Way of the Wolf - Scars of the Alpha 1/1

[insane_songbird]

Way of the Wolf - Scars of the Alpha

Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Words: 11,000
beta: candygramme
Disclaimer: This is complete fiction.
Warnings: Alpha!Jared, werewolf!Jensen, Dom/sub, violence/blood, biting, blood play, m/m sex, knotting, bestiality, underage(22/16)/age difference, claiming/marking, angst, some schmoop, injury/scarring




Way of the Wolf Masterpost

Summary: After narrowly surviving an attempt on his life, Jared recovers only slowly. His weakened state is jeopardizing his position as Alpha but it also takes a toll on his relationship with Jensen, who is busy trying to keep his mate alive and in power.


Jared grunted as he got out of bed, scabs and fresh scar tissue pulled by the movement. His fingers skimmed over the mess that his side had become ever since the fateful attack on his lands a little over a week ago. The wounds he had sustained healed slowly, as could only be expected when inflicted by silver, and he was far from his full strength yet. It was any Alpha’s nightmare. Weakness is something that wouldn’t be forgiven in his position, not by his enemies and not even by his own pack. The Alpha was the strongest wolf in the pack. Once that was not the case anymore, the pack would find itself a new Alpha. Jared was surprised they hadn’t done so already.

He walked gingerly towards the closet to put some clothes on. It was time he showed his pack that he wasn’t dead yet. He couldn’t remember the last time he got dressed. It had probably been before his almost fatal encounter with a swinging boulder full of silver spikes. Dressing definitely hadn’t been as difficult then as it was at the moment. He didn’t bother with more than the absolute necessities of jeans and a t-shirt, and the latter was mainly to hide the worst of his injuries from prying eyes. There was no need for his pack to see just how weakened he was.

On the way to the door he passed a mirror, and his steps faltered at his own reflection. He remembered the pain in his head and side when he’d been struck. But he hadn’t considered the implications beyond the immediate threat to his life and his strength. Over the collar of his shirt several fresh red scars were visible. One cut had run from his temple inwards in a horizontal line ending below his eye. A little higher and Jared would have had added the loss of that eye to the list of his injuries. Another spike had nicked his ear leaving a V-shaped cut on it. A scar ran out of his hairline onto his forehead. There was a distinct possibility that it was from the same blow that had hit his ear considering that he had been a wolf at the time. The last visible injury ran up the side of his neck leaving a scar that split that side of his jaw into two even halves.

Jared took inventory of his face for a long time. He was pale, and his eyes were rimmed with red and the gray shadow of weariness. Those things would fade over time, as would the angry red of his scars. The scars themselves however wouldn’t disappear like a normal wound. Silver always left a mark, and while they would grow pale and - ironically - silvery white, they would stick with him for the rest of his life. He frowned, trying to figure out why the thought of that bothered him. Scars were a part of life, a reminder of the battles survived and a badge of honor for someone like Jared. He had seen the wounds on the rest of his body tracing down one side from shoulder to hip, and they had been okay with him. But something about this was different.

He shook his head and turned towards the door. He would get used to it somehow. There was a limp in his walk, and he knew it wouldn’t be permanent but still tried to hide it as well as he was able. An Alpha didn’t limp.

As he exited the bedroom he looked around the quiet house. “Jensen?” There was no answer, and Jared sighed. His mate had been by his side constantly for the first days when he’d been critical. Anyone suggesting that he leave his Alpha’s side would have been glad to escape with his life. But once Jared had started healing properly, Jensen was gone for longer stretches of time. The Beta didn’t tell Jared what he was doing, but Jared was sure that it had something to do with the lack of pack challengers knocking on Jared’s door, eager to finish the job the silver hadn’t.

Jared decided to go to his office. He wasn’t sure leaving the house was the best idea in his current state, but he was unwilling to stay in the bedroom for any longer. His desk was a mess, and Jared eyed it with raised eyebrows. Someone had been busy and hadn’t bothered tidying up after themselves.

He decided that while being unable to do much in the way of Alpha business at the moment, he could at least clean up his own desk. Sitting down on the office chair made him realize how tired the little bit of moving around had already made him, and he shook his head at himself. He better get a grip soon or all the support in the world couldn’t keep him in the Alpha position.

It was frustrating that even sorting out papers was tiring to him, and Jared wanted to howl in anger after merely half an hour. He felt like a little puppy who was trying to play Alpha, and it enraged him beyond belief. Ever since he assumed the position, ever since he had earned it in a square fight, the other packs had looked at him as if he were a child playing around. Until that very moment he had never allowed these allegations any merit. Now that he felt like they were right, he wanted to throw this table across the room. But he couldn’t, and it only made his frustration simmer deeper.

“Jared.”

His eyes snapped up to see Jensen standing in the door. The Beta had always been good at sneaking into a room unheard. But if Jared hadn’t been so distracted by his angered thoughts, he would have smelled the young man the moment he’d entered the house.

“You’re up,” Jensen said with a smile on his face as he crossed the room with a few quick paces.

Jared tried to smile, back but there was the bitter taste of his own weakness still at the back of his mind. “Where have you been?”

Jensen shrugged at the change of subject as he rounded the desk and reached out to run his fingers through Jared’s hair. “Taking care of a few things.”

The vague answer made Jared frown in displeasure, and he jerked his head away from his beta’s hand. “Like what?”

The obvious disapproval in Jared’s reaction made Jensen’s hand snap back quickly. “I- I’ve been keeping order in the pack.” The Beta seemed suddenly aware that he was standing over an obviously annoyed Alpha and quickly dropped to the floor kneeling at Jared’s feet, looking up at his mate. “I’m your beta, the Beta. It’s my job to stand in when you’re...”

“Dying?” Jared suggested with a sigh. He knew that Jensen hadn’t done anything wrong. The anger Jared felt was mainly with himself for being so impossibly weak.

A shadow crossed Jensen’s face, a passing storm of something dark and feral. “You’re not dying, Jared. Now that you’re past the worst of it, the healing process will go a lot faster.”

For both their sakes, Jared hoped it was true. He reached out fingers tracing along his mate’s cheek and into his hair. Jensen leaned into it instinctively.

“When did you grow up so much?” Jared asked not even noticing that thought crossing his mind until it had already passed his lips. It was true. Jensen had stepped up. There was little left of the scared puppy Jared had mated with not so long ago.

Green eyes looked at him for a long moment, and when they blinked there was a wetness sticking to their corners. “When my mate almost died.”

