The Alpha's Mage

by Claire Cullen

  “We would never have let Lorcan go willingly,” Brennan insisted. “The Warrens threatened us, threatened to expose us. We… we had no choice.”

  Lorcan waded into the conversation, full of reassurances. “It’s okay, Knox knows what the Warrens are like. They’re no friends of Samhain Pack.”

  The elders exchanged looks of confusion.

  “Did the Warrens not arrange your mage contract?”

  “Sure. With Maken Pack,” Lorcan said lightly. “It turns out, I’m a terrible sorcerer.”

  That did nothing to clear things up. The others looked more bewildered by the second.

  “I stole him,” Knox admitted. “Samhain Pack is struggling. Our only mage is dying. We were desperate.”

  Lorcan aimed a fond look his way. “It wasn’t love at first sight. I tried to run away, and we argued a lot, but we found some middle ground. Then the Warrens got me back and sold me to Drogon Pack. I was bonded to one of their alphas.”

  Bridget gasped, and the rest of the druids looked grim. Even as isolated as they were, Drogon Pack’s reputation wasn’t unknown to them.

  “My poor boy.” Bridget cupped Lorcan’s cheek, pressing their foreheads together. “You’re home now, you’re safe. We’ll find a way to keep you safe. Whatever it takes.”

  “I’ll keep him safe,” Knox said. “It’s my job.”

  None of them looked reassured by that. He tried not to take it personally.

  “Knox is right. You don’t need to keep me safe,” Lorcan assured them. “He challenged Drogon Pack’s alpha, fought him, and won. We have a bond. The two of us are linked.”

  “Bonds can be broken,” Brennan said sharply. “There’s no bite mark on your neck.”

  Knox’s hackles rose. He wasn’t sure what Lorcan was trying to achieve, but the conversation didn’t seem to be going their way.

  “I don’t want to break our bond. And I don’t think you’ll want that either when you understand what it might mean for us.”

  At that, Knox sat up straighter, giving the mage his full attention. He had no idea what was going on in Lorcan’s head, but he couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say. Something important was happening here.

  29

  As they made their way back to the pack, Knox kept looking at him strangely. Lorcan finally stopped and turned to the wolf.

  “Out with it.”

  “You’re craftier than I realized. And you’re amazingly good at keeping a secret. Must be the sorcerer half of you.”

  Lorcan didn’t think that was supposed to be a compliment.

  “Are you angry that I hid the truth about my family?”

  “What? You mean the little fact that your home is literally right next to our pack?”

  “I couldn’t risk telling you at the start. I didn’t know you or what you’d do with that information.” His voice rose with each word, panic bubbling close to the surface. He hadn’t made a mistake telling Knox, he knew he hadn’t.

  “Hey, hey.” Knox’s hands settled on his shoulders, the touch grounding him. “I am not angry with you. You did what you had to do to protect your family. I’d have done the same. Besides, I think you tried to tell me, more than once. Maybe I wasn’t ready to hear it—I was afraid of losing you.”

  “You’re not afraid of that now.”

  “Letting you go would be the right thing to do if that was what you wanted. But you don’t want that.”

  Knox sounded so confident, so sure, that it brought a smile to Lorcan’s face.

  “You know what I want. Which is why we’re going to talk to Gage.”

  “I can’t wait to see his face when you pitch this.” Knox grinned and linked his arm with Lorcan’s as they started walking again.

  They found Gage right where they needed him—in his office at the pack house. Orion, who always seemed to have excellent timing, was there too.

  “You’re both looking much better,” Orion said. “My healing skills notwithstanding. The benefits of young love, I assume.”

  “Problems?” Gage asked, looking between the two of them as he got up and rounded his desk.

  Lorcan hesitated until Knox nudged him. “Go on, he won’t bite.”

  Gage raised an eyebrow, waiting expectantly. Even Orion leaned forward, looking interested.

  “Knox and I have agreed to formally bond.”

  “With our blessing,” Orion said with a smile.

  “But it is accepted custom that the pack comes to an agreement with the mage’s family.”

