Winter's End Read online

  Contents

  Copyright

  CHAPTER ONE Roanan

  CHAPTER TWO Christopher

  CHAPTER THREE Gabriel

  CHAPTER FOUR Duncan

  CHAPTER FIVE Ian

  CHAPTER SIX Xavier

  CHAPTER SEVEN Gabriel

  CHAPTER EIGHT Canaan

  CHAPTER NINE Gabriel

  CHAPTER TEN Emory

  CHAPTER ELEVEN Grant

  CHAPTER TWELVE Keith

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN Christopher

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN Roanan

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN Grant

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN Duncan

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Roanan

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Gabriel

  CHAPTER NINETEEN Ian

  CHAPTER TWENTY Emory

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Grey

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Canaan

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Keith

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Duncan

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Roanan

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Gabriel

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Ian

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Canaan

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Duncan

  CHAPTER THIRTY Roanan

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE Gabriel

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO Emory

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE Keith

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR Canaan

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE Roanan

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX Gabriel

  Author's Note

  Books by Rebecca James

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Winter’s End

  Copyright © 2020 by Rebecca James, Second Edition

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  Cover Artist: Written Ink Design

  Edited by Jill Wexler and Arlyna Fischer

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Roanan

  Roanan had gone for so long without anyone in his bed, the sight of Emory lying beside him after a night’s sleep still came as a surprise.

  Rolling over, the alpha snuggled into the omega, closing his eyes and enjoying the soft, sleepy smell of his mate as he drifted, not yet ready to start his day.

  The pleasant moment was short lived. Shouting from the kitchen brought the alpha’s eyes wide open. Now fourteen, the twins seemed to bicker more than ever.

  “You know I like him! Why do you have to be such a jerk?” Lake yelled.

  “I can’t help it if he likes me better than you,” Landon returned.

  “He doesn’t. He’s just being polite, listening to you talk about all that boring science. I swear, if you weren’t bossy as hell, I’d think you were a beta, the way you go on about stuff like that.”

  Roanan carefully eased out of bed so as not to awaken Emory, who, amazingly, was sleeping through the shouting. They’d been up late the night before—Roanan didn’t allow himself to linger on the memory of what they’d been doing. If he did, he’d never make it out of the bedroom, and Emory would definitely not get to sleep in.

  Softly closing the door behind him, Roanan walked down the hall and into the kitchen where he found his two alpha sons staring aggressively at each other across the kitchen table.

  “What’s going on?” Roanan demanded.

  Both boys broke eye contact to look guiltily at the dominate alpha in the room. Identical blue-eyed blonds, the twins were a daily reminder of Roanan’s former mate who had died years ago in an illness that swept through the compound, killing many, including all of the pack’s omegas.

  “We didn’t mean to wake you,” Landon said.

  “Yeah, sorry, Dad,” Lake added. Both were a vision of contrition, but Roanan knew better. His youngest boys were masters at the art of manipulation.

  “What were you arguing about?”

  Both young alphas flushed with embarrassment and glanced at each other. Lake backed away from where he’d been standing practically toe to toe with his twin and took a seat at the table. Roanan looked to Landon for an answer.

  With a stubborn lift of his chin, the boy said, “Lake likes Adder and thinks I’m trying to steal him away.”

  Roanan raised a brow. “Are you?” The twins had always had a competitive relationship, and Roanan could totally see Landon going after a love interest of his brother’s. That was, he could see it if they weren’t practically just out of diapers. He sighed. Wasn’t it only yesterday they’d been arguing over toys?

  Landon looked away from his father.

  “Lan?” Roanan injected extra dominance into his voice. Dealing with the alpha twins was definitely more difficult than dealing with his omega son, although he suspected the tables might turn soon.

  “I can’t help it if Adder likes me better,” Landon echoed his earlier statement to his brother.

  “He doesn’t!” Lake’s spoon clattered into his cereal bowl, splashing milk onto the table. “Landon’s been flirting with Adder, going out of his way to walk with him after school and giving him presents.”

  “Sounds like you’re pursuing him to me,” Roanan said to Landon before giving Lake an equally hard stare. “Both of you stay away from Adder for a while. If he really likes one of you, he’ll make it known eventually. Meanwhile, no boy is worth breaking a brotherly bond over.”

  Lake mumbled something under his breath, and Roanan sent him a sharp look that quickly silenced the boy.

  “Understood?”

  Both twins nodded, and Roanan began making coffee, wondering if he and Emory could manage a quiet half hour drinking it together before another household emergency came up.

  “I don’t care about him anyway,” he heard Landon hiss at his brother. “I want an omega.”

  “Good luck with that,” Lake returned. “They’re all taken or too young for you. Gonna wait around for one of Milo and Justin’s to grow up? You’ll be an old man.” He snickered.

  “Landon, go get Josh out of bed,” Roanan ordered. “He doesn’t need to sleep late again when he has chores to do outside.”

  Landon disappeared down the hall, and Roanan turned to Lake.

