Winter's Dawn (35 page)

“John,” Max barked, knowing he was using the voice reserved for his work as king, that of a demanding, dominant wolf who expected obedience. He tried to taper that around humans, but he was too tired and annoyed to bother. “Get in here now!”

“I-I don’t care, Max.” John came around the corner, still blushing and stuttering in his embarrassment. “I really don’t. You two don’t have to sleep outside to hide. I just didn’t know—”

Max took a deep breath on instinct and was surprised to find that John’s scent was completely honest. He arched an eyebrow at John, feeling a strange admiration for him.

“What didn’t you know?” Susie asked, coming down the stairs and buttoning her coat. She looked at Max and frowned. “You need to shave again, Maxwell.”

“Does she know?” John whispered. “Is that why you’re hiding in the backyard?”

“What is he rambling about?” Susie asked, turning to frown at John. “He looks horrified—Oh Gods!”

“It’s not what you think.” Max held up his hand to stop her as Adam walked in, still looking confused. He hated to erase John’s memory if he could avoid it. “John, enlighten her to what you didn’t know.”

“Yes, enlighten all of us,” Adam grumbled. “Why did you wake us up at seven in the morning when we were sleeping peacefully? Do you know how hard it is for Maxwell to get any sleep? Interrupting his sleep should be a crime punishable by death. Susan, did you know he has nightmares?”

“He cares for you,” John said, as he obviously recovered from some of his shock and embarrassment. “If he cares for you, I’m happy for you. You’re my friend, Max. I want you to be happy.”

His acceptance was shocking, because Max knew how most human males viewed such things. John was nothing if not unique.

“Of course I care for him,” Adam snapped in insult. “And I don’t need your blessing for it. Why does he think we need some sort of blessing? Don’t you love your cousins, John?”

“Is he really your cousin?” John asked, his face paling. “I thought that was part of the lie.”

There was a stunned silence in the air before Max finally snorted at the oddity of the situation. There was so many over lapping confusions it was hard to keep a straight head in the face of it. This was truly one of the most bizarre moments of Max’s life. It was a clash of cultures he had never anticipated.

“Oh Gods, wow, this is really touching. I’m glad I’ve got your blessing, John.” Max couldn’t help it, he started laughing as the horror of the situation started to replace itself with absolute hilarity. “Wow,” Max said again before he crumpled.

“Okay, what is going on?” Susie said in a bored voice. “I’d like to be included in the joke.”

“I would too.” Adam sounded baffled.

“I found them sleeping together.” John gestured from Adam to Max. “And I told Max I don’t care. Is he really your cousin?”

“Yes,” Max burst out, falling to his knees and laughing harder. “He’s really my cousin.”

“That is, um—” John shook his head. “Odd, even for someone who’s queer.”

“Excuse me?” Susie gasped and turned to gape at John. “What did you just call him?”

“He’s queer. I saw the two of them sleeping together.”

“What’s queer about that?” Adam asked, still frowning. “We’re sharing a tent and it never occurred to you that we’d sleep together?”

“Gods,” Max groaned and fell onto his back, laughing harder than he ever had in his life. “He doesn’t know what queer means.”

“He means gay, Adam,” Susie said impatiently.

“He’s gay, alright.” Adam stared down at Max, who started laughing harder. “That much is certain. I wish someone would fill me in so I could be that gay.”

“Oh, you’ve killed me, Adam,” Max choked as he rolled onto his side. “Killed me dead.”

Adam gasped. “You must never joke about that, Maxwell. We’ll have to make an offering now.”

“Yes, an offering for my poor, queer, gay soul.” Max blinked watery eyes up at Susie. He wanted to say more, but he gave up and laughed harder.

Susie rolled her eyes and turned to Adam.

“John thinks that you and Maxwell are” — she paused, shaking her head in exasperation — “mates. That you mate together, like males and females do.”

“What?” Adam pulled back in horror and confusion. “Why? How? What, Susan?”

“I’m dead,” Max gasped. “Dead, completely dead. He has no idea what you’re talking about. Have John explain it since he seems so certain about it.”

“Sometimes two males can, you know…mate together.” She held hands up and folded her fingers together, looking completely horrified. “They mate, Adam. Use your imagination. You aren’t dense.”

“Are you serious?” Adam asked with wide eyes. “How? Oh Gods.” He growled when the realization hit him. He turned to John, his voice low and inhuman. “You’re a dead little puppy.”

Max jumped and caught Adam before he attacked John, who was stunned into silence. Max wrapped his arms around Adam, using considerable strength to hold him back.

“Get off, Maxwell!” Adam snarled. “Do you have any idea what he is suggesting? He thinks that I let you—” He shuddered and tried to jerk out of Max’s grip. “Let me kill him. The Gods will forgive me.”

“I guess I would be the one who did the fucking,” Max said as he started laughing again. “I am the most dominant.”

“We’re on sacred ground,” Adam snapped. “Use respect!”

“He knows what fucking means, but not queer.” Max leaned over and kissed Adam’s cheek. “I love you, Adam, I really do.”

“You’re rubbing this in.” Adam fell limp in Max’s arms, obviously still extremely horrified. “You’re enjoying this.”

“So very much. Who needs Serena and Katrina when I’ve got you? Come on, Adam, give me a real kiss.”

“I am now damaged for life,” Adam complained. “Completely damaged beyond repair.”

Max laughed again, looking to Susie, but refusing to release his hold because Adam could actually kill John. “This is funny. Tell me this is not funny.”

