Chapter Text
Jason still remembered the first time he had set foot on land, lured by the sweet words of a human woman. He’d been young then, naive, his pod shredded in front of his eyes and leaving him alone. Too small to properly hunt for himself promises of fresh fish had coaxed him out of the water, and to his doom.
The scars still ran thick and ropey down the length of his tail, healed poorly by his inexperienced attempts at tending them and the less than sterile waters of the Gotham Bay. There were patches where the scales had never grown back at all, flesh left bare and tender without the protection that should have covered it.
Normally, Jason would have said that he’d rather take his claws to his own throat than set foot back on land, but overfishing had left the bay barren, and people were finally learning to avoid the waters there. Not that it had ever been exactly advertised as a good place for swimming, though there were always a few fools who dared each other to take a dip. Jason liked to make sure that they never came back up.
Boats and smugglers used to be fairly common, deals made with no space for unwanted visitors. Sometimes people would use it as a dumping ground for their dirty secrets. Feeding the fish and everything else that lived down below the surface of the water with fresh meat. Sometimes they dumped other things, capsized weapons crates, and bloodied clothes.
Jason had a very nice grenade launcher that lived in a place of pride in his den.
But Jason was, perhaps, a little bit too enthusiastic about filling his belly. It had worked to help him grow into something large enough to protect himself even with the glaring wounds he bore on his body that marked him as prey when he had been smaller. Nowadays the scars warned that he was dangerous for having survived to get to his current size of almost seventeen feet from head to fluke.
Now Jason was a predator, his blood-red scales gleaming a warning even with the dark, burned-looking patches where injured scales had grown back wrong. They’d cauterized the wounds while they worked to de-scale him, sadistically unwilling to let him die before they had finished.
It had been their mistake, in the end, to leave him alive. He’d ripped the woman’s throat out, getting his first taste of the sweet ambrosia that was the blood of humans. The fucking clown still lived, but Jason had the scent of each of the monster’s lackeys. Few were left, picked off as they dared to approach the water’s edge. The ones still alive were smart enough to realize that they had become prey, but they were still cocky to think that they were safe if they avoided the bay.
They didn’t know that there was nowhere they could hide from him.
Splitting his legs hurt. A tearing agony as his flesh and bones split and reformed into something other. Pale and fleshy under the heavy gaze of the moon. A ragged fluke folding into scarred soles, his stumbling steps marked by a stabbing pain as sharp rocks cut into the tender skin.
His skeleton shifted and shrank to a more human size, sharp teeth filed dull, skin growing over venomous spines, and webbing sliced apart between now claw-less fingers. He managed to keep upright, barely, wobbling on the half-sunken dock he’d climbed onto when he left the water. The wood was wet and rotten, made slimy with algae, and Jason was a little proud of himself for managing to stay on his aching feet.
He fumbled his way into the wet clothes he had brought with him, stolen off a drowned corpse a few days ago. They would work well enough for his purposes. They would dry within a few hours, and if he was up here for longer than that then he had bigger problems.
He didn’t have shoes, couldn’t imagine trapping his fins feet in those squished boxes, so he worked to pick his way through the littered glass and debris that coated the Gotham streets as he began his prowl.
Jason was looking for one man in particular, he’d caught their scent at the docks, a spilling of blood that he’d been able to pick up from miles away. They had been smart enough to avoid the actual water, but once he’d recognized it then there was no way that Jason was going to let his quarry escape.
Full moons were nights of power; of balance, and completion. Allowing a being to reach for the far extents of their powers. The change was possible on other nights, but the moon made it easier. Especially for a creature like Jason who was unpracticed in the act.
Jason hummed in the back of his throat as he walked, a quiet hypnotism to dissuade anyone who might have thought to look at him too closely as he wound his way through the streets chasing the scent trail. It was more difficult to do on land but Jason was nothing if not determined. He followed the trail to a bar not too far from the bay, offering the lazy bouncer a flat-toothed smile.
