Hyacinth, Scarlet - Craving Owen [Tides of Love 2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) by Scarlet Hyacinth Page A

here, he’d never expected to find his mate, let alone a human one who seemed to be courted by a wyrm.
    But there could be no doubt about the situation. Owen Tomassen was his mate, and a wyrm had been in here. He could smell the other man on Owen. They hadn’t done anything sexual, but the wyrm had touched Owen. It made Hash want to roar and snarl, maybe rub himself against Owen to cast away any lingering traces of the wyrm. But he barely knew Owen, and his primal behavior would just scare the human. So he forced himself to show a calm he did not feel and insisted for Owen to speak.
    At first, the human seemed reluctant. Whatever the wyrm had done must have gotten to him. Hash couldn’t scent fear on Owen, but he did smell a healthy dose of apprehension and uncertainty.
    “He didn’t mean me any harm,” Owen finally said. “He just came to see if I was okay.”
    “Okay?” Yane repeated in disbelief. “You could have died. I don’t believe the state you were in qualifies as okay.”
    Owen’s lower lip trembled as if he were struggling against anger or tears. “He’s not a bad person,” he shot back. “Is that so hard to believe?”
    On impulse, Hash reached out to his mate and took Owen’s hand. The human looked surprised but didn’t break away. “It’s not that we don’t believe you, Owen,” Hash said. “But wyrms aren’t known to be exactly trustworthy. We just don’t want you to get hurt.”
    “Sassaki wouldn’t hurt me,” Owen replied, certainty and frustration in his voice. He looked like he would pull away from Hash any minute now, but much to Hash’s relief, he didn’t.
    At the same time, Hash was startled at the first mentioning of the wyrm’s name. Clearly, the other shape-shifter had been busy and made Owen trust him. Hash couldn’t do anything about that now. He had a strong suspicion he understood the reasons behind this Sassaki’s behavior. Any other time, he’d have called this thought insane, but after seeing his brother’s mate have four more lovers, he knew anything was possible.
    “All right.” He caressed Owen’s wrist. “We’ll go meet your wyrm and see what he has to say. Perhaps he’s not so bad.”
    He sensed the twin looks of disbelief the other men gave him, but ignored them. The gratitude Owen showered him with felt almost palpable, and Hash nearly melted right then and there.
    Alcharr cleared his throat, sounding irritated. “At any rate, this doesn’t make the situation any less dangerous. Even if your wyrm doesn’t have any baleful intentions, he could be followed by others.”
    Owen’s eyes widened in panic. “Oh, no. His people will never agree with him meeting up with you. This is bad, very bad.”
    Owen pushed away the covers, as if intending to jump out of bed and go to the famous Sassaki’s rescue. Hash wrapped Owen in his arms, holding him tight. If Owen’s scent had drawn him before, now that his mate was so close, Hash wanted to roar and sink his fangs in Owen’s exposed throat. Instead, he caressed Owen’s tense back, suppressing a sigh of relief when the anxiety gradually began to drain out of Owen. “Calm down, Owen. Sassaki can take care of himself, otherwise he would have never contacted us.”
    “I guess,” Owen said hesitantly. “I just don’t understand any of this. I’m very confused.”
    Alcharr chose this exact moment to intervene. “Completely understandable,” he answered. “But don’t worry. It’ll all make sense in the end.”
    Hash didn’t know what to believe about those words, but neither did he allow himself to dissect them too much. This annoying trip had suddenly become so much more. The plague lands hid too many secrets, and Alcharr, Yane, and Owen were in the middle of it all. Hash had a feeling that by the end, they would all need to stick together if they wanted to make it out of this alive.

    Night had finally fallen. After several hours of debates, the group stuck to the original decision and decided to