Scarred male werewolf (Rhett) x female reader - Part Four (nsfw) (Patreon)

Ok folks, here's the final part. It's been a blast writing this, and sharing it on here with you first and hearing your feedback is honestly a highlight of mine. Thank you! 

This part is pretty long, at around 8200 words, and it contains an nsfw bit at the end, marked by a paragraph break because an anon on Tumblr said they wanted a heads up about nsfw bits in this story, but wanted to read the rest of it. I'll put it up on Tumblr this weekend or so, but it's yours for now! 

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When  you stepped inside the kitchen, Rhett was just standing there holding  his brother in his arms. Charlie looked almost exactly like Rhett as a wolf, except that he was much shorter and slimmer. He hung limply in  Rhett’s arms, and as you closed the door behind you and approached  Rhett, he looked up at you, his dark yellow eyes wide with fear, and  whimpered helplessly, “What should I do?” 

The  look in his eyes made something in your heart crack, but you said,  “Hold on. I’ll get a towel and we can lay him down. He’s soaked through,  and we don’t know how bad his injuries are.” On closer inspection, he  didn’t seem so bad, just thin and ragged and a bit battered. 

As  you made to leave the room, Charlie stirred in his brother’s arms and  grunted softly. “Rhett?” he whispered, opening one eye. His tail began  to wag gently and he let out a soft, high-pitched whimper.  

“What  happened? Are you badly hurt?” he asked, kneeling down and setting his  brother’s weight on the floor while you dashed away and returned a  moment later.  

Charlie spooked when he saw you, ears going back, tail lashing between his legs.  

“Easy,” Rhett said. “She’s… She’s alright.” 

“No  one is going to hurt you here, Charlie. I promise,” you said gently,  kneeling down beside him and holding the towel slowly out to Rhett.  “Here. Charlie, we need to dry you off and tend to your wounds. Can you  tell us where it hurts most?” 

The  slender wolf, his obviously white coat matted and darkened with dirt  and blood, began to tremble all over. “It’s mostly just bites and  scratches, I think,” he said. “It’s fine… I’m just tired…” His voice was  thin and rasping, and as he turned his face up towards Rhett’s, he gave  a weak, wolfy smile and added, “I found you. After all this time, I found you.” 

You  choked back a little sob at the sight of them together. Charlie was  obviously terrified and relieved in equal measures, but Rhett was harder  to read. His ears were stiff, his spine rigid, his tail high and  fluffy. You reached for Rhett’s shoulder and squeezed. “Take care of  him, alright? I’ll go and run him a bath, and then I’ll leave you two  alone for a while. I’ll go and sit with the dogs. You call me if you  need me.” 

Rhett let out a sigh that ended in a grateful whine, and nodded.  

Next  door, the dogs were agitated and, when they saw you, they swamped you,  sniffing your hands and nuzzling at your face as you knelt to hug them -  even Princess to a certain extent. A while later, you heard the sounds  of Rhett bathing his little brother, and then you glimpsed him carrying a  skinny, pale-skinned human in his arms towards his bedroom. Charlie’s  hair was white like his brother’s and long, probably coming halfway down  his back, the wet tendrils swaying as Rhett bore him away to rest.  

When Rhett eventually emerged, still in his wolf form, he looked drained.  

“Is he alright?” 

Rhett  nodded, resting his weight briefly against the door frame as he entered  the living room. “He’s exhausted. He’s been running for days.” 

“Carys?” you asked.  

He  shook his head and slouched in towards you. “He finally fled the pack,  but that was five years ago. He said he was taken in by a family of minotaurs  not all that far from the forest, but no one just leaves the pack like  that, not without her permission.” He growled softly, but stopped when  you reached for his hand. “A scout from the pack caught his scent by  chance one day and reported back to her. He knew they’d hurt his new  family, so he left, but they hunted him for weeks before he finally  passed way out of their territory and they had to return to guard it.” 

“How  did he know how to find you here?” It seemed an incredible coincidence  that he should have tracked Rhett all this distance to the city - a  distance of perhaps over five hundred miles from the forested slopes of  the mountains where they'd grown up - before collapsing in his front  yard. 

“Wolves  who have been in a pack together, and who are as close as we were, will  always be able to sense each other. If… If they seek it out. It takes  some concentration to rekindle it though.” 

Dread, and no small amount of fear, plunged into your stomach like handful of brackish winter slush. “So… could Carys technically track him here?” 

Rhett  shook his head and flopped onto the floor, only to be mobbed by his  little pack of dogs almost immediately. He nosed Peach and Princess  aside and you curled up in the space he’d created, leaning against the  sofa and letting him rest his head in your lap. At your touch, his spine  went slack almost immediately, and you felt rather than heard him sigh  again. You let your fingers play through his thick, white fur, still  damp from the rain and the mist of the bath, and let him finish his  explanation.  

“Charlie  and I were so close when we were in the pack that we could sense each  other’s emotions, even at a fair distance. It’s the closest thing that  wolves come to the ‘telepathy’ that you lot all seem to think we have.” 

You  were not about to admit that you’d believed that myth - and a number of  others about werewolves - before getting to know Rhett. “Can you sense  him now?” you asked with quiet curiosity. 

