“Enough,” Mitch’s voice called, ice-cold. “Step back, Rick. You’re not strengthening your claim with your actions.”
Jake, his face aching, blood trickling from his lip, tried to get his feet under him as Rick moved away. He kept his eyes on the Alpha until Rick was back to the edge of the circle, three of his pack mates moving to surround him. Only then did those holding Will back release him. The Alpha’s quick footsteps crossed the circle and then he was there, crouched next to Jake. His eyes burned dark with anger as he took in Jake’s face.
“Let’s get you up, Jake. Nice and slow now. I think Heidi is here. We can get her to check you over.”
“I’m okay,” he replied, trying to shake off the shocked, dazed feeling the blow had left him with. He took the proffered hand and let Will help him to his feet. “Say what you need to say.”
Will waited until he was steady on his feet, letting go with reluctance.
“I claim this Omega and the child he carries as my own, of my Pack, of my heart. Now, and forever.” He stepped forward, catching Jake’s chin in his hand and wiping the blood from it. Jake could see his clear reluctance to say the next words, their sentiment abhorrent to him. So Jake made it easy for him, pulling away from Will’s hand and sinking to the ground. “I kneel to my Alpha.”
Will allowed him barely five seconds on his knees before he took Jake’s elbow and helped him up.
“Don’t leave Mitch’s side,” he whispered in his ear, soft enough that no one else could hear.
Will urged him to move and so he did, walking towards where Mitch still stood, Dave behind him. Will turned as well, returning to his position at the edge of the circle. It felt wrong to be walking away from his Alpha, from his protector, but he had to let this play out.
Mitch’s eyes glanced over Jake’s face, his jaw tensing.
“We have one Omega, and two Alphas with competing claims. The city’s law, as it is written, permits challenge through combat. Both have elected to fight as wolves.”
He nodded to the two Alphas, and both men stripped off their clothes. As the crowd watched, the men shifted, two large wolves taking their place. Will had been right when he’d said they were evenly matched for size. The wolves snarled at each other but neither moved from their positions, waiting for Mitch’s go-ahead.
“A challenge fight is a fight to the death. No one but I may intercede. Anyone who crosses the line of the circle will suffer the consequences.” As one, the crowd took a step back, leaving the edge of the circle clear. Mitch lifted his hands above his head and clapped once.
“Begin.”
He stepped back to stand to the left of Jake, while Dave stood on his right. Two people Will trusted protecting him, and Will risking his life in the center of the circle.
At first, the two wolves circled each other as the crowd watched with bated breath. Jake was distracted for a moment when he caught sight of Kelly, standing between two of Rick’s friends. To his surprise, she wasn’t watching the fight but him, her envious eyes on his belly. He slid a protective hand across it, as if to shield the baby from her.
A growl pulled his eyes back to the scene as Rick launched his attack, running and pouncing on top of Will. Will crouched as Rick knocked against him, then in a move so quick Jake almost missed it, clamped his jaws around Rick’s exposed hind leg and bit down hard.
Rick made a sound like a whine that morphed into a louder growl, retreating for a moment, before diving straight back in, his jaws going right for Will’s throat. They never reached their target, as Will propelled himself forward using his back legs, slamming into Rick so hard that it knocked the Alpha on his side and he slid a few feet across the floor. Will was on him a second later, clamping his jaws around Rick’s neck. One bite, one tear into the soft flesh, and it would be an injury too grievous to heal. But Will didn’t take the killing blow, holding steady. He was waiting for something.
“Finish it,” Mitch said and distantly Jake heard his sister scream, saw people grab hold of her. Dave moved too, standing in front of Jake and blocking his view. There was a high-pitched whimper, a few seconds of whining, then silence except for his sister’s anguished cries and the crowd's gasps.
“Just hold on to me now, Jake. There’s a good lad,” Dave was saying, a hand to the back of Jake’s head keeping his face pressed against the older man’s shoulder. “It’ll all be over soon.”
Mitch’s voice carried across the room a moment later.
“I declare William of Eden Clan to be the true and rightful Alpha of Jake and his progeny. Our condolences to Jaquar Clan for their loss. This challenge will be the last of its kind. From this day forth, no Alpha shall have the right to challenge for an Omega who does not accept their claim, not in this city. I am granting Omega the right to choose, the same as any Beta.”
There were murmurs across the hall. Confusion, discontent, approval. Dave finally let him go and he looked up to a sea of faces nodding at Mitch’s words. Will had shifted back to human form and returned to stand with Chris and Jeff, wiping the blood from his skin with a damp cloth. As Jake watched, deliberately not letting his gaze stray to where Rick’s body lay, his sister kneeling next to it, the Alpha dressed hurriedly in his clothes.
Then Will was striding towards them, wrapping Jake in his arms in a tight hug. “It’s over, Jake. You’re mine and I’m yours.”
