Gregor’s heart stops in his chest. Leaving Aaron behind is not an option.
“It’ll be fine. We’ll just tell them we’re mated and go through the farce of a ceremony. That was always the plan. It’s not changed.”
“I have to be properly claimed,” Aaron says. “Without it, I go back to Gary’s guardianship. You can’t even bite me now. Even if you wanted to.”
I want to. I want to. Gregor doesn’t say it out loud. That’s not the point. Aaron doesn’t need to contend with his puppy dog crush right now.
“They’ve got medics at the end, checking everyone over,” Aaron says miserably. “It’ll be clear that this,” he tips his neck, “didn’t come from a bite.”
Gregor thinks furiously. There is definitely a way for both of them out of here. They didn’t come this far just to fail at the final hurdle.
“We can leave via the fence. They won’t be patrolling it now. Not when everyone’s going back to the registration center.” Even as he says it out loud, he knows it’s not going to work. They’ll definitely be patrolling. The last thing the blood wolves will want now is any stray omegas to get away.
“Okay, we...” he says and then trails off.
Aaron’s jaw is clenched hard, and his eyes are glistening. Gregor desperately wracks his brain for another solution.
God, I want you so bad, he thinks, even as another voice in his head tells him to shut it. Helpful answers only.
The solution lands hard. He spits it out in one big flow of words, consciously not allowing himself to check his language or hold himself back.
It’s far too late for that.
It’s time to be an asshole alpha and hurt Aaron like he’s any other jerk on the Red Run.
Forgive me for this.
“I tell you what,” Gregor says, falling to his knees beside the omega. “I’ve got a better idea. I bite you anyway, and I have to apologize in advance for this suggestion, but I make it real savage. Your neck’s a hot mess. All you need is some horrible teeth marks and all that really happened is that your asshole alpha got out of control and made a mess of it. That kind of thing must happen. Surely.”
There’s a glimmer of a smile behind the tears and Gregor’s heart soars.
“Real savage, huh?” Aaron says, but he’s still smiling. “You sure do know how to make a pitch.”
“It’ll work. Probably.”
“I’ll take ‘probably’. Okay. Do it.” Aaron tilts his neck to the side, baring the exposed injury.
“What? Now?” Gregor asks. He wasn’t expecting such a positive response. The sunlight hits Aaron’s dark hair, making it shine.
The wrong scent emanating from the omega disappeared yesterday as the omega hormones stopped bleeding out from the injury, but he still doesn’t smell quite right.
Gregor imagines biting down on Aaron’s pale neck. A couple of days ago, it was all he could think about. Now, without the scent glands, it just seems like a peculiar and cruel thing to do.
“Ideally, it would have been yesterday to give it time to heal,” Aaron says evenly. “Just be careful. Too much blood loss and I might struggle to make it back across the sands.”
He tilts his neck again.
“Sure, that makes sense,” Gregor says to buy himself time. Aaron might be ready. He’s not.
He leans over beside Aaron, hovering his mouth over Aaron’s exposed neck.
Without the omega scent to spur him on, the whole process seems kind of gross. He forces himself to think about it rationally. He’s only got one shot to get this right.
Okay. You’re an asshole alpha savaging some poor omega. How do you do it?
The scent of fear wafts up from Aaron’s skin, but it’s softer than it was before without his scent glands to push it under alpha noses.
Gregor steels himself.
By part shifting, he answers himself. Lengthen those teeth, snap down and worry at the wound. More than a single bite. Make it a couple and shake your head as you bite. Not too deep now.
“What are you waiting for?” Aaron says in a high-pitched voice. “Do it.”
“Just making sure I do it right,” Gregor replies. The sun is beating down on the back of his neck. His mouth is suddenly dry.
Aaron’s body is tense, the tendons on his neck visibly strained. Gregor’s not sure if that is going to make it better or worse.
Just do it.
