The Alpha's Ardor (6 page)

“Declan, no! It’s fine. Just be honest with me, alright? Do you want this? Forget about me for a moment and just tell me what you’d do if it were just you. Would you stay?” Lachlan sounded so serious, and Declan couldn’t help but lean back against the wall of his room and let himself sink to the floor.

“I can’t do that, Lach. You know I can’t. You’re always going to be with me no matter what. I can’t think like that. I won’t.” The very idea of it sent his wolf to howling in denial. To even imagine what his life would be like without Lachlan, his twin, his brother and his pack mate, was unthinkable.

“Declan, I know how you are! If you think for a second there might be some kind of risk to me you’ll write it all off no matter how much you want it. I feel the same way about you. That’s why I’m asking you to tell me what
you
want. Are you willing to take the chance that this might not work? Is he worth that?” Declan forced himself to take a deep breath and to really, truly do what Lachlan was asking him to do. His twin deserved the truth.

“I think so, Lach. I really do. Or at least I want him to be.”

Declan tipped his head back against the wall behind him. “He’s just been so good to me, Lach, so gentle and respectful in a way no one has ever been with either of us before. The things he does and says, it’s almost like he’s …” Declan trailed off slowly. He wanted to tell Lachlan, wanted to share it with his twin, but the fear of sounding ridiculous made him pause.

“Like he’s what, Dec?” Lachlan sounded oddly gentle.

“Like he’s courting me, Lach, like he’s honest to god courting me.” It all spilled out of Declan in a rush. “He’s scenting me. He does it all of the time, Lach. He touches me so much, nuzzles and even licks me on occasion, and it’s driving me crazy. Both sides of me. My clothes, my bed, my skin, it all smells like him even if he hasn’t been in the room. Hell, the clothes I’m wearing are
his
. Not extra pack clothes, Lach, not things set aside for visitors or anything like that.

They’re his.”

“Do you like it, Dec? Is it … is it even remotely like those other alphas? Like what they wanted from us?” It was something that Declan had already thought about more times than he wanted to admit, something that plagued him.

“I don’t think so. Or at least I don’t want to think so. I told him about them, that first night I was here. I thought that was what he wanted, that my luck had finally run out and I’d gotten caught. But, Lachlan, you should have seen his face when I said that to him. He was so pissed but not at me.” Declan remembered Law’s fury with an almost sense of awe. “He gave me his word, as alpha, that no harm would come to me. Or to you.”

Declan heard Lachlan suck in a harsh breath. That kind of promise, that kind of vow, wasn’t given lightly. With wolves, especially with alphas, there was
power
in those kinds of words. They both knew that Law had to have been serious to invoke a vow like that. The reality of that hit Declan a little late.

“He swore, Lach. He swore we’d be safe. He gave me his
word
.” He knew his voice sounded just as awestruck as he felt.

“Alright, Dec, alright. Stay. I want you to stay there, scope it out, meet the rest of the pack and find out from this alpha of yours just what we’re going to have to give in return. If he gave his word, gave an oath that we’ll be safe then it might not be anything we’re not willing to give.” His voice was steady and strong, and Declan’s heart began to race in his chest because he knew that Lachlan was serious.

“What about you? Are you going to come? Do you … do you not want to stay here even if it all works out?” Declan felt so vulnerable in the way that he’d always been with Lachlan, in the way that they were with each other. Vulnerable in the way he’d never been with anyone else. Not until Law.

“Declan! Declan, stop. You know I will, you know I do. We haven’t had a home, somewhere safe, in a long time. If this place can be that for us then I want it too. Especially if it’s what you want. I’ll come, just not right now. I’d like to scout around some more first, scope out the edges of the territory, maybe get a better lay of the land.

Let your alpha know and hopefully he’ll spread the word so I won’t have to dodge angry betas every two seconds. Besides, if something does happen then it’ll be better to have one of us on the outskirts in case we have to outrun them.” Lachlan sounded vaguely amused, but they both knew it could happen and that in the end both of them could probably outrun most of the betas in the Flathead pack if they were pushed to it. Uninjured and with the amount of rest they’d both gotten from staying in one place, even separately, they’d be faster than ever.

