Savage Desire
Chapter 34

"So what went down?" Stan asked, refilling his glass with scotch.

Jeremy had just returned from a meeting with the alphas. And as was their usual practice, Phillip and Stan had followed him into the suite, for a rundown of what had been said at the meeting.

It had been a week since Jeremy had been back from purgatory. He'd decided that it was about time he met with the alphas and explained his absence. Jeremy had boldly confessed to his colleague alphas what he'd done and its consequent punishment. The alphas had actually given him a standing ovation for taking his punishment like a man and an alpha. Jeremy had drawn the minds of the alphas to the fact that as a mere human and a newly turned wolf, Ryan hadn't stood a chance against his Ojah powers. "And you should be grateful for that because if it had been now that he has all that divine power, you would have been smoked." One alpha said, making all the others erupt with laughter.

Jeremy had been happy about their attitude. He'd been worried about how they would react towards Ryan after

hearing what had happened but it was obvious they actually respected and liked his mate. After all, but for Ryan, they would all be dead or worse...living as the bitches of some four century old warlock. The alphas had then proved how they still respected Jeremy even after everything he'd done, by informing him that they'd met in his absence and voted unanimously that he become the alpha of alphas since Sasha, who'd held that position, was dead.

Jeremy had been shocked that the alphas wanted him as their AA. He'd just sat there and stared at the faces of the expectant alphas. Finally, he'd gathered his thoughts long enough to ask them the question that was eating at his conscious.

"You want me to occupy that position even after what I did? I've been at the Fort for the past three months for f***s sake." Jeremy gasped.

"And who better to hold that position than someone who has the experience of the Fort under his belt?" The oldest alpha amongst them spoke up. "Someone who is brave enough to actually embrace such a punishment. Someone whose mate saved all of our kind, from a lifetime of thralldom. Need I go on son?" He drawled, making the others laugh and applaud again.

"And with that badass mate of yours by your side, no one can touch us." Another added, to which all the alphas gave a loud roar of excitement.

In the end, a stunned Jeremy thanked the alphas for the oer and promised to give them his response in two days. They had responded that they were not going to take no, for an answer. Jeremy had thanked then once again, and then left the meeting in a daze. "That's what I'm talking about." Stan gave a fist pump when Jeremy finished giving them the news in the headquarters. "We get the F**k yeah!"

It was always a great honour for a pack to have the Alpha of Alphas as a pack member. The home of the AA usually became the headquarters of werewolves worldwide. The headquarters had been Russia for years because Sasha was the AA till his death at the hands of the Wyatt Clan. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Ebookex.com. Visit Ebookex.com to read the complete chapters for free. Now the headquarters was going to move to California, and all the attention was going to be on Stanwood Pack. It also meant that the livelihood of Jeremy and his mate was now the responsibility of every pack in the world. Had Jeremy not been wealthy, he would definitely have become wealthy with the new position. As AA, his wealth was only going to multiply in spades.

"That's a huge honour but also an enormous responsibility, man." Phillip said, his eye filled with so much pride.

"And that's why you're going to help me, Lip." Jeremy said.

"How?" Phillip folded his arms across his chest.

"You're going to take over Stanwood." Jeremy responded. "It's your time to rule Lip. I can't combine the problems in every pack worldwide with my work here. It's all yours. Change the name if you want. I don't mind."

"But this is one of the biggest packs in the world, Jer." Phillip's voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm just a new alpha. I can only head a small..."

"This is your pack Lip." Jeremy cut him of. "You've been doing this with me since I took over from Uncle Joel. Managing Stanwood will be a piece of cake. They can't ask for a finer alpha. Say yes, Lip." Jeremy stared at his friend. "Please."

Phillip looked at Jeremy. He couldn't believe he was actually begging him to become the alpha of a great pack such as Stanwood. It was the greatest honour anyone could have given him. It was Jeremy's birthright for goodness sake. And he was stepping aside to let him take over. Phillip knew that if he attempted to say another word, he would breakdown. So he just nodded and stretched forth his hand to Jeremy for a handshake. "Come here." Jeremy growled and drew his emotional friend into a powerful hug.

