"WHERE'S Jonah?" Toby asked Zev as he peeled off his black lightweight sweater.
The two young men stood in the high school locker room changing into their running shorts and T-shirts. After three years of middle school together, Zev and Jonah had become close friends, and Toby also spent a considerable amount of time with them. When he wasn't with Lori, that is.
It was their first week of high school and it'd already been difficult. Only a handful of shifter families had sent their young to the city middle school, and those families generally did so because they believed in integrating their lives with the humans'. Those particular shifter kids had been taught acceptance at home from a young age and had been easily able to blend in with the human kids. As a result, their differences weren't noticed and never caused issues.
Within ten minutes of walking into the Etzgadol High School, however, Zev knew this experience would be markedly different. The pack didn't have its own high school—there weren't enough youth in each grade to create the separate classes needed for teens—so the pack middle school, along with the other two middle schools in town, fed into the city high school. Despite being in the same building with humans, pack kids stuck together and made no effort to assimilate.
When Zev, Toby, and Lori had walked in the door on that first day, they'd seen the pack friends they'd grown up with clustered
together. The humans with whom they'd spent their middle school years stood apart, looking at the kids they didn't know in confusion. Within a matter of days, all the older human kids had sent the message to the younger ones—stay away from the kids in the pack. Not that they called them "pack," of course. Some said they all belonged to a cult, others said they were part of a weird religious sect. But everyone understood the basic principles: they're different, they're not like us, don't talk to them, don't study with them, keep apart. Depending on whether a pack kid or a city kid was talking, the "they" and the "them" would interchange, but the meaning always stayed the same: shifters and humans don't mix.
Zev looked at the clock on the wall. Track practice was about to start and Jonah wasn't there, which was very out of character. The human hadn't missed a single day of school or practice throughout their middle school years. And he'd seemed fine in the sixth-period English class he shared with Zev.
"Hey! You're not supposed to be in here!"
A commotion coming from the front of the locker room disrupted Zev's thoughts. Then he heard his sister's panicked voice.
"Whatever. I'm not here to look at you, okay? I'm looking for Zev Hassick and Toby Harrison. Have you seen them?"
Toby pulled the jeans he'd lowered to his knees back up and practically tripped over himself hurrying toward Lori.
"Lori? We're right here. What's wrong?"
Zev joined his friend and carefully looked his sister over. She didn't seem injured, just scared and winded.
"It's Jonah."
Zev's stomach dropped. He clasped Lori's shoulders.
"What about Jonah? Where is he?"
Lori's shoulders slumped and her hands dropped to her knees; she was gasping for air.
"He's in the back of the school, Zev. You have to hurry. They had him surrounded and they wouldn't listen to me." She straightened herself and locked her eyes with her brother's. "Hurry!"
Zev leaped over the benches and ran out of the locker room at full speed. Thankfully, he'd already dressed in his shorts and tied his shoes before Lori had arrived, otherwise he'd have run through the school naked to get to Jonah. His heightened hearing allowed him to get an idea of the problem before he was close enough to intervene. Brian Delgato and two other shifter teens were yelling at Jonah.
"We warned you to stay away from her! She's not for you, understand? Since you're obviously too stupid to listen to reason, we have no choice but to show you what happens to people who don't do what they're told."
Zev's heart thumped wildly, and he somehow managed to increase his speed, running faster than he'd ever previously managed. Jonah was a big kid, almost as big as Zev. And he was strong. But shifters were stronger than humans, even when wearing their human skins. And with three of them surrounding Jonah, he didn't stand a chance. Hell, even very few shifters would manage to come out victorious against those odds.
The sounds of fists hitting bodies intermingled with shouting ratcheted Zev's anxiety even higher. Just as he was about to turn the corner, the noise stopped. That unexpected silence increased the fear that racked Zev's body to such high proportions that he thought he might vomit.
"Get away from…."
Zev's warning stuck in his throat as he finally managed to get around the edge of the building to survey the scene in front of him. Brian was lying on the ground, cradling his arm. A shifter who was two years older than Zev was flat on his back with his eyes closed. The third shifter who'd threatened Jonah was holding his nose, trying to block the blood that poured out from between his fingers. And in the center of the damage stood Jonah, his fists clenched, face sweaty, blond hair disheveled, and expression fierce.
"Jonah? Are you okay?" Zev approached his friend slowly with his hand held out, palm up.
