by Marcy Jacks
Almost there. He was almost there.
Miles stopped shouting for him. He no longer cried out for James to come save him. That was a problem.
James couldn’t see everything he needed to see right away. Was he unconscious? Had Zed hit him? Had that motherfucking piece of shit hit him?
Rage intensifying, James could hardly think on anything, especially not the burn in his body and lungs. He knew how to push those thoughts away. He knew how to make his body ignore the pain in his legs, in his lungs, and in his skin whenever a hard branch stabbed or caught in his flesh.
One focus. One objective. One target.
James pushed harder. He used everything he had, and Zed was still weighed down by the cargo he held.
James lunged, leaping through the air, reaching out.
He caught Zed by the back of his head, his claws digging in, catching flesh, but Zed was a warrior as well. He ignored the slicing against his skin, but he couldn’t ignore it when James’s claws caught onto the tough material at the back of his neck. The clothes used for protecting his body against knife attacks and claws.
James didn’t get the man’s flesh, but he did manage to sink his claws into the material and yank back hard, forcing Zed to a stop.
Even knife-proof clothing wasn’t ever fully knife and claw proof. They could still be grabbed and ruined.
Zed yelled out loud. He didn’t go down. He threw Miles down to the ground first, spinning around, swiping his own claws out.
They slid across James’s face. He closed his eyes, trying to protect them, but then the red he saw was more liquid, and he had no idea if they had been cut or not.
Someone else grabbed James from behind. Arms around his middle pulled him up and threw him down hard.
Fuck. He’d completely forgotten about the third warrior he’d left behind.
“You just never die, do you?” Zed demanded, his booted foot coming down hard, meant for the back of James’s head.
He rolled out of the way, and for the first time in years, he didn’t want control. He didn’t want to just use his knives or claws. He wanted to use the beast inside himself, to let it out and kill these motherfuckers.
So that was exactly what he did. He let the entire animal out, and he relished the sudden spark of fear in Zed’s eyes when James stood taller than him, his fangs ready to sink into that thick skull.
Zed nodded, apparently getting his balls back as he let himself shift into a shape that was partway between wolf and man.
It was a good plan. It would allow him to stand on his two hind legs and keep use of his opposable thumbs, but even with the added height advantage given to him and the fur over the whole of his body, he was still shorter than James was.
Miles screamed. James looked over. That third warrior was on top of him, grabbing at him, hitting him and trying to pull Miles back up into his arms.
Presumably so he could run away again.
James roared. He made it only two steps to Miles before Zed slammed his body into James’s, pushing him back.
No! He wouldn’t let them take Miles from him.
James slammed his claws into Zed’s sides. As long as his claws were, they barely made it through the protective layer of fur.
He wanted to stab the life out of Zed, not scratch him like an irritated cat.
He used his teeth and fists. Zed yelped when James bit one of his furry ears clean off the top of his head.
He spat it out, hating the taste, and he kept punching, going wild with the need for his blood as the other warrior pulled Miles into his arms and prepared to make his escape.
James roared. He wrapped his arms around Zed’s middle, and in that moment, with a strength even he didn’t think he possessed, he pulled Zed off the ground, flipped him upside down, and slammed him hard on top of his head.
Zed stilled after that, his body limp and unmoving.
James had no time to check if he was dead or not, and he didn’t care either
He raced after the third warrior.
He hadn’t made it far. Miles’s wiggling and struggling had apparently made it difficult for this pup to take him for a hostage.
James made it to within ten feet of the man, and he roared.
The warrior stopped short, spine stiff, as if he’d just heard the sound of death behind him.
He slowly turned his head, eyes popping wide.
Even Miles, who gasped for breath in the man’s arms, couldn’t look away from James.
James had never seen himself in this shape before. He wondered what he looked like, what horrors they must be seeing to both have that reaction to him.
Miles snapped out of it first, pushing himself out of the warrior’s arms, landing awkwardly on his chest since his hands were still tied behind his back.
“Oof!”
James growled.
The warrior looked down at Miles and then up at James. He lifted his hands and backed away. “All yours,” he said and started to run.
Sometimes the young weren’t so stupid. They could be smart when they needed to be.
James ran to his omega, falling to his knees before him and yanking Miles up and into his arms.
He could hear the sound of the smaller man’s heart just racing, faster than the wings of a hummingbird.
“Y-you came for me,” Miles said, and even with his fox ears pointing up high at the statement, he started to cry in James’s arms.
James cut the zip tie, and when he stood, holding Miles tightly in his arms, Miles didn’t fight to get away from him as James ran.
Miles turned into James’s chest and held on tight, as if his life depended on it.
Chapter Five
The fire blazed hot. Taylor didn’t fully understand how it could have happened, but the fire itself seemed to get out of hand, and as James ran with Taylor in his arms, even with the heavy canopy above his head, Taylor could still make out the glow behind him, the smell of burning wood, and the few clearings they passed by allowed him to see the rising smoke.
