Undercover Werewolf

Escalations

Palmer bit his lip as they both got into the car, buckling his seatbelt and starting the car. He waited until he was on the road to say what he was thinking. "There's something else that I know about you."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"You're a supernatural, though I don't know what species you are."

Bailey was silent, looking down at his hands before he sighed. "I am supernatural. Guess I didn't hide that as well as I thought I had."

"To be fair, you were pretty good at hiding it. You only had a few slip ups. What really gave it away was you seeing through the illusion." Palmer told him.

"Yeah. If I'd known Rosa had placed an illusion on you, I could've faked it."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't know about it. I might not have ever known until you told me. You were planning on telling me, right? That seems like information that I should know."

"Yeah, I would've said something." After I moved onto another job. Bailey felt that that last part would be better left unsaid.

"Well, that makes me feel better. Why didn't you say anything before though?"

There was silence for a minute or two between them; it took Palmer casting a worried look at him before he spoke.

"You remember me talking about my ex, right?"

"Well, yeah. Of course. You told me about him this morning after all."

"He wasn't just a stalker. He abused me."

"And you put up with that? You, the aikido champion of Sita?"

Bailey couldn't help but smile at the incredulity in Palmer's voice. "He wasn't that brave. It was verbal, and at first, it was so subtle that I got used to it before I recognized what it was."

"At first?"

"Yeah. It was small things, like 'Bailey isn't that brave. He doesn't like horror movies.' Just small putdowns like that. Then it evolved into 'Bailey would rather protect some random stranger instead of his own boyfriend.'"

"And you stayed with him?" Palmer felt his hands tighten on the steering wheel, imagining it as Lukas's neck.

"Yeah." Bailey sighed, looking out the window. "Before college, I didn't have anyone besides my family, you know? Then here comes Lukas. Tall, dark-haired and handsome, rich Lukas. And he wanted me; poor, angry Bailey. I wasn't rich, I didn't have an expensive car, I didn't eat expensive food. He wooed me good, Palmer. Bought me all kinds of things I didn't need, went out of his way to spend time with me. He could've had anyone. So, yeah, I fell for him and fell hard.

"So, I was in too deep when he started the abuse. I put it off to him being stressed out because of school. He was a business major and they are under a lot of stress. So, yeah, I made a lot of excuses. Loss of sleep, stress, not having time to see his friends and family. It wasn't until Saffi caught him cheating on me that I realized just how toxic he really was."

"Cheating?"

"Yeah. Saffi was on a date when she saw Lukas kissing a woman at the restaurant that she was at."

"What did you do?"

"Oh, I went to confront them. But it gets worse." Bailey made a face before continuing. "Turns out that the woman he was with was his fiancee. They'd been dating since high school and he was cheating on her with me."

"Please tell me she dumped his ass."

"Oh, she did. That's when he started coming after me. Told me that he was trying to end things with her, that he'd fallen in love with me. As you know, it didn't end well for him."

"Well, thank goodness for that." Palmer muttered as he turned into the parking lot of Cervantes and parked the car. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you got away from him. He sounds like a piece of garbage."

"Oh, he was." Bailey replied, unbuckling his seatbelt to get out.

"Wait," Palmer frowned, turning the car off and getting out as well. "Didn't you say you broke up with him because of his views on that supernatural registration law?"

"No, I said it was for various reasons. That was only one of the reasons."

"Oh." Palmer walked over to his side of the car. "What kind of supernatural are you? You never did say."

"And I'm not going to say. Yet. Unless you find out first." Bailey replied as they walked towards the building. "Think Rosa is still here?"

"Most likely. She's a bit of a workaholic." Palmer looked at Bailey, resting one hand on the doors.

Bailey turned towards him, looking curious. "Why'd you stop?"

"I just wanted to say that I had fun with you. At the carnival. It was almost..." He hesitated before continuing. "Almost like a date. I wouldn't mind doing it again."

"Well, it was nice, though I still hate you for beating me at darts."

Palmer perked up when he heard him. "Nice? Does that mean you'd be willing to do it again? Maybe I'll even let you win next time."

Bailey groaned, opening the doors. "I take it back. It wasn't nice at all."

"Too late, Bay! You already said it was nice!" Palmer followed him inside, stopping when he spotted Rosa in the lobby, looking worried. "Rosy? What's wrong?"

She walked over to them both. "Come on. You two need to see something."

She led them to the elevators, which turned out to be a rather quiet ride with Palmer shooting worried looks at both Bailey and Rosa, while they both had blank expressions on their faces.

Finally, the elevator stopped, letting them off on the fourth floor, where they walked to Rosa's office.

She stepped over to her desk, opening her laptop before spinning it around to show a picture on the screen.

