Bitten By Mistake (20 page)

Nathan grinned, as did the rest of the room. Alpha Newell would be pissed as hell at the nickname, and Cam knew it. It served as a good way to remind his pack that although he was asking them to work together, he didn’t like it any more than they did. “We need to track down their base and their leader, and stop this before it escalates. Your betas will explain our new working arrangements.” Cam stepped back and gestured for his betas to take over.

They took turns speaking, explaining how instead of working in teams of two, everyone would now be in a team of four no matter the job—two Regent’s Park and two Primrose Hill. That meant more shifts to cover everything and also working in P-Pack territory.

Nathan’s mind wandered to Jared waiting for him back at his flat. That would mean more time away from him, and all of a sudden, the ache was back with a vengeance. He closed his eyes for a second and barely resisted rubbing his chest.

“Good to see you, Nathan. It’s been a while.”

Nathan startled so badly it was embarrassing. His eyes snapped open; half the room had emptied. His unit were all staring at him, as was Cam, who’d made his way over without Nathan realising. How long had he had his eyes closed?

For fuck’s sake, Nathan, get a grip.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Yeah, sorry about that.” Meeting Cameron’s gaze caused his stomach to flutter, as it always did, but the effect Cam had on him wasn’t as pronounced as usual. His alpha was still hot, but Nathan found he no longer had to work at hiding his reaction. “Sorry, I’ve been busy with….”

Biting? Fucking?

How could he possibly end that sentence?

To his utter relief, Cam laughed loudly and patted him on the shoulder. “Yeah, no need to explain. I think we can all smell what you’ve been busy with.”

Nathan blushed but breathed an internal sigh of relief that his alpha hadn’t asked him anything he’d have to answer with a lie. He wasn’t sure he had it in him to do that.

Cam smiled and pulled Nathan slightly off to one side. It gave them the illusion of privacy, and most of the pack would actively try not to listen.

“Your parents would be proud that you’ve finally found someone.”

Maybe I spoke too soon.

Nathan opened his mouth to protest, but Cam rolled his eyes.

“Don’t even try and deny it, Nate. Not only have I known you since you were ten, I’m also your alpha. I can sense your feelings run deeper than just sex this time. Which is handy, as it turns out I didn’t lie to our supposed new allies.”

“You think they’d be proud, even though he’s human?” Nathan’s words burst out of him before he could stop them. Bringing up his parents had that effect on him.

Cam clasped his shoulder again and held on this time. “Yes, I do. My wife was human, Nate, and she fitted in with this pack as well as any shifter.”

Shit.
How could I forget?

“Of course, I’m not sure how that would have played out now that I’m alpha.” Cam’s smile was wry; thank God, Nathan hadn’t pissed him off. “But I’m sure she’d have won people over. She didn’t need to shift to be formidable.”

“Did you offer her the bite?”

Oh my God.

Nathan wanted to clap his hands over his mouth to stop the words spilling out. He’d never thought to bring that up in all the years he’d known Cam. Why was he doing it now? And in public too. So inappropriate.

Cam sighed and glanced around at the curious glances aimed their way. “I think that’s a discussion for another time.”

With that, he squeezed Nathan’s arm and left the room.

Gareth cleared his throat and Nathan met his gaze immediately. He felt a dozen pairs of eyes on him and chose to ignore everyone but Gareth. “Now that we’ve got your full attention, Nathan, I’ll tell you the plans for the rest of the week.”

Nathan bid Luke goodbye and unlocked his door as fast as he could. Gareth’s instructions for the working week and the upcoming weekend were shit, to put it mildly. Nathan understood the need to work together and find those arseholes, but working fifteen hours a day wasn’t something to look forward to. And with shifters from another pack, who were undoubtedly going to rub him up the wrong way.

As soon as he stepped inside, he filled his lungs with the comforting scent of home—a mixture of him, Jared, and sex. It curled around Nathan like a warm blanket, and he leaned back against the door, drinking it in. It also had another effect on him, and he reached down to adjust his cock. With any luck, Jared was still in bed.

He unbuckled his belt as he walked through the living room to the bedroom door. It stood ajar from when Nathan left earlier, and his pulse raced at the implication.

