The Alpha's Mage

by Claire Cullen

  He’d never seen a mark with his own eyes. Sure, he knew Orion had one, but it was tucked somewhere out of sight. Lorcan’s mark was beautiful; dark ink on his pale skin, shades of gray that picked out the contours of the moon, its shadows and craters. He had the sudden sense that he’d never grow tired of staring at it, of watching it change.

  Lorcan shivered under his touch. Knox eased his hand away, bent his head, and touched his lips to the arc of the moon. The mage jolted, turning around to stare at him.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Getting to know you.”

  Knox urged him to face forward, his hands gripping Lorcan’s shoulders to hold him in place, and kissed his mark again, tasting the power on the mage’s skin.

  Lorcan’s breath hitched, a soft moan bitten off as it fought to escape his lips.

  “Wait,” he gasped.

  Knox pulled back, giving him some space as the mage seemed to grapple with himself. Lorcan twisted around to peer at Knox over his shoulder.

  “I… I don’t…”

  Emotions flickered across his face, almost too fast for Knox to register—fear, anticipation, wonder, confusion. Knox knew what he wanted, what instinct was calling him to do. That didn’t mean Lorcan felt the same way. He forced himself to ease right back, keep his hands to himself, and talk to the mage.

  “You can say no. Nothing has to happen here if you don’t want it to.”

  He wanted Lorcan to want this. His wolf ego didn’t thrive on force or fear.

  Lorcan shuffled around to face him, moving to sit and drawing one knee up to his chest.

  “I don’t know what we’re doing, or what it means, or… or…”

  “You were in Maken Pack a while, right? Bound to another wolf? You must have some idea…”

  The lost look on Lorcan’s face became something close to shame.

  “It was just a training bond.”

  “A bond’s a bond.”

  Lorcan avoided his eyes.

  “I’m not sure that’s true. Colt barely looked at me. He, um… he had a girlfriend. The bite was just so I could learn the right magic. It didn’t mean anything, not to him.”

  “He barely looked at you?” Which implied he’d never touched, never tasted…

  “Babysitting trainee mages was a job the pack liked to foist on the weaker alphas.”

  “Lucky them. So many mages, they didn’t have a place to put them all,” Knox said dryly.

  “Colt never looked at me the way you’re looking at me.”

  Knox spoke plainly. “I want you. But I don’t just take what I want. I could, but I won’t.” Being an alpha wasn’t just about having power. It was about how you used it.

  “I want to understand why I feel the way I feel. To know what it means to be a mage. I don’t know anything about destiny or—”

  Knox winced. Throwing around words like fate and destiny was a bad move on his part. He had to keep things simple, to keep them real.

  “The mage bond, at its heart, is a sexual one.”

  Lorcan gave a half-shake of his head.

  “Colt never…”

  “How’d it feel all those weeks, him banging his girlfriend, not giving you a second glance?”

  “I could do without hearing her high-pitched screeches and breathy moans ever again.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  Lorcan dug his fingers into his knee. “It’s stupid. I didn’t even like him. But knowing he was giving all his attention to someone else and not me…”

  “It drove you crazy.”

  “Worse. It hurt. Like an ache in my chest. Nothing I did impressed him. No matter how hard I tried, he barely gave me the time of day. He didn’t care if I had food or if I slept or—”

  Fury rose in Knox as Lorcan related his treatment at Colt’s hands. A bonded alpha’s first responsibility was to the care of their mage. To neglect them like that, when there were so few to go around, when they were so treasured by packs like his… It made his blood boil.

  “Bastard. They weren’t just training you to be a mage—they were training you to be a doormat.”

  “You’re saying things would be different with you?” Lorcan eyed him with no small amount of skepticism.

  “Hell, yes, they’d be different.”

  “And this getting to know me, touching my mark… that’s all a part of it?”

  Knox stretched, watching Lorcan’s eyes follow the move. “I’m a wolf, you’re a mage. There’s a pull there, between us.” He gestured from his chest to Lorcan’s. “I feel it. I know you do, too. Let’s see where it takes us.”

  “You won’t bite me? I’m not ready for a bond, not yet.”

