by Noah Harris
Dean spoke slowly, letting the idea percolate through his mind, “So, it’s like, you’re dealing with the concept of a thing, the idea, while I should be dealing with the thing itself.”
Talon looked a little surprised, rubbing his chin in thought. “That…is actually a very good way of putting it. The modern interpretation of ‘body and soul,’ but instead ‘concept and reality.’ It is no less accurate, however. I cannot tell you how far your powers of ‘reality’ will possibly extend. I have never known a druid, and no one I have spoken with has known one, either.”
“So I get to be the guinea pig for you guys, then?”
Talon chuckled ruefully, “In a manner of speaking, yes. If my ability to deal with the realm of the spirits allows me to heal mental and spiritual wounds, have messages conveyed across great distances, and even enlist the aid of spirits in matters within the material world, I wonder what sorts of things you will be capable of once your power has fully matured.”
“My question is, if my powers deal in the physical, why did my powers, when they showed up with Nox, come across as being… well, magical, rather than something physical?”
“The interesting thing I would like to point out is, so did his.”
“True, but he’s a shaman.”
“And where in any of my description did I give the idea that shaman abilities are more ‘magical’ in nature?”
Dean paused at that, realizing what Talon was saying. Speaking with spirits, and commanding them wasn’t the same as shoving energy out of you. Dean had wondered if that was just part of what Nox had gotten himself into, but it sounded as if he was wrong. Both of them had ended up throwing a sort of energy at one another, but that wasn’t supposed to be how their powers worked.
Talon nodded as he saw the realization dawning on Dean’s face. “Again, I move into the realm of theory here, theory outside of your metaphor that is. It is my belief, that both shaman and druid powers come essentially from the same source. That source could be whatever you desire: Gaia, outside of the universe; God, if you wish, but the same source in any case. And it manifests differently between druids and shamans. Though we may direct spirits, or nature itself, it is still an indirect means of affecting the world. If you were to dig deep enough to the core of what we are capable of, perhaps it would simply be the energy that we normally just direct through an outside means; but in that moment, you must have both tapped into it at its purest state.”
“Is that the going theory?”
“In some circles, yes.”
Dean groaned at that, eliciting another soft laugh from Talon. “I’m not made for this theoretical stuff, Talon. I like things clean and simple. I mean, there’s a gray area with things, but I like clean-cut facts when dealing with something I’m supposed to be doing.”
“Yes, you want the reality, not the concept. Very druid.”
Dean glared, opening his mouth to protest when the door to the cabin opened, cutting him off. Mikael entered, cheeks pink from the cold air, and eyeing the two of them standing in the living room with a suddenly amused expression. Dean shot Talon another dirty look before flopping onto the couch with a slight huff.
“Am I interrupting another training session?” Mikael asked, as he pulled his coat off of his shoulders.
“Simply an informative one. I was getting ready to leave.”
“Ah,” Mikael protested, “Please, don’t. You’re more than welcome here, Talon. I apologize for my behavior the last time you were here. I was… well, it doesn’t matter. I was rude, and you have my apologies for that.”
Talon smiled. “I understand you have been under a great deal of pressure in a short time, as can be expected. I took no offense, but I am happy to see that you are feeling better.”
“So, you’ll stay?”
Talon shook his head. “I’m not leaving because I’m uncomfortable. I need to return to my quarters so that I can continue communing. If there is anything that I can learn that will help, then I hope to do so. You would be amazed at the sort of things you can learn from spirits who are feeling chatty.”
Dean watched Mikael now, enjoying the sight of him slipping into his ‘proper’ mode. “This is the sort of conversation I never thought I would ever have in my life, just so you guys know.”
Mikael grinned at that, losing some of his professional demeanor. “You have my thanks for all that you’re doing, Talon. You might have come to check on the rumors, but you didn’t have to stay and help us like you are. You’ve already been a big help with the information you brought, but I appreciate you trying to help Dean. None of us would know where to start.”
