About a week passed without incident, though there was still plenty to keep Destiny occupied. Tensions amongst his own pack members were higher than ever, fights breaking out constantly, always between the same people. He struggled to keep order there and everywhere else, though it seemed like his efforts were useless.

Three wolves left the pack, one after the other. They didn’t want to deal with the danger.

Destiny let them go with well-wishes, and then he went into his office, shut the door, and grieved. He didn’t cry so much as he shed tears, letting them roll slowly down his face and drip off his chin into his lap. Things were unraveling at the edges. Soon, everything he had worked so hard to create and keep patched together would come completely apart. He would be like a man who once wore a sweater to keep himself warm, and who was now trying to pretend a handful of yarn could have the same effect.

Part of him wondered, treacherously, secretively, if this might not be for the best. A person couldn’t be a biker forever. It was just a stage of life, same as infancy and adolescence. A few hardcore bikers might stick around until they were well into the hip-breaking age, but the rest of them would all go their own ways sooner or later. New members would filter in to replace those who had been lost, but it wouldn’t be the same. They wouldn’t be united like the current members were. They wouldn’t have gone through hell and back together, first weathering the storm of separation, then outlasting all the other disasters which came their way.

Nothing was irreplaceable. Not even himself. Someone would come along and replace him.

Maybe it would be better to have all of this done as the result of this catalyst of a scenario, rather than to drag it out for possible decades.

He didn’t let these thoughts be known, not to anyone who asked him if he felt all right and if he had been sleeping well.

He didn’t share these doubts with Cain. He knew he probably should have, but Cain had taken Ralphie home and the two of them were enjoying a brief reprieve, focusing on nothing but themselves and little Knox.

He didn’t even tell Markus.

Their communication ever since the day Markus came to see him had been sparse and polite, though occasionally terse, and always punctuated by enormous gaps of silence. Brock was acting like a dictator, spending much of his time sequestered away in his bedroom, plotting and scheming and planning for the war he had declared. His presence meant Markus needed to be careful when talking to Destiny.

Meanwhile, other wolves constantly came into the house to see him, reporting on what they had seen during their rides, what they had overheard in passing.

“It’s like Hitler Youth over here,” Markus texted one day. “Everyone’s selling out everyone else. Trying to be the one who’s the most on his good side.”

Markus himself wasn’t allowed to go anywhere unless Brock accompanied him, due to his concussion and potential lasting side effects from the injury. All that really meant was Markus hadn’t left his house in a week.

“I’m starting to go crazy in here.”

One week turned slowly over into the next, bringing with it yet another day of worried texts briefly and intermittently sprinkled with complaints.

That was when Destiny decided he’d had enough. He, too, felt stifled and caged, an animal trapped behind bars. His daily duties often tapered off into listless bouts of nothingness where he sat around and essentially waited, counting the seconds, the hours, exactly like a zoo animal with only scheduled meals to look forward to.

He needed some release, some relief, a moment where he was allowed to feel like himself again.

At exactly one in the morning on the Sunday of the new week, Destiny grabbed up his helmet—which he had taken to wearing more frequently ever since Markus’ accident—and went outside to where his motorcycle awaited him. Swinging his leg up over it, he jammed the key in the ignition and tore off down the street.

Crossing over the border between the east and west ends of the city was like riding into a solid wall of scent. The powerful odor nearly knocked him off his goddamn bike. Reports from his own wolves had informed him that the members of Lethal Freedom were doing constant patrols. His perception of this news was that there had been frequent sightings, but this was something altogether. The scent was almost so strong a human would have been able to pick up on it.

Maybe that’s why I haven’t smelled any. No tourists dithering around. No homeless.

Even if they couldn’t pick up on the scent, surely they would have noticed dangerous bikers flocking to this area like vultures circling over rotting carrion. Best for the uninvolved to stay uninvolved.

Destiny knew exactly where Markus lived. He knew the ins and outs of the city itself, as thoroughly as he knew the back of his own hand. Navigating his way there was no problem at all, and he enjoyed the ride, all alone with only the passing streetlights to keep him company.

Once he entered into the neighborhood where Markus lived, he slowed way down until the roaring of his engine was as quiet as a kitten’s purring. For only a brief instant, he wished his bike wasn’t so crazily modified. Then, he pushed that wish away. The sound of a motorcycle wasn’t exactly such a unique thing that it would get Brock’s attention, if he even heard it.

Maybe Brock wasn’t even home, although Destiny knew much better than to even hope for that. He wouldn’t push his luck betting on things.

Lowering his head, hiding his face beneath the shadow cast by his helmet, Destiny rode through the streets at a snail’s pace. His motorcycle jittered and jumped beneath him, not handling this speed well at all; he just gripped on tighter with his thighs and kept going until he finally caught a glimpse of a tiny house in the distance.

Then, he stopped. He turned off the engine and pulled out his phone, the screen glowing beacon-bright in the darkness of the early morning.

