The Alpha's Fight

Chapter 18 - Never Enough

Taylor had been on my mind all day. I awoke not long before dawn, feeling as though I needed to sleep for another three days. But I had to go for rounds of patrols, gruelling training under Nicholas and another patrol. I would have to function for over 30 hours before I could collapse. It wasn’t anything new. As my father put it, I needed to learn to perform as an Alpha through anything.

My feet felt sluggish, finishing up my final patrol with Scott. However, soon, I’d be reunited with my dewdrop, my sweet blond mate, and I found a renewed energy surging, enough to get me to his door at least.

“You’re going to Taylor, again?” Scott quietly exclaimed. Where else did he think I would want to go?

“I need him,” I returned his incredulous gaze. “Besides, I’m being careful.”

I was using my scent cover. I never flat-out approached Taylor’s home, hanging back to make sure no one lurked. And my mate was waiting for me too. He mumbled as much when I had to tear myself from his skin this morning… yesterday morning? I wasn’t sure on the passage of time anymore.

“Are you?” He almost sounded accusatory. “Three days in a row? Hunter, he is gonna notice something.”

“Nicholas won’t notice s**t. I could have caught fire and I doubt he’d raise an eyebrow,” my voice rose defensively.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Scott muttered under his breath, snatching the branch from my hand that I had held back.

“I’m not about to endanger him! You don’t get it, you don’t have a ma-” I cut myself off, too late, realising I was about to throw it in his face that he didn’t have his other half.

In the last year or so, Scott had gone off sleeping around with she-wolves, completely, feeling emptier and wanting his mate.

“Thanks for the reminder…” he replied bitterly, stalking off without another word.

‘You really went for it with both feet there,’ Hawk sighed.

‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ I watched Scott’s figure disappear into the forest.

‘Talk to him later when you’ve both cooled down,’ my wolf tried to soothe my guilt. ‘For now, get to our pretty dewdrop. I want my Talon.’

I looked around before approaching anywhere near Taylor's home, making sure I wasn't followed, and that no one was lurking around to catch me. Scott didn't know what he was talking about. I wasn't being reckless. I covered my scent and neither did I go running to his door without thinking, always hanging back for at least ten or fifteen minutes to be certain.

Once I knew it was safe, because I was being careful, I tried to slap my face to wake up and look somewhat alive to face my mate. He didn't need to worry about me any more than he already was after last night… or was it two nights ago now? f**k, I needed sleep.

I knocked lightly on the back door, not entirely confident enough yet to just walk on in.

"Hunter!..." Taylor's bright enchanting smile greeted me, twisting into a concerned frown in the same second. "You look exhausted."

"Well, it’s nice to see you too," I half-heartedly tried to return his smile, feeling my eyelids droop.

He pulled me inside and cupped my cheek. I leant into his touch as though it was my lifeline, my only way of staying conscious. Our tiny moment was ruined when my stomach rattled. I had barely eaten anything all day having been dragged from pillar to post. My only moment of rest had been between training and my final patrol and all I had time for was a sandwich.

"Come on, I was about to make some breakfast," he pulled me over to the table and pushed me down into the solid wood chair.

He made a quick check of the entire downstairs, to make sure the blinds and curtains were all closed so we couldn't be seen.

"What are you making," I rested my chin on my palm, trying to hold back my yawn, and looked over at the things out on the kitchen countertop.

"Poached egg and English muffins, with hollandaise sauce and bacon," he moved over to the hob, lighting a couple of burners and grabbing a glass bowl containing something pale and yellow.

"You functioning enough to poach the eggs for me while I make the sauce?" He turned to me expectantly, breaking my ogling of his slim muscular ass in his forest green sweatpants.

'Busted!' Hawk said in a sing-song voice. 'Like you know how to cook an egg.'

'What, and you do?'

Silence.

'Yeah, that's what I thought, cheeseball.'

"Hunter?" The sound and smell of bacon beginning to sizzle smacked me back into the real world.

"Huh?"

'Real slick,' the slow clap of my wolf echoed in my ears.