Phillip virtually never cried. But Jeremy had seen his flushed face and just knew his friend was going to lose it. And even as Phillip sobbed quietly on his shoulder, an equally emotional Stan wiped the tears of his own cheeks where he sat. Jeremy signaled him to join them for a group hug. By the time the three men separated, each had to wipe his eyes.

"Will you be my head Beta, Stan?" Phillip croaked.

"Try choosing anyone else, and I'm gonna wangchang the twerp's arse into oblivion," Stan growled, assuming a karate posture with an arm stretched out with knuckles sticking out and a foot pointing down.

The guys laughed as they threw themselves into the couches and turned their attention to the Olympic Games that was showing on TV.

"The name stays," Phillip said softly. "It's still your legacy Jer. That's not going to change."

"It's our legacy, Lip," Jeremy responded softly. "I'll inform the council before my next meeting with the alphas on

Sunday." Jeremy said, draining the glass of scotch that stood on the coee table. "You have to come for the meeting with the alphas too, Lip. I need to introduce the new alpha of Stanwood Pack to them." He grinned. "Fuck, I can't believe we're getting the AA, guys." Stan shouted excitedly. "Will you guys be flying on Sunday or going by road?" He asked.

"Lip can choose to fly or drive." Jeremy said quietly. "I'll be using the bike. It will give me a chance to think. Besides, I've missed it."

"Are you okay, Jeremy?" Phillip asked. It was obvious that his friend wasn't himself. Jeremy had been making an efort to appear normal but he couldn't fool him. He'd known the alpha since he was a baby. Jeremy was like a kid brother to him. So he knew when Jeremy was struggling. "I know it's going to take a while for you to..."

"I'll never be okay, Lip." Jeremy whispered, staring into his empty glass. "What happened to me in there....it's going to take a long time for me to... Fuck!" He slammed the glass on the coffee table but fortunately, it didn't break.

"Hey..." Phillip moved to sit beside Jeremy. "Easy... One step at a time. You're home now. That's all that matters. I know it's not going to be easy but try not to think about it."

"Maybe you need a vacation." Stan said. "Go somewhere with Ryan. Just the two of you. Forget about everything and have fun. That should help get your mind of things.

"That would be brilliant." Phillip nodded. "In fact I think you should." He added, getting to his feet and stretching. "Paige and Ryan just got back." Phillip informed Jeremy and Stan. "She just asked me whether we're here." The two had gone to the school to work on something. Well, Ryan had claimed he had to go and see to whatever it was, himself.

Paige had insisted on tagging along. "Speaking of Ryan," Phillip abruptly sat back down and trained worried grey eyes on Jeremy, "is he okay?"

"Why do you ask?" Jeremy murmured, avoiding his friend's eyes.

"Jeremy..."

"I'm just going through some shit alright?" Jeremy groaned.

"What kind of shit besides the obvious?" Stan asked, moving closer to sit on the rug at Jeremy's feet.

"I can't... I can't look at Ryan without..." He trailed of and growled deep in his throat. "F**k."

"Without what?" Stan asked.

"It's the kiss isn't it?" Phillip asked quietly. He knew that Jeremy would have problems with that.

"Dude, get real." Stan groaned. "The guy thought he was dreaming for f***s sake."

"I know." Jeremy muttered. "And I get it. He thought he was kissing me and all that but at the end of the day, it hadn't been a dream. And it hadn't been my lips. And that pisses me the f**k o}]."

"Ooo jealousy, thy name is Jeremy." Stan purred, leaning back on his elbows.

"No, it's not you twat." Jeremy growled as Phillip tried to stifle his laughter. "I'm..."

"Don't tell me you've never had a dream in which you've wanted to be naughty." Phillip said quietly. "Or a dream which seemed so real you..."

"Oh I have." Jeremy gave a humourless laughter, remembering his most recent dream in which Ryan had given him the most amazing blowjob. In the dream he'd come so hard and brutal. But he knew it had only been a dream because he hadn't seen any evidence of his cum when he'd woken up. "And I get what you guys are saying but... it's diicult."

"So make it easy, you fucker." Stan growled. "That man shouldn't be made to feel guilty because he's done nothing wrong. It seems so wrong to be punished for what he had no control over." "Fuck, now you two are making me sound like a jerk." Jeremy groaned.

