He’d kissed my forehead and it made everything else seem a little bit brighter in color, like the saturation had been put up a few clicks. I looked up at him confusedly. He wasn’t the first guy I had been with, but this was different. I couldn’t work out how, but there was something genuine in there that felt like more than… I shook it away. No. You’re being silly now.

The camp itself was truly like nothing I’d ever seen before. Somehow, and I had no idea how they managed to do this with the icy white moon above, they made the entire area seem warm. There were white tents pitched between around the area, some out in the clearing beneath the stars, others between the trees only truly visible by the glow inside.

There was a noise rising up into the sky, a joyous mumble of conversation that blanketed everything. Over to one side, a couple of men were topless moon-bathing and holding hands, staring up into the sky, whispering sweet somethings into each others ears and giggling conspiratorially. There were a couple of others dotted around the campsite making out with each other, there were a few groups of three or four who were sat around talking, I could even see a couple deep in the trees walking around and holding hands. It was so strange. It was nothing like Lakeshore. Everything there was so quiet. Our campsite wasn’t even set up like this, not at all. We were set up in our small tents, mostly single, and didn’t come out at night to talk and share stories. Anyone who was paired off (few were in Lakeshore) would keep to themselves. It was just how things were.

“Come on, I’ll show you to my tent,” Dante said quietly at my side, nodding off in a direction away from all the others. We walked a little way away, taking a steep incline up into the trees a little further. It wasn’t long before I could see the warm glow of lights coming from a much larger tent than the ones that the rest of the pack were sleeping in.

His tent was large, its own little porch made out of the canvas out the front, a couple of lamps mounted on posts that made it look decadent. That was the only word for it really. Even if you just compared it to the other ones that were down in the clearing, this was something else. While the pack in the clearing was sleeping in tents no bigger than four men, this was like its own little apartment.

A little further up this hill, and in clearing all its own, it had a view of the sky which was navy blue and pinpricked with stars. You could just about see a city in the distance but the lights of it didn’t distort the majesty of what I was seeing. It was like I could see the whole world.

“It’s quite a view isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I managed, once again finding myself searching for the words. Why was this so hard?. “I mean you certainly picked yourself the prime spot. It’s really beautiful.”

“Well, it’s nice to have a little bit of space from the rest of the pack,” he started, stepping a little closer so I could feel his body behind me. I half expected him to start massaging my shoulders or something because we both knew what was going to happen the second we stepped into that tent. I tried not to dwell on it. I’d signed up for this. I tried not to feel nervous but my stomach had other ideas, flipping around in my body like it was on a trampoline. “And I like looking at the stars at night. It makes me feel…I don’t know. It makes me feel small. It reminds me that there is so much of this world and I’m just one tiny part of it. My problems might not be all that huge.”

“That’s profound.”

He laughed and his chest bumped my back.

“Are you making fun of me?” I blushed hard. I hadn’t wanted to offend him. Shit.

“Not at all, I’ve…” I tried to find the words, I tried to sound sincere. “I’ve just never heard anyone talk about stars like that.”

I turned to face him now, my back to the spectacular view, to the other tents nestled between the trees below. He was my view now, towering over me, his eyes staring straight into mine. They were so captivating it was like he was looking straight into me, reading my thoughts, reading my every feeling in this moment. I wondered if he could hear how much this was scaring me, how much being this close to him made me want to run or push him away or say something snarky to make him hate me. I wondered if I thought loudly enough about how gorgeous he was, he’d get embarrassed and look away.

“You must be exhausted,” he said softly, his voice only just reaching me, like it was a secret between us. “Did you…did you want to head inside?”

I swallowed. My dick twitched in my pants, my heart skipped in my chest, my entire body suddenly seemed to break out in a sweat. Not exactly the sexiest way to feel but I figured he wouldn’t mind. He probably wanted to get this over with as much as I did. The quicker this happened, the quicker they could start thinking about pups and the future of the Eastwind Pack.

I nodded. “Sure.”

He took hold of my hand, lacing his fingers with mine, (I had to stifle a gasp) and he lead me towards the front of his tent. He held open the flap for me, letting me inside first. If I thought the outside of it looked extravagant, this was positively regal. It was meant to be a tent, not an actual apartment, and yet there I was standing in what was pretty much a full bedroom.

There was a rollaway double bed with a small camping table on each side, a lantern lit on each one giving the whole tent that warm glow I could see from the outside. There was a small box to one side filled with ice, a few bottles of drink half buried into it, a few sandwiches balancing on the top. Next to that was a basket of snacks, and a stack of books, and a small stack of magazines. He had absolutely everything he could possibly need if he wanted to stay here for longer than just the Howl. It was over the top and sort of gorgeous.

