At Year's End (The 12 Olympians) (2 page)

“Um, can we make a stop before we go to the airport?”

“Sure.” Zack nodded.

Jaxon sat up in the seat as the
y drove down North Alvernon Way. More houses had gone up since they’d live here; it still held its charm though.

Jaxon indicated the road and Zack pulled to the end of
a dead end street. Jaxon jumped out of the Jeep and walked to the piece of land that used to house his family. An olive tree stood proudly out front. He and his brothers had already contacted a construction company and it seemed they were already moving on building the new house.

Zack came to stand beside him.

“So, what is this?” he asked.

“It used to be my house, before the rogues came and killed my parents.”

“Dude,” Zack shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“What about you?” Jaxon glanced over at Zack.

“Men in uniform took my dad. I never saw him again.”

“Your mom?”

“Never knew her. All I know is that she had dark hair and eyes like mine.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It is what it is. I’ve learned how to take care of myself. It wasn’t until John Quinton happened upon me that I had any real hope of being free.”

Petey and his cohorts
had imprisoned Zack in Siberia and experimented on him in an effort to discover how the shifting process worked. He had been rescued with a polar bear shifter and a black panther shifter.

“And now you get to hang out with all of us. Isn’t it great?” Jaxon chuckled.

“Peachie!” Zack laughed. He sobered and glanced at the olive tree. “Why don’t you take some time here? I’ll go scamper off and have fun.”

“Did you just say scamper?” Jaxon snorted. He got a punch to his bicep and then Zack ran off into the
desert. Jaxon sat under the shade of the tree and closed his eyes.

He inhaled deeply the scent of the earth and tried to calm himself. Truth be told, he still couldn’t get his anger under control. He had run out of time. Elijah was dating
another man. Jaxon scowled, keeping his eyes squeezed shut. He wasn’t the home-wrecking type, so this was going to take some finesse. First things first, he needed to spend time with Elijah — alone. He was going to win the younger man back if it killed him.

A low growl to his right alerted him to Zack
’s return. He opened one eye and peered at the shape shifter. Wolverine Zack  was pretty damn fascinating. His coat was dark brown, with white fur running along his sides. It amazed him that someone Zack’s height could transform into something so much, well, smaller.

Jaxon chuckled and got a snarl from Zack.

“You’re so
cute
,” he joked.

Zack bared his teeth
, which only sent Jaxon into a bigger fit of laughter. He snorted and bit Jaxon’s thigh.

“Ow! Little fucker!” Jaxon rubbed his leg as the wound immediately healed
—
big
benefit of being a werewolf.

Zack smirked and then trotted off toward the
Jeep.

Jaxon glanced at his watch and was surprised to see an entire hour had
passed. He walked over to the Jeep as Zack pulled his cargo pants on.

“Dude, that was so wrong.” Jaxon waggled a finger at him.
“These are my favorite jeans.”

Zack laughed. “Serves you right. Wolverines are badass.”

“When I get home, I’m going to watch a documentary on them,” Jaxon vowed. “I want to know what makes you tick.”

“Well, if it helps, I have all their characteristics. It’s what and who I am.”

“I think it’s awesome.” Jaxon smiled at the look of suspicion on Zack’s face. “No, I’m not yanking your dick.”

“Fuck, I hope not
,” Zack laughed.

They loaded up and drove to the airport. The rest of the men had already arrived and were laughing and joking. Jaxon took a seat next to his
big brother and reclined the seat back.

“Everything okay?” Justice asked.

“Yeah, just needed to clear my head.”

“And blow shit up
,” Zack snickered.

“Yeah, what he said.”
Jaxon closed his eyes. “I told James I had myself under control. He says he’ll be paying extra attention.” Jaxon rolled his eyes. 

“Did you figure out what you were going to do about Elijah?” Justice asked quietly.

“Yeah. I did.” Jaxon opened his eyes and stared at his brother. “I’m going to make him mine.”

Elijah swore the second hand was moving backwards. When would this damn class be over? He’d taken Spanish all four years of high school and still didn’t know shit. Well, that wasn’t true. He could say he was thirsty, had to take a leak and that the sky was beautiful. Yes, all these things would get him by in Mexico or Spain.

Elijah snorted,
and then straightened when his Spanish teacher eyed him suspiciously. For once, his phone wasn’t in his hand so he just smiled. His teacher was famous for taking away cell phones if you had them during class.

Right now, he was panicked about hi
s next class. It was college days and his teacher wanted the students to bring in at least one parent who had attended college. Elijah knew his adoptive father wouldn’t come — he never had. In fact, neither one of them had shown up for any school functions.

Two seats
ahead of him, Stone Marinos turned back to wink at him and counted down the last seconds of class. The bell rang and Elijah made a run for the door.

“Oh, Elijah?
” his teacher called.

Elijah scowled and walked to th
e front of the class. Mrs. Lopez was a tiny little thing, with black hair and equally black eyes. Her teeth were white as snow, though, and it was kinda scary sometimes.

“
Si
?” Elijah grinned.

“You barely passed your last test, Elijah. You’re
usually texting in class, or sleeping. Is everything okay at home?”

