by J. K. Jones
Several heads turn at that.
Wolves had an exceptional hearing and if Fermin didn’t reign it in quickly, they might have problems.
“Oh?” Ryu responds.
“Yes,” Fermin inches towards him, nearly crowding him against the counter. The Silvercrest regiment uniform makes his shoulders look bigger, massive even, under all the combat gear. Even though he’s taken most of it off, the long sleeve black shirt stretches across his chest. Like all the other wolves he stands nearly six feet. “You aren’t like the other Omegas…. you’re strong…you can fight….” Fermin’s eyes flicker down to his lips. You can fuck.
Ryu flushes deeply and then swallows. “You shouldn’t be watching me.”
The air thins around them.
Ryu shivers, stomach beginning to cramp and thoughts turning fuzzy. What the hell is going on? It can’t be his heat, he had it last week. Something is very wrong.
Ryu glances away, just in time to see Micah charging towards them.
-
“What the fuck?” Ryu screams.
Micah picks him up and throws him over his shoulder. It’s humiliating and his face burns in anger as the rest of the wolves cheer loudly, as Micah drags him kicking and screaming up with stairs.
Ryu howls, kicking, biting, and scratching anywhere he can reach. Micah is like a mountain; doesn’t move or even register he is being hit. He dumps Ryu on the bed and then quickly locks the door.
“What the hell is your problem!?”
Micah whips towards him, eyes bleeding a yellowish-gold. “Something is wrong!”
Ryu flinches back, the timber of the Alphas voice making him shudder.
“Don’t you smell it? Can’t you feel it?” Micah demands harshly. He’s wearing a tight grey shirt, along with his combat grey camo pants. His curly hair is wild, falling into his eyes and resting on his forehead. “The house stinks of it. You’re making everyone crazy.”
“Stinks of what?” Ryu demands, panting.
“Of freesia,” Micah growls.
Ryu scents the air, finally noticing how his scent nearly saturates the room. “Shit.” He doesn’t understand. He already had his heat. “What’s going on?”
“The Shrine. What did you touch?”
The Shrine? Ryu’s thoughts race. Fuck. The flower. He touched the flower. Ryu remembers running his fingers across the beautiful petals, marveling their softness.
“Goddamn, I touched it. The flower. Echinacea.” Ryu whispers, face nearly bloodless. Vuneas, Goddess of the Sky, often loves to play tricks on mortals, she would infuse her essence in certain flowers to intoxicate wolves and bring on their ruts or heats. It wouldn’t last long, usually 24hours and by then the person would be cured. However, Ryu is in a house full of Alphas, Betas, and Deltas. If he were to go into a full-blown heat that may trigger the other wolves’ ruts.
That explained Fermin’s strange behavior.
Micah barricades the door, tipping over the bedframe and propping it up, then moves the dressers against the window and the bathroom.
“Micah what—” Ryu’s stomach cramps, it twists so hard it feels like agony. He curls inward, a spike of passion rips through him. “Ahhh!”
“Don’t fight it,” Micah barks, pushing Ryu down onto the mattress he left on the floor. “Let it come. I’ll take care of you.”
“No!” Ryu’s pupils shrink, eyes widening in terror. Micah taking care of him is the last thing that he wants.
“We have no choice,” Micah snarls, eyes flashing yellow.
Ryu can see it, the tension in his jaw, the strain on his muscles, and his canines protruding.
Micah is in a rut.
God help him! Ryu spirals, sweat dripping down his brow as he struggles to maintain composure. They had to fuck or else all the Alphas downstairs would go mad and probably try to break down the door.
“You—” No. This can’t happen. Not after all the years he’s spent avoiding Micah and certainly not after everything they’ve been through. He hated Micah. Right down to the marrow of his bones. Another wave assaults him and Ryu nearly doubles over in anguish. Slick runs down his thigh and tears prick his eyes. Fuck—he doesn’t have a choice.
