Chapter 18 Warren #2
“Did you warn him you were coming here tonight?”
“I think I might have mentioned it,” Warren said. Then he licked his lips, remembering. “And he can see my location on his phone.”
“You shared your location with him?” Max asked, glancing away from the door and giving him a bewildered look. “Isn’t it kind of early for that?”
“He did it himself when he added his number to my phone.”
Max snorted, but he didn’t comment, his attention moving back to Marcus parking in the driveway.
Harland walked outside, and after a moment of looking at each other, Warren and Max followed. They stayed at the top of the steps, watching as Harland went down to meet Marcus in the driveway.
“Are they going to fight?” Warren asked in a whispered hush, pushing close to Max.
“I think so,” Max said, sounding unsure.
Marcus climbed out of his car, wearing nothing but jeans and a t-shirt, shooting Warren and Max a quick wave before turning his attention to Harland.
“So, you’re the vampire.”
Harland inclined his head.
“And you’re the alpha visiting my territory.”
Marcus barked out a mean laugh. He bit his lip, his expression mocking. “Your territory, huh? I must have missed the announcement.”
Harland smiled back. “That seems to be a common theme, you missing things that are obvious.”
Marcus kept smiling, and Warren felt like his heart was going to pound its way out of his chest. The tension was insane.
Why were they just standing there, staring at each other and smiling?
“This is weird,” Max said, validating Warren’s feelings.
“It’s not weird,” Marcus said, glancing up at Max and shooting him a friendly nod before going back to his creepy grin-off with Harland. “We’re just sizing each other up.”
“Trying to see what all the fuss is about,” Harland agreed.
They started moving, circling each other in the driveway.
Max pulled Warren up against his chest, wrapping his arms around him. Warren glanced up over his shoulder and realized with a start that Max was shirtless.
He must be freezing.
“Should you get a coat?” Warren whispered.
“I’m fine,” Max said, his voice low. “Werewolf, remember?”
When they looked back, both Harland and Marcus were looking at them.
“They’re cute,” Marcus said, turning his attention back to Harland. The tension ratcheted.
“They are,” Harland agreed.
“I’ve given it some thought,” Marcus said, moving closer to Harland while still circling him. “And I’ve decided I don’t want to share.”
Harland took a step closer of his own, shaking his head ruefully. “That’s a shame. Being alone is a curse.”
“This is terrifying,” Warren said, pushing back into Max’s arms. “Why are they smiling like that?”
“I don’t know!” Max said, holding him tighter. “It’s so freaky.”
“We can hear you,” Marcus said, not looking away from Harland. Both of them were grinning, the expressions hard and anticipatory, the distance between them getting smaller and smaller as they continued circling each other.
“We know,” Max said, taking a breath. He sounded just as stressed as Warren felt.
He didn’t want to watch Harland and Marcus fight – and he didn’t want them fighting over him. This was not romantic. This was weird and very, very upsetting.
The grin slid off Marcus's face as he came to a standstill. "Winner takes them both," he announced.
He looked ready to pounce.
“Deal,” Harland replied, mirroring his pose.
“Did they just-”
“He did not-”
Warren and Max spoke at the same time, each of them cutting off when Marcus and Harland exploded into action.
Harland struck first, or at least Warren thought he did. He moved too fast to see, but then suddenly Marcus was holding him by the arm and tossing him out of the driveway.
“Vampire tricks, is that how you think you’ll win this?
” Marcus growled, shifting into his alpha form with a roar.
His t-shirt and jeans both ripped at the seams, his shoes falling apart as his feet elongated and grew claws, but Marcus made quick work of tearing it all off so that he wouldn’t be hindered in his movement.
His briefs survived the transition, though the cotton fabric was stretched to the absolute max by Marcus’s new form.
With blinding speed, Harland was back in the driveway. Next to Marcus in his alpha form, he looked small and at a disadvantage, but Warren knew that appearances were deceiving.
He didn’t know how Marcus could win when Harland could move so much faster than him.
“Can you even fight me as a wolf?” Marcus taunted, his hands lifted and ready to attack, his wickedly sharp claws on display.
Warren couldn’t believe that he’d been chased by that. No wonder he’d almost pissed himself.
Harland’s lip curled in a sneer.
“Can he?” Warren asked, looking up at Max and forgetting that Harland could absolutely hear him.
He squeaked in fright when Harland turned his head and glared at him.
“I don’t know,” Max said.
“You claimed them as a wolf,” Marcus taunted. “Can you defend that claim as one?”
Harland roared, his teeth sharpening and his muscles bulging as he burst into his alpha form.
The transition was violent. The sound of bones snapping and reforming filled the air, and the sight of muscles moving under Harland’s skin as he shot up and out made Warren feel like he was going to throw up.
When it was done, Harland bared his teeth and growled deep in his chest. He was just as pale as usual, but somehow the effect was much starker when it was paired with the animalistic features of his alpha form.
Harland’s cock dangled between his legs, heavy and thick and completely flaccid, his balls pulled tight up to his scrotum.
The leather pants and boots he’d been wearing were in tatters on the ground, but his sweater had stretched with him and remained almost intact, except for a few tears along the arms and shoulders.
If it hadn’t been so intimidating, seeing Harland in his alpha form, wearing a wool sweater and nothing else would have been funny.
It was not funny.
“When I win, you leave and you never come back,” Harland growled. “They’re both mine.”
Marcus bared his teeth in return. “When I win, I’m taking them both with me.”
“The terms are set,” Harland said, lowering himself into a crouch.
“Now wait a minute,” Max said, sounding like it was taking all his courage to speak. “Not set. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Stay out of this,” Harland growled.
