It was only moments since Aaron cast a badly injured Mihai from him, but in that time, the bigger wolf had set his sights on Sean. He bared his teeth and then jumped toward the omega. The alpha warlock holding him let go immediately due to the big wolf bearing down on him.

Leaving a duel to attack a bystander was against the rules, but Aaron didn't seem to concern himself with that. The look in his eyes meant that he was no longer interested in Sean as a mate—he was going in for the kill.

Sean screamed Mihai's name before he retreated, luring the bigger wolf away from his injured lover. Some of Phaeron's wolves tried to step in and block his assailant from leaving the duel, but Aaron just tossed them aside like dirty laundry. The beta had gone berserk, and there was no stopping him.

Sean made his way to the stairwell, taking the stairs three at a time as he scrambled to get to higher ground.

A wolf as desperate as Aaron was incredibly dangerous. Sean didn't want to meet him head-on like this. He had to run and figure out his next move, and Aaron wasn’t making it easy for him.

He heard roaring behind him as he ran, coming closer and closer. Fear and adrenaline fed his motion—he was running without knowing exactly where he was headed.

It wasn't until he had climbed to the roof that he stopped, cursing himself for leading his would-be killer to the most exposed area of the building.

Of course I had to choose the fucking rooftop, he thought with a sense of detachment. He felt drained. There was nowhere left for him to run.

The rain was coming down in steady sheets, instantly soaking him through. He shivered.

From out of nowhere, Aaron threw him across the rooftop, towards the edge. Sean roared, half expecting him, but half in shock at how much pain he felt from it.

The wolf landed on top of him, facing him, snarling.

You are mine, he told him telepathically.

“No.”

You'd readily give yourself to the imposter, he said, but you won't mate with a true werewolf.

“I am his,” Sean told him through gritted teeth. “You are not a true werewolf.”

Aaron grabbed his throat with a claw so tightly, his neck began to bleed through the gashes. He felt blackness entering his vision. He tried to pull up his magic, tried to remember what Martin had taught him—but nothing worked. Sean couldn’t reach his own power.

If I can't have you, Aaron said, then no one can! He increased the pressure on Sean’s throat and blackness threatened to consume him.

A strange calm fell over Sean. This was it. This was his death.

A howl from another wolf sounded on the rooftop, which distracted Aaron enough to slacken his hold on Sean

“Mihai,” he cried out.

His mate’s wolf-form collided with Aaron, knocking him away and off the building. Aaron's big wolf body flew over the edge of the building and he heard the crunch as his body crashed onto the ground.

Sean sat for a few moments with his back to the ledge, taking in short, gasping breaths. He couldn’t stop crying. He lay there, watching the door, half-expecting the bigger wolf to come back in. A fall from this height wouldn’t kill a beta wolf. Aside from a few broken bones, scratches, and bruises, he could still come up here to take care of both of them. With how hurt he and Mihai were, it wouldn’t take too much.

A few minutes passed by without Aaron coming through the door.

He chanced a look over the edge of the building. Lying broken in the back of a cart pulled up beside the wall was a naked man, his throat torn out. A large, gray wolf was standing over him, blood dripping from its muzzle.

Nathalie, Sean realized. Mihai’s sister—and second—must have gone outside at the sound of Aaron’s body hitting the cart and killed him.

The wolf’s amber eyes met his and Sean nodded his thanks.

There would be more to say. Later.

For now, though, they had won. Just barely, but they had won. The people that he cared about the most were still alive.

Mihai, human again, lay across the edge, nearly falling off himself. He was panting heavily and bleeding from several wounds. His left eye was covered in so much blood, Sean thought it might be gone.

He called back his magic again, finally. He couldn't assess his own damage until he had his magic under control—much less take care of Mihai’s wounds, although he was afraid to do it. It hurt much worse than he’d thought it would. He lay on the floor, sobbing for breath as his rib cage ached.

He hurt everywhere.

A hand touched his shoulder. If he had the strength, he would have jumped then. Mihai had dragged himself over to Sean.

He kissed him and stroked his check. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

“Mihai,” he cried in relief. “Mihai.”

The wolf kissed him again and hugged him tight, wincing as he did so. “Don't ever do something like that again.”

Sean laughed and grimaced at the pain in his throat. “Trust me, I won't.”

“We need to go see where Phaeron is. Take him out, too.” Mihai sounded as exhausted as Sean felt.

Nathalie’s voice echoed from the stairwell as she stepped out, once again in her human form. “No need. Not now, anyway. He’s gone. As soon as Aaron took off after Sean, he left, too—a few wolves still followed him, but not because of tags—we managed to release everyone from his direct control.”

“Then we really did win—at least for now. Oh, Gods, Mihai. Let’s go home. Back to Pyt’s. Back to our home. Just until the baby is born. And then I will follow you to the ends of the earth to destroy Phaeron and his plans.”

Mihai wrapped his arms around Sean. “Yes. I agree entirely.”

