What It Means To Be Me

He’s useless…

…hasn’t shifted.

Kill him…disgrace…

…few more days.

No…the alpha has spoken.

…honey, you need to run.

Son, don’t ever come back.

Stop him!

Run, Tanner!

Tanner

Light flooded my vision as I jumped to my feet, knocking my head on the hollowed-out tree trunk above my head. Snow trickled down to lightly coat the already thick blanket in front of my paws.

Nnnn, ow.

Flopping back down onto the frigid ground, I huffed a sigh and looked outside my pathetic excuse for a den. The cold already had me shivering, but at least it numbed to the itchiness I usually felt. I had no idea why half of my fur had fallen out or why I was always so itchy, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Swimming sometimes helped, but in the winter, that could be deadly.

After a few strong sneezes, I got up again, being sure not to hit my head this time, and carefully sauntered out from under the old tree where I’d had taken shelter the night before during the snowstorm. Everything was covered in a blanket of white, and icicles hung precariously from the dormant oak trees overhead. The forest really was beautiful, but after living in several different ones by myself over the years, I had come to know its more sinister side. Nothing was ever safe, and if a human was ever sighted, the only rule was to run faster than their bullets.

When I was a puppy, I came in contact with them on several occasions, before I learned how to avoid them altogether. Each time ended with me running for my life, and the last time was still fresh in my mind—I glanced back at my injured back leg and whined. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with it, but I couldn’t use it anymore and it had hurt so badly that I basically kept it pulled up against my haunches. That’s where it had healed itself, so the limb was completely useless now. Over the season that it had been injured, I quickly realized my hunting ability had dropped to the point where I was eating lizards and bugs to survive. I didn’t find them disgusting, but the taste wasn’t nearly as good as deer or wild turkey. My strength had also decreased with the loss of my main food source…which led me to where I was at the moment.

It was a dangerous place being near a human town, especially since I’d been there for several days, but I was just too hungry to go elsewhere. Pets were such easy meals, and as long as the humans didn’t see me, they shouldn’t be able to catch or shoot me. Just the thought of having another meal made me begin to drool as I stumbled through the thick snowbank that led into the human town. I needed to go keep to the outskirts like I had last time I hunted and wait until I heard barking or saw someone letting their dog out into an unobstructed yard.

It only took me a short while to come across a little white fluffy dog that had just been let out to go bathroom in an open yard, perfect. After a quick look around, I bolted for the dog, easily catching it even with my useless leg. Human pets were always so overweight and easy to catch, not to mention that fat was really important for me in winter.

“Wolf!”

I was retreating from the backyard with my kill when I heard a door creak open and a scream echo through the night. Shit! Thankfully the human was an old woman so I easily escaped, but it was never good to get caught taking from people, they often sent other people into the forest to look for me, which forced me to hide for days to stay alive.

Cole

“Alpha! There was just another report of a dog taken by what looked like a wolf,” my beta, Rowin, panted as he stumbled in through the front door, completely out of breath from having obviously run here.

I swear the man always forgot he could use a cell phone or, when he got close enough, our mind link…

I wasn’t really expecting the kills to continue, especially since the town said to keep all pets inside unless someone was with them, but since whatever was hunting them was getting more and more bold, considering it was midmorning and the other attacks had occurred at night, I knew we had to act or risk a complete panic with the humans. Giving a quiet sigh, I rolled my shoulders and pulled out my phone.

“Alright. Let’s go get it. If people are calling it a wolf, then we need to figure this out. It could just be a rogue who wandered in, but even one wolf shouldn’t be forced to hunt dogs.”

“Alpha, the woman said it was limping and looked like it was missing fur,” Oliver noted as he walked over to me.

Well, that explains it. Sick animals were irrational when it came to hunting because they could only catch so much.

“Okay, so we just need to go kill it. It’s probably a wolf that injured itself or was hurt by a hunter, then left behind by its pack. If it’s already missing fur, it likely has mange, too. Gather the pack, let’s get this taken care of.”

I made a few calls and then tossed my clothes on the sofa before walking out the back sliding door. It wasn’t unheard of to see a wandering wolf in the area, we’d taken care of them before to keep our secret from the ever-curious human population. So, when my pack began to assemble in their wolf forms, I shifted into my own black one to lead.

Tracking in the snow wasn’t very easy considering our noses froze after a few minutes and snow didn’t hold scent very well, but lucky for us, the canine was bleeding pretty heavily and it only took us a few sniffs after we lost the blood trail to hear the crunching of bones over by a huge oak tree. I motioned for my pack to quietly surround the injured animal, and once everyone was in place, I carefully sauntered forward with my beta and third-in-command flanking me at each side.

It’s definitely a wolf, and looks like it has mange judging from its face and what I can see of its back.

I sent the thought out to my curious pack.

Did Orlando bring the shotgun?

I asked Rowin, my eyes narrowing on the animal beneath the old tree.

Yes, Alpha. He’s already lined up in a tree behind us but needs the wolf a little bit out of the den to get the shot,

another of my pack responded in confirmation.

Alright, everyone stay back. I’ll get it out.

There was no way to be sure what kind of mange it had so I decided to use my human form so that it wouldn’t get on my fur. Granted, the sarcoptic version was highly transmissible, even to humans, but it would be best to limit touching it as much as possible. As I began to creep forward through the deep snow, I allowed my mind to nudge its way into the other wolf’s. At first, I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on, but as I focused and took apart each little murmur and thought, I slowly began to piece together what it was thinking. The most prevalent thought was definitely about the food it had right now, then pain and cold mixed in. When I took another step closer, the crunch of snow caused the animal’s head to snap up. Instantly panic flooded its mind, pulsing into my own as it cowered farther back under the tree, dragging the remains of the dog along with it. I knew most wild animals didn’t understand werewolves or humans for that matter, but perhaps my voice could distract it a little so I could grab the dog’s body. Having its food taken away would likely spur it to lunge forward, and hopefully get the animal far enough out so Orlando could take his shot.

Hi sweetie…

I cooed soothingly through our mind-link.

Tanner

Hi sweetie…

Err?

I immediately shook my head, trying to get that terrible voice out of my mind. The words were lost to me since I hadn’t spoken to anyone since I’d run away all those years ago. One thing I did know, though, was that he was getting closer, even though I was baring my teeth in warning that I would bite. I didn’t trust anyone, even other werewolves, after what my own pack had tried to do to me. So when he reached his hand out, I lunged, snapping my jaws down on air a second after he jumped back. The momentum of the attack lifted me up, but it also showed the man kneeling in front of me my injury by mistake.

Awww, sweetie, that looks like it hurts…

I snarled and backed away, shielding my injured side from his sight as I hunkered back under the tree. His tone of voice tickled my memories, but I couldn’t place it.

Cole

“Rowin.”

There was a quiet growl from behind me as I heard him walk up, then shift into his own human form.

“Yes, Alpha?”

“Run back to the house and get some of the fresh meat from the fridge. Take most of the pack back with you, I just want Orlando, Daise, and Carter to stay behind.”

My beta nodded and shifted back, leaving a large, light brown wolf standing in the snow where his human-self had been. After a moment, he took off with most of my pack to return to my home. I remained calm in the deep snow, simply watching as the small wolf tried to curl itself farther under the trunk. It was obvious it had pushed as far back as it could but kept trying nonetheless.

Good, if it was able to go in any farther I’d have to go in and fight it with my wolf and pray what it had wasn’t the contagious type of mange.

Shaking my head at that thought, I licked my lips and squatted down in the deep snow.

Well, it’s just me and a few friends now…One of my good friends went to get you some food, would you like that?

I really have no idea why I was talking to it. Its mind was definitely that of a wild, sickly wolf, but for some reason I felt the need to try to calm it—a little humorous, sadly. A wild wolf would normally get more upset if a werewolf tried to speak to it telepathically, so this one had me curious. Granted, it was probably so far gone that it just didn’t care.

“Poor pup.”

About twenty-five minutes later, my beta returned with a huge backpack full of meat. He had run in his human form and, along with the meat, had brought me a set of warm clothing.

“Thanks,” I said as I reached for the clothing he was offering.

“No problem, Alpha. Here.”

He handed me the bag, which I quickly dug into after tugging on the clothes, a simple red sweater and worn blue jeans. He had gotten some seriously good meat, so hopefully it would be enough to lure the small wolf out. If it had been possible to rehab the pup without being a danger to others, and if it hadn’t killed those pets, we might have tried to trap it, but it was already covered in mange and eating things it shouldn’t. That back leg also looked like an old injury, which would take a long surgery to even begin fixing. Giving a quiet sigh, I took out a nice big piece of steak and immediately smirked when the wolf’s nose moved along with the meat, following the food.

“Hungry, aren’t ya, sweetie?”

With a small smile, I tore off a little chunk of meat and tossed it to him. It vanished before even hitting the ground, leaving behind a line of drool from the wolf’s mouth as it awaited more. After that, each time I tossed it a piece, it lunged for it, snapping the morsel out of thin air, but then it would shy right back against the root wall again.

“Hmph. You’re not stupid, that’s for sure.”

        It obviously knew what I was trying to do...which was going to make this harder to deal with.

Tanner

Stupid.

…Stupid…

I remembered that word. That was me. I’m stupid. My eyes dropped to the ground at the thought of someone else calling me that. It’s what made Mommy cry and Daddy get mad. It’s what eventually made me have to run for my life. That word wasn’t good. It was bad.

Stupid.

The man kneeling in front of me gasped, making me scoot farther against the trunk in case he tried to attack. I really wanted the food he still had. I could smell it in that bag but I wasn’t going to come out with anything that looked even close to humans there. No one ever tried to help me. Every time I found food, it had always been someone trying to catch me or something that had been dead for a long while. This was good food, though, so he was trying to hurt me.

“Wait a second…did it just…”

The man leaned closer, getting a growl out of me in warning.

“Hey, little pup, do you understand that word? Stupid?”

My ears pinned down in annoyance.

Why did he have to keep saying that word?

I knew I was stupid, whatever that meant. I remembered it from the days my parents had spent upset after people had used it to describe me. He didn’t have to keep saying such a bad thing. When he started getting closer, I lunged at him, screaming into his mind— Stupid!

The man jumped back instantly and got to his feet.

“Orlando, hold your fire. It’s a werewolf.”

Cole

Eh? Are you sure, Alpha? I’ve never seen a were that bad before,

Orlando thought to me through our link as he sauntered to my side, still in his human form, gun lightly resting on his shoulders.

“Yeah. He doesn’t seem to understand anything but the word ‘stupid’,” I said, smiling slightly at the odd situation we’d found ourselves in.

“Huh? That doesn’t make much sense,” Orlando mumbled as he leaned over a little, trying to get a better look at the pup beneath the tree trunk. I had to agree. This was a really strange case. Werewolves didn’t usually get mange and begin stealing people’s pets to stay alive. They also tended to understand words, but this one only knew stupid so far. Scratching the back of my neck, I gave a tired sigh.

“We can’t just leave it here….”

I knew killing pets or generally having a rogue in our territory gave us the right to kill it, but I didn’t think this pup even understood where he was or that what he was doing was wrong. Pursing my lips, I carefully knelt down in the snow again so I could see the wolf in the small hollowed out area. Reaching out my hand, I gently curled my fingers in a come-here gesture.

“Can you come here, sweetie? I won’t hurt you.”

Stupid…

he grumbled back, baring his teeth in a warning.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to call you that. Come here, I can help you.”

To try to prove my point, I tossed him another piece of meat. He snapped it up, but backed away again when he finished it.

“Bah…”

“Alpha, do you want me to go get a catch pole?” Orlando offered. I really didn’t want to stress the wolf more than it already was but if it stayed out here much longer it definitely wouldn’t last. The human police would quickly send hunters out here to kill it when it went after another dog…if they weren’t already being rallied right now for its most recent kill.

“….yeah. I guess that’s really all we can do. Bring back a muzzle and some rope, too.”

“Yes, Alpha,” he replied before nodding and running off. I waited quietly with my three other pack members and the pup, tossing it food occasionally until Orlando returned with what I had requested.

“Thank you, now let’s see if we can get this pup somewhere warm before the storm tonight.”

That was the main reason I didn’t want to set a humane trap and wait. It was going to drop well below freezing since a storm was heading this way from Canada. It was just too dangerous to not take the chance and catch it now, even though it’s going to add some stress to the already frightened pup and possibly get a few of us an annoying skin infection. I had Orlando take the catch pole once I got the noose the way I wanted it, having him hold it over the main entrance to the den-like hole beneath the tree.

“Alright, I’m going to be feeding it through the noose, when you see your chance, yank it back,” I mumbled as I got a piece of meat torn off from the large steak in my left hand.

“Got it, Alpha,” Orlando said, his attention focusing on his task. The first few tries the pup nearly got my fingers, but when I grabbed a big chunk of brisket from the bag and he latched onto it, I quickly yanked his neck through the noose and Orlando took his chance, pulling back hard on the catch pole.

“Yes,” I shouted when the rope synched around the small wolf’s neck.

“Got him, Alpha!”

Tanner

No!

No no no!

I thrashed around as much as I could manage in the deep snow, but something around my neck kept digging into my skin.

Ow ow ow!

“It’s okay, hun, I know it hurts. Calm down, shhhh. It’s okay. We don’t want to hurt you,” the man in front of me said, though again, I didn’t understand. I had dropped the meat he’d used to trick me so when he tried to get closer, I quickly snapped at him, yelling at his mind one of the few other words I remembered.

No!

“Shit. He’s upset. We need to get him inside and calm so we can call the vet to start taking care of him,” the man growled then grabbed something weird from his pack before attempting to get closer again, but this time when I lunged to bite, he waited until my mouth shut and then lunged forward himself. I wasn’t expecting it, and when the item slipped over my mouth, I instantly freaked out and began thrashing to get free. With that rope-like thing around my neck, I couldn’t struggle enough to keep the other man from pinning me and tying something around my head.

No! No! No! Ow!

“I know it hurts, hun, but this is the only way we can catch you right now,” the man said, making me want to bite him even more for his calm tone. As soon as he got the item buckled on my head, he jumped back and I charged after him, but my mouth wouldn’t open enough to bite. In my confusion, he rushed forward, this time tying me up with the help of two other human-like creatures who had previously been wolves.

Cole

“Whew, Finally.”

Took a bit of effort and help from Orlando to get the pup tied up, but now I could easily carry it back home without any chance of it getting the muzzle off and causing damage.

“Alright, I’m gonna carry him back to my place. Rowin, call the vet and have him meet me there. Orlando, Daise, Carter, you’re dismissed as well as the rest of the pack. Feel free to tell them what happened, but there will be an official meeting later tonight.”

All four men nodded and shifted to run back to town as I began walking. I could still hear the pup’s voice yelling “no” and “ow” in my head, but as far as I could tell, those two words, along with “stupid”, were the only things he understood.

“You’re a mystery, eh, little pup?” I said cheerfully as I stepped over a frozen log. He just growled in response, making me grin.

---

Back at the house I was relieved to only see Rowin and the vet standing on my back deck. They both looked up as I approached, carrying the wolf.

“Hey, Doc, got a doozy for ya,” I yelled as I made my way through my white, frozen yard. The older man’s eyebrows rose in surprise as he looked at the poor wolf on my shoulder.

“Boy, Rowin wasn’t kidding. Are you sure it’s a werewolf? I’ve never seen them get mange that badly…and he’s a rogue?”

“Yeah. As far as I know. He doesn’t understand many words from what I can tell.”

We all walked inside, and I put the wolf down on a tarp Rowin and the doctor had laid out to examine him.

“Which words does he know so far?” the doctor asked, making me chuckle as I listed them. “Ow, no, and stupid.”

I got a low growl from the pup for saying stupid and grinned.

“He doesn’t like that last one very much.”

“Hah. I see. Well then, let’s get busy. I’m sure this pup will be much more talkative when he feels better.”

Tanner

Having hands on me was extremely uncomfortable, but no matter how many times I screamed “no” into that man’s head, he wouldn’t let me go. A new older man was the one causing most of the pain as he went straight after my hurt leg.

“It’s definitely broken. It looks like an old injury from a gunshot wound…at least a few months ago,” the new man said as he stretched my leg suddenly. I couldn’t help but whine and try to get away. Unfortunately, the man who had brought me to this house was very strong and had no problems holding me down.

“I’m going to have to re-break this, but that will be for another day. He’s already stressed enough right now. Alright, let’s see…”

I felt something scrape along my shoulder where I had no fur and growled, but they obviously ignored it since the painful scraping continued.

“Let’s see what kind of mange this poor fellow has,” the older man said when he finally stopped scratching at me. A minute later, I noticed all three taking turns staring at some kind of device, but I couldn’t lift my head enough to see what it was.

“Phew. It’s demodex. It’s not contagious but does take a lot of work to treat. He’ll need special baths daily and a much better diet than old lady’s obese dogs,” the older man said, making the group laugh but I wasn’t sure why. I knew I wasn’t doing anything close to funny…

“Alright, well, considering the look of his teeth he’s so graciously showing us, I’d have to say he’s somewhere around sixteen, maybe seventeen years old.”

“Eh? B-But he’s a tiny wolf. I thought he was like twelve,” the younger man said while his friend stood off to the side, staring at me. The guy they called Doc laughed and patted the only place on my left shoulder that had a small tuft of fur.

“Considering what he understands and his current body condition, I’m going to guess that he’s been on his own for a very long time. Maybe even…”

There was a long pause as they all looked at each other, then back down at me, then back to the older man.

“He could be from the Cliff Royal pack.”

“But then…they kill any pups who don’t change by their fifth birthday. Then you’re saying he…” I heard the larger man say. I think they had called him alpha, so he had to be the leader of whatever pack I had unfortunately found. They looked back at me, giving me an uneasy feeling in my belly.

The Doc person cut the silence by replying quietly, “He probably was attacked when he was five, and perhaps his parents gave him the chance to run.”

“So…he’s been on his own for eleven years?” the alpha exclaimed.

“Yes. That would explain why he doesn’t understand most things he should and why he has no pack.”

The doctor shook his head as he stood up and spoke, wiping his hands on his pants.

“Bring him to my office tomorrow so we can operate on that leg. It’s going to need to be splinted and wrapped. I think he may have an embedded collar, too. So that will need to come out also before it deals more damage and causes a bad infection.”

The man who had caught me looked upset as he reached forward and ran his fingers along my rough fur, speaking quietly, “We’ll get you fixed up, hun. I wonder if he can tell us his name…”

…name, hun?

I remembered my parents saying that word a lot, then they followed it with Tanner. Maybe that’s what he wanted to know? I couldn’t really remember if it was me, but maybe if I answered, they would stop poking at me.

Tanner.

“Nice to meet you, Tanner, I’m Cole.”

I Don’t Trust You

My mind was starting to feel sluggish as the men spoke to each other. Pretty soon the one who had poked at me packed up his things and left, then I was carefully lifted and moved into a large bedroom. It smelled like the man who was carrying me…Cole.

“I’m going to set you down, then untie your legs so you can rest until your appointment tomorrow,” he said as he carefully put me on a big pile of soft blankets that made me want to drift off right away. I’d never felt something so soft that wasn’t freezing and didn’t melt after a few seconds of resting on it. I don’t know why my eyes closed while another werewolf was handling me, but everything about this place was so comfortable and warm compared to where I normally slept…

“Heh, feels good, doesn’t it? I can’t wait till you learn how to talk to me. All the stories you could tell after being alone for so long.”

When I felt his hand gently stroke the fur along my face, I blinked open one eye and grunted a quiet woof in warning, but for some reason, that had him laughing.

“You’re a sweetheart. All that growling had to just be fear. I’ll show you that you’re safe from now on, and I’ll fix that leg of yours, too. Pretty soon you’ll be running marathons with the other pups in the pack.”

Weird person keeps talking when I don’t even respond.

His attention shifted from my open eye to what he was working on with his hands. The ropes on my legs pulled and loosened, then were tossed aside to free them. Thankfully he hadn’t messed with my injured one, only wrapped the other three with the rope earlier. Since they were free, I gave a good stretch and yawned before nuzzling a bit more into the soft blankets.

“I’d love to feed you some more, but the doctor said no food or water until after your surgery tomorrow. Once you’re feeling better, though, I’ll be spoiling you rotten.”

He reached forward and patted my belly, making my ears pin back for a second before I realized he wasn’t trying to hurt me.

“I’m gonna make this belly fat and fluffy once more. You’ll be gorgeous when all of your fur grows back and you have a good twenty or thirty more pounds on you.”

Hmm. Man, this person likes to talk about things I don’t understand. Ramble ramble ramble, but at least he isn’t hurting me at all and let my legs free of the ropes.

“I’m gonna have to keep that muzzle on you until we can actually communicate somewhat, though, but I swear I’ll take good care of you.”

With a slight roll of my eyes, I lifted my head and yawned, grumbling a few times as I did so since I couldn’t open my mouth that wide because of the thing he’d fastened over it. The combined actions made it appear that I was mocking him, but he just laughed again. Geez.

“I get it. I’ll leave you be. I’m pretty tired, too. Let me know if you need anything.”

When he moved around me and then climbed into a thing I think was called a bed? I licked my lips in thought. I remembered from a long time ago, I had a bed…it was a car…a race car, I think is what Mom called it. It was so cool and comfy… I want that again. Could I have that again? Would this man let me use his bed? Even a little part?

I knew I was pushing him and still honestly didn’t trust the man at all, but I was tired and the remembrance of my old bed got my body moving.

“Woof…”

He was just getting comfortable when he heard my quiet bark and looked over at me.

“What’s up, Tanner? Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

What’s a bathroom? It sounds familiar, but I don’t remember what it means.

Ignoring those words, I woofed again, then tried to get up on the raised bed. My bad leg kept getting caught, making me stumble back each time I was almost up. Grr!

“Oh, you wanna get in bed, don’t ya? Well, you still need a serious bath and that mange cleared up, along with a flea pill, I’m sure, but what the heck. I can clean the bedding tomorrow since it’s about time to anyway.”

I had stopped struggling to get up and just flopped my head on the bed while he babbled to me again.

Really, does he still not realize that I can’t understand him? Do most other werewolves talk to people who don’t understand them? Or is he really just talking to himself? I remember Mom saying that isn’t very smart to do in front of other people.

“Alright, kiddo, let me help you out.”

When he came around and grabbed me from behind, I let out a surprised growl, but he just ignored it and hefted me up onto the bed with little effort. The surface made my balance uneven, but eh, there was no reason to go any farther so I just flopped down where I was. Mmmm, this is even better than those blankets.

Hnn? Speaking of those, I was soon tucked in by several of them… .mmm .

Cole

Once I got him tucked in, the pup was out like a light. He was quite a snorer, too. I couldn’t really blame him, though. This was probably the first time he’d slept in a bed since he was five. That thought had me shaking my head as I got myself situated on the mattress so I could read a bit before going to sleep. It was such a terrible law for a pack to have…poor kid having to run away from everything he knew, just because he didn’t change. Some werewolves just didn’t shift. It wasn’t common, but I’d met several werewolves who remained a wolf and just joined wild packs or even stayed with their current ones and played the pet role outside of their home.

If he never changes, I suppose I’ll have just picked up an extra mouth to feed.

After a few chapters from my book, I set it aside, along with my reading glasses, and clicked off the lamp by my bedside. Time to get some rest for a busy day tomorrow.

“Up and at ’em, Tan,” I said quietly as I gently rubbed the pup’s shoulder through the layer of blankets I had piled on top of him last night. We were running a little late, but I just couldn’t make myself wake him when he looked so comfortable…however, that leg really needed tending to, along with his mange and I’m sure quite a few other things. When his pretty silvery-blue eyes blinked open, I smiled and straightened up.

“We’ve gotta get going, kiddo.”

Tanner looked up at me from beneath one of the blankets but then quickly ducked back under the mound of warmth so that I could only see the tip of his nose in the muzzle. Crap, I forgot he doesn’t understand much. I couldn’t really wait and try to explain that we needed to get to the vet, though, so uh… With a slightly guilty grin, I scooped him up with the three blankets I’d wrapped him in last night and promptly headed for the front door.

“Rowin, door.”

My beta bounded around the corner a second later with half a pancake hanging out of his mouth in a pair of red and black checkered shorts. He quickly got the front door open after grabbing my keys and ran ahead to my car, getting it unlocked. He then opened the back door as I approached. By that time, Tanner was struggling and growling as he tried to get out of the blankets and my arms.

“It’s okay, shhh. We’re here to help…though you don’t understand a word I’m saying,” I said to him soothingly as I got him inside and quickly shut and locked the doors.

“Phew! Thanks, Row.”

He grinned and finished off his pancake before replying.

“Need me to come, Alpha?”

Glancing back into the car through the tinted windows, I noticed Tanner already getting the blankets off and starting to nudge at the windows with his wet black nose.

Err, probably would be best if he did. I hate accepting help since my wolf is quite full of itself being the alpha and all, but I’m not about to risk having Tanner get away from us, especially with that muzzle on. He’d starve if he couldn’t get it off.

“Yeah…get in the passenger side.”

He gave a curt nod and quickly ran back to the house to shut and lock the door, then climbed into my dark blue SUV. Tanner instantly became more guarded when Rowin joined us, and growled at him the entire way to the vet. Oh well, as long as he isn’t trying to get out of the windows or tear up my car, we can handle some growling. When we pulled up into the vet’s parking lot, I turned the car off and had Rowin go get the vet’s door open. Since Tanner was already out of the blankets I was gonna have to grab him and get him inside as fast as possible. He was waiting when I went to the back to open the door, but I caught him just as he tried to jump out.

“Tanner, no! No,” I shouted as I fought with his squirming body. He was too focused on getting out of my arms to send a thought reply since I had a feeling that he knew that word, but that was fine. I literally had to fall into the office and have Rowin slam the door behind us to keep Tanner inside. Geez! The pup was strong when he really wanted to get away. Since we were already inside and there was no one else so this early, I just let him go. He bolted to a corner under a chair, but that was totally fine with me.

“Hey, Doc. We’re here,” I called through the small check-in window. I heard him in the back a moment later and walked over to meet him when he strode in through the examination area’s door.

“Mornin’, Doctor Wolf.”

I know, it’s a cliché name, but at least it isn’t something like ‘doctor kitten’.

“Looks like our little patient isn’t too thrilled to be here,” he noted with a grin, making me glance back at Tanner with my own smile. He was still growling from the car ride, but it gained a few notches of volume when Doc went over to see him. I followed, kneeling down beside the chair Tanner was using to try to hide from us.

“Did he sleep well last night? Any problems?”

“He was good. He slept on the corner of my bed.”

Both werewolves looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah yeah, I know. I don’t let anyone in my bed. It won’t happen again, I just wanted him to get some sleep before the surgery.”

They still didn’t look like they believed me, but thankfully they dropped it.

“Alright, let’s get him into the exam room. I left the door open to the back and the one room I want him in so let’s see if he’ll go on his own,” Doc said, and I nodded in agreement. Doctor Wolf lifted the chair Tanner was hiding under, and the pup quickly went to the next. When that one was lifted, he moved again, then again. When there were no more chairs left in his line of sight, he bolted into the back, then skidded into the room at the end of the hall, the only one that was open. We all ran back and rushed inside, shutting the door before he could try to get out.

“Nice. That was much easier than I thought it would be,” I cheered while Rowin nodded. Doc just laughed as he turned away from his counter with a syringe in hand. Err, I wasn’t a fan of needles, and I doubted Tanner was going to make poking him easy. I stared over at him, and sure enough, he was glaring at the doctor.

“Uh, do you want me to hold him?” I asked, already moving toward Tanner.

“Yeah. That’ll probably be best. Don’t want the needle breaking, and having to do it again will just stress him out further.”

“Alright. Just do it quickly,” I said as Doc laughed and nodded. I let out a small chuckle and knelt down, quickly grabbing Tanner in a tight hug. Doctor Wolf was thankfully fast and professional with the shot, getting it in and out in only a second or two. Tanner snarled, but that muzzle kept my face from being removed, though he did hit me pretty hard with the darn thing as he snapped his head to the side.

“Let him go. He’ll fall asleep in a minute.”

I did as told and jumped back as Tanner lunged. He was already beginning to look drowsy after a few seconds, but when a minute had passed and his wolf still hadn’t gone down, I glanced up at Doc.

“Quite a strong pup you found, Alpha.”

My smile was hard to hide as I nodded in response.

“He is. I can’t wait until he can say more words. He’s going to have so much to tell us.”

“Yeah. All those years by himself. As soon as he learns to trust, he’ll probably be glued to your side, too.”

Hm, I’m more of a loner when it comes to having people ‘close’, but maybe I could learn to open up a bit for Tanner .

When Tanner finally passed out five minutes later, Rowin and I got him up onto the surgery table as Doc prepped him. I looked him over while Doc worked, noting that he was definitely short a good twenty plus pounds and that his mange needed treatment, but he would make a great wolf when everything was finally done.

“Alright, he’s all set. Watch the monitor and make sure he’s breathing. I’m going to get the collar out of his neck first.”

I nodded and quietly watched the heart monitor beep steadily throughout the thirty minutes it took Doc to get the disgusting thing free. The collar was extremely small, just adding more evidence to our previous idea that he’d been a runaway. Changing my focus back to what was going on, I noticed the large gash that now ran around Tanner’s neck. It was definitely infected, but Doc didn’t seem too worried so I kept myself from panicking and waited for my next assignment…which came rather quickly.

“Grab some of the wipes from the counter and begin gently rubbing them against the wound. You can be a little rough since we really need to get that cleaned out well and he’s out cold for now. Thankfully most of his hair is missing around the injury so that shouldn’t get in the way.”

With another nod, I grabbed the container and brought it over to begin scrubbing. Dirt and old blood came off quickly, but there was so much because of the amount of time the injury was left to worsen. Rowin brought over a garbage can and another box of wipes, which I was grateful for, since by the time I was comfortable with the new, much cleaner-looking injury, the garbage can was full and we were just about out of disinfectant wipes. Running my arm across my forehead, I looked over at Doc and saw that he had actually gotten Tanner’s leg opened up and was working on splinting the bones together.

Poor pup is definitely going to be in pain for quite a while, but hopefully Wolf will have some good drugs to at least keep the worst of it at bay while the injuries heal.

“He’ll probably need to relearn how to use it, but the leg was luckily a clean break and the bullet went straight through. But it was never set, so he probably kept the leg up to keep from hurting more when running through the forest and it just healed that way.”

A rather weird thought came into my mind, which actually had me snickering a little as I asked, “Does he need a ‘cone of shame’ so he doesn’t mess with it?”

Doc mirrored my laugh as he began sewing up the injury around the pins and bar holding the limb in place.

“Considering his understanding, absolutely.”

I face-palmed and sighed, though I couldn’t hide the smile that was stuck on my lips from showing.

“It’s gonna be just like when a puppy from the pack breaks a paw or leg, isn’t it.”

It wasn’t really a question, but Doc answered anyways, his own grin growing on his face.

“Yup. Except this puppy is gonna be much bigger and probably much angrier. You took him out of his natural environment and forced him to go to sleep, then he’s going to wake up feeling like shit with a giant cone on his head. I’d say your legs are gonna be bruised rather quickly from him trying to run around and get it off.”

I watched as he began wiping off the leg along the sutures where he had shaved away what little fur was there for a cleaner surgery. He’d done a great job, and the injury actually looked much better already with the leg positioned down where it should be. As he went about bandaging up the collar injury after checking my work, he told me to turn off the anesthesia machine and grab a folded cone off the counter. Hah, he’d been completely ready for Tanner. I did as told, turning off the machine and removing the pup’s anesthesia mask so he could begin to wake up. After his neck was thickly bandaged we got the collar hooked up over them and fastened his muzzle back in place. We’d had to take it off since it was unsafe to try to use it with anesthesia.

“He’s going to hate me for a while after all of this,” I said, shaking my head as I glanced over at Doc, who just smiled and began washing his hands in the counter sink.

“Yeah, but hopefully he’ll understand eventually that you did it for him.”

“Yeah…hopefully.”

Doc turned a moment later and nodded to Rowin and I.

“Get him home before he starts coming around more. His eyes are already beginning to flutter so by the time you get him back, he may be a handful, and here—” He handed me two pill bottles and a big container of medicated shampoo.

“He’ll need those. Pain pills. They’ll knock him on his ass, but they do the best job. Just don’t give him more than three a day. Not even if he whines, and believe me, he will. The shampoo is for his mange, but wait and see how the injuries are healing before you wash him. If you want to do it tomorrow, then make sure his leg is wrapped and his neck doesn’t get wet.”

I smiled and nodded as I took the pills and tucked them in my jacket pocket, then handed the bottle of shampoo to Rowin.

“Got it. Let’s get going, Rowin.”

“Yes, Alpha,” my beta replied as he stepped up to help with Tanner, but I had already managed to get the pup safely into my arms. So instead, Rowin walked with me as Doc followed, getting the door as Rowin ran ahead to open the back door of the car.

“Open the trunk area. It’ll be easier to get him out of and probably more comfortable considering the space.”

Rowin nodded and quickly got the back open, then helped me get Tanner inside. At least it was an open trunk so we could keep an eye on him in the rearview mirror, and I might have sped a bit on the way home, but we got there quickly and right as Tanner began whining from the back.

Damn, those sounds are already making me feel like crap.

“It’s alright, Alpha. He needed the help, and he’ll thank you once he’s feeling better,” Rowin said, obviously picking up on my thoughts. What he said was true, but man, Tanner could whine just as well as any puppy. Just pulled at your heart like nothing else.

“Okay, let’s get him inside.”

That was easier said than done. He was thrashing pretty badly when I finally managed to get him to one of the guest rooms. I nearly dropped him twice when he caught me in the face with a claw and then followed it up with a good hit to my chest with his cone and muzzled jaw.

“Nn! Damn,” I shouted as I tried to keep him still—no thanks to my beta. Rowin was chuckling at us, but when I snarled at him, he thankfully hurried with a huge blanket in his arms and helped me set Tanner on the floor with it. The pup might have been more comfortable on the bed, but if he fell, he could cause some serious damage to his healing injuries. Rowin had grabbed the big comforter from the bed anyway, so Tanner at least had a good amount of softness beneath him.

“Phew. Thanks for the help, nearly dropped him there,” I said, half in sarcasm as I glared at Rowin.

“No problem, Alpha,” he said, snickering. “Is there anything else you need help with?”

“Yes. Please go cook a good amount of meat and put it away in the fridge when done.”

He nodded and quickly complied, leaving me with a small whimpering wolf. I really wanted to stay and comfort him, but each time I got closer he growled and tried to get up. That triggered louder whines as he partially put weight on the leg he wasn’t accustomed to being there.

“I can see you aren’t really interested in being comforted so I’ll go help him cook, just rest for now, Tanner. You’re safe here.”

He watched me until I clicked the door shut, then I could hear him move a bit and settle back down on the blanket.

Thank god he isn’t trying to get the cone off anymore, but those cries are seriously going to wear me down soon.

When I Grow Up

“Tanner…?”

“Tanneeeeer…”

no…

“Haha, no won’t keep me from waking you up, buddy. You need to take your meds and have a bath, you smelly pup.”

I couldn’t remember the past day…or three? Except that I was woken up several times and given small pieces of meat, then left to go back to sleep. A bowl of water was always fresh and full right next to the blankets I lay on. The only time I really got up was to relieve myself in the corner. After the first time I did that, I woke up to find paper all over that corner, along with some weird soft paper-like thing that smelled kinda like other animals.

Definitely have to pee on that.

