Sharp Teeth - 10/20 | Jared/Jensen, RPS AU | NC-17
Master Post | Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 | Ch. 9 | Ch. 10 | Ch. 11 | Ch. 12 |
| Ch. 13 | Ch. 14 | Ch. 15 | Ch. 16 | Ch. 17 | Ch. 18 | Ch. 19 | Epilogue |
| Sharp Teeth Timestamp - Strangers in a Strange Land | | * Warnings posted on Master Post * |
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Sharp Teeth - 10/20 | Jared/Jensen,
RPS AU | NC-17
Sharp Teeth Chapter 10
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After they’d eaten, Ja’red steered them through the gathered crowd to socialize. Jensen had served at events like these before but never in quite this situation. Ja’red kept the hand on his leash in a death grip, and Jensen was never allowed to kneel when they approached a new group. His master kept his arm clamped round him, keeping Jensen firmly by his side.
Jensen quietly observed the actions of other slaves in attendance. Some were kept close to their masters, as he was, while others were free to kneel or stand a few paces back from their masters. It was a mostly older group of military men and advisors. It astonished Jensen how much Ja’red was deferred to. When he spoke, men listened. Jensen purred in pride, and his cat stretched lazily at the thought of his mate being a well-respected leader. Even the prince waited to hear what Ja’red would say.
Jensen noted the royal entourage approaching Ja’red and he could barely hold back a shiver - the thought of the prince seemed to conjure up the man in question. There was something about the prince that scared him deeply, an unrelenting ruthlessness that would strip planets bare if the whim took him.
The prince had his arm slung around a woman with golden, bird-like plumage, and his other hand was on the ass of a tall, willowy, blond Vegan. Jensen didn't recognize the bird woman's race, and it was hard for Jensen to know if they were real feathers or part of a costume. The prince seemed equally taken with both of his companions, laying sloppy kisses on one, and then the other.
Jensen’s tongue came out, flicked across his own lips as he gazed up at his master’s wide mouth. The heat in Ja’red’s look when he caught Jensen’s eye promised kisses of his own, but in private, later. Chris’tian approached them and whispered something in Ja’red’s ear. Ja’red stiffened, his demeanor instantly changing to focused leader, and he begged the prince’s pardon to leave. He tugged on Jensen’s leash, and the three headed out toward the end of the hall.
Chris’tian said softly, “Sorry for the interruption, Commander, but they said it was urgent. You can take the call in here, sir,” and gestured toward a private room just off the main chamber.
Ja’red nodded and, pulling out his comm link, began to walk away. Jensen started to follow, but then Ja’red paused, looking at Jensen for a moment, and biting his lip in indecision.
Ja’red glanced at Kane and then at the prince, the call clearly a priority. “Sire, if you don’t mind if you’ll excuse me? It’s the Sarna sector Commander and I’m afraid the discussion will be sensitive I’ll have to take it in the other room. Kane look after Jen’son in my absence.”
“No, no I’ll have none of that. Go Ja’red and take your second with you. I can look after your Pussycat for a short while. Go, do your job.” The prince offered casually. Jensen’s eyes widened and he could see the prince’s smile grow when he saw Jensen’s reaction.
Ja’red blushed some strategist he was. The prince had so easily outmaneuvered him and he could see no way around him. He looked apologetically at Jensen and Jensen nodded back barely perceptibly, he could feel the unease running through his mate and wished there was more he could do.
“Go, my boy, go, your pet will be safe with me.” Jeffra’ Deen reached out his hand and Ja’red blinked, belatedly realizing the prince was reaching for Jensen’s leash. He chuckled, clearly embarrassed by his hesitation, and handed it over before striding away with Chris’tian at his heels to take the call, his mind clearly already on the coming meeting. Jensen could feel his master pulling away, shutting the bond down as he isolated his thoughts in preparation.
Jensen watched him leave, and his cat moaned at the sudden separation. Jensen had to agree. He didn’t like it at all, especially being left in the prince’s care.
The prince turned, white teeth blazing against his blue skin, and said to his two companions. “Ladies, if you’ll excuse me for a moment. I think I need to visit the throne room.”
The women tittered, amused at the prince’s ribald remark, and Jeffra’ Deen chuckled as he led Jensen out of the room.
As they left the hall, two of the prince’s bodyguard’s fell into step behind them. Jensen looked around and started to sweat with nervousness. He had thought he had been discrete, could the prince know? Jensen had never been very good at secrets, it felt like they were written on his forehead. He ran a hand across his brow, rubbing away some of the flop sweat that had suddenly appeared there.
