chapter warnings: a lot of exposition, but trust me
chapter notes: first time writing a hybrid, let me know how i did, this will be multi-chaptered
part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven | part eight | part nine |
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When your friend had suggested you get a pet, this is not what you imagined.
A cat or dog perhaps, even a fish would've made more sense, this whole thing started with you coming into the shelter asking for just that.
You’d asked about their cats or even their smaller dogs, but they’d all either been adopted or were reserved by potential owners.
“Have you considered a hybrid?” Those five words, and your inquisitive “A hybrid?” Is what landed you in this situation.
The lady excitedly lead you through a few different doors until you were in a room that overlooked a large spacious area.
“There’s so many of them,” you muttered to yourself, but it was clearly loud enough for her to hear you.
“Not many people want a hybrid, they prefer a traditional cat or dog,” her tone was melancholic, and a pang of guilt hit your chest. That was exactly what you’d done.
“Chances are the majority of these guys will spend their whole lives here,” she sighed sadly.
A high pitched yelp interrupted her train of thought as she perked up to see who the culprit was. It seemed to be a pink haired girl, her matching feline ears were pressed back against her head whilst another hybrid had their hand raised into a fist.
“Jinx no!” Your guide leaned over the small balcony to scold her. All the hybrid’s snapped their attention to where her voice was, but the blue-eared one slowly lowered her fist and skulked off to another corner; content that the conflict was over the rest of the room relaxed and continued what they were doing previously.
However, one pair of eyes remained on the balcony.
You couldn’t place it at first, but then you spotted him. His eyes were so piercing that you quickly avoided eye contact.
“Who’s the one on their own?” You asked quietly as if he could hear you. The vet leaned into you and the excitement was radiating off of her.
“That’s Jayce, our chocolate Labrador hybrid,” she paused for you to ask questions, but continued quickly anyway.
“He’s been with us for about 3 months, he was completely feral when we found him. He’d been abandoned by his previous owner when he was a puppy and was surviving on his own for so long,” her voice lost its usual joyful lint the more she spoke.
“When he arrived he was practically uncontrollable, we thought we’d have to separate him from the others entirely,” she paused as she realised her voice was getting louder, “But he bonded well with one of our felines, Viktor his name was, but he was adopted quite quickly-“.
The entire time she was talking your eyes kept darting back to who she was talking about.
He was sat in a chair with with his leg on his knee, away from everyone else, his annoyed gaze continuously on the balcony as if he knew he was being spoken about.
“-We encouraged them to adopt the two of them as a pair, but they didn’t want a canine, so he stayed with us. Unfortunately, some of his feral habits returned but he mostly keeps to himself now,” she finally finished her monologue.
You furrowed your eyebrows with empathy and glanced towards her, "He's lonely, like me," you commented and put your elbows on the railing to rest your chin on your palms, overlooking the space again.
His eyes were still on the two of you, you could feel it.
"Do you want to meet them?" the vet asked a little too swiftly.
The thought bounced around in your mind for a moment, contemplating if you should even entertain this idea; but as you looked around the room you felt your heart ache for them.
You sighed as a sign of conceding to the idea, "Yeah, why not?" you pushed yourself up off of the balcony and turned to the vet, waiting for her to start moving.
The smile on her face was one of relief and joy. It was clear that not many people were jumping at the opportunity to adopt a hybrid, let alone even entertain seeing them.
It didn't take long to get to the 'sanctuary' door - that's what she called the main communal area for them - she swiped her key card and the door beeped open.
For some reason your heartbeat increase slightly as you stepped over the threshold and into the room.
"Hello everyone!" she said in a slightly elevated voice, not loud enough to be shouting but loud enough for it to carry throughout the room. "We have guest today, she's very nice so don't worry," she warned them.
Although the atmosphere didn't feel hostile, it didn't feel welcoming either. The majority of them observed you from a distance.
There were so many questions you had, but you didn't know where to start.
"If we take a seat over here we can let them come to us," she lead you to a sofa in the middle of the room, but as you sat down she moved away to a cabinet to retrieve a big folder.
The time you were alone was minimal but a spike of anxiety went through you, some of the hybrids moved closer to observe you but never close enough to speak to any of them individually.
The vet returned and sat next to you on the sofa, placing the big folder onto the table, "We have all the information on the residents in here," she didn't open it but left it for you, if you felt inclined.
It didn't take long for the blue haired feline from before to bound over and sit next to the vet, "Hello sweetie," the vet said as the feline put her head on her shoulder and started playing with her hair.
"This is-" she started, but this time you interrupted, "Jinx?".
Both the vet and Jinx looked up at you when you spoke, "Yes! She's quite the troublemaker, especially with her sister Vi," she pointed at the pink-haired feline that was being bapped earlier.
"I see," you spoke slowly as you opened the folder to their joint page. 'Must be adopted together', it read in bold under their photos.
"As they're actually siblings, we can't have them separated, it wouldn't be healthy," she explained as she started to tighten one of Jinx's braids.
It reminded you of her story from before and you instinctively raised your head from the folder to where the Labrador hybrid was sitting before, he was still staring at you.
"What type of space are you working with?" you were thankful she was asking you questions, you felt completely out of your depth.
Your eyelids fluttered in surprise, he must be territorial, you thought.
"Just a one-bed apartment," you eventually answered. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the vet lean back to glace at Jayce and her lips curled into a smile again.
"Ah," the noise of disappointment, "That's not a lot of space for play, if you were to adopt it would need to be someone more relaxed,".
She leaned forward and started flipping through the folder, unclipping certain pages and laying them in front of you.
"Unfortunately, they're all a little rambunctious here, but these are who I'd recommend," she'd placed two folders on the table.
"Caitlyn', and 'Ekko", she said aloud even though their names were written down in front of you - Jinx stuck her tongue out and made a 'Bleh' noise when she said Caitlyn.
You spent some time reading their files, they seemed nice enough, two felines; but the whole time you were reading your mind kept drifting back to the one who's eyes you could feel in the side of your head.
"What about-" you started, pausing for a moment to reconsider if you actually wanted to suggest this, but before you could get the courage to complete the sentence the vet interjected with a surprised "Jayce?!".
You glanced up from the pages to ask her how she knew what you were going to say, when you realised there was a large figure basking you in his shadow.
Immediately, your heart started beating quickly again and a nervous rush went through you. "Oh, hello," your voice shook as you spoke.
Now that he was closer you could see that his eyes were a golden yellow, which complemented his chocolatey brown hair pretty well. His nose twitched as if he was also rethinking his approach, or he was catching your scent.
"Jayce, this is..." the vet started the introduction and waited for you to say your name out loud for him, which you did.
His eyebrow raised slightly as he seemed to look you over; from your shoes to the top of your head.
Before, it felt like you couldn't make eye contact with him, but now you were struggling to look away. There was a sadness in his eyes that you recognised all too well, he was lonely too.
Unsure of how to manage the situation, you stuck your hand out for him to shake. He studied your hand silently and without movement, you were starting to think you should put your hand down when he slowly took it.
His hands were large, much bigger than your own and very warm. Although he didn't move his hand, he held a gentle grip on yours and watched where they connected.
"Nice to meet you, Jayce," you tried to say as softly as possible and timidly shook his hand up and down. His brown ears twitched slightly at the mention of his name.
After a few long seconds he let go of your hand and with a quick exhale he walked away.
You blinked a few times and lowered your hand, "Did I do something wrong?" you asked the vet, she chuckled to herself "Not at all, I'm actually surprised he showed any interest at all, he normally never moves from his spot,".
"Oh," was all you could say.
After some time, the vet stood and gestured for you to do the same, leading you towards the exit, "We should leave them to it, we try not to overstimulate them with new people too often,".
Once you were out in the halls again, you asked "Why's his hair so long?". Whilst it wasn't an unmanageable length, it was certainly dishevelled and outgrown.
"He doesn't really let people near him, let alone people with scissors and a razor," she laughed, "Like I said, he still has some feral tendencies, nothing that we're concerned about but it does mean he's a bit scruffy sometimes." she explained.
You nodded slowly to show your understanding. Whilst you felt yourself being drawn towards Jayce, the more you heard about his behaviours the more you were thinking that you weren't cut out to have a hybrid.
"I don't think I’m capable of looking after someone like him," you confessed even though it physically hurt your chest to say.
The vet chuckled again, "When it comes to hybrids, they look after themselves. All you really need to do is feed them, give them a home and attention when they want it.".
She picked up the folder again and flipped through the files, "I know it might seem overwhelming, but we don't just let anyone adopt our hybrids, there's a vetting process to it," she said as she handed you another file.
"What about my apartment? It's only one bedroom, and he's quite..." you didn't know what word to settle on, "Large,".
She nodded at your concern, "Ordinarily, I'd say it was an issue, but for a canine like Jayce, he just needs companionship and intellectual stimulation.".
You took in her words, you were hoping she would agree and tell you that it wasn't possible, that it wasn't meant to be. Then you could let this go and move onto something less demanding.
"Take this home, have a read and see how you feel. If you're still interested we can set up another meeting," you took the file from her and held it close to your chest.
Over the next couple of days, that's exactly what you did.
You read the file over and over, it felt like every detail was engrained into your brain, along with those piercing yellow eyes that were so full of sadness.
He was like you. As much as you hated to admit it, he was your reflection.
"Hello?" you spoke into you phone, the voice on the other end greeted you and asked you to verify your name, which you did.
"How can I help you today?" the receptionist was characteristically bubbly, "I'd like to set up a meeting, please?" you asked hesitantly.
