A Wolf's Kiss

Chapter : 3

The first day starts chaotically. Mark was waiting outside his door when Cole walked out; their chests almost crashed. "Mark? What is it?"

"I'm sorry. I made the couch dirty," Mark murmurs. Mark looks like a sad puppy. If he had a tail, it would be between his legs.

"What?" Cole is still sleepy, so he doesn't understand.

"I bled." And from a moment to another, Cole's eyes widened in worry, and he looks down to find the white shirt he gave Mark to use as pajamas drenched in blood. Right on the wounds on his ribs. "Oh, God! We have to change that!" Cole grabs Mark's wrist.

Mark must have pressed on it while he was sleeping. "Your couch is dirty," Mark tries as Cole drags him to the bathroom.

"Take off your shirt," Cole orders him while he searches for bandages in the cabinet. He turns when he has everything ready, but Cole gulps when he sees Mark.

Cole had already seen Mark naked two days ago. Fully naked. But considering the fear and adrenaline he was feeling, he didn't appreciate the view. He has eyes; he knows Mark is attractive, and he looks more than good shirtless. Cole tries to focus on the wound.

"Don't worry about the couch." Cole is checking the wound; the stitches seem fine. He places the clean bandages on the incision and adds pressure. "This wound is horrible," Cole says before Mark can start arguing.

"Because it's from alpha." Cole thinks that alpha guy is a douche.

This time, he wraps the bandages around Mark's torso instead of just a gauze piece over the wound. That should add more pressure and stop the bleeding. Cole tries to ignore how close they are while working on it, but it's difficult because he feels Mark's eyes set on him.

"You have to be careful, okay?" Cole reminds him. Mark nods. He looks like he wants to say something but opts to stay quiet. Cole can guess what it is. "Come on; I’ll show you where I keep the cleaning products for the couch." Mark perks up and follows Cole to the kitchen.

Cole usually goes for a run every morning, but he doesn't get to do it today because he spends a little too much time teaching Mark the difference between all the cleaning products under the sink. Mark is more at ease once the spot of blood has disappeared, so it's okay.

Afraid of Mark’s wound bleeding again, Cole tells him to stay in the apartment. He gives Mark some books and shows him how to use the TV. The werewolf looked confused, but he nodded along as Cole explained.

Cole spends the whole day thinking about the man waiting for him upstairs.

To Cole’s surprise, when he returns upstairs around lunchtime, Mark is still shirtless. He's only wearing the gray sweatpants Cole gave him and the bandages around his middle. "You need to wear clothes to cover the bandages," Cole says. And for Cole's inner peace too.

"I don't want to," Mark mumbles from the kitchen, reading one of the books Cole gave him. Cole glares at him, but the werewolf doesn't notice, too distracted by the book. It's a crappy romance novel, but Cole remains quiet; he’s the one who bought it after all.

Cole starts making a salad. He needs to go for groceries soon if Mark is living here for two weeks. "Put a shirt on and come with me to the clinic. Today a dog is coming for a bath; you can help. Then we can go for groceries! And even buy a shirt your size," Cole rambles. "You're going to stretch all my shirts by the end of two weeks." Cole doesn't mention his absurdly broad shoulders. He's Cole's height; he shouldn't be so buff.

Mark puts the book down. He doesn't answer; he only stands up and retrieves the clean shirt Cole left on the coffee table and puts it on.

And that was easier than Cole expected. Mark is obedient when it comes to ordering. "Come here; you should tell me about the food you eat in your pack."

"Raw meat when we're in wolf form. We cook the meat in a bonfire when we're in human form," he says. That seems to be the only explanation Cole will get, and he doesn’t ask for more.

After lunch, Cole takes Mark to the veterinary clinic. He was looking for someone to work with him, and maybe Mark can do the job for as long as he stays. Cole leaves for a moment to change back into his scrubs and tells Mark to wait for him by the counter. In case the client arrives earlier with their dog.

Cole tells Mark only to greet the client and politely ask them to wait for Cole. Cole is testing the waters with the werewolf; he knows close to nothing about how his pack works, only that he's in wolf form a lot. But Mark knows what a clinic is, and he can read too, so Cole wants to see how he behaves. Cole wasn't expecting Mark to glare at the puppy.

The client is a little confused about Cole's new assistant, but Cole acts like it's just a joke. He's charming, so the man just nods and says he'll be back in some hours to pick up his puppy. Cole smiles sweetly until the man leaves the clinic. Then he turns to the shifter.

He's about to scold him, but he stops himself because Mark is not only glaring at the puppy; he's also growling at him. "Stop that!" Cole shrieks. He carries the puppy against his chest. "Why are you being mean with the pup?"

"Dogs are messing with my scent tracking."

Mark had told Cole he couldn't find the other shifters in town because he kept confusing their scents with dogs. "But that's not this little one's fault," Cole speaks softly. The dog was shaking when Mark was glaring at him, but now he's more relaxed in Cole's arms. The puppy tries to lick Cole's face and Cole giggles at the sudden affection. "Such a good boy wouldn't be messing with Mark, right?" he speaks softly. "Right?" The dog barks and Cole feels content with the answer.

He looks up to find Mark's glare directed at him.

"What?"

"Let's go bathe the pup." Mark stands up abruptly. He's avoiding looking at Cole.

Cole won't say anything; Mark acts weird. He will have to get used to it. "Are baby shifters this small when they’re little?" Cole wonders while cradling the pup. Mark groans in his affirmative.

Bathing a puppy with Mark is a lot messier than doing it alone. He keeps trying to help, but he doesn't know how to use a showerhead, so Cole ends up a lot wetter than usual. The dog and Mark keep barking at each other, and there's foam from the shampoo covering his glasses. Mark leans closer and takes Cole's glasses off; he does it carefully with both his hands. Cole can't help the pout growing on his lips.

"I usually handle this alone," he feels like he has to justify his outburst. He rarely needs help with the animals in his small veterinary. "But you're making the pup anxious! It's like I'm handling two puppies," Cole complains. Mark silently cleans Cole's glasses with the back of his shirt and puts them on him as gently as he took them out. It's a little awkward, but Cole doesn't try to fix them.

"Next time, I'll do better," Mark assures him. "And I'm only barking at him because he's starting it."

Cole feels soft at the silly comment. "He must sense you're a big bad wolf," he teases. Mark falls silent after that, and Cole worries he must have made the shifter uncomfortable, but when their eyes meet, he offers Cole a gummy smile. Cole smiles back. Sure, Mark is a big bad wolf.