Arlen's been stuck in his wolf form for months and he's had to watch his mate fall in love with another man and live with him. To his surprise, Arlen falls in love with both men, so when he becomes human again, he knows exactly what he wants—both Gentry and Nick.
Gentry helps Arlen to become human again, but when Nick finds out Arlen is his mate, Gentry thinks he'll have to leave the man he loves. Then Arlen proposes a threesome solution, but Gentry is hesitant.
Nick accepts Arlen's solution more easily, even though he isn't sure his wolf will be happy with it. But the wolf wants both Gentry and Arlen, and after a bit of stumbling, the three settle in their new throuple.
Will Nick and Arlen be able to resist the urge to mate and really include Gentry, or will Gentry end up alone and rejected? And how will their families and friends react to their solution?
Arlen put his jaw on his paws and looked at the house in front of him. Nick wasn’t home yet, but Gentry was there. Gentry, the man who was dating and living with Arlen’s mate.
Arlen huffed and the leaves in front of his nose moved gently. Yes, Gentry was dating his mate, but it wasn’t like Arlen could do anything about that. He was stuck in his wolf form and he couldn’t tell anyone it was due to whatever they’d implanted in his neck during his time in the labs. Hopefully it would wear out sooner or later and Arlen would be able to shift back to his human form.
Not that that would help with this particular situation—Gentry was already dating Nick, and as strange as it sounded, Arlen liked Gentry. More than that, he loved him. Leave it to Arlen to fall in love with both his mate and his mate’s lover while he couldn’t even do anything about it.
But he could see Gentry was good for Nick, that he made him laugh and gave him a reason to live that wasn’t his job, so it softened the blow.
Arlen had lived with Nick ever since they’d rescued him from the lab, and he’d seen how Nick was. He was both the pack’s beta and a detective, and that left him very little time for everything else. Add to that, he didn’t have a family that actually cared, and it meant Nick was used to working every day of the week. He woke up with the dawn and came back home only to collapse in bed and sleep.
Nick’s rhythm had changed since Gentry had arrived, though. It had slowed, and he didn’t work as much anymore. He looked happier, and more relaxed.
It was nice to see, even though Arlen couldn’t help but feel hurt that he hadn’t been the one to do that, at least a little. It should’ve been him, but it wasn’t. Nick had never had the time to shift and run with him. He didn’t spend time with Arlen, not enough to smell him at a close range anyway, which was why he didn’t know about them being mates.
Surprisingly, Arlen actually spent more time with Gentry than with Nick. Along with Rick, Gentry was the only other person Arlen considered a friend. Gentry talked to him as if he were human, asked him how his day was and what he’d done, even though he knew Arlen couldn’t answer. They actually had had conversations in which Gentry talked and Arlen answered as well as he could, nodding and using his paws. It wasn’t easy, but it made him feel less lonely, like he mattered to someone.
“Arlen? Are you out there, buddy?”
Arlen yipped to make Gentry know that yes, he was out there.
“Oh, okay. Are you going to come in for dinner or should I save you a plate?”
Arlen knew what Nick saw in Gentry in that moment more than ever, knew why he’d fallen in love with Gentry too. They both knew Arlen ate like a dog—a wolf. He had to eat from a bowl on the floor, yet Gentry never mentioned it. He made Arlen feel human, even though he wasn’t, even if he himself wasn’t sure there still was a human part in him. The fear he’d never be able to shift again or to walk on two legs instead of four was always there in the back of Arlen’s mind. It never left him and it tortured him. Always.
It was there when he watched Gentry and Nick together, when they kissed and when he knew they were making love. It was there when Arlen watched them eat, when he saw Rick with his mate. He longed for that so much it hurt.
That was why he’d started to avoid everyone, with the exception of Rick. Of course, Rick didn’t have that much time to dedicate to him now that he was mated, so that left Arlen mostly on his own.
“Arlen? I don’t know what’s happening to you, but you know I’m here if you need to, I don’t know, cuddle or whatever.”
Arlen was amused and decided to give Gentry a break. Rick might be the person Arlen felt most comfortable with, but Gentry was trying so hard, almost as if he knew what Arlen meant to Nick. Or could’ve meant, anyway.
“Okay, I’m going back inside. I’ll leave the door open for you.”
Arlen heard Gentry move and he huffed again. How was it that that man was able to make him feel guilty for not answering? He rose from the dead leaves he’d been resting on and shook his fur out. He wasn’t sure he managed to get them all out, but it’d have to do.
