Page 34 of In the Mouth of the Wolf (Of Wolves and Kings #1)

34

CAMDEN

“W ell?” Elias asked as I came back down the stairs.

“Operation Eyrie was a success.” I closed my eyes, reaching through Elias to check in with Marlowe. The bond was smooth and peaceful. “Can’t you feel how much better she is already?”

Elias’s jaw ticked in annoyance. “Yeah, but you kind of stole my thunder, and I wanted to…”

I arched my eyebrow and he huffed, giving up. “Okay, fine. I owed you one.”

I nodded and jumped over the back of the couch to sit, the weight on my chest lifting as I flopped down. “Now we just gotta beat the shit outta Nolan.”

My hands curled into fists at my side. What the hell had he done to her? Gotten into some weird fight about how tomatoes were technically a fruit or something stupid like that? I knew how much he loved being right about dumb shit.

“Look,” Archer started. “No matter what happened, we need to remain calm and not stress Marlowe out any further. Did you not feel her regret over the bond? If she rejects it…”

My chest still ached from the sharp pain of her remorse.

Archer, in typical Archer fashion, had put together a “handbook for alpha-omega bonds” based on his research for us. Shifters were social animals – we learned by watching others’ behaviors. Since there hadn’t been an alpha-omega bond here in nearly a century, we didn’t have any examples to go by. We were going off instinct and outdated anecdotes mostly, so Archer wanted to be thorough.

I’d skimmed through most of it – it was a little dense to get through, but I had read the warnings about bond rejection.

Omegas had a built-in cooling-off period and could reject bonds if they tried hard enough. In the past, some alphas had found a loophole by just barking at their omegas until the bond was settled, never giving them a chance to be alone enough in their thoughts to initiate the break.

But we weren’t those types of alphas.

If an omega was able to successfully dissolve the bond, it was said that the alphas would never be the same. They’d go through life feeling like a part of them was always missing and wouldn’t be able to form a bond with anyone else. It was like losing your soul.

Marlowe was already my everything. The first thing I thought about in the morning and the last thing I thought about at night. Even a taste of her bond rejection had been one of the worst things I’d ever felt.

I touched base with her again, and she seemed better for now. Tranquil, even. I wanted to keep it that way.

“Okay, fine,” I grumbled. “We’ll beat the shit out of him figuratively, then.”

About ten minutes later, Nolan finally pulled up, bringing the groceries inside.

I kept my mind focused on Marlowe and her need for non-violence as he entered, tail between his legs. “What the fuck happened?” I yelled.

Calmly .

He sighed and put the bags down on the floor, running his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. Really. I asked her to go to the liquor store and pick out the wine, but she came back empty-handed and on the verge of tears. She wouldn’t tell me anything, so I took her over there and found two guilty-looking, bitchy beta females. I saw red. I knew they’d done something, but Marlowe kept begging me to leave it alone. She and I argued and… I think she thought I was going to hit her.”

Archer leapt over the distance between them and pummeled him into the ground.

Elias and I looked at each other, our eyes wide open in surprise. So much for Mr. We-Can’t-Beat-Each-Other-Up.

Nolan didn’t even put up a fight. He accepted every punch until Elias and I finally pulled Archer off him. “How could you?” he seethed. “She regrets the bond because of you!”

I nodded at Elias and he took Archer out of the room to cool down. I sighed and walked over, helping Nolan back up. Blood dripped from his nose and his eyes were starting to swell shut. “Well, it’s a good thing Marlowe needs some space because if she saw you right now, she’d likely freak out all over again.”

Nolan walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a bag of peas out of the freezer, bringing it to his cheek while looking at me suspiciously. “How are you the calm one in all of this?”

I chuckled darkly. “Oh, beneath this placid surface, I’m a hurricane of fury, believe me. But Marlowe’s tucked away in her new nest and seems to be feeling better, and my desire to keep it that way is greater than my need to kill you. At least for now.”

He snorted. “Well, that’s comforting.”

I took a deep breath, bracing myself for what would come next. For a difficult decision I might have to make, depending on the answer. “I have to know. You said Marlowe thought you were going to hurt her. Were you?”

His eyes widened in horror. “Never,” he answered emphatically. “Cam, how can you even ask that?”

I cracked my neck. “You know I had to. I love you like a brother, but if you’re a threat to Marlowe…”

He shook his head in shame. “I get it, but the same drive to protect her runs in me, too. Just the idea of it… I can’t even imagine. It’s unthinkable.”

He slumped down on one of the stools around the island, gingerly checking the skin around his eyes. “She said something that got to me, and I was mad. Really mad. But all she saw in that moment was an angry alpha who’d just threatened two females, and I think she thought I was going to...”