Now it was the third day…I think, and I was feeling a little bit better. My leg still hurt pretty badly, especially when I moved it by mistake, and my neck was sore, but the food and water, along with being out of the elements, definitely helped my body heal from whatever the others had done to it. My only real complaint about this situation was the annoying thing on my head that kept me from biting at my itchy leg and body. I would have also liked the thing around my mouth off, but meh, I could still somewhat easily eat and drink with it there.

Returning my attention to the annoying man—Cole—I rolled my eyes and replied with an annoyed, drawn out Noooo.

“Yeeees. Come on, you. I know it’ll feel good, just give it a chance.”

I huffed and bared my teeth, but he just smiled and began lifting me up. Instantly I began to struggle, remembering the last time he had taken me from one of these rooms. I had ended up coming back more hurt than I’d come in.

No no no no.

Cole growled and stumbled as he carried me down a hall and into another room. I had planned to dart out of it as soon as he put me back on the floor, but his friend from before was there to get the door shut before I was set down. Darnit! He set me down on some weird, smooth, white, rock-like stuff, and I quickly ran to hide between the big white thing and the other bigger white thing. It was hard to get back there because of the cone on my head, but I managed to at least squeeze in backward.

No ow, no. Cole no ow!

They both ignored me for a moment as the slightly shorter one set a soft thing on the small white thing, and the other started water up in the other, bigger white thing.

Hmm…this reminds me of something, but I can’t quite put my paw on it.

When Cole turned toward me and knelt down, I growled a warning to stay back. Whatever they were planning, it would probably hurt, and I was already in enough pain.

No ow, Tanner. Cole help…

Help? I didn’t remember what that meant either, but I’d heard it a lot over the past few days.

No help, Cole ow Tanner.

He leaned back a little and sighed, pursing his lips. He looked almost upset but not mad?

Cole did ow Tanner, and Cole is very sorry.

He reached forward again, but this time I only grumbled a little bit as he gently petted the little bit of fur I had along the right side of my face. I was honestly jealous of his wolf. It had had so much beautiful black fur when I first met him in the woods… I must look and feel terrible to others.

I hadn’t realized I was leaning against his hand until he began to scratch just below my right ear. Nnnn…That feels so goooood.

“Feels nice? I can only imagine with that mange you’ve picked up.”

I gave a quiet growl, not quite sure what he was talking about but not really wanting him to stop scratching. I hadn’t been able to reach that spot with my good leg or either front paws since the weird cone thing was put on my head, so this felt like heaven to have relief from the itching. Before I realized what was happening, though, there was an arm under my belly and I was being lifted into the big white thing.

“Time for a good bath, hm? It’ll feel good for you, I promise,” Cole said as I was set down again, this time in small amount of warm water. Sneaky Cole … He had scratched me with his right hand, and when I closed my eyes to enjoy it, he had snuck his left one around and caught me off guard. Hmph! I was about to try to get out, since my paws were getting wet, but something thick and watery was wiped along my back and I couldn’t help but sigh with relief. It stopped the itching. I never thought it could be stopped like that, but everywhere Cole spread the stuff, it dulled, then vanished.

“I can tell by your face that you’re loving this stuff, eh? Doc must have given us the best he had, no doubt. He loves spoiling my pack’s pups, and I think he likes you the most.”

Yes yes, blah blah, just keep rubbing whatever that is on me, I thought to myself blissfully.

“I think he’s about to learn what an orgasm is…” his friend said with a laugh in his voice. I heard Cole and his friend chuckle but just ignored it as I moved a bit to let him get to wherever he’d missed.

Good?

he asked through my thoughts.

That word I remembered and quickly chirped mentally, Good good, Tanner good, no ow.

“Good boy.”

The bath ended much sooner than I wanted, but at least afterward, the itching was much more bearable. He even rubbed more goopy stuff over my skin, which didn’t need to be washed off. When he finished everything up, I was mostly dry and feeling soooo much better.

“Is Cole good now? He made Tanner no ow?”

I lifted my head and grunted a few times, then gave a slight tail wag.

No ow. Tanner good.

“Oh I see, you get all the credit, and I do all the work.”

I wasn’t sure what he was saying, but when he laughed, I just snorted again and tried to get out of the wet tub. He helped me out, being sure that my bad leg didn’t knock on the edge. I was still getting used to it being down since I had been holding it up for so long. Heck, I wasn’t quite sure it would still work, and considering how much it hurt, I didn’t really wanna try.

Cole

I had a feeling bathing him was going to be MUCH easier than bathing one of my pack’s pups. Tanner was just like putty in my hands when he realized the shampoo was stopping the mange from bothering him.

Rowin opened the bathroom door, which I was a bit hesitant to let Tanner walk out of, but eh, it had already been three days, so let’s see if the pup can handle his new leg. At first he looked confused that I wasn’t trying to pick him up, but when I began walking out, I heard him stumbling after me, trying to follow.

Nnn, Cole, ow.

I didn’t slow my walk until I was at the end of the hallway where it opened up to the living room, then the kitchen. There I turned and squatted, opening my arms to either side with a big smile.

“Come to Cole, Tanner.”

The pup took a step and quickly sat down at an awkward angle with a loud whimper. He had knocked his bad leg.

Coleee, ow. Tanner ow!

he whined in my head, obviously wanting to be picked up now, even though I knew he didn’t really like it.

Poor kid was gonna have a lot of ‘ows’ in store because he really needed to learn how to walk on that leg. It was all pinned up and stabilized, so might as well start now. Thankfully werewolves healed fast enough for it to be safe already to put pressure on.

“Come, Tanner,” I said again, hoping to spur him to try another time. He whined louder and remained where he was for a minute before getting back up and stumbling forward. I could tell he was trying to hold his leg up, but Doc Wolf had done a darn good job of keeping it extended where it needed to be. When he began to slow, I called to him again, cheering him on to make the short walk to me. There was one more stop before he finally fell into my arms, his voice in my head tiredly chanting as he panted, Ow ow ow ow, Cole, Tanner ow…

I gave him a loving pet along his back and a few good scratches as I cooed, “I know sweetie, but you need to learn how to walk again.”

Since he had done what I’d asked, I carefully picked him up and toted him to the sofa so he could rest. I figured after three days locked up in that guest room, he’d want to be out a bit. Although, if he wanted to go back, he could; the door was left open. When he looked like he was comfortable, I knelt down and patted his head one more time and carefully removed the cone. He hadn’t tried to mess with his leg with it on from what I saw, so might as well reward him and make him more comfortable.

“I’m gonna go help Rowin in the kitchen, okay? Tanner, stay.”

Thankfully he seemed to understand that word and dropped his head to the armrest to watch Rowin and I work from there. So glad I invested in a split kitchen so I can see the living room while cooking…

“Hey, Alpha, he looks to be doing much better.”

I had to agree. After three short days, he was worlds better and much less aggressive. Granted, I didn’t think I’d gotten his trust quite yet, but that was okay. It was something we could work on, along with his leg.

“Yeah, I’m so glad we didn’t kill him by mistake. Orlando was about to take the shot when Tanner shouted into my head. Of all the words, he called me stupid.”

Of course I knew it wasn’t really understood, and he was just repeating what I had said, but it was a fun joke to tell to pack members who asked how he was doing.

He chuckled, then replied in an entertained voice, “If he were pack, you probably would have skinned him for that.”

True. My wolf wouldn’t tolerate being called stupid, or anything else for that matter. He was pretty damn dominant, and the only reason he hadn’t gone after Tanner’s random outbursts and aggression was because it knew the pup didn’t understand yet.

“Probably. I’ll have to work on that with my wolf when Tanner begins to start understanding things more. For now, though, I’m gonna go give him his pill.”

Rowin nodded as I walked over to the fridge and got out the peanut butter. For the past few nights, we had been using meat, but I had been wondering if he was a peanut butter pup like the rest of the pups in the pack. When I returned to Tanner, I noticed he had been watching me the entire time. Even though the television was on, he didn’t seem to care about it in the least. Well, good, ’cause I don’t like sharing my television. That’s why I bought Rowin his own for his room, along with the few guest rooms that Conner and Orlando often frequented. As I took a big scoop of peanut butter out of the jar, I noticed Tanner leaning forward and sniffing the air.

“Peanut butter, Tanner? Good?”

His head tilted, and he leaned a bit closer, big paws hanging over the edge of the sofa.

Pea…nut….budder…?

I grinned and brought the spoon to my mouth, then licked it and made an Mmmm sound.

Mmmmm…

he repeated back to me mentally.

I was about to open my mouth to gesture for him to do so, but that muzzle… Hmm. It was a risk, but he hadn’t been too bad over the past few days. After that bath, he almost seemed friendly, so I guess we could try…Setting the jar down for a moment, I put the spoon inside and reached forward. He seemed a bit confused at what I was doing, but when the muzzle came off, he immediately yawned and shook his head a bit, which made me smile.

“Good?”

Good. Good,

he replied with an excited shout.

“Alright. Then, Ah?”

I opened my mouth and nearly laughed out loud when he gave another huge yawn in response.

“Okay, not that big, haha. Here, you,” I said as I lifted up the spoon and pushed his little pain pill inside, then put the spoon on his tongue. Tanner took the peanut butter easily off, but when he started trying to chew…

hehehehe.

You’re an ass sometimes, Alpha.

I know it, Rowin, but come on. I couldn’t help it.

Poor Tanner was tilting his head at funny angles as he opened and closed his mouth, smacking his lips together as he tried to figure out how to actually swallow the peanut butter. His tongue was even flicking out every few seconds to try to help. Okay, I really should get back to help in the kitchen and leave the poor pup alone with his trauma. With one final chuckle, I stood up and started walking back toward the kitchen with the spoon and jar of peanut butter. Except, when I stepped into said kitchen, I felt something nudge at the jar and looked down.

“Oh you little brat.”

Peanut budder,

Tanner yipped in my mind as h

e quickly sat at my feet with his broken leg stuck out to the side and gave me the most ridiculously cute puppy face I had ever seen.

Tanner good… Tanner peanut budder?

I could hear Rowin snickering as he glanced over his shoulder at my predicament.

I guess you’ve just made yourself another peanut butter devil.

Hmm. Well. Normally I would punish a pup for begging, but what could it hurt to let it go a few times? I thought to myself as I smiled down at Tanner.

“Want peanut butter?”

Peanut budder,

he replied immediately.

“Tell me, Tanner. Want peanut butter?”

He seemed to be getting frustrated at my words, but after a minute, he began to try to figure it out.

Peanut budder….Tanner peanut budder. Wan…want. Tanner…want peanut budder!

The second he said what I wanted, I gave him a big scoop of the sticky deliciousness. He yipped with excitement and quickly gobbled it up while I put the jar away so the rest didn’t disappear. Before I even turned around, I felt a paw on my jeans and looked down at those darn eyes again.

Tanner want peanut budder…want peanut budder.

Oh great, now he was gonna be a broken record for peanut butter. With a quiet sigh, I knelt down and petted his head gently.

“No more for now, Tanner.”

His ears flattened as he tilted his head slightly to the side.

Tanner want peanut budder.

“No more,” I repeated. He whined, but I just shook my head and pointed to the living room. “Tanner, go.”

He pawed at my pants again, but when I didn’t reply and just turned away, he sulked and eventually wandered back to lay on the couch. Rowin was finishing up the cooking, so I got plates down for the three of us and began adding salad to each. Tanner got the least amount, but he needed to learn to eat healthy, too. Peanut butter and beef wasn’t going to cut it for a growing werewolf. Once the meat was added to each plate, I grabbed my own and Tanner’s and brought them over to the sofa as Rowin walked off to eat in his room. After setting mine on the coffee table near the armrest, I knelt down and set Tanner’s plate near his paws. He immediately went for the meat, inhaling it in less than three minutes but when he sniffed the salad, he snorted and turned to flop his head back on the armrest.

“Tanner, you need to eat something besides meat. It tastes good, look.”

He glanced sideways at me as I took a spinach leaf and ate it. There was a bit of ranch dressing on the salad to hopefully help his interest, but evidently that wasn’t making any difference. Hmph . With a grumpy snort of my own, I got up and took his plate to the kitchen. A little peanut butter might help out here… After mixing a small amount of it with the greens, I returned, only to see a certain pup licking his chops and my two steaks missing from my plate.

“Oh of course. You unfuzzy bastard. Shoulda seen that coming from a mile away.”

He almost looked like he was smirking at me, but I would have the last laugh. In salad form.

“Okay, you, open that thieving mouth of yours.”

I moved a few smashed together spinach leaves in front of his nose until he caught the scent of peanut butter. At first, he took the ball, and I smirked, but then he spit it out and began very precariously licking off the peanut butter from between the leaves. Gah! Really?

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad.”

With a growl, I went back to the kitchen and got out a big scoop of peanut butter and shoved some leaves inside, then closed it up and smashed it together. Returning, I found the spinach leaves I’d left mostly licked clean and scattered about the sofa. I rolled my eyes.

“Here, peanut butter.”

His head snapped up and his tail thumped as I handed him the inconspicuous ball. At first, he was enjoying the sticky ball of happiness, but after a minute, his chewing slowed and he began tilting his head and flicking his tongue out. Another minute later and there was a lump of chewed-up spinach spit out on my floor .

Unf

uzzy butthead was smarter than he seemed.

“Alright, fine. But I’ll get you next time, just you wait.”

He flopped down on the sofa with a decent bloat to his belly and yawned. Well, at least he was definitely being fed better than he had been in the past years. I was absolutely sure of that. By the time I had finished cooking myself another dinner, Tanner was out cold, stretched out on the sofa, snoring away. I turned the television down a little and relaxed in the recliner by the sliding glass doors, which lead out to the backyard. While I normally got annoyed by people sleeping on my couch or snoring in general, he didn’t seem to bother me much at all. At some point, I think I passed out after eating, because the next thing I knew there was an annoying little pup pulling at my tennis shoe lace.

…wait a second.

Opening my eyes, I blinked a few times to clear my vision, then frowned.

“Aw, man. Really, Tanner?”

My brand new shoe lace from my right shoe was in pieces all over the floor, and he was working on the left one, tugging on it to free it from the shoe. Dammit, my wolf really wanted to discipline him, but he was just acting like the pup he’d never gotten the chance to be.

“Tanner. No.”

He paused in his tugging and pinned his ears to the side in confusion.

No?

“No. Bad boy.”

Bad…

he repeated quietly.

“Yes. Bad,” I growled back as I took the lace from his mouth after forcing it open, then shook it at him.

“No, Tanner. Bad.”

He backed up a step and sat down in his funny pose with his broken leg outstretched again. The look on his face actually had me confused, but when I glanced back at the television and saw what was under it, a thought came to my mind.

“Hang on a sec,” I told him as I got up and went over to the bucket of toys beneath my television. I left them there for when the puppies of the pack came over. Pulling out a colorful rainbow rope toy, I turned around and waved it in front of his face. It didn’t take him but a second to snatch the toy in his mouth and begin tugging with a deep, rumbling growl.

“Heh, somethin’ you like, eh? Gonna have to get it from me.”

I gave the toy a hard yank, only to get several more from the relentless pup on the other end. He was even using his splinted leg a little to help with his balance as he began pulling me forward. We fought over the rope for a good ten minutes before he got it out of my hands and ran off into the kitchen triumphantly. I tried to get the thing from him several times, but the darn brat was quick now that he was using that back leg more. Pain pill must definitely be working, too.

Alright, need to try another tactic then…

I went back to the tub of toys and pulled out a tennis ball that had seen better days. Maybe… Turning, I began lifting the ball when I noticed Tanner staring right at me. Or well, right at the ball. His jaw went slack on the rope toy right before he bounded toward where I knelt.

Want! Tanner want.

Before he got the chance to tackle me, I threw the ball into the hallway, and bam . He was off like a damn bullet. There was a surprised yelp and the sound of something hitting the wooden floor before Tanner bounded back around the corner and flopped onto the sofa with the ball happily. A moment later, Rowin came sauntering out of the hall, limping slightly from where, I’d assume, my ‘little’ pup had run into him while retrieving his ball.

“He likes balls,” I stated with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes at me but then grinned and replied, “No shit.”

(This book is now available on Amazon for a limited time under T. Kierei. I hope you’ll consider buying it if you enjoyed it so far :) )

I Will Heal You. I Will Hurt You.

Tanner

Peanut budder.

I could see it, right there up on the counter. No one was around to get it for me, but maybe I could get it open myself… Cole was in the shower, as I’d come to learn was the name of the large white thing. The smaller white thing was called a toilet, and evidently it is ‘bad’ to drink out of. Hmph.

After a few weeks of living there, I’d managed to gain a decent understanding of how things worked. My vocabulary was expanding, but I still only spoke to Cole. His friend, Rowin, had tried several times to get me to say something, but I just didn’t feel comfortable around him. He was the one who was home more often, though, so I did have to keep myself in line and not growl at him for being there. Cole trusted him, so I was doing my best to tolerate him. Anyway, back to my peanut budder. Cole had made us sandwiches earlier and left the jar out…so now it was mine. I just had to get to it.

With a woof of concentration, I shifted my weight onto my back legs and lifted my front paws to the counter. My broken leg was doing much better, and the bar and pins were actually coming out sometime soon, so I could use the limb decently well, though I still stumbled once in a while. Right then, it was doing what I needed of it and holding me up so I could swipe the peanut budder jar from the counter.

The plastic jar went flying when I hit it on my first try. It dropped to the tiled kitchen floor beside my back paws. I was on it like white on rice… or at least that’s what Cole had said before. I quickly snatched the thing up in my jaws and took it to my room. Just to make sure I wouldn’t get caught, I even squirmed partially under the bed before beginning to tear the jar apart.

I didn’t hear the shower turn off, but I did hear Cole’s feet on the hardwood floor in the hallway. Err… I abruptly stopped chewing the destroyed jaw and began licking my lips…right as my haunches were grabbed and pulled, forcing me out from under the bed.

Tanner was good. No bad.

I shouted to him mentally, afraid that he would think I was being bad. I hadn’t been.

He snickered as I stood up and faced him, trying to put on my best ‘I’m innocent’ face, because I was. He had left the peanut budder out.

“That might have worked, but one, I know you. And two, there’s peanut butter all over your face and paws.”

Okay, well, since he already knows … I quickly turned and dove back under the bed, only to be yanked out right as I grabbed for my destroyed jar of peanut budder.

“You little brat. That doesn’t mean go back and keep doing the bad thing.”

But Coleeeeeee,

I whined to him mentally, honestly not understanding.

“It’s Alpha now, pup,” he reprimanded before continuing, “And it’s time to get you back to the vet to take out that splint.”

Noooo vet. No. Vet hurts.

“It won’t hurt that much. He’ll put you to sleep again and give you some medicine for afterward.”

That medicine worked decently, but it wasn’t nearly as good as not hurting at all.

No no no no!

“This isn’t up for discussion, Tanner. You need to get the metal out of your leg, or it will begin hurting much worse than it has.”

That had me pausing. It will hurt more…? While I was thinking, he quickly reached down and snatched away my broken peanut budder jar.

Hey!

“This wasn’t yours. What have I told you about taking things that don’t belong to you?” he chided, making me pout as I tried to grab the broken jar from him.

But I want.

“I don’t care. It wasn’t yours to take. You will be skipping dinner tonight for stealing.”

B-But Cole.

“Alpha. I am your alpha. You will address me as such like all the rest of the pack members. Now stand still so I can put your harness on.”

I flinched when he shouted, but then grumbled and hopped up on the bed, flopping over. I knew I was being difficult, but I didn’t wanna be bossed around. The past two weeks had started out awesome, but now that I could understand most of what he was saying, he just kept trying to tell me what to do.

Cole

I swear, every day, this pup was getting more and more difficult. It was like he didn’t understand what rules were, and I knew he did since we had gone over them several times. Sure, he didn’t know too many words now, but he definitely knew right and wrong, and jumping up on the counter to steal food for the sixth— sixth —time is definitely wrong. I knew he was young and all, but even my pack’s five-year-old pups knew discipline. With a tired sigh, I shook my head and began putting the harness on him while he fumed. He had grown quite a bit in the time I’d had him, picking up at least twenty pounds. His fur had also begun to grow in just about everywhere, showing us that he had a gorgeous silvery-black, salt-and-pepper coat. As I finished up with the harness, I quickly pulled him out of bed and down the hall… Bastard was dragging his ass on purpose, but whatever, I’d just drag him intentionally, too, because two can play that game.

“You’re gonna hurt yourself if you don’t start walking.”

He snorted at me.

Want dinner night.

“No. You lost that privilege by stealing food instead of asking for it.”

Tanner can get.

“That doesn’t mean Tanner should get,” I reprimanded. He didn’t seem to understand that part yet, it would seem. Meh, well, at least he hopped into the car without a struggle. Rowin was busy and everyone else was out, so it was just me for this vet visit. Tanner seemed to have thankfully calmed down as we pulled up, and I was able to walk him into the office like any other pet. Unfortunately, the office wasn’t quite as empty as it had been our past visit, and well, Tanner saw a cat…I had been in the process of walking over to the window to sign us in when Tanner snarled and lunged at the cat carrier. His jaws instantly tore into the top, making the poor feline inside shriek in fear.

“Tanner!”

All I got in response as I ran for the ‘dog’ was a steady Kill kill kill kill kill!

“Doc!”

The vet ran out from the back a moment later and quickly held the door open so I could drag Tanner out of view of the damned cat. Once we were in the farthest back room, I released the darn brat and leaned back against the door with a sigh. I should have known to be careful of the possibility of other animals in there, especially since Tanner had seen several stray cats in the backyard and almost gone through the glass to get them.

“Damn. That was almost bad,” I whispered as I caught my breath.

Cat cat cat cat.

“No. You don’t get a cat,” I replied with a growl as I looked over at Doctor Wolf and handed him a twenty.

“For the cat carrier. I doubt it’s reparable.”

He nodded and told me he’d be back shortly to work on Tanner’s surgery. I dropped into one of the chairs in the small room as Tanner sat at the door and whined.

“Shut up, Tanner.”

I was in no mood to deal with his complaining after what he’d just done.

Caaaaat. Tanner want cat.

“I don’t care. You’re not getting it.”

He began clawing at the door, which seriously pissed me off. I didn’t want to have to replace a damn door, too. Jumping up, I shoved him aside and snarled.

“Stop it. Now . You are not going to get that cat. Do you hear me, Tanner?”

I want. I get it. Tanner can get it.

Before I realized what I was doing, I had smacked him on the muzzle hard enough to silence his complaining. It was a much lighter punishment than what I normally gave to pups who disobeyed me so openly. However, Tanner looked completely shocked that I had even touched him. I figured he’d just sulk for a little while about his hurt nose, but when his eyes rose back to mine and didn’t look away…

Challenge, my inner wolf growled as it clawed its way to the surface. I narrowed my eyes and growled a warning, but Tanner just kept staring. Hell, his were beginning to narrow, too.

“Look away, Tanner. You can’t handle me… You’ll only get hurt.”

His upper lip began to lift, but thankfully the doctor came in from the other door right at that second, stealing Tanner’s attention and breaking our eye contact.

“Hey, Doc, be careful, he’s being a bit odd today,” I warned as I dropped back into a seat and tried to calm my angry wolf. Doc just laughed and patted Tanner’s head.

“I’m sure it’s just the cat. He nearly got the sucker, too.”

I didn’t want to argue, but his disobedience could be handled at home. Right then he needed that stuff out of his leg so it could finish healing. I just shrugged in response.

“Alright, let’s get you to sleep so we can finish fixing up your leg, okay, pup?”

Tanner woofed and shook his head when the doctor tried to fit the gas muzzle over his nose. Thankfully the guy was used to unhappy pets and easily managed to get the thing on and hold it until Tanner began feeling sleepy. Once he was out, we lifted him up on the table and Doc got busy. It only took him about twenty minutes to get everything out and wrap up Tanner’s leg, which was a lot less time than I’d thought it would take. He also took a look at Tanner’s neck, which had been bandage free for about a week, and nodded in approval.

“He grew quite a bit over the last two weeks, and his injuries are healing well. Must have gained a good twenty pounds, too, maybe more.”

I smiled and nodded as I ran my hands through the pup’s growing fur.

“Yeah. And that shampoo is doing wonders. He isn’t scratching much at all, and his hair is coming back… right along with his attitude.”

Doctor Wolf laughed and began washing his hands after turning off the gas to Tanner’s mask.

“He might have some trouble fitting into pack life, or really taking discipline. It’s all new to him.”

“I know, but he can generally understand me now. Though he still challenged me a moment before you walked in.”

Wolf’s brows went up in surprise, but he didn’t seem too worried.

“He might be a dominant…or even an alpha.”

Shit. I hadn’t even thought of that. It was rare to see one to begin with, but hell, he was from another pack, maybe he really was an alpha. That would explain his sudden disobedience pretty easily. I guess I’ll have to make sure he knows that this pack isn’t going to be needing a new alpha anytime soon.

I nodded to Doc and paid him before I got Tanner into my arms and headed out the back door. I got Tanner home before he was fully awake so there was no tension on the car ride. Unfortunately, come evening, he was waiting right at the edge of the kitchen with his bad leg stuck out to the side in its new cast, waiting for his dinner. I knew if I started telling him he couldn’t have it that he would just argue, so I bit my tongue and went over to the sofa to eat. Within seconds, the darn pup was right next to where my feet were propped up on the coffee table. He was seriously beginning to irk my wolf. He was even starting to drool on my floor while staring at food that was definitely not his.

“Tanner. Go,” I growled, not wanting to have to punish him again. Instead of heeding my warning, though, he just snorted and inched forward, licking his chops before giving a quiet whine.

“Tanner.”

Setting my food aside, I jumped up and charged him, but the little shit just ran around me and snatched the burger off of my plate.

“Tanner. Come. Now .”

My wolf snarled the order from between my lips, and thankfully Tanner skidded to a halt…but ate the food in his mouth as he turned to face me. I walked stiffly toward him and motioned for him to follow. Again, he was smart and listened, limping after me since his leg was probably hurting him a bit. We went down the hall until I opened a spare room I’d never bothered to decorate. There was a blanket in the corner, and that was all. When Tanner got closer, I stepped back and pointed inside the room.

“In. Now.”

He looked into the room, then backed up and sat down as his gaze rose to meet my own. The puppy eyes weren’t going to work this time. He needed to learn, alpha or not, that I was the leader in this pack.

“Get. In. Now. Tanner,” I warned, baring my teeth slightly. His ears flattened to the side, and he tucked his tail in response, but instead of going inside, he began backing up toward the living room again. My wolf was out in a blur, tearing through my clothes and lunging as Tanner turned to run. With his bad leg, he didn’t get more than two steps before I had him by the neck, pinned to the floor. Each time he tried to get up, I shook his neck and growled, threatening him against trying to move more. I knew right away that his wolf wasn’t happy about being pinned or bitten, but after a few moments, it finally went limp beneath me. While I would normally let most pups up after this display of dominance, he was going much further than others when he didn’t listen to his punishment. So I slowly lowered myself onto his body and stayed still.

Cole offfff! Nnn, offfff!

No.

His wolf whimpered and growled, scratching at the floor, though it was going nowhere with my teeth still holding onto its scruff. Thankfully the embedded collar had pretty much healed up, or I would be causing more damage that wasn’t needed.

Stay,

I thought to him.

Noooo! Offfff,

he replied back, making my hackles bristle.

Stay!

There was no doubt in my mind with this display that he would definitely grow up to be a dominant wolf. Alpha was also possible, but I wasn’t going to let him get away with the disrespect he’d been showing me. He was still a kid, and he would show submission like any other pup in the pack. After a few minutes, I felt us both slowly relax and eventually stood up to let him move. He didn’t hesitate to dart into the room I had opened up, not willing to try to fight a wolf easily twice his size again.

When he was over on the blanket, I let my body shift back to its human form and quickly shut and locked the door. It had silver inlays to keep wolves from clawing at the door, but I’d never had a wolf get to the point of attacking it yet. They always took their punishment in stride. Hopefully Tanner would, too. Shaking my head, I left him there and went back to the kitchen to recook my dinner. I didn’t like to shift into my wolf form if it wasn’t needed, but that darn boy was pushing my buttons like no other.

Putting A Wolf In Front Of A Television

Tanner

I pouted on the small blanket in the corner, not happy in the least with this stupid punishment. I hadn’t done anything bad. He wouldn’t let me have dinner for something as stupid as eating peanut budder. Which he had left out, so it was his fault. Then when I decided to get myself food, he got super mad. I jumped to my paws and began shredding the blanket, clawing at the fabric in annoyance.

No fair no fair no fair!

I thought Cole might chastise me for projecting that thought, but when he didn’t respond, I got even angrier. When the blanket was just a bunch of fabric pieces, I stalked around the room and peed in the corner, then narrowed my eyes on the door. Every time I paced by it, my body felt uncomfortable, so there must be something up with it…probably to keep me inside.

Let me out.

I shouted the words through my thoughts, but when no one replied for a second time, I decided I was going to get myself out… but not through the door. Stopping my pacing, I walked over to the large white wall separating Cole’s room from this one and got up on my hind legs. My bad one hurt a little, but I was far too focused on digging my claws into the wall to care.

Knock it off, Tanner, now.

The dangerous, deep voice snarled through my mind from the other room. It made me immediately excited to know that I was finally getting attention, so of course, I kept at the wall. Before long, the door handle shook, bringing my attention to it as I dropped back down to my front paws. Seeing Cole’s face had my heart rate thundering in my chest.

“ Tanner .“

The shout just made me more excited. I moved to run past him, but he blocked my way and snarled, his face slowly morphing into his canine form.

I wanna see it. I want it. I thought to myself eagerly. Knowing that he’d shift if I made him angrier, I quickly ran back to the wall and began raking my claws through the white thin portion. I even hit a few beams of wood, too, just to make sure he was mad enough to change. When he finally did, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. His wolf was a gorgeous pitch black, which appeared dark blue when light hit his fur a certain way.

Mine.

I barked to him, getting a questioning look, before I lunged for his wolf. If his friend, Orlando, hadn’t just stepped inside the room as I was jumping, I would have had Cole. As it was, I got kicked in the face, then pinned to the ground again.

Nooooo. Coleeeeee.

His wolf snarled in my face, snapping its jaws right next to my eyes in warning.

“Cole, you need to figure out a way to get through to him. I have a strong feeling he’s an alpha, and if he is, he’s not going to take orders from you,” Orlando said as he knelt down next to us. I glared at him but didn’t dare move much farther since Cole had the upper paw right then.

Tanner?

Hearing Cole’s voice in my head made me wiggle beneath him, eager to hear him talk, even if it was about a punishment for tearing apart his wall.

Tanner, do you want to learn?

Oh. I knew what that meant, but did that mean he wanted to teach me things?

I like learn, I replied eagerly, the aggression I’d previously felt draining when given a new thing to take my attention. He backed off of me a moment later, and I jumped to my paws, wagging my tail like I’d seen dogs do when they were excited.

Okay. Come on, Tanner. Follow me please.

I did as told, happily tromping after him into the living room. He told me to go sit in front of the television, so I did exactly that, then waited. I was silently hoping he’d bring peanut budder, but I knew that was pretty unlikely.

Cole

I hadn’t honestly thought Tanner would listen when I asked him about learning, but the pup was seriously a scholar if I’d ever seen one. He didn’t understand a whole lot, but he definitely loved learning. When he was seated where I’d told him to go, I shifted back into my human form and put in a video. It was one of those little kiddie ones that went over the basics, but at the same time, it slipped in more advanced things as the characters on the screen interacted, so I figured it would be perfect for Tanner to start off with.

While the show started, I grabbed a spare comforter from my closet along with two big pillows and got them set up, snickering quietly at the fact that Tanner was already so into the show he didn’t even notice what I was doing right behind him. An alpha was always aware of what was going on around him, so he had some work to do in that department, eventually. Once I had everything settled, I got up and popped some popcorn, then returned to the blanket and looked at Tanner.

“Hey Tan, com’ere?”

His ears flicked backward for a moment, then he looked over his shoulder at me. Confusion showed on his features, but as soon as he realized I had a nice comfy blanket and food, he snuggled right up against my side. I was a bit surprised he wasn’t attacking the bowl of fresh popcorn, but his attention was still more focused on the show.

Good. You need to learn so we can live here together without either of us getting hurt, I thought to myself. I knew he would have to go eventually since two alphas under the same roof just didn’t work, but I wanted to at least be able to set him up for success before we got at each other’s throats further. As the show played, I switched between popping popcorn in my mouth and slipping some into Tanner’s. We got through at least eight episodes before I realized it was close to two in the morning. Tanner was still intently focused on the screen, though, giving little grunts or whines whenever something interesting happened, so I set the half-eaten bowl of popcorn next to him and patted his head, getting his partial attention.

“I’m gonna go to bed, Tan. Whenever you want to turn the TV off, just nudge the bottom of the screen, okay?”

He gave me a quiet yawn and snuggled in beneath the comforter I’d brought out.

“Have a good night. We’ll talk again in the morning.”

I was going to tell him to stay out of the kitchen, but I knew I had put everything away now and if I reminded him of it, he’d probably be more likely to go against me just in spite.

Darn, having another alpha in the house is going to be work.

Shaking my head, I got up and sauntered sleepily into the bathroom to brush my teeth, then went into my room, being sure to shut and lock the door in case Tanner tried to get in…since he had before. Thankfully the time he’d managed it, he hadn’t really been aggressive, but I wasn’t going to risk it now. Once I had tossed off my clothing, I fell into bed, drifting off in minutes as I listened to the quiet show playing in the other room.

Runaway

Waking up to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking was definitely relaxing. I remained in bed for a few extra minutes, just listening to the goings-on in the other rooms. The sound of a spatula moving against a pan was the first thing I picked up, but then the humming of the television overtook it.

Ah, Tanner’s still watching that show. He must be half asleep unless he took a break last night.

Yawning, I got myself up and sauntered into the living room after pulling on a pair of boxers, noting Tanner was under the blanket, his eyes half-lidded with sleep.

Yeah, someone needs to go to sleep.

Shaking my head, I walked over to turn the television off…only to hear a growl coming from behind me. Straightening up, I turned to stare down at Tanner with a raised eyebrow.

“You’ve been watching it all night. You need to get some sleep.”

Tanner sleep later. Want watch, it good.

Well, it was nice to see he already had some new words, but they probably weren’t going to stick if he didn’t get some rest for his brain.

“If you don’t rest, those new words you just learned are going to fall out of those big ears,” I warned, trying so hard not to grin at my stupid lie. It was true enough, though, ’cause he really did need to rest in order to retain the information.

But Tanner want learn more. Not can learn in sleep.

Chuckling to myself, I walked over and knelt beside him with a smile.

“You want to lose what you’ve already learned?”

He huffed and shook his head but didn’t lift it from his huge paws.

“Then you need to get some rest.”

No want, he replied in frustration. I really wanted to roll my eyes and drag him into the other room because I wasn’t used to being ignored, but I knew that would just end up starting a fight.

Sleep here, learn when sleep.

Squeezing my eyes shut tight, I forced myself to hold back a growl and instead shook it off before shrugging.

“Fine.”

I’d seen him getting ready to work me up again as my eyes opened, but when I gave in, he actually seemed surprised. His ears perked up halfway for a moment, waiting for me to say something else. However, when I just turned and walked away, I heard him grunt in disappointment and snuggle himself a bit farther under the blankets.

“I’m surprised you were able to do that, Alpha.”

Looking up as I stepped into the kitchen, I gave Orlando a sarcastic smile and walked over to the fridge to grab the gallon of milk inside. It was kind of a puppy drink, but breakfast just didn’t feel right to me if I didn’t have it. When I got it out, though, I had to clip a quiet growl at Orlando because I could hear him snickering under his breath about it. Too bad for him, I wasn’t in the mood to joke around this morning after having to back down from Tanner.

