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“He’s still learning his place,” Maddox agreed. “I must ask you, Gideon, to what do we owe the honor of your rising?”
“My resting place was no longer peaceful. I heard the howls of wolves, and the whispers of uprising. The deaths of kings and the chaos of the human world. It was impossible to continue to sleep through. It is just as well I did rise. I think you need some guidance, my youngest. I will see you upstairs once you have kenneled the beast.”
Gideon departed. Maddox waited until he was all the way upstairs before taking his foot off Will and helping him up.
“The fuck…”
“Quiet,” Maddox hissed at Will. “Why could you not be polite for even a moment?”
“He was talking to you like you were a little bitch. You fucking almost crushed my fucking neck.”
“If I hadn’t broken you before him, he would have killed you for your impudence. As I said, Will, this is no place for you. Even if you were well trained and compliant, you would be in danger. As it is, I would put your survival time at a matter of minutes, not hours in Gideon’s presence.”
“Well, I did survive, so…”
“It’s time we executed my original plan. Gideon knows he can control me through you. As long as you are here, your welfare will be dangled in front of me, and you will be crushed if he determines that necessary. He will use my love for you as a weapon more dangerous than any tank-destroying armament. I am sending you to the forests with Lorien and Henry.”
“No!” Will was resolute. “I am not going to the forest. I am not. I am…”
His arguments were cut off as Maddox grabbed him by the hair and bent his head into a submissive feeding position which sapped Will’s rebellion immediately. Maddox was not quite the same in Gideon’s presence. He kept claiming that Gideon was dangerous, but it seemed to Will that it was Maddox who was dangerous.
“Boy,” Maddox purred, the tips of his fangs brushing along the pulsing line of Will’s exposed neck. “You will do as I say. You do not need to fear losing me. You will always have me. This is a short separation, nothing more. Trust me when I tell you I will reclaim you.”
Will trembled in his master’s grip. “I don’t want to be without you. I don’t think I can survive without you.”
“Henry will look after you. I have already sent word, and some of his loyal pack are going to transfer you. It’s time we say goodbye, my boy, not forever. Just for now.”
5
The trees were very tall here. Last time Will was in a wooded area, his father was trying to make him eat the unfortunate remains of a hapless gas station attendant. This time was worse. This time he had to leave the man he loved with a monster from time immemorial and scamper about in the leaves until he was told otherwise.
He was not in a good mood. He didn’t like Henry’s guys. They were fine, but they were also wolves, and the company of wolves always made Will feel inadequate. He wanted to be back with Maddox, in Maddox’s bed. He wanted to be wrapped up in a loving embrace and filled with his master’s rod. It wasn’t just that he was losing his home and possibly his life, if they were caught. He was also about to suffer a dry spell the likes of which he could not tolerate.
He was set free a few miles from the actual campsite. He was then informed he had to find it himself for reasons that he did not care about and made sense only to them. Will undressed, put his clothes in his bag, took his wolf form and followed his nose, his bag clenched in his massive teeth as he raced through the undergrowth, following the faint but unique scent of Henry, the pack master.
It was good to take this form. He’d never have admitted it in his human state, but there was something freeing about taking his beast form, being all he was. Being a wolf was easy. There were no expectations, and his instincts and need to belong were more oriented toward his kind. Henry’s scent felt like the promise of stability and safety.
Covering miles as if they were nothing at all, he sought his quarry with agile eagerness and soon barreled into the alpha’s presence, knocking Henry over in the process.
“Easy, boy!” Henry laughed, regaining his feet as Will shook himself human again.
It felt like forever since he’d seen Henry. The tattooed alpha was a tough disciplinarian, but he could also be a good guy when he wasn't being actively pissed off.
“Welcome to the woods.”
Will found himself reluctantly relieved to encounter Lorien and Henry again. Among all the strangeness, they were familiar. They felt like home, though he somewhat wished they didn’t. The time he had spent alone with Maddox was perfect. He’d wished they could have stayed on vacation forever.
Will looked around the deep, dark forest and felt his animal instincts rising as his human stomach sank. He’d been hoping for a cabin, at the very least. Instead, a lone tent greeted him, a sort of battered green structure flapping limply in what little breeze there was.
“Where is everyone?”
“I’m not keeping my pack out here where they might be hunted down. They’re safe at home, raising their pups. Living their lives.”
“So it’s just the three of us out here, clinging to survival?”
“You’re a wolf in the woods,” Henry reminded him. “This is your natural habitat.”
“There’s no toaster here. What am I supposed to eat? Why are you going through my stuff?”
