I breathe out a sigh of relief, “Butcher’s one of yours.” My shoulders drop, and I finally relax, “No wonder he’s been so desperate and shifty with us, but yeah, if we can speed this along, with all due respect, I don’t think your bear stands a chance against the size of Brynn’s pack.”
Maria frowns at me, “His last check-in was five Alphas, two Betas. Vincent is well-trained and could handle that in his sleep. Are you telling me differently?”
“He counts at twenty or more now, half of that or more are Alphas, and he’s involved the non-shifters too; there are humans who know what we are. Your bear doesn’t stand a chance if he’s overwhelmed. Clay and Theo are already on the way, and Lucas will be around here somewhere… Pack Hawksridge are here too, they’re helping us.”
“Fuck!” I don’t think I’ve ever heard Maria curse before. Even when a massive fight broke out at one of the events, she just tilted her head back, howled, and ten Alphas of various species sat their asses down like they were about to get the belt in school. “This isn’t done, Anthony, I still need to speak to you about this, and I need to know how you made bodies disappear too… And why King is involved.” She’s tugging her clothes off, folding them neatly at the side, and I’m already shifting. I wish I could have cared that I’d been naked the entire conversation, but… Shifter things. Maria takes no time in shifting, and Atlas tears through his clothes, the big black and white wolf leading the charge into the woods. Maria’s pale sandy colored fur streaks past us and towards where we can sense our pack mates. Even with a weak, unlinked bond, I can feel their fear, their anger pulsing in the back of my skull like a migraine coming on, and I can only hope that we’re not too late. If Skye’s heat has come on after all the fighting and medications to push it back, then Brynn… No, I won’t think of that. If we can’t bond her, then I think it would be over for us. Lucas won’t handle another loss if what Prue and Beckett told us is anything to go by.Fuckity fuck fuck.Driving my legs harder, I overtake Maria as we plunge through the forest. Other nights, I’d live for a run through the trees, but I just can’t get my pack mates' fear out of my head and my Omega in need out of my head until I hear it, I hear the scream of her nameahead of us, then her howling through the trees.Fuck.There’s another wolf there, too. I can smell them now, one of Brynn's pack coming for my Omega. With a return howl, I put my entire fucking heart into crying out for my girl. She only needs to hang on a little longer, keep her head for another minute, and I’ll be there. We’re not letting her go, over my dead fucking body will they take her now, when we’re so close to being a pack.
Fury
Goddess, she smells good. Her heat is here at last, and with the sounds of fighting backing us, I charge into the clearing and straight for the strange wolf who thinks he can claim what is mine. Hot blood sprays across my face and neck, clamping my jaws and shaking my head like he’s nothing more than a ragdoll until he stops moving. I drop him to the floor to let him feed the wildlife and serve as a warning to the others. Taking a step towards my Omega, I lap at my muzzle and lock eyes with her. I know exactly what happens now. This is something older than Alpha and Omega, and we’re caught up in rites that neither of us has control over.
Maria skids into the clearing just as Skye turns and runs away from the fray, and deeper into the trees. Atlas pulls up beside me just in time for another rival to peel towards the path our Omega took. He’s only in sight for a second before a heavy gold and black body hits him from above, and the crunch of the top of his spine between a jaguar's teeth is almost sickening. I was wondering if Lucas would ever show, but I shouldn’t have doubted that he’d be here protecting her when he is truly needed. He pads over to us before shifting, chest covered in blood and limping from a wound on his thigh, but he waves me off, eying Maria. He’s well aware of who she is and is rightly suspicious.
“Go after Skye, Fury. We’ve got this under control, Butcher isn’t…” He’s interrupted by Maria shifting, filling him in quickly before the two of them return to their fur and move back to the calamity of fighting just out of sight. Atlas goes with them unwillingly, forcing me to bark at him until I turn. I lift my head, scenting the thick pheromone cocktail of my Omega, and follow her into the darkness.
There are times when I love how clever she is, getting Theo back on the horse, helping Clay with panic attacks. Then there are times that I despise it. She’s not playing chase with me here, and as I stand at the edge of the river that she’s run through, she’s trying to mask her smell and doing a fairly good job of it. Scanning the opposite bank, I can see some marks where she’s scrambled up, but then another, better hidden set a little further up. Smart Omega is testing to see if her Alpha is worth his salt.
Following the further track, I catch a hint of where she’s left her silvery fur in a thicket of thorns as she’s brushed past them. It’s a little trail, just for me, and I follow the brief eddies of her scent in the wind, and against the trunks where she’s made sure to leave the tiniest hints.