“This means nothing,” Ryu grabs Micah and kisses him savagely.
Chapter 36
Ryu grunts, thrusting his hips.
Micah grabs him roughly, hand clasps around his neck, forcing him back down. Ryu whines, feeling like he might die from the flames in his core.
Micah slips off his shirt, exposing his powerful chest, his skin a deep mocha, and his eyes blazing black pits. Micah opens his vest, exposing two pretty pink protruding nipples.
He takes one into his mouth, flicking his tongue dangerously, sucking and biting as if he were a man dying of thirst.
Ryu jolts in pleasure, his cock leaking and untouched in his leather pants.
“Fuck!” Micah abuses the nipple, until it’s blistering red, before moving on to the next. “S-stop!” It’s too much, Micah licking and flicking the precious bud so violently it makes him tremble. Micah pulls away, after spending nearly twenty minutes lavishing each nipple with his mouth and teeth.
Micah yanks him forward, pulling off his pants and underwear in one hefty drag.
“Wait—” He’s not prepared. What’s going to happen afterward? What did it all mean? He didn’t want a relationship with Micah. This was just sex. Nothing more and nothing less. Yet, Ryu can tell the way his body was responding and the Māku sending sparks of desire through him that this meant more.
Micah cradles his face, drawing him back into a slow meaningful kiss. “I won’t do anything without your consent.”
Too late for that. Ryu wants to howl, but there isn’t anything they can do. He grits his teeth, his heart slams against his ribcage. It’s too familiar. These hands, these lips that he spent years memorizing. For half of his life, he lived for nothing else, nothing except Micah.
Ryu feels a pull, it shatters his control and makes him quiver.
“Anything,” Micah whispers. “I would do anything for you. I would do anything for you to forgive me.”
Ryu’s lip trembles. Never. He would never forgive Micah. Not now and not in a million years. Yet, his heart yearns for it. That part he closed off, promising himself he would never reopen those past wounds, the ones that left the deepest scars.
“No more talking.” He’s done talking. “Fuck me.”
Micah pulls back, eyes searching before he nods and plows forward. Ryu cries out as Micah spreads his legs open, grabbing both his ankles and holding them as far apart as possible.
“What are you doing—” Ryu is horrified and humiliated.
This position—he hasn’t been in this position in years. Not since their younger days and they were both bursting with hormones and pheromones.
He’s on full display, legs spread impossibly wide, hole pulsing, clenching, and releasing copious slick. Micah takes it all in greedily, the sweat on his chest and brow. Clouded by the desire to take and ravage, Micah opens his pants, his cock springs free, swollen and angry, the mushroom tips large and imposing.
Ryu is breathless, mouth ajar with wonder and lust.
Micah fucks into him ruthlessly, grabbing the base of his cock and mercilessly shoving to the hilt.
Ryu cries out, caught off guard by the sharp pain, a blistering pain of being ripped open, forcing Ryu to buck away. No amount of slick could prepare him for that. Panic arose in Ryu. Heart beating out of his chest. He never expected Micah to do something as shameless as this.
Micah lifts his frail hips, angling himself deeper than ever before. He pulls out, before thrusting to the hilt back in. Flesh slapping against flesh is the only sound echoing through the room. Micah buries himself, harder and faster with each drag of his hips.
Ryu whimpers, sobs, and whines when he feels the heat building up his insides. Micah is brutal—like a beast, sending waves of electricity coursing from his ass straight through his cock where he pu
mps faster and faster.
"Micah—" Ryu strangled out. "—I'm coming, I'm—Ah!"
His eyes roll, back arches off the bed and he comes in ropes and ropes of never-ending bliss. Color bursts across his vision, the Māku tingles as he chokes on a scream.
Micah fucks him through it, fast and furious, overstimulated.
Ryu shudders, body slick with sweat and come, already starting to harden again. Micah is relentless, he takes and takes and takes, his hips springing forward as if he were half-possessed.
