Simon didn’t know whether or not a person could change their ways, but he did now know that a non-believer could turn into a devout advocate. That he had only gone to the Lakeman Orchard just to get his mother off his back was unthinkable now. He had become a different man over the course of a few days.

The fact that there was really no one but his mother he could talk to about what he had seen and done at the orchard didn’t stop him from feeling devout. It was like he’d had some sort of epiphany, like he had seen a light that was never there before. Maybe the light had been there all along, and he was just too blind to see it. Either way, the well had opened his eyes. He wouldn’t doubt it again, wouldn’t doubt the existence of magic in the world.

Behind the orchard had been a pine forest, dark and deep and utterly silent. Jerry pointed him off through the forest but hadn’t gone inside himself, for a reason that he hadn’t explained. Maybe a person had to go in alone. Maybe Jerry was afraid.

Simon had gone in on his own, walking and walking until he felt he must be wandering in circles. Nothing around him seemed exactly extraordinary, until the trees suddenly broke apart around him and he stood at the edge of a clearing. In the middle of that clearing was a well which looked as if it had been built before time began. Overgrown with vines and moss, canting to one side, the structure nevertheless seemed to exude some sort of power that drew Simon towards it like a magnet. He hadn’t even realized he was moving at all until he set his hands on top of the cracked stone wall that surrounded the well. The stones were cold as ice under his fingers, freezing him in place.

He looked inside.

The water of the well was impossibly dark. He had been staring into a black hole, some shadowy portal to a dimension where fiction and reality blurred. The lines between want and need became indistinct.

He could remember all of it so clearly, yet he doubted he would be able to properly express what he had seen in words that would be understandable to anyone other than himself. There had been colors inside the well, a display of glittering colors that swirled and connected like a time lapse of a puzzle being put together. It was clear that some riddle was being solved, some conundrum answered.

The answer was a man, a broad, handsome, and fearsome-looking man with powerful features. Dark hair, slashed through with salt streaks, and a pair of mismatched eyebrows. Every bit of detail was exactly right, down to the glasses he wore in an attempt to soften his intimidating appearance.

It was Nathanial Pepper, his future boss. He was seeing his boss, the school principal, in a wishing well meant to show him his true mate.

The image of Nathan held, as if the well was giving Simon a chance to memorize every detail of what he was seeing, before slowly melding into a different depiction of the alpha. It was a wolf, black as night with a spray of striking white whiskers on either side of its muzzle. There could be no doubt this was Nathan’s wolf form. It only made sense.

After that image was displayed for a short time, it faded away again and was replaced by the eternal darkness of a well that was certainly bottomless.

That was all.

The entire procedure had taken less than a few minutes.

Simon stumbled back through the pine forest. He was stunned, his thoughts whirling. He could hardly make sense of anything, but it seemed to him as if the forest was propelling him outwards now instead of drawing him in. It had chewed him up and was spitting him out. He was a piece of gum, flavorless and worthless to whatever ancient thing resided within the wishing well.

Jerry waited for him exactly where he said he would be. He asked no questions, only motioned for Simon to follow him back through the orchard. Simon had done so, expecting he would be asked to leave as soon as they reached the house. That wasn’t the case, as Jerry offered him a glass of lemonade and perhaps a snack before he got back behind the wheel.

Everything in Simon was screaming at that point. He was in no pain, was in no particular hurry; he just so desperately wanted to get out of here and retreat to the quiet of his hotel room where he could think about what the hell had happened. Jerry didn’t take no for an answer, and guided him up to the porch.

The woman who had been out at the garden emerged from inside the house, bringing with her a new pitcher of lemonade that sweated in the warm air. She also held two plates, each one holding an enormous apple fritter, drizzled with hot glaze and powdered sugar. It was too much to be eating for a simple snack, and Simon would be able to feel all that sugar churning sluggishly through his veins for hours afterward, but he ate it anyway to please his hosts.

Jerry only talked of noncommittal things, his son and son-in-law, his grandchildren, and the upcoming harvest.