Jason leaned in, pressing a clawless hand against the man’s chest and putting his mouth near the human’s ear. He let out a low, rolling purr, a deep buzz to addle the mind, just for a few moments. He straightened and was not stopped when he tugged on the sticky door handle to open it.
The bar was dim, but it was loud. A pounding bass pierced his sensitive ears and vibrated in his chest, the stench of humans was heavy in his nose and made it difficult to track his quarry.
Jason scowled. If he wanted to work his magic then he would need to get loud, and that would draw attention that he didn’t need. Jason wasn’t sold on the existence of The Bat and its insistence on protecting the humans of Gotham, but there was no reason to draw trouble if he didn’t need to.
He made his way through the crowd, his far too human throat burning with the continuous purr he forced out to divert attention, just barely audible over the music being blasted. He was disconcertingly weaker in this form, smaller, and weaponless, his voice thinner and weaker when pushed through the air by a weaker chest.
It was a guise meant for hiding, not for fighting. Jason worked with what he had.
Making a decision, Jason headed towards the bar, more led by instinct than logic. He brushed his hand across the backs of the barstools as he passed them. He could feel the itch of eyes on him and it set his teeth on edge, but no one approached him so he warily continued his search.
Second to last in the line, that was where he found him. The man was broad, maybe a little larger than Jason’s human form, and Jason’s mouth watered as he sized him up. He pressed himself up against the man’s side with a quiet croon, feeling the way that his prey froze, bloodshot eyes going wide as Jason wrapped his arms around his shoulders, hugging him close.
The man’s bandaged hand tightened around his beer bottle, quickly dropping it back to the bar top before he could shatter it in his squeezing grip. Jason wasn’t sure that a Lure would work, that he could keep the man captured in one long enough to vacate the bar, so he didn’t try. Partial shifts were difficult, and painful to hold when the whole area tingled with painful pins and needles.
Still, it was worth it to be able to get his claws pressed against the man’s throat, feeling the man’s pulse race beneath the delicate skin. “You’re that damned wolf, aren’t you?” The man’s voice shook, and Jason frowned.
Few wolves dared to enter Gotham, for various reasons. People said it had something to do with The Bat, a child, and a bite.
Deathstroke hadn’t dared to enter the city since, from what little Jason had heard. His pup, however, was a different story. Renegade probably wasn’t actually the man’s pup, but wolf pack bonds were difficult to translate into pod dynamics or the human settlements of family.
Even Renegade hardly bothered with the city, unless he had a contract. Jason wasn’t interested in knowing what the other species got up to, so he would finish up his business and slip back into the bay to avoid getting caught up in the inter-species politics that situations like that heralded.
Jason scoffed, offended “Think again,” he said, smiling as he pressed himself even closer, “Think harder, maybe it’ll come back to you” he added a quiet note of song to his voice, liking the fear that filled the man’s expression when it finally clicked.
“That’s impossible,” he denied, barely daring to shake his head with the threat of Jason’s claws at his throat “Your kind can’t— can’t do, do this” he looked at Jason’s legs. Jason smiled “Whoops,” he said, unconcerned. It wasn’t like the other would live long enough to spread the information anywhere.
“Come on,” Jason said, tightening his claws just slightly to drive the words home. The man tripped out of the bar stool, and Jason adjusted to lay his hand on the back of the other’s neck in a deceptively gentle hold. He tucked himself against the man’s side as he stumbled, fitting perfectly into the invisible portrait of someone helping their drunk friend home. Jason didn’t even need to use any power to keep people from taking notice.
Jason only got them a few streets away before he got impatient. The bay was within sight, but the closer they got the more the man wanted to fight and Jason was hungry. He nudged them down one of the infinite alleyways tucked into Gotham’s corners and before the other could react, Jason sank his claws in.