The line was quiet, save for the tapping of her fingers on the keys, "Of course, is that for Jayce?" she eventually said and you felt a bolt of excitement charge through you.
"Yes, please," you confirmed. A few more details were exchanged and the meeting was set, "Perfect, we'll see you tomorrow at 1pm!".
The evening went by too quickly and too slowly at the same time.
Luckily, you worked from home so you were able to be fairly flexible with your availability, despite your morning being relatively unproductive.
Instead of doing your job, you'd spent the first three hours of your shift researching canine hybrids; their needs, requirements and any medical issues.
You'd only just started researching about feral hybrids before you realised the time, 12:30.
When you arrived he was sat in the same chair as before, but this time he wore a black tunic with the sleeves rolled up.
If not for the fluffy ears and tail, you'd think he was a business man or politician of some sort.
As you approached him - with the vet in tow - he stood.
It took you by surprise and your steps faltered. He blinked a few times and his eyebrows softened slightly for a second, before putting his hand out the same way you had a couple days prior.
A soft smile came across your lips as you tentatively took his hand and shook it, he’d copied your gesture to make you comfortable. His touch felt familiar, as if he was someone you’d known for years.
Despite the gentle nature he was showing you, his eyes still bore into you like he was trying to figure out if you were a threat or not.
When he eventually let go of your hand, he sat down and his eyes looked between you and the chair opposite him. He wanted you to sit as well.
You glanced at the soft armchair behind you and side stepped until you were in front of it; before you lowered yourself down, you turned your head back to Jayce to check this is what he wanted.
When there was no change in his demeanour, you plonked yourself into the soft cushions less than gracefully, it was a lot lower and bouncier than you’d anticipated.
“He got this out when he heard you were coming today,” the vet said from behind you, honestly you’d forgotten he was there.
You’d somehow failed to notice that on the table in between the two of you was a chess set, set up and ready for a game.
“I’m sure you’ve already read his file, but Jayce here is very intelligent, he loves these types of games,” the man sounded so proud.
Meanwhile, Jayce stared at him with a displeased facial expression, like he was waiting for him to stop talking.
“I’ll leave you to it, but I’ll be over here if you need me,” the man gave you a small wave as he moved to the other side of the room.
This was the first time you and Jayce were somewhat alone, there was a spark of excitement as well as nervousness.
Warnings: AOB, light swearing, ruts, heats, older Jayce, bearded Jayce, Professor AU, age gap reader in their 20s Jayce around 30s, plus size reader, self-esteem issues, reader has chronic pain, reader is a writer, smut? Probably xD
Professor Jayce Talis, man of progress, creator of hextech along the side of his partner Viktor, and one of the top professors at the Academy, known for his skills in the forge and hextech magic and currently your alpha crush of the entire two years you’ve been at the academy. He’s everything textbook-based an alpha should be, strong, rugged, handsome, caring, passionate, protective, and you may or may not have written a few characters based on him, but…. who needs to know that? You only see him around campus, never having talked to him properly apart from a few polite greetings of acknowledgement. It’s stupid, you know to be so obsessed with a man who probably forgot you exist and would never look at an omega like you. Omega, you hate it, hate being one, you should’ve been born a beta both your parents are betas, but no, the universe screwed you over and here you stand, in the middle of a gathering against the wall invisible to everyone’s eye. You managed to outrun your parent's polite talking with other members of the council and academy, now you lean against the wall, hips and legs aching in these gods-forsaken heels with a glass of horrid champagne in your hand acting like you belong there. You figured you should be safe here for a few hours before you can go home and return to your bed. That is until a hard back runs into you and champagne goes down your front. You gasp at the sudden wetness and coldness down the front of your dress, people turn at the commotion and you want the world to swallow you up. You don’t even realise till a scent hits you that Professor Jayce Talis is the one who ran into you. You also hate that this dress is a very light cream colour.
“Oh fuck” you frown at the sudden words before you notice Professor Talis shrugging off his jacket and wrapping it around you to save your modesty.
“I’m so sorry” he says standing in front of you so nobody can see.
“It’s- fine” you manage out.
“Let’s get you out here” he says smiling sheepishly and you nod your brain not quite catching up with the situation. As you exit the party Professor Talis sighs.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t even look where I was going” he says his face ridden with guilt.
“It’s fine, I was blending in with the wall, seemed it worked” you joke and see him break out into a brilliant smile before laughing.
“You were indeed blending” he says and you swear you fall in love with the sound of his laughter.
“I’m so sorry for ruining your dress” he says again his hand rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly the muscles in his arms bulging.
“It’s fine, got me out of the party anyway” You shrug a bit tightening your hold on his jacket his scent enveloping you.
“Do you stay here at the Academy?” He asks and you nod.
“Let me walk you to your room?” He offers a small smile on his face.
“It’s fine really-“You break off going to take his jacket off but he quickly keeps you covered and you flush.
“Right, uh champagne down my now see-through dress” you nod gulping a bit.
“I’ll walk you to your room” he says and you nod not daring to open your mouth as you begin walking. You curse your heels halfway through the walk and stop leaning against the wall kicking them off before bending to grab them. You feel a shoot of pain go up your spine and stifle a curse leaning against the wall before forcing yourself back up.
“Are you ok?” Professor Talis asks worried his eyebrows furrowed.
“Fine, just walking in heels isn’t fun,” you say and he nods offering a small smile before you continue walking.
“Uh, this is me,” you say once you reach your dorm room.
“Right, I’m so sorry again-“ he trails off with a frown and you tell him your name.
“Right, I’m sorry again Miss Y/n,” he says.
“I’ll go get changed and give your jacket back,” you say pulling out your key card.
“Just bring it to me tomorrow, I’ll be in my office most of the morning if you’re free,” he says as he glances down at his watch and you blink in surprise.
“Yeah, that’s fine, I’ll uh wash it for you,” you say.
“You don’t have to” he chuckles.
“It’s got champagne on it, it’s the least I can do” you offer a smile back.
“Alright, goodnight, Miss Y/n, I’m sorry again” he nods his head before walking away leaving you stunned.
You enter your dorm still in shock, you can’t help but bring the jacket to your nose and breathe in his alpha scent that’s covered on it.
“Nope, we don’t do that, that’s weird” you say to yourself shrugging his jacket off and lying it over the small couch you have in your room before going to the attached bathroom to have a shower. As you shower your mind replays the whole situation and you silently hate yourself for everything, blending in on the wall. You dry yourself and get dressed before taking his jacket and you go to your dorm's laundry.
“Do I need to wash it a special way” you mumble to yourself before shrugging and putting it in the washing machine, you put in your detergent before turning the machine on and sighing.
“There you are” you internally groan at the sound of your mother’s voice and heels clicking against the floor.
“You found me” you force a smile.
“I saw what happened with Mr Talis! Are you alright?” She fusses.
“I’m fine mum, just some spilt champagne” you shrug.
“Well, good of him to let you borrow his jacket and save some dignity you have” She smiles and nods and you resist the urge to roll your eyes. According to your mother, writing is not a proper career a ‘young omega such as yourself’ should take, no you should be preparing for being a stay-at-home wife with ten million children running around in a white picket fence.
“Right well, I must head back to the party I see you’re not going to return” She eyes your PJs.
“No Mother I’m not going to return” she nods curtly.
“Well, goodnight,” she says.
“Night mum” you mutter as she walks away the click in her heels echoing the halls. You run a hand down your face and sigh glancing at the timer on the washing machine before heading back to your dorm. You set a timer and lie down in your bed sighing in relief at the tension easing off your hips and legs. You grab a book from your bedside table and begin reading.
You must dosed off because the timer scares the hell out of you and your book flies to the ground with a thud. You groan and stand up slowly picking your book up and putting it on the bedside table before heading to the laundry again. You pray no one’s there, your current resting groggy bitch face is not a pleasing sight. You take out Professor Talis’s jacket and put it in the dryer a yawn leaving your lips before you head back to your dorm once more.
proof-read by no one, i let no one proofread this, you all find out together
part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven | part eight | part nine
want a handwritten letter from a character? / join the discord for updates
At some point the clock had churned itself forward enough to hit 5am. 5:23am being the last timestamp you recalled before sleep had wrapped its lithe fingers around your ankles and dragged you into the realm of unconsciousness.
When a particularly loud car with a spluttering engine had passed your bedroom window and woken you from your restless sleep, you realised you’d actually fallen asleep with your phone still on.
There, on the dimly lit screen, was the last document you’d found on the subject of Hybrids.
Henry was correct when he’d forewarned you of the unpleasantness of your bedtime story, it made you wish that it was all just fiction. An amalgamation of dystopian sci-fi meeting biological horror.
Hybrids had been around for a very long time, beyond yourself, your parents, possibly even your great-grandparents. Four generations of life- of history mostly erased due to hatred and bigotry.
The earliest indication you could find was in the 1920’s, but you were certain there were trickles of them even further back than that, there had to be.
Weapons. They’d been made, initially, for the sole purpose of being expendable weapons for the military during the fallout of the first world war.
Whilst the world was healing and making reparations, Piltover were planning and preparing in the ways they do best. Deliberating and debating ways they can improve the safety of their own council should something similar happen in the years to come.
The brightest scientists that the country had to offer had devised a way to splice the DNA of animals with that of humans; maintaining their human appearance, while harnessing their animalistic traits to give them an advantage that their human counterparts couldn’t compete with.
The eyesight of a big cat was far superior to technology from the simple fact that it didn’t require calibration, testing or constant upgrading to best its enemy. Night vision that didn’t need to be turned on manually.
Similarly, their biology meant they could outrun a human, and their stamina replenished faster too. Nature’s predator manufactured into something that could be trained to follow orders while thinking for themselves to adapt to any given situation.