  “Couldn’t even if I wanted to. Your neck is still healing. Doesn’t mean we can’t get a taste of each other. You must be on edge, all those weeks of pent-up tension and no way to release it.”

  Lorcan let out a huff of breath that was as close to a yes as Knox suspected he was going to get.

  “I get to touch you too?”

  Knox canted his head to the side, bemused by the question. “You want to?”

  He got a decisive nod from the so far hesitant mage. “Yes.”

  “Be my guest.”

  There was no need to waste any more time. He sprang to his feet and shrugged off his T-shirt, letting it fall to the floor. He reached for his worn jeans next, ready to shove them down his hips.

  “Wait.”

  Knox paused, glancing down at the mage in question.

  “Um… not so fast?”

  He grinned. “I can do slow. Not much practiced at striptease, but I’ll give it a shot.”

  In answer, Lorcan held out a hand. Knox took it and let the mage pull him back down to the floor.

  “Do you carry a mark?” the mage asked, his curious eyes searching Knox’s bare chest.

  “Nope. That honor is all yours. Marks you as ours. It doesn’t work the other way around. You don’t see magic families keeping pet wolves.”

  Lorcan tipped his head up, holding Knox’s gaze. “Is that how you see me? As a pet?”

  Knox reached out, pressing his fingertips to the hollow of Lorcan’s neck and drawing them slowly upward. He felt Lorcan swallow, felt the fast pulse beneath the mage’s skin and the hitch of his breath.

  “I see you as you are. Sorcerer. Mage. Man.”

  His fingers slid under Lorcan’s chin, and he nudged it upward until they were face to face, pressing a soft kiss to the mage’s lips. That startled Lorcan, his eyes opening wide before fluttering closed again. Knox took that as permission to keep kissing. He sucked on Lorcan’s lower lip and bit down gently, earning a gasp that became a low moan. His free hand tangled in the mage’s hair, using his firm hold to deepen the kiss. Lorcan’s lips parted, a welcome invitation, and Knox slipped his tongue into the mage’s mouth, tracing his upper lip before teasing his tongue. He felt Lorcan shudder, the mage’s hand grasping his shoulder as if to anchor himself.

  Knox eased away, nudging his nose against Lorcan’s as they caught their breaths. He let go of Lorcan’s hair and let his hand drift lower, fingers teasing over the mage mark once again. He felt a sense of wonder every time he saw it, touched it, pictured it in his mind. He splayed his hand across it again, and Lorcan laughed softly.

  “What?” Knox asked, his tone just a touch too sharp. He didn’t like being mocked.

  Lorcan swallowed his laughter, his eyes wide. “Nothing.”

  Knox waited him out. The mage’s awkward shrug told him he was about to hear something that would piss him off.

  “It’s just… I spent so long hiding my mark, afraid that it would give me away, believing that it was a blight or a burden. You’re the first person who’s ever looked at it like it’s something good.”

  It was painfully obvious that Lorcan really didn’t know the first thing about what being a wolf mage meant. He was unaware of his purpose or his power. It had suited someone—maybe many someones—to keep him ignorant. Not just Maken Pack,
but whoever had raised him without a true sense of self. For a wolf, their place within a pack was key to their identity. He was alpha and watcher, and those two titles told him so much about himself. It was wrong that Lorcan could say the words ‘wolf mage’ and have no idea of the weight or history behind it.

  “It is good, something you’ve been graced with. It’s not an affliction.”

  “It’s never felt that way before. But when you touch it…”

  Knox pressed his hand to the mark again, reveling in the pull of magic against his skin.

  “You feel that, huh?” He didn’t need to ask as Lorcan shivered under his touch.

  “Yeah,” Lorcan croaked. “Why does it feel so good?”

  “My wolf likes the taste of your magic, and your magic likes the scent of my wolf.”

  Knox stood, reaching down to grab the belt loops of Lorcan’s jeans and tug the mage up after him. He considered the bed, the floor, even the ground outside the hut, but then he glanced up at the ceiling with a hum of consideration. It wasn’t enough to show Lorcan what being a wolf mage meant. Knox wanted to use it to take him apart, stealing the chance to explore every inch of Lorcan’s skin at the same time.