Sliding his thumb across the screen to unlock it, he then went to his texts and pulled up a prior conversation with Markus. His fingers hesitated, his grip on the phone suddenly going clammy and slick.

It’s now or never. No in-betweens. No hesitating. I do this, or I go home.

He still hesitated, and then he closed his eyes because he knew he was going to go home.

Hell, what was he even doing out here? He didn’t belong here and not just because he was a Shadow Claw. He didn’t belong in this pretty little neighborhood, lined with tiny homes meant for people who were just beginning to get their lives together. He’d had his chance at that and completely fucked it up by being incapable to hold onto the person who was nearest and dearest to his heart.

Hell, the person who was his heart.

He didn’t belong here because his current connection with Markus was only based on mutual need for survival. It was practically business.

All at once, he doubted himself and everything he had ever done. The weight of his regret was so enormous and cumbersome that he felt it pressing down on him, threatening to crush him, smear him and his motorcycle across the street in a mixture of bloody paste and machine parts.

“I’m so fucking stupid,” he whispered into the night.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

Destiny fell off his motorcycle, clamping at his heart with one hand while the other uselessly tried to prevent him from hitting the ground. He wasn’t successful in either venture, didn’t calm his heart, didn’t catch himself, and he landed on the ground with his chest heaving and his insides jittering around.

It was difficult to hear anything outside of the pounding of his heart, the rushing of blood in his ears, but there was no way that he could have mistaken the quiet laughter following his collapse.

It was the chuckling which made him move, inspiring him to prop himself up on his hands so he could see.

Markus stood perhaps 15 feet away, having just emerged from a thick patch of shadows beneath the boughs of a tree in desperate need of trimming. He was smiling, grinning softly with familiar amusement. Even illuminated by the harsh sodium glow of the nearby streetlight, he was handsome as hell.

“Guess I didn’t notice you were there,” Destiny said. The words felt strange in his mouth, now that he’d started to doubt his own plans. He’d had this entire meeting planned out, and now it was happening in ways he hadn’t accounted for.

“Guess not,” Markus agreed.

That, at least, was something Destiny could forgive himself for. The air was thick with the scents of gasoline and exhaust and hot metal, the distinctive and cloying perfume his motorcycle exuded when in use. He couldn’t smell much of anything else, and he hadn’t been expecting to see Markus yet, or anyone else at all, so he hadn’t been looking in the shadows.

Standing up, Destiny took a step towards Markus and then stopped. “I was…Coming to see you.”

“Why?”

“Probably the same reason that you were already out here waiting for me.”

Markus looked thoughtful, his smoky eyes going hazy with concentration. “I just felt like I needed to go for a walk. Like I had to get out of the house. Brock was asleep, so it was easy.” He rubbed the back of his neck, shuffled his feet. “I thought I was just feeling antsy from being cooped up inside.”

Neither of them said aloud what this might mean. Destiny had been coming to see Markus, and Markus had come out here as if compelled to. There was really no pretending this was a coincidence, because the reality was that their thoughts must have crossed somehow.

“That’s why I was coming here. I thought you might like to…get out. And I could help.” Destiny held up his phone, which miraculously hadn’t broken when he took a tumble. “I was going to text you where I was.”

“Well, I’m here.” Markus planted his hands on his hips, a saucy sort of posture that gave Destiny more hope than it probably should have. The omega standing before him was less of an exhausted victim and more like his true self. “What did you want to do with me when you got here?”

“I really hadn’t thought that through, honestly.” Destiny blushed. Curls of warmth rose up inside his stomach, like the first tentative signs of a fire. “I just knew that I wanted to make sure you were going to be okay.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind leaving the neighborhood. I can go anywhere, just as long as I’m back home before dawn. That’s been when Brock has been getting up to start his daily tyranny.”

Home before dawn gave them four or five hours of time together. That was much, much more than Destiny had been hoping for. He had envisioned a short ride, perhaps to the nearby park and then back. But Markus had given him the possibility of hours if that was what he wanted.

And was it?

He thought so.

“Is your head okay enough for a ride? I’ll go slow. And I have an extra helmet, if you want it.” He had put that on his bike several days ago, refusing to think about it at the time. However, if he thought about it now, he would be forced to admit to himself that he had been expecting this meeting to happen eventually. The universe seemed to be clamoring for this, God knew why.

“I’m healing up pretty good on the outside. I’m not sure about on the inside and neither are the doctors. They hardly understand how the rest of us works. Our brains are a complete mystery.”

“Your brain is a mystery to me, too.”

“I could say the same about you.” Markus approached, setting his hand on Destiny’s power cruiser. That touch resonated deeply through Destiny’s soul, as if he was the one feeling the intimate pressure of those fingers. Then Markus lifted up his hand and grabbed at the extra helmet, breaking the illusion with the sharp suddenness of shattering glass. “Let’s do this.”

Mounting his bike, Destiny waited for Markus to climb up behind him. Every muscle inside him had gone tense with anticipation, his body remembering exactly what it was like to feel the pressure of the smaller man at his back. It was so, so familiar, like only a day had gone by since the last time they did this. The warmth of Markus’ body, the feel of his thighs, the way his arms wrapped around his stomach and held on tightly…

It was almost too much.