Gregor bites down hard. His teeth break the skin immediately and the copper tang of blood fills his mouth. Aaron yelps. Gregor forces himself to bite harder.
The yelp turns into a slow long whine. Aaron’s flesh shudders under his teeth as he draws in one sharp breath after another.
Gregor’s stomach turns over. Claiming should have pain matched with pleasure. This is nothing of the sort.
Just do it. He rips at the flesh with his mouth, roughly moving his head from side to side, then lets go, his mouth and chin slippery with Aaron’s blood.
He risks a glance at the omega. Aaron looks back at him with red-rimmed eyes, even as he pulls in one shuddering breath after another.
The omega purses his lips and blows out a hard breath and closes his eyes. He sighs, opens his eyes again and then his dark eyes meet Gregor’s own.
“Now do it again,” he says.
AARON
the last run
Aaron limps over red sand, Gregor beside him, when the second horn blows.
Six horns to start and two to finish, he thinks. This is it. The Red Run is finally over. All they have to do now is get back to the registration center and convince everyone there that they are a mated couple.
His first run over the red sand had been driven by pure adrenaline. This isn’t. He’s eaten nothing but awful paste lumps for a week, and very little of those.
Everything hurts and his muscles are weak and tired.
Every step jolts his neck and sends a streak of pain through the blood-soaked fur.
Focus on the end goal. He keeps his eyes trained on the fuzzy image of the registration center on the horizon.
By the time the chain link fence outside the center draws into view, Aaron is struggling.
He limps, head hung low as he concentrates on forcing down one painful paw after the other and tries to ignore the painful scents of the omegas who came this way earlier in the day.
Gregor’s presence remains beside him throughout, solid and reassuring.
Aaron is only aware he’s reached the gates when a stranger’s voice says, “Shift please.”
Aaron lifts his weary head to see one of the blood wolves standing beside a gate. He’s holding a clipboard and is looking at Aaron with a bored expression.
“You’re late,” he says. “The second horn blew half an hour ago.”
“We were having fun,” Gregor says.
The blood wolf gives him a distinctly unimpressed look. “Tell your omega to shift please.”
Your omega. Aaron wishes.
“Do it, boy,” Gregor orders, aiming a kick.
For a second, Aaron’s heart shatters before his tired brain remembers. Yes, this was the game we agreed to play. Asshole alpha and broken omega.
At least half of it is true, he’s so tired, he’s not sure he cares anymore. At least, he won’t have to spend energy making decisions. The idea of not having to think again and just do as he’s told for the rest of his life is unexpectedly relaxing.
“What is wrong with you?” Gregor shouts. “That was an order.”
Oh right.
Aaron shifts and stands on two wobbly legs on the sand. Red sand crusts his feet and paints his body in blood colors.
The blood wolf’s gaze drifts to the bloody mess that is Aaron’s neck, then he grunts. “Right. I need both your names and your signature here,” he points to a spot on the clipboard, “confirming that you’ve claimed this omega. If you don’t know his name, just put an X. We’ll check it against our records.”
Aaron watches Gregor take the clipboard though bleary eyes. Th
e big alpha scribbles on the board and then passes it back.
“When do I get to take him home?” he asks, “I can’t be bothered with all that ceremony frippery. He’s mine. I want to get him home and broken in.”
“Ceremony is compulsory,” the blood wolf says, checking over the form. He doesn’t look up. “You take him home afterwards. It starts in an hour so you won’t have long.”
“I want to take him now,” Gregor says.
“I don’t care,” the blood wolf replies disdainfully. “That’s the way it works and it’s what you signed up for. You’ll get him back in an hour. You, through that door there.”
It takes Aaron a moment to realize that he’s ‘you’.
The door being gestured at is at the other side of the omega pen and the same one by which he originally exited the building.
The omega pen looks tired too. No one has bothered to bring in the white plastic chairs. Half have blown over and been buried higgledy-piggledy in the red sand.
He’s aware of the alphas watching him. He starts walking before Gregor can threaten him with another fake kick again.
