The Mark of an Alpha (4 page)

Pushing aside his silly moment of panic, Bennett did his best to listen to the words that passed back and forth between the wolves around him. It was damn near impossible to follow a conversation when every word Marsdon said slid straight into his spine without registering any information when it passed through his ears.

From his spine, his mate's voice went straight to his cock, making him swell behind the scant privacy his trousers provided. The thin fabric began to tent. Bennett took a slightly shaky breath. If anyone noticed, they would only tease him about how eager he was for the ceremony to be over so he could be alone with his mate for the first time. The other alphas would take it as a simple signal the man they had chosen to be his mate pleased him.

Bennett risked a glance at Marsdon. The other wolf's gaze was lowered, fixed on the disrupted material over his crotch. As Bennett watched, his soon to be mate looked up.

The other wolves in the group laughed at some story that Marsdon's father was telling. Bennett laughed politely along with them, even though he hadn't heard a word of it. Taking the excuse to look away from Marsdon again, he turned his attention to the older wolf.

Marsdon's chuckle joined the laughter. The rich sound tempted Bennett to turn back to him, but he managed to resist it.

"If I recall correctly,” Marsdon said. “You labelled me an impudent little pup at the time."

Bennett tensed as his master said the word. His cock jerked behind the thin cotton, begging for his master's attention. Seeing no alternative, Bennett turned back to his future mate and met his eyes.

Marsdon smiled as if he had made some fantastic discovery, but Bennett knew there was nothing in his own expression that gave him away. There was no way the other wolf could know for certain. The other man might suspect, he might be inclined to test him, but he couldn't
know
he was the wolf who'd hidden behind a hood and false scent just for the privilege of crawling at another man's feet.

Bennett forced his expression to remain impassive as his insides knotted, and Marsdon studied him very carefully. It felt like they stood there forever, making polite conversation—or, in Bennett's case at least, stood around while other people made polite conversation. His throat was so dry he didn't think he would be able to do more than croak if he tried to join in.

Inside his head, fears he could never admit out loud, continued to swirl and writhe around each other. Marsdon couldn't be sure. Even if he suspected Bennett was the submissive in the club, he couldn't make that sort of accusation in front of everyone. He couldn't call off the ceremony without concrete proof that the mate the elders of the packs had chosen for him wasn't worthy of being called an alpha.

Bennett looked around the other wolves. Marsdon couldn't accuse him of being a fraud. He couldn't expose his secret to everyone without throwing away all the work their parents had put into bringing this agreement between their packs into being. And Marsdon couldn't do that.

He couldn't...

"What do you think of your new lands, Bennett? Have you made any plans for them?"

Bennett blinked and turned towards his new mate's father. His throat wouldn't work. Just at that moment, Marsdon's hand came to rest on the small of his back. Bennett automatically turned to him.

His mate smiled. “I haven't had time to look them over properly either,” he said, before he turned back to his father. “We shall have to make time to explore them together before we make any decisions."

Everyone nodded their approval. Alphas were equals. They made their decisions together. Bennett nodded too. As the conversation moved on and attention turned away from him once more, Bennett stepped to the side as discreetly as possible. Marsdon followed, keeping his hand on the small of his back.

"Leather."

Bennett jerked around to face his mate, sure he must have misheard the whispered word. “What?"

"Leather,” Marsdon said again—very clearly but just softly enough that Bennett was sure none of the wolves around them had heard it.

Bennett stared at him for long, painful seconds, unable to do anything other than hope his expression hadn't slipped in his shock at hearing that word whispered into his ear in that voice.

"Your belt—it's made of very fine leather,” Marsdon observed as he ran his fingers along the line of leather encircling Bennett's waist.

Bennett's eyes went to the strip of black that he'd barely thought of in all the years he'd worn in. Marsdon's fingers trailed around his body to rest on the belt's buckle. It would be impolite to brush his mate's touch away. It would be taken as a sign of disrespect to Marsdon and his current pack. There was nothing he could do but stand there in front of everyone and pray his secret would stay a secret.

