Mated to the Alpha

Full Collection

Rosa Swann

Wolf Specter

Mated to the Alpha: Full Collection

2nd Edition

Copyright © 2021 Rosa Swann & Wolf Specter

Copyright © 2016 WOLF SPECTER & ROSA SWANN

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without express written permission of the copyright holder. This book contains sexually explicit content which is suitable only for mature adults.

Version: 20210528

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Blurb

There are normal random life events, like falling in love with a stranger, and then there is "having your first gay experience with an (admittedly very sexy) Alpha werewolf and ending up pregnant" kind of random.

Ethan feels like he is a plain and normal guy, until he is hired to entertain the werewolves during the annual Mating Ball. He goes in expecting to have a good night and make some extra money on the side. What he doesn't expect is for one of the Alpha wolves to show an interest in him.

Max, a successful entrepreneur and one of the top Alpha's in the city, has been getting pressure from all sides to find a mate, settle down and prove his Alpha genes. Only, he has no interest in doing any of those things, until he meets Ethan. He wants nothing else than to take Ethan as his mate, even if the man insists that he is straight.

After a whirlwind night, Ethan wakes up pregnant. Something neither of them realised was possible.

Now the two men need to navigate the next steps of their relationship, living together, getting married and all the while trying to keep the pregnancy out of the media.

It isn’t easy, not on either of them, but they are hellbent on making it work, for the baby, for their families and for each other.

This collection consists of the FULL Mated to the Alpha serial, this includes: Omega's Fate, Omega's Home, Omega's Pack, Omega's Bond, Omega’s Love, Omega’s Wedding, Omega’s Baby and Omega’s Future. All eight books in one handy collection!

Omega’s Fate

Mated to the Alpha 1

1

Ethan

“Ten thousand dollars, into your account, tomorrow morning, if you’ve spent the night with one of the Alphas.” The man in front of us doesn’t seem very convinced that one of us will be able to do it. “There will also be a group of guys and gals from the packs, but it’s always good to have a group of humans like you on these events, diversity and all that.”

So, we are the human meat, the people in the room who are just there to fill the space, to look pretty, to be insignificant to the actual events of the night. Because what is a formal ball without a group of unwanted people?

I sigh, whatever. I’m here for one thing and one thing only. Flirt, catch and spend the night with a female Alpha, and then get the money and get out of here.

A mating ball, it sounds so innocent, so pure. But I know from others who’ve been here that it’s far from innocent. People come here to fuck and get fucked, simple as that. Most here are simply looking for a good lay, to collect phone numbers from people they’re interested in and to have some fun. The atmosphere here feels exactly like that.

I know that we’re technically hired to be extra bodies, to make the event look more like a club or a real ball than a ceremony, but the people here seem to regard the whole event as a way to have fun. Which might be just as well, it’s not like we make a chance.

Werewolves mate with other werewolves, that is how it goes. An Alpha choosing a human as its mate doesn’t happen, as far as I know. And still I’m here, hoping to get the grand price of sleeping with an Alpha on top of the money we already get from being here. It would make my life so much easier, I’d be able to get out of the ruins and back to a normal life.

I walk over to the rack to see if my suit came through the quality control okay. Apparently, if your suit isn’t good enough they require you to wear one of the backup suits, and those are ugly. I shudder.

There, at the end of the rack, is my suit, the dark purple, nearly but not yet black, hangs beautifully. I was supposed to get married in it, instead I’ll be wearing it to impress people to sleep with me. How far I’ve fallen.

I grab the suit and quickly change into it. The fit just right and the colour complimenting my complexion and my hair. I stuff my other clothes and shoes into a bag and take it to another room. There I hand it to a man who puts them into a locker and hands me a piece of paper with a number on it. I put it in my pocket as I stand in line for the makeup.

I think it’s ridiculous that we have to get it done professionally, but whatever. I get paid to look good, the least they can do is make me look even better.

The girl behind me taps me on my shoulder. “Who are you looking forward to?”

“What?” I frown, looking forward to?

“Didn’t you see the list yet?” She holds up her phone, I recognise some names but most of them are unknown to me.

“List?” I’m really confused now.

