Topping the Dom

by Lisa Oliver

  Chapter Ten

  Waking up to a rock solid mountain of a man in his bed definitely had it’s advantages, Dante thought sleepily as he looked over his shoulder to see his eagle eyed mate, wide awake and watching him. Pearson’s arms were wrapped around his chest and hips and the man’s legs were entangled in his beneath the covers. Dante rocked back appreciatively on the morning wood, currently pressing against his ass cheeks, and was gratified to hear Pearson moan softly under his breath.

  “Good morning mate,” Pearson said quietly. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  Stretching himself, Dante catalogued his body. Apart from a slight twinge in his ass, Dante felt really good. Wriggling around so that he was facing Pearson, Dante smiled up at the man. He could tell from the lines of tension around Pearson’s eyes, that something was upsetting him.

  “I’m feeling really good, thank you. But you’re not, are you mate of mine. So tell me what’s wrong, so we can get some breakfast before the meeting.”

  Pearson sighed and it looked like he was debating telling Dante what was bothering him. Dante wasn’t too worried. Firstly, mates can’t lie to each other and secondly, well Dante had a pretty good idea what had got Pearson so worried. Deciding to push the issue, Dante spoke up before Pearson had a chance to.

  “You’re pissed at me for what I did yesterday, aren’t you?” He said.

  “You put me in one hell of a position, Dante,” Pearson said seriously. “Making me chose between the welfare of the pack and your safety. No mate should do that to another. It killed me to make that choice.”

  “So why did you let me do it, if you were so unhappy with it? You are the Alpha. You could’ve stopped me.”

  “Because…” Pearson flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “Because I didn’t want you to think I was undermining your abilities. I saw how you reacted when I said no, and when Kyle spoke up about your safety. You were angry because you thought you were being treated like my little woman.”

  Pearson looked over at Dante, his hazel eyes glinting in the early morning light. “I know you’re Alpha born and in nature. I know I would hate to be treated like that, if the position was reversed. So I had to let you do it, even though it killed me inside. I had to let you be locked up with a crazy man so I could prove to you that I do think we are equals in every way. But I hated it. I hated every fucking minute we were apart.”

  Dante pulled Pearson’s head onto his chest and wrapped his arms around the man’s broad shoulders. He hugged his mate tightly, letting the man take comfort from his scent as wolves are want to do. He knew he hadn’t been fair on Pearson the day before - lord knows he had spent enough time lying in that cell thinking about it. Was the need to prove himself really that important, given how Pearson was acting now? Knowing how much he had worried and hurt his mate?

  “Pearson, I’m so sorry,” he said softly. “It’s just hard for me, you know. I have never wanted to lead a pack, but I can’t deny that I’m struggling to know what it is we have between us. How it’s going to work. What part I will actually play in the pack. I just wanted to prove to you and your enforcers that I wasn’t just some weak-kneed mate with no substance or worth.”

  Pearson chuckled against his neck, his breath warming Dante’s skin. “Nobody looking at you is going to think you are weak-kneed, my mate. You’re far too badass and solid looking for that.”

  “But that’s part of the problem,” Dante said. “I know how I look, and yes I could lead my own pack if I wanted to. But I’m mated to you. And, well, look at what happened in the cell yesterday with Grier. The guy had to know I was the stronger wolf. He already knew I was Alpha Mate. But he still thought he could take me and use me as a pawn.”

  “You proved him wrong on that point, pretty fucking quickly, I might add.”

  “I’m worried that’s all I’m going to be doing,” Dante admitted quietly. “Constantly having to prove that I am a strong person, even though it’s assumed I submit in the bedroom.”

  “Perhaps that’s why you’re my mate,” Pearson said thoughtfully. “After all, in the BDSM community it is a well known fact that it is the submissives that have most of the power. They’re the strong ones. That, while they may not be stronger in terms of physical strength, they have to be strong in mind and spirit, to do what they do. And submissives aren’t all little twinks, either. There are some big men here who submit like angels. They do it because they chose to, and that takes a lot. The men in this pack aren’t going to think that you’re weak because they assume you submit to me.”

