Chapter Ten
Nerves worked against Will’s appetite. He picked at his dinner and tried to feed most of it to Annie. The rest he moved around his plate, making a show of eating without consuming much of it. Naturally, he failed to fool Finn. The beta started holding up forkfuls of his own food to Will’s mouth in silent invitation. It was either accept the offering or risk appearing to be a stubborn pup who was refusing to eat his vegetables. He chose the more mature path, even though it was hard to force the mouthfuls down into his uneasy stomach.
Leaning over, Finn spoke softly into Will’s ear. “What’s wrong? Morning sickness?”
Will could have lied, the pregnancy giving him an easy out. It didn’t sit any better with him than the food, though. Finn didn’t deserve such disrespect. Instead, Will went with the truth. Mostly.
“It’s our run tonight. I, um, haven’t shifted since well before Annie was born.”
Finn reared back in obvious shock. “You haven’t? Why not?”
Will licked his lips and found he couldn’t look his mate in the eye. “Well, I found shifting when I was heavily pregnant uncomfortable. And, after Annie was born, there was no one willing to watch her while I ran.” He shrugged. “So, I didn’t.”
“Oh, baby.” Finn gave him a one-armed hug and nuzzled the top of his head. “No wonder you were so reluctant to run with me. Your poor wolf must be going stir-crazy.” Pulling back, he nudged Will’s chin up with a finger, forcing him to lock gazes. “You know that won’t happen here, right? I’ve already asked Joey to watch Annie for us. He says he’s happy to get in the practice,” he added with a chuckle.
Will offered up a shy grin. “That’s very sweet of him.”
“It’s what pack members do for each other. Every full moon, the sigmas rotate watching the pups so that everyone gets to run.” Shaking his head, he took a long pull of his beer. “Magnus really fucked up where you and Annie were concerned.”
Will didn’t say anything in response. What was there to say anyway? Finn had no idea how badly things had been with Magnus, and Will was determined that his mate would never know the full extent of the old alpha’s behavior. No good would come of it, and besides, Will wanted to leave it all behind as best he could. And, that meant running tonight.
He made a better effort at finishing dinner, and with only a small amount of trepidation, handed Annie over to Joey. The heavily pregnant omega hung the pup on his hip and beamed liked he’d been handed a great prize.
“Thanks, I’ll take good care of her. I promise.”
Will patted his precious girl on the head. “I know you will and thank you.”
“Hey, it’s no problem. I’m sure I’ll be asking for the return favor soon,” he added, putting a hand on his belly. “You need to have some alone time with your mate. Enjoy your run, and don’t worry about a thing. I’ll put her down in her own crib and watch her until you guys return.”
A million pieces of advice popped up about how Annie liked to settle down with her favorite stuffed wolf and a bottle of water. Before he could voice any of those details, Finn came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Will’s waist.
“Thanks, Joey,” the beta said. “And, don’t worry, Will. I’ve given Joey all the deets on how our girl likes her bedtime to go. She’ll be fine. Come on.”
Joey gave them a friendly wave as Finn steered Will out of the great room, through the kitchen and out the back door. They headed to the edge of the woods, and Finn stopped them once they were shrouded by tree cover. Letting go, the beta started stripping down.
“I figured you’d want some privacy during the shift.”
Will drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yes, thank you.” He was still getting used to the idea of how thoughtful and protective his mate was with him. After only a moment’s hesitation, he took off his own clothing.
Soon, they both stood naked under the rising moon. It had been so long since his last shift, Will found that he couldn’t simply relax into it the way he used to. His wolf cowered in the back of his mind, fearful to come out even in the safety of the pack lands and with a protective Finn hovering next to him. Closing his eyes, he took a few more deep, even breaths, coaxing his wolf.
Large, warm hands cupped his face. When his eyes flew open, he saw Finn staring down at him with a look of utter compassion. The beta kissed him. Gently at first, then with more passion until Will lost himself in the sensation of having his mouth ravaged. He clung to Finn’s naked heat.
The beta’s wolf called to Will’s, a low yipping that morphed into a more full-throated howl. It alternated between coaxing and demanding, exerting the kind of control a more dominant wolf had with its mate. Slowly, Will’s wolf started to respond. It shyly came out and started to take over Will’s body.
