Ripples of Threat

by Rebecca James

  “Please, Grey. Please.”

  Grey’s blue eyes met Gabriel’s, and the omega almost came from seeing how much his alpha enjoyed the taste of him.

  “Grey…I need you. Please. I-inside me. Now.”

  The pack alpha let go of Gabriel’s hard cock and straightened to his knees. The sight of his mate’s glorious body brought pre-cum dripping down the omega’s erection. Grey lifted Gabriel’s legs, placing them on the alpha’s shoulders, and teased the omega’s opening with his broad cock head.

  “Grey…” Gabriel whined, and Grey slid inside.

  Gabriel keened with pleasure at being filled so fully. He needed this; he needed his alpha to claim him again, to forgive him for what he’d done. To fuck him hard.

  With long, deep strokes, Grey pounded into Gabriel. The omega clung to the alpha, gasping and groaning with each pass of the blunt head to his aching prostate. Pleasure spiraled up from his core, overpowering everything else, until no thought or sound could penetrate the rise of the omega’s imminent climax.

  Grey’s face tensed, and with a feral growl, he sank his teeth into the still-sore mating bite. Gabriel jerked and bucked beneath the alpha, body curled inward and cock shooting between them. He kept coming and coming, head going light as darkness crept into the omega’s vision, and he was swallowed by pure nirvana.

  Grey slipped out of Gabriel’s body, and the omega watched as the alpha tugged on his large cock until the knot broke and coated Gabriel in ropes of white seed.

  Grey scooped up a mixture of their semen and fed it to Gabriel, pushing his fingers into Gabriel’s throat. Gabriel’s body bowed with a second release, his alpha’s dominance turning the omega on in a way nothing else could.

  Spent, the two lovers lay in each other’s arms, dozing and occasionally talking, their words gradually purging Gabriel of the terrible guilt he’d been carrying. Grey kept a hand possessively on Gabriel’s cock, occasionally giving it a tug that sent shivers down to Gabriel’s toes.

  Gabriel didn’t know what time it was when Ian returned home. The beta greeted them, handing over a wrapped plate from the dining hall before getting into the shower.

  Gabriel sat leaning against his mate, Grey hand feeding him while continuing to tug on the omega’s cock. When Ian joined them, Gabriel’s hungry eyes raked over the beta’s lean form. Ian sat a moment, eyes wandering over his two naked mates as he stroked his cock to full hardness. Grey set the plate on the bedside table, and, hooking strong arms under the omega’s knees, pulled Gabriel’s legs up and apart.

  Ian dipped his head and nibbled at Gabriel’s balls before diving lower and sucking on the omega’s hole.

  “Feels good, doesn’t it, baby?” Grey’s whisper was warm against Gabriel’s ear. “The professor has a talented tongue.” Grey’s hand stroked Gabriel’s rising cock.

  The omega moaned, arching his back. Ian rose and slowly eased his cock inside Gabriel as Grey continued to hold the omega open.

  “I love you,” Ian said before beginning to thrust. He was smaller in girth than Grey, but large enough in his own right and felt perfect as he fucked Gabriel, the devotion in his eyes so strong, the omega couldn’t look away. Gabriel’s heart swelled with love for this wolf who had captured his heart so easily and tried so hard to make both Gabriel and Grey happy.

  Lying against Grey, Gabriel stroked Ian’s face as they made love. The alpha’s erection pressed against the omega’s back, and Gabriel heard as well as felt Grey’s breathing become shallow. The omega’s cock leaked in his alpha’s hand as Ian’s thrusts got faster and faster until the beta’s body tensed and then shook with release.

  “Ah-h!” The rising pleasure snapped, and Gabriel clutched at Ian’s ass as his mates’ mouths crashed together over his head. Wet warmth hit his back as Grey spilled.

  The three mates sprawled onto the mattress in a heap. It took several long moments for Gabriel’s breathing to slow enough for him to stretch languidly and roll over to look at his mates’ sated faces.

