...“Obedience to the Alpha is second nature to me,” Christoffer said.. “I’ve heard that wolves who are raised without pack have to learn it, but for me it is like breathing. I will be obedient to my Alpha,” he looked at William, “always.”

“Just a moment,” William said, “are you insinuating that you only did…what you did, because I asked you to?”

“I’m not insinuating anything. I’m telling you that I did it because you wanted me to, and I obeyed you.”

William’s blood ran cold. “I…I thought you wanted it. I thought…” He put his hands over his face. Dear God, had he just raped the poor boy without realizing it?

“I did,” Christoffer’s voice was soft, but close.

William looked up to see he was now standing at the bars.

“I did want it.”

“If you hadn’t…”

Christoffer shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve never had an Alpha ask something of me that I truly didn’t want to do.”

The knot of self-loathing in William’s belly loosened. “I didn’t understand what being your Alpha meant.”

“Why didn’t you?” The question came not from Christoffer but from Mirela. The words were confrontational but the tone was not. She seemed genuinely confused. “Has your family not always had one wolf and one falcon?”

Should he tell them? No, he didn’t trust them enough for that.

“That is of no consequence,” he said, tone stiff, daring her to argue.

She was ready to accept that dare—her lips parted with another comment, but Christoffer stopped her.

“Leave it alone,” he said.

Mirela bowed her head.

An idea glimmered to life in William’s mind. Would it work?

“Excuse me,” he said, and walked away, leaving them gapping at him.

William locked the door to the pen and strode across the grass. He headed not for the house but for the stables. Andy, Edward’s young nephew, came out at the sound of his footsteps, earbuds dangling around his neck.

“My lord?” the boy said nervously.

“Saddle my horse.”

The boy looked at the fading light, and there was a split second of hesitation. It was growing dim to be out riding, and the boy was right to be concerned. Nonetheless Andy headed into the stable, pulling the gelding away from its dinner of hay.

In just over five minutes William was mounted on a disgruntled horse. Aware of approaching dusk, William kept to the manicured grass. He rode the horse at a sedate canter so he could muse on his new idea.

His carefully diagrammed plans were not working. William was man enough, and shrewd enough, to accept that. Those plans had been based on animal training and domestication techniques and William’s own experiences.

Either he hadn’t done enough to control them, he touched his bandaged face at the thought, or he had done too little of the right thing.

The run this afternoon had been Christoffer’s idea. Ignoring what had happened at the end, the event had been a success. He had no doubt that the wolf would obey him, and return if called. More importantly, the wolf had taken him through the woods, letting him experience something no other mortal would.

William needed to remember that this was not all about duty and being the Lord of Eahrington. He, William, was entitled to find some enjoyment, even pleasure, in this. That thought led to ones about Christoffer, and how it had felt to have Christoffer on his knees…

Right.

Sucking his cock.

Delicious.

He shook away the thought and turned the horse toward the stables. The relationship between the Lord of Eahrington and the wolf was set. The wolf’s mindset toward his Alpha sped up a process William had expected to take much longer.

The relationship between William and Christoffer, however, was another matter.