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drkbluedream · 9 months

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Run

- you went to a bicycle tournament even if you aren't interested in it. Even a bit. But that day, your friend invited you to watch him race.

(Ik he already have a gf but lets just forget about her and create alternative universe please)

It's burning hot that day. The sun is having fun burning people. Maybe coming there is a bad decision after all. But remembering that your group of friends who come all the way from Busan to the place around you, just for bike tournaments, it'll be too harsh for you not to cheer for them. The match of your friends team is already done. Looks like they won. While you want to go meet up with your friends, you stumble across someone who is really attractive.

You look at him from far. Thinking what should you do to get his information. Then you saw people taking pictures with some cyclists. Taking deep breath, you walk to him and approach him.

"Hey, you look great on race today. Can I take pictures with you?" You said. Trying to be confident. Even tho only God knows how scared and shy you are that time.

The guy's head tilted a bit as if he was questioning you. He didn't say anything, makes your confidence drop. You want to take it as rejection but even before you could walk away, the guy replied , "my team turn hasn't come yet but sure"

That's how you stand there in embarrassment. Maybe it's a price to pay for trying a good looking man. The guy looks around 180cm, with short fluffy black hair that almost covers his eyes, long lashes, eyes that looks dead, and face what show he don't give a fuck of world. Totally your type.

You took some selca with him and left with his insta id. When he leaves, you can see a huge logo printed on his back. A bird with flowers? "Humming bird.. maybe I should stay a bit."

That's how your story starts. Not a beautiful story. From tagging him on Instagram story, to manipulating him to give his phone number. Pestering him everyday.

From what you know, his name is Jay Jo and his uncle is some short of cyclists champion? He is really hard to approach. Dry texter and he is weird. But you can see he try. He replied to everything almost immediately. Isn't that cute?

You never ask about his personal life. So you don't know he really is. Plus you think it doesn't matter. That's what you thought. Until today come.

Today is a hell day. You run away from home after a big fight with your mom. The new day has almost come so there's not much shop open around you. Also you, who leave every personal stuff at home, can't afford to stay anywhere. Yeah you forgot to bring your bag that has your wallet, bike key, charger, etc. You are alone in the middle of the night, at the park, only with your phone. Probably heaven really mad that you fight with your mom, the badluck streak doesn't end there.

Your phone, the only thing you have right now, only has 20 percent of battery. If you use it consistently, for sure it won't live till the next day. You sigh. You don't know where to stay. Most of your friends live miles away from your place. You who don't have a single penny, can't go anywhere. Your friends who live around here, mostly stay out of town to continue studying. So it's just you alone.

You become more restless until you see Jay like one of your stories. A few minutes ago you uploaded a story saying that you might be gone for a while. Well it's directly for the 'fans' of yours. You might be unable to show up on Instagram so you don't want any of them to wonder where you have been. Last time you went without saying anything, the aftermath you got is something you can't handle.

You look at Jay's profile who is currently online. Based on his following, he looks like he knows some of the mutual there. The possibility of him staying around you is also high. Maybe he can help?

You slide to his profile and start to chat with him.

"Hey Jay, sudden request. Do you have an extra charger? Can I borrow your charger?"

Jay is typing...

Pfft. See? He immediately replied.

"Yeah. Are you going to pick it up?"

"Yeah. Where do you live?"

He then sent his location. The reason you don't really pester into his personal life is because he never asks about yours. So you see there's no reason for you to start if. It's inappropriate too for you.

"I will arrive in a bit"

You send the chat before you start walking. It's around 15 minutes walk. You haven't eaten since yesterday so you don't really have energy left. So you walk at a slow pace. Hoping you didn't make him wait long.

You received a call.

"Jay..?" You were wondering why he called you. Did you take too much time? You answer the call. You didn't say anything because you want to let him talk first. But the other end also didn't say anything.

"Yeah?" You asked.

"You take your time. Where you at?" He asked. So cold. You can feel his coldness.

"Uh.. xxxx" you name the place based on the map.

"It's near. Should I pick you up?" He offered. You guys aren't that close and you have trouble so you refuse.

"It's going to rain" he said and immediately hung up.

You just stand there, stunned by his action. You look up and try to confirm his word. But it's the middle of the night. No way you can see the difference. But did he know? Yeah whatever it's not your concern.

In front of you, there's a tall building. "Oh, he lives in a condo". While u are mesmerized by the place, a black cat comes to your leg and meows at you. The cat immediately got your attention. Definitely the cutest cat ever. You squat down to play with it.

"You should've told me if u arrived" a pair of legs stopped in front of you and the cat. You look up and it's Jay.

You stand and look at him. He doesnt look like he is ready to sleep. He's all dressed up like he is from somewhere. In his hand, there's a paper bag. Noticing you looking at it, Jay immediately hands it over to you.

"Thank you" you look into the bag. It's a brand new USB cable and power bank. You look at him confused. "It's new...?"

"Yeah. I don't know if the one I have right now can function properly or not" he bites his lips and looks away. Ah he looks so cute.

"Well if you just let me know, I will just buy a new one for myself you know." You feel guilty. Who doesn't? You definitely trouble him.

"My fault for replying without checking properly. Plus I'm on my way home" he said.

Oh.. I see.

You just nodded. "Well I owe you". As soon as you want to take steps to leave, it starts to rain. You let go of a really heavy sigh. Today is definitely not yours.

"You can stay at my house for a bit" his words stop your steps. You were shocked. Is he for real?

"Are you sure Jay?" You look at him, trying to see if he's telling the truth.

He nodded. "You look like you aren't in a position to say no after all. Why don't I lend some hand?" He added. You moved by him. "I saw you walk means you don't have or take any transport. You must be tired. Plus it's raining. I'm not cruel for letting someone walk in the rain."

Not only does this guy have a good appearance, he only has a good heart. His family raised him well. You hope you didn't judge too fast.

You just follow him to his unit. Jay's condo security system.. you can say it's quite too much. Lobby, then the lif, and even each floor needs an access card. Is he rich? You ask yourself.

"I need to take something at the carpark. You can enter first" he said. He gave you his password to enter his unit. Why did he trust you so much?

You leave that question aside. Maybe you don't have to know. Maybe it's not the time for you to know yet.

You enter his unit and it's nothing like you expected from him. It's dark yet so clean and lacks furniture. It looks cold. There's no coach or place to sit except the food table. It's quite big but it's so.. quite. So you just sit on the floor without saying anything after plugging in to charge your phone.

You zoned out while thinking about the 'curse' you got. There's much more problems you have and the fight with your mom is your last straw. Maybe you should've just gone from the world and stop trying to survive.

You heard someone unlock the door and you can see Jay walking in. The first thing that came to your mind was "welcome home".

He was stunned. He looked at you without moving for awhile. his ears slowly glowing red. "I'm.. home" he said. Trying to hide his face. He put two pieces of plastic on the table. You can smell fried chicken from it. You peak in interest.

"You should eat. You can take a bath either before or after. Up to you" Jay said as he tried to avoid eye contact. You didn't mention it. You were thinking if you should eat first or take some bath first.

"Can I borrow your towel?" You decided to take a shower first. Knowing you'll get cold chicken, you rather eat that than eat with Jay while being smelly.

But your question makes Jay stunned. He bites his lips and slowly looks at you. "Do you mind sharing a towel with me? I forgot to buy a new one"

That's when it hits you. This whole house is his. Everything is his. Only you are yours. Sharing a towel, soap, shampoo, fragrance, everything is an opportunity. You nod to his question. He brings you to his toilet and you take a bath there.

You can hear Jay's doing something in the kitchen. Chopping, blending, tf he doing? Then he quit a bit. Well none is your concern. After a while, you go out with a towel. Outside, he prepared your clothes to wear. How ironic that he is definitely bigger than you.

You are unsure why his clothes look so big on you. He is indeed taller but you guys sizes look basically the same. If anything, it's impossible to wear something larger than yours. It's definitely a scene straight from drama. So cliche.

While you walk entering the living room, seeing Jay already sits on the floor with a mini table open. There's a friend's chicken and friend rice you believe Jay is cooking just now. He looks like a lost child while waiting for you. The mini towel got your attention.

"When did you take a bath?"

"Just now" he answered. Didn't intend to reply more than that. So you just nod and sit in front of him. Maybe you don't have two know.

"You drink?" He asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I want to take the day off tomorrow. Drink with me" he then put a few cans of beer on the table. He just grin while looking at you. He is definitely the cutest.

"Thank you" you took one of the beers and drank it. Jay just looks at you without saying anything. He takes one of the chickens and puts them on a plate that has been served in front of you. You guys start eating and drinking.

He isn't as quiet as you think he is. He does talk. But not a lot. And he isn't awkward or cold. You're glad you can see his new side. He looks so cute this way. You hope that you are the only one who can see Jay acts this way.

"Why did you help me?" That question accident slipped your mouth. Maybe you drink too much. He stopped eating and looked at you.

"Is that wrong? Helping you?" He looks so confused.

"You can just say no" you start bickering. This is definitely why people stop asking you to join for drinks. You start a fight.

"I have a hard time saying no." He replied calmly.

"Then you gonna help everyone that comes to you?"

He shook his head. "Only you. I only have a hard time saying no to you". He said that without looking directly into your eyes. But you can't sense lies from his voice.

"Issit because you think I'm pathetic?" You ask but Jay didn't reply. But he stops eating and looks at you. " It's not because you want to take advantage of me right?"

"You drunk" Jay takes away the beer from your hand. Unsatisfied by how he didn't answer your question, you grab his hand make him pulled to you and almost fall on the table.

"Answer me"

He tries to run his eyes from you but you are irresistible. "If you allow me then I don't mind" he then pecks your forehead before pating your head, then back sitting opposite from you.

That action is enough to make you shut up. He's well aware of your feelings and isn't in the phase of wanting a girlfriend but he also doesn't want to take your feelings easily and he didn't play with you. Maybe he is giving you a chance to grab his heart.

Jay, who just makes you stunned just now, chuckle seeing how you stopped moving and having a shocked face. He feels like you are so cute. He then wants to continue eating but who expects you will stand up and jump on him? He definitely didn't expect it.

You on top of him, holding both of his hands, while putting your weight on his stomach. He grunts as your body hits him suddenly and it makes him fall on the floor. But seeing you on top of him, and your face really close to him, he starts becoming shy. He looks aside and you can see how red his ears have become.

