Inside was decorated beautifully, red paint on the wall opposite the front door with matching red and purple rugs on the floor. The furniture looked inviting and comfortable, completely different to the sterile white of his apartment. Bookshelves had been hung on the other walls that were painted white, but all of the shelves were empty. When Richard felt something beneath his feet, he peered down and saw he was walking on Gareth’s books. Hundreds of them scattered along the floor. Some of the pages were torn and most of the spines appeared to be damaged.
Two paintings hung on parts of the walls that weren’t decorated with bookshelves—one of sunrise, one of sunset—but they were almost coming off the hooks and one of the panes of glass had shattered. Small flecks of glass had showered down onto the books below. There had been a struggle, or Gareth’s apartment had been robbed without anything obvious missing. His flat-screen TV was in the right side corner of the room, smashed to pieces.
Richard attempted to clear his mind so he could think. Gareth seemed like a well-adjusted man who wouldn’t get into fights or trouble, so why was his apartment ransacked and why was he missing? The day after going to a shifter bar, his home is torn to pieces and he isn’t anywhere to be found? In truth, Richard knew he hadn’t looked in many places, but all the evidence so far didn’t look good.
Over the years he’d spent at the bar, he’d heard whispers of lawless people who would capture shifters and sell them onto the highest bidder. Some said they were bred until they died from it, others said they were used as sex slaves. The only thing people could agree on was that the people were held against their will and sold like meat. He’d always assumed that these whispers were started to keep the shifter population in check and he often ignored anyone who gave the rumors any serious thought, but now he’d seen this…
Maybe they were true, Richard thought, feeling horrified at his past actions, Maybe they were all true and I just dismissed them like their lives meant nothing?
The idea of Gareth sold in auction like cattle made his blood boil. His hands clenched into fists, his nails digging into his flesh, as a searing temper flared inside him.
Then, without knowing why, Richard screamed as loud as he could: “Fuuuuuuuuuuuck!”
Outside the apartment building, the cold air bit at Richard’s skin as it rushed past him. Few cars passed him by, and even fewer cabs. His foot anxiously tapped against the sidewalk as he waited. When one finally passed, he frantically waved it down and stepped into the road.
“I’ve already got a fare!” The driver screamed out the open window. “Get out the road.”
Richard ran to the back door and yanked it open: “I’ll give you one hundred dollars to get out right now.” Richard took out his wallet from his jacket pocket and held out two fifties. Eagerly, the passenger took the money and scurried out of the cab. Richard threw himself inside and shouted at the driver to go.
“Go where?” The driver asked.
“I don’t know yet,” Richard said. “Just drive!”
The cab jerked forward and started to roll down the road. Richard sat back in the seat and ran his hands through his hair, trying to think of the whispers he’d heard.
Where did the auctions take place? Richard thought. Where would they sell people? It would have to be somewhere quiet, where few people and even fewer police would go.
Richard smashed his fists against the seats and jumped forward as he said, “To the warehouses and storage units, just outside the city. You know where I mean?”
“Sure do,” The driver said, before pulling a sharp U-turn.
Even though Richard knew the driver was speeding, the journey was painfully slow. Richard thought it would be more enjoyable to have his teeth pulled, without anaesthesia.
When the car stopped, Richard leapt out and threw four bills at the driver without looking at what they were. Sprinting, he headed toward the warehouses.
Few lights illuminated the outside. All Richard could see was corrugated metal and plenty of fences to scale. He took the first fence at a run, vaulting over with ease. The warehouse still loomed before him, surrounded in darkness. When he reached the second fence his arms and legs were aching. He climbed it, struggling to find his footing and panting heavily.
Pulling himself over the top was tough, his arms cried out as his muscles strained to heave up the rest of his body, but he managed. After resting at the top, his body balanced on the top of the fence, he swung his legs to the other side and eased himself down. Back on solid ground, he sniffed the air for traces of shifter. The air was mostly clear, but a light breeze brought the faint aroma of fur and fear to his nostrils.