He  shook his head. “That faded a long time ago. But I can feel the tug of  him… It’s similar to the tug of a mate, but it’s the tug of pack, of  family.” 

Something in the way he said those words piqued your curiosity. “Rhett, have you ever had a mate? How does it work?” 

To  your surprise, he laughed. It wasn’t his - admittedly rare -  full-throated laugh, and it was oddly tinged with something bitter, but  he said, “I… It’s a funny thing. It’s not like love at first sight,  necessarily. Heck, sometimes there’s no love involved at all. A mated  pair can be suited to each other, physically, but absolutely hate each  other. It’s rare, but it happens.” 

“So… its, what, about biology? About creating the perfect offspring?” 

He shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t really know much about it.” 

The  matter seemed closed without his having answered you fully, and a  silence stretched between you before you asked, “If Charlie’s sleeping  in your bed and you’re on the sofa, I should head home.” 

“Please  don’t,” Rhett mumbled immediately, surprising you. “You can have the  couch. I’ll sleep on the floor. Please, just… stay?” 

You  had never heard your alpha wolf sound so lost and helpless. You stroked  his head and leaned down to kiss him. “Of course I will. I didn’t want  to intrude, that’s all.” 

“I don’t know what I’m doing here,” he said, murmuring your name afterwards like a prayer.  

“You’re doing great, and we’ll figure the rest out together. We’ll see how he is in the morning. Has he eaten?” 

Rhett  shook his head. “Not to my knowledge. He kind of fell asleep in the  bath. The bite marks and cuts and bruises are mostly closed over. I just  covered the ones he’d opened up by running with what I had in the  medicine cabinet. Wolves heal quickly.” Rhett shuddered. “His body is a  mess,” he added darkly, his voice cracking. “If you think I’m scarred,  you should see what Carys and the others did to him.” His voice was  thick with emotion, and he must have given off some other signs of his  discomfort because the dogs all lifted their heads and cocked them  curiously.  

“It’s not your fault,” you said in a near whisper. 

“I  should have protected him. I’m his brother, and his alpha. I should  have…” Rhett broke off, choked, and turned his face away dejectedly.  

You continued to stroke his ears and his head for a long time, until eventually his breathing evened out and he fell asleep.  

It  was hardly the most comfortable position for you, seated on the floor  with your legs crossed and your back against the sofa cushion, but you  figured you would let him drift off into a deeper sleep, and then try  and wiggle out from underneath him. Your stomach rumbled as you glanced  at your phone and saw that it was just after 9pm. With your earlier  activities, and not much food since lunchtime, plus all this drama, you  were pretty hungry yourself. 

The  sound of the living room door gently tapping back against the wall made  you jump slightly, and you looked round to see a ghostly pale figure  standing there, wearing one of Rhett’s t-shirts that covered him to the  mid-thigh. His body almost looked like the fragile body of a child, but  his face seemed older. It was hard to tell, but he looked maybe eighteen  or nineteen years old. His eyes were not yellow like Rhett’s, but an  icy blue, and his face, to your shock, was criss-crossed in scars.  Behind the marks, he had a chiselled, fae kind of beauty, with fine,  delicate, almost porcelain features and pale pink lips like a doll’s. He  was astonishing to look at. 

The wariness in his expression nearly moved you to tears though.  

“Hi Charlie,” you murmured. “Are you alright? Do you need something? Are you hungry?” 

He  looked at you with wide, fearful eyes and took a step back into the  shadowy hallway behind. At that moment, Rhett stirred in your lap and  sat up. Sensing your alertness, he snapped his head round and leapt to  his feet at the sight of his brother practically swaying in the doorway.   

“Hey, kiddo,” he grinned, but you heard the false courage in his tone. “What’s up? You want something to eat?” 

Charlie  nodded, still staring at you. Briefly, his nostrils flared. “She’s…  She’s your…?” His voice was a fragile tenor, husky with disuse, and  faltering.  

Rhett  stepped closer to him and cut him off with another question, steering  him into the kitchen before he could finish his sentence.  

You  frowned, but didn’t really have time to think about what he’d been  going to say before you heard the sound of a pizza box being opened.  Disapprovingly, you got to your feet with a grunt and headed for the  kitchen. So as not to spook Charlie, you hung back in the doorway and  cleared your throat. “Rhett?” 

He  looked round, wolf claws halfway through digging the frozen pizza out  of the box. “Yeah?” he asked slowly, with the air of someone who’s done  something wrong but doesn’t yet know what. 

Fighting  back a giggle, you just said, “Is there any of that chicken soup left  that I brought round the other day? That might be easier on Charlie’s  system right now…”  

“Oh,”  Rhett grunted, eyes going to the box in his hands. “Yeah. Sound good?”  Charlie nodded vaguely, staring silently at you. His hair was now mostly  dried, and it hung like a white silk banner down his back.  

“You want me to deal with it while you find some more clothes for Charlie?” you asked. “He must be a bit chilly…” 

“Oh, shit,” Rhett yipped. “I’m so sorry. Yeah. C’mon kiddo. Let’s get you something else.” 

“I’m not cold,” Charlie said in a tiny voice.  