"Were you listening to me or talking to your wolf?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Uhh…"

"Goddess, do you know how to cook or not?" He demanded, sassy and dominant Taylor coming to the forefront, the Taylor I loved more than anything.

"No," I admitted sheepishly, my eyes struggling to remain open.

"Ok. One day, I’ll teach you when you can actually stay awake," he gave me a soft but pointed look. "Just sit there and try not to drool if you fall asleep."

I watched as he flitted between the worktops and hob, wishing I knew how to help him. He placed a glass teapot in front of me, asking if I could handle stirring it. Even I couldn't mess this up.

"What's in this?" I inhaled the heavenly-scented steam. A mix of herbs, citrus and strong ginger danced in the air.

"Just some herbal tea. Some of it I've grown in the greenhouse," he placed a small jar next to it. "Add some honey if it's too bitter for you."

And even though he was busy cooking and trying to take care of me, it didn't stop him from sliding his hand along my jaw and pecking my lips.

We could have almost been a normal couple. I could have been a pack warrior, coming off of a patrol shift and home to my loving mate. When I lifted the lid of the teapot, the scent exploded, a calming and beautiful mix that accentuated Taylor's sweet rain perfectly.

Was this what it was like in other packs? Is this what they did in the morning? Could they openly accept their mate, regardless of gender? I would give anything to have this every day, to not have to hide.

"I think you've stirred it enough," Taylor stilled my hand, placing a plate stacked with food in front of me. "You look as though you could eat for a family, so I used the whole pack of bacon."

I had been stirring the tea absentmindedly, lost in my own little fantasy, instead of focusing on my very real mate.

I dove into the food like a man starved, trying not to pay attention to the beautiful melody of Taylor's quiet laughter. He poured out the tea, stirring in a little honey before settling in across from me with his own plate. The tea was perfect, the right amount of sweetness and fragrance, like he knew by instinct what my preference would be.

'So much bacon,' my wolf groaned, our stomach full. 'He really was sent by the moon goddess.'

"Let's get you to bed because if you pass out down here, you're staying down here," he stood, pulling me from my seat and up the stairs.

"Wait, what about the dishes? I was gonna do them," I stared up at him from his elevated position on the steps.

He whirled around, never dropping my hand and leant down to seal my lips with his, his dusky curls draping against my cheeks.

'As funny as it would be to see you fall asleep standing up,' he rested his forehead against me. 'You really need someone to look after you.'

Someone to look after me? I had people that stood by me, that helped me out when I was injured, but not someone who would take me to bed, make sure I got some sleep, hold me without judgement if I had a nightmare.

I let him lead me to his bedroom, gripping his hand that little bit tighter. He laid me down on his lap after pulling my shirt off, simply stroking his fingers through my beard and hair.

"I kinda made you something. I know you won’t be able to take it home, but I still want you to have it, even if it has to stay here," he whispered, handing me something from the nightstand. "It’s to keep your nightmares away."

It was a small dreamcatcher, no bigger than my palm. A piece of willow, looped into a teardrop, with threads across it and what looked like some seeds woven into the strings. A few feathers dangled from some strips of thin leather, with the same seeds woven into the fine web of string.

"I made it while I was at home," he blushed. "I don't know if you believe in any of that kind of stuff. But I wanted you to have something that might help, just in case I can't be there."

I leant up in an instant, pulling on his neck to bring him down to me. Where did he think he was going? We were forever. I might not believe in superstitions, but I believed in him and the magical spell he had over me.

"Sleep," he pecked my lips once more, grabbing a book and settling to lean back against the headboard. "I’ll be right here."

*

*

*

My nose was snuggled into something cosy, soft to the touch.

"Hey sleepy," loving fingers brushed my hair out of my eyes.

I looked up to a blurry image of Taylor pulling an earphone from his head. My arm draped over his lap and I now lay on my front.

"What time is it?" I asked through a yawn, rubbing my eyes.

Daylight still streamed in from the crack in the bedroom curtains, so it couldn't be too late.