“Of the Alphas who will be here, silly.” She laughs and I have to stop myself from cringing at the high-pitched sound. She now hands me her phone so I can look at the list myself, but the names I’m looking at are all male.

“I thought there were also female Alphas coming here?” I hand her back her phone.

“Oh, right.” Her face falls and with a few taps and swipes she shows me a different list. “These are speculated female Alphas who come.”

It only proves how little I know about celebrities and werewolves that I don’t recognise any of the names on the list. Just as well.

“Thanks.” I hand her the phone back. “Good luck.”

She smiles at me. “I always have.”

So that is how it’s played. I turn back, right in time to be put into one of the chairs and get my makeup and hair done.

The hall slowly begins to fill with more and more people. I was one of the early ones to get changed so I sit at the back of the room, looking at my phone and the people filling the space. Most people are good looking, which is sort of a given at a party like this, I assume.

When we’re all here the guy from before steps forward. “There are a couple of rules. One, the werewolves get first pick, both the Alphas and the Omegas.”

Some people in the crowd groan.

“Two, no fighting, no arguing. I expect everyone to behave well and not make any trouble. Or you’ll be escorted out, no money, nothing.” He looks at us like we’re nothing more than stupid kids. “I mean it, we’ve done that before. The other werewolves will begin to come in soon, behave.” He steps down again and walks out.

Great. Rules, stupid rules. I’m getting less and less excited about this whole thing by the minute.

Around me people start greeting each other, forming groups, talking about the Alphas who are coming. Those who will definitely be here and those that they expect to show up.

Sure, I get that meeting a celebrity or an important Alpha is exciting. But this almost seems like they are worshipping some of the Alphas. It’s almost scary. Being a fan is one thing, but this… this is insane.

A group close by turns towards me. “Who are you waiting for?” A girl calls out.

“Hmm?” I face them so I don’t seem rude.

“What Alpha, who are you waiting for?” The girl shakes her head like I’m dense.

“I have no idea.” Again, the obsession with what people to meet.

“Amateur. You’ll never make it.” The group doesn’t seem to understand that I’m not as invested as them, or apparently the other 99 per cent of the humans here. They turn away from me, moving even further away, as if I’m toxic or something.

Whatever. I’m not here to socialise, I’m not here to be nice to these people. The ones that do matter will be here soon.

2

Max

“Max, Max.” A woman comes up to me. “I thought I wouldn’t see you here.”

I smile at Alexia, the young woman a good friend of mine. “Why not?”

“Because of last year, I thought we wouldn’t see you here ever again.” She wraps her arms around me. “Are you looking forward to all the pretty boys and girls?”

I shrug. “You know I don’t believe in these events. Though I could use some fun tonight.”

“Whatever.” She smiles and leads me to the front of the hall. “There are some people you might want to meet.”

I trail after, her long red dress nearly tripping me every time I take a step.

In front of me are a group of men and women, all huddled around one phone. When I come closer I realise they’re looking at a video. On the screen are, I assume, the boys and girls that are our potential mates. I don’t know who is filming but they seem to have a preference for the girls in the tight dresses.

I grin. “You don’t think I’m interested in that, right?”

“Of course not. But it doesn’t hurt to see them without them seeing us.” Alexia pulls me closer to the phone. “That way they won’t crowd around you.”

Flashbacks to last year go through my mind. It wasn’t that they were crowding me, more that people were crowding her and I was just in the way. I shudder at the memory. That is why I hate big events, I’m too quiet for them, I stand out, just not in the right way.

I step back some and try to blend into the wall behind me, Alexia now back to giggling and talking to her friends.

Seeing all these people together, all Alphas, all single, all looking for a mate. It makes everyone look more normal, the baseline for being an Alpha or not jacked up a hundredfold. It’s not even that height or size matter. Alexia is like a delicate flower, she only reaches the shoulder of most men here, and in the dress she is wearing she looks almost like a girly girl. But underneath that all, she is a trained martial arts fighter, she is shooting up the rankings in the army and runs a very tight pack back at the base. She could probably take out most of the people here with ease. But in a dress, at an event with others who understand her, she is just a young woman.