Jonah's black eyes widened as he seemed to notice what he'd done for the first time. He stepped toward Zev and then froze when more shifter boys came out of the school, saw their wounded comrades, and realized a human was responsible. They stormed toward Jonah.
"Hey! What'd you do? Get him!"
Zev completed the few steps necessary to reach Jonah. He stood in front of his friend, blocking the group of shifters, then curled his lips back over his teeth and growled low in his throat. The newly approaching boys hesitated, bumping into each other in their haste to stop in the face of the boy everyone knew would one day lead their pack.
Two of the shifters on the ground scrambled to their feet, while the third tried to rise, but swayed and landed back on his ass.
"He fought by your side. That means you help him up when he falls," Zev growled. As angry as he was at the threat to Jonah, he couldn't ignore his need to lead and teach his pack members. He wasn't their Alpha yet, but the instincts were deeply ingrained.
Brian quickly knelt down and lent support to the boy on the ground. When they were on their feet, they backed up to join the other pack kids.
"Zev, he hurt our own." Conrad, a strong shifter in his final year of high school, met Zev's eyes but kept his head slightly lowered as a sign of respect. Clearly, he wasn't sure how to deal with the Alpha's son defending a human who seemed to have attacked three pack members.
"They instigated it!" Lori's voice was frazzled and unusually high-pitched.
Zev didn't turn around, keeping his eyes on those who threatened his human friend. Within moments Lori and Toby were by his side.
"What happened, Lori?"
The surprise on the other shifters' faces was evident when Zev asked Lori to weigh in. During a standoff between males, a female shouldn't even be in the area, let alone consulted for her opinion.
Finally able to calm down now that the immediate danger had passed, Lori regained her composure. When she spoke again, it was with the strength of a young woman destined to lead the females in their pack.
"Brian and the others have the same lunch hour as me and Jonah. They weren't happy that I ate with him instead of them. So they waited for us to leave the building after school ended, and then they went after him." Her eyes blazed with anger as she turned toward Brian and looked at him accusingly. "Even after I told them to stop."
Zev growled, his body vibrating with the need to shift and punish those who had disrespected his kin and threatened the person who meant more to him than any other. The realization of just how much he cared about Jonah startled Zev, but it didn't slow him down.
"Stay here," he rumbled.
Lori and Toby complied instinctively, locking their feet in place and staring down the group of shifters, who had backed away far enough to put a comfortable distance between them.
"What do you think you're doing, Zev?" Jonah seemed to have finally snapped out of his daze. His hand landed on Zev's shoulder, holding him back.
"I'm going to take care of this so they never bother you again, that's what." Zev tried to move forward, but Jonah's grip was surprisingly strong.
"Did you happen to notice that I took care of myself just fine? I'm not some damsel in distress you need to rescue, Hassick. I can hold my own. Besides, I don't remember asking for your help."
Lori noticeably winced in reaction to Jonah's words and tone. He was questioning Zev's decisions, his leadership, his right to manage a situation involving his pack. But instead of punishing the human, or demonstrating his superior strength so Jonah would back off, Zev turned around to face his friend, his posture relaxing, head tilted to the side, and his voice soft.
"I saw what you did, Jonah, and I'm impressed. More than impressed. But I'm asking you to let me handle this. Those guys who
attacked you, and the other ones over there, I've known them my whole life. They're… family friends. Will you please wait here while I talk to them?"
Toby's jaw dropped in surprise at Zev's reaction. Yeah, Zev realized his method of interacting with Jonah was unusual. After all, a stronger shifter never asked another for permission on how to act, let alone a human. Even Lori, who was well accustomed to her brother's idiosyncrasies, gasped at the quiet, placating tone Zev used when he spoke to Jonah.
Jonah's concern that his friend thought of him as weak or incapable of handling the situation dissipated in response to Zev's voice and posture. He nodded and relaxed his hands at his sides.
The bloody, swollen knuckles didn't escape Zev's notice, and he had to stifle down an almost overwhelming urge to take Jonah's hands in his and lick the wounds until they healed. Pushing down the growl that wanted to escape in reaction to Jonah's injuries, Zev turned and stalked over to his pack mates. He looked only at Conrad, the oldest, strongest member of the spontaneously formed group, and spoke in a low rumble.
"They picked a fight with a human on school grounds in broad daylight. We don't need this kind of attention. It's bad for the pack."
