+ It's been a long time since I updated this fic, and I'm sorry about that. I was busy and ended up rewritting some parts, hence the new chapter I added. It was nine and now it's ten chapters long. Hope you like it!
The vast green field, once so calm now turned into a great battlefield. The green grass was quickly turning red because werewolves and vampires fought fiercely in a bloody battle. Vampire clans from around the world were there and they were so many it seemed like a fucking army.
Randy was watching everything from afar, hiding behind a huge rock. He wanted to go there to kill some bloodsuckers but he would not dare expose their hiding place and his presence to them. That would make every effort to run and hide to be put at risk, not to mention it would risk Cody's life again. He would not do that just because of his thirst for battle.
But even wanting to stay away from everything the battle came to Randy in another way.
From the position Randy was he spotted John struggling with a huge vampire, having difficulty to find a breach to kill it. They rolled through the field and stopped close to where Randy was hidden, watching the scene unfold. Suddenly the vampire grabbed John around the waist and started to squeeze his ribs, making him howl with pain. Without thinking about the consequences Randy jumped and went straight for the vampire's neck, breaking it easily and tearing his head off. The heavy body fell to the ground like a sack of cement, and Randy felt his body vibrate with excitement by the well performed kill. One less undead in the world!
Realizing what he had done, Randy turned to John and froze; the man was looking straight at him, clearly shocked to see him there. Randy saw him approach but gave no chance for him to speak and began to run away from him, all the while cursing himself for being so careless and stupid. Now everyone will now they're hiding nearby and will come back to take them! And if they get their hands on Cody it would be his own damn fault!
Desperate Randy ran as fast as he could until his lungs burned, all the while hearing faint footsteps behind him, but not stopping to check who it was.
~8~
Cody felt that something was wrong when Randy suddenly sounded desperate in his mind. He was feeling weird all day, as if something in the air was different and feeling odd like something would happen soon. He hated that stupid feeling he had sometimes, and now this. Randy was clearly nervous, angry and upset but Cody couldn't understand why because his thoughts were so confused!
"Cody?"
Cody vaguely heard Chris call his name but was too focused on Randy to reply back. The only thing he knew was that he needed to be with him now. Cody rose from the chair he was sitting like he had been shot and opened the door, turning into a werewolf and running to meet Randy.
Chris frowned with his sudden change of mood because a few seconds ago everything was fine! He became suspicious and worried, going to the open door and going out to see him running in haste to the forest. Something wasn't right and it didn't need to be a genius to see that. Chris did not hesitate to shift and follow him, listening to his instincts.
~8~
Randy ran for miles and out of nowhere the sweet smell of his beta reached his nostrils. Cody was running at a rapid pace towards him. Shit that should not be happening!
'GET OUT OF HERE! DON'TCOME ANY CLOSER!'
'Randywhat's happening? I felt you-'
'DOESN'T MATTER! GO BACKNOW!'
'RandyNO!'
Cody got desperate. Every nerve of his body screamed for him to obey Randy and go back as he had ordered, but his heart wanted to be with him. Torn in two, Cody froze and couldn't decide what to do. While he struggled trying to decide which way to go, someone approached rapidly from the opposite direction. Not thirty seconds later a golden brown medium sized wolf jumped in front of him. The werewolf braked sharply when he saw him there.
They stared at each other in shock. Cody looked at him with big blue eyes and found the same color staring straight back at him. Cody knew this could not have happened.
Mike and Cody started to circulate, both analyzing each other's movements, ready to attack if necessary. Cody had no desire to fight him now because he needed to be with his man because his chest literally hurt to be away from Randy now, but he would do whatever was necessary. If the wolf attacks he'd not flee from the fighting.
Mike suddenly growled deep in his chest as a warning. He obviously didn't go there to fight but since he's found Cody he'd do it anyway. Cody did not lower his guard and growled back, showing his fangs. He was about to move onto Mike when Chris came out of nowhere and got between them, putting himself in front of Mike and kicking Cody with such a force that made him stumble a few steps back.
Cody shook his head a little stunned and surprised by the strength of the golden dog. When he raised his head he saw Chris and Mike now in human form, looking at each other with longing.
