A Guardians Passion (11 page)

You’ve got mine, Freya thought.

“Some of you are feeling vulnerable, confused, maybe even a bit frightened. Think of how much energy that consumes. A great deal, I imagine. Well, one of the things new mothers often forget is the power
they
have as alphas. Now I know some of you are alphas by selection, and some of you were alphas before you mated, but it occurs equally with both: you stew, seethe behind too much attention, so many chores, and you may even attempt to become submissive in trying to appease everyone. Don’t. You must remember who and what you are. If only for just an hour, you need time to reflect, to relax, and to gather your strength. And you must put your foot down to get that time.”

Considering the fiasco of her last confrontation with her mates, the angst of Rayne, and the brooding mood of Fenris, Freya wanted to laugh. She could just picture herself stomping around the lodge…and ending up over Fenris’s knee.

More than a few of the other women in the room seemed to share the same doubt about the tactic as Freya chimed in to the chorus of doubtful mutterings. “Yeah, right.”

“You think it won’t work?” Helena raised a brow in inquiry. “You think that it hasn’t worked in the past? You think I don’t know what I’m talking about, surely. Well, I can tell you what the problem is…”

The room quieted as Helena broke out in a grin. “You didn’t really try. You haven’t really tried.”

Freya didn’t understand, but apparently neither did a few other females. One whined loudly, “I tried. I really did. I do.”

Helena held up a finger and waggled it. “No. What you probably did was tolerate the needy, amorous persuasions of your male, halfheartedly resist, and then cave in. I would even be willing to bet that more than half of you came here specifically for a good night’s sleep.”

Freya wanted to strangle Benna, considering how Helena had just seemed to outline Freya’s life to a tee. She probably would have expected that she was being used as an example to others, but one look around the room at the lowered heads, the worried lips, and the wide eyes, and Freya knew that she was not singled out.

“Oh, I know. I was young once.” Helena showed some sympathy. “My alpha pranced around like he was a king on a throne. He growled, he postured, he even whined, and I simply had to tend to him, I thought. You allow yourself to fall for their traps and schemes. And your males, no matter how thick they are, even members of your pack, they will all become masters of persuasion if you allow it. I had to learn. It took four cubs for me to get the message, but by the fifth, I managed to gain control. So will you.”

A pin could have dropped, the room was so quiet. Even Freya was mesmerized by the personal revelation. Five cubs was a lot of trouble to be in.

Helena clapped her hands and moved away from the table. Pacing to one side, she posed a question. “Say your mate wants sex, and you just want to eat ice cream or read a book—”

“Or take a bath alone,” one of the nervous females stressed.

“Or nap,” said another with plenty of “Uh-huhs” backing her. Freya didn’t need to add her agreement; others were handling questions she wanted to ask just fine.

Helena acknowledged their concerns with a wry grin. “You have to exercise your ability to be a bit selfish and be adamant about it. You must make your time quality and relish it. You must realize how important it is. You command your male and then hold to your word. Snarl if you must, but stand your ground. If you know you’re weak, then don’t allow kisses, touches, bribes. Let him or them know that just because they scent your arousal, it is not an all-clear for you to be mounted. Don’t allow persuasion, because if you fold and they know you will, your bark will have no bite, and you will regret it.

“You may not think succumbing is a bad thing, but when you lose yourself, it is difficult to gain that ground back. Time management, remember. You have time for them and time for your cub and time for yourself. If you are aroused by the fact that your mate has suddenly taken to walking around with fur, cock hard as wood, then you have to stop and think: whose time is it? Did he have his opportunity already? Should you be spending time playing with your cub? Did you have a moment of peace that day? Did you spend time socializing with your beta and your pack? If not, then it’s a no-go.”

Helena smiled suddenly. It was much needed by the gaping women within the room. “So, back to creativity and dominance,” Helena began anew. “Creativity is important because there are always ways to keep your male occupied: chores, errands, games and conversation. That is what I mean by distraction. Dominance because you need to have your role respected. You need to give your mate the illusion of having some power and some control even if you are pulling his strings. Understand?”

