Kean let out a happy sigh as he walked into the house, reveling in the way the air-conditioning breathed cold air over his hot body. It was hot as hell outside, and catching an ornery goat that had escaped from his pen—again—hadn’t exactly helped him cool down. By the time he’d finally caught the little shit, he’d been about ready to offer him as a sacrifice to the weather gods in exchange for a good thunderstorm. 

Why the hell had he ever proposed they get goats? What the fuck had he been thinking? Sure, they kept the grass nice and short, and with the removable pens they were easy to move across the ranch, but that one little fucker kept escaping. 

Truth be told, he did like them. Not that Houdini-wannabe, but the goats in general. He liked their milk, and if he had a little more time, he’d love to experiment with making goat cheese. He’d never expected to be as busy as he was, but at some point, he’d have to ask his brother to get an assistant for him, especially since he’d been looking into going back to school and getting his degree to become a full-fledged veterinarian. 

Right now, he wanted nothing more than to jump into the pool to cool off, but sadly, duty called. In this case, duty was his brother, who had requested him to stop by at his earliest convenience. Nothing urgent, Palani had assured him, just something he needed to discuss. And even though Kean was the oldest, older than Palani by a year, this was not a request he would ignore. He respected his brother’s position as second-in-command of the pack too much. 

It made him wonder what was going on. The pack meeting a few days earlier had run long, with Lidon and Palani answering all questions as best they could. The bottom line was that everyone had been wondering the same thing: would they be able to shift as well at some point? No one knew, but they’d sure had fun speculating. 

As he rounded the corner to enter the hallway to the kitchen, he narrowly avoided bumping into Bray. The alpha’s face resembled a thunderstorm, and Kean suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. For someone who was supposed to be as cool as a cucumber considering his job, the man was a bit of a drama queen at times.

“Don’t go into the kitchen, unless you want a live porn show,” Bray said, the disdain in his voice communicating loud and clear who was getting their dirty on. If it had been the pack alpha’s men, Bray wouldn’t have had such an issue with it.

“I take it your dad is having a little fun with his boys?” Kean said, unable to resist the challenge to poke Bray a little.

Bray’s mouth tightened even further. “I wouldn’t call it fun, but yes.”

Kean’s eyes lit up. “Oh, awesome. I’m going to have a look.”

“You’re gonna have a… Are you crazy? Why would you want to see that?”

“Because it’s hot as fuck? Dude, your dad is sexy as hell and observing him with those two is the best live porn ever.”

Bray shivered. “That statement is so disturbing, I don’t even know where to start. How are you okay with seeing that? Don’t you think it’s an invasion of their privacy?”

Kean huffed. “If they wanted privacy, they would’ve done it in their own room. I’m sure you’ve realized by now Sven has a little exhibitionist streak and a weakness for humiliation play, Lars doesn’t give a crap who’s watching, and Grayson loves pushing the boundaries of his boys. Trust me, they want others to see this.”

Bray’s eyes widened and his head reeled back as if he’d been slapped. Kean frowned. This couldn’t be news to Bray, could it? He’d performed a little digging after overhearing a remark from Grayson and discovered Bray had experience as a Dom in a club Kean had visited a few times to discover if it was his scene. Spoiler: it wasn’t. The various kinks he’d engaged in had done little for him. Well, he’d liked some of them, but not enough to make going to the club a regular occurrence. But Bray was a member, so the alpha had to be familiar with humiliation play and exhibitionism. 

“That’s my father you’re talking about. I have zero desire to see him naked. I’m not a perv like…”

He stopped talking, but Kean had no trouble finishing that sentence. It was crystal clear Bray still hadn’t gotten over his objections to Lars and Sven, which was ridiculous, because anyone could see how well they fit together with Grayson. If ever there was a match made in heaven, it was the three of them. 

