by Sam Hall
“Stop it. All this dominant shit is turning me on.” Jack was smirking, but we could all see the evidence that what he said was true. He forced his eyes away from his mate and then said, “Don’t think this means you’re the top now. I’m all for equal opportunity arse fucking.”
“Fucking Jack,” Slade said with a shake of his head, then steered me towards the fire.
“Fucking Jack, indeed,” Hawk said, with quite a different inflection.
“Congratulations,” Aaron said, getting up from the log he’d been sitting on by the fire. For a moment, he just sat with that, a warmth radiating from his eyes as he regarded the two men. He seemed to bring himself back to being the commanding officer with some effort. “I’ve gotta be honest, I’d hoped this would happen. If we’re going to get through this, I need to know what we’re dealing with, and a cohesive team makes it that much easier.” His eyes flicked to me. “Not saying people should be forcing bonds or anything, just if it’s on the table, here’s probably the safest place to resolve them.”
“Those that should be bonded, should do so before we reach Leifgart.” I felt everyone but Aaron stiffen at the appearance of Sylvan. “There is a power to your bonds that others don’t have. Strengthening them consolidates your position.”
“Something you and I need to have a conversation about later,” Aaron said with a quirk of his eyebrow. “From what I’ve been able to glean, seers don’t share a lot of intel for fear of changing the outcome. That shit needs to stop. I…we need as much information as we can to get through this. We’re in a whole other dimension. Initial reports from the scouts say there’s plenty of wildlife here that poses a potential threat, and at least some of the sentients appear to be allied with the hostiles.”
“I’ll do my best,” Sylvan said, though I’m not sure if any of us were convinced. Sylvan always looked like the cat that got the cream, so I didn’t think I’d know his sincere expression, even if he was.
Aaron nodded but didn’t look pleased. “Jack and Hawk, both of you can use guns competently, so you’ll be in the back of one of the tactical vehicles. Don’t go taking potshots, I have no idea how much ammunition has been stored in the caches. Take your directions from the guys I put with you.” He turned to Slade and me. “Slade, you’ll be on bodyguard duty. You can shoot, fight, and you’re the one I’m the most confident can look after Jules.”
“What about Finn?” he replied.
“Yes, what about Finn?” the man himself said, arriving at the fire site and standing there, looking pissed off. “You’re resisting pushing forward with the mission, and now you’re taking me away from Jules?”
Finn had maintained his optimistic façade until it looked like we’d be staying at the mining camp for a few days. The soldiers needed to secure the gate as best they could. It wasn’t just the Volken who liked to try to get through. Aaron was also cautious, not wanting to rush in, something I think Finn had been banking on. With every day we delayed, his mood got worse.
“No one’s taking you anywhere,” Aaron said with a shake of his head.
“Then why? Answer me that.”
“Which part?” Aaron said with a shrug. “The moving forward part, or the Jules part? Or the part where you’re torn up with anger and guilt and wanting to rush in where angels fear to tread to try and absolve that?” I blinked, staring at Aaron for a moment. There were whole other sides to the guys, that I knew. It’d taken me ages to see into Jack, and I’d never suspected Brandon even had a secret, let alone what it was, so I guess seeing another side to Aaron wasn’t unexpected.
“It occurs to me that observing your command is pretty much a courtesy,” Finn said, that alpha whip creeping into his voice. We all sat up straighter, and the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up. “I could take control of this mission and damn the bloody detours and delays.”
“But you won’t.” Aaron didn’t move in or face-off against Finn, just stayed exactly how he was. “Not if you want to get those men out. Not if you want Jules to return to Sanctuary. You think I haven’t seen a man on a suicide mission before? Willing to throw themselves into the fray, sacrifice everything to make amends? This is not some fucking heroic mission that a bit of pluck and clear heart will get you through. This is a whole society of warriors, intent on wiping our people out. Even with modern weapons, if we’re not careful, we’re fucked. You wanna pull the alpha shit and take over? Well, I can’t stop you, but if you want to actually achieve your objectives, you’ll listen to me and my guys.”
