by Fel Fern
Theo’s ability to make decisions for himself had been stripped away, so Joe wanted Theo to make this choice.
He pumped his prick several more times before pulling out, growling as he emptied his load into Theo’s face, squirting some over Theo’s chest.
“Mine,” he said with a growl, not caring he acted like some savage beast that needed to mark his territory.
After today, everyone would know Theo was his to own and protect.
“Hands and knees, baby,” he said, helping flip Theo on all fours. He leaned close to Theo’s face and gave his mate a long, deep kiss, leaving Theo panting afterward. “I’ll bite you after I claim your ass. There’s no backing away now, baby. If you change your mind—”
“I won’t. I want this, us, so badly, too. I thought if I remained in bird form, I wouldn’t be able to hurt you or those you care about, but I know we deserve to be happy, too.”
Hearing Theo’s answer, Joe gave his dick a few strokes.
“Let me help,” Theo said.
He nudged his shaft between Theo’s lips, enjoyed Theo licking and sucking at his prick. It became rock-hard in moments. Wanting to empty his jizz inside Theo this time around, Joe extracted his member from Theo’s mouth. He made a quick trip to the bedroom to grab the lube. That in hand, he returned behind Theo. He uncapped the lube, applied it on Theo’s ass and his fingers, then began prepping his mate, stretching Theo’s ass.
Theo moaned, practically pushed his ass against his hand. He smirked, seeing Theo’s balls and hardening dick, the tip leaking pre-cum.
“You ready for the ride of your life, baby?” he asked, discarding the lube and positioning his prick into Theo’s pink little asshole.
“Yes. Make me yours, Joe.”
Gripping Theo’s hips, he thrust all the way in, until his balls rested against Theo’s ass. Theo groaned in front of him. Reaching over, he gave Theo’s dick a few pumps.
“I’m going to make you feel so good, baby, it’ll feel like flying.” Joe started with slow strokes before building up speed.
“Faster, please.”
Hearing Theo beg was cream on the pie. He picked up the pace, reducing them both to panting messes. His wolf hovered close inside him, eager to make this perfect magpie shifter theirs, for the rest of his life. Joe shifted angle, must have found Theo’s sweet spot, because Theo arched his back, gasping.
He repeatedly aimed for the spot, Theo’s whimpers music to his ears. Joe’s balls tightened against his body, he was ready to blow, too.
“Give it to me, baby. Your surrender,’” he said, giving Theo’s cock a few tugs and pulls.
Theo came, moaning as he emptied his load into Joe’s waiting hand. Hearing his mate come triggered his own climax. A few more thrusts and the pressure building inside Joe burst. With a groan, he emptied his seed down Theo’s ass.
But they weren’t done.
They ended up on the floor, with Joe gathering Theo into his arms. “Straddle my lap, that’s it,” he told his mate, who wrapped his legs around his waist, rubbing their softening cocks together. Theo gripped his biceps, then with a shy smile on his lips, offered his neck.
“How do you know that’s where I want to put my mate mark?” Joe asked, amused.
“Because every time we have sex, you seem fixated on that spot. You’ve thought of making me yours for a while now?”
“Since I first took you,” Joe admitted. “I held back because I wanted you to know what you’re getting into, for you to make that decision.”
“I love you, Joe,” Theo said softly, those words going right to his heart, to his happy wolf. “I choose you.”
“Mating’s for life.”
“Then I guess we’re stuck forever.”
At those words, Joe unsheathed his fangs. A dominant wolf didn’t ask again. He plunged his teeth into the side of Theo’s neck. Theo cried out softly but didn’t pull away or struggle. Joe didn’t stop until he hit bone. His wolf reached out for Theo’s bird, and their two animals melted against each other, a perfect fit, just like their bodies.
The mating bond sprung up between them, powerful, beautiful even.
“Wow,” Theo whispered, eyes full of wonderment.
“What do you see, baby?” Joe asked.
“Us, and not just us, but also other connections belonging to your wolf. They look like gold threads.”
Joe understood. “Those are pack bonds.”
