STORY EXCERPT

Constantine was filled with grief as he watched the beautiful man walk away from him. How could he not remember being with Owen? Yes, Constantine had always been attracted to men, but he’d never given into that need, always dating women instead. But something about Owen drew Constantine in. He was saddened when Owen didn’t hear his thoughts and come back.

He really had hoped Owen was one of his mates. He knew he felt a pull to Owen, a strong one. He truly thought Owen was his mate until the man continued to walk away from him. Owen didn’t hear him. Constantine’s mate would have.

Constantine couldn’t remember anything about the night before except an angel saving him. Oh, the taste of that angel was heaven, completely addictive. He hoped that angel was Owen, but now after what had happened this morning, he assumed it was his brain’s way of making sense of last night. It was a shame. He would have loved to spend the rest of his life with that angel.

“All right, let’s get you to your car so you can come home,” his mother, Connie, said, wrapping an arm around him.

Constantine was trying to hide how pissed he was at his mother. He couldn’t stand how she acted about people being gay. Constantine knew early on that he was gay but had never acted on it because of his mother’s feelings.

He’d always hoped that fate would be kind and mate him to men so Constantine could say it was fate and not have to explain that he preferred men. But being his pack’s Delta, and son of the Alpha, his job was to find two women mates and produce a houseful of cubs.

Sure, Constantine thought of children, he liked the idea of having children. He just couldn’t get his mind around having them with a woman. He’d date from time to time, the occasional hook up, but he’d have to take the woman from behind. It was the only way he could pretend it was a man and get hard.

Constantine stared out the window of the car, not saying a word other than to direct his mother to where he’d left his car. He had talked to his parents about the Delta pack before going to investigate Alpha Rodrick. His parents were very forceful in their negative response. They didn’t want him away from his family. To top it off, they had heard that the Deltas who were already in the pack were gay. They were having none of that.

When Constantine saw the small six-man pack for himself, he was filled with joy over how they treated each other. They loved their mates and were diverse. They had no qualms with others, were rebuilding the town, and were living their lives. They all seemed really happy.

Constantine had wanted to stay right then and there, but he knew he had to finish finding out about Rodrick. That man had given him the creeps from the moment Constantine met him. Somehow, Constantine was able to mask his Delta scent. He’d always been able to. Not really knowing how, Constantine found it helped him with special assignments, like infiltrating Rodrick’s group of mercenaries. Rodrick was already sentenced to death, and his execution would be carried out soon, if not already. Constantine was glad of that at least.

He still needed to get in contact with Sebastian to tell him what he’d found out about Owen. Constantine didn’t think it wise to report his findings to the council. There was no telling what they would do if they knew of a real physic human, one who knew what they were at that.

The drive back to Indiana wasn’t so bad, even if it did take a few hours, but it did give him time to think about Owen. Constantine knew he’d regret how he’d hurt the beautiful, little man for the rest of his life.

Even worse, he’d never even thanked him. Owen saved his life and sacrificed a lot, only to get shit on by Constantine and his family. Constantine could blame it on shock all he wanted, but by the time he’d shaken off what had happened, he figured that maybe it would be best just to leave poor Owen alone.

What could he really say to make it better? Sorry I don’t remember us fucking? Ignore my mother. She’s a jerk. And, yes, I’m really gay? Owen hadn’t heard Constantine trying to talk to him through his mind. They couldn’t be mates, and he still couldn’t have been with Owen then, so leaving Owen alone was the best for both of them. Really.

Constantine wiped away the tears that fell down his cheeks. He could do nothing about it now. It was over. He needed to forget the whole situation and move on. Right now, he had to face the issue at hand. Having to face his parents to tell them he had decided to move to the Delta pack was going to be hell.

Instead of heading straight home, Constantine pulled up in his parents’ driveway to get it over with. He could see lights on inside the house and knew his parents were waiting for him to arrive home and call, so he was surprised when his father walked out of the house.

“Son, how are you feeling?” his father asked when he walked over to meet him. “Your mother told me there was some issues that occurred, things we would never discuss, but I worry you might need to talk?”

