“You could let me out,” Alex said, watching him closely. “Maybe you can give me trousers or something and I’ll be out of your hair.”
“If it’s a prank, it’s a ridiculous one,” the other man muttered to himself. “And too elaborate. Too much that could go wrong. Who’d put a wolf or a dog at risk of serious injury?”
He slammed his fist against the side of the crate, wincing at the pain and the noise. Two of the cats were hissing now. “Let me out.”
The man started, and moved back. “Look, I don’t know who you are, how you got into this crate and –”
“My name is Alex, and you put me here last night.” The other man was thinking rationally, but in completely the wrong direction. “I’m fine now, my leg’s healed.”
“You really were the wolf I hit with my car?”
“Yes.”
The other man shifted closer. “Right, okay, what happened last night?”
Alex stared at him with some surprise. “You hit me with your car, I passed out, you dragged me into your backseat and drove here.”
The man still looked sceptical. “What song was playing on the radio last night?”
Seriously, he was supposed to have been paying attention to that? “I don’t know, Aerosmith? Springsteen? It was some classic rock channel.”
“Close enough.”
“Thanks,” Alex snapped. “Now will you let me out?”
“Oh, yeah, sure.”
Alex waited, staying away from the door. He didn’t want to scare the other man off, nor did he trust himself enough not to snarl or bite at him. His wolf side wasn’t happy. When the other man stood up after opening the door, Alex crawled out, sighing with relief when he stood up. “Much better, thanks.” He turned to the other man, his wolf side pacified by the fact that he was about a head shorter than Alex. The other man posed no threat anymore, and now that Alex got a good look at him, he realised the guy was rather cute with his dark brown eyes and full lips. He wondered what the other man would look like out of that band t-shirt. He wanted food, yes, but he was also hungry for more than that.
“So, you really are a werewolf or something?” the man said, his eyes wide behind his glasses as he looked up at Alex.
“Werewolf, yes,” Alex confirmed, firmly focusing on the here and now. He was in deep enough trouble without his libido joining in. “You should probably keep quiet about that.”
The other man let out a nervous laugh. “Right, because people are gonna believe me when I tell ‘em I nearly ran over a werewolf.” He frowned. “Do I need to take you to a hospital?”
“Don’t worry, like I said, I’m fine now. We heal fast,” Alex told him. He was pleased to notice that the man didn’t smell as scared anymore. This was good, he was out of the crate, they were getting somewhere. “If I could borrow your shower and some clothes, that’d be great.”
“Of course you can! I mean, I hit you with my car, a shower and something to wear is the least I can do.” He looked Alex up and down. “Assuming I can find something that fits you.”
“I’m sure you’ll find something,” Alex replied, watching the other man and how his eyes lingered on Alex’ naked body, and he smiled. “What’s your name, anyway?”
The other man’s eyes snapped up, almost guiltily. “Nathan,” he said, holding out his hand. Alex shook it. “You were Alex, right?”
Alex nodded, and was about to ask if they could get out of the vet’s office, when his stomach rumbled.
Nathan started and jerked his hand out of Alex’ grip, then realised what had happened. “I, er, guess breakfast is also something I can do to apologise,” he offered sheepishly.
Running around all night and transforming left Alex hungry on the best of days. Add healing from an injury to that, and he was famished. “Lead the way.”
~*~
A door from the office’s hallway led to an open kitchen, and Alex decided that was a sign he should have breakfast before his shower, especially when he smelled the coffee. “I’ll pour us some,” he offered.
Nathan looked surprised, then nodded. “Sure, top cupboard on the left. I’ll, er, see if I can find you anything.”
Alex opened the cupboard, then raised an eyebrow at Nathan when he didn’t hear the other man leave. “You keep your clothes here as well?”
Nathan flushed. “No! Shit, sorry, no, I’ll – upstairs.” He sighed, and walked into the living room and through another door.
Alex grabbed two mugs, smiling to himself. Maybe he wasn’t the only one dealing with his libido. He poured the coffee, and left the one for Nathan on the counter as he sipped from his own. It was just what he needed to wake up and feel more alert. He wondered if he could persuade Nathan to satisfy more than just his hunger for food.
