Week of the Cat

A/N: A continuation of Yawn from my alphabet series. But before we get started with the new stuff; here's a refresher. Set six months or so after the end of the series, when Alec's continued on his 'path of redemption' (/me snorts), steps in to fill the shoes as Max's second, and is counted as one of her best friends. Further details about T.C. and relationships will be revealed as the story progresses. So, here's Yawn. New stuff starts next chapter.

Yawn- The original one-shot

"Knock it off," She hissed.

"I can't help it," He spoke around the yawn, rubbing at tired eyes. It was probably the third in a row, and it grated on her nerves. Or maybe it was the reason behind his yawns that was annoying her.

"Uhh, yeah, you can." She countered, "Just tell them no next time." Her look of incredulous disgust turned back into the typical glare that had never really fazed him to begin with, so he wasn't really sure why she bothered.

"Yeah right!" Alec exclaimed in dismay, hands falling back to his sides. "You try tellin' a dominant female that you don't want any, see how well it goes over."

Max rolled her eyes, leaning against the counter, arms folding across her chest, hands burrowing into the warmth of her favorite fluffy robe.

The movement drew his attention. And then his eyes moved over her speculatively. Max's eyes widened and she made to spring away but he was on her in an instant.

"Wha- Alec… Get off!" She attempted to shove him away but his hands were fisted in her robe as he snuggled against her.

"I need to smell like you," He frowned, burrowing tighter against her front and she gasped at the sudden ache that couldn't be arousal. If Alec noticed a change, he didn't mention it, 'cuz he was still frowning in annoyance as her pressed himself against her, hope creeping in to his voice. "Maybe they'll leave me alone if they think that I'm makin' it with their Commanding Officer."

But his words were punctuated by another yawn, and he was just too tired, so Max was finally able to shove him off despite his greater stature. Max glared, annoyed at him, pissed at Marcy and Janna, and, as usual, hating Manticore.

Manticore had mirrored the animal kingdom a little too closely on this one. Did the strongest male out-perform the strongest female? Yeah, maybe. Did many of the X-males have greater physical capabilities than the females? Possibly. Did the alpha males get the pick of girls? Definitely. But if it came down to two X's of equal dominance but opposite sex, it was the woman who'd reign supreme in the end. At the end of the day, it was the females who were in charge because it was the females who called the shots on the where and the when and the who was going to be getting play.

And Alec, being so dominant, had been happy about that animal kingdom mirror at first, 'cuz he found himself exceedingly popular. Then two of the most alpha females, voluptuous, tooth-ache sweet, red-headed Marcy and slow-smiling, wolf-eyed, leggy blonde Janna, had taken an interest in him, and now he was stuck in the middle of a full-fledged mate war, being sent from one bed to the other night after night as the two almost equal females vied for supremacy and the eventual right to Mate with him. Not that he was even ready to settle down, from what he'd said (whined) to Max earlier that week. If he wasn't such a pig, and a coward to boot, Max would have felt sorry for him and his droopy, unhappy eyes.

"I don't even like them," He'd insisted when he'd shown up on her doorstep, interrupting her in the middle of her frickin' bath, only ten minutes ago.

"Yeah, right," Max had scoffed, flipping wet hair over her shoulder. "You shouldn't have flirted with them, then." She'd left it unsaid that he sure as hell shouldn't have slept with them. Jerk.

"Okay, fine," He'd grumped, rubbing at shadowed eyes. "Maybe I liked them at first… Before they started treating me like a piece of meat."

He'd sounded so insulted, Max hadn't been able to resist snorting, but she'd let him in her apartment anyway. It was weird how she always did that… always let him shove himself into her life. It was his frickin' problem, she should have left him out there in the hallway, let him clean up his own mess.

Whatever. It's not like taking care of him wasn't already her full-time job. Right after taking care of T.C., of course.

Anyway, now, here they were, lounging in her kitchen well after midnight, him, downing cups of coffee like a junkie getting his fix, and Max just glaring at him, thinking of her cooling bathwater, straightening her robe from his attempted scent-fest.

He paused in his coffee guzzling to glance over the blue robe, eyes sparking in interest. "Hey, are you naked under there?"

"Did you not catch the part where I said I was taking a bath?" She hissed. His next move came so far from left field, Max's brain went straight out the window and took all of her annoyance with it.

He put down the half-empty mug and took a sauntering step towards her. He reached out and Max fell still as he fingered the collar of the blue robe, a slow smile warming his face.

