by Sean Michael
“Do you think it’ll happen again?” He wanted it to. He wanted to change with the moon.
“The sun’s going down. It’ll happen. You and me, we’re going to run. We’re going to hunt tonight, together.”
He squeezed Barker’s fingers. “What if I don’t know how to hunt?”
“I’ll teach you.”
He nodded, decided to just let go for a minute or two and stop worrying.
Barker rubbed their cheeks together and whispered, “Everything’s going to be just fine.” Then Barker took his mouth, body grinding against his, pushing him into the mattress.
It was so easy to open, to feel without the constant pressure of shame and pain everywhere. Barker tasted like pleasure and excitement, and his hands felt like heaven on Cody’s skin. Cody started exploring, searching Barker’s chest, tugging on the dark curls. Grunting, Barker pushed against him, their cocks bumping, sliding.
He groaned. “Fuck my mouth.” He wanted to know if Barker tasted different.
Growling, Barker broke their kiss and climbed his body, knees coming to rest against his pits. The thick cock, a drop of liquid on the tip, was right there for him.
“Mate. Want you.” He grinned up, hands drawing Barker in. The flavor exploded inside him and he growled, suddenly ravenous.
Barker grabbed hold of the headboard and pushed his cock in deep, a low sound torn from his throat.
Hungry. Cody was so hungry. He pulled hard, swallowed around the tip of Barker’s prick.
“Fuck! Mate!” Growling, Barker began to rock his hips, cock sliding out and back in again.
He sucked harder, needing more than he’d ever needed. Barker seemed to pick up on his hunger, the thick cock pushing in faster and faster, spreading his lips wide. The flavors were huge, wild, like Barker, but more. Bigger.
Barker moaned and groaned, pushing in almost desperately. Cody clamped down, lips around the base of Barker’s cock, pulling hard.
“Mate!” Barker cried out, humping into his mouth a couple of times before cum poured down his throat.
Cody’s cock bobbed, his balls tightening as he was filled with the scent and taste of his mate. One of Barker’s hands slid through his hair, pushing it back over his face while he licked and lapped, cleaning that fat prick off.
“Fucking good.” Barker pulled slowly out. “What do you want?”
He grabbed Barker’s hand, got it around his aching cock. It wouldn’t take much. A pleased sound rumbled from Barker’s throat, the hand around his cock tugging and tight. He met Barker’s eyes, panting.
“Mate.” Barker growled out the word.
“Yes. Yes, your mate. Fuck, tell me I’m not dreaming.”
“You’re not dreaming, Cody. Doesn’t this feel real?” Barker squeezed his cock tight.
“Yes. God, yes. Mate, I changed! I don’t hurt and the moon is coming!”
“It is. Soon. Come for me before the sun sets.”
Cody nodded, his toes curling. “Harder.”
Barker rubbed the tip of his prick, pushing into his slit before the jacking off got harder.
“Fuck. Fuck. Mate.” Mate.
“Mine.” Barker put his head back and howled.
Cody shot, his entire body jerking with it.
Groaning, Barker rubbed his cum into his belly, gaze holding his.
“Yours.” He moaned, the sound rumbling through him.
“That’s right.” He could see Barker’s eyes begin to glow, the room getting darker as dusk crept in.
“Tell me I’ll change, too.”
“You will. We’ll change together and we’ll run. We’ll run through the forest and hunt and howl at the moon.”
“You swear it?” Cody would believe. He would.
“I swear it, mate.” Barker’s eyes were getting brighter, his voice even rougher.
“M-m-m-m-m-mate.”
Cody groaned, his muscles rolling, and he tensed in anticipation of pain. When it didn’t come, he woofed, happy. Barker leaped from the bed, barking in reply, calling to him. He bounced over, tail wagging furiously. Barker bit at his muzzle, growling and barking.
Mate! Mate! His world spun and he pounced, nudged, whined with excitement.
Barker licked him once and then bounded away, calling him to follow his mate into the woods. Cody’s paws dug into the ground, claws catching as they ran. Barker turned, running a circle around him, chuffing happily. He followed, head down, nostrils twitching.