He gazed out the window, at the backyard. It was mostly grass, with bushes along the borders with the other neighbours and a tiled area with a few plastic chairs. Alex’ view from his apartment back in the city was an office, and Nathan’s was definitely better. Alex picked up Nathan’’s scent before he entered the room, and he turned around to greet him.
“Here, I found some sweatpants for you,” Nathan said, passing him a grey pair, his cheeks flushed. “I washed them pretty recently.”
Judging by the size, they were big enough for Alex, but way too big for Nathan. He eyed Nathan, who had gone for the coffee, and wondered who this pair of sweatpants belonged to. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Hey, you wanted breakfast, right?”
Alex nodded and put the sweatpants on. “Sure. It doesn’t have to be much, cereal with milk is fine.”
Nathan smiled at him, and opened his fridge. “No way, I owe you.” He gestured at the kitchen table. “Sit, relax. Breakfast will be served.””
“You sure you don’t need any help?” Alex asked, watching as Nathan grabbed a frying pan. The other man seemed calmer now. Maybe he had needed a moment to himself. Or maybe he had needed Alex not to be naked. Or maybe he was working up to an interrogation. Any of the explanations worked for Alex, who was happy most of Nathan’s panic had gone.
There was a newspaper lying on the kitchen table, so Alex idly leafed through it. It was either that or watch Nathan cook and that was... well, it was a lot more domestic than he was used to. Not that he minded having someone make him breakfast, it really was the least Nathan could do. But he also couldn’t ignore the fact that this was the closest he’d been to a date ever since he had become a werewolf. He had had his fair share of one-night-stands over the past few years, and he had always left quickly in the morning. The only reason he was still here was because he hadn’t been able to get out and what did that say about him?
“Fried eggs with cheese, bacon and toast,” Nathan announced proudly, shoving a plate across the table. “Eat up.”
The delicious smell drove all other thoughts out of his mind, and Alex had finished half a slice of toast before Nathan passed him a knife and fork.
“You really are hungry, huh? I can make some more,” Nathan offered, clearly surprised at the speed with which Alex ate.
“Please,” Alex said, swallowing some of the fried egg and toast. He felt a little bad that Nathan’s portion was getting cold, but not enough to tell Nathan to stop frying him another egg.
Alex managed to finish his second round before Nathan was even halfway through his first, and Nathan stared at him. “Seriously, how do you eat that much, that fast?”
“Werewolf,” Alex replied, and got up to pour them both more coffee. “You try turning into a wolf and back in the same night.” He gave Nathan a level stare. “Being nearly run over didn’t help either.”
Nathan sat back. “I’m really sorry about that, I really am. You’re not gonna eat me, are you?” He sounded genuinely scared, and Alex laughed.
“Of course not, I’m human for most of the month, I’m not a cannibal.” He took an apple from the fruit bowl and sat down next to Nathan. “Thanks for breakfast, it was great.”
“When I hit
you... you were bleeding severely, or it looked severe,” Nathan told him, glancing up at him over his glasses. “But when I got you here...””
“We heal fast,” Alex told him. “You probably did break a few bones, but I’m fine now.”
Nathan didn’t look reassured. “I should’ve known something was going on when you were being so docile. An injured wolf should’’ve been trying to tear my arm off, even with a muzzle on.”
“You had syringes,” Alex said. “And I was stuck as a wolf until the morning. There was nothing I could do.”
There was pity in Nathan’s eyes when he smiled at Alex. “And to add insult to injury, I stuck you in a dog crate.”
“With a squeaky toy,” Alex grumbled. He was still annoyed by that. He had his dignity, as man and wolf. He took a vicious bite from the apple.
“It was still lying in there from the previous dog. Y’know, if you’re still hungry, there’s cereal and –” Nathan was interrupted by his phone, which had been lying on the kitchen table next to the fruit bowl. He glared at the screen, sighed, and answered it. “What?” He stood up with his coffee and walked into the living room.
