Heartbeat

by Mell Eight

  "Orion?" Denton gasped as the familiar face lifted into view. Orion scrambled to his feet at Denton's exclamation and hurried over to Denton's side. "What are you doing here?"

  "They're remodeling the basement at the house," he replied with a pained grimace. "Putting in some sort of apartment down there, I don't know. But the noise is really loud, so I made Welsh drive me back to the school library to study. But then I decided to wait for you here because I was wondering if you might know what's going on."

  Denton's heart, which had begun beating the second Orion came close, gave a lurch. He didn't want to tell Orion his suppositions. Beta Vough was a much better choice to protect Orion.

  "Between you and me," Orion finished, forcing Denton's heart to make a totally different kind of jump.

  "What do you mean?" Denton asked, wondering if Orion finally understood what their mating bond meant.

  "Look, I'm not stupid. My heart is beating like crazy right now, just because I'm standing near you. Heck, your heart is too, which is really weird because you're dead. I want to touch you as if you were pack, but Vough turned a bit purple when I tried to ask him what that meant." Orion's jaw was set stubbornly, as if he was planning to get his answers whether Denton liked it or not, but his eyes were full of vulnerable curiosity. Whatever answer Denton gave could just as easily crush Orion as sooth him.

  "I'm not exactly sure it's my place to tell you," Denton forced himself to answer. He wanted to yell as loudly as he could that they were mates, to pull Orion safely into his arms and perhaps take a few liberties with Orion's full lips. He wanted to, but he didn't dare. "It's usually handled by a pack elder."

  Orion sighed and pouted angrily. "It's not fair that no one will tell me what's going on with my own body."

  "It's not," Denton agreed. "But," he paused as a bit of sudden movement between the liberal arts building and the administrative offices building caught his eye. Someone was crouching there, hidden in the shadows and staring at Denton and Orion. Denton couldn't make out the man's features, but he could feel the sheer level of hate almost forcing heat waves into the cool night air.

  He barely caught the second movement as the muzzle of a small handgun was lifted into the air to point directly at where they were standing. Denton scarcely had time to gasp and dive forward to knock Orion safely to the ground before the echoing crack of gunfire lit the night. Two bullets whizzed by overhead.

  With Orion's body safely protected underneath his own, Denton glanced frantically up at the shooter, only to find that he had moved. "Get your back against the wall," he hissed when an extra moment's glance didn't unveil the gunman. They both crawled to the far corner of the administrative building as quickly as their knees could take them. Denton kept his eyes open, trying to relocate the shooter.

  The entire grassy quad was spread out in front of them. It didn't offer any places for the gunman to hide, but it also didn't provide any shelter to allow them to run away. They had the building at their backs, with a dark alley separating them from the next building over.

  "Where did you run to?" a voice called from somewhere over to their left. Denton couldn't hear any sanity left in that voice. It was practically a stereotypical evil bad guy voice from every creepy movie—high pitched with a slight giggle, but otherwise no other emotions.

  It certainly frightened Orion, who let out a breathless whimper where he was curled up against Denton's side. Denton looked down as his arm tightened protectively around Orion's shoulders and caught those beautiful mahogany colored eyes with his own. They were filled with fear, wide and darkened as a creepy giggle followed the words.

  "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

  Orion flinched and curled into a tighter ball. Denton's heartbeat slowed in reaction, feeling Orion's fear. He had to do something before the gunman could get any closer and hurt Orion. He had to. This wasn't the time for hiding who he was, for pretending he was ordinary so the New World wouldn't be as scared of him as the Old World had been. Orion's life was on the line, and Denton wasn't about to let anything happen to him.

  "Get out your phone and call the pack," Denton whispered in as calm a voice as he could manage. "We're going to need a quick getaway after I take care of this." Having a purpose seemed to galvanize Orion. He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and ducked to the side so the backlight wouldn't alert their enemy. "I'm going to take care of this," Denton repeated. He brushed a gentle hand through Orion's hair before pulling away and finding his feet.

  "Wait, Denton!" Orion gasped, luckily keeping his voice down.