Barker began to weave through the trees, nose to the ground. He followed, curious, sniffing. Barker barked and waited there, vibrating. Cody crept closer, nose to the ground, then he smelled it, suddenly, violently. Food. Food. Barker yipped, nosed him, and took off. Food.
He followed, running at his Alpha’s heels, entire focus on the hunt, on the prey, the…rabbit. Rabbit. He slowed, getting deep in his haunches. His Alpha was ahead of him, perfectly still, ready to leap. Both ears twitched, his Alpha’s nose scenting madly.
His mate leapt and Cody circled as fast as he could, his body knowing to keep the prey in range of those flashing, sharp teeth. The scent of blood made him growl. Barker took down the rabbit, looking smug and licking his jowls. The belly was torn open, his mate taking the tender meats inside before stepping back, clearly offering him the rest.
Cody yipped, dancing for a moment in pure ecstasy before he snapped and bit, the scents and flavors filling him. Hunting! Eating the kill! How his belly rumbled and snarled as he filled it for the first time like this.
His mate barked, the sound joyful. He licked his paws, his muzzle, his nose. Good. So good.
Barker licked his cheek and then bounded off, calling to him. More running! More hunting! Everything in him screamed for him to follow that happy tail.
So he did.
* * * * *
Sunrise found Barker panting by a stream, worn out from hunting and running and playing with his mate.
It had always been a pleasure to run through the woods, but to do so with his mate…well, it would make him angry to know that he’d somehow missed this for ten years. That it had been stolen from him and Cody, except that anger would take away from the joy he now felt.
He lay down and let the sun melt away his wolf, his body changing once more into human.
Man, they had quite the hike to get back to the cabin—they needed to end their nights closer to home.
He turned to share the thought with Cody, gasping when he saw the lovely wolf that was his mate. Once again, the moon had gone, but Cody was still a wolf.
Reaching out, he scratched behind Cody’s ears. “I’ve never seen a shifter in the sunlight before you.” It was amazing. Doubly so now that he wasn’t afraid that Cody was cursed with being able to change during the sunlight but not the moonlight.
Cody panted, tail thumping the ground.
“You can shift back if you want to, though, right?” There was just that one niggling doubt.
Those glowing eyes looked at him, confused.
Shit. What if…no. No, Cody had been able to change back and forth before. “Shift for me. Become human.”
Cody rumbled softly, panting hard, and he could see it, see Cody willing the change. No one could do that—change at will. No one but his amazing mate.
He was laughing and clapping by the time Cody was done, human and naked in front of him. “You’re incredible.”
Cody blinked up at him. “I shifted.”
“Yeah, Cody, you did. Because you wanted to. Not because the sun or the moon made you, but because you wanted to.”
“I…I’m sore.”
“All that running—using muscles you never have before. I bet you’re sore.” He slipped down and sat behind Cody, started rubbing his lover’s shoulders.
“I…We hunted.” Cody moaned, head dropping forward.
“We did. We hunted, we ran, we were beasts. All night long.”
“We did. It was real. It didn’t hurt.” Cody was going to shake apart in his hands.
He wrapped his arms around his mate, holding on tight. “It was real and you’re special, mate. You can change whenever you want to. You’re the only one.”
The sobs started in a rush, harsh and violent, wracking Cody’s body.
“Cody? Mate? What’s wrong?”
“I…”
He ran his hands over Cody—there wasn’t any tension, any stiff spots. Nothing was broken or bruised, not so far as he could tell. “Mate!” His word was almost a bark.
“All these years…I…I don’t hurt.”
“That’s a good thing.”
Cody nodded and he suddenly got it. The fear, the pain, the pressure—everything that had been holding Cody together was unexpectedly gone. He held on tight to Cody. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I have you.”
“Have me. Oh, God. Mate.”
“Yes. My mate. Never going to let you leave me again.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Go ahead.” Barker growled at Cody. “Just try and leave me.”
Cody growled back, and the Alpha rose up in him, sharper and faster than he’d ever experienced.