***

“THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL,” Sean told Mihai once they were back in their room in the mansion several days later. He placed a hand over his belly. “We’ll have to stop having those once the baby comes,” he said. “It’s not good for kids.”

“It’s not good for anyone,” Mihai muttered. But there was humor in his voice as he placed a hand over Sean’s belly. They stood there, and Sean thought about how grateful he was that they were safe. His little family was going to be all right.

Then Mihai leaned over and kissed him.

“Please,” Sean whispered. He wanted more. So much more.

He studied Mihai’s face, and he felt him searching his soul for something. “Sean,” Mihai said. “You don’t know anything about me. Not really. You barely know who I am. You don’t know what this means for you. For us.”

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I don’t,” he said. “But I don’t care. There’s apparently only one person I can trust. And you’re him.”

“You don’t understand,” Mihai said.

Sean kissed Mihai, and the wolf returned the kiss, pulling Sean roughly to him, yet careful with his pregnant belly. Mihai had always been considerate of him. Mihai’s lips trailed down his neck to where his scar was lightly visible. He tested it with his tongue, probing. “It’s healed,” he murmured, as if in surprise.

“I’m not a broken doll,” Sean told him.

Mihai raised an eyebrow. “You’re right, you’re not,” he agreed.

“Please,” Sean whispered again.

Rather than answer with words, Mihai reached down and untied the drawstring, scooping his hands into the waistband of Sean’s pregnancy pants and pulling them just below his belly, exposing his cock. Mihai reach down and started to stroke him.

Sean slid his own hand into Mihai’s pants, running his fingers lightly over the wolf’s own cock. It felt like satin over steel to his sensitive fingertips.

Yeah, Mihai might have been a werewolf, but he was all man. “Sean,” he said, his voice strangled.

“Shhhh...” Sean whispered, giving him a teasing twist.

Mihai growled roughly, and with deft fingers, he shoved Sean’s pants all the way to the ankles, cupped his balls, and pinched them lightly. Sean gasped at the contact.

Without giving Sean a hint about his thoughts, Mihai dropped to his knees, grabbing his cock and stroking it with one hand. He took the omega into his mouth, continuing the rhythm with his head.

“Oh Gods, Mihai, I can’t,” he hissed. He clutched at his alpha’s head.

Clearly Mihai enjoyed this, having Sean at his mercy. After seeing the omega struggle to keep control the entire time, he enjoyed seeing Sean squirm.

He kept going faster and faster, Sean’s gasps getting quicker and more hitched. Just before he came, though, Sean pulled Mihai to his feet.

“Not fair,” he told him roughly. “You’re not allowed to finish me off, not like that. Not yet.”

Mihai laughed, then gently pushed him toward the bed. “Get on your hands and knees,” he told him. “I don’t want to hurt your belly.”

Sean nearly laughed at his concern. Even in the throes of sex, Mihai was still considerate of him. He complied, getting on his hands and knees, exposing himself to his mate.

“Oh, Sean,” Mihai breathed. When Mihai’s fingers touched his perineum, he gasped at the contact, unable to keep his hips from hitching forwards. In response, Mihai’s left hand grasped at his hip bone, holding Sean in place while he was at the werewolf’s mercy.

“Don’t make me wait,” Sean said. His voice came out breathy.

Mihai bent down and his tongue played with the expanse between Sean’s balls and his opening until he was to the point of panting. He was no longer cognizant of the sounds that were coming out of his mouth; it just felt so good.

Then when Sean was ready, nearly to the brink of coming again, Mihai entered him from behind, filling him so completely and so perfectly, pushing in all the way to the hilt. Sean cried out at the feeling.

Mihai pulled back, alarmed. “Are you okay?” he asked, worry in his voice.

“Don’t stop!” he whimpered. “Don’t you dare fucking stop!”

Mihai didn’t. He thrust back in, holding Sean’s hips in place, building up a delicious rhythm and heat between them. The omega grabbed at the bed spread, holding on for dear life as Mihai’s hips ground against his, the friction of the alpha’s cock deep inside him creating all sorts of sensations.

“Dammit, I can’t stop,” Mihai gritted out between his teeth.

That sent Sean over the edge. He cried out his mate’s name as he came, riding the orgasm as long as he could, even as Mihai thrust deeply inside him. The werewolf came seconds later, his hands on Sean’s hips gripping ever so tightly, and cried out his name as he spent himself inside the warlock, his hot cum filling Sean.

This felt so right, the two of them together. Even though it was crazy, even though they had only known each other for a short time, this felt perfect. It was his own center of calm in this now-insane world that he lived in.

Sean, Mihai, and their baby.

This is perfect, Sean thought.

Mihai pulled out of him and collapsed on the bed. Sean curled up next to him.

“Wow,” Mihai murmured, brushing a hand up and down his arm. “Wow.”

Sean kissed him deeply, and even though it was barely noon, they both fell asleep. There in the bubble of their afterglow, everything was perfect, if only for a moment.