Full Moon Mating [Wolf Creek Pack 1] (6 page)

Nate turned, a smile coming to his lips when he saw Joe standing in the doorway. “Morning. Hungry?”

Joe nodded absently, trying to slow down his rapid breathing.

Nate was still here. He had figured after last night and his grand announcement that Nate would have taken off for the hills as fast as he could.

“Well, have a seat. Breakfast will be ready in just a moment. Do you want a cup of coffee?” Nate waved the spatula in his hand around, pointing to the coffeepot. “I hope you like French toast.”

Joe walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee, then sat down at the table. He watched Nate as he moved around in front of the stove, flipping pieces of French toast with the spatula. He looked really good standing in Joe’s kitchen.

Nate placed several pieces of French toast on a large plate and set it down on the table before pulling a couple more plates out of the
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oven and setting them down on the table too. He quickly grabbed a jug of orange juice from the fridge, then sat down across from Joe.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Nate asked.

“Why are you still here, Nate?”

“I thought…I thought you said I could stay.” Nate quickly folded the hand towel he had in his trembling hands and set it down beside his plate as he stood up, his head bent down to his chest. “I’m sorry…I misunderstood. I’ll go.”

Joe caught Nate around the waist as he quickly walked by and pulled him down to sit on his lap. He was surprised that he could feel the turbulent emotions rolling through Nate as soon as their bodies touched.

Nate was upset with himself that he had misunderstood Joe. He was also suddenly very afraid that he had no safe place to go. But most importantly to Joe, Nate was filled with grief that he had to leave him.

Joe wrapped his arms around Nate, pulling his head down to his chest. “Shh, baby, it’s okay,” he whispered into Nate’s hair then kissed him on the top of his head. “I did say you could stay, and I’m very glad you did. I was just surprised. That’s all.”

“Are you…are you sure?” Nate asked tentatively.

“Yeah, baby, I’m sure. I want you here. I was just worried that you wouldn’t want to stay after what I told you last night. You have to admit, it’s not every day that you learn your lover is a shapeshifter, Nate.”

“Do you mean that?”

“Which part?” Joe’s breath caught in his throat at the blush covering Nate’s cheeks. It was adorable and very sexy all at the same time.

“The lover part,” Nate replied shyly.

Joe scoffed at Nate. “That’s all you got out of this conversation? I tell you I’m a shapeshifter, and all you got out of it is that I’m your
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lover? Nate, you do understand what I mean about being a shapeshifter, don’t you?”

Nate just shrugged his shoulders. “You can change shape. So what? I’m a sempath. We’re both different, big deal. I’m more interested in the lover part of things. I want to know if you really mean it.”

Joe pulled Nate into a hug, his heart pounding with joy at Nate’s words. “Yeah, I mean it. But don’t you have any questions about the other part…the shapeshifter part?”

“Well, sure. What can you shift into? Is it dangerous? Does it hurt? Are you sentient when you shift? Will you…will you know who I am when you shift?”

“All good questions.” And they were. Part of Joe was proud of the intelligence Nate was showing. Another part was still terrified that Nate would run when Joe told him everything. Still, Nate deserved to know the truth, all of it.

He stood Nate up and patted him on the ass as he pushed him towards the other side of the table. “Why don’t we eat while I answer your questions, okay? This all looks really good, and I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

Joe piled food on his plate before taking a big bite, closing his eyes briefly in ecstasy.
Damn! His man sure could cook.

“Okay, first question. I can only shift into a wolf. No, it’s not really dangerous. I was born this way, but yes, it can hurt sometimes.

And before you ask, my entire family is this way, as is most of the town. I come from a long line of shapeshifters. We don’t know what started it. It’s just always been this way.”

“So, are you sentient when you shift?”

“Sure. We can understand everything, even communicate between ourselves. But we’re still wolves with a wolf’s instincts. That’s something else you’re gonna have to learn about if you plan on sticking around, which I hope you do.”

“What do I need to know?” Nate asked curiously.

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“Well, there’s a certain…err…hierarchy to things here.”

“Hierarchy?”

