by Lisa Oliver
“Shadow… Shadow… Can you… I feel…” Rowan was panting hard, his cheeks almost as red as his curls. A film of sweat coated his face, and his eyes were flashing wolf.
Slurping off Rowan’s cock, Shadow grinned. This is how it should’ve been last time. Reaching down between Rowan’s legs, he let his finger trail across that delicious tight skin between his balls and his hole. Keeping the bulk of his body off his mate, because damn, his cock was so heavy he could pole vault on it, Shadow rested his arm beside Rowan’s head, leaning his head down so his mate could taste himself on Shadow’s tongue.
Rowan’s arms were strong around his neck, his whole body trembling. “Please… Need…” and Shadow felt the true depth of his mate’s desire as his fingers slipped effortlessly into a drenched hole. How could I have been so stupid to think he was ready last time? What a moron! Keeping his mate focused with scorching kisses, Shadow increased the number of fingers he was using – two, three and then four. Fuck, with the way Rowan was writhing around, he was in danger of losing his fist.
“Please, please, please, please.”
Shadow broke off the kissing, taking a well needed breath. Lost in his passion, Rowan had never looked so stunning and Shadow made a solemn silent promise that he’d bring that look to his mate’s face every damn time.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” Shadow had to ask, but damn it all to hell if Rowan flinched now, he’d cut his balls off and serve them to his mate for breakfast. Because Rowan owned him – it was that simple. Heart and soul, cock and balls, Rowan had it all, and if he didn’t bring his mate pleasure this time, then Shadow was swearing off sex forever.
“I need you inside of me.” No deceit, no concerns, just the sweet scent of Rowan’s arousal filling the air. Removing his fingers, Shadow slathered the residue of Rowan’s slick on his cock before reaching over Rowan’s head for a pillow.
“This will make it easier for you,” Shadow promised, tucking the pillow under Rowan’s hips. He realized he was trembling; this was a first for Shadow too. He’d never been face to face with anyone he’d stuck his cock into before. Making sure there was absolutely no pressure on Rowan’s bad leg, Shadow lined up, letting out a long breath as his mate’s body accepted him easily.
There was a gasp, Shadow expected that. Rowan still wasn’t used to anything inside of him. He slowed right down, rocking gently, his cock moving in infinitesimal increments, carefully opening his mate wide. Rowan’s teeth were worrying his plump bottom lip, and Shadow leaned over, tenderly sucking the soft flesh away from the bite.
“Amazing,” Rowan whispered, looping his arms around Shadow’s neck. “Don’t stop.”
There was little fear of that. Shadow felt as though there was an iron band around his chest and groin – his visualization of control. But no matter how thick those iron bands might have been in his mind, they weren’t going to hold him back forever. But the love he saw on Rowan’s face managed to. Holding his mate’s gaze, Shadow bottomed out, mentally counted to ten and slowly pulled almost all the way out again.
In and out, keeping things slow. Rowan’s hands alternated by gripping and then soothing Shadow’s nape. It was almost scary, and Shadow wasn’t afraid of much, but every breath, every movement no matter how slight was so intense. Shadow could feel their bond strengthening and his heart expanding with every thrust. Rowan’s facial expression was so open, showing everything his mate was feeling. The arousal was just part of it. Love was definitely there, but what struck Shadow most was the joy that lit Rowan’s face from the inside, giving him a glow he’d never thought to dream of all those years they were apart.
They were moving totally in sync with each other. Shadow didn’t even notice his thrusts had sped up, but Rowan was meeting him half way, his good leg, draped over the back of Shadow’s thigh to anchor himself as he mirrored Shadow’s movements. Shadow’s fangs dropped. It wasn’t intentional. Shadow hadn’t even thought about biting his mate again. But Rowan sensed his need, tilting his neck so prettily making Shadow want to howl.
