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"What do you call a beta who submits to an alpha?"
Vishad never got to hear the punchline—not that he was expecting to. He cleared out of the way as Joey launched forward and slugged the drunk alpha who'd been hovering in their space for far too long. The guy landed solidly on the floor.
"C'mon, man," Vishad said, patting Joey on the shoulder and nodding towards the bar's door. People were staring, and when drunk alpha got back up, he'd be pissed. Making sure to stay a step behind Joey, Vishad was just glad they left without any more drama, knowing his friend had been gearing up for a fight all evening.
"Can you believe that guy?" Joey asked with a laugh. "What about us seemed like we'd be interested in a bunch of stupid-ass jokes? I shoulda kicked his ass."
"Then we would have been blacklisted from yet another bar." And Vishad would have to had let Joey walk away enraged, again, without knowing where he went to.
"Yeah, yeah. Shitty place anyway, right? I think I saw like two omegas total and they were both mated." Joey chuckled. "Not that I would have let that stop me."
Vishard's lips twitched with amusement. The last time Joey had hit on a mated omega, he'd gotten them both locked in jail for the night. And not even then had Vishad finally put his foot down and— no. He'd decided a long time ago not to brood. "Let's just go to my place," he said casually. "I've got beer."
"Unless you also have two omegas stashed away, I'm not buying what you're selling, dude," Joey replied, crossing the street without looking. Vishad followed, clenching the hand that had reached out to stop him into a fist and holding it at his side. When Joey whistled at a pack of omegas passing them—all of whom shot baleful glares—Vishad merely gritted his teeth.
Joey continued, "Actually that'd be a nice birthday gift. Wrangle a couple of omegas, get them all primed. We could party together."
The thought of watching Joey fuck an omega was both painfully arousing and just plain painful. "No," he said, and winced. His tone had come out with a low growl; a commanding growl.
Joey was silent. Fuck.
"You don't need me to catch an omega," Vishad said, feeling sick at the solicitousness in his voice.
Apparently he wasn't the only one; Joey's annoyance was rolling off in waves. "And I don't need you to give my ego a blow job either so just shut the fuck up," he said, hitting a faster stride.
Vishad made sure to keep a step behind, waiting until he saw the tense line of Joey's back relax. Thankfully his friend never stayed mad at him for very long. Slowing down, Joey dropped a muscular arm around Vishad's shoulders and snorted. "I know you didn't mean it like that, dude."
The first time he'd heard those words were back in high school, in Joey's room when his parents were gone for the weekend. It hurt more then.
"Let's check this place out," Joey said, already steering them towards a nightclub, which Vishad was definitely not in the mood for. But with Joey's skin touching his, he found objecting to anything completely impossible. The crowd inside skewed a little younger than their age group, but that didn't stop many of the omegas from appraising them as they walked by, interest piqued.
All the scents mingled together into something crushing. Vishad exhaled, realizing he was affected by it all. He glanced sideways, catching sight of the sweat beading on Joey's collarbone. "I'm gonna get a drink," he said, shoving Joey away and heading to the bar without waiting for an answer. He needed some fucking space.
Space was all he got. Leaning against the bar, drink in hand, he watched as Joey hit on some omega. Vishad couldn't hear what was said—but he could read the body language. The omega was receptive, smiling coyly while Joey postured for him.
The music dimmed, a rushing sound in Vishad's ears taking over. Other wolves backed away from him. He barely noted the retreat.
That omega was touching Joey, touching his arm. So Vishad did a stupid thing. He was across the room before he even had time to think, looming over the other two wolves. "New friend," he asked Joey.
All at once, he scented the omega's impending heat. He also saw the flash of frustration in Joey's eyes and wanted to shrink into nothing out of shame. The omega's attention was now fully on him. Good, a rebellious part of Vishad said. But then he caught sight of Joey closing in on himself, the happy predatory scent fading.
"This is my buddy Vishad," Joey muttered.
Vishad held his hand up. "I just came over to say I'm heading out." Without waiting for a response, he spun of his heel and forced himself to walk away—each step a momentous effort of will. His insides melted with rage, his wolf yowling with fury at his cowardice. How could he just leave Joey with another? How?
