“Good call. I wouldn’t want to upset my future mate by tearing his brother apart.”
“Gods, you have a one-track mind.” Elijah bared his teeth. “Stay away from him, Graydon. That’s the only warning I’m going to give you, and while I would hate to ruin Lorcan’s gathering by fighting you, I will if I have to. There’s nothing I won’t do to protect Ethan.”
With that, the Green Mountain alpha turned and strode away. His steps were purposeful, yet not hurried. He showed no concern for turning his back on five potential enemies. Graydon sincerely hoped they would eventually form a bond as brothers. If not…well, there was nothing Graydon wouldn’t do to possess Ethan as his mate. Other than the protection of the pack, Ethan’s needs were paramount. In that, he and Elijah were of like minds.
“What would you have us do, Alpha” Kael asked.
Pulling up his knees, Graydon dangled his hands over them and let his head fall back against the tree trunk. “Nothing.” He inhaled deeply and smiled. His wolf let out a howl. “If I’m not mistaken, this matter will resolve itself soon.”
He stood abruptly. “In the meantime, I need to run off some energy.” He shifted without saying another word and bounded into the woods.
****
“Come on, Milo, those big, fat tears of yours aren’t going to work on me.”
Griffin bounced the pup in his arms as he walked him around outside. “I know you’re not hungry or wet, so you may as well calm down. Your father is getting the sleep he needs and you’re just going to have to get used to my carrying you instead of him.”
The pup opened his mouth wide, as if getting ready to let out a real shifter-worthy howl, then shut it again. He blinked at Griffin a few times before uttering a burbling sound and settling against Griffin’s shoulder.
“That’s a good boy.” Griffin patted Milo’s back to both soothe and praise, surprised at how satisfying it was to exert control over this pup as if he were his sire.
I am his sire, he corrected himself. Or, rather, he would be in a few short days.
It was hard to believe how his life had changed in the blink of an eye. In less than a day, he’d gone from resigned to never having Ryan to being allowed to dictate the omega’s actions. No one would argue his right to direct Ryan back to bed this morning after he’d fed Milo. The pack could get by on the bread he’d made yesterday. There would be no more of the boy running himself ragged.
The only catch was that Griffin would have to live in close quarters with the alpha and his family for a while. It was a test of sorts. Griffin got that, and because it was all done in the interest of protecting Ryan and Milo, he wasn’t going to object to it even in his own mind. Besides, living in the alpha’s quarters would elevate his status in the pack. Mating with Ryan was its own reward, of course. But anything that benefitted Griffin from this point on would also help Ryan. The sweet omega deserved whatever Griffin could provide him. That was especially so given that Ryan had declined an opportunity to mate with another alpha in order to have Griffin.
And speaking of which, a harried-looking Elijah was heading straight for them. The guy looked as if he’d slept poorly, his hair mussed and his expression almost sad. Griffin gauged whether to quickly take Milo back into the longhouse, then decided that there was little chance the guest alpha would start something with a pup in the way. While he didn’t know the man well, or at all really, what he’d seen told him this alpha was too honorable for that. Plus, he felt kind of sorry for him. He knew how he must feel having lost the opportunity to mate with Ryan.
Elijah started talking before he reached him. “I’m going to apologize in advance for breaking protocol and speaking with you directly.” He stopped a few feet away, his expression grim. “And I’ll give the same apology to Lorcan when next I see him.”
“O-kay.”
Griffin wasn’t sure how else to respond. He was going to have to tread the fine line between respect for a visiting alpha and assertiveness as an almost-mate and sire. He really wasn’t sure how this confrontation was going to play out. In an abundance of caution, he angled his body so that the side where he held Milo was farther away from Elijah.
The alpha folded his arms and braced his legs, all trace of the easy-going modern shifter gone. “I simply want to know why you think you’re a better choice for Ryan.”
Not having anticipated the question, Griffin went with the naked truth. “I don’t. Mating with another alpha is obviously a better situation for Ryan.”
“So, how come I’m standing here disappointed and frankly pissed off while you’re standing there holding that pup as if he were your own?”
