The Alpha's Desire

THE RED STAG SERIES:

The Alpha’s Desire b. Mya A. Fenwick

PROLOGUE *** Linus wanted to transform, to be on four paws instead of two legs as he fled into the night. He was faster than any of the warrior wolves in his pack and knew the terrain better than most of the structure dwelling fools. If he had one cub to save, he could have taken wolf-shape and carried Selphie in his maw but he didn’t have just one. Jack, Selphie’s twin brother snuggled close to Linus’ chest needing him just as much as his sister did. More. Letting out a howl, the plump auburnhaired pup was upset by the constant jostling. “Not now, Jack. Please,” Linus begged. “I’ll get you something soon. You just need to be-.” They were behind him, the traitorous lot that he had once called friends, lovers, family and pack. Wolves he had once ruled over demanded the deaths of his bloodline as if Selphie and Jack were mistakes to be erased from a chalkboard. Even Elena, their mother had looked at them as if they were filth; the progeny of a belly turner, a disgraced Omega. Linus could have stayed with the pack at the expense of his rank and their lives, but by taking his cubs and heading into the forest all bets were off. They would want his blood. Timothy, the new Alpha would demand no less! The howls of the wolves behind him were only getting closer and louder, alerted by Jack’s cries. Stopping only for a moment, he had to do something about Jack. Then Selphie’s face scrunched up and she began to cry! By the moon, no. Looking over his shoulder, Linus drew in the night air through nostrils as sensitive as radar. They were close, too close. “Sshhh, cubs. Please. Please…” The cubs didn’t know any better, Linus knew. They didn’t comprehend the distant shouts of, “He’s close! Get him now! They’re this way!” Heart pounding in his chest, Linus was beginning to feel true fear, true panic. He had assumed he would be far away by the time the pack found out he was missing. He had

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assumed he could loose the pack through cunning and a superior knowledge of nature. He had assumed wrong. Setting off deeper into the woods, Linus ran as hard as he could. If stealth and speed were not to belong to him, then Linus would have determination. Holding the two bundles tightly to his chest as he crashed through brush and branches alike, Linus just had to reach the road. Then he had to get to the river and pray that his former pack hadn’t realized his plan. They could have had trucks searching the road for him. They could have posted guards alongside the road to wait for him as he came bounding onto the asphalt with his infant sirens but it was a risk he had to take. Linus heard the engine of the oncoming truck, even before he reached the road. Just by ear, he could tell that it was eighteen-wheeler. He had been to enough truck stops for trysts to recognize the sound. Linus made his way into the road nearly a quarter mile in front of the rig. Standing in the center, he paid no heed to the encroaching hunters nearing him with every second. There was hope before him and like a deer stunned, Linus couldn’t move if he wanted to. If he could just get the trucker to stop. Running into the center of the road, Linus pleaded in the bright glow of the oncoming lights. The driver saw him, sounding his thunderous horn in warning. His speed however, did not decrease. Stop. Please. For my cubs, Please let him stop! Linus stood his ground against the truck, his human legs twitching with exhaustion. The horn sounded again with short, loud and determined notes as if the driver wanted Linus out of the road and out of his way. Closing fast, Linus’ spirit fell. With his children in his arms, he moved off the road. His legs ached and he had nearly reached the end of his energy reserves. Yet he refused to give up hope. He would take out as many as he could. His lifeblood would coat the ground before he allowed cubs to be harmed, Linus swore. The truck passed him by and Linus could have cried. The truck was screeching to a stop. He had just to run a little further.

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CHAPTER ONE *** The man was handsome. He looked like a cross between a truck driver and a body builder and if he wasn’t so stern looking, Dean Graystone might have been just the type for Linus. The six foot-six, black man had eyebrows that seemed to be permanently creased and grey eyes that scanned him as if he was suspect to more than just being unemployed. Linus squirmed in his chair, crossed his legs and then decided against the casual posture. He was seated in the office of Azure Stonemasonry looking for a job, not a trick. He had been out of work for going on two weeks and the money he had gotten from odd jobs was starting to run thin. The ad in the paper had read: Good Pay for Hard Labor Benefits Package * Overtime * Day & Night Shifts Training Provided

With Jack growing rounder by the day and their beat-up car in need of serious repair, Linus did his best to look respectable and confident. He failed as Dean’s gray eyes lifted from the resume and focused on perusing him instead. Dean Graystone was having a bad day. With spring on the horizon and two new land developments arising in the area, he had more work requests than he felt comfortable with. Sure the profits were looking good, but he needed more men. Linus Shepherd looked like he could handle himself around dangerous equipment and heavy stock. He also looked like trouble. Six foot-two and thick with dark copper hair and light hazel eyes, Linus had the sort of build that could not be found in any gym. Possibly more than two hundred and sixty pounds, Linus was perfect for the job. There was however a problem. Leaning back in his chair, Dean crossed his arms across his chest. “I don’t usually hire curs,” he informed Linus. Linus’ focus was upon Dean’s arms, which were the size of logs, smooth and hairless. He barely heard the man speak. Shaking the distraction from his view, Linus looked into Dean’s eyes. “Excuse me?” The cur was checking him out. Definitely not a good idea, Dean worried. He had hired men that were hot for him before and it was always more of a hassle than it was worth. Expectations of preferential treatment, workplace gossip and jealousy were the least of

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the reasons why Dean would not allow himself to be swayed by Linus’ doe eyes and wide, almost feminine mouth. “I didn’t hear you, sir.” “Werewolves. I don’t usually hire them,” Dean repeated. Linus’ heart stopped, but only for a moment. Checking his own sleeves, Linus pulled at the cuffs. He shouldn’t have left the cuffs open, exposing his hairy wrists as they did. Grinning as if he understood the unspoken joke, Linus balked, “You think I’m a werewolf? I’m just really hairy is all. I have some Italian in my family and-.” Dean held up his hand. He didn’t need to see Linus’ hairy wrists, the large pupils, the bottom set of canine teeth or the scent of Linus’ body to tell him what he was certain of. “If you want to regale me with whatever bullshit story you tell humans, I’ll warn you now. I’m not in the mood. Pennsylvania might as well be the werewolf capital of the United States. All I have to do is walk through the woods and I trip over one.” It was an exaggeration by far, but it definitely got Dean’s message across. “I’m from Nevada,” Linus admitted numbly. “Nice place.” Glad to put the drama aside, Dean gazed down at the sketchy resume in front of him. There were jobs in at least five states listed. Five months in one spot, two in another, a year in one. If he hadn’t heard the gossip about Linus from his secretary, Karen; Dean would have never believed Linus to be a father. All the evidence both on paper and in front of him suggested ‘unreliable.’ “I don’t usually hire werewolves because they’re unreliable, especially when they discover that there is no territory to be gained here. Sure you’re strong and suitable for hard labor, but a belly full of too much food or liquor and you’re sprawled out asleep for a fortnight.” “Werewolves.” Heavy in his chair, Linus was trying to wrap his mind around Dean’s blasé attitude. Sure there were humans who knew that werewolves existed, maybe even those who had befriended a wolf, but none were quite as casual and unphased as the man before him. There was always at least a look of shock. “Werewolves…don’t hibernate.” “They do sleep like logs when content. They are known to buck authority and honestly, I haven’t been able to keep one for longer than a year.” Casting his questions aside, Linus leaned forward. “Look, I really need the work. I have two cubs at home to feed and I swear to you that I will show up on time and work hard.”

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Dean referred back to the resume in front of him. “It says here that your last job was at a restaurant. The Chipotle and Onion Grill. You checked that you didn’t want us to contact your supervisor…” Linus felt that his chances were looking slimmer by the second. Of all of the references the man could have focused on, Mr. Graystone had to choose the bad one. “We didn’t get along.” Dean had asked Karen check the reference anyway. “I guess not. You were caught stealing t-bones and pork chops.” Hanging his shoulders, Linus had two more interviews scheduled: one at a supermarket and the other at a bulk trash service. Neither offered as much as Azure though. His pride wounded, Linus muttered, “I can explain. My cubs were-.” “No need. I can tell you that food service is no occupation for a werewolf. Your cubs probably needed the meat. I can’t fault you for that.” Confused at the combination of nonchalance and assumption coming from Dean, Linus had to ask, “Are you a werewolf?” Dean smiled. He couldn’t help letting down his guard at the question. “You can’t tell your own kind?” It wasn’t that Linus couldn’t detect other werewolves. He could spot one easily: one who didn’t bathe, shave, and file his nails or one under the influence of a full moon. “I’m not a werewolf, Mr. Shepherd.” ‘And there is no way in hell that I’m hiring a stupid, untrustworthy, lazy cur like yourself,’ Linus imagined the words coming from Dean’s mouth. Having already concluded that he had blown the interview; Linus’ thoughts drifted to feeding three voracious appetites for the evening. There was always the dollar menu at the fast food joint. Jack liked cheeseburgers. Dean looked at Linus, the defeated posture and almost hopeless attitude that had overtaken him. Try as he wanted to, he wasn’t made of stone. That Linus hadn’t abandoned his cubs said something of his good character. He could give Linus a chance at least. “I am not an easy person to work for, Mr. Shepherd but I can see that you need a break.” Grabbing a pen from the desk drawer, Dean wrote ‘new hire’ across Linus’ resume. Karen would know what to do to get the ball rolling. He added notes about placing Linus on a trial basis and pay rate. Werewolves never really took advantage of healthcare, but as he had to offer it anyway, Dean suggested the cheapest provider. He suspected that the most important incentive for Linus to work might be daycare and jotted down a note to the effect.

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Something told Dean that Linus would take work seriously, but that same something told Dean that lone wolves were always trouble, cubs or no. Werewolves were pack animals not single parents. Dean took a deep breath and made his judgment. “How old are the pups and who will be taking care of them while you are at work?” Consumed with trying to decide which combination of items he should order from the dollar menu, Linus responded automatically. “Selphie and Jack are both six. They know how to behave when I leave them.” “They need to be in a school. Do they have papers?” Linus snapped back to the present at the intonation. “What?” This will not be a bad idea. I will not have to fire his ass in two months. He is not a safety hazard and I will not feel guilty about the cubs. Dean shook his head. “I.d., birth certificates, anything of that sort? I know you’re an s-natural but blending in with humans is easier with some background identification.” Linus had never thought about getting i.d. for Selphie and Jack. In Nevada, fake identification had been easy to come by for adults. He had two driver’s licenses and passport for himself, but for Selphie and Jack, he had nothing more than resemblance and DNA to prove their identity. “No. We don’t get identification for cubs until they’re in their teens, til they’re old enough to need it.” “Right.” Dean couldn’t really find fault with that. “Speak to my secretary, Karen. Her sister runs a special school for ‘gifted’ children, if you catch my meaning. Get them enrolled as soon as Monday. You should also show up for work by eight next Tuesday. I suspect getting the kids settled in will take its toll.” Curious about the school, Linus’ mouth fell open as he realized exactly what Dean was telling him. He sat up in his chair. “I got the job?” “Yes.” Maybe they wouldn’t have to eat from the dollar-menu tonight. Maybe a little splurging was in order. “Thank you, Mr. Graystone!” Holding out his hand, Linus was so excited that he didn’t care if the man shook his hand or not. “Really, I sure do appreciate this opportunity.” Dean stood up and shook Linus’ hand, warm and clammy as it was. Linus looked both grateful and sincere as he smiled at Dean. Just like a good puppy looking for a petting. Just barely under the appropriate length of time for a handshake, Dean pulled his hand away. Taking his chair, Dean moved Linus Shepherd’s application aside. “Goodbye, Mr. Shepherd.”

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*** Four hot dogs were for Jack and two for Selphie. Linus placed the beef franks in plastic bags and onto their lunch boxes. It had been fun at first, preparing the children’s lunches, but after the first week it had become a chore. It turned out that Karen’s sister, Misty was married to a werewolf. She had begun the Wilde Academy not only for her four cubs but for other special children covering Pre-K to 12th grade. Selphie had taken quickly to the bevy of new faces, but Jack had been rather hostile about detaching from Linus’ side. If it hadn’t been for Misty offering Jack a chew treat, Linus doubted that his son would have ever released his death grip. It took a little over a week for the two to get acquainted with the idea of leaving the house and their father everyday and just the same amount of time for Linus to get used to it. Perched up on the counter, the Selphie Shepherd watched her father pack lunches. As soon as he turned to fetch something from the refrigerator, she snatched a hotdog from the counter. She even managed to cram it into her jaws before he turned around. Linus turned around and set the container of juice boxes onto the counter. Casting a suspicious glance at his flame-haired daughter, he had heard the rustle of the plastic. Selphie muttered, “Dad, Ms. Green says that you shouldn’t let Jack stay in wolf-form whenever he feels like it.” “Really?” Supplies spread out on the countertop; Linus ripped open the cardboard container that held the juice boxes. Selphie had a talent for dropping information, especially when it concerned her brother or her guilt. “Yup. She says he needs…re-strict,” she couldn’t quite remember the word. “…some rules.” A juice box went into each lunch box. “Right.” “Jack doesn’t like school but I really like school, Dad. I mean, Sesame Street was fun, but school is better. Did you ever go to school?” “No.” He didn’t lament the fact either, but then his pack had stressed a feral lifestyle with a healthy dose of educational television. He had done the same for his cubs for years. Main course, check. Drink, check. Snack bones, check…dessert! Linus hurried back to the refrigerator in search of something sweet. The refrigerator held little. “Shit, I’m out of peanut butter cups.” Pulling out a bag of white fluffy cylinders, Linus threw them onto the counter. “You’ll have to have marshmallows today. Is that ok?”

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“Yeah.” Selphie sulked. Noticing her brother as he practiced a stealthy entrance, she showed teeth. “It’s because Dad gave you too many when he came from the store.” Turning to cast a rueful glare at his sister, the plump auburn wolf cub showed his own teeth and snarled. Selphie growled back. Linus didn’t have time for the sibling spat. “You need to put clothes on Jack. Now! Change.” He had fifteen minutes before he needed to head to work. With six marshmallows per sandwich bag, Linus closed the lunch boxes. He barely noticed the teeth pressing against his ankle. “Jack.” Linus warned as he carried an arm full of food back to the refrigerator, negotiating an ankle gnawer all the while. “What did I tell you?” Linus shoved hot dogs, treats, marshmallows and juice onto the first shelf of the refrigerator, making it all fit. In a rush, he closed the door and picked up his cub. He couldn’t be upset, not with a happily panting pup gazing back at him. However, the cute routine was wearing thin. He had already been late twice in his first week and Mr. Graystone’s scowl looked as if it contained more than just a scathing remark. “See, Dad? You shouldn’t let Jack stay-.” Linus didn’t want to hear the sermon. “I see, Selph.” Selphie didn’t think her father did. “He doesn’t like school.” Carting Jack off to the sole bedroom, his den, Linus was determined. “I know, but he’s going to go anyway and I am not going to be late for work again!” *** Linus knew he was in trouble the minute he walked into the building. The tall, broad and surly man standing by the punch-in clock was waiting. Dean was also looking at his watch. Linus had never felt so small. A man like Dean Graystone could say more with his eyes than most people could with speech. If the black man had been a werewolf, Linus was sure he’d be an Alpha. The bulging muscles, awkwardly contained in a blue dress shirt, only added to the dominant sight. Telling himself that he too was an Alpha, Linus tried to hold his head up and maintain some dignity but it was no easy task. Linus walked up beside the towering black man and grabbed his time card.

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Reddish-brown hair askew, golden eyes barely meeting his… Yeah Linus was trouble, Dean thought to himself. His crew had taken to the doe-eyed werewolf immediately, befriending Linus on the first day and Dean felt sure that farm-boy good looks had something to do with it. Still he had no intention of falling prey to them. “Good Morning, Shepherd.” Stern as he spoke, Dean held his ground. Linus opened his mouth and at first nothing came out. “Morning, Mr. Graystone.” “Ten minutes late today. I suppose your tardiness is getting better. What was it, thirty minutes last time? You’re really improving.” Unable to lift his eyes higher than a chest that would make most body builders jealous with envy, Linus hated himself for cowling so easily. If he didn’t need the money, if he didn’t have the kids, he might have considered giving the dark-skinned hulk a piece of his mind. Might. “I’m really sorry,” Linus said. “Jack didn’t want to get dressed and-.” “I don’t really want to hear it. I don’t.” And Dean didn’t need to see Linus with his head bowed a second longer. Ideas and slips might have occurred… about a cur at that. “By next week if you show up late, I’ll be docking your pay. Got it?” “Yes, sir.” Dean must have heard the term a hundred times a day. Why it should sound any different coming from one exceptionally rare red wolf with a solid build and nice hazel eyes, he didn’t know. “On the work floor, now Shepherd.”

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CHAPTER TWO *** One more day, Linus told himself; one more day to deal with safety training, to deal with remembering names, to learn about sanding, buffing and cutting tools. More importantly, he had one more day to put up with Dean’s disapproving glare. If he could just make it past Friday with all that it entailed: Waking up the cubs, fixing them breakfast, packing lunch, enduring work and dinner, he’d be able to sleep the whole day Saturday. At five in the morning, Linus headed into the bathroom. He had to shower first, before the children awoke. It helped save time if there were only two people vying for the bathroom rather than three. It had become the formula for making it to work on time and it was also the only private time he got during the day. Standing in the tub underneath the showerhead, Linus slowly awoke. His skin rejoiced at the hot spray, muscles as well. For minutes he just stood, letting the water coat him from crown to foot. Inhaling the steam until he shook the night’s sleeping weight from his bones, Linus reached for the soap. His body knew what it wanted before the mint-smelling bar even touched it. It was his mind that needed the coercing. Starting with his arms and their length, Linus pulled the slippery bar across his chest. Lathering his chest and underarms started the inner burn, the burn that had nothing to do with the temperature of the water or cleanliness. Sex had become such a back burner priority with getting himself and the kids settled into a new routine. Even when the children hadn’t been in school and he hadn’t had a real job, he never invited lovers home. A few trysts in diner bathrooms, one in the house of a man whose grass he cut, a lot in parks: Linus just didn’t have time to go on the prowl just yet. As soon as the kids were settled into their new routine, he could begin. One night was all he needed, one night of hot, meaningless fucking and everything would be perfect. Running the bar of soap across his belly, Linus was generous upon one of his most sensitive spots. A guilty pleasure, nothing got him started faster than a hand upon his abdomen.

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His cock grew hard with every rotation of his hand across the flat plane. Linus hurriedly sought his mind for some fantasy; anything that could finish what the soap had started. Time was of the essence in that if one cub awoke, they would surely awake the other. Someone big, with some weight to him, someone with nice large hands and nice eyes, Linus filled his mind with phantoms, men he had been with before and men whom he wouldn’t mind getting with in the future. Juan from work…Yeah, he’s gotta be gay the way he’s been checking me out. The bar of soap found its way to his lower abdomen, and then down to lather his pubic hair. Teasing his dick with every accidental nudge, Linus entertained thoughts of the caramel-skinned fork-lifter, thoughts of slamming him up against a wall, maybe pushing his tongue into the Mexican’s mouth. It was a simple fantasy, enough to bring his cock to its full size. Parting his feet just that much more, he ran the soap across his balls, over his thighs and behind. It wasn’t enough. He had to raise his foot to the tub’s rim, move the soap back around to parted cheeks. Rubbing the soap like a wide tongue across his ass, Linus imagined Juan to be an eager, hungry lover, the type of man that knew how to pay attention to an ass! How to lick it, knead it, kiss it…maybe fuck it. But more likely, Linus doubted he would. Juan wouldn’t know how to make him ache, how to slam into him and own him, really own him, Linus decided. Wouldn’t take much for me to own him though. Linus angled the soap into his crease, ran it up and down, over his hole that clenched hungrily for every motion. Imagining that Juan was doing an excellent job with his tongue, Linus smiled. He wondered if Juan was hung. The man didn’t look like he was, but Linus had been surprised before. Preferring to think that the man was, Linus imagined catching Juan in the bathroom, pissing maybe… marking porcelain territory. Fucking human wouldn’t know what he was dealing with, wouldn’t know what hairy thing had come behind him and pushed his fat prick between Juan’s ass cheeks, Linus grinned. The soap slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. Linus’ hands and body were covered in enough lather for him to leave it. In his fantasy, Juan wanted to be fucked with his pants around his ankles. Linus wrapped his hand around his cock, fingers as tight as the slick lather would allow. Sighing out the trapped heat in his chest, Linus imagined Juan would stick his ass out, wiggle a bit, and want every inch of his cock. He might even beg for it.

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Heat building faster, Linus drew his hand from base to tip with one slow pull, imagined taking that ass for his own. The entry might take a while if Juan was not used to big cocks, but it would feel oh so good for Linus who squeezed his dick tighter at the idea. Juan might even swear in Spanish. No he definitely would swear, mention a saint or holy mother to boot, Linus thought! Jerking his cock as if it was trapped in body heat, muscle and depth, Linus was lost to everything but the tingling electricity radiating from his loins. Inches above his clenching hole, just above the crease of his ass, a bump formed, grew. Three feet long, his tail blossomed, heavy with wet fur. A quirk that only added to his pleasure, he moved his tail from side to side. It felt good wagging against his asshole. Juan would never notice, not pressed against the tile and singing praises to his deities he wouldn’t. Linus would make him scream, would have him howling and begging for more, for deeper, for harder. Juan would get everything he asked for. His hand sped up its pace, Linus pumping his hips into the slick circle again and again. His balls were good and heavy, drawn tight, high and round. Just a bit more and he could begin the day. Yes. Yes. Yes. Linus would have Juan weak in the knees, trembling from the strain of remaining upright. He would close his hand around Juan’s prick and jerk him until white creamy cum filled his hand. It’d be so good…unless they were interrupted, unless Linus felt fingers snatching a hold of his hair and jerking him away from the pleasurable bliss of Juan’s body and a voice declaring him, ‘FIRED!’ Linus could almost see the condescending glare in gray eyes, the flaring nostrils of the dark-skinned giant. Dean would have shoved him to the floor. He would be sprawled upon the bathroom tiles, knees parted and exposed to the domineering stare of Dean Graystone. Linus would be hard as stone! In his fantasy, Dean didn’t care about Juan, his attention would be solely focused on Linus. “Fucking werewolves,” Dean might even say. “They’ll hump anything.” The idea of it of being caught and scrutinized set him off! “Ahh, Fuck,” Linus gasped a bit louder than he should have. He didn’t need the cubs giving him strange glares. So, for the remaining length of his orgasm, he pressed his lips shut.

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***

With five minutes to spare, he made it to work. Linus punched his time card and headed to the locker room to drop off his jacket. He kept his steel-toed boots and safety harness there as well. He didn’t have to worry about goggles or masks just yet. Seated on the sole bench in the room was Juan. “Heh, you’re early today.” Tying the shoelaces of his work boots, Juan was surprised to see the new guy strolling in. He had a weird name, but other than that, the white boy was hot. Juan thought that the fiery hair meant that Linus was just as hot in other aspects. “I was going to clock you in. I didn’t want another repeat from yesterday.” Linus grinned, feeling Juan’s eyes sweep the length of his body. “Should I just have you work a seven and a half day work schedule, Shepherd?” Repeating Mr.Graystone’s words in his best imitation of the deep, gravelly voice, Linus walked over to his locker. “I was not going to be late today. Whether my son wanted to go to school or stay in his room. I was going to be here on time. I know Graystone has it in for me.” Juan laughed, “With you around, he hardly ever gets on the rest of us.” “Lucky you.” Shoving his lunch bag into his locker, Linus took out his boots and joined Juan on the bench. “I can’t stop thinking that he is going to fire me.” While the boss did seem critical of Linus, there wasn’t an employee in the building that had not felt the wrath at some point, Juan felt. “Dean’s not unreasonable. He’s always hard with the new guys though. After a few weeks he’ll let up. He’s actually a really cool guy once you get to know him. There’s nothing he doesn’t know about rocks and business.” “He is a rock,” Linus griped. Toeing his shoes off, Linus bent over and pulled his boots on. He didn’t even have to see Juan to know that the Hispanic man was checking out his ass. It wasn’t fair. They should have been in the bathroom, he thought. Juan liked what he saw. He liked Linus’ red hair, liked the darker shade of red hair, copious on muscled forearms. Juan knew Linus had to be hairy all over, but how to see it remained the question. “You have kids, yeah?” “Two. Twins.” Linus finished off the laces of his boots and sat up. He thought about showing Juan the picture in his wallet and then reconsidered. Juan might not understand why Selphie was hugging a plump wolf cub. “Do you have kids?” “Nah. No little ones.”

