First Chapter Sneak Peek: Trent (Alpha's Reign Book Three)
I wanted to post this on Monday, but a storm knocked out the Internet on Friday, and I didn't get it back until yesterday afternoon. So, it's here now! Hooray!
Also, I'm currently working on the next Broken Heroes book which I hope to have out in June. It's called Titan Unleashed, and I'm having a whole lot of fun with it. Patrick and his issues. Calder has issues too. Good thing BDSM solves everything. Sort of.
Oh, and here's a hot pic from the shifter yaoi called Kuroneko Kareshi no Asobikata. It's a cat and a leopard, I think. Very smutty. ^_^
Here's the first chapter of Trent (Alpha's Reign Book Three). Enjoy:
Akito Izumi stopped pacing a week ago.
Cole noticed it right away. Ever since they left Trent behind—their alpha and their mate—the omega moved constantly. He only slept when Cole forced him into bed and held him until he stopped shaking. And he spouted out at least a hundred different improbable ways they could rescue their mate from Boss Yagami, without dying themselves, every day.
Then, after a week of minimal progress (and that was being generous), Akito stopped.
A kind of stillness fell over him that Cole had never seen before. Not in the pens where they’d first met, both too young and scared. Not when Cole’d been taken by Trent, and Akito was the one taking care of him while Cole recovered from his addiction to X. No, the omega was always in motion, even when he was sitting still.
Now, a heaviness clamped on Akito’s shoulders and weighed him down. He stopped pacing around their rooftop apartment. He stopped twitching and ranting about how they needed to save Trent now! Before Boss Yagami started sending them pieces of him.
Cole knew that, and he was doing everything he could to figure out how. He let Akito say whatever he wanted and didn’t even tell him how dangerous most of the ideas were because Cole knew the omega was blowing off steam.
They were both close to helpless when it came to saving Trent, and that was worse than anything.
Akito curled into a ball on the couch, the fan blowing hot air around the room, and stared out the window across the landscape of the ruined city. He seemed to hold his breath like he expected Trent to step back through that door and ease the tension that hung there since he’d been gone.
Cole did what he could, but he didn’t have Trent’s strength or his position to back him up. Akito might’ve done a better job of rallying the pack with his easy charisma, which Cole also didn’t have.
He never wanted to be a wolf—not after what happened with Sari. But Akito changed his mind. Believed in him. And Trent, well, Trent pissed him off until Cole couldn’t help but give in. He didn’t expect an alpha to ever trust him the way Trent had. Love him the way Trent had, and loving Trent back was even stranger.
He’d never seen those fellow wolves as a part of his pack until recently, and now he was the senior most beta, which meant he was in charge. Not the strongest, but the highest ranking one in the pack. And the only thing he could say was a promise that felt emptier by the day.
We’ll get Trent back.
But would they?
Over the first week, while Akito threw around ideas, Cole gathered as much information as he could without putting their pack in danger. Their numbers had grown after absorbing nearly all the other packs inside Neo-Tokyo, but that didn’t mean they were as strong as Boss Yagami’s wolves.
They weren’t, and that’s why they’d acted so carefully up until this point.
Boss Yagami’s pack was older and more experienced. They’d been ruling Neo-Tokyo since Cole could remember, and he hadn’t even been a wolf back then.
He’d only sent a few wolves into Chiyoda, himself included, since Cole didn’t want anyone taking a risk he wasn’t willing to take. He and Makiko sneaked around the edges of Boss Yagami’s stronghold to see if they could get any word on Trent’s condition.
They didn’t.
They couldn’t even see inside the old Imperial Palace from the bottom of the walls. The only thing they could do was count how many wolves made up Boss Yagami’s pack. Cole didn’t like the answer.
Their own pack wasn’t so bloated, even with Raj’s pack along for the fight.
And when Cole came back home, Akito was conversely pissed he hadn’t been able to come and annoyed Trent wasn’t back yet.
At least, that’s how Cole saw it.
The only thing that calmed Cole’s nerves was that Akito hadn’t tried to take off on his own and save Trent. He wasn’t a typical weak omega, he’d proven that time and again, but he was all Cole had left, and if he got captured too—Cole didn’t want to think about it.
But he would’ve preferred a little more fire in Akito’s eyes than was currently present.
The moping was worse than the pacing, by far.
Trent had been gone two weeks today, and they needed to do something either to get him back, or to take down Boss Yagami.
Preferably both.
“I have to go down and give another briefing,” Cole said, his voice quiet next to the hum of the fan and the ever-present buzz of cicadas outside.
Akito pinched his mouth into a frown. “Do you actually have a plan this time?”
Cole let out a breath. “If I did, you’d be the first to know. You should come down. We need our omega.”
Akito’s fists tightened on the pillow under his head, and Cole bit back the urge to tell him to stop feeling sorry for himself. That wasn’t Akito’s problem, and Cole knew it.
When the omega didn’t respond, Cole turned and left him there.
Their pack needed a leader.
What they had was Cole.
