Gifted with Hydrangea Read online

  “A lot of bodies.” Someone behind him agreed.

  The group descended further until they reached dual heavy metal doors. A team member on his right opened the door, and he and the entire team began gagging and coughing from the extreme odor.

  Alphy was the first to regain his composure, and he led the way into a poorly lit hallway. Most of the florescent lighting overhead wasn’t on. The ones that were on were inadequate to push away all of the darkness in the windowless hallway. They flickered and gave off a buzzing sound, some even rattling. Alphy’s sense of foreboding grew as the smell increased. The group stopped at the top of some cement stairs that led down into a large room. Alphy could see bulky dark shapes draped in piles around the area. Two large metal shapes were situated in the two back corners. With his enhanced sight, he made out what he saw, as did the others in his team who began cursing and gagging.

  “This is genocide,” Alphy breathed out. His voice was rough and strained.

  A light switch was flipped on, illuminating the room better. A ripple of rage and shock undulated through and around him as they gazed down at piles of rotting corpses. Alphy’s bear roared in rage inside his head, demanding to kill those responsible.

  Alphy began to slowly walk down the stairs but stopped when one of the members of his team yelled, “Everyone stop!” The team froze at the other man’s frantic urgency. Alphy looked back. “What is it, Theo?”

  “Something doesn’t smell right about those corpses. I’m sensing something … odd. I can’t explain it, but I don’t think we should go near them. We should get a HazMat team in here.”

  “How can you smell anything over all of this?” asked another man as he waved his arms at the horrific scene.

  “Vampires can sense anomalies in blood, even dead blood,” Alphy answered. “Look, those two machines in the back are for cremation. I will trust him on this. Better safe than sorry,” Alphy said, and moved everyone back up onto the top landing, and further down the hall. As they reached the door, Alphy cursed and pulled out his cell. He stared at the two biohazard suits hanging on the far wall, as he spoke to his second. “Enzo, call the council,” he ordered. “You see this shit?”

  “Yeah. I’m barely holding on to my wolf, and looking around the room, I’m not the only one. Kace is calling it in as we speak. It won’t take long for the council to take action. Their teams have already been on high alert because of these raids.”

  “How did the other raids go?” Alphy asked, as he followed his nose to fresher air.

  “Nothing like with yours. They were nearly a piece of cake.”

  ****

  Enzo and the others watched late into the night as more bodies were found, and more survivors were found. They watched the council’s HazMat team arrive, seal off the building, and put everyone in isolation. That didn’t go over too well with some of the survivors, who ended up sedated. Alphy held up the cam and spoke into it. His cell was on speaker and sitting in his lap.

  “It’s a good thing we now have a sedative that works so well on shifters, and that Sea was here to administer it.”

  “How long will it take for them to decide if you are safe or not?” Enzo asked.

  “I don’t know. Things are a mess. Our teams were already transporting survivors to our triage location. Now everyone is quarantined for the time being. They have us in three different tents, each a different level of quarantine.” Alphy scowled. “And because she may be compromised, they won’t allow Gale to join me, or vice versa.” He watched Alphy close his eyes, and turn his head, then rub his hand down his face.

  Enzo felt helpless as he watched and listened to his friend, and alpha. “Is there anything you would like us to do?”

  Alphy didn’t look at them right away. He just shook his head. “No, not yet,” Alphy rubbed his free hand through his hair, “but could you stick around for a few?” He looked back into the camera. “It should be any time when they figure out what we’re dealing with.”

  There was no doubt he was going to stay, but he looked around the room before he responded, at Alphy’s sister, Havana, and brother, Reese, and Gale’s parents. Then he looked further around the room at everyone else, and he saw the determination on all of their faces.

  Enzo looked back up at the monitors. “We aren’t going anywhere, Alphy.”

  He saw Alphy’s shoulders relax a little bit, and Alphy nodded. “Thanks.”

  They talked for a while. Enzo sat in a chair and held Heath on his lap. Eventually, Heath fell asleep. Tiny snores emanated from Heath’s open mouth. Enzo smiled and kissed the top of his head. Just too cute, he thought to himself.

  Enzo was nibbling on a muffin when Seamus, dressed in a large, white, bulky HazMat suit, appeared in the vid feed.

