His Unexpected Mate [MxM]

Prologue — Present “Shouldn’t we wait for your brother, D’Alberto? I thought he told us to wait for him before taking off into the woods.” “What are you talking about, Mason? Aaron will catch up with us later, so don’t worry. I grew up in this town too. There is nothing to fear,” sounding fully confident, Ronnie said back to the other guy, smirking and glad his dear friend had agreed with his last-minute crazy idea of camping in his hometown, even if it wouldn’t be just the two of them as he wished at first. “…” And although he wasn't completely sure about it, Mason decided to follow the other man full of smiles without another word. … Aaron, Ronnie’s older brother, always called such a mood of his as an overexcited pup for a reason… Freckles made him look extra cute and lovely in ladies’ eyes when he was like that, and even Mason sometimes agreed with how the other man, who was just a couple of months younger than him, was cute behaving like this. Dealing with an excited Ronnie was quite charming and funny at the same time, especially when one was aware that the guy was a hyped-up wall of muscles; big arms that were easily bigger than his friends’ and brothers’ arms. Mason would usually have a little smile of disbelief on his lips while dealing with Ronnie when he was like this. Yet, somehow that day… something in the back of his mind kept disturbing him that not even his friend’s positive self was able to pull his thoughts away from it. Nevertheless, Mason decided not to say a thing! He didn't want to ruin what should be their last nice day there, as the car soon parked in a small empty land on the road that only had them as living beings as far as he could see. For a moment, Mason wondered if he wouldn't regret it all. But, despite the far and hidden location, the walk there was pretty easy, arriving at the D’Alberto family’s unusual camping spot. The weather was nice, not hot or cold, and the fresh wind on their way made the whole thing enjoyable, lost among it all, as Ronnie kept chatting by himself while his friends remained quiet. It was something that he was already used to, since the other male wasn't the talkative type per se. Truth be told, the only times that Ronnie would see Mason speaking a lot was when he mentioned his nephew, the owner of his admiration and full attention since the little one was born. Or when he was flirting with some new guy at the bar or nightclub, trying to score someone for the night, since Ronnie had never seen Mason go back alone when they hung out together. “Are you sure that you know what you are doing? You don't seem to be an expert as you made yourself sound like earlier.” But back to their camp, the dark-haired guy asked, brushing his hair back as he got up, tired after the third attempt of trying to set up their tent failed. “Wasn’t the third time supposed to be the charm?” However, instead of a reasonable answer, Ronnie just gave back a smart-ass remark that made Mason roll his eyes with a sigh, giving up as he went to check how to set it up on his phone. “We definitely should have waited for your brother,” scrolling through his feed, Mason commented, while browsing for any possible video or explanation that was with the same or similar camping tent as theirs. “Hey! It's not my fault someone threw away the instructions. I’m usually good with this sort of stuff, but I need the instructions to do so! How do you expect me to know where each part should go without them?!” Nevertheless, Ronnie didn't give up, and holding two very similar parts, he answered while trying to understand how Aaron’s fancy tent for four people was supposed to be set up. “Yeah, yeah, yeah… Let’s pretend it's true, Mr. ‘Don't worry, I have done it since I was a little kid.’, as I wonder where he is right now.” So, teasing his friend back, Mason kept saying, sitting down on his chair, hoping it would be finished before nightfall. CREAK “What was that?!” … until a noise got his attention… Mason sounded quite afflicted out of nowhere as the bad feeling came to the back of his mind, although Ronnie didn't seem to share similar emotions. “What? This little noise? It must be some small animal, like a bunny or something.” His answer was remarkably simple, without much thinking, before the growls started toward them, shutting him up. “Is… is th-this… what am I thinking?” Fear overwhelmed his voice when Mason became even quieter, swallowing the lump in his throat as he merely nodded back to his friend, who had his back to the beast. The dark-haired man could barely move a finger in fear, he knew wolves. He knew the majestic animal that Aaron had warned them about earlier… Yet, that thing was far from being a wolf! No, that wasn't a wolf. That was something else, but before they could even run for their lives, it was already too late for them. Blood flashed through the air when Mason moved ahead to try to save Ronnie, falling terribly as he was the one who became its victim instead. Of course, as strong as he was, his friend didn't give up the fight. He went against the Werewolf with all he had, trying to free Mason at least, so he could run away from there… From that unimaginable situation that he wasn't even aware existed, unlike trained Ronnie. “Ma… ma-mason-” Damn, Goddess. He couldn't utter a word when he called his friend. His hand tried to reach Mason uselessly, as tears mixed with blood, and another cough let him know his lungs would give up at any moment as he could barely breathe. It was the end… the tragic end for both of them due to his foolish wishes… Or he did expect that before his eyes opened again in the hospital bed. He was alive, somehow. But things were far from getting better, as he met with Mason's defeated self. … Broke, wounded, full of bruises… Yet, he was the holder of the sweetest fragrance Ronnie had ever felt.