Avery
It happened so fast.
One second, he was walking with Jack. He liked his new older brother. The guy was fun and goofy. Always grinning and cracking jokes. He was easy to be around, and Avery couldn’t help but laugh at his ruthless teasing of Jarrett.
He’d been telling Avery about the horrors of parenthood, about sleepless nights and what happened if a diaper wasn’t applied correctly. Then a voice called Avery’s name. Both familiar and unfamiliar, it sent a prickle up his spine. Both Avery and Jack looked up from their conversation at the stranger’s approach. The alpha was an older man, at least twice his age, with blond hair and blue eyes, dressed in fur and hide. He looked familiar, but Avery couldn’t place it. Kain stood a bit behind him, watching him carefully. He looked to Jack. “He showed up earlier. Said he was a friend of Avery and Cory.”
“It’s been a long time,” the stranger said. “It took me a long time to find you.”
Avery’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”
The man opened his mouth to speak again, but he never got a chance. There was a deafening growl. Avery was nearly knocked aside as Cory rushed past him. He planted himself firmly between Avery and the man. His fur bristled and he snarled. He was more furious than Avery had ever seen him. More so than the fight with Jarrett. Jack squeezed his shoulder. “I’m going to get Jarrett.” He sprinted back toward the pub.
Behind the man, Kain had tensed, ready to intervene immediately. The man huffed. “You haven’t changed a bit, son.”
It clicked in Avery’s head just then. The man looked familiar, because he looked similar to Avery and his brother. Foggy, muted memories surfaced from Avery’s childhood. Yelling. Lots of yelling. A woman crying. The sensation of being carried for a very long time. A memory burst to the front of his mind with alarming clarity.
“Where’s dad?” He might have been four or five.
“Don’t worry about him.” Cory shushed him. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“Safe from what?”
“All the bad things.”
Cory had never gone into details on why they ran. Whenever Avery had asked about their father, Cory’s eye twitched and his teeth seemed to grow sharper. Once, Avery had asked about their mother. Pain had flashed across Cory’s face and he’d gone quiet for the rest of the night. Avery had never asked about their mother again after that. Something bad had gone down. Bad enough that Cory, who liked to talk everything out, had clammed up and refused to say a word.
“Come on,” the man said. “Let’s talk about this.” He held his arms out slightly, as if to look comforting. But his eyes were cold and lifeless and Avery didn’t think even the brightest smile could warm them.
A strong arm wrapped around Avery’s waist and pulled him close. Jarrett’s face was tight and lined with tension. His fingers practically dug into Avery’s hip. He leaned into his mate’s side, thankful for the feeling of security. With his brother in front of him and his mate beside him, he knew he wouldn’t ever be any safer than this. JJ placed a hand firmly on his other shoulder. “State your business,” he demanded, leaving no illusion that the man was welcome here.
The man nodded, recognizing the pack alpha. “Pardon me. Brenton of the Copperhead pack. I’ve been looking for my sons for a very long time. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to find them safe.”
Cory snarled again. Avery shivered. Brenton’s voice sounded sincere, but his eyes were cold, emotionless, and empty. Or maybe, not so empty. There was a small glimmer of something in there, and it certainly wasn’t relief or love. Avery had seen that look several times before; when Cory would show up out of nowhere and tell him that they were moving again.
Rage. Barely concealed rage. Brenton’s eyes flicked from Avery to Jarrett. “I see my youngest has been very well taken care of.”
“He has been,” Jarrett answered. “So maybe you should go.”
Brenton actually nodded. “Maybe it’s for the best.”
Avery blinked in surprise as the man (his father. God, between this and Dinah’s news earlier, he was starting to feel faint again) allowed Kain to lead him out without another word. Kain glanced back over his shoulder at them, expression curious.
As soon as the man was out of sight, Cory shifted back. Avery was alarmed to see his veins strained and bulging. He looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel. He looked toward the gates darkly. “He’ll be back.”
“Pack meeting right now,” JJ barked. “I need to know everything.”
Avery played with his hands in his lap. He was about to find out why Cory had never spoken about their father or why they grew up without a proper pack to begin with. He had spent a long time wondering, trying to figure out why they lived the way they did. Now he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to know. He glanced up at Jarrett. His face was pinched and angry and worried all at once. He knew even less than Avery, but he knew was that his mate might be in danger. That was enough.
“We were born into the Copperhead pack, obviously,” Cory began. He refused to look in Avery’s direction. He looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.