Mitch stepped towards them, speaking in an undertone.
“I think we should talk. Why don’t I drop you home?”
A few minutes later, they were inside Mitch’s car, Brian driving.
“I’m sorry to have to make you do my dirty work, Will.”
“It had to be done,” Will replied. The exchange made no sense to Jake.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Rick was put up to the challenge by some people in Eden who aren’t too pleased with the new leadership. They’d grown too fond of the freedoms they had under Stephen.”
“And under me,” Will added.
“Rick was… let’s call him a test case. They assumed we were weak, that we wouldn’t see things through. Now they’ve seen that we have, that we will, but also that times are changing. We don’t just want the hotel to be a safe haven for Omega, Jake. We want the city to be. It won’t happen overnight, or maybe even in our lifetime. But every small change helps. If an Alpha can’t fight to claim an Omega, then we can protect any Omega who comes to the city for shelter. Unfortunately, you, Rick, and Will had to be the exception that proves the new rules.”
“I don’t understand. Couldn’t you have just banned challenges and not let Rick and Will fight?”
“We weren’t expecting one so soon. To tell you the truth, we weren’t expecting one at all. To ban them, and to do so only after a challenge was issued, would at best look like favoritism, at worst, like weakness. It would have meant death by a thousand cuts. But now that the people have seen that we’re strong, have seen blood shed by us, they won’t be so quick to attack.”
“So Rick had to die.”
“One of the challengers did. And I’m not sorry it was Rick. I wouldn’t want to lose Will. And Rick certainly showed his true colors.” Mitch was eyeing Jake’s bruised face as he spoke.
Will was too, catching Jake’s chin between finger and thumb, and examining it carefully. “We’ll have to get you some ice for that, take down the swelling.”
He let go, his hand moving downward to press against Jake’s stomach. “How’s the little one?”
In answer, the baby kicked, strong and steady. “Relieved, just like I am,” he replied, trying to smile and wincing when it pulled at his cut and swollen lip.
“Is it bad that I’m not sorry about Rick? Or even Kelly, really.”
“They made their own bed, Jake, through their own actions. All we did was force them to lie in it.”
“A bed of thorns. They were bound to shed blood,” Mitch added.
Will pulled him closer, and Jake went willingly into his embrace, fee
ling the beat of the Alpha’s heart against his skin.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Will was starting to think he’d have to tie Jake to their bed to get him to slow down. Weren’t pregnant people supposed to rest as they approached their due date? Jake seemed to be gaining energy by the day, almost frantic in his attempts to prepare for the baby’s arrival. Their apartment was finished, decorated, and furnished with Jake giving most care to the nursery. But still the Omega wasn’t satisfied. Every moment was spent on putting the last touches to the Omegas' rooms, making each one individual and comfortable.
Every day he left for work, Will gave strict instructions to Celine, Dave, anyone who’d listen, that Jake was to rest and not be allowed to overtax himself. The only person who had any success in slowing Jake down was Dave and only when he put his foot down, which wasn’t often.
So it was both a surprise and a relief to get a phone call from Celine while he and Chris were in the middle of interviewing two suspected traffickers. He excused himself to take the call.
“Celine, is everything alright?”
“You had better come home. Jake’s in labor.”
“Are you sure?” His mate had seemed fine only a few hours ago. In the distance, behind Celine’s voice, he heard a cry, a voice he’d recognize anywhere. “Never mind. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Is Heidi…”
“Already here. She came to check on him and apparently things were already underway.”
Now that he thought about it, there’d been a certain tension in Jake’s eyes that morning. He’d put it down to the discomfort that came with advanced pregnancy but clearly it had been more than that. Why hadn’t Jake just come out and told him?
He pulled Chris out of the interview room, letting him know where he was going and why. The other Alpha grinned at him, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll wait to hear from you. We’ve got a bit of a pool going on the weight, so make sure and check it, hey?”
Will just shook his head, waving at the rest of the team as he left. It had taken some time to settle back in, to get to know the new faces and catch up with the old. Some weren’t ecstatic to have him back, given the circumstances under which he’d left, but they’d mostly gotten over it. There were quite a few well wishes shouted after him.
The drive home in lunchtime traffic was maddening, and he tapped the steering wheel impatiently, keeping a close eye on his phone. Once he parked up, he headed straight for Snakes. They hadn’t yet moved into the apartment and he knew the only place Jake would feel safe to have the baby was in their room.
Dave was pacing the corridor outside his office. “I feel as nervous as when my eldest was born,” he commented. “And I’m sorry to say it, but I think you’re late to the party.”
Will got his meaning a moment later when he heard a cry from inside that most decidedly wasn't from Jake. Stepping past Dave, he saw Celine at the door to his bedroom, beaming from ear to ear. She stepped back to let him enter, and he found Jake in bed, Heidi standing nearby. His mate was flushed, his skin pale under the heat and glistening with sweat.
