Reid went through his classes in a numbed state.
He couldn't stop thinking about her. About everything. He couldn't help but worry about her, hoping she was alright.
The only thing that helped was that on the rare occasion during the next few weeks he heard a lone wolf give a sorrow filled cry into the night.
She was his mate. She loved him. She wanted to turn him into…into a werewolf.
He didn't even know how he felt about that. He had no one to ask about it either. None of his friends had any clue what it was to change into a wolf and he wasn't really about to talk about it with them. If they found out he was asking questions about it they might assume he was considering it.
Was he?
He didn't know anymore. All he knew for certain was that Azharan was his. Just like he was her's. That and he actually did care about her. Maybe even love her.
It hurt so bad that she'd left like she did. That she hadn't come back to talk or even let him know she was alright yet. Dammit if only he could talk to her just one more time.
Tyler refused to let him out of his sight. Caleb forbid him from stepping outside by himself. He had no privacy all of a sudden like they were all worried he'd run off to find some have crazed wolf beast.
Of course that was what he was planning to do because they still invited him to Nikky's. He always refused and Tyler would stay home with him but tonight he finally agreed to go out.
His friends took it as a good sign, that he was getting over it. Over her.
Far from it. If anything he was even more obsessed with her, and what she was. There were just so many questions.
He had bet Tyler drinks on their last game. Tyler lost. So while Tyler left him alone as he'd done already three times tonight it was no big deal. Of course Reid took advantage of his sudden unsupervised state and snuck out the back.
"Took you long enough peaches," she said softly from where she sat leaned against the alleyway wall.
Reid would have jumped if he hadn't half hoped she be out there.
"I've been here every night for the past two weeks. You haven't showed," she commented absently.
"You could have came to the school, I mean you are still enrolled there." Reid countered as he sat down next to her.
"With your babysitter always around. I tried Reid, but I didn't think you wanted to do this around them."
"You knew I wanted to talk?"
"Reid whether you like it or not you are my mate. I had to keep an eye on you love. I couldn't do anything else. I've been calling you too but you haven't come out to see me. I figured you'd come when you're ready. Not like I was hard to find. Five feet into the trees and to the right."
Reid hesitated for a moment, "Maybe we shouldn't do this here."
"You think? You throw out these W words and people get suspicious. Like you said, I'm still enrolled and there for I still have a room. That is if you don't mind coming back with me."
"I have questions."
"I have answers."
Reid stood in her room realizing he'd never been in there before as she shut the door behind her. He also realized that he was nervous, and he might actually be considering her offer.
"You want to sit?" She asked cautiously as she stepped around him.
"I'll stand. What are you?" He asked jumping right into it.
"I'm a werewolf Reid. Born and breed," she sighed sitting back on her former bed.
"I thought you had to be bitten," he asked very seriously, no Hollywood prejudices present.
"No, if one of your parents is a wolf so are you. Everyone else has to be bitten."
"Does it hurt?"
Her eyes lit up suddenly as she sat straight, "At first. And only if you fight it. If you just accept it it goes quite easily. It will always hurt to change though. It's not unbearable. Rem could explain it better. He's the mutt in our pack, bitten young but Azrael and myself are born this way. We never had a choice, neither did Rem. Very few people get to choose."
Reid nodded slightly.
"I do love you. I know that now. It's not just because were fated." She stated carefully hoping to lay some concerns to rest.
He nodded again and after hesitation responded, "I think I might…"
"Reid don't say it. Not until you are ready to let me have you. I can't hear those words and be held accountable for my actions after."
"Why?" Reid asked confused and interested.
"It's something within us. We call it the beast. We're wolves and our animal instinct is so much more then what yours is right now. It has more sway in our lives. More control over what we do."
"Lives. How long do you live?" Reid questioned in sudden interest.
"Few thousand years. Not forever that's for sure though. And we can most certainly be killed. Lop off my head and I'm done. But we do heal quickly, unless silver is involved." She pulled her shirt aside to show him an angry looking hole in her shoulder.
