"Even a Man Who is Pure in Heart" - CHAPTER SIX
The sun was high in the sky by the time Jensen awoke in the morning. Something seemed off, though, and after a couple moments of drowsy stupidity … he realized he was in his own room. He hadn’t greeted the morning in his own room since he’d come here. Always finding himself in Jared’s. He rolled slowly onto his back and tested his wounded arm. There was a slight pull of still-healing skin, but the pain from the night before was all but gone.
A deep ache had settled into his bones again, stronger than the day before, and it took several attempts to pull himself up off the bed. He staggered into the bathroom and immediately started up a hot shower. When he stripped of his sweats and underwear, he also gently unwound the gauze on his arm. There were angry red marks were four teeth had broken his skin, but the skin itself was closed. He marveled at it for only a second before stepping under the spray of the shower.
He took his time rubbing off the grime and blood from the early hours, and then rested his forehead on the tile and allowed the hot water to sluice down his sore back. Fuck. Jared had warned him that his first shift wouldn’t be easy, but if he already felt this shitty when his body was just preparing for it … he was seriously not looking forward to tonight.
“Jensen?”
Jared’s voice was muffled outside the door of the bathroom. Jensen turned off the taps.
“Yeah?”
He pulled back the shower curtain and stepped out into the bathroom … just as Jared opened the door and stepped in. They both slammed to a stop. Jared was fully dressed in his jeans and white t-shirt, barefoot as usual, hair and face neatly groomed and ready for the day. Jensen was naked as the day he was born, wet hair plastered to his forehead and rivulets of water still tracking down his body. Jared swallowed so loud that Jensen could hear the man’s throat click. His hazel eyes were blown wide as they followed the droplets of water on their southward journey.
Jensen couldn’t move, and he honestly couldn’t tell if it was because he was embarrassed … or just waiting to see what Jared would do. Jared’s scent spiked strong and steady into the room and Jensen recognized it for what it was. Arousal. Licking his lips slowly, Jensen took a step forward. The movement seemed to break Jared from his trance and the other man scurried out of the bathroom quick as his feet could carry him.
“Sorry! I’ll just wait out here!”
Jensen sighed and turned to bang his head softly against the wall. What. The Hell. Seriously. Jensen understood that he was new to the whole werewolf thing… and even newer to the gay thing, but shouldn’t something be happening by now? He woke up every morning in the other man’s bed. He followed him around like a lovelorn teenager. He knew the attraction was reciprocated. Jared was the fucking poster boy for LUST when Jensen would catch him giving him the once over. He just didn’t get it.
Throwing a towel around his hips, but leaving himself dripping wet, Jensen sauntered out into the bedroom. Jared’s eyes flew wide again when he saw him, but he quickly cleared his throat and regained his composure.
“How are you feeling?”
Jensen rummaged through his saddle bag and pulled out a clean pair of black boxer briefs. He worked them on underneath his towel, then whipped it off to dry his hair.
“Tired. Sore. Arm’s okay, though.”
He turned back around and smirked when Jared quickly shot his gaze up to meet Jensen’s from where he had been staring … much lower. The towel was unceremoniously tossed into the bathroom. Moving back to his bags, Jensen pulled out his favorite pair of dark gray lounge pants that slung precariously low on his hips, and a plain white tank. Slipping them on quickly, he quirked an eyebrow at Jared, waiting for him to speak. Jared finally smiled, but it was a little strained.
“Big Jim’s here. He wants to talk to you … do you think you can? Without… you know… attacking him?”
Jensen shrugged his shoulders and moved towards the door to his room.
“Guess we’ll find out.”
He sauntered out into the hallway and made his way down the staircase. His bones might ache and his arm might be twinging … but fuck … he felt … strong. Powerful. Defiant. Unbeatable. For a man who had spent the last two years trying to disappear into anonymity and shadows, right now he had the urge to stroll into the middle of the room and shout, “Here I am, mother fuckers! You want a piece of this?”
It might have been the fact that tonight was the full moon. It might have been the fact that last night he had defended his pack against another Alpha. It might have been the fact that he now had a fucking pack to begin with. He couldn’t be sure what was giving him this strange new burst of confidence… but it felt good. There was a strained tension radiating from the living room that spiked when he strode in. His pack was there, along with Jim and a police officer. He didn’t need to scent them, he’d done so in the hallway. The officer’s eyes widened upon seeing him, and he glanced nervously between Jensen and Jim.
For his part, Jim just watched him enter the room with a small knowing smile on his face. And nothing happened. There was no overwhelming need to attack or defend or run away as there had been the first time. In fact … he didn’t feel threatened by the other Alpha at all. Jim stepped up to him and offered his hand to shake. Jensen accepted it readily and the whole room seemed to relax.
“Damn, boy … you’re going to be something else, aren’t you?”
