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The fact that Liam can get a boner in the midst of him and Theo about to get tortured is, frankly, somewhere between predictable and concerning.
In his defense, Theo is strung up against the metal gate of an abandoned warehouse, his wrists shackled above his head and his shirt riding up to reveal the sheen of sweat over his abs. So Liam’s arousal—which generally sits above the teenage human average on a normal day—is somewhat excusable.
What isn’t excusable, of course, is the fact that Liam is trussed up in exactly the same way about a foot away, anticipating a good long round of some version of waterboarding and electrocution that the hunters have been threatening on and off for a couple hours by now. Which one would think is an absolute boner-killer under any other circumstance.
But Theo is right there, his bottom lip curled in a sneer at their captors and his eyes flashing a deadly amber at the hunters despite how uncomfortable it must be to pull the chimera to the surface with the liquified wolfsbane coating the insides of the shackles around their wrists. And Liam had just been about to show Theo around the off-campus apartment he wanted them to rent for their freshman year together, when the stupid bigots had cut them off with their eight-cylinder Jeeps and forced the two boys to tumble out of their truck to avoid getting punched full of bullet holes.
So, considering that Liam had really, really been looking forward to spending some quality time alone with his boyfriend in the privacy of a new apartment, he’s allowed to be pissed. And incredibly, frustratingly horny.
To add to his embarrassment, there is a welcome but somewhat ill-timed break in which the pair of hunters questioning them leaves the room to switch with a fresh pair of interrogators, and Theo takes that chance to sniff the air and level a look at Liam.
“Really, Liam?”
“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up,” Liam snaps at him, scrunching his face and his eyes closed to will away his arousal.
“Look, I’m all for not kink shaming, but if you seriously think now is the time to—”
“It’s not me being chained up that’s got me horny, it’s you being chained up, you big dumbass.”
Theo knocks his head back against the metal grate, stunned. Then scoffs in disbelief. “We are about to get roasted like a pair of turkeys while I’m over here racking my brain to figure a way out of here, but sure, you just take your sweet time over there. Just know that none of them are gonna be giving you a handjob when I get killed.”
“Obviously.” Liam scowls. Christ, how dense can Theo be? “I intend to get us out alive. And with you in full control of your faculties.” He gestures up and down with his chin at Theo’s person. “Just—stop being so fucking sexy for a minute, will you?”
“My apologies,” Theo drawls, sounding anything but sorry. “Let me just uncuff my wrists and pull down my shirt so you can think better.”
“Why do you have to be such an asshole."
"Why do you have to be such a horndog?"
Liam is about to retort something clever along the lines of Theo loving it, when their heads whip up at the rasp of the steel door rolling back in its track.
Theo gets right to the sarcasm like clockwork.
"Oh, goodie. You two look even more clueless than the last pair. Did they get you matching Thing 1 and Thing 2 t-shirts, too?"
"Theo," Liam hisses. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Scott McCall. Where is he?"
"Y'know, I really, really can't fathom why you losers always think it's us with the information."
The first hunter doesn't look impressed. He nods at Liam. "You are his beta. And the beta's mate."
Theo grins around a sweaty chuckle. "Hear that, babe? 'Mate.' These guys sure do read some interesting fanfiction."
"Feel free to shut up any time now," Liam snaps back at him, yanking at his bound wrists.
"Where. Is Scott. McCall?"
"Better question: where are your breath mints?"
"Jesus Christ," Liam groans, a split second right before the second hunter seizes the bucket at the foot of the rusty desk and hurls the water straight in Theo's face.
Liam has the decency to wince in sympathy as the freezing water hits Theo's skin. He barely makes out the gasp of shock that escapes the chimera before he manages to regain a grip on himself.
"Answer the question, or your beta is getting the same treatment."
"It's fine, I can take it, I got the lungs of a lacrosse player--"
"Shut the fuck up," Theo snarls at his boyfriend.
"Where is Scott McCall?"
"Not telling you sh--"
This time it's Liam who is interrupted by a douse of his own bucket of water. Liam is honored, really. He doesn't even have to share torture devices with Theo. They really prepped for this.
Because Liam was expecting the wall of water, he isn't caught off guard as much as Theo was, but there's no denying that the icy chill settles in an uncomfortable blanket on the surface of his skin. He gasps for breath and vaguely registers another snarky verbal tousle between Theo and their captors.
"I told you." Theo leans forward as far as his limited range of motion will allow him, and he pushes his chin up into the hunter's space, teeth gritted in a semblance of a smile. "You're gonna have to kill me before you get that information."
Okay, Liam decides, he's definitely going to have to have a conversation with Theo on what is and what isn't appropriate mid-torture bravado talk when in front of one's boyfriend who very much loves him and very much wants him alive.
"I don't think so," the hunter replies, seemingly unperturbed. "I think you'll talk eventually. You're the talker, out of the two of you. I think all I have to do is kill your beta over here instead and--"
"No!" Theo lunges at the man, teeth bared and canines flashing, and he obviously forgets how tightly he is chained to the fence because his body jerks against the restraints and something in his shoulder spasms as he evidently pulls a muscle.
Liam squints over at him. Theo is normally cool and collected, but when they're together in situations like this, Theo can be a real idiot sometimes.
"Kinda counterintuitive to threaten to kill the true alpha's beta," Liam says, taking the heat for now. "Y'know, since I'm pretty sure that if torturing us doesn't work, your next best bet is sending a ransom message to Scott."