  “You’re not helping matters.”

  “He’s so full of himself,” Lake muttered.

  Roanan shook his head and took down two mugs from the cabinet. “He’s not the only one.”

  When Landon reappeared, Roanan looked up. “Well? Wouldn’t Josh get out of bed?”

  “He wasn’t in his room,” Landon said.

  Roanan frowned. It was unusual for Josh to rise before ten o’clock on a day when there wasn’t any school.

  “Do you know where he’s gone?”

  Landon’s eyes flicked to his brother before focusing on Roanan again. “I don’t think his bed’s been slept in.”

  Roanan told himself to stay calm. Josh was sixteen, not five, and would never leave the safety of the compound. And he hadn’t had a heat. Yet.

  “Did either of you see him leave the bonfire last night?” The boys had attended a gathering of youth the night before, but the twins had a much earlier curfew than Josh and had arrived home before Roanan and Emory had become otherwise preoccupied. Roanan normally checked to make certain Josh returned on time, but Emory’s heat was coming on, making the omega even more tempting than usual, and…well. Suffice it to say Roanan had exhausted himself and fallen asleep.

  Both Landon and Lake shook their heads.

  Lake cast a look at his brother before saying, “He was with Grant when we lef
t.”

  Alarm of a different nature took over. When Roanan had learned his oldest son was an omega, he’d told Josh to stay away from Grant, his best friend who had just confirmed himself an alpha in front of the pack. According to the twins, Grant had shown some interest beyond friendship at one time. As far as Roanan knew, Josh had done as told, but now Roanan had to wonder.

  Roanan told the twins to clean up the kitchen and left the house. Sounds of hammering and an occasional shout from one werewolf to another pierced the morning quiet as Roanan strode toward Grant’s small house near the lake. The young alpha had recently left his family home and begun apprenticing with Rick and Bruce, the blacksmiths.

  Roanan knocked on the door a little harder than he’d intended, and by the sudden scuffling he could hear from inside the house, he suspected he’d not only found his son, but had also taken the two boys unawares. The door opened to reveal a disheveled Grant. The young alpha’s eyes widened in alarm when he saw Roanan standing on his doorstep.

  Roanan stepped inside and kicked the door shut behind him. Taking Grant by the upper arms, Roanan slammed him into the wall.

  “How dare you lure my omega son into your house!” Roanan growled at the terrified young alpha in his grip and shook him by the shoulders.

  “Dad!” Josh’s distressed cry only increased Roanan’s fury.

  Trembling in fear, Grant stared at the older alpha. Roanan wouldn’t be surprised if the kid peed his pants.

  Good. Maybe then he’ll remember to stay away from my son.

  Josh grabbed Roanan by the arm and yanked, but the young omega was no match for a grown alpha’s strength.

  “Stop, Dad! Nothing happened. We were just hanging out!”

  “You shouldn’t have been here in the first place,” Roanan shouted over his shoulder. He didn’t think he’d ever raised his voice at Josh before.

  Josh took a step back. “I know. I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely. “But please don’t hurt him!”

  Roanan growled again before abruptly letting Grant go. Somewhere behind his rage Roanan realized the younger alpha was shaking, but that only made Roanan want to go at the boy again. Roanan was seconds away from shifting and tearing into him with teeth and claws.

  “Stay away from my son!” Roanan snarled before grabbing Josh by the arm and hauling him out of the house.

  “I swear, Dad, we didn’t do anything. We were only talking.”

  “I told you to stay away from him.”

  “I know, but he’s my best friend. I miss him.”

  Roanan abruptly stopped walking, and Josh stumbled. Gripping his son by the shoulders, Roanan looked into dark brown eyes much like his own.

  “You can’t take that kind of risk, Josh. Grant is an alpha who has hit his age of rut, and he could easily lose control around you. What if you had gone into heat last night? If that happens, you’ll be his. Are you ready for that? It could happen faster than you realize.” Life was hard enough for omegas. Roanan didn’t want all of Josh’s choices taken from him before he had a chance to mature. He hoped his son wouldn’t go into heat until he was eighteen, but it could happen earlier.

  “I guess not,” Josh whispered, wiping at his eyes. “But I-I’m lonely. Emory and I were getting close for a while, but then you guys mated, and now you’re always messing around.”

  Roanan’s ire melted a little. “I know things seem bleak to you right now, but they’ll work out. This is the price an omega has to pay—having to be extremely vigilant. When you’re older, your mate will take over much of that responsibility. Omegas need attention from their mates, especially when the bond is new. That’s why I’m spending so much time with Emory. It won’t always be this way, but for now, maybe you can start spending time in the omega den with other omegas.”

  “They’re all mated, except the ones who are still pups,” Josh said sulkily.

  “Still, it would help you to talk to them.” Roanan promised himself he would speak to the first omega about it as soon as he could. Josh was growing up. He needed support from those like him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Christopher

  Christopher slipped out of X’s bed and pulled on his clothes. He would have liked to spend the night, but he knew a couple of the omegas might go into heat in the next few days, and he felt he should be at the omega den. After all, his job was to be present when the omegas were, and in exchange, he got to live there.