  "Don't worry," Denton replied with a wide smile that he knew showed his fangs. "I'm a vampire, remember? I'll take care of it."

  He was a vampire. He drank blood and everything. But the creepy cloaks and skulking for prey in dark alleys that some other vampires employed had never appealed to him. Denton had always preferred the quiet life, even as a human, but that didn't mean he was powerless.

  The power was waiting for him where it always was, curled patiently inside his body. Denton allowed it to unfurl, and the power eagerly spread through his body, until his toes and fingers began to tingle. There were some vampires that spent every waking moment immersed in their powers—and Denton understood why—but it diminished their attachment to the world. Those vampires often went a bit crazy and had to be killed.

  Everything he could see came into sharp focus, the night hiding nothing from his eyes. His sense of smell doubled. The fear from Orion behind him and lustful excitement from their adversary just ten feet to the left, skulking next to the stairs in front of the administrative building, lit up the night like beacons.

  Two more gunshots cracked through the night. He was aimlessly firing at the administrative building, giggling insanely all the while. Orion let out a whimper and the first far away sounds of police sirens began to sound.

  Denton dashed forward, moving quickly as only a supernatural creature could, and the gun was on the ground and the man gasping for air from a bruised solar plexus between the space of one crazed giggle and another.

  "What do you want?" Denton ordered, a touch of coercive power brushing over his tongue. The crazed man's eyes glazed even more as the power took hold.

  "For you to die!" he insisted. "For all the terrible things you've done to me!"

  "What terrible things?" Denton asked, needing to know because he had absolutely no idea.

  "That horrible woman!" the man insisted. "Oh, god, her smell. And her chatter. I was ready to kill her within five minutes. But I fought it. I'm not a killer, you know," he insisted, his eyes earnest. "But she kept on talking, talking, talking. About how the registrar purposefully chose the class for her because they knew we needed her expertise. Talking, talking, talking, but now I knew. I had to get revenge. I had to stop the talking and make them pay for sending her to me!"

  "Professor Rose?" Orion gasped as he slowly approached behind Denton. Denton wished Orion had stayed safely behind, but knew that if it had been Orion in the same position, Denton would have done the same.

  "Orion! Pretty Orion. You were the only good student. I wouldn't kill you! But she kept on talking, talking, talking, and I knew she had to go."

  "You know him?" Denton asked Orion.

  Orion nodded. "He's one of the art teachers. He taught my finger-painting class." And modern fashion, Denton realized as the connections became clear.

  Orion gasped and Denton felt his hand shove Denton out of the way. There was a flash of silver as a hidden knife stabbed, but Denton was too far away—thanks to Orion's push—for the weapon to hurt him. But Orion wasn't.

  Orion's teeth were bared in a growl as he faced off with Rose, the knife slashing in the air and Orion dodging. Orion was a wolf and Beta Vough had trained him well, but there was a difference between sanity and logic when it came to defense. Denton barely had time to catch his balance and spin around to return to the fight before the sweet scent of Orion's blood filled the air.

  A yell erupted fro
m Denton's throat as he jumped forward to pull Orion safely into his arms. It was just a scratch along Orion's arm, but it wasn't healing, which meant there was silver in the blade. It would take a pack healer to close the wound.

  "I didn't want to hurt you, Orion Smith," Rose insisted. "No, no. Not you. I wanted to hurt the registrar's office." Denton could hear the sound of car doors slamming and feet running along the pavement. "Then the dean. Oh, yes, he would pay next. You shouldn't have gotten in the way, Orion Smith. No, no, you shouldn't have."

  None of the frightened teenager remained in Orion as Denton held him close. Orion's eyes were feral as he snarled in Denton's arms. Denton had no doubt that Orion was a wolf that fought for the things important to him. "You shouldn't have attacked my mate!" Orion growled back, the fury in his voice making his entire body vibrate in Denton's arms.

  Denton gasped at the admission and felt Orion still in his arms as the explanation he had been looking for finally became clear. But before they could respond, the running feet arrived.

