Microsoft Word - Jacks-Marcy-One-Night-Stand-with-a-Werewolf.doc (6 page)

That was what he admired about John. He was still young, and at twenty he was just barely old enough to be put on alpha duties, but he was still capable of thinking these things through.

“Actually,” John said, snapping his fingers, “you can find out.”

Markus’s brows shot up. “Really?”

“Yeah. I’m an idiot for not thinking of this before. Let’s go.”

John put down his Pepsi can and started walking toward one of the cabins. It looked like they were going to the house where he,  Storm, and a few of the other omegas lived.

Sharing and having roommates was still very much in practice in this pack, especially after those wild omegas, and the wolves from  Phillip’s pack, were rescued and brought in.

It was midday, so most of the chores had been completed, and for those who hadn’t finished everything off, they were still taking their breaks from cleaning the houses or cleaning the catch that was brought in by alphas.

John and Markus passed by four omegas who were sitting in the living room of John’s cabin. Two adults who were catching up on

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sewing up holes in their laundry while they watched TV, and two  young ones who were working out math equations on the floor.

John and Markus waved to them, and the omegas smiled and  waved back before Markus was led down the familiar hallway that led  to John’s bedroom.

He shut the door behind them when they finally entered.

“So, what are we doing?” Markus asked.

“Check this out.” John pulled a laptop out from under his bed, grinning as he held the thing.

“Whoa, where’d you get that?”

“Saved up some money for it. So did Storm, and we pooled together and got it from the pawn shop. Derek got us a good deal on it.”

Coming by computers nowadays wasn’t exactly hard, or expensive, but for werewolves, the rules were always a little different, especially when their money was stretched so thin.

Even with the added money Isaac brought to the pack with his inheritance, there still wasn’t much left over for basic spending. Even then, no one wanted to go up to him and ask for it either. Everyone in the pack still liked to work for the things they had, and the fact that  Isaac was helping to repair and restore the cabins where everyone lived, and even build a few new ones, was more than enough for everyone to be happy with.

“Does it have Internet?”

“Yup.” John pointed to the router that was blinking on his  nightstand. He opened the computer and turned it on.

Considering it was secondhand, it booted up rather quickly.

“What are you looking for?” Markus asked, watching as John  opened up the web browser and started typing.

“Facebook.”

“
Facebook
?” Markus said, incredulous.

Then John clicked the Enter key, and Facebook did indeed pop up.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

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“What? Everyone has a Facebook account nowadays.”

Markus looked at him.

“Except for our kind,” John clarified. “What did you say his name  was again?”

Markus told him, and he was stunned when John typed the name  and Lance’s picture was one of the first to appear.

“Shit,” he said.

“What?” John asked, looking at him and then back at the screen.

“He’s cute.”

“Not that. If he’s got one of these stupid accounts, then it means  he’s somewhat social at the very least.”

“You know the friend counters on these don’t mean anything,  right?”

Markus hadn’t even seen that yet, and he wasn’t interested to  know how many people Lance had listed. “Yeah, but a few of them  must know him. It’s not going to be like with Corey or Jason, or even  Storm, but he doesn’t count because he’s a shifter anyway.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Corey and Jason had no one when they came here. Neither did  Chris, for that matter. They had no one to answer to, so it was easier  for them to just pick up and move here.”

He felt like an asshole for saying it, but it was true. Lance would  have a family and friends who would miss him. He couldn’t just drop  everything in his life and live here just because Markus would want  him to.

This was going to complicate things.

“I think you’re getting overly worried. Let’s see what’s on here first before you start talking like that.”

Markus had no idea how to navigate Facebook. He’d never had a computer before. Hell, most werewolves didn’t have cell phones either, despite how cheap they were becoming.

It was too much of a hassle to replace items like that when they were destroyed in a fight.

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John whistled. “Fifteen hundred friends listed.”

They weren’t all Lance’s real friends, but it made Markus mutter miserably to himself anyway. He crossed his arms and started to pace around John’s room. “Great.”

John ignored him.

It wasn’t at all lost on Markus how he used to wish he could get into this room before and how he used to wonder what it would be

like to get John down on the bed. Lying down with nothing on rather  than sitting there with a computer on his lap had been the usual  fantasy. Now he had a mate, and like magic, he didn’t see John in the  same light as he used to.

It was all about Lance, and now that he was seriously getting  worried that he might not be able to keep his mate, the heavy dread he  felt was debatably worse than before.

“Some people have a bunch of weird things posted on his wall.”

“Great,” he said again, not really hearing John as he scrolled  through Lance’s information.

So long as Lance didn’t live smack dab in the middle of New  York, or any city for that matter, maybe Markus could get away with  it. Hell, a pack the size of DeWitt’s was managing to stay hidden  beside a small town, maybe one werewolf could stay hidden near a  large one?

“Uh, Markus, you should probably see this. Like now.”

It was the slightly panicked tone in John’s voice that had Markus  halting in his tracks. He looked down at his friend, and he noted the  worry on his face.

