by Aria Grace
We all shifted quickly, not wasting any more time in our skin in the cold night air.
My wolf gave chase, urging our mate to follow us. He didn’t disappoint. We ran until our legs were too tired to run anymore. Then we stopped for a drink. I realized then where we were. The same stream where we had discovered that we were mates.
I nudged Curt with my nose, he looked at me quizzically. My wolf teased, jumping and playing around him.
He scented the air. Recognition showed in his eyes. Then desire.
I pushed at him, urging him to head for home. As much as I loved our first time together, I didn’t wish to repeat the experience on one of the coldest nights of the year.
No, our claiming would happen in our bed.
When we got to our home, we shifted back to our human skin and went straight to the bedroom.
I threw the covers back and climbed in our bed, Curt joined me. He kissed my lips, my cheeks, my neck, lingering where his mating bite would go. I grasped his arms and pulled him so that his body covered mine. I was slick, ready for him.
“Mark me, mate,” I said.
He groaned. “Gladly.”
He pressed a finger to my entrance and massaged my hole until I opened for him. The copious amounts of slick made quick work of stretching me. I was more than ready for his cock.
I bucked my hips, my hand stroking my dick until it leaked pre-cum. “Now, Alpha,” I said.
He silenced me with a kiss, distracting me until he was buried to the hilt inside my channel.
I opened my eyes and stared into his. “My mate,” I said. “My wonderful mate.” We were together, as one, like our claiming ceremony had signified. Two wolves, one life together.
“All yours,” he said.
He moved, rocking into me again and again, bringing me to the cliff, then when I was sure I’d come, his fangs descended and he latched onto my neck. His bite brought a pinch of pain, then an explosion of pleasure.
I howled, bucked my hips, urging him deeper in me as his knot locked us together. “Alpha!” I shouted.
“Omega mine!” He kissed the mark on my neck, licking the wound so it could heal quickly.
A permanent mark would remain so all would know that I was a claimed omega, I was his and he was mine.
“I love you, Curt,” I said.
“I love you, too, Tyson.”
More from Jena Wade
Greycoast Pack Series
Finding His Pack
Finding His Purpose
Finding His Potential
Finding His Passion
Breaking The Ice
Colbie Dunbar
1. David
Why did my parents have to move out of town? If they’d stayed where they were, in the house where my brother, sister and I grew up, I’d be home by now being fed Christmas cookies by my grandmother. I’d be listening to my Uncle Saul sing festive songs off-key in between taking sips of mulled wine, and after he finished serenading us, he’d curl up in an armchair and snore until someone woke him up.
That house had three stories and was old and rambling, and it had hiding places in each room. As kids we were convinced there was a secret passage that led to a fairy glade or gnomes’ cave and tried to hack down a wall with an ax until Dad found us and banished us to the treehouse in the garden.
We’d plotted mad adventures in that treehouse, and my childhood memories were bound up in every part of our home and garden.
And now they’d sold it, saying it was not right for them with all us kids having left home. Mac, my brother and my sister, Sarah, and I had come home for a long weekend before the sale was finalized, and gone through our possessions. Old photos, maps we’d made of buried treasure, artwork that my mom had hung on the walls and toys we’d slept with were placed on my bedroom floor. I had to choose what to keep and what to donate. How do you give away a part of your childhood?
Saying goodbye to the home where I’d lived from birth until I went to college was heartbreaking. The last thing we did was dig up the time capsules. We had one each. Mom and Dad buried theirs the day they moved in, while my bro and sis and I put together our keepsakes when we started elementary school.
Our parents wanted us to do the same at their new home—a sprawling bungalow on a farm where they were raising goats. Goats! They were trying their hand at cheesemaking! Parents, not the goats, though technically they were in partnership with the animals. But it being winter, there’d be no digging in the ground. Not this holiday.
What did two retired academics know about making cheese? They called it a sea change. A new direction, and they’d hired a guy to work for them who lived in a small cottage on a far corner of their land.
