by C. C. Dado
“Please stop,” Toren cried.
Zeus could only whimper, lowering the front of his body onto the ground, begging Toren not to be afraid of him. He stayed like that, unmoving.
“Is… is that really you?”
Zeus slowly lifted his head a few inches off the floor and nodded.
“You can come closer, but slowly please.”
Zeus did as he was asked, trying to be as nonthreatening as possible, which wasn’t easy with his large build. He crawled up on the bed, scooting forward on the bedspread. He stopped a foot away from Toren.
“Your eyes,” Toren said in awe, the fear in his own eyes lightening. “I can still see you.”
Zeus rolled over onto his side, still looking up at Toren.
“Can I feel you?”
Zeus nodded, making Toren smile as he let go of the pillow with one hand to reach out, hesitantly running his fingers through Zeus’s fur.
“You’re fur is so dark.”
Zeus closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of Toren’s fingers. “Can you shift back now?”
Zeus closed his eyes and felt the change overtake him, leaving him naked on the bed.
“It doesn’t hurt you?”
“No. It should never hurt, baby. Not when you are taught how to do it.”
Zeus pulled the blanket over his nakedness.
“Okay,” Toren said softly. “I will try.”
“That’s all I ask.” Zeus pushed himself up to kiss Toren’s lips. “We’ll take our time. You won’t have to shift today, or tomorrow. We’ll practice all the techniques you need, and when it’s time, you’ll know.”
Toren cuddled up to him again, letting his arms wrap around Zeus’s waist. “Why would my mom do it?”
Zeus knew what Toren was asking, and he wasn’t really sure he even understood how a mother could do that.
“Your mom was a shifter, but your dad wasn’t. She didn’t want him to know. Maybe she didn’t want to be a shifter herself.” Zeus held the back of Toren’s head, giving him comfort in his embrace. “I don’t know if anyone will ever really know the reasoning.”
Toren breathed out a huff like he suddenly knew the answer. “She loved him,” Toren said into Zeus’s shoulder. “I’ve never seen anyone as in love as my mom.”
“Your father was her mate,” Zeus stated the fact. “But you were her child.”
“I know,” Toren said, defeated.
“Maybe she just couldn’t see another way. Maybe she thought your father would leave. If she loved him like you say she did, she would not have survived long without him. Maybe she felt trapped.”
The words seemed to give Toren a sad comfort.
Zeus moved, touching his lips to Toren’s. Their bodies pulled closer. The need was instantaneous. He kissed along Toren’s jaw, grazing his teeth down his neck. His mate tilted his head back, instinctually giving him access. So responsive….
Toren tightened his hold around Zeus, breathing heavily. “This scares me,” Toren admitted, his voice sounding small.
“I’m sorry,” Zeus said, pulling back. The last thing he wanted was for Toren to be afraid of him, or of the things they did together.
“No.” Toren pulled him close again. “I’m not afraid of you. It’s the opposite actually. It’s like I want to be inside you. Oh God, that’s not what I meant,” he rambled, pulling himself away now. “I meant I’m overwhelmed by these feelings, like I want to be as close to you as I possibly can, but this is also very new to me. I’ve never done any of this before.” He gestured between them. “I just don’t know what to do, ” he said, his voice sounding small.
Zeus knew it was archaic and unfair of him, but he loved that his mate had yet to experience what they would do together.
“Baby.” Zeus brought Toren closer. “Please do not ever feel embarrassed to tell me how you’re feeling. Especially when it comes to this. We have to be open with each other. I’m overwhelmed too, and let me assure you, I do want to be inside of you,” Zeus said.
Toren’s audible gulp made Zeus smile.
“It’s how we become one. Your wolf craves it, as does mine.” Zeus softly nipped at Toren’s neck, his groan running through Zeus like a match to gasoline. “When the time is right, Toren, we’ll know,” he said, nibbling his teeth into Toren’s shoulder before turning it into a kiss. “When you’re ready, there will be no fear in what we do. When I claim you, the only thing you will feel is my love.”
Zeus wiped the tear that ran down Toren’s beautiful face, and held him closer. “We have our entire lives together, my mate. We can take our time.”
Toren’s entire body relaxed into Zeus at his words, followed by his even breathing, letting Zeus know he had fallen back to sleep.
“WE HAVE to get up, lazybones,” Zeus said as he pulled the blanket away from Toren’s body after a midafternoon nap.
“Ugh,” Toren said, trying to grab the blanket and pull it back over him.
Zeus figured he was probably still a bit sore from the partial shift yesterday.
“Come on, we have to go to dinner,” Zeus said, hopping out of bed.
That seemed to wake up his mate. “What? What dinner?”
“It’s Sunday pack meal.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Every Sunday my pack eats together, followed by a run. We’ll skip the run.”
“I don’t think I’m ready for that. You go,” Toren said, turning away from Zeus. “I don’t want to make you miss out on time with your family, or pack, or whatever.”
