Hang Em' Up: A Bad Boy Sports Pregnancy Romance Read online

  Richard looked up with blood coming out of his mouth and said “You are an abomination.” He fell limply against the hands of Jensen and all Jensen could do was let the tears flow for a good friend that had only ever had his best interests at heart.

  “Jensen, I can’t believe you just did that… for me. I knew that something was different about you, but I had no idea that it was anything like this. I was going to tell you to get the fuck out of the house, but I don’t think I can do that. You have become too important to me.” He saw that his secret was now out, his entire family knew and for the first time he didn’t care. “I want to be with you, but it’s up to you if you want me, Jensen.”

  “I would really like to say that I do, but I’m not sure that if this is the right time. I have to return to my tribe and to the throne that is rightfully mine. I might be able to change things, but these traditions are going to be very hard to overcome. I will do what I can and don’t be surprised if I show up on your doorstep again. Trust that I will find a way, please always keep me in your heart.”

  He didn’t have the courage to look him in the eye but as he was leaving he glanced over his shoulder to see that Gordon was following. He changed back into his lion form and went into the woods behind the house. It wasn’t long before he had lost the scent of Gordon.

  His promise was his bond and once he was able to make people accept him for who he was, then he would be back to collect his prize. In the meantime, he would do what he had to do for himself and his father. He would need to hide what happened here today, with Richard, as he had no doubt that his father would never understand. He would make it seem like he had never seen Richard or the two brothers. There would be a search of course, but they would not find any sign of their scent anywhere.

  Jensen wanted to scream to the rooftops that he was in love, but he would have to keep that hidden for the time being. There would be a right time, but today was not that time.

  Omega Bound

  Gay Paranormal Romance

  Chapter 1

  Gareth watched Roth look over some paperwork from his spot in the rafters. On the one hand, this was a really stupid idea. On the other hand, the look on Roth’s face would be worth it. If he was in his other form, his tail would be twitching, but as of right now he still looked human. The red-head leaned over the desk and Gareth took the opportunity, jumping down almost silently...

  Roth turned and caught him, tossing him back onto the bed. Before Gareth could collect himself, Roth was on top of him, quickly pinning him down, with a sly grin on his face.

  Gareth struggled a moment more, then sagged. “Fine. But how do you do that? Eyes on the back of your head?”

  “There are a number of shiny objects on that desk you know. Besides, I heard you swing up there just before I walked in.” Still keeping Gareth pinned, he leaned down to kiss him.

  Gareth gave slight moan. “Gonna punish me?” he asked, grinning.

  “Mmm, you’d enjoy that,” Roth looked contemplative.

  Before he could say anything else, there was a heavy knock on the door. They both recognized that sound, and Roth quickly rolled to his feet, pulling Gareth up with him. Gareth brushed his hair out of his eyes and adjusted his ponytail as Roth went to answer the door.

  “You’ve both been summoned to the Council,” said the older man on the other side, eyeing them both. “Try not to look like you just went for a roll in the hay?”

  “Of course, Kai,” said Roth, with a slight bow. Gareth hid a smile.

  Kai gave a long-suffering sigh and turned to go. Roth closed the door and Gareth pulled on his boots. “What do you think the council wants?” he asked.

  Roth went to fix his hair and clothes in the mirror. “It could be a lot of things. We’re both old enough to take on more responsibility in the clan.”

  “Responsibility? Who wants that?” asked Gareth, going to Roth and wrapping his arms around his waist, leaning in to kiss his neck.

  “You’re not going to distract me from this. Besides, we both have been summoned. Change your shirt.”

  “What’s wrong with...?” Gareth looked down and realized there was a stain on it. “Fine.” He went to their closet and pulled out something a bit nicer. Roth rolled his eyes and grabbed a different shirt, one that showed off Gareth’s blue eyes. Smiling still, Gareth pulled it on instead, stealing a kiss.

  “Come on, we can’t be late for the council,” admonished Roth, kissing him back and then stepping away.