Where is this house? Snow was billowing over the bare landscape, with nothing recognizable, just blobs of unidentified shapes. They’d said it was a mile past the T-junction but I’d gone… Shit! The engine groaned and seized up. The car was a rental, and I’d only picked it up thirty minutes earlier at the airport! The car guy had been ready to close up saying there was so much snow, no more flights would be arriving tonight. Tonight being Christmas Eve.
Red lights on the dashboard meant nothing to me—Mac was the one interested in cars—and I wished I’d come on the earlier flight and driven to our parents with him. Or had Mom and Dad pick me up. They’d warned me a storm was coming but I said I’d make it even if I had to crawl there. I’d stayed at the office even though we only worked a half day. The boss wanted everyone to finish their Christmas shopping and be with their families.
My mission was to corner the cute alpha who’d been working at our company less than a month. I’d heard him telling a colleague he’d be staying after everyone had left to finish a report.
But after checking myself out in the bathroom mirror and rinsing my mouth with mouthwash, I’d come out to find the guy in the arms of some other omega. “Oh, sorry,” I mumbled, backing away.
“It’s David, right?” the alpha, whose name was Samuel, asked.
“Yeah.” Some big romance I’d pictured with an alpha who wasn’t sure of my name.
“This is Fergus, my other half.”
“Hi. Nice to meet you. Merry Christmas.”
“Same to you,” Fergus replied, but he only had eyes for Samuel
Just as well I hadn’t invested much time lusting after the guy. My heart wasn’t broken, a little bruised perhaps. Another half-assed dream bites the dust!
But as I sat in the car going nowhere with a blizzard raging around me, my mind wandered back to Samuel and I blamed him for my situation. If he hadn’t had a Fergus, I might have been in his warm bed and not marooned in the middle of nowhere. “But you would have missed Christmas Eve with the family,” my inner voice whispered. Pfft! Why did my conscience have to remind me of that? Damn it.
I grabbed the phone, thinking my folks would rescue me. No signal. What? How could that be? I wasn’t that far out of town. But the phone had been giving me trouble, freezing and going off lately and I should have gotten it fixed. My fault.
Unable to contact my family, and with no way to get in touch with the rental company, I couldn’t sit where I was and freeze. But trudging through a snow storm was no picnic either. They might find me in the morning, stiff and frozen having breathed my last breath.
Wrapping my scarf around me, I grabbed the messenger bag with my laptop, wallet and phone, figuring if I locked the car, the suitcase would be safe until morning. There was nothing of monetary value in there. Clothes and four Christmas presents.
The presents for our extended family had been sent to my mom and dad’s but tonight was supposed to be just the five of us, and I hadn’t wanted my sneaky parents and siblings to peek if I had the gifts delivered to the house. So, I’d brought them with me.
But as I got out, and the force of the wind pinned me against the side of the car, I had doubts. The house had to be no more than a hundred yards along the road, but with no street lights and blinding snow, I couldn’t see a thi
ng.
Using the phone’s flashlight, I stumbled forward, trying to keep to what I assumed was the road. After picking up a long stick, I tapped it in front of me. Falling into and being swallowed by a gaping hole was not part of the plan.
As I squinted into the distance, tall dark swaying shadows suggested I was coming to a clump of trees and beyond, a small pinprick of light. Yes! There it is. The cold had seeped through my clothes, my face was frozen with a grimace in place, and non-stop shivering had my teeth chattering uncontrollably.
I made it past the trees, bent over against the wind, and would have shouted and jumped for joy at the sight of light shining from the windows of a house. But all I could manage was to fall against the front door and use what little strength I had to bang on it.
I sagged onto the step and slid into a sitting position. When the door cracked open and a sliver of light fell on me, I cried, “Mom? Dad?”
“Oh my God! What are you doing out in this weather?”
That didn’t sound like either of my parents or my siblings. A pair of strong hands heaved me up and hauled me inside into the warmth.