Talon stepped up to Mikael, dwarfing even him as he laid a hand on his shoulder, “My thanks, Mikael. I can see why, despite your differences, your father chose you as his heir. I look forward to seeing the day that you lead this pack.”
Dean felt a surge of pride as he watched the flustered pleasure on Mikael’s face. With everything that had happened lately, it was nice to hear someone else echo Dean’s own beliefs about Mikael. Despite how confident Mikael could be, Dean could see the rift, something like a missing piece, that was struggling to make that last connection so that he could truly see what he could offer. There was so much that Mikael had to offer, and it was only recently that he was truly beginning to see that. That someone else, who hardly knew Mikael, could say that with such surety was comforting.
Mikael managed to sputter out his thanks and a final apology as Talon sidled out of the cabin. He was still flushed when he turned back around. Dean knew that he could explain away the redness of his cheeks as being from the cold, but there was too much embarrassed pleasure in Mikael’s face for it to be just that.
“What?” Mikael asked finally, sounding defensive.
“You’re adorable,” Dean stated simply, still beaming.
Mikael narrowed his eyes, kicking off his boots and slinking toward the couch where Dean sat. Dean’s eyes followed him, noting the almost predatory look about him now. The professional air he had adopted around Talon was gone, cast off in the roll of his shoulders, and stalking of his steps. He looked as if he were about to pounce.
“You look like you’re up to something,” Dean noted casually, watching Mikael’s eyes sweep over his body as he slunk around the couch.
“Might be.”
Mikael was on him then, strong hands pushing him back onto the cushions of the couch and moving him onto his back. Dean pushed up against the hold, laughing softly as Mikael settled himself between his legs, limiting his movement. Mikael’s hips pushed forward against his ass, holding him in place as he hovered over Dean, looking pleased with himself.
“Think this might be more than ‘might.’ War meetings get you all excited?”
Mikael bent forward, nibbling insistently on Dean’s throat, “We never had make-up sex.”
Dean barked out a laugh. “We didn’t really fight.”
“Let me have my excuse,” Mikael muttered, sinking his teeth into the muscle of Dean’s unbitten shoulder with sudden force. Pain and pleasure in equal parts flew through Dean, his body jerking as he gasped, pressing up into Mikael’s body. Mikael only went for that spot when he was in the mood for it right now, damn whatever else was going on.
“Dammit, Mikael,” he gasped, trying to work his hands between them to get at their clothes. Mikael pulled back, and Dean wasted no time in working the buttons of Mikael’s shirt and jeans. He was breathless by the time he managed to undo them all, and his cock was straining to be freed from his jeans. Mikael was more than happy to oblige, tearing at the clothes both wore, until their bare skin was pressed together.
Dean’s mouth sought Mikael’s body, eager to taste his skin as Mikael repositioned them. Dean had only a moment to lick and nip a patch of skin before he was flipped onto his stomach without warning. The next instant, Mikael’s hand slipped beneath him and yanked him onto his hands and knees, pressing him forward against the back of the couch.
When he looke
d back, he wasn’t surprised to see Mikael with the bottle of lube in his hand. “Doggy style? Do I really need to say it?”
“Not if you don’t wanna be gagged, too,” Mikael growled in warning as he slicked his fingers with the lube.
“Kinky. Is that a promise?”
Mikael’s response was to push a couple of fingers into him, giving him a cocky look when Dean gasped. As much as Dean loved the slower build that they often shared in some of their sexual moments, these times of sudden need hit just about every button he had. He felt that Mikael’s desperation was an expression of his own anxieties and fears. Sometimes they were good about talking these things out, and then in moments like these they found ways to share it more directly.
“Just forget the fingers,” Dean hissed, even as he pushed his hips back, craving more.
“You were sore for like, three days the last time we did that,” Mikael reminded him, raining kisses on his lower back.
“It was worth it, just get inside me Mikael, please.”
