Chapter Eleven

A dull, pleasant ache in his ass roused Sean from sleep. He stretched, extending his arms and cuffing something with his elbow. A grunt wafted breath over his arm, and Sean pried open his eyes to find Alex’s narrowed as the man glared at him.

They’d spent hours having sex, and, though it’d been a temporary mood killer, talking about the conclusions Marcus, Nathan and Alex had reached while Sean had been out of it.

Alex had distracted him from brooding and worrying over it, had fucked him until Sean couldn’t think of the guilt he’d felt. Then it had been Sean’s turn. Remembering had Sean licking his dry lips and grinning. “I’d think you would wake up smiling instead of glowering after last night…and this morning. You sure weren’t irritated when your knees were up by your ears and I was fucking you silly.”

Alex’s expression softened, as he pulled Sean on top of him. “Maybe that’s how you should have woke me up instead of socking me in the jaw.”

Sean’s dick had been hard when he’d awakened, but now it grew impossibly harder as he thrust, rubbing their cocks together. “We can close our eyes and start the morning all over aga—” A knock on their door had them both scowling as they glared in that direction. Sean sniffed and sighed, disappointment dousing his arousal. “Marcus,” he and Alex said at the same time.

“I swear he did it on purpose,” Alex grumped. Sean wasn’t so sure, but he did know the Alpha Anax had to be able to scent their need. It hung in the air with the odour of cum and sweat.

“Just a minute,” he called out, rolling off Alex. They got out of bed and hurried to get dressed. Sean glanced at the dried spunk on his belly and chest, scratching at it much like Alex was doing to his own. “Wish he would have waited until we finished and showered.”

He was feeling a tad grumpy himself now as he pulled on a shirt.

Alex muttered an agreement and beat him to the door. He opened it and Marcus stepped into the room, his nose wrinkling. Instead of pointing out the obvious, he kept a

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sombre look on his face as he addressed them both. “Shower, then come to my office. I just got a report in on Joshua’s whereabouts.” With that he turned and walked back out.

Sean stared at the empty doorway as worry turned his stomach sour. “It’s something bad, isn’t it?”

Alex hesitated, walking over to his side and wrapping his arms around Sean before answering. “I think it must be. For once Marcus didn’t make a remark about the smell or claiming or any such thing.”

Mind racing with possibilities, Sean averted his gaze when Alex looked at him. He was afraid he knew what Marcus would tell them—Joshua was coming for him, just as he’d promised. Sean fisted his hands as Alex held him tighter.

“He can’t have you, Sean. I promised you I wouldn’t let him hurt you again, and my promise nullifies his. He doesn’t love you. I do.”

Sean whipped his head up so fast his neck popped. He searched Alex’s eyes, feeling the truth settle over him, into him, cradling his heart and soul.

“I do,” Alex said, his eyes burning with the intensity of his emotions. They wrapped around Sean as surely as Alex’s arms, holding him in a cocoon of safety. As long as Alex held him, nothing would hurt him.

“Nothing will you hurt, not like Joshua did, ever again, whether you’re in my arms or not.”

Sean let out a stuttering breath as he nodded. The words were on the tip of his tongue; he parted his lips to say them only to have Alex kiss him, swallowing what Sean had intended to say. Alex’s mind moved with his, warming the chill that had coated his skin since Marcus had entered the room. “I know, Sean. I feel what you feel, can sense it every time you look at me, touch me.”

Nestling closer, Sean infused the kiss with every pounding, vibrant emotion he felt for Alex and received the same from him. They kissed until their lips were sore and swollen, the flesh slick and hot. “We’d better get cleaned up,”

Alex said with a wicked grin. He let Sean go, partially, taking his hands and walking backwards as he guided Sean to the bathroom.

Sean hesitated when Alex released his hands, frowning at his mate. “Maybe it’s not a good idea for us to get cleaned up at the same time. Marcus seemed to want us in his office, like, an hour ago.”

Alex snorted as he bent to turn on the shower. “Trust me, he knew what was going to happen when he told us to get cleaned up. He just wants us to be quick about it—and I can

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do quick.” He waggled his eyebrows at Sean and began stripping off his clothes. Already his tanned skin was flushed, his arousal showing. Sean took one look at the thick, proud cock pointing at him and couldn’t get naked quick enough. Alex chuckled and helped him, dropping to his knees and pulling down Sean’s sweats.

He licked the underside of Sean’s dick and palmed his balls, looking up at Sean. “What do you want?”