Elijah almost laughed out loud. Well, wasn’t that a loaded question? Hell no, things were not
okay
. This recent test would be his undoing with his adoptive parents.

“Yep. I
t’s all good in the hood, Mrs. L,” Elijah smiled.

“You are so much smarter than this, Elijah. I know you are.”

Elijah had to smile. Mrs. Lopez wasn’t really all that bad; at least she cared about her students.

“I’ll try harder next time, okay?”

“
Si
.” She winked.

“
Adios
!” Elijah threw over his shoulder as he walked out.

Stone was waiting for him in the hallway
, along with Ryder Winters. They were all supposed to go to Skylar Foxx’s house to rehearse songs for the club. Though they were underage, the owner of Cuffs and Stuff regularly scheduled the guys for karaoke night. They had filled in one night when there was no DJ and that was that. They were a huge draw — heavily protected from over-enthusiastic patrons and strictly forbidden anywhere near liquor.

Elijah pulled his phone out of his pocket and Stone slammed his hand down on top of it.

“No! Don’t you dare turn it on!”

“What the hell?” Elijah pulled his hand back.

“No.” Ryder crossed his arms. “I swear to God, every time you turn that thing on it does nothing but chime that annoying ringtone and then you’re on it for hours. Just put it away for a couple hours for us, okay?”

Elijah frowned.

“Pleeeease?” Stone batted his eyelashes.

Elijah sighed in mock frustration. “Okay, fine!”

“That’s our boy!” Ryder clapped him on his back.

Stone and Ryder were two of his
best friends who also went to high school with him. The three of them stuck together as often as possible. Dasan Black was another friend who went to the school.

Although the school had come a long way
since Skylar attended it, there was still the occasional bullying of gay students.

Elijah began walking to his locker and Stone and Ryder fell in step with him. Dasan was already at his locker
, grabbing his books. Elijah grinned at the other young man. Dasan lived with Hayden Cox and Jude Brooks. Elijah didn’t know the whole story, but Dasan’s parents had died and left him a fortune. Now, Hayden and Jude were adoptive parents to him, having recently signed the papers to make him their legal son.

Elijah sighed
. God how he wished his own adoptive parents cared that much. Or at all. He hated them. They constantly picked on him for one ridiculous reason or another, and Elijah’s patience was wearing thin — which meant his “issue” was becoming problematic.

That little
“issue” came in the way of stuff kind of suddenly catching on fire. He really wished he could talk to someone about it. Maybe Skylar? It turned out that Skylar Foxx was a child of Poseidon. How cool was that!? Elijah had always believed in fairy tale shit — werewolves, vampires, shape shifters, witches and warlocks. You name it, he believed in it. Maybe it was his need to believe that something better had to be out there for him.

Elijah frowned. But what if he wasn’t a good
whatever he was? What if he was a demon or something?

Elijah grabbed his pack and began walking
outside with the others, picking his thoughts up again. For months, a large wolf had been in his yard every night. He’d only spoken to it once; after that, it seemed to hide out.

Great, n
ow he couldn’t even keep animals. Elijah sighed and reached for his phone. He got a soft growl from Dasan and a stern glare from Stone.

“
Fine!” Elijah dropped the phone in his backpack. “Happy now?”

“Yup.” Stone grinned and resumed walking. He stopped halfway down the stairs and smiled. “Well, well, Elijah. Seems you have a
different ride home today.”

Elijah
glanced up and almost tripped. Jaxon Salvatore was sitting across the street on his Harley. Acid-washed jeans covered his long legs, accentuated by black boots and a black shirt hidden by a black bomber jacket.

All Elijah could see
, however, was Jaxon strutting his stuff in a blue jock strap. Ever since the striptease fundraiser Jaxon and other men had participated in, he’d been jacking off to that vision. Well, and he’d bought the DVD.

“
Oh, fuck,” Elijah muttered.

He was not prepared to deal with Jaxon right now. In fact, he hadn’t seen him in
a while. Jaxon slid off his bike and moved toward them. The hair on the back of Elijah’s neck rose. What was it about Jaxon Salvatore that he just couldn’t shake? From the moment he’d met the man at Camp Pride, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. He felt such a strong pull, one he couldn’t break free of even if he tried — and God knows he didn’t want to try.

Jaxon Salvatore was his. He just was.

“Hey, Elijah,” Jaxon grinned.

“God, that
smile,” Dasan mumbled.

Elijah elbowed him. “Get your own.”

Stone laughed.

“Um, hi.” Elijah stood still as Jaxon took the steps two at a time until he stood right in front of him. Elijah
peered up through his lashes.

“I hope you don’t mind, but Caden sent me to get you.”

“Caden?”

“Ye
p. He said he overheard that you wanted a leather jacket for your birthday? I’m here to take you to the mall.”

“But my b
irthday isn’t until next Friday.”

“Well, Caden wanted to make sure you got something you really wanted. He’d be here, but he go
t a call at the last minute from investors.” Jaxon put his hand out. “So? You want to go?”

“Sure he does!” Stone pushed Elijah into Jaxon.

