Dallas sat among the people at his new Alpha’s home, arms folded across his chest. He had been reluctant to come. He did not feel like having a pack. The only thing that had made him do so was the fact that he didn’t think he’d fare well as an Omega for much longer.
“You might hate all of us, but I’m glad you came anyway.” Jesse nodded to the man who only grunted. Yes, he was bitter. He no longer had time for anyone. He was honestly just biding his time until death. “I think you’re a great addition to the pack.” It was rare Jesse was nice, but this new wolf was a former veteran for God’s sake. He would be great for the pack.
“Yeah, well...” Dallas only nodded.
“So… we were talking and I’d like to see how in control you are with your skills. You can come outside and practice with me. Or one of the others if you’d rather. Your choice.” Jesse smiled.
Dallas glanced around the room. He was about to tell Jesse he could go and fuck himself before he noticed a familiar face across the room.
“I’ll talk to him first.” He jabbed a finger towards Ajax, sitting across the room. He knew Ajax from a night quite a while ago.
“He’s not a wolf, you know?”
“I know.” Dallas nodded. “We’ve met before.”
“Well then.” Jesse paused before calling the banshee over.
“Oh hey.” Ajax gave a smile as he recognized the newcomer. “Dallas, right?”
Dallas nodded.
“And you’re Ajax.”
“I am. How’s that tattoo?”
“Still looking great.” Dallas managed a smirk as he held out the forearm Ajax had tattooed a while ago. Ajax was the first tattoo artist he’d ever met that could tattoo even a werewolf.
It didn’t look like Ajax remembered him too well, but Dallas certainly remembered Ajax. Ajax had been the first thing to make him smile in years.
Dallas was not fond of relationships anymore, not even casual sex. But one drunken night, he’d ended up tangled in the sheets with Ajax and he may not admit it, but it’d been the best night he’d had in a long time.
“I asked if he’d like to practice with one of us, but the only one he wants to talk to is you.” Jesse shrugged.
“Is that so?” Ajax smiled lightly. “Come on, let’s go get Roman to fight with you. He’s not too bad. And then Jesse will get off your case.”
“If I have to.” Dallas sighed as Ajax hooked their arms together and headed for the front door.
They waited out front of the house as Jesse got Roman.
“So, how have you been holding up since we left off?” Ajax questioned, small smile gracing his features.
“About as good as I was when we met.” Dallas grunted.
“So, basically drinking away your feelings instead of getting the goddamn therapy you need?”
“Therapy can’t do shit for me.” The man rolled his eyes, barely glancing up as Roman exited the home and approached them.
“I’m Roman. Roman Roden.” The beta extended a hand which Dallas reluctantly shook.
“Dallas Bennett.”
“You know Ajax, huh?”
“Maybe. What’s it to you?” Dallas arched an eyebrow.
“Just curious.” Roman shrugged. “Want to get started or what?”
“I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” Dallas stood. “Got anything to drink first?”
“You don’t need a damn beer, you smell half drunk already.” Ajax elbowed him lightly.
“I’m not even buzzed.” Dallas shooed him away with a wave of his hand. And he really wasn’t. It took much more to faze him lately. “Whatever, let’s just do it.” He braced himself in front of Roman, eyes flashing their golden hue.
Roman showed his impressive control as he let his claws slip out one by one, cracking his neck as he shifted fully.
They fought and Ajax moved back to merely watch. It would never cease to amaze him.
Roman had a more strategic way of going at it, being he was more experienced, while Dallas was just a ball of anger, slashing any part of Roman he could reach.
Roman let out a growl as he was slashed in the face by Dallas’s claws.
“What the hell is your problem?” He snapped, taking hold of the man by the collar of his shirt as his wounds healed. “We’re trying to assess your abilities, not kill each other.”
“My bad.” Dallas shrugged. “Now put me the fuck down.”
Roman shoved him roughly away, rubbing at the fading marks across his face.
“Don’t be too hard on him.” Ajax sighed as sat upright. “He’s an asshole but he’s had it rough.” Although he and Dallas had only seen each other and talked on a few occasions, Ajax remembered him, remembered his past. He knew Dallas like almost no one else.
