A Satisfying Standoff

A/N: This story depicts bestial appendages and improbable physical situations on anthropomorphic creatures in sexual situations. Any creatures with animalistic features are sentient, mythical creatures able to participate in sexual situations of their own volition. All characters are 18+. This story contains extremely rough sex, reader discretion is advised.

This story can be read as a stand-alone story, or can be read after 'Her First Heat' and 'The Wolven Welcome' for a fuller storyline.

As always, if you want to skip to the good stuff, follow the asterisks (***).

*****

Amber watched the heavy rain streak down the window of the pack's cabin, her mind wandering to the events of the past few weeks. She felt a frisson of pleasure slide up her spine - a lingering element of the first heat the werewolf had ever experienced - but the hammering of the rain on the roof soothed her. Amber smiled, thinking back on how welcoming the pack had been to the omega since she'd joined up with them.

Amber wore a thin cashmere sweater with an open back that draped pleasantly over her full breasts while exposing her delicate shoulder blades, and a buckskin miniskirt that one of the other female wolves had fashioned for her as a gift. It was a perfect fit - tight around her full hips and gave the impression of being a second skin. Her long hair was glossy and loose, falling to the small of her back. She wasn't wearing any makeup, but she didn't need it: the natural luminosity of her skin was enchanting and her honey brown eyes were doelike, framed with long, delicate lashes.

The parlour of the cabin was empty except for Amber, giving her time and space to think; lately this had been a luxury as everything she was experiencing had felt utterly overwhelming in the most pleasurable sense. Vereise, the alpha female of the pack, had taken pity on Amber more than once and had convinced Amber to lay in bed between herself and Vereise's alpha male mate, Heath, to get some uninterrupted sleep without lusty pack members knocking on her door.

Amber had obliged, awakening in the arms of the pair several mornings cuddled close to Vereise like Amber was a doll. Heath's warm body curled around both of the women protectively as he slept, sometimes as a man and other times as the massive werewolf he was. Amber was enchanted by the love and devotion the pair showed one another. It made her heart ache: she thought that she, a lowly omega, would never know such a love due to her base rank.

The actions of her so-called best friend had proven that theory, in her mind: Reade, a young beta male, had been strangely distant and short with her since the day he'd deflowered her. It wounded her deeply; she couldn't understand why he'd been so keen to be at her side nearly all of the time before her heat - even right at the beginning of it he'd been the one who deflowered her - but now if she walked into a room, he walked out of it.

She began to suspect he was disgusted with her, or perhaps she'd offended him somehow. She felt filthy and used, and had tried to speak to him more than once to understand his reaction. Every time, he'd given her one-word answers or dismissed her worries as merely being in her head. Still, she hadn't lain in his arms in nearly three weeks even though they had slept in the same bed nearly every night before she'd been in heat.

Amber was beginning to feel like the relationship was irreparably damaged. The little omega wanted nothing more than to mend her relationship with him and achieve harmony within the pack once more. At the minute she felt unbalanced, like the whole world was wrong.

"Hey good lookin'," a raspy voice teased from the entryway of the parlour from behind Amber. Amber whirled around, surprised she hadn't heard the wolf approach, though she'd been lost in her thoughts. Magnus, the older yet handsome wolf that was keeping an eye on her on Heath's orders advanced into the room - Heath wanted someone with a little perspective to make sure the wolf got through the strangeness of her first heat all right.

Amber smiled when she saw Magnus - they were on good terms and he had always been kind to her. Magnus settled into a leather armchair in front of the crackling fire in the stone fireplace and Amber walked over to perch on the arm of his chair, instinctively knowing he wanted her close. She was a good omega and tried her best to please those around her, as long as their desires weren't too unreasonable.

"Hi Magnus, how're you today?" Amber asked as Magnus encouraged her to slip into his lap by applying the gentle pressure on her back from his strong hand. She slipped into his powerful lap obediently, her legs crossed at the ankle as she perched on the older man. He looked up at her with a smile, twisting his fingers in her silken locks affectionately.

Magnus wore a white button-down shirt with several buttons undone, showing off his broad, muscular chest and dark tailored pants that suited him well, though did little to hide the bulge of his cock even when he wasn't hard. His dark eyes smouldered even when he wasn't trying to, giving him a rakish, dangerous appearance that thrilled many of the female wolves in the pack.