He almost called it all off, right then and there. They shouldn’t be doing this, tempting fate like this. They didn’t belong together anymore, were in fact on opposite sides.

Yet, with Markus’ legs around him, their bodies so close, it just didn’t feel wrong.

“What are you waiting for?” Markus asked. His breath was so hot it practically burned where it hit against the back of Destiny’s neck.

Something else was burning, the fire inside his stomach no longer tentative and new but a heady blaze which threatened to consume everything in its path. His groin felt tense and full and tingly, his manhood stirring around in response.

Fumbling with the key, Destiny managed to turn the engine on. His cruiser snarled to life before diminishing into a steady, anticipatory growling. Adjusting his position on the seat, wishing he could perform a similar service for his cock since it was jammed uncomfortably against his jeans, he turned them around and rode away from the neighborhood.

For a time, they ceased to exist. They were not Destiny, chronic overthinker and leader of Shadow Claws, and Markus, the younger brother of the alpha who ruled over Lethal Freedom. They weren’t wolves. They weren’t men. They just were, existing in tandem with the cityscape around them.

They cruised at a moderate and comfortable speed through the streets, heading simply where the patterns of the night led them. They passed through the business district, where most of Pensacola’s tallest buildings were located, and they sailed through the areas designed for the tourists. They went through the silent, downtrodden ghettos, skirted the edges of several beautiful parks whose gates were all closed to keep out the beggars.

They rode and could have ridden for an eternity in this manner, or at the very least until their gas ran out. There were no thoughts, no feelings, no worries, no hopes.There was only the silent, calm city.

Then Destiny felt a tug on his elbow, yanking him out of the dreamlike stupor and back into reality. He slowed automatically, turning his head slightly so Markus would know that he was listening.

Rather than speak, Markus pointed off to their left. In that direction was Sanders Beach, which pressed right up against the Gulf of Mexico. It was one of the few beach locations in Pensacola which wasn’t difficult to get to, considering it was actually on the mainland and not part of a barrier island or anything.

It also wasn’t guarded, open to the public for very long hours every single day. One a.m. fell just outside of those hours, but that really wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

Destiny turned at the next streetlight and followed a sign to reach the parking lot, where he was able to pull right up to the very beginning edge of the beach. He turned the engine off and waited. No explanation for this detour came immediately, so he prompted Markus with a gentle, “Well?”

Markus slid off the motorcycle, the lack of his presence making Destiny feel like he’d just had a limb amputated. “I want to walk on the beach. It’s so rare that you get one all to yourself.”

Well, we won’t exactly be completely alone.

There were other vehicles in the parking lot, though only a few. Out on the glistening white beach, the dark, silhouetted forms of other people were clearly visible.

“Yeah, but look at them. They’re all couples. They won’t care about us, so it’ll be like they aren’t there at all.”

That, Destiny noticed, was true. The people out walking along the beach were clearly in pairs, holding hands and walking so close together that their hips constantly touched. All of them were spaced out, perhaps not so much as to provide privacy for others as to obtain it for themselves.

Destiny also noted that Markus had replied to something that he hadn’t said aloud. Or, had he? Nothing felt quite real in this moment, so maybe he just spoke without even meaning to.

“Then, let’s go.”

Needing no further prompting, Markus set off across the last strip of concrete separating him from the sands of the beach. He spread his arms out slightly as he went from the solid surface to the trickier plane of the sand; the fraction of a second of lost balance was the only sign he still suffered from the concussion.

The only meaningful sign, that was.

A gigantic patch of hair was missing from the back of his head, exposing the clean lines of stitches which had sealed the wound there. Though the wound itself had been reduced to little more than scabs by this point, the hair had yet to grow back. The doctors must have needed to trim it to do their work. However, be that as it may, an onlooker might not have been able to accurately guess as to the causes and effects of the wound.

But Destiny knew. He knew, and tenderness for Markus flooded through his veins. A man more used to lying to himself might have been able to get away with describing this feeling as sympathy. Being someone who wasn’t in the habit of doing so, he had to admit it was tenderness. Through the complications, harsh words, trying events, and all these new accusations and difficulties, he still felt tenderness for the omega.

Feeling his heart start to beat a little faster, Destiny followed Markus out onto the sand. Markus paused after they had gone a few feet, then spoke without turning to look at him. “We can’t really be together if you’re just going to lag behind all the time.”

Stunned, stung, Destiny said, “What?” because it was all he could think to say in the aftermath of this sudden accusation. It might only have been an observation, but damn, it hurt. It felt like Markus had just stabbed him in the heart.

Markus turned back. His expression was one of mostly annoyance, tinged with a small amount of amusement. “What do you mean what? Walk beside me, you idiot. It’s weird to just have you following me around like a puppy.”

“Oh.”

Destiny picked up his pace and fell in beside Markus, who started walking again as if nothing had happened.

