Arren Read online

  It didn’t surprise Cole that Leo wanted to arrange mates for his children. That was a common practice after the child reached a certain age and seemed unable, or unwilling, to find a mate for themselves. What did surprise him was how Leo wanted to arrange this mating behind his son’s back. Every mating Cole had ever been involved in had been out in the open, with everyone knowing exactly what they were getting into and what was expected of them. This was a far cry from that standard practice of honesty and respect.

  That wasn’t his business, though. He wasn’t Arren’s father, his alpha, or his prospective mate. He was simply a beta in the pack, just a man who was being asked to do a job like any other. And he’d do it to the best of his ability, like any other time. “There’s always Bastian,” Cole offered. They seemed close, and it would probably be easy to convince them to be mated to each other.

  Leo scoffed at his suggestion. “Two idiot brats together does not add up to a good pairing. No, I want Arren with someone who will be firm with him and who won’t put up with his nonsense. Someone willing to tell him when he’s wrong and not tiptoe around him because he’s the alpha’s son. Find me someone like that. But it has to be someone within this pack. I know you can do that for me, Cole.”

  He would certainly try his best. He just hoped Leo didn’t ask him to suggest mates for the rest of his children in the future. If playing matchmaker was what Leo expected of him, it was going to be too much. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Leo nodded. “Good. You do that. Now run along. I have more people to see today than just you.”

  Cole left quickly. He was already dreading the task as he tried to think of anyone who could be a good match for Arren. He might have had more luck if he could send Arren off to another pack, but Leo had been clear that Arren’s mate had to come from here. And even though there were plenty of available shifters in the pack, there were very few who met Leo’s requirements as a mate for his son.

  First, Cole would need to know if Arren was into men, women, or if he simply didn’t care one way or the other. With Arren at work for the rest of the morning, Cole went to see Bastian, since it was his day off from doing the pack’s laundry.

  “I have a question for you,” Cole said as he came up to Bastian where he was sitting outside his house, getting some sun.

  Bastian sat up quickly. “Yes?”

  There really was no good way to ask this and Cole didn’t have the energy, or the time, to play games with him. “Is Arren’s preference of partners men?”

  Bastian’s face fell instantly, and Cole cursed himself for not being more sensitive to how he might take that question, given his recent rejection. “I’m not asking for myself,” Cole assured him.

  “Then why are you asking?”

  “Because his father wants to know.” It was only a partial lie.

  Bastian didn’t look convinced, but he answered anyway. “Men.”

  “Thank you.” Cole turned to leave.

  “Why does he want to know if Arren is gay? He’s not against us, right?”

  Maybe Bastian would have been right to worry in another pack, but not this one. “He doesn’t care, he really just wanted to know about Arren. Maybe he’s going to buy him a shirt or something.”

  “A gay shirt?” Bastian obviously didn’t believe him.

  Cole shrugged. He was sure they probably existed. “Maybe.” He walked away. A simple question had become anything but, and he had other things to get done while playing matchmaker.

  * * * *

  “Cole was asking if you’re into guys. Do you think he wants you?”

  Arren didn’t care what Cole did or didn’t want at the moment. He wanted to stop smelling like burnt eggs. And he wished that Bastian didn’t look so hurt the second he walked in the door. “I don’t know, or care, if he does. I don’t want him. And hi to you, too.”

  Bastian followed him to the bathroom. In Bastian’s defense, Arren hadn’t closed the bathroom door. He was just getting a bath. He didn’t need privacy for that. He filled the tub up while Bastian stood in the doorway, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn’t quite get the words out.

  It wasn’t until Arren was almost completely submerged in the hot water that Bastian decided to speak up.

  “I hate that he rejected me. He was way too intense for me, though. I get why he said no to another round with me, but I still hate it. And I hate that I practically begged him for another chance too. Like, I feel really pathetic for how I acted. And hawks aren’t ever supposed to feel pathetic, and we definitely aren’t supposed to go around begging people to want to be with us.” He sat down on his butt in the doorway.