They weren’t done. Joe had one important job to do. Since they were newly mated, Theo had opened up all his mental barriers to him. He concentrated now, his wolf searching Theo’s animal, and saw something like a shadow in Theo’s aura. That must be where Voss’s conditioning took root like an unwanted and destructive weed.
“You can no longer touch my mate,” he said with a growl. Together with his wolf, they chased that shadow out of Theo’s head. Theo held onto him tightly, then panted, resting his head on his chest.
“You have to bite me back, baby. Complete the mating ritual,” he said gently, reaching out to stroke Theo’s back.
Theo left a smaller bite mark right over his left pectoral, where his heart was. His mate rested his head on his chest, petting the new mark, small smile on his lips. Joe knew the feeling. Contentment settled over him and his wolf. Finally, the deed was done, and he planned on keeping Theo forever.
Chapter Sixteen
“So, you ready to meet Daryl today, baby?” Joe asked him across the dining room table.
“You sound more nervous than I am,” Theo teased back, but he rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans. A week passed since Joe gave him his mate mark.
The Alpha forbade him to see Daryl, but both Zack and Joey stopped by to keep him company in what they called his ‘quarantine mode’. The Ghost was a frequent visitor, too. He had a feeling she was on the Alpha’s orders to see if he was mentally stable.
Before he could say anything else, Joe positioned himself behind him and pulled Theo to a fierce hug. “Hey, there’s nothing to worry about. Even Sabine says after we mated, she couldn’t sense anything but you inside your mind.”
“Seeing if I can be around Daryl is the true test.” Theo reminded his mate. Joe and he had been talking about Voss’s brainwashing and came to the conclusion that to Voss, Theo was just a disposable tool with one last task. Voss didn’t trust him enough to keep tabs with him or attempt to communicate with him.
Repeat those orders back to me.
Kill Daryl Rush, then end myself.
Theo suppressed a shiver, glad to be rid of that oily voice in his head.
Joe let out a soft growl. “I’ll hunt that bastard down someday, he’ll feel my fangs on his throat, and I’ll be the last thing he sees.”
Theo reached for Joe’s hand, swallowing. “Joe, that’s suicide. Voss is the head of the Discipline Squad’s main branch. He’s practically surrounded by an army. Please, I don’t want to lose you.”
Joe planted a kiss on his lips, his touch soothing. “I’m pissed, not suicidal. Voss will get what’s coming to him. Deacon, Lance, and the other enforcers agreed if Voss ever comes within our lands, I have first dibs.”
“Dibs?” he asked, giggling and unable to help himself.
“Yeah, and I won’t make it an easy death for that fucker.”
Theo sobered up. Moments like this reminded him he’d mated a dangerous and lethal shifter, but Joe didn’t scare him. Not his mate. Joe would kill himself first before harming Theo the same way Theo would risk his life for his mate.
Joe gave his hand a squeeze. “As much as I’d like to blow you so you’d relax, we might be late for the meeting.”
“B-blow me?”
Joe grinned, stroking his hair. “Later, baby. If you’re good.”
Theo groaned, aware of his dick throbbing between his legs. Damn it. They just made love last night and he was still a little sore, but he wanted Joe more than ever. “How do you know which words to say to turn me on?” he demanded.
Joe chuckled. “I
just do.”
“I appreciate you trying to calm me down,” he told his mate.
They finished breakfast and headed out of the cabin. Theo was surprised to see both Quentin and Marshall, the more reserved Fisher brother.
“What are you guys doing here?” Theo asked.
“What else?” Quentin asked, his smirk somewhat similar to Joe’s. “We’ll be your cheer squad.”
Warmed, he walked up to Quentin and gave him a hug. Afterward, the dominant werewolf looked embarrassed.
“Thank you,” he said. Theo would also give Marshall a hug if he could, but Marshall was hard to figure out. Joe’s youngest brother seemed to keep to himself, a lone wolf who preferred to work alone but still needed the comfort of the pack. Still, Marshall had, over the past week, traded watching over him with Quentin.
“Well, you’re family now,” Quentin said.
The four of them got into Joe’s car and drove up to the pack house. Joe took the wheel and he rode shotgun. He shifted in his seat.
