In the week that followed, Owen’s things arrived from Lakeshore. I tried to gauge if Owen was disappointed when his mother didn’t arrive with his things. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for her to see him considering how far away we were from Lakeshore, and she hadn’t taken it. He seemed fine. Maybe he hadn’t been expecting it at all. It was his mother after all, he knew her better than I did.

His stuff had been put into boxes and garbage bags. The people who were delivering it from Lakeshore decided against coming in to help us put things away or even coming in for a drink when I offered it. They just wanted to get away.

I helped Owen pack his things away, but he stayed quiet, like he wanted to be left alone to get himself in order.

It was nice to see him in his own clothes. It was a little strange to think of it this way, but it was like I was learning more about him simply by seeing what he wore on a day-to-day basis. He liked stripy t-shirts a lot (in fact he owned more stripy tees than anyone I knew, in several different colors) and would often pair those with jeans and Converse. I went out to the local town and got him a pair of boots for when he came with me on my rounds. The forest wasn’t the most forgiving to flimsy canvas shoes and he seemed to appreciate it.

It had been a week since I’d asked Owen on a date and neither of us had acted on the idea or taken it any further. It was my fault really. His stuff had arrived the next day and I wanted to give him a little more time to settle in. That and the fact that I was really nervous about us going on a date in the first place, even though it had been my suggestion. I was doing exactly the same thing I’d done for all that time at the Howls, just chickening out of actually talking to him.

We woke up at a similar time, Owen would jump in the shower first and I would get us some breakfast together. I’d been trying to expand my very limited repertoire of food I could cook so I could offer him something beyond eggs, and it seemed to be going well. We tried a lot of different things. Sometimes they turned out terrible and we’d just end up having some toast or cereal. Today it was cinnamon pancakes and Owen came out to the kitchen and groaned at how incredible they smelled, which pleased me.

After breakfast, I showered and Owen would clean up, putting the kitchen back together from where I’d likely destroyed it with some element of my cooking. As the water ran over my body that morning, I decided that today would be the day that we would have that date. It had to be. As I tried to find the courage, I started to worry that he’d forgotten? Or worse, that he thought I wasn’t interested in him anymore?

When I was dressed, I walked out into the living room to find Owen sitting in the armchair reading a battered old copy of the first Harry Potter book that I’d had when I was a kid.

“Sorry,” he said as I walked in. “I haven’t read this in such a long time, I forgot how good it was.”

“Don’t apologize,” I said, sitting on the sofa. “I said you could borrow what you wanted, read it. It’s not doing anyone any favors just sitting unread on the shelf.”

“Thanks,” he said with a smile.

“So, I wanted to talk to you about something,” I said. He dogeared the page and sat up straight.

“This sounds serious.”

“Oh god,” I put my head in my hands. “It’s not serious at all, I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Ask away,” he said. Every day I swear he let his guard down just a little more. If I’d have said I wanted to ask him a question a week ago he probably would have clammed right up and not spoken to me all evening.

“So that date–”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Nothing,” he blurted. “Go on.”

“No, what?”

He sighed. “Well, I thought you’d maybe…I don’t know…thought better of it.”

I blinked. “That’s the last thing I’d want you to think Owen,” I said. “I’ve just been trying to psyche myself up to do it.”

He laughed. “You’re joking, right?”

“No.” He stopped laughing so suddenly I was surprised he didn’t give himself an injury. “I wanted it to be right.”

A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.

“How about tonight?” I said.

He looked like the excitement might burst from him but managed to steady himself before saying, “That sounds lovely. Where shall we…?” He trailed off.

“Leave that to me,” I said. “Be ready at 7.”

I tried to spend the day as I would have spent any other day but was far too jittery and excited. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been on an actual date and the thought of going on one with Owen, of getting to know him more, of getting to show him that I was really starting to care for him, was distracting.

