Chapter Twenty-One
Propped on his elbow Alec studied her peaceful sleeping face. He loved to watch her like this. Not that he had much opportunity, most nights they fell into bed exhausted and he was asleep within minutes of making love to her, but tomorrow they had the morning off and he planned to sleep as late as he liked and lie in bed with her until lunchtime. Savouring the moment, his eyes lingered on her dark thick lashes as they cast a shadow on her cheek. He could see her slender naked arm and her softly rounded shoulder where it protruded from the quilt. Leaning forward he mouthed the ball of her shoulder revelling in the sensation of her silky skin against his tongue, her taste, and her scent. He felt the fierce primal pulse of possession the combination of their two scents always evoked.
It had been two months now of waking up next to Max two months of his baby growing inside her. He was slowly coming to believe that she was committed to them and that maybe she was coming to care for him. Everyday she would do or say something thing that made him feel even closer to her. Every night in their bed as she panted and moaned his name, he grew to love her more.
But he hadn't told her he just couldn't get past the ball of hesitation and fear that sat in his gut. He knew that despite her admitted attraction to him if it hadn't been for her heat he would never have had a chance with her. In his heart of hearts he believed that if it hadn't been for the virus she would be with Logan now.
He knew she was happy with him and he knew that a big part of that was how good they were together sexually. Sometimes he only had to look at her and she was on his lap eagerly tugging at his belt. It was the same for him she'd only have to smile at him and he wanted her. He loved that about them but he wanted more, he wanted her to love him like he loved her.
Everything was coming together the fighting units were well into training as were the infield support units, in fact the reason he had the morning off was a because the following day they would make their first move. They were starting small with a few hit and run type missions over the next month testing their training and setting themselves up for when they made their combined move. He had given all those directly involved half a day's leave and he was going to spend all of his in bed with Max.
Rolling onto his back he gently slid his arm under her. He smirked happily to himself as she instinctively moved into him and threw herself untidily across his body before wiggling herself into a comfortable position. Tidying her hair neatly off her cheek he stroked the palm of his hand gently down her arm. Smiling contentedly he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
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Its still early Max realized as she reluctantly opened her eyes. She wanted to sleep really late but her damn internal body clock had woken her up early anyway. A whole morning in bed with Alec she thought deliciously, nestling closer into the warmth of his body and smiling happily to herself. Who cares if she'd woken up early, more time to enjoy just being here together? She liked to lie awake like his listening to his breathing and feeling his chest rise under her ear. Her transgenic hearing amplified his heartbeat until it pulsed through her body and it seemed liked they had one heart.
These last two months her life had been better than she had ever imagined was possible. It wasn't just Alec. Being back with her own kind was almost as precious, she was once again part of something she had mourned as lost to her. Alec had been indirectly responsible for that too. It was his unit that had embraced her as their own and given her back that sense of belonging she hadn't had since the separation from her siblings. His Unit reminded her so much of her own and even though they didn't consider themselves siblings, but rather as part of the same pack, they had the same strong connections as her Unit. Maybe that was how her Unit would have evolved if they had stayed together. She still felt the familiar pain of regret whenever she thought about her siblings but it was duller now because she had the happiness and promise of her new life with Alec and it was helping to fill the void.
As precarious as their physical situation was in TC this was still the safest and most secure Max had ever felt. And she knew it was the most stable emotionally she'd ever been. She now had Alec who she could rely on if she needed to, who comforted her and who cared about her and who sometimes she thought, might even love her, it was an incredibly reassuring feeling, he had provided a shelter she hadn't even known existed. She was so grateful for the life she had found here in TC. She knew how fortunate she was to have finally found the sense of family she'd always sought. She'd never been in a relationship before never even had sex outside of her heat until Alec. At first she'd been really anxious and on edge, fearful that she would screw things up but that fear had lessened and she'd become more confidant as she'd realized how easy Alec was to please. Everyday she tried to give him back some of the happiness and contentment he'd given her. She thought she was succeeding he seemed happy with her and with the idea of the baby
She wanted to tell him how much she loved him. But she couldn't get the words out. She'd never told anybody she loved him before and was terrified that once she said it, once it was out there, this precious new thing that she had found would be snatched away. Sometimes the fear that nothing this good could really be hers to keep was overwhelming. She feared that one day she would just wake up and it would all be gone Alec, her baby, his Unit, TC all of it gone. And she would be back in her bleak sad little life. She knew it wasn't really rational but the fear was chillingly real. There was also the real threat that came from White and all the Ordinaries who wanted to kill them, and the fear and uncertainty of what would happen once they really started to fight back. Her dread of what would happen to this collection of people she now loved once the fighting started was sometimes immobilizing.
