Page 15 of The Beta’s Heart (Five Fangs #5)

Tyler

I eyed the clock with a mix of dread and determination. River was ready to go, his fur fluffed up so he looked like a puffball.

Today was supposed to be a peaceful meet-and-greet with Reau. After yesterday’s incident, I wanted to make sure River wouldn’t scare him again.

Now listen, buddy, I said calmly and quietly. You can’t be so enthusiastic with Reau. He’s had a rough time and might get scared easily. Can you do that for me?

Yep-yep! But what dat e word means? River’s big, liquid eyes blinked at me.

It means you have to be nice and gentle. You know how you sometimes get really excited and make a mess? Well, you need to be the opposite of that.

River’s tail wagged a little, and he gave me a nod, but I could see he was still a bit confused.

Me no make mess. Me just happy!

Exactly , I said with a sigh. But Reau might not understand you’re happy. He might think you’re being scary if you’re too extra.

Me no want scare Reau. Me only want make fend. River’s ears perked up, his head tilting as he tried to process.

That’s what I want, too . Just remember, slow and steady. No jumping or barking. Be like… Hmm. Be like a big, gentle teddy bear.

River seemed to understand that comparison, his tail wagging harder as he hopped around in a small circle, making the dishes rattle in the cupboard and the floor shake.

Me big teddy! No bark, no jump. Just gentle bear good boy.

Perfect. And try to use your inside voice, okay? Em said Reau’s scared of loud noises.

Otay, Ty-Ty.

Thanks, Riv. I know you’ll do great. Reau’s been through a lot, and we want this to be a good experience for him.

With that, I let him leave the house, hoping this went well.

#

River

Me run in woods, and trees zoom by. So excited to make new fend! Ty-Ty say be gentle bear—Wait! What dat noise?

Someting snuffle-shuffle in dah bushies! Oh, boy, birdies! Fun to flush! Me dive in bushies and birdies flap-flap-flap, make lots of noise. Me try to catch dem, but dey fly too high. Birdies all get away.

You’re getting distracted, Ty-Ty say.

Birdies so fun! Want to chase more! But not want to make Ty-Ty mad. Me go back to trail and trot-trot-trot. Me want be good teddy boy for Ty-Ty.

Soon me see big, fancy house. Yay! Finally here! Get to meet baby brudder! Ty-Ty say udder name, but Winnie and Will-yum call baby brudder Toro. Me call baby brudder Toro, too! Easy to say!

Em wait on porch wif Toro. Me sniffy-sniff and smell Cove, but not smell Toro wolf.

Where Toro wolf? me ask Ty-Ty.

Em said that Reau’s wolf, Tanner, is asleep, but I think it’s more than that , Ty-Ty say wif sad eyes.

What tink, Ty-Ty?

I think his wolf is gone. No one can sense him, smell him, talk to him, or even feel him.

Wolf go to Moon Goddess? Why?

Like I said the other day, wherever he came from, the people were very, very mean to him, Ty-Ty say. Don’t talk about it, though, okay? It would only upset Em and make Reau sad.

Upset Em? Eh. Ty-Ty deal wif Em. But make Toro sad? No, no, nopey no!

Me hush my mouf ’bout dead wolf, me promise.

Yes, please do.

Me run to big house, hop up stairs—one, two, tree!—den take deep breaf.

Me want Toro like me. Want make new fend. Want show Ty-Ty dat me is gentle bear and big teddy and good boy.

And me WILL!

Hello, Toro! me say, member-embering all Ty-Ty say. Me big boy and good teddy and gentle bear! Promise!

Toro eyes go so big! He smile and put hand out. Me sniff, careful-careful.

“Hi, River! You’re so soft!” he coo and pet me. Me like! Toro so gentle and not pull fur! “Can I hug you?”

Dat a good idea! Me nod, and Toro give tight hug. So nice and warm, and me want to be good gentle bear and big teddy boy for him.

You’re doing so well, baby, Ty-Ty say.

Yay! Ty-Ty happy, too!

Me wag tail and lick Toro face. He giggle and stand up.

“Do you want to play tag with me?” he ask.

Me so excited! Me bark and jump, den member-ember Ty-Ty say no bark, no jump.

Uh-oh! Ears down, tuck tail ’tween legs.

It’s okay, buddy, Ty-Ty say, his voice kind and soft. Ty-Ty always so nice. He’s not scared, so it’s okay.

Dat good. Me want Toro be fend for always and always.

