Chapter Ten

"What do you need?" I asked Sloan after breakfast. He had gotten his collar off and showered immediately, in my bathroom, of course, but there was something still bothering him.

He turned to smile at me and shrugged. "I haven't shifted in so long."

"Can I shift with you?" I asked, feeling like a young cub asking another cub to go on a first date. My heart fluttered. My stomach buzzed with excitement. The back of my neck heated with tingles. Gods. I was a wreck for this omega.

"I can shift by myself, Tyrus. It's okay."

I growled a bit. "First of all, I love my name on those lips." I ran my thumb across the bottom one. "Second, while this place is safe, I won't take any chances with you. And third, and most important, I want to."

Sloan pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. "Well, if you aren't too busy."

"Come on. Let's go."

I checked with the others to make sure everything was covered for a while. They all had been giving me knowing looks but said nothing about Sloan.

I took Sloan's hand and led him out the back of the warehouse and into the forest. My nose told me there was no one else around. I was glad since my omega was safe; plus, no way in hell anyone was going to see him naked except me.

"I want to see your bear," he claimed once we arrived in a secluded area.

"You want me to shift first? Oh, omega. If you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask." It was a half tease, of course. Sloan had a lot of inside work to do. He had gone through so much and, while I was privy to only a part of it, my bear knew there were layers and layers of pain and anguish inside that beautiful exterior. I would never push him, but that didn't stop me from wanting him with every cell of my body.

"Stop teasing and show me that big, bad bear."

My bear took over and, before I could shed my clothing, I let out a loud growl and was on all fours and furry in a matter of seconds. He wanted out immediately.

I sensed a bit of fear coming from my omega, so we lay on our belly in front of him, putting our face between our front paws.

My omega was the only one on this earth I would submit to this way.

"Oh my gods, you are huge and kind of scary, aren't you, big guy?" He eventually stepped forward and pressed a hand to the top of my head. "Your fur is so soft. I thought it would be prickly."

We huffed, letting him know we understood his words.

All shifters communicated differently.

Sloan sat on his haunches in front of me. "Alpha, you are magnificent. Fearsome and brawny. Wynorrific. That's the word."

Sloan had mentioned he was a teacher before all this horror came into his life. So damned sexy when he used words like that. I blew out a breath. Had no fucking clue what that word meant but it sounded bad-ass.

"It means beautiful and terrifying," he said, as though reading my thoughts. He ran his fingers through my fur around my mouth. A sensitive area for my bear, but our omega could touch us anywhere he wanted to. "You'd tear down the world for someone you cared about, wouldn't you? You'd tear it all down for me?"

I rolled to the side and exposed my belly to him. A bear thing if there ever was one. The ultimate act of submission. To him. To us. To his power over me.

All of me belonged to him.

Even if he decided he didn't want me.

All of me had always belonged to Sloan.

"My wolf is dying to run with you. You don't have to look away, Tyrus. You can see all of me."

My bear feasted on the sight of his omega's form as he stripped in front of us. He had scars that I wanted to avenge, but they would fade in time. The ones inside might not ever fade. They would hide and duck behind the other parts of him but would come out and show themselves at the most inopportune times. That's how trauma worked.

My mate was more beautiful than the sunset.

In a split second, he phased from human to wolf in front of me. His wolf rubbed his muzzle against my bear's, nudging him to run with the omega.

Not a request I would ever turn down.

While we ran, new scenes fluttered in my mind and, almost immediately, I realized they were coming from Sloan. He was sending me visions while we were awake.

Can you hear me, Sloan?I asked, testing the bond.

I can. Did you see my visions?

My heart warmed. I knew the bond was strong, but there were times, especially with multispecies shifter bonds, when mates couldn't communicate in their animal forms. Relief flooded me. I wanted to speak to my omega at all times, hear anything and everything he wanted to convey to me.

I see all of you, mate.

Sloan shared visions of him with the children. Me, through his eyes, holding some of the kids and rocking Lachlan and Dominick at the same time when I thought no one was watching. Me laughing with my brothers.

The way I looked at my mate.

He sent me one moment where he and I were locked in an embrace. Not a strip of clothing between us. We moved until Sloan lay beneath me, but I could see the entire scene from his point of view. There was nothing but lust and love in my eyes as I looked down on my mate.

I want that, too,I said to him. I want all of you or any piece you're willing to gift me, omega.