by Lisa Oliver
Adding Scott’s reluctance to share the mind meld to the list of things Damien needed to talk to his mate about, Damien focused his attention on the pack once more.
“Listen up,” he said, his voice strong and full of authority. “Firstly I would like to dispel a few rumors that have been floating around the pack this past week. As you can clearly see I’m not sick, I’m not dying and I am definitely not weakened in any way!”
Damien stopped talking for a moment and strode up and down the full length of the stage, allowing all of the men gathered below to see just how good Damien did look. When he returned to the center of the stage he continued, his gaze going out over all of the wolves beneath him.
“Anyone who was perhaps heartened by the news of my apparent demise and decided to challenge me next week on my Alpha challenge day would do well to get their affairs in order. Because of the lack of respect I’ve been given in the past week, any Alpha challenge that comes from a pack member will be to the death. No exceptions!”
Looking out over the crowd, Damien’s eyes picked out a few of the men who he knew had already signed up to challenge him. Cowards all of them, they couldn’t meet Damien’s gaze, and Damien wondered how many of them would decide to withdraw their challenge now they knew Damien was in good health. Either way, Damien didn’t care. He had always ruled his pack with a velvet covered iron fist. He was fair. He loved his pack members, but he would not be disrespected by any of them. There were just too many of them to let any slight bubble of insubordination develop and erupt.
Satisfied his words had sunk in, Damien went on. “There are also rumors concerning my impotence and inability to perform sexually.” For a wolf shifter this was the highest insult. Wolves thrived on sex and food, and to be considered impotent or even lackluster in that department, was another sign of weakness.
Leaning forward over the stage, Damien roared out, “I AM THE MASTER HERE!” His words echoing around the hall. From his position behind Damien, Scott noticed more than one sub fall to his knees in terror, and every wolf in the place was back in submission pose.
“As Master,” Damien continued in a more normal tone, “I will fuck who I want, when I want and for as long as I want. I have always had that right. No one has the right to question when or who I do, or how often. Not my pack members, not my subs. As from this moment, all of my subs are released immediately - both collared and on the waiting list.”
Damien waited for the gasps, moans and a few tears to die down before he continued. “New Masters will be found for those who want one. I will hold a meeting with my subs in my office as soon as I have finished here. No one will question my rights as a Master in my own club. No one.”
Then Damien grinned and it was positively evil. “Now we come to the good part of the meeting.” He reached behind him and pulled Scott forward, holding his hand.
“We don’t get too many new pack members, but today I want you to extend a warm pack welcome to our newest member. Scott Peterson, Beta wolf from the Cloverleah pack. Personal friend of Master Shawn, whom I am sure you all remember, and from this moment forward, this pack’s Alpha Mate and co-owner of this club.”
/~/~/~/~/
Scott watched as a ripple of awareness flowed through the club at Damien’s words. Alpha Mate. Alpha Mate. Alpha Mate? He guessed that nearly all of the pack members were stunned. Damien had explained to him there hadn’t been an Alpha Mate in the pack for more than 150 years. Slowly though, every single wolf got to their knees and bowed their heads. Damien said nothing until every wolf was down. Then he smiled for real this time.
“Thank you. Your respect is noted. Please rise.”
Damien watched as the wolves all got to their feet. “Now, as you know the position of Alpha Mate is an important one for the pack. Scott, as Alpha Mate will be more approachable than I am for many things and it is my hope that he will come to love this pack as much as I do. What is more important though is that Scott is now, without question, the most important person in this pack. With him by my side I am stronger than I ever was, and yet calmer too, which will be good for some of you who work with me closely.”
Damien grinned as he spoke and Scott noticed some of the wolves smiled with him. Apparently rumors of Damien’s temper were true. As Damien continued to speak about the virtues of having an Alpha Mate, Scott allowed his gaze to wander over the wolves below him.
Given that Damien’s pack was one of the biggest in the United States, Scott was not surprised to see more than 150 men listening to his mate speak. He was surprised to see no women or children present, although he knew that about a quarter of the pack were straight men who did have wives and pups. Scott filed away that piece of information for discussion with his mate later. Damien was very old school and it was possible the man was arrogant enough to think that women and children were not important in the pack’s hierarchy.
Scott hadn’t been bought up that way. His home pack was made up of family groups and when a full pack meeting was called, all members of the pack turned up, right down to the smallest child. Of course, it was those same family values that had seen Troy, and then himself, ousted from that same pack. But Scott had been bought up to believe no woman was inferior to a man, even in a wolf pack. Memories of his grandmother, who was a very strong and powerful woman, reminded him of that fact.
Realizing he was woolgathering, Scott tuned back into Damien’s speech in time to hear him ask for questions from the pack.
“Are you going to claim him in front of the pack, Alpha?”
Scott’s blood ran cold and he worked hard to keep his face impassive even as he waited for Damien’s answer. He was damned if their first time together was going to be a straight out fuck in front of the pack. In some of the more traditional packs, Alpha’s did claim their mates at a pack meeting, so all of the pack could be assured of the credibility of the pair’s union. But there was no way Scott wanted to be a part of that type of action. As Scott had already explained to Damien, he had done scenes with Claude in the past, but he had always drawn the line at having sex in front of others. Promiscuous he might have been; an exhibitionist he was not.
