Fever
Author: emocezi
Title: Fever
Rating: R
Pairing: Jensen/Cougar - The Losers
Wordcount: 5194
Disclaimer: I do not own The Losers nor do I make a profit from this work of fiction.
A/N: HA, I bet you guys all thought I had gotten eaten by the internet. But no, I am here with the latest, AND FINAL, chapter of shifter verse. That's right, there is no more. I am blessedly empty from this universe, and this is actually the first multi-chapter fic I've finished. I'm notoriously bad at writing awesome fic and then just leaving it to flap wetly in the wind. Just look at my True Blood fic. *facewalls* I'm still not sure if I can finish that one. ANYWAY, IT'S DONE!!! I hope you like this installment because it took blood sweat and tears to write it out. Two friggen weeks man, it was horrible.
Previous Chapters: Previous Chapters: Stuck in a Rut, Alpha's Turn, Rebel Yell, Sneaky Fuck, Getting It
Translations:
deja para ir - Lets go
The banner was made by the lovely and talented katrinbisiani
They met her in a cemetery. Clay's mystery woman that was going to get them all home in exchange for finding the man responsible for their current situation. Roque had bitched the entire way to the meeting spot, and even he had looked impressed that she'd managed to sneak up on them. Though they all knew he'd rather cut out his own tongue then admit it.
She gave off the scent of a ripe female, a beta just needing someone to take charge and show her where her place was in the world. Roque sneezed when she got two close, Cougar showed no interest, even when she angled her body towards him. She glanced at Jensen once, sniffed and turned her attention back to Clay.
“He's the reason you were all late?” Aisha sneered. “Do you all take turns until his heat is over? Why else would you have a beta on the team.”
“Can I kill her Clay?” Roque asked in a bored tone, shrugging when Jensen stared at him. “You're an annoying little shit, but fuck if some new bitch gets to say it.”
“No ones killing anyone. Aisha is getting us home.” Aisha smirked at Roque who tightened his grip on his knife.
“Is he your bitch?”
“Aisha.” Clay rumbled and she shrugged, dropping a file beside Cougar and turning back to scan the rest of the group, looking for ways to exploit being a beta in a group of Alpha's. There was nothing in their eyes, no lust at the thought of taking her, of attempting to make her submit and it pissed her off that they saw her as nothing more then an asset.
She had always been able to use her beta-ness as a way to control Alpha's. Usually through sex, or the hint of sex. Alpha's always liked to have the illusion of being in charge, but this group. They didn't need the illusion, they all exuded Alpha like sweat, and even though she was sure they weren't aware of it, they were all positioned to protect the beta in their midst if something went wrong.
What pissed Aisha off the most, was the beta they were subtly protecting, wasn't her.
XxX XxX
Needless to say, Aisha and Jensen didn't get along.
She hated the fact that he showed no signs of submitting, though he clearly wore an Alpha's scent like cologne. She hated that none of the Alpha's on his team took this as a sign of weakness, hated that they all seemed to approve of his rebellious nature. She hated that they all protected him, even if none of them were aware of it, hated that they treated her like some sort of diseased creature even though she could give every Alpha on the team something their beta never could. Pups.
Jensen on the other hand didn't understand why Aisha avoided him, why she snarled at him when he approached her to talk. He saw them as both being betas who refused to roll over and submit, figured they'd have something in common. It wasn't until Roque smacked him over the head and explained that she used her appeal as a beta to control Alpha's that he got it.
His team was used to it. The scent of a beta, the way he seemed fragile and breakable to them. Why they always kept him surrounded even when they needed him to fight. They had become to immune to it, immune to the call of betas because of Jensen, and Aisha didn't have anything to work with because of it. Her greatest asset was canceled out and left her with only her intelligence and cunning.
XxX XxX
It wasn't unusual for Cougar to attract the unwanted attention of wandering beta's. To tell the truth, it wasn't unusual for any of them to attract the attention of wandering beta's, though in Jensen's case, it was usually an Alpha looking for a easily subdued mate. And after the last Alpha who thought he could push the beta-hacker over any available surface(the guy should just be getting the use of his legs back) his team had stopped trying to step in and save him from everything that could have caused harm, realizing that Jensen could defend himself.
