by Aiden Bates
“I want you to come again for me, baby,” Blake said. “Do you think you can do that? Going to come on my knot?”
Darren bit his lip, nodded. Yeah. He could do that, for his Alpha. He could be good. Could make Blake happy. He always wanted to make Blake happy.
His Alpha’s knot was swelling already, was stretching him open, and Darren laid a hand over his eyes like he could hide from the intensity of it. From the too much, too good, stretch, and from the need. From how much he wanted it. But there was nowhere to go, with his Alpha’s cock filling him up, and his Alpha’s hands on his hips pulling him down onto the stretch of it.
Darren arched, panting, snatching at breath. Another stroke, slowing for the stretch of the knot, and Blake was going to tie soon. Every thrust was rubbing over his prostate, purposeful, making his hips hitch and his fingers curl against his Alpha’s shoulder. Making his toes curl too, and Blake turned his head and pressed a kiss to the bone in Darren’s narrow ankle.
“Come on, sweetheart,” he was saying, low Alpha growl. “Come on, baby. Going to come for me, I know you can. Come on.”
And then Blake’s knot was sliding in for the last time, and the thrusts became rolling, grinding, and the pressure on his sweet spot was constant, was making him sob and buck, his nails raking down his Alpha’s shoulder.
“Come for me,” Blake commanded.
Darren did, shaking to pieces in his Alpha’s hands. And Blake was there – was always there – to catch him.
Chapter Seven
Going back to work was the last thing Blake wanted to do. He wanted to stay with Darren, watch over him every moment of the day, but if he lost his job they would both be in trouble. His father had money, but Blake wasn’t going to live off his parents’ generosity. He was an Alpha. It was his job to support his mate, his children. He wasn’t going to shame his pack by becoming dependent on someone else. So he went back to work.
Before Darren, work had been calming. Blake liked being out in the park, contributing to it, making sure it was preserved for the next visitors. But with the knowledge that Darren was back at the house, alone, the job lost some of its charm. And there were the hunters to worry about. Blake had given Darren his parents’ number, had told him to call them if anything came up, but tomorrow, he thought, he would send Darren to stay with them during the day. It would be good for him to get to know them, to learn to be comfortable with them. They were, after all, his parents too now.
That thought, at least, was pleasant. His omega wouldn’t be alone again, cut off from his people. Not ever. Grey already loved him, and his mother wasn’t far behind. His father was a little more reserved, but Blake knew he approved of Darren, knew he would eventually show the affection he kept hidden behind the unemotional Alpha façade.
This time of year it was quieter in the parks, the cooler weather putting an end to most of the visits from the south. Some came to see the fall foliage, but others went to places where it was warmer in the autumn. Blake spent most of his day simply making his rounds, ensuring that everything was in its proper place, part of his attention always on Darren, and the echo of his omega’s feelings he could sense in his own emotions, making certain that nothing had gone wrong. But Darren was calm, and happy, doing something that made him content. By the time Blake got in his truck to make the short drive home, he was feeling better about the whole thing, convinced that if the hunters were going to make their move it wouldn’t be today. He was thinking of dinner, the fragrant smell of the stew he had dumped in the crockpot before he left. Darren had offered to cook something, but his cooking skills were still a little – okay, a lot – rusty.
Blake smiled fondly at the thought of his mate trying to cook. It wasn’t Darren’s fault that he had grown up on instant noodles and microwave pasta. Another reason, Blake thought, to send Darren to his mother during the day. He’d learn quickly how to cook in her kitchen, and it would bring them closer. Grey liked to cook, and Nicholas was never adverse to him visiting their parents. Perhaps it would be a good activity for all three of them together. Bonding. Blake would call his mother and suggest it after dinner.
He was nearing the turn off for his own road when Darren’s alarm suddenly spiked behind his ribs.
Blake slammed his foot down on the gas, and the truck protested with a deep groan in the engine as it tried to go from thirty five to sixty in less than a second. But alarm was quickly becoming fear and Blake didn’t have time to worry about the truck. It could be put back together later. Darren couldn’t.
He turned the corner with a squeal of brakes, and he hoped the sheriff wasn’t out because even taking the time to get pulled over was too much time. He had to get to Darren. He pulled into the driveway in a plume of dust and was out of the truck almost before it had come to a stop, not bothering to pull the keys from the ignition. At least he had been on the way home, he thought as he took the steps up to the front landing in a single leap, yanking the door open. At least it had only been minutes. And he could still feel Darren, so it was okay. It had to be okay.
“Darren?”
“Here,” came the answer, softer than his own yell, shaky. “I’m in here.”
Blake turned the corner off the entry hall, took the stairs two at a time, and came panting into the bedroom, his eyes searching for whatever had frightened his mate. The room was empty, except of Darren, who was curled on the bed with his knees drawn up to his chest, tears in his eyes.
“Darren…” Blake settled down on the bed at his mate’s side, wrapping both arms around him and pulling the slight, unresisting body in close. “Sweetheart, what is it?”
Darren was trembling in his arms, and he turned his face against Blake’s shoulder, wrapping his arms tight around him in return. The embrace was so fierce that it constricted his ribs, but Blake didn’t care. Didn’t care about anything but the omega in his arms. He lifted a hand and stroked his fingers through the soft hair.
