by Toby Aden
“As you know, we already have a diplomat working for our pack with the vampire coven. I must say I am quite pleased with the work Shawn McKay has undertaken for our pack, as well as every other shifter pack. With his management of the first successful business between our two species, I have received several reports from other packs where the same endeavors have been carried out. It also doesn’t hurt that Shawn had been mated with two vampires. Even yet, I can’t stress enough my intolerance for any act that would derail our peaceful coexistence, and I hope you all keep it in mind,” Gregory said as he addressed his pack on the issue once more. “
“I will be calling in several Alphas during the next few weeks to determine who will best suit our needs as enforcers. And that said, please let the merriment continue.”
The celebration ran late into the night until everyone was relaxed and merry and settled in the knowledge that they had a new and young Alpha to lead them into the next generation, as well as the assurance that they would be provided with an heir not long after.
Chapter Ten
“Run with me.”
Will looked up from where he was seated on a sofa in their room, reading a paperback book. He leaned toward the side table and turned the book face down before setting it there. As usual, once entrenched into a world of the romantic novels he read, everything around him disappeared and the book got a hundred and ten percent of his attention.
He could see the images of the books he read playing before him, hear the voices of each distinctive character in his mind, and smell every scent described by the books. It was as though he was transported into the author’s world and he was experiencing everything the characters were. So consumed by the scene he was he was reading, he neither heard nor saw anything in the real world until he was jarred back into reality.
Then it was as though he’d woken up from a long deep slumber that he wanted to immediately get back into. From the serious look in Gregory’s gaze, though, he just knew returning back into the world he’d been reading about would not be happening anytime soon.
Gregory had been occupied over the last few days with interviewing several Alphas in the pack for the role of enforcer. Usually, a lot of Alphas preferred to strike out on their own and claim a territory for themselves to dominate. Few were usually content to remain in an already established pack and become pack enforcers for their own various reasons.
The betas, on the other hand, had a hand in reviewing the laws of the pack to ensure that they were ever changing to accommodate the changing times yet never deviating from the original intent of the original law. Gregory also sent his betas to stand in for him in meetings outside pack that he was not able to attend to himself.
With how busy Gregory had been that he’d only been seeing Will late at night when he finally came to bed, Will hadn’t expected him to turn up at this time when it was still daylight outside, even though it was late in the day. That, combined with how engrossed he’d been in the book he was reading, hadn’t made him alert to his mate’s presence in the room at all until he’d felt Gregory shaking him.
“How long have you been there?”
“Awhile,” Gregory responded, the frown never leaving his face. He shook his head, but his mood had not improved by any means. He held his hand out to Will. “Come on.”
Will trustingly slid his hand into Gregory’s and allowed the other man to pull him up. “What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk right now. Let’s just go for a run, hmm?”
Will nodded, and, together, they walked out their bedroom and down the stairs until they were exiting the house through the kitchen door. At the back porch, Gregory never said another word, just began meticulously pulling his clothes off, Will doing the same until they stood before each other naked as the day they were born.
Bones cracked and in one fluid moment, man was gone and beast took its place. Brown and gray wolves moved toward each other, meeting in the middle and rubbing against the other before the larger brown wolf nudged the gray wolf toward the thick forest a short distance away from the house.
* * * *
Let’s run, mate, Gregory whispered into his mate’s mind and took off with Will not far behind him.
They ran for a long time with Gregory taking out his aggression on the earth beneath his paws and speeding with such force that Will found it hard to keep up with his pace. He ran and ran and kept going to clear his head. To let go of the biting anger and rage which had filled his veins when the news on investigations he’d had on the man, Will, and his brothers were running from came back to him.
He knew. He just knew that, when he finally told Will that he knew what the man was hesitating to tell him, that he knew all the sordid details, Will would lose a bit of trust in him and even be angry, but he just could not help his curiosity. He still wanted, no, needed to hear them directly from Will, and he just knew that, when that time came, he would have no choice than to confess to his knowledge on the whole issue. He just hoped, when he finally did fess up, Will would be forgiving and understanding.
He did not want it to be a mark against them, and neither did he want it to be something that would drive a wedge between them. He did not realize when he had left Will far behind him until he turned his massive head to look for the man and realized that he was not there. He tempered the speed at which he had been running, coming to a stop and turning around to glance back the way he had been running.
He retraced his steps. Digging his large paws into the leaves and earth below, the wind blowing in his fur and whipping by him, he allowed all the rage and anger he had set out with flow out of him, taking in the energy from mother earth and the liberating feeling of letting his wolf out and feeling the wind on his fur. He let the feeling of being free wash over him, and he and his wolf bound excitedly, knowing that their mate was not so far from their reach.
Tearing through the forest, Gregory came across a clearing not along after and spotted the gray wolf that was his mate lying on his stomach on the dried leaves in the clearing, licking one paw. As though the man was attuned to him and his presence, the gray massive head lifted up, and Will lazily stared at him. Will gave his paw a final lick before setting it down and laying his head on it, not breaking eye contact with Gregory.
