Running with Wolves Ch. 13

As they both came down from their peaks of pleasure, Augustine looked down at herself to take in the dancing lines of semen that covered her upper body. She sighed in pleasure, dragging her fingers through the strands to work it into her skin. An idea struck her as she gathered a thick glob on her fingers. She looked up to watch Ben's expression as she took her cum covered fingers and reached down into her shorts, smearing them all over her soft curls and into her lower lips. Ben inhaled sharply, his breathing stopping all together as she worked his semen into her pink flesh, making sure it stained her with his scent for all to smell. She smiled sweetly up at him, licking at her lips.

"Thank you, Ben."

He nodded dumbly, his eyes still on her hand hidden in her shorts. "Let me help you up." He reached for her, and she grasped his hand to pull herself to her feet. It was harder than she thought it would be to stand, her knees were so shaky.

She had to lean back on the chimney to keep upright, a giggle escaping her. "My legs have never been this weak before."

"Are you okay?" Ben seemed genuinely concerned. After replacing his pants to their proper place he put his hands on her hips to help her stand. "Did I hurt you or something?"

Augustine didn't mean for the laugh that escaped her to come out, but it was just so cute how this big strong man was so concerned all the time. "You did the opposite, Ben. I don't know what I'm going to do when we properly make love together."

Ben blushed, glancing around at their surroundings. "Yeah, I probably should have found somewhere more, appropriate, to do that." He reached down and picked up her discarded shirt. He used it to wipe away the more obvious signs of their foray, but she knew it would take a lot more than that to get rid of the evidence. Not that she wanted to, which was the whole point.

Augustine shook her head. "No, this was perfect. Besides, I'm the one that jumped you out in the open. My wolf was trying to comfort you, but ended up seducing you. I should be the one that's sorry. I swear I won't let anyone create doubts about us ever again." Ben nodded absently, staring down at the soiled shirt.

Augustine had every intention of putting it back on, but before she could grab it he was dropping it to the ground and unbuttoning his own shirt. She sighed as his chest and torso came into view. It was muscular and mostly bare except for a dark patch between his pecks that tapered down the center to a small trail into his shorts. She vaguely noticed how he paused at the last button, then practically ripped it off to wrap it around her shoulders.

Before she could fully appreciate his physique in the bright moonlight, he had her turned around walking back to the hatch that led into the Alpha Wing. Ben opened the door and helped her inside, before following her down and closing the door. They quickly made their way down and out, closing the closet door and heading back to the sitting room.

"Can I come see you tomorrow?" Augustine was still somewhat uncertain of Ben's feelings towards her. She knew they were mates, but he could decide at any moment to fight the pull as Misty and Dominic had done. She was relieved when he nodded his consent, and then thrown off as he darted into his room without even a 'goodnight'. She was confused by his change in behavior, and contemplated it the entire way back to her home. Her wolf was oddly quiet as well, stewing over something in the back of her mind.

'What is it? What did you see?'

The wolf was silent for a moment longer, waiting until Augustine was in her bedroom before beginning to form her answer.

Laying on her bed, Augustine's wolf began slowly showing her memories of things from their past: Clay taking down a female that had gone a step too far in her match and piercing her shoulder with his teeth, once when she was in the kitchen and witnessed one of the staff cut their finger with a knife, one of her brothers falling out of a tree and scraping his hands against the bark as he tried to stop his fall. Her wolf went through multiple similar memories, focusing on the wounds and how they had healed not long after into unblemished skin.

Augustine was confused by the strange series of memories. 'What's your point?'

Another memory surfaced, this one much more recent. Ben was hesitating to take off his shirt, clutching the material tightly as he seemed to force himself to pull it off. He had moved quickly to get the shirt wrapped around her exposed body, and she had been too distracted to notice what her wolf had. Seeing it now made Augustine's stomach flip for some reason.

All along his forearms and on the inside of his biceps were long, thin scars, all stacked one on top of the other. Augustine's wolf was confused, as she hadn't seen very many scars in her life and had never seen a wound that would cause that sort of damage before. Augustine was confused as well. She had never seen anything like it either, but they must have been the reason for Ben's change in behavior.

Feeling uneasy of what those scars could mean, Augustine decided to ask him about the scars during her next visit and fell asleep still wrapped tightly in Ben's shirt.

*

Flint sighed as he moved into a more comfortable position, his wolf waking him from a deep sleep. The beast inside him was restless, pacing and whining in the back of his mind. He tried to ignore the annoying tug of his instincts, but eventually he gave in and allowed himself to wake up. Something was alerting his wolf and he wanted his human side to wake up and respond to it.

