“And the pack, obviously. Does that make me a shit police officer? Actually, I know I’m a shit police officer, but…” His words trailed off as he spread a hand over his face. “Oh man, JP. What a mess.”
Johnny drew in a breath, pressing his forehead to the back of Taylor’s hand. “Does it have to be a mess, Tay?”
“Everything’s messy when it comes to me.”
Johnny grinned. “Well, we can agree on that, because apparently we can’t even do a threesome right anymore.”
“You mean when we nearly suffocated a man between our pecs? Yeah, loved that for us.”
Johnny laughed, nipping his knuckles. “You know what I mean. But it didn’t seem like you hated it. Kissing me, I mean. And to be honest, you were practically sucking my dick at one point.”
Taylor groaned as he tipped his head back, pressing both hands to his face.
Johnny was acutely aware that this was the moment where he could push things just a little too far, so he waited. And waited. He was just about to snatch Taylor’s hands away when he finally said, “Yeah. Yeah, I liked it. You’re a pretty decent kisser, I guess.”
Johnny’s chest swelled, and he wondered if it was actually possible for someone’s heart to burst with happiness. Had they been anywhere else, at any other time of day, he might have just ripped Taylor’s stab vest off there and then, however it sounded like there was a ‘but’ coming, and a big ‘but’ at that.
“But?” Johnny said, unable to stop himself.
Taylor nibbled his lip again, and it was taking all of Johnny’s self-restraint not to bite it. “But I still think I’ve caused this by biting you.”
Johnny let out a frustrated sound and sat up, his head knocking against the roof of the car. He hooked his hands into the armpits of Taylor’s vest and shook him. “Don’t fucking patronise me, Tay, after Ijustsaid I love you.”
Taylor grabbed Johnny’s wrists. “I’m not. Jesus, I’m not. I just… Even if the bite hasn’t caused these—” He gestured between them, pain tightening his expression. “—these feelings, you deserve someone better, JP. Someone better than me, at least. If you actually looked, got on some dating apps, you’d find someone so fucking easily. You’re going to be head of the pack one day, and you’ve told me so many times that you want a big family and?—”
“Find—” Johnny’s breath caught in his throat, making it difficult to get the words out. “Find someone else? Taylor, how the fuck can I find someone else when I’m so lost in you? I wanted you to be mine from the moment I met you. Even before we moved up North. Even before our fangs dropped and our knots popped. I knew it.”
Taylor’s face grew even redder and his gaze drifted towards the window. “But I punched you in the nose the first time we met.”
Johnny nodded resolutely. “Exactly. You drive me insane, Tay. You’re the scariest, strongest, most pig-headed person I know, and sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy just trying to keep up.”
Taylor let out an incredulous laugh. “Keep up withme? I’ve been trying to keep up with you! You’re insanely good at everything and I just feel like a dead weight most of the time. It’s what I’m saying, JP. You can…” His voice went quiet, cracking a little around the edges. “You can let me go if you need to.”
Johnny sighed and slumped back into his seat. “You don’t get it, do you? There will never be anyone like you. The day you turned eighteen you could have walked away from the pack, and I could have walked away from you. But we didn’t do that, did we? We stayed together, and we carried on staying because we wanted to. You’re here, I’m here and… we aren’t kids anymore, Tay.”
There were several long moments where Johnny stared at Taylor, and Taylor stared out of the window. The smell of ozone was beginning to rise from the trees, and Johnny knew it was going to rain soon.
“Please say something,” he whispered, sliding a hand over Taylor’s “I can’t stand it when you’re quiet.”
Taylor looked down at their hands, his lip twitching. “I don’t think I can be with an alpha, JP. I told you, the scent… it makes my wolf crazy. It might just be biting now, but what about in the future? What if I seriously fucking hurt you?”
Johnny sighed, Taylor’s words wrapping around his heart like barbed wire. “Well then. What’re we going to do? I don’t want to be in a throuple. I don’t want an omega between us, because to be totally honest, I think I might die if I watch you fuck someone else again.”
Taylor shook his head. “I told you, we’re never doing that again.”
More silence, until Johnny finally said, “How about a test, then? No biting for a month. To see if you can control yourself. And I’ll know for certain that it’s not because of a hormonal fuck-up. But, spoiler alert, it’s not.”
Taylor huffed out a breath. “And then what happens? A-after a month?”
Johnny’s mouth pulled into a small smile and he tipped his head forwards. “I should say we’ll talk. But in reality I’ll probably take you into the woods and fuck you senseless.”
Taylor’s face went from pleasantly pink to bright red in the span of a heartbeat. He barked out a laugh and said, “I think we both know I’d be the one fucking you, dude.”
Johnny let the smile tip into a smirk. “So you’ve thought about it?”
Taylor threw his head back and stared up at the ceiling. “God, shut up.”
Johnny was about to say ‘fuck waiting a month’ before both of their radios crackled to life. “Five eight six?” the call handler said.