2. Ian
“I understand, Dad. It’s not your fault. I love you. Give my love to Greg. Merry Christmas.”
I put the phone down with a heavy heart and my eyes welled with tears. A glance at the presents under the tree had me howling, much like the wind outside.
My dad and stepdad were coming here for Christmas. They’d hoped to fly in yesterday but were trying to get one of their clients to sign a contract before the holidays. And now the airport was closed. They wouldn’t make it and I’d spend Christmas alone.
I thought of Viv and Rob Anderson, my employers who lived on the other side of the property. This was their first winter as both goat farmers and my boss. Two of their kids had arrived a few days ago and another would fly in tonight, Christmas Eve. And tomorrow on Christmas Day more of the family would arrive. Viv had invited me to spend the holiday with them, but I’d told her my dads would be visiting.
I’d met their two eldest children this morning when the weather report informed us a storm was headed in our direction, and we’d herded the goats into the barn.
Sarah, their daughter, had been worried the barn was too cold for them and asked about heating, but I explained as long as the building had no drafts—which it didn’t as I’d made sure of that myself—and they had plenty of space, straw to lie on and other goats to cuddle up with they’d be fine. The Andersons were new to the world of goats.
But as I stared at the twinkling lights on my small Christmas tree, I envied them. Their youngest son was coming in tonight. They’d be together and I’d be alone, though I wondered if he’d made it before the storm closed the airport.
If I called Viv and replayed what’d happened, she’d insist on me coming to their home for sure. But I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want a pity invite. I grabbed a beer and sat on the sofa, thinking of the fridge heaving with food for Christmas Day.
I’d have to cook the damn rib roast myself and had no idea how. Greg was the cook, dad and I being the helper elves doing what he told us. But I guessed the online cooking community would have instructions. The massive amount of alcohol, vegetables, fruit, nibbles and cookies would take a while to plow through. Maybe I could donate them.
But as I lay on the couch feeling sorry for myself and wishing I’d accepted my father’s invitation to go to them, a noise outside the front door had me lift my head. The wind was wailing and I wasn’t sure if a branch had fallen off a tree or I’d imagined it. No, it was a definite thump.
Half expecting to find an injured animal on the front step, I cautiously opened the door. Nothing. But a groan, barely audible above the blizzard, had me glance down. “Oh my God! What are you doing out in this weather?” I yelled as I got the guy up and sort of dragged him inside.
Trying to shove the door closed with my foot didn’t work. The wind was too strong. So, I leaned against it but the stranger’s limp body fell onto me. We were pressed against one another, me inhaling him. He was so cold with snow covering his cheeks and he was shivering violently. “I’ve got to get you warmed up.”
“I’ve… go to… get to… Mom and Dad,” he mumbled as I took his coat off and lay him on the sofa.
“Not tonight you won’t.” Thank God he found me. Thirty minutes later and he might not have made it. My first instinct was to strip him down and climb into bed with him naked. His clothes were soaked and I understood that was the best way to get body temperature up if you weren’t near a hospital.
But as color returned to his cheeks and his eyelids fluttered, I decided getting him changed into dry clothes and keeping him warm might be enough. All he had was a messenger bag so he’d have to wear something of mine. “Stay there.”
That was a stupid thing to say ‘cause the guy wasn’t going anywhere. Grabbing sweats, blankets and a couple of towels, I sat him up. “You need to get these clothes off.”
He glanced up, his eyes glazed. “Okay. Are you going to do that?”
He reminded me of someone but my thoughts were on getting rid of his wet clothes. Guess he won’t be much help. With a lot of difficulty, I removed his top layers, and despite being worried about him, I couldn’t help but admire his body. If we’d met under different circumstances…
Getting the sweatshirt on was like wrangling a boa constrictor, not that I’d ever met one or wrestled one. Wrapping a blanket around his top half, I yanked off his water-logged boots and socks.
