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  “All our contacts are by phone. He called me, spitting tacks about your incompetence. Wanted to know if it was usual for you to take so long to complete a job.” Warren was hiding something. Stone didn’t need to scent that. It showed on his face. “Anyway, I am sure this can all be sorted out once we reach Horridge’s pack. I’m not sure why you’re so invested in what happens with the Omega and his sister, Stone, but I give you my word they’ll be safe.”

  “I’m not going BACK!” Wyatt yelled. “Do you think it’s been fun for me, on the run for three years, no one to turn to, no one to help? I was raised in a pack. They should’ve helped me but instead…instead…they were going to rape me.”

  “You’re young. You misheard things,” Warren said, waving at his men with a raised finger. “Just come along quietly and we’ll work this all out.” The two men moved forward and Stone quickly put himself in front of Wyatt. Barron stood too, his claws already formed.

  “Stand down, Stone,” Warren warned. “I can see why you’d be taken with him. It’s in an alpha’s nature to protect those weaker than themselves, and he’s a pretty wee thing. But this doesn’t concern you.”

  “What part of ‘my mate’ didn’t you hear?” Stone snarled. “Fated mate. Claimed and bitten. Any ties he might have had with his home pack are now null and void under the laws you uphold for shifters everywhere. He and Maddie are under my protection and I’m not letting you take him.”

  “Fated mate? Are you sure?” Warren held up his hand and his men fell back. “Show me your mating scar?”

  “I don’t have one, yet.” Stone gently pulled Wyatt forward, keeping his hand on his mate’s lower back. “Show him your scar, babe, if you wouldn’t mind. I’ll make sure I’m wearing one from you tonight.”

  Wyatt tugged at the neckline of his shirt and Stone’s pride in his mate grew. “I’m a fast healer,” Wyatt tilted his neck slightly. “But as you can see, the scar took. Stone is my fated mate. No one else could leave a mark on me like he has. That means I get to stay with him and even Horridge can’t fight that.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Shit.” Warren lurched back and fell in his chair, his face pale. One of his men offered him a coffee but he waved it away. Stone tucked Wyatt under his arm, secretly thrilled when he felt Wyatt’s arm wind around his waist. His mate was trembling but at least the scent of anguish had disappeared.

  “Do you want to tell us what’s going on, Councilor?” Barron asked politely as he retook his seat. “Alpha Omega pairings are common in wolf culture. I thought you’d be pleased Stone found his mate. Don’t you guys usually celebrate things like that?”

  “Normally yes, but there’s a lot more going on here than you could possibly imagine.” Warren looked ten years older. Stone edged Wyatt to a loveseat and sat down. Wyatt chose to sit on his lap, his arms now linked around Stone’s neck. Whether it was for safety, or Wyatt simply wanted to stake his claim, Stone wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t going to complain.

  “Look,” Warren said at last. “I’m going to come clean with you but none of what I say can leave this room. Understood?”

  Stone nodded.

  “Horridge isn’t a friend of mine. He’s an overbearing asshole and your young omega was right – he does have designs on my council seat. If I don’t return the omega, then he’s threatened to challenge me outright and he’s got a lot of support among some of the bigger packs. We can’t afford to have a man like that on the council.”

  “I have a name,” Wyatt said stiffly, “and that’s part of Horridge’s problem. He doesn’t care about people at all, not even those in his pack. I’m just a pack position to him. I’m an omega, so I should be mated to him whether I want it or not. It doesn’t matter that he already has an alpha mate and two other women who serve his sexual needs.”

  “Polygamy’s not illegal in packs,” Warren shook his head. “And though we frown on inter-family relations, that’s not illegal either, given no children will result from the union and he’s not your immediate family. Can you explain what happened with your parents? Surely they didn’t agree for you to be mated to your uncle.”

  “I know they argued about it.” Wyatt bent his head, his voice almost a whisper. “My dad was alpha of the pack then. Horridge was always hanging around, especially after Maddie was born.”

  “Was this before or after your first shift?” Stone asked. He didn’t think Maddie was the reason for Horridge’s attention.

