Part 4

Kiss me.

The next morning Sebastian had no desire to speak to Hunter. Why would the fates give him a lying sack of shit for a mate? Was he being punished? Okay, so maybe Hunter was gorgeous, that was something, but the human half of him did not trust Sebastian one bit. What was more telling was the fact that his mate wasn't just hiding something, he was in real danger.

"Blaine?" He'd made his way to the far side of the house, "Did you find anything?" He had quietly asked Blaine to make inquiries after leaving Hunter at the dinner table. His mate had secrets, Sebastian had resources. If Hunter didn't want to tell his own story, the evidence would tell it for him. One thing he knew for sure, Hunter was downplaying his gift by a mile.

"Unfortunately." Blaine waved him in. "I had to call in all my favors with the Ohio PD. But…here." He turned his laptop screen towards Sebastian, "no criminal record to speak of. He was born in Huntington, Colorado; his parents were killed on a camping trip ten years ago. After that his residence is listed as Colorado Military Academy in Dayton."

Sebastian sat down slowly, not really wanting to hear what was next. "How did they die? His parents."

"Animal attack." Blaine looked at Sebastian warily, "we can't rule out the possibility that he's dangerous Sebastian. If this was his first change, he might have killed his parents."

"We don't know that." Swallowing hard, Sebastian tried to remain objective, "which one was wolf? Mom or dad?"

"As far as I can tell? Neither. This never would have happened if one or both parents were lupine. They would have prepared him better."

"You think he was adopted?" Sebastian's eyebrows went up in question, but Blaine was already shaking his head.

"Not according to the birth records. And there's more." Blaine clicked on another tab in the browser, "six months ago animal attacks started happening around the Dayton area. Three people are dead."

Sebastian ran a hand through his hair, "is he…Hunter…"

"They aren't considered murder cases. Not as far as I can see from the article." Blaine printed out the news article that marked the locations of the attacks. The commentary theorized that one of Colorado's big cats was responsible.

"Blaine…" Sebastian was tracing a semi-circle around the attack locations, connecting them. In the center was Dayton Military Academy.

"Oh no." Blaine looked up at Sebastian. "I have to tell the counsel about this. You know that."

Sebastian stood and held up a hand, "no. let me handle it." He couldn't betray his mate, not when he'd just barely found the guy. "He might not be guilty…Please don't tell Wes yet? Give me time."

"Well, he looks pretty guilty already. This is bad Sebastian. Have you considered that the poachers chasing him had already worked out that he was dangerous and that's why they tried to kill him?"

"I know! Just…give me time? Please? If you were in my position, you would put your mate ahead of pack. Well now I have a mate and he needs my help. I need…time to sort through the facts. What if he's not guilty? Even if he killed his parents during his first change, there's no reason he'd be responsible for more murders years later..."

"Unless he suppresses his wolf." Blaine's eyes were serious and wide. "That makes a wolf violent and half breeds are particularly dangerous, you know that." Blaine sighed as Sebastian tilted his head, "don't look at me like that, I'm a healer, I tested his blood…" and then added, "I haven't told Wes yet. But I will have to."

"Wait!"

"You could just ask him." Blaine offered.

Sebastian's lips pressed tightly together and he shook his head, "he's lying to me, and I don't know if I can get him to trust me before you have to report to Wes. I have to try something else."

With a huge sigh, Blaine touched his forehead, "I guess I can sit on it for…maybe two days. After that I have to report what I found. Wes won't like knowing he has a feral wolf in his pack."

"I know." Sebastian swallowed hard.

Carefully avoiding his mate, Sebastian left without a word and headed towards the pack's central garage. Not every pack member had their own transportation and today Sebastian needed to go off road. He wanted to see the site where Hunter was shot again. There had to be clues left behind.

"I need a favor." He said barging into the garage without a hello.

Kurt Hummel, the human male who was mated to Blaine Anderson popped his head around a pole. "Excuse me?"

"Kurt." It was still so hard to be nice after the two men had done nothing but argue since the days they were competing for Blaine.

Kurt tilted his head at Sebastian, "why are you here? Let me guess, you're thirsty and the hose in your backyard isn't working."

Sebastian smirked at Kurt, this was probably not the time to take the man's verbal sparring bait. Not when he needed a favor. "Where's your dad? Blaine said you had night duty."

"Double shift." Kurt shrugged, "Dad's out. You're stuck with me." Kurt returned Sebastian's smirk, "I thought you were a newly mated. Shouldn't you be at home with the big bad wolf sniffing each other in awkward places?"

