My pace quickened. I didn't want Parker to have escaped one prison to trade it for another. Though my mind stuttered to a halt when I considered Talewah a prison, I rather thought Parker would have approved.
I drew closer to Chatterly Park, just across from the crosswalk before I caught his scent. There, off in the distance, was the faintest trace of my omega. I turned my head toward the tiny oasis on its dusty lot and drew a wonderful mixture from the wind. Touched with chocolate and wrapped in my own musk, Parker was in that park somewhere. I didn't dare call out his name. Any decent alpha wouldn't go near him, but there was plenty of my kind that didn't fit that description.
I ignored the sign, crossed the street, flipped off the car that honked at me, and disappeared into the undergrowth.
Here, I found a scent trail that was so heavy it intoxicated me. My mate was close to his first mated heat, not the flare of one he'd had last night when we'd had such a wonderful evening together. This was like honey on my tongue, something so sweet that one taste would have me hooked.
That was when I heard the first yelp. My ears quickly turned to pointed, furry things atop my head. I stiffened and breathed as deeply as I could, freezing in the shadows of the dark landscape around me. A few dozen feet forward, just under a hundred, was Parker. I heard his breathing, scented him so thickly that it was unmistakable. Yet, alongside that lingering aroma was something alien. Three somethings, unless I was completely off my rocker. I let the change take me, sending me to my hands and knees. Feet stretched, lengthened, and I wrinkled my muzzle in the night.
If someone was stupid enough to think they could poach my mate from me, they were going to learn differently.
The wolf in the forest is a ghost, unknown to its prey until it reaches the poor doomed thing. I made my animal ancestors proud. No twigs crunched, no leaves rustled. And I came upon my mate, a wet and sad wolf in the water, soaked and miserable as he tried to hunker away from three human-formed alphas.
What struck me in the strangest way was the fact that one of them was a female alpha. What could she possibly want with my omega?
I lunged.
And I caught them off-guard. Parker whimpered and sank into the water at my approach. I snapped my jaws around the wrist of the largest alpha, blood streaming around my teeth. He screamed and shook me, but I held on. A second alpha, the other male, threw himself at me.
I dropped and let him land on his partner. The bitch, however, irked me. Females never played by the same rules as we male alphas did. They had honor, but they were the sorts that would bite you after they'd submitted. I watched her as she watched me before she held up her hands.
"If I leave and take these two, you let us go and we won't bother you again," she said.
I licked the crimson from my muzzle in a pointed fashion.
"I'm offering you peace," she growled.
I thought it over.
A pack alpha was merciful. Conflict was not to be avoided, but there was a certain level of dignity that came from defeating your enemies and letting them live to tell the world how strong you were. I sat and watched her, imperious. She gathered her friends and left, crashing through the brush in a way unbecoming an alpha.
Then I turned my attention back to my mate.
In the time it'd taken for me to defeat the upstarts, he had climbed from the water and come to sit just behind me. I flattened my ears at him, but I could hardly be angry. It wasn't his fault that a trio of alphas had decided to come menace him. I leaned forward to lick the water from his coat.
He shook on me, instead.
I growled and tackled him. Unfortunately, my grip was misplaced. The two of us careened down the incline and straight into the water, the slick grass no friend to either of us. I snorted a lungful of fluid from my lungs and made certain it landed all over his face.
Soaked, smelling of fear and arousal, my mate crept over to me and licked my nose.
The touch sent electricity coursing through my veins. My breath hitched as my cock lurched. I was not going to mate in beast form. The very idea was forbidden. It corrupted the pups, they said and brought nothing but trouble to the omega who mated on all fours. We werewolves had two forms for a reason. The hunter was not to be made into a father.
I started to clean the water from his face and neck, working my way along his back. He tasted like candy and smelled like springtime.
Panting, I shoved him with my nose. If he understood, I'd see him shifted back in a moment. Then we'd test out this private den, see how soundproof it could be. He blinked at me, confused.
He didn't get it.
I grabbed his scruff in my teeth and threw my paws over his back just as someone blew a whistle nearby, the sharp sound deafening me.
"None of that in public, sir," said a female, a beta cop. "Go on home. You two can celebrate the moon there."
I slid from my mate's back, grabbed the side of his neck and hauled him back toward the street. The cop was right.
8
Parker
The door slammed shut behind me, locking me in my new home with my best friend.
It was an alright place.
Near the door stood an old-fashioned hat rack and an umbrella stand. I'd lost the umbrella I took from Roll Over, but I doubted the organization would notice. They'd probably just chalk it up to a silly omega making a ridiculous mistake.
A kitchen opened to the left, a hallway before me, and a living room to my right. I didn't recognize the electronics beyond their names. Playstations certainly didn't look like that when I'd been free.
"I'm sorry they frightened you," Graham said.
I looked over my shoulder at him. "I was going to take care of it."
"That's what they all say."
"It's not that I don't appreciate you stepping in. It was faster and less bloody than what I had planned for them," I said. "But other omegas tried that kind of stuff all the time at Talewah-"
"Other omegas are not alphas," Graham stated.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "They aren't, but they still pose a threat."