"It's just a belt,” he managed to say.

"Just?” Marsdon asked, arching an eyebrow at the idea.

As simply as that, Bennett was back in the club. He was lying back on a hard, wooden table, blindly extending his hands over his hands to be bound. His master had used a belt to bind him that night. Slipping the leather through slots in the bench each time they wrapped around his wrists, he'd pinned them tight to the wood. He'd left him there for what felt like hours before he'd finally decided it was time to play with his pup.

"Do you really believe leather and buckles can only ever make a belt?” Marsdon whispered in his ear.

Bennett swallowed. His eyes dropped to the belt Marsdon wore. His wrists tingled along the line where the restraints had bound him tight. He couldn't drag his eyes away from the leather. All he could do was wonder if the belt he wore now was the same one Marsdon had used to bind him that night.

It looked thick enough to match the prickling strip of skin around his wrists, it looked strong enough to hold him in place forever.

"We are ready for the ceremony to begin."

Bennett jerked around to face Marsdon's father. The older wolf looked amused as he glanced down at the way each of them had placed one of their hands on the other's belt. Bennett pulled his hand away, not even aware that he'd reached out to the other wolf that way.

He turned his face back to Marsdon, only to find the other wolf barely a breath away from his lips. Quickly stepping back, Bennett nodded his understanding. The ceremony... Yes.

When Marsdon's father walked away, Bennett strode after the older wolf, eager to get the ceremony complete before Marsdon had time to truly catch him out with one of his little tests. He couldn't rely on another wolf's interruption to save him again.

As they walked, Bennett scrambled through his memories, trying to work out if he had done anything at all that could conclusively prove that Marsdon's suspicions were correct.

He'd reached for his belt, he'd rested his fingers against a piece of leather that belonged to his new mate. That was all. They were just...comparing belts?

Marsdon fell in step beside him. He made no comment as he and Bennett followed the crowd of wolves across to the edge of the woods that stretched out to one side of the old house. Marsdon's father and the other alphas were already there, waiting for them to take their positions for the ceremony.

In mere moments, Marsdon was standing opposite him, and the alphas of their respective packs were joining their hands. There wasn't any more time left to wonder if Marsdon would go through with the mating regardless of his suspicions. If it was to be called off now, it would be during the event—in the most humiliating way possible.

Bennett stared straight ahead, straight past Marsdon as the ceremony began and the eyes of every wolf around them came to rest on them.

It was a simple little moment, a simple statement of what was happening.

"Alpha to alpha, wolf to wolf. We offer you the chance of form a new life, a new pack, a new line..."

Bennett heard the words through thick layers of cotton wool. He forced another breath into his lungs.

"A wolf from your pack becomes an alpha of his own pack,” Marsdon replied, his voice strong and steady. He caught Bennett's eyes and held them through each word.

Bennett swallowed as he returned the other man's gaze. Whatever his suspicions, Marsdon obviously intended to go through with this. He felt his master's acceptance of him rush through his veins. His pounding heartbeat steadied.

Marsdon continued to hold his gaze as Bennett repeated the words back to him. The other wolves’ hands dropped away, leaving Bennett's and Marsdon's hands linked together. The heat from his master's palm burned against his skin, as if the other man could somehow brand him as his, right there and then, while they stood in a crowd of other wolves.

Bennett stayed very still as Marsdon took half a step forward. His free hand touched Bennett's cheek, guiding him to tilt his head back a fraction and receive the simple touch of lips that would complete the ceremony.

It was like giving a man dying of thirst a sip of water and then taking any chance of another drop away. It eased none of Bennett's desperation for a real kiss from his master. It didn't stop him wanting to drop to his knees to plead for a real kiss either.

The brush of lips against lips just made it so much harder to remember that Marsdon wasn't offering him a repeat of everything that had passed between them those nights in the club. It made it so much harder to face the fact he was no longer allowed to even want that.