Elijah almost fell over, but a strong hand held him up by his bicep. Jaxon’s scent drifted up Elijah’s nostrils and went straight to his balls. His dick lengthened and hardened on contact. Elijah tried to back away, covering his crotch with his backpack. Jaxon pulled him in even closer and leaned down into his face. Elijah’s breath hitched as Jaxon’s eyes locked on his.

“So? Yes or no?”

“Yes?” Elijah squeaked.

“Okay then, cool.”

Elijah turned to eye his friends. “So we’ll catch up at Skylar’s?”

“Yep.” Ryder nodded with a wicked wink.
“Skylar’s going to pick you up at seven thirty.”

A warm hand slid into his and then pulled him forward. Elijah looked over his shoulder as Jaxon led him down the steps to the street. Stone was waggling his eyebrows and Dasan was grinning like a maniac. He narrowed his eyes at them.

“Where’s your jacket?”

Elijah snapped his attention back to Jaxon. Caden had bought him a very warm down jacket a few months back, but it had mysteriously disappeared from his locker. He was sure the football players had broken into his locker.

“Um, I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Jaxon removed his jacket and took Elijah’s backpack. “Here, wear this. It’s cold out.”

“Won’t you be cold, though?” Elijah’s eyes drifted to the muscle T-shirt Jaxon wore. His bare arms were covered in tattoos.

“Nope,” Jaxon smiled straddling his bike. “I’m
hot-blooded.”

Jaxon handed him a helmet and Elijah slipped it on. Pulling his backpack over his shoulders, he straddled Jaxon’s hips with his thighs and wrapped his arms around him. He’d been on the back of Jaxon’s bike before, but this time was different. Jaxon’s
back warmed his chest and the distinctive smell of aftershave or cologne rose off Jaxon’s skin. Damn but he smelled delicious.

“Hang on
,” Jaxon called over his shoulder.

Elijah closed his eyes as the bike moved forward. Jaxon’s body pressed to his was doing things to his lower extremities. He hoped Jaxon couldn’t feel his hardened dick on his back. As often as he tried to stop thinking about Jaxon, it never worked. The minute the man was anywhere near him, he’d lose any ounce of self-control he had. And right now, on the back of Jaxon’s bike with his arms wrapped around the man of his dreams, he was losing control.

His fingers heated as his body began a familiar tingling. Oh God, no. Not here. Not now. Elijah squeezed his eyes shut and tried to gain control over his overactive libido.

“Everything okay?” Jaxon
shouted over the sound of his Harley.

“Yeah, sure!” Elijah took deep breaths
. I hope.

The mall came into view a few minutes later and Elijah exhaled in relief. Jaxon pulled into a space and cut the engine. Elijah slipped off the back of the bike and tried to wrap Jaxon’s oversized jacket around himself to hide his arousal. Jaxon didn’t seem to notice and Elijah walked quickly toward the entrance. Jaxon fell into step with him and Elijah tried to keep his eyes straight ahead.

“Are you okay?” Jaxon asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Just thinking.”

“Want to tell me what you’re thinking?” Jaxon elbowed Elijah playfully.

“Um, sure. Let’s get the shopping done first.”

“Okay, are you hungry? We can get some food
, too.”

“Sure.”

They entered the mall and Elijah followed Jaxon. They passed a few stores that Elijah could only imagine shopping in and then Jaxon pulled him into one. Elijah stood in the middle of the store, inhaling the scent of leather. He’d always wanted a leather jacket, but could never afford it. As it was, he barely got new clothes. Apparently, his adoptive parents felt he could do with what he had. Most of his clothing came from the Goodwill. He didn’t mind it; a lot of the stuff was actually cool. He’d never been one to wear labels anyway.

Elijah caught his reflection in one of the mirrors and his eyes widened in horror. His hair was askew, sticking up all over. He ran his hands through
it, trying to calm it.

“It looks good like that.”

Elijah turned to see Jaxon smiling at him.

“Oh really?”

“Yep.” Jaxon nodded, running his fingers through Elijah’s hair.

Elijah almost closed his eyes. God, but Jaxon’s hands on him anywhere felt good. He cleared his throat and stepped back a bit. “So, um, jackets?”

“Right over there, along that wall,” Jaxon pointed.

Elijah moved forward, eyeing all the leather jackets. He ran his hands over the soft
ness of the suede ones. He noticed a black leather jacket hanging off by itself. He grabbed it, slipped off Jaxon’s and slipped it on. It fit him like a glove and the smell was intoxicating. Who knew leather could smell so good?

“Looks good on you. Now all you need is some nice black jeans and a pair of biker boots
.” Jaxon eyed Elijah in the jacket. “It suits you.”

Elijah grabbed the price tag hanging from the sleeve and frowned. “I can’t get it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s way too expensive.”

Jaxon snorted and helped Elijah take off the jacket. He started walking toward the cashier.

“Caden knew you’d say that. Too bad
. He wants you to have the jacket, so no arguing. He also said you’re getting a new wardrobe.”

Elijah almost tripped over his feet. “What?!”

“Did you really think Caden would stop at a jacket? He loves you — he adores you.”

Elijah swallowed hard and tried to hold back the tears he
knew were making their way to the surface.