“Fuck,” he whispered when he caught sight of Jared sprawled out on his bed. Jared had moved onto his back, with one arm up next to his head, and pushed the quilt down to his hips, leaving his top half on display. If Nathan couldn’t hear the soft, rhythmic breathing, he’d think Jared had staged the whole thing.

Wetting his lips in anticipation, Nathan leaned on the door until it gently clicked shut.

Jared stirred but didn’t wake up. The quilt slipped tantalisingly lower, and Nathan wanted to get his mouth all over that. He stripped out of his clothes, dropped them onto the floor, and climbed onto the bed.

God, Jared was beautiful to look at—from his two-toned hair to his creamy skin and the flat plane of his belly. Ever so carefully, Nathan peeled the quilt lower, revealing Jared’s cock, lying half-hard against his groin. Nathan dipped down and licked along the length of it. Jared whimpered in his sleep and Nathan smiled. Using his tongue, he teased the head of Jared’s cock up and slid his mouth around it.

Jared was still soft enough for Nathan to fit all of him in, and Nathan moaned as Jared hardened inside him. Holding the base of Jared’s dick, Nathan pulled back, then slid his lips down to meet his fist. He knew the exact moment Jared woke up—Jared’s breath hitched and then a soft groan fell from his lips, followed by an “Oh fuck.”

Strong hands fisted Nathan’s hair, holding his head while Jared thrust his hips upward. Then Jared tensed, loosening his grip as if only just realising what he was doing, and Nathan wondered if he was still half-asleep.

“Shit, sorry.” Jared’s hips stilled, with what felt like a great effort on Jared’s part.

Nathan wanted none of it. Glancing up to meet Jared’s gaze, he grabbed Jared’s hands and curled the fingers back into his hair. Then he slid his hands under Jared’s arse, letting his claws out enough to prick the skin and make Jared flinch upwards. Nathan moaned loudly as Jared’s cock slipped farther down his throat, hoping Jared got the hint.

A second later, Jared grabbed Nathan’s hair tight enough to hurt and thrust his hips upwards with purpose.

Yes, that’s what I want.

Nathan closed his eyes as Jared used his mouth, fucking into him with short, sharp movements. His eyes watered and his throat burned, and Nathan wanted to roar with the feel of it. He let his claws dig in a little more. The moment they pierced Jared’s skin, Jared cried out, his cock pulsing on Nathan’s tongue as he came.

Nathan swallowed it all, then licked his lips as he sat back on his heels and wrapped a hand around his cock. Jared spread his thighs and Nathan shuffled closer, stroking himself hard and fast. He was so close already, and having Jared staring up at him looking sated, happy, and thoroughly debauched tipped him over the edge. Throwing his head back, Nathan closed his eyes and let out the roar that’d been building since he got his mouth on Jared’s cock.

Orgasm rushed through him, a wave of intense heat that seemed to go on forever. With a low moan of satisfaction, Nathan opened his eyes and looked down. Then he grinned wide at the mess he’d made of Jared.

“You won’t think it’s so funny when I come all over
your
face.” Jared huffed, then flicked out his tongue and licked Nathan’s come off his bottom lip.

Funny
was the last thing Nathan thought as he watched. Jared had streaks of come over his neck, his chin, his mouth, and one cheek. It was so hot to see him marked up like that, and Nathan moved without thinking, covering Jared’s mouth with his own and tasting himself on Jared’s tongue.

Jared’s
mmph
of surprise cut off as he kissed back and grabbed at Nathan’s shoulders to pull him down on top of him.

“Fuck,” Jared muttered between kisses, that’s got to be my favourite way to wake up.”

Nathan smiled, feeling proud of himself and not caring how sappy that made him seem. “Yeah?”

“God, yes. Feel free to wake me like that forever.”

He closed his eyes, clearly not realising what he’d said, but the words cut straight to Nathan’s heart. He didn’t know which of his emotions were caused by the bond and which weren’t. Maybe all of them were bond-related, but that would mean everything between them could be gone with the full moon. The thought made him feel ill, and he rolled to the side. Sitting up with his elbows on his knees, Nathan tried to imagine what it would be like if the bond disappeared and Jared was gone from his life. Fuck, he couldn’t do it.