The first thing he thinks when he enters the medical examination room is “Oh, my bag’s still here.”
Somewhere in the back of his brain, he expected never to see it again.
There’s nothing of real importance in it, but something about it feels like a good sign. The Red Run is almost over. He’s still alive and still has something that he came with. It hasn’t destroyed him completely.
“Sit on the bed,” a voice says.
Aaron raises his eyes to see the same beta doctor who injected him before the ran start.
A surge of hatred rolls through his veins. Out of the corner of his eye, he’s aware of the alpha guard at the other side of the room tensing.
Like I have the energy for that, he thinks wearily.
He drags his heavy limbs over to the bed and sits obediently.
Cold fingers prod his body, turning his neck to look at the damage and then poking at his belly, and pulling up his eyelids to look at his eyes. She twists his hand over and takes a finger prick blood sample.
Finally, the beta grunts and scribbles on the form.
“You’re done,” she says. “Follow the alpha out.”
You’re done. What does that mean? Aaron opens his mouth to ask her but before he can get three words out, the alpha guard is gripping his upper arms, fingers pressing neatly into the original bruises and dragging him through the other door.
GREGOR
short showers and a basket of muffins
Gregor plasters a grin on his face as Aaron is manhandled through the waiting door. He unclenches his fists and forces himself to relax.
Come on, dude. Grin like a jerk. This is just fiiiiiine.
It’s not. It’s nothing of the sort but they’re in the endgame now. He can’t risk losing Aaron now for no reason other than he can’t control his temper.
The guard watches Aaron go and then tears off the bottom half of the form.
“That’s your receipt for the omega.” He frowns, turns a page on the clipboard and scans it. “Ah, you were premium. Follow the building to the left and take the second door. You’ll find quarters to clean up and some refreshments. Your clothes and belongings will be waiting for you.”
No being dragged off for me then, Gregor thinks. He bets Aaron isn’t getting refreshments.
The thought of the omega alone makes his stomach hurt. He doesn’t know what’s happening to him in there or whether he is even going to come out.
He gives a curt thanks to the guard and follows the directions. With the exception of the guard, they saw no one else on the approach to the Red Run.
They really were late. The evidence of hundreds of others passing through is evident in the scuffed sand and the trash caught up against the scrub that they passed.
Since the omegas and alphas set off without supplies, he can only assume that the trash is from the audience watching the horns blow a week ago and it still hasn’t been cleaned up.
The sun has gone down fully now and a cold wind is blowing off of the Red Run. He shivers. Getting his clothes back feels like a real good idea.
He rounds the corner of the building. There are few people in sight here too, although the parking lot is full.
Second door, he thinks, looking around for it.
“Psst. Hey, psst.”
Gregor looks around. The lights of a car flash at him.
He checks to see if anyone is watching and then trots over.
Dan winds down his window.
“Glad to see you’re okay. I was starting to get really worried,” he says.
“You didn’t tell me about the fence,” Gregor says.
“I didn’t know about it. I also wasn’t able to wait anywhere near there. They’ve really upped the patrols since I was here. Glad to see you’re alive though. And Aaron?”
“He’s inside. He’ll be okay.” I hope. “We’re playing at being a mated couple. Just need to go through the ceremony and then we can leave.”
“Playing at?” Dan asks, then shakes his head. “Actually, never mind. When’s the ceremony?”
“In an hour. Got to head back and get washed and dressed. My clothes are supposed to be in a locker. Meet you back here once we’re done?”
Dan shakes his head. “The clothes you came in? You can’t do the ceremony in your old jeans and your gardening shirt.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s a big deal, that’s why. You’re supposed to make an effort. Here. I thought you might have to end up doing it since you took so long,” Dan reaches into the back of the car and grabs a brown paper bag which he then passes through the window. “I wasn’t sure of your size so it may be a little big, but it’ll be better than what you’ve got.”