  He caught Lorcan’s hands, holding them in his as he backed the mage across the hut toward the far wall. They came to a stop under the wooden beam, and Knox peered up at the low rope that he sometimes hung a lamp on during dark winter nights. He reached up and gave it a careful tug, satisfied when it held.

  “Can you hold on, or should I tie you?”

  Lorcan’s gaze jumped from him to the rope, anticipation, excitement, and fear all warring with each other.

  “I… I don’t know.”

  “Let me show you.”

  With a smooth tug, he drew Lorcan’s arms upward, forcing the mage to stretch until his body was one lean line. He caught the rope, looping it around Lorcan’s wrists before letting him grasp it with his fingers. Not tying him, but just helping him hold on.

  “What…?”

  “I’m just giving you something to anchor to.”

  He stepped away and circled Lorcan, drinking in every inch of skin his eyes could see. His gaze was drawn again and again to the wolf mark on Lorcan’s back. But it wasn’t enough just to look. He moved behind Lorcan, pressing against his back and sliding a hand across his waist. He teased two fingers under the waistband of Lorcan’s pants, and the mage’s breath hitched.

  “Can I?”

  “Yes, anything.” Lorcan’s voice shook, but he sounded determined.

  Knox popped the button and drew the zipper slowly downward. His fingers tangled in the jeans and he dropped into a crouch, dragging the material down Lorcan’s legs inch by inch. His fingers teased the mage’s skin until all of Lorcan was bared to him. He knelt up and pressed a kiss to the small of the mage’s back.

  “Gorgeous.”

  He pushed to his feet, his fingers caressing Lorcan’s skin—his thighs, his ass, his back, his shoulders. He teased around the edge of the mage mark, the power tingling against his fingertips.

  Lorcan shivered and pushed into his touch, seeking more. Knox slipped an arm around his waist, steadying him as he pressed his lips to the nape of the mage’s neck. The simple motion drew a deep moan from Lorcan as his magic intertwined with Knox’s wolf. The strength of it took Knox by surprise, sending a burst of heat straight to his groin.

  “Knox?” Confusion tinged the wonder in Lorcan’s voice.

  “You feel it too?”

  “It’s so much. I can’t…”

  “You can.”

  He let go and circled Lorcan slowly, skin brushing skin, a hand covering the nape of the mage’s neck while he kissed him, exploring his mouth.

  Knox broke the kiss reluctantly, catching Lorcan’s gaze. “Every time we touch, it feels like lightning across my skin. Your magic tastes like spiced honey.” There was a sweetness there, laced through with something tart and hot.

  His hand left Lorcan’s neck and drifted lower, circling his mage mark idly. He kissed Lorcan’s mouth again, and then his chin. Then he dipped his head to kiss the pulse point of the mage’s neck, feeling the frantic beat against his lips.

  Slowly, Knox kissed and tasted his way down Lorcan’s body, his hands catching the mage’s waist and holding him in place. Lorcan’s body reacted to his touch, to their closeness, his cock hard and straining upward.

  “If your magic tastes this good, I can’t wait to find out how the rest of you tastes.”

  He parted his mouth and slipped the head of Lorcan’s cock past his lips. The sound of surprise and ecstasy that escaped Lorcan was glorious. Knox raised his eyes, staring up the long, lean line of Lorcan’s body as he took the mage deeper. Lorcan’s hands clenched tighter around the rope binding him, and he threw his head back, coming with a hoarse cry.

  Knox swallowed around him, watching Lorcan come apart under his hands, every sensation playing out across the mage’s face. When Lorcan’s moans died down, the only sound his panted breaths, Knox eased his mouth off Lorcan’s cock. He stood slowly and tugged the mage close, kissing his lips. Lorcan hesitated, tasting himself on Knox’s, and then kissed him back in desperation.

  Knox slid his hands down to cup Lorcan’s ass, lifting him and urging the mage’s legs around his hips.

  “How… how should I…?” Lorcan’s gaze was cast downward, licking swollen lips as he watched Knox’s erection pressed against his stomach.

  “Like this.” He rocked his hips into Lorcan, using the friction and heat between them.

