by Lisa Oliver
“From what I can gather,” Pearson said. “But yes, I told you Stavia, Cam is mated now and his mate is getting edgy. Have we got a problem here? I know these guys are dead, and they are from your coven, but retribution rights, yeah?”
“Nope, no problem,” Stavia said with a grin, standing up and brushing off his hand. “I’ll deal with these idiots. Any vampire with an ounce of commonsense knows not to touch an Omega wolf unless they’re mates. Mated Omega blood is poisonous to vampires. Always had been. Omegas are also immune to Fae magic, impervious to Alpha power and yep, apparently make you Alphas stronger. Your resident vampire could have told you that.”
“It’s not like we’ve had time for much discussion,” Pearson said tightly. “Cam had only been with us a few days before he was taken. It won’t happen again, I can assure you.”
“Yes, you really should be more careful with someone so precious,” Stavia said, casting an appreciative eye over Cam’s wolf form, making Cam shudder. “I imagine he is a beautiful young man in his human form.”
“Well, that’s not something you’re likely to ever see,” Pearson growled. “His mate will prefer him in this form, until we are home. Now I thank you for your hospitality, and appreciate you allowing me into your home, but I really think Cam will want to be with his mate as quickly as possible. They have been apart too long already.”
“Of course,” Stavia said smoothly, indicating that Pearson should proceed him out of the door. But Pearson came over to Cam instead. Cam growled low in his throat, still a bit unsure what was going on. He just wanted Roger and he didn’t understand why his mate wasn’t with his Alpha. Squatting down, Pearson looked Cam in the eyes, his own wolf showing through. Cam immediately quietened down, and looked down at the floor. Naughty Omega growling at the Alpha.
“You’re safe now and Roger is waiting. Are you hurt?”
Cam shook his head.
“Then let’s get out of here, aye. Roger would have come down with me, but Stavia would only allow one of us to search his home. He’s waiting for you outside. Will you let me show you the way?”
Cam wagged his tail and yapped and from behind them Stavia laughed. “Oh he is too cute. Are you sure I can’t keep him as a pet? He’s adorable and I would totally take care of him.”
This time it was Pearson that growled. “You want a wolf, find one of your own and unless one of them is your mate, keep your hands off any in my pack. I saw the state Cam was in when he was rescued. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
Stavia’s face dropped and he bowed low at Cam. “If I had known what Donoghue and his friends were doing, I would have put a stop to it, I promise you that. Perhaps when Cam has had time to reunite with his mate, he would consent to talk to me about any others that might have been involved in this type of abuse. My coven treats its donors and our companions with respect and the thought that your young wolf was unwilling, and fed from so regularly, yet treated so badly, disturbs me more than you can know. Any others that Cam can alert me to, will be dealt with I promise you.”
“We’re taking him home. You may visit us at your discretion. Come along Cam, let’s go find Roger.”
Cam followed Pearson and Stavia out of the cell, up some steep stairs, and along a long hallway. His body was quivering with excitement. He could sense that Roger was nearby. But he’d caught Pearson’s warning, and knew that his Alpha was right. Cam couldn’t shift until they got back to Washington. Didn’t mean that he couldn’t sit as close to Roger as possible on the trip back.
As they came to a large door and entranceway, Pearson and Stavia stopped to talk for a moment. But Cam was too excited to wait. Peering around Pearson’s legs, he caught sight of Roger pacing up and down in front of some large steps. His poor mate looked tired and agitated, pulling at his hair and staring at the doorway every five seconds. Cam knew the moment Roger had seen him as his face lit up in that huge smile that Cam was coming to know, and loved already.
“Cam!”
With a loud woof, Cam bounded down the steps and straight into Roger’s arms, knocking his mate over in his excitement. Roger lay back on the ground, his big arms solid around Cam’s middle, his face buried in Cam’s ruff. The relief in his mate’s body was so strong, Cam could almost taste it.
“You’re okay,” Roger whispered. “You’re okay. We got here in time. Fuck, I’ve been frantic without you. I am never leaving your side again. Fucking never.”