"y/n, what are you doing?" He said without looking at you. You can see Jay red getting red and redder for every second pass you leave his question hanging. He can't handle the quiet atmosphere you decide to give. So he faces you again and you who have been waiting, start to kiss him.

Whoever sees this scene, will definitely judge you for your actions. Who actually jumps on people and kisses them? That's such an immoral actio-- I would.

The kiss starts with your lips touching his and after it, he starts to open his mouth, then leads you with his tongue. You didn't expect how good he is in kissing. The kiss is so sensual that your hand that holds your weight almost gives up. Noticing how your hand starts shaking, Jay easily breaks from your prison.

You fell on him and it makes all your body weight on him. You can feel every breath his take, how fast his heartbeat is and how hot he is right now. Jay wrapped his hand around your head before sitting and it makes you sit on his lap. He tucked your hair behind your ear to see you better.

His eyes linger on your face as he is just massaging your neck then his eyes stop on your lips. You can see how he tries to hold himself from kissing and eat you alive. But you can't take it anymore. You wrapped your arm around his next and played with his soft fluffy hair before pulling his hair closer to you kiss him again. You take the lead. You control his tongue movement and teach him how you like it. He seems to just follow your lead while his hand slowly goes lower and lower then ends up around your waist.

You can feel something poke on your sensitive part down there. You don't have to look by yourself you already know what it is. It makes you feel pure happiness. The guy you like got turned on just by kissing you.

Noticing he accidentally poked you, he immediately panicked. "I need to go to the toilet" he said as he wanted to push you off his lap. He covers his face using his hand and tries to not look at you.

You were confused by his actions. "Was it because of this?" You start to touch his bulge, teasing him. You can see how it's growing and getting harder.

He bit his lips that plumped just by kissing you. He slowly nodded. But you still won't let him go. Without asking, you start rubbing him with yourself and satisfy yourself. You rub your clit with his bulge and move back and forward with your own pace. He tries to hold his voice in that he starts to let heavy breath. He is trying his best to not let any sinister voice out but he seems to fail. He threw his head to the back and only let one of his hands support him from falling while another one covered his eyes. He let out a cute grunt as you try to massage it using your hand.

He closes his mouth with his hand and looks at you between the gaps of his finger.

Omg he is such a baby girl.

"Please don't do this to me" he said. His eyes are lost in pleasure and you can see he is sweating as if he just finished running. His Adam apple moves up and down as he gulps the saliva.

"I.. didn't do anything?" You said innocently. But your hips didn't stop. You close. Really close. But it's not enough. You need something in you.

Jay lost patience as he lifted you up and put you on his shoulder, bringing you to his bedroom without opening any light and throwing you on his bed. He didn't even bother closing the door or locking the room. You can see he's panting as he stands in front of the bed.

"Can you stay here for a while?" He asked nicely. As if he is begging you to not throw and tantrum. But you know if you let him go then there's no second chance. Right now is the time.

"Where did you wanna go?" You lie down and hide half of your face. Acting like you sad when you know damn well most of your skin is exposed by the impact he throws at your bed.

"I need to calm myself down"

"Then how about me?" You asked. Even if you can't see him clearly, you know that he is dead red. As you are waiting for his response, you can see his Adam's apple move. "Same like you, I'm wet down there too"

"Will you allow me?"

You nodded.

You can see Jay a bit hesitant by your words but his hand says otherwise. He tried to reach you but he didn't move.

"We are drunk. You will regret it later"

"Then let's regret it later" you said. It's obvious you can't wait.

He comes closer to you. You can see every step he takes seems heavy. Looks like he reconsidered his decision every step. "Jay.. I only want you because I love you" you give the last shot.

He climbs on bed and topps you. He looks at you with guilt and with lust. You can tell he is fighting himself inside his mine.

"What do you like about me?" He asked. He looks straight into your eyes. He tries to not touch you before getting grasped the whole situation.

You touch his face that's really close to you. "you have a good looking face. Nice body. Tall. Fair skin" you stop. "Fluffy hair" you added.

"All is my type" you said to him. "and I really love the fact you are acting cold towards everyone else. I know you aren't acting. You just don't know how to show affection."

Jay's face softened. Satisfied by your answer. He pushes your hair on your forehead before giving a quick peck on it. He starts kissing you from your forehead, down to nose, then to your lips. His hand trail your face down to your neck then stop on the top of your chest. He looks at you.

You grab his hand and put it on your boobs. Showing him that it's fine to touch you. Not enough, you took off your shirt, leaving you only with bra and undies. You enjoy every moment his large hand gropes your fine toned boobs. You can see that Jay is also enjoying the moment as you can feel Jay's bulge growing bigger than before.

You don't want the moment to stop and leave you hanging like just now. It's very annoying when your climax gets denied istg. You unzip his pants and take out his dick. Maybe because he is athletic, you can see his veins around his cock.

Jay look at you. Waiting for your comment. He is curious whether you like it or not. As he sees your eyes open wide, he chuckles and goes in for a kiss once more. His breath left as you start massaging him. It makes his hands weak. Having direct contact with your skin with his sensitive spot makes him weaker more than him thought.

You feel it cute when Jay tries to hide his moan and starts to breathe heavily. "Ah-" a moan slipped your mouth as Jay suddenly bit your neck.

Why did this man act like an animal suddenly?

"Sorry" he apologizes. Licking the place on your neck that he bit. Jay is bold with lifting one of your legs to his shoulder. Close to his face, he licks and kisses your calves. The view you see right now is to die for. You wish you could snap this pic on your phone and save it as a memory but you have your phone outside.

What a shame.

As he rubs your claves and things, his hand starts to rub your inner thigh, carefully. He plays around your clit outside your undies. He's making sure that you get used to his touch before going for it. But suddenly he flinches and he grabs both of your hands that have been touching his dick. You can see his delicious banana is leaking precum. "Bad hands" he said.

Jay locks your hand and pushes it to the top of your head. Making you can't move. He takes out your pants. Using his own spit, he enters your pussy using his hand. You can feel he playing around inside of you with his finger. He spread your pussy before adding another one. His thumb is playing with your clit to give you more sensation.

You can't keep your mouth shut by letting your pants out. Your eyes start to roll back when he licks and bites your nipple. You can hear he start purring. It's weird for you. But it's cute.

"Jay- stop-" you said. Urging him to stop. You feel something weird. He was confused by your request. "I might pee" you continue. But he didn't stop. Yet his hand starts moving faster as he looks at your face while biting your nipple.

"Jay Jay Jay!!" You repeatedly call out his name but he continues. "Ah-" your hips flinch as you start leaking some liquid from your pussy. Jay's hands are soaked by it. He licks you cum before kissing you.

You, who's still sensitive, start to shake when he rubs your clit once more. Your body is arching making your body touch his. You can feel something is 'kissing' you down there. You try to be calm while biting your lips but jay notices your lips start bleeding, and starts to lick the blood.

"Bite me instead" he let go of your hand and started to touch your face. He then puts his fingers inside of your mouth, doesn't let you bite your poor lips.

"You are so wet yet why are you so tight?" He grunting. You can hear the pain and pleasure from his voice. Every inch you take, you can feel your inside throbbing. And when Jay goes to the last push, you immediately can feel your inside are full.

His bare dick feels so hot as your inside touches directly to his skin. Every curve his dick has, you can feel it. It's too late to ask him to wear a condom. Because if you would, he might run to the convenience store and buy one. And there's a possibility he'll just jerk off and cool down and chicken out.

You tap his hand asking him to take out his finger inside of your mouth. As soon as he takes out, he grabs your waist and pulls you closer to his hips. Your bellow part got lift easily. But seeing you feel uncomfortable, he grabs your hand and pulls you to hug him, making you sit on him.

The weight of your body makes his dick feel so much deeper. As if you can feel it in your stomach. That's what you thought until you can feel the bulge in your stomach.

He easily helps you move and ride his delicious cock with his strength. You can see the bulge also move as you go up and down.

Jay's heavy breath turned to grunts, his sweat smells nice, his body heat makes you calm then drives you crazy, his hand on your waist, supporting you to move. Everything is perfect. Everything feels like such a dream.

"You smell sweet y/n" he said. Licking your eyes. "I want to eat you" he added. You can hear his growling softly. He kisses your cheek, licks your mouth, and ends up eating your mouth again. The whole room is full of sinister sounds that have been produced by you. Licking sounds, moan, whimpers, clapping, everything comes from you alone.

Jay starts using his hips to move you instead of his hands. He leads your legs to wrap you around nicely and you hand to hug him before you start moving again. He can't see your face but every breath you take, every whimpers and whine you make, sounds very clear to him.

The growth of his size makes you crazy once again. "How come you can be bigger and still not come?" You ask while whining like a bitch with every single word you said.

"Because you are too cute"

Jay starts to move faster as he can hear your hiccup. He got the feeling he accidentally poked your gspot and he was correct. The spot he has been poking makes you hiccup and unable to think straight. If there's a mirror there, you definitely can see how many scares you gave him.

You are surprised as he cum inside you and still hasn't grown softer. You offer him a blow job but he refuses. Saying he will take care of it by himself in the toilet.

As if you will let that right? Hshs. You guys end up having round 2 in his small bathroom. Standing makes your knees weak so he supports your weight by himself. Both of your voices fill the bathroom. Jay didn't seem like he would leave you alone after this.

Even when clearing his cum inside you, he still helps you and fingering you. Overstimulation from him makes you cry and pass out at the end.

You wake up with a strong headache. First thing you see is Jay Jo pinching your cheeks with your phone on his hand. He is taking your photo. You were shocked.

"Do you hate it?" He asked. Showing some pics of you and him while you are sleeping. "I take it on your phone so if you hate it, you can delete it later" he then gave his phone to you. "I didn't take any from my phone. So, if there's a pic of us you like, please send me"

You hold your head. Unable to proceed with the information Jay just gave. The hungover is killing you. "I--" your voice cracked.

Jay laughed. "Rest first, I will order food for you" he said, pull you closer and kiss your forehead.

...

So how do you tell him that you didn't remember anything from yesterday? And why is he being so nice this morning? Hshs..

(Notes;)K thats all. Its long ik. Im sorry. I start write this one from two months ago when i went to a cosplay event and i saw Jay Jo cosplayer. No I'm not pervert irl. It just happened this way so i figure it i should write a fic about it.