“C’mon,”  Rhett said again, steering him past you and towards the bedroom. It was  at times like this, though admittedly this was the strangest situation  you’d found yourself in with him, that Rhett showed his lack of  socialisation. There were still some parts of society about which he was  completely ignorant, despite having lived outside of his pack for over a  decade now. Other things didn’t immediately occur to him, like the fact  that Charlie should probably have one or two more clothes on in front  of someone he didn’t know.  

Fortunately,  there was just enough soup left for three, and Peach came out into the  kitchen while you were heating it on the hob. You chuckled and gave her a  scratch under the chin. When she remained there, staring up at you, you  laughed again and muttered, “Sorry sweetie. This isn’t food for you.”  

When  you looked round next, you found Charlie standing silent as a spectre  in the doorway, wearing a pair of Rhett’s jeans, cuffed up a bit at the  ankle, and drowning in one of his bigger brother’s scruffy hoodies. You  jumped, but then laughed quietly and asked him if he’d like to help out.  He shook his head and retreated a step, backing into Rhett which made  him jump with a tiny yelp of distress.  

“Hey, it’s just me,” Rhett smiled, laying a hand on his brother’s slender shoulder.  

Charlie seemed to draw strength from that gesture, and a ghostly smile flickered at the corner of his delicate mouth.  

Rhett  had shifted and was now in his human form too. You suspected that it  was to make Charlie feel a little more comfortable after his change, but  the young werewolf froze at the first sight of his older brother’s face  in ten years. He reached his skinny fingers up to Rhett’s cheek and  traced the thickly knotted, old, vicious scars, trembling visibly.  

“Yeah,  she carved me up pretty good too, kiddo,” Rhett said ruefully. “And you  need a haircut…” he added, plucking playfully at Charlie’s long hair.  

“I do?” 

“I  mean, you can keep it long if you want,” he said. “Listen, why don’t  you come through and meet my dogs, and I’ll tell you a bit about what  I’ve been up to… Then you can have some food, and go to sleep and rest.  Been a long day, and it’s getting kind of late now anyway. Alright?” 

Charlie  nodded and, as Rhett steered him out of the kitchen, your boyfriend  mouthed a grateful ‘thank you’ over Charlie’s shoulder at you.  

When  you brought the soup through a little while later, the two of them were  sitting cross legged on the floor, the dogs lying on their backs or  with their heads in the brothers’ laps. Hovis had just climbed into  Charlie’s lap and curled up when you set his mug of soup down on the  table, and you grinned fondly at the sight of the silly little dog.  “Careful with that,” you told Charlie, eyeing the soup. “It’s still  pretty hot.” 

He smiled faintly at you and then he said, “Thank you.” 

“You’re  more than welcome,” you said with another smile, and he blushed  prettily at that. He had the same smile as Rhett did, and it crinkled  his blue eyes in the same way too.  

Later  that evening, when Charlie had gone back with Rhett to his room, you  lay alone on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling. You’d known Rhett just  over a month, and you weren’t entirely sure you were really strong  enough for all this. But the memories of walking along the river with  Rhett, his dogs scampering about, your hand in his, taking photos on  your phone of all of them, began to play across your mind’s eye, and you  smiled. Yes. He just felt… right. The universe’s timing was just… a bit  shit. Still, nothing like a baptism of fire to see if you were meant to  stay the course or not. 

You  were still flicking through the photos of that day, of that first walk,  when Rhett came back out. He crouched beside the sofa and took your  face in his hands, turning it gently towards him, and planted a kiss  right across your lips. The gesture took you by surprise, but it carried  none of the heat of your earlier love-making. This was a simple,  heartfelt thank you from one soul to another.  

“How are you holding up?” you asked when you’d sat up and shuffled over to give him room to sit beside you.  

He  puffed the air from his cheeks and shook his head. Strands of his ice  white hair fell forwards into his eyes but he didn’t bother to brush  them back. “It… It’s all happened so quickly…” he faltered. “I can’t  believe he’s here… He’s grown up so much. He’s been through so much. I…”  He didn’t meet your eye as he spoke, his voice rough with emotion as  the heart of what was really bothering him boiled to the surface. “I  should have got him out. I should have gone back for him.” 

“Maybe  you should, maybe you shouldn’t,” you said, feeling honestly useless.  “But he’s here now. He got himself out, and now that he’s here, we can  all work out what to do next… together.” 

“I  can barely take care of the dogs in this world, let alone myself,” he  grumbled, staring at his bare feet. “I’m not sure I’m in a position to  be able to look after him.” 

Thinking  back to what little you’d heard so far of Charlie’s life in the last  five years, you said, “You’re thinking like an alpha, like a pack  leader. Maybe he won’t need someone to look after him here though.  Obviously we’ll be there to support him, but he’s not just come straight  out of the woods, if you follow. He’s not where you were ten years ago.  Did he tell you much about the family he mentioned?” 

Rhett  nodded pensively, but, in typical ‘Rhett’ fashion, didn’t speak for a  long time, sifting through his thoughts and emotions until he’d got it  all straight in his mind. “I’m glad he’s had someone to take care of  him,” he muttered eventually. “He did talk a bit about the minotaurs  while I sat with him just now. They seemed like a good bunch.” 