"Not as much as an alpha that wants to tie you. You're coming into heat. Don't they teach you about that?" Graham asked.
So he knew. I walked to the couch and sat upon it. Hating myself, I licked my lips and looked away like a good, submissive omega. My instincts were just too strong to deny.
"I can't help it. And I'd have never let them."
Graham joined me. His lips found my cheek and I closed my eyes, leaning into his side. My wolf sighed a happy sound in my head, glad that I'd decided to stop fighting what I was--for once.
"I wouldn't either," he said. "That was the whole point."
I frowned. "The whole point was for you to have some kind of a dick waving contest with some other wolves?"
"The point," he growled. "Was to claim what's mine."
My wolf's ears pricked forward, ready to hear the rest of this very convincing argument. I grumbled in response, but the sound was soon taken by Graham's lips. Helpless to my own baser needs, I pressed myself tight against his chest and kissed right back.
In response, he dragged me into his lap and began unbuttoning my shirt.
He was painfully slow, flicking a button to the side and letting me squirm. Did he want to be dominated by the likes of me? Thrown to the ground and let me shred his clothes? Some alphas liked that kind of role reversal. My nails as long as I dared, I reached out to his fancy work shirt and dug them in.
Graham laughed as he pulled his head away. "That shirt cost four grand!"
"Knowing you, it's one of the least expensive ones you own," I said, kissing his chin.
"Well," he acknowledged. "The lower third."
I kissed him again and raked my claws through the fabric, grinning as I did it. I silenced his chuckle with my own, pulling at the ruined strips until they slid from his shoulders. He was left with a silly little collar and a line of buttons. I drew back to admire my work.
It was nice to see
an alpha with a collar around his neck instead of mine.
Outside, the moon slid past the window on her nightly travel. I shivered and readied myself for the forced change that always accompanied the full moon.
Nothing happened.
"They add something to the water to keep us human, if we so choose," Graham murmured, running his fingers through my hair. "Imagine the problems we'd face if everyone changed. There'd be no doctors in the hospitals, no cops to patrol the streets."
"They don't do it at Talewah," I said.
"Omegas don't have any responsibilities like that," He explained. "Why prevent you from the fun of the moonlight?"
Well, that was one good thing about being an omega.
"You going to keep up this whole killing my clothes thing, or do I need to help you?" Graham asked as he nuzzled my cheek.
I smirked, slid a hand into the front of his pants, and yanked forward. The flimsy material lost both button and zipper in one morose rip.
"That's another six thousand," Graham whispered.
He reached down and guided my hand to the bulge nestled between his legs. I cupped his groin and shivered. We'd hardly started and he was as stiff as I was. The two of us would never outlast some of the more experienced alphas, the ones who went for hours in my cherished romance novels. There was too much between us to hold out that long.
Graham's fingers tightened in my curls and gave me a downward command, which I gladly accepted. I trailed kisses down his abs as I lowered, finally coming to rest just above those briefs.
Then I kissed those, too.
I peeled his underwear down until his cock popped free, very nearly smacking me in the face. My tongue swirled around the head, getting me a loud, long groan. I let him writhe for a few moments. Our teachers had said something about topping from the bottom, but I'd never thought I'd be lucky enough to experience it.
My mouth wrapped him in hot ecstasy and took control of his big, strong, brawny self.
I bobbed my head once, twice, then slid down the length to bury my nose in the curly fluff of his pubic hair. He throbbed in my throat, his knees drawing up to either side of my face. In seconds, he would be spent and our fun would be over.
My wolf hated the idea of that.
At the last moment, I drew back and left him panting on the couch. I pushed myself up and away--and was promptly caught by a vise-grip hand around my wrist. I raised my brows at him and he all but threw me back down in front of him. I landed with a puff of air escaping me. Graham reached around me and unzipped my fly, far more gently than what I'd done to him. I arched my hips toward him, stifling a moan. Some part of me wanted to continue the rebellious power play.
The other part of me wanted my face buried in the cushions while he hammered me raw.
I indulged the latter.
In seconds, Graham had my lower half stripped and fingers pumping deep into my hole. There was no need for me to suckle them this time around. Mated omegas in heat provided their own lubrication for mating, just so our lovers could get to it a little faster.
I writhed and raked his fancy couch, his digits pressing nearly to tonsils. I spun and snapped at him when I couldn't take it anymore.
"If you aren't going to fuck me, I'll find someone who will!"
Snarling, he yanked free of me, lunged forward, and filled me with every inch he had.
In a second, his knot slid into me and locked us in place. The hard, fast, tiny thrusts he could manage came on like a machine gun. He rooted me like a tree, stuffed, packed, and smashed all at once.
He didn't have to touch me to get me off.
I saw stars when I came.
My claw-like nails were sunk to the pink in the soft fabric of the couch. I panted as he jerked fitfully against my ass, the warmth of his spunk pouring into me. I laid my forehead against the arm rest, trying to get my breath back as he tightened his arms around my chest.
"I love you, Parker," Graham breathed against my ear.
