by Marie Medina
Ryden held himself very still. The emotions he felt from Owen told him he needed to wait and let the omega speak.
Owen looked up and said, “I thought I better bring this out. I saw you shredded your own clothes.”
Ryden nodded his acknowledgment, still waiting.
Owen stepped closer, looking him over slowly. “You were right. I do feel like a pup next to you.” He shook his head, as if in awe. “I had no idea you would be so big. Vadik’s huge, but you? It’s amazing.”
Silence followed while Owen looked out across the landscape, his fingers nervously fiddling with the edge of the cloak he’d wrapped himself in. Ryden sensed Owen had more to say but didn’t dare shift back yet because he had no idea what he wanted to say in reply. Staying in wolf form did have that advantage—he literally couldn’t speak. His own frustrations with his clan had been colliding and mixing with his conflicting feelings about the mate the gods had given him. Part of him wanted Owen to go away so he could try to restore order to his own world again, while the other part of him wanted to cling to Owen and run away from everything and everyone.
For the first time in his life, running away didn’t seem cowardly. His father would be furious, but his mother? He could imagine her publically agreeing with his father but then coming to his room in the middle of the night and helping him to assemble supplies and sneak out of the house. He suddenly missed her terribly, and something deep inside ached as he realized saying those words to his little mate would earn him compassion, not the scorn his people handed out so liberally.
Owen began to undress, which pulled Ryden from his thoughts. His little mate looked over at him. “I’d like to have a run myself. I wanted to while you were gone, but I don’t even know what country we’re in. I didn’t know if it was safe.”
Ryden moved toward the cloak Owen had brought out, shifting back and throwing it over himself quickly. Owen watched him, desire in his eyes. Ryden imagined the omega had to be aching—he knew he was. “That was wise. There are lots of dangers in any forest, and the ones here are very different from those in your home.” Owen continued to undress, and Ryden said, “I can sense you struggling. Will you let me make another batch of potion for you?”
“Yes-s-s,” Owen said, shaking a bit. “But after my run.”
“Don’t go too far.”
Owen took a deep breath and pushed it out with a huff as he met Ryden’s gaze. “Say you care what happens to me.”
Ryden lifted his chin, defiant words on the tip of his tongue. But when he finally opened his mouth, he said, “Of course I care what happens to you! I’ve held on to every emotion and had perfect control of myself for thirty-six years, and you’ve shattered it all in less than two days. Thrown everything into chaos.”
A warmth came to Owen’s eyes as he said, “Believe it or not, I think I can sense things from you, too. I haven’t completely shattered it just yet. If I had, you wouldn’t still be standing so far away.” But instead of coming over, Owen shifted.
Ryden looked down at the little wolf, admiring the white fur that was so like his own mother’s. He longed to reach out and stroke it, but he didn’t dare. The patio would be a painful place to do the things that touch would lead to, and he felt sure they’d never make it inside once they gave in to the need building between them. Hearing Owen say he could sense Ryden’s emotions as well had his mind racing. If the gods were trying this hard, there must be some larger plan neither of them could see yet.
Owen took off, his wolf seeming delighted by the snow. Thinking about the location of Gregor’s pack, Ryden realized Owen had probably rarely seen snow. He certainly had never been in snow this deep and dense. He almost disappeared in places as he played in it. Ryden felt a laugh bubble up as his mate began to do what he could only describe as frolicking.
Dark energy rippled through the air, making Ryden’s breath catch in his throat. A blur drew his attention, and Ryden threw his cloak off and shifted back to his wolf form. He ran as fast as he could, colliding with Rafe just as the other shifted Fen had been opening his jaws and preparing to attack Owen.
Ryden could hear Owen whimpering as he and Rafe rolled in the snow and tore at each other. He glanced over quickly, just to be sure no one else was with Rafe. The other Fen’s eyes held pure hatred as he managed to pin Ryden. Ryden struggled, kicking at Rafe’s stomach with his back legs. He could feel Rafe’s hard cock rubbing against him. The other man had always gotten off on pain, but the fact he was aroused now made Ryden fight even harder. He wasn’t about to be violated by this bully, and he’d die before he let his little mate fall at Rafe’s mercy.
