Little Wolf (19 page)

Tim took a breath and waved at the collection of restaurants that lined the main street. He cleared his throat. “I’m going to take pity on you because clearly you’ve been skating by on your looks for too long. Also I’m hungry, so, yes, let’s go get food, if you still want to get food with me,” he conceded, and nearly jumped into the air when everyone inside the café burst into applause. It was audible even through the glass and with the doors closed. “Oh my God,” he whispered, not sure if he was more mortified or furious. Nathaniel didn’t seem torn up about it, or surprised, for that matter. He was calm again, like his usual self except for the lingering light in his eyes.

He waited with his head inclined toward Tim, so Tim took his attention off the freaks in the window. He huffed indignantly as he pulled his sweatshirt closer around him and resolved to ask no more questions until he’d eaten and could think clearly. Apparently he really was that big of a beast when he was hungry that people cheered when he left to get food. “Ugh. They are terrible, and so are you, but you are slightly less terrible and decent to look at, and you argue okay. What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

Robin’s Egg winked at him through the glass. Tim put his hands to his face and turned to Nathaniel.

“Such a flattering invitation.” Nathaniel lifted the corner of his mouth. “You asked, so you must have had a destination in mind. Where to?” His voice rumbled with so much pleasure and satisfaction that Tim’s face heated.

“You keep trying to tell me about the great places to eat in this town. If you’re paying, I want to go someplace nice.” Tim nodded decisively, then moved, choosing a direction at random. At the moment he could eat almost anything.

Nathaniel must have felt the same, because he followed closely after Tim without any kind of protest. His scent rose upward, sparkling like the bubbles in champagne.

I
N
A
restaurant full of weres who could listen to every embarrassing word, and who didn’t bother to pretend they weren’t watching Tim eating spaghetti across from their sheriff, it was easy to put off asking Nathaniel any questions. It was harder to do it in Nathaniel’s truck with him as they headed to the house, but Nathaniel’s scent remained effervescent, and Tim was feeling pleased about not doing anything too stupid during the meal to risk putting his foot in his mouth again.

The depths of his ignorance weren’t something he wanted to brag about, and he had a feeling that Nathaniel sincerely talking to him about sex might actually kill him. Of course, trying not to think up questions about werewolf sex filled his head with questions about werewolf sex. There was so much that human porn never seemed to have. That was all visuals, rarely about taste, and never about smells. Human porn featured hairless bodies too much for Tim’s liking, and no one in it ever seemed to truly want what was happening, and certainly not… more.

He wasn’t sure what “more” would be, but he had seen couples after the full moons, seen the marks. Thinking about marks made him want to lick, scent, bite down. Werewolf porn, what he’d seen of it, which was difficult without a computer of his own, wasn’t like human porn. Sure, everyone got off—usually several times with how fast werewolves could recover when motivated—but there was more. More… everything… harder everything. Even those arty erotica photos of Thomas Kirkpatrick where he’d been chained and furiously aroused had hinted at more.

Thinking about what exactly that could be wasn’t something to calm Tim down. He jumped out of the truck the moment it was parked, and then spent a few minutes outside checking his magic, though he could tell from being near that no one had tested the wards. It was possible his uncle had searched for Tim and assumed Tim had already moved on. Silas had no reason to think Tim would stay in this town. For the first time, it might be an advantage to really stay somewhere. No one would have expected it, not even Tim. If he kept a low profile and didn’t mess up, they might continue to look elsewhere for him.

He held tighter to the charms at his neck at the thought, and then finally went inside. Nathaniel had left the door open, probably to keep an eye on Tim, something that made Tim feel strangely bubbly too. He smiled as he walked in, then paused. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting to see, but it wasn’t Zoe with her short hair neatly parted, asking Nathaniel if she looked better with her collar popped or flat.

“Only jerks pop their collar,” Tim remarked as he closed the door behind him. Zoe was surprisingly susceptible to trash talking, as Tim had learned while gaming with her. Nathaniel gave Tim a reproachful look, but Zoe turned without a word and headed down the hall to her room.

The smile Nathaniel had worn all through their dinner was gone. “Great, Little Wolf. Thank you.” He sighed as he sat back into the large, stuffed chair that Zoe had been quick to inform Tim was Nathaniel’s chair. Tim came closer but stopped at the couch. He could hear Zoe rifling through her closet.

“What?” Tim frowned at him. “Zoe can’t be that self-conscious. She’s a grown-ass, big, tough were.”