“Hey.” Jared ran a hand up his back, soothing him, and Nathan sucked in a shuddery breath. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Nathan turned to look at him, the smile automatic as his gaze landed on Jared’s face again. Unable to help himself, he thumbed at the line of come on Jared’s chin, rubbed it into his skin, then did the same on his cheek and neck.

Jared rolled his eyes but made no move to stop him. “I must reek of you, huh?”

Nathan’s smile widened. “Yep.”

“Awesome.” Jared looked less than thrilled, but all Nathan could think was
yes, it is
. Jared yawned at the same time as his stomach rumbled. “God, I’m starving after that.” He stretched, and Nathan watched with renewed hunger as his muscles bunched and flexed. “Fancy some breakfast?”

Nathan nodded, pushing down his arousal for now.

“Then you can tell me what happened in your supersecret pack meeting.” Jared made an exaggerated eye-roll as he said it, sarcasm heavy in his voice, but the curve of his lips took the sting out of it. “Come on.” He climbed out of bed, then halted and glanced down at himself. “I tell you what. You go and put the kettle on while I shower.”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah.” He was distracted by the curve of Jared’s arse and watched him walk out of the bedroom. Then, when he disappeared from sight, he flopped back onto the bed.

Jesus.

Nathan put his hands over his face as the events of the past few days threatened to overwhelm him. The constant ebb and flow of his emotions was starting to take its toll. With their bond in full effect, Nathan felt grounded, with just an overwhelming sense of
rightness
, but when it simmered down to the barest of connections, the loss was palpable. Anxiety gnawed at his insides as he thought about the many things that could go wrong before the full moon. He couldn’t think beyond that.

The sound of the shower going on caught his attention; Jared must have left the door open. As tempting as it was to go and join him, Nathan had to leave for work in just over an hour, and since it was with his new workmates, he couldn’t afford to be late. With a heavy sigh, he got up and headed to the kitchen to make tea.

“So let me get this straight.” Jared handed Nathan a bacon sandwich and followed him over to the table. “Your pack and the Primrose Hill pack—” He sniggered and shook his head. “It sounds so…
quaint
for a bunch of ferocious shifters.”

“Don’t let any of them hear you say that.” Nathan shuddered at the thought.

“Anyway.” Jared waved his sandwich in the air, shushing him. “Your two packs used to be the same one until about ten years ago?”

“Yes. Then the pack wars started, and there were disagreements within our pack as to how we should fight and who we should side with.”

“Go on.” Jared set his plate down and sipped his tea. “Sounds like a good story.”

It was perhaps Nathan’s least-favourite story ever, and it painted his pack and the Primrose Hill one in a terrible light. “A lot of people died during the fighting, on all sides. Our alpha at the time made some questionable decisions—” One that Nathan was sure had led to his parent’s death, but he wasn’t about to bring that up. “—and once the agreements were made, and truces put in place, his betas killed him.”

Jared’s mouth fell open in shock. “They
murdered
him? Can they do that? I know there’s certain laws that shifters don’t have to abide by, but I didn’t think murder was one of them.”

Nathan set his plate down, his appetite gone. “As long as no humans are harmed, then the police stay out of it unless specifically requested to intervene. And no, they didn’t murder him in cold blood.”

Jared frowned. “But you just said—”

“His strongest beta challenged him for leadership, and the other betas backed him up. The alpha had no choice but to fight.”

“I’m guessing he lost.”

“Yes, he lost. In a fight like that, there can be up to three challengers for the alpha to beat.”

“That seems really fucking unfair.”

Nathan sighed. “The alpha is supposed to be the strongest, fastest, and best fighter in the pack and know how to put the needs of the pack first. The fact that he was challenged at all meant he’d failed at the last one. Going against your alpha is the last resort for any shifter, believe me.”

Jared finished his tea and put the mug on the table. “So, then what happened? Why did the pack split?”

“The betas joined together to defeat the alpha, but the pack was still split. There was no one obviously in place to take over. Although most wanted to follow Cam, a significant number of the pack wanted Steven Newell as alpha.” Nathan hated to think what state they’d be in today if Newell had been put in charge of all of them. “To avoid more bloodshed, they decided to divide the pack and give Newell Primrose Hill as his pack territory.”

“And there’s still animosity between them after all this time?”