We can’t really be together if you’re just going to lag behind all the time.

There was a reason those words had hurt him so much. That sentence was almost exactly what Markus had said to him—shouted at him—when they were breaking up.

At the time, he thought this was an absurd reason that came out of nowhere. He wasn’t lagging behind! Markus was the one who was going too fast, blazing through the stages just like he raced through the rest of his life, incapable of staying in one place for too long.

Now he was wondering if he had been wrong. If he had dragged his feet. If he wasn’t remembering quite correctly all that happened, since he was so certain everything that went awry was because of Markus. He had shifted the blame onto the omega. Lied to himself in the biggest way possible, and then pretended he would never do such a thing.

The whole time these thoughts were racing through his mind, he was walking alongside Markus while on autopilot. He was only vaguely aware of everything else around him, the way the beach glistened like a diamond in the moonlight, the soothing, repetitive rushing sound of the waves lapping at the shore. A child’s sandcastle stood off to one side, having succumbed halfway to the tide that had just barely reached it.

Markus turned. Destiny was aware of that, too. It registered. He knew it was happening, that Markus intended to walk along the length of the water without getting his shoes wet.

It just didn’t quite sink in, not until he ran right into Markus and sent him reeling away.

Markus staggered, feet splashing in the wet sand. He held out his arms to the side again, waving them a little in that customary way people do when they’re trying not to fall. Waves lapped at the shore again, a surge of foam attacking his ankles, and he went down.

“Shit!” Destiny cried out, dropping down to his knees and grabbing onto Markus so he wouldn’t hit his head. It was a needless precaution, mostly because he was sitting on his ass in the sand, in absolutely no danger at all, but Destiny couldn’t help himself. He wrapped both hands around Markus’ upper back, keeping him propped forward. The tide receded again, foam and bits of seaweed and deposited chunks of shell clumping up against the obstruction of their bodies. “I’m sorry! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“You should look where you’re going,” Markus said. He looked right at Destiny, his voice sounding strange in a way the alpha didn’t really understand.

“I just got caught up in the…scenery.”

We should be standing up by now. We should go home. He’s soaked. He’ll catch cold. It’ll be bad, when he’s already trying to recover from his concussion.

All these thoughts raced through Destiny’s mind, and he didn’t act on any of them. He couldn’t make himself move. He just crouched there in the water, holding onto Markus, holding him closer and closer by the second and he couldn’t make himself stop.

“Is that the truth?” Markus murmured.

Even after all this time, Markus could still see through him better than anyone else. Destiny shook his head and tried again. He didn’t know what he was going to say until it was already out there. “I got caught up in being with you.”

“Me, too.” Markus gave a wry little grin. “Here. I was going to give this to you at a better time, but I guess now is as good as any. I hope it isn’t ruined.”

Markus had something to give him? That didn’t fit with anything Destiny had been expecting or even suspecting. Maybe it was time then, to stop anticipating, to stop planning and predicting, and to just live.

He shoved all of his racing thoughts out of his brain and accepted the scrap of paper which Markus had produced from his pocket. The corner was damp where ocean water had soaked through the omega’s jeans.

This is from my notes.

It was, more specifically, from the paper he had been doodling on the night Markus came to visit. The scrap had been torn off at some point, and he just hadn’t noticed, which really raised the question of exactly when during their meeting Markus had managed to do this.

His doodle was nothing more than a random scrawl of lines, all angles and loops, like a toddler’s first drawings which are so proudly displayed on the fridge for years to come. The pen he’d used was an old one, the ink no longer black but more of a fading gray.

Markus had drawn over this doodle using a different pen, one which lay down ink in a crisp path. He had taken the angles and swirls, modified them, added detail, giving birth to an actual drawing of a wolf posed majestically on top of a pile of boulders. Miniscule, perfect ears pressed flat against the skull, the wolf was howling a proud call, breath steaming up from its parted jaws.

Though the drawing as small, hardly taking up any of the margin where Destiny had doodled, and monochrome, the sandy patterning of the wolf’s fur left no doubt as to who it was meant to be.

Destiny lifted his head up, intending to express his thanks for this little token, to congratulate Markus on his artistry. Everything he could have said was blown right out of his mind when Markus leaned in across the few inches that still separated them. Their lips met.

It should have been wrong. They weren’t together. Their breakup had been disastrous. They hadn’t solved any of their differences or talked about what happened. Really, this shouldn’t be happening.

But it wasn’t wrong. It didn’t feel wrong. And it was happening. Their lips pressed together firmly, tangling, rubbing, rejoicing. Destiny flicked his tongue out and licked Markus’ lower lip, teasing him, making him tremble, and claiming it for himself by pulling on it with his own lips. Markus responded by leaning in closer, straining towards him, a whimper rising from his throat to bubble up between him. The taste of his breath was hot and sweet.

“Markus,” Destiny breathed. His fingers stroked up the back of the other’s neck, feeling nothing but stubble where once there had been beautiful curly locks of hair.