To his shock and horror, Ryden watched as Owen leapt onto Rafe’s back. Rafe reared back on his hind legs to throw Owen off, and luckily it seemed Owen had been expecting that, already poised to jump off, though he landed hard and faltered a bit. Anger surging at the idea of Owen being hurt, Ryden took his chance and dove for Rafe, latching onto his throat.
Rafe escaped his hold by shifting back to his other form, and despite his desire to sink his teeth in again, Ryden stepped back. Attacking Rafe in his unshifted form would earn Ryden one of two things—exile or execution. He backed up, but he didn’t change back.
“Traitor!” Rafe said. He pointed to his wound. Tears and punctures covered his neck and shoulder. It would take hours to heal, and just a few more seconds could’ve made it fatal. “When the council sees this, nothing and no one will be able to protect you.”
I’m all in. Damn the consequences, I have to protect Owen! Ryden drew power from deep within, and then he laid a massive paw on Rafe’s chest. Rafe screamed and tore at Ryden’s leg, perhaps trying to summon enough power to fight Ryden’s spell, but then he vanished, wisps of black smoke flying. Ryden heard a gasp and turned around. His mate had shifted back, and now he shivered, naked in the snow. Ryden felt the beast’s desire to nuzzle against their mate and lick every inch of him, wrapping around him to warm him up.
He needs to be inside by the fire. Gods, after what he just saw he’ll be terrified if you go near him. Probably think you’re about to eat him.
As Ryden shifted back, he felt his beast howl at not being allowed to comfort their mate. Very dirty thoughts about “eating” Owen rolled through his mind as he rushed to grab one of the cloaks, not even caring about himself as the wind picked up and the biting cold hit him full on. He wrapped Owen in the cloak and carried him inside, hurrying as his mate’s shivering grew worse. He took Owen straight to the den and set him before the fireplace, lighting the logs with a flick of his wrist. He yanked a wool throw off one of the couches and wrapped Owen in it as well, letting the cloak fall off and then readjusting it over Owen’s legs so he’d be completely covered. Then he hurried back outside and threw the other cloak around himself before locking the doors and strengthening the wards on the house. He made it so that no one but he and Owen could pass through. That was technically illegal, but he was already sure to be summoned before the elders anyway. One more violation hardly mattered.
He adjusted the cloak and got his arms through the holes after a bit of fumbling. His hands trembled a bit, but he got the ties at the front secured at last as he rushed into the kitchen, where he grabbed the ingredients for the potion and took them with a bowl and glass to the den. He set them down and went back to Owen’s side. “Are you hurt?” he asked softly.
Owen fell against him, trembling, and Ryden put his arms around Owen and held him. Lust rose up between them, but they didn’t act on it, Owen’s fear and shock tempering it and making Ryden ache in a completely different way. He stroked the omega’s hair and suddenly wished he did know sweet, kind words to say. All he could think of was, “I won’t let him hurt you. I will never let anyone hurt you.”
Owen’s shaking stopped, and his hands went around Ryden’s waist. The material of the cloak shifted, making the outline of Ryden’s cock more obvious. After a couple of minutes, Owen looked up. “I don’t want to drink the potion. I want you to take me r
ight here. Claim me and make me completely yours.”
“And I want you to be completely in control of yourself, not addled by lust and fear and adrenaline, when you say those words again.” He stood and moved away, adjusting the cloak around him. He arranged the bottles and began working on the potion.
“Again?” Owen said after nearly a minute. “Are you saying you want to hear them again?”
As if you didn’t just see how hard I am for you. “You heard what I said before you shifted, didn’t you?”
Owen pulled the throw around himself a little more, shifting so he was a bit closer to the fire. “Yes.”
“And you saw what I did to Rafe?”
Owen blinked, as if the memory had just now returned to him. “What did you do exactly?” he asked warily.
Ryden looked up briefly. “I forced him to leave. We simply call it transporting. It’s a hard power to master. I can only think of perhaps twenty Fens who can do it. It’s very likely I wasn’t precise enough. He might well have been injured even more. I sent him home, but who knows where in the house he landed.” He sighed. “I imagine we’ll find out soon enough.”
