Within you I found home

fourteen

        You knew from experience just how much a shifter ate. Mithun could devour an entire dear to himself.

        So, it really shouldn't surprise you when, between the both of them in wolf form, the huge stag ends up being nothing but an empty carcass which Nico throws over the cliff and into the ocean after they're finished.

        They save some meat for you of course, but unlike them, you can't eat it raw. So, you cook it on the fire inside of the cave whilst they tore into the animal, their black forms a blur as you observe them with morbid curiosity, a layer of rushing water with varying thickness allowing you the odd flicker of them.

        Your first night here Nico had hunted a smaller buck. Most of it he'd cooked since you'd all been eating in human form. You have an idea about what happened to the rest of it.

        Once they'd eaten and the carcass was disposed of, you watched as Nico began grooming Mithun, still in wolf form, who looked as if he was about to protest when Nico gave a stern bark.

        Warmth glitters in you. You pull you lips into your mouth as Mith gives into him. You absently twirl the makeshift rod which impaled your venison over the fire as Nico licks at Mithun's ear, and then snout, cleaning away any leftover blood.

        Soon, they join you back in the cave. Mithun brushes against your back in greeting before curling in a ball towards the back of the cave. He must need a food nap.

        As you're watching him, you hear the tell-tale sign of shifting behind you and can't stop the way your heart skips and cheeks burn, knowing Nico was naked and oh so close to you.

        "Sorry," Nico apologises almost immediately. "I forgot mortals aren't comfortable around nakedness."

        "It's fine," you tell him, not wanting him to feel bad.

        "No, it's not." There's the sound of ruffling. "There. I'm clothed. You can look now."

        Your eyes fall onto him, automatically landing on his chiselled chest. He reminds you of a statue carved after a God. A sound almost escapes your throat, needy and pathetic, so you distract yourself with searching the cave before settling your eyes onto the fire.

        Okay. So you were attracted to him.

        Who wouldn't be?

        It was no big deal. You can deal with this.

        Instead of sitting opposite you, Nico – now covered with linen trousers – occupies the spot next to you, your knees brushing.

        Gods.

        Maybe you can't deal with this. As much as you try to ignore it, it was as if every fibre of your being was pointing and staring at the spot where your bodies brushed.

        It wasn't the first time he'd touched you. He often helped you get around, kept you steady, supported you, but those times you'd been distracted.

        Now you had nothing else keeping your attention. You're hyper aware of him, of your newly realised attraction, and just how touch starved you were.

        It had been so long, hadn't it?

       "He's asleep," Nico says after a moment. He takes over preparing your meal; slides the meat free of the rod. Winces at the burn but checks it over for any raw bits before nodding, satisfied, and handing it to you wrapped up in a clean bit of cloth. "Mind your fingers. You don't heal as fast as I do."