Mark never intended for his life to change the way it had. He’d loved Beth. He’d thought he’d spend the rest of his life loving her. But something had happened—what, he wasn’t sure. He’d never had feelings for other men. Had he? Sure, maybe he’d admired best friends Josiah’s and Alex’s physiques a time or two when they’d stripped to swim as teens, but he’d never imagined himself fucking them.
And that’s exactly what he imagined doing to Jaime Wyatt. The man did things to Mark. His slender frame, dark auburn hair, green eyes, straight nose, and those freckles…
Mark snapped himself out of his daydreaming, realizing he’d driven up the driveway to the plantation house and come to a stop without fully realizing it. He turned off the ignition, reminding himself he’d come to the compound to see Josiah, not Jaime, who’d made it clear months ago their friendship was over.
Jaime used to come over regularly to eat with Mark and Beth, but after the omega moved to Cascade compound, things had changed. He’d explained he wanted to get comfortable with his new pack, but Mark knew that wasn’t the real reason. Something heated and unspoken had developed between them, and when Jaime had stopped coming around, Mark hadn’t been able to deny what he felt any longer.
Not long after that, Mark broke things off with Beth, who’d been understandably blindsided. All he’d known was he couldn’t go on being engaged to Beth when he had such strong feelings for Jaime. He hadn’t been brave enough to admit that to Beth, so his reasons for the break-up had seemed flimsy and confusing to her. Eight months later, Mark still felt like a heel. He tried not to think about how he’d hurt her so much that she’d moved out West for a new start but knew Josiah wasn’t going to let him get away with burying his head in the sand.
Which was why Mark had hidden the break-up from his best friend.
He was a coward; that’s all there was to it. And fuck, he hated himself for it, but he still wanted Jaime as much as he had a year ago when the omega had turned away from him.
A great gust of wind splattered fat raindrops onto the windshield as Mark unbuckled his seat belt and climbed out of the car. Clouds blocked the sun, and thunder rolled in the distance. Mark barely made it up the porch steps of the plantation house before the rain started in a torrent.
Brooks sat in the porch swing, his son on his lap. The russet-haired boy had big dark eyes like his sire, David.
“Hi,” Mark greeted Brooks. “Man, he’s getting big.”
Mark had always heard young werewolves grew fast, but it was still jolting to see a boy no more than a year old so easily slide off the swing and run confidently across the floor to grin up at him.
“Hi, there.” Mark patted the child’s head. “I’m Mark. You’re Jarrod-Grant, right?”
Jarrod-Grant nodded before turning and taking off inside the house.
Brooks stood up from the swing. Tall and lean with sandy-brown hair and large hazel eyes, the beta was undeniably handsome and had a quiet air that immediately put people at ease.
“Yeah, he’ll be grown before we know it. Makes me a little sad.” Brooks smiled. “Be ready to start salivating. I think Sam’s outdone himself with dinner. It smells so good, I had to come outside until it’s ready.”
“Great, I’m starving,” Mark said. “I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in ages.”
Josiah met them in the hallway and took Mark’s windbreaker to hang in the closet. Brooks hadn’t been lying; the scent of garlic and marinara immediately drifted to Mark’s nose, making his stomach rumble in anticipation. Thunder shook the house and the heavy rain turned into a deluge beating on the roof.
“Sam says dinner’s not ready yet, and he won’t let me help,” Josiah had to raise his voice to be heard over the storm. “Come into the living room, and I’ll bring you some iced tea.”
A fire burned in the grate, taking the chill out of Mark’s bones. It had been one of those spring days where everything looked green and beautiful, but the air was so crisp and cold it could have been winter. Blackberry winter, his grandmother used to call it. Mark suspected the werewolves liked the coziness of the fire, as they certainly didn’t need it to keep warm. Or perhaps the fire was for Mark’s benefit—or the twins’—Sophie and Sadie had proved to be more human than werewolf.
Mark greeted David, who sat in one of the large chairs, feet propped on an ottoman, reading the newspaper with his son snuggled in next to him. Jarrod-Grant peeked shyly at Mark from under his sire’s arm. Mark pulled Sophie and then Sadie onto his lap and spent several minutes talking with them until Josiah returned with the glass of tea. The twins slid off Mark’s knees and ran to play on the back porch.