He felt the change first in his legs, as he typically did. His toes turned to claws while his feet shortened into paws. His center of gravity descended as his hips and backbone realigned to send him on his way to standing on all fours. The process didn’t so much hurt as create a kind of itchy feeling at every joint and along all his nerve-endings. And, with the shift, he felt the increase in power. His muscles became denser, and while he didn’t make for a large wolf, he was bigger and stronger than he was in his human form.
Finn released him just as an ache along Will’s jaw signaled the changing of his mouth to snout. While Will missed the contact, he embraced with joy his keen wolf senses. For the first time, he truly smelled his mate. The earthy musk of the beta that came through in only muted form when Will used his human nose was sharp to his canine one. The sounds of the woods filled his upright ears, and he could pick up the voices of his pack mates nearby.
He opened his eyes just in time to see his mate shift. Finn’s large, dark wolf appeared before him. Magnificent, as he knew he’d be. A massive head sat upon wide shoulders that led to long, thick legs and paws almost the size of Will’s head. Finn’s fur was the same unrelenting black as his hair. The beta gazed down at him for a second before throwing his head back and letting out a fierce howl. Will instinctively responded in kind, and when the beta loped off farther into the woods, Will followed without question.
Their run started at an easy pace, Finn leading them through the trees in a meandering way. Will had no trouble keeping up using his comparatively short legs. At first, he concentrated hard on keeping pace with the beta, always mindful not to get ahead of the higher-ranked wolf or lose sight of him. He’d learned early in his old pack that his standing as a lowly omega meant knowing his place at all times. Pack runs had been tricky because of so many shifters jockeying to run in the proper formation. Given that it was only the two of them, it was easier to stay where he knew he belonged—behind Finn, yet within sight of him.
But, Finn had other ideas. Will soon found that his mate wanted him to stay abreast. If Will fell behind, Finn slowed or circled back to make sure Will was still with him and okay. With a nudge of his snout, Finn even pushed Will to lead the way for a while. Uncertain, Will slowed and whined. Finn simply nudged him again and yipped in encouragement. Feeling more relaxed and confident, Will opened up his stride and led his mate on a merry chase through the forest at break-neck speed.
His stamina flagged pretty quickly, though, and the moment he slowed down to a trot, the beta used his larger body to guide Will to change direction. Eventually they ended at a stream, drank their fill, then lazed about on their stomachs. Finn inched forward and gently nipped at Will’s muzzle, holding it closed with a loose grip of his jaws, before nudging Will to roll over.
Being an omega, Will responded to the command without demure, exposing his belly to the dominant wolf. Although he had no choice in doing so, he didn’t feel scared. He trusted Finn not to abuse his power. And, the beta didn’t disappoint him. The male sniffed and lapped his way down Will’s chest and abdomen, paying special attention to the place where a tiny seed of a pup was slowly maturing. The long, slow laps of the velvety tongue lulled Will into a stupor. He lay on his back with his eyes closed, panting away the exertion of the run.
That is until his mate moved his attentions over to Will’s penis. Startled, Will began to roll over, only to be pressed back into place by Finn’s snout. The beta licked at the erect shaft through its fury sheath, coaxing it out. This had never happened to Will before, and he didn’t know what it meant, or what his mate intended. Would he mount Will in wolf form? That was not a thing that shifters did, at least not that he knew of. There was more pleasure to be had in human form and that was the form needed to conceive by some odd quirk of evolution.
Of course, Will was already pregnant and maybe this was something that Finn liked to do. If so, Will had no choice but to acquiesce. He knew running aroused powerful shifters. He’d expected Finn to want to fuck when they returned. Perhaps he’d been wrong and the beta would take his pleasure here and now.
Shift.
The command came unexpectedly, yet Will, or rather his body, responded instantly. He went from wolf to human in the blink of an eye, a quicker and easier transition than he’d experienced earlier. He found himself on his back with his legs splayed and an equally naked Finn still lapping at Will’s dick. Without breaking contact, the beta crawled into the gap between Will’s thighs, spreading them even more, and sucked Will’s cock into a warm, wet mouth.
Gasping, Will reared up into an almost sitting position. “Wh-what are you doing?”
Such an inane question. Will knew exactly what a blowjob was. It just wasn’t something that had ever been done to him before. Sure, he’d been forced to be the one sucking cock, so knew from that experience how unpleasant it could be to try to swallow down a hot, thick rod. He couldn’t imagine why his mate would be doing it of his own volition.
