Nate stepped out of the elevator with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. Today was the day, he repeated to himself. He hadn’t seen his mate’s wolf in the entire time that they had been together, all the weeks had flown by and with everything that had been going on it seemed like helping Brody train in wolf combat just wasn’t at the top of the priority list. According to past history, the only free time that the two of them had was spent in the warm sheets of Nate’s bed with passionate kisses and soft touches that made Nate smile just thinking about it. They hadn’t slept together in anything but the literal sense, but they had done other things that caused a little smile to grace Nate’s face just thinking about it.

Today, however, was going to be different. There was a camp staff meeting on from twelve until two, and that meant that they had two hours where the number of people who could catch them had decreased to almost none. Nate knew that Brody would be fond of those odds, and so when he found out he had raced to his room to change and was now walking down the halls of Brody’s floor. 

He reached the room, knocking twice against the door. 

There wasn’t any noise coming from inside and so he knocked again, hoping that Brody hadn’t made another trip to the library to add more books to his collection. They were only here another week, Nate wasn’t sure how his mate would be able to get through the masses of books he seemed to be collecting in that room of his. Brody had assured him many times that he had already read most of the books and he was just keeping them around for if he needed them, but Nate wasn’t so sure. 

He finally heard Brody’s voice as it wafted through the door which separated them. ‘Hold on a moment.’ 

That moment turned into more than twenty seconds. Then the door was finally opened. Nate had been prepared to smile sweetly at his boyfriend, but instead he just gave him a curious look. ‘What are you wearing?’ he asked. 

Brody ran a hand through his dishevelled hair and looked down at the grey sweatpants and white shirt he was wearing. Nate pointed to the stains on the shirt and shook his head, ‘How on earth will you ever get laid?’ he joked. ‘You look like an unemployed middle aged man who doesn’t care about how he looks since his wife left him for his younger brother.’ 

Brody laughed and shook his head at Nate’s words, motioning for his mate to enter the room. 

Nate closed the door behind him. 

‘First of all,’ Brody started the second the door was shut. ‘My final exams are coming up and I am in study mode, hence the sweats. Second, you are the one who seems pretty keen on sleeping with me so your comment just looks bad on you, not me.’ 

Nate laughed, ‘Sassy today, I like it.’ 

Brody pretended to slap his mate’s bicep with the arm that had been broken only a short week or so ago. The broken bone was long healed by now and not even a mark remained on his skin. Nate admired the arm for only a second, the knowledge that his mate was safe and healed gave him a warm feeling. That warm feeling wasn’t apparently shared by his loving mate, who rolled his eyes at Nate and said; ‘Shut up and go away.’ 

Brody then sat down at his desk, where Nate assumed Brody had spent most of his morning. There were books spread out along the top of the desk, spare sheets of paper with random scribbles and words splayed along its lines were strewn about on the hard surface in what appeared to be a random order, but Nate rationalised with himself that Brody would have some sort of system. There was, after all, method to his madness. 

Nate pretended to be shocked, ‘Ruuude.’ 

Brody shrugged, ‘Shouldn’t you be studying too?’

Nate shook his head, ‘Nope. Right now I’ve allotted two hours to spend with my mate so that I can teach him the art of wolf combat.’ 

That caught Brody’s attention and he looked at Nate with a cautious expression. ‘Now? Is it safe? What if someone finds us and we get in trouble?’ 

Oh the always prepared and careful Brody. Nate was happy that he had valid reasons to lift his mate’s fears on this occasion. 

‘It’s the safest time we can go, I promise. Plus, I know a spot that will be perfect for us, no one will ever find us.’ 

Brody must have trusted his mate’s judgement as hope and excitement filled his face. ‘That’s great! When can we do it?’ 

Nate checked his watch and saw that it was only one minute until midday. ‘Now.’ 

Brody quickly bunched together some of the papers on his desk and closed down his laptop. ‘Okay,’ he smiled up at his mate. 

‘Aren’t you going to get changed?’ Nate asked, his eyes wandering back to those god awful sweats. He wasn’t a materialistic person, but the outfit had no shape and hid the lines and muscles and tattoos which were all apart of Brody. Nate hated seeing them covered up and he wished that his mate would walk around shirtless all the time if just for the fact that Nate could admire the fine lines of muscle and the delicate splays of ink that created intricate patterns against the milky skin of his mate. 