“Because Ryan loves me,” Griffin replied with continued honesty. He had nothing to hide, after all. “I was prepared to see him go, but he had other plans.” He shrugged and pressed Milo closer to him. “And, I’m not so noble as to cast away something that I want more than my next breath.”
Elijah shook his head. “Letting an omega pick between the two of us is folly.”
The remark surprised Griffin. “I would have thought you’d approve of his having that kind of control over his life. You’re the one who brought his omega brother to this gathering.”
The man’s eyes clouded over. For a brief moment, utter fury showed through his eyes. “A decision I’ve come to regret, if you must know. My modernity has its limits, especially when a servient pack member like an omega is at risk.”
Affronted at the suggestion, Griffin stood straighter and had to tamp down his wolf. “I will take the best care with Ryan and Milo. Lorcan knows this or he wouldn’t have given his approval.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Elijah waved away the response. “But you must know I can give them and Ryan’s future pups a greater position than you. My pack is better established, too, and with more resources than this one, despite Lorcan’s impressive build-up of it.”
“I do know all that,” Griffin replied quietly, yet stiffly. The truth was hard to hear, although nothing more than what he’d said to himself and Ryan.
As if sensing the tension between the men, Milo mewed with renewed temper. Griffin shushed him and rubbed his chin on the pup’s downy head, as much for his own comfort as the pup’s.
Not willing to be on the defensive anymore, Griffin spoke up. “May I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Why do you want him so much? I mean, you barely know him. Ryan is perfect in my eyes, certainly, but then I’ve known him his whole life. You’ve spent what, a couple of hours in his company? Seems like your reaction is overdone under the circumstances.”
A thought occurred to him. “Is it merely pride that you lost out?”
Elijah looked affronted. “Of course not! I’m not so petty, and in answer to your first question, I want Ryan because I’m attracted to him. He’s pretty and sweet.”
“Like virtually any omega.”
“And, he obviously can give me pups,” the alpha continued as if Griffin had said nothing.
Understanding hit Griffin right between the eyes. “That’s why. Having whelped Milo, Ryan is clearly not barren, something that you’re worried about now because of your own brother. Virtually any alpha would want a virgin mate, but you’ve been forced to face the nearly impossible—having a mate who can’t give you an heir. Fecundity is what appeals to you.”
Elijah’s expression turned positively thunderous. “So what if it is? I don’t have to explain myself to you, Beta.”
“No sir, you don’t.” With the truth hanging between them lit up like a shooting star, Griffin felt on more solid ground. “You started this conversation, not me. I’m going to end it by saying that I love Ryan. I have for years. If he couldn’t give me anymore pups beyond Milo, that would be fine with me because it’s Ryan I want, not his fertility.”
He paced away and jiggled a now-fussing pup. “Forgive my bluntness but you don’t deserve him if you can’t see beyond his nature and appreciate the person he is.”
; Elijah’s arms dropped to his sides. “Now, you’re putting words in my mouth. I like him just fine and probably would come to love him in time.”
Griffin shook his head. “Not good enough. Not for Ryan.”
Gods, how do I dare to be so bold? His strength came from his love of Ryan, naturally, and the trust the omega put in him. If there were to be consequences later for insulting a guest alpha, he’d take them. No sacrifice was too great for Ryan. Any trace of doubt left in him about whether Ryan was making the right decision vanished in the face of Elijah’s practical interest. If the alpha had said he truly loved Ryan against all reason, those reservations would have remained. Not now.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “If you find insult in my words and want retribution, I’ll accept whatever Lorcan decrees.”
“Even if that means a fight?”
Griffin’s wolf whined. He didn’t like the idea of combat with an alpha, even one on the lean side like Elijah. But…Ryan. “If that’s what your pride demands. If you think Ryan will pick you should you win, you’re wrong. He won’t.”
Elijah leaned forward, although he made no move to step closer. “I might kill you…”
Griffin swallowed down his fear. “Especially not then. You see, you really don’t know him at all.”
