“You might need to be more specific.”
“About, uh, fucking. Like two men do it.”
“Ass sex, you mean?”
I choked at the easy way he said it. “Yeah.”
“I’ve done it with a woman.” He chuckled at my reaction. “You didn’t think women might like that? She did. Plus she really, truly did not want to end up pregnant. It was a lot of fun. It’s not something I can’t live without, though, if you don’t like the idea.”
“We’d have to figure out who would…”
“Be on the bottom?” Micah shrugged, like that wasn’t a big deal. “I guess, if we ever get up the gumption, we’ll try it and see who likes what.”
“You’re awfully calm for a guy who thought he was normal just a few hours ago.”
“I’m a werewolf. That’s not normal.” He waved off my exasperated snort. “Yeah, I get it. But it’s not like this wasn’t sitting in the back of my mind all these years, shaping me even when I didn’t realize it. I think despite the pack tradition bullshit, being a wolf helped, too.”
“Helped?” Micah and I were the most unnatural things an Alpha could imagine.
But Micah nodded. “Sure. We’re already outside human society. We don’t age like them, don’t heal like them, don’t live by their rules. I don’t abide by their hunting regulations, I lie to them when I need to. My mom got a lot of nasty whispers from humans about being a dark-skinned foreigner, but inside the packs, we didn’t care. Why should I care what humans say abouthomosexuals? My wolf likes you. He’s not worried or disgusted when we kiss.”
“Mine, too.” I came to a stop sign and took a second to close my eyes and seek down inside me. My wolf felt happier and more settled than he had in years, maybe ever.
“You gonna drive?” Micah prompted me.
“Sorry.” I checked both ways and stepped on the gas.
“I bet it’s like the lions,” Micah mused. “Being homosexual doesn’t seem to worry actual wild critters. All that bullshit in the packs over queer wolves is probably a human-side thing. It’s illegal, it’s not normal for humans, it’s blackmail material, and so on and so on. Protect the pack! Destroy the homosexuals! My wolf doesn’t care.”
I spoke aloud a hope I’d been nursing all week. “We could be pack, of sorts, you and I. A new pack that’s fine with men like us.” My wolf rose at that thought, eager, pressing me forward.
“A pack of two, then. Except, who would be Alpha?”
Good question. I was stronger, a better fighter, could probably beat him in a formal Challenge. Except I wouldn’t try. And Micah had led us through all our escapades as boys. “Probably you.”
“Ooh, I’d get to boss you around.” He shook his head. “Maybe we won’t have an Alpha. I don’t think either of us should have that power over each other.”
“Odd kind of pack.”
“We’re odd kinds of men.”
“True.”
Micah reached over and set his hand on my thigh, the warmth of his fingers seeping through the fabric and into my once-cold heart. “You and me, Lee. Like we were meant to be from the start. To hell with what the world thinks or what the packs would think. What matters is you and me.”
I was a dozen yards from pulling into the police station. Then we’d have to be casual friends who worked together while filling out the paperwork to protect Peggy Fletcher’s future. But I had just enough time for five more words. “Love you,” I said. “Then, now, always.”
Micah smirked at me as I took the turn. “Me, too,” he said. And although his words reminded me of a moment that had turned to bitter dust and ashes in my past, they sounded different now. His hand stayed on my leg until I parked and turned off the engine. Our future shone, bright as the sun, as we exchanged one more glance, pulled the pretense of “just friends” around us, and headed into the sheriff’s station, together.
Epilogue – five months later
Micah
I kept well below the speed limit as I hit the edge of Highcrest’s little downtown. Sheriff Tomlinson didn’t like me any better for having found out I wasn’t destitute. I was still an intruder in his small town, perhaps all the more irritating for not falling into the simple category of “out-of-work bum.”
According to the sheriff, I was weird for keeping a room here, even if it was close to Yellowstone’s wildlife. Lee was weird for becoming my friend and being willing to rent to someone like me. Tomlinson didn’t like weird things in his tidy world. I’d told more war stories than I liked around him, to keep him sweet.
The townsfolk had mixed opinions. I rarely worked with Lee these days unless a job went much better with two, but a couple of the homeowners hadn’t wanted me inside their houses. Thatwould’ve bothered me more if I never got out of Highcrest, but I’d spent the last month where I was looked at with suspicion for being lighter-skinned and richer than most of the locals. The world was a big place, with room for everyone.
