The Mark of an Alpha

A Total-E-Bound Publication

www.total-e-bound.com

The Mark of an Alpha
ISBN # 978-0-85715-008-0
©Copyright Kim Dare 2010
Cover Art by April Martinez ©Copyright January 2010
Edited by Christine Riley
Total-E-Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination
and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or
places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form,
whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of
the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound
Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil
proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs
and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator
of the artwork.

Published in 2010 by Total-E-Bound Publishing 1 The Corner, Faldingworth Road,
Spridlington, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 2DE, UK.

Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature
readers. This story has been rated Total-e-burning.

THE MARK OF AN ALPHA

Kim Dare

Chapter One

“Our last time.”

“Yes, sir.”

Marsdon stroked his fingertips down the submissive’s spine. He’d never asked the

other man exactly how he managed to put himself into his bondage before his master joined

him in the back room of the club. Now the question seemed like a waste of all too precious

time.

The artificial scent the other man wore took over Marsdon’s world as he stepped even

closer to him. He stood very still for a moment, his fingertips resting on the bound man’s

skin as he tried to push past the aroma and force it out of his senses.

It was a pleasant cologne, something that would have no doubt been considered

discreet to a human’s nose. Perhaps if the man offering him his submission had been human,

it would have been easier to tolerate it. But Marsdon knew damn well the man before him

was as much a wolf as he was.

Marsdon closed his eyes as his free hand clenched into a fist at his side. The fragrance

couldn’t hide his lover’s species, but it hid his actual identity perfectly. There was a special

cruelty to that, right then.

After all the hours they’d spent together, to know that he would never even be able to

walk past his lover on a crowded street and recognise that he was within touching distance

of the man who’d once made his blood pound faster in his veins, his cock stiffen and his

heart find peace… It was something akin to torture.

Marsdon trailed his fingers over the man’s side as he walked around him and stopped

face to… Marsdon stared at the leather hood that hid most of the other man’s face from him

for several long, regretful seconds. At least his lips were free. That was something he would

always be grateful for.

He’d had the pleasure of his submissive’s mouth—in every sense of the term.

Marsdon left the fingertips of his one hand resting against the bound man’s ribs as he lifted

his other hand and brushed a knuckle over his lover’s mouth.

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Kim Dare

Those lips had wrapped around his shaft so many times over the last weeks. The

submissive kissed his knuckle. His tongue flickered out to taste his master’s finger, just as it

had lapped pre-cum from his cock.

Marsdon watched every eager flash of pink against his skin. Knowing he would never

feel that again made it suddenly vital to imprint every detail onto his memory. It took all his

strength to finally move his hand away.

The tongue lapped at the empty air. The submissive’s mouth remained open, waiting.

After a few seconds, the lips came together, not once complaining that their master had

robbed them of their treat.

Master…

The damn hood that kept his lover’s identity a secret had its rare seconds of

usefulness. Safe while he knew the other man would never glimpse his moment of weakness,

Marsdon bowed his head and took a deep breath. He was his master for a few more hours,

yet. There was no point in wasting his time regretting those hours were all they would ever

have.

Marsdon lifted his gaze back to the hooded face and forced himself not to fritter away

precious seconds wishing he knew what colour eyes would look back at him if the hood

could be torn away.

“Have you been good since our last meeting, pup?” His voice was too thick, too rough

with emotion. Marsdon had to clear his throat before he could finish the question.

“Yes, sir.”

It was the truth. Marsdon had never had any cause to doubt that. For all his

submission, he knew the man before him was too proud to lie. Still unable to look at the half-

hood and not wish things could be different, Marsdon turned his attention to more pleasing

sights.

Before he’d arrived, the submissive had placed himself in bondage according to the

precise orders Marsdon had issued at the end of their last session. Leather encircled his

wrists and his ankles, spreading him open, leaving him vulnerable to whatever his master

should wish to do with him. Shackles bolted to the concrete floor and the heavy bar

suspended from the ceiling kept him in place beautifully in the middle of the room.

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Kim Dare

Marsdon ran his knuckles along the other man’s skin, from the notch between his

collar bones and down the juncture between his ribs until he teased his abs. Muscles twitched

under his touch.

“Sorry, sir.”

Marsdon smiled. “You’re in bondage for a reason, pup. If I wanted you to control your

responses, I’d let you stand free and make you submit to a simple order to stay still.”

The submissive swallowed. “Thank you, sir.”

Marsdon’s wasn’t the only voice that was a fraction deeper, a fraction rougher than

usual. The growl in the other man’s voice wasn’t an added attempt to disguise his identity. It

was all wolf, all pain.

Continuing to stroke his knuckles up and down the submissive’s stomach, Marsdon

leant forward and brushed their lips together. It was just a brief little contact, nothing like a

real kiss.

If he gave in to the temptation for the real thing, Marsdon thought he just might let

their lips linger together until the world stopped turning. Or until it turned into a pumpkin.

Or whatever the hell it was that would happen to the world when their time together ran out

and they both had to walk away.

Chains rattled as the fleeting moment of contact ended. A whimper filled the air.

“Sir?”

Marsdon stared at the other man’s parted lips and helplessly leant forward for another

kiss. At the very last moment, he managed to jerk away. Stepping back, he began to pace

around the bound man.

So perfect. Every inch of him. All muscle and strength. And all bound up in the most

flawless, the most complete submission Marsdon had ever set eyes on. Whichever pack he

became the omega of, they would be honoured to have him in their ranks. Whatever wolf he

became mated to would be—

Marsdon spun around and began to circle in the other direction. The submissive

dragged another lungful of air into his body. His ribs moved, highlighting the perfectly

defined muscles. Marsdon’s gaze drifted lower. His submissive was hard. Beautifully,

gloriously hard and waiting for his master.

For a master who was acting like a complete pillock.

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Kim Dare

“I promised I would let you come tonight. Didn’t I, pup?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How shall I do that?” Marsdon asked, abandoning his pacing to move closer and line

himself up against the other wolf’s back.

His clothes still kept them apart. The layers of fabric prevented him from enjoying the

full pleasure of having so much of the other man’s skin available to him, but he couldn’t

convince himself to step away for long enough to strip down, right then. Marsdon pressed a

kiss against the sweet spot on the back of the submissive’s neck instead.

His pup gasped, just as Marsdon knew he would. His head dropped forward as

Marsdon tongued the little knot of bone that topped his spine.

“Tell me how you’d most like to be allowed to come, pup,” Marsdon ordered, letting

his words brush across the dampened skin.

A shiver ran down the submissive’s spine. “Whatever my master wants, sir.”

Marsdon nipped at the skin. “If your climax means that little to you…”

Every muscle in the submissive’s body knotted with instant tension. He had to be

desperate. The teasing Marsdon had put him through over their last meetings, combined

with his rules forbidding orgasms between those times, had to make him frantic for

permission to come.

Marsdon waited him out.

“Whatever pleases my master, sir.”

Marsdon nipped at his neck again, catching the thin skin over the sweet spot between

his teeth, making his submissive groan.

His submissive. His nameless lover. His pup. Marsdon smiled against the skin,

remembering how his lover had bridled at the term the first time he’d heard it. He closed his

eyes and tried to remember at exactly what point it had become an endearment rather than a

way to try to annoy his lover into confessing his real name.

Marsdon leaned into the solid wall of muscle caught up in the web of leather cuffs and

let the heat from the submissive’s body seep through his clothes.

“Every bit of you pleases me,” he whispered in the other man’s ear.

His pup swallowed.

“Is there any part of you I haven’t enjoyed over the last weeks?”

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Kim Dare

The submissive shook his head.

Marsdon’s body made the decision for him. Pressed against the submissive’s back, it

was impossible not to think of those times he’d ordered him to be bound and bent over a

spanking bench or a table when he arrived. Those times where his lover had offered his arse

to his master, demanding nothing in return—not even that his master should allow him his

own release when he was finished with him.

Tight buttocks pressed back against Marsdon’s crotch, rubbing against his erection

through his trousers, as if his pup couldn’t hide what he really wanted either.

“Do you want your master inside you, pup?” Marsdon asked. “Do you want my cock

buried balls-deep in your arse?”

“Yes, sir.” A whispered little confession.

“And do you want my hand here?” he reached around the submissive’s body and

wrapped his fingers around his cock.

His pup rocked helplessly between his fist and his body. There wasn’t enough slack

for him to thrust forward or push back properly. All he could do was wriggle against his

master, forced to rely on the bondage to keep him in place because his own control had

drained away.

“I asked you a question, pup.”

“Yes, sir.”

Marsdon gave a half laugh. “Do you even remember what the question was?”

His pup obviously had to think, to trawl back through his memories to find out what

he’d automatically said yes to. “I want your hand there, sir.”

Marsdon pressed a kiss against his shoulder in praise. He tightened his fist, squeezing

his pup’s shaft between his fingers to make him whimper his pleasure.

“You may come on your master’s command.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Not before, pup,” Marsdon warned.

“Yes, sir.”

Suddenly it seemed like all the time he had left with his pup was slipping away while

he stood around like an idiot and did nothing. He had to be inside his lover—right now.

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Kim Dare

Marsdon fumbled at his belt as he walked across the room and snatched the lube from the

table containing all the toys the club provided for its patrons’ entertainment.

Marsdon’s hands were shaking as he scrabbled at his fly and pushed the material

aside to free his shaft. He almost dropped the lube in his haste. For a few seconds, he had to

force himself to stand completely still, staring down at the tube of lubricant.

Lube. Yes. That couldn’t be rushed. Just because a werewolf would heal quickly, that

didn’t mean his pup could be treated roughly for no other reason than his master was in a

hurry.

Marsdon slicked his fingers and slid them between his pup’s cheeks as he stepped

close behind him again. For a fraction of a second, his lover tensed, muscles clenching at the

first touch. An instant later they relaxed, welcoming him. The submissive arched his spine,

pushing back against the fingers that barely brushed against his hole.

“Easy, pup,” Marsdon said.

He settled his free hand on the other man’s waist, gentling him down. His pup

whimpered as he somehow managed to still his movements and let his master do as he

pleased.

Marsdon slid a finger inside his lover, spreading the lube and coaxing him to relax

around one digit and then around two, then three. Part of him wished he’d ordered the other

man to prepare himself before his arrival, but another more feral part howled against that

notion. The man was his. His to own. His to master. His to protect.

He was the one who made sure that nothing that happened between them would hurt

him. He was the one who had the privilege of seeking out his lover’s prostate and coaxing

that growling little whimper out of his throat. No one else was allowed to touch his pup that

way, not even the man himself.

The moment he knew he would be able to look himself in the eye afterwards and not

call himself a bastard for hurting his lover with his haste, his fingers were gone. His erection

pressed against the submissive’s hole.

The other man pushed back against him. “Please, sir?”

No order could have attained a more obedient response.

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Kim Dare

The plea went straight to Marsdon’s cock. Steadying the submissive’s hips, Marsdon

thrust into him in one perfect motion that saw him completely encased within the other

man’s body.

His pup whimpered, wriggling against Marsdon’s hold on him as he tried to make his

master move inside him. Marsdon held him still, making sure the other man gave himself

time to stretch and relax around him before he finally started to rock his own hips.

The control required for slow, measured thrusts wasn’t in him right then. It seemed

like the world would steal his lover right out of his arms if they took even a moment too

long. Marsdon pounded into him, hard and fast, holding onto the other man until his

knuckles turned white with the need to keep the other man close, until he knew he would

have left bruises on human skin.

His pup pulled at the restraints, moaning pleas for more. The sound slid down

Marsdon’s spine, combined with the tight heat surrounding his shaft and he almost came

right then. Reaching around his lover’s body, Marsdon quickly wrapped his fist around his

submissive’s cock once more and started to jack him off, hard and fast—just the way he knew

his pup loved.

Every muscle in the other man’s body knotted tighter and tighter as he fought to keep

control.

“Come!”

His pup jerked in the restraints, throwing his head back as a half scream, half howl

tore from his throat and echoed around the room.

Semen splashed onto the floor in front of them. The submissive’s hole clenched even

tighter around Marsdon’s shaft, tearing Marsdon’s orgasm out of him, as his hand milked the

submissive’s climax from his bound body.

Marsdon half collapsed against his lovers back, panting for breath and still buried

inside his pup. He looked over the other man’s shoulder, down to where his hand continued

to work the shaft in his palm.

His pup whimpered, too sensitive to take real pleasure from the touch, but apparently

still too desperate to feel the connection between them to want his master to stop.

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Kim Dare

It was several long minutes later before Marsdon finally summoned up the will to step

away from him. Tidying up his clothes, he walked over to that table where the toys were laid

out, and stared blindly down at them.

“Sir?”

“I’m still here,” Marsdon said. He turned back to his lover. The other man’s head was

bowed, maybe in submission, maybe in fatigue. Or maybe he felt as defeated as Marsdon did

right then.

Their last night together…

Marsdon cleared his throat. “Do you have a final request for your master, pup?”

“Leave your mark on me, sir.”

Behind the hood, Bennett closed his eyes tighter than ever.

For once, the real world hadn’t drained away while he offered himself to his master.

The leather caressed his skin, the hood hid him from the world, but the safety and the

comfort he’d found in submitting to the other man wasn’t really there. He couldn’t relax

when he knew it was all going to be over so soon.

His master was quiet for a long time. When he finally spoke, the words came from

right in front of Bennett’s hooded face.

“Do you really believe I’d ever raise a hand to you?” The growl in his master’s voice

sent a shiver down Bennett’s spine. Right then, he wasn’t sure if it was from lust or fear of

displeasing his master on this day of all days.

“No, sir,” he said, entirely honestly. He may never have set eyes on the other man, but

he knew when he was in the presence of a true alpha. His master would never raise a hand to

any wolf under his care. Bennett bit his lip.

“Just because the humans leave out whips and paddles for us to play with, that

doesn’t mean we use them. You’re a wolf, pup. You know better than that.”

“I… That wasn’t what I…” Bennett swallowed, lacking the words to explain what he

really wanted.

The dominant brushed their lips together very briefly, as if to reassure him. “Tell your

master what you want,” he ordered.

Bennett lapped at his own lips, desperate to snatch a lingering taste of his master.

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Kim Dare

“Answer, pup.”

“There’s a knife in my bag, sir,” he blurted out.

His master wasn’t impressed. His displeasure hung in the air and Bennett didn’t need

the freedom to use all his senses to feel the full force of it.

The air moved. The dominant walked away. Bennett held his breath. The hood

covered his ears, making sounds muted and hard to distinguish. Perhaps the rustle of

material was his master opening the bag he’d left on the other side of the room. Perhaps it

was the sound of the other man picking up his coat and walking away in disgust.

Cold metal touched his lips. Bennett gasped. For a moment, the whole world froze.

Dragging a lungful of air into his body, Bennett flicked out his tongue and tasted the blade.

“Carefully,” his master ordered.

Bennett flattened his tongue over the smooth side of the blade, gently caressing the

metal with his mouth, until the other man took it away.

“It’s silver,” his master said.

“Yes, sir.”

“Have you ever been cut with silver?”

Bennett swallowed. “No, sir.”

The other wolf was silent for a few seconds. Bennett waited for his master’s verdict.

A sudden indrawn breath broke the stillness of the room. Bennett felt the air rush into

his own lungs in response. The scent of blood floated into the air. “Sir?”

“It burns,” the dominant said. “Sharply at first, then it fades into a dull ache along the

line of the wound.”

“Sir, I…”

The other wolf chuckled. “Did you really think I’d cut you without knowing what I

was doing, pup?”

“I didn’t mean for you to…”

“They say the mark of silver never fades from a werewolf’s skin,” the other man

mused.

The scent of blood grew stronger. For a moment Bennett thought the dominant had

cut himself again. Then skin brushed against his lips. Bennett kissed the skin, trailing his lips

against the other man’s forearm.

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Kim Dare

Moisture touched his mouth. He licked at the wound his master offered him to clean.

Running his tongue along the broken skin, he could feel the heat the silver had left in the cut

as it burnt the edges of the wound.

The mark his master had left on his skin formed an X shaped cross. Bennett

whimpered as he trailed his mouth over the cuts, desperate to soothe any pain he might have

caused his master by asking for this. The arm and the wound were taken from his reach long

before he was ready to give them up.

“Tell me why you want this, pup.”

“Because they say the mark never fades from a werewolf’s skin, sir,” he said, softly

echoing his master’s own words.

“You want my mark on you?”

Bennett had to clear his throat before he could answer. “Yes, sir.”

“Why?”

Bennett looked down. Even hidden behind the hood, he couldn’t look towards his

master when he gave his answer. “Because after tonight…” he whispered. “I know what we

agreed when we started this, sir. It all ends tonight. Just let me have something to remind me

that I once had a master? Let me touch the mark you left on me and know I didn’t imagine it

all,” he begged, his desperation harder to hide with each word.

“This is real, pup. You never need to doubt that.”

“Yes, sir,” Bennett whispered, trying his best to hide his disappointment.

Metal touched his cheek. Bennett’s breath froze in his lungs.

“Where?” he asked.

“Wherever pleases my master, sir,” Bennett whispered.

The knife trailed down his face, the edge of the blade never touching him as the flat of

the metal caressed his skin. It halted at the buckle that kept the hood in place, as if it would

cut away his attempt to remain anonymous.

Bennett breathed a sigh of relief as the hood was allowed to remain in place when the

knife resumed its journey down his chest. The cold metal circled his nipple, making the nerve

ending peak and beg for attention. Lower and the knife traced the outline of his abs.

As Bennett held his breath, giving the knife a steady canvas to work on, it moved

lower still. Metal brushed against the short black hairs around his cock. Bennett bit his

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Kim Dare

bottom lip. Even as part of his mind screamed its objections to a knife trailing delicate little

patterns against his cock, another more primitive part of him sighed its acceptance of

whatever might happen next.

His master teased his foreskin with the blade. Against all reason, blood rushed to his

shaft, coaxing him to slowly harden and offer his cock to the blade. The knife moved further

back to stroke his tightening sacks. Bennett stayed perfectly still, not daring to breathe, not

even daring to think.

Air moved against his skin. The blade traced a line along the outside of his thigh as his

master stepped behind him and turned the knife’s attention to his buttocks. Bennett forced

himself to remain as relaxed as he could, to show his acceptance of whatever mark his master

wanted to leave on him and wherever he wanted to place it.

Cold silver traced patterns up his back. Bennett concentrated on each movement of the

blade, trying to fathom out a pattern, a message from his master, some clue to the other

wolf’s identity.

There was no message, no clue. The knife trailed up towards the base of the hood

again. The flat edge of the metal tapped against the bone that marked the top of his spine.

“Here,” his master announced.

“Yes, sir.” Bennett dropped his head forward to give him better access.

“One last chance to change your mind,” the other man offered.

“Please, sir?” Bennett asked, knowing that he’d made his decision long before he put

the knife in his bag, let alone offered it to his master.

His master pressed his lips to the spot in the most tender kiss Bennett had ever

known. A moment later, a line of heat flared from the top left to the bottom right of that little

spot where he so loved to be kissed. Bennett’s breath caught in his throat. A moment later,

another line crossed it, giving him the same mark he’d tasted on his master’s arm.

The other wolf had told the truth. It burnt. Pure fire danced along the wound the

silver left in its wake. Bennett forced himself to breathe as he relished the knowledge that the

mark would last forever, even if his time with his master was about to be cut short.

“Thank you, sir.”

A hot, moist tongue lapped at the back of his neck, cleaning the wound, coating the

pain with pleasure until the two were so blurred together he couldn’t swear to which was

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Kim Dare

which. Bennett murmured his approval, pressing his chin into his chest as he offered himself

to his master.

The dominant laved the mark again, his tongue tracing first one line and then the

other, back and forth. Air brushed over the skin as his master paused to inspect his work.

“You are mine.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’ll never forget that now, pup,” his master said.

Bennett swallowed down his emotions. “Yes, sir.”

Skin brushed against his lips. Bennett kissed it, searching for something he had no

idea if he would be able to detect. There was no trace of blood left on the dominant’s

forearm, just the faintly raised skin of a scar in the shape of a cross.

Perhaps he wouldn’t be the only man who would never forget.

“Thank you, sir. Not just for… I mean, for…”

His master moved around in front of him and offered him another kiss—a real kiss

this time. He let their lips linger. He let Bennett taste him properly. Sliding his tongue into his

master’s mouth when the invitation was issued, Bennett tried to memorise every detail.

“I know, pup,” his master whispered against his lips as he brought the kiss to an end.

“I know.”

No words were necessary to explain what he wanted to thank his master for. Maybe

no words even existed for it. Bennett nodded his understanding.

Fingers touched the inside of his wrist. Bennett closed his eyes tight behind the leather

covering the top half of his face.

The leather cuff around his wrist gave way as his master released him from his

bondage. Bennett left his hand where the leather had held it, waiting for the other man to

turn away and leave him. Air moved. Fabric rustled somewhere on the other side of the

room.

