A Den Mate for Dylan

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Thirteen Years Old

M y older brother Cooper’s rut was finally over, so Axel would be here for tea in like an hour—plenty of time.

I nabbed the kitchen scissors from the oak counter and returned to my bedroom.

Having the smallest room in the house was really beginning to infringe on my potential, but it fit a single bed, a wardrobe, and a desk in the corner where my laptop perched, so it would suffice.

The YouTube video I’d queued up earlier doled out its instructions for around ten seconds before I lost interest and figured it couldn’t be that difficult to adlib.

I laid out the brand-new pair of light-wash Levi’s my mom bought yesterday on my navy checkered bedsheets. And then I hacked at the knees with scissors until there were holes on both sides.

The rest of the jeans still looked too ‘new’, though, so I cut a few extra holes for good measure. I stood back to admire my handiwork.

Yes, they will do nicely.

When the doorbell rang and low voices drifted up the stairs, I quickly shoved on my newly customised jeans and a red Vixen Vipers rugby shirt to boot. Axel’s cousin was their scrumhalf.Glancing in the mirror to make sure I was presentable, I frowned at the way my unruly brown curls were betraying me, sticking up in every direction. This would not do. I popped into the bathroom on my way down the stairs and managed to tame my mop a little with some water so that Axel wouldn’t think I looked like an electrocuted cat.

Axel was the love of my life; he just didn’t know it yet.

I walked into the kitchen right as Mom was carving up a roast chicken. It smelled amazing. As fox shifters, we pretty much ate chicken for every meal, but it never got old.

“Oh, hey, Axel, didn’t know you were gonna be here,” I said super casually.

Axel stood next to the dining table, already so tall. His luscious dark hair was damp from the rain outside, and he’d been growing it, the longer locks beginning to curl around his ear. Oh, and what an ear. His ears were perfect, completely in proportion with his lovely head. His dark brown eyes sparkled when he smiled at me, the skin crinkling in the corners, letting me know it was a real smile. Just for me.

“Erm, yes you did. I literally told you like two hours ago. Stop being weird,” Cooper interjected, and I could feel my cheeks go beet red.

“Miss me, Dyl-pot?” Axel replied, ruffling my hair like I was still five.

What will it take for anyone to take me seriously around here?

“Dylan! What on earth have you done to your jeans?” Mom pointed at me with the carving knife in a way that felt a little more murdery than the situation called for. “They sure as hell didn’t have giant holes in them at the shop! Why would you cut them up?”

“Nobody is wearing jeans that aren’t ripped anymore, Mom. Do you want me to be bullied? Look, Axel’s jeans have loads of rips in them.” I pointed at Axel’s very worn, faded jeans that were more hole than denim by that point.

“Axel spends his weekends doing manual labour and helping his dad build dens. I don’t think he destroys a perfectly good pair of new jeans with scissors, Dylan!” Mom retorted.

Cooper snickered and gave me a condescending look before sitting at the dining table with Axel.

“It’s called creative expression, Mom. Look it up. Stop trying to stifle me.” I sat down at the table with my nose in the air.

“You can vandalise your clothes in the name of creative expression all you like once you’re paying for them yourself. Until then, please abstain or buy a colouring book or something,” she replied while dishing up the food.

A fucking colouring book?

Stuffing a roast potato in my mouth, I glared at her.

“Thanks, Mom, this looks delicious,” Cooper said to her. Such a kiss ass.

“Yeah, thanks, Miss B,” Axel added, flashing Mom a big toothy smile that, when aimed at me, caused me to clench my fists just so I wouldn’t reach for him.

“Did you get your results back on your English Lit test?” Mom asked me.

“Yep. Got an A,” I replied through a mouthful of tender chicken.

“Nerd,” Cooper coughed.

Mom turned her attention to him. “What about your geography mock, Coop?”

“I, um, almost passed this time,” Cooper muttered quietly. And even though he pissed me off for always making fun of me in front of Axel, I still thought it was a bit of a dick move of Mom to ask him about that with his friend here.

Coop and school weren’t the greatest mix, and in his defence, it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

Once we’d all finished eating, it was my turn to clean up, so I collected the plates and took them over to the sink.

“Mom, can I go with Axel to Charley Burrows’ party on Saturday?” Cooper asked.

“Parents present?”

“No… but his older sister, who’s like, thirty, will be there.”

“Alcohol?”

He shook his head.

Mom arched an eyebrow at him.

He broke. “We won’t be drinking any, I promise.” Coop proceeded to give Axel a look .

“The party is a few houses down from my dad’s. You know he’d sniff it out on us in a heartbeat,” Axel explained, and of course, Mom capitulated because, frankly, nobody was able to resist his puppy dog eyes—even Mom.

“You’ll be back at Axel’s by eleven?”

They both nodded their heads vehemently.

I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to go to parties. I was sick of always being left behind.

Cooper headed upstairs, and Mom poured a glass of red wine to take to the living room, leaving Axel and me to finish the washing up.

Axel always stayed to help when it was my turn. Well, on Cooper’s turn, too, but that was beside the point. Cooper, as usual, got bored of waiting, which gave me at least fifteen—sometimes twenty minutes when I was particularly creative with dragging out the process—of uninterrupted Axel time. He grabbed a tea towel and began drying the clean dishes.

“How’s den making season going?” I asked.

Twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn, all the alphas go into rut. If they’re looking to make an omega their mate, they need to have a den made beforehand.

Originally, alphas were expected to build their own dens, but nowadays, the wealthier ones hire someone like Axel’s dad, who specialised in den making.

Only, Axel’s dad had an accident last year with a piece of machinery, and he lost his left hand. So, Axel began helping him out despite being only fifteen himself.

“Good, busy but good. We finished building the final one of the season yesterday, so I get my free time back,” Axel replied.

“I hope one day I’ll find an alpha who builds us a den rather than paying someone else to do it.”

“You trying to put me out of a job?” He nudged me with his elbow.

“No, I just meant, um…” I stuttered.

“I’m only messing with you. You deserve someone who’ll build you the best den one day.” He smiled, and my heart felt like it was swelling, suddenly too big to fit inside my chest.

Nobody could build me a better den than you could.

“One day,” I said instead