Freya wasn’t sure if the others did and really didn’t care. She comprehended every word and was intrigued to know more!

Chapter Seven

It was nighttime on her third day, and Freya missed her males, but she had to admit that Miami wasn’t so bad. She had never really been the beach type, and frolicking in the water certainly wasn’t her cup of tea, but with the warm sun beaming down upon her, she could at least admit she was indeed enjoying the benefits of luxury and pampering.

She had learned much and was eager to know even more. It seemed that every seminar and panel she went to provided her with reading material, samples, or complimentary gifts to add to her already large collection. She had attended several panels moderated by experienced mothers, Melissa heading up one of the sessions on newborn care.

Meals at Sohon functions had always been as tasty as they were unnecessarily beautiful, but for the new mothers’ retreat, Freya was positive that they had outdone themselves.

After a hearty dinner of broiled salsa-and-cilantro salmon, some juicy fried fruit called plantains, rice with black beans, steak, portobello mushrooms stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese, and dark chocolate and fudge cupcakes, Freya could barely move. On a little personal table were nonalcoholic daiquiris, which weren’t too bad considering that she was inebriated enough off the food.

She had a perfect view of the ocean, and even in the dark of night, she could see the lights from a cruise ship and several personal boats as well as industrial watercraft drifting on their way beneath the stars.

It was heaven, she thought, letting her eyes fall closed to the sounds of the Latin music played from the resort’s roof-mounted speakers.

“Excuse me, alpha?”

Freya had been deep in dreams, recalling the last good wrestling match she’d had with Rayne. Her beta had submitted easily, allowing her to claim more than victory before Fenris had discovered them. Then it was tag-team time, and even with Rayne’s help, Freya lost, and Fenris had ended up claiming them both, his cock deep inside her, Rayne’s cock trapped by Fenris’s throat.

She opened her eyes and saw another erotic delight. Before her stood Ezra, his smooth chocolate skin far darker than even her chestnut complexion, which contrasted against his cinnamon-colored eyes and those ink-black lashes. She hadn’t seen him since the incident in the vendors’ room but was pleased by the sight of rippling abs and doe eyes.

Ezra was beautiful in his stark-white cargo pants. He stood before her, holding a multicompartment bucket filled with what smelled like oils: sandalwood, almond, rose, lavender, and other exotic scents.

Freya wrinkled her sensitive nose at the heady fragrances. “Yes?”

The omega clutched the handle of his bucket. “I…I have been assigned to you,” he stammered before going down to his knees in front of Freya’s beach lounger.

“Assigned to do what exactly?”

Ezra gestured to the right and then the left. Many of the guests at the facility were in the throes of getting massages. Omegas were tending to the feet of some, the shoulders and even bellies of others, working over muscles and caressing away worries from what she could see, possibly common sense as well considering how violent their alphas might have been if present.

But then, they weren’t.

She smirked at the decadence before her. “Massage? Are you any good at it?”

“I am.”

She paused to think over the offer, curious as to what his hands would feel like upon her skin. Everything about the omega seemed soft and gentle, true to his designation, and the other females did seem to be enjoying themselves. With another look around her, Freya noted expressions of bliss.

Her feet, having been out of tight boots since her arrival, had swollen a bit, and Ezra was such a cute little thing with his bucket. What harm could it do? She sat up and then eased down on her chair. She flicked off her flip-flops and wiggled her toes. “Okay. Show me.”

A smile escaped him like a burp and then was quickly covered. “Yes, alpha.”

The sound of the title thrilled her as Ezra set about showcasing the variety of products he carried, detailing their therapeutic benefits while Freya wondered just how Fenris might take the addition of an omega to their group. Of course, Ezra might not even accept a proposal if she made one, but Freya’s nose could have detected his interest a mile away.
Must have been some good-ass grope back in Vegas
. “So have you been staying out of trouble?”

“Me?” he scoffed before seeing the humor of Freya’s statement. “Of course I have. I’m no trouble at all. The Sohons don’t tolerate that.”

Freya supposed that while he might have been the cause of a few tussles, he was certainly not the type to be a perpetrator. “Okay, continue,” she instructed.

