Chapter 31 Dax
Waking up in the morning with Cain in my arms felt like a religious experience. He fit perfectly into the hollow that I had created for him. He almost looked fragile and small compared to me. I didn’t deserve him. I didn’t deserve any of this—Calliope, this pack, their trust. It slammed into me just how comfortable I was with it all. There was a time where I thought having a pack was out of my reach. But this made me hope for something I hadn’t dared dream of.
Cain started to move, and I knew it would only be moments before he woke. Rolling over, he stayed where he was, his head coming up to look at me. “Morning.”
“Good morning.”
Even my voice sounded different. Less stressed and more relaxed. “Any plans for today?”
“I need to run to the store and find a blade.”
He pulled back until I released him, standing and starting to dress. “I need to go by my bladesmith. You can join me if you’d like.”
That made me smile. Spending the day with him sounded amazing. I stood coming up behind him as he turned to pull a pair of jeans from the closet. My cock was hard just from watching him, so when I wrapped my arms around his waist it slid between his cheeks. He relaxed into my hold. “We need to get going if we’re going to make it to my guy.”
“Does that mean we don’t have time for a quickie?”
His laugh answered me. “There is no such thing as a quickie with that huge knot of yours.”
My laugh bubbled up in my chest as I moved away from him to dress. I was starting to run out of clothes, I needed to get back to my place and get some more of my things. Cain was dressed by the time I turned around. He wore jeans that hugged his ass to perfection and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. I had never considered a man’s forearms attractive, but something about Cain’s confidence made that peek of skin so appealing.
He walked by me to the door of the nest, leaning over to peck me on the cheek as he passed. I followed him out of the house and to the driveway. He led me to a black Range Rover. Pulling out of the driveway he aimed the SUV towards the city. It didn’t take nearly as long as I would have liked to get there. I was enjoying the way that our scents mixed in the car. Reaching over, I placed a hand on his knee and gently squeezed for a moment. His hand came down wrapping around mine and returning the gesture. I relished the intimate touch.
Soon he was pulling into a rundown house in a mostly abandoned area of the city. Throwing the car into park, he started to get out. My instincts reared their heads in the most unexpected way, my hand tightening around his, refusing to let him get out of the car. “This is where we need to be.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Trust me.”
“I do.” I struggled to put my thoughts into words. “I just don’t trust other people. I am a prime example of what is out there.”
“Except you would never let anyone hurt me more than I asked for.”
“You have so much confidence in me.”
He gave me serious eyes. “Because I see who you are under all that rage and hate. I see the broken twisted man that thinks he isn’t worthy of love, and I am bound and determined to prove him wrong.”
My hand moved from his up to cup his cheek. He leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips. It held all the promise I didn’t know I needed. Before I could say anything, he pulled away, opened his door, and stepped out. Watching his ass move made my cock ache to be buried inside him again. He threw a look back at me before adding. “You coming?”
I got out of the car and followed him up the driveway. As we neared the front door, he took a quick right off the small porch. This still didn’t feel right. It was when a shiver crawled up my spine that I was able to figure out what it was. We were being watched. I should have expected that. Cain was a distraction, this new urge to protect him was making my head spin. Years of self-training kicked in; my head stayed straight. Eyes glued to the back of Cain’s head. I couldn’t let on that I knew they were there. For all I knew, they were running me through facial recognition software. They would have my name, know that I was a senator’s son. If their computer guy was good enough, they would have my record. I knew as well as anyone else that there was no true destruction of a criminal record anymore. Computers had made that a virtual impossibility. My father may have ‘gotten rid of my record’ but there was no guarantee that it was truly gone. And if it wasn’t, I was well and truly fucked.
Cain led us to a brick wall; he tapped three times at seemingly random bricks and a panel in the house opened. There was a small man standing there. He smiled when he saw Cain. “You made it!”
When he threw himself at Cain I caught his scent. It was sickly sweet, and it poked the part of my brain that craved blood. I didn’t bother to fight the growl that rumbled out when Cain caught the omega. He was mine, God damn it. Cain was too deep in conversation with the omega to notice how pissed off I was getting. My beta even walked away from me, carrying the omega into the darkness of the house.
Cain is going to have to scrub that scent off him.
No way I was getting back in the car with that nausea-inducing scent all over him. I was going to gut the omega for daring to touch what’s mine. My hand reached down for my blade, my hand closing around air. Cain had been such a distraction, I had forgotten it at the house. Squaring my shoulders, I prepared for the worst as I entered that space. I had to duck to get in, but it opened up on the other side. Inside was completely dark. Looking to either side, I could see nothing but two corners. Voices came from the right, so I turned that way.