Conrad nodded in agreement and turned to the three shifters who had been involved in the fight. Two of the boys stood with their heads arched to the side, throats exposed, and limbs loose, showing their submission in every way they knew how. Only Brian kept his head up and dared to smirk at Zev. Conrad growled at the stupidity the shifter was exhibiting. No matter what had led to the fight, there was no doubt Zev could take Brian down without breaking a sweat. Everyone in the pack knew of the presumptive Alpha's strength. Conrad glared at Brian.
"Explain yourself," he said in a harsh voice.
Brian crossed his arms and continued to stare at Zev defiantly, causing his coconspirators to step back, hoping to distance themselves from their disrespectful friend. "He's been eating lunch with your sister all week, Zev, even after we told him to stay away from her. Girls are
weak; we have a duty to protect them. You should be thanking us for trying to keep that half-soul away from Lori."
Zev growled as loud as he could in his human skin. He curled his lips back over his teeth, pulled his shoulders back, and straightened his posture so that his height seemed even more imposing. When he towered over Brian, he spoke very quietly, barely containing his rage.
"My sister is the strongest female in the pack. She's capable of speaking her own mind and she told you not to interfere. Even if you thought she needed help, you shouldn't have instigated a fight with a human. The right action would have been to speak with me or my father. We're responsible for the females in our den, not you, Brian."
The boys who had participated in the fight all but dropped to the ground. They whimpered, expressing their regret. Brian also lowered his chin, but Zev knew the other boy did it grudgingly.
"You've never interacted with the humans, so I'm going to chalk this up to a learning experience and I won't mention it to my father or the other pack elders."
Zev finished speaking to Brian and his two friends, then looked over at Conrad, who, despite having stepped into the situation at the last minute and therefore been innocent of any involvement in the fight, had his head lowered and his eyes pointing downward.
"And Conrad, I don't know what went on at this school before I came, but this animosity toward humans stops now. I can't force you to be friends with them, but I will demand civility. If I hear of any pack members fighting with humans, I will step in. And the next time, it won't end on school grounds. Any shifter who exposes our pack to unflattering attention by fighting with our human schoolmates will be facing my wolf under the full moon."
Zev looked at every boy and made sure his threat had sunk in. The frightened expressions, exposed throats, and slight twitches let him know he had made the intended impression.
"Spread the word around," he finished before returning to his place at Jonah's side.
Chapter 5
THE black truck rumbled over the dirt and rock road, weaving through the trees and taking Zev from the family intervention at his childhood den to the place he'd been calling home for more than a decade. It was unusual for a shifter to live alone. His peers had remained in their parents' dens until they'd found a chosen partner, and then they'd built new dens together, with cubs often following shortly thereafter. But Zev had moved out of the family home when he was eighteen, hoping a little distance would help curb his frustration over his family's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he could have a male mate.
The Etzgadol pack land encompassed thousands of acres abutting a national forest. In addition to being a place where the entire pack could run, the forest held the Hassick family ceramics business and the homes for his direct line. Every member of his family had equal rights to that land, so nobody could stop Zev from claiming a portion and setting up house. What his parents could and did do, however, was cut him off financially.
They hadn't understood his desire to live alone; "unnatural" was what they'd called it. It might have been more meaningful if they hadn't also used the word to describe his feelings when he told them he was gay. After all, his true mate was male and what could be more natural than the mating bond?
In any event, Zev's parents had hoped to keep him in their den by withholding funds, but he had taken his tent, pitched it, and lived in the
woods. He'd started working for the family business by then, so he'd lived off the land and saved almost every dollar he'd made until he had enough money in the bank to build a home, the home he planned to someday share with his mate.
Zev had been too young to tie back then. Oh, he was physically able, but shifters rarely tied until they were in their second decade. So his wolf should have been satisfied to play and hunt, like his peers. But his wolf wasn't satisfied and neither was his human. In fact, Zev hadn't felt at peace since he was eighteen. Because that was the year he'd lost Jonah.
"YOU'RE our class salutatorian, Zev. College should be a given. I don't understand why you're not going." Jonah repeated the same words he'd said dozens of times during their senior year.
Zev elbowed Jonah and laughed.
"If I didn't know better, Blondie, I'd say that little comment was just an excuse for you to once again point out your higher grade point average. Even though it's only higher by two hundredths of a point."
"Oh, I don't need any excuses to point out my outrageous and advanced awesomeness. My grades are better than yours, I scored more home runs this year, and you couldn't block a ball from the goal if your life depended on it. Bottom line, dude, I'm superior."
