Shifting

by Shifting (anth. )(Rob Knight Editor)(Torquere)(lit)

  He parted Seamus' legs, settling between. Oh, it was warm and scented with his mate and so good. Keith whimpered as he licked, tongue slowly sliding over the top of Seamus' crease, thumbs drawing circles on the soft skin.

  "God. Babe." That growl wasn't sleep induced any more. Now it was all about heat, and warning him not to tease. "So good."

  "Mm-hmm. Good." Good and sexy and he wasn't going to rush, so Seamus could just be patient. He held Seamus open, licking and humming as he moved down, slowly heading closer to the tight ring of muscles waiting for him.

  Moaning, Seamus scrabbled against the sheets, finally rising up on hands and knees, giving him more skin, more scent. More.

  "Oh... Oh, love." He grabbed Seamus' hips, tongue sliding over that hot hole before pushing in, fucking his lover slow and easy.

  A low growl shook the whole bed, Seamus rising up into the touch, pushing for it. So needy, his Seamus, always ready for him, always hot for him.

  He was burning inside, so hard he ached, balls tight and throbbing in his shorts. He managed to fish his cock out, one hand wrapping around it as he kept pushing and tasting and licking his lover.

  "Babe! Cub, Oh, Keith. I can smell you." Seamus' voice wasn't quite human anymore, all growl and yip. The body begged as much as the voice, every muscle beneath him pushing and pushing, demanding more.

  His own sounds were darker now, husky, the scents and tastes sharper, hotter. All Seamus. All good. All for him.

  "In, babe. Need you in me. Please." Oh. Seamus didn't ask for that often.

  "Yes." He moved up over Seamus' back, slicking the tip and rubbing it against the wet heat of his lover. He let Seamus' motions swallow him up, yelping and groaning out his pleasure. Low noises joined his, Seamus opening for him easily, taking him in. Hot and tight and damn.

  "Fuck, love." He leaned over, fastening his lips on Seamus' shoulder as he started to thrust, pushing hard.

  "Yeah, cub. Hard. Need it. Need you."

  "Got me." They slammed together, skin slapping, the scent of need making his nostrils flare, making him growl.

  A sharp bark was his response, Seamus rocking beneath him, panting and moaning. So tight. Seamus held him like a vise, inner muscles gripping hard. One hand slid around Seamus' belly, palm stroking across the tip of Seamus' prick. He cried out as those muscles rippled around him in response.

  "Oh! Cub!" Jerking hard, Seamus pushed forward, then back, their skin smacking together.

  "Yes! Love! Fuck!" He bit down against Seamus' back, teeth scraping as he came, shuddering violently.

  "Cub!" Seamus just roared, hips moving, snapping, as hot spunk filled his hand.

  Oh. Oh, yeah. He slumped down onto Seamus' back, breathing hard.

  Damn, his Seamus was strong. They went down gently, Seamus lowering them to the bed. "God, babe. That was a nice way to wake up."

  "Mmm... yeah. Was good." He kissed Seamus' shoulder. "You have freckles on your butt. Very cute."

  "Do not." Seamus didn't sound very concerned, though, like the protest was just because it should be there. "So what was it you wanted, babe?"

  "Hmmm?" He nuzzled softly. "Oh! Yeah. Jade bit me. I was asking if I needed to worry."

  "Oh, man. You're gonna die any minute."

  He bit Seamus again, hard. "Well, I never know. I mean, shit, I might have just found the fuzz-antidote."

  Seamus wiggled until he slid away, then turned and grabbed him, holding him tight. "Oh, cub. Wish I could say there was one. But there's not. As for Jade, you'll be fine, but you should have bopped her nose. That's bad manners."

  He nudged Seamus' jaw, licked the warm lips. "Not looking for an antidote, love. 'm where I belong. And Miss Jade got a harsh talking to."

  He got a kiss, long and sweet and warm. "Mine."