“Alright.If you’re sure, Lach.” Declan did his best to ignore the pleased warmth that rolled through him at the way Lachlan called Law
his
alpha.

“I am. Now be careful and work things out with this Law of yours.” Lachlan chuckled.

“He’s not mine, Lach,” Declan mumbled back, even more grateful than before that neither Law nor Trace were around.

“Not yet he isn’t.”

“Be careful, Lach.” Declan smiled softly even though Lachlan couldn’t see it.

“Stay safe, Dec.” They both stayed silent for a moment, listened to each other breathe in the quiet that followed, and then they both hung up.

Declan stayed where he was for a moment longer, head tilted back against the wall behind him, phone held loosely in his hand.

Talking to Lachlan, telling him everything, took so much weight off of his shoulders that he almost couldn’t believe it. He wanted Lachlan there with him, wanted to be safe and secure in the knowledge that he was an arm’s reach away, that he was only in the next room, but for now the calls helped. He understood Lachlan’s hesitance, understood and agreed with his reasoning even if he wished that it wasn’t necessary, wished that for once they could both take something at face value. Just once he wanted to be able to have something nice without waiting for it to blow up in his face.

Restless, Declan pushed himself up off of the floor, tossed his phone onto the bed and began to tug his clothes off with jerky movements. When he was naked he let the shift take him, let the change wash over his body as his bones shifted and fur rippled then spread across his skin like wildfire. He had a while yet before Law was due back, before he had to ask the alpha just what he and Lachlan would have to give up in exchange for a place in the pack. He wanted to run one last time before that happened. He wanted to take joy and pleasure of the deep safe woods that encircled Law’s house just in case he didn’t get another chance.

With a small, almost playful growl Declan took off down the stairs, mind focused on the forest that was waiting on him.

Law was waiting on him by the time Declan got back. He was sitting on the back porch, gaze turned towards the woods, a serious expression on his face and a long necked bottle of beer in his hands. A slow smile spread across his features when Declan trotted, still shifted, out of the trees and into the clearing of the yard itself.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that you left all of your stuff here I would have been afraid that you weren’t coming back.” Law sounded amused and nonchalant, but Declan could see real relief on his face.

The sight of it warmed Declan’s heart, made him yip happily and trot over towards Law, head high and tail wagging. Law laughed, loud and undeniably fond. “What are you, a dog? Have some pride, little wolf.”

Words like that would normally make Declan furious, would have his fur up and his teeth bared in seconds. But coming from Law, whose eyes were still warm with laughter, he took them as playfully as they were meant. He growled at Law and then yipped, high and sharp, before he turned around and trotted back towards the edge of the woods. An invitation to run.

“Oh, little wolf, you’re on.” Law put his bottle down and stood. With slow and deliberate movements, he unbuttoned the shirt he was wearing and shrugged it off so he could throw it over the railing. Even shifted Declan’s attention was focused on Law, eyes taking in every inch of skin avidly as it was slowly bared. By the time Law was naked, mouth curled up into a half smile and eyes bleeding crimson, Declan knew exactly what he had to do.

Law’s transformation was a thing of beauty. The way tanned skin and sculpted muscle gave way to fang and fur and claw was seamless. The power Law wielded, the strength and control that made him an alpha, was obvious in every moment of it. And when it was done, when wolf stood where man had moments before, nothing had changed. Law’s wolf was as big and powerful as Declan remembered from that first day in the woods. Only this time he wasn’t frightened, wasn’t terrified of the wolf that towered over him, wasn’t constantly on the lookout for an escape route. This time Declan let himself enjoy the sight of Law, let his eyes rake over him from muzzle to tail in admiration before he turned with another yip and bound off into the trees.

He heard Law howl behind him, a short playful burst of noise that he couldn’t help but respond to, and then the game was on.

They weaved in and out of the trees at a breakneck pace, jumped over underbrush and splashed through shallow streams.

Declan could tell that Law was surprised by his speed, could tell that he hadn’t expected Declan to be so fast, by the way Law began to take the game a bit more seriously. They nipped at each other’s tails, tackled each other playfully into piles of dead leaves and then took off running after each other again.

