The problem was essentially this: Dick was never going to be able to outwolf Slade. He was too much smaller, which might’ve been an asset if he had been significantly faster, but they were too close to the same speed when they were both shifted. Dick’s only chance to outmaneuver him was always going to be if he stayed in his human form and kept his ability to flip and jump and grab. Even in this concrete jungle of warehouses, Slade’s wolf form was going to be able to overtake him if he didn’t take full advantage of the form he’d chosen. Slade would still love him if he couldn’t provide an adequate mating chase. He knew that. But his pride told him that he couldn’t be a mate worth having if he got caught too soon, if he gave in. This was as much about what he brought to the relationship as it was Slade showing how badly he wanted Dick.
Dick had known on their first date that it would be Slade doing the chase. Some couples negotiated about it or had two chases, but Dick had known as soon as he really considered their interest in each other that Slade would take the part of the predator and Dick would take the part of the prey. It was simply who they were. So Dick ran as soon as he was signaled, knowing he had only a few precious minutes before Slade would be in pursuit. A set of stairs looked tempting, but he knew Slade would ascend them too quickly if he could follow Dick’s scent directly. But there… a rope! Dick pulled himself up and flipped over the railing onto the carpeted walkway of the second floor. Slade would still use the stairs, but he probably wouldn’t know he needed to until he got to the rope. Dick grinned to himself and ran, the steady weight of the knife at his hip a reminder of his goal.
It wasn’t nearly long enough before he heard the signal allow Slade to start his pursuit. He didn’t risk looking behind him as he found a ladder to climb to the metal of the third floor. His steps were louder here and the firm ground beneath his feet as he ran was familiar to the nights he spent running along rooftops. There would be multiple ways from this warehouse to the next, but Dick needed the high ground if he was going to put enough distance between him and Slade. It’d have to be a bridge, if only because the pack had decided years ago to not allow swings and grapples. They were too high risk for serious injury, but also included the chance that one of the mating pair would end up outside of the designated mating run. A werewolf driven semi-feral by the pursuit was a dangerous thing.
A frustrated snarl made Dick bite back a laugh as he reached the edge of the building farthest from the door they had entered through and followed along it to find a connected bridge. He would’ve liked to have his route mapped out in his head, but unmated wolves weren’t allowed in the building without good reason and an escort to try to avoid anyone having an unfair advantage. If Slade had been in here before today, he probably would’ve known Dick’s route before Dick did. Dick bit back a hiss as he reached the chill outdoor air and focused on getting across the bridge to the next building as quickly as possible. The downside of doing their run this late in the fall, even if the idea of being mated before the winter brought its own type of warmth.
A pulley system extended from the ceiling just inside the second building’s door felt like an invitation to jump to Dick and he threw himself at it as eagerly as any vigilante trained to fly would. The arc, the second pulley, the cat walk. The howl of pursuit made the muscles of his stomach clench as he tried to figure out how to get to the next level down without leaving too obvious of a scent trail. Slade was too controlled to be howling already unless he was doing it for Dick, to remind him that he was being hunted. Dick hoped it was as thrilling to chase him as it was to know that Slade was coming for him even as he decided to make Slade work for it by deciding to throw himself over the railing of the lower half of a staircase.
A roll to his feet along the carpeted floor and off again towards the far wall. He heard a snarl as he reached a possible doorway, catching a glimpse of fur as Slade tried to find a way down. It put an extra boost in Dick’s step, knowing that if Slade was close enough to see him, he wouldn’t be able to evade him for very long. Running across the next bridge brought Dick into the third building and then he made a probably ill-advised jump for a pillar with large enough bolts that Dick would be able to force his way up to put another floor between him and Slade, bringing him back up to the metal walkway of the third floor.
If he could get through this building without being caught… Dick forced the thought away even as he tried a door immediately to his right, knowing that the clench of his stomach and tension in his shoulders wouldn’t help. The sight of a second door in the room had him carefully closing the first one. The doors would slow him down, but they’d be worse for Slade, provided the wolf didn’t just try to knock them down in his pursuit. Another snarl as Slade made it into the building, audible even as Dick passed quickly through bare offices. Something in the tone of it made Dick wonder exactly how worked up Slade was getting over the chase. If he was starting to slip into the hunt as much as that sounded, they’d have to revisit this again later, Dick decided as he reached a room with no obvious connecting door.
