“Hey good lookin’.”

Adam fired off two finger guns at his reflection in the mirror.

Honestly he’d never given his appearance too much thought before. Some of his packmates were more into that sort of thing. Bryce could coordinate outfits, and of course Marco spent half his week working out. The past several months with Nickolai, and the many flattering compliments that came with their relationship had Adam viewing his slightly chubby, slightly buff physique in a new light.

It had been quite some time since the two of them had their first truly sexual encounter, and they’d had more than a few follow ups. Nikolai seemed eager to take on even more, but on some instinctual level Adam knew he had to take things slower than his boyfriend wanted.

Or rather, not boyfriend.

Sure, they had sex, and sure they spent a lot of time togeher, shared a bed more often than not. But their relationship wasn’t like that.

Was it?

Adam’s brow creased as he pondered. He wasn’t used to thinking quite so hard about every little thing. He wasn’t intelligent by any means, he simply preferred to fly by the seat of his pants. Not with Nick though, he wanted this to be perfect for him. He’d only had one other boyfriend in his life, and really calling the week-long fling with John was a bit of a stretch as far as he was concerned. They hadn't even done anything sexually intimate during that period, so he was more than a little nervous about making a misstep.

Adam brushed his fur with a little extra care, a trick werewolves picked up quickly is that their wolf and human forms impacted one another. Perfectly groomed fur meant perfectly groomed hair, and somehow it was a lot easier to manage his long fluffy coat than the short dense hair of his human form. He wanted to be as presentable as possible when he met Nick, even though both of them tended to end up more than a little disheveled after their encounters. He knew that their reformed hunter was looking to him as a sort of “expert” on all things gay, and while he knew his way around when it came to sex, he hoped Nick wouldn’t realize he was making it up as he went when it came to relationship stuff.

He opened his door only to barrel face first into a familiar pair of pecs.

“Oh, hey John!” Adam said brightly, his voice slightly muffled by the fluffy mounds of meat surrounding his nose.

“Oh, good timing Adam, I was just gonna ask if you wanted to come with me and Lee to-”

“Oh like a double date! Me and Nick can come!” Adam looked up at his friend with a bright smile.

“Adam…” John grumbled, “We’re headed into town, he can’t come.”

“Oh…” Adam said, his canine ears drooping.

“Listen Adam, I’ve been meaning to say anyways… aren’t you taking this thing with that… man… a bit far?” John’s expression turned serious, “You know he’s not a good person, right?”

“Naw, he’s a great guy!” Adam smiled, seemingly unfazed, “He’s teaching me a new fighting stance, I’m gonna kick your ass the next time we spar!”

“That-", the other wolf sighed, "Adam, that doesn’t make him a good person. He knows how to fight werewolves because hunting and killing us is all he knows.”

“Well then he just needs to get to know some other stuff,” Adam replied, still cheerful, but a slight edge creeping into his voice, “Like me! And you. All the more reason Dominic should let him visit the city.”

“I’m not interested in chatting up the guy who traumatized my boyfriend, and Dominic’s not dumb enough to let a guy that dangerous get back to HQ,” John said as his voice neared a snarl, before closing his eyes and sighing, “Listen Adam… it’s just… you’re being too optimistic.”

“And what’s wrong with being optimistic?” Adam raised his voice as a rebuttal but soon pinned his ears back and looked aside.

John’s eyes widened. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen Adam get this upset.

“Just… take it from an ex with a lot more experience under his belt, will you?” John’s slight southern drawl growing more pronounced, a sign of his frustration, “I’ve been with guys who just want to use ya, you haven’t.”

“Oh we barely dated for a week,” Adam scoffed, crossing his arms with a pout.

“Its been months and you’re just now talking to me about this? I know you guys visit Nick. You try to threaten him into obedience. You’re not as subtle as you think and he's not gonna get any better with everyone breathing down his neck.”

“Really how naive can you be,” a low grumpy voice sounded from the stairs. Shane came ambling forth, one eye closed, his hair a mess, he’d clearly just woken up.

“Sometimes I can’t tell if you’re just fucking with us or you’re really just so oblivious that you’d hook up with an enemy,” Shane scowled, “Not just any enemy, no it has to be a member of the organization specifically dedicated to wiping us off the face of the earth! You really know how to pick them.”

“Shane, don’t be a dick,” John started to block the space between his two packmates.

“Oh cut the soft act, acting like this isn’t how you feel too,” Shane’s increasingly canine voice rumbled, fur bristling as he transformed into his wolf form, “I finally find a place where I can feel just a little safe from all the bullshit of the outside world, and now we have to play nice with this guy dragging his hatred all the way to us? All because Adam's too self absorbed to think about the rest of the pack? Fuck that.”

Adam hung his head in front of his towering packmate. The happiness he’d felt in the morning completely evaporated. He could feel his eyes beginning to wet.

“I’m sorry…” Adam croaked softly.

