The Power Of The Bite (6 page)

“I get the point,” Broz broke in quickly. “But it doesn’t change the fact that now you’re both in a shit load of trouble. I see your marks, Dax. You ain’t getting it up for anyone else, so how the hell are you going to claim a wolf to become Alpha. Your pack doesn’t allow unmated Alpha’s and they’re not going to accept Zane.”

“I thought that was obvious. I’m not going to even try and claim anyone else. I haven’t gotten it up, as you so quaintly put it, for anyone else except my mate for the past three months. For a wolf, once a bite takes on another person, that is it. I’ve spent three months with blue balls, my wolf getting antsy every time someone came near me. I’ve had to listen to friends running down my mate, knowing if I said something that I’d be fine, but Zane would have been in the crosshairs of any one of my pack who might think their Alpha had gone round the bend and needed some
assistance
. So I shut up. I played my part, and yes I was a fucking asshole to my mate. I don’t need you to tell me that. But I’m also unbelievably lucky. Zane forgave me. He claimed me and I don’t care if we end up in a shack in the middle of the boonies somewhere, I am not denying Zane as my mate anymore to anyone.”

“Told you,” Zane said to his friends, a smile gracing his sharp face.  Dax wanted to see his mate with that look all of the time. It totally transformed Zane’s face. “He’d make an excellent Alpha.”

“Thank you.” Dax had no problems returning Zane’s smile even as his stomach dropped. “You know it’s not going to happen, but thank you for thinking that way.”

“So what’s the situation with your pack?” Broz seemed to have gone from wanting to ream him a new one, to being on his side. Weird, but Dax would take all the support he could get.

“The Alpha has given me three months to find a suitable Alpha Mate. On the night of the 22
nd
February he plans to make his announcement that he is leaving, insist that I claim my mate in front of the pack, which is such an old school tradition but one my father wants followed. Once that is done he will turn over the leadership of the pack to me, and apparently him and the current Alpha Mate are leaving that same night. He wanted it to happen within the month, but I stalled him, hoping we could come up with another solution.”

“You want to be Alpha?” It was Zane who asked the question but Dax guessed that everyone at the table wanted to know the answer.

“I was brought up to be Alpha, and I didn’t want to upset my father,” he said carefully. “I’ve always had the best interests of my pack at heart. I didn’t have many close friends because of my position but my father spent a lot of time teaching me how to do right by the pack. But being the next Alpha isn’t all there is to me. I’ve proven myself as a successful club owner and I did that by myself. I figure I’ll sell the club, and use the money to open another one somewhere else that is not encroaching on another pack’s territory.”

“You know, if you were Alpha, especially with a vampire Alpha Mate, you could go a long way to increasing the prosperity of this whole town,” Van said thoughtfully. Dax wasn’t sure what the man was getting at and he said so.

“It’s simple. Typically shifters worry about the land, the environment and are extremely territorial. Which is all very well and good. But in the scheme of things there are more humans alive than anyone else. While there are not as many vampires as wolf shifters overall, it is normally the vampires that have the most money. They live a lot longer, invest wisely and are more suited to living in larger populations while wolves are more rural based. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it Dax, but this town has the potential for growth and could do really well with some decent investment.”

“But I’m not seeing how that would help my pack.” Dax was confident enough running his club as a profitable business but he would be the first to admit that he didn’t know a lot at all about investments and finances. He had saved hard, got a deposit for the club when it became available, and then poured the profits into it until he owned it outright. The fact that it was a success and was making him plenty of money now was a bonus.

“Your pack members all have businesses or jobs in town. Increased growth would mean more money for everyone. Better housing, schools, infrastructure. You have enough sway on the local council to ensure your forestry area and pack lands were kept separate and intact, but there’s plenty of room for expansion on the west and southern sides of town. I have friends who would happily invest in buildings and businesses here if there was a change in the ruling pack.”

“Vampires you mean.” Dax wasn’t sure how he felt about what Van was saying, but the man had some interesting ideas.

“Vampires,” Van agreed. “They’ve tried coming here before, but anytime a business, private school or something similar has been suggested, they have always been turned down by the local council. We are allowed only a four block area in the whole town where we can live. Gods, the amount of hassle Broz got trying to set up his security business here was ridiculous and all because of the pack.”

