The Omega Objection

by G. L. Carriger

  “How do you know we can?”

  “Don’t be silly, my boyfriend owns the hotel.”

  * * *

  Tank watched Isaac and the stunning black woman rise from their table, link arms, and head toward him where he held position by the restaurant entrance.

  Isaac looked good. Tense and a little worn about the eyes, but all in one piece, thank fuck. Safe. He’s right there and he’s safe.

  Thankfully, Xavier had called the pack in to provide security. No doubt it had something to do with Isaac hanging out with Xavier’s girlfriend. Xavier wanted to protect Isaac, but he really wanted to protect Lavish from Isaac’s mistakes. Heavy Lifting wasn’t cheap at the best of times, and this was a last-minute call. Alec would charge the man top dollar.

  Tank didn’t care about the reason because Isaac was there, in front of him. Tank’s stomach was queasy with relief. Also, Judd was with him for backup. One of the pack’s enforcers, Judd breathed battle the way Alec breathed leadership. Tank could fight, but he didn’t like it, and he wasn’t especially good at it. He was just that much bigger than most, enough for things to fall in his favor when fists or teeth were involved. But Judd was bigger and meaner.

  It was full daylight, so neither of them was as strong as they might be. And they couldn’t shift. But Judd packed heat. It wasn’t normal for a supernatural creature to carry weapons, especially not since Super Saturation and quintessence misfires put guns out of general favor. But Judd wasn’t normal.

  Tank signaled him in the hall. “They’re headed down in the elevator.”

  “I’ll take the other elevator.”

  Tank nodded. “I’ll take the stairs.”

  Tank slipped out of the stairwell on the ground floor and skulked behind one of the massive potted ferns on the far side of the room. Judd gave him a look and then drifted outside to watch the street.

  Isaac and the woman entered the lobby and, much to Tank’s relief, didn’t leave. Instead they seemed to negotiate checking into a room together.

  Tank might have been confused, not to say jealous, except Isaac was decidedly gay. Far be it for Tank to discount bisexuality, but Isaac? No. His friendship with Xavier’s girlfriend – What was her name, Luxurious? Luscious? – was intimate but not sexual. Besides which, having an affair inside her own boyfriend’s hotel seemed extraordinarily ballsy.

  The mermaid receptionist passed over a room key, gave them a cheeky grin, and said something about champagne, chocolate, and movies. Apparently, they were going into one of those vegetative states humans occasionally enjoyed when exposed to new video games or binge-watching vampire hunting parodies. Max did it occasionally. The pack’s Magistar was extremely fond of a sitcom set in a mermaid pod called Brining Women. In Max’s case, the hibernation pattern seemed to also require vast amounts of the ice cream flavor Berry Berry Nice, which Bryan complained was impossible to find.

  Isaac and his lady friend returned to the elevators and Tank stuck his head outside to tell Judd what was going on. Then Tank called Xavier to request his authority in finding out which room Isaac now occupied.

  Minutes later Tank was standing outside one of the fancier suites on an upper floor, wishing he could smell if Isaac was actually in the room.

  Even knowing his lover had no scent, Tank pressed his face to the tiny crack in the doorjamb. He got a whiff of vanilla peach and soap, bubble bath suds, perhaps.

  About an hour into his vigil, the dulcet tones of posh British accents and classical music began drifting out. Tank stood for the next five hours, listening to what appeared to be an endless adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Judd occasionally swung by to check on him.

  “Humans. Their courting rituals are ridiculous.” Judd kept his voice low just in case there were other shifters in the rooms nearby.

  Tank nodded, gloomy. “Especially when written by Austen.”

  “Actually this is a pretty good adaptation,” Judd said, to Tank’s utter surprise, and then continued his circuit. He’d stopped offering to relieve Tank of door duty. Tank wasn’t budging until he saw Isaac again.

  Judd preferred to be in motion anyway.

  Just as the sun began to set, the suite’s door finally opened, and the man of the hour came sneaking out.

  “Going somewhere?” Tank kept his voice low and calm.

  Isaac started and then glared at him. “Of course, it’s you out here.” Emotions danced over his face, annoyance, pleasure, something carnal, something more profound. “Of course, it’s you.” He repeated as if to himself. “I felt safe all day in there. I’m such an idiot.”