He paused and glanced around before registering the window that faced out to the walkway. A harsh thud had him crouching beneath the window, holding his breath as he tried to listen for whether the door had given. He couldn’t go out of it too soon, not if there was a risk that Slade would see him. He wouldn’t be able to outrun him in a straight shot like that, but if Slade was already going through the offices before Dick went back out into the main room, he might be able to avoid being noticed as long as he stayed close to the wall. His muscles seemed to ache all the more for the moment of rest.
Dick heard glass shatter. Slade had made it into the first office after all, he thought as he forced the window up as quietly as he could and slid through it onto the walkway. He hesitated for a moment before leaving it open. Slade would be able to follow him more quickly and hear him much better once he reached that last room, but… But he didn’t know if he had it in him to encourage Slade to smash through another window, especially if he was starting to get feral over the chase. It would hurt even with an enhanced healing factor.
Dick turned his focus towards running along the walkway, keeping as close to the wall as he could. He looked forward ahead of him towards the back wall of the warehouse and nearly stumbled when he realized there wasn’t a door along it. His heart pounded as he tried to decide where to go next. There was another door on the opposite side, but was that a better risk than the doorway to the bridge he could see on the floor below him? Especially with Slade so close by? Trying to get to either door would risk him being seen through any windows in the offices. He’d only really noticed the last one because there hadn’t been a door and it hadn’t occurred to him that Slade might try to go through them directly, healing factor or no. The certainty of the door below was better.
He darted forward to swing himself over the railing, using his grip on it to force himself onto the carpeted walkway directly below. Another howl and Dick knew that Slade had found the open window. Time to run, he thought, even as he tried to remember where the closest staircase had been. Slade wouldn’t be able to make the jump cleanly, unless he aimed for the catwalk on the second floor closer to the other end of the warehouse, not without risking ending up on the rough concrete first floor with broken legs. The wolf having to turn back for even a little while would help, Dick reminded himself as he bolted through the cold air to the last building. This bridge ended with a door and Dick forced himself to close it, knowing that tradition required that last barrier. Dick found himself slowing to a walk as he reached the stairs that would bring him to the bottom floor. He allowed himself a glance at the door, at where he knew Slade would be coming for him. Slade was always going to come for him. Dick started down the staircase.
The bottom was dark, intentionally left dim for this purpose. The building was still large, but Dick felt himself instinctively keeping away from the large open expanse in the middle. He crept along the edges and struggled against the urge to shift to find them. He knew they were here, but they were chosen because they were good at what they did. Tradition demanded that those in the position as honorary rivals be held to similar standards to Slade and Dick had no actual rivals pursuing him, as far as he knew. He wouldn’t have agreed to the run if he wasn’t sure of Slade, though he knew that some packs still encouraged people to use the mating run to decide between suitors. Similar standards to Slade meant that they’d be hard to find if they didn’t want to be found though, and they had the benefit of knowing what direction he’d come from and which floor he would end up on.
Dick froze behind a pillar and tried to focus his eyes on the space across the large room where he thought he’d seen a shadow flicker. A moment later, a hand pressed tightly over his mouth at the same time as an arm locked around his waist. “You know, I used to daydream about this when I was sleeping across the hall from your old bedroom,” a voice whispered in his ear. Dick nearly relaxed against the warm line of Jason’s body before processing that Jason being here meant that he was one of the rivals that Dick had been searching for. Instead he jabbed his elbow back against Jason’s ribs and moved to break the hold as soon as Jason grunted.
“Aw, c’mon, Dickie, don’t be like that. Didn’t you ever think about it?” Jason pressed his hand against the spot Dick had elbowed him even as he grinned through his words. Dick forced himself not to roll his eyes as he leaned into the loose script of the mating runs.
“Not really. You were too young before and now I know what I want. I want Slade,” Dick said firmly as his hand drifted towards the knife strapped to his waist. The hair along the back of his neck started to rise and Dick threw himself sideways as a sharp gleam of metal appeared from the shadows next to him.
“But have you really considered all your options?” Bucky asked, his expression neutral even as his eyes looked amused. He wasn’t from their pack, but it wasn’t uncommon to borrow someone willing from other packs to make sure the rivals were strong candidates, regardless of any actual interest in them, and they had been friendly the few times they had met. Dick looked between the two of them for a moment and half-turned to glance behind him as someone jumped from the floor Dick had entered on to land so Dick was between the three of them. Another visitor from one of the packs in New York, Logan, tipped his head slightly in acknowledgment. Dick wasn’t very familiar with him personally, but knew he was a strong fighter.