“Yeah no, no apologies,” John said firmly, standing between Adam and Shane, “Shane, we’re gonna have a quick chat. Adam… you go do whatever you’re gonna do. Be careful around that man.”

Adam didn’t move. He didn’t feel like John’s defense had really countered anything Shane had said. He looked at said wolf, waiting for his next move.

“Yeah by all means Adam, go do whatever you want,” Shane muttered, his words dripping with poison, “Don’t mind us.”

The tension weighed on the backs of the three werewolves for what felt like eternity. Finally they began to go their separate ways, but it was clear that things were reaching the boiling point. If a fight didn't happen now, it would come soon and he didn't feel great about it.

Still all of that didn’t feel so bad when Adam finally laid eyes on Nikolai. The orange haired man sat focused playing one of Adam’s video games, a fighting game that he had completely dominated the hunter in the night before. The wolf immediately noticed he was pulling off much more complicated moves than he had last night. It was one of the things he found so cool about Nikolai, he could learn so fast, and it felt like there was nothing he couldn’t pick up on.

“Oh! Adam,” Nikolai paused the game and flashed a gentle smile, “When you didn’t show up I decided to get some practice in. Did you know you can block fireballs if you press backwards?”

“Haha yeah I might’ve forgotten to mention that last night,” Adam grinned sheepishly.

“Hey are you alright?” Nikolai leaned forward, as if to sniff Adam, “I don’t think I’ve seen you tense… ever.”

“Huh? Oh yeah it’s nothing,” Adam blushed slightly, “Just uh…”

"Just what?"

"I.. had an argument a second ago, some petty stuff. I'd rather be quiet if that's ok."

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, but uh…” Nikolai trailed off and Adam smirked as the man’s face turned bright red. He always wondered what was going through his head when this happened, “I could… well, I know how to give massages. Would that… uh… help?”

“Wow, like real deal massage parlour massages?” Adam was already feeling better just from the thought of him easing the tension in his body.

“Er… well I don’t know if it really compares, they have their special oils and heated towels, but I know my pressure points. Human and…”, Nikolai coughed, raised his brows and said nothing else.

Adam knew what he was going to say next.

Werewolf.

He also knew why he trailed off, the hunter always did whenever a topic brushed close to his werewolf hunting skillset, which happened a lot because basically all of his skills came from his werewolf hunter training. It was stuff like this that made Adam confident that Nick genuinely was a good person underneath all that murderous expertise.

“Yeah, it sounds great!” Adam replied brightly, flopping face first on the humans bed before getting a reply. After a slight delay Adam felt the familiar sensation of Nick’s hands on him, this time kneading his back in all the right place. It hurt a little at first, but felt great not long after a minute. Adam smirked to himself realizing it was not unlike bottoming, something he hadn’t really done since getting closer to Nick. His thoughts grew blurrier under the expert fingers, and he wondered idly if Nick would massage his ass too, before he drifted off to sleep.


A knock sounded on the office of the packs alpha.

“Come in.”

Shane entered Dominic’s study. A small but densely packed room full of neatly organized memorabilia, and less organized books and loose papers. A few photos of a younger, brighter alpha were stood on a table near the door. He stood a respectful distance from the alpha werewolf, though his agitation was obvious.

“You had a run in with Adam, huh? John too?” Dominic rumbled, not bothering to look up. Shane wasn’t fazed by his alpha’s uncanny insight, it was basically an everyday occurrence. He simply nodded.

“Of course, I don’t need to remind you where I stand on this,” Dominic continued as he flipped through his book.

“Of course not, alpha, but I know you. You’re always 10 steps ahead of the rest of us, so I know you noticed our captive is behaving strangely. Walking around some blind spots where nobody seems to know what exactly he was doing,” Shane explained, nearly monotone.

“If you know I know, why are you bothering me, exactly?” Dominic’s eyes fixed on Shane.

“It’s just… John and I talked a bit this morning, and for once he was the cooler head. I know I shouldn't be taking out how I feel on Adam, 'because he just doesn’t know any better', but that boy is not stupid. He experienced that hunter firsthand, there's no way he couldn't know about the risk. In regards to him being allowed to stay, I just can’t understand. Why do you…?”

Dominic stood up. He turned his hulking frame towards Shane and gently rested a massive paw on his shoulder.

“I don’t want even one of my packmates to feel bad,” Dominic said with a low, calming voice.

“But how can we not feel bad!?” Shane replied, exasperated, “How can I not be looking over my shoulder everywhere I go? Now that he’s not bedridden he’s regained any strength he might have lost, if anything he’s stronger than before because of how much Adam dotes on him! He could slit any one of our throats at the drop of a hat!”

“So, tell me Shane, why do you think I let Adam spend so much time with that hunter?” Dominic asked calmly.

“I… I have a few guesses. You’re always trying to make everyone as happy as possible, and this makes Adam happy, Shane’s brow lowered, “But is he really so much happier that all of our misery is a fair trade?”

