Marly tried to make sense of the attack as he lathered soap over his tired body. He and Michael hadn't been doing anything wrong. They were simply two friends, chatting away, well Michael was talking. That man could talk up a storm, and he was all excited about a new shipment of pants that had come into the store earlier that day. Marly had learned when he met the excitable man that it was usually better to just let Michael babble away. He would nod every now and then as though he was paying attention, and usually spent his time window shopping instead. Michael was a sweet, mild mannered young man and although he wasn't Marly's preferred partner type, he was a good friend.
It was times like this though, when Marly was beaten by human thugs, that he almost wished he wasn't a shifter. Stepping out of the shower, and wrapping a huge towel around his slender waist he glared at his reflection. Being a wolf meant that he could take on just about any human, despite his small size. But doing that type of thing, unless he professed to have some sort of martial arts training, was a silly thing to do when he was trying to keep his wolf genetics on the down-low.
At only five foot six, Marly was tiny for a wolf shifter – but typical of Omegas. His long blond hair fell straight down his back and almost touched his pert ass. Most men who met him called him cute, a term he hated. But as Marly looked in the mirror, watching the bruise on his cheek change from black to yellow under his eyes, he conceded that a triangular face, large blue eyes with their long lashes, and lush pink mouth probably wouldn't look amiss on a girl.
His body though. Marly snorted to himself. There was nothing girlish about that. He knew he had a small build and a tiny waist, but his shoulders were a reasonable size and every muscle he had was lightly defined. His legs were well proportioned and just as muscular as his arms. Human males, who didn't know any better, assumed that Marly spent a lot of time at the gym, or running, when nothing could be further from the truth. The only running he did was on four legs, and Marly didn't do that as often as he would like.
A deep rumble in his stomach stopped Marly's musing about his appearance. Another drawback of being a wolf shifter. Marly always felt hungry, yet often had to hide how much he could eat from his friends, who were all human. Only at home could he indulge fully and he sauntered out to the kitchen, still clad in his towel, to see if he had any steaks in his freezer. Steak, some cheesy pasta with bacon bits. Sounded like a dinner plan.
He was sitting on the couch channel surfing and digesting the two large pieces of steak he had consumed, when he heard a knock on the door. Well, it wasn't a knock exactly – more like someone was trying to break his door down, and Marly got up quickly before his visitor, whoever it was, annoyed his neighbors. He didn't recognize the faint scent he got through the thick door, and wondered if it was the police following up his earlier statement.
Wrestling with the locks, Marly finally got the door open, and then frantically tried to close it again. Not only was the guy on the other side built like a freaking mountain for goodness sake, but he had the same smell and look as the guys who had attacked him earlier in the day.
"Stop," a grumbling voice sounded from the other side of the door that Marly was trying to close. Marly dropped his head in shock and resignation. Oh Fuck. Fuck and Triple Fuck. An Alpha wolf shifter. Marly felt his wolf cringe inside of him, and he knew he had no choice but to open the door again. No unclaimed Omega could resist the words of an Alpha. Any Alpha. Such was the Omega curse, and one of the reasons why Marly had left his pack.
As soon as he opened the door, Marly stepped back, raising his hands. "I don't know what me and my friend did," he said quickly, "but I haven't told the police about your friends and I made sure that Michael didn't either. We don't want any trouble."
Mountain man moved closer and Marly froze, not daring to move. As a big hand came up and thick fingers gently brushed Marly's bruised cheek, Marly caught a whiff of chestnuts and dark chocolate, with an undertone of aroused wolf. Mate he thought while his wolf did a happy dance in his head. Marly would have done one too, but there was no way in hell he was going to say or do anything to alert his visitor as to what he was thinking. He could smell traces of his attackers on this man, and if his mate was a homophobe … well, Marly was definitely going to keep his thoughts to himself. Homophobic Alphas did not want twinky little Omegas as mates, even if they were fated for one and other.
"I came to check that you were all right," the mountain said, and his deep voice sent shivers down Marly's spine. "I heard what happened and I took care of that problem for you."
Now Marly was really confused. He wasn't going to bother asking how the big lug found his way to his apartment. The guy was an Alpha wolf shifter with a nose on him that could probably scent him from a mile away. Marly was more concerned about whether or not this one had a pack, because if there was a pack in the area, then Marly was moving out. He was one Omega that could do without the whole pack thing.
Realizing the man was still waiting for him to speak, Marly said politely, "I appreciate your concern and anything you might have done on my behalf, but if you are worried about repercussions for your men, then don't be. I just want to be left alone."
"The man you were with," the Alpha rumbled. "What is he to you?"
Crap. This wasn't supposed to happen. The mountain in his living room might not realize he was Marly's mate, but that possessive note in his gravelly voice couldn't be ignored. Marly's cock, that was also trying to dip into the conversation, via the opening in his towel, was a little hard to ignore as well, and Marly wished he had the foresight to get dressed for his evening at home. But then he hardly expected his mate to turn up on his doorstep. That sort of thing just never happened, not even in the books Marly loved to read.
"Michael is a human I work with," Marly said. "We had been out for lunch and were just walking around town when … " His voice trailed off. He didn't want to talk about the rest of his day – especially not with the gorgeous hunk of manhood in front of him.
"I am sorry it happened," Mountain man said, and Marly could tell that he meant it. "I will do my best to ensure it won't happen again."
"Thank you," Marly said, because hell, what else was he meant to say. He was so overcome with nerves, and the man in front of him was giving nothing away. Pulling on his natural cheekiness he looked up and said, "So was that all, only I er … " he was going to say he needed to get dressed, but he didn't want to draw attention to the fact he was damn near naked if he could help it. He also didn't want questions about his lack of pack, or the erection his towel was trying to contain.
Mountain man stood for the longest moment looking down at him, and Marly felt like every thought he had ever had was exposed to this man. He didn't think he liked that very much. He has this uncontrollable urge to squirm, or to talk and he was too terrified to open his mouth in case he offered to give the delicious man a blow job or something. The arousal swirling around the room wasn't helping either, and nor was Marly's wolf, who was beside himself with excitement over meeting his mate. Damn wolf didn't understand that some things were never meant to be. Like him and the big Alpha in front of him.
After a long minute, the big man simply nodded his head, and stepped back towards the door. "Take care little wolf," he said so quietly Marly almost didn't hear him. Then without another word, he stepped out of the door, and closed it firmly behind him. Marly stood rooted to the spot as his wolf let out an almighty howl of despair in his head, before he found his feet and ran to engage the locks. Then he slumped down in his couch, his mind unable to comprehend what had just happened to him. Found and rejected by his true mate in one foul swoop. It was time to leave town. But in that moment, Marly was too dejected to think about anything at all, except the man who walked away from him. That big lug certainly was gorgeous.
/~/~/~/~/
Trent made it down to the car park, where he had left his bike, managed to get on his bike and was just about to hit the ignition switch when he stopped – dead in his tracks, unable to move any further. All he could think about was the stunning blond he had just walked away from. His mate definitely, and if ever his control had been tested, it was seeing that amazing man wearing nothing but a towel. Trent didn't think he had ever seen anyone so perfect for him – cute, definitely pretty, but all man at the same time. And that tight ass – Trent groaned as he thought about how easy it would have been to remove that towel and see what he imagined in the flesh. See it, taste it, pound into it.