If yall lucky then i will write ff about König too😜

#jay jo x reader #jay #windbreaker #windbreaker smut #jayjo #windbreaker jay

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uniquexusposts · 7 days

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Her || Charles Leclerc

Main characters: Charles Leclerc x OC Genre: fanfiction, fluff Story type: novel Part: 10/? Word count: 2602 Co writer: @mistrose23

Summary: This was Matilde Jørgensen, the newly appointed team principal of Scuderia Ferrari, about to face one of the most nerve-wracking challenges of her life. She tried to save the team from more disappointing results and put everything on the line to make them world champion again. There will be a big challenge to lead a historic team as 'newbie' and keeping her work and personal opinions apart from each other. The big question everybody will be asking: is she capable to do so?

Chapter 8. Call It What You Want

Matilde sat in the airport, waiting for her flight to leave. She was seated in the business class lounge, enjoying a cup of coffee. Well, she couldn't really enjoy it. The events of yesterday played through her head; from the perfect race and victory, to the moment in the restaurant. Even though it hurt, she still had a fun night with Max and her former colleagues.

"Hey," a voice said, he sounded surprised.

Matilde looked up and a smile came to her face. "Hey," she smiled at Kevin, who took a seat next to her. "Going home?"

The Danish driver nodded. "You too?"

She nodded. "It's my mum's birthday tomorrow."

"Ah, that's sweet. Congrats on your win, by the way! Your first victory as team principal and the first victory for Ferrari this year!"

A weak smile came on her face. "Thanks."

"Hangover?" The off reaction didn't go unnoticed by Kevin.

"Yeah," she breathed. "Something like that."

He smirked. "You will remember this one forever."

"And if I will," she muttered. The good and the bad, she thought. "How was your race? P11, P10?"

"P10, quite average. It was an alright weekend. The track is fun, but the entire show around it... Not a big fan, to be honest."

"Yeah, Miami is something else. I wonder what Las Vegas will be like," she mentioned.

"We are Danes, we keep it low profile."

They both laughed.

"Where are you seated?" Kevin asked.

Matilde looked at her ticket. "2A, you?"

"8H," he replied. "I don't know if it is me, but it's quite funny that in America, we get paper boarding passes, and in Europe, or flying from Europe, we have them online. Or it's me, my subconscious preference."

"No, I have it too. But I don't know. Also, when going through security here, we have to remove our shoes. I have never done that in Europe. Bizarre how many things are different between continents." She took a deep breath. "It makes travelling interesting and fun."

Matilde and Kevin made their way to the gate when it was almost time to board. They had to wait for just a few minutes, because the crew still had to arrive after a short delay on their side. Matilde's eyes fell on the crew of SAS, who now arrived. A smile came on her face, and tears flowed in her eyes. One of the stewardesses happily smiled as well and excused herself from the crew, just like one of the pilots. Matilde stepped towards the inflight manager of the flight.

"Mati," the stewardess said and embraced her daughter tightly.

Matilde closed her eyes, not saying anything back. She was so relieved and happy to see her mother after five months. More tears welled up, but she was fighting against them.

Freja pulled back, looking at her daughter. Matilde opened her eyes and took a deep breath. "Sweetheart..." Freja found herself in a difficult situation as well, trying to hold back the emotions as well. She stroked a piece of hair behind Matilde's ear and placed her hand on Matilde's cheek. "I'm so happy to see you. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Matilde whispered, not wanting to bother her mother before the flight and her job with her issues. "I'm so happy to see you, too," she said and smiled. "I didn't know you were on this flight."

"Coincidence," her mother smiled. "We will talk once we are in the air, okay?" She let go of Matilde and looked at the man who sat on the bench; she assumed it was a friend of Matilde's. "Are you flying together?"

Matilde looked behind her, at Kevin. "Yes, but we're not seated next to each other. He's a friend of Lars."

"Since when does Lars know Kevin Magnussen?"

"Lene is friends with his wife," Matilde smirked, thinking how ironic it was.

Freja looked impressed and introduced herself to the Danish driver. While they had a quick chat, Matilde greeted the pilot with a hug, happy to see him as well. The stewardess and pilot excused themselves and boarded the plane.

"Parents?" Kevin asked curiously.

Matilde nodded. "Mother and stepfather," she exclaimed. "She says it is a coincidence that she's working on this flight, but I know she planned it like this."

"Parents..." He smiled. "It's adorable." He looked at her. "This might be a personal question, and if you don't want to answer it, it's fine. But do you still see your father?" Kevin looked waitingful at her. "Lars doesn't really talk about this family, as you probably know by now."

A comforting smile came on her face. "Yeah, Lars is really private. But we all still see our dad. My parents divorced twenty-four years ago, and they're still friends. Mum met Emil through work, and they try to work on the same flights since they got together."

"Did they get together..?"

"Oh, no. A few years after the divorce."

"And your dad?" Kevin's eyes grew round. "Sorry, I'm asking way too much."

She shook her head. "It's okay, it's not like I have issues talking about it. My dad has a girlfriend, Astrid. They met two years ago. It's complicated, but it is what it is," she said and shrugged. "How are Louise and Laura, by the way? And how is the pregnancy going so far? You're having another girl, right? "

"They are both doing fine, and yes, we're having another girl." A smile came to his face as he continued to talk about his family.

* * *

Since it was a day flight, Matilde didn't manage to get any sleep. She planned to do some work on the plane, but ended up watching some movies. Her mind kept drifting off to last night. She got up from her seat and walked through the aisle, passing Kevin, who sat on the other side of the cabin. Their eyes met, he smiled, she nodded. Once she got in the galley, she waited for the bathroom.

"Mati," Matilde's mother said when entering the galley. "How is everything?" She closed the curtain.

"Fine, a whole new experience in business class," Matilde replied and playfully smiled.

"You've never flown business class at SAS?"

"No, economy is all I could pay for, and Red Bull could book for me. Now Ferrari books business class for me. Well, not this flight. I happened to get an upgrade?" She raised her eyebrows. "On this flight only? Not the first flight?"

Her mother smiled. "That is weird, lucky you."

"Mum, you didn't have to do this."

"You are the team principal of Ferrari and flying economy? A woman like you should fly business class. And it is a pleasure to have my daughter in business class on my flight," her mother proudly said and nudged Matilde's shoulder.

Whenever Matilde or her brothers were on the same flight as their mother - which wasn't often, they flew economy. And they grew up appreciating the small things, they didn't bother to fly business. Matilde wanted to ask Ferrari to book economy tickets, but she didn't dare to ask because she understood that by booking business class, she could properly rest or work during a flight. But flying business class wasn't in her nature.

"Still... This is a flight for a private event."

"Still. At least you're not flying private." Freja handed over a bottle of water. "How was yesterday?"

"Aren't you supposed to work?"

"We are mid-flight, all the passengers are served, and now we get on a break."

"Oh, yeah, that is right." Matilde took a sip of her water. "Well, go get your break. It's important."

Her mother proudly smiled. "You sound like a real boss, a caring boss."

A fragile smile came on Matilde's face. "I will tell you all about this weekend once we are home."

"Of course. Unless you want to say something now?"

"No, no, it can wait. You should take your break."

"Okay, sweetheart. By the way, are you driving home with Emil and me? After the plane lands, we have a quick debrief, and then we are free to go. It's okay if you want to go home. Are you staying at mine or your dad's?"

"It's your birthday tomorrow, so I was hoping to crash at yours?"

"Yes! Of course. You're always welcome."

"And if I can drive home with you? I think that's fun," Matilde smiled. "We're going to the same destination, after all."

Freja nodded. "I will share the plans after my break, yes? And you go to the bathroom, it's free now."

Matilde laughed. "See you soon." She stepped into the toilet and did her thing. When she stepped back into the galley, her gaze fell on Kevin. Business class was almost empty, and so was the seat next to Kevin. Without thinking too much about it, she sat down next to him; only the aisle was in between them. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

He sat up and smiled. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

She licked her lips and looked around her. "Well, uh, I don't know if you're the right person to ask this, but yeah... From my experience, we did things differently... but when you're going out after a race, celebrating a...perfect result... do you ask Steiner to join? Or other Head of Departments?"

A frown came on his forehead, and he crossed his arms. "We don't have those results often, but... Yes. Why?"

Matilde slowly nodded. "Exactly," she mumbled. She looked down and saw that her hands trembled slightly.

"Why?" Kevin asked again.

"I'm telling you this in confidence, okay?" Matilde said and looked at him.

"No one will know about it; whatever you have to say, I promise."

"No one in F1," she repeated. "I'm struggling with this thought, but...uhm, the team went out to celebrate the win and P2," she told him. Kevin nodded. "Without me." Tears filled her eyes. "And I don't know if it was their intention, like, not to invite me. As in, they didn't want to celebrate it with me. Or if this is how it goes at Ferrari."

A concerned look came on his face. "Oh, wow. Matilde..." He didn't know what to say. "Why is that your thought?"

"Things are not going smoothly with the team and me; there's still a lot of friction. And I'm still an outsider, which I get; I'm new, young, a woman, still learning to speak Italian. But this weekend... It felt like we bonded, like we finally became a team. And I was, am, still proud of this weekend with all the performances, but then I got a message from Leclerc, asking where I was at their celebration. Coincidentally, we were in the same restaurant. I was with Gemma, and we ended up at Red Bull's dinner. And then I saw the team celebrating the great results."

"But didn't they go out with the team and... I don't know, perhaps the crew only?" Kevin asked, trying to understand it and trying to soften the blow for her.

Matilde shrugged and wiped away a tear that was rolling over her cheek. "No." She looked in front of her. "Everyone was there, except me. But why would Leclerc text me, asking where I was? If it was a crew-only dinner, then why would he text me?"

He showed a weak smile. "I don't know. I'm trying to find some reasonable excuses, to make you feel less shit. You know, I know my crew often goes out as well without inviting the board." He scanned her face. "But the message from Leclerc doesn't make sense. But why were you with Gemma at the Red Bull dinner?"

"I kinda forgot," she said, more tears rolling over her cheeks. "I had so many emotions, and everyone was texting and calling me and asking me things. I asked a mechanic, and he said that they would stay in, because they all had an early flight home the next morning," she rattled. "And then Gemma showed up and asked if I wanted to join her. Next thing I know, I was doing shots with Max." She ran a hand through her hair. "I was thinking of throwing lunch or something after the days off, but I'm not too sure about it now."

Kevin nodded and took a deep breath. "This is not nothing..." He didn't want to say too much; what if he said something wrong? Or gave her an idea? "Did they see you?"

