by L. C. Davis
“I have to go,” he said, running out of the apartment and down the stairs. By the time he made it outside, Dustin had a guard up against the wall and Zander was about to punch another. They all stopped to stare at Caleb.
Dustin dropped the man whose neck his hand was wrapped around and pulled Caleb into his arms, squeezing him so tightly the omega could hardly breathe. “Caleb,” he whispered, stroking the other man’s hair. He pulled away, his eyes wild with protective anger. “Did they hurt you?”
“No,” Caleb said immediately. “No, I went with them on my own.”
“Bullshit,” Dustin growled. He turned on Stanley and Bradley, who had just come through the front door. “You come onto my pack lands and take my omega and think you can get away with it?”
“Your omega?” Stanley asked in confusion. He turned to Caleb and frowned. “He didn’t mention anything about a claim.”
Now it was Caleb’s turn to be confused. Dustin went from looking like he was ready to tear every wolf in Stanley’s pack apart to acting like he’d been caught in a trap. His gaze found Caleb’s and he straightened his spine in resolve.
“I didn’t want you to find out this way. Or until you were ready, for that matter, but Caleb, I…I imprinted on you.”
Caleb’s eyes widened. He couldn’t bring himself to accept the words Dustin was saying. It just wasn’t possible. “What?”
“You’re my mate,” Dustin said, taking Caleb’s hand. His tone softened even though Caleb could still feel how ready he was to attack if either of the Smith Alphas took another step closer. He looked sharply at them both. “And I will do anything to keep him safe.”
“Hey, don’t look at me,” Bradley said, holding his hands up. “This has all been a big misunderstanding.”
“Yeah, I’ll say it has,” Dustin growled. “That prick of a Federation officer you’ve got working for you was severely mistaken if he thought he could come onto my land, manhandle two omegas within my care and take one while I was unconscious.”
“He did what?” Bradley asked, turning on his father.
“I—I just told them to enforce the warrant, I didn’t know about that,” Stanley said, clearly horrified.
“Dustin, it’s okay,” Caleb said, touching his Alpha’s cheek to calm him. It was an instinctive gesture, but it seemed to work immediately. “They were very kind to me, and Ariel and I are both fine. Bradley was going to take me back when you showed up.”
Caleb could still sense his mate’s rage, but Dustin was starting to calm down. At least, he hoped. “What happened is still unacceptable, and someone’s gonna pay.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Bradley. “My mate happens to be a Federation commander, and I’m sure he’ll be very interested to learn about this ‘officer’s’ conduct.”
“Your mate?” Dustin asked.
“It’s a long story,” Caleb murmured. “Can I please tell you at home?”
The words slipped from his mouth so easily. He had no right to think of the Meadowlands Pack—Alec’s pack—as his home, but he couldn’t deny that he did. For the moment, he was more concerned with getting Dustin and Zander home before they killed anyone.
Dustin watched him and seemed to be weighing just how much he wanted blood now, but he finally nodded. He mounted his bike and motioned for Caleb to get on behind him.
Caleb had never touched a motorcycle before, let alone ridden on the back of one, but he wasn’t about to argue with Dustin right then. He climbed on and wrapped his arms around the Alpha’s waist, jolting when the engine roared to life and sent vibrations all across his flesh. He held on tight as Dustin took off and left Zander to deal with the aftermath of what had very nearly been a war.
As Caleb rode back home with the Alpha who’d just confessed to being his destined mate, there were so many questions in his mind. Why hadn’t Dustin told him sooner? What did it mean for their future? Could they actually have a future if the thing that had drawn them together was something no wolf was meant to fight, and a force entirely out of their control? Most of all, he found himself wondering when the last time was that he’d ever felt so safe, even traveling a hundred miles per hour down a dirt road.
The answer, he realized, was never.
