32. Shane

Chapter thirty-two

Shane

I lean against the outside of my house and watch my pack. After revealing Jason’s death, Locke had collapsed. He might not have got along with the man, but he’s been a huge part of Locke’s life for years. We knew that, and we protected him as best we could.

Locke’s not leaving.

That’s the first thought that threatens to crush my mind.

The second is that Erin, Finn, and Bray are all here, and they are committed to this.

I mean, I know it. But it doesn’t feel real. Not yet.

Why did I build this house? I never intended to live in it. It was just a dream. A way to create something while the words were stuck. But now, it’s as if I knew.

Cynthia had said to me before she left that, one day, I would find my people. She said she knew with her whole heart I would be happy. I’d been too bitter to hear her words, but maybe some part of me heard them and accepted them. Maybe I hoped she would be right.

It’s the first time I’ve been able to think about her without feeling all the bitterness and shame.

I owe her an apology. I want to give her that apology. Does that mean I’ve grown?

Erin sits down on the porch swing, and with the ball of her foot, sets it swinging.

I almost step towards her, but at the last minute, I change my mind and pause, just watching her. She closes her eyes and breathes deeply. Country life suits her. This forest suits her.

She looks at peace. The frenetic energy she had when I met her is gone, replaced by a calm stillness that seems more fitting for her nature. Like whatever was strangling her alpha nature has let go.

It’s too hard now to stay on the sidelines. Whoever that alpha was that used to seek out solitude in cabins for days, weeks, and months alone, he’s gone. I don’t want to be alone. Just to hear the sounds of their laughter, their scents in the air. I want to touch and be touched, to kiss and be kissed.

I don’t even know who I am anymore, but suddenly, I’m halfway to Erin, unable to stop myself.

She looks up at me, and those enigmatic brown eyes seem to know exactly what I’m thinking.

I sit beside her, and she immediately puts a hand on my thigh. I cover her hand with my own.

“Is this what relationships are? It’s easy because anything that matters is something we’re prepared to negotiate? Is having all these feelings trying to explode out of me just normal?”

Erin smiles slightly. “I don’t know. My experience was lots of sultry nights and one failed relationship. But I do know I wasn’t prepared to give up anything for him. The idea was laughable.”

“I wouldn’t give up anything for Cynthia, either. Hell, I didn’t even meet her family. I made an excuse. I think I told her I was working. I was a very selfish man.”

“I’m sure she understands.”

I put an arm around her, and she leans into me.

“She was always far more generous than I deserved.”

“Why did you get so upset when she found her scent match?”

“Well, I guess it was fear.”

“Fear?”

“If she could walk out onto the street and bump into a guy and know in seconds he was it for her, then what was I? To be so disposable meant I could be alone forever. No family, no friends, just ex-partners who left me because the right guy walked past them on a street curb.”

“Oh, Shane, It’s not like that.”

“I know that now. But at the time, it was the most offensive thing I’d ever heard, and I lashed out because I was afraid I would end up alone forever. But maybe secretly, deep down, I didn’t think that I even had a scent match.”

“Then you did exactly that, coming out here and living alone. You punished yourself.”

I laugh. “My toxic trait, when I think people are going to leave me, I leave them and turn myself into an iceberg of isolation.”

“My toxic trait is that when I think I’m alone, I fill every second with work and things to do so I don’t feel alone. It’s why I ended up on the bus to nowhere. I couldn’t stand my own thoughts.”

I squeeze her closer to me. “We don’t need to be those people anymore.”

“No.”

“Because I love you. I know it hasn’t been long, but you are that person on the street, the one that changes my life. I saw you, and that was it. You are it.”

Erin pulls herself free and steps in-between my legs, wrapping her arms around me.

“I’m not going to find anyone better than you, Shane. You, Bray, Finn, and Locke are it for me.”

I catch my breath, unaware I needed to hear those words until she said them.

She runs her fingers through my hair and then tugs until I tilt my head back. Erin smirks and straddles me before her lips press against mine. I taste mocha and breathe her in.

“I’m so glad you’ve decided to finally share your feelings with the rest of us,” Bray says and sits down beside me. He reaches up and tweaks Erin’s nipple, making her groan. “Hi, love.”

She pulls back and finds Locke pressed up against her.

“Did you all hear?” I ask in amusement.

“We did,” Locke says cheerfully. “So proud of you.”

I’m aware of Bray beside me. The feelings between us are easy now, warm, companionable. The tension between us has gone. That hyper-aware yearning is gone.

Erin pulls herself free and yelps when Locke lifts her over his shoulder and races off. Finn follows, chuckling.

Bray holds his hand out. I don’t even think about it, I just drop my hand in his.

Erin might be the same as me, but Bray is everything that is opposite, and I love that about him. I can’t believe this crush. All these years have finally resolved themselves to this outcome.

Never in a million years did I think that he would be mine.

“Bray, have I said I’m sorry for the horrible things I’ve said?”

“No, but I don’t need to hear the words, Shane.” Bray leans against me, so comfortable with touch.

I’m almost envious of him, but then he pulls and pushes at the same time, and I slip off the seat and land with a thump on the ground.

I’m about to rip into him when he lands on top of me, kissing me hard. He peppers kisses down the side of my face and sucks hard on my throat. I arch my back, leaning up into him.

His hips thrust into mine. Oh, fuck, he’s rock hard.

“Bray! We’re outside,” I protest weakly.

“I know.”

“It's daylight.”

“Your house is a million miles from anywhere,” Bray purrs.

My protests die as his fingers deftly flick open my jeans, and then his hot hand is slipping down and gripping my cock firmly. I arch into his grip, and he chuckles against my ear.

“I’ve been wanting to do this all day.”

