He hadn't meant for Danny to become special to him. His relationship with the human teen was meant to serve only two purposes: to provoke McCall and his pack, and to have a little fun. It wasn't the first time he'd used sex as a means to an end or played with the emotions of poor unsuspecting humans. It was actually pretty routine now and almost boring. Definitely nothing to phone home about. But somehow, Danny was different. He was charming without even trying to be and he had a heart filled with kindness. But, personally, Ethan blamed his dimples. Those things were dangerous. Every dimpled smile was like a shot through the heart. Danny wielded them like a weapon of affection, making Ethan actually begin to care about him more and more every time his saw them.

He and Aiden had a rule. He hung unspoken between them, like a guillotine on a frayed rope. They were allowed to fuck whoever they wanted. They were allowed to have some fun. Just as long as, at the end of the day, no one meant more to them than each other. They were allowed fuck buddies, not relationships. If anyone looked even remotely close to coming between them, they would be eliminated. Anyone they began to care about was a threat. Threats were dealt with without hesitation. If Aiden ever got too emotionally involved with someone, Ethan would kill them without a second thought. It was within Aiden's rights to do the same.

When he realized he'd actually began to love Danny, Ethan denied the emotions and at the same time began to push Danny away. He'd wanted to protect him. Keep him safe. Make Aiden think he meant nothing to him so that his life wouldn't be in danger simply because Ethan was a fool. It was the act of pushing Danny away that confirmed without a doubt Ethan's feelings for the human. They act to protect him was what had condemned him.

Ethan smelled the blood the moment he took off his helmet. Despite his desire to push Danny away for his own safety, Ethan hadn't been able to stay away from him completely. When Danny had caught up to him in the halls at school and said that his parents were away for the weekend, Ethan hadn't been able to turn down the invitation to come over. He knew something was wrong the moment he'd arrived. The metallic scent of blood was thick in the air, not completely hiding the very familiar smell of his twin.

Ethan dropped his helmet and ran into the house without a second's hesitation. He bolted up the stairs and followed the scents to Danny's bedroom, freezing in his tracks at the macabre scene before him. There was blood everywhere. All over the bed and the floor and the walls. Danny lay bare-chested on the bed, his heartbeat so faint that Ethan actually had to concentrate to hear it, there was so much blood spilling from so many parts of his body Ethan couldn't even begin to know what to treat first.

Aiden was sitting in a chair next to the bed looking as if this was the most mundane and boring occurrence to ever take place in his life. There was blood on his hands and splattered across his clothes. His shirt was ripped and Ethan felt a little pride at the thought that Danny had fought back. But mostly it was anger that flooded through him as he sat his gaze on his twin.

"It's not like this came as a surprise to you," Aiden said with a glare of his own. "You knew the moment you started to care about him that it would be only a matter of time until I removed him as a threat."

"Danny wasn't a threat."

"The simple fact that you're willing to fight me over him proves that he is a threat." Aiden stood and calmly and walked towards Ethan. "You should be thankful it was me that went after him instead of someone else." He didn't stop walking when he reached Ethan, instead just brushed past him on his way out the door. "He isn't dead yet," Aiden added as an almost afterthought. "I'm not sure he had much of a chance to last until morning, but you can hope."

The moment Aiden was gone, Ethan acted without thinking. Not even a fraction of a second was spared to thoughts of consequences. He crossed the room and carefully seated himself next to Danny. He looked over his boyfriend's damaged body and had to fight down the panic building within him. "I'm sorry," he whispered, letting his wolf come to the surface. "So sorry." He lowered his head and sunk his fangs into Danny's side. "I hope you're a survivor."

…

Danny didn't open his eyes until nearly noon the next day. Ethan had been terrified for the first few hours that the bite wouldn't take. Danny's body had been fighting it. His blood had started running black and his body had seized and his heart had started pounding, making the blood pour from him even faster. Ethan had thought he'd killed him. After everything Aiden had done, it had been Ethan's bite that killed the fragile, beautiful boy. But after the initial reaction, Danny had stopped fighting the bite and the multitude of wounds covering him had began to slowly heal.

Ethan had stayed up all night, talking softly to Danny, cleaning his wounds, just holding his hand and praying for him to survive. He needed Danny to survive. So much of his happiness and sanity depended on it. He'd never thought he'd care for someone this much, never thought he'd give enough of himself to someone that he could be completely destroyed by them. But Danny owned all of his heart. Danny was his everything. He couldn't lose him.

And then Danny had finally opened his eyes and Ethan had breathed a sigh of relief. They sat there staring at each other in silence for a while and a new fear surfaced in Ethan's mind. What if Danny hated him now. What if Danny would have preferred dying over become a wolf. What if Danny looked at Ethan and saw only what his twin had done to him?

