Casey rubbed his huge cock against Rory’s again, causing him to gasp aloud. “When we tie up, when I put my knot deep inside you, I’ll make you scream my name so many times you’ll be hoarse the next day.”

The knot or bulbus glandis in canines was a large glandular ring of hard tissue around the base of the penis. During the mating, the gland swelled even larger, making it impossible to withdraw until the ritual was finished. A submerged gland secreted chemicals that caused multiple orgasms during the length of time the wolf remained tied with his mate, sometimes for hours. The extreme experience usually caused the chosen mate to pass out from the intensity, frequency, and extended duration of the orgasms. Some orgasms went on for over four minutes. During the first knot-induced climax, the wolf gave his partner the mating bite, sealing their union for life.

“Maybe those screams will be a little payback for not acknowledging me right away. You never get to ignore me, baby. Not ever again. I’ll show you no mercy when I get you in bed. No mercy at all, darlin’.”

He bent and kissed Rory one more time, grinding his lips against Rory’s, sweeping his tongue over the inside of his mouth and nipping at his bottom lip. “I’ll see you in the morning. Seven sharp, I think you said? You’ll dream about me tonight, and I’ll dream of you too. Goodnight, my little wolf.”

Casey let him go, turned, and left the room quickly, leaving Rory trembling. At the door, Casey nearly ran into Nicky, followed more slowly by Marco. Nicky was back, Rory knew, because he was so damned nosy he couldn’t stay away.

“Whoa, Casey, slow down.” Nicky put his hands up to stop Casey, with an amused glance over at Rory. “Is everything okay with you guys?”

“Oh, everything’s just fine with me.” Casey smiled wolfishly, looking over his shoulder at Rory. “As for Ian, he’s getting there.”

“Ian?” Nicky said blankly. He looked from Casey to Rory and back again. “His name’s not Ian. This is Rory.”

Casey’s head whipped around and a look of absolute shock came over his handsome features. “Rory?” he said, shaking his head back and forth slowly. “No, not Rory. He’s Ian.”

Nicky tilted his head, puzzled. “Casey, are you okay? Ian is our beta. This is Rory, our new lead gamma.” A little smile played around his pretty lips. “Don’t you even know your future mate’s name?”

Casey turned and, stumbling, practically ran from the hall, leaving Nicky looking after him in surprise, and Rory quaking as he stood against the counter staring at the empty doorway.

“What in the world was that about?” Nicky bounced over to him and arched a smile at Rory. “Well? What happened? Is he the one?”

Rory nodded. “I think so. Yes, I know he is.” He put his hands over his face and groaned.

Marco came over to stand beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Surely it’s not as bad as all that. Sit down for a minute. Let’s talk.”

Talking was the last thing he wanted to do. He wasn’t sure exactly what he did want to do, except go running after a complete stranger and beg to stay with him. Unable to refuse an order from his alpha, he allowed Marco to draw him over to the table and sit him down.

“Now start from the beginning. Why are you so upset?” Marco’s tone was soothing, and Nicky put a companionable arm around him, even though Marco shot Nicky a jealous, disapproving glance. A wolf never touched a mated pet, unless they were family. Even with his nephew, Marco was possessive and jealous of sharing Nicky’s touch.

Rory took a deep breath. “He’s so…he’s such a…oh God, Marco. He said I’m his mate, and he knew it the minute I walked in. He called me his baby, and his darlin’.” Rory’s tone was bitter, yet a shiver of sexual pleasure ran through him at the words.

Nicky laughed out loud, and both men shot him a look of dismay. “I’m sorry,” Nicky said, wiping his eyes. “I don’t mean to laugh, but you said that like those were fighting words, or like it’s such a terrible thing to be someone’s darling. I think it’s wonderful! I’m Marco’s darling, aren’t I, sweetheart? And I love it!”

Marco shook his head, though he smiled at his mate. “Yes, you certainly are, baby, but that’s exactly what Rory means. Wolves are supposed to be the dominant partners. We call our mates those names, and we certainly mean them,” he hastened to say at Nicky’s sharp look. “But in this case, I think Rory’s saying Casey is making a bid for dominance over him. For a wolf, that’s very…uh…pack law forbids wolves mating.”

“Very what?” Nicky demanded. “My Lord, you wolves are so Neanderthal when it comes to being the dominant partner. You, Tarzan, me, Jane. So last century!”