“You should know I would never concoct such a simple strategy,” Dominic chided, “Adam being with the hunter makes him happy, true, but did you really never consider the hunter's feelings?”

“Why would I?” Shane spat.

“Because you can’t make a good plan without all the data,” Dominic smirked, “That human still feels spite for all of us, I’m sure that much you know.”

Shane nodded.

“But he absolutely has bonded with Adam, perhaps deeper than he realizes yet,” Dominic said, “I’m not more of a mind reader than you, but his scent tells me he wants to do good by our packmate. So long as the two are together, he won’t harm any of us, that much I can promise you.”

“But what if he tries to escape? You can’t just undo a lifetime of propaganda after a few months in captivity. And what happens if they decide to break up?” Shane reasoned.

“Well in that case,” Dominic flashed a toothy grin, “I’d bring his corpse back before sunrise.”


Adam munched thoughtfully on a miniature hot dog wiener as he surveyed the pack’s dining hall. It was far from an extravagant place, but it had built up more than a few quirks and decorations that really made it feel like their own home. It was a favourite place for the packmates to gather to watch movies, or festive dinner parties, like the one he was currently attending.

Of course, Nick wasn’t here.

The ex-hunter wouldn’t go near one of these even if he was allowed, Adam couldn’t blame him. He picked up another snack from one of the many trays. It was the day of the new moon, so everybody was in their human forms. It wasn’t easy to maintain a werewolf form when the lunar energies were so weak, but the pack had decided some time ago to turn this day of relative weakness into a monthly celebration. Usually they ate what they hunted or grew, but this was one of the occasions where Dominic would go into town to procure various man made goodies.

Any other time and Adam would've loved this.

But everything felt… hollow? He’d noticed a strange feeling as soon as he’d entered the dining hall and retreated to a couch in the corner to enjoy some of his favourite treats. The wolf gorged on his plate but could barely taste them, slowly down and gathering his thoughts. Maybe he missed being with his lover? Then again he was with all of his friends, it was a party. Why did things feel so off?

He was doing that thing again. Thinking too hard. There was a need to go visit Nikolai, but his friend told him he wanted to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. Which made sense, it wasn’t every day that all the werewolves were gathered together in one room. And again, his only recently reformed partner probably would've been thrown out the moment he tried to step in.

Still, that didn’t do much to make Adam feel better about the cloud of hostility that seemed to be hanging over everything.

Or was it just him?

He scanned the room, seeing Bryce and Connor dancing together and lost in their own world. Funny, they usually invited him to dance. Marco, John, and John’s boyfriend Lee were having an animated conversation. Adam waved to the group and was sure at least one could see his greeting, but if he didn't know any better they were avoiding eye contact.

Huh.

Adam sought out the other two wolves left. There was Dominic and Shane, seemingly competing to see who could pound back the most drinks. Dominic saw Adam staring and smiled just a bit less bright than usual. The accompanying wave didn't do much to mask the half hearted gesture.

For the first time in his life, Adam didn’t like the way his alpha smiled at him. The old wolf didn't even notice how odd he felt, or maybe he simply did not care.

How could being in a room surrounded by his closest friends make him feel so alone?

Adam’s chest trembled. His breathing felt funny. Probably needing some fresh air, he reasoned. He took a step outside, breathing in the uncharacteristically cool night air. He glanced in the direction of Nikolai’s cabin. The lights were off, which was strange for the otherwise nocturnal guy. Maybe Nick fell asleep early because it was so much quieter than he was used to? Adam blinked a few times.

He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to cry, but his eyes felt strange nonetheless. Why would he cry, anyways? Just that fight with Shane? That was no big deal.

And yet…

All his packmates in the hall were acting so cold towards him. The people he would consider his closest friends in the whole world.

They were ignoring him, weren’t they?

All of them knew he was being selfish. He was making the whole pack miserable just because he couldn’t bear to be apart from Nick. Had he really been spending these past few months uprooting and tearing down all of his closest relationships? All for one man?

A headache began ripping through his skull. Each beat of his heart sent a dull wave of pain through his head. Thoughts swarmed around him like wasps, buzzing and stinging, drowning everything out.

He wasn’t sure when he started, but he was running. Trees were whizzing past him. He was in his wolf form too, despite the new moon, sprinting on all fours and leaving a trail of tears and muddy pawprints.


The door to Nikolai’s cabin squeaked open as the alpha snuck in. Turning on the lights wasn't necessary when his vision let him see in the dark. It seemed the hunter was fast asleep, almost cute from the Alpha's point of view.

“Alright Hunter, not a word about this to anyone,“ Dominic drawled, carrying a small plate of leftover snacks from the party.

"Nikolai?"

His gaze fell on the messy bed of his captive. Realization hit him that the lump wasn't breathing or moving, in fact it didn't look very human on closer inspection. Claws ripped away the blanket to reveal a carefully made pile of clothes and pillows.

Nikolai was gone.

"Son of a bitch!"

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Pub: 18 Nov 2021 19:06 UTC
Views: 901