Chapter 2
Simon
Hemlock Wolf Pack Territory (Star’s Territory)
That evening, after Raziel left, I shot Star a quick text to let him know that Raziel was being extra strange.
I didn’t tell him what we discovered about his hatchling’s extra claiming glands because I didn’t want to strike Voron’s ire.
If Raziel was our kid, I’d want to know, but then again, maybe Star already knew because he merely texted me back a thumbs up emoji.
After that was done, I put up the nighttime privacy screen around the nest and joined Voron inside of it.
It was a warm night. Voron was clad only in a pair of moss green loose elven pants that matched his eyes.
I stood over him for a long moment, drinking him in.
He lay in the middle of four dragon eggs that were mini buildings in their own right.
He’d polished and buffed them all while I washed after dinner and put a few loads of laundry through the cycle.
Before we moved out here, we wouldn’t have had so many evenings alone.
Now, the kids had to cut through an Other World gateway or fly out to see us.
I missed them sometimes but told myself I also ended up far from home.
Sometimes, I did months of guard work back home in the Nightshade Bear Territory when they needed me to fill in.
We had a home there too of course but I hated being away from Voron.
“Are you going to stare at me all night or join me, alpha?” Voron asked, glancing up at me.
I could have stared at him all night. The long, lean, muscular lines of his body were familiar, homey. I knew and worshipped every inch of him. Still, even better than gazing at him, was settling in next to him. Even after all these years our bodies fit together like two puzzle pieces.
Voron turned on his side to face me and pulled the single bead of my necklace back to the center as he always did. The bead was given to me forever ago as a protective charm and I believed to this day that it helped me during the most dangerous time of my life.
“Are you thinking of that because of the quads 2.0?” Voron teased, gesturing at the eggs all around us.
“Maybe. Maybe because of Raziel too,” I shrugged. “Maybe because the anniversary of that is coming up.”
“I can make you forget,” Voron smirked, leaning in close to me. “At least for a while.”
“A while is all I need,” I grinned, pulling him close.
He scratched at the beard on my chin with his long fingernails and my bear grumbled in pleasure.
The sound rumbled around inside me. Voron pressed himself against me and my dick came to life at the promise of his warm, soft flesh.
He kept scratching my beard, playing with strands here and there, as our lips met.
His were as soft as ever as they parted under mine, inviting my tongue into his warm, glorious mouth.
The kissing didn’t totally chase away my thoughts of what had happened all those years ago, because this is the life we fought for.
These kisses were one of the little pleasures I battled against Meadow Berry Poison for.
I’d do it all over again if it meant I got to stay with Voron.
I’d do it every day for the rest of my life for him.
His other hand joined the first, holding onto my face, as our tongues danced between our mouths.
I cupped his ass with one hand, kneading the round firm globe under my fingers.
Voron moaned against my lips and I ran my hand high enough up to slip it down under the waistband of his pants went I ran it back down.
A jolt buzzed inside my head. Voron felt it too. His lips fell still against mine, both of us frozen in time for a second. It buzzed again – sweet agony, turbulent, mixed emotions poured over us. Then excitement. Mirth? Horny?--- Then something slammed shut over the family link.
“Was that Ignatio?” Voron sat up.
“I think so,” I blinked up at him, my hand still down his pants. “Should we call?”
“No,” Voron shook his head, his long, dark hair falling loose around his beautiful face. He narrowed those moss-colored eyes that I loved at me. “I think he’s met his true-mate.”
“We told your parents,” I said. The urge to check in on him was overwhelming. His siblings, the other quads and everyone else rambled over the family link. It was definitely Ignatio. Of course, the omega of our quads would find his mate first. It seemed fitting. Still, I should check on him.
“We should. We have to check this guy out!” my bear nodded inside his inner sanctum.
He sat on the porch of the house that I ‘built’ years ago when I was stuck inside my own head with Voron.
He held a coffee cup between his paws and drank.
I wasn’t sure it was actually coffee, but with inner beasts you never knew for sure.
