Page 5 of Feral, Part Two (Wolfscorge #2)

Malik

I’m fucking pissed that Thane kissed me, but even more pissed that I liked it.

Worse, I have no idea what this means, just that I’m now irritable, a little angry, and confused.

I step into the house, the thick, sweetened scents of our Omegas hitting me all at once.

A low groan pulls from my lips as I set the bags on the kitchen table before reaching down to adjust myself in my pants.

“Holy fuck,” I mutter, wondering if Kael hate-fucked Slate in here because there’s no other explanation for the combination of their scents in here.

Angry whispering from the living room steals my attention, my confusion spreading as I make my way toward the couch. Kael’s there, his face twisted in anger, Nathan standing a few feet away, looking like he’s about to bolt.

Thane steps up behind me, his hand brushing my shoulder. “What is going on?” Heat blooms beneath his touch, but I refuse to react. This isn’t the time and I still don’t know what the fuck it means.

Kael smirks. “Yeah, Nathan, why don’t you tell my pack what the fuck is going on since you failed to divulge a few things last time?”

Nathan swallows hard, wringing his hands together in front of him.

He turns to Thane and me, his eyes darting like he’s looking for a way out.

“I don’t know much about Ferals , okay? I know a little, but anything more than that is more tale than truth.

Even then, we never expect to actually come upon them.

I know what I said before Slate shifted, but…

What happened to Slate—all those bite removals—would have never happened at a regular hospital or sanctuary.

Doctors aren’t allowed to operate several times on bond marks like that.

” His usual calm demeanor is nowhere to be found and I’m getting the sense that something is off.

Something more than just the fact that we have a fox shifter in the house.

I cross my arms, my hazel eyes narrowing at him as I lean against the wall beside the couch. “Great, but why does it look like my Alpha is going to kill you?”

“Because becoming a Feral is just the start of everything. The fact that Slate can shift and that you’re all bonded to him means the game changes.”

I step forward, my lips curling into a sassy grin. “Yeah, well, I’m not really feeling in a playing mood right now. Nathan, just tell me what the fuck is going on. I was going to call you myself, but Kael got to it first. I want to know why .”

“The rate at which things are changing doesn’t make sense to me. It usually takes months, maybe even years, for a pack like this to form, which makes the changes less startling because it’s over time.” His voice shakes, but then he clears his throat, managing to muster up a little confidence.

Thane growls from behind me. “Spit it out!”

Nathan swallows hard, his eyes continue to dart between us. “Your bodies are going to change to support your new Omega, well, Omegas .”

A frown takes over my face as my brows furrow. “What are you talking about?”

Nathan takes a breath before blowing it out. “As a Feral pack, everything works together.” He manages a small smile, but we’re all on edge, and his continual pausing is pissing us all off.

Kael moves fast and grabs the front of Nathan’s neck, his fingers digging in as he shakes him.

He then thrusts Nathan backward, and the doctor stumbles a few steps before falling onto the couch with a cough, his hands clutching his throat.

Kael turns to us, expression twisted up in a mixture of rage and irritation.

“What Nathan is failing to tell you is that we are literally in some parts becoming feral ourselves. We won’t shift.

That is reserved for Omegas from what he knows, but it seems like the bond is going to drag us closer together regardless of what we want. Think instincts but on overdrive.”

I snort. “Is that why your cousin all but coerced me into kissing him earlier? Don’t fucking ask. He didn’t hurt me, and I kind of liked it. My problem is that I don’t like him like that or at least I don’t think I do, so this is all a huge mindfuck.”

Kael’s eyes darken as he steps toward me, the muscles in his jaw pulling tight. “I got a bigger mindfuck for you. I called Nathan initially because I was worried about Preston.”

“Wait. What is wrong with him? I noticed he was a little tired, but I chalked that up to him crawling under that fucking bed with Slate.” I glare at Nathan who is still trying to catch his breath. I don’t understand why he won’t just spit everything out at once.

"I wish that's all there was," Kael says, his voice dropping into that dangerous tone that usually means someone's about to get their ass kicked. "But somehow our beautiful Omega isn't three months pregnant."

I step forward without thinking, my hands already clenching into fists. "What's wrong with the babies? Is Preston okay? Fuck, is Slate okay?" The questions tumble out of me faster than I can control them, panic starting to claw at my chest. "Would you stop fucking pausing?"

Kael drags a hand down his face and that’s when I catch the tortured emotions in his expression. "Preston is now basically at the end of his pregnancy and for whatever fucking reason, he seems to be exhibiting a few of the same symptoms that Slate is."

My brain struggles to process what he's saying. Symptoms that Slate is exhibiting. Slate, who shifts into a fox when he's stressed or scared. Slate, whose pregnancy is moving faster than it should because of whatever fucked up experiments were done to him.

"So, Preston’s a fox?"

Nathan clears his throat from the couch, still looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. "We won't know unless he shifts, but his pregnancy has accelerated. He’ll be due before Slate."

Thane makes a sound of confusion, pushing off from the wall. "Of course, he's farther along. He's been pregnant for three months and Slate for only a few weeks."

"You don't understand," Nathan says, shaking his head.

His voice takes on that clinical tone doctors use when they're delivering bad news.

"A Feral’s pregnancy of this kind is just under two months.

By all intents and purposes, Preston would have already had his children.

I have no idea when he's due, and without an actual ultrasound, I couldn't tell you any exact details.