Zev laughed and reached into the bag of chips on his lap. He took out a handful, throwing them at Jonah one-by-one as he spoke. "I pitched more perfect games than any kid in the history of our school. Ditto for my score average in soccer, Mr. Hides-in-the-Goal. Plus, I have a bigger dick."
"Oh, such violence! Not sure if I can handle it. Save me! Save me!" Jonah yelled and laughed as he protected his face from the onslaught of chips with his hands and swayed on his feet.
Zev dropped the chip bag and tackled Jonah onto the bed, landing on top of him. The two friends were pressed together, their bodies
connected from ankle to thigh to chest. Somehow, lying down that way made Zev's lungs work harder than when he'd been jumping around Jonah's bedroom. Zev's amber eyes locked onto Jonah's intense black gaze. What was it about this person that impacted him so deeply?
"You weren't kidding about that last one, were you?" Jonah asked breathlessly, and Zev realized that the close physical contact had caused his cock to harden against his friend's hip.
He knew that he should get up, that the feelings coursing through his body were wrong. But being close to Jonah didn't feel wrong. In fact, for as long as Zev could remember, he'd felt most right in his life whenever his human or his wolf was with Jonah. And that moment, lying together on Jonah's bed, was no exception.
"What is this, Jonah?" Zev asked, his voice sounding rough and uncertain to his own ears. He was sure his confusion—hell, his fear—was evident by his expression. Jonah knew him too well to miss that. And even if he didn't, lying as close together as they were, Jonah was surely able to feel Zev's racing heart.
Jonah reached up and brushed Zev's brown locks off his forehead, the expression on his face tender.
"We're done with high school now, Zev. I'm leaving for college in two days. I'm tired of pretending." Jonah took a deep breath before continuing. "This is attraction," he finished softly.
Fright turned to terror as Zev's eyes widened, and he shook his head furiously.
"No, that can't be. I can't feel that way about you. It's not possible."
Despite his panic, Zev was still hard, and he'd made no move to separate their bodies. But Jonah didn't mention that. Instead, he continued stroking Zev's hair and spoke softly, as if he were calming a wild animal.
"Why can't you be attracted to me, Zev? Or is it that you think you shouldn't feel the way you do about guys in general?"
Zev's head swam. How did he feel about guys in general? He let the thought take root and reflected on it. He didn't feel anything in particular about guys; he never thought about them. Well, except for Jonah. He always thought about Jonah.
"I don't have a thing for guys in general. I swear." He knew his tone sounded desperate, but he couldn't help it. It was how he felt.
Jonah kept his caress constant, motivating Zev to press his face toward the welcome contact. He sniffed the palm of Jonah's hand, and the familiar scent both excited and calmed him. Why did he always react that way to Jonah's scent?
"So you're saying you like girls, Zev? As far as I know, you've never had a girlfriend or even a date."
Jonah's words stunned Zev, not that they should have been a revelation. After all, Zev was fully aware of his own dating history. Or lack thereof. It was just that he'd never given it any thought. How did he feel about girls? Zev thought about it and came to the same conclusion as he had about guys—he didn't think about them. He shook his head again, his entire body trembling as he came dangerously close to a dawning realization.
"I don't like girls either. I mean, I like them, you know. Just not like that."
Jonah smiled sweetly.
"Zev, you're an eighteen-year-old guy. You can't possibly expect me to believe that you're asexual or something. You must have those feelings. You don't have to pretend with me. I'm your friend. Your best friend. You're safe with me, Zev. No matter what you tell me about yourself, I won't judge you. Hell, I might even surprise you with some things about the way I'm made."
Although Zev knew Jonah was talking about his own desires, the statement had highlighted the crux of the problem. Zev was a shifter. He couldn't be attracted to another male. His kind wasn't made that way.
"I have to go." Zev scrambled to his feet, his eyes darting around the room as if he were a caged animal, then he flung himself at the door, yanked it open, and ran out.
Jonah remained reclined on the bed, watching his friend's panic attack and sudden departure. When he heard the front door open and then slam shut, Jonah covered his eyes with his forearm.
"That went well," he whispered sarcastically to himself.
