Mine

I could tell the moment we entered the land controlled by the Others from the way Peter started to move. His body always had a fluid component to its movements, a glide to each step that held a grace that I could never hope to match. But at the westward fork of the intersection, Peter became so much more. His muscles seemed to bunch and roll under his skin, his pewter eyes reflecting more red tints than before. Every step he took screamed 'beware, deadly menace' as he prowled down the road.

Peter paused at the beginning of a small bridge to look over the railing at the water that churned slowly beneath him in the shade. Funny, the rest of the river ran smooth until that spot and smooth afterwards as well. It was too shallow for rapids and I joined Peter at the rail to look at the abnormality. Bodies seemed to weave under the water, creating tight knots of smooth flesh and skin.

"What is it?"

"What makes you think I would know?"

"Well, duh, you're a werewolf."

"I didn't believe in vampires until you managed to piss off a flock of them. It's not like the non-humans kept in touch throughout the ages. I know about as much as you do about all the Others out there. I'm just trying to keep you from being eaten."

"Peter, you really need to work on your comforting speeches."

"How's this," he smiled as he pulled me into a toe curling kiss. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

"I give the speech a C+ but extra credit for the visuals." Chuffing softly Peter pulled me closer, resting my head against his shoulder as he ran his nails across my scalp. "You are a smart ass, you know that right?"

"It's better than being a dumb ass."

"Some days I miss the times where you were too scared of me to talk."

"Yeah, that whole first twenty minutes had me shaking in my boots." My banter was cut short by Peter's palm blocking any sound from escaping my mouth as the tall grass rustled ahead, parting to reveal four amber eyed men. "Shiiiitttt." Peter's hand did little to block my exclamation.

I had a lovely view of Peter's thumb as it became clawed under my nose, the tips of each finger's claw etched their way across my skin in the first stage of Peter's shift. His muscles rolled and popped against my back moving upward as he shifted into his wolf man form. Pushing me behind him, he stepped forward to meet the wolves at the center of the bridge.

"Alpha." As one they exposed throats, a sideways roll of their head and tilt of the chin. "This is a gathering place. Those that seek violence are encouraged to look elsewhere."

"I seek shelter from the season of death, a warm place to den for the cold months to come." Peter's voice was gravely as he enunciated each word around the mouthful of fangs.

"Do all Others talk like they're extras from a bad knight in shining armor movie or is it just the werewolves?" Funny, I could almost feel Peter's eye roll but I was otherwise ignored.

After talking briefly the wolves blended back into the tall grass, giving directions in the same stilted speech pattern that had me shaking my head in wonder. I would tease, without mercy, the first person who used a 'thee' or 'thou' in my presence. Well, my presence and Peter's. I wasn't stupid.

The town had once been a tourist hot spot. The main road, which was cobbled in smooth river stones, lead straight to the town square. Peter stayed in ultra-wolf man form as we walked down the street, his red eyes staring down any that ventured too close. I bit my tongue on my initial urge to make comments along the lines of "how do you expect to make friends if you scare everyone away" but after seeing what the town had to offer I was fine with Peter looking like the scariest kid on the block.

The werewolves were easy to spot and the most numerous. Each one that Peter passed would tilt their head, eyes flashing briefly amber or blue. One came out of a small store and walked right into Peter's path. I kept my smile to myself as it fell backwards on the sidewalk exposing both his throat and belly to Peter. After that it seemed that all the werewolves found it best to walk on the other side of the street.

A group of vampires perched on benches in the town square, their bodies weaving back in forth snakelike. They moved as one, bodies in perfect rhythm that increased as we came closer. I could feel their eyes on me and the disk shaped scars on my chest started to itch. As if sensing that I was once a snack item, they fluttered from the benches and crossed the street to block our way.