It’s this early interaction between everyone that I like best, the atmosphere is easier, more relaxed. We’re all the same, all here for the same thing, sort of. It’s only when you add the other pack members and the humans into the mix that things start to tense up. Though, with enough alcohol it shouldn’t be too bad. There are enough people out there, enough choices and there are strict rules in place on what is allowed behaviour. The rules are strict, but if you put sixty or more Alphas together in a room with an all-you-can-eat buffet of available bodies, you’re gonna need them.

A man and a woman open the doors at one side of the room. “If you can all come over here, we’ll announce your name and then you can go down the stairs to the main hall. We’ll announce you two at a time, one male, one female. At the bottom of the stairs there will be someone waiting for every one of you and you’re expected to dance with them for a while.”

“How long?” Someone from behind me raises his voice.

The man and woman look at each other. “Let’s say, about 5 or so couples that come down the stairs. That should leave the dance floor decently filled until the end of the announcements.” They step aside. “When we call your name, please come to the front.”

I try to keep my face under control, my features pleasant as I step down the stairs. Alexia holds my arm, her presence helping me not to freak out.

She squeezes my arm for a moment, sensing my discomfort. It’s by far not the first situation we’ve been in together. We grew up in neighbouring packs, our family regularly in contact about everything and nothing.

The crowd looks up at us expectantly, waiting for us to reach the bottom of the stairs. We both take the hand of the dance partner we’ve been assigned and start a slow waltz.

They might send us down two by two, but we would not work together on the dance floor. We’d both try to lead and that isn’t helpful at all.

The girl in my arms is quite a bit younger than me, maybe early twenties while I’m nearly reaching the next decade in my life. But she’s tall, which is good, because it stops me from looking like a giant.

The girl smiles at me. “Are you looking forward to the rest of the night?”

“Sure, just as soon as this part is over.” I wink.

She nods her head. “I get you. But they want us to dance male-female for these dances, it’s not like we can choose.”

“True.”

“Hey, can you introduce me to the woman you came down the stairs with? If you know her well enough that is.” A blush spreads on her cheeks that the makeup can not hide.

“I will.” I turn us in a different direction. “How long do we have left?”

“Two couples.” She lets out a bit of a sigh.

The event might be called a Mating Ball, but the organisers don’t really care who you hook up with. Everyone here knows I’m not interested in women, or, most know anyway. There are just certain traditions they want to uphold and this is one of them. What happens after this is all up to us. No pressure to act one way or another, just playing nice with others.

The girl in my arms lets out another sigh as we hear two more names being announced. We’re off the hook.

We blend into the crowd, quickly locating the direction that Alexia is moving in and following her.

I’m sitting at a table with Alexia and Amber, the girl that I danced with. They’re laughing at something together and I see some interesting glances between the two of them. Alexia is such a flirt and everyone knows it, but Amber seems to give as good as she gets.

Me on the other hand… People think I’m boring, too grumpy and not handsome enough. I don’t even know why I came here today, apart from my parents hinting that it was time for me to settle down. When I was younger I could get out of these events, feigning having to work or build my career. But now that I’m running a lucrative IT company they’re expecting more, and I know that my pack is getting restless too, wondering if I’ll ever be able to take my official place as head of the pack. Because for that to happen I need a mate.

Stupid rules. No mate means no offspring and that means failing as an Alpha. Not that it matters much, I’m not interested in having sex with a woman to create offspring in the first place. And two men can’t create a baby together, not possible. But it does put me in a difficult situation. As usual.

Someone taps me on my arm and I look up.

“Maybe you should go and look outside, socialise some, be nice to people.” Alexia motions to the back of the room where two large doors show the way to the garden.

In the idea of tradition they’ve put some old-school games and carnival things outside, including a ‘lover’s maze’.

“Fine, fine.” I stand up. “But please come look for me if I don’t come out again in three hours.”

Alexia rolls her eyes. “Drama queen. Go enjoy yourself.”

I walk to the back of the room, passing some people I know, greeting them and moving on. Maybe some fresh air will help me get rid of this suffocating feeling.