  “All right, all right,” grumbled Gareth. “But I expect that ravishing when we get back.”

  “We’ll see,” Roth replied, and led the way out of their room.

  They headed down the long hall, past other rooms, then down the old narrow staircase at the end. Once upon a time, this had been a wealthy man’s house, and their room had been one in the servant’s quarters. Sometimes Gareth felt like that was still the case. Coming onto the next floor, the hallway had a nice rug running down the middle. They passed a few more doors, then Roth took a breath and opened the double doors near the end.

  The Council looked up at them. It contained five men and four women, as it always had been with their clan. For the most part they’d adjusted over time, and in some cases they were ahead of the curve.

  “Roth, Gareth.” Roth’s father, Kinney, stood at the head of the table. His hair was once as red as his sons, but it had long since turned to grey. The sharp green eyes were still the same though.

  “Father, council.” Roth bowed low and bared his neck in a sign of submission. Gareth quickly followed suit.

  “You two came of age two summers ago,” said Kinney with a grave tone of voice. “It is high time you found a mate.”

  Gareth and Roth exchanged a glance. “But we are mated, to each other. The Council gave its blessing,” said Gareth straightening and glaring.

  “That’s true, and we do not wish to break that bond. However, as alphas, you need an omega.” Kinney’s tone didn’t change.

  Gareth’s face darkened and he opened his mouth to speak, but Roth cut him off. “Neither of us have any desire to breed, nor are we interested in females in that way, father. Wouldn’t an omega be pointless for us?”

  “The point of taking an omega is not simply for procreation. It’s also to keep those omegas safe. You know that.”

  “There aren’t even any available omegas in the clan,” growled Gareth.

  “There are others in the city that belong to no clan. We know of one that has just recently come of age. We believe he’s ignorant of his heritage, but it will soon be explained to him. We have no doubt that he will appear in the pub soon, as he’s to be directed our way.”

  “Or else we’ll start a fight with another clan over an unbonded omega,” said Roth.

  Kinnsey met their eyes. “Well, then I suppose you should go claim him before that happens, shouldn’t you?”

  Gareth gave a small growl and turned to stalk out, leaving Roth alone. He paced in the hallway, waiting for Roth to finish. He knew the other alpha wouldn’t leave until he’d been given permission. Technically Gareth could be punished for walking out, but he knew he probably wouldn’t. They wanted them to pick up an omega that was nearly a pup and teach him about the clan? If he was ignorant about the clan, then he was ignorant about his abilities. And that could be dangerous for everyone. He glared at the door, hearing them still talking. This might take a bit. Roth was probably getting instructions on where to find this pup. He’d go, to keep Roth safe if nothing else, but this was ridiculous.

  Turning, Gareth stomped down the rest of the stairs to the pub. Edena was working behind the bar. She raised an eyebrow and poured him a drink. “Heard you two were called to the Council.”

  “Word travels fast,” growled Gareth.

  Edena laughed. “We mostly live in a single building, Gareth, it’s not like word has to go far. Let me guess, you walked out without permission?”

  “They want us to take an omega. Some foundling that doesn’t
even know about his talents, or the clan, or any of the rest of it.”

  Edena wiped out a glass. “Sounds like a challenge. And besides, we’ve all been wondering when you two would take an omega. That’s the tradition, you know.”

  “I’m quite aware,” grumbled Gareth, draining his glass. “I just think it’s stupid and old-fashioned.”

  “Old-fashioned is rather the definition of tradition.”

  Gareth shook his head. “It’s still ridiculous. What if he doesn’t want to be part of the clan, let alone our Omega?”

  “That’s up to him then, isn’t it? Why not try to find him and then see how things go?”

  Roth appeared on the stairs, giving Gareth the kind of look that made him want to tuck his tail. “I guess we’ll find out.” Roth walked past him, and Gareth fell into step at his side, not looking up at the taller alpha.

  Chapter 2

  “Granny, you said we needed to talk?” asked Dewey, knocking on her door as he opened it.

