Chapter 19 Divinity
CHAPTER NINETEEN
DIVINITY
A branch ripped past his face. The last remaining leaves clinging to weak stems pulled free in the tangles of his hair.
Stinging pain whipped across his face, but Brune didn’t notice, only turning his head enough to protect his eyes as he thundered forward.
He left a trail of dirt kicked up behind him, the smell of exposed undergrowth following him like a shadow.
None of that was enough to draw his attention away from the slender back racing away from him. Ridan was agile, bolting around trees and changing direction in quick succession. His footsteps were so light he hardly made footprints on the peaty forest floor.
Brune was not fast. His lumbering steps were more likely to shake trees loose than dart around them.
But what he lacked in speed, he made up for in motivation.
His long strides ate up the distance between them, keeping him just on the tail of a heavenly cloud of pheromones that grew stronger with every step.
Without their weapons, the two were light. It was a contest of speed, and even though Ridan should have left Brune far behind, it was obvious he was content to linger just out of reach. Just enough to taunt the alpha.
And alpha, he felt. Brune didn’t think he’d ever been more in tune with his secondary gender.
He didn’t even feel tired as he ran, his entire focus on the omega in front of him.
Nothing else mattered but catching him, pinning him to the ground, and making him his.
His gums ached with the need to bite down, to hold flesh still so he could claim.
All his doubts, his lingering fears, were smashed in the presence of his alpha. Their positions in the clan, the threat of war, even Brune’s self-doubts fizzled away the moment Ridan challenged him.
Brune crooned, voice low and warbly as it rattled past his extended fangs.
Ridan faltered, eyes flashing as he glanced over his shoulder to look back at the chasing alpha.
His misstep brought Brune close enough to grab him.
His fingertips just barely skimmed Ridan’s tunic, the fabric tearing as he pulled him to the forest floor.
They fell in a tangle of limbs. Brune took the brunt, pulling Ridan’s lithe frame to him as his back struck a root. It would bruise tomorrow, but for now, the warmth of his omega in his hands was the only thing he could feel.
Ridan yowled at the feel of arms tightening around him, squirming with his lips pulled back to expose his little omega fangs.
Brune wanted to lick them. Having his tongue torn in two might even be worth it.
He tried to soothe the feisty omega as best he could, with teeth snapping in his face and throaty growls echoing in his ears.
A single attempt at a croon had Ridan’s knee digging into his stomach.
Brune’s flinch of pain had Ridan wiggling free, rolling away in a flurry of dead leaves.
Following, Brune was up on his knees as his omega paused beside a tree, chest heaving under his gaping shirt.
His cheeks were flushed, lips slick with spit, and eyes so dilated they were nearly black.
For a moment Brune feared he’d made a mistake, that Ridan had not wanted him to chase.
But then his lips curled ever so slightly, a silent taunt before he took off again.
And Brune chased. How could he not? Even when his throat ached, and his lungs felt as if they were filled with arrow tips.
A stitch raked down his side, and his legs felt so heavy he might as well have been slogging through the swamps.
He ran until the trees parted to a small clearing.
No bigger than the tent he shared with Niklas; it was bathed in moonlight distorted by spindly naked branches.
Ridan jogged into the center before turning on his heel and surprising Brune by launching himself into his arms. He caught him as they fell—this time not in a tangle of limbs and gnashing teeth, but in a gentle drop to the ground beneath them.
Ridan rolled them so that Brune’s bulk pushed him into the soft earth, his arms splayed out on either side of him.
For a long moment, that’s all they did. Their heaving chests gasping for breath in different rhythms and their lips parted, eyes scanning every inch of each other’s faces as if they were looking for the man beneath the beast. Because that’s what it had been.
The chase was their subgenders—primal and instinctual.
But this was different. The blood rushing in their veins had slowed, giving way to reasoning.
For either of them to pull back, cough an apology, and disappear into the darkness. Never to mention this again.
Whatever unspoken thing they found in the other’s eyes had them reaching for each other. Within a heartbeat, they were kissing, Ridan’s arms twining around Brune’s neck as he pulled him closer.
They’d kissed before, but this was different.
Before had been tentative, a gentle press of lips just to see if they could.
A kiss, as beautiful as any, but nothing like this.
