by Susi Hawke
I shrugged, and answered stoically: “Well, my mother died in an accident when I was a toddler. I was told that I ran out into the street, chasing my ball. When she ran after me, she got hit by a car and died instantly.” I looked away, fighting back the tears that always seemed to hit me when I thought of my mother's senseless death.
I sensed my mate where he was sitting with Jenny at the long, wooden table behind us. They were both listening to my story, but obviously trying to be unobtrusive. I appreciated the gesture, but I don't mind them being here. My life is an open book, especially to my mate.
“And your father? When did he pass?” Aunt Cat asked me so sweetly, it nearly broke my heart to have to tell her the truth.
“Um, my dad isn't dead. He just hates me.”
“Oh, honey! That can't be true! Does he even know you were rescued? I bet he's frantically looking for you! Do you want to call him?”
“No!” I said quickly, as a wave of fear washed over me. “My dad is the last person I would contact, since he is the one who sold me to Alpha Fremont.”
“What did you say?” Aunt Cat sat up straight, staring at me horrified shock as she sniffed me discretely, immediately able to tell that it is the truth that I speak. “But, I don't understand! Is something wrong with him? Is he insane?”
“No, ma'am.” I said sadly, but honestly. “My dad blames me for his mate dying too soon. He pretty much stays drunk if he's not at work at the town factory. And when he's home, he was always abusive and hard to please. It was almost easier for me, being sold to the Alpha. Especially since I got rescued before I could be hurt by him, you know?”
At that point, I realized that Jake had gotten up and walked over to stand behind me. He put his arms around me, hugging me against his solid chest and resting his chin on my shoulder. I felt his calming alpha waves flooding over me, and could feel myself already relaxing under his spell.
“Kai,” Jake said evenly. “I know almost all the men at that factory, and I know a few of the perpetually drunk Alphas. I'm gonna need a name, baby. Because he's going to answer to me for treating you like that.”
I shook my head vehemently and said: “No, Jake. I don't want you to hurt him. He hurts himself enough with his drinking. He can die alone and miserable. I'm just happy to be free.”
Jake wanted to argue, I could tell, but he tabled it for now, as his aunt shot him a look and said to me: “You're a good boy, Kai. I know your mother would be proud of the man you are now.”
I smiled, and patted her hand, already falling in love with this adorable little shifter lady with the kind eyes. Jake just stood there, quietly holding me. I'm not sure if he's comforting me or himself right now, but it felt good to be held in his massive arms. I rested my head back against his shoulder, smiling as I heard him make a grunt of approval.
Jenny walked past us, heading back toward the living room and saying: “When you guys are done with your little love-fest, maybe you can let Kai fix us all some dinner? He's not lying about his mad cooking skills. Aries is pretty good in the kitchen too, just saying.”
“Please,” I scoffed indignantly. “Aries wishes he could cook like me.” She giggled and walked away, leaving me there to playfully pout.
“Well, she has a point,” Aunt Cat said, turning to get up from her stool. “I should at least serve you kids dinner on your first night, especially after all that traveling you just did.”
“Oh, no!” I said earnestly, pulling out of Jake's comforting embrace. “I really do love to cook, and it always makes me happy. Please let me at least help, if you won't let me do it alone.”
She laughed, and gave me a sneaky little wink as she slid off her stool and headed for the doorway. Looking back over her shoulder, she gave me a sassy smirk and said: “Far be it from me to keep a cook from a kitchen, love! I'm going to go take a nice nap and leave you to it. Call me if you need me?”
I smiled indulgently and said: “You're sneaky! I knew I liked you!”
She walked away laughing and I started to get down to go inspect the food supplies, but Jake held me fast on the stool. He murmured softly in my ear: “Just a moment, little one. I need to hold you a bit longer. My wolf didn't like hearing about your past. It hurts us to know the pain that you've dealt with, Kai.”
I turned on the stool, so that I could face him. He stepped back, allowing me to move, then came closer again, settling between my legs with his hands resting on my hips, as he looked down into my eyes with raw adoration.