Jensen tilted his head in a silent question, but Jim just smiled and introduced the police officer.
“This is Detective Cohen. Your pack has already filled him in on what happened last night. Is there anything that you want to add to the report? Things like this go straight to the American Werewolf Council, so any little detail might be relevant.”
For his own part, Jensen didn’t even react when Jim referred to the others as his pack. Officer Cohen did seem a bit startled, however. Jensen wondered briefly what the protocol was for a small pack existing inside of a larger one.
“Yeah, I do actually. The Alpha that attacked us last night was the one who bit me a month ago.”
There was a collective gasp in the room, and Jared stepped up to grasp Jensen’s shoulder tightly.
“Are you sure?”
Jensen nodded but kept his focus on Jim.
“Not likely to forget, am I? It was him. And he’s been hanging around here ever since I arrived. I scented him the first day, and a couple times since then, but didn’t know who it was until last night. There’s something else, too … he seemed familiar somehow… but I just can’t place it.”
Jim nodded and Cohen scribbled something down on a notepad.
“Tonight is your first full moon. Keep your pack close to you. Stay near the house. I’ll have the Police patrolling the borders and the woods, and place an alert on the town. Everyone needs to know that there’s an intruder who attacked a resident Alpha.”
A few more pleasantries were exchanged and then Jim and the officer headed back into town. As soon as they were out of sight, Jensen turned on his heels and stomped barefoot out the back door and into the garden. Jared called his name and the pack bustled after him. His feet met the cool grass of the yard and he breathed in deeply as he made his way over to the battleground from the night before. That copper tang was still there, but diluted with time. Jensen sniffed the air and could follow the direction his attacker escaped to. He’d only made it a couple yards before Jared was in front of him halting his movements.
“Jensen. No.”
Jensen growled low in his throat, but Jared held steady.
“I want to find him. I want to rip his limbs off his body and tear out his jugular with my teeth.”
Jared brought his large hands up and framed Jensen’s face with them ever so gently.
“I know. I know, Jen. But you’re not thinking clearly. The full moon is fucking with your head, it happens to all of us. Makes us more aggressive, more territorial. Just wait. Just wait until after we get you through tonight. I promise we’ll find him, okay?”
Jensen pushed forward, trying to side-step Jared, but the other man stopped him. He growled dangerously deep in warning, but Jared responded with a snarl and growl of his own, and Jensen’s wolf reminded him that this was his Alpha. His mate. So he backed down. He whipped out of Jared’s hold and stormed back into the house, pissed off that Jared only chose to act like his mate when it was in his own fucking best interest.
Breakfast that morning was strained to say the least, and Jensen wasn’t really that hungry to begin with. He felt progressively worse as the day rolled on, and afternoon found him lazing in his bed, basking in the cool breeze coming in the window and trying in vain to get comfortable. Everything hurt. His bones. His nerves. His skin. Every once in a while it would feel like his body was trying to shift, trying to change. Sharp spikes of pain would zing through him and he would whimper softly through it. Each time he would curse Jared for not being there, not helping him through this. He hadn’t seen nor scented the man all day, so he obviously had left the premises.
His hearing had become so sharp that he could make out members of his pack moving around downstairs. He could scent Chris, Steve and Danneel … but the rest were gone. He vaguely remembered Misha saying something about patrolling the area with the others, but he had been in the midst of fighting back a wave of nausea and couldn’t really remember clearly.
He must have drifted off for a time, because the next thing Jensen was aware of his room had darkened with the colors of a fading sunset and there was a dark figure standing just inside his window.
“Jared?”
Just as the words had left his mouth, Jensen was assaulted by the sour scent of his attacker. Fuck! He tried to vault to his feet, but found himself weak as a kitten and slammed bodily to the floor. The approach of his first shift had left him feeble and powerless.
“Not quite, I’m afraid. I really didn’t want to do it this way, but you left me no choice.”
The voice was familiar but Jensen just felt so, so tired and he couldn’t even concentrate. There was an odd chemical smell close to his mouth and nose, and he hadn’t even registered the man drawing closer until the cloth was placed over his face. He had no choice but to breathe in, and his already drained body quickly turned to jelly.
He didn’t lose consciousness, could feel himself being picked up and hefted over a broad shoulder … he just was unable to do anything about it. They crawled out through the window, and his captor crept silently along the roof until he hopped down into an area of the yard that was blind to the house. Jensen could hear his pack inside. He could hear his mate’s deep rumbled voice speaking with someone, tight with concern. Jared. God, Jared!
They moved silently towards the tree line, and Jensen could tell that his patrol had just recently been through the area … so they wouldn’t be back by for a good fifteen minutes. Which meant that his captor had been watching them all and waiting for the exact right moment to act. Just as they made it into the shadows of the woods, and panicked howl echoed into the night air. Jensen could tell it was Chris. He must have been doing his own independent patrol … thank God.