He rolled Cody onto his back, throwing himself down on top of his mate. “Not leaving me. Not!”
“We’re in the dirt on the ground.”
“So?” A little dirt never hurt any wolf.
“I…” Cody blinked at him. “You’re different.”
“What? I am not!” He was the same growly bastard. Even if he did have his mate with him now.
“You are. You’re different.”
“I am not. I’m still me. Just like before.” Cody was the one who was different, those eyes so pretty.
“You are, too.” Cody was panting, breathing hard. “Let me up.”
“What are you talking about?” He got up, hauling Cody up with him.
“You’re…I don’t know. Hotter. Whatever.” Fucking fickle little bastard, trying to walk away from him.
He snorted. “I was always this hot.” He kept hold of Cody’s hand and started heading back for the cabin, the sun warm and good on his skin.
“Bullshit.” Cody relaxed, though. “You growled less.”
“Now I know you’re full of it. I’ve always growled.”
“Only a little.”
It was his turn to call bullshit. “Okay, maybe you’re fucking different.”
Cody looked over at him, eyes rolling.
“You are. You’re whole now.”
“I’m yours.” In a way Cody never had been, never before.
“You are.” Barker drew Cody in and kissed him, hard. This was theirs. It belonged to both of them and after ten long years, they finally had it.
Before, he could cat around, find a man and fuck him into the ground, dull the urge. Now the thought made him rumble and the idea of anyone touching Cody made him snarl. Even just thinking it made him growl, and he started pulling Cody back to the cabin again
“Barker?” There was a heady mixture of lust and curiosity in that single word.
“We need a bed.” Much as he’d like to make his claim up against the nearest tree, he figured Cody would appreciate his holding back.
“For what?”
“What do you think for?” Couldn’t Cody feel it? The need to mate, to merge into his lover.
He got a wild, toothy grin. “Tiddlywinks?”
He reached down and goosed Cody. Cody snapped at him, teeth almost grazing his skin. It riled him up, made him need even more and he did push Cody up against that nearest tree, taking that toothy mouth. His mate tasted like magic, like heat and need and things that Barker didn’t understand.
“I want you.” It was a huge understatement.
“Take me then.” Challenging little fuck.
Growling, Barker fused their mouths back together, tongue pushing in as he pressed his mate harder against the tree. Cody’s legs wrapped around his waist, his mate holding on tight.
“That’s fucking it.” He nodded and dove back into the kiss, his fingers finding and pushing into Cody’s hole.
The howl that pushed between his lips was almost enough to make him come right there. Barker swallowed it down and shoved his fingers deep, spread them as wide as he could a few times, working to get Cody’s body ready for his prick. For his claiming. The heat, the pressure was familiar; he remembered it from the first time, from the first, wild night.
“Mine.” He wanted to howl the word out, but his throat was wrong for the sound. Instead, he pulled out his fingers and lined up his prick with Cody’s ass.
“Prove it.” Cody’s eyes were glowing, the energy between them fiery, alive.
Growling, snarling, he pushed his cock in, slamming it home. Cody’s cry echoed sending birds flying up out of the trees.
“Yes! Mine!” Barker pushed in with every word, thrusting into glorious, tight heat.
“Harder. Harder. Take me.” Cody slammed down onto his cock, body shuddering around him.
Biting at Cody’s lips, Barker ramped up his thrusts. He could taste the copper of Cody’s blood, smell his mate’s need. Harder still, he pushed into Cody, spreading the tight ass. Cody’s chin lifted, belly and throat offered to him.
Oh, fuck, his. He leaned in and bit at Cody’s neck, teeth grabbing hold. The smell of cum hit his nose even as the taste of Cody’s blood filled his mouth. Growling around Cody’s flesh, he came, too, filling his mate with his scent.
Something deep inside him reset, something that had been broken and wrong and off clicked into place. Putting back his head, he howled out his pleasure and his happiness.
Cody’s head landed on his chest, heavy, hot. “Mate.”
Yes. Yes! Panting, he nodded, patting Cody’s back. Yes. His mate. Here. Whole. Finally.
