CHAPTER 10 THE OTHER WOLF #2
"I'm saying—" Eli stopped, then continued carefully, each word deliberate.
"I'm saying I need you to understand that you belong here now.
Completely. No more running back to the pride.
No more divided loyalty. You're mine, and I need that to be clear—to you, to your mother, to every wolf and cat in both territories. "
The silence that followed was deafening.
Jace took a step back, and Eli felt something cold settle in his gut.
"I don't belong to you, Eli," Jace said, calm but edged with steel. "I chose you, but I'm not property. I'm not territory."
He met Eli's eyes directly, unflinching.
"And that's exactly the problem with what you're saying. You're treating me like a ownership instead of a partner."
Eli's face hardened. "That's not fair. I'm terrified. I nearly lost you to your duty, and then a strange wolf shows up, and all I can think is that everything I have is going to be taken away from me."
"I know you're scared," Jace said, and his expression softened slightly. "I'm scared too. But if you respond to that fear by trying to own me, by treating me like territory, then we're done. Because that's not what I signed up for."
He took a step closer, his cat-bright eyes locked on Eli's.
"So you have to choose: do you trust me to stay because I want to, or are you going to try to force me to stay through ownership? Because those are two very different things, and we can't exist in the middle."
Eli felt something crack open in his chest. The fear, the rage, the desperate need to hold on—all of it was threatening to consume him.
But underneath it all was the truth he'd been avoiding.
He was terrified of abandonment. And that terror was making him into exactly the kind of alpha he'd sworn he'd never become.
"I trust you," he said finally, the words rough and raw. "God, I trust you. I'm just—"
"Scared," Jace finished. "I know. But being scared doesn't mean treating me like property."
He moved closer, until he was standing directly in front of Eli, close enough to touch but not touching.
"So here's what's going to happen," Jace said. "I'm going to take control right now, and you're going to let me. Because you need to remember that you don't have to hold onto me through force. You can just... hold me."
A sharp inhale caught in Eli's throat. "Jace—"
"Do you trust me?" Jace asked.
"Yes."
"Then prove it."
Jace guided Eli down onto the furs with gentle but firm pressure, his hands on Eli's shoulders. Eli went willingly, his body tense but yielding, his eyes never leaving Jace's face.
"Lie back," Jace said.
Eli did, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. Every instinct he had was screaming at him to take control, to flip their positions, to claim and mark and possess.
But he'd promised to trust. And that meant surrendering.
Jace straddled him slowly, his weight settling over Eli's hips. He was still fully clothed, and Eli was acutely aware of every point of contact between them—the heat of Jace's thighs against his sides, the pressure of Jace's hands on his chest.
"You're terrified of abandonment," Jace said, his fingers tracing idle patterns on Eli's skin. "I get that. Your pack fell apart. Your brother betrayed you. Everyone you trusted left or died or turned on each other."
Eli's mouth flattened. "Jace—"
"But every time you grab onto me like I'm going to disappear," Jace continued, his voice gentle but unyielding, "you're proving that you don't trust me. You're proving that you think I'm going to leave unless you force me to stay."
His hands moved lower, finding the waistband of Eli's pants. "So tonight, you're going to trust me. You're going to let me lead, and you're going to feel how good it is when you're not fighting for control."
He began undressing Eli slowly, deliberately, his movements unhurried. Eli's breath came faster, his body responding despite his emotional turmoil.
"Hands above your head," Jace said.
Eli hesitated for just a moment, then complied. He gripped the furs above his head, his knuckles white with the effort of restraining himself.
"Good," Jace murmured. "That's good, Eli."
He finished undressing Eli, then sat back to remove his own clothes. Eli watched, his chest heaving, his cock already hard and leaking against his stomach.
When Jace was naked, he reached for the small jar of oil they kept by the furs. He slicked his fingers slowly, deliberately, making sure Eli was watching.
"You want to touch me," Jace said. It wasn't a question.
"Yes," Eli said hoarsely.
"But you're not going to," Jace continued. "Not yet. Because you need to learn that you don't have to hold onto me to keep me."
He reached behind himself, and Eli's breath stalled as he realized what Jace was doing. Preparing himself. Opening himself up while Eli watched, unable to touch, unable to help, unable to do anything but lie there and trust.
"That's torture," Eli said, breaking.
"Good," Jace replied, his eyes never leaving Eli's face. "That's the point. You have to earn back the right to touch me the way you want to if you're going to treat me like property."
He worked himself open slowly, his breathing growing heavier, his cheeks flushing with arousal. Eli could see the pleasure building in him, could see the way his cock hardened and leaked, and it was the most erotic and frustrating thing he'd ever experienced.
"Jace," Eli pleaded. "Please."
"Please what?" Jace asked, his voice slightly breathless now.
"Please let me touch you. Please let me—"
"No," Jace said firmly. "Not yet."
When he was ready, he positioned himself over Eli's cock. He gripped the base, holding it steady, and then slowly—agonizingly slowly—he sank down.
Eli's entire body went rigid, his hands clenching so hard in the furs that he heard fabric tear. The heat of Jace's body, the tight grip of him, the slow slide—it was overwhelming.
"Breathe," Jace said. "Just breathe, Eli."
Eli forced himself to breathe, forced himself to stay still, forced himself to let Jace control the pace.