“When are you going to let him go?”

The question had my head jerking up and toward the stove, my eyes narrowing questioningly on Orlando.

“Let him go? I’m not holding him captive.”

The cocky grin on his face told me I was lying. Hell, I’d even fenced in my yard so Tanner could go out and relieve himself…without being able to just walk off.

“I-I only have him here so his injuries can heal,” I whispered hurriedly, trying to defend myself with logic. His leg was still wrapped, even though he could use it pretty well now, but it wasn’t perfect yet so he shouldn’t have to risk going back out there until it was.

“His leg is fine now, Alpha. He knows how to survive, even in the winter months. He’s been out there since he was five, and I don’t think you keeping him here much longer is going to end well for either of you. He’s already beginning to challenge you, and he knows darn well he’s doing it.”

I had a feeling he was going to keep lecturing so I bared my teeth in warning. He flinched and shut his mouth, though he obviously didn’t look happy when he turned his attention back to the pan he had been tending of now-burnt bacon. He didn’t need to tell me all of that stuff because I knew it was true, but the alpha in me just couldn’t help seeing the small pup I got out from under an old tree as one I would always have to protect.

But now his wolf is getting close to being just as strong as my own, I thought to myself as I grabbed a piece of bacon from the hot pan and bit into the charred meat. Every day I could feel his strength becoming more and more present in the house. He probably didn’t know that he was doing it or how to control his wolf’s presence, but it was obvious he was getting stronger… which also meant he was getting more dangerous.

It was not even a month later when I finally realized this wasn’t going to work. He was learning like crazy, which was good, but it also meant he was understanding what he was more and more with each passing day. His awakening to his own dominant side was definitely at the forefront, and each chance he got, he was challenging me. Whether it was stealing my food or ignoring my orders, he was spending more and more time alone in the punishment room and less and less time out in the living room or playing in the backyard. It was finally Friday and I was just returning from work. I’d finally begun teaching again at the local university, and man was I tired. I was only twenty-two but having to deal with Tanner for the past several weeks had really worn me out. We had fought again that morning, and I ended up shifting, ruining my favorite pair of jeans minutes after I’d put them on. He had been in the punishment room since then, so when I opened the door to it, I figured he would be pacing or scratching at the damaged wall like he had been the last few times. When the door slid open, however, my jaw dropped at the sight before me. Where I expected Tanner to be, a gorgeous boy lay, sleeping on the blanket Tanner’s wolf always rested on. He was curled up just like a wolf would be, but there was no fur or paws to be seen. His cast had been taken off the week before, but there were now scars up and down his right leg and missing hair on those areas from everything Doc had done, which might or might not grow back over time.

Rowin, come here,

I thought through our link.

My voice likely gave away my shock, because not a minute later, my beta was looking into the room, gasping quietly when he saw why I had called him.

Is that Tanner?

I nodded silently and took a step inside the nearly empty room. My wolf immediately perked up, confused but excited when it smelled Tanner’s dominant scent but only saw the kid in the corner. The sound of my shoes on the hardwood floor had the boy blinking sleepily before his head snapped up in surprise. Right away he tried to get up on his paws, but there were no paws, or four legs for that matter. He quickly stumbled and face-planted onto the blanket, then tried again but got the same result. When he heard me chuckling, he looked up and growled, but come on, I couldn’t take him seriously right then. He couldn’t even stand up.

“Hey there, pup, let me help.”

He wasn’t happy about the idea, but when I got closer and began lifting him up off the floor, he struggled to keep himself standing and quickly grabbed onto my arms. The kid’s wolf had gained about forty pounds since I’d found him, but his human form needed a good growth spurt before he even came close to bossing me around. His messy hair only comes up to my shoulders, for god’s sake. When he finally managed to steady himself, I carefully turned us and helped him walk out of the room. I knew he wasn’t happy, but at least he wasn’t biting at me.

“Do you want clothing, Tanner?”

He growled in response but eventually replied into my mind, Yes.

“Alright, come with me.”

I was kind of hoping he could talk through his mouth now that he had it, but I guess I couldn’t really expect that right away. The little pups in my pack took a few weeks to learn how to use their mouth in accordance with what they wanted to say once they shifted into their human forms for the first time. We were halfway to my room when he began stumbling over his own feet and whimpering. You’d think he really was a puppy with the amount of whining he was starting up over such a simple thing.

“Okay, you, com’ere.”

I carefully moved Tanner until I could lift him into my arms. Thankfully he seemed happy about not having to stagger around, and I could almost see the little pup I had over a month ago return as he nuzzled against my neck. Rowin and I picked out some clothing from the collection we kept around for the rest of the pack, for when they stayed over and forgot to bring their own stuff. We then quickly helped Tanner get dressed. Nothing quite fit him since his human form still needed to gain some weight, but at least nothing fell off.

“Alright, dinner?”

His eyes rose to mine for the first time since he’d shifted, and I felt a heavy weight press against my thoughts. They were the eyes of a predator…a dominant. He slowly nodded and started for the door, growling any time Rowin or I stepped in to try to help him. Rowin had already cooked dinner, so when Tanner finally made it into the living room, we all sat down on the couch and tried to relax with our food. I could feel Tanner’s eyes on my plate several times throughout the meal, but he wisely kept his paws, err, hands, to himself this time.

I didn’t expect it so I wasn’t prepared when my door opened and Tanner stepped into my room around two in the morning. He was quiet, but I should have still woken up more than I did, which wasn’t much. I was groggy and exhausted after grading papers most of the night, so my eyes were barely trying to open. When he leaned over me, I should have forced myself to wake up, but again, I didn’t. Sleep just weighed too heavily on my mind. When I did finally awaken, it was because of the feeling of teeth on my throat and the sound of a low rumbling growl coming from the wolf now leaning over me in bed.

Alpha no Cole. Mine. Alpha Tanner.

I gasped for air and quickly swung a fist into the side of his head. Damn. His wolf’s skull was seriously tough .

He backed off, though, which gave me the chance to shift and lunge in defense.

Tanner. Stop this right now. I am your alpha.

There was no way he could honestly be thinking of beating me. Even though my neck was bleeding, he hadn’t dealt a strong enough blow to hinder my ability to fight back, and judging from the look on his face, he knew it. When I charged him, he wasn’t fast enough and my own teeth sank into his shoulder. His wolf gave a loud howl of pain and ripped itself away, making me take a chunk out of that shoulder when I really hadn’t meant to.

Tanner,

I shouted into his mind again, trying to make him snap out of his aggression.

His wolf just snarled and lunged for a second attack, but I slipped on my own blood when trying to dodge, allowing him to get in another bite, this time to my face. Before I could respond, he turned and bolted out of my room. I followed him when I realized where he was going, but when I stepped out into the backyard, the only thing that caught my attention was the open back gate.

Wait…how, why? Why was the sliding door open? And the gate?

Planned.

Tanner planned this. If he couldn’t kill me, he had everything ready to get away.

I quickly jumped off of the back porch and into the light blanket of snow in my backyard. My breath made puffs of heat in the cold night air as I scanned the forest beyond my property, my left eye squinted shut from the injury, leaving my right one to look. I could unfortunately sense him getting farther and farther away. My heart constricted as my wolf swung its head back and let out a loud, haunting howl.

Tanner!

A New Reason to Run

Tanner

Miles passed beneath my paws before I finally slowed to a tired jog, then brisk walk. I was panting heavily, and I had no idea where I had been going, but I couldn’t think of anything besides the look of betrayal I’d seen in Cole’s eyes when I attacked him.

I didn’t mean to. It was his fault.

Growling, I finally dropped to my belly in a snowdrift and nuzzled my nose into the cold substrate.

Why didn’t he just submit? So many times I’d given him the chance, but each time he either ignored or punished me.

Forcing my mind to relax for a few minutes, I shut my eyes and simply listened to the quiet forest surrounding me. I knew most creatures immediately hid or became silent when something unfamiliar or dangerous appeared in their territory, but as I lay still in the snow, I knew I was sending a message that I wasn’t interested in hunting or really bothering any of them. After a short while, the sounds of the forest I was so familiar with began to return, one chirp, rustle and squeak at a time.

Mmmm, home.

While I had to admit that living in Cole’s house was comfortable for the first few weeks, I knew I couldn’t remain there any longer. He was used to staying in one place, in one small home, but I just wasn’t like that. Being stuck in that place was likely the reason my dominance had begun to push to the forefront of my personality, because I really didn’t think I was that bad before. It was just that when I met Cole and realized what he was…it felt wrong.

He is not meant to be an alpha, my mind supplied with a sense of determination. It seemed like it was trying to convince me, but I already knew that. Grunting in sudden frustration, I dug my head into the snow and shook it, sending the cold, white, mushy water every which way. My ears perked up at the sound of a squirrel climbing down a tree a few feet away, curiosity shining in its little black eyes. It clicked its teeth together, and I tilted my head, then smacked one of my paws down in the snow. It froze for a moment after I moved but then hopped down when I stayed where I was. My eyes roved over its small body without much worry. It was a squirrel, after all. I was its predator, not the other way around. I’d eaten plenty of them when I was a pup, too. It didn’t seem to care, though, since it scampered atop the thick blanket of snow before coming to a stop in front of my nose. I made it twitch with a quiet huff and then the fluffy thing jumped and darted up the nearest tree.

Scardy squirrel.

I thought it had run from me, but when the wind shifted and I took a deep breath, a sharp, jagged shiver forced its way down my spine. Without a second thought, I was running, my paws slamming their way through the thick snow drifts one after the other after the other.

That scent.

My thoughts ran rampant, but I didn’t let them slow me down. I knew what happened when a wolf was weak…that’s why I had been forced to run all those years ago…and why I had to run now. The paws that pounded the ground behind me didn’t sound anything like a normal wolf’s, considering the sounds I’d made when playing with Cole and his pack in their backyard before I began to get aggressive.

No.

I knew my mind didn’t want to understand what was going on, but there was no denying it, especially when I bunched my muscles to prepare to jump over a large recently fallen tree right as a loud roar shook the forest to its roots.

Monster.

The sudden intensity and volume of the sound made me trip and topple over the log to fall into the snow built up on the other side. Not a moment after I fell, a giant blond wolf shot over the log, turning in mid-air to land in the deep snow with little effort. I fumbled to my paws, but my eyes were completely focused on the bright gold ones locked on me.

Go away. I mentally shouted toward him, unsure if he would even listen to the thought. Surprisingly, the wolf’s huge head drew back slightly, its ears perking up with interest. It still looked like it was going to tear me apart, if its bared teeth had anything to do with its next actions, but at least it seemed to hear what I had thought to it.

Alpha will be quite surprised to know that you can speak, on top of the fact that you are still alive…for now.

That voice had my body shivering, whether I wanted it to or not. I remembered it…

Kine.

The huge wolf smirked and licked his jowls eagerly, taking a step forward with one massive paw.

It has been quite a long time, little Tanner.

We couldn’t be anywhere near my old pack’s territory so Kine must have been on a track, but…

What are you tracking all the way out here?

The question slipped out of my mind before I could really comprehend what his answer obviously was. Realization hit me even as he answered my question with an excited you. Normally, and logically, I would have begun to run like hell again… if it hadn’t been for the sound of encroaching voices. Both of us had been too focused on each other to realize but as I looked to my left I could already see three people hiking through the snow.

What human in their right mind went out hiking in the winter?

I thought of hiking because none of them seemed to have weapons, and considering they were all wearing normal clothing, they couldn’t have been hunters. Well, at least not serious ones. Kine darted back over the log, disappearing before I was even able to turn my head completely to watch him leave.

I need to get my tail out of here too. I thought to myself as I struggled to get out of the snow. Since I had been stuck for a few minutes after running all this way, my legs were beginning to go numb and become useless.

“Holy… Dude. Look.”

Hearing a shocked shout much too close for comfort, I whipped my head back around to where I’d seen the humans approaching and felt my stomach drop. The three humans, one with black hair and two with blond, were staring at me from only a few yards away. Panic spurred me to move, but I couldn’t get out of the deep snow. The two blonds seemed completely content to run away, but the blond-haired young man didn’t even flinch. In fact, he turned to the two others, who I assumed were his friends, and told them to head back to camp. The two looked at him like he was insane…because he honestly sounded like it, considering he wanted to stay there alone with me.

“Listen, I know it’s just stuck and you both are about to crap yourselves. You’re not going to be helpful so just go back. It’s obviously not interested in attacking us because come on, look at it. It’s just sitting there stuck in the snow. It’s also panting, so it probably was running or struggling to get free for a while,” the guy said, gesturing toward me. For once I knew some of what he was saying, but some of the larger words were still lost to me.

“Are you sure, man? It’s a freaking wolf,” the other blond said.

Yes, he’s sure , I thought to myself, though I had no idea what he was supposed to be sure about.

“Yeah, Warren, I’m good. You guys can just head back. I’ll get it out real quick, then meet you guys back at camp.”

The two others guys looked back at me, then to their friend before fidgeting but giving up the argument.

“Alright, Ry, we’ll see you soon. Please be careful,” the black-haired guy said before turning and heading back the way they’d come, the other blond following after him a moment later. When they disappeared from my sight, I relaxed a little more, glad that there was only one human left. I also couldn’t sense Kine, so that was two positives.

Now to be careful of the one human left.

Lifting my eyes to his, I silently noted they were a soft, curious blue color.

Pretty…

“Hey there, you.”

Hearing the young man’s voice had my body tensing, but I was just too tired to bother trying to lunge at him to keep him from getting any closer. He seemed to catch on quickly that I wasn’t going to attack because he was soon kneeling down a few feet away, smiling down at me.

“Can I help you get out without you wanting to eat me? I have a soft spot for animals, but I’d rather not become your next meal.”

Mmm, meal. I want a meal.

Whimpering, I tilted my head back and forth, wondering where the meal was. I figured out fairly quickly he didn’t have a meal because he just laughed when I did my normal ‘feed me’ gesture.

“I’m going to take that as a yes.”

Yes, I chimed right after he’d said the word, even though I knew humans couldn’t understand werewolves. My attention focused in on him when he began to inch his way closer. I didn’t mind him being so close since he had no weapons visible and he was definitely a human judging from his scent, but when he tried to reach out and pet my head, I drew the line with a deep growl. He jerked his hand back with a hesitant smile, rubbing his palms together like a child who had just gotten caught stealing peanut budder from the counter… though I wasn’t the only one who stole it. I saw the other young werewolves doing it too. Unfortunately, Cole always just blamed me… because I was always the one with the jar stuck on my nose.

As I continued mumbling to myself about things that didn’t matter anymore, I lazily watched the human continue working. He wasn’t wearing any gloves, and his hands were slowly turning red from the cold snow, but he still continued to work, not paying them any mind. It took him a little while before I could finally begin climbing out of the frigid snowdrift. A lot of the snow beneath my body had melted from its heat, too, giving my frozen paws some purchase on the ground to help push myself free. By the time I was completely out of the deep snow, the human had backed away to stand near a large fern tree. I knew thanking people for helping was supposed to be the right thing to do, but I also knew that I shouldn’t change in front of humans, leaving me in a sticky situation. Deciding that I didn’t want to stay around to try to figure out something so trivial, I quickly tromped over to him and licked one of his pale hands, then gave a quiet grumble and took off.

They Aren’t for Eating?

For the next few seasons, I wandered about the woods, though this time my intentions were different than just surviving. Granted, that was important, but I also wanted to learn. Being with Cole, even for such a short time, had taught me so many things that I hadn’t known, and the thirst for information drove me closer and closer to humans. It was dangerous while in my wolf form, but I still didn’t feel comfortable letting my human-self out much yet. I could walk in it… kind of, and talk in simple sentences, but I’d grown up as a wolf. It felt so much more like me then my human likely ever would.

During one especially chilly night, I found myself sauntering around the outskirts of a large town. There was a good supply of wild deer in the preserve not a mile away so it was a pretty nice spot for my wolf as well as my human. I had stolen clothing from hikers awhile back and hidden them in an old abandoned fox den for when I wanted to try being human near other ones. Deciding that the time had come to try, I shifted and stood in the knee-deep snow, immediately wanting to back out of the trial. It was freezing, and I had taken clothing for warmer weather. Before I could talk myself out of it, though, I quickly knelt down and reached into the den, snagging the clothing and pulling each piece on like I’d seen Cole do a few times when I sneaked into his room when he wasn’t paying attention.

The sudden memory had my fingers pausing on the bottom of the dark red shirt I’d just tugged on. My heart felt heavy at the thought of not seeing him again. We might have fought, but he could have learned that it was okay to submit to me. I wouldn’t have hurt him. The memory of that specific night sent a chill down my spine that made the cold air around me feel like I was overheated in comparison.

Mine…I didn’t mean to do it.

Grinding my teeth together, I kicked a good chunk of snow into the tree above the den and began stomping off toward the street that ran along the forest. I’d walked it plenty of times as a wolf, trying to test and see if people would just start shooting at me. Thankfully, the people who did stop just did so to get photos and tell me I was a huge crossbreed dog or something of the sort that must have gotten loose. A few times, animal control had tried to catch me, though, which wasn’t exactly a fond memory considering the time I’d gotten shot with three spiky things and got away just before passing out in the snow.

They had cheated. I don’t know how, but that spiky thing made me go to sleep when I wasn’t tired, like when Cole brought me to that weird man.

Grumbling under my breath, I looked down at my loose-fitting light brown shorts and red shirt that had slanted white writing across the front. I had no idea what it said even though I did understand some letters, I just hadn’t learned enough for writing to be useful yet.

“It will have to do.”

My words sounded odd to my ears since I was used to only hearing my wolf’s sounds, but at least my human words were understandable. Deciding that it was time to go, I quickly made my way through the thick snow and up onto the road. I’d made sure to watch humans and learn how to copy the way they walked. So when I got close to what they called a sidewalk, I hesitantly stepped onto it, then took a deep breath as I pushed onward down its long stretch. Several people watched me from where a group sat under a fake tree with the symbol of one of those giant noisy cars on it. I caught a few of them staring at my lower body, which had my own eyes moving to my feet.

Is there something wrong with my feet? Am I walking badly?

Licking my lips, I lifted my head and decided to ignore them and keep going. I obviously wasn’t doing something too wrong because no one was telling me or making a big deal out of it.

“Uh, hey, dude?”

Blinking, I stopped abruptly, only a few steps away from walking right into a guy.

Wait a second…

Sniffing the air visibly, I blinked again, then grinned.

It’s the guy who helped me in the forest.

“Hi,” I shouted, making the young man flinch from surprise.

Oops. Too loud I guess.

Clearing my throat, I licked my lips and shifted from foot to foot before trying again with a quieter “Hi.”

That seemed to calm his nerves a little, though he still looked like I was baring my teeth at him.

I wasn’t, was I?

I ran my tongue along my teeth, then pressed my lips together, deciding that I was definitely not threatening him at the moment.

“Um, hi? Just uh, I was just wondering… Where are your shoes?”

Shoes?

“Oh, I ch—,” stopping myself abruptly, I felt my face warm and fidgeted. Humans didn’t eat shoes, or at least that’s what Cole had told me. He also said werewolves didn’t eat shoes either, but the pups in his pack had totally done it so that wasn’t true.

“I uh, lost them,” I mumbled, not really sure how else to lie.

They had just tasted so good. I couldn’t help but chew them up.

His brows went up at an odd position before he shrugged and offered me a small smile. I had to remind my inner wolf he wasn’t baring his teeth but being friendly. It was weird and the complete opposite of what I was used to, but I quickly returned the gesture, although judging from the look that suddenly took over his face, I probably looked more like I was threatening him than trying to be polite.

Darn it.

“Okay. Well, it’s really cold outside…do you want some shoes?”

Woo! More shoes to chew? Yes.

“Yes,” I shouted, taking an excited step forward like an eager puppy waiting for peanut budder.

Mmm, peanut budder.

He jumped, having been surprised again, but this time he smiled wider and gave a quiet laugh. I tried to copy his laugh, but my voice was a little deeper and sounded a bit more like a growl.

Hmm, I need to work on that.

The young man shook his head and reached forward, grabbing my left wrist before tugging me toward the edge of the sidewalk. He looked in both directions multiple times, making me want to question him about what he was doing it for, but then he was suddenly running across the street, dragging me behind him. Once we were on the other side of the street, he pulled me into a building… and I think I went to wolf heaven.

So many…shoes…

I sprinted ahead, unknowingly dragging him until I stopped and he almost stumbled into me. As it was, I noticed him trip from the corner of my eye and turned just in time to catch him in my arms with little effort. His thick coat had my hands burying in the fabric, making me want to snuggle with him.

Maybe I can take him back to the woods , I thought as he slowly wiggled his way out of my arms while I wasn’t paying attention.

“So, hang on a minute. What’s your name?”

I tried my smiling face again and was rewarded with one from the young man.

“Tanner.”

He gave me a slight nod and patted my shoulder before turning toward the shelves of shoes I’d stopped near.

“Alright, Tanner, what size are you?”

My head tilted to the side in thought.

Size. I remember Cole saying something to me about that…now what was it? Oh!

“I am size big.”

He coughed into his hand and turned away, returning his attention to me after a moment while shaking his head. He was smiling, though, so I supposed I didn’t make him mad… but why did he act so weird to my answer? It was my size.

“Okay, come here, Tanner.”

He motioned me forward, and I followed, sitting down when he pointed to a weird looking chair.

“What is your name?” I asked as he knelt in front of me with a metal thing and grabbed one of my ankles to press my foot against it. It felt cold, but after walking outside, it didn’t bother me at all.

“Ryder,” he mumbled, obviously focused on what he was doing. I’d almost let myself slip, calling him what I had heard the other two humans call him in the forest, but I knew saying that would probably confuse or scare him. This might have been my first try really interacting with humans, but I wanted to get it right.

“That is a cute name.”

His head snapped up, eyes going wide with surprise at what I’d said.

Was it bad? I thought it was cute. Did I mess up what cute meant?

“Oh…um, thanks, Tanner,” he said awkwardly, then stood up after setting the metal thing aside.

“Alright, you’re a size twelve so we need to look over here.”

He gestured for me to get up, and I did right away, following after him quietly as to not make any more mistakes with my words. I instead listened to those around me, just like I had when I was walking along the outskirts of the town or when I was with Cole.

Cole…

I felt my wolf stir inside my chest but quickly shoved it back. I couldn’t afford to change here, that would cause more problems than I could ever hope to fix.

“Here we are. What do you think of these, Tanner?”

Blinking, I snapped myself out of my thoughts to see the most delicious-looking pair of black and white shoes that I’d ever seen right in front of my face. Taking in a deep breath, I nearly drooled at their smell, too.

“I like them,” I shouted, forgetting that I shouldn’t be so loud. Well, at least Ryder didn’t seem to care this time since he just laughed and motioned me back over to one of the weird chairs between the shelves of shoes.

“Alright then, we’ll try these on then.”

As soon as I sat down, he was back to kneeling in front of me.

Why couldn’t Cole do that? It isn’t hard to submit.

Of course I knew humans weren’t really submitting when they did that. That much I had learned from watching them. It was more a caring gesture usually meant to comfort or help another.

I wouldn’t mind him doing it for that reason, though…

Sighing, I waited for Ryder to finish what he was doing, then looked down at my covered feet. It looked weird and felt even weirder, but I wasn’t going to complain. I could just eat them later if they got uncomfortable, which was likely to happen when I changed back into my wolf.

“Okay, they look good and your toes aren’t pushed forward too much. Stand up and walk around for a minute, Tanner.”

I began walking around the large store, honestly surprised that my feet actually felt pretty darn good.

Wow! These things have so many uses. No wonder people wear them all the time. I guess I’ll wear these if he lets me have them, then eat them when they stop working.

Thinking the idea was great, I returned to Ryder with a happy grin.

“I like them.”

He returned my expression with a smile and nodded, helping me take them off before putting them back in the box they had been in. I thought he might not let me have them, but then he started to walk toward the front of the store where a woman was standing behind what looked to be a desk of some sort. I followed after him, catching up with only a few easy strides. When we got to the desk, he set the box of shoes on it and the lady took them, then ran a thing over them, which made a surprisingly loud sound. My wolf slipped a growl through before I could completely cut it off, bringing both pairs of eyes to me.

Oops!

“S-Sorry, clearing throat.”

I heard humans use that to get out of saying something by mistake or being mad, and from the looks they were suddenly giving me, it worked. Ryder soon turned his attention back to the woman after grabbing something nearby and handing it over to her. She ran the beeping thing over the new item and then pressed some buttons on a machine before speaking to Ryder.

“Your total is eighty-four dollars and twenty-seven cents.”

Oh man! That is a lot. I think. The thing Cole had me watch only counted up to ten. I didn’t know there were so many more numbers. Huh, I wonder how much is an eighty? That sounds so weird…

“Tanner? Come on, let’s get these on you.”

Looking around suddenly, I spotted Ryder over by a normal chair near the entrance and quickly ran over. I knew he would want me to sit after the first few times in this situation so I quickly sat down, getting a smile from him.

Yay!

He dropped back down to his knees and got the extra item he’d gotten pulled apart.

Oh! I know what those are. Well, no, not really. Cole always just shouted ‘Tanner. Not again.’ when I got one and chewed it. It was like nothing in that house was allowed to be in my mouth. Unfair.

While lost in my mind, again, I felt something soft and warm slip over one of my feet and blinked my eyes to focus back on what Ryder was doing.

“That feels good,” I said, surprised that two things I normally wanted to eat actually had other uses. He gave a quiet laugh and got the other one on my other foot, then added the shoes and tied the laces.

Oh, those yummy laces. I definitely learned that word fast ’cause I always asked for them. And never got any more after the first time I ate them off of Cole’s shoes while he was sleeping…

Knowing that I’d space out if I didn’t pay attention while I thought, I made sure to follow Ryder out of the store with my new shoes on, surprised at how warm and comfortable my feet were now.

“Thank you.”

He seemed a bit shocked by my sudden words but ended up smiling anyways.

Cute smile for a cute name.

“You’re welcome. Where do you live? I can drop you off if you’d like since it seems like it’s about to start snowing.”

It took me a minute to figure out that sentence. I wasn’t sure what ‘drop you off’ meant, but I did know that he was accepting my thanks and asking where I lived. So, I lifted my hand and pointed toward the forest. His eyes looked in that direction, then quickly back to me.

“You… live in the forest?”

I nodded quickly, smiling at the thought that he might actually want to come back with me. Unfortunately, his expression changed to one that I knew fairly well since Cole often wore it on his face.

Disappointment.

My wolf immediately wanted to leave, not liking the look at all. I was feeling the same way and even began inching away from Ryder, not wanting to make him mad, which often came after the disappointed look. Normally I wouldn’t back down if it was another wolf looking at me like that, but I knew the difference and I knew that humans wouldn’t understand my dominance. When I got a few steps away, I turned and began walking toward the street but was stopped right before I stepped onto the black surface.

“Wait.”

Ryder’s shout had me turning around. First I noted his hand on my right wrist, then I let my eyes rise to meet his.

Huh? Odd. They look almost worried now.

“I’m sorry, Tanner, I didn’t mean to make you upset. It’s okay if you live in the forest. It’s a very nice place.”

I wasn’t really sure how to reply to that. I wasn’t used to the disappointment being apologized for so I kept my mouth shut, waiting and watching to see what Ryder was going to do.

“Tanner, I know I don’t know you… but it’s going to get really cold tonight and…”

His words trailed off as he glanced back at a slick black car, making me think that it was his. I immediately felt myself want to growl at it, remembering the few times I’d been in a car as ending quite badly at that weird man’s place. I was always made to go to sleep, then woke up feeling dizzy or hurt. Heck, usually both.

Ryder’s eyes returned to me after a moment as he decided to finish his sentence.

“Will you come stay with me for at least tonight, Tanner? I have a house, and there is a spare room you could use.”

Sleeping in the same place. Confined.

Everything about my former experience warned me against it. I was too dominant. Even if he was a human, there was a limit. I wouldn’t be able to bend to his rules without my instincts trying to take over.

“I…I don’t think it would be good,” I said quietly, looking down at my new shoes to try to show that I didn’t really want to talk further about the subject. Unfortunately, he didn’t read the gesture because he was suddenly grabbing my hands in his smaller ones and holding them together. The action forced my eyes to rise back to his. Those soft blue eyes I remembered from the forest, the worry and slight fear, the familiarity of it had my heart warming a little.

“Why not, Tanner? I-If you have a friend or family out there, they are welcome, too. I just don’t want you to freeze tonight.”

What can I say to that? I thought to myself. It was hard not to just say that I was a werewolf and be done with him, but I knew that was against the rules. Even my old, terrible pack had ingrained that in me. So I decided to go with the other truth.

“I am…very…I can’t…” I pursed my lips, trying to figure out the sentence so that he would understand.

“I can’t listen to rules.”

For some reason, it almost felt like I should be ashamed of that, but there was nothing I could do about how dominant I was. It was just me. Well, at least my words seemed to have sunk in because he was now frowning slightly, no doubt about to tell me I should be on my way back to the forest.

“I think I can manage with that if you can follow just one rule.”

Tilting my head in curiosity, I licked my drying lips and asked, “What rule?”

Even in the dimming light of the encroaching snowstorm, I could see his face flush slightly before he mumbled out his response.

“No coming into my room at night without permission.”

Quiet Time

The car ride was something I’d rather put in the back of my mind and lock away forever. First, it took me awhile to actually feel comfortable enough to get into the thing. Ryder had kept telling me I should sit in the front, but I definitely did not want to do that. It would have basically forced me to look out of the window, and that was something I was determined not to do. These things moved faster than I could run. Eventually he let me go in the back, but then he wouldn’t move the darn thing unless I put on something called a seat belt. That took a whole lot longer than actually getting inside the car since I fought him on it since I wasn’t a fan of being restrained.

The snowstorm was now going full force as we got out of his car and trudged through the snow up to his small house. It looked like it could be nice during the warm season, but right now it was completely covered in thick white snow.

“Here we are,” Ryder said as he fished a set of keys from his pocket and proceeded to unlock the door. The moment it swung open, I was hit with a strong dose of his scent.

The forest…

Taking in a deep breath, I quickly stalked inside, eager to look around my new temporary territory. He would probably kick me out after tonight because of my dominant side, but at least I wouldn’t be sleeping in the snow during the storm. Not that I wasn’t used to it, but it definitely saved energy when I could sleep in a warmer place so I was less tired in the morning.

“Are you hungry, Tanner?” he asked as he slipped past me, but I quickly moved so that I cut him off right before he stepped into the kitchen.

Darn it.

Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself and carefully stepped to the side so he could get through. He’d looked wary when I’d blocked him so suddenly, but at least his posture relaxed back to the way it had been when I stepped out of his way.

“Alright, let’s see what I’ve got for us to eat.”

I followed him over to his fridge, but when the door opened, my eyes immediately locked onto the best thing ever created.

“Peanut budder,” I shouted right as I reached past him and snatched up the jar. After all the times I’d seen Cole get the stuff out, I knew I had to turn the lid. It took a few tries anyway, but I got it off and tossed it somewhere over my shoulder before digging my hand into the small container. The second I had some on my fingers, they were in my mouth, making me moan as my eyes rolled back.

I love you, peanut budder.

The sound of chuckling snapped me out of my overly excited state to look at Ryder. He was leaning against the counter, one elbow resting on the other arm so he could cover his mouth with a hand. The posture was something Cole often did when he was laughing at me for doing something weird. Usually I didn’t find it funny, like when I bit into a bottle of ketchup instead of peanut budder and got it all over my chest and front legs, but he always did that darn pose, trying to hide his laugh, without succeeding. Without really thinking, I stepped forward, closing him in against the corner of the counter between the fridge and the sink, an arm on either side of him gripping the counter. The peanut budder jar was on the floor to be returned to as soon as I handled Ryder.

“Why are you laughing at me?” I asked as I leaned down and into his neck. I wanted to smell his scent again, and since the only rule we had agreed upon was that I would not come into his room at night, he shouldn’t be surprised. The gasp I heard come from him when I nuzzled the skin there told me he was, though, which I suppose was okay as long as he didn’t try to fight me off. We’d have a problem if he wanted to suddenly try to take control of the situation. I could feel him trying to get in enough air to reply to my question, but I wasn’t really sure why he was having trouble to begin with… and I kind of liked the idea that I’d caused it.

“Y-You were acting…c-cute.”

His reply was a bit surprising. I didn’t think I acted cute; I thought he did. Cole had only called me cute when we first met each other and I was healing, then the word disappeared as we began to go at each other. Forcing myself to calm down, I slowly backed away from him and gave an awkward smile.

“I see.”

When he seemed to relax again, I looked back down to the peanut budder jar but held back the extreme need to attack it and clean out its delicious insides. Instead, I picked it up and slowly, using only one finger, took out some and licked it off. This time when Ryder opened the fridge, I stayed back, watching as he pulled out a packet of chicken and a bag of green stuff.

Oh hell no!

“I don’t want the sald stuff,” I growled, not really knowing how to say that word but remembering Cole using it a few times. I didn’t pay enough attention to hear it because I usually saw it early enough to run, so the word wasn’t really needed. Ryder glanced over his shoulder with a faint grin, raising a brow.

“No sald? Okay. What about salad then?”

Oh! He did not just do that.

Biting my tongue, I kept myself where I stood. You didn’t just make fun of an alpha but… remember, he is human. He doesn’t understand.

That thought made me calm myself enough to grin back.

“I am not good with most words.”

Ryder looked a little worried about that, but then he got busy getting out a pan to cook the chicken, only talking once the food was sizzling in the pan.

“If you’d like, I can help you learn. Right now my friends and I are trying to get our band recognized, but besides that I’ve got a good amount of free time on my hands.”

My attention was split between what he was saying and the smell coming from the pan. I wanted to grab the food and just walk off, cooked or not, but really didn’t want to end up getting kicked out before I even got to sleep there. Granted, I could just kill him and take the home or force him to let me stay, but that was not what an alpha did. We were dominant, but we didn’t bully others who were being kind. Deciding to ignore the chicken as best I could for the moment, I focused my eyes on Ryder and smiled appreciatively.

“Thank you. I would like that. I have been try to learn by listen but it is hard.”

He visibly held back a chuckle and motioned me toward the living room area. His house seemed to be set up similar to Cole’s but with fewer rooms and only one story…though I never did go upstairs in Cole’s house.

“Here, sit and we’ll work a bit while the food is cooking.”

I did as told, dropping down onto the comfortable dark green sofa. Ryder leaned over and grabbed a few pieces of paper from the small table in front of us, then handed them to me.

“These are some lyrics I’ve been working on, but they aren’t really in any order, so we can use them to learn some things, okay?”

My eyes skimmed over the sheets, recognizing a few things but not much.

“I…do not know how to read.”

Surprisingly, that made him smile.

“That’s okay. I used help teach elementary school students how to read and write.”

Oh wow.

“I am lucky then,” I stated. I didn’t know what elementary was, but I knew school, so I had indeed run into a great human today. He blushed at my words, making me want to lean over and lick his cheek. My instincts nearly took over to do just that when Ryder suddenly got up after sniffing the air.

“Oops, might have burned the chicken. I’ll be right back with our food, then we can get busy, okay?”

I only nodded, not really hearing much of what he was saying as I wrestled with my inner wolf. Thankfully it was under control again by the time Ryder was back with two plates, one with just a big piece of chicken and Oh!

He’d put a huge spoonful of peanut budder on the side. I jumped up like a rabbit, grabbing the plate before dropping back down to the sofa. All in one perfect movement. Since I’d already had some peanut budder, I quickly grabbed the fork and awkwardly stabbed at the meat until it stayed on, then began taking the biggest bites I could. Each time I took a bite, I’d glance over at Ryder’s plate, and noticed he was just nibbling at his salad. Then, when I got down to the last bite of my chicken, another piece was suddenly placed on my plate, drawing my attention to Ryder’s, then up to his face.