  “Idiot, yes, far be it for me to gainsay your own assessment of yourself.”

  Isaac barked a surprised laugh.

  There were a number of things Tank might have done at that juncture – yell at the man for disappearing or whine about being left alone after the best sex of his life. Instead Tank did what he wanted to do most, which was grab Isaac by the upper arms and drag him into a hug. Careful not to squeeze too hard (after all the man was only human).

  “You frightened the shit out of me.”

  “How the hell did you find me?” Isaac pushed, looking around.

  Tank hastened to reassure him. “I didn’t track you. Xavier called me. Well, he called my pack. Hired us to come keep you safe.”

  Isaac’s face suddenly cleared. “You’re Heavy Lifting?”

  “One part of it.”

  “I thought that call was something to do with the renovations.”

  Tank snickered. “I told Kevin the name sounded like a moving company. Sometimes I think that’s the point.”

  Isaac relaxed and unconsciously moved back into Tank’s eager arms. “It’s not, is it? You’re security. He’s worried about Lavish because I was with her and he knows someone is after me.”

  Tank stroked Isaac’s biceps, as if he were gentling a skittish pack mate. “Who is after you? Trappers? They don’t seem so bad.”

  “No. I’ve no idea what they want.”

  Tank kept petting. Isaac didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the man’s hands began threading through Tank’s short hair as if he couldn’t help himself. Or he needed the reassurance. Perhaps he really wanted to tug. Only they were out in the hallway. God, I hope he wants to tug.

  Tank pressed for answers. “Why is Hayden so fixated on you?”

  Isaac looked around wild-eyed. “Fuck, is he here?”

  Tank sighed. “No stalker. No trappers. No cops. Just me and one of my pack mates.”

  Isaac tensed. “Another werewolf?”

  “Judd.”

  “Which one is that?”

  Tank kept his touch gentle. “Enforcer.”

  That one word terrified Isaac. He twisted out of Tank’s grasp. He was strong, much stronger than he should be. Much stronger than a human.

  Tank grabbed Isaac’s hand, holding fast and hard, grip werewolf-rough. Anchoring himself. Anchoring them both. Isaac didn’t even flinch.

  “What exactly are you, Isaac?”

  But Isaac’s gray eyes were panicked. “Enforcer? There’s an enforcer here? I gotta go.”

  Tank couldn’t stop himself from whimpering. “Isaac, no, please. Just come with me. Come with us. Judd’s a good guy. He won’t do anything. Just let us help you, protect you if you need it. My pack will look after you.”

  Isaac shook his head, crazy with fear. “No, they won’t. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Werewolves. Werewolves is what he’s running from. What has him so scared. We are what he’s always been running from and what has always had him scared. I am his nightmare.

  Tank tried again, desperate. “Isaac, we aren’t all the same. I swear we aren’t.”

  Isaac flinched and seemed to return to himself. Shaking off his terror, his gray eyes focused on Tank’s face.

  Isaac’s free hand lifted, stroked the side of Tank’s jaw – tentative as he’d never been before. Tank was despe
rate for him to be forceful, desperate for Isaac’s confidence to return. Tank nuzzled in, tilted his head back slightly. I’m yours. I’m no risk. I’m safe. God, what did my kind do to this man?

  “You are different.” Isaac’s smile was shaky. “You’re something special, you know that?” Isaac’s voice was thick. “I could sink into you and forget everything. You already made me stay longer than I should. I might have left yesterday, but fuck, I love the way you smell. And my—”

  He paused, shook himself, then leaned forward, his hand on Tank’s jaw. Isaac moved his thumb to press down on Tank’s lower lip, dipping inside slightly, forcing Tank’s mouth open.

  Isaac dove in and kissed him. Thoroughly and deep, claiming, and possessive.

  “Ohmygod, that is so hot!” Xavier’s girlfriend was in the doorway, dressed and looking ready to leave. Her eyes gleamed.

  They jerked apart.