Finn’s eyes had taken on a green cast throughout the whole conversation, but Aaron did not look away until finally, the other man’s shoulders relaxed. He let out a long sigh, then rubbed at his face.
“You’re hurting, and you want to do something about it. I get it. Go and burn some of that self-flagellating energy by practising digging us some latrines. Without a safe place to shit, things will devolve pretty quickly.”
Finn just nodded and turned on his heel and left.
Something needed to be done about that. While I’d managed to give him a reprieve from the waves of self-loathing, Finn wasn’t out of the woods yet. Going through the gate and setting up camp in the mine site had just re-started the spiral. I went to get to my feet, but Slade tugged me back down.
“Give him some space,” he said. “Aaron’s advice is a good one. We don’t even need latrines here, with the staff toilets, but there’s something to be said for just letting it all out in manual labour. He’s just gonna have to process this, and you being a spectator to his shame isn’t going to help.”
“But—”
“Slade’s right, Jules,” Aaron said. “He did send those blokes through here. They are getting treated like shit. He knows you love him and want him to be happy, but he’s trying to live with the unliveable. You try and get in close right now, you’re likely to be collateral damage, and then he’ll be even more ashamed. Anyway, we’ve got bigger problems to sort out here.”
“I assume that means me.”
Brandon walked in and hesitated for a moment, scanning the group before sitting down on an empty log. He didn’t look happy, his fingers going white.
I felt it, that same tugging sensation that made me want to chase after Finn urged me to get up and take my mate’s hand and smooth away the empty look on his face. Slade’s fingers tightened around mine, as if he felt the same but was resisting.
“Not you, but you’ve got to admit, dropping that bomb has to have some consequences,” Aaron said. “I dunno about everyone else here, but I feel like there’s been a breach of trust.” He held up a hand when Brandon started to speak, the other man falling silent, eyes on the ground. “You’ve explained, and I get it. You had your reasons, but both you and Sylvan have operated on a whole lot of covert information and chose not to share it with us. I think I speak for everyone when I say—what else are you hiding? What dangers do you know are coming that we don’t? How are you manoeuvring us into place to better meet your desired outcomes? You let Jules finally bond you, and then you chose to drop this bombshell?”
“I…I…”
I heard the pain in Brandon’s voice, something I’d never thought I’d see in a million years. I pulled free of Slade’s grip and ignored his grumbles as I got to my feet and went to Brandon’s side. Pulling him into a hug was not a pleasant experience. I felt his pain as if it was my own, but I was already full of a swirling mass of mistrust, betrayal, and frustration. For a moment, I just held him while he was stiff as a board within my grip, and felt like an overfilled cup, ready to spill messy emotions everywhere. Then he drew back.
Brandon stared at me for a moment, eyes wide, just looking at me before pulling my hand away and putting it down on the log. When he was freed from our mate bond, he turned to Aaron.
“You want some certainty about what’s about to happen. I understand that, I just can’t give it to you. My visions end here, just as Sylvan’s did when he came through the gate.” We all turned to look
at the black wolf, who shrugged.
“I saw that Jules and her pack were significant, and that you would come through the gate, and that was it,” he said with a shrug. “The rest was just waiting for that to happen.”
“You also want us to be working as a cohesive unit. That makes sense, but I don’t think we’re there yet. You’ll have to plan around a grieving process, I think, and allow people time to adjust.” Aaron paused and then went to continue, but Brandon just reached into the interior pocket of his jacket and pulled out a familiar book. It was the token he’d offered me during the petitioning process. He held it out to me, careful to make sure our fingers didn’t touch. That stung, that he would avoid contact, but I guess even I wouldn’t want to be swamped by the morass of emotion I was feeling right now.
“Read this. It might help,” he said, and then got to his feet. “You need intel? I had some visions of Leifgart. I’ll go and talk to your men now, see if I can help augment the map.”
And with that, he was gone.
Aaron shook his head. “Look, I get there’s stuff going on. I’m not immune, but for this to work, we’re all going to need to work as a team, and not so much in the fun way you were just enjoying. Find a way to get past all this…stuff.”