I stand right outside the doors, the back garden sprinkled with lights and filled with laughter. I take a deep breath, yeah, maybe going outside was a good idea.

I walk past the stalls, couples playing silly old games in each one of them. Some winning, some losing, but all enjoying themselves.

Walking around a corner I end up off the main path, only a few people are here and I finally calm down. Good, calm, easy.

A prickle in my neck makes me look up, the wolf in me immediately on edge. Ahead of me, a young man is sitting on a bench, looking around like he has no care in the world, but then his eyes fall on me and I feel that same prickling feeling again. Interesting.

I walk up to him, but then walk on. The man’s human, I frown and then blink. Why would the wolf in me be interested in him, unless he is some kind of threat to me? But it’s not anger or fear that I feel, it’s curiosity. I turn around another corner and lean against the wall. I don’t know what is happening, but I do know that I want to know why my wolf is so interested.

I glance around the corner, the man is still sitting in the same spot. Now he is looking at his phone, boredom obvious in his posture. I guess being a human at an event like this might be boring, yeah, knowing you’re just here to entertain us.

Well, if he is supposed to entertain us, let’s make sure he does his job. I walk up to him again, standing behind him as I reach out and grab his shoulder.

The man stiffens, dropping his phone in the process. I grab the phone before it can crash to the floor. Fear, good, that is better than boredom.

“Aren’t you supposed to be inside?” I stand next to him, using my length to look more threatening than I really am.

“Don’t care. Not my party, obviously.” The man is not impressed as he looks up at me, totally calm again.

I swallow as I take in his face, the tanning of his skin, his ice-blue eyes, his dark lips. His black hair that is spiked up in a way that is supposed to look as if he came just out of bed, but looks more like he had sex just minutes ago. “Then why are you here?”

“Money.” The man grabs his phone from my hand and gets back to doing whatever he was doing before.

Well, at least he is honest, but it irks me too. “Little chance finding a real jackpot when you’re out here on your own.”

“So? Don’t care anymore.” He shakes his head. “This is just one big elitist bunch of crap.”

Wow, that is one way to put it. So glad to know that others are having as much of a time as I am. “Why is that?”

“Don’t you realise? The only way to even get to talk to anyone important, you need to know at least twenty of their friends and have fucked at least half of them. Or you don’t count.” He sighs and his shoulders relax. “I just thought this was going to be fun. One night where I get to spend some time with royalty, or as close as we commoners can get, and maybe hook up with someone. But it’s all backstabbing and cat-fights. I could have gone to a club for that.”

Okay, maybe the guy isn’t as nasty as I first thought. I sit down next to him. “I don’t want to, but I totally get what you mean.” He is right, the organisers might try to make it look all nice, but there is a lot of politics and elitist crap going on. Another reason I hate going to any official events.

He looks at me sideways. “Why are you here? Are you one of the wolves they invited, like, to become a mate to an Alpha.”

I try to hide my laughter but I can’t help myself. Me? Becoming a mate to an Alpha? I’m not really that handsome, I know, but in any other situation than this he would not have mistaken my status.

The man frowns. “What?! I said something stupid, didn’t I? Is that not how it works?”

“Sure, that is exactly how it works. You’re not mistaken.” I try to stop laughing but the annoyed look on his face is making him so much more fun.

“Then what?” The man shakes his head.

“I’m not to become a mate to an Alpha, I am an Alpha.”

“But...” He shuts his mouth quickly, his posture changing now he knows to who he is talking.

“But what?”

“You’re not like... You don’t look like an Alpha.”

“Not sexy and handsome and ripped.”

The man nods, but averts his eyes from me. Interesting.

“I know, we don’t all look like the Hulk.” I put my finger under his chin and make him face me.

“I...” He licks his lips quickly, his eyes darting around before settling on my lips. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“It’s okay. It’s not you, it’s this place. I’m not in my element here.” I lean forward and the man gasps before he pulls his head back.

“I’m not attracted to men.” He stands up, out of my reach. “Sorry. Have a good night.” He walks off fast, his movements stiff and slightly uncomfortable.