Yep-yep, Toro! Me play tag!

“You can be it first!” Toro yell and run off.

Oh, boy, me gets to be its! Me chase Toro. He quick! Fun, fun, fun!

I’m so proud of you, Ty-Ty whispers. Such a good boy.

Someting in me feel warm, warm, warm.

Tanks you, Ty-Ty! Was good idea to come! Toro new fend!

You like him, huh?

Toro wonnerful!

Just like you, baby, Ty-Ty say.

Yay! Me a wonnerful big gentle teddy bear good boy for Ty-Ty!

#

Tyler

“So what’s up, pup?” Alpha Jay plopped next to me on one of the two bean bags amid the gaming chairs and cushions scattered around the man cave.

This was the alphas’ sanctuary, a huge room in their house filled with a full-sized bowling alley, skee ball, air hockey, and more video games than any old-school arcade ever had. Dim, warm light from the vintage hanging lamps bathed the room, giving it a cozy and intimate feel.

Usually, I loved being invited in here, but now I fidgeted with the hem of my t-shirt as I tried to gather my courage.

It was the night before my eighteenth birthday, and I didn’t know who else to go to. Landry was as much of a virgin as I was and it looked like that might never change. Nia had screwed his head up so much, his walls were now thirty feet high and rigged with explosives. I doubted he’d ever even be comfortable enough to talk to girls again, let alone take a chosen mate.

Then there was my other friend, Reuben Ford, who didn’t keep it a secret that he was sexually active with both boys and girls, but after being tormented by a lesser demon at Tall Pines, his head was as screwed up as Landry’s. The deltas and witches were helping him, but he was still struggling, and I didn’t want to burden him with my issues right now .

That left Emerson, the only other one in the pack who I would have felt close enough or safe enough to talk to about the topic, but he was gay and mated to a man. What advice could he offer me?

Which was why I was here in the alpha house with a group of guys I considered my big brothers. I knew they’d help me, but they were going to tease me until they brought out that splotchy red blush I hated so much. Still, I didn’t have much choice, so, taking a deep breath, I told myself to man up and do it.

“Um, I need help with something, alphas.”

“You know, Ty, you don’t need to call us by our titles. You’re practically our little brother, and if you find your mate tomorrow, it might even be—”

“That’s kind of what I need help with,” I interrupted Alpha Jay, then swallowed hard. “I’m not convinced I’ll be gifted with a mate, but, uh, on the off chance I am, could you tell me about… Ahem. Tell me about mating?”

“Aw! You hear that?” Alpha Wyatt crowed. “Our little pup’s all grown up!”

My cheeks and ears burned already, and I dropped my face into my hands, although the coolness of my palms did little to soothe the heat radiating from my skin.

It make girls go coo, River beamed at me.

Yeah, that doesn’t help with the blushing, Riv.

But it do. Blush make girls go coo.

“All right, Tyler.” Alpha Wyatt rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “It’s time to tell you all about Mr. Penis and his amazing pup-making juice.”

I blinked, my mouth falling open in disbelief. The room erupted in laughter, the sound bouncing off the walls, except for Alpha Mase, who kept his usual stone-face and only rolled his eyes.

“I know how my penis works, thank you very much,” I ground out through my teeth. “What I want to know is how to, um. I mean, I want to know how to, ah, satisfymymatesoIdon’tdisappointher.”

Then I covered my head with both arms and folded over my knees, wishing I could disappear into the bean bag chair under me.

“ Come again?” Alpha Wyatt snickered. “That was hard to understand. Are you sure you’re up for this conversation? Maybe it’s too big for you to handle .”

I strangled on embarrassment, knowing my whole head glowed red now, and the warmth spread down my neck, making me feel like I was on fire.

“Stop teasing him, Wy,” Alpha Mase rumbled. “This is difficult enough for him. ”

“And it took a lot of courage to come here and ask,” Alpha Jay added.

“ And our mate is going to tan your hide if you don’t stop,” Alpha Cole warned him.

“All right, all right,” Alpha Wyatt gave in. “So I guess it’s the Miss Clit talk instead.”

Miss who?

Me not know, River shrugged.

I raised my head from my hiding spot, my curiosity piqued despite being mortified by this whole topic.

“What’s a clit?”

The grin that spread across Alpha Wyatt’s face was scarier than any of River’s explosions had ever been.

“Oh, little Ty-Ty,” he smirked as he cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing ominously in the room, “we have so much to teach you.”