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Linus knew the drill, the bait until they bite drill. “Cute guy like you, no kids,” Linus joked. “That won’t last long if the ladies have anything to say about it.” “Nope,” Juan couldn’t look Linus in the eye, fearing that it would give away too much. It was one thing to put the make on a guy you knew to be gay, but with Linus he couldn’t be sure. The man glanced at him enough, gave off a few signs, but still he had to be careful. “You have a lady, the kids’ mother maybe?” Linus shook his head, “No, lady. She split.” It was a lie, but somehow Linus didn’t think Juan would understand how Elena had chosen the new Alpha rather than the disgraced one. She wouldn’t even acknowledge the children she bore to him. “We weren’t compatible.” Daring to look up, Juan was caught by the most smoldering gaze. Gold color almost the shade of honey sent a message through him that words did not need to validate. “I’m so sorry,” Juan lied cheerfully. Linus didn’t have to lie again. “I’m not.” *** Linus could always tell when someone desired him. His keen nose could detect the smell of wanting, warm like baking sourdough, tinged with the exotic spices of cologne, soap and sweat. It was Juan’s scent every time the man approached Linus to say ‘Hi,’ to ask how he was doing, to make sure that he knew where everything was in the facility. Shy by no means, Linus had his hands full with the children and their ‘homework’ at night and by day he didn’t dare do anything that might get him in trouble at the company. Inviting Juan back to his place was definitely out of the question but then so was propositioning him at work. Still Linus needed action. Juan was way ahead of him. Catching up to Linus as he practiced polishing sample slabs of granite, Juan waved for him to stop. “I’ve got to drop off some landscaping stones at Tristar Construction. I figured the new guy might want to see where the product goes.” Removing his safety goggles, Linus took in a sample of the air. It smelled like a craving. “You want me to come along,” he asked. Juan nodded. “Yeah, I talked to Hassem and he said it was cool, said you could help me unload the truck.” If the foreman said it was fine then it was. Second only to Dean, Hassem’s word was golden. “Right.” Linus pulled off his work gloves and left them on the side of the worktable. The excitement of a tryst had him ready.

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*** Just as Juan told him they drove a small shipment of shaped blue-stone to the developer’s site. Juan explained to Linus, that Azure got the majority of its business from construction companies and home improvement stores. He spoke about wishing that he could get one of the fancy new homes they built, with a fancy marble tabletop provided by Azure of course! Linus barely heard a thing. Waiting for the moment when Juan would just proposition him required more than patience. It required him to feign an interest in dream homes and gardens. He was actually glad when they arrived and unloaded the cargo from the truck because at least he knew not to expect the seduction to occur around the construction workers. Plotting and planning, Juan knew that he was boring Linus, but nervousness kept him talking. Linus gave him the signs, but prior experience had taught him to be wary. Even after they returned to the truck after dropping off the load, Juan still had his reservations. Taking a different route back to Azure, Juan knew of a turn off, one that led to an abandoned mine site. It was there that he would take his chance. It wasn’t too far from civilization but it was far enough away to avoid being caught. It was always Juan’s theory that men in seclusion could be a lot more forgiving to offers than not. “Where are we going,” Linus asked, noticing the change of course. “Just need to take a piss is all. Wanna do it away from the road,” Juan lied. Could you be any more transparent, Linus thought. He smiled as they headed onto a narrow road dense with trees. Finally an end was coming to his wait. “Need your privacy, do you?” Eyes straight and focused upon the path, Juan stammered, “Y-yeah.” Linus waited for five more minutes, until they came to a stop in front of a dilapidated fence covered in warning and hard hat safety signs. Leaning on the window he all but sighed, finally! Juan shut off the engine and tried to decide whether he needed to pretend he had to piss or just be brave. With a deep breath he shot for bravery. “Are you…are you into guys?” “Sometimes.” Linus spoke bluntly. “Are you into sucking cock?” Blinking back his surprise, Juan hadn’t expected Linus to get to get straight to the point. “I’m not gay or anything, but…”

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Spreading his jeans-clad thighs, Linus observed Juan’s gaze heading directly to his crotch. “Yeah. Whatever. You are and you want a taste, right? That is why we’re here isn’t it?” Juan couldn’t deny it. His mouth, wet with saliva, opened. “Yeah, it is.” Removing his seatbelt, Juan scooted away from Linus only so he could turn more on his side. Linus had one of those packages that he saw in lewd cartoons, a definitive bulge that suggested wide and long. Moving his hand to Linus’ thigh, he found the denim to be warm. “No need to be shy.” Linus took hold of the timid hand and moved it atop of his dick. Pressing down on Juan’s hand, he hissed at that rare and beautiful sensation: a man’s palm against his prick. Much warmer than the thigh, Linus’ prick was hot, alive and throbbing under his palm. Juan’s own cock filled with life. Aroused by the man before him and Linus’ authoritative direction, Juan allowed his hand to be guided in circles, half-circles and caresses. Linus was in need, the sort of need that wasn’t animalistic but was demanding nonetheless. It didn’t matter who his lust was sated with just so long as the sumptuous aching continued. Removing his hand, Linus leaned his head back against the seat. It had been too long for him to even try to battle the heat stirring in his cock. Juan’s touch was demanding and firm, and there was nothing gentle about the heel of his palm pressing against Linus’ prick. “Fuck if you aren’t hot,” Juan swore, moving his hands off of the hard outline long enough to undo the zipper of Linus’ jeans. “Big fucking cock, too.” Linus didn’t care for compliments. He cared for action. Hot. Slick. Messy Action. Moving Juan’s hand out of the way, Linus reached inside his jeans and pulled out his cock. The thrill of air hitting his skin was instantaneous as Linus let out a growl. He was already dripping precome, the copious red-brown foreskin barely covered the ruby colored crown. It was glistening with juice. Juan was intimidated and aroused by the sight all at once. The white man had a gorgeous cock, the kind that was utterly beautiful to look at but dangerous otherwise. His heart beat fast in his chest as Juan took it gingerly in hand. “Come on now, don’t tease me.” Linus covered Juan’s hand with his own, showing him how tight he liked a fist around his prick, how he liked it from base to tip, dragging the foreskin up and over the head. Juan got the message loud and clear. Stroking satiny skin, his own shaft pulsed inside his trousers eager for some of the same action.

-16-

With his other hand, Juan freed his own erection, giving his shaft the same tight glove to fuck. His timing was all wrong, but with Linus’ thrusting into his palm he didn’t have to worry about disappointing the man. Hips rocking, ass clenching, Linus slide his arm around Juan’s back encouraging him to move closer, close enough to combine their scents with every breath. Putting his head on Juan’s shoulder, Linus hide his fangs in gingham but gave his growls full vibrating range. Juan felt Linus’ hand move higher upon his back, felt it the instant fingers wove into his hair to cup his head. He didn’t need to hear the words to know that the bigger man wanted him to bend more, closer to that furry stomach and that sausage of a prick! He knew what Linus would ask for before the words even hit the air. “Juan,” Linus growled. “Suck me. Put your mouth on me.” A mouthwatering sight lay heavy in his palm, the succulent foreskin promising delights for his tongue, the slit shimmering with nectar that Juan did lean forward to lick away. Testing the width of his parted lips against the head was easy enough but Juan had to let Linus know. “T-there’s no way I can fit that monster down my throat.” Pressing against Juan’s head, which was already so near, already teasing him with wet, hot promises, a curious tongue that sent shocks through his system, Linus panted, “You don’t have to. Just lick. Suck the tip.” Juan did as told, as the hand on the back of his head compelled him to do and Linus was pleased. “Yeah. That’s it. That’s perfect.” Almost like a mutt. Somewhere between a suckling and a lick, Linus thrust upwards and Juan found his throat full of hard flesh. “Yeah. That’s perfect.” Linus couldn’t stop his hips from moving if he wanted to. Trying to be brave, Juan parted his lips and drew hard, dropped his hand to cup the hairy, heavy ball sac. With the pressure against the back of his head, Juan wanted to bring Linus off as fast as possible. Sure the white boy was handsome and hot, but the growling and aggression were beginning to worry him. “Oh yeah. Squeeze my balls,” Linus sneered. “Suck me. Make me come!” Juan had to abandon his own prick and focus solely on Linus. The way the guy was growling and grunting, fucking his throat was too intense to ignore. Squeezing Linus’ sac, Juan tightened his lips and sucked hard. Linus buckled, not because of anything Juan did but because of a gentle breeze wafting through the window. One singular gust, both refreshing and crisp, it made him shiver, shudder and come.

-17-

Gloriously. *** Afterglow could only last for so long, especially once two arguing siblings came through the door screaming at one another. Linus was in the kitchen making a spaghetti dish that contained more meat than pasta and sauce combined. Far too relaxed to hunt them down in the living room and demand silence, his mind was still inside the confines of the trailer cab with Juan. While the man had been a little too submissive for Linus’ tastes, Juan had given him release: the hurried, almost public and definitely edged with excitement sort. Linus had returned the favor, swift though it was. A few tight pulls on Juan’s prick, a long suckling French kiss and Juan was muttering praises in Spanish. Linus barely had time to bend down and catch the bursting, white fount. It wasn’t an experience worth waiting for but it was release and they hadn’t been caught. But if Graystone had caught them…Linus set the stirring spoon down and closed his eyes as sordid and improbable scenarios came into his mind. Juan wasn’t even in the same class as the dark giant. He didn’t even try to pretend anymore, not in the shower and definitely not in his daydreams. There was something about Dean Graystone that made his cock leak. Although, he still couldn’t do right be the man, still remained the brunt of blame and prejudicial generalizations, Linus admired the unflinching attention. Linus supposed that there were humans who did not fear the supernatural, humans that were far more brutal and terrifying than any were, any vampire or demon. He placed Dean in that category. Fucking werewolf bitch! You filthy, cur… Linus was sure that Dean would swear to outdo any sailor, eyes scrutinizing every inch of him. Dean would grab him perhaps, throw him around, threaten to fire him and it would only make Linus all the more hard. Maybe it might even make Dean hard. The shrill yelp of Jack sounded pulling Linus from his escapism. Snapping back to the present, Linus turned off the stove and headed into the living room, where Selphie was practically mauling Jack. Linus stormed over to the pair, nearly tripping over someone’s book bag. “Selphie! Stop biting your brother!”

-18-

The wolf with the lighter auburn coat snarled before sinking long, sharp teeth into the darker wolf’s forepaw. The fact that both wolves were wearing torn and stretched school uniforms might have been humorous if there wasn’t blood on the floor. Linus grabbed Selphie by the scruff and lifted her into the air. Her jaws were so strong; he ended up lifting them both. “Selphie! Stop it!” Selphie released her brother, who tumbled to the floor. Changing back into human form, Jack clutched his bleeding arm as if he were mortally wounded. He didn’t fear his sister, but it helped if Dad thought that he did. Selphie dared a glance at her furious father before reconsidering a snarl. Setting his daughter down on the floor, Linus tried to keep his temper in check. It was ok for them to scrap, but blood on the floor was not something he was not going to allow. “Someone needs to explain this to me very quickly.” Wasting no time, Jack showed his father his wounded arm. “She just bit me, Da. See?” Linus counted to ten before he even opened his mouth. “Why did you bite your brother, Missy?” He had to wait until she transformed, standing before him in raggedy cloths. He didn’t even want to think about how much it would cost for new uniforms. As soon as Selphie lifted herself off of the floor, her eyebrows creased with frustration, she began to shout. “He said girls were weak. On the playground, he wouldn’t let me play with the ball. He told me to sit on the sideline with Kassy Mitchell and Joie because girls are delicate. His stupid friends Phil and Dan and Scott… Phil is a merman and Daniel is chameleon, Scott is a werecat, how rough are they Da? They’re not. He’s been mean to me all day. I am not weak!” Baffled by the speed and content of his distressed daughter, Linus only caught the last sentence. Turning to his son, he asked, “Jack? Did you say that your sister was weak?” Jack didn’t deny it. “She can’t play, Da. Football is a boy’s sport, besides she just wants Scott to sniff around her.” “DO NOT!” Lunging toward her brother, Selphie would have made it if it weren’t for her father’s arm blocking her. “Selph!” “Do too,” Jack grinned, pointed a finger. “She’s rabid, Da.” Stay calm. Be understanding and most of all, do not laugh, Linus told himself. He had to hold Selphie in his arms to prevent her from hopping, from tearing into her brother again

-19-

but at least she couldn’t see Linus straining to maintain his composure. “Jack,” he started with a cough. “There are plenty of wolf packs that are matriarchies, led by females. A female were is often as strong as a male. However, Selph, you don’t have a thing for cats do you?” Selphie settled down immediately almost slumping in her father’s hold. “…No.” Linus frowned as he got the answer from the blush on Selphie’s cheeks. He had hoped that living amongst humans would have delayed courting and curiosity. Although werewolf children tended to mature faster than human children, Linus didn’t even want to entertain the idea of additions to his pack, namely feline ones. “If you do or if you don’t, they’ll be no sniffing until eighteen, Missy. I am dead serious about that. Your brother is just looking out for you is all.” So embarrassed she could cry, Selphie sighed with frustration. She didn’t need the likes of her plotting, scheming brother for help. Sure Scott was cute but she hadn’t done anything wrong. “Come on you two. We’re family.” Linus used his most diplomatic voice. Selphie looked her twin in the eye and hissed, “Pussy.” Mouth agape, Jack looked between his Dad and Selphie. The curse word didn’t even register with him in comparison to the trouble he knew his sister was in. “So that’s the kind of language you learn around the playground?” Truly shocked, Linus had to sound mad, even while he wanted to die of laughter. Turning the rigid and furious little girl in his arms, Linus met his daughter’s gaze. “Selphie, you need to go to your room and cool off. Don’t even think about coming out until you’re ready to be civil!”

Selphie gave Jack her dirtiest look before snatching her book bag from off the floor. She doubted that she would ever be civil where Jack and his tattle-telling were concerned. “Jack, go get a rag from the bathroom. Use some cold water and soap and clean this blood up and then I want you on the couch with a book. No television, no toys, no treats for either of you until I get two apologies,” he shouted loud enough for Selphie to hear. “Maybe I might even change my mind and allow you to eat later.” It was an idle threat as he knew neither cub would risk losing out on a meal. He already knew how it would go down. The first apology would come from Jack and then Selphie, his little Alpha female would pretend to accept. The truce would be hollow, but until then Linus could at least return to the kitchen and fantasize about trouble of a different source.

-20-

*** “Hey Linus, The boss wants to see you in his office. Now!” He had a different supervisor depending on what job needed to be filled, but all in all, Linus was getting the hang of working in a masonry shop. That day there was an order for rubble stone and he was on sorting. Shutting down his assembly belt, Linus pulled off his safety goggles. “Why? I was on time today,” he muttered more to himself than supervisor for the day, Hassem. Hassem was a tall Middle-Eastern man, who wore his long silver hair back in a ponytail. Linus couldn’t tell how old he was by looking at him, but he did know that Hassem and Graystone were friends. The two often hung out together at lunch and always at morning coffee. Linus suspected that was where Hassem had just come from. With no discernable expression for positive or negative, Hassem commented. “It’s probably nothing.” Linus doubted it. “It’s always something. He hates me.” Hassem had his own theory on Dean’s behavior. While his old friend tried his best to treat Linus with the same cold authority as he did with all other employees; Hassem knew that the werewolf irritated Dean in more ways than either of them would care to admit. And hate wasn’t the appropriate description. Striding off of the workroom floor, Linus took the stairs to the upper level two by two. All the while he couldn’t figure out what the boss wanted from him. He had been on time all week, had passed his safety test and each of his revolving supervisors seemed pleased enough with his work. Entering into the madhouse that Karen considered a front office, he discovered her hard at work on a game of on-line Poker. “He’s expecting you,” she said without even glancing away from the screen. “Is it bad?” “Not to my knowledge.” Linus frowned. Oh, she knows something! She smelled like humor. Cocking his head to the side, Linus hoped that Karen would give him some sort of heads up. Ordinarily useful, Linus recognized a snub when he saw one. “Karen, please…” “I haven’t got all day, Shepherd!” Linus heard the deep baritone of his boss from behind the door.

-21-

Karen turned to him and gave a nervous smile. “He’ll see you now.” Head held high but shoulders dropped, Linus walked past Karen’s desk and pushed on the door of Dean S. Graystone’s office. The man himself was seated behind the desk smoking a cigar. If Linus was the type who believed in the devil then surely Dean would resemble him, plume curling towards the ceiling, the very picture of temptation and damnation. Linus didn’t need to be told to shut the door. One look at the icy gray stare told him that the meeting would need to be private, if not just for his own pride. Motioning to the chair across from his desk, Dean held out his hand. “Have a seat.” The werewolf did as told, radiating innocence through golden eyes. Confused as to why he had been called, Linus didn’t have an ounce of guilt to hide. Dean had waited more than a week for that sole effect. With a long drag off of his cigar, Dean used the opportunity to watch Linus squirm. Trying to meet Dean’s eyes as an equal was only made more difficult for Linus by the sudden realization that top two buttons of his boss’s shirt were undone. He didn’t want to stare at the smooth ebony skin, but the hollow at Dean’s throat seemed like such a… Linus snapped out of his trance and fell right into Dean’s stare. “You don’t like me, do you?” Dean smiled at that. “I’m your boss, Linus. I don’t have to like you.” Exhaling another wisp of smoke, he added. “You have enough that like you.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “That I know about you and Juan in one of my trucks.” Linus could have denied it, could have swore to high hell and back that Dean was wrong but not after his mouth fell wide and eyes batted back disbelief. He was a bad liar anyway. “Werewolves have a high libido so it’s expected that you can’t keep it in your pants but get a fucking hotel room before you decide to lay the pipe to one of my employees, all right?” Running his fingers over his worried scalp, Linus could only nod. It had to be Juan who told, no one drove by! No one was even anywhere near us. Dizzy with worry, Linus seized on the idea that he had been betrayed. The whole building probably knew. It wouldn’t have been the first time, his libido, as Dean had so bluntly put it, had gotten him into trouble.

-22-

“We don’t gossip here and the only reason I didn’t call Juan into my office is because he’s human and easily susceptible to supernatural charms. He probably couldn’t help it. If you want him then pursue him off of these premises.” With Dean’s words, Linus realized that whoever the snitch was, they weren’t Hispanic. Linus spoke before thinking. “I don’t. I just wanted-.” Dean didn’t care what the puppy wanted as he interrupted. “Whether you wanted a life partner or just needed to get your cock sucked and your balls licked, whether it’s with Juan or every member of my work crew, I don’t care. If it happens again on-site, in one of my trucks on a client run, I will refer you to a janitor service and they don’t pay two figures on the hour, got it?” Lowering his head, not because of fear, disappointment or guilt, Linus was stuck with a dilemma, a very viable problem. He had seen Dean wield a cigar, had seen him slip the brown width between his lips and heard him say the word ‘cock.’ Dean had been absolutely correct about werewolves and their libidos. His own was simmering nicely, filling his cock to half mast. For a moment he entertained offering Dean an opportunity. Then reality kicked in. “It won’t happen again, Sir.” Dean wasn’t evil, but it had taken him some time to get over the thrill of knowing Linus’ little secret. Had he approached Linus sooner or much later, the results might have been disastrous or scandalous. Able to seem calmer and more collective than he felt, Dean returned, “I know it won’t. Everyone seems to think you’re a good addition to the crew, that you’re a hard worker and congenial and I’d like to see you remain here.” You’d like to see me spread over your desk, said the voice in Linus’ head. Oh yeah there is definitely a sex problem with werewolves. He had to physically shake his head to get such thinking to cease. “Thank you, Mr. Graystone. I really do apologize for my conduct.” “No problem.” Meaning each word, Dean crushed his cigar out in the ash tray. “Now that all that is over, you can go now.” Linus stood up from his chair, not yet ready to be dismissed. His eyes memorizing the breadth of Dean’s shoulders, Linus’ lips moved with an intended apology, a short explanation, anything so that he could have an excuse to capture a mental image to jerk off to in the shower…later…when he got home, because that was what he was going to be regulated to. Maybe there was a truck stop near by. Dean had the perfect view of Linus’ jeans-covered crotch, a nice curvaceous bulge getting bigger by the moment. The puppy had a prick on him and apparently it was directed at him. That did not sit well with Dean.

-23-

“Back on the floor, Shepherd,” he half-growled. Reaching for the phone, Dean punched in the number of his granite supplier. He had important work to do. Linus stepped back and did as told.

CHAPTER THREE *** With his first paycheck, Linus paid the rent on their apartment, bought an alarm clock, some hair barrettes and scrunchies for Selphie and a Jumbo Bone for Jack and another set of uniforms for each. -24-

Groceries took up the rest of Linus’ check. Try though he had, neither Selphie nor Jack would eat the less expensive potted meats, they didn’t like fancy dog food either. It didn’t matter that it looked like steak strips. Meat was the only food group that was under represented in the coupon section of the paper and since Daddy had money, the children expected meals! With his second paycheck, Linus splurged for a 27” television set. It was Black Friday and with the sale, he had managed to get it brand new for less than a hundred. It provided a distraction for the children and Linus couldn’t help but plant himself in a chair and watch as well. It was television that helped curb Jack’s penchant for remaining in wolf form at home. Television and the playoffs. Jack could imitate the football players easier in human guise. Seated upon his father’s knee, Jack reached into the bowl of popcorn. It was balanced upon Dad’s other knee. His attention stayed upon the television set all the while. Football was on! And Jack loved little more than football. Selphie was seated on the floor beside her father’s chair, coloring in her new coloring book. Both Da and Jack were glued to the screen as if it was showing a t-bone commercial. A lot of shouting and gasping, all over a ball; it was all stupid, she thought. They could have been playing a game or going for a run, but instead Dad had to watch THE GAME. It wasn’t right. Besides Jack got to sit with Dad and got all of his attention. Of course, her father had spent the majority of the morning washing her hair, drying it, and plaiting it, but that was unimportant. Shifting moodily upon the floor, she felt a blunt prodding against her hip and came upon just the idea to get her father’s attention. “Dad! Dad! There’s something you gotta see.” In the midst of admiring just how well tight pants fit a particular line backer, Linus couldn’t tear his eyes from the screen. “What is it Selphie?” “Mr. Graystone brought the class Christmas gifts to the school.” Selphie dug into her pocket and retrieved a milky rock. “He had a lot of fancy stones. Look what he gave me!” Linus looked quickly at the smooth white stone. The cameraman had zoomed to an injured two hundred and seventy pound defensive end and he didn’t want to miss the back shot of him being escorted off of the field. “It’s pretty hon.” Sharing her father’s sentiment, Selphie continued. “He said it’s a moonstone and that werewolf girls love it. He told me that if I want, I can get it made into a ring or a necklace but that I should always keep it to remind me to be calm. Moonstone calms werewolves, Dad.”

-25-

“That’s nice hon.” Linus’ eyes moved to the television despite the direction of his head. Those are some damn nice thighs. Her father’s fleeting attention did not go unnoticed. Clearing her throat, Selphie was not prepared to concede defeat just yet. “Mr. Graystone says you’re a good worker and that you’re learning to work a drill. Maybe you could drill a hole for me, so I can put it on a necklace?” A commercial interrupted the game, and Selphie was talking about his boss, Linus was sure of it. “He said all what? Wait, why he was at your school?” “Daaaaaad,” Selphie pouted. She didn’t like to be ignored. “He was at school giving gifts to all the kids. He gave us each a stone depending on our kind. Werewolves got moonstones, the vampires got bloodstones, the cat-kin got tiger’s eye, Trevor got an opal and Joey got… a sunstone, I think. The witches got magnetic stones!” Linus wished he had seen Dean at the school. He wanted to ask Selph if Dean had been wearing a Santa Claus suit but caught himself. Instead he reached over and touched the moonstone. It was pretty and bright and reminded him of a full moon. With her father gazing intently at the stone, Selphie considered her plan fulfilled. “I think I want mine to be a necklace, Da. He gave one to Jack too but I don’t think it would help even if he wore it all of the time.” Jack’s attention was too wrapped up in digging through the popcorn bowl to exact more than a grunt. “Mr. Graystone is awesome, Dad. I told him that I want to learn about stones and stuff too. He said that all gargoyles know about it.” Linus laughed as he heard the sounds of fans, game announcing and hip-hop music. He turned back to the television. The game was back on. “Honey, Gargoyles don’t exist.” Really beginning to despise the NFL, Selphie snapped, “Yes they do. Mr. Graystone is one. He has wings. He was going to show me but he said that they were going to rip through his shirt and that-.” Sure the man had all the personality of someone made or stone, someone gothic and scary, Juan had even referred to their boss as ‘The Devil,’ but a gargoyle... “Selphie. Once the game goes off we can discuss it, ok?” “Yeah, Selph.” Jack couldn’t resist taking a shot at his sister. She was interfering with males’ business. “Daddy doesn’t care about Mr. Graystone being a gargoyle. Game’s on!”

