Wolf Moon

เก้า

Yo woke up the next morning, deliciously sore, and purring in contentment. He languidly stretched his limbs, smiling with his eyes still closed as he relished the memories from last night. After the first time he and Pha had had sex, the knot no longer made Yo's cat want to run away. Now he craved to feel the knot lock him and Pha together, wishing it wouldn't deflate so quickly so he could keep Pha all to himself for a while longer. He loved the stretch, the resulting ache, even the possessive, golden eyes of the wolf inside Pha, staring down at Yo as if he owned the small cat under him.

Yo didn't mind Pha thinking that along with his wolf. He felt Pha belonged to him in return, so they were even. They owned each other.

But his wolf was currently missing from the bed.

Yo frowned, opening his eyes as he patted the bed beside him, searching for his missing mate. Where had Pha gone to? Why wasn't he still in bed, wrapped around Yo?

Then the door to Pha's room opened, and the wolf walked in with a couple carry-out bags on one arm. "Ah," Pha smiled when he saw Yo looking at him. "You're awake. Sorry. I was trying to get back before you woke up. How are you feeling?"

Yo purposefully let the blanket slip down, exposing his shoulders and upper chest marked with hickeys and gentle bites. It had the desired effect - Pha couldn't look away. "Hungry," Yo purred, rolling over onto his stomach and pushing up to all fours. "But not for food."

"Yo..." Pha swallowed hard, forcing himself to look away so he could set the bags on his desk before dropping them. "If we go again, you might be in too much pain to walk."

"Alpha," Yo crooned as if singing, turning his head to give Pha the most seductive, inviting smile he could. He'd never tried to seduce someone before, so he figured it wouldn't work very well. "Don't you know how much your omega needs you?"

"W-what..." Pha was stunned.

Yo whined, feeling a heat fill his belly. Shit! Don't tell me my heat is hitting! It's not due for another week!

Pha could smell it. The scent made his eyes dilate fully, leaving only a small ring of dark brown around the pupil. "Yo...you're in heat?" he growled the words out, unable to step away. His wolf was whining with longing to mount their beautiful omega and give him what he needed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Wasn't supposed to come for another week," Yo moaned out. He rolled back over and pushed the covers off, relishing the cool air on his overheated skin. "So hot..." he panted out, reaching one hand towards Pha, pleading. "P'Pha...it hurts if I don't have someone help me through it."

Pha glared at the floor. "If someone doesn't help you?"

"I've never let anyone help me through my heats," Yo admitted. "Couldn't. Wanted to save myself for my lifemate, no matter how uncomfortable I was."

"Oh, Yo..." Pha murmured, suddenly next to him on the bed. "My poor cat," he kissed Yo's cheek, drawing a silent gasp from Yo as the simple act caused some of the heat in his face to abate. "How many heats have you had?"

"Three a year, since I turned fifteen," Yo made a small, pained noise, face twisting as his heat started getting painful.

Pha ducked down to kiss him, reeling at the knowledge that his Yo had suffered through eleven heats on his own until now. The third year had seen how horrible heats could be, sending a few omegas to the pack hospital from dehydration and heat exhaustion due to how high their body temps rose during their heat.

Yo was more submissive, eyes glazed over when Pha drew back to look at him. "Alpha..." he pleaded, murmuring the word.

"I've got you, kitten," Pha nuzzled Yo's scent gland.