"Yeah." Sebastian let out an audible sigh, "that's not happening for a while." If ever. "Look. I need to borrow your ATV."

"Honeymooning at the dirt track?" Kurt raised an eyebrow, "your mate must be as classy as you."

Sebastian took a step closer and lowered his voice, "I need to see the site where he got shot." He watched Kurt's expression change and then the other man disappeared into a back office. Minutes later, he reappeared with what looked like riding clothes and matching boots, complete with a checkered golf cap.

What…the…actual fuck. "I didn't realize this garage doubled as an Equestrian center."

"I'll let that pass because I'm enjoying seeing you so off your game." Kurt walked towards the back of the garage and waved his hand. "I'll drive."

"I'd prefer to go alone."

"Then you can forget it." Kurt was already gone, giving Sebastian a hard choice. Let the least likely person become his ally, or find another way. He didn't have time to let the trail go cold when his mate's life was at stake.

"I'm driving." Sebastian tried to say over the roar of the All-Terrain Vehicle engine, but Kurt simply turned, smiled and pointed to his ear, shaking his head as if he couldn't hear. Swallowing a fair amount of pride, he climbed on behind Kurt. "I'm going to regret this…fuck!" Kurt took off and Sebastian was forced to hold on tight or be thrown off the back of the vehicle as they sped away.

The ATV whizzed through Dalton Proper and down back roads the patrols used to gain access to various sector's rapidly. Half an hour later, the two were making their way along the crest of the ravine where Sebastian spotted his mate. "Stop." He patted Kurt's side and then dismounted. Gun powder was still faint, but present in the air, something only a wolf could pick up on.

"I wonder what someone had against this tree…" mused Kurt walking over to one of the Sweetgum trees. "It's bleeding." Kurt took a little knife from his pocket and expertly dug out a bullet.

"They fired four shots." Only three bullets had hit Hunter. Sebastian looked at the trail they'd left.

"Well they missed with this one." Kurt had the bullet between his fingers. "This is like an Episode of CSI! What else do you know?"

"I heard the guys who shot him say; 'Damien would want to see the body'."

"That's appropriately barbaric. There are two sets of tracks. Wide tires…specific. Boot prints, size 11 ½. You should be writing this down." Kurt was fishing for his phone and then jabbering away on it as if he were gossiping with a friend.

Sebastian wasn't listening, he was following tracks from the ATV he'd heard on the ridge the day before. "If you were from out of town, say Colorado, where would you go rent one of these things?" It wasn't as though the group tracking Hunter could simply show up with an ATV unless it was on the back of a truck. In which case, they'd be easy to spot in a motel parking lot. It would be helpful if the men assumed Hunter was dead and moved on, but Sebastian wouldn't assume he'd be that lucky. He turned to face Kurt who was nodding and talking into his cell phone. Sebastian's eyebrows drew closer together, "who the hell are you talking to?"

The phone went back into Kurt's riding bag and he raised an eyebrow. "The zoo. They're expecting you back." When Sebastian said nothing Kurt waved a hand, "oh fine. Someone named Damien Loup rented 2 ATV's two days ago." Kurt shrugged, "there aren't many places to get that kind of off road equipment this close to Dalton. I know the people who own the place."

A spark of hope went off in Sebastian's chest, "do they still have them?"

"Returned last night. Paid in cash." Kurt walked towards the vehicle they'd driven out. "I think I need a pair of cop glasses. Something couture. Vintage."

"Loup is French. It means wolf." Sebastian said shaking his head. "It's probably a fake name."

"You know I can speak French." Kurt drawled, "anyway, I guess we'll find out when we get to the motel."

"What motel?" Sebastian's head snapped up.

"The one we're going to. Relax moron, I'm not propositioning you. This Damien person left it as his address with the rental place. Let's go."

For once Sebastian didn't feel like any verbal sparring with his former rival turned roommate. He just wanted to get to the bottom of why people wanted to kill Hunter. The man was his mate whom he hardly knew and who felt the need to lie about a whole lot of his past. Some things the pack would accept and some things they wouldn't. There was a real possibility that Pack Dalton wouldn't offer Hunter sanctuary if they knew all this. Silently, he vowed to put Hunter first no matter what the truth exposed, but he needed to uncover it first.