Cody observed them for a while, waiting for the moment they would turn around and attack him, but it didn't happen. Mike had forgotten he was there. He only had eyes for Chris. Cody felt compassion for them because their situation was like theirs in some way. A werewolf and a shapeshifter imprinting were not well received by the elders since they had a reputation of being rapists and impregnating young girls in the past. All shifters were expelled from villages because of that bad fame of turning into men at night while being innocent dogs during daylight.
While Cody watched quietly he saw the couple hug and hold tight, whispering words of affection in each other's ear. But then the peace was shattered with Randy's arrival. He rushed there, breathless, startling everyone with his massive and frightening presence. Chris immediately put Mike behind him and stood as a shield in front of him, while Cody walked toward the upset Lycan.
'We need toget out of herenow!Youshouldn't evenbe hereCody! Why didn't you listen to me?'
'Calm down Randyplease!I-I couldn't go, I needed tobe with you!'
Cody whimpered and approached his imprint enough to nuzzle his neck with his nose. Randy calmed down a bit but insisted they had to leave. He become aware of the strangers close to them and looked at the two men with suspicion.
"Don't come any closer Randy" Chris threatened. Randy narrowed his eyes and turned to Cody.
'What the fuck is this?'
'This isMike, Randy.Remember the story Chris told us? That's him.'
Randy looked at them for a few seconds and soon lost interest in them, worrying about John getting closer.
'We can't waste time with that! Johnis inmy tailand nowone of your own alsofound you...We have to goCody!'
'What?! Your friendJohn? But how-'
'I'm not sure he's still my friend. Cody... this ismy fault. Iactuallyended upgetting intothe battlewithout even trying-'
Cody knew what that meant—the siege was closing and they would be captured. It was only a matter of time. Where they could hide now? There was no other place!
'Randywhat do we do? I-I don't want to lose you!'
Randy approached the stricken wolf in kick strides. He curled his lower body upon him and half-hugged Cody.
'We have to go. Whilewe still have thestrengthwe have tocontinue.Don't worry, baby. I'll protect you.'
Unseen by them, Mike and Chris watched the whole scene with shock. Seconds later, John reached them.
John reached Randy and saw him bent over something smaller than him, something dark and hairy. Soon he realized that it was Cody and John felt compassion for them. But Randy had to understand that he was not there to fight, damnit! If only he'd listen.
John concentrated and seconds later he was a man. He raised his hands up in surrender and stood a few steps away. He saw Randy stand high in front of Cody to protect him.
"Randy listen to me man. I just want to talk. That's it. You don't have to run from me! Damn it you just saved my ass back there, man! Do you really think I'd kill you after that?"
Randy huffed with narrowed eyes, noticing that John was holding his side that got crushed in the fight. That kind of injury hurt like a bitch and running like he did required a tremendous effort. He looked at John with hard and suspicious eyes.
"What the fuck you have to say to me, Cena? If you're here to thank me for saving your useless ass then you can shove it. I don't need your fucking gratitude."
"Hey calm down man. Of course I want to thank you for what you did, but that's not it. For awhile now I want to tell you this but we haven't had much chance to talk lately. The war broke any promise I've made before, but you need to know—"
Randy clenched his teeth. "Cena-"
"I know I know! Damn it man have some patience! I thought that after finding your beta you'd get better in that regard but apparently I was wrong!"
This time John jumped, alert when Randy growled his warning. And then he finally got to the point.
"I don't wanna do this anymore, man. I'm tired of this. Tired of hunting down a friend just because he fell in love with a person he shouldn't have-"
"SHOULD'T HAVE? Why not? Why shouldn't I have fallen in love with Cody? He is perfect, John. He's-he's everything I ever wanted in a beta, and much more. Now tell me why this is wrongwhen I feel it's so right?"
John looked at him guiltily. "I don't know man. I don't know."
"That's right, you don't know. Mark doesn't know, none of you know! But you all decided to stay against us anyway! My brothers! My brothers want to kill me and my beta when we did absolutely nothing wrong!"
"Is those damn rules man."
"Fuck the rules! Fuck them! I don't give a shit about this! I will not give up on Cody, you hear me?"
Loud and clear, John thought. He did not need to be hearing all this because he made his decision long before that, but if he had any doubts about it he now had none. John knew that he was doing the right thing by breaking his bond with the tribe to take his friend side. It was a difficult decision to leave his life behind, but Randy need him.