“Is not that yours?” I asked, confused as to why he was giving me his food. Sure I usually tried to steal Cole’s and I had thought about taking Ryder’s, but I’d never had anyone actually give me their food willingly.

“Yeah, but you can have it. I’m not really feeling up for chicken anymore, and you look like you could eat a whole deer.”

That made me smile before I finished off my last piece of chicken and got his on my fork.

“Yes. I like deer.”

His fork paused near his lips, letting the green stuff on it float there.

“Ah…are you a hunter?” he asked before he finished taking his bite of food and began to chew.

“Yes,” I replied with excitement, finally glad to be on a familiar topic. I waited for Ryder to swallow so he could reply, filling my own mouth with a bite of chicken in the meantime.

“That’s really cool, what do you use?”

I was about to reply with ‘my paws’ but then remembered humans didn’t have paws.

“Hands,” I said, glad I’d caught myself so I didn’t give anything away. Except, his face didn’t look convinced at all. In fact, he almost looked scared.

“You uh, hunt with your…hands?”

My head bobbed once, nodding to his question. I was a bit confused now since he seemed uneasy, but thankfully he let it drop and set his empty plate aside on the small table.

“Cool, so, want to get started learning after you’re done with your dinner?”

I gave another nod and quickly finished up, shoving the rest of the meat into my mouth before adding the peanut budder. It probably looked a bit odd and it definitely tasted funny, but Ryder waited patiently until I set my plate aside and turned on the sofa slightly to give him my attention. He grabbed the paper he’d set aside and returned them to my lap as he scooted closer. With our legs touching, I knew I was going to have trouble focusing, but I did my best as we got started.

By the time Ryder had decided we’d worked enough, it was completely dark outside and actually quite cold inside, too. He’d mentioned his heater wasn’t working very well and had gotten us a huge blanket halfway through, which helped, but now it was causing the problem. The blanket he’d actually gotten was a spare he had folded up on his bed and it was driving me nuts with his scent. Not to mention he was basically in my lap now after a long time tugging at him to move. He’d fought me at first but realized that I wasn’t going to listen, like I’d already warned, and just climbed into my lap.

“You’re really interesting, Tanner.”

He was snug against my chest with the blanket covering him up to his shoulders before it wrapped all the way around me, so I had to pay attention to hear him whisper against my skin.

“Inter…esting?”

I felt him shake a little with a quiet laugh and gave him a squeeze with my arms.

“It means I like you.”

Oh. Why didn’t he just say the simpler word?

“I interesting you, too,” I replied with the big word and a smile as I nuzzled my nose into his hair to take in his scent again. I’d done it so many times since we’d been sitting there that I’d lost count… probably because I could only count to ten, but either way.

“Hey, Tanner?”

Ryder moved around a bit until his knees were pulled up into my lap as well, allowing him to look up at me.

“Yeah?” I answered, meeting his curious eyes with my own, which likely held the same emotion.

“Do you know how to like someone else?”

Before I could stop myself, I replied, accidentally letting Cole’s name slip into my words. “Cole said that like was how I am with peanut budder.”

Wait. That didn’t answer his question, did it? He said a person…

“I do not know how to like a person. Is it the same for peanut budder?”

The thought of licking him a lot didn’t sound bad to me at all, but I really didn’t want to eat him. That wouldn’t be very nice after everything he’d already done for me. Ryder seemed to think what I said was funny because he let out a quiet laugh before getting up on his knees, one balancing on each of my legs.

“I can teach you that, too,” he said with a hint of something in his voice that I couldn’t quite figure out. I was just about to tell him that I was interested in learning when the sound of a phone went off between us. The only reason I knew that sound was because Cole got a lot of calls when I’d lived with him, so he was always talking into one.

“Dammit,” Ryder groaned as he fished his phone out from between us and held it to his ear.

“What?”

He definitely sounded annoyed, but as soon as I heard someone begin to talk on the other side of the phone, he began to calm himself down, eventually sighing and leaning forward against my chest.

“Hey, Warren. Yeah, I’m doing okay.”

There was a short pause and the guy on the other end mumbled something I couldn’t make out, then Ryder glanced up at me before grunting.

“No, I did not pick up a cheap whore to help me handle being dumped by Damian.”

Whore? Is that like hole? I dug a lot of those in Cole’s backyard…

There was some more talking from the phone before Ryder heaved a tired sigh and gave one final reply. “Yes, I have a guy over but not because of ‘that’. You can even come over if you want, I don’t care. I’m gonna go to bed soon, though, so if you do, be quiet about it.”

Once he’d finished speaking, the person on the other side mumbled a couple words, then they both ended the call. I still wanted to learn how to like, but he no longer seemed interested as he climbed out of my lap with a tired smile.

“Maybe we can try learning like tomorrow, okay?”

I could tell that he was probably going to fall asleep soon so I nodded and got up, offering him his blanket back. Ryder shook his head slowly, then motioned me to follow him down the hall.

“You keep it for your bed. I have an extra.”

We stopped in front of a closed door, which he opened, then stepped inside.

“You can use this room, okay? The bathroom is down the hall, and there are spare toothbrushes in the drawer if you wanna use one.”

I wasn’t really sure what a toothbrush was, but I thanked him anyways, then quietly closed the door once he walked off to his own room. The thought to follow him nudged at me, but I pushed it aside for now, needing sleep myself. The day had been so busy and full of new experiences that the second I fell into the bed I was out cold.

Finding a New Beat

“You guys better be nice, okay? He doesn’t understand much yet.”

“We’ll be nice, jeez.”

“Yeah, not like we haven’t known each other for what, our whole lives? We aren’t gonna rag on your new friend, Ry.”

Waking up to the sound of strange voices had a quiet growl slipping from my throat as I sat up, hunching over in a defensive position. When I realized no one else was in the room, I focused my attention toward the door, baring my teeth a few second before a quiet knock sounded on the other side.

“Hey, Tanner? Are you awake?”

It took my sleepy mind a moment to remember what awake meant.

“Yes,” I replied as I slid out of the bed. I hadn’t taken off my shoes last night as I’d seen Cole do every time he went to bed, but I guess I had been worried someone else might eat them before I got a chance to. They were comfortable anyway, so they didn’t bother me when I slept. The door opened right as I straightened up. To my surprise, there were two new people standing behind Ryder who followed him into the room. They were all wearing smiles so I carefully put my own on and waited for someone else to speak.

“Hey, Tanner, these are my friends, Warren and Macon.”

I looked over the two new people and eventually forced a smile as I realized they were the two people with Ryder the night he’d rescued me from the snow.

“My name is Tanner.”

Their smiles widened a little, and they held out their hands for me to shake, which I learned from Cole when I was still a wolf. I put my hand in both of theirs quickly, then turned my full attention to Ryder, giving him a real smile.

“Thank you for let me stay here last night.”

He nodded and gestured his friends out, then for me to follow as he headed for the kitchen and the other two dropped onto the sofa. When we stepped into the kitchen, I noticed the strong scent of meat and licked my lips as I saw it sitting on a plate near a new pan.

“Do you like bacon, Tanner?”

Oh! I remember that. Yes.

“Yes,” I shouted as I walked over and grabbed a piece, then promptly began tearing off a big chunk with my teeth. When I got around to chewing it, I noticed the look on Ryder’s face and paused.

“I would say I’m surprised you just ate a piece of raw bacon, but I’m really not. You like it that way more than cooked, Tanner?”

Do I?

“I like both,” I mumbled around the piece I was still needing to chew. That made Ryder nod and smile before he turned to the stove and got the pan heating.

“Alright, I’ll leave you another uncooked one, then fry the rest, okay?”

“Mmph,” I replied as I chewed up the rest of the strip I’d just put in my mouth, before grabbing the other and inhaling it, too.

“Hey, Ryder. You wanna practice after breakfast since we’re all here anyway?”

The sudden shout from the living room had the hairs on the back of my neck bristling, but I bit down on the growl trying to come out.

“Sure,” Ryder shouted back, drawing my attention back to him with curiosity.

“Practice?” I asked as I leaned over to get a good smell of the now-cooking strips of bacon in the pan.

“We play music, Tanner. Remember I mentioned my band last night?”

Oh, yes. He did say that word last night.

“What is a band?” I asked, still not really understanding. I knew what music was, but it didn’t hold my interest like peanut budder or a good ball did, so most of the time I just ignored it.

“It’s when people get together to make music,” he replied, nudging me with his hip so I’d scoot out of the way and he could tend to the food. Instead of paying attention to his words, I focused more on what he’d done to get me to move.

I wanna do it, I thought as I waited for him to put a new batch of bacon in the pan, then bumped his hip with my own. When he stumbled to the side, I realized I’d done it a bit too hard, but it was still fun. I actually found myself laughing when he straightened back up and stuck his tongue out at me.

“That was a cheap shot, Tanner.”

I ignored his chastising tone and nudged him again, then pinned him against the counter near the fridge with a happy grin. He definitely learned fast because this time he didn’t bother trying to make me move at all. In fact, he just relaxed and smiled up at me.

“You’re going to make the bacon burn if you keep me here,” he noted before sneaking a glance around me toward the pan. Immediate panic filled me at the thought of that delicious food being ruined. I turned abruptly, only to feel Ryder give me a hard shove. Since I wasn’t expecting it, I stumbled and tripped, dropping to the floor for a moment before jumping right back up. He seemed shocked I’d recover so quickly, but one didn’t just shove a werewolf and get away with it. I started toward him again, but he quickly pointed to the pan and began fishing pieces of bacon out of it with a weird tool to put on the plate with the others.

“We can play around later, Tan. Gotta get the cooking finished.”

Tan.

Blinking back unexpected tears, I turned away toward the sink and sniffed a few times, trying to get myself back together. Hearing the name Cole had sometimes called me when he was happy made my heart hurt for reasons I didn’t understand.

“H-Hey? Tanner? What’s wrong? Did I say something that upset you?”

Ryder’s worried voice stayed near the stove for a few moments as he cracked eggs into the pan, but then he was squirming his way between the sink and me. The move was bold, especially when I wasn’t feeling very good emotionally, but when he wrapped me in a gentle hug, I melted into it and let my wolf whimper against his shirt since it muffled the sound.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry, Tanner. I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

“Is okay,” I reassured him. My thoughts were just going places they shouldn’t so it was really my fault for getting upset over something as simple as a change in my name.

“Can eat food now?” I asked, not wanting to dwell on the situation any longer. Ryder smiled and quickly nodded, patting my shoulder twice before getting down plates and filling them with eggs and bacon. He handed me the biggest portion and then headed into the other room with his friends’ plates, returning a moment later to get his own and gesture me to follow.

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence when Ryder and his friends sat down on the sofa and I took the extra chair near them. I could feel eyes on me as I ate, but I kept myself from looking up in fear of becoming aggressive. I really liked being there with Ryder, even if we didn’t communicate very well yet, but I knew there was something there. I could learn there. Maybe one day I could even fit in there. Somehow make them my pack.

Yeah right, I thought to myself as I finished crunching into the last of my bacon.

“Hey, Tanner? Do you want to listen to us play?”

I glanced over to Ryder at his question, noting that his two friends were already getting up to put their dishes in the kitchen.

“Okay,” I replied, seeing no reason to decline. While I really wanted to learn, singing had words in it and it would probably help to just sit and listen. So, with a content smile, I got up and sauntered into the kitchen, putting my dish with the other dirty ones in the sink before following Ryder and his friends out to another part of the house. It was warmer than the rest and a bit dimmer, but it was surprisingly clean at the same time. I remembered Cole having a similar room in his house, but it was always a mess with stuff everywhere. I walked over to sit beside Ryder, then waited patiently for them to begin.

“We won’t turn on the electric guitars this time so it won’t be too loud,” Ryder told me with a smile, though I had no idea what a guitar was. I kind of knew what electric was, but I was fuzzy on the actual meaning. All I knew was that it made the lights turn on and food to cook. Oh yeah, and if you rub yourself on the carpet too much, it happens and makes your fur look all funny. I was about to sink into that memory when I heard sounds beginning to echo in the room. At first, I couldn’t make much of them besides what I do from most music I’ve heard, which was basically noise. However, as Ryder actually began singing along with it, I felt myself compelled to do the same. His voice drew me into the song, making my mind repeat the words even though I barely knew what most of them meant. By the time they had played that specific song twice, I was singing along… and by the third time, I was singing alone, though I didn’t realize it until they stopped playing. I blinked up at Ryder, then looked behind him to his friends, then back to him.

“Um, I am sorry…” I mumbled, embarrassed I’d ruined their practice. Expecting a reprimand, I looked down at my feet on the floor, but then my chin was suddenly being tilted up by Ryder’s hands, allowing me to look into his extremely excited eyes.

I’m confused. He is happy I bothered them?

“Tanner, can you do that again?” he shouted as he knelt down in front of me. The gesture immediately had me wanting to growl and pin him to the floor, but I bit it back and tilted my head in question.

“Can I do what?”

“Sing! You were singing with me. The words you were saying. That was called singing. Can you do it again? That same song?” he shouted, making me fidget.

“I can,” I said awkwardly.

“Yes! Alright, we’re going to play that song again. Sing the words you know to it, okay?”

I nodded to Ryder’s excited instructions and did as told when they began to play the song again. The words came so naturally to me even if I didn’t know their meanings. It was like the song had its own meaning and the words were just a small part of the bigger puzzle. It felt amazing being able to make such nice sounds while at the same time making Ryder smile like he was.

I love this.

It was several months later, which I’ve now learned came within seasons, that we were finally getting our chance to play music for many more people. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to be in front of so many humans, but my control over my wolf had been getting better and better during the time I’d spent with Ryder. He’d taught me a lot of words and also numbers. He also taught me what was generally normal and how to hold conversations without getting angry… most of the time. Well, he thought it was anger, but I knew it was just my dominance trying to come out. That had been my biggest problem at first, but when he taught me how to like, I learned that he was okay with the dominance when we were in his bedroom. After our first night liking each other, I must say, I had felt a lot less of my dominance surging forth the next day. Ryder had noticed it as well, and from that day on, we tried to like each other as often as possible.

As I walked into the garage room we used to practice, I could already tell everyone was very excited. Ryder ran up to me with a huge grin, and I wrapped my arm around his waist, pulling him in for what I’ve been told was a kiss. Our lips met for a moment before I turned my attention to the person in the room I didn’t know. Visitors were not something I liked, but since Ryder had told me he only let nice people come over, I did my best to behave and not pin anymore against the wall like I had the first time…who’d run out screaming the moment I let him up.

“Hello,” I said as I extended a hand toward the man, just like Ryder had taught me. The man, who was wearing a fancy-looking black suit smiled and took my hand. I squeezed it carefully, being sure not to hurt him like I had done to Ryder the first few times he’d tried to teach me that there was more to a handshake than just putting your hand in someone else’s. Judging from the man’s face when he let his hand drop back to his side, I hadn’t broken anything.

Yay!

My eyes quickly darted to Ryder, who gave me a happy smile and a kiss on the cheek, before I returned my attention back to the man.

“My name is Derrick Marsano,” he said. I recognized his tone and that I should reply, so I quickly did so.

“My name is Tanner.”

Ryder had asked for my last name for some time after we’d met, but he eventually dropped it when I began getting angry when it was mentioned. I knew I was part of the Cliff Royal pack, and Cole had told me that I could use either of those names as my last one if I’d wanted to represent my kin…but I didn’t want to, ever.

“Nice to meet you, young man. I’ve been looking forward to hearing the band since I was sent a video of you practicing two weeks ago.”

I smiled at him, then turned to Ryder, who grinned and nodded before running over to grab what I now knew was his guitar. I grabbed hold of the microphone, which was used to make me sound louder, and took a few deep breaths as Ryder and his friends Macon and Warren began playing the music. When it was my turn to come into the song, the words easily flowed through my mind right past my lips. By the time the song was finished, I was panting, still not quite used to singing yet, but the new guy, Derrick, was already running over to me and shaking my hand.

“Perfect,” he shouted with enthusiasm before turning to the guys who were walking over and clapping his hands. “I am going to make you four famous.”

The guys cheered and jumped on me, and Ryder gave me another kiss. Derrick raised a brow at that but just shrugged it off and joined in the hugs and handshakes, excitement taking over.

Cole

“…”

“Oh hush,” Doc grumbled at me.

“I didn’t say anything,” I reminded him.

“I might be a human, but I’m not an idiot. I treat werewolves, and you’re annoyed staying still while I check out your eye. You guys can never just stop and smell the flowers for a minute.”

“Intuitive, but I don’t like flowers,” I replied with a hint of sarcasm. He popped me on the nose with his tweezers before using them to tug off the last of the bandage I had been wearing over my eye for the past ten months. Normally, wolf injuries healed quickly, but for some reason, when they were inflicted by an alpha, it took much longer to repair.

“Alright, follow the light,” he said calmly as he waved one of those annoying eye lights in front of me. My right eye followed it easily, but I could feel my left one only moving out of instinct to follow the other.

“Okay, I’m putting this in front of your right one, try to follow the light,” he said again before pressing a black spoon-like object over my right eye and moving the light again, but I saw nothing.

“Um…well, good news, it’s not infected and has healed nicely. Bad news…you’re blind in that eye.”

Doc Wolf put his tools down, and I sighed, blinking my bad eye normally for the first time since Tanner had tried to kill me ten months ago. My chest constricted at the memory of those events. I was just beginning to get depressed again when I felt Doc’s hand squeeze my shoulder.

“I know you wish it had turned out differently, but I’m sure he’s just fine wherever he is. You fixed the reason he was doing so poorly out there, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he has his own pack now, as alpha.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just worried… I thought of him as a son, even though he was here for such a small amount of time,” I replied quietly.

He smiled and led me out of the office.

“I’m sure he’ll contact you one day. Alphas don’t just forget favors.”

That was true. We had a pretty strong instinct to repay what was owed, but I wasn’t sure if I’d ever even see him again. Bah , worrying about it right now isn’t going to help anyone, I need to get down to the university before my class begins without me. Those kids will definitely run after the fifteen minute rule if I’m late.

“I’ll see you later, Doc. Thanks for all the help with my eye… and Tanner,” I shouted as I stepped over to my car.

“Take care of yourself, Cole,” he returned with a kind smile. I nodded and climbed into my car, backing it out of the parking space as Doc headed back inside.

You Are My Beta

Hello, Cole. I am writing to you again to ask if you would be interested in visiting me at one of my concerts. I’m sure you’ve heard of my band by now. I’ve attached an electronic ticket to this message to print out. We are playing in Greensdale tonight, hope to see you there.

-Tanner

“Cole, you’ve been staring at your phone for a good hour and completely ignoring your favorite team on TV. Is that another email from Tanner? Why haven’t you just gone to one of his concerts?”

I glanced up at Rowin and frowned.

“I’m a teacher, I need to be at the university,” I replied, knowing that it was a stupid excuse. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Normally that gesture would make my inner wolf stir, but I didn’t want to bother reprimanding him right then.

“His concerts have all been on Friday or Saturday nights, and I’m pretty sure the university doesn’t hold any English or Lit classes on Saturday.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up a finger and quickly continued, “And? Your classes are all done for the day. You would even have three hours to get ready before driving to Greensdale since I happened to notice his band was playing there tonight.”

Dammit. I should never have told him about the messages.

“Come on, man, you know you want to go see him, even if it’s just to make sure he’s doing okay. You’ve watched like, every single one of his concerts online and were smiling like an idiot each time.”

I glared at him, but he just raised a brow in response, daring me to argue. Maybe I should just go. It’s not like I had to talk to him, and we definitely weren’t going to fight in the middle of a huge stadium of people. I just couldn’t believe how far he had come in the past fourteen months. He’d learned how to talk, obviously, and he was becoming a famous singer. The day he left, I had honestly been worried sick. Most of my time between teaching classes was spent in the forest looking for him. I knew it sounded odd since we hadn’t known each other long, but he’d still felt like a son to me.

“I guess I’ll just stand in the back, until he starts. Then I’ll be satisfied,” I mumbled to myself quietly, knowing that Rowin could hear anyway. He chuckled but nodded, evidently satisfied with my decision.

“Best go get ready then, Alpha. After your workout earlier, you could use a good shower and some deodorant.”

I felt my wolf nudge at my mind to discipline the obviously unneeded jab, but again, I found myself not bothering. Instead, I got up and sauntered down the hall and into the bathroom. After tossing off my clothing, I sniffed my arm, then winced. Err, yeah, definitely need a shower.

Tanner

“Dude, stop pacing. You know he’s not gonna show,” Warren said with a dull tone. The music was already pumping as our opening act warmed up behind the curtains, so it was hard to hear anything beside their instruments and the cheering of the crowd. It was almost funny how he knew it wasn’t nerves but the obvious lack of Cole that was getting me all stressed out. This would be the sixth show I’d invited him to, but he had never even replied to any of the emails. I’d even used his university email address, so I knew he had to at least have read them.

“Tanner, we need to start warming up,” Macon shouted from where he stood near the edge of the curtain with his guitar already strapped around his shoulder. I started walking toward him and Warren, but my mind just wouldn’t let my thoughts rest.

Bah, like he’d come anyway. I tried to kill him. Why would he waste his time with me again after that? Maybe I’ll just go fi—hnn? My wolf’s senses snapped to attention as I sniffed the air after catching something on an inhale.

Cole!

“Hey, Wait. Tanner? “ Ryder shouted from somewhere to my left, but I was already gone.

Cole

I shouldn’t have come. This is definitely not the place for an English professor. There are way too many kids and nowhere near enough adults. Is this what these things are always like?

As the curtain opened, my heart nearly jumped into my throat at the volume of cheers and then, god . The music was ridiculously loud. My wolf was extremely uncomfortable in this situation, considering I could only see with one eye and my hearing was completely taken away by the increasing noise coming from the stage and speakers around the area. My head was already hammering with a headache, but I had to wait until Tanner was on stage, then I would get my confirmation that he was fine and be able to leave.

The band that had been trying to sing, but failed epically, finally left the stage, giving a chance to exhale a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. That had probably been the worst excuse for singing I’d ever heard. Hopefully Tanner’s band was at least better than that.

You know it is because you’re always rewatching his performances on the computer. I mentally chided myself, growling under my breath when the thought surfaced. Shaking my head, I began backing up to get a bit farther away from the rowdy kids in front of me when I realized something I probably should have a while ago.

Why are there arms around my waist…?

I took a deep, surprised breath when I felt a nose nuzzling against my neck. Sniffing. My wolf instantly snarled through my human lips, but the sound was eaten up by the previous bands’ fans who were still screaming bloody murder for them and their terrible songs. Well, the vibration of my growl at least got to whoever was invading my personal space because I felt a chuckle coming from the man’s chest as it pressed against my back. Odd, they didn’t seem worried that they were holding an alpha, and I knew they knew what I was because they had literally laughed at my warning. When a tongue snaked along the back of my neck, I snapped my teeth together in another warning and tried to get free, but his loose grip instantly tightened, pulling me back against his firm body easily.

Fuck. Get off. Now.

I shouted at the person mentally, trying to catch his scent but failing as an insane amount of smells overtook my nose from the people surrounding us. If there were other werewolves around, they might have caught the yell, but I doubted this place had many. And, even if there were some there, it was likely that they wouldn’t be paying enough attention to distinguish it from a normal shout with all the noise. His hands began to wander as that tongue got busy cleaning half of my neck, making my body stiffen in anger.

Get off!

“No.”

My body immediately froze, ceasing all struggles at the sound of that voice. I don’t know how I heard it over the music and screaming, but there was no mistaking…

“I love what you’re wearing…is it just for me?”

I had wanted to simply put on a pair of old jeans and a gray T-shirt, but Rowin had seen the outfit and dragged me back to my room, then put me in a pair of black dress jeans, a black tank, and a gray sweater with the elbows slashed…. Bastard owes me a new sweater.

Fashion my ass.

My thoughts snapped back to the present when I felt a certain person’s hand slide into my left pocket.

Tanner…

I growled a warning for him to move his hand, but he just chuckled again and leaned over slightly to lick my left cheek. Damn he had grown…

“Mmm, Cole. Wanna see the other ways I’ve grown?”

What? I hadn’t meant to project that thought.

My mind was whirling from him being near me after so long. His scent, his presence in my mind, and hi—Sh-Shit! He was grinding against me. Before I could even think of a non-predatory response, my wolf roared inside my head and made me spin around to attack…but he was gone.

“What…the hell…?”

I began looking around, but as soon as I took a step, I felt something stiff in my pocket. Pulling it out, my brow furrowed. It was a hotel key to the Hilton down the street, room 283.

I had no idea why I was there. Hell, I should’ve been back home grading papers, not standing in front of a damn door that would just lead me to nowhere. What would we even do? Talking was highly doubtful, considering we were both alphas and stubborn. What else was there left to do?

Alright, I’m just gonna put the key card inside and then leave. He should be done with his concert by now anyway since I stayed for a few songs…though I don’t know why, again.

With a tired sigh, I opened the door and stepped inside.

“Wow…”

The room was huge and even had a kitchenette and a hot tub. Okay, I was a little jealous of what he had accomplished, but that quickly washed away with my pride. I’d saved him from those woods, and now he was an amazing young man. That was all I needed to know. With a calm smile, I set the key card down on his dresser and headed for the door.

“Time to go get some dinner,” I thought to myself out loud with a small smile on my lips. I wasn’t exactly paying attention to what was going on at that moment since I had finished what I’d needed to do. So when the door suddenly slammed open, it smacked me right in the face.

“Ow!”

The room spun as I stumbled backward, landing on something soft and bouncing slightly on my back. My hand was on my nose, but thankfully I didn’t feel any blood.

Phew. That’s all I need. A bum eye and a broken nose.

The click of the door’s lock snapped me back to attention right away, though, making me sit up and glue my gaze to who was now standing in front of the door.

Tanner!

I quickly jumped to my feet and walked over, stopping about a yard away so that I didn’t elicit a challenge. This was his territory, or at least he was staying here for now.

Hmm, well, I guess I should just say good-bye and go now…and maybe he’ll unlock the door. My mind added, making me inwardly sigh.

“Um…” I began saying, but a warm hand stalled my words on my tongue when I felt it press against my left cheek and gently tilt my head up. I knew what he was looking at and honestly didn’t like people staring, but I couldn’t tell him to stop as he stepped closer. When his thumb began to rub softly right beneath my bad eye, I sighed again and finally allowed my gaze to meet his.

I can’t believe I have to look up now…he was just a kid when I found him, but now he has at least an inch on me.

“I did this.”

My head tilted against his hand a little, answering his words silently with the gesture. I hadn’t seen him earlier, but now I was a bit surprised that he was just wearing normal torn jeans, a form-fitting black T-shirt, and a Steelers hat. I suppose he probably didn’t want to be bothered after the show. Wait, why am I spacing out about what he’s wearing?

“I-I need to get back home… It… was nice seeing you again,” I stuttered out wearily. When he didn’t respond, I slowly inched around him and grabbed the door handle. I’d unlocked it and was just pushing the handle down and pulling it back when I saw a hand come out of nowhere right near my face and shove the door shut. I assumed there was another on my blind side, but my attention was more focused on the hips and chest pressed against me for the second time that night.

“Tanner…” I whispered, honestly not sure what to do in this situation. I hadn’t been expecting him to act this way. His nose began to rub against my left cheek, and I could easily hear his wolf’s growl just beneath the surface without the loud music to cloud my senses.

“I did this,” he whispered quietly against my skin.

        "Yes. You did," I replied in a breathy sigh.

“That night…” he continued slowly.

“Yes…” I answered, pursing my lips at the memory. He leaned in closer after I’d spoken, pushing my body flush against the door with his own. I could feel the handle digging into my side, but that was the least of my concerns. My own wolf was trying to surface at the blatant challenge Tanner was posing, but two alphas changing in one hotel room? It would be disastrous.

“’ne….” he slurred, his mouth now too busy with my neck to speak properly.

“Huh? What…?” I growled, biting my lip to keep from full-on snarling.

“Mine,” he said with a deep, authoritative tone as he removed his mouth from my skin to be able to speak clearly.

“I-I belong to no one. I am an alpha,” I told him, my body now trembling as I tried to keep it under control.

“Beta,” Tanner stated with finality. My wolf immediately snarled through my bared teeth at that. I was no beta.

“Get off, Tanner. You don’t want to start a fight here.”

My words were barely understandable because my mouth was already beginning to change.

“No fighting…” he agreed, surprising me a little. I was relieved at that until he finished speaking. “Mate.”

Aaaaaand, my wolf was out.

Perhaps I Don’t Understand…

My wolf lunged immediately, but Tanner easily dodged, a satisfied smile plastered on his smug face. I should have known that he was leading me on as I ran around, trying to get my teeth into him. I was wearing myself out quickly, but my wolf just wouldn’t listen to reason. It hated being challenged and made a fool of, and Tanner had done both, so it couldn’t think of any other response besides pinning him. Yeah, that definitely isn’t going to happen if he keeps going nuts.

“May want to be quiet… Dogs aren’t allowed in here,” Tanner noted with a light chuckle.

Oh shit!

My wolf put on the brakes, but seeing as it was on the bed, it slid right off, taking a pile of blankets with it. Dammit! This is humiliating. I thought as I was getting up. I caught Tanner moving in my peripheral vision and quickly whirled my head around to snarl at him, but he just raised a brow and held a finger to his lips, making a quiet “shh” sound.

“Don’t want to get in trouble, neh? If they come in here while you’re all worked up, you might not be able to change back fast enough.”

He had a point, but that also meant that I was stuck in my wolf form now until I could calm myself down… and the fact that he was sauntering toward me with an air of dominance wasn’t going to help any. I fought with myself to keep from stepping back and giving way to his dominance, because I was the alpha here. Even if I was stuck for the moment, it didn’t make me any less of the leader that I was.

“Excuse me? Tanner? Is everything okay? Someone said they heard running and some banging noises in there…”

Tanner was just kneeling in front of me when we heard the voice on the other side of the door. My heart stuttered as I froze, hoping that Tanner wouldn’t let the other in. Before he bothered to answer, he reached out, twining his fingers into my thick fur and forcing my hackles to rise. I bared my teeth at him as well, but he seemed to completely ignore the warnings.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Just felt a bit hyper,” he yelled back, pretending to be out of breath by gasping half of the words.

“Um…okay. Call me if you need anything. We’ll be leaving for Blounstown tomorrow morning so be sure to get some rest,” the voice replied, sounding obviously confused but also understanding.

“Alright. Night, Derrick,” Tanner replied. The second we heard footsteps moving away, he turned his full attention back to me and smiled.

“Sleep with me tonight.”

My wolf snarled as it lunged forward, snapping at Tanner’s face. He easily hopped back to avoid the attack, landing right as a knock came at the door.

“Room service… Is everything okay? Can I come in to do some cleaning?”

What was with all the people?

“Come in.”

Wait. What?

I quickly darted to the open bathroom door and jumped into the tub, then yanked the curtain shut with my teeth as I heard the cleaning lady wheel her cart inside.

Get her out of here. Are you nuts?

I shouted at Tanner mentally.

No. She needs to clean. It’s rude not to allow her to do her job.

Rude?

I roared.

Ow…no need to shout,

he thought back, almost sounding like he was pouting. I heard someone walk inside the bathroom and froze until a hand slid between the curtain and turned on the cold water and overhead nozzle.

Hey!

“My friend’s taking a shower so just ignore the bathroom,” Tanner said as he straightened up to look back toward the main room.

“Yes, sir.”

Wh-While I app-p-preciate the c-cover, why the c-cold water?

I asked as I tried to turn the darn thing with my teeth to make it warmer, but couldn’t grip it.

You’re so whiny.

I wanted to growl at him but had to force myself to sit down and wait until the woman finally left thirty minutes later. The second I heard the door click shut, I jumped out of the tub and shook off.

So cold.

“Here, sit down.”

My eyes rose to see Tanner walking in with a big fluffy towel in his arms. He was holding it out like a blanket and considering my wolf would take a while to dry over my human form and I had finally calmed down, I shifted back. The towel was quickly wrapped around me, and I couldn’t help but sigh as the fresh warmth took over. Heated towels are amazing. Before I realized what was going on, I was being lifted and set down in the hot tub that was on a large platform a few inches above the main floor, at the far side of the large room. Tanner smirked and tossed the towel behind him somewhere before sliding in himself.

Wait, why is he naked too? When did he get undressed?

I quickly sank down in the water until just the top of my head was visible, I narrowed my eyes at him from the edge of the surface.

“What?”

What, he asks…

He tries to dry hump me and claim I’m his beta, then freezes me in the shower for half an hour and then asks me ‘what’? There was a knock on the door again, which had me glancing toward it wearily.

Don’t let them in, don’t let them in, I thought to myself in a panic.

“Come in.”

Dammit!

Leaning over, I tapped the jet button to make the water move enough not to be able to see much beneath. I really didn’t like people staring at me. Which was one of the reasons I also hardly ever shifted because I always shifted back naked, after likely shredding the clothing I’d had on. When the person came in, I sank a little farther down, but Tanner just grinned and waved him over.

“Hey, Ryder, wanna join us?” Tanner chimed happily. The new guy was actually pretty good looking, and I thought I remembered seeing him at the concert. It took me a moment before I realized he was one of the guitarists. He shrugged and began tossing his clothes off, making my stomach sink as I moved as far away from the two as I could while staying in the hot tub. This wasn’t what I had intended to do when coming there that night. And Rowin was going to freak out when he called to check in on me, which he insisted on doing for some reason, since I left my phone in the car.

“I-I need to go,” I said, hoping to use the fact that there was a human there now to get out of the room.

“Oh? That’s a shame. It was nice to meet you, though, um…?”

“Cole,” I said, giving him a forced smile. Something changed in his demeanor, but I didn’t waste time thinking about it as I quickly got out of the tub and grabbed the closest towel. Of course Tanner cat-called, but I just rolled my eyes in lieu of a growl. Couldn’t exactly go all wolf with the human there. Without waiting for permission, I grabbed a pair of Tanner’s pants and headed for the door. As it was shutting it behind me, I heard something that made me sigh with a sense of oncoming exhaustion.

“I’ll see you soon, Cole.”

Not if I can do anything about it.

After several months, I’d finally talked myself out of the idea that Tanner would show up on my doorstep or anywhere else for that matter. He was constantly busy with his band and obviously didn’t have much time off to just go strolling across the country.

“Good morning, students. Welcome to the new semester and Advanced English Comp.”

I spoke as I walked down the long lecture hall walkway and then around to the podium and desk at the bottom of the stadium seating. My energy was finally back after being out of the classroom for too long. I didn’t teach over the summer because of my pack, but now that I had returned I felt so much better. My wolf was content and relaxed in my mind as I began explaining what was going to be in the course.

“The syllabus goes over everything that is expected, and I am always open to receive emails if anyone has questions and should reply within a day. If I don’t, you get extra credit.”

There was a round of quiet snickers and cheers after I’d finished that sentence, but I only smirked and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Let me clarify. If you send me an email at eleven fifty-five at night, I still get twenty four hours to reply to it.”

That got me a few ‘boos’ but mostly just some laughing. I was about to continue my little first-day speech when the side door opened and a student walked in. Normally on the first day, I wouldn’t call someone out for being late, but…

“Also, I do not tolerate late students. If you can’t get to class on time, then don’t come and just get your notes from someone else. If you arrive late, you will receive no points for attendance that day unless you have a valid emergency excuse.”

There were a few groans, but my eyes were glued to the guy who had just sat down in the back row. Even after getting everyone’s attention, he was all smiles. Hmph. Probably because he was famous and everyone was now staring, not because of what I had said but because of who he was.