When Jace was fully seated, he paused, his hands braced on Eli's chest. They stayed like that for a silent beat, both adjusting, both feeling the connection between them.
"Tell me what you're feeling," Jace said.
"Like I'm going to lose you," Eli said hoarsely. "Like if I don't hold on hard enough, you'll slip away."
Jace leaned down and kissed his chest, right over his heart. "I'm not slipping. I'm staying. But you have to let me stay because I want to, not because you're holding me down."
He began to move—slow, rolling movements of his hips that had Eli gasping. The pleasure built gradually, intensely, and Eli had to fight every instinct he had not to grab Jace's hips and take control.
"You're doing so well," Jace murmured, his voice hoarse with his own pleasure. "You're trusting me. You're letting go."
His pace increased slightly, and Eli felt his control fraying at the edges. His hands were still gripping the furs above his head, but his hips were starting to move involuntarily, thrusting up to meet Jace's downward movements.
"That's it," Jace said. "You can move. You can participate. But you don't get to control."
Eli's eyes were burning, and he realized with shock that he was close to tears. Not from pain, but from the overwhelming emotion of it—the vulnerability, the trust, the desperate need to believe that Jace wouldn't leave.
"I'm scared," he admitted, his voice breaking. "I'm so fucking scared, Jace."
"I know," Jace said, his own voice thick with emotion. He leaned down to kiss Eli, slow and deep and full of everything they couldn't say. "I know you are. But I'm here. I'm staying. You don't have to be scared."
He increased his pace, riding Eli harder now, both of them chasing release. Eli's hands finally came down from above his head, but instead of grabbing Jace's hips to control the movement, he reached up to cup Jace's face.
"I love you," Eli said, tears on his cheeks now. "So much it terrifies me."
"Then trust that," Jace said, his own eyes bright. "That's why I'm not leaving. That's why I'm here."
Eli's orgasm hit him like a physical blow, his entire body arching off the furs as he came deep inside Jace. He cried out—Jace's name, a plea, a prayer—and felt something break open in his chest.
Not breaking apart. Breaking open.
Releasing the fear, the possessiveness, the desperate need to control.
Jace came a moment later, his body clenching around Eli's cock, his release spilling hot between them. He collapsed forward onto Eli's chest, both of them trembling with aftershocks.
They lay like that for a long time, neither speaking, both processing what had just happened.
Finally, Jace shifted slightly, propping himself up on one elbow to look at Eli's face.
"Better?" he asked.
Eli nodded, not trusting his voice. His hand came up to rest on Jace's back—light enough that Jace could pull away if he wanted to. It was a conscious choice. Physical affection without ownership.
"I'm sorry," Eli said finally. "For spiraling. For treating you like territory."
"I know you are," Jace said. "And I understand why you react that way. Your past was all about losing people. But you can't let that past control your future with me."
He sat up slightly, looking down at Eli with serious eyes.
"I need you to know something: I'm here. I'm staying. But not because I have to. Because I want to."
Eli reached up and touched Jace's face, his thumb tracing the line of his cheekbone. "What happened with your mother?"
Jace took a deep breath, and Eli felt him tense slightly.
"That's the other thing I need to tell you," he said. "I told her about us. About the bond. About choosing you."
Eli's entire body went rigid. "What did she say?"
Jace sat up fully, wrapping the furs around himself. When he spoke, his voice was carefully controlled.
"She said if I choose you, I'm no longer fully part of the pride. I'll be 'other'—welcome to visit, but not to lead or participate in collective decisions. I'm effectively exiling myself."
The reality of it settled between them like a physical weight.
Jace had given up his place in his family structure for this bond. He'd sacrificed his status, his role, his future within the pride—all for Eli.
"Jace—" Eli started, but Jace cut him off.
"Don't," he said firmly. "I made this choice. I'm choosing this. But I need you to honor that choice by trusting me and treating me as someone beside him, not as something you're afraid to lose."
Eli sat up, pulling Jace against his chest. "Okay," he said. "Okay, I can do that."
"Can you?" Jace asked, and there was genuine uncertainty in his voice. "Because if you can't, if you're going to spend the rest of our lives trying to possess me instead of love me, then we need to end this now. Before it destroys us both."
Eli was quiet for one suspended breath, feeling the weight of Jace's body against his, the warmth of his skin, the steady rhythm of his breathing.
"I can do it," he said finally. "I don't know if I'll be perfect at it. I'll probably fuck up sometimes. But I can try. I can learn."
He pulled back enough to look at Jace's face. "You gave up everything for me. The least I can do is give up my need to control you."
Jace's expression softened. He leaned in and kissed Eli—slow and sweet and full of promise.
"That's all I'm asking," he said. "Just try."
They fell asleep wrapped together, Eli's arm around Jace protectively but not possessively. His hand rested gently on Jace's ribs, feeling him breathe, feeling the steady proof that he was here, that he was real, that he'd chosen to stay.
Eli was still terrified of losing him. That fear probably wouldn't go away anytime soon.
But he was learning that terror didn't have to drive him to ownership. It could drive him to love, to trust, to commitment.
That was the hard work of a real relationship—not holding on so hard you crushed what you loved, but holding on with open hands.
Letting someone stay because they wanted to, not because you forced them.
It was terrifying.
But as Eli drifted off to sleep with Jace's heartbeat steady against his chest, he thought maybe—just maybe—it was worth it.