And suddenly there he was again, the sixteen year old omega Jared had first laid eyes on. A switch had been flipped and Jensen seemed to have shrunk, a small tremor running down his arms. The moment one of the tears that had built up in the corner of Jensen’s eyes started rolling down, the young man lunged forward. His arms slung around Jared’s waist and he buried his head in the Alpha’s lap. He didn’t sob, didn’t cling to his mate - which Jared’s still healing wounds were quite thankful for - just stayed there, silent.

Jared put his hands in the youth’s short hair, let the strands run through his fingers like water. He knew that this hadn’t been easy on Jensen. Probably it had been harder for the Beta than the Alpha himself. Jared had been running on autopilot for the last week: sleeping, eating, healing. But Jensen had been the one who had to deal with the fallout of an attack on their own soil and a pack without its leader.

“You did great, Jensen,” Jared whispered, low enough that human ears would not have understood his words.

“You don’t even know what I did.” Jensen’s warm breath against Jared’s lap was as teasing as the movement of his mouth as he spoke without raising his head.

“I’m still Alpha, right?” Jared asked, and a tiny coil of uncertainty twisted in his stomach.

Jensen’s head snapped up like a whip. His eyes were still shining with residual wetness but their expression had changed into a brimstone stare. “Yes,” he hissed and a low growl vibrated in his chest. “You’re Alpha. Anyone who wants to challenge that needs to go through me first.”

There was a certainty in Jensen’s voice that Jared had rarely heard and his face was stony calm, jaw tight but unflinching. Not for a second could Jared doubt the truth of what Jensen was saying. He would defend his mate’s rank in this pack with his life. Maybe he already had.

The intensity in Jensen’s stare, the tight tone of every muscle in the young man’s body, it all made Jared’s blood run hot. He couldn’t help the sudden surge of need that rose in him like a wave crashing against a cliff. It was the Alpha’s instinctual reaction to his Beta’s unwavering devotion, to the power that rose in the young werewolf under such pressure. Power was the greatest aphrodisiac of all.

Jared pushed himself forward in his chair, and his lips crashed against Jensen’s, hard enough to split his lip a little against his teeth. The taste of blood made Jared’s pulse jump to a faster pace and he pushed further, sucking the drop of coppery liquid of Jensen’s lip. It wasn’t nearly enough. Biting down quick but shallow he pulled more blood to the surface while his mate groaned and sat up a little straighter as if his spine couldn’t help but stand at attention.

He wanted to pick Jensen up and throw him down on the desk but he knew that would be out of the question. Instead he pulled back, grabbing the front of Jensen’s shirt and pulled. “Up!” Jensen was on his feet faster than humanly possible. “Off!” Jared said with a second tug and his mate shrugged out of his shirt immediately and didn’t even wait for any further commands to let the rest of his clothes follow swiftly.

Jared loved looking at Jensen’s body, at the tiny, gradual changes he could find every now and again as his beta slowly turned from a lanky teenager into a stunning young man. He reached out and let his thumbs run over the youth’s hip bones before taking a hold of them to pull him in. He let his tongue run up Jensen’s stomach and loved the way the muscles there twitched under the attention.

“You’ve been a really good beta, Jensen,” he purred against soft skin and through the corners of his eyes he could see his mate’s fingers twitch as if they were dying to touch him but waiting for his sign. “Really good. What do you want?”

He could hear Jensen swallow. “I - I want to make you feel good. I want you to get better.”

A smile spread over Jared’s face. “Always the giver. That’s why you’re perfect for me.”

There was a little catch in the pace of Jensen’s breath at that compliment.

“Jensen, what do you want?”

There was a long pause before Jensen moved his restless hands to touch Jared’s shoulders as lightly as a gust of wind. “I want your teeth, Jared. Please.”

It was the perfect wish and Jared was more than eager to grant it to him. He hummed darkly as he moved his mouth over Jensen’s abdomen trying to decide on the right spot. He could feel his human teeth extending into fangs just at the thought and when he’s found just what he was looking for he sunk them in without hesitation or warning. Jensen’s hips jerked as Jared parted the soft, thin layer of skin above his left hip bone.

Jared enjoyed the moment, shuddered as fresh blood coated his lips and tongue and left his fangs embedded in the sweet flesh for a few long, drawn seconds in which Jensen trembled and stiffened as the invisible painpleasure of his mate marking him like this washed over him. When Jared finally pulled his teeth out Jensen sighed almost wistfully.

“You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.” Jared traced his fingers through the still bleeding bite and started drawing nonsensical patterns on the pale skin of the younger werewolf.

Jensen’s hands moved from Jared’s shoulders to his neck and up to gently ghost along his hairline. A sudden sting - more thought than actual feeling - made Jared grip them both by the wrist, tight fingers digging sharp nails into the sensitive skin. Jensen hissed but didn’t try to pull away.

Jared’s eyes turned towards the scars on his mauled face. He couldn’t actually see them with his own eyes without a mirror, but he knew exactly where they were. He didn’t say anything but maybe through instinct, maybe through the insight of a lover, Jensen seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.

“You’re stunning, Jared. They don’t matter,” he said leaning down to his alpha while his hands were still restrained tightly. Jensen’s breath warmed the side of Jared’s face before Jensen put a soft, slow kiss on the scar beneath Jared’s eye. “I’m yours, Alpha.”

Jensen’s eyes were glassy and a little unfocused, and Jared knew that he wasn’t the only one desperately needing what would come next. He pushed Jensen against the desk, and his beta stumbled backwards without any resistance, hips hitting the wood. Jared licked over the bloody crescent moons his nails had left on Jensen’s wrists and nipped more than bit first one than the other before letting go.

Jensen practically fell backwards against the table top as if Jared had drained him almost completely. Jared took the opportunity to let his attention slip lower and let his still blood-stained tongue run up Jensen’s cock. The beta was already all the way hard and Jared hummed as he took it all in in one big gulp, reveling in the gasp he received. His fingers explored lower, litte finding the place he wanted to be more than anywhere else in the world, circling and prodding.

He took his sweet time, sucking slow enough to make his beta whine and twitch and he pushed in two dry fingers. Jensen’s restraint was remarkable and Jared pulled away grinning before pushing Jensen’s legs further apart to find the sensitive expanse of flesh that was right in-between. His tongue there made Jensen shudder. But as he bit down, his teeth made the beta shout out as his entire body tensed, and he came.

