Acceptance

by Grace R. Duncan

  Miles looked down into the basket for the first time and started laughing. He took the card out to see it was signed from Chad and Jamie. He’d called them briefly to tell them he’d seen Quincy and he was in the hospital, but not much more than that.

  Shaking his head, he grinned at Sara. “Yeah. Yeah, he does.” With a wave he headed back to Quincy’s room.

  When he opened the door and stepped inside, he saw Quincy had finished eating. Miles crossed over and set the basket on the table, clearing away the container, then stepped back.

  Quincy raised his eyebrows but looked back at the basket. It took about two seconds for him to start laughing. “I don’t even have to see the card.” He took it out anyway, read it quickly, then showed it to Miles.

  Hope you get back to chasing mice around soon…. Chad & Jamie.

  Quincy pulled out a furry rat and held it up, then a bag of catnip, one of those feathers on a string, and even a ball of yarn. It took Quincy a full minute to stop laughing. “Oh gods, I’m so getting them for this.”

  Miles, grinning, took the feather on the string, lifted it in front of Quincy, and shook it. Quincy snorted but batted at it anyway, making Miles laugh. As Miles pulled it away, though, Quincy batted again, chasing after it a little, nose twitching. Eyebrows raised, Miles fought the smirk.

  Quincy sniffed. “I was just humoring you.”

  His smirk broke out into another grin. “Uh-huh.”

  “I was.”

  Miles laughed and kissed Quincy’s temple. “Do you know that if we let ourselves go too long without shifting outside of the full moon, we start acting a bit like dogs… even while in human form?”

  “You’re kidding,” Quincy said, staring. “Oh, the blackmail I’ll have on Chad….”

  “Not kidding at all.” Miles coughed, then said, “I once chewed my own slippers right before my board exam,” as all one word.

  Quincy snorted, then started laughing again. “Oh, that’s too much! I’m going to have to remember that. Make sure I hide my slippers.”

  Miles grinned, because it showed Quincy planned to be with him, at least at some point in the future. He started to speak again, but the door opened and Sara walked in.

  “Time for your vitals,” she said brightly.

  Quincy rolled his eyes but sat still and patient as she took his blood pressure, temperature, oxygen level, and pulse. She wrote everything down on a little piece of paper, then stuffed it back in her pocket. “Can I get you anything? Are you ready to order your dinner?” She glanced over and saw the Styrofoam container. “Dr. Grant! Are you smuggling him contraband?”

  Miles smirked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sara! That was for me.”

  She snickered. “Right.” She turned back to Quincy. “Something to drink?”

  Quincy shook his head and pointed to the pitcher on the counter, still with water in it. “That’s fine with me.”

  “All right, dear. Get some rest.” She patted his foot and left.

  “I wonder what she’d say if she knew just how much more healed I was,” Quincy mused.

  Miles laughed. “I’d probably be admitting her to Western Psych across the street.”

  Quincy grinned. “That wouldn’t be nice, then, would it?”

  Miles shook his head. “Nope. Oh!” He hurried around the bed and picked up the messenger bag on the floor. One side had a logo Miles had never seen along with a graphic of a guy with bright orange hair in a black robe with a huge sword resting on his shoulder. He lifted the bag and set it on the bed next to Quincy. “Apparently this got left in the ambulance. I… hope you don’t mind, I checked inside. Your laptop, phone, and wallet are still in there.”

  “Oh good.” Quincy opened the bag and pulled out a case. He took out a pair of glasses and slipped them onto his nose. “So much better.” Next he took out a slim Mac laptop, then his wallet, and blinked. “My money’s still in here.”

  Miles shrugged. “Guess they didn’t need it.”

  “Well. That’s a surprise.”

  “I don’t know if they’d get into the computer or phone or anything. I’m guessing you’ve got it locked down fairly well.”

  Quincy nodded. “Yeah, and the data’s encrypted too. No one’s going to get to my stuff.”

  Miles raised an eyebrow. “What do you do, anyway?”

  “Draw things.”

  Miles blinked. “I’m sure you do. But what do you do that requires encrypted data?”

