Crash, page 2
Axel’s stomach clenched, and he shoved his hands into his pockets. When his dad came home and found her like that, he wouldn’t be happy. He never was – and they’d get into another fight. Hopefully, it’d be over before the alpha scion got home from school. If not, Axel would stay at Ben’s until the two alphas finished the worst of it. No point interrupting his parents in the middle of an argument. That never went over well.
The door creaked open and Daniel stepped onto the worn wooden porch, the paint gray and peeling. He was older than both Axel and Ben by three years, and he’d just started his second year of high school. Every time Axel saw him, Daniel seemed to grow another inch. Would he be taller than Cross senior or Magnus? They wouldn’t like that. Not when Daniel was just a mid-ranked wolf in their overcrowded pack.
“Hey. What’re you doing out here?” Daniel asked as he trotted down the porch. High school started earlier than middle school. Axel thought school already started early enough.
“Waiting for Ben,” Axel said and stood up straight.
Daniel chuckled. “He’s eating breakfast. Go in and sit with him. Ma won’t mind.”
Axel nodded and watched Daniel head down the street, his strong back straight and proud. Good thing Cross senior wasn’t around to see that.
Slowly, the young wolf walked up to the door and knocked. It’s not like he hadn’t been going over to the Singer’s home since he was old enough to walk. Ben’s mom used to babysit him before she went back to work, but he hadn’t understood his place in the pack then.
Or Ben’s place – the omega.
“Axel! Come in, sweetheart,” Mrs. Singer said and opened the door wide. Her dark hair was the same color as Ben’s, only streaked with gray. She always had it pulled back into a ponytail with little tendrils falling around her face. It gave her a permanently harassed look, even if she didn’t act it. She wore her nurse scrubs and the lines below her eyes were dark and hollow.
Axel followed her into the kitchen, which smelled of eggs and off-brand instant waffles.
Ben sat at the kitchen table with a large plate of food in front of him, but he read a book instead of eating. Typical. He was wearing some of Daniel’s hand-me-downs, and they were much too large for the omega’s slender frame. Axel wasn’t that tall either – yet. At least he was stronger than his runt of a best friend.
“Hey,” Axel said and slouched in the chair next to the smaller wolf.
Ben’s bright blue eyes lit up, and he smiled. “Hey yourself. How long did you wait out there this morning?”
Axel stole a waffle and glowered at the omega. “I don’t have a watch.”
“Twenty minutes? You can just knock on the front door, you know.”
“You’re welcome here anytime, sweetheart,” Mrs. Singer said as she shuffled around the kitchen making Axel a plate. How’d she know all he had for breakfast was a couple of cold Pop-Tarts? Mother’s intuition? His ma sure didn’t have that shit.
Mrs. Singer set the plate in front of Axel and kissed them both on the forehead. Ben shoed her away with a grin.
“I love you. I’ll be late tonight. Got another fourteen-hour shift. Daniel knows what to do with dinner, but if he forgets the directions are on the fridge.”
“We can handle it,” Ben said as she hurried out the door.
Axel dipped his waffle in the syrup. “What’s for dinner?”
“Meatloaf and frozen peas. You wanna stay over?”
It was better than nothing, which is what they had in the fridge at the moment. Maybe his ma would go shopping today while he was at school. No. That was unlikely. If anything, Magnus would get fed up and bring them food.
His ma spent all her money on pills and booze while Cross senior ‘invested’ whatever was left (at least that’s what he said). Axel’s parents might be the alphas of the West Side pack, but they couldn’t even take care of their own kid.
“Yeah. Sure.”
Ben nodded and kicked his feet under the table. It’s a habit the omega had since they were kids. “Did you finish that history homework?”
Axel took several slow bites of egg and waffle before he answered. “No. What’s the point? Grades in middle school don’t matter anyway. We’ll still get into high school even if we totally fail.”
The omega stopped kicking and stared at Axel. He got that look in his eyes when the taller wolf said something stupid, and Axel scowled at him.
“Yeah, but what about college or something?”