"I sent them champagne."

Kevin straightened his face. "You did what?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, but what the fuck was going on? It didn't make sense. And I wanted to let them know I was there without actually standing next to their table," she blurted. When she thought about it now, it was a bold move, a dick move, but it was genius. "And I told the waiter to say that I gave them my compliments."

"Matilde..." He looked impressed and disapproved at the same time. "This is so..."

"Not me? Yes, I know. But I already had alcohol in my body, and I just... I don't know, I was so confused and disappointed. And when the waiter pointed at me... You should have been there. They looked like they had seen a ghost."

Kevin couldn't help it, but laugh. "It is such a dick move, but such a great move. You can't do this. This is not professional."

"It's not professional to invite everyone, but your team principal. And I get it; it's awkward, but I'm not awkward. Half of the team is older than me and more experienced than me. And it's not like I don't know how to function in a team." She shrugged.

"But how did things go at Red Bull?"

"We would go out for dinner first, often with Christian and the board. The team would go to a club, and Christian and the board often would go back to the hotel; sometimes, they would join. Or we would go out without Christian and the board, team only thing, but they would know. Or they declined the invitation. We were very open," she said and dried her eyes when her sight became blurry. "It was asked... And everybody had a choice. I know things work differently at Ferrari, but this was the last thing that I expected." Matilde shook her head. "We still have to bond and stuff, apparently, but I honestly thought we bonded well over this weekend, and I was just so proud to lead this team." Warm tears left her eyes again. "They didn't invite me for a reason."

"Why?"

"I don't know." She sniffled. "But it's good to know that this isn't normal. Or that this is the way Ferrari operates. The text of Leclerc still doesn't make sense."

"Well, I know that this isn't normal."

She got up. "God, I'm sorry you had to see me having a breakdown," Matilde embarrassedly laughed and dried her eyes. "It's the lack of sleep, hangover and yeah... But thanks for listening. I won't hold you up longer from whatever you wanted to do."

"Matilde, this is a serious issue. I'm not saying you have to go to the board and say something about it, but you have to talk about it. If you say nothing, they will think this is normal, and it's definitely not normal," Kevin mentioned. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it softly, just to let her know that he was there for her. "Let me know how it goes." He gently let go of her hand.

She nodded. "I will, thank you. Really," she said and walked away, back to her own seat.

Kevin was perplexed and processing the words he just heard. Should he do something about it? Or did her team have other intentions? Either way, he knew he had to text her brother when they landed, sharing his concern.

#f1 #formula 1 #formula one #charles leclerc #fanfic #carlos sainz #max verstappen #kevin magnussen #ferrari #scuderia ferrari #motorsports

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nelvana · 6 months

Text

A couple months ago now I was fortunate enough to buy a used switch lite from my friend, and even luckier to obtain a copy of Pokemon Scarlet at the local pawn shop at a very reduced price (plus a couple other things but that's not the point rn). So, we go right from the earliest generation of pokemon to the newest back to back, with possibly just as many bugs and glitches, to my gen 9 team!

Team stats and general gameplay info under the cut:

"Nila", Meowscarada, ♀, U-Turn - Play Rough - Flower Trick - Night Slash

"Quaord", Clodsire, ♂, Poison Jab - Earthquake - Liquidation - Megahorn

"Guache", Grafaiai, ♂, Slash - Knock Off - Poison Jab - U-Turn

"Stella", Luxray☆, ♀, Volt Switch - Spark - Crunch - Ice Fang

"Étoile", Pyroar☆, ♀, Flamethrower - Hyper Voice - Swift - Crunch

"Pharle", Farigiraf, ♂, Crunch - Shadow Ball - Twin Beam - Tera Blast

General Playthrough Notes:

Okay look I need to level with you all right off the bat, I don't like the vast majority of the pokemon introduced in gen 9. They feel like such first drafts to me. I normally go into these games with a team plan but this time I literally had two slots missing going in, I just could not think of what to put in there. And I already planned on using two poison-types and two normal-types! Normally I avoid doubling up on types as much as possible! After a bit I used the codes to get a bug-tera mew and a cetitan and was just thinking "I guess they'll be mainstays??"... then I immediately ran into a shiny shinx. Then a shiny litleo. They happened to slot right into the team and I've never been fortunate enough to use shinies in a playthrough (except my soulsilver randomized apocalocke but shhhhh we aren't there yet), so I put them on. But if they hadn't shown up and essentially saved my ass I would have been hard pressed to fill up a team of six (look I literally just used a mew I'm not in a hurry to use it again, at least it's been a couple years since I used luxray in a playthrough).

Anyways, despite all that, I had fun! I knew going in it wouldn't be too difficult and would have its lion's share of glitches, so I was just along for the ride. I like the friend group you form in this game! I like vibing with koraidon as an honorary team member! It's just a pleasant time.

Back to shinies for a moment, overworld shinies without any sound effects to indicate them is evil. I spent so much time staring at groups of pokemon trying to tell if one of them was off-palette. Thankfully, I never ran into any shinies other than the ones I caught.

The raids are neat, though since I don't have Nintendo Online and no frequent enough local players it isn't super interesting with just the npcs. Caught a few neat fellas though, including a steel-tera breloom and a fighting-tera azumarill.

Speaking of, when I first started playing those mewtwo raids were going on and I wanted to participate in them so bad. I barely missed my window, though from what I've heard I wouldn't have stood much of a chance anyway, haha.

I wish there was more post-game other than the raids. I've redone the tournament like half a dozen times now; I wish there was a battle frontier or something. To be fair, I haven't caught all those ruin legends yet; though the one I have caught I managed to get in the first ball, lol.

Do I have the dlc yet? No! I can't just throw around that kind of money willy-nilly. Maybe someday though.

Picnics are really cute though I wish I could pet my pokemon instead of just wash them. Also why can't I sit down on the chairs that are set up around the picnic table??? Still don't really get the sandwich hype, I might mess around with it a bit though, I want to give it a fair shot.

"Hey Nel, why haven't you talked about the Elite Four? You usually start these notes with them?" The E4 is very unremarkable, sorry. I won't bore you by being the billionth person to rag on how Geeta is objectively the worst champion. Also when I rematched all the gym leaders I didn't have to terastilize or heal my pokemon. They were a bit more impressive the first time around tbh. The gym puzzles were neat though!! Except for Tulip's. Fuck her.

Oh yeah, terastilizing is a thing. Mega evolution is still better.

I wanna hang out with my friiiieeeennnds more, both my irl friends and Nemona, Penny, and Arven. It would be so fun to do raids with them or something like that.

Cold take but the uniforms suck I wanna customize my outfit like Nemona, Penny, Arven and Team Star do

(Normally this is where I'd show a screenshot of me finishing the game, but I'm one of the few weirdos who can't use captchas and haven't found another way to transfer files from my switch to other devices. Have a picture of my cat instead; his name is Prince.)

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st0rmyskies · 8 months

Note

you absolutely dont have to answer this, but how would the hsh boys deal with a manhunt for an escaped killer trapping them inside? like, who would be wearing noise cancelling headphones 24/7 for the police sirens, and who would get fed up and go to hunt the guy down themselves? hope things get a little easier for you soon!

Actually I need this ask like you have no idea.

Twilight - The most lowkey nervous of the house. He's incredibly grateful to be living in Time's fortress, but he's also pretty freaked out living so close to or within the search area. He tends to double- and triple-check locks whenever he passes by doors and he'll snap at the others to stop opening windows, although he'll try to laugh it off and not let on how scared he is. Debates for a hot 30 minutes whether he should go visit home indefinitely. He loses the most sleep in the house listening to the helicopters at night.

Wild - He comes up with the most imaginative methods for how the killer might get into the house and terrorize the group, and he loves to share them out loud while working in the kitchen or when passing by the others lounging in the living room. It's pretty common to hear a bunch of them yelling "WILD!!" to get him to shut up now and then. But he's also weirdly not scared. Definitely has a "there's no way that would happen to me" attitude.

Champion - Completely nonplussed. He continues to keep his routine of working out, hanging in his room, going out when he needs to - although he does carry a concealed weapon on him when he leaves. Definitely has a hair-raising "fuck around and find out" aura to him.

Warriors - Gets weirdly serious about the situation at first. He's the first to check doors and windows to make sure they're secure. He keeps the television on the news channel - turned low, of course - for round-the-clock updates. He's constantly checking social media for updates and posting selfies of his arduous ordeal of being stuck inside. By day 5 or 6, though, he's starting to get bored. He's needling his roommates and starting petty fights for no reason, yelling at them when they try to change the channel, and spending way too much time in the bathroom trying new things with his hair.

Sky - Takes things seriously for the first 2-3 days. He keeps his eye on the news with Wars, he talks Twilight down when he can tell that he's a bit panicky, he's the first to gently change the subject when Wild starts to get a new fantasy in his head. By the 4th day, Sky is sick of being inside so much. ALWAYS down to accompany one of the others outside for an errand or whatever, so long as it isn't before 9am.

Legend - Is reasonably unaffected. He’s kind of a shut-in, really. Working with Ravio means that he doesn’t need to leave the house for much. He does like his occasional trip to the cafe but the coffee maker works just as well. When the others begin to get stir-crazy is when he starts to get bitchy and hides in his room most of the time.

Hyrule - Still living his life. Escaped killer or not, Hyrule has a job that he still needs to get to. He's so dead inside at 5:30am each day that he could open the front door to the killer standing on their porch and just say "excuse me" and pass right on by with his work bag on his shoulder. Public transport isn't running, so Time is up with him each morning to take him to and from the hospital personally, which he supposes is a perk. At least Time doesn't expect too much in the way of conversation so early in the morning.

Four - He's quieter than usual and is spending a lot more time in his bedroom with the door locked and the curtains drawn. He'll come down for meals, but he excuses himself anytime Wild starts up with another fantasy about how the killer is going to come in and get them all in their sleep. He categorically AVOIDS the living room with the constant news feed about the situation. Alone in his room, though, he checks on the situation online at least twice a day, and he's watched the surveillance tape loops of the guy more than any of the others.

Shadow - Shortly after the whole circus starts, he's texting Four, offering to have him come stay at Shadow's place, which is much farther from the action. But Shadow has a basement apartment, which would make Four a bit paranoid. So 36 hours in, Shadow shows up outside of Four's window unannounced, nearly giving him a heart attack, and quietly moves in with him until the whole ordeal is closed. Somebody's gotta keep Four from falling apart all alone.

