The Deaths of Me (NEW ADULT REWORK)

3. Dane's Great Timing

There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.

--George Santayana

Dane scrambled to pull on his pants and properly secure the buckle on his belt. The sweat on his body had just begun to dry but he didn't have time to take a shower. Almost tenderly, he pulled his discarded t-shirt out from under Sophie's sleeping form. She let out a delicate grunt and turned over on her side. Her lithe arms stretched lazily above her as she sighed. Damn, she was hot. But Dane had to go, and Sophie would always be there.

Without a backward glance at the ravenous brunette, he leapt out of the small room and yanked on his t-shirt. He passed by his pack members as he left his house, most of them wishing him luck on his mission, and all of them knowing exactly what he'd just done. He smiled to himself as he smoothed down his hair, his lopsided grin taking up most of his face. He was young. At his age—a spry, confident twenty-one—it was his right to adore women without getting tied down. Well, in Sophie's case, she was the one who usually got to be tied down....

But, Dane was more than pleased he had been the wolf entrusted with the re-capture of the phoenix. He'd heard some pretty wild stuff about the bird.

That it was half-bird, half-woman.

Or that its hair was always on fire.

Or that if you looked at it too long, you'd catch fire.

But none of that really mattered to him. No other wolf had been trusted to partner with a vamp. If nothing else, the mission at least got him out of pack duty. No pup-sitting, no patrols, and definitely no boring meetings. Not today.

Bonus points: saving the phoenix was definitely something he'd be able to hold over his alpha brother's head for a while. It was announced that morning in front of the entire pack: Dane McDermitt was to rescue the phoenix with the help of another Underdweller. The one time being the best tracker in his pack paid off, and it paid off huge.

He'd been given a cloth and had spent most of the afternoon with a small task team of lycans locating the phoenix. It hadn't been hard; honestly, he'd been kind of disappointed that he hadn't been able to do more. But the night brought new possibilities. Dane was also going to rescue the phoenix and bring some proper bragging rights to his pack.

Dane usually shied away from tasks handed out by the Covenant because he didn't want its Council to think that he was rising toward an alpha position. Too much responsibility was sure to cramp his style. But he couldn't pass up the chance to be the first Underdweller to see the legendary half-phoenix. Not to mention the first lycan to partner with a vampire since the treaty.

Dane was virtually sweating pride. No, wait, he was actually sweating. It poured off of him from his extracurricular activities with Sophie. He dabbed at his forehead with the hem of his wrinkled t-shirt and jogged down the sidewalk in order to catch the next bus.

Dane caught a pretty girl glancing at his exposed stomach after he'd lowered his shirt, and he let himself enjoy the view thoroughly before moving on. Something about brunettes always got to him. He saw his bus at the station just ahead and picked up his speed.

His own brown hair was getting long, he thought to himself as his bangs hung persistently in his eyes. He'd cut it later. For now, he'd just be a shaggy wolf. Dane didn't miss his own unintended innuendo. He quickly leapt onto the bus just as the driver began closing the doors. See? His brother had nothing to worry about. Dane had great timing.