My ears twitch back and forward at every noise. There’s the rush of water from the river behind us, frogs croaking, night birds calling to their mates, and even an owl as I pass below her. The ground is soft, loamy, and I can catch little hints of paw prints here and there, pressed into the mud, and follow them. Her scent is so fucking thick here that it fogs my head, and I feel like I spend far too long salivating over a tiny drip of slick on the dirt before I realize she’s leading me home. Around in circles, sure, but we’re definitely going back towards the ranch, and I grit my teeth, letting out a sharp bark and lope homeward. When I’ve only made it a minute or two of running that I hear her; she’s running alongside me just out of sight, and with a sharptwist, I bolt after her, watching her turn tail between the bushes. Gotcha, Skye.
She might be smaller and more agile as she dances around the roots and sprouting saplings, but my legs are longer, and I catch up to her without much effort. I wait until there’s a break in the trees, just big enough for us to lie before I leap, clamping teeth on her scruff and taking her to the ground. We shift before we hit the dirt, and I wrap my arms around her to shield her naked body as we roll, laughing as we spin.
We’re filthy, covered in mud and leaves and mosses, but it’s wild and primal and exactly what we both need for this feral claiming. My hand wraps in her hair, gripping the dark, fiery strands. I fist them and pull her head back to nip at her throat, tasting the heat on her skin. She’s gorgeous under me, all that bare skin marked up by our run, leaves plastered to her, and the wet sheen of the dew drops. Those big ocean eyes stare up, and for a second, it feels like she’s judging my very soul before her lids drop and her mouth opens on a quiet, “Fury…”
“Goddess above, Firecracker, you smell like heaven… You smell like…Mine.”I rumble into her ear, pressing my body down the length of hers. She freezes as the thick bars of piercings press down on her, but instead of fear, she perfumes, filling our little cubby with a boozy haze that's taking over my senses, making me purr for her. Melting under me, I give her a second to adjust to my weight before I can’t hold it back any longer. The feral hunger overtakes me, and I’m not aware of how we end up in a new position, but she’s got her face pressed into the dirt, her ass up in the air. She’s going to be absolutely covered in mud at this rate, but I can’t find it within myself to give a single iota of a fuck as I grip my cock and run it around her entrance. Between her slick and the pearly drops of pre-cum, we’re both absolutely soaked. I fight for a second to pull back, not to force the whole length, half-swollen knot, included, straight into her. “You sureabout this, Firecracker? Once I start, I ain’t stopping until you’ve taken my knot and my bite, and you’re part of my pack.”
“Bite, fuck.” She chirps, wiggling her ass against me, trying to push back even as I pin her hips with my other hand to try and stop her. “Please. Please, Alpha, want your knot and your mark! Want to be pack.” And that undoes me.Who knewOmegas could be so fucking persuasive when they beg so sweetly?
“I’ll make you count every fuckin’ bar sometime, Omega, but now, you’re going to be a good girl and remember that you’re my Firecracker, yeah? You’re the best thing that’s happened to this pack, and we love you, but right now…” I lean over her, pressing my weight onto her back, “Right now I’m going to fuck you like I don’t.” Then I bottom out in a single thrust, her slick gliding me in like I’m on ice.
Fuck she’s tight, fitting around me like a glove as I pull out, feeling the pop of each ring of my ladder as they slide back. She’s beneath me, one long drawn whimper escaping between begging words. I don’t even think it is words anymore, just any sound to make sure I fill her again, pushing back in. Neither of us is going to last long this time, and she’s too far into heat for me to push her; we both need the relief, and I’ll give her everything else later.
Releasing her hair, I wrap an arm around her waist to get my fingers against her clit, circling it until I find a rhythm she likes, the whining turning into high keens as she tries to desperately rock her hips against me, but I wait, wait until she’s desperate before my hips move again. She’s already clenching around me, slick soaking us both when I power forward, hissing at the rippling walls trying to pull my orgasm out of me. My hips meet her ass hard, pistoning against her, both of us dissolving into feral growls and guttural noises as my knot starts to catch, the effort to pull it out harder and harder. I can feel the moment she detonates under me. Her cunt clamps down, stops me frompulling back, and my only option is to push deeper, my knot forcing through her muscle until it pops inside and locks us tight. My vision whites as my balls throb and I fill her with the first pulses of my seed, my head bowing to her neck and teeth sinking through. Blood fills my mouth, and my Omega yelps, crashing forward and pulling me down on top of her, stuck together as we ride out the waves of pleasure and pain, her hands dragging my arm forward to sink her neat little canines in return.
Fuck.
Colors explode in the back of my brain. Where once there was only a thin aura of my pack, she’s there now, in my mind, her emotions flooding me with warmth. I can feel her settling there like it’s where she was always meant to be. She’s happy,no,she’s fucking ecstatic at having this. There’s a soft undertone of longing, swept away by our awe, the ribbon of her very soul tying around mine in a perfect silver leash.