  Quincy’s lips twitched. “I’m an information broker. The kind you can’t look up in the phone directory.”

  “Ohhhh.” Miles nodded. “Well, that makes sense. I’m guessing I don’t really want to know anymore.”

  Quincy shook his head. “No, you probably don’t. Um….” Quincy tilted his head and studied Miles for a moment. “Do you think I could see your wolf?”

  “Hmm….” Miles raised his eyebrows as he thought it through, but then nodded. “They won’t be in for a bit. I think there’s time.” He kicked off his shoes, pulling his shirt off at that same time and laying it on the bed. It never even occurred to him to worry about getting naked in front of Quincy. He was used to the very sociable wolves, not the solitary jaguars. So when he turned around from taking his pants off, he realized what he smelled was arousal. It did his wolf good things to smell that, but he focused instead on giving Quincy what he’d asked for. Miles laid his pants next to his shirt and let his wolf forward.

  His vision turned gray first, and then his claws extended and teeth dropped at the same time. A few seconds later, red fur that matched his human hair erupted over his skin. His bones shifted and muscles realigned, then a moment later, he landed on four paws. He lifted his front paws and braced them on the side of the bed, grinning his wolf grin at his mate.

  Quincy reached out, running a hand over Miles’s head. “Wow. I didn’t realize your fur matched your coloring. It doesn’t work that way for us. It’s gorgeous.”

  Miles couldn’t resist closing his eyes as Quincy stroked his fur. He had to be careful or he’d end up with a hard-on in wolf form. But it felt so good to have Quincy’s hands on him, even in that form. To keep things out of the realm of sexual, he leaned forward and licked Quincy’s cheek.

  Quincy scowled, but there was no heat in it. “Gross. Dog slobber.”

  Miles snorted. And licked him again.

  “Just you wait. Next time I’m in cat form, I’ll give you my tongue.”

  Miles chuffed, then backed up to let himself down.

  Before he could rein in his wolf and shift, Sara stepped into the room again.

  Shit! Out of the corner of his eye, Miles saw Quincy throw his blanket over the clothes.

  Sara stopped and stared at Miles, then looked at Quincy. “He can’t be in here. No pets.”

  “He’s a service dog. His owner stepped out to the bathroom.”

  Miles was going to kiss Quincy for his quick thinking.

  “I didn’t see anyone come in. And….” Sara raised an eyebrow, looking down at Miles. “He’s not wearing a harness.”

  “He had to clean the harness. Got some mud on it. That’s why he’s out.”

  She blinked at him for another moment, glanced at Miles once more, then apparently accepted the excuse. Miles let out a slow breath of relief. “I came in to ask if you wanted to order something for later, even though you’ve eaten now. I didn’t get an answer earlier.”

  Quincy shook his head. “I’ll be fine. Besides, I can always send Miles out if I get hungry later.”

  She chuckled. “Right. Okay, then. Rest well… when your friend leaves.” She glanced once more at Miles, then back at Quincy before she stepped out.

  Miles pulled his wolf back and shifted to human form not more than a few seconds later. He took his clothes and put them on quickly. “Quick thinking.” He blew out a breath.

  Quincy flashed a smile. “I like to think I can do that now and again.”

  Miles laughed. “Right. Think I’ll avoid
that again until you’re out of here.”

  “Probably a good idea,” Quincy agreed, nodding.

  “Now… how about that talk?” Miles asked, moving around to sit back in the chair.

  Chapter 3

  QUINCY BOUGHT himself a few moments by reassembling the cat toy basket. He wasn’t sure he was ready for this, not sure he knew what to tell Miles. “What did you want to talk about?” Okay, dodging wasn’t really like him, but he was in unfamiliar territory.

  “Well, for starters… have you gotten anywhere with your father?”

  Letting out a sigh, Quincy shook his head. “No. The last time I talked to him, he still wouldn’t take no for an answer. I’m pretty sure he’s got my apartment watched. And, well, there was Tweedle Dee, Dumb, and Dumber.”

  Miles burst out laughing. “Nice. I take it those were the three that attacked you?”