All I know is that both of them are in the last few weeks of their pregnancy.

The fact that you have two pregnant Omegas in close proximity to each other, their pheromones feeding off of each other, it could be even sooner than that. Way sooner."

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, unable to wrap my head around that.

“All of this shit happening at the same time doesn’t make any sense.

We just went to the market and not one guard was out there.

No one was in their usual spots. This isn’t connected, is it?

” I frown, trying to run through everything I do know about this place.

No one would have known that Slate could shift unless Nathan mentioned anything and no one would know about the changes with Preston because they hadn’t said anything until just now.

That still didn’t explain the guards.

Nathan shrugs, but there's something in his expression that tells me he knows more than he's saying.

"I'd tell you if I knew." He pauses, glancing between the three of us again.

"I came here as your doctor, but as your friend?

Keep your head down. Don't do anything stupid and protect your Omegas.

I can only imagine that whatever experiment is going on in Wolfscorge is about to get a lot more interesting. "

Nathan throws us a wary smile before making a beeline toward the door, none of us trying to stop him.

Not that any of us are in the headspace to wrangle Nathan at this point either.

I’m still trying to understand how we went from one to two pregnant Omegas that might very possibly deliver at the same fucking time.

Thane nudges my side and I look up to see Kael still fuming inches from where Nathan was.

“Fuck, yeah, okay,” I mutter, making my way over to my Alpha.

The tension is thick enough to slice, the power of his Alpha almost terrifying, but it’s a sweet comfort to me.

Without a word, he pulls me into his chest, his arms wrapping around my back.

He hums into my neck, a low rumbling sound that vibrates through both of us, and holds onto me for several seconds in complete silence.

The gesture is so unlike his usual gruff demeanor that it catches me off guard.

"You seem stressed," I chuckle against his shoulder, breathing in his familiar scent.

"I watched Slate finger fuck our Omega before I fucked him, and then he had the audacity to say thank you ," Kael says, his voice muffled against my skin.

I laugh into Kael's chest, the sound bursting out of me before I can stop it. "Sorry, that's not funny." I pull back slightly to look at him, though I'm still fighting back amusement. "Kael, he's baiting you, you know that, right?"

Kael's expression shifts, a mix of frustration and something that might be embarrassment showing up on his face. "I'm aware. Preston gave me a whole talk about it. Said that I need to start making my own gestures and shit. Preston told me to build him a den."

I know for a fact that Kael doesn't do sweet. He never has, and he probably never will. It's not in his nature to be soft or romantic, and trying to force it is only going to backfire spectacularly. The idea of him attempting to build Slate a den makes me cringe internally.

"Hey, Alpha, please, for the love of god, do not build him a den.

" I grip his arms to make sure he's looking at me.

"Do you remember when we tried to build Preston's nest for him when he first got pregnant?

He was throwing up, feverish, and could barely move without groaning, and he still pinned us with that adorable stare of his.

I know Preston gave you a suggestion, but think about it," I continue.

"When you put Slate in his place in the pool house, did you notice anything? "

Kael's brow furrows as he considers the question. "He hated it."

"Did he?" I raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to really think about it.

The realization dawns on his face slowly. "Fuck."

"Slate likes a bit of the pain," I say. "He wants you to be rough, while still retaining some of the control. Make the simple gestures, definitely, but Slate doesn't want sweet. He doesn't need sweet. He just needs to know that he means something."

Slate isn't Preston. He doesn't need to be coddled or treated like delicate glass.

Not that Preston needs that either, but he enjoys our softer sides.

Slate's been through hell, rejected by six packs, scarred both physically and emotionally.

Sweet gestures would probably make him feel patronized or pitied, which is the last thing he needs.

"I made it very clear where he stands before," Kael huffs out, his words tinged with regret.

"I know, so make it very clear that you've changed your mind," I tell him. "If you don't, you're going to be hurting more than just Preston."

As much as I hate forcing Kael into a relationship with Slate, I also know it’s inevitable.

It’s never been that Kael hates our new Omega, but that he doesn’t trust easily, and Slate is an unknown.

We’ve been thrown too many of those in the last several years, Kael’s sole focus on protecting Preston.

The fact that Kael’s out here while our Omegas are wrapped up together somewhere tells me how much he already trusts Slate, even if he won’t admit it.

I offer Kael a small smile, one of his hands gently wrapping around the front of my neck as his thumb brushes against my lips. I’m not sure what to do with this tender side of him, but I embrace it anyway, realizing he’s just as confused about all these changes as I am.

“Let’s talk about something else,” he muses, a smirk playing on his face. He presses the tip of his thumb into my mouth, my lips parting slightly. “Maybe about how you're over there kissing my cousin."

"Anything but that," I say quickly, hoping he'll let it drop.

“But I think I might like watching that, watching you fall apart on my cousin’s knot. Watching you scream for mercy as he takes you up against a wall. Maybe we’ll both stuff you full, knot you, and pin you between us.”

My face flames at the absurdity of Kael’s statement, but my body betrays me, Kael reaching down to cup me through my pants.

His purr starts up, making my reaction even worse as my hips rock into his grip.

His other hand moves to the back of my neck, squeezing just enough to make me gasp, heat bleeding through me as my Alpha holds me.

Dear god, we’re all going to be in fucking trouble.

Having two pregnant Omegas is bad enough. Having an Alpha who wants to see me stuffed with two knots is going to be utter chaos.