Not to mention that the skin of certain mammals is thicker and tougher; an elephant or rhino was a human- or Hybrid- shield with enough empathy to protect the members of their squad without a second thought.
These Hybrids were considered as a barricade, a hunter, reconnaissance, navigation, anything that was useful to the scientist that made them, but not as human. Just a tool to be harnessed and exploited.
If the mere idea of raising Hybrids just to be soldiers wasn’t enough to make your stomach turn in on itself, the way they were described in the documents finished the job- from what you could read around the constant grey bars of redactions.
It was dehumanised and devoid of any compassion; people who didn’t know any better were reduced to a description of ‘subject’ or labelled only as their animal counterpart.
You’d needed to take a moment to stare at your bedroom wall after that. A moment of pause to calm down and collect yourself that you were certain these Hybrids were never given.
Luckily, and you were using the term very loosely, the council of Piltover had voted in favour of abolishing the programme under the description of being ‘One step too far’.
The ache in your jaw was persistent from how many times you’d clenched and unclenched it in anger.
A member of the council, whose name had been redacted for- what you assumed to be- security reasons, had called the manufacturing of Hybrids to be ‘the beginning of a self-funded release of an invasive species’.
Your thoughts drifted to the man you’d left slumbering on your couch within the pillow fort you’d made together with such care. There was nothing ‘invasive’ about him. In fact, from the few short days you’d spent with him, he’d seemingly gone out of his way to shrink himself and his presence.
He was guarded, of course, and aloof with his emotions but he was kind and considerate. He shared his food with you, and tried to move you out of harm’s way when he thought there was the possibility of trouble ahead. Jayce was not ‘invasive’.
He had his own taste in music, movies and loved boardgames. He wasn’t a weapon.
The idea to check on him had crossed your mind, and you wondered if you’d find him still sat up like you’d left him, or if he’d woken up and assumed a more comfortable position within the bed of pillows and blankets you’d left him.
However, your need to understand him more overtook any notion of leaving your bed. Instead, you grabbed one of your pillows to hug it before you continued on your search. If so many exotic and larger animals were an integral part of the original designs, then why had you never seen or heard of them in your lifetime?
It had taken you the best part of an hour to locate the answer to that question, and when you’d found it, you immediately wished you hadn’t.
The words on your phone became blurry, unintelligible wobbles of lines in front of you as a few tears trickled down your cheeks and into the pillow you were holding for a comfort that it couldn’t provide.
They were ‘disposed of’. Living, breathing, sentient beings with thoughts and feelings had been wiped clean from existence simply for being as strong as they’d been created to be.
The voice of the councillor who had deemed them as an ‘invasive species’ had been heard too loudly and too clearly by the hearts of those who feared the consequences of what they’d done.
Not a single one slipped through the cracks.
The pit you felt in your chest was hollow, as if a slight breeze would pass through the chasm and hit the expanse of where your heart was supposed to be. Even so, it felt selfish. Selfish to cry and feel such anguish for something that didn’t affect you personally.
But it did. The man that struggled to sleep at night and refused to let you touch him; either through the apprehension of what you might do to him, or worse, what such a gesture might do to you, made it personal.
The document that had been a witness to your unplanned slumber had explained that, unsurprisingly, the best and brightest that Piltover could offer was unhappy with having to throw away years of research into what they proclaimed to be ‘groundbreaking’.
Shocking absolutely no one, the council agreed. They had put too much money and reputation into the project for it to be discarded, and if you weren’t hitting the very limits of your ability to stay awake, you would’ve screamed in frustration that the same sentiment hadn’t been extended to the lives they’d abandoned.
The programme had been ‘revised’, or so the document had stated. Accompanied with a law that the production of Hybrids was to be limited to ‘domestic breeds’ only. Easily tamable, and easily trainable.
A media campaign is what really put the concept of Hybrids into the public eye. They were advertised as a ‘companion’ or ‘accessory’ to the rich society of Piltover, something to flaunt a wealth that some could only dream of.
Although, like all fads and trends, the excitement died and Hybrids fell into the gutter of capitalism. Only now, the council couldn’t quietly sweep them under their gold-encrusted rug and pretend it never happened.
They were a part of society, whether or not they wanted to accept that fact, and humans would simply need to learn to co-exist.
Once your eyes had adjusted to sunlight creeping through your bedroom curtains and you’d conceded to the fact that you wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep after remembering what you’d learned, you checked your notifications.
Henry had sent you a follow-up text around the same time you’d fallen asleep, asking how the reading had gone.
You’d managed to get out of bed and begin mentally forming your reply to him when one very loud question blurted itself into your thoughts.
How did Henry have this information?
If the council had been so secretive and thorough in their eradication of any trace of their blood stained history, then how did Henry- a man casually taking his own Hybrid out for coffee- have access to classified documents?
You slowly turned your head back to where you’d left your phone on your bed, screen open on your texts with the man in question, and your blood turned thick with enough ice to cause frostbite.
How you proceeded next had to be calculated, not just for your own safety, but for Jayce's.
part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven | part eight | part nine |
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“Hello! What can I get for you both today?” the barista beamed at you both, her smile radiating the warmth of genuine welcome.
She handed you both a laminated menu which you took, but Jayce hesitated slightly before he accepted the double-sided paper, not quite enjoying the feeling of the plastic against his skin.
“Oh, hello!” you greeted her back and let out a long “Uhhh,” of thought. You’d been so concerned about whether this café was suitable that you hadn’t even thought about what you wanted to eat.
You glanced up from the menu and saw that Jayce was having as much trouble as you. “If you would like a moment to decide that’s okay!” the barista continued her kind smile, “Just find a table and come up to the counter when you’re ready.”
Jayce moved the menu towards you and pointed to the drink he wanted and you nodded, “I think we’ll need a minute for food but drinks are good to go,” you spoke to the barista but your eyes flitted to Jayce, awaiting his nod of confirmation, which he provided.
You gave her your drink orders and paid, then walked through the small cafe looking for somewhere cosy for the two of you to sit.
Considering it wasn’t that big of a building, there were quite a few tables for its potential customers - small circular tables with only two chairs for intimate exchanges, ranging to large booths for a gathering of people, the options were overwhelming.
“Where do you want to sit?” you whispered to Jayce as if it were a secret between the two of you, the pressure of wanting to make this outing perfect making you recede within yourself. As if all your confidence had been used in the previous confrontation.
Jayce shrugged and glanced down at you with a tilted head, his expression changing slightly when he saw your shy demeanour. He surveyed the room for a second and then started walking towards a four person table by a wall of bookshelves, peeking over his shoulder to make sure you were following him; you were.
He pulled out two of the chairs on one side, giving you the option of which of the two you wanted to sit on, before walking to the other side and sitting in the one he’d chosen for himself.
Whilst the chairs themselves were aged and made of hardwood, the owners had arranged an assortment of cushions and pillows on top of them to make the surfaces more comfortable for longer stays. You picked up the pillow from the chair you didn’t sit on and put it behind your back, sighing with the relief that it brought.
Jayce didn’t seem that bothered by the hardness of his seat as he pulled the plush cushion out from under his body and presented it to you. You laughed gently and shook your head, “Two is enough for me, but thank you,”, at your words, he placed it on top of the seat next to him and gently pushed it down as if he were telling it to stay put.
There was a beat of silence between you, the only noise being the busy ambiance of the people around you. The subtle ‘Psst’ of the coffee machine nozzle blowing out fresh steam. The clattering and clinking of cups and cutlery. It was just enough to keep the awkwardness away from your table.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” you apologised, finally breaking the silence between you. Jayce gazed up at you, his forehead wrinkled at the raise of his eyebrows and his ears bounced at the sound of your voice; his head still tilted downwards as he inspected the menu but his attention was now on you.
His eyes searched yours, possibly looking for where your sentence was going. “In the other cafe-” you clarified, even though you didn’t need to, Jayce knew what you were talking about, “-I didn’t think it through properly, and I should’ve checked beforehand to make sure it was okay for you,” your eyes lost contact with his, the guilt you were feeling forcing you to look anywhere but him.
“I just didn’t expect it from them,” you pulled the sleeve of your top up over your knuckles and played with the fabric, “I’ve been going there since I’ve lived here and they’ve never been like that with anyone,” you knew you were rambling but you couldn’t stop the words from coming out.
You cleared your throat, you were unintentionally making excuses for them, and they didn’t deserve that. Jayce didn’t deserve that.
“They were assholes to you, I’m sorry,” you said firmly and regained your confidence enough to look back at him. It was as though his eyes had never shifted from when you’d started talking; he studied your expressions as you spoke as if he was going to have a test on it later that day.
You felt visually dissected by him, and you could tell he was searching for something specific beneath the word vomit that was being expelled from your mouth, but you didn’t know what.
He blinked slowly at you and you felt a wave of reassurance flitter over you, but before you could verbally dig yourself deeper into this apology hole the barista appeared at the end of your table.
“Got those drinks for you!” She put the two mugs down on the table with such delicacy that the ceramic clicking against the wood was almost inaudible. Just as quickly as she’d arrived, she left again with a happy “Enjoy!”.
Then it was back to the silence. Even though you’d already apologised, and everything in your gut told you not to linger on the subject and to move on, your heart couldn’t let it go.
The urge to bring it up again teetered on the edge of your tongue and you weren’t sure if you could balance it well enough for it not to topple over and fall out of your mouth.