With  a smile, you kissed Rhett’s warm cheek, the rasp of his end-of-day  stubble grazing your lips. “How does the saying go? It’ll all work out  alright in the end, and if it’s not alright, it’s not the end?” 

Rhett  snorted at that and slung his arm around your shoulders, tugging you  close and plonking a kiss atop your head. “If things had gone any  differently, I might not have found you, so I shouldn’t feel too bad,  right?” 

“That’s the spirit,” you giggled, and Rhett sighed cavernously.  

“Come on,” he said, “Let’s try and sleep.” 

You nodded. “We’ll see what’s what in the morning.” 

You  brushed your teeth and washed your face, and came back in to find that  Rhett had shifted back again and was lying flat out on the floor beside  the sofa. Yet another transformation in such close proximity to the last  couldn’t have been good for him, and you knelt down beside him, letting  your fingers disappear into his thick, fluffy fur as you stroked him.  He cracked an eye open and let his tail thump once against the carpet.  

“Can I have a cuddle?” you asked.  

He smiled as you slid in beneath his heavy arm, and he tugged you close to him.  

You  must have been more tired than you’d realised if the floor was  comfortable enough for you to doze off on, but a few hours later you  woke, stiff and frankly rather tender, and decided to try and wiggle  your way out from his warm embrace. It might have worked, except for the  fact that fast-asleep Rhett was having none of it. He growled softly  and pulled you against his body, nuzzling his muzzle against your neck.  He even went so far as to rut his hips possessively against yours a few  times, and it was only then that you remembered what he’d said about the  full moon making wolves’ behaviours more pronounced. Alpha dominance  and protectiveness was certainly at the forefront of his animal brain at  that moment, and the thought made you laugh hard enough that your  little shivering giggles woke him up.  

“You alright?” he mumbled thickly.  

“Yeah,”  you snorted. “Yeah, I was just trying to get up onto the sofa because  my back and shoulders are not thanking me for falling asleep on the  floor. You didn’t seem to want to have any of it though.” 

“Oh  shit, I’m sorry,” he said, releasing you immediately. He let you get  settled and then circled a few times beside you before dropping back  down into a tight, fluffy white ball, nose tucked under his paws, tail  wrapped around his body.  

“God, that is so cute,” you whispered, to be answered only with a low, drowsy growl and the flick of one ear.  

Morning  saw you cooking bacon while Rhett padded in to wake Charlie, and when  the two brothers emerged, you smiled. Charlie was back in his skinny  wolf form, walking on his hind legs beside Rhett, and they both pricked  their ears up as they entered the kitchen and sniffing the air overtly.  

“It’s  nearly ready,” you reassured them and their tails swished in sync  behind them. “You two are too cute together. I can’t cope with all this.  It’s too much,” you beamed at them, and Rhett snuffled Charlie’s ear  wetly, making him shriek and wiggle away into the hallway. The two began  to scrap and play fight, and you nearly let the bacon burn.  

Over the next week or so, Charlie had some ups and one or two real downs, but largely it passed peacefully.  

You  didn't stay every night, deciding it would be best for the brothers to  reconnect alone. Charlie opened up a bit more, relaxing around you,  though he never spoke about what had happened to him in front of you,  and he rarely took his human form either. Any information you had on his  life before came via what Rhett chose to share, and it wasn’t all that  much.  

One  Friday night at the end of March, it was Keith’s birthday, and a few of  you decided to take the big orc and his boyfriend out for a meal at a  nearby restaurant. Rhett had said he’d rather not come, if that was  alright with you, but he’d been quick to add that if you wanted him to  come, he would. You’d shaken your head and kissed him gratefully, and  told him to spend the evening with Charlie. Rhett could hardly read, and  he’d confessed that the idea of having to decipher menus in restaurants  - and in front of other people - freaked him the hell out. You had to  agree that, in his shoes, you’d have felt horribly inadequate, even if  the notion of reading the options to him had a strangely romantic feel  to it. Perhaps you could work up to that one, starting with a cutesy  little cafe not far from the garage in town… 

Charlie,  it seemed, had been taught to read by the daughter of the family of  minotaurs he’d stayed with, and was pretty competent now, which didn’t  help Rhett’s self-esteem much, though he was pleased that his brother  could be more self-sufficient. In his mid-twenties, Rhett knew it  absolutely wasn’t too late to learn, but he couldn’t seem to get past  that initial wheel-spin in his mind caused by his embarrassment.  

You’d  asked him how he dealt with the rent and contracts associated with  that, but he’d blushed and said that the older gnoll he rented from let  him pay her in cash and kept it all rather hush-hush. In return, he  basically fixed anything that needed sorting at her house on the other  side of town; the nice part. Karla, it seemed, was a very wealthy gnoll  with a little real-estate empire all over the city, and a soft spot for  good-looking, scarred boys with tragic pasts, and Rhett wasn’t so proud  that he was above using that to his advantage.  

“Nothing has ever… you know… happened between us or anything,” he had added quickly when you’d raised an eyebrow at the tale.  

“Mmhmm,”  you’d said with playful slowness. “Well, she can look, but she can’t  touch now. You’re mine.” The glow in his eyes when you’d said those  words had done strange things to your heartbeat for hours afterwards,  and had kept you going for days since just thinking about it.  