Elijah’s demeanor changed in an instant. He went from tense and confrontational, to relaxed almost to the point of looking defeated. Not that it was in the nature of an alpha to ever convey such sentiment. But he was no longer threatening and Griffin’s wolf curled up with a chuff of relief.
“I’m sorry,” the man said. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. “I didn’t mean that. Not at all. I wouldn’t disrespect Lorcan’s hospitality that way, plus I understand you’re who Ryan wants. I do believe in omegas having choices.” He shrugged. “I guess I was hoping your interest wasn’t as strong as mine and I could somehow convince you to…”
Before Elijah could finish his thought, his beta, Graham, came running up.
“Alpha?”
Elijah turned to face him. “I told you to stick by Ethan.” His tone was way angrier than anything he’d used with Griffin. Seriously pissed off.
And Graham bared his neck as he came skidding to a stop. “Sorry, but its urgent that you go to him.”
“What’s wrong?” Elijah asked the question at the same time his feet started moving.
Graham swiveled on his heel to pull up beside him. “I’m not sure, except fuck, Alpha, I am sure, and you’re not going to believe this.”
The rest of the words were lost to Griffin as the two men raced back to where the Green Mountain Pack had made camp.
“Come on, Milo. We’d better go wake our alpha. Something’s going on and he’ll want to know about it.”
Griffin hurried back to the longhouse, relieved that his confrontation with Elijah had been interrupted, yet worried that something bad was about to happen to the gathering.
****
Ethan batted away the image of his brother’s face hovering over him. “Go away, Elijah. I’m mad at you.”
Rolling onto his side, he curled in on himself. Goosebumps popped up on his naked skin, while at the same time, he kicked the blankets off his legs to ease the heat plaguing him. I’m sick. The thought made no sense. He rarely succumbed to illness and nothing had ever made him feel this bad. He wanted to both jump out of his skin and shrink back inside it. His dick stood erect and his balls ached, a clear sign of a fever.
“I need to shift and run.” That was the solution. Turning into his wolf form always made him better.
When he tried to rise, however, Elijah pushed him back down—and oh so gently. His fingers brushed lightly over Ethan’s sweaty face. “Open your eyes, Ethan. Look at me. Please.”
Ethan had never heard such…fear. Yes, that was the word for it. Elijah was afraid, and nothing scared him. Nothing. For all his modern ways, the man was a big, bad alpha who never backed down from a fight or took the easy way out.
Ethan forced his eyes open. “I’m okay.” His voice quavered. “I just need my wolf to shake it off. I’ll be fine soon. You’ll see.” Those words of reassurance took all of his energy. He closed his eyes and shuddered.
He popped them open again when his hole spasmed and something wet slid past it. Understanding hit him like a hammer between the eyes. “Elijah!”
“I know.” Elijah crouched beside him, worry shining through his gaze, his hand stroking Ethan’s hair non-stop. “You’re fine. Everything is going to be all right.”
Ethan grabbed his wrist as panic reared up. “I’m in heat.”
“Yes.”
His brother’s matter-of-fact tone should have been comforting to him. It wasn’t. Nothing could ease his growing alarm. No, that wasn’t true. There was something, someone, who could make all of this misery go away. The itch in his ass intensified, as did the slick coursing through his channel to coat his inner thighs.
“Let me pass!”
The stern command, issued in that deep voice Ethan had come to know so well, set his nerves standing on end.
“If it’s a fight you want, you’ll have it, but I won’t leave.”
Looking past Elijah, Ethan saw the source of the commotion looming beyond the open camper doors. “Graydon.” The name came out in barely a whisper, yet the man’s gaze homed in on him. That look was enough to send Ethan’s whole body into a kind of convulsion.
Elijah hopped out of the camper and faced Graydon. The two alphas squared off with their respective betas and gammas ranged around them. Despite his own misery, Ethan forced himself to not only watch, but sit up. He rubbed his ass against his pallet in the vain attempt to ease the discomfort.
“You did this to him!” Elijah had never sound more furious—or dangerous.