He followed the scent through the maze of warehouses and storage lockers, sniffing constantly as he searched. No movement, no sounds, nothing. About to round the corner, aiming to go right, he heard shuffling footsteps and grunting. Whoever it was making all that noise was trying to be quiet.
Richard pushed his back against the building and peered around the corner, trying to find where the sound came from. In the far off distance he saw three men. One was overweight and short, looking like a little blob dressed in black. Another was remarkably skinny—he was the one grunting. Between the three of them was a limp body. They were dragging a man with a hood over his head. A little behind them a car was waiting, the red brake lights shining like beacons in the night.
The man they were carrying had his hands tied behind his back. Two of the men had hold of his upper arms, and the third man held onto his ankles. They were trying keep his body off the ground, but the man at the ankles was doing a bad job, dropping the same foot twice in a row. Richard inhaled, long and deep, and by the time he exhaled he knew it was Gareth. Hearing a pulse in his ears—and not knowing if it was his, Gareth’s, or the baby’s—his hands clenched into fists as red hot agony ripped through his body.
Tearing sounds carried through the air as he burst through his clothes. Fur pushed out of his skin, his hands transformed to paws with sharp claws, and a snout grew from his nose. Richard screamed when the transformation was complete but all that could be heard was a deafening roar. Slaver swung from his teeth, arching past his nose to fly through the air and land a few feet in front of him.
His front paws dropped to the ground, sending a shudder through the cement, and before he could rethink his decision all four of his legs were carrying him to the men. They stood in awe, unable to believe their eyes, right up until Richard was in front of them. They dropped the man with a sickening thud. In return, Richard reared onto his hind legs, screaming as loud as he could, and swiped with his right paw.
Aiming for the fat man, his claws struck true and dug deep into the man’s fatty tissue. The man fell to the floor and on impact his entrails burst out of his abdomen. Bloodied hands grasped at his guts, trying to hold it all in. A sickening shriek filled the night air around them, echoing between the warehouses. Richard turned, still standing on two legs, and snapped his jaws at the nearest man. The man recoiled, his eyes bulging as his mouth dropped wide open, and he managed to turn on his heels to run.
Richard wasn’t going to allow any of them to escape. Digging his claws into the man’s clothes, he dragged him back and slammed him into the ground. Richard watched the man’s limbs struggling to crawl away before placing both paws on the man’s back. He shifted his weight forward until he felt the satisfying crunch of bones shudder through his body. Only one man remained. The man was dreadfully thin, and a coward too. A small puddle surrounded his feet, his shoes soaked in it.
Richard looked to the puddle, then to the man, and approached him slowly on all fours. Snarling and gnashing his teeth, Richard moved to stand over Gareth. As he was considering how to kill the last man standing, a human hand reached up from the floor and touched one of his paws. Richard had to hang his head upside down to see Gareth beneath him.
“Stop,” Gareth said.
He had removed the hood from his head, his eyes were glistening and bloodshot, and tears were streaming do
wn his puffy cheeks. Richard stepped away from Gareth to get a better look at him.
“Richard?” Gareth asked as a smile spread across his face.
Richard leaned back and sat on his haunches before letting out a sigh. Relief washed over him as the thought: He’s okay.
The last man scampered away into the darkness. Richard didn’t notice, too busy looking at Gareth’s face.
Birds chirped happily, singing their morning songs, causing Gareth to wake from his light sleep. He sat bolt upright, his breath sharp and painful, feeling adrenaline running through his veins. Remembering darkness, and fear, and being forcibly taken from his home before being paraded down a runway like a model—only he was being sold, not admired—it all came flooding back to him in a wave of sheer terror.
A gentle caress pulled him from his thoughts. The hand was warm and comforting, stroking his face and smoothing his hair. When he had summoned the strength to look at the person who owned the hand, his whole body relaxed. It was Richard.
