by L. C. Davis
"To be protected," Benjamin said in a reverent tone, keeping his gaze fixed ahead. "To be cherished by his pack and, most of all, by his Alpha. An omega is the most precious resource a pack can have, but some wolves are just too foolish and selfish to recognize that."
"That isn't how I've heard it explained," Yuri murmured, shaking his head. "That's definitely not how it was in my home."
Benjamin was quiet for long enough that Yuri began to worry he had finally pushed the limits of the Alpha's patience and replayed the tape of their conversation in his mind to better formulate an apology. Finally, Benjamin pulled to a stop in front of a restaurant tucked away on the outskirts of a small town that was still a bit larger than the village, if the lights in the distance were any indication. He turned off the car and turned to face Yuri with that inexplicably gentle look in his eyes.
"I know you don't see the Cold Water Pack as your home," he began. "And it's alright if you never do. After everything you've been through, moving from one pack to another after losing your own in the war, I would understand if you never trusted me or any other Alpha again. But you're here now, and I'm responsible for you. All I ask is that you give me a chance to prove to you that this place can be your home, if you want it to. A chance to show you that the relationship between an Alpha can be different from the way you've known."
Yuri listened quietly, but his thoughts were racing. Benjamin's words were said with undeniable sincerity, yet the omega couldn't make sense of them in his heart. Why Benjamin cared what he felt or whether he wanted to be there at all made no sense to him. He was an omega without a country, a prisoner of war turned into a bargaining chip that had bounced around from one pack to the next. He had no value other than that which Benjamin seemed entirely disinterested in. The moment Yuri had been accepted into the Winter Crest Pack, Devon had made his intentions clear, but Benjamin's motives were far more opaque.
"I don't understand," Yuri admitted at length, once he had given up on figuring it out.
"You don't have to," Benjamin said, coming around for his door. "All I'm asking is for the chance to show you. To court you."
"To be your mate?"
Benjamin smiled. "Yes. To be my mate."
"But you don't need me to agree. I'm yours."
Benjamin's smile turned sad. "By the law of the Federation and the Council packs within it, your body is mine, yes. But that means nothing if I don't have your heart, and that's not something anyone can or should want to take by force. Not even an Alpha."
"Okay," Yuri said warily, growing increasingly certain that Benjamin was out of his mind. He took Benjamin's hand and let the alpha lead him into the restaurant.
"Stillwater, party of two."
"Right this way," the hostess said, giving Benjamin an admiring gaze as she led them to a table in the back. Yuri couldn't blame her. Benjamin was handsome, even if Yuri had no use for him. A Federation wolf was a Federation wolf, handsome or not, and it would be a betrayal of the pack he had been born into to see him as anything other than the enemy.
Benjamin pulled out his chair and gave the hostess a polite yet disheartening smile. She slinked away after taking their drink orders and Yuri found himself overwhelmed by the array of options on the menu. He had only been to a couple of restaurants in his life, and certainly none as elegant as Leone's.
"I hope you like Italian food," said Benjamin, glancing over the menu. "They've got a bit of everything."
"I don't think I've ever had it," Yuri confessed.
"If you like, I can order something for you."
Yuri nodded as the waiter came over. "Please do."
As Benjamin ordered, Yuri found himself watching the alpha's interactions with the waiter. The Ice Canyon wolves were always civilized when they went out, but they treated waitstaff and other service employees like invisible automatons that existed for a specific function. No matter who he was talking to, Benjamin always made eye contact, smiled and said thank you. Whoever he was talking to had his full attention in that moment, like there was nowhere else he had to be and no one he would rather be talking to.
Come to think of it, Benjamin was that way with his family, too. Gerald was never quite as busy as he liked his betas to think, but he rarely made time for his mate and children. They competed for his attention and the other wolves in the pack paid the price in condescension when they didn't receive it. Yuri had only been in the Stillwater home for a little more than a day, yet he could already see that things were different. Benjamin and Heinrich were always in demand, always rushing somewhere to do something important, and yet the moment Lita or Sue needed something, they would stop and make themselves available. Their packmates approached them without fear or hesitation, but with respect.
