interview questions, pretending he could see well enough to read through the red haze still clouding his vision.

“So, Blondie, how old are you?” He already had the information right in front of him. Shit, why couldn’t he think straight? That sweet scent was intoxicating.

“Nineteen, sir.”

“You’ve had some challenges in the past.”

Ethan regarded him solemnly, looking as if he wondered whether or not to respond. Finally, he nodded. “Yes sir.”

“And what rank do you think you are?”

Ethan finally glanced up at him. “I-I think probably gamma, sir.”

“Oh, and why’s that?”

“I-I don’t think I’d be a good leader. But II don’t mind following orders.” Konnor smiled at him encouragingly, and he seemed to warm to his subject. “I-I like following orders, actually. You know, having someone else in charge. It makes me feel safe, and I always know exactly what’s expected of me.” Oh, fuck. Konnor got an instantaneous erection at his words, so marblehard he had to adjust his pants. “And I like to be of service whenever I can. I’m very good at serving others.” Okay, shit, this was killing him. “I’d do whatever it took to make my alpha proud of me.”

Konnor cleared his throat. “I see,” his voice came out about an octave higher than normal, so he cleared his throat again. “Well, I don’t believe I have any more questions. You know you’ll have to face the others in the ring? We’ll be monitoring the confrontation carefully, of course, but that will go a long way to determining your rank.”

Ethan nodded. “Yes, sir, I understand.”

“You’ll be shifting into your Lycan wolf. Are you good with that?” Konnor noticed a worried frown appearingon Ethan’s face. “Problem, Blondie? ”

“N-No sir. It’s just that I have only shifted one time before this. It was in my sleep, and I woke up as it was happening. It scared me so much I stopped. I just hope I can do it, sir.”

Konnor got up from his chair and walked around the table, getting closer to him. It was dangerous to be so close to him, but he was fairly certain he had it under control. Pretty much. He wanted to take Ethan on his lap and tell him everything would be fine—while he stroked his cock and sucked on his nipples. “I’ll talk you through it, Ethan. For practice. Just close your eyes now and concentrate on your wolf. Really seehim in your mind’s eye. Can you do that? ”

“Yes, sir,” Ethan said, closing his pretty, sparkling eyes.

“Good boy.” Konnor shook himself. That last part came out like a purr. He had to get control over this thing. Damn that fucking warlock and his curse! “Okay, Blondie, just relax and tell him he can come forward.”

A popping, crackling sound came asEthan’s joints stretched and his body morphed into his Lycan wolf. Most Lycans loomed upwards to about seven feet tall in their wolf forms, their upper bodies becoming extremely muscular and covered in stiff black hair. Their heads became that of wolves, with glowing red eyes and wicked fangs. Long, fierce claws sprang from their fingers and toes, and they became fearsome and savage creatures. With Ethan, however, this didn’t exactly happen.

Ethan’s body did elongate a little, but he failed to really bulk up. His body stayed softer and less muscle-bound than normal. Instead of black hair, his body became covered in a soft, silvergray fur. His head was that of a wolf, but he didn’t look fierce or savage. His fangs didn’t hang down from his mouth and his claws looked more like long fingernails. Even his eyelashes curled! Though he was smaller and less fierce than any Lycan wolf Konnor had ever seen, Konnor thought he was also just about the most beautiful. And damned near perfect.