  Gage frowned, taking a step back to sit on the edge of his desk.

  “We’re all painfully aware of how the Warrens feel about your bond to Knox.”

  “I’m not talking about the Warrens. I’m talking about my family.”

  “They’re nice folks,” Knox chimed in. “A little wary of strangers, understandably.”

  Gage did a double-take. “Wait, you’ve met them? How?”

  Knox threw Lorcan a look, clearly eager to tell this part of the story. Lorcan gave a hesitant nod.

  “We’re neighbors,” Knox said simply.

  “That’s not possible,” Gage started to say, only to be interrupted by a wide-eyed Orion.

  “The northern border.”

  “One and the same,” Knox agreed. “It’s a pretty powerful piece of druid magic. Lorcan brought me across this afternoon.”

  Gage turned his gaze on Lorcan, who tried not to shrink under the weight of it. “You’ve been there all this time?”

  “All my life. Bad things happened when we lived out in the open. They thought that hiding was the only safe option. I want to change that.”

  Gage looked pensive for a moment, and Lorcan held his breath, waiting for the alpha to speak.

  “They’re willing to agree to your bond to Knox?”

  “He’s not giving them much of a choice,” Knox said with a snort.

  “They’re concerned, but they’re not against it. Not now that they see what it could mean for them,” Lorcan assured them.

  Gage exchanged a troubled look with Orion. “What have you promised them, Lorcan? You know how little our pack has.”

  “Nothing you can’t spare. I’m not talking about a trade, Gage. I’m not property to be sold. I’m talking about…”

  “An alliance,” Orion said with a smile. “Don’t you see, Gage? They need us, and we need them.”

  “We need Lorcan,” Gage corrected. “Unless you’ve got a few more mages hanging around.”

  “It’s just me,” Lorcan said with a shrug. “But we have more than that to offer. You need to bolster your food supplies, and we can help with that. You’re missing some basic magics, and you guys are terrible at animal husbandry.”

  “And in return…?” Gage prompted.

  Knox answered before he could. “Lorcan becomes our mage, and we become the druids’ allies. Their protectors. We’ll patrol their borders, escort them when they go into town. Give them the confidence to rejoin the world, knowing that we have their backs if things go wrong. It’s a win-win, Gage. What do we have to lose?”

  The alpha crossed his arms, staring at the wall behind them, deep in thought.

  “It’s certainly worth exploring,” he said finally.

  Lorcan wasn’t worried by his reticence. In a way, Samhain Pack had been as isolated as his village. This was a big step for both.

  “Our elders would like to meet with you to talk it over. You’re welcome to come to our village, or to meet in a neutral space if you’d prefer that.”

  “I’d like to see your village,” Orion said. “To think you’ve been mere miles away, all this time.”

  Gage stood, nodding decisively. “Then it’s settled. We’ll meet with your people and come to an agreement. Thank you, Lorcan. Samhain Pack could do with some friends right now. After all that’s happened recently, we seem far too good at making enemies.”

  Lorcan winced, knowing that he was to blame for a lot of that. The Warrens, Maken Pack, Drogon Pack. That was s
ome list of people whose bad side you didn’t want to be on.

  “Not your fault,” Knox insisted, putting an arm around his shoulders.

  “Certainly not,” Orion agreed.

  Gage voiced his agreement. “We made the first move, and many of the others. You were just along for the ride. And what a ride it’s been. Our first mage in decades, and it only took an alpha challenge to get him.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that too,” Lorcan confessed. “About how to help you find others. I’m not sure I’ll be much use—it’s not like we have connections in the magic world anymore, after so long pretending we weren’t part of it.”

  “Just having a younger mage makes it easier,” Orion said. “Plus, our reputation will have gained some notoriety with recent incidents.”

  “Will that help or hurt?” Lorcan wondered. He could only imagine the kind of things that the Warrens would be saying about them.

  “It was always going to be a struggle,” Gage said. “Let’s hope things are changing for the better. You agreed to stay, against all odds, and that gives me hope that there’ll be others like you who won’t be chased away by our situation.”

