Briar
Briar was on his feet faster than he’d thought possible, ready to dash, even though his muscles ached and chills wracked his body. Rohan stepped between him and the alpha.
‘I tore you to pieces in the arena. What makes you think you stand a chance against me now?’ Rohan growled.
The other alpha exposed his fangs in a cruel grin. ‘Because I’m not alone.’
Howls echoed all around them and the other alpha opened his mouth to call back, but Rohan pounced on him, snapping his teeth widely. The two alphas tumbled together, rolling in the dirt in a chaotic mess of claws and fangs. Briar held his breath, unable to tell who was winning, until Rohan threw the other alpha off him, flinging him into a tree with a sick thud. The other alpha leapt to his feet, but let out a long whine as his back leg collapsed under him, broken or at least badly wounded.
‘Come on!’ Rohan urged.
He took off in a bounding run after Rohan, ignoring the exhaustion in his limbs. He couldn’t let himself be taken again. His breath felt like fire gushing from his lungs and he struggled to keep up with Rohan.
‘This way,’ Rohan barked, only to change his mind when a howl came from the direction they were running in. They doubled back, but the scent of alphas was strong in that direction too. They were surrounded.
A low growl sounded from Rohan’s throat. He was preparing to fight. A weight sat in Briar’s chest. There was no way Rohan could ward off this many alphas.
The trees next to them rustled, and Briar prepared himself to fight too, despite how little strength he had left.
But it wasn’t a wolf that emerged, it was an omega in human form, heavily pregnant, rounded belly protruding in front of him.
“Come with me,” he hissed.
***
Briar was burning with fever by the time they reached the small hut, where the pregnant omega led them down into a dirt cellar. His nose was immediately assaulted by the pungent scent of garlic, and when the omega lit a gas lamp hanging from the ceiling, it revealed box after box of the white bulbs.
“It’s not just a weird pregnancy craving.” The omega chuckled, rubbing his swollen belly. “I work in the pack’s smokehouse preserving meats. Sorry about the smell, but if your scents aren’t hidden down here, I don’t know where you could hide.”
“Thank you,” Briar said. “You saved our lives.”
The omega nodded. “When I heard there was an omega escaping an auction, I knew I had to help.” He held his hand out to Briar. “I’m Peregwin.”
“Briar.” He took Peregwin’s hand. “And this is Rohan.”
The omega eyed Rohan suspiciously. Briar didn’t blame him. Frankly, he still wasn’t sure what to make of Rohan either. But he knew he hadn’t wanted to mate Briar against his will, and that he’d been ready to die for him. That made him better than any alpha Briar had ever met, or even heard of.
“Will your alpha find us if we stay down here?” Briar asked.
Peregwin shook his head. “I live alone. I’m one of many omegas belonging to the pack leader. He doesn’t come to my hut, but summons me regularly to keep my pup healthy.” He rubbed his belly possessively. “I feared when I got pregnant that he would sell me off to another alpha to get rid of the pup, since we’ve enough mouths to feed around here as it is, but he’s been kind to me.”
Briar cringed. That was considered a kindness in this pack? Before the attack, alphas in his old pack had command over their omegas, but an omega would never be sold or given to another alpha, especially not to get rid of an unwanted pup.
Since a pregnancy could only advance if the omega continued to be mated regularly by the alpha that impregnated him, it was common for alphas in some packs to cut off contact with the omega in order to forcefully terminate the pregnancy. In Briar’s old pack, this practice had been strictly punished.
Of course, their protection for omegas was why other packs had seen his as weak and attacked it.
Briar tried to forget the sounds of whimpering as pups were woken from their beds and taken from their parents. He gritted his teeth. Why couldn’t he have been born an alpha and been strong enough to help defend the pack?
Rohan put his arm around Briar. “Are you okay?”
Briar swallowed, nodding. He hated how weak he felt.
Peregwin’s face turned sympathetic. “Is this your first heat?”
“What?” Briar blinked.
“You’re going into heat, aren’t you?”