Those words would never have left Dean’s lips for any of his past partners. He’d never known the need for someone like he had with Mikael, or the comfort of knowing his words wouldn’t fall on uncaring ears. Just the way Mikael gripped him was enough to tell him how much that sentiment was shared between them. He could hear Mikael’s eagerness from the hitch in his breathing as he finished speaking, making Dean squirm with longing.
Mikael said nothing more, shifting around behind Dean to press the head of his cock against his entrance. It was hard not to tense up, knowing what was coming. Forcing himself to relax, he felt Mikael push forward. There was that moment of resistance and then the flare of heated pain as Mikael entered him. Dean’s head hung down over the back of the couch, eyes half-lidded as he felt Mikael work his way further into him. This rushed moment always hung between a pain he could just barely tolerate and overwhelming pleasure.
They laughed in their private moments about how Dean bordered on being a masochist, but that laughter was absent in the instant Mikael eagerly pressed himself deep within Dean with the barest amount of prep. His own need superseded his desire for comfort, and he could tolerate the pain, the spread of the burn within him. Just feeling Mikael sliding into him was an emotional bliss that overwhelmed the physical discomfort.
“Babe,” Mikael’s voice was shaking as he bottomed out, his hips pressing against Dean’s ass. He could hear the restrained urge to rear back and bury himself once more in Dean. Dean wanted it just as badly, shifting around as he tried to allow his body the time to adjust to the suddenness of the penetration. He never managed to last long enough to let that happen before, and this time was no different.
“Mikael, please,” he begged, pulling his hips forward as much as he could to push back onto Mikael’s cock.
That was all it took for Mikael to begin moving, slowly and in measured strokes at first. Dean’s fingers gripped the back of the couch as Mikael slid into him over and over again. He would have loved to see Mikael’s face, but like this, he could brace himself as his mate slid deeper than either of them were accustomed to.
“You should see this,” Mikael muttered, obviously still restraining himself as his hands traced paths up and down the length of Dean’s back. Dean could feel his muscles shifting under Mikael’s exploring hands, his need to feel every part of Dean that he could see. “One of these days, we’re going to need a camera Dean, cause this is…”
He slid forward more forcefully with a slap of skin against skin. It was probably meant to emphasize his point, but Dean only moaned, pushing his hips back to encourage Mikael to move faster. The pain was ebbing away enough that he could focus more on what he wanted, what he needed.
Mikael growled, his hands sliding back to get a firm grip on Dean’s hips and began driving into him in earnest. Dean gasped at the first thrust, as Mikael seated his cock fully from tip to base, burying himself in one smooth movement. They weren’t aiming for gentle and Mikael plunged deeper, with more strength behind each additional thrust.
Dean’s body began to rock with the thrusts, his mouth falling open to moan as his body lit up with pleasure. Nerve endings came to life, ecstasy dancing its way from one end of him to the other with each thrust. Sweat lay as a thin layer on his skin, mingling with Mikael’s as the werewolf fucked him senseless. Their noises, Dean’s pleading moans and Mikael’s almost feral growls, hung in the air among the sharp slapping of their two bodies meeting.
Dean fought to get his hand beneath him, wanting to get off while Mikael was still inside of him. Mikael’s hand knocked his away, releasing one hand’s grip on Dean’s hip to wrap it around Dean’s cock. The pleasure building within him intensified. He never took long with Mikael, and even less time when Mikael was inside of him. His body felt as if it were trying to curl up on itself before stiffening. The whole of him went taut as his cock jumped in Mikael’s hand, his noises becoming incoherent as his orgasm took hold of him.
Mikael’s thrusts never stopped, though they were hindered by the sudden tensing of Dean’s body. They became erratic as the last of Dean’s orgasm began to drift off, leaving him sensitive and worn. Mikael buried himself once more, and Dean would swear he felt Mikael expand inside of him. Mikael’s body bowed over his, his forehead pressing between Dean’s shoulder blades as he came deep inside Dean. It was rare that Dean was recovering from his own orgasm when Mikael got off, and he could feel Mikael deep inside of him, pulsing, drawing a shiver up his spine at the mental image that rose up.
