“Hey!” he cried, moving towards the other when the man’s ski mask-covered face jerked in his direction. Without hesitation, the man turned on his heel and tore down the street, leaving a crumbling building in his wake. “Wait!” Kayden shouted, rushing across the street and into the alley the man disappeared down.
He didn’t stop and think that maybe what he was doing was a bad idea, but if he could catch the man that burned down his apartment? He was going to do it.
Sprinting after the other, he swore when the man easily cleared a fence. Letting his instincts take over, his body shifted mid-jump and small black paws caught the edge of the wall, sending him sprinting after the man. Skittering around the corner nimbly, Kayden quickly caught sight of the man attempting to clamber up a ladder that would take him onto the roofs.
With two quick jumps, Kayden leapt at the man with a furious hiss, leaving him falling backwards with a cry onto the ground. Leaping back, Kayden cursed as the man in front of him responded by shifting as well, his body lurching as he whirled around with a massive golden paw that sent Kayden crashing into a pile of trash behind him.
Groaning, Kayden felt his body ache and protest at the treatment, his eyes focusing in on the figure looming over him. A mountain lion, all sinew and muscles covered with a sleek tawny coat. If he thought that he was risking his life before, he was now realizing he was running a risk of being mauled to death. The man in front of him was not just an alpha, but had a powerful inner beast, a creature that made Kayden’s own pale in comparison.
Power and status in their culture was determined first by their rank at birth, alpha, beta, or omega. After that, it was determined by the power of their inner beast. The stronger the animal, the more powerful the person. It was easy for others to determine just how much respect they should give someone based on this fact. Predators were at the top of the chain, and this man? He was definitely a predator.
The man was dangerous, deadly, and he just shoved him off a ladder.
Realizing he had very little room left to escape, Kayden slowly let himself shift back to normal and his hands lifted up in surrender. In front of him, the lion jolted, a startled growl falling from its lips.
“Were you the one who burned down the apartments at 1st and Reynolds?” he demanded, his eyes locked onto the other as he slowly lowered his hands down. Beneath him, he could feel a pipe, and realized quickly he might have a shot at escaping after all.
The lion in front of him hadn’t shifted, its eyes locked onto him as some unknown emotions swirled through its gaze. He didn’t wait to see what was going through his head. Lurching upwards, he struck the beast with the pipe as hard as he could across the side of the head, sending the lion stumbling to the side with a cry.
Lifting up the pipe to hit the creature again, Kayden let out a yelp when the man shifted once again, a powerful hand snaking up to catch the weapon before it met its mark.
“Dammit Kayden!” a familiar voice snarled, powerful arms pulling him forward into a death grip before Kayden could recover from the sudden change. “It’s me, alright? Stop swinging that thing around!” Kayden felt his heart drop in his chest as he realized who was holding him, immediately letting the man tear the pole from his hand and throw it to the side.
“Neil?” he whispered, fighting back nausea as the man let out a noise of relief and gently let him go. “You- why were you here? Why were you…you burnt down that building!” he cried, shoving Neil away from him and spinning around to face the other.
Neil’s face was streaked with soot, his eyes tired as he looked back at Kayden. Neil wanted the man to tell him that it wasn’t true, that he wasn’t the arsonist that had been burning down the buildings across town, but nothing about Neil’s face told him that he was innocent. The man just looked worn down, defeated.
“Why?” he whispered after a moment, tears forming in his eyes. “You burnt down my house you bastard!” he cried, shoving the other back as his heart ached. “Is that why you took me in? Because you felt bad for taking everything else away from me?” Tears rolled down his face as he stared back at the man.
“Kayden, it’s not what you think,” Neil insisted, looking back at the other with a shudder. “I wasn’t the one who burnt down your apartment. I had nothing to do with that.” He gritted his teeth when Kayden laughed.
“But you had something to do with all the others? All those people? They lost everything too!” Kayden cried, looking desperately back at him. “Tell me that wasn’t you.” he pleaded, anguish rolling through his body. Neil didn’t have to respond. The grief on his face was enough to prove his guilt.
