by Grey, Aspen
Aspen Grey on Amazon!
Book 4 - The Alpha’s Duet
Contents
1. Billy
2. Tommy
3. Garrett
4. Billy
5. Tommy
6. Garrett
7. Garrett
8. Tommy
9. Billy
10. Garrett
11. Tommy
12. Billy
13. Garrett
14. Tommy
15. Garrett
16. Billy
17. Garrett
18. Tommy
19. Garrett
20. Billy
21. Garrett
22. Tommy
23. Garrett
24. Billy
25. Tommy
26. Garrett
27. Billy
28. Garrett
29. Tommy
30. Billy
Epilogue
Scent of the Author
Chapter One
Billy
It was a late, hot, typical summer Hillcrest night, with the typical crowd of boys hanging outside on their typical corners as the typical crowd let out from the clubs talked all kinds of typical shit.
“Anybody holding?”
“Everything but your cock!”
Roars of laughter echoed through the air.
“Where the party at? Where the party at?”
“Where’s that omega booty going, baby?”
“Has anyone seen my phone? Fuck!”
I’d learned to let most of it brush off of me by now. After all, spending years on the streets as a working boy—you sort of develop a thick skin.
As usual, I made myself noticeable as I leaned against the wall down the block, turning ever so slightly to make my ass visible to the alphas as they came spilling out into the night, booze on their breath, fueling a vigorous lust within them. And that lust was what was going to get me paid.
Guys were predictable, and alphas were even more so. I worked for humans too, of course, but it was easier to get the attention of an alpha, as my omega scent was sweet enough to attract most of them and get their instincts running nice and hot. I’d do my thing, prance around a bit, say all the right things, do a few others and cash in. It wasn’t the ideal job, but it was a living, and without any real skills or a family to rely on, I did what I had to do to survive.
My dad lived in San Diego too as a homeless junkie who I tried to stay away from as much as possible. He’d come back into my life from time to time, saying he’d changed and was “off the stuff,” but it was always a lie—or something he believed for a few days at most—and then he’d be back to his old tricks.
It was best that we stayed apart. He’d been like this my whole life, so I’d managed to come to terms with it. He was the reason I’d never managed to make it through high school and the reason I had ended up on the streets. When your only two choices were being at home with your strung-out father or being out with your friends, well, that wasn’t really any choice at all.
But street boys don’t make good friends, at least not in the long run. The one I’d managed to keep, Tommy—or Titillating Tommy as he called himself—was the longest friend I’d had. I could still smell his warm hot chocolate smell in the air, so I knew he was around.
“Ooooh, look over there!” I heard an alpha cry out from behind me. Instead of turning around, which would have been a rookie move as it would have made me look easy and desperate, I kept my eyes averted and shifted my weight to cause my hips to move to show off my butt for him.
Come on over, big boy, I thought.
His scent was strong. He was definitely a competent alpha, but I prepared myself for the regular onslaught of lines that were coming.
“What are you doing out here all alone?” he asked as he came up behind me. Finally, I turned around and looked at him.
Disappointing, I thought.
He was relatively handsome, but shorter than I’d have liked, barely an inch or two above me, with terrible fashion sense.
Fuck boy. That would be the best way to describe it. He wore a hideous pair of gray joggers that ended mid-calf, with a pair of white high tops. On top, he was wearing a long-line, olive t-shirt filled with holes. He was even still rocking the half-shave on one side of his head and smelled of weed.
“Ooh, you’re cute from the front too,” he smiled. “I don’t have to just admire you from the back.”
“I’d like to say I’m flattered,” I said, but that was it. He looked at me for a moment to see if I was going to elaborate, but when I didn’t, he simply got back to business.
“So, what’s the going rate these days?” he asked.
“Two hundred,” I replied. “Nonnegotiable.”
“Everything’s negotiable,” he smiled. “And I should know. I’m a lawyer.”
“That supposed to impress me?” I asked him. “You know how many guys I meet doing this job?”
“Lots,” he laughed. “Lot of fucking losers too—paying for sex and all that.”
“Losers, eh? What’s that make you?”
“Oh, this?” he asked, stepping closer. “This is just a once-in-a-blue-moon type of thing for me. I get all the ass I need.”
“Mmm-hmm,” I replied, getting annoyed.
Pay up or fuck off.
The alpha douche started rummaging through his wallet, a very big no-no on the street. I looked around for cops but it seemed as though the block was clear for now.
“Hmmm,” he muttered.
Here it comes.
“Don’t suppose you take gift cards?” he asked, pulling out a Target card and flashing it around like it was a black Amex. “This has like eighty dollars on it.”
“Have a nice night,” I smiled, turning my back on him.
“Whoa, wait a second!” he said quickly as he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back to him.
“Get your hands off me!” I shouted. My voice, while raised, still wasn’t loud enough to be worrying over the chatter around us.
“Easy, sweet pea,” he chuckled. “Just relax. We’re just talking.”