"Just past 6pm, you slept the whole time, didn't stir once. The dreamcatcher's working," he looked down at me proudly.

"You stayed with me the whole time?" My grip on him tightened.

"Not entirely," he shifted an inch, rolling slightly more onto his hip. "You were out for over ten hours. It was inevitable I'd need the bathroom, plus I needed to do dishes and grab snacks till you woke up."

The sleepy haze still danced in my vision. This wasn't the first time I had awoken to some fantasy playing out in my mind and a deep part of me feared I would wake up one day to find Taylor gone, that none of it had actually happened. Or worse, it had been taken away from me.

I sat up, tracing a finger down the side of his face, the smooth skin of his jaw; he must have shaved at some point because there was stubble when I arrived.

"I just needed to make sure you were real this time," I sighed in relief, almost afraid that my hand would have vanished through a mirage.

"What do you mean?" He peered down at me. In the absence of sunlight, the green of his eyes was muted, exchanged for a warm amber. Darker but equally as beautiful.

"Sometimes I used to think about you and then be disappointed that you weren’t really there," I tried to tear my mind from his eyes and focus on my words, only to realise I had admitted to daydreaming about him.

"What did you think about?" He tilted his head, innocently, his curls sweeping with his movements.

My cheeks heated on their own, and I hoped my beard would have hidden them.

It didn’t.

He grinned wildly, my face giving me away without the need to open my mouth. “Oh! You had s*x fantasies about me!”

“What? No!” I pointlessly tried to deny it and sat up straight. Our conversation had started so pure and had descended into filth so quickly.

‘I told you!’ Hawk mentally shook me, intentionally adding to my own growing excitement. ‘Our sweet boy is a dirty boy!’

“You totally did!” Taylor ignored my obvious lie as I looked away, trying to suppress a smile at the memories of all the things my fantasy version of him had done to me.

“Tell me,” he whispered in my ear. I pulled away, shocked he wanted to know. “Come on. What did I do? What did you imagine?”

“Just… kissing… and stuff…” I trailed off, suddenly finding eye contact a struggle.

“Kissing and stuff?” The sly and knowing grin spread on his lips. His hand crept up my stomach, his fingers threading through my chest hair. “I think I have an idea what you had me kissing.”

He slowly straddled my lap, grinding ever slightly against my hips in a teasing motion. I growled, lowly, loving the contact and how his eyes lit in excitement at my small show of dominance. He gripped the hem of his t-shirt, pulling it free from his torso. On instinct, I licked my bottom lip, my mouth watering at the sight in front of me. I didn’t resist as Taylor pulled at my hips, inching me down the bed so that I lay fully on my back again.

“Is this the sort of thing you pictured?” He slowly unzipped my pants that I still wore, palming my c**k through my underwear.

My eyes screwed shut, my lower half throbbing and wanting more, wanting everything my mate would give me. He slipped his fingers under the waistband of my underwear, pulling my last remaining clothes off, leaving me naked beneath him. He climbed off of me and I thought he was going to strip himself bare too, but he turned to leave the room. I propped myself up on my elbows, about to call out where he was going, when he silenced me, telling me to wait. I liked him taking charge.

He came back not a moment later with what looked like a damp cloth and a thin square of fabric. The damp cloth he dropped on the nightstand. The square of fabric he rolled up, placing it on the edge of the bed while he stripped out of his pants. My c**k twitched and began beading precum at just the sight of Taylor’s naked lean muscular body, wanting to be buried in him repeatedly. He crawled up me, a mischievous glint in his eye. I had forgotten completely about the fabric he had rolled until it was placed over my eyes and tied behind my head.

“What?...” I laboured, my body tingling and in need of the release only Taylor’s body could grant.

“You seem pretty good with that imagination, Alpha,” he spoke in my ear, tugging at the skin with his teeth. “You're not the only one that’s fantasied, heavily.”