Coming around the corner I could see an opening in front of me that was filled with light. Getting closer to that opening, I could make out what was being said. “You need to let go of Cain.”
That was an alpha, I could hear the near-bark in his voice. It was followed rapidly by the whiny voice of the omega. “I don’t want to. I was here first.”
“Dante.” That was a bark, but it came from a different alpha.
“What?”
There was some bite in the omega’s voice. “Do you know who the man that came with Cain is?”
“He’s an alpha, so what?”
“He’s my alpha.” Cain’s claim was like a punch to the gut, my cock slammed rock hard.
“And?”
I went soft so fast from the omega’s voice that my cock ached from it. “And he killed his parent’s entire pack, except for his senator-father.”
“Why isn’t he in prison?”
I would be if that omega didn’t shut his fucking mouth. Cain supplied the answer to him. “His father made it disappear.”
I took that as my cue to sweep into the room. “Clearly, he didn’t do as good of a job as he should have.”
“Dante, come here.” It was a clear order from the alpha with locs that was sitting behind a desk. When the omega refused to comply, he barked. “Now.”
“Better listen to your alpha, boy.”
“You do not address my omega. I know what you are, and I will destroy you if you come anywhere near him.” The alpha’s snarl was kinda cute.
“Keep him away from what’s mine, and I won’t have to slit his throat in his sleep. You know I like to do that when the omega is alone. It makes reporting on the grieving packs so much sweeter.” His eyes widened and I knew that wasn’t the one he was talking about. “Nope, not that one. I don’t see a beta around here, so it can’t be The Butcher killings. Must be the Pack Annihilations. Those are lots of fun. I’ll tell you a secret. I like to keep the omegas alive. Their terror and sorrow is the best. It’s like crack.” The rage was simmering just beneath the surface, so I went in for the kill. “You know, I like to start with the omega’s favorite. They always die first. Which, I suppose, is fortunate in your case. You’ll be alive long enough to watch a few of your pack die.”
He launched himself at me. A grin crossed my face, this was going to be fun.
He came in swinging; it was easy to dodge his haphazard strikes. He growled, body tensing, right foot forward. I saw the moment he decided to charge me, closing the distance in three steps. It would have caught me by surprise if he didn’t telegraph what he was about to do. Sweeping to the side, I pushed my foot out to catch his. He fell to the ground, and I sat on his back. He tried to push off the floor, but I leaned back enough that my weight wasn’t balanced anymore. His arms shook for a moment before he collapsed.
“You done?”
“Fuck you.” He tried and failed again to get me off him.
“I can do this all day.”
“Come on, Xavier, give up.” That came from the other alpha in the room.
“Never.” He tried to roll to the side, but I reached down and pulled his arm out from under him before he completed the motion.
“Submit,” I barked.
All the fight went out of him all at once. It had been fairly easy to out-alpha him. Neither of the alphas were more dominant than I was. It helped that I had cultivated a don’t-fuck-with-me aura. The one I was sitting on growled beneath me. I couldn’t bring myself to care about his attitude. This was about making a point and humiliating this man in front of his pack, and showing his omega how useless of an alpha he was. Plus, I was showing off a little for Cain.
From the way he flushed, I knew he was enjoying the show. Not that I would touch him tonight. He deserved a little punishment for allowing that damned omega in his arms. The thought would have never crossed his mind if Calliope were here. That pissed me off even more. I reached down and grabbed the alpha’s arm. Twisting it behind his back, he whimpered as I pulled. There was just enough pressure there, it wouldn’t take much to snap the whole thing. That actually didn’t seem like a bad idea. There would be no getting near the omega, I really wanted to break both of his legs, but I suppose his alpha would suffice.
I caught the omega’s eyes as I grabbed his forearm. With a quick movement I brought my knee up while pulling the arm down. There was a satisfying snapping sound as the bone broke on impact. I threw it to the side and accepted Cain’s hand up. I used the leverage I had to pull Cain against my chest, sweeping us away from the alpha on the ground. We stopped right in front of the opening.
Cain was breathless when he spoke. “That was fucking hot.”
“His omega shouldn’t have touched what’s mine. He had to pay for his omega’s sins.”
“You didn’t have to break his arm.” The omega had the audacity to open his mouth.
“You’re lucky that’s all I did.”
“He was making a point,” the other alpha said. “How many times do I have to tell you to keep your hands off what doesn’t belong to you?”