His attention had returned to the laminated menu, reading every item with a curious intensity. There was a perfect excuse to change the subject onto what he wanted to eat, if he liked the music that was playing, or even if he was warm enough where you were sitting, but the roots of guilt were too deep into you that you felt like you needed to rip them out before the infestation was incurable.
“Why did you leave?” You asked before you could stop yourself and his body stopped moving at the mention of the situation, as though the thought of it turned him into a statue like a memory-medusa.
His vision went from the menu, to you, to the table, then back to you again.
He put the menu back down on the surface and laced his fingers together in front of him, seemingly in thought.
You should’ve left it alone, moved on with the afternoon and allowed him peace, but you were being selfish. The need to remove this guilt off of your shoulders had overpowered the conscious thought to let him move on, and that only pushed the stone of anxiety deeper into your stomach.
“It doesn’t matter, sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” you quickly tried to erase the question ever coming out of your mouth, but no matter how hard you inhaled, the words wouldn’t go back into your body.
You read the menu in front of you with such forced focus that you weren’t actually reading the words on the page, the same thoughts swirling around in your mind and overpowering any cognitive ability you had left to take in the letters and form any coherent sentences.
Out of your peripheral vision, you could see his fingers unwrap themselves from each other and his arms lift from the table. You locked your eye line onto the menu, actively ignoring what he was doing, feeling as if you had done enough damage for one day.
After a few moments he tapped the table and slid a napkin over to you, the white square landing diagonally over the text you were pretending to read. In black ink, the word ‘Safer’ was scribbled - parts of the tissue had ripped from the force of the pen tip, but it was legible.
You took the napkin in your hands, holding it delicately as if it would rip apart if you moved too quickly. “Safer?” you read it aloud and returned your gaze to him. His eyes flicked to the napkin and then to your face, nodding once.
“As in, it’s safer here?” you queried, the tight knot in your chest and your incessant need to overthink apparently making you forget the question you’d asked him.
He closed his eyes and exhaled with, what you regarded to be, annoyance. His shoulders relaxed as he opened them again and jutted his chin towards the exit. “Outside? Do you want to leave?” your heart sunk at the prospect that you’d only made the situation worse, making two mistakes in one day.
He shook his head side to side, his brown locks mimicking the motion in front of his forehead. No. He tapped the napkin twice with the ballpoint of the pen, harder than he had before and widened his eyes with his mouth slightly agape like he was mentally repeating what he was trying to say but the wavelength wasn’t reaching you. Your brain was too full of everything you’d done wrong today.
“I-” you started, looking down at the word and back to him as if viewing it another time would somehow rearrange the letters into a way that would form the sentence he was trying so hard to get to you. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” your eyebrows raised with sympathy from their previous state of confusion.
He reached forward quickly and spun the napkin back towards him, clicking the pen with his thumb and starting to scrawl more words onto the fragile surface. One letter in and you watched the delicate fabric tear from the force he was pressing down, making it completely unusable.
The hand that was holding the tissue in place swiftly scrunched it up in his palm, the same hand coming to massage his nose with frustration. His shoulders rose with a deep inhale, he held it for a second, then pushed it out of his nose as a way to calm down.
A minute of you watching him rub the indent between his eyes with his index finger and thumb felt like hours. Multiple times you had opened your mouth to say something but closed it again, not being able to find any words that would comfort anyone but yourself.
The usual comfortable silence between you was tainted with tension you didn’t know how to relieve. The pangs of nostalgia picked at your heart with involuntary memories of weaponised silent treatment.
But Jayce wasn’t him. It wasn’t like that with him, his silence was not a battle against you but one within himself and you needed to be patient with him.
“It’s okay,” you finally said, and he opened his eyes to meet yours again, his fingers still connected to the bridge of his nose. A cautious smile strained onto your lips, “I’m sorry I pushed, and I’m too much of an idiot to understand,” the second part of your sentence was supposed to have humour to it, but the moment it left your lips his frown deepened.
He shook his head at your self-deprecating remark, clearly not liking the way you were speaking about yourself, but he softened his gaze and lowered his hand.
“We can talk about something else if you want?” you spoke with a new gentleness, trying to navigate the situation properly. You didn’t wait for him to answer before you threw another question at him, “Have you decided on what you want to eat?”.
Jayce stares at you and blinks as if he’s trying to keep up with the barrage of questions coming his way. He lowers his head to the menu again and exhales out of his nose twice in a mixture of a sigh and a chuckle, a ghost of a smile twitching on his lips.
He appreciated how hard you were trying to make him comfortable, it made the thrums of his own frustrations fizzle out into a calmness he wasn’t yet used to.
He laced two of his fingers through the handle of his mug and sipped his drink, reeling back for a moment as the hot liquid burned his top lip unexpectedly. His tongue ran over the sensitive flesh to soothe it as he looked down at the foam like it had done it intentionally.
As if watching him sip his coffee made you remember that you too had a drink, you mimicked his movements, lifting your cup to your mouth and blowing on the top layer of foam, not wanting to make the same mistake he did.
His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, he turned the menu with his other hand and pointed at what he wanted.
A loud grumble sounded from across the table, Jayce’s stomach seemingly agreeing with his choice. “You must be so hungry, I’m sorry!”, you said as you collected the menus off of the table and stood, the legs of the chair audibly creaking against the floor from the speed your thighs had pushed it backwards.
“I’ll go order the food and I’ll be right back,” you tapped the table twice with your knuckles and headed for the counter.
You stared at the words on the page, repeating what Jayce wanted over and over in your mind as you stood behind an older man. He was taking his time querying all the different syrup flavours that they had to offer.
You didn’t mind waiting. It gave you a moment of reprieve to catch your breath and slow your thoughts. Jayce was patient, but you couldn’t help but feel like you’d pushed that patience to its limit already, and this was your first real day together.
It wouldn’t surprise you if you woke up tomorrow morning and he was nowhere to be found with how badly today had gone. Your chest cramped at the thought.
“Hi, are you ready to order?” The barista’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts.
“Hi, um, yes!” You stepped forward and put your hands, and the menu’s against the counter, relaying what Jayce wanted and then your own choice.
You were pretty sure you’d remembered his order correctly, you prayed you had.
“Great, we’ll bring it over to you when it’s ready,” she finished scribbling on her notepad and punctuated it with a full stop, “You’re number six,” she handed you a wooden spoon with the number six drawn onto the convex side with black sharpie.
You took the spoon and started to turn when you spotted a pile of whiteboards and pens behind the partition that separated customers and staff.
“Excuse me?” You called out to her as she reached through the gantry, a hand - who’s owner you couldn’t see - took the paper slip containing your food order from her fingers.
She twisted her head around to you, giving you her attention once more, her face expectant and awaiting your question.
“Are those whiteboards for customers?” You asked, the inquiry feeling a bit silly now that you’d heard your own voice make it audible. “It’s just-“ you continued, over-explaining yourself again “-Your companion is mute?” She finished your question for you with an expression of understanding and sympathy.
“Uh, yeah,” you confirmed, a little taken aback that she knew what you were going to say before you could vocalise it, “That’s why we have them!” She grabbed one of the whiteboards and individually picked up a black, blue and red marker.
As she handed them to you, she must have noticed your surprised expression, or it was extremely obvious that you were out of your depth as she started to explain in more detail.
“It’s common for our hybrid friends to choose not to speak, most of them have been through a lot, it takes time for them to re-find their voice,” there was a sad but hopeful lint to her words, as if she’d experienced it personally.
The implication that Jayce may speak one day made your heart thump an extra time. You’d heard him chuckle and clear his throat multiple times, so you knew he had the itinerary needed, but hearing someone else say it filled you with optimism.
“Although, not all of them do,” her interjection dampened your internal celebration. She must have seen the excitement on your face and not wanted to give you false hope, “My nana had a hybrid who never spoke a word to her for her whole life, but she was the funniest person she knew, apparently.”
Whilst you wanted to stay and chat to the young girl, you glanced over your shoulder to make sure Jayce was still content while he waited for you.
He was sat sideways in his chair, one arm on the backrest and the other on the table as he observed his surroundings in more detail. You could spare a few minutes to maybe learn something that might help you make him more comfortable.
“She never spoke to her?” You asked, encouraging her to continue her story, “Not a word! All their communication was written,” she grabbed a cloth and started to wipe down the nozzles of the coffee machine as she spoke.
“My nana is the one who opened this place around 30 years ago, I think? And she was adamant we have enough whiteboards and pens for every table, that’s what mom said anyway,” she grinned as she retold the memory. It was nice to know this was a family owned business of people who genuinely cared for hybrids.
She dropped the cloth onto the counter, “I won’t keep you from your afternoon, but if you want more info about hybrids we have a couple of books,” she pointed to the bookshelves by the table Jayce had chosen.
“Is it that obvious I’m new to this?” You laughed and rubbed your elbow with your hand, the girl raised her hand and made a pinching motion with her fingers, “A teensie bit,” she played along with your humour.
“But it’s okay, we all start somewhere! You’ve made it harder for yourself by starting with such a large breed, but if the connection’s there, that’s all that matters!” She reassured you, the cadence of her voice carrying that of someone much over than she seemed.
“Thank you, I really appreciate it,” you smiled at her with gratitude and left her to her job, returning back to Jayce.
Waiting for the food to arrive was much less awkward than before you’d ordered. Whatever tension you were feeling you’d seemingly left somewhere on the journey between your table and the counter.
The two of you sat in silence, taking turns to sip your drinks and take in your surroundings.
Jayce’s attention was on the ceiling where there was an intricate painting of ivy vines and leaves intermingling with, what you presumed to be, fake ivy pinned to the same surface. It gave the interior a more at-home-in-nature type of vibe.