Marco blushed. Nicky was the only one who could ever make him do that, Rory thought irrelevantly as Marco spoke. He’d snap anyone else’s head off for daring to speak to him that way. Nicky totally bossed him around and he seemed to love it. “Well, we’ll talk about all that later, honey. Right now, Rory has a problem, and I need to concentrate on that issue if you don’t mind.”

Nicky shrugged, pouting, and allowed Marco to take over. “We’ve never had a situation like this before that I can remember, Rory, so we’re in uncharted territory here. It may be that it isn’t so much that it’s forbidden as it’s never happened before. What is obvious is, if it’s a blood match, it’s too strong to be denied and ignoring it would make you both miserable. I don’t know what the reason is for forbidding two wolves to mate, except for the obvious when it’s two males, of course.”

“What obvious?” Nicky asked, unable to stay out of this.

“The dominance. Remember when I gave you my knot, baby?”

“Mmm, yes I do. It was amazing.” Nicky got a dreamy look on his face.

Marco smiled fondly and colored a little again. “Only one can give the knot and mating bite. As far as I know, no one knows what taking the knot and getting the mating bite would do to a male wolf or feeding from the dominant’s blood to complete the bonding. We know what the changes do to a pet or human, not wolf. He could be changed in some way just like you were.”

Nicky dropped his arm from Rory’s shoulders. “Oh, I get it. He could become werekin instead of wolf. It could mean a fate worse than death, huh? He could actually become a pet, like me.”

“Now, Nicky…” Marco put his hand out to cover his mate’s, but Nicky brushed it away.

“Don’t patronize me, Marco. I knew all along how you wolves really feel. Pets are second class, no matter how much you go on and on about loving and treasuring us.”

Rory spoke up quickly with a firm shake of his head. “No, you’re wrong, Nicky. We do love and treasure our pets. More than you could know! And they’re not second class anything. It’s just that a wolf has a strong need to protect and yes, dominate. If we can’t do that, it might destroy us, tear us apart, and cause such a split inside we’d never be whole again. I’m so torn right now between wanting to be with my mate and let him do whatever he wants to do with me, and at the same time, I want to care for him, protect him, and own him. I can’t stand the thought of him with someone else.”

Nicky’s voice was softer as he gazed into Rory’s eyes. “Sounds just like me. Don’t you know if you mate, you own him as much as he owns you?” He glanced up at Marco, who nodded slowly.

“Nicky’s right, Rory. I never thought of it like that, but it’s absolutely true. Nicky totally owns me, just as I do him.”

“What if you couldn’t shift again, Marco? If you couldn’t care for your family? No, I can’t do this. I’ll just have to reject him as my mate. It’s the only way.”

Marco sighed deeply. “You can try, but you’ll wind up miserable, maybe even sick. You’ve never shown any alpha traits, Rory, so it may not be as hard or different as you think.”

Rory stood up, resolute, shaking his head. “But you don’t know what will happen. I have to try to fight it.” He looked down at Marco and Nicky. “Thanks for trying to help me. Please, Nicky, don’t mention this to anyone.”

Nicky looked hurt. “Of course not. I don’t gossip.” Marco and Rory both looked at him dubiously, but wisely let it drop.

Rory went to the door. “I’ll let you know what happens, Alpha. Don’t worry. I can do my job tomorrow.”

“I have no doubt, Rory.”

Closing the door behind him, Rory leaned his back against it for a moment and heard Nicky sigh, even through the thickness of the wood. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop but when he heard Nicky speak, he couldn’t stop himself. “I wonder how long it will be before Rory gives in?” he heard Nicky say. “Casey looked to me to be a man who won’t easily take no for an answer. And what do you think all that was about Ian? He looked pretty shocked to hear Rory’s name.”

“I’m sure it’s just your imagination, honey,” Marco replied. “They were both a little stunned by the whole thing.”

“Maybe so,” Nicky said softly. “But something tells me there’s more to this than meets the eye.”

The next morning, Rory was at the common room early, by six forty-five. He half-hoped Casey would be early too, but he was nowhere to be seen. Rory got a cup of coffee and stood by the fire, warming himself before going out in the cold March morning. He’d dreamed about Casey the night before, just like he’d told him he would. Crazy, disjointed dreams making no sense, except for one of them. In that dream, he lost his mate and couldn’t find him, no matter how hard he searched. He was alone in the forest, roaming the trails as a wolf, howling for his mate, lifting his face to the indifferent moon and crying out for him.

With a headache, he was feeling irritable and out of sorts. When the men finally started filing in a few minutes before seven, Casey was among them with a scowl on his face. Rory had smelled them coming across the courtyard because of Casey and that damn cotton candy scent of his.