Jared slowly undid the buttons on his jeans before he ran his fingers through the white strings coating Jensen’s stomach loving the sweet and salty smell of his mate filling the room. “Turn around.”

Jensen panted as if it was a physical strain to move but he complied immediately, bowing over the desk as the Alpha finally rose from his chair. He coated his own erection with the sticky fluid of Jensen’s release and pressed against the tight opening that was all his. Jensen was barely prepared but he still pushed backward immediately.

“Can you take me, Jensen?” Jared teased as he pushed just so but not enough to breach the muscle.

“Yes, Alpha. I can take anything if it’s from you.”

Jared took his word for it and shoved inside. Hard. His mate’s spine stretched into a bow so hard that Jared could almost look Jensen in the eye again.

Moving as if to the slow rhythm of an ancient drum, Jared felt whole again. His nails elongated into almost-claws and he let them run down Jensen’s spine from his shoulders to the two soft dimples just above his ass, leaving ten perfect, thin lines of red. He lapped up every drop he could reach without breaking the rhythm of his strokes, of Jensen’s groans and the way his hips hit the wooden table with a low thud.

When he came it was with a growl that made the glass in a nearby cupboard sing in a high pitched tremble. Jared felt warm and sated, and as his knot started growing he rested his forehead on Jensen’s shoulder. This was where he belonged. This was good.

*

“Jared.”

He took a deep breath, and the smell of his mate and of coppery blood made him inhale deeper.

“Jared?”

He blinked slowly, wondering why his mate was calling him so insistently, until he tried to stir and was greeted by a pull down-below, and a hiss from the voice that had just been on his mind. Jared stopped moving and tried to orient himself, his hands roaming the soft surface beneath him. It took several seconds and about half a dozen blinks for him to realize that he was still on top of Jensen on his office desk, knot deep inside his mate.

“Are you okay?” Jensen’s voice asked quietly and Jared nodded against the beta’s shoulder.

“How long was I out?” He felt groggy, and his head was a little heavy, with a dull, pulsating headache spreading around his temples.

“I don’t know. Half an hour, maybe more.”

Jensen shifted a little, and it was clear that he must be uncomfortable after being bent over a desk for so long, with the entire weight of Jared’s body draped on top of him. The Alpha started moving again making Jensen tighten up for just a moment until he got used to the way the knot shifted inside of him.

“Jensen, I’m -”

The Beta turned his head to look at Jared, interrupting his mate quietly. “Don’t.” He didn’t want any apologies or explanations and the Alpha was more than fine with that. Instead he stepped up his pace a little until he could feel Jensen shudder as Jared’s cock released several times in short succession. He could feel the knot slowly getting smaller until he was completely spent and pulled out carefully.

As he stepped away from his mate, he felt the world tilting sideways in slow motion as if his head was filled with cotton wool. Jensen caught him before he was even aware of the way he had started tilting over. The beta quickly draped Jared’s arm over his shoulder holding him upright with a careful but steady hold around his alpha’s waist.

“Let’s go to bed,” Jensen suggested, already maneuvering them both towards the door.

By the time Jared’s head hit the pillow he didn’t remember actually walking to the bedroom, but that didn’t matter either, because he was comfortable and warm, and his beta’s head was resting on his shoulder as he fell asleep.

*

“Where’s Jensen?” Jared was stalking towards the two men standing on the street speaking in low voices. Chris and Chad looked up simultaneously, and the way they seemed to hesitate for a moment made Jared’s heart beat a little faster as adrenaline pumped through his system.

“Not here,” Chad answered with a noncommittal shrug.

Jared’s eyes narrowed at the non-answer. A growl formed in his chest and resonated through the air with such intensity that the pebbles on the ground around him danced lightly. “Where is he? What are you not telling me?”

When Jared had woken up a few minutes ago Jensen wasn’t there. That wasn’t unusual. But he had not been there when Jared had gone to bed, and the Alpha’s nose told him that his mate had not been there at all that night. That never happened.

Chris bit his lip looking uncomfortably from Chad to Jared. “He told us not to tell.”

It turned out that Jensen had been right. Once Jared’s body had gone through the worst the healing process picked up pace. It had been only two days, but the last of his wounds had closed and that constant aching seemed to have gone. He was far from his old fighting weight, but it turned out that he could still pick a man up by his throat and dangle him a foot above ground.

“I’m the Alpha,” Jared growled, teeth and nails elongating instinctively. “If I ask you where my mate is, you’ll tell me. Now!”

*

He could smell blood the moment he entered the room and his jaw tightened with anger and worry. Jensen sat on a bed with a book on his lap. His eyes snapped up from whatever line he’d been reading to look at Jared, his face a mixture of frown and surprise.

“Jared...” He shook his head in denial of something yet unsaid and started getting out of the bed. There were bandages on his shoulder, and he moved gingerly as if he didn’t want to put a strain on his left ribcage.

“What the hell?” The corners of Jared’s vision turned red as he could feel rage bubble up in his chest. He didn’t know what was infuriating him more. Jensen was hurt, and he had tried to keep it a secret from Jared, who should have protected him but hadn’t been there as... someone had hurt his mate, his beta. Someone hurt his mate.

He didn’t even notice the growl, the way his fangs fully formed, and how his body was starting to change until there was a hand tightly gripping his arm and a breath against his cheek. “Jared, please.”

The nervous shaking of Jensen’s voice, and the presence of him right in front of Jared was the only thing that pulled him back to coherent thought.

“Who did this?” Every fiber of his body wanted to rip apart whoever had laid a finger on his beautiful beta.

“Doesn’t matter...” Jensen started, but it did. To Jared it mattered more than anything else at the moment. “I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

The Alpha’s hand circled around his mate’s arm and squeezed. There was a hiss and a tremble as Jensen’s body tightened up from the pain that obviously ran up his arm and through his shoulder and side at the simple touch.

“That’s not nothing.” He was standing at his full height towering over his mate drawn between rage at being lied to, and the incredible instinct of protectiveness that washed over him at the pain that flashed over Jensen’s face. “They hurt you. Nobody hurts you.” Nobody but me.

Emotions flashed across Jensen’s face, some of which Jared could recognize: pride, understanding... and stubbornness. As Jensen just looked at him silently, Jared repeated his earlier question.

“Who, Jensen?”

His mate looked down, as if unable to look him in the eye while answering. “I can’t tell you.”

It was like a slap in the face, and Jared bared his teeth with a growl that didn’t even make the beta flinch. “What?”

