by Fel Fern
“That’s it, little bird. Come for me,” Cole whispered against his ear, nipping at the lobe.
Mind scattered, the pressure inside him broke. He screamed out Cole’s name, painting strings of his cum all over Cole’s abs and ribs. The Alpha hammered in and out of him several more times, before filling his ass with warmth. After they recovered, Cole got off him, as if the Alpha didn’t want his weight pressing him down.
“That was, wow,” was all he could manage. “I never sex could be that mind-blowing, consuming.”
“Hmm,” Cole said, trailing fingers down his chest. “What do you say, we take a little shower together, before rolling in bed?”
“Bed?” he asked, still unable to form logical thoughts.
Cole pretended to look offended. “Why, little bird, is sex all you want from me?”
He laughed. Of course he wanted to end the night curled up against Cole’s huge body. Cole helped him up. Wren glanced at the table.
As if reading his thoughts, Cole said, “Don’t worry, I’ll clean the mess up before we start work tomorrow.”
“Okay,” he whispered. Feeling brave, he reached out and closed his fingers over Cole’s. The Alpha didn’t protest and allowed him to take the lead. “Bathroom’s through here.”
Wren walked inside his bedroom and paused.
“What’s wrong?”
“The last man who’s been in here was Trey.”
Since Trey’s death though, he couldn’t bear to look at the belongings of his former mate so he’d placed them in a box. He didn’t think he could bring another man here either. Cole fell silent behind him.
“Do you regret what we did?” Cole finally asked.
He looked at the space in a different light. It had changed, just like him.
Wren shook his head. “No. Trey would have wanted me to move on.”
The mood turned sober as he led them inside the shower. The shower wasn’t built to fit two men, but Cole and he squeezed in just fine. Cole turned the water on, letting it run down their bodies, then the Alpha pulled him close into an embrace. With his back plastered against Cole’s warm chest, he shut his eyes in contentment.
Wren never imagined he could be intimate with another man after Trey, but he acknowledged what Cole and he had wasn’t temporary. It could be something more. Relationships were fragile, took time to build. He of all people knew that, but he didn’t mind putting in the time. He knew this was all new to Cole, too.
“Just now, I really meant what I said,” he said.
Cole hugged him tighter. “I know. I heard the truth in your voice. It must not have been easy, approaching me earlier.”
“I knew if I wanted this, whatever this is between us, to go somewhere, I needed to bend.”
“Brave mate.”
Wren sucked in a breath at that word, but didn’t bother correcting Cole. Hope flared in his chest. Did second chances exist? But there was a danger in hoping for too much, too, of getting hurt, and this time, their hearts were on the line.
Feeling Cole’s dick nudging at the cleft of his ass, he grinned. “So horny again, Alpha?”
“Didn’t you know, little bird? We Alpha werewolves recover really fast. Look, I’m not the only one.” Cole reached over and gave his dick a squeeze. His shaft pulsed to life under the Alpha’s touch and he groaned. How could one man wake his body so easily, given they’d just had sex?
Still, he shifted his thighs apart, allowing Cole access. With his ass still slicked with Cole’s cum, Cole easily penetrated him. The Alpha wrenched his wrists above his head, pressing his body against the wall. He panted, incredibly aroused. Cole began pounding him against the wall, at the same time, stroking his prick in leisurely strokes.
He moaned, twisted, squirmed, loving every moment of it.
“I can get used to this, you helpless under me,” Cole said.
Cocky Alpha.
In no time at all, his orgasm built. Cole’s strokes were fast, deep, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before the Alpha came, too. He hissed in protest when Cole released his cock but gasped when Cole gave his left nipple a pinch.
He felt like malleable clay under Cole’s hands. Cole gave his balls a squeeze and swiped the pre-cum on his tip. That did the trick. Tiny fireworks went off inside him. He cried out, spilling his load. His climax seemed to trigger Cole’s own. Cole shot his load in his ass.