He tore through the man’s throat, slicing the carotid and causing blood to spray out, soaking Jason as well as the alley around them. His prey gurgled, struggling to breathe and drowning in the red liquid instead. Jason didn’t wait, following the limp form when it collapsed and pressing his teeth against that gaping throat, drinking down the blood that continued to spill. He raked his claws down the belly of the carcass, shredding the cloth that covered the sought flesh as he nuzzled downwards and began to feast.
It was worth it, vengeance and a fresh, warm meal for the price of one moon’s shift. He cracked a rib bone between his teeth, wrenching the still heart from the gaping chest cavity and biting into the thick muscle. Blood dripped down his chin, dripping quietly to the ground as he finally drew back, debating if it was worth the effort to try and haul everything back home to save for later. Probably not. Still, what a waste.
His ears twitched at the sound of a low whistle, unaware that they had spread out into the finned fans better suited for detecting the sound waves in water than in the air. Jason whipped around, not quite managing to make it to his feet but baring his aching fangs anyway, a note held in his chest when he recognized the being that blocked his way out.
Just because Jason didn’t want to bother with what happened outside of the bay, it didn’t mean that he knew nothing of what went on.
Jason could recognize a wolf; especially on a night when the moon was at its widest, its light reflected in pale blue eyes. The swell of power was heavy in the air, weighing on Jason’s tongue and making him hesitate to pick that fight. Jason was strong, his territory took up the entirety of the Gotham Bay and that was not because no one else wanted it.
But Jason was on land. Beached. If they were in the water, Jason did not doubt that he could shred the wolf apart without a second thought. On land though? Weakened and wearing legs? Jason wasn’t so sure.
Also, he suspected that he knew which wolf this might be. After all, few wolves dared to enter Gotham. “What do you want?” Jason asked, his voice unusually hoarse from overusing his too-human vocal cords. Weak. Vulnerable.
Again.
“I’d heard of Gotham Bay’s Red Horror,” The wolf mused, shamelessly looking Jason over with a lascivious gaze “But, I mean, wow,” He sighed, his eyes sharp with a hunger so very different from that which had driven Jason to tear into the meat behind him.
“Renegade,” Jason said, his voice giving away none of the trepidation he felt. The wolf smiled, sharp fangs bared just enough to make it feel like a threat. “You don’t have to be afraid,” the other man said, his voice soft, cajoling, “I can smell it,” he explained, and Jason’s lip curled in disgust.
If his thoughts would be broadcast so loudly anyway, why should he bother trying to disguise them in the first place? He glared, hissing in warning when the other took a step further into the alley, closer to where Jason was trapped near the far end.
“Shh,” Renegade held his hands up, “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said. Jason scoffed “So you just wanted a friendly chat?” He sneered, finally managing to get his legs underneath him, and got to his feet unsteadily. He leaned against the wall, the brick rough through the damp fabric of his shirt. The wolf was still blocking his only way out.
“Mm,” Renegade said “Well, I was hoping for a little bit more than a chat,” he said. Jason tensed, jerking backward as the wolf lunged. He slipped, weak legs giving out before he could move away and he was quickly pinned beneath the other man’s lithe form.
Jason was, technically, the taller of the two, but that meant little when the wolf had all of the advantage. Jason was a predator, he knew how to fight and protect his territory. Renegade was a Hunter, seeking out humans and creatures to slay for money and entertainment. Jason knew his odds.
Renegade just had to immobilize his arms, kneeling painfully over his wrists and crushing them into the pavement by Jason’s sides. A hand fisted in Jason’s hair, yanking his head back as Renegade leaned down, a kiss smeared quickly across Jason’s lips, gone before he could think to bite. By the time he flashed sharp teeth, it would have been smarter to keep his jaw shut, a dry cloth shoved into his mouth and secured with the rip of tape the wolf pulled from his pocket.
Jason snarled wordlessly, panic settling heavy in his chest with the realization that he couldn’t talk, cut off from his last real line of defense. Renegade moved, dragging Jason over onto his side and catching his freed hands before Jason could use them to tear the awful gag free. They were bound behind him, the sharp cut of plastic pressing against his skin as the wolf settled him on his back once more.
