by Marcy Jacks
“The ones your father has been using to sneak into the house?” Angel glared at the man. “I’ve heard a dragon died because you didn’t talk about them sooner, and a couple of omegas.”
Sorin winced. “I…didn’t know they were there at the time.”
Angel didn’t believe him. “Then why would you be of any help to anyone if you don’t know anything about the house? I thought you said you were going to do whatever you could to help Seth find and close up those passages?”
“I will. I just…I’m working on it.”
Sorin stepped forward again, holding out his hand. “Can I shake your hand? You cared for Lucian, and I’ve been wanting to thank you for that.”
Angel looked down at the vampire’s hand. The son of Angel’s master. He’d really managed to thread the needle as everything got progressively worse for everyone else who lived and worked with his father, that was for sure.
Angel shook his head. “I helped your mate because you said you would kill me if I didn’t.”
He could still remember the cold expression on Sorin’s face. Angel had peed himself a little. It had been bad enough to serve Varrick, but then to have the man’s son there making threats, as well…
He’d been terrified. He’d thought he was going to lose his ears as well as his tail.
Again with that pitiful expression that made Angel both guilty and angry.
He glared at the man, hating him. “I’ll never shake your hand.”
Sorin lowered his hand.
Angel’s heart beat furiously. He was getting scared. Speaking like this to the son of his former master, a man who would skin Angel alive if he could see this, was making his guts clench up, and there seemed to be nothing he could do to stop that feeling from happening.
But he kept on talking. “You’re a vampire. You’re a…a bloodsucker! I’ll never shake the hand of you or anyone else like you!”
Sorin didn’t break eye contact with him.
Angel had no idea what he was supposed to do after his outburst. He thought he was supposed to do something. Was he supposed to stay? Was he supposed to keep on dusting and cleaning up after Sorin despite telling the man he had no respect for him?
That didn’t seem to make much sense to him.
So Angel decided he wasn’t going to do any chores at all. At least, none in any room Sorin occupied.
Angel turned and left. Sorin didn’t call out after him. Angel expected that he would, so his heart beat even harder and heavier than ever before when he marched out of the library and down the hall.
He was angry. He was so angry and high on this strange energy that he didn’t know what to do with himself.
So he went outside.
It was going on noon, so the sun would be nice and high. That meant Sorin wouldn’t follow him out there.
He was going to have to learn Sorin’s daily routine so he could avoid him. Some said that he slept for half the day and stayed up for the rest so he could be on somewhat similar footing to his mate’s. Angel didn’t know that for sure, and he didn’t like that he was going to have to know this, but it needed to be done if he was going to keep from being within eyesight of that man.
Bloodsucker.
So much as whispering a word like that would get his tongue cut out if Varrick had still been in control. He’d said the word to be as cruel as possible. He’d wanted to hurt Sorin for his part in Angel’s abuse and torture.
Now…now he didn’t know why he bothered. Sorin barely had a reaction.
He went to the gardens. That was where he wanted to be. That was where Angel felt the safest.
When he’d worked in a vampire home, the windows always needed to be closed up, sometimes even during the night. Angel was only now just getting used to being able to walk around in the sunshine.
Sunshine was where he wanted to be. He didn’t have to fear that he would be bitten by a vampire in the middle of the day.
Angel scrubbed at his eyes. They burned. He wished they would stop.
Then he heard something. Something in the backyard.
His heart leapt when he realized what it was.
A sparring match was going on.
Eager to see it, Angel ran around the property and to the back.
Multiple dragons were on the lawn, some in various stages of shifting. Their scales and wings were out, but most were on their hind legs, still mostly human.
Angel recognized the red dragon as Seth, fully in his dragon form. He was beautiful like that. Angel wished he’d been born a dragon. They were wonderful to see.
Even when Seth charged at his second-in-command, Stefan, they were beautiful.
Micah sat closer to the doors leading into the pool room. He yawned widely, a bundle in his arms as he kept a wide distance away from the fighting.
He looked happy. Content. The child he held hardly made a sound. Probably because the bottle Micah held to the mouth of the tiny infant held so much more appeal.
Miles appeared, a tray with many drinks on it. He set them down onto a table on the deck, taking only two with him back to where Micah sat. They both smiled at each other then seemed to notice Angel standing there before waving.
Angel tensed. He waved back nervously before allowing himself to really acknowledge them.
There was no way Sorin could have said anything to those two men in the time it took for Angel to get here, so for now, he didn’t think he was in any trouble.
Miles called him over. Angel went.
“Hey, Angel, how’s it going?”
Miles’s smile was wide and bright. Angel was still getting used to seeing an omega so happy.
Angel had to bite down on the groan that threatened to escape. He didn’t want to think about what he’d said to Sorin and the trouble he was going to be in when the entire house found out.
“I’m well, thank you. You’re both watching your mates?”
