Every step Parker took away from Colton tore at his heart. The further away he got, the sicker to his stomach he felt. He kept wiping the tears away with the sleeve of his sweatshirt--Colton's sweatshirt.
Once he couldn't run anymore, he slowed down to a walk. The walk home took an hour or so, which gave him time to think. Unfortunately, his mind was utterly blank. He was like a zombie, wandering on autopilot towards his home.
But something kept pulling him back to Colton, telling him to turn around. Trying to ignore that pull made his head hurt.
When Parker finally reached home, he quietly snuck up to his bedroom, kicked off his shoes, pulled his hoodie off and flung it over the headboard.
Still in zombie mode, he went into his bathroom and relieved himself. As he washed his hands, he took a good look at himself in the mirror. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot. His nose was runny. He looked like death. When he tilted his head to the right, he finally got a look at the bite mark.
He pulled the collar of his t-shirt to the side so that he could see it better. There it was at the base of the left side of his neck. The bite was angry: red, purple and bruised, the colors vivid against his fair skin. He could see the teeth marks, where the beast's fangs had punctured and tore into his skin.
Parker reached up with his left hand and his eye caught the bracelet. It seemed like yesterday that Colton gave him the bracelet and tied it around his wrist. With a smile on his face, he ghosted his fingers across the scar.
He gasped as he was overwhelmed with sensations. The image of the Colton beast sinking his teeth into him flashed across his mind. He gripped the sink with both hands as his knees buckled. The bite was super-sensitive to the touch, a mixture of pain with a hint of pleasure. Bile rose in his throat. He choked back a gag, and closed his eyes until his stomach no longer felt like it was trying to crawl out of his mouth.
He reached into his medicine cabinet and grabbed the aspirin bottle and shook out a pair of pills. He popped the pills and washed them down with a palmful of water. After washing his face, he patted dry with a towel and walked back into his room.
Parker walked to his bed and flung himself into it. He pulled the covers over his head and curled up into a fetal ball. Clutching at his rolling stomach, he closed his eyes and tried to calm his nausea.
Parker believed Colton when he said he didn't do it on purpose. And he believed him when he said he would never hurt Parker. He had to believe. If it wasn't true, then everything about Colton was a lie.
Of course, none of that changed the fact that Colton Butler was a werewolf.
A freaking werewolf!
Not only that, Colton had turned him into one. How the hell was he supposed to deal with that? How could Colton have done that to him? Maybe he was dreaming. Maybe he was crazy.
Parker had never really given any thought to the paranormal. What else was out there that he had to worry about? Vampires? Demons? Fairies? Ghosts?
Thinking back, some of Colton's behavior now made sense: the sniffing, the biting, the pissing. Parker scoffed out loud. Maybe Colton was the crazy one who should be locked up in a mental institution.
No, Parker had seen it with his own eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut and shuddered. He would never be able to get out of his head the image of that half-man/half-beast on top of him, thrusting into his body. Parker was horrified, but what was even more horrifying was that his dick started to stiffen from the memory.
He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, trying not to remember.
Parker should have known that there had to be something wrong with Colton. Really, no one was that perfect. And to Parker, Colton Butler was indeed perfect.
Parker could just cut his losses and run, but how could he deny Colton? Especially now. He would need him. When he transformed -- oh my god, holy shit, what the fuck?! -- he would need Colton.
Hell, he needed him now. Parker was hopelessly in love with Colton. He would rather die than live without Colton. The rest of the stuff was huge -- so huge -- but ultimately, did it really matter?
And that really was the heart of the matter. Could Parker live without Colton in his life?
No.
Colton was the one.
Colton was his mate.
He closed his eyes. He was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. He kept seeing the werewolf Colton in his head. Parker's dick throbbed in his underwear and began to ooze pre-come.
Drawing in a ragged breath, he unsnapped his jeans and pushed them down. He shoved his hand into his underwear and gripped the base of his cock, intending to hold back the arousal. He grabbed his pillow and pulled it over his face and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to smother out the memories.
The beast thrust into Parker relentlessly, hard and fast, pinning him down to the bed with his big body, just the way he liked it. He shouldn't have liked it, but he did. Those fangs were razor sharp, dripping with saliva. Colton's body was covered in hair. He was bigger, stronger, harder. And so was his cock.