The prince paused at a nearby room and entered a code. He turned as he finished, a wolfish smile on his face, and gazed up and down Jensen’s body. “Come on, Pussycat. I want to play a little count the spots again.”
Jensen’s eyes grew wide with sudden understanding and he tried to hide the shiver of fear and dread that ran through him. He ducked his head quickly to hide his reaction but the prince’s cruel chuckle told him it not been soon enough. Jeffra’ Deen tugged on Jensen’s leash and pulled him inside the room while security took up posts outside at either side of the door.
It was a small study and Jensen barely had time to think before the prince was shoving him up against the door, licking and biting at him.
Jensen’s head was knocked back against the wall as the prince thrust his tongue hungrily into Jensen’s mouth. The prince’s large hands felt like burning brands as they grabbed his face, his thumbs pushing into the dents of Jensen’s cheeks with painful force. The harsh grip forced Jensen’s mouth open farther - so far it hurt as the exploration of his mouth continued unhindered. Jensen’s cat twisted and snarled in reaction and it took everything Jensen had in him not to do the same. He closed his eyes in resignation, hoping this would be over quickly.
Minutes passed before the prince leaned back and gasped for air, rubbing his thumbs along the skin of Jensen’s cheeks possessively. Jensen’s mouth opened for a moment, but then snapped shut at the pitiless smile that crossed the prince’s face. Jeffra’ Deen continued to lick along Jensen’s chapped lips, his teeth catching on Jensen’s bottom lip with force. “Yeah, that’s right, baby,” the prince whispered into his mouth, “You’re mine. Might even keep you.” He rubbed his bristly face against Jensen’s brow and Jensen could hear the man’s breath chuff against his skin.
Jensen roughly pushed away the raw panic the prince’s words evoked. It was just talk. Just words intended to scare… Ja’red...
Exhaling raggedly, the prince leaned down to bite along Jensen’s neck, his hands shifting down to grasp Jensen’s biceps in a punishing hold.
Jensen gazed at the man, stunned at the assault, at the burning feel of the man’s touch, wrongbadnotmyalpha. His cat writhed and howled at the brutal violation. Jensen frantically reached for the link he shared with Ja’red, and was desperately relieved when he felt it still closed. He didn’t want his master to see him this way, to feel his reactions.
He worried for the marks being left in his flesh like a neon sign of his helplessness, worried that Ja’red would see, worried what he would think. How would his master ever want him now, after he’d allowed the prince’s hands to roam over every inch of him. He felt sick, and his cat snarled and batted at his insides in fury. Jensen felt dizzy at withstanding both the internal and external attacks. His head lolled forward weakly when the prince suddenly released it.
“Wanted those lips around my cock again since our first night.” The prince groaned, grabbing Jensen’s shoulders and pushing him down; his grip was punishing. Jensen cringed in pain and tried to concentrate on his training, concentrate on being the whore, so that the screaming inside his mind would stop. He nodded his head numbly, unable to do anything but obey, and tried to slide to his knees gracefully. It was difficult, trapped as he was between the wall of the study and Jeffra’ Deen’s broad body.
“Come on, come on,” the prince ordered harshly before Jensen touched the floor. Unthinking, his hands slipped out and did what they had been trained to do, rubbing over the prince’s tight leather pants teasingly. Jensen blanked out, unable to process everything that was happening, just allowing his body and training to take over. He tried to ignore the feel of flames licking against his skin wherever the man touched.
The prince moaned and thrust his leather covered groin into Jensen’s face. Jensen mouthed over the man’s cock. He could feel its length fattening beneath the clothes.
“Ughhh, frak! Suck me, cat.”
Jensen reached for the pants' closure and eased the prince’s cock out. The normally blue tip was already purpling and leaking. He licked across the slit and looked up at the prince, still light-headed and confused.
The prince groaned and let his head fall forward, banging it against the wall. Bracing his forearms against it, he grinned down at Jensen. Jensen jacked him a few times, his hand running up over the head to spread some of the pre-come over the shaft. The prince widened his stance to make room for Jensen to move and groaned again.
“Baby, stop playin’ with it and wrap those lips around me. You’re killin’ me here.”
Jensen’s eyelids fluttered closed and he dipped his head in response, taking the prince’s cock into his mouth. He had just started to lick under the broad head when the prince thrust forward, shoving himself down Jensen’s throat. Jensen rushed to cover his teeth and tried not to choke as the prince growled. Jensen’s hands reached out frantically, not to push away, but to balance himself. They landed on the prince’s hips.