Pushing his hips just a tiny bit faster, Shadow leaned down, placing his lips over Rowan’s original bite. I love you little red, he thought as his balls tightened to the point of no return and he bit down. Seconds later he felt an answering bite on the corner of his neck, and his whole body jolted as though he’d been hit with electricity. Every part of his body felt as though it was supercharged and in his mind’s eye, he could see his rugged wolf spirit embracing Rowan’s slighter white wolf form.
His balls throbbing, Shadow held still for the longest time. It was only when his arms started to tremble for a totally different reason this time, that he released his teeth, gently licking over the wound that remained. He felt the soft touch of his mate’s tongue and he knew Rowan was doing the same.
“We can do that again, right?” Rowan’s voice was hoarse as if he’d been screaming, but the brilliant emeralds of his eyes showed the true depth of how deeply and positively he felt. Then those same eyes looked shocked and Rowan opened his mouth to yell, just as Shadow felt a large thump on the back of his head.
Chapter Twenty-One
It took a lot to make Rowan really angry, but having some man in a mask, dressed in black, loom over their bed while his mate’s cock was still inside of him was enough to do it. Unfortunately, he really wasn’t in a position to do anything about it. He could only assume that the hormones and adrenalin that came from making love, Rowan was sure they did not just have sex, was the only reason Shadow hadn’t flopped on top of him unconscious.
Something the intruder clearly hadn’t factored into his plans. Rowan could see the whites of the man’s eyes get wider as Shadow shook his head, grabbed the base of his cock and used as much care as possible to slide free. Rowan felt the gush of juices, his and his mate’s, and was acutely aware of the cooling spunk on his belly, and now trickling down his ass cheeks. With his butt still propped up on the pillow and his legs spread wide, he’d never felt so vulnerable.
Not that he stayed that way for long. Ignoring the intruder for the moment, Shadow scooped up the covers, pushed away by their lovemaking, covering Rowan up to chest height before turning towards the man who’d so rudely interrupted them.
“What. The. Fuck. Do. You. Think. You’re. Doing?” Each word clipped. Each word laden with menace. Naked, his cock still half hard, Shadow looked magnificent in his fury. Rowan couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Hey, man,” the intruder backed up towards the dresser. The tight clothes he was wearing indicated he was big, and had some muscle tone, but even naked, Shadow was far more imposing. “At least I let you finish.”
“I’m supposed to be thankful for that?” Shadow’s voice deepened into a growl. “You break in here, intruding on a private, intimate moment between me and my true mate, and you suggest I should be grateful you let my balls empty before you tried your pathetic attempt at knocking me out?”
“True mate? Fuck it.” The intruder flicked his fingers as if trying to ward Shadow off. “That damn Elder was right about that. I told him I didn’t believe it, what with you being in the military and all. Felt for sure you’d be knocking boots with the pack females the moment you got home, just like your brother used to do. Shit and damn, can nothing go to plan?”
Rowan’s eyes widened. “You’re Davos, the rogue who’s trying to tear this pack apart.” Clutching the covers to his chest, he wiggled up the bed, resting his back on the headboard.
“And you’re the geek omega Percy was waiting for a big pay day from. I told that damn boy to leave you alone until the money came through, but no, he had to get his jollies somewhere and he got most of them from hurting you. But then he couldn’t stand the thought that you were his brother’s intended. That boy had serious mental health issues, I can tell you.”
Shadow’s snarl reminded the intruder of the biggest threat in the room. The intruder sighed as if put out. “I guess there’s no point in hiding myself, seeing as you know who I am and it’s
getting damn hot in this mask. I can’t really talk to you with it on, anyway.” Reaching under his neck, the intruder tugged the mask off his face, shaking out his long brown hair. “Phew, those things are a damn nuisance.”
“Dave?” Shadow looked shocked to see the older man.
Rowan looked between Davos and Shadow. “You two know each other?”
“Dave was an old friend of my father’s. I remember him being around the house from back when I was a toddler. They were always together – my father and him and at one point he was my dad’s trusted advisor until he suddenly disappeared. My father never said what happened to him.”