Cam chuffed softly. He knew that his mate was being just a bit unrealistic. The man had a job to do after all. But nothing could dispel the happiness and sheer joy that Cam was feeling simply being with his mate again. In the years he had spent in the darkness, as Donoghue’s possession, he never believed that he would find happiness, a mate or ever have anyone to love. But here, laying on the gravel outside of a vampire mansion, Cam had found exactly that.
Now all he needed was for them to get home so he could find the words to share his feelings. He didn’t expect Roger to return them, he had nothing really to offer his mate except his love and devotion, but he knew Roger cared for him and that was more than he’d ever had in his life. In the dampness of the cell he’d just been in, Cam had come to the decision that if he lived, he couldn’t go another day without letting his mate know he was loved, and always would be. His heart was all Cam had to give, and he would give it to Roger willingly.
/~/~/~/~/
Roger opened up the door of his apartment at the club. Although the danger to his mate had passed, Pearson had asked them to stay on for a few days longer, until Cam had been introduced to the pack as the Omega, and Stavia had come to have his chat with Cam about some of his cruel coven members. While they had been out, Pearson had ordered in shifters to clean and straighten out their rooms and Roger was glad he could no longer smell blood or vampire anywhere in the suite. In fact, if Roger hadn’t seen the carnage caused when Brutus had tried desperately to save Cam from being taken he could have almost forgotten what had happened.
Cam padded through into the bedroom, a lot more confident in his wolf form than the last time Roger had seen it. His keen ears picked up the sound of bones reshaping and he knew his little mate had decided to shift back. Pearson had told Roger on the drive back, about Cam’s blood, how Donoghue and some other guy were dead when Pearson found Cam, and how he had hinted to Cam not to shift until they got him home, especially given Stavia’s interest in him. Roger had agreed although the urge to sink into his mate’s body had teased at his brain over the whole trip.
Roger hadn’t liked the coven leader. The man was too handsome and confident for his own good. Roger had been incensed when Stavia wouldn’t allow anyone but Pearson to search through his home. While the logical side of Roger’s brain understood why a vampire leader wouldn’t want Pearson and all of his enforcers loose around his coven, it didn’t make the situation any easier to swallow. He’d been sure he would be bald by the time he finally spied Cam’s wolf form peering around Pearson’s legs – he’d been pulling his hair that much.
Finally though, his mate was home again, and apparently in the shower if Roger’s acute hearing wasn’t letting him down. It did cross his mind that maybe his mate would like to eat, or maybe talk about what he’d gone through. Having two vampires drop dead on you after they were trying to make a meal out of you, had to have been a shock. Roger hadn’t known about his mate’s in built defense mechanisms, and chances are Cam didn’t know about them either. But Roger’s mind was clouded by the thought of a hot, wet and naked mate and he hurried through the bedroom, into the bathroom before stopping, transfixed at what would always be an amazing sight.
Cam was busy washing his hair, the long strands seemingly shorter as they were covered in soap bubbles. Cam turned as Roger entered and gave him a hesitant smile.
“Sorry. I could still smell vampire in my hair, and I needed to get it out.”
“Need some help with that?” Roger said with a smirk, stripping off his clothes as fast as he could. He didn’t
care if Cam needed help or not. He needed to be holding his naked mate and he wasn’t prepared to wait until Cam had finished washing his hair. His mate had lovely long hair.
Slipping in behind Cam he pushed his hands into Cam’s soapy locks, soothing and massaging Cam’s scalp as the heat of the water surrounded them both. Cam dropped his arms with a moan and stood there, like a statue, as Roger lovingly rinsed out the shampoo, then soaped the hair up and washed it again. His mate had been right. There had been a definite smell of vampire all around Cam’s head and Roger could see the faint trace of two fangs in Cam’s mating scar. He felt a surge of anger and knew he would be doing something about that, as soon as his mate felt up to it.