He couldn’t even say the words, his shame was a heavy stink.

I rubbed my hand down my face. “What did she say to you?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yeah, kind of. I want to know if she was right or not.”

He switched the bag to his other cheek. “She kept telling me to drop it about whatever those two betas had done, but I couldn’t. When she finally dragged me out, she said what I did wasn’t about her. It was about my ego.”

My eyes closed as I tried to think about it from her point of view. She wasn’t used to physical displays of dominance. For an omega who had until last week believed she was a human and who had lived in a world with only humans, that kind of male aggression would likely be terrifying, especially towards another female. Nolan could have listened to her and let it go, but once it was publicly out there, he’d be perceived as weak for not protecting her. Even if the offenders were female. He had needed to make an example of them to make sure the community didn’t think it was okay to treat her poorly.

“I really want to know what they said to her,” he added.

We held the silence between us for a minute. “Not gonna lie, if it’d been me at the store today, I would have done the same thing,” I finally replied.

“Yeah?”

“Probably worse.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Probably.”

“So, who does she hate the least at the moment that can try to coax it out of her?”

Nolan sighed, putting down the peas and heading back towards the groceries by the front door. “I don’t want her to feel ganged up on, but I think this is something we need to talk about as a whole pack.”

Maybe he was right. “Well, why don’t you get started on your stupid lasagna, then? She might open up over dinner.”

I left him to it and then went downstairs to watch something, but I felt on edge and couldn’t get comfortable or concentrate. After an hour or so, I went upstairs to listen outside of Marlowe’s door to make sure she wasn’t crying.

“Cam? Is that you?”

Shit. Her hearing had gotten a lot better since she had shifted. “Yeah, sorry, just checking in. I’ll leave you alone.”

I took a step to move when she replied quietly. “Can you cuddle with me?”

Score .

I walked in and found her on the bed, wrapped up, looking like a swaddled pup in a blanket while watching some movie. “Join my cocoon?”

“Hell yeah, let’s metamorphosize, baby.”

A small smile grew on her face, and she gestured to her table, where a half-empty box sat. “The chocolates are acceptable, by the way.”

After rearranging the blankets, I crawled up behind her on the bed, pulling her into me and losing myself in her sweet smell. Marlowe was a drug, and I was hopelessly addicted. “What are you watching?” I asked.

“ A Christmas Through Time .”

Her ass fit deliciously against my crotch, and my cock hardened. “Sorry about him. Can’t do much about it.”

“That’s fine,” she answered listlessly. “Just be quiet, I’m into this.”

I did as instructed, not wanting to get kicked out. Being invited into the nest was a big deal.

But the movie was already halfway through, and the story was confusing me. “Wait, I thought they were broken up.”

She grumbled under her breath and paused the film. “They will be broken up in the future. The movie is about a guy who is living through every Christmas of his life – past, present, and future – until he learns the true meaning of the holiday and proposes to his girlfriend who he’s been stringing along.”

“Oh, so it’s a stupid version of A Christmas Carol ?”

She raised her eyebrows suspiciously. “You’ve read Dickens?”

“Who? I’m talking about the movie with the Muppets.”

Marlowe sighed deeply and allowed herself a laugh. “Your English teacher must have loved you.”

“Jokes on you, I was Mrs. Silvano’s favorite.” I waited a beat before asking, “Sooo, you like this kinda stuff?”

She turned the movie back on. “I know it’s silly, but yes. My mom and I loved watching crappy holiday romances together. It’s my first Christmas without her.”

“Ah shit, babe, I’m sorry.”

She grabbed my hand and placed it on her stomach, settling into me further. “Thanks. This year’s going to be different and hard for a lot of reasons.”

I could relate. The first year after I’d lost my dad, I was a mess.

“Let me know if you have any other holiday traditions, I’m more than happy to participate.”

She squeezed my hand in thanks, and I shut my mouth for good.

I still didn’t really follow, but of course the main character realized he was being a dumbass and saved his relationship and the holiday all in one big romantic gesture at the end.

When the credits started to roll, she paused the TV and turned around to face me. I waited for her to say something, but she remained quiet, her eyes studying mine.

Her expression was thoughtful. Wary. She reached for my cheek, her fingers lightly grazing my beard, and I relaxed and purred in response. The tension evaporated from her small frame.

“Today really sucked, but this is nice.”

I gave her a quick peck on the nose. “I think so, too.”

Her hand wandered down towards my chest, biting her lip and giggling. “This is really nice, too.”

The sweet scent of her arousal filled my nostrils, and my cock obeyed its siren call. “Not as nice as these,” I replied, lowering my head between her breasts and inhaling deeply.

Her laughs gave way to moans, and light touches turned into desperate grabs. Our clothes fell to the floor and we entwined our naked limbs, crashing against each other like waves against the shore.