My rounds went by slowly. I had to have a meeting with the other park rangers (which I barely paid attention to) and take the time to visit some of the older members of our pack to make sure they were okay, but I couldn’t focus. Every time I thought beyond the moment I was currently in and to what would happen this evening, my mind was all aflutter. I was like a giddy teenager, which was so unlike me.

I got back to my cabin at five o’clock to see that Owen was nearly done with the first Harry Potter book. He had a cup of tea on the coffee table and his legs draped over the side of the armchair. He smiled at me as I walked in.

“Good day?” he asked.

“It was all right,” I said. “I’m going to start getting ready for tonight. Do you mind if I jump in the shower?”

“Go ahead,” he said. “I’ll go after you.”

I got out of my sweaty day clothes and jumped in the shower, taking extra time to make sure I felt good about myself. I shaved my face, I did my hair so it looked just right and went to my room to pick out my outfit. I heard him get in the shower and heard him singing that usual happy song. He had a really nice voice and I had sort of gotten used to hearing it in the mornings. It was nice to hear it in the evening too. And it reminded me he was happy and that, maybe, he was a little bit excited.

He took a little longer in the shower than normal. I mean, I did too but it was sort of nice that he was making a bit of an effort for me.

I found a nice button down shirt in my wardrobe, tight around my biceps, slim around my waist. I tucked it into a pair of nice dress pants and put on a pair of smart looking shoes that were not at all forest appropriate. It did look good though. I grabbed a sweater too just in case it got cold.

I knocked on his door. “I’ll be out here when you’re ready,” I said.

“No, hang on, I’m ready now, wait there.”

“Why do you want me to wait?”

“Duh, you’re my gentleman caller coming around to take me on a date,” he said with a hint of laughter in his voice. “Let me live the full fantasy, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll wait right here.”

A moment or two later, he opened the door and my jaw just about hit the floor. He had swooped his hair over to one side, a little bit of product keeping it in place. His face was clean shaven and looked glowy and gorgeous even in the limited light of the cabin. His eyes managed to sparkle at me as he grinned.

“Wow,” I breathed.

“You charmer,” he said. “You look very handsome, Dante,” he added.

“You don’t have to say that.”

“It’s true,” he said. “You look really handsome.”

I smiled. “Thank you. You look…” I couldn’t find the words. “You know, I think ‘wow’ pretty much covered it already.”

His outfit was a vertical striped button down shirt, a little open at the chest and, when I looked down, I saw the crescent moon necklace I’d bought at the Howl hanging over his bare chest.

“You’re wearing the necklace,” I said.

“Of course I am,” he said. “It’s beautiful. I’ve not taken it off since I got here. I love it.”

I took a deep breath. “Shall we?” I extended my arm towards him and he looped his arm around it.

We walked a little way away from my cabin until we made it to a secluded campsite that hardly anyone used anymore. I’d already checked during the day if anyone was staying here and it was just going to be the two of us, which was perfect. Eric had done me a huge favor and brought up a picnic basket and blanket. He’d even lit the campfire, which I hadn’t asked him to do, but it meant it was warm, an orange glow cast over everything. I would have to remember to thank him if all of this went well.

I laid out the blanket and put the picnic basket between us on the grass. I then opened the picnic basket which had sandwiches and chips and salad, along with a couple of bottles of apple cider.

I passed him one and he thanked me.

“So,” I said as I passed him one of the sandwiches. “Tell me about Lakeshore.”

He snorted. “You don’t want to hear about Lakeshore,” he said.

“I do,” I protested. “I want to hear about you and your life and Lakeshore seems like a decent place to start.”

He smiled. “Okay,” he started. “We’re not too far from here, as you know, but a lot nearer to the town so our people are a little more integrated into it. They have jobs there instead of getting to hang out in the wilderness all the time being park rangers and whatnot.” I looked over at him and he was smiling. He was toying with me and I nudged him, which made him laugh.

“We do have it pretty good out here,” I admitted.