“Don’t think.” Markus gazed deep into his eyes, as serious as he had ever looked in his entire life. “For once in your life, don’t think. After all that’s been happening, don’t I deserve just one thing? This is the thing I want right now. It’s you.”

Maybe it was time to act like an alpha. Here was an omega, offering himself to Destiny, appealing to him. They both wanted this. It was right, not wrong.

Destiny closed his eyes, pulled in a deep breath, then wrapped his arms more firmly around Markus and pulled him in close. Their mouths met again, Markus’ parting beneath his, allowing their tongues to meet and play between them. Hands roamed, fingers tangling in hair, tugging gently. Where their bodies touched, flames seemed to leap back and forth between them. Fire fed fire, lust escalating rapidly to unimaginable levels.

Pulling Markus into his lap, out of reach of the lapping waves, Destiny let his instincts take over. His lips pushed roughly against Markus’, tugging on them, devouring them.

Markus held his arms around his neck, keeping their chests pressed together. His ass started to wiggle around, rubbing and grinding on Destiny’s erection.

Pleasure pulsed through him and he groaned, trying to rise up to press himself more firmly against Markus. The layers of clothes between them were frustrating and exciting all at once. His body shuddered uncontrollably, his groin tightening even further. His cock felt like it hadn’t ever been this hard before in his entire life.

Suddenly, Markus moved his arms back around to the front of Destiny’s body, hands planting firmly on his chest. “Not here,” he murmured. “Anyone can see us.”

Destiny looked around, narrowing his eyes. The other couples still roaming around on the beach weren’t any closer than they had been before. However, he understood what Markus was getting at. If they did anything out here, anyone who did want to watch them have sex would be able to do so at their leisure.

I’m thinking about having sex with him. We’re going to have sex.

He thought these things with a sense of wonder, all of his doubt having not seen fit to return to a mind where it wasn’t wanted.

“Over there.” Markus pointed off down the shoreline, where a walking path led away from the parking lot. A bathroom and several food huts lined the path before giving way to low, mounded dunes. “We’ll be hidden. Let’s go. I want to do this right, and I don’t want to have to be rushing through it like we’re on a time limit.”

“Let’s go,” Destiny agreed, standing up with Markus still in his arms. The omega laughed and pushed against him, trying to get down on his own two feet. Destiny held him tighter, pressing their lips together again for another kiss, then let Markus get his footing.

Markus took off immediately for the sand dunes, his ass moving sweetly under his jeans. His walk was a little stiff-legged, very telling of the fact that he was struggling with an erection. Pulling in a deep, appreciative breath, feeling his own cock stiffen even further, Destiny started to follow.

Then, once they were halfway there, he suddenly stopped. Markus kept going on, not even noticing for several seconds. When he did, his face was creased with annoyance as he turned back. “What? Why did you stop?”

Some semblance of logic tried to return to Destiny’s mind, fingers of clarity curling up from underneath the curtain of sexual fog. “I have something in my bike that we’re going to need. You go on. Get…uh, settled. I’ll be right back.”

A brief perplexed expression crossed Markus’ face, then cleared when he realized what Destiny was talking about. “You keep lube on your motorcycle.”

If this had been any other situation, Destiny might have been embarrassed about how forward the omega was being. He felt an undercurrent of that, a small flicker of unease, which rapidly faded away again underneath his excitement. “A good replacement, anyway. You go on, okay?”

Markus nodded and started away again. His ass cheeks rubbed together, looking like two kids tussling underneath a blanket. Unable to help himself, Destiny jogged after him, swatted at that perfect ass, rejoicing in the way the firm flesh rebounded under his touch.

“Hey!” Markus laughed, turning around quickly. Sand sprayed out from under his feet. With his blood up, adrenaline coursing through his veins, Destiny felt every single one of those fine, individual grains striking against his legs, dimpling the fabric and bouncing off. Teasing hands grasped for him, aiming to give him the same treatment; he dug his feet against the shifting ground and pushed away, trying to dodge. Rather than act as a compressed, solidified surface, the sand whisked out from underneath Destiny’s feet like someone had yanked on the rug he was standing on. He staggered, Markus grabbed onto him, and they collapsed together onto the ground again.

Markus wriggled around on top of him, trying to get his hands underneath both of them to grab Destiny’s ass.

Very gently, Destiny pushed him away and got to his feet. “Get out of here,” he laughed. “Go wait for me.”

After growling at him, Markus headed off again with his ass deliberately waggling around more than ever.

Destiny just watched him, feeling desire stirring around deep inside of him. At times like this, it was so hard for him to remember that Markus was still a virgin. He strove to always keep that in mind back in the past, to let it temper his actions when they were together. It had seemed so important to wait to have sex at the best possible time, when they were both so ready for it, prepared for it, having planned out that occurrence to give them as much time as they needed. Even when Markus practically begged for it, goaded him onwards, teased him mercilessly, he had still resisted.

Now they were about to do it in the middle of a beach, when one of them was still recovering from a brutal injury to the back of the head.

It was a strange, strange world.

