by Fel Fern
Then his little human burst at the seams, spraying his jizz all over his stomach. Spencer withdrew from the kiss, his dick thickening at the sight of Henry coming undone, all thanks to him. A wave of possessiveness filled him.
Henry had made a vital point. Wren and Cole defied the traditional rules of one shifter and one mate for life. He and Daryl had been too young to understand the need to spend more time together, and yet he understood Daryl was special, the way Henry was.
Henry wasn’t going anywhere soon though, and while Spencer, the boy, had decided Daryl was his mate, the man he’d become still possessed the ability to choose and he chose Henry. This persistent, amazing human had stuck with him while others had run.
“Are you going to fuck me now?” Henry asked in a lazy voice.
“On fours,” he ordered. He cut the bonds, freeing Henry’s hands. Then he helped Henry into position. Spencer opened the drawer beside the bed, pulled out the lube, and took some time, admiring his little human’s tight, sexy ass.
“Are you like, checking out my ass?” Henry asked.
“It’s a pretty fine ass, and it’s mine.” He ran a hand down the curve of Henry’s spine, liking Henry’s shiver. “Can’t wait to be inside you.”
“Hurry.”
He laughed. “Got to get you ready first, baby.”
“Baby,” Henry whispered. “I like it when you call me that. Makes me feel special.”
“You are.” Spencer worked lube inside Henry’s ass and stretched Henry with two fingers, then three. He made twisting motions, brushing against Henry’s secret spot. Henry curled like a cat and moaned, thrust his ass against him.
“Patience,” he reminded Henry.
“If you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly the patient type.”
That made him smile. Spencer took his fingers out, deeming Henry ready. Gripping Henry’s ass, he nudged his cock into Henry’s entrance. He pushed in, groaning at the incredible tightness. Henry’s inner muscles seemed intent on clamping down on his shaft, but he managed to bury himself balls deep inside Henry.
Henry breathed hard, clutched at the sheets in front of him.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yes. Fuck me until I can barely walk the next day, please.”
How could he say no to that? Spencer hammered in and out of Henry with fast strokes, going deeper with each turn. Heat flared inside of him, ready to turn into an inferno. Henry’s arousal mingled with his own, a heady concoction.
“Touch yourself,” he ordered, pleased Henry obeyed and began working his shaft.
He pounded in and out of Henry, eager to cement his claim once more, to fill Henry’s ass with his cum. The pressure inside him continued to build. Henry whimpered, breaths ragged. So was his own. He fucked Henry faster, rendering them both to panting, groaning animals.
Spencer shifted the angle of his thrusts slightly and knew he hit Henry’s prostate when Henry gasped, back arching. He aimed for the spot repeatedly, laying a kiss on the side of Henry’s neck. Not tonight, he realized. Despite being in the heat of the moment, he knew neither of them was ready to see if the mating bond would take.
No matter. They had all the time in the world. Small thoughts, he realized, nipped at Henry’s shoulder, leaving another bite mark there. Henry cried out against him, while he went for Henry’s sweet spot again. His little human orgasmed, screaming out his name as he came once more for him.
The sound was music to his ears. Henry’s climax triggered his own. Spencer growled, gripped Henry’s ass tighter, and shot his load down Henry’s ass.
Chapter Nine
Spencer woke in the best position possible, tangled up in the limbs of his sweet human. With most ex-lovers, spending the night over, much less bringing those strangers to his den, was an absolute no, but he realized he could get used to waking up next to Henry’s slender warmth.
Henry’s snores filled the early morning, and he smiled to himself. Somewhere nearby, something vibrated. He chose to ignore his phone, because for one, he still hadn’t gotten used to fiddling with the device and rather preferred to indulge in Henry’s company a little longer. The vibration grew more intense.
Since it might be his brothers or something important related to company matters, he dragged himself out of bed, albeit reluctantly. Swearing under his breath when Henry curled to the other side to hug one of his pillows instead of him, he sighed. He fumbled for the pile of clothing on the ground, and two phones slid out, equally identical.