Alex watched him. It was clearly a private conversation, and he hummed to himself. Sometimes having heightened senses was a pain in the ass. He still picked up enough from the conversation to know that whoever was on the phone was someone Nathan didn’t like at all, as Nathan tried to argue quietly and Alex could smell the anger on him.
The fact that Nathan shouted, “Well, fuck you too, Chris!” after hanging up was also a bit of a giveaway. “Asshole,” he muttered, as he walked back to the table. He prodded at his fried egg. “Completely forgot he was gonna come over.”
“Who?”
Nathan sighed. “Chris. Arrogant, smug asshole of an ex-boyfriend. I’ve been telling him to get his stuff for days.” He stuck his fork in his toast unnecessarily hard. “I told him he could even come by when I was out, I mean, Mrs. Wilson next door would’ve let him in. What with you, I’d completely forgotten he was picking his stuff up this morning.””
“How soon?” Alex asked. Did this mean he was gonna have to go before he could get a shower? Because he had been looking forward to being clean. And spending some more time with a Nathan who wasn’t stabbing his breakfast.
“Fifteen minutes or so,” Nathan said, slumping in his chair. “Don’t worry, I’m not telling you to get out. Not for him, I don’t care what he thinks. Let him assume you’re some one-night-stand or whatever, he’s had plenty since we broke up three weeks ago and...” He paused, then turned to Alex. “Would you mind that?”
“What?” Because Nathan probably wasn’t offering an actual one-night-stand. Alex definitely wouldn’t say no to that, and now that he knew for certain Nathan was into guys, the way Nathan had been looking at him made a lot more sense.
“You know,” Nathan replied, glancing down at his plate. “Pretending that we...”
“Had sex?” Alex asked when Nathan trailed off. He paused, watching Nathan’s cheeks flush. “You want me to do you a favour after you nearly killed me?” He was exaggerating, but it was fun to make Nathan squirm.
“No! I didn’t, did I? Nearly kill you? You said you guys heal fast, you’re fine!” Nathan’s eyes were wide as he looked Alex up and down. “You are, right?”
He grabbed a piece of Nathan’s toast, and ate it leisurely. “It could’ve been a lot worse,” he said, glancing at Nathan. “You and Chris had a bad break-up, then?”
“Bad doesn’t begin to cover it,” Nathan replied. He was still wary of Alex, but relaxed a little. “We moved in together about eight months ago and shit hit the fan. Suddenly, he hated living here, and he accused me of not having time for him, even though he was out every night when I was home. Like me working long hours was a completely surprise to him. Besides, I can’t ignore emergencies, can I?” He sighed. “I was coming back from one last night, bit of a colic problem over at the Johnsons.”
“I’m guessing this isn’t how you wanted to start your weekend,” Alex ventured. He didn’t know a lot about horses, but he knew colic could get pretty bad. “Late night, running over a werewolf, and an ex dropping by.”
Nathan smiled wanly. “They say bad luck comes in threes, right? So things have got to be looking up for me now.”
Alex could think of a few ways to make Nathan’s bad luck turn around.
“So, you’re okay with pretending to be a one-night-stand or not?” Nathan asked, finishing his coffee.
From what he had heard, Chris the Ex certainly sounded like he could use a lesson in humility. And it wouldn’t be a hardship to pretend to have slept with a cute guy like Nathan. “Sure, no problem.”
Nathan glanced at him. “Really? None?”
Alex shrugged and sipped his coffee. “None,” he said, smiling slowly at Nathan.
“Oh, okay. Great.” Nathan sounded surprised Alex had agreed so easily now. “Well, you won’t need to do much. You sitting here half-naked early in the morning is probably enough to make him jump to conclusions.”
“All right,” Alex said, leaning closer, “so I’m guessing you want to rub his face in it.” This was the perfect excuse to get close with Nathan, and annoying a rival appealed to his wolf side.
Nathan shifted in his seat, not meeting Alex’ eyes. “It’d make a nice change,” he muttered. “I’m pretty sure half his Facebook updates are massive lies, but still, y’know? It’s a dick move.”