Not attracted to men maybe, but I didn’t leave him unaffected. I could smell his excitement as I touched him. His jeans filling more as I came closer to him. His body betraying whatever he believed about himself. His body only craving one thing tonight, my touch.

3

Ethan

Wow. I try to get away from the man as quickly as possible, speed walking to the nearest obstacle and hiding behind it. So embarrassing. That was so weird.

How could I have known he was an Alpha? And h— Not finishing that thought.

I look down my body, the pants still tenting as my body still remembers his soft touch. I reach down, moving myself and making everything a bit more comfortable.

I can’t stay out here. I quickly get back into the large hall and lean against the wall the furthest away from the door. That way he can’t sneak up on me.

A waiter comes by with glasses and I grab the one nearest to me, quickly gulping half of it down before I realise it’s red wine. I shudder and down the other half of the glass. Don’t care, alcohol is alcohol and if I’m to survive the night I need to at least be somewhat buzzed.

I look around the event, the Alphas in here are so much more obvious about their status, parading around the place like they own it. Which they probably do.

There is a lull in the music and the dance floor clears some. I step forward positioning myself at the edge of it, ready to step in if any pretty girl steps onto it.

I need to put the guy out of my head, he was just playing mind games with me. I don’t care about that. I’m here to hook a girl and that is what I’ll do.

A petite woman in a long red dress steps onto the dance floor and I join her immediately.

The woman looks at me curiously, but then frowns and shakes her head. She grabs me and starts to lead the dance. A sly smile playing on her lips.

I look down, right into her dress, maybe a bit too obvious but I need to remind myself. This is a woman, I prefer women to men. I’ve never ever been interested in a guy before, so this must be some sort of weird trick.

“Don’t try to hide from him. You’re his now.” The woman gives me a quick peck on my cheek before she lets me go.

Though letting go is too gentle a word for the way she flings me away, not in a nasty way, but definitely with a purpose.

Two arms surround me, holding me so I don’t fall down as I try to catch my footing. My body tenses as I catch the scent of the man holding me. Him again.

I push away, getting out of his grasp. “I don’t want to play mind games. Like I said, I’m not interested in men.”

“We’ll see. I know you’re hard already. Before the end of the night, you’ll come to me.” He puts his hand under my chin again. “I won’t chase you anymore, you’ll come chasing me.”

With that, he turns around and leaves. Leaving me behind at the edge of the dance floor. Someone bumps into me and I almost lose my balance, only just being able to stay upright.

My brain blanks out. What was that? Was that a threat, or maybe a dare? One thing I do know is that this is not right. Never before have I been interested in men and I won’t start tonight, whatever that guy thinks.

The rest of the night the man keeps to his promise. He talks to some people, even flirts with a couple of them, but he stays away from me. I’d sometimes catch his eyes on me, but he’d look away as soon as I caught him.

Nearing the end of the night I see him with the woman in the red dress, they’re laughing, chatting, goofing around. And it shows a totally different side to him. His face more at ease makes him look younger, easier on the eyes.

He looks like a tree next to her, though, since I’ve danced with her, I know how short she really is. But the way they interact makes it definitely obvious what he is. He oozes power and dominance, his posture wide and even when he is laughing loudly you can see his control.

It makes me regret being nasty to him, but not enough to come to him. I’m straight, it’s just not going to happen. He’s gotta find another guy to play with, or girl, whatever he prefers.

A woman comes over to me, tapping on my shoulder. “You’d like to dance?”

“Sure.” I smile at her as I wrap an arm around her waist to guide her to the dance floor.

The woman leads, easy, comfortably, and I follow her every move. Song after song we dance, just the two of us, as we talk about easy things. We love the same bands, like the same shows, even studied at the same college, just different classes. She is easy to talk to, making me forget what happened earlier in the evening.

We look up as there is a ruckus right next to us. The woman in the red dress and my stalker are dancing together, out of sync, constantly in each other’s way. The man looks up, eyes locking with me and then with the woman I’m dancing with. It’s funny to watch, but when I look at the woman I’m holding, our connection is gone.

I see the same thing in her eyes, that moment of realisation. “It was nice to dance. But I’m not fighting him just over a lay. Have a nice evening.” She steps back, nods at me and chooses another man out of the crowd to dance with.

