Before Blake could prepare himself for the horrors which awaited him, the day had already arrived. He supposed that was to be expected, since the monthly gathering of Josh’s pack was only next week, but he had wanted time to imagine what it would be like, to brace himself. However, he kept putting it off, choosing to ignore the future for the issues at hand.

And what a lot of issues there were. He couldn’t stop looking over his shoulder, always expecting a cop to be right there to arrest him for what he’d done.

Now he was here, walking through an outdoor mall with the sun baking him from above and below—concrete held onto heat like nothing else—and he had no idea what to expect. People were staring at them, and Blake wasn’t sure if that was because they were two men holding hands, or if they were staring at him because he looked like the kind of guy who might have a gun on him somewhere. A gun, or at least two knives.

As a matter of fact, he did have a knife, but what sensible person didn’t, these days? Besides, if push came to shove, his opponent would have a lot more to worry about than a little metal stick.

“I don’t know how to do any of this,” he said, not for the first time, and definitely not for the last.

Josh glanced back over his shoulder at him. His tone was mildly teasing, and just a bit exasperated. “How did you buy your jacket?”

“I looked at the pictures of the men wearing them online and chose the one that seemed closest to my size.”

Josh groaned playfully. “Well, that’s not how we’re going to do things here. Come on. It’ll be fine. Or is my big, fierce alpha scared of a little shopping?”

“I’m terrified,” Blake said drily. While that might not have been the case, he damn sure didn’t like being in situations where he didn’t know anything that was about to happen.

He’d been in malls before but he was usually with his friends, with Nickie and Fox and the rest, and they were the indoor kind where all the workers were bored teenagers or soccer moms trying to get back into the swing of things after being out of work for several years. They fucked around, left a mess, stole some shit, and generally caused trouble. This was different. This time, he was with a person he liked well enough even without wreaking havoc with him. He had to behave himself. What’s more, from what he could see as they walked past store after store, the employees here were much better at faking their interest in their work. They stood outside their stores, greeting customers both definite and potential, wide smiles plastered on their lips.

It was frightening, in a way.

At least the rest of this situation was familiar. A mall was a mall whether inside or out. The sky overhead and the unbearable heat were really the only differences, and they were small differences, as that. The rows of buildings were very close together with no gaps at all but for where the streets intersected them, making it seem as if the shoppers were wandering through the halls of some very large, singular building whose roof had been lifted away by a curious giant.

The warm weather had people out and about in droves, most of them in pairs or larger groups. Teenagers were in abundance, as were other young people in their early 20s. On the exact opposite side of the spectrum, there were herds of old folks, all of whom seemed to be wondering how they had gotten here in the first place. While every age in between young and old was represented, those two opposite groups were a majority.

Blake was pondering over this when Josh started tugging at his hand for attention. “What?” he said, a little absently. The whole mall atmosphere was so confusing. He really didn’t like it. There were too many scents, too many sounds. He supposed teens might thrive on it, the mingled smells of frying onions and perfume, the heavy pumping bass of the generic music that passed for pop these days, and the elderly might have come seeking it to make themselves feel alive, but for a wolf it was strange new territory. He probably would have felt more at home on the moon.

“Let’s go in here, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied, still a little absentminded. He craned his head as they walked inside a building he didn’t know, hadn’t seen the name of. In that moment, he was putting a lot of faith in Josh by following the direction his hand was tugged in. He let himself rely on that cool grasp as he hadn’t ever relied on it before, and just that realization later on made this entire stupid trip worth it.

A blast of cool air hit him in the face. He turned to feel it more directly and was similarly hit with a wave of sweet perfume, with just a hint of cleaning product. The smell invaded his sinuses, filled his mouth, violated him, chasing away the familiar warmth of Josh’s aroma.

He opened his mouth to call for the omega, though he could still feel the pressure of that cool, smooth hand wrapped up in his, when someone else beat him to speaking. “Hi, do you all need help finding anything today?”

Blake turned his head, tracking the voice, to find a young woman standing directly in front of him and Josh. She had one hand on her hip, not in a sassy manner, but merely as if that was how she always stood. Underneath the fluorescent lights, her eyes glowed electric-blue.

“Oh...Are you okay, sir? You look a little peaked.”

She had the fading echoes of a southern accent, as if she left her home region in childhood. He blinked a lot, trying to adjust to the fierce lighting. His senses felt washed out, overwhelmed.