But she wasn't going to think about that now closing her eyes she consciously willed her thoughts into order. Uninterrupted time together was rare and she had promised herself that she wasn't going to cloud it with doubt and fear. She was just going to enjoy being together.
He moaned and moved restlessly but she could tell by his breathing and his heartbeat he was still asleep. Gently she moved her hand down and soothingly stroked his stomach. She liked that he slept so deeply when he was with her.
She felt the arm that had been slack around her as he slept move and suddenly a pair of warm arms were firmly wrapped around her and he was lifting her onto his body. Settling her hands flat on his chest she propped her chin on them as her eyes roamed his still sleepy face.
"Hmm, awake finally, huh. I thought you were probably going to sleep our whole morning away."
"What, as if you would have let me do that?" he laughed. He tucked a stray strand of her silky hair behind her ear his eyes warm and laughing as he returned her smile.
I love it when she smiles at me like this it makes me feel that there is only her and me and the rest of the world and their problems can go to hell.
Max felt his fingers gently exploring the delicate ridges of her spine and was hit with the heat of sheer longing, even his simplest of touches made her tremble with desire for him. She could feel the familiar hard planes of his body under hers his erection pressed between them.
"So?" she asked moving enticingly against him, "where've got hours before we have to get up. What would you like to do?"
Sliding his hands down her body he settled them over her ass and held her firmly on him as she undulated against him. She watched his eyes ignite with the heat of desire for her. His eyes are so hot and passionate, wild like Alec she mused gazing seductively at him from under hooded eyes. Alec his thoughts mirroring hers his gaze locked on her wild, sultry eyes moved suddenly and unceremoniously dumped her onto her back beside him.
"Dunno let me think about it?"
His large hand cupping her face he tilted it until their eyes met and she was lost in the green and gold depths of his. Bending his head his tongue was insistent as it parted her lips for the hot passion of his kiss. Max her hand cupping his jaw met his hungry mouth with her own urgent need. He kept kissing her long intoxicating drugging kisses that robbed her of conscious thought and left her boneless and quivering with want.
When he kissed her like this her whole world narrowed to the fire in her blood and Alec, his mouth his taste, his arms around her and his body pressed along the length of hers.
"How do you make me feel like this, Alec, like there's only you and me and nothing else matters" she whispered breathlessly into his mouth.
"It's a gift Max," he murmured, as he feathered little kisses along her jaw and down the length of her neck. Her face was flushed her eyes hazy and languid and all he wanted to do was kiss her some more.
Yeah, he does have a gift she thought thinking about the wonderful world of warmth and care he had created around her. "Mmm truly gifted," she breathed in satisfied agreement. Her eyes locked with his and he felt her hand on the side of his face gently stroking his cheek. He turned his lips into her hand and kissed her palm. It was the little things she did like that made making love with her so good. No one else ever touched him with her gentle tenderness it was one of the things that made her so special.
His eyes dropped from hers to her lips already plump and flushed from his kisses, pulling her close he dipped his head and plied her lips with his tongue her mouth opened eagerly under his and his tongue slid into its sweet heat.
A whole four hours of this Max thought blissfully her mouth still locked with his. Her hand on his stomach she urged him off her and onto his back. Tenderly she leaned forward and delicately sucked the hollow at the base of his throat revelling in his heady scent and the taste of his skin the fierce throb of his pulse as she sucked. Alec lay back against the pillow while her tongue busily and provocatively laved his skin.
He slid his hand to the curve of her waist and possessively over the flare of her hip as he pulled her flush against him. She nestled closer into him and he felt her shiver as his hands roamed her back and he gently bit the curve where her shoulder joined her neck.