For a long time, Bennett couldn’t make himself move. There was no point standing

there when his master was already gone, but it was the last connection he had with his

master, so he held on to it as minute after silent minute slipped away. Finally, Bennett forced

himself to reach for the cuff around his other wrist. It wasn’t easy to get the buckle undone,

nor to undo those around his ankles.

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Kim Dare

But falling to his knees was easy. Bennett dropped his head forward as all the fight

drained out of him. The floor was hard and cold under his knees. Fire burnt in muscles that

had been held immobile for too long. But it was all felt from a distance, as if it was happening

to someone else. Bennett put his hands on the floor in front of him, trying to stop the world

from spinning out of control.

Very slowly, he found the coordination to reach back and start to unbuckle the hood

from his face.

“I’m still here.”

Bennett’s head jerked up as he turned to the face the words. “Sir?”

“Come here, pup.”

Bennett hesitated.

“On your hands and knees,” his master ordered. “Crawl towards the sound of my

voice.”

Bennett dropped his other hand back to the floor. He shuffled forward a bit, instinct

taking over as his brain struggled to understand what was going on.

“That’s right.”

Focusing on his master’s coaxing words, Bennett crawled blindly towards the other

man until a hand touched his cheek and guided him through the last few inches. Crawling

between the other man’s outstretched legs, Bennett rested his forehead on his master’s

stomach.

His lover’s hand quickly moved to the back of his neck, to stroke the mark he’d placed

there. Bennett took a deep breath as his master tenderly caressed his skin. Moments passed

filled with nothing that should have felt important. There was no sex, there wasn’t even any

dominance in the room right then.

His master just held him close and petted him the way an alpha would coddle any

frightened pup who clambered up onto his lap looking for reassurance. Bennett closed his

eyes very tight behind the hood and rubbed his face against his master’s stomach. A

whimper escaped from the back of his throat, and he couldn’t even hate himself for his

weakness right then.

“I know, pup,” his master whispered. “I know.”

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Time passed. Bennett had no idea how long he knelt at his master’s feet, just accepting

the comfort the other wolf offered, but moments that he wished could stretch out forever

finally came to an end.

His master sighed and coaxed Bennett to lift his face from where he’d snuggled

against his shirt and kissed him very slowly, very sweetly, and for what they both knew

would be the last time.

“Be good, pup.”

His master stepped past him. A door opened and closed behind him. Something

drained out of the room. Left on his own, Bennett forced himself to lift a hand and unbuckle

the hood. Turning around, he slumped against the base of the chair his master had sat in and

stared at the room until his vision blurred and tears blinded him just as thoroughly as the

hood ever had.

Be good.

Yes. That’s what he had to do now.

No more secret meetings with his master. No more nights of stolen pleasure. Bennett

had responsibilities to attend to. He had to go and be a good wolf now.

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Chapter Two

His master told him to do this. His master told him to be a good wolf.

Bennett repeated the words over and over inside his head, but they provided scant

comfort as he stared out over the lands he and his new mate were about to take possession

of. Out of sight of the other members of his pack, he let his eyes drop closed so he could hide

from reality for a few seconds.

One by one, he forced deep lungfuls of air into his body, as if overloading himself

with oxygen would somehow help him keep his nerves a secret from all the wolves who

were milling around his new home, waiting for the mating ceremony to take place.

Very gradually, the controlled, repetitive rhythm began to soothe a little of his panic.

It made it just a little more manageable, just a little more easily hidden. But at the same time,

it made it far too easy for him to pretend he was back in that room in that club. It made it all

too tempting for Bennett to let himself believe that his master was standing close behind him

and the breaths he was focusing on belonged to the other wolf not himself.

His master’s breathing pattern was slightly different to his. Bennett closed his eyes

tighter as he realised he’d automatically sought out his master’s rhythm. It wasn’t extra air in

his lung comforting him half as much as it was that tenuous link to the other wolf.

Before long, another pack would arrive at the house, bringing his new mate with

them. He wouldn’t be able to seek out that connection with his master then, not once he was

mated to another wolf. But until then, it wasn’t actually cheating. It was less a crime now

than it would be in an hour’s time. No matter how pathetic he felt, clinging to what he’d lost,

Bennett took another slow breath in and out and let the connection linger in his mind for just

a little while longer.

A sudden gasp destroyed the rhythm he’d worked so hard to replicate. Flinging his

eyes open, Bennett stared out over the land he and his new mate were to be gifted, but he

didn’t really see any of it.

Forcing himself to keep his eyes open, Bennett ran a hand down his face and made a

mental note to never let himself fall into that trap ever again, and not just because it wouldn’t

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be fair to his new mate. He took a cautious breath in, frowning at the view out over green

fields and forest. He wasn’t in the club. The very fact that he could open his eyes and see

more than the inside of a hood should have been enough to snap him out of that idea.

The breeze caught at his hair. It was another reminder that, as much as he might wish

otherwise, he was standing free in the open air. The club smelt of leather and lust and men.

The freshness of country air should have cleared any lingering notion that his master’s scent

hung in the air, but it didn’t.

No matter how hard he stared at all the evidence to the contrary, Bennett couldn’t

shake off the idea that all he had to do was turn around and his master would be right there

behind him, ready to wrap strong arms around him and bring him back to where he

belonged.

Bennett shook his head at himself. Not now. He couldn’t go insane right now. His

master had been right. He had to be a good wolf. He had duties to attend to and promises to

keep. He couldn’t go insane right now.

Taking another deep breath, Bennett automatically sought out the mark on the back of

his neck as he searched for strength inside himself. His hair was just long enough to cover the

scar from prying eyes, but he could still feel the outline of the cuts with his fingertips

whenever he reached back and hunted for the memory of his master. He supposed that was

something else he would have to learn not to do any more, another pleasure he would have

to learn to do without.

Bennett dropped his hand back to his side and told himself to stop being a fool. No

matter what scent he might imagine hung in the air, his master wasn’t there.

He might be able to reach for his master’s mark on the back of his neck, but the prickle

running down his spine and the scent teasing at the edge of his senses could only be the

product of an overactive imagination. There was no way his master could be here. Fate might

have let him fall in love with a man he’d never set eyes on. But it couldn’t be cruel enough to

invite his master to see him mated to another wolf.

“Bennett!”

He forced himself to turn around and scrape up a smile for his younger brother.

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“Come back to the pack, Bennett! Your mate is here!” His brother was barely more

than a pup—hopping up and down in excitement at the other pack’s arrival without really

understanding what it meant.

Bennett managed to keep his smile in place. His mate was here. That was…good.

The arrangement was an excellent one. His mate was, by all reports, a very good wolf

from a very successful pack. The mating would naturally bring their packs a great deal closer

together. And an association with a larger, stronger pack would be beneficial to his current

pack’s future. He and his mate would be able to build a fine, strong pack between them.

It was all very good, very excellent, and lots of other words like that.

Strange then, that reminding himself of all those wonderful facts should only succeed

in making him feel as if someone was pulling all his insides out through his stomach one

fistful at a time. Forcing the smile to remain on his lips, Bennett followed the younger wolf

back towards the old farm house he was to make his new home.

The arriving pack outnumbered his by well over ten to one. Bennett looked around

the crowd, knowing that certain members of that pack would split away and join him and his

mate to form their new pack. He swallowed down his regret that his own parental pack was

too small to give up another wolf to accompany him right then. Perhaps in the future, when

some of his brothers and sisters were older, then…

Bennett quickly pushed the idea aside. It didn’t matter whose pack they were born

into. Once the mating ceremony was complete, those wolves who joined them would be his

pack. They would be as much part of his family as they were part of his mate’s. He couldn’t

keep clinging to things that way—not to his old pack, not to his master.

Forcing himself to look to the future, Bennett scanned face after unfamiliar face,

searching for an alpha wolf amongst all the gammas and betas and omegas.

His parents stood proud and strong on the other side of the field, speaking to another

older alpha pair. A fifth wolf stepped from the crowd of new arrivals and began to walk

across to join them. An alpha. So it was to be him then. He was the wolf Bennett would be

mated to.

Bennett’s eyes ran over the other man. He was dressed in the same traditional white

cotton shirt and trousers Bennett wore. The thin fabric didn’t hide much. He was strong, well

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built and heavily muscled. His gait had an easy, flowing rhythm that hinted at speed as well

as strength.

If it wasn’t for the fair hair and even fairer skin, his build might have passed him off as

Bennett’s brother. He only looked perhaps a year or two older than Bennett himself. No

doubt they would match well together, lead well together, just as their parents predicted.

“Bennett!” his father called, beckoning him across the field.

Bennett squared his shoulders, tilted his chin back and forced himself to appear as

relaxed and confident as he knew he should feel.

The fairer alpha reached the group just before him. The faint breeze brought the

mingling scents of the new comers to Bennett. His step faltered. He met the other wolf’s eyes

as one scent leapt out from all the others and flicked a switch inside him.

Master!

At this distance, there was no mistaking it for the fanciful imaginings of a wolf in

mourning for what he’d lost when he walked out of that leather club that night. Scent didn’t

lie.

Master!

Bennett forced himself to keep walking, to keep closing the gap between himself and

the man he’d called sir for so many weeks. His throat went dry. No matter how much he

longed to draw the other wolf’s scent inside him, wrap himself up in it, and never let it leave

his senses again, he couldn’t breathe.

His father clapped him on the back as he reached the group. “Bennett, you are just in

time to meet your new mate. This is Marsdon.”

Bennett turned his attention to the other wolf. He was studying him with a slightly

strange expression in his eyes, as if there was actually some chance he could recognise him.

He reached out to shake Bennett’s hand. “Bennett, I’ve been looking forward to this

meeting for a long time.” If he hadn’t recognised his master’s scent, his voice would have

told him all he needed to know. Deep and rich, and confident about everything in the

world—there couldn’t be two wolves in the world who sounded that way.

Bennett forced himself to respond, to put his hand in his master’s hand and to ignore

the way his mind swirled at hearing his name on the other wolf’s lips.

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“So have I,” he managed to say. It took all his strength of will not to call the other wolf

sir right there in front of everyone.

Marsdon. His master’s name was Marsdon.

The other wolf tightened his grip on his hand when Bennett tried to take it back. It

was just a brief second. No one else could possibly have noticed it. But Bennett felt the other

wolf testing his strength.

His chin jerked up at the challenge inherent in the move. He met his master’s eyes and

held his gaze, refusing to look down and offer the other wolf any hint of his submission.

Their parents talked around them, discussing how beneficial the match would be for both

their packs.

Marsdon made no contribution to the conversation. He continued to hold Bennett’s

gaze, as if examining him for any sign of weakness, any hint at recognition.

He wouldn’t find any. Bennett knew better than to let anything from that side of his

personality sneak into his expression while he was out here in the real world. Second by

second he returned the other wolf’s inspection—doing his best to appear calm and confident

while his heart raced faster and faster, threatening to burst out of his chest at any moment.

Marsdon’s lips twisted into a strange little smile and he slowly let the other members

of the pack pull his attention away from his soon to be mate. Bennett gladly turned away

from Marsdon, too. Looking at each of the other wolves in turn, he checked that they hadn’t

noticed anything strange about the handshake. Everyone was still smiling. Everything was

okay.

Pushing aside his silly moment of panic, Bennett did his best to listen to the words

that passed back and forth between the wolves around him. It was damn near impossible to

follow a conversation when every word Marsdon said slid straight into his spine without

registering any information when it passed through his ears.

From his spine, his mate’s voice went straight to his cock, making him swell behind

the scant privacy his trousers provided. The thin fabric began to tent. Bennett took a slightly

shaky breath. If anyone noticed, they would only tease him about how eager he was for the

ceremony to be over so he could be alone with his mate for the first time. The other alphas

would take it as a simple signal the man they had chosen to be his mate pleased him.

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Bennett risked a glance at Marsdon. The other wolf’s gaze was lowered, fixed on the

disrupted material over his crotch. As Bennett watched, his soon to be mate looked up.

The other wolves in the group laughed at some story that Marsdon’s father was

telling. Bennett laughed politely along with them, even though he hadn’t heard a word of it.

Taking the excuse to look away from Marsdon again, he turned his attention to the older

wolf.

Marsdon’s chuckle joined the laughter. The rich sound tempted Bennett to turn back

to him, but he managed to resist it.

“If I recall correctly,” Marsdon said. “You labelled me an impudent little pup at the

time.”

Bennett tensed as his master said the word. His cock jerked behind the thin cotton,

begging for his master’s attention. Seeing no alternative, Bennett turned back to his future

mate and met his eyes.

Marsdon smiled as if he had made some fantastic discovery, but Bennett knew there

was nothing in his own expression that gave him away. There was no way the other wolf

could know for certain. The other man might suspect, he might be inclined to test him, but he

couldn’t know he was the wolf who’d hidden behind a hood and false scent just for the

privilege of crawling at another man’s feet.

Bennett forced his expression to remain impassive as his insides knotted, and

Marsdon studied him very carefully. It felt like they stood there forever, making polite

conversation—or, in Bennett’s case at least, stood around while other people made polite

conversation. His throat was so dry he didn’t think he would be able to do more than croak if

he tried to join in.

Inside his head, fears he could never admit out loud, continued to swirl and writhe

around each other. Marsdon couldn’t be sure. Even if he suspected Bennett was the

submissive in the club, he couldn’t make that sort of accusation in front of everyone. He

couldn’t call off the ceremony without concrete proof that the mate the elders of the packs

had chosen for him wasn’t worthy of being called an alpha.

Bennett looked around the other wolves. Marsdon couldn’t accuse him of being a

fraud. He couldn’t expose his secret to everyone without throwing away all the work their

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parents had put into bringing this agreement between their packs into being. And Marsdon

couldn’t do that.

He couldn’t…

“What do you think of your new lands, Bennett? Have you made any plans for them?”

Bennett blinked and turned towards his new mate’s father. His throat wouldn’t work.

Just at that moment, Marsdon’s hand came to rest on the small of his back. Bennett

automatically turned to him.

His mate smiled. “I haven’t had time to look them over properly either,” he said,

before he turned back to his father. “We shall have to make time to explore them together

before we make any decisions.”

Everyone nodded their approval. Alphas were equals. They made their decisions

together. Bennett nodded too. As the conversation moved on and attention turned away

from him once more, Bennett stepped to the side as discreetly as possible. Marsdon followed,

keeping his hand on the small of his back.

“Leather.”

Bennett jerked around to face his mate, sure he must have misheard the whispered

word. “What?”

“Leather,” Marsdon said again—very clearly but just softly enough that Bennett was

sure none of the wolves around them had heard it.

Bennett stared at him for long, painful seconds, unable to do anything other than hope

his expression hadn’t slipped in his shock at hearing that word whispered into his ear in that

voice.

“Your belt—it’s made of very fine leather,” Marsdon observed as he ran his fingers

along the line of leather encircling Bennett’s waist.

Bennett’s eyes went to the strip of black that he’d barely thought of in all the years

he’d worn in. Marsdon’s fingers trailed around his body to rest on the belt’s buckle. It would

be impolite to brush his mate’s touch away. It would be taken as a sign of disrespect to

Marsdon and his current pack. There was nothing he could do but stand there in front of

everyone and pray his secret would stay a secret.

“It’s just a belt,” he managed to say.

“Just?” Marsdon asked, arching an eyebrow at the idea.

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As simply as that, Bennett was back in the club. He was lying back on a hard, wooden

table, blindly extending his hands over his hands to be bound. His master had used a belt to

bind him that night. Slipping the leather through slots in the bench each time they wrapped

around his wrists, he’d pinned them tight to the wood. He’d left him there for what felt like

hours before he’d finally decided it was time to play with his pup.

“Do you really believe leather and buckles can only ever make a belt?” Marsdon

whispered in his ear.

Bennett swallowed. His eyes dropped to the belt Marsdon wore. His wrists tingled

along the line where the restraints had bound him tight. He couldn’t drag his eyes away from

the leather. All he could do was wonder if the belt he wore now was the same one Marsdon

had used to bind him that night.

It looked thick enough to match the prickling strip of skin around his wrists, it looked

strong enough to hold him in place forever.

“We are ready for the ceremony to begin.”

Bennett jerked around to face Marsdon’s father. The older wolf looked amused as he

glanced down at the way each of them had placed one of their hands on the other’s belt.

Bennett pulled his hand away, not even aware that he’d reached out to the other wolf that

way.

He turned his face back to Marsdon, only to find the other wolf barely a breath away

from his lips. Quickly stepping back, Bennett nodded his understanding. The ceremony…

Yes.

When Marsdon’s father walked away, Bennett strode after the older wolf, eager to get

the ceremony complete before Marsdon had time to truly catch him out with one of his little

tests. He couldn’t rely on another wolf’s interruption to save him again.

As they walked, Bennett scrambled through his memories, trying to work out if he

had done anything at all that could conclusively prove that Marsdon’s suspicions were

correct.

He’d reached for his belt, he’d rested his fingers against a piece of leather that

belonged to his new mate. That was all. They were just…comparing belts?

Marsdon fell in step beside him. He made no comment as he and Bennett followed the

crowd of wolves across to the edge of the woods that stretched out to one side of the old

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house. Marsdon’s father and the other alphas were already there, waiting for them to take

their positions for the ceremony.

In mere moments, Marsdon was standing opposite him, and the alphas of their

respective packs were joining their hands. There wasn’t any more time left to wonder if

Marsdon would go through with the mating regardless of his suspicions. If it was to be called

off now, it would be during the event—in the most humiliating way possible.

Bennett stared straight ahead, straight past Marsdon as the ceremony began and the

eyes of every wolf around them came to rest on them.

It was a simple little moment, a simple statement of what was happening.

“Alpha to alpha, wolf to wolf. We offer you the chance of form a new life, a new pack,

a new line…”

Bennett heard the words through thick layers of cotton wool. He forced another breath

into his lungs.

“A wolf from your pack becomes an alpha of his own pack,” Marsdon replied, his

voice strong and steady. He caught Bennett’s eyes and held them through each word.

Bennett swallowed as he returned the other man’s gaze. Whatever his suspicions,

Marsdon obviously intended to go through with this. He felt his master’s acceptance of him

rush through his veins. His pounding heartbeat steadied.

Marsdon continued to hold his gaze as Bennett repeated the words back to him. The

other wolves’ hands dropped away, leaving Bennett’s and Marsdon’s hands linked together.

The heat from his master’s palm burned against his skin, as if the other man could somehow

brand him as his, right there and then, while they stood in a crowd of other wolves.

Bennett stayed very still as Marsdon took half a step forward. His free hand touched

Bennett’s cheek, guiding him to tilt his head back a fraction and receive the simple touch of

lips that would complete the ceremony.

It was like giving a man dying of thirst a sip of water and then taking any chance of

another drop away. It eased none of Bennett’s desperation for a real kiss from his master. It

didn’t stop him wanting to drop to his knees to plead for a real kiss either.

The brush of lips against lips just made it so much harder to remember that Marsdon

wasn’t offering him a repeat of everything that had passed between them those nights in the

club. It made it so much harder to face the fact he was no longer allowed to even want that.

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No matter how much it hurt, Bennett forced himself to try and take a step back from

everything he’d fallen in love with over the last weeks and months. But the hand on his

cheek kept him where he was. Marsdon’s tongue licked its way into his mouth. In spite of

everything he knew was different now, Bennett couldn’t keep his lips together when his

master made it clear he wanted entry. He stood there, entirely helpless, as Marsdon

deepened the kiss, turning it from a simple ceremony into something that felt ridiculously

close to sex right there in front of everyone.

A cheer went up from the crowd of wolves around them. Bennett’s whole body

tensed. Marsdon rested their foreheads together as he let a fraction of an inch of air come in

between their lips.

“Hush, pup. It’s okay. I’ve got you now.”

Bennett jerked back, barely able to suppress his horror. He glared at Marsdon as if he

had no idea why the other man would call him by that name, as if there was no way calling a

grown man a pup could ever represent anything but an insult. Marsdon stared back at him, a

strange expression in his eyes.

People surrounded them, congratulating them, offering hugs and handshakes from all

directions. Bennett managed to smile and nod to everyone. No one seemed to think it strange

that he kept his back to Marsdon, purposefully turning to accept the congratulations of

whichever wolf was furthest away from his new mate.

“Steffan.”

Bennett nodded automatically. Then he realised why the wolf was introducing

himself, why he was waiting for him to say something important in response. “You are to

join our pack?” he realised.

The wolf nodded. He was, quite frankly, huge—a wall of solid muscle that loomed

over both his new alphas. No doubt he would prove to be a useful beta wolf, when the time

came for one of their gamma to be promoted to that role.

Bennett scrambled to think of something appropriate to say while his head was still

crammed full of Marsdon. “You are welcome,” he managed.