Wow, if this is what having a mate feels like, I am really going to love it, I thought to myself as I looked right back at him with an equal amount of adoration. It's amazing, it's been less than an hour since I realized that this dude is my mate, and I already want to glue myself to his side and never let go.
I should be scared of how fast I'm falling, but this is how I've heard it is when you mean your fated mate. A true mate, one fated for you, is supposedly the other half of your soul. To have found him is a gift that not every wolf is fortunate enough to find in this lifetime.
“I really should get up and figure out our meal, Jake. As much as I love being here with you, I think we should probably feed the pack tonight at some point, yes?”
“Yes,” he agreed with soft smile. “And, I should probably see about our sleeping quarters and plan a pack meeting for tonight or tomorrow. But, first, I need a kiss from my mate.”
“Tell you what,” I said a little shyly, as I lifted a hand and rested my soft fingertips against his firm lips, “you should definitely plan the pack meeting for tomorrow, because I think we need tonight for each other.”
Smiling gently and kissing my fingertips before I pulled them down, Jake said: “That's an excellent idea, Kai.”
Then, the most amazing thing to ever happen in the history of the freaking world happened to me. Jake leaned over and brushed his lips against mine softly, before pressing down firmer and kissing me for the first time.
At first, I sat there stunned by the electric buzz that came over me when he touched his lips to mine, but once I adjusted, I kissed him right back. I opened my lips to breath him in, and he pushed his tongue right into my mouth. He licked my tongue, and then playfully swirled his tongue around my mouth.
I felt my cock hardening in my pants, as I began to get aroused by our kiss. Jake growled in his throat, and I could almost taste his answering arousal, the scent of his excitement was so strong. He leaned closer, grinding his groin against mine.
I gasped in surprised pleasure, as I felt the thick, hard evidence of my Alpha's arousal press up against me. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tighter against his body, rubbing our cocks together through our clothes and kissing me deeper.
“Holy sweet, son of Fenris!” I exclaimed nervously, as I pulled back and looked up at him with dazed eyes. “Jake, I'm pretty sure that was more than a kiss, and we probably don't want to do any more in the kitchen, you know?”
He chuckled at me, and stole one more quick kiss before letting me down and slowly walking out of the kitchen. I stood up on shaky legs, and went to plan a meal for dinner, my mind fixed solely on that gorgeous Alpha of mine.
Chapter 5
Jake
I somehow found the strength to leave my little Omega puttering around the kitchen, while I went to find Daniel. He was sitting by the large, open-faced fireplace with Owen and Jenny. They were laughing about some story one of them had told, but quickly gave me their attention when I sat down to join them.
“Aww, come on, you guys.” I groaned at them, “is this how it's gonna be from now on? I'm suddenly the Big, Bad Alpha and nobody can be chill if I'm around? Seriously?”
Daniel shot me a knowing grin, since he well knew that I hadn't ever had goals of starting a pack of my own. He and I had spent many long nights of guard duty talking about things like this, and what we would do in such a scenario. By the love of Fenris, I honestly never expected it to happen to me.
This whole thing just kinda fell i
nto my lap, and with the addition of the group of stolen omega's, our pack size had just doubled. I know that I'm alpha enough for the job, I'm just worried about handling the personal issues that will sure as hell be cropping up with time.
I smiled to myself then, as I realized that I have a mate now. It will be the first-mate's job to help with the emotional and spiritual needs of the pack, so maybe this will be smoother than I'd been thinking.
“What are you smiling about over there, big brother?” Jenny asked me with a giggle. “Are you daydreaming about your sexy little mate in there?”
Owen grinned and said: “Yeah, Jake. Tell us all about your sexy little mate! How come you've been holding out on us, man?”
I growled at them referring to my mate as sexy, and they just laughed harder until Daniel held up a hand and sternly said: “Enough! Don't write checks that your ass can't cash, Owen. You know that Jake will beat the living shit out of you if you talk about his mate like that. Jenny can get away with it, because she's a girl and his sister, but you? Well, you might want to tread softly, buddy.”