-26-

Linus knew his children. He knew that Selphie had the ability to curb the truth on a whim, but Jack was the most transparent liar he’d ever met. While he could rarely tell when Selphie was altering the truth, Jack couldn’t deny even the simplest infraction. His heart would pound, his posture would be lax, and his eyes always lowered. Jack wasn’t lying. Eyes going to Jack’s round face, Linus asked, “What did you say?” Jack just wanted to see if the guy on the television could really kick the ball so far away from the goal line. He hadn’t the last time he tried. “Huh?” “I asked what you said, Jack?” Just as casual as if he were commenting about the sky being blue, Jack repeated, “That Mr. Graystone is a gargoyle. He has wings and he can turn to stone.” Linus had no choice but to believe his children. Selphie shoved her stone back into her pocket. Furious, she stamped her foot. “I already said that!” The guy made it, the football sailed through the posts. Jack could hardly believe it. “Dad! Dad! It’s gooooooood!” Stunned, Football was the last thing that Linus cared about at that moment. *** Busy playing her online Mah Jong, Karen almost missed the dark figure walking through the office. She looked up from her computer and saw Linus, heading directly to Dean’s office. Knowing for a fact that Mr. Graystone did not like to be interrupted while on the phone with a client; she abandoned her game and stood up from her desk. Stopping Linus short of reaching the door, Karen held up her hands. “Mr. Shepherd. I’m afraid that Mr. Graystone is on the phone and doesn’t really like to be disturbed. Is there something I can help you with?” Linus took in the slender, brown-haired woman. She reminded him of a librarian, one of the types who looked demure, but were actually dominatrixes at night. He knew that her sister had married a werewolf but couldn’t help wondering whether she or her siblings were completely human. One never knew anymore. Taking a step back, Linus realized that he had been holding his breath. He let it out. “I can wait for him.” “I don’t know how long he’s going to be. Is something wrong?”

-27-

Linus realized that he must have appeared to be upset. Correcting his impatient tone, he shook his head. “No. Nothing’s wrong at all.” Stepping out of his office, Dean had sensed Linus’ presence. What he hadn’t sensed was the bold look on the werewolf’s features. “Something’s wrong. You’re in here when you should be on the floor.” He can’t be a gargoyle, Linus told himself. Whatever they looked like, Dean couldn’t be one, but then maybe he could. “I need to talk to you,” he muttered. Dean leaned on the doorframe, trying to decide if he had the time. There were diamond drills that needed to be ordered, he needed to make an appointment with the electrician, a shipment of rose marble needed to be procured… “Mr. Graystone,” Karen asked, looking between Linus who seemed determined to wait for his opportunity and her boss. Dean nodded to Karen and stepped back inside his office. “It’s ok. Shepherd, come in.” His feet were more confident than he, as Linus moved into the room past Dean. He took the seat in front of Graystone’s desk but as he heard the door shut behind him, his confidence sunk. Linus turned around and waited for his boss to take his seat. Instead the scowling man walked over and stood at Linus’ side. “You wanted something,” Dean asked. Linus wanted a lot of things. He wanted a mansion, a ton of money, a three-inch thick steak, land, a she-wolf beta with double D cups and an omega male with a tight ass…it didn’t mean that he was going to get any of it. That was something he had resolved with himself a long time ago. Realizing that just because wanted to know what Dean was, didn’t mean that Dean was going to answer him. “You’re…you’re a gargoyle?” Dean could have laughed. He had expected all sorts of statements, namely resignations, permission for time off, FBI investigations. “So. You’re a werewolf. And?” “And,” Linus balked refusing to pretend that things were that casual. It wasn’t everyday that he met a gargoyle. “And, why didn’t you tell me?” Without batting an eye, Dean replied, “You can’t really think that werewolves, vampires and cat-kin are the only supernatural creatures on earth, do you? Not when your kids go to a school with other supernaturals. Casper on the night shift is vampire. Ian is half Mer. Hassem and I are gargoyles and the two werewolves that I had on the payroll got fired last year for battling over what is MY territory. But that is all beside the point. You know

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that vampires exist but you assume that just because there is no decent Hollywood horror film about us that gargoyles don’t?” “Well, I’ve never met one.” Although the argument had been sound enough, it still didn’t satiate Linus’ curiosity. “Are you made of stone, do you change into something? Do you have wings? The children said that you did.” Dean smiled. He couldn’t help it. Linus sounded so much like Selphie had at the school. “Now you’re curious,” he wondered. Linus was stupefied, a deer caught in the illumination of the first smile he had ever seen from his boss. “Well…uh yeah,” he stuttered. “You could have asked the day you came in looking for work, I would have told you then,” Dean lied. He would have told Linus that it was none of his damned business, that it was nothing special. From that moment on Linus would have had something about him, would have had one of his secrets as Dean had one of Linus’. It wouldn’t have gone well. To be truthful, it hadn’t meant well, the day he laid eyes on the redheaded werewolf with his flushed pink cheeks and ripe lips open in wonder. Leaning down to get a closer look at those lips, perhaps to get his point across, Dean stated, “I’ll transform if you do. How about that?” The opportunity was there! Linus could see it quite clearly. Dean had such a wonderful mouth, those full voluptuous lips that Black men tended to have, made for kissing and sucking. Ripe fruit for the taking if he were just to lean forward, Linus thought. If he was truly brave, he would stand, shuck off his clothes and give Dean a sight. He would help Dean out of his clothes; see if the there was any trace of hair upon that ebony skin. Chest billowing, Linus dared to move forward and part his lips. “Um…well.” Dean almost let it happen, almost forgot himself in lieu of the treat before him. It was his fault for even daring the wolf. Of course Linus would be ready to give him anything, werewolves were like that, ready to serve, ready to be petted and ready to growl, ready to turn on their back and display-. “Right. I didn’t think so. This isn’t show and tell. It’s a job and we work around humans.” Moving back to his seat, Dean almost felt safe behind his desk, with distance to separate him from Linus. There went Carpe Diem. Sighing away the pent-up heat in his chest, Linus wasn’t ready to think about missed opportunity just yet. “You’re right.” “I know I am.” Dean nodded, “Now that the controversy is resolved, aren’t there at least two orders that need filling today?”

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Making his way up and out of Dean’s office, Linus was aware of only one thing that needed filling, and it had nothing to do with a work order.

CHAPTER FOUR ***

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Linus had made it to another Friday and was looking forward to two days without heavy lifting, the dust of ground stone or the sounds of machinery. Most of the guys were discussing plans about hooking up later at a local bar, as they did most Fridays. While he wanted to join them, Linus couldn’t trust the children to remain at home. Not anymore. A simple hour long visit to a truck stop outside of Pittsburgh had resulted in a frantic search of an empty house. The children had left. From Jack he would have expected it, but for Selphie to join her brother on a nighttime run through the woods meant that his days of sneaking out were over. Sure, he ended up finding them near the river with a bunch of their more loosely supervised schoolmates, but it had still been too much of a worry to allow it to happen again. They could have been in real trouble. They could have been found! Frightening them with his worry, Linus blamed himself more than he did Selphie or Jack. They were children, he was the adult, their Alpha and their father. He had to reign in the parts of him that just wanted to be a guy or a cur. No, the only thing Linus looked forward to as he headed to the locker room was a soak in the tub, a movie and maybe a beer. There were pizza coupons left, so he pondered a deep dish, sausage, pepperoni and ham pizza. It would be a good night. *** On the work floor to check on an order for a marble tabletop, Karen spotted Linus walking alone. Probably going to duck out of the company’s weekly bender again, she thought. Part curious and all nosey, Karen couldn’t resist approaching him. “Heh, are you going out with me and the boys tonight?” Linus stopped at the familiar perfume scent. “Nah. Not this time.” “But you didn’t go last time either or the time before that,” Karen noted. “Quit acting shy and have a brew with the guys. If you’re worried about a sitter, I can get you one who knows how to keep two crafty cubs in line.” “Really?” The offer had merit until Linus thought about Jack shedding his clothes and transforming in the living room. “I don’t know...” Leaning in close enough for only Linus to hear her words, Karen whispered, “Look, Dean didn’t just hire me because I’m cute and like online games. I wouldn’t have just anyone or any human to watch your kids. Come on Linus. Hang out with us. Dean’s going and he’s buying for all of us!” Wondering, which was more surprising: Dean going out to bars or Dean being generous enough to treat, Linus couldn’t decide. “He goes to bars?”

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The poor thing looked as if just the mere mention of Dean doing anything but eating coal and shitting bricks was impossible. “Aww, hon. He looks hard, but he’s really a teddy bear. The business has really been growing and he likes to show appreciation. I did say he was buying right?” Linus nodded suddenly more agreeable to the idea of babysitters. “Yeah, you did say that.” “So you’re going to come.” Not about to leave room for a refusal, she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I’ll call Helga. After work, go home and chill. She’ll be at your place at eight.” “Selphie and Jack are a bit of handful though-.” Karen doubted it. “Not for Helga! So, nine o’clock at The Red Stag. You know where that is right?” Yeah, he knew where it was. He had to drive past it every evening on the way home wishing that he could hang out with the rest of the guys. Well he wouldn’t have to wish anymore. *** “Hello. I’m Helga. Karen said you needed a sitter.” A sitter, a baby sitter was what Linus had expected, not a fashion model with long blonde hair, a fur coat and heels. “Hi. I’m Linus,” he stuttered taking more than a moment to come to terms with the sight before him. Used to men and women’s fascination with her beauty, Helga was unphased. “Nice to meet you, Linus.” He had to force himself to move away from the door so that she could enter. “Come on in.” Behind him, Linus heard Selphie gasp. “Mrs. Jorgensson?” Helga craned her head to see the familiar redheads who were sharing a coloring book on the floor. Looking between Linus and the children, she could see that the resemblance exceeded mere hair color. “Selphie and Jack Shepherd,” she said with her heavy Norwegian accent. “So you aren’t always fighting one another?” Shutting the door after recovering from his confusion, Linus joined the trio. “You guys know each other,” Linus asked.

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“I substitute for some of the teachers at school. I am quite familiar with the Fire Wolves.” The Fire Wolves. Well it was a good name if not indicative of the trouble they tended to get into. From the looks of it, Selphie was ready to start some any minute. He could tell by the wrinkle in Selphie’s nose that she was not keen on the idea of Helga watching over them. Thinking it might be a problem, Linus looked at his son. Jack on the other hand was smiling as if a goddess had just entered the room and chosen him to be her personal champion. Suspecting that a bit of female rivalry was in the air, Selph’s evil glare did not go unnoticed. “We are going to have such fun tonight. You’ll see.” Helga smiled at Jack, then Selphie. Well aware of the jealousy in the little girl’s eyes, Helga had packed just the mood turner. “I brought you something special, Selphie. Chocolate.” Selphie went from distrustful to accepting in the blink of an eye. Watching Helga, he got the impression that she knew how to deal with his progeny, for a night at least. Linus grabbed his jacket from off his chair and slipped it on before giving instruction. “I have some venison meatloaf in the frig, there’s some fruit punch and vegetables for them too. Each of them can have four cocktail sausages and it’s a Friday night so they can watch television until ten. Then they have to brush their teeth and get ready for bed. They are both to wear their pajamas. Jack may try to convince you otherwise but be firm!” Both cubs groaned in embarrassment. Helga smiled her understanding. “If they’re good they can have peanut butter cups for dessert. I’ll be home by one at the latest.” In all seriousness he had to ask Helga something important and pride aside, he asked, “Karen said it would be about fifty for the night?” “Yes. Yeah of course, it is fine.” Not that Helga needed the money. Her husband was the sheriff and his salary was decent enough for her. Watching the cubs was more out of a love for children than as a side job. “Really. Fifty is fine.” It was exactly what he had stashed. “Good. I’ve told them to be on their best behavior. Right you two?” Selphie grunted and Jack nodded. They were good enough answers for Linus. Excited to hang with the boys, he turned to Helga. “I’m sure that everything will be fine. If not, my cell number is on the refrigerator. I’ll have it on and you can just give a ring.” Helga had all sorts of activities planned for the children within her handbag: activities, chocolates, puzzles, a DVD and a roll of cookie dough to bake. “I’m sure this evening will pass without incident, Mr. Shepherd.”

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“Call me, Linus,” he insisted ready to be let loose into the night. Helga seemed competent enough to him and she smelled like warmth and security. Linus liked women like that. Elena, the cubs’ mother, had once been that way, when she still believed there was power to be gained from him. He watched as Helga walked over to the dining room table, set her large handbag down and begun to retrieve goodies that would have even interested him. The cookie dough was the cherry that sealed the deal. They would be in good hands. “You two come here.” Selphie got up and rushed to her father first. Quite insistent that he lean down for his hug, she whispered in his ear. “Dad, you can’t leave her with us.” “Why not?” “She’s weird. She’s like Mary Poppins or something.” Linus laughed as Jack filled his other arm. “Oh, hon, it’s only for one night and besides if you two hadn’t decided to run without me, we wouldn’t have had this problem.” “That was Jack’s idea!” “No it wasn’t,” Jack scowled. “I don’t care whose idea it was, you’re going to behave for Mrs. Jorgenson or else.” Casting a doubtful glare at her father, Selphie shook her head. ‘Or else’ tended to mean sleeping on an empty stomach and while it wasn’t terrifying; it was something he always used as a threat, an empty one at that. Jack gave his father the quickest hug before stepping back and looking to see if Helga noticed. It wouldn’t do for her to think he was childish or weak. “Don’t worry Dad, we’ll be fine.” “Yeah and Jack has a crush on her too.” Selphie hoped to sway her father’s decision with the extra information. Frowning at his sister, Jack didn’t even deny that he like the leggy blonde. “So? She’s hot.” With all the whispering and grunting surrounding him, Linus knew that it was time for him to exit. “Jack, try not to get too frisky while I’m gone. You’re not the Alpha of this house. I am. And Selphie’s my main girl so that makes her Alpha female until I get back only, ok?”

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It was Jack’s turn to pout. “Dad?” Linus paid not attention. Pulling his car keys from his pocket, he headed towards the door. “One o’clock,” he called over his shoulder. *** Whoever said that women held the prize for gossiping was wrong, Linus thought. His face warm with embarrassment, he could barely believe that his secrets were being spread amongst his coworkers. Seated at the bar surrounded by laughter, rock music and the sound of clinking glass, Linus’ was solely focused on the blonde sitting next to him. “He said what?” “That you were too rough and that you growl,” Craig repeated, sure that Linus had heard him well enough the first time. “Which was fine in his book, however he also said you were hung like a bull and that’s he’s never going to let you near his ass.” Linus took a pull from his beer before scoffing, “He doesn’t have to worry about that. Fucking tattler, I knew it was him!” Yeah, you’re not as calm as you pretend, knew it all along. Craig’s interest in Linus grew with every swallow of alcohol. It was a shame that Juan had made it to the redhead before him, but Craig planned on remedying the situation. “Hey, Juan and I are friends and-.” Linus intervened, “And he told Dean.” Craig’s words didn’t matter to him, if Juan told Craig then he had to be the one who told the boss. Finishing his drink, Linus flagged the bartender. She had made an excellent choice before. It was called a Stag and although Linus didn’t know what was in them, Jo, the head bartender had recommended it. Satiated with bourbon, it came in a highball glass and was a deep reddish color like vegetable juice. Linus could smell the deer blood in it, the vegetable juice and pepper but only after the scent of liquor. Jo told him that it was a drink created by the owner and with a nod to her left, pointed out one of the biggest, werewolves that Linus had ever seen. Gantha, a dirty blonde hulk with a handsome face and a menacing build was carrying on a conversation with Dean. The same height, the two men looked as if they had the same workout regime, everyday, all day, all protein and a ton of weight. I bet you that Dean doesn’t call him a cur, Linus thought. Gantha held his head high, his shoulders back like a proud Alpha, one that regretted little, made no mistakes and feared nothing, not even Dean. But then Gantha was his own boss. Even the top dogs answer to someone though. Linus wondered who Gantha answered to, but knew who he himself bowed down to. Their names were Selphie Shepherd and Jack

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Shepherd and he couldn’t let them down. Otherwise Mr. Graystone would have a piece of his mind. Rolling his eyes at wishful thoughts, Linus raised his hand to flag the bartender. “Two Stags please.” “Stags? But I wanted… “Craig frowned at the idea of the hideous drink. It smelled worse than death. Then it occurred to him that Linus was not considering him. As the fullfigured woman nodded at Linus, Craig spoke quickly to get his order in. “Two Stags and another beer!” Remembering the man sitting next to him, Linus muttered, “Sorry.” “It’s fine. As for Juan he’s not stupid enough to tell Dean anything. The only reason he told me was because I asked. Nicely. And I’m gay.” Linus looked at Craig curious as to whether the man expected a prize for stating the obvious. Craig looked butch enough with his closely shorn blonde hair and goatee but the man reeked of lust and not of the shy sort. That lust was directed solely at him. “What,” Linus asked bitterly. “You want to give me head tonight?” Although he did, Craig was nervous about the surrounding patrons. “I just want to get to know you. On the floor you act all quiet and serious. It seems like you’ve worked in every area but water management. I didn’t want to assume anything because I thought you were straight.” Which was were Craig worked. Linus didn’t like Craig, not by scent or by sight but then his mood was too sour to admit it. “And you want to get to know me?” Craig did. He wanted to know just how hairy Linus was, just how firm those muscular shoulders were, and definitely wanted to know if he was as large as Juan suggested. “Yeah… and maybe I might want a bit of that roughness myself.” Linus was too busy collecting his drinks from Jo to show half the irritation he felt. It wasn’t Craig’s fault. The man was physically attractive enough to warrant interest, but then Linus would have to worry about the comparisons that Juan and Craig would surely make, worry about the risk of Dean finding out as he surely would. It wasn’t a risk that interested Linus. Lucky for him that Hassem chose that moment to approach them. “Hello, Linus. Craig.” Slapping a hand on both men, Hassem had noticed Linus’ brooding half way across the bar. Knowing Craig’s history for trouble and suspecting Linus’ breed, the last thing Hassem wanted was a misunderstanding or worse a revelation. Craig was not the type to deal well with a supernatural and Linus looked as if

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he had had his fill of the human. “You two look like you’re over here plotting something.” “No. Not at all,” Craig lied, finding his fresh beer to be a source of sudden fascination. “No mischief here,” Linus muttered into his drink. “Good, good. I may be off duty but I’m always on the lookout where you roughnecks are concerned.” Hassem turned to Linus. “You’re coming along nicely, Linus. Fitting in just fine in fact. It’s good to have someone who takes to the work safely and with the enthusiasm you have.” Working with stone gave him the peace of creation; Linus couldn’t even deny Hassem’s words. “I enjoy it. Working with the stone and seeing it become something like a table, a countertop and decorations even.” Hassem nodded, “That’s what stone masonry is all about.” Moving between Craig and Linus seemed to bring a smile of relief upon Linus’ features. What it did for Craig didn’t matter to Hassem. The poor human was wandering into forbidden territory without the slightest notion that a wolf was beside him. Attention fully on the redhead, Hassem asked, “So. What did you do before you came to work with us?” “I worked as a grill cook for a while.” It wasn’t the best answer to give but it was true. “Well then, we’ll be expecting good things from you for the holiday party, turkey or ham or something?” Linus didn’t know whether it was the alcohol or not being propositioned by Craig that made him smile like a kid with candy. “Sure.” “Did I just hear someone volunteer to bring the turkey?” Why the fuck can I never smell him approaching? Probably because he smells like stone and that’s all I work with. Turning around on his stool, Linus caught sight of someone he wished would proposition him. Dressed in a black sweater and black pants, the man looked like sex and darkness wrapped up in one domineering, mouth-watering package. “Mr. Graystone.” “Dean,” he corrected. It was fine to be formal at work, but since everyone outside of the job got to call him by his first name he saw no reason why Linus should not. He on the other hand preferred using the formal. It kept Linus off guard. “So, you’ll be bringing the turkey, Shepherd?”

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Linus wasn’t bold enough to call the man, his boss, by his first name yet, especially when Dean couldn’t seem to use his name. “Yeah. I can,” Linus answered. “And you,” Dean scowled at Craig; a good worker if one didn’t count the allergy to monogamous relations and the addiction to men straight out of prison. “What are you bringing, Watson?” Craig had been silently lamenting Hassem’s interruption when his overbearing boss showed up. Although Dean was handsome and very much his type, Craig had to respect the authority and presence of the man whose sharp tongue did more damage to his libido rather than inspiring. “Paper cups and plates,” he muttered, head hung automatically. Dean couldn’t resist adding salt to the Craig’s wound of an unsuccessful pickup that was if Linus had a brain. “And your boyfriend, significant other or whatever it is you call him,” Dean asked curtly. “Will he be coming this year?” Craig shook his head wondering if should even bother with an excuse for departing. Without smile the first, Dean remarked, “Well, I guess we’ll have to buy a keg of beer this year.” Thinking of the half filled drum that Craig’s friend had showed up to the holiday party with, Dean didn’t even try for sincerity. Smirking at his friend’s deadpan humor, Hassem moved to Dean’s side. Linus really didn’t need the protection from Craig anymore especially not with Dean on his side. “It’s just another thing for you to buy Dean, along with all the alcohol I’m about to drink tonight.” Looking at the two empty glasses and the two full ones in front of Linus he wondered if the single father wasn’t moving too fast on his big night away from home. A drink that catered to the thirst of a werewolf, the Stag also contained a fair amount of liquor and Linus was working on what Dean hoped was only his third, nor fifth or sixth. “Have your fill, friend. After all, I know Shepherd is.” Linus reacted before he could stop himself, the alcohol in his veins giving him cause. Turning around on his stool, he glared at Dean. “If you’d rather I start my own tab, Dean?” Hassem and Craig both looked at their boss, nervous as to what his reaction might be. Both were well aware of how Dean dealt with smartasses. The two men were glaring daggers at one another, Linus more so than Dean. Dean looked amused. The werewolf had a nice color to his cheeks, and his golden eyes turned to an almost amber color with his challenge or was it because of the alcohol, Dean wondered. What color would they be if I were to fuck you over that bar in front of everyone?

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Dean nodded as if to give Linus his due for the bold remark, but he had one of his own. Leaning in close to the apprehensive man, Dean wasn’t surprised when Linus jumped. He continued to Linus’ ear anyway and whispered, “Then it would still be on my tab as I give you your salary, which I don’t mind. As a matter of fact, you might want to add some food to my tab also, cur. Those aren’t puppy drinks you’re knocking back and I don’t want to have to drive a drunk cur home.” It took all of Linus’ self-control not to turn his head and brush his lips across incredibly smooth cheeks, to search the skin for the scents that evaded even his sharp senses. His Dutch courage fraying more with each second, Linus had to remember to breathe as Dean backed away. “I suggest the quarter-pound nachos.” It might sober the wolf up some to have nachos smothered in cheese and salsa, piled four inches high on a nine inch plate. The room spun, more from Dean’s proximity than his inebriation but Linus knew good advice when he heard it. “Sounds good,” he finally muttered. Hassem shook his head. His old friend Dean was doing a good job resisting temptation, a damn good job, in his opinion. Able to see through the aggression and the power plays, Hassem hid his smile with his drink. *** Gantha enjoyed the company of Dean and his crew. They were a hard working, friendly bunch that happened to contribute greatly to his profits. Sure, Dean often picked up the tab, but then his employees flooded the bar staff with generous tips. He had heard much about Dean’s new employee, namely that he was a werewolf with two young cubs, but that in particular wasn’t what struck Gantha’s curiosity. According to Hassem, Dean had a special interest in Linus and the second Gantha laid eyes on the brooding redhead, he knew why. Linus was handsome, nearly a foot shorter than Dean with a broad muscular build. His gold and amber eyes suited his red hair in homage to flames and that mouth! Gantha could hardly blame Dean for falling for those full lips… and that ass! Spotting Dean and Hassem leave Linus at the bar; Gantha decided to pry, just a little bit. Walking up to the bar, he kindly asked the human sitting beside Linus if he could give up his stool. It wasn’t his night and it wasn’t going to be his night, Craig was certain of it. Grabbing his beer, he wanted no trouble with Gantha. The man was the size of Dean, and looked just as menacing. The only problem was that Craig had never seen Dean throw a drunken man half way across the room.