He didn't like that idea at all but instead asked, "How old are you?"
"Seventy something or other, we don't really keep track that well, but I'm just a pup really so I'm not the pedophile you're thinking I am right now," she smiled lightly at him.
He returned her smile weakly, "Azharan, I'm a warlock. I'll ascend to greater power when I turn eighteen."
"That's when we too are granted our first change."
"After that, when I use my power I'll age each and every time. The problem is the power is addictive," he hesitated, he'd never admitted this to anyone he looked away before voicing it, "I'm already hooked."
"I can help with that lover."
Reid suddenly sat down very heavily beside her.
"You're sure about this mated thing?" He asked suddenly.
"Oh Reid if you could only see it the way I do. I've never been more sure about anything in my life."
"And if…if you bite me we'll still be…"
"You'll see it the way I do."
He looked up to meet her golden gaze, drowning in the warmth and love he found there.
"Do you have any more questions?" She asked tentatively as she slowly reached out to brush his hand with her finger tips.
"The full moon thing…"
"No sway on the changes, usually one has to shift once a week or so. We do that at will but it takes practice. The full moon just brings out the animal in us, mostly because it's great to hunt by."
"Is there anything that I should know about this mated thing?" He asked with a sigh, he was actually considering this. He was afraid for his life after he ascended. He was afraid of what would happen to her if he refused. What would happen to himself.
"It's for life," she shrugged, "but once you know who your mate is that's it. You don't want anyone else."
He nodded slightly and linked his fingers with hers.
"That's everything?" She asked catching his gaze.
Reid nodded.
"Ok," she sighed as she stood up. "I'll leave now. You'll probably want to think about it, or talk it over with Caleb and-"
"I've thought about it for nearly a month now and Caleb has no say in this," Reid said sharply.
She sat down next to him slowly.
"Azharan," he said softly reaching up to brush her hair back, "I love you."
She suddenly got a wicked grin on her face before she kissed him.
"Hey wait what happens now?" He smiled as she released him to stand up.
"Well first I fuck you senseless, I mean we don't have to do it senseless but I like you, a lot. And you're hot so that's just the way it's going to happen. Then I bite you. You'll probably pass out for a day or two, when you wake up do not panic and do not fight it. I know chances are you'll forget but I'll be here when you come to to remind you again. I promise that. The more you let it happen the less it will hurt, the sooner it will be over. Then lover, we run. You will love running."
"With you Az, I'm sure I will."
Reid sighed and tightened his arms around Azharan. The two were lying naked in a small clearing after a late night run through the first snow fall of the season.
He gently kissed her shoulder and once more thanked her for the gifts she'd given him these last few weeks.
It had all started with a bite.
After he had agreed to being turned by his mate clothes were quickly made absent and he made sweet love to her like no other man ever had. He remembered the final moments in silent pleasure. He'd pushed into her again knowing that soon she'd be over the edge, it was obvious by the way her head was rolling back, her back was arching. It was great because he was going to finish soon anyway.
They came together and he felt a slight pain in his shoulder as he slammed into her one last time and she sunk her fangs into his shoulder.
Then everything changed. He'd passed out moments later and forgot everything.
Three days later he woke up reborn to find a gorgeous naked woman sitting at his bed side pressing a cold cloth to his forehead. He didn't know her, didn't recognize her for a good few moments, but he did know that she belonged to him.
"Good morning lover," she cooed in a familiar voice bringing back everything he'd ever known in an overwhelming flood.
"Azharan?" His voice was raw, his throat dry.
She simply smiled and reached for a glass of cool water, lifting it to his lips so he could drink slowly.
"What happened?" He asked after his thirst was quenched.
"Well Caleb is livid. He doesn't know you're here, he doesn't know I'm here but he knows you've vanished. Something about how you ran off with some Were-bitch."
Caleb?
His coven, his friends, he had just disappeared on them.
