“It’s not the end of the world, Ryan, if our guests have to do without. This gathering is in overtime, so they’ll understand. Let me take Milo.”
“No, thanks. One of the other omegas will watch him. You should rest after being up all night.”
“Don’t be silly, sweetheart. I can function on little or no sleep.”
“So can I. And I’m not being stupid.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it, which I do now. And I didn’t call you stupid.”
“Silly or stupid, it’s the same thing. You don’t think I can make my own decisions.”
“You shouldn’t have to. You’re an omega. Anyway, I’m here to do it for you. Hand over Milo and go back to your pallet for a few more hours.”
That’s when it happened. Griffin had reached to take Milo from Ryan’s arms and Ryan’s face shifted without his conscious thought. He’d snapped his jaws at the beta, and his teeth had missed grazing Griffin’s fingers by mere inches.
After a few tense seconds in which Ryan cringed while holding Milo tightly and Griffin stared wide-eyed at him, Griffin had simply dropped his hands and nodded.
“Fine. If that’s what you want, I’ll allow it. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, I’ll be outside, ready to watch Milo.” The beta had left the kitchen without a backwards glance.
The exchange and its outcome had left Ryan a bit shaken. No, very much so. He’d never been so aggressive and disrespectful with any dominant, let alone his future mate. Still, he couldn’t quite manage to regret standing up for himself. Bread was a big staple of their shifter diet while in human form and they had a lot of mouths to feed. It was an easy, inexpensive way to fill bellies. And he was the best baker of anyone in the pack. Joey and Kyle had said so. Knowing that he had a special role to play meant something to him. It gave him pride, a feeling that he’d never really had before.
He did appreciate the extra sleep and rest he’d gotten in the last couple of days courtesy of Griffin, as well as how much the beta was willing to take on pup-duty with Milo. And yet, some part of him had rebelled, and continued to do so, at the idea he was no longer going to be able to make decisions about his own life and body. Of course, as a servient shifter, and an omega at that, he had never really expected to. Not totally anyway. There had to be middle ground, though. Surely he and Griffin could work out a plan in which the beta recognized that Ryan had some autonomy without disrespecting Griffin’s position and authority.
Determined and nervous in equal measure, he finished up the dishes and filled a mug with freshly-brewed coffee. As far as he knew, Griffin hadn’t had any that morning, and knowing how much the man loved it, Ryan figured it would be a good way to initiate the peace talks he intended.
He found Griffin sitting on the last step of the staircase leading to the backyard. Ryan’s heart fluttered a bit at the confirmation that his intended mate hadn’t gone far. The man had stayed nearby in order to be of help if Ryan had come around to his way of thinking. When. Ryan felt sure that the beta had expected him to capitulate quickly and hand Milo over before heading back to his pallet. Ryan was rather proud that he hadn’t.
Because I’m not silly or stupid.
Tucking the mulish thought aside, he descended the stairs and sat next to Griffin. “Here, I thought you might like some coffee.”
Griffin turned a quarter of a degree to look at him. “Thanks.” There was no anger or censure in his expression or tone, which eased Ryan’s mind. Griffin took the offering and gulped down a big mouthful, seemingly immune to the drink’s temperature.
Ryan offered up a shy smile and fought the impulse to drop his gaze. “Would you like me to make you some eggs to go with it?” It was an attempt at smoothing over their earlier confrontation for sure, but he also liked the idea of taking care of his man.
Griffin shook his head. “No, thanks. I can wait for breakfast like everyone else. I expect you have other chores in the kitchen, too, and I’m not going to add to your burden this morning.”
There was still no scolding in the beta’s tone, and he looked away from Ryan and over at the forest. They sat in silence for a minute before Ryan cracked from the growing unease of his own making.
“I’m sorry,” he blurted out. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like I did.”
Griffin eyed him over the rim of his mug. “No, you shouldn’t have.” He took another large gulp and changed his gaze again.
Ryan plucked at the hem of his shirt. “Are you mad?” He didn’t dare look at Griffin for fear of what he might see.
