Alpha-mates Chapter-22/?
Chapter- 22
We forgot to use protection, last night...
Jared blinked, that was what was bothering his mate?!
“So?” He grabbed a pair of boxers and pulled them on before turning to face Jensen again, “I mean, I know I’m clean and I’m assuming...hoping-” He amended with a quirked brow, “- that you are too?”
Troubled emerald eyes met his, “You’re not mad?”
“You’re ...not clean?” He hesitated.
“No, I mean, yeah, I’m clean; but you’re not mad that-”
“-That it took ten minutes to clean myself from the uh... the residue of last night’s activity? No, ‘course I’m not mad!”
Jensen offered a timid smile at that and Jared grinned, “So go on, get dressed; we’ll be late otherwise.”
The alpha still hesitated.
“What?” Jared prodded.
“You’re limping,”
He pursed his lips, a grin threatening to spill out: “Well, I apparently exercised certain muscles last night whose existence I wasn’t aware of...” He shrugged.
“Would you let me check?” The words tumbled out too fast and unsure for Jared to assume that Jensen was comfortable making the offer.
“Why?”
“I’d like to confirm that I... uh... that I didn’t cause you serious damage.”
“Fine,” He ground out; tugging the bed-cover into place and lying down on his stomach before pushing the elastic band of the boxer briefs down the curve of his butt.
Jensen’s fingers felt cool against his shower-warm skin and he bit his lip at the twinge of discomfort when the alpha spread his cheeks to look. “Well?”
“There’s no blood,” Jensen answered after a pause.
“But?” He prompted.
“Your skin looks red- irritated,”
“Could’ve told you that myself,” Jared returned.
“Wait here a moment, ‘kay?”
“What?! Why?” He twisted to watch Jensen hurry to a drawer he’d never seen his mate open before.
Jensen was back before he’d sat up and the alpha was coaxing him back down again, “This should help,”
He wrinkled his nose at the uncomfortable coldness of the gel Jensen was massaging onto the outer rim of his irritated channel but held himself still. It didn’t take long for the alpha to finish.
He sat up carefully, biting his lip at the strange slipperiness between his legs as he moved, but the gel did seem to be helping with the rawness so he didn’t bother protesting. “Eggs okay for breakfast?
Jensen glanced up from where he was setting out his suit for the day, “You should rest, I’ll make ‘em once I’m done here.”
“Don’t think we have the luxury of time, Jen. Besides, I think I can handle a couple of eggs,”
“We really picked the wrong time, didn’t we?” Jensen mused, sending a guilty glance his way as he decided between a striped tie and a chequered one to go with his suit, “You deserve to rest and be pampered today. Instead I’m making you prepare breakfast and sit for twelve hours while pompous old fools ramble,”
Jared paused, “I wouldn’t call you old... not yet, at least.”
“Just pompous?” Jensen grinned, accepting the teasing without hesitation.
“Your words, not mine,” Jared winked before sweeping out, “You’d better hurry; Chris should be here in twenty minutes... And by the way, I’d pick the striped tie with that suit.”
They were shovelling the last couple of bites of eggs and bacon when they heard the smooth purr of Chris’ SUV pulling up in the drive. Jensen collected the empty plates and moved to the sink to wash them as Jared went to open the door; glancing behind himself to catch Jensen’s eye when they heard the sound of a second car pulling into the driveway.
He opened to the door to see Chris’ hand withdrawing from the back of his pants as the door of the cab opened to let out Chad.
“Thank God, I was afraid I’d missed you,” The beta announced as he hurried over with a briefcase, “Jay-bird; need you to sign a couple of things before you leave,”
“We don’t have tim-” Chris began.
“Won’t take more than a minute, Chris. Please, man,” Chad interrupted, bustling in and snapping his case open to pull out pages, glancing briefly at Jared, “You’ve got a pen on hand, or do you want mine?”
“No, I have a pen,” He returned, perching on the edge of the couch and reaching for the first set, “Here?”
Chad nodded, “And here, and here,”
Altogether, it took some five minutes for Jared to finish signing the documents. Jensen had ushered the security detail out when Chris had huffed and checked at his watch for the third time. Jared and Chad walked out to find the cab still waiting and Jensen already in the backseat of Chris’ SUV, head bent over a handful of sheets while the security in-charge leaned against the door and smoked. The shorter alpha instantly straightened and ground out his half-smoked cigarette butt with his heel when they emerged from the house. Chad leaned in to give him a hug and Jared watched the tiny wrinkle as the beta scrunched his nose at his scent- and felt his cheek heat at the impending comment; but Chad didn’t say anything. Entering the car, he found himself relaxing at Jensen’s scent almost instinctively- he’d not even realized his muscles were tensed.
