The Mark of an Alpha (6 page)

Bennett's hand clamped over the back of his neck as if he could no longer resist the temptation to touch the mark.

Marsdon stepped forward. The floor board creaked. Bennett spun around to face him. Anger and fear warred in his pup's eyes. Then his expression cleared, his emotions pushed quickly into check.

"Everyone's waiting downstairs."

Marsdon said nothing.

Bennett reached for a blue shirt and pulled it over his head, hiding his body away from his master. Even worse than seeing the skin disappear from his view, was the knowledge that he couldn't do anything about it.

In moments, Bennett had changed his trousers too, switching the belt from the white cotton ones to a pair of black jeans in the process. He hadn't put anything on under them. Marsdon filed that information away for future reference.

Bennett pulled his shoes on and glanced at Marsdon. He looked at the door as if contemplating going down on his own, but he made no move to actually follow through on the idea. He walked over to the window and looked down over the fields instead, his back turned to Marsdon as if making a point of giving him the privacy he hadn't even thought to offer Bennett.

Marsdon quickly switched one set of clothes for another.

Bennett glanced over his shoulder.

Marsdon tried to catch his eye, but the darker wolf wouldn't meet his gaze as he walked over to the door. Marsdon caught up with him just in time to put his hand over Bennett's before he could turn the handle.

He couldn't let his mate leave the room thinking he cared so little, that he would give up so easily. “You know this isn't over, pup."

Bennett refused to turn and face him. “It was over the moment we walked out of that club. And it's Bennett—not pup."

Marsdon reluctantly let go of the handle and stepped back to let his mate walk out of the room ahead of him. Bennett strode down the corridor that led to the stairs with complete confidence. Marsdon could see how shaken his lover was by everything that had happened that day, but he would bet his life that no one else would see it.

An alpha to the core. Perhaps, if he'd had the sense to notice that when they were playing together in the club, things could have been very different.

A cheer went up when they walked into the hall underneath the bedroom they'd ‘rested’ in, knocking Marsdon's thoughts completely out of line. He automatically reached out to his mate, placing his hand on the small of Bennett's back.

Bennett glanced at him, but made no objection to him leaving his hand there as they walked across the room. The other wolves were all grinning like fools. For a moment Marsdon couldn't quite work out why. Footsteps echoed down into the hall as someone went up the stairs and walked across the floor in one of the rooms above them.

The struggle when he'd fought to catch a glimpse of the mark on the back of Bennett's neck would have been relayed directly to all the wolves in the hall. With only the noises to go by, it must have sounded very different to how it actually was.

"Come, sit with us,” his parents invited.

Marsdon stepped back, deferring to his mate, letting Bennett choose his seat first. About to join him, he changed his mind at the last moment and took a position standing behind Bennett's chair instead. “I'll stand, thank you."

One of the younger wolves giggled. He dropped his eyes when Marsdon turned his attention towards him. When he risked a quick glance up a few seconds later, Marsdon let him see his smile, so he could see the newly crowned alpha wasn't really mad at him.

An hour later, he wasn't feeling quite as generous towards any of their guests. He loved every wolf in his parents’ pack, truly he did. But it was bloody difficult to remember that when they were all there under his feet and all he wanted was be alone with his mate.

He wanted them gone. He wanted everyone who wasn't part of his new pack out of the house, off his lands and safely back where they belonged—in their own homes. He wanted all those who were to stay with him and Bennett sent off to their own beds. And, more than anything, he wanted Bennett in his bed and he wanted the bedroom door closed between them and the rest of the world. He wanted five minutes peace to relish the fact that the mating he'd been dreading for months had fulfilled every desire he'd made himself keep secret.

He forced himself to stay standing by Bennett's chair muttering polite nothings to those wolves who spoke to him. He didn't manage to make his smile look as convincing as Bennett's. The only person his mate didn't seem to have a real smile for was him.

Marsdon glanced at his watch and held back a sigh.

"Impatient, son?” He met his father's eyes and saw the humour in them.

