Page 26 of Baby and the Beast

He nuzzled Cyrus’s jaw and the soft bristles that felt so good against his own skin. “We can stay here after we shower. I won’t inflict the pack on you, but we both need to eat.”

Cyrus didn’t answer and Kyle focused on him, his fingers tracing the large bite mark at the base of Cyrus’s neck. “I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting to find my true mate, but I’m not sorry.”

Cyrus still didn’t answer and Kyle squeezed his shoulder. “What do you want to do? Stay in bed?” He could happily go for round three. Sometimes a heat could last for two days.

There was a knock at the door and Kyle bit back a growl. “Alpha?” It was Pepper. “Do you want some food brought upstairs?”

Kyle glanced at Cyrus. He still looked scared to death. Maybe delaying his meeting the pack wasn’t helping him, just giving him longer to get worried. “No, we’ll come down shortly.” He reached over to the nightstand and glanced at his phone. He knew most of the pack elders would have hung around all day waiting to meet his mate.

Kyle listened as Pepper walked away and decided to help Cyrus get ready. He showed him how to work the shower but left him to it. They could shower together tomorrow. And didn’t that sound like a good idea. In another hour they were both ready. Cyrus was talking a little, but he had only managed one word replies and Kyle was regretting saying they would go down.

He would stay close to him though. It must be quite stressful, meeting some of his new pack especially as he would be helping to run it.

Kyle put a steadying hand on the small of Cyrus’s back as they left the bedroom and the touch seemed to settle his own nerves. He took a breath just as they walked into the main kitchen and what looked like thirty people all fell silent. He shook his head. “Anyone would think they haven’t seen an alpha before,” he muttered and to his surprise the look Cyrus sent him was tinged with humor.

“Alpha.”

“Kyle”

“Alpha.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

Kyle let himself and Cyrus be ushered inside and was happy to see the huge spread that had been set out on the long table. He was glad to see that Marnie—because he knew she was responsible—had gone with casual. He’d still have preferred Cyrus to be introduced gradually though, not have everyone descend at once. Not that with over four hundred wolves he was meeting all the pack, just the ones he needed to meet initially. He shot a look at his mate as Marnie herself got to Cyrus, standing on tiptoes and enveloping him in a huge hug. He also saw Cyrus relax and return her hug properly, and almost flushed in embarrassment remembering he’d assumed Cyrus was taking drugs instead of going into his heat. He took another easier breath. Marnie was the pack house cook. She’d been here as long as he could remember. When he’d come back after his brothers had died and then won the challenge, he’d asked Marnie in all seriousness if she wanted to retire. The clip she’d given him had hurt more than the couple of hits he’d allowed his uncle to land in an effort not to shame him.

Kyle smelled Martin before he saw him and grinned. His father’s beta had been trying to rein in his uncle’s excesses for years and was in charge of the logging business accounts. The trouble was that Martin was one of the only wolves who could manage the contracts and he felt guilty relying on someone who should be enjoying retirement. Martin’s mate—Clara—he honestly didn’t like very much. She always seemed to be stiff and disapproving around him. She probably blamed Kyle for her mate having to work such long hours, so he understood her resentment. She was one of the pack mothers, as was their daughter. And knowing he was going to be expanding the pack, he wished they got on a little better as hers was a useful gift to have.

Traditional pack mothers could not only identify an omega as a very young pup, but later tell when a she-wolf or a male omegawas pregnant, and whether the pup was going to be an alpha or omega sometimes as well. Tara, their youngest daughter, seemed like a sweet girl. Only fifteen but quite talented.

Josh had told him something about a pack over near Ashville that rehomed omegas who were in difficulty. Well, they had space. Maybe he should get in touch. He was pretty sure their alpha was a hybrid which was surprising, but more power to him. Their world was changing and Kyle was all for it.

“Hey, boss,” Pepper grinned, walking over. “This is a surprise.”

Kyle grunted and accepted the coffee Liam handed him. He was just going to ask what he’d missed in the last couple of days when he noticed Cyrus being approached by Martin and Clara. He shoved his coffee cup back at Liam and headed over. He wasn’t letting Cyrus answer any questions on his own. His skin itched with the need to keep him close.

Martin smiled pleasantly at Cyrus, but didn’t say a word. He saw Clara scenting him, and not discreetly either. Marnie tried to distract Cyrus by introducing him to the next pack member, but Clara put a hand on his arm and drew him forward as if she was going to embrace him, but then stopped and her face changed. Kyle all but rolled his eyes. He’d seen her do that before and knew she was confirming he was an omega. Not that he needed that after what they’d done upstairs. He’d pretty much got that covered by knotting him. In fact, he was really ready to confirm it for a third time.

“I’m sorry,” Clara said in a clear voice and looked at her mate in puzzlement. “I thought you said we’d been invited to meet our alpha-mate?”

“I don’t see why there would be any doubt, Clara,” Kyle snapped out trying to keep his irritation under control. Cyrus’s neck was still inflamed. It would settle after a few days and heal into a permanent scar, but it was rather obvious what they had just done. Kyle’s wolf growled in his head.

“But surely…” Clara’s words came to an embarrassing stop and Kyle bit back another response with difficulty. He hadn’t realized Clara was of the traditionalist—bigoted—camp that thought alpha-mates couldn’t be male. He was sick of that mindset and decided it would stop right now. He didn’t want to embarrass Cyrus, but this couldn’t go on. And he knew Martin didn’t feel the same as Clara because he’d even tried to put her nephew forward as a prospective mate.

“As alpha, I don’t have to explain or justify my choice of mate to you or anyone else. If I choose a male omega it’s my business and anyone who doesn’t like that is welcome to leave the pack.”

Her eyes rounded in horror and she took a step back as if she felt threatened. “My apologies, Alpha. Of course not. My confusion wasn’t over your mate being a male, but the fact that he isn’t an omega.”

The silence was so loud it battered Kyle’s ears. He scoffed and turned to Cyrus, ready to share the joke. Ready, finally, to put Clara and the other pack members who might feel the same in their place, but he caught sight of the horrified look on Cyrus’s face and watched as the horror turned to bitter resignation, then to sorrow, as he finally met Kyle’s eyes.

And he saw the truth. That was the reason Cyrus had looked so terrified, because he and his fucking asshole of a brother had lied. Kyle had been conned. Conned into taking Cyrus. Conned out of twenty fucking thousand dollars.

Conned into mating. Kyle’s vision became tinged with an angry red haze. Had that been it? Had it all been an act? An act just strung out long enough for Cyrus to get the bite?

His hand curled over Cyrus’s arm. He turned, not giving the bastard one second to refuse, and headed towards his rooms. The whispers that followed them were the last fucking straw.

Baby and the Alpha

Chapter Three

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