by A. C. Katt
“Ah, there you are, baby. Did Mr. Abbott tire you? Have you eaten?”
Sean smiled. “Mr. Abbott is finished, Meg gave me a wonderful soup and a roast beef sandwich, and yes, I slept.” He stepped further into the room and perched himself on the arm of Armand’s chair.
“Sean, these are my Betas, Martin and Rene DuBois and this is Martin’s mate, Edward Keller.”
Sean stepped up to shake the men’s hands.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome you to the pack, Alpha Mate. It is a fortunate day that an Omega with Talent comes to our pack.”
Sean gave Armand a quizzical look. “Omega? Talent? You’ve got to keep me up to speed, my head is spinning, Armand. What haven’t you told me yet?”
Rene chuckled.
“Yes, Rene, my mate is a bit of a smart-ass.”
The room burst out in laughter.
“He’ll keep you grounded in reality, Alpha. I think I’m going to like you, Alpha Mate,” Rene said.
“I hope so since it seems that you’re in charge of keeping me safe.” Sean turned to Armand, “Talent?”
“I’ll explain this to you in a bit. Rene, Martin, you’ll take care of the extra security? I expect to see all of you at the wedding on the Saturday after next and make sure Jacques takes care of that other matter.”
The gentlemen stepped to the study door as Pierre appeared.
“Pierre, will you see my guests out?”
“Of course, Alpha.”
“Oh,” Armand spoke, everyone stood still. “Edward, see to changing my will, Pierre has Jacques seeing to my accounts.”
“Immediately, Alpha.”
“Pierre, get the invitations engraved and out by tomorrow.”
“Engraved, sir, not printed?”
“Yes, engraved. It wouldn’t suit my position on the council if we laser printed the invitations. Spend whatever you must.”
“Yes, Alpha, immediately.”
Armand closed the study door as Pierre saw the gentlemen out.
“Engraved?” Sean asked. “You’re talking to a Kinko’s guy here.”
“Yes, love. I want nothing but the best for you. I want to show the world how much you mean to me. If we can’t have a large, all out wedding, I wish to make sure that the council and all of the pack know where you stand in my affections.”
“I’m definitely going to have to teach you about saving money.”
Armand laughed in delight, “And I you about spending it.”
He pulled Sean into his arms for a searing kiss. Sean responded in kind. Armand traced Sean’s lips with his tongue and Sean’s mouth opened for him. Sean let his lover explore the inside of his mouth. His shaft hardened against Armand’s leg.
Armand put his arms around Sean waist. “We have to go out.”
“That’s disappointing.” Sean put his arms around his soon-to-be lover and begged another kiss.
Armand pulled away from the kiss and lifted Sean off of his lap as he eased them out of the chair. “I need to give you an explanation.”
“Yes, I think you do, although your kisses are a soul-searing distraction.”
Armand laughed and pulled Sean closer into the curve of his arm.
“Do I call you Alpha?” Sean asked.
“No, my love, you can call me anything you like,” a smiling Armand answered.
“Well, tell me what I need to know so we can get back to the good stuff,” Sean said placing his hand under Armand’s shirt and twirling his fingers through his soft chest hair.
“If you keep that up, I’ll never get to the explanation.” Armand’s eyes were black with passion. “My wolf will come out and mate you here in the study and I’m old fashioned enough to want to be wed before we bed.”
“I’ll just rest my hand there if you don’t mind. I like your skin exposed to my touch.”
“My little Omega is feisty.” Armand laved at a spot on Sean’s neck that drove him crazy with desire.
“There is that word, again. An explanation, please.”
Armand lifted his head reluctantly from his mate’s enticing neck.
“The sofa?” Sean asked.
“Yes, the sofa.” Armand smiled. “Omegas are the smallest wolves in the pack and are naturally submissive. Because of their perceived weakness, the goddess sometimes gives them a Talent. Some have the gift of healing, some are empaths. The gifts run the gamut of human psi. The gift never manifests itself until after the mating. I can feel you have a great Talent, yet I don’t know what it is.
