Magnus

The best part about Jason being Mel's mate is that we have almost all of our meetings at the kitchen table. Sure, frequently Mel is there holding his hand while trying not to look as infatuated with him as she was, but that kind of made the whole process easier.

A lot of people misunderstood my sister. I'd even put my own mate into that category, at least for now. None of those people really knew her, though. She was always up-front with you, never sugar coating things or fudging the truth to make you feel better. It made her come across as abrasive and mean, but I appreciated knowing that I could take her at her word.

Mel also butted into the business of everyone she cared about. She had zero boundaries with me, Felix, and Everett... but it had good sides, too. It was the way she showed just how much she really cared, and since she never backed off about anything, I had never felt abandoned or alone in my life even after losing my parents so young.

So while most people might not like to have their slightly-overbearing older sister around for meetings with their lawyer, it was good to have her. Besides, Mel worked as a paralegal. She might not be a lawyer, but she knew way more about this stuff than I did.

Best of all, it really was fun watching her and Jason interact. They had consummated their relationship and sealed their mating bond by the morning after they met (I never actually clarified to ask if that morning was their first time and no way was I going to speculate on that). Now they were that adorable fumbling couple so eager to be together while they had no idea what being together really meant.

Not like me and Lachlan. We might have taken way longer than I was ever prepared to wait for my mate, but I kind of liked our journey. When we bound ourselves together, we would do it knowing exactly what we were in for, and I would make sure he knew just how much I adored him. And wasn't it kind of amazing that I would be deeply in love with my mate when we claimed each other?

Just a day or two more, I reminded myself. We hadn't actually talked about timing, but I knew we were on the same page. We just had to get through his first shift first.

"Magnus, can you at least act like you care about this?" Mel said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

My eyes snapped automatically to hers before she nodded her head meaningfully toward Jason. Feeling approximately five years old, I stared down at my lap and said, "Sorry, Jason."

"It's okay," he said. "Do you want a break? I know I could use one."

I glanced up in time to see the lewd look he cast at my sister and immediately stared at the fridge, the lights, the counter top: literally anywhere but at them.

Mel giggled and I was about two seconds away from childishly storming off and leaving them to it, but my phone vibrated. I pulled it out and saw that Luin was calling, which couldn't be a good sign.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this," I said, swiping to accept the call.

"Magnus!" Luin said before I could get out a word. "Magnus, you have to get over here now. Lachlan's in pain. I think he's shifting."

"I'm on my way."

I hung up and bolted for the door before remembering that my keys were on the kitchen counter, so I sprinted back and slid into the stove while retrieving them. I banged my knee but ran for the door again...

Until I realized I had left my shoes by the back door.

I ran back into the kitchen and Mel jumped into my path, bracing her hands on my chest to stop me. "Hey. Magnus. You aren't driving like this. I'll take you."

I stared at her in mute horror as the realization struck that she had heard Luin... which meant that Jason had heard him.

I looked to Jason, who was definitely confused and who 100% picked up on the fact that I knew that he knew something I didn't want him to know.

Crap.

Mel shook me a little bit and I nodded. Right. This was not the time for me to freak out about anything other than getting to Lachlan's side as soon as possible.

"Okay, you drive," I agreed. I grabbed my shoes and even remembered my wallet before Mel took my hand and sprinted with me to the parking lot.

Since Mel was driving and Jason was safely tucked away in my kitchen out of earshot, I called Luin back on the drive over.

"How is he?" I asked once he answered.

I could hear a pained groan in the background that had to come from Lachlan. "It's getting worse," Luin said. His panic was obvious and Mel sped up the car after we exchanged worried looks.

Usually a werewolf shifts for the first time at a much younger age and with someone there to act as a mentor. Lachlan's body would know what to do, but it could be terrifying and just knowing you had someone supporting you who had done it before was such a comfort. My first time, Mel hadn't let go of my hand until it became a paw while Mom rubbed soothing circles on my back and Dad shouted encouragements at me. Felix had been there, too, laughing a little at the antics and coddling of the rest of our family. His laughter might have been the part that helped the most.

Lachlan didn't have that. There was no werewolf family who had done it before, and he didn't even have me there. Instead, he had a panicking fey man who couldn't possibly be helping the situation.