“Alright, teach. But I have a question,” Tanner said without even bothering to raise his hand.

“Okay. What is your question?” I replied, not really wanting to seem like an ass on the first day of class by ignoring him.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

Dammit.

I knew I was blushing, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t believe he asked such a thing in front of all these people. And they were actually starting to ask the same thing.

“Th-That’s not an appropriate question…” I replied, biting my inner cheek nervously.

“Aw! Come on Mr. Moon,” one kid shouted somewhere to my left.

“Yeah,” another voiced to the right.

“Come on,” a third said, but I’d stopped trying to track which students were asking now.

“We can see you blushing,” Tanner finished with a cocky tone.

Oh man. What is Tanner starting now? And why do they automatically assume that I’m gay?

“I-I….I…do not…have a significant other…” I mumbled, digging my teeth into my cheek hard enough to taste blood. There were a deafening amount of wahoos and yeses as I shook my head with a sigh.

“Alright. Quiet down. Everyone is to do the work on page five through eight right now and hand it in by the end of class.”

That shifted the mood right away. Good.

“When you get it done and hand it in, you can leave.”

I was going to lecture about the syllabus and then let them leave, but they seemed to have plenty of energy so might as well get some work done.

Tanner

Oh my god! Those glasses on him . My wolf was pacing in my head, whining about the fact I wasn’t allowing it to mate with him in the middle of class. Needless to say, I took a good while extra to get my homework turned in. Or well, to get something down so I could get up to turn it in… By that time, everyone else had finished and were hanging around outside for their next class or already heading home. It wasn’t my fault he kept pushing his glasses up that cute nose and chewing his lower lip. I even saw a few people walking out eyeing him like he was a spoonful of peanut budder. That didn’t make my wolf very happy, but I kept telling it I was the only werewolf in this class, so he would be mine over those humans.

Cole kept his eyes on the paper he was grading as I sauntered down to his desk and sat my paper beside the one he was working on. At first, he paid me no heed, and I knew I should leave, but when he finally moved my paper in front of him and looked up, I gave him a calm smile.

“I want to know if I got it right,” I said with my own small smile in place. I knew he wanted to argue but ended up simply shrugging as he returned his attention to my paper. My eyes decided to roam a little as he focused on grading. I swear, every time I saw the man he looked more and more handsome. Yes, I’ve seen him several times since our meeting a few months ago. He probably hadn’t noticed me, but I’d been on campus a few times and hung around town at just the right times and places. Now that I could watch him without worrying about being seen, I quickly made mental notes for my later daydreams… mainly, his bangs had grown just enough to shadow his eyes, and those glasses? Why hadn’t he been wearing those when he came to see me at the concert? And those lips… I heard something, but I couldn’t really figure it out since all my attention was focused on those delicious looking lips.

“Tanner…”

Nnn, that’s my name….my name on those lips.

I didn’t realize what I was doing, but the second I did it, I wanted more. My hand moved behind his head to grasp his hair as my mouth crashed against his hungrily. Cole’s surprise showed since he had forgotten to close his mouth, but I quickly took advantage and allowed my tongue to explore its amazing warmth. I wanted to kiss him forever, but it seemed only seconds had gone by when a hard slap connected and the beginning sting of a bruise flared up across my cheek. Cole was bright red, and his lips were pursed with anger but plump from our kiss as he grabbed the papers and stomped past me up the ramp to the door, then out of the building. It was about a minute later when I realized what had just happened and looked down at my paper, the only one still on the desk. There was a 100 written in red and circled on the top right corner of the page, along with a smiley face and a small message:

Good job, Tanner. I’m proud of you.

My fingers slowly rose to press against my lips as a quiet whine left them. He’s proud of me? But I don’t understand. I told him I wanted to mate with him, and if he’s proud, then is he not proud of me for wanting him that way as well? I sulked for a few moments before realizing Cole had left his jacket on the back of the chair. It was probably best to take it to the lost and found but… I quickly lifted the jacket to my nose and took a long, deep breath. My wolf howled in my head when the scent reached him, but I really was confused about his reaction and Cole’s. Why wasn’t Cole interested in mating with me when my own wolf was crazy for him? Every time I saw him, my heart stumbled over itself, but when I told him I wanted him, he tried to attack me before running off.

Shaking my head, which now had quite a nice ache going on from the hard slap, I draped the jacket over my left shoulder and stalked out of the classroom after grabbing my bag. There was definitely something wrong between Cole and me, and if I wanted to fix it, I needed to figure out what it was. I suppose a visit back ‘home’ was in order… Hopefully he wouldn’t just throw me out when I showed up on his doorstep, though.

“Hah,” I breathed out in a quiet, frustrated groan. I was just heading for my car when I heard that beautiful voice call me from behind. When I whirled around to see Cole jogging over, my heart skipped a beat and I actually felt myself blush. He was wearing basketball shorts and carrying a basketball?

“I left my jacket…” he said, panting quietly as he ran. He stopped about two feet away from me and reached out for his coat, but I didn’t wanna give it back. It was the only thing I had that smelled like him. The torn clothing he’d left in my hotel room had long since lost his scent. Accidentally I let a quiet growl slip out as he reached forward and watched as he raised a brow, then narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Tanner…” he said, eyeing me wearily.

“I-I’ll give it back if you beat me in basketball,” I shouted back.

W-Wait…what did I just say? I suck at basketball.

Putting The Ball In Your Court

He…was challenging me in basketball to give my coat back? I really had wanted to just let go of some stress and shoot some hoops for a little while…but I guess playing with someone else wouldn’t be a big deal.

“Fine, but when I win, you better hand it over.”

Tanner seemed to sigh with relief before he headed toward the gym. I rolled my eyes but quickly followed after him, though I stopped for a moment when I noticed someone who looked familiar drive by in a black SUV. I couldn’t really place a name to the face, though, so dwelling on it would’ve been useless at the moment. Pushing the person to the back of my mind, I quickly hurried to the gym and ducked inside, then headed for the basketball courts. When I stepped inside, I could see Tanner at the far end. He tossed my jacket onto the bleachers before letting his T-shirt join it. Eh?

He got a tattoo. It was half of a wolf’s face, cut right down the center as it stared straight ahead. Beneath it were five simple words I couldn’t read until I was a few feet away.

Waiting for my other half.

When my eyes rose from the tattoo to meet his, my breath nearly caught in my throat. His wolf was right there beneath the surface as we stood in a packed gym full of college students. Needing to break up the tense atmosphere, I quickly tossed the ball at him, then got into position to defend.

“Come on, Tanner. I need to get my jacket back and put a wolf in its place in basketball,” I goaded playfully. That seemed to snap him out of his daze pretty quickly. With a cocky smirk, he lunged forward with the ball, but as I got ready for a rough fight, he actually let it slip from his hand. Err, well, not gonna waste a chance to steal. I quickly swooped in and retrieved the ball, then turned around and shot from the three-point line. It swished in, drawing a few cheers from guys around us.

Wait, people are watching?

I whipped my head around and felt my face heating up as several guys fist-pumped the air and cheered mine and Tanner’s names.

Err! Half of them are students from my class, too.

“Hey, Cole, heads up,” Tanner shouted from behind me.

Huh?

I looked over right as he dunked the ball for two points.

“Hey,” I shouted as I ran to retrieve the bouncing ball. He smirked and winked before getting ready to defend against me.

“Hey, yourself, cutie,” he teased. My mind broke as words fell apart into just numbers and letters. My face also began to burn, but I forced myself to focus and quickly showed off some decent footwork to score two points for myself. As we got into the game, I stopped paying attention to our audience and focused on getting around Tanner and scoring the most points. He was pretty bad at the beginning, but the kid was a darned fast learner. We took a quick break where I tossed off my shirt, not quite liking the sticky feeling of sweat as it clung to my chest. There were a few whistles and cat-calls, but after a round of shushes from other students, they were quiet and I returned my attention to our game.

By the time I got the game-winning point, we were both exhausted and covered in sweat, but that didn’t stop everyone who had been watching from rushing in and giving us strong pats on the back. There were also hugs, but most of them came from girls who were likely already in relationships with some of the guys. Awkward. It was also odd being so physical with other people, but surprisingly enough, my wolf was content to just remain quiet in my mind.

Tanner

My wolf was anything but calm as everyone stormed us. I loved the attention, but how dare they touch my mate. It took me so long to figure out what a mate actually was, which explained my constant thoughts of Cole and that I was getting seriously mad when he allowed everyone but me to touch him like that. I had to fake a smile and accept everyone’s praise without snarling, which thankfully ended fast when Cole glanced at his watch and announced that he needed to shower before his next class. I didn’t hesitate to give the same excuse and hurriedly followed after him once I’d grabbed his jacket and our shirts. He stopped at a locker and took out a small gym bag before ducking into the men’s locker room. We were alone inside, so I figured I’d ask what had been on my mind since we’d started playing.

“How can you shoot so well with that bad eye?”

He seemed to ignore my question until he was behind a curtain and had the shower running. Hmph. He’d tossed his clothes right outside so I couldn’t even get a peek.

“Practice,” he finally said.

“Ah…”

My wolf was nudging at me to walk behind that flimsy little curtain and mate, but Cole didn’t want me. Obviously my inner animal didn’t seem to understand that because it had me walking over anyway, but thankfully I managed to stop right before I yanked the curtain back. Instead, I kicked his bag behind me a few feet, as well as his dirty clothing. He heard me and peeked outside the curtain, then growled quietly.

“Tanner…”

My wolf pushed itself to the forefront and gave a bothered whine before making me speak. “Wanna see.”

His eyes narrowed before he ducked back behind the curtain and growled out a reply. “No. Get out.”

“Then I’ll take your dirty clothes and bag with me.”

Before I could even get everything in my arms, he was there, grabbing the bag and holding it against his chest like a scolded child who was afraid of losing an important toy. He was just too cute. He probably didn’t even realize he was giving me a pretty nice view of his lower half, and that adorable little scowl on his face. Not to mention his glasses were still on the bridge of his nose. He probably forgot them there, but I wasn’t going to remind him about them, even though it should be obvious since they were getting soaked. I knew we were both feeling something completely different, but I couldn’t help myself when I stepped forward, invading his personal space.

“Tanner…stop,” he said, his voice deepening with his wolf’s agitation.

“Why don’t you want me?” I asked, my own voice getting a little higher with upset.

“Wh-What? What are you talking about?”

He knew what I was talking about. I gave a low growl to show that I wasn’t amused, then took another step forward. My chest was now flush with his arms where they wrapped around the small duffle bag.

“I don’t get it. I’m bigger. Stronger. I’m getting smarter every day, and I have a great job to be able to provide for you. Why won’t you let me have you?”

Cole

He just didn’t understand. He might be bigger, and he MIGHT be stronger, but that wasn’t what it was about. You didn’t just walk up to an alpha and tell them they were beneath you and expect them to spread their legs for you. Besides, the alpha was the one who knew who his mate was. If we were both alphas, we should both know. I didn’t feel a pull toward him other than one of a parent to a pup, so there was no way we could be mates.

“Get out of my personal space, Tannnner.”

My words were growled as my wolf nudged its way forward, not willing to be demeaned for much longer.

“No.”

What the hell.

“Tanner, back. Off. Now.”

He stepped closer, and I unintentionally let the slight push against my bag nudge me backward a step.

Shit!

Immediately he took the gesture to mean I was submitting and backing down, and quickly pushed forward again. His determination flared with my mistake, and soon I had my back against the wall behind the shower curtain, my bag dropped right in front of the shower. Tanner pinned my wrists against the cold tile, but my main focus was getting through to him. It was obvious his wolf was calling most of the shots right then, and that was going to get extremely dangerous soon if my own managed to get through, too.

“Tanner. Listen to me. If you ever want me to consider you anything close to a mate, you will back away from me. Now.”

His eyes widened slightly as he tried to figure out my words. His wolf was obviously thinking about other things, but thankfully Tanner was slowly pulling himself back together. What I didn’t expect, though, was the quiet whimper that came from his slightly parted lips as he finally leaned back a little to give me some breathing room. I took a steadying breath and licked my lips, but quickly stopped when I noticed him leaning in again.

“Tanner. I know you’re confused about… all of this, but I promise, if you force me to be your mate, I will hate you forever.”

His face suddenly changed to one of honest terror.

“C-Cole…I-I…why, I…”

I was careful not to make any more submissive gestures as he slowly calmed down. Realization making its way into his expression.

“Tanner. You need to understand that everything isn’t won by force. If you keep pushing me, I’ll fight back. I’m not a beta, and considering the way you’ve been acting since the night you ran away from me several years ago… I don’t want you back in my life.”

The utterly torn look on Tanner’s face had my heart constricting, but I couldn’t let up now. He obviously didn’t understand, and even as he began to cry, I had to keep pushing until he did.

“I don’t like being pushed around, and I don’t like being made fun of. If you want to have any chance of ever getting on my good side again, you best knock it off with this mate shit, or I will begin biting back. Now, take your pick. Are you going to keep forcing me into a corner, or are you going to back off and let me breathe?”

For several minutes, the only sounds in the locker room were the spray of the shower and our deep breathing as we both tried to steady our emotions and calm our wolves.

“Cole…” Tanner whispered just loud enough for me to hear him. He had looked down, though I could tell he wasn’t looking at my lower half but instead honestly showing his upset. When he finally did speak again, his red-rimmed eyes hesitantly met mine. There was no more challenge there… just depression.

“Please… I-I want to be back in your life. I-I don’t want to fight you. I missed you…so much.”

I had too, so badly. When he’d run away, I’d felt a piece of myself vanish. The attack didn’t bother me since he was definitely a high-ranking wolf; it was pure instinct. However, now that I had him back, I really didn’t want him to disappear again. I slowly straightened up as we both quietly sighed.

“Do you have a place to stay while you’re taking classes?” I asked, trying not to fidget as I spoke.

He seemed a bit surprised at the question but quickly stumbled out an answer. “I was going to get a hotel room, uh, till I found a place… I guess…”

“I have a proposition for you,” I said calmly. His brows shot up, but he quickly took a step back, giving me some space as he waited for me to continue.

“You can rent a room at my place. One hundred dollars a month. I often have pack members staying there so if you try anything, you likely won’t be coming out of it unscathed.”

Tanner didn’t hesitate to nod as a smile gracedhis face. For once, it wasn’t cocky or dominant. It was just showing purehappiness. Thus, when he stepped forward again and wrapped his arms around my chestgently for a hug, I gladly returned the gesture. It finally felt like thatmissing piece was back. My pup had come back home.

Overstepping The Boundaries

Tanner

I didn’t want to let him go, but I knew he had a class soon… ’cause I was in it, too. It wasn’t that I stalked him, but I knew he was an English professor and when I looked up classes online, his name came up as teaching almost every single one of them. When he moved to release me, I hesitantly let him go, stepping back just in case, so my hands would keep to themselves.

“I will try my best to keep myself in check,” I said with a determined tone. I was going to keep speaking, but before I could continue, I had to sort out my human thoughts from my wolf’s, not wanting to make a stupid comment and screw up the one chance I was being given.

“You…are the alpha for this territory…and I will not…challenge you…again.”

Damn, that was harder than it should have been to get out of my mouth. At least it put a smile on his face, though. I quickly mirrored the smile before realizing something.

“Oh crap, my clothes are in my car and I’m soaked.”

And class is in fifteen minutes.

“Here.”

I had already turned to run out of the room but quickly skidded to a halt when he spoke. When I turned back around, he was holding up an outfit.

“I’ve got an extra set,” he said with a smirk, no doubt grinning at my surprised expression.

“Oh… thanks.”

I took the clothes and bit my lip to keep my focus away from the strong scent he left on the items. My wolf wanted to smell them, then roll all over them to get his scent on myself. Doubt he’d appreciate that, though, since wolf hair was beyond annoying to get off of clothing. The sound of Cole clearing his throat had me quickly darting into a stall to dry off with a towel the gym provided, then change. I had the clothing on a minute later, but when I found a tie folded up in the shirt, I had a feeling Cole would be digging through his bag any moment now to try to find it.

Surely enough, when I walked out of the stall, he was wearing a pair of tan slacks and a white shirt that was dangerously unbuttoned, digging through his duffle. His damp hair swayed in front of his forehead, making my stomach twist into all sorts of shapes. Before my wolf made me do something stupid, I walked over and knelt down beside Cole, then carefully looped the tie around his neck before trying to knot it. My fingers brushed against his hair on more than one occasion, making it hard for me to concentrate on the task, which I’d only just learned recently.

Hmmm, he let it get a little longer…

I hadn’t realized my fingers were tugging at the ends of his hair until he stood up and swung his duffle bag over his shoulder.

“I need to get to class,” he mumbled, looking just about anywhere besides at me.

Crap.

“A-Ah, me too. If I’m late, the teacher might make me eat broccoli,” I joked, trying to lighten the suddenly awkward mood before hurrying out of the locker room.

Cole

Walking into class ten minutes later I noticed that my tie wasn’t tied correctly and judging from the odd breeze I felt on my chest, I’d likely buttoned my shirt wrong. Darn it. Whispers started up quickly as I fiddled with the buttons, then quickly got my tie straightened out. Alright, now that that was done.

“Alright class, my name is Mr. Moon, and I’ll be teaching your English Lit and Poetry II class. Since you’ve all tested into this class or have had previous ones as prerequisites, we will be jumping straight into assignments.”

There was a chorus of groans, which had me smirking.

“What? You thought you signed up for Ms. Kale’s level two copy-and-paste class? You may want to run now if you don’t wanna put in the effort, because I can assure you, this class takes a good deal of it.”

I actually saw a few people get up and leave after that, which made me chuckle under my breath before pulling out the textbook I required for the class.

“There will be homework assigned tonight, but since the book store is currently out of the textbook this class requires, I’ll give you until next Monday to get it done. I don’t accept late assignments without an amazing excuse.”

There was another round of groans, but I ignored them and flipped open my book.

“If you don’t have your book today, share with someone near you.”

I waited a minute while several students got up and found someone to share with, but when I heard my desk chair being pulled out, I glanced sideways. Bah, sure enough, Tanner…

Everyone else has a partner… pleaseeee? I don’t wanna be behind.

Darn puppy eyes. Those were supposed to go away once he’d grown up.

If you misbehave at all during this class, you’re getting an F on your first assignment,

I warned him through our thoughts.

I’ll be good. I promise.

I rolled my eyes but decided to let it be. In fact, I had most of the stories and books memorized so I just slid it in front of him. There was a bunch of highlighted areas and marks I’d made, but it was still easily readable.

“Alright, we’re reading the story on page fourteen aloud and then writing four paragraphs about it, and no, paragraphs are not three sentences. I want to see at least six solid sentences each about what other genre you think this story could be in, besides the one it is marked. Understand?”

There were some excited yeses but mostly just dull grumbles as everyone acknowledged the assignment.

“Okay, Tanner? You’re reading first, I’ll tell you when to stop.”

I expected him to groan about being picked on and whatnot, but he only nodded and began reading the first few pages. While he began reading, my heart found itself swelling with pride at how well he was able to manage the story. I had to remind myself to let others read and after the third page quickly called on two more students to finish the story. Once it was complete, I told them to work quietly on their assignment. I let my eyes wander around the room to be sure everyone was working and occasionally checked on what Tanner was writing from where I stood, then when it looked like most of them were done, I gave the announcement for the homework.

“You are to read the story ‘To Grow Up With A Wolf’’, and have a one page summary of it when you come to class next Monday. I think I can let you guys go early today, though, so hand in your assignments to me, and then you may leave.”

That at least got their energy up as I quickly got bombarded with papers. Tanner was one of the last students in the room as I gathered everything up in my duffle and headed for the door. When he didn’t follow, I noticed a few of my other students talking to him about his music career and grinned.

“See you later, Tanner,” I called out, though I wasn’t really sure why I’d bothered to say that. Anyway! Time to get home and make some dinner for Orlando, Rowin, and Daise . I headed outside to my SUV in the parking lot and dropped into the driver’s seat after tossing my bag in the back, only to get no response when I turned the key to start it.

“Oh come on,” I groaned, smacking my head on the steering wheel after the third try to get the car to start just ended in silence. Of course it would be the first day of class that the battery died. I knew I hadn’t left any lights on, and man. Now I needed to call Rowin to come pick me up, then a truck to tow. With a tired sigh, I shook my head and got my bag back out, then hopped up onto the hood to make the call.

Tanner

Woof.

Wait, Cole. I knew my fans were important but Coleee! He’d obviously not heard my thoughts over the growing noise the people around me were making, which just made me want to get away from them faster.

“Sorry, guys, but I really need to go talk to the teacher about some stuff, I’ll catch you all next class, okay?”

They all frowned and looked at each other, then back at me, pleading with their eyes and sweet words. There wasn’t much I could do about it, though, so I shrugged as my wolf screamed in my head Go! Mine!

“W-Well, see you later…” I mumbled awkwardly before I hightailed it out of there in the hopes of getting to see Cole again before he left. Although, I was kinda going to his house right after this, so I had no idea why my wolf wanted me to rush more. When I saw him in the parking lot atop his SUV, I suddenly realized why my wolf was rushing as a strong wave of instincts suddenly slammed into my mind.

I wanna breed him so badly.

Err! His head snapped up when I mentally shouted to myself. Please don’t have heard that, please don’t have heard that. He seemed a bit surprised to see me, but as I began walking toward him, he thankfully didn’t show any hostility in his eyes.

Thank god he didn’t hear me.

Putting on a smile to try to hide my guilt, I stopped a few feet away from him and glanced at his car for a moment before looking back up to meet his eyes.

“Is something wrong with your car?”

“U-Uhm…” he stuttered incoherently as his eyes darted around the parking lot. The blush that suddenly bloomed on his cheeks made me want to lick his nose.

“I can jump it if you want,” I offered, since he wasn’t exactly talking very well.

“I don’t think it’s that…” he said as he looked down at his pants.

“We can try anyway. Might be it, right?” I tried, not wanting to be useless to him. He shifted nervously on the hood but flipped his phone shut, which I hadn’t noticed was even in his hand, and slid off the hood. I reached out automatically, catching him by the waist before I realized I had done it.

“S-Sorry.”

I quickly set him down on his feet and told him to wait while I ran to get my car. It only took me a minute to get myself close enough to hook up my jumper cables. Glad I bought an extra-long pair.

Cole sauntered around to my car, chewing his lip with his eyes on the ground… Wait a second.

“Do you know how to do this?” I asked, staring at him in surprise. His face lit up with another adorable blush, and he quickly looked away. Heck, he even scuffed his foot a little on the asphalt.

I swear if I wouldn’t get knocked on my ass for it, I’d be on him right now.

“No…”

Okay, I had to laugh at that. He was the alpha and didn’t know how to even jump a car. Not that I knew a whole lot about being alpha besides aggression and keeping others in line, but still. With a cocky grin, I grabbed his hand and gently tugged him closer so he could watch.

“Here, I’ll show you.”

The next fifteen minutes consisted of me trying to show him how to hook up the jumpers while he, for some reason, climbed halfway into the engine area. Then he proceeded to slip, and I had to catch him again, which I’ll never complain about, but by the time we were finally done and his car was running again, we were both covered in oil and sweat. This wasn’t supposed to be a dirty job…

“You’ve got oil in your hair and on your…everything,” I noted, grinning at Cole. He scoffed at me and smiled. Man, that smile…it was the best thing ever.

“You’re not looking too good yourself,” he retorted, making me stutter.

“Th-That’s because you wanted to climb on everything for no reason.”

He took a step forward with his hands on his hips. I knew it was supposed to make him look more dominant as he’d failed to win the argument, but it just made me wanna toss him on the hood of his car and do things that might cause him to lose his job…or at least get me kicked out of school.

“…’anner…”

“…nner!”

Tanner stop!

Blinking, I leaned back slightly. Or, well, pushed myself up a little. Wait…shit! Cole was panting beneath me, his lower lip bleeding a little from where I had bitten him while we kissed. Well, he definitely didn’t kiss me back, but damn had I kissed him.

Get…off.

No…

Tanner. We need to get home.

My wolf didn’t want to go home, he wanted to do things right then.

Tanner! They have cameras in the parking lot. I can’t help you if you take this any further.

Shit! Ryder would kill me if I got into trouble. He was back in California writing songs for our next tour, and it had taken forever to get him to allow me to come all the way here and enroll in school. With a quick shake of my head to dislodge any further unhealthy intentions, I carefully got up and hopped off the hood of Cole’s car. He quickly followed, looking none too happy.

“I-I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to do that,” I whispered worriedly. He looked like he was fighting with himself as he silently walked into the forest at the edge of the parking lot. I hesitantly followed, only to be slammed against a tree, then down to the ground in a blur. Cole was on top of me in an instant, his face extremely close to changing as he snarled at me.

“This is your last chance. Submit. Now.”

Holy crap! He was talking, but it was being shouted through my mind at the same time. My wolf wanted to struggle against the order, but I wasn’t that stupid. Without a second’s hesitation, I tilted my head back and bared my throat, wincing when his sharp canines sank into my shoulder. It was a warning bite. If it wasn’t, I would be dead.

The tense situation was over after only a moment. Cole got up and walked away, giving me his back. It was normally a fatal move, but my wolf was done fighting for the day. There was nothing that would make him want to retaliate after we submitted, even if it was mainly my decision. Cole and I both silently went back to our cars and drove off. I stopped to get some dinner and rinse off my injury before finding my way back to his house. Now I was standing on the doorstep… wondering if Cole would even let me back into his life again. All I’d probably end up with in this pathetic, messed up relationship was a set of clothing that smelled like the mate I dreamed of having.

Bending The Rules

honestly wasn’t expecting anyone to come after making a fool of myself at the university, but when the door swung open and Cole stood there nearly completely naked, I had a feeling I was going to be dealing with some sort of trap. The man only had on a pair of boxers for god’s sakes. Thankfully there was a glass door between us, or I’d be in big trouble again.

“H-Hi…” I stuttered, trying to force my eyes from dropping into dangerous territory.

“Shift.”

“Wha…?”

Surprise slipped into my voice as my eyes widened.

“Shift. If you want to come in, you’ll do everything I say without arguing.”

I began to open my mouth to retort, but his glare told me that the order had already been given and if it wasn’t followed, I left. Without another word, I tugged off my—well, his —clothing, and dropped down onto my paws.

“Sit.”

Dun wanna.

Wait. I hadn’t meant to say that. Darn, stupid wolf, I thought to myself as I watched Cole turn around without another word and slam the door in my face. Well, crap.

It was at least an hour later when the door opened again. I lifted my head and gave a quiet whine, but didn’t move to get up from where I had laid down. He was still just wearing boxers, but I did my best to ignore that part as he walked out and knelt beside me.

“Stay.”

His hands began moving over my wolf’s body, touching its shoulders, legs, then running down its back. My wolf had dreamed about those hands on him but only in submissive strokes. What Cole was doing, though, was one hundred percent dominant. I kept telling my wolf to submit and cooed within my head that if he wanted his mate, he needed to do this without any protest. It took a few minutes, but I slowly managed to coax him to roll onto his side. I knew I wouldn’t get him on his back, especially with how dominant Cole was being, but at least this was progress. Cole’s hands wandered down near my abdomen, making me flinch and my wolf lift its upper lip slightly.

“Good boy.”

The second he lifted his hands off of me, I sighed with relief and began getting up. A rumbling growl immediately had me dropping back down to my belly and rolling onto my side. Shit. This submitting thing is hard when I have to do it myself.

I watched him turn and open the screen door, then look down at me and nod.

“You may get up and follow me inside. You may not walk in front of me. If you do, you will be crated. If this rule is not to your liking, you may leave now.”

I wanted to growl and throw a fit but dammit. He was in his boxers and I wanted to be near him. To say the least…Thus, I bit my tongue and waited for him to go inside before I quickly followed. Walking at someone’s heels while in my wolf form, or at all in general, really sucked. We calmly managed to walk into the living room and…wait.

Wait a second…

What was that…on the floor…?

Was that…

Oh my gosh! Peanut budder!

I bolted for the deliciousness only to be grabbed by the scruff and thrown into a crate seconds later. Ah! I didn’t even get a lick of the peanut budder. The steel door was latched shut as I turned and whined at Cole.

That wasn’t fair. You tricked me.

“I didn’t do anything. You disobeyed a direct command.”

You put peanut budder on the floor.

He decided not to answer and instead went over and wiped up the smudge of yumminess that should’ve been in my belly right then.

Don’t throw it away. You can’t waste peanut budder.

I shouted at him mentally. He ignored me, though, and promptly tossed the paper towel away, making my heart break into little tiny pieces.

Nooooooo!

Cole

I had no idea why I was humoring him. He obviously had no idea how to control himself around another alpha. Granted, he was definitely one, but that didn’t mean he could suddenly take over my territory. When he was here, he should be acting as a beta. The second I put him in the dog crate, he began yowling like I was hurting him.

“What the hell is making all that…”

Rowin sauntered in from the hallway, but when he saw Tanner, his mouth froze and his eyes went wide.

“Holy shit! Tanner.”

Tanner quickly turned his attention to Rowin and whined loudly while clawing at the latch to the cage. Of course that made Rowin look at me, but I just glared back at him.

“Why is he in there?” he asked, obviously confused.

“He didn’t listen,” I replied with a shrug.

“Dude. It’s Tanner.”

“Yeah? And he thinks he’s the alpha of this territory all of a sudden. He needs to learn that I’m the one giving the orders in this area.”

Rowin pursed his lips but ended up sighing in frustration. “Understood.”

See! That’s how it’s supposed to be,

I shouted into Tanner’s mind.

I can do that,

he replied eagerly.

You can’t even follow me without running after a simple distraction.

So you did plan that distraction.

That’s not the point.

Yeah, it is.

Dammit! He was incorrigible. Instead of instigating him further, I turned and walked away. Of course he was now throwing a temper tantrum in the crate, banging on the bars and stomping his feet so that it rattled loudly. Hmph. Ignoring him, I sauntered into the kitchen and began prepping for dinner. Macaroni and cheese with fish sticks seemed easy enough. Yeah… I wasn’t a professional cook. At least I didn’t use the instant cheese stuff. Pretty soon the macaroni was boiling and the fish sticks were in the oven. Even though it was gourmet, it still smelled pretty darn good. I could feel Tanner poking curiously at my mind, wanting to know what was cooking, but I ignored him until he finally began thinking to me.

A…Al…pha….

Yes, Tanner?

Can I…have something to eat?

When everyone else eats.

…when will that be?

When the food is done cooking.

Can’t I have something now?

No.

Can I come out yet?

Raising my hand to my forehead, I sighed, then leaned against the counter.

What’s wrong, Alpha?

Rowin asked through our connection, no doubt feeling my frustration.

He’s driving me crazy,

I replied, sighing as I rubbed my fingers along my temples.

Tanner?

he asked.

Yeah. He’s an alpha, but he doesn’t understand what that means. He thinks it just allows him to boss people around and get what he wants, even when he’s in someone else’s territory.

…and what exactly does he want here? He doesn’t seem to have come back just to be bossed around.

My face heated up slightly as I turned back to the stove to stir the macaroni, biting my tongue on a response.

Holy shit…he wants you,

Rowin shouted with excitement and humor into my mind.

H-He’s…not getting me,

I retorted, stuttering even in my thoughts.

Why?

he questioned, honestly sounding confused.

Wh-What?

The look I gave him when I turned around told Rowin he had better watch his next words, though the look didn’t seem to faze him at all.

Why don’t you give it a try?

That definitely wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

I-I’m an alpha,

I shouted back into his mind.

Yeah?

he replied blandly.

A-And he wants to top me,

I growled back, actually baring my teeth as I thought the words.

Okay? Is he trying to control everything you do? Is he yelling at you when you try to be aggressive, or pinning you when you ignore him?

E-Err…no.

Then what’s he doing that’s got you so upset? Surely just wanting to mate you wouldn’t get you this worked up.

I-I…h-he…he keeps finding ways to kiss me. A-And he called me his beta.

Ah, that would do it… but maybe he used the word beta because he doesn’t understand? He seems like an alpha and his wolf is definitely the size of one, but does he understand how to actually be an alpha?

I highly doubt it,

I mentally mumbled.

Then instead of punishing him for doing what his wolf urges but doesn’t understand, why not try to get him to see you as an equal?

Wow… I hadn’t thought about it like that before. It made sense, too.

I’ll try. I’m not really used to dealing with another wolf on my own level in my territory, but you have a valid point.

Rowin grinned and walked over, patting me on the back before heading over to the sofa in the living room.

Can you let him out?

I asked him as I turned to stir the macaroni again.

No. You put him in there, Alpha, you must be the one to release him.

Darn. He was right. I turned off the stove since the pasta looked like it was done and then strained it and added in some cheese. While that melted, I walked over to Tanner and undid the latch to the crate.

“You can come out, and you don’t have to follow me or stay in your wolf form anymore. Go get dressed, I left the clothing you were wearing on the table by the door.”

He faltered for a moment, and I could tell there was something on his mind.

C-Can you put on a shirt…please?

I was about to tell him no, but when he let me sense his feelings, I nearly stumbled backward. I could barely feel anything besides lust and hunger.

I-I’m not trying to be rude or perverted b-but please…?

Alright.

Tanner’s wolf sagged with relief before he hopped out of the crate and padded over to the table where the clothes he was borrowing were. While he got dressed, I went to my room and did the same, even tugging on some loose-fitting jeans to go with the light brown sweater I pulled on. Surprisingly, when I came back into the kitchen to dish out dinner, Rowin had already done it. He grinned and handed me a big plate, then walked around me as Tanner came in and handed him one as well. We all ate in silence on the sofa, but as soon as I noticed Tanner was finished, I chanced a simple conversation.

“Um…do you want any help with your homework? If you’re just starting college, then I’m sure you’re taking Mr. Marly’s class, and his first day homework is always ridiculous.”

Tanner seemed honestly surprised at my question but relaxed a little when he realized I wasn’t trying to press him to get in trouble again.

“U-Um…sure.”

I smiled and hopped up, grabbing his and Rowin’s plates, then setting them in the sink. When I was back in the living room, I nodded for Tanner to follow me to my room. I knew it might be a bit early to invite him to a private place, and he rightfully hesitated when coming inside, but after a few deep breaths, he got his wolf under control and joined me where I sat at my work desk against the wall. There was an extra chair he pulled out to use as I flipped through the textbook Mr. Marly used for his class.

“Alright, which pages does he have you doing tonight?”

Tanner reached over and flipped through the book between us on the desk.

“Here…to here,” he said, turning the pages as he spoke.

“Damn, he really is an ass.”

“Hehe, right? Your assignment is cake compared to what he’s got us doing.”

I smiled at that and got my notebook out, flipping it to a clean page before handing him a pencil and then grabbing one for myself.

“Alright, let’s go through whatever you don’t understand?”

Tanner hesitated for a moment as he glanced away, then looked back up at me without answering.

“I know alphas don’t like asking for help, but I also know you need it in some things. If you don’t, at least go through each page with me and put my mind at ease? I am a teacher after all, and my student’s success is the most important thing to me.”

His eyes lowered back to the book again, but he didn’t speak or appear to be reading.

“…is that all?” he whispered, making me have to focus to actually hear what he’d said.

“Huh?”

He lifted his head slightly and glanced at me with sad eyes.

“Is that all I am to you?”

I was about to say huh again when I realized what he’d meant. Damn. This really wasn’t the time to get into this discussion. All I really wanted right then was to spend some time with someone I thought I had lost years ago.

“Tanner…I…”

“Cole. How can I get you to be my mate?”

