Authors: Lynn Hagen
Now he would never know what it was like to be held by his mate, made love to, or be claimed. He would be stuck in this house with a man that should be his but never would be. The thought of that plunged his depression deeper into the abyss.
His skin itched to be held, to be loved. That’s all he had wanted. Micah was forever sidestepping him and treating him like a kid brother or son rather than a mate, and his dejected feeling only worsened with time. Oliver knew all this, but it still didn’t excuse what he had done. Now he’d lost Micah forever.
Oliver had stared blankly at the wall for seven days now, only getting up to use the bathroom or answer the door. At first, he didn’t even acknowledge the knocking until Maverick’s booming voice demanded he do so, but the wolf stayed outside, not entering, telling Oliver that he better start eating.
Oliver agreed, but only in words. His appetite had left with Micah. His sanity had left with Micah. A hole now existed where his heart had once been.
Oliver began to silently cry again as he drifted back off to sleep.
* * * *
Micah slipped back into his bedroom. It was three in the morning, and he couldn’t fight the pull any longer. He needed his mate. He had wandered the forest for a week, eating the prey he caught and sleeping in the cold. The first few days he had been a savage, the wolf killing any prey that came too near. Blood was what he had wanted, and blood was what he had spilled. He ate what he killed, but the rage had consumed him.
Micah stood over the bed and stared down at his sleeping mate. Why? Why would Oliver lay in the arms of another? This question haunted him from the moment he had entered the woods. Was he that bad of a mate that he drove his young man to another?
He leaned in closer to see the black rings around his mate’s eyes. Pulling the covers back he saw the thinness creeping up Oliver’s skin. This concerned Micah. He didn’t want his mate’s health suffering. He still loved him deeply, but his heart had been ripped out.
He had to know why. He had to find out who the hell fucked his mate. They would be disemboweled. Micah would accept no excuse from the one who soiled Oliver.
“Oliver, wake up,” Micah demanded in a voice that was not gentle.
“Get out! He said no one. Get out!” Oliver screamed as he jumped up and pushed at Micah.
Micah grabbed his wrists, pulling Oliver into his arms. “It’s Micah, calm down.” He was angry, hurt and betrayed, but he still wanted to hold his mate. Claim him and love him.
“I’m so sorry.” Oliver sobbed into Micah’s chest. His mate’s arms wrapped around his waist as he held on. “Please don’t leave me.”
“Tell me what happened.” Micah braced himself for the sordid details. He couldn’t let Oliver go. He had to hang tight, try to keep his sanity, when his mate told of his affair.
“I kissed Evan. I didn’t plan it. I–I’ve just been so lonely, so damn lonely. I know that’s not an excuse. He didn’t know, Micah. It’s not his fault. He denied me and jumped away. I’m sorry.” Oliver hugged Micah closer.
“What else, Oliver?” He couldn’t take the suspense. He was ready to go kill Evan, but he wanted to know all of it so he wouldn’t feel guilty when Evan’s intestines lay under him.
“That’s it, I swear.” Oliver’s nails dug into Micah’s back as he hung onto him for dear life.
“A kiss?”
“Yes. Actually, they really didn’t even touch. I promise, Micah. I’ll never ever cheat again. Ever.”
Micah pulled back and stared down at his mate. “A kiss?”
Oliver nodded as fat tears rolled down his cheeks.
Micah pulled Oliver tight to his chest. A damn kiss. That was the extent of it? He hadn’t been defiled? Micah wanted to laugh. The relief released the knot his stomach and heart that had been there for a week.
Micah was still going to have a face-to-face talk with Evan.
Oliver squealed when Micah dropped him on the bed. “You ready to be claimed, mate?”
Oliver ripped his clothes off before Micah even removed his shirt.
Micah chuckled at his mate’s eagerness. He sobered when he grabbed Oliver’s face. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“Been ready since midnight hit on my eighteenth birthday.” He gave Micah a big, toothy smile.
“Never seek solace in another man’s arms again, Oliver. Talk to me, even when I’m being pigheaded. Promise.” Oliver’s eyes brimmed, but Micah had to hear the word.
“Promise. That’s why I jumped into the water. I had to get away from myself. The guilt ate at me so bad I hated who I was.”
“On your knees,” Micah demanded as he grabbed the lube from the drawer. Foreplay later, he needed to bond Oliver to him now.
Oliver crawled to the middle of the bed and lowered his shoulders. He looked over at Micah as his body shook.
“Scared, Oliver?” Micah lubed his fingers and slid two into his mate’s puckered hole.
“A little. I’ve been waiting so long that I feel like I’m dreaming.” Oliver moaned when Micah began a slow in and out with his fingers.
“It’s real. Relax and enjoy. Promise you’ll let me know if I do something you don’t like?” Micah twisted his wrist and crooked his finger until he found Oliver’s prostate.
Oliver shouted and jutted his ass further in the air. “Promise, Micah. Please do that again.”
