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“By the way, Casey, I spoke to Shawna about you. She said you joined their rogue pack only a few days before they rejoined us. Is that correct?”
“Yes. ”
“Where had you been before that?”
“I suppose you could say I was unaffiliated. ” Casey grinned at the alpha, mixing truth with insinuation. “My parents were rogues, and after they died, it was just me and my brother. He passed away too, and I sort of drifted around until I met up with Shawna’s group. They took me in. End of story, I guess. ” The story was fairly true, as far as it went.
“How have you been identified as far as rank? Did Shawna or anyone in her pack submit you to a challenge?”
A challenge was traditionally a way for a wolf pack to determine what rank their wolves belonged to. Once a wolf reached puberty, he would go into the ancestral ring to wrestle with other wolves of his age. In this way, potential alphas were picked out of the pack for further training. Alphas and betas were both rare and highly prized, although in Casey’s own pack, the old ways were not practiced with any diligence.
Casey shook his head, and by answering only the second part of Marco’s question, he as much as lied again. He knew his rank very well. He was alpha. “No, there wasn’t time for that— when I got to the pack, things were sort of in flux, and they were trying to reconnect with the Dark Hollow Wolves. ”
Marco studied him silently. “I think we should put you in the ring very soon, then. Something tells me you’re an alpha. Has anyone ever told you that before?”
“No,” Casey answered in a complete out and out lie.
“If you are, it would make it even harder on Rory, I’m afraid, but it can’t be helped. It’s time he faced his insecurities and his responsibilities to his mate. I’ve tried to be patient with him, but perhaps it’s time for firmness now. ”
“I can do that. ”
Marco looked at him in surprise. Then he nodded thoughtfully. “I believe you can. Well, I hope you’ve found a home here with us and Rory. I hope you’ll have a good time tonight. ”
“I’m sure I will. Thank you, Alpha. ”
Watching Marco walk away, Casey’s mind strayed back to not quite a year ago, when his brother Aaron, then the Alpha of the Sapphire Wolf Clan, had told him of some news he’d just heard.
“Marco, Alpha of the Dark Hollow Pack, has a new mate. They say it’s a pretty young man. Pretty special, too, and Marco’s besotted with him. ”
“Really?” Casey shrugged, only mildly interested in what was going on with the rival Clan. The two clans had been at odds since before anyone could remember, often raiding each other’s camps, and taking prisoners for ransom. There hadn’t been a raid for many years, and Casey was content to keep it that way. The Dark Hollow Pack had grown large and prosperous under Marco’s leadership, and Casey thought it would be a good idea to let sleeping dogs lie.
“Nicky is his name. I’ll bet Marco would pay a pretty penny to get him back should anyone decide to kidnap him. ”
“Oh, no, Aaron. I don’t like the look in your eye. Marco’s pack is larger than ours, and if we took his mate, he’d be furious. This is not a good idea. ”
“I’m the alpha, Casey, and I decide what’s a good idea and what’s not. It’s your job just to go along with me. Is that clear?”
Casey bit his lip and nodded. “Yes, Alpha. ”
The old alpha had allowed challenges almost to go out of style, and when he died, Aaron was the only one who stepped up to take his place, claiming to be an alpha without any real challenge of any kind. Casey hadn’t wanted to go up against his brother, though he knew in his heart he was the natural-born leader. His brother was too hot-headed, too rash ever to be a good alpha. But Aaron, seven years older, had raised Casey like his own son after their parents died in a car accident, and Casey felt he owed him everything. Certainly he owed him his allegiance if he wanted to be the alpha male. He’d put aside his own feelings and gave his total loyalty to his brother, no matter how painful it was to him. This latest idea, however, struck him as just asking for trouble.
“I’ve decided. We’ll go over to the Dark Hollow Pack’s compound and just sniff around a little. We won’t take any untoward risks, but if a situation happens to present itself, why then…”
They had sniffed around for several days, camping nearby, out of range of the nightly patrols and slipping across the boundary lines during the daytime. On the third day, they’d seen him. He was outside on the lawns, near the woods, playing football with a young boy of around twelve or thirteen. The boy was a pet too, by the look of him. Both were barefoot and wearing the characteristic tight leather pants and no shirt. Immediately struck by his golden beauty, Casey still got a very bad feeling about the whole thing. First of all, why were these two valuable pets left alone and unguarded? Where were their masters? Something about it didn’t feel right, and Casey tried to caution Aaron, who shrugged him off, saying, “Their loss is my gain! Who cares where their masters are? This is being served up to us on a golden platter, and I’m taking advantage of it!”
