Lunar Cycles

Chapter 2

Sweat was replaced by dew the following morning as the two men awoke. Sniffing the air by instinct as he looked up from the dirt, Varek rose to his feet and looked down at his mate. Zo lay prostrate in all his disrobed splendor, brown hair spread about and still slightly sticking to his skin. As the older werewolf opened his eyes to the wonderful view of his alpha standing over him, he smiled and stretched out his limbs before standing.
“Where to today?” he inquired as he began to dress. Varek stood back, merely content to watch his lover.
“Anywhere we want.”
“I like that answer,” Zo chuckled as he threw the alpha a pair of tattered jeans. “Where will we meet the others?”
“Three miles west of here,” Varek replied, slipping into the trousers and putting on a heavy pair of boots. “I thought we would stop a little short last night for some private time… although I doubt they missed out on any of what happened.”
They both laughed at the notion and walked to a pair of motorcycles parked several feet away. Before he could mount his own, Zo felt a hand tug on his arm, pulling him away. He was about to ask what the problem was, but was interrupted by a kiss. Varek’s musk still hung in the air around them and it filled the beta’s mind with explicit thoughts, but he resisted, knowing they had to reunite with the rest of the pack.
“Let’s go, sex machine,” he said.
*
Iola snorted when she saw her alpha approach her. He was awash in his own and Zo’s love stink, and they knew everyone else in the pack could smell it just as easily. Varek took pride in whatever sexual conquest he made, and each was exclusively a member of his pack. Said conquests included Iola herself, but she was more than happy to stand aside and allow others their turn. She was spoken for now, and preferred to be an audience to whomever her alpha would take next. It was like her own personal pornographic theatre.
“Had to take a breather last night, huh?” She asked. Varek smirked.
A large pair of dark hands framed Iola’s shoulders and she did not need to turn to know it was Grenier. The man nuzzled the nape of her neck for a moment before addressing his pack leader. When he spoke, his Cajun drawl was clear and distinct.
“Everyone’s here, Varek. Wynn’s picked up news on the radio that the police are checking the Thurston area, so if we still want to head south, we don’t have much time.”
Thurston was home to several farms. Much of the farmland was exclusively for vegetation, but one particular orchard was huge in size and thus huge in number of human livestock. Remembering the extent of the damage caused early yesterday morning, Varek briefly considered that perhaps the pack should next time practice a tidier routine.
His expression lifted when he had an idea. “Perhaps South isn’t the best for now. We should double back and head northeast instead, to Creiger. But we’ll split up. Half of us through the main route, half of us the long way.”
“I guess you’ll be taking the shorter way,” Iola remarked, casting a mischievous gaze toward Zo, who grinned at the pack leader. Varek nudged at the long haired man.
“We’ll have to think of ways to occupy ourselves while we wait for you.”
“Learn some new card games,” Zo added, feigning innocence.
Within half of an hour, the pack was split into two halves. Grenier and Sonja accompanied Varek and Zo, while Iola looked after Wynn and two other pack members, a pixie haired female and a no-necked brute of a man.
“Don’t you ever get worried when you two split up?” Zo asked Grenier as they observed the other half of the pack shrinking into the distance. “Neither of you get jealous when you’re not around to occupy each other?”
Grenier whispered something in French to the hawk perched on his arm and allowed it to take wing. Sometimes the pack joked that he loved that bird more than Iola.
“It’s all a matter of trust,” he finally said, looking at his companion. “Varek’s seen to it that all of our connections are free and floating, like reeds on a willow. But we are all still connected. Most important is that we have trust.”
The black man nodded toward Varek, who was several yards away with Sonja. They observed the way the raven haired woman absently glided a hand against her skin as she exchanged playful banter with the alpha. Varek must have noticed it, because his head tilted sideways as he spoke and he took a step closer than normal personal boundaries would permit.
“Varek has no single mate. He’s taken several of us for his own needs, Sonja and yourself included. He encourages it.”
“Indeed,” Zo replied, staring at the interaction taking place.
“And yet you’ve only had one mate here,” Grenier added, his glance calmly falling back on the other man. “Him.”
Zo looked at Grenier for a moment, his face unreadable.
“Issues with trust?”
Shaking his head, Zo watched as Varek whispered something into Sonja’s ear, receiving a caress of a stubbly cheek as a reward.
“There’s no one else I care to bother with. Can’t explain, really… I think I’ll only ever mate with him. After him, I can’t with anyone else.” After a shrug, Zo put on his leather coat and mounted his motorcycle. The two observed Varek and Sonja mount their own vehicle, starting them up with a roar.
“Human sentiment, I guess,” the brown haired man said, bringing life to his bike. “I’ve become too loyal. Maybe I’ve become his dog.”
“You’re his bitch alright,” Grenier muttered under the roar with a sly grin, thinking back on the ruckus he heard last night under the blue moon.


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To be continued...