Once Cam’s hair was squeaky clean and not a trace of anyone else remained, Roger took it upon himself to wash every inch of Cam’s silky smooth skin, pleased to see there were no strange scents around Cam’s cock and ass. His mate’s little pucker was tightly closed with no sign of trauma. As he washed over it lovingly, Cam whispered softly, “You don’t need to worry. They didn’t do anything. Nothing but feed from me and apparently that killed them. But after I told them who you were, and how I was the pack Omega, they just wanted to eat and run.”
Hiding a sigh of relief, Roger kept up his soapy massage, trying to think how to reply. “I can’t say it wouldn’t have bothered me either way,” he said finally, running his hands down Cam’s legs and soaping his feet. “Because it would have.”
“But,” he said when he saw a glint of hurt in Cam’s eyes, “I also know that I would still care for you the way I do now. And yeah, well, now the assholes are dead, there wouldn’t have been a lot I could have done. It would have devastated me if they had raped you and I won’t lie about that. Only because I know how much that would have hurt you. I could never blame you for something that someone else might have done.”
Cam turned, putting his arms around Roger’s neck and holding him close. Roger could feel Cam’s heart pounding wildly against his chest and Cam’s cock start to harden against his thigh. He felt his own body respond, but he tightened his arms around Cam’s slim body and concentrated on how good it felt to have his mate back where he belonged.
“They were going to drain me and leave me on the wall for you to find. When I thought I was going to die,” Cam whispered against his chest, “all I could think about was you. How I loved you and I hadn’t had the chance to tell you. I promised myself I would tell you as soon as I could. I don’t expect anything in return, but I couldn’t go another day without telling you how I feel. Is that okay?”
“You love me,” Roger said, hardly daring his mate’s words to be true and having to clarify even though he felt like a dick for doing it.
“I love you,” Cam said gravely, looking up and meeting Roger’s gaze, his green eyes so serious that Roger almost wept.
“And you don’t expect anything in return?”
Cam shook his head.
“So what would you do, my little wolf, if I told you that I loved you in return? That I’ve known I love you since the moment I claimed you and took you for my own?”
Cam’s eyes were wide open, his face still so serious. Roger could almost see his words churning through his mate’s brain as he thought about what had been said. Then Cam’s arms tightened around his neck as he jumped, wrapping his legs around Roger’s hips.
“I’d say,” and damn if Cam’s voice didn’t sound so freaking happy, Roger’s heart soared. “That I’m never letting you go and I will kill anyone that tries to come between us. You’re mine Roger and don’t you ever forget it.”
Because of the happiness in Cam’s voice, Roger forgave his mate’s small spurt of dominance. If anyone was killing anyone, well that was Roger’s job, but with any luck it wouldn’t be anything either one of them would have to worry about again. Instead of debating the issue, Roger’s lips sought out Cam’s mouth, fucking his tongue inside of his mate, knowing it would only be minutes before he would be deep inside of his mate’s body. Exactly where he belonged.
Chapter Eighteen
Cam tugged at his new leather pants. They were skin tight and fit like a well-worn glove so he didn’t make much of an impression on them. Roger had assured him he looked beautiful and as sexy as sin, but Cam wasn’t too sure about that. His mate thought he was sexy all the time, the man was biased after all. The wolves Cam could see prowling around the main public area of the club however. Yep, all Cam could think was that they would all see him as lunch, or maybe a pre-dinner snack.
“All set here?” Pearson asked, striding over with Dante at his side. Both men were shirtless, wearing nothing except leather pants and boots and Cam gulped. There was a lot of skin between those two men. Rather scrumptious looking skin and Cam didn’t want to embarrass his mate, or his Alpha by noticing. But that only left him the floor to look at. Yep, good old floor, that was a safe place for his eyes.
“Cam’s just nervous,” Roger said easily and Cam looked up simply so he would have yet another opportunity to see that brilliant smile.
“You have no reason to be nervous, little Omega,” Pearson said.
Still nervous, Pearson’s words did help. Every time the Alpha looked at him, Cam could see the resolve in the man’s eyes. Pearson would shred anyone that looked at him funny, Cam didn’t doubt that. He had to trust in his mate, in his Alpha, even the Alpha Mate, who had all told him that this pack was different – that the Washington pack was a place he could be accepted for who and what he was.