When the last sip of lemonade was drunk, and the last bites of fritter eaten, Jerry guided Simon over to his van and wished him well.

He went back to his hotel feeling incredibly unprepared. Jerry should have given him some sort of pamphlet or guidebook on how to live his life now that he was beholden to this secret. There should have been some sort of warning, paperwork to sign so he knew what he was getting into.

He had known what he was getting into. He had all the information right from the start. He just hadn’t believed it.

Now that he did believe it, he had no idea what to do with this information.

He thought intently about this all through his stay at the hotel, to the point where he barely remembered to put in a good word for the receptionist who had gone out of her way for him. He thought about it all through the drive and felt even more exhausted at the end of it than he should have. Six hours of endless thinking.

He dreamed about it at night, saw the well and the images of Nathan every single time he closed his eyes.

It was almost like an obsession.

Tamara knew he had seen someone because he told her that much, though he didn’t give her the identity of the other wolf. She pestered him, cajoled him, and argued with him, until she abruptly gave in. She said he would tell her in his own time, that until then she would just have to have fun imagining who her new son-in-law would be.

Simon just left it at that. He was too confused. Thinking only made it worse. He wasn’t like all those other omegas, who were so thoughtful and obedient and basically brainwashed as to their position in life. He wasn’t soft, wasn’t needy or weak-minded; in fact, he had gone out of his way to be the exact opposite of those things. He was used to acting, performing on the fly.

Then he had seen Nathan in the store while shopping with his mother. He knew he had been acting so weird, but there was literally no other way for him to act when he had just gone through something so weird and mysterious.

And now he’d had sex with Nathan in his office, had lost control of himself. The way they had been teasing each other was just too much. He couldn’t stop himself, hadn’t been able to break free of his nature. He had been just another omega, powerless to the desires of his alpha.

The horrible thing was, it had all made sense in that moment. He was an omega, and the well had shown him the alpha that he belonged to. Here was that alpha, desiring him, wanting him. Fate had worked itself around to this miraculous, yet sensible conclusion, and he had agreed to do it because he wanted it, too. That was all that was necessary, and they had done it. Broken the damn door, probably weakened the integrity of Nathan’s desk, too.

The problem was, it just wasn’t so simple as that.

Simon woke up the next morning after being on a hormonal high all night, and reality came crashing down upon him with all the graceless force of a stumbling elephant. The breath rushed out of his lungs, and he grabbed at the sides of his head while sitting up. Staring down at the covers bunched up between his legs, he had forcefully shaken his head while holding onto it.

Please let it all just have been some weird fever dream, he thought, though he wasn’t sick, and in fact, felt better physically than he had in a long time. He felt loose, like he’d just had a massage or had the living daylights fucked out of him.

Of course it wasn’t a dream. It was reality, though it might be better described as a nightmare.

Everything that had seemed so right the day before, was now entirely wrong. Nathan was his boss, the principal. This whole thing was surely a conflict of interest, or at the very least unethical. Besides, Nathan hadn’t looked into the well. He had no idea that Simon was meant to be his mate. Their sex had been purely physical to him, despite all the teasing and flirting that led up to it.

And, the fact that Simon knew Nathan was his mate…really had no meaningful effect on anything. He hadn’t suddenly fallen in love or anything. He wasn’t even sure he would recognize what love felt like, since he’d never had anyone that he really felt like he needed. His desire for a mate wasn’t exactly nonexistent but it damn sure wasn’t a necessity.

Having a mate would mean giving up his independence, giving up the part of himself that set him apart from all those other lovestruck omegas.

He could pretend to forget that this ever happened, but he wouldn’t really be able to forget. He would know, deep down, that he might be missing out on something. The awareness would haunt him, perhaps until he died.

The only sensible, adult thing to do was to just bide his time and wait to see what happened.

Which was why he had gone to the hospital for a drug test, knowing it would come back clean, and he could officially start working at Churchland Elementary.