ZEV ran through the woods, his normal grace replaced by wild, frantic movements. Twigs and leaves crumbled under his feet and branches slapped across his face and forearms, leaving cuts and welts in their wake. Shifters healed rapidly, but that didn't mean injuries didn't hurt. Nevertheless, in his immensely agitated state, Zev couldn't feel any external pain. Every ounce of mental power he had was focused on his conversation with Jonah, on the way his heart raced when he was with his best friend, on the delicious scent of the young man, on the word Jonah had used to describe all of those feelings: attraction.
Zev reached his house and pushed his way inside. He stumbled toward his bedroom, dragging air into his lungs.
"Zev? Honey, is that you?"
The sound of his mother's warm voice drifting over from the kitchen forced Zev to get himself under control. He slowed his pace but kept walking toward his room.
"Yeah, it's me, Mama. I need to go for a run. I'm going to leave my clothes in my room, and then I'll get going."
Zev had reached his doorway by the time she responded. Based on the volume of her voice, he knew she was right behind him.
"What about dinner, Zev? You must be hungry."
He walked into his room and stripped off his shirt, keeping his back turned to her. When he was alone, he allowed his wolf to take over so quickly that undressing wasn't necessary because the clothes
fell easily to the wayside. But with his mother present, Zev forced himself to slowly undress. He wasn't ready to explain his ability to shift more quickly than others. His parents already knew he was different, stronger than the other shifters. They didn't need to know all the details.
"I'll hunt something for dinner, Mama. I need to clear my head, my wolf needs to roam."
She hesitated, aware of her son's unusual penchant for running on his own, then relented.
"I understand, dear. You go have a nice run and hunt. Stay out as long as your wolf demands."
Zev's clothes were in a pile by the window by the time his mother had finished her sentence, and then he was outside, letting his animal control his impulses and desires. He was certain that shifting into his wolf would solve the dilemma that had been plaguing his human. After all, his beast was more primal than his man; he worked on instinct rather than logic. But much like his human, Zev's wolf insisted that he was attracted to Jonah.
It was as if Jonah's act of speaking the words out loud had knocked down the walls. Zev's conscious knowledge of this now obvious attraction was no longer blocked. He couldn't continue to hide or pretend he didn't know. How was this possible? How could he be attracted to a male human—two factors that would prevent him from tying and should therefore repel him, or at the very least his wolf?
He caught a rabbit for dinner, climbed the highest peak in the forest, and howled at the moon in frustration. As if the attraction to his best friend wasn't confusing enough on its own, it wasn't the only thing the conversation with Jonah had brought to the forefront of Zev's mind. The other realization now consuming the young shifter was that he'd never been attracted to anybody other than Jonah in his entire life.
It didn't make sense. Shifters were, if anything, more sexual than humans. His peers had long been sexually active within the pack. In fact, the only time Zev had ever heard of a shifter having such a limited attraction was when…. Zev's wolf sucked in a deep breath as shock radiated through his muscular body. The only time he'd ever heard of a
shifter being attracted to only one other was when that shifter had a true mate. And in that circumstance, the shifter would never want anyone other than his true mate because that shifter's spirit was already bound with that of his mate, and he could never tie with another.
Jonah was Zev's true mate.
He waited for his wolf to brush off the thought, but instead all he felt was a deep sense of peace fall over his body, as if he'd been tense his entire life just waiting for that truth to make itself known. Zev didn't understand how it was possible; it was completely inconsistent with everything he'd been taught. Yet, no matter how illogical the realization, in his wolf form Zev couldn't deny it. His wolf was all primal feeling, and the only thing he felt was the absolute truth, the undeniable fact that the human whose scent had called to him seventeen years earlier and had inspired his first shift, his best friend, the only person to whom his body had ever responded on any level, was his mate. Jonah Marvel was Zev's true mate.
Chapter 6
BEFORE his mind could process what his body was doing, the brown wolf, larger than many twice his age, was weaving through trees at a breakneck speed. He had to be with his mate, at that very moment and for every other moment in time. When he finally had Jonah's house in sight, Zev froze. He'd never gone further than the edge of the clearing in his wolf form, knowing it wasn't safe to risk exposure to humans. But it was the middle of the night, so Jonah wasn't outside and wouldn't see him unless he got closer to the house. Zev needed his mate. With that overpowering force driving him, Zev's wolf stalked closer to the house just as Jonah's bedroom window opened.
"Zev? Is that you?" A sleepy whisper sounded out from the window.
Like a puppy receiving the most delicious bone possible, Zev's wolf bounded over to Jonah, jumping up and resting his large paws on the windowsill. The young man laughed, reached his hand out, and stroked Zev's thick coat.