Thank the Goddess, Alpha Mase took over, his expression as serious as it ever was.

“All right, Ty, here’s the deal. The clit, or clitoris, is a very sensitive part of a woman’s anatomy. It’s crucial for her pleasure. It’s not only about stimulating it, though. It’s about understanding what she needs and paying attention to her reactions.”

“Exactly,” Alpha Ash chimed in, not even teasing this time. “You need to communicate with your mate. Every woman is different, and what works for one might not work for another. Be patient, be attentive, and make sure she’s comfortable.”

“And remember, it’s not a race,” Alpha Jay added. “Take your time and make her feel loved and cherished.”

“And when it’s over, you have to cuddle and kiss her and say sweet words,” Alpha Cole said. “Foreplay arouses her body, but aftercare soothes her heart and soul.”

I listened intently, absorbing every word they had to say. I wasn’t so naive that I didn’t understand the mechanics of sex, but I’d take all the advice I could get on the rest of mating!

They went on to explain how to prepare my mate if she was a virgin, then Alpha Jay described how he’d taken luna with one solid thrust, thinking to get the pain over with as quickly as possible. That sounded barbaric to me, and I shuddered at the thought of hurting my mate in any way, but especially while doing that .

When Alpha Mase warned me that she might bleed, I freaked out a little, and Alpha Cole said I couldn’t do that with her because she would need comfort and care, not a panicking man to deal with.

“I get it,” I told him with a nod. “I hate the idea of my mate hurt and bleeding because of me, though.”

“We didn’t like it either, but it’s nature, and there’s no way around it,” Alpha Ash pointed out.

“And it’s only for the first time,” Alpha Wyatt added. “After that, it’s smooth sailing, and you can start experimenting to discover what you both like and don’t like.”

“You mean positions?” The red in my cheeks was never going to go away after this.

“Yeah, and where she likes your touch and where she doesn’t and stuff like that.”

“The same goes for you, too, Ty,” Alpha Jay said. “If you don’t like her doing something, tell her. It’s not the time to be silent about things that make you uncomfortable.”

“Um, can we go back to Miss Clit for a second?” I swallowed hard and made myself look at them. “So, ah, where exactly is she?”

All five alphas blinked at me for several moments, then Alpha Wyatt opened his mouth, but Alpha Mase quickly leaned over and slapped his hand over it, making me sigh in relief. Before anyone else could, Alpha Ash jumped in. I wasn’t too sure he was going to be any better, but it was too late now.

“Between her legs are two soft flaps—” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck. “Um, that doesn’t sound so nice. What’s a better word, Jay?”

“Folds, maybe?”

“Yeah, okay, I like folds.” Alpha Ash grinned widely. “Mmm, yeah. Soft, silky, wet—”

“Get back on track, Ash,” Alpha Cole growled. “None of us needs a boner right now.”

“Sorry. Anyway, Ty, you part those folds and there it is at the top, waiting for you like a pearl hidden inside the flesh of an oyster.”

“Excellent simile, bro,” Alpha Jay clapped his hands softly. “Even if it exhausted your yearly supply, it was a good one.”

Alpha Ash narrowed his eyes as he tried to determine if he’d been complimented or insulted, and I hurried to ask my next question before he figured it out.

“And what do you do with it?”

“You rub it.” Alpha Wyatt had finally wormed out of Alpha Mase’s hold. “With your finger, your thumb, your knee, your tongue, your tip—”

“Wait. Tongue ?” I interrupted, blinking rapidly. I was supposed to put my mouth down there ?!

“You don’t have to do that, Ty,” Alpha Mase assured me. “If you’re not comfortable with oral sex, then don’t do it. Same with anal sex. You’re in the relationship, too. Like Jay said, don’t force yourself to do something you don’t like because you think you have to.”

I nodded, swallowing hard.

“If you’re fixing to try anal sex, though, make sure you have plenty of lube,” Alpha Ash offered. “You need lots and lots of lube and stretching before you plow her ass.”

“I don’t think I will ever be interested in that,” I told him as I tried to keep a straight face and not grimace at the idea of playing around with someone’s butt hole, even if she was my mate.

“You never know what you might like until you try it,” he said with a shrug. “If you do, I’ll be happy to share all my secrets with you so you both have the most pleasurable experience possible.”

Alpha Ashy a ass man, Riv giggled, and my jaw dropped for the second time tonight.

River! You do not cuss, baby. That’s bad!

Me just say what Siddy say.