"Dead end." Kurt said exiting the motel. They had ditched Kurt's ATV and taken Sebastian's Porsche, giving Kurt time for yet another outfit change. "The clerk said they checked out this morning. They had three rooms, so that's at least six people and they paid in cash." When Sebastian looked as though he might sit down in the middle of the parking lot with frustration, Kurt actually tried to comfort him. "Hey, look on the bright side. Maybe they left because they think he's dead."

"Which means if they figure out he's alive, they might come back. And it doesn't answer why they wanted him dead in the first place or who they really are." Sebastian was rubbing his temples while Kurt's cell phone was ringing. With his mate being so tight lipped, this was his best avenue for information. It was hard enough that Hunter refused to admit any connection between them and had tried to pass himself off as straight when his dreams opposed that claim.

"Hey." Kurt was snapping his fingers in Sebastian's face, "Earth to Wolf Lover-Boy. Are you listening? We have a problem." Before Sebastian could complain, Kurt was snatching the keys to his Porsche, "I better drive, you can't be trusted right now."

"What the fuck…give me back my keys!" Kurt was sashaying his way towards the car decked out in black skinny jeans and knee-high black boots with silver buckles. His shirt was some sort of wavy-white material that made him look a little like a pirate and he wore a red, yellow, and blue checkered scarf tied at his throat. "Where…are we going."

"Scandals." Kurt said getting in and adjusting his seat forward, "Your mate is there and apparently drunk off his ass."

"I thought it was hard for wolves to get drunk because of your amazing metabolism." Kurt was pulling into the Scandals parking lot after an hour of driving at breakneck speed.

"Hunter's not full wolf." Sebastian's legs were shaking with agitation. "Just let me out. Take the car. I'll find a way home." This was his mate and his problem, he'd handle it.

"Oh no. Not a chance." Kurt put the parking brake on and got out of the car, "I want to see how this plays out."

Once inside, it wasn't hard to find Hunter. Scandals was the only gay bar around for miles and wasn't that big. Hunter was knocking back two shots at the same time and snapped at the bar tender for trying to take the bottle away.

"That him?" Kurt was taking everything in as though he were watching Tella Novella, "he's handsome. Blaine says he has a temper." Pushing at Sebastian's back, Kurt snickered, "go get 'em."

It wasn't hard to ignore Kurt when the only thing Sebastian could see in the room was his mate. Odd that Hunter didn't already know he was here. "Hey." He said quietly, sliding up in the seat next to Hunter. "Let's go home."

"I…don't have a home." Hunter swiveled his head towards "And I told…where did he go…yeah, I told that bartender there. Sebastian Smythe is my mate and he was raised by wolves and he said he wasn't going to leave me alone. But you know, you're a rotten liar, because I was alone…" Hunter made a swirling gesture with his hands, "all day."

"Come on, Hunter, let's go…" The mating bond was very difficult for him to read while Hunter was drunk, but the implication that he'd upset his mate hit Sebastian like slap to the face. Quietly, he reached for Hunter's shoulders.

"Do not! Touch me!" Hunter swung his arm out, spilling the bottle. Clear, liquor poured over the bar and dripped furiously down to the floor. The bartender looked positively livid.

"Put it on my tab. I'm sorry." Sebastian waved a hand at the bartender.

"Sebastian baby!" Suddenly Sebastian's waist was being grabbed from behind by one of his previous hook ups. "What are you doing with this guy? He's drunk off his ass. Not really your style. Drop him and come home with me?" The tall, blonde moved well into Sebastian's space, close enough to whisper against the back of his neck, "you liked it last time."

In the next instant, if Sebastian hadn't been blessed with wolfish reflexes, his one-time hook-up would have been dead. Hunter was on his feet and his fist was embedded in the bar. Cracked wood cradled the man's knuckles and when he pulled it away, a perfect indent was left in its place. Sebastian was barely able to move the innocent man out of the way in time. Hunter's eyes were a bright yellow and Sebastian thought he had heard Hunter growl out the word, "mine."

"Hey…hey…easy." Hunter claimed he wasn't remotely bi-sexual but he was wholly possessive and now that his guard was down, instinct had taken over Hunter with a vengeance. Sebastian's eyes glowed yellow as well as he let the wolf in him see its mate for the first time. He'd already gathered that Hunter was suppressing his wolf, probably for years. "Easy. Bring it back. Hunter, deep breath, bring it back. It's ok. I'm here. I'm not leaving you alone again." Hunter was growling and his eyes were still bright. "No. You won't hurt your mate. Get it together." Sebastian let more of his wolf come forward and his eyes glowed even brighter. "Come back to me Hunter."