A few days later, Nathan called him to confirm what he had already known. If Simon would come by again, Nathan would show him around the gym and give him all the papers he needed to start forming his plans for the school year.

Simon agreed. No appointment was made. All he had to do was show up, and Elaine would give him the papers and send him on his way. Nathan would be alerted of his presence, then go see him and show him around at his leisure.

The day after the phone call, Simon went to the school. The trouble with his car had been fixed—something internal and electrical, the mechanic said—and he was able to drive there instead of going on foot.

Elaine was on the phone when he came into the office, so he idled by the door and browsed through one of the library books acting as a makeshift doorstop. The story was nothing special, but then again, he wasn’t much of a reader.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elaine put the phone back down on the hook and turned towards her.

“I’m sorry that took so long,” she said. She didn’t really look sorry, though he couldn’t begrudge her for that. The words came naturally. She must have said them a thousand times over during the school year when dealing with parents who considered themselves all much more important than the rest.

“It’s fine,” Simon said. He looked around a little, but couldn’t see any signs that Nathan was around. The wolf’s scent was present, lingering, but not overwhelming. He must have gone by hours ago. “Is Nathan in his office?”

“Oh, yes.” Now she did look apologetic, her blue eyes wide and beseeching. She seemed like the sort of woman that everyone would love, no matter if they were young or old, gay or straight. “I’m afraid you’ve come at a bit of a busy time. The superintendent of our district is here. I’ve had to cancel most of Nathan’s other appointments. That man, thinking he can just walk in here unannounced and receive preferential treatment…Ugh.”

“Unfortunately, he’s exactly right.” Simon spoke sympathetically. The same thing had happened at the high school at all times of the year. Higher-ups liked to drop in without telling anyone they were coming, so they could see the school in its natural state. No emergency preparations, no adaptations. Nothing.

“Yes, he certainly is.” Elaine just shook her head. “Have you worked with a school before, Mr. Diamond?”

“Please, call me Simon. And yes. I was a PE teacher and coach up at the high school. Same school system. Churchland.”

Elaine’s expression brightened slightly. “Oh, isn’t that fortunate? You’re already familiar with nearly everything, then.”

“Nothing’s really stuck out to me as being much different, right.”

Except for the fact that I’ve got the hots for my boss. Other than that, you know, everything is business as usual.

“Then, you’ll have to forgive Nathan. He’s doing all of this as if you’re a new teacher, so I only assumed…But, that’s just him.”

Simon refrained from mentioning that he had probably seen more of Nathan than she ever had. “How are you doing, Elaine? It seemed like there was some trouble the other day. Everything fine?”

“Thank you for asking! Let me get those papers for you while I talk, okay?” Without waiting for an answer, Elaine bent over and ducked her head down under her enormous desk. Her voice was muffled, but still clear enough to be understood. “My nephew was in a car wreck. He’s only just gotten his license, but right now the police believe it wasn’t his fault. The other driver was drinking, but not drunk.”

Simon winced. “I’m so sorry. How is he?”

“He needed surgery for the broken bones in his arm and leg, but there was nothing life-threatening like we all feared. In a few months, he’ll probably be right back behind the wheel. Though I doubt if my sister will let him drive alone for a long while.”

“I’m glad everything seems like it’ll end well,” Simon said, relieved. A woman like Elaine deserved to have as few hardships come her way as possible.

“As am I. And really, thank you for asking. It means a lot.” Elaine straightened up with the papers, which were crisp-white and shiny as if they had been printed only a few hours ago.

Simon reached out, but he didn’t take the papers. Instead, he placed his hand over the top of Elaine’s and gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “You keep the school together, Elaine. All of you in the office do. More than Nathan, more than any of the teachers. You ever need anything, you let me know.”

She smiled at him and patted the top of his hand with the one of hers that wasn’t being gripped. “You’re so sweet. And please, the same goes for you. We’re up here for a reason. Come talk to us whenever you need something, and we’ll see what we can do for you.”

Simon accepted the papers, and then let himself be talked into taking a cookie. Then three more.