Eventually, James stopped running away from the fire and perpendicular to it. Then there was a stream. It must have been connected to the one where Taylor had been getting their fresh water from not too long ago.
His wrists still hurt. He could hardly think about what had happened, and the fact that James had come back for him at all after what Taylor had done was enough to make him grateful, to not want to say anything that might risk his safety right now.
If James had decided to leave him behind to fend for himself, Taylor wouldn’t have been able to blame him for it, but he hadn’t. He’d chased down those men, killed one of them, and rescued Taylor. Maybe the man with the scaled tattoos on his face was also dead? He could only hope.
Taylor was never going to forget how much he owed James for that. It was enough to make him want to cry.
He might have done just a little bit of that anyway. Crying.
He had no idea how long James ran while carrying him. The man was a machine. A human, even one his size, wouldn’t have been able to carry a full-grown adult for so long and with so much energy like this.
Being an alpha definitely had its advantages.
It couldn’t have been more than a half an hour or so, but eventually, a town was in sight, far off down the hill. James panted for breath. Running consistently for so long was clearly getting to him.
“I can walk.”
James shook his head. “No, just hang on.”
James continued on toward the town. Taylor heard sirens in the distance, saw red flashing lights, and the harsh engine noise of a plane boomed overhead.
It didn’t look like any normal plane. It headed for the lake.
The humans already knew what was happening, and they were getting ready to fight the fire. Taylor knew what this was because he’d seen it on television after being rescued. The plane would scoop up the water and dump it over the fire in an effort to combat it, and some of those bigger yellow machines down there were goin
g to cut down as many trees as they could to create an empty space so the fire couldn’t jump across.
Taylor always thought it seemed strange to cut down trees to save other trees, and ultimately, the town, but he wasn’t going to argue against it as James took him down the hill.
There were a lot more people standing around in such a small space than he could have thought. Most didn’t notice the huge guy carrying the smaller one.
“Try to hide your ears.”
Taylor hadn’t thought of that. He didn’t have a hat, either. He pressed his fox ears down flat on his head. They would likely get confused for his own hair or a strange-looking hat. He just had to keep his tail out of sight, but luckily most people on the road were too busy pointing up at the fire and smoke that threatened to come down onto them.
“Is he hurt?” Taylor jumped. A man in a blue uniform walked up to James.
“No, just dehydrated and scared.”
“You came down off the hill.”
“We did, the second we noticed the fire. Left our gear behind and ran.”
The man, a police officer if Taylor had the uniform right, raised a brow at James. “Do you know how that started? Was it anyone in your camp?”
“Actually, yeah, a bunch of dumb-ass idiots up there. They lit this abandoned cabin on fire and took off.”
James described the men who had tried to kidnap him but while leaving out the kidnapping part.
Taylor wouldn’t have thought that would be a good idea, but he didn’t argue against it either. He didn’t want to give James any trouble, and he likely knew what was best to do when it came down to this sort of thing more than Taylor did.
“Is the town being evacuated?”
“Not yet, and not likely either, but keep an ear open. You have any place to stay?”
“I do.”
He did?
“Good. Get some shelter, and get him taken care of. If he needs a doctor, call one, and listen to the radio in case it comes down to evacuation, got it? The weather called for rain tonight, so that might help stop this thing before it gets too much traction.”
James nodded. “Thanks for your help.”
The police officer gave Taylor one last strange look, as though he was trying to figure out if he should say something more, but James turned away from him.
“I can really walk.”
“I don’t want your tail hanging out. If anyone asks, you were just tired from the running and I’m helping you to not have a panic attack.”
That seemed to make sense because it was pretty much true. Taylor really was trying not to have a panic attack, though it seemed to be James who should be the most tired.
There was a motel next to the gas station. Taylor had never been outside the mansion territory before, not that he could remember, and then James had taken him away. Now he was here. This town seemed bustling with people, and even outside the motel everyone stood by their doors, as though waiting for the signal when they should leave.
James entered the front glass doors. A young man was on the phone. “Everything’s fine, Ma, relax. We’re not exactly going to get traffic jams up here.”
He stopped talking suddenly at the sight of James and Taylor then went back to his conversation. “I’ll call you back, Ma.”
He hung up, his eyes scanning James and Taylor in much the same way the police officer’s had. “Can I help you?”
“We need a room. Are you still open?”
James finally put Taylor down on his feet, apparently satisfied the counter between him and the man behind it would hide his tail decently enough.
“Uh, I guess so.”
James reached into his back pocket. Taylor tensed, thinking he was going for one of the many different-shaped blades he happened to have on him.
No, instead he pulled out a small wad of bills. He separated a few from the wad and put them down on the counter.
Taylor didn’t have much of an education as far as being a former slave in a vampire home, but he could count.
“Will this be enough?”