“You’re just in time,” Jake said, glancing down at the blanket wrapped bundle in his arms. Another shrill cry and Jake rocked the baby slowly. “Come meet your daughter.”
Will needed no invitation, climbing onto the bed next to Jake and peering down at the child, pushing the blanket back to see her face. He let his fingers just whisper across her skin, and she turned into his touch, quieting.
“She knows you,” Jake said, smiling up at him.
“Of course she does,” he replied, returning Jake’s smile with one of his own. “I’m her father.”
He stretched out next to Jake, taking the baby from him when Jake offered her to him. She fussed at leaving the comfort of Jake’s arms, but settled with a yawn and a wave of her tiny hands.
“Have you decided on a name?” he asked.
“I thought maybe Rhea.”
“Rhea?”
“It’s one of Saturn’s moons. Named after a goddess.”
“I like it, it suits her.”
She opened her eyes then, clear blue blinking up at them.
“We have so much to show her, to teach her,” Jake said, leaning closer and resting against him. Will could tell he was worn out, from the birth, from his frantic activity in the days leading up to it. Maybe now he could convince Jake to rest for a while, to take the time to enjoy their first child and the joys and trials of parenthood.
“There’s plenty of time for all that. Years and years. What’s say we just get to know her first. Welcome her to the world.”
Jake leaned in, stroking one finger across her cheek. “Welcome, Rhea. Welcome home.”
Epilogue
The call came in at two am and blearily he reached for the cell phone, answering it and holding it to his ear.
“Hello.”
“Jake, we’re got one incoming. ETA, twenty minutes.” He went from asleep to wide awake in seconds at the sound of his mate’s voice and spent a few minutes gathering extra details.
Clambering out of bed, he threw on another layer of clothes to protect him from the chill in the air. Rhea lay sleeping in the cot attached to their bed. As much as he adored the nursery, he liked to have her close at night. He didn’t like to disturb her sleep though, so he simply tucked her blanket tighter and switched on the baby monitor, taking the second one and clipping it to his waistband before grabbing his cell phone and keys.
That done, he hurried away, down the corridor, out of their apartment, and up the stairs. Which room to use? The one at the end was empty and far enough from the others that any disturbance wouldn’t wake everyone. He switched on the lights and set to readying things, turning on the heat and making sure there’d be hot water. He went to the airing cupboard off the corridor, collecting linen to make up the bed.
A sleepy Colin arrived a few minutes later.
“Let me help,” he said taking the other end of the sheet. Between them, they got the bed made up, Colin only leaving when his little boy, Tommy, started to cry.
Once the room was ready, Jake ran to the kitchen, finding Trey already there, the kettle on and soup warming in a pan.
“I heard you and Colin moving about, thought you could do with a hand.”
“Thanks, Trey. That’s a big help. We might need to keep the numbers to a minimum though, until we get him settled.”
Trey wasn’t surprised or offended, he'd been there just long enough to know how thing worked. He simply nodded his acceptance and left things in Jake’s hands. Colin didn’t reappear either, so when the door opened, Chris and Will urging their newest arrival inside, Jake was there to greet him alone. He unclipped the baby monitor, handing it to Will as he took the shaken teenage Omega off their hands, leading him to the kitchen.
“Welcome to the Omega Haven, Paul. Don’t worry, this is a safe place for you. Omega only in here. How about some tea and then we’ll get you settled…”
It was just after dawn when he climbed down the stairs and in through the door of their apartment. He heard Will before he saw him. The Alpha was in the kitchen, sitting in the rocking chair that looked out into their small garden, the morning light filtering through the window. Will was humming softly, Rhea cooing in his arms, a blanket thrown over them both. As Jake walked in, the Alpha scooted over, reaching to pull Jake down next to them.
“How’s our new arrival?”
“Sleeping. Colin is keeping an eye out. The poor kid is traumatized.”
“Well, he’s here now. Safest place any Omega could be, and in very good hands.”
Jake cuddled closer to the Alpha’s warmth and Will shifted the blanket so it covered him. Rhea waved a hand in the air and he reached out and caught it, her whole hand enveloped within his.
“This is really something, what we’ve created,” Will said softly. He might have meant the Haven, a true place of safety for Omega. He might have meant their little family of three and the home they’d built. Which
ever way Jake looked at it, his words were true.
“It’s more than I ever knew I could have. Everything has just kind of fallen into place.”
“That’s because we fell together,” Will replied, “and into each other’s arms.”
“Like we were meant for each other,” Jake agreed as Will pressed a kiss to his cheek and Rhea smiled up at them.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading Falling Together, I hope you enjoyed Will and Jake’s story. If you have a moment to spare, please consider leaving a review.
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Cover by Vivian Monir Designs
Copyright © 2017 by Claire Cullen
All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincident
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