Howl in the Dark

By: RavenHeart101

Disclaimer: Nope. Own nothing.

Summary: Being the runt of the pack is hard enough, but being a mutt only makes things harder. When Blaine is attacked he's immediately drawn in by the wolf that rescues him and the two bond from there on out.

A: N – Worst summary ever but thanks for giving the story a try anyway! Yaaay! Also, don't ask why this happened. Just accept it. And love it.

The woods were dark.

For most people this would be a fact that would keep them from entering, but for him it was what prompted him to do so. He was the runt of the family, the "pup" in the words of his father and mother and brother. The outlier, almost. Always the misfit. Always the little mutt.

He sighed and sat forward, resting his head on his paws, relaxing into the leaves.

His clothes were off to the side, waiting for whenever he decided that he was done in this form and ready to go back to his human form. The breeze flitted over his fur and he pulled his body closer into himself. He was tired. So very tired. Of everything.

He was tired of the bullies at school, he was tired of his father telling him he was too small, he was tired of Cooper's jokes, his mother's pitting looks.

He was tired of them hating him because he was friends with Kurt – a feline. He was tired of all of them. Of everything.

And so he had snuck out of his window and decided to come out here for a while. For some fresh air and to just allow him to relax. Just a little bit.

Something rattled off to the side, and his ears twitched back. His head perked up from its spot on his paws. He whined high in his throat, praying that it was someone like Cooper just sneaking up on him. The sound disappeared for a moment and Blaine sniffed the wind, but there was no one there. He let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, placing his head back into his paws and kneading against the dirt. He would have to clean under his nails when he got home – scrub himself clean from his little run in the woods so that his father wouldn't know – but that wasn't the worst thing that he would ever have to do.

Honestly, Blaine hated being a mutt almost more than he hated being this… mix of human and animal. As if that wasn't bad enough. Here he was a three-way mutt. No pure blood in him at all. No one liked a mutt. No one.

Perhaps that was Kurt's problem too. Part mountain lion, part sphinx. But, besides his brother, Kurt was the only other mutt that Blaine knew of. And Cooper didn't even look like a mutt. Not like Blaine did. Cooper looked almost completely wolf, big and bulky and all angry teeth and sharp ears.

Unlike Blaine. Who was furry and muscular – yes – but not enough to scare off others. He had sharp teeth and pointy ears, but they fell funny on the top of his head. He was a joke to every predator out there. Blaine knew that in a fight there was no way he could win if he didn't have his speed and agility. He wasn't cunning and sneaky, not like foxes were supposed to be, and he wasn't brute force and anger, not like wolves were supposed to be. He was subdued and caring and trusting and everything he wasn't supposed to be.

And that was a problem. Because Blaine acted like a beta and what good was a beta in a family full of alpha's?

There was another ruffle in the leaves next to him and Blaine perked up yet again. It couldn't have just been the wind. Not this time.

His eyes darted quickly over to his clothes, hanging up in a tree and out of the grasp of anyone that could be coming. They were hidden from view and he contemplated getting up and getting them for himself when a growl emitted from somewhere to his right.

His body tensed. Blaine didn't like the sound of that.

He looked up at the sky, almost cursing himself at the time of night that was staring him right in the face. Three in the morning.

And, to make it worse, Blaine was pretty sure he had wandered far away from his family's territory.

He wasn't very intimidating. There was no way he could scare them off and get them to run away. He was stuck where he was.

But maybe, maybe, he could make it to his clothes in time and change back.

They wouldn't attack a human would they?

Blaine moved towards his clothes but he was halted almost immediately by another growl, this time from somewhere behind him. Just what he needed more than one wolf to cause him trouble.

Suddenly a howl ripped through the woods and Blaine felt panic. There was only one thing that howl could symbolize. And that was nothing good for him.

He whimpered and huddled in closer on himself before rising up onto his haunches and letting out a growl of his own. He wasn't the most intimidating but he was intimidating enough. Or at least he could hope he was intimidating enough.

First a large gray wolf came from the side, its tail between its legs and its teeth bared. Blaine focused his attention on that one first, backing up slowly, the whole time growling himself. Until yet another came out from hiding, this one smaller than the first but still bigger than Blaine, taking up the same low stance as the one before it. And then came another. And another. And suddenly there were five of them and only one of Blaine and, yes, okay, he was screwed. Unless he could make it out.

He would have to explain to Cooper why exactly he was back naked and go back for his cellphone later that day, but that was better than him having to explain why he was bloody and dying and had gone out of the house for a run in the woods without anyone else with him. He was weak, there was no way he could stop this attack.

But he could make a break for it. Blaine was good at running. Very very good at running.

He took off at top speed, going for the break between the first wolf and the third.

Only they seemed to have expected that, jumping at him instead and biting down on his front leg. Blaine's whine turned into a growl when the others joined in, their teeth digging into his skin. He tried to fight them off the best he could but, in the end, he had simply collapsed against the leaves in a heap and evened out his breathing so that they would assume that he was dead.

