14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Jack held himself down over Maltin, but Maltin wasn’t having that. He moved away from Jack, standing in the fray. Jack was about to follow him, unwilling to let his mate use his finite powers, but then, the craziest thing happened.

As lightning bolts landed all around them and a scream came from his mother, the smell of hair burning, furniture being dissolved into rubble, he felt his entire body shake. It wasn’t in fear. It wasn’t from the earthquake of powers being thrown back and forth by the witches.

It was him, his body, and it was changing.

Bones cracked loudly, but he felt no real pain. His arms bent the wrong way, his jaw distending, forehead retracting, fingernails growing into long, razor-sharp claws.

Maltin’s scream made Jack look away from his own hands to see he wasn’t the only one changing. His mate’s face was malformed, bubbling like he was melting, but he wasn’t. He, too, was changing.

The witches, seeing this, stopped their fighting, and Jack’s mother screamed again, only it was in shock. Jack was lowering, his hands landing on the ground as they changed to heavily clawed paws, and he felt the bones in his skull displacing, and from his peripheral, he saw he was growing the horns he’d seen in the illustrations in the book Ms. Tempest had given them.

“Jack! What’s happening to you?” He heard his mother screaming.

“He’s shifting, you daft fool,” his father yelled.

Trudy and Rodney were stepping away from them, but they weren’t afraid. They were just making room for the two because they weren’t only changing, they were growing.

Jack was nearly six feet tall, but that was nothing compared to how he grew. On all fours, he was nearly as tall as he was standing on two legs. A snarl came as he tried to speak, and his eyes…all he could see in front of him was the world covered in a red light.

When he was fully transformed, he turned his head to see Maltin, but Maltin being red, he was nearly invisible to Jack. All he could clearly make out were Maltin’s two glowing eyes.

Turning back to his parents, the ones that had treated him so poorly, everything inside him made him want to pounce on them and tear them apart, to taste their blood on his tongue, have their flesh stuck between his teeth, but he held back, knowing it wasn’t their time.

How he knew that was a mystery, but they didn’t know it, and that was good enough. They were crawling backward from him and Maltin, fear scenting the air like boiling copper.

Trudy stepped in front of them and held up her hand, and suddenly, the entire room was put right, the furniture recreated, the sounds of wood scraping on marble loud in his sensitive ears.

“I won’t hurt you,” she said. “I know this has been a shock. Jack is good and as you can see, more powerful than you could have imagined in your bigotry. My son has made me proud all his life, and he continues to do so now. Treasure your other children. May they never know your hatred like Jack’s had to feel.”

Jack turned and started to run, feeling his mate behind him. Crashing through the double doors, he was out of the house and free, running across the lawn, feeling great clumps of sod being pulled up from his claws.

The air was soft and cool, the breeze whistling through the curl of his horns. He felt alive, happy, and loved for the first time, but more than that.

He felt power.

He could tear through anyone, crush their bones or he could run by them, letting them live another day, another ten. He had the power of life and death, which was the strongest power of all.

And no witch could hurt him. No power on earth could touch him.

He was free.

Beside Jack, Maltin ran, and he felt happiness pouring off his mate. They ran together, tearing through his parents’ precious land, jumping, playing, and biting at one another until they both lay on the grass, and Maltin was purring. Then he realized, he was too.

“You two stop all that foolishness,” Trudy called. “We have one more stop to make, and you both owe me a thousand dollars for a massage!”

Once they turned back to being human, Rodney provided them with clothes, and Trudy led the way back to the limo. Jack rushed to walk along with her. “Thank you, Mrs. Graves. Thank you so much for all you said and did.”

“I didn’t do much. I could have killed the two of them. I maybe should have, but it’s not my place.”

“I don’t think they knew what hit them.”

“Of course, they did,” Rodney said. “They know power. They now know we have more than they do.”

Jack laughed happily, and Maltin was smiling right along with him. “Maltin, did you see? They were scared! I’ve never seen them scared!”

“They were in awe of you! As am I,” he said, taking Jack into his arms and kissing him hard, holding him harder. “I shifted.”

“I know. You were scary!”

“Me? You were amazing!”

In the limo, Rodney poured them all drinks and they toasted to their achievement. Trudy was smiling from ear to ear and Maltin leaned over to take her free hand in his. “Mother…I can’t tell you what that meant to Jack and me.”

“You’re my son. If you ever think I’m as uncaring as those two? Just use those powerful jaws and take me out.”

“I could never hurt you.”

Jack said, “He’s right. You were amazing. I just saw lights and furniture breaking, and it was incredible.”

Rodney said, “I think you both felt threatened. The magic being thrown about, you took that fear and caused your first shift. Bravo to you both!”

Maltin was happier than Jack had ever seen him, and Trudy noticed something else. “Malty, you…look younger.”

Rodney noticed it too. “Maltin, you…are you immortal now?”

