Chapter 43
As evening gently descended on the forest outside Jackson’s study, the tired Alpha gave a sigh of relief; everyone was safe despite the many things that could have gone wrong.
Smiling, he remembered the joy on Quin’s face when word was received from Dylon that Hunter was rescued and would be returning soon.
He’d watched as David, Adam and Quin hugged each other, laughing in relief at the good news.
He texted Oracle, Maximus and Steel before sitting back and waiting for everyone’s return…
which couldn’t be soon enough. Though he wished it hadn’t happened, Fionn’s uncle had done him a favor by kidnapping Hunter; it stressed the importance of being proactive when it came to protecting his pack members, not just reacting when the shit hit the fan.
The trouble was Jackson wasn’t sure what changes he should make.
Now, as he sat waiting for Fionn and Hunter to return, his thoughts went back to those childhood summers when his cousins stayed with his family.
Memories of how much he admired Hunter, even copying him down to the way he walked, flooded back.
His cousin, who was all Alpha, was born to lead a pack, unlike himself, always torn between his Alpha and Omega sides.
As it turned out, the Fates had dealt a different hand to the two Alphas—one who always knew he’d lead a pack and the other who never wanted to—swapping their destinies.
Why did the Fates bring us together? It can’t have been only to return my mother.
By claiming Fionn, Hunter was now a member of Jackson’s pack.
Leaning back in his chair, he mulled over why the Fates wanted his cousin here.
Just as a protector for Fionn? Maybe…but maybe not.
Of the two of them, he had no doubt his cousin was better suited to lead this extraordinary pack.
Still, Jackson couldn’t rid himself of the nagging feeling he was missing something—something involving him—and something so obvious he was going to kick himself when he finally figured it out.
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Running his fingers through his sleeping mate’s hair, Hunter smiled when Fionn rubbed his cheek against Hunter’s chest while shifting in his sleep.
He’d have to wake him so they could go home; his brothers were waiting to see him, especially Quin, who relied on his big brother to keep him safe.
Yet he wasn’t quite ready to leave the security the cavern offered him and his wolf when it came to protecting their mate—no one could find them here.
The privacy and intimacy of it was intoxicating; Hunter felt they were the last two souls on earth when he made passionate love to Fionn on the golden bed.
Staring up at the stone ceiling, Hunter still felt pangs of guilt about not thwarting the attack on Fionn.
No matter how long he lived, the image of the wolf shifter standing over his fallen mate would be etched in his mind, reminding him of the worst day of his life.
He owed Dylon and Cody a lot for saving Fionn.
But if there was one bright spot in the whole mess, it was that Hunter now knew, without a doubt, he’d never hesitate again when it came to his mate’s safety.
“It’s not your fault,” Fionn murmured, now awake and guessing what his mate was agonizing over. His sleepy, husky voice sent mini shock waves throughout Hunter’s body.
“Sorry, pet, but it is. My wolf told me you were in danger, but I allowed my human half to override him and, for that, I’m sorry. But I swear to you, it’ll never happen again.”
“It’s okay, mate.” Fionn grinned. “I should have warned you about my family. Except for my mum, they’re all assholes.”
“Yeah, I get that now,” Hunter snorted. “It’s just that I’ve been trying to figure out why I reacted the way I did…
why I didn’t believe my wolf’s warning…and the best I can come up with is my ignorance of the evil inside many shifters.
The closest I came to dealing with it was after my father died. ”
“What happened then?”
Closing his eyes against the memory, Hunter said, “When my father died, I called his council together…shifters I’d known since childhood…
to formally assume the Alpha position. My father thought highly of them…
shit, one of them was even my uncle. When I entered the council room, my wolf snarled because none of them looked at me, but I thought it was just a sign of respect. ”
“But it wasn’t, was it,” Fionn said, softly.
“No,” Hunter said, inhaling deeply, then slowly letting out his breath.