He growled under his breath. Why did he get the exact same phone Henry had by accident?
The phone vibrated again, the one in his left hand. He swiped the screen and saw it wasn’t the screensaver Malik had saved—a selfie, Malik had called it—of the two of them to commemorate their first shopping trip together. Given a choice, Spencer wanted to remove that background but had no clue how. This was clearly Henry’s phone and he was about to set it down, but the preview text caught his eye.
Spencer knew he shouldn’t. This was Henry’s phone, but it seemed the sender posed a potential threat to Henry. He swiped it open. A few messages.
Dip shit, don’t ignore my texts. You know who this is. I traveled all the way to your hicksville town to find you. Get your ass to the Running Horse diner.
The text was followed by a date, more threatening messages.
Spencer bristled and glanced at Henry again. He scrolled up and saw Henry had replied once, telling the sender he’d gotten the wrong number. He had a sneaking suspicion who this was, and it didn’t sit well with his bear at all that this fucker, Brad, was in his town, looking for his mate.
Mate. That was right. Spencer was no longer afraid of the word. He still wasn’t certain he could be a good mate to Henry, but since Henry chose him, accepted him, he felt the same. Besides, he didn’t tell Henry that the little human already had a piece of his heart.
He quickly typed a response—well, as quick as a novice could anyway—agreeing to meet with Brad.
Spencer glanced at Henry, setting both phones down. He slid next to Henry back in bed and tugged the human close. Henry snuggled close instantly, murmured something in his sleep.
“You awake, little human?” he asked.
A plan started to form in Spencer’s head, to get rid of Brad once and for all. Given a choice, he probably would prefer to rip out the bastard’s throat and bury Brad’s body somewhere no one could find it. But no. Spencer would do this in a civilized matter, as civilized as shifters could be anyway.
“Let’s sleep in a little more,” Henry eventually grumbled. “Unless you have plenty of stuff to do?”
“Not until noon. I have a meeting, but you can stay here a little longer.”
“Okay.” Henry still sounded a little sleepy.
Spencer decided to keep Brad a secret until later. Besides, he wasn’t going to hurt Brad, not that badly anyway.
* * * *
“So, what does this guy look like anyway?” Cole asked.
Cole, Malik, and he squeezed into a booth in the back of the Running Horse diner. The owner and most of the elderly waitresses knew them by sight. This diner, like the town, was their home, and Snow Valley was a place Henry called home, too.
An outsider like Brad needed to be taught a valuable lesson: that he wasn’t welcomed here or anywhere near Henry. Spencer and his brothers had already spoken with Mr. Watson, the owner, and the wait staff, warning them there might be shouting, some violence, but if it came to that, they’d take it outside.
Spencer could only work from Henry’s description, but he had a feeling an asshole like Brad would nonetheless stick out in a small town like theirs. “Blond, pretty boy in a suit.”
“Wow, never heard that much hatred in your voice before,” Malik observed. “Although, I agree. I despise assholes who think they can use people like punching bags.”
Malik’s handsome expression turned serious, dark shadows in his eyes. Cole and he shared a look. It was rare for anyone to see this side o
f Malik, but then Malik had seen his share of nightmares when he was a kid, too.
“You haven’t even met Henry, and you’re his number one fan?” Cole asked Malik. “I know about that trip you guys took.”
“You jealous Spencer called me instead of you?” Malik’s grin was back in place.
Cole huffed. “Of course not.”
“You were busy,” Spencer said.
“Anyway, guys, heads up. I think that’s Brad,” Cole said.
Spencer craned his head. A tall, lanky blond man wearing what looked like a designer suit entered the diner and turned his nose up as he gave the place a glance. Spencer glanced outside, saw the fancy black Mercedes with the Chicago plates, and knew this had to be Brad.
“Your best table,” Brad said to Sandy, a waitress who’d worked here since Spencer was a teenager.
