“And we’ll work up to fucking,” Ryker added. He grinned at Dylan. “Once you can handle double penetration, shifted sex shouldn’t be too challenging. We’ll get you there.”
Dylan swallowed, but his look of apprehension was mixed with enough intrigued arousal that August wasn’t worried.
“We’ll go slow,” August promised, kissing the top of his head. “And we won’t do anything you don’t want us to.”
He wondered if Dylan would let him sit on his face when he was shifted.
“I know,” Dylan said, the reminder seeming to give him a bit of comfort this time.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, the alarm on Steve’s phone alerted them that it was time to get dressed to head back outside.
August stripped off his clothes and changed into the stretchy shorts that seemed to be the official uniform of the pack’s dominance fights. The shorts were loose around his hips, but he knew that once he changed into his alpha shift they’d sit as tight as compression shorts.
“Ready?” Ryker asked, the gleam of anticipation in his eyes making August’s cock jerk. He loved seeing Ryker when he was in uber alpha mode.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” August said, hoping that he wasn’t about to get his ass handed to him. “You?”
Ryker had healed completely from both his fight with Marcus and from Steve’s claiming bite, and only the latter had scarred. The scar would stay for a few months before it faded, but the skin where the bite had been placed would always be sensitive.
“I think so,” Ryker said. He tugged his shorts up higher. “Right now, I just want to get this over with.” He turned to Dylan, who stood bundled up in a thick puffer coat, padded pants, and thick mittens. He held a fur-lined hat clutched in his hands. “Do you want to watch?”
Dylan nodded.
“All right then.” Ryker nodded at Steve and August. “Let’s go out there and show them what we’ve got.”
Steve led the way, Ryker just one step behind, leaving August to bring up the rear with Dylan. He took the boy’s hand, wrapping his fingers around it and giving it a small squeeze as they started walking.
When they reached the door leading out to the porch, Dylan pulled his hand out of August’s grip and put on his hat.
“Good luck,” Dylan said, looking up at him. He looked adorable, the fur-lined hat framing his face and making August want to grab his cheeks and pinch them.
“Thanks,” August said, his adrenaline surging as he mentally prepared himself to face off against the alphas of his new pack. He glanced over at Ryker, nodding at him and sharing a moment of understanding.
“Ready?” Steve asked, hand on the door. Ryker and August both nodded.
Steve pulled the door open. A blast of cold air hit August’s near naked body, making his skin prickle. He steeled himself against the cold and walked outside, coming face to face with his new alpha and Steve’s brother. Behind them, arranged in a semi-circle, were five new faces. The new arrivals ranged in age from mid-thirties to early fifties, but each of them looked like an alpha at the top of their game.
August could tell just by looking at them that they were all more dominant than him.
“Ryker, I’d like you to meet your fellow district alphas.” Miller turned and gestured at the men behind him. “Blaine, Zack, Henry, David and Odin. Guys, this is Ryker and August. Ryker will be in charge of the territory we’ve just annexed in Montana.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Odin volunteered, his expression carefully neutral. He reached out to shake Ryker’s hand. “I look forward to working with you.”
“You too,” Ryker said, shaking his hand and then repeated the interaction with the other four alphas. August watched them closely, and though each of the district alphas looked reserved, none of them felt hostile as they addressed his mate.
“Let’s do this,” John said, clapping his hands together when the introductions were over with. “Blaine, you and August go first, just to get it over with.”
Blaine was a stocky man, with huge thighs and a compact midsection, who looked like he was in his early forties. He was handsome, in a rugged, bearish sort of way, and at his alpha’s instruction he nodded and stepped forward.
August didn’t even get the chance to walk down the steps to the snow-covered lawn. Without saying a word, Blaine grabbed him under his arm, and with a twist of his shoulder, put him on his knees.
“I give,” August grunted, leaning forward so that he wouldn’t dislocate his shoulder. Blaine let go, clapping him good naturedly on the back.
“Well, that was quick,” Miller said, like it was to be expected. “Marcus, call Kayden, Peter and Anastasia and tell them to come over. I think August will end up ranking somewhere between the three of them. August, you can go put your clothes back on.”
August went back into the house to get dressed. He wasn’t embarrassed by how quickly Blaine had put him on his knees – not when facing an alpha who was dominant enough to be a pack alpha – but he wished he’d put on a more impressive performance for Dylan.
