Lessons Learned

by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

  “God, I really need to do more homework on shape shifters. This is the second time we’ve encountered this guy and he was even more cryptic than last time! He’s probably a flea or a tick right now!”

  Vince chuckled. “Nik, calm down. We can’t change it or do anything about it right now, so let’s pull ourselves together and move out.”

  Nikolai looked around the room. “Yeah, okay.”

  ~*~

  Mateo grinned. They’d caught the rogues off balance when they’d shifted. The rogues were used to fighting the team as humans; this time, they’d surprised them. Sam ripped one of the rogues’ throat out, snarling as it whimpered between his canines. Troy had decapitated one and was now advancing on another. The yellow-eyed bastards couldn’t shift fast enough and were now sitting ducks as the team took them out one by one.

  The Santorno team was working the other side of the large underground cavern, reporting in that they had found more half-naked women and some children. This is where their expertise came in. Damon Santorno was the best at placing displaced children in new homes. Reece Costa and Brett Trevino, doctors on the Santorno team, would be the ones tending to the women and children.

  Mateo, still in human form, flipped the sword in his hand and aimed his gun at one of the rogues in the corner, who had his gun trained on Troy. He tsked and squeezed the trigger. Brain matter hit the wall as the rogue went down in a heap. Mateo spun around, catching another rogue right behind him.

  “Damn, you guys are slow. Must be all the fumes you inhale.”

  An explosion rocked the room at the same time a burning hot pain shot through Mateo’s shoulder. He glanced up to see Petey smiling at him. Another shot rang out and Mateo fell back on the ground. Just as he was about to fire back, a form took shape in front of him.

  Petey smiled broadly. “Well, well, Killian. How good it is to see you.”

  “I cannot say the same,” Killian snarled. “You have been playing with magic you have no clue how to control.”

  “It’s been nice seeing you again. Say hello to your parents for me.” Petey frowned. “Oh wait, you can’t, can you?” A feral smile crossed his lips.

  “I will kill you; it is only a matter of time, Peter.” Killian scowled as Petey disappeared. He turned back to see Mateo Esposito staring at him. “What?”

  “Why would you shield me?”

  “You are not human.” Killian turned to leave.

  “Not all humans are bad.” Mateo closed his eyes as his lupine counterpart ejected the bullets from his body.

  Killian stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Tell that to my parents.”

  Mateo stood as Killian shifted into a bat and flew off.

  “God, that’s just so awesome.” Mateo turned to see Hayden behind him holding a lifeless rogue. “Did you see that?” Mateo grinned.

  Hayden nodded. “Let’s get this done with.”

  ~*~

  After their debriefing, the guys went their separate ways to shower and relax. Hayden moaned as the hot water from the shower massaged his sore shoulders. Jude’s head was tipped back against his chest, his arms wrapped behind Hayden’s neck.

  “Babe?” Jude threaded his fingers in Hayden’s hair.

  “Hmm?”

  “Do you think it’s weird that Mateo only fights in human form? I mean he’s a werewolf now, just like we are.”

  Hayden bent his head and nibbled on Jude’s ear.

  “Well, he really only shifts for Matty; the little pup’s pretty hard to deal with otherwise. Mateo is used to being one thing, an assassin. Some habits are hard to break. I get it, though. He’s been doing this for a long time as a human, and he’s the best at it. He doesn’t want to rely on his wolf form.

  “Do you miss it?” Jude looked up into Hayden’s eyes.

  “What?”

  “Being human.” Jude turned in Hayden’s arms and searched his face.

  Hayden caressed Jude’s face. “No. If my father hadn’t changed me, I’d be dead, Jude. A life without you is not a life I want to live.”

  Jude wrapped his arms around Hayden’s waist and lifted his head for a kiss.

  “Good answer.”

  Hayden grinned. “I know.”

  “What about Vince, Derek, James and the rest of the humans? I mean, time is not on their side. And I don’t want to lose them.”

  Hayden licked Jude’s bottom lip. “They’re discussing the benefits. I gotta say, though, the thought of Devin Lyons and Andrei Panchenko as werewolves is very disturbing.”

  “No shit,” Jude chuckled.

  “I’d love to see Keegan and Vince as werewolves, though.”