Sean bit his bottom lip as he considered his options. They were all very good options, but there was one in particular he wanted to indulge. “Fuck

me?”

“Like you ever have to ask,” Alex said, standing quickly and dragging Sean into the shower. The water was lukewarm at best, but Alex’s hands were hot on his skin as he spun Sean away from him. He pressed his hands to Sean’s shoulders, massaging them gently. “Put your hands on the wall.” Sean did, then spread his legs. The tub wasn’t quite wide enough for him to spread open like he wanted, so he propped a foot on the lip of the tub.

Alex slammed the shower door shut with one hand while prodding Sean’s ass hole with the fingers of the other. “Still wet, stretched. How sore are you?” He inserted a finger and Sean hissed. “Too sore. Maybe we should

—”

“No,” Sean snapped. He wanted to feel Alex taking him again, just in case

—

Alex growled and pulled his finger out of Sean’s ass. “I said I won’t let anything happen to you!”

“You can’t control everything and everyone, Alex,” Sean said, hoping he could explain his fear. He kept his mind open, but Alex didn’t seem interested in prying. “It isn’t you I’m doubting. Part of it is myself. I didn’t want Joshua to leave me. What if…what if—”

Alex grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. The fierce expression on his face sent a thrill of fear-tinged excitement through Sean. Alex wouldn’t hurt him, he believed that, but the man was bigger, stronger, and his anger well-controlled despite how sharp it was. It made Sean’s wolf want to roll over in a show of submission, and it spiked Sean’s arousal back up to where it’d been before this discussion had started.

Alex’s nostrils flared as his anger morphed into something hotter. He nudged Sean back a step. “Turn the water off and grab the shower head.”

Sean hurried to comply, nearly smacking his head on the wall when he bent over and Alex grabbed his ass. “Hurry,” Alex muttered. Sean turned the water off then faced Alex. He

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reached up and grabbed the showerhead in one hand and the short bit of pipe with the other.

Looking up, he considered the fixture. “Do you think it’ll hold my weight?”

“It doesn’t need to, not all of it.” With that, Alex grabbed the back of Sean’s thighs right below his butt cheeks and lifted him up. “Wrap your legs around me and lock your ankles together.”

Desire pounding in his groin, Sean did as he was told. Alex hefted him higher, then Sean felt the tip of Alex’s dick pressing to his ass hole. “Ready for me?” Alex asked, his gaze intent on Sean. Sean started to nod then moaned as that thick cock penetrated him.

Alex’s hands guided Sean down, filling him with one thrust. His back was pressed to the wall slowly, giving Sean time to adjust his grip if need be. He did, then Alex lifted him a few inches and slammed his cock back in as he lowered him onto Alex’s dick.

Sean’s head hit the wall with a thunk as Alex fucked him. It wasn’t pretty or neat, it was a hard, gritty fucking that set Sean’s ass on fire and made his entire body throb with the need to come. Alex grunted and rammed his cock in short, hard thrusts that rattled Sean’s teeth.

Sean let go with one hand and grabbed the back of Alex’s neck. “Do it. God damn it, Alex, do it!”

Alex groaned as he let his head be pushed down, shoved against Sean’s neck. His lips latched on to the mark he’d left and Sean whimpered. He bit, and Sean screamed, cum spewing from his dick. Alex’s rumbling grow signalled his end, as did the near-violent thrusts as he pounded Sean’s ass.

He lifted his head and howled as his hips stilled and he filled Sean’s channel with cum.

Dropping his head back to Sean’s shoulder, Alex laved the mark. Sean panted and waited for his muscles to stop trembling. When they did, he lowered his legs and let go of the pipe, letting Alex’s weight where he pinned Sean to the wall keep him upright. He ran a hand through Alex’s hair, admiring the way it gleamed with moisture from either sweat or before he’d turned the shower off. “We’d better hurry for sure now,” Sean prodded gently.

“Ungh,” Alex grunted, but he slapped a hand to the wall and pushed himself up.

“Damn, that about turned my bones to gel.”

“Mine too,” Sean admitted. They smiled at each other then cleaned up as fast as they could. Assuring one another they’d removed all the jizz, they got out after Sean turned off the water.

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By the time they’d tended to other matters of hygiene and got dressed, Sean figured they were pushing their time limit, and Alex agreed. “Yeah, we probably should run to his office.” Alex winked at Sean but Sean wasn’t sure he was joking entirely.

They walked at a fast clip, not quite jogging but pretty close to it until they reached Marcus’ office. Alex raised his hand to knock on the door then dropped it when Marcus bellowed, “Get in here, now!”

