Club Zombie 1-4

by Z. Allora

  15

  Zombie 101

  “Shit! I have a bunch of texts.” Uli scrolled through them.

  “Any from Storm and Cut?” Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Alex noticed several messages as well.

  Beaming, Uli thumbed a reply as he answered, “All.”

  “Good. I got a bunch too.” He slipped his phone, now off silent, back into his pocket.

  Ulrich’s eyes sparkled. “Methinks our mates want us.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  Uli glanced from his phone. “They’ll be at the club in an hour.”

  “Good. We have time for a quick shower. Then we can get a key for one of the private rooms…. But I’ll get one with chairs so it doesn’t seem like… you know.”

  Dominant transition be damned! What a shame! Alex’s shyness about anything relating to sex didn’t just disappear.

  Ulrich snort chortled.

  Alex felt his face heat. He needed to figure out how to control his blush response, though the embarrassment of his pink cheeks was worth it to hear the happy sounds emanating from Uli.

  Alex hurried across the relatively quiet club. It was early, so only a few people were dancing.

  Corey ran over and launched himself into Alex’s arms.

  After peeling the guy off, Alex asked, “Err, can I have a key to a private room?”

  Corey batted his eyelashes. “You’ve finally seen the error of your ways. I love the fiery red hair. It suits you. I’ll call Jackson.”

  “No. What? No!” He needed to stop Corey now before the misunderstanding developed further.

  “You should have seen your face.” Corey pointed at him, and then he doubled over laughing. “Did you fear for your virtue? I’ll have you know, I’d have been very gentle with you.”

  Alex chuckled.

  Continuing to giggle, Corey strutted over to the bar and reached underneath to pull out a key, then handed to him. “So it’s true? You went through the secondary transition. Damn, you’re even hotter.”

  Ulrich stepped behind Alex and wrapped a possessive arm around him. Alex didn’t have to see Uli’s expression to know it screamed “Mine!”

  “And you found your mate?” Corey asked with his hands on his hips.

  Uli stiffened. “We have three, actually.”

  An expression of deep pain marred Corey’s face. “Oh, I’m happy for the both of you.”

  “Oh God. I’m sorry, Corey. I wasn’t trying to be mean…” Uli backpedaled.

  Alex tucked Uli under his arm and rubbed his back in calming circles.

  Corey and Jackson had been searching for their third mate for years, and while they had each other, it wasn’t enough to fill the hole in their hearts. “No, I’m sorry. I guess now I understand why you always hated me flirting with him. I shouldn’t have.”

  Ulrich shook his head. “Corey, I’m—”

  “You’re lucky. You just turned nineteen, and Alex just turned twenty-one… and you get all of your mates handed to you on a silver platter.” Disbelief mixed with tears gathered in Corey’s eyes, but a careless wipe across his face was enough to hold them back.

  Alex tried to comfort him. “Corey—”

  “No, it’s good. I’m happy for both of you. I should never have.…” His words ended in a wet sob that was cut off.

  Alex cleared his throat and found his deeper range. “It’s fine, Corey. Your flirting never bothered me.”

  Uli stepped to the man, bowing his head. He hugged Corey tight, then stepped back. “I’m a jealous ass. I apologize, Corey. You’ll find your third.”

  “Yeah, right.” Corey inhaled a shaky breath. He pulled out of the hug, and hastily, Corey changed the subject with a scrunched-up face. “I have Jackson, and truly I love him more than anything in the world, so I’m very lucky.”

  “Jackson’s a good man,” Ulrich agreed.

  Corey pasted on a grin, and elbowed Ulrich. “Wow, the transition muscled up your mate.”

  Uli snorted. “I know. Right.”

  Corey continuing assessing Alex before concluding, “Just a bit, not too much.”

  Alex studied himself for the hundredth time. Gone were his rail-thin arms… even his hands seemed bigger. The transformation didn’t feel real. “Yeah, we’re hoping it will help lend truth to our explanation when we tell Cut and Storm.”

  “Hopefully, our mates will accept us.” Uli wrung his hands and frowned.

  Alex swallowed hard at the depth of the pain he’d glimpsed now hidden beneath Corey’s easy grin. “You’ll find your other mate.”

