Part 13

The End is Really The Beginning

Hunter had ordered a pizza and Sebastian cleaned up. The two were still very naked and listening to music on Hunter's bed. A pizza box was between them with three slices left.

"I need to tell you something." Hunter was propped up on his elbow, with his head towards the end of the bed and his feet barely touching the headboard.

Sebastian was leaning against the headboard with a pillow stuffed at his back and a sheet barely covering his crotch. "Is it that you're remotely bisexual?" He lazily turned his head towards his mate, "I worked that part out already."

His mate was shaking his head and grinned, "Smartass." Sebastian laughed, but he kept talking, "I should have asked you this before, but I never got a chance. Things happened too fast." Sebastian was giving Hunter his full attention then. "You graduated from the University of Paris."

"What?" Sebastian's eyes drew closer together in confusion, "this is the big, important topic?" He blinked, "you knew that already."

"No. Look, I'm sorry, I'm not good at this. I don't really get close to people."

"Neither am I." Sebastian smiled and tried to reach for Hunter's calf.

"That's not true Sebastian. Your pack is close to you. They risked everything and put it on the line for me, and it was because of you. It's hard to find loyalty like that." Hunter was looking down and picking at imaginary lint on the covers. It took a moment for Sebastian to get where his mate was going. He wasn't a mind reader, but this conversation had a point.

"You don't have to come back with me. If that's what you're thinking. I told you. I was raised to put mate first, pack second." That reminded him, he still hadn't called his parents to tell him he'd been mated.

"Why don't you?" Hunter looked at Sebastian quizzically, he was still picking through his thoughts, "call them."

"They're in Africa on safari. Then Australia," The word Australia had been said in stereo and Sebastian looked at his mate with an irritated scowl, "if you know the answer, then why ask the question?"

"I'm sorry." Hunter pressed his lips together, "I like hearing your voice."

"You're changing the subject, Hunter." Sebastian was smiling just a little at the compliment, "I want to be with you. Whatever I'm doing in Ohio, I can do in Colorado, Hunter. You're my mate. I want this to work."

"Really?" Hunter was raising his eyebrows skeptically, "shouldn't you go to college and pass the bar in the state where you plan to practice?"

Something was wrong, Sebastian had put that decision on hold until the deadline for his enrollment got closer. He hadn't been thinking about going to back to school for weeks now. "How did you know that? I never thought about that, even once." He had been accepted to the Ohio University law program, but hadn't made it official yet, and was even thinking he'd defer for a year. There was only one way Hunter could know that. "You read my mail?!" His thoughts might be fair game, but his mail was private!

"You left me alone in your house for an entire day, what do you think I did?"

Sebastian took a moment to compose himself and finally said, "I'm not enrolling."

"Of course you are. Your pack needs you, and you need them."

"I need my mate!" How could Hunter act as though he hadn't marked Sebastian body and soul not half an hour before? This was just another excuse to push Sebastian out of his life for the greater good.

"I have a life Bastian." Hunter shrugged, "I can't just pack up and leave."

It was a lie, Sebastian could taste it like an old penny on the tip of his tongue. But why would Hunter lie about his life here? "I told you, I would stay…"

This time Hunter spoke quieter, "I don't want you to stay, Sebastian. I want you to go be great."

"No, you want me on your own terms. You take and you don't give." Sebastian felt as though he had swallowed glass, his chest hurt so badly, "you know I love you."

"I know." Hunter replied quickly and his eyes glasses over with emotion, but he wouldn't shed any tears, that much Sebastian was sure of.

"I just wanted to say it out loud." He suddenly felt very sick and sent his heartache right down the mating bond. If Hunter was going to make him suffer, then Hunter would have to bear some of the pain. He reached up and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, "your wolf won't like being apart from me."

Hunter was already shaking his head, "my wolf isn't in control of me." He rubbed his chest, trying to deal with the intense emotions Sebastian was forcing on him. "I'm a half breed Bastian, I'll always be a monster. And don't say that I'd never hurt you. I watched my biological father kill his mate. I can't, won't, let that happen to you or anyone foolish enough to get close to me."

"Spare me the martyrdom." Sebastian shook his head and started getting dressed. He was done with Hunter's bullshit. "I'm not going to fight with you. I thought things might be different after you marked me. You attacked me when I first got here, and gave me the best sex of my life…" He shook his head, looking around for his shoes, "forgive me if that left me with a false impression that you might want to be with your mate. Be afraid to be with me and avoid facing the fact that you are fucking gay, but at least be brave enough to admit why you're trying to put distance between us. You didn't come to me, I came to you. You know why? Because you would have never come to me." Since he'd known Hunter, he'd been the one to reach out and trust first, Hunter needed to meet him halfway now.

"You're going to make a great lawyer." Hunter said softly.

"Go fuck yourself." Sebastian moved to the door and didn't look back as he walked out of it. That was the third time his mate rejected him. The first was when Hunter ambushed him after a sexuality crisis in the shower, the second time Hunter left without a word while Sebastian was battling a life-threatening wound that stalled out his natural healing ability, and now here he was, right after mind-blowing sex and what Sebastian thought was an unbeatable connection. Only Hunter was pushing him out yet again. He marched back through the labyrinth of buildings and made it back to his car. Fuck this. Fuck everything!

Sebastian started his car angrily and waited a moment, gripping the steering wheel hard. He wasn't the type to simply give up on a chase, and this was his mate! How was he supposed to make Hunter see reason? Throwing the car into reverse, he stepped on the gas hard, still thinking he could probably make good time on the highway in his current mood. A loud "thud" shattered all his rage however, as someone or something hit the back of his car and rolled hard onto the trunk, stopping at the windshield. It cracked right down the center and out making a spiderweb-like pattern behind.