Axel snorted. “I’m not going to college and you know it. Even if you do, it won’t change anything. You’re an omega, and you’ll always be an omega.”
Ben didn’t flinch and he didn’t look at his feet and sigh, the way Missy did. Some omega! “Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean I can’t go to college.”
“To do what?”
The smaller wolf downed the rest of his orange juice and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “Uh, get a job. I might be an omega, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to work for a living. My mom went to college, you know.”
Axel shoveled the rest of his breakfast into his mouth and frowned as he chewed. “Well mine didn’t. Plus, I’m just going to follow in my dad’s footsteps anyway. I’ll be alpha of the pack and work with the teamsters or something.”
“If that’s what you want,” Ben said slowly.
Axel narrowed his eyes. “That’s bullshit and you know it. It doesn’t matter what I want – I’ll probably be alpha someday. Plus, we’re only thirteen. Why the hell are you thinking about college?”
Ben shrugged and gathered their empty plates. At least he had a couple omega traits. “Why not? My mom said it’s never too early to think about the future. Don’t you like drawing? You could be an artist alpha or something. That’s not against the rules.”
The last time Cross senior caught Axel drawing it hadn’t gone over well. And his ma just thought it was a joke. “That’s not gonna happen, Ben.”
The omega smoothed his hands over his T-shirt, which looked ridiculous tucked in to his pants, but he liked it that way. Anything Axel said would just further Ben’s resolve. “Fine. But I’m going to get out of here one day.”
Axel’s stomach turned, and he gripped Ben’s arm as the smaller wolf pulled on his coat. “What? Like forever?”
Ben nodded. “Yeah. No offense to your dad, but I’m not going to be stuck in this city my whole damn life! We could go together. Hey, we’ll save up for a car through high school by working part time, like Daniel. Then we’ll get the hell out when we’re old enough! Do you think eighteen is old enough?”
Axel stared at his best friend and willed his hand to loosen its grip on the other boy’s arm. Ben was going to leave someday, and he was offering Axel a way out with him. But what about the pack? And his responsibilities to his family? Dad would kill him – or Magnus would, one or the other.
The taller boy swallowed and shook his head. If Ben shot off his mouth like that in front of Cross senior, the alpha wolf would teach the omega a lesson. A painful lesson.
Axel said the only thing he could. “Don’t say shit like that. You’re stuck here, just like the rest of us.”
“Who says?” Ben countered and stood on his toes so they’d be eye to eye.
“Your alpha!”
A grin crept over the smaller wolf’s lips. “You’re my alpha? Who says?”
“I do. Now get your ass outside. And never talk about leaving again. I won’t let you.”
Ben laughed, like he didn’t believe a word Axel said.
The taller boy chewed on his bottom lip and frowned. The omega didn’t get it – Axel meant every word. He wouldn’t let his best friend abandon him like that. No way in hell.
3
Now
Axel Cross leaned against Ben’s silver subcompact, a cigarette dangling from his split lip. A puffy bruise marred his left cheek.
At least the split was on the opposite side of Axel’s mouth from the lip ring, Ben thought dumbly as he carried his last bag to the car.
He’d already said goodbye to his mom and dad – they both left for work about thirty minutes before. The other wolf’s presence was, to say the least, unexpected.
“Came to give me a goodbye kiss after all?” Ben asked as he stepped up. Hopefully, Axel’s farewell wouldn’t include a punch to the gut – those were the worst.
The pale outline of the sunrise lit up the eastern sky just enough that Axel’s hair and eyes shone – like spots of flame in the darkness. “Not quite.”
That was just about the most the taller wolf had said to Ben in several years, besides their conversation the night before. “Look. Magnus kicked me out. I don’t have a choice and neither do you. I thought you’d be happy about it. No more annoying omega to–”
“Shut up,” Axel growled, and Ben snapped his mouth closed.
In most cases, Ben would ignore the other wolf and keep going, but the look on Axel’s face turned the smaller wolf’s flesh to ice. The bastard was serious.