The excitement of not knowing what he was about to do had me delirious. His smooth warm lips moved down my jaw, down my neck, kissing the hollow of my throat and nipping my marking site. My hips thrust up automatically, my fingers grasping the flesh of his thighs. He chuckled in amusement at my reaction, no doubt exactly as he wanted. I knew his destination, descending down my body and trailing a winding path with his tongue along my stomach, but not knowing when was the greatest and most delicious torture. The agony of the wait had me wanting to call out and beg for it to be over, to give me what I craved. Part of me wondered whether that was his plan and a stubborn piece of me wanted to deny him his goal. I could play this game too. Or I thought I could.

His nose trailed my inner thigh, his thumb sweeping over my painfully sensitive head and I knew I had lost.

“Taylor… please…” I begged to my darkness.

‘I was beginning to think you were made of steel,’ he teased, running his tongue up my shaft.

I groaned loudly, finally experiencing sweet release. He spluttered a few times, attempting to deepthroat again. He wasn’t quite there but he was working up to it, his mouth growing bolder and more purposeful in each motion. His divine hot rain scent exploded like fireworks throughout my senses. I was so lost in overwhelming pleasure that when his mouth left me, a threatening growl ripped from my chest on instinct.

“So grumpy,” he actually laughed at my outburst.

“Why’d you st-” I was about to demand when I heard him rooting through a drawer and a squelching sound following.

“Hunter? Shut up and quit being a grouch,” his amused and gentle timbre threw me off.

His mouth resumed its motion, but what made me flinch was his thumb pressing into my ass, bit by bit. A strange intrusion, more intriguing than painful.

‘This ok?’ He froze, worried if he had gone too far.

‘Keep going,’ I reassured. I wasn’t uncomfortable with what he was doing. It was simply unexpected.

He thrust his digit in time with his mouth and I was lost to him. The lack of vision heightened everything, every movement, every scent, every brush of skin. My fingers gripped his dusky curls, shuddering along with the rest of me as I came down his throat.

I gasped for oxygen, my flesh humming with electricity. Sated but not sated enough. I needed more of him and I hoped, by the gentle rhythm of his hand on my c**k, he needed more too. I peeked from under my blindfold, entranced by the blond god biting his lip and watching me twitch back to life. His eye met mine, catching me red-handed and slapping my hand away.

“No. Peeking,” he enunciated, emphasising each syllable with firm dominance.

I was speechless. Hawk? He was as giddy as a pup.

‘Did he just reprimand us?!’ My wolf pawed at the edges of my mind in heat.

That was all it took. I was hard again in an instant and ready for him.

The cool and slick feel of lube coated me, followed by the hot skin of a perfectly tight and muscular ass. All of this felt familiar. I remembered this fantasy. Taylor riding me. Taylor showing me his dominant side. I hadn’t been blindfolded, but I wasn’t about to defy him. Not yet, at least.

He sank down onto me, his earth-shattering tightness surrounding me. We groaned in synchronicity, taking a moment to enjoy being joined. He began to move, raising himself to my tip to then pound onto me up to my hilt. I thrust up to meet his movements, but I was missing his face. The blindfold was pleasant foreplay and now that was over with, I wanted to see him, see every facial expression as I took over. I ripped the fabric off and grasped his hips fiercely, burying myself as deep as I could and hitting his sweet spot in one swift motion, a breathless grunt escaping him.

Taylor’s wide eyes locked with mine as I took control of our pace. He offered no scolding, too lost in my eyes, as I was lost in his. I truly loved this angle of him. Not only could I delve into him to my heart's content, but I also got to see every part of him. Every twist of pleasure in his face, each muscle of his biceps and chest work, every one of his abs tighten and clench in time with my thrusts.

My hand slid up his chest, wondering whether real Taylor would indeed enjoy a firm hand. I grasped his throat, squeezing gently.

‘Is this ok?’ I asked, wanting his consent.

‘Harder,’ he panted after a moment.

My eyes blazed, gripping his throat tighter as I pounded into him from below. His hand curled around his shaft, pumping in time with my hips. We came together, falling over the precipice at the same time. With his throat firmly in my hand, I pulled him towards me, snaking my tongue with his and leaning my forehead against his.

I would never get enough of his taste.