"You are acting like one." Phillip deadpanned. "I can imagine what the poor man is going through right..." He trailed of when the door opened to reveal Ryan and an obviously tensed up Paige.

Ryan took just one look at the trio and knew that he'd been the topic of discussion. He saw the pity in the eyes of both Phillip and Stan and felt the blood rush to his face. Had Jeremy told the guys about how he'd begged for s*x? Had he told them how he'd turned him down? That had happened about five days earlier and he couldn't say that his relationship with Jeremy had been the best. Jeremy avoided him by making sure they were never alone during the day. At night, Jeremy either went to bed early before him, or waited till after Ryan slept before he came to bed. They however always woke up curled around each other. But that wasn't enough. Ryan couldn't help but regret taking some days of to be with his mate. Seeing as he was being avoided by his mate, he obviously shouldn't have bothered. He'd been walking around Jeremy on eggshells because he didn't want to opend the man or give him any stress after what he'd been through at the Fort. And being horny all the f*****g time sure wasn't helping. Sometimes he felt like screaming out his frustration.

Nothing Ryan had felt in the past few days, however, compared to what he was feeling right then, looking at the expression on Phillip and Stan's faces. He felt exposed. He felt as though he was being ridiculed which was strange because he knew that Phillip and Stan would never mock him. He felt sorry for himself. Ryan's throat felt tight. He wanted to hide. He wanted to kneel over and die. He wanted to go somewhere that no one would see him. It was suddenly difficult to breathe. Ryan looked around with wild eyes. His eyes stung. Finally, he focused on Paige.

"I need to..." He panted harshly.

"Ryan what is wrong?" Paige gasped as Ryan turned back towards the door.

"I need some air." He breathed. "I'll be..."

"Ryan?" Jeremy shot out of his seat and rushed to the door but Ryan disappeared right before their eyes.

"What the fuck is going on here, Jeremy?" Paige growled. She looked pissed. "What did you do to him?" "I've done nothing." Jeremy muttered grupy.

"Why the fuck do I replace that hard to believe?" Her voice raised. "He doesn't look like you've done nothing to me." Paige jabbed a thumb toward the door. "I've never seen him like this. Not even when your arse was rotting in that place. He looks broken. And he's been like that since you came back. It's like something died inside him. What the f**k did you do?" She screamed like a lioness whose cub had been taken.

"Can't stand the sight of him," Stan responded simply as if he hadn't just blurted out a most ridiculous reason. And he totally ignored Jeremy's glare. "What?" Paige looked confused.

"I need to replace him," Jeremy said, reaching for the doorknob.

"Wait, wait..." Paige slammed a hand on Jeremy's. "What does he mean you can't stand the sight of him?"

"Cause another man kissed him." Stan again quipped.

"Will you shut the f**k up?" Phillip growled.

"You're punishing him because of that?" Paige whispered, shocked. "Really? That's balderdash. I'm so disappointed in you Jeremy." And she looked at it, too. "I'm trying Pa..."

"Try harder asshole." She hissed. "That man has done nothing but love you with everything he is since you left here. Despite all that you've put him through, he's accepted you as his mate and allowed himself to fall in love with you. He's selflessly done what he didn't even know he was capable of, to save your people. That battle should have been fought by you and not him. You should be kissing his feet, treating him like a king and giving him anything he asks for. But you rather choose to treat him this badly? Was it a sin to miss you? Was it an offense to want to dream about his mate? Was it a crime to want to feel his mate's lips on his in a dream? Tell me, are you always conscious of what really goes on when you dream? When did you become so self-righteous? Can you even..." "I get it, Paige." Jeremy murmured grupy. "I get it."

"He didn't know he was kissing another person, you idiot, so you better crouch your tiger, hide your dragon and pull your head out of your fucking arse." Paige growled. "Fix this." With that she yanked the door open and then stormed out of the suite. Jeremy turned his head to look at his two friends who he knew were of the same mind as Paige. There was guilt written all over his face, but that wasn't what drew gasps from his friends. It was the look of utter panic on Jeremy's face that struck Phillip and Stan. "Jeremy?" Phillip started towards his friend.

"I can't feel him," Jeremy said in a shaky voice. "How do I replace him?"