Opening his eyes, Flint instantly felt what had alerted his instincts and froze. He was in a bed, not his, laying on his back with his face towards the ceiling. He could feel a body next to his. Whoever it was in the bed with him was moving to lie against his side, their face pressed against his shoulder and hand wrapping around his bicep.

Taking a deep breath, the scent of wood and crisp air assaulted Flint's brain. Shocked, he looked down to see the person next to him was an unconscious Garrett. His heart suddenly picked up in pace, the rushing in his ears drowning out all other noise besides the sound of his mate breathing against his arm. What the hell was going on?!

Running the previous day's events over in his mind, Flint tried to figure out how he had ended up in bed with his Destined. He remembered going to the Allocation Ceremonial and the fiasco it had become. After the misunderstanding had been cleared up, Dominic had gone off after Misty, leaving his pack in the care of Orion.

On their return trip to the Den, a Patrol had approached in a panic. Dominic had suddenly lost control of his wolf and was attacking anyone that got too close. Orion had quickly ushered the entire group back to the Den, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Ben had been pissed, fighting to go back until Orion pinned him to a tree and made it clear in no uncertain terms that everyone was going back to the Den. Dominic had entrusted his pack to him and he would not let any harm come to them.

After getting back they had all stayed sequestered in the Alpha Wing while Orion connected with the rest of the pack involved in Dominic's containment. Not long after, Flint felt his sister join his pack, obviously trying to help Dom merge with his wolf with a mating bond. It hadn't been much of a shocker when he witnessed his sister epically failing to be considerate while helping Dominic merge with his wolf. She was too controlling, too domineering as she guided Dom into a state of balance with his wolf. When it became clear she was only making things worse for his Alpha, Flint had decided to take matters into his own hands.

It was seen as incredibly insulting to help a human Destined merge with their wolf when their Destined wolf was available to do so because it was one of the major bonding events for the pair. Flint had been conflicted on whether or not to do it, but if he hadn't done something it would have just continued to spiral out of control.

So, Flint had tapped into Dominic's merging mind and taken over guiding Dominic. He had been open with Flint, allowing him to guide his energy into a balanced rhythm of push and pull. It became obvious quite quickly that he was not qualified to help with the merging. He had no control over Dominic's wolf, and he hadn't exactly gone through his own merging the proper way. His merge had been violent, like a clash between two storms. Dominic needed a calmer transition; he deserved that. Flint had backed off, hoping his sister had taken note of his approach. Thankfully she had and Flint was there to feel Dominic become a full-fledged werewolf.

Coming back to himself, Flint had realized his father was kneeling before of him, yelling and shaking his shoulders. Flint had been exhausted, barely able to comprehend what Orion was saying to him. After that his body became sore with another growth spurt and he had been helped into a bed. He had assumed it was his own. Nowhere in that scenario was Garrett ever climbing into bed with him!

Flint's wolf was completely entranced by Garrett's sleeping form. He would twitch and sigh, mumbling under his breath every so often as he curled in tighter to the right side of Flint's body. His long hair was tousled, obscuring half of his sleeping face from view. The dirty blond contrasted beautifully against Garrett's tanned skin.

As they continued lying on the bed, Flint had no idea what to do. The contact between them was making Flint's body respond in embarrassingly obvious ways and, taking in more details, Flint flushed when he realized both he and Garrett was wearing nothing more then loose boxers to sleep in. The room was bright enough from the glow of a nightlight that if Garrett were to wake up it wouldn't take much for him to see what was happening to the body he was cuddled up to.

Should he wake Garrett up? No, best not to add to an already awkward situation. He could just stay still and hope Garrett moved away on his own, but that was unlikely seeing as how his arm was migrating onto his chest.

Maybe he could just...? Flint slowly moved his left arm up and used it as leverage to pull himself from under Garrett's advancing appendage. His wolf was not pleased in the least to be moving away from his mate, but until they spoke to Blue Jay, Flint couldn't risk being so close to Garrett. It was too tempting to do something that would blow the lid off of his secret.

Making slow progress, Flint was almost completely untangled from his surprise bed partner when he silently began freaking out!

Garrett shifted in his sleep, unsettled from the loss of contact, but instead of turning away or waking up he actually rolled and flung both his arm and leg on top of Flint and latched on so he couldn't get away. His head came soon after, resting on Flint's chest. Flint tried to move again, but Garrett would just grumble and hold on tighter. What was he going to do now?

His wolf snorted, voting they stay exactly where they were and let their mate sleep. Garrett was seeking them out, even unconsciously, which was a good sign for when they told him of their bond.

Having no other alternative, Flint groaned under his breath and lay back down, the damn bed invader making himself more comfortable by relaxing farther onto Flint. His shoulder was pinned under Garrett, so no matter what Flint did he would end up waking him up if he moved.