“Fuck no,” Damien replied with a jealous growl, his glare sweeping the room. “Let me make this clear to all of you so there is no misunderstanding. Scott is not my submissive. He is the Alpha Mate. My mate. My equal in this pack. He is not going to be paraded naked in front of you lot, just to satisfy your own porn fantasies. Anyone who wants to challenge me on this can take it up with my wolf, who’s a real possessive bastard!”
Relieved to see that Damien’s answer seemed to pacify the crowd, Scott was ready for this meeting to be over. Damien still had the meeting with his subs to go through, and Scott was getting antsy at being so close to his mate and not being able to touch him. He needed skin to skin desperately. As a wolf shifter, Damien was a sexy alluring man. When he was in his power house Alpha mode he was a walking aphrodisiac. Scott moved closer to Damien in the hopes his mate would get the hint.
“Right,” Damien said winking at his mate, as he slid his arm around Scott’s waist, “This meeting is over. I want all of my subs in my office in the next five minutes and then I will be unavailable for the rest of the evening. I don’t want to be disturbed.”
“Alpha Mate,” a voice yelled out from the crowd. “You killed my brother. I demand restitution.”
Scott looked at Damien, his mouth open in shock. Whoever was yelling had to be related to either Levi or Drake, but Scott thought that matter would have been handled during the week Damien had been home. Damien looked for the speaker and then muttered, “Drake’s brother,” to Scott, before turning to face the man who had worked his way to the front of the crowd. Damien was clearly angry with the man’s outburst if the furrowed brow, glaring eyes and set thin lips were any indication.
“We have already discussed this, Phillip. It was a righteous kill,” he said tersely.
“I wanna talk to the Alpha Mate,” Phillip spat out. “How can
he be so concerned with the pack if he killed my brother? Why’d you do it, Alpha Mate,” the man’s sing song voice making the title seem like an insult, “Why did you kill my brother and his friend Levi? ‘Cos they wanted to tap your ass?”
Fuck, thought Scott, this is all I need. Scott’s first instinct was to just walk away, but he remembered what Malacai had told him. If he was going to survive in this pack then he needed to show he was strong enough to stand by the Alpha. So squaring his shoulders he moved towards the edge of the stage and sneered down at Phillip.
“I didn’t kill your brother because he wanted my ass, although I should have done. I killed him because he disrespected my mate. Your brother and Levi turned against Damien and my pack to fight with the bear shifters against us. But you already knew that, didn’t you? So what are you trying to prove here?”
Scott jumped down off of the stage and got right in Phillip’s face. Phillip was taller and bigger than he was, even though he was quite young, but Scott had never let a little thing like size difference stop him in a fight.
“Do you want me to kill you too?” Scott said pouring every ounce of menace he could muster into his voice. “You’re dissing me and that’s disrespecting your Alpha. Do you want me to tear out your intestines and then feed them to you one inch at a fucking time? ‘Cos I will, right now if that’s what you’re looking for! I’ve killed two filthy traitor enforcers, three other wolves, and taken down a bear shifter in the last two weeks. One more fucking traitor won’t make any difference to me.”
Scott could feel Damien and the enforcers lined up on the edge of the stage, but thankfully Damien was letting him handle this on his own. He was determined not to back down from Phillip, because if he did that now he might just as well be dead. Damien’s position would be weakened and it could cost his mate his pack. So he glared at Phillip and waited for the bully to make his move.
Phillip held Scott’s glare for a full minute before he dropped his head to the side in submission.
“I didn’t mean no disrespect, Alpha Mate,” he mumbled. “I just wanted retribution to help my mother.”
His mother? What the fuck? Scott knew he was at a major disadvantage because he knew nothing about Phillip or his family situation. Thinking quickly he said, “Fine, come and see me tomorrow in the office and we’ll talk about it. But one more word of disrespect and you are finished in this pack. Are we clear?”
“Yes, Alpha Mate,” Phillip groveled as he backed away. Scott stayed where he was until Phillip was swallowed up by the crowd, recognizing the instant Damien was at his side. Only then did he allow himself to take a deep breath as he resisted the urge to lean into his mate.
“Do you know how fucking sexy you are right now?” Damien growled in his ear as his arm snaked around Scott’s waist, pulling him close. Half turning, Scott looked into his mate’s eyes and saw nothing but approval and a huge dose of lust.
Unable to help himself Scott grinned. “Only now? After I threaten to disembowel somebody? You are a kinky man. Come on Alpha. Let’s deal with your subs and then you can tell me all about it.” Tucking himself into Damien’s side he let himself be led from the club.
Chapter Thirteen
Damien’s office was like the rest of him - big. A huge desk occupied the back wall and the rest of the carpeted space had chairs dotted around the edges of the room, with others placed strategically to the side of the desk. The desk itself was covered in papers and Damien grimaced as he looked at the mass of stuff that he would have to deal with in the morning. But right now he had to deal with the twenty scantily clad young men, who were all currently kneeling on the carpet, hands behind their backs and heads down. Twelve temporarily collared subs and eight who were on the waiting list.
