by Zoe Perdita
“Oh no! I dropped them,” he mumbled and gathered the poppies from the ground. He’d accidently stepped on a couple of them, the red petals ripped and smashed.
Caleb sighed and slumped next to him. “You went to find the cubs, didn’t you?”
Wild twisted the stems in his hands. “Yeah. I couldn’t leave them out there all alone. I put them in the lean-to for now. Do you think Dr. Richards will know what to do with them?”
The white wolf’s lips twitched. “Shirley can take them in. She runs a rescue for orphaned animals. You’ll have to call her.”
The man hadn’t scolded him. Maybe he was too tired to be angry right now. The little wolf leaned against his mate’s good shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut. What if he couldn’t defeat the hunters? What was he supposed to do then? All this time, and he could hardly even catch a hint of their presence in the woods. They were much too good at this, just like Caleb said. But he’d made a vow, and he wasn’t going to back away from it – not now. Not once he found the place he belonged. Especially after what those bastards did. Even if there were a hundred hunters, he’d defeat them all to keep Caleb safe.
“These are for you,” he said softly and slipped the flowers into the white wolf’s large hand. “They’ll help you get well quickly, I hope.”
The man’s chest rumbled. “I hope so too.”
He still hadn’t said anything about Wild’s declaration to defeat the hunters. Maybe he didn’t believe it – or he was waiting for another time. The little wolf twisted his hands in his lap and his chest felt like it was about to explode if he didn’t say the words right at that moment. But what would Caleb do once he uttered them? When the words were said, he couldn’t take them back.
The late afternoon sun trickled through the trees, and a few early insects started their song. Peaceful moments like this were what he needed to protect, why the little wolf needed to stop worrying about what Caleb said and focus on how he felt.
Slowly, he turned his face towards his mate. The man looked down at him, his eyebrows raised though his face was weary. Wild leaned up and pressed his lips to Caleb’s, tasting the warmth of the man’s mouth with the tip of his tongue.
“I love you.”
Caleb stared at him, his pale blue eyes tracing the little wolf’s face and body like an artist who wants to remember something precisely so they can paint it later. The big man didn’t say anything, but he didn’t look angry either – almost hurt. Why would being loved hurt?
“Let me help you back to bed,” the little wolf said and stood up.
He offered the white wolf his hand, and the man took it. His fingers sizzled as they touched, and Wild’s heart skipped a beat. Once Caleb was tucked in, the man pulled the little wolf’s hand and Wild fell into bed next to him.
“You can wait a while before dinner,” the white wolf grumbled and wrapped his good arm around the smaller wolf.
Wild’s eyes pricked and stung, and he buried his face into his mate’s strong chest. The man’s heart thundered steadily. Thump. Thump. Thump. He tried not to worry about everything that lay ahead.
For a simple moment, he’d close his eyes and drank in the man he loved.
Shirley agreed to take the bear cubs when Wild called her. The van picked them up that night, and Wild steeled his nerves to talk to the woman about how he’d found them. It was all the truth; save he knew a wolf hunter had killed the mother bear. The woman’s animal rescue would take good care of the cubs, Caleb assured him.
The little cubs whined as she led them away, and Wild clenched his fists. Twilight hung about the trees. Through the canopy, the dim twinkle of stars came to life. Once the hunters were gone, they could enjoy the porch on long summer evenings. For now, he kept his keen senses on the alert as the woman pulled back toward the road, and rushed inside once she was gone.
Caleb didn’t eat much that night, and Wild clung to his mate’s side, listening to any change in the sleepy woods, before his own heavy lids slid shut. He dreamed of a terrible forest, a place that no longer felt like his home, and eyes that watched him from far away.
Then it all faded, and Caleb wrapped him in a powerful hug. Their bodies pressed together, like they were meant to be, and he melted into the white wolf’s touch. The man was safety and desire and, most of all, his mate.