  “After. I shifted when I was fifteen and my white coat clearly marked me as an Omega. My dad was thrilled. He knew I didn’t have an alpha personality and he talked about forging an alliance with a neighboring pack by mating me to someone strong who could look after me. But he didn’t plan on doing that until I was twenty-one and he would have asked for my input first. He would never have just mated me to someone I couldn’t get on with.”

  Wyatt’s voice broke and he stopped for a second before going on. “Horridge argued with him a hundred times about how an omega should serve the pack and be mated to an alpha within the pack to keep it strong. He was the only other alpha.”

  “What did your dad say?” Warren’s voice was respectful for the first time since they’d arrived. Stone noticed Barron pulling over his computer from a nearby table, typing furiously.

  “Dad thought Horridge was sick, wanting to take his nephew as a mate. He arranged for Horridge’s mating to the daughter of another pack, citing the importance of a merger and Horridge seemed happy for a while. But then my mom and dad died in a car accident and things went downhill from there. Horridge became alpha and forced Maddie and I to live with him. The only reason he didn’t rape me on my eighteenth birthday was because he wanted to do it in front of the pack and the pack run wasn’t due until the full moon four days later.”

  Stone tried to keep his growling in check, but he didn’t think he was very successful. Barron winked at him and then focused on his screen; Wyatt stroked his neck. Surprising. That helped.

  “Can I just butt in a minute?” Barron asked. “Your parents died when you were seventeen, is that right?”

  Wyatt nodded.

  “And your uncle took over the pack because he was the only alpha in the pack.”

  Nodding again, Wyatt said, “the pack wasn’t happy about it. Many of the families left the area, but no one could challenge him because he had the support of his wife’s pack as well.”

  “And when do you turn twenty-one?”

  “I’m already twenty-one.” Wyatt’s cheeks flamed. “Me and Maddie had a little party two weeks ago.”

  Stone closed his eyes, biting his lip. He could just imagine what sort of party that was. Maddie and Wyatt, in their derelict cottage…fuck. Twenty-firsts were usually a big deal in a pack. He blinked rapidly.

  “That’s why Horridge is looking for you now,” Barron said. “You’ve reached maturity. You’re now entitled to your inheritance from your parent’s estate. Horridge filed the papers with the council two weeks ago. Stone, you lucky dog. You’ve mated a very rich man.”

  “But,” Wyatt looked confused. “My dad didn’t have any personal wealth. He lived for the pack. His businesses, his houses…all his money went into the pack.”

  “No, it didn’t,” Barron said. “Oh sure, he made sure the pack coffers were full; there’s a full list of his assets on the council records, including the pack house and land that are under the control of the pack alpha. But separate to that, your dad’s personal wealth was in the billions; he made some shrewd business investments through his life. He also ensured it was all tied up in a trust for you and Maddie. His will is on record, in accordance with council law, and your uncle hasn’t been able to touch a cent of it.”

  “So, his wanting to mate with me was a way of getting hold of my dad’s money?” Wyatt sounded disgusted and Stone could understand why.

  “It was all about control, babe; control, plain and simple. You said yourself he wasn’t gay, but if he raped you in front of the pack then he was exert
ing his control. Once bonded to him, you’d have no choice but to turn your assets over to him and you also mentioned that when Maddie came of age, he planned to bond with her too if she was an omega. You can bet your bottom dollar he’d have taken her as a concubine regardless of her wolf, so he could control the money in her trust too.”

  “Okay, there’s a lot going on here, and clearly this situation is more complicated than it looks.” Stone had almost forgotten Warren was in the room. “But the fact of the matter is, Horridge still hasn’t done anything illegal. Mates share assets. It’s part of our way of life.”

  “Isn’t it illegal to file a mating notice when the mating hasn’t even taken place?” Barron asked Warren. “Your friend Horridge filed the mating papers the same day he filed the release papers for Wyatt’s inheritance. Stone’s got a rep for being the best tracker in the country and he was hired four days after those papers were filed with the council. The Clerk in the office emailed Horridge wanting Wyatt’s signature on the form before he’d release the inheritance money. You can see where this is going.”