So when Aisha rubbed up against him, not so subtly shoving her breasts into his face and twining around him like she was already in heat, he paused for only a moment to compare her scent to Jensen's, shrugged, and went back to sorting bullets. Sure they were mass produced, but only one out of six were perfect.
She huffed angrily at him, growled and stalked off to find someone else to bait. For a moment Cougar felt pity, wondering what her life must have been like to make her use her beta-ness as a weapon and not something precious to be guarded and given up only to the one who was worth it. But then he thought of Jensen, and how the hacker regarded his beta-ness as something to be feared and hated.
Cougar watched her go and wondered how soon she would try to dispose of Jensen. It would be the only logical option in her play book. He shifted his glance to the door leading to the room Jensen slept in, the adjoining door closed but not locked. If an Alpha got in between Jensen and himself, Cougar wouldn't hesitate to take out the Alpha, even if it was Clay. Why would Aisha think any differently about a fellow beta fucking up her plans, what ever they were.
XxX XxX
Aisha hadn't even attempted to lure Pooch away from his wife. He may have been an Alpha, but compared to the other men on his unit, he was practically a beta. She wondered momentarily what kind of woman would choose such a man and then shrugged and moved on to bigger prey.
Roque was dangerous, far too dangerous even for one such as her and she gave him a wide berth. The hunger in his eyes was far from lust and spoke more of the basic visceral need to tear out her throat and bathe in her blood.
Which left Clay. She already knew, from the fight in the hotel, that he found her attractive. The right amount of submission mixed in with the bat-shit-crazy that seemed to attract Alpha's like flies. If only he hadn't spent so much time around Jensen, she would have been able to wrap him around her finger with her lack of submission and open mockery of everything an Alpha stood for.
Instead, she had nothing to work with. He watched her constantly, a mix of lust and caution in his eyes. Knowing exactly what a beta that refused to submit was capable of and not about to touch her until she made the first move. It infuriated her, that he kept his own power, refused to give anything of himself over, until she showed that she would be his.
She refused to be his, to be anything less then her own. If Frank Clay had never met Jake Jensen, had never seen his hatred and terror that came from being a beta, he wouldn't have known what to look for in her. But he knew, he could see it, the terror that came from knowing that all it took was one asshole stronger then you, and suddenly you weren't your own anymore. Your whims and ideas became someone else's and only if you were very lucky would your master be kind enough to let you remain yourself.
XxX XxX
It didn't take long for Aisha's fury to boil over, though she waited until they were all safe on American soil to make her move.
She'd been messing around with little things, moving Jensen's laptops, slashing his pillows. But it didn't seem to phase the hacker. If anything, it got him sending her little looks filled with pity that filled her with rage. So she waited, and plotted, and when they landed in the States and she cut them out of their coffins, she smiled at Jensen and thought about just plunging the knife into his chest and being done with it.
But instead she moved on, carefully avoiding Roque and going to smile at Clay in a manner suggesting that he might be able to sway her into his bed if he played his cards right. There was a full moon tonight, and with all the commotion of shifting, it would be hard for them to keep track of everyone. She knew all their forms, knew that the hacker turned into a Caracal. A feline small enough to be used as a chew toy by a jackal with a grudge.
XxX XxX
What Aisha hadn't counted on was to take a step towards Jensen, who was just finished his shift at the back of the pack and suddenly be facing down Cougar. She snarled, twenty pounds of furious Jackal against nearly two hundred pounds of pissed off Cougar, and backed off, not wanting to take him on when she was sure she could dispose of Jensen later, in a more private setting.
Aisha was a jackal, the smallest of the canines in Clay's unit. It meant she was in more danger then normal, because if Roque, a rather nasty looking rottweiler, wanted to take an actual chunk out of her, her only option would be to run and hide.
She sat on the outside of the group, watching with utmost hatred as Jensen climbed all over everyone. From Clay's Timber-wolf form to Roque's Rottweiler one and none of them tried to do anything to the Caracal, aside from Roque nipping at Jensen's overly large ears.
