by Lisa Oliver
Taking a last look at the lovingly crafted bed and ignoring the now spluttering Sloane, Rex strode out of the warehouse, barely looking at the two men still huddled behind the counter. There was no doubt both men heard the shouting –people having lunch in town probably heard it. Still fuming about Sloane’s arrogance, it took him a moment to realize he was being spoken to.
“Excuse me, sir, are you all right?”
Are you for real? No one’s ever asked me that before. Stunned, Rex turned, his wolf pressing forward eagerly this time as he took in the scents of the shop. Wood, obviously, the place was full of it. But now Rex was paying attention and the spice of Sloane’s cologne was fading from his nostrils, it was filled instead with an overwhelming presence – apricots, spice, and the underlying tone of an omega wolf. His cock hardened so fast his head spun. Finally, his wolf’s behavior made sense.
“It’s you… you…” Rex took a step forward but a growl from the bigger guy at the counter stopped him. Omega wolf and a bear shifter. What the fuck?
“Forget I said anything,” the smaller man said hastily, ducking his head, his eyes hidden by a mop of blond hair. “Excuse me, I have things to do.” As Rex watched, the blond jerked in his chair and then he rolled himself down a dark hallway. Rolled. How the hell did a wolf shifter end up in a fucking wheel chair?
“Who hurt him?” Rex couldn’t help the growl that came out of his mouth. It was just him and the bear in the shop, he didn’t need to watch his snarl. “Who stopped him shifting when he was clearly injured and condemned him to a life as half a man?”
“Half a man?” The bear’s growl matched his and got louder. “You’ve got a fucking cheek coming in here and spouting shit you know nothing about. There’s nothing weak or half-assed about the man who had the guts to roll away from you. We all know how your kind feel about those who aren’t ‘perfectly formed.’ Take your bullshit out of here.” Yeah, the guy was totally mocking him complete with air quotes, but Rex was more focused on the omega who rolled away.
“Who do I have to kill for doing this to him?”
“Doing this? Doing this?” The bear came closer, his fists clenched. “Are you trying to blame me for that man’s situation? Use that so-called superior nose of yours, man, Devyn was never injured.”
Devyn, at least now I know his name. Rex shook his head, trying to work out the bear’s riddles. With his cock pushing hard, demanding his attention and draining the blood from his brain, it wasn’t easy. “How?” He asked, pointing down the hallway. “He’s in a fucking chair. How the hell could this ever happen, then? Our kind heal from damn near everything but decapitation.”
“Devyn was born disabled.” The bear seemed to be waiting, Rex wasn’t sure what for. He was still getting his head around the idea a wolf shifter could be born with non-functioning legs. It didn’t make sense, nothing did. But it seemed the bear wasn’t finished with him.
“He was born, in a pack,” the bear flicked a glance at the door through to the workshop, but Sloane was most likely throwing too much of a private tantrum to face anyone yet. “Much like the one you were born in, I imagine. And because his pack couldn’t stomach him the way he looked when born, he was left out in the wilderness. Shunned. Rejected. Left to die. Three days old.”
Awareness pierced the fog in Rex’s brain. “You found him.”
“Give yourself a gold fucking medal. I found him.” The bear smacked his own chest. “I saved him, I raised him as my own. He’s as dear to me as any son would be. Which is why you can save any platitudes dripping off your tongue and get the hell out of his shop. Note I said his shop. All that you see around you is the result of what a so-called defect can do if they’re given half the chance.”
“He does incredible work,” Rex murmured, still stunned by the bear’s revelation and the scent of the omega.
“Yeah, well take a picture because you won’t be seeing it again. I don’t trust pack wolves, I don’t like pack wolves, and I won’t have Devyn hurt by any pack wolves. So, get out and fucking stay out. Am I clear?”