  He smiled flirtatiously. “Maybe when I go into heat, I can take both of you at once. I’ve always wanted to try that.”

  Gabriel expected his mates to agree, not cast guilty looks at one another. Instantly, the omega was on guard.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Ian sat up, and Grey cleared his throat. “Gabriel, we need to talk.”

  The omega’s heart began to pound. “What is it?”

  Grey glanced at Ian. “The Professor and I have been talking.”

  Gabriel looked from one mate to the other, dread forming a lead ball in his stomach. He pulled the sheet over him, clutching it like a lifeline.

  The alpha’s blue eyes softened. “Gabe, Ian and I don’t want you to ever be as sick as you were again. Twice now we’ve watched you nearly die, and we can’t do it anymore.”

  “What are you saying?” Gabriel whispered. They weren’t going to cast him away, were they? No, not after what Grey had said before about him never running away from them again.

  “We’ve decided not to fuck you during your heats,” Grey said.

  Gabriel’s eyes widened, breath catching in his throat. He couldn’t speak.

  Ian ran his hand through Gabriel’s hair. “It’s too dangerous for you to carry again. We have two beautiful children. We don’t need more.”

  “But…” the word came out like a croak. Gabriel took a deep breath. “But, you can’t mean that. How will I get through my heats?”

  “You’ll go to the omega den,” Grey said. “One of the omegas will take care of you there. Ian feels he wouldn’t be able to be with you without giving in to your need, and I obviously wouldn’t be able to.”

  Tears slipped from Gabriel’s eyes. He already felt bereft and discarded.

  “Gabe,” Ian said soothingly as he continued to stroke Gabriel’s hair. “It’s for the best. You’ll be fine, and we’ll have our intimacy when you’re not in heat.”

  Gabriel couldn’t believe that after years of dreading his heats he now felt so utterly at a loss, knowing his mates wouldn’t be attending to them anymore. A sob escaped his lips, and Grey gathered Gabriel into strong arms, holding him tightly.

  “Shh, there now, it’s not the end of the world. We only want to protect you.”

  Gabriel felt Ian press against him on the other side. He was cradled between his two mates, and the feeling would’ve been bliss if his universe hadn’t just come crumbling down around him. He couldn’t stop crying, but Grey didn’t give in. He kept saying he wouldn’t put Gabriel’s life in jeopardy again, and Gabriel knew the alpha meant it.

  Chapter 31: Christopher

  Christopher was avoiding X. He couldn’t help it. What if the alpha wanted to do it again? While thoughts of Xavier’s honed body brought blood rushing to the beta’s cock, the memory of how painful it had been immediately deflated it again. The beta wished he had someone to talk to about it and considered asking one of the omegas who frequented the den but quickly rejected the idea. What could omegas know about it? They were created to enjoy sex.

  Christopher had never heard a beta say he didn’t like being penetrated, but then again, he’d never spoken to any on the matter. Perry rose in his mind as a possible confidant, but the thought of speaking to someone he’d been intimate with about his relationship with X rankled. Knowing he couldn’t avoid X forever, Christopher told himself he would seek the alpha out as soon as his ass stopped throbbing.

  Twice in the past week X had come to the omega den looking for Christopher. The first time, the beta pretended not to be there. The second, he called through the door that there was an omega in heat there, and he would talk to X later. Christopher knew it was time to face the music. It wasn’t as though he didn’t want to see Xavier—he really did. He just didn’t want a repeat of what had happened before. X had no idea Christopher hadn’t enjoyed the experience, and the beta wanted to keep it that way. What kind of a freak would the alpha think Chris was if he found out?

  While Christo
pher was cleaning the kitchen sink, a howl from the beta guard high up on the cliff announced a visitor. Christopher raised his head from his task, wondering who it could be.

  Wiping his hands on a towel, Christopher walked to the front door. Across the compound, the human doctors who had visited Gabriel when he was at his sickest walked along the path beside the pack alpha toward the house in the trees. Come to think of it, Gabriel had mentioned the humans would return to check on him. Christopher turned to go back inside when it occurred to him the two doctors were the perfect people to ask about his problem.