Aisha turned her head slightly at the feeling of being watched and ended up looking directly into Cougar's sharp hazel ones. It was unnerving to have someone able to sneak up on her so quietly. Cougar chuffed, letting her know instantly that he would side with Roque when it came to her. She was not to be trusted.
XxX XxX
“Clay.” The CO turned to look at his SIC and then back at the landscape. “We've got to do something about the bitch and Jensen.”
“I know.” Clay rubbed at his eyes. He could already feel the madness setting in, the need to fight, to prove his dominance. Jensen shouldn't have been a problem, not while he wore Cougar's mark. But the beta still refused to submit, something that may Clay proud normally, but while they were in a rut, it meant that he was dissatisfied with his mate. Which made him fair game if anyone of them could kill Cougar.
“You need to get him away.”
“I will Roque, I will.”
“Clay, I am telling you now. If I have a chance to claim him, I will fucking take it. Get him away.” Clay turned to stare at his SIC who was already exhibiting signs of a rut. He was openly displaying hostile aggression against his team Alpha, growling softly under his breath, hands clenching into fists.
“Fine. I'll take care of it.”
“Get the bitch gone too. I will rip her throat out.” Clay could feel his own inner beast start to awaken, stalking around his mind and baying for the chance to battle the Alpha that stood before him. Wanting to taste blood and prove he was the strongest.
“I'll put them both in a safe house.” Clay managed, his own knuckles white with the need to fight.
XxX XxX
“I'm not going anywhere with her.” Jensen announced immediately.
“I'll take care of him.” Aisha smirked, fingering her knife and watching Jensen intently.
“Jensen, you're not safe here. You know that.”
“So send me with Cougs.”
“...” Clay couldn't find a good argument for that and shrugged. The wolf just under his skin demanded that he shove the beta against a wall and show him why he was the stronger Alpha, the better choice then the Alpha that had marked him. So sending him with Cougar seemed to be the better idea.
“I've done research on it, we'll be fine.” Jensen said, a light blush staining his cheeks. Aisha glared at the hacker, wondering what the hell he meant. The only way you could survive a rut with an Alpha was if you were mated. Her eyebrows rose and she scanned over the hacker intently. She'd never seen a mark on him before, which meant it was somewhere hidden, somewhere that could only be seen by his mate.
XxX XxX
Cougar went into a rut a day before anyone, he had a mate to protect. His inner cat taking charge and herding Jensen away from the others despite Jensen's attempts to go back for his spare laptop. He had a dufflebag with him filled with spare clothes, food stuffs, three water bottles and a couple bottles of medical lube. Though he wasn't sure if he'd need it. All the research he'd done pointed to the fact that when his mate went into a rut, he would go into heat as soon as they found a safe location to den up in.
Pooch had led driven Cougar and Jensen to an abandoned barn on the outskirts of the town they were staying in. Had waited until Jensen locked the door from the inside and had driven back to where his team sat in wait. Seventeen hours until the madness took them for a week.
He kissed his wedding ring and went to sit between Roque and Clay, knowing from experience that those two would be at each others throats almost instantly. He was never really sure if it was just Alpha posturing taken to the extreme, or something else. The something else being the way Clay would watch Roque and Roque would watch Clay back when they thought no one else was looking.
Pooch sighed, accepted the cup of coffee that Aisha had made, and wondered how Jensen was doing with Cougar.
XxX XxX
Cougar was prowling about the barn, sniffing in corners and staring into empty stalls like he was waiting for something to appear. Jensen took the time to set out his bedroll and shove a granola bar down his throat before Cougar came back, still looking just as prowly as when he'd left.
“Cougs?” Jensen wasn't sure if the sniper would answer him, but he wanted to see how far gone the other shifter was. “You still in there?”
“Mine.”
“As much as I loathe to say it. Yes, you made sure of that.”
“Mine.” Cougar's eyes slitted and he smirked, the only warning before Jensen was tackled to the sleeping bag. Cougar rubbing his cheek against Jensen's in a way that covered the hacker in his scent. He slid his hands under Jensen's shirt, tugging the article of clothing up and off and nuzzling at all the newly revealed flesh.