In the omega’s completely ridiculous fantasies about this moment, Axel would take him in a strong hug and they’d make out on the hood of the car. The heat of their bodies pressed together would light a fire under the omega’s skin, and the sounds the taller wolf made would send a shiver of desire to Ben’s groin. Then Ben would kiss his way down Axel’s finely muscled chest to the prize bulging between his thighs, but that was worse than unlikely.
It was fucking impossible.
Axel took another slow drag and the smoke curled around his lips like mist in the early morning air. Then he flicked the cigarette onto the street and bent down, hefting a backpack over his shoulder. A duffle bag sat by his feet. “I’m coming with you.”
Ben’s heart stood still in his chest. “Wait. What? Why? Did Magnus order you to take me to Baton Rouge? I can drive on my own. I’m a big boy now.”
The taller wolf rolled his eyes and opened the car door. Ben hadn’t even unlocked it yet – the bastard.
“You think I do what Magnus orders? No. Now get the fuck in the car and drive, Ben. Now!”
Ben. Axel hadn’t called him that in years.
The omega stared. He knew the other wolf’s tone of voice. Every inflection meant something; usually that someone was going to get hurt. A different emotion lay buried beneath the anger and command, but the smaller wolf couldn’t figure out what it was. In the last six years, the taller wolf hadn’t been anything but angry.
Axel climbed in the passenger seat after he tossed his bags in the back, on top of a couple of taped-up boxes. Ben glanced at the dark house next door. Magnus and Mrs. Cross still lived there, and Axel dropped by to stay now and then. But from the sounds of the fights they had, it never went over well.
Ben didn’t know where Axel lived the rest of the time. If the omega tried to find out, he would’ve felt too much like a stalker.
How the hell had the smaller wolf’s plans fallen apart in just a few short minutes? Ben was supposed to get out of Pittsburgh for good – which meant getting away from Axel too.
Motherfucker!
“Anytime,” Axel grumbled and glowered at Ben through the windshield.
Sighing, the omega climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. He kept his eyes on Magnus’s dark front windows, as if the alpha would charge out of the house at any moment and rip them both to shreds.
Nothing happened.
The house stayed still and quiet, with the rest of the neighborhood, and Ben pulled out and drove down the street. The omega heard Axel’s heart hammering as they passed each identical tract house; all the weed knotted yards dry from the summer’s heat. The wolf’s leg bounced, and he flicked his tongue over the cut on his lip. His fingers were decked out in rings, and the vague scent of blood and soap clung to them. At least he’d washed his hands.
Ben swallowed hard. “So those were-cats got a little rough. Didn’t know you were into that.”
Axel snorted and glanced behind them once, like he expected Magnus to chase after them too. “They look worse than I do.”
The omega didn’t doubt it, but his gut twisted unpleasantly all the same. “They’re alive, right? You’re not skipping town because you accidently killed someone.”
The taller wolf tapped one of his rings against the window. “And what would you do if I did?”
Turn you in, Ben thought, and wondered if he actually would. The smaller wolf knew he couldn’t take Axel in a fight, even if he tried. Plus, no matter what else Axel Cross did, Ben knew the taller wolf wasn’t like his father.
“They’re alive,” the alpha scion said before Ben answered.
The omega let out a long breath and frowned at the road. If he told Axel he didn’t plan on going to Baton Rouge, what would the taller wolf do about it? Force him to go? Steal the car and leave him on the side of the road? Dammit!
“Does Magnus know you’re here?” Ben asked as he turned toward the freeway.
Axel stopped tapping on the glass. “Why the hell do you care?”
Because I don’t want to go to Baton Rouge, idiot! Ben thought and bit his tongue. Calling Axel names wouldn’t end well. “Just curious. Didn’t know you two were getting along.”
“We don’t.”
That was almost as good as Axel admitting Magnus didn’t know he was here. Ben glanced at the wolf slumped next to him and sighed. “I thought you were going to stop me from leaving town. You’re not doing a very good job of it.”
Axel shoulders stiffened, and he rearranged his long legs. “Yeah? That was years ago. Before all this other shit happened.”