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Craig had seen Gantha do it with one hand, so telling the bar owner ‘No’ wasn’t even an option. Smiling at Craig’s hasty flight, Gantha took up the stool next to Linus and waved at Joann. “Hon. A stag and some nachos.” Reminded of Dean’s threat, Linus spoke up. “Oh yeah, Ma’am can I get some nachos too.” Jo smiled at Linus. “Of course you can, hon. They’ll put some foundation in your gut. As for you,” turning to Gantha, she rolled her eyes. “Only because you’re the boss.” “I am so privileged, I could howl.” Dry and caustic with his humor, Gantha turned his attention to the handsome werewolf laughing beside him. “So how are you finding our town?” Even if Dean had no sense of humor, at least Gantha did. At ease within the big wolf’s presence, Linus detected nothing but earth, evergreen and contentment from the bar owner. “It’s great,” he replied. “Really. I couldn’t have hoped to find a place like this. My kids are happy. I’m happy because I can support them. There’s a lot of supernaturals and they get along here. That’s really remarkable.” “It is. We have a nice sanctuary here.” Sanctuary, the word sounded like peace to Linus’ ears, even the confident, prideful way that Gantha spoke about it. Linus had little doubt that the were would do anything to maintain it. Thanking the moon for leading him to Pennsylvania in the first place, Linus nodded, “Yeah. You do. Peaceful. The mountains are beautiful and the trees are too. I love it.” “And how do you like working for Dean?” Linus paused before mustering up the positives. He had a glass and a half of Stag left. Fitting his hand around the half full glass, Linus contemplated a sip. “Its good, hard work. I like working with different types of stone, cutting, buffing, shaping…” The sudden whiff of musk, of warmth that came over Linus was as obvious to Gantha as a blinking light. The sight of Linus’ hand helping the highball glass to stay upright was a signal as well, that just the mention of the man’s name held powerful sway. “What do you think about Dean?” The glass was raised and at Linus’ lips, the alcohol giving some comfort to his dry tongue. What should have been a sip turned into the bottom of an empty glass.

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Gantha laughed at Linus’ liquid response. “It’s ok. He is fucking hot, he does suffer from a lack of humor and well he’s a gargoyle to boot. I’ll let yah off the hook with that one, besides he is your boss and one of my best friends. That was cruel of me to ask.” Sure was cruel. “You and Dean are a lot alike.” “Well, Dean has his cubs and I have mine. He has his employees and my orphan cubs. There’s one of mine over there.” Gantha directed Linus to a slender male juggling two women in his lap at once. “That’s Luka. He’s my Beta. He acts like an Alpha and one day he may be one, but he’s all impulse and growls these days.” Linus laid eyes on the redhead. Luka’s hair was more strawberry than Linus’ own coloring, but it was the only thing that they seemed to have in common. Thinner, paler and definitely more lascivious than he, Luka didn’t seem capable of even being second in command. He was however capable of having a hand under one woman’s dress and a hand in another woman’s blouse at the same time. “Impulse and hands too. How many cubs does he have?” “None,” Gantha was quick to reply as Jo returned with two heaping platters of nachos. Accepting his with eager hands, he dug in. “All show, remember? Luka would be a virgin if I didn’t mount him on the full moon, tamp down all that angst he seems to have.” “Right.” Along with his nachos, Linus got a glass of water, which he sought out first. The idea of Gantha mounting the slighter redhead was more than enough to remind him of the heavy liquor in his veins. At least he wanted to blame Gantha for it. “That’s how you keep them in line alright! It’s how you put them in their place. Betas…I should have been one. That or a belly-showing Omega. ” “Quit with the pity party. I’ve only just met you but from what I’ve heard, you are no Omega. Show me the Alpha that never once showed his belly and I’ll show you an Omega pretending to be an Alpha.” Linus laughed. If his pack had just one wolf that shared Gantha’s belief, then he might have stood a chance at retaining leadership. Might have. “Dean tells me you’re from Nevada. Your pack is there?” “They’re no longer mine. My pack doesn’t believe in belly-showing Alphas.” Gantha understood the phrase in a wave of seriousness. He had known of wolves killed our ousted because for shows of submission, a few Alphas who had not shown proper respect to their bitches, a few who faltered in their leadership and suffered the wrath of a usurper. It wasn’t wholly an act of bigotry, but an act of fear. If the Alpha of a pack could be swayed too much by anyone, male or female it usually meant dire action would be taken.

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Making a dent in his chips, Linus read Gantha’s sudden warmth as pity. It was a feeling that had always sickened him and he felt the need to defend himself. “I wasn’t that bad of a leader, but I was easily distracted. Those who I thought were my friends were not. The Alpha female that I thought I loved did not love me. And worse the Beta male, who I thought I was in love with, turned out to be a bastard. All in all, I was much too soft to lead. I’ll admit to that.” “Sounds like the problem was much deeper than just your leadership.” Agreeing with a nod, Linus continued, “The direction the pack was headed in was not something I agreed with at all. Tommy, my beta and some of the others were getting paid as bodyguards for some pretty shady folk. They hired us to protect drugs, prostitutes, guns that sort, as assassins as well. For a while I pretended not to notice, but the money and the drugs came faster and more frequent. Elena gave birth to the cubs and I’ll admit, I woke up. There they were, two screaming balls of red fur, with my eyes. They were helpless, beautiful and mine. I was in love, real love for the first time and I wanted the pack to be someplace strong and safe for them. Unfortunately, I was too late to do anything. Tommy made a challenge at the bonfire for leadership and Elena stood by him. They demanded that I step down.” Gantha knew the answer before he even asked. “You refused?” Linus pushed the half eaten platter away from him and reached again for the highball glass that contained peace in every sip. “Yeah. I couldn’t believe what was going on. Tommy said some really nasty shit about me, about what should have been private and personal. What I believed was. So, we fought for it. I was so mad, furious and disappointed. I got my ass kicked.” Speechless, Gantha kept his tongue. He understood that Linus needed to verbalize the horrible events to make sense and peace with them. Gantha also understood how to eat and listen at the same time. A simple matter of cancellation negated the stabilizing effect of the nachos as the liquor that preceded them and the liquor that followed them combined. Heated and becoming lighter by the second from confessions, Linus waved at Jo and pointed to his glass. A refill was definitely in order. For the first time, he had the ear of a were to listen to his injustice, to give him perspective and to make sense out of his shame. A very nice were at that. “I didn’t mind that he raped me in front of the others, I was much too out of it to care. What hurt was hearing him promise the pack, a stronger line of wolf, cubs born of his seed rather than my bloodline which had led for so long. I could have stayed with the pack as the Omega, but my cubs would have had to die. I couldn’t allow that. There was no way, I could. Their lives meant double what mine was worth.”

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Gantha recognized a bender when he saw one coming, but felt as if Linus deserved to get as drunk as he pleased. Not one to sugar coat the truth of the matter, Gantha wasn’t going to tell the were that he hadn’t been weak. Linus would smell that lie a mile away. Instead, Gantha spoke a different truth. “That you even acknowledge all of that speaks volumes. Shame, humiliation, defeat are all a part of life, but when and how you break free of them, it is where you show your strength. Remember what I said about an Alpha that never shows his belly?” Linus nodded. “Well, an Alpha that’s never been defeated is even worse.” He didn’t smell like he was lying to Linus. The blonde giant didn’t even look as if he was telling anything other than the truth. If Gantha weren’t an Alpha, he’d make one hell of a beta. Linus felt validated and strong. That and a fresh drink had just arrived. Taking a long draught, he added. “Desperate is what they are. The first few years of the cubs’ life were spent on the road and for good reason. Tommy probably has a litter of his own now, but for a long time he was so afraid that Jack, Selphie and I would return to challenge that. I don’t want anything from any of them. Not a Goddamn thing. I have my life here and it’s good.” Linus meant that with all of his heart. And with all of his heart he wanted Gantha to know. “Dean may be a bastard, but he gave me this opportunity and I can’t thank him enough.” Yup, Linus had slipped past the threshold of buzzing to drunk, Gantha realized. Linus had skipped over the Confessional drunk stage and landed right at the Emotional drunk stage. Gantha didn’t want to see Crying drunk. Rosy cheeks and all, the broken beast that was Linus Shepherd would mend. Sooner rather than later if the pressure of Dean’s stare across the room indicated anything. “Dean really isn’t as hard as he appears to be.” Pausing with his glass en route to his mouth, Linus gave Gantha a look of pure skepticism before bursting out in laughter. “Of course, he is. He’s a gargoyle!” *** Linus was in motion. It was the only sound truth that he could be sure of. Just moments ago he had been running through a forest, surrounded by ten-foot tall daffodils. In between sleep and wakefulness, Linus caught a glimpse of scrolling dark trees. They were much less interesting than daffodils in his opinion but the jostling of the car would not allow him to fade back into his dream. Need to get that fucking wheel alignment soon. Even the dream about being in a bar wouldn’t have been so bad to return to. Hell, if he couldn’t have had Dean then Gantha would have made a nice wrestling partner in some dark corner. Looking around him, Linus recognized the car as his own 1984 dusty-black Chevy Camero. It had the same automatic gearshift, the same tape player, and a numerous conglomeration of scent trees dangling from the rearview mirror…. Oh, it was definitely

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his. But he wasn’t behind the wheel. Head lolling from its cradle upon the seatbelt, Linus grinned. “Mister Graystone…” he drawled with nothing but pleasure. “Dean.” Taking his eyes off the road for only a moment, Dean had been wondering if Linus would awaken before he got him home. The werewolf was beyond drunk, and that was before he had attempted to out drink Hassem. I should have told him that gargoyles absorb liquid slower than other mammals. His cheek moist against the leather seat, Linus turned to cast his eyes on the figure beside him. Just the sight of long, muscular arms and broad manly hands gripping the steering wheel was enough to have him swooning. While Gantha may have been the same size and build as Dean; Dean didn’t remind Linus of his uncle. In fact the dark male looked like no one that Linus had ever met. “Your name should be hard ass, because I’d be willing to bet that you have a hard ass, not just because you’re bossy though.” Dean laughed. “Your name should be puppy. A few drinks, some hot wings, two servings of nachos and you’re all ready for a tummy rub.” The idea sounded wonderful to Linus. “Mmmm, would you?” Unzipping his coat, Linus grasped the hem of his shirt and raised it up to his chest. Dean heard the sound of a zipper and the smile faded from his face. He told himself not to look, to focus on the road but the temptation was far too great to deny. Eyes darting sideways, Dean caught a glance of a taut, muscular stomach, abs and an inne belly button. A thick covering of auburn fur was covered pink flesh, beckoning to his fingers to test its texture. Dean refused to give them leave, nearly snapping the steering wheel. The strength in his fingers already left a serious indentation. Putting his attention back on the road, Dean breathed heavily, “I don’t fool around with employees, Linus.” He was having another bad dream, Linus decided. Dean was not supposed to be so difficult to seduce. “I understand. Really I do. You’re the boss and I’m the employee and we need to be professionals,” Linus punctuated his sentence with a loud burp that smelled salty and sweet, like salsa and ground beef. Licking his lips to see if any trace remained, Linus put his hand low upon his stomach and rubbed. “I’ll do it myself then.” The speedometer dropped from 65 to 35 as Dean split his attention between the road and watching the movement of Linus’ hands. Jealous, Dean envied every circular motion that Linus’ fingers made. The damned were added his other hand to the play, using both to massage, pat and skim through the light fur. Dean took it all in, how Linus was sprawled in the bucket seat, head tilted back and knees slightly parted. Linus’ tongue was a pink confection, tempting Dean from the corner of lips that would haunt him for the better part of the week. Otherwise, Linus’ was perfectly

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self-sufficient, tending to his own needs the way Dean should have been. The way Dean wanted to. Before he could stop himself, Dean took his hand off the steering wheel. He put it back on seconds before it reached Linus’ skin. The werewolf was so oblivious he didn’t notice a thing. Linus seemed much to interest in tracing circles around his belly button. “Damn you’re hairy, cur.” “Of course I am.” Scowling at Graystone as if he was foolish for stating the obvious, Linus realized the black man was much more observant than he sounded. Silver-gray eyes were on Linus’ stomach instead of the road. Not an exhibitionist by far, Linus felt bolder because of the night, because of the alcohol, and Dean’s presence. Thumbing the button open that kept his jeans closed, Linus pushed the flaps apart and exposed a deeper thatch of hair, a more sensitive patch of lower abdomen to rub. “I’m hairy because I’m a…. Ahhwwoooo,” he howled. “Because I’m a…werewolf.” Dean’s exhalation was loud and obvious. He didn’t care what Linus was as he caught sight of the auburn treasure tuft. Such silky cinnamon curls, so damp with the werewolf’s musk that Dean could smell the fragrance with even the smallest inhalations. The car swerved and still Dean was hesitant to turn his attention back to the road. Don’t fall prey to that horny mutt. All he wants is for you to pull over and throw him against a tree…The bad thing would be that you want to, Dean worried to himself. “You’re nuts is what you are,” Dean muttered. “Yup and I have big furry round ones too.” Focusing on the pun, Linus knew that he was making Dean uncomfortable. Whether his boss was uncomfortable enough to touch him, to kiss him, to engage him in some form remained questionable. “Do you have any hair? Anywhere?” Dean did not and could not answer. He was too busy concentrating on asphalt. Drawing his answer from the silence, Linus made an assumption. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine Dean with smooth dark globes. Even inebriated, Linus’ blood and his prick jumped at the thought. “You don’t. You must have smooth ones? Smooth balls… That must be really interesting. Tasty.” “Shouldn’t you be asleep, puppy?” Straight ahead. Lines, yellow and white, Dean repeated to himself. “I like the way you say that. P-uppy. It’ll be my pet name from here on out. You can call me Puppy whenever you want.” Smiling at Dean, Linus didn’t care that he was being ignored. He knew why Dean wouldn’t look at him. It was because his hand was tucked away warm in his underwear. “I’m sooo drunk!”

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Dean rolled his eyes. “State the obvious will you?” “Ok then, I like you. You’re hard but fair. You gave me a chance to provide for my Selph and Jack. I got to learn a trade even, because of you.” Since they were stating obvious things, Linus had no problem yawning truths. “I would ask you out on a date but you probably think I’m loose…stupid…or too freaky. I want you to know I wasn’t trying to chat up Gantha and I don’t think Hassem is sexier than you. You remind me of the night and you could think I’m too young but then I don’t even know how old you are.” Dean had no comment for drunken rubbish. As wasted as Linus was he could have liked a block of cheese. There was no reason for him to even think that Linus’ words held any significance beyond the moment or a quick tryst. The pretty eyes, the solid muscular body, the fur… Dean told himself that there was nothing special about the werewolf. Linus was a single father doing a damn good job with raising his cubs, he was quick learner, a good worker and sexy as hell, but Dean could name a dozen men on his payroll that had such qualities and yet none affected him quite like Linus. Why? He didn’t know but Linus warmed something within him and that was hard enough to do. It had been too long for Dean to pretend he didn’t notice anything. “I’m nearly three hundred and twenty seven,” he answered finally. Asleep, Linus heard nothing, not even the crisp gravel that lead up to his street underneath the car’s tires. *** Able to hear Dean as he approached, Linus tried to hide behind the fronds of the Christmas tree. Stringing up the frilly gold garland, he didn’t want Dean to see him. He certainly wasn’t ready to delve into the sea of embarrassment. Having successful avoided the man for two days; Linus should have known that Karen’s cry for help regarding the office decorations would lead to disaster. He had tried to get out of it, but Karen wasn’t having any of it. ‘Where’s your spirit,’ she had asked. Linus wanted to tell her that it was cowering ‘behind’ his inner child but instead he accepted the rubber container with the artificial tree and ornaments. It was just his luck that the tree needed to be set up in the office of all places. Linus felt it would have been perfect on the workroom floor, beside the rubble conveyer belt. She didn’t. Sure enough, Graystone appeared a minute after she conveniently left to go to the bathroom. Dean entered the room and moved right to the tree decorating the main office, where Linus’ was hiding. “Well, that’s a change from Friday; looking a lot more alert and able to stand on your own for one.”

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There was humor in Dean’s voice but Linus was unable to appreciate it. Continuing to string the garland around the tree, Linus moved as far away from Dean as the gold fringe would allow. “Yeah, I was in bad shape. I must have slept most of Saturday and half of Sunday and then Selph and Jack kept asking me if I was dying.” Linus made no mention of being carried over Dean’s rock hard shoulders; after all at least that could have been a dream. The good bits always were. Dean wasn’t surprised by the children’s query. Linus had been out cold from the car to the house. It had been necessary to carry the cur over his shoulder all of the way. Still the children had been a great help. Having paid the babysitter and sent her on her way, Dean had expected the children to remain asleep when he brought in their catatonic father. Instead they rose like sentries, anxious to help and even more anxious to supervise. Selphie knew where the aspirin was and Jack picked just the right bowl to fill with water for his dad. Dean had so hoped for a long look at the puppy’s stomach, had hoped to steal a caress or two, but the presence of the twins put a stop to that dream. “They’re cute, smart children, even if little dramatic,” Dean said. “When I brought you in, I couldn’t keep them out of your bed. I warned Jack you might vomit on him, but he didn’t care and neither did Selphie. They just curled up beside you and that was that.” Yeah and scolded me the whole damn weekend, Linus thought. “Headstrong, both of them...” Curling the garland up to the top of the tree, Linus walked over to the plastic container that held the decorations. He chose the corded lights next. “They were just worried about you. So was Helga but I assured her that you would be fine.” Linus allowed the cord to hang on a limb while he dug in his pocket for his wallet. “Yeah about that; here’s the money for the babysitter.” Fishing out two twenties and a ten, Linus presented them to his boss. Dean wasted no time accepting the money. “Thanks, but I was just going to take it out of your pay.” Picking up the cord, Linus continued draping it around the tree. Now that Dean had his money, Linus could attempt to get past the situation. “Well, thanks again for everything and I really do apologize for my behavior.” “It’s ok. I’ve done a lot worse than pass out in my car and hit on someone, besides I should have warned you that gargoyles have difficulty absorbing liquids,” Dean confessed with saccharine, smiling guilt. “It’s why we can drink so much.” Stuck on the phrase ‘hit on someone,’ Linus cursed himself for having been so careless.

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He could have lost his job. It was bad enough he had already embarrassed himself in front of his boss, his kids and his baby sitter but a failed macking attempt was downright heartbreaking. “I’ll…uh try to remember that next time.” “I hope so,” Dean laughed as he headed towards his office. As much as he would have liked to harass Linus, there was work to be done. “Next time I’ll just fly your ass home. That shitty car of yours needs a front-end alignment.” You can fly me anywhere you want. Keen eyes fixed on the shape of Dean’s departing ass, Linus sensed Karen approaching. She had a candy bar in her hand, which was only ironic because the vending machines were located in the exact opposite direction from the bathrooms. *** He had avoided it for a week, and Selphie was not pleased. “He helped you when you were sick and he brought you home and gave you water. You shouldn’t be so mean, Dad!” Hands on her hips, she had been beyond adamant. Nothing worked, not even a promise to send his boss a gift basket. Selphie demanded that Linus invite Mr. ‘I can always take the cost of that ruined slab out of your check shepherd,’ to dinner. Each day that he went to work, Linus firmly intended to ask. And while work slowed down in the precursory weeks to Christmas, Linus couldn’t muster the words, the courage or the gall. The last thing he wanted to do was bring up anything in connection with that drunken night. It wasn’t until he prepared the Christmas turkey that Selphie leaned over the counter with her accomplice. Both of his children eyed him as if cooking was the most fascinating thing they’d ever witnessed. It was Jack who spoke first. “Did you ask him yet?” With his hand inside of a bald, pale turkey, Linus asked his son. “Ask who what?” “Mr. Graystone. Did you ask him over for dinner?” Linus couldn’t lie; he wasn’t good enough to fool the cubs’ keen noses anyway. Cocking his head at Selphie, he detected a conspiracy. “I haven’t asked him yet. He works in his office and Daddy is busy hauling and cutting rock. We don’t exactly have time to mingle and talk.” Her father was stalling and Selphie couldn’t figure out why. He can’t be afraid of Mr. Graystone. He’s big but he’s nice and he mentioned Christmas presents. Watching her father take another fistful of sausage and sage stuffing, she wrinkled her nose, “We’re not having turkey for dinner are we? If we are, then I’d rather hunt for myself.”

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“Yeah, right Missy,” Linus balked. Neither of the cubs cared for turkey meat although he liked it. “You’re not old enough to free range it yet and besides this turkey is for a party work.” Selphie’s eyes lit up. “You’re having a Christmas party at work?” Linus recognized his folly far too late to match wits with his clever girl. “Great, then you can ask Mr. Graystone to come over, at the party.” Taking her father’s rolling eyes as a yes to her question, Selphie backed off the counter and down to the floor. Jack remained, looking lovingly at the stuffing. He wondered if he should tell his father about the deal that Mr. Graystone had made with them. Although he hadn’t told them to keep it secret, Selph had told him that Dad would definitely be against the idea if he found out that Christmas presents were involved. Jack weighed his options, made heavier by the thought of a special dinner before adding that he thought it would be a wonderful idea. “You can make roast beef and potatoes for him. He’ll think it so good that he’ll give you a raise.” Linus nearly choked on his laughter. “I doubt that, son. Seriously. Takes more than food to impress him.” *** Linus had resolved to approach Dean at the party, to catch the man away from the masses of hungry employees, sometime after he had eaten or when he wasn’t surrounded by Hassem or any particular person. He had spotted Dean alone in the kitchen, refilling the ice chest but had decided against that particular moment. Alone with witnesses was the plan, not alone and personal. Linus had stipulations to the approach and the moment had to be just right. Linus decided not to rush the moment. He could wait, could enjoy the party until opportunity decided to rear it’s narrow head. As it was he had plenty of opportunities to be distracted. Engaged in a boisterous conversation concerning the 2005 shortcoming of the New England Patriots and why injuries should not have affected the championship team, Linus had his own opinions and was anxious to voice them as he set his plate upon the break room table. He was just about to touch upon a key factor, the effects of free agency, when Linus sensed a familiar presence behind him. Linus turned around. The tall, dark man was holding a plate and Linus noted everything on it in an effort not to stare up at Dean’s perfect lips. On the plate were two deviled eggs, slices of his turkey and stuffing, a halfeaten roll and sweet potatoes. There were also green beans on the plate. “Hey. Mr. Graystone. Happy Holidays.”

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“To you to,” Dean replied with the majority of his attention on the plate. “I’m surprised. You’re really a good cook, Shepherd.” Watching a fork move onto the plate and spear a slice of turkey, Linus had no choice but to watch that fork ascend to that mouth, to watching dark brown lips close around the pale white meat. Connotations abounded as he exhaled, “Thanks. It’s a hobby.” “It’s a good hobby to have and I bet the children appreciate it.” The children, the evil, plotting spawn of his loins, Linus remembered them with a scowl. “Right.” There was his opportunity. It couldn’t have been any clearer if it were flashing brightly in neon colors. “Selphie and Jack wanted me to invite you over for dinner on Saturday, but because it’s Christmas Eve, I figured sometime after the 3rd would be better, because I’m sure you have holiday plans and-.” Wondering when the invitation would come, Dean felt almost criminal for putting the idea in Selphie’s head. “I’m available Saturday,” he interrupted. “What’s on the menu?” Foiled again. Linus wouldn’t let the fact that his incredibly hot boss would be eating at his house, affect his ability to stand upright. He had dreamed of Dean visiting his house many times, but never once of Dean seated at the dinner table with the kids…or even clothed. “Meat and potatoes, maybe a roast. Do you have any preferences?” Dean took another forkful. “I love beef. Roast beef is even better. What time shall I stop by?” “Seven’ll be fine.” “Ok, I’ll bring dessert. Do you have any preferences?” Linus nodded trying not to let the word, ‘you’ escape from his lips. “The kids like anything with peanut butter or peanut butter-flavored.” It wasn’t what Dean had asked but the fact that Linus could still think of his children while smelling like an ox in heat was remarkable. It was an appetizing scent, an arousing scent and one that Dean vowed to memorize. “I’ll bring something with peanut butter for them but I asked what you liked?” Before Linus could stop himself the word “you” fell free. Linus looked around to see if anyone heard him. Although it was only a whisper, he couldn’t be sure. The conversation about football was at a much higher octave than he could ever breech and the supernaturals showed no hint of eavesdropping. Linus turned back to Dean with every intention of apologizing.

