Liam

pack is anywhere near strong enough to challenge him for the job.
"Saturday night I was feeling a little sorry for myself after an exhausting day at work. As usual, I found myself alone with nothing to do and nowhere to go, so I decided to go for a run. It had been a while since I had been able to shift and let my wolf roam free so I headed out to our pack lands and changed."
Declan looked around to make sure he hadn't lost his listeners so far. They nodded at him to continue, so he settled back, leaning against Liam's side and drew strength from his mate. Liam wrapped his arm around his shoulders and pulled him in tight.
"I was in the middle of a nice juicy rabbit when I heard angry voices coming through the trees. I reluctantly abandoned my late dinner and went to investigate." Declan paused again to gather himself.
'No please, it wasn't me, you have to believe m—'
Nigel's voice echoed through Declan's head right before being cut off permanently.
Declan flinched when the sound of the gun
reverberated in his mind over and over. Before he knew what had happened, Declan found himself in his mate's lap.
It should have been awkward given his size, but instead he fit perfectly. Liam's arms were wrapped around him, the man making gentle shushing noises in his ear as Declan shook.
Declan held onto his mate as tight as he could, burying his face in Liam's neck, not wanting to lose the connection they had.
"Shhh, honey, everything is okay. Calm down.
Breathe for me."
Declan nodded but he didn't let go of Liam.
"Declan. Breathe!" Liam's sharp tone cut through his mind.
Declan exhaled in a rush and sucked air back into his aching lungs. He had no idea he'd been holding his breath.
When his body finally calmed down, Declan pulled back slightly and looked in to the beautiful silver eyes of his man. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about, honey.
Everyone deals with things differently and I think things just caught up with you."
Declan nodded. He had been wondering why he had been so calm about everything. Declan laid his head back down against Liam's chest and settled in, closing his eyes while Liam rubbed soothing circles along his back.
Declan told them in a quiet, shaky voice about what he had witnessed—the beating, the argument about the drugs, and finally the murder of his pack mate. "Oh God.
There was so much blood. Nigel's head went back with the force of the bullet then he collapsed between the two Betas who just dropped his body like he was nothing but a piece of garbage."
Liam's arms tightened, pulling Declan even closer.
Gentle kisses were placed on the top of his head.
"Jesus H Christ." Ben exploded behind them.
Declan opened his eyes. The Alpha got up and started pacing his office.
"I didn't want to hang around so I tried to back away and leave, but I stepped on a branch and it snapped under my paw, drawing their attention directly to me. I wasn't going to stay and find out what they would do to me, so I bolted. They gave chase.
"If it wasn't for my speed, I think I'd probably be dead now. Even with my speed, I ran for hours on end."
Nothing like a good dose of fear to push him to his limits.
"It took a while until the sounds of chase died away, but I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't just turn around and go home like nothing had happened, so I kept going in the direction I had been chased and eventually ended up here."
Even with what had led him here, Declan couldn't be upset with the outcome so far. "Once I spotted the town, I kept mainly to the outskirts until I smelt the most alluring scent.
I followed it and it led me to you," Declan finished as he looked at his mate.
"Thank God for that," Liam said and his hands came up to cup Declan's cheeks.
Liam bent down slightly and took Declan's mouth in the sweetest, gentlest kiss.
When Liam finally broke the embrace he leaned back and looked Declan in the eyes. "I hate what you went through to get here; if I could take it away, I would do it in a heartbeat. I can't be sorry though that you found me. I've been looking for a very long time for you and I'm not going to give you up for anything. Not even a deranged, drug dealing Alpha, you hear me?"
Declan nodded and his eyes filled with tears. He buried his head once again in Liam's chest and listened to Ben pace behind him swearing repeatedly.
Speaking about the murder brought all his concerns once again to the surface, highlighting just how vulnerable his brother could be if the Alpha decided to go after him.
Ben's constant back and forth didn't do anything to help Declan's wild thoughts. "I need to get Tommy. I don't know how safe he is and I have no idea if Alpha Wallis will try and use him to get to me or not. But I need my brother.
He's the only family I have left."

CHAPTER 8
Liam wanted to shout Declan had more than his brother now. He had Liam and Liam's entire family. He knew, however, now wouldn't be a good time; instead he held his mate tight and kissed the top of his head. Liam didn't think he'd even been so angry in his life at what Declan had been through. He couldn't begin to imagine how scared Declan must have been to be chased for so long through unfamiliar territory after witnessing what he had.
Liam couldn't get his head around how strong his feelings towards his mate were already. They'd only known each other for twenty-four hours. It felt like a lifetime.
Before Liam, or anyone else, could say anything, the sound of knocking came from the direction of the front door, followed by the loud voices of