The man beneath him cursed softly and took off in a steady run. Jensen gasped as the motion repeatedly jabbed a solid shoulder deep into his gut. There was a clearing up head, and upside down as his vision was, Jensen could still make out the large black SUV they were quickly heading towards. Fuck, shit, fuck! He had to do something! And soon! Give the others a chance to track them down.
Gathering up every bit of strength he could muster, Jensen craned his neck and bit as deeply into the man’s side as he could. Felt the skin break even under the dark t-shirt. His captor yelped and Jensen found himself somersaulting through the air and landing in the damp grass only feet from the vehicle.
“Goddammit! You are a stubborn son of a bitch, aren’t you?”
The man before him turned around, and Jensen knew that dark hair, that beard, that face. Mother fucker.
“Professor Morgan?”
Morgan snarled in warning and stomped toward him, but Jensen could feel the chemical fading away and scrambled back several paces. He was still trying to fit the pieces together in his mind.
“You? You’re a werewolf? You bit me? Why?”
A deep growl reverberated from the older man’s large chest and he surged forward and wrapped a strong hand around Jensen’s ankle.
“Do you know I went into that damn coffee shop every single morning? Every day I ordered something and tried to get your attention, tried to get you to talk to me, and you wouldn’t even give me the time of day.”
Jensen felt his eyes widen impossibly large at the confession, then Morgan was moving. Dragging Jensen back towards the car by his ankle along the slippery grass. He kept talking as if Jensen wasn’t even there.
“Did everything I could think of and couldn’t even get you to look at me. Asked around about you, found out you were that cold and aloof with everyone. But I knew what I wanted. Knew how fucking glorious you would be as a wolf. How strong and beautiful. Then I overheard your coworkers convince you to go camping with them. Figured I would just have to take what I wanted.”
Rage bubbled up inside Jensen and colored his voice.
“So you broke pack law and bit me without permission?”
Morgan burst into laughter and Jensen took the opportunity to kick at the man’s wrist and free himself from his grip. He struggled to his feet.
“Pack law!? I’m an Alpha! Pack law shouldn’t apply to me! Now get in the damn car. Don‘t make me force you to submit to me.”
Jensen growled low and deep.
“I’m not going to submit to you, asshole. I have a mate. I belong to him!”
Morgan’s smile faded and he stepped closer.
“A mate? Some stupid lowly Beta that hasn’t even claimed you yet? That’s not a mate, Jensen, that’s a joke.”
Jensen couldn’t stop himself from reacting. He howled his rage at the insult to his mate and charged the older man. Morgan caught him on the shoulders and slammed him into the side of the SUV. Jensen snarled and snapped his jaws, arms gripping Morgan’s biceps and sinking his blunt nails into the skin as far as they could go. Morgan pulled him forward and them slammed him against the unforgiving metal of the car again. This time Jensen’s skull rebounded of the hard surface and he saw stars for a moment.
“It’s a joke, Jensen! And it’s an insult to me! I sired you for myself! You’re MINE!”
Jensen blinked his eyes a couple times to resettle his vision. Peripherally, he noticed that the sky had darkened to a midnight blue and the stars were beginning to sparkle in the heavens. The full moon would be up in minutes.
“I belong to Jared. I don’t care what you say.”
Morgan snarled in warning, but Jensen continued to speak.
“The moon is almost up, Morgan. What the hell were you planning on doing? Driving as far as you could before we both wolfed out and crashed the car?”
The older man laughed loud and long, and in the process startled the shit out of Jensen.
“You dumb, naïve boy. I’m a Blue Moon werewolf … and so are you. I couldn’t believe my luck when you decided to go camping that particular weekend.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, sweetheart … that we are not subjugated to the whims of the lunar cycle like the rest of our kin. We aren’t forced to shift into that half man, half wolf monstrosity at a full moon unless we want to. Unless we chose.”
There were so many questions still thrumming through Jensen’s brain, but no matter what Morgan said … he could feel his body reacting to the call of the moon … to the shift. But maybe … maybe it was because he wanted to shift for the first time. Maybe, despite the warnings of pain and agony, he was looking forward to it. Finally being able to be a part of his pack. An equal to Jared. A real werewolf.
“Why did you send me here? If you wanted me for yourself … why give me that card?”
Morgan blinked at the abrupt change of topic.
“You surprised the hell out of me, showing up to my office. I wasn’t prepared to confront you yet. Claim you yet. And there are members of the werewolf council at my University, the nosey bastards. I couldn’t take the chance.”
“So you wanted me to head to this secluded town… snatch me up along the way when no one would notice. Not a single person would even realize I was gone.”
Morgan smiled.
“See, sweetheart? I knew you were smart.”