  “And with your family’s help, maybe we can improve that situation,” Orion added. “We’d stand a far better chance of wooing mages if we could at least offer them regular meals and hot water.”

  “Rolling out the red carpet it is not,” Knox said, looking aggrieved at the reminder of how little their pack had to offer where material comforts were concerned.

  “I’ve never been big on carpet,” Lorcan told him, trying to tease the frown from his face. “I much prefer grass. And a cold shower has never hurt anyone. Though the bathtub is a nice touch.”

  “There must be more mages out there used to slumming it,” Knox said, getting into the swing of things. “We just have to find those mages, and not the pampered spoiled ones.”

  Orion rolled his eyes at them. “Yes, I’m sure it’ll be just that easy. What with the numbers of mages dwindling, and the bigger packs and magic families stealing more than their fair share and using seers to do it. All we have to do is advertise our inadequacy, and they will come in their droves, I’m sure.”

  Lorcan sobered at that, the smile falling from his face. “Is it really that bad?”

  “The truth may be worse,” Orion admitted. “I’ve been hearing rumors for years…” He shook his head. “But that’s not a worry for today. We have you, Lorcan, and we have the chance of allies at long last. Something to be celebrated. Now, Gage and I need to talk, prepare for meeting your people. I’m sure you and Knox have things to be getting on with.”

  Lorcan nodded slowly, letting Knox lead him from the room.

  “What did Orion mean?” he asked as soon as they were out of earshot. “What rumors…?”

  “I don’t know,” Knox said softly. “Things have been getting worse out there, the power imbalance between certain magic families and packs grows bigger every year. Part of that is the mages. Whoever controls them gets a say in which packs get to thrive and which are left to fall apart, like us. We’ve been trying to play by the rules, to work hard, to better ourselves. But no matter what we do, we can’t get ahead. Stealing you was the riskiest, most dangerous thing I’ve ever done. But there were no other options, Lorcan. A prospective mage hasn’t set foot in our pack for over five years. We haven’t had so much as a sniff of interest in all that time. Playing by the rules was going to see us die a slow death. And we knew what the cure was, and where to find it.”

  Lorcan cupped a hand to Knox’s cheek, feeling rough stubble against his palm.

  “Being stolen by you was the best thing to ever happen to me.”

  Knox covered Lorcan’s hand with his.

  “You weren’t saying that a few weeks ago.”

  “Because I didn’t see then what I do now. Didn’t understand what my feelings were and what they meant. But now I know, now that you’re mine…”

  He pressed his lips to Knox’s, slow and sure. The alpha kissed him back, licking a teasing line across his bottom lip.

  “I don’t want to wait,” Lorcan admitted, his forehead against Knox’s.

  “Wait for what?”

  “I don’t want to wait until your pack and my family hammer out their agreement. I want that to happen, for both our sakes, but I don’t want it to dictate things between you and me. Our love is our own.”

  Knox slipped a hand behind his head, running his fingers over the nape of Lorcan’s neck as he kissed him.

  Lorcan shuddered, parting his lips, letting the alpha deepen the kiss before they came up for air.

  “This is about you and me. Just you and me,” Knox said. “We don’t have to wait for anyone or anything. I’m ready if you are.”

  In answer, Lorcan kissed him again, pressing his tongue to the alpha’s as he ground their hips together. He wanted this. They’d waited long enough.

  30

  Knox had thought a lot about their bonding. About what it would mean for him, for Lorcan, for the pack. He’d thought about planning the perfect location, trying to scrounge up some flowers, maybe candles. Did Lorcan even like candles? But now that they’d actually reached the point of bonding, he let all that go. This was simpler than that. Lorcan wasn’t looking to be wooed or wined and dined. What they had was purer, truer.

  Moonlight lit their path as he took Lorcan by the hand, guiding him to a place that meant something to both of them. Lorcan must have been distracted by thoughts of bonding because they were almost there before he spoke.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You don’t recognize it?”