My eyes narrowed on him as I opened my mouth to respond. Why did he have to keep coming back to this? If we were mates, I would be feeling it too since I was also a dominant wolf.

“Tanner. We’ve been over this several times, and I am not go—”

“That’s not what I meant. Cole, listen to me, please? Just one more time? Then I’ll leave if you want me to, I swear.”

I held back a sigh and leaned against my hand as my elbow rested on my desk.

“Alright, talk.”

He straightened in his chair and took a deep breath.

“I want to court you, fairly. Not as an alpha to a beta, or vice versus. I want to court Cole, the alpha, as Tanner the alpha.”

That… sounded insane. Alphas didn’t just court each other. And male ones at that. Not that gay wolves weren’t unheard of, but it was extremely rare.

“I… Tanner, I… I’ve always seen you as a son.”

He flinched at that but pursed his lips and replied, “I can be much more than that.”

My mind was running a mile a minute as I straightened in my seat, trying to figure out a way to tell him that no, he couldn’t, but everything started getting fuzzy when I felt a gentle hand rest upon my knee. Quiet took over the situation while we both waited for the other to speak or make a move. When nothing changed, Tanner took the initiative and leaned closer. I wanted to react, to stop this from going further than it ever should, but when he got even closer and pressed his lips to my cheek, my wolf actually relaxed a little, allowing me to do the same. Tanner leaned back immediately after the brief kiss and smiled sheepishly. Wow, who knew the kid could even show that emotion? He was always cocky, annoyed, or upset.

“Um…” he whispered, then lifted his hand and let it hover over the page for a moment before pointing to a specific spot.

“I-I need help here… and also a little bit on the last page. I don’t really understand what he wants us to do.”

The previous tension dissolved away as I leaned forward and began writing out how to handle each English question. We spent about an hour on it, but I didn’t quite remember everything that happened since I drifted off some time around ten. I do remember the feeling of being lifted, then set down on something soft before being tucked in, but when I tried to open my eyes again to see who was doing it, they refused to obey.

Tanner

I knew I was supposed to be focusing on what he was helping me with, and I swear I was trying to, but each time he leaned a little closer or gave me that gorgeous smile, my mind was suddenly distracted by my heart. All I could think about was him. I think I made it through most of the homework without giving away my pathetic mindset, but when he fell asleep… it just got that much worse.

It will be so easy to mate him right now.

My wolf immediately began pushing me toward that idea, making my hand reach out and gently caress his cheek, pushing a soft lock of dark hair away of his handsome face to tuck behind his ear.

Why won’t you be mine?

He shifted slightly at the thought I let slip into his mind but settled a moment later with a quiet sigh of breath.

Bah, I give up.

For tonight,

m y wolf quickly reminded me. Right. For tonight. I’ll have him sooner or later, but I want him to want me in return. That was where the snag really was in this nonexistent relationship. Well, at least he let me kiss him without a reprimand. Just thinking about that had me feeling warm inside as I got myself up and lifted Cole into my arms. With the motion a strong wave of his scent washed over me, freezing my body in place as I tried to control it.

Mine mine mine mine!

My wolf tried to make me sniff the air to get a stronger scent as it began to dissipate, but I kept my will strong as I laid Cole down in his bed and quickly covered him up.

Okay. Deep breaths, don’t touch. Not yours yet.

My wolf tried to argue with me, but I thankfully had the stronger will right then, mainly because we were both tired. After a minute, I turned and dug through his closet to find a few extra blankets and a pillow. I was soon curled up on the blankets, trying to get to sleep, but it just wasn’t working. Everything smelled like Cole, and I couldn’t even touch him. I groaned quietly into my pillow and rolled over, glaring at the ceiling as Cole breathed quietly in bed besides me.

Patience.

That was what I needed to learn to keep my sanity intact. At some point during the night, I finally began to drift off, but not until I took ahold of Cole’s right hand after his arm slid down from the bed. As soon as I had his hand snug in mine, I passed out cold.

Cliff Royal

An abrupt shove began to wake me up but evidently not fast enough, since it soon turned into biting.

“O-Ow!”

Shhhhh. Get up and get in the closet, now.

I was going to argue, but Cole was bearing his teeth at me and holy shit did he look pissed. There was no retort from me as I quickly jumped up and ducked inside his closet, closing the door behind me before replying back, what’s wrong? Did I do something?

No. Stay there and don’t move.

What the hell.

Cole

Why in the world did they still have a tracker on Tanner?

There was no other reason there would be a member of the Cliff Royal pack on my doorstep, much less their master tracker, Kine. Rowin and Orlando were right behind me when I opened the door to greet the man with a forced smile. He had short, dark blond hair and was dressed in a simple pair of maroon and black basketball shorts and a black wife-beater, but he wasn’t fooling anyone. Trackers often dressed like that to be able to shift quickly, ‘take care’ of what they found, and then head home without tearing up their clothing too much.

“Hello, Kine. What brings you to my territory?” I asked with a calm yet stern tone. I had met this man two other times while he was tracking through the area, but he hardly ever spoke and was always business. Thus, it didn’t surprise me when he quickly pulled out a photo and held it up so we could see.

Tanner.

It was a picture of him at one of his concerts a few weeks back. Hmph, darn trackers were fast . I was kind of hoping the Cliff Royal pack would forget about Tanner or at least let him be, but if they have Kine on his trail, that was extremely unlikely to happen.

“I’m looking for Tanner Royal. I tracked his scent around this town, but it is strongest here. I would like to avoid any negative issues in this assignment so if you would please let him know that he is to come with me back to his pack now.”

Shit. We need to figure out how to call this guy off.

Alpha, you know the Cliff Royal pack doesn’t just leave tracking targets alive by request. They probably see his escape as a shame to their laws, especially since he has somehow survived. If they knew that you are the reason for his actual survival, they may make you their next target.

Rowin’s thoughts made sense, but I already knew that Kine likely wouldn’t simply leave. The Cliff Royal pack was extreme and were set in their ways to the point one could often end up dead, if they got in the way or started a dispute.

“I—”

“Think wisely, Alpha Cole of the Moon pack. I know he is in this home, and you know the repercussions of denying me my tracking target.”

Shit.

There is no way I can hand Tanner over to his death, but if I don’t, I am condemning myself.

His dark brown eyes narrowed on me, making the blood in my body chill several degrees.

“Make your decision, Alpha Cole.”

“If I decline…” I paused to think of the correct, and safest way to say what I needed, before continuing, “I alone will be the target of your pack’s anger, correct?”

Kine nodded once, sternly. “You will likely become my next target, though whether it is for an elimination or retrieval track is up to my alpha. Your pack, however, will not be of interest unless they try to hinder my ability to procure you. Then those who interfere will become marked for the next track or killed immediately.”

Dammit. I would have loved to say that Rowin, Orlando, and I could easily kill him since it would be three against one, but that would’ve been a complete lie. He might not be an alpha, but he was definitely an incredibly good tracker and an even stronger wolf. Packs didn’t just hand that job out to anyone, the wolf had to earn it and be strong enough to keep his life while on orders.

“Alright…if I decline to hand him over, will he still be on your tracking order? Is it a fatal order?”

Kine seemed to be getting annoyed, but he was hiding it relatively well. This was probably the most he had spoken in months.

“His order stands. As of this moment, it is a retrieval order, but if he refuses to come quietly, then I was told the order changes to a fatal track.”

“Understood. Well… I refuse to allow you into my home. Please leave.”

Kine nodded once and turned as he headed down the stairs, left hand going to his pocket and pulling out a cell phone. Err. Well, that went much better than I thought it would. I calmly closed the door, only to hear a knock on it not a minute later. Did he forget to tell me something? I’m pretty sure the life-threatening thing was all I needed to hear… With a quiet sigh, I opened the door.

“What do you—whoa!”

Everything happened so quickly. Kine reached forward. Yanked my arm toward him so hard that it popped free of its socket. Then I was suddenly flying, but definitely not upward. He must have known I’d recover my balance before landing if he threw me up and out, so I got down and painful. My dislocated shoulder broke the last wooden step leading up to my porch before my left side hit the concrete walkway, along with my head. I then slammed into the grass with the extra momentum after a very hard bounce and finally skidded to a halt against my mailbox.

Get up…I need…to…get up.

While I lay there trying to force my body to move, I was silently thankful that Rowin and Orlando weren’t trying to help. They had heard him, and they knew I wouldn’t want them to get in the way just to get hurt on my account.

Alpha, we’ve got Tanner. He heard you shout and tried to come out. He’s crated in your room.

Keep…him safe,

I replied to Rowin quickly.

Yes, Alpha. Please stay safe yourself.

Ha…ha…I’ll try.

Managing to finally get to my feet, I bared my teeth at Kine and did my best to straighten up to my full height. My arm was basically useless, but that didn’t stop me from charging him. My wolf wouldn’t just allow me to lie down and be killed. Not a chance in hell. I charged him in my human form, not daring to shift because he hadn’t yet. I wasn’t going to risk getting caught off guard for the split second it would take to change. Unfortunately for me, he had gotten in damage beforehand so he easily dodged my attack and slammed me back down against the ground, my head hitting for a second time, making stars dance in my eyes.

I wanted to get up and keep fighting, but everything hurt. Normally my wolf would just shake off a broken bone or dislocated shoulder, but I didn’t feel the kind of power I normally did and after hitting my head twice, I couldn’t really see straight with my one good eye. I probably could get up if I put forth all my energy and focus, but with my handicap and having my arm out of commission already, it would be a complete waste of what little energy I had left to work with for healing. I saw Kine fish his phone from his pocket through my blurry eye and listened to the conversation after he dialed.

“Alpha. I have Alpha Cole of the Moon pack. Calling in confirmation. The two pack members present did not try to intervene in his capture in any way.”

My hearing allowed me to catch some of what his alpha was saying about returning to capture Tanner later.

At least he’ll be safe for a little while.

“Understood, Alpha,” Kine replied before he nonchalantly flipped his phone shut and walked over to where I was lying near the sidewalk. I could tell that he wasn’t very happy that he’d had to go after me instead of Tanner, but at least traffic was rather slim and no one had stopped to see what was going on yet. I could feel sharp pangs, likely from several broken bones, as I was lifted into Kine’s arms, then brought over to his car so he could place me in the back. He chained my right arm and left leg to fasteners on either side of where I lay before getting into the driver’s seat. The drive was quiet because most of the time I was drifting in and out of consciousness. Snow was falling from the sky lazily the few times I was able to see out the small back windows. I could feel Kine sifting through my thoughts but couldn’t push through the headache pounding behind my ears to really fend him off. At least most of what I was thinking was just pain and upset. I didn’t want to be in this kind of situation, but at least it made me feel a tiny bit better about not giving Kine any kind of useful information.

About four hours later, he took a sharp turn and we were pulling into a gravel driveway, judging from the rocking of the car and the sound the tires were making. When we came to a stop I could see a giant mansion through the window but not much else. It was likely used as the pack house. Hearing the front door of the car open, I closed my eyes and sighed, readying myself to be moved again and for the pain to surge from it. When he got the cuffs on my limbs unlocked and lifted me out, I bit down hard on my lip to keep from whining.

“You may cry, Alpha. I know I have hurt you greatly, though I am surprised it was so easy. You never seemed like one to get caught off guard or hurt without a fight.”

I growled quietly at his words, drawing his attention downward as he began walking toward the mansion. Unintentionally, I let my eyes look up at him and immediately saw his eyes widen in surprise.

“You are blind in your left eye. No wonder you are losing your normal alpha abilities.”

Losing? I am not losing anything.

“Do not bare your teeth at me, Alpha Cole. I do not take well to challenges, even from disabled wolves.”

I wanted to cuss him out for being so cocky, but I knew he wasn’t bluffing about attacking me again if I goaded him on. So, dropping that subject for the time being, I turned my attention to the door we were now stepping through…but I only saw one other wolf lazing about on the sofa in the large room that the front area opened into.

“Wait…where is the alpha?” I asked, honestly confused about what was going on. Surely the alpha would be there to decide what to do with me. My question was evidently overheard by the wolf on the sofa because it snapped its head up and seemed to snicker before stretching out and flopping back down. Confusion clouded my already tired mind as I looked back up at Kine. And that’s when I realized how stupid I was. He’d been playing everyone.

“Welcome to my home, Alpha Cole.”

Revelation

Tanner

“Get the hell off of me, you assholes. You just let him take your alpha.”

I struggled like hell against the three werewolves who now held me. One of the others had been woken up by my howls, and I couldn’t remember his name, but who fucking cares. That bastard had taken my mate. Thankfully I had the strength of an alpha so the second they let me out of the crate, I threw both Rowin and Orlando against the wall. The other was in there a minute later when my wolf began roaring with anger through my human mouth. Now we were standing, me near the wall and the other three werewolves blocking the door. Well, not really anymore. All of us were bloody and panting heavily, but I was still in the game while the other three were barely standing.

“Get out of my way. Now,” I warned, my voice deepening as I spoke. The threat was definitely not lost to them. I didn’t care if they were his pack, they were nothing any longer. They had let him be hurt and taken away.

“T-Tanner…we promised…t-to protect…you,” Orlando stuttered, pursing his lips.

“Oh yeah? Well when you sign on to be in a pack, that means you protect the pack. That means Cole too.”

My anger was blinding me from everything except getting to Cole. The next time I blinked, I was in my wolf form and lunging at the others. I don’t remember much of what I did to them, but as I bolted through the cold crisp night some time later, I hoped that they weren’t dead and Cole was okay. I easily tracked my mate’s scent along with the man who had taken them. Some seem to think that getting in a car erases the scent trail, but not for a werewolf. It would likely take me awhile to get there, but I wasn’t going to stop running until I found my Cole.

Cole

I never thought I would be in such a demeaning situation for at least another few years. To be kidnapped from my own front door… pathetic. Sure I knew I would be usurped from my seat as alpha because of my bad eye and blood would likely spill during that fight, but for it to happen in this type of situation—

Hmph, what are the odds?

“Quite low, Alpha Cole. It is very unfortunate that you let your wish to protect that pup rule your decisions.”

I ignored his words and let my mind wander in no real direction for a few moments while I moved a bit and sniffed the air. The scent of my blood was still strong, but many other scents, mainly that of cooking food, were beginning to overpower it. My body moving against hard plastic made me nearly one hundred percent sure that I was in a dog crate.

“What are you thinking about right now? I can sense there is something else in that interesting mind of yours besides the pain I caused you and your lost title.”

My wolf growled immediately through my lips, giving him the answer he likely already knew.

“You love him…. that’s why you gave yourself for the boy.”

His face wasn’t giving away much except for a faint hint of amusement, but the pain in my chest definitely dipped slightly deeper when he spoke about my feelings for Tanner.

Wait…feelings?

“I-I…”

“Don’t go telling me you don’t want him. It’s written all over your face. Even if it may just be your wolf hearing the call for now, you’ll soon follow. I can feel it in your mind since you are now a lower wolf.”

I wasn’t really sure what to say to that so I just sighed out a tired breath and let myself fall back to sleep, not wanting to acknowledge him or his words.

Tanner

My lungs burned and my heart ached, but sometime around noon, I found my way into the territory I had vowed I would never return to. Oppression was heavy in the air as I padded toward the quiet town, but I didn’t take the silence for granted. There were wolves everywhere. At least five sets of eyes were on me, but none seemed to think I was a threat, as they remained hidden without so much as a warning howl. I was just about to step out of the forest when I heard the latch to a fence about twenty yards in front of me unclasp, and an older woman around fifty or so ran out. She was heading straight toward me, making my wolf bristle and bare its teeth in warning…but when she promptly shifted and flipped onto her back with a loud whine, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the situation.

Tanner! My baby!

Wait a second. Had she just said…?

“Tanner.”

My eyes flicked up when I heard a male’s voice and the sound of someone approaching in human form again.

“You need to leave, son.”

Dad…

Tanner, that man is not worth your life. The alpha is just using him to lure you here,

my mother shouted into my mind. My wolf whimpered at the sound he had never forgotten but always missed. I let him take over for a moment as he nuzzled against our mother’s fur, then licked our father’s hand. However, I knew what he had decided the second we set out. There was no leaving if it wasn’t with Cole.

Mate

.

I heard my wolf push the word into my mind, solidifying my determination.

I know. We will get him, I said, comforting my wolf’s worry before returning my attention to my parents.

I cannot leave Cole here. He is my mate, even if he doesn’t understand yet.

“Son, please. The alpha has likely already killed him. We don’t want you to fall to him as well. Please, run.”

No.

My mother whined, still in her wolf form, and licked my muzzle, but I wasn’t budging on this subject. Cole needed me, and I needed him to complete myself.

Be careful, son. We love you. Always have

, my mom thought into my mind before my father finished.

“And always will.”

Mom pressed her nose to mine as Dad patted my head. I really wanted to say that I loved them too and give them a hug, but I didn’t love them. I didn’t know them. I knew what they had done for me, and I deeply appreciated them for it, but I hadn’t been able to get to know them enough to love, yet. However, Cole…

I will be back…with my mate.

They both nodded as I stalked forward, following the scent that would lead me to the one man in the world who was worth risking my life for.

Cole.

Cole

        My eyes blinked open when I heard a whisper pass through my tired mind. The pain from my injuries slowly returned as I began to wake up, but I couldn't see much in the darkness. It didn't take me long to figure out I had been moved into a room. My body felt sluggish, as well as my mind... but I could have sworn I'd heard Tanner's voice.

I think I’m beginning to hear things,

I thought to myself tiredly.

I am coming, Cole.

A shocked gasp slipped from my lips when I heard Tanner reply.

Tanner,

I shouted back with elated excitement.

Cole.

I didn’t know why I felt such a strong wave of relief crash over me at the sound of his voice in my mind, considering I was an alpha myself and shouldn’t need to rely on another, but I knew Tanner was stronger than me. I hadn’t wanted to believe my pup had grown up to become a powerful alpha, but there was no denying it any longer.

I’m coming for you.

My chest tightened at the thought of Tanner getting hurt for my sake.

Tanner…he’s too strong,

I said, trying to get him not to come.

I am stronger.

Tanner…

I didn’t get another response, but I knew he wasn’t going to be turning back.

“He will be here shortly.”

My eyes blinked several times before I could manage to make out the sliver of light, which disappeared as Kine closed the door.

“Why?”

He knew I wasn’t talking about Tanner being there right then but about why he wouldn’t just leave him be after he’d escaped. Why track him for so long?

“I will kill him because he is becoming the alpha of this pack and has been stealing my abilities ever since he escaped.”

Stealing? What the hell is he talking about?

“I’m talking about,” Kine growled, obviously reading my thoughts. “This pack is very old. Ancient, in many ways. Our ages are not significant to the way we look.”

I wasn’t surprised to hear that because there were many old packs around the world where wolves did not age as quickly as humans. It generally depended on the blood and who the parents were, but alphas were always the most affected.

Wait a second. The alphas.

“Now you understand why he must die.”

Kine’s words were so detached. As if he didn’t have anything to live for besides just that, living.

“How old are you, Kine?” I asked, my words quiet but easily audible in the dark room. His deep chuckle made me inwardly fidget, but when he answered, I couldn’t hold back my gasp.

“I am one hundred two, Alpha Cole.”

He doesn’t look a day over thirty.

“No, I do not. That is the curse I suffer waiting for my mate.”

I tried to push myself up so I could face him better as we spoke, but when I moved even a little bit, I felt my broken bones shoot pain through my body to the point of stealing my breath. Giving up on sitting for the moment, I settled back down on the cage’s bottom and caught my breath before replying.

“You’ve been killing puppies.”

He sighed and rolled his head on his shoulders. I was expecting a sadistic smirk or something to tell me he was insane besides his odd calmness, but he just nodded.

“Our pack’s alphas are determined by remaining a pup for at least five years.”

Now it all was beginning to make sense.

“You want to stay alive until you find your mate, but normally wolves do that after they mature. You got to be somewhere around thirty and never found yours. That’s why you decided to begin killing off future alphas, to be able to be alive when you finally do meet your mate. You’re using this packs curse.”

It was pretty morbid, to say the least, but it put all of the pieces together as to why I’d found Tanner and the whole story of the pack to begin with.

“So you will kill Tanner only because he is beginning to take your abilities, mainly the specific one keeping you from aging.”

It wasn’t a question but more of a confirmation. He just nodded slowly and stood, flexing his clawed hands before heading toward the door.

“I do apologize, Alpha Cole.”

With that, he walked out, shutting the door quietly behind himself.

Tanner

        "There you are."

I knew it as soon as I saw him and was honestly upset with myself that I hadn’t figured it out sooner. Usually you can sense another alpha when they’re in your presence, but as Kine stepped out onto the grass in front of his home, I knew he had been pretending to be a retriever to outside packs just to hide his status as alpha.

“I am here to kill you and take my mate back,” I stated, giving him a formal warning as to my intentions.

“Hm? Not just to take your mate back and leave?” he asked nonchalantly.

“No. I know you have killed many younger werewolves to keep yourself as the alpha, and that is unacceptable.”

The blond-haired man rolled his shoulders and smiled.

“Alright.”

Talking was evidently over as he shrugged off his jacket and shifted, his wolf’s body easily tearing away his clothing as it stretch the fabric to shreds. After being hunted by him, I knew his wolf was big, but I’d grown since the last time he’d seen me, so when I quickly shifted and shook out my coat, we both acknowledged that we were of a similar size.

We began stalking around each other in a wide circle. Our paws moved in sync, each of us waiting for the other to make the first move. I decided to take it a moment later, as I was not one to wait for the right time to do anything.

Which is probably why Cole got so annoyed with me when I tried to pressure him into a relationship so quickly.

With a deep growl, I bolted forward and lunged at the tannish-blond wolf. I wasn’t too surprised when he easily dodged me, making it look like he was playing with a pup. My wolf wasn’t deterred, though, and quickly ran after him. I definitely wasn’t the best fighter, but I knew once I managed to get my claws into him I could take him down…just catching him was the problem. We ran around for twenty or so minutes before I finally slowed to catch my breath. The other alpha stopped a few yards away, panting a little harder than me.

I’ll have to thank Ryder later for all of those nights of vocal work for the band

I faked another attack, then quickly darted after him when he jumped aside. Our bodies collided as my bite hit home. Without thinking, I sank my teeth into his front left leg and shook my head, hard. A loud howl of pain told me I had hit his tendon, making me feel a surge of pride at the feat. When the alpha shifted his weight to go for a counter attack, I growled and jumped back, barely getting clipped on my nose by his huge canines. I didn’t bother to try to overpower him but instead used my agility to dodge and nip anywhere I could. That one good bite at the beginning gave me several openings since it threw his balance off when he tried to use that leg from then on.

You won’t be able to kill me, he suddenly shouted into my mind after I landed another nip, this one on his hind right heel.

We’ll see about that, won’t we? I returned, snapping my teeth at him.

How do you think I’ve survived as alpha this long? I’m immortal.

My eyes widened in shock, but I kept the surprise from my face as much as possible.

That’s impossible,

I replied with a mental growl.

Is it? I am over one hundred years old and still standing in perfect fitness before you.

I did know that he had been alpha for a very, very long time, but werewolves tended to live a little longer than humans. At least that’s what I’d learned when I was young and during my time at Cole’s home. However, they hardly ever remained alpha for more than twenty years. An offspring was always born and took over when old enough.

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re correct. I should have been usurped long ago, but an alpha can only usurp another alpha… and I’ve killed all the possibilities, except for you.

More pieces of the puzzle slid into place in my mind as I thought about what he was saying.

All of those puppies. The law. When a pup doesn’t shift, that’s the signal for an alpha in this pack.

I shouted angrily into his mind. His wolf’s lips pulled back into a cocky sneer before it shook out its coat, sending blood flying everywhere.

Wait a second, if I am one of those pups but I survived, then that means that I can kill him, I thought to myself excitedly.

You were never trained, pup. You will never be able to defeat me,

he replied with a mental laugh, obviously having sneaked his way into my personal thoughts again. He was right that I wasn’t trained to fight, though, but I grew up in the wild and that taught me a good amount about survival, including how to attack and defend myself against enemies.

Oh yeah? Well, I don’t think I need any fancy training because I have a reason to fight.

The large wolf scoffed before it pounced at me. I dodged, but he was suddenly there, biting at my shoulder and drawing a loud howl from my throat.

It’s unfortunate that I am no wild animal, little Tanner.

His teeth chewed at my shoulder, but all of a sudden, I simply didn’t feel it. All that was running through my mind was hatred. He had taken away my childhood. He had ruined my teenage years. He had killed so many innocent pups, and for no other purpose other than to keep his age and power?

My wolf went utterly still in the dirt for a moment, making Kine’s wolf pause in confusion and loosen its grip just enough. With a ferocious snarl, I snapped my head to the side and sank our teeth into the alpha’s face, then began shoving him into the dirt with my nails, clawing at wherever I could. The fight now felt surreal, like my wolf was standing beside me, fighting with me, but not taking over. We were thinking separately but together and deciding on the best course of action faster than he could even move. I had no idea what was happening, but I wasn’t fighting it in the least. We bit at his muzzle until his nose was partially torn right along with his jaw. Then we jumped back to dodge a paw swipe before moving in to snap our jaws down on his right foot. To keep him from retaliating, we began backing up quickly while shaking our head, dislocating the leg and easily breaking the foot while he struggled to kick at us as he was dragged on his back.

I slowly regained most of the control and released his foot in order to go for his throat. Normally I wouldn’t be so aggressive, even toward another alpha, but he had taken what was going to be mine. A faint image of Cole in my mind stole my attention for one second too long, and I suddenly felt teeth snap against the side of my neck.

You will die, pup.

His loud snarl echoed in my head as I tried to free myself without causing too much damage to my throat. My whines got quieter and quieter as he tried to tear my neck apart, but thankfully everything I had done to him weakened him to the point of finally allowing me to break free. I took the opportunity to grab his neck with my own sharp canines. Instead of thrashing about or trying to claw him, I just kept one paw on his chest and the other on his jaw, holding him still while my mouth gradually added pressure.

You have grown into a demon… and demons don’t deserve to live forever. Sleep in hell as the children you have killed look down upon you from heaven.

When he finally stopped moving, I waited an additional five minutes, then shook him before releasing his neck. The second I let him go, his form wavered, then shifted.

Dead.

My eyes darted to the left, then right, seeing several wolves coming out from behind houses and the nearby woods. Their heads were all down in submission, and as they walked up to me, each one licked my muzzle and face. A chorus of words quickly drifted into my mind as I was surrounded by wolves.

Alpha.

Alpha!

My Alpha.

Son.

I looked sideways and gave a mute whimper when my parents, one gray and one light brown in their wolf forms, came over and nuzzled against me.

You are the new alpha of our pack, Tanner. We are so proud of you,

my father said with excitement. I hadn’t really considered taking over the pack, just killing off an alpha that had abused his power. Heck, I didn’t even know why he had lived so long or why the younger pups that didn’t shift showed that they would be future alphas, but I had a feeling it was buried in the lore of our pack. Some ancient packs came with curses such as the age affliction ours seemed to have, but they were so rare from what I’d researched that most werewolves thought they no longer existed. I thought killing the pups that didn’t shift was to prevent something negative, but now I understood that it happened to keep something terrible in place.

I am not sure if I wish to become an alpha here, but for now, I need to check on my mate.

I projected the thought to those surrounding me before my mother’s voice entered my mind.

Follow me. He is inside Kine’s home.

She shifted back into her human form and ran toward the stairs as the rest of the pack got busy removing Kine’s body. I quickly followed her inside and down a long hall to the right before we came to a closed door. The smell coming from beneath it had my hackles standing on end. Blood. My mate is hurt. Thankfully my mother got the door open as soon as I stepped aside, allowing me to run in.

Cole!

My tail was going crazy as I paced around the crate he was locked inside. I wanted to change and get him out, but my wolf was too excited and angry to let me have my human form.

Mom, get him out of here.

“Calm down, hun. I’ll get him.”

I mentally growled in her mind since my throat seemed to be too damaged to let out more than a tiny whimper.

“Tanner Royal. Stop pacing and calm down or it’ll take me longer to pick this lock.”

That had me immediately sitting still, though my tail still thumped wildly on the wooden floor. I watched in silence as my mother carefully got the lock off, then gently tugged Cole into her arms. Once she had a good hold on him she stood up and began carrying him out into the hall. When she turned into a large bedroom and set him down, I noticed his tired eyes were open. He looked so confused.

Coleeee,

I whined loudly into his head as I put my paws up on the bedding and licked his arm softly, drawing his attention to me after a moment.

Cole Cole Cole.

Hey…Tanner.

Coleeeeee.

It’s okay.

I shimmied my big fuzzy backside up onto the bed, not caring about any blood I got on the blankets as I snuggled right up against my mate and began cleaning his wounds with my tongue.

Mine.

When I didn’t get a reply, I glanced up from his chest and let my ears droop to the side a little when I noticed he was asleep once more. A quiet whine left my damaged throat as I nuzzled my nose into the bend of his arm.

…please be mine.

Overbearing Instincts

It was several hours later when I finally calmed down. As soon as my mom noticed, she began trying to tug me gently off of the bed, but I really didn’t want to leave him.

“Your father will be here in a moment. He’ll watch over your mate. You need to get yourself cleaned up, Tanner.”

I whined and stared at Cole over my shoulder until she pulled me around the corner so that the wall blocked my view.

Coooleeee.

“Shhh, don’t shout into his mind. He needs to sleep,” Mom whispered.

Crap, she’s right. B-But… A gentle hand tenderly ran over my fur until my hackles lowered and I stopped panting from stress.

“He’ll be okay, sweetheart.”

At that second, my father walked around the corner with a tired smile on his face.

Hey there, son.

My tail wagged even though I didn’t really know the man walking over to us. However, when his fingers sifted through my fur, I felt the need to howl well up inside my chest. Parents… I never thought I’d ever meet mine again. My mind was wandering a little but quickly snapped back to the present when my father easily scooped up my wolf. Whoa! He was laughing quietly as I mentally panicked. It was so weird having my wolf picked up since it was so much bigger than most.

“You did grow up to be quite big. But you’re an alpha, our little alpha boy.”

My ears flattened as I pouted at him.

I’m not little… or a boy.

His brow rose and a smirk slid across his lips.

“So you’re a girl alpha? I thought that man in there was your conquest, but was it the other way around?”

Okay, that got him a slight hint at my teeth, but he just laughed it off before setting me back down and nudging me toward my mom.

“Go let Clara clean you up. You also might need some stitches.”

Ewww, I hate stitches. Getting the bite was one thing, but stitching was constant pain. I began creeping away around the corner before I felt Mom grab my scruff. I grumbled at her, but she just shook her head and smiled.

“Come on, I’m not that bad at sewing. I’ll make sure it’s quick. You don’t want to get sick from the infection and not be able to be with your mate when he wakes up, right?”

No no no!

I shouted into her mind before I quickly turned around and nudged her thigh with my head, then tromped down the hall into the bathroom that already had its door open. If it would get me back to Cole faster, I would sit through the stitches.

“Look after his mate, dear,” I heard my mom say as I turned to look back at them, seeing my dad nod before he vanished into the master bedroom. She then hurried down the hall and quickly got the water going in the tub. There was a pot sitting on the counter, which I assumed was used for bathing wolves, as well as two big fluffy towels.

“Alright, in the tub.”

I did as told, even though my wolf wasn’t a big fan of water. Mom was thankfully very adept at bathing wolves and had me scrubbed down in mere minutes. Once rinsed, she pulled out a small sewing kit from a drawer beneath the counter by the sink. My body braced for the pain but, huh?

“I told you I was good at this, now just stand still so I can finish up. Then I’ll get you dried off and you can go back to Cole.”

Cole mine.

“Indeed he is,” she said with a quiet chuckle. My tail swished, splashing her with the water soaked into it. She narrowed her eyes at me, but I just panted as I swished my tail again.

“You are definitely your father’s son. A little—well, big—brat.”

She was about to say something else when I put my huge paws up on the edge of the tub and leaned forward to lick her face. I thought she might grumble at me, but instead Mom leaned over and wrapped her arms around my fuzzy neck and nuzzled into my thick fur.

“I missed you so much, Tanner. I’m so glad you survived.”

My wolf let out a sad whine as he gently returned the nuzzle.

I owe my life to Cole. He found me and fixed my broken leg. He taught me things, and even though I hurt him when I was young, he never stopped believing in me.

My mom leaned back slightly so that our noses almost touched. Her eyes had suddenly become serious and a little bit sad.

“He doesn’t see you as his mate, does he?”

My ears drooped like a puppy who had just been scolded for something it hadn’t done, giving her all the information she needed to answer her own question. When her arms came back around my neck in a strong hug a moment later, I let my wolf whimper and accept the comfort.

“It’s okay, baby. Sometimes it takes a while for them to realize it.”

H-He’s an alpha, too. He d-doesn’t think we should happen because he isn’t getting the signals, too. His wolf doesn’t even feel it.

It really hurt to tell her that, but I had to get it off my chest. My mind was whirling with ‘what ifs’, but thankfully Mom turned off the water, tossed a towel over my head, and started scrubbing the water out of my heavy coat to bring my focus back to the bath.

“Don’t doubt yourself, hun. You saved his life, surely that will help him come around. If not, show him how amazing you are.”

I carefully got myself out of the tub when she stopped scrubbing, then shifted and finished drying wherever she might have missed.

“You don’t think it’s weird that my wolf wants him, even though we’re both alphas?”

Her smile told me she knew something I hadn’t thought about yet.

“Tanner, I don’t think he’s an alpha any longer.”

“Wh-What?” I stuttered, honestly surprised. Sure, I had called him my beta before, but I knew he was still an alpha at the time.

“Hun, he got beaten in front of his pack members and taken away. Not to mention, I noticed that he is blind in one eye or very close to being so.”

Wow, Mom is observant, I thought to myself before her finger suddenly flicked my nose lightly. I was going to glare at her, but she just grinned and stepped around me to head out of the bathroom.

Go get your love, Tanner. Your father says he’s awake.

He is?

I dropped my towel and darted into the room at the end of the hall. What I saw was kinda funny, though. Cole was growling at my father who was just sitting in a chair by the door, I assumed in case Cole decided to try to run. My heart warmed the second his eyes saw me and he relaxed a little.

“Hey…” I whispered quietly, not really sure what else to say at that moment.

“H-Hey,” he returned as his eyes nervously flicked between my father and me. I could see his wolf just beneath the surface and chuckled, then walked over to sit on the bed right before he shifted and pushed his way into my lap. There was not an ounce of hesitation in my body as I wrapped my arms around his wolf. In return, he snuggled right in, whining quietly with relief, whih I could feel through our minds’ connection.

“It’s okay, Cole. I killed him. He won’t hurt you again.”

Cole

I never thought I would be whining in another alpha’s arms, but I couldn’t keep my wolf from doing just that. Tanner’s strength seeped into me, wiping away the fear of being hurt and captured. I knew I had gotten away with very little damage considering I could have died, but for an alpha to be helpless, hurt much more than physical wounds ever could.

It was my job to protect, and I couldn’t even do that. I thought angrily to myself before feeling Tanner’s tongue begin to lap at the fur around my ears. It helped me relax further, and as he noticed, it spurred his arms to tighten around me for comfort.

I’m sorry, Tanner,

I thought tiredly.

You have nothing to be sorry for.

I got caught so easily… I couldn’t even defend you.

My wolf let out a depressed sigh at my next thought.

You had to save me…

And I would do it again and again to keep you safe.

I really wanted to yell at him that he shouldn’t have come. If anything he should have taken over my pack as alpha. It was like he had grown up but had never really looked into how to be a werewolf. When I glanced up at Tanner, he was smirking like a damned devil.

