by Cara Wylde
Alaric noticed Wisteria was more interested in me and the food I’d brought her, so he stood up and got dressed.
“Warden Green probably needs me,” he mumbled. “How are things up there?”
“It’s chaos,” I said. I had no intention to make conversation with him. The quicker he left me alone with the Omega, the better.
He grunted, shot Wisteria one last glance, earned himself a smile, then was finally out the door. Wisteria didn’t seem to notice. She crawled into her nest, pulled a blanket over her lap, and grabbed the tray. First, she attacked the steak, not even bothering with the fork. I sat across from her, on the floor, with my back against the wall.
“Thank you,” she said between ravenous bites. “I was famished.”
“I can see that.” After a pause, I added. “I should have come sooner. Callum is busy. The Council isn’t leaving him alone. And Alaric is… distracted. At least he remembered to bring you water.” I tipped my chin at the bottles discarded in a corner. They were full.
“Yes, you should have! I was all alone. And in my state, I… I can’t be alone.”
Her eyes were so bright, so intense. She looked like once she was done with her meal, I was next.
Conversation was lacking. She was eating as fast as she could, and I found her cute, so I simply watched. I had so much to say to her, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t even know if it was the right time, or if the right time would ever come. She ate one pancake soaked in maple syrup and drank one glass of orange juice. She pushed the tray aside and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, smearing maple syrup on her cheek. I smiled. She was adorable. She frowned.
“Come on. You need a shower.” I pulled myself to my feet, closed the space between us, and gave her my hand.
She took it, but instead of standing up, she pulled me toward her. “Later.” She pulled again, and I let myself fall beside her with a sigh. “It smells like them. I know you don’t like it, so… let’s make it smell like you.” She purred the last words, and they went straight to my groin. She lied down and pulled me on top of her, spreading her legs so I could settle between them. “Or I can turn around if you want. Though going through the back door doesn’t make babies.” She chuckled.
I laughed. She was funny when she was well fed. She started pulling at my clothes, and I let her.
“Do you want to choke me?” she teased. “Do you want to spank me, Father?”
Her words made my cock throb. She’d only removed half of my clothes. In her impatience, it was more important to free my dick than to see me naked. She wrapped both her hands around my shaft and started stroking me firmly. She didn’t have to work for it. Beads of precum already covered the engorged head.
“Do you want to pull my hair?”
I looked into her eyes. “No.”
She was taken aback. Her next words came out rather fearfully, but no, I wasn’t going to reject her. “What do you want then, Father? You only have to ask. I will do it.”
“I want…” I stretched on top of her as I pushed her hands away and grabbed the base of my dick. My lips were inches from hers. She smelled like orange juice. “I want to make love to you.”
She gasped. I pressed my lips to hers and drank that small, delicious gasp, then pushed my tongue inside her mouth. She whimpered, moaned, then wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer. I placed the head of my cock at her entrance, and took my time playing with it, rubbing it up and down her soaked folds, spreading her slick, mixing it with my own fluids. When I found her clit, she arched into me, and I pressed against it until she became even wetter. She started shivering and writhing underneath me, desperate for more friction.
“Please, Father. Make love to me.”
I growled deep in my chest. I guided my cock back to her open passage and pushed in, inch by inch. She was warm and tight, even after Alaric had fucked her and knotted her. As I buried myself inside her and she received me greedily, I realized this was better than when she’d been in the chemically induced heat. This was real. Her body wanted me, craved my seed. It was ready to take it and create new life. With this thought in mind, I placed my arms on both sides of her head and looked her in the eyes as I pounded her steadily and purposefully. She had her legs wrapped around my waist, and she let her arms fall above her head, giving me an incredible view of her bouncing breasts.
It didn’t take long. I was starved for her. I’d stayed away for too long, wrapped up in my own guilt and fears, I’d refused myself the softness of her skin and the sweetness of her voice. I was close, but I couldn’t even conceive coming before her. I snuck a hand between us and found her clit. She gasped, her beautiful mouth forming a cute “o” as her eyes went wide and she abandoned herself to the pleasure I was giving her. She came in seconds, soaking my fingers and the base of my cock in her warm cum. Her pussy throbbed around my cock, and I pushed deep inside her as I shot my seed, my heart beating wildly, my knot growing behind her pelvic bone. I collapsed on top of her. After a minute, I realized I must have been too heavy for her, so I rolled us both on one side. We faced each other, our limbs entangled, our hearts beating in unison. She smiled up at me.
“I can’t believe you were… so gentle,” she whispered. “I mean, don’t get me wrong! I love that you showed me this part of you.”
I sighed. “It’s not… a part of me. I only did it for you.” I brushed her blond hair out of her eyes.
“I don’t believe that. I think you like it rough, and you like to dominate and be dominated, but I also think you have a soft, gentle side. You’re a good man, Father.”