He didn’t know why he bothered with the question. It was obvious that was what they were doing, and they smiled and nodded at him.
Micah’s smile was more tired than Miles’s.
Micah had been given leave from doing chores because of the birth of his child after ten months, overdue, and thankfully born just before things could get too dangerous. Miles, however, he was a strange case. Apparently, he was allowed to do no chores at all since he was the mate of the red dragon who now controlled this property. And yet, the other omegas spoke of how strange it was that he would often fight to be able to join the other omegas and work with them.
Angel was sure that if he was given the option to never do any chores, he might just take it. Miles was strange like that.
“Did you come here to see Theron?”
The question startled him. Angel tensed, his eyes flying wide. “I…” Angel looked to the side, at the men fighting, at Theron who suddenly spread his wings wide as he squared off against James.
Angel had tried desperately to not look at the man because the warmth that rushed through his body was exactly the sort of thing he’d wanted to keep control over.
Now that he was looking at the impressive body before him, covered with protective scales like a second skin, and leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination, Angel couldn’t bring himself to look away.
It was as though he was stuck.
“I…I think so,” he said.
As though Theron knew there was a pair of eyes on him, he stopped suddenly in the middle of his battle. He turned his gaze, searching for the source of the heat that drilled into the back of his head.
His stare landed squarely on Angel, but it all happened so fast that James had apparently not noticed the change in his sparring partner, and his next thrown fist landed squarely against Theron’s jaw.
It sent the dragon flying.
James cursed.
Angel cried out softly, and he rushed after the man.
Miles called after him. “Angel, wait!”
Angel didn’t wait. He didn’t think about it. Ev
en though there were still battles going on all around him, and even though he was nearly struck when Andrei and Lasius nearly crashed into him, Angel didn’t stop until he was at Theron’s side.
He fell to his knees next to the man. Theron was already beginning to pull himself up to a sitting position, his hand clutching at his jaw, his eyes clenched shut from the pain, but Angel wanted to help him.
He had to.
He put his hands behind Theron’s shoulders, helping the man to sit up, though Theron hardly seemed to need it.
He opened his eyes and then stared with shock at Angel, as though wondering how in the hell he could have made it through the fighting to get to him.
Angel was suddenly embarrassed, but he squashed it down. “Are you…are you all right?”
He was almost too terrified to see what it would look like when Theron removed his hand from his face. Angel didn’t want to see his jaw hanging slack, and he didn’t want to see blood.
He didn’t want Theron to be hurt.
“Jesus Christ!” Evzen shouted. “What were you thinking? You’re not supposed to just run through a group of fighting dragons like that!”
“Agreed,” James said. “Even if this is a spar, you could be hurt, like what I just did to Theron.”
Theron made a low growling noise deep in his throat, as though he was getting ready to do something extremely unpleasant to James for making a comment like that.
Angel didn’t care, either. He touched Theron’s face, and then a rush of instincts flared to life within him. Protective instincts.
He jumped to his feet and punched James in the face.
Of course the taller, more powerful alpha barely reacted aside from raising his brows and widening his eyes. That didn’t stop Angel from yelling at him. “He had his back to you! You’re not supposed to keep fighting him when he has his back to you! Even I know that! Why would you do that?”
He raised his fist again. James didn’t move, but something powerful, something solid, reached out and grabbed him before he could make the strike he so desperately wanted to.
Angel glanced back, panting heavily for breath. Theron stood there, a shaky smile on his face as he held on to Angel’s wrist.
“I’m fine,” Theron said then winced and brought his other hand up to his jaw, rubbing it. “That really fucking hurt, but I’m fine. Don’t hit people. It’s not right.”
Angel scowled back at James. “He hurt you first, and it’s not like this is hurting him.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Theron curled his arm around Ange’s waist, pulling him closer.
The heat from before, the rush of warmth that Angel had been desperate to avoid by even being in the same room as Theron, pulsed through his body as though he’d suddenly sat on top of a furnace.
It was the strangest feeling he’d ever had in his entire life, and the only thing he could identify about it was that he wanted so much more of it. He wanted this man to make him feel good.
Theron leaned in close, his mouth coming to Angel’s ear. “Apologize to James.”
Angel growled at James instead. If he’d still had his tail, it would have been swaying with irritation.
His fox ears, on the other hand, pressed down hard on the back of his head.
“No.”
“Angel,” Theron said.
How was it that his voice could seem to hold on to both a warning and a sexual promise at the same time?
His skin buzzed, and his body burned. He couldn’t take this anymore. Angel needed to obey.
Much as he didn’t want to obey anyone or anything anymore for the rest of his life, he was fast learning that there were some things in his life that he wouldn’t be able to ignore.
This instinct that was hitting him hard was one of them.
“I’m sorry for hitting you,” Angel said. The words came out like a helpless mumble.
Theron chuckled, and his mouth touched the side of Angel’s face.