A part of him preened at the idea that these three had been chosen as the rival suitors for his mating run. If they were the suggestions for who he might choose besides Slade, it meant that the pack also acknowledged him as a strong fighter. Two of them were metas in their own right and Jason had brushed right up against that edge with his exposure to the Lazarus Pit and the All-Caste. Three strong rivals in their human forms to balance one werewolf in his human form and one werewolf in his shifted form, at least for the duration of the traditional fight to prove they were strong and capable together.
“I don’t need other options. I know I want Slade,” Dick responded, unable to completely suppress his own smile even as he pulled the knife free of its sheath. He’d done most of his own part by getting here and the run had done little to dull the excitement of the coming fight. He edged backwards a little to try to get all three of them in his sight at once and opened his mouth to speak again, only for his breath to catch a little at the crash from the door he’d entered through followed by an enraged snarl. Dick didn’t dare look away from the three of them even as he felt his heart race. Slade had caught up to him.
The wolf risked the same jump Logan had made just moments before and landed close to Dick’s side. Slade growled for a moment and then threw himself forward. Dick grinned and brought his knife up to follow him into the fight. Jason stepped forward to try to disarm him as Bucky and Logan turned their focus to Slade. Dick didn’t envy them the task of trying to go against a feral werewolf and his desired mate, but he didn’t envy Jason his task either. Dick knew what he wanted and wasn’t going to play gently just because they were family. Jason knew what he had signed up for.
The fight itself was short, but brutal. Dick found himself grateful for the increased healing factors that he knew Bucky and Logan had when he found one side of him suddenly sprayed with blood. He forced himself not to look, trusting that Slade’s growl meant that the wolf was still holding his own and reassured by the sound of someone quietly yielding. Dick dodged a heavy swing from Jason and kicked one of Jason’s feet out from under him, following him down to press the knife to his throat so that Jason could whisper a quick “I yield” between panted breaths. Dick took a moment to nod his acceptance before twisting to look at where Logan and Slade still fought.
He stood and approached the two of them, glancing down at where Bucky was applying pressure to a wound in his thigh. The super-soldier’s mouth twitched with a smile as he made eye contact with Dick before he turned his attention to where Logan was slashing out at Slade with metal claws extended from his hands.
Dick waited for an opening and considered Slade briefly. The wolf had control of his senses again, Dick decided, and that meant he could probably act without actually endangering anyone. Dick threw himself onto Logan’s back and pressed the knife to his throat, causing the man to freeze mid-slash. Another look at Slade and Dick just knew that he’d be smug about this later. “I yield,” Logan said, a moment later than Dick really thought was reasonable. Dick on his back with a knife and Slade ready to tear him apart in front of him should have had Logan yielding sooner, but Dick was pretty sure that none of them were exactly putting forward a high standard for reasonable behavior.
Dick whooped as he released Logan to slide off his back. He slid the knife back into the sheath and the moment it took was long enough for Slade to dart around Logan to throw himself at Dick. Slade started to shift to his human form in mid-air and Dick yelped as he started to fall under the unexpected weight, only for his head to be protected from the fall by one of Slade’s large hands. The air knocked out of Dick as he was pressed between the ground and Slade’s body, but he brought his hands up to clutch at Slade’s sides anyway. “Come here often?” he wheezed as Slade stared down at him for a moment.
Slade didn’t bother responding and instead brought his free hand up to tear at Dick’s shirt. Dick made a small sound of protest, despite having chosen this outfit with the understanding that it would get blood on it and would probably be destroyed at some point in the process. And then… Then the damn shirt didn’t matter. The press of Slade’s teeth into the meat of Dick’s shoulder made him groan quietly before blowing out a shaky breath. He felt himself grinning even as he moved his hands to press Slade’s broad shoulders down more. He bit hard as soon as Slade’s shoulder was in reach, his body jerking a little in excitement as Slade hissed. The taste of blood in his mouth let Dick know he could relax his jaw and he pressed a small kiss against the bite wound as soon as his teeth were clear of it. Slade smiled down at him, his own mouth bloody from putting his mating bite on Dick.
