Red's Wolf

Hey Folks,

Welcome to yet another one of my *gay* fairy tales! I felt I needed a little preamble here because this one is...different. One of my characters is intersex, so if that's not your thing, please check out one of my other stories. It's a slower burn, lots of fluff, and there are also some non-human aspects as we're talking about wolves. Because of this, I struggled with where to submit, but since it is ultimately about two women falling in love, here we are. As always, I love your feedback so please feel free to leave it at the end or email me from my profile. It makes me a better writer to hear what you liked and where I messed up, so please reach out. Happy smutting!

xo

Kate

_ _

The chill air sucked into my lungs, burning cold and freezing my nose. I could smell the snow in the air as I ran through the gloomy forest. My feet pounded on the packed earth and leaves crunched. My heart pounded in my ears as my body forced itself forward. I wasn't trying to be quiet, I was trying to be fast.

Suddenly, a howl right behind me caused my hair to stand on end. The monster chasing me was too close. I picked up the pace, sprinting as fast as my legs would go. I heard crunching and pounding of feet, four legs coming in fast. Dodging around a tree, I could see the lodge up ahead. Safety, warmth, and my family propelled me faster through the last trees. I was almost there. Almost home.

A growl sounded just over my shoulder. Too close. I hadn't made it. The porch was still eighty yards away.

Before I could escape, a massive, black shape dove out of the forest behind me, tackling me to the ground in a heap of fur and teeth. My head rocked against the cold earth and my breath was knocked out of my lungs. A triumphant howl split the air as giant teeth flashed above me. Then the beast looked down, its golden eyes boring into my own with heart-stopping intensity.

Then the wolf smirked.

Alright, you win, punk. Congratulations, I said through our mind link, using my strong paws to throw him off of me. He slipped sideways snorting and wagging his tail like a pup. I stood and shook out my fur as he shifted in front of me.

"I finally caught you! I caught you!" He ran around the clearing, stark naked and yelling, drawing the attention of a few pack members who were unloading groceries from one of our large passenger vans.

I shifted and stood in front of my deranged brother with my hands on my hips, "Yes you did, now quit making a scene you weirdo and go inside!" Marching myself up the porch steps, I waved at the pack helping with the groceries.

In the lodge, I grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt from the baskets at the front door. When you're constantly shifting in and out of wolf form, it's best to have clothes easily accessible. Not that any of us were prudes about nudity. Trust me, when you've seen your grandfather shift more than a dozen times, you get over it real quick. But having laundry baskets of unisex, comfy, easily stripped clothes all over the property is a must. Unfortunately, the shirt I picked sported a hot pink kitten wearing sunglasses, so that detracted from my carefully crafted bad girl image.

"Love the shirt, Sawyer. Really, you should make it part of your aesthetic."

"Shut up, Luke." I scooped a pair of shorts out of the basket and tossed them to my brother as he walked in. We definitely looked like siblings, in fact, our whole pack looked like family because, technically, we are. Most of us have dark hair, tan skin, and are taller than average with broad shoulders. Luke and I sported the traditional Roman nose that most everyone had, but he departed from the norm with his unusually large smile. My parents said it's because he came out laughing and hasn't stopped since, a fact supported by the giggle he was unsuccessfully containing now at my expense.

"Are you two done playing tag?" My very pregnant sister-in-law waddled into the room from the kitchen with a plate of biscuits in her hands. She too had dark hair, but hers wound in perfect, bouncing coils while mine hung in lackluster waves.

"Here, let me help, May!" I took the plate to the table just as my mother came through with a skillet of sausage gravy. Her hair was streaked with gray, but just as pretty as May's.

"We weren't 'playing tag'," Luke scoffed, swiping a biscuit from the tray before I set it down. "And anyway, I finally caught her!" He took a disgustingly large bite.

"Well, while you were doing that, the adults were actually working!" My older brother, Callum, and our father, strode in from their office. Callum was learning to lead the pack from my father. He and May were expecting their first pups, a set of twins, in a few weeks. The added stress made my usually serious brother almost unbearable.

"Well, someone's gotta check on the border patrols in the morning," I smirked, "Might as well have some fun while we do it."

"Sawyer," my father began as we all sat down at the table, "You need to stop participating in these silly games. When are you going to get serious? Settle down? Find a mate?"