Laying her on her back he brushed her untidy hair out of her face and slowly appreciatively her ran his eyes from her long supple legs to her narrow waist and softly flaring hips to her full creamy softly rounded breasts. He smiled at her already erect nipples.
She slowly perused his body with the same possessive appreciation.
"When do you think the baby will start to show?" His absorbed gaze intent on her stomach he curved his hand experimentally measuring across the still flat plain of her stomach"
"It already is," she replied huffily. " See?" she showed him by smoothing her own hand across the flat contours of her belly.
"Yes, I see now," he agreed solemnly, tying to curb his smile.
"Well you can't see very well because I'm lying down," she added petulantly in the face of his obvious disbelief. "But you can when I'm standing up my pants are definitely getting to tight."
Turning on her side she scooted backwards. "Feel now." She guided the hand he offered her across the tiny fullness of her belly. Alec settled his chin on her shoulder his eyes following his hand.
"Yeah I can feel it now, just slightly," he agreed, thinking things would have to start growing at a lot faster than this if the kid wasn't going to be a runt.
"I'm bigger here too," she said grumpily guiding his hand to her breast, "I'll bet you noticed that alright," she snorted.
"As a matter or fact I did notice that," he laughed, his mouth on her neck "but you've always had a great rack anyway Maxie." He rolled her back over onto her back and dipped his head. Max whimpered and then shivered in delight as she felt the rough pressure of his mouth sucking her nipple. "That feels so good," she whispered her hand stroking the back of his neck.
His hand cupping the soft full weight of her other breast he rolled her nipple between his fingers her soft husky moans sent a surge of painful intense desire straight to his groin. She let her gaze wander down to where his hand stroked the slight swell of her belly. Sucking in her breath with pleasure as he licked and teased her nipple with his teeth. Possessively she slid her hand over the hard muscled silken skin of his back.
She could feel his thigh as it nudged hers and her legs opened of their own volition. His warm hand slid along her inner thigh and she squirmed wantonly against him as he teasingly stoked her thigh. She gasped in pleasure when he finally slipped his hand between her legs sliding his fingers through the soft warm tangle of curls into the hot moist heat of her.
She felt so soft, hot and wet and he could feel her hips rising up to meet his touch as she withered frantically against his hand. Settling his mouth hungrily over hers he absorbed her incoherent murmurings as he stroked her. Pulling his head back he watched her mouth move in a soundless gasp of pleasure as he slid his finger inside her and her eyes fluttered open.
"Is it good Max?" he whispered, slipping another finger into her and stoking inside her. He watched her hazy languorous eyes open in riveting pleasure when he found her clit with his thumb. Her hips moved in instant response and he could feel his erection hard and insistent between his stomach and her hip. "Max?" he whispered his tongue in her ear.
It was difficult to speak when he was touching her like this his face so close to her his hot breath in her ear,
"Alec…yes, please?"
She was thrusting her hips mindlessly now. He felt her orgasm gripping her as she contracted around his fingers and gasped his name. He watched her enraptured face as she arched her back and flung her head back her body tense and the slow flush of heat blossoming on her creamy skin.
He held her in his arms her body still trembling in the aftershock of her pleasure. Her hair a wild tangle of silky softness against his chest and thought about how much he loved her.
Sliding her hand between their bodies Max closed her hand over his pulsing warm length and manoeuvred both of them so he was pressing urgently against her. She heard his low visceral grunt as he slid slowly into her. Just hearing that sound, knowing his pleasure was almost as good as feeling him pulsing inside her. She felt her body expand to accommodate him and she heard her own moan of satisfaction.
Wrapping her arms and legs around him she held him as he bent his head and kissed her. His lips were warm and insistent, his tongue moving, thrusting sensuously into her mouth, and blotting out everything other sensation. He began to move inside her long, slow, powerful thrusts as she gripped him with her inner muscles and tried to draw him deeper her legs tight around him as she arched to meet his every thrust.