Makiko stood next to him in the lobby of their new headquarters, tucked far enough from Boss Yagami’s territory that it was reasonably safe. Not completely safe, because they all knew what that alpha was capable of after Minato, but it was the best they could do. If they wasted time moving again, who knew what might happen to Trent.
The rest of the pack hunched against the wall or whispered amongst themselves. As far as Cole could tell, they didn’t have any deserters, but then, these wolves had no place to go. This was the only pack they had, and since they’d pledged loyalty to Trent, they could follow him or die in the Wilds.
But that was the thing—they were loyal to Trent, not his beta.
Cole took a deep breath and glanced across the room. They hadn’t bothered with the lights since they all saw in the dim twilight just fine. It hid many of the faces Cole spent months memorizing. He’d organized them before for short attacks on other alphas, but always with Trent by his side.
Never like this.
Never alone.
Makiko cleared her throat. Nudged his shoulder. “What’s the plan for today?”
Cole scratched his head and wished the sweat didn’t run between his shoulder blades and soak into his shirt. How to get Trent back without all of us dying in the process. But he didn’t say that, because it wasn’t rousing or brave.
It’s what a beta said, not what an alpha would say.
Cole almost shrugged when he caught a hint of movement to the left of the room, and Akito’s scent touched his nose. Even with all the other wolves in that room, he could still sense his mate amongst them.
Akito didn’t approach. He tucked himself into a corner, arms hugging his sides, and his eyes shone bright in the shadows that surrounded him. It’d have been better if he stayed upstairs in their room and hadn’t come down to watch Cole fail at leading their pack. Prove how much weaker than Trent he really was.
“I don’t know how to get him back,” Cole said under his breath. “I’m just a beta.”
Makiko stood very still, then nodded so slightly it hardly looked like she’d moved at all. Her hair was held at the base of her neck in a low ponytail, much like the ones Trent and Akito wore, and she looked like the locals with dark slanted eyes and thick black hair. She always dressed like a human, in loose threadbare dresses that didn’t intimidate like the normal dark suits the wolves wore. It also looked a hell of a lot cooler, which helped in the oppressive humidity that hung around the room. “It’s not just your alpha who’s in there. It’s our alpha, and we’ll all do whatever it takes to get him back. That’s why we’re here.”
Cole glanced at her. “And we could all die.”
What he really meant was Akito could die.
She nodded again. “We could, but we’ve come this far. Boss Yagami is weaker than he’s ever been. Do we try or give up?”
Maybe she should be the one coming up with the plan.
Cole looked at Akito again and cleared his throat. A few of the wolves glanced at him, and the rumbling of their various conversations dulled.
They gathered here once a day to discuss news and strategy, and so far they’d had very little in terms of both. Worse yet, Raj, Trent’s younger brother and the only alpha that worked with them instead of against them, hadn’t returned from his trip to gather his pack from their territory at the edge of the Wilds. Either he was bringing the rest of them to help, or they were fleeing from Boss Yagami’s wrath. Without word, Cole had no idea.
After how much Raj helped them, he hoped it was the former and not the latter.
Cole swallowed the lump in his throat and stood up straight. He wasn’t as tall as Trent, but he’d filled out since he got clean and ate regular meals. “Boss Yagami’s forces still patrol their border, but they haven’t invaded ours yet. They even fell back from Minato, and considering the mess they left there. . . . I’m not sure if they’ll be back. Facing them head on is going to get most of us killed, and I know that’s not what our alpha wanted.”
Across the room, Akito straightened.
Cole didn’t know if that was a sign of approval or not, but he didn’t want to be responsible for his pack mates lives if they couldn’t save Trent. “So we need a plan that will get us into the stronghold with little resistance. Unfortunately, Boss Yagami chose that place for a reason. It’s almost impossible to infiltrate without scaling the walls, and his wolves will notice that. We need a distraction. Something to divert their attention long enough to get in.”
The room rumbled as their pack mates mumbled to each other.
Cole sighed.
This is what always happened. They waited for him to come up with a plan without offering any of their own. He was just as much at a loss as they were, and they all had the same information.
“I’ll go,” Akito said and stepped forward. “I’ll offer to trade myself for Trent.”
The wolves parted and looked at their omega.
Cole squeezed his eyes shut and fought the urge to stalk across the room and drag Akito upstairs. He would say something like that, because saving Trent was the first thing on his mind, not keeping himself alive. And it wasn’t even an omega thing. It was just an Akito thing.
Loyal to a fault.
“What does Boss Yagami want with Trent’s omega?” Makiko asked suddenly and stepped in front of Cole. “I might as well offer myself up. He’d take and kill any of us, but we all know our alpha doesn’t want that. And it won’t help him escape.”
Akito scowled and put his hands on his hips. He didn’t stalk any closer, and Cole put his hand on Makiko’s shoulder and squeezed.
“She’s partially right. But if either of us went in, he’d use it against Trent and you know it, Aki.”
“So we do nothing?” Akito growled, and his eyes widened.
It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, but they’d had this argument in private. Not in front of the entire pack.