That's when Sebastian's mating mark began to tingle like crazy. "Hunter!" What the fuck was Hunter thinking?! Climbing out of the car, he went to the rear and helped his mate off of it. "What are you doing? Are you insane?"

"I...had to stop you from leaving. Owe...that last jump really hurt." Hunter flexed his shoulder. For all intents, he seemed to be okay. What had he meant by 'last jump?' From the outside, the damage to Sebastian's car seemed much worse. Hunter hadn't just rolled onto the back, he'd left a huge dent in the trunk as if he'd been dead dropped from the sky. What the hell?

(Hunter's room, just after Sebastian left)

The quiet in the room was far too punishing. Hunter rubbed hard at the center of his chest. He couldn't see his mating bond, but he sure as hell felt it and damned if the whole room didn't smell like his mate. Sebastian hadn't held anything back. Before leaving Ohio, Hunter had convinced himself this was the right thing to do. The Wild Wolves were in the wind and Damien was in the hands of something Wes called a Wolf Coalition. Until he'd met Damien's pack, Hunter had no idea there were so many wolves in the world, let alone packs of wolves that worked together and agreed on territory.

So many years now, Hunter had denied who he was and suppressed his wolf. He had a short fuse, and was prone to bouts of hot-headedness, so Hunter had always kept his rage and his wolf under the tightest control. Now that he'd met his mate, a man named Sebastian Smythe, his wolf was staging a full scale rebellion inside his body. There was only one other time in his life he'd experienced real panic. Now his heart was racing and his eyes went yellow with the realization that he was about to lose something precious.

Tearing out the window, Hunter scaled the building and ran along the roof in a crouch, he hopped to the adjacent building and spotted his quarry headed into the parking lot. The wolf took off at full speed and Hunter used his supernatural abilities to jump more than twenty feet to the next building. He stopped just long enough to get a fix on Sebastian's Porsche and jumped one last time, high and hard, landing right on the trunk and rolling into the back window. He felt his shoulder hit it hard and smelled blood, probably from his arm. His eyes were still wolf yellow as Hunter willed himself to stop panicking.

"My fucking car?! Hunter?" It was Sebastian's voice. Okay, so the voice was angry, but it was still Sebastian, and Sebastian was his mate. Now he could calm down. Only the man was still red-faced with anger. "What are you doing? Are you insane!"

"Stop!" Hunter couldn't catch his breath properly as he climbed off Sebastian's car. "Stop worrying about your car, I'll pay for the damages. You're not the only trust fund baby in the family." He could see Sebastian trying to figure out where he was bleeding and looking at Hunter as if he'd grown horns and a tail. "I'm sorry. I had to stop you. I thought, I'd never see you again if I didn't. I...lied before."

Sebastian crossed his arms in front of himself, "I know. I wanted to give you the chance to rectify that, but you pissed me off."

"I did. I'm sorry Bastian. My civilian commander fired me. They said it was because I took unauthorized time off, but really...they saw the announcement about me and you in the Westerville paper."

"What?" Sebastian looked really confused.

"I think one of your guys must have posted it on a social media site somewhere." Hunter put his hand up, "I know they were just trying to help. But I'm out of a job now because of it."

"I'll sue them."

Hunter almost smiled, "you're not a lawyer yet." The wheels were spinning furiously in Sebastian's mind and the temptation to read it was great, but Hunter resisted. Whatever Sebastian needed to say, it should be out loud. "Look, I don't know what the right thing to do here is, but...I have until the end of the week to move my things out. I don't really have a plan."

Sebastian uncrossed his arms and leaned against his damaged car. The smirk was back on his face, and somehow Hunter found it comforting. "There's only one thing to do."

Hunter rubbed a hand through his hair. How did normal people get along without mind reading? This give and take was really challenging! "I'm not reading your thoughts Bastian...you have to help me out."

The smirk on Sebastian's face became more pronounced, "respecting my privacy? That's not like you."

"Trying something new." Hunter took a step closer, "the thought of being with you scares me, but the thought of not being with you terrifies me so much more." He chuckled a little, "I just scaled a building like King Kong and ran over here across two others. I can't lose you. I won't. You can leave without me, but I'll follow you." It was hard to get the words out, but Hunter felt like he had to say them, "I don't want to be a lone wolf anymore Bastian. I've been an asshole. That's mostly because I am an asshole. I'm stubborn, I get angry, I hide things. I don't know if I can be so close to a pack, but I know I don't want to be without you."

The smirk was gone, but Sebastian still hadn't made a move towards Hunter, "like I said, there's only one thing to do." He pushed away from the car, and took a half step towards Hunter, making Hunter's heart raced as his mate leaned in closer. Surely he about to get kissed, right out in the open, under the blue sky, and on a military facility with cars passing by! In public?! A whole new wave of panic swept through him. Was Sebastian about to make him come out?! This was a test, it had to be. Hunter held his breath, shaking a little, and closed his eyes, waiting for the contact of Sebastian's lips. Part of him was excited at the declaration, the other part wanted to dive under a car.

'Click'

"Get in." Sebastian's opened the car door behind him, "we're renting a moving van."

An audible sigh of relief escaped him and Hunter guessed that Sebastian wanted him to come out in his own time. That was a relief. Hunter grinned and walked around his mate so he could get in the car. "And the rest?"

"The rest we'll work out."