The omega had a very familiar bottle in his hands. He had just started on the description of a warming lavender oil that might have had the Sohon label on it but was all Rayne’s.

“I’ll take that one,” Freya said.

“Of course you will. It was made by your witch-wolf,” he muttered as if he were divulging something he wasn’t supposed to.

Freya chalked it up to the invariably informative briefings that the Sohons provided to all of their staff. “Yes. It was made by my beta, my love, Rayne.”

“Yes. You are very lucky. He is extremely talented, I hear.” Ezra had removed a thermos-like container and a washcloth from his bucket and moved closer to the edge of the lounger. His chest was nearly touching her feet. He used warm water from the container and dampened the cloth before starting to clean the sand from her toes. “The Sohons love his products.”

“They don’t sell well at the lodge, but they are all the rage outside of it.”

“The lodge in Iceland?”

Freya nodded, not surprised in the least that he knew of the location. “The Sohons told you all that too, eh?”

“I inquired a bit.”

“Wonder why?”

He chuckled. “You and your pack are fascinating.”

“Do I sense a crush, Ezra?”

Gently, he ran the soft cloth over the top of her foot and around to the sole before tending to her ankle. “Yes.” His voice was nearly hidden beneath the sounds of the surf and the steel drums coming from the speakers.

“Me and my pack, huh?”

“Your beta is gifted, and your alpha…well, there are not many sociable Lunas. Mostly they are monsters, frightening beasts that would more likely kill a wolf rather than say hi.”

Freya chewed her lip as she thought of how Fen and Rayne would have responded to her toying with an omega. But then how would they respond if they could toy with him too? Omegas could be so pliable, peaceable, and calming. Fen and Rayne would never harm an omega, but they could possibly use the hell out of one.

Reaching for her drink, she wondered aloud, “How do you like being under the Sohon standard?”

“It’s a godsend. They spoil us of course. We get compensated nicely in return for doing work that”—he hesitated, staring intently at her toes—“work that we love to do.”

Which had to include playing with females’ feet, Freya could only guess as he started in on her other foot. “Lucky you. Sohons will have all the omegas knocking on their doors if they aren’t careful.”

He wriggled his nose at the insinuation. “The Sohons are very selective about who they hire.”

She didn’t doubt that as Ezra did seem remarkably talented. Freya sighed as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the cool, satiny liquid on her skin. The oil swiftly warmed with the aid of the night air and then the envelope of Ezra’s hands. He had soft yet strong, big hands and nimble fingers, which set to work kneading away aches she didn’t even know she had. She reached over to her table and grabbed hold of her drink, which had been stealthily refilled. “Only the best omegas?”

“Yes, alpha. Hired and trained.”

Freya narrowed her eyes, wondering if Ezra truly meant what she thought he did. “Trained? To serve other packs?”

“Yes. At events and in other respects.”

It wasn’t the words Freya questioned as she sipped at her beverage; it was the tone behind them. His voice had been low and husky, and his arousal had pitched higher in scent. He was holding her right foot as if it were a precious toy. “Interesting.”

“You think so too?”

“Eh?”

Freya wiggled her foot to get his attention and to get a look at fiery brown eyes that rose up to meet hers, promising everything that an omega tended to be best at: devotion, service, and empowerment. Freya’s gaze drifted downward, settling on the very obvious sign of his interest, tenting his white cargo pants.

He blushed like red coals upon dark wood.

Freya set her drink down and placed her hands upon the curve of her belly as if that was the safest place for them. Ezra had begun using his knuckles to press into the undersoles of her feet. “Easy, wolf. My mates would eat you alive.”

“You would permit that?” he queried worriedly.

“Not completely. Me and mine are all warriors, though. Got that hot blood in our veins.”

Ezra gave no reply other than a deep intake of breath. He released it softly and long, continuing his ministrations.

“What do we have here? Someone seems to be enjoying herself.”

Freya turned to find Benna standing beside Ezra with her arms crossed and a pleased-as-punch smirk on her face. Benna wore a shimmering bronze bikini, her curly hair drawn back into a ponytail. She showed gleaming white teeth between coral lips.