  Quincy nodded. “Thanks. Yeah.” He blew out a breath. “I honestly don’t know what it’s going to take to get him to listen.” He scowled. “I swear to Bastet, though, if he sends someone like that again, I’m not fucking around. My fangs and claws aren’t the only weapons I know how to use. In fact, this might have turned out differently if I hadn’t left it behind.”

  Miles winced but nodded. “Yeah. Well, I wish it had turned out differently. I’m glad you know how to use other weapons, but I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “I hope so too. I don’t relish this shit. I just want to be left alone.” He closed his eyes, annoyed at the slightly whiny tone that leaked into his voice. “I’m already tired of hiding, tired of running.”

  Miles’s hand crept into his. “Isn’t there anything I—or the wolves—can do to help?”

  Quincy shook his head. “No. And right now, if you do, you risk interspecies problems.”

  “Ew, yeah, not good. I didn’t even know we knew about you guys.”

  “Oh yeah. Well, I’m sure your alpha prime does. I don’t know who else. But he’s up there in years, isn’t he?”

  Miles nodded. “Yeah. Some… geez. He’s over two hundred now, I think.”

  “Yeah, well, he’d know about us, then. And I know our tepey-iret knows about you.”

  “Tepey-iret?”

  “Um… equal to your alpha prime. Iret is loosely translated as ‘eye’ and tepey is ‘chief’ or ‘leader.’ You know, the Eye of Ra was big with the Egyptians, so I guess they borrowed that. Where the rest of our titles and the like comes from.”

  “That makes sense. I’ve been, um, researching the gods and goddesses. Reading up on ancient Egypt.”

  Quincy raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

  Miles blushed. “Yeah. I figured, you know, it wouldn’t hurt to learn what I could. I didn’t know what was myth and what wasn’t, but I thought I’d read about it and ask more when I had the chance.”

  Quincy just stared at Miles for a long moment as he let that sink in. He’d been alone for so long—hell, even before he left for college—that it was weird to know someone wanted to do something like that for him, understand things about him.

  He cleared his throat and picked at the blanket. “Um, that’s… that’s cool, actually. I’d be happy to talk to you about it sometime. I guess we have more important things to go over, though.”

  “Yeah, well, what are you going to do when you get out of here? I can probably release you tomorrow… or I could justify keeping you another day if you think it’d help.”

  “Um….” Quincy frowned. “I don’t know, actually. Let me think about it. I’ll need to call my father, try—again—to get him to stop this fucking shit.” He scowled. Every time he thought about it, it pissed him off more.

  “Hey, hey,” Miles said, squeezing his hand.

  Quincy blinked and looked up in confusion.

  “I could feel your anger—beyond the scowl. I mean, I don’t blame you, but….”

  “Oh, I forgot about that.”

  Miles nodded. “For now… it’s just strong emotion. I knew yesterday before they told me that something was wrong with you. I felt your anger and pain.”

  “That’s a little… freaky.” Quincy bit his lip. “And kind of cool, if confusing.”

  Miles laughed. “Yeah, well, when we eventually claim each other, that calms down a lot. We can still sense emotions, but we can control it a lot better.”

  “Ah, okay, yeah.” Quincy didn’t know how to address them claiming each other. He had no idea when they might be able to handle that, no clue what was different with the wolves than the jaguars—except that sometimes they didn’t even claim each other. They fucked, had a cub, and that was it. He sighed. “So, uh, yeah. I need to call my father, try to figure out what the hell is going on with this. I mean… I get wanting me back, but for fuck’s sake, we both know I’m not the best option for the leadership.”

  “Hmm.” Miles frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t know enough about the jaguars to say whether or not that’s true. Maybe he figured he could still more or less lead through you?”

  Quincy raised an eyebrow. “I never thought of it like that. I didn’t really think he’d want something like that. By the time he steps down, I figured he’d be done with it.”

  Miles shrugged. “I really don’t know enough about your world.”

  “It’s not my world,” Quincy muttered, then sighed again. “I mean, okay. I’m a jaguar, but I don’t want any part of their politics, their pretense, or anything else like it. I believe in our gods. I honor our religious traditions. Outside of that, I just want to draw, sell information, and be left alone.” He glanced up at Miles. “Maybe with my mate.” He put the “maybe” on there, not sure himself where Miles stood in all of this. It was reasonable to assume Miles wanted him—he had made the claiming comment earlier—but for all that Quincy knew about the wolves, he didn’t know their rules or culture.