“He’s fine,” he heard Josh saying distantly, in an apologetic tone. “Just a little too much sun. I told him not to wear all that leather but he never listens to me. Men, right?”

The southern belle gave a polite laugh. Blake supposed she probably looked worried, but all he could see of her was her eyes. “Well, all right. In that case, I suggest getting some light summer clothes! It’s only going to keep getting warmer and you want to be prepared. Would you like me to show you to our selection?”

Josh hesitated. Blake felt his warm amber eyes on him and he attempted a smile, though it probably came out a grimace. He focused on adjusting and looking less like he was about to have a heart attack. “Maybe you could point out where it is to us on the way? What we’re really here for is some nice clothes. Not suits and not even really business dress. On the casual side of business casual, I’d say.”

“Sure,” the southern girl said agreeably. “Right over here. Going to a party soon?”

The two of them kept up a light, amiable chatter while heading off through the brightly-lit aisles. Josh’s hand on his was very tight, very worried. He stroked his thumb over one of the omega’s knuckles, taking comfort as he gave it. He could feel himself slowly returning back to normal, slowly adjusting to the chaos of sound and color around him. Signs on the walls and signs littering the clothing displays informed him he was in a store called Macy’s. Apparently, Macy’s had everything. They passed a section for children, ranging from newborns to pre-teens, a trendier section aimed towards those who were into that, a section for maternity wear, swimsuits, shoes, hats, scarves, gloves, and more; he saw a makeup counter, which was intimidating in a whole new way, and several cases of jewelry which were brightened up with special lamps to make the offerings within all the more appealing.

In the background, women and men chattered over clothing, music played, announcements were made over the intercom, and a cash register dinged as it opened for the clerk to reach in and withdraw the appropriate amount of cash.

The journey through the store took only a few seconds, perhaps a minute if he was generous in his estimation, but his wolf’s mind received and passed on information at a rate that would put some computers to shame. The human part of him accepted this information as it came and examined it. Most of this information, he tossed aside as useless to him. No threats, nothing interesting. The confusion in his mind faded, pushing much of the data aside to make way for what was more important. He was important. Josh was important.

They reached one out of many sections of the store. Here, the southern belle turned around and smiled at both of them. “Here you go! Lots to choose from, to fit all styles. I’m sure you’ll find something you like. And over there,” she pointed, “is where you’ll find some summer wear. Just between you and me, it’s all kind of cheap, but sometimes, cheap is best.”

“Thank you,” Josh said. “We’ll look for you if we need more help.”

She went away and Blake was very glad. He didn’t like her for some reason. Her cheer seemed genuine enough but the rest of her seemed plastic. He reached out for one of the nearby stacks of clothes and leaned on it. After the structure groaned perilously, he put an end to that and supported himself on his own two feet.

The cool, strong hand in his tightened, catching his attention. He looked at Josh, who stared at him with extreme concern written on his sweet face. Blake drank in the sight. He had always been captivated by Josh from the moment he saw him behind the window of that Mustang, so handsome and so terribly sad, but in the past couple weeks he felt as if he was seeing the true Josh for the first time. He had put on muscle, put on weight and definition that made him seem all the more touchable. His eyes still seemed as if they weren’t as bright and happy as they could have been, especially not now, so he forced a smile to chase away some of the darkness.

“I’m okay.”

If there was anything in the world he wanted now, it was to help Josh get over that last obstacle, to obtain true happiness. He had come so far, both of them had, but the battle wasn’t won yet.

“You looked like you were about to have a panic attack.” Josh reached out with his other hand, holding both of Blake’s now. “What happened?”

If Josh had been anyone else, he would have bluffed it away, made up an excuse. He enjoyed hanging out with his gang but they weren’t exactly the most emotional people in the world. They had no patience for weakness, which was what they would have seen this lapse as. Josh wasn’t so unkind.

“I got overwhelmed,” Blake admitted. He turned away slightly and started to browse through the nearest rack of shirts, though he couldn’t have said exactly what style they were or even their main color. He rifled through them just to have something to do with his hands as he spoke. “All of this is a little overwhelming. I feel like a lot of things are about to happen really fast.”

Josh looked around. He seemed hesitant, but not afraid. “Are you...okay with having this conversation inside a crowded store?”