Meanwhile, you were observing him. The way his curious eyes followed the trail of greens and ambers from the corner of the room to the expanse of the ceiling above you. The way his throat bounced with every swallow of his coffee, and his lips turned up into a satisfied and content smile.
His side profile was angular; the slope of his nose just after the slightly raised dorsum emphasised the tip nicely - it would wrinkle intermittently whenever a new scent found its way to his nostrils. His rounded lips, although scarred with harsh lines, were outlined almost-perfectly by his coarse beard.
The strands of hair from his moustache were beginning to peak over a bit too much, and you realised he would probably need to shave soon if he didn’t want to be eating it with his food.
As if he knew you were analysing the shape of his mouth, his lips parted slightly as he continued to admire the artwork above him, giving you a glimpse of the canines that you’d seen in different context this morning.
You couldn’t help but wonder what his voice sounded like. It wasn’t something you could rush, nor could you hold onto the expectation that you would hear it. But you could still wonder nonetheless.
Would it hold the same soft, patient, gentleness that you’d seen in his eyes?
Before your thoughts could take you any further, your plates were set down in front of you and you began to eat.
You hadn’t realised just how hungry you were until the first morsel of food connected with your tongue, your tummy immediately grumbling as if you weren’t actively feeding it.
He ate faster than you, and you realised he had the same sensation. The last time either of you ate was last night, and you were most certain that he hadn’t gotten proper rest.
“I’m sorry it took us so long to eat, I shouldn’t have dragged you around town,” you covered your mouth as you spoke to make sure no stray food flew at him despite having an empty mouth.
While he chewed the last few bites of his meal, he reached for the whiteboard marker and popped off the lid, scribbling on the board’s surface much easier than he had the napkin.
‘Stop apologising’ he’d written in hurried handwriting. You read it as you swallowed your mouthful, your instinct was to say sorry again but as you opened your mouth to do so he gave you a scolding look.
He didn’t need to write it down for you to understand he was saying ‘Don’t you dare’.
“I do that a lot, don’t I?”, he closed his eyes and nodded as he put the last piece of his food into his mouth and savoured the flavour. He didn’t seem annoyed, but you made a mental note to not say it as much.
“Okay, I’m never going to apologise to you again,” you joked, trying to fight the curl of your lips, but his raised eyebrow made you crack.
It was nice, sitting there with him. Comfortable.
When you’d finally caught up to him and cleared your plate, he picked it up and slid it on top of his, placing them both towards the end of the table so the server could retrieve them easier.
It was moments like these that you forgot what his file said about him. Feral tendencies and behavioural trouble seemed like the furthest thing from his repertoire.
Instead, he replaced where your plates had been with the whiteboard, rubbing out where he’d chastised you with the same napkin he’d ripped earlier and drew two horizontal lines and two vertical lines over the top of them.
As you were tipping the last of your drink into your mouth to wash down your food, you hummed excitedly as you recognised what he was doing. Tic-tac-toe.
He picked up all three of the pens and presented them to you with a gaze that said ‘Choose your weapon’, for this battle, you chose blue. He put the black pen down, having selected red as his sword for this tournament.
He gestured to you to start and you realised he was letting you go first. You twirled the pen between your fingers as you looked over the whiteboard, trying to decide which space to put your circle in.
“It’s been years since I’ve played this,” you recalled as you observed the grid. From your memory, going first almost always guaranteed a win because the other player would always be on the defensive, trying to counter the first player’s moves, it seemed like he was almost doing you a favour by letting you begin.
With an air of confidence, you put your blue circle in the top middle box. Before your pen had even lifted from the board he’d put his cross in the top right box, next to yours, with two swipes of the pen.
You narrowed your eyes with a sly smile, and he returned your expression with a raised eyebrow. Oh, it was going to be that type of game.
You had learned your lesson by underestimating him previously, but you wouldn’t make that same mistake again. Readjusting your posture so your elbows were on the table and your back an unhealthy arch, you inspected the board.
The circle and cross next to each other stared back at you as your brain mentally drew all the different moves you could make, he would be the one blocking your victory after all.
He watched you think. The way you chewed your bottom lip and your eyes darted to each square then back to the scribbles already on the board, the light crease in between your eyebrows whenever you reached a conclusion where he would win, and the subsequent shake of your head to erase the invisible game you were playing with him in his head.
He liked seeing you serious about a game, it sent a rush of adrenaline through him, finding a worthy opponent was difficult.
He could probably guess where your next circle was going to go just by how often your eyes locked onto the square, and he was already planning his own measures to stop you succeeding. He was correct in his assumption when he followed your pen to the middle left box.
You hoped your tactic would work - cutting off the middle box of the left and top so he wouldn’t be able to predict where you were going to go next, and so he couldn’t win on those lines.
He would surely take the bottom left so you couldn’t complete a trio on the left column and leaving the middle box unprotected for your taking - then you would have the option of winning horizontally or vertically.
The red pen drifted towards the left corner and you couldn’t help the grin that started to creep its way onto your face, soon victory would be yours.
Then, with a quick flick of his wrist, he swiped two lines in the bottom right corner.
Your smile dropped, your plan had failed. But then your mouth parted as your eyes finally relayed the information you were seeing to your brain, the middle right box was blank and he was one move away from winning.
Promptly, you drew your circle in the space, blocking his pesky red cross from triumphing over you. Although you hadn’t given yourself time to think about your move, it was the only one you could make that wouldn’t end the game immediately.
He chuckled, the sound vibrating in his throat and causing you to glance up at him. His lips were parted and his tongue caressed the tip of his fang for a moment before resting back in his mouth, the glint in his eye was almost identical to the one he had once his food had arrived. Hungry and ready to pounce.
You swallowed the saliva that had built up in your throat, the few microseconds it took for him to raise his pen building the suspense of your fate in a way that made your heart race.
You’d lost. Even though the game was still in motion, you could tell by his eager expression that he had you exactly where he wanted you. With threads of hope that you could still turn this around, but he was three steps ahead of you on a hill you couldn’t see over.
Eventually, he slowly drew his red cross in the centre square. Ironic, you thought you were being clever by not taking that one to begin with, but now it was your downfall.
The tip of his pen was still against the whiteboard when he raised his eyes to lock with yours, his golden irises held anticipation but not for how the game was going to conclude. No, he knew that from your first move, it was more so for your reaction. He wanted to consume your realisation of your defeat, and drink in the helplessness of knowing that whatever move you made, he had won.
You blinked rapidly, breaking the eye contact with him and taking in your situation. It took you a moment to register what had happened, but then you saw it. The only spaces blank were the top left, and the bottom and middle left - he could win with either the top or bottom left by making a diagonal red trio.
When you’d understood you’d lost you thought it was just by one space, but knowing that he had a selection of ways that he could claim his victory made you comprehend exactly who your opponent was.
One square would’ve been an honourable loss. However, the way he’d not only given you an advantage by going first, but so swiftly pulled that advantage out from under you and given it to himself was nothing short of impeccable.
“You win,” you straightened your back and spoke softly, starting to put your pen down in defeat. He tutted and you didn’t need to see his face to know that he was telling you the game wasn’t over yet. To surrender so close to the end would be to rip his reward from him.
Your fingers hadn’t left the pen yet and you’d already conceded to his wishes, drawing a lazy circle in the bottom corner and securing his success.
He folded his arms on the table in front of him and watched you pull your pen away hesitantly, as if the longer you took the longer you could live in the moment where you hadn’t lost.
The hand that was holding his pen came up to rest on his face as he tapped his cheekbone in mock deep thought, he smirked smugly as his eyes went from the whiteboard to your face, his lids slightly hooded but you could still see the gold of his irises piercing you with indiscernible contemplation.
He’d already won, so why was he dragging it out? You squirmed in your seat under the pressure of his gaze, and you saw his smile deepen. Ah, that was why.
Deciding that he’d tortured you enough, he put his cross in the top left box and drew a diagonal line through his three territories, signalling him as the winner.
You exhaled deeply and leaned back in your chair, examining the board to try and figure out where you went wrong, how he’d so quickly gotten the upper hand on you, but you were coming up blank.
He erased the whiteboard and re-drew the grid and you were all too happy to try and even the score.
The rest of the games were draws. As much as you wanted to win, the mixture of overthinking his moves and second-guessing your own meant that, no matter how hard you tried, he beat you. But the flash of his teeth and curl of his lips made it worthwhile - you didn’t mind losing if it made him happy.
You tapped your phone screen, having noticed that the cafe was starting to quieten down with empty seats, it was getting late. “I think they’re closing soon,” you said with regret, watching him wipe the previous game off of the board with the napkin, “Is there anything else you want?” you asked as you stood from your chair.
He thought for a moment and shook his head as he continued to clean up the board and put the pens on top of it in a neat line.
You picked it up and put your hand over the pens so they wouldn’t roll off as you walked and returned it back to the counter. You began to turn back around to the table and make your exit when you saw a cupcake in the bakery cabinet, vanilla sponge with a little bit of frosting and a strawberry, cut in half, nestled on top.
Immediately you asked the barista for it, you remembered in Jayce’s file that he liked strawberries and his favourite type of cake was vanilla - although, the document did state that vanilla was the only flavour they were able to get him to try in the short span of time he was there, but at least you knew he didn’t hate it.
You paid and she passed the treat to you on a little ceramic plate, you held it like it was the most precious thing in the world; this was your cargo to carry to its destination. However, as you slowly spun to return to Jayce, your shoulder collided with someone walking quickly behind you.
A sudden gasp left your lips as the cupcake wobbled but remained standing, and you gazed up at the moving target you’d accidentally hit.
