The Omega and the Assassin (9 page)

“Dull is so boring.” Finn sighed.

“Maybe to you, but I like my life predictable.”

They made their way over some rough terrain, some of them stumbling several times, despite their enhanced shifter abilities. It was no wonder they hadn’t found this place sooner. It was so far out of the way, they hadn’t had a chance to make it to this part of the park yet. Simon, fool that he was, had just assumed the Spiders would have picked a convenient spot to build their nest.

They finally stopped at the opening of a cave. Simon let out a sigh. The damn things would have to pick a dark, enclosed place to set up shop. They couldn’t make things easy on them. No, they had to make the hunters work for it. Simon swore to himself that he was going to make the Spiders pay for it.

Actually, it wasn’t really a cave, more like a deep opening in a really big hill, but it was still big enough to easily fit all of them as they walked inside. It was dark as hell in there, too. So much so that Finn had to pull out a high-powered flashlight for them all to see. As soon as he turned it on, Simon instantly wished that Finn had kept the damn thing off.

In the center of the earth was a huge crater. It was about six-by-six and it was filled to the brim with Spiders. It was just as frigging freaky as Simon had imagined it would be, too. The Spiders were crawling all over the place, climbing over their brothers and sisters, not even caring who was getting crushed in the process. Everywhere Simon looked, he could see hairy black legs and sharp pinchers. It didn’t make things even better that they all had numerous red eyes, all of which were staring back at him.

Simon let out a curse and jumped back. At the same time, Finn did the same thing. Surprised by Finn’s reaction, Simon looked at Finn. “They freak you out, too?”

Finn nodded, his face pale in the poor lighting. “I hate any spider, no matter the size. This is like a nightmare come to life for me.”

“Me, too,” Simon admitted.

“An assassin who’s afraid of spiders?” Avan cocked his head to the side. “I never thought that there could be such a thing.”

“Oh, shut up,” Finn snapped. “We all have our phobias. Simon may be an assassin, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have emotions like the rest of us. He’s just as normal as you and I.”

If Simon hadn’t have been so grossed out over the nest, he would have kissed Finn for such a nice statement. At the moment, though, Simon was doing his best not to turn tail and run from the nest, all the while screaming like some person from a horror flick.

“Do you have that flame thrower on you?” Simon asked Avan.

“I sure do.” Avan said.

“Get it out and light that mother fucker up,” Simon growled.

He looked at the nest again and another shiver went down his spine as he saw some of the Spiders trying to fight their ways out of it, so they could get at the hunters. They needed to move fast before they had the whole nest on their asses.

Avan pulled out the flame thrower, aimed it at the nest, and then shot it off. Flames came shooting out and lit up the nest. Simon cringed, as he could hear the screams of all the Spiders as they began to burn to death.

Simon only stood around long enough to see that the nest was fully engulfed before he said to the others, “Let’s get out of here. Some of them escaped, and I don’t want to have to fight then in such close quarters.”

They all scrambled out, the Spiders that had escaped the flames close on their heels. Simon was glad to see that Finn ditched the flashlight and pulled out his twin blades instead. Soon they were out in the open. The hunters formed a circle, their backs to each other as they waited for the Spiders to make their first move.

It didn’t take long. One of them launched itself at Avan. The Spider moved with an amazing speed, but Avan still managed to shoot it in midair. Avan’s marksmanship was astonishing, and his bullet hit the Spider in the head. Simon couldn’t help but be impressed.

The next one wasn’t far behind. This one went after Finn. Simon’s heart went into his throat. But he soon saw that he didn’t have anything to worry about. Finn brought his swords around and cleanly sliced the Spider in half. Finn didn’t even look shaken up by the incident. He looked as cool and collected as ever.

Simon turned just in time to see a Spider coming his way. Since he was a bit behind in the ballgame, he didn’t have time for anything fancy. He just brought out his biggest blade and held it out. The Spider must have seen it coming, but it was already too late. Its own momentum brought it forward, and it impaled itself onto the knife.

Simon took several steps back. The damn thing was as heavy as hell. He had to shake his arm several times before the now dead Spider slipped free from his blade.