Feeling languid, he pressed his forehead against the tiles. “Don’t tell me you’re raring to go again, because I need a little time out before round three.”
Cole’s laugh was light, sexy. The Alpha nipped at the side of his neck, a playful bite deep enough to bruise but not draw blood. Wren didn’t miss the significance of the spot, where the shoulder connected his neck. It was the perfect spot for a dominant shifter to place his mate mark. After Trey passed away, Trey’s mark had faded within hours, as if it had never been there.
The werewolf Alpha didn’t push though, merely started soaping the both of them down.
“This feels nice,” he murmured. Wren could barely stand on his own after that amazing session.
“Hm? I like taking care of you.” Cole finished showering them off, then toweled Wren dry, before attending his own body.
“I don’t think I have a shirt that will fit you,” he said, sounding sleepy to his ears.
“Who needs clothes? If it’s your virtue you’re worried about, don’t worry, little bird. All we’re doing is cuddle.”
He snorted. Cole liked to joke, but he realized he liked the Alpha’s lighthearted attitude. Two negative people would only worsen the gloom. “My virtue?”
“Humor me.”
He led Cole to the bed and climbed in the sheets. The mattress springs protested as Cole joined him, and he squeaked when Cole tugged him close for a hug.
“Oh, this is nice, too,” he remarked, snuggling close to the hard warmth of Cole.
Besides, it had been so long since he had slept with someone next to him. Trey might have passed away a month ago, but hadn’t shared the same bed in a long time. Trey preferred to sleep on the couch. The baby growing in his belly was a lucky accident, one where Trey and he had become horny during the full moon and fucked in the bathroom of a restaurant.
“What are you thinking about?” Cole asked.
He hesitated, but decided to tell the Alpha the truth. “Trey and I had become one of those distanced couples before he died. We no longer shared a bed, or agreed on anything.”
Cole seemed to process the words. “You loved him though.”
“Even though the fire between us sizzled out, we agreed to stick to the marriage, especially once he learned I was pregnant.”
“He sounds like a good guy.”
“He had his faults, but yes, he was. Sorry, I promise I’m not going to talk about him when I’m with you.”
“It’s okay, baby. I understand he’s part of you. I respect that.”
He twisted in Cole’s arms and looked at the Alpha in the eye. “Tonight changed things. I want to move on, Cole. Do you see a possible future for us?”
“More than possible,” Cole said instantly. “Go out with me again on Friday. I’ll take you on an official date.”
Friday was in three days’ time, Wren thought. Not that he had anything better to do. He raised his brows at that. “You, date?”
Cole glowered at him. “Hey, this is new territory for me, too, but I’m trying.”
The Alpha would never admit it, but Wren knew it was scary for Cole, too, trying his hand at a relationship.
“Then,” he said in his most solemn voice, “I accept.”
“Good. I have something wicked planned.”
“Wicked?” he asked.
“Doesn’t sex come with the package?”
“I suppose since you already stole my virtue and all, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
At that, they both ended up cracking up. Wren couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed like this, or felt so carefree and light.
Chapter Eight
Hearing the shouting from inside the apartment, seven-year-old Cole hesitated. Goosebumps appeared on his arms at the sound of glass cracking, furniture being knocked over. His mother and her pimp, Rod, were at it again.
Cole debated coming back, but it was cold outside, even for a wolf pup, and his light layer of clothing wouldn’t cut it. He rubbed his aching hands on his shirt and stared at his scraped knuckles. The split skin would heal soon enough, but he needed to wash the blood off. This wasn’t his first fight or his last, but he was tired, sick of the other kids in the neighborhood calling him and his mother names.
He didn’t like what she did, but understood she did it to keep him alive. Not that they ever exchanged any pleasant words. Even on her sober days, she stared at him with accusing eyes.
“What I did do to give birth to a monster?”