“No.” Ryan almost sagged in relief. “Not at you. I am at myself, though.”
“Why?” Now he was concerned all over again.
Griffin shrugged. “I presumed too much. I thought that just because you want to mate with me, you trust me with yourself and Milo.” He cast his gaze to the ground. “I should never have tried to take your pup from you without your permission. Even an omega—especially an omega—is dangerous when their pup is threatened.”
Ryan grasped Griffin’s arm without thinking. “No, that’s not it. I do trust you. Completely.” He licked his lips as he tried to explain his actions. “It’s that I wanted to make my own decision about how I spent the morning, and…I guess I’m tired and overreacted,” he finished, lamely, not really believing his own explanation.
Griffin drained his coffee and set the mug on the step to his far side. “You’re definitely tired. You’ve been running on a deficit of sleep and overwork for months. A couple of days of extra rest isn’t going to fix that.”
Ryan bit back a groan. It was on the tip of his tongue to acquiesce, to agree whole-heartedly with his beta and beg for forgiveness. Instead, he heard himself saying, “That may be so, but I should get to decide when and how I handle that problem.”
He dropped his hold on Griffin’s arm and had to clasp his hands between his knees to keep from covering his own mouth. To be that bold, to make demands of a dominant, was not in his nature. At least he wouldn’t have thought so.
Whatever anger he expected from the man, it didn’t happen. Instead, Griffin reached over Ryan’s thigh to take one hand in his. “I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to be overbearing.”
The apology surprised Ryan, although it shouldn’t have. Griffin wasn’t Haldon. His hold was loose, not binding. Ryan could break it easily simply by tugging. He could tell as much straight off and the knowledge helped ease his stress. Griffin wasn’t trapping him. The touch was meant to reassure, not dominate or contain.
Ryan let out a shuddery breath. “I’m sorry, too. The last thing I want is to hurt you. Or disobey you, either,” he added in because the reality of his world wasn’t going to change no matter how he felt. “I understand that as my future mate, you have control over me and Milo.”
A flare of rebellious resentment rose within him before he squashed it again. He’d been given the gift of choosing his next mate. There was no sense in being greedy and demanding the impossible.
Griffin used his hold to tug Ryan in closer. Again, nothing that made him feel as if he were physically restrained. Griffin switched hands and wrapped his arm around Ryan’s shoulders. “Please, Ryan, I don’t want you to think of our relationship that way.”
Pulling him in closer, Griffin rubbed his chin lightly against the top of Ryan’s head. “I’m not like Haldon and don’t expect to control your every action.” He huffed. “I think my concern for you got the better of me. I have this vision in my head of making life easy and happy for you. I should have known that lazing about while others work hard is not in your nature.”
Ryan snuggled against Griffin’s broad chest. “And I think I’ve become so used to being more independent that I’m afraid of being under another mate’s thumb no matter how much I trust him.” This was the closest they’d been since Ryan had dared to kiss the beta. His cock stirred at the contact and an itch began to plague his ass. His normally docile wolf began to pace under his skin.
Griffin sniffe
d in obvious fashion, scenting Ryan’s slick no doubt, and chuckled. “I want you, too.”
A quick glance downward confirmed that their pants both presented a tell-tale bulge. They sat embraced, hard with need, for another minute or two.
“I guess I’m also maybe a little insecure,” Griffin confessed quietly.
“What?” Ryan tried to lift his head, but Griffin held it gently in place. “You’re a beta. Why would you ever feel that way?”
Griffin peppered his head with kisses before saying, “Probably because I thought we’d be mated by now. This extra wait, especially with Elijah hanging around still, is agitating me. It’s certainly making my wolf crazy,” he added under his breath.
Ryan raised his head, this time not giving in when Griffin resisted. The fact that he was able to free himself when he pushed the point, chased away any lingering concern. “Don’t be silly. I picked you over him, and that’s not going to change. Sorry, I shouldn’t call you that.”