  Christopher waited for hours outside the main entrance to the compound. He’d run through the field and slipped past one of the border guards, circling around so he could stop the doctors before they got to their car.

  Dr. Newman and Dr. Talcourt were visibly startled when Christopher stepped out of hiding, and he realized the two humans must have been more nervous about visiting the werewolves than they let on.

  “Christopher,” Angela said, hand to her heart. “You startled me.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t want anyone to see me talking to you.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s private.”

  Angela glanced at her companion. “All right. Here?”

  Christopher looked around. “Can we sit in your car?”

  “Certainly.”

  Bridges unlocked the door of the burgundy Cherokee Overland that had been parked at the other side of the caves. The three slid into the car: Angela and Christopher in front and Bridges in the back.

  “What can we do for you?” Angela prompted when Christopher sat silently for a few long moments, trying to get his courage up to speak about his problem.

  “This is embarrassing,” he said.

  Bridges leaned forward. “You don’t have to be embarrassed around us. We’re doctors, and we’ve heard it all. From humans, at least.” He smiled encouragingly.

  Christopher licked his lips, hesitating, then took the plunge. “I’m a beta. I recently had my first sexual experience. It was with an alpha, and…I didn’t exactly enjoy it.” He waited for the two humans to react. When they didn’t, he added, “I don’t think that’s normal for a werewolf. At least, I’ve never heard of it before.”

  Angela glanced at her colleague. “Have you run across the problem before?”

  “No one’s come out and confided that to me,” Bridges said. “I know werewolves are very sexual beings—even more so than humans. Of course, there are certain medical conditions that make intercourse uncomfortable and even painful for humans, but I would think the lycanthrope’s natural ability to heal quickly would preclude that.”

  Christopher let out the breath he’d been holding. “Then I am a freak. I’m not surprised.”

  Angela put a hand on Christopher’s arm. “No, you’re not. Why don’t you tell us what happened? That way we’ll know what exactly to look for when we research.”

  Relieved someone was willing to help him, Christopher agreed and described how he’d been into things and more than willing until Xavier had used his fingers.

  “It really hurt.”

  “Pain, or just discomfort?” Bridges asked, making notes on a tablet.

  “Discomfort that became painful the more fingers he added. I was able to hide it from the alpha, though, so I guess it could’ve been worse.”

  “And when he penetrated you with his penis?” Angela prompted.

  Christopher looked down at his hands. “It burned, and…even though sometimes I felt something good and thought it would get better, it never did. The harder he thrust, the more it hurt until I thought I’d have to say something. Luckily, he stopped before I did. I had to lie and say I’d gotten off, because I wasn’t hard anymore.”

  The two humans looked sympathetic, and even though the last thing Christopher wanted was pity, he couldn’t help but feel relieved at having let it all out.

  “Why didn’t you tell your partner you were in pain?” Angela asked.

  “I knew it wasn’t normal. I didn’t want him to think I was a freak.”

  “If he thought that, he isn’t worth being with,” Angela said.

  “He wouldn’t be mean to me about it, but any werewolf would think it was weird. It’s taken ages for us to get together, and the first time we fu—do something, I don’t like it?” Christopher shook his head. “No way am I letting him know that. I’ll fake it forever if I have to.”

  Angela looked at Bridges, something passing between their eyes.

  Bridges picked up his bag from the floor board. “Would you be willing to let me examine you?” he asked.

  Christopher stilled. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I’d like to do a brief medical exam to see if I can detect anything out of sorts that might be causing your pain. A birth defect, maybe.”

  Christopher’s eyebrows rose. “Is that possible?”

  Bridges gave a light shrug. “Anything’s possible. We won’t know until we find out.”

  “Okay,” Christopher agreed. “Here?”

  “I’ll make a place under the trees over there,” Angela said. She grabbed a blanket from the back and got out of the car.

