by Grey, Aspen
“Yeah,” I mused. “Somebody…”
Chapter Ten
Blue
My father drove home in silence, the rumbling of the old engine and the rain beating down on the old truck the only sounds to distract me from my thoughts. I felt terrible. I’d put him through so much, and for what? Because a handsome shifter wanted to buy me a drink? And because of that, I may have been the cause of a war.
Pack versus pack wars weren’t uncommon among shifters. Back where I came from in Santa Monica, everyone was pretty well off and got along well, but in other worse-off areas of the city, things could get pretty dangerous, especially across species.
I still didn’t know the full story, but if the Kurrens and Webbers had been at peace, and my arrival changed that…
What if I just hadn’t accepted that drink from Larcon? What if I’d simply gone home, gone for a run later and then run into Alexander? With such a small town and us being fated-mates and everything, there was no way he wouldn’t have eventually picked up my scent and found me.
It’s your fault, Blue. You let him stroke your ego and you put everyone at risk.
“I know this is hard for you,” my father finally said. “I know the divorce affected you and you didn’t want to move here…but seriously, Blue. What were you thinking going off like that with someone you didn’t even know?”
“I—I thought he was a nice guy.”
“When you told me, I thought you meant you’d met someone at school, not some random guy driving by who thought you were cute!”
“Yeah…”
What could I really say? I screwed up.
“And you’re drinking now? Do I have to be worried about you even more?”
“No!” I replied quickly. “No, I’m not, dad. Even back in Santa Monica when everyone had fake IDs, I wasn’t drinking. I just—I just wanted him to like me.”
My father sighed, and I knew it was partially because he was angry with me and partially because he was angry with himself for pulling me out of my old life and bringing me here. I never would have done something so stupid back home.
We made it home and parked. My dad turned off the truck but didn’t get out right away. He was thinking. He had a habit of formulating his thoughts in front of me, which drove me crazy, as it built up an enormous amount of anticipation and anxiety inside of me.
Just yell at me, ground me and get it over with!
“I understand, Blue,” he finally said.
Wait, what?
“You know, I don’t like to talk about myself too much,” he continued. “As I want you to be your own man, and I know you don’t want to hear about the divorce, but after Louis left me, I had some similar feelings as well—just wanted to feel wanted. I could have easily made some bad decisions there—gotten with some random omega who didn’t love me and brought him into our lives…but I didn’t. I didn’t because of you, and I want you to know that no matter how alone you feel, no matter how out of place, you never need to compromise yourself or your morals.”
I didn’t know what to say. I’d been expecting an argument or at least a scolding, but instead my father had shared something about himself with me that I never thought he would.
“I—thanks, dad,” I told him. “But I don’t think I’ll ever have to again…”
“Don’t start with that!” he snapped, showing a bit of the anger that I knew was still inside of him. He opened the truck door and stepped outside.
“Dad, wait!”
I hopped out after him and raced after him as he made his way up to the house. “Can you just listen to me—?”
My foot slipped in the mud and I almost ate shit. Dad was in the house by the time I recovered. I went in after him.
“Dad, will you just listen to me?”
“Listen, Blue,” he said. “I already went easy on you because I wanted to let you know that I understand and that I know what you’re going through. But if you’re going to start that fated-mate crap with me—”
“It’s true! What, you don’t believe in it?”
“You mean ‘love at first sight?’” he asked. “Like that crap from human romance novels? No. No, I don’t believe in it.”
“Dad, it’s real. I know it!”
“You don’t know anything!” he roared. His voice was so loud and powerful that it practically shook the house and caused me to take a step backwards. I wasn’t afraid of my dad, but the sheer volume of his response made me flinch. “You’re a confused teenage boy that thought he liked one alpha and now thinks he likes another alpha because he rushed in and saved him. You’re hormonal and you’re not thinking straight.”
“I am, dad!” I protested, on the verge of tears. “I smelled him and—and it was like the whole universe lit up! He felt it too!”
“I don’t care what you two think you felt!” he roared. “That man is dangerous! I don’t know what’s going on with their packs, but it’s dangerous and it’s not something I’m going to let my son get caught up in, no matter what you think you feel for each other!”
“Dad—”
“There was blood on the floor when I got there,” he hissed.
“Yes, because Alex—”
“You have to be crazy if you think I’m going to let my son go back to a place like that,” he said firmly. “I know you’re eighteen now, Blue, but I’m going to have to do this.”
“Dad, please—”
“You are grounded,” he snapped. “I bring you to school, I pick you up from school. You come home and you stay here. That’s that. You are absolutely forbidden from seeing that man again.”
He turned on his heels and headed upstairs.
“You can’t do that!” I squealed as the tears broke from my eyes.
“I can and I did!” he bellowed. “I am your father and it’s my job to make sure you are safe. Now, don’t argue with me anymore, Blue.”
I fell to my knees as he walked away. I cried, releasing everything had been building up inside of me since we first arrived.