“I said get off me!” I shouted again, slapping at his wrist. But his grip was firm and his eyes were intent and angry.
“You know what?” he growled, getting right up in my face. “I was going to be nice about this, but now I see what kind of dirty little slut you are! Now the nice guy is gone.”
“Hel—” I tried to shout but the alpha clasped his hand over my mouth, cutting me off. Pretending we were lovers, he scooped me up into his arms and began to carry me away from the crowd like a groom at a wedding. People cheered as he made his way towards a dark alley at the end of the block.
“Just keep quiet, okay?” he whispered as though he was my friend. “And this will be over soon—”
As we reached the shadows, I thrashed violently, trying to get out of his death grip. But it was useless. He was just too strong.
Help! Help me!
“Don’t worry, baby,” he hissed. “You’ll enjoy it too.”
As the darkness swallowed us up, something slammed into the bastard with tremendous force, sending him crashing into the wall. He dropped me to the ground, coughed as he slammed into the bricks, tripping over himself as he stumbled through a pile of trash.
“What the—” he growled. I looked up and smiled when I saw him: Titillating Tommy standing over me in panther form, snarling at my attacker.
Chapter Two
Tommy
I’d been watching Billy from across the street, looking out for him as I always did. He was my one and only true friend out here in the city, and I wasn’t about to let anything happen to him. I may not be a ferocious alpha, but then again, it wasn’t me writhing around on the ground right now, was it?
The alpha had taken a big hit when I slammed into him, but he was recovering quickly, and I knew we didn’t have much time before he shifted and tore us both to pieces. So I acted quickly.
I darted forward and cl
amped down on his ankle with my teeth. Without hesitation, I whipped my head to the side and tore his flesh from the bone. He howled in pain as I tasted blood. I followed up with a deep slash to the back of his thigh, leapt back to Billy’s side and shifted back to human form.
“Come on!” I shouted. I snatched his hand and tugged him to his feet, and then we were off and running.
“That son of a bitch!” Billy grumbled as we raced back to the street.
“Aye, look at that naked fucking omega!” someone cried out.
That’s brazen, I thought. Not everyone in this neighborhood was a shifter—in fact, most of them weren’t—and throwing around terms like that could attract suspicion. But when I heard the hoots, hollers and laughter that followed us as we raced past, I knew that no one was really listening, they were looking at Billy’s ass.
“Drunk motherfuckers,” he cursed as I pulled him across the street, avoiding a sorority girl in a black SUV as she tried to make a yellow light, and took a hard left down to one of our many hideouts in the area.
“You’re all right?” I asked him finally as we slowed down by the old warehouse. It wasn’t somewhere we could stay, as the cops regularly went through and cleared it out, but we had clothes stashed nearby (which I needed) and familiar escape routes if we needed to get away from anybody. “Who was that cocksucker?”
“Oh, just your typical douchebag rapist!” Billy cursed, kicking over a pile of cinder blocks someone had arranged into a fire pit. “Fuck! Is it me or do things seem to be getting worse lately?”
“I don’t think it’s just you,” I admitted. “Shit’s been rough out here lately.”
“Thank you,” he said, slumping against my chest. He smelled like pineapple, which was a sharp juxtaposition against the many smells of the street. “You’re always looking out for me, aren’t you?”
“Always,” I replied. “I mean—if I don’t—who will?”
“Why do you have to say it like that?” he groaned as I ran a hand through his hair. “You gotta remind me how alone we are out here?”
“Don’t worry,” I told him. “Things are changing. We won’t be out here forever.”
“Yeah? How do you figure?” he asked. “Do you see us hitting the lottery? Finding a nice rich alpha to take care of us? We’re overdue with our rent, you know.”
“Things will get better,” I assured him. I didn’t know how, but I was sure of it. Between the two of us, I was the optimistic one. Billy was a bit jaded by life, especially after the killer a couple of years ago that had been targeting street boys. Billy had helped the cops with their investigation, giving a tip to a friendly detective he knew that helped catch the guy, but he saw the whole thing as just another sign that his life was never going to improve.
I’d met him a year ago when I escaped the cold and crime of Baltimore. We’d met, hustled together and eventually bonded as we were both the children of addicts. His father was still around. Mine had both ODed when I was fifteen, one right after the other.
I don’t know how I managed to keep my head up and persevere, but despite my chosen “profession,” I’d never done drugs, never drank to excess and never became a thief. Although many would look down on what I do, and it wasn’t exactly what I wanted from my life, I still had my morals.
“Well, I dunno if I believe you,” Billy sighed. “It just seems like life keeps piling shit on me, no matter what I do…”
“Stop that,” I told him, stroking the his shaggy, bowl-cut, brown hair. “We’re survivors, right? Right?”
“Right,” He replied halfheartedly.
“That’s right,” I said, keeping my voice positive. When I saw a set of well-dressed alphas standing at the end of the alley, their eyes on us, I felt our luck beginning to change.