I almost had her. Almost.

I turn to the man, who is now dancing with the woman in the red dress again. “I hate you! Leave me alone! Leave my life alone!”

People start to stare at me, including the man.

I feel my cheeks heat up, that was uncalled for. But I nearly had the woman far enough to retreat together for the night, I was nearly close enough to that ten grand. I turn around and stalk out of the hall again. Towards the garden, towards some quiet place.

Fuck, this was totally not what I wanted. A freak-out like that could lead to more than not getting the ten grand for the night, it could lead to me not getting paid anything. They don’t care about us, we’re just bodies at the event, not one of the werewolves that they created the event for.

I blindly take corners until I realise that it has gone very quiet and that the last three corners I took have only led to more rows and rows of green.

Crap, I’m stuck in the maze. I turn around, but the sky above is fully dark and the lights going in every direction looks exactly the same.

I take corner after corner, not sure if I’m getting further into or out of the maze. I check my phone, but it’s no use, there is no map that can get me out of here.

I sit down at one of the benches at a dead end.

Crap. What did I do? Why did I get so annoyed? There was no reason for me to act like such a brat. Sure, I might have been able to get that ten grand, but to act like this because of it is silly. I’m not like that. I’m calm, not easily irritated. People like that about me.

But now this guy has gotten under my skin and I want to just yell and scream and hit things, people.

I look up when I hear sounds, footsteps, coming closer. I’m about to jump up when the person rounds the corner.

It’s that man again.

“You have to stop stalking me.” I cross my arms in front of me.

“You were in here for over an hour, I was getting worried.” He steps closer and looks me over. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.” I step back, hitting the back of my legs against the bench. “What do you want?”

He opens his mouth to say something, then he closes it again before he answers my question. “Let’s get you out of here.” His voice is soft as he steps to the side, giving me space to join him without being too close.

We walk side by side in silence as he leads us. I have no clue if we’re even going the right way, but I trust him more than I do my own sense of direction.

“I’m Max.” The man just talks straight ahead, not even looking at me as he speaks.

“Ethan.” I stop in the middle of the path. “I’m sorry about before.”

Max stops a few steps ahead of me. “It’s okay. I get it. I’m sorry for being persistent.”

We stand next to each other awkwardly and I feel like such a fool for how I’ve acted towards this guy for the whole evening. It’s not his fault that I’m messed up, that my body reacts to anyone touching me.

But it didn’t, not really. Both the woman in the red dress and the other one didn’t make my skin tingle, my heart beat faster and got my brain to short circuit. I was right up against them, so close I could smell their skin, could almost kiss their lips. And I was lukewarm at most.

This man, Max, just talking to him, having him look at me, or even chaste touches. It sets my body and mind aflame, it pushes me off-balance, and I can’t stop it. Even now, with him standing more than an arm’s length away from me, my heart starts to beat faster and I become very aware of how alone we are in the maze. How quiet it is and how, in this vast space, the distance between us means nothing.

I step closer to him, the look in his eyes guarded, and reach out, touching his arms and then his chest. I step even closer, reaching up to him, touching the stubbles on his chin, slowly moving my hands up to his neck. Then I softly tug at him, making him come to my height.

He opens his mouth and I put my finger to it, silencing him because I’m not sure I’ll be able to do what I’m about to do if he breaks the spell.

I close the distance between our lips, putting my lips on his, just lightly, experimentally. Max stays still, letting me do whatever I want. I push against him harder, his stubble teasing the edges of my lips. I expect to want to pull away at any moment, but it hasn’t come yet.

Max puts his arms around my waist, keeping them there loosely, not holding me, but more like he is holding himself.

I pull back slightly, just the barest hint, and Max lets me go immediately.

His breath comes out unevenly and I know that my own is coming out in short gasps too. That, from something that was barely a kiss, barely there.

I reach out again, pulling him closer faster this time, firmly planting my lips on his. The feeling that courses through me is lust, excitement, not disgust.

Max wraps his arms around me tightly, now taking control of the kiss. He opens his lips slightly, poking at my lips with his tongue. I let him in, the feeling of his control overwhelming me, overwhelming my senses and making me wonder why I ran away from him.

