Irregular (mlm)

Chapter 19

Kai had his teeth buried in the neck of one of the wolves when he heard the gunshots. All three of the wolves tried to attack Kai at once, which made Alec and Owen stop shooting, but he was vaguely aware of a bat smacking one of the attackers square on the snout and making him back off.

Then, another wolf, Alec, joined the tornado of furry limbs and sharp teeth. He managed to single out the other wolf, leaving Kai one on one with the biggest.

Owen was helping the girl with the bat, even as she shifted and clawed the other wolf in the shoulder.

But Kai needed to focus. This wolf he was fighting wasn't normal. This was one of the other experiments his father conducted—taking real, wild wolves and playing with their dna through drugs and experiments to make them weapons. They would obey a handler, for the most part, and they didn't respond to pain. He thought his fathers trials had failed, but apparently he'd been busy since his escape.

Kai got bit on the leg and he yelped. An injury to his leg wouldn't help him protect the others. They were scratching and biting and blood was everywhere, but they didn't slow down. Kai was strong, but this thing was on some mix of drugs that made it completely feral. He'd have to kill it to make it stop fighting. Kai hated that.

He hated it, but he needed to kill this thing so he could protect Owen from the werewolves who were attacking them. He could hear a gunshot somewhere, but he didn't know who had fired and who was shot. That sent panic spiking down into his stomach. Was it Owen? Did one of his fathers wolves get a hold of the gun and shoot him?

Finally, the wolf made the mistake of baring its head to the side to try and avoid a swipe of Kai's claws, which gave him an opening. He pounced forward and caught the wolves spine between his teeth, breaking it with a powerful bite. The thing was dead before it hit the ground.

Kai whipped his head to the side to see where Owen was and what he needed to do to protect him, but to his surprise the other two wolves were already down.

Owen had his gun pointed at one of their heads, a bullet hole directly in the temple. Alec was sitting in human form, trying to push the unconscious body of the other werewolf off his legs.

Everything else went by in a blur. Owen was holding his hand tightly as he talked to Paxton and the other police officers of the pack, and they were writing things down and taking photos of the scene. Someone gave him something to eat at some point, and he barely even tasted it. He only ate it because he knew Owen would worry if he didn't.

Kai just kept looked at Owen as he talked. He didn't appear shaken by anything that happened, even though he had a cut on his jaw and some bruises. He spoke fine and clear, like this was nothing out of the ordinary. Kai supposed he dealt with worse in his years as part of the pack police force.

He really could take care of himself. Kai didn't know why it took him so long to see that. He was so used to the people around him being the bullies or the bullied, he hadn't even considered there could be a third option. The one who fights back.

Finally, when everything was taken care of, and Paxton had finished scolding Owen and Alec for going out without additional guards, they headed back to the apartment. Kai had shifted and was pressed against Owens leg as the walked, the cool night air ruffling his fur.

Alec had gone home and been replaced by three other wolves, who Kai guessed were Owens friends by the way they spoke to each other. They were laughing and joking around like nothing happened. Kai listened to them, thing slowly falling into place in his head.

He wanted to spend the rest of his life with someone who could laugh after having their ass kicked. Someone who could smile through tough times and make others smiles too.

He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Owen.

*****

When they got home, Owen let Kai shower first. His fur was caked in blood and he was tracking mud into the house. He stayed in wolf form as Owen scrubbed him down, tail wagging slowly in content. It thumped against the sides of the tub, since it was barely big enough to fit in enormous body.

Owen smiled at him, even when he wasn't looking. He looked cute when he was all wet and his fur was sticking up in every direction.

Once he was clean, he towel dried him and told him to sit in front of the heater vent while he took his own shower. The last thing he wanted was for Kai to get sick from the winter weather that was rolling in.

He took his time showering, making sure to scrub all the grime from under his nails and the blood from his hair. The fight had been hard, but nothing he couldn't handle. He'd taken on wolves in his human form many times while training, and he was fully capable of beating them.

The warm water felt good on his sore muscles, thought it hurt to brush over the forming bruises with his loofa. At least he was able to heal quickly due to his wolf lineage.

After his shower, he blow dried his hair, which didn't take long at all because of how short it was. He didn't bother grabbing clothes before his shower, so he walked into the bedroom with a towel around his waist. He and Kai has gotten comfortable being in various states of dress around each other.

He was surprised, though, when he found Kai sitting on the edge of the bed with nothing other than a new, clean pair of boxers on. Usually Kai slept in long pajama pants because his legs got cold.

"Are you okay?"

Owen nodded and opened a drawer to the dresser. "That was nothing. Don't worry, I didn't get hurt. Just a few scrapes and bruises."

Kai nodded wordlessly. Owen glanced at him. He was looking at his hands like he didn't really see them, like he was deep in thought. Owen set the pair of sweatpants he'd been holding down and tilted his chin up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong." Kai met his eyes and Owen found they were even brighter than normal. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"I want to mate you."

He said it so casually Owen thought he may have heard wrong at first. But the calm expression in his eyes and the fact he was waiting for Owen to respond said he was being serious.

Owen tried not to let his excitement show too much. He needed Kai to be 100% sure before they did this. He wanted to, god he wanted to, but he knew of Kai's concerns and he doubted they had all just gone away.

"Are you sure?" Owen held his face in his hands, trying not to think about how warm Kai's skin was as he gently held onto his waist. "This is something you can't back out of. It's for life."

"I know." Kai smiled a little. "I realized today that you are more than capable of handling yourself. That was my biggest worry. And, if worst comes to worst, I want you with me when we face my father. Not as my friend, but as my mate. And I want to spend my life with you. I want to be connected to you the way we are fated."

Owen felt his heart hammering so hard in his chest he thought it would burst out and run away. He burst into a grin, unable to hold it any longer. "Do you have any idea how long I have wanted you to tell me that?"

Kai smiled back, pulling him closer. "Mate with me, Owen. Make me yours."