Micah smiled then added a third finger. He grazed the gland a few more times as Oliver shook and keened.
“My baby likes that.” Micah laid his other hand on the small of Oliver’s back as he quickened the pace of his fingers.
“More, Micah. I need more.” Oliver’s head fell back. “Fuck me.”
Micah pulled his hand free and got on his knees behind Oliver. He laid his thumbs on Oliver’s globes and spread his cheeks apart. Fuck if that wasn’t a beautiful sight.
“Please,” Oliver begged, pushing back.
“Anything you want, love.” Micah pushed all the way to the root. His eyes closed for a moment, relishing the tight hole stretching around his cock.
Oliver cried out.
“Did I hurt you?” Micah rubbed Oliver’s back as worry creased his brow.
“You will if you don’t move.” Oliver panted.
Micah laughed as he slammed forward one good thrust. “Is that what you want?”
“No, I want an ice cream cone.”
Micah’s head fell back as a booming laughter filled the bedroom.
“In that case.” Micah dug his fingers into Oliver’s hips and pistoned into him then stopped.
“Micah!” Oliver protested loudly.
“Again, is that what you want?” Micah smiled as Oliver’s fists pounded the sheets.
“Yes, dammit. Fuck me until I can’t walk.”
“Now you’re talking.” Micah thrust his hips as his pelvis slapped against Oliver’s ass.
“Do you accept me as your mate, Oliver?” Micah thrust forward on each word.
“Yes.” He mewled.
“No, you have to say my name as well.” Micah’s canines elongated as his eyes shifted to crimson.
“Yes, Micah.” Oliver cried as he rocked back.
“Better.”
Micah struck, biting into Oliver’s neck as his hips slammed into Oliver like a rocket. He drank from his mate as he felt the ribbons of their souls unwind and entwine together, their heartbeats synchronized, the bonding complete.
Oliver shouted Micah’s name as he came all over the sheets, his body jerking from the eruption.
“You are mine, and you will not share.” Micah growled around Oliver’s neck.
“Never.” Oliver promised as Micah roared his release, his body thrusting so hard that he swore Oliver would feel his cock in the back of his throat.
Micah sealed the wound and pulled Oliver to his chest. “I love you, Oliver. Never forget that.”
Micah lay on his back and draped his mate across his chest. “It’s beautiful. Your tattoo. Thank you.” He rubbed Oliver’s back in a soothing pattern.
“I’ve loved you from the moment you walked into my house. I just didn’t know it yet,” Oliver confessed.
* * * *
Micah walked into the den and knocked Evan on his ass with one swift punch to his jaw then walked away.
* * * *
“Why are we all gathered here?” Oliver asked as all the mates stood by the front door.
“Beats me,” Cecil replied as he shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay, men, time to go,” Maverick declared as he opened the front door.
They climbed into the SUVs, not daring to question the Alpha. Loco was behind the wheel with a smirk on his face. Oliver didn’t trust that look.
He became more wary when the other three SUVs filled with the remaining warriors. What the hell was going on?
As they drove into town, Blair leaned over and whispered in Oliver’s ear, “So, someone was claimed last night.” He snickered.
Had he been that loud?
“Congrats, bro.” They tapped knuckles as Oliver grinned from ear to ear.
They pulled in front of an office building with a big tooth hanging in front of it.
“Oh, no,” Johnny cried.
“Ah, shit. The dentist,” Drew complained.
They warriors escorted the mates into a waiting room as Maverick checked them in.
Oliver moved closer to Micah, craving skin contact. Micah pulled Oliver’s back to his chest as he wrapped his arms around Oliver. He never wanted Micah to let him go.
“Okay, you guys head on back. We’ll wait out here.” Maverick instructed as he took a seat in the small waiting room chair, he moved around trying to find a comfortable way to sit. The chairs weren’t meant for six nine warriors.
Johnny shot to the exit as Hawk grabbed him around the waist, depositing him next to Cecil.
“But I don’t wanna go,” Johnny cried to Hawk.
“Sorry, pretty baby. Oral hygiene is important.” Hawk kissed him on his nose and patted his ass.
Johnny pouted as he followed the other mates to the back.
They went into a large room with reclining chairs. The dental assistant told them all to have a seat and the dentists would be with them shortly.
Keata looked like a deer caught in headlights as he looked around at all the shiny dental tools.
Cecil played with a small tank, turning the knobs. “Come here, Johnny. This will help you relax.”
Oliver bit back a laugh as Cecil put the mask over Johnny’s face. After a moment, Johnny’s eyes glazed, and he began to giggle.
* * * *
“Excuse me, sirs, we need your help back here,” the dental assistant said as she stuck her head around the door.
“I hope Johnny isn’t giving the dentist a hard time.” Hawk shook his head as he and the other mated warriors headed to the back.
“What the hell?” Micah scratched his head as all the mates lay over dental chairs laughing their collective ass off.
“They seem to have discovered the laughing gas.” The dental assistant smiled.