  “Alphy, we got the results back.” Seamus’s voice sounded over the link.

  Alphy looked up at him with tired eyes. “Are we cleared?”

  “I’m afraid not yet. It appears the lab was making some kind of biological weapon using shifter biology. The strand is so resilient that it can live much longer than any other I’ve ever encountered, and has a very fast metabolic rate.”

  “Ok, well, I’m still alive, so I must not have it, right?”

  “Unfortunately, no. Some of the survivors here are infected, and although some of the victims from the basement were killed during violent acts, many were killed using this unknown pathogen. After examining them, and the notes, it shows that the shifter victims who died as a cause from this pathogen, appear to have taken a long period of time to expire.”

  “But you said they had a fast metabolic rate.”

  “Right. We have pulled out two dead humans. As far as we can determine, they worked here, and accidentally or not, contracted the virus, and died rather quickly.”

  Alphy’s face showed frustration. “How do you know it was quickly?”

  “Because we were able to identify the victims, and found records when they last checked in, and then given approximate time of death…”

  Alphy leaned over and rubbed his head as Seamus continued. “I’m grateful I brought Maysa with me. She’s been studying the virus, and she believes that it may work much faster in humans than in shifters. If that’s the case, then you could still have contracted it, and just haven’t shown any signs.”

  Enzo wasn’t the only one in the room who gave a disappointed sigh.

  “I do have some good news for you.” Alphy perked up, followed by everyone in the room. “I believe Gale is clear. The virus seems to kill human patients within hours. She will continue to remain in isolation, because she does have a faster metabolism, being as she is mated to a shifter, but she is still human, and it’s already been several hours. I’ve done blood work on her, and I haven’t seen any signs at all. I’m willing to believe she is safe.”

  Alphy’s body slumped down, and he breathed out a heavy breath, and even though he had covered his face with his hands, Enzo swore he saw moisture in his eyes before they were covered. After a few seconds, Alphy composed himself.

  “Thanks, Sea. How much longer do you think we need to stay in isolation?”

  “I don’t know. It all depends if any of you starts to show any signs, and I don’t want to risk going by vampire sense alone. There’s very little we know about this virus, and I can’t be sure how detectible it is. I’d say at least forty-eight hours, or more. I’ve arranged for meals to be brought in.”

  Enzo felt mixed emotions as Seamus turned and left. Alphy looked at the camera. “Enzo, I need to get some rest, and I’m sure you do, too. This is going to take a while. The pack is yours until I return.”

  The screen went black as Alphy turned the cam off. Slowly, everyone began to move out of the room.

  Not wanting to let go of his mate, Enzo picked Heath up, careful as to not awaken him, and carried him to their room.

  ****

  Heath slowly started to come back around. He could hear himself snuffle just a bit before he smacked his lips, trying to get h
is mouth moist again. He opened his blurry eyes and looked around as his brain continued to climb out of a sleepy fog. He could feel his cheek lying against something warm that was rising, and falling. A steady thump-thump, thump-thump, nearly lulled him back to sleep.

  His eyes opened. Across Enzo’s toned and sculpted chest, he found himself staring into golden cat eyes.

  Tinkerbell? Huh, when did we return to our room?

  He slowly lifted his head, peeling his cheek off of Enzo’s expansive chest. His morning wood grazed over Enzo’s thigh. The roughness of Enzo’s leg hair sent a zing of pleasure through his dick, and Heath bit back a groan. He didn’t want to wake Enzo just yet. A plan started forming in his head, and his body came alive with excitement.

  After successfully freeing himself from the lumbering man, Heath tiptoed into their private bathroom. He was used to Tinkerbell following him around and watching him, so he didn’t pay any mind to her as he freshened up. When he was drying off his hands, Heath looked over at the lube that sat on the counter. This was the first time they had a moment to themselves, and his lips pulled upward into a smile as a thought came to mind. I am determined to get claimed, damn it! If I stretch myself now, he won’t have to wait to enter me. The thought Enzo taking him hard and fast had his dick jerking awake.