Wind - He literally could not care less, all up until his Amazon orders start coming up as "unable to be delivered due to emergency or weather situation." THEN he's stomping around the house, ranting and raving about the uselessness of the police force and that "It's just one guy!!" and "How hard can this be!!?" Most likely to get into it with Warriors and sent Legend in a disgruntled huff stomping off up the stairs.

Dark - Leaves some food and bottled water out on the fire escape each night like you'd put out milk and cookies for Santa.

Time - For the first few days, he’s the sensible dad. The townhouse is built to protect; he has enough locks and munitions to hold off an army. He keeps the blinds shut and the lights on and informs the boys that it’s smarter to travel in groups, only leave if you really need to, etc. By day 4 when the others are beginning to grumble and get restless, he reminds them to leave it to the proper authorities, but even he is getting a bit stir-crazy, barking at the boys when they’re peeking out the blinds or squabbling too loudly downstairs. On the evening of day 10, Time leaves the house with a duffel bag and only informs Twilight that he has some work to do and to keep the doors locked. He returns 18 hours later, showers, and passes out for the entire night and most of the next morning. He’s immediately more relaxed in the house and doesn’t harp on the others about keeping doors locked and so on. Later that day, the news reports that they’ve found what’s left of the escapee.

#stormy asks #hsh #townhouse au #asks about the boys #i need a fucking tag of these sorts of asks i think #god i am so tired and bitchy its amazing

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toyfoood · 1 year

Text

MY TMNT AU TURTLE DESIGNS!!!!!

Abt their personalities-

Leo- motherly and protective. His first priority, above all else, is protecting his family. He will go to any lengths to do so. He’s determined and serious when it comes to training, but he’s gentle and goofy otherwise. Despite being most like Rise Leo appearance-wise, he is most like fanon 2012 Leo. He is a red eared slider.

Donnie- blunt and disciplined, the second oldest of the family. Where Leo attempts to protect the family with his strength, Donnie attempts to protect the family by making sure a situation where they could get hurt would never occur. Technically, him and Leo are twins, Leo only hatching a minute or so before him. Donnie creates the rules for the family, and he grows angry if they aren’t followed. Chronic over thinker. They are sickly and grumpy, and really have no moral compass outside of protecting their brothers. They are a yellow bellied slider.

Raph- emotional and easily influenced, snappy. The middle child of the family. Rather than being “the angry one” of the family, Raph is the emotional one, he feels everything much stronger than his brothers. He hates being protected, he feels like it makes him seem incapable, too bad he has two protective older brothers. While Raphael has a strong moral compass, he is easily convinced to go against it. He is also easily manipulated, which Mikey takes advantage of. He is a spiny turtle.

Mikey- mischievous and energetic. The youngest of the family. He loves feeling adrenaline, which isn’t the best when one has overprotective siblings. He sneaks out to raves and festivals often. He acknowledges the rules but doesn’t really follow them. Being the youngest, he finds it extremely easy to manipulate Leo and Raph, but Donnie never falls for it. Mikey has almost no moral compass, nearly everything he does is based on whether it will offer him adrenaline. He is a spotted turtle.

In this AU, The turtles all secretly become vigilantes, each one hiding it from the others.

Mikey becomes Turtle Titan, where he becomes enemies with the Purple Dragons. He meets Mondo Gecko and Leatherhead along the way. (And technically April O’Neil, but all the turtles knew about her prior to the whole vigilante thing)

Raph becomes The Night Watcher, where he almost always fights random criminals, until he finds the Kraang. He meets Casey Jones along the way.

Donnie becomes Duz_Machinez, an online vigilante who suddenly grows aware of a certain Big Mama who keeps paying him to hack stuff, and has now asked him to make some prosthetics for a battle nexus champion. He meets Yuichi Usagi along the way.

Leonardo becomes The Ghost of The City. He quickly starts invesigating the foot clan, but a certain foot soldier keeps gaining his sympathy, Karai. Leonardo attempts to thwart the foot clan’s crimes while avoiding hurting Karai, something tells him not to.

#tmnt #tmnt au #teenage mutant ninja turtles au #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt donnie #tmnt donatello #tmnt leo #tmnt leonardo #tmnt Raph #tmnt raphael #tmnt mikey #tmnt michelangelo #au #alternate universe #tmnt vigilantes au

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starlitangels · 2 years

Text

Fight Night

So, the other day “[Not] ASMR | Pack Fight Night” appeared in my head as a concept and... this got long. I never thought I’d write a one-shot longer than “Fringes” ever again but here we are. This one literally took me several days It also switches POVs a lot so whose POV is it is at the top of their section, as usual. 7.6k words PS, I had to make up a couple wolves to fill out the roster. We had a bunch of their names but not enough and I needed more for the bracket.

CW: fantasy violence, mentions of blood, some Quinn memories

—

Darlin’

“So… let me get this straight. You’re having a bracketed tournament in the woods with your pack. Where y’all do one-on-one fights until someone is the champion,” Sam said.

“Yep.” I nodded, stretching my shoulders.

“Do all shifter packs do that?”

“How would I know?”

Sam made a noise of mild frustration, but didn’t give me attitude about my attitude. “Who all fights?”

“Whoever feels like they’re up for it,” I replied. “Usually the younger members. If they’re under eighteen they can’t fight without their parents’ explicit permission given to David, and there’s actually a separate bracket for those who are under eighteen. A little league sparring match, as it were. But everyone eighteen and older is the main event.”

“Who's the reigning champ?”

“David. But that’s a given. The competition is for second place every year. We all know David’s gonna get first.”

“Alright. Who’s last year’s runner up?”

“Ash. I wasn't here for it. The year before, Ash barely beat me out for second and I’m still bitter about it. So this year, I’m gonna try to beat him. But I might not even need to fight him. He might be on David’s side of the bracket so David can take him out.”

“Who makes the bracket?”

“An online generator. We just put in everyone’s names and it makes the line-up. Keeps it fair that way.”

“Anythin’ else I need to know?”

“Uh… sit with David, Ash, and Milo’s mates? If you want? Don’t be surprised when we’re brutal with each other? We play rough and always have. We’re shifters—it’s part of the deal. I don’t know. If I think of anything else you need to know, I’ll tell you.”

“Alright.” Sam shook his head.

We ducked into his car.

—

Angel

“This is gonna be fun,” I said, pulling my large plastic bag of popcorn out of the car with me. David climbed out of his side of the car and threw his jacket down on the driver’s seat, leaving him in just his jeans and tank top. Which I was absolutely shamelessly staring at. All chiseled muscles and skin gleaming softly in the moonlight.

“I agree.”

“Are you actually going to have fun?” I asked. “Or is this some sense of duty thing for you? Like, proving you’re strong enough to be the alpha?”

David leveled his vibrant green glare at me. “Tonight is a friendly competition, angel,” he said. “This has nothing to do with proving myself worthy.”

“Good. So that means it’s fun, right? You’re, like, capable of having fun?” I teased.

He swung an arm as though to try and catch me around the waist but I dodged away and started running up the trail. As always, we were the earliest to arrive so we had the hiking trail to ourselves.

I heard David’s boots crunching up the earth behind me. He was significantly taller and faster than I was, so I didn’t actually expect to get far.

I got maybe a dozen yards before he caught me around the waist and held me there—but he was smiling and laughing. “You are such a little snot, you know that?”

I laughed and squirmed, trying to wriggle free. “Yep!”

“You’re lucky that I love you.”

“Or what?”

“Or I wouldn’t put up with your teasing,” he growled. I kept laughing.

“Lemme gooo, Davey!” I protested.

“Why should I?”

“Because we still gotta set up for the tournament.”

“But you haven’t paid your Little Snot Tax,” he said.

“Which is what, exactly?”

“Give me a kiss, you menace.”

“You shoulda led with that,” I remarked, twisting around in his hold to do as he requested. I managed to keep the bag of popcorn almost as tall as I was out of the way to avoid it getting crushed as Davey’s arms held me tighter. Even in just a tank top and jeans, he was warm, pressed against me. He hummed quietly against my lips, acknowledging my words.

When he pulled away, his exasperated grin was fond, too. “C’mon. Let’s go set up.”

He held my hand and helped me up the trail. I didn’t need help, per se, but I liked letting him pull me. Made it easier on me.

When we got to the clearing, I set the bag of popcorn on the ground and slung my backpack off, pulling out the small red-and-white paper bags to distribute the popcorn out for the rest of the pack. Everyone else was in charge of bringing their own drinks and/or chairs, but we’d brought popcorn and a foldable table. As I started dishing popcorn into the white paper bags, David went back down the trail to go grab the table in the back of the car and our camp chairs.

—

Sweetheart

“I’m anticipatin’ third or fourth,” Milo said as we crested the hill and made it to the clearing. David’s mate was sitting in the grass, a massive bag of popcorn on their lap that they were scooping at with red-and-white paper bags and handing to David, who was putting them on a table. “I know I can’t beat Ash and David, but I dunno about Tank.”

I nodded. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” I said.

David’s mate heard us talking and looked up. “Oh hey! Wassup you two?” they asked. “Excited for tonight?”

“Hell yeah!” Milo said. “It’s gonna be great!”

I laughed and pulled our camp chairs off his shoulder to start pulling them out of their carrying bags. “I’m really excited for the teenagers’ bracket this year,” I said. “It’s always fun to watch them roughhouse, thinking they’re all big and tough.”

Milo started cackling. “Yeah—then David shifts for his first match and they all get wide-eyed seein’ what a real alpha looks like.”

David’s mate started laughing. “Always a show. I’m gonna try to take pictures again,” they said. “I sent Maya’s mom the picture I took of her face last year the next day and she laughed her head off.”

I laughed too. “Oh it’s the best.”

“Yeah. And Luke just manifested last summer and is already boasting about how he’s gonna be the biggest wolf in the pack one day,” David’s mate said. “Can’t wait to see how big his eyes get.”

Milo laughed and helped me set up the camp chairs in our usual spot. I pulled our drinks out of my backpack and set them in the cupholders. “A’right. So,” Milo said to David’s mate. “Bets on rankin’s?”

“David first, obviously,” they replied. “Then probably Ash? Unless he and David are on the same side of the bracket, in which case I’m putting Ash at third.”

“And who for second?” Milo prompted.

