Chapter 9 Caught
CAUGHT
Doc could’ve kicked himself. He had been distracted, allowing Ottis’ voice and snickering to fill his senses when he should’ve been keeping his ears pricked for Ottis’ pack.
And now Crush was glowering at them, his arms folded across his chest.
Ottis spun around. “What the hell?”
Doc stepped in front of him, giving Ottis the chance to run if that was what he wanted.
“Really, Doc?” Crush growled. “Of all the omegas you could’ve picked...”
“Hey, I resent that,” Ottis growled back, limping out from behind Doc. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing! But you were supposed to be under our protection, and you disappeared,” Crush grumbled.
“I told you I was fine. I gave you all a video call! How much more proof do you need to understand that I’m safe?
” Ottis was standing taller than he had since Doc brought him home.
His eyes flashed gold, his chest heaved, and he trembled with a rage that seemed to run deeper than a simple misunderstanding.
He was really fucking hot like this.
Crush narrowed his eyes. “Seriously? All you showed us was a snapshot of you naked in someone’s bed—”
Ottis rolled his eyes so hard, his head rolled along with it. “All you saw were my shoulders.”
“You didn’t even tell us whose bed it was.”
“Yeah, and you’d want to see a picture of him too, won’t you?” Ottis snapped. “You’d want to see me knotted with Doc—”
Crush turned faintly green. “No, we don’t—”
“—you wouldn’t even believe he was inside me; you’d want video evidence of me stretched around his—”
Crush stuck his fingers in his ears, horrified. “I’m not listening! I don’t want to know!”
“I would consent to that video,” Doc said to Ottis. “Purely for research purposes.”
Ottis glanced at him, some of his fury melting away. “Yeah? Would you let me send it to my pack?”
“Why not?” Doc grinned, his scars pulling around his lips. “I would be honored to knot a beautiful omega like you. In fact, I would spread evidence of that claim far and wide. Make it wet and messy so they know exactly what I’ve claimed you with.”
Ottis hummed, sounding pleased. “I would let you do it.”
Warmth slid through Doc’s body. “We can make that video when we get home.”
Crush made terrible dying sounds.
Ottis kicked his brother’s shin. “You deserved that.”
Crush’s omega Killian pushed their cart into the aisle, looking exasperated. “Crush, when you said you were going to look for something, you meant Ottis?”
Crush huffed. “Ottis doesn’t have a good track record with alphas. You can imagine our panic when he said he had found himself another one.”
That, Doc had not known. His instincts snarled beneath his skin. “Multiple alphas have hurt you, sweetheart?”
Ottis squirmed and couldn’t meet his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
That just made everything worse.
Crush’s eyebrows shot up. “‘Sweetheart’? How long have you two known each other? ‘Cuz last I heard, Ottis didn’t have an alpha. He returned to the pack to get away from his previous one.”
Ottis cringed, shrinking into himself.
There was something so wrong with his reaction that Doc growled. “When was this?”
“Couple months ago,” Crush said.
“I could’ve been chatting with Doc for two months,” Ottis muttered.
“Except you looked beaten down that entire time, and now you don’t,” Crush said, glancing at Doc. “Are you serious about the courtship?”
“Yes,” Doc said.
Crush raised an eyebrow. “After a day?”
“He’s funny. I like him.” Doc leaned in to rub his nose against the top of Ottis’ head. He couldn’t smell much of Ottis through the masks, but last night... Last night, Ottis had smelled warm and earthy, like the forest. “He smells good.”
Ottis’ pulse fluttered. He looked up at Doc. “Really?”
“Yes.” Doc nuzzled him again.
Crush sighed. “I still don’t know about this. But you’re a lot better than all the other crap alphas Ottis has had in the past.”
Something about Crush’ tone, and Ottis’ skittishness, made alarm bells ring at the back of Doc’s mind. But they were in public. He didn’t want to discuss that here.
“We should get going,” Doc said.
“Will you tell the pack to stop hunting me down?” Ottis said to Crush.
“I’ll tell them,” Crush said, glancing at Doc. “But you had better keep Ottis safe, or the pack will hunt you down instead.”
Doc nodded. “I’ll do my best. Mates are precious; I’ve wanted one for a very long time.”
Ottis turned pink all the way to his ears. So beautiful.
The thing was, Ottis’ blushes were not a sure thing. Would he still turn pink if he knew what Doc looked like, under the masks?
Anxiety flickered through Doc’s stomach.
“Good to know,” Crush said. He stepped forward to squeeze Ottis’ shoulder. “You don’t smell like pack anymore.”
Ottis rolled his eyes. “Obviously I went dark to hide from all of you.”
“Well, the others might still drop by to measure Doc by their yardsticks.”
