Page 2 of An Alpha's Commitment

A ray of sunshine drifting in through the skylight at that moment caught the blonde highlights in Irian’s light brown hair and turned them into shimmering waves as he nodded in agreement.

“You know I’d like that too, especially if... imagine if it was a three-way bond!” he exclaimed, breathlessly.

Clearly he'd thought about this. Did he already know what I was going to say?

“But of course, I can’t claim him since he’s already been claimed by Zarbius.”

"Oh, I thought you were about to say it was possible after all." He slumped like the air had been knocked out of him and the smile vanished at the reminder of our little impasse.

“Not in the usual way of things,” I added, hastily moving on. “But what if I could, what if we could achieve it some other way? How would you feel about that? Would you want me to pursue that, if it was an option?”

“YES!” Irian was out of his chair and on his knees in front of me in an instant, grasping my thighs with a grip as arousing as it was tight. “Is it possible? Can we do it?”

He must have known I wouldn’t bring this up if I didn’t have a plan.

I gently removed his hands from my thighs, cradling them tenderly in my larger ones. I looked into his earnest face and saw only eagerness and love. Love for Isca, love for me, love for this unconventional family we had formed.

“Firstly, I am your Alpha and you should treat me with respect!” Irian responded by giggling, showing all the respect. I smirked; he knew I was joking.

“Secondly, you should know better than to put your hands near my groin when you’re this close to heat. I am part wolf, I will remind you.” I couldn’t help the groan that slipped out. Irian’s smile was sweet and a bit shamefaced. He knew the effect he was having on me. He might even have been doing it on purpose.

“And lastly,” I sighed. “The truth is, I don’t know. I have a few ideas, but I wanted to check with you first. If you don’t want this, I won’t pursue it.”

Irian stretched up on his knees, his eyes bright with hope. “I would love it! I hate that Isca doesn’t have the same connection we do. It’s not right. And I know he wants it, he just doesn’t say anything to you because he doesn’t think it’s possible. He doesn’t want you to feel bad about it if there’s nothing you can do. But if there is…”

“I’m not sure yet and I don’t want to get his hopes up, so don’t say anything to him until we’re sure.” I hesitated as something occurred to me. “You can keep a secret from him, can’t you?”

“Yes, of course. I wouldn’t want him to get hurt… if it didn’t work out, he’d be devastated. He loves you so much!”

I stroked Irian’s chin with my thumb, “And he loves you just as much.”

“What are you planning?” Irian’s eyes were very golden, another telltale sign.

Before I got lost in those eyes, I told him, “I need to contact the Council, to see if there’s another way to do it. But I can’t do it officially. You know as well as I that not everyone on the Council is entirely trustworthy. If word of this spread, it wouldn’t be too hard for someone to work out which pack was asking, and lead a trail back to Isca.”

“Meaning Zarbius might find out.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“We can’t let that happen,” Irian asserted. His breathing was ragged. Fast and shaky. His eyes were wide, his pupils blown with alarm. Or was that his heat? It was getting hard to tell the difference. My nostrils quivered, catching the first traces of his heat scent. It wouldn’t be long before we wouldn’t be having any more conversation for a while.

“We won’t,” I assured him. “Get up here on my lap.”

As Irian, face flushed, obeyed my request and settled himself straddling my thighs, the warmth emanating from his body burning up against my skin, I hurried to finish. “I have to ask someone I can trust.”

“We could ask my mother,” suggested Irian, wriggling his butt into my thighs.

I groaned. He clearly wasn't thinking straight if he thought we could trust his mother with this. “Your mother already doesn’t like me,” I gasped. “This would be the last straw. She’d never forgive me if she knew I wanted to make our relationship into a threesome…”

“We already are,” murmured Irian, brows straightening in thought, “but you’re right. She’d probably find a way to interfere.”

“There's one guy I know on the Council. I think he can be trusted. I’ll reach out quietly to him and see if he knows of a way around this. I’m hopeful there'll be something. Someone must have tried it before. Maybe there'll be some information in the archives.”

“O-kay,” gasped Irian, leaning up against me and throwing his arms around my neck, running the flattened muscle of his tongue along the soft shell of my ear.

“Shit! This is coming on fast. Text Isca,” I ordered, my voice tight with the effort of controlling myself. “Tell him to get back home ASAP and to come straight to the bedroom.”

Irian’s hands trembled as he keyed the message into the phone. The phone slipped out of his hands, slid off the edge of the couch and clattered to the floor.

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