Both men leaned forward to see the picture clearly; it was a photo of Bailey and Palmer standing near each other as they threw darts. They could distinctly see Palmer's hair brushing against the collar of his shirt.

"It's posted on his site, Palmer." Rosa told them.

"Lewys's site."

"Yes."

"What's his motivation?" Bailey mused, running a hand through his hair. "What does he get from doing things like this? That wasn't included in your information."

"We don't really know what it is." Palmer replied.

"At first, we assumed it was love or what he thinks is love." Rosa told him. "That he was in love with Palmer - or thought he was - but he's never sent any love letters, though he has told Palmer he loved him."

"He has made a lot of money by selling my autographs but money doesn't really seem to be his motivation either."

"Perhaps jealousy then? Or envy. Palmer is handsome, rich and he's in the spotlight. Perhaps it's what Lewys wants."

"You've seen the photos though." Palmer sat down. "He may not look like me, but he's a good-looking guy."

"That doesn't mean anything." Bailey sat down in the second chair, his mind racing as he talked. "He might not see himself as good-looking."

"But what would stalking Palmer do?" Rosa asked, watching them both. "It won't change his looks."

"Perhaps he's trying to find flaws. To show the world that Palmer is not as perfect as he seems."

"Can we debate about this later?" Palmer asked, covering a yawn with his hand. "I'm getting tired."

"Ah, right. About that." Rosa cleared her throat, sitting up straight. "You can't stay home alone, Palmer. Bailey is going to have to be with you 24 hours now."

"What?" Bailey looked over at her, his eyes widening. "Why?"

"He followed you both to the carnival. And he took a photo of you both. He knew who Palmer was even with the illusion I put on him."

"Wait." Bailey frowned. "Palmer told me earlier that illusions don't work with cameras. That they don't record them."

"What are you getting at?" Palmer asked him, sitting up in his chair.

"Well, if you look at someone through a camera - someone who's been illusioned - would they be able to see through the illusion?"

Comprehension dawned on Rosa's face. "No, they wouldn't be able to see through the illusion until the picture was taken."

"Which means he knew who Palmer was before he took the photo."

"Lewys Romero is a supernatural." Palmer stated with a groan.

"Exactly."

"Why wasn't this in his folder?" Bailey asked after a minute.

"We didn't know." Rosa slumped back in her chair. "It didn't come up in any of his background checks. This changes everything."

"How?" Palmer asked, watching them.

"Because he's not human. We don't know what kind of supernatural he is. We don't know what he can do." Bailey told him softly. "At this point, he's an unknown variable."

"Variable? Aren't you overreacting? He's still a person after all."

Rosa and Bailey both stared at him. "You aren't getting it, Palmer." Rosa spoke up. "There's many different kinds of supernaturals out there; each one of them with things they can do that could hurt or kill humans."

"And supernaturals." Bailey added. "We're not immune to them."

Rosa looked over at him, her lips curving into a smirk. "We?"

"He's a supernatural, Rosy." Palmer told her.

"Yeah, I know. I just figured it would be a little longer before he trusted us enough to say something."

"You know?"

"Witches are able to detect supernaturals. Though, it only works if we make skin-to-skin contact."

"What? When did you...?"

"When I handed him the folder. Our hands touched briefly but it was enough of a touch that I could tell. Someone did a good job hiding it though. It never showed up in our background check on you."

Bailey shrugged, not wanting to say anything.

"Well, whatever your reasons are for hiding it, it doesn't matter. You're here now, that's what matters."

Bailey stared at her. "Just like that? I've been hiding who I am and you're saying that it doesn't matter?"

"This is neither the time nor the place to have this kind of discussion." She told him flatly. "You two need to figure out where you'll be living."

"Right." Bailey glanced over at Palmer.

"Well, isn't it obvious? You should come live with me at my house." Palmer told him.

"What? No. You come live at my apartment."

"Why?"

"Because I just got it and I'm not giving it up for you."

"I'm not asking you to!"

"Yes, you are! You just told me to move into your house with you."

Palmer flushed. "Actually I said you should live with me. Nothing about moving in with me."

"It's the same thing. And I don't want to give up my apartment. I need my own space." Bailey told him.

"You'll have plenty of space. My house is big enough for us both."

"I..." Bailey puffed out his cheeks. "Fine. But we stop at my apartment first so I can get some stuff."

"What, like clothes? I can lend you some of mine."

"No thanks. I'll look like a kid dressing up in hand-me-downs."

Rosa snorted behind her laptop. "He's got a point, Palmer. You can wait for him to get some clothes."

"Oh, fine." Palmer groaned, leaning back in his seat. "Wake me up when you get back, Bay."

"Yeah, yeah." Bailey grumbled, pushing himself out of his seat. "I'll be back soon."