The two kissed until Dick snorted a laugh as Logan said something about how he had been worried he’d have to claw Slade deep enough to hear him whistle when he breathed. Bucky complained about the depth of the bite on his thigh in response. Slade smirked at Dick for a moment before lifting himself off just enough to roll Dick over and tear his pants and the knife belt out of the way. Dick blushed a little even as he lifted his hips to make the process easier. It was traditional and he had prepared himself before the run, but he also hadn’t expected one of the bats to be among the rivals that would witness them coming together. Even knowing Slade couldn’t actually get Dick pregnant, he squirmed in the excitement of knowing that someone would witness the mating being consummated and would know without a doubt that they had chosen each other.
Jason, Bucky, and Logan went silent as Slade grabbed Dick’s hips and lifted them a little higher. Traditionally this was part of the claim, a clear indicator to any rivals that the mated pair were no longer available. In practice, Slade and Dick probably would have done it anyway, though perhaps more privately. Fighting, especially fighting together, had always led to them turning to each other to fuck out the rest of the adrenaline. A press of calloused fingers against his opening before the hand retreated. Dick moaned quietly as Slade guided his cock into Dick, his eyes closing to savor the stretch.
Dick shifted so that his hands were under him and tried to push up to give himself the leverage to move, only for Slade to plant a hand on the back of his neck to hold him in place. He struggled against the hand, mostly for the pleasure of being reminded how easily Slade could keep Dick where he wanted him, and felt his own cock throb in excitement as he failed to get any higher. He half-huffed a laugh and shifted to brace his forearms against the ground instead. A moment later he was grateful for the additional security as Slade moved the hand down to hold his hips tightly and start to speed up his thrusts.
“Gonna breed you full of my pups so you always smell like me, so everyone knows you’re mine,” Slade growled, hands squeezing a little tighter around Dick’s hips. Dick caught himself blushing again even as he squirmed against the hold. It was impossible, but he couldn’t deny the appeal of everyone being able to smell Slade on him, of everyone knowing that he was providing Slade with the family they both wanted.
“Fuck, please?” he begged quietly, trying and failing again to press himself back onto Slade’s cock. The problem with taking a lover so much bigger than him, Dick decided, was essentially the same as the best benefit. If Slade didn’t want Dick to move, he wasn’t going to be able to.
“Trust me to fuck you right,” Slade demanded, shifting enough to press a kiss to Dick’s back. Dick moaned quietly at the change of angles and adjusted his weight onto one arm so he could reach down to stroke himself in time with Slade’s thrusts. “If you make yourself cum before I’m done, I’m not stopping,” Slade promised against his skin before kissing the mating bite. Dick moaned louder and quickly found himself moving his fist faster over his cock. He pulled his hand away to lick a wet stripe onto it before returning to his cock, clenching tightly around Slade as it glided more easily.
“Don’t want you to stop,” Dick panted as he felt his own orgasm start to build. He struggled to keep his eyes open for a moment and then decided it didn’t matter, letting his head hang as he gave himself over to the sensation of Slade fucking into him while he worked his fist over his cock. It wasn’t long before the orgasm hit him, forcing Dick to cry out as Slade fucked him through it. A murmur of appreciation behind him made him remember their audience and Dick felt himself instinctively try to pull away.
Slade growled again as he yanked Dick back harshly onto his cock. Dick clawed the ground in front of him slightly, trying to find something to hold onto as Slade increased his speed. He caught himself whining as he tipped over into being overstimulated, trying fruitlessly to squirm in Slade’s hold. One of Slade’s thumbs rubbed against Dick’s hip as Slade moaned in response. “Who do you belong to?” Slade asked, the words quiet enough that Dick knew that they were intended just for him.
“You! You, please, I’m yours,” Dick promised, reaching back to press his hand over where Slade held him. A thrill went through him at the truth of the words, even as he caught himself scratching Slade’s fingers a little. He belonged to Slade now, just as Slade belonged to him. The bites ensured their scents would be at least a little mingled, even if it wouldn’t be as strong as the mixing that a pregnancy brought. Dick caught himself tearing up a little as Slade’s thrusting pattern shifted and couldn’t help but moan as he felt Slade spill inside him. He whimpered as Slade ground into him before stopping and for a moment the two of them trembled together.
Dick whined again as Slade pulled out and let himself drop as Slade let his hips go. A moment later he was shifted to lay on Slade’s chest as the other lay on the ground and Dick closed his eyes, focusing on Slade’s heart-beat and then gently throbbing pain of the new bite. He heard the men around them shift a little as the formal witnessing finished. As they left, Dick moved enough to grin up at Slade. “You’ll never get rid of me now.”
“You say that as if you think that wasn’t the plan, little bird.”