“Disappeared my ass,” Davos/Dave sneered. “Your old man banished me, labelled me as a rogue with the council. I’m surprised you remember me at all, it was so long ago. Percy definitely didn’t know who I was.”
“Percy was a fool, but my father wasn’t. What did you do?” Shadow clenched his fists and took a step closer to his father’s old friend.
“Fuck,” Davos looked up at the ceiling as he cursed. “Of course, you’d ask that. You’re more like your old man than you care to admit, but seeing as we’re going to be working together, I suppose you should know. It wasn’t as though it was a big deal. I was trying to help your father reclaim some of the old land the pack had before the humans moved in. There was a house fire, some kid got hurt, it didn’t kill him, but your old man lost his head at me, and banished me from the pack. Stupid fool. The plan worked, the people moved out within the week and the house went on the market for peanuts seeing as most of it had fallen down.”
Rowan pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and the covers. “You don’t like humans.” It wasn’t a question, but Davos seemed to feel the need to answer anyway.
“Don’t go getting judgmental with me just because you went to college. I’ve got no reason to like humans. They took our land.”
“Any human that came to town, bought up land that was available under the laws,” Shadow said sharply. “They didn’t take anything; they bought their homes with hard earned money. Just because the wolves back at that time didn’t realize the necessity of it, seeing as they just ran wild wherever they wanted to, didn’t mean the humans were wrong in this. In the meantime, you caused dissent in this pack, encouraged Percy to strip the assets from the pack members so everyone here suffered, unless they were part of your plan. How do you justify doing any of that?”
“Some people need to suffer before they fall into line.” Davos seemed genuinely shocked by Shadow’s anger. “Alphas have to make the hard decisions.”
“But you’re not an alpha, and what have you achieved?” Shadow roared. “Ten years I was gone. Percy was supposedly in charge for eight of those years. The pack kids are starving. Family bonds are strained to breaking point by the adults working two or more jobs just to put food on the table. Percy sold houses that had been in some families for generations. How is that helping anyone?”
“All they had to do was follow the new order,” Davos said, his expression implying Shadow was stupid. Hugging his knees, Rowan kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t going to help the idiot out of his current predicament.
“Whose new order? Yours?” Shadow demanded. “You don’t have an alpha bone in your body, because if you had I’m sure you’d have challenged my father a decade ago and lost. Percy wasn’t an alpha either. The only person who can lead a pack is a fucking alpha. And in this case, it’s me!”
“Which is why I’m here,” Davos said calmly. “I mean Percy didn’t think about anything beyond how fast he could spend the cash in his hand. But you are a true alpha. You can make the people see…”
“See what?” Shadow snarled, closing the distance between him and Davos. Davos backed up until the dresser hit him in the back. “If I want evidence on how damn clever you are, I only have to look at what you did today.”
“Today?” Davos’ hand clutched at his throat. “Oh, you mean breaking in here. Yes, well, I had to, you see. Any other time you’re always surrounded by other people.”
“I was with my mate.” Shadow loomed over him and Davos shrunk back, but he was stuck with nowhere to go.
“Yes, well, he wasn’t any threat. Those other guys all looked like they would tear me apart before I had a chance to speak. That geek is just an omega…”
One swipe of Shadow’s claws, and Davos started gurgling, blood welling up from the deep slash across his throat. Davos’ hands were scrabbling, trying to stop the blood from flowing. Shadow grabbed him by his shirt and raised him off his feet. “I’m getting really fucking tired of people who don’t listen to me,” he growled as he shook the body and then dropped it on the floor. “Rowan isn’t a geek or just an omega – he’s the alpha mate!”
It was like time stopped for Rowan and Shadow, as they waited for Davos to die. Shadow was still magnificently naked, glaring at the hapless man ready to kill him all over again if he so much as twitched in the direction of the bed. Rowan rubbed the middle of his forehead as the sickly-sweet scent of blood infused the air.