“Why does that sound like a dick-measuring contest? Do you all seriously want to wave your cocks around? Tie little flags to your tips and make them flap in the wind?” Ottis grumbled. Then he clutched his head and gagged. “Ugh. I’m not thinking that about my brothers. UGH!”
Doc laughed, sliding his arm around Ottis’ waist. Ottis went easily with him, allowing Doc to pull them snug together. Then he stuck his tongue out at Crush.
It felt good, knowing how comfortable Ottis was with his touch.
“I’m not going to ask how you met each other,” Crush muttered.
“That would be for the best,” Doc agreed.
“It’s a juicy secret,” Ottis said slyly. “So scandalous.”
Killian raised his eyebrows. “Oh? How scandalous?”
Ottis squinted, as though he was contemplating sharing their secret.
Then Crush made a face that said he clearly did not care, when he absolutely was dying of curiosity himself.
“Nope! I’m not telling.” Ottis linked his arm with Doc’s and dragged him away. Doc followed obligingly, feeling extremely special.
“You’re welcome for us trying to protect you,” Crush called.
Ottis turned and blew a raspberry at him.
Doc laughed. “You’re an adult, sweetheart.”
“Which means I can blow raspberries whenever I want.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that.”
Doc gave Crush and Killian a parting nod over his shoulder. He followed Ottis to the omega clothes section, where Ottis grabbed some oversized hoodies. “You can borrow mine too, if you prefer them huge.”
Ottis’ eyes grew round. “Really?”
“Did you think I’d say no to having my scent all over you?”
Ottis purred, putting the hoodies back. He picked out some T-shirts that fitted him, loose sweatpants, underwear, and socks. He was so tiny; all his clothes would rip if Doc tried to wear them.
Then Ottis headed to the section with lace underwear, and Doc gulped.
Those full lips curved into a smile. “I heard you swallow.”
“What are you planning?” Doc asked lowly.
“Nothing,” Ottis said. Except his heart skipped. He wandered over to a display of red lace, picking up a tiny scrap and holding it against his hips. “I can’t see if it fits; Marcie’s in my way.”
Doc set the car seat next to their cart. “I could carry her for a bit.”
Ottis’ smile grew. He handed Marcie over; she was so small in his hands. Marcie gnawed on Doc’s lumpy scarf and drooled all over it. Doc wrapped her up in the dry end, lifting her to his face.
They stared at each other.
“Beh!” Marcie said.
“You’re adorable,” Doc answered warmly. What would it be like if she were his?
Or if he put a pup in Ottis’ belly?
When he looked back at Ottis, he found the omega stretching a lacy pair of panties over his hips. There were so many holes in the fabric that it would hide nothing at all. “That’s made up of more holes than cloth.”
“Holes for my hole,” Ottis said, and immediately looked horrified at himself.
Doc laughed. “That is accurate, though.”
“Do you like it?” Ottis asked, almost shyly. At Doc’s slow nod, Ottis perked up and grabbed another pair. “Oh! Did you see these?”
He stretched it out so the larger holes became clear: A heart-shaped hole at the front, and another at the back, over where Ottis’ hole would be.
Heat spiked through Doc’s gut. He exhaled slowly. “Sweetheart, you’re going to kill me with these.”
Ottis laughed. “Death by blue balls?”
“They might be purple by the time we get home.”
“They might need a massage,” Ottis said sagely.
Doc sighed, shoving those thoughts aside. “You’re really keen on being filled again, aren’t you?”
Ottis squirmed. “I think my heat might be landing soon. I can’t stop thinking about being bred.”
Doc’s blood seared in his veins. Then he shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind, for later. When he could pin Ottis under himself and make him scream. “Sweetheart, could you... save these thoughts for when I’m alone with you, in private?”
Ottis grinned like a little minx.
Doc growled, baring his teeth. Not that Ottis could see his teeth, but the growl must’ve gotten to him.
Ottis shivered, all dark-eyed and alluring. Fuck.
“Pick one of each style,” Doc said roughly. “We’ll find out which our favorites are.”
“Wow,” Ottis whispered. His hands shook when he dropped the panties into the cart; satisfaction lit Doc up from the inside. He wasn’t the only one affected by this.
He was about to reply when he felt a slight pressure in his stomach—followed by a burp that was just a hint of smoke. He shifted Marcie to one arm, lifting the bottom of his masks slightly so he could blow out the smoke.
Except someone saw him.
Marcie gave Doc a wide-eyed stare. Then she kicked and smiled, and—Something sprouted from her back, trapped and flapping uselessly inside her shirt.
Oh no.
“Sweetheart?” Doc asked, tugging the scarf over Marcie’s back. They shouldn’t be out in public. Especially if she might shift into—
Marcie shifted completely, into a tiny red baby dragon.
Holy fuck.