I grumbled in agreement with what Daniel said, but told Owen: “It's okay this time, man. You didn't mean anything, I get that. But, maybe wait until I've claimed him and things settle down before you piss off my wolf? That bastard has no sense of humor, you know?”
Owen grinned at me and said: “Naw, man. It's cool. Daniel's right. It's too soon to yank your chain.” He stood up and wiggled his eyebrows at me before saying: “I'll let Kai be the one to yank your chain now!” With that, the cheeky bastard walked away with Jenny in tow.
Daniel watched them leave with an amused smirk. He turned to me after a few minutes and said: “Do you think Jenny is okay? I sense a sadness in her, but I haven't wanted to press just yet. Not that it's my place, anyway. I just worry about her.”
I looked at him with interest and asked: “Daniel, are you asking that as a friend, or is there something I should know about? Or, should I ask Owen that?”
He blanched and quickly said: “Sweet Fenris, no! She's like my sister, you know? Owen feels the same way that I do. Plus, both of us are drawn towards the male omegas, not females, so she definitely doesn't check either of our boxes anyway, no offense.”
“None taken,” I say with a sigh of relief. “I wouldn't have minded if one of you were her mate, if it was fated. I just couldn't handle the thought of my sister merely fooling around with one of my friends, you know?”
“Well, then. Glad we got that settled,” Daniel said with a smirk. “Now, I feel like you came over here for a reason, and it wasn't to hear what kind of hole I like to fuck, so let's change topics.”
I laughed at his words, and got down to business. “First of all, I want to make you a Captain, and give you the status of second in command in case I'm not around. Then, I want to ask you to help me decide who our third in command will be. I'm torn. I wanted to ask Owen, because I've know him longest, but I feel like I should ask Seth because he's our former Alpha's oldest nephew and that will link us as a pack, and not show favoritism at the same time. See why I'm torn? What do you think?”
Daniel reached over and shook my hand saying: “Let me just say first that I accept the position of second, and that I am proud that you thought of me. As for third? I agree with you, so why don't I talk to Seth for you and sound him out before we make a firm decision?”
Just like that, I had a partner to help me with the political bullshit that comes with running a pack, and I felt good about the decision. It was honestly a weight off my shoulders, especially with the distraction of having found my mate. We spent the next hour discussing goals for the pack, and making a list of the immediate needs. After we scheduled a pack meeting to be held the following morning, I wisely delegated the job of finding bedrooms for everybody to Daniel.
This is a twelve bedroom lodge, and there are six additional cabins on the property, so finding beds won't be an issue. It's just a matter of assigning them and making sure that the correct luggage got delivered to the correct rooms. I suggested he get the other alpha's to help him, but made sure to let him know that the first cabin is off limits. We will probably want to pick a bedroom here in the lodge at some point, but the immediate future, I wanted complete privacy for the claiming of MY Omega.
After I finished with Daniel, I went off to find Aunt Cat. I found her upstairs in her private office, working on a manuscript for one of the erotic novellas she likes to write and actually publishes under a secret name.
“What's shaking, Auntie?” I asked as I slipped into the tufted pink, high back chair that sat right inside her office door.
She looked over at me from her desk, her glasses resting on the tip of her nose as she peered over them. “Well, I had a couple of hot asses shaking a few pages ago, but now I'm busy writing some damn dialogue.”
“Stupid dialogue,” I agreed with a grin. “Who needs to have conversation when they could just read about all the ways that your characters like to screw each other, right?”
Aunt Cat nodded her head vehemently saying: “That's exactly my point, Jake! But, without a little dialogue, it's impossible to please the reviewers! So, here I am, making them talk instead of dancing the horizontal rumba.”
Choking back a laugh, I soberly nodded instead. “Well, I hope I'm not butting in on your writing time. I just wanted to come talk to you for a minute.”
Taking off her glasses, Aunt Cat closed her laptop and laid them down next to it. Raising her arms above her head, she stretched backwards until I heard her spine crack.