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“Me and what, Shepherd,” Dean asked, lifting a forkful of sweet potatoes to his mouth, calm and doing a damn good job of acting unsurprised. “Do you like berries, apples, caramel, cakes, maybe?” “Pumpkin. I really like pumpkin,” Linus stuttered, cheeks warm with embarrassment. Pretending as if he wasn’t inspired by the blush across Linus’ cheeks, the low-cast gold eyes with their wild intentions; Dean had to respect the werewolf’s restraint so far. His restraint on the other hand would fail if he stood next to Linus one minute longer. “I’ll bring something with pumpkin in it then. Pie or something.” Turning around to disguise the strain of softness coming over him, Dean headed back to his office. He had made his appearance at the office party, socialized and attained a dinner date. It was enough.

CHAPTER FIVE *** Dean was worried by everything around him; Selphie passing out knives, forks and napkins; Jack turned halfway around in his chair to watch a football game and most of all by Linus carrying a platter with roast beef, potatoes, red onions and carrots.

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His eyes followed Linus closely as he placed the platter in the middle of the table, followed Jack as he stealthily swiped a potato and it distressed him. As supernatural as the Shepherd family was, they were a warm and happy family and Dean actually enjoyed their company. That was the problem. Walking over to his side, Selphie gave him a knife, a fork and a napkin. She was almost as adorable as her father, a bit on the bossy side but charming. “Thank you,” he said. “You’re welcome,” Selphie blushed. Wait until I tell everyone that Mr. Graystone came to my house. He’s soooo handsome, she mused. Shoving Jack’s silverware into his hand, Selphie chose the open seat next to Dean. Jack had the other. “You’re going to like dinner, Mr. Graystone. Dad makes really good beef. Mr. Pritchard at the supermarket gave him some seasons because Dad always buys a lot of meat.” “Seasonings, Selph.” Correcting his daughter as he came from the kitchen with a basket of rolls and a pitcher of tea, Linus was glad to see that the two chairs next to Dean were taken. Having his boss in his home was nerve-wracking enough without sitting close to him. “Yeah, Dad. Seasonings.” Admiring the smooth dark skin of Mr. Graystone, Selphie wondered if his name had anything to do with the beautiful gray color of his eyes. “They make the meat extra delicious.” Aware that he was under observation, Dean smiled. “Well, everything smells delicious. Your father is a great cook.” “That pumpkin cheesecake smells good too.” The commercials took a back seat to the food as Jack turned around in his chair to view the table. Dinner was always his favorite meal as the portions were bigger and fresh from the stove, but for Mr. Graystone, Dad had made an extra large meal: a huge roast, vegetables, warm bread, mashed sweat potatoes and dessert. There was hardly a spare space on the table. Patient while his father sliced the medium rare rump of deliciousness, Jack had his fork and knife ready to stab the first slice. “Jack,” Linus snapped at his son’s speedy display. “Alphas first, cubs second, don’t be rude.” “I’m not! I’m using my knife and fork!” Cutting his beef in half, Jack did use his fork to shove the two separate slices into his mouth at once. His jaws round with chewing meat, he mumbled, “You always let us eat first.” Appalled by her brother’s crudeness, Selphie hissed, “That was when we were broke, and because Dad has a small appetite.”

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Linus only caught a glimpse of Dean’s grin as he returned his attention to slicing the roast. Poor cur, he caught it from both ends, Dean thought. As one of those ends, he didn’t really think that he held a candle to Selphie and Jack. He also didn’t think that Linus ever ate before his children. “Mr. Graystone you can eat after Dad does,” Selphie declared. “You’re an Alpha.” “Yes, but your dad is The Alpha here. Linus?” Although swooning was not something he liked to do, Linus’ knees felt weak at the acknowledgement. “I’ll just get them out of the way, since they wanna pretend that they’re starving.” Finishing with the beef he laid down the fork and the carving knife. Before he even took his seat, he noticed Jack’s fork moving back towards the platter. “Girl cubs first, Jack at least.” Selphie grinned at her disappointed sibling as she chose the first selection of succulent beef. She might have protested special gender treatment but in the presence of Mr. Graystone she could make an exception. Jack moved to fill his plate, while Linus poured lemonade for everyone. There was a slight disagreement as to who should go after Jack. Dean insisted that Linus go first and then Linus insisted that Dean go first. Shyness aside, Linus met Dean’s gaze. “You’re my boss on the job, but here what I say goes. You first.” Ok, Puppy for now, Dean resolved. Starting in on a meal that would rival an experienced chef’s, Dean had to remind himself that children were present, that he couldn’t just say how the meal was perfect, but how it would be much better followed by Linus as a dessert. That his train of thought even went toward decadent things concerned him, as Dean had tried to ignore every impulse he had concerning Linus. Wanting so badly to believe that Linus was as loose, as wild and as careless as werewolves tended to be, Dean could see that his prejudices would no longer hold. Sure Linus had needs, but he sought them free and clear of his family. He worked and provided for his two children when the world could be spread before his feet. One thing was for certain, if he were to have the red-headed werewolf, then one night, one tryst would not suffice. Werewolves tended to be flighty lovers when cornered, wild and seeking every out available after their pleasure. In his lifetime, he had had two werewolf lovers in his lifetime and neither of them were half as stable as Linus appeared to be. Still appearances could be deceiving. For that reason alone, Dean fought his desires, near tangible though they were.

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Looking up from his plate, Dean stole a glance at Linus before realizing that the very inquisitive eyes of a six year old girl were upon him. “Selphie,” Dean sighed trying to appear as if he hadn’t been oogling her father. “Your Dad tells me that you like school. What do you want to be when you grow up?” Caught up in a theory, Selphie wondered if Mr. Graystone had been staring at her Dad. Maybe he didn’t think Dad was right for letting the lower ranks eat first. “I want to be a doctor,”she muttered. Turning to look at her father, his concentration as well as Jack’s seemed to be on their plates. Dean tried to make his smile as genuine as possible considering he doubted a werewolf’s ability to remain focused for the full course of a medical education. “A werewolf doctor? Now that would be interesting. Why not a witch?” “I want to help all supernaturals, I want to study them and help then when they’re sick and stuff. Susa at school is a witch and the only thing she helps with is love potions and memory charms. I want to do more serious things that.” Linus was glad that he chose lemonade over wine. Warm enough, he could feel Dean’s stare just as surely as if it had caressed his face. “That’s my girl. She’s ambitious.” Lifting his glass, he downed nearly half of the container. Posing the question to the chubby, munching boy on the other side of him, Dean asked, “What do you want to do Jack?” Jack tried to talk, but the food in his mouth made it hard. He had to chew first, then swallow some of his drink before he could answer. “I wanna be a wide receiver for the New England Patriots… or the Pittsburgh Steelers.” “Why not be the quarterback,” Dean asked. “Because I catch better than I can throw, besides I don’t want to be sacked or anything. Being a line backer wouldn’t be so bad, then I could do the sacking but football is all about receiving. Dad says that protection and defense are important but I think its all about the offensive.” Determined not to bear another of Jack’s rants about football, Selphie spoke up. “A werewolf can’t be in the public eye, stupid. Knowing you, you’ll change on camera or something.” “I’m not stupid and no one will know,” Jack growled back. “I haven’t changed in weeks. I’m doing good right Dad?” All eyes were on him, waiting for his answer. Jack looked to him with a dose of uncertainty. Selphie looked to him for validation and Dean looked at him with admiration despite his pause.

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Leaning over to muss his son’s head, Linus chuckled, “Sure you are, son. You’re doing really good, but as your sister says the public is no place for our kind. Humans aren’t good competition for us. It’d be unfair to them.” Rolling his eyes, Jack had to laugh at that. Selphie and Dean laughed as well. The answer was good enough for them all. *** Dean had watched Linus eat two slices of pumpkin pie and had watched the kids open their Christmas presents. From the Shepherd family he received his Christmas present of a glass vase filled with colored stones and a tie covered in a moon and star motif. Bizarre and cute as the evening had been though, Dean needed a break. Excusing himself from the house, he slipped out of the sliding glass doors to the back yard for a cigar. The sight of Linus on the floor reading an instructional manual with the twins anxiously awaiting the activation of their new toy was too much for him. If Linus is that warm, that doting and that considerate of his children then what would he be like as a lover? Out in the purple night, Dean bit his lip as he mulled the possibility that he liked Linus more than he cared to admit. Just being around the big wolf was softening, soothing and addictive. Just as Linus took care of his cubs, Dean thought guiltily of taking care of Linus. He was already doing that in a way. He should have been satisfied with that, but he wasn’t. A selfless werewolf was hard to find, even Gantha expected his cubs to hold their own. He took a cigar from his pocket and bit off the end before pulling out his lighter. Taking that first drag usually made his thoughts still and clear, but standing in Linus’ backyard, Dean was anything but. “You could have smoked inside.” Stepping out of the sliding glass doors, Linus caught a gaze of smoke and darkness. Dean shook his head no. He didn’t believe in smoking around children. Sucking on the brown length as Linus came to his side, Dean asked, “Did you get it hooked up?” “Yeah, I did.” After fifteen minutes of sorting cords, the scolding of overly excited cubs and cleaning up wrapping paper, Linus was granted the silence of focused children with joysticks. “Thank you, so much. You didn’t have to get them a video game console.” “They’re playing it together and they’re quiet. It’s the cheapest gift I’ve ever given to three people. It’ll give you some downtime, but not too much. The kids need to do their homework and all.” Linus laughed until he realized that he would have to bear the whining and tantrums surrounding game time. Still the expense and consideration of his boss, was more than

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unnerving. “Dean? I don’t want to be forward or anything but you don’t buy expensive gifts for everyone do you?” The werewolf was still not comfortable with his first name, just as Dean was barely comfortable with using Linus’ name. It was one of the first and most common forms of formality. Turning his head to exhale smoke to the starry night, Dean chose his words carefully. “That’s not the question you really want to ask me, is it?” “You don’t want to know the question, I’m thinking off,” Linus blurted out. “I like my job just fine and I want to keep it.” “You’re not on the clock right now and as you already said, you’re the boss around here,” Dean smiled down at Linus aware that gold eyes were envying his cigar. “Feel free to ask me anything. Alpha.” The taunt made Linus push aside his doubt. If Dean wanted to hear what he had on his mind, then Linus could oblige. Squaring his shoulders, Linus told himself that it was no knee-shaking human his was dealing with, no Juan, no strangers at a truck stop. In front of him was his dark, ever-serious boss who could just be playing around with him or maybe not… “Are you seeing anyone?” “Yes.” Dropping his stub of a cigar to the ground, Dean crushed it with his boot. He raised his head. “I’m seeing you standing there in the dark.” Linus rolled his eyes, warring with the frustration within him. Had it been anyone but Dean, he would have had the man up against the wall already, but the man who signed his checks was a bit more daunting. Even the wildest Alpha wolf had to know when things were good. He didn’t want anything to come before that. “You know what I’m talking about.” Walking up into Linus’ personal space, Dean bent down and took in the air an inch away from Linus’ neck. “Of course, I know. You reek whenever you come near me, whenever I look at you too long or when I come close to you. You’re so…Obvious.” Linus tried to do the same, tried to gather a scent from Dean. Too close to nature, the stone and the earth, Dean’s scent was hardly decipherable from everything around him. Linus couldn’t even smell the simple identifiers of lust, like, need or even desire. “It’s not fair,” he complained, “I can barely smell a thing from you.” “Maybe you don’t arouse me.” The possibility of which seemed to amuse Dean to no end. Directing Linus’ eyes downward with his own, Dean revealed the obvious bulge in his black trousers. “…or maybe you just have bad eyesight which is a bad thing for a supernatural.” There wasn’t a damn thing wrong with Linus’ eyesight. He could see just fine in the dark and the term, ‘third leg’ came easily to mind. Intimidating and alluring all at once, Dean

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wasn’t just bigger than him in height. Hand already moving to Dean’s trousers, Linus asked, “I don’t want to be forward but can I…touch it?” “No.” Linus could recognize the sound of need upon Dean, even though he could not smell it, which was why he didn’t understand. “No?” Dean took a step back. Almost as cold as the winter air surrounding him, he was tense. His fingers flexed with wanting to pull Linus close, his lips longed for the warmth of the heated werewolf. “No.” “What is it? Is it because I work for you?” He would have liked to say that it was but truthfully, Dean knew that it was far more complex than work etiquette. “Linus, gargoyles don’t really do the notch on the bed post sort of thing. We don’t have the same appetites and we’re not as free as your kind.” “Free? Appetites?” Blinking in shock, Linus found that generalization to be far more potent than any of near prejudicial remarks Dean had made in the past. “You think you know everything about my kind but you don’t. And even if you did, you don’t know everything about me.” Now the flame begins to burns. “I know that you’re a loving father, a hard worker and that when a werewolf meets his mate, he is the most loyal creature on Earth. A werewolf without one though, just gets an itch. He can not be tamed.” Shrugging his shoulders, Dean realized that he was giving away too much. Listening to Dean’s words, the pieces fell into place for Linus. The big man wanted more than a one-night stand. Rock that Dean was, he wanted security. Linus could see the quandary just as he could also see his advantage. “So, you want to tame me, huh?” “Make no mistake, Linus. I could. For a few moments, for a few trysts I could.” The air between the two men was charged with seriousness, too much perhaps as Dean crossed his arms over his chest and Linus raised his chin. Hard and aching to see Dean back up his words, Linus knew a challenge when he saw one. Throwing caution to the wind he closed the distance between them and put his hand on Dean’s erection. With one caress, Linus confirmed that it was no fabric illusion. Dean’s cock was just as firm, rigid and slightly bigger than it appeared. There was no heat, none of the sweaty sweet, humid indications of human arousal. Linus was amazed. “Maybe, I could tame you,” Linus muttered low and feral as he moved his hand. What Linus held was sheer power and Dean did nothing to stop him. Strength taut and ready to roar forth but held at bay spurred him on.

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Linus was already in the mood for pushing and sex and the night sky only made his compulsion that much stronger. It made no difference to him whether Dean was the bluffing type, the type who talked tough only until trust was established, whether Dean was the kind that liked rough submission or the kind that needed trust to demand it. Pressing, Linus leaned into Dean’s jaw and nipped at the smooth skin. “Watching me with Juan, telling the kids that the only repayment you needed for taking care of my drunken ass was dinner. You haven’t even had me yet you’re jealous.” Damn but the cur’s hand felt good. Linus’ tongue against bare flesh would feel even better. Trying to tell his arms to stay at his sides, Dean was too close to resist wrapping them around Linus’ waist, fitting his hands around his narrow ass. Denial was not an option. “How did you know I saw you with Juan?” “Wild guess but since you have wings, since you knew, I assume so. You’re not even denying it are you?” The way Dean was feeling up his ass, cupping and kneading it, suggested that Dean was no bottom. The way he half-breathed meant that Dean was still holding back and his silence meant something to. It meant that Linus had in deed been watched! Fed up with games and with the cotton trousers, Linus moved his hands to a set of buttons and a zipper. Opening everything, he pushed his hand inside the opened fold and got his first touch of Dean’s flesh. Dean buried a groan against Linus’ shoulders. “He’s not what you wanted, was barely enough to get you off, puppy. Not like I can.” Without a doubt, Linus was sure that Dean was right. Closing his hand around the proof, Linus marveled at the weight and length in his palm. More important though was the temperature. Dean’s cock was cool, smooth, as the surface of polished marble. “You give new meaning to the word, hard,” he said. Perhaps he was jumping into things too quickly, without enough information about gargoyles but Linus didn’t care. The idea of taking that cool, smooth length had his tail growing into a nub against the back of his jeans. Dean growled back, “You think it feels hard in your hand? If I were to put you on all fours and slide it in you, you’d probably come right then and there.” Dean had to lift Linus’ shirt to shove his hands under the waistband. Rubbing his thumb across the hard bud that would grow to become a tail, he felt Linus shudder against him, wiggle in closer. The heat was so inviting to his cool hands but he could only go so far down without ripping Linus’ pants. “You need to unzip, because I’m not removing my hands,” Dean warned. Linus didn’t want to move his hand either but as he did have one free and he struggled to wedge it between their bodies. It wasn’t easy, as Dean seemed obstinate about not

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moving back as well. Linus had an idea. “We could go upstairs. The pups are so wrapped up in their game that-.” “No. Right here.” Finally shifting so that Linus could open his own jeans, Dean was rewarded with more room, more naked hot flesh filling his palm. The jeans slipped down to Linus’ thighs and the werewolf’s tail lengthened, furry and ticklish over top of Dean’s probing fingers. Rubbing his fingers in the sweaty valley between Linus’ buttocks, Dean didn’t want the children to suspect their father of weakness. He wanted them to know that their father was loved, if things progressed that far. Dean brushed his lips against reddish sideburns, moved his lips to Linus’ cheek and unto the final destination of sumptuous lips. Just as he imagined, Linus’ mouth was made for kissing. Tongue pushing inside of wet, heat, Dean made it clear that he wanted to be the one in control. His tongue curled around Linus’ pushed and bullied, took and tasted. Moaning and heady, Linus could barely stand. Arousal always did wicked things with his biology. It made his bones pliable and ready for a transformation, it made him more hirsute, and it made his canines grow. Had Dean been a human, Linus would not have allowed himself to enjoy having his tongue sucked, licked and caressed. Dean wasn’t a human though. Dean knew things that humans didn’t. He knew that rubbing the sensitive underside of Linus’ fully extended tail, got him more of those melodious groans, got his dick a tighter stroking by Linus’ palm and got him more heat. He knew how to break the were before the children got curious and also how to keep Linus from making the transformation. Air rushed into Linus’ open mouth as Dean broke away from the kiss. His lips aching and abandoned, Linus moved his hand from Dean’s cock to his side. Determined to bring the large man back against him, Linus was caught off guard by hands gripping his arms. His back hit hard against the wall of his house as Dean put him there. Something like combat and everything like aggression, Linus roared soundlessly into the palm of Dean’s cold palm. When I have you all alone you can make as much noise as you need to, Puppy. Shaking his head to remind Linus of keen ears inside the house, Dean saw such a raw, animalistic need within the gold rimmed pupils. The puppy wanted to fuck or fight and as much as Dean wanted to oblige, wanted to wrestle Linus to ground and uproot the earth, he kept his control. Linus finally understood, heart thundering inside his chest. Licking Dean’s palm, Linus closed his eyes and focused. ‘Daddy what are you doing,’ was not anything he needed to hear.

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“That’s it. Get my fingers wet,” Dean commanded softly, moving his palm from Linus’ mouth only to insert two thick fingers instead. Sure enough, Linus’ pink tongue came out to coat them. “We haven’t got all night.” “But this is my Christmas present,” Linus half-hissed, half-pouted. Part of him was jealous of the children getting what they wanted and part of Linus wanted nothing more than to remain as he was. Shirt pulled up over his stomach, pants half down his thighs, his tail, his ass and his cock, naked to the wind and most importantly pinned to the wall by darkness himself; his dreams hadn’t been that good. “I don’t think that you can handle your present.” Pulling his fingers from lips that were stubborn and slick about letting go, Dean lowered himself down to his haunches. Seeing Dean bent down in front of him, feeling Dean’s wet fingers curving around to get beneath his tail, Linus wasn’t sure he could either. “Yeah, I can handle it. I can handle you too.” Hollow words. Dean seriously doubted it. Just pressing his saliva coated fingers inside of Linus’ hot, tight hole made the werewolf moan. “Don’t be cocky Shepherd. Just try not to scream and snarl while I work you the fuck over, got it?” Linus swallowed and braced himself against the wall. Responsive didn’t even begin to describe Linus’ behavior as Dean pushed his two fingers in to the knuckle. Linus gasped, tensed and then shuddered, even his tail went rigid. Waiting until Linus relaxed to push in further, Dean used his other hand to cup the furry sac of Linus’ scrotum. Heavy, perfect round globes fit perfectly as Dean tested them with a rolling motion. “Fuck, Dean…” Linus drawled low and long, his balls were by far one of his most sensitive spots and Dean knew exactly how to hold them; not too tightly but firmly. The key to a werewolf’s heart indeed. Linus’ legs felt weak as pleasure, saccharine-sweet rippled through his blood stream. “Be quiet.” Dean pushed his fingers deeper inside the alien heat. His body envied the hotter temperatures of Linus’ body. So cold and achingly hard, he yearned to be surrounded by such heat. “I’m only playing with your ass and balls, pup.” Only? Linus’ stomach was already coiling tight, the first sparks of release looming all around him. Folding his bottom lip beneath his teeth, he was able to keep some sounds low, able to enjoy the fingers softly stroking inside him and able to withstand that first tentative flick of Dean’s tongue. Linus was quite in control until Dean parted his lips around Linus’ cock and sank down around him like a glove, a cool, tight glove. Then his control and his senses went haywire.

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So different was the cool temperature against his heated flesh, yet so perfect was the back of Dean’s throat, so tight and… Cool. Keeping his lips pursed failed, so Linus ground his teeth instead. Driving into Dean’s mouth while pushing back against those thick, glorious fingers, Linus struggled not to scream out, struggled not to praise Dean for running his tongue underneath his cock. It was the combination of the two with the ball fondling that caused him to buckle. Dean loved the taste of the feverish flesh, the sharp, heady musk of Linus’ arousal. He loved that the werewolf was sweating, leaking and shuddering. Linus was alive in a much more vulnerable and sensitive way than he and it thrilled Dean to imagine the werewolf on all fours, getting the hell fucked out of him and screaming that he was going to come…but then Linus’ hips were shakily promising that anyway. Linus had passed near, had passed close and couldn’t open his clenched teeth to warn Dean. Outstretched fingers grew into heavy, sharp claws that gripped Dean’s shoulder for support. Had Dean been human the claws would have pierced more than just the sweater Dean wore, especially as Linus shattered in orgasm. Linus nearly choked, his scream trapped like a stone in his throat. His energy abandoned him and if it hadn’t been for the wall, for Dean’s hands coming up to steady Linus’ hips, he would have slipped down to rest in the grass. Dean drank much of the succulent, heated cream, lips wrapped tight around the throbbing head of Linus’ cock. Some he saved but all he savored. “Damn you taste good, Cur,” he growled. Coming to his feet, Dean leaned down and shared the salty cream he kept with Linus. The sky was spinning and Dean’s tongue was in his mouth, coating his tongue with a familiar juice. Linus could barely enjoy it, barely participate or keep his eyes open. Even sated, he wanted to the point of bonelessness. As much as he wanted to kiss Linus for hours on end, Dean backed off to give Linus a moment to gather himself. He pulled up the weary werewolf’s pants and got his clothing into to some sort of order. “No…no, Dean,” Linus muttered, watching Dean fit his own still turgid cock back into his pants. The man hadn’t come and Linus so wanted Dean to. He shook his head and willed the return of his strength. He had to make Dean want to play again. “I…I should return the favor. I want to. Fuck, I want to,” he stammered. Soon enough, Dean thought. “No. There isn’t enough time and not enough privacy for me to get what I want from you, yet. They’ll be time for it later, besides let the cubs play. I can assure you they don’t need to hear their father howling.” But I want to howl. Closing his eyes, Linus tried to image what Dean could do that would have him howling. It didn’t take much. “Fuck…”

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Linus looked damn good holding up the wall, good enough to strip and begin anew but common sense told Dean that waiting would be worth the discomfort of a hard cock. He had been risky enough, relying upon a video game to keep the children at bay. “You should go back inside, before they come outside.” It was good advice. Linus knew that even if his kids were mesmerized by the television, their curiosity knew no bounds. They would eventually seek him out and that was something Linus didn’t want. His eyes went to Dean’s crotch and the bulge easily visible despite the dark trousers. “You’ll scare the children with that.” Dean nodded. It would be best if he just left, got as far away as possible from temptation. He needed to take to the air for a long strenuous flight and a hot shower. “You can tell them that I had to leave and that I really enjoyed this night.” “Since you’re leaving, “Linus dared. “Can I get another kiss then?” Pretending to ponder the situation, Dean replied, “No. And don’t think that just because I like you that you’re going to have it any easier than the rest of the men at work.” Linus was disappointed but also sure that it wouldn’t last beyond the shower he was going to take. “I wouldn’t dare.” *** Linus didn’t have to worry about feeling awkward at work. He didn’t even see the sexy fodder of his morning showers and nightly fantasies. Both Monday and Tuesday went by without so much as a sighting. Wednesday came and Linus’ curiosity was overflowing to the point that he visited the one place he rarely went without invitation. Sitting at her desk working diligently on an online crossword puzzle, Karen had wondered how long it would take for Linus to come by. “Hey Linus.” Does she ever work, Linus wondered? “Karen.” “Are you looking for Mr. Graystone?” “No,” he lied, gaining Karen’s attention from the computer. He could smell her doubt across the desk, also her suspicion. “He’s in Italy. He told me to tell you that he’d be back on the weekend.” It wasn’t that Dean had left him a message that bothered Linus, it was that he had left the message with Karen. Sure the woman was the boss’s secretary, possibly Dean’s confidant but then the gargoyle didn’t seem like the type to kiss and tell. “Really? What else did he tell you?”