He tried to ease the prince back but the man pushed forward relentlessly. Even with training, Jensen found himself struggling to take him all in. He was propelled back against the wall, his face buried into the hair of the man’s crotch as the prince pushed forward. He groaned and rolled his hips and held himself buried deep in Jensen’s throat.
Jensen struggled to breath through his nose but couldn’t, and his hands fluttered weakly at the prince’s hips as he ran short of breath, but everywhere he touched felt hurtbadwrong and his cat hissed in disapproval. He heard a dark chuckle, and Jeffra’ Deen finally eased back, allowing Jensen to gasp in much needed air. He started up a leisurely pace rocking himself in and out of Jensen’s mouth, controlling the rhythm. Able to breathe again, Jensen tried to concentrate on the task at hand. He eased the prince’s pants down a little and used his hands to massage the Prince’s firm ass.
“Wanna mark you up so bad, baby, fuck you raw. Mmm want to keep you like this all night, but I can’t. I’ve still got work to do tonight. I’ll have to have a discussion with that wolf of yours. Those lips need to be put to work on a regular basis. And I can’t wait to tap that spotted ass of yours again.”
Jensen choked in reaction, unable to control the sudden rapid beating of his heart and the snarling violence of his cat. It was like fighting a war on two fronts.
What if the prince really did keep him? What would that do to his plans? Ja’red… Ja’red had said he just had to last this one night… but a tiny hope had burned in Jensen’s heart that the wolf would still keep him. But if he were to fall into the prince’s hands … Jensen shivered at the thought and tried to control his breathing and not spiral into a full blown panic attack as his cat screamed.
“Fuck yeah, baby, such a good kitty for me. Wish we had more time, baby. Time for me to bend you over that chair and make you scream. Soon though, soon. Oh yeah, yeah, that’s it, baby… Oh, frakin’ gods…”
Jensen heard the dark promise in the Prince’s voice, but all he could focus on was that his words meant this was coming to an end soon. Jensen peeked up at the prince, his mouth filled with the man’s thrusting cock. One of the Prince’s hands dropped down to rub his head affectionately as he continued to fuck into him. He heard the man’s breath hitch and his thrusts were growing erratic. He was getting close, and Jensen purred.
Deep in his throat he let the cat-like vibration rumble through him. The prince shoved forward in surprise and came, spilling violently down Jensen’s throat.
The prince blew out a breath. Jensen could feel the man staring down at him in surprise, but he kept his gaze down and swiped his soft sandpaper tongue under the prince’s length still buried in Jensen’s throat. Groaning softly, he slowly withdrew. Jensen licked at the softening member, cleaning him.
Finally the prince pulled back to tuck himself back into his pants, and Jensen almost fell forward at the sudden move.
Jaffra’ Deen strode over to the small desk in the room and snapped open a box, taking one of his cigar like things out of it. With a click of a lighter, he soon had it lit and clamped between his teeth. He grabbed up Jensen’s leash where Jensen was trying to appear as small and insignificant as possible and tugged on it. “Come on, sweetheart, I got a party to host."
Jensen felt violated; his skin crawled as the prince led him back out into the main room. His cat wanted nothing more than to crawl into a corner and lick the prince’s unwanted scent off his flesh. Jensen couldn't agree more. He felt bruised both inside and out. Discretely, he tried to straighten his clothing and tidy his hair, hoping none of the prince’s marks showed. He blew out a shaky breath.
For the first time since being taken, Jensen actually cared where he stayed; but he guessed now it was a moot point. The plan was in motion, he had his security code now, this was the big one. He would be gone shortly. He shivered. The evening had spiraled out of control so quickly. Jensen glanced over and saw Ja’red exiting the meeting room, his call finished. He wondered if he would be able to smell the prince on him. He wondered why he cared.
He cautiously touched the bond. He hadn’t had much experience controlling it, but he could still only feel Ja’red distantly, his master still withdrawn into meeting mode. He wasn’t sure how Ja’red would react if he knew what just happened. He only knew that for some reason he didn't understand, he cared desperately about Ja'red's opinion.
It was then that Jensen noticed it, just out of the corner of his vision.
He wasn’t sure what exactly had caught his eye, but he had been watching the other slaves and servers all night and he hadn’t seen this one before. Another rarity on Vega, Jensen had heard them identified as Borians. He had first seen one of the bear-like creatures on the breaker ship working as a guard. Since then, Jensen had learned that, unlike Lycans or Felix, they didn’t change their shape; this was their normal form. They tended to be large, brutish creatures, good with guns, and were usually only used as guards or foot soldiers.