"Are they ok?" He asked suddenly sitting up carefully.
"I am not worried about them at the moment Reid, you're about to have your first change." She replied softly pushing him back down.
His eyes scanned the room to find two more individuals sitting there watching him in interest.
Azrael and Remiel.
"They're here to keep you in check beloved. Sometimes the first change is rough. You have no human conscious so you may be a danger especially in here."
In here?
The school. Spencer. It was filled with students and the likes.
"Is it ok to do it here?" He asked suddenly as he broke out into a sweat.
"It's ok," Rem said in his deep voice as fur started to sprout over his body.
Reid watched in fascination as the massive man changed into an equally massive wolf.
"It will be ok, we'll keep you safe," Az whispered to him as she kissed him lightly, "But it will hurt, I'm sorry for that."
Reid swallowed hard as she too changed before his very eyes leaving a black canine before him before his back bowed and he opened his mouth into a silent scream.
His blue eyes widened at the pain as Azrael stood over him.
"Welcome to the pack, brother."
He didn't remember anything after that except waking up as a human once more in a slightly trashed room with his mate sleeping next to him, and silver and brown wolves curled in a corner away from them.
From that point on everything went back to the way it was before, better then before. Sort of. After a quick argument.
"Where were you!? We were worried sick Reid! What the fuck is wrong with you that you would just leave like that?" Caleb demanded as Reid opened the door to his dorm room four days after that first change.
"I'm fine." He said quietly opening the door further to allow his mate access. She'd said they'd all be there, she was right and it didn't really surprise him.
"What is she doing here?" Pogue had demanded.
"She is my mate, she has a right to be here." Reid snarled back. Before, when he was human, the words had seemed so foreign but now with wolf coursing through his veins there was nothing more natural then claiming her to be his.
His pack was presently teaching him to refrain from speaking in terms that only made sense to wolves though. It was out of place in the mortal realm.
"She's your what?" Caleb grabbed his upper arms hoping to shake some sense into him.
Reid pulled away to shield her from their offending gazes, "You heard me."
"Reid you didn't..."
"Didn't what?"
"What are you?" Pogue asked carefully.
"I'm your brother," Reid replied harshly.
"You're one of them now aren't you?"
"We aren't a plague you know," Az suddenly spoke up.
"You're animals," Pogue countered.
Azharan snorted at his comment but Reid felt himself loosing control, they were insulting his mate. She noticed instantly even if none of his physical attributes had given way to the wolf within.
"Reid," she said cautiously setting a hand on his shoulder, "Breath in. Come on, like I taught you. You have to control the changes."
Reid closed his eyes and pushed the beast within back, feeling the changes that had been invoked recede.
"Do you want me to leave?" She asked after he calmed himself.
He couldn't deny it might make facing his brothers easier, but she was his anchor and kept him from loosing to his animal side.
"No stay. I need you here, I haven't got control yet."
"You're getting so much better though," She smiled rewarding him with a soft kiss to the neck.
He smiled and nuzzled her slightly before turning to face his former pack. Or was it his other pack?
"Caleb this was my choice, and I think that I chose correctly here. You don't need to approve but you do have to accept it because there is no turning back."
"Why though?" His elder brother asked in earnest.
"Why not? God if you could see her the way I do you'd never question this. She's mine and I'm hers. I've never been more certain of anything in my life."
"And what about your power?" Caleb asked quickly trying to understand.
"I still have it. Caleb you know I was addicted. I was going to be as good as dead when I ascended, you said so yourself more then once. This change, the aging won't matter anymore. I may not live for a thousand years like some but I'll definitely last past thirty."
"So that's why you did it? So you could use?" Pogue demanded in disbelief.
"No!" Reid snarled, "I don't even want to use now. I have so much more natural options. You guys I'm still the same person I swear."
"You one of them." Pogue hissed.
"Don't knock it until you try it Pogue. This is like nothing you could ever know." Reid countered.
"Reid," his mate had called to his attention.