"Can I see?"

A slight throb between her legs. And then a scowl. He would think that was funny, wouldn't he? What a frickin' guy.

"You've got to be kidding me." She rolled her eyes, turning away to shove the yellow kettle closer to the center of the burner. Stupid frickin' sexual frustration. Sometimes it sucked having a boyfriend you couldn't touch-

Max froze when Alec crowded against her back, long fingers trailing slowly down the soft edges of the collar, down and down, as his head craned over her shoulder.

Max popped one of his hands as they neared her breasts, her heart thudding wildly in her chest as she pressed into the stove and away from him. "What the hell, Alec! Are you trying to sneak a peek?"

He grunted, shrugging, and she felt the movement of muscle against her back, a wash of warm air across her neck. Then he grinned wolfishly, pulling away. "Just a little joke, Maxie. 'Sides, you know me. I'm a slave to the Y chromosome." He turned away, not even flinching as she whirled and her fist caught him in the bicep.

Payback for the punch came as he was stalking away, towards the bathroom. He threw over his shoulder, his voice light and his eyes dark, "Nice new perfume, you got there, Maxie. It suits you."

She froze, just for a moment, her face draining of color. Guess it was too much to ask that he wouldn't have been able to smell the signs of her body's sudden, traitorous awakening. Or at the very least, for him to pretend like he didn't notice. Shit.

By the time she'd rushed back to herself, bringing a blush of red with her, he'd shut the door behind him. Not that it mattered, she didn't have anything non-breakable near enough to fling at him anyway, so she had to make due with glaring across the room at the closed barrier instead. Especially when she heard his snort of laughter and, "Bubbles?"

Max's glare fell away and she heaved a sigh in annoyance. That's what she gets for havin' someone like Alec as one of her best friends.

And the water came to a boil after that, anyway, so it's not like she could follow him and kick his ass or anything. She removed the shrieking kettle from the burner just as he was stalking out of the bathroom, skin still shimmering, proof of the water he'd splashed against his face to clear some of the sleepy, and maybe something else, fog.

He leaned against the counter, watching her silently as she poured the steaming water into the coffee mugs, as she set it aside, as she pulled a spoon from the drawer to add more of that instant crap that he couldn't stand but that was better than nothin'.

His casual demand made all thought and movement screech to a halt.

"Mate with me."

"What?!" The spoon fell from nerveless fingers, clattering to the countertop.

"You heard me."

She turned to stare at him in wide-eyed shock.

He was still leaning against the counter, still watching her, eyes unreadable. "Just claim me for a week or whatever. Just enough time for me to recuperate. Then," He shrugged, "When the week is over… you can revoke your claim. Maybe I'll get lucky and Marcy and Janna will have moved on by then."

So that's what this is about. "Alec-"

"Max, I'm frickin' exhausted," He pleaded, proof of how serious he really was, and Max released the unexplainable anger to just stare, expressionless, at him. "I'm worthless as your second when I can barely even hold my eyes open."

"I'm not gonna-"

"I'm not asking for the benefits," He frowned. "I'm asking for some frickin' sleep and for your help, as a friend. The only way Janna and Marcy will give up is if someone more dominant than them stakes a claim. And I gotta tell you, there's not very many females who outrank them." He left it unsaid that she was one of the few that did, because they'd already been over all this at the beginning of the siege, well over six months ago.

Her gaze moved over his hunched shoulders, his hunted look, and even exhausted and unhappy, his presence fairly filled the room. As dominant as they come, a good S.I.C., and, surprisingly, one of her best friends… A girl could do worse.

Not that this was gonna be permanent or anything.

He was opening his mouth, with another wheedling reason on why she should do as he asked, when her hands fisted in his sweater and she yanked him to her, her teeth descending into his neck before she'd even really thought it through.

His eyes rolled back into his head and only her tightened grip kept him from crashing to his knees. She lowered him, slowly, the rest of the way to the ground, following him down, straddling him, the slight, metallic tang of blood on her tongue. Her teeth released his flesh gently, her tongue glancing lightly against the wound, and her lips moved wetly over the mark before she pulled away from him completely. When she released her hold on his front, he collapsed backwards, crashing to the floor. She blushed, sitting back against his hips.

"Alec-"

"Gimme a minute," His breathing was ragged and it only took Max another moment, a slight pause, and a slow roll of her hips to realize what exactly it was she was pressing against.

"Fuck, Max, don't move!" He grunted, his teeth gritting together.