  “Yes,” Dante huffed impatiently, “I do know that. I’ve been in the scene for ten years myself. But I’m not submissive by nature. Yet as your mate, it’s expected I will be.”

  “It would be easier if you were, mate of mine. If you were my sub and you did what you did yesterday, then we would be having this discussion while you were bound to a cross and me whipping the ass off you. You’d think twice about putting yourself in danger then, wouldn’t you?”

  “I’d let you do that, if you wanted me too,” Dante said honestly. “Of course,” he continued when he saw Pearson’s face contort in shock. “I would expect fair turnabout and I wouldn’t want anyone else in the club to know. But what we do in the privacy of our own room or dungeon is our business and I prefer to keep it that way.”

  Pearson laughed, and kissed Dante’s neck. “You never cease to amaze me, lover. When was the last time you played the submissive in a scene?”

  “Ten years ago, when I first trained as a Dom,” Dante admitted. “But I understand that neither one of us is going to be playing with anyone else now we’re mated, so it makes sense that if we want to meet each other’s needs that we take turns at taking the submissive role. What about you? Did you train as a submissive first as well?”

  “Yep,” Pearson said. “Twenty years ago for me, but I’m a firm believer that no Dom can be truly effective unless they have been on other side of things. It was before I became Alpha, of course. But an enforcer in my old pack took me on when I said I wanted to train in the lifestyle and I subbed for him for three months as part of my training.”

  “So had you ever bottomed before me?” Dante was curious. He didn’t think that Pearson had, but he figured if Pearson had been an anal virgin, he would have said so.

  “Only the once, and yes that was while I was submitting for Jimmy. It was enjoyable enough. Nothing traumatic about it. But I think both he and I knew it wasn’t something I would do very often.”

  “So you really lucked out, having me as a mate.” For some reason that made Dante feel more uneasy than ever. He wanted to be everything his mate needed him to be, but he just couldn’t be the permanent bottom in their relationship. Now he worried that because he’d let Pearson fuck him once, that the man would expect it all the time. If Pearson wasn’t draped across his body like some sexy type of bondage he would have got out of bed. He didn’t like feeling like he wasn’t enough for his mate.

  “Dante,” Pearson said sincerely. “You are everything I ever wanted in a mate. I told you I want us to be equals in every way. In the bedroom, at the club, as part of the pack, in a scene. We’re both strong men who can give as well as receive and we will take turns. That’s what makes us perfect for each other, don’t you see that?”

  “I meant what I said last night,” Dante murmured, knowing Pearson would understand what he was talking about. “I spent a lot of yesterday thinking about you, about us, and about how our life will be together. I could sense all day how worried you were about me, but that it wasn’t because you didn’t think I could handle myself. It was because you didn’t want us to be apart. No one’s ever worried like that about me before. I didn’t realize how much I would miss you, even though I knew you were in the building.”

  “I missed you too, lover, and I know you’re going to give me cause to worry, aren’t you,” Pearson said with a laugh. “Look Dante. I’ve never been in love before. Being Alpha has always meant th
at I had to worry if a person was with me because of who I am as a man, or if they wanted something because of my position. But I love you. I wouldn’t have let you put yourself in a dangerous situation unless I did.”

  “You know that sounds kind of weird don’t you?” Dante asked as he kissed Pearson’s forehead. “You love me, so you let me go off and do dangerous things.”

  “I love you, so I wanted to show you that I believe in your ability to handle yourself. That I believe in you.”

  “I love you too,” Dante said seriously, “but on a lighter note, now we’ve done the mushy stuff, do we have time for a quick fuck before the meeting, or do I have to sit in your office with a hard on all morning?”

  Looking over at the clock, Pearson grimaced. It was just past eight o’clock. “Shower sex?” He offered with a grin.