The only objection Kean had was that it raised the bar for the kind of relationship he now aspired to. After seeing how happy his brother was with his three men and how sweet Grayson and his boys were, Kean was determined to not settle for anything less than that. He wanted someone who looked at him the same way Grayson looked at Lars and Sven. He wanted a mate who was as in tune with him as the pack alpha and his men were with each other. There were times when Kean had to look away instead of observing them, because their closeness made his insides squeeze painfully in a reminder of what he didn’t yet have.

He’d hoped to find that with Bray, after he’d experienced that attraction the first time, but when even weeks, months later, Bray hadn’t acted on it, he’d concluded it was hopeless. Maybe he’d been wrong, or it worked differently than he had imagined. Hell, even after that massive power boost that had all of them hard, Bray hadn’t approached Kean—and he’d been all but ready to bend over. 

“For someone who’s active in that lifestyle, you’re pretty narrow-minded at times,” Kean said. “I can understand you don’t want to watch your dad, but—”

“I’m not narrow-minded.”

Kean lifted an eyebrow, meeting Bray’s eyes dead on. “I wasn’t done talking.”

“I just wanted to stress I’m not narrow-minded.”

Kean was pretty even-tempered, but frustration bubbled up inside him at Bray’s careless arrogance. “You could’ve done that without interrupting me, by waiting until I was finished speaking,” he said, his tone sharpening.

Bray looked startled, frowning. “You don’t have to make such a big deal out of it.”

“I wouldn’t if I had even the slightest impression you regretted it, but I don’t. You seem to think it’s normal behavior to be interrupting other people. Would you do that to your dad?”

Bray’s frown deepened. “Of course not. He wouldn’t let me, and besides, he’s my father.” 

The unspoken assumption was crystal clear to Kean. “So it’s not okay to interrupt your father, because he outranks you, but it’s okay to do it to me because I’m a beta?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s…” He stopped talking and Kean saw the moment he realized he’d been painted into a corner. His shoulders dropped, and with a sheepish look on his face, he said, “It’s never okay to interrupt someone.”

Kean nodded, satisfied with that conclusion. “On that we agree, so do me a favor and let me finish my sentences. It is a big deal, and if you keep doing it, I will make an even bigger deal out of it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a live porn show I need to watch.”

He’d already turned around and taken a few steps toward the kitchen when Bray’s voice rang out. “What did you want to say? When I interrupted you, I mean. You were saying something about my dad and those two. What was it?”

Kean slowly pirouetted. “Those two? You can’t even bring yourself to say their names, can you?”

“They’re younger than me, than my brothers. How could I be okay with that?” 

For the first time, Kean sensed the underlying hurt in Bray’s anger. “I can understand that will take getting used to, but try to see how happy your dad is. Watch him with Lars and Sven. Just watch the three of them interact, and you’ll see how good they are for him. He loves them, and they love him. Are you begrudging them that? Besides, they didn’t choose this. They’re fated mates.”

“Fated mates,” Bray harrumphed. “I don’t believe in that.”

Kean couldn’t help himself from reacting with a little shock. “You don’t believe in fated mates? How can you not after watching the pack alpha and his men?”

Bray shrugged. “It’s obvious that they’re in love with each other, so I’m not refuting that. I just don’t think it was a fated thing, just four men who fell in love with each other. It seems to me fated mates is a rather dangerous, manipulative strategy to tie someone to you, rather than letting them decide to stay all on their own. If someone believes they’re mated to you by fate, how much does their declaration of love even mean? How could you ever trust it to be real, rather than someone feeling pressured to say it, or even feel it?” 

Whoa, dark much? Kean didn’t say it, but that was a bleak view the alpha was expressing on something Kean experienced as magical and beautiful. He was entitled to his own opinion, obviously, but Kean couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him. He sounded so negative and jaded and even a little sad.

“Well, I do believe in fated mates, and I hope that someday, you get to experience it yourself when you meet your intended mate,” he said.