Before the fears could work him into a panic, Danny flashed those dangerous dimples of his and soothed all Ethan's fears. "So that's the big secret," the newly-turned Beta said. "I knew you, and everyone else around me, was hiding something but I can honestly say I didn't expect it to be this."

"I'm sorry," Ethan said.

Another flash of dimples. "I know. I could hear you talking while I was sleeping. This wasn't your fault. You saved me. At a danger to yourself, I'm sure."

Ethan closed his eyes and tried to organized all the thoughts and emotions flooding through him. "You need to find McCall," he finally said when he was thinking more clearly. "Or Hale. Find McCall or Hale. One of them will let you into their pack and help you."

"Come with me," Danny replied immediately. He grabbed Ethan's hand and held it tight between both of his. "Your pack isn't going to be happy you saved me, don't deny it. They're going to feel you betrayed them, especially if you sent me to an enemy pack instead of keeping me with you. You're always going to be a traitor to them, so come with me."

He knew the words Danny spoke was true. Even if Aiden managed to forgive him, Deucalion and the other would see his act as a betrayal and an attempt to strengthen the enemies' numbers. He would be punished and never forgiven, he might even be killed. But if he tried to bring Danny back to the pack with him, he would be expected to kill him. They had all killed the betas of their packs. Ethan was Danny's alpha and if he wanted to stay in the Alpha Pack he would have to kill him and that was something he couldn't do. He hadn't saved Danny just to have to kill him later.

Still..."I can't," he said. He could never leave his pack, leave his brother. He couldn't even think about it. The only other alternative for them to be together was for Danny become an alpha and kill his own pack, but that was the type of actions that tainted a soul so deeply it could never become clean and it warped and changed a person. He didn't want to ruin Danny in such a way.

There was a conversation spoken between their gazes.

Ethan didn't know who moved first, but their silent ended and the next thing Ethan knew they were locked in a heated kiss. They moved with fevered abandon. Danny, unable to control his wolf, dug his claws into Ethan's shoulder, shredding his shirt and slicing into his skin. His fangs extended and punctured Ethan's lips, flavoring their kiss salty and metallic. The moment Danny realized his lack of control was hurting Ethan, he tried to pull back, but the alpha followed his retreat and pressed on, devouring Danny's mouth with a mindless hunger.

Danny's hands left his shoulder and grabbed at the bed before, the faint sound of ripping cloth going unnoticed by both of them. Ethan broke off the kiss long enough to pull off the tattered remains of his shirt, push Danny flat onto the bed, and situate himself on top of his lithe body, then dove back into the kiss.

Ethan had stripped Danny down to just his underwear while he was unconscious in order to clean the blood off of him. The thin cloth of his briefs did nothing to hide his growing interests in their actions. Danny let out a choked moan when Ethan rocked his hips down and added some friction to the already tense situation below Danny's waist. Between one second and the next, Ethan ended up being the one pressed against the bed with Danny straddling his lap.

Danny's eyes were burning amber as he peered down at Ethan from beneath his long lashes and rocked his body in a way that was almost serpentine. Ethan's eyes flashed red for just a second in response to that heated gaze, he placed his hands on Danny's waist and buck his hips in search of more contact, more sweet friction. A low growl escaped Danny's mouth as he rubbed his cock against Ethan's.

The smell of sex and arousal was heavy in the air. Ethan's wolf was howling. Danny's hands were hot against his skin, his claws slid across Ethan's chest, lightly teasing the surface of his skin. They were both moaning, the sounds high pitched and almost musical in the air between them. Ethan lowered his hands to cup the firm cheeks of Danny's ass, using his grip to guide him in the rolling of his hips.

Ethan's cock was hard and straining against the confines of his jeans. Their movements were were getting increasingly desperate. Ethan could feel the heat building within him, could feel it coiling tight in his belly ready to snap at any moment. He could tell by the shortening of his breaths and the quickening of his pulse that Danny was as close as he was. His skin was flushed and his wolf was barely contained within him as they rocked their hips faster and faster.

"Ethan," Danny rasped out and that was all it took to send him spiraling over the edge. He bucked his hips one last time, freezing with his body arched off the bed as his spilled in his pants. Danny let out a shuddering breath as he tensed on top of Ethan and the heady scent of his cum joined Ethan's.

Danny collapsed against Ethan's chest as he panted and fought to regain himself. Ethan carded his fingers through Danny's hair as he gathered his bearing. Danny shifted, crossing his arms over Ethan's chest and resting his head on them.

"Come with me," he said softly.

And for a minute, Ethan actually considered it.