“Why would vampires want to come here anyway? There’s nothing here of particular interest.” Dax could see the attraction for other wolves – the forest area around Portrain was beautiful. But what would a city-based vampire get out of the place?

“Land, food sources, business opportunities,” Broz said, apparently well over his snit and happy to contribute. “There’s a huge plot of land, on the outskirts of pack territory on the south side, surrounded by forest area, perfect for a small coven. It’s where the old coven used to be and over the years it’s just become a mix of wasteland and scrub. Half of the shops in town are empty and the industrial area is a joke. No one seems to have the money to invest in anything new. You have a large enough human population to support at least a dozen more vampires without ever being noticed, and that’s without the blood bank at the hospital, which is second to none and has no problem selling blood to private corporations for research purposes.”

“Are you and your friends the only vampires living in town at the moment?”

“Yep.” It was Zane who answered. “With the four block restriction on where we could live, I had to wait months before I could get this house. I got the job easily enough, although the police force is full of humans, which is something else that the pack should consider changing. If your shifters get into trouble with the law, then they really should have representation in the force, someone who could help them out and get the matter referred to the Alpha rather than a human court system. As it is, the humans I work with know there is something weird about me, but they just can’t work out what it is, which makes for a fucking uncomfortable working day.”

“There’s a lot of things I would change,” Dax said, his mind racing with possibilities. His Father had been a very old school Alpha and hated change of any kind. Something that used to chaff at Dax as he was growing up. But Van and Broz had made some good points, and when he took over as Alpha he could make a lot of improvements which would benefit everyone, vampire, human and shifter alike. Or not. “But as I’m never going to be Alpha here, there’s not a lot I can do.”

“What would happen,” it was Van asking the question this time, “If you challenged your father at the next full moon meeting? If you fought for the pack, and won, rather than have it handed to you. Then he could have no say in who you mated, or anything else for that matter. The pack would be yours.”

Dax’s first reaction was to shout no, and then get his mate in the car and drive them both until the scent of his home was nothing but a memory. But years of learning to bite his tongue where his father was concerned kicked in and he thought seriously about what the man had asked.

On the surface of things, hypothetically and from an academic viewpoint, Van was right. If Dax took the pack by force then he could rule alone, he could rule with Zane by his side, he could do whatever he wanted.

“There’s two major issues with your suggestion,” he said finally, grateful that in the silence Zane had thought to fill the coffee cups with a fresh brew. “Firstly, I could win the pack, I have no doubt about that. My father is getting older and more importantly he has a wife on his back who doesn’t like being Alpha Mate. It’s the pack itself that’s the problem. They would have to want to follow me as their Alpha. Otherwise I would be challenged at every turn, members would leave, pack stability would suffer. It could be a disaster and Zane, I’m almost certain you wouldn’t be safe.”

“We’ll worry about that in a minute,” Van said. “What’s the second thing?”

“It’s a personal thing really. I’ve never wanted to be in a position of having to challenge my father. We might not be very close, but he is the only family I have. I know I wouldn’t have to kill him, he’s not like that. But even making a proud man submit to me…yeah. He’s my father, it wouldn’t be easy for me.”

Dax’s phone vibrated violently in his pocket and he pulled it out. “Speak of the devil,” he put his finger over his lips and the vampires fell silent.

“Father. Is something wrong? We only spoke yesterday.”

“Something wrong?” Nathanial spluttered. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong? I had to hear you have claimed your fated mate from your friend Cole, who then proceeded to issue a formal challenge for my position. He said you quit the pack.”

“My mate’s a vampire, Father. Did Cole tell you that too? I knew you wouldn’t approve, whether our union was fated or not. I understand I have no choice but to leave the pack. I’m sorry you had to hear about it from someone else, but it’s a new development. I would have told you before I left town.”

“I don’t care if your mate is a two headed dinosaur with purple spots. You do not have my permission to quit anything. I will not have someone like Cole take over this pack. He might be your closest friend, but he’s a wastrel, a scoundrel and he’s got the morals of an alley cat. Not to mention he’s only a beta. Make sure you’re at the pack grounds at sunset tomorrow night and bring that fucking vampire with you. If Cole beats me, I expect you to challenge him and kill the bastard. Don’t let me down.”

