Kegan woke up to Leon climbing into his space and rubbing his nose along Kegan's neck.

"You smell so good," Leon whispered, nibbling on the flesh and pulling at Kegan's pants.

Kegan felt his wolf fight against him, forcing him to growl at Leon. However, Kegan wasn't mad at his wolf. He didn't want Leon on him; he wasn't in full heat yet and Leon was in his personal space.

Leon was surprised by the growling; Kegan had been well behaved for the past month and had only growled the first night he spent at the manor.

"What was that?" Leon asked darkly, his own growl rumbling in his throat.

Usually, any growl from the Alpha would make Kegan stand down and bare his neck, but he was too uncomfortable and defensive.

"You're in my space," Kegan said weakly. "I don't feel safe."

Leon growled once again. "I'm your Alpha. You do feel safe, it's just the heat," he said, laying over Kegan.

Kegan whimpered and pushed back against Leon. "I'm not in heat yet! Get off!" he said, his wolf urging him to continue the behavior.

"It's not your responsibility to tell me what to do," Leon snarled, grabbing Kegan's hair and forcing him to bare his neck. "Stay still. I want this to be good for you, but it won't be if you keep fighting me!"

Kegan snarled back, fueled by his wolf, and surged forward, punching Leon in the throat.

Leon hadn't expected it and fell backward, trying to catch his breath. It gave Kegan the opportunity to run for the closet, diving inside and locking the door behind him.

"Omega! Open the door!" Leon shouted, shaking the handle and growling. "You better open it or else I will, and you will not be happy if I have to come in there and get you!"

"I'm not happy right now!" Kegan spat back, feeling more confident with the piece of wood between him and Leon. "Leave me alone!"

Leon roared and tried to rip the door off of its hinges, but he was interrupted when another pack mate burst into the room.

"Alpha!" the voice of Leon's Beta, Corban, yelled, making Leon stop pounding on the door.

"Corban! You better have a good reason for being in here!" Leon snarled, the sound making Kegan scoot further into the closet.

"I do, Alpha," Corban promised. "We're under attack! Another pack is raiding us!"

"A pack? How do we know it's not just rogues?"

"They're from the Blood Moon pack, Alpha. We can't fight them! They're too strong!"

Leon growled. "Did they say what they wanted? Or are they attacking for land? We've been at peace with them for years!"

Corban looked nervously at the closet door. "They want your Omega. I don't know why."

Leon snarled. "Kill as many of them as you can. I'm not giving up my property because some other Alpha wants it!" he growled furiously, slamming his fist on the closet door.

"But, Alpha-"

"Silence, Corban. Let's go," Leon said angrily.

•••

Kegan had been hidden in the closet for nearly an hour when he heard footsteps in the room. They were heavy and clearly belonged to someone much bigger than him.

Growls filled the room, but Leon's dominating scent didn't follow. Instead, a different and more pleasant scent filled the room, making Kegan's mouth fill with saliva.

The door to the closet began to shake, and seconds later, it was torn off of its hinges.

A large Alpha male walked inside, his icy blue eyes finding Kegan's own watery brown ones. He was terrified but couldn't deny the desire to go toward the Alpha.

The Alpha knelt down in front of Kegan, and for the first time in twenty years, Kegan heard the voice of his wolf in his head.

"Mate!"