“You don’t understand. I had no choice!” Neil whispered, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “You have to believe that I never wanted to do this. You have to trust me.”
“If you didn’t want to, then why would you? You’re a firefighter for God’s sake! You’re supposed to be one of the good guys! You’re supposed to be saving people! Not taking their homes away,” Kayden cried, flinching when the man tried to reach out for him. “Why should I trust you? All you’ve done is lie to me since I met you. Tell me that you didn’t just take me in because you felt guilty for what you’ve done.”
Neil didn’t respond, the man’s eyes filling with pain as he looked away from Kayden. He could see the desperation on his face, the desire to come up with some excuse, or lie, or whatever he was hoping to find that would convince Kayden to believe him. Tears pouring down his face, Kayden waited to hear what the man had to say, hurt plunging a knife into his heart.
“I can’t tell you, not yet,” Neil whispered, looking up at the man with a broken expression in his eyes. “I can’t risk losing you too.” He reached out and touched Kayden’s cheek. “You have to trust me. You need to believe me when I say that I’d never do anything to hurt anyone. I did what I had to. This goes so much deeper than you and me.”
Kayden looked away, hating the feeling of longing that flooded through him when the man touched him.
“You told me before that whoever was burning down these buildings was working for the mob,” he croaked, looking up at the other with tired eyes. “Is it true? Are you working for the mob?” he demanded, his stomach churning when Neil let out a tired noise and nodded.
“I would tell you everything if I could. I don’t want to be doing any of this,” Neil attempted to explain, his hands shaking as he clung onto Kayden. “Please, you need to believe me. I have no choice.”
“You always have a choice,” Kayden rasped, jerking away from the man with a sob. “You are burning down people’s homes! Their businesses! You’re destroying everything that they love!”
“If I didn’t, then someone else would have! Someone else like the person who burnt down your apartment complex! If I didn’t, people would die,” Neil explained, shaking as the sound of sirens filled the air behind them. Grabbing onto Kayden’s hand, Neil pulled him towards the road ahead of them. “Come on.” He flinched when Kayden jerked his hand away.
“Why should I go anywhere with you?” Kayden demanded, shuddering as he looked back at the man. Neil shuddered too, swearing as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“If you come with me now, I’ll explain everything, I swear,” he insisted, squeezing Kayden’s hands as he stared back at him. “Please?” he pleaded, his hand trembling in Kayden’s weak grasp.
Looking over his shoulder when he heard the sound of more sirens approaching, Kayden let out a shaking sigh and nodded. Looking relieved, Neil pulled him away from the increasingly chaotic scene out to where his car was waiting. Sliding into the car, Kayden wrapped his arms around himself. Neil pulled away from the curb and quickly moved as far as he could from the scene unfolding in the ashes of the pharmacy.
Chapter Seven
Acting like nothing was wrong when he picked Cameron up from the daycare was one of the hardest thing he’d ever done. Cameron was thrilled to see Neil. He didn’t know or care if the man was a criminal. He just wanted to be h
eld and smiled at by the alpha. All that mattered to him was that someone was looking out for him and his mom. He was happy as long as he was safe, fed, and warm.
Settling the child to bed after dinner, Kayden made his way into the living room and stood in front of his lover with his arms crossed over his chest. He had called Abby after his sudden disappearance, explaining that he had been caught up talking to the police and firefighters monitoring the smoldering remains of the pharmacy. He had lied to the one woman who had ever treated him like a son, and it killed him to do it.
“Alright, I went with you, now talk,” Kayden mumbled, looking up at the man with a firm look on his face. If the man didn’t explain everything perfectly, he would leave and never look back.
Sitting down at the table across from Kayden, Neil ran his fingers through his hair and lifted his beer up to his lips. For a moment, he closed his eyes, letting the alcohol running down his throat calm his nerves.