Finn didn’t respond to the question, either. He simply glanced up at Will with his deep, brown eyes holding a twinkle of mischief. Hard to tell, exactly, with the tall trees around them blocking most of the moonlight. Will’s night vision had diminished from the change back to human. There was nothing uncertain about the way the beta sucked and laved Will’s shaft, however. It took no time at all for Will to be writhing and gasping on the ground, his fingers digging into the soft dirt he lay upon.
Finn kept up his inexplicable assault until with a muted cry, Will came in an explosive gush of cum. He barely had time to register that he’d dared to come down his mate’s throat when Finn pulled off him. A light scrape of the beta’s teeth along the shaft sent Will gasping some more. Then he was ass up, knees pushed almost to his ears, and Finn’s big dick was breaching Will’s hole.
He clenched against the invasion, but his body knew what it wanted more than he did. His passage was already wet and welcoming. It gripped Finn’s cock not to expel it, but in greeting. The ass muscles sucked with the same vigor as Finn’s mouth had and soon the beta spilled his seed with a hot rush that sent a weak, second orgasm coursing through Will’s cock.
“Fuck!” Finn’s labored breath bathed and cooled the spot of cum lying on Will’s belly. After a few seconds, the beta pulled carefully out of Will’s ass and lay down beside him. “Are you all right? I wasn’t too rough, was I?”
Still breathing hard himself, Will opened his eyes as best he could and turned to his mate. “I’m fine. Really,” he added with a faint smile. “Just overcome. That was, um, intense.”
Finn pulled him into an embrace, placing Will’s head onto his chest and running his hand down Will’s hair. With the shift, his braid had come undone, so the strands lay loosely on Will’s back.
“In a good way, though, right?” Insecurity laced the beta’s questions.
Will nodded against the hard chest. “Yes. What you did with your mouth was amazing.”
“Was it? That’s good because I’ve never done that before. I was afraid I was making a hash of it.”
A giggle escaped Will’s mouth. “You could have fooled me. No one’s ever sucked me off, so I don’t have anything to compare it to. I can’t imagine it could be any better.”
Finn plucked at a bit of hair. “Hmm. We’ll have to experiment and test that.”
“Really?” Will nuzzled against Finn’s pec. “That’s kind of you, but shouldn’t I be the one to blow you?”
“Why, because I’m the dominant one? That’s nonsense. You deserve pleasure as much as I do. Not that I would mind a blowjob. I don’t want you thinking you have to simply because I did it.”
“I want to do it.” He realized as the words came out of his mouth, that he meant them. Pleasing Finn was easy to do, and unlike with others, Will didn’t feel trapped or resentful about servicing his mate. “Would you like me to do it tonight when we get back?”
He understood how a run could arouse a powerful shifter. He wasn’t surprised that Finn hadn’t been able to wait until they were back in their room. And, he had no doubt that this one interlude wouldn’t be enough.
“No, thanks. I mean it sounds awesome, but we’ll need to head back soon, and then I have to take my turn at the perimeter. Deirdre and the gammas have been covering for me while we mated.”
Will turned enough to look at his mate. “Is there trouble?”
Finn carded Will’s hair back. “Not really. The neighboring pack gets a little aggressive now and again. Nothing for you to worry about.”
“Okay.” That answer didn’t surprise him. Even if there were a serious threat, no beta would confide that kind of information to an omega. Guilt did niggle at him, however. “I’m sorry I’ve been keeping you from your duties.”
“Oh, baby.” Finn rolled him onto his back and kissed him silly for a few seconds. “Breeding you has been the best kind of duty. And, the most important one.”
Will gave a weak smile in response. What had he expected the guy to say, anyway? Will had been essentially forced on the beta. Of course he saw him as a duty, even though pleasure went along with it. This wasn’t some love match. If Will expected tender feelings from his mate, then he was a bigger ninny than Magnus had always accused him of being.
With another quick kiss, Finn pulled away, rolled onto his knees and helped Will do the same. “Sorry, baby, but we have to shift and go back.”
Seconds later, even before Will’s human mind processed the decision, they were both in wolf form. Finn trotted away, and Will followed, like the good omega that he was.