“What? No! I couldn’t be.”

“We never got that far in the book,” Jack said.

Rodney snapped his fingers,, and the book appeared on his lap. With a wave of his pointer finger, the pages began to flip.

Maltin chuckled at his uncle, but Trudy only rolled her eyes. “Rodney, showing off is so…gauche.”

“So was that house. Sorry, Jack.”

“I’ve never liked that place. It was a little obvious.”

“A little?” Trudy asked. “Say what you will, though, I think they were hurt. Not physically, but knowing their child had died, and knowing you were not theirs.”

“Please, Mother,” Maltin said, but she disagreed.

“You wouldn’t see it, Maltin. You will, one day, when you have children. A parent sees the pain of another parent. In her eyes, I saw it. It’s why she’s still breathing.”

Jack wanted to believe that but had trouble with it. “I can’t believe it, but I hope you’re right.”

“Get this to where we’re going,” Trudy told her brother.

“A moment, Trudy, dear. I can’t believe it, but Maltin’s kind…he’s mentioned here.”

“What?” The three of them said in unison.

“A hellhound shifter can mate with another powerful being, and if that occurs, that half-blooded hellhound will take on the powers of both and be stronger in each. They will become…”

Maltin was at the end of his rope with the dramatic pauses. “Rodney, I swear, if you don’t finish…”

“A super alpha, possessing the strongest of each of his halves. It’s a coveted degree, Maltin.”

Trudy covered her mouth with her fingers. “Oh, Malty.”

Jack’s pride in Maltin grew a thousandfold. “Maltin! Your powers aren’t finite anymore!”

“No, they’re not, Maltin,” Rodney said in awe. “Damn! You might be more powerful than I am!”

Jack kissed Maltin and Maltin could only stare at him. “I’m…a little afraid right now.”

“Maltin, you’re my super-alpha. You’re…you’re amazing.”

“I’m amazing,” Maltin said, laughing. “It’s all because of you.”

They started to kiss, and Jack felt again that heat that flowed through him before, like he was in season, and he figured he was. This time, when they mated, he knew he’d become pregnant, and he’d give birth to Maltin’s children. The thought was elevating his happiness, his love.

Maltin’s hands on his face, their breath, their lips and mouths, they were together, then and always.

They didn’t stop kissing until they heard Rodney clearing his throat obnoxiously.

“What, Rodney?” Maltin yelled.

Rodney held up both hands. “Don’t destroy me with a blink or anything, Malty, but you’re in mixed company. Save the make-out until you’re alone.”

“Stop it, Rodney. It’s romantic. He’s more like his father than I’d have guessed.”

“Mother!”

Rodney teleported them to the north side of Alberta, Canada. The limo and all. Jack felt cold immediately, but the car warmed quickly once Rodney snapped on the heat. “We’re meeting your real family, Jack. Are you ready?”

With Maltin’s hand in his, Jack knew he could face anything. “I’m ready, Rodney. Thank you all for being with me.”

Trudy reached across and cupped his cheek in her palm. “Dear boy, you’re family now. I’d like at least one granddaughter, of course. I need someone to leave my jewels to.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Jack got out after Maltin and they were in a snowy wood, the smell of the air crisp and clean, the trees towering around them. It was breathtaking.

“They live here?”

“I’m magic, Jack. I asked for them, and the magic took me here.”

“I feel them,” Maltin agreed. “I feel those like us.”

Jack closed his eyes, ready to tell them they were crazy, but then, like a heat was beckoning, he felt it too. “What is that?”

“Heat, like the fires of hell, Jack,” Maltin said with his neck craning to the north. “It’s warm, though, not hot. And I feel no threat.”

Jack didn’t feel a threat either. In fact, the opposite. “You’re stronger than me, Maltin. Point the way.”

Maltin grabbed his hand and led him into the trees, through a trail Maltin couldn’t have known was there.

It was a well-worn trail, shoe prints marking the way.

“Mud! Rodney, you owe me five pairs of shoes now!”

“Yes, Trudy. I’ll get you ten, straight off the drafting tables.”

Maltin called back, “Don’t worry, Mother. We’re close.”

Jack was about to ask how close when Maltin stopped. Jack came up beside him, and there on the trail stood four people. An older couple, man and woman, and two younger women…about Jack’s age. Maltin let go of Jack’s hand and let Jack take a step ahead of him as he felt the familial presence of them.

They were all so like him, it was as if he were staring into a mirror. The man looked like his older twin, and the girls, with blond hair long to their waists, had tears streaming down their faces.

The older woman was crying too, as she stepped flush with her husband. “You’ve come home,” she said, her voice cracking.

Wearing plain clothing, they were nothing like the Pengroves, but he didn’t care. In fact, he liked the jeans and flannel they wore, and the wistful smiles that were blooming on each set of cherub lips.