“The burly one is right,” Sylvan said. “A queen needs her courtiers. The strength of your pack is what saves the day. I’ve seen that over and over. Time to get your house in order.”
“I guess this means no Mate Torte for us,” Jack said drily as he watched Sylvan go.
“Jack, I’ll—” Hawk said.
“Let’s plan a celebration,” I said. “There’s a mess hall and a big kitchen full of supplies. Let’s make our last night at the mining site a memorable one.”
3
“Don’t beat it quite so hard. You’re folding oxygen into the mix, and if you smash it like that, you’ll destroy all those micro pockets of air you created,” Hawk said, peering over my shoulder at the bowl of whipped cream I was working on.
“I love it when the little woman gets all dominant,” Jack said, leaning over the stainless bench.
“Little woman?” Hawk’s eyes narrowed when he looked at his mate. “I bit you. If anyone’s the girl, it’s you.”
“Ooh, I like this new side to you,” Jack replied with a smile, but I think we both noticed the lazy catlike nature of it. What he said was only partly a joke.
“Yeah?” Hawk placed the bowl of cake mix down on the bench and walked around to Jack’s side. I heard his gasp as Hawk took up position behind him, wrapping Jack’s hair around his hand and tugging until Jack’s neck was a tight bow. He kicked Jack’s ankles wide, settling in between them and grinding. “Who’s the bitch now?”
Whoa, my cream beating came to a stop as I watched the two of them together.
“Fuck me,” Jack groaned. “We should have done this ages ago. Mating makes everything so much more intense. My cock is aching, and I can feel how much yours is. Pull my pants down. We’ll use some cooking oil for lube.”
“Dude!” The lustful fog cleared as the thought of butts and food together hit me. Hawk made a move to comply, but I put my bowl on the bench with a clatter. “No arse fucking in the kitchen. That’s gross!”
“Yeah? Spoilsport,” Jack said as he reached down and adjusted himself. “How about a blowjob then? Wanna see if you can fit two sausages in that hot little mouth, love?”
I spluttered, about to snap back at him, when the kitchen doors swung open. Aaron strode in, his combat boots making a sharp sound. Dressed in the khaki fatigues that hugged his broad body, he looked damn good.
“Make that three sausages?” Jack said, taking up position beside me. “Though go gentle on me. I never felt insecure about what I was packing until I saw these two hard in the same room.”
“How’s dinner going?” Aaron said, taking us all in and no doubt guessing what we’d been about to get up to, if the working of his nostrils was anything to go by. “I hope it’s on its way, as you’re about to get fifteen hungry men descending on you in about half an hour.”
Hawk nodded. “There’s two roasts in the oven, fresh bread, and a range of sides. I didn’t skimp, seeing as the miners just left it here.”
“Good. A celebration and a decent feed is a good way to boost morale. We’re driving out in the morning.” Aaron turned to me. “And how are you holding up, Jules?”
He indicated I should follow him with a nod, taking a few steps away from the kitchen.
“We’ll revisit this later, love,” Jack said, dropping a kiss on my temple.
That sounded half promise, half threat, but I felt a shiver of anticipation as I followed Aaron. That didn’t stop the farther I got away from the kitchen. I didn’t know Aaron well. We’d been fooling around when he was on leave and having a fun time, but it hadn’t left much time to get to know him. So right now, I was looking up at a massive guy, clad in his military uniform, standing with the well-practised ease of someone who felt complete confidence in what they were doing, and I’ll admit, I felt a little fluttery.
It didn’t sit well with my self-image of being a strong, independent woman, but there was something about being around a really big solid guy rocking that casual confidence that drenched your knickers. It was stupid—since becoming Tirian, I was pretty sure I could put him on his arse, but the realisation he could probably do the same to me was somehow a turn on. His smile twisted as he looked down at me and tipped my chin up.
“Just what are you thinking about, love?”
“I think guys in uniform are hot.”
Fuck! Where did that come from?
“Yeah?” He shifted his stance, my eyes following every movement of that body, including the quite significant swing of something in his pants.