  “Yeah, sure. Of course, we will.” The imp kissed Alex on the cheek and pressed his lips to Uli’s. Corey giggled at Ulrich’s uncomfortable reaction about being kissed by him too.

  Uli touched his mouth and gave Corey a bemused smile.

  “Catch you later. I’d wish you luck, but since you’ve already found three mates, I’ll wish you good skill instead.” He made a beeline to Jackson, who’d just come through the side door, and jumped on him. He latched his legs around his mate’s waist.

  Alex couldn’t fix everything in the world, no matter how much he wanted to. He needed to concentrate on his own mates and—

  “They’re here!” Uli whispered with excitement.

  Alex twirled the key on the ring as he waited. Cutter and Storm rushed down the steps and hugged Uli. They glanced in Alex’s direction, and their mouths gaped open.

  Storm rushed over and asked, “Are you on ’roids? Dude, how did you get so ripped?” Last night’s episode of Storm’s cut-and-run awkwardness was bypassed by Alex’s change. Storm stroked a tentative hand over Alex’s new biceps and triceps. A sharp intake of breath made Alex glance into Storm’s eyes in time to witness the outright hunger there.

  “How about we go in the back to talk,” Alex suggested.

  “Why? What can’t you tell us right now?” Storm demanded with his fists clenched. “I mean, what’s the big secret?”

  Cutter hissed, “Storm.”

  He glanced over at Cutter. “What? Other than him turning from a waif into a Goddamned infomercial fitness guru overnight.”

  “He’s right, we should talk, but I don’t want to yell over the music. Come on.” Uli led them through the long, winding corridors.

  “Isn’t this where…?” Cutter’s question trailed off as Storm growled. “What?” he asked, as if daring Storm to say something more.

  Uli turned pink in his cheeks. “Yeah, down that hallway.” He pointed into the dimness of Blowjob Alley—a winding dark hall with small alcoves, giving a sense of privacy. The placements of handgrips and padded benches allowed no room for misinterpretation of the intended purpose of the niches. A few muted moans served to indicate sections were in use.

  Alex hurried them past the hallway, opened room number 28 with the key, and held the door. The tension grew. This conversation would be life changing.

  Uli pulled out a chair and sat at the simple cherrywood table. Everyone followed suit, ignoring the platform bed and the evidence this room was for private hookups.

  “What the fuck?” Storm gestured toward Alex’s larger frame and muscles. He reached out, but stopped and snatched his hand back.

  Alex cleared his throat and glanced over at Uli, who also appeared clueless on how to proceed. In retrospect, they probably should have planned this part better.

  Inhaling to find his center, Alex gave it his best attempt. “You know how movie zombies need brains to survive?”

  “Yeah? What does that have to do with anything?” Storm squinted and gave Alex an openmouthed stare.

  “Brains, brains, brains.” Cutter mimicked the latest zombie movie. He shook his head so his brown hair fell back over his face, nearly covering his eyes.

  Uli frowned. “Yeah, well real zombies don’t need brains.”

  Storm barked out a laugh, making Uli jump. “Real zombies?”

  Cutter sat ramrod straight in his chair and regarded Uli and Alex as if he were trying to put t
ogether a puzzle but someone had stolen several key pieces.

  “Yeah, real zombies,” Uli repeated. “They don’t eat brains. That’s just disgusting. I mean, really, how sharp would a zombie’s teeth have to be to gnaw through a skull? The whole freaking concept doesn’t make much sense.”

  Putting a hand on Ulrich’s shoulder did nothing to slow the Uli’s temper. His new zombie hormones had him close to boiling.

  Storm chuckled. “You’re killing me!”

  Cutter stood, knocking over his chair. He eyed the door and snapped his wrist rubber band twice. “Tell Storm and me about real zombies, Uli.”

  Grimacing, Storm grabbed Cutter’s marked wrist and tenderly traced the angry line, then kissed the injury. “Stop that.” He turned back to Uli. “Go ahead. We’re listening.”

  “Zombies search for their mates, and when they find them, they need no one else.”

  “Awww, how romantic,” Storm snarked, and rolled his eyes.

