Jack crawled over Mark to snuggle with him. His exhaustion taking over him. Settling down, Jack exhaled and let himself drift off. When he awoke, Mark wasn't in bed with him. Slowly sitting up, he looked around and noticed a little candle in the back of the cellar. Slipping from the bed, he wandered over to see Mark sitting by a shelving unit. He was munching on jerky and when he saw him, he smiled. Leaning on one of the large wooden moonshine casks, Jack smiled back. Marked looked well enough to move around now. That was a relief. Offering him some jerky, Mark asked him in a whisper. "Hungry? Thirsty? A found some water jugs down here." Jack shook his head, simply asking him in return. "How are you feeling?" Mark tilted his head back against the shelving unit, telling him calmly. "I feel good. Just got hungry. So, when the patrols left to hunt us down. I decided to explore down here." Jack nodded as his only response. Mark set the jerky on the shelf, then dusted himself off as he climbed to his feet. Jack watched him approach him, his hands going to his arms to rub them as he coaxed him closer. Jack inched closer, feeling suddenly shy and speechless.

Mark brought his lips closer to his, whispering to him sweetly. "Thank you, Sean. You saved my life. I won't forget that." Jack very subtly nodded, but his main attention was on how close Mark's lips were and the warmth of his hands on his arms. When Mark didn't move, Jack found himself leaning in toward Mark to timidly brush his lips over his. His lips barely touched him, before Jack realized what he was doing and turned away with heated cheeks. Biting his lower lip, he scolded himself for letting his emotions get the better of him. Mark lifted a hand off his arm to turn his chin with a finger, before slowly leaning in to kiss him. Sean's heart skipped in his ribs and goosebumps shot down his arms. Mark's lips were so soft, and the kiss was tender enough that Jack could tell he was holding back. Unsure what to do with his hands, he grabbed the hem of his own shirt and tangled his fingers up in his tunic. When Mark pulled from the kiss, Jack nervously uttered out a bit late. "You're welcome..." Mark smirked, letting out a throaty chuckle. Stroking his cheek, Mark started to walk away from him to retrieve the little candle off the dirt floor.

Feeling like his legs might buckle, Jack leaned on the large cask more, mumbling out a bit hopefully. "You know... We should stay here another day or two. Just to make sure that you are better." Mark set the candle on the shelf, before glancing at him to ask with playfully suspicion. "Oh? And what will we do in these... two days? In the cellar. Alone." Backing away slowly as Mark inched toward him, Jack stammered out without the ability to look him in the eyes now. "I... We... I just meant... Well, I thought we'd... I never said..." Jack's shirt got caught on the little ladder that was set up on a cask, causing Jack to jump and linger too long in one spot. Smiling warmly, Mark pulled his shirt free of the ladder, before saying close to his face. "You're cute when you trip over yourself. If you want to stay. I'll stay. It will give me time to learn their new schedule." Jack exhaled all the breath in his body, then swallowed. Mark tapped his nose with a finger, taking the red cloak off the top of the ladder to hand back to him. Watching Mark head back to fetch the candle and the jerky, he told him breathlessly as he hugged his cloak. "You did that on purpose..."

Mark turned to face him; his face illuminated in the candle while he said playfully. "I did. Again, you didn't say or do anything to stop me. Which has me wondering. How far do you want me to go?" Jack licked his dry lips, honesty dripping from his soft words when he stated out. "I don't know... It's hard to set rules to a game that I've never played." Mark stared him down, saying with a small smile. "Do you wanna try?" Jack huffed, looking away to hide how embarrassed he was. It even gave him a chance to stall to try and sort out how he felt about that. His mind was such a blank and his emotions were just flashes of excitement over Mark suggesting this to him. When he couldn't think and had said nothing for a few minutes, Mark told him coolly. "You can say no." Jack snapped his attention back to him, blurting out in a nervous ramble. "It's not that I don't want to. I just... I don't want to waste this moment... but I don't know if I should do it right now... I like you, Mark. I do. But to give myself like that... even to you... is..." Jack bowed his head with a heavy sigh, grimly mumbling out. "I'm sorry..." Mark moved closer to him, whispering in a warm voice. "I've been around the tracks enough to understand how it works, Jack. You don't have to apologize."

Blowing out the candle with a gentle breath, Mark added much softer and closer to his ear. "It's not a wasted moment. You should make me wait for it. It's how you separate the ones that care about you... from the ones that only want what you can give them. Trust me. There will be other moments. Don't make my mistake." Jack raised an eyebrow, asking curiously. "If you feel that way... Why offer that to me? Would you have thought lesser of me if I had accepted it?" Mark's lips brushed against his cheek, replying in a deep beautiful whisper. "I wouldn't have thought that. I offered because I'm really starting to like you. You've already said that you like me. So, I'm putting it out there that... I'm interested in more. When and if you feel up to it." Jack placed a shaky hand on Mark's chest, swallowing down his anxiousness, when he breathlessly replied. "I see. Well... There are still things that I want to know about you first." Mark's warm breath puffed over his ear as he took a little love nip of it before asking curiously. "Like what? You know everything about me." Jack shifted on his feet, reluctantly asking him in a low voice. "What about what you said before?"