Nate nodded, quickly throwing his shirt over his head and onto the floor, the sweatpants following shortly after. Nate then realised that he had an almost naked mate standing just a few feet away from him and it took all of his strength not to just throw today’s plans to the wind and throw his lips against Brody’s in a passionate kiss that would have been sure to end in them spending these next hours between the sheets. 

Brody stepped up towards Nate, slowly drawing Nate’s hands into his own and linking their fingers. ‘Are you excited to see my wolf?’ he asked. 

Nate smirked, ‘Is this your version of dirty talk? Is wolf some sort of secret code for something else?’ he asked with a suggestive smile playing at his lips.   

Brody let go of Nate’s hands, ‘Dirty minded,’ he muttered under his breath. 

Nate let him go, watching in admiration as his mate slowly threw on some denim shorts and a green shirt that made his eyes somehow look even greener in contrast. Nate entertained the idea of throwing out all of Brody’s clothes and replacing them with things only in green, just so he could admire those green eyes even more than he already did on a daily basis. 

Brody came back to him after he was dressed, ‘Are you going to seriously answer my question now?’ 

Nate wrapped his arms around Brody, kissing him lightly for a moment or two before speaking, ‘Yes I am very excited about seeing you in your wolf form,’ he confirmed. Nate wasn’t lying, he really was quite excited at the prospect of seeing his mate in his wolf form for the first time. He knew that Brody had seen his before, only once, but he himself had never seen his mate shift. 

‘Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go.’ 

The two of them left the building. Nate led them across campus and down towards the junction where the tree line and the fence line met at a corner. Nate was pleased to see that there were hardly any camp staff in the area that he could see. He knew that not everyone would have been at the meeting, but he was thankful that those in this area was. There were students spread out here and there but they weren’t paying any attention to the two guys who were casually walking past.   

They breached the line, following the fence as it went deeper and deeper into the forest. 

Nate linked his hand with Brody’s as they walked. His mate squeezed onto his hand and repositioned his steps so that they were walking closer and closer together until the entirety of their arms brushed up against one another with every step that they took. 

Nate enjoyed the closeness, the small tinges that raked up and down the skin of his arm with every touch of his mate. It was the little things like this that made Nate’s heart swell. When he imagined meeting his mate, what seemed like years ago, he had always been thinking of the big milestones. It was the first meeting, the first kiss, the wedding. He hadn’t realised about the little things that made his heart swell. 

‘You must be itching to shift,’ Nate commented. ‘You’ve only had one class of wolf combat with the juniors since you’ve been here.’ 

Brody shrugged, ‘Sort of. I never really shifted much at home anyways. Hunter did practically every day but my mother worried about me too much, feared that the rouges would take one look at me and try something. I understood her worry and so I stayed in the house mostly, nose deep in books.’ 

Nate felt bad for Brody. Being in his wolf form was such an easy and normal thing for Nate, he had shifted daily at home, running with his brother through the vast forests that surrounded their property and assisting to look after the younger wolves who were just learning to shift. It was as natural as breathing for Nate, but it was different with Brody. He was treated as if he was vulnerable, unable to look after himself. Nate understood why his parents had worried, but he saw a spark in his mate, an undeniable strength and determination that undermined every one of his actions. Not to say that Nate didn’t worry about the idea of Brody coming face to face with a rouge but he knew that Brody was more resourceful and strong than other people gave him credit for. 

‘Were you jealous of Hunter, being able to do all those things and you were stuck in your room? I know I would have been.’ 

Brody was silent for a little while. ‘When I was younger I didn’t understand why I was always the one protected, why it seemed like no one trusted me to be on my own or even leave the house without someone watching me. It was more understandable when I was older, when I could see that I was smaller, weaker, more vulnerable to the rouges which were always a constant threat to our livelihood. I wasn’t jealous of Hunter though, I admired him, he was my hero. He used to sneak me out of my room in the middle of the night to go running through the woods near our house, and he would bring me back books from camp.’ 

Nate smiled, squeezing Brody’s hand. ‘Hunter really sounds like he was a great brother.’ 

‘He really was.’ 

They reached the spot hand in hand. Nate stopped their walking, looking around at where they were. It was a small patch of clearing, the tall fence which seemed to reach the sky on one side and thick lines of tree’s on the other. The fence seemed to curve almost slightly at the edge of the small clearing, indicating that they were bordering on the perimeter of the premises.     