“Everything really should be easy to figure out. I imagine one gym is just like another. But, if Nathan becomes available, I’ll let him know you’re here, and he might come down to see you.”

“Thank you, Elaine. I hope the rest of your day goes well.”

“And yours, Simon.”

Holding his papers and munching on one of his cookies, Simon wandered off down the hallway in the direction of the school cafeteria. There were two doors on either end that led to the gymnasium, and he pushed his way through.

The scent of cleaning fluids and old sweat hit his senses like a brick to the face. The wolf inside him rejected the reek, but the man in him loved it. This was where things happened, where action and intuition was everything, and emotions were for the people sitting on the sidelines.

Simon took quick stock of the gym while standing in the doorway, just making observations about the place that now pretty much belonged to him. He was surprised at the state of it. There were six basketball hoops, all folded up against the walls they were connected to. They looked to be relatively new or recently polished. The walls were as white as gym walls could possibly be when a person took into account the atmosphere inside, and the floor was shiny. A few scuffs here and there, a few bits of fading and staining, but wear and tear was to be expected in a place like this.

All in all, the first impression wasn’t bad.

The bleachers, though…Those might give him some trouble. He walked over to the bleachers, which were folded up against the wall on either side. They were the chunky blue plastic kind, cheap pieces of crap that always slipped a hinge. They never folded up exactly right, which really wasn’t safe.

Going to have to inspect them, see the condition they’re in. I might have to see if I can get some help fixing the hinges, or if I’m just going to have to deal with it.

He would also need to inspect the basketball hoops, the scoreboards, the clocks, and all the doors. Everything needed to be examined, defects and general condition written down just in case something went wrong later on in the year.

Schools were more of a balancing act than a lot of people realized. Public establishments like Churchland often had to perform a sort of crude triage, deciding what repairs or replacements could be made and still stay within the expected budget. The less important things that didn’t need immediate attention would be pushed back year after year, quality ever degrading, until there was finally no choice but to get new ones.

The papers he held right now would be a major influence upon those decisions. Nothing could be neglected. An accident would be his fault and no one else’s.

The banners and everything that were hung around the gym were looking pretty tattered, but they were only made of paper. He could probably enlist the art teacher to make new ones for him.

Moving across the main area of the gym, Simon went over to the water fountains which sat between the boys’ and girls’ locker rooms. Though they were clean, the fountains still looked filthy, stained from prior leaks and who knew what else. He wouldn’t have wanted to drink from there, though young boys usually had less standards. Girls, on the other hand, would rather dehydrate and die than put their faces anywhere near this.

Reaching out, Simon pushed the button on one of the fountains. Water dribbled out in a weak streak, forming a tiny arc that would practically require a kid to put their chin on the metal surface. He let the water run for a minute, then bent down himself and sipped at the water. Not warm, not cool, and not very tasty.

He did the same thing to the other fountain and got about the same result. Not encouraging. Unfortunately, also not very surprising.

There was a closed door to the right that wasn’t a locker room, and he supposed it was the storage area. He had no key, but he went over and tried the knob anyway.

Much to his surprise, the knob twisted in hand and the door opened without any difficulties at all. Simon fumbled around for the light inside the storage area. His fingers slid across a dusty, greasy wall before encountering a light switch.

The switch didn’t work, no matter how many times he flipped it back and forth.

Sighing, Simon crouched down and inspected the door knob in the filmy half-shadows of the darkened room. There was definitely a lock on it, which meant he either was missing a key, the key was missing, or the lock was just busted. No matter which was the answer to the dilemma, he would need to get it looked into.

The light bulb would come first, however. He’d need to replace that before he could inventory his new equipment.

Turning away from the storage, Simon checked out the boy’s locker room. It was about in the state he expected, which was to say that he felt gross just being inside it. Some heavy-duty cleaning was in order.

I’ll have to impart on the boys how important it is to keep this place clean.