Huffing, Gregory moved toward his mate, circling him a few times before settling onto his stomach beside the other wolf. He nudged Will with his head, and when it did not give him the desired reaction he wanted, he did it again, eliciting a whine from the gray wolf but still not the reaction he wanted. He kept it up until Will huffed then rolled unto his back, his paws bicycling in the air until he finally stopped and landed on his side, facing Gregory.
What?
Are you ignoring me, mate?
And if I were?
Gregory huffed. Sassy as ever!
Got it out of your system yet?
Gregory snorted. Come on. There’s a river not far from here. Let’s go for a swim.
In this cold weather? I’m not stepping one foot into any water.
You’ll love it. Gregory climbed onto his feet. Come on. Don’t dawdle.
Fine! But I’m still not getting in the water.
That’s what you think!
Gregory ran his head over Will’s, rubbed his body along that of Will’s smaller wolf, then took off with his mate at his side. They raced together toward the river less than a mile away. They ran playfully and at Will’s pace, with Gregory nipping at Will and the other wolf letting out a howl. Their joyful howls rose into the clear sky.
The two wolves were nothing but a tiny speck from the view of an eagle flying over the tallest trees in the forest.
* * * *
A shimmer covered their bodies, and soon, beasts were turned into men. With a yell, Gregory ran into the water until he was waist deep in it, and then he jumped up with his hands around his knees, allowing gravity to do the rest, falling into the chilling water and spraying water all around.
Will stood
at the shore, laughing until Gregory surfaced. “How’s the water?” he yelled over to his mate.
“Invigorating. Get in here,” Gregory yelled back.
“Not on your life,” Will responded.
“Will…get your ass in here,” Gregory commanded.
“Or what?” Will yelled back, biting on his bottom lip.
“Or I’ll hurl you in here myself.”
“You and what army?” Will questioned.
Gregory pinned Will with a challenging look, and when Will positively saw the intent and thoughts running through his mate’s mind, he shook his head, backing away from the water.
“Don’t you dare!” Will protested, still backing away from an advancing naked and wet Gregory. “Gregory…I’m not kidding.”
“Neither am I. Now get in here, or feel free to run. I’ll love the chase all the more,” he responded with a manic laughter.
“Fuck!” Will exclaimed then turned on his heels and took off in a run along the beach, steering clear of the wet sand.
He heard Gregory chasing after him, but he just knew that the man would not stop until he got what he wanted. The reluctance to get into the wet, cold water was what spurred him on further, and his voice rose into the air in a yell, cursing and swearing at his mate and the situation he found himself in, along with Gregory’s deep, dark chuckle racing after him. He pumped his arms and legs, going as far and as fast as he could elude Gregory’s grasp.
“Keep running, mate! You won’t get away for long.”
“Fuck…you!” Will yelled back, his voice breathy and winded.
Damn, but the man was infuriating. Why was he not even one bit tired out? Hearing Gregory laughing behind him was also maddening. He should have just resisted when Gregory suggested that they come here. He should have put his foot down and…just like that, Will was lifted up into Gregory’s strong arm and he began screaming anew, kicking his legs and trying to get out of Gregory’s grip.
“Let me go, you bastard!” Will yelled.
“Settle down, mate, or I’ll toss you into the water,” Gregory admonished, wading into the river.
“Put me down, you oaf,” Will yelled, wiggling around.
Suddenly, Gregory stopped moving. “As you wish.” Then he let go of Will, watching with an amused chuckle as Will went crashing into the waves and cold water.
When. Will surfaced from the water, he came up squealing and spurting and cursing and glaring daggers at the man who stood laughing his heart out over him. “Y-you…I can’t believe you did that!”
“You said to put you down.” Gregory stared at Will with glinting eyes. “I put you down,” He finished with a straight face.
Will glared up at Gregory then slapped his hand against the water, splashing Gregory before cupping it and tossing the water at the other man’s face. “You’re a pig.”
“Oh, really? And what does that makes you? Hot for a pig!” Gregory said, dissolving once more into laughter.
“Arghhhh!” Will screamed then stood up and marched out of the water. “I’m going back home. Feel free to keep laughing at me.”
“Will, come on. I was just playing around,” Gregory called after his mate, striding toward him once he realized Will was not stopping anytime soon.
“Whatever!”
“Will!” Gregory quickened his pace. “All right, all right. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were being serious.”
Will ignored him and kept going. He didn’t stop or respond until Gregory spurn him around and wrapped his arms around his waist.
“What?”
“Forgive me?”
Will didn’t say a word, stubbornly refusing to look at the other man properly. He felt Gregory lean down until he could press his lips against the side of Will’s neck and inhale his scent. Will did not want to unbend one bit, but the strong scent of his mate wafting into his nostrils and the closeness of the man made him feel lightheaded and unable to hold on to his anger.
He felt the tension leach out of his body, and his arms went around Gregory’s waist, hugging the man closer to him. He could never stay mad at Gregory, and the man knew it, damn it. But he did not want to fight this feeling he felt in his chest and his heart either.
“Forgive me?” Gregory asked once more.
