Getting Close to the Omega (14 page)

you and Matthew are mated, then that power will magnify. It’s

who you are – a peacemaker.”

Dean leaned his head on Matthew’s chest and seemed to be

hanging on for grim death. Matthew brought his arms around

Dean’s chest carefully, not wanting to crush the smaller man,

pleased that Dean seemed to find support in his embrace.

When Dean raised his head, he glared at Kane. “Is that why

you want me in the pack? Because it seems to me that my

powers will make you stronger as an Alpha. Is that why you

have accepted Matthew and me now, when you wouldn’t

yesterday?”

Kane didn’t seem upset that Dean was being so blunt. In fact

he smiled, which surprised Matthew. Most Alphas wouldn’t take

kindly to being challenged so bluntly. “I didn’t know anything

about this until yesterday, Dean. I promise you. But I wanted

you in the pack from the day we met, because I wanted to help

you, and I like to think that I did. Shawn is right though. Your

power is so subtle, and yet, when it’s not there, man, the

testosterone in even our little pack comes out in droves. Dinner

last night was not the relaxed affair it usually is.”

Dean smiled a bit at that, but then he said, “Look Kane, I never

wanted to leave the pack. In fact I don’t see our group as a

pack. It is my family and now I want Matthew in my family as

well – as my mate. Surely you can understand that?”

Kane stood up, and so did Shawn. Patting Dean on the

shoulder, he nodded at Matthew, and said, “I do and as soon

as you two have claimed each other we will hold a pack dinner

to celebrate, which is what I should have done in the first

place. You won’t even have to cook.”

“No, because you’ll get Shawn to do it,” Dean said with a grin.

“Keep in touch,” Kane said, as he went to go out of the door.

“Kylan is still around somewhere, and we haven’t got any new

leads, so stick as close together as you can, okay?”

“I promise Alpha,” Matthew said, looking down at his mate. “In

fact that won’t be a hardship at all.”

Dean caught himself humming as he put the finishing touches

on dinner. It was a habit he had, when things were going well

in his life – usually when he was cooking or creating something

artistic. Matthew had slipped down the road to get his things

from the pack house, after Dean had assured him he wanted

his mate living with him, even if they hadn’t claimed each other

yet. He had decided it was time to wow his mate with his

cooking skills. He and Matthew had spent the day rolling

around in bed, enjoying a few blowjobs, and lots and lots of

those delicious kisses that Matthew seemed to love as much as

he did. His mate had to have built up an appetite.

While Dean was curious as to why Matthew hadn’t claimed him

yet – with the bite at least – he did appreciate Matthew’s

decision to take things slow. At one point there, in the

afternoon, when Matthew was driving him mad by sucking up

hickeys all around his throat, the words ‘bite me’ were right on

the tip of his tongue. But something made him hold back, and

as he started mashing the potatoes he realized what it was. He

wanted his mate to claim him properly – and that meant

having sex.

Dean knew that Matthew wouldn’t broach the idea of having

anal sex with him, unless he brought it up, and while Dean

totally appreciated the patience his mate was showing, it did

put him in a difficult position. As an Omega, Dean was

naturally submissive. His only experiences with sex, prior to

meeting Matthew, had been hard, fast and something to

endure – being forced to submit with ill-used Alpha power. He

knew how to articulate what he didn’t want, but he didn’t have

a clue how to ask for the things he dared to dream about now

that he’d met Matthew. Dean was also worried that if he said

that he wanted Matthew to penetrate him – actually have sex –

and then he freaked out because the action brought on

flashbacks or something, then his kind hearted mate would

never forgive himself.

Resolving to try and talk about how he was feeling to Matthew,

after they had eaten, Dean put the potatoes into a casserole

dish, and sprinkled the top with grated cheese. Ten minutes in

the oven and dinner would be ready. He just hoped that

Matthew would be back by then.

Suddenly there was a loud thump at the back door, and Dean

hurried to open it, figuring it was Matthew with an arm full of

stuff. But the man standing outside on his back porch wasn’t

Matthew. It was Kylan, and Dean felt his stomach lurch at the

almost manic look in the man’s blue eyes.

Kylan was built a lot like Kane, only smaller. Dean knew he was

a Beta wolf, with shoulder length brown curly hair, and a sneer

on his classically handsome face. What struck Dean was that

the man had no scent, and for a wolf shifter that was unheard

of. Maybe Kane’s idea of Kylan using magical powers was a

valid one. How else could he have gotten so close to pack land?

“Aren’t you going to invite me in, little Omega?” Kylan said, as

though it was commonplace for him to drop by and visit. Dean

shook his head. “No,” he managed to say, finding his voice at

last. “I have company coming over for dinner – a private

dinner. I think it would be best if you left.”

“Oh, I’m not here for dinner, Omega,” Kylan snarled. “I’m here

for you.” He reached up with his hand, and blew some kind of

dust, straight into Dean’s face.

Coughing from the dust, and wondering what the hell Kylan

was playing at, it took a moment for Dean’s brain to engage.

But Dean finally found his feet, turned and ran, planning to

head through the kitchen and out of the house through the

front door. He wasn’t a coward by any stretch of the

imagination, but he knew he couldn’t fight a man of Kylan’s

size. The manic look in Kylan’s eyes, and the lack of scent,

convinced Dean his best plan was to get help – quickly. But as

he ran into the kitchen, suddenly his feet froze, and his body,

which was so hell bent on going the other way, turned and he

found himself walking back to Kylan like a mind controlled

zombie.