A kiss. Angel had just been kissed. The heat increased. He was going to light up on fire.
“That’s my good little fox.”
Angel growled again but only because he felt as though he needed to get through this strange instinct and at least make some sort of effort at fighting against the lust building within him.
He briefly remembered touching himself the night before. Stroking his cock to orgasm, multiple times after Theron had asked him to be his mate.
He had to immediately bury that thought when he felt his dick twitching with interest.
No, not right here. Not now. He couldn’t get an erection in front of so many alphas! He couldn’t!
“Well, James, is everything all right between the two of you now?” Lucian asked.
Angel especially couldn’t look at him. After the way he’d spoken to Lucian’s mate, he didn’t think he wanted Lucian to defend him at all.
“Of course it is.” James nodded, as though none of this had meant anything to him. As though everything was all right.
It wasn’t all right. Angel was angry. He was angry with himself. He was angry for the things he’d said and done. He didn’t know why he couldn’t control himself, and now this was happening.
Everyone was looking at him.
He didn’t like it.
Seth approached. “Angel, I know you’re still getting used to the new rules of living with dragons, but for real, you could have hurt yourself. I didn’t even notice you were running to Theron until you’d made it to him. We’re using our laws, and some of us have spikes on our tails and wings when we swing those things around.”
Angel nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry.”
Miles appeared, running through the dragons now that the sparring had stopped. He stood between Seth and Angel, looking between them before turning his attention to his mate.
“Do you think maybe Theron and Angel need to have this talk alone?”
Seth raised a brow. “Angel is my omega to deal with.”
“I know,” Miles said quickly, speaking confidently. “But I really think Theron and Angel need to talk about this alone. Angel might be more receptive to Theron’s advice, you know?”
Angel realized what the other omega was trying to do, and he was impressed.
Angel looked at the man, and he couldn’t help the touch of hero worship that came over him. The respect and admiration he felt for Miles in that moment was almost on par with the respect and admiration he held for Theron.
That was saying quite a lot.
How long would it be before Angel was anything like him?
Angel wanted to be like him, but he kept screwing up.
Seth seemed to understand what his mate was getting at, and he finally nodded, giving his permission for Theron to take Angel away.
“Go and make sure he knows the rules,” Seth said. “I can’t have him doing that again.”
Theron nodded. “Understood, alpha.” Theron looked down at Angel. Angel was almost too embarrassed to look back up at him. “What do you say? Are you ready to get out of here with me?”
Angel had a sense of what was going to happen. His heart pounded furiously, and a sense of desperate wanting overcame him.
If he allowed himself to be alone with this powerful, handsome alpha who wanted Angel for his mate, then there was nothing Angel was going to be able to do to stop either Theron, or himself.
They would have sex.
Which meant this was the last chance Angel had to put a stop to it before it happened.
He didn’t know why he bothered to say anything at all or nod his head. He was pretty sure the answer was going to be obvious from the look in his eyes.
“Okay.”
Chapter Seven
Theron was pretty sure he understood what had been going through Angel’s head when the man ran for him. He just really wished he hadn’t.
Angel was lucky no one had accidentally punched him in the face when he’d been tearing his way through the sparring match. That could have been a disa
ster.
Theron was getting all kinds of images in his head about broken noses and shattered jaws.
Thank God that didn’t happen to him. Theron could hardly handle that punch James had given to him.
For a hybrid, he was powerful as fuck.
“Your room or mine?” Theron asked. He wanted to make sure that wherever they did this would lead to Angel’s comfort.
Angel swallowed hard. Theron wished he knew what was going on in the man’s head.
“Your room is fine.”
Theron nodded. “All right, let’s go.”
He played it cool, but secretly he was saying a small Hail Mary and thanking Christ.
He at least knew the supplies he was going to have to work with in order to make the claim.
Theron had no idea what Angel kept in his bedroom, so this would be easier.
He could smell the omega’s lust for him, and it was making all kinds of signals fire off in Theron’s brain.
And his dick. That stupid thing was shouting up at him like a cartoon character demanding he give it the attention he desperately craved. It was almost comical, but he was just going to have to put up with it.
Angel seemed to be looking around for someone as they made it up the stairs. “What’s the matter?” Theron asked.
“Where’s Sorin?”
Theron smiled. “He’s either in his room or in the library. Lucian and he woke up early today. Or late, depending on how you think of it.”
Theron wanted to comfort his mate. He didn’t want Angel to have to worry about Sorin, or any other vampire, ever again.
He opened the door to his room, letting Angel inside, and then closing it up behind him. “Look, I know you have your reasons to not like Sorin. I was kind of hesitant around the man, too, but from what everyone tells me around here, he’s not so bad.”
Angel shook his head. “Sorin threatened to kill me.”
“I know. I heard. He was protecting his mate.”
Angel ducked his head then scratched the back of his neck.