Seconds ticked by like hours and Hunter finally relaxed, his eyes faded back to their natural hue. He didn't just seem drunk now, he seemed exhausted. "Come on big guy…I got you." Sebastian put himself under Hunter's arm to help him out of the bar and he could hear the bartender tell him not to come back. "Get the door." He said to Kurt quickly, who was in a state of shock.

Getting Hunter into Sebastian's car was a trick since his back seat was teeny tiny and not meant for humans to sit in much less full grown wolves. Hunter wasn't helping either. "You…are heavier than I remember." That got a laugh out of Hunter who lazily wrapped himself around Sebastian. When he kept laughing, Sebastian asked why. "Are you reading my mind?"

"No. It's him." Hunter pointed to the back of Kurt's head. "He thinks you look like a Meerkat." Hunter cackled, "you're a wolf." There was a pause and grunting as Hunter made himself more comfortable. "My wolf." And then suddenly a very vulnerable-looking Hunter was looking up at Sebastian from his shoulder. "Right?"

"That's right." Sebastian answered quietly and nodded.

"Kiss me." Hunter said quickly and Kurt flinched before turning on the radio.

"No." His head shook slightly once.

"Why?" Hunter had refused a seatbelt and leaned way over into Sebastian's lap, his head facing upward.

"Because you're drunk."

"But you want to."

Sebastian's eyes twinkled a little at how cute Hunter was acting. "I do." That seemed to be the end of it and he thought Hunter had fallen asleep as they rode the final miles to Dalton with the hum of the engine and soft music playing through the speakers.

"Put your feet down. You're a big pile of rocks. What are they feeding you at that Academy?" Sebastian was trying to help Hunter into the house with no help from Kurt who he swore might be snapping pics on his phone.

"Three squares a day," Hunter mumbled and then gripped Sebastian, "stay with me?"

"You can stay with me. My room is next to yours." The next few minutes were some of the best of Sebastian's life. And maybe he should have felt guilty for enjoying himself as he stripped Hunter's clothes off, but he wasn't that chivalrous. Hunter was so gorgeous too. His legs were perfection and his chest and abs made him look like he was a Greek statue come to life. "Here. In." He said and stripped off most of his own clothes to climb in with his mate.

It wasn't lost on Sebastian that this was the closest they'd ever been, they were as undressed as they'd ever been together, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"You left me." Hunter said as he nuzzled the outside of Sebastian's shoulder.

"I had to." Sebastian turned towards his mate. It was true he'd impulsive and scared when he'd gone out to do research on his mate. Now he felt the guilt of that decision. "I should have come to you this morning and apologized for what I did." He laughed once, "to be honest I didn't even know I could do that…pull you into my fantasies like that."

"I loved what you did to me. Not the end. I smashed your carousel by the way."

Sebastian gave a sad smile. "I need you to start trusting me Hunter."

"Mhm." Hunter turned his head towards Sebastian, "kiss me."

"No." Sebastian said in a whisper. "Tell me about your wolf. How long have you been holding it back?"

"Long time." Hunter said simply. "Is there any way out of this mating thing?"

That question stung. "No. Every wolf is born knowing they only get one mate in their lifetime." If Hunter chose to go against his nature and leave Sebastian it would rip his heart out, but there was no need to add that kind of weaponry to Hunter's arsenal. "What happens when you let your wolf out Hunter?"

"I don't want to talk." Hunter grunted, "I want you to kiss me."

Sebastian shifted and settled Hunter on his chest before picking up the man's hand and kissing the backs of his fingers gently with just the press of his lips. "I am the only person in the world who is programmed not to judge you. You can always be honest with me. What happens when your wolf gets out Hunter?"

"Bad things." Hunter swallowed and Sebastian could feel his mate drifting to sleep. Again, he felt a surge of guilt for his greedy enjoyment of the close contact and how timid Hunter was when he was feeling exposed.

Fate knew what it was doing. He would have fallen hard for Hunter if the two of them weren't wolves. As it stood now he was doomed to fall for Hunter no matter what. Sebastian reached up to close Hunter in the circle of his arms then and rub his thumb over the dark mark on Hunter's shoulder.

"I'm going to help you tame your wolf." He said quietly into the darkness, though Hunter was breathing deep and regular. "You're not a lone wolf anymore. You've got me."