“At the meeting, my uncle informed me the council had voted unanimously to form an alliance with another, larger pack. Initially, I didn’t see a problem until I found out it required my brother Quin to mate with the other pack’s Alpha…
an Alpha who had a reputation of being a harsh taskmaster…
to put it mildly…with his pack members. You met Quin… my brother is…”
“He’s a romantic,” Fionn murmured.
“Exactly…but he’s also very fragile due to what happened to him when he was younger. There was no way I could hand my brother over to someone I knew would crush his spirit.”
“Mate, why would the Alpha want to mate a male instead of a female? Didn’t he want an heir?”
“Quin is a male Omega,” Hunter said, “and can have pups. But, because they’re so rare, any Alpha possessing one would be envied by his fellow Alphas…which is why he wanted to buy my brother…and for a lot of money, I might add.”
“Quin’s an Omega? Wow!”
“Yeah, he is,” Hunter said. “My parents were overjoyed when he was born…a gift from the Fates my mother said. Everyone knew, but by order of my father, they were forbidden to tell anyone outside the pack.”
“So who told the other pack’s Alpha?” asked Fionn.
“My fucking uncle! He was the mastermind behind this deal, which would have made him extremely wealthy. I found that out when one of my father’s friends told me how much everyone was going to be paid, me included, when he was trying to pressure me to go along with it.
All I had to do was sign the agreement. When I refused, my uncle threatened all kinds of crap, like having someone challenge me, so I did the only thing I could think of that would remove Quin from their grasp…
I told them that, as head of my family, we were leaving the pack as soon as my father was buried. ”
“I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Yeah, you can, but it rarely happens because wolves need the structure of a pack and, usually if a member leaves, it’s because they’re going to another pack.
But I knew that wasn’t an option because of Quin.
So we left…disappeared actually. I built a house for us on some land I’d bought previously and that’s where we’ve been ever since. ”
“But what about Quin? Is he safe?”
“As much as he can be. I couldn’t do anything about the Alpha who wanted to buy him, but I made a deal with my father’s council that they’d never reveal Quin was an Omega. In exchange for their silence, I signed over my inheritance to them.”
Stunned, Fionn stared at his mate and, as tears filled his eyes, he reached up, his hands cupping Hunter’s face.
“You are truly a white knight.” Then he pulled Hunter’s face to his until their lips were a hair’s breadth apart.
“I’m honored to have you as my mate and I give you my word that as long as I live, I’ll protect Quin.
” Then, he kissed Hunter, deeply, before leaning back slightly.
“I love you…so much there’s no way to measure it because it is greater than everything.
It fills my heart, mind, body and soul…I never want to be apart from you again because you are my everything. ”
Hunter’s eyes grew wet as he pulled Fionn to him, hugging him tightly, overjoyed, finally understanding what his mother meant when she told him: ‘sometimes what you want is not always what you need’—and he knew he’d never again regret walking away from the Rolling Hills Pack.
Now, with the love of his mate wrapped around him, Hunter realized just how wise his mother had been.
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After calling for the portal, Fionn intertwined his fingers with Hunter’s as they entered it and, seconds later, found themselves in their suite. “How about we shower before seeing your brothers?” Fionn asked.
“Sounds like a plan.” Leading his mate into the bathroom, Hunter turned on the water and stripped Fionn of his clothes before pulling him into the shower.
Turning his mate around until he faced the shower wall, Hunter nudged his mate’s legs apart and placed Fionn’s hands above his head, against the tile.
Taking a step back, Hunter’s eyes roamed Fionn’s body, before picking up a bottle of body wash and pouring some into his hand.
Setting it back on the shelf, he moved in close to his mate’s body and began to soap him up.
Lowering his chin to his chest, Fionn began moaning; need was building in his body from his mate’s hands caressing him—starting at his shoulders, then moving down his back and then further yet to the back of his thighs.
The soapy hands teased him, hinting at what was to come while frustrating him at the same time, making him beg to be filled.
