Part 34

"What the…"

Alex only just jumped out of the way in time as two wolves rolled past him. They were bundled up in a snarling, snapping ball in the midst of what seemed a rather vicious fight. The smaller chocolate wolf was trying to take shots at the black scraggy wolf who was chuffing with sarcastic laughter as they brawled their way across the den totally unconcerned with the chaos they were creating.

"It's okay," laughed John, grabbing Alex's arm and stopping the feline shifter from tripping over the brawling wolves as he tried to avoid the fight, "They're just playing."

"Playing?" asked Alex incredulously, wincing as the smaller chocolate wolf yelped in pain, "He just bit him!"

"Well only sort of," explained John. He guided Alex back towards the kitchen adding, "Their claws are sheathed, that's how you know it's a play fight, plus they're barely using their teeth."

"But...why?" asked Alex as they escaped into the relative quiet of the kitchen. He was looking back over his shoulder watching as the two wolves rolled around the now empty den.

"Who knows," grinned John pushing Alex down onto a chair. Sinking onto the table he absently put one foot on the edge of Alex's chair, his bare foot sliding between Alex's spread legs as he explained, "They probably just felt like scrapping. It helps relieve tension, having a good scrap with a pack mate. Plus from the look of it Punk was bored and Evan happened to be passing by."

"So it's like what you and Randy did the other day?" asked Alex, "When you were fighting out by the car?"

He had to concentrate to get the words out; his attention was almost entirely taken by the way John was sitting. Without even meaning to he started to caress John's ankle, his fingers curling around the supple joint only to go wandering up the smooth calf before falling back down. He saw the look John flicked him and felt the now familiar and welcome spark between them. He licked his lips as his eyes wandered over the bigger man's body. There was something about being with John that made Alex feel very safe. And that wasn't an emotion he was used to feeling.

He was used to being the dominant. He was used to being the protector but with John, for some reason he couldn't explain, he actually enjoyed taking a less dominant role. And to his even bigger surprise his tiger liked it as well. His tiger, that normally hated anything that could be seen as weak or submissive, was practically rolling around in John's presence acting like a love-stuck kitten rather than the fierce beast he knew it to be. It was a little distributing but Alex figured he could get very used to it. He gave a little chuckle, the sound vibrating with the echo of the loud purrs his tiger was actually giving off. Shaking his head he looked up at John from under his lashes and smiled coyly.

"Yeah," breathed John, his own eyes blown apart by lust and desire, "Just like that," he gave a little hiss as Alex's fingers wandered higher but before he could react properly Josh padded into the kitchen.

Both Alex and John lit up as the third member of the trio wandered closer. Without even realising it, they pulled Josh over, positioning him between the two of them – so he was sitting on Alex's lap but leaning back against John's leg for support. Smiling at them Josh asked, "Why are you guys out here"?

"We're avoiding the fight. Punk and Evan are having a scrap and we didn't want to get tagged in," grinned John, his eyes dancing with delight as he looked at his two mates.

"Oh they've finished," clarified Josh, squirming slight as he realised his body was reacting in a slightly embarrassing way to the attention he was receiving from his two mates, "They're curled up in front of the fire now, Punk is licking Evan's paw – I think he's trying to heel it before Randy sees the damage."

"Shit!" hissed John his attention momentarily pulled away from his mates for worry about his best friend. He knew Randy hated it when Evan sparred with anyone. If Evan had managed to get himself injured during the scrap John knew there was going to be hell to pay.

"He's okay," assured Josh his hand resting on John's bare knee. Almost instantly the atmosphere around them changed. All three of them felt the mating spark and as Josh gave a low breathy moan Alex couldn't help leaning in and kissing the base of his neck the big cat soothing, "Shh 'sokay."

Josh arched in delight as Alex kissed his neck. Turning his head to give Alex more room he looked at John and smiled, a hand reaching out to entwine their fingers, Josh needing to touch John as much as he needed Alex's kiss. John leant forward and stroked the side of Josh's face. He watched the delight and desire flash in his mate's eyes as Alex continued to torment the soft skin at the base of Josh's neck. Brushing his lips over Josh's open mouth, John asked teasingly, "You like that, Josh? That feel good? Just imagine what two sets of lips would feel like…"

Josh gave a little whimper, shifting urgently on Alex's lap, needing to ease the gowning discomfort in his nether regions. John closed his mouth over Josh's, drinking down the little moans that were escaping form the small omega.

"Oh god…stop making out in the kitchen!" ordered Shawn as he strode into the kitchen, "You've got three bedrooms to go play in, do you have to do it in here where I need to get stuff ready for the meeting tonight?" he laughed out loud as the three of them shot apart although not so far that they couldn't all keep body contact with each other.

A chorus of apologies and grunts met his ear and, unable to help himself, the Alphamate called over, "And anyway I thought you had been told to come help me, Josh? Isn't that what Hunter said when he had to chase you out of our bedroom?"

John and Alex both turned to look at the little omega, neither dominant looking too happy at the news.

"I went to see Justin," explained Josh flicking worried looked between his mates," I wanted to see how he was and...and…I wanted to tell him about us."