“What is it?” Markus went to him, and he looked down at the

screen. There were pictures of animals there. Foxes, wolves, and  strangely enough, even mermaids and fairies. There was a lot of text  and what looked like quotes from people talking a whole lot of  scientific speech that Markus barely understood.

He had an idea of what they were saying, however, and it made  him panic a little, too.

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“I went to his blog. This guy isn’t just some nature lover up here

for a vacation. He thinks shifters are real.”

“Thinks?” Markus asked, still reading through some of what was  posted. There were comments to each post, and while some of them  were of the negative sort, there were others that were offering their  praise, and a few people even shared their own stories of possible  close encounters they’d had with shifters.

“Well, he definitely suspects, and judging by the blog and the fact  that he’s in Brampton…” John trailed off.

Markus didn’t need him to finish. Lance was here looking to find  proof to the existence of shifters.

Clarity came upon him, and he wished for ignorance. “By the  stories floating around Brampton about wolves, he’s probably here  looking for werewolves specifically.”

He and John looked at each other. Now Markus knew there was

something worse than having a mate who might not be able to live the  country life. It was a mate who wanted to prove to the world that  werewolves were real.

He stood straight and sighed. “Goddamnit.”

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Chapter Six

Lance had never worried about his appearance before. Overly much so, at any rate. He was going to go and check out the hiking trails around Brampton, not take a stroll through the market, so why should he bother with sticking any gel in his hair?

He wondered that for a third time before finally setting the container down.

The stuff would probably just attract bugs that would get stuck in his hair, and that would be the worst thing in the world to happen while he was with Markus.

He never would’ve thought that a one-night stand with a perfect stranger would have him this antsy, but there was no helping it. He liked Markus, and he couldn’t wait for the man to get here so they could get going.

He paced around his motel room when ten minutes after their proposed meeting time, there was still no sign on of him. He worried that something might’ve happened to hold the other man up when a half an hour passed.

At the forty-five minute mark, Lance grabbed his bag of supplies and slung it over his shoulder. Disappointment was a hard pill to swallow, but he was here for a reason, and he would go with or without a guide to aide him.

He’d just grabbed for the door handle when a hard knock pounded on the other side.

It was so sudden that he actually jumped, his heart pumping fast

with the shock.

He told himself to calm down and get his breathing back under

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control. It only took a couple of seconds, but it had felt like forever  since the air had been sucked out of his lungs like that.

He cleared his throat and stuck his fist inside his bag, confirming  that his puffer was still there. On the second knock, he answered the  door.

Markus’s eyes seemed to light up at the sight of him. Likely he was just relieved that Lance hadn’t gone anywhere without him, considering how late he was.

“Hey,” Lance said, pushing past him. He shut and locked the door behind him.

He wasn’t angry, not really, but he couldn’t stop the irritation he felt from seeping into his voice. “You’re late.”

“I know. Really late. I’m sorry. I just got caught up with something.”

Lance wondered what that something was, but then he remembered that it was none of his business, so he decided to let it

go.

He might be a little sweet on the guy, but if Markus had some other commitments that needed taking care of before he could cart around a perfect stranger, then he didn’t need to be telling Lance what they were.

He was just glad Markus had come at all.

“Are we still going?”

The relief on Markus’s face made Lance all the more curious.

Curious and glad.

Markus liked him back, and he wanted to be here.

“Yeah, definitely. I’ve got a few more places to show you. You’ll  really like them, and some are pretty private, too,” he added, shyly  glancing at Lance out of the corner of his eye.

Lance could feel himself blushing, but he smiled and nodded,  keeping his head up high and back straight.

He would be doing more than taking pictures of the local wildlife,  it seemed. That was fine by him.

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The sudden image of Markus on top of him, moaning as he held on tightly to Lance’s legs, which were propped up onto his shoulders, pumping in and out of him, flashed through his mind. As well as the image of Markus with Lance’s dick in his mouth, and later with that wicked grin on his face as he turned Lance over to his hands and knees, and—

He cut off the thought before he could put anything else into his head like that. He was semierect already, and he didn’t want to walk around with his pants tented with this man beside him.

He didn’t want to make his lust too obvious. Not until later.

Markus was smirking as they walked. It was like he already knew he had Lance where he wanted him. “Is that okay?”

“Fine.” Lance had to clear his throat and say it again. “It’s fine.  You’re…ah…I don’t mind at all.”

He didn’t think it was be the best idea to compliment Markus just now on how good in bed he was.

Seriously, the guy had Superman-like stamina to be able to go on for as long as he did. It had to be contagious, because there was no other explanation Lance had for why he still wanted the man so much after everything they’d done together last night.

Suddenly, all thoughts of last night’s sex, and today’s soon-to-be-happening sex, scattered from his brain. “Where’s your equipment?  You don’t have a bag or anything. You’re not even wearing any hiking boots.”

Markus shrugged. “I know this area pretty well. I’ve never needed boots or a compass or anything.”

“Do you even have a water canister? I thought we’d be out for a good couple of hours.”

“We will be, but I know where all the lakes and ponds are.”