No matter how much it hurt, Bennett forced himself to try and take a step back from everything he'd fallen in love with over the last weeks and months. But the hand on his cheek kept him where he was. Marsdon's tongue licked its way into his mouth. In spite of everything he knew was different now, Bennett couldn't keep his lips together when his master made it clear he wanted entry. He stood there, entirely helpless, as Marsdon deepened the kiss, turning it from a simple ceremony into something that felt ridiculously close to sex right there in front of everyone.

A cheer went up from the crowd of wolves around them. Bennett's whole body tensed. Marsdon rested their foreheads together as he let a fraction of an inch of air come in between their lips.

"Hush, pup. It's okay. I've got you now."

Bennett jerked back, barely able to suppress his horror. He glared at Marsdon as if he had no idea why the other man would call him by that name, as if there was no way calling a grown man a pup could ever represent anything but an insult. Marsdon stared back at him, a strange expression in his eyes.

People surrounded them, congratulating them, offering hugs and handshakes from all directions. Bennett managed to smile and nod to everyone. No one seemed to think it strange that he kept his back to Marsdon, purposefully turning to accept the congratulations of whichever wolf was furthest away from his new mate.

"Steffan."

Bennett nodded automatically. Then he realised why the wolf was introducing himself, why he was waiting for him to say something important in response. “You are to join our pack?” he realised.

The wolf nodded. He was, quite frankly, huge—a wall of solid muscle that loomed over both his new alphas. No doubt he would prove to be a useful beta wolf, when the time came for one of their gamma to be promoted to that role.

Bennett scrambled to think of something appropriate to say while his head was still crammed full of Marsdon. “You are welcome,” he managed.

Steffan offered him a small, almost shy smile. He stepped back and ushered a smaller wolf towards Bennett. “This is Francis."

Bennett shook the other wolf's hand. They'd both kept their eyes lowered when they first addressed him, offering him their submission as was appropriate when they greeted their new alpha. But when Francis looked up, Bennett knew he was being assessed. Smart, he registered. And not as small as he first appeared now that Steffan had taken another step back. He would probably prove to be a useful gamma.

A minute fraction of his tension eased when he registered the thought. He was being an alpha. He was assessing the wolves that were to join his pack. He was doing exactly what any alpha in his position should be doing. Even knowing his master was right behind him, he was still able to carry out his duties. He could do this.

Another wolf stepped forward. This one truly was tiny. Bennett found himself being careful when he shook his hand. “Our new omega?” he guessed.

"Talbot."

Bennett nodded his acceptance of the wolf. “You are welcome."

Talbot smiled his relief, as if he hadn't been entirely sure any sort of welcome would be offered to him. Bennett made a mental note to keep an eye on him and see that he settled nicely into the pack. Another tiny bit of his tension eased.

"There are others,” Francis said. “Alfred is somewhere, and..."

Bennett nodded and smiled at them all. “We will all talk later,” he promised, as the members of his former pack demanded his attention from his other side.

Familiar faces were soon clustered around him, teasing him about wanting to rush off with his mate so they could be alone together. Bennett forced himself to smile and agree, even as he wished with all his heart that he could put that moment off forever.

"Bennett."

Glad for the excuse to speak to a stranger for a few moments, he turned to the wolf on his left. Holding out his hand to accept more congratulations, he found himself face to face with Marsdon's father again.

He met the man's eyes and held his gaze—the way an alpha should when facing another alpha. His eyes were the same deep brown as Marsdon's, but to Bennett's intense relief, they didn't call to any instinct for submission that might lurk inside him.

"It is time we all made our way inside. You should have some time to bond in private before you are left alone with your new pack."

"Yes,” Bennett agreed, as if he could think of nothing he would enjoy more than to be trapped in a room with his master, scrambling for excuses and lies to hide the weaknesses he'd displayed in the club.

He didn't rush as they walked back to the house, Marsdon silently falling into step beside him along the way. He took the stairs as slowly as he dared while trying not to look unenthusiastic about bonding with his mate. All too soon, they were in their new bedroom.