The young man behind the counter blinked. “Yeah, it’s enough.”
“Good, can I get the key?”
The kid rushed to bring James a key from off one of the many hooks on the wall. There were a few keys still on it. He handed it over to James.
“Thanks.” James made sure Taylor was in front of him when he turned them both around to leave, hiding Taylor’s tail with his body.
“Let’s go, Miles.”
Taylor nodded.
They made it to the door before the kid behind the counter called out to them.
“Wait, wait, come back.”
James tensed. Taylor did, too.
James only half turned, not pulling away from Taylor.
The kid behind the counter walked around it, the money James had just given him in hand.
He didn’t make eye contact with James as he held the money back out to him. “You can spend the night for free. Because of the fire.”
James didn’t take the money. Taylor didn’t blame him. The act confused him as well.
“Go on, take it before I change my mind.”
James did as he was told, taking the money, though still looking at the young man with clear suspicion in his eyes.
Taylor could hardly believe what he was seeing.
“Just make sure that if I tell you that you gotta go, you go. If they call for evacuation, I don’t want anyone dallying around.”
James nodded. “Understood. Thank you.”
The kid nodded. “Sure thing.”
Taylor could hardly believe what had happened. It seemed like such a nice gesture, and he was grateful for it. He would have thanked the other man if James hadn’t pushed him out of the office so quickly.
Taylor had no idea where he was supposed to go. Not really. He was forced to just keep moving along since he didn’t know which door belonged to him, and James walked up so closely behind him as if he thought Taylor would run away on him.
They made it to one of the doors marked Twelve in fading gold lettering. No one noticed them as they passed by. Everyone still kept their attention on the building fire on top of the hill.
Taylor could hardly believe he and James had ever been so far away. It seemed like on the other side of the earth, and yet James had run that far while carrying him.
James pulled him inside the motel room, slamming the door shut behind them with a bang and locking it.
Taylor stood still, glancing around him. The room smelled clean, which he hadn’t expected. The colors were bright, and while it was a far cry from the rooms that his vampire masters had slept in, which Taylor later slept in when they were banished, it was much nicer than the room he’d shared with four other omegas when he’d still been a slave.
The way people spoke about these places he’d expected it to be dirty.
“That was really nice of that man to let us stay here without charge.” Even Taylor knew the value of money.
James peeled off his black shirt, revealing his scars, and the barely healed wounds. He headed for the bathroom. Taylor was only snapped out of the haze of staring at his magnificent body when the man spoke. “Don’t get used to it. People only ever want something from you. The kid wanted to look good when he tells his ma what a nice thing he did for the two dirty people who ran into his motel for shelter.”
The water ran in the sink. Taylor walked over to James, noting the way he stuck his entire face under the stream before drinking.
Taylor’s heart sped up. “Thank you for saving me.” He thought about something. “Did you only do it because you want something from me?”
James came up for air with a heavy gasp for breath. His face dripped with water then spilled down his scarred chest. Taylor could hardly force himself to look away from it. It was beautiful, in a strange, sad way.
“I did.”
Taylor’s heart swelled painfully. “Oh.” He rubbed his arm. “What was it you wanted?�
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James’s eyes suddenly changed, becoming harsh, animal-like. He looked different as he approached Taylor, his eyes glowing, his expression intense. “This.”
He reached for Taylor’s face, held tightly to his cheeks, and pulled him forward, pressing their mouths together in a hard, demanding kiss.
Chapter Six
He had him now. He was going to take him. That motherfucker had tried to take Miles from him. It was forbidden to want the omega this much when James was supposed to get him to Varrick one way or the other, but he couldn’t help it, and he wasn’t going to try fighting it anymore.
He pulled the man to the tub. James was hot and sweaty, and he wanted the little bottles of conditioner inside the shower so he could use them on Miles’s hole and ease the way.
Miles was only tense for a moment before he relaxed, his body becoming more and more pliant to what James wanted to do to him. He came easily after that, following James’s lead and even pushing him a little to get into the tub so they could get started.
It was fucking wonderful.
It was easy to get Miles out of his clothes. All James had to do was peel the man out of his pajamas and toss them away. They were definitely going to need a wash. James would get something new for his mate after he was done with him.
Right now, he was too busy enjoying the way Miles’s fingers pulled at the waist of James’s belt and pants. James removed the belt himself, unbuckled his holsters, and tossed them carelessly onto the tiled floor.
He was used to keeping an ear open on the off chance someone attempted to kill him, but right now he could barely focus on anything other than the wonderful creature in his arms.
“You wear too many clothes,” Miles complained.
God, he adored this omega. “You only think that because you’ve been wearing the same thing for so long.”
Miles glowered up at him, which was just adorable. “Get naked, right now.”
“Uh-huh, I’ll get right on that right away. Impatient.”
“Of course I’m impatient! You can’t just get me off and then expect me to be patient about it the next time it’s about to happen.”