He leaned against the alpha, fitting himself under Jensen’s arm and flipped Chris off when the alpha smirked in the rear-view. Jared felt his eyes close, a contented purr rumbling in his chest when Jensen curled his arm around his shoulders and tugged him closer.
“You sure you should be taking him out today, Jensen?” Chris asked; eyes on them through the rear-view.
“It’d be better if I don’t,” the Elder acknowledged, “but I need him with me today, Chris.”
“What’s got you so worried ‘bout today?” Jared asked, straightening slightly to peer at the pages on Jensen’s lap as he caught the undercurrent of concern in his mate’s tone.
“I know what I have to say, but I don’t know how to grab their attention, you know?” His mate confessed, glancing at him briefly, a furrow marring his forehead; “My speech is not all that different from what I said the last time I was petitioning for the beta bill. And while I have the facts and figures I don’t know how to make it attention-worthy-”
“Will the press be there?” Jared interrupted.
“Yeah, why?”
“So you need to ensure that you have their support...” Jared surmised; brain busy cataloguing the best way to garner their attention with minimal negative impact.
“More worried about the Council, actually.” Jensen cut in, “They’ll be the ones voting.”
“Yeah, but it’s the press that holds the power. If you can make an impact with the fourth estate, have them in your favour; none of the Elders will want to risk voting against you and lose their favour.”
Jensen nodded as he digested that, “Okay. What are you suggesting?”
“Ask the Betas’ to speak. You speaking on their behalf is great and all; but you don’t have any actual experience with the prejudice that betas’ face. So invite them to speak, share their experiences and highlight why this Bill is important. Plus, it’ll ensure that you come across as genuinely interested because you are allowing them voice-which is what your Bill is aiming to do- instead of just speaking on their behalf.”
“Huh,”
“Jenny,” Chris called from the first seat, waiting till they both looked up, “Marry that boy.”
Jared blushed even as Jensen’s lips tilted up in a proud smile, “I already did.”
By the time they reached the Convention Centre, they had finalized on the plan to grab the maximum attention for the proposed Bill. It was risky, bordering on breaking the established protocols of conduct at the Alpha Meet; but they both agreed that while it was unconventional, they were not actually doing anything wrong. Jensen glanced at him as the SUV rolled to a stop, “You’re okay with doing this, right?”
Jared bit his lip but nodded, his stomach clenching in anticipation.
Jensen only had time to smile at him before Chris was opening the door and he had to step out. Almost immediately he was called away by Tom who wanted a last minute consult on some detail.
“Jared,”
The Pack Beta jumped, only then realising that instead of following Jensen as per the norm, Chris had stayed behind with him, Tahmoh taking Chris’ usual spot behind the Elder Alpha.
“Yeah?”
“I just wanted to confirm that you were sure about doing this...”The shorter alpha confessed softly.
Jared felt his eyebrow hit his hairline, “Are you suggesting I shouldn’t?”
Chris shook his head immediately, “It’s not my place...” The alpha sighed, blowing out a forceful exhale before continuing, “It’s just that sometimes Jensen doesn’t consider...”
Jared swallowed, “Go on,”
Chris met his gaze briefly before looking away again, “He means well, but he is an Elder... so he doesn’t really understand-”
“Just spit it out, man,”
“If you choose to go through with this, you’ll come under a lot of flak-”
“We know what we’re proposing is risky-”Jared interrupted but Chris was shaking his head.
“I’m saying personally. You will be the one under attack, Jared; not Jensen... guess what I’m trying to ask is... are you ready for that kind of attention?”
“Are you suggesting that I back out?”
“It’s not-”
“As a friend...” Jared cut in, tone beseeching, “I’m just asking for your opinion. Please?”
Chris hesitated but then met his gaze head-on, “Anybody else and I’d tell them to forget it... but you... you might be the one person to pull something like this off.”
Jared felt his lips twitch into a smile, “Thanks.”
“We’ve got your back, Kiddo.” Chris slapped his back, “Always.”
Before Jared could respond; Jensen was there, coming up to take his place next to Jared at the head of the entourage, “Ready?”
Jared met his gaze steadily, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Jensen smiled, squeezing his forearm briefly before reaching for the heavy doors that led to the main auditorium, “Let’s do this.”
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Previous
Masterpost
Next
A/N- A number of you have asked about how an alpha can be 'turned' in this world... and I promise shall tell you. Just ... not yet. ;-)
We forgot to use protection, last night...