Wild groaned as he woke. Caleb’s hand gripped his bare shoulder and the familiar surge rushed to his groin – the telltale sign of a morning erection. He may have blushed about such things before, now he simply stared at his mate, the man’s wide brow and his lips, slightly parted. The little wolf wished those powerful hands would grasp him again.
Taking a deep breath, he leaned over the white wolf and glanced at the bandage. The blood hadn’t leaked through in the night. Dr. Richards said that was a good sign. His stiffened length rubbed against Caleb’s flank, and as Wild leaned back, the white wolf’s eyes fluttered open.
The smudges and lines lessened with a good night’s sleep, and the man’s face no longer held any hint of that pinched expression. He blinked, rubbed his face, and raised an eyebrow at the little wolf.
“You’re awake in more ways than one,” he said, his lips twitching at the corners.
Wild’s cheeks heated, but he set his lips into a scowl to temper them. The man still hadn’t said a word about his declaration the day before. What did he expect? That Caleb would kiss him and claim him on the spot? Even if he wished for something like that, it wouldn’t happen.
“I had a dream about you. What did you expect?”
The white wolf parted his mouth, his eyes narrowed slightly. “Do you do anything but tell the truth?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden? I – I don’t know. I try to tell the truth, I guess. Gran said the truth was all we had.”
“Do you believe that?”
The woods couldn’t belong to him, even if he marked an area as his territory or paid for a plot of land, it was still the earth and no one really owned it, not the way humans thought they could. All he really had was what he thought – the truth he saw in the world. If he didn’t share it, what would that make him?
“Yeah,” he finally said. “It’s all I’ve ever had.”
The white wolf nodded slowly, and outside the window a few songbirds tweeted in a bush. The sunlight, bright and yellow, fell through a crack in the curtain and lit a fire behind Caleb’s head. His mate’s face fell partially in shadow, though his icy eyes shone like stars picked out in a pitch-black sky.
The little wolf shifted in place, his stiffness grazing Caleb’s leg. “Are you going to–”
“Touch you?” the white wolf cut him off.
Wild nodded, and his breath caught in his throat as he stared at the man in front of him. The realization from the day before sharpened in his gut, stabbing his heart. Why wouldn’t his mate say something? Do something?
“Yeah,” Wild said.
Caleb’s jaw tensed, and the little wolf waited for the rebuke. The man would probably tell him to jerk off in the bathroom while he went to make breakfast.
Instead, strong hands grasped onto the little wolf’s hips, hoisting him onto Caleb’s lap. “Scoot down,” the man whispered gruffly.
Was this finally it? His mate would claim him and –
The white wolf rubbed his thumb over the tip of Wild’s cock, and the little wolf moaned, his hips buckling into the source of pleasure. Caleb’s own length grew with every slow caress, the shaft pounding in time with the man’s heart.
The little wolf groped at it, and Caleb’s grip tightened on his thigh, but he didn’t urge Wild’s hand away.
“Press them together,” the white wolf breathed, his tongue darting out to lick his lips.
Wild did as his mate said. It was the first time the man truly gave into the pleasure without a fight – without pushing him away and denying their desire for each other. The little wolf understood what birds must feel like as they soared through the air; his heart fluttered next to them at
that moment.
Caleb’s cock throbbed against his own, the meaty length slick with pre-come. The man’s hands held them together, and the little wolf moaned and leaned forward, pressing his lips into his mate’s. The white wolf growled, his chest rumbling, and gripped them harder, stroked them faster, as his tongue and mouth danced with Wild’s.
It was almost as good as being claimed – almost as perfect, the little wolf thought as every nerve in his body twitched. Fire ignited in his belly with each caress of the man’s hand. His fingers wound in Caleb’s hair, and he caught the white wolf’s bottom lip with his teeth.
“Claim me,” he murmured into the larger wolf’s lips.
Caleb grumbled in response.
Friction burned between their shafts and Caleb’s talented hand. All at once, Wild wished for his release – the peak of his pleasure, but he also never wanted this moment to end. Why couldn’t they stand on the cusp like that forever?