His tongue seeks out mine, exploring my mouth, battling for dominance. I gasp, barely able to catch a breath.

Now we’re this close together I realise something else, I’m not disgusted by his body. My hands start to wander, over his back, his hips, everywhere but the danger zone. I don’t dare to try that out just yet.

Max lets me go slightly, still holding me, but no longer keeping me close. “I think it’s better if we get back inside. I think that Alexia might worry if I too stay out here that long.”

“Alexia?” My brain is finally losing the fog of lust, now I take breathes easier.

“The woman in the red dress, you danced with her.” The look he is giving me is curious.

“Ah, her.” I try to hide my face from him. Her, the woman I was ogling right before she handed me to him. Yeah. They’re friends, that was so not a good move.

Max reaches out to me, holding out his hand, waiting for me to take it.

I slip my hand into his like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Part of my brain is trying to catch up with what is going on while another part trusts Max to know what is best. It trusts Max, period.

Though when we get closer to the exit of the maze and the sounds of the party are reaching us more and more, I slip my hand out of his. I might have been okay in the dim lights of the maze, where people couldn’t see us. I’m totally not ready for people to see me hold hands with a man out in the open.

4

Max

Wow, the power of mating, the power of an Alpha over their Omega mate. The guy doesn’t even realise it. Sure, it was his own willingness that got him here in the first place. But when an Alpha finds their mate, their own Omega, interesting things start to happen. It’s not like we can help it, much, it’s how we’re wired, it’s how our bodies work. It’s how this world works.

I know that Ethan is following me as I walk back into the party, scanning for Alexia I find the woman sitting at a table, her shoes on the table as some guy is massaging her feet. Oh, she does like to be pampered.

We come up to the table and I can immediately see the tiny mannerism she uses to send the man at her feet away.

“Max!” She jumps up and smiles broadly. “Who is this man, that I’ve already met?”

I step aside, but then realise that Ethan is hiding more behind me than I thought. I step sideways again and now Alexia and Ethan are face to face.

“I’m Alexia, what is your name?” She talks to him like he is a little kid and somehow that seems to turn him back into the sulky guy I’ve gotten to know.

“Ethan. Sorry for being rude on the dance floor.” He looks sideways, then catching my eyes, before looking away again.

He is going to be so much fun, I can see the same thought go through Alexia’s mind as she looks at the both of us. Let’s hope she doesn’t interfere, much.

We sit down at the table, Alexia on one side and Ethan on the other side of me. Because of Alexia’s chatter, I soon learn that Ethan is just out of college, between jobs and not in a good place in his life.

I want to hold him, to take away that pain, that anger, but public displays of affection don’t seem to be his thing, or just not yet.

People come up to us, talking to me or Alexia, requesting dances and phone numbers. I stay right where I am, with Ethan, though Alexia accepts a couple of times.

“How long have you known her?” Ethan speaks up as Alexia is off again with someone, dancing one round before she’s back with us.

“Years, decades.” I smile, glad to see that he has some interest in what is going on. “We grew up in neighbouring packs, went to the same schools until she went off to the army.”

“Army?” Ethan sounds surprised, but I’ve got to admit, most people are when they hear that Alexia is an army girl.

“Yeah. As soon as she could. It’s been great for her, she likes being in control and the guys don’t like to get their asses kicked by a little girl.” I grin and then feel Ethan’s hand on my arm. When I look at him he doesn’t seem happy. “What’s wrong?”

He blinks, probably not even aware of the way he looked. “I don’t know. Do you have the time?”

I pull my phone from my pocket. “Nearly one.”

A soft smile ghosts over Ethan’s lips. “No wonder I’m getting tired.”

I know it’s now or never. The one thing that could change what is going on between us forever. “Do you want to come up to my room?”

It takes a second for Ethan to catch on to what my question means, and his jaw drops in an almost comical fashion.

I reach out, pushing his jaw up slightly and try to smile as non-threatening as possible. “It’s calmer up there. We don’t need to do anything. We can just talk if you’d like that instead.”