Jensen snarled at the words, but then something in the sky caught his gaze. The full moon was rising. A spark of electricity shot through him and he couldn’t look away from the glowing orb. His gums tingled and his knees shook and something deep inside him wanted to howl into the chilled air. Morgan snatched his jaw with a strong grip and turned Jensen’s face back towards him.
“No. I forbid you to shift tonight. We have to-,”
Dozens of deep howls split the silence of the night, some extremely close by. One in particular sounded full of rage. Morgan cursed under his breath and tried to manhandle Jensen into the car. He pushed and shoved back at the larger man, fighting every inch of the way. Suddenly a low, deadly growl sounded from only yards away, and the struggling men froze.
When Jensen turned his head toward the noise, his jaw dropped. A large werewolf was stalking towards them on two long legs. It was tawny furred and well muscled, with a wolf face that looked like it would normally be sweet and playful, if not for the anger currently contorting the features.
Jared.
Jensen just knew it was Jared. And the sweet scent that wafted toward him proved he was right.
There were a handful of other hulking shapes slowly making their way into the clearing, and he finally breathed a small sigh of relief. His pack had come for him. In his moment of distraction, Morgan managed to shove Jensen into the SUV and slam the door behind him. Before Jensen could even reach for the door to fight his way back out, the older man started to shift into the massive black werewolf that had attacked Jensen all those weeks ago. Staring at him now… Jensen realized just how large Morgan was. Bigger than Jared. Bigger than all the members of his pack. They were going to be hard pressed to defeat him.
Then he noticed something else. The moon was high in the sky and all his pack-mates had shifted. But he hadn’t. Morgan was right. There was a sudden yelp and the vehicle shook. A golden werewolf that had to be Chad went sailing over the hood. His pack needed him. They needed their Alpha.
Jensen lay back on this seat of the SUV and raised his gaze to the sunroof. The moon was just beginning to peek through the opening of the glass. He focused on it and felt that spark travel through his body once more. He demanded the wolf inside to change. Shift. Save the pack. Pain flared to life deep in his bones as he felt them start to pop and lengthen. He bit his lip to keep from crying out, but tears leaked from his eyes. His body was growing and contorting and blazing fire across his nerves. Every single piece of fur that sprang from his skin felt like a needle piercing his flesh, and each bone on his face cracked and morphed outward to lengthen his skull.
The pain was excruciating, and it took him several moments of panting deep lungful of air to even realize that it was done. He had shifted. Jensen opened his eyes and glanced down at his body. It was unrecognizable. Most of his fur was so white that it glowed in the moonlight. Except for his legs and arms which were a warm copper color. He blinked his eyes and twitched his nose, which was now a massive snout protruding from his face. His snout appeared to be the same copper color, but he almost had to cross his eyes to see it.
A pained yelp broke through his shocked stupor, and he remembered that his pack needed him. He pushed on the sunroof with his clawed hands and the glass gave easily to his strength. Clambering up through the tiny hole clued him in on just how massive his body now was. He felt gigantic and heavy and thick with muscle. Finally he hopped to the roof of the car and the vehicle shook slightly under his weight.
The scene before him was chaos. More werewolves were here besides just his pack now, and several of them were already laid out on the grass. In the middle of the fray, the massive black hulk of Morgan was clawing and biting and ripping through people with little effort. It only seemed to take one good solid blow for him to send someone flying. The only one he couldn’t seem to shake off was Jared.
Jared, who was covered in superficial wounds and bleeding heavily from a cut above his eyes. Jensen’s nostrils flared wide at the scent of his mate’s blood.
And he saw red.
The sound that exploded from him was more of a roaring bellow of a male lion than the howl of a wolf, but it was filled with fury and loud enough to rattle the windows of the car he was perched upon. The battle in the clearing ground to an instant halt, all eyes turned quickly upon him, but he only met the silver ones that had haunted him in his nightmares. Jensen roared again and hopped off the SUV to land on the ground with a loud thud. His and Jim’s packs began to slowly back away from Morgan. All except for Jared, who only stepped back a couple of paces.
Morgan answered him with a low growl, and they slowly began to pace circles around each other. Jensen realized with a start that, while Morgan appeared so much larger than all the other werewolves, he and Jensen were about the same size. Jensen snarled and snapped his jaws.
Leave.
Morgan responded in kind.
Make me.
Jensen launched himself at the other werewolf. They collided with a painful jolt in the air and landed with a roll onto the ground. It was a frenzy of claws and kicks and bites as they rolled and tumbled across the grass. Morgan landed a deep gash across Jensen’s belly, and he reciprocated by ripping down Morgan’s side with his claws. The sounds were inhuman, as well they should be, and accompanied by several excited yips and howls from the packs around them.