The last word was drawled, snarled more like, and filled with the menace only a bear could bring to the table. Rex moved back as the bear stalked closer, his beefy fists clenched, showing the man meant business. No wolf was stupid enough to take on a bear alone even in human form, but Rex still dithered. His wolf was snarling at him to go back to their mate. But with Sloane still in the back room and the bear making it plain he wasn’t about to be nice, Rex didn’t have any choice but to leave. Taking one last look down the darkened corridor, Rex stumbled out of the shop.
Chapter Two
Devyn winced as his screwdriver slipped, leaving a small gouge in the bed frame. Sloane was long gone, telling him to “burn the fucking thing for all I care” as he stormed out of the shop muttering under his breath as he went. There was no way Devyn would ever commit any of his works to flames which was why he was carefully pulling the bed apart. It felt wrong displaying the bed in the showroom with his other pieces when it had already been paid for, but its bulk was blocking the loading bay.
I’m going to have to sand that out, he thought, tears blurring his vision as his fingers traced the scratch. It was a piece of wood and easily fixed. But Devyn already knew the marked panel had nothing to do with his agitation. Seeing that man, that alpha wolf, his brain reminded helpfully – brought back feelings about his kind Devyn thought were well buried, not to mention a confusing level of arousal.
Is it an omega curse or something Gregor didn’t tell me about? Devyn knew very little about wolf shifters or packs although Gregor supplied sparse information anytime he asked. For all Devyn knew, omega wolves could get a hard cock and a soggy behind from being near any stronger wolf, which makes me glad I’m not in a pack. But the pain he felt as he rolled down the hallway, away from the wolf in question… he didn’t understand it. He didn’t understand any of it.
“You doing okay in here?” Devyn looked up at the one man he did understand – the man who’d saved him from certain death and raised him from when he was a baby. Gregor had never been an affectionate man, but Devyn knew he cared in his own way.
“I shouldn’t have said anything to that wolf,” he said quietly. “I drew attention to myself, which was a stupid thing to do. In my defense, I didn’t know what he was until I saw his eyes flashing. He was already angry….”
“His anger had nothing to do with you, and it’s hardwired in an omega’s DNA to care for stronger wolves. You can’t help that,” Gregor said gruffly. “You don’t have to worry about him coming back. I told him he wasn’t welcome here no more.”
Relief warred strongly with the ache in Devyn’s heart. “I don’t understand why I was attracted to him,” he whispered, knowing Gregor’s nose would have picked up the instant he got aroused. “Is that going to happen anytime I meet another wolf? Is it… is it because I’m omega?”
Taking the screwdriver out of his hand, Gregor bent over, fiddling with the screw Devyn was trying to loosen. “A hard on at your age is perfectly normal,” he grunted. “Same as his, I reckon.”
Devyn didn’t want to think about Rex’s arousal. That could have been due to anything from the smell of wood, his attraction to Sloane, or maybe he just hadn’t been laid that day. He was more concerned about his own. That wasn’t a common occurrence. “I don’t get a hard on talking to other people in the shop. Look at what happened, when that porn star, Jake whatever his name was, was in last month. He wouldn’t leave me alone, and any time he touched me my skin crawled.”
“Jake was human.” Gregor managed to get the screw out of its hole, and heaved the side of the bed into his arms. “Where do you want this?”
“Oh, er… over there.” Devyn waved to a blank spot on the opposite wall. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with this piece yet. It’s not as though I can repurpose the wood. The design only works when it’s all put together.”
Gregor grunted, covering the distance easily despite the weight in hi
s arms. Devyn followed, rolling his chair across the concrete floor. “Please, Gregor, I know you don’t want to talk about this, but I’m scared. Is this arousal stuff going to happen anytime I come across another shifter?” If that was the case, Devyn was never leaving his workshop again.
“No, I don’t reckon you have to worry about that.” Brushing past him, Gregor went back for the other sides of the bed. For some reason, his friend’s evasive comments made Devyn angry – Gregor might not want to have their conversation, but he needed answers.
“Then why this guy?” He persisted, deliberately blocking Gregor’s path with his chair. “Why did my body react to him when it never has to anyone else, shifter or human? You’ve got to help me here. This is as confusing as fuck.”