“Sit anywhere you want,” the waitress said.
“I prefer nonsmoking,” Brad said. Sandy ignored him and went to pour coffee for another customer. Brad stared at her, letting out an arrogant chuckle, before taking a seat near the window, three booths from them.
Spencer rose from his seat. His brothers followed. They approached Brad. He slid in the booth where Brad sat, preventing escape. His brothers sat in front of the cocky human.
“Who are you? This seat is taken,” Brad said, tone dismissive. The human held the menu away from his face, as if it was contagious. “Before you leave, do you have any hand sanitizer? Who knows what kind of germs this thing has.”
Spencer snatched the menu away, glowering at the human, and Brad stared at him, then his brothers for the first time. Brad stiffened, as if realizing for the first time he sat at a table with three predators.
“Who are you people, and what do you what? I’ll have you know, you don’t want to mess with me.”
“But it’s okay for you to mess with someone who’s already moved on and left you?” he asked.
Brad narrowed his eyes. “What? Did boring old Henry hire thugs to scare me off?”
He nearly lunged for the asshole’s throat, but he needed to hear the reasons why Brad had come here. With much difficult, he reined in his pissed-off bear.
“Why did you go looking for Henry? He broke up with you a long time ago,” he managed to grit out.
“Why? Because I hear he’s some big shot in the mobile development industry now. Now that I’m drowning in some serious debt, he could loan me some.” Brad must have realized his mistake a second later, because he blustered. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
What the fuck? This miserable piece of shit wanted money? That also meant Brad was probably keeping tabs on Henry—not hard to do, given Henry used his real name and anyone who downloaded his apps saw the developer’s name.
Knowing this little leech was tailing his human, his bear lost it.
He fisted his hand into Brad’s shirt, snarling, showing teeth. Spencer let his bear show through his eyes, all the animalistic rage that had built up since this morning. Brad paled, and he could taste Brad’s fear in the air. So tempting to end this pathetic human here and now, but he held on to his thin control. He could sense Cold’s wolf and Malik’s jaguar pressing up against his bear, not aggravating his animal but calming it.
“Y-you monsters don’t intimidate me. I’ll scream for help,” Brad threatened.
“Why, we’re just having a little friendly chat, aren’t we?” Malik drawled, then yelled over to the next table, occupied by an elderly couple. “We bothering you, Gary and Mindy?”
“Not at all, dear,” Mindy said with a smile.
“Henry is under our protection. We’re here to give you a little warning. Step inside Snow Valley one more time and you’re food, minced meat for us.”
Cole snorted. “Brad here won’t even make a decent snack.”
“You stupid animals don’t know who you’re up against,” Brad finally said.
“Don’t we? We stupid animals keep in touch with each other, you know,” Malik ventured. “For instance, I’m good pals with Griffin, Alpha of the Thunder Manes, the largest wolf pack in Chicago. Won’t be hard to reach out, tell his wolves you’d make for a tasty little snack.”
Sweat tickled down the side of Brad’s neck. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“We shifters know how to deal with our own brand of justice. Henry is mine, and bring harm to him, it’s not the wolves in the city you have to fear. I’ll track you down, and you’ll be in unrecognizable pieces once I’m done with you.”
Brad tried to get away from him as far as possible, as much as the booth allowed anyway.
“Do we understand each other, Mr. Pittman?” Cole asked.
“Perfectly,” Brad whispered.
Spencer got out so Brad could leave, but he kept his gaze trained on Brad the entire time. Once out, Brad ran out of the diner and headed for his expensive car. The human drove so fast out of there, one would think he was in a race.
“I’m proud of you, brother,” Malik said to him. “For managing to control your temper and not rip his throat out.”
“I don’t want Henry to think I’m a killer, although I’m capable of it.”
“So,” Cole dragged the word out. “When are you making Henry your mate?”