  Arren didn’t really know what to say to Bastian. There was really no reason to have been that into Cole after only one time together. They’d hooked up. That was it. But Bastian was making it out to be some huge deal. “I think you should screw someone new. Get Cole out of your system. There’s a ton of available guys in the pack. Hell, I’ve got some brothers who I’m sure would be interested if you wanted me to call them for you. Just stop moping around after Cole.”

  Bastian chewed his lip. “He was really wild. I’ve never been with anyone like that before. Anyone who was into the stuff he liked.”

  It didn’t surprise Arren at all that Cole was pretty kinky, given how quickly he’d gotten Arren over his knees and spank him. It did, however, surprise him that Bastian hadn’t been kinky before this experience with Cole. “No wonder he’s still in your system if he was your first time getting a little wild.”

  Bastian blushed. “I didn’t love it, though. Maybe I could have, if I wasn’t so overwhelmed.”

  Arren didn’t have any good tips for him. At his mother’s pack, they weren’t far from a city. He’d been able to go to the clubs, hook up with humans, and really explore that side of himself. Bastian didn’t have any of that, but Arren was pretty sure there were still kinky guys here other than Cole. He was starting to maybe have a plan. “I could see if Cole has a friend who’s more into the softer stuff for you to try out, to see if you like it at all.”

  Bastian perked up. “You wouldn’t mind asking him that for me?”

  It was one question and it would help his friend. “Sure.”

  After his bath Arren went searching for Cole. It was midday and unseasonably warm for fall in the Ozarks, so Arren expected Cole to be by the lake. But while plenty of the pack was there already, Cole was not. Instead, Arren found Cole lazily stretched out over a big rock behind his house.

  “Hey. Shift so that we can talk. I’ve got a question for you.” Arren expected Cole to immediately do what he said, but Cole only huffed at him. Undeterred, Arren laughed at him, then climbed up onto the rock beside Cole.

  If Cole had been a real bear, Arren would have been in serious trouble for choosing to pull on his ear. But Cole was a shifter, and Arren wasn’t in the mood to wait around until Cole decided to eventually shift and talk to him.

  “Hey. I’m serious. Shift,” Arren persisted.

  Cole took one massive paw and used it to push Arren off the rock. He tumbled, but he wasn’t hurt. When he got up, Cole had shifted back and was looking down at him.

  “What do you want?” Cole growled.

  Maybe Cole had been too much for Bastian, but Arren kind of liked how grumpy he was. He was tempted to see just how far he could push Cole with his teasing before the bear snapped, but he thought better of that plan in the interest of self-preservation.

  “Do you have any less intense kinky guy friends for Bastian to hook up with? Whatever you did to him, it was too much. He might need just slightly more than regular sex for a bit, to build up his kinky side.”

  Cole cocked his head to the side. “All I did was tie him up and fuck his mouth. Then I made him wait to come for a long time while I jacked him off. There was nothing extreme about it. Maybe your friend just doesn’t like being tied up.”

  That was entirely possible. “Hawks do
n’t usually like being restrained.”

  “He’s the one who brought it up,” Cole replied with a shrug.

  Arren got back up on the rock next to him. “Do you have any friends for Bastian?”

  After a long sigh, Cole shrugged. “Maybe. Why doesn’t he just find his own guys to have sex with? Why try to be kinky at all?”

  “Maybe he likes the thrill of it.” Arren really had no idea. It had been almost a year since he’d done anything remotely not kinky, and he couldn’t believe that Bastian was just starting out. “I’d have thought you would spank him, not gone right to tying him up. You seem to be a spanker.”

  Cole laughed. “Only as a punishment. And Bastian is a good guy, he’s just not right for me, and I’m not right for him either.”

  Arren was sure about that. But was Cole right for him? That was an interesting little thought. He looked Cole up and down and decided that yes, Cole would be fun to spend a few hours with. But that was one hook up Arren didn’t want to tangle with. “One more question. Why does my dad care who I have sex with?”