Once the waiter brought the food and left them alone, Yuri realized he had been caught staring. "Something wrong?" asked Benjamin.
"Nothing," he said, quickly averting his gaze to his plate.
"You can tell me if there is," he offered gently.
Yuri hesitated. "You're just different, that's all. You and your father."
"How so?" Benjamin asked, taking a sip of his water.
"You don't act like alphas." Yuri winced when he realized that sounded much differently out loud than it had in his head. "I don't mean in a bad way."
Benjamin laughed, reassuring him there had been no harm done. "It's alright, no offense taken. But I'm not sure I know what you mean."
"You do everything for the pack," he began carefully. "They wouldn't look at you the way they do if you weren't good Alphas. But you don't boss anyone around. Neither does your father."
Benjamin considered that for a moment. "I guess we don't really need to. The pack is a family. Everyone knows their role and what's expected of them. We're lucky enough that most of the time, they follow through."
Yuri had his doubts that it was a matter of luck, but he nodded.
"An Alpha's role isn't really to boss anyone around," Benjamin continued. "Honestly, if you have to tell the wolves around you what to do most of the time, you're probably not much of an Alpha at all."
"I guess not," Yuri murmured. "What is my role here?"
"That depends on what you want it to be."
"What role did you bring me here to fill?"
Benjamin sighed. "Well, to be my mate."
"And what would I have to do, as your mate?"
"You wouldn't really have to do anything," Benjamin said slowly. "You would fill the role my mother has now, eventually. When I officially take over as Alpha. As the pack omega, you would provide counsel to the other wolves, and emotional support. My mother is big on organizing family events and that sort of thing, but the responsibilities vary depending on what the individual omega values and the culture of the pack around him or her."
"And what do I have to do for you?"
Benjamin's face turned a deep shade of red and he took another sip of his water, coughing a little. "Again, if you had to do anything, I wouldn't be much of an Alpha. But as my omega and my mate, the idea is that we'll eventually mate and start a family of our own. More importantly, you'll be my companion and my partner in leading this pack."
Yuri tilted his head as he listened. He had certainly never heard the role of omega described in that way before. "But I'm an omega. I can't lead."
"Maybe not on your own, but we would lead together." Benjamin's hand brushed his own and Yuri found himself puzzling over the rush of warmth sparked by the light yet intimate touch. There was something entirely foreign in the alpha's gaze that made it hard to hold eye contact and impossible to look away. "An omega is an Alpha's complement. His completion."
"Is that why you aren't Alpha yet?" Yuri asked softly. Only one of the packs he had stayed in had an unmated Alpha, and that had only been because his mate had passed away long ago.
"Yes." There was a strange sadness in Benjamin's tone that almost made Yuri wish he hadn't asked. "There are some packs in the Council lands that don't require an Alpha t
o have an omega as his mate before taking over, but ours follows the tradition quite closely. It's for the best, though," he said, shifting gears. "Unmated Alphas tend to think with their heads and leave matters of the heart behind. An omega provides balance and perspective."
"Hm," Yuri murmured. Benjamin spoke so highly of omegas and their roles, and the reverence in his voice alone made his admiration clear. Even so, Yuri had known enough Alphas in his life to know better than to think the novelty of his class would keep him safe for long. For all his kindness and nobility, Benjamin still needed an omega to take his rightful place as pack leader. Yuri knew that made him an accessory when all was said and done, and no matter how highly prized he was, an accessory was always expendable. There would always be another omega to take his place when, not if, he failed to meet the standards of his new, genteel pack.
Besides, Yuri reminded himself, Benjamin had been surrounded by Council omegas his entire life. Surely he had developed expectations of what one was supposed to do and be that went beyond his politically correct explanations. Yuri wasn't poised and elegant like Sue or bubbly like Lita. He might look the part of an omega and be able to put on enough of an act to get by most of the time, but sooner or later, Benjamin would realize that an Arctic wolf and a Council wolf just weren't meant to mix. Under the full force of the alpha's charms, Yuri could see how important it was to remind himself of that and how easy it would be to let his guard down.