"I'm good, Ambie, I'm good. But you look like a pup with your tail in a trap, and that doesn't suit you, darlin'. Why don't you tell me what's on your mind?" He observed, smoothing her hair comfortingly as he sniffed her in a lupine manner, trying to get more information about what was wrong. His face showed concern and worry as he cradled her gently on his lap: Amber was a fine little wolf in his opinion and if someone had upset her, he'd take them to the task himself if he had to.

"It's nothing much, I wouldn't want to trouble you," Amber said quietly, lifting her chin to allow Magnus to snuffle along her sensitive neck and jaw. He grunted in approval at her sweet, wild scent, searching for more information about who she'd been in contact with recently.

Amber closed her eyes, moaning as his nose touched along the places she liked best, feeling her nipples harden against the cashmere of her sweater. She arched her back submissively, presenting her body without realising it. Magnus saw her reaction and he drew back, wrapping an arm around her slim waist protectively instead of mounting her then and there as a wolf with less control may have. She may not have purposely been using her body as a distraction, but the attractive young wolf was certainly distracting him from his main purpose of guiding her.

"Hmph," Magnus grunted, tenderly moving her face with a hand to look at her eye-to-eye. "You're still in heat. Now, tell me, Amber: the day I don't want a pretty little thing like you to trouble me is the day they put me in my coffin. Mark my words. Don't make me get tough with you, missy." Magnus rasped in a half-joking growl, knowing that he could pull rank and demand that she reveal what was on her mind. Magnus knew he didn't need to take such an aggressive approach with Amber. She wasn't secretive, she just didn't want to be a bother to anyone, which worried Magnus. She was a good omega, but even an omega deserved to have their concerns addressed.

Amber blushed and smiled, yipping and wriggling with joy in Magnus' lap from the kindly attention of the older wolf. Magnus, despite his roaming hands, had kept them comforting and tender instead of sexual. His fingers smoothed her bare back without dipping into her shirt and he rubbed her bare knee as he looked deeply into her honey brown eyes.

"It's just... I think I've hurt Reade somehow. He won't talk to me, he won't even stay in the same room as me. We were really close before all of this happened and now it's like he won't even look at me if he has the option not to. I'm lonely," Amber whimpered, dropping her head in shame.

Magnus was simultaneously frustrated by Reade's reaction to Amber and saddened for Amber: sometimes relationships between packmates changed because of a disparity in rank and neither party could name why. Sometimes such situations were just handled badly. Magnus had an inkling it might be the latter, given their mutual inexperience with relationships.

"Awe, honey, there's no need to fret. I think I know what's going on," Magnus said tenderly, drawing her to him to rest her head on his shoulder as he cradled her on his lap. Amber closed her eyes, tears running down her cheeks. "Reade's just comin' to terms with realising a few things about the way things are, circumstantially speaking. It takes time to process when your best friend suddenly becomes the most desirable wolf in the pack, hm?"

"I've tried asking him about it, Magnus, he says nothing's changed for him," Amber looked into Magnus' calm eyes and felt a sense of comfort, knowing that at least the two outsiders could comfort one another. "Anyhow, I'm not that desirable, I'm just the only one in heat right now."

"Don't sell yourself short, Amber. Though... nothing's changed, eh? Well," Magnus thought for a long moment, realising what that might mean for Amber and Reade with a soft chuckle. "I think I know what you need to do, but you won't want to do it."

"Why wouldn't I want to do it? I'll do anything to get me and Reade back on speaking terms!" Amber exclaimed. Magnus regarded her shrewdly, with a knowing smirk. He squeezed her waist gently and leaned his head towards hers, his lips brushing across her temple as he spoke in a low, teasing tone.

"Anything?" Magus asked her again, raising a dark eyebrow in challenge. Amber felt good in his strong, protective arms but it wasn't the same as it was with Reade, where she felt like a missing puzzle piece sliding into place in his arms, like they were two halves of a whole. Being touched by Magnus felt good; being touched by Reade felt right.