Joe set his fork down and motioned for Nate to come around the table. Looking confused and a little apprehensive, Nate stood up and walked around the table to Joe, sitting down on his lap.

“Joe?” Nate asked after a moment of silence. “We all have a ranking or hierarchy, if you will. My father is our pack leader. He is also our town mayor. I’m the pack enforcer, hence, the sheriff. Our human jobs usually mirror our pack jobs in some way.”

“Okay, that makes sense. Basically, your city council would be your…”

“Town council, exactly. Now, here’s the tricky part. As my lover, or mate, you are as equal in status in the pack as me. However, you will be below me,” Joe stated quickly.

“Your mate?”

“Caught that part, did you?” Joe asked nervously. “You know that wolves mate for life, right? It’s pretty much the same for us. We find that one person that is meant for us and mate with them for life. There can be no other for us, and we know our mate when we meet them.”

Joe lifted Nate’s chin so that he could look into his eyes. “You’re my mate, Nate. I knew it the moment I met you. And if I take you, I will mate you, make you mine. But you really need to think this through before we take that step.”

“Why? What aren’t you telling me?”

“You need to understand how it is for us. There is usually a more dominant partner in any relationship. As shapeshifters, we tend to take that to the extreme. You need to decide if you can handle that.”

“What? Like I have to walk around on a leash or something?” Joe could see the puzzlement in Nate’s face.

“Or something.” Joe chuckled. “No, no leash. It’s nothing like that. But the deeper my feelings get for you, the more possessive I will become. I won’t want you to be away from me. Hell, I don’t want
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you away from me now, and I haven’t even claimed you yet. It will only get more intense as time goes by.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad. What else?” Nate asked.

“How do you know there’s more? Maybe that’s it.”

“Oh please, you are way too upset for there not to be more. One more little thing I forgot to mention about being a sempath? I’m a human lie detector. I know if you are telling me the truth or not, or if you’re hiding something from me. You are definitely hiding something. So spill. I think I need to know everything.”

Okay, that surprised Joe. Nate could tell if he was lying? That might take a little getting used to. It wasn’t that he lied a lot or anything, but there would be times when he had to keep things from Nate, for his own good. This could prove to be a problem.

“Nate, you do know that there will be times when I can’t tell you things, right?”

“Sure, no one wants someone knowing all of their secrets. I wouldn’t expect you to tell me everything. But this is directly connected to me, and I feel that I have a right to know. Am I wrong?”

“No, not in this instance. In fact, the more you know, the better.

But as the pack enforcer and the town sheriff, there will be a lot of times when I can’t tell you things. I don’t want you to think I’m lying to you.”

“So, just tell me it’s pack business or a case or something. I’ll understand. It’s when you don’t tell me that and try to hide something from me that I will feel like you’re lying to me.”

“Just like that?” Joe asked, surprised.

Nate giggled. “Yeah, just like that. Now, what else do I need to know?”

Joe felt his face flush. How was he supposed to explain his need to dominate to someone like Nate, who had been dominated for so long?

“Joe?”

“I think I’m somewhat of a chauvinist,” Joe mumbled.

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“A chauvinist? Why?”

“I want to take care of you. That’s my job, putting a roof over your head, food on the table, keeping you safe. I want to do all of those things for you.”

“Okay. And…?”

“Damn it, Nate! I don’t want you off on some job that will take you away from me. I want to know that you’re here, at home, safe and waiting for me. I want to walk through that door at the end of the day and have you here, know you are here.”

“Does that mean I’m not allowed to leave? Go to the store or whatever?”

“No, of course not. If you need to go to the store, go. Just let me know so I don’t worry about you. But I make enough money for both of us. You don’t have to go out and work.”

“Joe, I have to do something with my time. I can’t just sit here, day in and day out, waiting until you come home, until you have time for me. I’d go out of my mind in a week.”

Joe stroked his hand down Nate’s back, trying to soothe him.

“Can’t we just find something for you to do here? Lots of people work from home. You could too. I just need to know you’re safe, Nate.”

“Okay, I’m willing to think about it, but I’m not making any promises. I have to do something to keep myself busy, Joe.”