"You have a human." For a sentence that had absolutely no S's in it, they sure made a lot of hissing. I could feel my body start to mirror their swaying motions, a tug deep in my gut that wanted to pull me toward them. I didn't even know I had moved until I felt Peter's arm iron stiff across my chest, keeping me from going to them. Shaking my head to clear the crazy cob webs I ducked behind him and pressed my face into his fur.

In this form he smelled like fire and warm whisky. I ran my fingers upward along his spine as he growled out warnings. His rumble made the long guard hairs on his back vibrate and they tickled my nose until I sneezed.

"Did you just sneeze into my fur?"

"Sorry."

All the stores we passed fit right into my mental version of what the old west should look like: dry goods store, saloon, café with both girls and boys lounging at the windows, and a lone hotel. "I think we should have brought our spurs and ten gallon hat. Shit, someone watched too much John Wayne."

A tall man stepped out of the shadows of the small café and made his way toward us. He reached Peter's furry shoulder which would put him over six five. Wearing a leather vest and no shirt, his grey colored skin was clearly visible. I expected him to utter a "howdy stranger, what brings you to these parts" from the way he let his hand rest against his jeans, thumb tucked just inside the waist band as he ambled our way.

"Alpha," he greeted. "I hope we won't have any trouble from you." He let his eyes roam Peter's appearance with an air of unease. I couldn't blame him, Peter was something to behold and fear when he choose to walk in his alpha wolf form. As the man took his time looking at Peter I was able to get a better view of him as well. At closer inspection the man's skin looked thick almost like leather and his nails were pointed and yellow tinged. "Should you desire to sell your stock, the yard is a couple of streets over."

I was about to open my mouth to ask what he meant by stock when I realized that I was the only human walking free in the area. I turned back to look again at the café where the painted boys and girls sat. Once I really looked I could see the collars and thin chains that connected them to their chairs. Their eyes were haunted, bleak, and hopeless and I found myself clutching Peter so tightly that I must have pulled his fur.

"Thank you but I am pleased with his services for right now." As we passed by the grey man his eyes never left mine or blinked. They were the gold of a jungle cat and just as hungry. I moved even closer to Peter getting my feet tangled in his and almost tripping us both. I was kept from a face to face meeting with the cobbles by Peter's firm grip on the collar of my jacket and I let myself dangle for a second until he set me back on my feet.

"If you get any closer, you will be riding in my pocket."

"If I could fit in your pocket I would be there right now. I am starting to think this was not a good idea."

Peter pressed his muzzle to my forehead, his nose cool as it rested between my eyebrows. I wondered briefly if he would bite me if I tried to pet his ears in this form but for once I caught myself before acting on my suicidal impulses.

The hotel was at the end of the main street and we managed to make it without having anymore interactions with Others. They continued to give Peter a wide radius even as they sized me up like a juicy steak with potatoes on the side.

"You still have that Sharpie?"

"Why?"

"I'm writing 'not on the menu' on my T-shirt as soon as we get a room. I feel like one of those lobsters at a sea food restaurant."

"I think of you as more of a delicious pastry in a bakery counter."

"OH MY GOD. You are not helping." Peter chuckled the rest of the way to the hotel. For those that didn't know him it must have been a terrifying sound because the streets cleared out as soon as the first amused rumbled poured out of his fanged mouth.

I sat huddled in a large leather couch while Peter negotiated a room. He seemed to get a good deal after he dragged to smaller wolf over the counter and slammed him to the ground at his feet. All three containers of salt were thrust into the babbling urine soaked wolf and we were given a key to our room.

A large king size bed filled the room. Its fluffy pillows and mattress called siren like to me and I could not help but follow its sweet song. I threw myself on the bed, bouncing playfully while Peter placed his packs in the closet and pick mine up off the floor. Picking up the remote I punched the buttons, pointing it at the long dead TV, before mournfully placing it back on the side table.

"Looks like the cable is out." Looking over I watched as Peter seemed to shrink back to his human form, fixing his hair as his body shifted. Grabbing fresh clothes out of the pack he turned to me as he dressed.