  Keith nodded, cuddling in. "Yours."

  Seamus chuckled. "Just like I'm yours. Freckles and all."

  ~Chapter Eight~

  Bruiser and the twins were tearing all over, barking their fool heads off, making a fucking mess and jumping all over him. Keith didn't seem to notice, sitting serenely in one corner, reading and bopping along to the music on his headphones.

  Seamus was going to eat them all.

  Finally he threw down the carving he was working on and stood, staring down at all three of them, Liz, who had Jade's tail in her mouth, Jade who was growling at his shoes, and Bruiser, who tried to hump Liz. "Enough!"

  They all jumped and Jade yelped, and Seamus grumbled very loudly and went and got their leashes, walking over and dropping them in Keith's lap. Hard.

  The cub blinked up, eyes owlish and surprised. "Ow. What's up?"

  A low snarl escaped him. "We. Are. Going. Out."

  One dark eyebrow raised and Keith blinked again. "Okay. Now? Where?"

  "I don't care. To the park. To the slums. To the city pound. Anywhere to get them to shut up." Indicating the pups, Seamus crossed his arms and waited.

  "Oh." Keith looked over at the pups, and they shifted, Bruiser rumbling. "I think the park. The pound wouldn't know what to do with them."

  "Well, there's always the Thai place down the street." He glowered at Bruiser, who put his head down and crawled over.

  "Oh, that's mean." Keith chuckled and grabbed the leashes, standing up and separating them. "Which ones do you want, love?"

  Oh, no. "Me. I'm walking me. You get the rest. I've been dealing with them all morning." That was mean as Hell, too. But he just had to see this.

  "You're not serious! Seamus! Bruiser weighs damned near what I do." They were all headed out the door, the girls eager to get moving and Bruiser desperate to just not be in trouble anymore.

  He chuckled and trailed behind. "They like you, though. Shouldn't be any trouble at all."

  "They like me. They're scared of you." Keith was hauled down the steps and onto the street, just managing to make it look like he was controlling the reins.

  Hell, yes. The fucking day just got better and better. "Right. And we want them to have a fun outing. Work off some energy, right?" Despite his glee at the way they dragged Keith along, Seamus gave a short, growling yip, and the kids slowed down.

  "You're being grumpy. Can we have i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m?" Keith nudged Liz away from exploring the squished frog on the street. "Gross, Lizzie. Leave it be."

  "I? I am not grumpy. I am just sick of being cooped up and so are they and every time I even thought about getting laid today one of them started chewing one of my shoes. And yes. After we run them silly."

  There. Let the cub know what was what.

  "What do your shoes have to do with... Bruiser, I swear to god I'm going to let Mildred have you muzzled if you eat one more of her daffodils. With fucking?" Jade and Liz were tugging now, the park in sight.

  "It's like they know, babe. They're all against me." Seamus shook his head sorrowfully, watching the movement of Keith's ass as it worked to keep his legs pumping. "Teenagers."

  "Liz! Jade! Slow down!" Keith turned toward him, Bruiser's leash wrapping around those skinny legs. "But if they're teenagers, shouldn't we uh... you know... not let them share a room and stuff?"

  God. He didn't want to have to separate them, but... "Yeah. I mean, no. I mean, Bruise there was at it today. He's trying to figure it all out, even if the girls aren't interested." Shit.

  "Well, they shouldn't have... I mean, they can't do the puppy thing yet, right?" Keith was spinning in circles, trying to get untangled.

  Laughing, Seamus waded into the fray. Before too long the pups were off and running again, only this time Bruiser was with him. "No. The girls won't be ready for a good bit. But that doesn't mean it can't get uncomfortable."

  "Yeah. I guess. Poor Bruiser. He's going to be devastated without them." Keith was moving easier now. One thing about the girls, they knew where they wanted to walk.

  Yep. Right into the duck pond to chase the ducks.