Chapter 19
DUSTIN
Dustin had never been as close to killing another wolf in cold blood as he’d come that night. Under normal circumstances, he could count on Zander to be the one who held him back and he’d done the same for the other Alpha on more than one occasion, but after some random Federation officers had broken into their pack and scared the shit out of Ariel before taking Caleb, neither of them had been in a sound, rational mood.
If it hadn’t been for Caleb, Dustin still wasn’t sure what he would have done. The omega was capable of calming him in ways no one else ever had been, despite the fact that defending him was the only cause that could push the Alpha that far.
When they’d finally arrived home, Dustin had gone past the house without really meaning to. He was still running on adrenaline and being confined in a house wasn’t the best way to cool down. He parked in a quiet area where he was used to ending his perimeter sweeps in his beastform since it was close enough to keep an eye on the pack yet far enough so as not to alarm the cattle.
After helping Caleb off his bike, Dustin realized he owed the omega an explanation. To his surprise, Caleb hadn’t questioned him. Instead, the omega was watching him, his eyes softened with concern.
Dustin was glad that Caleb hadn’t been taken against his will, but that raised other questions. Why had he left at all? Hadn’t he believed Dustin would fight to protect him? Or maybe he’d actually wanted to go. Maybe Dustin hadn’t saved him at all.
“You’re awake,” Caleb finally said, avoiding Dustin’s gaze. “I’m so glad. I was worried.”
“Likewise. Were you telling the truth back there? They didn’t hurt you?”
“No,” Caleb answered. “The officers who came were…unpleasant, but the Smiths were fine. They just can’t accept that their son is with an Alpha. It’s a whole thing,” he sighed.
Dustin blinked. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you went with them. If they weren’t threatening you—”
“Ariel is pregnant. They were threatening to take her baby, and I couldn’t let that happen,” he murmured. “I know what it’s like to lose a child.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you,” Dustin said in a strained voice. He wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for, Caleb’s kidnapping or the accident on the road. Maybe both. He knew it wasn’t rational. He hadn’t even met Caleb at that point, but he still felt like the omega was his responsibility and always had been.
“Part of me was relieved that you weren’t there,” Caleb said quietly. He sounded so ashamed of the words he was speaking.
“What? Why?” Dustin asked, struggling to understand. Sometimes, it seemed like the omega was on another planet entirely.
“Because you weren’t there to talk me out of doing the right thing.” Caleb’s voice broke and as much as Dustin wanted to pull him into his arms to comfort him, he feared doing more damage. “It’s so wrong for me to feel this way about you.”
“Caleb,” Dustin pleaded, taking the omega’s face between his hands. The sight of tears filling those eyes he loved so well made his heart ache. “You didn’t choose this. Neither did I. It just happened, and I don’t know about you, but I can’t go on pretending like I’m sorry it did.”
“I’m not just talking about you imprinting,” Caleb gasped. “I’m not just talking about loving you. It’s the way you make me feel. The way you make me forget. We lost Alec so recently, and I went from crying myself to sleep every night to smiling as I drift off because I remembered something you said or did. You make me laugh, and feel safe and it all happened so much faster than it did with him.”
Dustin listened and found himself without any response he could give that seemed enough. “You were Alec’s mate,” he
said softly, wiping the tears from the omega’s eyes. “He loved you and you loved him. Knowing he had you all these years, it’s the only thing that gave me comfort when he died. Just because he didn’t imprint on you doesn’t mean you weren’t destined mates, Caleb. It doesn’t mean what you shared was any less important or less real than what happened to us both in an instant, and nothing that happens between us could ever take away from that”
The Alpha took a deep breath to collect his thoughts. Nothing was ever simple. Nothing ever made sense anymore, aside from what he felt for Caleb. The simplicity and the intensity of it made it impossible for him to question that it was real. He’d been beating himself up over it ever since he’d met the omega, but for the first time, speaking to Caleb, he felt like he finally had the answer, the absolution he’d been seeking for himself.