Her face deepened some more as she stilled, scowling at him. "Honestly, I'm amazed you can even get it up, the way you've been jumping from bed to bed each night."

He glanced up at her through thick lashes, a slight, wicked smirk twisting the corner of full lips. "Me too," Then his eyes moved over her thighs in dark appreciation and Max had to glance down to ensure the robe was still covering all the necessary spots. It was… at least it was until his hands gripped her knees, slid slowly up the length of her thighs. Her head fell back, her eyes closing, as he pushed the robe away from her body.

"Jesus, Max." He sounded pained.

"Max!" They both fell still as someone pounded on the door. Crap. Max recognized that throaty voice. "Max, open up!"

She pulled away from him quickly, straightening her robe and rising to her feet, pretending like she hadn't heard his head crack against the linoleum floor as he made a noise akin to agony, and part of her wondered if it was because of the interruption or because of who that voice belonged too. She took a deep breath, checked her robe one more time, and crossed the distance to the front door and a situation she didn't really feel like dealin' with.

"This has got to stop," Janna hissed as soon as the door was open, shooting a heated glance at Marcy. "Max, will you just tell her that I'm more dominant."

"Yeah, right," The short, voluptuous red-head rolled her eyes. "He belongs to me."

Then they both turned to look at Max, frowning, and Max sighed, pressing a tired hand to her eyes. Being one of the most alpha females, and the leader of T.C. to boot, could be such a frickin' hassle sometimes.

"Why are you even arguing about this?" Max frowned, still squeezing the bridge of her nose. "Just find someone else-"

"We don't want anyone else." Janna interrupted.

"Which one of us gets him," Marcy demanded and Max's hand fell away as she looked up at them, eyes narrowed. Piece of meat, indeed.

"I'm not King Solomon," She hissed.

"Yeah, but you're the Alpha-" And then Janna's nose twitched slightly as she caught the sharp tang of Alec's scent, and something slight and warm underneath, before her eyes narrowed in interest. "Is Alec here?"

Marcy perked up, her emerald eyes lighting in joy.

"Don't even look like that," Janna frowned, brown eyes still narrowed, but now in annoyance. "You had him last night."

"Yeah and-"

"And I'm having him tonight," Max interrupted, pushing down the rage that hazed the edge of her vision. The two women fell still and turned to look at her in shock.

Alec glanced around the corner of the door, eyes lit in something akin to glee. "Hello, ladies." He waved slightly as their eyes focused in on his neck, and the red, raw imprint of teeth.

The two women stared dumbfounded at the spot he'd been in, long after he'd moved back into the apartment, headed towards her bedroom, whistling. Then both their heads whipped back to Max's once more bland expression, the warm, musky scent in the air taking on a whole new, unexpected, and unpleasant meaning.

Marcy scowled, turned on her heel, and stomped off.

Janna's eyes narrowed. "I'll see you in Command tomorrow," She hissed before she whirled and stormed away. And if that wasn't a challenge, Max didn't know what was.

Well…

Shit.

Max closed the door gently. "You better be worth it, Pretty Boy," She muttered to herself, moving towards the darkened bedroom that Alec had disappeared into.

"Alec," She crossed the darkness, moving towards the bed, pretending like her mind wasn't still on their encounter on the floor of the kitchen. "I hope you realize what your sleep is costin' me. One of your skank-ho's just freaking challenged me to a mate-"

And she trailed off in disappointment.

"Alec?" She moved on to the bed and crawled over him just to be sure. He didn't even stir, his breathing even, body relaxed in slumber.

Well…

Shit.

Again.

She collapsed to her butt at his side, staring balefully at the mark on his neck.

And with the desire clearing, wondering if she'd made a huge mistake.

Whatever. It was only for a week. And she'd explain the situation to Logan and he'd get over it. And she'd wipe the floor with Janna and she'd get over it. And she'd avoid Alec and Alec's all too willing body like the plague and he'd get over it too.

Max only hoped that she'd be able to get over it.

Max's thoughts were punctuated by a yawn and rather than roll him out of bed, she collapsed at his side instead. It'd been a long week, dealing with T.C., and Alec, and White, and Logan, and the two alpha females that Max had been in no way jealous of. Seemed like a two-hour nap was in order.

In the misty haze of near sleep, it didn't occur to Max that it'd be wrong to nuzzle at the mark on his skin, the mark that didn't really mean anything. That it wasn't anything but natural that his arms would come up around her.

Just a week, she told herself with another yawn, nestling into his body.