“You like?” he said, stepping inside to join me, not bothering to fasten the tent flap as it fell. The breeze from outside crept in, brushing the back of my neck and making me shiver. “Are you cold? I’m sure I’ve got a set of pajamas in here somewhere or a spare sweater.”

He hurried over to where his suitcase was propped up, immediately sitting cross-legged on the floor and unzipping it. He rummaged through and I watched him turf out what had to have been enough clothes for at least a week. A few t-shirts, some not particularly modest underwear and some sweaters. He pulled out a hoodie and returned to my side, draping it over my shoulders.

“Thank you,” I said, a little sheepishly. It had felt rude to deny his offer considering he had pretty much paid for me to be here, but would I even be needing this? Surely I’d be naked in a second or two. Maybe this was for after. “It’s quite a place you’ve got here.”

“I overdid it really,” he said, a light blush creeping across his cheeks. “I sort of packed for every eventuality and here I am with too much of everything that will go back into the truck tomorrow.” He shrugged. “You never know what a Howl is going to be like. Had it been really boring I probably would’ve come back here to read.”

“Do you usually find them boring?” I asked.

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “They can be good for catching up with other packs but I…” He trailed off. “I don’t normally get what I want when I go to a Howl. I feel pretty out of place and then, as an alpha, I’m pretty sure my pack thinks I’m watching them so I want to leave them to have a nice night.”

“I’m sure they don’t think that,” I said. As far as I could tell they were having a good time regardless of whether or not he was near them.

“Well, I don’t want to be a spare part or anything,” he said, leaving my side and walking across to the bed. He sat down, pulled off his shoes and let out a huge breath, like he was getting everything out of his system in one big whoosh. He started to undo his belt buckle before stopping himself. “Oh, sorry, do you mind? The jeans are a little tight and I think I’d be more comfortable if I –”

“No, no, of course, by all means just…” I trailed off and he continued, undoing his belt buckle. The nerves took over me and I just stood awkwardly by the door, his hoodie draped over my shoulders. I found myself fiddling with the fabric.

He leaned back on the bed and pulled down his jeans, exposing a pair of jet black boxer briefs housing a pretty big bulge. He wasn’t hard, which struck me as a little odd, but there was plenty of time for that.

He shuffled up the bed and laid down on the pillow, looking up at me still by the door. I took a deep breath.

This is what you’re here for. I told myself. You knew that.

“You going to join me over here or…” He trailed off like there was no other option. Which I suppose there wasn’t.

I shrugged his jacket off and did my best to look a little bit sultry as I did it, draping it over his open suitcase. I reached for my belt buckle and undid it as slowly as I could bear, then undoing every button on my fly. I kept eye contact. I wanted him to watch this, I wanted him to know that this was for him and that I was willing to do whatever he wanted me to do.

I slid my jeans off so I was stood there in my black briefs, the ones that I knew made my bulge look good, and started undoing the buttons on my shirt. I wasn’t quite as muscular as Dante looked beneath his shirt, but I was okay. I had pretty defined abs and my chest was decent. I looked good without a shirt on and I was really hoping that Dante thought so too.

There was a look on his face that told me otherwise though. He looked nervous, like he didn’t know where to look, my face, my abs, my bulge, the floor, the ceiling, he couldn’t seem to decide.

I reached for the waistband of my underwear and started to pull down, exposing the pubic hair, the base of my cock. And he moved so quickly I hardly saw it.

Dante stood in front of me, holding onto my wrists, stopping me from pulling my underwear down any further. Was this not what he wanted? I was so confused.

“What are you doing?” he said in a hushed voice.

“Is this…” I looked down at my naked self, feeling suddenly embarrassed. “Is this not what I’m-?”

“We’ve hardly spoken to each other at all and you’re wanting to have sex?” he interrupted. He made it sound like he hadn’t been expecting this which, looking in his eyes, he clearly wasn’t. My face went hot.

“I thought that’s what I was here for,” I said, not allowing myself to look at him. Now who was it that was trying to look anywhere but in his face?

“What do you mean?”

“Well the auctioneer led with fertile omega and I thought you spending all that money was because this is what you wanted me to do,” I said. “You wanted me to be your brooder.”

He finally let go of my wrists and brought his hands up so they fell on my shoulders. He had such big hands they seemed to hold my entire person as he placed them there.

“You’re worth more than just popping out babies, Owen, God,” he whispered. “You looked so fucking scared on that stage and…” He trailed off, reaching over to gently pull my chin back so I was facing him. “It feels super weird talking like this, I’m sorry if I’ve given you the wrong idea in any way.”