Randy got shocked, but his decision was very well received anyway. What they most needed now was allies, and John proved to be a good and loyal friend to stay on their side even if it meant leaving family and friends behind. With renewed spirit, Randy hugged John hard. The man groaned in pain for having his injured ribs squeezed and Randy quickly released him.
Cody watched them talk quiet in a corner but shifted to human when John said he was on their side. His chest filled with hope and he wanted to thank the man properly. Cody waited for a chance and them when the hug ended he approached John.
"You're on our side now? For real?"
John looked at Cody and grinned. "Yeah boy! That's what I came to tell this dumb motherfucker, but as always he had to make everything harder!"
Cody smiled with bright eyes. "God John you don't know how much this means to us!"
"I can imagine it kid. I can imagine."
John approached Cody with open arms in an attempt to give him a hug, but a tattooed arm appeared before him and blocked his path. John looked at Randy, confused. He shrugged,
"I don't want your scent on him, John. You stink."
John snorted with the unexpected words.
"Randy that's so rude!" Cody reproached. "It's just a hug!"
"Damn it, John doesn't need to hug you! Say 'thank you' that's more than enough for him!"
Cody looked outraged and John laughed. Beside them Mike and Chris looked at the scene in silence, almost forgotten by the trio. But they had to move on.
"We need to get out of here, we are very exposed" Chris suggested.
They started to walk back to the hut in silence.
Mike showed no intention of going away anytime soon, at least not without Chris. But even after talking with him for a long time they still didn't know if he could be trusted. Cody frowned at his unfamiliar docile behavior, since Mike always acted so arrogant and bitchy with everyone. But not with Chris. Mike was a different man when he was with him. Maybe that was all an act to keep people away, but after he stabbed him in the back Cody couldn't tell. Mike saw how much he was suffering being forced to do that damn ritual and yet his friend did nothing to help. Nothing!
"I know what you're thinking, Cody."
Cody blinked, "Uh?"
"You're thinking that I'll let Wade know you're here when I have the chance, right?"
"Something like that. Yes."
Randy shifted in the chair, uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. Cody had to put a hand on his knee to make him relax and felt his hand being caught in a strong grip.
"I'm not gonna lie to you and say that I wouldn't, because I would. Shit, I've done it. I helped him because it was expected of me. And you know I like to follow the rules. I like to keep the traditions, I like to keep us strong. But Wade... he's no longer a good leader, man. I see that now. I see that he wants to impose his opinions without even considering other options, and who is against him must be punished. Banned. Killed."
Mike clenched his eyes shut, remembering his own past. Mike was also a victim of Wade's arrogance, but unlike Cody, his ritual was performed to the end. Mike was forced to forget that Chris existed while the man was banished from the village.
The ritual worked. Mike really forgot about Chris. He forgot everything about a golden dog they've found lost in the woods, forgot the walks they've made together when Mike finally agreed to adopt the dog, and especially the hot nights of love they had when Chris finally showed him his true form.
Mike forgot all about that. At least for a while.
But over time the memories started coming back and Mike began to have flashes of a man who had a significant importance in his life. That's when the pieces of the puzzle began to fit.
"I don't want to be part of it anymore. I have my own mind and I'll follow my own head. I had enough of being a puppet of that asshole. I've suffered a lot already because of him when he-"
Mike gasped as he remembered the pain he felt to be separated so briskly from his imprinted. It was pure, excruciating pain, both physically and emotionally because he needed to be with Chris and he couldn't. All because of one man.
"Anyway. I'm not going back, Cody. I'm staying."
Cody looked at with distrustful eyes. He did not doubt of his love for Chris because that was stamped for all to see, but he had not forgotten his despair, his agony, the tears...
"I know I let you down, Cody. I know I let you down when I didn't help you, but I had no choice. I couldn't challenge Wade back then because then I'd never-"
"-You'd never have found Chris." Cody finished for him.
Mike nodded and Cody sighed; he did understand him. Perhaps he'd have done the same for Randy, who knows! Damnit an imprint can let a person pretty stupid! It can make you do crazy things and hurt people you care about. He knew all about this. But still... Mike was one of the persons that nearly took Randy from him, and he could not forget that easy.
"Do you realize that you almost made me lose my imprint? Do you?"
"Yes, I do. And I'm sorry but-"
"But nothing! You more than anyone knows how much that hurts and yet you condemn a friend to the same faith? What the fuck Mike!"
