by N. J. Lysk
But he knew they had all been looking forward to heat. He wasn’t stupid; they were looking forward to him being ready to breed again, too. He didn’t think Josh’s worry was false or faked at all, or that even Gabriel, as unsympathetic as he sometimes seemed, didn’t care about what it would mean for Ray. But it was what their wolves needed. They could deny it all they liked—and even work to delay it with perfect honesty—but they couldn’t stop wanting it.
Alec’s advice was still on his mind; the lack of regular sex was surely making things even worse. He had been so busy hoping he wouldn’t go into heat that he hadn’t considered the fact that healthy young men would want sex without the moon, and want it even more with it.
He’d been an idiot, of course, and now he had to hope he didn’t go into heat. He needed to go back to bedding them without the moon if he had any hope that they would be able to control themselves under its influence.
The first time they had taken him to a field during a full moon, Ray had been a virgin, still in shock from the revelation that he was starting his own pack. They’d tried their best, for alphas who hadn’t had an omega before, but the sheer amount of sex, the heavy weight of the moon in his mind, and their overwhelming arousal had been enough for him to pass out. He didn’t remember it clearly, but from what Alec had explained, he was pretty sure that although they hadn’t been able to restrain themselves to mounting him just once, they’d resisted the urge to knot him after the first time.
Now he was asking them not to do it at all. He was asking Gabriel, who sometimes did it involuntarily during normal sex. Even if it wasn’t a breeding heat, it was a lot to ask. If it was… He would only have his own body’s unwillingness to count on, because after so long without, he didn’t think he could count on their restraint this time.
They would try, he knew that. He could see their tenderness with the pups: the way Sergi made lists, and Iesu set up alarms to get to the store earlier for the fresh soft rolls they were introducing them to, and nobody could miss how Josh had trouble making himself leave for his shifts at the gas station.
They would try, but all it would take would be one of them failing and the others would follow. An alpha in heat wouldn’t be able to bear seeing his mate bred by another. If they lost control, they’d not be able to stop.
They wouldn’t hurt him, not really. But Ray was a big man, and he didn’t want to imagine how far his body would go if it was demanded of him. There was a saying about how even a single alpha could make his pack proud mounting a male omega… So what could five do to him?
Chapter 2
"Gabriel,” Ray said, and his cousin turned away from the view of the rolling green hills of their land. His eyes were almost the same colour when he blinked at Ray, as if awakening from a daze. He had Maria's little body tucked against his neck, making him look large by comparison. But Ray still remembered how big he'd seemed to him when he'd been young—now, they were practically of a height.
“You used to call me ‘Gabi’,” Gabriel commented, leaning against the side of the house. He was rocking Maria to keep her calm. He didn’t seem to mean anything by it, just a fond memory he was sharing with Ray.
Ray shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. He'd followed Gabriel around like he was a rock star as a kid. And Gabriel had treated him like a little brother; teaching him to dribble, and teasing him about girls. And the moment Ray had presented omega, it was like it had never been. Like all the little gestures of companionship and care Gabriel had poured into their relationship meant nothing to him in the face of… He wasn’t even sure of what. His cousin had said he was gay and that he had always liked Ray, and that was all. Like it was any kind of explanation. And Ray… he’d only had a few days to get used to the idea of being an omega, of needing an alpha, when he’d been presented with five.
He still wondered, especially with how… methodical Gabriel was when it came to bedding him. But it was too late to take it back, too late to ask. Ray didn’t think he would like the answer anyway, and he didn't want to argue.
“I need a favour.”
“Of course,” Gabriel said at once. “Anything.”
“I need you to make sure.... nobody knots.” The words felt torn from his throat and he lowered his eyes without meaning to. He didn’t know if it was him feeling shy or the wolf feeling submissive, but he couldn’t seem to look up again even when Gabriel let the pause hold.
“We already spoke of this,” Gabriel pointed out.
“Yes, but—” Ray shut his mouth. He didn’t want to remind his cousin of his little ‘accidents’, the ones nobody knew about because Gabriel didn’t like to have the others around when he bedded Ray.
“You're worried because I did it when you weren’t in heat,” Gabriel said, voice carefully neutral.