  The old woman sat at her spinning wheel like this was fourteen-hundred something and Dewey was Sleeping Beauty about to prick his finger. He shook his head. Where she even got wool to spin, he didn’t know. But it did make wonderful fiber and thread.

  “Have a seat, boy. We do need to talk.”

  He watched the wheel as he sat. Outside, he could hear cars, and traffic, and all the normal sounds of modern life, but in here he always half expected to find torches and lanterns.

  “You’re eighteen now, Dewey, and it’s time you knew some things. I know you’ve been having dreams.”

  That much was true. For the last few months Dewey had been having…well, not quite nightmares, but they were full of wolves and teeth.

  “Okay, I have. What about it?” Dewey pulled his eyes from the wheel to her face.

  “Dewey, I need to tell you the truth about your heritage, about who and what you are.”

  He felt a cold chill go down his spine, and his mouth went dry. “And what am I, then?”

  “A shifter. You’d call yourself a werewolf.”

  Dewey leapt to his feet. “Granny, that’s ridiculous. There’s no way I’m a werewolf. This isn’t the dark ages.”

  “You are, as your father and grandfather were. It’s carried on the patriarchal line, at least for you. You’re an omega, and there will be alphas looking to claim you soon.”

  Dewey paced. “No, that’s crazy, Granny.”

  “I’ve watched over you as long as I could. But now that you are of age it’s time for you to find your place among the clans. They’ll teach you what you need to know.”

  “Clans? If this is my heritage, hypothetically, why didn’t I know before now?”

  “Your father left his clan with you when you were small. That’s why you never knew your mother. From what I understand, she didn’t treat him very well, and he didn’t want you raised with a clan that didn’t respect omegas. They killed him for it, but he entrusted you to my care before they found him.”

  Dewey shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense at all.”

  “That box on the dresser, pick it up.”

  Dewey had seen the box before. It looked ancient, carved with some symbols he’d never understood. Granny had always warned him away from touching it, ever since he was small. Biting his lip, he picked it up.

  A sudden gust of wind blew through the room. Dewey through an arm over his eyes and looked towards Granny. “I’ve done my best by you,” she said, a light growing around her. “You’ll find your own way, Dewey. I have faith.”

  The light flashed blindingly bright and when Dewey blinked his eyes clear he found he was standing alone in an empty room. Granny, the wheel, everything was simply gone, save the box in his hands.

  “Granny?” he called out, cautiously.

  The only sound was his own voice echoing back to him. Shaking slightly, Dewey opened the box. Inside was a small dagger. It looked ancient. More of the strange symbols were carved into it. He swallowed and closed the lid.

  Okay, so if one were to, in theory, go looking for werewolves, where would he find them? And how would he know they weren’t the clan his father had run from? And what the hell had just happened, exactly? He shook his head and took a few deep breaths. Whatever had happened, he had the sudden thought that he couldn’t stay here.

  Clutching the box to his side, he went down the stairs and into his room, throwing some clothes and a few other things in a backpack, with the box on top. Maybe whatever Granny had been protecting him from knew he was alone now. He grabbed some food from the pantry and added it to the bag, looked around one more time, and slipped out of the building, looking around.

  This was ridiculous…he was probably just being afraid of shadows. He started walking, not having any idea where he was going. Night would be falling soon. A few blocks away from the apartment he heard a tremendous noise. Turning around, he was almost unsurprised to see the old house where he and Granny had lived going up in flames. Maybe she was doing one last thing to cover his tracks, or maybe whoever had been after him had triggered a trap. Either way, he knew he had to keep moving.

  Dewey noticed the neighborhood getting rougher as he walked. He held his bag a little tighter, wondering where exactly he was supposed to go. Even if werewolves were real, and today was full of ifs, where would find them? Since he’d never seen or heard of any, he could only assume they kept themselves hidden. And if they looked like normal people then he’d never spot one.