Did he not want me like that at all? My face reddened and my stomach plummeted. What would this mean for my future here? I was so confused.

I stayed looking at him, and his face brightened as he smiled. Gosh, he had such a beautiful smile.

He reached down and took hold of my hand, leading me over to the bed. My mind whirled. If this wasn’t what I was here for then why were we still going to the bed? Was this all some kind of game he was playing?

Dante pulled back the sheet and got inside, propping his head up on a pillow before beckoning me closer once again. I climbed inside, already feeling the warmth of him before I even got close, and lay down on my back, staring at the sloping white roof of the tent.

“Now what?” I said.

“Now what?” he laughed, sighing when he was done. He rolled onto his back and pulled the sheet down a little. “Come here,” he said softly, beckoning me closer once more. “Put your head here.” He gestured to his chest.

I did as I was told, moving closer to him, the sheets rustling with every little bit of movement, and I lay my head on his chest, my arm natural falling across his taut stomach. He wrapped his left arm around my upper back, pulling me in closer. I could really breathe in the scent of him now, sandalwood and that musky smell of a man who has been outside all day.

I hugged him, my arm pulling me closer to him and, almost involuntarily, I raised me leg and wrapped it across his. His other arm came down and held me close. I could hear him breathing. No. I could feel him breathing, and it wasn’t long before we were doing that in tandem.

It surprised me how much I was enjoying it, how I felt the tension fade from my body, how the pressure of the moment we’d had before seemed to vanish into the air. He made that awkwardness go away and seemed intent on making me feel as comfortable as possible around him, which I hadn’t been expecting at all.

But I knew it would only be a matter of time before we would have sex. So he wanted a mate rather than someone who was going to pump out babies for him, that didn’t mean the sex and the babies wouldn’t come eventually. This just wasn’t what I was expecting from the alpha of the Eastwind Pack.

“So, the reason I bid on you at the Howl,” he said, his voice rumbling towards me. “It’s not just that you looked scared or frightened. I mean, that certainly played a part but that’s not the whole reason.”

Here it is. I thought to myself. Easing me in, getting me ready for what’s to come. I’ll be carrying babies for them until I collapse.

“What is it then?” I said, trying to keep the slight quiver out of my voice. What was wrong with me? I needed to calm down.

“I’ve seen you around at Howls before,” he said simply. “I mean, at pretty much every single one for the last couple of years.”

“We didn’t always used to come,” I said, shocked at how easily the words came. “Raymond made it compulsory not too long ago.”

“Well, I’m glad he did,” Dante said. “I kept wanting to talk to you every time you were there.”

He did? How had I not noticed him before?

“I mean, I’d walk right near you and just get the courage up to talk or whatever and I’d chicken out and do something else,” he said. “Or I’d leave. Come back to my tent and read books or something. Hence all the books, I had a fully realized plan to very nearly almost talk to you tonight, get embarrassed and annoyed at myself and then come back to my tent, wallow, masturbate and go to bed early.”

He laughed and I found myself joining in. His chest bounced when I laughed, his entire body in fact.

“So, what changed?” I said.

“When I saw those other packs bidding on you, I saw my chance slipping away,” he said. “And I cursed myself for every missed opportunity I’d had to talk to you. So I bid. And won.”

I could feel my face getting hot, the stiffness in my body fading away as I sank deeper into his embrace. I sighed, letting all of the tension go. “You sure did.”

“I’d been meaning to talk to you anyway and, if you’d been nice I’d have asked you about joining the pack so it just seemed easier this way.”

“What if I’m not nice?” I hoped he knew I was joking, I tried to make my voice light.

He snorted a laugh. “Okay, Owen, we’ll see.”

“What? You hardly know me, I could be a horrible person!” I protested.

“Okay, fine, you might be a horrible person but even if you’re the worst person in the world you’re damn good at snuggling,” he said and that sure shut me up.

I found myself laughing, loving the sound of it coming from me. God, when was the last time I’d actually laughed like that? Certainly not with Mom, certainly not with anyone at Lakeshore. Not recently anyway. “Thank you,”I mumbled.

“No,” he said, shaking his head and making the sheets rustle again. “Thank you.”

I snuggled up close to Dante, enjoying the feel of this big alpha’s arms squeezed tightly around me. So he didn’t want to just use me as a fuck toy, what’s the harm in that? I mean, this certainly seemed like a better arrangement than I might have gotten with some of those other bidders who just wanted me to make babies. Dante seemed to care about me, and I liked that. Even if it was a touch on the confusing side.

Before I knew it, I was drifting off, breathing in the scent of Dante, trying to imagine what a future with him might hold, and smiling. I was actually smiling. What a turn up.