"Yeah Max," he could feel her muscles massaging him as she slid her mouth out from under his and her tongue snaked frantically round his ear. Sliding his arms under her back he watched her eyes widen as he lifted her until she was sitting astride his lap. Max slid her hands up the warm firm contours of his back and hooked her hands over his shoulders and rubbed her breasts against his chest as he thrust up into her. She could feel his hands enclosing her waist as he held her steady for his thrusts. Her hands in his hair she pulled his head back her eyes intense as they caught his. She saw the tension in his absorbed face and heard him groan as he drove himself into her over and over again.
"Max," he growled deep in his throat.
"Yeah," she whispered, back her eyes still locked with his as she felt herself on the brink, just another stroke away. She heard herself scream his name as her orgasm gripped her and spasm after spasm of delicious pleasure hit her. He was still thrusting into her when her eyes refocused on his the wild intensity of his face. Fascinated she watched it build for him as he continued to thrust. Watched the sheen of sweat as it dewed on his forehead and watched his eyes as they darkened and hazed with pleasure. She felt his grip on her waist tighten as he lifted her up and then guided her back down as he thrust. His face was tight with concentration and his eyes unfocused when she heard his low guttural groan and felt the hot wet surge of him inside her.
She watched the tension leave his face as her eyes roamed its angular planes. Their eyes caught and held as he refocused on her and she smiled sweetly at him. I love you Alec. His breathing was still heavy and erratic as he cupped her face in his hands and pulled her head down. Covering her smile with his mouth he kissed her tenderly.
"No," she groaned into his mouth as they both heard the pounding on the door.
"Do you think it's Logan?" he whispered conspiratorially, watching her eyes start to widen before she remembered the impossibility of Logan in TC now.
He laughed as she huffily slapped his shoulder. Sitting in the middle of the bed with the sheet wrapped around her as she watched him hastily pull his jeans on, she was reminded of her heat and the times when it had been Logan at the door. Just the thought of Logan was distasteful to her now. Running her eyes possessively over barefooted-shirtless Alec as he paused in the doorway she once again thanked the powers that be for her heat.
"I'll just tell them to piss off Max."
She returned his smile as he closed the door.
"Stop banging I'm fucking coming," he called as he made his way across his living room. Bangs like fucking Logan he thought as he swung the door open if frustration.
"What the fuck is up with you Tav?" I've still got another two hours before I've got to be at headquarters. You better have a good reason for fucking well interrupting me."
"Yeah, sorry Alec but I need you now. We've got a mate fight with a fatality. The dead transgen is from Gray's Unit. The other guy's is Dale.
" I've got Thor's unit contained in the car park and Gray's is the quad but they'd already had a fucking good go at each other before I got there. So I've got med units with both of them as well," Tav trailed off apologetically.
"Fuck. Both these Units have men in the mission tomorrow." Disgusted Alec turned headed toward the bedroom, "Just give me a minute to get dressed?"
"Yeah, Alec that isn't the worst of it. They were fighting for Leah and she knows what's happened and is demanding to be heard.
"She's also from Thor's unit. How the fuck did she find out?" Alec demanded in disgust. Could this get any worse? What a screw up.
"I dunno, Alec, maybe because we're all living so much on top of each other here. There's nowhere for the guys to go anymore. How are we supposed to keep it private?" he asked defensively.
"She's demanding to see Max."
"What the fuck do you mean she's demanding to see Max?" Alec ground out.
"She's demanding to see Max. As is her right." Its not my fault, Alec, I've done nothing but try and calm all parties." Surreptitiously he shoved his broken right hand into his jacket pocket.
Alec eyed his fat lip and his bruised face.
"Yeah, well Thor and Gray wouldn't break when I ordered them to. Thor wanted to keep on pounding Grey, the fucking asshole. I had to dissuade him. You would have done the same," Tav mumbled defensively.
"Max knows nothing about this sort of stuff. I'm not bringing her. Go and get Kat."
"She's demanding to see alpha female, Alec, that isn't Kat anymore. Kat won't come, it's insulting to Max, and Leah will also be insulted. It's a bad plan Alec less than a 1% chance of pleasing anybody you're the one that taught me…" he trailed off as he caught sight of Alec's furious face.
"Tell Steve and Kat to meet me in the car park Tav." Alec ordered.
"Okay, okay but don't say I didn't warn you," Tav mumbled, as he headed for the door.
"Alec?"
Alec swung around to face him.