When Bailey got back, he found Rosa and Bailey waiting in the employee's parking lot, talking to each other as they leaned against Palmer's car.

"Hey." He turned his motorcycle off, leaning against the handlebars as he watched them both.

"Hey," Palmer smiled at him. "Ready to go? I figured you could follow me."

Bailey nodded, holding up a bag with some clothes in it. "Got some stuff here."

"Bailey," Rosa stepped forward, looking at them. "You'll be moving in with Palmer."

"Not tonight, I'm not. I'm too tired and I'm on a motorcycle."

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, Rosy." Palmer rested a hand on her shoulder briefly. "We've had a busy day."

"Alright, Palmer." She sighed, pulling away from him. "You'd better get home safe and alive. Or I'll bring you back to life and kill you myself. You know I can do it."

"Don't worry, Rosy." Palmer replied, amusement evident in his voice as he got back into his car. "Start up your Splendor, Bay. Let's go home."

"It's not my home." Bailey grumbled as he shifted back to sit on his motorcycle and start it.

"Yeah, yeah. Just wait until you see it. You'll love it." Palmer started his car, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Can I get that in writing?" Bailey asked before pulling on his helmet and pulling out after him. He kept the car in view, following him down the highway until Palmer turned onto the road that lead to the cliffs.

Bailey paused briefly, switching gears before following down the gravel road. Not many people in Sita were brave enough to live by the cliffs. While they weren't the highest cliffs around, they were pretty tall at 59 feet with waves from the Kipry sea crashing into the small beach below them.

Finally, Palmer turned onto what appeared to be another road but turned out to be a driveway leading up to a ranch-style house.

The exterior was painted a dark green with brown trimming on the front door and two windows on either side. The house would have almost blended in with the pine trees surrounding it if it hadn't been for the reflections off the window panes.

He waited until Palmer parked his car to turn off his motorcycle and get off it.

"Well? What do you think?" Palmer asked as he got out.

Bailey pulled his helmet off, running a hand through his hair. "Well, I like it." He admitted, his instincts clamoring at him to shift and explore the land. "How much of it is yours?"

"All of the house is mine, Bay." Palmer replied, all traces of tiredness gone as he watched him, an amused smile on his lips.

Bailey flushed. "I didn't mean the house, I meant the land."

"I see." The other man still looked amused even as he looked around. "Well, I bought all the land that the forest is growing on and that's about five acres. As I told you, if you need space, I've got it. Probably have more than you would at your apartment."

Bailey clenched his jaw when he heard the smugness in Palmer's voice before he sighed. He's right. He thought wistfully, thinking of his apartment. It was true that it was his own personal space but he didn't have half as much space there as he would out here. He could actually shift and no one would see him if he didn't want them to.

"You can explore later, Bay. Come on." Palmer grabbed his hand, interrupting his thoughts. "I'll give you a quick tour."

"Quick?"

"Well, it's all one floor. Not much to really see in here."

"How big is your house?" Bailey asked, grabbing his bag as they passed his bike to climb up the steps to the front door.

"About 1600 square feet."

Bailey stumbled when he heard the number. "1600?"

"Yeah. How big is your apartment?" Palmer asked as he unlocked the door and they both walked inside.

There's that smugness again. Bailey sighed, looking over at Palmer. "400. Look, I get that that's small for a big star like yourself, Palmer, but it was what I wanted so stop acting so smug about how much bigger your house is."

"What you wanted?" Palmer turned to look at him. "So you don't want it anymore?"

"I... That's not what I said."

"Yes, it is. You said that the apartment was what you wanted. Past tense, which usually means you don't want it anymore."

"Well, of course I still want it." Bailey replied.

"Uh huh. What have you done with your money, Bay? From what I heard, you made enough money to be able to buy yourself a good amount of land and build a house."

"I gave it to my parents..."

"What?" Palmer stared at him, looking amazed.

"I... Well, they needed it more than I did. I kept $2000 for myself and gave the rest to them."

"And they accepted it? I've met your parents, Bay. They don't seem like the type to just accept your money."

Bailey had to smile at that. "That's because they aren't. Sylvia and Saffi told them they entered them in a contest and the winner got a cash prize. They weren't happy about it but they accepted the money and were able to pay off past bills and fix up the house."

To his surprise, Palmer backed away a couple steps. "Good grief, Bailey, how can you be so, so..."

"So...?" He prompted, stepping closer to Palmer.

"So... so perfect." With that, Palmer cupped his face, pulling him closer as his lips landed on Bailey's.

The kiss didn't last for more than a few seconds; just a brief touching of their lips before Palmer pulled away, his face flushed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't... I mean, at least I didn't kiss you in the bathroom, right?"

Bailey blinked, watching Palmer carefully. "Are you alright?"

"I... Well, yes." Palmer bit his lip, watching him. "It didn't affect you?"