"It's getting late. I wouldn't want your pack to be travelling home in the early hours of the morning,” he said politely.

'Your pack'—because he was a member of a different pack now—a leader of his own pack.

His father chuckled and clapped him on the back. “Perhaps you are right. You have your own pack to settle into a new home, don't you?"

Marsdon nodded. And his own mate to settle into their new bed too.

Gradually his parents’ pack was gathered up and began to trail out of the house. Marsdon turned from the door as they drove way, just in time to see Bennett saying good bye to his parents and his old pack.

A glance further down the hall showed those wolves who were to stay with them milling about, waiting for their alphas to turn their attention back to them and give them their first orders.

Bennett didn't know any of them. He'd barely even been introduced to them before being thrown into the middle of the group of wolves and told to lead. As his mate stood at the door, watching all those wolves he was familiar with leaving him behind, Marsdon walked up behind him and rested his hand on his shoulder.

His pup didn't immediately shake his hand away. That was something.

"They'll feel like your pack in no time,” Marsdon promised, looking back at their new family.

"They are my pack now,” Bennett said coldly, turning away from him and walking back to the other wolves.

Marsdon dropped his hand back to his side. Of course it wasn't as simple as being left alone with their pack. He knew that wouldn't fix everything in the world. But having Bennett accept his touch, if only for a few seconds, had been good.

Their new pack all tensed when they realised their alphas were ready to address them for the first time.

"It's late,” Bennett said. “You've all had a busy day. Off to bed now, all of you. Everything else can wait until tomorrow."

Marsdon stayed a step behind Bennett, letting him give the orders, letting the other wolves get used to taking orders from him. As Marsdon looked around the group, he saw that eight pairs of eyes were completely focused on Bennett. He smiled a fraction at the sight of his mate, relaxing into his true place in the pack. Bennett really was stunning in leadership.

He made short work of assigning each of them to the various bedrooms above the hall, but all Marsdon could think about was getting them both back to their own room. When Bennett called Talbot back to speak to him after the others had left, Marsdon had to bite back a curse to keep from betraying his impatience.

Talbot returned to stand in front of his new alpha.

One glance at him and Marsdon felt his annoyance disappear. Talbot had always been a nervous little guy, but Marsdon hadn't seen him look truly scared before. It took all his strength not to step forward and reassure the smaller wolf himself.

Bennett tucked a knuckle under Talbot's chin and spoke very softly to him. Marsdon could only just make out the murmur of his voice.

Talbot nodded and offered his new alpha a small smile.

"Go on."

Talbot nodded again and followed the others up the stairs to his new bed.

Finally they were left on their own. When Bennett made no move to turn away from his study of the staircase the other wolves had walked up, Marsdon put his hand on his pup's arm and turned Bennett to face him.

Bennett took a deep breath. “If you think trying to loom over me the whole time will make me feel like some little pup, then...” he began, only to trail off and frown at Marsdon's smile.

Marsdon stroked his pup's hair back from his face so the dark strands didn't obscure the brilliant blue eyes he'd so recently been permitted a glimpse of. “Our bedroom is directly above the hall, pup. Do you really think they'd believe all that noise was just me trying to steal a look at the back of your neck?"

Bennett's eyes narrowed. “I don't need you to lie for me in order to gain their respect,” he snapped. “They—"

Marsdon tangled his fingers a little more snugly into Bennett's hair. “You are my mate,” he whispered. “The other wolves in our pack already know me, they don't know you. Is it really so wrong for me to ease your way with them?"

Bennett tried to pull away, but it was a half hearted attempt at best. Marsdon easily kept him where he was.

"I know you are strong. I know you will be a good leader—that you are a good alpha. They are already recognising that too, but if I can make sure they realise it more quickly, then I will do that."

Bennett just stared straight ahead. “Will it make any difference if I tell you not to?"

"No,” Marsdon admitted. “Not in this case."

Bennett made no answer.

Marsdon leant forward, stopping just short of bringing their lips together. “I will listen if you refuse me permission to do other things."