Steffan offered him a small, almost shy smile. He stepped back and ushered a smaller

wolf towards Bennett. “This is Francis.”

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Bennett shook the other wolf’s hand. They’d both kept their eyes lowered when they

first addressed him, offering him their submission as was appropriate when they greeted

their new alpha. But when Francis looked up, Bennett knew he was being assessed. Smart, he

registered. And not as small as he first appeared now that Steffan had taken another step

back. He would probably prove to be a useful gamma.

A minute fraction of his tension eased when he registered the thought. He was being

an alpha. He was assessing the wolves that were to join his pack. He was doing exactly what

any alpha in his position should be doing. Even knowing his master was right behind him,

he was still able to carry out his duties. He could do this.

Another wolf stepped forward. This one truly was tiny. Bennett found himself being

careful when he shook his hand. “Our new omega?” he guessed.

“Talbot.”

Bennett nodded his acceptance of the wolf. “You are welcome.”

Talbot smiled his relief, as if he hadn’t been entirely sure any sort of welcome would

be offered to him. Bennett made a mental note to keep an eye on him and see that he settled

nicely into the pack. Another tiny bit of his tension eased.

“There are others,” Francis said. “Alfred is somewhere, and…”

Bennett nodded and smiled at them all. “We will all talk later,” he promised, as the

members of his former pack demanded his attention from his other side.

Familiar faces were soon clustered around him, teasing him about wanting to rush off

with his mate so they could be alone together. Bennett forced himself to smile and agree,

even as he wished with all his heart that he could put that moment off forever.

“Bennett.”

Glad for the excuse to speak to a stranger for a few moments, he turned to the wolf on

his left. Holding out his hand to accept more congratulations, he found himself face to face

with Marsdon’s father again.

He met the man’s eyes and held his gaze—the way an alpha should when facing

another alpha. His eyes were the same deep brown as Marsdon’s, but to Bennett’s intense

relief, they didn’t call to any instinct for submission that might lurk inside him.

“It is time we all made our way inside. You should have some time to bond in private

before you are left alone with your new pack.”

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“Yes,” Bennett agreed, as if he could think of nothing he would enjoy more than to be

trapped in a room with his master, scrambling for excuses and lies to hide the weaknesses

he’d displayed in the club.

He didn’t rush as they walked back to the house, Marsdon silently falling into step

beside him along the way. He took the stairs as slowly as he dared while trying not to look

unenthusiastic about bonding with his mate. All too soon, they were in their new bedroom.

Bennett took a deep breath and turned to close the door behind them, sealing them

alone in the room together. Any vain hope that Marsdon had given up on his doubts were

short lived.

“Did you know before today?” Marsdon asked, the moment the door clicked shut.

“Know what?” Bennett asked, retreating to the other side of the room as if putting

space between them would actually make it easier for him to keep his sanity intact.

Marsdon chuckled. “Are you going to keep pretending we’ve never met forever?”

Bennett stared back across the room, forcing his expression to remain blank.

Marsdon’s eyes narrowed. “I can understand why you wanted to play out the charade

in front of the others, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let you play it while we are alone.”

“Charade?” Bennett asked, as innocently as he could.

A growl started low in the back of Marsdon’s throat. He stalked forward, closing the

space between them without ever breaking eye contact. Bennett stared back at him, knowing

that looking down could mean the end of all the equality that needed to exist between an

alpha pair.

He’d been wrong when he thought Marsdon was testing him outside. Now that the

patience Marsdon had evidently shown him while they were in company was tossed aside,

he saw how careful the other wolf had actually been before. Now, Marsdon stepped straight

into Bennett’s personal space, staring him down. No subtlety, no restraint. He was once more

in the presence of the wolf he’d belonged to in that club.

His new mate was only an inch taller than him, but he made the most of it. Bennett felt

more like a pup crawling at his knee than the newly crowned alpha of his own pack.

Swallowing rapidly, Bennett tried to work some moisture into his throat so he could

answer properly. “I played my part in the mating ceremony, nothing more,” he said. “There

was no charade.”

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The growl came back, deeper, more menacing.

“If you wanted that to work on your mate, you shouldn’t have agreed to be mated to

an alpha,” Bennett told him, and promptly felt a pathetic surge of relief flood through his

body at the simple fact his voice didn’t crack when he said it.

Marsdon’s lips morphed into a little smile. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs

with Bennett scent. “So much better than the cologne,” he whispered in Bennett’s ear.

Bennett swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Marsdon snapped his teeth, just short of catching Bennett’s ear between his canines as

he leaned in closer to him. His erection pressed against Bennett’s hip bone.

Bennett gasped. He would have pulled away, but Marsdon’s smile twisted slightly, as

if he was amused by his fear of being too close to his master. Bennett shifted his stance to

cover the lapse and stood his ground.

“You are the only wolf I react this strongly to,” Marsdon whispered in his ear. He

trailed his lips over Bennett’s cheek as he spoke, just above where the leather hood had

hidden half his face, as if Marsdon thought he needed to be reminded that he had nothing to

hide behind now.

“If you are pleased with the man our parents chose to be your mate then—”

“Enough,” Marsdon snapped. “I may not have seen your face or breathed your scent

before, but I knew who you were the moment I saw you. The moment I had to bite my

tongue to keep from ordering you to your knees in front of everyone. The second I wanted to

challenge every wolf who so much as shook your hand. The very instant I stopped hating

this match, I knew who you were.”

Bennett couldn’t breathe. It was too much. Marsdon was too close, his presence

surrounded Bennett, crushing the air out of his lungs. He pushed the other man away from

him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Marsdon grabbed his shoulder as he tried to step past him. His fingers slid up

towards his nape.

Bennett spun away from him, snapping at his fingers as panic spiked inside him.

“Show me the back of your neck.”

“What?”

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Marsdon stepped forward. “If you really want me to believe you’re not who I know

you are, show me the back of your neck.”

He wasn’t entirely sure. Bennett could see it in his eyes. He was ninety-nine percent

sure—sure enough to act as if he were certain—but if he didn’t see the mark on the back of

his neck, he could never settle that one percent of doubt.

Bennett shook his head. “No.” That was the one thing that could never be allowed to

happen.

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Chapter Three

“Something to hide?” Marsdon asked as he stalked closer to his new mate. Bennett

was his pup. His clothes might cover almost every inch of his skin, but he didn’t need to see

all of his body in order to recognise him. He had to be. There was no other explanation for it.

The other wolf took a step back. His shoulders hit the edge of a wardrobe. Bennett

spun around as if to face another attacker. Marsdon launched himself across the room at him,

all his patience with silly games thoroughly expended.

Bennett turned back to face him just in time to field the attack. They thudded to the

floor, rolling on the thick wooden boards. Marsdon’s knee collided with the edge of the

bed—the one where they should have been ‘resting’ together to solidify the bond that should

have started to grow between them when they took the mating vows.

Pain shot through him, but he kept his hold on Bennett. The darker wolf was strong,

an even match for him. Marsdon rolled them over, pushing the other man onto his back.

Their eyes met. Marsdon saw his mate’s desperation. He didn’t doubt that Bennett saw much

the same look in his own eyes. He had to know. He had to be sure.

Bennett twisted, trying to throw him off. Marsdon held himself back and let his pup

have a brief moment of freedom. His new mate rolled away, but the move was the slowest

he’d made. He’d registered that his opponent wasn’t fighting him. He looked back, concern

filling his eyes, obviously believing Marsdon was hurt.

Marsdon took his chance. He lunged at his mate, pushing him face down on the floor.

Bennett flailed and tried to buck him off, but his response was just a second too late.

Marsdon straddled him, pinning him down with his weight on the small of his back as one of

his hands slid into Bennett’s hair to hold his head down.

His other fingers fumbled at the back of his neck. They brushed across a raised line of

skin—a scar that perfectly matched the cross he’d cut into his own arm.

The fight seemed to drain out of Bennett in one huge rush. He lay limp and defeated

under Marsdon’s body. Marsdon cautiously gentled his hold on him, softening his grip until

it became a caress. He ran his fingers through Bennett’s hair, glorying in the complete

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certainty that his instincts had been correct and everything between him and Bennett was

settled.

His mate’s hair was long and shaggy now that it was free to tumble as it wished

without the restriction of the hood. He’d known it would be black, like the other hairs on

Bennett’s body, but the need to bury his fingers in the strands and never let go was new.

Marsdon leant forward and pressed a kiss to the back of Bennett’s head. Nudging the hairs

covering the scar aside, he pressed a kiss there too, wondering if he could coax that pleased

little moan that he loved to hear from his mate.

There was no moan. “It means nothing.”

Marsdon frowned. “What?”

“It means nothing,” Bennett said again. “The scar, the things we did in that room,

none of that means anything.”

Marsdon pulled away, more from the thought than the man, but his horror at the idea

still gave Bennett room to squirm away from him.

“It means everything,” Marsdon snapped, completely unable to understand why

anyone would ever say otherwise.

Bennett shuffled further away, until he sat leaning against the side of the bed, one

knee pulled up in front of his body, as if to shield himself from further attack.

“My curiosity got the better of me,” Bennett said. “I thought playing silly human

games would show me how the other wolves in the pack live their lives—what makes them

happy. So, I tried it. It doesn’t mean anything more than that, I wanted to know how the

omegas feel—to know what they need from their alpha.”

Marsdon stared across the room at him. Blue. He’d always wondered what his eyes

would be like. They were blue, and intense, and perfect. But scared, so very, very scared.

“I was there,” Marsdon reminded his lover, trying to gentle his voice a fraction. “I

may not have been able to look into your eyes while you wore that hood, but I saw what the

nights we spent together meant to you. It wasn’t just curiosity—not for either of us, pup.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Marsdon moved closer to crouch down in front of him. Bennett tensed, but he stayed

where he was.

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“You used to like me calling you my pup,” Marsdon said. “You used to like calling

your master sir.”

Bennett turned his head away. “It was just a few stupid hours. I’m not going to let

them ruin my whole life.”

Marsdon threaded his fingers into his hair and jerked his mate back around to face

him. Kneeling over him, he caught Bennett’s face between his palms and tilted his head back

to make the other wolf look him in the eye.

For a few seconds Bennett resisted, but then he met his eyes and held them. “I am an

alpha.”

Marsdon frowned. “I never said you weren’t.”

“Then treat me like one!” Bennett demanded.

Marsdon sat back on his heels, taking his hands away from Bennett’s face. He stared

down at him, trying to work out how the hell the happiest moment of his life could be going

so horribly wrong. “You are an alpha. You are also my mate. There’s nothing wrong with—”

Bennett turned away again. “What we did those nights wasn’t just a mating.”

“I know,” Marsdon agreed. “I’ve never felt that way when I was with another wolf.”

Bennett swallowed, staring blankly past Marsdon. “It can never happen again,” he

whispered.

“Of course it—”

“What sort of alpha crawls blindly towards the sound of a master’s voice?” Bennett

demanded.

“And you really believe I think less of you for doing that?”

“An alpha leads,” Bennett snapped. “He doesn’t crawl. He doesn’t accept another man

as his master, or answer to being called a pup. I gave my word to our pack that I would be a

good alpha. I intend to keep my word.”

“You were happy,” Marsdon said, not sure who he thought needed reminding of that

right then. “You were…at peace.”

Bennett closed his eyes for a second, as if he wanted to deny it, but couldn’t bring

himself to do so. “An alpha puts his pack first,” he whispered. He swallowed. “Never again.”

“I can’t hear anything.”

Marsdon jerked around to face the door.

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“Maybe they’re sleeping?” another voice said on the other side of the wood work.

“We are both very much awake,” Marsdon called back through. “What do you want?”

“The old packs have to leave soon,” a wolf called through the door. “If you wish to

share the feast with them, then…”

Marsdon sighed. “Very well. You may tell them all that we’re on our way.”

Footsteps walked away from the bedroom door. Marsdon turned back to Bennett. For

a long time, he couldn’t bring himself to do more than stare at the other wolf. His mate didn’t

lower his gaze, but he didn’t meet his eyes either. Apparently a small patch on the wall

behind him was far more interesting than he was.

“We should get changed and go down.”

“Yes,” Bennett agreed.

The word sir hung between them, begging to be spoken, begging to be heard, but

ultimately remaining unsaid.

Marsdon held out his hand to help his mate to his feet. Bennett put his hand in his

with only the briefest hesitation. But, when he levered himself up off the floor, none of his

weight, none of his trust, rested in Marsdon’s hand. He still didn’t look his mate in the eye.

Their clothes had been laid out on an ottoman at the base of the bed. Bennett walked

across and picked his up without a word. He turned his back on Marsdon as he pulled his

shirt over his head.

Marsdon didn’t rush towards his own clothes. He let his eyes feast on Bennett’s skin

as the thin white cotton from the mating ceremony was folded and set aside. The muscles

along his shoulders flexed with every movement, but they didn’t tense until after he had

fallen still. He’d tensed that way when he was wearing the hood too—when he knew he was

being watched.

Back in the club there had been little he could do about that. Bound and offering

himself to Marsdon, inviting his master to do with him as he pleased, a complaint that

Marsdon was staring at him would have seemed crazy.

As he gazed at his mate’s back, Marsdon felt a prickle of unease run down his own

spine. He’d had the right to do whatever he wanted with Bennett because his pup had given

him that right. If Bennett chose to change the rules now, then…

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A frown grew between Marsdon’s eyebrows. Bennett looked over his shoulder just in

time to see it. His right arm twitched, as if he was about to reach out.

No, Marsdon realised a second later, not reach out—as if he would have reached back

towards his neck.

“I put the mark there so no one else would be able to see it unless you wanted them

to,” Marsdon told him. A secret little thing that no one else would ever know about. A little

bit of his lover that would always be his alone.

Bennett turned away. His hand clenched into a fist as he made an obvious effort not to

reach up and touch the cross Marsdon had cut into his skin.

“You put it there so I couldn’t ask anyone to kiss me there again,” Bennett said.

“Yes. That too.” Marsdon wasn’t about to apologise for it, his own hand had already

clenched into a fist at the idea anyone else’s lips could ever touch his mate.

He saw Bennett’s throat move as he swallowed several times in quick succession.

“And you never asked me,” Marsdon reminded him.

“What?”

“You never asked me to kiss you there. You never needed to.” His pup had never

needed to ask for anything—not when Marsdon was willing to spend so many of the hours

they spent in the club, studying his body for little hints and tells his lover couldn’t hide—just

so he could work out what Bennett needed from him without his pup ever having to ask him

for it.

Bennett’s hand clamped over the back of his neck as if he could no longer resist the

temptation to touch the mark.

Marsdon stepped forward. The floor board creaked. Bennett spun around to face him.

Anger and fear warred in his pup’s eyes. Then his expression cleared, his emotions pushed

quickly into check.

“Everyone’s waiting downstairs.”

Marsdon said nothing.

Bennett reached for a blue shirt and pulled it over his head, hiding his body away

from his master. Even worse than seeing the skin disappear from his view, was the

knowledge that he couldn’t do anything about it.

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In moments, Bennett had changed his trousers too, switching the belt from the white

cotton ones to a pair of black jeans in the process. He hadn’t put anything on under them.

Marsdon filed that information away for future reference.

Bennett pulled his shoes on and glanced at Marsdon. He looked at the door as if

contemplating going down on his own, but he made no move to actually follow through on

the idea. He walked over to the window and looked down over the fields instead, his back

turned to Marsdon as if making a point of giving him the privacy he hadn’t even thought to

offer Bennett.

Marsdon quickly switched one set of clothes for another.

Bennett glanced over his shoulder.

Marsdon tried to catch his eye, but the darker wolf wouldn’t meet his gaze as he

walked over to the door. Marsdon caught up with him just in time to put his hand over

Bennett’s before he could turn the handle.

He couldn’t let his mate leave the room thinking he cared so little, that he would give

up so easily. “You know this isn’t over, pup.”

Bennett refused to turn and face him. “It was over the moment we walked out of that

club. And it’s Bennett—not pup.”

Marsdon reluctantly let go of the handle and stepped back to let his mate walk out of

the room ahead of him. Bennett strode down the corridor that led to the stairs with complete

confidence. Marsdon could see how shaken his lover was by everything that had happened

that day, but he would bet his life that no one else would see it.

An alpha to the core. Perhaps, if he’d had the sense to notice that when they were

playing together in the club, things could have been very different.

A cheer went up when they walked into the hall underneath the bedroom they’d

‘rested’ in, knocking Marsdon’s thoughts completely out of line. He automatically reached

out to his mate, placing his hand on the small of Bennett’s back.

Bennett glanced at him, but made no objection to him leaving his hand there as they

walked across the room. The other wolves were all grinning like fools. For a moment

Marsdon couldn’t quite work out why. Footsteps echoed down into the hall as someone went

up the stairs and walked across the floor in one of the rooms above them.

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The struggle when he’d fought to catch a glimpse of the mark on the back of Bennett’s

neck would have been relayed directly to all the wolves in the hall. With only the noises to go

by, it must have sounded very different to how it actually was.

“Come, sit with us,” his parents invited.

Marsdon stepped back, deferring to his mate, letting Bennett choose his seat first.

About to join him, he changed his mind at the last moment and took a position standing

behind Bennett’s chair instead. “I’ll stand, thank you.”

One of the younger wolves giggled. He dropped his eyes when Marsdon turned his

attention towards him. When he risked a quick glance up a few seconds later, Marsdon let

him see his smile, so he could see the newly crowned alpha wasn’t really mad at him.

An hour later, he wasn’t feeling quite as generous towards any of their guests. He

loved every wolf in his parents’ pack, truly he did. But it was bloody difficult to remember

that when they were all there under his feet and all he wanted was be alone with his mate.

He wanted them gone. He wanted everyone who wasn’t part of his new pack out of

the house, off his lands and safely back where they belonged—in their own homes. He

wanted all those who were to stay with him and Bennett sent off to their own beds. And,

more than anything, he wanted Bennett in his bed and he wanted the bedroom door closed

between them and the rest of the world. He wanted five minutes peace to relish the fact that

the mating he’d been dreading for months had fulfilled every desire he’d made himself keep

secret.

He forced himself to stay standing by Bennett’s chair muttering polite nothings to

those wolves who spoke to him. He didn’t manage to make his smile look as convincing as

Bennett’s. The only person his mate didn’t seem to have a real smile for was him.

Marsdon glanced at his watch and held back a sigh.

“Impatient, son?” He met his father’s eyes and saw the humour in them.

“It’s getting late. I wouldn’t want your pack to be travelling home in the early hours of

the morning,” he said politely.

‘Your pack’—because he was a member of a different pack now—a leader of his own

pack.

His father chuckled and clapped him on the back. “Perhaps you are right. You have

your own pack to settle into a new home, don’t you?”

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Marsdon nodded. And his own mate to settle into their new bed too.

Gradually his parents’ pack was gathered up and began to trail out of the house.

Marsdon turned from the door as they drove way, just in time to see Bennett saying good bye

to his parents and his old pack.

A glance further down the hall showed those wolves who were to stay with them

milling about, waiting for their alphas to turn their attention back to them and give them

their first orders.

Bennett didn’t know any of them. He’d barely even been introduced to them before

being thrown into the middle of the group of wolves and told to lead. As his mate stood at

the door, watching all those wolves he was familiar with leaving him behind, Marsdon

walked up behind him and rested his hand on his shoulder.

His pup didn’t immediately shake his hand away. That was something.

“They’ll feel like your pack in no time,” Marsdon promised, looking back at their new

family.

“They are my pack now,” Bennett said coldly, turning away from him and walking

back to the other wolves.

Marsdon dropped his hand back to his side. Of course it wasn’t as simple as being left

alone with their pack. He knew that wouldn’t fix everything in the world. But having Bennett

accept his touch, if only for a few seconds, had been good.

Their new pack all tensed when they realised their alphas were ready to address them

for the first time.

“It’s late,” Bennett said. “You’ve all had a busy day. Off to bed now, all of you.

Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”

Marsdon stayed a step behind Bennett, letting him give the orders, letting the other

wolves get used to taking orders from him. As Marsdon looked around the group, he saw

that eight pairs of eyes were completely focused on Bennett. He smiled a fraction at the sight

of his mate, relaxing into his true place in the pack. Bennett really was stunning in

leadership.

He made short work of assigning each of them to the various bedrooms above the

hall, but all Marsdon could think about was getting them both back to their own room. When

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Bennett called Talbot back to speak to him after the others had left, Marsdon had to bite back

a curse to keep from betraying his impatience.

Talbot returned to stand in front of his new alpha.

One glance at him and Marsdon felt his annoyance disappear. Talbot had always been

a nervous little guy, but Marsdon hadn’t seen him look truly scared before. It took all his

strength not to step forward and reassure the smaller wolf himself.

Bennett tucked a knuckle under Talbot’s chin and spoke very softly to him. Marsdon

could only just make out the murmur of his voice.