Morgan unleashed a vicious kick that sent Jensen flying several meters across the ground. He clawed into the earth to stop his momentum and crouched on all fours to growl at the black werewolf before him. Morgan snapped his jaws and puffed up his chest in an impressive display of dominance … and just like that, Jensen understood. The older man wasn’t going to stop, wasn’t going to stay away, until he’d gotten what he’d wanted. He would continue to return and hurt the pack and cause disruption until he claimed Jensen for his own.
The gash across his belly was bleeding steadily, but his strength was still at its peak. Regardless of both these facts … the fight just sort of … went out of Jensen. He sat back on his haunches and relaxed his snarl. The clearing went silent around them. Morgan copied his actions and they stared at each other intently. Jensen wanted to flick his eyes toward Jared, but he didn’t trust what Morgan might do in those few seconds of distraction.
Jensen absolutely did not want to go with Morgan. He had no desire to become the arrogant Alpha’s bitch. But … if Morgan kept coming back … he could eventually kill someone. Maybe even one of Jensen’s pack. Or Jared. And it would be all Jensen’s fault.
Fuck.
If Jared had just claimed Jensen like Morgan suggested… maybe none of this would have happened. But then… maybe Jensen was supposed to initiate the claiming somehow… and he didn’t do it, because he didn’t realize he was supposed to.
There was a shimmer of movement before him, and suddenly Morgan was standing in the field in his human form. Naked and bloody, but with a smirk on his lips.
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you? Coming with me and ending all this? I promise I won’t hurt anyone else if you submit to me.”
A large tawny form shot between them, facing Morgan and growling low and threatening. Jensen watched Jared’s display and felt torn. Despite all his previous sexual leanings being to the female side of the spectrum … Jensen had actually been looking forward to see what a relationship with the other man might be like. But if it cost Jared his life … Jensen just couldn’t survive that. Not after everything he had already lost.
It took some effort, and a fair amount of hurt, but Jensen managed to shift back to his human form. He gasped when he was finished and clamped a hand to the wound on his belly that now seemed worse in comparison to his larger body. He calmly walked around Jared so that he could stand before Morgan again.
“What would it take for me to convince you that I don’t want you. Even if you managed to take me with you I would fight tooth and nail before I submitted to you. You would have to kill me. Then what would all of this had been worth?”
Jared snarled and stepped up behind Jensen until he could feel the heat emanating off the werewolf’s massive body. Morgan’s eyes flashed with fire and he sneered.
“You. Belong. To. ME!”
Jensen pulled his upper lip back in defiance and heard Jared growling thunderously behind him.
“You don’t own me. You never did. You broke pack law when you bit me without my permission. You destroyed the life that I had. Maybe if you had told me the truth in your office. Maybe if you had comforted me and assuaged my fears. Maybe then I would have been yours. But instead you sent me here… and I really have to thank you for that, because I found my pack. I found my mate.”
Morgan howled with anger and pointed an accusing finger at Jared.
“That ridiculous Beta is not your mate! He’s a simpleton fool that hasn’t even claimed you yet! He probably doesn’t even know how!”
Before Jensen could even formulate a response, the body behind him was moving. Massive clawed hands gripped his upper thighs, and when Jensen looked down Jared’s impressive jaws were opening wide and then clamping down around Jensen’s hip. The two front incisors were dangerously close to Jensen’s groin, and the back two were poking right into the meat of his ass. Jared’s golden eyes were pleading with Jensen to give his approval. With only a vague idea what was happening, Jensen nodded and instantly those jaws tightened and Jared’s teeth punctured his skin.
Jensen cried out as something close to pain, close to pleasure raced through his system. He could feel rivulets of blood escaping from the wounds, and Jared’s scalding tongue as he lapped them up greedily. All the wolves around them howled with delight save one, the sound he made was much closer to blind rage. Before their eyes Morgan began to shift again, and Jensen raced to catch up. He felt a little lethargic with all the pleasure/pain still hiccupping through his nerves, but he managed to finish his shift mere seconds after Morgan.
Morgan lunged towards Jared, but Jensen intercepted easily. He sank his teeth into Morgan’s shoulder and knocked them both away from his mate. Snarling and growling, Morgan drove his claws deep into Jensen’s belly once again, and Jensen had to release the flesh in his bite to yelp in pain. When Morgan turned to crow his victory Jensen lunged forward and sank his teeth into the solid neck before him. Teeth on either side of the jugular vein and jaws clamped tight.
The werewolf beneath him froze and Jensen growled a low warning. Thick blood was leaking between his teeth, but he didn’t dare break the hold. Morgan shifted once and tried to struggle free, but Jensen slammed him back into the ground and held firm. He wanted to scream ‘give it up! Give it up! I won!’, but settled for a deeper warning growl.
A shot suddenly rang out in the clearing, echoing off the woods and ceasing all movement and noise.
“I think that’s damn near enough of that.”