Jared blinked, that was what was bothering his mate?!
“So?” He grabbed a pair of boxers and pulled them on before turning to face Jensen again, “I mean, I know I’m clean and I’m assuming...hoping-” He amended with a quirked brow, “- that you are too?”
Troubled emerald eyes met his, “You’re not mad?”
“You’re ...not clean?” He hesitated.
“No, I mean, yeah, I’m clean; but you’re not mad that-”
“-That it took ten minutes to clean myself from the uh... the residue of last night’s activity? No, ‘course I’m not mad!”
Jensen offered a timid smile at that and Jared grinned, “So go on, get dressed; we’ll be late otherwise.”
The alpha still hesitated.
“What?” Jared prodded.
“You’re limping,”
He pursed his lips, a grin threatening to spill out: “Well, I apparently exercised certain muscles last night whose existence I wasn’t aware of...” He shrugged.
“Would you let me check?” The words tumbled out too fast and unsure for Jared to assume that Jensen was comfortable making the offer.
“Why?”
“I’d like to confirm that I... uh... that I didn’t cause you serious damage.”
“Fine,” He ground out; tugging the bed-cover into place and lying down on his stomach before pushing the elastic band of the boxer briefs down the curve of his butt.
Jensen’s fingers felt cool against his shower-warm skin and he bit his lip at the twinge of discomfort when the alpha spread his cheeks to look. “Well?”
“There’s no blood,” Jensen answered after a pause.
“But?” He prompted.
“Your skin looks red- irritated,”
“Could’ve told you that myself,” Jared returned.
“Wait here a moment, ‘kay?”
“What?! Why?” He twisted to watch Jensen hurry to a drawer he’d never seen his mate open before.
Jensen was back before he’d sat up and the alpha was coaxing him back down again, “This should help,”
He wrinkled his nose at the uncomfortable coldness of the gel Jensen was massaging onto the outer rim of his irritated channel but held himself still. It didn’t take long for the alpha to finish.
He sat up carefully, biting his lip at the strange slipperiness between his legs as he moved, but the gel did seem to be helping with the rawness so he didn’t bother protesting. “Eggs okay for breakfast?
Jensen glanced up from where he was setting out his suit for the day, “You should rest, I’ll make ‘em once I’m done here.”
“Don’t think we have the luxury of time, Jen. Besides, I think I can handle a couple of eggs,”
“We really picked the wrong time, didn’t we?” Jensen mused, sending a guilty glance his way as he decided between a striped tie and a chequered one to go with his suit, “You deserve to rest and be pampered today. Instead I’m making you prepare breakfast and sit for twelve hours while pompous old fools ramble,”
Jared paused, “I wouldn’t call you old... not yet, at least.”
“Just pompous?” Jensen grinned, accepting the teasing without hesitation.
“Your words, not mine,” Jared winked before sweeping out, “You’d better hurry; Chris should be here in twenty minutes... And by the way, I’d pick the striped tie with that suit.”
They were shovelling the last couple of bites of eggs and bacon when they heard the smooth purr of Chris’ SUV pulling up in the drive. Jensen collected the empty plates and moved to the sink to wash them as Jared went to open the door; glancing behind himself to catch Jensen’s eye when they heard the sound of a second car pulling into the driveway.
He opened to the door to see Chris’ hand withdrawing from the back of his pants as the door of the cab opened to let out Chad.
“Thank God, I was afraid I’d missed you,” The beta announced as he hurried over with a briefcase, “Jay-bird; need you to sign a couple of things before you leave,”
“We don’t have tim-” Chris began.
“Won’t take more than a minute, Chris. Please, man,” Chad interrupted, bustling in and snapping his case open to pull out pages, glancing briefly at Jared, “You’ve got a pen on hand, or do you want mine?”
“No, I have a pen,” He returned, perching on the edge of the couch and reaching for the first set, “Here?”
Chad nodded, “And here, and here,”
Altogether, it took some five minutes for Jared to finish signing the documents. Jensen had ushered the security detail out when Chris had huffed and checked at his watch for the third time. Jared and Chad walked out to find the cab still waiting and Jensen already in the backseat of Chris’ SUV, head bent over a handful of sheets while the security in-charge leaned against the door and smoked. The shorter alpha instantly straightened and ground out his half-smoked cigarette butt with his heel when they emerged from the house. Chad leaned in to give him a hug and Jared watched the tiny wrinkle as the beta scrunched his nose at his scent- and felt his cheek heat at the impending comment; but Chad didn’t say anything. Entering the car, he found himself relaxing at Jensen’s scent almost instinctively- he’d not even realized his muscles were tensed.