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Karen returned her eyes back to the computer screen. “To stay out of trouble.” “Anything else?” Dean didn’t have to say anything. Karen had suspected that her boss had said enough the minute he asked her what gift would be appropriate for a boy and a girl. To make matters worse, he had sent her to the local big chain store to get the video console and games. And while a few of the other workers had children, none of them warranted a threehundred dollar gift—a gift basket or a stocking filled with candy but not three hundred dollars worth. It was a sure sign of attraction in her book. It was about time, she thought. “Nope. Nothing else.” Linus didn’t believe her one bit but was grateful enough for the information. Returning to the workroom floor, Linus considered Dean’s impromptu trip a good thing. He had only been with the gargoyle once and he was as impatient as a foal. He was a father and an Alpha with priorities. Sex was one thing but the impatience swirling in his gut was nothing that casual. Dean had not rushed him, had not been greedy and had respected his children. Interest was what he needed to have, not the crazy lust he usually felt for tricks. One such trick walked past him and smiled. Juan had approached him twice with offers, off-site of course. While he may have considered a bit of revenge involving Juan’s cocoa ass bent over some piece of furniture, such games didn’t interest him anymore. He could wait for Dean to return. *** Selphie opened the front door and held it open for the towering giant. “Good morning, Mr. Graystone. Dad’s going to be coming to work after he walks us to the bus.” Walking into the small townhouse, Dean grinned at the little hostess. “I know, I know. I just wanted to make sure is all.” Selphie shut the door, worried about her father. She hoped that he wasn’t skipping out on work like a few of her older schoolmates said they did. Playing hooky was a bad thing. “He’s a good worker isn’t he?” she asked. “He’s an excellent worker, very smart too. He’s even good with stone.” Selphie was relieved. “Good. Because we really like it here and we would like to stay.”

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Stepping out of the kitchen at the sound of a familiar voice, Linus got an eyeful of his boss who wasn’t due back until the weekend. It was Friday, a workday and Dean was standing in his living room like he belonged there. “Dean. Mr. Graystone,” he corrected himself with habit. “You’re back early. How was Italy?” “Nice and pompous.” And not nearly as interesting as you, Dean mused. Linus was wearing sweat pants and nothing else. Selphie perked up at the exotic destination. “You went to Italy, Mr. Graystone?” Dean answered without taking his eyes off of Linus. “Sure did, Little Miss.” “Which part? Was the food good and did you meet any supernaturals there?” Intervening before his daughter realized that her father’s boss was concentrating on her father’s naked chest, Linus walked up and put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Selph, you need to finish getting dressed for school, ok?” “But, Dad,” she started. “I want to-.” Dean had waited four days to be alone with Linus, and his impatience slipped and showed itself. “Hon, your father needs to get to work on time and you need to get to school on time.” “O.K.,” the young girl pouted but headed to her bedroom anyway, leaving Linus and Dean alone. Walking over to Linus’ side, Dean was determined not to pull Linus into his arms, not to stroke that furry chest. Linus wouldn’t look at him, but Dean could tell that the werewolf was feeling as nervous as he was. “Come to escort me to work?” Linus was shaking like a reed just from Dean’s proximity. Leaning in close, Dean ran his knuckles down Linus’ spine and whispered, “Something like that.” Hell yeah, Morning sex! Leaning back into Dean’s touch was temptation enough for him. It was the sound of a shaking box coming from the kitchen that roused Linus’ attention. Linus gave a helpless look at Dean before heading into the kitchen to see to his son. Dean followed to witness Linus snatching the box of cereal from his son’s clutches. “Jack, no more. Not another bowl! You finish what you have and get ready.”

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Jack shrugged. His father was too late to stop him from filling the bowl at least half way. Pushing his spoon inside the sugary puffs, Jack wasn’t about to ask for more milk, especially not in the presence of the cool, gift-giving gargoyle. “Hey Mr. Graystone.” The boy was plump, not in the way that suggested he would be fat, but in the way that suggested he might be husky. Although Linus was no lightweight, Dean suspected that Jack full grown would definitely out weigh his father. A linebacker in-deed. “Heh, Jack.” “Jack? His name ought to be Garbage Disposal,” Linus scoffed. Closing the box and setting the cereal on top of the refrigerator, Linus went into the cupboard for sandwich bags. He pulled out cocktail wieners, string cheese, peanut butter cups and vegetable snack packs from the refrigerator. The sooner he got the kids ready, the sooner Linus could be on his way to work. “Come on Jack. Hurry up and get your school clothes on.” “Right Dad.” Grinning at Dean, Jack couldn’t help but think of his favorite sport. Mr. Graystone looked like he could rule a football field. He sure would make a good addition to Pittsburgh. “So, Mr. Graystone do you think that Indianapolis is completely melting down? They were going so good.” “They still are. They haven’t handed off any easy wins. Even the last game was what 13 to 28. The machine will pull together, but I think-.” Linus was separating wieners into bags when he realized that Jack had stopped eating his cereal. The clock had not stopped ticking and Jack was just warming up for an in-depth discussion of football. And worse, Dean was actually buying into it. Linus hated to do it but he had to invoke his daughter’s attitude. “No discussing football in the morning or at the table. You have one minute to finish that cereal and get dressed.” Thwarted, it actually took less than a minute for Jack to abandon the spoon, upturn the bowl and devour the contents. Amused by the surrounding domesticity, Dean went to the counter. He waited until Jack left the kitchen before asking Linus, “Need any help? “I need two juice boxes from the frig. Cherry.” Stuffing Jack and Selphie’s lunch boxes, Linus had a system; stuff things in sandwich bags, finger foods especially and add juice boxes. It was quick and easy and the cubs got a kick out of opening small packages. “Here you go.” Setting the two boxes on the counter top, Dean couldn’t resist nudging Linus’ side. “You look so hot making lunches for the kids, Shepherd but you’re going to be late for work,” Dean teased with all of the humor of a heart attack. “I can make it. I’ve got skills.” Sealing the lunch boxes, Linus wondered if he could get away with a second shower in the ten minutes before the motioned to counter. “Could you put the food back for me?”

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Dean could, if only because it meant that he could see those skills sooner. *** With the kids safely on the bus, Linus was ready to go to work or at least go somewhere. He returned to the house with a slow gait, pondering whether his luck would be good or very good! Dean wasn’t so enamored with him that he’d consider allowing him to take the day off, Linus felt sure. Still it would have been good to have the house all to themselves. Then Dean could try all he wanted to make Linus howl. Finding the striking man with silver eyes still in his kitchen, Linus leaned on the door jam. Leaning on the clean and cleared counter, Dean was snacking on the mini hotdogs. Even his vivid imagination couldn’t conjure an image as sexy as small franks between Dean’s lips. “I’m ready to go when you are.” Straightening up, Dean grabbed the wall phone and dialed a number. He offered the phone to Linus. “Tell Karen that you’re feeling under the weather. That you’re not going to be able to make it in today.” Linus took the phone and put it to his ear with a shaking hand. Already aroused and anticipatory, Linus barely heard Karen’s voice as she picked up. It didn’t help that Dean was suddenly right before him, that Dean’s hands were on his hips and that Dean was grinding his erection against Linus’ hip. It didn’t help at all. “Not going to be in today Karen,” he stammered. “M’ sick.” “It’s nothing serious is it,” she asked. Dean was impatient and aware that Karen could talk a hole in a paper bag, especially if she suspected the real reason why Linus wasn’t going to make it to work. Bending down to taste the werewolf’s throat, Dean found the skin as warm and succulent as it had been that first night. Better still because he had time to explore it. Firm hands cupped his ass, hungry lips teased his earlobe and throat and Linus needed to be horizontal immediately. He was definitely under something even. “It’s just a cold or something,” he lied. Should have said fever. “I’m going to take some medicine and lie down.” “Yeah you should and be lucky that Dean is out of town. He’d make you come to work with a cold. ‘You can sneeze and carve rock at the same time,’ he says.” Linus smiled more from the kisses to his cheek and to the corner of his mouth than Karen’s humor. “He is such a hard ass sometimes. Not everyone can even hope to live up to his expectations.” “Yeah I know, but he is-.”

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Dean’s hearing was just as keen as a werewolf’s and the conversation had gone on long enough in his opinion. Taking the phone from Linus, Dean pressed the off button. “I’m a hard ass am I?” Placing his hands on the ass in question, Linus felt as if he held two boulders in his hands, firm and promising nothing short of devastation for his prick, if things got that far. “Yeah and I’m the Alpha of this house so it belongs to me.” Size had nothing to do with the awkwardness of the statement. Dean knew and had known from the moment he first laid eyes on Linus that the werewolf wanted to bend for him, would break for him. Sure Linus had looked good directing Juan how to go down on him, but Linus was made to be spoiled, made to be directed and more importantly, the wolf was made to be fucked. Dean lowered his lips to Linus’ and took a long, slow draught from a yielding mouth. By the time he withdrew, the truth shone bright in dilated eyes. “You don’t even want to play top with me. You don’t even want to try, do you?” “No. Not really,” Linus confessed. “Good, puppy.” Taking Linus by the waist he motioned to the doorway. “You might want to show me your bedroom unless being bent over a counter is more appealing to you?” It wasn’t and Linus wasn’t even about to pretend that it was. He knew from the set of Dean’s shoulders and hard length of Dean’s cock poking at his that the man meant business. Business that needed to be brokered lying down. Leading the way to the bedroom, Linus didn’t doubt that Dean’s eyes were on his ass and the odd protrusion near the waist of his jeans. In his excitement, Linus’ tail was showing prematurely. He prayed that it was the only premature event of the day as he led Dean inside his quaint bedroom. A mattress without a frame. Fucking perfect. Taking no note of the wall color, décor or even the surrounding furniture, Dean walked over to the sole mattress covered in spreads and pillows. How just like a dog’s bed. Linus wasn’t even aware that his feet were glued to the floor until Dean raised his hand and crooked a finger. Sitting down, Dean parted his knees and beckoned. “Come here.” Doing as told, Linus didn’t stop until he was standing directly between Dean’s knees. Looking down at the black man, Linus started on the next command before it could even be voiced. He released all of the buttons of his work shirt and pulled it off. He pulled off his white undershirt and tossed it away as well.

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Dean forgot how to breathe in light of Linus’ towering figure. Furry in a way that hirsute didn’t even begin to describe, auburn and fire covered firm pecs, beautiful pink nipples and a six pack that begged to be caressed belonged to his wolf. Linus unbuttoned his pants and drew down the zipper. Curling his fingers around the waist of his jeans, Linus pushed down denim and the cotton of his boxers. A few creative twists of his feet freed him from his tennis shoes. Straight and proud and in his socks, Linus asked, “Do you like what you see?” The truth of the matter was that Dean was past like and headed towards adoring the muscular form of the werewolf before him. Linus was leaning on one hip, tail fully extended between his legs. He even had the audacity to have his claws on his hips. Dean gave Linus the nod he wanted, something slightly humble and hungry. Grabbing Linus by the hips, he placed a kiss upon furry thighs. Avoiding the stiff cock bobbing for his attention, Dean let his hands curve around to firm ass cheeks. “You want to be butchAlpha so bad huh?” “Yeah, and I want you to be my bitch.” Linus cupped Dean’s smooth scalp, bent his knees just slightly to get his prick nearer to a sarcastic mouth. “Big, strong, scary gargoyle… Bossing me around all the fucking time…” Linus couldn’t help pressing his luck further. “Suck me off.” Dean gave a huff of a laugh, but parted his lips anyway. The irresistible allure of warm flesh, the trickle of precome was more than he could fight with. With one hand spanning Linus’ ass, Dean used the other to guide Linus’ cock to his lips. It wasn’t that Dean did as told, that Dean’s tongue held a special fascination with his foreskin, it was the cool wetness. The awkwardly, cool sensation of the gargoyle’s tongue flickering coolly against the heat of his sensitive cock, had Linus’ knees shaking. It wasn’t good enough though, the kisses to the crown of his shaft, the point of Dean’s tongue caressing the underside and the cool breath against his balls. Linus expected devastation not teasing. About to verbally encourage Dean to swallow him down, Linus’ hips moved of their own accord. Linus’ impatience did not go unnoticed by Dean but he was much too enamored of the sweet flavors filling his mouth and nostrils. Every second that passed made the scent of coconut soap weaker and Linus’ natural scent stronger, warmer and more desirable to Dean. In one smooth motion, he took Linus in from tip to furry, fragrant base. Having his throat filled, Dean growled with pleasure. Above him Linus cursed and faltered. The hand that had been on Dean’s head went to his shoulders. Dean hummed and growled, sucking to mid-length and down again.

-68-

Unlike Juan, Dean was a god at deep-throating, Linus was sure. “Um…” Speech was not his friend and neither was balance. Every second Dean spent swallowing around him, making those damn slick, resonating sounds that went straight to his bloodstream was a minute closer to spilling. Linus leaned forward, bracing himself and hips that could not move against the rocks of Dean’s shoulders. It was as if Dean was siphoning Linus’ soul, will and strength at once. Damn glorious. Yet glorious and premature were not two words that went well together. “Dean, m-maybe you should stop… or slow-. Maybe…ooohh.” Dean had no intention of stopping and neither did Linus as he stiffened and shot jet after jet of come down his throat. You don’t sound so cocky now. Blinking back disbelief, Linus’ mouth was still open. It was the result of his sudden, silent scream. Even after Dean withdrew his lips, placed a kiss on his softening prick and helped him down to the mattress, Linus was still wondering what the hell happened. Eyes closed, he sighed, “Damn you’re good.” Dean licked his lips and began to undress. “I’m just getting started, just getting you warmed up. Don’t fall asleep on me now, Alpha.” Linus opened one eye prepared to make a snappy comeback and lost his breath. Watching Dean kick away his trousers and then his briefs, Linus’ eyes scanned every inch of the dark supernatural. There was no fine hair to obscure the mahogany musculature, the huge biceps, the cut abs or the thick thighs. There was no hair even to encircle the heavy cock jutting from Dean’s body. The cock that was bigger and longer than even his generous size. Linus opened both eyes. Visible desire made the werewolf beyond alluring to Dean. Mutual attraction, mutual need thick in the air, Dean joined Linus on the bed. Lying side by side, Dean pulled Linus’ warm body against his own. Light against dark. Both males gasped at the opposing sensations. Placing his thigh over Linus,’ Dean moved in close to sample the short, hot panting of the were before him. Soft presses and tentative licks turned into harsh bruising kisses in a matter of heartbeats. Linus wrapped his arms around the girth of Dean’s body, claws extended with his renewing excitement, padded fingertips curious about smooth, hard skin. Dean seemed equally as fascinated, stroking his back, ass and tail with the same inquisition.

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By the time Dean set his mouth free, Linus was ready for more, thought that he was ready for more; Wide-eyed and wild, Linus felt fingers rubbing beneath his tail, over the puckered entrance to his body. Dean wondered, “Still want to be the Alpha?” With a shake of his head, Linus couldn’t even pretend that he didn’t want to give Dean anything and everything that he wanted. Shifting away from Linus, Dean moved to his haunches. With a hand on Linus’ hip, Dean was just beginning to feel warmth inside, nothing akin to the fever of Linus, but something exquisite and stimulating nonetheless. Every time he glanced at Linus, Dean’s temperature challenged his cold-blooded biology. The biggest challenge was yet to come. “Turn over and get on your knees,” Dean growled. Rolling around, Linus did as told. “I like that command.” Dean moved behind the fiery wolf and bent low. He put a kiss upon one downy cheek. “Good. Then, I know you’ll like this.” Linus knew he would too. From the moment he felt Dean’s hand wrap around his tail, lift it high, he knew. Before the first swipe of a broad tongue across his hole, Linus knew that he would see stars! Hungry for the spot where Linus was the hottest, Dean pressed his tongue into Linus’ body, kissed and sucked at the puckered flesh that seemed far too small to give him access. Dean’s cock ached to prove that notion wrong. “Fuck. Fuck yeah…Dean.” Writhing, his head bowed low, Linus raised his ass higher, needing to feel more of Dean’s attention. Having his ass reamed was tantamount to bliss for him even when done poorly. Dean wasn’t doing it wrong at all though. He was spreading Linus’ ass cheeks, adamantly coaxing Linus open with tongue and fingers. Dean’s tongue probed his inner channel as if his body were a gourmet meal. “It’s g-good. Good. Oh it’s so good!” Clenching permitted no hiding where Dean’s probing was concerned, no breather, no respite; Linus had to take every ball-clenching second of Dean’s attention. Clenching his bed sheets, Linus felt the hand holding his tail move between his legs to fondle his sacs, full again as they were. Sweaty, auburn hair obscuring his view, Linus whimpered, “Again…soon....” Tell me something I don’t know, Puppy. The way Linus was shaking his tail, flinching and pushing back against his mouth, Dean could tell that the were was nearing his second orgasm. Quickly. Well he would just have to wait.

-70-

Pulling away, Dean kissed his way up Linus’ spine. He wrapped his arms around Linus’ furry chest, caressing hard buds. Dean lined his hips up against furry ones and gave Linus an impression of things to come with the pressure of his dick. “What werewolves lack in stamina they make up for in stamina, eh?” Too busy enjoying Dean’s fingers on his nipples, Dean’s hips gyrating against his, Linus couldn’t bother with offense. “Is it my fault that you’re so fucking good at eating ass?” “I’m a lot better at something else, puppy.” Linus didn’t need to guess what that something else was! Backing off only to allow Linus to move, Dean was curious. “Where does a single father keep his lube? Does he keep it at all?” “I do.” Linus crawled to the head of the bed and lifted the corner of the mattress. He had half a bottle of unscented lube that was of no interest to curious little noses. He presented it to Dean with a smile. “Here. It’s right here.” Dean kissed the furry, clawed fingers before taking the offering. “Thank you, Shepherd.” “Sure thing, Boss. Would you like me to get you ready?” “I can handle it.” Dean popped the cap of the bottle, eyes roaming the face of the beautiful beast before him. Linus’ sideburns were thick as were his eyebrows, his white canines peeked out beneath his red lips, and his eyes were black discs edged in gold…Linus looked happier than Dean had ever seen him. It was a damn fine look. Linus’ parental celibacy may have spurned the werewolf’s readiness, but not that look in his eyes. Dean had seen many men, supernatural and not, upon their back and none of them looked like Linus, none of them needed to be his like Linus. None of them watched him so raptly coat his cock with the shiny lubricant. None turned so willingly with the half-impatience and half-trepidation of waiting to be ridden. Tense, Linus tried to remember the last time he had bottomed, how good it had felt. He had still been Alpha of the pack, and Tommy was rough and reckless. He had burned, stretched and shuddered in the intimacy of the forbidden. There had been no lube, no foreplay, but best of all there was nothing deviant about the glorious black man working lube, gently into his bowels. One finger, two and then three gloriously… Linus turned his head and found his full-length mirror. It had been too heavy to hang as no nail would hold it, so he had just leaned it against the wall. It showed the two of them without shame, dark brown skin against red-brown and pink.

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He wanted to watch it all, wanted to see every detail of him on his knees with Dean behind him. The angle was just right to see Dean withdraw his fingers, take hold of his cock and guide it beneath his tail. Linus felt the blunt head push against his ring and saw nothing more than darkness. Dean felt even bigger than he looked and it took more than a few deep breaths, longer than a few moments for Linus to accept every last inch. Like a bar of cool, smooth stone, Dean’s cock promised nothing short of devastation. Once fully seated, Dean stroked Linus’ sides. The werewolf was trembling almost as much as he was and Dean was trembling greatly. Encased in glorious heat, by strong muscles, Dean closed his eyes against the driving urges thrumming in his groin. He took the first thrust, slow and careful. Pulling back slightly, Dean rocked back within.

It burned but at the same time, it didn’t. The heat and the sting of his stretched flesh was soothed by Dean’s movement, agitated by his stillness. Burning so the cold prodding was wild and it was nothing that he had ever felt before. It was better. Dean moved out and in again, testing Linus’ body. The werewolf was still shaking, still hunched over but a few more thrusts had him loosening up quickly. Relaxing. Linus snarled, the beast within him awakened by the crazy new sensations swirling in his gut. Pushing back to meet Dean’s thrusts seemed like insanity, felt like it too but he tried. His body was singing loudly and vulnerably, acclimating to the power of Dean’s cock with every second. “Come on. Fuck me. I…can take it,” he ground out. Dean heard Linus with every fiber of his being. His temperature rising steadily, he gave over to his true nature. His own claws began to grow, not as long as Linus’ but thick and just as deadly. His tail grew, long and serpentine with its heart-shaped tip and even his wings, black and leathery grew from his shoulder blades. Dean gave himself freedom, taking pleasure in every violent shove, and every tight squeeze around him. Slamming into Linus’ body, Dean added his own growls to the werewolf’s. From being on hands and knees, Linus went down to elbows and knees. He simply couldn’t remain upright, not with Dean fucking him relentlessly, taming him with every shove and definitely not once Dean found his prostrate. His pulse raced and Linus was sure he was going to come, was sure that he was primed for it a third time. This orgasm would be big and bright as the fullest moon and he sought it full on! Selfish, Linus could only raise his hips high and enjoy submission the likes of which he had never dreamed.

-72-

A stray glance into the mirror was all it took. The sight of Dean in rapture, wings nearly reaching the ceiling, his tail whipping about, muscled limbs flexing with every stroke—that shook Linus to his very core. He barely had the chance to push a hand between his legs and take hold of his cock, before the wave of bliss shattered him! Dean grabbed Linus by the waist, lifting him half off of the mattress. The contractions of the werewolf’s body ignited a fire within him that his cool biology could not suppress. Shoving harshly into ruin, Dean hugged Linus close, with arms and wings surrounding. When he came inside of Linus, shaking, shouting, gasping for air, Dean was sure of one thing. He could no longer deny his attraction for the wolf.

CHAPTER SIX *** Dean didn’t want to wake Linus. Having enjoyed watching Linus sleep in his arms, Dean couldn’t really blame the werewolf for resting so deep. In his arms, seemed the perfect place for fire and beauty to rejuvenate itself. Not to be arrogant. Looking about the room Dean noted the signs of Linus’ life. Littered about the room were the toys, clothes and the old habits of a transient lifestyle. Pictures obviously drawn by Selphie and Jack covered the walls. There were no dressers or cabinets for clothes, just a pile of clean and neat and a pile of castoffs. Prepared to take flight at anytime are you? From what, Dean wondered.

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Whatever it was, Dean promised himself that Linus would have a home, either within or outside of his embrace. Spooned against Linus’ backside, Dean had allowed the werewolf four hours of sleep. It was enough. The day had been more than perfect and he had no wish for it to change. Jostling Linus’ shoulder, he murmured. “Cub, wake up.” Linus frowned as he slipped from dreams of beautiful black wings. “No.” “You need to wake up, Shepherd. It’s two-thirty in the afternoon.” “…And?” Linus didn’t care what time it was. Dean’s body was too precious of a commodity to part from. Turning over, he buried his head against Dean’s chest to prove it. The movement of Linus’ body, naked and ticklish to him almost deterred Dean. “And… the children will be home in less than an hour.” Linus yawned, “If you want something quick, I don’t know-.” “I want you to get up so we can clean up and change the sheets.” Dean would have liked nothing more than something quick but doubted that Linus would wake up so easily a second time. Lazy Puppy. Linus attempted to press his face into Dean’s underarm but got nothing but pillow instead. Looking over to the space where Dean had moved back to, he rolled his eyes. “Are you fucking serious?” “I am…unless, of course, you’d like to explain the scent of sex to them?” Awakening more with every sensible word, Linus responded. “It’s not bad enough that I’ll probably be bow-legged for a day, huh? You think they won’t notice that.” With a fake pout, Linus said, “You don’t like me at all. You never did.”