"What, the kiss?"

"Yeah."

Bailey looked away. "I'd be lying if I said it didn't."

"Look at me and say that again."

He growled under his breath, looking over at Palmer. "It affected me, okay?"

"Good. At least it wasn't just me."

"I'm too tired to deal with this right now. Can we get some sleep?" Bailey asked. "You can give me the tour in the morning, just show me to my room."

"Bay..."

"In the morning, Palmer."

Palmer sighed, nodding as he lead Bailey through the house to a cluster of doors, opening a door on the left. "Your room is right here. Good night, Bailey."

"Good night. I'll see you in the morning." Bailey walked into the room, shutting the door to get changed into his pajamas. Getting in the bed, he laid back, his mind racing as he finally thought about their day. Palmer had flirted with him which was nothing new but then they came to his house and he kissed him? All on his first day of work too.

He rolled over on his side with a groan, trying to get more comfortable. But after years of sleeping on the same mattress, the mattress underneath him seemed too soft, too different. He couldn't get comfortable on it, changing his position every few minutes as the kiss replayed in his mind.

Finally, Bailey fell asleep after what seemed like hours, his body too exhausted to stay awake.

The next morning he woke up to the smell of coffee, pulling his face out of the pillow as he got off the bed, leaving the room and following the scent until he got to the kitchen.

Palmer - a disgustingly awake Palmer - looked up at him, a flash of nervousness showing on his face before he smiled at him, gesturing at a cup in front of him. "Hey, how'd you sleep?"

Bailey paused next to the counter, picking up the cup. "Bed's too soft."

"It's memory foam. Let me guess, your mattress has springs?" Palmer held up his hands when Bailey glared at him. "I'm just asking! I'm not being smug."

Bailey took a sip of the coffee before answering. "Yeah, it's still got springs. Never saw a need to change it."

"Well, perhaps you'll get used to the foam." Palmer picked up his own cup of coffee to take a drink. "Bathroom's across from your room, by the way. You look like you fought a battle in your sleep."

"Is that your way of telling me to shower?" Bailey asked him, sipping more of his coffee.

"Well, I was trying to be more polite than that."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll go shower when I'm done."

"Good, you stink."

"You stink."

Palmer chuckled, setting his cup down. "What are we, five years old?"

Bailey hummed, finishing his coffee. "My insults were better when I was five." He replied, going to the sink to rinse his cup out.

"Oh, go and shower." Palmer made a face at him, making a shooing motion with his hands.

Bailey grinned, leaving the kitchen to go to the bathroom.

When he left the bathroom, he felt like a new person. His hair was still damp, though, water dripping down onto the collar of his shirt.

Palmer was leaning against the wall by his room. "Feel any better?" He asked.

"Well... Yeah."

"Good. Then we can talk."

"Don't we have to check in with Rosa?"

"No, I already called her. We're not needed in there today; she's reviewing my contract with the producers of Sygrid."

It took Bailey a minute to remember the name. "Oh, right, The Sygrid Chronicles. You'll be playing... Kunis?"

"Close enough." Palmer replied, sounding amused. "I'm playing Karnas."

"Right. Then I'll go check out the property."

Palmer grabbed his arm. "Not until we've talked, Bay. Why are you trying to get away?"

"There's nothing to talk about. We kissed, that's all."

"That's not it and you know it."

Bailey sighed, looking at him. "It was a kiss, Palmer, not a proclamation of love. We don't need to talk about it. It's not that big a deal." He pulled his arm out of his grip, walking to the front door to leave the house.

"What if it was a big deal to me though?" Palmer asked softly, watching him go before he went back to the kitchen.

Bailey walked around the house until he found a secluded area. He took his clothes and shoes off, leaving them folded neatly before he shifted. His whole body shifted and wiggled as his bones and muscles reshaped themselves, black fur sprouting and growing all over his body.

Finally a fully grown black wolf sat up in the grass, nose twitching before setting off to sniff around the house, nose to the ground. Satisfied that there weren't any other smells besides Palmer's - as well as a few squirrels and the occasional deer - he set off into the woods to explore. His fur ruffled along his haunches, carefully sniffing around the trees before he let his wolf take control.

The wolf started running through the trees, jumping over rocks as he encountered them until he got to a cliff, stopping to look over the ridge down at the sea as it crashed against the rocks. He sat there enjoying the sun shining down on him, warming his fur before he turned around to go back to the house, satisfied with his exploration.

Bailey picked his way through the forest, stopping every so often to scent-mark various trees and rocks before he left the forest, coming back to the house. He paused, smelling Palmer's scent on the porch. Curiosity made him walk silently around the house to peer around a corner, seeing the man sitting on the stairs. With his clothes and shoes next to him. You've got to be kidding me.