The chase took them out into the deep woods, not too far from where they’d first met, and Declan couldn’t help but slow down a bit.

Law must have sensed the change in his mood because he slowed down as well and made his way to Declan’s side to bump his shoulder lightly with his muzzle. In a move that took Law by surprise Declan jumped on him, sent them both tumbling to the ground in a heap of furred limbs. Law was quick to roll them over, quick to cover Declan’s form with his own and to nose pointedly at his throat, asking him in a way that alphas normally didn’t to submit.

Instead Declan let the shift overtake him and for a brief moment, before Law got over his surprise and shifted as well, he felt Law’s thick coat brush against the bare length of his body and couldn’t help but shiver. Law, human again, stared down at him silently for a moment before he leaned down and brushed their lips together gently. Declan froze for a long moment, but when Law moved to pull away, regret heavy on his face, he surged up off the ground, wrapped his arms around Law’s neck and pulled him back down into a bruising kiss.

Law was the one to gentle it, the one to pull back an inch or so despite Declan’s attempts to keep him close and to sweep his tongue lightly across the seam of Declan’s lips. Declan parted them instantly, eagerly, and met the slick, hot slide of Law’s tongue with his own.

Law’s stubble rasped against Declan’s face, and he knew the skin there would be rubbed raw if it kept up, but he didn’t care. The feel of it, the slight rasping itch of it, sent heat spiraling through him, made him buck his hips up and into Law’s. The move caused their cocks, both bare and beginning to thicken, to rub together in a way that made Law groan low in his throat and press down against Declan harder.

Declan spread his legs wider in response, let Law settle down against him completely even as he whined low in the back of his throat. Law shushed him with gentle sweeps of his tongue as he ran long fingered hands through Declan’s disheveled hair. Their hips rocked against each other rhythmically as they kissed and a mix of sweat and pre-cum slicked the way for their cocks sliding against one another in the growing dampness between them.

Declan felt the coil in his gut begin to tighten, felt the heat of it in the base of his spine, and he could tell from the way Law’s hips were beginning to falter that he was close too. Declan couldn’t suppress the sharp bolt of fear that flared through him in that instance.

Once this happened there would be no going back. Law tensed and froze on top of him and when he broke the kiss they were currently wrapped up in, Declan could see the confusion and concern in his face clearly.

“Little wolf?” Law questioned him softly, gently.

“Will this be alright? Will this be enough for us to be in the pack?” Declan blurted the words out and knew instantly that he’d said the wrong thing from the way Law’s face went dark and his shoulders rigid.

“What the hell are you talking about, Declan?” His voice was hard and surprisingly cold. Declan shivered slightly and wished he could curl in on himself, wished he wasn’t so vulnerable and open the way he was nestled underneath Law’s hard body.

“I … we figured you’d want something, some kind of payment to let us into the pack,” Declan stated as evenly as he could.

“The two of you figured? So you did talk to your brother then?” Declan could hear the anger building in Law’s voice, but he wasn’t sure what he’d done to set it off.

“We talked. Lachlan said that he’d be alright with joining as well if you’d allow it. But we both know this kind of thing doesn’t come for free. We learned that a long time ago.” Declan shrugged as best he could from his place on the ground. He tried to keep his thoughts straight, tried to ignore the way he could still feel Law’s body pressed against his own, the hot brush of his cock against his hip.

“And this is the plan you came up with? To whore yourself out so I’d let you in?” Law’s voice was sharp, and Declan couldn’t help but flinch.

“No! But we both knew you’d want something, and we agreed that I needed to find out what it would be first. I figured since we don’t have much to trade with I could … offer you
this
. I know you said you wouldn’t
take
something like this, but I’m not unwilling.” Declan bucked his hips up against Law’s as best he could to prove his point, but the alpha above him remained still.

“Declan … little wolf …” Law’s face had smoothed out, and his voice was gentle, but Declan knew he was still upset, could see it in the set of his broad shoulders. “That’s not what I want from you.”

“I thought … after the other night on the couch I thought you wanted me too.” Declan knew his face was flushed with embarrassment and a hint of anger. If Law was so against the idea then Declan had obviously been wrong about everything, had obviously seen something between them that wasn’t there.