The Alpha's Fight

Chapter 16 - Died and Gone To Heaven

A sweet rain scent that warmed my entire soul tickled my nose, followed by the softest curls imaginable. I rubbed my cheek against the dusky blond crown, tightening my arms splayed across his back. The tingles of our mate bond ignited everywhere our bodies touched. None of last night had been a dream, none of it had been a figment of my imagination. I peered up at the world surrounding us, we really had fallen asleep in the meadow. The dewy grass and late blossoms cocooned us and the early morning sun peeked over the mountains in the distance.

Freeing a hand, I swept one of the curly strands from his face. Taylor was still deeply asleep, his full lips parted and his breathing soft and shallow. How could I disturb him when he looked as beautifully peaceful as he did? His skin was awfully tempting though, completely naked and draped across me. I lightly trailed my hand downward, placing the curl behind his ear, tracing the muscles down his back to grip his firm ass cheek. One light squeeze was all it took to earn a sleepy groan, his pretty hazel eyes fluttering open.

“You didn’t leave,” he sighed in relief, kissing the tip of my nose. His voice husky and deep yet incredibly soft. “You stayed with me.”

“I would’ve never left you alone out here. Why would you ever think I would?”

“I thought, maybe you might change your mind… about us,” he drew circles on my chest, not looking me in the eye. “When you were sleeping, I got a little worried common sense would kick in and you wouldn’t want me.”

My fingers curled under his chin, lifting his gaze to meet mine. A light grizzle of stubble coated his jaw, adding a pleasantly rough edge.

“I’ve wanted you since I was 13 years old. It’s never changing. You and me? We’re forever. I wouldn’t give you up for anything,” I promised.

"You're not like I thought you'd be…" he stroked the side of my face, his thumb rubbing over my bottom lip.

I had heard that sentence from so many people, accepting it was how I would always be perceived on first inspection. My father was a tyrannical asshole and therefore, I must be too. Hearing it from Taylor sliced into my heart differently. I never wanted him to see me as someone to fear.

"... You're so much more," he pulled me close, resting his forehead against mine, whispering against my lips. "Do people say that a lot about you?"

I nodded, my mouth forming a tight line like the knot in my throat.

"I've never been scared of you, not once, ever," his lips brushed against mine.

I wrapped my arms around him, tightly, burying my head into his neck. It was exactly what I needed to hear from him.

“We need to go,” I sat us up, noting the sun’s position suggested it was roughly before 5am. “I have patrol to get to. I can just about get you home, but we need to be quick."

He smiled sadly, nodding, and stood with me. Once our clothes were gathered and bundled back up, we shifted to run back. I hadn’t received any mind-link demanding my location, so my father either didn’t know I was missing or didn’t give a s**t; the latter making far more sense. Ever since leaving high school, three years ago, I would regularly sleep outside on warmer nights. It was only in recent days that I camped exclusively near Taylor’s home to watch over him. It was all I could do to escape my prison or from having to see the red-haired girl, April, around the pack house, a bitter reminder of the future I never wanted to face. The outdoors were my escape, and now, my mate was too.

I went first out of the tunnel, to make sure it was safe for us, and stayed close beside him the whole run back to his home. We snuck into his backyard, covered by the hedge so we could shift back. Taylor quickly pulled me into his house, to the kitchen at the rear of his property. I instinctually threw my head back, saturating my lungs in his scent that clung to every surface. I would have loved to live here with him, in this cosy, beautiful home. Shaking myself out of my fantasy before I descended any further down that particularly tempting rabbit hole, I slipped into my jeans.

“Can I come over tonight?” I fastened up the button fly, my eyes roving over Taylor’s naked body perched against the solid wooden kitchen-dining table.

“I'd love that,” he stepped forward, sliding his hands up my bare chest and glancing over his shoulder to the kitchen clock. “I need to go to work soon, but I should be done by 6pm.”

“I don't know when I'll get away though.” Or if I could get away at all, I heaved a huge sigh, sagging against him.

“I’m not in work tomorrow. I'll wait up as long as it takes,” he pecked my lips, flashing me that innocent expression I remembered and loved. One I knew was a complete lie to the dirty and feisty mind beneath.

The sweet little kiss wasn’t enough for me. Pressing him against the table, I grasped his neck, deepening our kiss, sweeping my tongue with his and completely losing myself in his being.

‘I'll see you as soon as I can,’ I nuzzled against him, breathless.

Grabbing my t-shirt up, I was nearly out of the door when I remembered to warn him about mind-linking at a distance for newly shifted wolves. It always carried a risk of broadcasting the sender's message to others around, a heavy danger in this pack.

“Just remember now that you have your wolf, mind-linking can take some getting used t-”

“I know,” he interrupted, giving me a dazzling smile. “They did teach us all this in biology at school, unless you didn’t pay attention?”

‘Ha! He’s got your card, spanky,’ Hawk blasted my mind with his sarcastic laughter. Goddess, how I hated that stupid nickname.

I paused by the hedge before I ran out into the open, ears perked and rigidly listening out for the sounds surrounding the area in case someone was around or had followed us. Except for the steady sway and rustling of leaves in the warm morning air, nothing but birds and the odd tiny furry mammal could be heard scurrying around. While running to my patrol route, I near enough dumped all over me what little remained of my scent cover, drenching myself in the liquid. It would do little to cover my trail for long and it was doubtful it would cover me entirely. I was heavily coated in Taylor’s scent, having spent most of the night wrapped around him. Crossing the small river after emerging from the secret tunnel had removed little of the remnants of our night together.

I should have been on my shift forty minutes ago, but, luckily for me, my partner for the week was Scott. I mind-linked him on the way to find out where he had made it up to and if I was about to be buried under a mountain of s**t when I returned. His reply came immediately.