Cole scraped his hand through his pale hair and frowned. “No. But we do something that will work. Do you think he’d want us to throw away all the progress we made to rescue him? You’ve known him the longest. Tell me what you think he’d want?”
Akito opened his mouth then clamped it shut again. His shoulders slumped, and he broke contact with Cole’s gaze.
That couldn’t be good. Cole itched to approach. Yank Akito into a hug and kiss him until Akito forgave him, but doing that in front of their pack wasn’t the best idea. He fisted his hands and set his jaw instead.
“You’re right, but Trent also didn’t know what was best for him. He spent too much time worrying about us,” Akito grumbled.
Us could’ve meant the pack as a whole, and it did to a certain extent. But Cole knew it held another nuanced meaning that the rest of the wolves in the room probably sussed out as well.
His mates.
Trent worried too much about them. Enough that it drove him to distraction in their first run in with Boss Yagami and ended with Trent’s capture.
“I know,” Cole said, his voice gruff. He sucked in a breath through his teeth. Frowned. “But we can’t change that now. The only thing we can do is make sure any plan we come up with is a good one. Good enough to give us odds of survival better than zero.”
Akito didn’t have a reply to that, and a few other wolves stepped forward to share what they’d heard in the last day regarding Boss Yagami’s movements around Chiyoda. Nothing much had changed, and Cole nodded and wished he could do more.
But what?
Storm in and get everyone killed?
That wouldn’t help Neo-Tokyo.
And no matter how badly he wanted Trent back, the cost of getting him back couldn’t be that high or the alpha would hate it.
The pack drifted apart after that, off to do their own surveillance and to patrol their own borders. Cole would’ve joined them, but leaving Akito like that was never a good idea.
He headed upstairs instead, following Akito’s musk through the worn hallways and onto the roof.
The sky above Neo-Tokyo was a bright blue, the same color as Cole’s eyes, and the far off clouds in the distance promised no respite from the heat. He swiped his brow, slick with sweat, and stepped into their apartment.
A fan buzzed in the corner of the room, and Akito stood over a pitcher of water. He poured two glasses and ripped off his shirt, yanking it over his head and mussing his dark hair.
It hung to his shoulders, a thick black curtain, and his eyes flashed. “He could be dead for all we know.”
Cole kicked off his shoes before he came in, as was custom, and peeled off his jacket. Wearing it seemed like little more than a useless ceremony, but he put it on in the morning nonetheless. He undid his shirt too. Took the water and drained it before he said anything.
“He’s not. Boss Yagami wouldn’t keep that to himself.”
Akito pinched his eyes shut. “Being a wolf was supposed to keep me from being useless. I’m supposed to be able to help and instead—”
“I know,” Cole said and kissed Akito’s brow.
He didn’t pull away, which was a good sign. “I’m going to go crazy if I have to sit around here and wait any longer. We can’t wait for Yagami to make a move, you know. It might cost the pack—might cost us, but we have to do something.”
Cole bit his bottom lip.
Denying Akito what he wanted was never wise. It prompted the omega to do things. Usually dangerous things. “I know, but I’m trying to do what’s best for everyone, and it’s not easy. I’m no alpha. I’m hardly a fucking beta. And I can’t lose you too, okay? You might love him more than you love me, but we’re all mates. I want Trent back as much as you do.”
“What?” Akito breathed and his head snapped up, eyes wide. The irises were dark, but since he’d been turned into a wolf they were lined with amber. It glowed now. “You think I love Trent more than I love you?”
His shirt stuck to the sweat on his back, and Cole slipped it off. Crumpled the material in his fist and fought not to frown. He lost that battle quickly. “I don’t think. I know, Aki. And I don’t. . . it doesn’t matter because I know you do love me. And I love you, but without him—”
“He’s our alpha! Of course I care. And I don’t love him more and you less. That’s stupid! I love you both. I’d be this crazy if you were somewhere out there, and I couldn’t get to you. If Boss Yagami had you instead of him—shit! You have no fucking clue how sick I’d be. Don’t you want him back?”
Cole’s grip on the shirt tightened. “Of course I want him back. You don’t think that’s what I’ve been trying to do? You’ve come with us on scouting missions. You know what we’re up against. How do you think he’d feel if you died? How do you think I would feel?”
Akito sipped his water and set the glass down harder than necessary. It was amazing he hadn’t broken it with his newfound wolf strength. “Like I would if anything happened to either of you. Like you felt when I disappeared. I just—I want him back!” he cried and threw his arms into the air.
Cole stared at him, the helplessness seeping over him like it had that night. The only thing they could do was run. An alpha usually didn’t sacrifice him or herself for a lesser wolf, but Trent did because he was better than other alphas.
He’d proven that time and again.
“I do too. I can’t hold the pack together much longer. I’m not a leader,” Cole said carefully. The words coated his mouth like oil. Heavy and unpleasant.
Akito grabbed his hands and squeezed. “I don’t want him back because he’s our alpha. I want him back because he’s our mate. You’re doing fine. Nobody else knows what to do either.”
Cole snorted. Raj might know what to do, but Raj wasn’t there. “Trent would.”