"Oh, it's you, Pup. I thought I heard my friend out here."
Zev tilted his head to the side and looked at Jonah, really looked at him. The young man couldn't have heard anything. The window had been shut, and Zev had barely made a sound. Even a shifter wouldn't have been able to hear him approach.
As Zev pondered the situation, he remembered other times over the past seventeen years when his wolf had visited Jonah. Sure, there
were instances when Jonah had been outside playing. But those days were by far the minority. Usually, Zev's wolf would sit for a few minutes and Jonah would come out, always delighted to see him.
The shifter wondered whether the human even realized why he had been drawn outside. No, he couldn't know. Zev hadn't recognized it until that very moment, and he was a shifter, familiar with their history, well-versed in their powers and, as it turned out, personally acquainted with the internal call between mates. He was certain Jonah had felt more than heard him—that Jonah could sense the call too. It was likely that the mate's call had led Jonah out to his yard over the years when Zev's wolf had come to visit.
Zev pushed his muzzle against Jonah's hand and whimpered, his amber eyes locking on the black orbs shining from the beloved face above him. Let me in, Jonah. I need to be with you.
Jonah's brow furrowed in confusion. He backed away a step and patted the sill.
"Do you want to come in, Pup?"
Had his mate heard his thoughts? True mates sometimes shared a mental link. But Zev had been taught that this rare gift presented itself, if at all, only after the mates had been trying for many moons. Like most aspects of the mating bond, the connections were cumulative, strengthening and growing over time. With each tie, mates grew closer together, so close that some true mates had been said to hear each other's unspoken thoughts. Not possible. Jonah couldn't have heard me. It was a coincidence.
Whatever the impetus for the invitation, Zev intended to take it. He backed up from the window and pushed off the ground, leaping into the air, above the sill, and landing smack dab against Jonah, who stumbled backward and crumpled to the floor. And just like that, Zev found himself in the same position he'd been earlier that day, his body covering his best friend's, his eyes looking down at Jonah's, and, yes, his dick hard as a rock from the close proximity to this man, from the touch of his hands stroking Zev's fur, from his stimulating scent. Zev wanted Jonah like he'd never wanted anything else in his life. The need was so strong it made his bones ache.
The human buried within the wolf's skin exerted every ounce of control he had and forced his wolf to move back, lest he frighten his best friend. Zev raised himself off Jonah on shaky legs and backed away into the corner. He rolled himself into a ball and whimpered quietly. He hurt. Every nerve ending in his body wanted to touch Jonah. He needed to claim his mate, but he couldn't because Jonah was male and human. Zev had never known pain as intense as that which coursed through him as a result of the denied need to be with his mate, to tie together and join with him in all ways possible.
"What's wrong, Pup?" Jonah approached Zev with his hand out, palm up. He squatted down by the huge wolf and looked at him with concern. "Are you sick?"
Jonah's position brought his crotch dangerously close to Zev's face. The young man's enticing scent was strongest in that part of his body, and Zev couldn't stop himself from raising his head and resting it in Jonah's lap, sniffing at him and burrowing as close as he could through the protective barrier of his mate's pajama pants. He rolled onto his stomach, hiding an arousal that he knew would frighten and repulse the human, but kept his head in place on Jonah's thigh with his nose close to Jonah's sex.
With his mate near, he could feel Jonah's heat, smell Jonah's scent. They were together. It was enough. It had to be enough. For now. The last thought—an internal promise from Zev's human to his wolf that the separation from Jonah's body was only temporary—was what Zev's body needed to soothe out the cramping that had taken over his intestines.
Jonah lowered himself onto his backside and scooted against the wall. He kept his hand on the thick fur and petted the wolf that he'd seen on an almost daily basis for as long as he could remember. For the first time since that afternoon's debacle with Zev, Jonah felt calm. He'd had trouble falling asleep, still anxious about Zev's reaction to their encounter and Jonah's assertion that Zev was attracted to him. Even when he'd finally drifted into slumber, Jonah had tossed around restlessly, terrified that he'd driven away his best friend for good. But in that moment, sitting on the floor with his arms around the brown
wolf, he felt better. There was something about the animal that tempered Jonah's worry and relaxed him from the inside out.
Jonah sighed. His eyelids felt heavy and his body was worn out from the stressful day. So much so, that with the wolf's warm body pressed against his, Jonah succumbed to sleep without giving any thought as to why his cock had lengthened and hardened as soon as he'd embraced the creature.