During all this, Simon could still hear the sounds of the flames crackling inside. It mixed in with the noise of the screams of the burning Spiders. While he’d been an assassin for far too long and had seen way too many deaths, this one had to mark one of the worst. Even though Simon knew it was for best, a small part of him couldn’t help but feel bad for the Spiders. Not that they didn’t need to be taken out. They were dangerous and would have killed a lot of innocents. But still, what a way to go.

Another Spider came at him. This time, Simon was ready for it. He brought out his gun and took it out with one clean shot. He turned around to see Finn take out another on with his twin blades. Omega or not, his lover was kicking some major Spider ass. Simon couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.

God, he’s perfect in every way,
Simon thought.

It was at that moment, surrounded by Spiders and fighting for his life, that Simon realized just how much he cared for Finn. It was more than just a regular relationship for him. Finn was the one for Simon. No one else would ever do.

Now all Simon had to hope for was that Finn felt the same way about him.

Another Spider came at Simon, its furry body doing a flip in the air.
Oh, so you want to get all fancy on me, do you? You little fucker.
Simon put a quick end to that nonsense by shooting it mid-flip. It fell to the ground with a hard thud.

“That’ll teach you to try to get all Jackie Chan on me,” Simon growled.

Finn let out a small cry. Simon looked over to see that Finn was being attacked by two Spiders, each coming from a different direction. Simon raced forward to help, but he quickly saw that his aid wasn’t needed. Finn got into a low crouching position and spun around. He took the legs out from one of the Spiders before he stood up higher and decapitated the other. Then he moved back the legless Spider and finished it off with by impaling it in the gut with one of his blades. Simon cringed at the loud crunching sound the knife made as it cut through the hard outer shell of the Spider.

Avery let out a low whistle. “Remind me never to piss off your man, Simon. He is one tough fucker.”

Simon smiled. Yeah, Finn was. There weren’t many who could have gotten out of the situation Finn had just been in, but Finn had managed to do so, all without breaking a sweat.

By that point, there were just a few more Spiders left. The cries from the ones inside where the fire was had finally died down. The air was ripe with the scent of burning flesh, death, ash, and blood. It was smells that Simon knew all too well, as he had been weaned on them. But they were new to Finn. To his credit, though, Finn seemed to be holding up well. He continued to fight on, handling himself like a seasoned pro. Nobody would have thought that he was some Omega who had barely gotten out until recently.

Once they had finally killed the last Spider, the hunters all bent over and gasped for breath. Not that the air was really that fresh. The smoke from the fire had drifted their direction. Simon’s lungs felt like they were on fire. He could only imagine how bad it must be for Finn with his enhanced sniffer.

As soon as Simon could move, he grabbed Finn by the arm and started to lead him to clearer ground. Finn tripped a few times, proving to Simon that the smoke had really gotten to him. It wasn’t until they’d gone about a mile away that Finn seemed to get his bearings back.

“Sorry about that,” Finn said, before giving a rattle sounding cough. “I didn’t think the smoke would hit me that hard.”

Simon pulled Finn into his arms and held on tight. “You never have to apologize to me for being who you are. I think you’re perfect just the way you are.”

“Really?” Finn asked, his voice laced with uncertainty.

Simon reached down and cupped Finn’s soot stained face. “I really do. There isn’t a damn thing I would change about you. You are everything I’ve ever wanted inn a man and then some.”

Finn grinned up at Simon. “I feel the same way about you.”

“I was hoping you would say that, because now that I have you, I don’t plan on letting you go anytime soon.”

Finn let out a soft laugh. “Who said I would be doing any running?”

As Simon and the others walked into the pack dwelling, they were in high spirits. They had taken out the vast majority of the Spiders and would have a good report to give back to their Alpha. Sure, they would still be out hunting for a while to weed out any Spiders that hadn’t been in the nest. But at least now they were beginning to see an end to the mission.