Another canine hybrid. His hair was a gradient of black to white from the roots to the ends, but with no uniform pattern, light grey being the dominant colour you could see - emphasised by the pointed grey ears sticking out from the wavy mess. A husky, if you had to guess.
“I’m-”, “I’m so sorry!” you both spoke at the same time, but you were the one to finish your sentence first. He regarded you with icy blue irises, slightly obscured by the playful but curious hood of his lids.
“It’s fine, shit happens,” he shrugged with one shoulder, ironically the one you’d collided with, his voice was melodic with a slight raspiness to certain words. If this had been the first hybrid you ever encountered you would’ve never second-guessed if they could speak.
Internally, you scolded yourself. Automatically assuming that every hybrid was incapable of dialogue because they were different from you is not what they deserved.
Whilst you were in thought, you must’ve been staring at his shoulder because his hand came up to grab it dramatically, “I mean, ah!-” he bent his knees to dip as if he’d just been hit, “-I think it might be broken, you really did a number on me!”
There wasn’t a single drop of sincerity in his voice or his features as he scrunched up his face and grit his teeth in faux pain, the bridge and nose piercing bobbing with the sudden contraction of the muscle.
He opened one of his eyes to see your reaction, his face still a performance of agony, and his bottom lip pouted as if it took a lot of concentration not to break his character.
Then you laughed, hesitantly at first, but when he joined you it flowed easily.
You thought an awkward silence was going to follow, but his voice filled your ears again. “I haven’t seen you here before, first time?” he lowered his hand and his genuine tone returned.
You nodded, “Yeah, only found out about this place today. It’s nice!” you glanced around the cafe as if you were seeing it for the first time again, mainly to avoid his eye contact. Whilst he had a comforting aura about him, the light blue of his eyes felt like they were boring into your very soul.
“Well, I don’t get to come here often, but I’ll certainly remember a face like yours,” he wasn’t subtle in his compliment, but if there was any doubt of the intention of his words, the mischievous one-sided grin would’ve been all the evidence you needed.
You exhaled out of your nose as a bashful laugh escaped you. Despite his forward nature, this man was charming, you could tell he wasn’t serious in his advances but his playfulness was a breath of fresh air.
The man’s eyes trailed behind you and up, his smile remaining but his eyes lost their joyful lint. You turned your head to glance behind you but felt a tug on the back of your sweater, pulling you backwards and making you take a few steps back.
Jayce moved one step forward, placing half of his body in front of yours and between you and your new acquaintance.
The atmosphere shifted in a bubble around the three of you, the rest of the cafe unaffected by the unspoken argument between blue and golden gazes.
You didn’t need to see Jayce’s face to know his features were hard and apprehensive as he stared down at him, you could tell by the way he adjusted his shoulders. The smaller man tilted his head to the side, chin raising and back straightening to try and make himself look bigger.
It was like watching two peacocks bristling their feathers at each other. You reached your hand out to touch Jayce’s bicep but refrained from making contact, afraid that it might make the situation worse, “Jayce, it’s okay. He’s friendly,” you spoke softly but strongly. Maybe sounding confident would put him at ease that you weren’t in danger.
Jayce’s ear twitched towards you, hearing your words but his body language didn’t change. “No harm meant, big guy,” the husky reinforced your statement with his own, but folded his arms over his chest defensively. You swore you caught a glimpse of redness on his knuckles, but it could’ve been from the cold weather.
The tension in the air wasn’t fading and you could feel that both of them weren’t willing to back down anytime soon.
“Jayce, stop!” you called his name, this time not shouting but firmly and direct as an attempt to get his attention away from his potential opponent. “Listen to her,” the younger man jutted his chin towards you without his eyes leaving Jayce.
You flicked a stare towards your new friend, a gaze that told him that he wasn’t helping the situation, but before you could vocalise your thoughts to him a man came jogging towards the three of you.
“Abraxas!” His voice carried a command that you could never dream of speaking to Jayce with. Once he was level with you all he looked between the two hybrids, “Is he causing trouble?” The man panted, clearly out of breath from his speedy approach.
The husky - who must have been Abraxas - turned his head to the man with offense, unravelling his arms from his chest and extended his arms out either side of him with annoyance, “I didn’t do anything! We were chatting and this guy-” he raised his arm to gesture at Jayce but his sentence was cut off by the man’s hand pushing against his chest sharply to make him stand behind him.
You noticed how Abraxas’ ears drooped slightly at the action, but it had done the job of silencing him.
“He always does this,” he shook his head disapprovingly, “These bigger canines are hard to control sometimes, you turn your back for one second and they’re starting fights,” he spoke with a cadence of comradery with you, as if he was talking to someone who would mutually understand.
But it made you think. If Jayce got out of hand, would you stand a chance at calming him down?
Your gaze drifted back to the side of Jayce’s face as you cautiously stepped in front of him again so you could converse with the man. The fabric of your sweater was still pinched between his fingers and you felt the resistance of his gentle tug once he’d deemed you were close enough.
“It was all a big misunderstanding,” you explained, trying to portray with your voice how silly this whole altercation was. “At least your one is quiet, I can’t get him to shut up most days,” he chuckled, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at Abraxas, who seemed just as offended as before at the comment.
“I’m Henry, by the way,” the man extended his hand for you to shake and you resisted the urge to check with Jayce before you shook it and gave him your name.
“Us canine owners have gotta stick together,” there was a noticeable crease beside his eyes when he spoke, showing his age. “Well, this is actually our first day together,” you corrected him and gestured to Jayce, who was still tense.
“Ah!” Henry glanced between the two of you as if he had secret information of events you were yet to experience, “They can be a handful, but looks like you’ve got a good one,” his eyes trailed over Jayce as if he was examining him.
“This is Jayce,” you introduced him, missing the side eye that Jayce gave you as you freely offered up his name to this stranger, “Nice to meet you Jayce, sorry about the trouble,” Henry extended his hand for him to take as well, but you weren’t surprised when it was left hanging in the air.
“Well,” Henry dropped his hand and turned back to you, “I wish you luck! I’d offer you my number as a support line, but I wouldn’t want to impose!”, “Yes, please, that would be great!” you waited for him to finish speaking before you interjected with your acceptance out of politeness.
The truth was, after the events of today, this was going to be hard. You didn’t want to keep making mistakes that would backtrack any progress the two of you were making.
The man took out his phone and passed it to you so you could input your number, “I’m very new to this, so any help is appreciated,” you gave him his phone back once you were done and felt your own phone vibrate with a text after he’d typed you a quick message.
“You’ve certainly made a bold choice for your first hybrid,” his eyebrows jumped as his eyes lifted from his phone and to Jayce, again looking him up and down, “Any questions, shoot me a text.”
He said his goodbye and made his exit, grabbing the sleeve of Abraxas’ jacket and forcing him to walk with him, you could hear the muttering of scolding fade with them.
Jayce seemed to relax when it was just the two of you again. You thought about doing the same thing Henry had done and reprimand him for almost starting a fight, but the sympathetic expression he held told you that he already knew.
“I got you a cupcake,” you changed the subject and his features softened as he regarded the plate you’d been holding in your hand the entire time, “I hope you like it.”
He took the cupcake off of the plate, picking the strawberry off of the frosting and holding it in his palm. He bit into the sponge, almost eating the whole thing in one go, and you held your breath with anticipation.
His tongue wiped away any traces of the frosting that had attached themselves to his moustache and he hummed whilst nodding his head, showing his enjoyment. You let out your breath.
“Are you okay to eat it while we walk? I think they’re closing,” you twisted your head to see the members of staff wiping down tables and putting the chairs on top. Jayce didn’t give you an answer, but started walking towards the door instead.
The evening air was much colder than when you’d arrived, the sun having set a few hours ago and the only illumination you had was the streetlamps.
Jayce had finished his cupcake before you’d even caught up to him outside. He picked up one half of the strawberry and placed it into his mouth, the red berry seeming no bigger than a small candy in his palm as he presented the other half to you.
You shook your head, “No, I got it for you,” but he moved his hand closer to you, insistent on you having it. You reached up and hesitantly took the strawberry half between your index finger and thumb, the tips of your skin gently brushing against his palm; it was warm, really warm, with a roughness to it that you didn’t want to question.
Placing it into your mouth, you chewed with a thankful smile as he licked the part of his hand where the sticky residue of the fruit had leaked and brushed his hands off against each other.
“Shall we go get some snacks for home?” you said once you’d swallowed, the word ‘home’ seeming foreign to say to someone other than yourself, reminding yourself that it was now his home too.
His nod certified your next plan of action and you led him to the closest store you knew would be open. He stayed close to you as you roamed the aisles, picking up what snacks you wanted and encouraging him to do the same.
As you approached the register you passed the stationary section and an idea came to you. It would be impossible for you to pick something up without Jayce noticing, so as casually as you could, you picked up a sketchbook and a metal tin of drawing pencils. You remembered how interested he was in the artist earlier and wondered if he wanted to try it himself.
By his unchanged expression, you assumed he didn’t notice, or thought it was for you.
You paid and continued your walk back to your apartment, the inky black night sky now hung fully above you, it really was getting late. There was too much light pollution in town, all the neon signs of bars and restaurants, with the bright street lamps, meant that any attempt at observing the stars would be pointless.
Has Jayce ever seen the stars? You thought to yourself. He must have, from his years of not having a roof over his head. But had he ever stargazed without the fear of what the dawn brought? You made a mental note to yourself to take him further out of town one day to do just that, maybe even camping?
You were so deep into your mental to-do list that you barely noticed when Jayce had stopped walking. His head was tilted towards the high rooftops of the tall buildings, drinking in the LED lights that you’d seen so many times since winter hit.