“You will not!” Voron said. “Either you can keep your hands down my pants, or you can ruin the best day of his life! We are the last people he wants to hear from right now! Our true-mate response was marked by chaos. Otherwise, I’d have scooped you up and flown off with you into the woods.
Seriously, alpha. Leave him alone. He’ll call us when he’s ready.
We’ll have a mating feast and everything. ”
“What if he’s an asshole?”
“He’s in the GGB right now. Philip or Canton can shoot him,” Voron said without missing a beat. “This isn’t your intuition talking. It’s your cave-alpha brain. If Ignatio chose him in the Other World that’s enough for me.”
“Maybe I should call Barry or Kodiak to go check him out. Isn’t Mori in the GGB?” I asked, scratching my beard with the hand that wasn’t still down my mate’s pants.
“Mori is in London,” Voron rolled his eyes, starting to pull away.
“Hey! Where are you going?” I groaned, scooting after him to keep my hand on his ass.
“Are you going to leave him alone and let him have his true-mate response in peace?” Voron asked.
“Yes, but I’m going to complain about it,” I admitted.
“Then get your hand out of my pants,” Voron said.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked, sliding my hand out of his pants because his scent had turned serious.
“Yes! Would you feel the need to check out this guy if he responded to one of our alpha sons?” Voron asked.
“I—”
I was a dumbass but to be fair the world was a cruel place. Not long ago ghosts murdered three people in the GGB territory. The whole of Earthside was always a badly placed sneeze from war. Statistics showed that alpha guys committed around sixty percent of violent crimes.
“You think he can’t defend himself?” Voron asked, picking up my thoughts over our mating link.
“He’s not a dragon,” I said because it was the only ground I had to stand on.
“No, but he’s my son and yours. It’s not like he has the blood of innocent little lambs in him.”
“Can I at least call Star?” I asked.
“Star already knows. Family link and all of that,” Voron huffed.
We hadn’t fought often over the years. We were fortunate and agreed on most things.
Most of our arguments were petty squabbles that were usually over in a few hours.
Once or twice, we argued over the kids like when I thought we should let them drive at fifteen and Voron wouldn’t hear of it.
He was right. We let them drive the next year and by the end of the first week Anthony had wrapped his new car around a tree and survived with just a broken leg by the grace of the ancestors.
No one drove until they reached their majority after that.
Our only other big argument was about moving here.
I always thought if we left the Mage Street area we’d go to the Nightshade Bear area.
We found a compromise in having a house there too and due to the fact I wanted more kids.
Voron only wanted to start the kid cycle over if he were close to his family.
Out here in Star’s territory was the middle ground because originally he wanted to live on Hemlock Mountain.
“You’re not always right!” I grumbled.
“No, I’m not. I know that but neither are you. If he needed help we’d know. He didn’t shut down his family link because he was fighting this guy. He shut it down because he has every intention of getting laid and didn’t want you to go off like a threatened skunk making a stink about everything!”
“I am not a skunk! Take it back!” I growled.
“You’re acting like a big smelly skunk – spraying your cave-alpha attitude all over the place!
It stinks, Simon! Your attitude stinks right now!
” Voron stood up. “I know you’re worried.
Am I worried? Yes – the normal amount. But I also know Ignatio will kick someone’s teeth in if he needs to.
And he’d ask for help if he needed it. Don’t let whatever is going on inside your thick skull ruin this for him or us.
This is a reason to celebrate!” he stopped talking for a second and I opened my mouth but he spoke again.
“Don’t skunk up the nest around the eggs.
They don’t need to be inside their eggs thinking the world is full of monsters because your scent smells like you want to eat their brother-in-law. ”
“I am not a skunk! I’m not stinking up anything! And if I thought I could get a wink of sleep without you I’d storm off into the house right now!”
“But you can’t!” Voron huffed.
“No, I can’t! Would a cave-alpha admit that?!” I crossed my arms, scooting outside the eggs to lean against the edge of the nest.
“Maybe not. You’re not a cave-alpha but you’re acting like one right now. You’re lucky that I can’t sleep without you or I’d send you into the house straight out of my nest!” Voron said, his voice on the edge of a roar.