“I keep trying to tell you, big doesn’t equal tough.” Nathaniel let out a breath, then raised his head when Zoe came out in a long-sleeved, collared button-down. Zoe looked at him and seemed to settle into herself, although Nathaniel hadn’t said anything. Tim was trying to figure that out when Zoe turned to him.

She looked good, Tim supposed. More dressed up than she usually was, but still casual. “Where you off to?”

“Carson has a multiplex movie theater.” Zoe grunted it. For a second, Tim didn’t see what that had to do with the new shirt, but he got a whiff of something so anxious and familiar it made him want to clasp his hands together.

“You have a date? An out-of-town date?” It didn’t help that he sounded shocked. Zoe’s expression was almost hurt. “I mean,” Tim added quickly, “I thought, despite what was said earlier today, we really date? This is actually a thing weres do even when humans are not involved?”

“A human
is
involved.” Zoe paused, then tugged at her shirt. She looked at Tim again. “You got something to say about that?”

“A human?” Tim was so confused. His uncle had so much explaining to do, not that Tim planned on being close enough to him to demand an explanation. “No, I… obviously I mean, I can do magic. I’m clearly part human, despite what my family likes to deny.”

He’d thought they understood that. But if Zoe had, she hadn’t been judging him for it. If anything, she was surprised and confused. She didn’t sneer or call him a human runt. He wondered if other weres did that or if it had only been those who surrounded the Dirus family who cared about the few drops of human in him.

“You’re dating a human?” Tim tried to wrap his mind around this. “Why are you dating them? I mean if the purpose of this town is hooking up. Is this not about that?”

Nathaniel exhaled heavily through his nose.

Tim took that as a sign that it wasn’t. “Oh. I didn’t know you, I mean, we, do that. Look for love with a human.” Saying it made him feel shy and stupid. Since he wasn’t actually thirteen, he kept his gaze up while Zoe scrunched her nose at him. Thankfully, she seemed to have more on her mind than Tim’s total inability to be a proper were. “Well,” Tim said when it was clear Zoe wasn’t going to mock him for not knowing weres actually dated, and dated whoever they pleased, “for a… for a real date then, you look good.”

He’d seen roommates go on dates before. Dressing up did seem to be standard. He supposed if he were human and didn’t have smell to rely on, or the were looks that humans found so appealing, he would have had to make a good impression with his clothing and general appearance too. Zoe seemed uncomfortable, but otherwise inoffensive.

“Your flowers are blooming. Are you going to take any?” Nathaniel asked calmly, giving Tim a warmer look at last before angling his head toward Zoe. He was acting like he couldn’t smell the nerves and fear, but Tim knew he had to.

Zoe took a deep breath. “Yeah. I’ve got them in the car already.”

“Flowers?” Tim connected the dots and could have smacked himself. He’d never heard of a werewolf who gardened, but if that was Zoe’s garden outside, they must. “I wondered about those. Er, because they’re very pretty, and humans really like flowers,” he added so Zoe wouldn’t get any more nervous. He couldn’t take any more of that scent. Zoe probably couldn’t either.

“Tiff mentioned them before,” Zoe offered. Her expression was almost hopeful. Tim stared at her while he tried to think why the name Tiff was familiar. Then he remembered the human behind the counter at the pizza place.

“The pizza girl?” He smoothed the surprise out of his voice. Nathaniel wouldn’t have anything to say about his manners. “She seems nice.” Bored with her job but friendly to the other customers, curious about Zoe without being as forward as Tim would have been, quiet whenever Tim or Zoe had looked at her, but nice.

“She
is
nice.” Zoe exhaled and smiled,
smiled
, at Tim. She was using actual words and an actual excited tone. Tim looked to Nathaniel for explanation, who touched his nose for a moment like he was telling Tim to shut up and wait a second. He smiled, too, before quietly commenting on the time. With a tense hitch in her shoulders, Zoe dropped her smile and frowned at Tim before hurrying out the door.

“I guess this is what she saves up her words for,” Tim remarked as they listened to Zoe drive away. He suddenly remembered Nathaniel telling him it was mostly the more drastic cases of weres in need who stayed in this house with him.

“Thank you.” Nathaniel leaned back in the chair to give Tim a hard look. He was very kingly. He would probably be kingly on a beanbag chair. Tim imagined himself lounging in a chair like that and was grateful his imagination let his feet touch the floor.

“Thanks for what?” He unclasped his hands and leaned against the arm of the couch.