"I work with Max and Kat everyday, and I see what goes on. Max does good work and the women respect her. She is alpha to them, they won't like you interfering in this. No matter what you decide I'm always gonna have your back, but this is a mistake." His face serious his cocky grin absent he shrugged and closed the door quietly after him.
"What was that all about?" Max asked from the doorway of the bedroom. "Oh no, you've got to go in early don't you?" she guessed when she saw his tense preoccupied face.
"Yeah, I do Max I'm sorry," he murmured, kissing her ear. His hands on her ass he lifted her up his body. Max locked her legs around his back and buried her face in his neck.
"It's not fair," she moaned, petulantly into his ear.
"I know it isn't Max, but I'm probably only gonna be a couple of hours, so how about you wait for me and when I'm finished we'll have the rest of the afternoon to ourselves."
"The rest of the afternoon," she repeated incredulously, pulling back to look at him. He never took time off. "What's up Alec?"
Two months ago not only would she not have cared less about spending time with him her eyes would have been suspicious and her tone of voice distrustful and cold. Now her eyes were trusting and her voice was warm when she talked to him. He didn't want to do anything to jeopardise that. She was still barely in touch with her own instincts. How would she be able to understand his when he barely did himself? He didn't want her involved in this. He'd sort it out on his own or with Kat, like he always had.
"Nothings up Maxi. If I've got to go in early then I'm going to come home early." Lowering her onto the bed he leant over her and kissed her quickly. "Wait here for me until I get back, huh?"
"Okay." Dragging his head back down she slid her tongue between his lips and kissed him with sweet aching thoroughness.
Yeah, its better she's not involved. Its better like this he told himself as he stood up. Give her time to get back in touch with her own instincts before he tried to explain his.
He could feel her watching him as he quickly pulled the rest of his clothes on. "So you are waiting here then Max?"
"Yeah." She smiling happily at him, "Hurry back"
"Yeah," he agreed, his head already on the mess that awaited him in the car park.
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":I'm not going Steve. Not without Max. It's not right and I'm not doing it.'
"Someone female has to come with us," Tav added unhelpfully earning him a glare from Kat.
"Well I'm just saying," he added defensively.
"Then Alec should have thought of that."
"He's right Kat. We can't do it on our own. It's not right." Steve tried again. "Just come and see what she wants? If you think Max needs to be called then I'll make Alec do it."
"I know what she wants Steve, and Max will have to be involved. If Alec thinks he can keep this from her he's in fairyland. Why the fuck would he want to anyway? She's mated with a transgenic male, she'll deal, just the way we've all had to," Kat finished, her eyes pinning Steve.
He shifted uncomfortably and his eyes slid off hers.
"What would you do, if it was you and you were being asked to go in over Alec's head?"
"Yeah, okay Kat I get your point. I'll tell him your not coming." Steve sighed.
"I tried to tell Alec you wouldn't do it." Tav chipped in. This time it earned him a death glare from Steve. Rolling his eyes and winking at an irritated Kat Tav followed a morose Steve as they headed towards the car park.
"Fuck!"
"Yeah," Tav agreed as they neared the milling chaos of transgenic males clogging the car park and spilling out the entrance.
Fuck it feels like they're ready to explode Tav thought as he and Steve started to shoulder their way through. The sheer press of bodies made their progress slow. Every male in TC must be here and looking to fight. Male after male turned aggressively on them as they pushed their way through.
"Fuck,"
"Yeah," The sound of fighting reached Tav at the same time as it did Steve.
"It's in the back I'll deal with it." wheeling, Steve slammed his elbow into the chest of the X blocking his way. Shouting harshly for the rest to "move," he powered his way back through the rapidly separating males.
Too bad this lot can't see me coming as well Tav thought, snarling into the face of the next aggressive X that turned on him as he continued to push his way to the front.
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"Hey Kat, don't tell me Steve got called back in early too?" Max asked, as she opened the door.
"So is something up?" Curious she sat down opposite Kat.
"Yeah there is. Alec is going to need our help but there's some stuff I need to tell you first."
"Shoot," Max returned curiously.
"There's been a mate fight with a killing."
"A what?