‘Where the hell have you been? I barely managed to cover you!’

‘I know, I know,’ I acknowledged how much of a bind I had placed him in. ‘I'm on my way… I'll tell you everything.’

‘Any chance you happened to grab some breakfast?’ I cheekily added, feeling my stomach claw and twist.

‘You’re f*****g unbelievable,’ he muttered. ‘And yes.’

‘Did I ever tell you you're the best?’

‘Nowhere near enough,’ I could hear the humour in his voice. ‘Move your ass or I will eat your sandwich in front of you.’

I caught up to Scott, not too far from where I had run with Taylor. He handed me a huge wrapped breakfast bagel, which I devoured, not realising how famished I was.

'So, care to explain why you smell like a combination of wet dog, grass, sweat and s*x, covered poorly in that homemade spray of yours?' He asked pointedly, sounding as though he already knew his answer.

'If we pass close by the river, I'll go soak myself so I don't smell like a rutting male,' I gave myself a cautionary whiff. Scott was right. My scent cover had barely lasted.

'Taylor shifted last night, didn't he?' He elbowed my side, giving me a sideways grin.

He had been dealing with forlorn gazes aimed solely at my sweet blond boy for years. It would have come as little surprise to him that Taylor was my mate.

Scott was silent for longer than what felt normal. For a second, I thought he may have held issue that my mate was in fact a man. He had known for years that I was gay. But it was one thing knowing it in theory, it was another to know I had acted upon it.

I was about to double check he was ok with this, when a shrill screech of joy filled my mind so suddenly, I almost leapt higher than the treetops.

'AHHHHHHHH!' The girlish scream erupted. 'I KNEW IT, I JUST KNEW IT!'

Imogen.

'f**k me! My ears,' Hawk cringed, hiding his head under his paws.

'You two are going to be disgustingly cute, aren't you?' Sloane's voice was next.

'If there was anyone who deserved some happiness, Hunter, it'd be you. Try not to wear the poor guy out though,' Jayden's dry laughter completed the round of congratulations.

'I'm happy for you, I really am…' Scott turned to me, his sincere smile morphing into an expression more troubled. 'What exactly are you gonna do?'

A loaded question, one that I was not exactly sure of the answer yet, except one.

'The same we were doing before. Nothing's changed,' I said with finality. Our plan had to continue and our pack would see the change it needed one day. 'I can keep Taylor a secret. I know he's trustworthy. He's a fighter, like us, but in a different way. He'll want to be a part of this. He'll stand by me.'

'That's what I'm scared of,' he fixed me with a serious expression.

'Imogen and Sloane are together, they're both fighting in thi-'

'Their father isn't a tyrannical psychopathic Alpha,' he cut in. 'You're under way more scrutiny than any of us.'

I knew what he meant and I understood his worry and hesitancy. But we had been sneaking around and secretly planning for over three years. I knew how to be careful, how to hide. Last night was a special circumstance that wouldn't be repeated anytime soon. It was Taylor's first shift, he needed me that night more than anyone and he needed that run. I had made sure our tracks were covered, that he was safe. In one night, he had become my whole world and there wouldn't be a day where that would change.

*

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*

My bond had been pulling me back here towards Taylor all day and by the time I had made it home, he was long gone from work. It was well past midnight and my main problem was I had no clue where my father was. He wasn’t anywhere in the Alpha wing, his aura didn’t feel close by and neither was I about to mind-link to ask either.

‘Maybe the gross dickhead is f*****g somewhere,’ Hawk dry heaved, followed by myself.

‘If you ever think anything along those lines again, I’m sitting you in a corner,’ I shivered.

I escaped my bedroom the same as I had last night, with replenished scent cover coating my freshly showered skin. Holding my aura, I bolted to my destination. I kept my distance, Taylor’s home just within my eye-line. As I had this morning, I kept my senses trained and sharp to every sound, every movement, staying hidden amongst the shadows until I was positive that no one lurked monitoring my movements. I snuck through the hedge and knocked lightly on the backdoor, reaching out to let my mate know it was just me.

My mate. I could hardly believe that I got to say that now, to say Taylor was mine and that he would always be mine.

After a few more attempts, I was about to start circling the house to find a way in, when the door opened, revealing a sleepy-looking tussle of dusky curls.

“So much for waiting up as long as it took,” I smirked down at him, leaning my whole body against the door frame. He was pretty tall for an Omega, standing at around 6’3 to my 6’7 stature.

“I shifted 24 hours ago, someone kept me up all night and I had to work,” he wiped his eyes and stifled a yawn into the back of his hand. “Wanna tell me what you did after you shifted?”

‘Passed out in the foetal position for 30 hours,’ Hawk gruffled at my expense. ‘And here our Omega mate is out earning his living, showing you up.’

‘We’re an Alpha wolf, it takes more out of us!’ I stupidly defended myself against my own wolf instead of focusing on where it counted, my half-naked mate in only a thin pair of cotton lounge pants low on his hips showing off his defined and tanned torso.

“You got me,” I pushed off of the frame and stalked him into his kitchen, shutting the door behind me and trapping him against the wall between my arms. “That first shift is exhausting. I take it you’ve no energy for anything strenuous?”

“No,” he pushed me back, asserting himself. “I’m genuinely exhausted and still a little sore.”

His sweet pouty lips pulled in a grimace, igniting a flicker of guilt that we may have gone at it a little too enthusiastically last night. Still, I couldn’t regret it too much, especially when his grimace transformed into a little smile at the memories; he had cried out my name several times over.

“Will you just sleep beside me? That's what I really need tonight,” he wrapped his arms around my neck, snuggling into me.

Another night of Taylor entirely to myself and pressed against me? I had died and gone to heaven.