"Jesus fuck, Liam," Theo complains through a mouthful of fangs. The wolfsbane still prevents him from full shifting, but the chimera is out and pacing below the surface. "Are you trying to give them more ideas?"
"Oh, I dunno, are you trying to get us both killed?"
There's no time for a retort to that, because the first hunter evidently signals to his partner, and the second man flicks on the switch in the remote in his hand. Both boys stiffen and jerk from the electricity that bolts through them from their hands to their toes.
"G-d," Liam complains loudly.
The man flicks the switch on again, then off again, then on again, varying the voltage of each attack, and the boys can only bite through their tongues and pant through their nostrils to catch their breath during the mere seconds of reprieve when the sadistic fucks aren't frying their brains out with the water and the metal grate.
"Theo," Liam murmurs. He lets his head loll back on his boneless neck. "I can feel...wolfsbane…"
Theo shoots him a look between disbelief and concern, not getting what Liam is hinting at for a moment and thinking that the beta must be rambling himself into unconsciousness. But then their eyes meet, Liam's blue irises through his slitted lids sliding across Theo's, and understanding seems to wash over the chimera.
The higher the voltage, the faster the wolfsbane in the metal cuffs will be burned out.
Theo gives a short, almost imperceptible nod. Then he turns back to their assailants.
"You know what? I'm really thirsty, boys."
Liam suppresses an exhausted eyeroll at his boyfriend's recklessness. Still, the plan works. The first hunter loses it, his face contorting at Theo's cockiness, and he grabs a third bucket from his lineup and tosses its contents over Theo's head.
Theo is still spluttering for breath when the electric current comes on with a deadly buzz. Liam manages to clamp down on his reaction, but Theo lets out an aborted scream. Again and again they lower and raise the voltage, until finally, after what seems like an eternity, they stop.
Theo's chest rises and falls with the effort to regain his composure. He shoots Liam a sideways glance to let him know that he's fine and recovering quickly. Liam almost doesn't catch it, because his line of sight is directed rather inconveniently downward at the obscene sculpting of Theo's muscles, now visible under the sheer material of the white shirt that leaves nothing to the imagination when it's soaked through. The drenched cotton clings to the curve of Theo's pecs and the dips in his abs, partially exposed where the hem rode up and stuck to his skin above his belly button. In the struggle against his restraints, Theo's pants have also slidden lower on his hips, leading Liam's gaze down the first hint of the V in his torso and the smooth, tanned skin below it.
Jesus. Fuck.
"Liam," Theo grits out through his teeth. The water drops roll rudely from his hair down his cheekbone to his lips. "Sweetheart? Any time now."
Liam ignores the jab. His wolf is rising rapidly to the surface, eyes and ears alert, as the first man steps up to Theo to wrap his fingers around the chimera's chin and slam his head back against the grate. Liam sees crimson. Claws out, fangs dropping so swiftly they break his gums faster than they can heal, Liam feels the gold bleed into his eyes and the shift crackle his bones as the wolf takes over. The shackles snap like plastic around his wrists and he lashes out, muscles bulging in his arms, to tear the human away from Theo and fling him across the room.
The second man lets out a sound somewhere between a shout and a squeak and topples backward on his ass, scrabbling for a hold on the concrete floor as Liam advances on him. He's no match for the beta overtaken by fury. Liam seizes him by the scruff of his neck and hauls him to his feet, raises him so his feet dangle for a breathless moment, and then he slams the side of the man's head against the metal desk and casts him away to join the unconscious body of his companion.
Less than a minute later finds Theo stumbling out of the accursed warehouse with Liam's arms and hands supporting him. They make it all the way to the truck--thank fuck the hunters had decided to confiscate it and haul it out here to their cliché hideout--before the surge in adrenaline drops away and Theo finds the time to process everything on their getaway down the highway.
"Why the fuck do you still smell horny?"
"Shut up. No, I don't."
"You literally smell like that time you fucked me behind the theater, Liam."
"Stop distracting me. I'm driving right now and it's my top priority to make sure you're alive at the end of this."
Theo blows a breath between his lips and settles back in the passenger seat of his own truck, still shaky from their ordeal and smelling like singed chimera. Liam reaches over the console to latch onto his wrist and leach the residual pain from him. Theo releases a low groan of gratitude, and his scent turns decidedly more playful than a few minutes ago.
"Right," Theo drawls in response to Liam’s preposterous claim. "And I'm sure you're doing that out of the kindness of your heart. And not for any ulterior motives."
"So maybe I might've wolfed out because you look too sexy for your own good with a wet shirt and chained up to a fence. Doesn't mean I saved you just to bang you."
"Hm." Theo pretends to think, then singsongs, "So that what took you so long to get your head out of your ass and save me? Too busy fantasizing about me in chains?"
"Chains and a wet shirt," Liam corrects him, voice as strained as the way his pants feel right now. "It's an important distinction."
"Important enough to pick up where we left off with this conversation as soon as we get home?"
"Fuck." Liam tips his head back against the headrest in a futile bid to relieve the pressure in his gut.
"Yeah, that's the general idea."
"You're just as bad as I am."
"Nah. I think I can be worse," Theo says with an audacious wink. And oh, Liam decides right then and there he's going to make good on his promise and destroy Theo in every delicious way possible as soon as they've tumbled into bed.
For now, Liam rolls his eyes. "Text Mason and let him know we're alive."
Theo hums as he fishes his cracked phone out of his ruined jeans and does as suggested. "Shall I tell him how his good friend Sir Horny, Knight of Wet Shirt Kinks, managed to wolf out because of his boner?"
"Oh, fuck you."