Later, Will woke from a deep sleep when Finn returned to their room after his stint guarding the compound. The darkness that greeted his half-open eyes told him that it was still the middle of the night. As his mate slid onto the pallet, Will instantly moved to present his ass for mounting. He knew this was what the beta would want after hours of his wolf running, except for the first time in his life, he didn’t cringe at the thought. Everything was different with Finn, including fucking. This wouldn’t hurt him, and although he was practically still asleep, he might find pleasure in it, as well. His only hope was that the beta wouldn’t demand the offered blowjob. Will felt too sleepy for something so active.
Finn surprised him, as he often did, by wrapping an arm around Will’s waist and tugging him into a spooning position. “No fucking,” he whispered. “Just sleeping.”
Really? Will could feel the hot length of cock pressing against his ass. At least part of his mate wanted him. Yet, the beta gave a deep sigh and settled against Will without another word. Soon, his rhythmic breathing confirmed that the guy had dropped off to sleep. Comforted by the sound and feel of his sleeping mate, Will slipped off with him.
****
Finn used his thumb to wipe the trickle of tears from his mate’s cheek. He hated seeing Will so upset, yet they had to make a decision about Annie. Even a few days of delay created greater risk. He’d given Will those days to think over what Andrea had told them, but he could see that the omega would keep putting the problem off out of fear. This is where being the boy’s dominant mate came into play. He needed to force the issue for the sake of their entire, new family.
Will sniffled loudly and rocked Annie in his arms. “It’s so hard!” He kept his tone low so as not to upset the pup, but his statement was no less fierce.
“I know.” He stroked both Will’s and Annie’s head. “We can’t wait any longer, though. It has to be now or never.”
Will gave him a heart-breaking look. “Can you please make the decision for me? I’m breeding and too emotional, and my stupid omega brain can’t handle something this important.”
Finn frowned back at him. “You are not stupid. Never say that again. And, it’s no wonder you’re being emotional. This is about your pup. Of course it’s upsetting. It’s upsetting me, too.”
“It is?” Will shook his head. “You’re a beta, and everyone knows that betas are smart and sensible. Besides,” he added with a flutter of his lashes. “Annie’s not your pup.”
Momentarily stunned by that observation, Finn pulled back and considered how he felt about it. On the one hand, he understood what Will meant—he hadn’t sired Annie and had only known her a short time. Still…
“She is my pup,” he declared. “I couldn’t love her any more even if I’d sired her. I want what’s best for her.”
“Which is what? Please, Finn, help me see my way clear.”
Gazing down at the omega’s pleading look, Finn nodded. “I think that the risk of changing her now is worth it. Annie has beta written all over her, but if she can never shift, she will always be an outsider within her pack. She won’t be able to truly participate in leadership because she won’t know what the other pack members go through. And, I expect she won’t be able to breed her own pups, either.”
He heaved a sigh. “She’ll grow to resent that we never tried to give her a normal shifter life. That’s my view.”
Will sniffed again. “You’re right. As frightened as I am about the outcome, I can’t deny her heritage. Can we do it now, please, before I change my mind?”
“Of course, baby. Let’s go find Andrea and Lorcan.”
As soon as they stepped out into the hall, though, a long, loud howl echoed throughout the longhouse. Finn put his arms around his mate and listened for the answering call, his stress rising when he heard it.
Will jerked. “Is that the sentries?”
“That was Deirdre and Liam. Strangers have entered our pack lands. Come on.”
Finn hustled his family into the great room, where the sigmas and other omegas had already started to gather along with their pups. The alpha strode in on the tail end of one group, carrying his mate and pup in his arms.
Finn hurried up to them. “Is Kyle all right?”
“Yes!” the omega answered. “Put me down, Lorcan.”
The alpha did as his mate demanded, settling him and the pup on one end of the long couch. “You were going too slowly for my blood pressure,” Lorcan huffed.
Finn guided Will and Annie next to Kyle and Hope. “Stay here until we give the all-clear sign.”
He glanced out of the large windows and saw that Craig and Liam were already positioned to defend the back of the longhouse and its occupants. Although not fighters, some of the larger sigma males had shifted and prowled inside. For such a small pack, they did what they could to protect themselves from harm, but if this was some full-on assault by the Haldon Pack, it was going to get seriously bad.
Finn didn’t have time to dwell on that or to let the fear and doubt stoking low in his belly to catch hold and cripple him. He would defend his new family, and this time, he would keep them safe.