“I know you’re mad, but I can’t really change the way I think. I wouldn’t care if you were an alpha, beta, or omega, I would still come save you every time you got into trouble.”

My ears pinned to either side as I gave him a blank are-you-serious look.

You are trouble.

His wolfish smirk told me I was right. Of course.

Dork,

I added with a roll of my eyes.

“Yup,” he chimed back right before he paused for a moment and tilted his head up to sniff the air, then smiled wide.

“I think dinner is ready. Up we go.”

Wait wh-whoa! Suddenly I was in his arms, but darn it. He had no idea how to carry another wolf. My back legs were swaying back and forth nearly on the floor as he tried to hold my huge form in his arms.

“Man, Dad made this seem much easier than this…”

Dad?

That’s what I had thought I was to him for all these years…

“Yeah, my parents are here. This is my old pack after all.”

My chest hurt a little at that information, but I quickly shoved it to the back of my mind as I was carried into what looked like the living room and set on the sofa. Immediately I climbed off, earning a disapproving look from Tanner. Well, too bad. I was an alpha still. Kind of. I knew my place in the Moon pack was likely lost, but I didn’t want to think about that either right then. My moping was interrupted by a plate being placed beneath my nose. Mmmm, spicy sausage and stir fry. I began to dig in even as Tanner tried to lower the plate to the floor so I didn’t make a mess. Too late. When my wolf was hungry, it went at it without thinking of the mess it was going to make.

“Hah, I’ll go get you seconds. Good thing Mom thought to put food on the stove before getting me for a bath.”

Three full plates of food later, I was on my back, tongue hanging out of the side of my mouth and feet in the air. I knew it was an odd position for an alpha to be in while surrounded by other werewolves it was uncertain of, but I was too stuffed to really bother with formalities. The news was on, but nothing really dramatic was happening. There was a small report about someone having been attacked, likely by wolves, but no body had been discovered. That made me a little wary, but even if Kine happened to be alive after what Tanner had done, he likely wouldn’t last long out in the wild with his injuries.

After a little while, I felt hands carefully sifting through the fur on my stomach. Tanner gave me a thorough belly rub, then scratched my right side until my leg began to kick. I heard a few chuckles in the back of mind, then the sound of feet walking out of the room but didn’t pay much attention to it until Tanner stopped scratching me five minutes later. That had felt amazing…

“Hey, Cole?”

It took me a minute to get my eyes to open since all of the food in my belly felt like a warm blanket wanting to tuck me in for a nice long night of sleep. However, I didn’t want to ignore Tanner. Thus, with a gruff grunt, I blinked open my tired eyes and rolled over before pushing myself up with my front paws. His hand pressed softly against my cheek, making my wolf nuzzle against it.

“Can you shift for me, Cole?”

Tired.

“I know, hun, just for a moment?”

With a good amount of effort, I managed to do as asked. I still had to lean on my hands to hold myself up, but I was up. When my eyes blinked open partway to see what Tanner wanted, I realized too late what his intentions were…

“H-Hnnm.”

The kiss itself wasn’t exactly that much of a surprise, considering this was Tanner, but the way my wolf responded honestly scared me to death. My wolf wrestled me for control and snarled as he forced my arms around Tanner’s neck and pulled him flush against my body. I still wasn’t healed enough to be moving so quickly, but my wolf didn’t seem to care. Needless to say, Tanner didn’t mind either. In fact, he mauled my mouth with a ferociousness I had never encountered outside of a fight. I landed on my back in moments, but the small part of me that still insisted I was an alpha demanded to be on top, spurring me to bite his lower lip before shoving him off, only to tackle him to the floor the next second. His own animal rumbled through his human mouth and easily lent him its strength to throw me up and onto the sofa where he pinned me against the throw pillows, knocking half of them off in the process to continue our rough kiss.

Tanner stop. Tanner!

I knew my wolf was still partially reciprocating the affection which was having an effect on how I responded, but Tanner was beginning to hump and a certain item was getting dangerously close to a place I really wasn’t comfortable with it going inside.

“T-Tanner!”

Tanner

Mine mine mine mine.

The second he returned my kiss, I knew I had to claim him. He’d been taken away, threatened, hurt, and could have been killed. I needed to put him under my protection as my mate. When I got him pinned on the sofa, my wolf was literally howling in my head for me to finish the task. I had no disagreement at all. I’d wanted to claim him since I had first seen him years ago. I easily got our hips lined up and rutted against him, needing just a little bit more.

Strong arms suddenly wrapped around my waist, lifting me off of my mate and backward several feet. I let out a deafening snarl while I watched Cole shift and promptly run out of a large dog door that led to the huge, dark backyard.

“No,” I roared as my wolf extended its claws and fangs through my human form, trying to claw and bite my way free. He was getting away. I needed to mate with him. I needed to protect him.

“Tanner! Calm down.”

Dad… Why had he stopped me?

“You want him. You’re not getting my mate. Cole!”

“Tanner, he doesn’t want your mate, but you were about to make a big mistake.”

Mom’s voice.

“He’s mine. Bring him back. I need to mate him.”

My mom was suddenly in front of me and… slapped me across the face?

“Tanner. You were so out of it that you didn’t hear him screaming. We heard it from all the way upstairs.”

“S-Scream…ing?”

My face fell as I glanced toward the sliding glass doors leading out to the backyard. It was too dark to see anything, but I knew he was in the far right corner…the farthest away from the house…from me.

“H-He kissed me back. He wanted me. He finally wants me.”

I could feel tears beginning to fall, but I just couldn’t manage to get them to stop.

“Tanner, his wolf was the one who was kissing you. Not him. You need to calm down, or you’ll lose him.”

That had me pausing and going back over what had happened. He was really aggressive… and there was a lot of growling and, oh god.

“Cole…”

My head sagged as my father slowly set me back down on the floor. Mom’s hands were on my shoulders, squeezing lightly to get me to look up at her.

“Tanner, you need to give him some space when it comes to mating. After what just happened and what he’s likely lost, you can’t expect him to want to suddenly give himself to you.”

“B-But he could be my beta. H-He would be safe, and I would take care of him.”

“Tanner, would you like it if someone walked in and claimed you before you were ready?”

I growled at that.

“No one will ever claim me, I am an alpha.”

“Exactly. Son, he was an alpha. He was the one who claimed others. Take a step back and think about perhaps courting him instead of rushing into something and scaring him away.”

Oh shit. I remember now. Before all of this happened, I told him I would court him appropriately and not try to jump at him like I did before… and I just did it anyways.

“I totally screwed up… again.”

Both of my parents chuckled, making me glare at them as I shrugged away.

“What’s so funny?” I growled, not liking their laughter even though they were my parents.

“Tanner, go comfort your mate,” my mom said as she and Dad both nudged me toward the back doors. I hesitantly nodded before quickly shifting so I could run outside through the dog door. The night air was chilly, but my coat kept me warm as I slowly padded off the cemented pool area and into the grass. Cole’s head snapped up when he heard my paws step into the partially dead grass. He whined in the darkness, but I wasn’t going away. Instead I sauntered over, being sure to keep my eyes down until I was a few feet from him. His body was flattened down against the ground, ears pinned to the side in fear.

I’m sorry, Cole. I lost control of myself, please don’t be afraid of me. I-I don’t know what I’d do if you left.

He didn’t seem that convinced so I did the only thing I could think of that might make my apology mean something, even though my wolf hated me for even thinking about it. With a quiet whine of my own, I lay down, then slowly rolled onto my back.

I submit…and apologize.

He left me without an answer for about ten minutes before finally crawling over and licking my nose once, then whining. Oh my gosh, he’s so cute.

Err, snap out of it, I told myself as I slowly allowed my body to fall over into the grass. When he didn’t back away, I gave a quiet huff before tugging on one of his ears. Cole whimpered, but once I let go, he flopped onto my belly and then licked it.

Ah! Tickles!

I heard his quiet chuckle in my mind and felt the stress in my chest lessen. We both eventually ended up snuggling against each other after a few more licks and playful ear tugs. It was getting chilly, but with our bodies pressed together, it was actually quite comfortable. Pretty soon, we were both out cold… and I might have sneaked in one extra lick on his nose just before I fell asleep.

Nothing Left To Stay For

“Grrrrr….”

I weakly swatted somewhere, hoping to get whatever was messing with my left ear to stop. Whatever it was did so for a moment, but then switched to the other, making me roll over in order to try to swat them away again.

Play!

Play? It was way too early to play. I always slept in if I could, and I was pretty sure I didn’t have anything overly important to do that day.

Plaaaay, Tanner!

There was a sudden thump on my muzzle, making me snort and grumble with annoyance. I still wasn’t ready to get up, though, and quickly rolled back over into the grass to curl up… except the butt-face bothering me then grabbed my tail and began to yank, hard.

Hey!

Alright, someone was gonna get bitten. With a frustrated growl, I jumped up and ran after the black wolf who had been tugging at my ears and tail. But, uh, he bolted away, only to drop onto his front arms and wiggle his butt in the air. Seriously? He was bugging me this whole time just to play like a puppy? I wasn’t a huge fan of playing, and it was way too early in the morning for it since I’d sneaked away the night before with my mom to retrieve my stuff from the hotel in Cole’s hometown and leave my rental car at the business I’d gotten it from.

When I flopped back down and stretched out in the grass, the other wolf sauntered away. Good. I realized that it was Cole, but I still needed a few more minutes… just a few more. A minute later, a squeak had my ears abruptly perking up, then my head lifting when the sound was made again. What the heck was Cole holding between his teeth? Was that a… a…

Ball!

My wolf whined loudly as it jumped up and dashed after the ball.

Ball. Ball. Ball. Ball.

We raced around the yard, me chasing Cole, who was holding my real target. Why didn’t he slow down?

Ball!

Gotta come get it, Tanner,

he chimed playfully through my mind. I was trying to get the darn thing. Giving a gruff growl, I picked up my speed as we blurred around the pool and back out into the thick grass. Then we edged around the fence to return to the pool. My mind was focused completely on the ball, and when it went up, I jumped to catch it… only to realize that Cole had just tossed it over the swimming pool. A loud splash rang through the quiet morning air as I caught the ball, then dropped into the chilly swimming pool directly below. I got one good squeak in before making the plunge. It was one hell of a wake-up tactic, but I immediately snapped out of my sleepiness and scrambled to the stairs. When I finally got out, I could hear a certain bastard-wolf snickering off to the side.

Oh? You think that is funny? Well, I have the ball.

With a squeeze of my jaws, I squeaked the ball and lunged, head-butting him in the side just hard enough to send him over the edge and into the icy water, even though he clawed at the side to try to halt his imminent swim. I could hear Cole grumbling in my mind at the cold but was much too busy playing with my awesome new squeaky ball. I mean, come on. Whoever thought of adding a squeaker to a tennis ball was a fuckin’ genius. Of course I felt like a soggy doggy, and also probably was beginning to smell like one, but again, no caring. Ball!

“Tanner. You have a phone call from a guy named Ryder.”

Awww, poo.

I quickly shifted and shook off before taking my phone and flopping down into a lawn chair by the pool, the ball clenched tightly in my free hand. I could also see an angry soaked pup glower at me from the edge of the pool, but my attention was generally on what Ryder was saying.

“Hey, Tanner, been trying to get a hold of you for two days now.”

“Uh, yeah. Sorry, my phone was dead and I didn’t realize it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Well, where are you? We’re coming to pick you up. Our next tour starts in two days so we gotta get to New York.”

“Holy shit, really? New York?” I said, shocked. We’d only played gigs a few hours away from where I lived, but to go to New York?

“A-Are we driving or flying?” I asked curiously.

“Driving. That’s why we need to leave soon. Where are ya?”

“Uh, at Cliff Royal. It’s a little ways up in the mountains from where you dropped me off before. Just go up Main Street until the road ends and take a right. Then follow that road till you get to the town. I’ll be in the big white mansion. It’s hard to miss.”

“Uh, weird. But okay. We’re on our way. This is gonna be so awesome.”

I chuckled at his enthusiasm before something hit me. Or well, a certain pair of eyes blinked up at me from the water again.

“H-Hey, um, can I bring a friend by chance?”

“Eh? You know we only have enough rooms on the bus for us and the manager.”

Of course I knew that. It had cost a lot to add on the extra small doors and walls to actually make some tiny rooms. It was almost like a mobile home thing now, but with a much smaller walkway since the back part of the bus had been changed.

“I-I know…h-he could just stay with me.”

Silence fell over the other end of the phone before I quickly stumbled out a reply. “H-He’s a friend, and he’s fallen on hard times. Please? He won’t be in the way… Heck, he could probably help us with stage stuff and what not.”

There was a tired sigh on the other end of the phone, but I knew I’d get my way. Or at least I could bribe my way… Turning away from Cole, I covered my mouth and quietly whispered into the phone.

“I’ll make it worth your while.”

I knew that would get him. He was so predictable.

“M-Mnn, fine. But you owe me,” he stuttered out, making me smirk.

“Got it.”

“We’ll be there in three hours, you and your friend better be ready ’cause I’m dragging you on the bus even if you aren’t.”

The call clicked off before I could respond. Hmph, good ol’ Ryder. When I glanced up to look at Cole, I got much more of a view than I was expecting. Not that I’d ever complain about seeing that delicious, wet, well-muscled body sauntering toward me. With a whimper, I got up and dove into the pool to keep myself from jumping him in a not-so-dignified way. At all. The frigid water chilled a certain item that had gotten way too hot too quickly, and I sighed with relief before turning around in the water. Okay, he’s naked. That doesn’t mean I have to jump his bones.

Woof, mate mate mate.

No, not woof mate mate mate, I corrected my wolf.

Mate, arf?

It tried, making me inwardly groan.

No, no mate arf!

My wolf sulked in my head as I shoved it away from the controls. Didn’t need what almost happened last night to occur again, and right before I planned to ask him to stay with me on a bus for an unknown amount of time.

Alright, friend face. Not ‘I’m gonna eat you like a delicious jar of peanut budder’ face , I thought to myself. Unfortunately, that gave me an amazing image of peanut budder smeared on his body just for me to lick off.

After a quick dive back underwater, I frustratingly mumbled out, “H-Hey, Cole… so… my band is heading to New York.”

He stopped by the edge of the pool, torturing me with a full frontal view of amazingness. Err, I think I just drooled, among other things. Ignoring my stupidity, I bit my lip hard and forced the question from my lips before I lost my chance.

“U-Uh, yeah. Um. Do you uhm… wanna come?”

Cole

Did I want to come? Did I want to leave everything I had? My job and my pack, to go to New York? At first, the thought seemed ridiculous, but then I actually began to think about it and quickly felt my heart drop into my stomach. I had no pack to go back to. I couldn’t work at that school without somewhere to live, and I didn’t have enough in my bank account to get a decent place. I might if I could hunt for food, but you couldn’t take game in another pack’s territory.

So basically, he’s offering me an out, but I’m not sure he can keep himself from going after me again…

“I’ll behave. I promise, I just, you just, you can’t go back there. It’s too dangerous.”

My legs slowly turned into jelly, making me squat down in front of him. With shaky hands, I pushed my fingers through my damp, shaggy hair and sighed again. My ribs were hurting, but they should’ve been mostly mended by now since they hadn’t hurt too badly when we were running around.

“My life.”

I was so happy where I was. Happy with what I had. Sure, I don’t have a mate, and my eye is damaged, which will eventually make me lose my spot as alpha to Rowin, but why now?

A few gentle fingers came into view a second later and began to slowly rub against my cheek, then brush my wet hair aside to tuck behind my left ear.

“Cole…”

“I-I need to think about this,” I stuttered out quietly. Before he could really reply, I got up and walked back into the house, going straight to the first bathroom I could find and locking myself in. A nice long shower was definitely needed… and some good crying. Hmph, an alpha crying over something that wasn’t unbearable pain, pathetic. My mind wandered through everything that I had lost the past few days. Everything I had worked so hard to obtain.

Maybe I should just…

A loud bang on the door had me snapping my head toward it. The shower curtain was frosted, but I could still see enough. A second bang sounded harder, then the door was splintering inward and—

“W-Whoa.”

Tanner was suddenly there, I mean here.

“Wh-What are you doing?” I stammered right before his arms were around me in a blur, hugging me tightly to his strong chest. I expected him to try to attack me again, but instead of licking my neck or face like I expected, he just pressed his forehead against my collarbone?

“Please don’t ever think such things again. I-I’ll get you back everything you lost. I’ll give you a pack and a home. I’ll pay you to teach me English and writing. I really need help, especially with the poems Ryder writes. When this tour is over, I’ll buy you any house you want. So please. Please don’t think that way.”

My body sagged in his arms when I realized that my mind had thought something so disturbing. My wolf whined through my lips, and I let it take over to nuzzle against Tanner.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered against his warm skin. I heard him chuckle quietly in response and couldn’t help but smile.

“Just don’t ever think that again, okay? I’ll show you that it can only get better. And it will get so much better that you’ll be the happiest pup in the world.”

He was swaying us back and forth like one would do to calm a child as he spoke.

“You’re such a dork,” I said sarcastically.

“What’s that word? I dunno it yet.”

I glanced up at him with raised brows since I was pretty sure I’d called him that before, so he should’ve known it, but as soon as I saw his cocky smirk, I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out.

“Cocky little puppy. You ran away all those years ago, and I think you came back younger.”

Tanner puffed out his cheeks and nipped my nose with a playful growl.

“I think I grew up quite nicely, even if my Engrish ishn’t dat gwate. Even my scar looks good now.”

The scar… his leg… My eyes drifted downward to see the slightly raised skin that ran in a straight line from his lower calf to his knee cap. Doc had done a great job with the surgery. It also felt nearly smooth to the touch. Err, wait. I quickly pulled my hand away, only to have it grasped by both of Tanner’s.

“H-Hey…”

My eyes rose to meet his hesitantly, confused at what I saw there. What was that emotion? Wh-Why?

“Why do you look so sad?” I asked quietly, concern lacing my voice. I was the one crying and thinking of… bad things, so why does he look like he’s lost someone close to him?

“Because I almost did,” he whispered, answering my thoughts before continuing, “Dangerous thoughts spur dangerous actions.”

His hand gently rubbed against my cheek, and instinct had me leaning into it.

“I’ll try to think more positively,” I said calmly. His frown turned upward slightly at my words, making my own match in moments.

“Alright. So, wanna grab some breakfast before we head out? I’m gonna kidnap you for the tour.”

Oh, right. That.

Well, I guess I didn’t really have anywhere else to go… and if what he was offering was anything like he said it would end up being, I might have something worth living for again. To get even half of what I had back would be amazing. With that thought, I squared my shoulders and gave him a determined nod.

“Sure. Not like I have anything to lose anymore.”

I saw a faint hint of hurt in his eyes, but he covered it up quickly before winking at me and getting out of the shower.

“Food’s ready, come on.”

Pursing my lips, I climbed out of the shower and got dried off. I ducked out of the bathroom and quickly found some clothing that fit decently well. The shorts were a bit big, but I simply rolled them a few times. Perfect! I was just turning toward the door when I heard a growl coming from that direction. Suddenly I was shoved onto the huge bed and a frustrated wolf was rolling all over me.

“What are you doing, you fuzzbag?” I shouted as Tanner rubbed against me like crazy. He was off of me a minute and back in human form a minute after I’d yelled at him.

“What the hell was that?” I growled as I sat up with a scowl on my face.

“You smelled like him…”

“I smelled like….oh.”

Then these were Kine’s clothes. Wait a second.

“You were jealous? Of me just putting on his clothes?”

Tanner matched my scowl before he ran out of the room. Hey! You’re not getting away that easily. With a growl, I climbed out of the bed and darted around the corner and into the kitchen. Oh, man. There was so much food. Watermelon, grapes, bagels, spreads, eggs, ham, sausage, yumminess. I didn’t hesitate to load up a plate and flop down right against the corner cabinets, completely forgetting about teaching Tanner a lesson. What? I wanted to eat right away, not walk around to the table or sofa. Halfway through my meal, Tanner actually came over to sit beside me.

“The band will probably be here in an hour or two, just to let you know.”

I nodded and nibbled at a big piece of sausage. Yes yes, perverted innuendos and all that, but it was good sausage.

“You can just wear the clothes I have on the bus until we get some time to buy you some.”

“O-Okay,” I replied after swallowing my mouthful of food. I was going to argue that Kine wasn’t going to be wearing his clothing any time soon and that I could easily wear them, but it wasn’t worth having to deal with the grumpy puppy who would likely try to squash me again to spread his scent.

“Hey, Tanner. Your dad got you something fun to play with.”

I looked at Tanner, but he was already getting up as his mother walked into the room with… Oh my god, don’t do that to the poor guy. His mother was unwrapping a small toy that you could find in any pet store called a rubber kong. Tanner eyed it with confusion, but when his mom got out the jar of peanut butter from the fridge and put a good amount of it inside the kong, then tossed it into the living room…. yeah. Tanner went flying as he howled and bolted after the maniacal device. They were often used to keep puppies busy, especially when teething, but this was totally hilarious. I looked up at his mom with a smirk, and she grinned right back.

“You are an evil, awesome mom.”

I whispered the words as she walked over and sat beside me on the floor.

“That should keep him distracted for a good while. Now then, I wanted to talk with you before you two set out for New York.”

“Oh? A-Alright…”

She giggled quietly and patted my shoulder.

“No need to be so tense, hun. I’m not going to try to pressure you into anything, especially when it involves my fuzzy son. I just wanted to let you know that he still has trouble controlling his wolf. It seems like it takes over when he gets stirred up. Since you’ll be with him for a little while when on the road, maybe you guys could work on his control a bit. I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”

My lips curved up into a small smile, and I nodded.

“Sure. I think I can do wonders with him as long as we can take that kong along and stock the fridge with enough peanut butter to feed an army.”

She laughed and nodded before getting up, then taking my empty plate to the sink.

“If you’d like, go take a nap in one of the rooms. Tanner will wake you when the bus gets here.”

Hmm, a good nap after stuffing myself sounded perfect.

“Thanks, I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

After getting my butt up off the floor, I sauntered into the living room, rolling my eyes when I saw Tanner on his back, all four paws in the air trying to hold the kong still so that he could get the peanut butter out better. Yeah, wasn’t working. Most adult wolves just knew to lick around the edges in a circle to get the stuff out… but Tanner was special . Oh well. At least it would keep him busy. After watching him for a few minutes, I quietly walked into the master bedroom and fell onto the blankets. There was a slight dip in the bed a moment later, then the sound of licking started up.

Yup, that’s my pup, I thought to myself right before I drifted off to sleep.

I Never Meant To Hurt You.

Thump.

Thump thump.

I heard a whine, then felt another annoying thump. Darn it, something was smacking my chest.

Mmm, go away.

I was still really tired. Which meant a certain big-pawed butthead needed to go away.

Coleee, the bus will be here soon, woof!

Okay, the woof his wolf added to his thoughts was almost cute, but not enough to make me wanna get up yet.

I can just trudge up the stairs when it gets here, can’t I?

But Coleeeeee.

Noooo.

Woof woof woooooof.

He added a few extra whimpers and an audible woof for good measure.

“Darn it, fine.”

I rolled over and slowly let my eyes blink open. When my vision finally cleared, I noticed that I was nearly nose-to-nose with a fuzzy pup, and okay, I couldn’t help but let my tongue dart out and lick the tip of his wet nose. He actually looked surprised at the gesture as his ears flattened and he took a step back, tilting his head in confusion.

“What? I can’t play a little, too?”

He gave a slight tail wag and a quiet bark, which made me grin before getting myself up into a sitting position. I was in the middle of stretching, arms over my head to loosen up my back when he suddenly jumped into my lap.

“Wh-What are you doing?” I asked, glaring at him. Tanner gave another grunting bark and nuzzled my cheek before I shoved him off.

“You weigh a ton, ya big oaf.”

He dropped to his front paws on the bed right as he landed. Oh no, no playing right now. I might have messed with him a bit, but my energy was definitely low upon just waking up. The only reason I’d gotten him running around the day before was because I had been awake for a while and wanted a fuzzy outlet for my energy.

When I ignored him, he nudged me again, but I just scooted to the edge of the bed, still kind of asleep. Well, that was until his wolf got up on my shoulders and started doing something that had my former alpha wolf bristling with anger. It took over immediately and threw Tanner off into the headboard, then tackled him with a loud snarl of anger. I was about to let my wolf bite him a few times to teach him a lesson… but then I remembered what his mother had said. He doesn’t know how to control himself yet. Hmph. I guess I can’t really attack him for that then . His teeth were bared, but he wasn’t moving to attack me back, so I carefully got off of him and he immediately rolled over onto his belly to show that he wasn’t submitting; obviously, I wasn’t either.

Mate, woof!

I want to speak with Tanner, let him have control again,

I told the wolf with a sincere voice.

Woof!

I know you can. Now be a good boy and let Tanner come back.

His pup whimpered as I padded over on the blanket and licked his nose gently.

I’ll play with you soon, I promise.

He thumped his tail hard against the blankets a few times, then quickly let Tanner have the reins back. The pup had the cutest look of sadness I had ever seen on his fuzzy face.

I’m sorry. That was really rude of me, Cole.

His voice was nearly whimpering in my mind. Poor guy, at least he understood that humping the back of someone’s head was wrong. While I nuzzled his muzzle to tell him it was okay, I thought back to how his wolf had acted yesterday. We ran around a lot, and then he was stimulated with that peanut butter toy for a good while. Maybe that was it. Maybe his wolf just needed more exercise to be controllable. If the bus was going to be there soon, we might want to get his hyper pup a little worn out.

Hey, Tanner, let your pup out a little, okay? Just a little so we can play a bit.

He seemed confused again but did as told. When I heard a playful Woof in my mind, my wolf grinned and darted off the bed, through the living room and out into the backyard. He was quick to follow, and already I could feel the joy his pup got from chasing after me. Right as he caught my tail between his teeth and we both tumbled into the thick grass, we heard the doorbell ring. Our heads popped up, ears straight. Crap, the bus was already here.

With two quiet grunts, we got ourselves up and ran inside to the master bedroom in time to get dressed as his mother went to open the door. We stumbled out into the living room just in time for Tanner to grab his suitcase, which I suppose he’d managed to get at some point… although I couldn’t remember, and run over to his dad.

“I, Tanner Royal, hereby pass my alpha status to my father to do with as he wishes.”

I wasn’t exactly sure that was how it worked, but when a sudden shift of power fluctuated through the room, my jaw dropped. Tanner didn’t seem to notice, or at least care, as he ran up to his bandmate and gestured inside to me.

“Ryder, Cole. Cole, Ryder. Let’s go.”

I paused near Ryder as we both watched Tanner run onto the bus. He still had quite a bit of energy left, but at least we got a little bit out. Turning my attention to his friend, I offered my hand and a smile.

“Hi, I’m Cole. Hope you guys don’t mind me hanging around for a while.”

He seemed to be eyeing me up for a second but quickly shook my hand.

“Ryder. We’re a bit behind so let’s get going.”

I nodded and quickly followed him onto the bus. The inside was freaking huge and actually well taken care of. There was a dark red couch against one side, a small brown table with three chairs a foot or so away from it, a small kitchenette near the front, and what looked like three bedrooms in the back. One was on the left, one in the far back, and another on the right before the tiny bathroom. All the doors looked odd, but I figured they were probably just custom to give some type of privacy.

“I’m gonna go catch up on some sleep, there’s food in the mini fridge on the counter,” Ryder said before heading toward the room on the left.

“O-Okay.”

I began to head for the kitchenette, but then Tanner came out of his room without a shirt. Mmm, okay, he looked yumm—huh? Ryder reached out to him suddenly, and Tanner walked right into his arms for a nice, long, juicy kiss.

What the…hell? I growled to myself. Before I could even think about what to say, they both ducked into what I would assume was Ryder’s makeshift room and shut, then locked the door. That lock felt like it was fastening on my heart, not just that door.

Woof.

I didn’t even notice the sad thought my wolf sent to Tanner as I turned and sauntered back to his room and dove beneath his blankets. He had at least six on his bed, which honestly didn’t surprise me one bit… but each and every one smelled just like him.

“You stupid pup…”

I twisted my body up in all of the blankets, wanting to hide myself from him but making it impossible as I became surrounded by his strong, masculine scent.

“You’re so mean.”

Woof.

Wait a second… that wasn’t my wolf.

Cole?

Go away!

I shouted back at him through my thoughts as I dug myself deeper into his blankets, knowing darn well that he couldn’t exactly go away since we were on a moving bus and I was kinda in his room.

Woof.

Woof.

I kept ignoring him, but his feelings through our bond were beginning to make me feel terrible.

I don’t understand. I’m sorry, Cole! Please! Tell me what I did.

I snarled as I sat up, shoving the blankets aside to glare at Tanner, who had just slipped inside and shut the door.

“What you did?” I shouted, unable to believe that he was actually standing there with mussed up hair, his boxers askew on his hips, kiss marks on his neck…

Dammit! He was like a darn kid just learning about how to like someone. Why did he come after me now? Why when he didn’t understand what cheating is? How to get someone to like you.

I grabbed his blankets and yanked them back over myself.

“I want off this bus. The next town, I’ll find somewhere to go, but I can’t stay here.”

There was a long silence filled with pain from both of us and our wolves. I knew that I was hurting him, but going in that room with Ryder without so much as a word to me? You can’t just do that.

“Cole…”

I heard him walk closer and curled up beneath the blankets.

“Please go away.”

The blankets slowly began to peel away as he removed one after the other. When fresh air hit my face, I squeezed my watery eyes shut tight and whimpered.

“I can’t, Cole… My mate is hurting so badly. I didn’t know touching Ryder would make you upset. I won’t do it again, ever, but p-please, don’t leave.”

His hand pressed against my shoulder and gently turned me onto my back. That had my eyes opening to see his soft blue ones staring down at me as he leaned over from where he sat by my side.

“Tanner.”

If he was in his wolf form, I swear his tail would’ve been wagging at the mention of his name on my lips. He perked up so quickly and even smiled slightly with hope.

“I… don’t think you’re ready for a mate.”

I couldn’t look at the broken face he made after I’d said those words, so I forced my eyes shut again. Another blanket of silence fell upon us, but what Tanner said to break it had my eyes widening in shock.

“Alpha. Please don’t leave me.”

He had just, but…

I felt him roll over next to me, and when I looked, he was on his back, neck bared in complete submission. He looked… nothing like my happy-go-lucky pup. I rolled over carefully, moving my left arm over his chest to rest on the blankets and hold my weight off him just enough so that I could lean over without touching… without accepting the submission.

“Tanner, look at me.”

His eyes blinked open, and he sniffled.

“I-I-I’m s-s-sorry. T-Tanner is sorry.”

His wolf joined in, adding a whimper to his bawling. Oh man.

“T-Tanner, calm down.”

“I-I’m s-sorry. I-I don’t understand s-so many things, e-even after trying s-s-so h-hard. I-I want to be useful to m-my m-mate. I w-want to make y-you happy, b-b-but I just k-keep messing up.”

I was trying to keep him from howling as he panicked, but it began pretty quickly, as a tired barking cough started up from him. Without thinking, I did the only thing I could think of and lowered my mouth onto his. The kiss had only been to keep our secret safe and try to calm him down, but it slowly turned into more, and more, and more. I don’t know how it happened, but I was soon on my back, naked from the waist up as Tanner trailed delicate kisses from my chin to my chest. His tongue swirled around one sensitive nipple before letting his wolf take over his human body and lick its way down to my pants. I was about to tell him to stop, but when I was suddenly flipped over and a warm tongue pressed against the sensitive bend in my back near the waist of my jeans, I actually moaned into one of his pillows.

I felt fumbling fingers tug at the button on my jeans before managing to get it undone. Once the zipper was slid down, Tanner’s hands returned to my hips, and slowly, ever so slowly, he slid my pants down to my knees. That left only my boxers, and god my wolf wanted the useless things off so badly. I was about to open my mouth to allow my pup to whine for more, but right then there was a loud knock on the door.

“Hey, guys. We’re stopping soon for dinner, be ready in fifteen.”

We were both panting as the sound of his footsteps moved away. I don’t remember being introduced to the owner of that voice yet, but that wasn’t really my focus at the moment.

“W-We need to get up…”

My voice was deep and rough but nothing like the insane, sexy baritone that answered.

“We can skip.”

Tanner nuzzled my neck, making me sigh with contentment and want to rub against him. No. No, we had to stop. This wasn’t supposed to happen to begin with. I was telling him I was going to leave, and then he cried and this happened. A nudge caught my attention before he licked my sweaty cheek and then tugged on my ear with a deep, rumbling growl.

“Tanner, get off.”

“No.”

What?

“Tanner, now, get off.”

I added a little growl to show that I was serious, but he just hunkered down on top of me and growled quietly too.

“No. You’ll leave.”

“Of course I’ll leave. I’m hungry.”

I hissed the words out quietly to keep anyone else from hearing, though I wasn’t sure why it mattered now.

“You won’t leave me…? You’ll come back on the bus after?”

He sounded so panicked about such a simple thing. It wasn’t like we wouldn’t see each other again…but I guessed I’d have to explain it to him.

“No, I won’t leave… and yes, I’ll come back to the bus. But we aren’t going to continue whatever… this was. Got it? If you start trying to get some while I sleep, I’m gonna put you on the floor.”

Even though this was his room to begin with, he just sat up and chuckled. “Alright. I’ve had enough for now so I can wait.”

He pulled me up and into his lap, then devoured my mouth for a good minute before finally letting me pull away, panting for breath.

“What happened to ‘I can… wait’?”

Tanner gave me a sheepish grin, letting his wolf shine through a bit, making me roll my eyes.

“You are such a darn puppy sometimes.”

His eyes lit up before he leaned in to give me one more peck on the cheek.

“This puppy loves you so much, though.”

Welcome To New York

Dinner was quick but surprisingly satisfying. We ordered to go since none of us really wanted to dress up for the nice restaurant. Tanner even stayed on the bus to shower while I got his order with the other guys. Ryder was eyeing me the whole time, but I did my best to put on a smile and pretend I didn’t notice his scowls. My wolf actually wanted to posture, but I didn’t need to get kicked off the bus already.

When we got back on the bus, Ryder disappeared into his room, leaving me with another guy. Figuring I better introduce myself since we were kinda living together now, I offered him a small smile and held out my free hand while balancing mine and Tanner’s food in my other arm.

“Hey, I’m Cole, Tanner’s friend.”

He smiled and returned the handshake, though the grin didn’t meet his eyes.

“Macon.”

Before our hands even separated, another guy ran up the stairs.

Ah, this must be the one I hadn’t met yet.

“Hi, I’m…”

The guy just walked right past without a word.

“Don’t mind Warren, he doesn’t talk much… unless he’s doing something in bed.”

Okay, didn’t need to know that last part. Macon’s mind seemed to drift toward their room, which I assumed they shared, before he quickly sauntered in and shut the door. Yup, the lock just clicked. You enjoy your meal’s’, I thought humorously to myself. With a shake of my head, I walked back to Tanner’s room, shutting the door behind me before walking over to the bed. He had just finished getting dressed, or partially, as he was only wearing a pair of pajama pants and I doubted there was anything else beneath them. Err, mind? Outta the gutter.

“Uh, here’s your dinner.”

I quickly handed him the top container before sitting down next to him. When I pulled out my meal, I could feel his eyes on it and glanced sideways. His own food was open, macaroni and cheese and a peanut butter sandwich. Of course. So then why was he looking at my steak, mashed potatoes, and salad?

“What?” I asked, raising a brow. He quickly looked back at his food and stabbed the fork into some macaroni. Such a kid. With a quiet chuckle, I cut a small piece of the huge steak I had ordered and poked it against his lips. Tanner immediately snapped it up with a shit-faced grin. I decided to assume that no one had taught him how to eat healthy since he had ordered macaroni and peanut butter.