“Hold off you horny fucker.” Jensen mumbled, trying to get his hands on the medical lube, his annoyance growing when Cougar kept batting his hands away from the bag. “Cougar, fuck off for a second.” The hacker growled, shoving the Alpha off of him long enough to grab the lube.
Cougar was growling again, annoyance crossing his face and Jensen rolled his eyes, hoping he wasn't about to get bitten again. The biting thing, not really a big kink when your Alpha tended to use it for discipline.
“Go fucking check the perimeter.” Jensen muttered, not overly liking the idea of lubing himself up when Cougar was watching him like he was ice cream on a hot day. He wasn't a prude, but he was pretty sure that the moment his pants came off, Cougar would be on him without a second to lose, and he really didn't like the idea of getting taken dry.
Jensen waited until Cougar finally stalked off to make sure no one was outside, waiting to take his beta before he slipped out of his pants and boxers and opened the tube of slick. He cast a glance in Cougar's direction, grateful that the Alpha was taking this perimeter thing so seriously and got down to the business of stretching himself. He absently wondered when this whole heat thing was going to kick in, because he wasn't sure if he could survive Cougar's rut if he was just his normal self.
Cougar pounced when he got back, literally. It had knocked the wind out of Jensen, getting hit with a hundred and eighty pounds of Mexican sniper. He lay there gasping, trying to catch his breath as Cougar nuzzled his way down the hackers body. Nipping and licking until he got to Jensen's half hard cock and licking a stripe up it like some sort of lollipop.
Jensen jerked, muttered something about horny bastards and wondered how Cougar was planning on getting out of his pants when it was clear that he didn't seem to have a brain left in his head at the moment. At least not one meant for thinking actual thoughts that didn't revolve around the beta splayed out underneath him.
Jensen took a moment to chuckle when Cougar wrestled with his shirt, then sat up to help the sniper get out of his clothes. He pinned Cougar just long enough to lube him up and then let himself get pushed onto the sleeping bag, the Alpha pressing teeth to his neck and jerking his hips forward. Jensen rolled his eyes, because yeah, he was totally going to mock Cougar for this later, reached down, and helped the sniper, because otherwise this was going to end in some very awkward dry humping.
Jensen yelped, winced, and tried very hard to ignore the fact that this wasn't nearly as fun as he remembered it being when he was in heat. Cougar didn't seem inclined to wait for him to adjust, instead he humped merrily away, only intent on getting himself off, growling rhythmically in time with his thrusts.
“Why the fuck SHIT, watch it Cougs, did I agree to get locked in here with you? Ow ow...you really suck at this man.” Jensen mumbled, giving a sigh of relief when Cougar shuddered and slumped against him. “One down, a thousand more to go.” He muttered to himself, wondering when this heat thing was gonna kick in.
XxX XxX
It wasn't until Cougar's third round that Jensen's skin started to tingle in a way that means his heat was coming on. He shuddered when Cougar shoved his nose into Jensen's neck and breathed deeply. The sniper seemed to come back to himself just long enough to push Jensen onto his stomach and pull his hips up, licking across Jensen's mate mark and gripping the hackers hips so he could fuck him in earnest.
Jensen started whining, grinding back and getting into the spirit of things rather then wincing and wondering when it would all be over. Cougar's fingers were digging bruises into Jensen's hips, little half moons that would be layered over each other like a weird mosaic by the end of the week.
It was all growls and mewls and groans from then on. The soft sounds of flesh against flesh, the faint rustle of limbs being pulled and readjusted against the fabric of the sleeping bag. Cougar sank his teeth into Jensen' mate mark when he came this time, an affirmation of Jensen being his. The sting from the mark mixed with Cougar's pistoning hips was enough to push the hacker into orgasm and he yowled, out of his mind with lust and the pheromones of a heat-drenched beta.
XxX XxX
The days passed slowly. Sometimes their coupling would be frantic, both of them desperate to get their fill of each other. Other times it was slow, the air thick with lust.
When the sun went down, they seemed to come back to themselves. Taking the time to eat and keep hydrated before crawling into the shared sleeping back and dropping into dreamless sleep, only to awake and repeat the cycle of mindless sex.
