---Marcus' POV---

The air was thick with emotions as I watched Quinton grow more and more desperate as time passed by. Its been months since we lost his pup by the river side, and our trackers had a hard time finding a trace of him.

Usually it would've been easy to pinpoint a shifter's scent and follow it but somehow, Quinton's last pup had a slightly different scent. 

He smelled pure wolf.

And the truth behind that fact was unnerving. We don't know what happened to him, but whatever the pup has been through, caused its wolf to be in the lead instead of the human.

Looking over, I sighed and shook my head as Quinton was pacing yet again, muttering to himself. A sudden thought made me frown and I walked over to speak my mind.

"Say, whenever you mention your missing son, you've never spoken about a name. Why's that?" Quinton looked up at my approach, pausing for a moment as if he was stunned by my question. "We... we've never gone through the bonding. Audrey did deliver them but she never got to approach the pups in human form."

My breath left in a shocked exhale. No bonding... no wonder the pup's scent was off.

The bonding was a ritual based on instinct. In the earliest days of our race, pups wouldn't receive a name until they reached a certain age, for fear that they might not survive their first months on this world.

The custom has changed over the centuries and now the bonding was just as the name implied. A bond, a deep connection between a pup and its parents, its pack and later its mate. During the bonding, the parents gave the pup its name and it would respond to that.

But there was one catch; the name would only stick if the inner wolf trusted its carer, its pack.

"If you guys haven't gone through the bonding... that means..."

"Zayne never received his name from us. I guess at some point there must've been someone he was able to trust in that pack, someone who had connected to his wolf as pack. And whoever they were, they have given Zayne his name."

I nodded to myself, frowning curiously. Someone Zayne could trust...that didn't leave me with a lot of people to begin with. The whole pack was despicable, save for a few people.

My chain of thought was broken when I felt something crash into my leg, followed moments later by a loud yip and the scrambling off claws. When I glanced down, I just managed to spot Koda's soaking wet tail flashing through the air as he was being chased by Sebastian.

"Koda, you get back here before you drench the whole house! Do you hear me, you rascal!" Sebastian's threat didn't work when he proceeded to step into a puddle of water and nearly did a split before he straightened himself up.

His pup on the other hand didn't seem to care, running around in circles and shaking himself off at random intervals, only to drop down in mock surrender. When Sebastian got close enough, Koda dashed away, slipping between our legs and bumping into Quinton with a happy yip.

After a lot of scrambling and Sebastian retorting to calling for his mate, Wyatt managed to throw a handtowl on Koda, making the pup trip before his fathers caught him.

"Damn, trying to bathe you is like dipping a cat in water. Speaking of bathing, you still reek pup. Off we go." Koda whined plaintively as Wyatt stood up with the pup firmly bundled in his arms but it seemed there was no escaping the towel and its father's firm hands this time.

I chuckled at the disgruntled look of the pup before looking around, laughing out loud. Quinton joined me as he noticed the watermarks all over the floor, furniture knocked out of place and skid marks from shoes marking the floor.

"Boy, Koda really distastes bath time huh?"

Quinton snorted, shaking his head. "Whatever gave you that idea?" He motioned towards the mess with his head, "Come on, let's get this cleaned up before someone slips and breaks something."

I nodded, quickly setting to work to put everything back in place. Alice came over to help as well but she was quickly scolded by Logan, who was fussing about her every step she made.

"Darling. I'm pregnant, not disabled and even if it was the later, I can fend for myself." Alice snapped before clapping a hand over her mouth as Logan blinked before his gaze softened in an understanding look.

My teeth dug in my cheek at the complete lovestruck expression that spread over his face as he looked at his mate. "Her first flash of pregnancy hormones. Isn't it great?" Even Quinton looked stunned before snorting at Alice's disgruntled huff before she walked out the room.

"Alice, come back! I still need to give you that foot-rub!"

"Stop being so damn nice! I'm trying to stay mad at you!"

Both of us chocked on our laughter as Logan dashed out the room after his confused mate, leaving us to guffaw and snort before calming down. "Ah, I needed that." Quinton snickered while wiping away a tear.

I nodded understandingly, clasping his shoulder. "Pack Law is actively searching for your pup, Quinton. He pops up and we're right on top of him. Besides, he's shown he's not that shy around humans, hell, he was even found by humans. We'll find him."

Quinton nodded shakily before patting my hand and left the room. I sighed slightly, hopeful that Pack Law would find the pup.

It was only a matter of time.

We're going to bring you home, little one. To your family and pack, where you belong.

---Zayne's POV---

I flushed and quickly scrambled for the jar of pills, swallowing the last one. My first heat was persistent and intent to make me squirm one last time until the next season happened. Rolling the small jar in my hands, I held my breath and hoped the medicine were enough to supres the last spark of heat.

Not that I didn't...enjoy the means to quench the heat...My cheeks burned as memories slipped through my mind, all of which made the heat in my body flare up and the muscles in my stomach clench with need.

Marcus... I need Marcus...

Shaking my head to try and get out of the lustful haze, I managed to stumble into the shower and put it on, not caring that it was rather cold. In fact, the cold seemed to help a lot in cooling the remnants of heat down.

I used the opportunity to wash up, though I did keep the water on the cool end. Marcus thought my aversion to showers might have to do with Anton's cruel punishment.

Yeah, not a fan of hot water.

The sound of a closing door made me blink past the suds and I grinned at Marcus as he entered the bathroom. That was, until I realized I was completely naked, producing pheromones like crazy and my wolf was edging me on to enjoy this last bit of heat.

And judging by the way Marcus ripped off his clothes, he seemed quite fond of the idea too. I was up against the wall seconds later, gasping as Marcus' fingers held onto my thighs before lifting me up. I whined and arched my back while baring my throat, an offer Marcus couldn't refuse.

His teeth nipped and bit gently, a low growl rumbling through his chest, showing his wolf was fighting for control as well. My cock throbbed in delight, oozing precum before I gasped sharply, Marcus' lips muffling my pleasured scream as he had yanked me down while thrusting upwards.

Oh gods! I'll never get used to this! It just feels...so goooood.

My fingers clawed over his back, the water pelting down as Marcus hips jerked up, using the firm grip he had on my hips to pull me into his thrusts. The room was starting to steam up, filled with the countless of breathless whines and mewls that escaped me, or the deep growling grunts from Marcus.

Almost there...just a bit more....

The sensation of his knot rolling up made me shiver and I nearly howled as I reached my peak along with Marcus, who kept thrusting until I was jerking with the intense sensations coursing through my body.

Finally he relented, both of us gasping and panting for air. I opened my eyes and smiled as Marcus nuzzled my cheek and nose before pressing a sweet kiss to my lips.

I felt the bond twist and grow stronger as he carefully washed and dried me off before cuddling up in bed with me. My wolf was purring happily and I could honestly say I was happy to. I loved this.

I love Marcus.

He grinned cheekily as I nuzzled closer, both of us sighing contently. I had a feeling that we didn't even need a pack. We'd be fine with each other's company.

"You're absolutely right love. All I need is right here, in my arms. The love of my life and the reason I exist. I just need One Omega."

See you guys in the sequel, "One Pup" <3