  Tinkerbell gave a mew-rr, half meow, half purr. She looked up at him expectantly. He may be used to her staring at him, but thinking back on her character, he didn’t want to be calmly stared at as he and Enzo got physical, nor did he want her to bat or bite his toes during that time either. Quickly making a choice, he opened the bedroom door, and while keeping himself behind it, shooed her out. The small, white, sleek form happily left. After seeing how much attention she got from everyone, he wasn’t too surprised at her eagerness. Tinkerbell was surely getting spoiled.

  Heath ran back to the bathroom and closed the door. He grabbed the lube and squeezed a large bead of it onto his fingers, and then he reached back and began to stretch himself. He was up to two fingers, scissoring in and out, when he heard Enzo knocking on the door. Heath was so focused on what he was doing, he jolted upright in surprise.

  “Heath, you in there?”

  He froze and felt his face flush. Here he was, standing naked, his knee on the side of the sink, and two of his fingers up his ass. What an awkward and embarrassing sight that would have looked if he had just walked in. I’m glad he knocked.

  “Uh, yeah.” Suddenly, a delicious thought crossed into his head. “Uh, I’m just stretching myself. Wanna join me?”

  He snickered quietly as he heard a thump on the door, and a groan. He imagined Enzo’s head was now leaning against the door.

  “You’re killing me, mate. Are you really stretching yourself?” Enzo’s voice had lowered and sounded slightly rough.

  Heath walked over to the door as he used his slick hand to stroke his cock, which was half hard a minute ago, but was nearly fully hard now, just from hearing Enzo’s voice. He used his other hand to slowly open the door. He leaned against the door, as he held it open, while he continued to calmly glide his hand over his manhood. Looking up at the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, he lost his breath. Eyes filled with searing passion blazed down at him. He saw Enzo’s nose flare, and his chest expanded, taking in his aroused state. Heath felt his dick jerk in his hand at the sight. A groan pushed through Enzo’s moistened lips.

  “Heath, I’m holding on by a thread here.” Enzo’s voice was strained. “Please tell me no, if you don’t want me to claim you right this second.”

  Heath didn’t have to look to know he was starting to leak pre-cum with anticipation. He gave a jerky nod, his muscles not completely controllable at this point.

  “It won’t hurt, right?” he asked breathlessly. He had been told how a claiming was done. The idea of canines ripping into his neck was still disconcerting to him.

  The palms of Enzo’s hands brushed his cheeks, and he felt his fingers glide through his hair and wrap around the sides of his skull. The touch sent spears of pleasure shooting down to his balls. “I promise I am going to make this as pleasurable as possible,” Enzo roughly whispered to him before he pressed his heated lips against his, and Heath lost himself in the pleasure of it all. One of Enzo’s hands slid down and wrapped around him, pulling Heath tight against the shifter’s chiseled front, and Heath could feel every sculpted muscle against his slim frame. He didn’t know when he let go of his dick, but his hands were now rubbing and kneading the globes of Enzo’s ass. His cock pressed against Enzo’s heavy rod, their balls tapping against each other.

  Enzo pulled back from the kiss. He kept their bodies connected as he maneuvered Heath over to the bed, and he felt the back of his knees bump against the fabric of the bed. The only thing that kept him from falling back was Enzo’s tight grip.

  He rocked his hips, further rubbing their hard lengths together, and Heath enjoyed rubbing and kneading the larger man’s ass cheeks.

  Enzo growled. “Fuck, baby, that feels good. I want you so damn much. I honestly don’t know how much longer I can hold myself back. I’m ready to blow.” He pushed against him, and Heath fell back onto the bed. Enzo quickly followed, then reached between them, and continued his tasty assault on Heath’s lips. He could feel Enzo’s large hands wrap around both of their rigid members, and slowly stroke them. Heath couldn’t stop rolling his hips with the rhythm his lover set.

  Enzo began kissing his cheek and slowly made his way down to his neck. “I want to take you just like this, facing me. Can I?” Enzo asked against his skin. The vibrations tickled Heath’s flesh and caused him to shiver with delight.

  “Yes, please take me, Enzo, make me yours.” Heath had a difficult time talking while he panted.

  Enzo let out a pleased rumble. He tilted his head up and looked around, then gave an annoyed growl. “Shit, hold on, do not move.” He jumped up, and headed into the bathroom, coming out a second later with the tube of lubricant. He held it up and wiggled it. “Forgot this,” he said with a smirk, before leaping onto the bed. Enzo straddled Heath and crawled up his body, kissing in places on his way up.