Stranger still that Markus stayed a virgin, his scent clean and untouched. Why had no one else snatched up such a prize in the intervening years?

Destiny turned away even though pulling his gaze from Markus was akin to ripping off a band-aid. He sprinted over to where he had left his cruiser, his cock pushed painfully tight against the front of his jeans so it didn’t even really shift at all with his movements.

Jerking to a stop in front of his ride, he rummaged around until he came up with a small jar of Vaseline and a cheap, thin sheet of tarp. Both items were staple supplies when it came to being a biker in a rainy area. At least, they were staples if a person cared as much about their bike as he did. The tarp covered the bike when it might have to be left out in the rain for a little longer than necessary, and the Vaseline worked to keep clunky, damaged parts moving smoothly until more thorough repairs could be done.

Quite coincidentally, both of them together were suitable for an impromptu bout of sex on the beach.

He took off with his prizes tucked under his arm, heading along the path in the direction of the dunes. Rounding the side of the first low dune, he followed Markus’ trail off the path and deeper into the maze of sandy mounds. The rest of the beach fell away, the entire world as forgotten as ancient history before writing was invented. Surrounded by shades of white and gray, he felt like he was almost on the surface of the moon.

Then he saw Markus, and even that impression dissipated, drifting away like so much smoke from a fire.

Markus was completely naked. Clothing littered the sand around his bare feet, cast carelessly aside. His toes were turned a shade paler by dust, random streaks of which had found their way up the strong lines of his ankles and calf-muscles. Every inch of his well-defined legs were on display, leading up to that apex between his legs. He had one hand wrapped around the length of his cock, slowly stroking himself from base to tip. His abs were well-defined, his chest a slender sculpture with just the faintest hints of hair. His shoulders were so smooth, the skin so soft, and his neck looked so kissable.

Best of all was his face, with its energetic features and bright gemstone eyes. He was smiling, grinning from ear to ear.

“Come and get me,” he said.

Destiny needed no further encouragement. Giving in to the animal desire inside him, he rushed forward and grabbed Markus around the waist. Markus laughed and grabbed at his shoulders, supporting himself. Holding Markus with only one arm, Destiny shook the tarp out and let it flutter to the ground. Florida was a state popular for its temperate weather and balmy sea breezes but back here in the shelter of the dunes, no wind stirred. The tarp landed in almost perfect formation. He also threw the Vaseline down in the sand beside the tarp.

Hands freed, he adjusted his grip on Markus so the omega was more or less sitting on his chest, arms and legs wrapped around him to keep himself propped up. Their lips locking between them, tongues tangling hotly and sweetly, Destiny sank down to his knees. He started to lower Markus down onto the tarp, then hesitated.

Can’t believe I almost forgot.

Sensing his hesitation, frustrated by it, Markus slid one hand up and tugged on his hair to get his attention. “What are you doing?”

“Your head.”

“Yeah?”

Feeling a little like he’d been knocked off his rhythm, Destiny struggled to explain. When he had imagined them having sex in the past, he had fully expected to have to do this for each and every step; hell, he’d actually been looking forward to sharing his knowledge of everything so Markus would know he was being taken care of in the best manner possible. Now that he had committed to letting loose and letting this happen organically, he found it difficult to recapture his former intentions.

“Well…There are positions. Uh, if you’re on your back, then when I start to thrust, your body is going to…move. And you might…” He stopped because Markus was starting to laugh. “What? What is it?”

“You’re still so serious,” Markus murmured. He leaned in so their lips were touching, brushing together as he spoke. “I know how to have sex, you big dumbo.”

“But you’re a virgin?” Destiny said, doubtfully.

“I like porn.”

The way he said it, so naturally, made him start to laugh. “Fine, smartypants. If you know what to do, why don’t you show me?”

Markus’ eyes glittered. “I will. Give me that.”

Destiny reached for the Vaseline and handed it over, his heart in his throat. Sex and a show? Why the fuck had he waited so long to let this happen?

Markus wriggled out of his lap and landed in the middle of the tarp. He got down on all fours like a wolf about to display itself, wiggling his ass around in the air. There was a faint pink mark on it from where Destiny had swatted at it earlier. Dipping his fingers into the Vaseline, he lifted out a large amount of the jelly and brought it around to his ass. His fingers slid down between his firm cheeks, parting them, revealing a flash of his pink, puckered opening.

“Oh,” Destiny moaned, unable to help himself. As Markus rubbed himself, spreading Vaseline in teasing circles around his pucker, Destiny undid his jeans and pulled the length of his cock out. He started to rub himself, mouth opening a little, his heartbeat racing so he could feel it ticking at the hollow of his throat. His tip was so swollen, oozing little dribbles of wetness that he caught with his fingers and spread around. Pretty soon he might not need any of that Vaseline for himself.

Markus’ fingers roamed and soon the delicate part between his ass cheeks glistened with slickness. His body started to move, his hips grinding back against his fingers. One finger pressed firmly against the middle of his pucker, slipping deep inside. His back arched and the finger slid deeper, pulled out, pushed back inside. He went back for more of the Vaseline, twirling his finger around inside himself. Then it was two fingers, his ass swallowing them with greedy eagerness.