Only once did someone come sniffing around. An unknown Alpha that had smelt the beta and come to investigate. Cougar screamed out a warning, hips barely moving until the mystery Alpha went away, seeming to realize that he couldn't get at the beta and wandering off in search of easier prey.
Seven days later Cougar came back to himself, shuddering and collapsing on top of Jensen who mewled his frustration until Cougar jerked him through his orgasm. Pheromones filling the air when Jensen came, then dissipating as quickly as they'd formed.
They looked at each other. Cougar had smirked and Jensen had made a face, pushing the Alpha off of him and using one of the water bottles to wet down a towel and clean off the worst of the fluids that had dried on his skin over the course of the week. What he wouldn't give for a hot shower.
Muscles he didn't know he had were aching, and he wondered briefly how sex could be so different from sparing. How he could be that sore when he ran laps and went through a series of exercises designed to keep him in peak physical condition.
Cougar seemed just as sore, the way he winced when he moved a certain way and Jensen had to hold back a smirk, wondering if the sniper had pulled something. Throwing out your back when you were dragging some goon out of the way was one thing, throwing out your back during some particularly bendy sex was quite another.
“When can we leave?” Jensen asked quietly, pulling on a pair of sweat pants and tossing another to Cougar who pulled them on with a nod of gratitude.
“Pooch will come.” The sniper said, laying on the sleeping bag, pulling his hat over his eyes and for all appearances going to sleep. Jensen sat for a moment before pulling his laptop out of his bag and hacking a satellite to get internet access. It took approximately fifteen minutes before he was online, cruising over blogs and chat sites, looking for something to keep him occupied until Pooch came to collect them.
XxX XxX
They stayed like that for a day, Cougar seeming to sleep the hours away and Jensen hacking into places he should have stayed out of. But he had long since figured out how to slip unnoticed into the shadows of the secret places online that weren't supposed to exist.
Finally, in the middle of the second day, there was a knock at the door and Pooch's voice saying that it was alright to come out now, everything was over. Jensen stood, wincing and leaving Cougar to collect their belongings and trying not to limp as he headed over to unlock the door.
“You guys alright?” Pooch asked, eyes sweeping over Jensen in a purely methodical way, cataloging all the bruises and bite marks to make sure he wasn't actually injured. He did the same to Cougar, taking the duffel and throwing it in the back seat of the Humvee.
“I've been better.” Jensen mumbled, climbing gingerly into the front seat and making Cougar take the back. He wasn't above a little pettiness now and again, just because he was a beta didn't mean he had to act like it.
“Deja para ir.” Cougar muttered and Pooch pressed down on the gas, spraying sand everywhere as they tore back to the meeting place where Clay, Roque and Aisha were still waiting for them.
XxX XxX
“Have a good time?” Aisha asked, her voice hard and mean. Jensen watched her, the way she limped, the way she held herself indicating a semi-serious injury on her left side. Her throat was a necklace of bruising and Jensen wondered exactly what had happened, though from the looks Roque shot her, he was pretty sure she'd attempted to offer herself up to Clay and had gotten the shit kicked out of her by Roque.
Not that Jensen was surprised. The way Roque went after the beta's Clay slept with, meant he was either jealous or very protective, and it made Jensen smirk at the thought of Roque treating Clay like a beta. Not that he'd ever mention it to either of them.
He mentally checked his calender, wondering if the heat he was supposed to have a month from now would happen as planned or pass by unnoticed not that he'd gone through one with Cougar. He'd heard that sometimes beta's would only go into heat when their mates went into a rut, and he kind of hoped that was the case. Because once a year he could handle, once a year would be easy.
The only good thing about being a male beta was the fact that he couldn't get pregnant, not that current science wasn't working on solving that particular problem. He'd rather shoot himself in the knees then have a litter.
“I had a better time then you.” He knew it was stupid to taunt her, knowing that she already wanted him dead. But Roque was in camp, Cougar was two feet away and Clay was within yelling distance if anything went wrong. Aisha growled low in her throat, stalking forward until she was in Jensen's direct space.
“Do not fuck with me.”