For a long time, Bennett stayed right where he was. Marsdon could sense his longing for a kiss, but his mate didn't lean in to claim it the way Marsdon had hoped he would.

"I won't submit to you—you have no right to expect that."

Marsdon stayed where he was, sure there was more to come, sure he would like it just as little as he did the first part of the statement.

"But...but you are my mate,” Bennett said. “And I know you have a mate's right to expect..."

"Because it is your duty?” Marsdon asked, stroking his pup's cheek with the back of his knuckles.

Bennett swallowed at the familiar gesture. “An alpha always does his duty."

"Come on then, pup,” Marsdon said. “Come and do your duty by me.” He slid his hand into Bennett's hand and tugged gently.

Bennett stayed where he was. “Don't call me that. You said you wanted to ease my way with the other wolves—what do you think they'll think of me if they hear that?"

He had a point. He couldn't expect others to understand what the word really meant between them. “Only ever when we are alone,” Marsdon promised.

It wasn't enough of a compromise. Bennett tried to take his hand back, but Marsdon held onto it.

"Come to bed,” he coaxed, walking backwards and keeping hold of Bennett's hand.

His mate gave in, but the look in his eyes was resignation, not pleasure, as Marsdon led him up to the room they'd shared earlier. He nudged Bennett to the bathroom that led off the room and occupied himself with turning down the bed.

By the time they'd exchanged places and Marsdon had taken his turn into the bathroom, Bennett had stripped down to his bare skin, but the turned down sheets hadn't tempted him. His pup had moved across the room to stare out of the window rather than approach the bed.

Marsdon shrugged his own clothes off, putting them with Bennett's before approaching the slightly younger wolf. His mind was starting to understand that it was not truly the right time to hope his mate would wish to bond with him.

His body had no inclination to understand. His pup was back with him. Bennett was his mate. Now that the leather was stripped away, he could see that the man he'd told himself he could never have for more than a few hours was indeed a true alpha—a wolf he could spend the rest of his life with. His cock curved back to his stomach, eager and aching with need.

Marsdon placed his hand on Bennett's shoulder. The other man tensed but didn't turn towards him. His fingers clenched on the wooden window sill. Marsdon put his other hand on Bennett's other shoulder. The moonlight falling in through the glass highlighted the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed down his nerves.

Marsdon took half a step forward, until they were almost touching. He leant forward and pressed a kiss against Bennett's bare shoulder. Closing his eyes, he pushed aside his desire to order Bennett to keep that position. It would have been so easy to nudge his lover's feet further apart and line his body up tight against him.

Bennett was so tense it would have taken a lot of care and time to make him ready, but seeing him squirm around his fingers as he turned diligent preparations into teasing would have made the minutes rush past. The reward of burying his cock inside Bennett's hole, in feeling the other man's muscles tense and flex around him as they begged him to move would have made the time well spent.

"Come to bed?” he whispered instead, taking great care to make it a request rather than an order.

Bennett turned and walked past him to the bed. “What do you want?” he asked, as he stopped beside it.

It was a good question to ask, and a very hard question to answer. Giving up on words, Marsdon guided him onto the bed instead. Bennett went along with it. His confidence boosted a little by Bennett's compliance, Marsdon joined him on the bed and encouraged his pup to lie back and relax against the soft pillows.

He hadn't offered his lover a great deal of comfort over their meetings in the club. Bennett didn't seem at all sure about any of it. Marsdon pulled the blankets up over them both. He let his hands rest on the blanket that covered Bennett's skin for a moment. Then, holding back a sigh, he forced himself to retreat back to his side of the mattress.

Bennett turned to look at him, a frown gathering between his brows.

"When you are ready to do more, we will,” Marsdon said.

"You mean, when I'm ready to submit to you?” Bennett snapped, pushing irritably at the blanket.

Marsdon reached out and touched his cheek. “When you can look me in the eye and tell me it means more to you than the fulfilling of a duty,” he corrected.

Bennett jerked away from his touch.