Page 13 of Bonds of Fate

The noise alerts his wolf, who instantly keys into Nix’s agitated—and possibly aroused—state. He smells frustrated and oh-so-delicious. Flushed, with his loose shorts slipping and revealing tantalizing flashes of groin and thigh as he wriggles to evade Luca’s nimble fingers, Nix is irresistible.

Rowan’s wolf takes over the moment Nix jumps up and breaks into a jog to escape Luca’s tickling. He’s only slightly disappointed at how quickly he catches his prey, flipping him onto his back and pinning him down. With his cock pressing into the cradle of his omega’s hips and Nix’s arms held firmly over his head, Rowan buries his face in the scent gland high on his throat, desperate to mark his mate.

When his back hits the corner of the couch, Rowan freezes in surprise. Until now, only Jay has bested his wolf in a contest of strength—and even then, it was a close match (Grayson declines to try). Yet here is this tiny, soft, laughing omega throwing him back with insane strength. It’s arousing as hell. Strength is highly prized in a mate, and watching Nix sprint away again—this time testing Rowan more seriously—has his wolf howling with delight.

The chase is brought up short by the door to the gym, but Nix blows it down with his momentum, hands out, and with apparently little effort. When Rowan spots him, he is down on all fours and ass-up inside the open doorway, looking back at Rowan and wiggling his butt back and forth with enough enthusiasm to tempt even the most devout saint.

Rowan has never been that good.

He’s got no care for the other three alphas, as it’s clear his omega wants only him. Falling to his knees behind his mateand grasping the offending shorts by the legs, he pulls until he’s hampered by the tie at Nix’s waist. He takes the material in hand and rips it until his mate’s tiny, juicy ass is on full display, glistening between his cheeks in the bright lights of the gym. The scent is incendiary, musky, and sweet—sex-in-a-bakery-sweet.

Rowan takes a minute to appreciate how beautiful Nix is, then pushes the t-shirt up and out of the way so he can see the expanse of his back and the two dimples above his ass. He has had fantasies about spreading his come right there, but right now, Rowan needs that shiny fluid on his tongue and down his throat.

Rowan hears Nix whining and tunes in enough to catch the words. “Please, alpha. Hurts. Please.”

He spares a fleeting glance at the other alphas in the room, just in case. Jay is flat on his back on the floor, and Gideon is frantically trying to strip off his boxing gloves. Finn is frozen in the doorway behind them—Rowan knows he’s the least likely to challenge his claim on their omega anyway.

Maybe it’s because Rowan’s fangs are bared, and his vision is red? No matter—all the better to see his omega. With a low, menacing warning, he locks eyes with Finn one last time, but he just shivers, his hand inside his sweats, either staving off an orgasm or working toward one.

Rowan can’t tell and doesn’t care.

Luca has disappeared out the door, leaving the biggest threat to Rowan’s claim still hamstrung by his gloves. Good.

Oh, Gideon is talking, and if Rowan were worried, he’d try to pay attention, but Nix has gone to his shoulders, face turned to the side so he can breathe, and he’s forlorn begging for tears and whines. But what has almost all of Rowan’s attention are the two tiny hands holding his cheeks apart so he can see his glistening hole. It’s soaked—a mess of slick painting his balls and innerthighs. It only takes from one blink to the next to have Rowan’s nose pressed to that winking hole and his eyes rolling back.

He follows it with his tongue, plunging in past his rim, but not before taking a second to bite the firm cheek. He’s not looking to break skin here, just feel the tender flesh between his teeth. Rowan wants to feed on him and slake the thirst he couldn’t shake since the first time he scented that vanilla-sex smell.

“More, Rowan. So good, fuck.” Nix’s deep voice is like a caress on his leaking cock. He can’t deny his mate and goes back to the sweet treat that is his omega’s slick. His mouth is full of vanilla and sugar, and in that minute, he thinks he might come from the taste alone. He just swallows it down, licks his lips, and dives in for more.

His omega has a hand between his legs, and when Rowan pushes his two longest fingers into his omega’s hungry hole up to the last knuckle, carefully pressing against his omega’s prostate, a rush of slicks breaks free. Nix is suddenly coming with Rowan’s name on his lips—into the remnants of his shorts—and onto the floor mats.

Rowan howls in victory—he has been gifted with his mate’s first orgasm, and he is proud.

He certainly doesn’t expect a face full of cold water from the hose they used to clean the gym floors, but that’s what he gets. Luca stands ten feet away holding the offending weapon—aimed at his alpha—and he looks pissed.

Leo is brave enough to come close and—with a hand outstretched—whispers, “Rowan. Let me take Nix and clean him up. You’ve made him feel so good, but he’s asleep now. Will you let me help him?”

They want to take his omega, but the wolf hasn’t marked or bred him yet. So, he growls, pulling his unconscious mate to his chest. “Mine.”

Gideon leans into his sight line and growls back—louder and more menacing. “Down, Rowan.”

The command is familiar, but the taste of his omega’s slick lingers on his tongue, and he doesn’t want to obey, so he shakes it off. “Mine,” he growls again, the word possessive and tinged with an underlying threat.

The urge to charge the lesser alpha surges—but wait. Gideon is his mate. He shakes his head, either denying Gideon’s command or rejecting the very idea that he could hurt his mate just to keep Nix with him. “My omega,” he insists, his voice low and unwavering.

“Ourmate,ouromega, you jerk,” Luca growls, and Rowan gets another face full of water, and the scent and taste of the soft body in his arms is washed away. His cock is so hard, he wants to feel that glistening hole wrapped around it, and—fuck—there’s evenmorewater.

“Stop, Luc. Fuck.” He hears his own voice, and for once, it’s not the guttural, fang-filled wolf. The cold-water facial has finally given him a bit of clarity, and he’s immediately horrified. “Leo?”

“Give me your omega, Rowan, and I’ll take care of him. Then we can go to the nest, okay? Who do you want?”

Rowan shakes his head, shifting Nix into his arms bridal-style, but when Leo holds out his arms, making full eye contact, he gently hands him over.

“Sorry.” He can’t verbalize for what, exactly, not yet.

“I know you are, alpha. Let Finnie and Gideon help you, okay?”

Instead, Rowan strides over to Luca and rips the hose out of his hands. “Yes?”

---