It hurt, deep cuts littered his forearms and chest, but Jason ignored the pain. This needed to end.
Lifting Tom off his feet, Jason slammed him against the wall again and again until he went limp in his arms.
With Tom’s head tilted to one side, the long column of his throat caught Jason’s eye. His fangs ached at the sight. It’d be so easy to lean in and finish it.
Finish him.
He’d hurt several pack members, almost killed Daryl . . .
He wanted to do it, could almost feel his teeth ripping the life from him, and it took all his control to retract his fangs and shift back.
That wasn’t his decision to make.
Throwing Tom unceremoniously to the floor, Jason straightened, taking a moment to catch his breath. Blood spatter covered the walls and floor of his flat, like a murder scene.
He peeled off his tattered T-shirt to inspect the damage to himself, just as his front door blasted open accompanied by a deafening roar.
Daryl appeared moments later, half-shifted, Alec close behind him.
He looked from Jason to Tom, then back to Jason, gaze lingering on the still-healing slashes to his body. “You okay?”
Jason sighed. “Yeah.”
Daryl and Alec shifted back to human, but the wild look remained in Daryl’s eyes. He gestured to where Tom lay on the floor. “He sabotaged the rope on the obstacle course.”
“I know.” Jason wiped some of the blood from his arms with the remains of his T-shirt, the wounds already healing. “He said he had a fight with Davies. Is he—”
“He’s with Tim,” Alec cut in. “But he’ll be fine.”
“Good.” Jason sighed, still a little in shock over what had just happened.
“What else did he say?” Alec shot a glance at Daryl, who still had his fists clenched, breathing heavily.
Jason repeated what he could remember.
“Alec,” Daryl growled, looking seconds from shifting back. He rubbed a hand over his eyes.
“Can we do this later?” He gestured to Tom. “Can you take him away? I need to talk to Jason. Alone,”
he added when Alec made no move to go.
Jason’s heart rate kicked up, pulse racing.
Alec gave Daryl a long, hard look, then raised one eyebrow as some sort of understanding dawned. When his lips curved up into a smile, Daryl sighed.
“Just go, please.”
Alec walked past him, knocking Daryl’s shoulder with his fist. “I’ll let Cam know what’s happened.” He called for the two members of his unit who were waiting outside and supervised as they carried a still-unconscious Tom out of the room.
When the front door closed, Daryl turned to Jason, eyes dark as his gaze bored into him.
Jason swallowed, anticipation ofsomethingcoursing through him. “Why did you—” It was as far as he got before Daryl covered the distance between them in two quick strides, backing Jason up against the wall, their bodies flush from chest to thigh. “Fuck,” he whispered.
Daryl leaned in, running his nose up the column of Jason’s neck. A low growl followed and claw-tipped fingers dug into Jason’s shoulders.
“Daryl?” The last thing he wanted was to interrupt whatever the fuck this was, but he needed to know what was going on.
The soft sigh Daryl let out tickled the hairs on Jason’s neck.