As with the rest of the gym, there were a few things that definitely needed to be tended to. Some pipes were prone to leaking when he tested the sinks. The waterflow was unreliable, and the temperature variance was nil. Some of the lockers were dented and didn’t seem as if they would close or latch, and some of the changing stall doors were hardly hanging onto their hinges.

Backing out, Simon went back past the water fountains to go over to the girls’ changing room. He paused by the fountains, hairs prickling faintly on the back of his neck as if he was being watched.

He pushed the feeling away, however. This was an unfamiliar place. It would be a few weeks before he started to get comfortable here. Then, he would have to repeat the entire process once the school year actually started and there were children swarming all over everything he had tried so hard to fix.

Approaching the girls’ area, Simon rapped his knuckles briskly on the door. “Anyone in there?”

There was no answer.

He waited a moment longer, then gingerly pushed the door open and stuck his head through. “Hello? Anyone in here? I’m doing inspections.”

Again, no response.

That was as it should have been, and his shoulders relaxed. He didn’t really think there would be anyone in here, but he had it rammed into his head that he should always ensure he wasn’t going to walk in on some female in the middle of doing who-knew-what. That lesson came very early on in his career, from an older coach at his very first job, and he stuck by it to this day.

“Excuse me, sir.”

Simon flinched and whirled around, clamping his hand over his heart. A lump rammed into his throat, choking off his breath. He’d been so focused on making sure that no one was in the room that he hadn’t heard someone approaching from behind. The high, falsetto voice was clearly fake, put on by a man, but he couldn’t stop himself from momentarily panicking anyway.

Nathan stood in front of him, grinning bashfully. “Sorry, Simon. If I had known I was going to scare you so much, I might not have done that.”

Since Nathan’s mere presence was intimidating anyway, especially since Simon knew what he did about the alpha, he didn’t comment on this. Instead, he just shrugged and tried to pretend that he hadn’t reacted as violently as he had. “Oh, I’m fine. Did you finish up your meeting with the superintendent?”

Nathan grimaced. “Unfortunately, not. Superintendent Michael likes to say a lot of the same things in a different way. We’re only halfway through. We just took a short break, and I decided to see how you were getting along. How are things?”

Based on that description of the superintendent, Simon might have guessed Nathan would have had a better relationship with the man. They both sounded as if they wanted the exact same sort of things out of life: rigorous structure, all details sorted out in the right way. Then again, perhaps that was the problem. When confronted with similar personalities, they might not like what they saw in each other.

“Did you know that the superintendent has an adopted son? An adopted shifter?”

Simon blinked, startled by this news. “I didn’t. Did he know when he adopted?”

“I don’t believe so. It’s a very quiet thing. I believe his son might be a wolf, though I’m not exactly certain. Things are apparently not great between them and not just because of that. It doesn’t help his mood.”

Simon was certain about that. Even not having any other information about Superintendent Michael or his adoptive wolf son, he felt equally sorry for both parties. He could relate to the two men, having been thrust into a situation he didn’t quite understand.

“Simon?”

“Sorry! I was just thinking.”

Nathan nodded. He reached out and placed one heavy hand on Simon’s shoulder, making hot tingles shoot through his body. Leaning in close, Nathan murmured, “I’ve given you a lot to think about lately.”

That was all it took to turn the sparks inside Simon into true flames. His groin tightened, his knees going weak. He nodded dumbly, his breath coming faster.

Satisfied, Nathan leaned away again. There was a noticeable tent at the front of his fashionable slacks. “How are things going?” he repeated.

“Well, it’s all about what I expected. I’m surprised about the actual state of the gymnasium. Has it had recent work done?”

“Just before last year, yes.”

“It shows. I could stand to see a few things taken care of, and I’ve got the whole checklist to go through…”

“I see.” Nathan nodded.

“By the way, where would I find the janitorial supply closet? The light bulb in the equipment room is burned out.”

“Burned out? Well, that’s no good. It’s all dark and quiet in there now.”

Simon frowned a little. That response seemed uncharacteristic, but the fires inside him were casting smoke across his thoughts, making it hard for him to understand why. “I guess so.”