Shock struck Briar. Of course he was going into heat. The fever, the chills, the aching pain. He’d thought it was just from exhaustion, but with the full moon shining bright tonight, his first heat was finally striking him. He bit his lip. Back in his pack, he’d dreaded the coming of his heat because he’d known he wouldn’t be able to reject a mate much longer. Fertile omegas had a duty to strengthen their packs by taking an alpha as a mate and bearing his pups. Briar didn’t want to be owned by an alpha. He’d never wanted that.
A spasm of pain shuddered through him. How could he be going into heat now?
Rohan wrapped his arm tighter around Briar. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I-I didn’t realize.” A sudden wave of exhaustion tore through him and he collapsed into Rohan’s strong arms.
“I’ll try to find you something to eat.” Peregwin looked at him sympathetically. “The first heat is always the hardest—don’t worry, they get easier. You may even learn to enjoy them.”
Peregwin disappeared up the ladder and Briar collapsed into Rohan, shivering and shaking. Two strong arms pulled him close, and some of the pain seemed to subside. He inhaled Rohan’s deep, foresty musk and sighed.
Could he really trust this alpha? Even in his own pack, omegas were wary of alphas, and this wasn’t just any alpha. Rohan was a rogue. Exiled for some horrible crime that Briar wasn’t sure he wanted to know about. Alphas could be monsters at the best of times.
But Rohan…
Rohan was different.
He let his body relax into the larger man’s, enjoying the soothing way he stroked his hair.
“An omega needs an alpha’s touch when they’re in heat,” Rohan murmured into Briar’s hair. “You should have told me.”
Briar nodded against Rohan’s chest and listened to the calming thud... thud... thud... of Rohan’s strong heart beat. Something swelled in Briar, something he’d never felt before, but he instinctively knew the word for it.
Soul bond.
A sharp breath escaped his lips. Few wolves ever found a mate whom fate had chosen them to form a soul bond with, and yet he was sure that was what was happening with him and Rohan. He knew then that he could trust Rohan with his life. An alpha would die for his bonded omega.
Rohan threw some old blankets on the cold floor and helped Briar nestle in. He was burning hot now, pain radiating from seemingly everywhere in his body. Instinctively, he knew exactly what would ease the pain.
“Mate me,” he pleaded to Rohan. His body was begging to be filled by an alpha. His cock was stiff and aching, and every inch of skin wanted to be touched.
Arousal, and then sympathy covered Rohan’s features. “You’re going into heat. I don’t want to risk getting you pregnant.”
“I don’t care,” he groaned as pain shuddered through him. His body needed his alpha too urgently for him to think about the consequences.
Rohan chuckled, brushing the hair from Briar’s face. “You’re such a bossy omega.”
A small smile spread across his lips. “Well, you listened last time.”
Rohan groaned, clearly remembering how good it had felt to claim Briar for the first time.
“Oh, baby, you have no idea how much I want that.” His hands ran down Briar’s body possessively. “But I can’t get you pregnant. Not right now.”
A thrill ran up Briar’s spine. Not right now. Meaning that at some point Rohan did want to get him pregnant. Despite his pain, joy spread through Briar. He wanted to bring Rohan’s pups into the world, wanted cradle them in his womb and create a family with Rohan.
That happy thought was cut off by another spasm of pain.
As badly as he wanted his alpha to soothe his suffering by fucking him hard right then, he knew Rohan was right. They would have to wait until they were safe before starting their family. The last thing he would want was for his unborn pup to end up in this danger.
His teeth clenched as another spasm tore through him. He could barely think anymore. He had to focus on getting through this day. Hopefully his heat would subside by nightfall.
“Relax,” Rohan murmured into his ear. The alpha’s command went straight to Briar’s core, forcing some of the tension to release from his tight muscles.
Rohan’s hand slid down Briar’s shivering body, stroking possessively until it was between his thighs. A long sigh exploded from Briar’s lips when Rohan gripped his cock and began pumping slowly, sending waves of soothing pleasure through his body.
“Oh yeah, you need your alpha, don’t you, baby?”
Your alpha. Did Rohan feel the soul bond too?
Briar bit his lip, nodding as he whimpered, “I need you.”
“Say it again.” Rohan licked his lips next to Briar’s ear.
“I need you, Rohan.” Briar gasped. “I need you so badly.”