  “Isaac, darling, I didn’t know you had yourself a man. And look at the size of him. Extra large bonus yummy! Look, Xavier wants to go to dinner. You two can take the room if you like.” She leered at them. “It’s yours for the night if you need it.”

  She kissed Isaac’s cheek and pressed a key card into his hand in an insistent manner. Either she was very invested in his sex life or she, like Tank, knew Isaac wanted to run, and was trying her best to keep him from going anywhere. “Ta ta, darlings!”

  She gave Tank an indiscreet jerk of the head – get him inside, stupid – and marched off to the elevators swinging a leather purse Tank suspected was worth more than his motorcycle. “Is that a woman or a force of nature?”

  Isaac glared at Tank. “She’s great.”

  Tank snorted. “I think she’s in love with you.”

  “Oh, right, and she somehow overlooked the whole gay thing?”

  “Thinks you stumbled and fell into my ass.”

  “Or that any ass would do?”

  Tank flinched. “Would it?”

  Isaac sighed. “No, yours is awfully perfect. But I gotta go. I can’t stay. Not if you’ve got an enforcer here.”

  Tank took the room card from him and opened the door. “Come back inside. He won’t disturb us. No one else knows you’re here.”

  “Apparently your whole goddam pack knows.”

  “Yeah, but we don’t know why anyone is after you.” Tank flipped the security latch on the door behind them, looked around with interest. The room was the height of opulence. “And we didn’t tell the trappers anything.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “’Course not. Nothing to tell.” Tank stripped quickly, losing t-shirt, jeans, and loafers. “You never said anything. And I wouldn’t betray you even if you had.” If him being naked was the only thing that might convince Isaac to stay longer, then naked he would be.

  It seemed to work. Isaac’s eyes dilated until they were almost black and his breath quickened.

  Tank said, “You smell like fruit.”

  “Peach cobbler bath bombs.”

  “I don’t know what that means, but I don’t like it.”

  “You don’t?”

  “Nope. Now let me ride your cock and jizz all over your chest.”

  Isaac laughed, shocked but charmed. “Bossy bottom. You’re awfully demanding for a sub. What does that have to do with bath bombs?”

  Tank wrinkled his nose. “Then you’ll smell like me instead of cobbler.”

  Isaac gave an involuntary little shudder at that. Oh, thought Tank, he likes that idea. Whatever creature he is, smell is important to him too. Even though he doesn’t have any scent of his own.

  Tank pressed his naked body against Isaac’s clothed one. Feeling what his words had done. Isaac might pretend indifference but he wanted Tank every bit as badly as Tank wanted him.

  “You like the way I smell, Isaac?”

  “Fuck, yes.” Isaac grabbed him then, hard and rough, and pressed his face against Tank’s neck in a remarkably wolf-like gesture.

  “What are you, Isaac?” Tank asked again, risking a break in the mood.

  “Not a good idea.” Isaac was adept at being evasive. “God, why can’t I resist you? What is it you do to me? And why did it have to be you?” He pushed Tank back onto the opulent bed.

  * * *

  Isaac had no idea what drove him. The instinct to flee had been tempered by Lavish with her dumb movie marathon and girly gossip. She’d distracted him with the mundane, suckered him into pretending that nothing was wrong.

  Now Tank was holding him here, so big and warm and giving. All Isaac could think about was absorbing him into his soul one last time. Before they never saw each other again. Melodramatic, much?

  Even with the risk of a pack enforcer here in this hotel, Isaac wanted to stay and do exactly as Tank demanded.

  Maybe his pressing desire for this werewolf was because of the risk, and the fear, and the adrenaline. Tank was the only thing in Isaac’s life that he could utterly control. What they did together? Isaac could dictate that perfectly. What little power Isaac had was all here, in a bed, with Tank. Everything else in his life was beyond him, spinning and reckless and chaotic. Always had been. But sex with Tank, there he could do exactly as he wished, exactly as he liked, exactly as they both needed.

  He hadn’t restraints or toys or anything useful with him, but he didn’t really require them. Just words. Tank would do as he was told.

  “You’ve been waiting outside this hotel room since lunch, haven’t you?”

  Tank lay back on the bed like a sacrifice, hard and eager, but holding himself to Isaac’s will.