What grabbed Jensen’s attention at first was the fact that, although he carried a tray to serve the Champagne-like drinks that had flowed like water all night, there was only one glass on his tray. That on its own was not so odd, but what was more damning was the fact that the tray trembled as though he didn’t know how to balance it properly, the way a real server would. The other thing that stood out in Jensen’s quick assessment of the man was the sweat that darkened the Borian’s dark fur and white tunic. He couldn’t think of a species less suited to serving in a hot, crowded hall than a large, lumbering bear, and this one was obviously nervous. As the creature approached, Jensen watched its eyes shift nervously.
The prince jerked on Jensen’s leash; he had fallen behind while watching the server. Jensen had just turned his head to catch up when he caught a whiff of the Borian’s scent, and his cat went crazy. His hackles raised, and the prince and all that had just happened was instantly forgotten. It smelled badwrongdanger, and Jensen turned back toward it immediately. He was just in time to see the Borian drop the tray and reach behind its back, its gaze fixed on Ja’red.
As if in slow motion, Jensen launched himself at the man, fingers extended like claws, neck wrenching in pain as the leash was torn out of Jeffra’ Deen’s grip. His cat roared, and all Jensen could think was protectmate as he hurled himself toward the larger bear. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chris’tian pull his weapon and shove Ja’red to the ground, yelling, “Put down the weapon….Put down the weapon…”
Everything was a roar of white noise, and Jensen felt a strange sense of disorientation while the world slid sideways. He felt cloth shred and tear as he landed on the bear-man, the force of his weight throwing them both to the ground. Jensen’s claws raked across the hand holding the jumbler and sent the weapon skittering across the floor. The bear-man screamed and scrambled back as they both rushed to regain their footing. Regrouping, it bared its teeth in a snarl and swiped a giant paw at Jensen. He dodged sideways, barely avoiding the sickle-like claws while he was already going for the bear-man's neck.
Jensen’s fangs dug deep into the furry throat. Hot, rich blood flooded his mouth and then he was pulling, tearing, with terrible force. The bear-man screamed, a horrible, nightmarish sound, and gurgled as Jensen’s cat pulled a large, mouth-sized chunk of flesh from his furry neck. Blood gushed with arterial vengeance, and Jensen’s cat snarled in satisfaction as it batted once more at the bear to ensure it was down. His mate was safe. The enemy was dead. The twitching body just didn’t realize it yet.
Chris’tian was suddenly there firing into the dying, bear-man. Jensen turned and looked around, inhaling deeply as his nose tracked his mate’s location. He swung around and padded over to where Ja’red was just getting back to his feet. Jensen growled in happiness and closed the distance between them. It was only when Ja’red had to kneel down to embrace his neck that Jensen realized he had shifted. Ja’red was holding him, rubbing him and running his hands across his blood dappled flanks. Soft puffs of breath touched his tufts, and Ja’red nuzzled his head, crooning softly, “Are you - are you alright? Did he hurt you? Are you alright?”
“Strip.” Ja’red’s voice was low and not entirely free of growl. The sound went straight to Jensen’s groin and his dick hardened instantly. Ja’red stalked over to his mate and his hand wrapped around the back of Jensen’s head and pulled him in for a kiss. The smell of his mate blanketed him, a warm physical presence. Ja’red manhandled Jensen over to the bed and yanked off the sheet that was tangled around him, growling, “Want you. The right way this time.” Staring into those foxlike eyes, Jensen believed.
As with the last time that he shifted, Jensen had no idea how it happened. One minute he was a human standing across the room from Ja’red, and the next minute he was claws and fangs and gnashing teeth launching himself toward badevilmatedanger. There was the satisfying spurt of coppery blood on his tongue and the rip of tearing flesh that filled him with a sense of peace and matesafegood. Then, a long period of noise and chaos that made his cat’s nose itch with irritation and his ears lay flat along his head. Men gathered and guards scurried, trying to figure out what had happened. At the beginning of it, they had tried to take Jensen from the room, but his cat was having none of that. He snarled menacingly, until it became obvious to them he was not to be moved from his mate’s side. In spite of Ja’red’s soothing words, the hackles on the back of his neck refused to lower until the menprey kept their distance.
Once they saw the wisdom in keeping a respectful distance from Ja’red and leaving his 200 lb cat alone, he had flopped contentedly at Ja’red’s feet, licking the bear-man's blood off his coat. Jensen’s cat didn’t care about politics or motivations or why, it didn’t care about anything much other than being close to his mate and that his mate was safe. He didn't know why his mate stayed locked in his smaller form when his wolf could come out and play. Jensen’s cat shrugged it off as ‘wolves!’ Purring gently against Ja’red’s legs, he didn’t notice the last of the adrenaline high finally burning away, and, exhausted, he drifted off to sleep, eased by the presence of his wolf.