Setting the bed panel he was holding back on the floor, Gregor reached over and held the arms of Devyn’s chair firmly looking him straight in the eyes. Devyn was shocked to see the compassion lurking in those dark depths. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you kid? I didn’t want to hurt you, because Fate knows you’ve been through enough in your life, but you’re going to make me say it anyway, aren’t you?”
“Say what?” Devyn held his eyes bravely. He’d never once in their life together been afraid of Gregor for all his gruffness. “Whatever it is, I have a right to know. I’m not a kid anymore, I’m an adult.”
“That dumb as rocks alpha is your fated mate,” Gregor said bluntly. “He’s never going to accept you, because of your twisted legs. You should’ve seen his face when he realized you were in a wheelchair. So, I sent him away, okay? I sent him away because I’ve not spent twenty six years keeping you from being hurt, to let that jumped up alpha fucking destroy you and all you’ve worked for just because he’s part of the same fucking breed who thinks you’ve got no right to live because of bunged up legs. Happy now?”
Devyn didn’t think he’d ever heard Gregor say so much in one go. “How did you…?” Damn this is so confusing and yet it makes sense all at the same time. “How did you know I was fated to be his?” Gregor had explained about fated mates in general terms when he was a teenager and shifted for the first time, but Devyn never thought he’d have one.
“Damn it, boy. You could see the connection between the two of you from space. That shit for brains couldn’t talk, he couldn’t move. He caught your scent and his cock got so hard I was surprised he could still stay upright.”
“He wanted me?” Devyn wasn’t sure why it was important, but to him it was. “Are you sure it wasn’t because of Sloane….”
“That rich bastard was probably used to scratch his itch, and will probably want to keep doing it because guys with money don’t like being told no. Rex was angry at him, aroused by you. Gods, I thought you would’ve worked that out for yourself.”
“I didn’t know what to think,” Devyn muttered. Truth be told, listening to what went on between Sloane and Rex, Devyn had been wondering how the hell a guy like Sloane could reduce Rex to a tax right off instead of being head over heels about the guy. Being told the man only proposed for tax deductibles had to hurt, even if Rex did call Sloane a fuck buddy, which is why Devyn spoke up when he did.
“Look kid,” Gregor’s hand on his head was meant to be comforting. “If I thought for one second that alpha would accept you as his fated mate, I’d be so damn happy for you, you know that. Haven’t I told you damn near every day of your life, your chair does not define who you are inside?”
Overcome with emotion, Devyn nodded. Gregor never made him feel like he was ‘less than’ even when he was a baby and the big bear carried him around everywhere.
“Then believe me, when I tell you Rex is going to need a huge attitude adjustment before I let him near you again.”
“I thought you said he wasn’t allowed to come here ever again.” Devyn felt a spark of hope at his guardian’s words.
“Remember when I said he was a dumb as rocks alpha?” Gregor let out a rare grin. “He’ll be back. He won’t be able to stay away. But the next time he comes here, he’d better have his head on straight, or I’ll straighten it for him.”
Chapter Three
“That fancy pants of yours is out front, demanding to speak to you.”
Rex looked up from the papers he’d been staring blankly at for over an hour, to see his brother lounging on the door frame of his office. Like him, his brother was tall and sexy although Tony kept his hair long and had muscles on muscles. Beta born, Tony was built to protect a pack, even if the only protecting he did was Rex’s ass at the bar they co-owned together.
“He’s not my fancy pants.” Rex hadn’t told his brother what had happened at lunch that day. He’d spent all his time in his office trying to make sense of the enigma surrounding the cutest little omega he’d ever seen. “Sloane proposed to me today, in a warehouse of all places. He thought it was a good idea for us to get married for tax deductible reasons. I didn’t agree and told him we shouldn’t see each other anymore. You can tell him I’m busy and keep telling him that until he gets the message.”