"I have some books in my pack. It wouldn't hurt you to read more." Peter leaned over, trapping my head between his hands and placed a lingering kiss on my lips. I pressed upward my leg winding its way around his knee trying to pull him down onto the bed with me.

"Later." Peter nipped my lip as he pulled away. "There are some things I need to look into. Stay here, okay."

Not that he gave me a choice. He was out the door leaving me behind, spread wantonly on the bed. I read until the sun went down and it was too dark to continue. The room was equipped with a lantern which bathed the room in soft yellow light but it wasn't enough for me to continue reading by. I watched the streets of the town light up with flickering lanterns and crackling fires making the shadows dance along the walls and cobbled stones.

Peter still hadn't come back and I was starting to worry. Making my way down the stairs I found the same small wolf still behind the counter. His eyes flashed amber as I approached him but other than that he didn't seem to be a threat.

"Hi, I'm looking for my friend. He's the big alpha that came in earlier. Do you know where he went?"

"He asked for direction to the yards." At my shocked and confused look, a cruel smile spread across his features. "Bet you will fetch a pretty price."

I swallowed down the 'fuck you' and ran out to find Peter. The yards were empty except for a handful of humans locked in a small shed, huddled together to conserve their warmth. I pulled on the doors testing the heavy lock before another large grey skinned man walked out of the building out of the building next to me. I ducked and ran back to the main street franticly searching for Peter.

I caught a glimpse of his hair in the café sitting at a table surrounded by other wolves with a skinny girl straddling his lap. I slid in the door and worked my way past the Others', dodging pinches and slaps until I was an arms-length away from Peter's table. He held a large glass of a reddish liquid to his lips as he spoke to the group at the table.

"….humans burned my house down, trapping my family inside to burn. I could hear their screams, smell their flesh burning as they died and there was nothing I could do. I couldn't save them and I couldn't avenge them. I have no love for humans. They created this mess and they can rot in its decaying filth for all I care."

I backed away, horrified by what I had just heard. My mind flashed back to the times Peter had told me I was just a means to an end. I had thought it no more than a Peter mood swing but maybe it was how he really felt, that he was just waiting for the right time. Maybe I had been foolishly projecting my own needs for a savior and friend while ignoring the truth of his actions.

But that couldn't be right. He had always been kind and gentle. There had been plenty of times he could have just taken what he wanted and left me. Why go to such an elaborate scheme?

"Rumor has it you brought in a pretty morsel. There is quite a demand for items of that nature in town. I could point you in the right direction if you are looking to sell."

I didn't wait for Peter's reply. Panic took hold of my heart and squeezed until the breathe in my lungs turned to dust and the blood pounded in my head. I flew back to the hotel tears half blinding me causing me to tumble on the uneven road skinning palms and knees as I went.

Slamming my way into the room I grabbed my backpack and dumped all but the most necessary items out of it into a pile on the bed. I pulled the tent out of the closet as well as my canteen and half the dried food. I didn't dare take more, I wasn't even sure that Peter wouldn't kill me straight out for taking what I stuffed into my pack for breaking our deal again.

But we didn't have a deal; he was just leading me along until he could find a use for me. Use me as a way to avenge his family and feed his hatred of my kind. I wheezed, feeling the first stages of a panic attack nipping at the edges of my awareness and I struggled to fight it off. I hadn't had an attack since I was fourteen, not when the zombies walked the streets of my neighborhood, not when the world went to hell, and not when I lost everything that I loved to a bloody mob on the outskirts of my home town. I wasn't going to give into it now.

Panting, my fist clenched at my sides, I stood in the middle of the room and tried to gather my fluttering thought together long enough to form a plan, a way to escape this town and Peter before he decided to sell me off as some sort of plaything or, worse yet, meal. Dashing the tears from my cheeks I picked up my pack just as I heard Peter's key turn in the lock. Shit!