Sean scooted closer to Alex, relieved when he draped his arm over Sean’s shoulders.

“He’s not like Joshua, you know this. Don’t be afraid just because Marcus sounds a bit…bitchy. He won’t hurt you.”

Sean nodded, but he couldn’t quite hide his fear when he entered the room with Alex and found Marcus glaring at them both.

* * * *

Marcus’ glare softened when the scent of Sean’s fear permeated the air.

Alex was glad, because he’d been ready to snap at the Alpha Anax, and that likely wouldn’t have ended well for him.

“Y’all took longer than I’d expected.” Marcus’ lips twitched then stretched into a smile as footsteps sounded behind Alex and Sean. He smelt Nathan before he saw him. Nathan brushed by him, shooting an amused glance in their direction before perching on the edge of Marcus’ desk. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at them, though his words were for Marcus.

“See, I told you we would have had enough time to fuck. You owe me a blowjob.”

To Alex’s delight, Marcus’ cheeks turned ruddy as he grabbed up a stack of papers and started neatening them, tapping them against his desk. “Nathan,”

he scolded, but Nathan only harrumphed and studied Alex first, then Sean.

“Be warned, he’s trying to think of nicknames for the two of you. He and Gabe have this competition to see who can come up with the most embarrassing ones.”

Nathan nodded as he narrowed his eyes. “So far, Gabe beat me before we ever met with the whole ‘Double D’ for Aidan and ‘Grand Poobah’ for Marcus, but I’m thinking I can use the two of you to catch up.”

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Alex didn’t have to feign worry over that. He knew Nathan would drag out something awful. Sean’s soft snicker eased some of Alex’s concern, though, so he didn’t protest. Nathan would come up with whatever he came up with.

“Later, Nathan.” Marcus sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin.

He pinned Alex with an inquisitive look and tipped his head to one side.

Alex tried to steel himself for whatever was coming, sure he wouldn’t like it. Sean’s hand twined with his, and he squeezed it gratefully.

“I told y’all the guards lost Joshua, but it seems they picked up his trail again—or part of it. In Sedona.”

The words congealed into a lump of cold dread in Alex’s chest. He darted a glance at Sean, unsurprised to find him nibbling on his bottom lip and watching Alex.

Alex reached up and scratched the back of his neck, his nerves pinging.

“Sedona?

Where—” He sucked in a noisy breath.

Marcus nodded. “From what we can tell, he tracked you, or at least where you had been shortly before coming after him.”

“It couldn’t have been Joshua,” Sean blurted out.

“It was,” Marcus snapped, slapping the desktop as he leant forward. “His scent was all over Harley Johanson’s apartment!”

Alex’s knees quivered. He locked them to keep upright as Sean argued with the Alpha Anax.

“No. I mean, I’m not saying he wasn’t at this Harley Johanson’s apartment, but Joshua’s sense of smell has been damaged, probably permanently. He has a…a fondness for cocaine. It apparently has some effect on shifters when consumed in very large amounts.”

“All right, so one of his other pack members led Joshua there. Who would that be?”

Marcus asked, then, before Sean could answer, “Alex, sit before you fall. It isn’t your fault.”

Sean turned to him, frowning at Alex. “Why would you think it was—”

“Because I fucked him,” Alex admitted, unable and unwilling to lie to his mate. “Just hours before I found you.”

Sean looked away, biting at his lip again. Nathan stood and took Alex’s arm, steering him to one of the chairs in front of the desk. “Sit, like you were told.” Nathan pushed and

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Alex sat, wringing his hands together between his knees. He looked at his mate, who was still avoiding meeting his eyes.

Nathan took Sean’s arm and shook it. Alex barely held back a snarl as his mate jerked his gaze up to Nathan’s. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it.

Alex hadn’t met you yet. He didn’t know he had a mate, or he wouldn’t have been able to have sex with someone else. He wouldn’t have even wanted to have sex with anyone else. Were you aware you had a mate?”

Sean shook his head, and finally looked at Alex. “No, I didn’t…I didn’t understand, and it sure didn’t hit me like it did once I saw Alex again. I guess it wouldn’t feel the same to a child.”

“And you can think of that time in the past now?” Marcus asked.

“A little,” Sean said. “I’m afraid to push too hard, in case…” He shrugged then looked at Alex, letting him feel the truth as he spoke again. “Nathan’s right. You shouldn’t feel guilty for having…for, you know. I can’t even say

it without getting mad, but that doesn’t mean you were wrong!” Sean sounded mad, but the anger was directed at himself. “Just, believe us when we say it wasn’t your fault, not what you did before, and not what happened to…Harley Johanson. That’s no different than me blaming myself for what Joshua did to me.”