“I told you about my brother, right?” Neil started after a moment, gesturing to the chair in front of him and waiting until Kayden sat before continuing. “I told you that Aiden was an idiot, and got himself into trouble constantly, but what I didn’t tell is what he did to get himself in trouble in the first place.”
“No you didn’t,” Kayden agreed, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to keep the curiosity off of his face.
“My brother is a dragon-shifter,” Neil explained, looking up at the man and smiling when the other looked startled.
“A dragon-shifter? You know, if you were going to lie to me, why the hell did you bother to bring me back here?” Kayden demanded, looking back at the other with an incredulous look on his face. Dragons were mythical creatures, they didn’t exist. There was no way that someone could be a dragon-shifter.
“I’m not lying! There is a reason that you’ve never heard of them before,” Neil explained, reaching out and taking Kayden’s hands in his own. “There is so much that the government and the mob keep from the general population. The only reason I know about it? That’s because I have spent my entire life trying to keep the government from getting their hands on my brother so they couldn’t use him the same way that they used my father, and his father before him.” Neil whispered the words, looking back at Kayden with a sincere expression on his face that left a chill running down his spine. “There are others like him. They spend their life in hiding, or working for the government. There is no easy life for them. They are seen as weapons, and nothing else. That’s why I’ve been keeping things from you, why I’ve been doing everything I can to keep my brother’s stupid ass out of trouble.”
“Wh-what does that have to do with you burning down buildings?” Kayden whispered softly, his heart pounding in his chest as he looked back at the man expectantly.
“My brother is an idiot. Growing up in hiding left him wanting to do everything he can to destroy the government. He doesn’t want to work for them, and he was frustrated with being trapped at home. He ran away, left me and my mother alone,” Neil began looking over at the window with a livid expression on his face. “He always had a taste for arson. Probably had something to do with his dragon aspect.” He shrugged, rubbing at his forehead. “When he ran away, he had to go somewhere, and the mob gave him that somewhere. They agreed to keep him hidden, give him anything he wanted as long as he acted as their arsonist. At least, that’s what they’ve told me.”
“That doesn’t explain how you wound up working for them,” Kayden insisted, looking startled when the man reached out and took his hand.
“When I moved down here, I tracked my brother to the mob, but he had already left to go into hiding again. The military had gotten word somehow of his existence,” Neil continued, squeezing Kayden’s hand gently. “The mob was thrilled to see me, though. Apparently my brother hadn’t fulfilled his contract before he left, and they still had a list of places they wanted burned down. They told me that if I agreed to complete the arson jobs myself, I could do it my way, and no one had to get hurt. Otherwise? They were going to outsource to someone new, and people were going to die.”
Kayden felt his heart throb, his eyes going wide as he realized why someone who spent his life trying to put out fires would be the one starting them. “They really didn’t give you a choice, did they?” Kayden asked, his thumb unconsciously trailing over Neil’s wrist.
“No, if I didn’t agree, they were going to kill people. They didn’t care who they hurt,” Neil mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. “Besides, having an in with the mob makes tracking down my stupid brother that much easier. At this point, I just want to find him so I can tell my mother that he’s safe, and maybe punch him in the nose for good measure.” Neil looked over at Kayden with a soft smile. “So, I understand if you want nothing to do with me, but I really hope that you’ll stay.” He spoke softly, his soft green eyes locked onto Kayden’s face.
Taking a deep breath, Kayden looked back at his lover and shakily ran his fingers through his hair. He wanted to leave, to tell the man that he wanted nothing to do with him. He could leave, take Cameron with him, and go stay with Abby until he could find a place of his own. There was nothing forcing him to stay.
Even with that realization, Kayden found himself thinking about just how happy he had been with Neil. The other made him feel wanted, made him feel as though he was loved. He was pregnant with his child, and the idea made him feel genuinely happy. There was nothing he wanted more than to settle down with Neil and raise their family together.
