Trial X6

Doubts and Fears

  "Hey, I was serious before, and the offer still stands." Alec said while I had my face buried into his neck and shoulder. I was sitting in his lap with my arms wrapped around him as the TV was playing some boring show he somehow found interesting.

  "What?"

  "You coming to live with me. You said no because of your heat before, but, uh, clearly not an issue anymore." He chuckled as his fingers lazily brushed through my hair.

  "Are you sure you want me living here?"

  "Trust me, I wouldn't offer if I wasn't sure."

  "....Okay. But I'm not going to stop eating raw meat."

  "I can deal with that." Alec replied before his front door swung open without warning.

  "Alec, you better have a damn good reason for missing work. Normal is making me pick up your deliveries and- God, do you not ever open a window? It reeks of sweat and sex in here." Both Alec and I tensed as Max walked right past the chair we were sitting in to open a window by the TV.

  "You really should knock." Alec spoke up, and I was mentally panicking since Max would finally find out about us.

  "Why? Got something to....hide?" I could feel Max looking at us now. "I, uh, didn't know you had company." She cleared her throat.

  "So you barge in here just to bitch about package deliveries?"

  "Well, that and no one's seen or heard from Shadow in a while." Max's voice went quieter as if she thought I was asleep, but that also meant she had yet to recognize me. "She, um, well, she's also in heat, and none of the males in Terminal City want to even risk helping in tracking her down. She didn't tell anyone where she was going to wait it out, either."

  "And you're here....why?" Alec was dragging this out by not saying anything about me being here.

  "Because you're a male and you're not terrified of Shadow. You'd be able to pick up the scent of her heat to find her. You gonna help or not?" Max questioned, and Alec sighed through his nose.

  "I guess I could help- Ow!" He jolted from me biting the side of his neck. "I was just kidding!" I then sat up as my ears were turned back from embarrassment before looking over my shoulder at Max.

  Her eyes went wide as her mouth hung slightly open with shock.

  "When I said to sniff out a transgenic, I did not mean Alec."

  "Hey, I'm not that bad."

  "Shut up, Alec. Shadow, what the Hell were you thinking? And I thought you didn't even like him!" Max waved her hand towards the man while looking at me.

  "I was thinking that he was safe. And since we were already courting, I didn't see what was wrong with it." My voice came out softer than I expected due to the look on Max's face as my ears were still flat against my skull.

  "I'm sorry, what? Already courting?"

  "Relax, Max. You're acting like she did something terrible. She's not a kid, you don't need to act like her mother."

  "I'm talking to Shadow, not you. Butt out. You, explain." Max first pointed at Alec, then at me.

  "I....reciprocated Alec's interest in courting. When he's not annoying, he makes me feel nice. I like it. So I decided to pursue it more. I-" Clearing my throat, I rubbed the back of my neck. "We've been together a few months now."

  "That long?! Why didn't you say anything?"

  "Because I knew you'd react like this. I respect you, Max, I do, but I don't have to make sure everything I do is okay with you." She looked surprised by my words, but it honestly felt good to get it off my chest. "Also, I won't be living with Logan, so he can have the house to himself." I stated, and Max's eyebrows raised.