"I'll do anything!" Amber cried, looking serious about her decision. She wanted her friend back, to awaken in his arms and to feel his cold snout pressed against her cheek when he transformed into his wolven self, to laugh and joke as they used to. They'd fought joyously like puppies, wrestling and kissing and pinning each other playfully, they'd run through the forest deep and dark under the silvery light of the moon. They'd shared the warm flesh of a fresh kill, wolven teeth ripping into a slain deer in triumph. She'd lost so much, she wished she could take it all back.

"All right, then... You need to get mean."

"Mean? Won't that just drive him away?" Amber asked, looking confused. Magnus laughed at the innocent, gentle nature of the omega and ruffled her hair. He shifted her in his lap slightly, enjoying manhandling the omega even in a relatively platonic way. He knew that Heath had asked him to watch over Amber because he had learned this level of control, but Amber made it damned hard still. He struggled to keep his thoughts from her lithe body and how good her slit would feel around his throbbing cock. He wanted to do right by the omega, but she didn't make it easy.

"Naw, Princess, I doubt you could drive anyone away even if you made an effort. But you need to get mean. Tell him to man up and face you, to talk to you honestly. He's torturing you as much as he's torturing himself and he needs to know that. Even if you have to raise your hackles, you do it. He might get loud in return, but listen - that anger's comin' from somewhere deep inside and I think I know what might fix it. You'll know too, when the time is right." Magnus said cryptically.

Amber's heart hammered in her chest at the thought of confronting Reade and she chewed her bottom lip doubtfully. She whined softly in consternation, writhing in discomfort from the thought of being mean to Reade - what she took for being mean, anyhow. It wasn't her place, in her opinion, to upbraid a higher ranking wolf.

Her decision was made for her, however, by Reade walking into the room. Reade saw Amber perched on Magnus' lap while Magnus whispered what appeared to be sweet nothings in her ear. Reade let out a soft, low growl without realising it and stormed off. Amber wilted, having seen the dark expression on Reade's face and Magnus shook his head, helping Amber off of his lap.

"Go after him, sweet thing. I'll be here if you need me, but something tells me you'll be just fine." Magnus said, patting her bottom to send her off affectionately. Young wolves, Magnus thought to himself with a chuckle as he stared into the fire, they certainly knew how to make things interesting.

-

Amber raced down the hall after Reade, calling out for him. Reade had hurried upstairs towards his room and Amber only managed to catch up with him on the landing, blocking his path while she fought to catch her breath. Her arms were shaky as she held them out on either side of her, trying to use her slight body to keep him from moving forward.

"Move," Reade growled at her, the snarl of an order in his voice. He could barely stand to look at Amber now, it felt like being lashed with a whip. He stared down at her, his eyes cold as the north wind. His jaw was set while he clenched his teeth, his hands balled into fists. Amber could tell he wouldn't strike her, but he was restraining himself from something.

"N-no!" Amber cried out in response, though she quailed at the strong beta's stern approach. Reade's expression grew darker and he stomped up the remaining stairs to stand before the omega, towering over her even though he stood a step lower than she was. The fact he hadn't shoved her aside was the only clue that Amber had that she was making progress: wolves could be far more physical in their approach to conflict at times, especially when dealing with an insubordinate packmate.

"Move!" He roared at her, his voice harsh and raw with emotion. Amber cringed at the sound but she stood her ground even while she trembled. Her eyes were filled with tears, which made it difficult to see Reade's expression. To Reade, Amber looked stunning and yet he resented that she'd been pawed over because of her damned heat. She might be an omega but did she need to roll over for every wolf who sniffed her? The very thought of her sharing herself made his blood boil and his stomach churn.

"No, Reade, you need to... you need to talk to me! I'm not going to let you ignore me anymore!" Amber cried in her sternest voice. It wasn't quite what Magnus had suggested in terms of being mean, but it was as close as the little wolf could get. She was standing up to the ostensible second in command in the pack, with Heath and Vereise being joint first.

"Ignore you?" Reade sounded shocked, laughing in a mocking tone which slowly turned into a low, dangerous growl. "Is that what you think I've been doing? Ignoring you? Amber, I could never ignore you. I have been painfully aware of Every. Single. Move. you make in this damned house. Every time I walk into a room and see you look for me, yet you show your belly to anyone who asks it of you. Now, MOVE, before I make you move!" Reade roared, a crazed expression in his eyes as though his fury were getting the better of him. Amber would have to think fast, Reade looked furious.