“I think we’d better, don’t you?” He moved on to the next rack, feeling the slickness of slacks beneath his rough fingers. How would such clothes look on him? He couldn’t even imagine it. Surely he’d burst the seams, pop the buttons, and basically destroy such fine things if he tried to put them on. His body wasn’t made for such finery.

Most people would say I’d look best in a prison uniform. The thought made him very sad.

“I’m fine with going faster and then going back to normal, but is that something you even want to do? Is this even something you want to do in the first place? Be honest.”

Josh tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Is there even a point for me to go to this pack meeting of yours? If we don’t last?”

“What?” Josh exclaimed. He reached out and grabbed onto Blake’s hands, pulling them away from the clothes. Blake let him, relieved to have been given such a strong response. “Of course we’re going to last! We’ll last as long as you let us, okay?”

They were standing on the point of a pin, balancing precariously. Their next move, their next words, could knock them off or solidify them in their place. Blake pulled in a deep breath and said the first thing which came to mind. “I want to be with you forever.”

The smile that broke out across Josh’s face was a ray of sunlight. His eyes were the source of that light, shining brilliantly. “So, are we going to show up at the meeting as...”

Blake leaned in and pressed his lips to Josh’s, silencing him. He withdrew after a few moments and then whispered, “We can talk specifics later. Let’s just save all our energy for this task ahead of us.”

Josh laughed. Blake felt his heart tremble when he realized the brightness on the omega’s face wasn’t fading. He hoped against hope that it was there to stay. “Okay. So, we’ll get started. Why don’t you look around and see if there’s anything you like? We’ll go from there.”

Blake kissed him again, savoring his warm taste. Then he turned to look out over the section of clothes ahead of him. His trembling heart sank as he realized for the first time the sheer scope of what was on display. It was practically a mile’s worth of clothing, all of which was unfamiliar territory for him. There were no t-shirts, no jeans. There were slacks and collared shirts, sweaters and vests, and none of it was simply black. Some of it he couldn’t even pose a guess as to what it was. And now he realized it wasn’t merely a shirt and a pair of pants he would need, but shoes as well, and a belt...

“Oh, god...” he groaned.

“Lots of clothes are stupid,” Josh said. His voice had the tone of someone who was gearing up to a lecture, with a lot more to say.

Blake rolled his eyes at him. “Please don’t go all stereotypical gay man on me. Are you going to tell me I have to match my belt to the color of my shoes?”

“That doesn’t really matter if we dress you in something that comes down over your belt,” Josh said, very seriously. He scowled as Blake rolled his eyes again. “I’m not like a queen or something, but you at least learn how to dress a little when you work in a family business. You’ve never had to do that, so it’s fine.” He placed one hand on Blake’s ass.

Blake jumped away from the touch, startled.

“Go on. Look around. See if you like anything.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then find something you don’t hate!”

He took another step deeper into the forest of clothes and began the long process of looking around. He decided very quickly that he hated most of what he saw. He couldn’t envision himself wearing any of it. The clothes weren’t the right color or the right style. Sometimes he couldn’t even pinpoint what it was that he didn’t like. He just knew he didn’t like it.

Trailing along behind him, Josh pulled clothes off the racks he passed, nosing through them on his own. He picked up this or that, slinging some over his arm and putting others back. Glancing back at him, Blake couldn’t detect any pattern in what the other had chosen and what he rejected.

As he reached the back of the wall at the end of the first aisle of clothes, he noticed for the first time that the wall itself was also covered. He almost immediately rejected those options before a second glance brought him pause. Jackets covered the wall, all of them thick and with long sleeves. They weren’t leather, but neither did they seem to be too fussy in nature. He reached for one, only to have the back of his hand swatted.

“I don’t think so.”

He looked back at Josh with a wounded expression. “What? You said to pick something I liked.”

“Sorry but we can come back to these later. We need to focus on real clothes.”

“Jackets are real clothes.”

Josh planted his hands on his hips and scowled. “Okay, but our meetings are in the middle of the day and it’s getting hot outside. Are you going to stand around wearing a fancy jacket and bake your ass off? You’ll fucking die, Blake.”

Blake let out a startled laugh. “All right, all right. Fine. No jacket. Why don’t you tell me what clothes you want me to wear?”

“Whatever you want.”

Already, we’re squabbling like mates. But I guess we’ve been doing that since we first met.

And so began the next stage of walking through clothes and rejecting them. Blake moved faster now as he started recognizing patterns and colors he’d already rejected previously, and rejected them once more. When they’d covered about half of the section, Josh ground to a halt. “All right, that’s enough.”