Dax found himself listening to dead air as his father clicked off without waiting for a response. He slowly lowered his phone from his ear, turned it off, put it back in his pocket and then looked at Zane.

“You, my lover, are going to need some serious protection. I think the proverbial shit has just hit the fan.

Chapter Seven

Zane had never been more thankful for his friends than he was in the hours that followed. Broz might be resistant to him having a shifter as a mate, but he would protect Zane’s back from any and all comers. Van called in Royce and Seb who came immediately, and Ewan and Foyle arrived later.  If the vampires were surprised at seeing Dax sitting at the table, no one said anything about it. Zane received congratulations from his friends as though a wolf and a vampire mating was perfectly normal, and Dax was chatting to the men as though he had known them all his life. Zane was thankful his friends had accepted Dax so readily, although Dax’s natural honesty, curiosity and sheer friendliness made that easier.

But there was a part of Zane that was still extremely agitated. He’d spent three months making sure that Dax wouldn’t be adversely affected by their claiming. When Dax opened his mouth and confirmed his father’s suspicions, glibly saying that he was leaving the pack because his father wouldn’t accept an outsider as a mate as though it wasn’t a big deal, Zane felt guilty, proud and so fucking scared he had to bite his lip to stop himself from saying something. Standing up, he dropped a quick kiss on Dax’s head, as he made his way out of the room. He desperately needed some air.

Zane looked around his small, but tidy back yard. He hadn’t really liked the house when he bought it, but with the pack territory restrictions in town, something he’d been warned about before he even took up his job, it was this house or spend forever sleeping in Broz’s spare room. He was the first to admit he hadn’t done much to make it homely but then he was barely ever in the place. Looking out over his plot of lawn, with the little edge gardens that were losing their bloom he wondered if he’d even be alive to see the next spring growth.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Broz. Zane wasn’t surprised. He’d had a feeling that a lot of his friend’s earlier anger had stemmed from the fact he’d been blindsided. Broz hated to be kept in the dark about anything and the two men had an open and honest friendship before Dax came along. Turning to face his friend he noticed the worry in the man’s dark eyes, the tenseness in the shoulders that can only come from having to watch over your shoulder all the time, and a caged readiness that was just waiting to be released. Broz wasn’t as tall as Zane, but his eyes were just as dark, and his short dark hair screamed military at anyone who looked at him. He exuded power that all people, paranormals and human alike, couldn’t help but respect.

“I didn’t want to cause any trouble for anyone,” Zane said simply. “If you guys knew then you’d be after Dax to…to…I don’t know…force him to be a decent mate or something. You see things in black and white my friend, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just this whole mess was just one shade of grey after another. I knew the situation was hopeless. I wasn’t going to drag my friends into my mess too. You’ve worked hard for your business and your right to live here. I wasn’t going to say anything that might have had you all relocating again. You’ve only been here a few years.”

“But you know we would have done it, right? You always knew we’d have your back?”

“Yes.” Zane had known that since the day he’d met the burly vampire. There was an honesty in Broz that couldn’t be faked and if the man was your friend then you had a friend for life. “But I also knew,” he added, “that if you’d known about Dax sooner, then you would have been on his ass like white on rice, and I’d probably have come home one day to find him shackled to my bed with no sign of the keys.”

“Yeah, I probably would have done something like that,” Broz said with a laugh, before getting serious again. “Z, look man. We’ve been friends a fucking long time. I’ve known you a lot longer than I have Van, and man, you were so supportive of us both when we got together. You were a rock when all of that shit went down with him and aside from my mate, you’re the closest friend I have. Seeing you wasting away, not knowing what was wrong or how to help, it fucked with me man, you have to know that.”

“I know, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. But I knew the moment I saw Dax that he was mine. I tried to keep away, without letting you guys know anything was wrong. When we finally did get up close and personal, well…it was fucking fireworks as you’d expect.”

“I can imagine.”