Tilting Cody’s chin up, he looked into Cody’s eyes and breathed with his mate. It was a perfect moment, and he wasn’t going to let it go.
Chapter Six
Cody woke up in Barker’s arms, the late afternoon sun pouring through the windows. He kept his eyes closed, breathing slowly, and enjoyed the sensation of not hurting. He took one deep breath after another, not sure he believed this was real. Barker muttered something and tightened his hold.
“Mmm.” He let himself trust, let himself lean back into Barker and be held, be kept close. He’d never believed this could happen, but it had. He’d felt it, that click inside his soul, the release of this terrible, maddening tension.
Barker nuzzled into his neck. “Mate.”
“Yes.” He nodded, accepting that undeniable fact with more than a little joy.
Barker’s eyes popped open and he grinned. “Look at you. Look at your eyes.”
“What?” His eyes crossed as he tried to see.
“They’re a gorgeous blue.”
“Yeah?” Oh, God. “No more sunglasses?”
“Only if it’s sunny.”
Suddenly it was hard to breathe, to focus. “Mate.”
“Yeah. That’s me.” Barker gave him a grin, easy and lazy and happy.
He leaned up, brought their mouths together. Barker kissed him back eagerly, low sounds filling him. Their bodies fit together and Cody moaned, the sounds bubbling out of him easily.
Barker rolled him onto his back, the big body following, pushing him down. The weight was good, necessary. He stretched, spread, his cock beginning to take notice.
“Needy mate.”
“Fuck off.” He grinned, licking and lapping Barker’s chin.
“That’s the idea, babe.”
“Your dick’s gonna fall off.”
“I’ve got ten fucking years to make up for.”
He thought about bringing up the fact that Barker hadn’t exactly been virginal, but the heavy body felt so good that he didn’t want to fuck it up. Yet.
“I know you want me.”
“Do you? How do you know that?” Cody was willing to play.
“This gives me a bit of an idea.” Barker’s hand dropped to his prick, wrapping around it.
> He intended to snap back with something clever and sharp, but what came out was a soft, low moan. Barker hummed and pressed their lips together, tongue invading, taking. The flavor of his mate filled him, and he found himself pressing closer, searching for more.
“See?” Barker gave him a smug look and then dove back into his mouth.
It was all he could do to reach down and pinch Barker’s ass. Barker snarled and bit at his bottom lip. The sting made him cry out, growl, and bare his teeth. Barker nodded and growled back, this kiss full of teeth and hunger.
Cody was pressed into the uncomfortable mattress, his mate’s heavy weight above him. One kiss after another stole his breath. The room started swimming, the universe swinging from side to side.
“Fuck. Mate.” Barker moaned and groaned, the words almost growls and barks as their bodies moved together.
He leaned up, bit Barker’s shoulder, shaking his lover gently. His. It made his mate howl. His cock throbbed, aching where the tip rubbed against his belly. Barker rocked their lower halves together, skin dragging along his.
“So hot.” Had Barker always been so hot?
They rolled off the bed, landing on the floor in a heap. Cody blinked down at Barker, elbows on either side the man’s head. Wow. Laughing, Barker leaned up to press more kisses on him.
“Nut.” God, that laugh. That laugh. He hadn’t heard Barker really laugh in so long.
“No, yours.”
“I missed you.” Every second. Every day.
“Ten fucking years, babe.” Barker’s mouth went to his neck, bit hard. “Mine now.”
“Fuck!” Cody arched, body bowing above Barker’s.
“That’s right, Cody. All mine.” Barker growled, teeth going back to worrying his neck. “Gonna mark you so everyone knows.”
Cody groaned, pulled back, teasing.
“Not getting away,” Barker grumbled.
“Are you sure? I’m very good at it.”
“You are. But I’m done letting you escape, letting you go. I told you that before you suddenly started changing.”
“You did.” Cody met Barker’s eyes, then leaned down and brushed their lips together. “You did. Mate.” He loved the son of a bitch; he always had.
Barker beamed at him. “I can’t wait to bring you home so we can thumb our noses in the Elders’ faces.”