Chapter 7
BENJAMIN
Dinner had started out on a good note, but Benjamin could tell he had lost Yuri somewhere between their conversation about his role in the pack and dessert. Just when it seemed like he was beginning to break away pieces of the towering wall the omega had built around himself, a few more bricks were laid in their place. What a young wolf like Yuri would need to protect himself from so fiercely, Benjamin could only guess. Keeping his mother and sister sheltered had been a great honor and one he had taken seriously his entire life. The idea that any other pack, Arctic wolves or not, would fail to perform that basic duty--or worse, violate the trust required to make the alpha-omega dynamic work at all--set his blood to boiling.
Benjamin had decided that a walk along the beach might be just the thing they both needed, and Yuri's spirits did seem to lift once they were close enough to the water to smell the salt in the air. The gravel road gave way to sand and Benjamin parked his car, going around for Yuri's door to lead him out onto the small yet private beach on the outskirts of the territory.
"This is beautiful," Yuri murmured, looking around the beach with wide-eyed fascination. While Benjamin could appreciate the beauty of the beach, as he did all the natural fixtures of the Cold Water lands, he had long since grown immune to its novelty. Experiencing it through Yuri's eyes made him fall in love with it all over again. Almost as easily, he thought, as it might be to fall in love with the omega...
"It's a nice place to come and swim when the weather's a little warmer," said Benjamin, watching as Yuri knelt to gather a pile of sand in his palms only to let it sift through his fingers. The young man's usually somber face softened and brightened as he smiled, the first time Benjamin could recall him doing so since his arrival. He decided no amount of time or effort spent in the pursuit of winning that smile could ever be wasted.
"Wanna feel something really fun?"
Yuri looked up with a quizzical expression as Benjamin slipped out of his shoes and socks and buried his toes in the sand. The omega gave him a dubious look and he laughed. "Go on, try it."
Yuri reluctantly slipped out of his shoes and socks and winced a little as he rested his feet on the sand, light enough not to disturb the grains visibly. He seemed to relax once he realized how nice it felt and bit his lip. Benjamin was starting to realize that was a sure sign the omega was trying not to laugh. Perhaps he had been punished for it at one point. Well, hearing Yuri's laugh would simply give him another goal to pursue.
"It's cold."
"A bit," Benjamin agreed, lying back. The gray clouds rolled lazily overhead with the air that stirred the water, signaling rain not far in the distance. Benjamin breathed deeply, but the fresh scent of impending rain was nothing compared to the intoxicating bouquet of the omega next to him. When he opened his eyes, Yuri was lying next to him, propped up on one elbow to watch him intently. "Something on your mind?" Benjamin asked with a relaxed half-smile.
Yuri leaned in to kiss him and all Benjamin's world turned on its head. The kiss was sudden and unexpected, but also soft and searching. Benjamin could feel the omega tense as he wound his arms around his waist, like he wasn't sure whether he would be punished for the brazen gesture, but punishment was the last thing on Benjamin's mind as he pulled Yuri closer to him. The smaller wolf melted in his embrace, sparking a closeness Benjamin hadn't felt in far too long. It was more than worth the wait, he decided, drunk on the warmth of the body pressed against his, fitted so perfectly against his torso and in his arms he could scarcely remember what it was like not to hold him.
Benjamin deepened the kiss a little, careful to read for signs of hesitation in fear of moving too fast. The last thing he wanted was for Yuri to feel obligated to kiss him or touch him in any way. The omega had arrived in his pack under less than ideal circumstances, but that made it all the more important to do things the right way. Whatever transpired between them, Benjamin was determined that it be the result of romance rather than ritual or obligation. Still, the way Yuri returned his kiss left little room to doubt that the omega was enjoying it at least as much as he was.