“Depends on who’s on the other side of the bracket,” David’s mate contemplated. “If you’re on the other side, then you. But if you and Tank are both on the other side…” They grimaced as they thought about it. “Maybe Tank?”

Milo made a face of acceptance. “Not a bad line-up. It’d be honorable to lose to Tank. They’re a damn good wolf.”

I nodded in agreement. “I think you’d rather win against Tank,” I remarked.

“Yeah but I think we can agree that they pro’lly got me beat,” Milo replied. “No shame in knowin’ my limits. And Tank got no limits. I mean, you seen the way they fight? Like pain don’t matta? I’m tough but not like that. David practically gotta beat ‘em into the ground to get ‘em to yield.”

David’s mate bounced their eyebrows in acknowledgement.

“Fair enough,” I said.

Milo kissed the side of my head and went to go help David and his mate with the popcorn.

—

Baaabe

“Oh, thank God,” Asher said. “We’re not the last ones here!”

I glanced around the parking lot as we scrambled, as usual, to get all our stuff together. It wasn’t my fault we were running late. As usual. Ash had wanted to put very intense black eyeliner on to “show he meant business” and had taken forever.

“Ash, babe, we are the last ones here.”

“No we’re not.”

“Yeah, we are.”

“Amanda’s car isn’t here.”

“Amanda lives in South Dakota now.”

Asher swore. “Forgot.”

“C’mon. Let’s get going. We might catch the last two matches of the Teens’ Tourney.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”

We rushed up the trail, camping chairs and snacks and drinks clinking around in bags. It didn’t take as long as it normally would at a casual stroll’s pace, but by the time we reached the clearing, we were both winded. A gap two chairs wide was sitting between David’s camp chair and Tanker’s on David’s right. Saved for us.

In the center of the clearing, snarling and growling accompanied two smaller wolves as they writhed around, trying to get an advantage over the other. I handed Asher my camp chair and backpack and dodged around the back of the ring of chairs to the table with the popcorn on it at the edge of the clearing. I grabbed two bags and snuck back to the main ring, where Ash had quickly set up our chairs. Plopping down, I handed him a bag and kept one for myself.

Ash was sitting directly on David’s right and had immediately started talking to David, so I leaned over to Tank. “Who’s up to bat?” I asked.

“Brown one is Miguel’s little brother Alejandro. Blonde one is Maya.”

“Sheesh. They’re really going at it,” I said.

“Ye-up,” they replied, nodding.

“Who do you think’s gonna win?”

“Maya. She’s more vicious this year.”

“Dope.” I nodded in appreciation. “Besides David taking top spot, who do you think is gonna win the adult tournament?”

Tank contemplated a moment, glancing at Sam out of the corner of their eye, then flicking their gaze over my head to look at Asher. “Depends on who’s on which side of the bracket,” they said evasively. I chuckled.

“Fair enough.” I crossed my arms against the slight midnight chill. “So, remind me, this isn’t double jeopardy, right? Like, whoever loses gets put onto the other side of the bracket for a second shot and if they lose again they’re out? It’s not like that?”

Tank shook their head. “Nope. Not like that. We’ve got sixteen participants, eight initial matches. Four on each side. You lose once, you’re out of the running. And on and on down the line until we get to the final two, one from each side of the bracket.” They contemplated for a moment. “That said, double jeopardy isn’t a bad idea. You should bring that up to David and his mate.”

“I mean, I don’t wanna throw a wrench in how the pack does things. It’s really not my place to—”

At that moment, a yip sounded from the middle of the ring. Alejandro was pinned under Maya, and her jaws were around his throat. He squirmed a little and shifted back to human form. “Yield!” he said. “I yield. I yield, I yield, I yield!” His eyes were screwed shut. Maya slowly climbed off of him and shifted back as well.

“And, remind me, victory is always chosen by yield?” I whispered.

“Pretty much,” Tank replied.

David’s mate hopped out of their seat. “Alright! And with that, Maya is the champion of this year’s Teens’ Tourney! Everybody give it up!” they called, waving their hands toward the sky to encourage everyone to celebrate.

The pack started cheering and clapping. David’s mate laughed as they grabbed Maya’s offered wrist and held it over their heads, signaling the victory.

—

Angel

I leaned closer to Maya. “Congratulations, Maya. Come swing by our house this week. We’ve got a prize for you for winning.”

“Ooh, what is it?” Her dark eyes were wide, glinting in the moonlight.

I winked at her. “It’s a surprise.”

“Gift card? Ice cream?”

“What else?”

She fist-pumped. “Yesss!”

I laughed and released her hand. “Great job. David’s really proud of you.” I nodded to where my mate was actually smiling—close-lipped, but it counted—at Maya. She beamed at him, bowed to the circle, and rushed back to sit with her parents.

I looked down at the tablet in my hand where I’d saved the base image of the bracket. “Now, let’s hear it for the main event! The adult bracket of Shaw Pack Fight Night!”

More cheering. I smiled at David as he rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. He knew I was a lot more exuberant than he was—it was why he asked me to be MC for the night. I’d joked that I’d never been more ready to be a Master of Ceremonies before we left the house, apart from the fact that I didn’t own a fancy enough hat. Which had earned me another eye-roll.

“If there are any last-minute cancellations or desires to sign up: too late. The bracket has been generated and you’re locked in,” I said. “There’s no reception up here so I wouldn’t be able to make the bracket again.” A chuckle rushed around the ring of wolves and I heard Milo whoop. “So! Without further ado—let’s get this party starteeed!” More cheers and claps. Arden pumped her fist in excitement.

“First round, left side, top of the bracket, we have got…” Pause for effect. “Brooks versus Tankeeer!”

Ash whooped so loud his mate cringed away from him, clapping a hand over their ear and protesting, “Ash!”

Brooks and Tanker both hopped out of their camp chairs and met me in the middle of the ring. “You both know the rules,” I said, switching screens on my tablet to go over them. “No hits below the belt, no use of the mental link, victory is decided by yield. You ready?”

Tank nodded once with a determined set to their jaw. Brooks nodded as well.

“Alright.” I backed away. Tank and Brooks bent their knees, facing each other, ready to shift at a moment’s notice. “Fight number one in three, two, one!” I clapped.

A grey-and-tan wolf immediately lunged. Brooks barely had time to shift to react. I rushed out of the ring and collapsed in my chair on David’s left. “Damn, Tank shifts fast,” I remarked.

He nodded. “They’ve always been good at it.” He took a deep breath and glanced down the ring of chairs to where Christian and Arden were sitting by Miguel.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

David shook his head. “Just kinda weird to not have Amanda here,” he said. “She was considering flying back for Fight Night but decided not to. Long fight for just one night.”

“I get that,” I said.

A pained whine roused my attention back to the ring. Brooks was pinned under Tank, and Tank was snarling at his throat. I glanced at Ash. It was his job to referee the main event. He nodded. Tank hadn’t broken any rules.

Brooks shifted back, making Tank almost fall off of him. “Yield!” he said.

Tank climbed off and returned to human form. They’d barely broken a sweat.

“Round one, match one goes to Tank!” I called, popping off my chair. Cheers—particularly from Sam. I smiled. “Alright! Round one, match two, right bracket, top slots… David versus Miguel!”

The pack cheered louder. First alpha fight of the night. In truth, the generator had put David up against Holly—but she’d barely turned eighteen. And one of the unspoken rules was that the barely-adults did not fight their alpha in the first round. If Holly beat Miguel’s original opponent (Mason), she’d be allowed to fight David in the next round. But it was too intimidating for a wolf’s first Fight Night as an adult to face their alpha.

David got out of his chair at the same time that Miguel did, and they approached me from opposite sides of the ring.

I stood between them and went over the rules briefly again. David leaned forward and stripped off his tank top, handing it to me. I winked at him as I backed away, counted down, and clapped to signal the start of the fight.

I ran back to our chairs, as the two shifted and tore into each other, and sat in David’s chair. David had a huge size advantage over literally everyone in the pack—even Ash and Tank—but Miguel was nimble and quick. I grabbed my bag of popcorn and watched with great interest. After a moment, I leaned over to Ash. “Now taking bets on how fast David wipes the floor with Miguel,” I whispered. Ash snickered and glanced between me and his mate, who also looked contemplative.

“Forty-five seconds,” Ash said.

“You ref, I’ll count,” I replied. I looked at his mate over his head. “Double count me.”

“Got it.”

I knew myself. I’d forget what number I was at the second David shifted back to human form. All sweaty and shirtless… my mind would go blank in an instant.

I’d been told by multiple members of the pack that Miguel was a pretty good fighter. He just had the misfortune of being paired with David for Round One.

David’s wolf form was huge and pitch black, making his green eyes almost ethereally bright against the dark fur. Miguel’s fur was about the same shade of brown as his younger brother, Alejandro’s. But it was quickly matted with dirt as David slammed him into the ground. Ash nudged me suggestively. I rolled my eyes at him.

It took David forty-three seconds to get Miguel to yield.

Thankfully, Ash’s mate double counting confirmed that because I, indeed, forgot what number I was at the moment David was in human form again. Miguel’s claws had caught on his shoulder and left a small nick that left a tiny trickle of blood oozing down his arm. I got up and ran to the middle of the ring. “There we have it!” I exclaimed. “An incredibly quick victory by David!” There were those cheers of support for their alpha. “Good job, both of you.” I brought my tablet up to my face. “Round one, match three will be Arden versus Booker!”

And on and on we went.

Arden beat Booker—but only barely.

Holly, poor thing, lost to Mason, but damn if she didn’t put up a good fight.

Milo beat LeShawn.

Linda lost to Asher.

Christian beat Tyrell.

And Latisha absolutely creamed Gia.

“And that concludes round one!” I said, hopping up out of my chair. I looked down at the bracket. “On to round two! This will consist of four matches. For match one, we have…” Oof, I thought as I realized the lineup. “Tank versus Arden!”

Tank pushed to their feet with a squeeze of Sam’s hand and strolled casually to the middle of the ring. Arden looked a touch apprehensive, but got to her feet and joined. She was never one to back down, even in a fight she had no chance of winning. And, by my estimation, she wouldn’t hold up against Tank for long.

I backed up, got the fight going, and rushed to my chair. I was already writing Tank’s name on my tablet screen. David noticed and chuckled. “Arden might surprise you,” he remarked.

I gave him a Look™. “Against Tank? I doubt it.”