  "Put your hands in the air. Do not move!"

  "Orion! Are you okay?"

  "Sir, this is an active crime scene. Please step back."

  "That is my son over there. You step back!"

  Beta Vough was facing off with Officer McMin, his teeth bared in a growl. McMin looked totally unperturbed. "You need to wait until the scene is secured," he insisted again.

  Four officers were slowly approaching Rose, who was giggling to himself. His crazed eyes were still fixed on Denton and Orion, and Denton knew he hadn't given up.

  Vough growled and suddenly more wolves were approaching. Welsh was there, as well as a man who Denton didn't recognize but who had the same power level as Vough. He must be the pack's second beta. And then the alpha was there, a tall and intimidating man who purposefully stepped forward until he loomed over Officer McMin.

  But McMin wasn't alone either. A shots fired call on a school campus had cleared the barracks, and officers were still arriving at a run. There was about to be a standoff, one that couldn't end well for either side.

  "Let us take Orion home," Alpha Carter said gently, the gentle tone of his voice somehow still sounding incredibly powerful. He was the leader here and his word was law. A police officer wasn't going to get in the way of that, Denton could see that fact in the set jawbone of the alpha clear as day.

  Orion was still bleeding and Rose still giggling as the standoff continued unabated.

  "I can't allow that," Officer McMin insisted. "I need to take both men in for questioning immediately."

  Orion lifted his head where it was buried in Denton's chest and snapped, "No." Beta Vough and Alpha Carter immediately turned their attention to Orion. "Not enough nighttime left," Orion explained cryptically. He was right. There weren't enough hours left before the sun rose for a full interrogation.

  "I can withstand a little sunlight," Denton insisted, trying to calm the situation before it escalated more.

  "We shouldn't risk it," Alpha Carter said as he turned his attention back to Officer McMin. "You're not taking either man anywhere."

  Officer McMin reached behind himself to pull a pair of handcuffs off his belt. "I will have all of you arrested for interfering with an investigation!" he barked.

  The alpha let out a growl and Orion whimpered. Enough was enough.

  Denton called on his power, letting it wash over him and then spread outwards. He should have done this earlier, from the first moment he realized Orion was in danger, but Denton had to set his personal recriminations aside to focus. He stood carefully, Orion still curled gently in his arms, and slowly turned his head until he had looked everyone in the eye.

  "That is enough," Denton said softly, his voice seemingly empty of power but echoing around the quad nonetheless. He turned his attention to the officers first. "You arrived at the scene to find bullet holes in the administrative building and the man with a gun. No one else was at the scene. You promptly arrested him, confiscated his weapons, and brought him and the evidence back to your precinct for processing."

  The officers all blinked silently for a long second before sudden activity stirred among their ranks. Pictures of the building were taken and bullets extracted, but no one noticed the still growling alpha. Even Officer McMin shook his head and strode away.

  Denton turned his attention to Rose next, who was meekly standing under the guard of two officers with his hands cuffed behind his back. "You got distracted by something while lying in wait for me and missed my leaving. In your anger, you took aim at the administrative building instead. The police arrived and arrested you, but no one else was around at the time. You were taken back to the precinct where you confessed everything."

  Rose's giggling halted for a long moment before starting up again with renewed vigor. "I didn't want to kill her, you know," he laughed. "But she was so smelly and there wasn't any water. No, no water to clean her up."

  Beta Vough weaved his way through the milling officers, eyeing each one as he passed by and was ignored. "You're a Master Vampire," he said sharply as he stopped in front of Denton. "No one else has that kind of power."

  Denton sighed. "I am, but we have more important things to worry about right now." He held out his arms, offering Orion to Vough. It hurt to let Orion go, but he knew that to smooth Denton's entry into Orion's life he needed to make peace with Vough.

  Orion's eyes flashed and his fists clenched in Denton's shirt. "No," he growled. "I'm staying with my mate."

  "Orion," Vough growled back, warning in his voice.

  "No," Orion repeated.

  Denton was happy to cuddle Orion close again. Alpha Carter joined them before Orion and Vough's argument could escalate.