‘Are you ready?’ Nate asked but as he turned around he saw that Brody already had his shirt off. The piece of green clothing was now resting in his mate’s hand casually. 

‘I was born ready,’ Brody smiled. 

Nate had to avert his eyes, knowing full well that to watch his mate undress would be too much of a distraction. He was already lost for thought just seeing the way the warm midday sun hit Brody’s skin, illuminating the tattoo’s. 

‘Close your eyes,’ Brody commanded just as Nate took his pants off. So, standing there in just his boxers, Nate closed his eyes without question. 

Nate then laughed as he was toppled over by a wolf, the warm fur and soft paws of Brody’s wolf knocking him off of his feet. He opened his eyes to see that a small black wolf was on top of him with its tongue out playfully. 

The wolf looked down at Nate with it’s big, green eyes before licking a big, wet stripe up Nate’s cheek.

Nate laughed, pushing the small creature off of him gently. Brody didn’t seem too annoyed as he just sat patiently as Nate pulled his boxers off and transformed into his own wolf. In a few seconds his skin and bones transformed within themselves, his body changing miraculously into that of a large wolfs. Fur protruded from his skin, claws extended themselves from his now paws. The feeling of being free suddenly overwhelmed him and Nate sent a wolfy smile to his mate at the knowledge that this was the first of many times they would be in their wolf forms together. Nate hoped that wherever they ended up, they had masses of land to go running in. That they could chase each other around for hours and be one with nature. 

Nate tried to keep his mind on the goal for today and not on the fact that Brody’s wolf was the most beautiful and magical creature that he had ever seen. The small wolf with fur black as night stood only a small distance away, looking at him expectantly. 

Time past quickly. Nate showed Brody moves that he thought were the most vital. They fought playfully but there was a serious edge to every move made. Nate could tell that Brody was taking it seriously, watching Nate’s movements with those large green eyes. Nate figured that their time of safety was almost up, and so he paused in his movements. Brody titled his wolf face to the side, confused why they had stopped. 

Nate took the confusion to his advantage and pounced on his ill prepared mate. Brody made a strange wolf squeaking noise as they both fell to the ground, Nate beneath his mate. 

Nate then transformed into his human form. The hard ground was under the skin of his back as he looked up at the wolf that was on top of him once again. 

‘I think our times up,’ Nate told Brody. 

The wolf then transformed also and in a few seconds it was Brody in his human form who loomed over Nate. Their bodies were pressed against each other and Nate couldn’t resist lifting his head up to kiss Brody. The kiss only lasted a few moments before Brody stood up, walking back over to their clothing with a smile on his face as Nate followed. 

‘Did I do well?’ Brody asked as he threw his shirt over his head. 

‘You did spectacularly well,’ Nate confirmed. ‘You followed the moves perfectly and I have no doubt you’ll be able to replicate them flawlessly in the future.’ 

‘You didn’t do too bad yourself, I should get Annie and Lucas to start calling you the professor now instead of me since your such a good teacher.’ 

Nate laughed that off. 

Once they were both dressed they made their way back along the fence, hand in hand like before. Brody swung their interlocked hands between them slowly with each step. They talked frequently about random topics as they walked, but conversation stopped when the exited the tree line and their hands let go of each other’s. 

It was a sad sight to see, the way that their hands dropped the same way that their hearts did when they were in public. Nate felt oppressed, knowing that he had to hide what he and Brody had. He felt like their connection was one to be shown off, that their love should be more than something hidden away in the shadows. It was worth more than that, of that he was sure. 

There was less than a week until his father arrived, he knew that then he would know if it was safe for he and Brody to expose their relationship to the world. He wished for a moment that he and Brody had just come out with their relationship the day that they had found out they were mates, but then thoughts of what could have happened overcame him. The camp could have kicked them out in a panic, unsure of what to do. Nate knew that in the human population those who were different were ostracized, punished for what they couldn’t control. He had no doubt that that would have happened in this situation. Nate had his dad though, and that was the deciding factor. His father was powerful and he would fix this, wouldn’t he? 

‘What are you thinking about?’ Brody asked as they approached the accommodation building. 

‘Nothing,’ Nate shrugged casually. 

Brody nodded but Nate knew that his mate knew something was up. Nate pushed those other thoughts to the side and focused on the now. They had a week left of camp and he fully intended to make the most of it.