Page 4

Josef grunted in reply. "Well, hurry it up, then."

Bryan nodded and went to the kitchen and began cooking. Half a roasted game hen, potatoes, sausages, a rasher of bacon, fried squash. Josef demanded these every morning. He ate vast amounts of food for every meal, leaving Bryan with leftovers. He wasn't allowed to cook his own full meals.

He fried the bacon on the stove and jumped when he felt the man's hands creeping around him. He grimaced, but tilted his head so that Josef could suck on his neck as his hands crept down to his trousers and grabbed hold of Bryan's crotch, squeezing and caressing it. Bryan’s body didn't respond to the touch, so he forced out a false sigh of pleasure in an attempt to assuage the man.

The terrible thing about the mate bond was that Bryan did feel attached to Josef. He did what he could to placate him because he needed to, but there was still some sickening part of him that was compelled to. The bond ensured that.

"I think I'd prefer to have your little Omega ass for breakfast," Josef said. He yanked open Bryan's trousers and thrust them down his thighs. Then he pushed him over the hot stove, took his hips and yanked his ass back against him. Bryan cried out and threw his arms out to steady himself against the wall. The bacon grease splattered up onto the bottom of his arms and against his chest, burning him. The Alpha tugged out his erect cock and pushed it against him.

"Wait," Bryan said. "Please use the lubricant, I'm not wet..."

Josef snarled angrily, and he grabbed Bryan by the arm and flung him to the floor. With his pants pooled around his ankles, Bryan had no way of catching himself. He crashed painfully against the tile.

"What's the matter with you? Does your hole not work properly? Is that why you can't ever get wet?" He leaned over him. "Or do you just hate it that much?"

Bryan glared back at him but made no reply. Josef stood and tucked himself back into his pants. "Forget it. You know, it really is a shame that you can't function right. For both you and I. I don't want to have to settle for a Beta but if you won't give me what was promised, I have no use for you." He nodded towards the stove. "The bacon is burning." He left the kitchen.

Bryan made no complaint, no response whatsoever. He stood, brushed himself off, and pulled up his trousers. Then he went to the stove and removed the scorched bacon from the pan and replaced them with new pieces. Grey smoke curled up to the ceiling, so he opened the window the air the room out. Outside, the sun had cracked on the horizon.

He did hate it. He hated it more than anything. But he would endure. He would suffer through it and do everything he could to make the man happy because that was the only power he had to take care of his family.

He had to figure out why he wasn't getting pregnant.

* * *

Once Josef had left the house, Bryan prepared lunch to take to him later. He cooked a bit of extra food and packed it into a separate container to bring to his younger brother. Josef forbade him from doing this, but there was no way for him to know as long as the amounts were small.

Bryan shifted into wolf form and set out for his old home on the edge of town, close to the stone wall which ran along the border of New Pixia, separating it from the forest.

His mother, Anna, was outside weeding the garden. She looked up and smiled when she saw him approaching. In the field just beyond the house was a large graveyard, which interred the remains of those killed when the first colonists like his grandfather had arrived. The edge of town had always been the most dangerous, the first to be attacked in Direling raids. It was where New Pixia's poorest lived; mostly those whose job it was to either watch the forest or cut it down.

Past the graveyard was the wall, which stood only four feet tall and was made of stacked rocks. And past that was the Great Clearing, an area of land that continued to expand westward every year as the loggers cut deeper and deeper into the forest. The trees of the Grimault Forest once hung over the wall, but now their stumps stretched for almost half a mile west until they reached the new forest border where the machines worked.

He shifted back to human form, and his mother came and wrapped him up in a tight hug. Bryan hugged her back, but with slight hesitation.

"Mother," he said.

"Hello, Bryan," she said, smiling sweetly. "We weren't expecting you today."

"No, but I wanted to see Father. And I brought some lunch for Lukas."

"Oh," she said, looking surprised. "Well, isn't that nice. Just for Lukas?"

"You know that I'm not even allowed to do that, Mother. I wish I could, but I can't bring enough for everyone." He knew his father especially could use the extra nourishment.

"Hm," she said, turning to go inside. "It certainly must be nice for you to be able to eat so well every day. I'm sure Minister Zamgarg's home is bountiful with food."

Bryan chewed his lip and followed his mother inside. "How's Father?"

"Well. Still unable to stand, but the wheelchair you provided certainly helps things."

"Good. And... you? Any news about the job at the restaurant?"

She laughed. "Bryan, please. I don't have the energy to work. I'm an old woman, and I spend all day taking care of your father and your brother."

He frowned. "Did you not even apply?"

She waved her hand like she was swatting away a fly. "I'm beyond that now. Why do you ask me to work? I've worked my whole life."