  “Are you hacking council records?” Warren didn’t seem shocked and Stone smirked. Barron’s skills were as legendary as his.

  “It’s not hacking if I have a password.” Barron waved at his computer. “The thing is, under Shifter law, a mating can only be recorded if both parties sign the documents. The back and forth of the emails suggests Horridge tried to say that as an omega, Wyatt doesn’t have the rights to sign anything and as the alpha, all control of Wyatt’s assets should go to him. I think the clerk was a bit annoyed with Horridge’s attitude, because he’s insistent on getting proof of the mating from Wyatt first. Thank god for red tape, I say.”

  “I haven’t been near my home pack in three years,” Wyatt protested. “How can he claim to have mated me? Isn’t there any checks on who files these forms? What if someone is being forced like I was, or was pushed into a mating they didn’t agree with? What if someone claims to be mated to someone else for financial gain or pack position like Horridge is doing when half of the mated pair is living miles away?”

  “It’s not common for people to file a false mating,” Warren said, “although this case shows that maybe we should do more to check on the status of the mated pair before it’s recorded. The thing is, I am still not sure if the council as a whole will agree Horridge did anything wrong. He sent Stone to retrieve his ‘mate’ and clearly intended on mating you. He could always plead a promise from Wyatt’s father; he could say the arrangement was agreed upon years ago and he’d just waited until Wyatt was twenty-one to act on it. I can’t see him getting more than a slap on the wrist for filing papers in advance.”

  “You’re forgetting about the money,” Stone thought fast. “Horridge filed the mating papers to gain access to Wyatt’s inheritance. If the clerk hadn’t been having a bad day, he would have got it. Barron, do a search, see if you can come up with any outstanding debts Horridge’s pack might owe.”

  “Already on it.” Barron typed furiously.

  “What the hell am I going to do, Stone?” Warren sighed. “I’m old. I’ll admit it. I’d like nothing better than to retire and spend time with my great-grandkids. If Horridge challenges me, I’ll lose and then that odious man will be responsible for the welfare of wolves everywhere.”

  “Not if someone else challenges you first.” Wyatt had been nestled in Stone’s neck, clearly taking comfort from their joined scent. But he lifted his head now and faced Warren without a shred of fear. Something Stone was thankful for. “If you yielded to someone like Stone, for example, then Horridge could only gain a council seat if he faced my mate first. Could you imagine his face if he had to face you instead?”

  Stone admitted his mate has a good plan – with one fatal flaw. “I don’t want to be on the council, sweetness. All those meetings would bore me to tears.”

  “There’s only two meetings a month and you could live here the rest of the time. It’s an easy enough job,” Warren seemed to think it was a good idea.

  “You’d be a good council member,” Wyatt gently cupped Stone’s chin and he looked down, not surprised to see the warmth in his mate’s expression. “I’ll admit to an ulterior motive, though; I want omega rights improved across all packs and this business with the mating paperwork seems so inefficient. How many other omegas have lost rights to their own land, homes, or businesses simply because an alpha claimed them? How many have been forced into bonding when they come of age, rather than be allowed to find their fated mate? You know the only reason Horridge didn’t come for me and Maddie sooner was because he’d have to pay for our room and board. He was always complaining about that. Omegas deserve better protection than that.”

  “You really think I could make a difference?” Stone was shocked to see how much Wyatt believed in him considering they’d known each other less than twenty-four hours. But seeing the passion on Wyatt’s face, he was warming to the idea.

  “I’d make sure you did,” Wyatt grinned. “I always thought there should be like half-way houses or something for wolves evicted from their packs for silly reasons. The shifter laws need a major overhaul – they are so last century, especially in relation to rights for women and omegas. And then there’s other shifters. What happens to lions who are forced out of their packs, or bears who find their clans invaded by wolves? Then there’re the prey animals. Who do they turn to when predators move into their territory….”

  “Your mate makes some good points.” Warren interrupted Wyatt’s flow. “A lot of the council members are out of touch with what’s going on today. With Wyatt by your side, you could make a big difference to shifters everywhere.”