Ryu sobs as he releases again, cock twitching wildly and face flushing a deep red. And Micah doesn’t stop, instead, he latches his mouth onto his pale skin sucking a bruise and biting down callously.
Ryu is brought to the brink of ecstasy.
Micah tugs his hair without warning, fisting it before attacking his neck properly and leaving a vicious bite that is deep enough to draw blood.
“Alpha—” Ryu cries, water and saliva running down his chin. He knows he must look debauched, but it’s his heart that is pulsing like mad in his chest.
Oh no.
Micah can’t hold back anymore, he spreads Ryu’s legs wide forcing himself deeper and deeper, chasing the skyline until he comes—hips crashing forward and come flooding his insides with loads of creamy white nectar.
Out of his mind and completely spent, Micah collapses. His knot swelling to an impossible length, stretching out his hole. Ryu trembles and comes again, this time to the knot pressing against his pleasure spot.
"Ryu," he cooed softly, peppering kisses against his eyes. "Ryu, I love you."
Something inside him cracks.
Ryu turns his face away, tears trailing down his cheek. His arms and legs are practically useless, pain radiates from every fiber of his core. His stomach drops and he pulls away from Micah completely. This wasn’t supposed to mean anything. In the years Ryu has been away, he’s made his mission to forget the past. To act as if it didn’t exist. Ryu Suzuki lived in the Outlands, he’s an exile, outlawed, destined to live the rest of his life abandoned and alone.
Ryu from the Silvercrest Howler’s didn’t exist anymore. That part of his life died after they tortured him and left him for dead. It died when Micah turned his back on him.
Ryu is done with them—the clan, his Alpha—everything. After they save Amaya, they would cut ties and go their separate ways. Love meant nothing.
So what if he felt the same? So what if his heart leaped whenever Micah is nearby? It doesn’t matter. It never mattered—not then and not now. Ryu couldn’t live with the Silvercrest Howlers and Micah couldn’t live without them.
“Micah—”
“Don’t say it. Please.” Micah responded sternly, pulling Ryu back into his arms. They lie down together, the knot still twitching and pulsing inside of him. “I can fix it. I can make things right. You have to trust me. I know I have a long way to go. I will win you over. I won’t give up. Everything I’ve done, I will make up for. I don’t expect an answer now, but I just wanted you to know. I will always love you. No matter what.”
Micah kisses him gently, cradling his face as if he is the most precious thing he has. To some degree, he probably is. Micah has no family, after his father died, he was left alone to lead the pack.
Ryu allows it, losing himself in the familiar taste and feel of his Alpha in his arms again. It cripples his soul, makes him wish for more, and that in itself is dangerous.
Because he can’t have more.
If he can only have one night, then that is enough.
It’ll have to be.
Chapter 37
Ryu awakes to a steady pitter of rain. It patters against the windowsill; the noise is soothing as droplets scatter like rays of sunshine. Ryu breathes deeply, his limbs deliciously sore and aching, his ass feels like it’s on fire from the abuse it took all night. They made love constantly. As if Micah had never touched a soul in the years, they’ve been apart.
Ryu drifts aimlessly as he struggles to find a purchase. What the hell is he doing? They were here to try to find a cure for Amaya, not fuck each other silly. The Māku tingles again and Ryu cannot stop himself from becoming hopeful. Yet, the darkest part of him wants to leave and never come back. Micah betrayed him. Could he go through it again? The last time it nearly destroyed him.
Ryu runs a hand through his hair, wincing when it gets tangled at the ends. Micah is fast asleep, face smooth and eyes cut like felines. He touches his face; his fingers even out his brows and thin lips. Micah is striking in the morning light.
His nose is long and straight, lips thin and lined, and his skin is so flawless and decadent, like creamy toffee.
Micah is a good Alpha—righteous and fair. That was part of the reason why it never worked out between them. He always wanted to do what was right—not necessarily what was just. Those things were interchangeable when they were at war. Ryu finds that he doesn’t want to fight about it. No sense in arguing over things long since passed.
