Chapter 2

"Okay okay, hear me out man. You get a boner when the guy does anything around you. But you ain't gay?" Travis asked as he stuffed his face with fries before downing more of his drink. I stared at him in disgust at how he devoured his food before turning my attention back to his words.

"Honestly? I don't know what I am." I answered truthfully and this made my friend stop eating to stare at me. "I mean, in my mind I still think I like chicks, but the thought of doing anything with one makes me feel weird. Same with guys. I don't want to do anything sexual with any other guys, but with Nixon....it's different." This whole situation was making my head hurt. I wonder is Lysander would understand how I feel. He was straight before he met Nikolai and now look at them. Happily married and loving life.

It's not like I'm scared to admit I'm gay either. My family is accepting of all people so they wouldn't abandon me if I told them I was dating a guy. But the thing is—am I really gay if I only have the hots for one guy?

"Do you like Nixon?" Travis asked, bringing me from my inner turmoil and I actually had to really think about an answer. Did I like Nixon? I mean, yeah, I like him as a friend. I was with Bryce's Pack when we met the Pickney brothers.

I was home for the holidays from college when I had gone over to the Pack house to see Bryce and Kit. They had told me at the beginning of the year that Bryce had been preparing to take over his dads position as Alpha and had even met his mate. I still remember learning about the whole mate thing and it made me more reserved when it came to dating. I waltzed into the house like I owned it, said hello to a few members as I made my way to the office and didn't bother knocking before entering.

"I'm home dick—" I paused when I noticed Bryce, Kit and his father in the room with two other people. One of them was very lean looking but had a kind face. It's was very angular and the stubble only made it sharper. His smile was warm, as were his dark brown eyes that were sort of hidden behind wavy black bangs. His hair was long, but ended just before his shoulders and seemed to curl up at the ends. He was wearing a tribal styled tunic shirt with these baggy sweatpants that the crotch is really low. You know the ones that people were obsessed with back in like 2011? Anyway, that guy wasn't really the one who stole the breath from me, it was the one standing next to him.

Whereas the first guy looked like a model with the sharp features and smiling eyes, his companion looked...rugged? He was by no means bigger than the other guy, but his face had a slight chubbiness to it; his cheekbones not as pronounced as the other guys. He had extremely bushy eyebrows that would look horrendous on some but actually looked really good on him. His hair was long and curly, frizzy too, but matching the color of the other guy's hair. And he had more facial hair than the other guy and his eyes were very piercing.

So basically, if I used my brains, I could deduce from my observations that these guys were brothers and the rugged one was older than the one who looked like he was into some hippy shit.

And all this time I realized I had just been checking them out.

"Nice of you to grace us with your presence." Bryce snickered and I flipped him the bird before going to stand next to Kit, who was standing beside Bryce at the desk.

"Julian and Nixon, meet Drake. He is a close friend of ours." I have them a five-finger salute and was just glad I could put names to their faces. Especially Nixon.

Wait what.

"If you keep zoning out on me I'm going to slap you in the face with a Big Mac." Travis snapped and I was brought from my trip down memory lane.

"Holy shit. I think I've been gay for Nixon since I met him." I gasped and Travis looked intrigued. "Well when I met him, I know he knew I was his mate immediately. Wolves just know when they've found their mate. Humans, on the other hand. We don't know anything. All you can do is pick up on the signs and figure it out which is something I never did until now." I groaned and slid my hands down my face. This was really fucking me up.

"Explain further. You have piqued my interest." Travis said with a wave of his hand for me to continue. I took the opportunity to throw the empty fry container at him before finishing my thoughts.

"When I met Nixon, I was immediately pulled in by him. I guess I ignored those thoughts and feelings because I knew I was straight without a doubt, but there's no way I can sit here realizing what I just have and not admit I might be a little bit gay for Nixon. I checked the dude out for like five minutes when I first met him for fucks sake!" I waited for Travis to say something and when I realized how quiet it was, I glanced up to see him giving me a warm smile.

"What?" I asked and he just kept smiling. I pulled a face. "Stop staring at me like that it's creeping me out."

"You like him." No shit genius. I just confessed that fact like a minute ago.

"I know and it's really fucking with my head. Do you even know what it's like to go your whole life liking one gender and you never stopped liking that gender, but for some reason, you now only have heart eyes for someone of the same gender and that's all you can think about."

"Uhm, personally? No. I like me some titties. But I'm sure there are others out there like you. Hell, I'm sure there are even some other werewolves out there who have experienced exactly what you are." He paused and thought for a second. "Granted I don't think they went about it the same way as you are."

"Well, how else was I supposed to act? I just got done texting a girl about a date, excited to fuck afterward and then bam! I get my throat torn out, turned into the one thing I never wanted to be and am mates with a dude."

"Wait. I thought you were over there because Nixon was telling you about the mate thing when you got attacked?"

"I went over there to tell Bryce about the hot chick I was about to bang, but Nixon pulled me aside and said it was so urgent. And then I told him to fuck himself, ran off and got caught in an attack." I sighed at the memory of the night and touched my neck. The shock from it all didn't go away for about two weeks, but I've slowly come to terms with the fact that I literally was dead for a few seconds before waking up as a hairy beast.

And now I need to come to terms with the fact that I am willing to try and accept Nixon.

