by Connor Crowe
Even in the realization that it didn’t make sense, even in the knowledge that this was not something that “Professor Dupree” would ever do—it didn’t matter.
The cosmic pull between us grew stronger, and I could only watch as my body reacted to him.
With a high pitched yip, the young man skipped backward, still watching me, still on all fours. His skin shone with sweat in the sunlight, letting off even more pheromones than before. I flared my nostrils, clenched my hands into fists, and pounced.
We tumbled together in the grass for a few moments, our bodies sweating and straining against one another. My breaths grew hot and heavy against his, and that wasn’t the only thing. My cock throbbed and pressed against my trousers, rubbing up against the bare skin of his back in a maddening dance.
The omega (was that the right word?) threw his head over his shoulder and watched me, blond curls splaying out in the sunlight. They formed a halo around his cherubic face, and in a moment of instinct, I leaned forward and kissed him.
If there had been any remaining doubt, it dissolved the moment my lips met his. He fought back even in his lust, his lips fierce and demanding against mine. We twisted and clamored against one another, rearranging ourselves for a better grip. Then he was in my arms, and my hands were in his hair, and my mouth was tasting his oh-so-delicious scent.
He tasted even better than he smelled, and yeah, I was still a little high. My tongue lashed out and probed his mouth while my fingers ran small circles over his scalp, his neck, his back.
I couldn’t get enough of him, and a small fear in the back of my mind wondered if I ever would. Was finding one’s mate always so intense? So sanity-challenging?
But then his lips were on me again, and I had no will left to question.
My mate pawed at my clothes, his grubby hands strong and insistent. I didn’t wait. Didn’t resist. He gently pinched the nose piece of my glasses and set them on the grass beside us. I pulled away for long enough only to toss my shirt over my head, and then we clung together once more, our sweat stained skin coming together for the first time.
He let out a little groan below me and his eyes rolled up in his head. His hips jerked forward of their own volition and I held him fast, knowing that mine were doing the same.
“What’s your name?” My desperate whisper tickled his ear.
“Kit,” he panted. “Yours?”
“Lionel.”
“Nice to meet you.” He grinned, tilting his head to catch the lobe of my ear with his teeth. I gasped at the rush of endorphins—the pain and pleasure going straight to my cock.
“You too,” I murmured against him, and did the same.
I couldn’t believe this was actually happening.
And happening to me, of all people.
Here I was, the prim and proper Professor Dupree, rolling in the dirt half-naked with a stranger. A stranger, who by all counts, looked and acted like a complete savage.
And then there was my reaction to the whole thing. Talk about an out of body experience. A strong sense of surety I’d never felt in all my years washed over me, assuring me that this was right. This was needed.
This was oh, so fucking hot.
I don’t even remember losing my pants. They must have come off somewhere in the hazy glow of need that overtook us both, but suddenly our cocks were brushing against one another, skin to skin, hard length against hard length.
I sucked in a breath and brought my hand down to cup us both, holding our cocks together as I thrusted against him. Kit threw his head back and sighed, the end note turning into a deeper, guttural moan. I pumped us faster, watching Kit’s skin glisten in the sunlight and his muscles tense against me.
He never lost that wild eyed look of wonder, even as he held himself up on his hands while giving me all he had.
I’d never seen anyone, human or otherwise, so desperate to please before, and below all my proper upbringing, it aroused something inside of me I’d never thought possible.
Alpha. There was that word again, clinging to my mind like a bee to pollen.
Alpha. What did it mean? Surely not the arrogant, over muscled brutes I’d read about?
Alpha. The word came once more, and when I looked down at Kit’s blissed-out face, another phrase appeared.
Omega.
He was hardly the sort of stereotypical omega my research had revealed either. But the surety of it echoed through my mind like a drum. My hand snaked lower and I hissed in a breath when it reached the sopping wetness at his crease.
My eyes met his, and his lips formed the words that had been stuck on my tongue. “I’m omega,” he said softly, rolling his head to the side. His neck, pink and pretty, was so bare, so exposed in the sunlight. So vulnerable. I licked my lips, sudden visions flashing through my mind of biting him there, drawing blood, mingling our life forces into one.
This was crazy.
This was a hallucination.
I was dehydrated, or feverish, or something. I had to be.
Right?
“Alpha, please,” he groaned, his voice higher now. Almost a whimper.
Something about those two little words activated something in my brain. No, even deeper than that. In my soul.
He was mine, just as much as I was his. And in the timeless tradition of millions before me, I was going to show him just how much.
I grazed the warm wetness of his opening. Felt him tense against me. Felt the response of both my cock and his, stiffening and jerking in anticipation.
“You okay?” I breathed, drawing back enough to position myself on top of him. “You good?”
Kit thrashed his head from side to side, his eyes unfocused, his breathing shallow. “Yes,” he said through gritted teeth. “Just...please...”
He all but launched his hips upward at me, and how could I resist? That feeling of affection and care washed over me again, mixing with the lust storming its way through my blood.
“I’ll take care of you,” I mumbled under my breath, using his slick to wet my throbbing cock. “Good care of you, good care of you...”