Griffin kissed him on the lips, a gentle claiming that quickly became more passionate. It ended with them both breathless and their foreheads touching. “I shouldn’t have called you silly, either. You’re not. You’re a very sensible omega and father. I promise to do better in the way I treat you, and not simply bulldoze over you. All I ask is for you to point out when I’m being overbearing using your words, not your teeth.”
Griffin smiled after delivering the mild rebuke.
Ryan returned the look. “I promise. And maybe we should ask Lorcan if we can mate tonight. I don’t care if the gathering is still ongoing if you don’t. I don’t need any fancy ceremony, either.”
He hadn’t been given one when Haldon had taken him. Any fantasy he’d had of a special dinner and send off by the pack quickly evaporated in the face of having to wait longer before he became Griffin’s.
His future mate’s face lit up as he sat back. “I think that’s an excellent idea. After spending time with them, I think both the Green Mountain and the Strongblood packs are honorable. I don’t see the harm in my being out of commission for one night. Hopefully, Lorcan will agree because I think if I have to go one more day without claiming you, I’m going to explode.”
Ryan nuzzled the beta’s neck. “Me, too.”
“And I want my scent on you. Elijah hasn’t given up.”
“You have nothing to worry about there.”
“Tell that to my wolf.”
Griffin hugged Ryan close, relieved that their earlier confrontation hadn’t led to the omega changing his mind about the mating. Ryan’s snapping had been alarming, completely out of character for an omega and the sweet boy Griffin had always known. He’d spent the time since worried that Elijah would be allowed to shove him aside. He should have known better. Ryan loved him. They loved each other. Nothing was going to change that, let alone a silly spat. Except he was going to have to scrub that word from his vocabulary. Ryan was entitled to more respect, and while he might not always make decisions that Griffin agreed with, he deserved the right to make them.
Well, perhaps not quite as many as Ryan would like. Griffin didn’t think his beta nature could bend very far. He could only really promise to pick his battles carefully.
The sound of a muted alarm howl from Caleb had him lifting his head and watching the tree line. No danger approached, but possibly trouble did in the form of the newly mated pair. Graydon’s imposing figure appeared from the dappled brightness of the sun shining through the trees. He held a basket under one arm and a duffle bag was slung over that same shoulder. Ethan sat perched inside the circle of the alpha’s other arm. The omega’s face radiated his happiness even at a distance.
Still, the issue wasn’t how Ethan felt about his mating. Elijah was the wild card. The boy may have gone to Graydon willingly, but his brother hadn’t been pleased with the choice. That was true regardless of how much sense it made. Having come to the gathering labeled barren, the Green Mountain omega had been proven fertile after all once he came within the powerful orbit of the rugged and virile Strongblood alpha. Elijah should be ecstatic over the outcome. Somehow Griffin knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. The man might yet challenge his brother’s new mate, and such a fight would be an awful end to what had been such a promising three-way treaty.
Standing, he gently disengaged Ryan from his hold. “Go inside. This might get ugly.”
He sensed rather than saw Ryan start to argue the point before the omega gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Okay.”
Griffin relaxed a hair now that his boy was getting out of harm’s way. Then he loped across the yard, careful not to get too close to the pair. “Can I take those things for you, Alpha Graydon?” He motioned to the basket and duffle.
The man’s expression went from guarded to easy-going. “Thank you.” He paused in his journey to hand the items over.
In that brief interaction, Griffin took in the fresh-washed scent of them both, as well as the scents that clearly confirmed they were mated and Ethan was indeed breeding his first pup. Elijah is a fool if he doesn’t accept the situation.
That wasn’t his call, though, or his concern, really. This was alpha stuff, and all he could do as a beta of the host pack was to stand aside and watch it play out. That and protect Ryan and Milo, although there really was little chance this confrontation, if it occurred, would prove a danger to anyone other than the two alphas battling it out. It wouldn’t be long now before the direction this drama was going to take would show itself.