We were left with the pants. Probably time to introduce myself. “Hey, I’m Ian.”
“David,” he mumbled.
My employer’s son? They must be worried and I should call them. But I needed to get him warmed up. “David, I need you to undress. Can you do that?” I held up the sweat pants. He shook his head. Awkward.
I considered calling the main house but it’d take them ages to walk through the snow—the road was probably impassable—and then what? David shouldn’t go outside again tonight. “Okay, I’ll help.”
The belt. Why did he have to be wearing one? “I’m going to undo your belt, David. Is that okay with you?”
“Mmmm.”
He flopped backward onto the sofa and my hands gingerly made their way to his hips. The metal was cold but being so close to his crotch had my fingers shaking. If anyone peeked in the window, this would look bad. Though that was unlikely in the middle of a storm, unless there were any more stragglers wandering along the road.
Buckle undone. But the pants needed to be slid under him, though if I stood at the end of the couch I could tug them off. “David, I’m removing your jeans. Can you lift your hips?”
His knees wobbled but we got them as far as his thighs. I tried not to look at his underwear and what lay underneath, but despite the cold and his exhaustion this guy was packing. Ignore it.
Get the wet pair off and dry ones on. I’d done the easy part. No way was I going to get the bottoms on so I gave up. His underwear appeared dry, or as good as. I wrapped him in a couple more blankets and grabbed the phone to call his parents.
Viv’s relieved squeal shot through the phone as I gave her the details. We agreed it was sensible for him to stay the night, and they’d collect him in the morning. At least I’d made one family happy. They must have been so worried.
When I’d been expecting my dad and his husband, I’d made up my bed for them. The cabin was tiny with one bedroom and I’d been preparing to sleep on the sofa. Couch it was for me, though it was a little damp.
After scrambling eggs, which along with pancakes, was almost the limit of my cooking skills, I sat beside David who had fallen asleep. My eyes raked over the strong jaw and tangle of messy locks. He stirred.
“Something smells good.” He opened one eye and studied me. “Hi.”
“Hello. Feeling better?” I asked.
“Much.”
Those dark blue eyes studied me and I shivered, wondering what he was thinking. Stop. He�
��s my employer’s son.
3. David
Something tickled my nose, and I sneezed. It was warm… and safe, and I snuggled beneath it. It was infused with an enticing aroma that added to the sense of security. There was a faint moaning in the distance which I took to be the wind, not the roaring I’d experienced when I’d been in the middle of the blizzard.
Blizzard! I shot up and felt around me in the darkness. I was in a bed but whose? And was I dead? Had I departed the world in the snow storm and this was the afterlife? My attention was drawn to a soft tapping, and I opened my mouth but made no sound.
“David?” How did the unseen person know who I was? But in the movies I’d watched about the hereafter, the supreme being had a list of new arrivals’ names, so it made sense.
“Yes?”
“May I come in.”
What choice did I have? “Okay.” Light slid in and illuminated a simple bedroom and what appeared to be a living area behind the tall figure that leaned on the doorframe.
“Just checking you’re doing okay.”
The fragrance of something yummy drifted in with the new arrival. Him or was it food? Perhaps both. “Where am I?”
“On your parents’ farm.”
Not dead. “Where are they? Has something happened to them?” I stumbled out of bed and headed toward the door, frantic they’d been hurt during the storm. But I was unsteady on my feet and the man—an alpha—caught me.
His warm breath on my cheek had me grasping the fact that I was alone in a stranger’s home lacking in strength. I should leave, though his presence wasn’t threatening.
“Hey, not so fast.” Strong arms held me upright. I’m Ian, and I work for your mom and dad. You made it here last night but with the bad weather, your parents agreed they’d collect you this morning.”
Memories trickled back of eggs, eating them or being fed, I couldn’t recall. My hand brushed over my thigh, close to his crotch. I glanced down and studied what I was wearing. Dark blue sweat shirt and my underwear. “How did I….?”