The Little Thief || Gay MxM ||

6. Rules Are Rules

I felt numb as we walked through the streets. Payton sniffed silently every now and then. I could feel his distress, but he chose to be brave. My own omega was scared, and every time we walked past a dark alley, or we heard quiet mutters somewhere close by, it got terrified. I tried to keep us all calm and focus on finding us a place to stay for the night, but I was on the verge of crashing. I really wanted to sit down and start crying, but we had to keep going. We had to find shelter. We weren't safe as long as we stayed outside.

I had to be strong, or at least act like I was.

We would be somewhat fine for as long as the bars and restaurants stayed open, and there were plenty of people on the streets, but four o'clock would bring out the kidnappers to search for easy, drunken prey. We didn't want to be outside when that happened.

There was a cheap hotel in the older part of the city. It was our best bet. They usually had rooms available, and they were so cheap we could stay for a few nights if needed. And I realized we needed to stay for a few nights because I was going into heat. No matter how well we'd hide, alphas could easily find us just because of my pheromones.

"How much did he give you?" I asked Payton, nearly spooking him after staying silent for so long.

"I... uh... Didn't check..." he mumbled, and searched through his pockets. He found the small stack and gave it to me.

I quickly counted it. A little over one hundred bucks. That should be enough for three nights...

"I'm going into heat," I told Payton.

"Thought so," he murmured back.

I nodded slowly. "We need to stay in a hotel until it's over."

"Gotcha," he said.

"But it means we'll have to spend most of this money..." I muttered.

"Derek gave it to us so we'd be safe," he reminded me gently. "And I could use a few nights in an actual bed after all this..."

"Yeah..." I said, and gave him a small smile. "We'll be fine. I promise."

He smiled back at me, but his eyes were still gleaming after all the crying.

"Maybe we can go buy something good to eat if the hotel isn't too expensive," I suggested. "How about hot dogs?"

He groaned a little. "I love hot dogs..."

"Then we'll go get hot dogs," I promised him.

We arrived safely at the hotel half an hour later. The doors were already locked, but we rang the doorbell. A short moment later, a big, old alpha came to open the door for us, but he wasn't happy to see us. He pushed the door open but didn't move out of the way. My heart dropped before he could even say a word. I already knew we weren't welcome.

"Looters aren't allowed anymore," he said sternly, giving us both the stink-eye.

"We're not looters," I said as confidently as I could. "A pipe burst in our home, and we have nowhere to go..."

Payton had the perfect timing when he sniffed and tried to hold back a sob, failing a little. The man and I both turned our attention to him. My poor best friend wasn't even faking it, and it was clear to this man he had been crying for a while now.

"It's been a really rough night," I told him quietly. "We have cash, so we can pay up front. We just don't want to spend the weekend outside..."

The man's expression changed as he watched Payton, who tried his best not to cry. I assumed he was afraid we'd have to sleep outside, after all.