“As soon as an Omega meets his mate, the Alpha of the pack is immediately made aware if there is a gift, because not all Omegas have one. But this gift puts you in great danger, especially from rogues like Dimitri. He wanted to use you to get back into the Russian Pack because the Russian Alpha loves men with your looks and Talent is the icing on a very handsome cake. Every man the Russian Alpha fucked while we trained to be Alphas together looked exactly like you down to the green eyes.”
“I’m in trouble because I’m a blond? There have to be a lot of blond Russians.”
“But not blonds who have no one that could complain if he went missing. Dimitri thought you were a street kid. He probably now knows you are a were. The gossip goes quickly from house to house on the square and the Russian Council has spies in the city. Weres with your color hair and eyes are rare. If Dimitri finds out you are an Omega, you would be irresistible to the Russian Alpha. As I said, though we trained to be Alphas together, he is not my friend.”
“Irresistible?”
“Seriously, they would slay me before your gift manifested. An unmated Omega is fair game. They would force you to mate with one of their own. A second mating would be possible if I were dead. Should he find out that you have a great Talent, he will redouble his efforts to find you and use you to buy his way back into the Russian packs.”
Sean thought for a moment and asked in a quiet voice, “Is that why you want me?”
Armand moved Sean closer so that he sat on the Alpha’s erection. “No, my love. I knew you were my mate before I was aware you were loup-garou. It wasn’t until you got close to me I knew. You were fragrant at the time.”
Sean laughed.
“I would have loved you no matter what you were, wolf or human, Beta, pack member or Omega, it made no difference. You are my fated mate.”
“Is all of your pack gay?” asked Sean trying hard to pay attention despite sitting on his mate’s rock hard erection.
“No, just the Council and all of the Alphas.”
Sean looked at Armand with surprise. “Why? In the human world gays are despised and we have to fight hatred and discrimination.”
“In a wolf pack the Alpha must be neutral in all his dealings. We can’t even sire male pups, bitches, yes, pups, no. If we could have boy pups, we could favor them over other more talented wolves. We have had this system in place since time immortal. All of the pups are the responsibility of the Alpha and we care for all of them in turn once they can leave their mother. The bitches and sires help but the Alpha has the final say over where in the pack hierarchy a pup is eventually placed.”
“I can see where that would be a problem if you have children of your own,” Sean said seriously.
“In the pack, the Alphas and the Betas must fight for their positions with intelligence, cunning, and might. Since few pups are born into a pack, and fewer of those pups prefer their own sex, the violence is kept to a minimum. I believe you have a great Talent for empathy in addition to any Talent that is gods given. This Talent would temper any decisions I make in anger. It can also help to soothe bitches about to whelp.”
Sean looked directly into Armand’s eyes. “Since you are the head of the North American Council and your own pack, I can be very useful in preventing usurpation of authority.”
“Yes, my love, as you would also be to the Russians. Do you see now why I must keep you safe? Your gift will manifest itself as soon as we make love and you take my mating knot. You are bound to
me by pack law only after you take my mating bite and show it to the pack in New Mexico. I must keep you safe until then. Since you accepted my proposal of marriage, will you also accept this aspect of pack life? Will you still agree to be mine?”
Sean sighed putting his arms around his soon-to-be husband. “I would have told you earlier this afternoon but you were busy. I love you and I will take you any way I can get you. I don’t know how this happened so fast. I have no idea where these feelings came from or have any control over them.” Sean shrugged. He thought for a moment, “I guess we can never have children. I always thought that I would adopt or hire a surrogate to have a child.”
“We will be blessed with children. If you are gay and a werewolf you are an Alpha. Alphas have only produced bitches from time immortal. You wouldn’t mind a little girl to spoil?”
The furrow in Sean’s brow disappeared and his naturally sunny disposition returned. “I would love to spoil a little girl. I might even prefer it.”
Sean’s hand began to move again, and Armand lightly slapped it down. “Tomorrow we have to go to City Hall to obtain a marriage license and to the jewelers today. So go upstairs and straighten your clothes and I’ll call Rene to bring around the car.”