“So I broke a quarter century’s worth of celibacy because I really don’t like you?” “Twenty five years,” Linus balked. That was enough to wake him up for certain. Propping himself up on elbow, Linus found it hard to believe to believe his luck. “Whoa. That’s a long time.” Not when you know what you want, Dean thought. “Hard for a werewolf to fathom, I know.”

-74-

Unable to pretend he wasn’t offended, Linus felt nude in more ways than one. “Ah. I remember now. You think I’d raise my tail for anyone? A back-lying Omega is what you think I am, right?” “Oh no,” Dean said, not phased in the least by Linus’ offense. “I know you are an Alpha. You have cubs and only an Alpha can breed.” Linus had had enough. Sitting up, he carried the sheets with him more as an adhesive than cover. Really do need to wash these sheets, he realized before focusing his ire back on the ass before him. “There you go again with your preconceived notions. You’re assuming I come from a pack where that shit makes a difference.” It wasn’t just in Pennsylvania that Dean had learned the ways of the werewolves. Born in a time when supernaturals owned as much of the world as humans, Dean was certain that Linus was no lone wolf. The fact that he showed offense rather than pride in regards to his conquests proved that. Only a werewolf that knew nothing of loyalty and responsibility would brag about their conquests. Oh, they might have slept around but they rarely bragged about, Dean thought mainly of Gantha as he asked, “Am I wrong?” No, because you’re always fucking right aren’t you? As much as Linus would have loved to say yes, he could not. “No. You’re not… wrong.” Dean yearned to cover the slumped shoulders, his arms wanted to comfort Linus through whatever the werewolf was holding inside, yet Dean would press Linus no further. Not yet. “Well, then. As the Alpha of this house, your children should not smell your seed spilt…twice as it was?” For once Dean was wrong and Linus lifted his chin and made note. “It was four times. While you…Um, did that thing to me,” he muttered nervously. Dean met Linus’ newfound shyness with a scoff and hell if the werewolf’s cock wasn’t stiffening anew between those muscular thighs. Just the thought of my tongue in his ass and he’s ready. Must take note of that. Getting up from the mattress, Dean was determined not to be tempted. “The contemporary slang for it, Shepherd, is snowballing and if you ever want it to happen again, you’ll take those sheets off the bed and join me for a shower.” Despite the pull of the bed, Linus got up without another word. ***

He had lost his ability to concentrate, his appetite was low and his balance seemed to be lacking as well but Linus didn’t really notice it until New Year’s Eve.

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Sitting in a corner with a cup of winter punch, he was supposed to be mingling with the other parents. The Wilde Academy was sponsoring a New Year’s Social for the children and Linus had brought Selphie, Jack and assorted cupcakes that he didn’t have time to bake. Baking took away from valuable minutes of day dreaming, he would later realize. Just as well, the bakery at the supermarket had a good selection. “Hello. Mr. Shepherd?” His ass is so perfect. His cock is even better. His balls are so smooth… Snowballing huh… Looking up from his punch, Dean set eyes on Karen’s much more voluptuous sibling. It made sense to him that she would be married to a werewolf. With at least an HH cup if there were such a thing, Linus couldn’t help gaping at her bosom. What werewolf would turn down having those? “Uh…Hi.” Patiently, Emma waited until the werewolf got over his milk lust and met her gaze. “Mrs. Emma Bane. You can call me Emma,” she announced with an outstretched hand. “I’m one of Selphie and Jack’s teachers.” Already feeling a pulse between his legs, Linus didn’t need to focus a second longer on nursing fantasies. Coming to his feet, he shook her hand. “…Linus, their father.” They both grinned at the obvious statement. “I just wanted you to know that I’m really glad you came out tonight to support your children. Even though you’re not feeling well, I just wanted to say that you have two very special cubs on your hands. Selphie is an A student and Jack if he could concentrate-.” Linus frowned as he realized what Emma had said. “I’m not ill.” “Selphie told me that you weren’t feeling well.” Cocking her head to the side, Emma believed the daughter over the father. Before she had approached him, Linus had the dazed look of illness about him. To be truthful, he still looked flushed and dazed. “I know werewolves have immunity to most diseases but there is just something about the common cold. My husband, Gregory got one last year and stayed in bed nearly a week before he shook it.” Linus begun to feel ill, more from the fact that the things he hid from the cubs actually weren’t hidden very well. “Maybe, I might be coming down with one,” he lied. Emma suspected as much. “Chicken soup and some rest will do you just fine. A shot of whiskey helps too. I don’t know if Dean has you working on Monday but I would take a day or two off.” Just the mention of Dean’s name and Linus was back in Friday, in the shower shuddering under Dean’s thorough hand in a soapy washcloth. Shaking his head he muttered, “Uh… no, I’ll be fine.”

-76-

“But your health is important.” And he really did look as if he were ready to drop where he stood. “I swear if Dean tries to strong arm you, I’ll march right over to the masonry and rip into him myself. Karen told me that he was going easier on you but-.” “Mrs. Bane no really, it’s alright.” He’s just a really good lay, not the love of my fucking life and not the man I can’t stop thinking about every minute of the damn day! “I only use my sick days when I’m feeling good anyway.” “…Ok,” she said warily. Hearing the precursory inhalation of opinion, coming from Emma, Linus knew it was time for a quick getaway, lucky for him that Jack was nearby, chubby hands seeking out what had to be at least his third cupcake. “Really, it’s fine, I’ll shake it soon.” Starting off to join him, Linus gave his most sincere smile. “I think I’m going to go pull my son away from the dessert table though.” Emma had just one more thing to discuss with Linus. Stepping in front of him she chimed, “One more thing, Linus. About Jack’s sugar intake...” *** If Linus thought the rest of the weekend was bad with trying to convince his daughter that he wasn’t coming down with anything; Monday was worse. Just being in the same building with Dean, made his mind drift. Dean appeared on the work floor twice, once with customers and once to talk to Hassem but the gargoyle hadn’t said a word to him, hadn’t even looked at him once and despite what he told himself, Linus didn’t like it one bit. A ‘hello’ was all he needed. Just one damn greeting would have made his day, but noooo. Need to get a grip. All that crap about twenty-five years of celibacy, can’t believe I fucking bought it. Fuming behind his goggles, Linus was determined to get the edge of the granite slab to polished perfection. Up close and focused on every imperfection, his lips were thin with concentration. “Shepherd,” Dean yelled over the loud noises upon the floor, over the louder noise of Linus’ buffer. “Shepherd!” Linus’ head snapped up at the familiar voice. Even the familiar scowl was welcomed as he switched the buffer’s power off. “Yeah, Dea-. Boss?” Eyes moving to the granite stone, Dean was truly amazed. The werewolf was having nearly as hard of a time as he was. It was unfortunate for Linus that he lacked an office, which overlooked the workroom floor. “Was that supposed to be an oval? Because, I mean… That’s clearly where it’s headed.”

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Looking at the stone from a further vantage point that wasn’t so obsessive, Linus could clearly see that one end was significantly rounder than the other. A relationship ruined because of a counter top…or worse the possibility of a relationship ruined because of countertop. Linus agonized. “Oh…shit. Shit. Fuck, I’m sorry.” With a roll of his eyes, Dean didn’t have to look around to notice the attention centered on them. There were several grimaces and headshakes of pity sent Linus’ way. “In my office, Shepherd. Now.” What Dean needed to say to Linus did not warrant witnesses. Linus took off his safety equipment and moved away from his worktable. Dean was already several strides away when Linus started after him. He had ruined a slab, had instantly become the object of muttering and if it wasn’t bad enough, Dean seemed to have forgotten about Friday. It wasn’t fair! Following Dean off the floor and up the stairs to the administrative office, it wasn’t until he noticed Karen’s empty desk that Linus began to suspect Dean’s motives. Perking up, he headed behind Dean into his office. Before Linus could even get through the threshold, Dean had the werewolf by his shirt with one hand. He slammed the door shut with his other. Anxious to have his body pressed against Linus’ again, Dean had missed the heady musk of the beast all weekend. Linus gasped. The sheer suddenness of Dean’s movement caught Linus off guard. The proximity of Dean’s full lips did not. With Linus moving close, Dean could feel the delicious warmth, almost taste the maple syrup and waffles that Linus had had for his breakfast. “You’re having trouble concentrating?” “Uh-huh.” Slanting his head, Linus sampled Dean’s bottom lip with his tongue. The contact proved too much for Dean. Before Linus could draw his tongue back, Dean followed the appendage with his own. Kissing Linus as if he might never get the opportunity again, Dean pushed his groin against Linus’, felt the werewolf’s prick answer back! They both pushed for dominance, a battle of tongues that lasted until the lack of air made Linus’ head ache. He gripped Dean’s waist with a need that craved satiating despite the risk of suffocation. Dominating though Dean was, Linus had his own demands and they consisted of getting Dean’s shirt out of his pants.

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Pulling away from Linus was the last thing Dean wanted to do, but as the man beneath him began to moan and growl; Dean knew that he had to. Breathing heavily, he reached to his sides and captured Linus’ arms and put them back where they belonged. He panted, “Concentration is something you’re going to have to work on, Shepherd. Not everyone wants a circular countertop.” “You sure? It could be my specialty.” Dean wanted to turn away before the sight of Linus looking flush and ready for devouring overtook him again. He couldn’t. “I don’t think so.” “What you’re asking is not exactly the easiest thing; Pretending I don’t want to strip naked and lie across your desk is a big fucking order.” Able to picture such a scenario, it didn’t help Dean’s resolve one bit. Hopefully distance would. Walking over to his desk, Dean sank down into his chair. It would have helped if Linus hadn’t followed him, wasn’t standing right there beside him, but Dean had to stick to his guns. “If your growling and snarling doesn’t tell everyone in the facility that I’m fucking you, then you drowsy, walking funny and making circular countertops surely would.” Linus grinned. “So you’re saying it’s my fault we can’t fuck in your chair?” “Partially.” Perfectly serious, Linus leaned back against the desk, eyeing Dean’s lap. Dean always wore loose working trousers, always dark, Linus knew why. It made the man’s package less obvious at least when he wasn’t aroused. Linus had a suggestion. “You could just put your hand over my mouth like you did last time.” Leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling, Dean had to convince himself, Just because I can pound nails with my prick; it’s so hard and just because it seems like a perfectly good idea, it really isn’t. Remember that. “Linus, Linus, Linus,” he bemoaned. “How did you end up here? What brought you to Pennsylvania?” Nothing could have killed Linus’ libido any faster. “It’s not important.” “You’re right.” Purely sardonic, Dean rolled his eyes. “It isn’t, if you like living on the run, if you dislike stability for yourself and your cubs.” Linus had a dozen different defenses gathering in his head, explanations and deterrents. He didn’t owe Dean any damned one of them. Just because the gargoyle had given him a job, insisted that his children enter a stable learning environment and gave him the best sex of his life did not give Dean the permission to ask for Linus’ shame. It gave Dean the right to ask for it though.

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Crossing his arms over his chest, it took him more than a moment to accept. “…I was an Alpha. My father had been before me and I thought it was something I wanted. Tommy, Thomas Loste was my beta. He was one the strongest and smartest of the pack and we had always been friendly, I thought. He was like the rebel of the pack, older than me, knew more about the world than me. I thought he would make an excellent beta.” Although the older wolves told me he wasn’t shit, Linus berated himself. “I thought wrong. What I thought was cool was really cruel, what I thought of as exciting was really manipulative and worse, what I believed to beautiful he thought of as weakness.” Steeling himself, Dean listened to words that while kept inside had done little but poison Linus. Swearing to himself to make things right, Dean listened on. “He was my first male and it wasn’t that laying with males wasn’t accepted by my pack, but-.” Dean guessed aloud. “It was unacceptable for the Alpha to raise his tail?” “Yeah. Something like that.” Shaking with the memory of being revealed, of having the entire pack know, Linus called up the festering wound. “Elena, the mother of my cubs, my Alpha female refused me and she had every right to. Had I taken a lover who cared for me, maybe all would have been fine but once I was humiliated, I could no longer lead. No one would listen to me. Tommy took the pack from me, took my female, but he would not take my Selphie or Jack. They were the product of a weak wolf and had no claim to future leadership or life.” Linus quoted Tommy word for word. “I didn’t think my cubs should die just because I was a weak fool.” “So you took the children and ran?” Linus looked at Dean as if he were trying to find the bright side of cowardice. “I wouldn’t fight for myself but for them, I would...” Linus didn’t even have to complete the sentence. Dean knew that the cubs meant a great deal to the werewolf. Although he had no progeny of his own, Dean could understand a selfless love. “You don’t have to run Linus. Not anymore. This is my territory, mine and Gantha’s and you belong-.” Too late to stop himself, Dean caught an intuitive gold glimmer. “And I belong to you?” Linus meant the phrase as both a statement and a question. While his mind felt he was moving too quickly, too precariously and foolishly, his body was in no mood for doubting certainties. Hell yes! With a deep sigh, Dean thought of a less obstinate way of putting it, “From 9 to 5 and during special visits like Friday, I suppose you do but otherwise what you do on your own time is your own business.”

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Linus didn’t even have to use his senses to reveal that lie. Dean’s bluff seemed so much weaker than before, so much easier to see through. The gargoyle wanted Linus to himself, and Linus was pretty sure that it would be ok by him. Gazing at Dean’s lap, preferring it to leaning against the desk, Linus wondered, “So what do we do about the other thing?” Opening the large pullout drawer of his desk, Dean took out a lunch pail. Within it he had two roast beef sandwiches, two bags of chips and a slice of pumpkin pie. Dean handed Linus a sandwich and the pie, which he knew to be his favorite. Pumpkin. “Actually, I was going to ask you if you wanted to have lunch. I’m sick of seeing you with cocktail franks, peanut butter and jelly and juice boxes with cartoons on them.” Linus laughed long and hard.

CHAPTER SEVEN *** He was wondering when it was going to happen, the gossip and the stares, the comments about him ‘having lunch with the boss.’ Yet there was hardly any acknowledgement and whether it had to do with the fact that Dean was the boss, Linus couldn’t be sure. The only one who even acknowledged his disappearance from the lunch was Craig, who winked and quipped every chance he got. Other than that, no one else seemed even the slightest bit suspicious. Karen certainly wasn’t. Conveniently, she always seemed to disappear during their daily lunches. Not that Dean would allow them to do anything more than talk and eat. It wasn’t as good as sex, but it was good to learn things about Dean and to share things about himself. He learned that Dean’s favorite color was red, and that a gargoyle’s skin can actually harden to a stone-like texture. They talked about evading humans, Dean’s love of flying and Linus’ love of pumpkin. Linus even heard tales of supernatural breeds that he had no idea even existed as well as a few tales about ones that he knew. His contribution revolved

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mostly around funny things that Jack and Selph did, sports and the occasional sexual innuendo, which Dean would quickly redirect. By Friday, Linus realized that Dean was waiting for the weekend. It was in Dean’s eyes, in his every suggestion. Work first and play later. Linus had plans of his own, specifically for his and Dean’s Friday lunch. The night before, he had packed a hearty lunch of pork barbeque sandwiches (2 for each of them), coleslaw and potato wedges. If nothing it would be worthwhile to see barbeque sauce on Dean’s lips. An hour before lunch and Linus’ mind was busy envisioning a potato wedge between Dean’s lips, not so much that he couldn’t concentrate on the limestone slab he was working on however. If anything their lunches gave him, it was perspective. Work was work. “Nice countertop. Square is good.” Pretending as if he wasn’t surprised by Dean’s silent, scentless approach, Linus continued to shape the soft stone. “It’s nice marble.” Dean waited to see if Linus would turn off the machine, whether he would be flustered or nervous. Linus didn’t and wasn’t, proof that dealing with attraction in an open and principled manner had its benefits. Patiently Dean had waited. Without stealing time from work or time from Linus and his children, Dean had waited for the weekend. Friday was the beginning of the weekend, he told himself, so he felt no shame in commenting, “I had Karen call Helga to sit with the kids tonight.” “Really?” Linus moved away from the corner inwards to work on the jagged side of the slab. “Yeah, I told her that you had a hot date after work.” “I do?” Dean nodded nonchalantly. “I suppose. I don’t know what kind of riff raff you date but I heard he’s crazy about you and planned to treat you to dinner before engaging in whatever filthy sort of sex you werewolves like.” Linus struggled not to laugh. “Sorry, sir but I can tell you that he isn’t riff raff and what ever he does to me with his big, hard, beautiful cock, is none of your concern.” “You’re right, Shepherd. Absolutely right.” About everything, Dean wanted to add. “Now don’t forget to go over this slab with the sander again. I’m seeing rough edges.”

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Unable to hide his mile long grin, Linus nodded. “Yes, sir.” *** A person could die from anticipation, the brutish cousin of anxiety. Linus had expected Dean to throw him up against the wall the minute he walked in. Dean hadn’t. He had expected Dean to sit close to him while they ate a meal that Linus knew had been made by Karen. Dean sat at the far end of the table. Through a meal of heavenly lamb chops, twice baked potatoes and asparagus with red wine, Linus waited. It wasn’t easy. Dean looked hotter than hell in a pale gray shirt that matched his eyes and the gargoyle seemed to be much more concerned about the expansion of the masonry rather than him. Linus didn’t really give a damn about the increase in stone demand. The part about the overtime wasn’t so bad, but it had been nearly a week since he and Dean were alone and he wanted to hear what Dean planned on doing to him rather than what he planned to do to the inventory. “You’re not listening to a damn thing I’m saying are you, Shepherd?” Looking up from his plate, Linus took a panicky guess. “You were talking about…um, how much you should expand and whether or not to have a showroom?” Dean rolled his eyes and got up from the table. Getting the pumpkin cheesecake from the kitchen, he took it to the table and sat it directly by Linus’ plate. “I asked if you wanted dessert.” He did. He wanted Dean for dessert and if he could have the cheesecake as well, then that would be a bonus. Linus raised his head and nodded. The shimmer of arousal was evident in Linus’ eyes and as for Dean’s intention of saving the best till last; he crossed his arms and reconsidered. “Next time, I think I’ll feed you after I fuck you.” The word ‘fuck’ coming from Dean’s lips caused a wild reaction within Linus, the word and Dean’s proximity. Linus leaned forward and placed his cheek against Dean’s hip. His hand moved to Dean’s crotch, letting Dean know exactly what was on his mind. Dean moved his hand to Linus’ scalp, stroking through the soft strands. “What time did you tell Helga that you would be home?” “She told me to stay as long as I wanted. She also said not to worry about paying.” Rubbing Dean’s cock through the heavy cotton blend, Linus forced himself to comment. “Dean, I earn my own money and I know it comes from you but I can pay for it myself.”

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“Prideful.” Linus moved his cheek closer to the growing bulge against Dean’s leg. It amazed him that there was no warmth emanating from the flesh beneath the fabric. Dean’s temperature could change, would change once he was aroused enough and Linus yearned for it instead of words. “I just don’t want you to think that I’m using you.” “But I am going to use you.” Dean could have laughed. Grabbing Linus’ busy hands, Dean pulled the redhead up to his feet. “Right now! Come on.” “But I haven’t eaten my dessert?” Not about to waste a minute more, Dean didn’t care. “That’s o.k. I’m about to have mine. We can share.” We sure can, Linus thought. Allowing himself to be led around a house that should have been in an Architecture mag for all of its glass and stone design, Linus was too excited to complain. By the time he got to the bedroom he was too excited to breathe. It wasn’t a matter of décor or furniture as neither was present. No paintings, no dresser or armchair. The only thing in the room was a bed. Crafted into a sunken marble floor was a pit, nearly a foot and a half deep, filled with a circular mattress. Covered in soft-looking linens and firm fluffy pillows, Linus knew before lying upon it that he loved it. “Nice bedroom. Bed, looks comfortable...” “Yeah, whatever.” Pulling Linus to the edge of the bed, Dean’s impatience took over. He lifted Linus easily and dropped him directly onto the bed. Not as graceful as a cat, Linus landed on his hands and knees nonetheless, finding the cushioning every bit as comfortable and firm as it looked. He turned upon his back expecting Dean to join him. “I’ve wanted to see you on it since I laid eyes on you.” Pushing buttons free on his shirt, Dean wanted out of the irritating fabric as soon as possible. Linus kept his eyes locked with Dean’s as he too began to shed his clothes. He cast his shirt where Dean cast his, and he tossed his pants, socks and shoes there with the same haste and accuracy. Once they were both nude, Linus was truly amazed. Two dark drapes rose behind Dean and unfolded. He stretched his wings and four swift pulls, two up and two down, brought him down beside Linus. Linus had every intention of telling Dean how beautiful his wings were, how hard it made him just looking at dark skin stretched between the frames, but it was hard to talk with Dean’s mouth crushed to his.

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The only things of importance to Dean were the texture of Linus’ tongue and the feel of muscle under fur growing denser by the second. Stroking the werewolf’s shoulders, belly and hips, Dean both coveted and envied Linus’ warmth and Linus returned the sentiments with equal fervor. Sharp claws raked his back, just beneath his wing frond, causing Dean to shudder, to squeeze Linus tighter. Muscled thighs wrapped about his, as if they could get any closer. Covered by hard, unyielding flesh, cool to the touch and determined to have him near, Linus loved the uncompromising masculinity, just upon the edge of devouring and savoring. Dean’s attention focused solely on him for what seemed like an hour. When Dean set his mouth free, Linus’ canines were extended against sensitive, lips. He could feel the desire for transformation warring with the desire for the carnal. While his muscles grew in mass and his tail extended, Linus’ cock would allow no more of the beast to surface. His bones were far too weak with desire’s exertion. Dean forced himself to rest, to breathe against Linus’ shoulder blade but the soft fur tempted him to lick, to smell and to taste. His throat, which had just been denied oxygen, was once again denied as Dean latched on to the small bud of Linus’ nipple. Dean was not gentle. Gasping for air, while teeth and tongue and lips wrecked him, Linus arched and buckled, not sure what to do. First a harsh bite, then a wet flicker to sooth the burn, Dean drew from prayers and curses both. If that wasn’t delightful enough, Linus felt the flat of a powerful hand press against his cock. Holding the hot shaft, Dean couldn’t help the speed of his hand, the firm possessiveness. Linus was dripping, so swollen and his. Finally. Caught between growling and mewling, his hips wouldn’t stop shuddering, summoned with every pull of Dean’s hand. Already brimming towards orgasm, Linus moved a hand between them. “Gonna come, if you don’t-.” Dean released Linus’ nipple, drew his tongue up the flat of a furry chest to throat. “Maybe I want you to. Maybe I want your taste, Linus, want to come all over my hand so that we can lick it together.” The idea alone caused Linus to jerk fitfully, precariously. His name upon Dean’s lips caused Linus to quake. “Fuck, Dean,” he swore on the cusp of crumbling for the gargoyle. Once again Dean was set to have him faltering like a green cub. Planting his feet flat against the mattress, Linus grabbed hold of Dean’s shoulders and pushed at the giant. He was serious and while Dean was just as strong as he looked, it was possible to get the attention of the juggernaut.