It wasn't even the proper technique for something like this. The whole "pretend you're dead" thing was something that worked on bears, not wolves. And yet it was what his body was telling him to do. So he did it.

And they, oddly enough, seemed to believe it, biting him a few more times before running off in the woods, barking at each other.

Blaine wondered if anyone would come for him if he were to howl but he knew whatever would come out would be pathetic. He hurt all over and he could feel himself shivering and bleeding but there was nothing he could do about that.

And, on top of it all, there was no way he could reach his clothes from where he was. Not without only hurting himself farther.

His eyes fluttered shut and he prayed his brother would be out searching for him before it was too late.

A wet nose prodded into the top of his head and a whine came from the animal above him. Blaine tensed, hoping it was anything but those wolves from before. He opened his eyes a crack – as much as he could open them – and was met with the brightest pair of brown eyes that he had ever seen. The wolf above him whined again, nudging Blaine's head with his nose once more before giving him a pitying look and running off into the woods.

Blaine felt his heart sink, his eyes fluttering shut once more. Maybe he had made up the wolf with the stunning brown eyes. Made up his wet snout and his whines to get Blaine's attention.

And then there was a hand on his head, gentle and prodding. Blaine blinked his eyes open again, this time almost startled to see a man kneeling in front of him, in jeans and without shoes or a shirt.

Blaine let out a small growl, the smallest he could muster, but the man's hand just pat his head even more. "You're okay." The man whispered in perhaps the gentlest voice Blaine had ever heard. "Don't change back." The man warned a shirt in his hands as he reached up to pull Blaine into his arms. "You're easier to carry this way." Blaine whimpered when the man picked him up, wrapping him in the shirt and hugging him to his chest. "They got you bad, huh?" The man whispered and Blaine simply whimpered once more, nuzzling his face in the other man's chest. "I don't know where you hid your stuff, but you can tell me and I can come back later. There's plenty of stuff back at my place that you can use when you change back." When. Not if.

That was a first.

Blaine was notorious for having his days when he just couldn't change back into human form. And to think that a total stranger had such confidence in him… well Blaine wasn't sure what to do with that.

Instead, he found himself drifting off in the man's warm and comfortable grip. He couldn't help but feel safe, even though he was sure that he shouldn't.

Warm air hit him as the man shouldered open a door and Blaine was carried down a hall and placed gently on top of a bed. "You can change back now. It'd be easier to take a look at the damage that way." The man gently pat his head, his fingers tangling in his fur and his mouth wincing at the feel of cuts and dried blood and Blaine felt himself flush. Because even though he was injured and hurt and possibly bleeding out he was naked. And this was a very attractive guy that was offering to help him out and no way in heck would he be able to convince himself to change back in this sort of situation. "You're kidding." The guy gave him a look of disbelief. "You're too modest? Seriously?" The man snorted before rolling his eyes and standing up, reaching into some drawers to pull out a pair of boxers. He threw them over at Blaine and turned so that his back was to him, his arms crossed over his chest. "This is as good as you're getting, mutt. Change back."

The "mutt" comment stung but Blaine listened, closing his eyes and clearing his mind of all thoughts besides what it felt like to be human. The feel of his feet on the ground, the feel of the air on his skin.

He let out a loud gasp at the abrupt pain that sprang through his body, his eyes shooting open and his body curling in on itself. The man tensed and made to turn around. "No!" Blaine yelled and the man stayed where he was, half turned in worry and a frown set on his face.

Despite the pain, Blaine rushed to put on the boxers, groaning when they were on and collapsing back onto his back. The man turned back towards him, and he was silent. Didn't move. Didn't do anything but stare, his eyes wide and something besides worry was there. Something curious. Something Blaine didn't have the energy to analyze at the moment. He shivered at the feel of the air against his skin, goose bumps rising steadily.

"Shit." The man seemed to spring into action, rushing over to Blaine and pushing him so that he rested on his back instead of curled into his side. Still, Blaine couldn't help the rather loud wince. He had been beaten up pretty bad. Bitten almost everywhere the wolves could reach. "What the fuck did you do?"

"I don't know." Blaine muttered petulantly as the man scrambled to a bathroom and back, a wet cloth, antiseptic, and bandages in his hands. He dropped them all on the floor next to the bed Blaine was lying on, picking up the cloth and beginning to clean out the more seriously looking cuts.

The man just raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief before leaning down to get a better look at the cut in Blaine's side, his eyes softening at the way Blaine flinched in pain. They worked in silence, Blaine's hand twisted in the sheets at his side. Normally he would have felt some sort of worry about making this man angry by getting blood all over his sheets but Blaine was between passing out and simply howling in pain so he figuring keeping his mouth shut was the best idea. "What's your name?" The man suddenly asked as he wiped the cloth – that had to be replaced several times within the past hour – against the nasty cut on Blaine's cheek.