“Relax,” Joe told him.
Theo learned that as time went on, the abilities they gained thorough their mate marks grew, too. Now, Joe could sense his emotions, and he was the same.
“It’s the first time I’m invited to the pack house,” Theo pointed out.
The Devil Hills wolves pack house was for wolves only, or those who were mated to a pack member. Very few paranormal residents were invited on wolf grounds, even the pack’s closest allies, the hawks and vampires.
The hawks, Theo found out, weren’t too bad. The hawk shifter he encountered in the woods, Jackson, had, with the permission of his hawk Alpha, started teaching him how to control his inner bird. Theo had gone to visit Mal first with Joe, though, and it seemed the hawk king’s approval meant the hawks no longer saw him as a threat to their community.
What he wanted more, though, was the approval of Joe’s pack.
This invitation wasn’t just a test he wanted to pass, he also knew that for Deacon Becker, this was the ultimate show of trust. The drive didn’t take long, maybe half an hour. Joe started on a dirt road surrounded on either side by trees. Theo leaned forward in his seat, finally seeing the compound.
No fence or gates to speak of, but he spotted what must have been the main pack house—an enormous four-story house and the smaller homes and cabins lining either side of it. Joe parked his car outside the main house’s lot. He got out, a little nervous.
Theo didn’t miss the curious gazes of the other werewolves nearby, some had suspicious looks, others more curious ones. He knew it would take time before the others saw him as an ally, then accept him as Joe’s mate. After all, he was still the guy who attacked the Alpha’s mate.
“Theo, hi!” a cheerful voice greeted, and he looked down, seeing Sylvia.
He wasn’t surprised to see her tangled hair or the fact she wore no shoes. When Jackson and the hawks realized there was a wolf pup spying on their lessons, they only seemed amused. It seemed she often escaped her babysitters and went wandering around pack lands.
Right on cue, Joey and his sister Freida came running after her, looking out of breath. Joey came over a week ago with his sister, who baked him a fresh batch of chocolate brownies. She was a sweet young woman, a submissive wolf who apparently had the eye of a lot of single male pack members.
“Hey, Sylvia,” he greeted, about to reach out when he caught sight of the Ghost leaning by the doors. As always, her silver gaze seemed unreadable, but he knew by now that she was only like that as a result of losing her mate years ago. Theo knew not to judge by appearances. She nodded to him, and relaxing a fraction of an inch, he ruffled Sylvia’s hair.
“Freida and I baked cookies for you,” Sylvia said, then furrowed her brows. “But Micah and Jo got hungry.”
“Who’s Micah and Jo?” he asked, curious.
“Other wolf pups,” Joe said. His possessive mate placed one muscled arm over his shoulders. “Those little rascals always get into one mess after another, and Sylvia’s the ring leader. Then again, from the way the other senior members talk about me and my brothers, we were troublemakers, too.”
He loved it when Joe talked about his childhood, but despite Joe losing his parents, he did a good job of raising his brothers. When he told Joe that, his big bad wolf had turned all embarrassed and changed the topic.
“It’s the thought that counts,” he told Sylvia.
Joey snorted. “I see you bought all the Fisher brothers. That’s good. Seeing you with them, and how you interact with one of the kids, will endear you to the pack.”
“Ooh, I see Uncle ’Tino over there,” Sylvia announced. “Bye, Theo.”
Then she bolted. Joey muttered what suspiciously sounded like a curse. He turned, sucked in a breath.
“She calls Santino Uncle ‘Tino?” he asked Joe, who led him toward the house. “Man, kids sound tough.”
They reached the doors now.
“Theo,” Sabine told him, then to Joe, “Daryl’s in the lounge, this way.”
The lounge turned out to be a large room filled with couches. There were tables with computers on one side, and a TV on the other end. He guessed this was some kind of mass living room for the pack, but for today, it had been emptied out.
This time it seemed the Alpha wasn’t risking anything, because it wasn’t just Deacon Becker hovering close to his mate. He spotted a sandy-haired giant of a man with dark brown eyes. Max, he remembered, another pack enforcer who once came over a few nights ago, bringing a six-pack with him.