Gregor takes the bag. “Thanks, man.”
He walks purposely towards the second door. There’s another guard waiting beyond it who shows him to his ‘quarters’.
The quarters are little more than a blocked off cubicle with a single bed, but it has its own shower and toilet along with a bottle of spring water and basket of muffins.
Gregor wonders what the non-premium alphas get. Or the omegas.
He wraps the muffins up in a paper towel and tips them into his backpack for Aaron.
The shower is a simple one: nothing but hot water and cheap soap but it is still heaven on earth. He wants to move in under it and live there, but he forces himself to wash quickly and get out.
He tips out the brown paper bag onto the bed. Dan’s bought him gray pants, underwear, a simple white-collared shirt and a pair of black shoes and socks that are at least two sizes too big.
It’ll do. Even the shoes. He can stuff the toes with toilet paper to stop them from falling off.
He dresses quickly, keen to get it over with. He’s just buttoning up the shirt when there’s a knock at the cubicle door.
“Come in,” he calls.
Oz Corrigan enters with a grin on his face. “Just thought I’d stop in and see how you’d got on. I’m told you got back late.”
Gregor shrugs as if it doesn’t matter. “It was fun. Didn’t really want to come back if I’m honest. Although now I’ve had a shower, I’m remembering why I did.”
“Good. Good,” the leader of the blood wolves says, nodding his head. “We thought you were going to make a break for it at the beginning.”
Gregor’s blood freezes. He chooses his next words carefully even as he answers as casually as he can. “Just exploring. Getting an idea of the lay of the land. That kind of thing.”
Corrigan slaps him on the back and laughs. “Knew it was going to be something like that. Glad you got your omega. Though you made real mess of his neck.”
What is this? An interrogation? Gregor thinks. Of course, it is. He’s just not sure what Corrigan is getting at. Does he know that it wasn’t a proper bite?
It doesn’t really matter because he knows what
Corrigan wants.
He smirks and slaps Corrigan on the back in return, probably a little harder than he should have. “Like I said, I was enjoying myself. But I seem to remember we have business to discuss. Not tonight if you don’t mind. I fancy fucking my omega in a decent bed for once. How about I put you in touch with my pack’s second. We can have the admin guys work the details?”
Corrigan’s eyes flash and Gregor can just about see the dollar signs in them.
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Corrigan says. “You have his number to hand?”
“Sure,” Gregor replies. He reads out Luke’s number from heart and Corrigan taps it into his phone.
The blood wolf grins. “Well, I won’t keep you. You’ve got a ceremony to be getting on with. Enjoy.”
“Oh, I will,” Gregor says with a wink. “Looking forward to doing business with you.”
“Likewise.”
Corrigan closes the door behind him as he leaves.
Gregor races for his backpack and the phone that he left in the front pocket a week ago, praying that he turned it off and there’s at least some battery left.
He finds it and pushes the button at the side to turn it on.
Come on. Come on.
The logo blinks up on the screen and he breathes a sigh of relief.
It feels like it takes forever to turn on enough to make the call.
Luke’s phone rings multiple times, and then his brother finally answers.
“What the hell is going on?” Luke says when he answers.
“I will fill you in later. You’re going to get a call from the blood wolves,” Gregor says.
“The who?”
“Blood wolves. Long story. Just say yes.”
“Uh?”
“I’ll send you a message. Just don’t say no.”
“Okay?” Luke says. He sounds thoroughly confused.
Gregor hangs up. Halfway through the call he got paranoid and wondered if the cubicle was bugged.
Probably paranoid but when Aaron’s concerned, he thinks he has a little right to be.
He taps out a message on his phone.
Someone from the Red Run is going to be in touch shortly asking you to sell omegas from the Aylewood Run. Don’t tell them to fuck off. At least not yet. I need a couple of hours. Just make happy yes noises but don’t commit to anything.
Winterstoke Wolves Collection : An MM Mpreg Shifter Romance Bundle Page 64