Akito raised an eyebrow. “He didn’t always. He spent ages looking for the right beta. And after Minato his conquests slowed. You’re right. He was worried about everyone’s safety. The whole pack. He didn’t want any of us to end up dead.”
“He was most worried about you,” Cole said and pulled Akito against his chest. It was too sticky to hug like that. Too hot and oppressive, even with that fan blowing warm air across them, but letting go of Akito seemed like the most impossible thing in the world at that moment.
Akito’s fingers dug into Cole’s back, clinging to him. “I was worried about both of you. Love him more? Why would you think that?”
Cole shrugged. “You knew him longer.”
“I knew you first,” Akito countered and pressed his mouth into Cole’s shoulder.
Akito was shorter and slighter than Cole, being an omega, but he’d put on a layer of tight muscle since he’d been bitten and started training to fight with the best of them. His chest was still slender but defined, and his biceps tightened as he pulled Cole as close as he could get.
“You usually take his side,” Cole said, which sounded silly after it left his mouth.
Akito shook his head. “Do not. I take his side when he’s right. He wasn’t right about not changing me, and you knew it. You took his side then.”
“I took your side, but not in front of the pack,” Cole said and sucked in Akito’s scent.
“We have something different, it’s not about more or less. We both know what it’s like in the pens. What it’s like to be human, and you won’t forget. You won’t let me forget, and Trent can’t ever know what it feels like.”
Cole’s jaw tensed, and he nodded. Trent was suffering out there, and they needed to think of a way to save him, yet he couldn’t pull himself out of Akito’s hold if he tried.
“We’ll get him back,” Cole said, for what had to be the thousandth time.
Akito nodded and leaned up. His mouth trembled as he pressed it into Cole’s, and the beta understood his hesitation. They hadn’t kissed much since they left Trent behind. Hadn’t touched more than brisk hugs and pats on the shoulder. Without their alpha, a piece of them was missing, and if they gave in to this it felt like they were getting on without him. Giving up on him. When that wasn’t the case.
Not at all.
Cole wouldn’t do that until he was dead, and he knew Akito felt the same.
His lips melted into Akito’s kiss, and his grip tightened on Akito’s hips, pressing into him. The brush of Akito’s tongue sent a rush of heat down his spine and rocketed to his cock.
His body, slick with sweat, focused on nothing else but the omega before him. How close they were to losing each other. Their big move against Boss Yagami could be the end for them all, and if that was the case, they both needed this.
Something to remember before that happened—remember why they were fighting so hard for this.
For each other.
Akito groaned, grinding his groin against Cole’s, his length hardening.
They didn’t need words now. They never did in moments like this.
Cole reached between them, undid the front of Akito’s pants and slipped them down. Akito muttered something and returned the favor, freeing Cole’s cock and wrapping his spit slick palm around it.
“We have oil,” Cole grunted.
“Don’t care,” Akito breathed against his lips and kissed him again.
The heat of that mouth—that hand, engulfed him, and Cole’s body gave in to it.
His thumb encircled the tip of Akito’s shaft, wet and ready, and slicked it over the length. Akito pumped into the touch, his leg wrapping around Cole’s hip to bring them closer.
Press their flesh together and—
Cole moaned.
Stroked them both harder.
Faster.
For the first time in nearly two agonizing weeks, something else mattered.
All the pent up energy needed somewhere to go, and this was the perfect place.
With Akito.
Why hadn’t he thought of this sooner?
When they got Trent back. . . .
Cole’s mouth trailed over Akito’s jaw, lined with stubble, and down his long neck. It caressed his coarse hair and lapped at the salty flesh, catching Akito’s earlobe in his teeth.
Akito hissed. Squeezed Cole’s ass and moaned again—the sound rich and far too fleeting. It wasn’t his typical moan, the one without any abandon, but Cole didn’t expect that. Not now. The sound sunk into his skin and surged through him, charged with electricity.
Akito bit his shoulder, suckling at the flesh until Cole hissed. Like Akito was trying to keep his mind from thinking of anything but this.
Anything but the future.
The lust coiled in his gut, his groin, rolling with every sweep of his palm. The friction built with each thrust, misplaced and badly timed, but none of that mattered.
That mouth on his collarbone mattered. And the sounds Akito made, pleading and desperate and close to a sob, mattered.
Saving Trent mattered.
The orgasm sneaked up on him, on them both. The sticky mess leaked over their hands, and Akito panted against him, sweaty and reeking of musk and sex and everything Cole loved about him.
He wasn’t surprised when Akito pressed his face into Cole’s shoulder, his cheeks damp, chest heaving and heart racing.
Cole gripped onto his omega, eyes stinging, and kissed his mussed hair.
“We’ll get him back.”
“How?” Akito asked.
Cole chewed his bottom lip, letting the mess drip between them. Back with the rest of the pack, Akito offered to turn himself in to Boss Yagami. That sort of trade would never work—they both knew it.
But. . . . but maybe there was someone who Boss Yagami would trade for Trent.
Someone that bastard wanted to hurt more than their alpha.