“Right up until last night I believed Dax made a mistake in claiming me, that it was an accident. He tells me now it wasn’t, but who knows. What I do know,” and Zane looked Broz squarely in the eyes as he spoke, “is that prior to last night, if the only way my mate could become the Alpha he was meant to be, was for me to be dead, then that was the price I was prepared to pay. That was my decision and I hope you can respect that.”

“Tell me you don’t feel that way anymore, and it’s forgotten,” Broz promised.

“I can’t feel that way anymore,” Zane let out a short laugh. “The stupid man begged me to claim him in return. I could hardly refuse when it’s something I’ve wanted for three fucking months. Now, it’s a death sentence for both of us if I don’t get my shit together. But with what’s gone down today, it’s going to be a hell of a mission keeping him safe.”

“You’re not on your own anymore though, and believe me, my friend, that counts for a hell of a lot.”

As Zane followed his friend back into the house, he had to agree.

/~/~/~/~/

Dax was edgy. His cock was hard, his balls felt like they were going to burst and he was having a hard time keeping a sensible thought in his head. He appreciated that the vampires were supportive, lord knows he was appreciative. Zane would need all the backup he could get over the next few days and Dax was grateful that his mate had kick-ass friends. But come on. He was a mated wolf shifter. He’d been mated three whole months and in that time he’d only had sex with Zane eleven times. Eleven! A healthy shifter could do that in three days and still be up for more.  And he was so up for it, the freaking thing hurt. 

Seeing Zane head outside, Dax’s first instinct was to follow him, but Broz frowned at him and shook his head, standing up and going after the blond vampire himself. Figuring Broz probably did know more about what Zane might need than he did, Dax sat back down and continued talking to the others about heading into his club later that night. He desperately wanted to talk to Cole and find out what the fuck his friend was thinking, challenging the Alpha like that. Yes, Dax had planned on making the man his second, but when it was all said and done, Cole was a beta wolf, not an Alpha. Any challenge idea was doomed from the start, and Dax couldn’t work out what Cole was playing at.

There was a part of Dax that wanted to take Zane out as well, show the man off. They were mates, so it was a perfectly normal reaction. But he knew how superior the hangers on around him thought they were in comparison to anyone of a different species. He hated the attitude, but he’d grown up with it. He wondered how those same people would react when he walked in with Zane on his arm, and six vampires as a pseudo type of guard. It was the uncertainty of not knowing the type of reaction they would get, that was making it all the more important for his wolf to reclaim the man he was bound to.

So when Zane walked back into the kitchen, smiling at something Broz had said, Dax made what he called an executive decision.

“Okay, guys,” he said, standing up and clapping his hands. “We’ve talked this to death, but the bottom line is that Zane and I will be going to the club tonight. It’s my place of business, my job if you like. I have every right to be there, and I want my mate by my side. It could be risky for Zane, so if you want to come along, awesome.  Meet us back here in about two hours and I’ll shout you all dinner at the club. But for now, Zane hasn’t been well, he needs to feed and get some rest, and you guys need to go get your glad rags on. So two hours, right?”

Broz looked like he would rather remove a limb than leave Dax alone with Zane. Van, on the other hand, looked like he was going to fall apart laughing, but all six men dutifully got to their feet and headed through the house and out the door. Dax followed them out, made sure the door was securely locked and then went back to find his mate, who was cleaning up cups and dishes from the kitchen table.

“You can be quite the bossy general when you want to be,” Zane said, but Dax didn’t get anything from his mate suggesting he was annoyed about the hasty exit from his friends.

“Just practicing my Alpha skills,” Dax said with a smirk. “You never know, they could be needed yet. And continuing my general theme, how about you leave those dishes and join me in the bedroom. Believe me, I have been patient, I love that your friends want to help us, it’s more than I could ever hope for. But honestly, if I don’t get my cock in you in the next five minutes, I swear I’m going internally combust.”

Zane threw down the dishrag he was using, and stalked towards Dax, his eyes flashing brilliant red. “Are you always going to be in a hurry for the main event?” He asked as he sauntered past, heading for the bedroom. “Or have you got a couple of tricks down your pants that might actually impress me?”

Oooh. Dax fumed. His cheeky fucking mate. Challenge understood and accepted in full.