"Calm down, Luin. It's going to be okay," I said. "Can you put me on speaker?"

There was some shuffling and Lachlan's groans and cries grew louder, so I knew he'd done it. "Lach?" I said.

"Mmm," he said in response. Either his throat and mouth were already too shifted to speak or he was gritting his teeth against the pain. I hated that I didn't know which it was.

"You're going to be okay, you hear me? You're already in the worst part. It's only going to get better from here."

"Okay," Lachlan said on a gasp. So, he wasn't too shifted to speak. My heart ached for him.

"I'm almost there, Lach. Ten minutes." There was a good chance it would all be over in ten minutes, but what could I do?

There was no response, so I just kept talking, saying anything I could think of that might distract or comfort him. I told him about my first shift. I told him about Mel's – a story that was usually off-limits because it embarrassed her, but I knew she wouldn't yell at me this time.

"Almost there," Mel said under her breath.

I looked and saw that we were in Lachlan's neighborhood, almost on his street. Before I could tell him, I realized his groans had stopped and silence reigned.

"Lachlan?" I asked, suddenly terrified.

He yipped in response.

Lachlan did it. He shifted without me. I shut my eyes and let myself dwell in the relief that flooded me, knowing he had gotten through this. I wasn't stupid; I knew how afraid he had been of his first shift. Now I could only be relieved it was behind us.

Mel parked crookedly in Lachlan's driveway and started heading toward the porch. I ran in front of her and into the house – something that might usually have gotten me yelled at, but she just snickered.

As soon as I stepped into the living room, I was tackled to the floor by my very eager mate, who was still in his wolf form. Not caring about Luin or Mel's presence, I quickly stripped and shifted.

Lachlan might not have been born a werewolf, but somehow he had all the instincts of one. He wagged his tail joyfully while we sniffed and rubbed on each other. I knew mine was doing the same. I even made the mistake of letting my tongue loll out to one side of my mouth long enough for Mel to snap a picture.

I didn't care. How could I be upset about anything at a time like this? I licked Lachlan's ear and he snuffed in indignation before realizing it felt good. He leaned into it and if I could have laughed, I would have. Soon, he tired of the puppy treatment and dropped down on his front paws with his butt waggling in the air – a clear invitation to play.

That's when Mel stepped in. She grabbed my scruff and yanked me back. "No way. Nuh uh. No playing in the house, you two. Magnus, you know better. Remember the lamp incident?"

Lachlan tilted his head curiously at me when I immediately backed off and sat down like the good boy she was forcing me to be.

But Mel wasn't done. "Why don't you two shift back? It's late and running around the house in this form is a recipe for disaster."

Since she had a point – Lachlan was too giddy to make good choices and I had always been a sucker for playtime – I shifted back. Mel yelled her complaint and tossed me my clothes while Lachlan looked at me with a clear question in his eyes.

Right. He didn't know how to shift back.

"Remember that tingle in your spine that started all this?" I asked. Lachlan nodded. "Focus on that spot. It's a trick my dad taught me. Tell yourself it's going to tingle again and shifting back is easy."

It was a kid trick. The usual explanations about willing yourself to shift could go right over a pre-teen's head, so parents had come up with using a focus, something to train the brain to have a shifting trigger.

It might be for kids, but it worked. In no time, I was shielding Lachlan's body with the shirt I hadn't managed to put on yet.

A quick glance around the room revealed the shredded remains of what he must have been wearing when he shifted into his wolf form. While I was glad Luin hadn't seen him naked when all this started, I didn't have a good solution for Lachlan's current nudity.

Mel clapped her hands together. "Right! Well, I'm going to head back home. I'll make sure Jason leaves you alone for the rest of the night. Have fun, you two!" She was out the door before I could even blink in response.

Luin walked over to Lachlan but stayed far enough away that Lachlan wasn't in danger of being exposed. "I'm going to head back home. Thank you for your hospitality."

Lachlan shook his head. "What? No, thank you."

Luin just smiled back. "Maybe we can watch more Brooklyn soon."

"Nine-nine!" Lachlan said in return, and they both smiled at each other before Luin waved and vanished.