Richard, the man who killed two men to save me. The thought sent a shiver across his skin.
Gareth couldn’t stop himself from throwing his arms around the man’s neck. He closed his eyes as he held him close, one hand at the base of Richard’s skull, stroking the hair and skin. With tear-filled eyes, he pulled away from Richard’s embrace and held the man’s face at arm’s-length, studying him. Wrinkles surrounded his eyes and laugh lines hugged the sides of his mouth. Grey hairs sprouted from his temples and the crown of his head was covered in a thinner layer of hair, but the man had saved him. Tears spilled over his eyelids as he stared at Richard.
“What’s wrong?” Richard’s hands touched the inside of Gareth’s elbows, stroking small circles on the tender skin there.
“Nothing,” Gareth said. “Absolutely nothing, thanks to you.”
Richard averted his eyes as heat spread through his cheeks.
“No,” Gareth tugged at the man’s face, trying to shake some sense into him. “I’m serious. I had already been sold. They were getting ready to ship me off to this weird woman’s house. If you hadn’t arrived exactly when you did, I would have been long gone or still hidden in the warehouse.”
Richard refused to look at him. “I waited too long. I was at the bar and I knew something bad had happened, yet I waited. I should never have waited. You wouldn’t have been sold if I had come straight away.”
Gareth planted a small kiss on the man’s lips. “How did you know?”
“There are stories,” Richard shook his head. “I always thought they were bullshit but when I saw your apartment…”
Gareth nodded, and then kissed him again. “Thank you.”
“I’m just glad you’re safe.”
The last word pulled Gareth from his thankful daze. He stared at the room he was in: white, clear of clutter, and spotlessly clean. He was in Richard’s apartment, but he didn’t recognize the room. Looking down at himself, he saw a bed underneath him. Soft white sheets rustled below his legs as he moved them, and the memory foam mattress tried to mold around his moving form.
“When I saw your apartment…” Richard started, his eyes brimming with tears. “I was so scared. Scared for you, scared for our baby, scared that I’d never see your face again.”
Gareth watched as the tears spilled over Richard’s eyelids. He cupped the man’s face and pulled him close, planting kisses on his lips, along his jaw, down his neck.
“I knew that I had feelings for you then. When I saw them dragging you,” Richard clenched his teeth as the bitter taste of the memory, “I lost it. Completely lost it.”
Gareth stopped kissing him. “I know, I saw that.”
“I don’t ever want to lose you,” Richard said.
“Me either.” Gareth grinned so broadly it hurt his cheeks. “You know, as strange as it was seeing a bear lumbering towards me, I knew it wouldn’t hurt me. Then when you stood over me, well, I knew it was you. Richard the Bear.”
“I’m sorry if I frightened you,” Richard said.
“Don’t be absurd.” Gareth returned to kissing Richard’s skin, slowly moving down his neck, down to his collarbones, chest, stomach. “I’ll have to think of a way to thank you.”
Lower and lower his lips danced, licking and biting at the skin. Gareth’s insides flipped and churned at every intake of Richard’s breath, every shudder, every moan. Richard, only dressed in boxer shorts, was fully erect and his cock was pushing against the fabric. It almost looked painful, but the look on Richard’s face said otherwise.
Gareth got comfortable, propping himself up with his elbow, and stared into Richard’s eyes as he toyed with the elastic waistband. Richard’s eyes closed, longer than a normal blink, and a smirk appeared at the corners of his mouth. Gareth pried the waistband down and took his eyes away from Richard to admire his penis. It was throbbing in time with his heartbeat, swaying with the beats, as it stood tall.
Gareth wet his lips and took it in his mouth, moving his tongue as Richard had done to him the night before, sucking gently and slowly bobbing his head up and down. Gareth heard gasps from above, felt the body underneath him shudder and jerk, and eventually his mouth was filled with Richard’s seed.
