The Good Boys Club (Mythical Mishaps #2)

40. Fur-ever Yours

Fur-ever Yours

Present Day

Mash

There was only one road from Lykos to Borderlands. Cian could take no other route.

He was a sensible guy, made sensible decisions, worked a respectable, grownup job. Lived in a clutter-free apartment in a conservative non-party neighbourhood. Owned a practical family-man car, which he always drove super cautiously. He might have been fuelled by whichever emotion led him to flee—anger, sadness, desperation—but he was still gonna drive like a grandpa in a vintage classic.

Conversely, Mam drove as though she’d stolen the Moona Lisa and the cops were hot on our tails. Or like she’d swallowed a kilo of laxatives and the only toilet was wherever Cian was.

We would catch him up; I felt certain of it. We were five or six miles outside the township, barrelling down the country road. At its widest you might squeeze two cars side by side, but for the most part you had to pull over to let another vehicle pass in the other direction. There’d be no missing him.

I had zero signal on my phone, but even so, I periodically dialled his number. I only ever got a high-pitched eeeeeeee sound in return.

The cab was stuffy, Mam’s truck too old for air con. I rolled the window down.

“What are you going to say when you find him?” Dee-Dee asked, calm and unruffled despite the hair-raising U-bend Mam turned down. Both Clem and I braced our hands on the ceiling as the wheels lifted into the air and we rose from the asphalt. The tyres hit the ground again, and we slammed into our seats, smashing my tail into the seat pad and rattling the bones in my face.

Mam really needed to get her suspension looked at.

I spared a glance at the odometer, ten miles into the journey. How far could Cian have driven? I tried to work out his average speed and the time he left the coffee shop, but my brain was too fuzzy.

“Not sure really,” I said, to answer Dee’s question. “I haven’t figured it out yet.” Even though I’d thought of nothing else since waking alone.

“Just tell him how you feel,” Clem said. “I’ve gotten to know him over the past few months, and he loves you, Mash. In more ways than I think either of you realise.”

“I vote you kidnap him,” Mam said. She honked her horn as she turned the truck into a blind bend without slowing.

“Mam!?” I braced my arm against the ceiling and shot Mam the most disapproving look I could muster. She simply shrugged in return.

Clem and I looked at Dee. “Weeell . . .” Dee said, drawing out the word. “If I’ve learned anything about success in business, it’s that you don’t let these types of opportunities pass you by. Not saying kidnap him, but you shouldn’t let him leave without throwing everything you have at it. Tell him everything. Everything. Cut your chest open and hand him your heart. You might feel that because you’ve known each other so long you don’t need to communicate, he’ll just know, but you can’t take that for granted any more. It’s often the people we know best who are the ones we say the least to. Bare everything to him, and let him make—”

“Wait!” I said. Mam flinched, but continued assaulting the road with her punishing pace. “Sorry, Dee.” I didn’t mean to interrupt her, but I’d caught something on the breeze, flitting through my open window. “I can smell him.”

If I could scent him, it meant he was close by, driving with his own windows down—but he had air con, so that wasn’t likely. So why could I smell him . . . ?

Oh, shit.

“Mam, stop the truck.”

He was out of his car. On foot.

Mam slammed on the brake. I shot forward. My ass left the seat pad, the belt sliced into my chest. Clem braced herself for the impact against the back of my chair. Dee hit Mam’s seat and crumpled into the footwell.

“Shit! Sorry!” Mam yelled. “The belt’s broken where Dee’s sitting.”

But I wasn’t listening. I was already unbuckling my belt and throwing myself out the passenger side onto the muddy tarmac. I sucked in the biggest lungful of air. Let it out. Sucked in another, and . . . I could just about make out his scent. Our scent. Our bond. But where?

It was faint, but growing stronger, more distinct.

“BANGERS!” I called out. No response.

Mam leaned over my vacated seat, into the open door. “He’s shifted.”

“How do you know?”

“His scent, it’s moving too quickly,” Dee-Dee said, having pulled herself into a more dignified seated position.