“This whole time, I’ve been torn between what I want and what he would want, but when I think about it, I’ve been seeing things the way I would see them. Not the way Alec would.” He smiled a little. “Out of the two of us, he was always the better man.”
“Dustin, that’s not true. There’s no comparing either of you.”
“Oh, there is. I had to learn to be a good person. Alec was born that way. He loved our parents, but he’s the one who saw through the parts of their natures that I just thought were normal. He’s the one who showed me there was a better way, and in that sense, I was the one who looked up to him. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be just as selfish and controlling and stubborn as either of them, but if our situations were reversed and you’d been mine from the very beginning, I would want him to have you,” he said softly, caressing Caleb’s cheek. “I’d want to know someone was taking care of you. Someone who loved you as much as I did. Someone who’d protect you and make sure you were never alone again. Now, I have to figure that as morally inferior to Alec as I am, if I love you enough that I’d want those things, he would all the more.”
Caleb’s eyes shone with fresh tears. The moonlight turned his melancholy to art, but his smile was like the sunrise and Dustin would have done anything to see the dawn on his lover’s face again. He didn’t deserve Caleb, but he wasn’t strong or stubborn enough to let him go.
“You really think this is the right thing?” the omega asked, his voice thin with uncertainty.
Dustin took his hand and kissed the back of it softly. “I don’t know,” he admitted. He loved Caleb too much to lie to him. “And the choice is yours, as it always has been, but all I do know is that there never has been another choice for me. Whether you choose to bear my mark tomorrow or you need me to wait a lifetime, I’ll do it because there never was and never will be anyone else for me.”
“Oh, Dustin,” Caleb breathed, throwing himself into the Alpha’s arms. He clung to Dustin’s shoulders, crying silently until his tears soaked into his mate’s jacket. “I choose you. I still don’t know if it’s the right thing, but it’s the only thing my heart knows how to do.”
Dustin bent his head and pressed his lips to Caleb’s. He kissed him softly, pulling away just enough to look into his eyes. “I love you, Caleb. I love you, and I will do whatever it takes you make you happy. Whatever it takes to make you see that staying here with me is the right choice.”
A faint smile graced Caleb’s lips before he pulled away. “We’ve already crossed the line. We may as well make it official.”
Dustin felt a surge of hope, but he was afraid to give in until he knew. “Do you mean —?”
Caleb pulled his collar away, exposing his bare neck. “I want you to mark me,” he said softly, bashfully. His cheeks were flushed again, and those words stirred the same desire in Dustin that Caleb’s heat had before. He took his mate into his arms again and pressed him up against a tree. It took effort to remind himself to be gentle as he explored Caleb’s body. The omega gasped as Dustin’s teeth grazed his neck, but he turned his head to allow it.
As much as Dustin wanted to claim him right there, he craved more intimacy. This wasn’t a moment either of them would forget, and he didn’t want to. He kissed Caleb’s neck softly where his mark would soon rest, careful to leave it on the opposite side of the one the omega had born before. He slipped his hand into Caleb’s jeans and the little whimper that escaped the omega made control even harder. He tugged Caleb’s jeans down before unzipping his own, their hard shafts pressed tight between their bodies as Dustin ground into him.
Caleb moaned into his mouth, his hands tangling in the Alpha’s hair. Dustin kept stroking rhythmically and Caleb’s trembling hand came to rest over his.
“Dustin,” he gasped, throwing his head back against the bark in ecstasy. His hips were bucking so hard that Dustin had to pin him against the tree to keep him still. The moment was as right as it was ever going to be. He could feel Caleb’s pulse under his lips as he kissed the spot he intended to mark once more. He bit in gently, and Caleb’s body tensed up in pain only for a moment before it turned to pleasure. He bit his lip to stifle a moan and his blood filled Dustin’s mouth, sweet and sensual. Caleb came first, and the omega’s breathless gasp of his name as he clawed at the tree in ecstasy pushed Dustin over the edge.
