Twelve Tanner

The first thing I noticed was the warmth, and the body pressed up against me. It took a moment for me to remember the giant dog that I'd found the night before on the beach, but once I did, I snuggled back into my pillow. Cracking one eye open, I glanced at my alarm clock.

I still had twenty minutes to sleep before I had to get up for work.

Grateful for the remaining time but annoyed I woke up early, I closed my eyes once more and tried to force myself to go back to sleep. I let my mind wander, running over the events of the previous evening. I'd fallen asleep pretty quickly after getting home, so I never heard Wyatt come back to the apartment. I had no doubt he was there, though. The man wasn't going to sacrifice his entire life just because he'd said something embarrassing to me.

I wanted to be angry that he'd run off on me. I really did. But all I could feel was pity and a profound sense of loneliness. Clearly, he was struggling with his identity, and I couldn't blame him for that. But it seemed extra harsh that he seemed so unable to hold back his feelings for me and then immediately deserted me at the same time. It didn't exactly give me a lot of confidence about myself, that was for sure. Usually, when a guy liked you, they didn't do everything they could to avoid your presence.

Mostly, I was just feeling bad for myself. I knew that. But that didn't make the emotions any easier to deal with.

But at least I had a dog now, however short-lived that was going to be. Silver lining, right?

I rolled over, throwing my arm over the sleeping creature stretched out next to me, and pulled him close. However, my hand didn't find fur, and as I snuggled in, I felt my lips brush against bare skin. Still groggy, it took a moment for the sensation to register, and I nearly jumped out of my skin, trying to get away from it. Sitting up in bed, I reached over and flipped on the lights, the bright LED bulbs nearly blinding me.

Blinking, I stared down at the bed with my jaw hanging slack. There wasn't a dog there, but a naked man with ginger hair and fair skin. His chest slowly rose and fell as he breathed easy, clearly undisturbed by my sudden rustling in the bed. It only took a few seconds to realize it was Wyatt. Those same freckles splashed across his shoulders, the rippling muscles, and, because I couldn't stop myself from peeking, his gorgeously thick cock.

"Oh my god…" I whispered to myself, sitting up against my headboard. "What the fuck is going on?"

I reached down, pinching my forearm to make sure I was awake. It hurt like a motherfucker, so I took that as a confirmation. Looking at the door, I found it was still closed and locked from the inside like I always left it. The window was closed as well.

How the fuck did he get in? And… well, where was my dog?!

My hand reached down of its own accord, grasping his shoulder and shaking him awake.

"Wyatt," I said. "Wyatt!"

With a small snort, he came alive, rolling toward me and blinking. He raised a hand to shield his eyes, clearly annoyed by the light. Then he smiled.

"Hey," he said, rubbing his face. "Good morning."

"Good morning?!" I balked. "How the fuck did you get in my room? And why the hell are you naked?!"

He glanced down and gave a small shrug.

"Where's the dog?"

That wiped the smile right off his face.

"What do you mean?" He looked genuinely confused as he cocked his head to the side. "Didn't you put it together?"

"Put what together?" I was finding his line of questioning very hard to follow. "What are you talking about? There was a huge fucking dog in here last night, and now it's gone." I threw the covers off me, heading for the door. "You didn't leave him unattended, did you? I just found him on the beach. Who knows what kind of mischief he'll get into."

"There's no dog," Wyatt replied, sitting up.

"Yes, there was."

"Tanner."

I turned to look at him.

"I… I am the dog."

I paused. "Are… Are you sick?"

Wyatt sighed, pushing himself to the edge of the bed. "I told you I had a secret to tell you. That's the secret. I'm the dog."

"You're hilarious," I replied with a scoff. "You run off and leave me on the beach, and now you're feeding me lies? If you're trying to get me to like you, this isn't the way."

I turned to leave, but a heavy thud pulled me back to the bed. The moment I turned back, Wyatt was gone, and instead, there was a large ginger dog standing in the middle of the room.

My breath caught in my throat as my brain shut down. Nothing made sense, and I was starting to think I was going insane. I pinched my arm again, the pain still very real. But I had to be dreaming. It was the only explanation.

The dog trotted across the room toward me before taking a seat at my feet. He lifted his blue eyes to me, a small whine escaping his throat.

"What's going on…" I muttered, pressing myself against the door. "I don't understand."