Bray shook his head. “Not gonna happen,” he said with conviction. “And I pity the guy trying to convince me he’s my mate. Dude, I’m not even interested in a relationship in the first place, but if I were, it would not be with an omega trying to convince me he’s my fated mate. Someday, I’ll settle down with a sweet, pliant omega who loves me and not someone who tries to trick me into a relationship.”

Something sharp stung in Kean’s heart, but he pushed it down. This was not the moment to let his thoughts linger again on his weird attraction to this man he wasn’t even sure he liked. That first time they had met, he’d felt like he’d known Bray, somehow. He hadn’t, but his beta had stirred, insisting on a sense of recognition where there was none.

Ever since, he’d wondered why he was attracted to Bray, when the alpha was arrogant and prickly and not even his type. The idea of being fated mates had crossed Kean’s mind more than once, but he’d reasoned that if that were the case, Bray would have felt it as well and would have approached him. Since that never happened, he’d concluded that he must be mistaken. Bray’s little confession about not believing in fated mates invalidated that whole theory, but Kean didn’t want to spend any time on the implications right now.

“No matter if you believe in fated mates or not, it’s hard to deny the obvious love between your dad and his two boys. And I have a hard time understanding how someone with experience in the scene could have a problem with any kink at all, let alone the mild daddy kink they’re obviously enjoying,” he brought the discussion back to their original topic, not willing to let it go just yet. 

Bray was a man who wasn’t used to being challenged in his viewpoint, Kean had come to see over the last few months. He was super bossy and dominant, causing many around him to be hesitant in expressing conflicting opinions. Kean, of course, had no issue with that. Neither did Palani, much to Kean’s enjoyment. 

Their mother had often joked that the two of them should have been twins, they were so much alike, both in appearance and in character. They shared the same analytical mind, as well as stubbornness and refusal to back down, even when challenged by authority. Kean loved seeing how his brother was growing in his role as second-in-command, and he agreed that Lidon couldn’t have picked a better man for that position.

“How do you know about my involvement in the scene anyway?” Bray asked him. “You referred to it twice now, so I’m curious how you even know about it.”

There was a sharpness in his question, the hint of an accusation, and Kean had no issue following Bray’s line of thought. “Palani didn’t tell me anything, in case that’s what you’re wondering. I overheard your dad mention something to you about a club, and I got curious. I did a little researching, and it turns out you belong to the same club I visited a few times. Apparently, we managed to not run into each other there back then, or we did and neither of us remembers.”

Gray’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You belong to the club? How…?”

“Nah, I never became a member. You know they let you visit a few times to try it out. I did, but it wasn’t my thing.”

A smile ghosted Bray’s lips. “I can see why you’d have trouble submitting.”

Kean shrugged, not in the least embarrassed. “Yeah, that didn’t do it for me. Tried some stuff with a friend of mine who’s a Dom, but it never went beyond okay for me, so I decided vanilla plus, as I call it, is fine with me. I’m fine with experimenting a little, but I don’t want to go to a club or push my limits. Do you still go?” he asked. 

Bray’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and Kean was strangely satisfied by making the alpha uncomfortable, if even for a bit. “When I can get away,” he said evasively. “Which is not easy, as I’m sure you know.”

Kean did understand that part, how hard it was to get away from the ranch. It was difficult to explain, the pull the ranch had on him. Or maybe it was the land or the pack, Kean wasn’t sure. Whatever it was, it made it hard to leave for an extended period of time, even so much as a night. He felt uneasy whenever he wasn’t there, missing the men, the silence of the ranch, the animals, everything. 

The silence hung heavy between them with Bray studying Kean, who stood patiently as the alpha seemed to make up his mind about something. Finally, the alpha jammed his hands into his pockets. “We could play sometime,” he said, his voice gruff.

It was the least sophisticated proposal Kean had ever had, but he couldn’t say no, not when it was what he’d wanted for so long. It was pathetic that even this small crumb Bray threw him was enough to make his heart skip a few beats. 

“Sure,” he said, keeping his voice level, determined not to show his hand. “That’d be cool.”