“Well until he tells us about what’s happened to him, he doesn’t get my sympathy.” Roman shook his head.
“Jesus, Roman, he’s a soldier. That’s not good enough?”
Roman only groaned at this, his adrenaline still pumping.
“How do you know so much about him anyways?” He arched an eyebrow at Ajax as Dallas stormed inside to get himself something to drink.
“We fucked once.” Ajax shrugged lightly.
“Well how did you meet?”
“I… recognized him because I’d seen him once in a dream.”
“A dream? Like one of your… banshee dreams?”
“Yeah.” Ajax nodded. “I had a dream of a battlefield. I know thousands of people die during wars and I don’t know why I was drawn to that one in particular, but I’ve always thought it was him. I watched him dying on the ground and when I woke up I was lying outside of someone’s hospital room. I asked who’s room it was and they told me it was a soldier who had been wounded in battle. I knew it must be him but I still had no clue why I had been drawn to him of all people. I waited long enough until I heard talk of his miraculous recovery and then I left.”
“So then how did you meet?”
“Typical one night stand story I guess.” Ajax shrugged, crossing his legs at the knee as he continued his story. “He’s an alcoholic, if you can’t tell already.”
“Yeah, I got that.”
“Well it was a few years later. He was drunk off of his ass in the club I was at and he started hitting on me. And I mean, I’m not exactly picky about who I sleep with. And he was really damn hot. He didn’t even have tattoos but there was something about him that just did something for me. And that was even before he slurred at me to let me know he was a werewolf. He was lucky I already knew about that shit. If he’d done it to anyone else they probably would have called the cops on him.”
“Still not explaining how you know his past and shit.”
“Will you let me tell my story?” Ajax groaned.
“Sorry, I was hoping we could skip the porn part.”
“Well you’re out of luck.” Ajax grinned before continuing. “But anyway, we fucked. It was pretty great, not gonna lie. He-“
“I could really go without the details.”
“You are the worst listener I’ve ever told a story to.” Ajax rolled his eyes. “Anyway, morning after. He woke up and seemed like he didn’t remember how he got there at all. He seemed pretty pissed about it too. I got offended and he told me he just didn’t like screwing people and I asked how come? And he said it was none of my damn business.”
“It’s fitting that I’m the worst listener ever because you aren’t that great of a storyteller either.”
“Oh shut up.” Ajax shoved him before speaking once more. “I asked him then if he was an alcoholic cause I’d never seen someone as drunk as he’d been the night before be completely fine in the morning. And he said again, none of my damn business. So I told him he was an asshole but he was pretty good in the sack so he could call me if he wanted. That made him laugh so he loosened up a bit, I think. He left but he did call me again about two weeks later. He was drunk again. We fucked again. But when he was, ya know, about to blow, he called me someone else’s name. Vince. Normally it would have kind of pissed me off, but he was drunk off his ass and he gave me this look that made it seem like he really missed this Vince dude whoever he was, so I didn’t say anything until the next morning. He didn’t want to talk at first but a few beers and he’s like putty in your hands.” Ajax smirked before retelling Dallas’s past. “When he was human, he was married to a guy-“
“Named Vince?” Roman questioned.
“Nope. Xander actually.” Roman looked confused but Ajax waved him off. “I’ll get there. Patience. Anyways, he was married to Xander. He was his high school sweetheart, blah blah blah, you know the story, they married young. When he was 22, he went off to war. He fought for almost a year and when he came home, he found his husband with another man.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah.” Ajax nodded. “So then, he goes back to fight, he’s got all this anger bottled inside and he isn’t at his best so he gets shot and that’s the vision I had.”
“So when does Vince come into this?”
“You’re so damn impatient.” Ajax groaned, neither of them noticing as Dallas exited the home again, just watching. “We’re getting to that part. He should have died on that battlefield but he was rushed off in time and turns out one of his comrades is a werewolf. He bites him and saves his life. Dallas asked him not to because he was ready to die, but the guy did it anyway. So then skip a few months, Dallas is learning the ropes and shit from his friend that turned him. They don’t really have a pack. His friend is an Alpha but it’s just the two of them so they’re more like Omegas. Long story short, they get attacked by hunters. His friend is killed but he runs away. He’s on his own for a while and then he hears his mate’s heartbeat.”