“Now what? Do we buy them and go home?” He knew that wasn’t what was going to happen next but he had to be hopeful anyway. He widened his eyes, trying to act cute.

“I don’t think so.” The omega looked around, then nodded over to one corner of the building. “We need to go try these on.”

“Try them on? We have to do that?”

Of course he knew they had to do it. He just wished it wasn’t the case.

“Yes,” Josh said firmly. “We have to see what fits and what doesn’t. If it fits and you like it, we keep it. If it doesn’t fit and you like it, we look for the size that fits you and we keep it. Everything else goes. And I’ll come in with you because I don’t trust you on your own in there. You’ll climb out the vents and escape.”

Someone beside them let out a soft chuckle. Blake turned, bristling a little, then immediately backed off when he realized the person was a rather old man. Like most young punks, he had a surprising respect for the old folks of the world; punks spoke out against the system, rejected the restrictions placed on them by a government that would rather see them dead than free. The elderly had managed to survive the world that drove so many to suicide, which made them worthy of respect.

Perhaps that was why old folks also tended to have a surprising soft spot for troubled ruffians. They recognized the beginnings of the struggle to survive.

“You’d best not argue, young man. You’ll never win.” The elderly man chuckled softly again. “I learned that when I first got married. The wife’ll always get her way no matter what you think. And if she doesn’t, she’ll make you regret it. That boyfriend of yours will get you trained right quick. But if you obey, you might get a treat.” The old man winked.

Josh said, “See? He knows how it is.”

The old man wandered off. Blake watched him for a moment, noticing how he looked so much more confident as he looked around, picking out a shirt very similar to the one he already wore.

Your wife has you trained, is right.

“Come on, Blake. Let’s go.”

He was about to grumble when he remembered what the old man said, that obedience would earn him a treat. He held his tongue and followed along as Josh led him over to the large opening of a hallway beneath a sign that said, quite fittingly, Fitting Rooms. An old woman wearing a black vest over a purple dress smiled at them as they neared. “Oh, my,” she said. “You gentlemen look like you’ve had quite a haul.”

Josh opened his mouth, but Blake jumped in ahead of him, thinking he might as well get in some practice with socializing. “He has,” he said, jabbing his thumb towards Josh. “I’m just along for the ride to tell him he looks pretty.”

“Oh, is that right?” she replied. Her smile wobbled as she was clearly uncertain how to reply to that. “Well, you two can go on in and pick any stall with an open door. If you need anything, let me know.”

“Thanks,” Blake said. He was aware only now that he was talking a bit loudly and that the twitching on the old woman’s face wasn’t a tick but a constant flinch. He shut his mouth and headed down the hallway. Behind him, he heard Josh echo a quieter expression of thanks and then follow along behind him. The omega struggled to hold back his laughter, letting out faint little huffs of breath from between his clamped lips.

The hallway was short and dim, and then it suddenly opened up wider into a brightly-lit room that was almost stiflingly warm. There were stalls on either side of the room, most of which were open wide. Two were shut. Faint rustling sound came from behind those shut doors as the men within tried out their clothes.

Blake walked all the way down to the last stall to put as much room between him and the other men as possible. He stepped inside and waited for Josh to follow him, then shut and locked the door.

“Strip,” Josh instructed.

“So clinical,” Blake muttered. For a moment he felt as if he was arrested, about to be strip-searched, but the illusion passed quickly enough. He lifted his hands in a huge stretch, letting his shirt ride up to flash a bit of his stomach. Josh let out an appreciative little murmur, dropping the clothes unceremoniously on the bench at the back of their little stall. Blake ignored him and reached down to his fly, pulling his pants down and letting them puddle on the floor. “Panties, too?” he asked sarcastically.

“No, you can keep those on. No one wants to see that.”

“I think you do,” Blake murmured. He slid his fingers teasingly down beneath the waistband of his underwear, pulling it slightly away from his skin.

From one of the other stalls came an irritated shout. “Can you homos keep it down? Some of us are uncomfortable!”

But I’m not.

He let his waistband slap back into place, then stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside. Josh gave his abs a loving pat, then turned to rummage around in the pile of clothes. “Let’s get the ones you’ll really hate out of the way.”