"A mate fight Max. Transgenic males fight for mates if they want the same female. Sometimes they kill each other. Usually they do it in private and we never get to find out about it. Even the women who are being fought over don't know."
"There has just been a fight and the woman they were fighting over has found out and is demanding to be heard. This is only the second time ever, that a mate fight has come to the attention of females. It's a big deal Max and we need to be there with that female. Every female in TC will want a say in this. We've all lost Unit members and some of us potential mates to mate fighting. I nearly lost Steve before I even knew he wanted to mate with me."
Schooling her shock trying to get her head around what Kat was telling her Max waited for her to go on.
"Steve was getting ready to fight his fifth mate fight for me. I was hot," she joked trying to eject some lightness. "I didn't know about the fight, in fact I didn't even know Steve wanted to mate with me."
"He was still injured from a previous fight and Tav was worried he couldn't handle this challenger. So he told me what was going on. He didn't tell me much. Just that if I wanted to stop the fight all I had to do was choose Steve as my mate. So I did. Rolling her eyes she added, "even though I had absolutely no idea that he wanted me"
"Tav only told me as much as I needed to know to stop the fight because he knew Steve wouldn't have survived another one with shattered ribs. If he'd been hit again he was risking his ribs puncturing his internal organs."
"Transgenic males are not good at making their intentions known, so females can be completely in the dark as to who their suitors are. Just like I was. But the males always know who has interest in any female they want their territorial instincts tell them if there is a challenge. So they fight amongst themselves to repel the challenge.
"Wait Kat do the woman go along with this?" Max asked incredulously.
"No, that's my point we don't know about it. Once a male decides on a female their territorial instincts are so strong that they cannot tolerate other males having an interest so they fight. All they are fighting to do is keep other males away from their choice, we still choose for ourselves."
"Why did Manticore tolerate it? Why didn't they just throw them into the hole when they saw they had been fighting?"
"If they caught them they did, but injuries weren't uncommon in training and the guys when they fight go for the body not the face and tissue damage repairs itself on us really quickly. Plus Manticore encouraged a certain amount of aggression anyway, they thought it was healthy so they weren't to bothered."
"It only became a problem once we got a bit older and the number of fatalities from fighting started to piss them off. They tried to control it in their usual way with punishment," Kat shrugged. Punishment was absolutely useless in the face of instinct and made no impact whatsoever."
"We all knew the fighting was getting bad and a few women suspected why, but most like me didn't have a clue. Tav speaking to save Steve was the first time any male had broken silence. Nobody else beside you and me know Tav did and it is better for him that nobody else finds out." Max nodded absently in agreement as she processed what Kat had told her.
"I already knew that Steve had fought for me before because he was still injured from the last fight. I pestered and badgered Tav but he wouldn't give me any more information. However his reluctance to tell me anything made me realize that Steve had fought more than the once. The number of times I figured out by working back to the number of times he had been injured. Other women started to do the same and we figured out what had been going on."
"We were still in our teens and new to mating and we didn't really understand our own instincts very well let alone the male instincts. The females in our Unit went to Alec and demanded he stop it." Kat rolled her eyes. "Alec must have thought we were all idiots at the time." She shook her head sadly. "Anyway he told us he couldn't stop mate fights because the territorial instincts that caused them were outside the control of each individual male.He told us he couldn't control his own let alone every other male in Manticore."
"We wouldn't accept that and we harassed Alec and other women pressured their Unit leaders and finally Alec agreed in discussion with other Unit leaders to make it punishable by death to kill during a mate fight. We weren't pleased as we wanted him to ban the whole practise, but by then we understood it was not going to happen, so at the time women accepted it."
"How could Alec control something the Manticore brass couldn't control?" Max asked doubtfully.
"Alec didn't have control over us like Manticore did. He had it because our instincts demand we follow an alpha male. He had more power because we follow him by choice. Whereas whatever control Manticore exercised was by virtue of force."
"If there is a female involved Kat then we need to be there? Why the hell didn't Alec tell me any of this?" Max asked puzzled. "Have they gone off to execute this male?" Is that why he didn't tell me what's going on?"
"No. Even if Alec wanted to he couldn't do that, Max." Kat answered patiently, as she watched Max dress.