“There!” Clem yelled, pointing to the tree line.

A blur of grey, a tail, or just a smudge of his fur flying between the trunks one, two hundred metres away.

He was running back to Howling Pines. But why? Had he changed his mind? Forgotten something? Why not drive?

“BANGERS!” I called again, but he was too distant, and heading in the wrong direction for my voice to carry. “I’m going after him. Mam, keep driving, his car can’t be far. Find it. His clothes are probably inside it. Can you bring them? He’ll be naked.”

“Should we break in? To get his clothes out?” she said.

“No, don’t do that. He’ll have stashed his keys somewhere nearby. Look for the biggest tree or—no, an oak, and find a rock or something at the base. If they’re not there, just keep looking.” I had no doubt I’d have been able to locate them within seconds, but I was wasting time explaining. “I need to go. I’ll meet you back on the road, or if not, at the house. Okay, I’m going. Love you, byeeeee.”

I was already running into the trees. Cian raced towards the estate in a straight line. As the crow flies or whatever.

My lungs burned. My muscles screamed with the intensity of propelling my body forward. I didn’t let up, didn’t let myself slow down, no matter how much it hurt. My human legs were longer than Cian’s, faster, but there was no way I could outrun his wolf. But I knew these woods better than he did. In roughly a mile, his path would be sliced in two by a treacherous river, too deep for him to cross. He’d need to U-turn back to the road and take the bridge. I headed there.

His scent was growing stronger, more pronounced. I wanted to scream his name, call out to him, but my breaths were slicing through my airways. There was no space left to yell.

As I neared the stream, a gunmetal streak whizzed by in the distance.

I braced myself against a FOOTbrIDGE AHEAD sign post. “Bangers!” I wheezed out. “Ci!”

I mustered all the energy I had left, tore my T-shirt off, wiped the sweat from my face, and I put everything I could into calling out his name again.

“CIAN!”

The grey blur darted behind a copse. After a few seconds, it still hadn’t emerged. I half jogged, half dragged my broken body in that direction. It was him. I could smell him. I was sweating so much, no doubt he could smell me too.

“BANGERS!”

Something rustled not too far from me. I slowed my pace, uncertainty beginning to creep around the edges. Why had he run in the first place? Maybe I was too late. Maybe he didn’t want to see me.

“Ci?” I said, inching forward. Twigs snapped under my trainers.

Fifty feet ahead, a naked man emerged from behind the foliage.

“Mash?” He stayed near the trees. “I can’t believe you’re—why are you here? Fuck, are you okay? I need to tell you something.” He was also out of breath, his hair ruffled, cheeks ruddied, palms blackened with dirt.

Cian took a few steps towards me, his brow stitched together in the centre. He didn’t bother to cover his junk.

“Wait there,” I said. He froze. “I need to tell you something too. Everything actually, please. I want to tell you everything. But first . . . can we run to each other? Like they do in my rom coms?”

He didn’t move, just stared at me for a full minute, maybe two. Then he made a choked noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “Yes.”

So I did. I ran the rest of the forty feet to him, my lungs no longer burning, my quads no longer feeling any pain. Relief and adrenaline and ecstasy had won the battle. Ci jogged towards me, his dick bouncing adorably, as he held his arms out for the embrace. And I leapt into them, wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms over his shoulders.

“Ooof!” He stumbled back a few paces, but against all odds—against my eight inches of height and twenty to thirty kilograms on him—he stayed upright. And managed to hold me up. “I should’ve expected you to jump,” he huffed.

“Just like the movies,” I said. “I kiss you now?”

He whined into my open mouth as my lips met his—part whimper, part something else—and he buckled, lowering me. I guessed he was trying to place me on my feet in a gentlemanly way, only I didn’t want either of us standing. Instead, I pulled him on top of me, flat on my back in the middle of the muddy forest with my naked best friend lying over me like a blanket.

After a few moments, Cian pushed off me and stood, his bare toes digging into the dirt. It was still squelchy from last night’s rain. He held out a hand for me and helped me upright again.

