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essene_backupback to Part 2
On Tuesday, Danneel comes and knocks on the door when Jensen isn't out by 7:45. He is standing cradling a cup of coffee, lost in thought about what had happened yesterday at school, what had happened last night in his backyard, and his continued unsettling dreams.
“Let’s go, Ackles.” She takes the cup out of his hands and sets it on the counter next to him, then grabs his hand and pulls him after her.
Jensen digs his heels in and forces her to stop. “I don’t…I can’t Danni.”
Danni looks at him and then sighs in resignation, “Jesus man, put the eyes away, will you? Fuck, you don’t just unleash those on unsuspecting people!”
A small smile slips out in spite of himself. Then he tries to explain, “I just, I don’t understand what’s going on.”
She cradles his face in her palm, “I don’t either honey, but staying here isn’t going to help a damn thing.” She shrugs, “Not like going to school helps much of anything either, but you can’t hide from whatever it is.”
“Damn. I can’t possibly combat all that rationality.”
“Nope. So you might as well get a move on! We’re gonna be late for first period as it is.” She grabs his hand again and they head for the door.
"Wait, one last thing." He waits for her to look at him before continuing, "The 'Jay' that Chad mentioned the other night. That's Jared, isn't it?"
Danni's eyes scan his, and she takes a breath, "Yeah, that's him."
"So..." he's not really sure where he's going with this, what he wants from her.
"So...he's our friend. And you should get to know him. I know that yesterday was," she pauses as if searching for the right words, "...unnerving, but he's really a great guy."
He nods. He still isn't entirely sure where this faith in Danneel came from, but he trusts her. And if she says Jared is okay, then he is willing to give the guy another chance.
"All right, let's do this."
Danneel squeezes his hand and they're out the door.
Walking into school isn't as bad as Jensen had feared. He's used to people staring at him, looking at him strangely, whispering about him. But it was usually because of things that he did on purpose, the way he acted, the things he said, all so that if people were going to talk, he at least knew what they were going to say. But yesterday, he hadn’t had any control over what had transpired in the hallway, and he had absolutely no understanding of it either. So there is no way to know what people are saying about him. No way to combat the whispers and the judgements.
And then Danni bumps his shoulder and grins and Misha is suddenly on his other side handing him something that looks vaguely like a remote control helicopter and saying that it’s going to “revolutionize” the weather forecasting industry and Mike joins up with them half-way down the hall and he realizes...he isn’t alone anymore. He doesn’t have to do it--face the day, the people, the world--by himself.
The day is different from that point on, he shrugs off the stares and whispers and after awhile he doesn’t even notice them, or suspect that they’re about him if he does. He sails through English class and Trig and is on his way to gym--he didn’t make it yesterday because of the “incident”--when Chad barrels into him.
“Where’d you go yesterday, man? Where were you last night? I swear, if Danni can’t keep better track of you, I’m going to have to put a low-jack on you.”
Jensen is a bit flabbergasted. “I just...I wasn’t feeling real great and left before lunch. Stayed in last night just in case.”
Chad flings an arm around his shoulders. “Bummer dude. I wanted to introduce you to Jay, he’s been gone all summer.”
Jensen tenses slightly. Danni had confirmed that Jay and Jared were the same person and based on yesterday, he really doesn't want to get to know him better. At least that’s what his brain says. His body seems to have other ideas and he has a faint sense memory of being pressed up against a warm, sturdy, decidedly manly body.
“Yeah, well, I met him briefly yesterday.”
Chad perks up, “Yeah? That’s awesome! Hey, this is me,” he nods towards an classroom, “We’ll see you tonight?”
Jensen gives a nod in affirmation and continues down the hall. It's weird, Chad hadn’t struck Jensen as more than a horny mayfly and yet he seemed to express actual...affection for Jensen.
Shaking his head, he walks into the locker room. He scans the room and heads for the bank of lockers on the farthest wall hoping that the crush of guys up towards the front meant that it would be less occupied there. When he turns the corner he is assailed by the same strange tingling sensation as yesterday, the same faint buzzing in his nerves, and his heart speeds up. Jared is just turning around from putting things in an upper locker and their eyes lock.
Cold metal is pressing into Jensen’s back, but he doesn't care--all that matters is Jared’s long arms wrapping around him, pulling him tight, nose buried in the crook of his neck.