I rolled my eyes. Most wolves find their mates in their teens since it's common to be from the same pack. My brother and May found each other nauseatingly young, they were in school together. Raised side by side. They waited until they were twenty to get married, then until thirty to have kids, a fact which drove my mother absolutely nuts. I respected their decision though, May wanted to finish med school so she could take care of the pack. Now with the two of them following the family plan, my parents had moved onto me and my supposedly very immature, twenty-eight year old self.

"We're not trying to pressure you, dear," Mom added, "But you should have found someone by now."

"Yes," my father interjected, setting down his fork, "You haven't been trying hard enough. You've done enough goofing around. It's time to grow up."

"I'm probably not meant to have a mate," I mumbled into my food. "I don't think cursed wolves get mates."

"Sawyer James! You are not cursed!" My mother scolded me, yet again.

"Then what do you call it, Mom?" I hissed back, "I'm a mutation. Who would want me as their mate?" I didn't wait for an answer, I stood, carrying my still full plate into the kitchen where I tossed it into the sink. Then I climbed the back stairs in three bounds up to my room. I hated that their words drove me to the "rebellious teenager'' action, but it was a sore subject.

Our family lodge was large. Three stories of bedrooms, bathrooms, offices, and family spaces for the Alpha's progeny. It sat at the back of the complex across from the pack hall. My room, or rooms, faced west and included a master bedroom and bathroom, another bedroom, a sitting room, and a small office. It was really more of an apartment just without the kitchen. I shoved my way through the doors and flopped onto the couch, my long brown hair falling over my eyes. I pulled at my split ends and brooded.

A knock on my door pulled me out of my reverie. I knew they weren't going to give me much time. Privacy wasn't really a thing in a pack where you shared thoughts.

"What?"

May walked in, belly leading the way. "Sawyer, you okay?"

"Yeah, I just hate how much pressure they put on me about finding a mate. Not everyone gets a mate!"

May chuckled as she joined me on my couch, "That's not true and you know that. The only reason we survive is because the Moon Goddess ensures we all have a mate. We might not find them until later in adulthood, but everyone has one."

I groaned and covered my eyes with my arm, "Then maybe I'm the first wolf who doesn't! Maybe I was cursed to be alone and weird."

"You don't really believe that, do you?"

"Maybe."

May sighed, "Look, I'll talk to them about backing off on the mate thing, okay? But you've got to stop calling yourself names. Deal?"

I peeked at her, "Fine. Deal."

"Good!" she said cheerfully, "Now come help me in the nursery. Your niece and nephew are giving me hell and I need to get all their clothes put away."

I smiled and put my hand on her swollen belly. I could feel the little pups moving inside, one giving my hand quite a good kick.

"Ouch!" She whined, "Absolute monsters already."

Helping May with the nursery didn't exactly take my mind off my romantic situation, but it did make me feel better. May cooed over all of the adorable clothes and the smell of baby detergent made the atmosphere calm and nurturing. When Callum came in a while later, I excused myself to give the growing family some privacy.

Wandering downstairs, I found Luke playing videogames with his two best friends.

"Hey loser, don't you have training this afternoon?" I asked as I stole a handful of their Cheetos from the table.

"Nah, it's pouring so Delta Ruiz canceled it. Said he already had to smell stinky teenagers all morning so he didn't want to spend his afternoon smelling wet dog."

I chuckled, "Well, maybe I can take on the winner then."

Before the three could respond, my mom bustled into the room. "Oh no you don't, missy! You have errands to run today."

"But Mom, it's pouring! Can't I go tomorrow?"

"Nope! I needed this stuff yesterday, but you begged off to train with Callum."

"Why didn't you have the other members do it when they got groceries today?"

"Because, they have little kids to get back to and had enough to get already. Now, take this list and be back by six sharp!" She handed me a little list on green paper covered with her scrawled handwriting.

"Does this say Rooster ball?"

Mom snatched the list out of my hand and looked at it. "It says 'Roaster bags'. I need three bags of coffee beans from Roaster's Coffee House for Grandma's birthday."

I rolled my eyes, "Alright. I'm bringing Colleen with me at least." My mom nodded and handed me the van keys. I hated taking the giant passenger vans, but with it pouring, my motorcycle wasn't an option.

Colleen! I mind linked my best friend. We're running errands, come on!

Her thoughts responded instantly, Thank Goddess! Just let me tell Keith.

