Tanner's Journey

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Author's note:

The events of this story follow the events of the previously published story "Runt and Giant", though it's more of a spin-off than a true sequel.

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Tanner was starting wish his sense of smell wasn't as good as it was.

As a lycanthrope, he had plenty of strong qualities: muscle, speed, the ability to think on his feet, but his nose was something that he used to really pride himself on. In his old pack, he was probably the second best tracker, only after that girl Morgan. It was one of the reasons why he was able to become the Romulus pack's leader despite not being popular among its members.

But after he was exiled from the pack his sense of smell almost got him killed.

Tanner fumed with rage thinking about that night, even six months later. On that full moon, he was able to smell the runt responsible for all of his problems from miles away. In his clouded mind, he decided that getting rid of Tim for good was his only option.

But then he came across that human.

Tanner had no clue who the gigantic man was, or why he was so protective of such a useless little pup, but the human fought back and overpowered him, even when the full moon had his strength at its peak. The werewolf knew that the man fully intended to kill him, but only chose not to because of Tim.

Even transformed into a wolf by the moon, Tim Vance, the one he came to murder, communicated to the human that he needed to stop, and the giant listened.

That sniveling little whelp had saved his life.

That was the worst part, the cherry on top of all the humiliation. That simple fact was more painful than the human beating him to a pulp. Rarely a day went by that he didn't think about it. It was Tanner's deepest shame.

That's why he was so hesitant to follow his nose again.

But this time was different. It was during the day; he was in his human form and had a clear head. Besides, it's not like things could get much worse.

Tanner had been wandering aimlessly around the country for months by then. He knew only by his innate sense of the moon's cycle that six months had passed since that night. He wasn't even sure where he was, probably New Mexico or Texas or something. It was winter: cold, but nothing he couldn't handle. From the start he knew it was in his best interest to find a new pack, begin regaining some of his old life, but something inside of him made him keep to himself.

That day he had been wandering some grasslands when he smelled something that shook him to the core. His very being was telling him that if he didn't track it down, he would regret it.

Tanner sighed. He had enough regrets already.

As he followed the trail, the smell got stronger, and he liked it more and more with each step. He couldn't describe it; it was unlike anything he had ever experienced. All he knew is that he didn't want it to ever go away. An idea began to form, something he never expected.

For miles he followed, but then realized that whatever it was stopped moving. He stood still for a moment, before he sensed what was happening. Reflexively he turned around and blocked whatever jumped down from a nearby tree to attack him. In a second, several realizations crashed into Tanner.

The scent's source was a young man, with blond hair and somewhat Asian skin, probably mixed race. He definitely wasn't human though, his strong, clawed arms that nearly ripped Tanner to shreds showed as much. But that wasn't the important part.

What really mattered was that he knew what that smell was.

Whoever this boy was, he was Tanner's mate.

The lycan had been straight his whole life, but wouldn't deny that he had wondered about it sometimes, he was just never able to act on it. That his mate was male wasn't a huge issue. It was what that male looked like.

He wasn't a man, he was definitely still a boy, probably nineteen or twenty. His beefy furred arms melted into human skin again, matching the rest of his slight figure. He was small and had a boyish face.

His new mate reminded Tanner so much of Tim that he wanted to scream.

It was a sick twisted joke. He had to have been punished enough for his crimes at that point, but this was something that was going to stick with him forever. Thinking about Tim always put Tanner in a bad mood, and now it would always follow him. Tanner wished he had never followed the trail.

It was the kid who broke the silence that felt like forever but had only lasted a second or two.

"Who are you and why are you following me?"

Despite Tanner's anger, hearing the boy's voice was able to calm him down a bit. The imprinting had already begun. He wanted to talk to him. He wanted to hear more.

Damn it all.

"My name is Tanner Merin. Who are you? What are you? You're not a human."

The boy raised his eyebrows.

"Wow, are you always this rude to people you've just met?"

Tanner contemplated killing this little shit now before he fully imprinted, but instead answered the question.