“I thought Pierre drove.”
“From now until we get to New Mexico, we will be under constant guard. It will ease once we are with the pack. Trust me on this, it is for the best.”
Sean rose up and started to leave the room when he had a thought, he turned back to Armand. “Will I be able to finish school?”
“Oh, my poor baby, you said yes to me without even knowing…I’m honored to have you as my mate. Yes, of course you will be able to finish school. Once we are mated and the danger from Dimitri has passed, we can come back to New York and you can continue on at NYU Institute of Fine Arts or you can transfer your credits to UNM, the University of New Mexico, or the University of Colorado at Boulder. If you decide on New Mexico, you will have access to the artists who make the fine Native American pottery you wish to study.”
“You have handed me everything I’ve ever wanted without me even having to ask. I only hope that my love suffices as my gift to you.” Tears formed in Sean’s eyes. “I have nothing else.”
“You are my mate. After all this time I never believed I would find you. You have given me everything.”
Chapter 5
Sean needed time to think. While he was with Armand, he found himself agreeing to anything the man asked of him. How can I love and trust this man I’ve only known for one day? Yes, there is that word, love. I love him. If love means that my heart beats faster when he’s near me and that I crave his company, then yes, love is what I feel. I’ve agreed to marry a man about whom I know nothing except what he revealed. I’ve accepted things that are impossible to believe, even though I’ve seen them with my own eyes. It’s like living in a fairy tale.
Sean lay down on the bed trying to shake off his worry. Despite his huge breakfast, and his early lunch, he felt hungry. He heard Meg in the hall. She knocked. He got up from the bed and opened the door to find Meg carrying a tray.
“I have some Brunswick Stew and dumplings for you before you go out. Alpha’s orders.” Sean smiled.
“I just thought that I was hungry. You read my mind. I didn’t expect a meal. It’s only been a few hours since I ate breakfast and you gave me lunch already.” Meg set the tray down on a table with two chairs.
“What I gave you was a snack. The closer you come to shifting, the more calories you burn and once you shift your metabolism is changed forever.”
“You’re telling me that there are no fat loup-garou.”
“Shifters require a lot of calories. You will find the need to eat well and often. That’s why you’re constantly hungry. It’s also why you were so near to starvation after eating so little for so long. Eat this for now and we’ll have an early dinner.”
Armand came up the stairs and sat with him while he ate and shared the meal.
“Meg is the best cook. My mother cooked, but the Irish aren’t known for their gourmet cuisine.” Sean forked the last morsel of tender chicken into his mouth.
“Don’t say that to Meg. She’s Irish.”
“Thank you for keeping me from putting my foot into my mouth! I’ll take this tray down to the kitchen if you tell me where it is. I’m almost afraid to ask what’s for dinner.”
“Meg will come for the tray. You needn’t worry about her carrying it up the three flights of stairs. We have an elevator installed and she has a service cart. We will usually enjoy breakfast in our room.” Armand chuckled. “I only use the breakfast room when it is likely we will have early visitors.”
“Can you tell me more about what you do and where we’re going to live?” Sean felt compelled to know more about the loup-garou and Armand himself.
“As I told you, I am head of the North American Council of loup-garou and I run Garou Industries. We are a diversified company that makes products of all kinds. You will be interested to know we even have a porcelain division. We do extensive Research and Development, especially on things like green energy and products. Our fleet of cars are powered by an experimental battery. Right now, it is cost prohibitive to sell to consumers, but we are working on bringing the costs down so that we can sell them to the car companies at a reasonable cost.”
“That sounds like good business sense as well as care for the land.” Sean was thoughtful. “And what are your duties as head of the council?”
“We are the largest council of loup-garou in the world. The second biggest council is in Russia, followed by the Europeans. Although Pack Alphas run their own packs, all are answerable to the council and the council reports to me. The loup-garou do not have a democracy. The Alpha makes pack law and as long as it does not conflict with the dictates of the council or the good of the pack as a whole, the Alpha’s word stands.”
