House Call

Thomas shook himself out of it, just in time as the clock in the bedroom and a few others spread around the cabin began to go off. "No, wait! I need to get my pills!" he yelled but in vain. He'd taken those pills every night at this time for as long as he could remember. His parents had been absolutely determined that he get into the habit of doing it and he had. He couldn't remember why he took those pills ... something about having a life threatening condition that was only kept in check by them.

He was barefoot and the sticks and rocks were poking into his feet. He bit his lip as he turned to obey but then he glanced back at the cabin. The intruder wasn't there ... He was safe to just go back and get it, wasn't it? His tongue felt heavy now and his head was throbbing. He could smell ... he could smell something, something he hadn't noticed before and couldn't really describe. His skin felt so itchy now! The clothes! He scratched at them and was trying to pull them off of him. They were so hot and restricting!
 
Gabe was torn. Something was obviously wrong with Thomas. He was shifting, but panicking while he did it, which only drew the process out more. Prolonging a shift could hurt, not to mention leave him vulnerable. Why didn't he just choose a form? And why was he panicking now? He hadn't panicked when a total stranger tried to attack him, but now...

In his moment of distraction, the victim ripped his shirt free and bound toward the road again. In this form, Gabe knew that a vehicle was coming around a bend in the road and that Thomas could be seen, possibly in mid-shift, at any moment. He could track the victim later, but if Thomas was exposed it would expose his entire people. He ran for the doctor and pushed him down, shifting to drag him into the cover of the woods just as they could hear the screech of tires, a loud snarl, and a heavy crack/thump.

'Well, that takes care of my victim problem.'

Only now there would probably be police and EMTs here to witness what was apparently a freaking out werewolf doctor. He clamped his hand around Thomas's mouth and grabbed his clothes off the ground before half-dragging the other man into the woods. He could feel the doctor's bones trying to reshape, but not finishing. What the hell was wrong with him? Gabe frowned and hefted Thomas into his arms instead, slipping deeper between the trees.

"Breathe," he commanded. They were far enough away that the sirens would cover their noise. "Just finish the shift! What the hell is wrong with you?" Gabe couldn't figure it out. Why was he panicking? Sometimes the younger ones panicked, when they took too long or got distracted between forms, but Thomas was much too old for that. For someone like Gabe, who flowed between his forms frequently, the stretch and roll of his body was almost soothing, but he remembered that it could sometime be painful if you took too long or were caught between.

"Concentrate! Drawing it out only makes it worse!"
 
Thomas' heart was beating so fast, he was certain it would break his sternum! He struggled wildly, even as his teeth seemed longer and sharper and he tasted his blood as the teeth bit into his gums and tongue! His fingers felt shorter. They were curling in on themselves. Bones cracked and snapped. He'd never felt this horrible before!

"Con--centrate ... on ... on what?!" he panted out. He had no clue what Gabriel was talking about and it was scaring the hell out of him! "I ... I need my ... my pills! In the cabin!" This must have been the life threatening condition his doctor had warned him about so long ago! But it felt like something was tearing him from the inside out! He just wanted the pain to stop!
 
Concentrate on what?! How can he--

"How can you ask that?! Concentrate on the shift, dammit!" Gabe rolled Thomas onto his side, grimacing as he felt the first prickles of fur. This was definitely not a tidy transformation. Could it be that Thomas had gone this long without shifting? How was that possible? He was an adult! Even with amnesia, the shift should be natural! And why was he on about pills? Was he addicted to painkillers or tranqs or something? Sometimes that did force a change, but...

"Stop fighting it! Relax. Focus on the change. Breathe." His first shift seemed like it was so long ago. Even then, he couldn't remember having this kind of a problem. He'd been told he was rather a natural at it, and besides, he'd seen the others often enough. "Let your other senses take over. Relax."
 
He swallowed but it felt like there was something at the back of his throat. He started to breathe evenly and relax. With Gabriel's soothing voice, it was rather easy once Thomas decided to trust him. Trust him ... A complete stranger he'd just met who seemed to know more than he was letting on. He shut his eyes and felt his body shifting. It was scary and he panicked several times but then Gabriel would start talking and he'd relax.

He lay his head down. A tail pushed out, his legs and arms shortened and grew closer to his body. His mouth and jaw pushed forward and there was dark fur. But he didn't see any of that. He could smell the forest, the night air, blood, his scent and Gabriel's. He could hear cars and the owls and a far off howl ... And then he was opening his eyes as the fur disappeared and his legs and arms grew out again. The tail was gone. He was human again.