Jensen’s head fell sidewards, neck exposed in a submissive gesture that pleased Jared’s alpha needs to a degree, but the teen still looked on the ground between them. “If I tell you, you would try to kill them.”

“Yes.” It was in his very nature. Nobody in their right mind would touch a Beta. But someone had touched Jensen, and the Alpha in Jared would have their blood.

“You’re still healing, Jared.” Finally green eyes looked up to him, bright, and sad and begging for his understanding. “You can’t just jump into a fight.”

“Yes I can,” he hissed, offended by Jensen’s suggestion of weakness.

“And what if you lose? What will happen to me?” Jensen asked, chin rising in a stubborn gesture.

They both knew what would happen to a Beta when the Alpha was killed. If Jensen was lucky, he would die as well. The alternative was worse. A chill ran down Jared’s spine.

“I can’t let this go.” Something was scratching on his insides making them burn and a nauseous feeling spread in his stomach. It was the Alpha, pure instinct uncaring of reason.

“I’m not asking you to.” Jensen’s hand cupped Jared’s scarred cheek gently. “Just wait for a while. Get stronger again... then you can do anything you want, and I’ll answer any questions.”

It was a tough bargain, and the howling within Jared’s mind was almost deafening when he nodded in answer. He didn’t notice just how tight his grip on Jensen’s arm had gotten until he heard the low whine that sounded through the lips Jensen was pressing together until they turned white. Jared’s hand sprang open instantly and a sick mixture of shame and rage made his fingers tremble as he took a couple of swift steps back to get some distance between himself and his mate. He had given in to Jensen’s reason, but that didn’t calm his instincts, quite the opposite. To let his beta tell him what to do in such a blunt, stubborn manner was not in his programming.

Jensen was rubbing his arm with a pained look on his face and Jared wasn’t sure how much of it was the physical hurt and how much was aggravation over arguing with the Alpha. A part of Jared wanted to comfort him but he wouldn’t risk it. If Jensen said a wrong word, Jared would hurt him, and maybe he wouldn’t know when to stop. While the physical injuries Jared had sustained were healing well, he wasn’t yet at his full strength, and he was even less in full control.

Any hunter knew that a wounded animal was dangerous, out of control. Jared was wounded, he was driven by instincts that were hard to stand up to on his best days but almost impossible when he was weakened. Right now he was maybe at his most dangerous as his strength was returning faster than his control. He might not be up for a real fight, but if Jared would snap Jensen wouldn’t fight him. Jared knew that beyond doubt. He took another step back as he could taste blood in his mouth. He must have bitten his own tongue while grinding his teeth together for control.

“Jared, I’m sorry...” Jensen was anxious, obviously distressed by his mate’s hostile and rejecting attitude. He crouched down a little, making himself smaller as he walked towards the Alpha.

An edge of panic tinged Jared’s thoughts as he saw Jensen ignoring all the warning signs. He shoved his mate back harder than he intended, and Jensen fell backwards with a grunt of pain, looking up at Jared with startled eyes from where he had landed on the floor. One arm was wrapped around his already injured rib cage.

“Stay away from me, Jensen. I don’t know what I might do if you don’t,” Jared growled at his mate through already fully formed fangs before turning and dashing from the room as fast as he could.

*

He could feel the looks on him as he walked back to his home. It was only natural that the pack would take a strong interest in their Alpha’s condition after he had been cooped up for a long time with a near fatal injury. Jared had no illusions about the pack not knowing just how bad his condition had been. There were dozens of eyes on him, most of them staring from a safe distance, quiet and inquiring. Some wolves seemed relieved, others skeptical. He couldn’t blame them for it as he tried to walk as tall and steady as he could, hiding any limp as well as possible.

There was a tickle of fire running up his back. It started to burn and throb in his skull as it tried to eat its way out of him through his eyes. It was mixture of shame at being weak, at getting almost killed by the likes of humans and needing his beta to protect his standing in the pack, and of rage at anybody who might doubt his fitness as Alpha - fury even at those who dared be worried about him. He was the Alpha. It was his job to worry and to protect, not theirs!

He could see Chris and Chad walking in a safe distance off to each side of him, keeping pace as he tried to stride nonchalantly towards his house. He wasn’t sure what they were doing, whether they were trying to protect him from any reckless young wolf out to challenge a beat-down Alpha, or if they were protecting a curious pack from an erratic, dangerous too-powerful-for-his-own-good wolf. Both would be legitimate concerns, and they both pissed Jared off to such a degree that he started growling deep and dangerously. The sound carried like the rumbling of a tectonic shift, a harbinger of a great catastrophe. An Alpha growl.

It was a very satisfying thing to Jared’s inner wolf to see the sudden shift in the curious pack members as they instantly picked up their Alpha’s warning and man and wolf alike suddenly stood straighter, quieter, ready to jump out of the way any second.

It was a good thing that Jared reached his front door at that moment and only hesitated a few seconds before walking inside and throwing the door shut with a loud thump behind him. He stood behind the closed door for several minutes battling the urge to go back outside and break something - kill something. It would be so easy, so gratifying. He didn’t. It was a close call, but he didn’t. The only thing that stopped him was the knowledge that Jensen would feel obliged to jump in between the Alpha and any unfortunate pack member that would meet his unprovoked wrath... If that happened, Jared would kill him. He knew that, and it was the only thing that made him walk back to the bedroom.

Jensen was right. He wasn’t ready yet.

*

“You know that everything he does is for you,” Chris stated from across the room, leaning against the door-frame, less relaxed than usual. This was a difficult topic, and Jared was impressed by the nonchalance the other werewolf managed to portray despite the nervousness that was obviously in the air.

Jared didn’t answer. Of course he knew that Jensen was neither hungry for power nor insubordinate. If anything he was too obedient. Since Jared had told him to stay away, he hadn’t seen, heard or even smelled his Beta in his vicinity. To be frank, he hated it. But somehow Jared couldn’t make himself call Jensen back to his side. Not until he was sure that he would not do something he might regret.

“He’s surprised everybody since the incident,” Chris said after a few long seconds of silence. The incident? So that’s what his pack wanted to call him almost dying? Fine. If it made them feel any better. Or maybe they thought that it would make him feel better. For the record: it didn’t. “He’s stepped up. Even the old alphas are falling in line. You can be really proud.”