“That's better!” Aunt Cat said cheerfully, as she sat back up and swiveled her chair to face me. “What's going on, my boy? And more importantly, let's talk about that sweet little pumpkin, Kai!”
Shaking my head, I answer: “I just wanted to talk to you, because we hadn't agreed on me bringing so many people here with me.” I sighed, and looked out through the window that was directly across from me. “I didn't plan this pack, it just kinda happened, and now I have the responsibility of being a good Alpha to these people, you know? I don't want you to feel like you're stuck with us though. I can look for other lodgings, you know.”
“You'll do no such thing,” she said to me sternly. “Jake, my love. I know you didn't expect to be leading your own pack, especially when you're still so young. Shoot, at twenty-six, I was still trying to figure out which end of the anal beads went in first! I never could have handled the responsibilities you face.”
I gulped, and tried not to let THAT image into my brain as she went on: “Honey, I hardly ever rent out these cabins anymore anyway. I'd rather be free to let my wolf run in the moonlight and not have to worry about some tourist trying to shoot me! It's been lonely up here since your uncle passed away, and having a young pack full of good looking men is just the thing I need to make me feel alive again and really get my juices flowing!”
I cringed and said, “Aunt Cat, can we please not talk about your juices? I'm trying to have a serious conversation here.”
She laughed gleefully and said: “Well, aren't we a little gutter-minded boy! I meant my CREATIVE juices, dear. Meeting all those kids down there has given me a whole load of fresh story ideas!”
A laugh escaped me, as I looked up at the ceiling, praying to Fenris above for patience to deal with this wonderfully, exasperating aunt of mine. “And we won't be stepping on any other pack's toes in the area, if we settle here?” I ask her, once I calmed down.
“Oh, no! The closest pack is fifty miles east of here, and that's a den of bears. Nice, burly fellows who tend to keep to themselves. The closest wolves are a hundred miles or so to the west. Your uncle and I settled here because we didn't want to deal with pack politics, we just wanted to be free to love each other without judgment, you know?”
My uncle had been a Jaguar shifter, and interspecies matings weren't accepted by the majority of the packs, prides, dens or covens. There was a strong feeling of keeping to your own kind that was unfortunately quite preva
lent in our world. I'd always adored my Uncle Julio though. He was a magnificent man, who had treated my aunt like a queen. It was a sad day, when we had lost him a few years ago.
“Okay,” she interrupted my thoughts and continued talking. “I don't want you to get your panties twisted, mister, because you should probably know that your uncle and I named you the heir in our will, many moons ago. This will all be yours someday anyway, so why not just move in and enjoy it now? Besides, I will enjoy being part of a pack again.”
She stopped and looked at me hesitantly, “That is, if you don't mind a senior citizen joining your fresh, young pack?”
I jumped up and went over and knelt down at her feet, where I gently hugged her and said: “Aunt Cat, it will be an honor to have you in our pack.”
She pulled back and framed my face with her palms, as she beamed at me with her little pixie face aglow with joy. “Just make me one promise, my young Alpha.”
“Anything for you, Auntie.”
“Promise me that if any shifter in your pack finds a mate from another species, that you will welcome them and any off-spring they may have into our pack. That's my only request.”
I looked at her, as tears filled both of our eyes and solemnly replied: “You don't even have to ask me that, Auntie. That's a given. Any honest shifter will be welcomed here, no matter what their animal form may be. I will make sure it's printed in the by-laws too, so that when my time comes and a new Alpha steps in, the rule will be set in stone.”
She leaned in and kissed first one cheek, then the other, before placing a final peck on my forehead. “Then count me, dear.”
The sweet moment we shared was destroyed a second later when I happened to glance at the shelf behind her desk, and made the mistake of asking what the small banana shaped, wire contraption with the locking mechanism was that I saw sitting there.
Then she gleefully started explaining to me just what a cock cage was, and how it had been needed for research for her last book. When she offered to loan it to me to try with my mate, that was when I hit my limit. I jumped up and ran off like a young pup. With my fingers in my ears, I chanted “La-la-la...I can't hear you!” as I ran away from the scary lady as fast as I could go.