  Stone could feel excitement bubbling inside of him; something usually only felt when he was on a chase. The thought that he could actually make a difference, do something positive instead of chasing rogues and criminals wasn’t anything he’d ever considered before, but now it was all he could think about. He’d worked for the council for years and knew his mate was right. They deserved a solid shake-up and that was without the issues Wyatt was talking about.

  Wyatt was nodding at him; Barron gave him the thumbs up. Even the secret service wannabes bristled with excitement. “Are you sure?” he checked with Wyatt one last time, even though his yes was on the tip of his tongue. “We’d have to travel. It would probably be safer for Maddie to stay here when we do. You’ve had a lot of changes in your life in the last few days. Do you want more time to think about it?”

  “I don’t need more time.” Wyatt’s smile was hotter than the noon-day sun. “I imagine Maddie’s already got Cal wrapped around her little finger and I have complete faith the rest of the men here will be just as devoted within a day.” Barron groaned. “I’ve seen some sorry states in the three years I’ve been on the road and I imagine you have too. Let’s do this.”

  Stone knew his little mate was right. Brushing a gentle kiss across Wyatt’s forehead, he set him on the couch and stood tall and proud. “I challenge you, Alpha Warren for your seat on the council. Barron and Wyatt stand as my witnesses.”

  Warren stood, shaking both his bodyguards’ hands before stepping forward. “I yield,” he said tilting his chin up, exposing his throat. “My bodyguards will testify the challenge was done in accordance with our laws.” And just like that, without a drop of blood spilled, so unlike a typical challenge where at least one participant would end up dead or severely injured, Stone found himself mated, with a new baby sister, and a seat on the Shifter Council. All in all, it’d been an eventful day.

  Chapter Nine

  Wyatt was procrastinating in the bathroom. He knew it. Stone probably knew it too, but Stone wouldn’t know why. The rugged alpha wouldn’t have had an unconfident day in his life. Wyatt stared at his reflection in the mirror, pushing his blond hair off his face. He didn’t look any different, which was a surprise in itself. Closing his eyes, he thought back over the tumultuous twenty-four hours. Lost my virginity, got claimed by an alpha,
ran from my home again, not that it was much of one, and now I’m a councilor’s mate. Me. An insignificant Omega from the Mason Pack. Oh, and I’m rich – richer than winning the lottery. What a freaking day.

  But none of that compared with what Wyatt knew would happen in the next five minutes if he’d just move his ass out of the bathroom. Through the long, and in Wyatt’s opinion tedious, afternoon involving paperwork, calls to the council, and getting Maddie’s room set up when Chip and Horn arrived, Stone still found the time to touch him, kiss him, and whisper things making Wyatt blush. Things like how he couldn’t wait to be claimed; how his ass was twitching in anticipation…Wyatt spent the afternoon with permanently burning cheeks and he was sure everyone in the house knew what Stone was doing.

  Driving me nuts, is what he was doing, Wyatt thought angrily as he splashed cold water on his heated face. I haven’t got a clue how to top. What if I hurt him? Wyatt knew about prepping – he did own a computer and had been curious during the long nights he spent alone after Maddie went to sleep. But watching videos was one thing. Doing it and making it good for Stone – nothing he’d watched suggested tips on that side of things. Fuck. This is going to be a disaster. I just know it and Stone will be all understanding but he’ll know and I’ll know and I….

  “Have you drowned in there?” Stone’s amused voice sounded through the door.

  Wyatt hurriedly dried his face. “Just coming,” then he winced.

  “Not yet, I hope,” Stone laughed. “I’m all ready for you.”

  Ready? What does he mean, ready? What does ready even mean? Wyatt’s head filled with visions of a naked Stone – tattooed muscles, thick thighs, bulging biceps, and an ass Wyatt couldn’t ignore. I hope he’s ready enough for both of us. He yanked open the door and then froze as his mouth dropped open.

  Stone’s room was bright and comforting; the wood and white walls and bed alleviated by splashes of color in the cushions and curtains. But Wyatt didn’t have time to take in any of that; it was Stone on the bed fisting his cock that held all his attention. His own cock pushed at the waistband of his boxers, begging to come out and play.