The memory of Colton biting his neck pushed to the forefront. After that initial shock of agonizing pain, Parker remembered the unexpected waves of ecstasy that slammed into him. And like he did then, he came.
Parker cried out into the pillow as he filled his underwear with semen.
Physically drained and mentally exhausted, Parker fell into a dead sleep, his hand still inside his messy briefs.
* * *
Completely naked, Parker chased the black wolf deeper into the forest, calling out its name in desperation. The forest was cold, wet and foggy, lit only by the light of the full moon, high and bright in the partially cloudy night sky.
A figure stepped out of the dark. Still bathed in shadows, the steel grey eyes were icy cold.
Parker stopped. He backed away as the man began to transform. Grey fur sprouted from his body as his features began to morph.
Parker turned and ran. He knew this time the grey wolf wouldn't let him escape. The wolf was going to kill him this time.
He screamed for Colton, but he couldn't find him. He stumbled through the forest like a clumsy oaf, calling for his boyfriend, his wolf, his mate.
The grey beast was behind him, closing in. Parker could feel its hot breath on his back.
Parker hit a patch of muddy leaves and skidded, tumbling down a hill.
The grey wolf slowly stalked closer and closer, circling like a predator. Parker's heart pounded in his ears. He screamed for Colton, but he didn't come. Parker had denied Colton and his wolf had left him.
Fighting back tears, feeling naked and vulnerable, Parker picked up a big rock and threw it at the predator as hard as he could.
The rock hit the wolf's head and bounced away, making a sound like a spoon tapping a glass:
Tink.
Parker opened his eyes.
He pulled the covers off his head and sat up.
Ugh. His hand was gross, all crusty and sticky. He pulled it free of his underwear, and after wiping his hand on his bed sheets, he waited and listened for a moment...
Tink.
Something had tapped at the bedroom window pane.
He tried to focus his eyes, but everything was blurry. He grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and put them on. That made it even worse.
What the hell?
There was yet another tap at the window.
Parker tossed the glasses back onto the nightstand and blinked a few times. Strange. He was still wearing his contacts. He pulled down on his lower eyelid and carefully pulled his right lens out. He covered his left eye. He could see almost as well as he could when wearing the lenses. He pulled the left lens out and tossed the useless pieces of plastic onto the nightstand.
Tink. Another tap at the window.
He knew it was Colton without even looking. Logically, it wouldn't be anyone else. But there was more to it than that. He just knew that he was close by. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he did.
He walked over to the window and looked out. It was dark, but he could see the outline of Colton sitting on a branch of the big oak tree with a handful of acorns.
Parker pulled open the window and knelt down. "Colton," he whispered. "What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't sleep. I can't wait, Parker. I know you said you needed time to think..."
Parker sighed. "I know, I know. You couldn't wait. You just have to have things your way, don't you?"
"Yes," he said, completely unrepentant. "Let me in."
"Wait. How did you get up in that tree? You know what? Never mind."
"Open the window screen, pup."
Parker unlocked the screen and tugged at it, trying to remove it from the window frame, but it was painted in place. He gave it a good yank and it finally came free with a bang. The noise made him cringe and he listened for a few seconds to make sure no one was coming to see what was going on.
Colton stood up on the branch and hopped. Parker gasped in surprise as Colton gripped the window casing with his hands. His feet were firmly planted against the wall below. He lifted up with his hands and effortlessly climbed through the window and into the room.
Parker looked at him with his mouth agape. "How the heck-- Never mind." Parker shook his head. He didn't know if he'd ever get used to knowing how Colton did the things he did. When Colton sniffed at him and raised a brow, Parker's face began to flush warm. He muttered, "Let me go clean up real quick."
Parker used the bathroom, then washed his hands. He stripped off his underwear and used a wash cloth and tried to clean up the mess he had made. He grabbed a pair of sweat shorts he had left on the bathroom floor and slipped them on and walked back into the bedroom.
Colton was still standing in the middle of the room, his hands shoved into his pockets, staring down at the floor.
Parker had never seen Colton like this. Nervous. Uncertain.
Parker thought maybe there was some insecurity behind Colton's arrogant and cocky attitude, but Colton had never shown it outright.