“He meant to kill me?”
He set the finished potion aside and turned his full attention back to Owen. “I think so.”
“Because he wants you?”
“It’s not about that,” Ryden said, shaking his head. “Though I think he’d have raped me and you both just now, if he could have. It’s the kind of man he is. Gets off on pain and control and dominance. No, little one, what he really wants is for me to obey and start making Fen babies.”
Owen came up on his knees, as if ready to get to his feet. “We have to get you somewhere safe.”
Ryden motioned for him to stay put. “We’re safe enough right now. I promise. There’s no one powerful enough to break through the wards around the house.”
“I feel ready to burst out of my skin.”
Ryden glanced at the potion. “Just another minute or so.”
Owen hugged himself. “Your other form … the way its eyes moved over me, and what I felt from it … I never imagined feeling anything like that.”
“Like what?”
“I can’t describe it, but despite how scared I was, I felt safe. Like I mattered more than anything.” He licked his lips. “I suspect the beast has wanted me from the beginning.”
Owen watched him with knowing eyes, and Ryden decided to tell the truth. The connection they were experiencing made lying or deflecting seem useless. “Yes. You’re right. He and I have been at odds about this. He’s been very angry with me. Just now, he was pretty hard to contain.” He poured the potion into the glass. “Wanted to lick every part of you and wrap himself around you.” He sat on the floor by Owen and held the potion out.
Owen took it with a shaking hand. “You couldn’t wait until I’d downed this to say something like that?” He drank it quickly, seeming to relax almost right away.
“Forgive me. I’m too honest, sometimes. Brutally so. And my beast wants you to know how much he wants you. Longs to protect you. He’s very pleased you felt that way when he looked at you. I thought it would make you happy to hear how he feels about you.”
“It does, as long as you’re not toying with me.”
“I swear I’m not.”
“So, that’s how the wolf feels about me. And you?”
Ryden stared at the flames a moment. “The gods are going to a lot of trouble. And what just happened means this place won’t be my home much longer.” He looked back to Owen. “We’re very different, and I’m starting to like that.”
“What about it do you like?”
“You’re compassionate. You freely embrace emotions I’ve been trained to shun.”
“You should never shun any emotion. It’s bad for you. If this place is no longer your home, you’ll be welcome in mine.”
Ryden managed a smile. “See? Such a kind heart. I don’t feel I know how to be with someone like you.”
“Who says you have to have it all figured out right away?” Owen searched his face. “How long until you consider me to be completely in control of myself?”
Ryden shifted positions on the floor. “Not sure I’ll know. My cock’s so hard I can’t think that clearly myself.”
Owen’s gaze flicked down, then back up again. “So, if you’re not toying with me, that must be an invitation.”
Ryden opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word. Instead of reaching over to touch Ryden, Owen pushed him back against the nearest couch and knelt between his legs, opening and spreading his cloak. The little omega had taken half of Ryden’s shaft into his mouth before Ryden even knew what was happening. Ryden’s head fell back on the cushion as he arched into his mate’s mouth. His hand found the back of Owen’s head, and the sigh that his touch brought from Owen went straight to his heart.
****
Owen sighed at Ryden’s surprisingly gentle touch and then moaned as he took more of the man’s shaft. He couldn’t take all of it into his mouth and down his throat, but he used his hand to caress the rest of the shaft.
Ryden’s fingers moved through his hair. “Owen … please … be sure.” He moaned as Owen drew back and toyed with the head of his cock before sitting up and meeting his gaze.
Owen ran his hands from Ryden’s thighs up to his shoulders. The eyes of a wolf were tattooed over his heart, and his muscles flexed in a beautiful rhythm as he trembled. Owen licked his lips and lowered his head, tracing Ryden’s upper abs with his tongue and then taking one nipple between his teeth. “Sure?” Owen said, looking into Ryden’s eyes again. “Will you protect me from any foe? Provide for me as no other would? Give me stronger children than any other could?”
Ryden looked both disbelieving and vulnerable as he tilted his head. “How were you able to remember me saying those things?”