  Heath placed his hands under the pillow his head was resting on and gripped it. His eyes feasted on the smooth, tan, and taut skin rolling over Enzo’s muscular form. The heat from Enzo’s lips almost stung his flesh as he worked them over his heated skin.

  Enzo latched his mouth over one of Heath’s nipples and sucked on it. Sharp, electrical zings shot down his body. “Ahh, mmm,” he moaned. He barely registered the snick sound of the bottle before a cool slick finger rimmed his hole. Heath pulled on the pillow, trying to keep from moving, or blowing. “Ah! Feels so good.”

  Enzo’s finger sank into his hole, quickly followed by a second. His fingers felt slightly rough, not enough to hurt, but just enough to add to the pleasure, which rocketed through to his balls.

  “Oh, Enzo. Yes! That feels so fucking good.”

  Enzo moved over to the other nipple and nipped it. The shock made Heath jerk slightly as his nerve endings seemed to shoot a wave of pleasure through his body, and to the tip of his cock, before the sting was licked away.

  Finally, Enzo pushed Heath’s legs apart, and situated them around his hips. Then he grabbed the base of his cock and lined it up with his hole. Heath could feel the bulbous head rubbing over the puckered entrance.

  Enzo brought up his head and looked down at him with what Heath could only guess was a look of pure love and utter devotion.

  “Are you ready, my mate? Once I enter you, I don’t think I can stop until the mating is complete. My wolf has been riding me hard ever since we first scented you. So if you have any reservations to being tied to me for hundreds of years, you need to stop me now. Do not feel any pressure in saying anything but the truth. We can wait until you’re ready.”

  Heath bit back his whine of annoyance from the delay, so his answering tone came out a bit more snarky than he’d meant. “Let’s see. A man who’s too gorgeous for wo
rds, and can probably kill an army of Rambos without breaking a sweat, driven to please me, make me happy, will never hurt me, and can’t cheat on me. Side effects are: a longer life, faster healing, a pack to be there for us for whenever we need, and I’ll quite possibly forever be walking funny from the horse sized cock of yours pounding into me day and night. What the fuck are you waiting for? Make me forever yours, wolfy. Claim me!”

  The slow, possessive smile that stretched across Enzo’s face wasn’t quite the response Heath was expecting. It made his body shiver, and he couldn’t look away from Enzo’s eyes, which suddenly turned very canine. When he spoke, he saw the two very long and large teeth that were supposed to bite into his neck.

  “Mine!”

  If it wasn’t for Enzo shoving his monster cock into his hole, his guttural, possessive declaration would have caused Heath lose his load.

  Enzo didn’t push in all the way at first. He stopped after his head and a little bit of his shaft made it past Heath’s sphincter muscle, to let him adjust. The burn caused a warm, satisfying heat to spread through his balls. Heath hissed and tried to push out as Enzo pushed forward and pulled back in a rhythm, looking down at him intensely the entire time, until Heath felt Enzo’s heavy balls flatten against his ass. He had never before had even close to as big a man as Enzo, so the full feeling, like he would split apart, was a new sensation. Yep, definitely going to walk funny forever more.

  Enzo leaned down and kissed him passionately. Heath felt the bed dip where he balanced his weight, while the other hand skimmed over his arm, under the pillow, and used his fingers to open Heath’s hand. Then Enzo linked their fingers together.

  Enzo’s tongue plundered Heath’s mouth, and he was lost in the taste and sensations, until an electric bolt shot through his entire body as Enzo hit his happy spot. Heath’s shout was swallowed by Enzo’s fervent kiss. He was suddenly aware of the hard, hot body above him slowly moving up and down, as he began to plunder in and out of his tight hole. With every push in and out, he felt Enzo’s cockhead rub over his happy spot. With every pass, another electric bolt shot through his body, and every shout and groan were swallowed up by Enzo’s enthusiastic mouth. Heath was so overwhelmed with euphoria, his orgasm seemed to have slammed into him out of nowhere. His balls pulled up tight, his muscles locked, and he felt the jets of semen splash onto his chest, and stomach. Enzo pulled slightly away, giving Heath the chance to take in a huge breath of air and moan loud with his release.