Spencer thought about the question. “Soon. We’re both busy right now. Henry’s busy rushing deadlines and his game development is slightly behind schedule, and I have a couple of new orders, too.”
“Well, don’t wait it out too long,” Cole said. “What about—”
Cole hesitated. Malik fell silent, too, but Spencer had expected the question of Daryl to come up.
“Henry says it doesn’t matter, that he’d help fill the hole in my heart. Cole, if Wren and you managed to make things work, could the same thing happen to me?”
Cole laughed. “Of course. We’re brothers, aren’t we? And we Mercer men don’t know when to give up.”
Spencer hadn’t really been all that worried about dealing with Brad. It was the aftermath he’d been thinking about, how Henry and he would proceed from here onward. He and the others would always be on the lookout for Brad, and Malik’s contacts would keep a close eye on the human for a while.
On his side, he needed to move forward. Spencer knew he’d been given a wonderful opportunity, a chance to genuinely love and cherish a man who suited him in so many ways. Henry was a gift, one he was going to make sure he treasured for eternity, but once and for all, he needed to settle the score with his past.
He never said it out loud, but there was a reason why he’d been scared to give his mating mark to Henry.
“Cole,” he said, hesitant, because like him, Cole was also defensive about certain aspects of his past.
Cole’s birth mother had been a drug addict, abusive, and back before Cole had mated Wren, Cole had been worried about ending up just like her. He worried if genes were contagious, too, that he’d end up like his hateful father.
His brother looked at him.
“How did you manage to move away from old fears?”
Cole smiled. “You won’t turn out like your birth dad, Spencer.”
“He’s right, you know,” Malik added.
“How are you so certain of that?”
“Because that asshole might be your real dad, but it was Isiah who raised you,” Malik finished. “Not just him, but other positive experiences shaped you while growing up. You’ll always be a better man than that asshole. I’m…we’re all proud of you. Nash isn’t here, but he’d say the same thing.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, looking away, embarrassed, but he was touched. Malik’s words “Don’t just say stuff like that in public.”
Malik laughed. “I’m your brother. I have the right to say sappy shit like that whenever I want.” Malik looked outside the diner window, and Spencer followed his line of sight to see Henry, out of breath, in one of Spencer’s shirts and loose jogging pants, looking like he’d rushed all the way here.
“Look at that, it’s your mate, lookin
g madder than hell,” Malik commented. “Come on, Cole. About time we made our speedy exit.”
His other traitorous brother agreed wholeheartedly.
Once they left, Cole even had the guts to greet Henry. His little human joined him, glaring.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Henry blurted, took out his phone and showed him the screen where he’d replied to Brad.
“You didn’t tell me you’ve been in contact with your ex either.”
Henry let out a breath, then a guilty expression appeared on his face. “I mean, I suspected it was him, but hoped I made a mistake.”
Chapter Ten
“Where are you taking me?” Henry asked, strapping his seat belt on.
It was a little difficult, since he held on to the flowers and box of chocolates Spencer had surprised him with. Given their busy schedules, he’d been pleasantly surprised Spencer remembered today was the official release day for Date an Alpha. Then again, he shouldn’t be surprised because Spencer had proved he didn’t forget a thing.
“To help me lay down my ghosts once and for all.”
Spencer’s words held some weight to them, but he was pleased they were finally taking this step. He’d been mad, after Spencer and his brothers had dealt with Brad without telling him. Part of him was relieved, too, because he’d already left behind that chapter of his life. Truth be told, he was happy and grateful. Brad would never be able to reach him again. Sometimes though, Spencer could be a little overprotective, but Henry also understood that was part of a dominant shifter’s nature.
“Really? You sure?”
Spencer leaned over, gave him a teasing, quick kiss before starting the engine. “Absolutely.”
The drive took several hours, but he liked being in Spencer’s company. He finished off his chocolates, sang to the tunes on the radio, all the while Spencer looked amused. They had begun to get used to each other’s company, and Malik commented that more often than not, they acted like a married couple.