Colleen was one of the normal ones who found her mate at eighteen and had a litter of kids in her early twenties. They had five already, the youngest only a few months old.

When I stepped out onto the porch, the rain was coming down in buckets. What had started out as snow and slush this morning had turned to a dreary, cold rainstorm. I grabbed a jacket from just inside the door, pulling the hood over my wavy, unkempt hair.

"Sawyer!" I saw Colleen jogging through the deluge with a baby carrier in her arms. Quick as I could, I unlocked the van in the circle driveway and pulled open the side door for her. Laughing through the rain, she dove in then snapped the car seat into an open base in the front row. She climbed between the two front seats and plopped down just as I came around the driver's side.

"I would have pulled the van up to your house!" I said, shaking the rain off my jacket.

"It's fine. These car seat covers can keep out anything." She wrung out her blonde ponytail. Colleen liked to dye her light brown hair even lighter which made her stand out in the pack. "But we can't be too long. Keith's brother is in town and they've threatened to let the kids watch Wrestlemania. Which we all know is going to result in my sons diving headfirst off the stairs onto one another."

I chuckled while pulling out of the drive. Our pack land sat far back in the woods off a dirt track that was a few miles from a main highway. Going to and from town was a thirty minute trip, longer if you wanted to get to an actual grocery store. It was the perfect amount of time to catch up with my friend.

Town was fairly deserted when we pulled up to the dry cleaners, Mom's first stop on the list. I left Colleen in the car to feed her little girl while I picked up the equivalent of a large wedding party's garments from the cleaners. I stowed the clothes and we continued our mission. The rain had lessened a bit, so we were able to make better time than I thought at the hardware store and the garden center.

"Last stop is the coffee shop."

"Yes!" Colleen squealed. "I'm coming in, I need caffeine in my life." I pulled up to the curb out front, barely fitting in the spot with the huge, white van. Colleen strapped a baby carrier to her chest and slipped the sleeping infant inside.

We managed to get in the shop without drenching ourselves too badly and wiped our boots on the mat. As the door swung shut behind us, the most amazing smell hit me full in the face. I couldn't place it with the thick coffee scent permeating the room, but it was deeply familiar somehow. I stood in the doorway, inhaling and trying to place how I knew that smell. It took me a second to realize Colleen was already approaching the order counter, throwing me an odd look over her shoulder.

I shook my head to clear it and went to the racks of coffee bags on display by the wall. I chose three kinds my grandmother liked and joined Colleen. The smell got stronger, interrupting my brain in a truly strange way. Peaches and honey. That was it.

"Are you okay?" Colleen whispered as I dropped the bags onto the counter to be rung up.

"Yeah, just a little distracted."

We ordered and I paid, then the barista sent us to the other end of the counter to pick up our drinks. The huge, shiny espresso machine obscured the prep area behind the counter. Colleen bounced to keep the baby asleep as we waited.

"Order for Colleen!" A soft, musical voice pierced through the hum of the restaurant and my heart began to pound against my ribcage. From behind the reflective machine, a small redhead appeared.

Suddenly, the peaches and honey scent overwhelmed me and my wolf inside began howling with glee. My entire body seized up under the complete assault on my senses. The woman smiled as she slid Colleen her drink. Her perfect white teeth flashed between puffy, glossy lips. Brown eyes skated over me, then stopped as her smile faltered for a millisecond. Her gaze caught on me and in the fraction of a moment everything in my world righted itself. I felt whole and parts of me that I didn't even know were hurting were suddenly healed.

Then, as suddenly as it started, it all faded as her gaze continued by and she went back to her work. I couldn't move though. My eyes were locked entirely on this redheaded dream.

Colleen's presence next to me finally fractured my concentration, but my eyes never left the redhead. "Is that...?"

"My mate," I breathed.

Colleen's gasp was quiet, but the huge smile that stole over her face was less than subtle. The woman turned back to us, sliding another cup across the counter. "Order for Sawyer," she said as her eyes connected with mine again. I think I nodded, but I'm not sure.

My hand felt like lead as I moved to take the cup. The woman smiled at me, the freckles across her nose dancing with the movement of her face. I muttered a thank you and saw a slight blush creep over her pale skin. Then she was gone. Back behind the massive, chrome machine. I slowly turned my entire body to Colleen who was holding back a giggle.

"Holy shit."

Her giggle escaped and she hooked my arm to drag me over to a corner table. "Sawyer!" she squealed quietly, "You found her!"