Brutus, who he’d been to visit the day before, almost cried because he had failed to stop Cam from being taken from the club house. Cam had been embarrassed and just patted the big man’s hand, not sure what to say or do. Fortunately Roger had stepped in and told Brutus that Cam had been rescued before any harm had been done and he praised the blubbering Dom for doing his best. Cam had promised that he would visit Brutus again which seemed to make the man’s day. Cam didn’t understand it, but he just went with it.
And wasn’t that just the story of his life. Going along with things. As a small man, and then an Omega to boot, usually Cam didn’t have any choice. This time though, instead of being threatened, beaten or abused, Cam was being offered a place to stay – a home, where he apparently would be treated with respect and the caring that he had seen shown to female Omegas in his home pack. Cam wasn’t so sure his situation would turn out the same way, but he took a deep breath and faced his Alpha squarely.
“I’m ready,” he said, praying his voice didn’t crack. That would be just too embarrassing for words.
Pearson nodded as though he understood all that Cam was thinking, and indicated for him and Roger to follow as he made his way across the stage. Standing under the lights, his dark hair gleaming, his muscles rippling, Pearson was the epitome of strength and power, Dante the perfect complement beside him. Behind Cam and Roger, all of the enforcers were ranged across the stage – Steel, Ace, Kyle, Phillip, Sebastian and Farren.
To the side of the stage Cam could see Levi, Teric and Devin waiting for their mates. Levi gave him a cheeky grin and Cam gave a half wave. The smaller three men had gone out of their way to make Cam feel welcome in the five days since he’d been rescued for the second time. He had been a little nervous about Devin although the vampire had been nothing but kind to him.
When Cam had broken down and bawled like a baby at the thought of having poisonous blood, and what that might do to his mate – Roger loved to bite during sex - it was Devin that had reassured him. Devin explained to him how having blood that vampires would find offensive was a good thing, a safeguard because of his small stature and the fact he couldn’t shift if he was scared or angry like other wolves. He also, and this was the most important thing in Cam’s mind, explained how it didn’t matter how often Roger bit him, his mate would never be adversely affected. For the first time in a long time, Cam felt as though he had true friends.
“Listen up,” Pearson called out, barely having to raise his voice. All the shifte
rs in the room came to attention, looking towards the stage. Gods, did there have to be so many of them? Cam felt sick.
“For many years I have dreamed of having a full and proper pack, with all of the essential elements in place. I can truly say I am proud of this pack and what we have become, but there has always been one missing piece. The day I have been waiting for has finally arrived and tonight we will welcome a new pack member. I know some of you have heard rumors, and some of you boys have been gossiping far more than you should, but this new pack member is someone very special.” Pearson looked around the crowd with a smile on his face.
“As some of you know, our Enforcer Roger has found and claimed his mate and I am sure you all wish him the warmest congratulations. When we head out for our pack run on the full moon next week, the young man will join us as the only white wolf in the pack. A pure white wolf.”
Pearson heard the gasps in the crowd, as the implications of what he’d just said filtered through the brains of his pack. Widening his smile, he waved his arm at Cam and said, “Please give a big Bound and Bonded welcome to our new Omega and the very heart of the Washington Pack, Cameron Slater.”
The entire room exploded into a cacophony of howls and the stamping of feet as the shifters in the room gave their approval. Cameron had to grab hold of Roger to stop himself from falling as his knees gave out. There was nothing challenging in the cries, it was a sound of joy, a celebration and as Cam allowed himself to look around he could see that every person in the pack had huge smiles on their faces.
Okay, there may have been a few subs that looked like they were sucking lemons, and Cam grinned at that. Levi had already explained to him in blunt but kindly terms, that yes his mate had been a bit of a player and was liked by a lot of subs, but he had never favored anyone over the years. Beside him, Cam felt Roger stand up just that little bit straighter, so full of possessive pride and Cam thought his heart would burst at the acceptance he felt around him. In that moment his life couldn’t be more perfect.