Yesterday’s panic doesn't descend even though his heart is racing again. This time, all Jensen feels is a sense of “right” and “finally” and “home.” He closes his eyes and revels in the sensation. Then he feels Jared’s mouth on his neck, moving hot and slow over the tendons and down his shoulder, causing shivers of arousal to course through him.
Jensen pulls back enough to look at Jared and sees hazel eyes hazy with lust above a perfect nose and a soft pink mouth. He tilts up in offering and Jared’s mouth descends on his own, firm and warm, pressing them together until their lips are crushed between teeth, painful and sensual at once. He opens just enough to trace the seam of Jared’s lips and Jared opens for him, moist and hot, letting him explore the slickness inside. Jared’s tongue tangles with his own and he feels hot all over, his heart beating in his ears, the intense need to feel more, feel everything.
He slides his hands underneath the hem of Jared’s shirt, wondering at the silken heat of his skin covering firm muscle and basks in the soft sigh that Jared lets go at his touch. He moves down, fingers digging under the elastic waist of Jared’s shorts, cupping the firm flesh of Jared’s ass and pulling him close, pressing their cocks together in a mirror of their mouths. So hard...Jared is so hard and long against him, lining up so perfectly with his own blood-filled length. He rocks and presses, dragging them against each other, wishing there was nothing between them so he could feel Jared’s prick slide against his own. Feel all of Jared’s heat and perfect skin and muscle against his own. They buck and grind against together, mouths sliding slick against each other, humid breath inhaled and exhaled between them until Jensen feels Jared tense and give a sharp cry. Jensen moves faster, rotates his hips more urgently until he too feels the sharp build of climax overtake him and spurts hot and wet in his boxers.
Jared’s mouth covers his own, tongue sweeping in to caress and taste every bit of him. Jensen feels languorous, sated, and loved. Loved? He pushes away from Jared, and takes in the gratified glint in his hazel eyes, the dimpled smile and is a bit unnerved to feel a rumbling coming from Jared’s chest. It isn't until he hears a low whistle behind them that he fully comes out of his trance.
Jensen looks, and to his horror there is Mr. Morgan--Danneel’s father--standing watching them. He pries himself away from Jared, terrified at what would come next and horrified by his own behavior. But Mr. Morgan doesn't seem surprised or angered by what had just passed between Jared and Jensen, just...impressed? What in the hell…
Jensen’s train of confused thought is jarred from the tracks by Mr. Morgan’s next words, “I’m gonna have to let your father know Jared.”
Not: “I’m taking you both to the principal.”
Not: “I’m calling both of your parents. Now.”
Not: “What the hell are you doing?”
Just a simple declaration of fact, that doesn't even seem judgemental. What in the holy fuck is going on here?
“Yes, Coach.” Jensen looks at Jared in complete bewilderment. Jared had just answered the man as if there really was no recrimination coming, no retribution, no retaliation. Had he just dropped into the Twilight Zone?
Mr. Morgan’s voice comes from behind, “He’s panicking hard, Jared. You’re going to need to see to that.”
“Yes, sir.” Jared reaches out as if to enfold Jensen in his arms again. Fight or flight reaction is beginning to take hold, but another quieter sense tells him that it really is okay, that everything is fine. That voice is crazy he decides and heeds his initial need to flee instead. He swiftly turns and darts past Mr. Morgan and runs at top speed out of the school building. Again.
He hears Jared curse behind him as he flees, “Fuck.”
Jared’s nervous as he walks into the bowling alley. Over the course of the day he’s pieced together a picture of Jensen from various friends—none of whom are Danneel or Misha as they’d disappeared completely when Jensen had. Jensen is the middle kid, his dad died not that long ago which prompted the move here. They moved in next to Danneel about a week before Jared first saw him at the pool. And he’s gay.
That last fact is often delivered in hushed tones, like the person isn't sure how Jared is going to react, or they are waiting to see how Jared is going to take the news before they deliver their own verdict. Jared hates that deference sometimes. But he appreciates it now if it keeps people from saying what they really think about the guy who...
Jared sees him as he turns the corner and heads toward the pool tables. He is wedged in between Chad and Mike and is intently focused on ripping a napkin into shreds as everyone around him talks and laughs. Then his head pops up and he focuses on Jared.
Jared keeps walking, but now his intent is only Jensen. He can see the panic begin to build in the wide, green, kohl-smudged eyes. He wants to quell that panic, let him know that everything is going to be alright. But he has absolutely no idea how he is going to do that.