Just like last time, I waved my arms through the space where he used to be, but he really was gone. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that," I said.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to turning into a freaking wolf," Lachlan said – the first words he had said to me since shifting back.

I threw down the shirt I had been using to cover his body and yanked him against me for a long, slow kiss. Or... it was meant to be long and slow. Lachlan had other ideas. He started sucking and biting at my bottom lip until I granted him entrance, and then he absolutely dominated my mouth as his tongue danced with mine. I could feel his heart beat against my chest until he distracted me by yanking down the jeans I never got a chance to button. Lachlan jerked my briefs down, too, and I almost whimpered at how good it felt to relieve the pressure from my erection.

Lachlan broke the kiss and licked down my throat. "Magnus," he said before nipping teasingly at my nipple.

"Yeah?" I gasped.

"I want you." He nipped the other nipple, then sucked away the small hurt.

I did whimper now. I wanted him, too, so badly. He had been incredible as a human, more than I ever could have asked for... but his scent was even more enticing now that he was a werewolf. I was eager to feel his teeth in my neck, staking his claim on me. Thinking about it had me leaking precum. Lachlan stepped closer so we were pressed against each other, my erection rubbing on his abdomen. It was like I was marking him already – he would smell intimately like me. I wanted more.

"You're thinking too hard," Lachlan said. He circled his hips, bringing his hard length against my sack. I wasn't prepared for how good it would feel and I made an embarrassing noise before biting my lip to keep quiet. "Way too hard," Lachlan added, his voice full of dark amusement.

"But..." I trailed off, trying to remember why I was holding back. Maybe I was legitimately insane. It was the only explanation I could think of.

"We'll make it special next time," Lachlan said, and I remembered that I had a plan for how our first mating would go. This was not it.

"But..." I said again.

"Besides," Lachlan said before I could string together a coherent complaint, "this is us. Isn't that already pretty damned special?"

He had a point there, but he didn't understand. I had planned for this. I might be a virgin, but I was determined to make our first time so good it would wipe out all of his prior experiences. I wasn't prepared now. I had none of my gear and no time to use it, anyway.

But...

There was always next time. And I wanted him. And I really didn't want to say no, not when I was feeling the same urgency Lachlan was.

For Lachlan, this was our first day of being mates. We might have been in a relationship before now, but today he scented me for the first time. When we first met, the bond had been so vivid in my mind that it was almost impossible to think around sometimes. It had tugged at me to join our lives together, to give myself over to him in every possible way. That urgency had dimmed a little as the weeks passed and as the incomplete bond between us was soothed by affection and time spent together, but times like this it yanked at me with full force.

I tossed my plans out the window for tonight and felt actual, physical relief at knowing I was giving in. "Yes."

I almost forgot Lachlan had asked me a question until he said, "So can we take this to the bedroom?"

He already knew my answer, though. I could see it in the glint of victory in his eyes and I could feel it in the way he wrapped a possessive hand around my cock. I shuddered and yanked myself away. If he kept that up, my first time was going to be on the floor. Not that it would be a tragedy... but no. Lachlan deserved better. I scooped my mate up into my arms and carried him to bed.

--

A/N

I don't usually like to do author's notes, especially in the middle of a book - I want you all to have a clean reading experience.  This is even kind of in the middle of a scene, so sorry about that.  No offense taken if you skip all this - especially if you like a nice solid wall between authors and their work.

There are a few things I'd like to say if you have a minute.  First, I've seen some commenting about wanting ____ to have a book.  I do have a third one planned and I'll be commenting the name of the main character on this paragraph.  DON'T LOOK AT THE COMMENTS if you'd rather be surprised.  I couldn't help myself and started the first couple of chapters and just... I'm so, so excited about book three. 

Second, I want to put out a broad thank you to all readers, especially those who take the time to comment/vote.  I've been stretched really thin lately and I don't know if I would have kept pushing myself to write so much without all of you, and the writing is a huge outlet and something I treasure.  My personal life is starting to hit equilibrium again, so hopefully that'll mean even quicker updates.  I always stick to at least one per week, but I think we all prefer more than that :)

Until next time,

Nia