As the Moon Teaches

Just a taste.

The days following Gregory’s visit to Loren’s house were slow and agonizing for Loren. Zeala wanted Pelian desperately. Loren felt like his insides were twisting painfully, causing him trouble concentrating on school work. He did not need to attend classes for the last week or two of school, but he enjoyed the distraction from home life for a while.

Classes blurred together, assignments seemed a whirl of words that were hard to focus on. Loren could barely manage to even doodle, his head so stuffy from the complaints of Zeala. There was nothing that the young man could think to do to help calm his wolf.

Pelian was the only thing that Zeala wanted, and it was like a dire need for survival. Loren could not believe how much it was making him feel sick to not be near his mate. It was like he was missing a part of himself and the hollowness made his body hurt.

Loren could do little more than just wish away the pain. The sooner the day ended, the sooner he could go home and sleep, with hopes that rest would help. It was Friday, so he would not have long to rest, as the night would be busy with preparations for the new moon rituals on Saturday and Sunday.

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Carleigh and Loren said their goodbyes to Marcus as they turned down their street. As they walked up to their house, Loren could feel anxiety well in him at the sight of a motorcycle parked in front of their mailbox. Zeala howled for its mate.

“Whose bike is that?” Carleigh questioned as she walked up to the front door.

“Gregory’s…” Loren muttered, trying to keep his heart from thudding out his chest.

Upon entering the house, Loren was suddenly grabbed and pinned to the wall. Gregory’s nose was pressed into the crook of Loren’s neck, where he took a long inhale of the younger man’s scent. A slight growl could be heard as he let his breath out quickly.

Loren had not been able to control the gasp at being grabbed, nor could he stop Zeala’s whimper from escaping.

Carleigh stood there, watching them with confusion. She thought they had a dislike for each other, but their mate connection was obviously very strong. It seemed like they may be inseparable for a while.

“I can’t handle the pain that Pelian is suffering.” Gregory muttered into Loren’s neck. “You need to move in.”

Loren did not know how to respond, given that Zeala was begging for the contact despite Loren’s want to escape. He did not want to live with Gregory, but he definitely did not like the pain he suffered during the week apart. It was nearly unbearable, and just got worse day after day.

When Loren did not respond, Gregory pulled back and stared at him. Next thing Loren knew, Gregory was dragging him away from the wall and down the hall to his bedroom. Green eyes wide, Loren resisted a little but with no real effort.

Gregory dragged Loren to the bed and pushed him down on it. Just like the last time, Gregory crawled over the smaller teen and laid next to him. Pressed into his side, the Alpha buried his nose in Loren’s neck, arm draped across the lean belly.

“Pelian needs Zeala. More than I don’t want you. You need to move in with me.” Gregory growled, asserting himself as the dominant one of the two.

Loren’s body betrayed him and shivered when his mate growled. His body enjoyed the contact enough that Loren did not fight to get away. Could he really allow his body to subject him to Gregory’s whims?

They lay there for nearly an hour, neither moving an inch. They let their wolves bask in the connection between them. Loren and Gregory both figured the less they moved, the less it was considered willing.

A knock on the bedroom door startled both of them, causing them to tense up. Carleigh opened the door a couple inches, enough to have a conversation, but not enough to really see in the room.

“Gregory, are you staying for dinner? Mom thinks you should.” Carleigh seemed to be trying to guilt him into staying, by mentioning Michelle. She figured Gregory was likely to want to respect people older than him.

“I will stay.” Gregory responded after a moment of thought. He lifted up onto an elbow so he could look down at Loren beside him.

Loren could not help but look up into those interesting gray/blue eyes above him. They were actually very nice eyes. Licking his dry lips slightly, he noticed those eyes dart down towards his lips.

Suddenly those eyes flashed red and there were lips on his. Loren gasped and brought his hands up to push Gregory away, but failed as Zeala was enjoying the new contact and not helping him escape.

The kiss lasted only seconds, but it was enough that Pelian was riled up. Gregory pulled away and fought the need to do more. He was surprised at how much Pelian was able to influence him into doing something he was not interested in doing.

Getting off the bed, Gregory grunted and adjusted himself in his pants. “It’s time to get up.”

Loren sat up in bed, definitely concerned that Zeala had him needing more contact. He ignored the way Gregory had to make himself more comfortable. All he wanted to do was be alone for the moment. Zeala did not agree.

Getting up, Loren followed Gregory from the room. They headed towards the dining room, but then Gregory stopped and turned to look at him.

“We’ll pretend that never happened…”

“Agreed. Just don’t do it again.”

Loren walked past Gregory, going to sit at the dining room table. He wanted to try and pretend that Gregory was not there, but his mother had set an extra seat for the young Alpha.

Dinner was tense for Gregory and Loren. Again Kristian was asking about them living together, while Michelle kept asking questions about Gregory’s life. Carleigh spent the whole time staring at the two young men.

Carleigh could see the way they unconsciously leaned closer to each other. She wondered if that would be how she felt when she met her mate. Would she naturally be drawn to whomever it was, the way her brother was even though he denied it?

Watching how they would look at each other when they thought the other was not looking, Carleigh wondered if they would grow on one another. She wanted her brother happy, regardless of who his mate was. She wanted him to know love, not be trapped just because of fate.

Loren seemed to be drawn to watching Gregory’s hands. That he was caught up in the little movements the Alpha made. He seemed to not realize how much he was watching the other young man.

Carleigh would watch how the two wolves reacted to Kristian’s questions of their living arrangements or options. They did not argue their responses as hard as she expected for how Gregory and Loren rejected each other the other day at the Darkstone Pack House.

The evening did not last long, ending pretty much as soon as the food was gone. Gregory left, leaving Loren with a lot to think about. Loren ended up in a hot bath for quite a long time after the Alpha was gone.

Loren soaked for nearly an hour before getting out of the tub. He had spent quite a bit of time in thought over the last week. Could he tolerate the pain and discomfort of distance from his mate? He had nearly thought he was dying last week with how painful Zeala was without Pelian.

Getting ready for bed, Loren could not really get Gregory off his mind. The part where they just laid together, that had been tolerable. The kiss, that was a different story. Zeala had craved that touch. Zeala wanted more of that touch as soon as possible, whether Loren was okay with it or not.

Loren did his best to try and fall asleep, but it was not restful. Zeala was all excited about the possibility of moving in with Pelian. Its excitement was keeping Loren’s thoughts scattered. He could barely keep his eyes closed with how erratic his thinking was.

When he finally fell asleep, Loren’s dreams were all about Gregory and Pelian. He dreamed about them living together. He dreamed of them in wolf form, running through the woods. These types of dreams filled his sleep.