The white wolf leaned forward, his lips trailing the rough expanse of Wild’s neck, over his smooth chest. He picked at the little wolf’s nipples with his teeth, pulling until Wild groaned and writhed.
“Please,” he begged.
Maybe it wasn’t fair of him to ask at a time like this, when Caleb was wounded, but the words slipped out of his mouth unbidden. As if his being willed it more than his mind.
The hot tip of a tongue traced his muscles. Lapping at his flesh until it burned under the contact. Toes and fingertips tingled with the pent up excitement.
His entire body rocked with the man beneath him, like they rode a wave to the same perfect shore. With a final swipe of the white wolf’s finger, it slammed into him, and he buried his face into Caleb’s powerful neck. His body trembled and twitched, and his mate’s release came a moment later.
The man’s lips were stained pink with exertion when Wild finally looked at him. The white mess dripped from his hand, and he stared at it as if the whole experience were a new one, though the little wolf knew it wasn’t.
“Are you going to tell me this is fucked up again?” Wild asked after another moment of labored silence.
“No,” the white wolf said softly. “We’re mates. I can’t deny that anymore than I can deny gravity.”
Wild wanted to grin, but the man wasn’t smiling – he stared at an indistinct spot on the little wolf’s body and chewed his bottom lip, deep in thought. The lines pulled at the edge of his eyes, crinkling them.
“Are you going to claim me?” The words came out like a breath of air.
Caleb sighed and met Wild’s gaze. “Someday.”
It wasn’t a ‘no,’ but the little wolf glowered at him all the same. “Someday? That’s your answer? Are you avoiding it in case the hunters kill me? Then you won’t have to deal with a dead mate?” he said and climbed off the man’s lap.
The white wolf’s eyes narrowed, and he threw his legs over the side of the bed, flinching as if Wild punched him in his bad shoulder. “No.”
“Is it because I’m too young? I’m always going to be younger than you. What kind of experience do you want me to have first? I’ve lived on my own. I’ve protected you. I’m going to find those stupid hunters! What else do I need to do?”
Caleb stepped into the bathroom to relieve himself, washing his hands when he finished, before saying another word. “You could learn patience,” he grumbled as Wild glared at him.
“I’ve been patient. We’re mates. There’s no reason to wait, unless you don’t want me. If that’s the case then kick me out or something. It’s not fair to let me stay if you don’t love me bac–”
“I want to make sure this is what you want, Whelp! Not what your instincts tell you is right. Who says those can’t be wrong? I want you to think long and hard about what forever means. This is the rest of your Goddamn life – with me. No do-overs. This. Is. It. This cabin. These woods. This fucking town! That’s your future, and if you don’t like it, there’s no escape if I claim you!”
The man’s heart sounded like a pounding drum, and Wild stared at him. “Why would I want to leave? I know this is what I want. I found you. How could it not be the right choice?”
Caleb ran his fingers through his blond hair, and it fell over his forehead neatly. Wild’s own hair never fell in place like that – it always stood on end even if he tried to brush it down.
The man’s jaw clenched, and he squared his massive shoulders. “Because I didn’t. I’ve been your age, Wild. I thought I was in love with a much older man, and it turns out all my feelings were bullshit. That’s what happens when you make that kind of decision at eighteen. I don’t want you to make the same mistake.”
Caleb’s relationship with Sam was bad enough. Now this? “You had another mate?”
“He wasn’t my mate – he was a bastard and a mistake. He’s the wolf who changed me, though that wasn’t his initial plan. Look, I know what it’s like to think you’re in love with someone. Everything is new and exciting. Shit!”
Wild’s chest pounded, though he wasn’t sure how his heart could still beat after what Caleb said. “I don’t think I’m in love with you – I know I am. I brought you flowers! I took care of you. I’d do anything for you, anything you wanted. We’re mates! You already admitted it. You can’t take it back now. I’m – I’m worthy of being your mate, and I want to be, no matter what you say. Do you want me to prove it?” he growled.