Ray exhaled, shifting his weigh. “I know you didn’t mean to—”
“No,” Gabriel said. “You are right.” Ray looked up, surprised. “I didn’t mean to, but it’s still my responsibility. I should have looked after you better.”
Ray shrugged. He wasn’t looking for an apology. Gabriel had never done anything he understood would hurt Ray. He just didn’t seem to understand Ray’s reluctance. Most of the time, he seemed to think Ray was simply shy.
“So… you won’t?” he checked.
Gabriel sighed. “I think we better make sure.”
It took Ray a long moment to understand he was going to get fucked for the first time since giving birth. Gabriel didn’t wait around for Ray to agree, he wasn’t one to dither when something needed doing. He walked into the house ahead of Ray and stepped between Alec and the TV. Alec looked up, but didn’t object when he received a squirming Maria. “Is it the teeth? Maybe we can get to—”
Gabriel interrupted him like he always did, like he hadn’t heard Alec speak. “We need some time alone,” he explained, turning his body towards Ray. He glanced at Alec again with a thoughtful look. “You should probably see Ray later yourself, can’t be too safe.”
And with that, he patted Alec’s shoulder, careful not to jostle either Maria or her sister snuggled against Alec’s other side and walked towards the bedrooms. Ray followed. At least Alec had the TV on. Ray could at least pretend that they wouldn’t be overheard. It was possible to soundproof rooms well enough to give even werewolves privacy, but they didn’t have the money for it yet.
Gabriel’s room was at the end of the corridor. Like all the alphas’ rooms, it was a little bare compared to Ray’s and the babies’. Ray would have taken it any time if it meant having his own space, but it just wasn’t feasible while he was breastfeeding.
Gabriel wasn’t the type to hang out in his bedroom unless it was for activities meant for such rooms and Ray didn’t have any reason to go in there on his own. When he was there to suck Gabriel off, he normally kept his eyes closed. He hadn’t noticed that Gabriel had put up a couple posters for the obscure Australian bands he liked. He hadn’t had them up on his flat, even though it must have been at least three years since he’d moved out of his parents’ place. Ray wondered if his cousin had never meant to stay there. He couldn’t deny the untreated wooden floors gave the whole place a rustic look that suited Gabriel a lot better than the small modern flat he’d moved into when Ray was a teenager.
He expected to be manhandled with the same decisiveness his cousin had shown in deciding this was happening, but Gabriel opened his arms in invitation and waited until Ray walked into them. He liked holding Ray to his body, and he was the only one of the alphas who was considerably bigger than him--the type of man whose size attracted attention wherever he went. He rubbed Ray’s cheek and kissed his forehead, strangely… chaste.
Ray swallowed, suddenly nervous and Gabriel chuckled. “Come on, Raymond,” he teased. “We know how to do this!”
Ray shivered. Most people only used his full name when they were mad at him, but Gabriel had always used to tease him. He’d liked it. It had seemed like an acknowledgement of who he really was coming from h
is worldly cousin. A man who’d defied his parents and, to an extent, the pack: refusing to take a mate, moving into his own place, and spending his free time with his human co-workers. He didn’t know what it meant now that Gabriel was no longer a rebel, and Ray was officially an adult but felt more out of control than ever.
“I know. It’s just…” Ray shrugged, then leaned closer and returned the embrace, resting his face against Gabriel’s chest. He didn’t understand why he felt suddenly shy: Gabriel had seen every part of him, touched every part of him…
“Oh,” Gabriel said in a small voice. “Is it this?” He slid a hand between them and cupped a palm around Ray’s pectoral. Ray shuddered and tried to step back as he felt the soft flesh give a little as Gabriel lifted it off his chest. It wasn’t much, in a guy that didn’t have abs like Ray, it could just be fat. But it wasn’t, and he bet fat didn’t feel like that either, all tender and swollen, so sensitive that even such a little touch set him shivering. Gabriel had kept him close with his arm around Ray’s waist, and now he swept his thumb across, barely grazing Ray’s nipple through his shirt. Ray jumped like he had been electrocuted. Gabriel laughed. “Come to bed, honey, I want to suck you.”
“I don’t—” Ray started to say, breathless with Gabriel’s lust and his own body’s confused reactions; and then he was bouncing on the bed and Gabriel was standing between his half-spread legs.