  He didn’t think Lorcan would manage a second orgasm so soon. But the mage surprised him, his cock growing stiff with each drag of their bodies against one another.

  Knox held Lorcan to him with one hand, and with the other he caressed the wolf mark. The power that drew them to each other surged through him, the push and pull of the moon. It would grow stronger each day they were together, each time they touched, kissed, got lost in each other’s bodies. This, what they were doing now, was just temporary—a bond fueled by sexual energy. The real bond would come when Knox marked Lorcan, claiming him as his and his alone. Wolf to mage, and mage to—

  He lost his train of thought as they rutted against each other. Lorcan panted for breath, his eyes fixed on Knox. His hands clung desperately to the rope that held him, that stretched him out for Knox to see and touch. Lorcan muffled a cry as Knox drew his fingers slowly across his cock, still wet with the mage’s release. He kissed Lorcan again as he eased those same fingers around to press between his cheeks. Lorcan’s breath hitched in a bitten-off moan as Knox sank a slick finger inside him. He was tight, hot, and untouched, his body yielding inch by inch to Knox before that simple touch took him apart.

  Knox couldn’t hold out any longer, coming hard as he swallowed Lorcan’s cry of pleasure. The intensity of the release took his breath away. His legs threatened to give out, so he eased his hand away and reached up quickly to free Lorcan’s hands. They sank slowly to the floor, the mage clutched tight to him. He drew Lorcan to rest against his chest, holding him close.

  “Good start, huh?” he murmured.

  “Start?”

  Lorcan was barely able to get the word out as he fought to catch his breath. Knox gave them both a moment, burying his nose in Lorcan’s hair, enjoying his scent and the lingering buzz of magic.

  “You’ve heard about wolves and their insatiable appetites. It’s all true, Lorcan. But with wolves and mages, it just happens to be very… focused. All my wolf sees in the world right now is you.”

  “Focused is good,” Lorcan murmured, his head pressed to Knox’s chest, his fingers tracing idle patterns across the bare skin.

  “Yeah. It is.”

  7

  A hoarse cry jerked Lorcan awake. He lay there trying to get his bearings. Had he cried out? It was still dark, just before dawn. Knox lay sleeping next to him, but it wasn’t a peaceful slumber. The alpha’s whole body was tense, muscles rippling beneath his skin. If Lorcan didn’t k
now any better, he’d think the alpha was on the verge of shifting. Did wolves shift in their sleep? Concerned, he reached out, hoping his touch might soothe Knox. But as soon as his hand made contact, the room faded into nothingness. What the…?

  He was standing in the forest, in twilight. There was noise and movement all around him, but he paid it no mind. His eyes were trained on the lifeless body laid out on the forest floor. It had once been a wolf; he knew that without question. The scent was pack, even though what was left was barely recognizable. An overwhelming sense of horror flooded him. He sank to a crouch on the forest floor, rocked by the howl that escaped his chest—sorrow, anger… and a deep, primal fear. Wolves rushed toward him through the trees, the rest of the pack coming to his aid. All out searching to bring their lost cub home. Joel.

  Lorcan came back to himself with a jolt. He was exactly where he’d been moments before—in bed with Knox, his hand resting tentatively on Knox’s shoulder. The alpha had settled again, falling back into a restless sleep, seemingly unaware of what Lorcan had just experienced. He knew what it was, of course. Visions weren’t unknown among druids. They were no seers, but now and then they caught glimpses. The past, the future. Sometimes warnings, sometimes not. Why had he been shown that? Were those Knox’s eyes he’d seen through? Was that Knox’s anguished howl that had torn at his heart? He was certain it was a glimpse into the past, he sensed that much clearly—but the rest was a mystery.

  Disturbed and confused, he lay back down on the bed to watch Knox sleep. Maybe the wolf had needed to share that; maybe Lorcan needed to see it. When the time was right, he’d ask.

  Sleep lured him back into its embrace, no matter how hard he tried to keep his eyes open. Knox was peaceful once more, nightmare shared and forgotten. But Lorcan couldn’t forget it so easily. Who was Joel? And why was he dead?

  Lorcan woke a second time to the sun bathing his body, nightmares forgotten. He stretched, luxuriating in the play of heat across his bare skin.