Cole couldn’t erase those words away from his mind, wished many times his absent shifter father had taken him when he bolted. Except Cole hated that man, too, for throwing him away like trash. He’d run blind his entire life, had no shifter mentor or guardian to teach him how to control his inner animal. Cole relied on half-true information on the internet instead.
When he’d been younger, he’d come across an article on mating bonds. If his mother was his father’s mate, then why did his dad leave? Mating was for life, and shifters valued and loved children. His mom seldom spoke about the man who got her pregnant, but on the rare occasion she did, she talked about him with bitterness.
He used to believe his dad would come back, make things better, but that was a fairy tale he’d outgrown.
The shouting intensified. Cole let out a ragged breath, animal tensing inside of him as a woman’s scream ripped his hesitation to shreds. Mom.
Protective instincts kicked in. Still, he fumbled for the spare key in the back pocket of his jeans. After three tries, he got the door unlocked.
I’m not afraid of Rod, he told himself. Cole had a wolf in him. A blatant lie he so badly wanted to believe. He was terrified of Rod, of the revolver Rod kept tucked under his jacket. The pimp never hesitated to wave it around when he got mad, telling Cole he had silver bullets that would end his life.
He yanked the door open, panting, steeling himself for the worst, only to see Rod, walking past him, cursing under his breath. The pimp walked past him as if Cole didn’t exist. He snarled, but the pimp slammed the door shut behind him.
The predator in him wanted to hunt Rod down for making his mom scream like that, but with difficulty, he pushed the beast’s murderous instincts aside to look for his mother. There she was, on the floor, robe partially open, bottle in her left hand, empty syringe on the right.
“Mom!” he cried out, running over to her, kneeling in front of her.
No recognition in her eyes. Cole was about to reach out when she spoke, “Don’t fucking touch me.”
He recoiled at the venom in her voice. Cole silently assessed her, swallowing at the trail of needle arms on her right arm. Had she taken too much coke again? Should he call the paramedics?
Her green eyes, so like his own, except they were bloodshot, bore into his. Cole was struck by the intense hatred there. On her neck, his gaze lingered on the fading mating mark, a memento of his absent shifter father and a mark of shame.
“I wished you’ve never been born, monster,” she spat, before her eyes started to roll in their sockets. Her entire body began to shake and with a cry, he leapt for the phone to call for help.
* * * *
Cole woke, entire body covered in sweat, the nightmare still fresh in his head. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, still reeling from the terror of the boy he’d been. Why that little memory rose up now, he didn’t know.
His phone beeped under the pillow. As he grabbed it, his frown vanished, replaced by a smile at Wren’s message.
Wren: Good morning. Still asleep? Can’t wait for tonight.
Cole: Just woke up. Can’t wait to blow your mind later.
He added an emoticon of a grinning wolf.
Cole shut his eyes, thinking of the incredible night he’d spent with an incredible man three days ago. Just like that, the nightmare faded, losing significance in the present. Then he recalled nipping Wren in the neck and his eyes flew open.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
Cole had been that close to making Wren forever his. His precious control had unraveled in the heat of the moment, and Wren didn’t even know he’d been this close to being tied to Cole’s wolf forever. There was no denying that night had changed things for both of them. He had felt high, able to do anything, but that dream shoved him back to reality.
Wren meant a lot to him, certainly, he wanted to find out where this path would take them, but Cole had a hard time letting go of his past. What if he ended up like his absent father?
No, Isiah was the man who raised him, shaped him, but he still came from the asshole who had impregnated his mother and left them both. Letting out a breath, he took a shower and dressed, realizing he was running late.
Cole drove to the office, wore his usual lazy smile, and greeted the employees. Inside, he was a turmoil of emotions. Wren had laid his heart bare, told Cole he might have nothing left to give, but what if Cole was the problem?
No matter how hard he tried to forget, some scars didn’t easily heal. Reaching his office, he shut the door, despite always leaving it open. Sitting behind his desk, he turned on his PC and spent the better part of the morning checking e-mails. He had a meeting with another a client after lunch, then he would check on the crew working on Wren’s kitchen.