Destiny timed his strokes with Markus’ thrusts. It felt like a fire was inside him, surging to impossible heights. Waves of heat radiated out through his entire body, making him tremble like a leaf in the face of a firestorm. His head lolled back, a groan rising up in his throat. Even then, though his eyes wanted to close, he kept them open and trained on what Markus was doing to himself.

“Mmm,” Markus said. His fingers pushed so deep inside himself that they were completely buried. He crooked them, pushing them against a sensitive spot on his inner walls that made his entire body tremble. The tendons in his wrist twitched, standing out against his skin.

That was all Destiny could take. Still holding his cock, he shuffled forward on his knees so his hips pressed flush against Markus’ ass cheeks.

Markus let his slick fingers fall away, bracing himself on the tarp with both hands. “Do me, Dusty. Please. I need it.”

“My muffin,” Destiny murmured. He was hardly aware of speaking, so caught up in the pleasure as he pushed his swollen tip against Markus’ ready opening. He slid inside so easily, so readily, it felt like they had been made for each other. Everything they had done together, everything they had gone through, had all led up to this single beautiful moment. If the world had stopped right now, he would have been just fine with that.

The world didn’t stop. He slid in another inch, feeling the unique textures of Markus’ inner walls flexing around him, and that was when he encountered resistance and tightness. Markus hadn’t been able to reach this far inside himself, hadn’t been able to relax himself enough to allow entry.

By this point, it was all Destiny could do to hold himself back. The instinct was to sink himself right down to the hilt and start pounding away, but if he did that he was going to hurt this beautiful creature in front of him. Markus was already writhing around on him, grinding, goading him on, further encouraging him to give in to his desire.

Go slow. It’ll be so much better if only I can manage to go slow.

Holding on tight to his own reins, he braced himself on his hands and pushed in another inch. Markus’ muscles flexed, gripping him, but he had already backed away again. He tried again, in and out, back and forth, letting Markus become used to the feel of him. At first, the sounds Markus made were those of soft complaint and discomfort, though they eventually blurred into contentment and lust.

When he heard that mellowing, the purring quality that entered Markus’ voice, Destiny let himself push in yet another inch. The process repeated, the fire between them growing hotter and hotter.

Something seemed to be happening between them, their bodies becoming accustomed to one another until they were moving at the same rhythm. When Markus ground against him, Destiny pushed against him; when Markus pulled away, Destiny did the same. Their thoughts almost seemed to be connecting, though neither of them was thinking. It was as if they could sense the other’s intentions before they themselves even knew what they were going to do.

Then, Destiny could go no further. His hips were flush against those firm cheeks, his cock fully embedded.

Markus shoved against him, starting to thrust, and Destiny followed. He pulled out a few inches, then moved back in, over and over. Each time he sank back in, Markus let out a high whimper and moved back against him.

Destiny’s groin was so tense and tight and hot that he didn’t know how much longer he could hold on. He wanted so much to last, to let this go on as long as possible, but each tremble that raced through his body brought him closer and closer to the finish. There were fireworks in his mind, bursts of heat that threatened to consume him.

Suddenly, Markus let out a sharp cry. Every muscle in his entire body clamped down, tensing to the absolute limit.

Beautiful, delicious pressure wrapped around Destiny. He couldn’t move, didn’t want to move. Throwing his head back, he let out an answering call to Markus and started to orgasm. He gave himself up to it, letting the fireworks explode, the heat inside him overflowing. He shook apart, fragmenting, losing his sense of himself. He felt Markus doing the same, felt the omega’s mind hanging loose and joyful and free in the ecstatic cosmos that was sexual release.

This would be the time to mark, to claim, to declare a mate.

Leaning forward, Destiny let his lips linger against the back of Markus’ neck. He let his teeth come forward, dimpling the softness that had so recently been covered by curly brown hair.

I can’t.

As the last fading remnants of his orgasm shook through him, Destiny pressed a kiss to Markus’ nape and then pulled away.

Satisfied, tension released, Destiny’s cock wilted and went limp. He lifted his hips up and pulled out, then folded Markus in his arms and lay the both of them down on the tarp.

Markus was breathless, little tremors still racing through him.

Destiny pressed more little kisses to the back of his neck, being careful to avoid the healing edges of the wound. It hurt his heart to see the injury up close, the ragged line that had split his flesh apart. Even though the scabs were so close to being fully healed, hardly raised up from the surrounding skin at all, it still filled him with a sense of pain and wrongness. Of all the people in the world who should not have to feel pain, Markus was definitely one of them. His spirit was so bright, so untampered, so free, that this surface wound must really reach all the way to his very core.

“Is this where I give you a rating?” Markus murmured.

Destiny huffed out a soft laugh. His chest felt so tight and so loose at the same time, caught between painful memories and enjoyment of this current moment. “What do you have as comparison?”

