Chapter Ten

Luca woke up to the sound of a car honking from the street.

Fuck, his head was already killing him. He was more than positive he'd bruised it on the wall last night. Actually, he was pretty sure he bruised a lot of shit last night, but he was going to pretend it hadn't been as... animated, as it had been.

Oh, who the fuck am I kidding? Animated is a fucking understatement. He stared blankly across his tiny room, arm hanging off the mattress onto the floor. Beside him, he could hear Jackson's soft breathing, his big body taking up a majority of the space on the bed. He could feel the heat of him, feel the weight of him. Luca briefly wondered if this was what it was like to own a dog. Some fat ass taking up the whole bed, with him hanging off the end.

He shifted to get comfortable, then immediately regretted it as his bladder surged.

Luca growled low, heaving himself up off the floor

He stumbled, caught himself on the wall before managing an awkward waddle to the bathroom where he stood over the toilet and used the wall for support as he did his business.

Well, fuck. What was he supposed to do now?

If he had half a brain, he'd send Jackson on his way. Haul the guy out of his apartment and get his ass in gear trying to find a new job. He needed money, and he needed it fast. How the hell was he supposed to survive now, much less look for his mother? He still had no leads on that in the first place. Hell, he kind of wanted to know who'd tried to kidnap his ass the other night, but that was a mystery he didn't care as much for. For all he knew, it was probably just some local crime ring that wouldn't give a shit what happened to him after the auction.

And yet, with all this bubbling back to the surface, there was still this itching sensation creeping up his spine. Something primal and deep that urged him to return to the mattress on the floor, to snuggle right up against that big huge body.

He shuddered, thoroughly disgusted with himself as he stepped into the shower to do a quick scrub. He didn't want to think about Jackson like that. He didn't want to even consider a relationship with the guy, and holy shit, did that guy panic about a lack of a condom. Luca hadn't been too worried about it; his last doctor's appointment, though before his heat, had assured him he was sterile. His doctor had actually looked fucking stricken by the news, had offered a variety of treatments to get his baby machine working again, but he'd flown out the door so fast and he'd celebrated with a bottle of Jack.

No babies? Ever?

Thank fuck. At least that was one thing he wouldn't have to worry about.

First of all, there was the whole mess of actually producing offspring. Which he just experienced. And it had turned out to be a lot messier than he would've liked. And second, he just did not have the time. Searching for his mother was his top priority. And, honestly, who wanted to settle down with kids anyway? Luca couldn't imagine being a parent. He'd probably screw up his kid more than his own mother did him.

Yeah. Nah. He had more important things on his plate.

Stepping out of the shower, Luca walked into the room, surprised to find Jackson still asleep. Only this time, the oaf was laying on his stomach on the mattress with his arms wrapped around the blanket, as if seeking something to cling to.

For a split second, Luca entertained the idea that the guy was actually kind of cute.

Then he felt a little nauseated and went to the kitchen, popping open the fridge to take out a shake. He gave the bottle a vigorous shake while staring at his pack of cigarettes on the countertop. He was craving a light, something to dull the itch in the back of his mind.

He drew the shake to his lips, sucking in a mouthful of chalky chocolate when abrupt banging started at his front door. Choking the mouthful down and screwing the top on, he scowled, aggravated to hell. He heard Jackson groan in protest and roll around on the mattress. He shook his head, heading to the door to peek through the peephole. He grimaced at the most disgusting sight since, well, himself during his heat the night before.

'Course, he opened the door anyway, because this just had to be good.

Killian practically mowed him down with the front door, stomping in like he owned the place. His normally dark styled hair was wet from the current downpour Luca failed to notice, and there were dark circles under those dark eyes that swung around to lock on Luca.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Killian demanded. Luca gave him a deadpan stare.

"You mean after you fired me? Eating breakfast," he answered flatly, gesturing to the shake on the counter. Killian sputtered. Both because he couldn't believe the fucking audacity this omega had, and seriously? How could that punk still be drinking those nasty things? Goddamn, it was a miracle the guy was still alive.

"I've been calling you for days, but your phone was disconnected! I showed up here only a dozen fucking times, but your neighbors said you hadn't been around for a while! Do you have any idea how worried I was? There's been kidnappings around town lately, you fucking idiot! Omegas die on a daily basis! They--" Killian stopped yelling abruptly, making Luca arch a brow before scowling as he watched Killian's dark eyes move to something behind him.

Luca spun around, then hissed through clenched teeth to see Jackson standing there, towering over him like a goddamn demon straight out of hell.

The alpha looked even bigger than usual-- or maybe that had something to do with the fact that the apartment was the size of a shoe box. Luca still had to take a sharp breath as he took in the size of him there.

Jackson was, to put it bluntly, fucking exhausted and pissed the hell off. One minute, he was having a strangely wonderful dream of actually snuggling with Luca --which remind him again why that was such a nice dream-- and the next second, some guy had barged into the apartment and was going off like an irate soccer mom who's coupon expired at a Denny's.