Talbot nodded and offered his new alpha a small smile.

“Go on.”

Talbot nodded again and followed the others up the stairs to his new bed.

Finally they were left on their own. When Bennett made no move to turn away from

his study of the staircase the other wolves had walked up, Marsdon put his hand on his

pup’s arm and turned Bennett to face him.

Bennett took a deep breath. “If you think trying to loom over me the whole time will

make me feel like some little pup, then…” he began, only to trail off and frown at Marsdon’s

smile.

Marsdon stroked his pup’s hair back from his face so the dark strands didn’t obscure

the brilliant blue eyes he’d so recently been permitted a glimpse of. “Our bedroom is directly

above the hall, pup. Do you really think they’d believe all that noise was just me trying to

steal a look at the back of your neck?”

Bennett’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t need you to lie for me in order to gain their respect,”

he snapped. “They—”

Marsdon tangled his fingers a little more snugly into Bennett’s hair. “You are my

mate,” he whispered. “The other wolves in our pack already know me, they don’t know you.

Is it really so wrong for me to ease your way with them?”

Bennett tried to pull away, but it was a half hearted attempt at best. Marsdon easily

kept him where he was.

“I know you are strong. I know you will be a good leader—that you are a good alpha.

They are already recognising that too, but if I can make sure they realise it more quickly, then

I will do that.”

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Bennett just stared straight ahead. “Will it make any difference if I tell you not to?”

“No,” Marsdon admitted. “Not in this case.”

Bennett made no answer.

Marsdon leant forward, stopping just short of bringing their lips together. “I will listen

if you refuse me permission to do other things.”

For a long time, Bennett stayed right where he was. Marsdon could sense his longing

for a kiss, but his mate didn’t lean in to claim it the way Marsdon had hoped he would.

“I won’t submit to you—you have no right to expect that.”

Marsdon stayed where he was, sure there was more to come, sure he would like it just

as little as he did the first part of the statement.

“But…but you are my mate,” Bennett said. “And I know you have a mate’s right to

expect…”

“Because it is your duty?” Marsdon asked, stroking his pup’s cheek with the back of

his knuckles.

Bennett swallowed at the familiar gesture. “An alpha always does his duty.”

“Come on then, pup,” Marsdon said. “Come and do your duty by me.” He slid his

hand into Bennett’s hand and tugged gently.

Bennett stayed where he was. “Don’t call me that. You said you wanted to ease my

way with the other wolves—what do you think they’ll think of me if they hear that?”

He had a point. He couldn’t expect others to understand what the word really meant

between them. “Only ever when we are alone,” Marsdon promised.

It wasn’t enough of a compromise. Bennett tried to take his hand back, but Marsdon

held onto it.

“Come to bed,” he coaxed, walking backwards and keeping hold of Bennett’s hand.

His mate gave in, but the look in his eyes was resignation, not pleasure, as Marsdon

led him up to the room they’d shared earlier. He nudged Bennett to the bathroom that led off

the room and occupied himself with turning down the bed.

By the time they’d exchanged places and Marsdon had taken his turn into the

bathroom, Bennett had stripped down to his bare skin, but the turned down sheets hadn’t

tempted him. His pup had moved across the room to stare out of the window rather than

approach the bed.

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Marsdon shrugged his own clothes off, putting them with Bennett’s before

approaching the slightly younger wolf. His mind was starting to understand that it was not

truly the right time to hope his mate would wish to bond with him.

His body had no inclination to understand. His pup was back with him. Bennett was

his mate. Now that the leather was stripped away, he could see that the man he’d told

himself he could never have for more than a few hours was indeed a true alpha—a wolf he

could spend the rest of his life with. His cock curved back to his stomach, eager and aching

with need.

Marsdon placed his hand on Bennett’s shoulder. The other man tensed but didn’t turn

towards him. His fingers clenched on the wooden window sill. Marsdon put his other hand

on Bennett’s other shoulder. The moonlight falling in through the glass highlighted the way

his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed down his nerves.

Marsdon took half a step forward, until they were almost touching. He leant forward

and pressed a kiss against Bennett’s bare shoulder. Closing his eyes, he pushed aside his

desire to order Bennett to keep that position. It would have been so easy to nudge his lover’s

feet further apart and line his body up tight against him.

Bennett was so tense it would have taken a lot of care and time to make him ready, but

seeing him squirm around his fingers as he turned diligent preparations into teasing would

have made the minutes rush past. The reward of burying his cock inside Bennett’s hole, in

feeling the other man’s muscles tense and flex around him as they begged him to move

would have made the time well spent.

“Come to bed?” he whispered instead, taking great care to make it a request rather

than an order.

Bennett turned and walked past him to the bed. “What do you want?” he asked, as he

stopped beside it.

It was a good question to ask, and a very hard question to answer. Giving up on

words, Marsdon guided him onto the bed instead. Bennett went along with it. His confidence

boosted a little by Bennett’s compliance, Marsdon joined him on the bed and encouraged his

pup to lie back and relax against the soft pillows.

He hadn’t offered his lover a great deal of comfort over their meetings in the club.

Bennett didn’t seem at all sure about any of it. Marsdon pulled the blankets up over them

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both. He let his hands rest on the blanket that covered Bennett’s skin for a moment. Then,

holding back a sigh, he forced himself to retreat back to his side of the mattress.

Bennett turned to look at him, a frown gathering between his brows.

“When you are ready to do more, we will,” Marsdon said.

“You mean, when I’m ready to submit to you?” Bennett snapped, pushing irritably at

the blanket.

Marsdon reached out and touched his cheek. “When you can look me in the eye and

tell me it means more to you than the fulfilling of a duty,” he corrected.

Bennett jerked away from his touch.

“You’re obviously exhausted,” Marsdon excused. “If you’ve slept as little as I have

over the last nights, it’s little wonder.”

Bennett stared past him, apparently not even willing to echo his admission in case it

would be taken as a sign of weakness, a sign of not being a true alpha.

Marsdon hesitated, not sure what he could ask of his mate right then, not sure how to

ask rather than order. He’d always imagined it would be easy. That the traditions they had to

follow were the only thing keeping them apart. That perfection was right there waiting for

them, if only traditions could be swept aside.

He stared at his mate, wondering if there were some magic words that would have his

pup wriggling over to his side of his bed to curl up close in his master’s arms.

“If you would wish to rest closer to your mate, I would welcome it,” he said softly.

“But I don’t demand it.”

His mate swallowed, but that was it. Even after Marsdon turned off the lights and let

silence settle over the room, Bennett made no move to close the gap between them.

THE MARK OF AN ALPHA

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Chapter Four

“I wondered where you were hiding.”

Bennett spun around at the sound of his mate’s voice. “I’m not hiding!” He wasn’t.

The barn needed to be sorted out so they could decide what was to be done with the space.

Just because he had chosen to find a job that involved him being on his own away from the

other wolves for a while didn’t mean he was hiding from anyone.

Marsdon’s smile faltered. He stopped several yards away from him, apparently

deciding he didn’t want to be closer to his mate than that, right then. “It wasn’t an

accusation.”

Bennett held back a sigh. “Sorry,” he muttered.

Marsdon was quick to offer him a forgiving smile. “It’s okay, pup.”

The smile only reminded him that Marsdon had already had to forgive him for a lot of

things—things an alpha should never have to forgive in a mate. The pet name only made

Bennett’s shoulders knot with further tension.

“I asked you not to call me that,” he reminded his mate for what felt like the millionth

time.

“Everyone else is back in the house. It’s just us, now.”

Bennett shook his head wondering why Marsdon couldn’t understand that privacy

didn’t make it okay for him to tempt him with everything he’d had to give up in order to

take his rightful place as an alpha of his own pack.

He picked up one of the boxes of junk he’d accumulated as he tried to put the barn in

some sort of order. Placing it on top of a pile of similarly filled boxes, he gave the simple task

his complete attention. A piece of old rusty metal stuck out of the top of the box. He’d damn

near sliced his boot and his foot open on it before he found it mixed in with a pile of old hay.

Bennett stared at the jagged edge, remembering another piece of metal slicing the skin

at the back of his neck. Perhaps if he hadn’t been foolish enough to ask for a mark, he would

have been able to convince his master he wasn’t the man from the club.

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He turned and picked up another box of odds and ends, quick to leap on any excuse

to keep his back to the man he’d called master for so many nights. It didn’t really help. He’d

spent so long hooded in the other wolf’s presence, he was used to tracking his movements

blind. He felt the change in the air as Marsdon stepped closer behind him.

“You’ve been working hard.”

Bennett ignored him, not sure what he could say without reverting to the role of a pup

who was pleased he’d pleased his master. He lifted the box over his head to put it on top of

the pile.

“Pup—”

Bennett jerked away from his task, spinning around to face his master, only to be

stopped short. “Don’t—ow! Damn!”

Bennett tugged at his sleeve. It remained firmly caught on the old piece of iron from

the first box.

“Stay still!”

Another order from his master was the last thing he needed right then. He tugged at

the sleeve and succeeded in stabbing himself in the wrist with the remains of the tool and

almost bringing the boxes crashing down around him in the process.

Marsdon’s hand wrapped around his wrist. His other hand steadied the boxes. “Stay

still,” he repeated.

He was right up close behind him, pressed against Bennett’s back so he could reach

around his body and keep a firm grip on his wrist and support the boxes at the same time.

“I can’t release you if you keep wriggling,” his master said, as if explaining the

situation to a real pup, too young to realise such things on his own.

“I can do it myself,” Bennett said. He always took himself out of the bondage in the

club—his master had only ever needed to undo one hand before he left. His other hand was

free. His master was gone. Bennett didn’t need the other wolf’s help.

Marsdon sighed, and caught hold of his other wrist too. Bennett froze in his hold as

memories he’d tried to push away came flooding back, memories of those hours before

Marsdon had released him from his bondage. There were times since he walked out of that

club for the last time when he would have sold his soul to feel Marsdon holding him in place

that way.

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“Unless you’re going to grow another arm in the next few minutes, stop acting like an

fool and stay still,” Marsdon ordered. “Let your mate help you.”

Bennett nodded, not trusting himself to avoid the word sir if he said anything at all

right then.

His master didn’t make him wait, he didn’t go out of his way to remind him that he’d

put himself in that sort of vulnerable position dozens of times over the weeks and months

he’d visited the club. His mate unhooked him from the metal and turned him around.

Bennett glanced down. There was a hole in his sleeve, a slight scrape on his skin

underneath it. It was nothing, but it was a convenient excuse to keep his eyes lowered for a

few moments without feeling as if he was betraying every scrap of faith that his family and

his new pack had placed in him.

Marsdon took hold of his wrist again. Bennett automatically tried to pull away, but he

was backed up against the boxes. Marsdon’s hand tightened around his skin, keeping him

where he was. He took his time examining the scrape.

“It’s nothing,” Bennett said.

“You should be more careful.”

Bennett met his eyes. If he hadn’t been thinking about Marsdon rather than what he

was doing, he wouldn’t have made such a silly mistake. If he hadn’t been more focused on

not being a pup than he was on taking care of his duties as an alpha then—

“I was always careful with you,” Marsdon reminded him, very softly.

Bennett’s hand clenched into a tight fist within Marsdon’s hold. “I never asked you to

be.”

“Just like Talbot never asked you to be as gentle as you are with him?”

Bennett felt the blood drain out of his face. He met his mate’s eyes and saw the

moment when Marsdon realised what he’d just said.

“That’s not what I meant—” his mate began, as if there was anything that could take

those words back.

“It is exactly what you meant,” Bennett growled. “An omega never needs to ask for an

alpha’s care—it’s given as a matter of course. Isn’t it?”

“That’s the way you care for Talbot, yes.”

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Bennett snatched his hand back, tearing his wrist out of the other man’s grip as he

stepped past him and strode into the middle of the barn, needing space.

“Wolves in the same pack care for each other,” Marsdon went on. “Mates care for each

other. I was speaking about you as a mate, nothing else.”

Bennett said nothing.

“I’ve never said you are anything other than an alpha.”

Bennett grabbed an old fence post and tossed it towards the others he’d laid tidily in

one corner of the barn. The neat little pile collapsed, unable to withstand the additional

pressure. Bennett couldn’t bring himself to feel surprised.

“Are you listening?” Marsdon demanded.

“No,” Bennett lied—as if he was capable of ignoring Marsdon.

Marsdon caught him by the shoulder and spun him around, making him face him.

Bennett flung his touch away. His master stood very still as Bennett started to pace around

him, anger at himself and everything around him making it impossible for him to stand still

and simply face the other wolf the way he knew an alpha should.

“I was talking about the care a mate has for his mate,” Marsdon repeated.

Bennett shook his head, brushing all that nonsense aside.

“What did you think I was?” he demanded. “In the club—tell me what you thought I

was.”

“I knew you were a wolf.”

Bennett pushed his master back against the barn wall, suddenly unable to take it

anymore. “Don’t play silly games with me. Answer the question.”

“I thought you were an omega.”

It was what Bennett had been pushing him to say from the start. And now he’d said it.

Bennett stared at the wall behind Marsdon’s shoulder for a long time before he summoned

the control he needed in order to step back from his mate, releasing him from his hold.

Marsdon stayed leaning against the wall, as if he’d chosen to be there from the start.

“And you still wonder why I won’t go back to that?” Bennett asked.

“You asked what I thought you were then, not what I think you are now.”

Bennett stood in the middle of the room, staring across at his master, unable to meet

his gaze, unable to lower his eyes. He had to swallow before he could trust his voice to come

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Kim Dare

out clear and strong—the way an alpha’s voice should sound. “I meant what I said before.

What happened there will never happen again. You’ll never have cause to regret accepting

me in spite of this.”

“And you think that’s what I did—that I accepted you in spite of what happened in the

club?” Marsdon asked. His gaze narrowed. He looked as pissed off as hell.

“I know you suspected who I was before the mating,” Bennett said. “You had every

right to call it off.”

Marsdon shook his head, but Bennett knew it was true.

“The scar was all the proof you needed.”

“And what does this scar prove?” Marsdon asked, rolling back his shirt sleeve.

Bennett turned his face away.

“Pup?”

Bennett pushed his hair back out of his face. He was just so tired of it all. Tired of the

lies. Tired of the truth.

“Pup?” his master pushed again.

“It means nothing,” Bennett whispered.

“No. That’s not true, is it?”

Bennett took a deep breath and let it out. “We’re talking in circles. There’s no point.

We just need to forget anything that happened before the mating ceremony.” If they could

just pretend that none of it had ever happened. If they could start again from scratch. If

Marsdon would just pretend that there was no reason for anyone to think that he was

anything less than the alpha he would act like from now on…

“I don’t want to forget.”

Bennett rubbed the scar on the back of his neck. Back then, he’d never wanted to

forget either.

“I remember all of it,” Marsdon said. “Every detail. Every moment we spent

together.”

Bennett shook his head. “Leave it be.” It was more a pup’s plea than an alpha’s order,

but anything that would stop his master from dredging up every single memory of all that he

had lost would be worth it.

“I remember the first night I saw you tied up and waiting for me,” Marsdon began.

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And it really sounded like he intended to go through every detail of every night

they’d spent in that club. That couldn’t happen.

“The first time you saw me tied up, I didn’t even know you existed,” Bennett threw at

him. “I wasn’t waiting for you—anyone would have done. I remember that.”

“Bennett,” Marsdon warned, as if he suddenly had a right to complain at being

reminded of a detail he would rather forget.

Warnings be damned. “I remember going to that club, putting the hood on and telling

the human behind the desk that I would accept anyone,” Bennett said, relishing their

positions being reversed for once,

Marsdon shook his head, a growl starting to rumble in the back of his throat.

“Anyone capable of throwing around a few orders while he screwed me would have

done,” Bennett bit out.

“You don’t mean that,” Marsdon said—slotting each word into the sentence very

carefully, as if it required every bit of his control to say them calmly.

“And you’d know, would you?” Bennett taunted.

“Yes!” Marsdon snapped. “I’d know, pup. Just like I know you’re lying when you tell

your master that you didn’t love every minute you spent obeying his orders. Just like I know

you still want it.”

Bennett shook his head, as if it would ever be that easy to deny it all.

“I didn’t pick you,” he growled. “I didn’t even see your face until yesterday. It wasn’t

perfect. It wasn’t special. You could have been anyone.”

“Maybe the first time. Maybe,” Marsdon allowed. “But once I laid a hand on you, you

were mine. You couldn’t have submitted to anyone but your master after that.”

Bennett opened his mouth. I did. I submitted to dozens of other men. But the words

wouldn’t come, he couldn’t force them past his lips. He couldn’t lie to his master.

Marsdon stared across the barn at his mate. He seemed far more like a stranger now

than he did that first night he laid eyes on him.

“I never met anyone else at the club,” Marsdon offered. “I never took control of

anyone else. I never wanted to once I met you.”

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Bennett still seemed unable to make the same admission. Marsdon pushed down his

temper. He knew Bennett hadn’t submitted to anyone else. He just wanted to hear him say it.

Marsdon closed his eyes for a second and reminded himself that what he wanted

wasn’t important right then. And he didn’t truly need to hear him say it to know it was true

anyway. There were so many things he hadn’t had to hear Bennett say out loud to know

what the silent truth was.

“You were stunning,” he whispered.

Bennett met his eyes for a moment. Marsdon wouldn’t have wished away the right to

look into those eyes for the world, but he still couldn’t stop his mind rushing back to that first

night, way back before he had ever been able to see his whole face.

Stretched out on a St. Andrew’s cross, naked but for that damn hood, Bennett had

been glorious. Marsdon wasn’t lying when he said he remembered every detail. He

remembered standing in the doorway with one of the humans who worked at the club as if it

happened minutes rather than months ago.

He remembered being told that the only limit Bennett had set on what could be done

with him was that the hood had to stay in place. It had sounded like such a fantastic

complement to his need to find out what it would be like to give into his desire to take

complete control of a mate.

He remembered closing the door and sealing himself in the room alone with the other

man. He remembered discovering that his new submissive was a wolf rather than a man. He

remembered discovering what a perfect match Bennett actually was for him.

“It can never happen again.”

Marsdon blinked his way back into the here and now, pushing away his memories of

what felt like perfection in order to face the imperfections of the situation in front of him.

It seemed like a lifetime ago now, but Marsdon knew what he remembered was right.

They’d both wanted it. From that first moment where they stood there like idiots in the back

room of a human club with no idea how humans would act in that situation, and with no

idea what a wolf should do either, they’d both wanted what they found there. They’d both

needed it.

Marsdon met Bennett’s eyes across the barn. He felt just as clueless now as he had

then.

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“You were thinking about how things were in the club,” Bennett accused.

It wasn’t a question, but Marsdon answered anyway. “Yes.”

“That can never happen again,” Bennett repeated.

Marsdon studied him for several long seconds. “So, if not that, what do we do?”

Because if Bennett thought he knew the answer to that, he was destined to be very

disappointed in him.

“Other alphas manage to mate as equals. There’s no reason why we can’t,” Bennett

said.

Marsdon raised an eyebrow at the idea. It was hard to work out which of them his

mate was trying to convince.

“You said you recognise that I’m an alpha, that I’m your equal,” Bennett challenged.

“Prove it.”

Marsdon stepped forward, slowly closing the gap between them, willing to try

anything at all if it might get them out of this stalemate.

Bennett stayed exactly where he was in the middle of the barn, studying his every

move. He was as still right then as he had ever been in bondage. Stopping in front of him,

Marsdon touched his cheek. It was a request for him to tilt his head back and be kissed. Not

an order, a request. Bennett allowed him to guide his head back.

Marsdon carefully brushed their lips together. Bennett made no objection. When he

deepened the kiss, Bennett allowed that too. Marsdon felt a rush of relief sweep through his

body. If all his mate needed him to do was learn nicer manners, that was easily fixed.

Half a step forward brought their bodies together. Bennett half reached out to him in

return and then he hesitated. Marsdon pretended he hadn’t noticed any of it. Bennett was

unfamiliar with the freedom of movement he had right then. It was only to be expected that

everything would be a bit tentative between them.

A minute passed. Bennett cautiously lifted a hand and threaded his fingers into

Marsdon’s hair. That deserved a reward. Marsdon deepened the kiss even further, sliding his

tongue against Bennett’s lips, hoping to coax a pleased little murmur from him.

Bennett stayed silent.

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Marsdon frowned. It felt like an eternity since the mating ceremony ended. But now,

when he was finally being welcomed close and he was finally allowed to touch his mate, it

felt like they were both moving through treacle.

Everything was ridiculously slow and careful. Part of Marsdon could accept that, part

of him even saw that it was to be expected. Everything was new all over again. They were

only just getting to know each other. It was more complicated than things had been back in

the club. Marsdon could understand all of that. Hell, if it was what made Bennett happy they

could move at glacier speed. Slow wasn’t the real problem.