“The place looks great,” Mark said after taking a drink.
Josiah smiled. “Thanks. We’ve been working hard on it.”
“It shows.” Mark could feel the strain between them and regretted keeping his break-up with Beth from his best friend. He knew he would have been hurt if Josiah had done something like that.
They made stilted small talk until Sam called them to eat at the long dining room table. Mark had to admit the food was delicious. He’d eaten so many frozen dinners the past year, he’d forgotten what good food tasted like. Jaime wasn’t at the table, and Mark wanted to ask about the omega, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. What if Jaime had mated with an alpha or beta in the pack? What if he was in heat? Or both? The thought brought warmth creeping up Mark’s neck. He hadn’t realized someone had spoken to him until Josiah squeezed his arm.
“You okay?”
Mark nodded and tried to smile. “Just really enjoying this great meal.” He nodded to Sam, who flushed with pleasure.
“Sam’s the best cook in the pack,” Leo said proudly. Mark had always found the alpha a little terrifying, particularly since Leo rarely smiled, but the infatuated look Leo wore for Sam cast the grim man in another light—one of a man deeply in love.
Mark cleared his throat, nose stinging for some reason, and concentrated on eating. Conversation around the table revolved around the garden, the expansion of the chicken coop, and the occasional antics of the children.
“How’s the new mare doing, David?” Mike, one of the formerly rogue alphas, asked.
“Good. I’m looking at breeding her in June, along with Bess,” David said. “That way the weather will be getting mild when the foals are born.”
The sound of the back door opening and closing brought Mark’s gaze to the porch. Jaime faltered in his steps. His hair was wet and curled at the neck. He closed the umbrella he was holding and set it by the door. It was painfully obvious by the look on his face he hadn’t known Mark was invited to dinner.
Jaime smiled and nodded to Mark before taking a seat between Sam and Sandy at the large table. Mark strained to hear the Jaime’s words as Sandy appeared to be asking where the omega had been, but he couldn’t make them out over the laughter and general conversation at the dinner table with the added cacophony of the storm in the background.
Sam announced he’d made apple pies, and Brooks got up to fetch them while betas Nate and Abram poured coffee for everyone. The kids lost interest in their meals and received permission to go play. The general domestic atmosphere had Mark yearning for something he’d doubted he’d ever have.
Beth had been unable to conceive. Having Josiah’s twins with them for a time while River and Josiah were looking for a home for their small pack had underlined the couple’s desire to have children, and they’d looked into adopting. Good thing they hadn’t, as Mark’s feelings for Jaime would have caused an upheaval in their family.
Now, Mark couldn’t see himself being happy with anyone but Jaime, and the idea confused him. Even if Jaime wanted him, could Mark really become romantically involved with a man? A werewolf?
The omega seemed to be avoiding Mark’s gaze, looking everywhere but in his direction. Desperate to have those forest green eyes on him, Mark waited until everyone finished their dessert and coffee, and among the general clatter of cleaning up, pulled Jaime into a side room, which turned out to be River’s office.
Jaime’s face was guarded.
“I just want to talk to you a minute,” Mark said. “I’ve—missed you.”
Jaime blinked, and his features softened. “I’ve missed you, too. I’ve just been really busy.”
Mark ran hungry eyes over the omega. He wore jeans and a dark brown shirt, perfect for his coloring. His hair, which had grown longer and curled from the rain, had dried from a dark cinnamon to more of a nutmeg color. Mark’s fingers twitched with the need to touch.
“Beth and I broke up,” he burst out, unsure how he expected the omega to respond.
Jaime’s lips parted on a soft, “Oh.” Then he added, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not,” Mark said, body responding to the proximity of the man he’d been thinking of practically non-stop for the past year and a half. What an awful thing to say, he thought. But it was the truth.
Jaime met his gaze, and Mark’s skin tingled. “You aren’t?”
Mark shook his head.
“But you two were so good together.”
“We were for a while. I just…I couldn’t stay with her.”
“Why not?”