Keith  had been overwhelmed by the semi-surprise party that you’d helped  organise when he turned up at the restaurant, even having to take his  thick glasses off to wipe his dark green eyes. “You guys are the best,”  he snuffled, tugging his human boyfriend into a one-armed side-embrace,  drawing a winded squawk out of him.  

As  nice as it had been to spend so much time with Rhett in the last month  or so, lately it had become, understandably, rather intense with Charlie  to sort out as well. Two weeks earlier, he’d got a significant haircut,  and had begun working two days a week at the local library already.  Rhett, it was obvious, was equal parts proud of his younger brother, and  ashamed of himself. It had taken Rhett much longer to get himself  sorted out, but, as you had been quick to point out, Charlie had been  living with a family for five years already. Rhett had kissed you  sweetly and murmured that you were right.  

That  night, taking some time for yourself, you leaned back in your seat,  with a glass of wine in your hand and a belly full of amazing,  carb-heavy Italian food, and looked around the group of you. It wasn’t a  huge party, but between Keith and his now rather lively human, plus  June, a tiefling from marketing, Oona, an uncharacteristically exuberant  troll from accounting, and Felix, a flamboyant Appaloosa centaur who  worked with Keith’s boyfriend, your corner of the restaurant was just  nicely rowdy.  

On  your way home afterwards, sitting in the back of the taxi with June who  lived not far from you, you mused how it would be nice to be able to  text - or even phone - Rhett, just to let him know that you’d had a good  evening, and that you’d got back to your tumble-down house alright.  Admittedly, it was less tumble-down now that Rhett had fixed a lot of  things for you, which was nice. For starters, the front door handle no  longer came off in your hand at random intervals.  

To  your surprise, however, you found Rhett sitting on your front step when  you got back, and June dug you in the ribs with a laugh as the taxi  drew up outside.  

You  paid your share of the fare and stepped out, waving them off and  turning to face Rhett with a curious smile. “This is a nice surprise,”  you said as you walked down the garden path towards him. “Everything  alright?” 

He nodded. “Do you mind?” he asked. “I nearly didn't come over…” 

“Why  not?” you asked, hugging him as he rose onto his hind legs and opened  his arms in invitation. He smelled lovely, and you let yourself inhale  the scent of his fur for a few seconds, exhaling a soft sigh of  contentment.  

He  huffed a nervous laugh and nuzzled the side of your head. “I didn’t  want you to think I was ‘checking up on you’ or whatever…” 

You poked him hard between the ribs and he let out a soft ‘oof’ of surprise. “As long as you aren’t, I’m pleased to see you!” 

Rhett  plopped back down onto all fours and shook his head. “I’m an alpha, so  I’ll always be territorial when it comes to you. I can’t help it. But I  can control that urge. I promised you weeks ago that I would.” 

“So  you did,” you said, unlocking the door. “And you have. You coming in?”  Honestly, from what you’d read, it was a miracle that someone with  Rhett’s upbringing, in a strictly traditional and frankly barbaric  werewolf pack had managed to integrate into society as well as he had,  and that he was anything but the ‘jealous boyfriend’ type. He still  tried to rub his scent all over you before you left for work for the  day, but you could deal with that.  

He  nodded. “Charlie said he was ok to spend the night alone with the dogs,  and I thought it’d be a good chance for us two to have some time alone  too.” 

“Oh, did you?” you asked archly, and he bumped his forehead against your backside, making you stagger.  

“Not necessarily like that,” he said, “Though I’d never say no.” 

You rolled your eyes and he chuckled his wolfish laugh. “I’m actually kind of beat after the party,” you admitted.  

“Did you have fun?”  

You nodded and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water.  

Rhett  seemed oddly quiet, and when you turned back to look at him, he was  sitting on the floor like a truly enormous dog, with his head cocked to  one side.  

“Rhett?” 

With  a nervous laugh, he shook his head, clearly caught off guard. “I’m not  used to people being able to read me so easily,” he admitted.  

“It’s ok to be a bit more vulnerable with your partner, you know?” you said. “And it’s ok to tell them what’s on your mind.” 

“I…”  he faltered. “Alright. Well, I… I wanted to ask you this ages ago, but…  um… will… would you… would you teach me how to read?” 

A  soft, fond smile washed over your face and you walked back over to him  and kissed him on the top of his head. Even with him sitting down, you  didn’t have to lean far to do it. “Of course,” you whispered into the  soft fur between his ears. The stump of his left ear twitched at your  touch. 

“Thanks.  I… I want to do more normal things with you, you know? Like… going to  the cinema, and…” he swallowed thickly, “Restaurants and stuff. I’ve  never needed or wanted to do it before you, but… I want you to have a  normal relationship. Well…” he snorted and turned to follow you out of  the kitchen. “As normal a relationship as you can have with something  like me.” 

“Hey,”  you growled softly, knuckling the top of his head. “You’re not a  something. You’re a someone. Someone I happen to like very much, as it  happens…”  

He hitched a wonky grin at you. “Thanks.” 

You  stretched and mentioned that a shower would be really nice, only to be  met with the offer of a joint shower. “Unfortunately, my little bathroom  is barely big enough for one,” you said. “But you can curl up with me  afterwards.” 

“Fair enough. I’ll take what I can get.” 