“Hey. You’re my family now too, you know that, right?” Zeus said, climbing back into the bed on top of Toren, making sure not to crush him with his weight. “The most important part,” he added, joining their hands and pulling them above Toren’s head, closing the gap between their lips. “You know what you said about dying of a broken heart?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s what happens in our culture when you’ve mated your heart and soul to another person. When you go, I will go with you.” Zeus looked into those deep brown eyes when he explained the commitment mating was.
Toren stared into his eyes before responding. “I’ll go with you to the meal,” Toren said, squeezing Zeus’s hands.
“Thank you.” Zeus hopped off the bed, pulling Toren up with him like he weighed nothing, making him laugh as he crashed against Zeus’s chest.
“Do they know that I’m coming?”
“Yes,” Zeus assured him. He had called Christian while Toren slept and told him about Toren’s shift, and that they would be at the meal.
THE RECEPTION they received when they got there was everything Zeus could have hoped for. His family sat at the head table, seeming to get larger all the time. Two open seats had been left for him and Toren. He could tell Toren was a bit overwhelmed by the number of people he now understood were shifters.
“Welcome,” Christian said to Toren. “We’re really glad you came. Have a seat.”
Zeus pulled out Toren’s chair next to Jack and Seth. Max and the kids were sitting across the table.
“We know why you really came here,” Max started, causing Zeus to reach under the table to place his hand on Toren’s leg as he tensed. “I just wanted to say thank you,” he finished, looking down at Kimber and Kron. “I will never forget that you chose to protect them.”
Toren looked unsure of what to say in return.
“Here, have some potatoes.” Max handed a bowl to Zeus across the table.
“How are you doing today, Toren?” Christian asked, his alpha concern not lost on anyone.
“Still a bit overwhelmed, but I think I’m going to be okay,” Toren said in response, reaching down and caressing Zeus’s hand.
“I can’t believe you were a shifter all these years and didn’t know it,” Jack said, his face showing his amazement. “So jealous. I wish I had shifter in me,” he added, staring at Seth.
“I know,” Seth said, patting his hand.
“Well, Jack,” Ma
x said, drawing the attention across the table. “You’re mated to a shifter, so depending on what you two are into, you could have some shifter in you,” he finished, raising his brows as only Max could do.
“Seriously, you’re a parent. Have some class.” Seth’s face was completely deadpan as he looked across the table at Max.
Max looked sufficiently scolded, glancing down at Kron sleeping in his front pack. “I’m sorry, baby,” he said, kissing the top of his little head. He looked at his mate, who was currently shaking his head at him as he cut up food for Kimber. “Okay, let’s talk about something else. I brought something to show you,” Max said, sliding a picture across the table to Zeus. It was image-side down, so Zeus was a little afraid to flip it over. A flash of Seth’s bare ass running across the security camera flashed in his mind.
“What is it?” he asked, bending the corner of it to check underneath like it was the world’s flattest bomb.
“Oh, you big baby. Just flip it over,” Max said.
Zeus flipped over the picture, blocking it from Toren first in case it was incriminating in any way, but it was just a large bald man, similar in stature to himself standing next to a small lady with curly red hair like Kimber’s. “Who’s this?”
“Who is that, baby?” Max asked Kimber, pointing to the picture.
“Momma and Daddy.”
“Yes, baby,” Max said, reaching over and giving her a big hug. “We found that in their suitcase last night. It had fallen under the lining. Look how much their dad looked like you, Zeus. My baby didn’t not love me, you just reminded him of his dad.”
Zeus smiled at Max.
Toren gave his hand a gentle squeeze as he looked at the picture. This would have been Toren’s alpha had his mom not left the pack. Zeus felt a roll of nausea in his stomach at the thought of Toren wanting to leave and connect with his pack, until he looked over and saw the acceptance on Toren’s face, of this place, and these people that he called his pack, his family. They were crazy, and made him crazy, but they were his, Zeus thought, picking up and passing the potatoes down the table. Maybe someday when Kimber and Kron were older, if they wanted to return to their birth pack, Zeus and Toren could make the journey as well.
Epilogue
“COME ON, you can do it, Toren.” Seth’s motivational words made Zeus smile.
“I’m worried. What if he can’t do it?” Max said, twisting his hands together in front of him like a nervous parent. “Or what if he’s kept his wolf repressed for so long he’s all different and like missing his hind legs or something. Oh my God. If he comes out with no legs, everyone act fucking natural!” Max said, gesturing to the folks in the clearing. “No one freaks out or I swear to God, you’ll wish you didn’t have hind legs when I get through with you.”
“Okay, you need to calm down,” Seth said next to him, looking around at the others in the clearing getting ready for the pack run. “Remember you’re the omega, your gift is to calm people, and you’re stressing everyone the fuck out.”
“Sorry. He’s going to be able to do it, though, right? They’ve been practicing, right? Zeus, how’s the practicing been going?”
Zeus chose to ignore the question and stay focused on his mate.