Ja’red watched Jen’son as he slept. His mate had come to his rescue tonight. Ja’red hadn’t even seen the Borian until it was too late. He felt humbled by the Felix, so willing to risk his life for him. Ja’red felt more than a little humiliated in contrast to how he had been treating his mate, how he had been dealing with having an alpha. His own insecurities had nearly ruined any chance he had at happiness with the green eyed man. Ja’red just had to keep a lid on things tonight, and then he could explain at least a few things to Jen’son. Until the attack on Felix took place, though, he couldn’t tell him everything, or free him - it would be too dangerous for both of them. After that, though, he would find a way out of this situation, a way to make it all work. He turned his mind toward the puzzle of the Borian. The Chief Strategist could be targeted at any time; it wasn’t like there hadn’t been assassination attempts in the past.
Background checks on the Borian had resulted in nothing. The man had no record in the system other than his created alias as a waiter. Obviously, if security could be infiltrated so easily, it needed to be tightened considerably. Ja’red cursed. Why now? What would his death achieve? It wouldn’t stop the Imperium’s war against the Alliance or the planned assault.
Out of the corner of his eye, he picked out movement and looked down. Jen’son was shifting in his sleep. Ja’red watched in fascination as the Felix's claws retracted and shrank to become mere finger and toenails, joints and limbs rearranged themselves to human shape, and dappled fur seemed to ripple as it disappeared, revealing smooth, freckled skin, all as if by magic. Still, the quixotic pattern of ever-shifting spots remained.
The prince’s deep voice rumbled beside him, suddenly close. “Fascinating, I’ve never seen one of you shift before; it’s… beautiful.” The two men watched as the Felix became the man. Then it was simply Jensen lying there on the floor, naked, bruises and other marks from his fight with the Borian visible on the pale, freckled hide. A long gash ran down one side where the bear’s claws must have grazed him. Ja’red quickly crouched down in front of Jen’son, gathering his mate up into his arms in a bid to block the prince’s view of his naked form. He gestured to Kane to bring something to cover him. Exhausted Jen’son continued to sleep through the shift.
The prince surveyed Jen’son carefully, unspeaking, and Ja’red had to resist the suicidal urge to step in front of his mate and hide him from the prince’s critical view.
Kane returned with a soft grey blanket. Ja’red took it from him, swaddling Jen’son in it. He looked up at the prince to ask his permission for them to leave when he saw the prince’s face had gone stiff with anger, his eyes dark slits in his face. Ja’red wondered what had enraged the man so suddenly.
“Clear the room.” Prince Jeffra’ Deen’s booming voice cut through the murmurs of the crowd of generals and their aids; abrupt silence fell over the group. Ja’red moved to lift his sleeping mate into his arms to leave when the prince turned and snarled at him, inexplicably, “No. You, you stay right where you are.”
Ja’red instantly obeyed. He laid Jen’son carefully back down and stood. He was slightly perplexed but kept any questions to himself.
As the Generals filed out of the room, the prince paced back and forth in front of Ja’red, not saying a word. Ja’red broke out into a light sweat and wondered what he might have done. The prince’s moods were mercurial at best, anything might have set the man off. Kane hovered there, uncertain; Ja’red nodded and dismissed the man who looked on with open concern. Kane cast a worried look at the prince, then nodded back and left reluctantly with the rest of the group.
The last man had barely exited, closing the door to the great hall behind him, before the prince turned to Ja’red, his closed fist arching up to smash him directly in the face. Shock had him hunching in on himself as a steady stream of blows and obscenities fell on him. A set of rabbit punches to his face and abdomen culminating in a devastating right hook sent him flying to the floor, stunned. The air knocked out of him, he curled in on himself as the prince began to use his booted feet. Finally, panting with effort, the prince abruptly stopped. Ja’red looked up as he wiped the blood from his mouth to see the prince stalk over to stand over Jen’son. He watched, speechless, as the prince snatched away the blanket from his vulnerable mate. Unaware, his cat lay there, still unconscious from the strain of his shift, and Jeffra’ Deen kicked Jen’son’s legs apart to expose his soft cock nestled in the white fur of his pubic area. Ja’red gulped in understanding; Jen’son’s knot was clearly visible. He hadn’t acted fast enough.
