“Like wolves,” I correct grimly.
It doesn’t seem to help. He starts sobbing. Great wracking sobs. My guts twist and my blood turns to ice. I’m balls deep in an omega who is crying in misery. I feel like the worst kind of violating fiend. Never mind he tried to murder me and likely has countless kills under his belt. This feels inexcusable.
Long, awful minutes pass. Then my knot finally withers, and I hurriedly pull out of him with a gush of fluids. He moans at the sensation. I yank his trousers up as if covering him will undo my transgressions. Then my arms catch him before I realize he is falling. Lifting him in a bridal carry, I examine him. His eyes have fluttered closed and there are dark circles under them. His head lolls and I shift position to try to support it. He is completely floppy in my arms. But his breathing is steady and his heartbeat strong. It’s just exhaustion and his heat finally breaking that has made him faint.
I stare at him a moment longer, to check my assessment. He really is gorgeous. Truly stunning, even for an omega. Out cold, he seems so vulnerable. It’s hard to believe he stabbed me in the chest and then smirked about it. Now he feels wonderful in my arms. In different circumstances, I would be utterly smitten.
His words about pets echo in my mind along with the sound of his scared, helpless whimpers as he took my knot. It’s hard to align that with the way he lured me to my death and struck the first blow. Which version of him is true? Murderer or victim? I can’t figure it out.
I sigh heavily and gently put him on the back seat. A few more hours and he will be Callum’s problem and not mine. I wince. That thought was supposed to cheer me up, why on earth is it making me feel grief-stricken?
Shaking my head to try to clear it, I put my cock away and climb into the driver’s seat. My head is clearly a mess. After everything that has happened tonight it’s not a surprise. I’ll feel better when I get home. I just need to get there first.
Chapter four
Idriveanddrive.Occasionally, I check my speed and I am hovering at the speed limit. Thank heavens for long ingrained habits. Trouble with human cops would be a nightmare. One I’ve been successfully avoiding my whole life. Paranormals and mundane human police are not a good mix.
The omega lays silently on the back seat, still out for the count. I don’t know his name. He stabbed me in the chest. I’ve thrown him into his first heat, abducted him, taken his virginity and given him my knot. It’s a lot to share without even exchanging names. I’ll have to ask him when he wakes up.
Suddenly something is throttling me. A tight piece of something digging into my throat. I swerve but just about manage to keep the car on the road. Surprise, alarm, fear and rage all surge through me. My gaze locks to his through the rearview mirror. His emerald eyes are sparkling with ruthless determination. He has got a good grip on whatever he is strangling me with and his angle is perfect for giving him great leverage. He has definitely done this before.
“Sit!” I order with all the alpha authority I can muster. My voice is a little hoarse, because, well, I am being throttled to death.
To my immense relief, his eyes widen and he drops back onto the rear seat with a stunned look, dropping the string he had around my neck. I disintegrate it with a blast of magic but not before I see it was the cord from his hood. Resourceful little shit. I should have stripped him naked.
“You trying to get us both killed!” I snap.
“Better than being held prisoner by a monster!” he retorts instantly, even though I can tell he is still shaken that his body obeyed my command.
I’m glad that under all his murderous intent, he is still very much an omega at heart. I would hate to have to use magic on him or hurt him. The fact his body and his instincts know to obey me, is going to make things far easier.
I should tie him up though, just to reduce his temptation to try again. But that would mean stopping the car and giving him a chance to escape. And while I think there is some rope in the trunk, I suspect he knows how to get out of restraints and I’d just be gifting him a weapon to truly throttle me with.
“Give me your shoes,” I bark.
I don’t put any alpha authority in it, but he sulkily slips them off and throws them over onto the front passenger seat. He has the sense to know when he is outmatched at least.
Okay, that’s the laces removed as a possible strangling tool. He is wearing sweatpants so there is no belt to worry about. Presumably he doesn’t have any weapons hidden under his hoodie or he wouldn’t have had to resort to his hood cord.
Is there anything else within his reach that he can kill me with? I’m pretty sure there isn’t, I keep my car tidy. There is one thing back there though.
I meet his icy glare in the rearview mirror again. “If you try to kill me with that cucumber, I’ll make you eat it.”
His blush is utterly adorable. Pink is a good color on him. He looks all horrified, disgusted and outraged before dropping my gaze. I bite back my chuckle. Antagonizing him is probably more trouble than it’s worth.
“What’s your name?” I say instead.
A long silence falls. Just when I think he is not going to answer, he mumbles, “Fitz.”
An unusual name for an unusual man. It is fitting. It suits him. My geeky love of history reminds me that Fitz was the name given to illegitimate children in the Middle Ages. It could be a clever way of calling someone a bastard. But I push that thought aside. I’m sure that can’t be where his name comes from or why his parents chose it.
“I’m Jake,” I say instead of questioning him about it.
He says nothing and I let our brief conversation die. We drive in silence for a while until I’m reasonably sure he is not about to try anything else right now. Then I pull my phone out of my pocket. It’s only fair to give Callum a heads up. I text him because I don’t want Fitz to overhear, or maybe because. ‘Hi Alpha, I nearly got murdered by a crazy omega twice, so I’m bringing him home’, is more palatable in a written form.
Callum’s response of ‘WTF?’ feels deserved as well as understandable. Especially given the time of night it is. I don’t really have anything to add to what I’ve already said, well nothing coherent anyway. So, I just let Callum know our ETA.
His reply, ‘You are a pain in my ass’, makes me smile. I’m really not. I’m a great right-hand man and a magic-weaver to boot. He is lucky to have me and he knows it. Everyone is always asking why I don’t set up my own pack and the truth is I haven’t got the patience for it. Being a pack leader looks like hard work and I can’t be bothered with the diplomacy side of it. People are hard work. Callum is more than welcome to the Alpha role.