“You know,” he said quietly, when Davos finally stopped gurgling, “that blood is going to be hell to get out of the carpet.”
“It always is,” Shadow said glumly, looking down at the blood on his hands. “I’d better wash up and get some clothes on. I need to talk to the others and find out how the hell this bastard got in here in the first place.”
“You can do that in a minute. Come here.” Rowan held out his arms.
“But…” Shadow held up his stained hands.
“That doesn’t matter. Come here.”
Shadow slowly walked over to the bed. Rowan patted the space beside him. Sighing heavily, Shadow climbed up, careful not to touch anything with his hands. Rowan waited until they were sitting beside each other, then half-turned, and wrapped his arms around Shadow’s waist, resting his head on Shadow’s chest.
Shadow was stiff for a moment, but Rowan waited him out. Soon enough, his mate’s arms wrapped around him, although Rowan noticed Shadow kept his hands away from his skin. “Now, isn’t this nice?” Rowan said happily.
“There’s a dead body wrecking the carpet, and my hands stink,” Shadow said drily.
“Yes, well, we could do without that happening too often, but what we did before…” Rowan trailed off, looking up and meeting his mate’s eyes. “I did hear you,” he said quietly. “Just before you bit me, and filled my ass with all your delicious spunk, I heard what you were thinking.”
Shadow was doing a great impersonation of a statue, the only thing moving was his eyes – looking to the left, looking to the right.
Rowan waited until those eyes were back on him again. “Did you mean it?”
Shadow hesitate, before saying softly, “With all that I am.” His deep sincerity rang proud for Rowan to hear.
“That’s great,” Rowan said with a huge smile as he rested his head back on Shadow’s chest. “Because I love you too, and now that Davos is gone, maybe we can work together to get this pack back on track again. After we’ve had dinner, of course.”
“Of course. Anything else?” Rowan didn’t have to look up to know Shadow was smiling.
“Well, we could probably do with a shower before we do anything else.” Rowan allowed himself one more cuddle, then pushed himself off Shadow’s chest and stretched. “I never did know if the omega prep mechanism works in water. Did you want to find out?”
Rowan laughed as Shadow scooped him off the bed and started running with him to the bathroom. His mate might not say much, and he wasn’t one for hearts and flowers or romantic gestures. Shadow was a man of action, and that is exactly what Rowan loved about his huge alpha.
And yes, as Rowan found out later, his omega traits did manifest in the shower, and hearing the words “I love you” said out loud, was even more special when it was Shadow doing the talking.
Epilogue
Three months later
The hall was filled with light and lau
ghter. It was Friday night and as was becoming a tradition for the pack now, all the members gathered for a potluck meal and a chance to catch up with their neighbors. Children ran among the tables under the watchful eyes of their parents. The smell of roast meats and grilling filled the air, and the chatter of people talking was lighthearted and jovial. At the head table, Shadow sat surrounded by his friends, leaning back in his chair with a beer in his hand.
Marco nudged him. “This is what we used to dream about. Do you remember?”
Shadow nodded. “Sitting in the desert, this type of thing was all I could dream about. Didn’t think it would ever happen here,” he admitted. “But then, I always thought my dad would be alive forever, and we’d be setting up something like this somewhere else.”
“I could get used to this,” Craven said with a happy sigh. “Happy people, sumptuous meals and being able to sleep in a comfortable bed every night. Makes a huge change from being on tours. I’ve been thinking it might be time to find a mate of my own, settle down, maybe have a kid or two to round out the picture.”
“Don’t go talking about mates just yet. You’ll jinx us all,” Rutig groaned. “I’ll have you know that since I’ve started working at the local police department, I’ve come across some amazingly obliging humans who seem to enjoy my attentions. I don’t want to disappoint any of them by finding my mate and pulling myself off the market. And I’m not getting any younger. I have to pace myself, you know.”
“What, you’re only seeing three people a night instead of five,” Dominic laughed, and the others laughed with him.