Wasting no time, Renegade dragged Jason’s pants down his weak legs, a hand caressing over Jason’s vulnerable external sex organs. Jason choked, kicking out helplessly as the wolf settled in between his thighs, grinding their crotches together and setting panic skittering out beneath Jason’s skin.
Renegade leaned over him, licking up the trails of sticky blood that dripped down Jason’s throat before yanking the mer’s collar aside hard enough for it to rip and setting his fangs against the scarred skin.
Jason keened, sharp and loud even despite the gag as the bite went deep into the meat of his shoulder. It wouldn’t cause him to change, even with the weight of the full moon over them, shifters couldn’t change other shifters. But it still hurt.
It wasn’t a changing bite, but it was a claim. Bold and permanent, dug deep into Jason’s flesh. Anyone who saw it would know that Jason was mated, was owned.
Tears blurred his vision, another pathetic whimper leaving him when the wolf finally relaxed his bite, sitting back with a pleased groan. Blood stained Renegade’s lips, making him look all the more vicious when he grabbed at Jason’s hips and dragged him even closer, ignoring his squirming protests as the wolf’s cock dragged against Jason’s flaccid sex.
“Shh, shh,” Renegade shushed him, ignoring Jason’s muffled keens when he produced yet another item from the pockets of his jeans. This time it was a small, clear tube. Jason didn’t understand, why him? Why this?
A slick finger forced itself inside him, the stretch burning as the finger began to move. Jason had never touched himself there, not in this form. It hurt. Renegade pressed his mouth to Jason’s collarbone, sucking bruising kisses across his chest as he worked to open Jason up.
It was both too long and far too short before Renegade tugged his fingers free of Jason’s body and lined his cock up instead. Jason arched up off the ground, screaming through the gag as he was penetrated. Renegade growled, teeth sinking into Jason’s skin again as he thrust inside, slowly working his way into Jason’s tight hole until their hips finally came flush against each other.
It hurt, it hurt, and despite the wolf’s gentle reassurances that it would “get better” Jason didn’t think that it was supposed to feel like this, hurt like this.
It did, eventually, get a little easier, if only because his muscles had gone to jelly, his head lulling back as he blinked dazedly at the smoggy sky. The clouds had shifted and he could no longer even see the moon that had coaxed him from the safety of the water.
Jason thought it must have taken hours for the man to finish, to finally ease his cock out of Jason’s swollen hole, cum sliding down his legs to drip to the ground where he lay. Renegade pressed a gentle kiss over the most recent bite mark, fangs having sunk into Jason’s skin once more when the wolf had orgasmed, desperate to keep his prey in place. “You still with me?” He asked, cupping Jason’s cheek in his hand, a clawed thumb stroking beneath Jason’s eye to smear away the tears that wet the skin.
It must be getting late, Jason thought rather than acknowledging the fact that the wolf was still pinning him down. It was a little surprising that Renegade hadn’t shifted yet that evening, wolves were far more thoroughly beholden to the whims of the moon than Jason’s kind. The cracks were starting to show through; claws creeping out to press against Jason’s skin, blue eyes edged with gold.
Should he be flattered that the wolf fought back his shift just to lie with him? Or could he simply be angry that Renegade was powerful enough to ignore the pull of his instincts?
Renegade shook his head, rearing back with a low growl after one of his claws cut into the skin near Jason’s eye. “Sorry,” He murmured, leaning down to press a kiss to Jason’s chest as he slipped out from between his thighs, “I promise, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said again as if nothing he had done thus far had been harmful.
Renegade stretched, loose limbs popping and cracking as he danced around the edge of his shift before finally giving in to the call of the moon. Renegade curled forward, snarling in pain as his body started to change.
Jason took his chance, forcing his legs to cooperate as he willed himself upright, the pain in his hips threatening to send him back down again. The wolf’s growl deepened, a low warning that Jason ignored. He bolted before the wolf could complete his shift, running for the distant docks and the safety of the bay.