Simon had to bite back a laugh as he recalled Finn’s reaction to the Spiders’ nest. To think that all this time they had both been hiding their phobia of the things from each other was funny. It showed that while they had shared so much about themselves, they still had a lot to learn about each other. Simon couldn’t wait, either. He wanted to know every little detail about his ferocious Omega. If Simon had his way, they would have plenty of time to do so, too.

As they walked down the hallway leading to Chris’ office, Simon was shocked to see Tate standing there. He didn’t look happy, either. He had his massive arms crossed over his chest, and the look on his face would have made a lesser man pee his pants in fear. It was directed at Simon, too. Too bad for Tate Simon didn’t scare easily.

“Gotta problem?” Simon asked, easily.

“Yeah, you and me have to talk,” Tate all but growled out.

“No, you don’t,” Finn interrupted. “I told you to leave us alone, and I meant it.”

Simon cocked a brow. “I would listen to my Wolf here. He can get pretty nasty when he’s pissed off. I saw him take out three of the enemy all by himself tonight, and he didn’t even get out of breath.”

“
Your Wolf
?” Tate echoed a bit of a rage in his voice. “All right. This has gone too far. You two have had your fun, but it ends now. I’m not about to let my brother be hurt by the likes of you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Simon asked, getting a little more than ticked off himself.

“Don’t think I haven’t heard about your past. You’re nothing but a player. You’ve slept with a ton of guys. If you think I’m going to stand by and let you toy with my brother’s emotions then you have another think coming.”

“I told you to leave us alone,” Finn cut in angrily.

Simon put a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I have this one covered. You’ve fought this battle alone long enough.”

Simon was shocked when Finn actually took a couple of steps back. Usually, his little firecracker liked to be in the middle of the battle. But maybe he wanted to see how things played out between his brother and lover.

“I know you may have heard about things in me in the past. I’ll even go as far as to admit that they are true. But this time, it’s different. Finn is the one for me, and I’m not giving him up. Not even for you,” Simon said in a hard voice.

Several gasps met that announcement. Simon wasn’t too surprised. A few weeks ago had somebody told him that he would in over his head for a Wolf of all people, he would have laughed in their face. At that moment, though, he was dead serious. Finn was the one and only that Simon had been looking all his life for, and he would be damned if he would give him up without on hell of a fight.

“Are you kidding me?” Tate said.

“What? You don’t think your brother is good enough to be somebody’s mate?” Simon challenged, his upper lip curling up into a growl.

“No, I don’t think
you’re
good enough for Finn. He deserves much better than some assassin.”

Simon dropped down on his knees before Tate. “If you don’t think I’m good enough, then you’d better cut me down now. Because that’s the only way that you’re ever going to keep me away from him. Otherwise, there is nothing that is going to stop me from claiming him and keeping him forever.”

“Simon! No! Don’t do this,” Finn screamed.

He tried to lunge forward to help, but Avan reached forward and grabbed hold of him. Finn fought for all he was worth, but the Beta kept a firm hold of him.

“He has to do this. Otherwise, your family will never know any peace,” Avan said.

“If Tate kills Simon, there will never be peace in my family, either, because I will never talk to Tate again,” Finn declared.

“And why is that?” Tate asked.

“Because I love him,” Finn said. “You kill him, and you will be taking the most important thing in my life away from me. I will never be able to forgive you for that. As far as I’m concerned, you will be dead to me.”

Through all this, Simon kept his head down, waiting to see if Tate would actually make the killing blow. While he was willing to die to prove his love for Finn, it wasn’t exactly something he was looking forward to. So if Tate was going to do it, Simon was hoping the damn Wolf would just decide quickly. The waiting was getting to the point of excruciating.

“You would actually die for him?” Tate finally said.

“If that’s what it took to prove to you and everybody how much Finn really means to me, then yes I would.”

Okay, so maybe he was being a bit melodramatic, but something told Simon that if he wasn’t, then nobody would ever take him seriously. That there would always be a lingering doubt in the back of peoples’ mind that his intentions towards Finn weren’t true. If he did this, then they would know his love was true and that he really did care for the Omega more than anything in the world. Plus, as his old master to used to say,
It’s just death, why fear it? It will be over before you know it.