“I’m sorry. I had all these grand plans of what I might say when I saw you and then I went and ruined it by giving you a hernia,” I said.

“Mash—”

“No, please let me say this first. I’ve been such a shitty friend. Please, I owe you this much. Total unfaltering honesty.”

“Okay.” Cian nodded. Took my hand in his. “You go first.”

I laughed. Gathered all the air into my cheeks. Bit my lip. Laughed again. “You’re naked.”

“Mash.”

I tore my hand from his and caressed his face, thumb tracing along his stubble. “I don’t know what I said or did last night, but I’m so sorry. Fuck. I woke up this morning and you weren’t there and I freaked out. I can’t lose you. I’m being so selfish, but I need you, Ci.”

“I mean,” he said, his voice hitching on the words. “Technically, you did nothing wrong. You were honest last night. You asked me to stay in Howling Pines and be your mate. I was the one who panicked.”

“I asked you to be my mate?”

Cian nodded.

“And you ran?”

He nodded again, and something heavy fell into my gut. “I can’t keep pretending, Mash. I’ve spent my life being everything else, for everyone else. The son I thought my parents wanted. The model student. Model employee. I tried to be everything for the guys I dated, but it was never enough. I was never enough. The only person who’d never asked me to be anyone else was you.”

Cian sucked in a shaky breath and closed his eyes for a moment, like he was holding back the dam. He was still pretending, I realised. Still being strong for everyone but himself.

“Until you did. You wanted me to be someone for you . . . pretend to be your boyfriend, pretend to be a werewolf. I went along with it because it’s you, and I’d do anything for you. But now you’re asking me to keep pretending, keep faking it. Fake werewolf, fake mates. Until when? Until you get bored, or until everyone else finds out the truth and you finally have to face yours?”

His words hurt. Not because it was the truth, but because I’d been hurting my best friend all this time, and I’d been too selfish to see it.

“I’m so sorry. So fucking sorry. I had no idea what I was asking of you. No idea you felt this way. I wish you’d have told me sooner. I would never have asked for so much from you.”

“I guess we’ve both been keeping secrets,” he said.

Wasn’t that the truth? I figured he was talking about the alpha thing, but it was time to bare all my truths. I blew out a breath. “I love you.”

Cian smiled at me. “I know you do. And before you say, ‘You always say I know, why can’t you say I love you back?’ I love you too.”

“No.” I shook my head, and Cian’s brow creased. “You’re not listening to me, or I’m not explaining things properly. I love you.” I put extra emphasis on the word love. “It’s not ‘love you, man’ or ‘love you, bro’. I. Love. You. I’m in love with you.”

His breath left him all at once.

“Cian, I’m so fucking in love with you sometimes I can barely spare a thought for anything else. I think about you from the second I wake up. I dream about you. And not just like wank-bank thoughts or how amazing and beautiful you are. I think about all the different ways I might snatch one more minute in your company because even though we hang out all the time, it’s not enough. I want more. I want all your minutes. Every single one of them. I don’t want you to be my fake mate. I want real. Please.”

“Real?” The word was nothing more than a whisper. His body language was stiff, like he’d been frozen in that moment. “Not pretend?”

“Real,” I repeated. “I want you, as you. The you I met fifteen years ago. The you who tied sunflowers to an arch with me. The you I spent every Sunday cuddled on the sofa with. The you I fell in love with. Not werewolf Ci. Shifter Ci. This Ci.” I motioned to the entirety of him. “Human ears, no tail, no fangs, foreskin, everything.”

He laughed, blinked away tears.

“I fucking love you, Cian. And I don’t want you to go back to Remy. I’ll understand if you need to . . . if you say no. But I want you to stay here with me. As my mate.”

“I love you too,” he said. I squeezed him so tightly his feet left the ground. “Always have done. Mash, I’m obsessed with you. Every decision I’ve ever made . . . everything I do is to bring me closer to you.”

Memories flooded my thoughts.

“This model had the best leg room of any in the showroom.”

“Hey, wanna be my roommate for another two years?”