And here it came in the form of Elijah racing across the yard with his betas and gammas behind him. Griffin moved quickly to deposit his armload by the back stairs, prepared to warn Lorcan of what was happening. He never got the chance, though, because his alpha, along with Finn, Deirdre, Liam and Craig came around the corner of the longhouse hot on the heels of the others. They’d all obviously been meeting in his office and were reacting to Caleb’s warning.
Graydon stopped and waited for his new brother-by-mating to reach him. He allowed Ethan to slide down and stand on his own two feet, although he held him flush against his body by a grip on his shoulders. It didn’t look like the boy was trapped. Certainly, he wore a wide grin that conveyed his joy. How could Elijah possibly take umbrage at this event?
Knowing that there was no accounting for an alpha’s mood, Griffin positioned himself at the bottom of the stairs in order to guard that entrance. His omega was in the kitchen behind the door, as was Milo, plus probably the rest of the kitchen staff. He didn’t think any fight would escalate and put them at risk, but his beta brain told him anything was possible. It didn’t pay to take chances with the servient pack members’ lives.
Thank the Gods Elijah wasn’t so incensed that he attacked immediately. Instead, he pulled up short a few feet away from the couple. Fury radiated off the man. He practically vibrated with it. Griffin admired his control even as he braced for any change in the situation.
“How are you, Ethan?” The question was asked in a remarkably civil tone, although Elijah’s focus appeared to remain fixed on Graydon.
By way of answer, Ethan launched himself at his brother. Surprisingly, Graydon didn’t seem to hold him back at all. The omega clasped as much of his brother’s torso as he could and pressed against him.
“Oh, Elijah, I’m in whelp! I’m going to be a dad.”
After a second’s hesitation, Elijah wrapped his arms around Ethan and pressed his head on top of his. “I know. It’s…wonderful news.”
Ethan tossed his head back. “It’s amazing. I can’t believe it.” His breath hitched loud enough to reach Griffin’s ears. “I’m not broken after all.”
It was heartbreaking to hear the omega express it that way. To have lived with the idea that he was somehow defective must have been a terrible burden for the boy. How had he managed to be so seemingly carefree for the few days Griffin had known him? Poor thing. It reminded him of Ryan and what that omega had gone through. They were polar opposite problems—one being forced to mate a
nd breed too soon, and one being tossed aside and labeled worthless—and yet they both came from the same place. This idea that an omega’s use to the pack lay buried in fertility was totally unfair. Fecundity was supposed to be a gift from the Gods, not a millstone with which to weigh the omegas down their whole lives.
There was nothing Griffin could do to affect the outcome of the Green Mountain and Strongblood packs’ conflict, but he could make the right decisions to protect Ryan. While he was already aware that Ryan was trying to ween Milo as late as possible, now he really understood its importance. He would do whatever he could as Ryan’s mate to not only space out their pups, but make sure Ryan felt valued for reasons that had nothing to do with bringing new shifters into the pack.
He had to admire Graydon’s restraint. He merely stood, unmoving as Ethan continued to hug Elijah. Perhaps it came from the certain knowledge that he’d bred his mate which cemented his rights. Or, he might have been holding back himself and his wolf with great effort. Whichever, he gave the two Green Mountain men time to show their affection for each other without interference.
Eventually, after a few tense minutes, Elijah eased his brother away and looked down at him. “Is this what you want? Is he what you want, I mean?”
Okay, that took balls to ask such a question right in front of Graydon. It said something about the strength of the bond between the brothers, and of the power of Elijah as an alpha, that he’d done it. Ethan didn’t show any signs of distress, either.
Rather, he simply said, “Yes. We’re mated and I-I love him.” He went in for another hug. “Please don’t fight him. I can’t stand the thought of losing either of you.”
Elijah took a moment to respond. He delivered a kiss on Ethan’s head before releasing him and taking a step back. “That’s not going to happen. There’s no need for a fight if you’re truly happy with this outcome. However,” he continued quickly before Ethan could get a word in, “This whole thing occurred backward. Graydon and I have to negotiate a mating agreement.”
“I don’t need one,” Ethan said. “I trust Graydon in everything.”
Omegas Unchained (The Rogue Pack Book 8) Page 14