  Chapter Eleven

  Pearson was watching Phillip. The wolf was nervous and edgy and Pearson had no idea why. The meeting was going as well as it could be, with the subject matter being what it was. No one likes to think their pack and territory are under threat, and the men in Pearson and Dante’s office were no exception. But everyone else seemed relaxed enough, coming up with ideas to find out firstly, who this mysterious Favo was that Grier had mentioned, and secondly, who in the pack were the friends that Grier had mentioned having. Phillip was barely saying anything unless he was spoken to directly.

  “I got the feeling from Grier, that this Favo is some anti-gay nutter who thinks that gay wolf shifters are an abomination in the eyes of the Fates,” Dante said. “Surely you would have noticed if someone else in the pack had the same ideas? This is a gay wolf only pack and you have a really stringent application process.”

  “Hmmm, perhaps not stringent enough” Pearson said, his hand idly stroking Dante’s as it rested on his thigh. The two men were sitting as close together as two men could, without being in each others lap. Pearson loved that Dante was happy to be close to him even in a serious meeting like this one.

  “If the applicant is someone who is a mate to a pack member, the process isn’t anywhere near as strict. Just an interview with me and usually I waive the first three months temporary rule for mates. No background checks or things like that. I’m a sucker for true mates,” he added, when he saw Dante look at him.

  Dante grinned at him, but then turned serious. “So it is possible, hypothetically at least, that a person claiming to be a true mate of another, could gain access to the pack through the mating bond.”

  “Yes,” Kyle said, “But to be someone’s true mate would indicate that two men had sex together, and I can’t see an anti-gay wolf shifter doing that. You saw how Grier fell to pieces when he was ordered to give me a blow job. The man couldn’t back away fast enough.”

  “Yes,” Pearson said thoughtfully, “but my mate here reminded me this morning that a lot can be said for assumptions being misleading. I don’t expect two men to physically claim each other in front of me to prove they’re mates. I don’t even ask to see claiming marks, although maybe I should. Phillip, you mated someone from outside of the pack - a lone wolf, I think you said. Do you have a mating scar?”

  Phillip looked stunned that he was being singled out, and Pearson could feel the level of nervousness pouring off the man increase.

  “No, Alpha. I’m Dominant,” Phillip said, his eyes looking anywhere but at his Alpha.

  Phillip wasn’t overly tall and quite an average looking man. He had been made an enforcer because he had wicked fighting skills as a man, having spent time in the Navy Seals. In wolf form he could hold his own, but in human form he was a mean and rugged fighter. Pearson remembered that Phillip had been with the pack about three years and had been an active Dom before finding his mate six months before. His mate, Colin, was a lone wolf shifter, who had spent time travelling and apparently was happy to keep moving on, until he met his mate.

  “But Colin does, right? I mean you did claim him?”

  Now Phillip was looking firmly at the floor. His hands were fidgeting with the seam on his jeans and he was worrying his bottom lip with his teeth. His anxiety levels were racking up the tension in Pearson’s office, and Pearson could tell that the other men in the room were starting to sense something was wrong. Phillip had something to hide and everyone in the room knew it.

  “Phillip,” Pearson said firmly. “When you came to me with this Colin, you told me you were true mates and I accepted him into the pack without question. You are one of my top enforcers and deserving of that trust. So I’m failing to see what has got you so agitated, when all I asked is for confirmation that you did actually claim Colin as your mate, like you said you did.”

  Phillip must have come to some sort of a decision, because he looked up and faced Pearson squarely.

  “No, Alpha. I didn’t. He’s not my mate.”

  Everyone in the room stilled, and Pearson could feel Dante’s hand on his leg tightening and then relaxing again. His mate was on guard and suspicious and from where Pearson was sitting his mate had every right to be. Maybe he should have been a little less trusting about his pack members himself. He couldn’t believe that Phillip, a loyal enforcer, had betrayed his trust.

  Pearson leaned up out of his chair and beside him he felt Dante straighten up as well, mirroring his movements.

  “If he’s not your mate, then who the hell did I let into my pack?” Pearson snarled.

  “My brother-in-law,” Phillip said quietly.