Mark stopped playing with his ear and seemed to go as still as a statue in the darkness. Jack felt his heart start beating faster under his hand and found himself getting really worried. Mark's voice sounded numb and a little too calm when he said openly. "I don't recall. I was sick and dying... Whatever I said-" Jack cut him off to tell him in a cool but firm tone of his own. "You said that you lied to me about something. That... you had no intention of giving me away? That you sent them to my house?" Mark leaned back, uttering out suddenly dismissive. "I think I was confused. It meant nothing." Jack grabbed Mark's shirt and carefully turned him to push him up against a cask. Mark had more than enough strength to stop him or resist, but he let him do it. Which only made Jack feel like Mark was trying to make himself less guilty. Placing both hands on Mark's chest, Jack pleaded with him in a timid voice. "Mark... Don't lie to me. Just be honest with me." Mark inhaled slow and deep, before shrugging out to him. "It's nothing. It's in the past. It doesn't matter anymore. What we should be focused on is-" Jack trailed his hand up to cover Mark's mouth to stop him.

Stepping back from him, Jack told him a little hurt. "If it's nothing... Then why not tell me?" When Mark stayed silent, Jack added a bit disappointed. "You know what your silence tells me, Mark? It tells me that you know the information will hurt me. Because if it was truly nothing. You'd just tell me." Adjusting the cloak in his arms, Jack started to head back to the mattress. Dropping down on it, Jack hugged his knees. He was suddenly starting to question why he was here and if he'd made a horrible mistake. Had Geralf been right? Feeling too uneasy now, Jack removed another candle and set it into the small holder before lighting it to illuminate the area. Holding the candle, he saw Mark tilt his head back against the cask to stare up at the ceiling with a pained look. The silence between them was thick and deafening, until Mark bowed his head and asked in a worried voice. "If I tell you... Will you promise to hear me out?" Jack tapped a finger on the candle in thought for a long moment. He tried to think of the consequences for agreeing. In the end, he found himself just nodding as his curiosity got the better of him.

Taking a deep unsettled breath, Mark avoided his eyes when he told him with a heavy heart. "Jack... When I told you that I'm not welcome in the woods. That wasn't entirely the truth. See... Arlynn. The woman I saved. She's in the middle of a Pack war. That's why there are so many wolves here right now. There are two Packs fighting to control the territory. Even though I'm a half-breed and have been excluded for most of it... Arlynn made me a deal... rather recently. She promised to let me join her Pack and allow me to live with them... Only if... I brought you to her." Jack's grip on the candle holder tightened, his voice squeaking out in shock. "What? Why?" Mark didn't look at him, upon answering grimly. "To kill you for some reason. She said that she'd tell me after I fulfilled our deal. I figured it was an initiation thing. Kill a human kid to cull the Humans from overpopulating the area. That sort of thing. After all, you were the one that got away..." Mark quickly waved a hand to keep Jack from interrupting as he continued. "Regardless. That... That is why I... I sought you out. When I heard that you were planning to join the Hunters and leave..." Jack butted in to finish numbly. "You came to talk me out of it or see how serious I was about it."

Mark nodded, scuffing his foot in the dirt with a pained expression. Jack opened his mouth, trying to think of the words to say and how he'd say them in a quiet voice. However, Mark stalled him a bit longer though by adding swiftly. "Yes... I thought it would be easy. I'd noticed that you had interest in me. I thought I could play off that, but... you weren't what I expected and... the way I feel around you is... I've never felt that... and while you might hate me. Take in to consideration that when I had the chance, I didn't turn over to her." Setting down his cloak, Jack got to his feet with the candle and finally stated out a bit icily through a whisper. "How do I know that? I heard you talking to her. But Geralf showed up and seemed to chase her off. If he hadn't shown up... How do I know that you wouldn't have? How do I..." Jack stopped short as the next words he was about to say really sank in. Straightening up, Jack asked him in a strained whisper. "You lied about my Granny... Didn't you?" Mark turned his head to avoid his eyes. The moment Mark started to walk away toward the back, Jack lashed out at him. Grabbing his arm, he yanked him to a stop and snapped out at him as quietly as he could manage. "Mark! Answer me! Did you lie to me?"