  When Cutter snapped his band again, Storm brought Cutter’s wrist to his mouth and licked his tongue over the red line. He slipped the rubber band off his best friend’s wrist and used it to hold his hair off his face.

  Cutter paced back and forth, never going very far before turning around and heading back to everyone. “Is that what this is?”

  “What what is?” Storm asked.

  “Yeah,” Alex replied, grabbing Cutter’s hand and guiding him toward the empty chair.

  Cutter jerked away and made another loop with his pacing. His expression flashed a million questions.

  “Fuck me! What, what is?” Storm demanded, narrow gaze zeroing in on Cutter.

  “This.” Cutter gestured between the four of them.

  Growling, Storm kept his gaze glued to Cutter. “What’s this?”

  Alex touched him to draw his attention. “Us. We, the four of us, are mates.”

  “We’re zombies.” Uli pointed to himself and Alex.

  “As your mates, would we become zombies too?” Not giving Storm a chance to speak, Cutter asked.

  After Uli nodded, Storm hit the table with the palm of his hand. “What?”

  “We are mates,” Alex restated.

  “So, like what? We’re your zombie brides? What does that even mean? Zombies? I mean you two are just two regular guys—right?” He turned to Cutter for validation.

  Cutter’s shrug didn’t seem to offer him the reassurance he sought.

  Storm pinned Alex with his questioning gaze. “This is why you got all muscular?”

  Putting a hand out to stay Storm’s mouth, which was probably gearing up to head off into a different direction, Alex responded, “Yes and no. I went through a relatively rare secondary transition, making me more dominant.”

  Cutter gripped the table. “How does this work? And how do you know?”

  Uli must have decided it was his turn to speak. “Here we go, Zombie 101. At nineteen, if you’re zombie, you need male essence daily to survive. We seek our mates and bond with them. That’s the transition. If we don’t find our mate by the time we turn twenty-three, we lose the ability to orgasm and regain the pleasure only after we find our mate or mates. If our mates agree, we do the exchange.”

  “Male essence is…?” Storm let phrase dangle.

  “Ejaculate,” Alex provided the answer.

  Storm leaned forward. “Um, to break the zombie mate thing down, you suck cock until you find your mate, and if you don’t, you can’t come anymore until you do.” He articulated each word as though weighing it on a truth scale.

  Alex nodded. “Yes.”

  Storm asked no one in particular, “Is that why everyone here drops to their knees on a regular basis?”

  Uli lips twitched. “Pretty much.”

  After a nod from Uli, Storm asked, “What’s the exchange?”

  “How do you know you’ve found your mate?” Cutter chimed in.

  “In our case mates,” Alex corrected. “When zombies swallow their mate’s ejaculate we orgasm.”

  Uli took on the harder question. “If the mate accepts the bond, a small exchange of blood is necessary. The blood makes the bond permanent.”

  “What else?” Storm folded his arms and sat back.

  “Mates need to ingest each other’s come or their bodies cease to function.” Reading the question in both their eyes, Alex answered, “Yes, zombies live indefinitely.”

  “How do you know we’re yours, Alex? You’ve never been with either of us,” Cutter quietly asked without looking at him.

  “The doctor said that my intuition is probably part of the secondary transition. I can sense our bonds even though they haven’t been twined together yet.”

  “Damn, zombies are clingy.” Storm flinched when Cutter smacked him. “Ow! What?”

  Cutter pointed a finger in Storm’s face. “Don’t stereotype!”

  Storm shook his head. “Come on, man! We haven’t even had sex with the guy, and he’s telling us we’re bound for life.”

  “Eternity, actually. Nothing you have to decide right now.” Uli’s voice cracked ever so slightly as he stared at the light gray wall. He slid his chair away from the table and lumbered across the room.

  Alex was hit with the waves of pain rolling off him. He strode the few feet it took to put them toe-to-toe and whispered to Uli, “It’s okay. You have me.”

  Their conversation with Corey was probably still fresh in his mind. There would be no escaping the empty existence they’d face without bonding with their other mates.

  Uli wrapped his arms around Alex and brokenly confessed, “I want them too.”

  “I know.” From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Storm studying them, but not Cutter. “Where’s Cutter?”

