Heat Race - Tanya Chris Page 0,32

of alphas—big and angry, but not too bright. None of that was true except the big part. He wasn’t as smart as Elias, but he wasn’t as stupid as people took him for either, and when it came to territorial aggression, it seemed Elias outstripped him there too.

That near-confrontation in Jack Henry’s driveway had exploded out of nowhere. A single dictatorial command from Jasper, and the hairs had stood right up on the back of Saul’s neck, as if he really had been born to be a killer. He didn’t like the feeling much. To fuck Jack Henry and comfort him if he needed comfort—those were alpha duties he eagerly anticipated taking on. But to boss him around or fight other alphas for him? Not so much.

Fortunately, he’d been able to swallow back his instinctive aggression. Jasper had responded by backing down too, making Elias the last to put his claws away. Even now, he radiated so much tension it had Saul on edge.

“So this is weird, huh?” He hoped to break the ice, or at least get to know more about his new packmate than flipping through cassette tapes could teach him.

“You can say that again. I thought I’d be okay with it, but…”

“I know. Instincts run deep. Still, for Jack Henry’s sake, we’ll be able to manage, right?”

Elias glanced in his direction before returning his eyes to the road. “Seems to come more easily to you.”

Had that been a jab? Saul’s hackles went up again, but he smoothed them back down. He wasn’t looking to start a fight.

Elias had picked up on his reaction. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I was just surprised you’d want to, uh…”

“You can say it.” If Saul was going to do it, Elias would have to be able to say it. “To get fucked.”

“I’m not judging. I’m just not into it myself. Maybe if I was, all this would be easier.”

“I’m not sure wanting to get fucked is making this any easier.” His unusual desires were just another thing to be conflicted about, another reason his inner alpha felt challenged.

“Yeah, all right. None of us are going to have an easy time of it, least of all Jack Henry. I doubt he has any idea what he’s getting into.”

“Why, what’s he getting into? Other than the obvious.” Saul chose a tape to play, one filled with heavy metal ballads. It didn’t exactly match the idea he had of Elias as a lightweight romantic, but maybe it was Saul who was the lightweight romantic.

“It’s hard to separate legend from reality,” Elias said as melodramatic chords filled the car, “but back in the day when uber-alphas were running around forming new packs, they did it by claiming an uber-omega. One who could, you know, get pregnant.”

Saul fumbled the plastic case he’d been returning to the glovebox. “Pregnant?”

“That was how our ancestors reproduced—uber-alphas got uber-omegas pregnant. They didn’t use the term uber-omega back then, because all omegas could do it, but as our ancestors became more human, they lost the ability to reproduce along with the ability to shift. But if uber-alphas still exist, then maybe uber-omegas do too.”

“You’re saying Jack Henry might be able to have children?”

“It’s far more likely that he can’t, but once people hear about our new pack, they might expect him to. They’re going to want the whole legend—a new generation of wolves, a resurgence of our animal nature.”

Wow. That seemed like a lot of responsibility for Jack Henry to shoulder. For all of them to shoulder. Saul had never had any aspirations beyond being happy, and even those had been doubtful. Now he was part of a pack that might bring back their lost heritage?

“Would you have married a woman?” Elias asked. “If you hadn’t gotten an omega?”

“Probably.” He’d wanted Jack Henry. A lot. Enough to sacrifice siring children of his own. But he’d been realistic enough to know he might not get him, and the compensation for losing Jack Henry would’ve been the chance to have children. Plus women had a certain allure. They didn’t tempt him as intrinsically as omegas did—as Jack Henry did in particular—but he could’ve found one to love.

“How about you?” he asked Elias in return.

“Doubtful. There’s just something about omegas. I don’t have the same feeling for women. And Jack Henry is…” Elias shook his head.

“Important to you, I know.”

Elias acknowledged that with a grim nod.

“We’re going to make this work,” Saul promised. “And we’ll shield Jack Henry from whatever weird