Page 10 of Safe in His Arms

“I would hope not, little wolf. You’re all mine.”

Devon spoke under his breath, but Roman heard it anyway, “Yours…” It wasn’t quite a question. It sounded more like his mate was trying to figure out what it meant.

They drove the rest of the way without incident, but once they got into the compound, Ro started pointing out homes. Which home belonged to which person, until they got to his place.

His mate didn’t speak, but Roman knew he’d heard every word, so that was okay. He would imagine Devon had a lot to process. Not to mention the fact that it was clear his mate was scared of another alpha.

Ro wasn’t focusing on that right now, his main concern was getting his mate home and comfortable and the rest he would figure out later, because if there was anyone out there terrorizing his mate, they would have to answer to him.

Before all that, Ro had to make sure that Devon understood that he would never hurt him. The easiest way was the mating bond, because then his mate would be able to discern how Ro felt about him.

Since he couldn’t just bite the man without his permission, well, they would have to do it the human way, at least till his mate was comfortable, or till his heat kicked in, and Roman knew from his papa and his alpha/omega sex ed., fated mate alpha pheromones could bring on an omega heat, so they still had a little time…

At least he hoped so.

Chapter Six

Devon

The only reason Devon was agreeing to any of this was because his wolf was calm… happy even, and that was the first time Devon could remember that being the case in a very, very long time.

He knew it was a risk trusting an alpha, but his wolf trusted this man, and Devon felt like he could too. Plus, the alpha had been nothing but nice to him, and he…gods, he smelled wonderful.

He smelled like home. Not that he could remember having a home if he was honest. Devon didn’t even have clear memories of his parents.

His brain tried bringing up what Anton smelled like, but Devon blocked all thoughts of the other alpha out. Instead he focused on the one in the car with him. Roman smelled how Devon imagined a home would. A home where he was welcome, and loved. That was how the alpha smelled.

Devon’s brain tried to tell him that the alpha might be hiding his true nature, but as scared as he was of ever coming out now, his wolf always gave him a warning if something bad was about to happen. Not that it ever made a difference. You couldn’t prepare for pain.

Devon knew that there were nice alphas in the world. Some of the alphas in his old pack were even okay, but then Anton would chase off any alpha that didn’t support him and his ways.

Another thing that his brain couldn’t stop turning around was that Roman was…hismate. That felt weird to even think about. All his life Devon had been told that fated mates were a lie that would lead to the extinction of their species.

But, whenever he thought the words, his wolf full-on purred. That was the only way to describe it.

It was obvious to him that Roman was aroused, but he could also tell that the alpha was suppressing, or trying to in any case, but Roman’s scent was doing things to Devon’s body which he couldn’t explain outside of his heat.

Anton told him he was defective, because he didn’t have his slick outside heat, but Devon wasn’t in heat right now, and this alpha’s scent was making him slick, and his dick hard.

Fuck, he had to control himself, he didn’t want to… actually he wasn’t sure what he wanted. Being aroused outside his heat wasn’t something that had happened for him… maybe not ever. It was also confusing.

He had to admit though, Roman was attractive… that didn’t feel right. The man was gorgeous. He had this beautiful dark blue eyes, and dark blond hair. He was tall… taller than Anton, and broad.

When he looked around again, they’d pulled off the main road and into a forest-lined road. His breathing got shallower, not sure where they were. Not that he’d known before, but before he could ask Roman any question, they came upon an estate? That’s what it looked like, an estate in the forest, with houses of different sizes. Was that a general store? How didn’t Devon know this was here?

Probably because you made it a point to stay away from anything that resembled pack lands.

Even where he’d set up camp, it was a tourist campsite, so Devon had known he wouldn’t need permission to stay there, but this was nothing like his old pack’s town. This was pretty, and nice, and almost looked suburban. If it wasn’t for the forest that hid it, he would have thought Roman had pulled up in suburbia.

They drove farther in. Roman began pointing out homes, and telling Devon who they belonged to. Although he would admit he wasn’t listening. He was so in awe of the whole place.

His former pack had lived in a forest too, kind of, but the houses were nowhere near this nice. Everything was run down and falling apart.

Devon so couldn’t wait to see this place in the light of day. A part of his brain told him not to get too comfortable, but he ignored it. His brain was ruled by fear, but his wolf had kept him safe this far, and he was telling Devon that everything would be okay.

Devon had been running for almost seven months now, and like all wolves, he was a pack creature. Even in his old pack, he’d spent most of his time, when he wasn’t … nope, he wasn’t going there, but usually, he spent his time with the four other omegas that served the alpha.

Unfortunately for him, unlike the others, Devon had a stubborn streak—at least that was what Anton said—probably why he was the only one that had run away. He hated to think that his being gone meant someone else would be treated worse, but after his last beating, Devon’s wolf had told him to run, and he had… without looking back. Although admittedly, he did look over his shoulder a lot.