"I love you, too," I said, dreamily. I was the luckiest wolf in the world.
I'm sure it sounded more like "I ruff oo foo", the way my head was smooshed into the couch beneath us, but Graham got the point. That was what mattered.
In the hour it took us to separate, we spent most of it in that same position trying to comprehend what to do. The strangest part was, it was comfortable like that. I felt safe, warm, and most importantly, loved. I knew my alpha would watch for any danger, anyone who wanted to take us apart for whatever reason. It was instinct, pure and simple, older than any history we knew of ourselves. Alphas were made to keep us safe.
Then why was I still so frustrated about Roll Over?
When his knot softened enough to let us separate, I fumbled my way out of the couch and slid onto the floor. He was there to offer me a hand up, his head tilted like a confused puppy.
"You all right down there?" he asked.
"I don't think my legs work right anymore," I said, all but laughing.
"Well, then," he said, scooping me up. "I'll just have to carry you around."
"If someone sees this--" I started.
"Let them see," Graham smirked. "Let them see my gorgeous omega. Put it all over the tabloids. Like I give a fuck."
He carried me to the bedroom, where a ridiculously large bed awaited us. I eyed him.
"Just how many people can you fit in this thing?"
I was shocked to see a blush creep up Graham's cheeks.
"I've never really tried more than one," he said.
"I always assumed you alphas had orgies every other weekend while we were kept in those chaste omega camps," I said, then I smacked my palms together and tried to look pious. "Lest we are bred by the wrong man and produce unwanted pups."
Graham chuckled. "You think a bunch of bucks are going to come to slam it to each other? That egos aren't going to end up everywhere if that happened on the reg? There'd be civil war if alphas spent all their time screwing while you guys were stuck behind walls. No, for the most part, alphas are pretty celibate until they undergo the ceremony. Maybe it's why they encourage us to jump our omegas so fast. Try to defuse some of that tension that's been building up for all those years."
"And you really think that's the most ideal situation?" I stared. "We could have had this all along, Graham."
"Or someone could have abducted you and done all kinds of terrible things," Graham answered.
"They could do that now. What does hiding me for so long change?" I asked.
And Graham sat down to think about that for several moments. He stared at his hands, silently counting off reasons in his head. It was as if I could see him coming up with them, then dismissing them, as he tried to think of one that would disprove what I was saying.
"This isn't just because of Rise," Graham finally said.
"It's not. It's me, Graham. Just Parker. You were never there. They don't have alpha 'safe zones'. You got to finish high school," I sighed. It was one of my greatest regrets. I wanted a diploma so bad.
"I'll make you a deal," Graham offered.
"Name it."
"Rise is a wilder organization than I'm comfortable supporting. Roll Over is there to make sure omegas are taken care of in some ways. I know how you feel about it. I respect it. But we're from two very different worlds. You go to a Rise meeting. Bring what they say back to me, and we'll discuss it further. Roll Over could make a very large difference in omega treatment, but Rise needs to meet us halfway."
I could hardly believe my ears. Was he giving me permission to attend something that was in direct contrast to his company?
"You're sure about this?" I asked. I trusted him to keep his word if he said it.
"I'm sure," he answered. "And we'll look into getting you your diploma, too. I had no idea they didn't let you finish school at Talewah."
I swallowed. I didn't have an answer for him.
So I kissed him instead.
9
Graham
The days slipped in
to weeks and, before I knew it, I'd been married for a month. Parker had settled into his role faster than I expected, once I'd allowed him to visit Rise. Though the meeting had yet to take place, I looked forward to it. His insight could be what I needed to understand the organization further--and take it apart if it posed a serious threat to the safety of my employees or my company.
Or even Parker himself.
In our first month, Roll Over had a flurry of income I hadn't expected. It more than tripled the numbers I'd put together the night prior to my birthday, settling our company comfortably in the black for a time to come. Between alpha-omega relations, omega charitable houses, and research into the functions of submission in our society, Roll Over was setting new trends. Despite Rise, traditionalists were looking for a business they could trust. Roll Over was filling that niche.
"Come in," I told the knocker at my door.
"You hungry?" Parker asked.
He stepped into my office carrying a lunchbox twice the size of my old one. I'd found that Talewah may not have allowed Parker to finish any sort of scholarly schooling, but they taught him to make a mean Tex-Mex and lasagna that was out of this world.
"I'm always hungry for you," I smiled, putting down my pen.
My pathetic attempt got a hooked grin and a shake of his head. He placed the bag down and I popped it open to see what wonders were hidden within. The bag was stacked high with Tupperware. I was blessed with crispy fajitas, rich queso, and two brownies as big as my hand. I was the luckiest alpha in the world.
"If I worked here, I could bring this to you in the morning," Parker said.
He settled on the side of my desk, long legs touching the floor with his toes. I traced the curve of his body with my eyes, hands still full with the lunch he'd brought me. If I could bend him over my desk and--
"Do you think I'd get anything done?" I asked.
Furbitten Falls Alpha's: A Wolf Shifter Mpreg Romance Bundle Page 41