He wanted Rohan inside him more than ever, pounding him with his big, alpha cock, filling him with his seed. All the pain in Briar’s body melted into urgent, aching arousal, clawing at his mind. He needed his alpha.
“Oh, good moon, please just fuck me,” he begged. He ground up against Rohan’s stroking hand, body begging for release.
Rohan cut off his pleas with a hard kiss, running his tongue along the seem of Briar’s lips until they opened for him, going slack, submitting completely to the alpha. Rohan’s tongue fucked in and out of Briar’s mouth as he pumped his cock, and it only fed Briar’s need to be stretched and filled by the larger man.
“P-please,” Briar whimpered through hard, sucking kisses.
Rohan growled, biting down on Briar’s lip. “I’ve had enough of your bossyness. An omega never tells an alpha what to do, got it?”
A surge of pleasure rolled through him. This was what the omega in him craved. He wanted to be dominated, owned by his alpha. Rohan took the leather strap and gauze gag from his backpack and slid back over to Briar. The alpha knew what his omega needed.
He shoved the gag into Briar’s mouth and began slowly wrapping the leather around his wrists. His voice was a deep, gravelly tone, full of desire as he said, “You alpha will use your body as he sees fit. Understand?”
Briar nodded, his former pain completely forgotten as he was overwhelmed with need for his alpha. He needed to submit the way an omega was made to do.
Rohan exhaled a hard groan into the tender skin of Briar’s neck as he mounted him. His stiff cock pressed against Briar’s thighs and he opened them for him, but Rohan didn’t push inside. Instead, he began kissing down Briar’s body. Briar let out a stifled moan. The tender kisses were sweet torture when all Briar wanted was to be fucked and stretched hard by his alpha.
His breathing sped up as Rohan’s lips reached his waist, grazing the tender skin there before wrapping around his aching cock. Briar groaned around the gag, back arching, thrusting up into Rohan’s mouth, but the alpha gave him a small slap on his bare ass.
“Hold still,” he growled.
Briar whimpered, the pleasure of being commanded by his alpha overwhelming him, even as his body ached for penetration.
Rohan’s lips slid further down Briar’s shaft, taking and taking him until Briar’s vulnerable tool was lost in the warm heat of his alphas mouth. He closed his eyes, soaking in the pleasure of being owned by his alpha, his burning need being slowly satisfied by Rohan’s dominance.
When Rohan slid a slicked finger between Briar’s thighs, prodding softly at his entrance, he couldn’t resist arching his back again.
“I said hold still.” Rohan lifted his ass and planted a hard slap on it, sending shocks of pain through his skin that felt so much like pleasure.
Briar moaned around the gag, nodding his head.
“If you disobey me again,” Rohan murmured, lips just above Briar’s aching cock. “I’ll just have to tease you all night without ever giving you release.”
A needy whimper drove its way from Briar’s throat. As torturous as that sounded, he loved that his alpha knew he could do whatever he wanted to him.
Rohan plunged his lips down around Briar’s shaft again, sucking tenderly as his digit prodded him open. The stretch of Rohan’s finger was so good, even though Briar really wanted to be stuffed full of his thick shaft. Another finger slid inside, working him faster and faster as Rohan’s lips teased pleasure from his throbbing cock.
It was all too much.
When Rohan squeezed another finger inside Briar’s tight ass, he could no longer take it. All the tension exploded from his body in a long groan as he gave in to Rohan’s touch, pouring out his pleasure for his demanding alpha.
Rohan groaned around Briar’s cock, swallowing his climax, before coming up slowly, a hungry grin on his lips. “Oh yeah, that’s it,” he purred. “Just give in and let me make you feel so good.”
Briar was more exhausted than ever when Rohan lay down beside him, but he knew the comfortable glow would only last a short time. Before long, the pain would be back, and he’d be begging for his alpha again.
He lay his head on Rohan’s chest. Their future was so uncertain, but he wouldn’t think about that right now. Wouldn’t think about how they’d get out of the Bloody Fang territory unnoticed, or whether they’d ever have a family together. His eyes closed sleepily, and he welcomed rest with gratitude. Right now, he just wanted to be with his alpha.