“What happened?” he asked again.
“It’s-” A little sob shook his mate, and Darren shook his head against Blake’s shoulder. “God. It’s really stupid. I’m so sorry.”
“No, sweetheart. You don’t need to be sorry. Just tell me what happened.”
“It was the TV,” Darren said, muffled against his shoulder. “I told you it was stupid.”
Blake, his heart still beating too fast against his ribs, thought for a moment that maybe Darren was right. That it was a little stupid to be so frightened of something that didn’t even happen, but the thought was gone as soon as it had crossed his mind, only a product of how afraid he had been for his mate, and relief rushed through him in its place.
“I was waiting for you to get home. And so I thought I’d watch some TV. And there was some werewolf movie on. And you know how it is. It’s, like, so bad you can’t look away. But…”
Blake could feel him tugging at his lip again, and he slipped his fingers under his mate’s chin, gently lifting his face so that Darren looked up at him, and pressed his thumb down on his omega’s lower lip, carefully pulling it out from between his teeth.
“You’ll hurt yourself,” he said gently.
Darren looked up at him for a moment, eyes wide, then dropped his gaze, his cheeks flushed pink.
“I didn’t think about silver bullets, before. I was thinking, how could they hurt you? You’re so strong. But they shot the wolf in the show. With a silver bullet. And then I realized that they could hurt you. That they could hurt your whole family. Our whole family. And…” He swallowed a sob. “Then you came roaring in here, all because I saw something on a stupid television show. And I feel like an idiot.”
Blake’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. He tried to swallow the sound, but it escaped, and Darren looked up at him, startled and then ashamed, the red blush deepening in his cheeks.
“Don’t laugh at me,” he whispered, gaze dropped to their feet, his body tense in Blake’s arms. “Please.”
That stopped it, and Blake wrappe
d his arms tighter around his mate, pulled him back until Darren gave in and sank against him.
“I wasn’t laughing at you, baby,” he said gently, brushing his lips against Darren’s hair. His voice came out a little rough around the edges. “I was just so relieved that you weren’t hurt. I spent the whole day afraid that I’d done something terribly stupid leaving you here alone.”
He buried his face against his omega’s shoulder and breathed in the maple sugar scent of him.
“I’m only so glad you aren’t hurt, sweetheart.”
Darren went limp in his arms. “I’m not hurt,” he said, voice so quiet. “Just silly.”
“It isn’t silly,” Blake answered, slow and deliberate. “You’re not silly to care.”
“What if they shoot you?”
His mate’s voice caught over the words, and Blake could smell salt, feel the spill of tears against his shoulder.
“We’re not going to let it get that far,” Blake said, and there was a growl in his voice. “I promise you.”
Darren looked up at him, eyes wet and red-rimmed. “How can you promise that?”
“Because if they were going to attack yet, they’d have done it already. Which means they’re waiting for reinforcements. But we’re going to get there first.”
Chapter Eight
Getting there first was easier said than done. First, they had to figure out where the hunters were hiding. As they didn’t technically have any proof there even were hunters, aside from the conclusion that there must be, that wasn’t very easy either. Blake talking his uncle into calling a meeting of the local shifter council, explaining his reasoning as they listened. He saw eyebrows going up around the room, saw some less than impressed expressions as he shared the story of how he had met his mate. At least two of the Alphas on the council – one of them a very traditional sort – had hoped he would marry one of their omega relatives, deepening the ties between their packs, and he knew they weren’t likely to be eager to offer support, if they agreed to offer it at all. When he had laid out his proposition, they all sat looking at him with expressions that ran the gamut from disbelief to outright scorn.
“So,” Karl Bodolf, the Alpha of the Rollins pack began, looking darkly at Blake from under his heavy eyebrows. “What exactly is it you expect us to do?”
His was exactly the quarter Blake had expected trouble to come from.
“The Silver Bay pack is asking for the promise of aid if it becomes necessary,” his uncle answered. “Hunters in the area are a danger to us all.”
“Hunters brought here because your nephew broke all protocol and mated some back-alley omega he met in a Walmart in Iowa,” Karl answered, voice chill.
Blake growled before he could stop the sound, though he swallowed it before it could be considered a purposeful threat.
“Darren is my omega. You won’t speak of him that way.”
Karl, who had been pushing his omega son on Blake practically since the day they were born, and whose pack still clung to tradition in way that even Blake’s own had long left behind, closed his mouth, but his jaw was tight. Blake could see the answer already on his face. He would honor Blake’s demand that his omega be spoken of with respect, but he would not offer the aid of his pack should the Silver Bay wolves call for it.
Larentia Fallon, the female Alpha of the far more progressive Duluth pack, met Blake’s gaze next.
“You’re right to say that a hunter threat to any of us is a hunter threat to all of us, but can you prove there are hunters here? They have long left this area be. We are too many for them and they know it well.” Her smile was feral. “They’re cowards, and will not face us when we are together.”