Marsdon’s frown deepened as he tried to work out what really felt so wrong between

them. Even though his hands rested on Bennett’s body, it still felt like he was miles away.

The connection he’d felt with his lover seemed dull and muted. Marsdon persevered,

deepening the kiss once more, searching for what he’d felt in the club, desperate to feel truly

alive again.

He settled one of his hands on the small of his mate’s back, encouraging him closer

still until they were pressed tight together. Bennett complied. Marsdon rocked his hips a

fraction, the way he had so many times when they were back at the club and he wanted to

tempt his pup to pull against his restraints in an effort to thrust back against his master.

Bennett stood very still, making no effort to copy the movement. Marsdon pressed

carefully against his back, trying to nudge him into following his lead without making any

demands upon him. His mate shifted his stance, but that was it.

Barring those times when he had just allowed his pup to come, it was practically the

first time he could remember bringing their bodies into line and not feeling an erection press

eagerly against him. Marsdon faltered.

When they’d played in the club everything was easy. When he’d made demands

rather than polite little requests, his pup had been hard and on the verge of begging within

moments of his master walking into the room. This wasn’t sex. It wasn’t mating. It was

Bennett going through the motions because he felt like it was his duty to let his mate screw

him.

A growl broke from the back of Marsdon’s throat. Anger shot through his veins. He

shoved Bennett back against the wall of the barn. His mate blinked up at him, shock and

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confusion filling his eyes. When he tried to straighten up, Marsdon pushed him back again.

Bennett parted his lips to speak.

That couldn’t happen. No words. Words made things complicated. They hadn’t

needed words or names or traditions to understand each other when they were in the club,

and they didn’t need them now.

Marsdon covered his mate’s lips with his own, demanding access now, demanding his

submission. A confused little murmur escaped from Bennett’s throat. It sounded as if some

part of him remembered that they weren’t supposed to be doing this, but he had no real idea

why. His hands pressed against Marsdon’s chest. His fists clenched and unclenched in

Marsdon’s shirt as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to pull him closer or push him away.

No. Bennett shouldn’t have to make any decisions. Marsdon was his master. Decisions

were his responsibility—looking after his pup was his responsibility. He caught Bennett’s

wrists in his hands and pinned them back against the rough wooden boards, taking away

any pressure Bennett might have felt to do anything other than respond to his master the

way he had back in the club.

For a moment, Bennett fidgeted within his grip—testing his hold on him but making

no real attempt to push him away. Marsdon tightened his grasp, letting his mate feel his

master’s strength. Bennett stopped trying to move. He accepted his master’s control over him

as easily and as perfectly as he ever had.

His lips slowly parted, not just permitting his master entry, but accepting him the way

he hadn’t been able to when they’d stood in the middle of the barn playing silly games.

Marsdon growled into the kiss, success rushing through his veins as he felt his pup extend a

cautious welcome. Bennett’s tongue traced a line along the outside of his lips, asking for

permission to play too.

Relief pushed aside the victory swirling through Marsdon’s blood. He gentled the

kiss, letting Bennett explore his mouth as his pup deepened his side of the kiss and tasted his

master properly for the first time. When he hesitated, Marsdon coaxed him to give his desire

free reign until he finally leant back a fraction and brought the kiss to an end.

Bennett blinked up at him, heavy lidded and almost sleepy with the relief of

submission. Their eyes met, Marsdon saw the calm that had been so conspicuous in its

absence over the last few days. Releasing one of Bennett’s wrists he cupped Bennett’s cheek

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in his palm, holding his head steady so he could brush a gentle kiss over both his eyelids,

welcoming his first sight of submission without a hood in the way.

Trailing his mouth back down to Bennett’s lips again, he pressed their bodies together

once more. His other hand released Bennett’s other wrist and went to his waist band,

burrowing under his shirt so he could feel skin beneath his palm.

Bennett murmured his pleasure, arching against the hand, as eager for his master’s

touch as he had ever been. The sound went straight to Marsdon’s cock. Relief at finding the

solution to all their problems made him light headed.

His pup had elected to dispense with the belt that morning. Right then it didn’t matter

that he’d probably rejected even that bit of leather creeping into his life. Its absence let

Marsdon’s hand slip past the waist band of his trousers to palm Bennett’s buttocks under the

fabric.

Whimpering his pleasure at his touch, his mate wriggled enthusiastically against his

hand. Marsdon pushed their bodies even closer together letting the other wolf feel the

pressure holding him against the wall. Bennett’s hands stopped hanging idly at his sides, he

suddenly seemed to realise they were free. They moved immediately to Marsdon’s back,

encouraging him to thrust against him properly this time.

The clothes separating them didn’t matter. The fact that Bennett was free to touch and

Marsdon wasn’t in control of where his pup’s hands wandered didn’t matter. Bennett

wanted his master just as much as he wanted his pup—that was everything.

Marsdon’s hand on Bennett’s arse led him into a thrust against his master in time with

him. He was quick to take the cue and run with it. Every movement was muffled through the

layers of cloth, but that wasn’t important. They were both already so hard, both so close.

Starved and desperate, they rubbed against each other like wolves who had never known a

lover’s touch—who didn’t know how to do more than thrust, and cling to each other, and

hope.

Close. So close. Marsdon could feel the tension building in Bennett’s body. The

slightest little thing would probably be enough to send him over the edge, and he needed

Bennett to fall over that drop so badly he could taste it. His desire to please his pup, to prove

to them both that this was what Bennett wanted too, overpowered his own need for his own

release. Reminding Bennett of the pleasure to be found under a master’s care was everything.

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“That’s right, pup,” Marsdon coaxed into the kiss. “Come for your master, pup.”

Without warning, Bennett tried to jerk back. The wall of the barn made any retreat

impossible. Twisting away to the side instead, he broke the kiss.

Growling his frustration, Marsdon tried to catch his lips for another kiss, but Bennett

turned his face away completely. The hands that had been pulling him closer pushed at his

shoulders. Marsdon rocked back, regained his balance and stepped in close to his mate again.

“I…I’m not your pup,” Bennett mumbled, staring down at the floor to one side of

them. His voice faltered as he said it, each word uncertain and filled with confusion.

“What?” Marsdon blinked down at his mate, trying to make sense of it.

“I said—I’m not your pup,” Bennett snapped, anger rushing in to push any hesitation

aside.

Marsdon chuckled in his relief—that was all that was wrong?

“Fine. Bennett,” he whispered in his mate’s ear—willing to call him whatever the hell

he wanted if it would get them back to thrusting against each other. He touched Bennett’s

check, guiding him to turn his face up for another kiss.

Bennett refused. “I’m not your pup,” he repeated. “And you’re not my master.”

Marsdon tensed, hating hearing him saying it. They were said like words Bennett had

memorised by rote. As if he was only saying them because he had trained himself to repeat

them at every conceivable opportunity. They weren’t said as if he meant them, but Marsdon

still hated them.

“We are what we are,” he said, as calmly as he could.

Without thinking he let the hand that rested on his mate’s cheek, slide towards the

back of his neck. His fingers brushed against the cross hidden under stands of hair, eager to

feel the reassurance of its presence.

Bennett pushed him away. Shocked by the force, Marsdon stumbled back a few steps.

His pup blinked as if trying to make sense of a world that had shifted under his feet.

“You…I—” Bennett shook his head as if trying to clear it. He closed his eyes.

As Marsdon watched, the colour drained from his mate’s face. His whole body tensed.

The last traces of the submissive he’d known in the club bled away, leaving his mate a

hollow shell, leaving Bennett’s eyes lifeless when he opened them.

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Marsdon stepped forward, automatically reaching out to comfort the other wolf.

Bennett jerked away as if Marsdon had raised a hand to strike him. For several long seconds,

Marsdon stood there with his hand stretched out towards his pup.

He waited, giving Bennett every chance in the world to step forward, to reach out, to

do anything at all to close the gap between them. Bennett straightened, squaring his

shoulders and tilting back his head as he stepped away from the support the barn wall

offered him.

“You have my apology.”

“What?”

Bennett stared past him as if they were strangers. “I told you that I would never give

you reason to be ashamed of your mate,” he said. “You have my apology.”

“You think I’m ashamed of you?” Marsdon demanded.

“You were promised an alpha—a mate who was capable of remembering that he was

an alpha and what that title means,” Bennett said, without any trace of emotion.

“I got the mate I wanted.”

Bennett stared at the floor between them for a long time.

Marsdon held his breath, waiting to hear their fate.

“I gave you my word,” Bennett said. “An alpha keeps his word.”

“I don’t want you to promise me that you won’t submit to me!” Marsdon shouted.

“You’re a true alpha,” Bennett said, his voice perfectly level.

Marsdon pushed down his temper and tried to focus. “Yes. We’re both—”

“Then maybe this is what you want right now,” Bennett allowed. “But what happens

tomorrow or the next day? What about next month or next year? What happens on the day

you need to know your mate is standing strong besides you? What happens when you turn

to me and feel nothing but contempt?”

“I would never—”

“The pack needs strong alphas,” Bennett cut in again. “It needs two strong alphas—not

one who can lead and one who crawls on the floor when another man clicks his fingers!”

“The pack doesn’t need an alpha who’s living a lie!”

Bennett took a deep breath. “You have every right to call me a liar after the way I

behaved here today, but—”

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“Don’t twist what I said!”

“Claiming an alpha’s right to lead means accepting his responsibilities. It means

accepting that I can’t show this sort of weakness any more. I should never have indulged my

curiosity the way I did. But I can’t change that now. All I can do is ask you to draw a line

under my mistakes and let me prove to you that I can be the kind of mate who’ll be a credit

to you.”

“You make it sound as if what we were doing was wrong,” Marsdon protested.

“Would you accept another wolf’s hands wrapping around your wrists and pinning

you to the wall?” Bennett asked.

About to answer on automatic, Marsdon stopped short.

“The truth,” Bennett demanded. “Would you?”

Marsdon took a deep breath. He met his mate’s eyes. Bennett nodded, not needing to

hear him say it out loud. They both knew he couldn’t have done that, and if he had found

himself in that position against his will, he wouldn’t have been able to take the slightest

pleasure in being there.

“Do you accept my apology for what happened here tonight or not?” Bennett asked.

Marsdon shook his head. “You have nothing to apologise for.”

For all the effort his pup was obviously putting into keeping every trace of emotion

inside, he flinched as if he had been slapped.

“Bennett?”

“You really think I want to be told you don’t expect any better from me than this?”

Bennett demanded. His hand swept through the air—pointing out the spot on the barn wall

where they had come so close to perfection, as if some horrible crime had been committed

there.

“You did nothing wrong,” Marsdon told him. “Not here, not in the club.”

Bennett shook his head and said nothing.

“Pup?”

“One day you’ll expect better from me.”

* * * *

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Kim Dare

Hours later, long after the sun had set and the other wolves had been sent off to their

beds, Marsdon still found himself trying to think of something to say to his mate.

“I can’t accept an apology for something I don’t believe is wrong,” he finally said. If

there were better words, they were a mystery to him.

Bennett sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the blank wall opposite him as if it

contained all the secrets of the world.

“Bennett?” Marsdon prompted.

“Before that first night in the club, would you have accepted a mate who couldn’t

come to you as your equal?”

“I hadn’t met you then. I didn’t know that I could feel that way about…”

“About an omega?” Bennett asked.

“About an alpha. About you. About anyone.”

“You don’t have to settle for what you’ve become accustomed to,” Bennett said.

“I just want you,” Marsdon confessed. “I want things to be the way they have always

been between us.”

Bennett sighed as he lay down on the bed with his back to Marsdon. He looked

exhausted, and scared and more fragile than any wolf Marsdon had ever set eyes on.

Marsdon tried not to jostle the mattress as he lay down next to him. He stared at the

back of his head for a long time, wishing he knew how Bennett would react if he spooned

behind him and held him close, offering him physical comfort to make up for those right

words he’d proved himself so incapable of finding.

Reaching down to the bottom of the bed, he pulled the blanket up over them instead.

Bennett made no move to tuck the blanket around his body, as if he couldn’t even bring

himself to admit that he needed any sort of protection from the chill that had crept into the

air when the sun went down.

Marsdon cautiously reached over and pulled it up around his shoulders, wanting to

soothe without giving Bennett any reason to think that he believed his mate was weak.

Bennett made no objection. Marsdon wished he could take that to mean Bennett didn’t

mind him fussing over him a little, but with each day that passed it was becoming

increasingly clear that he couldn’t assume his mate would like the same things his pup had.

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Chapter Five

“Have you decided if our pack will keep its ties with your parents’ pack, or will we be

seeking alliances with those neighbouring us instead?”

Marsdon glanced across at Alfred and forced himself to be patient. It wasn’t easy

when he’d spent most of the previous few nights wide awake and staring at the ceiling as he

turned everything that had ever happened between himself and Bennett over and over inside

his head, trying to find a way to fix the whole world.

“We’ll keep strong ties with our old pack. And with Bennett’s former pack, of course.”

“Tradition says we only need to keep close ties with the pack the alpha came from.”

Marsdon tilted his head to the side as he sensed that this line of questions was

different to all the others Alfred had bombarded him with throughout the day. Alfred had a

well deserved reputation as a trouble maker, but for the life of him, Marsdon couldn’t see

where he was headed with this.

It was practically impossible for him to stir up trouble between them and another pack

unless he was included in the talks they conducted with other packs, and that wasn’t going

to happen.

The alpha stayed very still, resisting the temptation to reach up and push a hand

through his hair in frustration. All the damn traditions were what had got him and Bennett

into this mess in the first place.

“I’m hardly going to cut all the ties to my parent’s pack just because it was also your

former pack,” he said as calmly as he could, still trying to guess what else his young cousin

could be up to.

“Yes. But there’s no reason to keep ties with his pack too,” Alfred said.

Marsdon felt the change in the atmosphere as all the other wolves pricked up their

ears. From half way across the room, he sensed Bennett tense. His mate’s attention shifted

away from his conversation with Francis and Steffan and across to Marsdon and Alfred.

“Bennett is just as much the alpha of our pack as I am,” Marsdon said, very clearly—

making sure every wolf who heard the insult would hear his response to it.

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“A pack can only have one alpha,” Alfred said.

Marsdon raised an eyebrow at him. “One alpha pair,” he corrected.

“One alpha male,” Alfred shot back. “And we all know who that is.”

“We’re hardly the first pack where the alpha pair won’t be the breeding pair,”

Marsdon said, forcing the words to hide his temper. “Two alpha males. Two alpha females. If

they are mated, they are an alpha pair. You’re old enough not to need to have that explained

to you.”

It was practically the only thing about him and Bennett that tradition didn’t object to.

He wasn’t about to lose that as well—or more to the point, risk Bennett taking it into his head

that the fact that they were both male was another problem that needed to be fixed.

Bennett came across and stood at Marsdon’s side, facing Alfred across the table where

they’d spread out the maps that showed the boundary of the lands they’d been gifted to raise

their pack on.

“I can accept that your loyalties lie with the alpha you know, the one who came from

your parents’ pack,” Bennett said.

Marsdon ached to point out that he had no intention of accepting any such thing, but

he bit his tongue, willing to agree with anything Bennett said to the others in their pack right

then. He was more than willing to agree the sky was green if that was what it took to display

a united front with his mate before the pack.

“But you are a member of our pack now,” Bennett continued. “Marsdon’s and my

pack.”

Marsdon nodded his firm and honest agreement of that point if nothing else.

“I don’t expect you to fake respect for a wolf you don’t know well enough to form any

sort of opinion on. But I am your alpha now—a temper tantrum is not going to change that.”

Alfred squared his shoulders. “I only see one alpha. If you want me to believe

otherwise, you’ll have to prove it.”

“A formal challenge?” Marsdon asked, not quite able to believe it. He rounded the

table and stepped straight into Alfred’s space, looming over the smaller man. “What history

book are you living in? There hasn’t been a challenge like that issued since before any wolf in

this pack was born. Are you trying to set the ways of a pack back a hundred years?”

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Alfred took a step back, lowering his gaze and bowing his head, offering his overt

submission to his alpha. But there wasn’t a trace of respect in his tone when he spoke. “You

are an alpha. He’s not. If calling him one is a mark of progress then perhaps we need to be set

back a hundred years.”

Marsdon felt the growl start low in the back of his throat. He couldn’t stop it from

escaping. He turned his attention to all the other wolves lurking just within earshot. “And

you all agree with this?” he demanded.

Alfred had laid his foundations well. Whatever had caused him to start stirring up

trouble, he hadn’t launched an unprepared attack. He’d made sure his doubts were well

seeded in the other wolves’ minds too. Not one of them spoke up in Bennett’s defence.

“I accept.”

Marsdon’s attention snapped across to Bennett. His mate met his gaze, his expression

entirely blank. When Bennett turned away from him, he looked to the other wolves in the

room individually. One blink and his attention seemed to shift towards the room itself.

“I’ll prove myself outside,” he said. “No point making a mess in here.” He turned and

walked out as if, in spite of the challenge, he had no doubt that every wolf in that room

would follow wherever he led.

Marsdon strode out after him, the other wolves hot on his heels.

When he reached his mate’s side, Bennett was surveying their new land in the late

evening light. “Over there,” he ordered. “The longer grass on the other side of the fence.”

The other wolves went where he pointed. Marsdon could see the uncertainty in them,

the instinct to follow where an alpha led fighting against the doubts Alfred had put in their

heads.

A challenge, a bloody challenge…Marsdon still couldn’t quite wrap his mind around

it. His mate stepped forward, apparently well ahead of him and perfectly ready to deal with

the situation.

Marsdon caught hold of Bennett’s arm. “You know that there is more to being an

alpha than winning a fight,” he rushed out.

Bennett glared over his shoulder at him as he shook off Marsdon’s touch. “Thanks for

the vote of confidence.”

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Marsdon quickly regained his grip on him. “Of course I don’t want you to fight. Of

course I would take your place if I could—you are my mate,” he whispered, desperately

trying to keep his words hushed enough that they couldn’t be overheard. “But I also have no

doubt you will win. If I didn’t know you’re an alpha then I wouldn’t be standing back and

letting you do this.”

Bennett stared at him for several seconds as if judging his sincerity. His eyes sparkled

with more life, more vitality than Marsdon had ever seen. “I need to do this,” he said,

confidence in his decision ringing in every word. “I need to know they have no doubts—they

need to know it too.”

Marsdon held back a sigh. “There is more to being an alpha than winning a fight,” he

said again. “Do not do them any harm that can’t be healed.”

Bennett nodded.

Marsdon still kept hold of his arm. “Alfred is a vicious little sod. He fights dirty. Don’t

turn your back on him. Steffan is big and strong, but he’s slow. He’ll test you and he’ll leave

you feeling as if you’ve been run over by a silver plated train, but he won’t intend to do you

any harm that can’t be quickly healed. Francis is watchful—he’ll see how you fight the others

and work out his plan—do something different and you’ll scare the hell out of him.”

Bennett listened as Marsdon told him whatever he thought would help. He didn’t

want to hear it. Marsdon knew that. He knew that Bennett was only letting his mate help him

because he could see that Marsdon needed to do that.

Working through each of the wolves, he came to the last. His youngest cousin stood

on the other side of the clearing with the other wolves, but his attention was fixed firmly on

his alphas. “Talbot is a true omega.” Bennett knew that already. It was all he needed to

know.

The darker wolf nodded.

Marsdon hesitated before he leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek. “Mine,” he

told him.

Bennett frowned, quick to see the word as an attempt to establish his dominance.

“My mate,” Marsdon whispered in his ear. “My alpha. Show them that you are their

alpha too.”

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Finally letting go of Bennett’s arm, he fell in step beside him as they approached the

grass that had been trampled down to make an old fashioned fighting circle. Bennett stopped

in the middle of the circle, but Marsdon kept walking until he reached the far side, where the

other wolves were waiting.

“You’re all ready?” Marsdon asked, looking them over. They were practically

humming with tension. One by one they nodded. Not one of them would look him in the

eye.

“As of this moment, you are all in limbo—you have no pack, no alpha, no family.

Bennett will remain in the centre of the circle. When you accept him as your alpha, and he

accepts you as part of our pack, you will pass through to the other side of the circle. Then,

and only then, you may come out of limbo. Understand?”

“And if he fails the challenge?” Alfred asked.

“Tradition states that he will find his true place in the pack when he finds which

wolves offer him their submission,” Marsdon said coldly, willing to be damned before he

said there was any possibility that Bennett’s rightful place in the pack was anything other

than leading it at his side. He turned back to Bennett and offered his mate a somewhat forced

smile. “Ready?”

Bennett nodded, staring straight back at him, meeting his eyes without hesitation.

Marsdon stepped into the circle. He held the other alpha’s gaze as he walked across

the trampled down grass. When he stood directly in front of Bennett, he leant forward and

brushed their lips together.