“Ray, why do you insist on making everything hard?” he asked, sounding like an exasperated parent. “You like it, and why shouldn’t you? It feels good, you just have let it.”
But he didn’t push Ray again, just waited patiently as Ray struggled to get the strange feeling of wrongness the touch had brought out. It’d felt good, too, he couldn’t deny that. Even if Gabriel could make him hard and slick just by thinking he wanted him, he’d never noticed the alphas being able to affect any other part of his body—not outside of heat. He raised a hand and put it around Gabriel’s tanned forearm, then scooted back as he pulled on it. Gabriel went, crawling on top of Ray and slotting their bodies together. His folded knee was between Ray’s, pressing against Ray’s swollen sack through his trousers. “We can… try it,” Ray offered. He heard Gabriel’s pulse spike in excitement.
“Okay,” he whispered into Ray’s ear and slid his hands to Ray’s waistband to get his shirt off. Ray shivered as he was uncovered, not looking down at himself. But he didn’t need to look, just hear the way Gabriel’s breathing accelerated. He didn’t understand why; Gabriel didn’t find women attractive, why would he like that Ray—?
“Oh, god, you’re beautiful,” Gabriel murmured, reverent. He didn’t touch Ray’s chest. Instead, he placed his hands right under the curve of Ray’s ribs and drew slow concentric circles downwards, a caress so slow it almost tickled. Ray found himself closing his eyes for a moment to feel it. Then Gabriel’s hands moved down towards the newly flat plains of his belly, cupping the non-existent weight there. Ray had a flash of sense memory to being touched this way when he was full and heavy. He tensed, trying not to flinch or shiver. Gabriel chose to be safe and occupied his hands opening Ray’s trousers instead.
He pushed Ray to lie back on the bed and knelt over him. When prompted, Ray raised his hips so Gabriel could remove his trousers and underwear. He pushed all of it off the side of the bed and stretched himself on top of Ray, heavy and hot, his clothes rough against Ray’s naked skin. He tilted Ray’s head back to lick at his throat, to seek his mark on Ray’s neck—indelible and forever—and worried at it with his teeth as his hips started rolling against Ray’s. Ray made a sound of distress when a button caught in his pubic hair, and Gabriel stopped cold, apologizing with a kiss to Ray’s cheek. “Sorry, darling. Let me...”
Ray watched him get rid of his own clothes in a daze. He was tanned from work and big all over, and maybe he looked even bigger to Ray because he was standing over him, hard and about to mount him. Or maybe it was the omega’s deep need to submit to his alpha. Ray didn’t know where the feeling came from, but feeling Gabriel’s heavy gaze on his exposed body, he knew what he looked like to his cousin. He had as much as said so with his touch: his hands on Ray’s hips and belly, possessive, proprietary, and his odd delight in Ray’s tits swollen with pup milk… Gabriel thought they should do this so he wouldn’t give into his urges during the full moon. But now that he wasn’t moon high, Ray could see what those urges were. Gabriel had never lied: he had told Ray he wanted to mate and breed him from the start.
He had also promised to protect and care for him. And this was what he needed to do to accomplish that, to get the fantasy out of his head and body so that he could be clear-headed when Ray would need it most.
Ray just had to let him. He let himself look at Gabriel’s body, the healthy colour of his skin and the definition of his arms and chest. He’d grown even stronger in the last few years since Ray had seen him shirtless—since he’d moved out and started spending time in town outside of work. Ray hadn’t wanted to notice any of it: not the muscles or the smile, and not his cousin’s frequent absences. Or how suddenly he’d distanced himself from his pack to go hang out with humans.
But he had. And he had known that it was wrong.
And now, he was simply supposed to accept it wasn’t anymore. It wasn’t okay for a fifteen-year-old beta to sigh after his grown up male cousin, but it was expected of an omega to want his alpha. And nobody had a problem with the fact that it was the same person who was meant to feel both those things. Except Ray. It was hard to have a man you’d dreamed of touching you for years look at you like you were perfect only when you no longer felt like yourself. Because you no longer felt like yourself.
He could have got a way worse deal than his teenage fantasy desperate for his body. But it was like a kick to the nuts… or somewhere a boy should have cared less about.