No pack lessons in school, or books of research could have ever prepared me for sharing my very existence with this woman. Everything settles all at once, the colors dimming, the emotions turning from a tornado into a flowing river, always there, always present, but not overpowering as they are. Warm, wet trails trickle down my face, splashing on her back, and I don’t care as I sob against her, clutching my Omega to me, lapping at the wound on her shoulder like it’s my last lifeline to this world. I don’t even stop when our pack steps out of the trees, first Atlas, Lucas, then Clay and Theo, looking a little worse for wear, but they all share the same stunned expression. She’s ours now. She’s really ours and she’s here to stay. My chest rumbles to life, purring for my Omega as I tip us to our sides, spooning her in the mud, but I couldn’t care less about the dirt, the bugs, or our pack watching with wanton, longing gazes. Atlas always did look at her like she hung the moon and stars. Theo stepsforward, and I can’t help the possessive growl that slips out before I smother it against Skye’s hair, tucking her tighter to my body.
“We should probably get her back to her nest, she’s going to need it soon when she fully drops… And there are still a few people around here that you probably don’t want seeing our girl naked, huh?” I know there’s sense in his words, I know that it should mean something to me, but I’m just drifting. Tamest rut I ever went through, but it won’t last long. I can smell her heat ramping up, and I know this is only the start.
Teddy
It takes us an hour before Fury can finally untangle himself from our Omega. We manage to get them in the dented ATV, buckled in as best as we can, and cover them with one of the old horse rugs that was in the back. But there’s hay in it, and I can see Skye scowling and clawing at her skin as the itchiness and prickling stems catch her. She’s almost completely non-verbal now, our usually vocal Omega reduced to growls, chirps, and occasionally whining for a knot. I had thought that only Alphas are really affected by an Omega in heat, but by the goddess was I wrong, my cock is tenting my jeans so hard I’m gonna have the imprint of my zipper pressed against the head, and Clays hand drifting across the seat to cup my bulge as he drives is almost enough to make me come all over myself. When we pull up to the ranch house, all our mouths drop as Fury hands control over to Lucas, who’s gritting his teeth and snatching our girl away already. Sliding out of his seat, he carries her towards the door, barking back orders.
“Everyone in the shower, I’m going to clean our Omega… Don’t need dirt getting into awkward places, huh,amorzhino?Can someone get wet wipes or cloths for cleaning her up between rounds, and something sweet too? We’ll need to tempt her to the bathroom after knots. Omegas are pretty resistant to UTIs,” He grimaces, looking down at the vixen in his arms, whiningand reaching for his crotch, “But I really don’t fancy trying to get antibiotics in her whilst she’s in heat. Atlas, stock the mini fridge, Clay, fresh bed sheets… Theo, you’re gonna be the most important man here when we all lose our heads to rut, okay? Can’t do this without you.”
It warms right to my heart that he’s making sure I know it. I can see Lucas now as a Cardinal, tough, but so caring and loyal to his pack mates, and I hope he can be like that around us with the help of our little Omega. I’m hobbling to the door a little behind everyone when my own Prince Charming swoops me up. Clay smiles at me when I lean up to kiss his cheek. He knows I hate being carried around, but we’re all getting a little desperate to get to the nest. So I can’t really complain, not when I’m as rock hard to be inside of her as everyone else is.
“Will you bond me again?” I murmur to Clay, tucking myself against him as he adjusts his grip beneath the metal of my leg. I swear for a second that he stumbles, then stops dead on the stairs to gape down at me, eyes wide.
“You want my bond again? You want to be mine again?” He licks his lips, eying my neck with a hunger I rarely see on him, past his controlled exterior. Though just behind it, the anxiety eats at him, “You’re sure? You’ll be stuck to me forever this time. No more losing limbs to get away from me.” His lips find the sensitive patch behind my ear and nip as he continues up the stairs, following the rest of them. We only stop briefly to grab sheets—or more so, I grab the sheets whilst he totally refuses to put me down. I pull out two soft cotton sets, neatly folded and tucked into their pillowcases, before we resume our journey up to the suite, where our Omega is spread out across her purple sheets already. Lucas is behind her, his body pillowing hers with his fingers cupping her breasts, rolling her nipples until they’re deep pink and pebbled. Fury is at her side, lapping at the fresh wound still over her shoulder, his other hand claspedpossessively over her belly, fingers curving into the softness. And then, of course, between her legs, Atlas is eating her out like he’d die without it. I can see the canines peeking from his mouth, his tongue thicker and longer as he laps at her hole, trying desperately to scoop every drop of her slick. None of the others turn to us when we enter, though Lucas gives us a salacious smirk, gesturing us over with a head tilt since Fury is completely enamored with his claiming mark. Skye looks like she’s in heaven, her head back against Lucas’ dark chest, eyes shut, and mouth open to let her little whimpering pants escape. Clawing her fingers through the longer locks on top of Atlas’s head, he growls and slips two thick fingers into her. My cock jerks at the wet, slicking sounds when his arm works her alongside his mouth.
“Fury’s gonna be out for a while, all those feel-good hormones from bonding are… Something else.” Lucas groans as she presses back into him.
Ignoring the comment, I frown at the filth covering them and the bed… And the plush carpets as well, “I thought you were going to get clean.”