Danneel slides out of the booth and intercepts him just before he makes it to the table.
“I don’t think now is a good time, Jared.”
He walks around her and growls a bit when she grabs his arm. She lets go immediately and rushes around in front of him just as he makes it to the table where Jensen has stopped looking at him and has become agitated as if looking for the nearest escape route.
Misha’s voice cuts through his building frustration. “I think we should tell him.”
No one says anything; they just look from Jared to Jensen and then back to Jared again.
Jensen breaks the silence with a terse, “Tell who what?”
Jared thinks for a moment. “Tell you. About us.”
Jensen’s green eyes turn hard and he searches the faces of those around him, finding all of them filled with apprehension and fixed on Jared.
He turns back to Jared, “Tell me what?”
“Let him out, Mike.”
Rosey slides out of the booth making way for Jensen to be able to slide out as well. But Jensen doesn't move. Implacable, he grits out, “Tell me what?”
“Come with me and I’ll tell you.” Jared nods towards the entry and waits for Jensen to acquiesce.
“No. There’s something supremely fucked-up going on, and all I know is that it’s got everything to do with you and I’m not going anywhere alone with you.”
Jared has to give it to him. A spine of steel this one. It is more than unusual for anyone to disagree with him, let alone stand up to him and yet, here is this boy, this man, this redolent wanna-be punk kid telling him no.
A smile slides across his face and he says, “Fine, Danni can join us if that will make you feel better. But I am not going to talk to you here. Not about this.” He glances at Misha before he speaks again, “Misha is crazy, but he’s also right. You need to be told a few things.”
Danneel sucks in a big breath of air and on her exhale he hears her mutter, “Shit.” She holds out a hand to Jensen, “Come on, Jensen. Let’s go.”
Jared watches as Jensen’s handsome face furrows with confusion and then resignation. He slides out of the booth and takes Danneel’s hand.
Jared is reluctant to let Jensen out of his sight after the way he had bolted at school, but he turns and heads for the door, trusting that Danneel will bring him along.
He exits the bowling alley and heads for one of the picnic tables that are scattered on the patio area at the side of the building. He sits on one of the benches and waits for Danneel and Jensen to settle in across from him.
What Jared is about to do is not the way things are usually done. The conversation is not necessary until...later in most cases. But this is something completely new for Jared. As far as he—and his parents and grandparents—knew this particular form of imprinting hadn’t happened for generations. Weres and humans didn’t mate. Not usually. But every once in a great while the instinct to bond crossed species lines. It might be why weres still existed rather than reverting back to their wolf lineage completely. No one was really entirely sure--it’s not as if scientific studies had been done.
Whatever the reason, Jared and Jensen had imprinted. They were intended to bond, and to mate. Now Jared just had to explain it to Jensen.
Epilogue
Two years later…
Jared watched the narrow-hipped, bowlegged figure stride across the quad towards him. He looked a bit different from the blue-haired pierced rebel that Jared met Junior year. Sandy hair tipped with gold had replaced the black, almost blue shock of hair Jared had first seen him with. But it still framed a face that Micheangelo would have killed to immortalize in marble. And that arresting scent of cinnamon and fresh rain still sent a bolt of lust straight to his groin. He growled with satisfaction as Jensen sat next to him on the bench and tipped his head up for a kiss. Jared ravaged those lush lips and caressed the cavern of his mouth with his tounge. It was long minutes before they parted, both slightly out of breath.
It hadn’t been an easy road from their first meeting. Jensen hadn’t believed Jared--or Danneel, or Misha, or any of them for a long while. In fact, he completely stopped speaking to any of them for almost a month, trying desperately to separate himself from the alternate universe he seemed to have stepped in.
It wasn’t until Chad showed up on Jensen’s doorstep with Mike and Tom in tow that Jensen had agreed to finally listen to any of them talk for longer than a minute. And it wasn’t until Jared actually shifted in front of Jensen that he even believed that the wolf he’d met in his backyard could be the same boy that he’d developed inexplicable feelings for.
Truth be told, it was probably hardest on Danneel. Even though she lived right next door, Jensen managed to avoid her and ignore her at every turn. He had felt betrayed by her, the one person he had managed to develop a close and deep relationship with in years. And she’d been culpable in the secret that shattered Jensen’s life.