Alex opened his mouth to argue but couldn’t figure out how to refute the claim. He closed his mouth and looked hopefully at Sean. Sean’s mouth curled in a slight smile and he shook off Nathan’s hand on his arm and came to sit beside Alex.

“Now that that’s settled,” Marcus muttered. “Sean, who is the beta? The same shifter as when I was being held captive?”

Sean nodded, taking Alex’s hand once again. “Yes. Marshall Vaughn.

He’s…he’s always scared me, the way he looked at me.”

“Then he’s a dead fucker,” Alex said. “He deserves it for being Joshua’s beta as well as for looking at you in any way.”

* * * *

Sure his eyes were going to bug right out of his head, Sean gaped at Alex.

The man meant what he said, unequivocally. Sean couldn’t even argue, because he’d seen Marshall do

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almost as many horrible things as Joshua had—and Marshall had hated Marcus Criswell every bit as much as Sean’s brother did.

Alex nodded once then turned back to Marcus. “Is Harley—is he dead?”

Alex reached for Sean mentally. “I’m sorry, but I have to know. Whether anyone blames me or not, Harley wouldn’t have been dragged into this if I hadn’t…”

“We don’t know for sure. If he was killed, it wasn’t in his apartment. There was blood—

his—but not a lot. Colby thinks Joshua took him somewhere. The theory is,” Marcus shifted in his seat, his eyes settling on Sean. “That he’s using Harley for bait, or a bargaining chip.

And that Joshua’s coming here, for you.”

Even though Sean expected it, he still reeled with shock. Alex stood and lifted Sean up, settling them back down into Alex’s seat with Sean on his lap. Sean huddled against his mate as darkness pulled at him. His mind screamed for escape as the others talked.

“He’s a bigger idiot than I thought, even,” Nathan snarled. “Joshua ought to know showing up here will only ensure his death. Not that it wasn’t going to happen, anyway.”

Sean tried to resist the compelling impulse to bury himself away. He stopped hearing the other’s voices, except for the soothing one in his head.

Dimly, he recognised Alex’s voice.

Sean clung to that familiarity, the love he felt for him, as Alex coaxed him to stay with him.

“Don’t, please Sean. I won’t let him near you, he’ll never touch you again.

I’ll kill him myself if you can forgive me for it. If not me, then Marcus, or Nathan, or Alison—there’s a bunch of us here who’ll fight to protect you.

Joshua can’t get through us all. He won’t get through at all. Not these doors, and not past every shifter here.”

Sean wavered as Alex continued, then realised he couldn’t keep hiding like he used to do. All that did was take his awareness out of what was happening. It did nothing to protect his body—and he couldn’t protect his mate if he was just a catatonic lump.

“I won’t,” Sean whispered, raising his heavy head to look into Alex’s eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere without you.”

Alex’s smile melted away the bands of fear that had bound Sean’s mind.

“Thank you.”

The kiss Alex gave him was so sweet it made Sean’s eyes burn. The sound of Marcus clearing his throat brought it to an end too soon, and Sean kept his eyes closed to keep from glaring at the Alpha Anax.

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“All I wanted to say,” Marcus began, his deep voice rich with amusement,

“and what I wanted to make sure you heard, was that this, here with your pack, is your safe place now, Sean. With your mate, and with the rest of us.

You don’t need that coping mechanism you used before, not anymore. And when you’re ready for it, I’ll make you an official pack member, with as fancy a ceremony as you want.”

Sean opened his eyes, the desire to glare at his Alpha Anax gone as he was suffused with a warm, happy feeling. He looked at Marcus, and at Nathan, smiling like a loon beside him. “I don’t need anything fancy. I vow fealty to you, Marcus Criswell, right now, before your mate and mine.”

It wasn’t a flowery speech, or even the official one, but it must have been enough because Marcus stood and rounded the desk, Nathan coming around the other side. Marcus held out his hand to Sean. “Normally, if we were doing this the fancy way, there’d be kneeling involved on your part as well as a show of submission. I think a handshake, and baring your neck, should be enough.”

Alex hugged him tightly then released him, leaving the choice up to Sean.

And Sean, having been given so many good things he’d never even dared to dream of, slid to the floor, kneeling as he bowed his head and arched his neck.

“Welcome to the pack,” Marcus said, pride in his voice and scent. He touched the back of Sean’s neck, and Sean wept.

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