“Nine, actually. We were thirteen.”
The taller wolf shrugged and pursed his lips. “You know what I meant.”
Ben couldn’t argue with that, but his chest stung all the same. Before all this other shit happened, they were friends. Now the wolf next to him might as well be a stranger. A perfectly gorgeous stranger Ben wished was his mate. Only Axel wasn’t gay, Ben reminded himself with a scowl.
“I was going to stop for coffee and breakfast on the way.”
“Fine. Whatever. Get it to go.”
“Oh, so now you’re going to give me orders? Feels just like old times.”
Axel snorted. “Like you ever listened to me anyway.”
Ben forced himself to smile and shrugged. The omega listened to Axel once, but it still didn’t salvage their friendship. “True enough. Your ‘I’m your alpha’ bullshit didn’t fly with me then.”
“And now?” Axel asked, though he kept his face turned away.
“Now you might kick my ass if I don’t listen to you. And we both know how much I love getting things done to my ass.” Ben smiled. He needed to keep Axel on his toes. Maybe if he made his former bestie uncomfortable enough the alpha scion would give up and go home. It might even give the omega a chance to forget about the other wolf, and the stabbing pain in his gut every time he looked at Axel.
Ben wouldn’t get that chance if the bastard stuck around.
When they neared the freeway, the omega pulled up to a diner and parked. “I’m not buying your food,” he said as he undid his seatbelt.
Axel scowled and hunched in the seat, his knees jutting up toward his chest. Then he pulled a hundred dollar bill out of his pocket and tossed it at the omega. “Get me whatever. Lots of bacon.”
Ben stared at the crumpled up bill and nodded absently. He’d spent the last four years working through college, trying to save up enough money to buy a decent used car and get the hell out of town, but even he didn’t have cash like that.
Axel’s eyes shifted throughout the parking lot, and the omega took the money without asking the question burning into his mind. Where the hell did it come from?
As far as he knew, Axel didn’t have a job. He hadn’t joined the teamsters, not since his dad got sent away. Magnus said something about getting Axel a position at the mills, but Ben did his best to avoid any information about his former best friend. What good would it do him when he was going to leave town anyway?
Maybe the taller wolf got the money legally, but after what happened with Axel and the were-cats, the omega doubted it.
Ben sighed and stepped into the dive and ordered their breakfast.
The sooner he got Axel out of his life, the better. Axel Cross was a fuck-up. Trouble with a great big capital ‘T.’ But how the hell was Ben supposed to do that when the alpha scion insisted on tagging along? Tell him you’re meant to be together, Ben mused and shook his head. That would get him a broken jaw – and Axel still might not leave him alone.
The omega leaned against the counter and yawned. He picked up a little sugar packet and flicked it in his fingers. Did Axel still have a sweet tooth? He’d bring a couple out to the car, just in case.
Dotty, the waitress on duty, shuffled around behind the counter pretending to straighten up. Ben figured she didn’t want to make small talk, and he didn’t blame her. He wasn’t dressed like a miscreant (like Axel), but anyone stopping by the dive that early in the morning was probably up to no good.
Every decent person was in bed asleep at this hour – unless they were ordered to skip town because they were too gay for the local wolf pack.
The bell jingled and Ben glanced up, expecting to see Axel step inside. Instead, Anton stood in the doorway, his great dark bulk filling it completely.
“Fairy,” he said with a nod of his head. “You leaving town today?”
The omega grinned at the nickname. For a beta, Anton wasn’t bad. He could be a lot worse. His only downfall was working with Magnus, but he really didn’t have a choice if he wanted to keep his family safe.
“Yeah. Just waiting for my food.”
Anton nodded and situated his bulk on a stool at the counter, then he cast his round, dark eyes toward Ben. “Too bad about how shit went down. Magnus can’t be reasoned with ‘bout certain things.”
The omega did his best to look dejected. Thinking of Axel crouching in his car, it wasn’t difficult. Did the beta wolf know the alpha scion was there? If Ben asked, he’d give it away if Anton didn’t know –
Fuck on a stick!