“You said that this was something that passes through bloodlines, right?” Kayden whispered, panic running through him as his hand moved to rest on his stomach. “What are the chances that one of your children would have the abilities that your brother has?” He asked, looking up at the man with soft, concerned eyes.
“I’d say there’s a good chance. The fact that the gene skipped over me was a million to one thing,” Neil explained, the man’s question going completely over his head. “Why do you ask?” he asked, turning towards Kayden and hesitating when he saw the way that his mate’s hands were resting on his stomach.
Taking a deep breath, Kayden forced himself to meet Neil’s gaze. If they were going to make things work, the man needed to know.
“Neil, I’m pregnant,” he stated bluntly, looking back at the other and waiting for the words to sink in.
Slowly sinking down in his chair, Neil’s eyes were huge as he shakily ran his fingers through his hair. For a moment, Kayden wasn’t sure if the other was even breathing, let alone comprehending what he was saying. Kayden was about ready to stand and move out of the room, when he felt warm arms wrap around his shoulders and a gentle kiss being pressed to his lips.
“I love you.” Neil laughed against his lover’s lips, pulling the smaller man into his lap. Brushing a few strands of hair out of his face, Neil pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose gently. “You’re amazing. How are you so amazing?” he asked, smiling when Kayden blushed and let out a laugh of his own.
“I’m not sure that getting pregnant is really a talent. Most people can do it,” Kayden said and smiled, feeling the familiar warmth that Neil’s presence usually made him feel. “I want to raise the kids with you. I know you aren’t a criminal, but we need to find a way to get you out of this.” He pressed his lips to Neil’s when the other pulled him closer.
“I’ve been working on it, trust me, but unless I can find a way to completely dissemble an entire organized crime ring, I’m going to be out of luck,” Neil pointed out, sitting back in his chair and taking a moment to stare up at the ceiling. “I’ll get out of this, one way or another,” he insisted, sitting up and smiling at Kayden. “I mean if my brother could weasel his way out, then I don’t see any reason why I can’t.” Kayden smiled at this, looking back at the man with soft, adoring eyes.
No matter how bad things got, as long as he had Neil, they were going to figure out how to fix things. He wasn’t going to let anyone take away his chance at having
a family.
Chapter Eight
“We haven’t heard anything from them in weeks, maybe they’ve decided they don’t need you after all?” Kayden stated hopefully as he settled Cameron down in front of the TV.
Ever since the fire that Kayden had caught Neil setting, Neil hadn’t heard a thing from the mob boss ordering the attacks. Kayden knew that there was very little chance that the mob would suddenly decide they no longer needed Neil, but it didn’t hurt to hope that they might get lucky.
“If they didn’t need me anymore, they would have let me know,” Neil snorted, flipping through the newspaper on his phone and hesitating when his thumb rested over something that caught his eye. “Hold on a minute,” he mumbled, lifting up the phone and studying the article a bit closer.
“What’s the matter?” Kayden asked, moving forward and hesitating when the man thrust the phone into his face. Looking over the article, he frowned when he spotted the headline. “Another fire?” he asked, flicking his eyes up to meet Neil’s gaze.
“Not just a fire,” Neil mumbled, pulling the phone back towards himself. “The fire was in an abandoned building that hasn’t been used for years. The last owner died, and the property was never claimed. There was nothing in it.”
“It was probably a bunch of kids. When I was younger, we used to have bonfires in abandoned buildings all the time.” Kayden frowned, leaning against the kitchen counter and watching as Neil flipped through the article with a frown on his face.
“That’s what I thought too, until I read that there were three military officials in the building at the time it combusted.” Neil’s tone was low, contemplative as he looked over the article. “If there was ever a hint as to where my brother has been hanging out, that would be it. Wherever the hell he is, if they haven’t found him, he’s in trouble.”
“That would mean that the military knows he exists,” Kayden pointed out, frowning and anxiously glancing over at where Cameron was watching cartoons. “If they know he exists, they might know that you’re here too.”
Omega Wanted: Bad Boy Mpreg Romance Page 43