“I wouldn't fuck with you if I was an Alpha.” Jensen sneered back, pleased to see his words hit their mark. Aisha reared back and slashed a knife at his face that hadn't been in her hand a second ago. Jensen dodged back, dropping to the ground in a controlled, fast movement and swinging out a leg, catching hers and taking her down. He threw himself on her and pinned her, tossing the knife away and wondering what else she had up her sleeves.
“Get off me beta.” She snarled and Jensen raised an eyebrow, wondering why she assumed she was a higher level beta then he. He had a mate, granted, he refused to follow even the most basic of orders, but he still had a mate. Which made him higher on the beta-chain then she could ever hope to climb. She was still fair game to whoever wanted to take a chance and pin her down. He could kill any Alpha that wasn't his mate that tried to make a move on him, and get away with it.
In a lightening fast move Aisha flipped them both, their positions reversed. She had her hands wrapped around his throat, attempting to choke the life from him. There was a scuffle that meant both Cougar and Roque were coming to help and Jensen scoffed in Aisha's face.
She weighed a hundred and twenty pounds sopping wet with rocks in her pockets. He could, and did, bench press more then her on a regular basis. So rather then lay there and take the abuse, he snapped an arm down over her forearms, effectively cutting her hold on his neck and elbowed her sharply across the face, sending her sprawling into the dirt.
She was on her feet seconds later, teeth bared and growling at him. He hissed back, keeping low to the ground and watching her for any sudden movements. She feinted left and then came at him fast from the right, but Jensen often spared with Roque and was used to watching for dirty moves. He waited until he could see the whites of her eyes and then jammed his palm up against her jaw to hold her. One well placed knee to the solar plexus had her gasping for air and then Jensen got her in a choke hold, cutting off her air supply.
“I could kill you for that, right here, and none of them would hold it against me.” Jensen whispered to her, jerking his arm tighter when she squirmed in an attempt to get out of the hold. “I could snap your neck like a fucking twig and they wouldn't even blink.” Aisha snarled weakly, her movements getting sluggish as she started to pass out.
Jensen released her, letting her fall into the dirt where she gasped for breath and stared up at Jensen with hatred in her eyes. She snarled at him again, jerking back out of reflex when he crouched down to study her.
“You come at me again, and I'll rip your throat out and then give Roque the rest to play with.” He murmured, expression hard and cold. “I don't need an Alpha to protect me, and you're fucking delusional if you think I haven't killed other beta's for less serious offenses.”
Aisha simply watched him, a grudging respect showing in her eyes. Clay walked back into camp, stopping at the sight of Jensen crouched over Aisha, deadly intent written all over his face.
“What's going on here?”
“Nothing boss. What's going on with you?” Jensen bounced up, grinning and seemingly oblivious to the tension running through camp because of his little stunt with Aisha. Clay opened his mouth to say something and snapped it shut when Jensen leveled one long look at him. He knew that look, knew it very well. It was Jensen's you-expect-me-not-to-bow-to-any-Alpha-so-why-should-I-blindly-follow-you look.
Clay pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing instinctively that what ever had happened, Jensen had not instigated it. He knew Roque was right, wanting to kill Aisha. He knew that she was a ambush waiting to happen and that she'd probably get him killed in the end.
But it was the hints of vulnerability that she showed every now and again. The same ones he saw on Jensen once in a blue moon that had him hooked. If he could just get past her defenses, he was sure she'd open like a flower.
Roque was watching him from the corner of his eye and Clay ignored him, going to offer a hand to Aisha who smacked it away and got up on her own. She warily eyed Jensen before stalking off.
“What are we doing boss?” Clay wasn't sure if he'd ever heard that resigned tone in Roque's voice before and turned to peer at his SIC. The man was watching him, not the way he used to, with a hint of softness in his eyes, like he wished they weren't trapped in this strange cycle that they couldn't control. Instead Roque was watching him the way Alpha's watched each other, looking for any weakness they could exploit.
Clay had a sinking feeling that Aisha was going to be the ruin of everything good in his life. But she was the key to finding Max, that one who'd landed them in this mess. He couldn't ignore that, couldn't ignore the dig to his own ego and the protection of his pack.
“We're going bird hunting.”
XxX XxX
THE END.