He leaned against the alpha, fitting himself under Jensen’s arm and flipped Chris off when the alpha smirked in the rear-view. Jared felt his eyes close, a contented purr rumbling in his chest when Jensen curled his arm around his shoulders and tugged him closer.
“You sure you should be taking him out today, Jensen?” Chris asked; eyes on them through the rear-view.
“It’d be better if I don’t,” the Elder acknowledged, “but I need him with me today, Chris.”
“What’s got you so worried ‘bout today?” Jared asked, straightening slightly to peer at the pages on Jensen’s lap as he caught the undercurrent of concern in his mate’s tone.
“I know what I have to say, but I don’t know how to grab their attention, you know?” His mate confessed, glancing at him briefly, a furrow marring his forehead; “My speech is not all that different from what I said the last time I was petitioning for the beta bill. And while I have the facts and figures I don’t know how to make it attention-worthy-”
“Will the press be there?” Jared interrupted.
“Yeah, why?”
“So you need to ensure that you have their support...” Jared surmised; brain busy cataloguing the best way to garner their attention with minimal negative impact.
“More worried about the Council, actually.” Jensen cut in, “They’ll be the ones voting.”
“Yeah, but it’s the press that holds the power. If you can make an impact with the fourth estate, have them in your favour; none of the Elders will want to risk voting against you and lose their favour.”
Jensen nodded as he digested that, “Okay. What are you suggesting?”
“Ask the Betas’ to speak. You speaking on their behalf is great and all; but you don’t have any actual experience with the prejudice that betas’ face. So invite them to speak, share their experiences and highlight why this Bill is important. Plus, it’ll ensure that you come across as genuinely interested because you are allowing them voice-which is what your Bill is aiming to do- instead of just speaking on their behalf.”
“Huh,”
“Jenny,” Chris called from the first seat, waiting till they both looked up, “Marry that boy.”
Jared blushed even as Jensen’s lips tilted up in a proud smile, “I already did.”
By the time they reached the Convention Centre, they had finalized on the plan to grab the maximum attention for the proposed Bill. It was risky, bordering on breaking the established protocols of conduct at the Alpha Meet; but they both agreed that while it was unconventional, they were not actually doing anything wrong. Jensen glanced at him as the SUV rolled to a stop, “You’re okay with doing this, right?”
Jared bit his lip but nodded, his stomach clenching in anticipation.
Jensen only had time to smile at him before Chris was opening the door and he had to step out. Almost immediately he was called away by Tom who wanted a last minute consult on some detail.
“Jared,”
The Pack Beta jumped, only then realising that instead of following Jensen as per the norm, Chris had stayed behind with him, Tahmoh taking Chris’ usual spot behind the Elder Alpha.
“Yeah?”
“I just wanted to confirm that you were sure about doing this...”The shorter alpha confessed softly.
Jared felt his eyebrow hit his hairline, “Are you suggesting I shouldn’t?”
Chris shook his head immediately, “It’s not my place...” The alpha sighed, blowing out a forceful exhale before continuing, “It’s just that sometimes Jensen doesn’t consider...”
Jared swallowed, “Go on,”
Chris met his gaze briefly before looking away again, “He means well, but he is an Elder... so he doesn’t really understand-”
“Just spit it out, man,”
“If you choose to go through with this, you’ll come under a lot of flak-”
“We know what we’re proposing is risky-”Jared interrupted but Chris was shaking his head.
“I’m saying personally. You will be the one under attack, Jared; not Jensen... guess what I’m trying to ask is... are you ready for that kind of attention?”
“Are you suggesting that I back out?”
“It’s not-”
“As a friend...” Jared cut in, tone beseeching, “I’m just asking for your opinion. Please?”
Chris hesitated but then met his gaze head-on, “Anybody else and I’d tell them to forget it... but you... you might be the one person to pull something like this off.”
Jared felt his lips twitch into a smile, “Thanks.”
“We’ve got your back, Kiddo.” Chris slapped his back, “Always.”
Before Jared could respond; Jensen was there, coming up to take his place next to Jared at the head of the entourage, “Ready?”
Jared met his gaze steadily, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Jensen smiled, squeezing his forearm briefly before reaching for the heavy doors that led to the main auditorium, “Let’s do this.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous
Masterpost
Next
A/N- A number of you have asked about how an alpha can be 'turned' in this world... and I promise shall tell you. Just ... not yet. ;-)