“My mate. My alpha. My pack.” He smiled and walked across to the other side of the

circle.

“But—” Alfred began behind him.

“Bennett has nothing to prove to me,” Marsdon bit out. He took his position on the

other side of the circle, waiting for the other members of his new pack to see sense and join

him.

Steffan would be first. Marsdon had no doubt about that. Alfred talked a good game,

but he wouldn’t have the balls to step forward until he knew Bennett was exhausted after his

fights with the other wolves.

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They all stood there, waiting for another wolf to make his move first, until Steffan

finally stepped into the circle to face Bennett. The two wolves slowly began to circle each

other, assessing each other for any sign of weakness.

Without warning, Steffan lunged. Bennett side stepped him. Marsdon could see in

Bennett’s eyes that his mate wasn’t going to rush into anything. He had more patience than

Marsdon would have had, more understanding of strategy.

Steffan lunged again, then feinted and changed direction at the last moment. Bennett

wasn’t quite able to dodge out of his way. The first blow landed on his temple. Falling to the

ground, he rolled as he landed and was back up on his feet in seconds.

Marsdon’s hand clenched into a fist at his side as the fight began in earnest. He knew

Bennett hadn’t needed to be told that he needed to take care with his pack—but he had

needed to know that Marsdon believed he was strong enough to hurt them if he didn’t hold

back. Marsdon took a deep breath. It had been the only thing he’d had to offer Bennett.

And now Bennett was doing exactly as his master said, holding back, taking blows

when he couldn’t deflect them without doing the other wolf injury. Bennett minded his own

actions, waiting and hurting until a chance came to take his opponent down safely. Forever

passed before, in a rush of limbs and a sweeping kick, Steffan fell. Bennett dropped on top of

him, pinning him down as he twisted one arm up behind Steffan’s back and used that

leverage to hold the larger man in place.

“Accept,” Steffan gasped, when it became obvious that there was no way he could get

out of the hold. Bennett instantly released him. Stepping back, he held out his hand and

helped the newest member of his pack to his feet as if he had no reason in the world to bear

the other man any ill will.

Bennett turned to Marsdon. His lip was bloodied, his temple bruised but pride shone

in his eyes. Marsdon nodded to Steffan echoing Bennett’s acceptance of him and the gamma

crossed to Marsdon’s side of the circle.

“Anything that won’t heal?” Marsdon asked, his gaze flickering quickly from Steffan

to Bennett as he tried to watch over his mate and look after his pack at the same time.

Steffan shook his head.

“Anything urgent?”

Steffan shook his head again, keeping his eyes down.

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Marsdon forced himself to look away from Bennett for two seconds in a row. He

turned to his cousin and he saw the unease in the wolf who’d never had cause to doubt his

acceptance before.

“Sit and rest while the other idiots find out that they are idiots,” he ordered. As easily

as that, he saw something settle inside Steffan.

It was easy for a gamma wolf, even for one who had been marked out as the potential

beta for their pack. Steffan had his alphas and his pack and his orders. That was all it really

took to make everything well with his world. If only Marsdon could have said the same for

his mate. Bennett was good and quick, but if anything he was far too cautious with the other

wolves, far more worried about hurting them than himself.

Limbs lashed out, paws replaced hands as bodies fought to shift into wolf form when

they discovered that their human form couldn’t win against an alpha. Claws raked against

Bennett’s skin. His blood fell into the fighting circle.

Wolf’s teeth bit into Bennett’s body and Marsdon watched his mate keep himself

human, keep his head full of human thoughts so that he would be better able to look after his

pack and see that they were not hurt by their alpha’s actions.

Knowing that the whole tradition was about letting the others see what sort of wolf

the challenged alpha was, as well as what sort of fighter he could be, didn’t help Marsdon

keep his temper.

His nails bit into his palm as he forced himself not to launch himself into the circle and

protect his mate. One by one he watched the members of their pack make their attempt at

dominance over Bennett. He watched them judge his willingness to help them to their feet as

well as his ability to pin them down. And, one by one, he saw them accept him as their alpha.

It seemed to take aeons, but eventually there were only two wolves on the other side

of the circle. Alfred stepped forward. Marsdon’s gaze flickered from him to Bennett and back

again, hoping his mate remembered his advice.

He fights dirty. Bennett pushed his hair out of his eyes and stared across at the other

wolf. His whole body ached. His heart raced, adrenaline flew through his veins, but even

with everything else he had to think about, there was a part of his brain that kept repeating

over and over again that he was going to hurt like hell when this finally stopped.

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He could feel Alfred’s eyes on him, watching his every movement. Bennett took a

deep breath and tried not to show he was favouring his left leg as he circled the other wolf.

He fights dirty, he repeated inside his head. Marsdon had told him that. Marsdon had

done everything he could to help him. He couldn’t let his mate down now. Marsdon might

not have challenged him in the circle, but Bennett couldn’t help but hope seeing him in there

with the other wolves would make his mate finally accept his status as an alpha, as an equal.

Alfred feinted to the left, then spun around, lashing out at Bennett’s already injured

leg. Twisting to the side, Bennett felt his ankle give way. Alfred pounced on him the moment

he landed face first in the dirt, pinning him down. Wolfs claws broke his skin, seemingly for

no more useful purpose than the other wolf’s amusement.

Bennett tested Alfred’s hold on him. The other wolf was smaller, weaker. More

importantly, his technique was sloppy. All Bennett had to do was summon up the energy,

and it would be easy to shake him off.

“Marsdon was right,” Alfred hissed in his ear. “Nothing but a pathetic little pup.”

Bennett launched himself up out of the dirt. Before his mind had really registered the

word, something primal inside him had Alfred’s back pressed hard against the floor. He

loomed over the prone wolf, a growl building in the back of his throat and rumbling through

his whole body.

Alfred scrabbled at him, paws reverting to entirely human hands in his panic, but

Bennett held him down, barely giving him room to breathe, let alone fight.

That was his master’s name for him—and Alfred’s lips were tarnishing it just by

touching it.

“You don’t say that word again,” he bit out.

Alfred pulled at his hold on him. Their eyes met and Bennett saw the moment when

the other man realised for the first time that the wolf who had him pinned down could very

easily kill him if he wasn’t holding himself back.

He dropped his gaze.

“Yes, alpha.”

“Don’t use a title you have no right to,” Bennett growled. “You are not my pack. I am

not your alpha. You heard what Marsdon said. You are in limbo.”

Alfred’s breath faltered in his chest.

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“If you are to be part of our pack, you will take your place in it and you will accept

both your alphas—no doubts, no reservations. I won’t accept a wolf who might stab me in

the back the moment I turn around.”

Alfred glanced up at him, real fear in his eyes for the first time.

“Are you to be part of our pack?” Bennett asked.

“Please?” Alfred tilted his head back, showing his neck, offering him the deepest form

of submission he understood.

Bennett pulled back to crouch over him. Alfred stayed exactly where he was, waiting,

maintaining his display of his submission until Bennett held out a hand and helped him to

his feet.

“Go to the others.”

Alfred looked across and tried to meet Marsdon’s eyes as he walked across to him.

Marsdon ignored him completely. Bennett saw the other wolves look from one alpha to the

other, holding their breath, waiting to see if Marsdon would accept Alfred back into the pack.

“See that he has no injuries that won’t heal,” Marsdon ordered the others.

Bennett nodded, guessing that was as accepting as Marsdon was going to be right

then. Alfred might not be a nice wolf, but he deserved to feel safe in his place in the pack.

Every wolf deserved that. Bennett would talk to Marsdon about that later. Right now, he had

other duties to attend to.

He was so damn tired, but he turned back to the other side of the circle regardless.

Only one wolf was left. Talbot. Fuzzy headed from so many blows, Bennett crouched down

for a moment, resting one hand on the floor in front of him as he fought to get his breath

back. For a full minute he didn’t look towards the far side of the circle, didn’t invite another

opponent.

Talbot. Marsdon had said something about him. Bennett lifted his gaze and looked

across to the last wolf before his minute’s rest could become something the other wolves

might see as a weakness.

The small wolf stood waiting, watching him. He looked bloody terrified. Talbot.

Marsdon hadn’t told him anything more than he already knew. Talbot was a true omega.

Bennett managed a small smile.

“Come here, Talbot.”

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The wolf approached very cautiously, as if ready to take to his heels and run at the

first sign of attack.

“It’s okay. You can come closer.”

Finally the younger wolf stood in front of him.

“You can make your challenge,” Bennett told him, softening his voice so the other

wolf might see an alpha’s care rather than an opponent’s threat when he looked at him. “I

won’t hurt you.”

Talbot shook his head, he dropped to his knees in front of him, as Bennett remained

crouched down on the ground. “I know you’re an alpha. We all do. It was just that…”

“Just that?” Bennett asked, wondering how bad it really was.

“Alfred said the packs lied to everyone so you and Marsdon could be together,” the

smaller wolf blurted out.

“What?”

Talbot swallowed. “You didn’t meet on the mating day the way they all said you

would. You met before. You were a love match. Everyone could see that.”

Bennett stared at the younger wolf, with no idea what to say to him.

“Alfred said that Marsdon fell in love with a wolf who wasn’t an alpha—that’s why he

was so sad before the mating day. And then he found out that everyone had agreed to call

you an alpha, that’s why he was happy when he realised what was going on. And Alfred

said he overheard you talking and that Marsdon said… and it all made sense. You’re so in

love and…”

Bennett swallowed, no words came.

“I know you’re an alpha,” Talbot repeated.

Bennett nodded, but he couldn’t process all of that right now. He had to concentrate

on the challenge.

“All the tradition requires is that you lay a hand on me and accept me as your alpha.”

He looked at his body. There wasn’t any part of him that wasn’t bloody, bruised or just plain

dirty after hitting the ground so many times. He somehow managed another smile for the

younger wolf. “Try to find a cleanish bit.”

The omega carefully placed his fingertips on the back of his hand.

“You accept me as your alpha?” Bennett asked.

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Talbot nodded.

“Then it’s all settled. That wasn’t so scary was it?” Bennett teased.

The omega shook his head, offering his alpha a small smile in return.

“Go and join the others,” Bennett told him.

It took almost all the energy he had left to drag himself to his feet and turn to face

them all.

Marsdon smiled, but Bennett could tell he was seething beneath the forced calm. Still,

Marsdon held out a hand to him, welcoming him properly back to the pack. Bennett

somehow managed to step forward without hobbling. One painful step at a time, he made

his way across to the pack—to his pack.

Bennett put his hand in Marsdon’s and turned to the rest of the pack. “Go back inside.

Clean yourselves up and get to bed. There’s been more than enough excitement for one day.”

He looked to the omega. “Talbot—you’re responsible for coming to us and reporting on any

serious injuries that are discovered when the dirt is washed away.”

The younger wolf nodded and went with the other wolves as they all turned and

made their way back into the house.

Marsdon was staring at him. Bennett ignored that, watching his pack walk away.

Steffan, purely because he had required more strength to take down, appeared to be

the most bruised out of them. Even so, Bennett noticed that he was the one who helped

Francis to his feet and made sure the smaller wolf had no injuries that would be made worse

by a walk back to the house.

They would have to talk about making his place as the beta official. It would be one

more thing settled in everyone’s minds. It would be one more thing to show them that they

were the part of a good, strong pack. Once that was done, they could set about looking for a

breeding pair to join their packs. Or perhaps it would be best to find mates for some of the

other wolves first. Perhaps if Alfred had a mate that would distract him from making

trouble. He would have to speak to Marsdon about that when his mate was less furious with

him.

“I was right to accept the challenge,” Bennett said when the other wolves were all out

of sight and he couldn’t put off facing his mate any longer.

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Marsdon’s grip on his hand tightened when Bennett tried to retrieve it. “Can you walk

into the house?”

“Of course.” Bennett turned to the slope that lead back to the front door of their new

home, but Marsdon made him turn back to face him.

“The truth,” his mate demanded.

“It’s just a few aches and bruises, nothing serious.”

It didn’t improve Marsdon’s expression. He slipped his arm around Bennett’s waist.

“I can walk on my own.”

“Damn it, Bennett!” Marsdon snapped. “Who the hell are you trying to prove yourself

to? They’re all inside. Everyone knows you are a bloody alpha—a literally bloody one right

now. You don’t have to hop to prove a point.”

Bennett nodded, forcing aside his doubts. He let Marsdon slowly help him into the

house and up the stairs, trying not to lean on him too much, trying not to let his weaknesses

take over completely. Marsdon helped him straight into the bathroom and closed the door

behind them.

“I can look after myself.”

“Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to let you do that?” Marsdon said very

slowly, very quietly.

Bennett swallowed as he heard the anger underneath the control.

“I’m not asking you to submit to me. I’m not asking you to let me screw you. I just

want to look after my mate and tend his wounds. Is that really asking too much right now?”

Bennett stared at the floor between them. He gave one nod. Apparently that was all

his mate needed. Marsdon sat him on the edge of the bath and gently removed his clothing

piece by piece, tossing the ripped and bloodied fabric aside as he bared Bennett’s body for

his inspection.

It wasn’t submission, Bennett reminded himself. He was naked while his master was

dressed because Marsdon needed to inspect his wounds—that was all. He was sitting still

and letting Marsdon give the orders because he was too damn sore and too tired to argue

about it—that wasn’t the same as being back in the club.

Marsdon filled a bowl with warm water and began to clean the dirt and the blood

from Bennett’s body. The cloth was soft against his skin, his touch impossibly gentle.

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Bennett shifted uncomfortably under his master’s scrutiny.

“Stop fidgeting.”

Bennett immediately fell still. A moment later he felt heat rush to his cheeks at the

puppy-like obedience. His master was so focused on the gash a set of claws had left across

his chest, didn’t seem to notice.

The cloth brushed across his nipple. Even through the fabric, his master’s touch called

to something inside Bennett. His whole body tensed. He bit back a gasp as his ribs protested.

Marsdon crouched down in front of him, a deep frown marring his forehead.

Marsdon pressed his fingertips against Bennett’s ribs testing them.

“Just bruised,” Bennett managed to whisper. He bit his tongue so hard to stop himself

calling the other man sir, he tasted fresh blood.

“Just,” Marsdon echoed, evidently not the least impressed.

Bennett tried to ignore his master’s touch as Marsdon diligently worked his way

down his body, until he found a long cut running across his leg, and disappearing along the

inside of his left thigh. Marsdon nudged his legs apart to inspect the full length of the cut. As

he began to clean it, Bennett closed his eyes.

Within half a minute he was fully hard and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to

hide his reaction to his master. Marsdon’s knuckles brushed against Bennett’s shaft as he

reached for the bowl of warm water. Bennett flung his eyes open, staring down at his master.

Marsdon stared back at him, as if waiting for him to say something.

“I…”

Marsdon smiled, one of those twisted little smiles that Bennett was never sure how to

interpret. “At least one part of you still likes me.”

Bennett stayed silent, knowing he couldn’t say the truth, yet somehow unable to tell a

lie right then.

He loved his master with every part of him—and most especially with that part of him

that longed for nothing more than Marsdon to wrap him in his arms and make the whole

world morph into something quiet and simple, something that only required him to please

one person rather than care for a whole pack.

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Marsdon finished washing him without further comment. Bennett’s erection

flourished throughout the whole process. His whole body ached for his master’s touch, for

his master’s permission to go back to being an obedient little pup for a while.

Finally the tortuously slow process was finished, and Marsdon stepped back. “Do you

need help with anything else?”

Bennett shook his head. His whole body already tingled with the lingering aftermath

of his master’s attention, he couldn’t cope with any more help from his mate right then.

“Call me when you’re done in here. I’ll come and get you.”

Bennett just nodded, pathetically grateful that he would be allowed a few moments

alone to take a leak in private without having to ask Marsdon for that as if it was a privilege

only a master could grant. When Marsdon closed the door behind him, Bennett pulled

himself to his feet and moved around the bathroom in slow, shuffling steps. As he was about

to leave the room, he caught sight of himself in the mirror on the wall above the sink.

He looked as if he’d been run over, reversed over and then run over again. Turning

away from the painful reality of his reflection, he made his way back into the bedroom. His

whole body ached more with each step. His head whirled just from trying to walk across the

room.

Marsdon spun around the moment he nudged the door open. “I told you to call me!”

He rushed across and slid an arm around Bennett’s waist to help him across to the bed.

“Sorry.” Right then, Bennett didn’t know if he was apologising for not calling him, for

being beaten black and blue or just for everything in the whole bloody world.

Marsdon eased him down onto the mattress. Bennett dropped his head back on the

pillow and closed his eyes until the room stopped spinning.

“You’ll be more yourself tomorrow,” Marsdon said.

That was right, Bennett thought. He wasn’t himself. He probably couldn’t be blamed

for anything that he did that night. If he submitted to Marsdon right then, it wouldn’t mean

anything. He blinked his eyes open and looked up at his mate.

Marsdon stared back down into his eyes for a long time before he reached out and

ever so gently stroked his hair back from his face.

“Rest. It will be a few days before everything heals completely, but you should still

feel a lot better in the morning. The worst will be over by then.”

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“I’m okay now,” Bennett said quickly. He was more than well enough to do whatever

his master wanted.

Marsdon’s lips twisted into a smile, but his eyes stayed serious. He leant forward. For

a moment, Bennett thought he would let their lips meet, but he just pressed a kiss onto his

forehead and retreated to the bathroom.

A few minutes later he was back, stripping off his clothes to slide between the sheets

next to him.

“Do you need anything?” Marsdon asked.

You. Bennett shook his head against the pillow.

The other wolf switched off the light and made himself comfortable.

Bennett closed his eyes very tight, ignoring the pain as the bruise around one eye

reminded him exactly why he shouldn’t do that.

“If you want to, you can,” he whispered in the dark.

“What?”

Bennett swallowed. Even with his excuses ready, he couldn’t bring himself to ask for

what he needed. “We both know I’m no match for you like this. If you want to play those

silly games from the club, this is your chance, isn’t it?”

Marsdon shifted on the mattress.

Bennett felt relief flood through him, but no hands reached for him, no order was

issued. He looked over his shoulder in time to see Marsdon grab his pillow and toss it on the

small sofa that stood against the far wall.

“What are you…?”

“I am pretending that you didn’t just say that,” Marsdon bit out.

Bennett frowned as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he saw Marsdon try to make

himself comfortable on the undersized sofa. “I don’t understand.”

Marsdon turned back to him. “If you can’t admit it’s what you want, that’s one thing,

but if you ever speak of the nights we shared that way again, God help me, I’ll…”

From the other side of the room, Bennett heard Marsdon take a deep breath.

“Deny you were my submissive if you have to, but don’t you dare make it sound like

you were a victim. You had a choice. You had a safe word. It was never about you being

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unable to stop me.” Each word was said so carefully—as if that was the only way Marsdon

couldn’t control his anger, his pain right then.

“I’m sorry,” Bennett whispered.

“Go to sleep.”

Bennett dropped his head back down onto the pillow. Closing his eyes he strained his

hearing to listen to his master’s breaths, hoping he could take comfort in knowing his master

was in the same room with him if nothing else.

He heard Marsdon shift to wolf form in an effort to fit more easily on the small sofa,

but sleep still didn’t come quickly for either of them.

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Chapter Six

Marsdon stood under the eaves of the old barn and watched his mate pad back

towards the house in his wolf form. He made no move to alert Bennett to his presence.

It was stupid to hide in memories, especially when the peace he remembered feeling

in that club seemed a million years ago. It was stupid to hide in the barn too. Just because

that day when he’d pushed Bennett back against the wall was the closest they’d come to

actually being happy in their own skins since the mating ceremony, that was no reason to

damn near take up residence there. The barn was going to sparkle if he spent any more time

sorting it out and tidying it up.

Bennett strode confidently into the courtyard between the house and the barn,

stopping to shake the rain off his coat as he went. Some of his former ease of movement was

returning as he healed. That was something. It wasn’t the way Bennett had given himself and

control of his every movement over to his master back in the club. But Marsdon was willing

to feel pathetically grateful for the tiniest mercy right then. Maybe things would be easier

between them now that Bennett was healing.

His mate hadn’t been able to hide the stiffness and pain in his body over the last three

days. And Marsdon hadn’t been able to hide how much it killed something inside him to see

his mate hurting and know there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to help him. The way

things were between them, he hadn’t even been able to hold him close and comfort him.

There had been times over the last few days when he would have sold his soul for that

privilege.

In the middle of the courtyard, Bennett stopped again, inhaling deeply and taking the

scent from the air. He turned towards the barn door. Marsdon was about to turn away, not

wanting to see his mate be the one to turn away from him yet again, but the wolfen Bennett

stepped forward. For the first time in what felt like years Bennett made a move towards his

master.