"I couldn't do anything! If I were against Wade at that time I'd never be here now!"
"Yeah, you've said that already!"
"Then shut up and listen!" Mike yelled and waited to have Cody's full attention, "I know I made a mistake. I know. And I'm sorry. But deep down I knew, or at least hoped, that the same thing that happened to me would happen to you. I was hoping you would remember him with time. As I remembered Chris. But I can't change it now. What's done is done."
What's done is done.
Cody sighed, he understood Mike's point. He really did. And despite the hurt he never hated him for it. Call it a soft heart, whatever. He was still upset, but he needed to think as a whole. And it was better to have Mike on his side than against him. Cody sighed ruefully and slowly approached Mike, reaching out for him.
"I'm still upset with you but it's good to have you on our side, Mike."
Mike looked at the outstretched hand and grabbed it, squeezing it hard. Cody approached over and they touched foreheads, sealing the peace.
With the peace sealed Cody began to think of another friend, a friend they both lost. He pulled back a bit to look at Mike.
"Mike ... what happened to Teddy?"
Cody saw how tense Mike suddenly got. "Did you feel it? You felt when he-"
Cody nodded. "H-how it happened?" He suffered too much?
"I don't know it happened so fast! One minute we were on patrol and the next we were being attacked. She appeared out of nowhere and dragged Ted through the woods, and then we felt an awful pain... Seconds later he was dead."
Cody swallowed a lump in his throat. He knew that hearing details about his dead would make it harder but he needed to know. "You saw the body?"
Mike closed his eyes and nodded.
"It was very bad? He was in one piece? Tell me Mike!"
"Cody." Randy interfered with a strong voice and Cody turned to look at him.
"What?"
"Let it go. We've killed the bitch that did this to your friend. It doesn't matter anymore"
"For you it doesn't matter, but for me does! I couldn't even say goodbye to him because you didn't let me! At least let me know how he died you selfish bastard!"
Randy gritted his teeth; he had to control his temper to not leave anger give way to reason. He took deep breaths to calm his nerves and sat on a chair. The truth is that Randy felt a little hurt by the harsh words but he accepted them.
"Cody he's right! You don't want to know the details because frankly I wish I could forget what I saw!"
"Mike I need to know please! I need to know how he died!"
"No you don't! Believe me Cody. Keep the memories of him as the good friend that he was most of the time."
Cody was about to argue again but was prevented by Chris. The man saw how agitated Mike was and interfered, taking him outside to comfort him. Cody swallowed his words down, feeling frustrated. He sat down heavily in the worn out couch and turned his head sideways to look at Randy sitting a few feet away from him. The older man had his shoulders down and Cody knew it was his fault. Who knew that the big, bad Lycan—the protagonist of so many nightmares he had as a child—could be so down because of some little harsh words?
"Randy ..."
Nothing. The man did not react. Cody sighed and stood up, "Randy look at me..."
Randy looked up then and his were clouded. At the same moment Cody regretted calling him a selfish bastard because he certainly was not that. Randy gave up everything to save him without second thoughts. How Cody could be so unfair? He cursed himself. In three strides Cody was next to him, sitting on Randy's lap.
"I'm sorry!" Cody whispered urgently and then began to nuzzle his tattooed neck. He whined softly, apologizing to him, knowing how much Randy liked when he did that. Within seconds Randy relaxed in his arms.
"Hmmm that's much better, my wild beast" Cody purred.
Randy felt his heart skip a beat with seductive tone. "You're making me soft Codes ..."
"There is nothing 'soft' about you. And you should get used to it because I have a very dirty mouth."
"Oh yeah? You have a dirty mouth? Show me. Give me that tongue,"
Cody purred and licked him from jaw to lips, making Randy shiver. The older man grabbed Cody's neck with one hand and maneuvered his face to look him in the eye, waiting for Cody to obey him. The younger man put his tongue out and Randy grunted. Randy began to lick Cody's tongue with his own and they kissed like that, tongues only, for several minutes.
They stopped only when a throat was cleaned next to them. Randy snarled to see John standing there. "What the fuck you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Sorry, I just think we need to talk."
John had that serious look, that look that meant he would not like what he's about to hear. Resigned, Randy moved away from Cody to talk to John outside. What he heard made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.