“Sure.” He wasn’t done teasing the omega, but he was also busy musing on other things as well. Josh held up a hideous shirt in a dried-blood color and pressed it against his chest as if comparing the size. Even with his limited experience, he could tell it wasn’t going to fit because his shoulders were just too broad. “Why did that old lady look like I was yelling at her?”

“Probably because you were,” Josh suggested, removing the hanger from the shirt and then offering the garment to Blake. “Put that on. It’s really nice. The color will really bring out the brown in your eyes.”

That sounded like some dumb poetry shit and he didn’t go for that, but he went to obediently slip it down over his head. “I wasn’t yelling, was I?” He thought he’d simply been giving a nice greeting.

“Not like that,” Josh sighed. “It’s got buttons. And yes, you were. Shouting right in her face. It was actually incredibly funny, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Or yours. It was so cute. You were trying so hard.” As they both recalled the disaster of a greeting, Josh started making those little huffing sounds again. He tried to hold back his laughter with the help of both hands now but it still escaped him.

Blake glared at him but he couldn’t keep it up for very long because the buttons were taking him forever. They were very small and kept sliding right through his fingers, and some of them refused to go through their holes without a struggle. “So, what should I have done? Just stood quietly behind you and looked menacing? I don’t mind but I don’t think your pack would like that.”

Finally he managed to get the last button undone and pulled the shirt on to start the long, laborious process of doing them all up again. His chest hair greatly interfered but there was another, much greater problem and that was the fact that before he even reached his chest, the buttons wouldn’t close. In fact, he couldn’t even get the buttons within an inch of their holes no matter how fiercely he tugged at them.

“Stop, stop,” Josh said, laughing breathlessly. “You’re going to rip it! Here, just take it off. You’re clearly too broad. And what you said was fine! It was how you said it. Maybe consider lowering your volume next time. Actually, all you alphas should just do that automatically all the time.”

“Talk quieter?”

“It’s like you think loudness makes everything better.” Josh laughed. “But I think it’s a different reason for you. You’re used to having to communicate out on the street over very loud traffic. Here, try this on.”

The conversation died away as they focused more on the clothes. They went through shirts first. None of them fit over Blake’s wide shoulders, and if they did they just hung down limply around the rest of his body like a dress. The fashion industry seemed to assume that width in one place could only equate to width in every other place, too. And the taller the man, the wider he was.

At some points, Blake noticed he liked some colors better than others. He tended towards darker shades which complemented his pale skin, especially black and red, and he absolutely abhorred green and yellow. None of these comments were made out loud, but he knew Josh would pick up on them anyway. Their minds were connected in that special way wolves had, allowing thoughts to be sent and received as the barest hints of imagery and emotion.

One shirt which surprised both of them was a ¾-sleeved dress shirt, in a pinstriped peach-pink shade. The stripes were subtle orange, hardly visible. As with all the others it didn’t fit, but Josh did set it aside in its own special pile.

They had better success with the pants. As broad as he was all around, his legs weren’t unreasonably girthy. Most of the pants were made of that odd smooth-but-scratchy material, but they managed to find a few that Blake didn’t hate. They narrowed it down to one pair out of those few, since he would need the outfit only once.

“Stay here,” Josh instructed. He gathered up almost all of the clothes and reached out with fumbling, blind fingertips to unlock the door. “I’m going to find a larger size of that pink one. I’ll be right back.”

All that getting in and out of outfits made the heat feel even more oppressive than it had originally. Blake was on the verge of sweating, wanting nothing more than to get out of here and go stand by the front entrance where all that cold air had been. In the end, all he said was, “Hurry back.”

Josh did hurry back, perhaps worrying Blake would escape in his absence. He held two of the same shirt in his hand. “These are the larger sizes. I got one of each. If none of these fit, we’ll go to a different store because I’m tired of being in here.”

Blake stood up from where he’d crouched down on the floor. He had tried to sit on the bench but the strain he felt beneath his ass when he tried to do that made it quite clear that he shouldn’t. “What are those?” he asked, pointing to some of the garments Josh had left behind. The clothes were much too small for him, which meant they were for Josh, but he wanted to keep the omega talking. Josh clearly liked clothes and he wanted Josh to have fun with the things he liked, even if it was at his own expense.

“I told you I got some things to try on. I don’t really need them, but it’s nice to get something new every once in awhile.”

A surprising sentiment, coming from you. I’m glad.

Josh talking about new things made him hopeful that someday soon, he might add more of his personality to his parents’ home, filling it with things he wanted rather than things he felt he was expected to keep. All that old furniture was nice but it felt a little sad to have it around and not use it.