  Streetlights started to come on. Dewey swallowed. Maybe there was a homeless shelter or something he could spend the night in. The idea of spending the night on the streets had never been that appealing in the first place, and even less so now. He noticed a guy watching him from across the street, and quickened his steps.

  Another block down and that guy crossed the street to walk behind him. Dewey bit back growing panic and kept walking, trying to look like he knew exactly where he was going. He was so preoccupied with the guy behind him that he never noticed the guy coming towards him until his shoulder was bumped.

  “Where you going?” The taller man, who had bumped into him, shoved him back against the wall, squishing whatever he had in his bag.

  “Just dow..down the street,” stammered Dewey.

  “Down the street? You hear that?” he asked the man that had been following him. “What you got in the bag?”

  “Nothing, just clothes.”

  “We’ll see about that.” The first one spun Dewey around and pushed him face first into the wall. He tasted blood as he bit his lip and scraped his cheek against the bricks. Strong hands yanked at his backpack. Great, he’d only got the dagger a few hours ago and he was already going to lose it.

  “What are you doing?” He was startled by the sound of a new voice and cracked one eye open, seeing a tall red haired man flanked by a brown haired guy with a ponytail. “This isn’t your neighborhood.”

  “Stay out of this, Irish,” growled the first man, still with his hands on the backpack.

  The redhead sniffed and gave Dewey an unreadable look before turning his attention back to the two that had attacked Dewey. “Let go of him.” There was a deep danger in his voice, and Dewey knew if it was him, he’d be running the other direction if he had a choice.

  The two pairs of men looked at each other for a long moment, then the one holding Dewey let go with a snarl. The ponytailed one grabbed Dewey before his knees could buckle. “It’s all right kid, you’re safe.”

  “Thanks. My name’s Gareth, this is Roth. What are you doing out here?”

  Dewely looked between the two of them. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  The two men shared a look and Roth stepped closer. “Try us.”

  “Um. I’m looking for werewolves?”

  Gareth grinned. “Well then, today is your lucky day.”

  Chapter 3

  Gareth draped an arm around the kid’s shoulders. “What’s your name?” he asked. The young man smelled like an
Omega. It seemed their prize had dropped right into their lap.

  “Dewey,” he said. “Dewey Hasgood.”

  “Gareth, give him some space,” said Roth, falling in on the other side of him.

  Grumbling slightly, Gareth took his arm back. Dewey swallowed. “Thank you.”

  “You don’t need to be afraid of us,” said Roth. “We have no desire to hurt you. We’re going to take you back to our clan so we can sort things out.”

  “I just found out all this stuff out today. A few hours ago.” Dewey shook his head and ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”

  Gareth patted his shoulder. “What happened? Who told you?”

  Dewey sighed. “I was raised by my Granny. Well, I thought she was my Granny, I don’t even know anymore. She told me I was of age, and that my Dad had run away from his clan, and then she had me pick up this box she’d always forbidden me to touch. After that she vanished, and then as soon as I left, our house went up in flames.

  Gareth blinked and looked at Roth. The redhead always did know more about the old legends then he did. Roth looked thoughtful. “What was in the box?”

  “A dagger. The box and the dagger have some weird stuff on them. I... I can show you.”

  “Don’t take it out now,” Roth said, “wait until you’re with the Council. They can probably tell what it is and figure out where you belong.”

  “I’m a werewolf?” Dewey looked confused as he stared at his hands.

  “I can teach you,” said Gareth. “But I think you are. I can smell it on you.”

  Roth gave Gareth a look, silently telling him to stop scaring Dewey, but Gareth didn’t feel like he was doing anything wrong. The sooner he learned, the better.

  “So you’ve got a....clan? This all sounds positively medieval,” said Dewey.

  Gareth chuckled. “It’s not really that much. We’ve got a building most of us live in, but quite a few of us have jobs out in the city. And really, you don’t have to live in the building, but it offers a level of protection. There are some other clans out here that wouldn’t treat you so nice.”