by Tamsin Baker
The top was soft against my battered and bruised skin, but I had to sit down to try the pants on. My legs weren’t quite strong enough to balance on one foot yet.
“Ah, since we’re going to bed, how ‘bout you put these on?”
He handed me a soft pair of leggings.
“What are these?”
“An accident actually. I grabbed some sports clothes as I passed by that section in the mall. But most of the pack don’t wear them because they’re not tough enough. I still had these for some reason. New, as well.”
I pulled on the super soft black leggings and groaned as a warm cloud floated over me. “This is heaven, thank you.” My body felt nurtured and settled for the first time in years. Unreal. Just like a dream. Hopefully I didn’t wake up, back in my old world anytime soon.
“Not a problem. Do you need any more help with your injuries? I might be able to rustle up some cream, or something?”
“No, no. I’ll be healed in a couple of days.”
Angus cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, I always wondered how you continued to take such a beating from him. You’re healing capacity must be off the charts.”
I shrugged. “My mom always said an Omega was special, but in this world, I’ve known nothing but disdain. I can’t shift, I can’t lift heavy weights.”
Angus stepped closer, his blue eyes alight with something exciting. “You are special. The Omega’s are a rare breed that are meant for one thing...”
The hairs on my arms rose as he stopped, not finishing a sentence I very much wanted to know the finish of.
“What’s that?”
The question hung in the air like a ripe fruit about to burst and as Angus licked his lips, I leaned forward for the answer.
“You’re meant to be the mate of an Alpha.”
Chapter 3.
Angus.
Did I really just say that?
The look on Clayton’s face was comical as I took his hand and dragged him into my bedroom. The last thing I wanted to do was force him into a sexual situation, but he needed to know the facts.
My wolf rode high in my mind. I could practically feel him on my back.
Was this my mate? The one I’d been waiting for?
Why had he ended up the mate of that asshole, and not mine?
“How did you come to mate with Sam, Clayton?” I asked as we stepped into my bedroom.
I tugged off my clean clothes and lay them beside the bed, ready for the next day. My belly complained of lack of dinner, but I wasn’t going anywhere tonight. I had some other cans of fruit if I needed something later.
I pulled back the sheets and slipped beneath the blankets.
Clayton stood beside the bed blankly, his face crumpled in pain.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He’d been the one to insist on sleeping in my room and not the other.
“Where would you like me? On the floor?” he asked.
I barked out a laugh. “You’re kidding me, right? Get in here.” I threw back the covers on his side to emphasize where he should lie. “Though if I grope you a little through the night you’ll have to excuse me.”
The poor kid had gone through so much, the last thing he needed was my horny self-forcing him to have sex with me.
He stripped and scampered over, his skinny body vibrating… With fear? No. I could smell his arousal.
“No. That would be fine. My mother always said I was like an octopus to sleep with,” Clayton explained.
I chuckled and let him settle into the bed, his posture stiff and uncomfortable on the soft mattress.
“Look, if you don’t want me to touch you, Clayton, I won’t. I promise. I’d never force myself on you.”
His lips lifted in a smile. “Oh, I know that. Tell me more about this Omega mating thing.”
He rolled on his side and faced me, and I mirrored him, stuffing two pillows beneath my head.
“Well, most Alpha’s mate with females, obviously. Or you wouldn’t get the continuation of the line. Except when you get an Omega born into a pack. An Omega is the perfect mate to an Alpha. I was told by my parents that when mated, the Omega amplifies the Alpha’s power.”
An incredible thing that I’d never really thought about being my destiny. I’d always assumed that my mate would be female.
“Have you ever known a pairing like that?” Clayton asked me.
“No, I haven’t. But the stories are legendary.”
Clayton’s gaze dropped and a sadness filled his face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Sam always said I was like a major energy suck. He hated….mating with me. Not that I think we ever mated. Not really, not the way you’re meant to. Both souls entwined.”
I agreed that a true mating would be more than the average, but there was one thing that didn’t make sense to me. I didn’t really want to ask, because I didn’t want to imagine Sam being with Clayton, but I needed to know.
“What do you mean he hated mating you?”
I couldn’t imagine Clayton being anything but a pleasure to bed.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s why he used to beat me so often. He said I made him feel sick, or something. He could barely get it up half the time.”
I shouldn’t have laughed but I did, and Clayton’s face fell.
“No, please don’t take that badly, because you are one sexy thing. I’m having a hard time keeping my hands to myself and my cock is thickening by the minute. If he couldn’t get it up, that’s on him. Not on you.”
Clayton’s eyes lit up and he licked his full lips.
“Can I see?”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, but I was willing to test out my self-control if it meant giving the Omega the compliment he deserved. “Sure.” I rolled onto my back and pushed the covers down.
Clayton licked his lips once again in that sexy way that he had. His gaze focused completely on my cock. Which was throbbing and thick and laying against my belly. Precum glistened on the tip.
“You’re big,” he said, his hand reaching out for me.
I grabbed his arm before he could touch.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. You’ve just been badly hurt and I don’t want anything from you, other than your affection.”
