She's Golden

Phase Forty-Nine: Láng, pt, 2

"Hey man, you made it!" Liam waved as Julian slow down, stopping just in front of his roommate and Dominic. That spicy smell he caught earlier might have mellowed out a bit, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it figured it would be. Still - awkward... "We wondering if you'd lost your way."

"No, I'm fine. Georgie showed me the way to go - and I, uh, I had a little help." Julian smirked. "Nice to know that you two have been keeping busy."

"What?" Liam's face was completely red. Dominic, however, looking very proud of himself. "Oh man! Did George tell you about that?"

"No, and she didn't have to." Julian sniffed into the air and wrinkled his nose is disgust. "That air freshner you sprayed can only do so much. I could smell that winning combination for roses and sex a mile away."

"You what?" Now, Dominic didn't seem to relaxed.

"I said I smelled you both on the way here," Julian repeated. In a history filled with towel fights in the boys' locker room and other cases of male camraderie, he was sure he'd said something similar in the past. But as the beast within grunted in annoyance, the words now took on a whole new meaning. "I get that you two are mates and all, but damn - I don't even know what I could say about that."

"Probably the same thing we could say about you." Dominic cocked his head toward Julian's bare chest. "Tell me, was your shirt off before or after you two did the deed?"

"Huh?!" Those who live in glass houses really shouldn't throw stones. "Oh...right. We kind of got carried away..."

"You don't have to explain it to me." Dominic winked over to Liam, and the young boy went so red he seemed almost purple. "That's the thing about mates - we sometimes have a little trouble keeping our hands off each other. So, we usually don't bother trying."

"Yeah." Now it was Julian's turn to blush a little. I really couldn't help it. She's so beautiful and she drives me crazy. And when she gets a little daring... "I'm, uh, I'm kind of getting that now."

"However, what I don't understand is how you managed to scent us so far away." The beast within growled at the serious turn of Dominic's voice. Julian watched as the older man eye's bore into him, his stared both suspicious and curious. "That's normally a skill associated with wolves - both the authentic and the shifting variety."

"Ah, yeah. George said the same thing to me earlier." Julian fidgeted, uncomfortable with the attention. But there was something about the word "wolf" that seemed to lift its spirits. "It's taking some getting use to, honestly."

"Indeed." Dominic raised an eyebrow. "Have you two figured out what you might be yet?"

"N-No. I have still no idea what my deal is."

Julian opened his mouth to speak again, but hesitated. He knew Dominic was aware of his predicament - he did punch his lights out after all - but he wondered if he should tell him everything.

But he really wanted to figure out what was wrong before he risked hurting anyone else.

I don't ever wanted to be separated from Georgie - ever, he thought, determined. I need to figure this out as soon as I can. If I tell Dominic, he may be able to help me.

"I feel like I'm changing," he began with a sigh, "but I don't know what I'm changing into. Ever since I gave Georgie that bite, it hasn't been the same. I hear this voice inside me - it's like mine, but it's harsh, growling, like some kind of animal. I feel like it if I'm not careful, it'll come bursting out of me and I won't be able to stop it."

"What, like how Dominic and Georgia, er, do their thing?" Liam suggested.

"No, it's not like that. At least, I don't think it is." Julian took a deep breath, willing himself to go on. "I feel like this has always been a part of me. I just never knew it before. And ever since I gave Georgie that mark, it's everywhere within me. I smell things, I can sense things, and somehow, I know things about people I never knew before because I smell it within them. Whatever this is, is a part of me, mind, body, and soul. It's another facet of my being that I just now became aware of. When I bit Georgie, it finally woke up."