“Taking care of me won’t do that for you? This is a two-way street, you know. You can take care of me as much I get to take care of you. Besides, I told you I sucked as a cook.”

Joe nearly fell out of his chair when Nate started laughing.

“What?”

“You want me to be a housewife.”

“No! Of course not…Well, maybe a little. Is that so wrong?”

“No, it’s not wrong,” Nate replied. “I might even enjoy it. But we’ll just have to wait and see how things go. Deal?”

“I guess. But I retain the right to revisit this issue at a later time.”

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“Fair enough. Anything else I need to know?”

“I need to be in charge, Nate. It’s the wolf in me. It’s a pack alpha thing. I can’t explain it very well, but there it is.”

“In charge? What exactly does that mean? Do I not have a say in things? Do I have to defer to you for everything? Am I subservient to you? What?”

“No, baby, it’s not like that. Not much anyway. When we’re around others, I need to be the top dog, so to speak. I guess image and appearances are important when we’re around others, though.”

God! This was so hard to explain, and he just knew he was screwing it up. Nate was going to hate him. Joe knew how to fight, enforce the laws of the land. He did not know how to talk tactfully.

That would be his mother’s area.

Jo was so caught up in his thought he almost jumped when Nate wrapped an arm around him and laid his head down on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Joe. I know what you mean. On most things and when we are around others, I will let you be in charge. If I strongly disagree with you on something, though, I will tell you, but only when we’re alone. I will never air a disagreement in public. Is that good enough?”

“Yeah, baby, its more than enough,” Joe whispered into Nate’s hair. He couldn’t believe that Nate was taking this so well or being so understanding. It didn’t really seem fair to him. Joe was making all the demands, Nate all the concessions. Where was the incentive for him to stay?

“Will I be enough for you, Nate? There doesn’t seem to be much in this for you. What can I do to make you want to stay?”

Nate sat up and moved his legs so that he was straddling Joe’s lap.

“Kiss me,” he whispered against Joe’s lips.

“Kiss you?” That was it? That was all he wanted?

“God, yes, I could live on your kisses alone.”

Joe grinned. He could do that. He leaned in and took Nate’s willing lips with his, thrusting his tongue inside, demanding Nate’s
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acceptance. He threaded his hand through Nate’s hair, tilting his head to meet his.

Oh yeah, he could do this. Kissing Nate was unlike anything on earth. It was like kissing a light socket that shot pleasure though every fiber of his body. He could feel it all the way down to his toes.

Nothing could stop him from enjoying the feel of Nate’s lips against his…nothing but someone leaning on the front doorbell.

Damn! Joe reluctantly sat back in his chair, chuckling when he heard Nate whimper.

“Sorry, baby, but I’ve got to answer that. It could be work,” Joe said as he slapped Nate on the ass. He pushed himself to his feet and walked out of the kitchen to answer the front door.

Joe almost growled when he opened the door and found his baby sister standing there. He could think of a hundred things he’d rather be doing then standing there talking to her. Nate figured in almost all of them.

“What? You don’t answer your phone anymore, Joe?” “I was busy. Sue me,” Joe replied. “What do you want, Tosha?”

“Hmmm, busy my ass. More like you were sleeping in.”

“Tosha, I swear, if you weren’t my baby sister and Mom didn’t dote on you so much, I’d drown you. What do you want?”

“Looks like we may have caught those two guys that shot Old Man Garner. Ben has been trying to contact you, but you’re not answering your phone. So, he asked me to stop by. He needs you to go down to the station and handle this.”

Joe was silent for a moment before answering. “Fuck! All right, stay right here while I go get ready. I’ll be right back.”

Joe walked back to the kitchen to find Nate picking up the dishes from their breakfast. He walked over and wrapped his arms around Nate.

“Baby—”

* * * *

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Nate rested his head back on Joe’s naked chest. “I know. You have to go into work.”

“Yeah.” Joe sighed, regret filling his voice. “I don’t know how long I’ll be. This could take a few hours. I wish I didn’t have to go. I wish I could just stay here with you all day.”