Clayton cocked his head and stared at me. “But I want to touch you. You don’t want me to?”
He sounded confused and I had to laugh. Because it was pretty bloody obvious that I wanted him.
“Of course, I do but how ‘bout we wait until you’re feeling better?” I let go of his arm and his hand wrapped around my shaft.
“How ‘bout we don’t wait?” he asked.
“But…”
Clayton began to work my flesh like an expert. Up and down he slid his hand. Sparkles of sensation flitted along my nerve endings and my ability to talk shut down. I tried to.
You should stop.
I should be doing you instead.
But anytime I opened my mouth, nothing but a gasp came out. Then a groan as heat tickled over my balls and hit me in the gut.
Clayton moved forward and put his mouth over me. The exquisite pressure of his wet, warm lips and the squeezing of his hands was too much for me.
I groaned and tried to push him off, but I couldn’t touch his back and Clayton pressed down with his mouth more. Engulfing me. Heat raced up my legs and my balls ached. Fire exploded in my gut as pleasure pulsed through my cock and my cum spilled into Clayton’s mouth in long, amazing squirts. My hands gripped the sheets beside me as Clayton came off, his soft smile one of pure satisfaction.
“Whoa, Clayton. That was incredible.”
He sucked on his lips as though tasting himself. “You taste really good.”
I laughed. “Thank God for that. Now you?” I asked.
Could I do the same thing for him? I’d never taken a male lover before, but knowing my own body meant I was sure I could do the same thing for him.
“No. I wanted to do that
to say thank you for saving me tonight. My body’s not ready for anything else.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Well, please don’t do that again unless you want to. You owe me nothing, from now on. Clean slate, okay?”
Clayton nodded. “Okay.”
Worry crept into my mind like a thief in the night, but Clayton looked more relaxed now. His eyes were shining with a light they hadn’t contained before.
My muscles were turning to liquid and my eyes were heavy lidded. We needed to talk about so many things. His mating with Sam, the roles we would need to play for each other. As I stared down at the first piece of happiness I’d found in years, I couldn’t bring myself to speak about it all now.
“Come here, beautiful boy.” I carefully drew him closer to me and turned us both over so I could cuddle him from behind.
His back was healing much faster than even my body would have with a beating like that. Which was incredible considering my health and muscle, not to mention my Alpha status. Which, by definition meant I was the biggest and strongest of the pack.
Clayton’s shifter genes, although recessive, must be very strong indeed.
I put a hand over his sharp hipbone and dragged his butt against my sated cock. He nestled in like he’d always been there and warmth spread through my chest.
Was this what it felt like to be with your mate?
I didn’t want to come to any conclusions too soon, but this was beginning to feel like destiny. Clayton felt like home.
“I’m glad I found you, Clayton.”
“Me too.” He sighed loudly and relaxed into his pillow.
I’d found something very special here and I was going to hold onto him for as long as I could.
*
When I woke up hours later, the sun was only just rising over the land and I could see Clayton’s thin body in front of me.
His shoulders were rising and falling in time with his breathing. He looked so peaceful and beautiful now. His clean hair held a faint red shine to it that reminded me of my Irish grandmother who loved a good story. I believed she would have loved this one.
Clayton jolted suddenly and rolled, falling out of bed. There was a loud thump, and then nothing. Not a whimper. Complete silence.
It was strangely comical.
“You okay?” I called out to him.
His head popped up like an old jack in the box that I’d had as a child and I smiled at him.
“Forgot where you were?” I asked.
He nodded, his eyes as big as saucers as his gaze darted from me to the bed, and back again.
Poor thing. I couldn’t imagine how jarring it must be to go from such a horrible existence to one with care and comfort.
Well, maybe I could imagine…
“Come back for a cuddle. I have to go to the power plant soon.”
Clayton slowly crawled up the mattress and stiffly turned back around so that I could spoon him once again.
His back was almost completely healed now, which was phenomenal. There was no sign of the beating he took yesterday, except for some slight bruising. There was however, some faint scars from years ago.
Wow.
I could only imagine how bad those injuries must have been to scar up on one with such amazing healing capacity.
I gripped him tighter against me as anger filled my mind like a seething flood. No one, and certainly not a second rate Beta, had any right to hurt someone the way Clayton had been hurt.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you again, Clayton. You know that right?”
The Omega nodded his head and settled gently against the pillows, his muscles softening against my hand. We lay there in the quiet for a while as the sun rose and filled the room with yellow light.
The air around us was still, peaceful. And I never wanted to move. Outside this room there was only work, and frustration. Little to eat, and shifters that had been broken to within an inch of their sanity.
In this room, there was peace, and perhaps a burgeoning connection that could one day transition into real love.
I blew out an annoyed breath, resigned to my fate. I pressed my lips to Clayton’s bony back and prepared myself to roll out of bed. I had to. I’d promised Vincent even more power than normal today because of Clayton, so I really needed to get up.
“Gah. Time to move.”