"Why?" He asked cautiously, unsure whether he should give an answer or not.

The man glanced up at his eyes before smirking and looking back down at the cut. "Bet I can guess it."

"Knock yourself out." Blaine said through gritted teeth, his eyes shut tightly and his nails causing crescents in his palms through the sheets.

"Dylan." Blaine choked on a laugh. "No? Tyler." Blaine barely shook his head. "No? How about Justin?" Blaine winced as the man pressed harder. "Noah? Oh wait, that's my name." Blaine blinked up at him, stunned and the man simply winked before rubbing some antiseptic over the cut.

Blaine yelped at the stinging pain and the tears that jumped to his eyes. He had basically been numbed to the pain a while ago, back when the man – Noah – had been cleaning out the cut on his arm that was rather deep. "I know this sucks," Noah said with the same quiet voice he had first spoken with. "But you're going to have to either turn on your stomach or sit up."

"I'll sit up." He spoke through clenched teeth, slowly pushing himself up into a seated position, Noah's hand gentle on an uninjured spot of his back to help him.

"Goddamn it." Noah whistled. "These guys sure wanted to do some damage."

Noah sighed and picked back up the wet cloth, running it over the cut on Blaine's shoulder and whispering a quiet "I'm sorry" when Blaine shuddered. They were silent again, besides Blaine's occasional whimpers and Noah's occasional murmurs of comfort.

Really, it was his gentle grip that kept Blaine grounded. The way his hand curled around Blaine's waist with just enough pressure to remind him that he was there, but not tight enough to cause him anymore unnecessary pain. "Now for the uncomfortable part." Noah whispered and he crouched down in front of Blaine. "Scoot up and lay on your back. You have a pretty nasty bite on your thigh."

Blaine pushed back a blush, but he was pretty sure it still showed. Thankfully, Noah didn't say anything just helping him get as comfortable as he could and leaning down to inspect the bite. He kept a gentle and firm hand on Blaine's knee, keeping his leg from kicking out when the wet cloth touched the wound. And just when Blaine had thought he couldn't feel any more pain.

He breathed out harshly from his nose and whimpered against the feel of the hot water on his already pulsing thigh. "It looks like they tried to claim you." Noah said softly, looking up at Blaine through his eyelashes and biting almost nervously at his lip. "You fought back and they didn't like that."

"They?" Blaine managed to choke out, not sure which part he was more horrified at.

"Most likely it was the to be alpha. Strays have this thing… They have an idea that they're meant to attack their to be mate and give then the mating bite. And if that doesn't work and the mate fights back their pack descends and attacks until that 'mate' submits." Noah explained in a hushed voice, calm and collected as he cleaned out the bite, but seemingly seething underneath it all. Blaine knew the man was speaking in a calm voice to keep him relaxed rather than make him panic more than he already was.

"But they didn't." Blaine stated in almost wonder.

"Because they heard me." Noah glanced up at him, moving his hand from Blaine's knee and squeezing the one that Blaine had clenched in his fist instead. It was comforting and Blaine didn't allow him to pull his hand back, eliciting just a tiny smile from the man as he wiped at the bite with antiseptic. "This was to be their mating bite." He stated absentmindedly, trailing his finger just gently over the bite. Blaine felt a spark from the other man's fingertips.

"Blaine." He said breathlessly. Noah looked up at him, a twinkle in his brown eyes.

"What now?"

"My name." Blaine said in explanation. "It's Blaine."

"It suits you."

"Thank you."

Noah smiled at him just a bit – it was the first smile that Blaine had ever seen out of him. And it took his breath away. He winced when the antiseptic bumped over the bite once more and Noah placed the cloth by his side, glancing up narrowly at Blaine before leaning down and placing one small, tender kiss at the damaged skin.

Blaine's breath hitched and his eyes fluttered shut.

Noah leaned closer and seemed to breathe him in, nuzzling into the skin there before moving up farther, kissing at the bite on his hip, and then the one on his waist. Against his own better judgment Blaine felt his breathing falter and then even out, against his better judgment he felt his hand relax and turn Noah's hand around so that their fingers were linked together.

And then Noah was right in front of him, almost on top of him, and he was leaning down to press and gentle kiss to the cut on his cheek. His breath ghosted over Blaine's lips as he pulled back and that was when Blaine knew he was screwed.

They didn't have to kiss, but they simply pressed their foreheads together and rubbed their noses against one another and smiled.

All the worry and fear seemed to dissipate into the back of his mind and Blaine sunk lower into the mattress, his eyes sliding shut as Noah's lips glided gently over his own, his breath evening out and his mind slipping into sleep. Because, for some reason, he felt completely protected with this man hovering over him, protective in the way only a wolf could be of their mate.

A: N - Idk... I kind of like this... There may be more. Idk.