  And they were off, dragging Keith behind. Bruiser wanted to go too, but Seamus hauled back on him, hold
ing him off. No way was the kid going to get wet and shake all over him.

  Poor Bruise. Keith was right. It was gonna hurt to make him move. Shit. Fuck a doodle do. The kid would probably want to sleep with them for a while.

  Keith managed to slow the girls by wrapping the leashes around the handle of the merry-go-round, letting them start the thing going in circles before they knew what was up. Then Keith sat to catch his breath.

  Once the duck realized its mortal peril and skedaddled, Seamus let Bruiser off his leash, flinging the tennis ball he'd brought with him.

  "I think we've been neglecting them."

  "Yeah? I'm sorry, love. I know you weren't expecting a... a me when they sent you out with the babies."

  Seamus stopped mid-toss and looked at Keith, growling low. "I wouldn't still be here without you. Would have called it a failure and left."

  Keith gave him a look and then nodded. "We're a pack. A really odd little pack."

  He trailed off as Jade started chewing through her leash.

  "Yeah." Seamus snapped at Jade and she whined, dropping the leash. "We are. Need you, cub. And the kids knew. You notice they didn't start getting rambunctious 'til this week, yeah?"

  "Yeah. They're good pups. Aren't you, you sweet beast?" Keith giggled as Liz tackled him, sitting on his chest and licking the cub's face.

  They were. They really were. But he still thanked the gods for Keith. "Yeah. I'll miss them when they go."

  "Go?" Keith looked over, head following as the merry-go-round spun. "Go where? When?"

  Oh, Hell. Another conversation he kinda dreaded. "When they get old enough they'll go back to the pack to finish their education. Then if our little experiment works, they'll go somewhere else and start a new pack."

  "But..." Keith sat up, stopping the merry-go-round, arms wrapping around Jade's fluffy neck. "Seamus? Somewhere else? Where? Can we visit? How long?"

  "Yeah. We can visit." Liz and Bruiser did the same thing Jade did. Whined and huddled up to he and Keith, knowing something was wrong. Seamus clipped Bruise to the leash and went to sit by Keith.

  "And I don't know how long. Until their first change, whenever that is."

  Keith held the girls, petting and easing them, growling and vocalizing low for them. "Oh, that's going to be so hard, love. They... they're our family."

  With one hand Seamus petted Bruiser. The other he used to pet Keith. "I know, babe. I know."

  They sat together for a while, then Liz started gnawing on Jade's ear and Jade started teasing Bruiser. "Okay. Ice cream. They've been good. You beasties want ice cream? Tell Seamus you want some!"

  Oh, Keith was an evil thing.

  Because wasn't he wanting to escape that very noise? Shit.

  "I'll get you for that. C'mon you rampaging lot of fur."

  Keith grabbed the girls, chuckling low as they headed for the ice cream stand. "Our rampaging lot."

  For the time being, yeah. And Seamus wouldn't have it any other way.

  ~Chapter Nine~

  He was cooking stew for the pups. It was a nice, thick, rich stew.

  Full of meat.

  Perfectly spiced.

  Tasty.

  And just because it was going to be ready at 3 in the morning took nothing away from it.

  Keith was *not* going to let this... this... *itch* take over his life.

  Not.

  Not even if he couldn't sleep and was always hungry and itchy and bouncy.

  It was bad enough that his whole life was disrupted -- well, not even bad, not really. He had Seamus, after all and that was good. Real good. Fabulous, even. And he loved Seamus and everything and...

  Where was he going with this again?

  Oh, stew. Right.

  The stew looked good.

  Speak of the devil. Long, familiar arms wrapped around him, and Seamus nuzzled the back of his neck. "Smells good, babe."

  He moaned, wriggling back into Seamus' warmth. "Yeah. I was hungry. Sounded good."

  A gusty sigh landed on his skin. "I'll bet it is. Still not gonna make the hunger go away."