For an hour or two Flint watched his mate sleep on his chest, contemplating what their future would be together if and when he admitted to his attraction. It was well after three in the morning when Garrett's demeanor shifted. His quiet mumblings became short cries; the small twitches becoming more like jerks. Whatever his dream was, it was becoming a nightmare.

Flint's wolf surfaced, drawn forward by Garrett's distress. Both man and wolf watched as Garrett became worse and worse, actual tears beginning to leak from his eyes. Unsure of what to do, Flint followed his wolf's urgings and hushed his mate, lifting his hand to rub soothing circles over his shoulder blades.

"Shhh, shh it's okay. I've got you, you're safe, my mate. Shhhhh." Flint kept up his quiet reassurance until Garrett quieted down again and settled even tighter against his side. Flint smiled down at the mop of blond strands draped over his chest. His wolf was practically glowing, proud that their mate trusted them and felt safe in their presence. Flint finally gave up and rested his head against the pillow, his arm still wrapped around Garrett's shoulders.

As the room became silent, a quiet sucking noise drew Flint's attention. Dread filled him as he slowly turned his head to see Samantha staring at him with a giant smile on her face, Penny feeding from her tit. Flint just stared wide-eyed at her, panic filling him.

"Garrett's always been a cuddler, but I've never seen him climb on top of anyone before." Flint blushed scarlet and Samantha giggled, pleased to get such a reaction.

"Please don't say anything." Flint pleaded, his eyes trying to convey his desperation. "Promise me, Samantha, that you won't tell anyone about this."

Samantha's expression turned into one of unease. "Alright, I won't say anything if you don't want me to, but I really don't think anyone would mind, Flint. Garrett already seems to like you. I'm sure Dominic would be thrilled." Her encouraging words made Flint smile, but he shook his head.

"I know, but that's not why. Soon, Dominic is going to have to renounce leadership of our pack to my parents. They haven't required it yet because they didn't want to push too hard on an already precarious situation, but with Dominic now turned, their wolves will not stand to have another Alpha and pack in their territory. Once we become a part of Five Rivers, Garrett will become a target for the more homophobic members of the pack. If they find out I'm his mate, it will become worse, even dangerous, for us both."

"How so? Wouldn't Sol and Orion give you protection? They can order everyone to leave you alone, can't they?"

Flint nodded, adjusting his grip on Garrett as he moved. "The problem is, an order is only at its strongest when there is an open and direct connection between the Alpha and the one who received the order. Normally, the Alpha's keep firm barriers between the pack and their minds. The link is strong, but the connections are quiet unless opened for communication.

"My parents will order everyone to leave Garrett be, but they can't maintain a constant open connection with everyone to keep the order strong. When they are shielded from one another the order will weaken over time for those who fight it, and those will be the ones that will slip past Mother and Father's notice and do damage. Mostly it will end up being verbal or small physical things, but if their fear or their hate is strong enough, someone may be able to do something more."

"You're afraid if they find out you two are mates, they will fight the command harder in order to come after you." Samantha was beginning to understand the gravity of the situation.

"Yeah, I do. For millennia it has been believed wolves like me are mistakes, omens of great suffering. Why, then, would Luna ever give us mates? It has never happened before, two gay wolves finding their partners, so the superstition has been endorsed over time as being proof for the belief. Our pairing is going to threaten thousands of years of beliefs and I need to make sure we have protections in place before they find out. Just give me a little time, Samantha. Please? Let me make sure I have what I need in order to protect my mate."

For a moment they sat in silence, then Samantha finally nodded her head. "You need to tell Garrett. I can't tell you everything, but I will say he won't be happy if you keep this from him. He hates having to keep anything concerning his sexuality a secret."

Flint took her words to heart. "Tomorrow. I'll tell him tomorrow."

The smile she gave him was both one of happiness and one of pity. "For what it's worth, I think you two will make a lovely couple."

Her statement put the biggest smile on Flint's face as he finally allowed himself to relax into sleep.

~~~~~

Hope the chapter was worth waiting for! I had a lot of fun writing it.

For those of you that have been showing concern about whether or not I am continuing the story, I just want you all to know I have every intention of finishing this story (whenever that may be). I have a loose plot in my head, and I know what directions I want it to go in, but I'm adding so much as I go along that this may be a story that has 20 chapter, or it could have 40. I don't know. Just know I will finish it in some fashion. The two weeks between chapters is becoming my norm for getting a chapter written, edited, and published, so don't worry if it's taking that long to see a new chapter.

Big shout out to my awesome editors MarieFlower and markrane! You guys are awesome!