Begrudgingly Yours Ch. 01

(This is a male/male shifter fantasy romance set in the omega verse. Hope you enjoy.)

***

I realized just a little too late that perhaps I should have rethought my whole approach. When the door swung open and I was met with a pair of amber eyes glaring menacingly at me, I immediately froze. I held up at hand, ready to explain myself, explain why I was standing in the middle of a bedroom, in a mansion, on land I hadn't been invited to when the heavily muscled, over six foot tall, Adonis of a man I had never met before, suddenly shifted into a very large, very scary and very angry lion.

I had only a moment to react when the enormous cat suddenly lunged at me, his intention clear. Kill the threat. The problem was, I wasn't a threat, but he didn't know that. I dodged the attack quickly, faster than he had expected, dropped to the floor and rolled under the bed. I was out the other side and plastered against the door before he even realized that I had moved. My heart pounded, my hands shook with fear and I knew I had to do something before he eviscerated me. I was strong, but I could tell instantly that he was stronger and more deadly.

"Wait!" I pleaded with the beast, unsure if he could even understand me while he was shifted. Unfortunately, my knowledge of shifters was limited and I definitely didn't know enough about them to go head to head with an obvious alpha, possibly the Pride leader himself, which was completely probable seeing as it was his bedroom I had broken into. "I know this looks bad, but I came here for help so please, don't hurt me."

Apparently my pleas fell on deaf ears because the next thing I knew, he had leapt onto the bed. It caved in under his weight and fell to the floor with a loud crunch. When he lunged at me a second time, I was barely able to drop to the floor and scramble away. A loud and very animated warning growl erupted from the animal. My sensitive ears vibrating from the sound as I scooted myself across the floor and away from his claws which, had just sliced through the main door of the room.

I didn't want to fight him. I knew I could never win plus, I didn't want to injure him in anyway. That was never my purpose so all I could do was try to get away from him and hope, pray, that he calmed down enough that I could actually talk to him.

Yeah, I really didn't think this through. My mistake.

I backed up against a wall in my attempt to flee. Mistake number two. Now I was cornered, trapped, and there didn't seem to be anyway for me to escape. I was certain that in any moment my small, fragile, body would be crushed between his massive jaws. Yeah, he was that big, way larger than an ordinary lion. It was no wonder to me that his pride lived so high up in the mountains, far from humans and prying eyes. This definitely wasn't a smart idea, but it was too late now. I'd fucked up and was about to pay the price for my stupidity.

Just when he was about to go in for the killing strike, the clawed and nearly shattered door was flung open and my salvation entered the room in the form of a very pissed off omega lion whom, though I had not seen him in almost ten years, I instantly recognized. He was, after-all, the one I had come for, the one I knew would help me. That is, if I could keep his mate from ripping me to shreds first.

"What the hell is going on in here? Liam! Look what you've done to our room!"

The giant lion stopped his attack and turned to his mate who, by now, was standing with his hands on his hips and glaring at the both of us. For a moment, I think he actually looked scarier than his alpha.

"Jai!" I squeaked from the corner of the room, struggling to get to my feet. I didn't make a move toward him. Liam was standing between us and any movement on my part would have looked like an attempted attack on Jai.

Jai turned to me and for a moment, confusion clouded his face before he finally recognized who it was he was staring at. "Ash?" He questioned, a hint of disbelief in his voice. "Is that really you?"

I understood his shock. I looked way different than the nine year old boy I had been the last time he saw me. Jai, on the other hand, looked just as I'd remembered him. Maybe a little older. He'd filled out more and had a couple more inches on him but he basically looked the same. The same jet black hair though now reaching mid back, the same dark brown eyes and the same flawless, porcelain skin. He was smaller than his mate, standing about five foot ten inches, maybe. Still taller than me though and with more muscle.

When I saw him last he was just sixteen, scrawny and while good looking at the time, he wasn't the beauty that he was now. He'd changed so much and yet stayed the same. His eyes were probably the most familiar and most easily recognizable feature he had because I saw them almost everyday. They were just like mine, a trait we had both inherited from our father.

"Yeah, Jai." I smiled, tearing up. "It's me."

The look on his face was hard to read. He just stood there, staring at me, letting it sink in that he was standing in his own bedroom and staring at the kid brother he'd left behind nine years ago.

***

Liam had shifted back to human form. I turned my head as he scrambled to dress himself again. A common problem with shifting on the fly, anything he'd had on originally had been shredded.

"Someone care to explain to me what this is all about?" Liam narrowed his eyes, obviously speaking to me. I cowered against the wall, still too nervous to face my brother's mate. The guy was really scary.

"I was thinking the same thing." Jai said, also looking to me for answers. "Ash, what are you doing here?"

I tried not to let the tone of his voice upset me. I'd hoped he would have been happy to see me. I'd pictured this moment so different. I wanted this heart felt reunion where he rushed to me, scooped me up in his arms and hugged me tight. I realized how unrealistic that sounded now that I was actually standing there, looking at the ruined room, broken door and oh yeah, I'd broken the sliding glass door leading to the balcony when I'd let myself in.

Honestly, I don't know what I had expected to happen. We weren't children anymore and while we had been close once upon a time, we weren't now. Maybe I should have called first, spoken to him rather than just showing up unannounced, but I was afraid he'd tell me not to come. I know he was surprised to see me, shocked and probably confused. Still, I couldn't ignore the hurt I felt that he didn't seem at least somewhat glad to see me.