  Storm shrugged. “The bathroom. Do we need your permission, Mr. Dominant Zombie Boy, to take a piss?”

  Something felt wrong about Cutter’s absence. Alex stalked out the door and into the first bathroom he came across. He found Cutter with a straight razor against his arm. There were no fresh cuts, but a thousand healed scars both tiny and long decorated his skin as if it were some textured fabric.

  “Cutter, what are you doing?” Without waiting for an answer, Alex grabbed Cutter by the hair and marched him out of the bathroom.

  “No, don’t. I don’t want them to know. Please. I don’t want to upset them.”

  There were no words to respond to Cutter’s pleading. He continued the journey back to their borrowed room where they interrupted Storm hugging Uli and rubbing his back.

  Storm pulled away when he saw the position Alex had put Cutter in. “Get your fucking hands off….” Storm’s words died as he noticed the straight razor in Cutter’s other hand.

  Cutter tensed. “I, um—”

  “No! Cut, why? You said you’d stopped.” Pain and betrayal bled into Storm’s words as he slumped against the wall.

  “I did.” Cutter dropped the razor to the floor.

  Alex released his grip.

  “I tried, but tonight…. I can’t. Don’t be mad at me.” Cutter’s words were broken.

  Alex stalked across the room, knowing he needed to be calm before handling Cutter’s cutting. Finding his voice, he deepened it. “I’m mad at me, not you.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Cutter’s head dropped forward.

  Storm and Uli hurried to comfort Cutter, but Alex stepped in front of them. “No, he’s got issues, and he needs help dealing with them, but he has to understand the impact his cutting has on those around him.”

  Storm shook his head. “But—”

  “This is going to be difficult. Take care of each other while I take care of Cut.” Alex cupped Storm and Uli’s faces and pressed a soft kiss to each of their mouths.

  Uli and Storm nodded their agreement, but their indecision showed on their faces.

  “I got this. Promise.” This was everything Alex had prepared for, but hoped he’d never have to implement so soon. He ambled over to the fridge in the corner and concentrated on his breathing.


  “Anyone else need water?” After the others shook their heads, he drank a bottle of water with slow swallows. He wasn’t thirsty, but he focused on the cool liquid flowing down his throat. His anger at not recognizing the signs of how Cutter might handle the stress of the evening dissipated.

  He touched Uli’s face and then Storm’s. Lingering with Storm for a moment, because the man leaned into his hand as if admitting his reliance on Alex’s strength.

  Alex listened to his boots click on the floor. Beau did great guesstimating about his new sizes. Inhaling and exhaling, he focused on the sound and found his center.

  Using the fact, he was more than a head taller than Cutter, he loomed over him. “Tell me, did the clinic fail completely, or was this a slipup?”

  “I don’t know.” Cutter’s honest desperation tore at Alex’s heart.

  “Do you want help?” After an eager nod, Alex asked, “Will you work with a therapist again?”

  “Um, a….”

  Storm burst out, “Do it, Cut.”

  Uli added a soft, “Please. For us.”

  Alex stopped any further pleas. “No, he can’t do this for us. He needs to do it for himself. Do you want this for you, Cut?”

  “I want to… but sometimes everything feels so big.…” Cutter’s hair covered his face as his eager nod turned into a shrug.

  “There’s something called learned helplessness. Sometimes when we can’t avoid the pain, we give up trying. Have you stopped trying?” Asking broke Alex’s heart, but he needed to shake the truth out of Cutter.

  Cutter pressed his lips together.

  He tugged the long-sleeved shirt over both of Cutter’s elbows. “Take a good look. You don’t deserve this. Do you?”

  Cutter stared at him with tears in his eyes.

  “You will not treat our mate like this ever again. When you can’t handle the stress and want to hurt yourself, come to me. I’ll help you.”

  Shivering, Cutter’s eyes heated.

  “We will work together to alter your desire of wanting to be hurt to wanting to use the pain as a method to get the space in your head you want to have. You’ll work with a therapist who’ll help you deal with each of your issues. And the three of us will also see someone to find out how best we can support you.” Alex circled Cutter once, taking in every part of his distraught mate.