Chapter 29
1456 Words
Renee shook her head, looking away from Brittany.
“This is why I avoid other shifters…” Renee heard him say.
… Wait., someone’s in her head too?
… There’s not enough room in her head for another being.
… What did Colla do??
“That’s great. I’m not an order window,” Renee replied evenly.
“Excuse you?” Brittany huffed.
“If you want something from Jason, go talk to him,” Renee set down her weights to square off with Brittany. “I don’t own him.”
“Yo Brittany!” A buff hockey player called out. His hands waved over himself as if he was the feast she was after. “I’ll ruin worlds for you if you take this knot.”
“Gross…” Renee grumbled.
“That’s my cue to leave,” another swimmer tutted as he grabbed his bag.
“I’m all yours, baby…”
Renee packed up right after, giving nothing else away. A peep would have reignited whatever Brittany’s problem was far past the throbbing between her legs.
Once she was out of earshot, Renee grumbled to herself once more.
“I can’t believe that’s her go to,” she complained, while Jason smiled. “Why won’t you just give her what she wants?”
“Would you want to smell like that after?”
“Sorry, what?” Renee asked and Jason just stared at her.
“Are you feeling okay?” he asked instead.
“Yeah,” Renee assured Jason. “I just thought you answered.”
Jason shook his head.
“Maybe you should eat something before I take you home, just so that I don’t find you dead tomorrow.”
“That might be a closer reality than you think.”
Oversharing is bad. Renee knows this. But now there’s something else in her gut, telling her to keep quiet. It isn’t just Jason anymore but some voice in her head now too.
“I got you one of your crappy pastries,” Jason held out for her only to snatch it away.
“What?” Renee lobbed her frustration away from their conversation. “Why?”
“I want four facts about your family before you can have this.”
“Keep it then,” Renee shook her head.
“Stubborn.”
“What?” Renee quickly countered.
“I didn’t say anything else,” Jason looked at her queerly. “You should eat this.”
Jason gave up the sugary snack without a fight, a new tacktick that left her completely unsettled.
“Thank you,” Renee murmured.
“I’ll give you four facts from mine, if it helps,” Jason settled beside his door, waiting for Renee to do the same.
Once she did, Renee looked up at him, taking in the sweet reward.
“My parents once tried to eat me for showing my fangs to a dog that later died,” he began.
Renee frowned, protesting for the dog’s life.
“I’m not sure if it brings me joy that you have respect for those animals, or concern that you left me out in your anger,” Jason replied, letting it sink in.
Renee couldn’t hold his attention then. She couldn’t lie about how she felt about dogs.
“Swore off food after making a deal with a man during a hotdog eating contest.”
“That’s an easy one to imagine,” Renee agreed.
Jason didn’t lose a beat. He was on to the next example of his humanity despite his species.
“My favorite color is green, which may be why I keep looking for you.”
“Why does that matter? I’m your job, remember?” Renee questioned.
“Yeah…” Jason trailed as he watched her take another bite, seemingly uninterested in answering the other question.
“And I learned my countering skills from you.”
“Bullsh!t,” Renee chuckled. “You’re thousands of years old and you just got it now? I don’t think so.”
“Think what you want. You keep showing me what you want me to do. My behavior is completely made to thrust against your pushback,” he replied evenly.
Only Renee’s almost positive she’d stopped breathing.
“Every time you fall in line, I can be good again,” he crooned, closing the space between them. He helped her lower her bag off of her shoulder and settled it on the dried pavement next. His hands stayed out to the sides of him, itching to move.
“And when I’m bad?” she swallowed her fear.
Jason stepped only closer to her, his foot tapped hers, his knee brushed up against her inseam, wedging himself in.
“When you’re bad,” he sighed beside her, slowly reaching out to her hips. A slight tug just barely gave him the space he needed to dangle his interests out to her.
Renee’s sigh is a surprise to her when it escapes her, but not to Jason.
“When you’re bad,” he paused once more. “I want to fvck it right out of you; until the only energy you have left is to exhale what’s haunting you.”
Renee’s face grew hot as embarrassment struck her. That isn’t real. He’s just screwing with her.
… Diversion! Her mind wailed.
“Is that why you won’t take Brittanny?”
“Who gives a flying fvck about Brittany when I can have you?”
That is a lot to process, Renee blinked, especially while feeling sapped of all of her energy thanks to his own.
… What the actual fvck just happened today?
“I know you’re about to go back into whatever hell they have planned for you tonight,” Jason huffed, “but I’m here. I can make it better before it even begins if you want me to.”
… How does he know what happens at home?
The thought was crushing. These feelings she never knew she craved disintegrated her nerve endings.
“How do you know what goes on at home?” Renee worried.
“You conceal more than you tell, but your face is giving.”
Renee frowned, challenging him to try again.
“A girl like Brittany shows off her home life by the way she acts at school too? Ya know.”
“She shows off her wealth…” Renee began.
“It’s not wealth, so much as her entitled Omega spirit,” Jason confirmed. “She’s a ho, not a Luna.”
Renee forced herself to avoid his gaze.
“I’m a human. You’re not…”
“Don’t you see? Her behavior has nothing to do with you directly.”
“And what? You have limits on what you screw over?” Renee asked, blushing profusely as each word tumbled unceremoniously off of her lips.
“I pretty much don’t care; so long as the deal is worth the activity.”
“I don’t follow,” Renee muttered. “You can’t or you won’t just because I asked you to?”
Jason rocked himself forward, trapping her between the side of his car and his rigid body.
“Let lesser evils find her,” Jason spoke softly to her. “She has nothing better than you just because she’s some Omega princess.”
“Lesser evils? Jason, what are you even…”
“All I’m saying is that Omegas are a dime a dozen. They aren’t rare anymore. Ask any were-beast on earth. They’ll say the same thing,” Jason motioned towards her again, using his body as a shield. From what? She can’t be sure. “It’s Brittany’s future be a complete c*m guzzling slvt but it’s okay for her to only become that. That’s her future,” Jason confirmed.
“How can you say that?”
“How don’t you know?” Jason tilted his head at her, confused.
Renee gaped at him, unable to make another sound.
“But a Luna? One to unlock? To piece together? To fix?” Jason crooned, overwhelming her completely. “Why in goddess’ name would I turn you down for that?”
“Jason,” Renee’s gasp caught in her throat.
Her hands tentatively cupped the tops of his, trying to gain some semblance of control. But the way he surrounds her is overwhelming. Her heart begins to hammer in her chest. His nearness. His intentions… and all she can truly feel is her mother’s imaginary fingers seizing her by the throat.
“I can’t do this,” Renee whispered as if the air no longer traveled to her lungs.
“I can,” Jason murmured beside her, free of the faculty's judgment. “And you will.”
- Writer