  Cole pursed his lips then, after a moment, he shook his head. “Ask your father himself.”

  But that wasn’t good enough for Arren. “No. I’m asking you. And I outrank you in this pack, so you will answer me.”

  Cole raised his eyebrows, and Arren knew he’d crossed the line. “Little boy, you’re not a beta. Your father is the alpha, but you won’t be one anytime soon, if ever. You are a brat and my question of who you’re interested in was only to appease your father. I’m not interested in you in any other way. You have nothing to offer me.”

  That was where Cole was wrong, though. Arren hadn’t brought up the possibility of them together, so since Cole’s mind had gone there, Arren knew he was interested. At least in theory. “I wasn’t offering. You’d probably be too boring for me anyway.”

  He’d meant to get a rise out of Cole by taunting him like that, but instead Cole simply laughed at him. “Go run along, coyote. I’m busy.”

  Arren knew he was pushing Cole, but he wasn’t ready to drop this just yet either. “Tell me why my father was asking that.”

  Cole huffed at him. “No.”

  He turned, but Arren got in his way. “Tell me. C’mon.” This time he got a growl out of Cole. “You don’t scare me, bear. I’m faster than you are once I’m shifted.”

  While that was the truth, Arren was apparently no match for him when they were both people. Cole grabbed his arm and had him flat on his stomach seconds later with his arm twisted behind his back. Cole pressed his knee against the small of Arren’s back. He twisted in Cole’s hold, but it was no use.

  Unfortunately, he kind of liked this. Having Cole above him, proving to him that he was stronger, faster, and more powerful than he was, it definitely worked for Arren. He held back his groan as long as possible, but it escaped his lips anyway.

  “You okay down there? I’m not trying to actually hurt you here,” Cole said.

  Arren cringed. Embarrassed at his own quick reaction, he felt his cheeks get hot. “I’m fine.” He didn’t feel fine. He was growing harder by the second.

  “Your dad is looking for a mate for you. He wants you to be happy and secure when he retires,” Cole told him after a few minutes.

  That was the stupidest idea Arren had heard in a long time. “I don’t want my father setting me up with anyone, let alone a mate. The last guy he tried to set me up with was a rabbit. Coyotes don’t date rabbits. The guy wouldn’t stop trembling. What the fuck.”

  “You’re not supposed to know, so don’t say anything to him. But if you have some input on who you’d like to be mated to, I’d appreciate hearing it. I’m supposed to find your mate for you, and I certainly have no idea who you’d be good with. I don’t even know you.”

  Cole was right, he didn’t have a clue who Arren was. Arren was fine with that. Or, at least, he had been. It seemed that wasn’t an option now. He sighed and tried to budge Cole off of him. It worked, after a few moments, but Cole still kept his arm clamped tightly behind his back. Not that Arren had minded before. But now Cole had eased him onto his knees, and his erection was clearly visible as a tent against the thin material of his shorts.

  It didn’t matter. Arren wasn’t embarrassed about it. He would have just rather that Cole hadn’t been there to see it.

  “You okay?” Cole asked him. He released his arm and Arren rolled his shoulder.

  He looked at Cole to see his attention focused on his crotch. “Yeah. I’m fine. I’ve got a thing for guys who like to show me that they’re more powerful than me. Holding me down like that does it for me.” He shrugged it off and hoped Cole would too.

  But Cole put his hand on Arren’s hip, holding him in place, then he put his other hand above the band of Arren’s shorts. “Do you want help?”

  Arren was annoyed at Cole, but only because of what his father was asking him to do. And he did like looking at Cole. Really, it was just a hand job. He’d had a lot more from guys he’d known a whole lot less than Cole. “Sure, but be quick. And I like it rough.”

  Cole chuckled against the back of his neck. “I’m getting that impression.” The hand that was on his hip moved to Arren’s hair and gave him a sharp yank, arching his neck. “You like that?”

  Arren licked his lips. “Yeah. I do.”