I pulled away from his warmth and grabbed my clothes, amazed at how truly reluctant I was to leave him. I’d known him so short a time, and yet I already craved his nearness. That had never happened before. With anyone.
“Wait, I’ll come with you.”
“No, stay please. Trust me, once you start this life, you’ll never stop. So, enjoy your last day of not working.”
Clayton rolled out of bed shaking his head. “No, please take me with you.”
He grabbed for his shirt and quickly pulled it on over his thin frame. Then he stumbled out of the room, coming back a few moments later with the too-big jeans on his skinny legs.
Determined little thing, isn’t he?
“We’ll have to get you some rope or something to keep those up,” I joked, a memory surfacing. Like a leaf on a pond. My grandfather tying some twine around my waist when I was a little kid. I loved dressing up in his clothes.
I shook my head in frustration, hating my sentimental brain for bringing up painful memories.
Clayton bent over and cuffed the jeans up at his ankles, then rolled the waistband over so that they fit a little better.
Still too big. He looked like a clown, but at least now they won’t fall down when he walks.
“I’m coming with you,” Clayton repeated, meeting my gaze with his own steely determination. His jaw was set in a way I’d barely seen anyone have the strength to exhibit in years. He wasn’t being left behind, and I had no idea why.
“Why are you so determined, Clayton?” I asked.
A misplaced sense of loyalty perhaps? He really owed me nothing. I actually felt like I owed him an apology. I’d roped him in to a debt with the vampires, a life of manual labor.
Clayton bit his lower lip in that adorable way he had and flicked his hair out of his eyes. It really did need to be tamed.
“Because I need to feel useful. To be a part of your pack. Please don’t leave me behind, alone.”
told him.
He fiddled with his over-sized top and eventually settled on tying the T-shirt in a knot at the bottom corner. Then he walked over to me. “Let’s go.”
A smile kicked up my lips as pride blossomed in my chest. At any time, even before the world had turned on its head, I would have been proud to have this man as my mate.
“Alright, but you have to tell me why you’re so determined to come today.”
He sighed. “Well, mostly because I don’t know how my old pack is going to treat me now. They’re not going to be happy that I got Sam killed, and they’re only across the road. They could easily sneak in here when you’re up at the power plant and kill me for vengeance.”
That was a reasonable fear, considering our packs’ rules. An Alpha’s death needed to be avenged. But that man was no Alpha.
“You didn’t get Sam killed, I did. Well, that’s wrong too. He got himself killed. Stupid idiot. He should have controlled his temper better.”
Clayton grabbed my arm and squeezed tight. “Please, Angus, don’t leave me behind. I need to come with you.”
I sighed, my resistance waning. The last thing I wanted to do was take a man who’d been beaten soundly yesterday up to the power station to work. The Omega had no idea how physically hard the work would be for him.
But then again, I’d seen his back myself this morning, and he looked fully restored.
“You’re feeling up to it? You sure?”
Clayton gave me a smile that made my heart twinge. His face was so beautiful when it lit up like that. I’d never really thought much about how attractive he was before. I’d known I was drawn to him, but his skin was as smooth as a peach, and his lips c
alled out for my kiss.
“Okay. Come.”
I tilted my head and he fell in beside me as we walked out of the apartment block and into the warm sunshine. It was too early for any of Clayton’s old pack to be awake, so we made our way up the road to the power station for one of the better days I’d had in a long time.
*
“You worked hard today, well done,” I said to Clayton as we walked back down the hill, covered in grime and grease. He’d gained even more respect from me today, which had been a hard thing to improve on. The small Omega had a gritty type of determination and strength that was at odds with his thin body type and pretty face.
Clayton grinned at me, wiping at a trickle of blood sliding down his arm from where he’d run into one of the broken pipes.
“Thanks. That was actually kinda invigorating. I haven’t been able to use my body like that for so long.”
He arched his back and stretched out his arms to the sides, the thin muscles rippling with strength.
I ran my gaze over his frame. “You’re strong for someone your size.”
He chuckled. “And you’re the strongest man I’ve ever seen. Wow. I mean, the work you did today was incredible.”
A strange warmth flushed into my face and I glanced away. I could lift anything, and I pushed more metal around than three of the Betas put together, but that was expected from me.
“Yeah, well…thanks. But that’s normal for an Alpha. We’re designed to be the biggest and strongest so that we can protect our pack against…well…everyone.”
A strange lump formed in my throat. I swallowed it down, though my esophagus felt like it was full of razor wire. I’d failed in so many ways over the past decade. So many moments when I’d regretting living. Wishing I’d died along with my parents.
Clayton smiled softly, bringing me back to the present. “It must be hard for you then. To bow down for the vampires.”
I nodded, touched by the strong empathy shown by the Omega. No one else had made such an observation. “Harder than you can imagine. In the old world, they stayed away from us. Fed on the humans.”
But so much had changed.
“Yeah, life’s shit now, isn’t it?” Clayton shook his head with a grimace.
I smiled and reached out for him, patting him on the shoulder. I was the happiest I’d been in years. “Not so shitty for me at the moment.”