Jared suffered too. His mate was nothing if not stubborn. Jensen felt the pull of their attraction and was unable to resist, but he refused to stay with Jared for any length of time and as a result their bond had taken almost a year to finally seal. There were still times when Jensen resented Jared’s innate ability to sense his mood and predict what he needed. Not that Jensen didn’t like being cared for and loved, he just occasionally felt like Jared had cheated, and didn’t have to work for his affection in the same way a human mate might have had to.
Jared was patient through all of it. At least with Jensen. To Mike and Tom and Chad and anyone else within earshot he would rant and rail about his “pain-in-the-ass” mate. It’s actually amazing any of them are still friends. Sometimes it’s a blessing to be a part of a pack.
To compound the difficulties, Jared’s brother Jeff had beaten the shit out of Jensen not long after Jared confessed to his family that he had imprinted. Jeff had been sure that Jensen was the worst thing that could have happened--not only to Jared, but to the pack as a whole. They were just barely tolerated in the town, as long as they didn’t interfere, and didn’t try to buck the system. Being openly gay in small-town Virginia? Not exactly what you call blending-in.
Jared didn’t want Jensen to have to face the ignorance and bigotry alone; but Jensen agreed with Jared’s father, the pack alpha, that it would be best if they kept their relationship out of the public eye. Jared hated it, sure that it would only place one more wedge between him and his mate in what was an already precarious position. But Jared realized that Jensen saw it as something he could do--for them. A brick for them to build on, a way for Jared to learn to trust that Jensen did care even when he was outwardly still unsure of their relationship. It didn’t make any sense to Jared, but it was important to Jensen that Jared trust that he could carry the burden of being “that” kid, so that Jared didn’t have to.
Two months ago all that had finally changed. Together, they had moved to Williamsburg to attend William & Mary, Jared in the engineering program and Jensen pre-law. They didn’t have to hide from anyone or anything anymore. It was just the two of them, as mates, ready to face the world.
Jensen looked at Jared with those glittering green eyes and said, “What do you want to do tonight, Brain?”
Jared smiled broadly and answered back, “The same thing we do every night Pinky: fuck ourselves stupid.”
Jensen threw his head back and laughed and it was the best thing Jared had ever heard.
fin.
On Tuesday, Danneel comes and knocks on the door when Jensen isn't out by 7:45. He is standing cradling a cup of coffee, lost in thought about what had happened yesterday at school, what had happened last night in his backyard, and his continued unsettling dreams.
“Let’s go, Ackles.” She takes the cup out of his hands and sets it on the counter next to him, then grabs his hand and pulls him after her.
Jensen digs his heels in and forces her to stop. “I don’t…I can’t Danni.”
Danni looks at him and then sighs in resignation, “Jesus man, put the eyes away, will you? Fuck, you don’t just unleash those on unsuspecting people!”
A small smile slips out in spite of himself. Then he tries to explain, “I just, I don’t understand what’s going on.”
She cradles his face in her palm, “I don’t either honey, but staying here isn’t going to help a damn thing.” She shrugs, “Not like going to school helps much of anything either, but you can’t hide from whatever it is.”
“Damn. I can’t possibly combat all that rationality.”
“Nope. So you might as well get a move on! We’re gonna be late for first period as it is.” She grabs his hand again and they head for the door.
"Wait, one last thing." He waits for her to look at him before continuing, "The 'Jay' that Chad mentioned the other night. That's Jared, isn't it?"
Danni's eyes scan his, and she takes a breath, "Yeah, that's him."
"So..." he's not really sure where he's going with this, what he wants from her.
"So...he's our friend. And you should get to know him. I know that yesterday was," she pauses as if searching for the right words, "...unnerving, but he's really a great guy."
He nods. He still isn't entirely sure where this faith in Danneel came from, but he trusts her. And if she says Jared is okay, then he is willing to give the guy another chance.
"All right, let's do this."
Danneel squeezes his hand and they're out the door.
Walking into school isn't as bad as Jensen had feared. He's used to people staring at him, looking at him strangely, whispering about him. But it was usually because of things that he did on purpose, the way he acted, the things he said, all so that if people were going to talk, he at least knew what they were going to say. But yesterday, he hadn’t had any control over what had transpired in the hallway, and he had absolutely no understanding of it either. So there is no way to know what people are saying about him. No way to combat the whispers and the judgements.
