Page 32 of Reformed Wolf

“This is his daddy, Brody, our Alpha Omega,” he said as an omega a few years older than me came over.

Brody’s smile was genuine, and just a little bit apologetic. “Hi, Dylan. Jude gave me the general outline of what happened, but I’d love to hear the story from you later, once you’re settled in.” He bypassed the hand I was offering for a handshake, going straight to a hug.

“Oh, okay. We’re hugging…” Since I usually spent most days around security guards and paid staff, it would come as no surprise to anyone that I wasn’t a super touchy-feely kind of guy, but… I found I didn’t hate this. It was warm and soothing in a way I hadn’t felt since my mom died. I belatedly brought my arms up to return the embrace. He smelled like wolf, obviously, but my keen senses picked up something else as well. “And congratulations,” I blurted without thinking.

“For what?” Shan asked.

“For… the baby?” I pointed at Brody’s stomach, and a few mouths dropped open. Oh shit, they didn’t know?

“You can smell it?” the Alpha asked me in awe, before he turned to Brody, eyes wide and glossy. “You’re pregnant?”

Brody gaped, a hand moving to his belly. “I-I mean, I—maybe?” His gaze went unfocused for a few seconds. “Yes, my wolf thinks I am.” His grin widened, and he threw himself into his mate’s arms with an excited squeal.

“How did I get so lucky,” Shan gushed, before they started kissing in a very not-PG way, with teeth and tongue and groping hands.

Honestly, I would’ve kept watching if Jude hadn’t appeared and given them a shove toward their cabin. “Would you guys go somewhere a little more private? You’re going to give Dylan the wrong idea about us.” He smiled at me in apology and said, “Good to see you again, Dylan,” before he reached for Mal. “Come on, dude. Let’s go splash around in the creek. Your daddies need some time alone.”

If that hadn’t been enough excitement, Tristan took me by the hand and led me around the camp, introducing me to his packmates—“Our packmates,” he reminded me—whose names I would very likely forget by this evening. The tour of the camp itself didn’t take very long, since it wasn’t more than a collection of half a dozen small homes, a couple storage sheds, an outdoor kitchen, and a firepit in the middle of the clearing.

“Well? What do you think?” he asked, and I could feel his hope humming through the bond.

No matter how well I schooled my features, I could feel my nose wrinkling up a bit, so I decided to aim for teasing, since I was a horrible liar. “Ugh, the smell, so much canine,” I said, waving a hand back and forth in front of my face. “That’s gonna take some getting used to.”

“Hey!” he said with a laugh, hooking an arm around my waist to drag me in. “You don’t seem to mind my smell.” He was playing along, but there was a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

“Yeah, but that’s because you’re my mate. Nobody smells as amazing as you do. You’re all leather and pine.” I buried my nose in his neck where the scent was the strongest. It helped to center me when the world around me was unsteady and unfamiliar. I threw myself into it, hoping that comfort would drown out the rest of my doubts. “Your scent never fails to make me a bit… hungry.”

“Is that right? I’d better feed you then.” Without warning, he crouched down and swept me straight up into his arms like I weighed no more than a feather. His grip on me made me feel safe, protected in ways even my security guards had never managed. I knew that even without high walls and holstered guns, he would always do whatever it took to keep me healthy and happy, just as I would for him.

He carried me over to the small cabin next to Shan and Brody’s and somehow managed to juggle me and get the door open. “Welcome home, omega mine.” He carried me over the threshold and set me back on my feet, but instead of being charmed by the romantic gesture, I became more aware of the tension in my body, the nervous energy that had been growing since we left Fairhome’s cityscape behind.

His home was… rough. That was a polite way to say it was a hovel. The floor was bare, unfinished wood, as were the walls. There was one tiny dresser and only one rickety chair in front of a folding TV table. The bed was narrow, the mattress thin. At least everything is clean, I thought, trying to find something positive.

I couldn’t stop the sigh from escaping. I felt a million miles from home, and when I tried to picture my future life here, my imagination came up blank. I could feel Tristan at my back, holding his breath as he waited for the verdict.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked, putting off giving him my opinion. I needed to stall long enough to come up with something nice to say.

His tentative smile fell, and I hated that it was my fault. “Um, it’s… across camp.”

“Right, of course it is.”

As much as I’d wanted to get out of my father’s mansion, this wasn’t anything like what I had in mind. I figured I’d be downgrading to a two-bedroom apartment or something, not some backwoods camp in the middle of nowhere. What would I even wear? My entire wardrobe was useless here. Besides the thin layer of dirt that seemed to cling to everyone and everything, there wasn’t even a closet. My silk suits would get ruined!

Brat, my panther scolded. Go run, he suggested, nudging me toward the woods. Because of course my panther liked it here. What did he care about plumbing or designer clothes.

Running doesn’t solve everything, I sassed back, but there was no way I could convince him of that. He wanted to stretch his legs, and in the city, he’d always been pent up, caged in. To him, this felt like the best change in scenery.

Tris moved in behind me, his intense heat soaking into my back and settling my nerves a little. “Take off your clothes,” he commanded in a gravelly voice that traveled all the way down my spine and settled like a warm pool in my core.

I raised an eyebrow but found myself reaching for my shirt buttons all the same. So far, I’d found there was this irresistible push and pull between us in the bedroom, a battle of wills to see who would come out on top, but I decided it was easier to give in to his demands for the time being. The physical aspect of our relationship was more fun to maneuver than the emotional side of things right now.

I backed away from him and moved slowly, loving the way he watched me. “What about you? Aren’t you going to undress?” I asked.

He hummed in response but made no move to follow yet. I felt like I was putting on a performance for him as I bared one inch of flesh at a time, letting the fabric fall away, setting my skin tingling. His gaze seared a path down my body, raising goosebumps.

When I was finally bare, he whipped off his clothes with deft fingers, making less of a production but with an impressive result all the same. My alpha simply glowed with confidence and sex appeal.

Instead of taking me to bed, though, he took my hand. “Come with me,” he said, tugging me back toward the door. “I want to show you something.”

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