Kit’s hands bunched into fists, tearing up the grass around us. His face contorted in an exquisite mask of ecstasy and pain, his muscles taut. I lined up my cock with his opening, took a deep breath, and pressed in.
The first few inches were the most mind blowing—for both of us, I was sure. I’d never felt something so tight and hot around my cock before, and despite the craziness of it all? It felt right. To be here, in the middle of this clearing, with this scruffy, wild young omega. Making him mine.
“Fuck,” Kit breathed in a heavy whisper, clutching at the ground around him. “Fuck...”
“Yes,” I replied with a smile, before pushing all the way into him. “Fuck is what I’m about to do to you.”
And just like that, there was no more need for words. I held him close to me, my muscles taut, my cock throbbing from the inside out, and ever so slowly, I began to move.
How could anyone feel this good? This right? My breathing grew ragged as I plundered his depths, relishing each little cry that he gave me. The soft, almost mewing sounds made my heart skip a few beats. Made me fuck him even faster.
A sheen of sweat formed on my forehead and across my body, but I didn’t care. Something wholly outside me had taken control, driving me toward this man—this mate—in a way that could only be fate.
“Mmm,” Kit hummed against me, his lips stretched in a blissed-out smile. “Right there...”
I had so many questions, and so little answers. Who was this man? Why was he out here, all alone in the wilderness? And what was more, why did he look like he’d been raised by animals?
All I knew was that in this single, pivotal moment, I was doing everything that I needed to do. And after all, we had our whole lives to learn about one another...right?
Kit’s hand flew to his cock and pumped it in time with my thrusts. He caught his bottom lip between his teeth and groaned, hair splaying out in a stark contrast to the br
ight green clover. I couldn’t help myself. Seeing him come undone like that pushed me on, pushed me higher—
“Ahh!” I bit down on a moan as the strongest wave of pleasure yet coursed through me, almost painful in its intensity. And then something happened that I never could have expected.
A throbbing, growing sensation pulsed outward from my cock, stretching and filling Kit’s channel to the max. My mind raced with a million different ideas, thoughts, fears, and then for a blissful fractional moment—all was quiet. All was at peace.
I shattered around him, my body quaking in the wake of my orgasm. Harder and longer than any I’d felt before, the waves continued to crash down upon me, Kit’s ass continued to squeeze me, and...wait a second...I was stuck!
“What...the fuck...” I panted, looking down at our bodies with wide eyes. “What’s going on? Did I hurt you? Why is my dick all swollen?”
I was a man, dammit! A human man! And humans didn’t have...
“Knots,” I whispered in recognition, staring down at my cock and then back to Kit. “Holy shit, I just knotted you.”
Kit watched me with an amused, lazy glance. He raised an eyebrow after catching his breath, a confused grin breaking out over his face. “Yeah...” he said slowly. “Why act so surprised?”
“I don’t...” I wrung my hands. “I’m not...”
He waited, still watching me with that damnable smirk. “Not what? Not my mate? Not an alpha? What pack are you from, anyway?”
I swallowed. Pack. Oh God. I couldn’t have actually mated with a shifter...
What a way to find out they existed, right?
I ran a hand through my sweaty hair, repositioning myself more comfortably next to him. We were still joined together, and the flow of heady endorphins still pulsed through my blood, but rational thinking began to return, little by little.
“You’re a shifter,” I said. It wasn’t a question.
“Duh.” Kit rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you?”
“No...” I breathed. Kit flinched away, fear crossing his face for a terrible moment. But he couldn’t get away. Neither of us could. His breaths came quicker now, shallow. His eyes darted around, looking for an escape. I didn’t know what had happened, but the afterglow vanished in an instant. In its place was fear, surprise, and something even darker I couldn’t name.
What had I done? What had I said?
“Oh, fuck.” He panted, wincing. “I can’t do this, I’ve gotta go...”
And with a jerk, a faint ‘pop’, and a spike of pain shooting down my cock and throughout my whole body, he tore himself away from me. From his mate, in our moment of bonding. He didn’t take a second glance at me, laying there, eyes wide.
He turned his back on me, and he ran.
Maybe it was just my imagination, maybe it was the post-orgasm delirium taking hold, but as he disappeared into the trees, I could have sworn he changed.
Grew smaller. Four legs. Fluffy tail.
Fox.
1
Lionel
Upon Arrival At Nox Bay
“How did you find us?” The voice cut through the air and sent a chill to my bones. He bared his teeth, showing elongated canines, and I just about made a run for it right there. This was the mystical enclave of Nox Bay, all right. Shifters. Wolves.
Bloodthirsty.
After a brief moment of indecision, I straightened my jacket and adjusted my glasses.
“I’ve been doing research for some time at Rockville University. I’m an anthropologist, you see, and—”
The wolf-man advanced on me so quickly I didn’t have time to flinch away. He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, fingernails like claws digging through the fabric and into my flesh.
“You’ve told the humans about us?” He growled, the threat all too clear in his eyes. In the light, they looked almost...gold.