It was a long shot, but what other choice did they have?
“I have an idea, but I don’t think Raj will like it,” Cole said.
Also, I'm currently working on the next Broken Heroes book which I hope to have out in June. It's called Titan Unleashed, and I'm having a whole lot of fun with it. Patrick and his issues. Calder has issues too. Good thing BDSM solves everything. Sort of.
Oh, and here's a hot pic from the shifter yaoi called Kuroneko Kareshi no Asobikata. It's a cat and a leopard, I think. Very smutty. ^_^
Here's the first chapter of Trent (Alpha's Reign Book Three). Enjoy:
Akito Izumi stopped pacing a week ago.
Cole noticed it right away. Ever since they left Trent behind—their alpha and their mate—the omega moved constantly. He only slept when Cole forced him into bed and held him until he stopped shaking. And he spouted out at least a hundred different improbable ways they could rescue their mate from Boss Yagami, without dying themselves, every day.
Then, after a week of minimal progress (and that was being generous), Akito stopped.
A kind of stillness fell over him that Cole had never seen before. Not in the pens where they’d first met, both too young and scared. Not when Cole’d been taken by Trent, and Akito was the one taking care of him while Cole recovered from his addiction to X. No, the omega was always in motion, even when he was sitting still.
Now, a heaviness clamped on Akito’s shoulders and weighed him down. He stopped pacing around their rooftop apartment. He stopped twitching and ranting about how they needed to save Trent now! Before Boss Yagami started sending them pieces of him.
Cole knew that, and he was doing everything he could to figure out how. He let Akito say whatever he wanted and didn’t even tell him how dangerous most of the ideas were because Cole knew the omega was blowing off steam.
They were both close to helpless when it came to saving Trent, and that was worse than anything.
Akito curled into a ball on the couch, the fan blowing hot air around the room, and stared out the window across the landscape of the ruined city. He seemed to hold his breath like he expected Trent to step back through that door and ease the tension that hung there since he’d been gone.
Cole did what he could, but he didn’t have Trent’s strength or his position to back him up. Akito might’ve done a better job of rallying the pack with his easy charisma, which Cole also didn’t have.
He never wanted to be a wolf—not after what happened with Sari. But Akito changed his mind. Believed in him. And Trent, well, Trent pissed him off until Cole couldn’t help but give in. He didn’t expect an alpha to ever trust him the way Trent had. Love him the way Trent had, and loving Trent back was even stranger.
He’d never seen those fellow wolves as a part of his pack until recently, and now he was the senior most beta, which meant he was in charge. Not the strongest, but the highest ranking one in the pack. And the only thing he could say was a promise that felt emptier by the day.
We’ll get Trent back.
But would they?
Over the first week, while Akito threw around ideas, Cole gathered as much information as he could without putting their pack in danger. Their numbers had grown after absorbing nearly all the other packs inside Neo-Tokyo, but that didn’t mean they were as strong as Boss Yagami’s wolves.
They weren’t, and that’s why they’d acted so carefully up until this point.
Boss Yagami’s pack was older and more experienced. They’d been ruling Neo-Tokyo since Cole could remember, and he hadn’t even been a wolf back then.
He’d only sent a few wolves into Chiyoda, himself included, since Cole didn’t want anyone taking a risk he wasn’t willing to take. He and Makiko sneaked around the edges of Boss Yagami’s stronghold to see if they could get any word on Trent’s condition.
They didn’t.
They couldn’t even see inside the old Imperial Palace from the bottom of the walls. The only thing they could do was count how many wolves made up Boss Yagami’s pack. Cole didn’t like the answer.
Their own pack wasn’t so bloated, even with Raj’s pack along for the fight.
And when Cole came back home, Akito was conversely pissed he hadn’t been able to come and annoyed Trent wasn’t back yet.
At least, that’s how Cole saw it.
The only thing that calmed Cole’s nerves was that Akito hadn’t tried to take off on his own and save Trent. He wasn’t a typical weak omega, he’d proven that time and again, but he was all Cole had left, and if he got captured too—Cole didn’t want to think about it.
But he would’ve preferred a little more fire in Akito’s eyes than was currently present.
The moping was worse than the pacing, by far.
Trent had been gone two weeks today, and they needed to do something either to get him back, or to take down Boss Yagami.
Preferably both.
“I have to go down and give another briefing,” Cole said, his voice quiet next to the hum of the fan and the ever-present buzz of cicadas outside.
Akito pinched his mouth into a frown. “Do you actually have a plan this time?”
Cole let out a breath. “If I did, you’d be the first to know. You should come down. We need our omega.”
Akito’s fists tightened on the pillow under his head, and Cole bit back the urge to tell him to stop feeling sorry for himself. That wasn’t Akito’s problem, and Cole knew it.
When the omega didn’t respond, Cole turned and left him there.
Their pack needed a leader.
What they had was Cole.
Makiko stood next to him in the lobby of their new headquarters, tucked far enough from Boss Yagami’s territory that it was reasonably safe. Not completely safe, because they all knew what that alpha was capable of after Minato, but it was the best they could do. If they wasted time moving again, who knew what might happen to Trent.