“Do you go commando? Is that some kind of military thing? Like a uniform requirement or something? Is that why they call it commando? Fuck, what is with the verbal diarrhoea today? You need to stop wearing…this. It sends my brain offline.”
Aaron chuckled, then herded me back until I hit the wall. He placed a hand above my head, leaning in so I was surrounded by a wall of male flesh. If I was feeling all quivery and girly a minute ago, now I was a molten mess of XX chromosomes. He just watched my breath come in pants, his eyes dropping to my lips and staying there as they began to part.
“Fucking hell, Jules. I’ve got to go out there and finalise packing the vehicles so we’re ready to go at first light and you…” His voice trailed away, and then he swooped in, his hand going to my jaw as he brushed his lips against mine. “This is my first command. How am I going to keep everyone safe if I’m panting after you like this?”
“Pretty sure there was mutual panting,” I gasped.
He shook his head and laughed, then pulled me to him, burying my head in his chest. “I’ll come to your tent tonight. Maybe if we can give in now, I’ll get a little reprieve.”
“I dunno about you, but having sex with any of you has never made me want to have less sex, or be around you less, or respond less intensely.”
“Jules, you’ve gotta humour a guy sometimes. This connection, it’s intense, but we aren’t in the kind of safe place that will allow for the kind of indulgences we’ve enjoyed so far. We’re all going to be sleep-deprived, doing night watches, and everything.”
“But you’ll come to our tent tonight?”
“Like I can stay away from you. I’ll be back, but behave with these two. No bodily fluids in the food, that’s all I ask.”
I missed his warmth, his bulk when Aaron pulled away, but I caught a snicker from the kitchen. Both Hawk and Jack had apparently been watching the whole thing.
“Someone’s gonna get monster dick tonight,” Jack said as I walked back to the bowl of cream. I stuck my finger in, ready to smear it on his face, but he caught it too quickly, holding my hand and sucking the blob off my finger. “Bring him along. A nice little foursome to celebrate our nuptials would hit the spot.”
“Maybe I don�
�t want to share.”
Both Jack and I stilled at that, turning to look at Hawk.
“Are you getting possessive? That is so fucking hot. Why is it so hot?”
“I have no idea,” I replied. “All I know is I feel it too.”
“You’re my mate. Mine. Maybe I want to celebrate that. We’ve never really made love, Jack. Maybe I want to try that.”
I saw the doubt in Hawk’s eyes, the tense way he gripped the spatula he’d been using to pour cake batter into a tin, but Jack sauntered over, removing the utensil and folding himself into Hawk’s chest. The other man’s arms went around him, holding him tight, stroking his hair with an intensity in his eyes that made me feel like I was almost intruding.
4
“So, I believe congratulations are in order?” Sylvan said as everyone started to serve themselves from the many platters of food.
Hawk had cooked like a man possessed, almost as if re-directing all the intensity he’d been lavishing on Jack onto the dishes.
“Yes,” Finn said, “to Jack and Hawk.”
“To Jack and Hawk,” everyone said, holding up their glasses.
Hawk looked faintly embarrassed, focussing on transferring only the most perfect roast vegetables to their shared plate, but Jack beamed under all the attention. It was amazing to see the veil of frustration and anger lifted from his face. It might not have gone the way he’d planned it, but being mated suited Jack. Though not everyone was so pleased.
I looked down the table and saw Brandon had sat with Aaron’s men, eating slowly, methodically, but without any pleasure. He observed the mated couple with haunted eyes. He had his mating mark, but had no such time to enjoy it, nor celebration. After I’d stroked his hair as Ophelia told us what she knew, he’d disappeared, seeming to know he wasn’t entirely welcome in our wing. Instead, what should have been the best day for him was a lonely one. I sensed the weight of the book he’d given me in my pocket and vowed to take a look at it before the naked fun began tonight. He must have felt my eyes on him, as he looked over at me briefly before dropping his gaze down to his plate. I watched him take one more mouthful, apparently struggling to swallow it before putting his cutlery down. The reason why he’d chosen to sit there became apparent when he pushed himself away from the table and slipped out of the room without anyone noticing.