Aaron seized the young boy first when his ball came rolling into the edge of the woods and threw him to Casey to bind and gag. He caught Nicky next when he came looking for the boy. He put up quite a fight. It was all Aaron could do to subdue him without seriously hurting him. He finally got him tied and gagged, but Aaron had hit him a few times to get him to settle down. It was unusual for a pet to be so aggressive when fighting off two grown wolves, and Casey’s uneasiness came back with a vengeance, even more so when he saw the cockstand Aaron had after fighting with the beautiful creature.
“Just you wait till I get you home, pretty boy. I’ll show you what a real man can do. You might even decide to stay with me once you get a taste of this,” he bragged crudely, grabbing himself and thrusting his groin toward Nicky’s face. Nicky turned his head and bucked his hips wildly, trying to loosen his bonds, but Aaron laughed and threw him over his shoulder.
As they ran down the trail back to their temporary camp, Casey holding the young boy and Nicky slung over Aaron’s shoulder, his uneasiness built, like something bad was coming and coming soon. He didn’t doubt Marco had bonded with his beautiful mate and was probably picking up on his distress right that minute. They ran as fast as they could, with Nicky struggling every step of the way, until they heard an unearthly howl of rage and pain behind them on the trail. It shook Casey badly, and he knew it must have affected Aaron too, because he cast a wild glance over his shoulder and threw Nicky to the ground. He turned, looked back over his shoulder at his brother, and said one word, “Run!”
“Please, Aaron, let me stay with you and fight. ”
Aaron held a knife to Nicky’s throat. “No. Get home. I’ll be along in a few minutes after I deal with Marco. Since his mate’s not hurt, he’ll make a deal with me. Now get! Do as I say!”
Reluctantly, Casey put the young boy down by the side of the trail and ran all the way back to camp. He waited around for almost two hours, could stand it no longer and circled back to where he’d last seen his brother. There, on the ground, his throat ripped out, lay his brother, his blood already cold. He must have been killed right after Casey left him. They hadn’t even bothered to bury him or cover his body, just left him lying on the trail like garbage. Casey howled his grief and rage and took his brother home for a decent burial. Every step of the way, he vowed revenge. Nothing had happened to Nicky or the young boy that warranted his brother’s death. Aaron had touched another wolf’s mate, and he had made threats to Nicky, yes, but he hadn’t hurt him, really, just roughed him up a bit when he struggled. He couldn’t believe Marco had taken such a drastic action, regardless of how much he cared for his mate.
Only later did he learn from the rogue pack in the area that it hadn’t been Marco who killed his brother, but a young relative of his named Rory. According to those sources, Rory jumped on his brother in wolf form, not
giving Aaron a chance to shift, and killed him before Marco could even interrogate Aaron. As far as Casey was concerned it was murder, pure and simple. A man didn’t stand a chance against a wolf, and Rory must have known it. Aaron had put himself in a bad position, yes, but he deserved at least a fair fight, and he hadn’t received it. For that, Casey vowed, Rory would pay with his own life. He would find him and kill him for what he’d done.
Coming back to the present with sigh, Casey wished it could be as easy as he’d once thought it would be.
Once in his room, he stripped off his clothing and got into the shower, turning on the water as hot as he could stand it. He wished Rory was in the shower with him, his little body slick with soap and water.
Casey would take his own soapy hand and slick it up and down slowly on Rory’s cock, then turn him around and take care of the backside as well. Rory’s knees would be trembling, and Casey would put his arms around him and hold him close, kissing him sweetly and tenderly, rubbing his hardness against him, while his hands roamed over his body.
Smiling at his own daydreams, he finished his shower. Tonight, little wolf. Tonight I’ll make you mine. He stepped out of the shower and dried himself before stretching out on the bed still naked to rest before dinner. He’d told Rory to come to him tonight, but he didn’t think Rory would. He was still too terrified of Casey and what he might do to him. What he would do to him. Despite what he’d told Marco, force might be needed, but he hoped to avoid that. He wanted him to come to him willingly, because he couldn’t stay away.
Tonight, one way or the other, Rory would become his mate. He wasn’t waiting any longer. If Rory wanted to avoid it, forcing him to submit would make it that much sweeter. After submission, he would make him his pet. No more wolf for you, baby. That’s your punishment, sweetheart, and I’ll see to it that you never shift again. From tomorrow on, you’re mine to do with as I will. You’ll wear my collar. Every night, I’ll feed you my blood to make you docile, and then fuck you hard and make you like it. Instead of lead gamma, you’ll be little bitch to my alpha. How will you like that, my little wolf?