I fought to keep my breathing even, but it was pretty hard when a wolf alpha had me by the throat—literally. “I haven’t—I didn’t—” I squeaked, but the words didn’t come.
“Hmm...” he grumbled, relaxing his hold just enough for me to breathe. I gagged and shuddered as air flooded back into my lungs. “You’re an alpha,” he muttered, his nose wrinkling. “Didn’t think humans had alphas.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but what could I really say? There was that word again. That feeling again.
Alpha.
That was crazy, right? This was all totally, one hundred percent crazy. Maybe I finally had lost it just like everyone said I would.
“You’ve got the mating scent all over you.” He took a step back, raking his eyes up and down my body. “What happened?”
I winced, not wanting to remember that moment. In a span of minutes, I’d felt whole—wanted—needed. And in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
Rejected. Unwanted. Unloved.
“Where’s your mate?” He pressed me.
“Don’t have one.” I crossed my arms. “You must be thinking about someone else.”
If this guy was anything like the last shifter I’d met, I couldn’t show any weakness. So I squared my stance and glared right back at him, challenging him to push further.
The alpha’s lip curled. He let out an annoyed huff, his breath visible in the cool air. “Whatever. That’s besides the point. You never answered my questions. And we don’t take well to intruders around here.”
I rewound the scene in my mind. There had been so many questions, I had no idea which he was talking about. So I repeated the same thing I had before.
“I mean you no harm. I’m simply an independent researcher. Your secret is safe, I can assure you that much, but back in our world things have been changing. Weird weather. Natural disasters. And I think you know why.”
His face hardened then. Flashed with recognition, and something that looked almost like fear. “Go on.”
“If you care about the safety and secrecy of your people, you will listen to what I have to say. Whatever has been going on over here, it’s affecting more than just you. It’s spreading. Reaching out into all our lands, and if it keeps up, people will start asking questions. People will start hunting. You see what I’m saying?”
His throat bobbed. He gave me a curt nod and uncrossed his arms. “I still don’t trust you,” he started. “But if what you say is true, the problem is greater than we initially realized. You can call me Arric, by the way.”
I let out a breath. Finally, I was getting through to him. “Thank you, Arric. Would you allow me to speak to the leader of your people?”
“I think not.” Arric shook his head. “Not until we’ve cleared you.”
“And what’s that going to take?” I asked, my voice rising higher than I meant it to. “I’m human. I’m unarmed. I’m hungry. I’ve been out here for days just tramping through the forest, not knowing if I was simply chasing something that didn’t exist...” I paused. My shoulders slumped and I looked back up at Arric with all the honesty I had. “I do not meant to hurt you. I mean to help you.”
Seconds ticked by. He just stood there. Didn’t say anything. My heart pounded against my ribs. The consequences of my actions spilled out before me like an unraveling ball of yarn. If he didn’t believe me, then this was it. They’d capture me. They’d never let me go. Couldn’t have such information going back out into the world, now could they?
I’d been foolish. Like Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, perhaps I’d die my own fiery death at the hands of my curiosity.
Then, just as I was beginning to accept my fate, Arric spoke.
“Here’s what we will do. You will agree to these terms or you will be eliminated, is that clear?” The golden glint in his eyes took my breath away and I nodded, knowing I had no other choice.
“My men and I were planning an excursion. Some reconnaissance, if you will. If you are who you say you are, you may be yet able to help us. You will come along, and prove your worth. Earn our trust. If you do, then I will speak to Alpha Markus about admitting y
ou onto our pack lands. If you do not...” He leveled his gaze at me, making sure I saw the razor sharp fangs glistening against his lips, “you will meet the pack’s justice. We will be far out in lands untraveled even by shifters, and I assure you, no one will hear you scream.”
He ended with a wicked, menacing smile that turned my blood cold. I took a step back. Nearly lost my balance. But this was my chance. My shot. The die had been cast, and now I had to play along with it.
Or die.
“Fine,” I said at last. I kept my head high. “I accept. When will you be leaving on this little expedition?”
“Today,” Arric told me. “I was simply out here to clear my head a bit before travel. I’ll have to return and gather supplies, as well as inform the team of our new...member.” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t think about getting any funny ideas. I’ll send someone out to watch over you until we’re ready to leave.”
I opened my mouth to retort, but snapped it back closed. Fair enough. Instead, I sighed, my breath forming a warm puff of mist in the frigid air.
“Fine,” I said again. “You’ll see that I have nothing to hide.”
“We’ll see,” Arric said at length. “Wait here.”
He furrowed his brow for a moment, eyes unfocused. Then he blinked. His face cleared. “Someone’s on their way now.”
“What?” I blurted.
“No more questions,” Arric spat. He stood his ground. With nothing else left to do, I took a seat and buried my face in my hands.
Just what had I gotten myself into?
And why was every shifter I met such a dick?
2
Kit
Trees flew by around me. Dirt and moss scattered beneath my paws. Strong back legs pushed me faster and deeper into the forest.
But it wasn’t enough.
Would never be enough.
I couldn’t believe I’d been so careless. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen prey to my most primal instincts, had been so vulnerable, especially around one of them...