"I'm sorry I'm not super polite to the guy who just tried to attack me. I'll try to work on that the next time I get ambushed."

He loosened his grip on the brat's arms and took a step back. Now the kid looked confused.

"Well, what do you expect? Some creep I don't know followed me for miles! I'm just defending myself."

"Do you really not understand what's going on? Who I am?"

The boy put his arms up.

"Okay, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let's start over. Hello. My name is Ken Lang. Why are you following me?"

Tanner sighed. He didn't want to say it, so he deflected.

"What species are you? You're definitely not human, but you're not a werewolf like me."

Ken looked shocked. "Oh, so those stories are true? I've heard tales of lycanthropes living in America but I've never met one before. I'm not a werewolf, I'm a tiger shifter."

Now Tanner was the surprised one.

"A weretiger? That's actually a thing?"

Ken sighed. "I hate the term 'weretiger'. It makes it sound like my species is just piggybacking off of yours. If you must know, I'm the child of a human female and a Malay being known as a harimau jadian. But you didn't answer my question. Why are you following me?" He definitely put more force in his tone that time.

Fuck. He was really going to have to spell this out.

"I don't know how it works with hairy jaydens or whatever you call it, but my kind has mates, wolves that come together and imprint. I tracked your scent because you're mine."

"Whoa, calm down. I don't even know you."

Tanner lost his patience.

"I didn't choose this, okay? It just happened. You're my mate. Can't you feel the imprinting starting? If I could stop this from happening, believe me, I would." His tone was bitter.

Ken rubbed his forehead.

"Please, one thing at a time. Yeah, I really like the way you smell. You're not bad looking and that jump attack back there was just to scare you. But that doesn't mean we're meant to be. That's nuts."

"I already told you, this is happening whether we want it or not."

Tanner walked over to a tree and kicked it. This was a nightmare.

After a minute of silence he felt Ken's hand on his shoulder.

"Well...damn. I guess we're just going to have to work this out then, aren't we, Tanner?"

Hearing his name come out of the young man's mouth made him so much happier than it should have.

"Yeah, I think we have to...Ken."

For some reason, saying his mate's name made it really sink in how final it all was. There was no turning back.

The tiger smiled at the wolf.

"Well, we have a lot to talk about. How about I cook us some dinner?"

*****

Ken was not able to get fully comfortable around Tanner, even after being together for hours. He couldn't shake the feeling that the werewolf resented him for some reason.

He had caught a deer that day, and the local predators were scared away by his aura, so all that was left to do was cook it over a fire and get to know his new mate.

The more he was with Tanner, the more he understood what the wolf had meant when he talked about imprinting. Even though they had just met, is face, his voice, and everything about him started to seem so familiar to Ken, like it was home to him. His smell was so perfect, and Ken would not deny how handsome the lycan was.

Ken had known he was gay since he was sixteen, but hadn't expected to find a partner, due to his life as a tiger shifter. He was content to live in the wild and only went back to civilization to occasionally visit his mom and stepdad. For a year and a half he had lived off the land, satisfied in his solitude.

That would have to change. Tanner was right; one way or another they were going to make it work.

He looked at the werewolf. He was older than what the jadian originally thought his type was, but from one minute to the next Ken thought more and more that Tanner had always been his type and he just never knew.

Tanner was 6'3", 28, and fittingly enough had what the gay community would sometimes call a "wolf" body: muscular without being too bulked out and not that hairy. His new mate had dirty blond hair that was just shy of shoulder length and a short beard. He had clear brown eyes and a rough voice. If Ken had to picture what a werewolf would look like in their human form, Tanner Merin was not far off.

Ken, on the other hand, was pretty far off from a ferocious tiger when fully human. He was small and soft, only 5'7", and not exceptionally masculine. Sure, when he brought out his fangs and made his eyes an orange so bright they almost glowed he was scary enough, but most of the time he just looked like an unassuming Asian kid.

He learned that his transformations were very different from Tanner's, which wasn't a surprise. The lycan could shift between a human form, a wolf, and a wolf-human hybrid whenever he wanted, and while the moon did affect him, he didn't get transformed into a mindless beast by it.

