Chapter 7 #2
He shrugs. “If the other person is an Alpha, I think so. Now, I know a couple of omegas mated to betas, and both of those omegas have caught and had pups. One of them has three. With their mates, I mean. Like I said, I’m not an omega.”
I sit up a little straighter. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He thinks about it. “Actually, let me backtrack. Seems like about twenty years ago or so I remember hearing about an omega claimed by a gamma, and they wanted a baby. They had a friend of theirs who was an unmated Alpha fuck the omega when he was in a mating heat and he caught.”
“I have so many questions I don’t even know where to start,” I admit.
He smiles. “There’s a quiet network of found-family packs out there.
Many with guys like us. Cut off from our birth packs for some reason.
” His smile fades. “I was kicked out of mine by my brother when he took over from our father. Dad was killed in a car accident, and he was the oldest Alpha brother. Dad knew I was gay and he didn’t give a shit.
My brother gave me and three other guys in the pack twenty-four hours to say goodbye and leave or he’d hunt us down and kill us. ”
“Shit! Did you all end up here?”
“Three of us did. One guy moved out west to live with a cousin of his who wasn’t in our pack. She’d married into another pack and they didn’t give a fuck if someone was gay.”
After we finish eating, he consolidates the leftovers into one box. We dispose of our trash and return to the truck, where he hands me a large, clean rag, and points to my head, his meaning clear. “Again, you’ll be safe. This is just to talk.”
I nod and tie the rag around my head. I feel the air move close to me, like he’s waving his hand in front of me, but I even have my eyes closed.
Nothing about this man gives me reason to worry.
“Okay, let’s go do this, pup.” He shifts the truck into gear and off we go.
We drive for about twenty minutes before he slows and pulls off the road onto what feels like a rough dirt road. He’s driving slower now, obviously swerving around ruts or potholes.
After another ten minutes, he stops and shuts the truck off. “Okay, blindfold off.”
While I remove it he’s already getting out of the truck.
It’s maybe an hour before dark, and the wooded clearing is bathed in deepening shadows of green and purple, the sweet tang of rain still fresh in the air. There’s another pickup truck and two guys standing there, leaning against the grill.
I follow Davis, who shakes hands first with the taller of the guys, at least 6’-4”, killer ice-blue eyes a different and sexier shade than my father’s, and thick, black hair untouched by grey, broad-shoulders, fit, likely just under 300 pounds of solid muscle.
This is definitely an Alpha and he smells like a wolf. Most likely the pack Alpha. From the way Davis dips his head and calls him sir, that confirms my suspicion.
The other man is still taller than me even though he’s shorter than the Alpha, maybe 6’-0”, slimmer, brown eyes and shaggy brown hair. He’s broad-shouldered and gorgeous, too. Davis shakes with him next, dipping his head again but not as deeply.
Then I spot the matching wedding bands on the men’s left hands.
When the Alpha’s gaze scours me, I find myself dipping my head automatically in a way I never did for my father without having to force myself to do it.
My cock also hardens and I struggle not to reach down and adjust myself.
“We’re calling you Mal?” the Alpha asks. His deep, rumbling voice matches his hot body and I nearly shoot my wad right there.
“Yes, sir,” I meekly say. I want to drop to the ground, roll onto my back, and spread my legs right now.
Yeah, it’s been too long since I’ve been railed, but dammit, I can’t help it.
These men are sexy as fuck.
The Alpha chuckles. “Fuck, I can smell you, and that’s not an insult.”
My cheeks feel aflame. “It’s been…a while.”
“I need you to look me in the eyes,” he says.
I take a deep breath and force myself to do it.
“Name’s Jax,” he says. “That’s all you get for now.
This is my mate, Shawn. Here’s how our pack works, Mal.
We never force someone to join. If someone wants to join, we get to know them, then see how we feel about them.
Unless someone in our pack were to ping on you as a mate and claim you outright.
In that case, the initiation would begin immediately. ”
“Yes, sir,” I force myself to say, trying not to spin out fantasies of an Alpha claiming me.