"No male in TC would stand for it. That rule was only made to appease us. Despite the rule the mate fights continued on unimpeded and so did the deaths. This is only a problem for them now because once again a female has discovered what is happening. This time the problem is bigger because the male killed was the woman's choice as mate."
"Are you ready then?" We need to get over there and see what is happening." Impatiently Max pulled her jacket on.
"There's still some other stuff I need to tell you Max."
"Tell me on the way over there then."
"Yeah, okay Kat agreed reluctantly.
"When we asked for mate fights to be banned the majority of us were still not mated. Although the males were fighting for us they were still young and for the most part were slow in coming forward, even though in their minds they had won the right. Now we're older and a lot of us are mated, we understand their territorial instinct a lot better and we know that they can't help it."
Max grimaced is disbelief. "You've got to be kidding Kat. You're telling me that adult males can't control their impulse to fight and kill each other. You're saying that if another transgenic male had shown an interest in me before we mated Alec would have fought and possibly killed him. I don't believe that Kat."
"If you are ever going to understand Alec at all Max you better believe it. If another transgenic had shown interest in you, without a doubt Alec would have fought for you. If Logan had been able to touch you Alec would also have dealt with that problem a long time ago. He is extremely territorial. Every one of us in his unit has stories we could tell you of Alec protecting us. He does that because in his mind we belong to him we're his pack. That is the way of it. He like the other males can't control it. It's primal and it controls them."
"Transgenic males are all the same they just have different faces so we can tell them apart. Their instincts for the most part control their behaviour and the territorial instinct is common to all. They cannot control the compulsion to protect what they consider is theirs. It's programmed into their DNA."
"You have to believe and understand that before we get their Max, otherwise we're going to be more of a hindrance than a help. The male that killed here today and the male he killed were fighting because they both wanted the same woman and both were to possessive to tolerate the other in contact with her."
"She has asked to see you becau… What the fuck," they both heard the sound of fighting at the same time. They weren't close enough to the car park for a visual but the noise was unmistakable.
"That smell Kat..."
"Yeah, testosterone. This isn't good. It means that things are start…"
"Fuck.
"Fuck," Kat agreed as they rounded the corner. "The fighting is only out here so far," Kat said urgently. "These are all younger males not strong enough to push there way to the front. If the older males had started fighting the smell would be much stronger and they'd be more noise. But it means we won't be able to get through either."
"Of course we can get through Kat," Max returned impatiently.
"No Max they won't let us through. They'll just block us out. All these guys out here who couldn't get in are twice our size. There are no women in there and we don't want to be either. It's too dangerous. If it all turns to shit and they start fighting we don't want to be trapped in the middle without our own unit around us.
"Silence."
Even with their transgenic hearing they only just heard it.
"Silence." It was clearer and louder this time as the din started to die down.
"All of you who are fighting in the back report to me now. Tanner's unit make your way to the back and bring them forward. The rest of you let them through." Alec's hard flat voice had the desired affect. Max watched the fighting slowly trail off.
"We can go forward with them Kat," Max said, as Tanner and some of his Unit emerged from the car park.
"He won't take us. He's only been ordered to bring this lot through." Kat gestured with her head toward the large group of young males Tanners unit had assembled.
"We'll just follow him then Max replied indifferently," moving into line behind the young X's.
Tanner blocked their path. "Stay with them until I get orders," he told the two males with him. "Its best you and Kat wait out here for now Max."
Glancing around Tanner's body Max watched the crowd part as his unit and the group of young males started to make their way through.
Alec's voice came again loud and clear. "There has been a challenge for alpha. We'll fight it now," he announced flatly."
"Fuck, our first strike is tomorrow and that stupid bastard picks now to challenge for alpha," Tanner spat in disgust. Gesturing for Max and Kat to walk he followed them into the car park.
At least he's taking us forward Max thought in bewilderment "Who's Alec going to fight Kat?"
"Thor," Kat replied with loathing.
TBC
Thanks to those of you reviewing and egging me on. I'm sorry that I am posting this slowly. The chapters are written but to post them here I have to put them into another format and that is why it's slow. Please keep reviewing it reminds me to post.
The story is up to chapter 31 at Agora if you want to read there here is the address.