“There’s a name to run away from,” Jack muttered.
JJ shushed him and looked back at Cory. “Continue.”
“When Avery was about three and a half, Brenton made the announcement that he was going to unite our pack with the Ice Raiders.”
“Okay,” Jack interrupted again. “What’s up with northern pack names? They all sound so…creepy.”
Cory smirked, though it was strained. “Scary names mean a scary pack. Anyway, we’d been at war with that pack for years. So we were all pretty relieved to hear the news. Until he mentioned that as part of the treaty, when Avery had his first heat he would be given to their pack alpha, who was almost as old as our father.”
Jarrett wrapped an arm tightly around Avery’s waist, pulling him so tightly that he thought he could feel his ribs bending. He was thankful though. He felt rather sick himself. The idea of being sold off to a man as old as his father was beyond horrifying. Having to mate with a man with wrinkles and hair that was just starting to turn gray…Suddenly he understood his brother better than ever.
“I wasn’t going to let that happen,” Cory said angrily. “I fought with him. Begged him to find another way. I even offered myself up in exchange.”
Avery closed his eyes. He didn’t want to hear this.
“What about your mother?” JJ asked.
Cory snorted. “She was pretty much useless. She just said that he was the pack alpha and that we had to mind him. I asked her to take us away, and you know what she did? Nothing. Just walked out of our tent without a word. I knew right then that she was on her way to our father to tell him what I’d said. So I grabbed Avery, packed a bag with whatever tools I could find at the moment, and I got us out.”
“God,” Jarrett breathed. “That was, what? Fifteen, sixteen years ago?”
“I thought he’d give up after so long,” Cory said wearily. “I thought they’d work something else out. Worst case would be that they merged packs anyway in an attempt to run us down. I kept us moving just in case, but I didn’t really believe that he’d still be looking after all this time…” He buried his face in his hands. He looked older and more tired than Avery had ever seen him.
Untangling himself from Jarrett’s grip, Avery made his way around the table and wrapped his arms around his brother’s neck. Cory clung back fiercely.
“I’ve got wolves scouting the forest. If he brought backup, we’ll pick up on it.” JJ rubbed his forehead. “Avery’s already mated. The only way to salvage this now would be to kill Jarrett.”
Both Avery and Jack snarled. “Well that’s not fucking happening,” Jack yelled.
“No, it’s not,” JJ said.
Avery’s hand went to his stomach. Even if they did kill Jarrett-he shuddered at the horrible thought-he was still carrying pups. He wondered if his father would take them from him. Give them to other wolves to raise. Or if he would take care of it with a few well aimed punches. Avery was shaking now. These horrible thoughts swirling around in his head. It wasn’t fair. He’d only just found a family. He couldn’t lose it so soon.
“We’re gonna head home,” Jarrett said. He must have noticed his distress. “Let me know when we’ve got more information.”
JJ nodded. “I’ll come by later.”
“Cory, you want to come with us? Have a drink?” Jarrett asked.
“That sounds really good.”
Avery let go of his brother’s neck, but kept close to him as he stood up. “Don’t worry about a thing,” Cory muttered. “I’ve kept you safe this far.”
The omega nodded. “I know,” he said thickly.
They made their way slowly back to the house, Cory’s arm resting on his shoulders, Jarrett’s hand clenched tightly in his. The terror started to recede somewhat, but a sense of guilt replaced it. This pack had already lost too much. They’d risked their lives to keep Milo safe, and now Avery’s mere presence was destroying their peace again. If they went to war again, who would die this time? Cory? Jarrett? He couldn’t live with himself if something happened to them. Jarrett was finally smiling again.
“I’m tired,” Avery said. He patted his brother’s arm and gave his mate a kiss before making his way upstairs and practically collapsed on the bed. He could hear Jarrett and Cory in the living room for some time, talking about their pasts, about him, as he lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed before the bedroom door creaked open. The smell of chicken broth reached his nose. He sat up against the headboard. Jarrett held the mug out to him and he took it carefully. “You haven’t eaten anything. Just try to get this down, alright?”
“Cory?”
“Went home a little while ago.”
With a nod, Avery sipped on the broth. Jarrett climbed up to sit beside him and he leaned into the alpha’s warmth. He was starting to feel a bit angry as well. Today should have been a wonderful day to remember. They should still be at the pub, stuffing themselves on good food. Milo, Riley, and the others would have joined them. They’d spend the afternoon talking about baby names and parenting tips.