“It’s pretty funny.” Susie giggled. “You’ve shocked John speechless. John, he is not queer. Neither of them is queer. Poor Adam didn’t even know what it meant.”

John frowned, staring at Max and Adam in confusion. “Did you see Max move? I didn’t see him move. He just flashed there. What’s going on here?”

“Dear Gods. Erase that poor fool’s memory. I moved too fast for him to see because I’m the most dominant.” Max kissed Adam’s cheek again. “Come on, Adam, tell me I’m the most dominant.”

“I wish you could erase
my
memory.” Adam was still glaring at John. “Why would he think that, Maxwell?”

“’Cause you were curled up against me so sweet and loving.” Max squeezed him tighter, nearly crushing the air out of him. “Are you sure you won’t give me a real kiss?”

“Get off me!”

Adam struggled again and Max let him break free, only to catch him before he could get to John. Max did it for fun, playing with him just as he would in wolf form. He squeezed Adam tighter when he struggled harder to break out of his grip.

“You need to get off me now, Maxwell! My entire psyche is damaged forever because of this puppy!”

“How did they move so fast?” John muttered. “What—”

“Okay, take care of him.” Max started towards the door with his arms around Adam. “I’m taking my boyfriend back outside.”

“Max,” Adam moaned, making no effort to break away as Max walked him out of the room. He obviously knew it was pointless. “I don’t understand. There is no shortage of human females. Why? Why would they—Oh Gods—”

Max laughed again, still draped over Adam, his arms nearly choking the air out of him to stop him from harming John.

“Human females do it sometimes, you know?” Max whispered into his ear. “I never thought that was such a bad thing. Humans or wolves should be allowed to love who they want.”

Adam stopped short, actually pausing their progress towards the door, his shock giving him the strength to fight Max pushing them forward. Adam really was strong when he wanted to be. Not many wolves could fight Max’s strength, even when he was using it halfheartedly.

“Explain,” Adam whispered, his voice raspy, but Max didn’t have to explain anything. Adam worked it out far more quickly than he had earlier. “You mean they play together, pleasure each other, how we pleasure them?”

“Exactly.” Max leaned closer, speaking low so Susie couldn’t hear in the other room. “Female wolves will do it too if you ask the right way.”

“Maxwell.” Adam’s head fell back against Max’s shoulder, his eyes glazed as he looked up at him. “Have you—”

“Oh, yeah.” Max grinned smugly. “Every running. I do more than have sex to keep my hormones in check. I like watching too. Full-grown alpha wolves are bad wolves, Adam—Very bad.”

“Wow.” Adam wilted in his arms to the point that he may have fallen if Max hadn’t had a firm hold on him. “That is something that requires thinking.”

“And everyone thought human schooling was a bad thing. Move on your own accord to the tent and I might enlighten you.”

It was a fortunate John was in the other room and probably still in the process of being relieved of memories they couldn’t logically explain. He would have never been able to see Adam when he jerked out of Max’s arms in a blur of color and ran out the door, moving faster than any other beta wolf alive. Even Max had a hard time catching him.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Does Serena—”

Max shook his head, long bored with this topic. Adam had been pestering him for two days. “No, Adam. That doesn’t appeal to her. I wouldn’t ask it of someone who doesn’t enjoy it.”

“Katrina?”

“Adam.” Max raised his gaze from his spring budget and looked at his cousin. “Don’t you have work to do? I pay you very well, far better than any other head of department.”

“I am independently wealthy,” Adam said, ignoring his work. “I have no need of your salary. I do my work out of loyalty. Does Katrina do it?”

“I won’t answer that.” Max looked back down at his papers. “Find something to do.”

“Katrina,” Adam hummed thoughtfully. “She would. She’s a real loving wolf. Tell me how loving.”

“This was a mistake of epic proportions,” Max sighed. “Can you occupy your mind with nothing else?”

“I am occupying my mind with how I am going to talk Danielle into this,” Adam said, his voice misty and saturated with lust. “We could find an unmated red female for the running, beautiful, with auburn hair like my Danielle, perhaps blonde, some red wolves are blonde—not blonde like the queen, more of a wheat blonde. It is a nice blonde, red wolves are the best looking wolves.”

“I’ve heard,” Max snorted. “If you tell Danielle where you got this idea I will kill you, Adam. If you tell my father, I will kill you twice.”

“Danielle is safe from the secret.” Adam’s amber eyes were wide and dancing. “She knows I have a dirty mind. She won’t question my coming up with it on my own—but your father, he and I are going to have a long talk.”

“Die twice then.”

“He and I grew up together. We’re packmates even if we aren’t brothers. I would never keep something this divine from him, even under the threat of death. I bet he could talk Emma into—”

“Please don’t finish that thought.” Max squeezed his eyes shut when the images assaulted him anyway. “Thank you, Adam. I am going to be ill now.”

Adam laughed. “Fine, I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.”

“Much appreciated,” Max said as he went back to work.

In truth, Max was sick of working in this tent and having only Adam for company for most of the day. He missed Susie and he really wanted to curl up with her instead of Adam at night. Never had he gone so long without sleeping next to her. Even though she had a separate residence for school they still saw each other every weekend.

Max was getting…itchy.

His problem was not helped by Adam, whose mind had sunk permanently into areas that had nothing at all to do with work. His constant ramblings about sex and females were dragging Max into a place he didn’t want to be ten days before the full moon.

So he was in a rather bad mood when John suddenly popped his head into the tent and grinned. “I’ve decided if you can’t beat them, join them.”