The  way Rhett snuggled up in your slightly-too-small-for-two bed was  actually very welcome. The weather wasn’t quite in the full swing of  spring yet, and you had turned your heating off now that the worst of  winter was over to save as much money as possible. Luckily, with a  giant, werewolf-shaped space heater for company, you had all the warmth  you could need, and more.  

Life  settled down into a regular rhythm after that, and pretty quickly, you  knew this was it. You were serious about Rhett, and it was blatantly  obvious to one and all that he was utterly besotted with you. Charlie  opened up over the following months to reveal a surprisingly chatty  personality around people he trusted, and a head for numbers. You  encouraged him to enlist on an online accountancy course, sponsored by  the library, and he was sinking his teeth into that as Rhett was  mastering the basics of reading pretty competently.  

Six  months into your relationship saw one of the hottest summers on record.  Despite the baking heat, Charlie and Rhett were lying out on the grass  one weekend, flaked out side by side, having spent most of the morning  haring through the meadow with the dogs, wearing themselves out. It had  been good to watch them being so openly playful with one another, and  having Charlie around had seemed to make Rhett much more in tune with  his own emotions. And he smiled so often, which was another bonus. 

Now,  as they snoozed in the shade of a ragged old apple tree that had  somehow survived in the garden despite Rhett's utter lack of a green  thumb, their white coats barely protecting them from overheating, you  watched them fondly. They were mostly quiet, occasionally murmuring to  one another, their tails and ears twitching periodically too. Princess  surprised you by coming over to you and sitting down beside you, leaning  his lanky frame against your body and sighing softly.  

“This  is nice,” you chuckled, glancing sideways at him. “Finally decided I’m  alright, huh?” He stayed there a little while longer and then turned  around to go back into the kitchen where the floor was cool and he could  spread out on his side like a shaggy rug.  

You  smiled when, on nipping inside to refill your water glass, you saw that  was exactly what he’d done. He wagged his tail a couple of times but  otherwise didn’t move. Carrying your glass back out, you’d intended to  sit back down on the step which led from the living room out onto the  scruffy patio and poor excuse for a lawn beyond, when you heard  something that made you freeze.  

Charlie shuffled slightly and murmured, “When are you going to tell her?” 

The  nature of his question, and the somewhat intense tone of his voice  instantly made you hold your breath, and you hung back in the doorway  out of sight.  

Rhett  gave a great sigh and remained silent for a while. “I don’t know how,”  he finally said, rolling right over onto his back with a grunt, paws in  the air. 

“What? How hard can it be? I mean…” 

“Charlie,”  he interrupted, turning sideways to speak to him. “Humans don’t have  mates. I don’t want to freak her out. We’ve not been together all that  long…” 

Your  heartbeat trebled and you gripped the door frame for support. Mate. You  knew what a big deal that was for werewolves, to find their ‘one’. And  you were Rhett’s one? 

When  your vision cleared and your mind had reset itself, you saw that both  wolves had raised their heads and were staring straight at you.  

“You sneaky little shit!” Rhett snarled, scrambling to his feet and glaring down at Charlie. “You knew she was there!” 

Charlie  rolled onto his back, but it was a mockery of submission, and it didn’t  take a werewolf to see that much. You brought your hand across your  mouth to keep from giggling. Rhett was almost apoplectic with outrage at  his brother, but concern for how you might react was warring inside  him, fixing him in place in an agony of indecision: go for Charlie, or  talk to you? 

His  skinny younger brother who, you had discovered, was actually twenty  years old, despite his boyish looks, rolled away and shook his coat out  as he stood and slunk away past Rhett and you, and then into the house.  “I’ll… let you two talk this one through,” he muttered, cringing just a  little bit.  

Rhett  was standing on the lawn, still looking a bit lost and a bit like he  might also just explode, so you stepped out, unable to wipe the grin off  your face. “So,” you said, touching his arm. “You’ve been sitting on  that one for a while then…?” 

“Yeah,” he rasped. “I’m sorry.” 

“For what?” 

“Not telling you…” he said. “I… I didn’t know how.” 

“I  don’t know,” you giggled, stepping close to his chest and nuzzling your  cheek against his soft, fluffy fur with another laugh. “‘Hey, by the  way, I’m your mate,’ might have been a good place to start…” 

Rhett  rumbled a growl and you looked up at him. “I knew you wouldn’t  understand,” he snapped, turning away. “This isn’t just some whim,” he  hissed. “I’m yours. For life.” 

Guilt  mingled with your excitement, souring the moment a little, and you  reached for his hand. He didn’t hold yours in return, but neither did he  yank it away, which you took for a good sign. “Rhett, I’m not making  light of it. I know I’m not a werewolf, but you’ve talked a bit about  the bond before, and I… I’ve done a bit more research on werewolves  since being with you. I know what a big deal it is. And honestly… I’m…  I’m astonished that I’m… enough for you, you know? I mean… you’re an  alpha wolf, and I’m, what, just some scrappy little human…” 

He  whipped his head around to stare incredulously at you, golden eyes wide  and bright and glassy. “What?” He took your face in his rough, leathery  palms and gazed at you with the most intense light burning in his eyes.  “How could you not be enough for me?” he blurted. 