He smirks. “People who aren’t born or mated into our pack almost always end up here because they’re cut off from their birth pack.
Usually because of assholes like your old man.
Our pack was started a hundred years ago, back in 1960, by my father—my sire—and my dad.
Our numbers are smaller than the average pack.
We’re connected to a down-low network of other found-family packs.
While we have some women who mate into our pack, or who initiate in, most of the females in our pack were born into it.
Anyone born into our pack is a member by birthright, because their parents are members.
“If we get to know you and extend you an offer to join, you have to do it willingly. You will, at that point, formally ask me to join. To summarize our initiation process, you offer yourself to the pack, first to me and my mate.”
Now I notice Shawn also smirks, and the image of being spit-roasted by these guys flashes into my mind before I can stop it.
Oh, yeah. I’m horny.
Jax isn’t finished, though.
“People normally born into packs, or mated into them, their packs know them. Since we’re a pack of inclusion and not just blood and mate bonds, we do things differently.
First, you get to meet people, to see if you’ll be a fit.
If so, the initiation portion happens to bond you to the pack.
I have flexibility and discretion to dictate the process depending on the circumstances.
The short version is that to bond in our pack, our Alphas who wish to participate take you, starting with me.
You blow me, I fuck you, and so does my mate.
Once that happens, the other Alphas take turns with you.
Then you fuck your way through the pack with everyone who wants to—or is allowed to by their dominant mate or Alpha, if they have one.
Finally, we have another ceremony for the whole pack.
Usually involving more fucking, and everyone jerks off on you.
At that point you’re one of us, part of us, and we’re all part of you. ”
“And—” My mouth clicks as I swallow to form spit. “And what if someone wants to claim me as their mate?” I manage.
“As long as it’s mutual, we normally skip the preliminaries without a wait period.
Since you’d be claimed, usually we’d only need the Alphas to participate.
Spending time with the rest of the pack would be optional and dictated by your mate.
” He smiles. “Not something that needs to be decided tonight. I’ve confirmed a job for you, as long as you want it and you get along okay with them.
And we’ll introduce you around, see if you think you’ll like it here, see if others like you. ”
I think my balls might explode, I’m so horny. “How will I…” I can barely think right now. “How do I meet everyone?”
Shawn holds up a finger. “I coordinate that. I’ll set up social events.”
“Are there any…um…restrictions?”
Jax grins. “If you’re asking me if you can fuck around, that’s between you and them. But I think you’ll find that if they really like you and want you to join us, they’ll likely defer.”
“Defer?”
Shawn points at Jax. “Big guy gets to go first, then me.”
“Once you’re a member,” Jax adds, “you will be free to participate in initiations or pack celebrations or just fuck around with other members, as long as they consent. Unless or until you’re mated, you’ll participate in most initiations.
At least the final stage, where we welcome them and declare them pack.
You’re not an Alpha, so you aren’t required to participate in the initial phase.
We do that so there’s enough scent overlap that the initiate smells like pack to everyone.
Anyway, that’s an overview and a simplification.
Like I said, I do make exceptions and accommodations, depending on the circumstances.
We can get into that later if you want to stay. ”
“Um, question?”
“Once you’re a member, you get to object to potential members before it reaches that point,” Shawn says, accurately anticipating the question.
“No, you don’t have to fuck every initiate, and you have a right to raise objections to future initiates.
Anyone objects to an initiate, Jax and I talk to them about their objection, and depending on the circumstances, the initiation process ends.
Simple as that. That’s one reason why we introduce initiates around before things go too far.
Also, to give the prospect a chance to tap out. Or to see if there’s a mate bond.”
“Does…does that happen a lot? People getting rejected by?”
Davis now laughs. “No. If Jax allows them to start the process, people who leave are nearly always a case of self-rejecting. Guys hear the rules and either get hard or ask for help going away. Like I told you, we never force anyone. That’s forbidden. Consenting adults—that’s the default.”
“Why is the sleeping around part optional if I have a mate bond?” I ask.
“Well,” Jax says, “you’re an omega, correct?”
I nod.