Warren gasped. He could not believe that Harland just said that.
“Excuse you?” Max growled back.
“Impressive control you have over him,” Marcus taunted.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Max growled, finding his courage. He released Warren and marched down the stairs toward where the two eight-foot-tall werewolves were about to fight.
“Go back to the house,” Marcus instructed, his voice doing a weird thing. He turned away, seemingly taking it for granted that Max would do as he said.
“Not until you two take back your little deal. I don’t give a fuck about this little fight. The only person who decides where I live and who gets to keep me is fucking me!”
Harland and Marcus both looked at him, and then at each other. An understanding seemed to pass between them, because all of a sudden Harland grabbed Max and bodily threw him back up to the top of the stairs before going for Marcus’s throat.
Warren didn’t know where to look. Max crashed into the wall next to the door, landing on his feet with a grunt, while Marcus and Harland tore into each other like a pair of wild animals.
They were vicious. There was blood everywhere, and within a few seconds of the fight having started, the two alphas were rolling around on the ground, clawing and biting each other and snarling like they wanted to kill each other.
“Fuck this,” Max said, grabbing Warren’s arm and dragging him into the house. “That motherfucker. He wants to be my mate, but then he’s just going to give me away to some douchebag if he can’t beat him in a fight? I don’t fucking think so. They can just go fuck themselves!”
Max grabbed a vase off one of the little tables lining the hall between the artworks and threw it at the door behind them. It smashed into a thousand pieces.
“That fucker!”
Warren blinked up at Max, and then carefully reached up to rub his arm.
Warren didn’t feel great about being made the prize in some bizarre alpha fight for dominance, but he wasn’t actually upset.
It wasn’t like he was in a relationship with either of them.
The stakes of their fight weren’t real. Warren was going to finish school and then go where he wanted to go, with only as much care paid to what Marcus and Harland wanted as suited him.
It was different for Max. He’d been with Harland for years, and Harland was willing to gamble him away in a fight?
That was fucked up. Even if it was some werewolf thing, Max’s obviously upset reaction should have made them both back off and chosen different stakes.
“We should ditch them,” Max said, looking down at him.
“What?”
“Let’s go on a date, right now, just you and me. I’m sick of this bullshit. I’m out. I tried the whole werewolf thing and it’s not working. I was just fine before I ever met Harland.”
Warren didn’t think that Max could opt out of being a werewolf, but if he wanted a break from the drama, Warren was happy to give it to him.
“Sure.” He looked around the hall. “I don’t have a car. Is your truck here?”
Something crashed into the wall outside, making the windows rattle. The sound was followed by a furious roar.
“It is.”
Max grabbed Warren’s hand and pulled him down the hall. They ended up at a steel door, like the one to the basement, but when Max opened it and pulled him through, Warren found himself in a fancy garage.
Max’s truck was parked next to an insanely expensive-looking little sports car.
“Ready?” Max asked, walking over to the truck. He reached into the back seat and grabbed a shirt, putting it on before climbing behind the wheel and reaching across to open the door for Warren.
Warren climbed up, having to lift his leg high to get up into the oversized vehicle.
“We’re just going to leave?” Warren asked, just to confirm.
“Yup. They can fight over nothing, those assholes.” Max opened the garage door, turning on the engine and starting to back up as soon as the door was open.
As he reversed into the driveway, Warren saw Harland and Marcus on the ground a few feet away from them, completely absorbed in the act of trying to rip each other’s throats out.
Harland turned to look at them when they drove past, but then Marcus bit his throat and he returned his full focus to the fight.
“Is it normal for fights to last this long?” Warren asked, keeping his eyes on the raging alphas as Max turned the truck around and exited the driveway with a hard push on the accelerator.
“I don’t know,” Max grumbled. He zoomed out of the driveway and onto the road, leaving the house like he was merging onto the highway. He was going fast. “I don’t know anything about being a werewolf. I’m just cute and stupid.”
“Cute, maybe,” Warren agreed.
Max barked out a laugh, slowing down and running his hand through his hair. He flicked on his high beams, lighting up the road ahead.
“Fuck. I need to calm down. I’ve broken up with people before. This is not my first rodeo.”
“Are you sure they were serious?” Warren asked. Max shot him an angry look, and Warren quickly defended the question. “I just mean, they might have been caught up in the moment.”
“I don’t care.”
Warren decided to let Max calm down and process his feelings his own way.
“They’re not going to kill each other, right?” Warren asked, just to make sure. Harland and Marcus had been really going at it.
“Probably not,” Max said, a note of worry creeping into his voice. “I mean, it’s a fight for dominance. Harland said that they’re normal.”
“That’s good.” Warren slipped off his coat. The truck was warm, and hot air was blasting out of the vents. “Should we go back and check on them, though?”
Max wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “No. They’re fine. Besides, I’d feel it if anything happened to Harland.”
As he spoke, Max reached up and touched his neck where Harland’s bite was etched into his skin. It seemed to calm him.
“So, where should we go on our date?” Warren asked, trying to lighten the mood. He wasn’t sure if that was something they were actually doing, but he was willing to hang out with Max and help him take his mind off things – even if it wasn’t a date.
“I haven’t eaten,” Max said. “Do you want to get fast food and watch TV at your place?”
“Sure,” Warren said.
“And can I stay the night?” Max looked at him with a hopeful expression. “We don’t have to fuck. I just don’t have my own place.”
“My bed is kind of small, but we can make it work,” Warren said. “Sure.”
Max relaxed, leaning back into the driver’s seat with a look like there was a lot on his mind.