Marsdon looked around, but the rest of the wolves were out of sight. Bennett wasn’t

putting on a show for the others. Marsdon swallowed, not wanting to hope too soon. He

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stood where he was as the large, black wolf came closer. A few feet away from him, Bennett

stopped. The switch back to his human form was seamless and perfect. Within seconds, a

naked man crouched at Marsdon’s feet.

He expected his mate to rush to stand up and disclaim even the slightest association

with the man who had once loved kneeling naked at his feet. Instead, Bennett tilted his head

back, looking up at him for several seconds before he rose slowly to his full height. For once

it seemed like his mate was able to see things just for what they were without worrying

Marsdon would see submission where it wasn’t intended.

Rain water dripped from Bennett’s hair, winding in tiny rivulets down his face and

neck. As much as he longed to track their progress, Marsdon held his gaze until Bennett

looked away.

“Enjoy your run?” Marsdon asked, not able to keep the snap from his words, even

when he was trying to be polite to his mate.

Bennett nodded. “The forests have been well managed. They’ll provide well for the

pack.”

Freed from keeping his gaze, Marsdon let his eyes wander over his mate’s naked

body. There were only a few marks left here and there to testify to his recent challenge.

“You’re healing,” he said, and silently cursed himself for not being able to achieve a

friendlier tone. Even that sounded like an accusation.

Bennett nodded again.

Marsdon clenched his hand into a fist to stop himself reaching out and touching the

little patches of discoloured skin that were all that remained of the bruises that had

practically covered Bennett’s body a few days ago. He was going to have permanent scars in

his palms in the shape of his finger nails if he wasn’t careful. His hand was forgetting how to

form any shape but a frustrated fist.

“I’m more than well enough to do anything that needs to be done,” Bennett said.

Marsdon nodded his agreement—not that being beaten black, blue and many

interesting shades of purple had stopped Bennett trying to prove to the whole world that he

was able to outdo any other wolf in the pack no matter how many injuries lay beneath his

skin.

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Bennett shifted his stance. If Marsdon hadn’t known better, he’d almost say his mate

looked nervous. The desire to pull him close and just hold him as tight as he could until

everything was right between them burned inside him, stronger than ever.

“Just because some humans consider something to be submissive, that doesn’t mean

we have to follow their traditions as well as our own,” Bennett blurted out.

Marsdon frowned. “What?”

Bennett’s lips twitched into an anxious little smile. “Kneeling can’t be considered

submissive if you’ve got a good reason to be on your knees, can it?” he asked. He dropped

his gaze, not in submission, but to rest on Marsdon’s crotch in blatant offering.

Marsdon caught his eyes when he looked back up. He made a point of letting Bennett

see that he was dropping his gaze in the same way. Stark bollock naked, there was little

Bennett could do to disguise the fact he wasn’t entirely enthusiastic about the idea.

“I’m not interesting in an apology blow-job,” Marsdon said.

Bennett’s jaw clenched. He turned away.

“You never used to need an excuse,” Marsdon said before he could leave the barn

altogether. “You used to welcome me into your mouth because you loved doing that.”

“I can still enjoy giving my mate pleasure.” Bennett offered.

“But you couldn’t let yourself take any pleasure from it?”

His mate took a deep breath and let it out very slowly, the same way he always did

when Marsdon rattled the bars of the cage Bennett had built around the pup inside him.

“I could take pleasure in doing whatever it takes to bring me and my mate back

together,” Bennett said.

“In doing your duty?” Marsdon snapped.

“Yes.”

“Because you think having sex with me will make up for everything else – make up

for all the things you think I hate?”

Bennett remained perfectly still, his expression remained blank. “Yes.”

Marsdon covered his mouth, feeling thoroughly sick at the thought of even laying a

hand on his mate when that was the only reason Bennett welcomed his touch. Taking

Bennett to his bed because Bennett thought he had to let him screw him in order to keep his

place in the pack safe would be as much torture for him as his mate.

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Worse even than the idea of doing that, was the idea Bennett thought he would agree

to use him that way.

“Marsdon?”

“You chained yourself up in a club full of strangers and offered your body to any man

who cared to take a piece of you,” Marsdon said. For once his words didn’t sound like an

accusation. It just sounded like a statement of fact.

“Yes,” Bennett said.

“And yet today was still the first time I ever saw you act like a whore.”

Bennett stared straight ahead. He swallowed, but he didn’t deny it, didn’t object to

whatever his mate wanted to label him.

Marsdon growled and swung away from him. If he would just push back. If he would

shout and yell and throw a few insults at him in return it would be something. At least, it

would show him that his mate thought he had the right to do that.

Bennett merely turned away to go back to the house.

“You’re just going to let me say that?” Marsdon demanded.

Bennett turned back to him. “Why not? It’s true. I don’t want money from you. But…”

“What do you want from me?” Marsdon said.

Bennett stared at the floor for a long time, not with his eyes lowered in submission,

but as if he simply didn’t have the energy to keep his gaze up.

“I want things to be right between us,” Bennett said. “And if that means losing

everything else I ever had then I’ll do that. If it means I give up my right to complain if you

insult me, or to keep any scrap of my pride then…” He shook his head.

Marsdon stepped forward. Bennett stayed where he was. Another step closer and

Marsdon was allowed to look into his mate’s eyes as Bennett met his gaze and held it.

“I didn’t know,” Bennett whispered, unable to keep the sad little excuse back.

“What?”

“I didn’t know that I was so screwed up that I was completely incapable of mating

with someone as their equal.” He felt pathetic saying it, but he couldn’t live with the idea

that Marsdon thought he’d known from the start, that he’d entered into a relationship with

another alpha knowing that he wasn’t able to be the kind of mate they deserved.

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Marsdon frowned.

“You think I like knowing that? Do you really think I’m proud of not being able to

please my mate the way an alpha should be able to?” Bennett demanded. “We both know

that if I was capable of reacting to you when things were as they should be, I would have

been able to mate with you last time we stood in this barn.”

Marsdon’s frown deepened. Bennett couldn’t bring himself to feel surprised.

Everything he did seemed to make things worse between them. He pushed his hand through

his hair, unable to stay still and silent under the other man’s inspection.

“You have no reason to feel ashamed of anything.”

It sounded like the truth when Marsdon said it. Bennett wished he could believe it.

But the facts were still the facts. Alphas had to act like alphas.

Marsdon tucked a knuckle under his chin and guided him to look him straight in the

eye.

“I am not ashamed of you,” Marsdon said. That sounded like the truth too.

Bennett couldn’t think of anything to say in response.

His mate continued to study him for what felt like hours. “Are you ashamed of me for

the way I acted in the club?” Marsdon asked in the end.

“No!” Bennett met his eyes and repeated his answer more softly. “No. You didn’t do

anything wrong.”

“I did nothing to make us act more like equals,” Marsdon said. “The rules I set, the

orders I gave, they were all about making sure you were the submissive. You weren’t alone

in that club jacking yourself off, pup. There were two wolves in the room. We’re both

responsible for whatever happened in there—maybe me even more than you.”

Bennett folded his arms across his chest, only just stopping himself short of wrapping

his arms around himself in an effort to keep it together.

“An alpha receives the submission of other wolves,” he said, his voice hoarse with

emotion. “You can’t be blamed for accepting what was offered to you. There was no way you

could have known I was supposed to be… that I am…” He closed his eyes not even able to

bring himself to label himself an alpha when nothing he did reflected that.

“You proved you were an alpha, Bennett. The whole pack saw it. You can’t still doubt

yourself after everything that happened in that circle.”

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He could lead the other wolves. He knew that. But he hadn’t proved a damn thing to

the man he really needed to convince. The man he really needed to gain the respect and

acceptance of.

“I’ll get better,” Bennett promised. “I’ll learn how to be a good mate for you.” He’d

said it so often, he was thoroughly fed up with hearing it himself. He could only imagine

how much like a lie it must sound to his mate.

Marsdon sighed and stepped closer to him. “I won’t ask you to submit to me. I know

you can’t do that right now. But there is something else you can do that would please your

mate a great deal.” He said it all so carefully, as if he thought Bennett might spook and run at

any moment.

Bennett quickly nodded his agreement to do whatever it was, not caring what

Marsdon might ask of him. Anything that didn’t make him feel useless was a blessing to be

cherished.

He should have asked for details.

Threading his fingers into his hair, Marsdon guided Bennett to bow his head and rest

his forehead on his mate’s shoulder. Bennett tensed, instinctively pulling away from him.

“Marsdon…?”

“It’s not submission,” Marsdon whispered in his ear. “Just rest close against your mate

for a moment. There’s no weakness in that. There’s no shame in it. Just let your mate hold

you close for a moment.”

Bennett forced his body to cooperate with his mate’s wishes. He rested his head on his

master’s shoulder. With each breath Marsdon took, his body shifted slightly under Bennett’s

forehead. The rhythm was there, tempting Bennett to think back to the club when everything

was so simple.

“Try to relax,” Marsdon coaxed. He rested his hand on the back of Bennett’s head,

silently telling him that his head was exactly where it should be.

He couldn’t follow his master’s order. If he relaxed he would forget everything he had

to remember in order to be a good alpha. If anything the coaxing only made him more tense,

less able to please his mate than ever.

Marsdon’s fingers stroked his hair a few more times.

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The silence of the barn surrounded them. Bennett stayed frozen where he was,

desperate to reach out and wrap his arms around his mate in turn, but unable to do that. The

uncertainty of what he was allowed to do now that he wasn’t bound swirled around with his

confusion over what would be seen as submissive compared to proper behaviour for an

alpha with his mate.

He wanted to hold Marsdon close and be held close in return, but he couldn’t risk that

being the instinct of a pup rather than a leader.

Marsdon hugged him a fraction tighter before he finally gave up on him and stepped

back.

Bennett stood where he was, waiting for his verdict.

“We can work it all out,” Marsdon promised.

Bennett nodded, sure that his mate didn’t believe that any more than he did right

then.

“Come back to the house,” Marsdon said. “The others will be waiting to eat.”

Bennett walked back to the house at his mate’s side.

The other wolves looked up when they came in. A hush fell over the room. Bennett

nodded to the other wolves, but let Marsdon deal with them as he retreated to their room to

finish drying his skin and pull on some clothes. By the time he came down to the kitchen

once more, the others were all sitting around the table waiting for him.

A glance at Marsdon told him that he had made it clear they should wait until both

alphas were at the table. It was a sign of respect he hadn’t even thought to be offered as

things stood.

Bennett sat down next to his mate, but he had little appetite for any of the food that

passed before him. He forced himself to eat anyway, not wanting the other members of the

pack to notice and believe something was wrong.

The meal seemed to go on forever. When it was finally over, Bennett wasn’t sure if he

was glad or sorry that Marsdon made no attempt to speak to him. His mate went up the

stairs. He was back a few minutes later, dressed ready to go out.

He left without a word to any of them, a determined look on his face. Bennett watched

him go, unable to ask him for an explanation in front of the other wolves.

“Is the pack going to be disbanded?” Francis asked out of nowhere.

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“What?” Bennett stopped staring at the door like some abandoned pup and turned his

attention to the wolf at his side.

“The Challenge—it broke something in the pack, didn’t it?” the younger wolf asked.

Bennett automatically straightened up, sensing another challenge in the offing. He

hadn’t ruled out the possibility, although he had been sure that Alfred would be the source.

He looked from Francis to Steffan and back again. They were both good wolves. They didn’t

look to create trouble where it didn’t already exist.

Perhaps it would best for the pack as a whole if there was another challenge—if his

presence was hurting the pack then it would give Marsdon the chance to get rid of him.

There were other alphas out there Marsdon could be mated to and—

“You accepted us, but Marsdon can’t forgive us for challenging his mate, can he?”

Francis went on.

Bennett looked down for a moment, trying to work out what to say as relief made him

light headed. No challenge. Just wolves who were scared that their alphas weren’t pleased

with them. Bennett took a deep breath and forced himself to concentrate on the reality before

him rather than the fears inside his head.

“Marsdon accepts you all.”

“He can’t stand to be around us. He spends all his time out in the barn or in your

bedroom with you.”

Bennett couldn’t argue with any of it. It was true. “He welcomed you onto his side of

the challenge ring.”

Francis met his eyes. He didn’t raise a sarcastic eyebrow, but that was probably due

more to his respect for an alpha than anything else.

In spite of everything, Bennett found his lips twisting into a little smile at the look the

younger wolf gave him. “It’s unrealistic to expect that he’d be waving flags and trumpeting

joy. Even if he wasn’t completely pleased with you—he accepted you. The matter is settled. If

Marsdon had reservations, he would have voiced them then.”

No one could ever claim that Marsdon was one to bottle up what he felt. If something

was wrong he would be the one to step up and fix it. They all knew that.

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Except between them, of course. Neither of them had any idea how to fix the mess

between them. Bennett pushed that aside. Marsdon wasn’t the only one he had a duty

towards. He needed to make sure the other wolves were content too.

“Everything will be fine.” Bennett reached out and rested his palm on the smaller

wolf’s cheek, in reassurance. He glanced towards Steffan, standing, as he always seemed to

be, at Francis’s side. Bennett put his other hand to his cheek, offering him the same

reassurance. Steffan’s eyes opened wide in surprise. A slight colour rose to his cheeks, but a

smile touched his eyes as if the gesture confused him, but he couldn’t hide the fact that he

liked it too.

Francis nodded his acceptance, both of his words and the reassurance he offered them

both. Steffan followed the smaller wolf’s lead and nodded too.

“Everything will be fine,” Bennett promised the other wolves again, putting every

effort into making it sound like the truth. He had no idea how things would be fine, but they

would.

Even if it felt like he was crawling through broken glass, he would keep going until

everything was fine. That was what an alpha did.

He smiled and nodded and reassured the other wolves as best he could. But his eyes

kept going to the clock on the wall. After an hour had passed, he could feel the act start to

slip.

“It’s been a long day,” he said.

“You’re healing?” Talbot asked, concern filling his voice.

Bennett smiled at the omega, stroking the younger wolf’s hair back from his eyes. “I’m

fine. You’re not to worry yourself over that.”

Talbot nodded obediently. He was finally starting to relax around him a little now.

Bennett’s smile became a little less forced. He looked around the other wolves sitting around

the fire side—at his pack. He nodded, half to himself and half to them.

“Everything is fine,” he said one last time. “I’m going to turn in. Don’t stay up too late.

There is work to be done tomorrow.”

He left them sitting around the fire side and went up the stairs to the bedroom he

shared with Marsdon, trying to look as if he wasn’t the least bit concerned that his mate

wasn’t there to share the bed with him right then.

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Closing the bedroom door behind him, he turned to the bed. A piece of folded paper

rested on his pillow.

Bennett.

Unfolding the paper he saw his master’s scrawl, filling the page with big confident

letters.

Collect the key from behind the bar at midnight.

There was only one bar he had ever collected a key from. Bennett’s hand shook as he

re-read the note. He swallowed as he reached automatically for the scar on the back of his

neck.

His master was in the club. The key to the room was behind the desk. Bennett looked

across to the clock on the dresser. He might just be able to get there in time.

A minute later he was down the stairs. The other wolves looked up as he strode

through the living room.

“Everything’s fine. I’m just going out for a little while. Steffan—you’re in charge until

we get back. Don’t wait up.”

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Chapter Seven

Bennett held the folded piece of paper tight in his hand as he waited for the man

behind the bar to give him the key.

In a stupid way, the command in the note was almost a relief at this point.

The human behind the bar didn’t seem to be in any sort of rush. He was looking at the

wall behind the bar more than looking for the key. Bennett followed his gaze. Clock.

Midnight. He’d not only made it there in time, he was a few minutes early. His master said

he could have the key at midnight.

His master. For tonight, it might be safe to call him that. One night. He would do

whatever Marsdon wanted. It would be fitting punishment for the stupid accusation that

wounded his mate so deeply, for all the things he had screwed up since he became the other

man’s mate rather than his submissive.

That was right. He would take his punishment, Marsdon would be pleased with him,

and they would finally be able to close the door on all this. Bennett nodded to himself.

Punishment… right…

The clock clicked over to midnight. The human gave him the key. His feet traced the

familiar path to the back room—to their room. His mind swirled with trying to guess if there

would be more instructions on another note waiting for him inside the room. Marsdon had

always been very specific about how he wanted him to present himself ready for each

meeting.

Unlocking the door into the back room, Bennett took half a step in, and then stalled on

the threshold. He stood there, still and silent, just staring at the scene before him.

Footsteps reached his ears. Bennett looked around and saw someone walking down

the corridor towards him. Quickly stepping inside the room, he slammed the door shut

before anyone else could see his master like that. He sucked in a deep breath, filling his lungs

with the scent of leather and sex and his master.

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Bennett’s eyes ran over the other wolf. The leather around his wrists and ankles held

him spread in exactly the same way he himself had been bound that last night they’d shared

together. A blindfold hid his eyes but his mouth was free. Marsdon still didn’t say anything.

“Sir?” Bennett whispered, before he could stop himself. He bit his lip to stop himself

from saying anything else, but there was no hiding from the fact that in this room Marsdon

would always be sir. Even if he couldn’t face that fact in the outside world, in this room, he

was with his master and that would always be a pleasure rather than a punishment.

Marsdon made no response.

Bennett took a step forward. “What are you—?”

“There’s nothing shameful about offering yourself to your mate.”

Bennett pushed his hair back from his eyes as he cautiously made his way around his

master to stand in front of him. Tension filled every line of the other wolf’s body. His hands

were clenched into fists above the cuffs encircling his wrists.

“I don’t understand,” Bennett whispered, his eyes flickering back and forth over his

mate’s exposed body.

Marsdon bit back a laugh. “That’s the point, isn’t it? You don’t understand that this

has nothing to do with being a wolf or an alpha or anything else. So…”

Bennett frowned. “So you’re…submitting to me?”

Marsdon took a deep breath. “Yes.”

Bennett couldn’t make his throat work.

“We’ll take it in turns,” Marsdon said.

“What?”

Marsdon took another deep breath, seemingly more in frustration than anything else.

“We’ll take it in turns.”

“You don’t want this,” Bennett blurted out.

“Yes, I do.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Bennett snapped. “I’ve been in those chains. I know what loving

every moment you spend in them feels like. You hate it.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“Yes, it is.” His master in chains was a problem. Marsdon expecting him to be his

master’s master was a problem. “If this is some sort of joke…”

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“You think I’d—” Marsdon cut himself off and took another of those deep breaths. “If

this is the only way you can have this, I’ll do it.”

“What?”

“If the only way you can believe there’s nothing wrong with submitting to your mate

is to see me do it just as often as you do then…then I’ll do it.” The last few words were

whispered.

Bennett stepped forward and touched his master’s cheek just below the line of the

blindfold. Marsdon tensed.

He hated it. Bennett could see it in every line of his body. Marsdon hated being out of

control. He hated being in bondage. He hated submitting.

He hated it almost as much as he loved his mate.

Bennett rested his forehead against Marsdon’s forehead, barely daring to breathe.

“You deserve so much better,” he whispered. “It’s bad enough that I drop so easily to my

knees. I shouldn’t drag you down with me.”

He reached out to undo one of the cuffs and free his master.

“Don’t you dare!”

Bennett snatched his hand away from the buckle. “I was just going to—”

“And I said don’t.”

“I thought—”

“Don’t think. Just do as you’re told.”

Bennett dropped his gaze as a part of him that had been kept too tightly corralled for

too long howled its relief at suddenly being given the freedom to just let everything go and

exist in a world of his master’s making.

Marsdon dropped his head back and sighed his frustration to the ceiling. “Do what

you want,” he corrected. “You have the rest of the night. Do whatever you want with me.”

Bennett tried to pull that part of him that gloried in submission back under his

conscious control, to slip the tight lead back around its neck and tame it. But the harder he

tried, the more his mind just spiralled out of control.

Without thinking he reached out to his master, placing his palm over Marsdon’s heart.

His mate’s pulse raced just as fast as his own, but there was still reassurance to be found in

the steady rhythm.

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Leaning forward, Bennett rested his head on Marsdon’s shoulder, just as Marsdon had

asked him to do a few days before when they were in the barn. It felt different here. Safe in

the club away from the real world, it was almost as if it didn’t really count.

His eyes traced a line up Marsdon’s arm to the cross on the inside of his forearm. His

fingers followed quickly behind.

“There’s a knife on the table if you want it.”

Bennett shook his head, tracing the scar with his fingertips. He’d never been able to

find an excuse to touch it before. They both reached for the back of his neck and sought for

what that meant. By comparison, Marsdon’s scar had been ignored.

Do you really think I’d cut you without knowing what I was doing?

Bennett bit his lip.

Marsdon hadn’t hesitated to try it first, to be sure it wouldn’t hurt his lover past what

he deemed acceptable. He hadn’t hesitated to put himself in bondage when he thought that

would ease his pain. It wasn’t as if Marsdon wanted the mark, as if he took any pleasure

from being bound. A glance down Marsdon’s body was enough to make that quite clear.