I tossed the pack to the foot of the bed and shoved it under with my foot as I sweep the rest of my clothing onto the floor just as Peter walked in the door. Seeing the quizzical eyebrow raise in my direction and suspicion forming in his eyes I knew I had to do something to distract him. He'd fucking kill me if he knew or just sell me to one of those grey skinned bastards. Oh, Lord, I would never survive as one of those monster's playthings.

"Stiles? Why is your heart rate so erratic? Did something scare you?" Peter leaned against the door blocking any chance I would have of escape. His body was relaxed, arms loose by his side and feet crossed at his ankles.

My brain was stuck on "distract, distract, distract" and I jumped at the chance to divert his attention from the pack that was sticking out from under the bed in a not so subtle way. Two steps and I was pressed up against him. A slight tilt of my head and just barely up on my toes and my lips were pressed against his in a frantic kiss.

At first there was no response from Peter which had me panicking even more because, shit, this was the wolf who used any and every excuse to maul me and touch me and here I am throwing myself at him and he doesn't even move. I was just at the point where I was thinking that my goose was cooked when he returned my kiss, deepening it and completely taking over.

Peter's mouth was amazing. The man could kiss. If there was an Academy Award for kissing he would win it hands down. And his hands were down, down my back, down my pants and cupping my ass as he brought me closer to his body. Damn, what am I supposed to be doing? Right! Distract, distract, distract!

Pulling back slightly I risked a quick glance into Peter's eyes. The pupils were blown wide but I could see the mental calculations still going on behind the lust. Shit, I needed a better distraction. Quickly, before I lost all courage, I dropped to my knees, hands skimming down his sides and resting at his hips. Pressing my face into his lower abdomen I swallowed my nervousness. Survival, I reminded myself. It was about survival and so far Peter had been my best chance of living to see my twentieth birthday without becoming zombie kibble or some were's pet on a leash.

I nuzzled and mouthed the growing bulge before risking another glance upward to see if my advances were completely welcomed. Peter's head was thrown back, his lips parted with a silent "oh" that amazed me. Realizing that I had stilled he looked down. Running my hands over his waist band I gave his pants a short downward tug before returning my gaze to his crimson rimmed eyes for permission.

"God, yes. Stiles! Yes."

His pants slid easily down his hips revealing his length. The scent of musk and spice filled my nostrils making me forget for a moment that my life could very well be hanging in the balance here. Swirling my tongue over his tip I ran my hands lightly up the backs of his legs until I reached his firm ass then pulled him to me as I sucked him down.

And then gagged when I took him in too deep. Looking up I expected to see Peter smirking at my novice attempts but was met with eyes blown wide with lust, pupils wide and dark, ringed with a fiery red. His hands brushed through my hair tugging me forward and I bobbed my head going a little deeper with each downbeat as I cupped and massaged his balls.

"God, Stiles." Peter groaned, pulling me to my feet and into another kiss. "What has gotten in to you?"

Without breaking the kiss I slowly tugged him back toward the bed until I felt the mattress behind my knees and I let myself drop back, spreading my legs in invitation. "How do you want me Peter?" I sounded slutty and desperate but then I WAS desperate. Desperate to stay with Peter or desperate to escape from Peter clashed in my jumbled thoughts.

"I want you to ride me, your head thrown back and the only sound leaving those delicious lips of yours is my name as I pound up into you until you come from riding me alone." His eyes have gone completely crimson and I pushed myself further up the bed, removing my shirt and pants as I made my way toward the headboard.

"Okay, I can do that. I can do anything you want Peter. Anything you want." I had my pants down to my ankles and then Peter was pressing down upon me, forcing me deeper into the mattress as he kissed his way into my mouth, his hand holding my head at the perfect tilt so that he could have the best access to my depths.