“You are a good boy, though.”

“I’ll do it! I’ll come with you to Howling Pines.”

I brought my lips to his again and kissed him. Wet and open-mouthed, but heart-flutteringly gentle. Cian whimpered. His cock grew heavier between us. I wanted to lay him down on the mud and take him into my mouth, but there was more to be said first.

I pulled away a little so I could look into his eyes. “So, does this mean you’ll stay with me?”

“Mash, I would do any—”

“Wait.” I silenced him with a kiss. I had a better idea.

Werewolf customs were worlds apart from humans’ or shifters’ or any other species’, but I’d seen enough rom coms in my life to know how these things worked. I dropped to one knee, my head level with Cian’s naked stomach.

“Oh my gods,” he said. “Is this for real?”

“Cian James Michael Barker—”

“Michael James,” he corrected with a laugh-sob. A tear raced down his cheek.

I swallowed down my building emotions. My feelings could wait. “Cian Michael James Barker, this is such a big ask, but would you do me the honour of becoming my real— real mate? Not fake. It’s always been you. Only you. Will you stay here with me in this boonie little werewolf town in the middle of nowhere? Will you be my beta?”

His mouth opened, but I pushed my finger against his lips, halting any words before they could escape, and got to my feet.

“Wait. Don’t answer yet. I know you like to make informed, well thought through decisions, and this is kinda rash, but I’ve been thinking about stuff. I don’t want you moving here without considering everything first.”

I held his mouth closed still. He nodded.

“So, okay, our home. We could live in the main house, but if you don’t fancy living with my mam and nana, and I can’t say I’d blame you, I’ll build you a cottage. One of those A-frame timber houses you love with a wall of glass and a reading nook, and a library with a rolling ladder, and a bathtub with little copper bath feet. Anything you want.” I’d seen his online mood boards.

The cutest “oh” left his lips. I removed my fingers. “You can do that?”

“Sure, it’s my land. Werewolf building laws are more relaxed than the ones in Borderlands. Plus, I know the town planner. He’s sort of my uncle, but not really.”

“Of course,” he said with a laugh.

“You won’t be able to work for Byte Tech. I chatted with Dee-Dee, and she said they’re looking for employees who can be at the branch and, well, it’s not commutable. But I have spoken with someone else who is very open to offering you a job, and I think you might love it there.”

“But there are no tech companies in Lykos.” I could see his mind whirring.

“Not tech, not even computers. Far from it actually.”

“What then?” He was frowning now, a hand on his hips.

“There’s a position going at The Full Moon. Clem said you’d make an excellent sous chef, if you want it.”

At this, he burst into tears. Full body-racking sobs. I wrapped my arms around him and just held him as he bawled.

“She really said that?” Cian broke free from the hug and wiped his face on the back of his hand. “I’ve always wanted to cook professionally.”

“I know.” My chin wobbled with my speech. “Gods, I’m trying to tell you how much I love you and we’re crying over food.”

I located my sweaty, ripped T-shirt and spread it out on the driest bit of mud I could find. Cian sat down. I sat next to him.

“It’s happy tears, I promise,” he said.

I ran my thumb under his jaw, tilted his face up and brought my lips to his, because I couldn’t resist touching him any longer.

“I’m gonna get some banging Wi-Fi installed on the estate, and I’ll buy you subs for all the things you miss from the city. Coffee, cheese, wine, anything, you name it, it’s yours.”

“Mash, I—”

I broke him off. My stomach roiled with nerves. Shit, here went nothing. “There is one more thing. I dunno, this might be the deal breaker.”

“Okay?”

I took a deep breath. Held it there. Let it out again. “I want . . . kids. I want to be a father. I need a pack to continue this . . . legacy. At first, I didn’t know if I wanted that, but . . . I do. I really do. And I want to do it with you at my side.” I watched his face, waiting for clues. “If that’s something you can’t—”

“I want that too. A family. That’s . . . all I’ve ever wanted . . . And with you—” A fresh round of tears cut off his sentence.