The rest of the pack hunched against the wall or whispered amongst themselves. As far as Cole could tell, they didn’t have any deserters, but then, these wolves had no place to go. This was the only pack they had, and since they’d pledged loyalty to Trent, they could follow him or die in the Wilds.
But that was the thing—they were loyal to Trent, not his beta.
Cole took a deep breath and glanced across the room. They hadn’t bothered with the lights since they all saw in the dim twilight just fine. It hid many of the faces Cole spent months memorizing. He’d organized them before for short attacks on other alphas, but always with Trent by his side.
Never like this.
Never alone.
Makiko cleared her throat. Nudged his shoulder. “What’s the plan for today?”
Cole scratched his head and wished the sweat didn’t run between his shoulder blades and soak into his shirt. How to get Trent back without all of us dying in the process. But he didn’t say that, because it wasn’t rousing or brave.
It’s what a beta said, not what an alpha would say.
Cole almost shrugged when he caught a hint of movement to the left of the room, and Akito’s scent touched his nose. Even with all the other wolves in that room, he could still sense his mate amongst them.
Akito didn’t approach. He tucked himself into a corner, arms hugging his sides, and his eyes shone bright in the shadows that surrounded him. It’d have been better if he stayed upstairs in their room and hadn’t come down to watch Cole fail at leading their pack. Prove how much weaker than Trent he really was.
“I don’t know how to get him back,” Cole said under his breath. “I’m just a beta.”
Makiko stood very still, then nodded so slightly it hardly looked like she’d moved at all. Her hair was held at the base of her neck in a low ponytail, much like the ones Trent and Akito wore, and she looked like the locals with dark slanted eyes and thick black hair. She always dressed like a human, in loose threadbare dresses that didn’t intimidate like the normal dark suits the wolves wore. It also looked a hell of a lot cooler, which helped in the oppressive humidity that hung around the room. “It’s not just your alpha who’s in there. It’s our alpha, and we’ll all do whatever it takes to get him back. That’s why we’re here.”
Cole glanced at her. “And we could all die.”
What he really meant was Akito could die.
She nodded again. “We could, but we’ve come this far. Boss Yagami is weaker than he’s ever been. Do we try or give up?”
Maybe she should be the one coming up with the plan.
Cole looked at Akito again and cleared his throat. A few of the wolves glanced at him, and the rumbling of their various conversations dulled.
They gathered here once a day to discuss news and strategy, and so far they’d had very little in terms of both. Worse yet, Raj, Trent’s younger brother and the only alpha that worked with them instead of against them, hadn’t returned from his trip to gather his pack from their territory at the edge of the Wilds. Either he was bringing the rest of them to help, or they were fleeing from Boss Yagami’s wrath. Without word, Cole had no idea.
After how much Raj helped them, he hoped it was the former and not the latter.
Cole swallowed the lump in his throat and stood up straight. He wasn’t as tall as Trent, but he’d filled out since he got clean and ate regular meals. “Boss Yagami’s forces still patrol their border, but they haven’t invaded ours yet. They even fell back from Minato, and considering the mess they left there. . . . I’m not sure if they’ll be back. Facing them head on is going to get most of us killed, and I know that’s not what our alpha wanted.”
Across the room, Akito straightened.
Cole didn’t know if that was a sign of approval or not, but he didn’t want to be responsible for his pack mates lives if they couldn’t save Trent. “So we need a plan that will get us into the stronghold with little resistance. Unfortunately, Boss Yagami chose that place for a reason. It’s almost impossible to infiltrate without scaling the walls, and his wolves will notice that. We need a distraction. Something to divert their attention long enough to get in.”
The room rumbled as their pack mates mumbled to each other.
Cole sighed.
This is what always happened. They waited for him to come up with a plan without offering any of their own. He was just as much at a loss as they were, and they all had the same information.
“I’ll go,” Akito said and stepped forward. “I’ll offer to trade myself for Trent.”
The wolves parted and looked at their omega.
Cole squeezed his eyes shut and fought the urge to stalk across the room and drag Akito upstairs. He would say something like that, because saving Trent was the first thing on his mind, not keeping himself alive. And it wasn’t even an omega thing. It was just an Akito thing.
Loyal to a fault.
“What does Boss Yagami want with Trent’s omega?” Makiko asked suddenly and stepped in front of Cole. “I might as well offer myself up. He’d take and kill any of us, but we all know our alpha doesn’t want that. And it won’t help him escape.”
Akito scowled and put his hands on his hips. He didn’t stalk any closer, and Cole put his hand on Makiko’s shoulder and squeezed.
“She’s partially right. But if either of us went in, he’d use it against Trent and you know it, Aki.”
“So we do nothing?” Akito growled, and his eyes widened.
It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, but they’d had this argument in private. Not in front of the entire pack.
Cole scraped his hand through his pale hair and frowned. “No. But we do something that will work. Do you think he’d want us to throw away all the progress we made to rescue him? You’ve known him the longest. Tell me what you think he’d want?”