With a huff, the dog in front of me began to shift. In a matter of seconds, the fur fell away, the limbs rearranged, and I watched in horror as Wyatt rose up in front of me. The moment he made eye contact, he turned away and sat back on the edge of the bed.

"There," he sighed. "That's my secret. Now you know."

I stared open-mouthed, my heart pounding in my chest.

"I'm not gay, Tanner," Wyatt continued. "But there's this thing called a ‘mate bond' that all werewolves feel. It's like a person that you feel a profound connection to the moment you meet them." He glanced up at me. "And that's what I feel toward you."

His words were met with silence.

"I feel so much toward you, and I don't know how to process it all. I've never been with a man in my life until you… but now… well, I can't think of anything else but you." He let out a long sigh. "But it doesn't matter. We can't be together. Werewolves aren't allowed to date humans in my pack, and my father… let's just say I'll lose everything I've worked so hard for if he finds out." He reached up, wiping a tear from his cheek. "Being gay with a human would be the end of my life. I'd have nothing."

Even though I was terrified, I couldn't help feeling an immense wave of pity wash over me. I had a feeling there was a lot more going on than Wyatt had told me. However, I'd never expected it to be so intense and layered. Even so, I suddenly felt the connection between us swell. We had a lot more in common than I thought.

"M-My dad is pretty upset I'm gay too," I said. "He won't say it out loud anymore, but I see the look on his face every time someone mentions it." I gasped. "Oh my god… does that mean your dad is a werewolf too?!"

"Yeah…"

"Do you think my dad knows?"

Wyatt shook his head. "No. It's against pack law to expose ourselves. If anyone finds out, I told you, I'll probably be kicked out."

I stared at him for a long moment, trying to figure out what the right kind of reaction was to this situation. There was a multitude of emotions running through my body, mostly confusion and fear. But at the same time, there was a sense of curiosity and wonder, something I hadn't felt since I was a child. I was standing in a room with a real live werewolf! That was pretty exceptional. Not only that, but Wyatt was being honest with me. Probably more so than he'd ever been with anyone else. And that made me feel special.

Even so, I knew he was right. His pack, whatever that meant, wouldn't allow us to be together. Not that it was even an option to begin with. Besides, I was going home at the end of the summer to take over the family business. We both had our own lives to see to eventually.

And that thought spawned another.

"Wyatt," I said softly. "Thank you for telling me."

"You're not freaked out?"

I shook my head. "Not really about the werewolf thing. I… I'm more surprised you feel so drawn to me."

"I know," he replied, rubbing his face. "I don't understand it."

"You have to go back to your life, and at the end of the summer, I'm leaving, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then… why don't we… just figure this out together?" I offered. "Just for the summer."

Wyatt lifted his gaze, his jaw hanging slack.

"Look. I've been sitting here for a couple of weeks now trying to convince myself that I don't feel anything toward you. And you've been doing the same. Obviously, there's some chemistry between us and a lot of sexual tension." I looked back up at him with a small shrug. "Neither of us can commit to a lifetime or something crazy like that. We hardly know one another. But we already have to spend the summer together… so why don't we just… you know… let things happen."

He opened his mouth to speak.

"With the understanding that come fall, this is over," I added. "Right?"

His jaw worked for a moment before he finally spoke. "Why?"

"Listen. I'm gonna be real honest with you." I walked over to the bed sitting down beside him with a deep sigh. "I've spent my whole life doing nothing but working and trying to make my family happy so I can take over this damn business and finally get to live."

"I can understand that…"

"So what have we got to lose then? We both know how this is going to end. At the very least, we can have some fun along the way. You can get me out of your system and have a safe place to experiment while I get to have a friend for the first time since middle school. I don't see a downside." I placed a hand on his thigh, giving it a light squeeze. "Besides, I kind of like the attention. And you're like really hot, so that's a plus."

"You're pretty cute yourself," he said with a smile. "I don't know why I think that, but I do. You're everything I ever imagined in a mate… but a guy."

"Okay, so you're going to have to explain this whole mate business a bit more. I'm not sure I understand it."

"There's a lot of werewolf stuff going on that you don't know about," he laughed. "But I'll explain what I can. My friends might be able to help. They're werewolves, too."

"How many of you are there?"

"I think the pack is a little over two hundred around here."

I couldn't help cracking a smile. "Well, I'm never going on a walk alone again."

"We don't eat people!"

I leaned close, grabbing Wyatt by the chin and pressing his lips to mine.

"What if I asked nicely?"