The prince turned his furious gaze back at Ja’red, gesturing down at Jen’son and snarling, “So, just when were you going to tell me? Did you think me that great a fool that you could keep this from me forever? What did you think was going to happen, Ja’red? How did you see this turning out well? And with a slave…”
Ja’red swallowed in apprehension; the prince knew, knew what he was. Ja’red felt embarrassment and shame rush through him. He looked up at the man he had practically grown up with. Cruel and calculating, yes, but the prince had treated him like a little brother for the last fifteen years. He had been more of a brother to Ja’red than his own half-siblings back home on Lycos, and now…. Ja’red croaked out, “I-I don’t know what to say. I-I never intended this. We-we, it just happened…” Ja’red knew he trailed off feebly, but he didn’t know how to tell the short version of how things were between him and Jen’son, and the prince wasn’t looking for a long explanation.
“Now that’s the problem with you people; you only think with your knot, or with your mate’s knot, as it turns out in your case. You knew your duty; you should have come to me. Hell, I might have mated you myself just to keep that pesky planet of yours firmly underfoot. You know how totally unsuitable it is to have an omega in any kind of position of authority? Hell, I’ll be a laughing stock in the Alliance. How will they take the Imperium seriously when we have a bitch at the helm?”
“But no, you had to use that big brain of yours and go against convention. Thought you were soooo much smarter than me, than all of us. The brainy omega bitch. Frak, the humiliation! It might have been okay if you’d been a female. Having a beta as my chief strategist would be pushing it but marginally okay. But to have a little bitch omega in the position, I’d be a total joke amongst our own shifter populations. What am I supposed to do when you go into heat? Call a time out for the war? Fuck you silly myself so you can get back to work? Or call your slave in to do the job?” ‘Deen paced angrily back and forth before Ja’red.
Ja’red bit his lip. Even thinking about it his hole tingled at the thought of his first knotting with his mate, his uncontrollable desire to be tied over and over. He dropped his head in embarrassment and felt himself grow red. Everything his father had said about omegas had turned out to be true. He hadn’t known that it would be like this.
Lost in his own thoughts the prince’s voice startled him when he said caustically, “Does your father know?”
Ja’red’s blush deepened, and he flinched away from the prince’s low and dirty laugh. “No, of course he doesn’t know. He’s an alpha, isn’t he? Weren’t all the men of your line alphas? So what would that make you? Daddy’s disappointment? Ha, no wonder he never visited you. Maybe he already knew or guessed? Maybe that’s why he traded you away so easily to my father?
Ja’red stood there, rooted to the spot unable to speak. Shame burned through him.
Maybe that was why his father had abandoned him here.
He had no defense, he had been living a lie. A weak pitiful lie and all the years and years of tricking everyone around him, hiding his true nature, had come to this - betraying his prince’s trust.
“I should kill this creature you’ve latched onto and throw you in a frakin’ pit. And let me assure you, I have a very extensive and well equipped dungeon. Not that you’ve ever soiled your hands doing any of the dirty work, not with your big brain. Oh no, you’ve had it all, celebrity, position, fame, all while you’ve stood there and lied to me. Well, let me tell you what you’re going to do, sweetheart. We have a war to win. A war against your boyfriend’s kin. And you’re going to win it for me, no ifs, ands, or buts, and if I think you’re not performing up to spec, I’m going to take it out on your pretty pet here. Make him suffer.”
The prince advanced on Ja’red who still lay, stunned, half kneeling on the floor. He loomed over him, fists opening and closing in barely suppressed rage. Without warning he reached down and grabbed Ja’red by the hair and twisted his head painfully back, his eyes burning a hole through him. “For now, at least, we’ll keep this little ‘situation’ between us. After you’ve won me my victory on Felix, we’ll see. I may let you walk away. Find some backwater planet, and you and your boy can go there and fuck like bunnies for the rest of your lives for all I care. He can knock you up, and you can play house, and I’ll never have to look at your lying face again. But for now, for now, I need you. Win me this war, or you’ll see for yourself how little effort it takes to separate the knot from the Pussycat.” The prince released his hair, and Ja’red’s sagged back down on trembling arms. Jeffra’ Deen strode from the room, slamming the door behind him.
Ja’red knelt there for a long time as the direness of the situation fully sank in. He shakily got to his feet and dashed away the tears that had started to trickle from his eyes. When had he become so weak and emotional? Tears…seriously, he was the Commander, the Chief Strategist. Exhaling in disgust, Ja’red carefully wrapped the sleeping slave back up in the blanket the prince had kicked away in his rage. He gritted his teeth and lifted his mate up to cradle him tenderly to his chest and walked to their waiting aircar.