And then Danni bumps his shoulder and grins and Misha is suddenly on his other side handing him something that looks vaguely like a remote control helicopter and saying that it’s going to “revolutionize” the weather forecasting industry and Mike joins up with them half-way down the hall and he realizes...he isn’t alone anymore. He doesn’t have to do it--face the day, the people, the world--by himself.
The day is different from that point on, he shrugs off the stares and whispers and after awhile he doesn’t even notice them, or suspect that they’re about him if he does. He sails through English class and Trig and is on his way to gym--he didn’t make it yesterday because of the “incident”--when Chad barrels into him.
“Where’d you go yesterday, man? Where were you last night? I swear, if Danni can’t keep better track of you, I’m going to have to put a low-jack on you.”
Jensen is a bit flabbergasted. “I just...I wasn’t feeling real great and left before lunch. Stayed in last night just in case.”
Chad flings an arm around his shoulders. “Bummer dude. I wanted to introduce you to Jay, he’s been gone all summer.”
Jensen tenses slightly. Danni had confirmed that Jay and Jared were the same person and based on yesterday, he really doesn't want to get to know him better. At least that’s what his brain says. His body seems to have other ideas and he has a faint sense memory of being pressed up against a warm, sturdy, decidedly manly body.
“Yeah, well, I met him briefly yesterday.”
Chad perks up, “Yeah? That’s awesome! Hey, this is me,” he nods towards an classroom, “We’ll see you tonight?”
Jensen gives a nod in affirmation and continues down the hall. It's weird, Chad hadn’t struck Jensen as more than a horny mayfly and yet he seemed to express actual...affection for Jensen.
Shaking his head, he walks into the locker room. He scans the room and heads for the bank of lockers on the farthest wall hoping that the crush of guys up towards the front meant that it would be less occupied there. When he turns the corner he is assailed by the same strange tingling sensation as yesterday, the same faint buzzing in his nerves, and his heart speeds up. Jared is just turning around from putting things in an upper locker and their eyes lock.
Cold metal is pressing into Jensen’s back, but he doesn't care--all that matters is Jared’s long arms wrapping around him, pulling him tight, nose buried in the crook of his neck.
Yesterday’s panic doesn't descend even though his heart is racing again. This time, all Jensen feels is a sense of “right” and “finally” and “home.” He closes his eyes and revels in the sensation. Then he feels Jared’s mouth on his neck, moving hot and slow over the tendons and down his shoulder, causing shivers of arousal to course through him.
Jensen pulls back enough to look at Jared and sees hazel eyes hazy with lust above a perfect nose and a soft pink mouth. He tilts up in offering and Jared’s mouth descends on his own, firm and warm, pressing them together until their lips are crushed between teeth, painful and sensual at once. He opens just enough to trace the seam of Jared’s lips and Jared opens for him, moist and hot, letting him explore the slickness inside. Jared’s tongue tangles with his own and he feels hot all over, his heart beating in his ears, the intense need to feel more, feel everything.
He slides his hands underneath the hem of Jared’s shirt, wondering at the silken heat of his skin covering firm muscle and basks in the soft sigh that Jared lets go at his touch. He moves down, fingers digging under the elastic waist of Jared’s shorts, cupping the firm flesh of Jared’s ass and pulling him close, pressing their cocks together in a mirror of their mouths. So hard...Jared is so hard and long against him, lining up so perfectly with his own blood-filled length. He rocks and presses, dragging them against each other, wishing there was nothing between them so he could feel Jared’s prick slide against his own. Feel all of Jared’s heat and perfect skin and muscle against his own. They buck and grind against together, mouths sliding slick against each other, humid breath inhaled and exhaled between them until Jensen feels Jared tense and give a sharp cry. Jensen moves faster, rotates his hips more urgently until he too feels the sharp build of climax overtake him and spurts hot and wet in his boxers.
Jared’s mouth covers his own, tongue sweeping in to caress and taste every bit of him. Jensen feels languorous, sated, and loved. Loved? He pushes away from Jared, and takes in the gratified glint in his hazel eyes, the dimpled smile and is a bit unnerved to feel a rumbling coming from Jared’s chest. It isn't until he hears a low whistle behind them that he fully comes out of his trance.
Jensen looks, and to his horror there is Mr. Morgan--Danneel’s father--standing watching them. He pries himself away from Jared, terrified at what would come next and horrified by his own behavior. But Mr. Morgan doesn't seem surprised or angered by what had just passed between Jared and Jensen, just...impressed? What in the hell…
Jensen’s train of confused thought is jarred from the tracks by Mr. Morgan’s next words, “I’m gonna have to let your father know Jared.”