  “I’d love to see Keegan put Vince in his place,” Jude laughed.

  “He does that already.”

  Both of them laughed. Jude looked down at Hayden’s rising erection.

  “Ready to go take care of that?”

  “Oh, hell yeah.”

  ~*Chapter Thirteen*~

  Dasan sighed as Hayden raced around the kitchen. He’d been in school for over a month, yet Hayden acted like it was his first day every day.

  “Do you have lunch money?” Hayden grabbed his wallet.

  “Yes, I still have money from yesterday.” Dasan lifted a questioning brow. “Are you trying to make me fat?”

  Hayden stopped and looked at Dasan. “No. Are you eating healthy at school? Don’t forget we’re going running at Cougar Mountain after school today, so be sure to get your homework and come straight home.”

  “Do you need air?” Dasan leaned against the counter with a grin.

  Hayden’s brows furrowed. “I’m being overprotective, huh?”

  Dasan held his fingers a bare inch apart. “Just a tad.”

  “Sorry,” Hayden sighed and slumped into the kitchen chair. “I just want you to have a semi-normal life. Being a werewolf and a gay teenage boy isn’t the easiest life.”

  “You’d know?” Dasan huffed. He’d heard Hayden hadn’t always been a werewolf.

  “Yes, I would. Remind me to tell you the story of Jude and me.” Hayden tried to smile.

  “I heard the cake story.”

  “There’s more.” Hayden grimaced.

  “Is Jude coming?”

  “Yes, he gets off work at five. He really wants to run in tiger form.” Hayden smiled at the thought of Jude.

  “Aw, look at you all lovey-dovey,” Dasan chuckled. “I have to go. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

  “Don’t forget — ”

  “Yep, eat healthy, homework, straight home,” Dasan laughed and left the kitchen.

  “Smartass,” Hayden grumbled with a grin. He cocked his head to the side. “Lev?”

  “Yeah. Hey, I was trying to stay out of it.” Lev entered the kitchen.

  “You don’t have to, you know. He’s known you longer, and you were his protector. You have every right to have a say in how we take care of him.”

  “You and Jude are doing an excellent job. You both have jobs and made a stable home for him. Dasan’s very happy here. Besides,” Lev chuckled. “You’re both more powerful than me and can protect him.”

  “We won’t be more powerful for long. I’m sure Wayne will make you part of this line. You’ve become an asset.”

  Lev grinned. “I hope so. I’ve never seen anything as scary as Wayne in wolf form.” He cocked his head to the side. “Except for Jude when he ripped Walter apart.”

  Lev laughed as Hayden beamed at his words. The man was proud of his mate.

  “By the way, I’m glad you tucked away Dasan’s inheritance.”

  “Well, he asked for it to be put into a trust. He can’t touch it until he’s twenty-one. That’s what he wanted, so that’s what we did.” Hayden tilted his head looking at Lev. “Speaking of here, do you plan on staying in Washington?”

  Lev threaded a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. Now that I know Chaz is still here, I don’t want to run into him and piss him off again.”

  “Should I ask?” Hayd
en tilted his head.

  “Let’s just say I hurt him pretty damn bad.” Lev grabbed a coffee cup and filled it, inhaling the aroma of French coffee. “Ross and Noah offered me your old room; I might take them up on it, I guess. I have nowhere else to be.” Lev turned back to Hayden and blew on the hot liquid.

  Hayden searched Lev’s face. “You love Chaz.”

  “Always will.” Lev looked around the kitchen. “We should clean this place up. You know how Jude gets.”

  Hayden shuddered. “Yeah, I do.”

  “The big, bad beta-Delta Force guy is scared of Jude?” Lev chuckled.

  “Dude, just wait. When it comes to the house? Run.”

  ~*~

  The guys ran full out in wolf form, except for Jude who ran as a tiger. Hayden ran close by, marveling at the beauty that was Jude. They’d settled into life as a couple and Hayden knew he was going to marry the man who had occupied his thoughts since he was thirteen. The rest of the pack was keeping up with them, Nicholas Stevens up front. Jude’s brothers had taken the news of their brother being different in stride. They didn’t care; he was still their Jude.