“You know for what. She was nervous, and you made her feel better when you didn’t have to.” Nathaniel closed his eyes as if he were savoring the moment. Tim got to enjoy the sight of his throat working as he swallowed.

“Who knew Zoe was so sensitive?” Tim’s voice was raspy. He shrugged when Nathaniel opened his eyes. “Her pizza girl seemed okay, I guess. It isn’t like I know anything about anything or like my opinion matters. She must have been really anxious.” Tim had a sudden thought and almost jumped. “Oh, is Tiff her mate?” That… wasn’t like he’d pictured mates. Zoe and Tiff were hesitant and didn’t come near each other. He’d thought mates were sure things.

“No, she isn’t.” Nathaniel shook his head, then slowly looked Tim over. “You seem very interested in the subject of mating, especially for someone who didn’t want to ask me sex questions.”

“Ah!” Tim squawked at him and slid facedown onto the couch. His legs were sticking up in the air, but he had abandoned dignity earlier that afternoon. “Stop saying that word if you want me to keep talking to you,” he ordered into the couch cushions, then wriggled onto his elbows so he could look up. Nathaniel stared at him, sort of amused, like Tim was fascinatingly weird to him. Tim frowned and swung down his legs to sit up.

“What, exactly, is the purpose of dating? Can’t Zoe just sniff out if Tiff’s into her?” Tim half expected Nathaniel to tease him and say “sex” again, but he didn’t.

“Little Wolf, what, exactly, do you think dating is?” Nathaniel seemed both horrified and curious, mostly horrified.

“I don’t know!” Tim exclaimed defensively. “Something people do to find out if they are compatible. I thought, you know,
instinct
. Do we even need to do that? Asking someone to dinner or a movie? It seems old-fashioned.” Which sounded like something Carl had said now that Tim thought about it. Tim frowned a little harder and leaned in while waiting for Nathaniel’s answer.

Nathaniel tapped a hand on the arm of his throne—chair—and seemed to consider his words carefully.

“It… isn’t easy for someone who isn’t one of us to understand… some things. It’s why the weres in this town are taught to take it slow if they want to have a relationship with someone who isn’t were, or is, say, a werewolf from a city, or a were who hasn’t known a pack. We wait for them to make a move in order to be certain they’re sure. It’s kind of a waiting game. And a courtship game, if all goes well.”

“Right.” Tim snorted. “That’s why you have town sex festivals.”

“Stop calling them that.” Nathaniel scowled at him. He was definitely starting to get comfortable with Tim if he was letting Tim see him getting edgy. “If the human or other being just wants sex, the weres are far less hesitant, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. But that isn’t what the festivals are about, especially the Spring Thaw. Sex is only a part of it.”

“A big part,” Tim muttered under his breath. “A big throbbing part.”

Nathaniel gave him a stern look but at least didn’t try to deny it this time. The whole town was bathed in so many sex pheromones right now that it was what Tim imagined a high school locker room smelled like.

“The festivals make a lot of money, money that helps the town with its other goals. They also lead to a lot of couples. Thaw in particular is about… new beginnings, in addition to all the sex, yes. So, sometimes they also attract people looking for… more.” Nathaniel didn’t seem pleased with the word choice, but Tim gave a start.

“More?” he echoed breathlessly. “What kind of more?”

Nathaniel moved. From anyone else, it might have been an uncomfortable squirm. From Nathaniel, it looked like an irritated twitch. “Weres have… different views of attachment that some non-weres find appealing.” Nathaniel met Tim’s gaze for a moment, then redirected his eyes when Tim couldn’t seem to catch his breath. Nathaniel wasn’t talking about permanence and monogamy; he was talking about the mutual possessiveness some werewolves displayed. It was the kind of thing humans made jokes, and movies, and romance novels, about.

“Despite that, non-weres still have legitimate concerns about pairing up with weres. Acting as the humans do by dating is one way to appease those fears.” Nathaniel coughed again. “Instinct might tell you a lot about someone, but it doesn’t tell you everything. Dating is a period to get to know someone. Or, if you were both wolves, we could call it flirting, and courtship, because it’s almost the same.” Nathaniel frowned at the floor. “Say you recognized your mate right this second….” He paused. Tim made a noise to indicate he was listening. Nathaniel sighed and went on. “You’d know instinctually that this person was the one for you, the best there could ever be. You’d know you’d be the best for them. You’d know what you could be, together. Someday. But you wouldn’t know if they fall asleep on the couch after a late night of video games, or how they like their pizza. Instinct might tell you to pay attention, but the rest is up to you.”