“Give me a hand job on our porch in the middle of the day?”

“Hmm, while that appeals. I was thinking more…” Bray slides down my body, and before I can guess what he intends, he inhales my cock, drawing it into that hot, wet cavern that is his mouth.

I groan and dig my fingers into his hair, holding him there. I peel open my eyes and see the roof of the porch and the sun shining through the treetops. Is this real? This is crazy.

“Fuck, Brayson.”

“I’ve been dreaming about my revenge since you cornered me in my shop,” Bray growls and licks the underside of my cock before he bobs down again, his tongue massages, and the suction melts my brain, but then he starts to move, up and down, drawing me in and out. The wet sounds threaten to break me.

I groan and pant, struggling to contain myself.

“Bray!”

I’m so close! Too close. I don’t want this to end, not like this. Fine, if he wants to do this outside, we’ll do it. I pull him off me and stand us up, pushing him up against the rail. I yank off his top and throw it away.

“Put your damn hands on the rail, Brayson, and hold on tight.”

He does it obediently, his fingers white-knuckling the wood.

I flick open his pants and yank them down, his cock stands thick and deliciously mine, and when I grip him, I mouth his salty shoulder and thrust against his ass.

“I’m going to fuck you now,” I growl. Five years, and it’s all been heading to this moment.

“Good, I’m ready for you,” Bray says and glances over his shoulder with a smirk.

I hesitate, my mind going blank. “Did you come out here with this intention?”

“Well, Locke helped me, but yeah, the plan was to get you to rail me against, well, the rail.”

I groan and squeeze my hand between us, loathe to let anything separate us, and push my fingers into him. He is ready. Fuck.

“Why are you so fucking hot, Bray?”

“It’s a gift.”

“It’s a crime,” I groan back and line myself up. Fuck. I can’t wait any longer. I push into him, gasping at the tightness. As soon as I’ve bottomed out, I wrap one arm up under his arm, holding his chest, and the other over his shoulder. He’s not going anywhere.

Neither am I.

The rut I’ve been holding back takes over, and I snarl. A deep, loud, long growl. I withdraw slowly, dragging out of the hot heat engulfing my cock. With nothing in me but a driving need to possess, to own, I snap my hips forward, and all I can focus on is the movements, the scent of mint, the taste of his skin. I sink my teeth into his shoulder, hearing him cry out, and reach down to fuck his cock with my fist. Over and over, I stroke him until he shudders, coming hard, his cum dribbling down onto my hand as he gasps, completely wrung out.

Still, I keep moving, my knot grows, and I narrow my eyes.

I need more.

I kick his legs further apart and bend him over as I force my knot into him.

Bray howls, orgasming again, his cum jettisoning into the garden. I lick his neck and continue to push until my knot is fully inside of him. I’m on the brink. One more thrust, and I’ll be gone. I hang there, my mind going perfectly clear.

I knotted my alpha.

Awe. Possession. Love. Mine.

It’s a perfect moment.

I squeeze Bray even harder and thrust.

My mind goes flying. All the whirling snow and winds. Unimaginable pleasure slams into me, drawing my balls up before I explode. I hold on to him, growling deeply, menacingly, and holding him perfectly still while my cum sprays his insides. While I mark him as mine.

I come back slowly. I’m licking a spot that tastes metallic, and my upper arm hurts, but I’m still buried balls deep in Bray, and my knot is there, holding us together.

“Shane,” Bray moans. He sounds out of his mind.

“Bray,” I whisper.

That’s all we say. It’s all we need to say.

I snap my head behind us when I hear a creak on the porch and find Erin, Locke, and Finn sitting on the swing, watching with wide, lust-filled eyes.

“Ten out ten!” Locke says.

“Mmhmm,” Erin agrees. “That was hot.”

Finn doesn’t say anything, but I’m not sure he’s capable. He’s got a massive bulge in his jeans, though, and his knuckles are white on the arm of the swing.

I look back at Bray and carefully pull him upright. His hole tightens around me, and I let out a moan. But then I notice the bite on his throat.

“I bonded you,” I whisper, half in fear, half in awe. I swallow hard, loving the way it sits on his throat. He is mine.

“I bonded you,” Bray says in a daze.

I look at my arm in shock and see the bite.

My heart swells, and then I feel it. I feel him inside me. We’re interconnected by a hundred different layers, but I feel how clearly he loves me. I feel all the pining, the yearning, the uncertainty and hurt.

I wrap my arms back around him and kiss the bond.

“No more uncertainty, no more hurt, Bray, this is us forever.”

Bray lets out a deep breath. Erin slips around in front of us, wrapping her arms around us.

She smirks up at me.

I frown, confused, and then she bites Bray’s pec. He shrieks, is back arching, slamming himself back down on my knot. I surge up, growling, fucking him hard and fast. My reaction is instant, and I lose myself in the pleasure.

Bray snarls, and then he’s got Erin’s throat between his teeth. So. Fucking. Hot.

I let out a dark laugh and fuck him harder and faster. Erin pulls away, but she’s caught, and Bray is inside her in seconds.

I catch sight of Locke and Finn fucking and bare my teeth in a smile. Yes, this is exactly what we should be doing.

This is our day, our life, our home, and our forest on our mountain.

I grab one of Erin’s legs and hold it up, allowing Bray to drill into her, just so I can hear those gorgeous screams echoing around the mountain. When he sinks his teeth into her shoulder, leaving another mark, I hold her wrist to my mouth and tear through the delicate skin of her arm, making her mine, too.

An hour later, we’re all naked, lying on the porch, watching the sun move across the sky.

I have bond marks from the entire pack, and they all have mine. This is it, there can’t be a happier ending than this.

I close my eyes and absorb the sunlight.

I think I want to write a novel.