Here it was; the moment of truth. Mark could make something up to get him through the awkward moment, or he could come clean with feelings he didn’t even understand.
He licked his lips, gaze never leaving Jaime’s. “I…I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Mark relaxed. No matter what happened from that point on, he’d admitted his feelings.
Jaime moved a fraction of an inch closer to Mark, causing the hairs on Mark’s body to stand up and his cock to twitch in his pants.
“I don’t understand.”
Mark wasn’t hard, but the potential was there, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He’d thought of Jaime sexually plenty of times, but the idea had always been obscure. Standing in front of the man, Jaime’s scent tickling his nostrils and the warmth of the omega’s body a temptation Mark wasn’t sure he could withstand, the fact that Mark’s cock was responding told him how real this was. He was likely bi-sexual. He definitely wanted Jaime, and the fact Jaime was an omega werewolf made things very complicated.
Mark shook his head. “I don’t fully understand either. All I know is I want to kiss you. And more.” He winced. “I’m doing a really bad job of this.”
“You really broke up with Beth because of me?” Jaime asked, eyes huge in his pale face.
Mark nodded slowly. “After we became friends, my feelings for her began to change. Looking back, I don’t think I ever felt about her the way I do about you.”
Jaime still stood temptingly close. He didn’t move forward or away. “And how is that? How do you feel about me, Mark?”
Mark let out the breath he’d been holding. Now that he’d started being honest, he wouldn’t stop. “Fuck, I don’t know. I like you. I want to touch you. I think about you all the time. I-I’ve never been interested in a man before. I don’t know what to do with these feelings.”
Jaime slowly blinked, eyes dilating. He clenched and unclenched his long fingers, as though itching to touch Mark. Mark could see the omega’s erect nipples through the light material of his shirt. He couldn’t help himself; he reached out and ran his thumb over one.
“Please say you at least like me a little,” he whispered, elated at the way Jaime shivered at his touch. “Josiah thinks you might.”
The omega pulled in a breath, whether at the words or touch, Mark wasn’t sure. Maybe both.
“Of course I like you,” Jaime said. “I like you a lot. I just didn’t want to get between you and Beth, and let’s face it: being with me will complicate your life.”
Mark stepped forward, nerves tingling with the knowledge his feelings were reciprocated. “Maybe I want a complicated life.”
The air between the two men charged, and Mark wanted to kiss Jaime.
“Mark?” Josiah’s voice came through the closed door. “Are you in there?”
“Be out in a minute,” Mark called to his friend, eyes never leaving Jaime’s. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against the omega’s once, twice. He rubbed their noses together before pulling away an inch. A sweet aroma filled the room.
Mark sniffed the air. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was standing in the middle of a room full of ripe, juicy peaches. “What is that?”
“I…” Jaime blushed to the roots of his hair. “It’s, uh…”
The door opened, and Josiah stepped in. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing if you don’t get out of here,” Mark said irritably.
Josiah looked at Jaime. “I need to speak with Mark.”
Jaime glanced at Mark, nodded, and walked out. The sweet smell hung in the air, and Mark couldn’t help but draw it into his nostrils.
Josiah closed the door and glared at his friend. “What are you doing?”
“What did it look like I was doing?”
“It looked like you were making the moves on Jaime.”
Mark laughed. “Making the moves? Is this a 70s movie?”
Josiah scowled. “Do you know what that scent is all over this room? It’s slick. Omega slick. Jaime’s body responding to yours.”
Mark’s cock reacted to that piece of information like it had been stroked by an unseen hand. “It is? You mean, he wants me?”
“Yes, he wants you. Do you even know what to do with that? As long as I’ve known you, I’ve thought you were straight. You were with Beth. You were going to get married. Then suddenly I find out you haven’t been together for a while. And you didn’t even tell me.”
Mark ran a hand through his hair. Did they have to have this conversation now? “I knew you’d want an explanation, and I don’t have one, other than what I had with Beth suddenly didn’t seem so good anymore, and I just can’t stop thinking about Jaime. I hurt Beth; I know that, but I can’t help what I feel.”