After their night together, Wren had gone back to his friend’s place, which served as a temporary work space for his business. Cole planned on finishing up Wren’s kitchen as fast as possible, so Wren didn’t need to borrow someone else’s kitchen. Besides, he could see business was going well. Wren spent the better half of mornings baking; delivery took up the entire afternoon.
He suggested Wren hire extra help, with the deliveries at least, and Wren mentioned he would consider it. Cole planned on volunteering his Saturday, too, because Wren’s business was open from Monday to Saturday.
“What’s gotten you in such a testy mood?”
Cole sighed and glanced at Malik, who let himself in and took a seat in front of him.
“I’m not testy,” he argued.
“Bullshit. I can feel your animal. It’s straining inside of you. Don’t you think Nash and I know about the long runs Spencer and you take during lunch?”
He warily looked at his brother. “I’m better.”
“Since banging the brains of your little bird.”
“Only I can call Wren that,” he said with a growl.
Malik raised his hands in mock defeat. “Okay, got it, Mr. Possessive Wolf. If everything’s perfect, then why does your wolf seem conflicted?”
Cole ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Three days ago, I nearly gave Wren my bite mark.”
“You mentioned he’s learning to move on and you’re certain he’s your mate. What’s the problem?”
“He’s not ready. I mean, with his business and the baby, Wren has plenty on his plate.”
“Or you’re the one who’s having doubts.”
He snarled. “Why are you always so fucking perspective?”
Malik shrugged. “It’s a gift.”
“I had a dream about my past this morning. I wonder if it meant something.”
“The past? Your birth mother?”
He nodded, looking out the windows of his office, still remembering the bile that rose in his throat, the terror that had nearly eaten him up. Cole had watched, helpless, as the paramedics had arrived to pump her stomach, for the third or was that fourth time? That incident had been the final push for social services to take him away.
“I never believed in the mating bond, thought it wasn’t for me, because I never wanted a repeat of what happened to my mother.”
�
��None of us believe in the bond, but Cole, I grew up with you. You’d never leave your mate or the child he’s carrying behind.”
“How are you certain?” he whispered. “What if I run at the first sign of trouble?”
“Fuck it. You’re stronger than this.” It was rare to hear Malik raise his voice. “You’re a goddamn protector, Cole. You never leave anyone behind. Remember the playground incident?”
“You’re right,” Cole said eventually.
“You know, it’s inevitable the past creeps up on all of us, but don’t let it drag you down. Me and the others can see this avian shifter is good for you. Invite him to our next weekly dinner next week.”
He blinked, mood lifting to that of a familiar emotion. Annoyance at his brothers. “Wait a second. You and the others talk about my relationship with Wren? Don’t you assholes know when to mind your own business?”
“Of course not.” Malik rose from his seat. “Remember what I said, Cole, and don’t forget to invite Wren to Nash’s place.”
“Yeah, okay.” Cole slumped against his chair.
Malik did make an important point. His thoughts went to Isiah, who’d been recently widowed when he had adopted all four of them. Grief had marked Isiah’s eyes each time Isiah talked about his departed wife, but Cole had also seen the undying love he’d had for her. Isiah and Mary Jo hadn’t needed a shifter’s mating bond to make their marriage work.
Cole remembered looking into his birth mother out of curiosity after Isiah had taken him in. He hadn’t been surprised to find out she’d died of an overdose a year after social services had taken him away, but he remembered blaming his absent shifter father. She’d destroyed herself, broken down, thanks to him.
When the bastard had given her his mating bond, he had connected their life force, their soul. Naturally, she’d feel empty when he left. Malik was right—he’d never do that to Wren. Cole left for lunch early, once again bumping into Spencer outside the office.
“Why do I have the feeling,” he began, “that in your own way, you’re keeping tabs on me?”