  Lorcan peered around before his eyes widened. “Oh. This is where we first did boundary magic.”

  “This,” Knox corrected, “is where we missed the perfect opportunity to fuck like rabbits against a tree while high on magic.”

  “And you thought it was worth revisiting? You’re such a romantic. You know, deep down.”

  “I was afraid of losing you,” Knox confessed as they crossed the boundary to that spot. “This was the moment I realized you were mine. I would have claimed you right then and there… but you weren’t ready.”

  Lorcan whirled around to meet his gaze head-on. “I’m ready now.”

  And Knox loved that it was true. They were both finally ready to take that next step.

  “Then let’s get bonding.”

  They moved apart, and Knox checked the area to make sure they were alone while Lorcan stayed in the clearing, moving from tree to tree. Knox could sense magic in the air but wasn’t sure what Lorcan was doing until he turned to look in his direction and found that he couldn’t see the mage. There was a telltale shimmer in the air around the clearing. Knox wandered toward it, curious. He stepped through easily, the magic brushing against his skin. And there was Lorcan, waiting for him and looking very satisfied with himself.

  “What’s all this?”

  “I thought we deserved a little privacy.”

  “So we can’t be seen?”

  “Or heard. As long as we stay within the circle of the trees.”

  Knox grinned. “I think we can manage that.”

  He grabbed Lorcan’s hand and tugged the mage to him. The magic brushed across his skin, and his wolf took notice. He didn’t fully understand the lure of Lorcan’s magic; he just knew it was there. A layer to their compatibility that made their bond stronger—made it something more than just attraction or love. It was fate.

  They circled each other, eye to eye, hands brushing against warm bodies.

  “How… how will it happen?” Lorcan asked.

  Knox could guess what he was thinking about. He’d had a bond bite before, after all.

  “Right here. Just you and me. I’ll be inside you. And you won’t be on your knees unless you want to be.”

  Lorcan blushed, a dusting of pink covering his cheeks.

  “There’s no ritual? Pack tradition?”

  “Not exactly. I can tell you
what my uncle told me.”

  “Your… uncle?”

  “He was an alpha, bonded to a mage. Gave me some fatherly advice in my teens before he— Well, that’s a story for another day.”

  Lorcan stepped closer, curious. “What was the advice?”

  “The bite is like the bond. It’s rooted in sex. Never separate the two. Some packs ignore that because it’s inconvenient. We’re going to do the opposite.” He tugged Lorcan nearer, his lips close to the mage’s ear. “We’re going to celebrate it.”

  They kissed, Knox parting his lips and encouraging Lorcan to explore, to taste him. The heat built between them, almost too much, too quickly. They both backed off, circling the edge of the clearing. Knox shrugged off his shirt, watching Lorcan do the same. His hands went to his pants, and Lorcan mirrored him. The reveal of skin, inch by inch, had them both entranced.

  Knox found himself pulled toward his mate. He wasn’t predator to Lorcan’s prey—the mage didn’t run. They were like the moon and the earth, inextricably linked, bound together. They were all those things right then and there. The bite just told the world what they already knew.

  Lorcan ran to him, and Knox caught him easily, lifting the mage into his arms. They kissed, wrapped around each other, magic and wolf intertwined.

  Knox knelt on the ground, laying Lorcan down on a carpet of moss on the forest floor. The mage tugged him down after him, murmuring in his ear. “I want this to feel right for both of us. I want to kneel. For you.”

  There was no denying that kneeling did all the right things for a wolf’s libido. At its heart, it was a sign of submission, but also one of trust.

  “You’re sure?”

  He wouldn’t pressure Lorcan. The mage had gone to hell and back for him and their pack.

  “I want to.” Lorcan lay back against the moss, stretching his arms out, looking gorgeously enticing.

  Knox didn’t bother arguing or talking him out of it. He just kissed the mage again, lacing their fingers, skin to skin as the lines of their bodies pressed together. Lorcan thrust his hips upward, and Knox swallowed the mage’s soft cry.