He shouldn’t want to help the guy who locked him in a dog crate last night, but Nathan had apologised and made him breakfast. And, well, not a lot of people would go through the trouble of taking care of him like Nathan had. Besides, Alex had a soft spot for pleading brown eyes. “So how far do you want to push this?” he asked. “Am I supposed to stay close? Touch you a lot? Kiss you right in front of him?”
“Uhm,” Nathan said, cheeks a brighter red now. “Sure. I mean, you know, whatever feels natural? But don’t overdo it,” he added.
Alex smirked as he finished his coffee. There was a slight hint of arousal to Nathan’s scent now. Good. “Trust me, I won’t do anything I wouldn’t want to anyway. And one more thing, can I use your phone to make a quick call? I should let someone know I’m all right.” It was almost an hour after sunrise, and he still wasn’t at the designated meeting point. His phone, his clothes, everything was in one of the cabins usually reserved for hikers and tourists. The others had to be worried by now.
“Oh, of course.” Nathan slid his phone over. “I’ll be upstairs, making sure I’ve really packed up all of Chris’ things.”
Alex nodded and dialled Richard’s number. It wasn’t long before the older man picked up.
“Where the hell are you?” Richard said, while Nathan left the room and headed upstairs.
“Had a bit of an, er, accident,” he explained quickly. “Got hit by a car, but I’m fine now.”
Richard grunted. “So why aren’t you here?”
Alex sighed. Time to bite the bullet. “The guy who hit me was the vet. He took me home to examine me.”
Richard was quiet for a moment, then burst out laughing. “And he kept you overnight, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” Alex muttered. “And now he knows about werewolves.”
“Alex...” Richard’s amusement faded.
“Hey, you transformed in front of that hiker last night,” Alex immediately told him. “You can’t get angry with me about that.”
Richard grunted again. “We’re gonna have to tell the others,” he said. “I’ll tell ‘em you’re fine, but we’ll wait with telling them about being found out until you get here.”
No doubt Richard didn’t want to be only one to have the rest of the pack angry for allowing non-werewolves to find out about their existence. Alex didn’t blame him. “Sure, I don’t know when exactly I’m gonna be there, might be this afternoon.” It all depended on how things were gonna go with Nathan.
“Just get your run-over ass here as soon as possible, ok
ay? And stay out of trouble.” With those last words of wisdom, Richard hung up.
Alex put the phone on the table, and figured he should have some time for the shower Nathan had promised him he could have.
~*~
Alex let out a happy sigh as he showered, and checked his thigh to make sure the wound had healed properly. There wasn’t even a scar. It felt good to wash the smell of dog and vet office off his body along with everything else. He wouldn’t have gone for lemon-scented shower gel himself, but it was better than nothing.
He heard a car drive up to the house, and a few minutes later he heard some shouting. Nathan and Chris were clearly still be pissed off with each other. Still, it was none of his business, and he wasn’t here to be a relationship therapist, he was here to pretend to be Nathan’s one-night-stand. Alex felt sure that if he played his cards right, it wouldn’t be a pretence for long.
After turning off the shower and using a towel to dry himself, he grabbed the sweatpants. They had to be Chris’, that explained the bigger size. Hell, Nathan probably hoped that Chris would get annoyed by seeing another guy wear his clothes. The drama was the one thing he didn’t miss about relationships.
With some luck, Alex’ presence would be enough to get the message across that Chris was here to pick up his stuff and get out. Alex planned on getting the hell out himself if the arguing lasted too long. He had his breakfast and his shower, after all, and with some luck he’d be able to make it to the cabin without attracting too much attention. The streets were usually quiet around here on a Saturday morning.
~*~
He opened the door to the living room quietly, wanting to survey the scene for a moment. Chris was taller than Nathan by a good couple of inches, and broader too. Nathan was backed up against the kitchen counter, but gave back as good as he got from the other man, who was clearly trying to intimidate him.
“I have to drive all the way up here just to get my stuff, Nate, three hours of my day wasted on you. Seriously, how much effort is it to drive by my new place?”
Three Wild Werewolf Tales Page 5