Her words made my stomach clench painfully. Even after we’d claimed her and possessed her in so many twisted ways, Wisteria was so pure and innocent. I couldn’t look her in the eye anymore, so I pulled her against my chest and cupped the back of her neck with my hand as I placed my chin on top of her head. This way we could be close, so impossibly close, without her looking into my soul. I didn’t want her to discover just how dark and rotten it was. On the other hand… all my thoughts, desires, fantasies… they weighed heavily on me. Maybe if I told her the story behind them, she would understand. Maybe she was the only one who could understand and accept me the way I was. Maybe baring my tortured soul to her was worth the risk.
“Wisteria, if I confess something to you…”
She sensed the hesitation in my voice and said quickly: “I will listen. And I will never judge you.”
I let out a breath of relief.
“This isn’t easy, but… I can feel the bond between us, the bond you also have with Alaric and Callum. This is it. We’ll be… together forever, right?” I chuckled awkwardly. For a priest who heard the inmates’ confessions all the time, I really was bad at this.
I felt her smile. “That’s how soulmate bonds work, yes.”
“I had a bad childhood. Oh God, it’s such a cliché! We’ve all had bad childhoods.”
“Shh… Tell me what burdens your soul without giving into your inner judge. You’re not a cliché, Garrett.”
My breath hitched. This was the first time she was calling me by my name. She’d always called me Father or Father Rivera, and I had to admit it sounded impersonal. So now that her lips had uttered my name – Garret, – the walls I’d carefully built around my heart crumbled. A wave of overwhelming emotions came crashing in, and I found myself telling her everything, confessing to her in such a rush that my words, my feelings, my fears and hopes left me breathless.
“In the werewolf community, my father is known for his cruelty. No one wants to have anything to do with the Rivera Pack because of him. The words loyalty, reliability, honesty – they’re not in his vocabulary. He’s screwed over many packs, many Alphas. Our rivals would have eliminated him a long time ago if he didn’t have friends in high places. Very high places.”
“How high?”
“The Administration.”
“Oh. And what about your mother?”
/> “She was cruel, too. Still is. But in a different way. She hates her pups. All of them. She’s had over a dozen. I’m one of her eldest children, so when I was little, I didn’t understand why she was the way she was, but then I saw how she treated the pups she gave birth to after me, and I knew there was nothing to understand. She ignored me. She ignored me to such an extent that the only way I could get a reaction out of her was to piss her off royally. Then, she’d beat me and kick me, but at least it was something. At least I felt like she saw me, like she was aware of my existence. So, as a pup, I managed to survive by avoiding my father, whose beatings broke bones, and doing everything in my power to get my mother to look at me and acknowledge I was there. She left bruises and cuts, but I could deal with that. I healed fast as a pup, which was a good indication that I would grow to be an Alpha.” I sighed deeply. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know how much of an Alpha I am, Wisteria. Maybe they both beat that out of me.”
She didn’t say a word, which made me worry that I’d gone too far, but then I felt her shake with sobs, and I knew she was hurting for me. She was crying the tears I’d never allowed myself to cry. This gave me courage.
“I turned to God because there was no one I could turn to. My siblings were all just as broken as I was. After I became a priest, I heard some of them left the pack, too. Good for them. I hope they never return because I know I never will. I don’t miss my father, and I don’t miss my Omega mother, but sometimes… And I know this is so terribly wrong… Sometimes, I think I see my mother in the females that cross my path. I feel this crushing desire to make them see me, make them pay attention. I detest being ignored. I’d do anything… anything!... to never be ignored again.”
She pressed her cheek against the side of my neck. “I will never ignore you. You don’t have to do anything for me to see you, Garrett. You just have to… exist. And I will love you and be grateful that you’ve chosen me. I will show you how grateful I am every day of my life.”
“It’s not enough…”
“What?”
“I don’t know why… I just can’t take anything for granted. You, the fact that you love me…”
“What do you need me to do?”
I shook my head. This was dangerous territory. We were going too far, too fast. If I told her what I truly needed from her to feel safe and wanted, I’d only scare her away.
“This is good,” I said. “What we have now is good.”
“But you just said it’s not enough.”
“It will be, because you’re right for me.”
“No.” She pulled away and held me at arm’s length. “Tell me what you need from me, and I will give it to you. I want to make you happy.”
I bit my lip. She was forcing me to look into her eyes.
“What you said earlier about your parents beating the Alpha instincts out of you is not true. You are an Alpha. My Alpha. And an Alpha always tells his Omega what he wants from her, no matter what it is.”
That gave me strength. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
“Next time, I need you to… call me a bad pup, and… and punish me however you see fit.”
She didn’t flinch. She nodded simply, a serious look in her eyes.
“Thank you,” I said.
“No, Father. Thank you for trusting me with your heart. I will never betray you.”