I cried about the divorce. I cried about moving away from home. I cried about feeling so alone in Sleepy Hills. I cried because of my stupid decision. I cried because of the trouble I’d started for all the other shifters, but most of all, I cried because I was afraid I would never see Alexander again.
Chapter Eleven
Alexander
Don’t do it, I told myself as I paced back and forth in my bedroom, which I’d done until the sun went down. You’ll only make things worse.
Clarice had left me alone and I had stayed in my room, not in any rush to have a difficult conversation with the rest of the pack. Eric apparently hadn’t been either, as he stayed downstairs with the rest of them.
Some leader, I thought. If I were pack leader, and I had an issue with something one of my alphas had done, I’d confront him about it and have the conversation. I wouldn’t just let him stew in his room away from everyone. But then again, I wasn’t the pack leader.
The rain had stopped, replaced by a fierce wind that bent the tall pines at their tops, causing the whole forest to seem like it was hanging its head. It wasn’t too different than how I was feeling. The only thing that was keeping me from letting my anger take me over was an idea—a bad idea—that kept pulling at my mind.
Don’t do it, Alexander. Just don’t!
That idea that I simply couldn’t shake, was that I should shift, pick up Blue’s scent, which I knew would be easy to do, track him back to his house and go to see him. After that, I hadn’t really thought it through. But not being near him was like being on the outer edges of space, drifting alone in my suit, away from the warm embrace of the sun, slowly waiting to die.
His father was pissed and probably had given him a stern talking to when they got home. Of course I didn’t have Blue’s cell phone number, and I wasn’t about to call or text his father and ask to see him again. I’d already made an impression, a bad one at that, and I knew that if I reached out to a man like that again witho
ut giving him time to gather his thoughts, I would not like the result.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Blue. He definitely looked young, but not too young. He was skinny and slightly awkward, but his green eyes were fierce and strong with a strength I doubted he even knew he had. His long black hair was elegant and wild at the same time, but I also had a burning desire to grab it and pull while I fucked him from behind.
“Fuck it,” I growled, striding to my balcony door and yanking it open. “I can’t take it anymore. Blue, here I come.”
I leapt off the second-story balcony and shifted into my wolf form in midair. I quickly raced around to the front of the house. As I expected, Blue’s scent was not only fresh in the air, but I was able to pick it up with ease, as though I had been preprogrammed to do so.
I could practically see it as I raced down our private road towards town. I knew the basic route he would take, and as I reached the main roads, I kept to the trees to avoid being seen by the humans.
I ran and I ran and I ran, through downtown and out the other side, then followed his scent to the outskirts of town, finally arriving at a small lot that backed up to the trees, where his scent was so powerful I had to stop for a moment, close my eyes and simply breathe it in.
Sweet peaches…He smells this good, I can’t imagine how he tastes.
I opened my eyes and looked at the modest cape that sat in front of me. The front light was off, as were all the others save one—the upstairs bedroom. I crept slowly through the shadows, staying low, and sniffed the air. With any luck, it would be Blue’s bedroom light and not his father’s. But, no such luck. Mr. Mitchell sat at a desk, hard in thought. I didn’t have to be a psychic to know what was on his mind.
It was late, probably later than he wanted to be up, but after today’s events it was no wonder that he was having a hard time getting to sleep. I debated circling around the house to the other side, where Blue’s room must have been, but with his father awake it would still be risky. So I waited.
I waited and I waited and I waited, staring at Mr. Mitchell like a cowboy standoff that only one of us was aware of, waiting for him to finally turn off the light and go to bed. Finally, he moved away from the window and turned off the light. I wanted to make my move, but still I waited. He wouldn’t fall asleep that fast, and even if he did, I still had to be careful not to wake him. After what felt like an eternity, I slowly stalked around to the other side of the house, Blue’s scent growing stronger and stronger with every step, until I sat beneath his window looking up.
Thankfully, there was tree beside the house that looked like it had been there a while. I leapt easily up the trunk and crept along a strong branch that stretched out within inches of Blue’s window. His scent was intoxicating, so much so that I could barely focus. His window was slightly ajar, and I reached out with one paw and lifted, opening it all the way. More of his scent swept out, and before I made my next move, I closed my eyes and relished it, letting it embrace me like a warm hand.
I bounded through the window and landed silently on Blue’s bedroom floor. It was like stepping into a sauna of smell, the irresistible scent of my fated-mate that had my breeding instincts stirring. There was no question about it—I was fully imprinted on Blue. It didn’t matter what my pack thought or what his father wanted now. All that mattered was getting a cub in his belly and binding him to me forever. I’d never understood more what it meant to feel like an alpha in my entire life.
I took human form as I stepped up to the bed. He’d never seen me in wolf form before. He’d be able to smell me, of course, but it would take a brief moment after opening his eyes and I didn’t want to scare him.
He was sleeping so peacefully that I almost didn’t want to wake him. I felt like I was looking at an omega version of Sleeping Beauty, and did the only thing I could think of that would be appropriate—I leaned down and kissed him on the lips.