Joe seemed close with this particular werewolf. The Beta wasn’t there, probably in charge of the pack’s security while Deacon and most of his enforcers were here. Not long ago, Joe wouldn’t share that information, but they were mates and hid nothing from each other.
Daryl rose to his feet, spotting him. The empath’s warm smile evaporated all of his unease. Daryl walked up to him. “Theo, you’re looking well,” Daryl said, completely ignoring the two snarly dominant werewolves hovering close by.
“Daryl, I never got to apologize for before,” he blurted, needing to get the words out.
Part of him was worried that mating Joe might not be the solution, but right now, he didn’t hear Voss’s voice. He hadn’t heard it since Joe gave him his mate mark.
“Don’t worry about that too much,” Daryl said, nodding to the couch. He noticed there were two coffees on the small table next to it and some cookies.
He glanced at the Alpha, who gave him a curt nod. Deacon and the Ghost retreated to one corner of the room, probably to discuss other pack business, but he knew both kept a close watch on him. Glad the Alpha wasn’t going to monitor the entire meeting with Daryl, he sunk into the empty seat next to Daryl. Joe took the arm chair next to him and Max did the same.
“Let the past stay where it belongs,” Daryl said, taking a sip of his coffee.
“I don’t hear Voss anymore,” he said.
“I can tell. Your emotions are more stable now, too.” Daryl quickly added, “Sorry, I can’t turn my abilities off, it’s kind of natural.”
He shook his head. Theo didn’t know Daryl that well, but he had a feeling he’d like Daryl. “That’s fine. I have nothing to hide.”
Chapter Seventeen
“You seem happy,” Joe remarked on their drive back to the cabin.
After that meeting, Joe took Theo to the mass eating hall for lunch and to meet more of his packmates. Seeing Theo interact with Joey, Freida, and Sylvia, and having the approval of the other enforcers seemed to make the other pack members relax around his mate.
Deacon had taken him aside privately while Theo spoke with more curious packmates and told him that the meeting was simply a formality.
Sabine says Theo checks out and Daryl agrees. I’m glad you got to keep your mate, Joe.
The Alpha didn’t know how much those words meant to Joe. Theo and he didn’t need to leave Devil Hills any more, the home he’d fight to protect with every breath. He hoped it would be Theo
’s home, too.
“I am happy,” Theo replied. “I was worried all night that today will go south, but it didn’t. Daryl turned out to be a really great guy, and I got to meet more of your packmates.”
“I knew you’d fit in.” Joe knew there were still a few packmates who were wary of Theo, but he wasn’t worried.
That would change with time. When Daryl and his brother Dave first moved into Devil Hills, the pack saw them as outsiders, but the brothers proved their loyalty. Theo was the same.
They arrived at their cabin soon enough. He killed the engine and got out. Seeing Theo with his packmates made him hungry for his mate. Theo paused by the front door, probably recognizing his look by now. It didn’t escape Joe that Theo rocked an erection, as well, and he scented his mate’s arousal in the air.
“Let’s get inside,” Joe said, feeling all territorial of his mate.
Once he shut the front door, he pushed his mate against the wood. His wolf growled inside him. Joe pinned Theo’s wrists above his head, preventing movement. Leaning forward, he took Theo’s mouth, the kiss all heat and bite. It didn’t escape him that his little mate rubbed his tempting body against his.
Joe deepened the kiss and, keeping one hand locked over Theo’s arms, he used the other to push past the waistband of Theo’s jeans and began fingering his mate. Theo moaned against him, grinding his body against Joe’s. Dick thickening in his pants, Joe released his mate and growled out one word.
“Clothes.”
In moments, they undressed each other. Joe took his time, admiring his mate’s slender body. All of Theo’s old wounds had faded, and Theo had come pretty far. His mate was no longer ashamed of the old scars on his body.
Joe recalled he promised his mate a reward. Kneeling, he wedged Theo’s thighs apart, enjoying the sight of Theo’s widening eyes.
“Keep your hands above your head,” he told his mate. “Take what I give you.”