  He glanced at X lying naked and snoring in the big bed, hairy, muscular legs tangled in the sheet.

  Blinking back emotion, Christopher left the house and walked through the woods toward home.

  In the months since what should have been a mutually satisfying coupling between him and his new boyfriend but had for Christopher turned into a painful nightmare, the beta had sought help from Dr. Angela Newman and her colleague, Dr. Bridges Talcourt, who had examined Christopher and promised to help if they could. And they’d made good on that promise: not long after, Christopher had received word that the doctors believed that, like the omega werewolves who were being darted by humans during their moon runs with the intention to harm their reproductive processes, Christopher had been hit as well. Young and lithe, Christopher likely had been mistaken for an omega. Whatever was in the dart that had infected Christopher had made being penetrated nearly unbearable for the beta.

  After the first experience during which Christopher had hidden his pain from Xavier, the beta had been determined not to let his boyfriend know what was going on with him. He’d never expected X to look at him to begin with—how could he tell the alpha that being fucked by him felt like having his guts torn out? Of course, Christopher couldn’t avoid X forever and had finally had to have sex with the alpha again, and that time he’d been unable to hide the pain. It had been ten times worse and had reduced Christopher to sobs. To say X had been shocked would be an understatement. Concern had followed, then anger that Chris had lied to him and tried to hide his pain.

  “You think I want to fuck you when it hurts you?” he’d shouted.

  Christopher hadn’t thought of it like that and had fully expected X to be through with him. What alpha would want to be with someone who couldn’t have sex and was a liar to boot? But X hadn’t dumped him. Things had been strained between the two, though.

  When he’d gotten over his anger, X had pointed out that sex didn’t have to mean penetration, and since then had seemed content for them to bring each pleasure in other ways. Christopher, however, was not content. After the doctors had relayed their suspicions, he’d elected to try the antidote treatments. Doubtful at first, X had finally agreed and had made several trips with Christopher to River’s compound and the hospital in Cascade City.

  Waving to the betas on guard, Christopher let himself into the omega den and made some tea, knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He kept thinking about how, a few hours earlier, after making Xavier nice and hard using his mouth, he’d begged the alpha to put the tip of his cock inside Christopher just to see if it felt any different now that he’d had a couple of treatments. X had been adamant that he wouldn’t do anything that could possibly cause the beta pain, and they’d argued. Again.

  Christopher took his mug of tea to the back porch and sat watching the dark shadows gradually dissipate as fingers of early morning sunlight crept over the grass. He’d only wanted to know if the antidote was working. Why couldn’t X go along with it? Maybe now he could allow X into his body without excruciating pain ruining everything.

  He cursed his genes that had made the cruel humans mistake him for an omega. In wolf form, he was smaller than most beta wolves, and if he’d been running alongside an alpha, he’d probably been mistaken for the alpha’s mate. Why couldn’t the humans leave the werewolves alone? The two species should be able to live in harmony. That’s what the Human/Werewolf Congress in Cascade City was all about. Christopher thought it must be fulfilling to work at a place that was trying to make the world better.

  Christopher had never been
to Cascade City before he and X had started traveling there for his treatments during the summer. The place was enthralling but scary. So many people, cars, and sights. If it weren’t for River’s pack, Christopher wouldn’t know how he’d feel, but as it was he looked forward to seeing Josiah, Sawyer, Sam, and the rest. They had all been so welcoming to Christopher, and so happy to see X again.

  Christopher and X usually had lunch after his treatment at a restaurant where both humans and werewolves sat in the same room and ate. The humans couldn’t detect them the way the weres could the humans, and Christopher could watch the strange species without fear. He wouldn’t be afraid anyway, not with X by his side. The alpha could rip a measly human to pieces. Maybe that was why some humans wanted to harm the werewolves. They were afraid.

  Finished with his tea, Christopher set about getting his chores done. He enjoyed being in charge of the omega den, but sometimes he missed working outside with the horses, which was what he used to do when he’d lived in Tarz’s barn. He’d needed the change and liked the omega den, but sometimes discontent would seep in when Christopher least expected it, making him want something more.

  He just didn’t know what.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Gabriel

  Gabriel checked the casserole in the oven. Deciding it needed to cook a little longer, he turned his attention to the pen in the corner where Forrest happily played with a ragdoll and wooden truck. Finny sat at the table, these days his wild blond hair looking less like a dandelion gone to seed and more like one in its prime—yellow blond rather than white and much more manageable.

  “What are you drawing?” he asked his older son.

  “All of us in front of the house,” Finny said. He stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth in concentration as he colored with a blue crayon. Gabriel peered over Finny’s shoulder at the five misshapen werewolves, recognizable to Gabriel by size and hair color as Grey, Ian, Gabriel, Finny, and Forrest. A sixth form had been added, tiny and floating in the air.