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Dean moved back, his chest heaving. “What’s wrong,” He snarled several octaves lower than usual. It took Linus more than a moment to acclimate to freedom. “N-nothing. Nothing at all.” There was something. There had to be something, Dean was sure. Coming to his knees, Linus sought Dean’s nipple to give it the treatment he had received moments before. “Just want my turn before you put me to sleep is all.” Dean’s nipples were slightly larger than his, hard as pebbles and sensitive from what Linus could tell. Careful of his canines, Linus used his lips, sucking with an intensity that elicited sounds he never imagined he’d hear from the gargoyle. Low throaty purring, like a cat almost, a very big one, came from Dean. His tail swishing wildly, Linus wanted more of such sounds from the gargoyle. Fastening his hand around the heavy sex arched between Dean’s legs, Linus pumped the thick shaft and was rewarded! Dean snarled, wrapping his arms around Linus’ waist, eager to wrest control back from the werewolf. Sharp teeth and a rough tongue had his nipples singing as he pushed his hips up against every downward stroke of Linus’ fist. Patience, sweet patience he prayed to have! That’s it. Let me serve you. With Dean’s cock in hand, Linus lowered his chest to the mattress, his head between mahogany thighs. Canting his head, Linus saw and seized the opportunity to be in control. Satin over steel was what came to his mind, as Linus took the hardened length into his throat, a weapon in as much as Dean was a warrior. But that wasn’t what impressed Linus. He discovered Dean’s scent, his taste. It was like nothing he had tasted before, not salty and creamy, but like dew clear and copious. He’d been cheated! With every swipe of his tongue, every pull of his lips, Linus was rewarded with more. Linus curled his hands gently around smooth balls, cradling and squeezing them with encouragement, as Dean held nothing back and thrust down his throat. Dean’s wings opened and closed; his tail whipped about as Linus drew upon him like a fount. Forming his hand around the back of Linus’ skull, he told himself that just a bit more and he would stop, he would flip Linus on his stomach, lift that pretty wagging tail and take what was his. Just a bit more fondling, a bit more of Linus’ lips, throat and tongue, he promised himself. “Damn it that’s good, Puppy…” Linus would have smiled if he could. Praise was a good thing, so was the hand cupping the back of his head but neither was as good as the nectar trickling down his throat. Breathing through his nose, Linus was eager to taste a flow of Dean’s seed, the unfettered

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burst of climax. Massaging Dean’s balls looking to encourage their juices, Linus wanted Dean to lose control, to spill as easy as he did. Moving his mouth off of Dean’s cock, Linus went straight for the source, two beautiful dark brown nuts, which were baby-smooth. He took two leisurely licks, before closing his mouth around one ball of two and listened to the silence of Dean’s held breath. He stood it for as long as he could, until Linus’ attempted to move back to his red-purple cock head. “Oh no you fucking don’t,” he swore. Dean could take Linus’ explorations no longer. Shoving Linus back, Dean straddled the shocked werewolf before he could protest. His hunger was strong and he sated it with Linus’ skin, fragrant fur. There was nothing that Linus could do against the onslaught, nothing but gasp and sputter. Dean was on him like a predator, his body so firm and demanded on top of Linus.’ His limbs felt useless and what little he could do was to blink and growl. The minute Dean’s searing lips moved to his cock; Linus could only come, spilling his seed, pulse after thunderous pulse. Like exotic liquor, Dean drank everything that Linus could give, savoring the hot, salty flavor of his beast. Fitting his hands underneath Linus’ thighs, Dean searched beneath auburn-covered balls for more of Linus’ heady scent. At the tight bud of Linus’ hole, Dean pushed his tongue inside darkness and discovered life! Linus howled, loud and long. Unashamed, he clutched the sheets and raised his hips higher. He thought it might drive him mad, Dean’s tongue fucking him relentlessly, but was much too helpless to do anything about insanity. Head turning from side to side, he could already feel his spent prick filling anew. “Dean. Dean… please,” Linus choked. “…So good. I want…need…” Dean heard the same desperation that swirled in his gut, from Linus’ lips. Rising from between Linus’ legs, Dean covered Linus with his body, kissed the cur’s jaw and chin. “Tell me what you need, cur!” It was the simplest demand Linus had ever heard. “You… You, Dean. Now. Had to wait all week. Don’t want to wait anymore…” “You’ll get me soon enough, my cur.” Moving to Linus’ side, Dean grabbed the werewolf by the waist. They fit together sideways as Dean used his thigh to push Linus’ legs apart. Dean licked the palm of his right hand, from palm to all five fingers. Tucking the hand beneath Linus’ tail, Dean found the tight center of divinity. Three fingers found their way into enviable heat, pumping and stretching the muscles the way his cock yearned to.

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Impatient, greedy and definitely ready, Linus had only moments to rest upon plunging fingertips. He knew that once Dean was inside him, there would be no relaxing, barely any breathing. Dean would fuck him hard, relentlessly, until neither had anything more to give. Especially him. He knew it would be euphoric and devastating and that it would be a battle, an uneven one but a battle nonetheless. As Dean’s cock replaced fingers, Linus gathered his last easy breath. The blunt press and steady push caused him to exhale long and loud as tip to base filled more than just his ass. Dean only needed a moment. He had to gather his wits from his balls just to get past the bliss of Linus’ body surrounding him, muscles flexing around his dick. He folded his arm around Linus wanting him close, folded a wing over them both. “Ready?” Linus nodded, but nodding got him nowhere. “Linus,” Dean breathed hotly against the pointed ear. His mouth was occupied with panting, breathing his way through pressure that put constellations in his vision. Dean was stroking his sides, kissing him while waiting on an answer. Linus answered with the squirming of his hips. “…Hard,” was his only answer. “Very.” Dean pulled his hips back and rocked forth once, twice, before he felt Linus’ claws raking his thigh. It was both stimulation and a demand that Dean couldn’t ignore. Giving in to his own greed for the werewolf’s body, Dean sought to give his lover what he asked for.

There was no escape for Linus and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Short, hard thrusts gave him no quarter, allowed Linus to be nothing but submissive. Beta, Gamma, Omega; anything to Dean and for Dean, was acceptable to him. Years of shame over giving up control faded in the light of Dean’s dominance. Dean was someone worthy; someone who couldn’t hide his fondness for him, someone who demanded romance of him and someone who knew that to have control meant earning it. Crazed from the prick skewering him over and sweetly over, from the hand that dropped between his thighs and stroked him, Linus swore darkness and stars surrounded him. It was Dean’s wing, so sleek and beautiful. Linus tried to kiss the soft membrane, wanted to run his tongue along the fronds but there was something about the wetness of his mouth, his tongue stretching and perhaps two sudden thrusts against his prostate that undid him. No sooner did his lips meet Dean’s wing, did he feel the first unsteady jerk and snap of release.

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“I’ve got you. I’ve got you,” Dean breathed over and over against the shell of Linus’ ear. The wolf was half-howling, half-gasping and shuddering like mad, but Dean held tight. Yet he was swiftly unraveling himself. His hand moved to the head of Linus’ pulsing prick, capturing a spurt of hot come and although he wanted it all, he dared not move from the bliss of Linus’ ass. Dean barely had time to bring the fluid to lips, to his tongue before his body sang the same thunderous song as Linus’. At his apex, Dean’s body, muscle and bone flared with feverish alien warmth. It was something more than sex, from within and outside. It was something more than wanting to protect the magnificent werewolf but he feared to name it. Covered in sweat, convulsing as Dean’s last demanding thrust sparked one last twitch, Linus was beyond elated. Weak, but oh so happy, he felt sure that if Dean released him, pulled out of him that he would collapse to the bed. The fucking, the licking, the kisses…Dean had done him in. Beautifully. Kissing a muscular shoulder, Dean rode out the last ripples of an epiphany before pulling his shaft from it’s home. He curled up against the lax pup, content enough to share warmth, but still hungry. Unable to keeps his lips from Linus’ shoulder, Dean’s palate sought the salt of sweat. “I love your taste, cur. Absolutely love it. ” Yawning contentedly, Linus wanted to sleep safely, sore, messy and well ridden. He wanted Dean to hold him throughout and more importantly he wanted time to gloat over what he was certain of. “Whatever. You love me.” Dean had no intention of lying and no intention of being premature. “Be quiet and get some sleep, Shepherd. You’ll need it for later.” “Sure thing boss,” Linus muttered. *** Dean couldn’t afford to be gentle. Lifting Linus up by the shoulders, Dean shook the heavily sleeping werewolf hard. “Wake up, Shepherd. Now!” Yanked from a deep, dreamless sleep, Linus opened his eyes. As his eyes took in stern gray ones, Linus got the message. Dean was hungry again. It had only been an hour since they had last made love because it defiantly could not have been classified as fucking. It seemed like mere moments since, Dean had allowed him to be on top, had allowed him to ride his way to ecstasy. They were able to watch one another from start to steady rhythm to staggering finish. With a yawn, Linus felt game enough for another round. “Are we going to go again?”

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Dean shook his head no. If only things were that simple. “We have to go. Now!” “Go where?” “Come on, Shepherd.” Dean moved away. With a flap of his great wings, Dean rose above the bed and landed on the floor. “The cubs are in trouble.” “What?” Wakefulness came to him suddenly, like a splash of cold water, causing Linus to scramble out the bed himself. Dean had moved across the floor and was opening the latch on sliding glass doors. Linus knew that things were serious. Rushing to Dean’s side, Linus’ heart rushed with worry. “How do you know? Did Helga call? What’s wrong?” Dean would have liked to explain but there was no time. “Transform,” he demanded. “Fully. Can you?” Not all werewolves could take to full wolf form, some could only take the man-wolf form but Linus was not one of them. “Yeah, I can but Dean, but please tell me-.” Dean took Linus by the shoulder. While Selphie and Jack were important in Dean’s eyes, their father meant much to him. If anything happened to those cubs, then Linus would never be the same. Dean didn’t even want to entertain the horrible thought. “Trust me, Linus. Do it. We need to go.” Linus nodded. Dropping to all fours, Linus called forth the change. Dean stayed only long enough to witness the magnificent transformation, from handsome, muscular redhead, to ferocious, snarling wolf. His wolf. Rushing out onto the balcony, Dean took to the predawn sky. Linus leapt off the balcony and took to the dewy ground. Both were faster than anything natural.

CHAPTER EIGHT *** Linus didn’t have to see his front door shattered to kindling or his windows broken out to know that something was wrong. There were familiar scents were in the air; Tommy, Reese, Phillip and Brian. There were also unfamiliar scents around. Linus couldn’t make sense out of anything, so thick was his worry. By the moon! Please let my cubs be safe! Panicking, Linus ran over rubble, through the threshold and directly into a pile of werewolves. Dean thundered in right behind him, a great pair of obsidian horns, curved like a rams protruded from each temple. They showed only when his fury ran hot and when he chose. He had no choice.

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Linus didn’t understand what was going on. Tommy and his crew were cornered by a very large blonde were, Gantha from the Red Stag, along with two others, a black werewolf and a shorter red one. Gantha had Tommy pinned to the wall by his throat. The red wolf was sitting atop of Reese, snarling and the black werewolf had an automatic rifle trained on Philip and Brian. What had they done, he worried. What had they done to his children? The house was a mess, the table ruined, the couch on its side. Blood was in the air, but none of it was of his lineage. Linus took it as a good sign, but his worry wasn’t abated in the least. “The cubs are upstairs and safe.” Informing the worried father, Gantha had been tempted to kill the sneering werewolf at the end of his grasp. Full of himself and strong, the alpha had nearly lasted a minute sparing with him. Still, if there was to be a death, it was Linus’ right not his. “Dean told me to keep an eye out for strays.” Padding up to Gantha’s side, Linus shifted to man-wolf form, standing like a brute upon two feet. Linus had the muzzle of a wolf, but his very human hazel eyes were set with hate upon Tommy’s features. “Thank you, Gantha, you and your wolves.” Chest heaving, Tommy didn’t give a damn about the claws at his throat. He was an alpha and no one, least of all, Linus was going to deny that. That he was breathing still was testament to rationale wolves, he thought. Surely they would comprehend his rights. He had hunted for the bitch and his cubs for too long to settle for anything less than reckoning. “You are denying me my right!” he yelled to the one called Gantha. “He is defeated, an omega and not even worth your protection. What sort of Alpha are you?” Lurching against the big were’s hold, Tommy was rewarded with a vicious squeeze to his throat. “I am the Alpha wolf of this fucking territory and you have no rights here,” Gantha replied. Voice straining, Tommy would not argue against that. “We can take our claim, the bitch and his cubs elsewhere then.” “No fucking need.” Linus sprang for his ex, punching him in the nose with a loud crack. “I’m going to kill you right here!” Gantha released his hold on Tommy’s throat and stepped back. He was all too ready to let Linus have his way. “Right, Linus,” Scrunching his nose to ease his discomfort, Tommy had to give the pup some credit. For a cheap shot, it hurt like hell. “You’re good for nothing more than lying on your back and raising your tail. Your boy put up a better fight and I am not going to have him coming to claim what’s mine in ten years. Your weakness will die with you!”

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Dean had promised himself that he wouldn’t say anything but the situation was trying his patience. Words that had once brought him low, shamed him and destroyed him meant nothing. Dean had given him more than a job. He had given Linus, love and a home and a future. If Linus had to fight every last one of his pack he would, but the knowledge that he didn’t have to do it alone gave him some confidence. “I may be ‘good for nothing but lying on my back,’ but I will tear your throat out,” he said. Glaring at the other members of his former pack, Linus didn’t give a damn about the looks of shame and fear in their eyes. That they had followed Tommy in the first place was not the brightest idea. “You sure you don’t want to just nip at my throat,” Tommy sneered. Friends or no, Linus was no Alpha wolf and Tommy wouldn’t pretend to care for his threats. The day that Linus had left Nevada, he had done so with his tail between his legs. Tommy expected nothing different. “I can even pin you on your back, like old times.” Gantha crossed his arms with a grin. The werewolf was pressing his luck with Linus and Gantha knew it from the set of Linus’ teeth. Tommy didn’t even have the chance to right himself before he caught an uppercut straight to his ribs. Free to fight, Tommy shrugged off his jacket and roared towards Linus. Claws drawn, he shoved Linus back and onto the floor. Smothered by Tommy’s bulk, Linus elbowed the blonde in the head, shaking him enough to throw him aside. He would not be bullied! The two sprang apart, Tommy ripping his clothes off carelessly, urgently. Muscles needed to be free, bones needed to contort and fur needed to feel the air. Linus gave him the grace of a second only, his canines gnashing to find use and claws desperate to sink into flesh. As the one he had once trusted found his man-wolf form, Linus moved forward. Tommy weighed less than Linus, was smaller than Linus, but he knew things about inertia that Linus did not. As Linus rushed forward, he dropped low and caught Linus by the knees. Lifting him up into the air, Tommy threw him against the wall, shattering some dusty portrait. Worried, Dean did not like what he was seeing. Linus was using brute force while Tommy was using strategy. Whenever Linus landed a punch, Tommy felt it, but the punches were landed irregularly and few. In a rage, Linus was sloppy and Dean feared for him. It was the sight of Tommy knocking Linus over and sinking his teeth into Linus’ shoulder blade that caused him to move forth. He would not stand by and allow Linus to be killed.

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“Let him be, Dean. This is his fight.” Gantha raised an arm to block his friend. Loving Linus though he did, Dean could not fight this battle for the wolf. It was about more than pride, it was about responsibility. Linus reached up and took hold of Tommy’s head. Leaning forward, Linus threw the werewolf over and into the plaster. Without hesitation, he moved forward, claws catching Tommy across the forehead. It was the only strategic shot that Linus made, but it was the one that counted the most. Tommy couldn’t see, blood spilling into his vision. Linus didn’t care. His nightmare and his shame were met with the same violence, the same roars and the same growls, all without mercy. Trying to block and not to cower, it wasn’t that Tommy had underestimated Linus’ strength. He remembered quite well, how it felt to hold down that muscular body but in lust, not in battle. Looking to his pack mates, Tommy was inspired by the doubt he saw in their eyes. He hadn’t come to Pennsylvania to fail them or the pack. It should have been as smooth as two cub carcasses and Linus wearing a leash all the way back to fucking Nevada. It could have been anything but another blow to his slowly healing ribs! Ducking low, Tommy slashed a wide series of cuts into Linus’ thigh. It was enough to get the beast away from him for a few moments, to drop him to his knees! Get up, my cur. Get up! Dean would not flinch, would not move forward and rip the wheat-colored wolf apart, although every fiber of his being demanded that he do so. If Linus did not live, then neither would Tommy or his pack, Dean would see to it! Linus caught Tommy before he could even take advantage of the situation. As Tommy came in with teeth and claws bloodied and bared, Linus dropped completely to the floor. His left thigh may have been useless but the rest of him was not. On the floor, grappling, Tommy didn’t stand a chance and he knew it. Linus was on him in an instance, teeth rending his face, throat and chest. Claws curled into his fists challenged bones and muscle, and Linus swung, harder and harder with every blow. Of all the ways Tommy had anticipated celebrating Linus’ capture and defeat, of all the decadent punishments he had planned, Tommy had never expected to be so close to death. Linus’ blows came fast and hard and there was nothing he could do to deflect them. It was the first time that Dean had ever witnessed Linus in a rage. It was a surreal sight that he could deem both fearsome and beautiful. The beast in him spurred Linus on,

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every blow, every splatter of blood and crunch of bone. Yet there was a foul taste in his mouth stemming from the realization that the beast before him was not his Linus. The creature beneath Linus was wounded. Tommy was trying to keep his eyes open, trying to deflect another blow and was failing. Realizing that he was the one responsible for those blows, Linus stilled his arm from sending another. Sprawled out upon the floor, Tommy was a threat no longer. He was nothing more than a wounded beast. Moving off of Tommy’s body, Linus sat down on his rear. Exhaustion bled through adrenaline as he surveyed the destruction of his home. He was surrounded by speechless spectators, yet glared daggers at his former pack mates. “I would take his life and yours, but my cubs should not know me as a murderer.” Crazed, weak and unable to move, Timmy had one blow to deal, on weapon left to use. “No,” he coughed. You don’t think so? Instead they will know you as a-.” Linus was at the throat of his ex, with a ferociousness that had everyone in the room gasping, some loud, some quiet. Canines wide and rending with an iron grasp, it took only a few seconds for him to take hold and to snap Tommy’s throat, a few minutes more to clean the blood and sinew from his sharp teeth. Gantha turned to Dean and nodded. “Now you can go to him.” He didn’t need to be told. At Linus’ side in an instance, Dean caught the weary wolf before he slumped all the way to the floor.

EPILOGUE *** Gantha and his cubs dealt with the remainder of Tommy’s hunting party. Scared senseless, they accepted freedom swiftly and without a word. Neither asked for Tommy’s carcass, especially after the look Dean gave them with Linus in the cradle of his arms. Using Gantha’s truck, Dean had taken the cubs and their father to his home. It would be easier for Linus to heal and to rest. It would best for the cubs as well. Shaken and worried about their father, their home and safety, Dean assured them that everything would be fine. The children didn’t bother him, as he carried Linus to the tub, bathed and dried him. Quiet, yet observant, Selph and Jack did as Dean told them to. Selphie made two bowls of cereal for her and her brother and Jack figured out how to work the remote on the television.

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While Dean cleansed Linus’ wounds, he had ample time to savor his slumbering warrior, his weary employee and his valiant lover. Worshiping the firm muscles, the parted lips and fiery hair, he did not lament the murder one bit. Linus was a true Alpha and had executed the danger without hesitation. He would have done the same. Jack had only a few faded bruises and Selphie was shaken, but neither of the cubs was harmed greatly. Dean knew that they would understand their father’s history one day, but he could only hope that they realized his love for them, his sacrifices and his choices. He had a strong feeling that they would. It was late afternoon when the two red-haired children made their first visit to their sleeping father. Seated on the bed with Linus’ head in his lap, fingers coursing through auburn locks, Dean almost missed the two spectators, peering inside the room. Telling himself not to be greedy, Dean moved out of the bed and ushered the children inside. He left them alone and went to the kitchen to fix lunch; beef stew with a bit of burgundy wine for Linus and hamburgers for the kids. Somehow he didn’t think that their palates weren’t ready for the alcohol-laden stew. That he thought about their taste buds at all, caused him to wonder. If he was going to have his lover, he would have to have his lover’s cubs as well. Linus was a package deal. Selphie and Jack were well behaved and cute enough that even when Dean thought that they might be a hassle, those two pairs of big golden eyes melted away his doubts. When he returned to his bedroom, Dean had a meal of stew, bread and burgundy wine, upon a rolling wine rack. Linus had his eyes open, a smile on his face and questions coming from two very ecstatic mouths. There was a panel on the wall, with buttons controlling everything from the ceiling fan to the wall-mounted TV. It also controlled the bed, which Dean elevated. With a push of a button, the circular mattress rose from a sunken valley to stairway’s peak. It was easier to feed Linus his stew and easier for the children to check on their father, without Jack doing somersaults into the pit. Dean wheeled the cart up to the bed. He looked at the twins, seated protectively around their father. “I made hamburgers for you both, if you’re hungry. They’re on the kitchen table with sodas and chips.” Jack looked at his sister as if seeking permission while Selphie looked at her Dad. “Go on, you two,” Linus said. His own hunger outweighed his need for sleep and that in itself was pretty strong.

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Selphie leaned forward and kissed her father’s brow. Jack hugged Linus before they both scrambled off the bed and towards the kitchen. Sitting down, Dean brought the cart close. Oh yeah, this is so good it’s surreal, Linus thought. “You made lunch for my kids. That is so fucking sexy.” “Shut up, Shepherd.” “It is.” Dipping the spoon into the bowl of stew, Dean waited while Linus propped himself up with numerous pillows. Holding the spoon out, Dean knew that Linus could feed himself but wanted to spoil his wolf none the less. The hard-on that he had from watching Linus battle would have to wait. Linus opened and closed his lips for every spoonful. Eyes on Dean’s, he couldn’t put his finger on the dynamic between them and he really didn’t care to. Who was dominant and who was not didn’t matter. Dean was serving him then but Linus knew for a fact that it would be he who served Dean soon. He wanted to strongly, more so because the gargoyle had seen the real him, seen him falter, seen him high and low. Dean looked at him with nothing but love and as foreign as it was from the love shown to him by his children, it felt just as precious. As Dean traded spoonfuls of stew for a piece of bread served between his fingertips, Linus saw his chance. Closing lips around both bread and Dean’s fingers, Linus refused to give either up without a savoring. Wet, warm flickering around his digits did not go unnoticed, nor did the desiring look in amber eyes. “Careful there, Alpha,” he warned. “You may have healed outside but it is slower inside. As it is, I’ll probably have to give you Monday off.” Linus caught the suggestion. “What you mean is a day for us to lie in bed all day and fuck while the children are school?” Hell yes! Sliding his finger in and out of deep pink lips, the very same way he wished his cock could, Dean nodded. “Your house is a mess. You and the cubs will have my home while it’s being repaired.” Linus released the digits he held. “You will stay with us and sleep beside me.”

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It wasn’t a question; it was a demand, one that sent a shiver throughout Dean. “Of course.” “Because you know how werewolves are,” Linus teased. “Especially once they’ve found their mate.” Shaking his head, Dean moved forward and stole a kiss, a wild kiss, a long, possessive kiss. Linus welcomed the push of Dean’s tongue. Wanton and primal, Dean attacked Linus’ tongue with unfettered dominance, captured it and sucked hard. The sensation of being taken went straight to Linus’ head forcing out all reason. Slipping a hand around Dean’s waist, the other moved between the gargoyle’s thick thighs and found what he was certain of. Dean’s cock was swollen with desire for him. Wanting nothing more than to shed his clothes and join the werewolf in what would be their bed; Dean spread his legs and gave Linus free reign to stroke and pet as he pleased. Linus welcomed Dean’s weight, pulled him down onto his body. So involved in one another’s tastes and scents, neither man noticed the two redheads gaping at the door. Watching his father kissing the dark giant, Jack shook his head at his grinning sister. It wasn’t fair. Dad was always telling him to control himself, yet there he was kissing and hugging Mr. Graystone. I can’t even touch Helga’s legs. “I can’t wait until I’m an alpha,” Jack fumed aloud. Dean tried to pull away from Linus’ hold but the tight grasp around his waist would permit him no escape. With a frown he gazed down at Linus. He didn’t want to be rude or worse, lewd in front of the children. Linus just shook his head and smiled. The cubs needed to know anyway. He had nothing to hide from them or Dean. Not anymore. Responding to Jack’s angst, Linus leaned over and met his son’s eyes. “You can wait until you’re an Alpha and have a place of your own, cub. It takes more than libido to make an Alpha.” “Whatever.” Jack didn’t want to hear it. Lip curled in sarcasm, he left the doorway and his romance-awed sister. “It is not fair. Selphie stood her ground, unable to do anything but smile. “I think it’s kind of cool. Kinda sweet even.” “It is.” Dean affirmed, unable to deny the werewolf beneath him. Pulling Dean back down to cover him, Linus sought greedily for another kiss.

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The End…

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