Akito opened his mouth then clamped it shut again. His shoulders slumped, and he broke contact with Cole’s gaze.
That couldn’t be good. Cole itched to approach. Yank Akito into a hug and kiss him until Akito forgave him, but doing that in front of their pack wasn’t the best idea. He fisted his hands and set his jaw instead.
“You’re right, but Trent also didn’t know what was best for him. He spent too much time worrying about us,” Akito grumbled.
Us could’ve meant the pack as a whole, and it did to a certain extent. But Cole knew it held another nuanced meaning that the rest of the wolves in the room probably sussed out as well.
His mates.
Trent worried too much about them. Enough that it drove him to distraction in their first run in with Boss Yagami and ended with Trent’s capture.
“I know,” Cole said, his voice gruff. He sucked in a breath through his teeth. Frowned. “But we can’t change that now. The only thing we can do is make sure any plan we come up with is a good one. Good enough to give us odds of survival better than zero.”
Akito didn’t have a reply to that, and a few other wolves stepped forward to share what they’d heard in the last day regarding Boss Yagami’s movements around Chiyoda. Nothing much had changed, and Cole nodded and wished he could do more.
But what?
Storm in and get everyone killed?
That wouldn’t help Neo-Tokyo.
And no matter how badly he wanted Trent back, the cost of getting him back couldn’t be that high or the alpha would hate it.
The pack drifted apart after that, off to do their own surveillance and to patrol their own borders. Cole would’ve joined them, but leaving Akito like that was never a good idea.
He headed upstairs instead, following Akito’s musk through the worn hallways and onto the roof.
The sky above Neo-Tokyo was a bright blue, the same color as Cole’s eyes, and the far off clouds in the distance promised no respite from the heat. He swiped his brow, slick with sweat, and stepped into their apartment.
A fan buzzed in the corner of the room, and Akito stood over a pitcher of water. He poured two glasses and ripped off his shirt, yanking it over his head and mussing his dark hair.
It hung to his shoulders, a thick black curtain, and his eyes flashed. “He could be dead for all we know.”
Cole kicked off his shoes before he came in, as was custom, and peeled off his jacket. Wearing it seemed like little more than a useless ceremony, but he put it on in the morning nonetheless. He undid his shirt too. Took the water and drained it before he said anything.
“He’s not. Boss Yagami wouldn’t keep that to himself.”
Akito pinched his eyes shut. “Being a wolf was supposed to keep me from being useless. I’m supposed to be able to help and instead—”
“I know,” Cole said and kissed Akito’s brow.
He didn’t pull away, which was a good sign. “I’m going to go crazy if I have to sit around here and wait any longer. We can’t wait for Yagami to make a move, you know. It might cost the pack—might cost us, but we have to do something.”
Cole bit his bottom lip.
Denying Akito what he wanted was never wise. It prompted the omega to do things. Usually dangerous things. “I know, but I’m trying to do what’s best for everyone, and it’s not easy. I’m no alpha. I’m hardly a fucking beta. And I can’t lose you too, okay? You might love him more than you love me, but we’re all mates. I want Trent back as much as you do.”
“What?” Akito breathed and his head snapped up, eyes wide. The irises were dark, but since he’d been turned into a wolf they were lined with amber. It glowed now. “You think I love Trent more than I love you?”
His shirt stuck to the sweat on his back, and Cole slipped it off. Crumpled the material in his fist and fought not to frown. He lost that battle quickly. “I don’t think. I know, Aki. And I don’t. . . it doesn’t matter because I know you do love me. And I love you, but without him—”
“He’s our alpha! Of course I care. And I don’t love him more and you less. That’s stupid! I love you both. I’d be this crazy if you were somewhere out there, and I couldn’t get to you. If Boss Yagami had you instead of him—shit! You have no fucking clue how sick I’d be. Don’t you want him back?”
Cole’s grip on the shirt tightened. “Of course I want him back. You don’t think that’s what I’ve been trying to do? You’ve come with us on scouting missions. You know what we’re up against. How do you think he’d feel if you died? How do you think I would feel?”
Akito sipped his water and set the glass down harder than necessary. It was amazing he hadn’t broken it with his newfound wolf strength. “Like I would if anything happened to either of you. Like you felt when I disappeared. I just—I want him back!” he cried and threw his arms into the air.
Cole stared at him, the helplessness seeping over him like it had that night. The only thing they could do was run. An alpha usually didn’t sacrifice him or herself for a lesser wolf, but Trent did because he was better than other alphas.
He’d proven that time and again.
“I do too. I can’t hold the pack together much longer. I’m not a leader,” Cole said carefully. The words coated his mouth like oil. Heavy and unpleasant.
Akito grabbed his hands and squeezed. “I don’t want him back because he’s our alpha. I want him back because he’s our mate. You’re doing fine. Nobody else knows what to do either.”
Cole snorted. Raj might know what to do, but Raj wasn’t there. “Trent would.”