  Isaac reached down and stroked the werewolf’s cock, lightly, testing.

  Tank shivered.

  “Were you this hard while you waited?”

  Tank’s dark eyes twinkled. “Oh yeah, I’m so turned on by the dulcet tones of Jane Austen.”

  Isaac snorted. “Clearly you’ve never seen the diving-into-the-lake scene.”

  “Why are we talking again?”

  Isaac climbed onto the bed and straddled him. Loving the power imbalance – him, still clothed, and Tank, utterly naked.

  Isaac rubbed against the massive man, roughly, perhaps a little too rough, grinding his jean-covered groin down on that eager cock.

  Tank winced and moaned and arched under him and Isaac ordered him to be still.

  Tank froze, eyes desperate.

  Isaac wanted to taste and bite, to fuck and take. His wolf was high on fear and flight and hope, riding him hard to mount and sink his teeth into the banquet of this man. Starving beast. Yearning for some foothold in reality. His wolf saw Tank as mate and savior and hope and resurrection all in one.

  That realization, more than anything else, caused Isaac to rear back.

  What is going on? He’s just a plaything, a toy. A distraction.

  Mine mine mineminemine, said the wolf in Isaac, grinding his teeth.

  Isaac tumbled off his naked lover. “What the fuck? Me? I’m the weird one. What the hell are you?”

  Tank levered himself up onto his elbows, looking dazed. He focused on Isaac and then his dark eyes turned sad. “Nothing special. Just a werewolf. Just a submissive. Just yours if you’d have me, but you won’t, will you?”

  Isaac backed away and stood staring at the massive naked man, in the huge beautiful bed, in one of the best luxury hotels in San Francisco and wondered how the hell had he gotten here. What was he thinking? What was he doing? And how the hell would he get away?

  A loud hammering came on the room door.

  Just like that, Isaac was out of time, and all his choices were gone.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Call of the Mild

  “Tank, you in there?”

  Isaac shuddered at the growl in the stranger’s voice.

  Tank jumped naked from the bed, unselfconscious. Well he certainly has no reason to be ashamed.

  “Yeah.”

  “Our boy in there with you?”
r />   “Yeah.”

  Before Isaac could stop him, because what reason would Tank have not to trust his own pack mate, the werewolf went to the door and opened it.

  A big black man pushed his way in. His skin was darker than Isaac’s own and he was way more muscled. His eyes were black and fierce. He looked mean and tough and exactly the way all werewolves always had looked. Until Tank.

  Isaac was instantly on his guard and backing away.

  Judd leered briefly at Tank. “Sorry, am I interrupting something?”

  Tank only rolled his eyes and went back to lounging naked on the bed. Isaac was weirdly pleased to see he’d a knee up strategically so he wasn’t totally showing off. Isaac’s wolf agreed, mine.

  Judd’s gaze swung to Isaac.

  He came forward, expression not unfriendly, hand outstretched in the manner of humans.

  “Hi there. You’re Isaac. We’ve been hired to look out for you. I’m Judd, enforcer for the San Andreas Pack, and—,” he inhaled and froze. “Holy shit, what the fuck are you?”

  The enforcer stood, poised, looking like he wasn’t sure if he was about to kill or maim, but knowing he would be fighting something.

  “He doesn’t have a scent.” Judd’s gaze flicked to Tank.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Like, no scent. At all. Nothing. Like he’s a goddamn—” Judd seemed to choke on his own words. “Tank, you fucker! What the hell? You can’t go around just hiding an Omega! Jesus Christ, how the fuck has he lasted this long without pack protection?”

  Tank stood and with supernatural speed imposed his naked body between Isaac and his pack mate.

  Isaac started to get déjà vu. Here we go again. The moment a pack is around me, it fractures. Posturing, fighting, pain, death, hurt. Everyone arguing over me and no one asking me what I want. Everyone wanting to take the Omega and keep him and trap him and hide him and… For no other reason than that he was an Omega.

  Judd threw his hands in the air at Tank’s protective posturing. “Of course, you’re fucking sleeping with him. I always assumed you preferred to take it, not dish it out.”

  Tank rolled his eyes. “Who said I was topping?”