call came for the alphas to take their places. They lined up behind the omegas, packed-in because there were five or six alphas for every omega. Jasper didn’t bother trying to push his way to the front. An extra foot or two wasn’t going to win this race. Determination and the willingness to do whatever it took would. He drifted into the back row where he could keep an eye on the crowd. Where he could keep an eye on three alphas in particular.
There was Lon. A burly guy—over-pumped and under-brained. Then there was Elias. Jasper didn’t need to have him pointed out. He could smell Jack Henry on him. Whether there was a promise there or not, the two of them had spent enough time in each other’s company for a scent transfer to have taken place. But Elias was small and wiry, neatly dressed in khakis and a button down with his short brown hair carefully styled, as if he were attending a school dance rather than a heat race. Jasper couldn’t consider him serious competition.
A third alpha had his eye on Jasper’s pretty omega. Jasper didn’t know his name, but he knew his type. Handsome, athletic, nice. Kissed his momma goodnight, helped old ladies cross the street, mowed the neighbor’s lawn. A goody-goody blond with muscles as big as Lon’s but without the telltale slack jaw that spoke of an empty head floating on top of those muscles.
Jack Henry might go for an alpha like that. So might Jasper, truth be told, because he recognized a bottom when he saw one. He’d wiled away more than one night making a big alpha weep like a little omega, making him admit he liked getting it as much as he liked giving it. Blondie might think he wanted to claim an omega, but unless Jasper missed his guess, he’d be longing for something more down the road.
Jasper scuffed his boots through the dirt beneath his feet, more out of restlessness than because he intended to jump when the gun went off. His plan was to hang back, to watch where his opponents went, then track them as much as he tracked Jack Henry. Why run around aimlessly when he could let someone lead him to his prey? Once he had Jack Henry in sight, he would eliminate his opponents, claim his prize, and be balls-deep in Jack Henry’s sweet ass before the moon finished rising.
“Omegas on the ready,” the race director called. “You’ll have a fifteen minute head start. Make good use of it.” The crack of the starter pistol broke the silence, and the line of omegas jumped. Half of them jumped straight up in the air, making Jasper smirk. Those were the ones who’d get caught first.
Some of the omegas dawdled their way over to what was obviously a planned rendezvous spot, but Jack Henry wasn’t one of them. He dashed straight for the woods, disappearing quickly into the darkening depths. His scent grew thinner on the air until Jasper couldn’t pick it out anymore. Fifteen minutes was a good head start if you ran like hell, and Jack Henry had had the sense to run like hell.
Jasper grinned, pleased with his omega’s wiliness. Jack Henry was worthy of him. Now to prove he was worthy of Jack Henry.
ELIAS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the gun went off, Elias jumped straight into the air, even though it’d been a signal for the omegas, not for him. Off the omegas went, Jack Henry with them. Elias still had fifteen minutes to wait for his own turn. He should use the time to figure out what he was going to do, since he still didn’t know, but instead he used it to try to talk himself out of overreacting the next time the gun went off.
It didn’t work. The gun sounded for the alphas to follow, and Elias shot up so high he almost sprained an ankle when he landed. It would’ve been a relief if he had because a sprained ankle would’ve answered the question of what to do. Nothing.
Nothing was probably what he ought to do anyway. Jack Henry didn’t want him. That was painfully obvious. Because if he did, Elias would be sauntering over to claim him right now, the way Beauregard was sauntering over to claim Ashton. Ashton greeted his alpha with a hug, and the two of them collected their picnic things and ambled off together. Meanwhile, Elias was still standing on the starting line, jealous and conflicted.
He couldn’t