STORY EXCERPT

“You're an omega?” Jason asked, looking the man up and down, and seeing very clearly that he was.

Omegas usually were easy to spot from their alpha counterparts based on their body type. An alpha always had wider shoulders and a boatload of muscle, usually without even trying for it. It wasn't uncommon for an alpha to have an incredibly defined six pack on their abs, and nothing short of drinking beers all day long and never doing even the simplest of tasks would make that vanish.

Omegas could get that sort of defined look on their stomachs, but it usually involved a ton of gym time because omega luna wolves were made to carry the young. From an evolutionary standpoint, there was no point for them to have that kind of look. For that, they usually had somewhat leaner bodies by comparison.

An omega wolf could be skinny to average, as far as muscle went. Taylor was slightly above average, with a bit of muscle on his back and shoulders and a well-defined chest, but his stomach was flat and plain, with no sign of his abs coming through.

The muscle he did have was likely a product of being on his own for so long.

“Yes, I'm an omega,” Taylor said, replying to the question with a lot more respect than he had when Josh had asked it. “Why?”

“No reason,” Jason said. “My mate's a spitfire, too, you'll both get along.”

Taylor's deep-blue eyes blinked wide, as though he hadn't expected this turn of events. “I can stay?”

“Of course you can, especially if you're Josh's mate,” Roarke said. “Westley and I particularly owe him a debt. Just let me get your scent and as far as I'm concerned, everything will be settled.”

“But you don't know me. You don't know if I'll be a good fit or not,” Taylor said, and he actually backed away a step.

“Taylor,” Josh said, refusing to let the man's hand go. He looked ready to panic and bolt. It seemed counterproductive to what he wanted, but Josh thought he understood.

Why would this pack accept someone they didn't know so willingly, unless they were going to demand something in return from Taylor?

Taylor was shaking his head as he was backing away. “This is...This...”

He couldn’t seem to finish his sentence, or even get it to where Josh could understand what he was about to say. He had a pretty good idea, however.

“It’s not too good to be true,” he said. “Taylor, look at me,” he commanded, squeezing the omega’s hand.

Taylor did as he was told, compelled to obey the order of his alpha. Josh hated using that sort of power on him, especially knowing that Taylor didn’t like it, but he would make it up to the man later. Right now he had to make sure he didn’t run away.

“You can stop running now. It’s okay. No one here will hurt you. I’ve lived here for a good month already, and I promise you I was thinking pretty much the same things you were. This is too good. How can they just let me in after everything I’ve done, but it’s all right. We’re making a real pack here, and you’re invited to stay. If you don’t like it after a while, Roarke won’t force the issue if you want to leave.”

Taylor seemed taken aback by that statement. “He would let me go?”

“Absolutely,” Roarke said, folding his arms. “I don’t want anyone who comes here to feel like a prisoner.”

Josh turned back to his mate, a smile on his face at the words of his alpha. “See?”

“What about you? Would you let me leave?” Taylor asked.

That question was like a punch right in the chest. Was his mate really asking Josh if he would just let the man go if he wanted to leave him?

Fuck, Taylor really was independent, and Josh’s reply would determine whether or not the man trusted him from here on out.

“I wouldn’t want to let you leave the pack, but I would let you leave if you felt scared or threatened, in a heartbeat,” he said. “But I would follow you. Personally, it would take a lot before I could leave you.”

Taylor’s eyes brightened a little, and his stance became somewhat less defensive, though Josh still wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to say.

He stopped pulling away from everyone, so Josh decided that it must have at least been good enough.

Josh put his arm around his mate’s bare shoulders and gently began steering him toward Roarke. Josh was still naked, but Taylor had some clothes to put on back at his camp, but he was currently only wearing a pair of jeans. Josh suspected that he didn’t even have shoes.

That was going to change. Josh just had to be patient for when his mate finally let him in. Until then, he was going to take care of Taylor and show him that things here could be good.

Roarke did what all alphas did to anyone coming into their territory, the same thing he’d done to Westley, Jason, Matt, and Josh when they all decided that he would make the best alpha.

He bit Taylor on the side of his shoulder. Not hard enough to draw blood, as that wasn’t a requirement, despite what some alphas liked to believe, and the scar that Josh had from when he was in Lawrence’s pack suddenly started to itch. It was just hard enough so that the marks left behind from Roarke’s teeth would stay there for a good couple of hours, and Taylor grunted from the pain of it.

Then Roarke licked his tongue all up and down the indents in the skin caused by his teeth, which would mark his scent on the man.

It wouldn’t be a permanent scent, as they never were, regardless of whether blood was drawn or not, but this was how it was done, and when Roarke pulled back from Taylor’s throat and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, Josh could feel it in the air that something was definitely different.

Taylor was in the pack now.

