mutt,” Gage roars, chest heaving. “Or I will end you here and rut her over your bloody pelt.”
“He can’t hear you in wolf form,” I whisper. The place in my heart that belongs to Brandon is aching and raw. “Brandon, I am begging you, please, shift back. Please, end this madness.”
The air crackles and Brandon stands where the wolf was, his body glistening and chest heaving.
Gage releases him and steps back. Only to send his fist smashing into Brandon’s face. Body and head rattle as Brandon bounces off the wall.
Gage does not stop there. Whatever the shifting healed, Gage revisits upon Brandon’s human form. They go at one another, filling the air with grunts and growls and the meaty thuds of fists connecting with flesh. Blow after blow, Gage demands Brandon’s submission.
Finally, when I am sure my heart can stand no more, Brandon raises his hand and says the words, “I am yours.”
Gage fists Brandon’s throat and drags him up, only to toss him to my feet. “Release her.”
Growling, Gage begins pacing on the other side of the room. “Let her make her nest to her satisfaction. Once she is done, you are going to clean her up.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Brandon
YOU ARE GOING to clean her up.
I throw a look over my shoulder at the Alpha who has mastered me. I swallow. My cock is rising, blood rushing and pulsing as her heady scent fills me.
Turning back to Jessa, I ignore the temptation of her weeping slick and stagger to my feet. Fingers clumsy, I free the rope binding her to a heavy metal ring attached to the wall.
“Oh! It hurts,” she says as her arms lower.
“There,” I say, working my fingers and thumbs into her sore muscles. “Does that feel better?”
My nose is dripping blood, and I pause to wipe it away with the back of my hand. I sway a little on my feet, destroyed, battered, and bruised. But that is on me. I entered the challenge recklessly, and I will pay my dues.
But I don’t like that Jessa is in pain, although I understand why he did it. My wolf could have hurt her in the rough and tumble of our battle. I was not much better as a man.
I am clear of thought now that a change has happened inside me. Gage has broken me down to my raw components and remade me. I am his now. My wolf is submissive to his dominance, as is the man. I will follow his lead.
Jessa leans into me the moment her arms recover. Plastering her lush body to mine, she peppers kisses over my chest and throat, grasping my hair in her fierce grip as she seeks more.
Gage’s growl is a warning. He watches us as he paces. I have no doubt he will beat me again should I not follow his orders swiftly. Taking her by her arms, I set her aside. “The nest, Jessa. How do you want the nest?”
Her head swings toward the bed. It is little more than straw covered by rough blankets. It is not fit for a sweet Omega who is succumbing to her heat.
“Yes,” she says. Eyes puffy from the tears, she regards the bed. I hate that she has been crying over me. I hate that I needed so much before I could accept my place. “Yes, it needs more.”
More. That is a word I have heard from Jessa often since we first committed to one another. She needs more than I can give her.
She needs Gage.
She wants Gage.
No, that is not the whole truth.
She wants and needs us both to claim her for our pleasure.
Our pleasure and hers.
I feel foolish, selfish, and relieved all over again that finally, the lass I have come to love more than life will get what she desires.
“More what, Jessa?” I release her arms, allowing her to sink to her knees beside the coarse bed. “Shall I get you some blankets and pelts, so you can make it to your liking?”
“Yes,” she says, petting the bed with a grimace of distaste.
My lips tug up. Our little mate is soaring high. On the table, there are supplies enough to last many days. My wolf sensed we were being taken on a convoluted route after passing through the Lyon community. Gage had the foresight to arrange provisions and to select a private place for her heat, it would seem.
Gathering an armful of the soft pelts and blankets, I return to Jessa.
“Yes!” she says. Pulling the pelts from my