Owen smiled and took Ryden’s face in his hands. “You’re my mate. I’ve been hanging on your every word from the moment we met. Even the cruel and dismissive and hurtful ones.” He ran his hands through Ryden’s hair, loving the feel of it, as he feathered kisses over Ryden’s face.
The other man genuinely seemed at a loss, as if he had no idea what to do. Owen made him look into eyes and said, “I can tell you’re not used to affection. But I’m going to get you used to it.”
Owen kissed and licked his way down Ryden’s body. “But first, I need to help you calm down.” He loved how his touch made the other man tremble and moan. He’d imagined this seduction the other way around, with him helpless beneath Ryden and at the mercy of his touch and his mouth. He smiled to himself as he nipped at his mate’s hip and was rewarded with a gasp.
Through clenched teeth, Ryden said, “Yes, I don’t have the benefit of a potion working its way through me.”
Owen licked the entire length of Ryden’s cock and said, “Don’t worry. You’ll have me begging soon.”
Owen took Ryden’s cock into his mouth again, moaning at the taste of the pre-cum coating the shaft. The potion did seem to be giving him the control to focus on his mate’s pleasure, and he savored every sound the powerful man made, his hands moving up to caress as many of those hard muscles as he could. His own cock ached, but he kept his hands on his mate instead.
Ryden’s hands moved over the back of his head, one tangling in his hair while the other moved part of the way down Owen’s back. His grip was strong yet gentle, and Owen could feel his trembling all the more. He took the shaft as deep as he could, swallowing around the head, and then he drew back a little, just in time for the first gush of cum to hit his tongue. The taste, and the sound of Ryden crying out his name, sent a surge of pleasure straight to Owen’s cock, and he moaned around the shaft in his mouth. He swallowed down everything Ryden gave him as he felt his own release bursting from the head of his cock.
Owen let his mate’s cock slip from his mouth slowly, and then he moved up enough to collapse on his chest. Ryden’s panting slowed, and he seized Owen’s hair in a
fiercer grip this time, pulling his head back and capturing his mouth. The kiss left Owen breathless as Ryden pushed him to his back before the fire.
Ryden looked down at him a long time before touching him. He slowly ran one large hand from Owen’s knee up to his neck and then back down to his stomach, where he smeared some of the cum there. “You came from sucking my cock. Not even one stroke of your shaft.” He leaned down and licked up most of the cum before moving even lower to bite Owen’s inner thigh. He didn’t break the skin, but the possessiveness in the gesture couldn’t be mistaken. Owen shivered at the little growl that escaped as Ryden nuzzled his face against Owen’s groin.
“Do you trust me?” Ryden asked, looking into his eyes.
“Yes,” Owen said.
Ryden drew him close, and then lights danced before Owen’s eyes, all while the air seemed to rush and compress around them. He clung to Ryden, blinking, as he realized they were somewhere else.
“Wanted to get you up here quickly,” Ryden said, his hands caressing Owen’s thighs and then his shaft, which was already growing hard again.
Owen saw they were in Ryden’s bedroom, lying on the bed. He touched his own face and chest, amazed. He saw the black wisps of smoke dissipating. “That’s what you did to Rafe?”
“Yes, but let’s not talk about him. I knew I could take us safely such a short distance.” Ryden reached down and touched himself, his cock already fully erect again. “There’s no going back once I’m inside you. There’s still time for you to change your—”
Owen slapped his hand over Ryden’s mouth. “So much talking. Just shut up and claim your mate.”
****
Ryden grabbed Owen’s wrist and licked his palm before biting his wrist playfully. His mate trembled, looking so captivating. Their play was burning through the potion’s power quickly, and Ryden loved seeing Owen’s need slowly emerge. Ryden gazed down at him and then pinned him to the bed for another long kiss. When he broke the embrace, Ryden worked his mouth slowly down Owen’s body, nipping and biting at his skin between kisses. When he rolled Owen to his stomach, the omega lifted his ass, perhaps unconsciously. That instinctive submission made Ryden’s cock jump, more pre-cum dripping from the tip. Ryden slapped one cheek before biting the other, perhaps a bit too hard, given Owen’s yelp. He kissed and laved the skin briefly, pleased by Owen’s sigh.