“Hey there!” I called out to them, waving jovially and giving Billy a subtle prod in the side to let him know it was time to pep up and get back to work. “How you boys doing?”
Billy looked up at me then turned around, and I saw his body language change when he saw the expensive suits and watches. They were both young, handsome and human, which meant we wouldn’t have to worry about being jumped. Even omegas could easily take the strongest humans on Earth.
“They’re loaded,” Billy whispered to me.
“Sure are,” I said with a smile. I was still naked and stepped out from behind Billy to show myself off to them. “We’re doing all right. A bit lonely though, to be honest. You guys looking to hang out?”
“You read our minds,” the one on the right said as he started walking towards us. He was wearing a tailored navy blue suit and a thick gold watch hung from his wrist. The other wore a dark gray suit with an unbuttoned white dress shirt. They were obviously from out of town—Los Angeles probably—and looking to tear up the town. “Why don’t you boys come back with us? We’ve got a hotel downtown.”
“Don’t you want to know the price?” Billy asked.
“Price is no object,” the one on the left grinned. “You can make up a number and we’ll take care of it.”
As they grew closer, I caught their scents and surprisingly, they smelled pretty good—nothing to write home about, of course—but better than most of the Johns we ran into.
This could be it, I thought. At least a way to cover our rent!
But as the two alphas approached and began looking us up and down, another scent swept through my nose, preceding the gruff, terrible voice that set my panther stirring and my fight-or-flight instincts into overdrive.
“Sorry, fellas! But these two omegas are off tonight. Gonna have to find yourselves a couple of other holes to slip your dicks in!”
Pablo.
I froze in place and turned around to see the greasy bastard, who fancied himself a mob boss, standing behind us in a one of his tacky suits—tonight’s was brown with a hint of orange behind it. On his right was one of his men who I didn’t recognize. He was tall, muscled, wearing a tank top and a pair of black jeans and had his hair shaved so tight on his head he almost looked bald. They were both panther shifters like us. Alphas.
“Hello, boys,” he grinned at us.
Pablo had moved in on this area of town about a month ago and was the major reason we were behind on our rent. He was demanding forty percent of the money from all the working boys in the area. If they didn’t pay up—they got a beating that would keep them off the market for days, maybe weeks. Pablo was unforgiving and always made sure to focus on the face. So far, Billy and I had been able to keep his filthy hands off of our business, but it seemed he’d grown tired of our transgressions and was here to collect.
Chapter Three
Garrett
There’s something wrong with you. You know there is. But why don’t you know what it is?
It’s hard to think of yourself as a person when your entire life your fathers call you an animal. It’s hard to have any sense of self-worth when you’re constantly demeaned, made fun of and made to feel like you are below everyone else. But I guess when you’re born to two psychotic, alcoholic, drug users, you can’t expect much.
It was late and Hillcrest was popping off. Some of the working boys managed to keep a smile on their faces when they did their thing, trying their best to pretend that they enjoyed what they were doing. Or at least, that’s what I told myself.
Maybe they weren’t like me. Maybe they did take pleasure in their “profession.” Maybe they liked having some kind of power over the alphas and betas, as small as it might be, and got off being paid for doing something they liked doing anyway. But I doubted it.
Life as a working boy was miserable, but I still had to do it. I was working as a sous-chef during the week, but the pay was shit and due to “accounting issues,” I hadn’t gotten a check in a month and I was starting to seriously doubt whether or not my career as a chef was going to actually materialize.
After all, I was a high school dropout with serious emotional problems and an anger issue, but I also knew deep down that I wasn’t
worth much more. Maybe this was my destiny; to be used up in the streets by any grinning alpha or beta with a couple of hundreds, and I’d come to accept that.
It was like I’d built an ice wall around my heart, or what was left of it, and there was no way anyone was getting through it. It was like that huge thing in Game of Thrones that kept out the White Walkers, only this was meant to keep out anyone silly enough to come to me with the idea that love was something real or relationships actually worked. I knew better than that.
The things I’d seen out on the street would make your average suburban dweller cringe or cry. I’d seen countless cheaters—thousands maybe—and even more sickos, perverts and creeps, hideous excuses for alphas looking to lose their virginity, betas with boners who couldn’t talk their way into a make-out session with the most desperate omega in heat, and rich alphas looking for a fun time and something to do with their cash to prove just how alpha they were.
I’d seen working boys rip each other off, screw each other out of jobs, get each other hooked on drugs to take them out of the game and out of their competition. I’d seen them sell each other out to the cops, get into the life “just for a while” until they earned enough money to go back to Ohio or Oklahoma or Boston or wherever it was they were visiting from. And I’d seen it all come crashing down on them. It never worked out the way they thought, and that’s why I’d given up dreaming a long time ago. Survival was the only constant in life, and as long as I focused on that and that alone, I’d be all right.