“Shit.” He grabbed the rag he’d been using and put it over his knuckles. “Sorry. You scared the bejeezus out of me, man.”
“Yeah, um…” Ryan waved his hand a little bit. “I think you need to talk to Theo and stuff. Like right now.”
Ryan was the color of milk. It was a little unnerving.
“What’s wrong?”
“I hate to tell you this, but you’re all fuzzy on the face, and your eyes are kind of weird, bro.” Ryan pointed to his mouth, and he touched his lips, then jerked his fingers away.
So, that was longer than he expected.
“Huh.” He very carefully set the wrench down. “Make yourself at home. I’ll be right back.”
“Right on, man. I’ll get this taken care of. I know how.”
He vaguely heard Ryan whistling as he hunted his lover, sniffing hard.
Mate, are you okay?
I don’t know. Ryan says my hand got cut.It was getting hard to think. Really all he wanted to do was… scratch.
Cut!Theo came wandering up, little Gael in his arm, frowning at him, and then Theo blinked. “Oh. Oh, my. Come on, let’s take off your clothes, and I’m going to see if Ryan can watch the baby.”
“Watch the baby? Why should he be watching the baby?”
“Because I don’t want you to bite him by accident. First shifts are challenging, at least so I’ve heard. I don’t remember mine. Just take off your clothes. I’ll be right back.”
Why on earth did Theo sound so damned satisfied?
He smelled so good, and Liam wanted to follow him, but he’d said to wait right there and take off his clothes, so Liam stripped down, shaking, his hands and arms not his own…
Theo walked back into the bedroom, body relaxed, and began stripping down as well.
Mate, I’m worried.He used his mind because his mouth wasn’t making words.
“Don’t worry, this is normal, natural, easy. It’s just your first time, so you haven’t practiced.” Theo stood there before him, and then slowly his mate began to change. Long white hair became white fur, hands became paws, and face lengthened into a lovely wolf.
Suddenly, they were staring at one another, and his tail was wagging.
His… tail was wagging.Mate, I have a tail.
Theo nodded to him, his head bouncing up and down. His tongue lolled out, and he said,You do. It’s lovely. You’re quite red. It is a beautiful color. I hope our baby is red like you.
I want him to be white. Liam wanted a baby who looked like Theo. But then, Gael would, right?
Do you want to come run?Theo asked him, blue eyes lit up from within.
Yes, should you? I don’t want anyone to hurt you or the baby.
No one will hurt us.Theo smiled at him, long teeth gleaming in the sunlight, and their muzzles rubbed together. The scent of his mate was an explosion in the base of his brain.This is a safe space. This is our territory.
Our territory.He chuffed softly, his body shivering.Let’s go! I guess it doesn’t have to happen on a full moon.
No, and it doesn’t take a silver bullet either. Those are stories. We’re not fiction.
No, no they weren’t fiction. Not at all. In fact, he didn’t feel the slightest bit fictional.
They headed out the door, which Theo had thoughtfully left open for them, not even acknowledging Ryan as he walked by.