“Are you…are you my parents?”

The woman nodded and held out her arms, and Jack hesitated only for a moment before he ran to her and was finally held in the arms of a mother.

That night, he slept under the roof of his family after talking with them for hours. It turned out that the Pengroves found them and sent word that he was coming. Jack could barely believe it. The first charitable thing they’d done for him since he was thirteen years old.

His sisters were on the search for their fated mates, but there was no hurry, they assured him. They were happy as they were, living in the woods, with nature, watching the birds hatch in nests each spring, and the bear searching the forest for food.

Their house wasn’t fancy or big. Made of stone and logs, it had been in their family for generations. It was a place where each taught the next how to seek justice for those who no longer belonged in the world.

Jack cried, laughed, and enjoyed the visit. The next morning, feeling his season getting stronger despite the suppressants the doctor had given him, he knew they had to leave.

His mother understood. “I couldn’t have been stopped when it was time to make the three of you. Send word the moment the babies are born.”

“I will. And before that, I’ll keep in touch. I’d like you all to come visit too, soon and again when they’re born, and a lot after that.”

Again, in the arms of his mother, he felt what he’d always wanted—real love from a parent. His father gave that same love to him as he was hugged goodbye, and his sisters as well.

They were teleported home, and that was where Trudy and Rodney left them after a lot of tears and many thanks for their help.

Maltin took him into the warehouse and stared at all his cars. “These should be beds,” he surprised Jack by saying. “Every single one of them.”

Jack felt his heat growing, his loins on fire as he felt his alpha mate beside him. They were so alike in so many ways. Maltin thought his powers were finite and, therefore, rarely used them. Jack thought himself completely powerless.

After learning what they truly were, they connected in a way that went far beyond that of simple fated mates. They were connected by their shared pain, the pain of never feeling like they mattered or that they were special.

“Maltin, when we make…babies, promise me, no matter what, they’ll never feel like they’re less than.”

Maltin moved around to face him, his hands cupping Jack’s face, holding him there, staring into Jack’s eyes with a promise and a vow to him that was real. Jack felt it in every part of him. “Our children will never know anything but acceptance, unconditional love, and most of all, security in us and themselves.”

Maltin’s breath on his lips right before he was kissed sealed a deal, and finally, Jack knew why people who got married kissed at the end of the ceremony. That touching of lips sealed those vows. It wasn’t for those attending, but it was between the two, a silent pact that they’d move through the sometimes-harsh sea of life, together.

As they kissed, Jack made that vow to Maltin. No ceremony was needed for them, as their vows were written on their souls. Fated mates meant for each other in every way possible, and true love that went beyond that.

Jack felt Maltin’s love for him in that kiss, and he stored that memory in his heart.

Taking his hand once the kiss was over, with the taste and feel of it still on Jack’s lips, he was led to the stairs. “We’ll make it back down here eventually.”

Jack laughed with a heartfelt boom in the echoing warehouse, and as he was taken into the loft, he felt the power that was radiating from Maltin.

Knowing he was a super alpha, it had changed him. A new confidence, a new purpose surrounded him, and Jack could barely catch a breath in his presence. Maltin stopped them in the middle of the loft near the couch, waving a hand over him and Jack felt the coolness of the room on every bit of his flesh. “Now that you can, you’re going to use your magic all the time?”

Not answering, Maltin simply stared hard into Jack’s eyes. Damn, Jack felt like he could melt under that heated gaze.

Baby, get down on that floor, on all fours, like you were when you were shifted. I want you, now, and I’m not stopping until I put my children inside you to grow strong.”

Jack nodded ever so slightly, unable to do much more than what his alpha commanded. He was on all fours in seconds after that nod, and he felt Maltin’s naked body move to his knees and station behind him, a soft touch at first, his hands on Jack’s hips.

“Are you ready, Jack? Are you ready for me?”

Jack peered over his shoulder, and he fell over to the floor as he saw Maltin and how he’d changed.

Maltin’s body had always been perfect. He was lean and muscled, but not heavily, and had an unassuming strength.

But in that moment, he saw the changes that had been achieved by the first shift. Maltin was bigger, his muscles taut and swollen, his neck thicker, eyes more piercing. Jack’s jaw hung as he stared, and when his eyes moved down to Maltin’s cock, he saw that it, too, had changed.

Thicker, longer, veined and pointed straight out from his crop of pubic hair. “Maltin…”

Reaching out his hand and using two fingers to move Jack’s chin back in place, Maltin’s voice had a more growling quality as he pled, “Please, baby. I need you. Now.”

“Anything, Maltin,” Jack whispered. “Anything you need.”

Jack moved back to his hands and knees, and he felt Maltin touching him, a tender brush of finger over his hole before that finger breached it, moving just inside and then he pulled it away, and Jack readied for what he knew was going to be a rough coupling.

“Let’s begin.”