“He’s got a mate?” Roman arched an eyebrow. He didn’t think he’d ever seen a mated werewolf be so miserable.
“Shut up.” Ajax held out a finger and merely began to speak again. “He’s excited because for once it feels like something is going right. He goes off and finds the guy. His name is Vince. They fall in love. Dallas said it was the first time he’d felt happy since he first served. But Dallas still drinks. And when he’s drunk, they fight. Sometimes when they fight, Dallas hits him. Then another guy comes into the picture. One of Vince’s old ‘friends.’ Vince says they never had anything but Dallas can tell they did. He can tell by the way they look at each other when they think he can’t see. One night, Dallas is almost black out drunk, Vince tells him he’s got to stop. He says no and Vince leaves, simple as that. And now-“
Ajax is cut off as Dallas finally steps out of the shadow he was hiding in, beer in hand.
“And now, he’s got a house and two kids to that ‘friend.’” Dallas finished, taking a swallow of his drink.
“I…” Roman didn’t know what to say honestly. Dallas’s story hit close to home for him. He could just as easily be Dallas in a few years, Zach gone and married to Trever. It made him sick to think about. He was in pain when Zach was away for a few hours, he couldn’t imagine never seeing him again. “I’m sorry.” He spoke finally. Maybe the guy had a right to be such a prick.
“Sorry doesn’t make his heartbeat any quieter.” Dallas’s cold expression did not move. “Sorry doesn’t make me feel any less like I’m dying, now does it?” He stood and shoved Roman lightly. “Sorry doesn’t stop me from dreaming of him, doesn’t stop every goddamn inch of my body from trying to run to him. It doesn’t fucking give me a reason to wake up in the morning so you know what, big guy? Take that sorry and shove it right up your ass.”
Roman only sighed. He felt sympathy for the man now, understood where he was coming from. But that didn’t make it less irritating to be snapped at constantly. It was like talking to Bane. He didn’t understand people who were that pissed all the time. It seemed exhausting.
“Sorry for telling him.” Ajax spoke up after a moment of silence. “I figured it’d be better if he knew.”
“Don’t feel too bad, I was digging around to get the scoop on you two while I was in there anyways.” He paused before glancing towards the banshee. “And let me tell you, you can do better than frat boy in there.”
“First of all, he’s not a frat boy.” Ajax playfully shoved Dallas in the upper arm. “Second of all, I’m not with him. We fuck.” He shrugged. “And now that you mention it, it’s about time for our midnight session.” He gave a wink to the two wolves before making his way inside, snagging Dallas’s beer on the way.
This left Roman and Dallas alone, Dallas slumped against the side of the house staring off into the night sky. Roman paused before taking a seat beside him.
“You know, you can tell me to do whatever you want with it, but I really am sorry. It sounds like you’ve had a rough time. More than you deserve.”
“Well no shit.” Dallas rolled his eyes. “But… thanks, I guess. I also guess I’m sorry for being such a prick. You’ve just got no clue how hard it is to be nice when the only thing that matters is thousands of miles away.”
“I know I don’t.” Roman admitted. “But I can imagine. And that alone is enough to keep me from kicking your ass when you snap at me.” He gave a light smirk.
Dallas managed a soft chuckle, wishing he had his beer Ajax had stolen.
“I could really use another beer. I’m going to head inside.” He grunted.
“Not to piss you off again but it sounds like that alcohol is the root of most of your problems.”
“Well no shit.” Dallas repeated. “But it’s too late to fix the problems it caused and now it’s the only thing that numbs the pain.”
Roman didn’t bother to stop him. If it made the man feel better, then so be it. He watched as Dallas pushed himself up and headed for the door to their Alpha’s home. He paused before entering as if he had something more to say, but it was a long time before he actually spoke.
“And Roman?”
“Yeah?”
“From what I heard in there, you’re real fucking close to being me a few years down the road. I suggest you grab onto that mate of yours and do something about it. Before it’s too late.” Dallas nodded solemnly before heading inside.
