Xias tugged on the hand wrapped around his wrist. It felt as if he were trying to pull his arm out of a vice grip. Just once he wished these bigger guys would experience what it was like to be at the mercy of someone stronger than them.
It was a pipe dream, but a dream nonetheless.
He dug his feet into the dirt and refused to take a step. Osamu kept on going, simply dragging Xias behind him. Xias hopped along, toeing his shoes off. He winced when he stepped on some pine needles.
“Move it!” Osamu snapped.
“I am not going with you.” Xias tugged on his wrist again. “I hate you.”
Xias cried out and fell to the ground when pain exploded in his cheek. He grabbed the side of his face where Osamu had hit him and stared up at the man. The level of violence was nothing new, but it was something he had thought he’d left behind.
“Do you think I care how you feel, boy? I don’t need you to like me to get cubs off of you.”
True, but… “I’ll kill myself before I let you have me again.”
Osamu stared for a moment, then laughed. “You actually think you can stop me?”
“He might not be able to,” said a voice from behind Xias, “but I can.”
Xias swung around to see a man he had never met step out of the thick forest. He might not know him, but he suspected who had sent him. “Zhuang, there’s a guy here…”
“Tall, ugly, looks like he eats tanks for breakfast?”
Xias looked the man over. He met all those criteria, except for the ugly part. He was rugged in a very masculine sort of way, but he was far from ugly. “Yeah, that’s him.”
“His name is Zian.”
“Got it.”
“I’m almost there, mate. Try to stay out of trouble until I get there.”
Xias turned back to look at Osamu when the man growled. “I’m not making any promises.”
He scrambled back, trying to get as far from Osamu as he could. When he felt a hand wrap around his ankle, Xias kicked out as hard and then continued to try to crawl away.
As soon as he’d gone a few feet, Xias shifted. Getting out of his clothes this time was a bit easier than the last time. Mostly because he didn’t care if they ripped or not. He just wanted out of them.
After getting free, he raced for the tree line, then stopped once he put Zhuang’s friend between him and Osamu. He hunkered down next to a tree and waited. He wasn’t about to turn tail and run, leaving a stranger to fight his battle, but he wasn’t sure he could fight it on his own.
Osamu pulled himself up to his full height and looked down his nose at the two men. “I am Alpha Osamu and you are coming between me and my mate.”
Shock had Xias shifting on the spot. “Bullshit!” he shouted as anger rushed through him. “I’m your breeding machine, not your mate.” He pointed to the bite mark on his neck. “I have a mate.”
“Stop lying to these men, Xias. Those are my teeth marks.”
Xias snorted. The audacity of this man was astounding. “I wouldn’t mate you if your dick was made of pure gold.”
Zian snickered.
Osamu growled. “You don’t want to come with me? Fine, but I want my cubs.”
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this until you listen,” Xias said. “I am not giving you my cubs.”
“Just the boy. You can keep the girls. Worthless bitches anyway.”
“They’re only worthless to you because you can’t knock them up.”
“Dude,” Zian exclaimed, “that is sick.”