I dropped my gaze to the floor, my cheeks burned with shame. It wasn't fair to him or his mate that I just show up and drop my problems on them but I didn't have anywhere else to go, no other family to turn to. He was it. Jai turned to Liam with an apologetic look on his face. "Can we have a minute?" He asked, gently.

"Jai, I don't know that..."

"He's my brother." Jai told him.

Liam nodded. "I'll be downstairs if you need me."

"Sorry for.. all this." I said, waving my hand around the room as he walked past me.

Liam just nodded, grunted something under his breath, and left the room.

Jai turned back to me, his arms crossed, brow furrowed. "So, what's going on?" He asked.

I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, or what was left of it, and sighed. "I ran away." I told him. There was no point in beating around the bush. I needed his help, so I might as well be honest right from the start. He raised an eyebrow as he stared at me, waiting for clarification. "Father arranged a marriage with Niklas Kautz, the son of Lord Torsten Kautz. I refused to go along with it which really pissed Father off. Anyway, he remanded me to my rooms under strict supervision until I came to my senses. So I ran."

Jai rolled his eyes. "So much for the strict supervision."

I shrugged. "It was easy to slip past the guards. I've been doing it for years. The problem is, they'll eventually find me and force me to go back. I can't, Jai. I won't. I'm not going to be forced into an arranged marriage with a man I don't love."

"So you thought what? You'd just hide out here? Ash, you can't. It won't work."

"You're my brother, Jai. I thought if anyone would help me you would."

Jai shook his head. "Ash, I gave up that life a long time ago. This is my life now, here with Liam, his pride. I have a new life, a family. You can't just barge into my life after so long and expect..."

"Expect you to care?" I narrowed my eyes. "So you have a new family, great. I'm still your brother, your blood, does that mean nothing to you?"

He shook his head, sighing. "You know why I left, Ash."

"Why you left has nothing to do with me." I told him. "I was a child and when you left, you didn't just leave Father, you left me. You abandoned me and never looked back. Are you going to do it again? Now, when I need you? When I need my brother?"

Hot tears stung my eyes but I forced them back. I was shaking with anger but it wasn't just at him. I was angry with our Father most of all, angry at him for driving Jai away in the first place, for making me grow up without him. I loved my father but part of me would never forgive him for what he'd done to Jai. After nine years, the anger was still there and the betrayal I felt was still raw and festering inside. When Jai left, part of me died inside and now I was feeling the pain of watching him leave all over again.

"I loved you!" I suddenly shouted, unable to hold back anymore. "Do you have any idea how I felt when you left, what it did to me, how long I cried? You were everything to me and then one day, you were gone. You never even said goodbye."

"I was sixteen." He said, his voice soft, pained. "I should... I should have told you. I'm sorry that I hurt you, Ash, but you need to understand, I had to get away. I couldn't stay there another minute, I would have died."

He knelt down in front of me and when I looked at him, I could see the hurt in his eyes. I understood, I really did. It didn't make it any easier though. I'd resented him for so long, loved him, but resented him for leaving me behind. When he reached out and touched my hand with his I wanted to slap it away, push him, hit him, but I couldn't. Instead, I flung my arms around his neck and pulled him against me. He wrapped me up in his arms and held me while I sobbed against his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Ash." He whispered and I could hear his voice cracking as he too bean to cry. "I never wanted to hurt you, never you. I hope you can believe that."

***

I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. Jai and I both had cried ourselves out so when Liam returned to the room, we were both sitting on the floor talking, laughing, and reminiscing about old times.

"I take it everything's good here?" Liam asked, eyeing us both.

Jai nodded then stood up. I followed. "We're good." Jai assured his mate. He took my hand and led me to stand beside him. I was still a little leery of the man standing before me and had a hard time looking him in the eyes. Especially since he'd tried to kill me once already. Jai, sensing my distress, pulled me against him and wrapped a protective arm around my waist. "Liam," he addressed his mate, "This is Ashlynn Dargan. My brother."

Liam extended his hand to me in friendly greeting and for the first time since meeting him, he didn't look all that frightening. He was still massive and imposing, someone not to be trifled with, but there was also a calm gentleness to him that allowed me to relax a bit more in his presence. "Ashlynn." He said, his deep voice sounding more cordial now, almost regal. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

I hesitated only a moment then took the offered hand. His grip was firm, a testament to his strength and power. "It's... just Ash." I managed to stammer. "And I'm very pleased to meet you as well, Sir." I wasn't sure what honorific to use when meeting the leader of a lion pride so I decided to err on the side of caution and choose the generic "Sir" to show him the proper respect.

Liam chuckled, shaking his head. "No need to be so formal." He told me. "Just Liam is fine."

"Thank you, Liam." I smiled up at him and when he smiled back, I felt all the tension I'd been holding in my shoulders just melt away.

Liam released my hand then turned to look at Jai. "He's freezing." He remarked. "Why don't you both come sit by the fire and we can chat a bit." Liam didn't wait for an answer, he didn't have to. The invitation wasn't a request. While he accepted me as a guest in his home, he still wanted answers and I had no choice but to comply. When he left the room, presumably to head downstairs, I turned to Jai and raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't know?"

Jai slowly shook his head. "No." He said, softly, worry etched across his face. "There's a lot about my past he doesn't know." He left it at that but as he turned, taking my hand to lead me out of the bedroom and down the hall, I had the sneaking suspicion that he'd hoped to never have to reveal that side of himself to his mate. Unfortunately my arrival was about to unearth secrets that, I'm sure, Jai had wanted to keep buried, forever.