After a couple more minutes of lounging around in McDonald's, we got up to throw our trash away and head back to my house. Which involved Travis and I running like maniacs to my car and frantically trying to turn the heat on to warm our freezing bodies.

"I really fucking hate the winter." Travis chartered and I nodded in agreement as I headed back to my house.

"You and almost every wolf in the Pack." Travis grunted at that and I glanced over at him.

"See that makes no sense. Your wolves. You got fur. How do you hate the winter with those two factors?"

"How would you react to seeing twenty plus gigantic dogs roaming around town? Just cause we're wolves doesn't mean we have to enjoy the cold. We can't keep the fur on our bodies unless we've transformed so, therefore, we are just like you humans." This earned a punch in the arm from Travis and I snapped my head at him.

"Don't hit the driver! I could make us crash!" I yelled and he started laughing which caused me to join in. I was glad I still kept my friendship with Travis. He was always a good guy when we were little and he was one of the few people I trusted with everything. As I pulled into the driveway my phone started to ring and I sighed, knowing exactly who it was.

"Yes?" I answered and I heard Nixon's sigh of relief.

"Will be returning home this evening?" I always get fascinated by the way that he talks sometimes. Like some old-timey dude.

"Yeah, I'm heading home. We need to talk." I didn't wait for his answer and hung up before looking at Travis who was giving me that stupid ass smile again.

"Keep smiling at me like that and I'll rip your lips off." I threatened and he frowned.

"Rude. I can't be happy for my friend at finding true love?" He asked and I narrowed my eyes. "Okay fine I get it. I'll go. Just promise to call and tell me what happened. Minus the details though. I don't wanna know how sex is about to go down with y'all." I gestured like I was going to kick his ass and he hurried out of the car, slamming the door shut and giving me a thumbs up before hurrying inside. The drive home was pure torture as I tried to think of what to tell Nixon.

'Hey, so it turns out I've always had a massive boner for you. But only you dude I'm still straight.'

Yeah, that works.

I rolled my eyes at myself as I pulled into the garage. I didn't say when I was coming home technically, so I could just stay in my car for a little while, right? A knock on my window made me jump and I looked to see Nixon standing there with a look of concern. I sighed to myself before turning off the car and getting out.

"Your voice sounded strained on the phone. Is something wrong?" He asked and I wanted to hate the way my heart squeezed at his caring voice, but I just couldn't find it in me anymore. I was so tired of fighting my wolf off and the feelings that kept circling me.

"Yeah no, nothing wrong. Actually, let's go inside to talk." I paused for a second before thinking about where we could go before deciding. "Let's talk in our room, yeah?" Nixon looked extremely suspicious. Possibly from the fact that I actually had a decent conversation with him, that didn't involve me yelling every second or the fact that I just called the room we shared "our" room—which I never do. But nonetheless, he followed me into the house, up the stairs, and into the bedroom before shutting the door. The same look was on his face while he stared at me, clearly not knowing what to do.

"Oh my god just sit down or something. You're making me nervous just standing there." I groaned and he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm making you nervous? You're the one pacing back and forth." He pointed out before walking over and hesitating a second before reaching out and holding my hands. He waited for me to pull them back and even though was a slight urge to do just that, I fought against it and let his hands intertwine with mine—which only fueled his worries. "What is going on Drake?"

"I accept you as my mate." I finally said after staying silent for what felt like hours. My stomach filled with butterflies as I watched Nixon's eyes filled with such love and hope before that look went away and was replaced with caution.

"I—I'm not sure I understand." He said as he released my hands.

"Nixon—okay this is really hard for me right now so I'd appreciate if you would stop staring at me like I'm some foreign creature." I snapped and he pursed his lips instead of responding. "Remember when we first met?" I asked and he nodded his head thoughtfully, almost like he was picturing the day in his head all over again.

"You stared at me like I was a forty dollar steak at a high-end restaurant for like five minutes." I couldn't fight the blush that heated my cheeks at his words because it was true.

"Yeah...that day. Anyway, for some reason, I knew I found you very attractive and I wanted to act on it but I kept reminding myself that I was straight. And of course, unlike wolves who automatically know when they've found their mate, I didn't know it was you."

"Well, I didn't really help much with that factor, to begin with." He interrupted and I frowned.

"Nixon, I don't blame you for anything. This is my fault. I was so fixated on trying to stay away from the feelings I had for you that I never realized how much it was hurting you. And eventually how much it would hurt me. Because my wolf has been an absolute dick to me lately." I haven't had this "moments" people talk about with their wolves. How it's like a whole different person inside you. Because the minute I transformed and realized Nixon was my mate, I shut my wolf and his desires out. And that caused us to not interact. He wouldn't help me shift, he wouldn't talk to me and he defiantly wouldn't give me any advice. I basically ignored him the minute he made his presence known and I guess he didn't take too kindly to it.

I shook my head from my thoughts only to see Nixon standing in front of me. He still looked cautious, but he had that warm look of love in his eyes while he stared at me.

"So...you want to be with me?" He asked and I nodded, unable to speak from how close he was. And my nod only made him move closer.

"And I can kiss you now, right?" He asked and my breath caught in my throat as I could feel his lips brush against mine. He knew he didn't need me to answer him. In fact, I was almost positive he knew everything that was being left unspoken. Once Nixon's lips fell on mine, for the first time since I turned, my wolf was howling with joy.