  They would be leaving for Nadine and Joe’s the following day for Thanksgiving. Nadine had begged and, well, when Nadine begged, you had to relent. Hayden couldn’t wait to see Matty and Maggie; he’d really missed the babies. And everyone enjoyed visiting the reservation; it was so peaceful.

  A paw slapped him on his back and Hayden went down with a grunt. Jude stood over him, canines in full view. Wolf canines were long; tigers’ were much longer.

  “You love this, don’t you?” Hayden chuckled.

  “What? The fact that I’m finally bigger than you? Hell, yeah I do.”

  Hayden rolled to his back and gave Jude what he hoped was a seductive look.

  Jude licked Hayden’s muzzle. “Slut.”

  Hayden chuckled inwardly. “Only for you, babe.”

  “So.” Scott flipped his tail in Jude’s face. “Are we getting the kids together tonight? Ethan loves Dasan.”

  “We can do that. Wyatt, are you bringing Gage?” Hayden looked over his shoulder at Wyatt and Preston nuzzling each other, Preston’s white coat a sharp contrast to Wyatt’s pitch black one.

  “Yep,” Wyatt nodded. “I love the fact that, slowly, all of us are having children. Now if only Xander and Grayson would get on board.” Wyatt narrowed his eyes at his brothers and their mates.

  “Hey, we will at some point!” Xander snorted.

  “There’s something to be said for intimate alone time?” Grayson raised a brow.

  “You can still have that; just lock the door,” Tristan chuckled.

  Hayden looked up at the Washington sky. His life was finally complete. He had Jude and Dasan.

  “Come on, slowpoke.” Jude batted at Hayden’s tail with his paw.

  “Can you not extend your claws so far out?” Hayden shuddered.

  Jude winked. “Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  Howls filled the mountain as the pack ran together.

  Always a united front.

  Always together.

  ~*~

  Killian sat up in a tree, observing the humans and werewolves below. He’d tagged along with Hayden and Jude on their plane ride back from the mission. It was nice to be able to take any form; he’d hidden in their baggage. Right now, Hayden was with Jude, watching children shoot each other with balls of paint. Of course, anything violent was fun for humans.

  His tail twitched and his nose wrinkled as a smell drifted up from below him somewhere. A dark-haired boy was hiding behind a hay bale, peeking up from time to time. It was alluring, whatever the scent was.

  He’d decided to take on the form of a squirrel, hiding in the high branches with a good vantage point. Five boys had arrived with Jude and Hayden; something was different about all of them. He couldn’t pinpoint it, but they were more than just human.

  Suddenly, pain sliced through his chest and Killian was knocked out of the tree.

  Laughter floated on the wind and he looked up to see three large boys looking down on him with feral grins.

  “Hey! Get away from that squirrel!”

  Killian looked to his left. The dark-haired boy was reaching for him. He tried to move only to realize he’d hurt his back leg in the fall. He moved it tentatively and hissed inwardly. It wasn’t broken, but it hurt like hell. The dark-haired boy was removing his game vest and tearing at the bottom of his T-shirt.

  “Hey there, buddy. I won’t hurt you, okay? My name is Stone. I’m just going to take this paint off of you, okay?”

  Killian stared at the kid. If he could have dropped his mouth open in surprise, he would have.

  “Like the rodent understands you,” one of the boys sneered. “It’s probably got fleas.”

  “Probably has rabies, too,” one of the other boys chimed in.

  Killian jerked his head and growled, only it came out as a series of chirps. Oh, how menacing I am, all cute and fluffy.

  Stone looked up at the bigger kids and frowned. They were part of another group. “You think this is funny? You could have killed it!” Stone wiped at the red paint. The squirrel seemed content to just lie there in his hand and let him, so what the hell? So far it hadn’t tried to bite him.

  “I think he broke his leg or something.” Stone furrowed his brows. “I wonder if a vet would treat him.”

  Killian’s head jerked back to the boy who was cleaning him up. Stone. He had said his name was Stone.

  Vet? Oh hell no! Vets take testicles.

  Stone stood up and looked for Hayden and Jude. He whistled for Skylar and Ryder. The two made their way over with Dasan and Elijah.

  “What’s up?” Skylar eyed the animal in Stone’s hand. “Dude, why are you holding a squirrel?”

  “These asses decided to shoot him out of the tree,” Stone explained. “I think he hurt his leg or something.”