His wolf! Dean reached inside, planning to shift. But his wolf

was unresponsive – Dean knew he was there, but he wouldn’t

come out, and in the meantime his fucking feet took him back,

until he was standing directly in front of Kylan. Kylan reached

out his hand and ran a deliberate finger down his cheek.

“That’s right little wolf, come to me. It’s lovely to see you so

submissive, so compliant. Everything I have ever looked for in

a man.” Frantically working his throat, Dean tried to speak, to

raise his arms, to yell, to do anything, but stand there helpless.

Kylan ran his hand down his chin, his throat and chest. Dean’s

skin was crawling with disgust, but he couldn’t do anything and

even though he was screaming inside of his mind, not a sound

came out of his mouth.

Kylan tilted his head as though listening for something.

“Hmmm,” he said. “I had hoped to have a little more time to

play with you before we left, but it seems your dinner guest

has arrived. Time to go little Omega.”

Matthew, Dean thought. Matthew is here. Matthew would kill

Kylan for laying his hands on him, Dean knew he would. But

as his heart rejoiced at knowing his mate was near, he didn’t

get any chance to enjoy it. Kylan swept him up in his arms as

though he weighed nothing, and sprinted for the tree line. This

was good, Dean kept saying in his head. Matthew could follow

his scent and he knew his mate would get onto it the moment

he realized that Dean wasn’t in the house.

As they ran through the forest, Dean kept up a steady mantra

in his head. Matthew had to find him, had to find him. If he got

taken against his will again he was sure his very soul would

break. Kylan ran into a small clearing, where a ring of black

stones had been placed. Dean never remembered seeing them

before. But just as he wondered what the hell was going on,

Kylan stepped into the circle, and the forest disappeared and

Dean felt nothing but air and darkness.

With one last scream of his mate’s name, resounding in his

head, Dean passed out.

/~/~/~/~/

Dean groaned as he came too, grateful that his voice box

seemed to be working at least. But that seemed to be the only

positive in his current situation. Struggling to open his eyes,

Dean tugged on his arms, only to find he had been restrained

with chains and manacles to a stone wall. Naked. The room he

was in, was just like a cell, built entirely out of stone, with one

tiny window that let enough light in for Dean to guess it must

be about lunchtime. That had to mean he had been

unconscious for at least twelve hours, probably more.

Fuck. Matthew would be frantic. More than anything, Dean

wished now that he had spoken up the afternoon before. That

he had found the courage somehow to ask Matthew to claim

him, properly. He didn’t give a stuff about the power that

Shawn had talked about. Dean wanted to reassure his mate

that he was alive, and while he wasn’t in the best of situations,

in all honesty he had been in exactly the same situation before.

A mind connection would have helped Matthew, and maybe

brought him some help sooner, rather than later.

The heavy wooden door to the cell opened, and Kylan walked

in with two other men that Dean had never seen before. One

was a tall, blond beautiful looking man, with the most amazing

white skin. He had an ethereal beauty, with fine features and a

slim build, like a dancer. But it was his eyes that caught Dean’s

attention. They were almost violet in color and the only person

Dean had ever seen with eyes like that, was Jax.

The second man was as dark as the blond was fair. He too had

the same white skin, but with his dark hair, he reminded Dean

of a wicked angel. He could have been the blond’s identical

twin, except for his hair coloring.

“This is the Omega, you were so hell bent on capturing?” The

dark haired one said.

“Yes,” said Kylan, with a leer on his face, stepping closer to

Dean. “The heart of the Cloverleah pack.”

“He’s very pretty,” said the blond, appearing at Dean’s side and

stroking his face. “But I don’t sense any of this power you told

us about. I can tell he is a wolf, but that is all.”

“Apparently the power is a subtle one,” Kylan said, clearly

pleased that Dean had garnered some interest from his

associates. “Until he is claimed. Once that has happened, his

powers will flourish and any Alpha we come across will be putty

in our hands. In the meantime his absence from Cloverleah will

cause all of the Alphas there to start fighting amongst

themselves, which will make that pack ripe for the taking.”

“I thought,” said the dark haired angel, “that in shifter culture

at least, the participants in a claiming had to be willing, and

there was sex involved.”

Kylan laughed. “I used to think that too, but I learned a lot

about how matings work, especially with gay men, in my short

time in the Cloverleah pack. It seems the mighty Damien

claimed Scott with a single bite and no sex involved. Diablo,

the cat shifter claimed Griff during sex, but he didn’t tell Griff

about it until much later. There was no permission granted in

either case.”

“But what about this fated mates business?” Said the blond,

getting impossibly closer. Dean was starting to feel edgy, but

he wasn’t in a position where he could move away. Chains

around ankles and wrists had a habit of hampering movement.

“Don’t shifters have to claim their one and only?”

Dean noticed that Kylan looked a little uncomfortable, but

clearly his associates couldn’t smell a lie, because Kylan

opened his mouth and did exactly that. “Any shifter can bite

another,” he said. “Once bitten they are bound as tightly, as

though the Fates themselves had made the match.”

Well aren’t you full of shit, Dean thought, but he kept those

thoughts to himself. One thing he did know about the mating