“Alright, open up, you.”

I got a pretty big steak so we could easily share it. Besides, he needed the protein just as much as I did and likely more so since he was still growing a little. After feeding him a few more bites, I turned my container sideways and added half his macaroni and cheese and half the sandwich to its lid, then put part of my salad, potatoes, and steak in his.

“There, that’s a much better meal.”

Actually… I grabbed the other half of the peanut butter sandwich and put it in my container, too.

“That’s dessert, if you finish your food.”

I heard his wolf grumble at the loss of its peanut butter, but when I leaned over and gave him a soft peck on the cheek, he immediately stopped and began eating. Yup. Puppy. After he finished up his meal and dessert—quickly I might add—he hopped up and walked out, only to return a minute later with two cold beers. Wait a second…

“You’re underage.”

He raised a brow and plopped down beside me with a shrug.

“So? I’ve been drinking since I was seventeen. It’s not like it does a whole lot to wolves.”

He cracked open the first bottle, which I promptly swiped out of his hand.

“No.”

His eyes narrowed, and he growled before opening the second bottle and starting to drink. I snatched that bottle too, but since it was at an odd angle some of the alcohol splashed onto his chest. I got up to pour them out in the kitchen but was quickly stopped with an arm around my waist.

“Cole…”

“Tanner, let go.”

“I need that…please.”

“You don’t need alcohol, Tanner.”

“Please, baby. It’s very hard to control myself with you here, and the alcohol helps settle my wolf. I don’t drink a lot, just one will make him content.”

I looked over my shoulder at those ice blue eyes begging for me to understand. I had intended to chastise him for calling me ‘baby’, but I found the words stuck on my tongue.

“Cole, please? I don’t want to make another mistake, and that is the only way I know that will make him relax for a while.”

Dammit. With a tired sigh, I shook my head and turned around, making him move his arms with the action.

“Fine, but only one.”

He sighed with relief and took the drink, taking a small sip before walking back to the bed and setting the beer on the nightstand to grab a small laptop.

“So… we should get to New York in another day or so um… Would you um, wanna… go on a d-date then?”

Okay, the hesitant stuttering and bright red blush on him was adorable, but what really had me smiling was the big pair of wolf ears poking out from his messy hair, pinned to the side of his head to help add to the puppy look. It was more likely that he was just about to change into his wolf form since there was no in-between, but how could anyone say no to the way he looked right then.

“O-Okay…”

Tanner

        He said yes! Oh my gosh!

Woof! Mate!

No, you derpy wolf. We gotta earn that.

Woof?

Ignoring my sulking pup, I wrapped my arms around Cole and giggled. That wasn’t so manly, but I didn’t really care as I leaned back to kiss him on the forehead.

“No take backs.”

He rolled his eyes, but that smile was unmistakably for me.

“Yeah yeah.”

After one more good hug, I turned and took a few swallows of the beer, feeling my wolf relax as the alcohol soothed him. He was a bit upset that I wasn’t letting him jump Cole, but there was no way I was gonna mess this up. Again.

“Hey, Tan? Can I borrow some clothes to sleep in?”

My wolf perked up at the idea of having my clothing on his mate’s body, which also meant my smell.

“Yes! Woof!”

He snickered, making me blush at letting my wolf slip by to get that quiet bark in. Darn it. Instead of scolding me, though, Cole just patted my head.

“It’s okay if he comes out a little. I’m here to help with that along with your English.”

He winked at me, making my heart melt in an instant. O-Oh, right, clothes. Hurrying over to my small dresser, I pulled out my favorite shirt——with a wolf on it, of course—and then a pair of red and black checkered boxers. I did my best to hide my grin as I handed them over to Cole. His eyes told me that he could tell I was still overly excited, but thankfully he simply thanked me and sauntered out of my room and into the tiny bathroom we had in the hall.

While he was gone, I got my full human-self back together, pushing those darn annoying wolf ears back in, and stretched out on my bed once the blankets were put back to the way they had been. It made a nice dog bed. When Cole returned from his shower, I was half asleep with the television on low. The quiet sound often helped me drift off.

“Mmm…”

I wanted to snuggle so badly, but that might mess up tomorrow’s plans, so I was gonna stay way on the other side of the bed so Cole could sleep. He climbed into bed and under one of the blankets before nuzzling into one of my pillows.

Wooooof!

Aw, come on, he was practically asleep from the alcohol a few minutes ago. E-Err.

Woof! My bed. Mate! Mine! Mate!

My wolf shoved me aside mentally and forced my body to crawl over to Cole’s. His eyes opened immediately when I began to lick his cheek, but instead of yelling at me, he actually smiled and opened his arms as if he wanted a hug?

“Woof, mate,” my wolf said through my human mouth.

“I don’t want to.”

My wolf tilted my head to the side and replied, “Tanner want.”

“Is it what Tanner wants, or is it what you want, hun?”

My wolf recoiled slightly, confused.

“I-I Tanner.”

“Yes, but you are sharing that body, are you not?” he stated with a sleepy grin.

“I…”

“Come here and snuggle, okay?”

“But I-I wanna mate.”

“What is Tanner saying about that thought?”

My wolf whined in my head, and I quickly replied to it. I want to cuddle, not mate. You have to earn your mate, or he will be upset. You don’t want to make Cole cry, do you?

Not that he would if my wolf tried to do something, but it was the easiest thing to get the idea across.

No! Woof!

Then enjoy snuggling with him tonight and look forward to having him as a mate later.

My pup grumbled a little but then nestled my body into Cole’s arms.

“Tanner want to cuddle.”

Cole’s deep chuckle vibrated through my chest, lulling my pup further into contentment. His hand began to rub against our back, and we were nearly out cold a minute later.

“Good night, Tanner.”

“Mmm, woof.”

“Tanner.”

        "Tanneeeeer."

        "Hey, you, better wake up so we can get ready to go on that date you promised, hmm? Unless you don't wanna go any longer...?"

That had me up.

“Woof!”

“Haha, I was just kidding. It’s around two, though, so you slept for a good while.”

Two? I usually slept till at least four when we were on tour, especially if we had just given a concert. I was pretty rested now, though, so getting up was fine. My arms stretched over my head right before I heard several cracks.

“Aaaah, man, that felt good.”

“So, wanna have a little English lesson before our date?” Cole asked with a smile.

“Yeah.”

I knew it was corny to want to learn, or at least that’s what it seemed for most humans, but I wanted to impress Cole since he was my mate and an English major. We got settled at my desk after I pulled up an extra folding chair. My books were already on the desk so I let him choose whichever he’d like to use.

“Alright, so let’s do some basics first, then we can go up to complex sentence structure. Sound good?”

I nodded happily, a pen already in my hand as well as a notebook of paper.

Cole

Tanner was like the student I’d never had. I had never seen a guy so interested in actually learning what I was teaching over getting a good grade. He focused so intently on everything we did, taking notes but also asking a ton of questions. I freaking loved answering questions. We were so busy that we lost track of time, only losing our focus when someone banged on the door.

“Hey, you guys gonna come out to dinner with us?”

Tanner sat up from leaning over his textbook with wide eyes. I snickered at his expression. He had no idea how long we’d been studying.

“We’re gonna go out a bit later. Thanks, though,” I replied back. Once I heard the person head out, I hopped up and pulled Tanner into a strong hug. It was rather random, but he made me so happy by showing an interest in my favorite subject.

“Alright, wanna get ready to go? Any idea where you wanna head to?”

He paused for a moment before answering quietly.

“Um, there was this really nice steakhouse I found online… W-wanna go there?”

I grinned and nodded as he dug out a nice white shirt and a pair of black semi-dress pants. He tossed me something similar with a sheepish grin.

“I-I only have that left for something dressy.”

“That’s okay,” I assured him. I quickly got changed, not minding that he was watching. He was a good pup last night so might as well reward him a little?

“You’re drooling. Come on, let’s go.”

Tanner licked his lips, then we both put on our shoes before rushing outside. As soon as our feet hit the sidewalk, we stood and stared like a bunch of stupid tourists.

“Holy…” he began, while I finished.

“….crap.”

This place was huge. I’d hardly ever been out of our small town so seeing New York was crazy. After a good five or fifteen minutes of staring, I took his hand gently, snapping him out of his daze right away.

“So…you know where this place is?”

Tanner quickly nodded and squeezed my hand, then began walking. For once he wasn’t tugging, and I was grateful to just be able to walk calmly beside him, our arms swinging lightly as we enjoyed ourselves. All of the shops looked really cool, even from the outside, but there were so many people bustling about that we had to keep moving to keep from getting pushed around. After about twenty minutes, we finally stopped in front of the gorgeous steakhouse restaurant, but I noticed that Tanner’s eyes weren’t even on the fancy place but on the amusement park right down the street. It looked like one of those pop-up ones, but there were tons of people and even a Ferris wheel. With a quiet chuckle, I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, getting his attention back so I could speak.

“Let’s go play, Tan.”

“B-But I…the restaurant…”

Even as he said that, he was staring at the amusement park.

“I wanna go to the park, though…” I said with a grin. I honestly wasn’t a huge fan of them, but if it made him happy, it would make me happy. He looked back at me with slight surprise, but I could definitely see hope in his eyes too.

“R-Really? W-Well if you want too…we can go.”

I smirked and started walking, tugging him for a second before we glanced at each other, laughed and began running. He paid us in ’cause I totally had forgotten to get a new debit card or empty my bank account because my old pack might try to steal it since Rowin had the code. Probably smarter to just do the latter and pull all the money out. When we stopped inside the gates, I watched as he tried to take it all in. Even though it wasn’t like Six Flags or one of those huge places, it was still pretty nice.

“Well? Let’s get busy,” I said, squeezing his hand slightly to get his attention. Tanner yipped and literally hopped up and down before bolting forward, pulling me along for a second before I managed to keep pace with him. Of course we had to do the rides first, and Tanner was no pup when it came to the big ones. The roller coasters were first, and I was thankful there were only two. No, I wasn’t a fan of heights, but I rode them for him. Next was the swing ride, Ferris wheel, bumper cars, and even the teacups. By the time we’d finally finished up all the rides, I was nearly exhausted, but nope, not my pup. He ran over to the infamous bottle game where you had to knock them over with a baseball. I knew the bottles were weighed down, but eh, might as well let him have his fun. When he looked back at me with those excited, happy eyes, I couldn’t just tell him it was a trick game.

“Cole, I’m gonna win something for you.”

He paid as I walked up and looked over the booth. The guy explained what Tanner had to do and without fail… he knocked over the entire set of bottles with the ball in one go.

“Wahoo!”

He turned to me again, hopping up and down before pointing above the guy’s head.

“Pick one, Cole.”

My face lit up to a likely bright red, but I glanced up as directed. Most of the stuffed animals were cheesy bears with hearts and stuff like that, but something in the back caught my attention so I pointed it out.

“I want the big gray wolf, please.”

The guy quickly fished it down with a hook and handed the huge thing over the counter to me. It was surprisingly soft and was half the size of me. At least it was sitting, so I could carry it easily. Once I had it carefully in my arms, I turned and smiled at Tanner.

“Th-Thanks, Tanner.”

Sure, it was a stuffed animal and I was way too old for one, but it made all the difference when it came from him. After a few more games, I had myself a fake gold crown and some necklaces to go along with it. I had to steer him away from the goldfish stand, knowing that the poor pet would be doomed with Tanner for an owner.

“Hey, Tan, wanna get a bite before going back?”

I had tugged on his shirt, stopping him in front of a burger stand. When he turned to look, his brows furrowed before he glanced at me.

“This place? But don’t you wanna go back to that nice restaurant?”

Putting the wolf in front of me with a cheeky grin, I leaned my chin on its fluffy head and replied quietly. “Mr. Puppy wants to eat greasy hamburgers and funnel cakes.”

Tanner’s eyes lit up as he leaned over, pecking me on the forehead. It was at an odd angle since my crown was tilted a bit, but he made it work.

“Anything for my prince.”

Hmm.

“I wanna be your king…”

I mumbled the words so he couldn’t hear them, but obviously it didn’t work since he leaned back over and wrapped me, along with the wolf I was carrying, in a huge hug.

“I want you to be my everything,” he said without a second’s hesitation. My heartbeat stumbled over itself as it thumped against my chest. I couldn’t help myself as I leaned up a tiny bit and stole a kiss from his lips. Err, okay, now I was totally blushing as I quickly turned and yanked him over to the burger stand.

“H-Hi, I’d like to order a hamburger with cheese fries and a funnel cake.”

I glanced over my shoulders at Tanner…who was evidently still in the stars from that kiss. Turning back to the girl running the stand, I doubled my order and paid with some cash Tanner had given me to hold. Thankfully by the time the food was ready, he was back to himself and carried half to the table before we dug in.

“Mmmmm.”

Yup, greasy fair food hits the spot sometimes. We were just finishing our meal when Tan’s phone rang, and after a brief conversation, he hung up and smirked.

“Time to head to the arena for sound check and setup so we’re ready for the concert tomorrow.”

I grinned and nodded, grabbing our trash to toss it in a nearby can. A moment later, I returned for my big stuffed wolf and pup .

“I’m ready if you are,” I said. He beamed at me and hopped up, running over to take my hand before we started back.

“Will you watch us perform when we go on tomorrow? I can get you backstage…”

While I wasn’t a huge fan of loud music, I definitely wasn’t gonna tell him no after we had such a fun day together.

“Sure.”

“Yay! Woof!”

“Stop barking in the crowd, you dork.”

He chuckled and leaned over, tugging at my ear with a playful growl.

“Your dork,” he corrected, making me purse my lips and blush.

You Are My World

Getting back aboard the bus, I realized that someone was still there. I thought they had all gone out to eat before setup that night. Right as I was about to follow Cole into my room, I saw Ryder’s door open from the corner of my eye and felt my breath hitch slightly.

Uh-oh, he’s mad about something…

Cole turned, raising a brow at me. I glanced his way since Ryder didn’t answer.

I’m gonna talk to him. I promise I won’t do anything stupid again.

I saw a faint hint of doubt in his eyes, but then he gave a small smile and nodded before walking into my room. The door shut behind him a moment later, allowing me to return my attention to my bandmate.

“Uh…hey.”

Ryder pursed his lips, anger flaring from him, which he tried, yet failed, to hide. Instead of talking out there, he sighed and turned around, walking back into his room. I stepped inside and shut his door, watching as he dropped down onto his small bed. I’d spent many days in it with him, letting our bodies sate the other’s needs…but I had to put a final stop to that now. Cole was my mate, the one my wolf had chosen years ago, and now my human side wanted him just as much as my animal one did. It wasn’t nearly as simple as my relationship had been with Ryder, in which we just wanted to breed without consequence. No. I wanted Cole for breeding, sure, but I also wanted to protect him, give him everything, and be the one he gave his whole self to. And I could feel that I was close to that. So close. So no matter how many times I had lain with Ryder, it was ending now.

“Ryder, I—”

“Don’t. Just, shut up for a minute, Tanner.”

My wolf wanted to growl at him for telling me to be quiet, but I could tell this was hard for him so I shut my mouth and bit my wolf’s tongue. It was quiet for about four minutes before Ryder finally looked back up at me and began to speak. He seemed resigned, but at least his anger was mostly gone.

“Listen…Tanner. I…I thought we would eventually have something more…”

My cheeks heated slightly, but in my head, my wolf was scoffing. My wolf had what he wanted, and had always wanted, in the other room. Ryder had just been something to sate our needs until we could win over his true mate. Nothing more. However…to me, Ryder wasn’t just a quick screw, even if it took me up until just now to realize that. His grin faltered, and my heart mirrored the slight gesture. I honestly felt terrible for leading him on for so long. I hadn’t noticed he was becoming attached… and hell, I hadn’t even known that sleeping with someone else while going after a different person was technically that bad.

“I’m not going to do something stupid like kick you out of the band, ’cause we both know you make it.”

My eyes blinked several times, trying to keep tears from building up in them. I wasn’t one to cry if I could help it, but I wasn’t afraid to do so if appropriate.

“I also won’t kick your friend off the bus, ’cause it’s obvious just how much he means to you.”

I was about to open my mouth to thank him when he held up a hand, stopping my words for a second time.

“However, if you start slacking with practice, I will take all the peanut butter out of the fridge and make the biggest damned peanut butter and jelly sandwich…then eat it all in front of you.”

Oh damn, he was serious. And crazy.

“I-I’ll keep working hard,” I half-shouted, desperation in my voice at just the thought of lost peanut budder. Ryder chuckled and got up, grabbing me in a strong hug before shoving me toward the door.

“Go comfort your new boy toy… and if you ever hurt him, you little dork, the tennis balls will vanish, too.”

My face paled, but I quickly pulled myself together as I stepped out into the hall, then turned back to face him. I didn’t think he knew about my issue with tennis balls, but he’d evidently found the ones I’d hidden around his house before we left since that was the only explanation… darn.

“I-I’ll never hurt him.”

A stupid smile slid across my face, making Ryder flick my nose. I yipped a little, raising my hands to rub it as he rolled his eyes.

“You act like such a puppy sometimes. I have no idea why I ever let you top me.”

That got a smirk from me as I winked and licked my lips.

“’Cause you loved it.”

He wound up to punch me, but I ducked and bolted into my room, shutting and locking the door behind me as I heard a laugh coming from the hall.

“Butthead,” I shouted, but got no response back.

Cole

Hearing the door slam brought my attention away from the book I was reading. It was a textbook, but come on… I was an English professor. Besides, it had some really good stories in it, too.

“How did things go?” I asked, silently noting that Tanner was grinning as he climbed into bed, nudging the book off my lap and onto the floor as he rolled over to give me his belly to rub even though he was still in his human form. Such. A. Dork. I reached down anyway, tugging his shirt up before rubbing his belly with a good amount of effort. He quickly began panting and stretched out, wiggling before his left leg began kicking at the blankets on the bed.

“You’re such a dork,” I grumbled, voicing my previously thought opinion. He moved in my lap and got up enough to nibble at my chin, now sitting more like a child on my legs.

“I love you.”

My eyes rolled, but I didn’t shove him off my lap like I normally would have before. He wasn’t trying to be perverted or rude, just letting his wolf out a bit to show some affection. Nipping at another wolf’s muzzle was a way to show submission, so I just smiled and returned the gesture with a lick. Both of us were enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and attention when we heard the bus start up.

“Are we heading to the stadium now?” I asked quietly. Tanner nodded before nudging me onto my back, making my wolf bristle slightly. When he began nuzzling and licking at my face and chest, my wolf slowly relaxed. He finally seemed to understand that rushing into sex wasn’t going to get me to drop my pants. This, though, this I could get into. I loved him, even though it had taken me awhile to figure out. He was still growing in both body and mind, too, so I knew he was going to make mistakes. The thing that had me returning his licks and wrapping my arms around him was that he was willing to apologize and learn from the mistakes he made. He didn’t make stupid excuses or lie just to get me into his bed.

After a few minutes of letting our wolves share affections, we pulled them back into our minds and let our lips finally meet. I could feel Tanner want to take it further, especially if the thing poking me from his pants was any indication, but he slowed himself down and reined in his libido. I rewarded him by opening my mouth, making him growl as his tongue greedily explored it, then twined together with my own so we could taste each other. After fifteen minutes, I was surprised when Tanner actually pulled away and grinned.

“Time to go set up and practice.”

Oh…the bus had stopped. My face burned as he got up and began tossing stuff out of his dresser. After a few minutes, he found enough stuff for an outfit and tossed off the one he was currently wearing.

Okay…yummy.

What? I could look if I wanted to. He was courting me, after all. Might as well get a look at the goods… Okay, my teacher’s mind chastised me for thinking about my former student that way, and the father in me, who rescued him from beneath that frozen tree, also wasn’t too happy, but that was then. Right now? With all of that behind me, I couldn’t help but think that he had a seriously nice body and was definitely not a pup any longer. The scar on his leg reminded me of my bad eye, too, making me think that we both had injuries that were permanent…but we had moved on and made the best of the bad situation.

“Hey, I’ve finished changing. You can stop staring, love.”

“H-Huh…?”

I was completely spaced out until he leaned over and pressed a kiss to my lips, snapping me back to myself so that I blinked a few times.

“While I’m delighted that you literally just drooled over me, I’ve gotta go.”

I waited for him to turn and leave but then…then the puppy eyes came.

Oh god. I remember now. He wants me to come.

“Please, Coleeeeeee?” Tanner begged immediately, making his eyes somehow grow a fraction wider. Those eyes… It felt like I was staring into the sky every time mine locked with them.

“Pleaseeee?”

His bum wiggled a little in anticipation since he didn’t have his tail out right now, showing that he was still definitely a puppy in some aspects.

“Alright, you spoiled fuzzbag.”

He chuckled as I grumbled and got myself out of his bed. Before I could contemplate if I wanted to change or not, there was a hand in mine, tugging me through the bus and down the steps. The first thing I noticed was the gigantic—and I do mean gigantic—stadium that we were parked behind. It was obviously an off-limits area since there was a gate closing us in with barbed wire overtop. Geez…security much? Was it that much of a risk to be in a band? I guess there were those crazy fan-girls… Just the thought of one of them hanging onto my Tanner made me grumble beneath my breath.

Mine!

“Hey, Cole. You coming?”

I snapped out of my daze and quickly ran after Tanner. Darn daydreaming at the wrong times. As I walked through the door, a red lanyard with a tag on it was tugged around my neck playfully by Tanner. The badge had VIP written on it, then Cole printed in black ink on the bottom. Wait a second…

“You did this ahead of time?”

He grinned sheepishly, and I punched him lightly in the arm. Tanner couldn’t even pretend to be hurt since his grin returned seconds later. The rest of the group was already working on setting up, so when Tanner ran ahead to help, I joined in. It actually felt pretty good to put my muscles to use, and heck, when I stripped off my shirt halfway through moving things, I couldn’t help but smirk as I caught Tanner eyeing me several times. A few of the stadium workers, who were helping work the lighting, also took a few glances, but after glares from Tanner, they all quickly got back to work.

By the time everything was set up and they had practiced a few songs to be sure the equipment was working correctly, Tanner was a frustrated ball of adorable fuzz. Not that he’d shifted, but I could see his wolf pouting about people looking at me while we were working. Now that everything was finally done and we were heading back, I had a jealous were-pup with an arm wrapped around my waist. Normally I’d grumble about the physical contact that obviously showed me as the underdog, but I just wasn’t feeling aggressive right now. Heck, I wasn’t really feeling any kind of confrontational. My focus was more on Tanner’s bare chest as much as his was on mine.

“Hey, you guys want a snack before bed, or ya just gonna go crash for the night?”

We both turned to see that Ryder had shouted that while the other two bandmates sauntered off. Tanner glanced at me, but I just yawned, answering his question silently.

“Nah. We’re gonna head to sleep. Thanks, though,” Tanner shouted back before turning me around and all but ushering me up the stairs once we were outside by the bus. I thought I was going to be eager to get to sleep, but as we walked into his room and the door was locked behind him, I couldn’t help but stare at Tanner. He looked tired too but not quite to the point of falling asleep yet. When he noticed me staring, even that little hint of tiredness vanished in a flash.

I tried to look uninterested, but the blush on my cheeks obviously gave me away. Tan was behind me in seconds, his hands gently resting on my waist. My body warmed as it involuntarily leaned back against his firm chest. I was tired and my wolf had more of a say in my actions than I normally allowed, which is probably why, when Tanner began to sway me back and forth slowly along with his hips, I didn’t mind at all. I also didn’t pull away when he began to nuzzle my neck and lick the salty skin there. My face burned with the knowledge that I was sweaty from working and he was likely tasting that, but he didn’t seem to care in the least.

“Mmmm, Cole…”

His husky voice was muffled against my neck, but I could easily hear what he said, and, just the sound of my name on his lips right that moment made my body lean farther into his. Tanner took the hint of acceptance and pushed a little farther, moving his hands slowly around my waist so that my backside was comfortably pressed against his abdomen as we continued to sway back and forth.

“Mmn, Tanner…”

A slight jerk of his hips against me made a quiet moan slip from my lips, having completely caught me off guard. He backed off a little after that to try to get us moving again, but I hadn’t missed the very obvious stiffness in his tight pants. I might be a bit too tired to think straight, but I felt like being a little mischievous. Thus, when he tried to sway us back and forth again, I chuckled quietly and reached behind me, grabbing him right between the legs. He jumped, yelping, but then was back with a bright red blush, growling as he nipped and tugged at my neck with his teeth. For some reason, I wasn’t letting go of the stiffening object in my hand, even as Tanner’s growls got louder and he began leaning into me. I turned just as his weight forced me down, my back hitting the blankets, yet still I didn’t release him.

“Cole…”

He had to climb into bed to keep from having his junk pulled painfully, but I didn’t think he minded as he leaned over me on his hands and knees. The way he was panting now told me that his wolf was just beneath the surface, making my own nudge its way closer.

“Cole, I… your hand.”

It was clear that his control was slipping as his eyes dilated with hunger. For me. Ever since he’d come back, it was always about me. He had never done anything for himself. He’d said even this band was for me, to impress me and eventually give me what I wanted. Money, a home, my old life back… or at least something close to it. Was that what I wanted, though? To have my old quiet life back? Tanner was trying to show me something new. Trying to give me a love I’d never had. There was no doubt now that he was my mate. I had finally accepted what my wolf had seen for a long while now.

“Tanner…”

My whisper was answered by a feral growl, but I knew it wasn’t anything close to aggression. His wolf took partial control over his human body and leaned down to lick my face relentlessly as he carefully got his hips lowered onto me. After a minute, Tanner took control back and groaned as he meshed our mouths together and began moving against me. Lightning shot through every single cell in my body as I arched into his, pleasing him by the blatant act of submission.

“Tannerrr.”

Another growl was his response as his hands began to fumble with his pants. I was sure he was cursing his band’s wardrobe since he was grunting and, from what I could hear, shredding his pants to get them off faster. Thankfully he was the complete opposite with mine. His fingers gently untucked the button on my jeans, then tugged the zipper down, freeing me from the painful constriction. He gave a few quick tugs to get my pants and boxers completely off, but his main focus was on my blatantly obvious stiffness. He had leaned back so he could get closer but then shocked me into a loud groan when his mouth suddenly took me in.

My wolf flared up, forcing a snarl from my lips as Tanner sucked with contentment. Having a male werewolf near another’s most personal part of their body never bid well normally. However, when I felt his left hand gently begin to caress the sensitive inside of my leg, I tried to relax my inner wolf. It took several mental whispers, telling him that it was okay, that Tanner was only trying to bring us pleasure, before the animal in me finally withdrew his aggression. With my wolf backed down, I was able to focus more intently on Tanner’s mouth, which was now bobbing up and down along my length. It took little time after that before I was arching into his mouth, releasing as I shuddered with pure pleasure. I let my body enjoy the ride and finally came back to myself a minute later with a deliriously happy grin on my face. Tanner was right there, too, kissing my cheek before running a thumb gently along it.

“I love you, Cole.”

His need pressed against my waist once more, silently asking if it was okay. My old, hesitant self screamed no , but the new me, the one who was beginning to think that this was exactly where I needed to be, and who I needed to be with, spurred me on.

“I…love you, too. Tanner.”

The huge sigh of relief he gave made me almost chuckle, but I was glad we had finally cleared everything up. In fact, I think a certain pup’s body had silently promised me something, and I kinda wanted it… With a devious smirk, I wrapped my arms up and around his neck, pulling him down to kiss me as my legs did the same, looping around his waist so that our hips ground together. It didn’t take Tanner long to figure out that I was giving him the green light he’d been begging for over the last months. I thought he might at least have some type of thing to not make it hurt but he immediately began moving against me while his hands traveled down along my torso, then waist, before finally lifting up my backside and claiming his target in seconds.

Tanner

        "Tanner?"

There was a soft knock at my door, but I definitely didn’t want to get up. Especially not with my mate snug in my arms, sound asleep like a newborn pup. Just the thought of what had happened last night made my heart swell with pride and my wolf preen about his dominance. Granted, I would never try to dominate Cole like a wolf might, I’d learned that lesson. He was an equal, and my wolf would just have to get used to that. I intended to split the alpha title with him when we finally establish our own pack… wherever we eventually ended up settling down.

“Tanner? We need to go do sound checks. Get up.”

I groaned and rolled over, glancing at the clock on my desk. Oh shit! It was already getting close to four? I quickly got up and yanked on some pants, hopping around until I had them on, then pulled on a shirt. My hair was likely a mess, but for some reason, my fans seemed to like it that way, so I didn’t bother looking in the mirror. Instead, I started for the door… only to turn and look at Cole as he slept.

“Tanner?”

Ryder’s shout made me jump, and I quickly replied, “I’ll be in there in a minute.”

He grumbled behind the door but stomped off, satisfied with my answer for the moment. With that, I walked back over to my bed and climbed in, then gently tugged Cole into my arms. My fingers brushed against the scar I’d left near his damaged eye, making my heart constrict slightly before I hugged him tightly to my own chest.

“I’ll protect you forever. Nothing will ever hurt you again, especially not me.”

I felt him move slightly and relaxed my hold just enough so that he could look up at me.

“Hey there…” he whispered up at me, giving me the most adorable sniff before nuzzling back against my chest and yawning. His eyes closed right after he’d completed the gesture, making my heart thump hard in my chest.

Aw man, I wanna stay in bed with him all day.

“Cole,” I whispered quietly with a small smile. His eyes fluttered back open, but I could tell he wasn’t quite there. So, seeing an opportunity, I leaned a little closer and stole a kiss.

“I need to go do sound checks for the show tonight. I’ll come get you when we’re about to go on?”

He gave a quiet mumble before passing out cold again. If I wasn’t the main vocalist, I would say screw the show and stay there. Too bad. Instead, I reluctantly tucked my love back in, being sure that he was extra comfortable, before shutting the door to our room and running off to work.

It was about two hours later when I finally returned to find Cole having just come out of the shower. My wolf gave a horny “Woof!” at seeing its mate completely naked, but I shoved him back to keep us from making trouble. If I got Cole in bed now, then I wouldn’t give a damn about the show tonight, and I had promised Ryder that I would take the band seriously. But oh my god, I’m still going to drool . A finger nudged my jaw up after a second, effectively closing my mouth.

“You’re drooling, Tan. I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

He turned around to dig through my things, limping slightly. Super huge ego boost right there. When he pulled on a pair of my more comfortable jeans and one of our band shirts, I nearly stripped him back down to have my way with his delicious body. Err! Mind out of the gutter. There’s time for that later.

Cole chuckled and walked past, my scent mixing with his from my clothing on him. I followed like a lost puppy, stealing his hand and entwining our fingers when we got off the bus and headed inside. I could already hear the crowd roaring in the stadium portion of the building, and I needed to get in there, but first… Whirling Cole around right as we got to the edge of the backstage curtain, I hugged him tightly and pressed a kiss to his soft lips.

“For luck,” I whispered, making him blush. He leaned up on his toes to return the gesture, making my face turn red.

“Then another would be double the amount, hm?”

I was about to lean in for a quick makeout session, but Ryder yelled at me that they were going to be starting soon. Darn it! Giving a small pout, I let Cole go and stepped back to keep myself from pulling him right back against me.

“Good luck, Tan.”

Cole’s smile was all the luck I needed as I turned and ran out onto the stage. There was one other small curtain in front of us, allowing me to get my headset fitted without everyone seeing me stumbling about as I got in place at the same time. Right as I stopped moving our band was announced over the loud speaker and the crowd rumbled with new fervor as the curtain quickly rose.

The concert took most of my focus as we went through several of our original popular songs, but when we got toward the end, I had a certain cover I wanted to sing for a very special person. So I motioned for the crowd to quiet down, then spoke.

“This is our last song, and it’s a cover for the most important person in my life…”

My face blushed slightly, and that immediately got the crowd cheering as we started up the song. Everyone definitely knew it, and soon they were singing along, especially when we got to the chorus.

“Show me how you intend to stand beside me. I’ll show you how I’ll do the same. We’ll stand together, through the hard times and the easy. I’ll give it all away in the hopes that you’ll stay. So we’ll stand together now, and forever.”

I glanced at Cole from the corner of my eye and couldn’t resist turning my head slightly to smile at him. His right hand was pressed over his mouth, and even though he was standing in the shadows, I could still sense that he was blushing profusely. I’d chosen this song specifically because I’d heard it as his ringtone during the time I’d spent with him when I was younger. It was the first song I’d learned completely with Ryder’s help, and I was so glad that I could get Cole to look so surprised by hearing it now. When the song finally died down, the crowd cheered for a good ten minutes before everyone finally calmed down.

Ryder did a promotion thing where he’d sold a few VIP tickets to sit close to the stage and gave those people the privilege of asking us a few questions before we left. So once the crowd was quiet, I nodded toward a girl who was waving her hand behind one of the tables. They each had a microphone so that their comments could be heard by the whole arena. The first few questions were simple and directed toward my other bandmates, but when I called on a young redheaded girl, her questions actually caught me a bit off guard.

“Do you have a girlfriend, Tanner?”

The stadium went up in screams as I glanced sideways to Cole just behind the stage curtains before looking back at the girl.

“Um…”

What were we exactly? I knew we were mates, but had he finally accepted it completely? We’d had sex last night, but had we officially said that we were dating? Did we have to say that? In my mental confusion, I heard the girl’s voice again and blushed.

“Is she behind that curtain you keep looking at?”

The stadium roared again, making me glance back over at Cole, who was now slowly backing away in fear. Did he not want to be known as my boyfriend? That thought made my stomach twist into knots as I turned back to face the audience. They were all staring intently at either me or the curtain. Darn it.

“I-I…”

My eyes glanced down at the floor, then looked out into the crowd.

“I have someone who is very important to me, but I’m unsure if that person understands that I want to date them honestly.”

I pushed my fingers through my hair and sighed, stressed. My eyes caught Cole hesitating a little ways behind the curtain, and I slowly turned to face him, getting a loud cheer from the crowd who figured the girl’s guess was correct.

“I’m sorry that I’m a goof sometimes and don’t understand some things that should be obvious…”

The crowd laughed, making me smile as I continued talking into the mic.

“But I love you more than anything. You’re everything to me, and I want to be a couple. I want to be your king, your lover, your everything…”

As my words trailed off, the audience slowly began to chant. “Come out! Come out! Come out!”

Cole looked panicked as he hugged himself in confusion. I hadn’t meant to put him on the spot and was just turning back to the crowd to tell them to calm down when their cheers erupted in a deafening roar. I whirled around in time to see Cole running full-on at me and just barely managed to catch him in my arms.

I immediately nuzzled into his soft hair, mumbling quietly, “I’m so sorry for this. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

He was blushing so badly that even his ears were bright red. So cute.

“Hey… Cole?” I whispered as I leaned my head back just enough so that he could look up… then when he did, I kissed him right in front of everyone. The sheer volume of awws and cheers were enormous, and I was pretty sure cameras were flashing like crazy all around us, but I didn’t care. Soon Cole even relaxed in my arms, making me grin against his lips.

“You’re such a pup.”

That got me chuckling as he tucked his head against my chest, then, surprisingly, reached out and grabbed a mic from the stand in front of me. Everyone in the crowd immediately quieted down as they waited for him to speak.

“Th-this guy’s mine…s-so don’t touch.”

As the noise rose to a deafening volume with excitement, I moved in a blur and grabbed the mic out of Cole’s hands, switched it off, then tossed it somewhere over my shoulder… right before I grabbed him and did the same, but this time to carry his butt offstage. There was no way I was gonna let him get away with being that cute in front of anyone but me.

-End

(I will start putting book 2 back up in a few days, thank you for reading :3 )