"Wha ... What just ...?" He felt really tired but he felt so much better than he could ever remember feeling! He clung to Gabriel and tried to catch his breath. His mind was struggling to catch up with reality and it was a very odd feeling!
 
Feeling rather foolish and protective all at once, Gabe let Thomas rest his head on his shoulder. He picked a few grey hairs off of Thomas's arm and inspected them, then inhaled the scent. Not a dominant, but not trailing behind either. There was something peaceful about the scent.

"Interesting that you're a grey. I would have guessed... More blue, probably." Finally having some time to puzzle things out, there was only one real explanation that made sense. "How could you not know you were one of the Pack? You're an adult. You have to have shifted before this." He couldn't even imagine not knowing he was Pack. It sang in his blood, even in human form.
 
He hid his face in the crook of Gabe's neck and started to nuzzle it. He was so ashamed! Why hadn't he noticed it before? "I ... I never ... um, shifted before. This is my first time. When I was young, my parents took me somewhere, a hospital. The doctor ran some tests on me and he started me on these pills. I've been taking them my entire life every night at the same time. My parents never mentioned ... shifting or anything."

Gabe smelled so good! Something like cologne but like forest after a thunderstorm. And he felt good, too. He was all muscle and flesh, not an ounce of fat on him. "We always moved from place to place up until Dad died. I don't even know if Mom knew or knows ... Everything is different now. I"m still scared."
 
Gabe growled a little at the idea of humans concocting something that could stop the shift and block a member of the Pack. But this wasn't the time to bring that up. He could feel Thomas shivering slightly, so he drew his half-ruined shirt around his shoulders for as much protection as it would afford. His chest still felt sore, but the mark across it was more like thin, red line than a knife slash now. He ignored it, but somehow the smell of his blood mingled with Thomas's new scent was... exciting.

"We were never meant to be caged, especially in our own bodies. You must have known anyway, somehow. I bet you've never been sick a day in your life, and you always healed well from bruises and cuts. Am I right?" Daily pills would have been necessary, he realized now. Anything less would work itself out of their systems too quickly.

Something very basic stirred in him as Thomas made a soft noise against his skin. Something else stirred, too, and Gabe's eyebrows snapped together suddenly. He tightened the garment around Thomas's shoulders and searched for his pants, letting the other man support his own weight.

"We should get back," he said abruptly. He tossed the other pair or pants to the doctor. His voice was rough. "You've had a long night."
 
Thomas blinked as Gabe pulled away. He caught the pants and rubbed it against his cheek. The rough material scratched against his skin, leaving a tingling, almost ticklish sensation in its wake. Everything felt so different now. The trees, the wind, the ground ... He didn't know if he'd changed or if everything else somehow had. He was aware of how his heart was beating, how the muscles of his arms and feet moved, how one muscle pulled another or pulled against it. It was amazing. It was ... magnificient. He felt alive!

"Wait, Gabe--!" He dropped the pants and ran up to him. He grabbed his elbow and when the man wouldn't turn, he moved in front of him. "Please ..." He slipped his arms around the man's neck and nuzzled his chest. Then he moved up, rubbing his face against the crook of his neck, nipping it gently. He rubbed his body against Gabe's, too, just to smell his scent and get it on him. There was something intoxicating about it.
 
"Aaa~ahh." Gabe's eyes rolled back slightly as he made a noise between a sigh and a groan. Thomas's scent was positively narcotic, and his body language screamed innocence and love to Gabe's wolf senses. Did the man even know what was going on?!

"You're... you're drunk," Gabe managed to choke out. He was having a hard time thinking past the thick sheen of Thomas's golden hair, the way it fell across his skin. "On the change. You don't know wh--" Another nip cut him off mid-sentence.

Suddenly he felt hot. Much too hot. His skin was on fire, a pleasant, heated burn wherever Thomas touched. He struggled to calm down, to take deep breaths through his nose, but that only made it worse as Thomas invaded him through that sense as well. That made touch, sight, smell, and sound. He longed to add taste to the list, to experience Thomas fully, with ever sense he possessed. But he had to know.

"'Please' what?" he growled. He was hard already, uncomfortable in the restricting denim. But he was a Striker, and he had a certain kind of reputation to uphold. A certain kind of honor. He couldn't simply take things he wanted. They had to be given knowingly. Freely. If he didn't keep his honor, he'd be nothing but a killer. A specific killer, yes, but one nonetheless.