The angry look melted from Josiah’s face, leaving his features soft. “I get it. I do. But you’re a human—a human confused about his sexuality. And Jaime’s a werewolf. An omega, like me. We need certain things. Things a human can’t give us.”
Mark frowned. “What do you mean?”
Josiah sat down on the small brown sofa against the wall and looked up at Mark. “Omegas are highly sexual.”
Mark nodded slowly. “I’ve read enough about them to know that, yeah.”
“I thought I knew about it, too, but when I went into heat—Oh, my God.” He shook his head, brown curls loose and bouncing.
Mark didn’t know if it was his newly found awareness in his sexuality or what, but in that moment, he realized his friend was attractive. Not just good-looking, but truly pretty. Mark wasn’t sure if it had always been there, and he’d simply had never looked long enough to notice, but for the first time, as Josiah looked up at Mark with big, blue eyes, Mark saw his friend in an entirely different light. And it made him uncomfortable.
“It’s difficult enough for a virile alpha to fulfill our needs when we go into heat. They have to—well, you know, repeatedly. Do you really think a human could have that kind of stamina? Sure, you’re young, but you won’t always be. And you don’t have a knot. The knot is what we crave.” Josiah’s cheeks grew pink, and he cleared his throat. “Anyway, humans and werewolves usually don’t work out together unless one takes the bite.”
“Your parents—”
“Mom wasn’t an omega.”
“But still, nobody said it isn’t possible.”
Josiah leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling, and Mark got a glimpse of the faint mark on Josiah’s neck where River had bitten him when they’d mated.
“It would be an uphill battle,” Josiah said, meeting Mark’s gaze. “I’ve seen the way Jaime looks at you. He could so easily fall in love with you.” Josiah got to his feet. “He’s an omega in my pack; therefore, I’m in charge of him. Don’t hurt him, Mark. You don’t even know what you really want.”
Mark almost opened his mouth to say he wanted Jaime, but he understood where Josiah was coming from. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Jaime the way he’d hurt Beth. What if Mark got in bed with Jaime and couldn’t get fully hard? Difficult to imagine, judging by his fantasies about Jaime, but the fact remained he’d never been with a guy before. Maybe he could get hard, but what if he couldn’t keep up with Jaime during the omega’s heats? And what if, by some miracle, he could keep up, but Jaime wished Mark had a knot? Would Jaime want Mark to accept the bite and change? Could Mark do that? Doubt poured over him as he realized starting something with Jaime would be setting them up for a colossal fall.
“I see you’re thinking more now, so I’ll leave you alone. I’m glad you came over tonight. I’m sorry if I haven’t been there for you lately,” Josiah said softly.
Mark met Josiah’s gaze. The man was still the same Josey Kimbrel Mark had grown up with, but in so many ways he also wasn’t. Josiah was a werewolf, half-omega half-human. If Mark were to get involved with Jaime and decided to take the bite, he would become more werewolf than Josiah.
Unease danced up his spine, and he swallowed hard.
“I’ve just found a new place, and I plan to move in next weekend. Maybe we can have dinner there next time.”
Josiah smiled softly. “I’ll help you move. I’ll bring River and some of the others, and we’ll have you squared away in no time.”
“Thanks. Uh, I guess I’ll just say my goodbyes.”
Josiah nodded and opened the door.
Mark thanked Sam for the wonderful meal and said goodbye to the others. He wondered if Jaime had gone to the omega den, but when he stepped out onto the front porch, he found the omega sitting on the swing.
“What did Josiah say?” Jaime asked.
Mark leaned against the railing, looking out into the darkness. “That he doesn’t want you hurt.”
Silence surrounded them, broken only by the intermittent croaking of frogs in the nearby creek.
“I meant what I said to you,” Mark said quietly. “But it’s all so complicated. I don’t want to hurt you like I hurt Beth.”
“I’m a grown man,” Jaime said, and Mark was surprised at the anger in his voice. “I’ve spent the past year trying to bury my feelings for you, and you come here and raise my hopes only to dash them back to the ground? That is what you’re about to do, isn’t it?”
Dismayed, Mark opened his mouth to speak, but Jaime was off the swing and down the steps, striding across the lawn before Mark could get a word out.
Maybe it was better that way.