Jared frowned. “I am proud of Jensen.” Everything that Jared was lacking, everything that made him sick of himself lately, Jensen had shown. It used to be that Jared was the one in control. Somehow he had lost it and Jensen had picked up the gavel. He knew that he shouldn’t hold it against his beta, that once he was completely healed Jensen would hand him back the reins with a smile and a kiss. On a conscious level he knew all those things.

But further down, where something lived that was both the base of the power that made him Alpha, and the rage that could cost him everything, he was angry. Angry at himself, ashamed. That he didn’t tell Chris, of course.

“So, when do you plan on asking him back? He’s really antsy, you know? You’re his alpha. He misses you. The thought that you’re angry at him is…”

“I’m not angry at him,” Jared growled in a paradoxically angry tone.

“Really?” The scepticism in Chris’ tone was obvious, and Jared could almost hear his thoughts spell “Could have fooled me!”

“I’m not,” he ground out with a glare that made Chris take a step back from the door.

“So, do you want to see him?” It was a timidly asked question, and Jared couldn’t hold it against Chris for being careful.

“Did he send you to ask me this?” It had been almost a week. Part of Jared wondered if it had really taken Jensen that long to miss him.

“No.” Or maybe he didn’t miss Jared at all. Maybe he had found a liking in his new position… “I came because Jensen has been moody and depressed all week - and you seem a little on edge as well every time I mention him - and when I told him to come and talk to you he said that he couldn’t because you had ordered him to stay away.”

He had. For both their sakes. But it was hard. Jensen was the only wolf who was never afraid of him, not really, and who would be honest even when he didn’t want to hear it. “Yes I did.” When he had said it, he hadn’t actually meant it as a standing order. He had just meant that very moment. But Jensen had always been quite literal in his interpretation of Jared’s words.

“Why?”

Jared looked at Chris, his friend and confident of many years, and wondered if he should tell the man. Usually he wouldn’t share any sign of weakness with anybody but Jensen. But his beta wasn’t here and it was his fault. “Because I’m dangerous, Chris.”

The other werewolf cocked his eyebrow in a questioning look. “Well, yeah. You’re the Alpha.” Alpha’s by definition were the most powerful and most dangerous wolves in their respective packs.

Jared sighed rubbing the side of his head where a headache started to spread along the silvery scar tissue that he would never get rid of again. “That’s not what I mean. I almost died. I’m still feeling… less than I was and… I’m having issues with controlling the power that’s returning to me.” A little voice inside him was screaming at him to not tell these things to anyone in his pack, especially not another alpha. “I’m afraid I could hurt Jensen.”

Chris looked at him with wide eyes, surprise evident on his face. To Jared’s own surprise, he seemed a lot more relaxed once he had overcome that. For the first time since their talk had started Chris actually entered the room completely. He even closed the door.

“Jared, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way… but your control has never been too great.” There was a small smile on the man’s face, and before the Alpha could protest, he spoke on: “Remember when we first took over Jensen’s pack? When you were supposed to kill the kid and instead you made him your Beta? That wasn’t wise or logical. If you’d had even an inch of self-control that day, things would have gone differently. You did it because of instinct. Because for some unknown reason you loved the kid even before you knew his name. But even before that, you challenged wolves double your age with ten times your experience… on the list of the ten stupidest things I’ve ever seen a wolf do, you have done at least 8 of them.” Now Chris was laughing, and he wasn’t even looking at Jared, rather staring into thin air as if he was remembering some of those memorable moments.

When he looked back over at the Alpha, Chris was smiling.

“But you won, Jared. Every single challenge you made, you won. And none of those you won because of the level of control you have. No! You have an instinct that is so spot-on that sometimes I can just watch in awe when you take one of those incalculable risks again and have it pay off. And Jensen, he was probably the biggest risk you ever took and the greatest reward you will ever get.”

“But what if I hurt him?” Jared interjected. He knew all those things. And it was because Jensen was probably the best thing to ever happen to him, that he couldn’t risk it.

“When haven’t you hurt him?” Chris asked quietly, carefully. “The first day you met him, you hurt him. And since then he’s never been without a bruise or bite or scrape… But he’s always been happy too.” There was a small frown on Chris’ forehead as he met Jared’s gaze. “I don’t really understand that pain-lust thing you two have going on, but it’s working. And if I know you at all, I am sure that even when you have no control, you will never go so far with Jensen that you can’t come back.”

Jared stared at his friend for a long time wondering if he was right, hoping beyond reason that he was. It was almost a minute before he finally reached a decision. “Tell Jensen to come see me, please… and Chris?”

The man had already been half way through the door when he turned around. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

A bright smile answered him before Chris left on quick feet, seemingly eager to relay the message he had been given.

*

Jared had the urge to look out the window, to go outside, to wait by the door. But he didn’t. It was a test of patience and it made his skin prickle but he still kept sitting on the couch in the large sitting room that also functioned as the small meeting room when necessary. When there were fast steps, louder than those of a hunting werewolf, uncaring for stealth or finesse running towards him Jared knew that it had to be Jensen. The young man must be running at full speed, cracking a few branches and kicking dirt as he didn’t seem to stay on the road, rather taking the shortest route cross country.

Jared took a deep breathand the first hints of his mate's approach tickled his senses. A smile spread over his face and he listened closer hearing the rushed panting of the running werewolf, the staccato of his steps only broken when he had to alter his pace to avoid something in his way or to jump a ditch.

It was only seconds before the door smacked open with a loud bang just to fall closed again a moment later. There was a deep inhale and Jared stayed where he was waiting for his mate sense of smell to tell him where the Alpha could be found.

A moment later Jensen was there, rushing through the door and only sliding to a halt a few feet away from Jared. He was still panting, a thin layer of sweat coating his skin and a few dry leaves stuck in his brown hair. “Chris said… Chris said you wanted me to come.”

Jared couldn’t stop the grin that split his face. He couldn’t remember when he’d last smiled that broadly. “Yes. But you could have walked.”

“No.” Jensen was shaking his head taking another step towards his mate. “No, I couldn’t.”

Getting up from the couch Jared started circling his young companion. Having Jensen here, right in front of him, panting and sweaty was like dangling a roast chicken in front of a starved man. He bit his lip to stop himself from throwing him down then and there. He wanted to prove that he was more than his instincts. That Jensen was more than just a piece of meat. A delicious, wonderful piece of meat.

He reached out plucking the dry leaves from his mate’s hair one by one as if it was the most sensual thing he’d ever done and dropped them on the floor carelessly, too busy watching. Jensen’s head twitched a little every time he touched him, and he seemed unsure what to make of it. When Jared was done, he finished his circle to stand in front of Jensen.