He tried to get home without any problems, but one young buck decided to bump into him and there was a blow out. But he walked away from that with only a bloody lip, so it wasn't so bad. All he could think while beating the kid down was how he wished Joey was there to see. What would he feel? Awe? Fear? Arousal? If he really knew how much Vishad held back, maybe he'd be a bit more submissive…
Vishad managed to leave the fight without doing too much damage. He got to his apartment, busting noisily, slamming the door shut. He dropped into his arm chair, lit up a cigarette, and sat in the darkness as he glared at the wall.
How much longer could he do this? How many times would he have to hang out with Joey as if they were only friends on the hunt together? What would he do when Joey found an omega willing to settle down with him? Could Vishad sit back and let that happen?
He smiled wryly. Probably not.
It took a moment for him to recognize that someone was pounding on his door. He checked his watch, surprised that more than an hour had passed since he got home. "Whoever it is, you really don't want to fuck with me tonight," he said as he went to the door and opened it.
No warning—Joey was there, fist swinging.
Vishad dodged, grabbing Joey by the wrist and holding him steady. "What the fuck?"
"Fuck you, fuck you." Joey was smashed and sweaty. His eyes were blazing. He was struggling.
Which was not fucking good.
His scent and the scent of omega's heat had mingled together. Joey and heat were together. Vishad had fucked omegas in heat before, and the use of his alpha instincts and needs was satisfying, but this—this was a drug. He could see the omega hanging all over Joey (how else would his scent cling like that?) which made him so angry he could barely think, but the omega was barely an afterthought. It was Joey: his unquenched lust, his jealousy, his frustration, his impotent rage—everything swirling together in a heady fuel that only needed a spark.
Vishad's last clear thought was ' oh, fuck ' before he was grappling with Joey, intent on forcing him to the ground. Get out of here, his mind screamed even as he kicked the door shut while dragging a yelling, scrabbling Joey further into his den. He crushed Joey against him, inhaling deeply at his throat. His hips jerked forward, his need to be as close as possible to Joey overwhelming. His mate was in heat—his beta mate was in heat and now Vishad was finally going to fuck him.
Joey's voice was distant. "Get off me, you fucker! Get off!"
Vishad knocked him down on the carpet and straddled him, pushing his shirt up to expose bare skin, and growled low in warning. Joey stilled. Although Vishad wanted him completely naked to cement dominance, he was content with the exposed nipples, and abs that rippled with each panted breath.
The fury and betrayal in Joey's voice didn't mesh with what Vishad clearly knew to his core: it was time for Joey to submit. They'd danced around each other long enough, and now Vishad had to make things clear; he had to assert dominance and finally put an end to Joey's flagrant disrespect.
Vishad licked Joey's skin, tasting salt as he went up from between collarbones to the base of Joey's throat. Underneath him, Joey jerked and snarled. He should not be doing that.
With just a growl, Vishad threatened discipline. Joey stopped fighting, and Vishad huffed approvingly, not wanting to linger on bad feelings. He kissed Joey's throat, wanting his mate to know how precious he was.
"Don't," Joey said, his voice weak. He'd deflated like the fragile thing he was.
Vishad dropped his forehead on Joey's chest, heart hurting. He could smell Joey's need—not just the heat, but him. He was excited. Nervous and upset, but excited.
"You've proved your fucking point," Joey said. "I get it. You're alpha and I'm beta and the omegas will never go for me."
"That's not—" Vishad swore. "That's not the point at all. You know what I want." And he'd been waiting years for Joey to just give up and offer it. But he wouldn't say that. "I've left you alone, I never pushed it…" But now he was going to. He had his hands on Joey, had a hand around his throat while squeezing just hard enough.
Submit, submit, submit, he prayed, waiting for the moment Joey punched him again and took off, their friendship over. But… slowly, painfully slow, Joey relaxed, his head dropping back so that his throat extended.
Vishad knew he wasn't offering himself up for the mating bite. He was just saying yes to be fucked, probably because he was horny with no outlet. But that was more than he had ever conceded for their entire relationship, and Vishad was going to take every last inch of concession he could. Rising to his feet, he pulled Joey along to the bedroom.
His room had always been a den waiting for Joey: a huge California king bed, a flat screen on the wall, a mini fridge for beer. He'd rented an apartment with two sinks in the bathroom and a gym at the bottom floor. Not once had he thought any of that was a waste of effort.