He finally pulled away, licking the blood over the healing wound on Caleb’s neck. He nuzzled affectionately and felt his wolf coming to the surface. He took a few steps back, breaking contact to clear his head, and looked into Caleb’s eyes to make sure his mate was as ready for the next phase of the mark as he was. They were already half-clothed, so shifting into their wolf forms was a natural transition.
Caleb’s wolf was small and tan, and Dustin’s was nearly twice as long with thick brown fur that was much rougher. He circled his mate, nuzzling Caleb’s neck in adoration. At first, he expected Caleb to submit quietly to his mark, but the smaller wolf took off running into the forest.
Always full of surprises.
Dustin took off after him, adrenaline and desire rushing through his veins. His heart beat faster as his paws hit the ground and he followed the streams of moonlight through the forest canopy as he chased his mate. Caleb was fast and sly, and Dustin found himself challenged to keep up with him.
Fortunately, he knew the layout of the woods better than his little city wolf. He cut Caleb off at the pass and worried he’d tackled him too hard when they both rolled into the brush. The flurry of kisses the other wolf met him with put those fears to rest.
Caleb’s wolf pressed his cold nose into Dustin’s neck and nuzzled him as if congratulating him on his victory. He turned his head to expose his neck and Dustin wasted no time taking the invitation. He bit his mate a second time and felt the bond between them cement itself. It would still take a few days, if not more, for his mark to appear on Caleb’s neck, but he intended to make sure the pack knew exactly who the omega was to him well before then.
After all, now that Caleb was his, he wasn’t going anywhere.
Chapter 20
CALEB
“Dustin. Dustin!”
Caleb winced. Judging by the shrill call he could hear from upstairs, he assumed his mother-in-law had heard about the mark. Noreen had left for a few days immediately after it had happened, and Caleb had hoped that he could get away with wearing high collars around the house for a few more weeks of blissful peace before they told her, but word traveled fast in a small pack. Especially when it came to the one who started most of the pack gossip in the first place.
Noreen had apologized to Caleb and Ariel for her role in the Smith fiasco, and Dustin swore that she’d done it of her own volition, before her son had the chance to force her hand. Caleb had forgiven her, but that didn’t mean he expected them to become the best of friends.
The door to Dustin’s home office shut and Caleb could hear the sounds of them arguing grow closer. He braced himself and hoped the soufflé he had in the oven would survive Noreen’s wrath.
The other omega came stalking into the room, dragging her son by the ear even though he was a good foot taller than she was. She came to a stop
and looked between them, her arms folded. “I hope neither of you think you’re going to get away with this.”
“Mom, Caleb is my mate. Of course I marked him,” Dustin muttered. “You’re just going to have to deal with it, and if you don’t like it—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!” she snapped. “Don’t get me wrong, I am a bit teed off that I had to find out through Jane,” she said, smoothing down her short hair. “But I suppose I understand. What I cannot and will not stand for is another mating taking place in this family without a proper ceremony!”
Caleb and Dustin exchanged a bewildered look.
“We didn’t think that would be appropriate, all things considered,” Caleb said carefully. He’d assumed that Noreen wouldn’t want them to have a ceremony in the first place.
“Oh, because bringing a child into the world before you have a mating ceremony is so appropriate,” she scolded, throwing her hands up in the air. “Why don’t we just wait until the kid’s old enough to be the ring bearer, while we’re at it?”
“Kid?” Caleb echoed. “Noreen, I’m not…there is no baby.”
“What are you talking about?” Dustin asked, rubbing his head. Noreen was always mystified as to why everyone around her suffered from migraines. Caleb wasn’t.
Noreen blinked. “You mean you didn’t know? I just assumed it was yet another thing you two were keeping from me.”
Somewhere beneath the passive-aggression, Caleb realized Noreen was serious. He touched his stomach and his head felt light all of a sudden. Dustin reached out to hold him. The Alpha searched his face for answers Caleb just didn’t have.
“You’re…?”