He swallowed, the salty taste sticking to his tongue, and crawled back up to the head of the bed. Richard had a goofy smile plastered on his face as his head lulled back and forth.
“That was amazing,” Richard said, “A great way to say thank you.”
Gareth frowned and grazed his finger down Richard’s cheek. Thick, sharp stubble had grown, all flecked with grey just like his hair. It tugged at his skin, causing his hand to jitter as it travelled down his cheek to the chin. There, Gareth’s fingers gently pinched it, revealing a hidden dimple. He touched it with his left index finger and let out a laugh.
“That’s not how I’m going to say thank you,” Gareth said, gazing into Richard’s deep brown eyes, before taking hold of his chin and pulling him in for a kiss.
Richard cocked his head as a puzzled expression crossed his face. Gareth couldn’t resist planting a kiss on his lips before answering: “I’m going to thank you by spending each and every day trying to make you the happiest man alive.”
Omega’s Prince
Description:
Gale Button is an adventure seeking Omega who finds himself lost and alone in a new country when he’s attacked. With no money, friends, or options, he truly feels alone. His luck may be changing as he meets a prince that is going through his own challenges.
The beautiful prince should be able to find a mate with no problem, but there is a problem. He’s a fire breathing dragon who is cursed. With the sudden death of his parents and a country divided, can this prince find a mate that will accept his unique characteristics? Also how will the small country respond when his secret is finally revealed?
**************************
Gale was beginning to seriously regret all his life choices up until this point. Oh, backpacking across Europe had sounded like fun, but here he was, stuck in the Republic of Moldova with only a couple dollars to his name and nowhere to go from here. He hadn’t even known there was a country called Moldova, to be honest. Just, suddenly here he was.
He supposed that was the price to pay for ignoring his parents and not having a plan, but damn, weren’t Europeans supposed to be friendly or something. Every time he’d asked for help while he’d been here, he was either ignored or just plain stared at. None of this was what he’d thought it would be, taking a gap year before college to go see the world. As it turned out, the rest of the world was just as shitty as America. London had been the most depressing rainy place in the whole world, and Paris was covered in trash and everyone reeked of old cheese. Romania was hardly even a thing, and for the life of him, he couldn’t remember a single moment of the entire time he’d been in the whole country of Ukraine. It was all that forgettable. Add onto that, the fact that yes, okay, he was a pretty picky eater, and he didn’t drink, and didn’t like
to talk to other people…
It sounded like a good idea at the time, but it obviously was not anymore. Maybe it never had been.
His parents encouraged him to do this, but the world must have changed a lot since they were eighteen because damn, this sucked.
The last inn was quite a ways down the road. Miles, maybe. He’d run quite a bit after being chased out of the establishment, even though he really didn’t understand why. All he wanted was to use their bathroom to freshen up and grab a cup of free coffee from the lobby, and maybe use the ATM. Maybe trying the ATM first was what had done it. Gale hadn’t even known that in some places of the world, ATMs weren’t operable after certain hours of the night –to discourage gambling and junk like that, who knew? Well, he knew, now. He’d just thought the first one was broken so he was halfway through working his way down the line of machines when the receptionist finally caught onto him.
She didn’t speak English and he didn’t speak Romanian, but it was pretty clear that this chick did not like him messing with the machines. He put up his hands and tried to apologize, but she practically flew backwards across the room to avoid touching him. Her face was a wretched mask of disgust and he didn’t understand any of it until she started pointing and gesturing to the front doors, her voice stern.
Does she think I’m a thief? Or a hobo?
Which option was worse, Gale thought, as he stumbled along down the forest path? His legs were so tired that his thighs ached and his feet were killing him because this path was studded with uneven stone. He could hardly see a damn thing, and his phone was dead so he couldn’t use the flashlight on it.
He had tried explaining back at the hotel, looking around at some of the other guests to see if they would help him. “Please, I just wanted to take out some of my money. I need to get my money.”
Omega Wanted: Bad Boy Mpreg Romance Page 22