When Yuri broke the kiss and came up for air, his eyes were glazed and his lips slightly parted, begging to be claimed again. Benjamin gently rose to settle on top of him, stroking his near-white hair. The omega was lithe but soft and felt even more fragile than he looked. How could someone so slight be so fierce? It was a contradiction that made Yuri all the more appealing and when the omega's hands ran down the alpha's chest, he shuddered with need.
Maybe it was simply the years that had passed without intimate contact, but Benjamin couldn't help but feel there was something more in that touch. Something deeper than he understood or even cared to at the moment. All that mattered was claiming as much of Yuri with his hands and his mouth as the moment would allow and as long as the omega made his desire clear. The fragrance of arousal made Yuri's soft, natural scent even sweeter and Benjamin felt the surge of something primal even his romantic encounters with Jenny had never awoken.
As Yuri's legs wrapped around his waist, forcing their bodies even closer, Benjamin became painfully aware of his erection rubbing against his slacks. Yuri reached between their closely pressed bodies and released Benjamin's shaft from its fabric confines, arching his back invitingly as he did so.
A low moan escaped Benjamin's lips as he opened the omega's shirt button-by-button, giving him time to voice his opposition. When the last button was undone, leaving Yuri's smooth chest bare and exposed, Benjamin lowered his head and sucked a hard, pink nipple into his mouth. Toying at the sensitive flesh with his teeth, he closed his eyes and relished the musical quality of the moan his touch elicited from Yuri.
Leaving a trail of kisses leading down to the omega's waistband, Benjamin soon had Yuri's pants tugged down around his hips, his lithe shaft exposed and erect. Knowing he had triggered such an immediate reaction in the usually frosty omega was more than a small boost to his ego. When he tasted the sweet nectar leaking from the omega's tip, he was too deep in his own arousal to consider such trivial things. All that mattered was tasting Yuri, pleasuring him and putting the need he couldn't express in words into that intimate touch. Maybe then the omega would understand his value a bit better, and see that it wasn't mere servitude his alpha demanded, but rather mutual intimacy he desired and offered freely.
Yuri whimpered and writhed, losing more control of himself as Benjamin slicked his tongue over his shaft and sucked in turn, just hard enough to keep him on the edge without pushing him over. Benjamin should have k
nown Yuri was in heat from the scent that was pushing his own need to the brink, but it wasn't until he tasted the omega's pleasure, surging hot and sweet on his tongue, that he realized what was happening.
"You're going into heat." Benjamin's voice was husky, almost a growl. He feared the omega would read it incorrectly as anger, but when Yuri's eyes met his, they were still glazed with pleasure from his orgasm.
"Hm?"
"No wonder," Benjamin muttered, rising to his knees as he pulled his pants back up and fastened them. Now it made sense. The omega's desire was far from organic, at least not in the sense Benjamin needed it to be. At least things hadn't gotten too far. He was certainly flaunting tradition but not all-out violating it. Perhaps a quick dip in the cold water the pack had been named for was in order, but at least no real harm had been done.
"What's the matter?" Yuri asked, sitting up. His half-undressed state wasn't making it any easier for Benjamin to come down off his heat-and-arousal induced high. He swallowed hard and struggled to keep his focus above the omega's neck, but that look on Yuri's face wasn't helping, either.
"Nothing, if we were mated."
Yuri frowned. "I thought we were supposed to mate."
"Yes, but my pack is traditional," he tried to explain. "There's a way to do things and this definitely is not it."
Yuri's brow knit in confusion. And concern. "I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong?"
"No, of course not," Benjamin said, taking the omega's face in his hands. "Nothing at all. I'm the one who..." He trailed off with a sigh. Better not overwhelm him with even more cultural jargon than he already had. "If I had known you were going into heat, I would've prepared myself. And I wouldn't have gone out alone with you."
"Why not?"
"Because there are instincts that come into play when an alpha is around an omega in heat," he explained carefully, feeling a pang of guilt when he realized how little Yuri understood and what a huge mistake he had almost made. Maybe he had been more sheltered than Benjamin had assumed. "Instincts that are best reserved for after a mating ceremony."
