For someone who had spent their entire life as a trained assassin, sleuthing around in the dead of night to carry out his tasks, Vitaly was rather nervous about the night he and Eustass had ahead.
Thatcher and Bellamy had left last month.
Just last week there had been an attack on the Luno pack by a rival pack travelling through the area. Luckily all of the members that they knew seemed to be unharmed.
But it had made Eustass realize that if that rival pack had sensed another alpha nearby and decided to come for him, he would have been completely screwed. After realizing Law was not coming back to him he had set off with the intention of starting a new pack completely. But then he’d found Thatcher and… well, the man had distracted him. He’d been so consumed with his new lover and the thought of starting a family that he’d forgot all about his dreams of a pack as strong as his old one. Now though he realized that it was essential. His tiny pack now was not much of one at all. It contained of Thatcher, who was gone half of the time, and their two children, who Eustass would definitely not want to put in danger if they were attacked. He needed Betas. Preferably ones that he bit himself so they would have no choice but to be loyal to him.
That was why he had decided to recruit Vitaly to come out with him tonight. They were going to find their first addition to the pack.
“Are you sure we’ll just find someone like this?” Vitaly arched an eyebrow.
“You’d be surprised what you can stumble across.” Eustass nodded as they lingered near the entrance to the alleyway. “Some shady shit goes down in the city ya. We’ve just got to be careful we don’t get caught in any of it.”
Vitaly nodded, grip tightening around the handgun in his pocket. He wasn’t afraid to use it. Not like he hadn’t killed before, after all. He felt proud that Eustass asked him to come with him for this, felt that he was suitable backup, even though he was human.
Jett hadn’t seen the man reaching for the gun until it was too late. The world seemed to move in slow motion after he heard the gunshot. He was too shocked to move, his body frozen in place.
It felt like a pinch when it hit him, right in the stomach. That was it? He thought maybe it hadn’t hit him after all, it couldn’t possibly hurt that little. But then he was reaching down and sure enough, there was already blood staining his shirt, dripping down his abdomen. He thought he was fine, really. But then his knees were giving out and he found himself lying on the ground, unable to do anything but stare open mouthed as the man ran off into the darkness.
And then he realized that maybe the absence of pain was a bad thing. The edge of his vision was already going black, his eyes drooping.
Looked like his scamming was finally catching up with him.
Jett Jones was a prick.
He had little regard for anyone’s feelings but his own, and certainly didn’t care about hurting someone else as long as it benefitted him. He was too smart and manipulative for his own good.
It was why he had found work as a drug dealer despite having never done anything himself other than smoke weed. Druggies were possibly the easiest group of people to manipulate in the world. They were willing to do anything for their precious drugs. And they never even realized the shit Jett sold them was fake until he was long gone. But really, he didn’t know how more people weren’t in this business. A baggy of oregano doubled as marijuana, baby powder for cocaine, bright colored children’s vitamins as ecstasy. He received hundreds of dollars in a single night of work when he had never spent more than twenty on any of his “products.” But he never dealt in the same place twice, just in case someone wasn’t very happy with him once they realized they’d been screwed. This was a smart idea. But unfortunately Jett had never came up with a plan of action if someone discovered the trick before he had time to escape.
And now here he was, about to die because of his damn cockiness, because he had been convinced that he was smarter than all of the pathetic meth heads he would encounter.
Everything was black for a while.
And then he was opening his eyes, trying to focus his blurry vision. But all he saw was fiery red hair and glowing red eyes hovering over him. He felt hands prodding his wound, gripping his neck.
“Who?” His voice sounded gargled even though he knew what he wanted to say. “G’way fro’ me.” He was slurring, attempting to struggle. Who was this and why were they touching him?
“Eustass hurry, they might come back.” A thick Russian accent spoke from somewhere Jett couldn’t see. The man on top of him grunted something in response that Jett couldn’t focus on.
“OW!” Jett cried out then, the pain giving him enough energy to writhe in pain, vision focusing to find the source of his agony. It was two fingers, knuckle deep in his gunshot wound.
“Sorry kid, can’t let you heal with the bullet still in there.”
It was all Jett heard before the pain had him passing out once more.
Moments later and he didn’t have the strength to move anymore or even to open his eyes. But he did feel what was going on around him. There were hands, tilting his head and two fingers feeling for his pulse. Then there was breath, hot against his neck. And finally, someone was biting him, right in that sensitive juncture where his neck and shoulder met. It was a sharp pain, enough to nearly rouse him out of this daze. But it was nothing compared to what came next.
His entire body was on fire, all radiating from that spot on his neck. He was writhing and screaming in pain, sobbing and begging for someone to make it stop. Strong arms were wrapping around him, a gruff voice assuring him it would all be over soon.
And then the world went black once more.
Next thing Jett knew he was waking in an unfamiliar bed. With all the pain he had been in earlier, he didn’t know how he felt good as new now.
“Hello?” He called out, blinking and trying to take in his surroundings.
No answer.
He reached down to examine his gunshot wound and found that it was all bandaged up. He peeled back the gauze, desiring to see just how bad it was. He let out a gasp when he realized nothing was there at all. Even though the bandage was soaked in blood, there was not even a scar left behind where he’d been shot.
What the hell was going on?
“I’m glad to see you up ya.”
Jett jolted as the voice startled him. He glanced up to see the same fiery red hair he remembered hovering over him. But now he could see the man more fully, not in a pain-induced haze. He vividly remembered glowing red eyes but now this man’s eyes were a muddy green, much less terrifying. In fact, he was kind of gorgeous.
