Mates of a Human

Part One. Chapter One. Alex

Autumn.  The time when all the leaves change colour and are shed from the trees, who prepare to fall into slumber as the weather begins to get cooler.  The beginning of a new term at school, college and university.  The anticipation beginning for Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night.  When fashions change from the bright and pastel colours of spring and summer to the subdued dark blacks and browns with a splash of something vivid and deep.

The countdown to my best friend's birthday and this year the countdown to my potential heartbreak. 

I didn't mean to fall in love with him.  I mean it was a completely stupid thing to do given that he was a heterosexual, alpha male and a werewolf to boot and I am human, also male and quietly homosexual.  I wasn't loud and proud and comfortable in my own body, which is lanky and tall and easily able to view my crush in his deep, brown eyes.  I could claim that I was only gay for him, but that was not strictly true either.  I was only interested in him, I simply didn't see anyone else.  Not that he was aware, I was a consummate actor, having descended from the brilliant performer that was my maternal grandmama. 

I still missed that silver haired woman, she was so beautiful, even with new lines developing on her face year after year.  It was she that had put me to bed when I was small most nights as my parents worked long and late in their jobs within the medical profession.  But don't get me wrong, they never neglected me and made sure that we had a family holiday every year and got together to celebrate festivals even if it wasn't on the exact day.  I don't think we ever managed to celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December in all seventeen years!  So I still had good parents and I also had Grandmama. 

After tucking me in bed, she would tell me stories about the Moon Goddess and her chosen people; the shifters, the fey and the vampires and the Sun God and his; the dwarves, the elves and of course, humans.  Unlike the distant Sun God, a live and let live sort of guy, the Moon Goddess was very close to her people and like an overprotective parent, gifted them and guided them and even paired them with the person she thought would be perfect for them.  Not everyone took kindly to her nurturing, but I knew best friend's pack felt close to her.  Which was why he would never reject the one she chose for him, which was why I knew when I first felt the flutters in my chest when I saw him in a new light, I would be most likely heading for heartbreak.

As I watched the golden him, a mass of beautiful and refine muscle climb out of the shared jeep that several pack members took to school, the flutters began again and for a moment, I was a statue basking in his light.  I grinned widely as he waved in greeting and the mask slipped firmly upon my face.

"Hey Marcus!" I yelled out, disturbing the rough housing that had began between the guys as they fought over some trivial matter.  It was a dominance play, nothing serious or Marcus would have the whole group stretching out their necks in submission.  Hell, he would have me following suit, which would look weird, so I usually wore myself out fighting the sudden need that always overcame me when he growled in warning at his pack mates.  I figured I reacted this way due to wishful thinking more than anything.  What I wouldn't give for him to dominate me!

"Alright there, Alex," Marcus returned the grin and threw one huge arm over my narrow shoulders.  I internally whimpered as his unique scent floated into my nasal cavity and teased my senses.  "Final year, can you believe it?"

"You said that two years ago, when we began year eleven," I said, dryly.

"Yeah, why did we come back to this school for two more years again?" He wondered aloud and some of his friends snickered.

"Because state college wouldn't have you," David smirked. David was another chiselled specimen, but with more body hair than his future Alpha. I heard he is one of the candidates likely to become a Beta of the pack. All ranks were fluid within the pack, although it was still most likely that bloodlines won out. Pride rankings were more complex as half the time, the cats were too lazy to bother figuring it out unless their personal territories were involved... or so I have heard.