Their eyes met and for a while, Jared just enjoyed the glow of being close to his mate. It was one of those moments where the real scale of how much he missed something only became visible when it was finally there again. “I owe you… everything,” he murmured hand coming up to stroke away a strand of hair stuck to Jensen’s temple. The young man hadn’t shaved in a day or two and there were some spots of stubble on his cheeks and chin that Jared didn’t remember being that big before, so he took his time letting his eyes catalogue every detail, every change. Jensen was beautiful as always. But he seemed older, more mature, more tired.

“No,” Jensen said shaking his head, eyes dropping to the floor as if he was embarrassed by the praise.

Somehow Jared wasn’t willing to let this one slide, wanted almost desperately to bring his point across. His hands closed around his mate’s arms with distinct pressure making those green eyes snap back up to meet his.

“Yes, I do. You saved my life and you protected my authority… and I won’t forget that.”

Jensen obviously didn’t know what to say. So instead of answering he just looked at Jared with an expression that told him everything his mate could possibly want to say: I love you, I will always be there for you, I can’t live without you. Or maybe they were the things Jared felt but couldn’t say and hoped would be visible in his face as well.

“I probably should say it more often… or at all,” Jared started whispering once more. “I made the right decision in choosing you. You’re perfect for me. You need to know that.”

A smile tugged on Jensen’s lips and he blushed obviously uncomfortable with this whole heart-to-heart. But Jared needed him to know, to hear. So whatever would happen from this day on, he could always trust that Jensen knew these things.

Jensen nodded as if he had read Jared’s mind telling him that he did know, that he understood. It made a weight lift off Jared’s shoulders that seemed to have been there for ages and he suddenly felt freer, bolder. The moment the tension of his confession broke inside of him, Jared couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He pushed forward like a starved man trying to get to a loaf of bread, and his arms slid around Jensen’s waist, grabbing a tight hold of the young man and pulling him in with complete determination.

His mate came as willingly and obediently as ever, and when Jared bowed his head for a kiss, Jensen responded like he had been hungering for it for a century. He kissed Jared back with a fire and need that had his hands grasping for leverage on the Alpha’s arms and shoulders as if he was trying to crawl inside of him. It was intoxicating, the need that was palpable, that oozed into the air as Jensen’s body started screaming its want loud enough for the entire street to smell it.

Jared suddenly realized that he wasn’t the only one who had been battling instinct, need and a sudden loss of control. He pulled away and had to stop Jensen’s lips from chasing his by a hand squeezing Jensen’s throat. It wasn’t hard enough to choke him, but tight enough to not make him press in any further.

“Jensen. We’re both, well… on edge. This could get intense.”

“Yes, please.” He pushed forward despite Jared’s hold cutting off his air for the time being.

“I don’t want to hurt you…” He knew what Chris had said. But he still couldn’t let go of the thought that he might go too far, the way he’d had the urge to do the last time they’d seen each other.

Jensen suddenly stopped pressing forwards, instead he took a step back head cocked sideways. “But I want you to.” A small frown showed on his forehead. “I know I should be afraid, but I’m not. I trust you. You’re my mate. I’m… I’m yours.”

Those words, those beautiful, scary, insane words, made Jared lose it. He couldn’t even remember dashing forward and grabbing Jensen by the hips to turn and throw them against the wall. He just felt the impact, felt Jensen’s upper body snap back and then forwards as it hit the hard surface with a loud crash that might have dented the wall behind him. There was a grunt, and Jensen was blinking several times, head moving in a slightly uncoordinated way. He was disoriented; maybe his head had hit the wall as well, but he soon found Jared’s face again, homing in on it.

“What do you want from me, Jensen?” He didn’t really know what he was asking. All he knew was that Jensen was committed to them, to this, and that he didn’t know what he could do to repay him for everything he had done, everything he was.

“Nothing.”

Jared shook his head before burying his nose in the nape of Jensen’s neck before inhaling. “There must be something you want,” he murmured, lips tickling over the sensitive skin.

“I… I want you to bite me. Bite me somewhere I could never hide it.”

It wasn’t a selfish request or maybe it was. But either way Jared would give Jensen anything, everything. He let his tongue slide over the thin coat of sweat that tasted like Jensen and then ran it upwards until he could feel the newly extended stubble tickle the sensitive muscle. It traced around the strong angle of Jensen’s jaw and kissed his cheek on the very edge of the jaw line half way between his chin and the corner of his ear. “Alright.”

His teeth changed as naturally as breathing and he instinctively closed one hand around Jensen’s neck to hold him in place as the other entangled it’s fingers with the youth’s hair. Jared’s entire body was pressing against Jensen, immobilizing him almost completely, but he wasn’t trying to move anyway. Jared hummed in happy anticipation, and it made Jensen bite his lip as if he was trying not to make a sound of his own in answer.

When Jared finally bit down it was almost a feeling of release washing over him. His wolf teeth dug into the soft skin and stubble stretched against his lips and tongue as his bite engulfed the left angle of Jensen’s jaw leaving bleeding tooth marks on the lower side of his cheek and chin. Jensen jolted and let out a sound that was half surprised shout and half groan. He didn’t try to pull away or struggle but his spine arched a little as if he couldn’t fully control his body anymore.

Jared held the skin and muscle in his teeth for a moment feeling the bone only a small bit of pressure away before he pulled out once more. He licked over the oozing marks and felt Jensen shudder underneath him. When he pulled back, the wounds were still trickling down his neck and started soaking the white t-shirt the young man was wearing in warm, wet red. Jensen seemed almost dazed licking his lips and Jared could see blood on his tongue. One of his teeth must have gone straight through his mate’s cheek making blood run into his mouth as well.

Quickly he moved back in to kiss Jensen deep and long, tasting the coppery tang that he would know anywhere in the world as Jensen and trying to find the wound inside with his tongue. When he pulled back they were both panting and he could feel blood trickle onto his hand that was still lying on Jensen’s sternum, thumb and index finger circling Jensen’s throat oh-so-lightly.

He looked at Jensen, at his face that was now marred by the bite but that looked just perfect to him. But the blemish would heal soon enough and Jared would set a new mark wherever he wanted and that idea was everything he ever wanted.

“The next time I tell you to stay away, don’t listen to me!” Jared said as he watched his hand paint a picture in red wherever it moved.