Smiling when Hunter knelt behind him, Fionn gasped as he felt his mate’s hands pull his cheeks apart, soaping up his crease before lingering at his pucker, pressing the tip of one finger against the nerves and muscle surrounding it.
Desperate for more, he jerked his hips backward, hoping to impale himself on his mate’s finger, but instead received a sharp slap on his ass, stilling his movements.
Looking at his cock, Fionn ached to touch it, stroke it, anything to give him some release from what Hunter was doing to him.
Unable to stop himself, he reached down, wrapping his fingers around his stiffened shaft, squeezing it, but before he could continue, his mate knocked his hand away with a growl.
“Hands on the wall, my pet, or I won’t let you come…at least not any more today.”
Groaning, Fionn obeyed, planting his hands back on the wall, feeling his mate’s finger breach his pucker.
Crying out with pleasure, the warm burn jolted him onto his toes.
Craving more, he lowered himself all the way down on Hunter’s finger, moaning with pleasure as it wriggled within him.
He knew then, that no matter how often his mate filled him, he’d always want more.
Grinning at Fionn’s reactions, Hunter pulled his finger out until only the tip remained, circling it against the tight muscle hugging it.
Garbled sounds erupted from his mate, calling to Hunter’s wolf who began pacing around the white dragon.
Feeling the power of his wolf, Hunter quickly slid his finger back in and, finding his mate’s pleasure gland, pressed on it lightly.
Driven wild by Hunter’s teasing, Fionn’s rock-hard cock began dripping pre-cum, his balls drew tightly to his body, his orgasm danced on the edge, just out of reach.
Thrusting his hips forward, his cock found only air, denying it the friction it needed to erupt.
Whimpering, he began jerking his hips, hoping it would help him come.
As his mate’s cries grew louder, Hunter began fucking him with his finger, adding more of them as he felt the clenched muscles relaxing, pumping them in and out with ease.
Then, withdrawing them, he heard Fionn curse at their loss.
Slathering his turgid cock with lube from a bottle nearby, he lifted his mate onto its purple head, holding him tightly against his chest, allowing him to sink slowly down on the shaft until his ass was filled.
“Fuck!” Fionn yelled as his mate’s cock pressed on his prostate, the sudden sting morphing into pleasure as he felt it moving inside him, stoking his lust each time it touched his gland.
Snapping his head back against Hunter’s shoulder, he moaned as his mate began to fuck him, slowly at first, then faster.
But still, Fionn couldn’t come, even though his body was on fire.
Desperate for his release, he begged his mate for mercy, knowing he couldn’t shoot his wad until Hunter gave him permission.
Bending his mate forward, Hunter grunted as Fionn slid his hands to a new place on the shower wall.
Shifting his cock inside the hot tunnel, he gripped his mate’s hips tightly and thrust his cock in deeper, groaning as he felt the hot velvet softness envelop it—he wasn’t going to last much longer.
Leaning against Fionn’s back, he reached down, his hand searching for his mate’s cock.
Capturing it, he slid his fist up to the tip, milking clear drops of pre-cum from it as Fionn jerked his hips wildly.
His orgasm building in his groin, Hunter pumped…
and pumped…and pumped his cock into his mate while stroking Fionn’s in time to his thrusts.
Growling as his fangs descended, he licked his claiming bite, preparing to renew their connection.
His orgasm now unstoppable, Hunter shifted his position, pegging Fionn’s prostate with each plunge until his mate was finally at the peak of the mountain. “Come!”
“OH, MY FUCKING GODS!” Fionn screamed when he heard Hunter’s command. His cum splattering the wall in front of him, he felt his mate’s teeth bite down on his mating scar, prolonging his orgasm as his mate’s cock spurted its hot cream within him.
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Sawyer stood outside Hunter’s suite, listening to his brother’s mating howl. Chuckling, he walked towards the great room, eager to spread the word—his brother was back, safe in the arms of his mate…or should I say…safe inside of his mate.