"I can't, Reade! I can't put up with it anymore. I miss you. You're hurting me!" Amber whimpered, looking up at Reade who stared down at her in fury. The beta wolf's expression changed when Amber spoke, as though she'd slapped him across the face. Reade grabbed Amber roughly around the waist, carrying her up the stairs clutched under one strong arm, her legs dangling as she cried out in shock and fear. He marched to his bedroom where he locked the door - an unusual action in a pack house - before setting her feet back on the floor and standing before her with his muscled arms folded across his chest.

"What do you mean, I'm hurting you?" Reade demanded in a low tone, advancing on Amber again now that they were somewhere where matters could be discussed more privately. He stalked towards her like he was hunting her and she was prey, watching her carefully.

Amber quivered even though she'd spent countless affectionate hours in this very room with this very man. She saw the big, warm bed that they had shared so often and wilted when she saw a feminine purple T-shirt that was clearly not Reade's strewn carelessly on the furs. Reade saw where she was looking and flicked it off of the bed dismissively. So he'd had his bed kept warm by other wolves in the pack and that was why he didn't need her anymore, Amber thought miserably. She'd been replaced so quickly, perhaps she'd just imagined the friendship she'd had with the handsome beta.

"I miss you, Reade. I miss us. You say things haven't changed, but they have, can't you see it?" Amber asked Reade, trembling all over as she stood up to her ex-best friend bravely. Reade opened his mouth as though he were ready with a sharp retort and then seemed to think better of it, sitting on the edge of the bed while burying his face in his hands.

"No, Amber, they haven't changed at all. You've changed, you're doing what you're supposed to do as an omega. I just... can't handle it. I haven't changed and it wrecks me to see you with others. Do you know what it's like to want something so badly that it destroys your life?"

Amber was taken aback, was he talking about her? No, of course not, she was a lowly omega and he was a beta who could do far better than her. Anyhow, clearly Miss Purple Shirt was someone he wanted too. Amber shrugged noncommittally, biting her lower lip anxiously as she answered Reade.

"What do you mean, you can't handle it? You're barely around me these days, you haven't seen anything."

"I've heard enough. I know you've been sleeping with Heath and Vereise almost every night, and I just walked in on Magnus fondling you, didn't I?" Reade growled, his eyes turning the ice-blue of his wolven form, suggesting a lack of control over his emotions. He looked annoyed at the very memories of what he'd seen and heard.

"No, you didn't, Reade. You'd know that if you stuck around for more than fifteen seconds," Amber retorted, gaining courage as she realised that Reade thought she'd been a lot more promiscuous than she had actually been. Amber lifted her chin to look bravely into Reade's eyes and all Reade could think about was how utterly beautiful Amber looked in that moment. But she was a free wolf, he couldn't demand she stop being who she was just for the sake of his jealous nature.

"Magnus was comforting me because you've broken my heart. I've lost the person that I care about most in this world... and as for 'sleeping' with Heath and Vereise, yes! I was literally sleeping with them because I wasn't staying with you anymore and they wanted to make sure I got some sleep without someone trying to mount me. They're far too in love with each other to bother with a lowly omega like me on a regular basis."

This thought seemed to stop Reade for a moment, and the wolf reached out to grab Amber roughly and effortlessly throw her against the wall, facing him. He leapt forward with frightening agility to pin her against it with his strong body. Amber cried out in surprise, wriggling to free her hands as Reade forced them over her head with the grip of one powerful hand.

Reade sniffed her body, investigating the scent of every wolf who left their mark on her. He could tell she'd been approached often, but that she hadn't been mated in some time - it was something that this type of proximity could reveal to him. He hadn't been this close to her in ages and now Amber was sobbing, her chin tucked against her shoulder, caught between terror and misery at the situation.

Reade felt an immense wave of guilt: hadn't meant to frighten her, the wolf within had simply instinctively taken over to try and clarify the situation with his keen lupine senses. Reade realised with growing horror at himself just how out of control the situation was and he cradled her body softly, shushing her as he kissed her cheeks and forehead chastely, over and over.