Ethan licks his lips but then nods. “I’d like that.”

We stand up and as we walk through the room Alexia grins broadly from the dance floor and winks. I’m hoping that Ethan doesn’t see it because I’m not sure if he’d still come with me when he realises that the whole room is checking what way we’re going.

It’s not uncommon for two people to sneak off upstairs, not even two men, but every person going up with an Alpha will be criticised, that is just how it goes. The fact that Ethan is human will only add to the gossip.

As soon as we’re out of the elevator I take Ethan’s hand, turning him to me. There is one thing we need to get out of the way first. “I know you’re here on a job, I know that if you sleep with one of the Alphas you get a really big bonus.”

It’s not pretty, but it’s how it works and no matter what my body, my heart, is telling me, my brain knows that it’s still a possibility that he simply goes along with me for the payout.

His eyes widen and he doesn’t look at me, neither confirming nor denying what I said.

“I don’t care about that. We can do stuff, we can not do stuff. The fact you spend the night in my room means you’ll get that money, don’t worry about that. I won’t bribe you, I won’t expect anything from you.” I wait until he looks up at me. “I just expect you to be honest. No games, no pushing yourself to do things that you don’t want to do. I get it, you’re not attracted to men.”

“You really wouldn’t care if I’d get the money for sleeping with you, without me actually sleeping with you?” He puts his hands on his hips, making himself wider. “Why have you no faith in yourself? Why do you have no faith in me?”

Wow, what? How did he get there?

“I wouldn’t have followed you if I didn’t want to spend time with you. Sexual or not.” He shows me a shy, crooked smile. “Though I have no experience, so it’s kinda scary.”

“But...” I try to keep up with his brain.

“Like I told you before. When you found me I’d already given up on the night. I didn’t care anymore. I didn’t want to be there. I didn’t care about the money anymore. You’re the only reason I haven’t left yet.” He opens his mouth a few times, but no sounds come out. “I... You intrigue me. I don’t know why, but you do.” He turns around, walking into the hallway blindly, no idea what room I’m actually in.

I have no clue what to reply to him. Sure, he didn’t say that he had an interest in me beyond the non-physical, but at the same time, he’s an honest guy. It makes my heart beat faster and I want to hug him tight. Instead, I grab his arm and pull him into a different hallway. “This way, you romantic.”

Ethan lets out a laugh and relaxes in my hold. He follows me easily, letting me guide him to wherever I want to go.

I consider getting into a closet, just to tease him. But, I don’t want to break that trust, especially now it’s still this fragile. I take a key card from my pocket and open the door to my room. The place is spacious, though not particularly large. It holds a bed and an area to lounge with a TV and a small bar. It’s enough for the night though.

Ethan looks around, a childish type of excitement on his face.

I let him be as I shrug out of my jacket and undo the top buttons of my shirt. I get into the bathroom and clean my face, taking off the light layer of makeup that my assistant put on me before I left. Ugh, stupid events.

Ethan comes in behind me, looking at me in the reflection of the mirror. “I’d love to get that stuff off too. Just... don’t really know how.” He tries to smile at me, but his fumbling around is, in a way, cute. He obviously is not used to this.

“Come here.” I grab some wet towels from the container and start to clean off the makeup. It’s not a lot, luckily, but the guy I uncover underneath does nothing to stop my excitement of being close to him. “Now, wash your face with some water.”

He does as I ask and when he comes up for air I hand him a towel. “Thanks.”

I step behind him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and pushing close. We look interesting in the mirror. I’m quite a bit taller but it’s not a bad look, us two.

A blush is starting to creep down his neck and I reach up, opening the top buttons of his shirt too.

“That should be more comfortable.” I rest one hand over his chest as I let the other one slowly wander lower.

In the mirror, Ethan’s eyes flit between my eyes and the wandering hand. He lets out a sigh when I reach the top of his pants, his eyes closing for a moment.

Oh, no matter what he says, his body is definitely interested. “Let’s make ourselves more comfortable,” I whisper close to his ear and it has the exact effect I want, a shiver goes through Ethan and he closes his eyes again, his tongue darting out for a moment.

Nervous, nervous, nervous man.