Free The Love of a Mate by Kim Dare

quietly. No one seemed to hear him.
    “Did you intend to do more tonight, or are you ready to come home?” Bennett asked.
    “I want—” Alfred cut himself short. He didn’t look towards Caden right then, but Caden could almost feel the other wolf’s consideration wrapping around him while he debated his next move—while he tried to figure out what a good wolf would say in that situation.
    “With your permission, I’d prefer to finish this section this evening?” Alfred eventually suggested.
    Bennett nodded his approval. “I’ll send someone out to work on it with you.”
    Alfred opened his mouth as if to protest, but Bennett held up a hand.
    “That’s not up for debate,” he said, with more gentleness in his voice than dominance. “I wouldn’t be acting like a good alpha if I left any wolf from my pack out here on his own . Someone will come out and help you. Until they get here, I want you to take a break.”
    Caden barked excitedly. All three shifters turned to face him. Mentally reciting all the curses he could think of, Caden clumsily morphed back into his human shape. Scrambling backwards, he just about stopped himself from falling into the ditch.
    Clearing his throat, he tried to speak again. “I’ll stay and help!” There was still more than a hint of excited yap in his voice, but at least he had made himself understood.
    Bennett seemed to think about that suggestion carefully, but when Caden looked towards Marsdon, the other alpha’s brow was creased into a deep frown. He obviously wasn’t thinking about anything of the kind. After the way Alfred had welcomed Bennett to the pack, he was probably still far more interested in trying to work out what mischief Alfred was plotting.
    Caden bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood. The bitter metallic taste filled his mouth, but it did little to temper his desire to howl that if he just gave Alfred a chance, Marsdon might see just how wrong he was about the gamma.
    “Fine,” Marsdon finally sighed, after some silent message passed between him and his mate. “Try to keep your minds on the work and not get each other killed. If you’re not back within the next two hours, we’ll send someone to find you.”
    Alfred nodded. “Thank you.”
    Marsdon gave them both one more suspicious look before turning away. Caden was only vaguely aware of the alphas leaving them alone alongside the river works. He couldn’t take his eyes off Alfred for long enough to actually watch them leave.
    Alfred turned away first. His gaze went back to the shovel in his hands. That finally freed Caden to snap out of his day-dream. Stepping forward, he clumsily reached for one of the other shovels with hands that were still half sure they were paws.
    “No.”
    Caden’s fingers had barely brushed against the handle before the word made him snatch them back and hide them guiltily behind him.
    “Don’t,” Alfred said, just a fraction more gently. “If our alphas want someone else to stay here in case I fall in the damn river, I’ll accept that. But I don’t want your help. I broke it, and I’ll fix it.”
    Caden let his hand fall back to his side. Stepping forward, he closed the gap between them until he stood directly in front of Alfred.
    “You’re a good wolf,” he said softly, and pressed a little kiss against his somewhat muddy cheek.
    Alfred coughed and cleared his throat. Caden was pretty sure that, beneath all that mud, the other wolf was blushing very prettily.
    “You can sit over there until I’m finished,” Alfred informed him, apparently not willing to give in to the temptation of an enjoyable distraction right then.
    The confidence and dominance that flooded into his voice in response to another wolf’s gentle praise made Caden smile as he quickly obeyed his lover’s command. Moving back to the same patch of muddy ground where he’d first sat staring at Alfred, completely unharmed and hard at work, Caden rested his elbows on his drawn up knees and