His eyes opened as I did so, and I saw a brief moment of shock in his eyes, but it was instantly replaced by something pure and familiar, as if we’d known each other for years. It was our first kiss—I wouldn’t have been surprised if fireworks had gone off behind us—but Blue kissed me back like it was so natural and we’d done it a hundred times before.
Leaning closer, I pulled the sheets down and pressed my body against his. He threw his arms around me as though I was his savior, rescuing him from a sea of loneliness, and I felt myself taken by a wave of satisfaction I had never felt before.
This is it, I thought. This is my home.
Chapter Twelve
Blue
I woke to Alexander’s kiss. His lips pressed against mine and my heart leapt. His tongue slid into my mouth and my body stirred, and when he ran his hands across my chest, I felt my cock begin to move.
How did he find me? I thought before realizing how stupid a question that was. He’d tracked my scent, of course—it wouldn’t be hard for an alpha like him, especially when we were fated-mates.
Please don’t let my dad hear or smell him…
But Alexander’s scent was all I could smell. Nothing else in the world existed in that moment. We were locked in an embrace that meant so many things at once that I could barely put them into words. But all I knew was I felt something stir inside me I had never felt before—an instinct to be bred that was more powerful than any simple omega urges I’d had before.
Of course as an omega I’d thought about getting pregnant, but despite being of legal age, I wasn’t even out of high school yet! None of the alphas at my high school had been mate material, and I wasn’t about to let just anybody breed me, especially not while I was young.
But Alexander was different. I’d have no problems letting him put a cub in my belly. In fact, I desperately wanted him to. So when he broke our embrace, I almost wanted to cry out.
“Come with me,” he said as he stood up and took my hand. Without waiting for my response, he pulled me to my feet and swiftly tugged my t-shirt off. I was only wearing boxers to bed, but he pulled those off as well so we were both standing there in our birthday suits.
The faint light from outside cast shadows across the defined lines of his muscles, showing off his fitness model abs and chest like Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was almost too much to process.
“Come,” he told me, taking my hand again.
Oh, I will, I thought as he pulled me to the window. He released me and then shifted and leapt through the window onto the tree branch outside. I shifted and followed, landing nimbly beside him. He looked back at me and growled a growl of lust. I purred back and followed him as he jumped to the ground and landed without a sound. With a glance over his shoulder, he took off running.
He wanted me to follow, so that’s what I did, and we ran together through the moonlight toward the tree line behind my house. He leapt without hesitation, vanishing into the shadows of the forest, leaving behind a trail of his scent for me to follow. I dashed after it, diving into the black without a second thought. I trusted him completely.
My wolf eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, and I saw Alexander in front of me, darting between the trees like it was nothing. He was quick, agile and strong, his muscular hind legs propelling him forward with great power. He was glorious.
I chased him and he let me catch up. He glanced back and nipped at me playfully. I yelped with surprise and returned the favor, but he was too quick for me and leapt aside and picked up speed. We ran and ran as the moonlight cut through the trees, illuminating our shapes, two lovers joining our souls beneath the night sky.
Finally, the trees broke and we emerged into a small clearing filled with purple aster and goldenrod. Despite the rain, the grass was merely damp and soft against my paws. Alexander stopped and turned around to face me. I slowed in front of him and watched as he shifted back to human form and stood before me in all his glory.
His ivory skin glowed beneath the silvery light of the moon. He looked like a statue that had been carved and left there by an artist who had c
reated his masterpiece as a triumphant exaltation to the glory of the masculine form. He was so perfect that I was almost scared to take my human form in front of him. I was nothing compared to him, but I reminded myself that I didn’t have to be.
He’s an alpha—you’re an omega. Relax.
I took a deep breath and shifted, presenting my bare body to him, more vulnerable than I’d ever let myself be. He didn’t speak. He simply stared at me, his chin low, peering at me through the tops of his eyes, a slight smile on his lips. I felt small within his gaze. He could level me with his eyes. He made the world move and I simply went along with it.
Say something…
I wanted to hear his voice. I needed it.
Tell me I’m beautiful!
But he just stood there, stretching the moment to its breaking point. I thought I was going to have a heart attack, but just when I was about to open my mouth to scream, I glanced down and saw all I needed to see.
His cock was growing between his legs, and growing fast. It was already enormous, but growing larger every second as it pumped full of blood. He was a shower and a grower. It hung with such weight that I wondered how he didn’t fall over, and if he actually might once he got fully erect.
My mouth was dripping with saliva and I felt my slick start to run, something I hadn’t ever really felt before. I mean, when I masturbated, I felt a hint of it and got a little moist, but this was different. My body was readying itself for him, lubing up my hole so I could accept that monster cock that he wanted to put inside me. What turned me on the most was that he didn’t even have to touch it—all he had to do was look at me for it to grow.
“I had to see you,” he said.
Oh, God help me!
His words were sweet sugar dusted onto the most perfect dessert made by the world’s most talented chef.