  Cole kissed the side of his neck. Then he made quick work of getting Arren’s shorts down enough to free him. Arren closed his eyes and focused on the pain of Cole’s hand in his hair and the sudden firmness of Cole’s fist around his cock. He was half worried Cole would be gentle with him, despite knowing what he was into, but Cole proved to know just how to please him. He was deliciously rough, yanking on his cock and pulling on his hair. He said nothing, but then Arren hadn’t expected him to. That was something the humans he’d been with had loved to do. They talked a lot. Cole only growled against his neck and gave him the occasional kiss against his skin, the only softness he got.

  Arren came quickly. He’d expected to. With Cole working him over so well and giving him exactly what he’d asked for, lasting longer wasn’t possible at all. He bent forward and tried to catch his breath. Cole wiped off his hand on the rock below them. His come would get washed away with the rain sooner or later.

  Cole squeezed his ass and Arren looked back at him. He hadn’t said that he’d help Cole out, but he wasn’t against it either.

  “Later?” Cole asked him.

  Arren shrugged and jumped down from the rock. “Whenever you want. I could go down on you now.”

  Cole hesitated like he was considering it, but in the end he shook his head. “Another time. You need to get going.”

  Arren didn’t, at least not that he knew of. “Huh?”

  Cole pointed to a hawk that was coming in to land on a tree nearby. Arren looked too, and immediately knew that there would be problems when he got home.

  “Bastian didn’t see anything, if you’re worried about that. He only just got here,” Cole said.

  Arren had figured as much. “He’ll still know.” He sighed. “Shit. He’ll be mad.”

  “He and I weren’t committed. There’s no reason for him to be upset.”

  Arren would love for it to be that simple. He turned around and smiled at Cole. “I know. Tomorrow let’s get together by the lake and maybe we can talk about who I’ll be mated with.”

  Cole nodded. “I’m glad you’re not fighting this. I had imagined this conversation being a lot more yelling and a lot less getting you off.”

  Laughing, Arren agreed with him. “Well, yeah. But I’m not going to fight the inevitable, and I’m not mad at you. And being mated isn’t the worst thing ever. It’s not like mates don’t play outside of their mating. It just means I’ll move into a different house. So as long as I get a say in who I mate with and I’m not just put with someone my father thinks will be a good influence on me, then that’s fine. I’ll go with it. You come up with someone Basti
an might like too. Someone soft and gentle but still a little bit rough for him. Like mini rough. Like what you did with me just now.”

  Cole huffed, and Arren knew it was time to go. He could practically feel Bastian glaring at him from his place in the tree. “See you tomorrow?”

  “Yes. I’ll be at the lake tomorrow afternoon. Will you be able to get yourself to the kitchens tomorrow morning on time?”

  “Yeah. See you.” He took off, making sure to wave to Bastian on his way back home.

  Bastian met him there, which wasn’t all that surprising, but having his best friend push him was.

  “What the hell?” Arren snapped at him.

  “You know I wanted him, and you went and had sex with him anyway,” Bastian screeched back.

  That wasn’t quite what had happened, but Arren knew better than to argue with his friend when he was this mad. So instead he turned around and went to his room, making sure to close the door behind himself. After half an hour of storming around, Bastian left.

  * * * *

  Cole glared at the hawk who came back to a tree not far from where he was helping with the winter garden. The cold frames were going to come in handy over the coldest months, but for now the kale and the last of the broccoli were doing well despite the chill.

  He didn’t know why Bastian was back, but he wasn’t going to have a little hawk ruin his rather decent mood. “Bastian, if you have something to say to me, come down here, shift, and say it. Otherwise go talk to Arren if you’ve got a problem.”

  Bastian flew down and landed close to him. “What’s wrong with you?” Cole asked him.

  “Why’d you have sex with Arren and not me?”

  Cole blew out an irritated breath. “You and I aren’t together. You have no reason to be upset with me for what I do with anyone else. I’m sorry you’re hurt and mad, but that doesn’t change anything.”