Kane didn’t ask any questions when he saw Ja’red’s face, just rushed to open the aircar door for him and get them home. Ja’red, lost in thought, said nothing the entire trip home. In a strange way, a part of him was relieved that the prince knew what he was now, he was tired of all this hiding - all these years ashamed and scared of what he was, burying himself in his work. At the same time, he was bitterly disappointed. The prince had spoken with such vitriol, such disdain. Ja’red wondered how he had hidden his feelings so long, his absolute distaste for weres, for omegas in particular. How could Ja’red have not seen it sooner? A part of him was pitifully glad he had met Jen’son. The feelings he had for the cat, could their bond as mates be so wrong?
The aircar arrived at the mansion, and Ja’red carried Jen’son back to their bedroom. He stroked his mate's beautiful face with a gentle touch, and felt arousal spiral through him. He could smell his own scent, but he could also make out the lighter scent of his alpha, green leaves and rain and an odor like freshly polished metal and old leather, as intriguing as the man himself. He watched as his alpha’s eyes fluttered open, and he knew that whatever happened from this point on, he could not regret this.
This man, this slave, had saved him when no one else had. He had embraced what they had together even when he didn’t understand it, even in the face of Ja’red’s abuse. Ja’red would be a fool not to grab on and see what happiness he might be able to have in their union for as long as he could.
Jen'son’s moss green eyes opened, gazing at him with hunger and possession. Ja’red shivered as his mate’s voice rumbled out over him and said softly, “Strip.”
Jensen slipped into the hall. He knew he didn’t have much time, but he didn’t need much. He’d risked grabbing a pair of Ja’red’s lounge pants lying on the floor as he’d crept from his master’s bed. Now he stood outside Ja’red’s office, trying to summon his nerve.
His cat hissed in disapproval and, irritated, Jensen shrugged off the unsolicited and unwanted opinion. What did his cat know? His horny beast was the one who'd gotten him into this mess anyway. Jensen swiped his hand through the air dismissively, shaking his head in the dark. Why was he even having second thoughts? Pulling off this job meant his freedom. What was there to think about? His hesitation was stupid and could get him killed.
Even if he stayed, Ja’red couldn’t keep him even if his master wanted to. He’d seen the look of lust and possession in Prince Jeffra’ Deen’s cruel eyes. The attack had distracted him, but Jensen knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the man had his scent now. Getting turned over to the prince would be its own special kind of hell, given how sadistic the man was. Frankly, the prince scared both Jensen and his cat - a lot. Nothing good would come from falling into his hands. Jensen exhaled a shaky breath. There really was no choice, the prince was the final straw. He reached a trembling hand down to open the door.
No alarms sounded, no claxtons went off. Jensen inhaled deeply to steady himself, and stepped inside. It was a large room, dominated by a wall of floor to ceiling windows like those in the master bedroom. Another wall was a display for giant galactic case files, the entire wall full of data screens and vid conns, holographic maps and projections showing activities from all over the Imperium. It was what Jensen imagined a futuristic news room of CNN might look like.
Jensen knew the chief strategist kept track of activities all over the Imperium; this was probably only the tip of the iceberg. He started towards Ja’red’s desk, a sleek, massive slab of black that seemed to float in midair, covered in a row of personal-sized vid screens and data ports. He rifled through the few flimsies on the desk and, as expected, none of the symbols he’d been trained to look for had been left lying out in the open. Of course nothing would ever be that easy. He moved on to Ja’red’s personal VidCon and entered the password Admiral Khal’s slave had slipped him hours earlier.
BINGO, Jensen thought with subdued glee. He entered the stolen code name he’d memorized off the slip of paper she’d passed him. It was the password for the files for Ja’red’s advance against Felix Prime. Watching the screen blink and churn he was suddenly rewarded with a lengthy list of data entries and files. He didn’t know what any of it said or meant, he was functionally illiterate in Vegan. The translator embedded in his ear only worked for vocal translations, not visual ones - who wanted a slave that could understand too many of your secrets, anyway? But the Alliance had trained him on what to look for, the way the file structures should look.
He had never dreamed he might stumble across a possible out, a possible path to freedom. He had thought he was condemned to be a slave here on this side of the galaxy until he died. He hadn’t found them, of course; they had found him. It had been pitifully easy for him to fall into their hands, just a few booked appointments with Simion for a Felix pleasure slave for the day, and he was at their mercy. When he’d arrived at the appointment, instead of sex they’d wanted espionage with a side of potential death if caught. They’d been his own kind- Felix, that is, fighting for the Alliance, and they made a compelling promise of freedom at the end of all the spy stuff if he could bring in the goods, classified information of the war effort from his ‘clients’. Even when the Alliance trainers' methods had been a bit cruel for Jensen’s taste, he’d kept the brass ring in mind. If he could make himself valuable to them, and they weren’t blasted out of existence by the Imperium first, the deal was that they’d free him.