The tiger shifter could also change his form at will, but had much more control over it. He could change just his arms, or just his head, or any specific part of his body into that of a very large humanoid tiger. If he wanted he could make the transformation complete, but it cost him too much energy to be practical in most scenarios.

Ken was pretty sure he was the only one of his kind in the world. He felt alone because of that, but with Tanner he could have some companionship. So why wasn't he overjoyed to find his mate?

Part of it was probably that Tanner was not acting very friendly towards him. He gave short answers to all his questions and seemed a little full of himself, not to mention rude at times. In a normal situation, Ken would stay away. If a guy seems like a jerk when you first meet him, don't be surprised if he would go on to hurt you.

But in this case not being with him wasn't an option, and that scared him a little bit. They were going to be together because they had no choice.

Once the meat was done cooking they both devoured it like the wild animals they were, Ken with tiger teeth and Tanner in his hybrid form. Normally a deer would be enough for Ken to eat his fill for at least a day or two, but he and Tanner demolished it in one sitting. Their stomachs full, they relaxed around the fire. The jadian tried to break the ice.

"So, how long have you been wandering around on your lonesome? I thought wolves lived in packs."

Tanner narrowed his eyes.

"That's none of your fucking business."

Ken glared right back at him.

"I think it kind of is, considering that we're mates. But even if it wasn't you don't have to be an asshole about it."

"I don't need to tell you my life story. You aren't entitled to know everything about me just because you're my mate."

Ken felt like the conversation was going nowhere fast. Clearly pushing this further wasn't going to help. He instead tried another tactic.

"My mother is from Arizona and studied abroad in Malaysia for one semester. That's where she met a harimau jadian. She was fascinated by the man-tiger that lived in the woods not too far from where she was staying. Just like in America, the cryptids in Malaysia keep their distance from humans, but something about my mother interested the beast."

Tanner leaned back a little. He didn't look particularly interested, but didn't seem to want Ken to stop, either.

"Most of their interactions were with the jadian in his human form, a handsome Malaysian man. A connection started to form, one that was taboo and sure to end badly for the both of them. But as we both now know, attraction is a powerful force. She tried to resist him, but the pull was too strong. They became lovers."

He threw a stick into the flames.

"Despite that, my mother knew that her home was in America, and she knew that once she left Malaysia she would never see that tiger again. But when she got back to Arizona she discovered something she wasn't prepared for. She was pregnant.

"She had every reason in the world to get rid of me. I was going to be so much more challenging to raise, but she decided that she wanted me as her son. For five years she went through hell for me. So much money, so much lost sleep, so much stress and loneliness all for my sake. She tells me that she was happy in spite of all those things, but I'm still not sure if I believe that."

Ken felt a chill and hitched up his coat. It got below freezing some nights, but with a fire and some animal furs he was able to get by.

"Thankfully she found a man that wanted to be with her, tiger child and all. My stepfather is a wonderful person, and worked together with my mother to give me a childhood better than I could ever ask for. It was hard, growing up as an abomination, something that shouldn't even exist, but I pushed through for their sake. When I turned eighteen, they told me that what I wanted to do with my life was up to me, whether I wanted to live as a human or as a jadian. I chose to live in the wild. I'm my own person now, but I still visit them now and again. I love them and will never forget everything they've done for me."

Tanner still didn't say anything. Ken wished he could know what his mate was thinking, why he wanted to be so distant. His emotions were so messy. He wasn't sure if he even liked Tanner yet, but he knew that he loved him. That feeling was disorienting, to say the least.

He got bolder and scooted closer to his mate. The contact felt incredible. He suddenly had the overwhelming desire for Tanner to wrap his arms around him, hold him close.

"They're my family, and I want you to be family, too. But I kind of wonder if you want that. I know you've imprinted on me, but something tells me that you would have avoided meeting me if you could start today over again. Is that true?"

There was a pause before Tanner finally spoke.