“My Dad died about seven years ago,” he said bluntly. “And my mom wasn’t really the same after that.”

“How so?”

“She sort of shut herself off from everything, which made her fit in all the more with the people of Lakeshore but meant we didn’t really connect anymore…” He trailed off, turning his gaze away from me and focusing on the view of the forest, of the bright night sky lit up with a thousand tiny pinpricks of starlight. “It’s really beautiful up here,” he added. He clearly didn’t want to talk about Lakeshore anymore, or his mom. I’d made a mistake here.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” I said quietly, reaching out and taking hold of his hand. “That’s the last thing I wanted to do. I just wanted to learn more about you, that’s all.”

He smiled, and it was sincere, stretching right to the corners of his eyes. “I know, it’s alright. I understand.”

We carried on eating, him asking questions about Eastwind, how long we’d been up in the forest for, what my dad did before he passed away, how long I’d been the alpha. I told him it had been about two years.

“Oh,” he said. “So not very long then.”

“No.”

“And how long had you been watching me when you saw me at Howls?”

I blushed. “Gosh, that must have been about five years at least.”

“So you got your alpha status and started throwing money around huh?”

I laughed. “You make it sound so sordid!” I said. “I just didn’t want to lose you to some other pack and miss out on the opportunity to…” I trailed off.

“To what, Dante?”

“To get to know you better,” I said. “Whether it’s as friends or more than that.”

“Well, this night seems to have been successful for the getting to know me portion, right?” he said with a smile.

“I think we’ve covered some decent ground.”

He sighed. “That was really good, Dante,” he said, leaning back on his elbows, looking over at me. “This has been a really lovely evening.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I said, and I really meant it. It meant the absolute world to me that he was having a nice time.

I laid back, staring up at the inky blue sky, pinpricks of light poking out of it at us, winking and twinkling high above. It was a beautiful night, the perfect night for this.

Without my saying anything, Owen snuggled in a little closer, taking hold of my hand and joining me in looking up at the sky. It really was beautiful to just be out here with him, to share all of this with him, something that maybe he hadn’t been able to see at Lakeshore, something that no one else would have shown him before.

“What are you staring at?” he said after a moment, smiling and not taking his gaze away from the sky.

“Huh?”

He laughed. “We’re supposed to be stargazing, Dante, and you’re looking at me, not at the pretty, pretty sky.”

“Well maybe I don’t want to look at the pretty, pretty sky, Owen,” I said, my words a lot bolder than I felt.

He turned his head to me, letting go of my hand and propping himself up. “Is that right?”

Without warning, Owen leaned forward, kissing me softly on the lips. Again it felt like my entire world had exploded, every sense heightened, and all I wanted to do was be closer to him. His hand found its way to the back of neck and he massaged it as we kissed, our tongues dancing across each other.

He moved closer still, pressing his body into mine, no doubt feeling the tightening in my pants. Gosh I was rock hard just kissing him, everything was working just fine and he was very good at this.

His hands fumbled between us, undoing the buttons of my shirt and exposing my chest to the quiet night time of the forest. He reached his hands inside my shirt, rubbing his hands across my chest, across my abs, reached around to my back and digging his nails in causing me to moan into his mouth, all the while kissing me like I had never been kissed before.

His body rubbing against mine was becoming all too much, my dick getting all sorts of friction off of his. I didn’t know how much longer I would be able to keep control, and Owen could tell because one of his hands was already migrating down towards my underwear.

He undid my belt with one hand, reaching down towards the waistband of my boxer briefs. I couldn’t do this. It was moving too fast. Not like this. Not here. Not now.

I grabbed hold of his wrist, shattering the moment like it was made of glass. Both our eyes snapped open. The distance between us was minimal, but it might as well have been a thousand miles.

“Stop,” I breathed. “I-I can’t do this.”

Owen looked confused, hurt almost. “What?”

“Not now, not like this,” I said. I swallowed. “We should be getting back.”