“What the hell?” Instead of going back to the bar, like Rex hoped, Tony was in his office, door shut behind him, perched on a chair, clearly wanting details. “Bro, you have to admit, if you’re going to get married that guy ticks a lot of boxes. He’s pretty enough, loaded, and he worships your cock like it’s got its own altar. You’d be set for life if you took up with him.”
“If you think like that, maybe you should marry him then,” Rex scowled. “He said pretty much the same thing when he was proposing at lunch time. He’d even bought me a custom carved bed to seal the deal. Shows he figures that’s the only place we have anything in common.”
“That’s even better,” Tony laughed. “He’s not some tight ass who counts every cent he makes. He wants to buy you things, and he can’t be a hardship to fuck, or you’d never have gone back for seconds.”
“That wasn’t intentional.” Rex still blushed when he thought about the second time Sloane came onto him, and he didn’t blush easily. They originally met when Rex was grabbing a burger from an all-night truck stop. Sloane cruised by in his town car and decided he wanted a snack. Rex allowed himself to be picked up because he was horny. They’d gone back to Sloane’s, Rex made sure the guy came after he got his rocks off, and then he left. As far as he was concerned that was the end of it.
Two nights later, Sloane was waiting for him by his car after he finished work that night. When Rex tried to give him the brush off, he found his pants around his ankles and his cock being sucked. No guy could think straight with something like that going on, so when Sloane said he wanted to be fucked in his bed, Rex felt it was only polite to go along.
And so, it went on, until Rex was spending almost every damn night at Sloane’s place. While the sex wasn’t the greatest, it did mean Rex could focus on his business during working hours instead of being tempted by sexy patrons, so he hadn’t complained.
Until Sloane started dropping hints about controlling other aspects of his life, like the clothes he wore, his interactions with Tony, and the way he ran his bar. Even before the proposal debacle, Rex had already made up his mind to cut things off with the man.
“Look, just tell him I’m busy and leave me alone. These taxes won’t file themselves.” And I can’t think about that cute little omega if you’re blabbering in my ear.
“I still think you’re making a mistake, bro,” Tony leveraged his bulk out of the chair. “You could do a lot worse than a rich investment broker who bends over with a smile.”
“If you want him, you fuck him, but don’t be surprised if you end up with a collar around your neck.” Rex kept his head down, the surge of bar noise heralded Tony leaving. Fortunately, he thought to close the door behind him. Giving up all pretense of working, Rex leaned back in his chair, resting his feet on the aforementioned tax papers.
Devyn. Rex couldn’t stop thinking about him. Everything from the mop of blond hair to his cute button nose appealed to him. The m
ore he thought, the more his wolf supplied details of the intriguing man he thought he’d missed. Those white slender fingers; the signet ring he wore on his pinky finger of the left hand. The thin gold rims of his glasses and the fullness of his pale pink lips. Devyn looked young, but then all omegas did, and the bear made it plain it was Devyn’s shop not his, so he had to be an adult.
And then there was the whole aspect of the omega working with a bear. Shit, they weren’t just working together. The bear admitted he’d been the one to save Devyn from certain death, raising the child as his own. Because the pack culled him – left him for dead. Rex heard a moan of distress and realized it was coming from his mouth. My little mate could’ve been dead before he ever had a chance to live.
But there was something else, something hidden in the words the bear had said. We all know how your kind feel about people with physical disabilities. It was as though Gregor was taunting him about something – something he should’ve known. Rex might have been alpha born, but he’d never in a million years sentence an innocent child to death, even the child of rogue parents. That sort of attitude, about culling the weak leaving the strong to survive, went out decades before. No one Rex knew had ever… FUCK.
Rex’s boots landed on the concrete floor with a thud as he suddenly recalled a horrific night in his home pack some twenty plus years before. Knowing he needed answers, Rex picked up the phone and tapped out the number he knew by heart. Three rings later, his father answered.
“What trouble have you got yourself into this time, boy?” Yeah, there was no love lost between himself and his old man. Normally Rex would’ve joked, snarled, or responded in a dozen other ways designed to remind his father he was an alpha in his own right. Instead he didn’t even bother with the pleasantries.