Jensen couldn’t see who it was walking up to them, but he knew the voice and the scent. Big Jim. The wolf in human form lowered his rifle and pursed his lips in distaste at Morgan.
“Thought you were the only Blue Moon wolf round these parts, boy? Tough luck. So let me tell you how this goes. Jensen won this fight, fair and square. He’s also been claimed good and proper … like he should have been done days ago.”
There was a faint whimper nearby that must have been Jared.
“So now, you’re going to get in your big fancy car and high-tail it outta town. And when I report all of this to the council, you better hope they’re pretty damn forgiving … or you better be so far away that they never find you. Got it? Let him go, Jensen.”
Jim raised his shotgun to level it at Morgan, and Jensen relaxed his jaws and moved away. There was a shimmer of movement and Morgan had shifted back to a man. He glared at Jim, then at Jensen before taking off to his car and pealing away. Jensen watched the red taillights of the SUV disappear into the night, hopefully forever.
“You okay, son?”
Jim caught Jensen’s gaze for a moment, and then pointedly slipped his eyes downward. When he followed the other man’s attention, Jensen was surprised to see the amount of red staining his white fur. He only managed a weak whine before his legs gave out beneath him and he collapsed to the ground. Jared was there in the next second, licking excessively at the wounds on his belly. Jensen gave a pained whimper with each swipe.
“Stay shifted, son. It will help with the healing.”
Everything was a flurry of movement after that. Werewolves were lumbering off in every direction, some with the assistance of a pack-mate. Jensen’s own pack all curled around him to keep him warm as Jared continued to clean the wound. Jim approached one final time and kicked Jared lightly on his flank.
“Make sure you finish the claiming as soon as he’s recovered. I don’t want to have to deal with this shit all over again.”
Jared grunted in affirmation, and the older man disappeared. Jensen closed his eyes and drifted off in a haze. He felt worn out, beat up, mangled and mauled … but all in all … pretty awesome. He had beaten his enemy, been claimed by his mate, and would hopefully survive to tell the tale. Jared’s tongue dug in deep to the largest slice on Jensen’s belly and he keened low in pain. The pack around him shifted at his distress and nuzzled into his fur, and feeling safe at last … Jensen passed out.
When he woke the sun was cresting over the treetops and he and Jared were alone. Jensen still in his werewolf form and Jared back to his human one. The other man was running his fingers thru Jensen’s fur and working at the tangles. Jensen chuffed at him. Hazel eyes instantly swung to meet his gaze and a hesitant smile warmed the handsome face. Jensen’s heart sped up a little at the sight… and he was so fucking gone for this man it was ridiculous.
“Hey. The wounds pretty much closed. Feel any better?”
Jensen flexed his abdominals and only met a slightly tender resistance. He rolled to his side and sat up on his haunches, stared down at the gigantic furred hands that now belonged to him. He felt pretty content actually. There was an odd twitch at his rear accompanied by a soft swishing sound. He turned his head and was stunned to find a large copper tail wagging in the grass. He blinked at it a moment.
“You’re beautiful, you know?”
He turned back to Jared and was pleased to find a healthy blush staining the man’s cheeks. Jensen tilted his head in confusion and Jared chuckled.
“I mean the cream and copper coat? I’ve never seen anything like it. Your ears are tipped with it and your eyes are even copper, like a bright new penny. Most werewolves have gold or silver eyes. It’s pretty awesome. Figures you would be just as pretty as a wolf as you are when you’re human.”
Jensen chuffed a little in embarrassment and glanced away.
“Try to shift down to a wolf. Human’s still not a good idea yet, and I damn sure can’t carry you like this.”
It was getting easier to demand his body to change, so it didn’t take very long for Jensen to feel himself shrinking down to a smaller size. He stood a little unsteady on his four legs, but turned in a slow circle a couple times to get the feel of this new form. Jared laughed beside him.
“Figures you’re still huge.”
Jensen wanted to laugh with his mate, but had to settle for his tail swishing back and forth.
“Come on, let’s see how far you can walk.”
The trek back to the house was slow going. He still felt a little weak and off-kilter, but when Jared had tried to pick him up Jensen had snapped lightly at his fingers. He didn’t want his pack to see their Alpha being carried in like a wounded mongrel. Jared had growled in warning but acquiesced. When they entered the back garden Chris and Steve, in wolf form, bounded up to them. They quickly flattened their ears and dropped their heads low in deference, but Jensen yipped at them happily and they took off like streaks toward the back door.
When they made it to the living room, the whole pack was waiting for their arrival in human form. After each bowed their deference to his position, the girls started to coo about how pretty he was and the men started to recount the highlights of the battle. They each looked all bit bruised and tired … but all were perfectly healthy. Jensen’s heart felt light with his ability to protect his family.
Family.
It struck him like a physical blow.