  “Um, he looks okay now.” Dasan motioned to the squirrel.

  Killian wiggled his leg and twitched his tail. He was amazed at how good he felt, better than before actually. Who’d have thought being held by a human would be a good experience?

  Stone focused his attention back on the squirrel. It did look better and he’d gotten most of the paint off. He set it down gently and backed away. Throwing a look at the older kids, he frowned at them.

  “Hurting animals isn’t funny. It’s serial killer behavior.”

  “What did you just say to me?” One of the boys got in Stone’s face.

  “I think you heard me,” Stone said evenly. He was done with getting his ass kicked. He was going to fight back from now on.

  “Yeah, I think you heard him.” Skylar stepped forward. “There’s three of you and five of us. Want to place bets?”

  “That’s seven of us, and three of you. And my boyfriend and I don’t fight fair.” Hayden stood behind the boys, holding Jude’s hand. “Oh, and one crack about gays and I’m putting you down.”

  Jude had to smile as the older teenagers mumbled under their breaths and walked away. He grinned at the kids.

  “I love how you guys stick up for each other. I’m so proud of you.” Jude mussed Dasan’s hair.

  “Dude, the ’do!” Dasan chuckled and pushed Jude’s hand away.

  “You have paint in your hair, dude,” Jude laughed.

  “Who wants to get ice cream?” Hayden chuckled as the boys let out whoops and hollers and ran for the main building. He looked over his shoulder. A squirrel was staring at him. Weird.

  “So, ice cream and then sex?” Jude snickered, squeezing Hayden’s ass to get his attention.

  “How about we take some to go and have fun with the ice cream during sex?”

  “I like it.” Jude leaned forward and kissed Hayden.

  Killian watched as Hayden and Jude walked back towards the main building. This was his first jaunt into the human world. Up until now, he’d shied away from humans. After what had been done to him and his pare
nts, he didn’t trust humans at all. The child, Stone, had held him as if he were precious. It had to be a fluke. This required more study. Killian scratched at his stomach and looked down.

  “Great, I DO have fleas.”

  ~*Epilogue*~

  “Where’s the turkey?” Riley Flynn-Esposito looked at the counter where a twenty-five pound turkey had been sitting mere seconds ago.

  His husband, Mateo, sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, no.”

  “Come back here!”

  Riley’s shoulders slumped at the sound of Hayden’s voice. One of the kids had the turkey.

  “Matty Romeo Esposito!” Mateo growled.

  Maggie giggled, slapping her hands together.

  “Atty!” she squealed.

  Matty trotted into the kitchen with Kane. Both had a drumstick clamped between their canines. Hayden came in with the remainder of the turkey and put it on the large serving plate it had once occupied.

  “Well, there’s some stuffing in the hallway,” he offered helpfully.

  “Peachie,” Riley sighed in exasperation.

  “Ten second rule?” Mateo turned to see Riley frowning. “No?”

  “No.” Riley picked some lint off the turkey.

  Josh walked into the kitchen and surveyed all the sad faces.

  “I’ll still eat it. I don’t give a shit where it’s been.” Josh winked at Riley.

  Laughter erupted in the kitchen and Riley slapped Josh’s bicep.

  The front door opened and voices carried down the hallway.

  “We’re here!” Vince walked into the kitchen with his husband, Keegan, and stopped. “Why all the long faces?”

  Riley motioned to Matty and Kane on the floor ripping into the drumsticks.

  “Ah, I see. Good thing Keegan brought a turkey then, huh?”

  Riley grinned. “And that’s why I love you guys.”

  “Where’s Nadine?” Keegan looked around.

  “Shopping. She should be back soon so let’s get this all ready.” Riley grabbed the platter and narrowed his eyes at Matty and Kane. “Enjoy it, that’s all you’re getting!”

  The massive group sat around the dining room table laughing and re-telling stories of the past. Hayden held Jude’s hand and kissed the top of it. With Dasan in their lives, it seemed as if they were becoming a family, and Hayden welcomed it. He had Ross and Noah, and even Jonas, but now he had a family of his own. Jude’s fingers squeezed his and Hayden glanced over at him. His brows were slightly furrowed and Hayden smiled, leaning in to kiss him softly.