“I do, Dad,” he said, frowning at what his mother had told his father, just typical of her. “But not about what happened. I wanted to talk to you about the Delta pack.”

“Absolutely not,” his father said sternly. He waved his hand in the air as if dismissing the whole thing. That seemed to happen a lot in Constantine’s family. “We’ve already discussed it and decided against it.”

“No, you and Mom decided against it,” Constantine said, all hopes of this being civil gone. “I visited there on my last assignment, and I’ve come to a decision. I have decided that I will—”

“I forbid it,” his father growled, cutting Constantine off.

Constantine rolled his eyes when he saw his mother coming out of the house to join them. Just fucking perfect! Maybe they should call the local news station so everyone could see this family dispute.

“I am your father and Alpha. I forbid it.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Constantine said quietly, not willing to yell and scream about this. “I’m thirty-three years old, Father. I’m an adult, and more than that, the mandate from the council said it’s each Delta’s choice where we live. I don’t have to be released from my current packs if I decide to move. It’s completely up to me. I came to discuss this with you like an adult, but that’s not going to happen. So instead, I’m informing you of my decision.”

Constantine almost laughed at the shocked expressions on his parents’ faces when he walked back to his car and climbed in. He’d never talked to them like this before. He was their son, the middle of three, the obedient one, the one everyone ignored unless they needed help from him. And he always did whatever they needed because they were family.

But enough was enough. Constantine needed to start living his life the way he wanted, or he’d always be miserable. Well, more miserable than he already was, and that was pretty damn miserable. It was time he tried to live his own life and made his own decisions.

ADULT EXCERPT

“You have to drink my blood.” Owen cried out in desperation as he held his wrist to the wounded man’s lips.

“I can’t,” the dying man groaned.

Owen knew the man’s name was Constantine, but he couldn’t tell the man how he knew it. There were just some things he couldn’t share with strangers.

“You have to. If you don’t, you’re going to die.” Owen had seen it in his vision. His vision confused him, but Owen knew Constantine needed to drink from him or he would die. No matter what else his vision told him, Owen couldn’t let that happen.

“Then I’ll die!” Constantine grunted.

“Please!”

“You don’t understand. I’m not in control of myself. If I bite you, I won’t be able to stop myself from…” The man looked away.

“From what?” The look Owen received from the blond-haired man was meaningful. He blushed, an image of the two of them pressed skin to skin flashing through his head, then continued. “Do what you have to do. You can’t die.”

“If you insist,” Constantine growled and rolled Owen over onto his back so fast that Owen barely had time to breath. Before Owen could blink, the man was ripping off all their clothes.

Owen hurried to help because he was afraid the man was going to die if he didn’t drink some blood soon. Constantine smashed his lips against Owen’s, demanding his submission. Owen gladly gave it, melting into the man’s hard, firm body.

“I’m not prepared,” Owen panted when Constantine grabbed his knees and shoved them to his chest.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to be as gentle as I can.”

The man grunted as he started to push his hard cock into Owen’s ass. The man must have used his own spit for lube, but there hadn’t been any time to loosen Owen up. He cried out at the burning and the intense bite of pain when Constantine thrust in.

“I’m okay. It just burns,” he said when he realized that the man above him had froze when he cried out. “Keep going. It will fade as you move.”

Constantine seemed to take Owen at his word and moved his hips gently but quickly.

“My angel,” he whispered before kissing Owen again.

Owen wrapped his arms around the larger man’s neck and loved the feel of his massive body surrounding Owen. “Drink,” Owen said, submissively tilting his head and baring his neck to Constantine. “You need to drink. It’s okay, I understand.”

“Mine!” Growling loudly, Constantine started to thrust faster. “You’re mine now, no one else’s,” he said before sinking his canines deep into Owen’s throat.

Owen was still confused by the man’s words as he let out a cry at the slight pain, which rapdily turned into overwhelming pleasure. He came so hard that he thought the top of his cock might blow off from the pressure. Wave after wave of his climax hit him, each one directly related to each suck Constantine took of blood from his neck.

What the fuck did I get myself into?