  Leaning back in his chair, Pearson pondered the issue. If Colin was Phillip’s relative then why hadn’t Phillip told him, when Colin asked for permission to join the pack. Why the subterfuge?

  “If the man is related to you, then why didn’t you just say so,” Pearson said a little more calmly this time. Boy, this Favo shit must be really getting to him if he was angry at his enforcer.

  “Colin’s married to my sister, Alpha. He’s not gay.”

  “Then what the hell is he doing in this pack, Phillip. You fucking know the rules about gay wolves only!”

  It was official. Pearson’s anger was back with a vengeance and it would seem that Dante, Roger, Kyle, Steel and Levi were having similar problems. The whole point of Pearson’s pack was that all members had to be gay, or at least bi, to be accepted. That way any man in the pack could be safe in the knowledge that he wouldn’t be persecuted for his orientation.

  Pearson had heard so many horror stories over the years, about shifters who had been horribly abused simply because they preferred the company of other men. Wolves that had been forced to marry females and breed with them. Others who had been beaten to near death if caught having sex with another man. Pearson had wanted to provide a safe pack for gay wolves and that was why admittance to his pack involved a long application process.

  “I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong, Alpha,” Phillip cried out. “My sister asked me if I could get Colin accepted. She said he’d got himself in a bit of trouble with his own pack, and just needed somewhere where he could go and run with other wolves sometimes. I didn’t see any harm in it at the time.”

  “But you are well aware of my stance on true mates, Phillip. How long were you going to keep this charade of yours up? Pretending to be true mates. Is that why I’ve never seen you and Colin here in the club together? I know you haven’t been with any of the subs in the club since you were supposedly mated. What do you do for sex? What would have happened if you had met your true mate?”

  Phillip shook his head. “I didn’t think it through properly, Alpha,” he said quietly. “My sister rang me up out of the blue, asking me to get Colin into the pack. She said it would only be for a little while, until they moved on. Colin goes to my sister’s place every weekend, and I… I go to a club over in Arlington on my days off.”

  “Where Phillip gets his rocks off, isn’t the real issue here, Alpha,” Dante interjected. “A more telling question is does Colin know Grier? Because it sounds awfully suspicious to me, that in the space of less than a week, you n
ow know of two men who have tried to get into the pack under false pretences, one of them successfully I might add, and one of them who is a dead homophobic zealot.”

  “Grier is dead?” Phillips looked up in shock. “But I thought… I thought the Alpha Mate was only going to question him.”

  “Haven’t you been paying attention, Phillip,” Pearson roared. “Grier attacked the Alpha Mate, my mate! And that was after he admitted he was trying to bring down my pack and take over my territory. So yes, the asshole is dead.”

  Phillip dropped his head into his hands, moaning quietly. When he raised his eyes and met Pearson’s, he said softly. “Oh fuck, I’m in so much trouble,” he moaned. “You’d better arrange to have Colin brought in. Grier was his brother.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Pearson’s head was pounding and he felt like he was going to burst out of his skin. Since he had become Alpha he had never trusted anyone lightly and now as he sat at his desk, with his mate by his side, he felt totally devastated that someone like Phillip could betray him. With Steel, Levi, and Kyle dispatched to go and get Colin, and Roger guarding the door, Pearson wanted nothing more than to try and understand the man now cowering in his office.

  “Why?” Pearson said. “Just tell me why you would abuse my trust like this. Why would you endanger our pack?”

  To say Phillip looked like a broken man would be an understatement. His face was pale, his hands wouldn’t stop twitching, and he couldn’t look anyone in the face.

  “I just wanted to have the opportunity to spend some time with my family, Alpha,” Phillip said quietly. Feeling Pearson’s sharp gaze on him, he looked up and continued. “I’ve never been accepted by my family… what with being gay and all. When my sister called, I hadn’t heard from her in over five years. She said that the family was sorry for the way they had treated me. She said they wanted to get back together with me. She said, oh fuck it…” Phillip broke off, his head in his hands.