Caleb frowned and gritted his teeth. “I never said you weren’t worthy. Maybe I’m not worthy of you, did you ever consider that?”
Caleb was both larger and older. He was the alpha, and Wild was only an omega, according to every other wolf he’d ever met. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say. Either the white wolf meant it, or he was just trying to be nice.
“Let’s settle it then,” Wild grumbled.
The man’s eyebrows shot up his wide forehead. “What?”
“We’ll settle it how all wolves settle problems. Do you want to wait until your shoulder heals?”
Caleb snorted. “Oh, that’s what you meant. A fight?”
The little wolf glowered at the man and crossed his arms over his bare chest. He might not be as large or as strong as the white wolf, but he was fast and used to fighting. Maybe he could best his mate in a fight, if that’s what it took – or maybe it’d get Caleb to realize his own worth.
“Well?”
The man stared at him. “You really think you can beat me?”
“If you’re wounded, yes. I don’t want to hurt you, but if you keep acting like an idiot I might not have much of a choice.”
The white wolf’s lip quirked at the corner, and he shook his head. “Maybe we should just eat breakfast and forget about this? I’m hungry.”
Wild narrowed his eyes and stood up straight. “You brought it up. You’re the one afraid of claiming me, not the other way around. Either you fight me or you claim me – right now!”
The man took a deep breath, though he curled his great hands into fists – big fists. Absently, the little wolf hoped they’d fight in their wolf forms. He’d never beat Caleb as a man.
“You don’t have to wrestle around to prove something to me. We’re living like humans!”
“But we’re wolves! I know you feel it in your bones. You might not want to be an alpha, but the urge to overpower me is still inside you. You’re not only human anymore.”
The white wolf grimaced, bright teeth flashing in the dim living room. “And you don’t have to live like an animal!”
The little wolf thought of his dream, the unkind forest and the warmth of his mate. At the moment, it seemed his sleeping self got it all backwards. The woods welcomed him while the man he loved shoved him away. He growled and stepped forward, baring his teeth right back. “And you don’t have to be a coward. Claim me or fight me. You don’t have a third choice.”
The vein in the white wolf’s neck bulged, his naked body tense and poised for an attack, though he didn’t shift into his other form. His arms tightened as he c
rossed them over his chest, spreading his legs to plant himself on the ground.
If he wouldn’t shift, Wild would. He slipped into animal form as simply as most pull on a pair of pants. Then he lunged forward, the man’s eyes widening as the little wolf toppled into him.
Caleb stumbled back and bumped into the wall, upsetting a side table and lamp along the way. The table fell with a thud while the lamp crashed, bits of broken ceramic sliding across the wooden floor.
“Wild,” the man bellowed, but the little wolf didn’t relent.
He snapped at the white wolf’s legs, hard enough to bruise but not enough to break the skin. The white wolf shoved him away, but he could still hardly use his wounded arm. That was his weakness, and Wild had to exploit it if he wanted to win.
“I liked that lamp,” Caleb grumbled and rounded on the little wolf.
Wild jumped back, moving toward the kitchen. In this form, he couldn’t slip outside without dropping his guard for a moment. The man should’ve thought of the mess this would cause before he said anything stupid though.
As soon as Caleb stepped forward, Wild charged. He caught his mate by the knee and knocked the big wolf off balance. The man toppled forward, but his body bent and cracked as he hit the kitchen’s linoleum floor. The huge white wolf whimpered as it hit – the bandages falling off his front leg.
Wild spun to face him and snarled.
Caleb growled back, his ears laid flat to his head, though he kept the weight off his hurt leg.
The little wolf jumped forward, but Caleb swung his head and knocked him away. Wild slid across the kitchen floor, his back connecting painfully with the chairs and table in the corner of the room. He hurried to stand, but his paws couldn’t find purchase on the slippery linoleum.
Before Wild knew it, the white wolf loomed over him, snapping at his neck and taking a tuff of fur in his jaws. The little wolf whined, clawing at the larger man, but the white wolf didn’t relent his hold until Wild caught his weak leg.