“It’s true,” Alpha Jay snickered. “Ash can’t leave Posy’s ass alone for anything.”

“Would y’all please stop talking?” Alpha Wyatt demanded with a frown. “I was about to tell him the secret move for Miss Clit when you interrupted me, Ash!”

“The floor is yours, bro.” Alpha Ash even bowed as he swept his arm out in a wide half-circle.

I almost dreaded what Alpha Wyatt was about to say since I knew how crude his mouth could get. Still, he had all the experience, and I had none.

“So, Ty, you know how when you’re working on a car, you use a wrench to break a nut loose from a bolt, then tickle it the rest of the way off with your fingers?”

“I never thought of it as tickling, but okay?” I raised an eyebrow.

“ That’s what you do to Miss Clit,” he declared, miming the motion with his fingers, and my blush went nuclear.

“Wyatt!” Alpha Cole groaned.

“What? It’s true!” Alpha Wyatt defended himself with scowl. “Posy loves when—”

Alpha Mase leaned over and slapped him upside the head.

“We didn’t need the visual, and Ty doesn’t need the details!”

“Well, I needed the visual,” Alpha Ash sassed, “and Wyatt’s right! You do that to your mate’s clit, Ty, or even up inside her pussy, and she’ll fall apart faster than—Hmm. Quick, Jay, what’s something that falls apart fast?”

“Your train of thought?”

“ GRRRR! ”

This time, Alpha Ash caught on immediately and launched himself at Alpha Jay, hitting him so hard that the bean bag chair under him split at the seams with a sound like an explosion, showering the surrounding area with soft white bits.

“Dammit, Ash!” Alpha Jay howled as he wrestled his cousin onto his back. Grabbing fistfuls of Alpha Ash’s thick brown curls, he smashed the dude’s head into the remains of the bean bag over and over. “Why the hell are you the way you are?!”

“Language!” Alpha Mase snarled as he went over and dragged him off of Alpha Ash.

“Maybe because of what you’re doing to him right now?” Alpha Cole pinched the bridge of his nose. “Goddess knows, he’s had more concussions than all of us put together. Even with Sid healing him, some parts of his brain have to be nothing but jelly by now.”

Ignoring all of his brothers, Alpha Ash rolled around in the sea of shredded memory foam and started fanning his arms and legs, and it took me a minute to realize he was making a snow angel.

“You’re a special kind of crazy, bro.” Alpha Wyatt rolled his eyes.

“Good news is, I never pretend to be anything else,” Alpha Ash giggled. “Bad news is, I never pretend to be anything else.”

“Ty, you have enough answers for now?” Alpha Mase asked. “We only have one more LoveSac left. It may be safe since you’re sitting in it, but Posy likes them too much to risk it being exploded before I can order more.”

“I thought they were practically indestructible,” I chuckled.

“For a human maybe,” he deadpanned, but I could see his gray eyes twinkling with humor, “but not for a seven-foot-tall wolf shifter who weighs more than moose and likes to hit them at full speed.”

“And the cover is in the laundry,” Alpha Cole pointed. “That probably affected its structural integrity.”

“You want to know why the cover’s in the laundry, Ty?” Alpha Wyatt’s silvery blond eyebrows wiggled up and down as he smirked. “Because we discovered that bending Posy over one—”

“Wyatt!” alphas Mase and Cole growled, and Alpha Jay tittered at him for getting into trouble.

Shaking my head at these crazy guys, I told them I was good and thanked them, then suggested that Peri could probably fix their busted bean bag chair.

“I mean, she always looks so cute in the clothes she makes for herself, so she must know something about sewing,” I pointed out .

All their eyes locked on me as the room fell dead silent, and I froze, wondering what I’d said to earn their concentrated attention.

“Good idea,” Alpha Mase said after a moment. “We’ll ask her. Ash, in case she can, put all that foam in some large garbage bags after you’re done playing in it.”

“All right, pup,” Alpha Cole narrowed his eyes on me, “you up for a game of pool?”

Of course I was. He was the best player in the pack, and it was a privilege to learn from him. We made our way to the pool table while Alpha Mase supervised Alpha Ash cleaning up the mess and Alpha Wyatt used a broom to brush the stray pieces off of Alpha Jay.

As Alpha Cole racked the balls, I smiled, my chest warm with happiness. These guys really were like family, and their support meant the world to me. I was still nervous about the whole mating thing, but I knew more now than I did before I came here.

Hopefully, that’ll make a difference.