Heat Race - Tanya Chris Page 0,1

let fate take its course. He would run as fast as he could, but not in a straight line. He’d be clever with it—lay some false trails, double back, take refuge in a spot where only Elias would think to look for him. His speed would give Saul an advantage, but his trickiness would give Elias an advantage. Whoever found him would get to keep him, and he’d be fine either way, because they were both great guys. The only alpha he absolutely didn’t want to be claimed by was a big brute named Lon who had all of Saul’s bulk and none of his innate kindness. As long as Jack Henry managed to stay away from Lon, it would all be fine. Fate knew what it was doing, right?

He turned his eyes forward again. The huge alpha turnout was making the process slow. Or that was how it felt when you were standing on the firing line waiting for your whole future to be decided.

“We’re almost ready to get started,” the race director said through her megaphone. They would’ve been able to hear her without the megaphone because she was standing right in front of them and they were all pretty quiet due to nerves, but the megaphone made her look officious. She’d been parading back and forth with it as she herded them into a line facing the forest a few hundred yards straight ahead.

“We will now allow the alphas to make a final inspection.” She waved the alphas over, fading back as they peeled away from the fence and started down the line of trembling omegas. When Elias came by, the anticipation in his eyes made Jack Henry feel guilty all over again. He wished he was as sure about Elias as Elias was about him.

Elias gave his hand a comforting squeeze. “It’ll be all right.”

“No touching,” the race director barked.

Elias dropped his hand and moved on to the next omega, though he wasn’t even pretending to check out anyone else. Saul was only a few alphas farther down the line. He flashed Jack Henry a huge smile, but it faded quickly when Jack Henry didn’t return it.

“If you’d rather I didn’t…” The adorable flush washing over his face made Jack Henry wonder. Saul could throw him around, but would he? Still, the shyness was endearing,

“Who knows what’ll happen,” Jack Henry responded, trying to be vague. “But, um, I wouldn’t be mad or anything.” At the last minute, he couldn’t bring himself to tell Saul not to try for him, despite how much it felt like he was betraying Elias.

Saul gave him another smile as he acceded to the urgings of the alphas behind him to keep moving. More alphas streamed by. There were just so many. Jack Henry kept his eyes down, not wanting to appear interested—because having two suitors to choose from was enough—until a pair of motorcycle boots landed in the square of dirt where his gaze was pinned.

Shin-high, black leather boots with metal buckles rose up to black leather pants that’d been tucked inside them. The pants framed an impressive bulge, he couldn’t help noticing as his gaze traveled higher, past a black leather vest festooned with more chrome. There was nothing beneath the vest except creamy brown skin decorated with black tattoos. The tattoos capped a pair of bulging deltoids, over which the alpha’s thick black hair cascaded. In the midst of all that hair, Jack Henry found a craggy face with dark eyebrows arching lushly over even darker eyes and a strong chin dotted with stubble.

The stranger Jack Henry had surveyed without an ounce of modesty was surveying him back, one thick eyebrow cocked, his lips parted just enough to show teeth that were enticingly pointy.

“Pretty omega,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Jack Henry.”

“That’s a lot of name for such a little thing.”

“Not so little,” Jack Henry grumbled, though he loved the way this stranger made him feel little. The stranger wasn’t particularly tall or wide for an alpha. He was just big. He gave off an animal energy, as if he contained an actual wolf inside him like their ancestors used to. “What’s your name?”

“Jasper. Remember it so you can scream it later.” Jasper winked, acknowledging the cheesiness of the line, but Jack Henry’s dick went hard with a vivid and immediate image of doing exactly that. Jasper laughed as if he could smell it, and Jack Henry reached for himself reflexively. He didn’t need a race. He was ready to