  "Something's got to, love. I can't. Not again. I did it once, proved I could. Now I have to beat this." It hadn't been the killing that was the worst. No, it was the fact he liked it. Wanted it. Was hungry for it.

  The next sound was a frustrated growl and Seamus nipped him. Hard. "It's not like fucking cigarettes, babe. Doesn't work that way."

  He yelped, ass pressing back against Seamus as he arched. "Ow! Shit, love. That stings."

  "Good." The growl got louder, Seamus pressing hard against him, lips and tongue working his nape.

  He panted, rubbing against his lover, soft, hungry whimpers escaping him.

  "You gotta hunt, cub. Don't want to lose you." Seamus panted, pushing against his ass, hard and needy.

  "Won't lose me, love. I need you." He widened his stance, tilting his hips and begging for more.

  "Will if you don't, babe. I will. And I want you here with me." Seamus pulled him away from the stove, shoving him against a counter, kicking his legs apart.

  "I can't. I want to too much. I'm afraid if I do it again, I'll never stop." The words were gasped, his entire body trembling with need, with so much hunger.

  A low whine sounded, then Seamus was lifting him, spreading him, draping him over the countertop, ripping at his sweats.

  "Please. Love. Hurry. I need." His nails were scrabbling at the counter, fire ripping through him.

  Seamus needed too. Keith felt it in the heat of Seamus' body, the hardness of those rough hands. The room spun as he went up, ass going back, and then Seamus nudged at him, huge and hot and stretching him wide.

  The sound that tore from his body was one of pure need as he pushed down, fucking himself hard on that thick heat.

  "Fuck! Cub." There it was, that edge that made Seamus' voice something less than human, the deep, throaty growl. Seamus pushed in deep, deeper than anything before, ramming him hard. Oh, yes. Just what he needed. Just. There. Oh. His thoughts shattered, leaving only pure, raw lust behind.

  Seamus pounded him, holding him easily in the curve of one arm, the other hand coming around to squeeze and pull his cock. He slammed down onto his lover's cock, then howled as he came, spurting over Seamus' hand.

  Several grunts, thrusts and praising nips hit his skin before Seamus came as well, filling his guts with heat.

  Keith panted, sensation and pleasure tickling his skin. "Love you. So good."

  "Mmmm. Love you." Seamus rested against him, damp and hot and pressing heavily against him. "What am I gonna do with you, cub?"

  "Keep me forever and fuck me blind."

  A sound almost like a sob was his answer, along with a soft press of lips to his head. "If you last that long, cub. I promise."

  "I love you, Seamus. I won't leave you. I won't." He wrapped himself in his lover's arms, holding on tight.

  "I hope not, cub." Seamus nuzzled and licked and made the itch go away for just a little while. "I hope not."

  ***

  Fucking cub had to hunt. Had to. Seamus could tell he was gonna go any day. Kid never stopped itching, never stopped pacing, and when they weren't fucking they were fighting.

  It was gonna kill him. No way was he going to lose this one. No fucking way. He would fucking hold Keith down and force feed him if he had to. The kid hardly spoke, just growled and whined, and even the pups were feeling the sting of Keith's need manifesting itself in bad temper and bared teeth.

  Seamus was going out. He was going to go out and get a kill and bring it back and Keith was going to eat it if it hare lipped everyone.

  Keith eyes hadn't been dark in days. Seamus could see them as the cub paced from kitchen to front room, glowing, bright.

  Damn it all. "M'going out, babe. Come with me? You need to eat."

  A sharp, unhappy bark was Keith's answer, the sound miserable, hurting. Lost.

  "Oh, babe. Please?" He hurt. And if he did, the poor kid must be burning up.

&
nbsp; Keith pushed against him, whimpering softly, panting and shivering in his arms.

  "I know, cub. I know. I know what you need. Please. You promised you wouldn't go." God, he hated the whine in his own voice. Some pack leader he was, but he needed Keith, so badly.