The Pack House

The Talk

A/N: Comment & Vote

He held my body out an it, putting space between us.

I panted for air, eyes wide open in shock at my own actions. Marc was staring at me as if I'd grown another head. "Was that...okay?" I puffed after a few moments.

"It was...wow." He grew red and looked away before meeting my eyes in a serious manner. "I want to understand how you feel."

Great. He wanted to get sentimental and I wanted to get boned. Go figure. "Good." I moved in to kiss him again but he evaded my lips.

"I mean about me. About you being my mate. About us spending the rest of our lives."

It made me want to cringe in all honesty. Being here, around so much violence and brutality was unthinkable. Torturous even. As for Marc... His very existence was something I needed to come to terms with. I had been blessed with the rarest gift an Omega could--a true mate. Not someone who take me and use me to their pleasure whether it be sex or domestic duties. This man was willing to dedicate his life to me. To cherishing our relationship.

And it was terrifying to know I felt the same. This weak willed creature held my heart in his shaky hands. It was terrifying and exhilarating. And Red's reaction would be... Gee, I hadn't even considered it yet.

"What do you mean?" I finally replied carefully. "I don't have a choice really, do I?"

He flinched. "You do have a choice. You always have a choice with me Mason. I've watched Omegas traded like common trade items. But you're just as much a person as I am. I don't want to ever feel like I forced you."

Forced me? This had to do with the Camp no doubt. He was actually asking for my consent. It blew me away how much this simple, unusual gesture meant to me. I found myself analyzing the situation a bit deeper. Trying to feel beyond the raging hormones, and to think with the head on my shoulders rather than the one on the tip of my cock. "I like you Marc. You're not like the rest of the wolves I met. Your gentle. And I feel, with time, I can grow to love you."

I saw the pain. I felt my own saying it. It hurt that I wasn't uttering the words that my wolf demanded. 'Mark Me'

But I wasn't ready. At least, the human the side wasn't ready. "I respect that." His voice broke and my heart tensed.

"Marc don't--"

"No Mason. Don't feel guilty for speaking your mind. I want this honesty between us. In fact, it's an expectation. I've been as a transparent with you as possible."

That was a half truth at best. I knew he kept things from me. He never told me about Red--I had to hear it directed at Arrow as a snarky comeback. Marc lowered me back into the water and my painfully hard cock made me hate myself and my 'honesty'. Marc continued washing his body as if nothing had happened and I forced my body under the water.

The sharp cold took the edge off my sexual tension and I washed the grease and sweat from my hair. The only sound between us was the sound of wet skin and soft splashes of water. Marc stepped out first and I followed suit. I was impressed with how clean I felt without soap. I had always considered it a necessity. Clearly it was just a luxury. Water did the job fine.

My scent was diluted however, to my surprise, and it made sense why these wolves carried such faint scents themselves. As if reading my mind, Marc spoke.

"Water masks scents. And, when used to clean yourself, reduces the distance your scent can travel. It's like a secret-weapon perk of our lifestyle."

"Wow." It made sense. The modern soaps and shampoos were heavily scented making scent deodorant work much harder and less effectively when concealing it. For these wolves, it would do the job completely.

Their combat was almost always done with one side nose blind--no wonder they had been so successful! "Crimson Canyon has a lot of cool quirks about it. It's not all blood and guts--just a lot of the time," he cast me a small smile that helped minimize the awkwardness. "Anyway, I'll bring you back and then see if I can find something to eat."

"Is prey scarce here?" I asked as I pulled on my clothes.

"You gathered that huh?" He asked dryly. We began to walk back to the town hall. "In the summer it's not so bad. In the winter though... things get really bad. Back when we had power we would try and stock up on meat. Freeze it and stuff. But even then, you go hungry in the summer to save it and then hungry in the winter when you run out. There's no good way. There's just...not enough."

They had a limited diet, I'd found. Meat and fruits. They could grow items still. "So you guys...eat each other?" I felt queasy even asking but knowing your mate had tasted werewolf flesh and consumed it, was an equally bad feeling.

Marc crossed and uncrossed his arms. "Not each other, exactly." He said carefully. "Wolves from other Packs...yes. When you get hungry, you get desperate Mason. We don't do it to be disgusting or because we see it as a delicacy. We do it because if we don't, we die."

A cold chill traveled down my spine. "What about the Market?"

"We have nothing to trade and no currency. That and nearly all our wolves are wanted in other territories. Their amnesty applies to here alone or places they go for their jobs--like the Warriors. They'd never willingly travel into Open Territory were Regional Officials could grab them." Marc shrugged. "Besides, in the winter we're weak. We try to keep our heads down."

The Market was expensive and limited in the Winter but we still went regardless with Res. Or at least I did. Now? My winter dining would include the flesh of my own.

"What does it taste like?" I asked in a whispered, ashamed for even wondering.

"Have you had feral wolf?"

I shook my head. "Hm. Dependent on who it is, really game-y. Like deer from other Regions that wandered in? Or Elk? Also sweeter. Sometimes it can been a lot softer than other meat--I think it's the mix between human and wolf flesh that does it. You'd really have to try it." Marc looked sharply at me as I gagged. I stuttered an apology and Marc shook his head. "Not that you will! It's my hope that I never force you to stoop to that level. Even if I don't eat a morsel all winter."

"Don't say that," I said after a moment. "We'll be fine. Together."

Marc smiled. "Yes. Together."

QOTC: The cannibalism--understandable and gross or unforgivable?
Thoughts?
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