“Porn,” Markus replied. He had to pause before speaking again, still focusing on catching his breath. Though his face was hidden at this angle, it sounded as if he could only be smiling. “You got the job done. But you didn’t do a cartwheel with me or anything all showy, so I’m going to deduct points for that. You’re a solid 7.”

“That’s a solid C. I’ll settle for being average.” As sweat from exertion dried on his skin, Destiny was actually starting to feel a little chilly. The shadows between the dunes draped over them like cool blankets. To chase away the cold, to keep it from infiltrating his soul and making him doubt what they had just done, he hugged Markus tighter.

Markus snuggled back against him, the naked softness of his skin like velvet to the touch. “That’s actually a D, I think.”

“Is it? Not when I was in school.”

“Hey, grandpa,” Markus snorted, “you only graduated two years before I did. They didn’t change the whole grading scale in such a short time.”

“Grades weren’t the most important thing to me at the time.”

I was actually pretty caught up in getting to know this cute little omega with smoky eyes. He occupied a lot of my thoughts.

Their budding romance, and his strengthening interest in motorcycles, had really defined his life back then. Everything felt so full of potential and newness, like anything could happen. And back then, those possibilities of anything had been optimistic and not at all worrying.

“Is this what pillow talk is like?”

Destiny laughed out loud, surprised. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never done it before.”

“What? But…”

He’d had sex before on multiple occasions, both before and after his disastrous relationship with Markus. However, teenagers weren’t exactly interested in hanging around after getting their gratification; more recently, Destiny’s relationships had all been based around mutual need and little else. Talk and cuddles didn’t enter into the picture.

When he didn’t try to explain, he expected the omega in his arms to press him to talk. Instead, Markus just sighed a little and nestled deeper against him.

They lay like that on the sandy tarp for several more minutes, letting their breathing steady and the adrenaline drain fully away. At that point, Markus started to stir around.

Sensing his restlessness, Destiny released him and they both sat up.

“I wish I could stay longer,” Markus said, a little hesitantly. He sounded suddenly shy, for some unfathomable reason. “I’m just getting a little worried about being away for so long.”

“I understand. Here.” Destiny reached out, twisting around to grab at the first article of clothing he could. While his face was hidden, he allowed his distress to show through. It was like his mouth cramped, like he had suddenly tasted something foul in the middle of an otherwise sweet fruit. He didn’t want this to end, to have to go back to being the rigid and structured person everyone expected him to be.

When he turned back, the cramp had passed and he had pasted a smile on his lips in its wake. “You know that you didn’t have to get completely naked, right? I know that’s what they do in porn, but it’s not necessary.”

Markus accepted the sock handed to him, daintily slipping it over his dusty foot. He stood up and started fetching the rest of his clothes, which was harder than it should have been because of all the sand that had been tossed around by their lovemaking. “I know, but it was worth it for the look on your face.”

“Oh, I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it. You’re welcome to do that again anytime.”

Markus pulled his shirt down over his head, gazing so intensely at Destiny that he actually had to look away. “Am I?”

“Anytime,” Destiny repeated, knowing he was lying.

Whatever magical, dreamlike quality the night had once held was gone. Heavier, more energetic hormones had been expressed, replaced with an empty aftermath. Doubt returned.

They shouldn’t have done this. Their relationship had caused an enormous rift between so many wolves, and it hadn’t even reached this physical point. What horrific effect was this going to have? What had they potentially just fucked up?

Destiny gathered up the tarp, rolling it up tight and then tucking it under his arm. He also fetched the Vaseline, though there wasn’t much of a point to that because the jelly was more or less ruined by all the sand that had been tossed inside the jar. Maybe it could be salvaged, although the low cost of petroleum jelly made a strong case for just buying more. Really, he just didn’t want to leave any sign of what they had done here.

He stood up and looked over at Markus, who busily smacked dust and sand off his outfit. “Should we get going?”

“I think so,” Markus replied. His eyes flickered. His hand lifted about a foot and then dropped, as if he had reconsidered reaching out and holding hands.

Destiny ached. He ached so much. Everything felt wrong. And the wrongness felt wrong.

The ride back to Markus’ neighborhood lasted far too long, and it was also over much too soon. Markus dismounted, then hesitated on the sidewalk. “Dusty?”

“Yes, muffin?” The word, so natural before, tasted wretched now.

“Why didn’t you do that to me back when we were together? Why did you have to wait until now, when it’s all so fucked up and confusing?”

Destiny closed his eyes. He wondered if maybe Markus had peeked in at his thoughts somehow, or if this was just a coincidence. “I messed it up.”

“You sure did.” Markus sounded so bitter, so perplexed. “None of this would have happened if you had just done what I wanted.”

A spear of agony jabbed him right in the chest, stealing his breath away. He choked out, “Maybe if you had stuck with me instead of changing your mind, none of this would have happened.”

“Maybe,” Markus echoed, his tone hollow. He walked away.

Destiny went home, burying himself in his investigation notes to hide from his pain.