  "I'm Alpha Carter," he said firmly. "And you must be Denton Jacobson, the vampire I've heard so much about from Orion. I suggest we all leave the scene before any of Denton's powers wear off. We can get a bandage on Orion's arm and discuss the future."

  Beta Vough turned on one heel and marched off in the direction of the waiting car. Welsh was already scurrying ahead to get the engine started. Denton didn't have any issues with that idea, so he followed Vough through the milling officers and to the waiting car. Alpha Carter was last to slide into the front seat next to Welsh, since Vough was sitting in the back with Orion and Denton. The car pulled out into the street and began heading towards the pack's house.

  Vough yanked a first aid kit out from under the seat, pulled Orion's bleeding arm towards him, and stuck a gauze pad and some tape over it. "That will hold until we can flush the wound and get some stitches in it," he rumbled gruffly when Orion whined at the rough treatment. Orion was still cuddled against Denton, which Denton didn't mind in the least, but it did make Vough turn a little purple in the face every time he looked over.

  Denton didn't have any illusions as to why Orion was suddenly so willing to be close to Denton. Yes, Orion had finally realized they were mates, but he was also blissed out on blood loss and pain. His wolf was instinctively cuddling close to someone it felt safe and happy near. It made Orion feel better, but once the silver was flushed out of the cut and the wound healed, Orion's human side would retake control and instinct would again be suppressed. Denton had a feeling that Orion's shy side would return, but the knowledge that they were mates would certainly alter how Orion behaved around Denton.

  Would Orion be willing to acknowledge their bond aloud again? Or would Denton still have to battle through Beta Vough and Alpha Carter before he could have Orion at his side forever? It all depended on Orion, Denton knew. Should Orion decide that cuddling was just as nice when he was healthy, then the issue was moot, but the opposite could also very well be true, and Denton would need to start from square one again.

  The car turned onto the long driveway that led to the pack house. After a few more minutes they pulled directly into the garage. Beta Vough took a strong grip around Orion's middle and yanked him free from Denton's side. Orion let out a loud whine of protest, but he didn't
have the strength to do more than that.

  Denton got out of the car on the other side and followed the procession into the familiar kitchen. There was a female werewolf sitting at the kitchen table, scowling as they walked closer. She was gently holding a tiny werewolf in wolf form in her arms. It was sleeping, snuffling slightly. The second she saw Beta Vough holding Orion, she stood and walked closer. She passed the baby to Alpha Carter, who cuddled his son close, and bent to inspect Orion's arm.

  "Bring him upstairs. I'll need a sink."

  Beta Vough obeyed instantly. Denton watched as Orion was spirited off to a part of the house he had never seen before.

  "Sit," Alpha Carter said sharply. He nuzzled his nose into the fur on the back of his son's neck for a long moment before passing the baby to Welsh, who also headed into the house.

  Denton sat, not because he felt the compulsion an alpha could use to influence their demands, but because he wanted to play nice with Orion's family. The kitchen emptied as Alpha Carter took the chair across from Denton at the table.

  "You'll take the basement apartment," Carter began without any preamble. "It's light-proof and comfortable, and it ensures that Orion won't be running around town on his own, chasing after you."

  "Um," Denton began, trying to figure out just what Carter was suggesting.

  "A Master Vampire aligned with my pack is a good political move," he went on. "There won't be any repercussions from the larger supernatural community. I expect," he added in a much darker and more threatening voice, "that you will treat Orion well."

  Denton couldn't think of an answer to that. How could Alpha Carter think Denton wouldn't treat Orion well? They were mates—it was nearly impossible for that to happen.

  "I will do my utmost to ensure that Orion is very happy," Denton finally replied. After all, a happy Orion meant a happy Denton, which was all Denton had wanted for his life when he originally made the decision to travel to the New World.

  Alpha Carter must have seen something in Denton's face or eyes, because he nodded sharply and stood. "I'll show you the basement. We're still renovating, so feel free to tell us if there are any changes you need. We do want you to be comfortable."