“Of course, I did.” Graydon folded his arms and braced his feet. He seemed entirely unconcerned that an angry alpha and his men were a mere few feet away and seconds from attacking. “I told you the problem was with his former mate, not Ethan himself.” He scoffed. “Barren omega? What nonsense.”
Elijah took a step forward. “I’m going to kill you.”
“No!” Ethan used all his strength to crawl to the doorway and hold his hand out.
“You can certainly try,” Graydon allowed with a nod of his head. “After I’ve mated Ethan and seen him through his heat.”
All Elijah did was growl in response, a guttural sound from his throat that was, again, at odds with the man Ethan knew and loved. It didn’t even make any sense. Wasn’t this what his brother had wanted for him all along—to be properly mated and bred to someone who could provide for and protect him? Only mindless alpha pride would be served by a confrontation. That wasn’t Elijah’s nature. He didn’t go looking for a fight when logic and reason would serve the situation better. It was, however, the epitome of the Strongblood alpha, a man whose civility was barely leashed. Carnage was imminent if Ethan didn’t do something fast.
“Please, brother, I want him.” He forced the words out loudly so that everyone could hear.
And there was a growing group of dominants now that included Lorcan and his Rogues. The air was redolent with tension and male energy that could only mean bloodshed if he didn’t end it in the only way he knew how. The only way that made sense.
In the only way I truly want.
It was perhaps simply his mindless need and omega nature egging him on. He didn’t think so, though. From the moment he’d set eyes on the man, he’d wanted Graydon. That desire had led him to allowing himself to be mounted with a clear head. Was making the decision in the throes of his heat truly any different? His wolf whined, not in distress, but in encouragement.
Pushing up to his knees, he held out both hands. “Graydon!”
The alpha moved with dizzying speed, brushing past those in his path before they could react to stop him. In one swift move, he pulled Ethan into his arms. Just the feel of his skin and the security of his hold eased Ethan’s distress. He clung to h
im and nuzzled his face in the crook of Graydon’s neck.
“Yes, yes,” he sobbed. “Take me somewhere and make me yours.”
A rumble in Graydon’s chest and fingers gripping his ass were all the warnings he got before Graydon’s cock slid inside him. Ethan cried out and came, cum splattering his torso. He rubbed against Graydon, ignoring the bite of pain when his cockhead became overstimulated. Then an unfamiliar pressure around the ring of his hole made him groan and shudder. The dick inside him was swelling, stretching him beyond anything he’d ever experienced before.
Graydon’s knot. He clung more tightly to the alpha, and his wolf howled. There was a faint answering call that he understood. He no longer dismissed it as his imagination. Even now, he couldn’t believe it was truly happening. The mating hadn’t occurred, and yet the way in which his wolf settled at the sound told him it was real.
Ethan was aware of a what seemed like a million voices shouting things that he couldn’t understand, nor cared to. He felt anchored by Graydon, held and impaled by a comforting strength and the swollen knot that compelled him to remain tied to this man. Right where he wanted to be. It was like finding his true place in the world, something he hadn’t realized he was missing until that moment. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. A giggle erupted past his lips as almost giddy relief enveloped him.
A stiff breeze rifled his hair, making him shiver. Except it was he who moved, swiftly as Graydon ran. Ethan clung more tightly and clenched his hole in invitation when the itch started again. The scent of the woods—pine and rotting vegetation, small animals and fresh scat—assaulted his nose. Except that was too harsh a word. It was nothing negative, only more sources of comfort. He loved the outdoors even in his human form.
Then his head spun and he landed on a bed of softness, moss by the smell and feel of it. Plus, Graydon’s thick arm cradled him, keeping his back from pressing against the ground. Ethan’s legs spread wide to the point of painfulness, but that hardly registered as the cock imbedded within him somehow slid deeper. The pressure of the knot was just shy of being really painful. And that bite of pain miraculously added to his pleasure. His arousal rose and peaked again. He cried out and arched up to meet Graydon’s attempts to thrust. His incessant itch was rubbed away by Graydon’s powerful manipulation of his cock. It was as if the thing writhed within Ethan.
Omegas Unchained (The Rogue Pack Book 8) Page 12