I lost all sense of purpose; it was just Peter and the waves of pleasure and need that he sent swirling down my body with each nip of his teeth and stroke of his tongue. I mewed, lifting my head off the bed to follow him as he broke the kiss but Peter had me pinned to the bed, both my wrist bound in the grasp of one of his hands. Seeing his pissed expression quickly cleared my lust soaked brain.

"Okay, you are going to tell me what the hell is going on with you and I want the truth."

"Nothing is going on with me. I just wanted to kiss you and touch you. I didn't think you would be against it."

"Don't lie to me!" Crimson eyes flashed in warning as Peter's voice deepened to a growl. "Don't ever lie to me."

"Sorry. Peter, I'm sorry."

"What has gotten into you?" Peter paused and looked more closely at me, his face leaning closer, tilting one way and then the other. He sniffs my skin starting at my neck and working his way down my body, nose dissecting and cataloguing each scent. "You came down to spy on me. Exactly what did you hear?"

"Wasn't spying. I just was worried about you. "

"Hmmm. Lucky you're feline DNA free. What did you hear that has you so afraid? I don't like you being THIS afraid of me." His head shot up as he realized exactly what I must have heard.

Frantic babble poured from my mouth. "I know you want me Peter. I can see it in the way you look at me and touch me. I can make it good for you. Just give me a chance. Don't let those guys have me. Please Peter. I'll to everything you want me to."

I was going to add more. Racking my mind for every porn movie I had ever watched to think of positions I could tempt him with, ways I could pleasure him if he would just keep me safe, just KEEP ME. All my thinking was short circuited when he kissed me again; it was all I could do to remember that my heart needed to beat and breath was a necessity for my continued existence.

"I'm not a nice person Stile." His breath was warm against my ear and shouldn't feel anywhere as good as it did. Terrified and horny should not be dancing together hand and hand. "I haven't been a nice person since the fire that killed my entire family. If I was a good person I would find some nice human settlement and set you free, not remind you every day of the debt you owe me for saving your life, keeping you safe, and feeding you. I'd remember that you are not even twenty; almost a child and that would keep me from wanting you, needing to taste you and hold you. But I'm not a nice person, there is little goodness left in me. But Stiles, for you, I would use my last breath to keep you safe. I'll keep you safe from all the others but I can't keep you safe from me."

"Oh" Really I used to be so much better with verbal responses. "So you DON'T want to fuck me?" Yeah, because at that point it was all I could think about. My survival instincts suck eggs.

"Hell yes I want to fuck you. I want you in every possible way there is, I want you but I am not going to hurt you in the process. When we do this, I want it to feel good for both of us. Okay?"

The prickling behind my eyelids warned me of my upcoming tear fest and I turned on my side to hide my face from Peter. I should have felt relieved that I wasn't going to have to have sex but all I really felt was mild disappointment. Somewhere along the line I have lost my mind. "So why where you there? Why did you say those things?"

Peter pressed a gentle kiss to the side of my neck. "What other explanation would they except for me traveling with a human? I knew you would want to play hero so I checked out the situation with the humans."

"Can we help them? There has to be something we can do." I tried to sit up, pushing against Peter's shoulder but he remained unmoved.

"Not without getting both of us killed. I looked everywhere. There is nothing either one of us can do. This is no place for a boy scout like you." The tension went out of my body. I wanted to help but knew there was nothing short of dying or joining them that I could do. I hated what this world was forcing me to become. Peter seemed to understand and pulled me into a tight hug, doing his best to comfort me.

"We are leaving tomorrow before you do something even more stupid than running away in the middle of a town full of creatures that want to hurt, degrade, or eat you. I would rather not have to kill half the Other population of this hell hole if they tried to put their hands on you. "

"Sorry Peter. I didn't know what else to do. I heard you say you hated humans and I just thought…"

"I stopped thinking of you as a human weeks ago." Peter tugged me until my head rested on his shoulder, his fingers lightly playing up and down my side.

Rolling my head so that I could see his face I asked, "What do you think of me as?"

"Mine."