I brushed them away with my thumb. Brought my mouth to his and caught the soft saltiness that had escaped to his lips.

“Bangers and Mash,” he whispered when the kiss ended. “You’ll make an incredible dad, by the way.”

“Is that a yes?”

Cian nodded, but a second later sat up straight, suddenly sobered by something. “But what about your pack? What are they going to do when they find out I’m not werewolf, that I was faking the ears and tail all along? Doesn’t there need to be some sort of vote?”

“Oh.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “They already know. Dee read out your email in front of everyone.”

His hand slapped over his mouth. “Oh, shit, I . . .”

I lifted it away. “Apparently, Nana knew the day we arrived . . . and Mam.”

“And they’re all okay with that? What about all the werewolf customs and traditions?” He looked sceptical, and I understood. I was feeling a little sceptical myself. But Nana had always done what was best for the pack, and if Cian staying meant I would stay—

“Oh,” I said, interrupting my own thoughts.

“What?”

Embarrassment rose up my gullet. “I just had the crashing realisation of how important I am to . . . everything. I’m gonna be the pack alpha.”

I had spent so long running from everything, I had not—even for a second—considered the realities of leading a pack. Twelve wolves, dozens of extended members, eight hundred and fifty acres, Harvest Fest, Wolf Moon, two hundred red and fallow deer, the house, the cottages, the outbuildings, all under my guard.

Cian cradled my face. “You are. You’re the big dog now. And you’re gonna be shit hot at it.”

Maybe. With my best friend by my side, maybe I’d be okay. “I love you,” I whispered.

Cian whispered it back. “I love you too.”

“I’ll be real. We’re gonna face opposition from some of the other packs, especially the ones with more . . . traditional values? That’s the nicest way I can put that. Times are changing, though. For everyone. Eventually werewolves will have to start mating with folk who aren’t our cousins-but-not-cousins.”

He snort-laughed. “That’s fine. I can handle people not liking me.”

That was the sad truth. We couldn’t convince everyone, but I wasn’t about to waste my energy appealing to a small number of closed-minded assholes. If they wanted to live out the rest of their days hateful and bigoted, that was up to them.

“We’ll deal with those twats when we have to, but from now on, I only want you to be you. No more pretending, okay?” I said.

“When did you realise?” he asked.

“When did I realise what? That I was in love with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, honestly, from the moment I met you, I knew there was something different about you. I couldn’t put my finger on what, but you smelled . . . you smelled somehow like . . . mine. I don’t know how to explain it, werewolf instinct I guess, but the more time I spent with you, the more inappropriate my thoughts about you became.”

“My thoughts about you have always been filthy,” he said.

My thumbnail was in my mouth. “But honestly . . .” I pushed away the images flitting through my head. There was so much I wanted to do to him as soon as we got back to the house, but the middle of a mud pit in the forest with my mam, sister, and the woman they attempted to set me up with nearby wasn’t the right place. “I think it took almost losing you to realise we were always meant to be together.”

“Did you know?” he asked. “How madly in love with you I’ve been since we met.”

I pushed the hair off his face to better gaze into his blue eyes. “Fuck, say that again.”

“I love you, Mash Cassidy. Have loved you for fifteen years. I will always love you. If you want me here with you in Howling Pines, I will gladly accept. I would follow you anywhere. And . . .” He broke off, glanced over my shoulder. “I really wish your mum wasn’t about to see me naked for the third time.”

“Boys? You’re not um . . . being intimate are you?” came Mam’s voice from somewhere behind me.

I turned to look. Mam was walking towards us, one hand covering her eyes, the other reaching blindly in front of her for trees or shrubs. Her footsteps were tentative, testing each new patch of ground before she shifted her weight.

“Hi, Mam. No, we’re not being intimate, but Ci is still naked.”

“Oh, I have his clothes here.” She shucked a backpack and held it out.

I bounded over and collected it. Mam kept her eyes locked tight.

“Is he staying?” she asked in a whisper, which no doubt Cian heard.

“Yes. He’s staying,” I said, looking back over my shoulder at my mate.