The largest of the two shirts fit, though just barely. He could feel fabric straining and knew if he flexed or moved too fast, seams would rip and he’d be left standing naked from the waist up.

Eyeing him, Josh gave an appreciative nod. “You still look manly but less like someone I wouldn’t want to see coming out of a dark alley. You know?”

Blake looked at himself in the mirror. Though his leather jacket was bulky, it sharpened his appearance, giving him a razor edge of danger. He was large and muscular enough to be dangerous-looking on his own but the jacket accentuated it, made it purposeful rather than a simple general feeling. People didn’t look at him and think, wow, I bet he works out a lot.

They thought, I hope that beefy guy doesn’t look my way.

The pink shirt softened him despite the fact that his forearms were showing. Hairy and sculpted with Greek-god-level muscle, they were dangerous forearms and led to powerful hands that seemed as if they could rip a man in half in an instant. The width of his shoulders was accented by the tightness, and the lines of his abs pressed against the body of the shirt, visible if a person looked hard enough. He left a few of the buttons undone at the top beneath the collar, exposing a flash of wild chest hair and handsome pecs, taking him firmly into the realm of sexiness.

But the color. It just didn’t scream danger. And the collar itself perhaps did more to change his image than anything else. Leather jackets had collars, but punks wore them up to hide their faces behind, obscuring their identity, protecting their throats in a fight. This shirt had a pressed collar, fussy in its exactness.

As he looked at himself, thinking over the differences, trying to understand the person he saw was indeed himself, Josh wrapped his arms around him and cuddled in close. “I think this is the one. You look like a real catch right now.”

“So that’s it, then. Now, your turn.”

“You just want me to show some skin.”

Blake reached around behind and fondled Josh’s ass, really pressing in with his fingers. “Damn right I do. Strip.”

“Okay, okay! Geez!” Josh jumped away from his grasping hand, eyes sparkling. “Get out of those and get dressed again, then. We’re done with you.”

He was only too happy to agree and started wriggling out of them while watching Josh undress. His new most favorite part of the omega was the bit of a tummy he was getting, growing soft and round there, looking well-fed and well-cared-for.

He couldn’t resist stroking his fingers along that soft expanse of flesh, loving the way it depressed slightly. His touch wandered down the little trail of bristles leading from Josh’s navel to his groin. “You need to shave again.”

“Shave me yourself,” Josh breathed. He pushed Blake away and started pulling on a shirt. “Behave yourself! We’re in public!”

Someone else from the other stall spoke again. “Yes, please!”

Blake ignored the voice and got his hands around the other wolf again, pushing him back against one wall of their dressing room stall. Josh seemed to become putty in his grasp, their bodies melting and melding together. “Mmm,” Josh moaned, his lips parting to allow Blake’s searching tongue to enter him.

Blake sank against his omega’s body, tasting his heat, his sweetness. Their hips pressed together, grinding, cocks becoming erect and brushing hard against the other’s. “I want you,” Blake whispered.

“Take me,” Josh said. His eyes sparkled almost pure yellow. He seemed to be glowing, so full of life and joy.

Blake pushed open the shirt Josh had been putting on and lowered his mouth to one pointed nipple, drawing his tongue across the bumpy-smooth surface. A loud gasp escaped Josh and he tossed his head back, curls of hair brushing roughly against the wall.

Blake started to slide down lower, feeling a desire he’d never known before. He could see Josh’s swollen organ, begging to be loved on, to be devoured; his throat constricted and his tongue danced in his mouth, lips peeling apart. One hand curled around the base of Josh’s shaft and he started to bring it to him...

Suddenly, someone banged on their stall door, making them jump apart with guilty, self-conscious looks. Recovering faster, Blake pounded on the door from inside. “Occupied,” he snarled.

The person who spoke was the same man who’d spoken both other times, his voice full of disgust. “I can see that! You two need to get a room! That’s public indecency! And frankly disgusting! You fa...”

Josh winced as the word started to come out.

Blake couldn’t tolerate anyone or anything making his omega wince. He could see a flash of the other person out the door through the gap between the wall and the door. The person wasn’t very tall and his clothes were very gray. One angry eye peered back at him.

Grabbing the door, Blake tossed it open and let his presence fill the doorway. He was almost naked and immense compared to the scrawny little businessman staring back at him, who took a step away as if regretting this decision. “Um...”