She snuggled back against my chest and was asleep in minutes.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Officer Stone
The two representatives of the Council of the Elders came to Dark Moon Prison early in the morning. Marcia Frost and Conrad Gard insisted on talking to the warden in the conference room, which was the only chamber in our entire institution that was completely soundproof and sense-proof. Callum asked me to guard the door as he went inside with the two diplomats, and that was how I ended up posted in an empty hallway for hours, frustrated and angry beyond belief, knowing that while Callum was stuck in this impromptu meeting and I was stuck too because I had my orders, our Omega was probably alone, suffering in her dark cell. I knew Garrett had spent the night with her, had fed her and taken her to take a shower, but he’d probably left her before dawn. After all, he had his own duties – he had to hold mass and hear the inmates’ confessions. Honestly, I couldn’t tell whether Rivera’s work at the prison amounted to something… It was hard to evaluate his contribution. The prisoners didn’t necessarily seem more well-behaved after going to the chapel each morning. And, anyway, they didn’t all go. There were inmates at Dark Moon Prison who had never stepped foot in the chapel. Not that I was questioning his work, but it seemed to be wasted in this place. I personally didn’t believe in criminals repenting for what they’d done. The ones who did attend mass and confessed were a sham, for sure. They didn’t deserve to be forgiven, and I was convinced they knew that. Maybe they just liked lying to themselves, or they liked going to the chapel to hear Rivera lie to them about how God was all-knowing and all-forgiving, and that if they repented and strove to never sin again, God was going to save them a place in Heaven. I knew for a fact that was never going to happen. On the other hand, why was I even thinking about this? This was bullshit. I didn’t believe in Heaven and hell, but I’d been stuck here guarding this stupid door for over two hours, and I was getting bored and restless.
Finally, the door opened, and the warden emerged with his two guests. I nodded toward the representatives, and while Marcia Frost ignored me as she walked past, Gard mustered a nod and a smile.
“Officer Stone will walk you out,” Callum said. “Thank you for coming, and I want you to know that I will do what I can.”
“Thank you, Warden Green,” Marcia said in a cold, arrogant voice. “I am sure you will.” Then she shot me a quick, annoyed look that left me wondering what the hell she had against me. “We can find our way out. We really don’t want to keep you from your duties a minute longer.” Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heels and started toward the exit. Gard followed her dutifully.
When they were far enough, Callum fixed me with his intense, green gaze, and motioned for me to follow them.
“Don’t let them sense you,” he whispered so softly that only I could hear him.
I hooked my thumbs in my belt, my fingers spread to hold the weapons I carried so they wouldn’t make a sound. Soundlessly, I tiptoed after them. If I was right, neither Marcia nor Gard had great werewolf instincts. One thing that I hated about the Council of the Elders and the diplomats working for them was that they’d lost touch with the true nature of who they were. These people rarely shifted these days, so it was my personal opinion that they were slowly losing touch with their wolf. They lived in fancy homes and wore fancy clothes, and the idea of a night spent in the woods probably seemed ridiculous to them because there was no toilet, there were no showers, and they hadn’t hunted and eaten their prey raw in decades. To me, these people weren’t werewolves anymore. Too bad, because all of them came from long lines of true Alphas. But right now, their idiocy gave me an advantage. I easily followed them outside of the office building, hanging way behind, only letting myself be guided by my keen senses of smell and hearing. I followed them across the courtyard, and when they reached the main gates of the prison and the guards let them pass, I hesitated. They hadn’t done anything suspicious so far. But how could they have? I had to trust Warden Green and his infallible instinct. If he thought these two were up to something, then they were up to something. Period.
Marcia and Gard were out of sight when I signaled for the guards to open the gate for me. It took me a minute of sniffing the air and listening to every sound to figure out where they were. I saw their car parked close, but they weren’t anywhere near it. I followed Marcia’s scent – a mix of mint powder and Chanel no. 5, – and I soon heard her voice coming from a copse of trees across the country road. As usual, Gard was silent. They weren’t alone, though. Soon, another female voice replied to something Marcia had said
, and I had to step closer to hear better.
What I discovered made anger flood my blood. Officer Bough was there, and she was accepting a fat envelope from Marcia. Gard was standing a few steps away from them, his hands in his pockets.
“Does this mean the information I gave you checked out?”
Marcia smiled. “Yes, Officer Bough. You did the right thing coming to us. Thanks to what you told us, we were able to corner Warden Green. He couldn’t deny that inmate Sierra Carmine is dangerous.”
“Oh God.” She stuffed the envelope in her uniform pants. “Is it weird that I was hoping I’d gotten it all wrong?”
“Yes, officer. Because then you wouldn’t have received this generous reward.” Marcia winked at her and turned to leave. “Call us if you have more information that can help our cause.” She waved.
