STORY EXCERPT

He hated all of it. He hated knowing that he wasn't a human anymore. He hated the fact that the shifters in charge looked down on humans, and worse than that, they absolutely despised shifters who weren't born, but turned.

The turned ones were always more violent. They were the ones blamed for the dark ages. The ages of werewolves killing humans, and humans trying to hunt the shifters into extinction before being put into their place by the shifters when they finally decided to take over.

Jason hadn't even been born when all of this took place, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to take the blame for it

"Jason? You listening to me?"

Jason blinked. He looked at the other man. "Uh, yes," he lied.

Which, of course, Brian saw right through. The man looked at him as though he was disappointed, which was the least thing in the world Jason wanted him to feel.

"You can't let your anger get the better of you. You need to listen to me when I speak, because every time I tell you something, it's going to be words that will help you navigate your new life. Do you understand?"

That need to obey, to listen to his alpha and to follow his lead, swelled up within him again. Jason nodded. "Yeah, I understand."

"Good." Brian nodded, getting to his feet.

He was going to have to stand taller than Jason for a long time coming.

"It's going to be hard, at first, but you will get to that point, and like I said, I'm not going anywhere. I'm your Guide now."

"That doesn't mean you have to be stuck with me for life."

"I didn't say I was going to do anything for life," Brian said, piercing Jason right in the chest. "Not unless you want me to."

The small flame of a candle lit up inside Jason's ribs.

"Guides…they don't always end up forming lasting friendships with the people they care for, but it does happen. I doubt I'll be any different. I don't think I can care for someone, protect them for a year or more of my life, and then walk away as though nothing happened."

"I don't want you doing anything you don't want to do," Jason said.

But why was he getting the feeling that they were talking about something else? As though they were having a much larger conversation?

"It's not about…listen, have you ever seen people who care for puppies and kittens? Fosters?"

That was a swing in a different direction. "Uh, no. I know what they are though. Those people who take in orphaned kittens and puppies and bottle feed them until they're old enough to be adopted out."

Brian nodded, smiling. "Exactly that. I had a friend who used to do that sort of thing. She'd take in any abandoned puppies or kittens that people who drop off at her door. She learned how to tube feed the really tiny ones, and she cried every time one of them died. She cried on the days when they were old and healthy enough to be given away, too."

Jason still had no idea where this was going. "What's that got to do with this? You're saying I'm the puppy?"

ADULT EXCERPT

Brian had to bring Jason back to the stream. It wasn't lost on him that they didn't have any lube on them, being naked in the woods and all.

The water wouldn't be exactly what they needed, but it was going to be better than nothing, and Brian hoped it was going to be enough.

Even though he was the Guide here, he'd never felt more out of control of himself than he did now.

They weren't mated. He could tell that much from the kiss. He didn't feel that deep connection to Jason that he'd heard matings were supposed to be like.

As though finding a mate was discovering a limb he didn't realize he'd had.

There was lust, a deep-seated desire to have him, to learn more about him.

But nothing that locked them permanently together.

All the same, he couldn't bring himself to stop.

As though there was something else driving him, something that was powerful nonetheless, something that would not be ignored.

Jason didn't seem to mind. His hands were everywhere, as though he didn't know where exactly he should be touching Brian.

As though he were worried he shouldn't be touching him.

He was allowed to touch Brian wherever he damn well pleased. The wolf inside Brian's mind released a pleased rumble.

He and his wolf were in sync when it came to almost everything, and this was no exception.

Mating or no mating. Jason belonged to them now.

They were his Guide, after all.

Brian brought Jason into the stream. The water was cold, but their bodies were hot. Jason moaned as the water washed over him. Thankfully, the water here was clean, coming down from the mountains before it would get anywhere near the roads or the city.

"Oh fuck, that's better," Jason moaned. "Why do I feel so hot?"

Brain could make a joke out of that, but he decided to show the man a little mercy, taking his cock in hand and really giving him something to moan about.

"Your body temperature will change. You're going to feel a lot warmer from now on. You'll get used to it," he said, only slightly sure that was the case.

Jason's body was still used to being a human. It wasn't accustomed to all the changes happening.

Brian was born like this. To him, he didn't understand how humans managed to stay so damned cool all the time. Like ice pops, those people.

But seeing Jason's reaction, not just to having his dick touched and stroked, but to having cold water wash around his shoulders as they stayed in the shallow part of the stream, gave Brian some ideas about what he would do to make things easier for Jason moving forward.

Namely, that he was going to have to take care of his body temperature.

If Jason was going to notice how hot he felt at all times, there was a better-than-even chance he was also going to be impacted by that. His wolf might react negatively.

Suddenly, fucking his lover in the cold water of the stream seemed like the best thing they could have done.

"Raise your hips," Brian said, crawling down the man's body as he did so, letting the cold water slosh around himself as well just as he took Jason's beautiful cock into his mouth.