You shuffled next to him and stuffed your hands into your pockets to protect them from the chill, taking in the bright white snowflakes and tinsel that draped from roof to roof. In some sense of it, this was probably the equivalent of Jayce seeing the stars for the first time, under different conditions.
To you, it was a simple and repetitive thing that the council organised every year, but to him it was the first time seeing the festive lights. You thought about how it must feel, to have a moment of wonder so late in your life, one that you had taken for granted as a child, but a glance at his face answered your question.
The pulsing glow radiated in the glossy surface of his eyes, as if the stars themselves had nestled into them to twinkle and shine, recognising another celestial body. The soft hue of the whites, green and reds reflected against his skin, illuminating him like he too was a celebration to be marvelled at.
It astounded you how anyone could treat this man so poorly. His features were so full of longing and affection that he wasn’t yet ready to share with another living person, an adoration that begged to be allowed to the surface. But the festive lights were an exception, they couldn’t hurt him.
You opened your mouth to usher him along, to mutter a quiet “Let’s go home,” but you couldn’t bring yourself to interrupt this moment.
So, you patiently waited for him until he was ready. Viewing the lights you’d seen in various different places throughout your life, they were always similar designs, but this time through a new lens. Appreciating them from a new perspective, the perspective of Jayce.
A battle is always gruesome, always war cry’s, guns blazing, swords clashing. You’re with the people of Piltover hidden,protected, the ones who decided to stay anyway or couldn’t leave, you’re trying to comfort Jayces mum, after last night you’ve been a whirlwind of emotion and you haven’t seen the alpha since then. There’s a constant nagging in your stomach and brain as you hear distant rumbles and shouts. All you can do is wait, you don’t posses any power of the Arcane, of Hextech or basic fighting skills or rifle handling, in other words you can’t help Jayce. It’s like a deep sunken pit of emotions in your gut.
Caitlyn is the one to return, she’s missing an eye her stomach is stabbed and Vi is holding her up.
“We won” is all she says before she collapses and is rushed to medical. The people emerge, you see Mel holding her dead mother, you see her mother’s soldiers there and a bunch of those creatures Jayce showed you. You see no Jayce though, you figured the battle took elsewhere maybe in the lower part of the hex gate. You rush down there, it’s destroyed and no sign of Jayce, there’s a hold leading right to the top though of the hex gate building. You search everywhere for any trace of the alpha and find none and sinking feelings claw at your heart.
It’s been a month now and no sign of Jayce or his body, no sign of Viktor and his body just those hollow creatures and fallen soldiers from both sides. You don’t want to admit it, Jayce being dead it feels wrong like it shouldn’t be real. You’ve avoided any real conversation or socialising with anyone, you prefer the solitude of your double bed and simple apartment. You prefer very little at the moment, you’ve avoided taking care of yourself in any way, you barely eat or drink, you rarely shower, you don’t take your suppressants. It’s a warm night surprisingly, you lay there in underwear and a singlet on your side eyes staring blankly ahead, you feel as hollow as those creatures looked. Your apartment door opens and you tense up but can’t move your body, if an intruder is here you don’t care. The groan and collapse make you frown though and look up switching the lamp on. Jayce…
Jayce is kneeling in the door way bruised and battered looking worse than you.
“Jayce!” You’re rushing over almost falling over in the process at your lack of muscle usage before you slide to the ground in front of him. You touch his face making sure he’s real before hugging him tightly. The alpha sighs and wraps his arms around you tightly nuzzling your neck you don’t care that you stink, you just need to hold him.
“What- how- I don’t-“ you pull back seeing the small smile he gives.
“Can I kiss you?” He asks and you nod quickly pressing your lips to his without thought. The alpha sighs pressing his lips back to yours wanting to deepen it but you pull back.
“I haven’t brushed my teeth in a while” you mutter.
“Neither have I” he growls and tugs you back kissing you again his arms tightening around you.
“How are you back?” You ask hands resting on his cheeks.
“I don’t know” he answers eyes hazing over.
“I don’t” he shakes his head.
“And- Viktor?” You ask and he shakes his head against jaw clenching eyes closing for a moment as he holds back emotion. You hug him tightly again arms cradling his head. He’s dirty, his once white jacket now browns and greys his hair is slightly matted and dirty too.
“Let’s get you in the shower” you help him up and go to your shower, turning it on, you help him with his outer clothes before giving him privacy to get under the warm water. You go to leave when a wet hand catches your wrist.
“Join me?” He mutters and you turn back to look at him, his wet head of hair and tired eyes. You tense but nod, blushing a bit before taking your singlet off and underwear off. You hold your arms over your breasts before going under the water, Jayce steps back a bit eyes on you intently. You let the water wash over you knowing you need this shower as much as him and look at your feet shamefully.
“I didn’t handle, you being gone very well” you admit as rough fingers tilt your chin up.
“How long have I been gone?” He asks.
“A month and ten days” you answer and he grimaces.
“I haven’t seen anyone I don’t know how they are, your mums alive, Caitlyns alive, so Is Mel” you add.
“Mel’s mother?” He asks and you shake your head to which he nods too.
“Turn around” he orders gently and you frown but do, he grabs your shampoo and tilts your head back just a bit before he’s massaging the shampoo into your scalp. You sigh instantly eyes closing trying not to let a content moan leave your lips. He turns you back around with careful guidance before he tilts your head back into the water. He’s gentle, makes you wonder how he could be so gentle given his nature, work and everything that happened. Your arms are still covering your top half as he conditions your hair next before you switch places to let it soak in. You watch him wash his hair, watch the way his arm muscles move and tense, eyes trailing to his shoulders, collar bones, chest, abs- you force your eyes back up he’s always been so clean shave and well kept, you can see the hair on his arms and chest now, and down lower- which you’re not looking at as he meets your gaze. He smirks a bit and you glare tightening your arms around your breasts to hide yourself.
“Pass me my toothbrush and toothpaste” you grumble and he chuckled handing you both the items. You turn around so your backs to him and you begin to brush your teeth a little harshly till your gums bleed, before spitting. Jayces fingers trace your back, moving your hair from your shoulder before resting his head there. He’s warm, warmer than the shower now and you sigh a bit.
“I have spare toothbrush in the cupboard” you mutter and he hums in response. He turns you around slowly taking the toothbrush and toothpaste putting them back while your arms cover your breasts again. He glances down to them and you huff at him softly making him smile and press his lips to yours again. He steps closer an inch away his hands resting on your forearms you want to wrap your arms around his neck but don’t trying to keep some modesty even though he doesn’t seem to care. His hands clench gently before sliding to your elbows he gently urges your arms up and you give in wrapping them around his neck and he presses himself against you. There’s a small growl on his lips as his hands clench against your waist trying to get you closer. You’re pressed against the shower wall conditioned hair making your head slide against it.
“My conditioner” you mutter and he lets out another small growl. You figure not all the feral left him. He turns around guiding you back under the water tilting your head back and letting the conditioner rinse from your hair, once he’s satisfied he kisses you again under the flow of water making it harder to breathe.
“Jayce” you get out breathlessly as his mouth moves over your jaw and down to your neck.
“I missed your scent” he says desperately.
“I missed you” he adds letting out a small sigh as his shoulders sag and his head rests against your shoulder again.
“I missed you too Jayce” you mutter softly as he lifts his head to look at you.
You turn the shower off and both dry off, you don’t have any clothes for him to wear you realise and tense a bit.
“I’ll put your clothes in the wash” you comment from your room after you dress while he brushes his teeth in the bathroom. You put his dirty clothes in the washing machine before turning it on. You feel better, clean, refreshed you brush your hair of knots before going to the kitchen and wincing at the lack of food that isn’t off. Jayce comes out of the bathroom, in nothing but a towel around his waist and you know you were just naked in the shower with him but- geez.
“I don’t have any food” you call trying to avoid to look at him as you rummage through the cupboards. The alphas by you instantly though pressed against your back his nose pressed into your hair as he breathes in.
“I don’t care” he mumbles and you blink and huff.
“Jayce you obviously haven’t eaten in a while right?” He only grumbles to your question like a child. You haven’t eaten in a while either, stuck in your depressive episode. In fact you feel exhausted now that you think about it, your body aches and you want to nap.
“What’s the matter?” He asks mouth moving against your head as he speaks.
“Nothing” you brush off and feel him tense. You tense too as he turns you around and pins you with this look.
“As I said I didn’t handle you being gone” you shrug it off and he frowns. He looks around the apartment, nothings cleaned, dishes are unattended, dirty clothes are in one pile in your room the cupboards aren’t stocked and there’s rotting food in the fridge.
“Omega” the way he says it makes you shudder, it calls something primal with in you and you tilt your head without thinking.
“What was I supposed to do?!” You yell at him and he’s surprised by your outburst.
“All the shit I’ve been through!” You add.
“You disappearing for almost a year before returning in a feral state. The medical officers calling me saying I’m your true mate that I can bring you out of your feral state! Dragging you to the under city to get help from Viktor! - Viktor! Viktor who’s gone, Viktor who cured you somehow with this higher evolution power or whatever he called it. The war-! You disappearing again!” You don’t register the tears till he wipes them away.
“I’ve been on and off my suppressants my body’s a wreck! Jayce!” you add sobbing finally. You collapse against the alpha, sobs leaving your lips as you cry. Jayce hushes you resting your face in the crook of his neck his hand gently massaging the back of your neck. You cry and breathe him in nuzzling closer arms going around him tightly. Science- you missed the way he smells that undertone of alpha, leather, musk and metal. Jayce lifts you, he carry’s you to the couch and puts you down wrapping the blanket on the couch around you. You whimper and he presses his lips to your forehead.