I was, of course, right. Arden put up quite the fight, but she didn’t stand a chance against Tank. Still, the fight was longer than I expected. It lasted a little over a minute and a half, according to Asher’s mate’s stopwatch on their phone. I got up and, as expected, declared Tank the winner, then looked down at my tablet as Tank and Arden went back to their camp chairs.

“Next up—David versus Mason!” I called.

David got out of his chair as Mason took out the piercings in his nose, lower lip, eyebrow, and ear and handed them to the friend he’d brought. Some white-haired Illusory I’d only met once who he’d met on a job and befriended. He pulled off his green T-shirt and handed it to her too, showing off the tattoos littering his chest, back, and shoulders before marching to the center.

I could tell Mason was nervous. Who wouldn’t be, to go up against David? Mason was only a couple years younger than David, but they were similarly built. David was broader and more obviously muscular, but Mason’s leaner form belied how strong he was. I’d seen him heft bags of dirt onto his shoulder with ease when he was helping David and I landscape the backyard last summer. He was only about an inch shorter, too.

He and David reached me and bent forward, ready.

I counted down as I backed up.

Mason and David shifted the moment I clapped my hands.

“Fifty seconds, tops,” Ash said as I sat in David’s chair. I nodded. His mate had already started the stopwatch.

Poor Mason took a beating. But I knew David. He’d gone easy on Miguel, and he was going easy on Mason. Not moving as fast as he could. Not hitting as hard as he could. Ash confirmed it when I asked. As did Tank, leaning past Asher’s mate from their other side to add their opinion.

It actually took fifty-two seconds.

“Eh. It’s close enough to round down,” Ash justified. I laughed as I got up to move the event forward.

I swore under my breath when I saw the next match.

—

Sweetheart

“Round two, match three! Milo versus Christian!” David’s mate announced.

My blood ran cold. Milo’s grip on my hand tightened as he got up, stripped off his tank top, and handed it to me.

“Hey,” I whispered as he leaned forward to yank off the shirt. “Kick his ass, baby.”

There was that wonky grin of his. “With pleasure, sweetheart,” he replied. I got a kiss on the forehead as he turned around and confidently strode forward toward David’s mate in the center of the ring. Christian followed suit. I glanced to my right to see David and Asher’s heads together, whispering quietly. I caught the words friendly competition on David’s lips, but there was no confidence in his face.

I tugged on my Threads, burning my magic just a little. Just enough that if something started to go down, I’d be ready to intervene. I caught Asher giving me a glance. It was rare for any of the pack members besides Milo to notice when I was using magic—Stealth auras were built to be hard to detect and most of the wolves didn’t really learn enough magic to focus that hard on my aura—but Asher was probably expecting it and acknowledging that he knew why I was readying my powers. I could feel his and David’s auras both burning a little hotter too, waiting. I set my popcorn bag on Milo’s chair.

David’s mate started the match. I clenched my fists around the arms of my camp chair.

Milo shifted faster than Christian and launched himself at him.

Christian managed to make it into wolf form before Milo impacted, but just barely.

Jaws open, Milo tore into him. Christian’s wolf form was about half-a-hand taller than Milo’s (still a significant amount for shifter wolves), but Milo was fast—always had been—and could take a beating. Milo didn’t have the strength or size of David or Ash, but in a fight, he usually could outlast most wolves.

I’d seen Fight Night get pretty brutal in the years Milo and I had been together.

This wasn’t that.

This wasn’t brutal.

It was damn near feral.

Milo was usually the guy who handled pressure well. Not as well as David, but better than Asher. Sure, he’d have a snarky comment for everything, but he didn’t buckle under strain. Kept his panic to himself.

This was different. I’d never seen Milo let loose like this. In the entire span of our relationship. Not when he was saving me from the shade, not when his family was in danger behind that ward—never. This was him finally venting some of the frustration he’d held toward everything at the person who’d given him a hard time since his powers manifested.

Christian fought back hard, claws flashing against the moonlight. I refused to take my eyes off the fight. My magic was idling like an old truck shaking at a stop light. My hands were probably already invisible.

Milo bodily slammed Christian into the ground before tearing at fur with teeth and claws. Chrisitian tried to squirm to his feet, but Milo kept him down.

I heard a yip that didn’t come from the fight. Glancing over, I saw Maya’s wolf form in the trees, pushing herself to her feet.

Asher and David were out of their chairs in an instant. A pair of massive wolves charging into the fight. Asher got between Milo and Christian while David yanked Christian back by the scruff of his neck, growling with fangs bared. Milo was snarling past Asher at Christian.

I leapt off my camp chair, cloaked, and ran into the middle of the ring. “Milo,” I whispered, putting my hands in his fur and burying my face into the mane at his neck. “Milo, it’s okay. Let it go. Let it go, baby. He’s just trying to get under your skin.”

I knew what Maya’s yip meant. I’d heard it before at Pack Fight Night. Whoever won the Teen Tourney would sit in wolf form during the rest of the main event—the adult sparring matches—and listen to the mental link. Fight Night rules dictated that the mental link wasn’t to be used between the combatants in any significant way. Maya’s yip was a signal to David and Asher that someone broke the rule.

I guessed that David just assumed it was Christian. And given the way the latter shrunk away from the former’s snarl with his head down, ears flat, and tail low, David was right.

Milo’s fur strained in my fists, like he was trying to get away from me, closer to Christian. I decloaked and pushed against his chest, eyes squeezed shut. “Milo, baby,” I breathed. “Milo. He’s not worth it.” I leaned back enough to look into Milo’s eyes. Grey, stark and cold against the rust color of his fur. “Look at me, Milo. Look at me.”

His eyes turned down, meeting mine. His pupils dilated slightly almost immediately, giving him a softer look from the tiny points, despite the darkness, that came with his glare.

David threw his head in the general direction of the trees and marched toward it with Christian following close behind. He shifted back to human form just briefly as he met his mate, kissed the side of their head, and then whispered in their ear. Then he was a wolf again. He vanished into the shadows, and Christian followed.

David’s mate got up. “Well, Christian’s been disqualified,” they announced. “Milo wins!”

The applause was a little more half-hearted than the rest had been. Not that I could blame them. It was kind of a startling—and mildly disappointing—way to end a match at Fight Night.

Asher walked with me and Milo back to our seats. They both returned to human form. Asher pulled Milo into a hug, holding onto the back of his head and pressing it against his neck. “It’s okay, man,” Ash whispered. “It’s okay. You were gonna beat him anyway, and whatever he said to you doesn’t matter. He was just trying to get a rise out of you. You were good to handle it as patiently as you did.”

Milo nodded. “I’m fine, Ash. He’s said worse before.”

“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt now.”

Milo half-heartedly pushed Asher off of him. “Leave me alone, you big softie. I’m fine.”

Ash ruffled Milo’s hair. “Whatever you say, runt.”

“Go back to your mate, bottom.”

I couldn’t stop the snort—though I tried to turn it into a sneeze. I doubted Ash bought it, but he strolled back to his mate.

David’s mate lingered in the middle of the ring. “We’re gonna wait for David to come back before Ash and Latisha get to have their match. Unless someone else wants to referee?” They spun in a slow circle, looking around.

Arden raised a hand. “I can,” she said.

“Great. Then we’ll move on to the last match of round two!”

—

Baaabe

Asher beat Latisha by a mile, not that I was surprised.

Somewhere in the middle of the fight, David and Christian returned to their seats in human form. Christian looked sullen and sulked, but I’d barely paid attention, focusing more on Ash.

Latisha was still a few years younger than us, and not as experienced yet. She tried her best to put up a fight, but she had nothing on Ash. But I could tell David was proud of her, and so were her parents. She yielded, but there was still the glint of fighting spirit in her eye.

David’s mate got up. “Okay,” they announced after declaring Ash the winner. “We’re gonna take a brief break so everyone who’s not fighting can stand up and stretch and chat, and so our combatants get a moment to rest before moving on to Round Three! Take five, Shaw pack!” They clapped their hands and strolled over to their camp chair three away from me as the members of the pack who weren’t fighting got up and milled about.

“More popcorn?” Ash asked.

“Sit down, you goof. I’ll go get it. You just got done with a fight,” I said.

Ash fell into his camp chair. Latisha had gotten a good hit in to his snout and in human form, his upper lip was split. I got up, went and got some popcorn refills, and returned to our chairs.

“Let me have a look, baby,” I said, tilting his face to inspect the split. He didn’t resist when I pinched his chin and turned his head. In fact, his eyes closed like he was savoring the touch. After a pair of fights so far tonight, I couldn’t say I blamed him.

David’s mate came and stood in front of our chairs. “So... Ash,” they said. “Milo is fighting Tank in the next match.”

Ash swore under his breath. “So I’m fighting David,” he said.

They nodded.

“Well... third place ain’t bad,” Ash relented. “But we all know I could totally beat Milo and Tank.”

“Keep dreamin’, Ash!” Tank said from my other side. “I could kick your ass from here to Sunday!”

“That sounds a lot less impressive on a Saturday,” Ash said. “Specifically a Saturday so close to midnight.”

“Maybe, but it just means it won’t take me that long to knock your ass unconscious,” they retorted. I peered past them to see Sam fighting off a smile—and failing. He tried to hide his smile behind a face-palm, but it was too wide of a smile.

Well. It was a good thing Tank’s mate found them funny.

Tank looked back at Sam and started laughing too. Not far away, I saw David whirl to look at Tank. He knew them better than I did, but I got the feeling that Tank smiling or laughing was a rare occurrence.

The rest of the break felt a lot shorter than it actually was before David’s mate gathered everyone’s attention and got them back in their seats.

And announced that Milo and Tank were up next.

Tank got to their feet at the same time as Milo and they went to the middle and stood opposite each other.

The moment David’s mate clapped to start the fight, a rust-colored wolf and a grey-and-tan wolf slammed into each other.

And the fight was long.

Ash leaned to me. “Milo’s trying to tire Tank out.”

“That gonna work?”

“No. Tank knows how to work through exhaustion better than any of us.” Ash made a face. “But Milo’s pretty tough too.”

In the end, Tank managed to pin Milo beneath their claws, and he yielded. Reluctantly, and with a snarky comment. But he yielded. Tank shifted back, sweaty and bleeding in a few places, but with all the snarky confidence I’d come to expect from them, and came to sit in their chair beside me again.

Then it was Ash and David’s turn.