Heart racing, he made himself part his legs as Gabriel got back on the bed, shuddering when he pressed the length of their bodies together, and getting a nice boost from Gabriel’s own pleasure as he arched into him. Then his mouth was taken. It wasn’t a kiss as much as an invasion, Gabriel’s tongue and lips tasting every inch of Ray’s mouth as if Ray was a space to be conquered. Ray made an effort to breathe through his nose, swallowing Gabriel’s spit and his moans, feeling himself grow wetter as his alpha got more excited. Gabriel pulled back, groaning and rutting his hard cock against Ray’s belly. He could smell that Ray was ready for him, and Ray expected his legs to be lifted. But not this time, instead of bending Ray in half, Gabriel got to his knees and rolled Ray over onto his front. He lowered his own body onto Ray’s, aiming his hard cock into the space between Ray’s half spread legs. He moaned as his member touched Ray’s soaked thighs, then thrust against him as he hitched his hips up until the head of his cock popped past the ring of muscle of Ray’s arse. Ray shuddered, clenching in shock, and heard Gabriel murmur, “Oh, yeah, like that, I always—”
And then he was pushing in the rest of the way, pushing Ray’s shoulders down while holding his hips in place, pining him down as his cock breached further in. Deeper and deeper until it felt like one more inch would pierce him right through. Ray whimpered at the fullness, unable not to squirm at the feeling of having his arse used without any prep after four months. It didn’t quite hurt, but it felt strange and uncomfortable. He had got used to not having this done to him.
Gabriel pulled out and pushed back in, deeper if it was even possible. Ray cried out as his cousin’s cock pushed right against his prostate—and that set Gabriel off for real: rutting harder and faster into Ray as he held him down fast onto the bedspread. He changed the angle that had set Ray’s nerves tingling in his frenzy, but it didn’t matter because soon enough he was coming and Ray’s own body rushed with his pleasure as his cock twitched and spilled untouched, forgotten in favour of the one emptying itself inside his body.
For a long moment, Gabriel panted against the side of his neck as they both tried to catch their breath, and then Ray felt a little pull
inside.
“Gabriel…” he begged. He could have physically pushed Gabriel off, but his wolf would never allow him to try and get away from his alpha mate. If Gabriel didn’t react, Ray would have to lie there as the knot formed and then try not to cry in pain as it stretched inside him.
And he would do the same during heat, knowing all the while that a baby was probably being put inside him.
Gabriel swore and pulled out of Ray, fast enough to make Ray wince. He buried his face in the ruined sheets and breathed through the burning feeling the half-formed knot had left in his arse.
He felt the bed shifting and heard Gabriel’s laboured breathing. It was taking too long for him to cool down, though. Ray twisted around to be able to see him. His alpha was sitting up, feet on the floor and face buried in his hands, back hunched in defeat. “What’s wrong?” His voice came out rusty.
Gabriel exhaled and raised his head to look back at him. “You had to tell me,” he explained. “That’s not good enough. I can’t need you to tell me, you won’t be—”
He was right, of course. Ray would be in no state to ask for anything, not even something he truly needed.
“What if Alec asked?” he suggested weakly. Gabriel had clearly chosen Alec because he represented no threat, and Alec had given plenty of proof that he accepted his authority, but during the full moon they’d still be two alpha wolves who shared an omega. The last thing he wanted was to turn the tides of moon madness from sex to violence.
“No,” Gabriel said. “Let me try again.” For the first time, Ray thought he was really asking. If Ray refused, he wouldn’t insist. It was like catching a glimpse of the man he’d known and admired. “I can do it, I just—it had been a long time. But I can do it now.”
Ray shifted onto his side, feeling his arse complain even as it filled with more slick to allow him to fulfil his alpha’s request. Gabriel must have been able to tell, but his eyes didn’t leave Ray’s face as he waited for an answer. Gabriel was right, it made sense that the first time after a long period of abstinence would be particularly intense and hard to control; that was the whole reason Alec had suggested he bed them before full moon. It wasn’t like Ray could honestly say he couldn’t take it, not when he had lost his virginity to the five of them. He met Gabriel’s eyes again. His cousin still looked soft and earnest. He nodded. “Okay.”