  Miles didn’t disappoint. He squeezed Quincy’s hand again. “I’d hope with your mate.”

  Quincy swallowed. It was nice to be wanted. Even if he and Miles didn’t know that much about each other yet, it wasn’t because it was expected of him. It just was—and a gift from Bastet, at that—and that made all the difference in Quincy’s mind.

  “Yeah, that… actually sounds nice.” He smirked. “As long as I still get time to myself.”

  Miles grinned. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just shift and lay at your feet.”

  That surprised a laugh out of Quincy. “As long as you leave my slippers alone.”

  “I think I can handle that.”

  Miles got up and sat next to Quincy on the bed, brushing at Quincy’s hair. “Good. I don’t intend to crowd you, you know. I know the cats are solitary.”

  Quincy didn’t know what to say to that. He did know the wolves weren’t solitary, and he hoped they could find a balance… eventually. When he could worry about that stuff. “Well, maybe I’ll make that call from here and figure it out, then. I suspect, though, I’m still going to have to hide for a while. This was a message: come back and take my place or worse will happen. I can’t let you get caught in that. And I refuse to be forced into anything. I mean… if I thought for one minute you’d be safer if I did—”

  “Don’t even think it,” Miles growled, and Quincy couldn’t miss the hint of wolf in his voice.

  Quincy raised a hand, a smile tugging at his lips at the protectiveness in Miles’s voice. “Okay, okay. I don’t really want to anyway.”

  “Good.” Miles lifted his hand and kissed it. He studied Quincy for a moment, then without warning, leaned in. “Please tell me I can kiss you…. I’ve been wanting to for so long now.”

  Quincy swallowed, his throat suddenly dry, but nodded. “Yeah,” he whispered.

  Miles cupped Quincy’s cheeks and closed the short distance, their lips brushing lightly. Quincy’s eyes slid closed, and he leaned into the kiss, adding his own pressure. When he felt Miles’s tongue on his lip, he opened and got the first, amazing taste of his mate. Their tongues slid, both exploring the other�
��s mouth, the fledgling emotions they both were feeling coming across their bond. Quincy slid his hands up to Miles’s shoulders and held on, deepening the kiss even more, moaning softly at the feel and taste.

  His mate. Miles really was his destined mate. The pull between them intensified, and Quincy couldn’t even remotely pretend it wasn’t real anymore. As they kissed, that string he’d felt connecting them got stronger, thicker. Something invisible seemed to wrap around them, bringing them even closer together.

  When they broke apart, Quincy stared with wide eyes into Miles’s. “Wow.”

  Miles looked equally stunned. “Yeah, that’s… about right. Wow.”

  “Did we… did we strengthen our bond?” Quincy decided he liked that phrase: our bond. He liked the link to Miles, that bit binding them together. It scared him—not that he’d admit that out loud to anyone—because the thought of something happening to the wolf he was already thoroughly attached to freaked him out. But despite that, he definitely liked and wanted it.

  “I… yeah, I think so. We’re not… it’s not a full one yet.”

  Quincy shook his head slightly. “I didn’t think so. But… it’s… wow. It…. I think I like it.”

  Miles’s smile was immediate and almost blinding. “I definitely do.” He brushed a stray lock of Quincy’s hair back. “I’m glad to have that connection to you.”

  Quincy took a shaky breath. “I do too. I don’t…. Miles, I still don’t know what’s going to happen. I mean, what if… uh… what if they come back and do… more?”

  Miles scowled, anger spiking across their bond. “I will risk an interspecies war, then. They don’t fuck with my mate that way.”

  “Miles! That’s not… there’s no need to go that far!”

  “Fuck that.” He closed his eyes and took a breath. “You are my mate. They’re already treading dangerous territory.”

  Quincy blinked but realized Miles wasn’t wrong. “I guess so. Though… they don’t know that. And I’m a little worried about putting you in the crosshairs if I tell them.”