“I am lucky!” I growled under my breath. “But it doesn’t change the fact I’m worried. Aren’t you the one who always said emotions don’t have to make sense?”
“But actions do! I’m mad at you and that’s okay but if I walked over and kicked you in the chin that wouldn’t be okay in any universe! Or if I set your beard on fire!”
“You’d miss my beard and probably burn down the whole damn village because you’d sneeze at the smoke!” I pointed out.
“Oooohh! I swear one day I’m going to eat you!” he narrowed his beautiful mossy eyes on me.
“I eat you enough!”
“What? Is that what I gotta do? I gotta top you to make you see that omegas can take care of ourselves?” he asked and the color flooded unbidden into my face.
“I never said you couldn’t take care of yourself. Ignatio is my little boy.”
“So are Anthony, Mars, Mercury and the rest of them!” Voron threw up his arms.
“Yes! They’re all my little cubs,” I nodded. “But Ignatio was the smallest of our babies when he was born. This tiny little guy.”
“Well, now he’s a grown ass bear who’s probably going to have more tiny bears,” Voron said.
“And if you want to see those tiny bears and hold those tiny bears and know them – well, you better get over this real quick. I don’t care if he’s an influencer who thinks he’ll win the lottery every time the numbers are announced without ever buying a ticket – you’re going to pretend to love him.
I don’t care if he thinks other worlds don’t exist and that Frost and Juda were abducted by aliens!
You’re going to pretend to love him. He’s going to be the best thing since someone invented honey butter every time you see him.
You’re going to love him so much that people question which of them are our biological son,” he poked me in the chest before flopping down in front of me.
“You’re going to do that for Ignatio and for the future tiny bears! ”
“Mate…. I get the sentiment but if someone tells me other worlds don’t exist, but Frost and Juda were abducted by aliens, I’m going to eat them to save the gene pool. Both things can’t happen.”
“You’ll nod along and love him. That’s the final word on that because I’m not missing out on our grandchildren or Ignatio’s life. You’ll love him even if he thinks feasts are a waste of time!”
“Never!” I shook my head but a smile was already pulling at the corners of my mouth.
“You will and then when we get home you can tell me how stupid he is and how he’s not good enough for our son until I find something to put in your mouth to shut you up,” he said, moving to sit on his knees.
He leaned forward and placed his hands on my thighs.
“Because he’s family now. Even if you don’t like him – short of him breaking his heart or being mean to our grandkids, you’re going to make him think he’s the son you never had. ”
“You’re evil, mate,” I said, but I was grinning now.
“I am! Remember that!” he said, trying not to grin. “I’m the mad scientist!”
“Eh, I like it better when you’re the happy scientist,” I shrugged.
“Well, I like it better when you’re the reasonable bear who thinks about what to cook at a celebratory feast instead of wanting to go running off to the GGB and beat up our new son-in-law.”
“Can’t I do both?” I asked. “I’ll hold a sandwich in this hand and hold onto him with this one while I ask my questions.” I raised my hands for emphasis.
“I can think of a better use for them,” he said, climbing into my lap. “Are you going to leave them alone?”
“Can’t go anywhere if you sit on me,” I smirked.
Our lips met. Later, I’d definitely talk this all out with the local Alpha Talk group, but Voron was right.
If I barged in ready to kick ass and take names later, Ignatio would show me the door.
After all, we raised him not to take shit from anyone.
Now, he was almost a thousand pounds of bear and didn’t mind throwing his weight around when he had to.
I kissed Voron, letting myself get lost in his warm, giving mouth as he ground on my lap. With him on my lap I was already rock hard again. He wiggled and ground as if he meant to bring me over the edge right through our clothes and if he kept at it he might get his wish.
He slid his hand down my pants and wrapped his long, soft fingers around my dick. He squeezed hard as if a little tension lingered between us. My breath hitched as the squeeze brought about a wave of almost panicked pleasure. His grip was almost – but not quite – too tight.