Kyle leaned down, frowning at the last wound on Aidan’s side. “Bet you don’t think it was so ridiculous that I brought my supplies with me now, do ya?”

Aidan, who was patiently leaning against a tree, chuckled. “Is this where I admit you were right and I was wrong? Would that make you feel better?”

Kyle glowered at him. “Don’t mock me.”

“That was an honest question. You’re tense,” Aidan commented.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Well excuse me for seeming a little tense after getting ambushed by a couple of random werewolves in our territory, and watching you get hurt in the process of trying to help me. I think I have a right to be tense.”

Aidan leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes. “You were fine. You didn’t need the help.”

“And yet there you were, helping me, so apparently I needed it,” Kyle said quietly as he applied the last of the salve to Aiden’s wound that would speed up the healing.

“You were holding your own quite well for someone who has never been in a battle before. I have no complaints,” Aidan told him patiently.

Kyle sighed. “So that was, what, you just being overprotective?”

Aidan shrugged. “I have no doubt you would have been more than capable of winning that fight. However, it would have meant you’d be hurt unnecessarily, and I didn’t want that.”

“So it was better for you to get hurt instead?” Kyle demanded.

Aidan motioned to his still naked, and scarred body. “As you can see, I am no stranger to injury.”

“I don’t think that means you should add another scar,” Kyle told him.

“Not a man who’s into scars? That would make you quite the outlier in werewolf society,” Aidan said with a closed mouth smile.

“No, that’s one thing I do share in common with other werewolves. Just like most other werewolves, I think scars are sexy badges of honor that showcase your skill and bravery in battle. At least I did in theory. I’m not exactly a fan of them so much now that I’ve seen you go and get yourself a new one trying to save me,” Kyle told him, his frown deepening.

Aidan’s eyes flashed open at that. “I’ve offended you.”

Kyle pointed emphatically at the wound. “This is not me being offended; this is me getting after you because you charged into a battle you said yourself I could have won. A battle, I might add, that got you that mark on your side.”

“As far as wounds go, a bit of bleeding and pain is nothing compared to what I’ve had in the past,” Aidan said with a chuckle.

“You’re not even listening to me right now, are you?” Kyle demanded.

Aidan reached out, taking one of Kyle’s hands in his. “I’m listening to you say you’re worried about my wellbeing, because you don’t wish to see me needlessly risk myself.”

Kyle sat back, mollified a little. “I…well, yeah, that is what I’m saying.”

Aidan tightened his grip on Kyle’s hand. “Well, then you listen to me. I don’t consider saving you from harm to be a needless risk.”

Kyle looked away. “I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree on that one.”

Aidan pulled on Kyle’s arm. “That’s because even at the best of times, you have a terrible opinion of yourself.”

He allowed himself grudgingly to be pulled into Aidan’s lap. “Is that so? You have any evidence to back that up?”

“I know you’ve been through a lot in your life. And that while it’s made you a tougher person, it’s made you all the more vulnerable when you open up. I’ve watched you in the past week, and I watched a man I thought capable of only bitterness show far more than that. In that short time, I’ve seen you capable of smiling, of laughing, of letting go and enjoying yourself, of enjoying the time you’ve spent with me, and accepting what I try to offer you. And now I’m watching you genuinely concerned over my well-being, even if it is hidden poorly beneath a veneer of anger,” Aidan told him quietly as he settled Kyle on top of his thighs.

Kyle blinked at the unexpected torrent of what sounded like praise. “You make it sound…so much better than it felt going through it.”

Aidan nodded. “I’m sure I wasn’t very helpful in the beginning. I never realized just how difficult I was making it until I held you that night on the beach. This has all been one big game for me from the start, and I’m ashamed to realize that.”

Kyle’s eyes fell on a scar on the back of Aidan’s shoulder. “How many of these are from when you were a kid?”

Aidan’s entire body tensed. “I can’t say I kept a catalogue of all of the injuries I sustained from my boyhood antics.”

Kyle snorted softly. “You know, you get more formal sounding whenever I hit a nerve.”

Aidan didn’t look at him. “You didn’t strike a nerve.”

Kyle sighed. “Aidan.”

The alpha’s jaw tightened. “How?”

“You know how,” Kyle told him softly, hoping he’d made the right decision by bringing this up now.

“Mags,” Aidan breathed, sounding defeated.

He decided not to comment on the informal mention of the shaman. “She knew, and she…well, she told me a little. Told me enough for me to fill in the blanks.”