Mark leaned as far from him as he could with Jack holding his arm, looking at him only out of the corner of his eye when he finally answered in a wispy voice that was barely audible. "Yes..." Jack released his arm, his heart breaking as he realized what a fool he'd been. Mark soon made it worse by truthfully adding. "Your Granny did have me spared when I was little. But... I don't know her. I've never spoken to her in my life. Her cabin is in a part of the woods that I've never been too." Jack clutched his chest, taking deep straggled breaths. Mark reached out for him with soft eyes as he started gently. "Jack, I-" Swatting his hand away from him, Jack glared at him and snapped out. "Don't touch me. Everything I did... You... You ruined my life. And you wanted me to reward you by... by fucking you!" Mark shook his head, rushing out. "No! I told you it may have started that way, but that's not how I feel now. I didn't-" Jack smacked Mark across the face so hard that the sound carried, but Jack was too hurt to care. Mark retreated from him, holding his cheek. While Jack sniffled and told him in a broken voice. "I thought this village couldn't hurt me anymore than it already had... but congratulations, Mark. You somehow managed to top that."

Mark retreated behind one of the casks, tenderly telling him. "This place has beat me down too. You think I don't know what it feels like? I wanted out. Same as you." Jack wiped tears that ran down his cheeks and blurred his vision, while Mark added a bit more defensively. "You think its easy to live with what I am? With who I am? I don't blame you for being upset. But don't stand there and think that I didn't have a reason for what I did." Jack lowered his hand limply from wiping his eyes, telling him in a straggled voice. "It's not your reasoning that hurts me, Mark. It's what you did to take advantage of me. You've robbed me of my assurance that my Granny is ok or even alive! You've confused me and made me feel things for you... and then you tell me this? How am I supposed to feel about it?! You led me out there like a lamb to slaughter... What were you going to say before throwing me to the wolves?! Nice knowing you?" Mark bowed his head, telling him softly. "I told you to take the shortcut. I was going to take you down a path that I thought would avoid them." Jack stepped closer to him, snapping out. "Bullshit!" Mark tensed up with offense.

Shaking his head, Jack continued coldly. "I don't believe you! I have to question EVERYTHING you've ever said to me!" Mark stared him down with his deep brown eyes, telling him firmly. "I'm sorry... I told you that I'm not perfect." Jack backed up, listening to Mark say in a gentle voice that pulled at his heartstrings. "I've only ever made mistakes in my life... but meeting you wasn't one of them. I messed up... but I couldn't have predicted or planned for the way I feel about you. All I can say is that I'm sorry." Jack walked away from him without another word. Taking a seat on the mattress, Sean set the candle down and cried over his knees for a bit. Mark stayed in the back, giving him space. After what felt like hours of haunting silence, Jack eventually ran out of tears and just felt numb to everything around him. Part of him wanted to just walk out of the cellar and face whatever Geralf wanted... but a small wispy part of him told him to stay. As hungry caught up to him, he reluctantly got to his feet and headed to the shelving unit in the back. Passing the last cask, Jack tensed when he saw Mark sitting with his back against the side of the cask.

In Mark's hand was a mason jar with a clear white liquid that he had resting on his raised knee. Biting his lip, Jack mumbled out curiously. "That's not water. Is it?" Mark shook his head, then slowly held it up as he very softly offered in a sorrow filled tone. "Want a sip?" Jack shifted on his feet, mumbling out. "You shouldn't drink when you're upset... That's how my dad got addicted." Mark's eyes slowly looked up at him, telling him nicely. "I'm not upset. I'm relaxing and thinking things over. Care to join me? Or are you still upset with me?" Jack glanced back at the mattress and let out a heavy sigh. It seemed stupid to avoid each other in such a small space. As upset as he was, he didn't see the harm in it. Taking a seat beside him, he accepted the mason jar and took a sip of the moonshine. The liquor burned the taste buds off his tongue but warmed his gut as he shivered the strong stuff down. He wasn't used to drinking the stuff right from the jar. He usually made deserts with it to make it taste a bit sweeter so that the burn wasn't so strong. When he handed it back to Mark, Mark took a large sip without flinching.

Jack coughed a little to clear his burned throat, uttering out with a chuckle. "How can you drink it like that... It's strong enough to melt iron. I can't imagine what that much is going to do to your gut..." Smirking, Mark chuckled out softly. "Well... if you can drink this down. You can eat Earl's bad cooking and survive." Jack hiccupped and giggled a little. He had to agree that the cook in the tavern was pretty bad, but people rarely went there for the food anyway. Accepting the mason jar back, Jack took another small sip before pulling a mason jar of sweet pickles off the shelf. After struggling to open the jar, Mark traded him the moonshine jar for it and popped it open. Switching jars again, Jack whispered out. "Thank you." Mark just nodded and for a while they ate and drank in a less awkward silence. As upset as he was, Jack tried to overcome it. He didn't like being mad and it helped that Mark was still civil with him. He had nowhere to run to and felt so alone in how he felt... but Mark was in the same boat as him. So even if he was a wolf in sheep's clothing... sometimes a lost lamb just needed to feel like he wasn't alone in the world. To Be Continued...