Marsdon hadn’t hesitated to accept everything about him, even when it couldn’t have

been what he’d expected to find in his mate. Marsdon had never done anything but accept

him. Right then, that made everything very simple.

Bennett closed his eyes and lowered himself slowly to his knees in front of his master.

Marsdon stared into the blackness behind the blindfold as Bennett rested his forehead

against his stomach in exactly the same way he had the last time they were in the room.

“It’s okay, pup,” he whispered.

Bennett’s gasp sucked a deep lungful of air across his stomach, but he made no

objection to the name or the reassurance.

Marsdon blindly felt his way forward in a conversation that wasn’t going at all as he

expected. “That’s right,” he soothed. “Your master’s got you safe now.”

He reached out to touch Bennett’s hair, to tangle the fingers in the long strands of hair

and welcome his lover close, eager to praise him for letting himself do that. A chain rattled. A

cuff tugged at his wrist.

Bennett began to pull away. “Let me, sir.”

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“I didn’t give you permission to move.”

For a second he sensed nothing. Then he felt the soft movement of the air brushing

against his body as Bennett subsided back to his knees. His mate’s forehead came to rest once

more against his stomach. “Yes, sir.”

Marsdon bowed his head to stare down at his lover, as if he would suddenly develop

the ability to see through that stupid blindfold. He could picture Bennett so clearly, kneeling

there so uncertain about it all, so convinced that what he wanted was wrong.

“Hush,” Marsdon whispered. “Just stay right where you are. Your master will tell you

when he wants you to do anything else.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bennett’s lips were just a fraction of an inch from Marsdon’s skin. He felt the air brush

across his stomach as he spoke, felt the flicker of lips against his abs as he formed each word.

“Rest your hands on me. Both of them. On my flanks.”

Bennett’s hands touched his skin, resting very gently on his sides.

“Properly. I’m not made of glass.”

His lover’s hands settled more comfortably. His fingers spread out, as if he wanted to

touch as much of his master as possible.

“That’s right,” Marsdon soothed. “You keep them there until I tell you to move them.”

“Yes, sir.”

The words brushed against his skin, but there was a kiss there too. When Bennett held

his breath as if waiting for a reprimand for taking liberties, Marsdon knew it hadn’t been an

accident.

“Yes, pup,” he said. “I did notice. Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“Sorry, sir,” Bennett whispered. There was no attempt to drop another kiss onto the

same spot.

“You don’t have permission to kiss your master.”

“I—“

“If you want to please me, you may lick me, pup,” he cut in.

Bennett’s tongue touched his stomach very gently. Marsdon itched to be able to reach

down and rest his hand on the back of his head, to reassure him his master was pleased with

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him. But he’d have to get Bennett off his knees if he wanted to be released, he’d have to break

the moment if he wanted to see and he couldn’t take that risk. All he had was his voice.

“That’s right,” he praised.

His pup’s tongue flickered out more confidently, lapping at his stomach, searching for

a deeper connection with every taste he took of his master’s body. His grip on Marsdon’s

sides tightened.

“You can move your mouth, pup, but your hands stay where they are.”

The reply might have been ‘Yes, sir’. It was hard to tell when Bennett’s tongue never

ceased tracing patterns over his skin.

Blind, Marsdon could only imagine how beautiful his pup would be right then. The

light of submission just beginning to flicker to life in his eyes. The peace of knowing he

belonged to his master just starting to settle over him. There were still hesitations. Every so

often he felt Bennett tense, felt his pup’s hold on him tighten as his mate fought against the

instinct to pull away and deny that part of himself.

“That’s right,” Marsdon said, more in praise for Bennett’s attempts to push past his

fears surrounding his submission than anything else.

Bennett’s tongue lapped lower down his stomach, tracing a direct line to his cock.

Marsdon took a deep breath as he felt the blood race to his shaft in anticipation.

His mate whimpered his pleasure when he noticed that.

Marsdon chuckled. “As if there was any chance I wouldn’t,” he teased. And then he

realised. Bennett had never actually seen the way his master reacted to him when he knelt

before him. The hood had hidden everything from him, just as Marsdon’s blindfold hid

Bennett from him right then.

Bennett ran his tongue along the length of Marsdon’s cock, over and over again, from

the head all the way to the root as the shaft filled with blood and stiffened under his tongue.

He murmured his pleasure again, as he dropped his attention to the tight sacs below

and laved them with his tongue as he nuzzled his way past Marsdon’s cock.

His fingers clenched and unclenched at Marsdon’s sides, as his tongue began to work

more feverishly at his crotch. Marsdon’s own hands wrapped themselves into fists as he

fought against the need to touch, to control.

“Kiss,” he managed to order.

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The instant the word hit the air, Bennett’s lips touched his skin. They began to work in

harmony with Bennett’s agile tongue as he turned his attention back to his master’s cock to

trace the line of the vein under his shaft as his cock curved enthusiastically up to his stomach.

The sounds of Bennett’s pleasure with his task filled the room as he focused in on the

head, lapping and kissing the sensitive glans until Marsdon couldn’t stay still under his

ministrations. His hips rocked, his ankles pulled at the leather wrapped around them.

How Bennett managed to find any pleasure in this infuriating position was beyond

him. Marsdon tried to push down his irritation, to calm his desire to move, to come, to do

anything other than fail to give his mate as much time as he could to settle into what he was

doing.

“Mouth now!” he finally demanded, when waiting any longer would have driven him

completely insane.

Bennett’s mouth engulfed him in warm, wet suction. His hands slid around to

scrabble at his master’s backside, encouraging Marsdon to thrust into his mouth as much as

the damn bondage would allow.

Marsdon growled his frustration at the ceiling as he tossed his head back. Bennett

whimpered around his cock, sucking hard as he worked frantically at the tip, begging the

orgasm out of him as if that was the one thing that would make everything right with both

their worlds.

Heat exploded through his body without warning. It shot along his spine, ripping a

howl from him as he came onto Bennett’s tongue, tugging at every point of bondage. Chains

rattled. His howl echoed around the room.

In the stillness that came after it, Marsdon couldn’t hear anything but himself panting

for breath. His head swirled with the force of the orgasm, but he pulled a deep lungful of air

into his body and held it.

The soft sound of Bennett suckling around his softening shaft could just be made out

in the silence. Marsdon let out his breath.

“Stop,” he ordered, his voice rough after the howl. Bennett stopped suckling, but he

kept his mouth where it was, giving his master a cosy little snug to finish softening in.

“Enough,” Marsdon said. His voice had hardly improved. “Back as you were.”

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Bennett retreated, letting Marsdon’s cock slip from between his lips. A moment later,

Marsdon felt his pup’s forehead rest against his stomach again, but it wasn’t enough. He

couldn’t look after his mate if he couldn’t see him. He couldn’t know if he was doing the

right thing unless he could look into his pup’s eyes and see how his orders affected him.

“Take the blindfold off,” he ordered. “You may rise from your position to undo the

buckle, but by the time I open my eyes, I want you back on your knees.”

Hands touched the back of his head. The tightness of the leather against his face eased.

Marsdon shook his head, tossing the bondage away as he forced his eyes to stay open against

the harsh light that flooded into his vision.

He looked down. Bennett was back on his knees, head bowed to rest against his

master’s stomach.

Marsdon took a slow steadying breath.

“Look at me.”

Bennett lifted his head and slowly met his gaze. He seemed so fragile right then, so

vulnerable.

“You have no idea how beautiful you look right now, do you, pup?” Marsdon asked.

Bennett searched his expression, as if looking for a joke. Marsdon let him look,

knowing there was nothing in his eyes that would tell Bennett he didn’t love him.

“I know submission can be beautiful in some wolves, sir,” Bennett whispered. “In

omegas and—”

“And you think that’s what you are? You saw how an omega acted in the ring. And

no alpha could have accepted the challenge better than you did.”

Bennett frowned. Confusion filled his eyes.

“Do you have any idea how proud I am of the way you saw off that idiotic

challenge?”

“Proud wouldn’t have been the word I would have used,” Bennett murmured.

Marsdon felt his lips twist into a smile in spite of everything. “I could also have

cheerfully throttled you for it,” he agreed.

“What good is an alpha who can only play the part in a challenge ring?” Bennett

asked softly against his stomach.

Silence stretched out between them.

THE MARK OF AN ALPHA

Kim Dare

“Look at me. Straight in the eye,” Marsdon ordered.

Silence returned as he tried to work out what to say to Bennett, to make him

understand what he saw in him, what was always there no matter if he was on his knees or

winning a challenge or when he was just there—just existing.

“Alphas give orders,” Marsdon said slowly. “They take control. They lead. They take

responsibility for the pack. And they claim ownership of every wolf in their pack.”

Bennett stared up at him, his jaw clenching as he fought to hold his master’s gaze

while pain and shame warred in his eyes.

“But an alpha isn’t just that, pup. Alphas put the pack first. They do whatever is

needed to keep the pack happy. They give everything they have to the pack without

expecting anything in return. And they belong to the pack just as much as any wolf in the

pack belongs to them.”

His pup continued to hold his gaze, his eyes filling with more confusion with every

word his master said.

“Just because you like showing your mate one side of being an alpha and I like to

show you the other, do you really think that means one of us is a better alpha, a better wolf,

than the other?”

Bennett’s resolve gave out, he dropped his eyes. “That’s not the way it works, sir.”

“What happens between mates is private. Do you really know what happens between

the alphas in other packs?” Marsdon asked.

“This doesn’t happen,” Bennett whispered.

“Then they’re the weaker for it,” Marsdon said, a snap to his words.

Bennett shook his head.

“You know as well as anyone that leading a pack isn’t easy, pup.” Marsdon tried

again. “Trying to truly control a group of living things—it’s impossible. It could drive

anyone insane. But maybe if they have a little bit of the world that they can control—that

gives itself up to that control, willingly and thoroughly—maybe that helps. Just like having

one bit of your life that you can please and serve could help someone who desperately wants

to keep the pack content and happy but who knows there’ll be times when that just isn’t

possible.”

Bennett took a deep breath against his stomach. “I…”

THE MARK OF AN ALPHA

Kim Dare

“Just try, pup?” Marsdon asked, trying to make it sound like a request rather than a

plea but not entirely sure he succeeded.

Bennett rubbed his forehead against Marsdon’s stomach as he thought.

Watching his mate decide their future, Marsdon had to force each breath into his

lungs, knowing Bennett was so close he couldn’t fail to notice any sign of stress in his mate.

“Just here, sir?” he asked softly, hopefully.

As much as Marsdon wanted to latch onto the request, in the hope that he could make

things easier for his mate, he couldn’t do it.

“No, pup. I won’t ever ask you to submit in front of the pack, but in our home, when

we are alone together—I want this there, too.”

Bennett rubbed against his stomach again. “Try,” he whispered.

Relief poured through Marsdon, but he fought not to let it show. No big deal—

nothing to celebrate—just a perfectly natural thing. Nothing to worry about—nothing for

Bennett to concern himself with.

“Come on then, pup. It’s time your master took you home, isn’t it?”

Bennett nodded.

“Right hand first. Take the cuff off,” Marsdon ordered.

Bennett stood up, but he hesitated as he reached for the buckle. “Sometimes it…”

“Go on,” Marsdon prompted.

“It’s not always comfortable when you’re first allowed to move again, I mean when

you—”

“Pup?”

“Yes, sir?”

“No treading on egg shells around me. We’ve both had enough of that to last a life

time. I understand.”

Bennett nodded and undid the cuff.

‘It hurts like hell’ would have been a more accurate warning. As Marsdon lowered his

arm, liquid fire burned down the muscle. He stared at his arm as the scorching pain slowly

started to fade. When he glanced back to Bennett, his mate was watching him with obvious

concern.

THE MARK OF AN ALPHA

Kim Dare

Marsdon’s lips twitched into a smile as he lifted his hand to bury his fingers in

Bennett’s hair. He pulled his mate forward to be kissed. Each movement set off new

fireworks in his arm, but Bennett instantly parted his lips, welcoming his master home and

that was all that mattered.

He tugged Bennett forward until the other wolf’s body was pressed up tight against

him and he could feel his pup’s erection straining against his jeans. Another shot of relief

surged through his veins.

“Mine,” he growled against his lips.

“Yes, sir,” Bennett whispered back.

“Left now,” Marsdon ordered.

Bennett blinked at him.

“Left cuff,” Marsdon expanded. “Undo it.”

His right hand lingered in Bennett’s hair as Bennett tried to undo the buckle. His pup

fumbled it as Marsdon caressed the scar on the back of his neck, but he finally he got it

undone.

“Ankles. Right first, then left,” Marsdon said.

Bennett dropped to his knees and quickly un-cuffed his master. Marsdon watched his

every move. His pup stayed kneeling at his feet as Marsdon shifted his stance and stepped

away from the cuffs. New flames spread through each newly freed muscle, but he pushed

through it—in spite of the way Bennett frowned and seemed to only just hold himself back

from calling his master a fool for it.

He left Bennett kneeling in the middle of the room when he put his clothes back on.

Fully dressed, he walked back to his mate’s side and helped Bennett to his feet.

“Ready to go home?” he asked.

Swallowing rapidly, Bennett nodded.

Marsdon slid his hand over the front of Bennett’s jeans, fondling his erection through

the fabric. Bennett whimpered pushing his fly against his master’s hand as he sought for

more.

“If you’re very good, I’ll let you come when we get home,” Marsdon promised, quick

to use whatever was available to convince his mate how much he would enjoy submitting to

his master in their own bed, in their own home.

THE MARK OF AN ALPHA

Kim Dare

Bennett glanced at him, uncertainty still shining in his eyes.

“Something I can control. Something you don’t have to make decisions about,”

Marsdon reminded him.

Bennett nodded. “Yes, sir.”

* * * *

As Marsdon closed the door behind him, Bennett stared at their bedroom as if he’d

never seen it before. For the first time, he tried to look at it as somewhere he could be honest

rather than a place where he had to live a lie.

“Sleepy?” Marsdon asked, lining his body up behind his and running his tongue over

the scar on the back of his neck.

Bennett cautiously bowed his head, giving his mate better access. “No, sir.”

“Sure?” Marsdon asked, as his hand snaked around his body to palm his cock through

his jeans. “You’ve had a rough couple of days. Maybe we should just go straight to sleep?”

“If that’s what you want, sir.” Bennett closed his eyes, not sure if he loved or hated

Marsdon for being right. Knowing that there was one thing in his life that he didn’t need to

make decisions about eased some of the stress that had been building inside him ever since it

had been announced that he was to become the alpha of his own pack.

Marsdon chuckled against his neck. “Do you really think your master would be that

cruel?”

“Yes, sir,” Bennett said. It would be far from the first time his master left him hanging

at the end of the night.

Marsdon laughed again and nipped at his scar. Staying behind him, he began to take

Bennett’s clothes off. He did it all very slowly, stopping frequently to run his hands over his

body and tease. Bennett stood there with no choice but to close his eyes and just remain

passive, lacking permission to do anything else.

Finally the last piece of clothing hit the floor. Bennett forced his eyes open, but his

mate was out of his line of sight. The sound of other clothes being dispensed with floated to

his ears.

THE MARK OF AN ALPHA

Kim Dare

“Do you know something, pup?” Marsdon asked, as he walked around in front of

him. “This is actually the first time we’ll both be completely naked for a mating.”

Bennett blinked at the unexpected truth of it.

Marsdon walked across to the bed and stretched out, as if putting on a show, letting

Bennett really look at him for the first time without the hood or the panic of seeing his master

in bondage to cloud his judgement. He let him look and see a master and not feel like a fraud

for thinking of another man that way.

When he dragged his gaze away from his master’s body and met his eyes, Marsdon

was watching him with something like amusement. “Blue,” he said.

“Sir?”

“Those nights in the club, you let me see the rest of you, but I always wondered what

colour your eyes were. Blue.”

Bennett nodded, accepting the comparison between what limits each of them had

endured those nights in the club. This is better than the club. His master seemed determined to

make sure he realised that. Subtlety never had been one of his strongest attributes.

“Come here.”

When he would have stepped forward, Bennett saw his master shake his head, just

once.

A moment’s hesitation and he lowered himself to his knees to crawl across the room to

him, just as he had once before—in the club, a lifetime ago. Pulling himself onto the mattress,

Bennett butted his head gently against Marsdon’s stomach, looking for the reassurance he’d

found there in the past. His master buried his hands in his hair and simply let him rest there

as he petted him for a little while.

As much as part of him wanted to stay there forever, another part soon felt foolish.

His mate was already hard again. He began to work his way down to Marsdon’s cock.

“No, pup. Not right now. I have other plans for you.”

As Marsdon tugged gently at his hair, coaxing him up the bed, his other hand slid

down to run his palm over Bennett’s backside. He pushed back against his master’s hand, an

eager whimper escaping from his throat.

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Kim Dare

100

One kiss and Marsdon nudged him to roll over and present his back to his master. A

bit of fumbling in the bedside cabinet proved that Marsdon had been farsighted enough to

store some lube there. Seconds after that, slicked fingers slid between his cheeks.

His master seemed just as impatient as Bennett felt. There was no time for teasing.

Bennett could tell that Marsdon just wanted him ready as quickly as possible. Bennett sent

up silent prayers of thanks for that, just as desperate for the connection as his master was.

It still seemed like forever before Marsdon’s fingers disappeared and his body lined

up with his, his cock nudging between his cheeks, demanding access. Bennett pushed back

encouragingly, until Marsdon’s hand settled on his hip and took control of that movement

away from him as well.

His mate pushed forward in one easy motion, sheathing himself in Bennett to the hilt.

He held them both still for several impossibly long moments to let Bennett adjust to the

wonderful, full stretch. But even when he began to thrust deep inside him, Marsdon

wouldn’t give Bennett permission to move.

Even when his mate’s hand reached around to jack his cock in time with each thrust,

Bennett knew he somehow had to force himself to stay still and just submit to whatever his

master offered. Somehow he knew that simplicity was exactly what they both needed right

then.

No teasing. Marsdon simply seemed determined to get them both off as quickly as

possible. In mere minutes, Bennett toppled over the edge, spilling his cum into his master’s

hand. As Bennett watched the room flicker into and out of existence with the force of his

pleasure, he saw Marsdon catch it all in his palm, before he came too, howling his pleasure so

loudly there was no doubt he must have awoken every wolf in the house with it.

As they collapsed together in a sleepy heap, Marsdon made no apology for the noise.

He calmly offered Bennett his hand to be cleaned instead, just the way he used to in the club.

“What do you think, pup?” he asked after a few seconds had passed, his voice a

fraction too casual to be natural.

Bennett thought about it very carefully. He knew what his master was asking—and it

went far deeper than wanting to know if it was good for him too. The answer was important.

In some way, the whole world, their whole future seemed to rest on his ability to get it right.

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101

It took him a long time to think of anything appropriate to say. While he thought, he

continued to clean his master’s hand.

And there was his answer.

“It beats the hell out of butter, sir,” Bennett said, between lapping kisses.

“Butter?”

Bennett smiled against his master’s hand. “That’s what humans do, sir—they spread

butter on a cat’s paws when they move it to a new home. Lapping up the butter is supposed

to distract them while they are getting used to their new surroundings.”

Marsdon smiled against his neck at the gentle reminder that his pup was quite capable

of spotting any attempts to pacify his worries that way. And maybe even more than that, he

seemed to smile at the fact Bennett felt able to tease his mate, and his master, in a way that

made it clear he knew he was Marsdon’s equal as well as everything else. That smile was all

Bennett needed in order to know he’d found the right answer.

“I like my distraction technique better,” Marsdon said. “Although, I’ll give you fair

warning, I’m going to keep doing this long after you’re settled into your place in the pack,

your submission to me and everything else.”

Bennett turned his attention away from his master’s hand for a second and pressed a

kiss onto the scar on his forearm in acceptance—in willingness to try if nothing else.

Marsdon pressed an identical kiss on the identical scar on the back of his neck in

return.

“That’s right, love. Good, pup. Good, alpha.”

About the Author

26 years old, from Wales, UK, Kim writes about kink, love and happy endings. If a
story doesn't have those three things, it's not going to be written - at least not by this
writer!

Apart from that, Kim likes to write a little bit of everything. Male/Male, Male/Female,
ménage, vampires, werewolves, ghost, time-travel - that sort of variety always keeps
life interesting.

A firm believer that there is no "One True Way" for people to kink, Kim also likes to let
the characters in each book pick their own ways to dominate and submit to each other.
As long as they stay safe, sane and consensual – Kim's happy to let them live their
lifestyle 24/7, or just open the toy box on weekends - whatever's right for them.

Email:

kim@kimdare.com

Kim loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and
author biography at

http://www.total-e-bound.com

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G-A-Y: Gay Like You

G-A-Y: Gay Until Graduation

G-A-Y: Gay For Pay

G-A-Y: Gay Divorcee