Not: “I’m taking you both to the principal.”
Not: “I’m calling both of your parents. Now.”
Not: “What the hell are you doing?”
Just a simple declaration of fact, that doesn't even seem judgemental. What in the holy fuck is going on here?
“Yes, Coach.” Jensen looks at Jared in complete bewilderment. Jared had just answered the man as if there really was no recrimination coming, no retribution, no retaliation. Had he just dropped into the Twilight Zone?
Mr. Morgan’s voice comes from behind, “He’s panicking hard, Jared. You’re going to need to see to that.”
“Yes, sir.” Jared reaches out as if to enfold Jensen in his arms again. Fight or flight reaction is beginning to take hold, but another quieter sense tells him that it really is okay, that everything is fine. That voice is crazy he decides and heeds his initial need to flee instead. He swiftly turns and darts past Mr. Morgan and runs at top speed out of the school building. Again.
He hears Jared curse behind him as he flees, “Fuck.”
*******************
Jared’s nervous as he walks into the bowling alley. Over the course of the day he’s pieced together a picture of Jensen from various friends—none of whom are Danneel or Misha as they’d disappeared completely when Jensen had. Jensen is the middle kid, his dad died not that long ago which prompted the move here. They moved in next to Danneel about a week before Jared first saw him at the pool. And he’s gay.
That last fact is often delivered in hushed tones, like the person isn't sure how Jared is going to react, or they are waiting to see how Jared is going to take the news before they deliver their own verdict. Jared hates that deference sometimes. But he appreciates it now if it keeps people from saying what they really think about the guy who...
Jared sees him as he turns the corner and heads toward the pool tables. He is wedged in between Chad and Mike and is intently focused on ripping a napkin into shreds as everyone around him talks and laughs. Then his head pops up and he focuses on Jared.
Jared keeps walking, but now his intent is only Jensen. He can see the panic begin to build in the wide, green, kohl-smudged eyes. He wants to quell that panic, let him know that everything is going to be alright. But he has absolutely no idea how he is going to do that.
Danneel slides out of the booth and intercepts him just before he makes it to the table.
“I don’t think now is a good time, Jared.”
He walks around her and growls a bit when she grabs his arm. She lets go immediately and rushes around in front of him just as he makes it to the table where Jensen has stopped looking at him and has become agitated as if looking for the nearest escape route.
Misha’s voice cuts through his building frustration. “I think we should tell him.”
No one says anything; they just look from Jared to Jensen and then back to Jared again.
Jensen breaks the silence with a terse, “Tell who what?”
Jared thinks for a moment. “Tell you. About us.”
Jensen’s green eyes turn hard and he searches the faces of those around him, finding all of them filled with apprehension and fixed on Jared.
He turns back to Jared, “Tell me what?”
“Let him out, Mike.”
Rosey slides out of the booth making way for Jensen to be able to slide out as well. But Jensen doesn't move. Implacable, he grits out, “Tell me what?”
“Come with me and I’ll tell you.” Jared nods towards the entry and waits for Jensen to acquiesce.
“No. There’s something supremely fucked-up going on, and all I know is that it’s got everything to do with you and I’m not going anywhere alone with you.”
Jared has to give it to him. A spine of steel this one. It is more than unusual for anyone to disagree with him, let alone stand up to him and yet, here is this boy, this man, this redolent wanna-be punk kid telling him no.
A smile slides across his face and he says, “Fine, Danni can join us if that will make you feel better. But I am not going to talk to you here. Not about this.” He glances at Misha before he speaks again, “Misha is crazy, but he’s also right. You need to be told a few things.”
Danneel sucks in a big breath of air and on her exhale he hears her mutter, “Shit.” She holds out a hand to Jensen, “Come on, Jensen. Let’s go.”
Jared watches as Jensen’s handsome face furrows with confusion and then resignation. He slides out of the booth and takes Danneel’s hand.
Jared is reluctant to let Jensen out of his sight after the way he had bolted at school, but he turns and heads for the door, trusting that Danneel will bring him along.
He exits the bowling alley and heads for one of the picnic tables that are scattered on the patio area at the side of the building. He sits on one of the benches and waits for Danneel and Jensen to settle in across from him.