Aidan finally looked up at him. “Is that when you decided to make that agreement with me?”

Kyle winced. “If I say yes, how mad will you be?”

“You did that out of pity?” Aidan demanded, voice dangerously quiet.

Kyle leaned back, offended. “Pity? Do I look like the sort of person who does anything out of pity?”

“That isn’t,” Aidan began.

Kyle cut him off with a curt gesture of his hand. “No. You asked me a question and I’m damn well going to answer it. No, I didn’t do it out of pity, and I’ve never once felt pity for you. Hate, anger, rage, desire, fear, frustration, happiness, pleasure, and a whole slew of other emotions, but not pity. You don’t need my pity anymore than I need yours. I didn’t feel pity for you when I found out what happened. I felt something called compassion, Aidan. It was the first step to getting over my anger and trying to see the man you were. See past my own assumptions and your crappy behavior. It was the best thing for her to tell me, to show me you suffered, just like I’ve suffered, just in different ways. If it wasn’t for her telling me that, who knows where we might be right now. So if you want to be mad about that, then you’re choosing to be mad about the stupidest thing.”

Aidan stared at him throughout the entire tirade, his brow slowly creeping up his forehead. When Kyle finished, Aidan continued to stare, his mouth open for a moment. Kyle was expecting the alpha to burst into a tirade of his own, or at least throw Kyle off him. To his utter astonishment, Aidan threw his head back and began laughing. The sound echoed around the woods, bouncing off the trees and coming back even louder than before.

“Uh, what in all of that was funny?” Kyle asked hesitantly.

“You are what’s funny,” Aidan said when he finally caught his breath.

“I wasn’t trying to make a joke,” Kyle said with a frown.

Aidan pulled Kyle down into a hard, brief kiss. “That’s not what I meant at all. I never realized it until just now, when I had a naked omega telling me off for being defensive over a past I’ve tried to forget for the entirety of my adult life.”

“Never realized what?” Kyle asked, a little dizzy from the sudden kiss.

Aidan’s eyes softened as he held Kyle closer to him. “How much you really were made for me.”

Kyle felt his face warm. “Me telling you off made you realize that? I’m sure Gaia is laughing her ass off right now.”

“Gaia might have a sense of humor, but she’s got a lot right too. Look at you. You’re headstrong, opinionated, and you don’t take anyone’s shit. No one else in the world has dared to speak to me like you have, and no one has dared to bring up my past before. I’m sure there are those, like Shaman Magdiel, who knew what happened in my pack, but have said nothing. Then you come along, and you have no problem telling me off, and digging into old stories. You refuse to let things go the way I want them to, simply because I think they should be that way. I once thought I should want to beat you for it, but it brings me more joy than I can describe,” Aidan said, his eyes sweeping over Kyle’s face as he spoke.

Kyle found it hard to speak. “I don’t think…I’ve ever heard someone describe me being a pain in the ass in such a positive way before.”

Aidan laughed, shaking his head. “Everyone has always treated me like more than I am. My family treated me like I was just one more thing to further our pack’s prestige. The sept treats me like some great hero, who should always be idolized and respected. My pack, as much as they’re my family now, treats me like some distant father figure and general. No one, and I mean no one, has looked me dead in the eye and treated me like they would anyone else. You might have thought you were trying to bring me down a few pegs the night of the Showing, and you were. You brought me down to your level, where normal people live. That’s what’s so amazing about who you are, about what you did. Even in your hate and anger, you treated me like a person.”

Kyle couldn’t think of a single response that he didn’t think would sound lamer than it already did in his head. All he could do was stare at Aidan, with what he was sure was the most ridiculous expression on his face. It was probably the longest speech Aidan had ever given, and definitely the most heartfelt. The alpha was staring at him like he’d just shone a light in the darkness for him, and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It felt as if something in Kyle’s chest cracked, giving way before the elegant force of Aidan’s words.

“I’ve…never had anyone say anything like that to me before,” Kyle finally managed, his hand going limp in Aidan’s.

Aidan pulled him closer, their faces almost touching. “No one you know has ever been trapped in a life that felt like a complete lie.”

“Not a total lie. You are an accomplished war leader for a reason,” Kyle said, trying to assure Aidan that not everything he’d done was fake.