“Oh gosh, Rhett,” you choked. “You’re going to make me cry, saying things like that to me.” 

“I  mean it,” he growled. “You’re my mate, and… you… you turned my life  around completely. At first I thought it was just that you were some  beautiful stranger I saw walking past every day, but then I got that  feeling, that knot inside me, and I knew. I knew it was you.” 

The  meaning of his words took a while to filter through the fizzing  excitement in your mind, but when they did, your eyes widened and you  gasped, “Wait… you’ve known all this time? Since… since… the very  beginning?” 

“Yeah,” he rasped. “Pretty much.” 

That stunned you. “I thought you said it wasn’t like love at first sight…” 

“It  wasn’t,” he said, voice soft and quiet, barely a whisper above the  crickets and the house martins wheeling through the blue sky overhead.  “You’d passed by that garage every day for months before I conjured up  the balls to buy you those flowers. It started out as this… prickle  under my skin, and I’d look up, and sure enough there you’d be, walking  out with whatever Maro had picked out for you that week…” 

“How’d you know he picked them for me?” you asked, grinning.  

Rhett’s brows flickered. “He told me when I asked him what you normally bought.” 

You  reached up for his neck and looped your arms around it. He bowed down a  little to allow you better access, and when you were firmly holding  onto his neck, you pulled yourself up and swung your legs around his  narrow waist. Grinning wolfishly, Rhett grabbed your thighs and  supported you, holding you in place and nuzzling at your neck.  

“I want you,” he growled.  

“I’m already yours,” you giggled, laughing as his nose tickled against your neck.  

He  breathed in the scent of you and rumbled a soft moan. “Technically,  you’re not mine til I knot you,” he replied with more than a dash of  heat to his tone.  

That  was something you’d never done, despite having also been with him in  his wolf form. He’d never been comfortable enough with it to allow it,  or so you’d thought. No matter how far gone he got during sex, he never  let himself slip all the way inside you. You’d been on the Pill for a  good three months now, and you’d both been checked out and pronounced  clear, so technically, it would be fine for him to knot you now, but  still he hadn’t. Now you knew why. He’d wanted to wait until you knew  what it really meant. 

You leaned back a little, gauging his face a bit better, and said, “Well… you’re due to come over to my place tomorrow…” 

Rhett rolled his eyes and rumbled a deep groan. “I’m not going to be able to concentrate at all at work…” 

“Maybe just do the easy jobs then?” you giggled.  

Actually  it was you who had a hard time concentrating, but eventually, five  o’clock ticked round, and when you walked up to the garage that evening,  you found no sign of Rhett. That wasn’t unusual, and sure enough, you  found him at the back, tinkering with the suspension of some run-of-the  mill estate car. You snuck up behind him, but he already knew you were  there, and he wagged his tail once before turning round and grinning at  you.  

“Hey,”  you smiled back. He was surprisingly clean, given his usual appearance  at the end of a work day, and you added, “Quiet day?” 

Rhett nodded.  

He  didn’t say much on your walk home, but he held your hand in a grip that  threatened to leave bruises. Halfway there, you slowed and looked up at  him. “Everything alright?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Then why are you crushing my fingers to dust like an ogre?” you asked flatly.  

His ears swivelled back immediately. “Shit, I’m sorry,” he hissed, releasing you instantly.  

“Don’t  be sorry, just… remember what I said about it being ok to be more open  around your partner? Well, I’m sure the same is true for your mate,  Rhett…” you said with deliberate enunciation.  

He  huffed a bashful laugh. “I… I guess… as much as I want you - and… trust  me, that’s… a lot… - I…” he broke off awkwardly. “I… I don’t want to  hurt you. I’m afraid that… I mean… you’re not a werewolf. I… It might  be… too much for you… I don’t want to get lost in how it feels, you  know?” 

You  grabbed his hands again and kissed his knuckles. “I love you,” you  said, and he blinked in surprise. “I really do, but sometimes you worry  too much about me. Humans aren’t that fragile. I appreciate the thought,  though. Come on. Let’s get home and we can chill out, you calm the heck  down, and we can see what happens. If you still feel like it later,  then that’s fine, and if you don’t…” 

“Oh… but I think it’s safe to say I will…” he laughed.  

“There you go then,” you snorted. “And Rhett?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Am  I really that intimidating? Can a big alpha like you not - how did you  put it? - ‘conjure the balls’ to talk about things with me?” 

He laughed and ducked down to growl in your ear. 

With  a bark of laughter that echoed off the buildings nearby, you began to  walk the rest of the short distance home, until, almost at your gate, he  stopped and scooped you up into his arms, bag and coat and all, and  nuzzled at your neck as you let out a shriek of surprise that rapidly  dissolved into a fit of giggles. “Rhett! Stop!” you panted, weak with  laughter as he carried you up the path towards your door and set you  down on your feet on the doorstep.  

His  eyes were twinkling as you unlocked the door, and as you dumped your  stuff in the hallway, you could see that he was hungry for you. Rhett  remained true to his promise all those months ago, that he would  restrain his alpha urges around you, but it didn’t take a genius to work  out that he wanted you more than ever now that you knew about his bond  with you. It was simple biology. The bond had been acknowledged, and you  hadn’t rejected it, and now his body was driving him to seal the bond.  