What Jared is about to do is not the way things are usually done. The conversation is not necessary until...later in most cases. But this is something completely new for Jared. As far as he—and his parents and grandparents—knew this particular form of imprinting hadn’t happened for generations. Weres and humans didn’t mate. Not usually. But every once in a great while the instinct to bond crossed species lines. It might be why weres still existed rather than reverting back to their wolf lineage completely. No one was really entirely sure--it’s not as if scientific studies had been done.
Whatever the reason, Jared and Jensen had imprinted. They were intended to bond, and to mate. Now Jared just had to explain it to Jensen.
Epilogue
Two years later…
Jared watched the narrow-hipped, bowlegged figure stride across the quad towards him. He looked a bit different from the blue-haired pierced rebel that Jared met Junior year. Sandy hair tipped with gold had replaced the black, almost blue shock of hair Jared had first seen him with. But it still framed a face that Micheangelo would have killed to immortalize in marble. And that arresting scent of cinnamon and fresh rain still sent a bolt of lust straight to his groin. He growled with satisfaction as Jensen sat next to him on the bench and tipped his head up for a kiss. Jared ravaged those lush lips and caressed the cavern of his mouth with his tounge. It was long minutes before they parted, both slightly out of breath.
It hadn’t been an easy road from their first meeting. Jensen hadn’t believed Jared--or Danneel, or Misha, or any of them for a long while. In fact, he completely stopped speaking to any of them for almost a month, trying desperately to separate himself from the alternate universe he seemed to have stepped in.
It wasn’t until Chad showed up on Jensen’s doorstep with Mike and Tom in tow that Jensen had agreed to finally listen to any of them talk for longer than a minute. And it wasn’t until Jared actually shifted in front of Jensen that he even believed that the wolf he’d met in his backyard could be the same boy that he’d developed inexplicable feelings for.
Truth be told, it was probably hardest on Danneel. Even though she lived right next door, Jensen managed to avoid her and ignore her at every turn. He had felt betrayed by her, the one person he had managed to develop a close and deep relationship with in years. And she’d been culpable in the secret that shattered Jensen’s life.
Jared suffered too. His mate was nothing if not stubborn. Jensen felt the pull of their attraction and was unable to resist, but he refused to stay with Jared for any length of time and as a result their bond had taken almost a year to finally seal. There were still times when Jensen resented Jared’s innate ability to sense his mood and predict what he needed. Not that Jensen didn’t like being cared for and loved, he just occasionally felt like Jared had cheated, and didn’t have to work for his affection in the same way a human mate might have had to.
Jared was patient through all of it. At least with Jensen. To Mike and Tom and Chad and anyone else within earshot he would rant and rail about his “pain-in-the-ass” mate. It’s actually amazing any of them are still friends. Sometimes it’s a blessing to be a part of a pack.
To compound the difficulties, Jared’s brother Jeff had beaten the shit out of Jensen not long after Jared confessed to his family that he had imprinted. Jeff had been sure that Jensen was the worst thing that could have happened--not only to Jared, but to the pack as a whole. They were just barely tolerated in the town, as long as they didn’t interfere, and didn’t try to buck the system. Being openly gay in small-town Virginia? Not exactly what you call blending-in.
Jared didn’t want Jensen to have to face the ignorance and bigotry alone; but Jensen agreed with Jared’s father, the pack alpha, that it would be best if they kept their relationship out of the public eye. Jared hated it, sure that it would only place one more wedge between him and his mate in what was an already precarious position. But Jared realized that Jensen saw it as something he could do--for them. A brick for them to build on, a way for Jared to learn to trust that Jensen did care even when he was outwardly still unsure of their relationship. It didn’t make any sense to Jared, but it was important to Jensen that Jared trust that he could carry the burden of being “that” kid, so that Jared didn’t have to.
Two months ago all that had finally changed. Together, they had moved to Williamsburg to attend William & Mary, Jared in the engineering program and Jensen pre-law. They didn’t have to hide from anyone or anything anymore. It was just the two of them, as mates, ready to face the world.
Jensen looked at Jared with those glittering green eyes and said, “What do you want to do tonight, Brain?”
Jared smiled broadly and answered back, “The same thing we do every night Pinky: fuck ourselves stupid.”
Jensen threw his head back and laughed and it was the best thing Jared had ever heard.
fin.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-18 03:08 am (UTC)