This was a kiss not borne of hesitation or concern but of pure want, of a desire that bled straight from the soul like a wound neither of them wanted to staunch.
It was a new sensation for Brune, but he suspected even if he’d kissed a thousand other lips, none would compare to Ridan’s. Not that he would ever dare. To even mention his kiss and another in the same breath would be a crime.
Because no one smelled like Ridan—that peppery sweet scent that clung to Brune and somehow dulled his senses, yet made every inch of his skin as alive as the spring grasses.
They wouldn’t feel like him, warm and strong, fingers digging into the back of his neck as he clawed to close the distance between them as if it had personally offended him.
Ridan made the sweetest sounds underneath him.
Little pants of breathless desire that sometimes tinged close to a whine, only to be bitten off as if he were trying to hide his want.
Parting his lips, Ridan didn’t invite Brune in so much as demand his tongue meet his own.
When their tongues brushed in a dance he seemed to know without ever having been told, he groaned into the kiss.
Parting his legs, Brune slipped between Ridan’s lethal thighs.
So enamored with kissing his omega, he hadn’t realized just how hot his own desire burned.
Brune was so hard he wouldn’t be surprised if he popped a knot right there.
His cock ached and he sought relief, brushing his hips against Ridan’s only to gasp in surprise when he found him equally hard.
Parting with a soft gasp, he dropped his forehead to Ridan’s so he could catch his breath.
This close, his every inhalation was filled with nothing but Ridan’s scent.
Within it, he could smell arousal, and to his surprise, slick.
Lifting his head in shock, he stared down at the man below him with something like wonder.
A savage grin slipped across kiss swollen lips as Ridan rolled his hips, teasing Brune in ways that shouldn’t be possible.
He growled, lips dropping to skin that tasted like campfires and sweat.
Had he the patience, Brune could spend days mapping Ridan’s skin with his lips, but he was driven to those forbidden glands on his neck.
Touching another person’s neck scent glands was nearly sacred. It transcended pack laws and was reserved, almost exclusively, for mates. It was a vulnerability. A trust. One Brune couldn’t break, no matter how badly he wanted to.
His hot breath ghosted across Ridan’s neck as he pulled himself back, entire body trembling. Blinking away the haze of arousal, he let his fingers dig into the soft dirt beside Ridan’s head to ground him.
The blonde was staring up at him with a look he didn’t have the mindfulness to decipher. In a strange way, it was reminiscent of their first meeting—only this time, it was Brune looking down at Ridan. And they were sweaty for an entirely different reason.
Just like then, Ridan looked sure. With a crackle of leaves under his head, he lifted his chin and turned his head.
Exposing his neck to Brune.
His eyes were brimming with confidence as he met Brune’s.
Scarcely breathing, Brune’s eyes dropped to that slender column of unmarred neck presented to him.
Not out of a sense of obligation, or in the haze of a heat.
Not under the influence of drink, either.
No, presented to Brune like a gift wrapped in trust. Full of something that ran deeper than casual kisses in the dark.
Short of Ridan himself, it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Brune,” he whined, lips barely parting as he called to him.
His lips found the pulse racing in his neck. It was a dangerous place to be. The thump thump of Ridan’s heart like a siren call. He could do it. He wanted to do it. With nothing but the moon to witness their claiming, he could have everything he didn’t dare acknowledge he wanted.
Brune paused, his lips brushing against the slick oil of Ridan’s gland. The taste was even more divine than the smell. He shuddered, biting down on his cheek to clear his head.
“Alpha?” Ridan asked, his voice husky.
“I…I can’t,” he breathed softly, pressing his nose to Ridan’s cheek to keep him close. To feel the warmth of his skin for as long as possible.
The smell of rejection curdled around him, and he jerked back, looking down into wet eyes. Ridan’s lips were pressed together, and his hands dropped off Brune’s shoulders.
“No, no,” he whispered fervently, nuzzling under his jaw with a soft rumble. “I want you, Ridan. I’ve wanted you from the moment I first saw you.”
Ridan swallowed, his eyes narrowing.
“I want you, my omega,” Brune said softly, pressing his nose to his temple. “But I haven’t proven myself to you.”
His upturned nose scrunched up indignantly. “You caught me!”
“But I haven’t earned you.”