Yellow eyes glowed in the dimness of the hallway, and you could hear him panting softly.  

“Rhett?”  

“Mmm?”  

“Everything alright?” 

A  low-frequency rumble made the air shimmer, but you got no more answer  than that. It was as if he didn’t trust himself to open his mouth at  that moment.  

“I’m  going upstairs,” you said suggestively. “You’re welcome to join me.”  And with that, you turned and headed up the staircase and away from him  without looking back.  

Perhaps  he needed the time, mentally, because it was a good five minutes before  he nosed your door open and padded inside, murmuring your name in a  soft question.  

You  had shed your work clothes and had even had time to wash and freshen up  a bit. You had just been deciding whether or not to get dressed again  when he’d entered the room, and one look at his expression told you that  you wouldn’t be needing clothes any time soon.  

“You’re looking at me like you’ve never seen me naked before,” you laughed.  

Rhett  remained quiet, but he smiled softly and rose up onto his hind legs.  The red tip of his cock was already peeking out of its sheath, and his  jaw hung open a little, showing his sharp teeth and pink tongue. You met  him beside your bed and ran your fingers through the fur covering his  chest and down towards his hips.  

His  golden eyes rolled closed and he leaned down instinctively, licking a  stripe across your collarbones with his hot, rough tongue and then  latching his wide jaw over your neck, mouthing at you and snarling  softly. His teeth never hurt, and his clawed hands never broke the skin,  but he was firm with you as he lowered you down on to the bed behind  you and began to lave his tongue over your skin. He licked your nipples  until they hardened, and he took them between his teeth and pulled,  kneading the roundness of your breasts in his hands and rutting his hips  against your thigh at the same time.  

A  soft whining began to emanate from him the more worked up he got, and  soon he was genuinely panting. His tail arched high over his back as he  marked you with his scent, marked you as belonging, as having an alpha  wolf prepared to defend you to the absolute last, and as he finally  nosed his way between your legs, he let out another snarling growl when  he discovered how wet his attentions had made you.  

He  hadn’t uttered a word during the whole time he’d been waking you up  with his touch and his tongue, and even as he tasted you, letting his  dexterous tongue lap across your folds and your swollen clit, sucking  and circling, he stayed mostly silent. The only sounds he made were  needful whines, interspersed with possessive growls, and honestly, the  symphony of noises leaving his body were almost enough to tip you over  the edge.  

Sensing  this, Rhett focused his attention where you loved it most, where it set  your body alight with white lighting, and suddenly you were coming  against the heat of his tongue, your body rippling in powerful,  shuddering waves. “Rhett!” His name tore itself from your chest as you  yelled your pleasure, and he snarled almost viciously, tail still high,  his teeth suddenly raking against you as you came and came, prolonging  it until you were nearly weeping.  

Gasping,  you fell back into the pillows and found that he was already lining  himself up. His cock was obviously thicker and longer as a wolf, with a  huge knot at the base that was so sensitive that he’d not let you even  touch it before. Now, all your thoughts bent towards having it inside  you, stretching you, filling you until all you could think about was  Rhett and having his body that close to you.  

As  if detecting that change in your scent, Rhett sank himself slowly  inside your still clenching body, pausing as his knot nudged up against  you. He growled and whined, his back arching, his hips ready, held back  by sheer force of will. He moved back and forth with torturous control,  revelling in the way your body moved with his, the way yours welcomed  him, the way you moaned with each stroke.  

“I’m…” he grunted finally. “I’m not going to last long… You’re so tight… fuck… fuck you’re so tight!” 

“Rhett…  I need you…” you whimpered. “Please…” and it was true. You did need  him. You suddenly felt like you were empty despite the stretch inside  you already. “Please, knot me… please.” 

That  was all it took for him to push inside you, and as his knot slipped  into you, you both let out a cry. Yours was a mixture of pleasure with a  brief flash of pain as he opened you wider than you’d ever been  stretched before, but it wasn’t too much, and two seconds later and a  few futile attempts to shift his hips - now locked in place against  yours - Rhett came with a howl.  

The  sound of it was almost deafening as he threw his head back, knot buried  inside you, and howled. You’d never heard him howl before. His song was  a hoarse, deep, almost mournful baritone, and it was so beautiful that  tears rolled down your cheeks, even as heat flooded you, filling you  full with his release. 

When  he fell silent, his arms began to shake, and he slumped forwards,  catching himself so that he didn't crush you, his body heaving still  with the force of his orgasm. Rhett nosed at your neck and collarbones  over and over until he’d stopped coming, and even when his knot had  begun to recede, he still nuzzled at you.  

You stroked the soft white fur between his ears, and brushed his scars with your fingertips until he shivered.  

Finally, his eyes opened and he gazed up at you.  

When he’d got his breath back, he whispered, “I’m yours.” 

“I know,” you smiled back. “I know.” 

************************************

 I hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as I did writing it! I think I left room in the future to explore Charlie's story, and a possible confrontation with the sister, but I didn't want this story to go on for too long, as I've got others to focus on at the moment, and it felt right to me to leave it there for now. As always, I welcome comments and feedback (and typo checking!!) so feel free to leave those in the comments below! 

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