“Are you sure he’s ready?” Max continued to ramble. “Toren, you don’t have to do this if you’re not ready. No means no, Zeus.” Max changed his tone to a failed attempt at a whisper, directed to Seth. “He looks like he’s going to get stuck again, or maybe he looks like he’s going to poop. Does he look like he’s going to poop to you? I think he’s concentrating too hard.” Max raised his voice in an attempt to support Toren. “If you accidentally poop it’s totally normal, Toren, just stay focused on the shift.” He dropped down to a whisper again. “Did that sound believable?”
“Oh my God. Please shut up,” Zeus said from Toren’s side.
This was Toren’s first pack run. He had never shifted in front of anyone but Zeus before, and he was nervous. Zeus knew that Max meant well and was obviously concerned for Toren, but he wondered again how in the hell that was their omega until he looked at Toren’s face and saw the first smile he’d had all day. It was directed at Max.
“I’m okay, Max,” Toren assured him.
Zeus relaxed in return. His mate could do this. “Okay, baby. Just close your eyes and pretend it’s just you and me again. Show me that pretty wolf.” Zeus watched his mate falling into his calm space, tuning out the ones around him. He hadn’t told anyone but Christian that they had been running on their own for a few weeks, waiting for Toren to be comfortable enough to shift at a pack run. Zeus watched as Toren’s body took the shift. And there he stood, his beautiful mate, a white wolf with large brown eyes, so opposite to his. Together they were night and day, equal complements to each other. Max and Christian clapped behind him as the rest of the pack howled in acceptance of the new member at his first pack run.
Zeus felt his mate brush up against him as he made his own shift. Zeus walked out taller than the rest, following his alpha, with his mate and pack at his sides.
They were no longer denying their fate. They stood together as a pack and embraced their fate. They were no longer afraid.
More from C.C. Dado
A Series of Fates: Book One
Fate is a funny thing. Some try to cut its threads, while others wrap themselves in it like a blanket.
Young wolf shifter Max is cocky and crass. Unlike others his age, he has yet to discover a talent that will serve his pack. Since childhood, he’s been convinced the pack alpha is his mate, but Alpha Christian cannot envision unfiltered and directionless Max taking the place of his elegant mother at the head of the pack. As Max begins to build a life with his best friend, he also begins to see that maybe what he thought was inevitable was all in his head, and it’s time to move on.
Or are they both denying fate?
A Series of Fates: Book Two
Sometimes you just have to embrace your fate.
Seth has a secret: he has a crush on the human next door. His brilliant plan to meet Jack, the man of his dreams who happens to be an animal trainer? Take wolf form and ask his best friend, Max, to take him next door for training. Seth is the only one surprised when things go horribly awry.
Still, can this shy wolf and a human meet their fate as mates?
Elliot Beck may not have been blessed with mad art skills, a crooner’s voice, or a godlike physique, but he makes up for it with an abundance of quick-witted sarcasm, massive insecurities, and a love of bad boys.
After his best friend Trevor finds him naked and tied to his bed—abandoned by his latest troublemaker—Trevor convinces him to take a chance on a nice guy. When he has an awkward encounter in the men’s restroom with a fitness instructor named Chase, he never suspects the Adonis might be his perfect bad boy.
The Seattle Chronicles
When recent college graduate Nathan Harris makes a life-changing move out from under his mother’s thumb and into his own place, he is determined to take some risks. He is tired of not being good enough, tired of allowing his fears to control him.
What he thought would be an exciting adventure ends up being one jaw-dropping mishap of embarrassment after another, leaving him with a life he doesn’t even recognize anymore.
His once boring, lonely existence has been replaced by a brownstone filled with colorful friends, a rough around the edges, tattooed bad boy best friend, and a stripper for a boyfriend who’s not even sure he’s gay.
The Seattle Chronicles
Levi can remember the exact moment the projection of his life changed entirely, from homeless dropout to college graduate. It was the day he found Jamie Donovan standing on his front porch—the boy Levi had secretly drooled over from afar would become the best friend he secretly drooled over up close.
When Levi gets a full ride scholarship but Jamie doesn’t, Jamie becomes an exotic dancer to help pay his tuition. Watching Jamie perform is pure torture for Levi, and hiding how he really fe
els starts to take its toll. And when the hot new guy from his Econ class hits on him, Levi has to decide just how long he’s going to stay devoted to his straight best friend.
C.C. DADO is a native of the Pacific Northwest and a strong believer in the power of getting lost in someone else’s story, even if it is only for a little while.
Twitter: @C_C_Dado
Email: [email protected]
By C.C. Dado
Meet-cute
One Pulse Anthology
THE SEATTLE CHRONICLES
Imposter in Zebra-striped Briefs
Say It With Ink
A SERIES OF FATES
Denying Fate
Embracing Fate
Fearing Fate
A Series of Fates Anthology
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
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www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Fearing Fate
© 2018 C.C. Dado.
Cover Art
© 2018 Brooke Albrecht.
http://brookealbrechtstudio.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