"What do you want?" His treacherous hands crept slowly around Thomas's waist, feeling the smooth skin that was as heated as his own. It took every ounce of control he had to wait for an answer. He didn't even know what kind of answer he wanted, to what he would do when he got it. But he had to know.
 
A part of Thomas heard Gabe and acknowledged that perhaps he was getting in over his head. Perhaps he was losing control and still on the adrenaline rush of discovering who and what he was, being freed. But that part was small and insignificant at the moment. The rest of him wanted something he'd never allowed himself, someone he'd never have fantasized about having under different circumstances.

Thomas licked the spot where Gabe's pulse beat strongest. "Please ... let's finish what we started earlier." One hand slid down Gabe's chest to the waistband of the denim to unbutton and then unzip it. "I, Thomas Behr, give myself to Gabriel Whaite." He slipped his hand down to cup Gabe as he kissed his way down his chest.
 
Gabe's breath hissed from between his lips as Thomas squeezed him gently. For a moment, he felt lightheaded. Sure, he'd been fondled before, and probably by more skilled hands, but somehow this was different. The sensation went straight through him as Thomas continued to massage him, his shaft getting rapidly slick with pre-cum as he hardened almost to the point of pain. And if that wasn't permission, he wasn't sure what was.

He molded himself against Thomas's body, bending to give the shorter man a long, lingering kiss. He stroked Thomas's lips with his tongue, surprisingly soft despite his body's demands. When Thomas parted for him, he plunged his tongue in, delving in and tasting him almost desperately. When he thought the other man would faint, he pulled away only to return to his neck to nibble and suck gently, bracing Thomas against his ready body, wrapping his strong arms around him. With a sudden heave, he lifted Thomas into the air to straddle his slim waist, skin to skin. Gabe braced him against a nearby boulder, the cool surface a sharp contrast to their heat.

Pinning Thomas to the rock, he dipped his head lower to tease his nipples with his teeth, scraping against the sensitive skin gently, alternating with licks from his rough tongue. One hand traveled down, gripping Thomas's ass before stroking down one long leg, positioning it higher against him. His other hand stroked Thomas's face and lips, feeling the sensuous shape with the pads of his fingers. Although he didn't have any experience with men, he knew the theory. But was Thomas ready?

He bit Thomas gently on the shoulder, roaming hand moving to circle the doctor's shaft teasingly. He bit again, just to leave his mark, and growled at the noise his partner made. "Are you... Do you... have experience?" he panted. He wasn't sure how much longer he could waist, but he didn't want the first time to hurt if he could help it.
 
He groaned and squirmed and writhed against Gabe. He was so hard that when Gabe touched him down there he was so certain he was going to explode. He sighed and he gasped and made a sound like a whimper when he bit his shoulder. Oh gods, this felt so--! He panted. He struggled to find the words as the question sunk in. "Umm ... Not ... not this kind of experience." He remembered he had experimented with girls when he was younger and then a few times since then. But Gabriel was the first man he'd been attracted to and none of his female lovers made him as hot as Gabe did!

He bent his head to nuzzle his partner's neck. "Just take me, please," he begged. "It feels like I've waited forever. Don't keep me waiting anymore." Gabe was so stiff. He wasn't the only one about to burst, it seemed!
 
Although Gabe wasn't normally the type to ask for begging, when Thomas did it he could see why some people would be. He eased himself closer, feeling himself tremble ever so slightly, and brought the good doctor close. He ravished Thomas's mouth and neck, nipping and licking in a frenzy of movement to take attention away from what he was about to do.

One swift, sure thrust, and he was there. His body broke into a sweat, and he moaned deep into a kiss, breaking off and panting. He clenched his teeth and grabbed Thomas much harder than he meant to, willing with all his might to hold still. It couldn't have been pleasant, the way he'd invaded the other man like that, but it was the only thing Gabe could think of to do. When Thomas got accustomed to his bulk, he would move again, he told himself. But his body wanted to move now. It was so close to what it wanted...

But no, Gabe was a gentleman. He growled into Thomas's ear, feeling his silky hair slide sensuously past his cheek. "I'll wait. For you to..." he stifled another moan. "For you to... give me the word..." He trailed off, resting his head on the other man's shoulder. It was a good thing the night air was so cool here, or he thought he might combust from the heat where their two bodies connected. That promise had been hard to make, but he hoped he could keep it. If not, he would be no better than an animal.