“Did you know that this is an older school building? Well, the main part is older. There was a new wing added on, but this part of the school was made with solid concrete walls and thick layers of insulation. It’s very soundproof in here.”

“That’s interesting.”

Simon would have said more. He would have commented on the soundproofing making it possible for the other classrooms to continue uninterrupted by the various gym glasses throughout the day. The high school gyms were incredibly noisy in comparison. However, any words he had wanted to say were blown out of his mind when Nathan grabbed him by the wrist and thrust him towards the open supply closet door.

Everything made sense now, regarding what Nathan had been prattling on about.

The alpha shut the door behind them, then frowned as he tried to lock it. “Lock’s busted.”

“I already noticed.”

“Good. We can’t have just anyone wandering in here whenever they want.”

Like us?

“In the meantime, we’ll just have to be careful.” Nathan turned around and undid his belt, then the front of his slacks. Reaching inside his pants, he brought out his throbbing cock and held it in his hand.

Though it was dark in the little room, Simon had no problem seeing. Night vision skewed the colors, turning everything shades of silver and gray, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t need color to see that the tip of Nathan’s cock was glistening wet, or to understand what it was the alpha wanted.

His alpha, somehow.

The one who had control of his body, though he had never imagined that such a thing would ever be.

Simon dropped down to his knees in front of Nathan and placed his hand over the alpha’s. Nathan released his cock, letting Simon hold onto the firm, thick shaft on his own. The organ seemed to have a life of its own, twitching and pulsing against his fingers.

Simon closed his eyes, because now he didn’t even need his sight at all. He could navigate the world with touch, with a wolf’s superior sense of spatial awareness. He felt the heat of Nathan’s presence pressed close to him in the dark space, which smelled simultaneously of musk, damp, sex, and canine.

Slowly, Simon ran his curled hand up and down Nathan’s cock. The alpha groaned and rocked with the motion, grabbed at handfuls of Simon’s hair.

It was no wonder that Nathan had been able to reach so deep inside him the last time they had sex. His member was thick and long, perhaps the longest Simon had ever come across.

Leaning forward, Simon pressed his lips to the swollen head and kissed it with explorative sweetness. He flicked his tongue over the tip, tasting the dewy wetness clinging there. His lips parted further and the kiss deepened as he took in more of Nathan’s cock.

“Fuck yes,” Nathan growled. He nudged his hips forward, clearly trying to get himself even deeper. “More. Take more.”

The omega wolf inside Simon was only too willing to obey, the animal unleashed by the bidding of the alpha.

The world narrowed down to a dance of tongue and lips as Simon worshipped Nathan’s cock, sucking and kissing it from the base of the shaft to his tip. Nathan started to buck against his mouth, pulling on his hair and thrusting slightly.

Simon applied gentle pressure with his lips as far down as he could reach, then slowly pulled his way up towards the tip. As he reached the over-sensitive head, Nathan gasped and started to shake all over. His body shifted position, feet bracing against the ground as he started to orgasm in Simon’s mouth.

Simon took all that was given to him, with a guilty sort of greed that managed to surprise him even through the sexual fog in his brain. As Nathan started to relax down, he suddenly realized he also felt sated. Had he…

Yes, he had.

It was the power of the alpha, to give pleasure even without so much as a touch. Simon had orgasmed when Nathan had, as their minds had connected for a brief moment.

Nathan stepped back from Simon and tucked himself into his pants. He zipped up, then buckled his belt as if nothing at all had happened. “Well,” he said, a little briskly. “I believe my break is over. You’ll need a copy of the janitor’s key from Elaine, since the custodian isn’t in the building right now. She’ll tell you where the supply closet is.”

“Thank you,” Simon murmured.

Thank you for the information. Thank you for the sex.

Nathan flashed a smile at him and then opened the door to the storage area. He walked out into the brightness of the lit gymnasium, whistling slightly.

But I have to say, I don’t really understand you. Or any of this. At all.