Feral Northern Shifters 2

curiosity rose within him, tentative but building despite the terror. Fucking human. It coaxed Ethan to not want to fight. It created this terrible longing within him.
It made Ethan recognize that the wolf knew his name. And ask the question, How?
Cat . Ethan needed to shift so he could fight. His cat could outfight any wolf. His stupid human would want to make friends. Jesus.
Breathe for a moment, Ethan. Get yourself together and you can shift, wolf or no wolf.
“That’s it.”
His shuddering breaths went in and out. God, he couldn’t find it in him to shift. Why not? Where was his cat? It was as if this human contact—no matter that the male was really a wolf—suppressed Ethan’s cat. Instead his human wanted to ask questions.
The stranger eased his hold slightly. Not enough that Ethan could do anything, just to make him more comfortable.
He had never been held like this, and it felt unsafe. He shouldn’t try to speak, but his human ignored that warning.
“I can’t see,” he managed though a long-disused throat. It hurt a little to talk.
“Open your eyes.”
His eyelids flew open and light struck, blinding him with brightness. He cringed.
“Can you turn down the lamp, please?” The polite request wasn’t directed at Ethan.
Talking to who? There was another person in the room. Of course, Ethan had heard the breathing but hadn’t registered that second presence yet. Panic hit Ethan again, and the wolf increased pressure on arms and legs, an overwhelming embrace. He didn’t want this, but with wolves it sure as hell was not about Ethan’s wants.
“Ethan.” More urgent this time. “You’re safe here, but you need to calm down .”
“Can’t. Can’t.” Fool to admit it, but oh God, there were two wolves, and they were going to rip him open. One would hold him and the other, the blue-eyed one, would bleed him out. The helplessness of it all hurt. He’d spent years avoiding exactly this.
“No one’s going to hurt you.” Why did the wolf say that? Was it a new game? Ethan couldn’t make sense of the situation, especially when his captor rubbed his face against Ethan’s neck, making him shudder in confusion. “You’re not thinking clearly. You’ve been cat too long, okay? It takes some time to think as a human again. But it will come.”
Never mind the human. Cat. But Ethan couldn’t find his other self. His cougar was lost somewhere deep within, fighting to get out, but too far below the human surface to succeed. The internal fight sapped Ethan’s will and the gray came again, a wave he couldn’t stave off.
As Ethan fainted in his arms, Bram consciously relaxed all his muscles. His entire body had seized up while holding the cougar prisoner. Carefully Bram laid Ethan down on the bed and was tempted to push the sandy hair off Ethan’s face. But no, it wasn’t fair to unnecessarily touch the cougar without his say-so. Ethan was getting more than enough body contact from Bram as it was, and quite obviously the cougar didn’t welcome it.
As Bram withdrew from the bed, he stared down at the shifter curled up on his side. Ethan looked like he was trying to protect himself and that thought gave Bram a pang of guilt.
Taking a moment to brace himself, Bram then raised his face to gaze defiantly at Doug who had watched the whole thing with great interest. At the look of satisfaction on his alpha’s face, a surge of anger swept through Bram. Despite his better judgment, he blurted out the first words that came to mind. “That went fucking well.”
Doug scowled. “Watch your tongue.”
Fists clenched, Bram stalked around the foot of the bed. Ethan had radiated terror, and despite Doug’s claims that the feral cougar required body contact and a safe human presence, Bram’s embrace had done little to mitigate the overwhelming fear.
Doug’s face turned impassive while his voice was full of warning. “You won’t speak to me that way again, especially in front of the cat, and I don’t care if he appears unconscious.”
Bram nodded almost immediately. After all, he did what his alpha told him to do. With the nod, his anger faded—it always did in the face of Doug’s anger—and Bram was able give his alpha what he wanted, which was contrition.
“I’m sorry.” Bram managed to mean it, even if what they were doing to Ethan did not seem right, no matter the extenuating circumstances.
“Okay. But Ethan isn’t the only one who needs to calm down.”
“I know. Sorry.”
“It went quite