“Anyone can fight; anyone can learn how to make a battle work to their advantage. It’s just one more game where you learn the rules and start to follow them, and I’m very good at that. But you, you just…ignore them, call them out when you see them, and you might sneer at the people who play them, but for someone who’s paying attention, you can show them the truth,” Aidan said, beginning to chuckle again.

Kyle swatted his shoulder, trying not to grin. “Stop, you’re going overboard now.”

Aidan wrapped his hands around Kyle’s waist, smiling at him. “Why shouldn’t I? It’s the truth, one I’ve been slowly realizing over the time we’ve spent together.”

“You’re not going to start singing and bragging to everyone, are you?” Kyle asked, unable to help his laugh.

Aidan’s face somehow brightened at the sound of Kyle’s laughter. “Don’t you worry yourself over that. I now see the point of the bond, and how much it means to me. No one else has to realize what I’ve realized tonight, or even know that anything is different. No one else has ever made me feel like this. This is for you Kyle, and you alone.”

Aidan kissed him then, and Kyle felt as if the heat burning in his chest would break him. His body trembled, weak under the strength of Aidan’s sudden outpouring of what could only be called love. It was as if everything Aidan didn’t have words for found expression in that one kiss. He sank into the comfort of Aidan’s arms around him, pulling him in, drawing him toward acceptance. In that moment, Kyle found he couldn’t ignore the call anymore, accepting everything Aidan wanted from him in one blissful moment.

When they finally pulled apart, Kyle wasn’t sure if they’d been kissing for only a few seconds, or hours. His skin felt as if it were buzzing, brimming with an electric energy he’d never felt before. If the Joining had been like opening his eyes to a world of color for the first time, then this latest kiss had been like discovering there were whole new colors he had never known before. He had no words to describe how he felt at that moment, save that he never wanted to leave Aidan’s presence again.

Kyle bowed forward, resting his forehead against Aidan’s. “Come back to my home with me. Stay with me.”

Aidan ran a hand through Kyle’s hair. “Is that what you want?”

He closed his eyes as he smiled. “I’ve never wanted anything more than how much I want you to come back to my house right now.”

“You do know I didn’t say all of that to get into your pants, right?” Aidan asked, and Kyle knew he was smiling.

“I think you kind of already did. That and I’m already completely naked,” Kyle told him with a laugh.

“You are. It’s weird, isn’t it? How it’s not affecting me like it was when we were on the beach. You’re naked and sitting on my lap, something I’ve wanted since the first moment of the Joining, and now I’m content to just keep you here, without the sex,” Aidan said softly.

“I think we know why,” Kyle said, sighing in contentment.

Aidan nodded, and Kyle felt a sliver of relief ease his chest. He hadn’t realized he had been waiting for something to go wrong. That he had been waiting for Aidan to say he wasn’t feeling it quite as much as Kyle was. It was a foolish thought, considering everything Aidan had just laid out at his feet, but it had been there all the same, lurking in the back of his mind. That simple nod had been enough to banish the last negative thought that remained.

“Hey! You guys...oh shit, am I interrupting?” a masculine voice asked.

Kyle twisted around to see Leo standing near the bodies of the werewolves. “No, we were just getting ready to come find you guys and see if you were ready to go yet.”

Leo looked down at the slain werewolves. “Uh, we smelled the blood. I’m guessing we missed a lot?”

Kyle laughed, disentangling himself from Aidan to stand up. “I think it’s safe to say that you missed a lot, yeah.”

“You know, when the elder pulled us aside to say there had been intruders recently, I didn’t think that meant we were gonna be dealing with them on a run,” Leo said, scratching his head.

“I dealt with it,” Aidan grunted, standing up.

Kyle cleared his throat. “With some help.”

“That didn’t come from my official pack members,” Aidan added with an annoyed growl.

Leo’s eyes went wide. “Oh c’mon! You can’t seriously be mad about that, it’s not like you didn’t have your mate with you!”

“My mate’s future role in this pack has yet to be determined, but I can promise he won’t be a mainline combatant. Instead of my well-trained pack here to back me up when intruders attacked, I had to use someone who’s never seen combat and only has medical training in a fight. So yes, I believe I have every right to be mad about that,” Aidan told the other werewolf.

Leo groaned. “Man, we’re gonna end up swimming laps again, aren’t we?”

Aidan smirked. “You’re going to think you’re part fish by the time I’m done with you.”

Kyle laughed as he watched Leo stomp off into the forest. “C’mon tough guy, let’s get back to the village. It’s been a long night, and I have no plans on letting it end just yet.”