Mate Massacres

Chapter 16

Krey's internal organs were screaming.

His hands were on his mate's shoulders. His fingers touched Pip's neck. They stood close. Pip's eyes were trusting and beautiful in the silvery moonlight, pale and large.

Krey's lips tingled at the thought of a kiss. They were in the perfect setting: alone, calm, focused on one another.

Krey didn't know how Pip felt about him. Krey wasn't obvious enough that he wanted to be more than friends. A kiss would let Pip know.

Pip's lips were already parted and soft. He's human, Krey reminded himself. He doesn't feel what you feel yet. Don't scare him off just because you want him so badly.

Krey wondered whether Pip was gay or bisexual or didn't yet know he liked men. The thought of Pip having a crush on someone else made Krey insanely jealous, though the bond wouldn't let Pippor crush on anyone else for long.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Krey's mouth blurted the words before he could stop himself.

FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. FUUUUUCK.

Krey took his hands from his mate's shoulders. Pip's throat tightened; his breath caught in his lungs. Krey thought about quickly explaining himself, but he had fallen in a hole too deep.

"Uh..." Pip breathed, clearly nobody had asked him that before. "H-How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I'm gay."

Krey looked relaxed on the surface, and the woods around them was quiet and calm. On the inside, his brain activated an entire firework display. "I didn't."

"Oh... Well, good guess," Pip said with a nervous chuckle. "A-And no, I don't have a boyfriend."

Krey was good at staring until people looked away. Now, he found it hard not to break their gaze. Krey looked around Pip's cute face in the darkness. "Good," he said lowly, fighting hard to keep the muscles in his face still.

Pip pursed his lips and dropped his gaze to the woodland floor. He rolled back and forth on his feet, smiling.

Krey's brain burst. He was given Pip because of the way he made Krey feel. Pip was sweet and gentle and had a good heart. Krey would learn a lot from Pip; most importantly, he would learn how to be kind.

"D-Do you... Have a- boyfriend?" Pip asked so quietly, Krey was thankful for his abnormal hearing.

"No."

Pip, still smiling, whispered, "Good."

Kiss him. Kiss him. Kiss him. Krey bit his bottom lip. Don't scare him off, not now. They were making steady progress. Werewolves usually moved fast. If Pip were a werewolf, they would have done much more than kissing by now.

Instead of rushing into a relationship, Krey wanted to gain his trust.

He eyed Pip's hand poking from the ends of his too-long sleeve. "What time do you need to be home?"

"Ten is the latest."

Krey stared at the moon; his Pupils dilated. The placement of the waning gibbous moon told Krey the time. Pip still had hours before he needed to be home.

He looked back down to Pip's hand and his nerves left with a long exhale. Krey stepped closer and reached for him.

Pip's hand was much smaller than Krey's. He felt his little fingers wrapping around his hand as soon as their skin touched, as though Pip's natural reaction was to hold Krey. The flutter in Krey's stomach was new. He never got nervous, only angry. The human part of Krey now felt emotion he thought his wolf devoured years ago.