"Go," he commanded, shoving Joey to the bed. He then watched as Joey undressed before him and crawled on top of Vishad's expensive bedding, the mattress dipping under his weight. His carefully honed body was beautiful, each muscle defined. Vishad knew how hard Joey worked at maintaining an alpha's physique, and admired him for it.
But seeing that Adonis form trembling with nerves—the shame mixed with anticipation—had Vishad's lust burning. He stretched out of his shirt and stalked over to the bed, letting Joey get an eyeful of his own muscled torso.
Joey was on his back, leaning up on one elbow. His cock lay nestled in a patch of brown curls, already a bit hard. "Don't tell anyone," he said, his voice as close to begging as Vishad had ever heard.
"Who would I tell?" Vishad replied, kicking his pants off and sliding over Joey so that their noses were an inch apart. His own cock was rock hard, jutting forward, ready to take Joey now . He wasn't going to comfort Joey—they'd been friends long enough for the beta to know that Vishad would never do anything to embarrass him in front of other wolves, had in fact always bolstered him up.
Joey nodded. He was giving Vishad the once over, interest clear on his face. "I've never been knotted before," he said, throat rolling.
Well, fuck. Vishad hadn't even known that was on the table. Just hearing Joey say the word 'knot' in relation to what they were about to do made him jerk forward, kissing Joey and pushing him down. "I'll make it feel so good," he said, reaching for the lube in the nightstand. "You will feel so fucking good, Joey."
He felt little kisses at his shoulder, felt Joey start to rub up against him. Joey was scenting him.
Fuck. Hand shaking, Vishad flipped the cap open and squeezed the lube everywhere—on his cock and in between Joey's asscheeks. He threw the bottle aside, brought Joey's knees up, and slowly pushed in with a luxurious groan. He kept his eyes open, watching Joey's reaction; pausing when there was a flicker of discomfort, and then moving when there was pure need.
Joey clutched onto him, arms around Vishad's shoulders. He was whimpering, any hint of posturing gone as his cries turned submissive. His cock was slick with precum. Vishad angled him better, and really pounded, their moans coming out together. He was delirious with Joey's scent, and being inside Joey and wanting more.
"I'm—" Vishad breathed, unable to saying anything else as his knot swelled and Joey cursed. He felt wetness, and realized Joey had come. His heart felt full. He'd made Joey come. And now he was locked inside Joey, his own cum filling his mate. He kissed everywhere he could reach, gently and lovingly, gasping each time he came again.
Finally Joey had to push his face away. "Dude, stop slobbering on me."
Vishad chuckled, and then collapsed on top of him. They panted together.
"How long?" Joey asked.
Forever, Vishad wanted to say. But he just thought about this knot and was slightly ashamed as he mumbled, "Probably more than an hour."
"Fuck me." That was definitely not a request. Vishad laughed again. He shifted them around into something comfortable—Joey's back to his chest—reached for the remote in the nightstand, and turned on ESPN.
"You motherfucker," Joey said, voice light with amusement. Then he really laughed when Vishad handed him a beer. "Okay, I can get used to this."
"You better."
Joey tensed a little, and Vishad realized it was now or never. "I love you. I'd offer to submit to you if I didn't know you'd just hate me for pretending. But I love you, Joey. I want you to be my mate."
He let Joey lay there in silence, feeling him breathe. Finally, a hand combed through Vishad's sweaty hair. "What finally made you crack? I think you left bruises on me, man."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you smelled like heat… kinda triggered my wolf brain."
"Gotcha." Joey paused. "That omega, the second he scented you—"
Vishad covered his mouth. He didn't want Joey to spiral into another self-loathing miasma of envy. "You're not an alpha," he said. "I am, and he wanted an alpha. Sometimes it's just instinct." He rubbed his cheek against the back of Joey's neck, wanting to mark his scent everywhere. He lazily grazed his fingers along Joey's chest.
Then he carefully pumped his hips a few times to remind Joey what was inside of him, to remind Joey that he'd been fucked by Vishad. There was a moan underneath Vishad's hand.
You're mine now and you don't even know it, Vishad thought. His lip curled as contentment sunk in. He'd finally chipped a crack in Joey's pride, and now he was going to pry that ego wide open. He'd make Joey docile and obedient, and most of all—happy. He would dedicate his entire life to making Joey deliriously happy in submission.