After so long without … he once again had a family. Jensen wasn’t sure if wolves could weep, but he suddenly felt weighted down with his emotions. He turned from the room and moved towards the stairs, nails clicking echoed sounds off the hardwood floor. He could feel Jared’s presence at his back like a steady heartbeat. The stairs were an annoyance, but when he finally made it to his room, there was his wonderful soft bed just waiting for him. He hopped onto the mattress and turned to face Jared.
“It should be okay to shift now … but let me run you a bath first okay?”
Jensen chuffed softly and eyed Jared’s naked backside as he moved into the bathroom. He supposed he was going to have to get used with exhibitionism in a house full of werewolves. No one seemed to even think about the fact that they walked around naked half the time. Jensen figured it was probably a good thing that he had a decent enough body, then.
“Okay.”
Steam was starting to billow from the door to the bathroom as Jared stepped out. Jensen closed his eyes and requested his body to shift back to human. He felt his bones and sinews stretch and realign and his fur recede, and then he collapsed breathless back on the mattress.
“Damn… that feels so jacked up.”
Jared chuckled and came to stand beside him.
“Can you walk?”
Jensen nodded and gingerly pulled himself to a standing position. Jared had to assist him a little across the floor and into the tub, but it was totally worth it when he sank down into the hot water. He sighed happily and reclined back. Jared reached up to snag Jensen’s bar of soap and lathered it between his hands. Without even asking permission he began to scrub across Jensen’s skin, sluicing off the dirt and blood with the hot water. Jensen couldn’t even bring himself to be embarrassed, just closed his eyes and marveled at the feel of those large hands.
Once he was scrubbed to pink and his hair was washed, Jared helped to pull him from the tub and set about drying him off tenderly. By the time they made it back to his bed Jensen was so sleepy he was stumbling. Jared rolled him under the covers and then tucked him in against the chill from the open window.
“I’m going to clean up. You hungry?”
Jensen mumbled a negative response and slipped off into dreamland. Distantly he listened as Jared left the room and to the sounds of life as his pack tried to regain normalcy. He must have dozed for a bit because Jared was seated on the bed watching him the next time Jensen opened his eyes. He smiled and it was returned just as warmly. Untangling himself from the covers, Jensen scooted up to lean back against the headboard.
“Everything okay?”
Jared nodded and shifted closer. His pupils were blown dark and wide and he was staring at something low on Jensen’s newly bared hip. Hip. Oh! Jensen glanced down and was greeted to the sight of two silvery scars where Jared had left his claiming bite. He lifted his fingers to run the tips across the marks gently. Jared sucked in a breath.
“Are you … are you mad?”
Jensen tilted his head slightly at the nervous words.
“Mad? Jared, I’m not mad. You were driving me crazy with all the mixed signals. I thought you didn’t want me. That you wished you’d never-”
“Fuck no! Jensen! No! I want you! God, I’ve wanted you since I first saw you! I just figured I was taking advantage of the situation. That you didn’t realize what was going on and would hate me for it later.”
He looked so ashamed that Jensen rolled his eyes and chuckled softly.
“Don’t we make a pair, then, huh?”
Jared shook his head and shifted on the bed.
“I’m not good enough for you. You’re an Alpha and I’m-”
“Jared, seriously … shut up and come here.”
The younger man slid cautiously across the bed until he was seated beside Jensen, his knees touching Jensen’s upper thigh. Once again his gaze had fallen down to the claiming mark on Jensen’s hip, so Jensen reached forward to snatch Jared’s hand and lay it across the bared surface.
“You can touch it, Jared. It’s yours.”
Long fingers skated softly over the smooth scar and Jared sucked his bottom lip into his mouth to chew. He slowly moved the touch towards the longer scar that split Jensen’s belly and traced along the edge of it. Jensen hummed in delight at the touch. When their gazes met again, Jared’s eyes were blazing gold, and unbeknownst to him, Jensen’s were a fiery copper.
He wasn’t really certain who moved first, only that finally … finally soft lips were crushed to his and a hot tongue was licking at the seam, begging for entrance. Jensen opened his mouth eagerly and granted passage to the nimble muscle. It laved against the surface of his mouth, and then moved to tangle with his own tongue. Jared suddenly growled deep in his throat and grabbed Jensen by the hips, yanking him down to a prone position on the bed. Jensen gasped through the kiss at the movement, but didn’t protest.
Then Jared was blanketed over him, weight pressing Jensen down into the mattress and this was definitely different from being with a woman. Jared pulled back enough to nip at Jensen’s lips, still rumbling out low growls that sent shivers down to Jensen’s toes. He arched his neck to offer it to his mate, and Jared nibbled down the length of it, sucking a deep bruise into the curve of his shoulder.
“Jared.”