All they could do was move forward.
Last night had been amazing, however, Ryu knew he could never repeat it. And so, he got up from the bed, feet wobbly as he walked towards the bathroom. He takes a long hot shower, relishing in the water cleaning his skin. When he steps out, he examines himself in the mirror, noticing the bruises heavy on his neck and lips nearly chewed raw.
Ryu steels his nerves and hurries to get dressed.
By the time he comes out of the bathroom, Micah is already waiting for him. He sits up in bed, naked and stunning, bronze skin gleaming in the light. “Morning.”
Ryu flushes. “Morning.”
Micah stands up, letting the blanket from the bed fall. “I—”
“We should—”
They both laugh, letting the awkwardness settle between them. “I would like to say—I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have been so rough.”
“No—please,” Ryu says. “I like it rough. You know that.”
“I didn’t want to assume,” Micah looks down. “I know we have a lot to talk about, but I meant everything I said. I don’t want any more misunderstandings between us.”
“Me either,” Ryu blurts out. “Micah we shouldn’t—we can’t—”
“For right now,” Micah cuts him off and cups his face. “I love you. Trust me. The rest we can work out later.”
Ryu’s breath hitches and Micah draws him into a sweet kiss. It’s light and airy, delicate and sensual before he pulls away. “Yes, Alpha.”
Micah grins, his hands move down towards his narrow waist. “If you call me that again, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
Ryu chuckles, eyes darkening. “Yes….” He blushes. “Alpha.”
Micah groans capture his lips again.
This time, they make love slow and sweet, arduous, and blissful. Ryu allows himself these few moments of pleasure, knowing full well that it won’t last. He will leave once this is over. Micah will forget him and forget everything that they had. Ryu succumbs to him, pliant and wanton, shuddering in his release.
Fucking his Alpha was one thing—but loving him is something else entirely.
-
They emerge downstairs together.
Both of them looked battle-worn but well-rested. The other wolves don’t comment on it, however, Ryu does catch a few of them slapping Micah on the back and shaking his hand. He rolls his eyes at that and they set off on their destination.
They trudge through the Outlands is familiar.
Ryu knows this area well and can’t help but feel a sense of darkness surrounding them. They have several more miles to go before they reach mount Horai in a few days. By then, they would be able to sort things out and have the Master of the Moon grant them their wish.
He walks slowly behind Micah, the landscape changes again once they leave the Outlands. The trees thicken, the forest is rich with earthen hues of browns and greens, the sweetness of pines and saporous trees. The forest absorbs the sunlight, the leaves flitter about, arrays o
f the white and blue shower the floor, it’s so beautiful.
Ryu feels like he’s in wonderland.
“You look well.” Trmon walks beside him, heavily armed with his combat gear and AK-47. “I haven’t seen him smile like that in years.” He gestures towards Micah, who speaks animatedly to Deryn.
Ryu nods but doesn’t respond, thankful for the tranquility of the forest.
“I know you have your reservations,” Trmon continues. “But Micah never stopped looking for you.”
Ryu frowns, perplexed. “What do you mean?”
Trmon doesn’t respond right away, he takes his time before he says. “When the council threw you in the icy lake, for treason.”
Ryu remembers it like it was yesterday.
They wrapped an iron chain around his waist, right after they flayed the skin from his back and tossed him into the icy lake hoping he would sink to the bottom and drown.
Much to their horror and disbelief, he didn’t.
Someone—somehow saved him. Ryu never saw the person’s face; he just remembers their kind voice. They left him alone in a cabin in the woods with enough provisions to last a few months. However, things became dire when he ran out and he had to search for food. That led him to be captured by the Midnight Nightstalkers and thrown into the wolf pit.
“Micah kept searching and searching for you. He did not rest. It was when the Filthy Claws breached the border that he had to go back.”
