“I know we will,” Kade agreed, reaching up to clasp my wrist and tapping his index finger on the small compass tattoo that matched his own. “Every battle won, not on this hill.”
Damned if my eyes didn’t tear up. “We’re not dying; not here, not now.”
“Not here, not now,” Kade repeated, pounding his closed fist to his breast, directly over his heart. “Now, if you’re done making me fucking cry, I’ve got shit to do.”
I snorted a laugh. “Pretty sure you’re the one who spouted off with the battle cry from years gone by.”
Kade shrugged, a shit eating grin spreading over his lips. “Tell yourself what you need to,” he mock scoffed as we reached my office and he turned down the hall to the right. “Let me know when you know something.”
Dropping into my office chair, I swiveled to look out the window, remembering the day so many months ago when the compound had been overcome for the first time in its history. Ironically, it had been an attempt to take Jeremy from us, to strip him and his unborn daughter of Kade’s protection. Spoiler, they failed but, and it is a hugebut, the attackers hadn’t been packing weapons tipped in silver. Granted, as a hyena, Kade wouldn’t have been as susceptible as a wolf -and he’d been damned determined to win- but without the backup of the werewolves on the staff, myself included, it would have been a much longer fight.
Now, with an enemy hundreds-strong that we knew would be prepared for our weakness, I was left with an untenable decision to make: did I call in reinforcements, knowing full well that I was asking them to risk everything for my dream? Or did I abandon ship, evacuating the Omegas with the soul-deep knowledge that everything I had built, the physical embodiment of my life’s work would be destroyed?
Turning away from the window, I left the deeper question for later- possibly after a stiff drink or six- and returned to the tasks I’d been called away from earlier. Once the bills had been rubber-stamped and placed in myoutbin to be passed off to the accountant, I blew out a deep breath and flicked my finger across the screen of my cell phone, tapping on Drey’s name.
“This is Drey,” his familiar voice flowed through the earpiece, smoother now than it had been when we’d first met years before, aged like a fine whiskey.
“Hey, man. It’s Chuck,” I greeted, not waiting for the usual pleasantries but knowing he’d forgive. “We’ve got a shitstorm brewing and I think we’re going to need your help.”
I’d known Drey long enough to know that the slight pause that followed was him reaching for his pen and notepad rather than him having been affronted at my approach.
“Alright,” Drey said calmly. “Lay it on me.”
Drawing in another deep breath, I began talking and didn’t stop until I’d shared every single detail I thought could possibly be important, Drey’s pen scratching as he took notes the entire time. When I was done, another silent pause came, this one I was sure was Drey reviewing his notes to organize his thoughts before he broke it.
“Okay, Chuck. I think I got all of that and I have some ideas, but I do have a few questions.”
A deep feeling of relief came over me as I settled back in my chair and propped my boots up on my desk. “Let’er rip.”
Julian
Exhausted by the walk from the infirmary to my new temporary home in Chuck’s quarters, when I woke up who knows how much later, I only vaguely remembered Chuck helping me into bed and then tucking the fluffy blankets under my chin before I’d drifted off again.
The first thing I noticed when my senses started to perk up was that sleeping next to an Alpha in a hotel bed was absolutely nothing like waking up in said Alpha’sownbed with layers of bedding that were saturated in his scent and residual pheromones.
The next thing I noticed was that I was very definitely feeling better. At least, my dick was if my morning – err, late afternoon -wood was to be believed.
Unfortunately, the thing I noticed after that was that I was still very much alone in the fluffy, Alpha-scented cloud of a bed. Rolling over onto my belly, I shoved my face in the pillow, sucking in deep breaths of Chuck’s scent, my hips shifting lazily shift against the mattress beneath me.
When my skin rubbed against the knit of the pajama pants I was wearing, I huffed in annoyance and squirmed out of them, shoving them to the bottom of the bed before pulling my t-shirt over my head and tossing it on the floor.
With nothing between my body and the silky, soft, Alpha-infused sheets, I groaned and began to hump the bed in earnest, barely even registering the click of the door opening and reclosing until a soft groan came from beside the bed. Pulling my face free of the pillow, I blinked when I found myself face-to-crotch with Chuck.
“Feeling better?” he murmured, a teasing note in the low growl.
I snorted and tore my eyes away from the situation tenting his khaki slacks and raised them to his face with an innocent smile. “Who, me?”
“You want some privacy to finish that up? There’s lube in the nightstand, if you need it.”
Rolling onto my back, I noticed that the aching in my head had finally subsided. “I’d rather you take those clothes off and come snuggle me.”
Chuck snickered and sat down on the edge of the bed to remove his shoes. “Snuggle, huh? I guess I can handle that.”
When he was down to his briefs, I lifted the edge of the covers, sighing with pleasure when his large, warm body pressed up against me, my face rubbing against the thick, coarse hair covering his chest.
“Mm, feels good.” I shifted my hips closer, relishing the slight gasp he released when my erection brushed his, only separated by the thin fabric of his underwear.
One large hand came up to stroke my head as I rubbed against him. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Chuck checked in quietly. “I don’t know how your head will feel if you orgasm. The increase in blood pressure could be painful.”