God, his voice was already fucked out. Jared snarled and then snatched the covers off Jensen leaving him bare. Jensen tried to not be too embarrassed by his own rock hard cock, or Jared’s when the other man nearly ripped off his own clothes. Jared was nipping and nibbling all the way down Jensen’s flushed chest and all he could do was writhe against the mattress. When that gloriously hot mouth sucked Jensen’s straining erection down deep without any preamble, Jensen’s back arched right of the mattress and he cried out his pleasure.
“Ohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuck…”
Jared laughed around his full mouth before he pulled off with a lewd ‘pop’. Then, with pretty relative ease, he suddenly flipped Jensen bodily until he was on his belly, legs on either side of Jared’s kneeling form, and ass apparently up for the offering. He breathed deep as he could and commanded himself to stay relaxed. Everything would be better if he stayed relaxed, he was sure of it. Jared leaned forward to fit his human mouth over the same hip graced with the claiming mark and bit down hard. Jensen gasped and clawed at the sheets beneath him.
He was so focused on those teeth that he didn’t even notice the slick finger probing at his hole until it had already slipped inside. It burned some, but mostly just felt very, very strange. He tried desperately not to think of the significantly larger appendage that was going to be pressed inside soon enough, and concentrated on the licking and sucking Jared was treating his hip to. Another finger slid inside and the burn intensified. Jensen gasped and Jared’s large hand started rubbing soothing circles on his lower back.
“Shh, shh…. It’s okay.”
The fingers pushed deeper then crooked inside him and rubbed over his prostate sending fireworks of pleasure all along his spine and straight to his dick. Jensen moaned and bit the pillow beneath him, arching his back towards the ceiling, and giggling a little when Jared cursed.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous like this. Fuck.”
A third finger pressed inside and that burn and stretch were getting a little addicting. They rubbed his inner walls and tripped over his sweet spot, and Jensen was so hard he could probably pound nails through a two-by-four. Jared was gnawing on the hipbone opposite the bite mark when Jensen had decided he’d just had enough.
“Jared. Come on. Now. ‘m ready.”
Those lovely fingers slipped away and the slick sound of Jared coating his cock echoed in the silent room. Jensen pulled his knees up under him and lifted his ass in the air. His mate swore a blue streak before grasping Jensen’s sore hips and lining the blunt head of his dick up to Jensen’s stretched hole. The pressure of the first push had Jensen keening softly, but Jared soothed him through most of the burn and before he knew it they were flush against each other with Jared buried balls deep inside.
Jensen whimpered at the fullness and the pull on his rim, but it felt good. It felt really good. Then Jared started to move and that blew ‘good’ out of the water. The push and pull friction of Jared’s cock rubbed his prostate in all sorts of nice ways and the slap of skin on skin jerked his balls and dick with instant gratification. Jared’s speed and the force of his thrusts increased and Jensen realized he was mewling loudly and trying to shove back and impale himself harder.
Jesus, fuck … he never knew it could be like this. Jared was growling and biting at Jensen’s shoulder blades and his orgasm just hit him out of nowhere. Jensen wailed his release high and loud, and there was no way anyone in the house missed that. Not that he really cared. Jared was snapping his hips with abandon as Jensen collapsed on the bed. He was pushed forward several inches with the power of Jared’s thrusts but it was only a couple moments before there was a hot pulse of release inside his channel and Jared was groaning and shaking above him.
They collapsed sideways, still sticky and sweaty, with Jared’s slowly softening cock still tucked up deep inside Jensen. They panted roughly together trying to catch their breaths and Jared wound his arms tight around Jensen’s middle. He nuzzled his neck and Jensen sighed with satisfaction. Jared chuckled.
“Not bad?”
Jensen laughed softly.
“Not bad? That was … awesome.”
He could feel Jared’s smile where it pressed against his skin.
“We’re officially a mated pair, you know. Like … married.”
Jensen yawned and turned onto his back, grimacing a little when Jared’s softened cock slipped out. He pressed himself up and down the length of his mate and burrowed his face into Jared’s long neck. His asshole felt tender and swollen, but there was the phantom feeling of Jared still inside him that he thought he could get really used to.
“Married, huh?”
“Yup.”
“That’s cool.”
Jared’s face broke into a wide, dimpled grin and Jensen could only smile softly in return. Two years ago a tornado had taken everything away from him. All that mattered to him, and made him feel whole were lost in less than ten minutes. Four weeks ago an egotistical Alpha bastard who was only concerned with a pretty face cost Jensen everything he had tried to rebuild with his life.
One week ago that same asshole had chased him straight into the arms of Jared Padalecki, who had given Jensen back everything that had been missing in his life since that F5 hit his home town. It wasn’t normal, and it damn sure wasn’t going to be perfect, but this time he was going to grasp it tight with both hands and never let it slip through his fingers again.
And gay sex wasn’t so bad, either. Who knew?
