His Perfect Mate [Nehalem Pack 6] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) by AJ Jarrett (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📕

He took a seat next to the small lamp Seth had set up. With his keen wolf vision he didn’t need light to see in the dark but it took away the spooky feeling of being deep in the woods. The low light caused shadows to bounce around as the trees’ limbs blew from the wind. He brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He still clenched the bag of beef jerky tightly in his hand.

“So do you want the green sleeping bag or the blue?” He could hear Holden and Jake talking. The two men stood off to the side next to a tree. “I’m thinking the green is more romantic. What do you think?”

Jake started to laugh and Carl could feel the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise. Holden seemed like a really nice man and Carl couldn’t say for certain exactly what annoyed him the most. But every time Holden got close to Jake something in Carl wanted to scream mine and punch Holden just to make sure he got his point across.

“Kid, stop growling.” Seth plopped down next to him. “They’re just friends, nothing more.”

Carl stared over at Jake but quickly turned his focus to Seth. “Why should I care?” He pulled open the bag and took a chunk of the jerky out.

“Maybe you shouldn’t but I’m just telling you so that you don’t do something crazy like attack Holden.” Seth grabbed the bag from his hand.

“So Jake and I’ve been talking and you and him will share a sleeping bag,” Holden announced as he and Jake walked over to him.

What? his mind shouted. Carl didn’t want to be in such close confines with another person. Just the thought had his hands trembling. He’d admit to having a slight crush on Jake but it didn’t mean he wanted to be trapped in a sleeping bag with him.

“I’ll be fine without one,” Carl quickly said then took a bite of his jerky.

“Carl,” Jake said in a soft voice. “The temperature is going to continue to drop and you’ll freeze to death. Even wolf shifters can succumb to hypothermia.”

Carl nibbled on his food. Jake spoke the truth and what good would he be to his brother if he were dead. “Fine.” He relented after a few seconds had passed. “But I don’t understand why we don’t just shift. We’d be there in no time.” Carl thought if they did that he wouldn’t have to share a sleeping bag with a man who tempted his control.

“Because, in wolf form we couldn’t carry our supplies,” Seth said around a mouth full of jerky. “This isn’t a snatch-and-run type job. Those men won’t just allow us to walk up to the door. I’ve seen the marks on your brother and I saw what they’ve done to you. We need to take this Tobias by surprise and hit him where it hurts and that means we’ll probably have to take out a few of his men. Get them before they get us.”

Carl stayed silent as he pondered what Seth had just said. He wanted his brother back but he couldn’t be stupid about it.

Tobias took Casper to get back at him. The next time he might punish Carl by killing his brother so he had to be patient and do as Seth said. Because without these men his brother would never be free.

“I guess we’re sharing I take it.” Seth said to Holden, changing the subject.

“Yep, and don’t even think about trying anything. We’re friends but not that type of friends,” Holden teased.

“Fuck you.” Seth threw his half-eaten jerky at Holden.

“That is exactly the type of thing I’m trying to avoid here.” Holden tossed the sleeping bag at Seth.

Carl started to giggle as the two men argued back and forth. It almost made him forget that he’d be crawling into a small sleeping bag with another man, almost but not completely.

“We better get some sleep.” Seth stood up and looked out into the distance. “I want us up before the sun rises and starting back on our way.”

Carl nibbled on his jerky and looked out the corner of his eye toward Jake. The man didn’t seem to have a deceptive bone in his body and his actions so far didn’t lead Carl to think Jake would force him into doing something he didn’t want to. But people wore many masks and would lie to suit their own needs and Carl couldn’t help but think somewhere deep inside Jake, lay a monster with the ability to attack at any moment. He just prayed Jake didn’t turn out to be like Tobias.

Chapter Eight

An hour later Carl lay in the confines of the sleeping bag with Jake next to him. The man didn’t try to touch him. If anything Jake went out of his way not to make any contact with Carl at all. For reasons unknown to Carl, it pissed him off.

Yeah, he wasn’t ready to have feelings for another man but damn if he didn’t want to be surrounded by the heat radiating off of Jake. Every now and again they’d brush arms and Carl felt his pulse spike and warmth spread over his body.

Carl tugged his stocking cap down tighter around his ears and rolled to his side facing away from Jake. He thought if he didn’t have to see the man lying there maybe his desire to touch Jake would fade away.

The soft sounds of Seth and Holden’s breathing started to lull him to sleep. His eyelids became heavy and he yawned wide enough to pop his jaw. He tugged the edge of the sleeping bag closer to his chin and let his tired mind take a rest.

“Don’t be afraid of me.”

Carl could hear the sincerity in Jake’s tone. Without a single hesitation he let Jake pull him into his strong