Following Zane’s path, Dax stopped short when he saw that his mate was already naked, laying face up on the bed, stroking a cock worthy of its own porn show. He really wanted to get up close and personal with that, but it didn’t stop him pouting.

“You didn’t even give me a chance to undress you,” he said as he quickly pulled his borrowed shirt over his head, before kicking off his boots and dropping his pants.

“I seem to recall you’re hellishly hard on clothes,” Zane reminded him. “Seems you consider them more of an obstacle to shred than an opportunity to entice and tease.”

Dax ignored his flaming cheeks. Zane had nailed his technique in one short sentence. Every wolf he’d ever been with since buying the club had wanted short, hard and fast. He never complained and he’d always delivered. When he met Zane, their circumstances meant their meetings were done in a cloak of secrecy, with Dax alternating between desperation and fear. Somehow Dax knew that Zane was giving him a chance to redeem himself and he promised himself he would not fail.

So instead of jumping on Zane and pushing into his body, which was something he frantically wanted to do, and usually did, instead Dax walked around the bed and searched Zane’s drawer. Sure enough, there was lube, although the tube was almost full. Perfect. Without a word he stuck it prominently on the table beside Zane’s head and then carefully climbed onto the mattress.

“Do you actually know what that stuff is used for?” Zane teased.

“I’ve said I’m sorry for the way I’ve been in the past, now shut up and let me kiss you.”

Truth be told, Dax was more than a little nervous and if Zane had been a wolf and realized it, he’d probably have laughed the man out of bed. The only lovemaking Dax had ever done was in his mind, and while the star of his fantasies had always been Zane, he’d never thought he’d actually have a chance to put any of those fantasies into practice. He really didn’t want to fuck things up.

Praying his lips wouldn’t tremble, Dax draped himself over Zane’s slightly smaller frame, kissing Zane like his life depended on it. Every time he felt the rush of his wolf, he pushed it back, keeping his movements slow and deliberate. He teased Zane full lips with his own, but in the end it was their breathing that was his undoing. Harsh breaths panted out in the quietness of the room accompanied by the sound of flesh on flesh as Dax grabbed, pulled, reaching down Zane’s body and then back up again. Strong hands cupping equally strong necks, grasping, coming together, moving apart, then back together again as though the whole world would stop if their lips weren't joined.

Dax chewed and sucked in Zane’s delicious bottom lip, moaning at the sweetness of his mate’s mouth. It was like chocolate - not the hard stuff bought at the local corner store, but rich and decadent like something only a chocolatier from Paris could achieve. Heads turned this way and that, noses nudging each other and through it all the lips stayed joined, Zane giving as good as he got. No matter how hard Dax tried to slow things down, he knew he couldn’t get enough of his man. At least Zane seemed to feel the same way. The man's long fingers were tangled in his hair, and Zane's body writhed and humped beneath him in a sensual dance.

It was the realization that he could easily come from just kissing his mate that finally had Dax moving on. Grasping Zane’s head in his hands, he took long licks, across the jaw line, down Zane’s neck, stopping only for a moment to nibble across Zane’s mating scar. Letting his hands follow the path set by his mouth, Dax swirled around one nipple, giving into the temptation to bite. Zane’s groan and the way his hips arched off the bed, was enough incentive for Dax to treat the other nipple the same way. Seemed his mate loved to be bitten. Dax’s could feel his eyes shift at the thought.

Ignoring the obvious path down the middle of his mate’s chest, Dax went to the side, loving on the tightly defined obliques. Working his way down every muscle, Dax turned Zane slightly on his side. There, that little dip in the hip. Dax sucked up a massive mark, then bobbing his head over Zane’s cock, he turned his mate’s hips to the other side, giving his man matching marks. Dax could appreciate symmetry.

More marks followed – the top of the hip bone, the inside of each thigh, and through it all Zane’s moans got louder, his curses rougher and soon frantic hands were trying to grab at Dax’s head trying to move it in the right direction.  Dax could evade the hands, but he did take pity on his mate. He wanted Zane blinded with pleasure, not cursing in frustration. Inhaling deeply, Dax sucked in Zane’s cock and then moaned himself as the rich taste of his mate’s sexual heal hit his tongue. Why hadn’t he done this before?