“What if the Alpha makes laws that are unfair or hurt the pack?” Sean asked, upset that there seemed to be no recourse to enduring a bad Alpha.
“The pack is set up so that the Alpha can be challenged. If no one is strong enough to overtake the Alpha, the pack can appeal to the council. A Pack Alpha will try to avoid an appeal to the council at all costs. If he loses the appeal, he loses his life.” Armand answered in a matter-of-fact manner.
“Woo, then the death penalty is dealt for any infraction that makes it to the council?”
“No, some things that go to the council are territorial disputes. The council also schedules council wide events that encourage the loup-garou to mix with other wolf packs and find their mates. We also oversee the council’s charitable contributions.”
“Do all of the loup-garou live this well?” Sean asked in amazement.
“No, some of us have personal wealth accrued over generations of investments made with the share of monies each wolf gets from the group. The group provides enough for a loup-garou to live an upper middle-class life among the humans, although most wolves don’t live far from their packs. Their individual industry provides extra funds. Just as with humans, we have lazy wolves, industrious wolves, we have our inventors, scientists and artists. How much you have is in direct proportion to what you do for yourself, the pack, and council as a whole.”
“They must pay you quite a bit to ride herd on all of the wolves on the continent.” Sean gulped.
“My entire stipend is given to charity, to both our own and human organizations. We live in two worlds, baby, and must endeavor to pay our dues to each of them.”
“You’re saying that the loup-garou pay taxes to their governments as well as taxes to the loup-garou…”
“Our corporations make enough so that we give back to the packs. The amount of the stipend increases or decreases with every generation. We are codependent on the economy of the nation we inhabit. That is why loup-garou are involved in politics in our individual countries as well as in science, literature, and the arts. Because we don’t have to change int
o our lupine forms, some of us have become research scientists, politicians, and captains of industry in addition to running the businesses of the loup-garou. Since the aspect of our genome that makes us loup-garou is known only to us, our blood and physiology test as human. Some of us are even athletes although we do not encourage that as an occupation because we hold an unfair advantage.” Armand got up and kissed the top of Sean’s head.
“I can regale you with stories of our shared heritage all day, however, we have to go out and pick our wedding rings.” Armand smiled. “We have a jeweler here in New York who does customized designs for loup-garou mates.”
Armand pulled Sean up into his arms for a kiss. Armand’s mouth moved over Sean’s lips tasting them with his tongue. He nipped at the lower lip for Sean to open his mouth. Sean’s lips parted and Armand plundered his mouth with his tongue; diving into the recesses, licking behind his teeth, exploring the tender area under his lips.
When he left Sean’s mouth, Sean groaned. Armand then began to trace his lips over his face. He kissed each eyelid and the curve behind each ear. Sean shivered.
“If you keep that up, we’ll never get out of here to go to the jeweler’s. You are making me so hot.”
“Baby, wolves are very sensual creatures. It comes with being more tied to our animal origins than the humans. Most of us lead very active sex lives before we mate.” Sean frowned at his soon-to-be mate.
“Does that mean I’m going to be in a constant state of jealously looking about and seeing your former lovers?” Sean pulled away from Armand’s arms.
“I have never had a lover until you. I’ve hooked up for sex, but never had a long-term relationship. It wouldn’t be fair to a partner to let them believe that there was a chance I would grow to love them. I always knew that other than the casual fuck, I would never chance hurting another human or wolf because once I found my mate, all others would pale in comparison. There is no one who is as compatible to me as you are. There is no one I could ever love as much as I love you. I never gave anyone else a chance to claim my heart even in these last few dark years when I despaired thinking I would never find you.” Sean stepped back and looked into Armand’s eyes. “In all of the past one hundred twenty five years since my first change, I waited. I waited for you, baby. No one else could ever come close to the desire or the love I have for you.” Armand took Sean’s hand and placed it over his shaft. “Feel that, my love. It is all for you. My mating knot is something only you will receive as I will receive yours and yours alone. Do you understand? After that you will be forever mine.”