Killian wasn't sure what he was looking at. The alpha reeked of Luca's pheromones and his own twisted stench. Hell, the top of his head almost touched the friggin ceiling. He dwarfed Luca, but didn't appear to be focused on the frozen omega and was looking over the top of his white head at Killian like he was about to throw down.

Alright, Killian decided. Maybe he drank too much. Or took too many hits from Jed's bong last night. Or, fuck, he was probably going insane. He was long overdue.

Because, those could be the only reasons for why another alpha was in Luca's apartment, smelling like he'd just gone several rounds with the guy.

"Who the fuck is this?" Killian heard himself ask at last. I mean, seriously, Killian thought in disbelief. Who the fuck was this guy? Who did he think he was? Had he raped Luca?

"Fuck off," Luca spoke up suddenly, turning on Killian, who looked at him in surprise that the omega, this whiny bitchy no-touchy omega, was actually getting mad at him and not the big guy, "It's none of your business."

None of his business? Killian resisted the urge to backhand the omega.

None of his fucking business? Killian had known the kid for a long time now. He'd done everything he could to straighten out Luca's life, his uncle had too. How dare this brat think for a goddamn second that his business wasn't Killian's business. It was strange, he noted, to feel a wave of possessiveness for the little rotten punk, but he couldn't help it. Especially after seeing Luca reject every single person who approached him, including Killian, repeatedly and violently. Yet, here he was, wearing just his little undies and totally chill with a mostly naked alpha right behind him.

"I should be asking who you are," Jackson muttered, only to take a step back when Luca whipped around to smack him. He managed to avoid the arm slap, but Luca switched it up and popped him in the gut, making him grunt. Jackson rubbed his stomach and Killian waited for the alpha to retaliate, break Luca's neck or at least a finger, but instead, he just took another step back as Luca rolled his eyes.

"Cut it out," Luca snapped at him, then turned back to Killian, "Both of you. Doesn't matter who's who. You're both leaving so I can get back to this awesome thing I call my fucking life." Killian tensed at that. He wasn't about to leave until he knew for a fact that the other alpha was stepping out with him. He gave Luca a hard stare and Luca turned to see Jackson giving Killian the same look. Neither alpha was budging until the other did, which brought them to an impasse.

Luca narrowed his eyes.

"I'm gonna give everyone to the count of three. Nobody moves and I'm going to make damn fucking sure none of you can spawn any pretty alpha babies," he warned.

That woke them up.

Jackson cleared his throat and mumbled something about getting his clothes while Killian took a few steps back, like he was waiting for Jackson to walk out the door with him. Luca rolled his eyes at them and picked up his shake to take another drink while he went to a small cabinet to take out a hooded sweatshirt.

"Seriously, who is that?" Killian whispered. Luca shrugged, sliding the hoodie on over his head and giving it a tug. Killian pretended he couldn't catch a whiff of pheromones when he did that.

"Dunno. Some kind of doctor."

"I mean, what the fuck is he doing in your apartment?"

"I found him in a box on the street that was labeled free kittens."

"Fuck you," Killian snapped, fed up with Luca's avoidance, which only earned him a droll stare from the omega, "Goddamn, I wasted my fucking time worrying about your arrogant ass."

"Wow, finally, something we can agree on," Luca responded, feigning exaggerated dismay by putting his hand on the side of his face and widening his eyes. Killian rolled his eyes in disgust, throwing the front door open again and heading out. At the same time, Jackson was coming into the kitchen, fully clothed and looking warily at Luca.

"Are you feeling alright," he asked, making Luca frown and Killian pause just on the other side of the threshold, "Are you hurt anywhere? Do you feel nausea--"

"I feel fucking dandy," Luca deadpanned, making Jackson grimace, "Sore, but better than yesterday. Congratulations. A medication that actually works. Too bad it came out of you." Luca wasn't sure why he was so callous, or why it even bothered him to do so. But it still gave him a little pang to see the veil come over Jackson's face. Like he'd actually hurt the guy's feelings.

"Great," Jackson responded with equal indifference, "Glad I could help. No co-pay for this visit." Luca arched a brow.

"Good thing there won't be a next time," he answered. Jackson inclined his head, unable to find words to express how annoyed, and frankly, kind of hurt he was by Luca's words. He didn't know why he was expecting a one-night stand to turn into anything healthy. After all, their relationship hadn't even started out healthy in the first place. Not that it was really a relationship at all, so much as an unfortunate meeting.

Without another word, Jackson headed out of the apartment, closing the door behind him and turning to leave. He headed down the rickety wrought iron stairs and turned to go to his car, only to slow down at the sight of the other alpha leaning on it.

"Nice car," the alpha deadpanned. Jackson narrowed his eyes.

The alpha was weird, that was for sure. It was more than just the fact that he was somehow friends, or maybe at least acquaintances, with Luca. His pheromones weren't very strong for an alpha, which didn't make sense. Most alphas reeked like a Macy's perfume department, but this guy was more like a single spray in a Walmart beauty aisle.