Nodding against Gregory’s chest, Will said, “You know I do.”
* * * *
Gregory laughed then lifted Will with his arms still around the other man’s waist and, with a yell of joy, spun them around and around. He loved it, especially when Will let out a loose and carefree laughter, throwing his head back in merriment and wrapping his arms around Gregory’s neck tightly.
“All right, all right. Put me down, you doofus,” Will said on a chuckle.
Gregory let Will slid down his body, biting his lip against the erection he could feel swelling at the feel of Will’s bits and pieces sliding over his well-defined stomach and rubbing against him as he set the man down. He fastened his mouth to Will’s in a sweet, gentle kiss before pulling back and letting Will go, though not completely.
“It’s a pity we don’t have a blanket here to lay on the ground. Sand in uncomfortable places and all otherwise, we could stay to watch the sunset,” Will said wistfully.
“Not to worry. I’m sure we’ll find something from the stash left behind. Wait here and don’t move. I’ll be right back,” Gregory said before jogging toward the forest clearing a short distance away.
The river was one that was frequented by the pack a lot. Pack members sometimes visited here in their wolf form, or, if not then, they just came here for a swim, and there were always stashes of clothes left all over the pack land in case they would need clothes to change into after returning back to their human form.
Gregory soon reached the hiding place where the clothes were left and began rummaging through the pile. He drew the line at wearing other people’s clothes really, but fetching two long blankets would be a big help for them, especially since his mate wanted to watch the sunset with him. At most, with the slowly darkening clouds, they had an hour or so till then, and even though he had not planned this when he asked Will to go for a run with him, he was still glad to be able to share such beauty and a romantic view with Will.
One he had what they needed, Gregory jogged back through the forest until he reached the clearing once more before moving swiftly through earth and sand toward his mate. He spotted Will still standing exactly where he’d left him, only this time, he had his arms around himself as though to ward off the cold and stood staring at the water and the horizon.
He moved quickly, smiling softly as he began unfurling the blanket then lay it down on the ground beside where Will stood. Once done, he held out his hand to Will, a silent offer, and squeezed Will’s hand when he placed it in his before drawing his mate closer and down until they settled together on the cloth. He unfurled the second blanket then wrapped it around their bodies once they’d lain on the cloth, facing the sea.
“Okay?” Gregory asked, wrapping his arms around Will’s chest under the blanket as they spooned together.
Will nodded and answered quietly, “Yeah.”
After that, they lapsed into silence, the only sound around for miles being the crash of the waves and the howling breeze surrounding them. Minutes slowly ticked by, and they were cocooned in a comfortable silence, which neither of them was willing to break.
* * * *
The transitioning to Alpha had been easy for Gregory, but not so for Will. He had been lost between knowing his role as Alpha mate and getting to know most of the people in the town. With the town full of only shifters, it was freer and easier not to be wary of humans and cautious to keep their identity a secret. Will and his brothers had lived in such towns before when they had been on the run.
Towns existed where shifters lived amongst humans but the humans were none the wiser of their existence. They’d had to live by pack laws as well as ensuring that the humans remained oblivious to their presence and who th
ey really were. It had not been easy and simply being in Santiago Town gave them a sort of freedom that they had not experienced in any other the packs they had lived in.
He sighed. “It’s so peaceful.”
“Mmm,” Gregory mumbled in response.
“Are you falling asleep?” Will asked.
“Not really. Just…enjoying the quiet. And, yes, you’re right. It is peaceful here,” Gregory said. “And besides, can’t fall asleep without watching the sunset with you first.”
Will smiled, holding on to Gregory’s arm that was wrapped around him. “Yeah. For a guy who’s not used to being romantic, you sure know how to treat a guy.”
“Can’t really take credit for it, mate. Spontaneous outing and all,” Gregory said on a chuckle.
Will shrugged. “Still. I love it.” The sun began sinking slowing. From their vantage point, it looked as though it was sinking into the water over the horizon, the reddish yellow coin lowering ever so slowly. “It’s so beautiful,” he said, full of awe and contentment.
“Yeah,” Gregory said, his voice taking on a dreamy quality.
Will turned his head and glanced over his shoulder at his mate to see the man staring at his profile instead of at the view. It was not hard for Will to realize that they were both talking about two different things, and he couldn’t help the giggle that escaped his lips.
Shaking his head, he dug his elbow into Gregory’s side, “Not me, you fool,” Will said on a laugh. “The view. Though I can’t really complain about the compliment!” Cheekily, he added. “I am, after all, irresistible.”
“That mouth, Will,” Gregory said, tearing his gaze from Will’s lips to peer into his eyes.
“You love it.”
* * * *
Gregory grunted, shaking his head and looking past Will to take in the magnificent sight before them. He heard Will giggling but chose to ignore his feisty mate. The view before him, though, was also beautiful. However, it wasn’t as beautiful as the man in his arms. Before Will came into his life, Gregory had been duty focused without a hint of playfulness or laughter or joy. It was all about the war then ensuring their pack was self-sufficient and taking on more duties from his father.