"Yes pet?"
"Come on, let them think it over. I want to show you what it is to run. You need to practice changing at will anyway." She tugged on his arm pulling him out of the room.
After the first rough patch his friends got used to the idea. They would eventually accepted it as what he wanted.
He was, more then they could ever imagine. He held Azharan close to him as he smiled. A lot more then they could imagine.
"Affectionate today aren't we?" She asked softly stretching out as snow fell onto their naked bodies.
"Only to you lover." He replied releasing her as she got to her hands and knees.
Before his eyes she changed into her true form.
All he could do was follow her example. It was easier now. At first it had been difficult to change on demand, harder still to hold back when his emotions got the best of him, but now he was more comfortable in either form.
Now he understood what Az had meant when she said that they animal nature had more sway. He was quicker to anger, jealous of his mate when another male looked her way without invitation.
The first time they'd gone out and someone had hit on her she had to drag him out back, where he immediately went about proving to her as to who owned her. She laughed at him after and told him how he made a spectacular wolf. It was in their nature to be jealous and protective of their territory and mates, but he still had to try and control it, at least in the mortal world. If had been another wolf who had looked at her, well it would almost be thought wrong if he didn't proceed to practically kill the offender.
Now though he was able to disregard the pain that found its way into him as he changed, a coat of dark blond fur covering his body as he shifted.
In a matter of seconds after he'd finished she was running, and he gave chase. They played tag the entire way back to the school where Remiel and Azrael sat waiting for them at the usual meeting place. They were a pack and often ran together but his new brothers respected his bond with his mate and often let the two run alone.
"How are you doing Reid?" Azrael asked as Reid fastened his jeans over his hips and shoved his feet into worn out runners.
Any modesty the warlock had before his change vanished as he and his pack we naked more often then not.
He would have thought he'd have jealousy over his mate being in full view of other males, even when Remiel helped her dress by giving her a hand to hold her balance but no. He accepted it as pack life. They often ended up naked in a clearing his woman in the midst of three naked men but it was only right for a pack to be close and open with each other.
There was a difference between the affection his brothers had for his mate and those outside their pack leering at her openly.
"I'm fine, I'm not even cold." Reid grinned at his Alpha.
At first he didn't like the idea of following someone else. He'd followed Caleb all his life, but he was forced into that situation, he had figured that maybe now he'd be free. Now though, he saw why his mate and Rem followed a wolf they could so easily challenge. Emotion held no sway over their Alpha. He kept them all in line and there fore safe from the outside world.
He also took over all responsibilities, leaving Reid to follow in more important pursuits, such as pleasing his mate.
"That's not exactly what I meant," Azrael replied cautiously glancing over to where Remiel's hands rested on the pack female's hips.
"I know what you meant, I'm fine. With everything."
Azrael nodded and gave a rare smile to their newest pack member before tossing the pup his shirt.
"What about Caleb and the others? Are they better now?" Azrael questioned as they made their way back to the school buildings.
Reid watched Remiel and Azharan run up ahead playing some ridiculous game.
"They'll get over it eventually. I made my choice. I have to live with it. They can either fall in with that or not. It's their choice now."
Azrael nodded again. His sister had chosen right with this one.
Ta da! FIN!!! ... I think. As with my last one I could continue this, or make a sequal or something, and like the other one I don't feel like continuing it any longer. What other one some of you may be asking. Well if you liked this one go and read BLACK MOON finished and posted, awaiting you attentions.
Also be on the lookout for my next werewolf fic BLUE MOON.
As you can see here I have a moon theme going on and I think I like it that way, it's easy for you all to recognise that it's by me and contains wolves.
Also I've been writing a non wolf one SWEET AS SIN or CYNN. Haven't decided how to name it yet. So watch out for it.
AND REVIEW! Come on you've read the whole damn story now at least throw me a freaking bone here. Even if you want to just tell me I suck, I'd rather know what you think then not know. Plus how can I get better if I don't know how I am bad?