“I’m gonna change your sheets ok?” He says softly and you nod wiping your eyes. He nods and goes into your room, he takes off the old bedding putting it in the laundry before grabbing a new set from the small linen cupboard you have. He struggles to keep his towel around his waist which makes you smile softly at the effort he puts in. He finishes and you stand soft blanket still wrapped around your shoulders before you collapse onto your bed. You sigh at fresh sheets and shuffle to lie your head on the pillow.
“I’ll wait for my clothes to dry before getting some food” Jayce says sitting at the edge of your bed.
“Stay” you say.
“Please” you add as Jayce smiles softly before moving he chuckles a little nervously at the towel around his waist.
“Just take it off I don’t care, we were literally naked in the shower together” you sigh and you see a faint blush on his cheeks. You look away and listen to the towel drop before he climbs into the bed. You’ve got the soft blanket and your clothes around you anyway. You grumble softly and roll over snuggling up to Jayces side leg hooking over his head resting on his shoulder. That’s all the encouragement he needs as he wraps his arms around you. You lay in silence for a while enjoying his warmth, his scent.
“Does your mum know you’re alive?” You ask softly and he nods.
“I went there first” he says and you nod glad.
“Jayce” you mutter and he hums as you think back to what you said when he asked you to stay.
“I’m sorry” you mutter.
“For what?” He asks.
“For, the night before the fight” you tense feeling him tense softly.
“It was the wrong time” he answers and you shake your head lifting your head to look at him.
“No Jayce I should’ve stayed with you, I shouldn’t have rejected you like that, I was horrible-“ you take a small breath calming your emotions.
“You’re my mate” you mutter tears welling in your eyes.
“And I want you to be my mate” you add bravely. You watch the alpha process the words his arm tightening on your waist before his lips crash with yours again. You make a surprised noise but kiss him back shuffling closer.
“Is that a yes?” You ask softly against his lips pulling back slightly as his eyes soften.
The emotions I was feeling during these last three episodes have me so sad and angsty.
Previous part <-
Jayce is overly silent, often pacing slowly up and down the small hut, his body twitching occasionally. You wonder what he went through when he was gone, what made him go feral? You don’t want to push, you don’t want to overwhelm him. You’ve returned to the upper-city, he stays with his mother now and you’re left in your small apartment feeling detached. You want the simplicity of being in the lab again, though you weren’t neither as smart as either Jayce or Vik, you helped with keeping things organised, making sure they were fed and slept properly. You don’t bring up the mate test even when you go get one yourself. They hand you a slip of paper and in bold print it says Jayce Talis, the medical officer had winked but you just felt a pit in your stomach. You hardly know what Jayce does anymore, you’ve barely seen him till he knocked on your door in the middle of the night. You’re back on your suppressants, the moment you went home you took them again despite the medical officers warnings, you didn’t care, you didn’t want to feel like this. It’s raining gently again when you open the door, you see Jayce soaked, his hammer by his side a wild look in his eyes and you panic. The hammer hums gently with recent use and you frown.
“Jayce what did you do?” You whisper.
“What I promised” is all he answers.
You sit there Jayces head in your lap while your hand rests on his shoulder, he hadn’t gone back to being feral thankfully, but you still don’t know what he did.
“Jayce” you mutter and he tenses making sag.
“I- I killed Viktor” he whispers and it’s like a shard of ice and your whole body freezes.
“Why?” Is all you manage.
“You wouldn’t understand” he says rolling over nuzzling his face into your stomach.
“I won’t if you won’t tell me” you say voice rising a bit.
“I went somewhere” he begins softly after some silence.
“I was teleported, to our future” he says carefully.
“Piltover, Zaun ruined, nobody was alive, it was all ruined by the hex core inside Viktor. I was chased by something, I fell so far down. I was down there for months, useless” he tenses a low growl on his lips and you rub your hand up and down his arm gently calming him.
“I was stuck but climbed out, I climbed to the top of the hex gate where he met me” his eyes are hard then soft.
“It was him, Viktor, the one who saved me when I was a kid somehow, with the Arcane he- I don’t know” he clenches his fist.
“He made me promise to destroy the hex core, otherwise we’d suffer the same fate” he closes his eyes and nuzzles closer arm going around your waist as he sighs deeply. You try to process his story you really do, Viktor went back in time to save Jayce then forward to meet Jayce and now sent Jayce back to kill himself?
You sit there for a while listening to the gentle patter of rain. Your mind swirling, Jayce is asleep, mouth slightly open as he breathes evenly but deeply. Viktor gone? Truely? or would it repeat from the explosion.
You fall asleep eventually in the early morning, neck awkwardly tilted back. You feel movement and let out a small groan moving your neck into a comfortable position. Lips press to your head and soft words reach your ears.
“I need to go to the council” Jayce whispers.
“I’ll be back for you, I promise” he adds adding another kiss to your cheek before he’s gone. You open your eyes and stare at the ceiling, his scent lingers around you, his warmth dulling. You busy yourself with normal day to day things, wondering if he would be back.
It’s been a few days since then. You rot away in your apartment, you’re forced to go out to get food, you wander the street on auto pilot, grabbing what you need before heading home. You barely get through the door till you’re engulfed in warmth and strong arms. Jayce had charged at you like a bull if his arms weren’t around you, you’d be on the floor.
“Where were you?!” You frown at his tone and hold up the bag of food as he sighs in relief.
“Sorry, I’m sorry- Viktor-“ he runs a hand through his hair. He trimmed it along with his beard you lift your free hand without thinking running it through the soft trimmed hairs. He sighs instantly closing his eyes and nuzzling into it but you smell Mel on him. You draw back a small frown on your face.
“Viktor?” You question instead.
“He got into the council room, Mel’s returned he tried to attack us” he runs a hand through his hair again.
“But-?” You frown.
“He’s controlling these, things I don’t know what they are, he’s not dead, he’s building an army with Ambessa” you frown at the mention of Mel’s mother, why would one such as her team up with Viktor?
“I need you to come with me to the council building, please I need to keep you safe, my mothers already there, we’re going to send a message tomorrow with everyone Piltover- Zaun” he looks stressed, distraught almost and you nod.
“Ok” you say softly and he sighs in relief hugging you tightly again.
“Let me pack” you say without hugging him back.
“Of course, I’ll help” he nods moving around your apartment as if it was his own. You pack your clothes, toiletries and anything else important. Jayce packs the food and some other things before he nods to you. Going to the council building is strange, sure you’ve been here and the research lab but being in the actual council room is daunting. You see Mel there, a white robe and hood, you see Jayces mother, Caitlyn who you haven’t seen in ages and a pink haired alpha woman. Caitlyn looks to you and smiles she walks over and hugs you and you sigh. You haven’t seen her in a while and she was one of your closest friends. You hug her tightly and look to the woman behind her.
“This is Vi” Caitlyn introduces.
“Hi” you nod telling her your name and she nods to you.
“Tomorrow’s gonna be hard” Jayce sighs leaning against the council table.
“Bringing everyone together in a time of need is always a challenge” Ms Talis says.
“We need everyone” Mel says as you peer to the cloth covered thing on the table.
“What’s that?” You ask nodding your head. Jayce turns and sighs going over to it and removing the cover. You frown and walk over eyeing the creature, almost robotic looking.
“Viktor attacked in it” Jayce said and your frown deepens you see the finger prints into its head same ones as the people in the sanctuary.
“He’s making more” he adds.
“He wants whatever is in the Hex gate” he sighs this time.
“Get some rest, tomorrow will be a big day” Mel calls and walks away. So does everyone else leaving you and Jayce.
“What happened to Mel?” You ask softly.
“She went through something” Jayce answers and you nod knowing better than to press.
“You should get some rest” you say going to walk away as Jayce covers the being before grabbing your wrist.
“Stay” he says and you frown and stop looking to him.
“Stay with me tonight” he adds a little breathlessly. You tense a bit but nod figuring he needs some comfort. His room is as you remember, dark blue quilt on a queen bed. The dark wooden furniture and cleanliness, his scent faint but everywhere.
“Jayce-“ you begin to say turning around but lips press to yours making you gasp in shock.
“Jayce wait-“ you press against his chest and he lets out a small sigh and pulls back.
“What are you doing?” You whisper.
“I saw the test” he mutters and you frown for a moment before it clicks.
“Jayce-“ you sigh.
“No- no listen to me please” the alpha begs and you look to him.
“I always had a feeling” he smiles sheepishly and you frown making his smile falter.
“Is that- ok- I- I always felt drawn to you but I didn’t know if it was because of that ok, and everything that’s happened Hex tech-“ he runs a hand through his hair again.
“Mel” you mutter and he frowns.
“It was once” he says and you know you have no right to be jealous over the beta woman but still.
“And it felt wrong, I didn’t-“
“Didn’t want to disappoint” you comment and he grimaces.
“Jayce a war is going to happen as you said, there’s no time for- feelings or mates or- anything” he looks hurt, like you physically struck him. He doesn’t look like the foreboding feral alpha, he looks like a kicked puppy. His hands fall from your shoulders and his head hangs.
“Is that what you want?” He mutters, a tone so soft you’ve never heard it before from him or any alpha for that matter.
“What do you mean what I want?” You ask.
“You don’t want this?” He presses his alpha side pressing through.
“Jayce” you sigh and he nods face hardening and devoid of emotions.
“I’m sorry I brought you here” he says and leaves. You watch him leave standing in his room your hands shaking as you let out a small cry.