“But, Alpha.” His whine made me itch for my blade.
“Leave.” When the omega stood there pouting, he added, “go check on Xavier, I have business to attend to.”
We watched as the omega moved with a slowness I knew to be intentional. His eyes never left mine as he crossed between us and his alpha. He was close enough to grab. I was tempted to take him and call it a day. The bastard omega had a hard lesson to learn. My arm started to move, but Cain’s hand on my forearm stopped me. My head turned to look into Cain’s eyes. Rage, disgust, and murder were all plain for to see. That is, if they knew what they were looking at.
The alpha reached out and dragged the omega from the room before returning. He motioned to the desk before sitting at it. Cain and I moved as one, he took the seat closest to the desk. When my growl echoed through the room he chose the other, putting me slightly closer to the alpha. I could feel love flooding me through the bond telling me that he was enjoying this side of me. “I’m Bradley. I have to apologize for Dante and Xavier.”
“It’s fine,” Cain said.
“All due respect,” that made me like Bradley a little more, “I was speaking to your alpha.”
“It’s Dax, as I’m sure you are well aware.”
“Dax, I must ask that you excuse Dante. He and Cain have a history. Ayden never really cared. I see that has changed.” He sighed. “I will make sure Dante knows Cain is off limits.”
“I’m sure I made my point quite clear.”
“Dante tends to be a little hardheaded. It won’t be a problem in the future.” He pulled a case from beneath the desk, setting it on the surface. “I have your order.”
Cain smiled and reached for the box. He opened it and shuffled through the contents. His hand came out wrapped around a set of throwing knives. He tested the edge on one of them by running his thumb over the edge. A line of blood welled up in its wake, his head turned as he placed the blades on the desk. When he caught my eyes, he brought that finger up to his lips and sucked on it. My cock was so hard that it hurt, the ache making it uncomfortable for me to stay sitting there. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he released a moan. This beta was going to be the death of me.
Pulling that finger from his lips, he turned back to the box. His hand disappeared inside again, and he pulled out a titanium cuff, it was attached by wires to rings meant to go around four fingers. They ended with steel claws. When the piece caught the light, I could see rubies sparking along each band. The cuff itself was studded with diamonds with a large black one in the center. It was a beautiful and deadly creation. I knew exactly who that was for, and I couldn’t wait to watch my omega use it.
His hand disappeared once again, and this time he pulled out a buck knife. Turning towards me he had a hopeful look in his eyes as he offered it to me. “This is for you.”
I took it from his hand and studied it for a moment. It had a bone handle; I suppose it was too much to hope that bone came from a human. The sheath was made of black-dyed leather and there was a design burned into the material. Turning it so the design caught the light, I smiled when I saw it was my pack mates’ initials. Undoing the strap that kept it in place, I pulled the blade from the sheath. Black metal caught the light, the reflection making an etching on the blade stand out. I turned the blade again until I could make out the words, My Alpha. “I love it.”
I could feel his satisfaction through the bond. Trusting my new instincts, I leaned in. He matched my movement, our lips met in an all-encompassing kiss. The world stopped, time narrowing down to this moment, the feel of his soft lips against mine. How his stubble felt as it moved against my skin. My cock couldn’t get much harder than it was right now. If we didn’t get out of here soon, I was going to bend him over this desk and fuck him here. My teeth caught his bottom lip, and he released a whimper that was halfway to a moan. He was pulling back, making his lip stretch in my hold. His moan made me start to leak; I couldn’t wait to be buried in his tight ass.
A throat clearing made me break the kiss and turn towards Bradley with a snarl. “You looked like you were about to fuck him right here.” The sad sound that Cain made at being interrupted made me want to rip the alpha’s throat out. My gaze flicked down to the blade sitting on the table. I was sorely tempted to christen it with Bradley’s blood. He saw what I was looking at, as if reading my mind, he asked. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Didn’t you say you needed a new blade?”
Cain’s question planted an insidious idea in my head. “I do have something you might be able to make for me.”
“Is it a custom?”
“It is,” I turned to Cain. “You have to promise not to tell Calliope about this.”
“You figured out how to court her in your own way.” He beamed at me.
We spent the next hour going over the plans for what I wanted. It was intricate. When the bladesmith named a number, my eyes grew wide. I wasn’t poor by any means but, custom or not, this price seemed inflated. Cain just shook his head and told Bradley he would wire him the money. I didn’t care where it came from so long as my omega didn’t know it was coming. We arranged to pick it up before we headed out of town in three days. Getting in the car after we were done, I started to formulate my plan.