Akito raised an eyebrow. “He didn’t always. He spent ages looking for the right beta. And after Minato his conquests slowed. You’re right. He was worried about everyone’s safety. The whole pack. He didn’t want any of us to end up dead.”
“He was most worried about you,” Cole said and pulled Akito against his chest. It was too sticky to hug like that. Too hot and oppressive, even with that fan blowing warm air across them, but letting go of Akito seemed like the most impossible thing in the world at that moment.
Akito’s fingers dug into Cole’s back, clinging to him. “I was worried about both of you. Love him more? Why would you think that?”
Cole shrugged. “You knew him longer.”
“I knew you first,” Akito countered and pressed his mouth into Cole’s shoulder.
Akito was shorter and slighter than Cole, being an omega, but he’d put on a layer of tight muscle since he’d been bitten and started training to fight with the best of them. His chest was still slender but defined, and his biceps tightened as he pulled Cole as close as he could get.
“You usually take his side,” Cole said, which sounded silly after it left his mouth.
Akito shook his head. “Do not. I take his side when he’s right. He wasn’t right about not changing me, and you knew it. You took his side then.”
“I took your side, but not in front of the pack,” Cole said and sucked in Akito’s scent.
“We have something different, it’s not about more or less. We both know what it’s like in the pens. What it’s like to be human, and you won’t forget. You won’t let me forget, and Trent can’t ever know what it feels like.”
Cole’s jaw tensed, and he nodded. Trent was suffering out there, and they needed to think of a way to save him, yet he couldn’t pull himself out of Akito’s hold if he tried.
“We’ll get him back,” Cole said, for what had to be the thousandth time.
Akito nodded and leaned up. His mouth trembled as he pressed it into Cole’s, and the beta understood his hesitation. They hadn’t kissed much since they left Trent behind. Hadn’t touched more than brisk hugs and pats on the shoulder. Without their alpha, a piece of them was missing, and if they gave in to this it felt like they were getting on without him. Giving up on him. When that wasn’t the case.
Not at all.
Cole wouldn’t do that until he was dead, and he knew Akito felt the same.
His lips melted into Akito’s kiss, and his grip tightened on Akito’s hips, pressing into him. The brush of Akito’s tongue sent a rush of heat down his spine and rocketed to his cock.
His body, slick with sweat, focused on nothing else but the omega before him. How close they were to losing each other. Their big move against Boss Yagami could be the end for them all, and if that was the case, they both needed this.
Something to remember before that happened—remember why they were fighting so hard for this.
For each other.
Akito groaned, grinding his groin against Cole’s, his length hardening.
They didn’t need words now. They never did in moments like this.
Cole reached between them, undid the front of Akito’s pants and slipped them down. Akito muttered something and returned the favor, freeing Cole’s cock and wrapping his spit slick palm around it.
“We have oil,” Cole grunted.
“Don’t care,” Akito breathed against his lips and kissed him again.
The heat of that mouth—that hand, engulfed him, and Cole’s body gave in to it.
His thumb encircled the tip of Akito’s shaft, wet and ready, and slicked it over the length. Akito pumped into the touch, his leg wrapping around Cole’s hip to bring them closer.
Press their flesh together and—
Cole moaned.
Stroked them both harder.
Faster.
For the first time in nearly two agonizing weeks, something else mattered.
All the pent up energy needed somewhere to go, and this was the perfect place.
With Akito.
Why hadn’t he thought of this sooner?
When they got Trent back. . . .
Cole’s mouth trailed over Akito’s jaw, lined with stubble, and down his long neck. It caressed his coarse hair and lapped at the salty flesh, catching Akito’s earlobe in his teeth.
Akito hissed. Squeezed Cole’s ass and moaned again—the sound rich and far too fleeting. It wasn’t his typical moan, the one without any abandon, but Cole didn’t expect that. Not now. The sound sunk into his skin and surged through him, charged with electricity.
Akito bit his shoulder, suckling at the flesh until Cole hissed. Like Akito was trying to keep his mind from thinking of anything but this.
Anything but the future.
The lust coiled in his gut, his groin, rolling with every sweep of his palm. The friction built with each thrust, misplaced and badly timed, but none of that mattered.
That mouth on his collarbone mattered. And the sounds Akito made, pleading and desperate and close to a sob, mattered.
Saving Trent mattered.
The orgasm sneaked up on him, on them both. The sticky mess leaked over their hands, and Akito panted against him, sweaty and reeking of musk and sex and everything Cole loved about him.
He wasn’t surprised when Akito pressed his face into Cole’s shoulder, his cheeks damp, chest heaving and heart racing.
Cole gripped onto his omega, eyes stinging, and kissed his mussed hair.
“We’ll get him back.”
“How?” Akito asked.
Cole chewed his bottom lip, letting the mess drip between them. Back with the rest of the pack, Akito offered to turn himself in to Boss Yagami. That sort of trade would never work—they both knew it.
But. . . . but maybe there was someone who Boss Yagami would trade for Trent.
Someone that bastard wanted to hurt more than their alpha.
It was a long shot, but what other choice did they have?
“I have an idea, but I don’t think Raj will like it,” Cole said.
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