Instead he was huddled in bed, hands shaking as he tried to quell the nausea in his stomach. He sighed. “What a mess.”
“We’ll be fine,” Jarrett said.
Finishing his broth, Avery set it down on the nightstand and lay down on his side. Jarrett curled around him, arms wrapping tight around his waist and pulling him close. Avery sighed and sunk into his mate’s warmth. He wriggled in closer. Jarrett chuckled. “You cold, baby?”
“A bit.” He sighed as Jarrett pulled him closer.
“You know I’m not going to let him get near you,” Jarrett said.
“Yeah.” Avery smiled. He almost pointed out that Brenton might have a pack with him, but he swallowed the words. Neither of them wanted to think about that right now. All he wanted was to enjoy the alpha wrapped around him. He just wanted to forget for a while. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he wiggled his ass a bit. Immediately he could feel something hardening and pushing into him.
Jarrett groaned. “You better be doing that on purpose.”
“Doing what?” Avery asked innocently, grinding in further. He shuddered as a sharp nail slowly and lightly raked down his back, until it toyed at the edge of his underwear. Effortlessly, his underwear was torn down the middle. Another tugging feeling, and the remnants were pulled away from his body and thrown to the floor. A finger rubbed at his weeping and aching hole. He squirmed closer, desperate to get some relief.
A low chuckle in his ear made him flush. He whimpered as a tongue flicked out to lick the shell. Jarrett nipped at his jaw, kissing and sucking his way down Avery’s neck. A finger prodded at his hole once more, before slowly pushing past the tight ring of muscle. Avery couldn’t hold back the whimper and bucked slightly into that sweet pressure. His back arched slightly as a second finger joined it, stretching him further. It wasn’t enough, though. It wasn’t nearly enough.
He let out a pitiful noise of protest as the fingers pulled out, especially when they weren’t immediately replaced by what he really wanted. Jarrett’s cock was hard, and he rubbed it against Avery’s thighs, up to the left globe of his ass, leaving a trail of slippery wetness as he went. Finally, Avery felt the hot, hard tip rub up against his hole. He tried to push himself into it, but a firm hand on his hip stopped him. “Patience.” Jarrett’s voice was a rumble. “If I want to fuck you nice and slow, that’s what I’m gonna do.”
“You’re going backwards, love,” Avery ground out. He yelped as the sharp smack to his ass sent a wave of pleasure coursing through him. He gripped his own cock, stroking hard. It wasn’t enough though. Not nearly enough. Jarrett kissed the back of his neck softly, before finally (fucking finally) pushing his cock inside. Avery moaned loudly, satisfied as he was stretched and filled. It felt heavenly after the torture he’d just been subjected to.
When Jarrett finally started to pump into him, he had to bite down on the pillow to hold back his obscene groans. All worried fled his mind. All that mattered now was the feeling of being filled, and his mate’s arms wrapped around him. He let out a needy whine and bucked harder. A hand brushed his bangs out of his forehead, and a voice whispered in his ear.
“Mine,” Jarrett murmured. “No one else gets you. You’re all mine.”
“Yours,” Avery agreed.
The bed creaked as Jarrett pushed against him. It wasn’t like before. Avery wasn’t being pounded into the mattress with an intense, growling alpha gripping his thighs enough to hurt. It was steady, rhythmic, full of love. Jarrett’s tip rubbed against his sweet spot, and the alpha reached around, nudging Avery’s hand away from his cock and replacing it with his own. He kissed and sucked at Avery’s neck.
“Mine,” he said again.
Avery sensed it coming this time. The way Jarrett’s cock twitched before swelling. His knot grew large, fitting them together perfectly. Avery’s thighs tensed, muscles rippling. With a final thrust from Jarrett, he spilled himself into the alpha’s hand. With a loud growl, Jarrett bit down on Avery’s shoulder, his mating mark, as he filled the omega with his seed.
“Who do you belong to?”the alpha whispered in his ear.
“You,” Avery said. “Only you.”
Jarrett buried his face in Avery’s hair, inhaling deeply. “No one’s going to take you away from me. Not some old, washed up shifter. No one.”
Avery couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face. He couldn’t help but believe his mate. No matter what happened, they would make it out of this together. They would have pups, and live the rest of their long lives in this house. He couldn’t not believe it. Not when his mate was telling him so.
Worries gone, doubts assuaged, Avery allowed himself to be chased into sleep. With his alpha’s arms around him, he felt safe, loved. No one could touch them here.