“I’ll always listen to you,” Jensen said as if it was an absolute thing, a prayer, a law.

“That could get you in trouble.” Jared knew that sometimes he didn’t think things through before saying them.

“I don’t care. You’re the Alpha. You’re my alpha.”

Studying Jensen’s face, Jared felt almost challenged to see if Jensen could really keep this promise. “You might regret that one day.”

“Probably,” Jensen said with a shrug and a tiny smile.

The grin that split Jared’s face was more tempting than humorous. “Okay.” Looking Jensen up and down, he suddenly knew what he was going to do. “Stay.” He walked backwards slowly, almost like the prowl of a predator before he sat down once again on the couch. Jensen was still standing pressed against the wall, looking at Jared longingly but not trying to follow him. Good.

He pointed at Jensen’s feet letting his finger move up his body to the neck. “Off!”

The command might have been short and cryptic but Jensen obviously knew exactly what his mate wanted and started pulling off his clothes almost frantically until they were strewn haphazardly around the sitting room and he stood there naked as the day he was born. The left side of his neck and lower face were smeared with blood, and a small trickle started running down his chest. Jared watched it follow the contour of his clavicle towards the dip at the base of his neck and then down the centre of his chest. He must have nicked a larger blood vessel for it to still bleed. But it wouldn’t pose any danger for Jensen, blood loss had to be extremely severe to threaten their kind after all. Jared just wondered if the little red stream would make it all the way to the man’s belly button.

A bit further below said belly button the alpha could see that his mate was already reasonably aroused, and it gladdened his heart to know that Jensen wanted him. “You want to come over, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Jensen was chewing on his lip and Jared could see that his mouth was still red from the blood he had drawn.

“If you do, I’ll have to bite you again.” That almost made Jensen move forward. He swayed but stopped himself at the last moment obviously tempted.

“I will if you let me.”

Jared wondered when they had changed the way they were together. It all started as him pushing, ordering, instigating. His impulse, his desire, his will. At first all he'd needed was no resistance, the smallest yes, questionable consent. But at some point that had shifted. He was still the one calling the shots, yet now he was thinking of not only himself and his desires. It was a dialogue, a process. They didn’t use to talk much about what they were doing, about what Jensen wanted. Now Jared wanted to know, wanted to play with him, challenge him.

An Alpha didn’t take challenges lightly. Instinct commanded him to destroy anybody who could challenge him… anybody but Jensen. Because his beta would never challenge his authority, his power. He only teased it, tickled it out further. It was a realization Jared had not had before, and he thought about the implications for a moment.

“You can come here… if you dare brave the consequences.”

He wasn’t even finished speaking by the time Jensen was kneeling in front of him, fingers almost clawing at Jared’s jeans, begging for skin on skin contact. Jensen was an open book, and Jared could read what his body wanted from the way he moved, the way he smelled.

Jensen crawled up his body and onto the Alpha's lap like a cat nuzzling Jared’s neck. He went for a kiss and Jared gave it to him willingly. For a minute the alpha just enjoyed the way his mate was writhing in his lap, pushing futilely closer when nothing seemed to be enough. Then Jared let his sharp nails run up and down Jensen’s spine with just enough pressure to make the beta’s breath hitch without breaking the skin. That only made the young man yelp all the louder when he suddenly dug them in at the small of his back without any warning.

He used his bloody grip as leverage to throw Jensen off him, spinning their bodies until Jensen was lying on the sofa staring up at him with wide eyes squirming, a little when the fresh puncture marks over his spine scratched against the increasingly soiled fabric. Jared grinned down at his beta trying to decide where he wanted to set the second bite he had promised.

Jensen had been a good boy, a good mate, a good wolf. He’d earned something Jared knew he would like. They hadn’t been mated half a year yet, but Jared had already figured out one of his beta’s favorite marking spots.

Moving down the young man’s body, Jared licked his lips making sure that his teeth fully retracted to human form. “I promised you something…” Jared teased letting his tongue run down a soft trail of hair that started at Jensen’s navel and ran downwards to the curly nest of hair that hugged his mate’s cock.

“Yes,” Jensen said breathlessly, head nodding in frantic little twitches.

“Do you want it?”

He ignored the begging erection and turned towards the right thigh instead running his nose from the inside of the knee up to the little fold where thigh met groin, breathing in the waves of pheromones that were all his for the taking. Letting his tongue lick over the skin, he could feel the vivid pulse of the femoral artery flutter against it. It was fast, excited.

“Fuck, yes.”

Chuckling, Jared moved just half an inch down the leg and to the side, away from the large blood vessel, before opening his mouth wide to take the supple skin and muscle between his blunt, human teeth. Jensen shuddered, fingers tangling with Jared’s unruly brown hair as if he was getting the best blow job in the world.

Breaking the skin was a lot harder with human teeth than his canine ones and he increased the pressure slowly, waiting for Jensen’s leg to finally pop open like a grape. It was painful and a lot more traumatic to the surrounding tissue than the sharp puncturing of a wolf’s bite, not as deep, but leaving a messy contusion all around.

He could hear his beta cursing, hissing and then howling when the skin finally broke letting warm, thick blood run across his tongue and down his chin, down Jensen’s leg to soak the hair at the base of his cock. The Alpha took his time lazily licking away at the nasty looking, shallow wound that already showed some dark red bruising around the edges while his eyes were glued on Jensen as his chest rose and fell with labored breaths.

Jensen was very aroused. Jared knew full well that this wasn’t normal, that pain usually deflated all desire. But not in his mate. Maybe that was why he had been drawn to this one. Or maybe his beta’s body had no choice but to be excited as long as his alpha was. Chicken, egg. Either way, Jared loved it.

With a kiss he abandoned the still leaking wound on his mate’s thigh to turn his attentions to more pressing business. He didn’t believe in warnings. For that Jensen’s surprised yelps and curses were much too sweet in his ears. So he didn’t give any indication of what he was about to do before grabbing a hold of the young man’s cock and swallowing it, whole.

The beta’s entire body rose in a convulsion that let his nails scratch over Jared’s scalp. At any other time, Jared’s inner Alpha would have been furious at that. But he was way too busy torturing Jensen with the sweetest of cruelties as he sucked and licked and twisted all at once. He didn’t go slow, didn’t take his time or be gentle and after only a minute or two, Jensen seemed ready to pop. His head was pushed back so far that his shoulders were completely up in the air and the fingers in Jared’s hair tightened their grip…

What was probably only seconds before his mate could get his release, Jared took the base of Jensen’s cock between thumb and index finger of his right hand and squeezed.