Seated beside her, her brother Raul nodded. He was the Alpha of the Superior pack, a dark-eyed man with olive skin and straight black hair, Larentia’s mirror image. “We’re glad to lend allies a hand, or a paw, but we need to know that we aren’t making fools of ourselves, running to the rescue when there is no rescue required.”
“Wouldn’t you rather send aid when none is necessary than withhold it when it is?” Blake asked.
The twins exchanged looks, then looked back at him.
“You truly think it is that urgent?” Larentia asked.
“I’m willing to bet that it is,” Blake answered, and he saw from the corner of his eye his uncle nod beside him. “Unless we completely mistook the circumstances under which Darren was orphaned, there’s no way he can be alive without it being the work of hunters. And if they set him up as bait, they wouldn’t have simply released him. They would have killed him before they moved on.”
He saw more nods around the table, Alphas agreeing with his logic, and he let his breath out slow. There were enough, at least, that they would have the help they needed if it came to it. In Duluth and Superior alone there were nearly forty wolves capable of combat. Even if no one else came to help, they would be more than Blake had dared hope for. In the end, though Karl and three of the packs that lived near his own left the meeting muttering about foolishness and broken protocol, the Silver Bay wolves had the packs from Duluth and Superior, and the Isabella pack on their side, promising to send help if they called. Larentia and Raul were sending a dozen wolves up to take residence in Silver Bay until the trouble was dealt with. Including the twenty one wolves in the Silver Bay pack – five of them grown Alphas, and a handful of betas besides – that number would surely be enough to deal with any threat that might be posed.
Blake and his uncle left the meeting together, headed for his father’s house, where Darren had spent the day with Blake’s mother and Grey, and his uncle’s omega, Morgan. When they stepped into the house, both their heads lifted, the smell of food wafting from the kitchen a delicious distraction from their somber thoughts.
“You’re just in time for dinner,” his mother said as she came to greet them, kissing them each on the cheek. “Have a seat at the table.”
Blake took the seat one down from his uncle’s left hand. Morgan would sit beside him, his father on the opposite side with his mother next. Grey and Nicholas, now that the family was not arrayed against him and his breach of protocol, would sit beside Darren.
The cooks came out carrying platters of food – venison steaks and asparagus and potatoes, a cake dripping with strawberries and whipped cream, and Blake’s stomach growled. When they all sat down in their places, he grinned at Darren, who had pressed up close to his side and was determinedly trying to slip under his arm. Obliging, Blake wrapped the coveted arm around his mate’s slim shoulders and drew him nearer.
“How did cooking lessons go?”
Darren looked down, tugging at his lower lip with his teeth, but there was a smile in the corner of his mouth.
“I almost burnt the first round of French bread,” he confessed. “But I managed to set the table okay.”
Blake wasn’t doing a very good job of not laughing. “I’m proud of you, sweetheart. You set the table very nicely.”
“You’re so mean to me,” Darren shot back under his breath, trying to glare but mostly looking like he was having a very hard time not smiling.
Blake leaned down and stole a kiss, because he could, and because he liked it when Darren smiled. It was such a marked difference from last time, he thought as he filled their plates. Before, Darren hadn’t even been able to look at his parents. Now he was chatting lightly with Grey, even holding his plate up for Blake to fill it. Seeing him happy was worth all of it – the irritation of his family, the glares from the more traditional packs, even the trouble with the hunters. For Darren, he would go through it all a thousand times over. And sitting there at his family’s table, laughter and warmth all around, he let the worry for a moment slide away, his attention all for the light in his mate’s eyes.
Chapter Nine
The first volley in the battle, and the definitive proof that hunters had followed Blake and Darren back to Silver Bay, came nearly three weeks later. It was long enough that Darren had almost begun t
o believe that they had been wrong, that the story they had imagined of his parent’s death was a mistake, an assumption somehow missing some key detail in the story, something none of them could have known. But at night in the dark he thought of making it all those years in the foster system as something different, so obviously a medical mystery, without ever being told. Without ever being taken away to some research lab somewhere and studied.
Someone must have been making certain he went unnoticed. And the likelihood that it had been some benevolent watching, keeping him safe until someone could come and claim him, was strictly zero. But the hunters had reason enough to want to keep his existence secret from a humanity they believed they were protecting, and so it must have been them, watching and waiting all those years. Waiting until a wolf happened to pass through Iowa, and take him away. He wondered sometimes how long they would have let him live if Blake had never come, and laid a hand protectively over his belly.
There was no sign of his pregnancy yet. He had been so thin to begin with that he was only now filling out, his ribs no longer visible through the skin that overlaid them. But soon, Blake had told him, he would begin to show, and he thought of the child he was carrying and the life he would have. Safe. Loved.
They won’t hurt you, he promised the life inside him silently, feeling a growl rising in his own throat. I won’t let them.
Not if he had to rip out their throats himself.
But he had been lucky, though. Despite everything. He had lived. He had found a job, and an apartment. He had been there when Blake came through, and Blake had decided to wait outside the Walmart, to ask him why he was alone. Lucky, too, that Blake’s pack was here, and not one of the small, lone groups scattered over southern Minnesota and through Wisconsin. If it had been the Silver Bay pack alone, what would have happened?