I nodded, looking back toward the counter but seeing no sign of the barista. "Why didn't she say anything? Do you think she felt it too?"

Colleen took a sip, "Well, she had to have felt it, you were too close for her not to. Maybe she's just shy?"

"Should I say something?"

"Not while she's working. Maybe you can go back up and just leave the pack name so she can contact you. She's probably part of the Moonraisers if she's working here in town. Just tell her you're from FW and I bet she'll have her Alpha call your dad."

"That's a good idea," I nodded. We finished our drinks while I practiced what to say. Colleen was very encouraging by telling me to make my smile more genuine and less constipated.

Finally, I felt ready. Colleen gave me a wink, then took the baby and the coffee bags to the car while I approached the counter. I ordered a tea from the first woman, then waited at the end of the counter for my mate. When she appeared with the large, steaming paper cup clutched in her perfect hand, she smiled just like before. "Sawyer?"

"Yes, I-" I took a deep breath, inhaling that beautiful peaches and honey scent, but something else, another smell, stopped me mid sentence. "Thanks!" I almost yelled and darted out of the shop.

My breathing bordered on hyperventilation when I crawled into the driver's seat. Colleen's smile faded as my fingers gripped the steering wheel and turned white.

"What happened? Did you tell her where to reach you? Is she-?"

"Human."

Colleen's eyes went wide. "What?"

"She's human. I smelled it."

"How? No, you must have smelled the other barista."

"No, I'm sure it was her. She's fully human."

Colleen shook her head, refusing to believe it, "But...we don't have human mates. It's not possible. Why would the Moon Goddess choose a human for you?"

"Because I'm a freak."

_ _

"You are not a freak."

May was sitting on the edge of my bed after she'd turned on my lamp, stealing away the darkness I was pouting in. Colleen had talked and talked the whole way home about all the possible scenarios for me thinking my mate was human. Her theories included that the woman was masking her scent, that she was some new hybrid, that I was mistakenly smelling the other barista, and finally, that she was some sort of magic user that was disguising herself for a dangerous coffee heist.

That last one, she admitted, was a bit far fetched. When we got back, she immediately relayed what happened to my sister-in-law while I went up to my room. I loved Colleen, but the woman couldn't keep anything to herself.

"Sawyer, listen to me," May waited until I sat up and looked at her. "The Moon Goddess does not make mistakes. If she's your mate, you need to go back there. Get to know her, ask her on a date, see if she feels the same way."

"A date?"

"Yes! Take her out to dinner or something. Maybe she's your mate or maybe she isn't, but you'll never know until you spend more time with her."

It was good advice. I loved and hated her for it. But it was how I found myself outside Roaster's Coffee House the following morning wearing nicer clothes and holding my bike helmet on my hip.

"Okay, I can do this. Just say hi," I murmured to myself. I opened the door, hearing the familiar chime overhead. It was warm and the same coffee smell greeted me, this time though, there was no undercurrent of peach. "Shit," I muttered. In all of my musings and preparations, I hadn't accounted for her not being there.

Still, I continued in and placed my order with a helpful barista, then took my drink to a corner to rethink the plan. Plopping my helmet onto the seat next to me, I slouched forward head in my hands. After five minutes, I concluded that this was very stupid. Monumentally stupid. Why had I listened to May? I'd woken up early, actually done something with my wild, brown waves, put on lip gloss and mascara, and worn a real bra.

"So stupid."

"I'm sorry to bother you, but are you alright?" I lifted my head to find the person who interrupted me was the cashier. She was tall, blonde, and smiley, though at the moment her brow was furrowed with concern.

"Yeah- yeah I'm fine. Just, uh, having a rough morning."

She grinned, "Anything I can do to make it better?" The flirtatious lilt to her voice was unmistakable. My stomach lurched.

"Uh, n-nope. No, I'm good. Just gonna drink this, um, tea. Yup."

The blonde batted her eyelashes, "Well, my shift ends at three, so if you change your mind, I'll be out then." Then she honest-to-goddess winked before walking away. I would have rolled my eyes at that, but the information she gave me was valuable. They switched shifts in the afternoon. If I came back after three, my mate would probably be in. I downed my tea, which was just a touch too hot still, tossed my cup, and trotted out to my bike. As I peeled away from the curb, my entire body vibrated at a higher frequency than the engine. I would see my mate later.