David’s mate and I moved into our boyfriends’ chairs so we were beside each other and took each other’s hands after they got the match going. Arden was going to referee the match. I clenched my jaw hard enough to give myself a headache, and held onto David’s mate’s hand tight. Their grip on me was also intense.

Asher told me once that he’d never lost a fight—except to David. So the whole pack knew their alpha and beta in a match together was going to be a show. Had Asher been set up on the other side of the bracket, the finals probably would have been the two of them, rather than Tank and David.

Ash and David fought each other hard. Claws and teeth flashing in the moonlight. With every hard hit one of them dealt to the other, David’s mate and I squeezed each other’s hands in reassurance.

They fought for a long time. My stopwatch passed two minutes and the other pack members started to exchange looks. I saw Mason, across the ring, whispering to the friend he brought. Latisha, Holly, and Gia looked concerned. Milo and Arden exchanged a look. Arden was on the edge of her chair, waiting in case she needed to intervene as a ref, but David was David. He operated well within the rules. So she didn’t need to.

To no one’s surprise, after a bit, David got Asher to yield. He yipped in surprise as David shouldered him in the gut and spilled him into the dirt.

“Yield!” Ash said as he became human again.

David turned back into a human and held out a hand to help Asher stand. They gave each other a brief hug and returned to their seats. David’s mate and I got out of their chairs and went back to our own. David’s mate stood up and greeted him with a quick kiss and a whisper I couldn’t hear. David shrugged.

“I’m fine, angel,” he grumbled.

He mate rolled their eyes and stepped around him. “One more brief break before our final round,” they announced. “Give our combatants a minute to catch their breath.” They waved their hands in a shooing motion, indicating everyone mingle. Milo’s mate laughed and swung gracefully out of their chair, pulling Milo to his feet beside them and dragging him to the refreshment table for more popcorn.

Tank chuckled and leaned to Sam on my other side. “Think Ash tired the big guy out enough for me to beat him?” There was a definite impishness to their grin.

Sam shrugged. “You know your alpha better’n I do, darlin’,” he remarked.

—

Darlin’

“Last! But definitely not least! We have our final roooouuunnnd!” David’s mate called over the clearing like they were a professional wrestling announcer. David, in the corner of my eye, looked amused behind his usual stoicism as he rolled his eyes.

The pack cheered and clapped.

“So, Shaw Pack! Give it up! For David and Tankeeerrr!”

I snorted as Sam chuckled. He squeezed my hand before I let his go in order to stand up and march near David to the center of the ring. I took the extra step forward and turned so we were facing each other.

We leaned forward. David’s mate pecked his cheek. “Good luck, baby,” they said softly before backing up a few steps.

I smirked at my alpha. “Nervous, Shaw?” I teased.

He scoffed. “Have I ever been, against you?”

“You should be.” My smirk widened. “I’m not the same wolf I was the last time we fought.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re better than me,” he retorted, keeping his voice down.

“Alright, Shaw Pack! Count it off with me! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!” The pack counted down with David’s mate, their voices ringing out over the trees.

I shifted and pounced. David did too. We met in the air.

Wolves played rough. Always had. Human form or wolf, we didn’t often hold back. David and I never held back when we wrestled with each other as teenagers. And now, as adults, we were both in for a bit of a fight. David was bigger and stronger than I was, but I tended to be quicker. Helped that I didn’t have a sheer wall of muscle to haul around. I had a lot of muscle, but not as much as David.

His head slammed me in the chest, sending me stumbling back a few steps, but I dug my claws into the earth and shot at him, bashing him in the chest with my shoulder while whacking his ribs with the side of my skull, sending him to the side.

He whirled and growled at me before leaping. I dodged out from under his trajectory and avoided the slash of those gleaming black claws.

A different night. A different fight. A vampire’s fangs in the moonlight. My friend’s blood on the ground, gleaming with the reflection of the waxing moon. Quinn’s malicious laughter as he pummeled me with abandon.

No, I thought sharply. This isn’t that. Fight through it, Tanker. Like you’ve always done.

I peeked out of my periphery to see Sam leaning forward, watching the match with all the fascination of a child being brought to their first live sporting event. He didn’t expect me to win, and he didn’t seem to notice the memories that had grabbed hold of me for just a moment. No one seemed to see the falter of my paw in the dirt.

Good. I was getting better at fighting through it. The memories couldn’t hurt me anymore. They couldn’t.

I threw David off of me. He’d noticed the faltering and had taken advantage of it, throwing me down into the dirt and piling on top, trying to pin me. Not today, Shaw, I thought, not directing it down the mental link. Not yet.

I threw myself at him even harder. He could take it. He always had before.

He’d gone easy on Miguel. He’d gone easy on Mason. He hadn’t held back with Asher. He wasn’t holding back with me.

His claws nicked my shoulder. I snarled and lashed out in retaliation, my own claws barely managing not to scratch his chest due to how his thick fur was practically armored. Gabe was a powerhouse of an alpha when I was young. He’d taught me a lot. And David was a lot like his dad. I couldn’t tell David that the Gabe I remembered would be proud of him without David giving me hell for being sappy or whatever, but I was under that impression. David was just as much—if not more—of a powerhouse.

We kept fighting. I could tell we were both exhausted, but neither of us were willing to yield to the exhaustion—let alone each other.

Once or twice I caught Sam or David’s mate cringing from a particularly hard hit. I had never really had anyone come to pack Fight Night and be concerned about the hits I took. So my glimpses of his flinching kinda startled me. I didn’t know how to react.

I don’t know how long David and I went at it. His and Asher’s fight went past two or three minutes, and this must have had a similar run time.

“They really don’t know when to give up, do they?” I heard Christian whisper to Arden after I stood back up from David hurling me down. I shot him a quick glare and pounced on David again.

Time blurred. Hit, block, strike, dodge. I could ignore pain. I had ignored pain for most of my adulthood and adolescence. Physical, emotional—I’d always had a knack for ignoring it.

But David was still stronger than I was.

And there was one hit—that same headbutt to my chest he’d struck me with first—that I just couldn’t stand back up from after everything else I’d taken that night.

He didn’t have to pin me down, teeth at my throat, to get me to yield. I hit the dirt and was human again in half-a-second. “Yield,” I choked out, spitting blood into the dirt and panting hard.

David was back in human form in the blink of an eye, kneeling beside me. Instead of helping me stand, as he had with Asher, he pulled me up, cupped the back of my neck in his warm, scratched, callused hand and brought my forehead to touch his.

“You did well,” he said quietly. Emphatically. Tightening his grip on me. “I am so proud of you.”

Heat burned in my neck, chest, and ears. “Oh... shut up, Shaw,” I grumbled, unsure how to handle the praise.

I got to my feet and went back to Sam. I was bloody and sweaty, but I accepted the kiss he pressed to the side of my head gratefully. Solid, steady Sam. My Sam.

The rest of the night was congratulations for David, but quite a few of the pack members actually approached me to tell me that I’d impressed them.

I packed up my and Sam’s camp chairs and we left the clearing first. I was more exhausted than I was willing to let on, and I wanted to go home and get the blood off my face.

Sam, apparently, hadn’t realized I left while he mingled. Because he didn’t follow me.

When I made it down the hiking trail, I packed our stuff in the trunk of Sam’s car—I’d convinced him to bring the sedan, not the truck, for the sake of parking space—and boosted myself onto the hood of the car to wait for him, letting the cool night breeze brush over my sweat.

Fighting as a wolf built up a lot of heat in my coat, and it didn’t all dissipate immediately upon returning to human form. So the sweat and the breeze felt good. The warm blood, not so much.

I put my hands behind me on the hood and leaned back against them, tilting my head back and looking up at the stars. We were far enough outside Dahlia that a few more stars peeked through the light pollution. Not enough to be super noticeable, but if someone knew what to look for, it was visible.

—

Sam

“Darlin’?” Sam glanced around. He’d heard their footsteps retreating, but he’d expected them to come back eventually.

They still hadn’t.

His eyes landed on the place where they’d been sitting. The camping chairs they’d brought were gone. He took a deep breath, bid his goodbyes to David and the alpha’s mate, and trekked back down the hiking trail. He would have used his speed, but the loose gravel made him just cautious enough to choose not to.

When he made it back to the trailhead, he wove around the pack’s cars until he found his own sedan.

Sam froze.

His wolf was sitting on the hood of his car, lounging back on their hands, head back and eyes trained up at the stars.

Good Lord, they looked incredible. Muscles still flexed under bruised skin, sweat and blood glinting off the moonlight.

Sam felt his chest tighten as he stared at them. God, he wanted them. He’d found them wildly attractive from the moment they met—but that night, he hadn’t been in the friendliest of moods.

“You’re staring, cowboy,” they said.

Sam ignored the way his neck warmed up like a blush was starting to form and approached the rest of the way. He leaned against the grille of the sedan between his wolf’s knees. “Evenin’, darlin’,” he said quietly, leaning close.

They popped off their hands so instead of being braced back, they were instead bending toward him. “Evenin’,” they replied playfully.

“You... are a mess,” he said.

They laughed, throwing their head back. “Are you going to do something about it?” they teased.

Sam took their hand in his, setting his thumb over their knuckles. A small flood of healing magic flowed from him to them, closing up the skin of their knuckles. He kissed the spot where the scratches had been. They tilted their head just slightly to the side, a fond smile on their face.

He brushed a single stray strand of hair off their forehead and touched the wound on their hairline, healing it shut.

“You put up a good fight tonight, darlin’,” Sam said.

“Thanks, Sam.” They leaned forward and kissed him. He used the contact of their lips together to heal the split on their lower lip. He felt them chuckle and lean into the kiss more.

Sam let his hands roam over them, standing there between their legs, healing scrapes and bruises as he found them, barely taking his lips away from theirs.

He’d never meant to get addicted to a reckless shifter with no sense of self-preservation, but the pleasure and love they ignited in him was worth the addiction.

The feeling of their strong fingers digging into his back tore a quiet moan from his throat. “Stay the night at mine?” he asked as his hand slipped under the back of their tank top to a deeper scratch. He rested his palm over it and released a burst of healing magic, feeling the wound close beneath his touch. His kisses trailed down to their neck, then shoulder.

They moaned quietly. “Well, if you insist,” they whispered.

“I’m proud-a you, darlin’.” I love you was in every word he said, without needing to say those three.

“Thank you, Sam.” I love you too.

—

Tag list: @zozo-01 @thegoldenlittlerose @mainhoesstuff

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