He shouldn’t have been surprised that even with his new ‘kind,’ everything had a price. Nothing was free in this world, no more than it had been on Earth; he would have to work for his freedom. But after all, what did he have to lose? So he studied hard and did whatever they asked and tried not to get caught - or worse yet, killed. So far it had worked. His job this time had been to catch the eye of some high ranking official at the Prince’s Gala, and get access to significant information. But Ja’red had found him, not the other way around. It had all seemed too perfect, too easy.
He fumbled for a data chip to use to transport the information and found a couple lying on Ja’red’s desk. When he went to insert it in the drive he was shaking so hard he dropped it and had to pick it up off the desk twice before he got it installed and started copying the information over. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He’d never done anything like this, nothing this important anyway. It had all been small-time data grabs, in and out and undetected while his various rental masters slept.
This would blow his cover completely and would require his retrieval, but wasn’t that the golden ticket? Even beyond his freedom he hoped it made a difference. He hoped it was worth what he was giving up… which was what exactly? The strange, fucked up beginning of an abusive relationship with a were who seemed, sometimes, to hate him, and had as much as said he'd be getting rid of him tomorrow. A were that brought out a possessive side of him, sure, but he’d get over it. He’d get over Ja’red. His gut clenched at that thought, and he would have to think about why later. Better to leave now as planned than to be sold again into an uncertain future and a new, and possibly more abusive, master. Jensen shook his head, Ja’red would survive. He’d find some other slave to keep him happy, someone less complicated. Jensen’s cat snarled at the lie.
The VidCon pinged softly, and Jensen withdrew the chip. He turned away from Ja’red’s desk and walked toward the floor length window in his office and pushed down on the tiny signal button hidden subcutaneously between the second and third finger in the webbing of his left hand. In theory he was to be beamed up within minutes; an alliance aircar hovering somewhere nearby was supposed to be tracking his location through the signal, ready to take him away. Through bitter experience though, Jensen didn’t count on anything until it happened. That’s why he wasn’t terribly surprised when he heard his master’s soft voice behind him, “I never thought you were a spy, Jen’son. I just didn’t think you were that stupid.”
Jensen turned slowly, his hands rising in the air in what he hoped was a universal sign of surrender. Ja’red stood there, naked, a taze gun leveled at him in the dark, and said in a deep, velvet voice, “And to think I defended you. I put my career on the line for you. When exactly did the Alliance get to you?”
Jen’son’s cat eyes glowed eerily green in the dark, suddenly alien and inscrutable. Ja’red watched, fascinated, as a flush of red began to mottle the man’s face and chest. He could see the force of will it took for Jen’son to straighten to his full height and, raising his hands, turn to face him. Ja’red’s eyes widened when he saw the guilt and sorrow in his mate’s eyes. What was going on here? What had his cat gotten up to? He knew he should be on the comm to Chris’tian to get his ass down here now with chains, but he found himself transfixed by the sight of his mate.
“Two or three years after the breakers. I didn’t know anything about anything other than I was a slave and had been turned. My side was sort of chosen for me.”
“They’ll put you to death for this. Or in labor so hard you’ll wish you had died.”
“After this last week with you, that might be an improvement.”
Ja’red flinched as though struck and almost instantly muttered, “I deserved that.”
“Tell me one thing. Why?”
Ja’red tilted his head. Jen’son didn’t even seem worried about the gun in his hand. There was a resigned, defeated slump to his mate’s shoulders, as though he expected, and had already resigned himself, to his doom.
“You and the whys - haven’t we been down this road before? Why what? Why did I buy you? Why did I let you take me? Why did I…rape you?”
“All of them I guess.” Jen’son leaned his head back quizzically. He glanced up as in his upraised hand a tiny blue light had started to blink, just barely visible under the skin. He stared at it, a look of chagrined disbelief on his face and turned to look at Ja’red his mouth open in surprise. His mouth forming the words ‘I’m sorry’.
Ja’red barely had time to register the glowing blue halo of light that surrounded Jen’son before he was hurling himself at the man, grabbing onto him.
When the flash of light receded, they were both gone.
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Master Post | Chapter 11
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A/N: Okay you’re half way there. Thanks for hanging in! There’s lots more to come. But maybe it’s time to come out of the pool for a bit, you’re getting pruny. Walk around some, say hi to your mate, water the grass, and of course comments are always appreciated ^^