HE'D never rested so soundly, felt so complete and at peace. Jonah snuggled up against the soft, warm pillow and sighed happily. An answering rumble caused him to reassess the pillow theory. As sleep started clearing from his mind, Jonah became aware of the strong heartbeat close to his ear and the sound of someone else breathing. Zev. He sensed Zev.
But the last time he'd seen his best friend they'd fought, so that didn't make sense. Jonah opened one eye and was greeted with an amber gaze. Except these amber eyes weren't attached to the body of the young man who'd played front and center in Jonah's every fantasy. They were attached to the brown wolf Jonah had known even longer. His arm was already wrapped around the large canine, so Jonah just moved his hand back and forth over the soft coat, petting his animal friend.
"Morning, Pup. Anyone ever tell you that you make a great teddy bear?"
Jonah laughed when the wolf growled. He actually looked affronted. Who knew that expression was possible for a dog?
"Oh, Pup, did I offend you? Sorry, boy." Jonah squeezed the large animal into a tight hug. It felt so comforting, he didn't want to let go.
"Jonah?"
His father's voice outside his bedroom door forced Jonah to release his hold on the wild creature. The wolf rose to his feet and
licked Jonah's neck. Then he walked over to the window and jumped out.
"Coming, Dad."
Jonah watched the wolf run across the yard and didn't notice his father enter the room. Just as the wolf reached the thick trees, Jonah heard a loud gasp. He turned to see his father standing right behind him, staring out the window, his eyes wide and his expression petrified.
"Dad? Are you okay?"
Kevin Marvel didn't respond to his son. His sudden loss of color and panting breath worried Jonah. He grasped his father's shoulders and shook him lightly, hoping to get his attention.
"Dad! What's wrong?"
Kevin swallowed hard a few times and shook his head. "Nothing. Must have been my imagination. Thought I saw a wolf."
Jonah's father was allergic to dogs. It was why he'd never been allowed to have one as a pet. But he hadn't realized there was fear in addition to the allergy. He wondered if his father had been bitten as a child. He was about to ask his dad about the oddly intense reaction he'd just had, but Kevin spoke first.
"I have breakfast ready. Come join me, Jonah. I have some good news I want to share with you."
Well, that tone made for the least persuasive pitch of something good Jonah had ever heard. Was his father tense about the good news or was he still in the throes of his odd reaction to the wolf? Only one way to find out.
"'kay. I'll be out in a sec."
His father nodded and walked out of the room. Jonah pulled a T-shirt out of his drawer and slipped it over his head. Then he made a quick stop in the bathroom before walking out of his bedroom, down the hallway, through the family room, and into the kitchen, where his father was sitting at the table waiting for him.
"What's up?" he asked as he reached for his glass of juice and lifted it to his mouth.
"The hospital near the college had an open position. I applied and they offered me the job. That means I'll be able to sell the house and move with you."
Jonah didn't know how to respond. He had a great relationship with his father, but the man had always been a bit overprotective. For the most part, Jonah didn't mind. The long-standing crush on his best friend meant Jonah hadn't ever wanted to sneak off with girls, and until yesterday, Jonah had never been brave enough to express his feelings for Zev. Good relationship or not, though, having your father follow you to college was just weird.
"Look, I can tell you're concerned about this, but don't worry. I won't hold you back, son." Kevin Marvel reached his hand across the table and rested it on his son's cheek. "You're my only family, Jonah. I know you think you're all grown, but you'll always be my baby, and I want to keep you safe."
How was he supposed to respond to that? Jonah had never known his mother. She'd died when he was a baby. His father had never dated again, devoting his life completely to his son. Sometimes Jonah felt it was too much pressure, but he loved his father and felt grateful for their close relationship.
"Okay, Dad. I'm glad we'll be moving together. It'll be great."
When he saw the tension leave his father's body and a smile grace his father's face, Jonah knew he'd said the right thing. He dug into his meal and tried to focus on how wonderful it would be to move to a new place, how much fun he'd have in college, how much he'd learn. Basically, Jonah tried to think about everything except the fact that with his father's move, there'd be no reason for him to return to Etzgadol. No reason for him to ever see Zev Hassick again, even if his friend was willing to spend time with him after the previous afternoon's fiasco. An ache deep in his chest told Jonah that if he didn't make up with his friend, he'd never be able to recover from the loss.