A muttered oath was all Mikael managed as his strength drained out, carefully pulling himself free from Dean so he could flop onto the couch gracelessly. Dean was slow to pull himself off the back of the couch, easing himself down to rest his head on Mikael’s lap. Mikael’s fingers pushed through Dean’s sweat dampened hair, stroking him slowly and affectionately.
“I love it when you jump me like that,” Dean muttered, chuckling a little as his fingers traced circles on Mikael’s bare leg.
“I love it when you let me, never had someone who just let me… take them like that.”
Dean smiled. “I always end up paying for it. Why do you think you normally get a blowjob for a couple of days afterward? Totally worth it though.”
“How are you?”
The question came suddenly, and Dean knew what Mikael was asking. The high of their orgasms had left them, leaving only the thoughts they had both been trying to escape from for a little while. It seemed that everything around them was being shaken in warning, feeling the tides of war sweeping their way. There was no certainty as to how it would all turn out, and they risked losing everything in the coming days. All they had was one another, and the pack.
“I have you,” Dean said in way of answer, knowing that that was enough for him.
“Come on, talk to me, sing a song, whisper sweet nothings in my ear, something.”
His words had about as much effect on Mikael’s gifted plant as anything else he had tried so far, which was zero. Maybe it was still sleeping, not quite having awakened yet with its buds unopened. Which might make sense, if it wasn’t for the fact that the old, obviously slumbering trees from the oldest parts of The Grove around their cairn were doing plenty of talking.
“Maybe it’s like a puberty thing? Gotta have that first bloom before you talk?”
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t reply, just sat there and… grew quietly. With an annoyed grunt, he flopped back onto the bed, staring up at the wall in disappointment. Mikael was gone again, doing his rounds along the border and probably sending out more scouting parties. Neither he nor Samuel trusted the rumors of where Damian’s group was, or which direction they were heading. The wily alpha was too slippery and Mikael was making sure to keep an intense watch on both the borders and the lands beyond.
Dean had been instructed to continue to make progress in trying to communicate with his silent gift. Talon hadn’t been much help either, telling him it was a process that would happen when it would hap
pen. Apparently, it wasn’t so much something you could have explained to you, as something you just had to come to understand. The most that Talon had offered was to give him a few meditation techniques to see if that might help, but all that had done was provide more time to think over his failures.
“You’re supposed to be easier than the fern, but instead you’re being just as difficult,” he scolded it under his breath. It was easier to tell the plant off than it was to figure out how to do this. He pulled it onto his chest and pet the leaves, finding contact with something growing and green soothing. So far all he had managed to get out of his time trying to work with his abilities was being comforted by anything plantlike and alive, which wasn’t really something helpful.
Mikael was a lot more optimistic than Dean was about this. In the few spare moments he had to spend time with Dean, he encouraged him to keep at it. Mikael alone had seen the full effect, up close, of what those first moments of awakening to his other nature had brought about. Just like Dean, he knew what was sitting there inside him, just waiting for a reason to come out and show itself. The difference between the two of them was that Mikael wholeheartedly believed Dean could do this.
“Look at me now babe, succeeding so hard right now.”
He wouldn’t say that to him of course, Dean had been doing his best to keep his spirits up whenever Mikael was around. Mikael was working hard to keep everything safe for everyone, spending long hours on the fringes of their territory to ensure everything was in tip-top shape. Dean knew he was trying to keep everything safe, fretting endlessly in his head about the safety of everyone, especially Dean. It had got to the point now that Dean wasn’t allowed to go anywhere around The Grove without both his sword and an escort. There was always someone coincidentally around whenever he wandered outside to clear his head, which he knew was Mikael’s doing.