“Oh God…” Jensen was staring at the ceiling, tears brimming at the corners of his eyes as Jared pulled his mouth away completely. “Oh no… please… please, Jared.”

“Don’t. Come,” the alpha said with cool determination, the command clear as day. “Not yet.”

“Fuck.” Green eyes fell down from the invisible sky to stare at him, wide and unfocused.

Jared slipped backwards, off the couch and started undressing himself. The blood on his fingertips was not yet dry and a red drop fell from his chin to spatter on the floor like a raindrop. Jared kicked away the last of his clothes and stalked back towards his beta, who was lying on his back like a ragdoll. He grabbed the beta’s legs and pulled him along the couch, happy that the thing did not have any armrests, until the small of Jensen’s back was perched on the edge of the couched side, ass and legs no longer on the cushions.

Pushing Jensen’s thighs apart, Jared knelt on the floor between them leaning down to kiss Jensen once more. “Don’t come until I tell you to… and don’t make a sound!”

An evil grin spread across his face and he could see the younger wolf swallow. Then Jared let go, let himself change into the thing that lived deep inside of him, that was always underneath, always there. His skin prickled as hair pushed out and the popping sound of his joints realigning was joined by a deep, guttural growl as his teeth sharpened, and his jaws pushed out into a long snout.

Jensen’s breath caught and stopped. The youth held his breath while the man on top of him turned into the Alpha in all of his terrible glory. There was a glimmer of fear in Jensen’s eyes, of the fear that was the basis of their society, of every alpha’s authority, and it wasn’t directed towards Jared but towards the thing underneath and its raw power.

His hind legs shuffled a little closer, and the soft brown fur of his belly rubbed against Jensen’s hard-on. The beta, his beta, knew exactly what he wanted, and he raised his legs, wrapping them around the beast’s back to give him the best purchase for what came next.

The Alpha’s cock was hard and gleaming with precome, and it found its place perfectly. This was his, this tight, dark, dirty place that was home and would always be his, only his. He pressed the head of his cock against Jensen, and the precome smeared over puckered skin. The beta bit his lip, trying to obey Jared’s cruel order to be quiet, and it was hard, terribly hard. Because in all the foreplay, all the licking and sucking and biting, Jared had not even touched Jensen’s entrance. It was tight and dry, and he didn’t care.

The little bit of slick that his cock brought with it would be all they’d get, and when he pushed in, hard and insistent Jensen’s eyes screwed shut, and a trickle of blood started running down his lip as he bit too hard to keep from screaming. He must feel like he was being split open. The fact that they hadn’t fucked properly since Jared had been injured only made Jensen’s hole tighter, and it held the Alpha in a chokehold that was both painful and exquisite.

He didn’t give them much time to adjust, just couldn’t hold himself back that long. Instead he started rutting in and out, fast and hard, and after a few hard strokes he could feel himself go deeper, further. Jensen’s fingers were digging into the cushions trying to find some purchase, and his face was a mixture of agony and ecstasy. Then the Alpha hit it, that perfect spot, and Jensen’s body wanted to wail as it jerked in a violent response, but all Jared heard was squeaking, and a small crack as Jensen clenched his teeth together so hard that the Alpha wondered if one of them had just broken.

His pace was fast and violent, and Jensen couldn’t help thrashing every now and again when it was just too much, too much pain, too much pleasure, too much. The fur on the Alpha’s belly was rubbing over his beta’s erect cock with every deep stroke, and he knew that the orders he had given were torture to his mate.

Leaning down he opened his maw and placed his razor sharp teeth around Jensen’s neck. He could feel the beta’s body freezing instantly, all tension falling from his muscles instinctively, submitting completely to the deadly force that could end him within a heartbeat. It was pure, basic instinct and it eased the pressure a little on the young beta. The pulse of Jensen’s heart blood underneath Jared's tongue made his skin prickle with excitement.

A wave of adrenaline and pheromones exploded around Jared. The pure and utter submission was the most exhilarating thing between the relationship of an alpha and his beta, and his jaw tightened just so, pressing the teeth down ever so slightly that only the fangs drew the tiniest bit of blood.

That was all he needed to explode. The Alpha’s hips stuttered, and the paws that had been placed on either side of Jensen cut into the cushions as they tried not to lose purchase. He rammed his cock into his beta as deep and hard as he could, and Jensen’s thighs tightened around him to pull him in even more as he came in long, hot streams deep inside his mate, the head of his cock already swelling to bind them together, to breed his bitch.

Jensen’s eyes were closed, a cold sweat gleaming on his skin. Salty tears stuck to his cheeks., but despite all of it, he looked serene, content. There was only the smallest twitch of discomfort showing on his face whenever there was friction against his violently swollen cock. He had obeyed, beautifully so.

Jared reached out, grabbing a hold of the beast and pushing it back, letting himself resurface, clawing his way back to complete control and changing back to his human form. The change of fur to skin made his mate tremble and squirm in absolute silence, and Jared finally understood that Jensen's obedience was infinite.

He kissed Jensen’s Adam’s apple and the young man swallowed reflexively, enticingly. “You can speak now,” Jared whispered hoarsely and was immediately greeted by a string of obscene curses that sounded like a dirty prayer only interrupted by groans and sighs.

Unable to keep himself from chuckling, Jared swiveled his hips a little disturbing the knot that joined them together. It made Jensen hiss and curse once more, because he had to be sore and ripped from the dry pounding he had just gotten. Jared could feel it, the rawness of his cock from the missing slick, and he enjoyed the mere thought of feeling it for the next day, of being reminded of this until his cock recovered.

Almost tempted to grab a hold of Jensen’s still swollen cock and to finally let him come, Jared decided to see how strong Jensen’s will really was. If he held out until the end, until after the knotting, Jared would make it worth his while, would let him come until he passed out. But for now, he would wait.

He rested his chest on his beta’s stomach, chin lying on Jensen’s shoulder. They would be stuck like this for a while, and his knees were screaming, but he couldn’t care to make himself move, not right now. He was comfortable despite all the small aches and pains, and he felt warm despite the cool air that caressed his back. Closing his eyes, he wanted to stay like this until the end of everything.

“Welcome back, Alpha…” he heard Jensen whispering in his ear, trembling fingers combing through tangled brown strands of hair. “Welcome home, Jared.”

...