"You're right about that. I wish I had left well enough alone, but that's not because of anything you have control over. It's complicated, and I don't feel like talking about it. At least not tonight."

He sat up.

"But I don't hate you. I want you to know that."

Ken nodded.

The next couple hours were quiet. The sun set and the Tanner got on the makeshift bed Ken had been using.

The tiger was sort of nervous, but figured that sleeping in the same bed was something mates should do. So as uneasy as it made him he got under the animal skins and scooted right up against his new companion.

"Good night, Tanner."

There was a pause before the wolf replied.

"Good night, I guess."

A few minutes later, Tanner pulled Ken even closer, spooning him. It felt like heaven.

He knew that the next few days were going to be a process. They didn't even know each other, and Tanner was still closed off, but the feeling of being in his mate's arms was enough to steel Ken's will. They were mates. They were going to be lovers. He was going to love Tanner, not because he had to, but because he wanted to, and he hoped the lycan felt the same way.

The jadian drifted off to sleep, feeling calm and safe like he never had before.

*****

The next morning Tanner woke up suddenly, like he was jerked awake, even though it was dim and quiet.

It took a split second for him to remember what had happened the previous day, then it all came to him in an instant. He had found his mate.

Speaking of which, his little tiger cub was in his arms. He really was cute.

Wait, his little tiger cub?

Tanner scowled. It was already happening. The imprinting was starting to make him soft.

His entire life, he knew that he needed to do everything he could to be strong. Strength meant power, and power was the only thing that was going to get him anywhere as a lycanthrope. But now there was a crippling weakness forming within him. Usually when he was faced with something, he would fight to defeat it, but this wasn't something he could fight, and it frightened him that he didn't even really want to fight what was happening.

Tanner had never really wanted a serious partner. Even a mate is just for sex, plain and simple. Affection and romance and all that bullshit was just for weaklings who weren't able to make it on their own. He needed to do everything in his power to stop himself from becoming that person.

It was time for him to establish the status quo. Tanner was the alpha. Tanner would call the shots.

He shook Ken awake.

"Wake up, kid."

The tiger shifter rubbed his eyes.

"Morning, sunshine," he said sarcastically.

Tanner ignored the disrespect and stood up.

"I'm hunting today. You stay here and keep things neat. Gather firewood, improve this shitty bed, get some herbs and plants. I'll be back before sundown."

Ken yawned.

"You don't beat around the bush, do you? Didn't your mother teach you manners, Tanner?"

"I've lived in the wild my whole life, and the law of the jungle has worked for all of time. I'm the alpha, so I'll provide for you and make the decisions."

"Have you ever thought about what I want?"

Tanner glowered at his mate.

"I carry my own weight and worry about myself. I expect you to do the same."

Ken rolled his eyes.

"Fine then, I let you have your little fantasy today. Please catch some fish while you're out, cooking fish is my specialty. Can you at least do that much?"

Tanner said sure without even thinking about it. Now his stupid brain actually wanted to catch fish so that he could make his mate happy. Goddamn imprinting.

As he tried to leave Ken stopped him.

"Don't you want my net?"

"I don't need a fucking net. I can catch your precious fish without your help."

He stormed off without saying another word.

The alpha wolf had always been good at hunting, but had mostly done the type of hunting that could be accomplished with strength alone. Mauling a deer and tearing it to pieces? No problem. Ripping off a rabbit's head with his bare hands? Tanner could do that in his sleep. But catching quick prey that could slip away easily like birds or fish was always something he left up to other people. Let the betas worry about that shit. But Ken had presented Tanner with a challenge and he wasn't going to back down.

Once he found the nearby river he started trying to catch the fish. Waiting for big enough fish to actually come was infuriating enough, but an hour of frustration made it abundantly clear that he wouldn't be able to grab them with his hands.

Tanner hated using tools. They were a human invention, invented by the weak because they couldn't do what was necessary to survive. He didn't even like using forks and knives. Even so, he conceded that wolves weren't built to catch fish. He needed a spear.