God. Was it bad that Josh’s dick had gotten hard watching his alpha’s tongue licking along the side of his mate’s neck and on his shoulder? He thought he would feel jealous at that, and even though he had no interest in sharing Taylor, it was still incredibly hot.

ADULT EXCERPT

“F–fuck! That's good, don't stop doing that,” Josh moaned, and when he reached down to card his fingers through Taylor's hair, he slapped the alpha's hands away.

“Don't do that,” he said before getting back to the task at hand.

“Sorry, sorry,” Josh said, sounding worried that Taylor might actually stop teasing his cock and balls with his tongue before he went back to moaning and thrusting his hips in the most obscene manner.

Taylor didn't like it when people grabbed at his hair. He especially didn't want someone doing that while they were fucking him.

Well, all was forgiven, and he moved away from Josh's balls and sucked the man's erect cock into his mouth.

He tasted better than Taylor thought he would. He expected some kind of sour, salty taste, especially from Josh's pre-cum, but that wasn't what he was getting at all.

It wasn't the taste so much as it was the feeling he got, swallowing the man's dick and pre-cum down his throat. It was unlike anything Taylor ever felt, and the urge to keep his mouth and lips tight, his tongue swirling the way it was until Josh came again and Taylor was swallowing his cum into his body, was all consuming.

He had to have Josh inside of him. Even if he wasn't going to bend over and take it from the man, he at least had to have Josh's cum inside of him, connecting them.

Christ, was this how a mated omega felt about sex with their mates? Was this the urge that they all had and the reason why they desperately needed sex on a regular basis?

Was this why they cried and acted like it was torture to be denied it?

Taylor shoved those thoughts out of his head. He didn't want to think about them because it didn't matter. If he could connect with Josh like this and still be the one on top, fucking the other man, then it wouldn't matter.

They could still connect and get along as mates. They were just going to do it differently.

But then Josh grabbed at his hair again as he arched his back and moaned, canting his hips so that his dick thrust deep into Taylor's mouth.

That annoyed Taylor, and he pushed himself away to glare up at the man, knowing his mate could see it even in the dark. “If you don't cut that out we're going to stop.”

“Sorry,” Josh said again, and it was the fact that he sounded like he really meant it that prevented Taylor from being too angry with him. “I just don't know what to do with my hands.”

He guessed that was a fair enough excuse. Taylor had gripped other men’s hair pretty hard a time or two when he was with a lover.

“Well, just hold onto my shoulders, or grab your own hair,” he said and then noted that Josh's red-brown hair was shorter than his. A lot shorter.

“Actually, forget it,” he said.

Josh's eyes went incredibly wide with panic. “No, wait—”

“Turn around,” Taylor commanded, keeping his voice sharp and deep, knowing that was the sort of thing alphas responded best to.

Josh blinked down at him, so Taylor had to repeat himself. “Turn around. I need to get you ready,” he said, leaning down and grabbing for the bottle of lube that was on the ground next to his knees.

“Oh, right.”

Josh turned to do as he was told, exposing his tight, round ass for Taylor to see as he placed the hands he'd been having such trouble with on the mossy boulder before looking behind his wide shoulders.

Christ, that was incredibly hot. Taylor couldn't believe he actually had this alpha at his mercy, doing his bidding.

It was almost too much. He'd never had this sort of control over someone else, and the power trip he was getting from it was going right to his dick.

He quickly reached for his cock, grabbing it by the base where the balls were and squeezing just enough to keep himself from coming.

“Fuck,” he said, rising up on his knees and squeezing his eyes shut.

Control. He had to keep control of himself. This alpha was being incredibly lenient, but that would only last for so long if the man started to suspect that Taylor couldn't handle what was happening.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Fine,” Taylor said through his teeth, removing his hand when he felt confident enough that he wasn't about to come uncontrollably like some kind of teenager. He took in a deep breath and flipped the cap of the lube, pouring some into his hand and fingers. It warmed to the touch.

“Spread your legs wider for me,” Taylor commanded, and Josh did as he was told again.

Taylor was a little too eager when he thrust two of his lubed fingers into the tight star-shaped asshole in front of him. He didn't expect the alpha to hiss in pain. He supposed it shocked him that an alpha would even feel pain at all. They always seemed so strong and in control of themselves.

“Sorry,” Taylor said—now he was the one apologizing—and he pulled one of his fingers out. Damn the man was tight.

“No problem,” Josh replied, though from the sound of his voice he seemed to be speaking through a pained hiss. “Just been a while since I did this.”

And despite that, despite being an alpha, Josh was still going along with this. The man he’d allowed himself to be taken by before had likely shown a lot more care for his well-being than what Taylor was showing for him right now.

He really was an asshole.

“I'll be more gentle. I just got a little excited there,” he said.

“I think you and I are both way beyond being just a little excited,” Josh said.