“Problem?”

“Um...”

“If you’ll leave us alone now...” He shut the door again. After a moment, there were a short series of shuffling footsteps as the businessman went back to his own little corner of the dressing room. A few seconds later, the lock on his stall clicked again and there were no more sounds from him. The businessman with the foul mouth didn’t even seem to be moving and probably wasn’t, for fear the brute of a man he’d insulted would come after him.

Blake squared his shoulders, fuming a little. Some people had such nerve, daring to judge others on the basis of some imagined sin when they weren’t any holier than anyone else.

A touch on his hand brought him back from the brink of aggressiveness. “Forget it,” Josh whispered. He was fully-dressed now and seemed a little bit sad. Blake would have been sad too if he really cared what other people thought of him. “Let’s just get out of here.”

They held hands while walking to the front of the store to pay for their items. Blake carried the bags as they walked back outside, and he welcomed the final blast of air conditioning to dry some of the sweat forming on his face. “Now where?”

“You need shoes.”

Blake looked down at his scuffed boots, which he’d bought the same day as his jacket. Those two parts of his outfit had been with him through thick and thin and admittedly, the boots were wearing a bit on the thin side. They were long past that broken-in sweet spot all shoes get when they’ve been lived in for awhile, and were in the territory of just being broken. “I guess I do.”

“We’ll go to Payless. I think it’s down this way.” Josh pointed.

A teenage girl wandering by with a gaggle of her friends stopped beside them. “Actually, it’s the other way and to the left.” She pointed, correcting him. She looked a little flushed for whatever reason, probably because she thought she was brazen to have the audacity to talk to such an attractive man. Behind her, her friends were giggling to each other, whispering in their neighbors’ ears. “We came from there like, not all that long ago.”

Josh smiled, dazzling her. She almost reeled backwards, as if the sheer force of his smile was too much for her youthful mind to tolerate. “Thanks. You saved us some time. Let’s go, Blake.”

They walked off holding hands, and the disappointment on the girls’ faces was almost a thing of art, a subject painted without any embellishments, stripped right down to the very core of its meaning. Josh started making those breathless little huffs again. When they were far enough away from the girls that they wouldn’t be overheard, they both started laughing and clutched at each other.

“What do you think they were thinking?” Blake chuckled.

Josh giggled behind his hand again. “Probably, ‘Why are all the hot ones gay?’”

They laughed and continued on.

Buying shoes was much more painless than buying a shirt. Neither of them were really an expert in this area, so they browsed together and picked what looked like it wouldn’t fall apart after being worn the first time. They emerged from Payless only 20 minutes later. Blake was now the proud owner of a pair of brown dress shoes, and a pair of white sneakers which were apparently designed to take a lot of abuse. Given their walks, that was a necessity. They stopped at the food court before heading home.

The fact that Blake considered Josh’s house to be “home” didn’t escape either one of them but they didn’t address it. Their day passed as normal until later that night after they had both gotten ready for bed.

He emerged from the bathroom and entered the bedroom to find Josh lying on his back in bed, completely naked, legs spread to offer himself up. Blake accepted the offering without a second thought, bringing the lube up onto the mattress with him. They made love sweetly, simply enjoying being with the other until they both collapsed, panting and shuddering.

When it was done, Blake knew what he had to do. It was the only thing he wanted, and they had both been waiting a very long time for this moment.

Josh rolled over onto his stomach now, pressing his face into the mattress to offer himself up in a new way.

This is it.

Of all the things in the world he’d imagined happening only a few months ago, this wasn’t one of them. He ran with a gang, but he considered himself a loner, never to settle down, never to tie himself up in emotions to the point where he had to be loyal to only one person. Thing was, it was no longer a case of having to.

He wanted to.

He straddled Josh from behind and leaned over the smooth plane of the omega’s back, then pressed his teeth to the back of Josh’s neck. The taste of him was sweet, so utterly divine. Josh trembled with anticipation beneath him, then made a small, high whimpering sound as Blake bit him.

Skin split beneath his fangs, filling his mouth with a copper flood. He bit long and hard, feeling Josh breathing beneath him, feeling their bodies become as one. The wolves inside them howled for joy and Blake would have done the same, if it wouldn’t wake up the entire neighborhood.

At last, sated, joined forever now as mates and unafraid of the future, they curled up together and fell fast asleep.