But, the alpha clearly gave somewhat of a shit about Luca. After all, it was his worried tantrum that had woken Jackson up. His first instinct had been to protect Luca, but now that he actually thought about the other alpha's words, he realized the other guy had actually been looking for Luca when he'd been kidnapped. And he'd also looked pretty possessive over Luca when he'd seen Jackson come in. Had the alpha been trying to court Luca?

That bothered Jackson.

That bothered him a lot.

"Who are you?" Jackson asked. The alpha snorted, moving away from the car to approach Jackson with a cocky swagger, but his pheromone level was so low it was hard to pick up among the stench of garbage and decay around them.

"Pretty sure I asked you first," he reminded. Jackson arched a brow at that.

"Fine. Jackson Colt. And you are?" He asked. The alpha immediately curled his lip in recognition of the name, his dark eyes widening before narrowing.

"The fuck does a Colt want with an omega like Luca?" He demanded. His tone pissed Jackson off. Not that the guy spat his surname like a curse, but the fact that he referred to Luca as some kind of subspecies of omega, like he wasn't even worthy enough to be one.

"I helped him," Jackson answered stiffly. The alpha snorted.

"Don't think sticking your cock in him is helping him," he retorted. Jackson was annoyed with this alpha. Who did he think he was? The way he talked about Luca pissed him off. How could this guy care for him one second and not the next?

"Who are you to him?" Jackson asked. The alpha actually paused like he had to think about it.

And he did.

Once upon a time, Killian would've answered that with being Luca's boss. But now that Luca was no longer employed by him, what did that make him? His uncle never adopted Luca. Luca didn't really have much of a place in the world, didn't have any family to speak of, aside from a mother that he cursed once in a while.

So what was he to Luca?

"My name is Killian."

"Doesn't answer my question."

"Doesn't matter," Killian threw back, making Jackson narrow his eyes, "I want to know why you were in Luca's apartment and what you did with him for the past few days."

"Who says I did anything to him?" Jackson asked. Killian made a rude sound and Jackson curled his lip, thoroughly put out by the guy at this point. He was seconds away from just using the guy's head to shine his car, only for a vibration to go off in his jacket pocket. He cursed, taking his phone out to glance at the caller ID and seeing Jacob's name. He looked up to see Killian watching him, clearly ready to take him on, not that he could.

An alpha was an alpha, sure, but this alpha was smaller than him. Jackson could easily pick the asshole up and throw him across the parking lot, but a quick glance up at Luca's apartment made him back down. He had no idea who this Killian was to Luca, but Luca had stopped him from going after him earlier, so clearly he didn't want Killian hurt.

"You're lucky you're close to him," Jackson said, making Killian frown, "Otherwise, I'd play basketball with your skull. I'm leaving, so you can go back to doing whatever it is you do and leave me the fuck alone too." Killian said nothing, but did actually step aside as Jackson breezed past him to get in his car. He slammed the door shut and started the engine, glancing in the mirror as he did a K-turn in the parking lot. In his rear-view, he saw Killian glaring after him before looking up. Jackson caught a glimpse of Luca leaving his apartment, and stalled for a second to watch the omega come down the stairs, only to stop when he saw Killian, who came toward him.

There was no aggression in the alpha anymore. He'd softened when Luca got near, even though Luca looked clearly annoyed. But then, Jackson decided, that was just the way Luca was, wasn't it?

His phone buzzed again and he groaned, rolling his eyes and pulling out of the parking lot to join the morning traffic. He finally picked up the call as he stopped at a red light.

"What?" He demanded sharply.

"What do you mean what," Jacob snapped impatiently, "Where the hell were you? I've been trying to call you all night."

"My phone automatically goes to do-not-disturb while I sleep, asshole--"

"Yeah, from fucking three in the afternoon till eight in the morning? Like hell! Do you have any idea how fucking freaked out we were," Jacob ranted, making Jackson hesitate now, because it was rare for Jacob to go into full on panic mode this way. It had been a while since he'd done so. Jacob was a bit more level headed than the rest of them.

"After everything that's happening right now, are you seriously trying to tell me to calm the fuck down? What were we supposed to think? We couldn't get a hold of you, couldn't find you anywhere, and were this close to contacting the police! Do you have any idea how bad it has to get for us to want to contact the police?"

"Alright, alright," Jackson said quietly as Jacob paused for breath, "You're right. I'm sorry. It was stupid." There was a further pause before Jacob's sigh rattled back.

"Whatever. Are you alright? Where are you?"

"On my way to the house. I'm fine. What's up?"

"We were supposed to go see that guy with info about Anita Blake," Jacob answered dryly, making Jackson nod, "Right. Did you go see him anyway?"

"Yeah," Jacob replied grimly, "The fucker's dead, Jacks."

Jackson's eyes popped wide open and he stared up at the green light in front of him, the car horns honking behind him fading into the background so all he heard was Jacob's voice and an eerie buzzing in his ears.

"What?" He demanded.

"He's dead. Someone shot him in the back of the head."

"W-What-- Why?"

"Because he knew, Jackson. He knew who killed mom. And whoever did it just killed the only connection we had to her killer."