As Damien led Scott to his desk and sat down, pulling his mate onto his lap, he looked at the boys and couldn’t feel a flicker of interest in them. He recognized that was rather sad. These boys had been devoted to him. Forsaking other Masters, they waited only to serve him in accordance with the roster and his demands, if and when he made them. All of the boys were aged between twenty and twenty four years old. They were all small in build and height, slim and very, very pretty. Twinks every one of them.
Damien ran his hands lovingly up Scott’s sides, stroking and appreciating his mate’s strong build and muscles, loving the feeling of that tight ass nestled against his hard cock. The clear difference between the boys on the floor and the man in his lap was exactly that - Scott was a man who was quickly proving to be the perfect mate. The boys on the floor were orifices to be filled, nothing more.
“You can all get up and sit on the chairs and look this way.” Damien’s voice came out harsher than he had intended and he quickly softened his tone.
“As you now know, I have found my true mate and I will no longer be using your services. I need to know if any of you require me to find a new Master for you, or if perhaps you have ideas of your own about what you want to do now?”
The boys all looked at each other and then one, a dark haired youngster with an elfin face said, “Can we not serve you anyway, Master. You and your mate as well, Sir,” he added quickly, as he caught the scowl that flitted across Scott’s face and disappeared in an instant. Damien was surprised at the request and he looked at Scott, wondering how to reply. Scott grinned at him and then turned to the sub who had spoken.
“Well, you know you’re all very pretty and all, but what kind of services were you hoping to provide for us both? Do you cook, clean, do the laundry?” He asked.
The boy blushed prettily, but shook his head. “No Alpha Mate, we’re not service subs. We provide sexual services only.”
Scott grinned again. “And were you willing to provide these services to my mate and I together, or separately?”
“What ever you wish, Alpha Mate,” a blond from the other side of the room answered.
Turning to Damien who was contemplating the line of Scott’s neck, Scott asked, “Do none of these men understand the concept of true mates?”
“Apparently not,” Damien rumbled. Shaking himself out of his lustful haze, Damien turned to the boys and said firmly, “we won’t be requiring any of your services anymore. True mates are faithful to each other. In fact, they can’t be anything but faithful to each other sexually and that’s the way it should be.”
“You mean you’ll never have sex with anyone else…ever again, Sir?” Another boy asked, the shock clearly reflected on his face.
Damien laughed and after a moment, Scott joined in. “No,” said Scott, “I’m afraid your Alpha is going to be stuck with me from now on. It’s a tough job, but it’s what mates do,” he sighed dramatically.
“So,” said Damien, “Do you want me to assign you Masters, or do you want to remain as house subs and find your own?”
“You’re giving us a choice, Master?” The dark headed boy spoke up again. Damien nodded, frantically trying to remember the boy’s name. As he looked over the group he realized that he didn’t know any of the boys at all - their names, or what they liked or anything else. The boys had probably told him over the time they spent together, but Damien had never bothered to retain the information simply because it wasn’t important to him.
Feeling just a little bit ashamed about the whole situation Damien added quickly, “You’ll always have protection from us, as owners of the club, until you find your own Masters, and you also have the right to refuse anyone that you don’t feel comfortable being with. That right will be supported by the management and staff of the whole club. I will send a memo out about it in the morning.”
Sharing another quick look among themselves, the dark headed boy spoke for them as a group. “We would prefer to be house subs, if that is alright with you, Sir. Some of us haven’t played for some time and would appreciate a bit of variety before settling down with another Master.”
“Great,” said Damien, “that’s all settled. Your collars are temporary, so you can wear them to signify you are under the c
lub’s protection until you find Masters of your own. I do want to thank you for your service, and I am happy for you to use me as a reference for any other Master in the club. You are released and you may go.”
“Thank you, Sir,” the boys chorused as they stood up and filed out of the room, some of them clearly in a hurry to see who might be free in the club below.
Damien waited until the last one had closed the door behind him and then twisted Scott around so that the man was straddling his thighs. He moaned as Scott rocked forward, brushing his own hard length against Damien’s bulge. Scott grinned that cheeky grin of his and did it again. His control snapping, Damien grabbed hold of Scott’s neck and pulled him in, crushing Scott’s lips underneath his own. Scott opened up eagerly beneath him and Damien thrust his tongue into Scott’s mouth, tongue-fucking him as Scott kept up the pressure on his cock. Fuck, Damien thought, I’m going to come in my pants in a minute - he was so close.
Tearing his lips away from Scott’s luscious mouth, Damien growled, “I’ve got to fuck you.”
“Here or…” Scott started to say when a knock at the door interrupted them.
“Oh for fucks sake,” Damien growled as Scott giggled. His mate actually giggled. He gripped his arms around Scott as the man tried to move off his lap and yelled out, “come in.”
The door opened and Madison came running in and prostrated himself on the ground in front of the desk, his head on the floor and his bum in the air. Damien was furious. This was the second time his personal assistant had stopped him from having his mate in a matter of hours. It was getting beyond a joke.
“What do you want, Madison?” He snarled, “And make it quick.”