"But Hunter told you not to bother him," growled John, his wolf snapping at the idea of the little omega disobeying the Alpha's direct command.

"He's my friend!" protested josh weakly. He knew he'd disobeyed Hunter and his wolf hated that thought that the Alpha might actually be angry with him. He risked a glance at Shawn and found the Alphamate grinning at him.

"Yeah well, no harm done." conceded Shawn adding knowingly," In fact getting a hug off you probably did Angel some good.

"I didn't mean anything by it," protested Josh feeling the need to make that quite clear to Shawn, "I just...I mean i…" his voice faded into a little pained whimper.

"We'll talk about this later," growled John glaring at Josh before softening and giving him a fond clip around the back of the head. Alex nodded his hand tightening on josh's thigh before he kissed his shoulder breathing, "John's right, we'll talk about it later."

Josh nodded and hung his head. His wolf was whimpering at the idea his potential mates were angry with him. But even as he started to worry John and Alex both leant in and kissed his cheeks and hugged him letting him know he was still very much loved.

"Such a bad little omega," teased Shawn winking at Josh taking away any heat or anger from his words. Crossing over to the massive fridge he open the door and added, "Besides now I've got three helpers instead of one," he straightened up and offering a very knowing smirk he looked at the threesome and sniggered, "Haven't I, boys?"

The three of them glared at him then broke out laughter, all calling, "Yes boss," in the most unconvincing display of submission ever seen.

X x x x x x x x

Chris paused as he hobbled into the den. He grunted as Lex bumped into him, his mate grabbing his hips to stop himself tripping over.

"Why d'ya stop?" whined Lex rubbing his shoulder where he banged into the doorframe.

"Look at that," murmured Chris nodding toward the rub in front of the large fire place. Leaning against his mate, Lex rested his weight against Chris's back in the pretence of looking past him into the supposedly deserted den. Except it wasn't deserted. Instead there were two small wolves curled up on the rug. They were a tangle of limps and tails the smaller chocolate wolf resting his head on his pack mates chest. They were both still panting from the recent play fight but for the moment there was such a sense of peace and contentment about them, that even Lex couldn't stop the soppy smirk lighting his face.

"Think we should go the long way around to the kitchen?" asked Chris leaning back into Lex's body, nudging Lex's face with his head.

"N'ah where's the fun in that," chuckle Lex brushing a kiss against Chris' hair. Pushing past his mate, he strode into the den calling loudly, "Do I need to make a call to Japan because this looks disturbingly comfy and I..." he burst into laughter as two sets of eyes glared at him.

He yelped as Chris cuffed him around the back of the head snapping, "Be nice!" before hobbling to his favourite sofa.

Chris dropped the crutch and lowered himself down onto the comfy cushions. As he settled back, Lex clambered onto the arm of the sofa taking his normal position, offering Chris silent support as he tried to get comfortable without putting any more strain on his injured leg. As Lex draped his arms over Chris's shoulders, his hands coming to rest on his mate's naked chest, Chris couldn't help the satisfied sigh escaping his lips. Closing his eyes a moment he let his head fall back. Wriggling back into place, he rested his head on Lex's thigh and smiled. Looking down at the wolf pile in front of them he called, "You two okay down there?"

The scraggy black wolf gave him a very self-satisfied smirk before nudging the small chocolate wolf with his muzzle. The resulting bad tempered yap and the way the little wolf huffed made Chris and Lex both chuckle. Evan hated losing, he wasn't a bad loser like some in the pack but he did hate having to submit to anyone other than Randy and the Alphas. It didn't happen very often but when it did it sent him into a little sulk. He glared at the grinning guns then gave a disgruntled yap before curling up into a tighter ball – basically ignoring all of them. Punk gave a little chuff then in a surprisingly gentle move he licked Evan's ear.

"Whoa dude!" called Lex, pretending to be outraged, "Cut the girly crap or I am so calling Japan and telling Colt that you are sitting here making out with…" he burst into laughter at the loud bark and growl of annoyance that Punk gave him. Blowing the grumbling wolf a kiss Lex settled down, content that his mischief making was complete.

Getting to his paws, Punk shook his fur out glaring at the sofa before padding away. Evan sat up, the little chocolate wolf watching his friend closely. He was about to chase after him and check he was okay as he knew how sensitive a subject Colt was but Punk changed direction and instead of leaving in a huff he jumped up into the window seat. Curling into a tight ball Punk settled his muzzle on his paws and stared out of the window. His attention was no longer focussed on the pack mates surrounding him, instead he was thinking of a wolf thousands of miles away, a wolf he longed to be with, a wolf he knew should be at his side.

Closing his eyes he settled down blocking out everything except the image floating around in his brain, the image of Colt when they had hugged at the airport and he'd been left alone for three whole months. Three months that were nearly at an end. And when Colt came back Punk knew one thing was certain - he would never let his best friend leave him again and he knew too he would do everything in his power to make sure that they finally mated, that they finally finished what they had started years before. Punk was tired of being alone. He wanted his mate. He wanted Colt.

TBC x