Everything about her was soft – her skin, lips, hair… Her body was the yin to my yang, and we fit together in perfect harmony.

My mouth traveled down the column of her neck, tasting and savoring every inch of her perfection. “Cam,” she sighed, her head tilting back as her eyelids fluttered shut. She said my name like it was a prayer, but didn’t she know she was the goddess here?

Our first time together had been hot and heavy, but today, I wanted to properly worship my little omega and show her how good I could take care of her.

“You’re so perfect,” I breathed. My lips traveled further, encircling her pink nipple. I drew the peak out with my tongue, licking and sucking until she squirmed beneath me. Then I moved onto the next one.

After her other nipple received the same treatment, I headed further south. Her legs parted for me without hesitation, and I nestled myself between them, running my hands up her delicious thighs while teasing her clit with light licks. One of her hands went above to grab onto the headboard, while the other landed on my head, her fingernails scratching my scalp with just the right amount of pressure.

My tongue dived straight into her pussy and she gasped, her back arching as I ran it back up to her clit, circling with greater pressure. She tasted even sweeter than she smelled, her honeyed slick coating my beard as I lapped her into a frenzy. Every one of her pleasured whimpers caused my cock to twitch with the need to be inside her, but I wanted to feel her come on my face first.

I drew her clit gently between my teeth, flicking it with my tongue while her orgasm built. My fingers slid into her wet pussy, brushing up against her G-spot and pushing her over the edge. Her fingernails dug in deeper as she cried out, her muscles shaking as her breathy panting began to slow.

My cock was done waiting, and I flipped her on her side, spooning her from the back while I pulled her thigh up in the air. I pushed myself in slowly from behind, watching her face as she adjusted around me.

It felt like she was made for me, and it took no time at all before I could push all the way to my knot, thrusting slowly and deliberately, feeling every soft inch of her while she felt every hard inch of me.

Marlowe reached behind and grabbed my hip to steady herself, meeting me with her hazel eyes and her own grinding. I let go of her leg and began rubbing her clit again and she threw her head back into my chest. Her next climax came fast, and mine followed soon after at the feeling of her clenching around me.

One final push and my knot locked inside her, and our orgasms continued. I emptied myself, the pressure on my knot so great I thought I might pass out from pure pleasure.

Here, in my omega’s nest, with her in my arms and my knot in her, I was in heaven. How could life ever get more perfect than in this moment?

I held her in tightly to my chest, my lips finding my way to her neck again. The faint, silvered scarring from Elias’s bonding taunted me, but I couldn’t bite right now. I had to wait for her to want it. If we pushed it too hard, especially with the doubts she’d had today, we could force her into a rejection. I couldn’t risk it.

Instead, I licked the spot, sending a wave of ecstasy through her body that got sent right back to me – not just through the bond, but also through her clenching around my cock again. I moaned through my next release, squeezing her breasts as I came.

Our breathing eventually steadied, and I lightly brushed her skin with my fingers, enjoying every peak and valley the side of her provided while we waited for my knot to deflate.

“You know,” she started, her voice quiet. “I imagined you’d be the type to spew the filthiest stuff when we had sex.”

My knot inflated slightly. “You thought about us fucking?”

That was hot.

Her cheeks turned adorably pink. “It was the first day we met, after I called you a pig and checked into my hotel. I guess the heat explains why I was so inexplicably horny, and I tried to… relieve myself. All I could think about was you and Elias.”

I bit my lip, riding out the next chain of orgasms, my knot and cock hardening at the very idea of our little omega pleasuring herself to a fantasy of me. When we finally returned to Earth, I nipped her ear and lowered my voice as I whispered, “And you thought I’d say all kinds of nasty shit, huh? Like what?”

“I don’t know,” she whined, turning her embarrassed face into the mattress. “I can’t remember exactly. I just thought you’d be the type of guy who’d say ‘fuck’ and ‘cunt’ and ‘slut’ and stuff like that.”

My hand drifted down her abdomen. “Do you want me to?”

She shook her head. “No, I think you’re perfect.”

I groaned, surrendering myself to the next wave. I couldn’t believe I’d never gotten to experience this before. Betas weren’t built for knots, but omegas… It was the orgasmic aftershocks, extending our pleasure for twenty to thirty minutes after sex, that made me finally understand what “knotting” really meant. Growing up, it had almost been like an urban legend. Archer had even once speculated, years ago, that if omegas disappeared, alphas or knots might be next.

Well, thank the Moon that hadn’t happened yet.

“Babe, you can’t say stuff like that, it’s going to go straight to my head.”

She wiggled her ass and laughed. “Mm, which one?”

It took almost forty minutes for my knot to finally deflate.