“You…” Jett trailed off as he realized he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know exactly what this man had done to him. He was dying and now he wasn’t, so he assumed this man was his savior. But then there had been all that pain… And if the man had just wanted to be kind and save him, why was he in his home instead of a hospital? But he wasn’t restrained at all so maybe the man really was just being kind.
So many unexplained things were buzzing through his head until he had no choice but to ask.
“What did you do to me?” He blurted out.
The red haired man only chuckled, moving forward to take a seat on the bed beside him. Instinctively, he moved away.
“Relax, kid. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Okay so let’s get one thing straight. I’m not scared of you. I just want to know what the hell is going on.” Jett snapped. He was used to being the smartest person in the room, completely in control. He didn’t like not understanding things. “And I’m not a kid.”
“Fair enough. My name is Eustass.”
Jett said nothing, merely nodding.
“Not gonna tell me your name?” Eustass arched an eyebrow.
He was met with silence.
“Alright then I guess I’ll just talk. Now, I know you’re not going to believe what I say next but beating around the bush doesn’t do shit, so I like to just get it out of the way-ya.” There was a pause. “I’m a werewolf.”
Jett couldn’t help but snort.
“Oh yeah? And I’m Mary fucking Poppins.” He was smirking though, which was a step up from the stony expression he wore previously. “But really, man, it’s not even close to Halloween, what’s this shit about?”
Eustass looked like he expected this, but still slightly annoyed. But then he shifted and Jett nearly jumped off of the bed. His eyes scanned from the claws to the fangs to the fur to the glowing red eyes.
“Alright, listen. I’ll play along and pretend you’re a werewolf if you tell me how you just did that. Pretty good trick, man.”
Eustass basically ignored him.
“It’s not a trick. I’m an alpha werewolf which means I’m the leader of a pack. But my problem is that I don’t have any wolves to be in my pack. I was out last night trying to find some willing people when I found you in that alleyway, half dead. Care to tell me how you got into that mess?”
“Finish your part, first.” Jett commanded, still wearing a skeptical look.
“Well in order to turn a human into a werewolf, an alpha has to bite them. If you’re dying, the bite can save your life. Normally if I find someone dying, I ask for their permission to turn them. But you were unconscious and I was fairly certain you’d rather survive as a werewolf than die in that alley last night.”
“So… you bit me?” As much as he didn’t want to believe this, that would explain the bite he’d felt, followed by the excruciating pain. “Does the bite hurt?”
“Extremely so. I’m sure you felt it. You were making quite a lot of noise.”
Jett nodded slowly.
“I remember… were you the one holding me?”
Eustass nodded.
“As your alpha, it’s my job to take care of you now. I saved your life. I’ll teach you how to be a werewolf and how to control yourself. The only thing I ask in return is for you to be loyal to me.”
Jett was the type of person that did not like to be controlled, did not like to be told what to do. But for some reason he did not mind the thought of being loyal to this man. He did not know yet that it was the alpha bond, but he already felt safe with this man near him.
“My name is Jett.”
Eustass tilted his head curiously.
“Like… a plane?”
“Haha, haven’t heard that one before.” Jett rolled his eyes. “Anyways, I’m a drug dealer. Well… kinda.”
“You don’t look like one.” Eustass informed, scanning the boy over.
It was true. Jett didn’t necessarily look threatening. He was average height, with jet black hair and eyes so dark brown they nearly matched. He was fairly thin, with delicate curves in all the right places and an ass that could bring men to their knees. Eustass’s first thought when he found the boy was that he might have been jumped or assaulted in that alley. Never would he have pegged him for a dealer.
“I get that a lot.” He shrugged. “But I sell fake shit. Never been caught before but guess the guy last night wasn’t too pleased with his purchase.”
Unlike others, Jett had not decided to become a drug dealer because he needed cash desperately or because he grew up in the bad side of town. He came from a quite privileged family and even though he lived on his own now at the age of twenty, his parents still helped him out by paying his bills. He had merely decided to scam druggies for the hell of it, for a little extra cash. It was why he was currently wearing designer clothes, another reason Eustass had not expected him to be dealing.
“You’re a con artist, huh?” Eustass smirked. Others might have found it despicable, but Eustass saw it as a good thing in a pack member. Jett was cunning and smart. Maybe not smart enough to avoid being shot, but still.
“You could say that.” He shrugged. “Was just because I was bored, really. The extra cash was nice.” He flashed a small grin at the older man.
“Well Jet, welcome to the pack.”
Jett had always been good at hiding how he felt about people. He was a firm believer in keeping your friends close, but keeping your enemies closer. He was always especially nice to the people he hated, keeping them close until he could finally stab them in the back. If he was a prick to you, it typically meant he truly enjoyed your company.
Galileo was the exception.
He had been the exception from the first day he walked his stupid ass into Eustass’s home.
Never had someone just filled Jett with such bubbling hatred that he couldn’t hold it in. And that pissed him off to no end. He was not used to not having control over his actions. Galileo made him lose control. And that only made him hate the boy more.
“Jesus fucking Christ, that’s enough already!” Eustass growled, stepping in between the fighting pair for the third time already that day. “That’s it, separate rooms. Now.” The alpha snapped.
“I’ll take the guest room upstairs.” Galileo sighed.
“You know I fucking sleep there, shithead!” Jett snapped in response.
And they were off again. They only lasted a few seconds before Eustass shifted, letting out a growl that shook the home and had them both cowering and covering their ears.
“I SAID separate fucking rooms.” The alpha commanded. “Jett, my room. Gally, go to Mal’s.”
Reluctantly, the betas went their separate ways, grumbling to themselves all the way.
“For fuck’s sake.” Eustass let out a sigh of relief as the bickering stopped, collapsing onto the couch beside Vitaly who was chuckling softly.