  Bridges had Christopher remove his shirt and sit down on the blanket. After checking what Bridges called Christopher’s vital signs, the male doctor told the beta to remove his pants and get on his knees for a rectal exam. Bridges donned a thin latex glove while Angela remained near Christopher’s head and quietly explained each step.

  “He’s using lubricant so as not to hurt you too much. After examining your rim, he’s going to probe inside your rectum for abnormalities.”

  Christopher remembered something. “I forgot to say, the alpha I was with used lube. We don’t always do that, but he knew it was my first time and wanted to make it as pleasurable as possible. That’s another reason I didn’t want to tell him it hurt. He took so much time on me.”

  The beta winced when Dr. Talcourt gently inserted his index finger and felt around. Other than a pleasant tingling when the doctor swept over the beta’s prostate, Christopher felt nothing but discomfort and mild pain. He said as much when Angela asked.

  “I’m going to insert one more finger to see if you have the same level of discomfort you experienced with your partner,” Bridges informed Christopher. “Try not to tense up.”

  Easier said than done, but Christopher figured nothing could be worse than having X’s huge cock and knot inside him.

  The second finger hurt, and the beta winced, sucking in a breath between his teeth. After Christopher described what it felt like, Bridges removed his fingers.

  “You can get dressed,” Bridges said, pulling off his glove before disposing of it in his bag.

  “What’s wrong with me?” Christopher asked.

  “It’s difficult to say at present,” Bridges said. “I’d like to discuss this with my colleagues. I can say, however, that I don’t believe there’s any danger to your health.”

  Christopher wrung his hands. He wanted to be normal. “But what about sex?”

  “I think if penetrative sex hurts you, you should avoid it.”

  Christopher’s heart sank. Avoid sex? He couldn’t do that. An alpha would want sex, and Christopher wanted it, too. Just not the painful part.

  “Chris,” Angela said softly. “If this alpha means something to you, explain it to him. He’ll understand.”

  Christopher nodded, but he had no intention of telling Xavier anything. He would pretend to be normal. Forever, if he had to.

  Chapter 32: Canaan

  Canaan had trouble keeping his mind on his work. Ace had stopped by, and the beta had managed to appear busy with the children, but in truth, he was rattled. Duncan had rattled him.

  Boy, had the alpha rattled him.

  Anytime the beta allowed himself a moment to think, the memory of being draped over the fence with Duncan’s big cock inside him crowded his brain, and Canaan was lost. He kept a semi-erection most of the time,
not only inappropriate when working with children, but also extremely embarrassing, for nothing got past his young charges without comment. In particular, Justin’s oldest boys were way too sharp for their own good, and Canaan had already had to explain why he’d blushed when Tyler spelled the word fence.

  The beta wasn’t ashamed several pack members had witnessed him being fucked over a fence. No, desire at the memory was what suffused the beta’s skin with blood. Canaan had never been so turned on, and the tingling anticipation he felt knowing he would likely pay that night for the words he’d shouted at Duncan in the heat of the moment far outweighed any trepidation he might have at what his punishment might be.

  Finally, the school day ended, and Canaan stood watching his charges leave with family members, breath already short at the knowledge Duncan would be waiting for him. The beta walked home, showered, and considered eating, but his nervous stomach rebelled at the thought. With a last look in the mirror, wondering what it could be about him that made Duncan take notice, he set off.

  The days were getting longer, and the smell of blossoms and new grass hung in the air. The sun had just dipped below the horizon when Canaan walked past the park. X sat with Christopher on one of the benches, eyes focused on the young beta’s face, speaking quietly. Neither noticed Canaan walk by.

  The older beta was a little surprised that no pang of loss or regret stung him at seeing Xavier so interested in someone else. Not that Canaan had ever thought his tryst with the alpha would come to anything—he’d known from the beginning X didn’t want him. Besides, Canaan was pretty sure he was incapable of true feeling, having realized some time ago what he’d once felt for River had been nothing but pure lust. Sex was what the beta was good at. What was happening now between himself and Duncan—undeniably the most emotionless and sex-driven alpha in the pack—proved that.