Cole

If I'd thought Blaze would go along with whatever I wanted, I was sorely mistaken. I tried explaining I was going out for a little while and that I'd be back soon, and he planted himself in front of the door with bared teeth. The message was obvious: "No."

I crouched down and scratched at his soft baby ears.

"I wish I could bring you with me, but you'll be better off here. It's not exactly a dog-friendly party." Not to mention Blaze's eyes, which made it obvious there was something very different about him.

He growled, but it seemed more resigned now.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, promise."

Honestly, I wasn't really in the mood for a party. I was only going because Lucia wanted me to so badly.

And, I'd admit to being curious about Daisy, the woman that had my friend so interested. I had always assumed Lucia was straight, just as I'd assumed that I was. How many people out there thought they were straight only because they had never questioned it?

I left behind a sulking Blaze and drove to the address Lucia had texted me. It was a new coworker of hers who was hosting the party, and I recognized the apartment complex at least. It was in the nice area of town, where renting an apartment cost more than the mortgage for a house on the other side of town. I had passed the building before many times but never had a reason to go inside.

Once I was there, I was surprised to find I could understand why people would pay a premium. The lobby was impeccably clean, and there were huge windows that looked out over a beautiful view of the river winding through the woods in the background of the city lights.

The party was in the penthouse. It didn't make any sense. Lucia worked at a sports bar. Anyone who could afford a place like this wasn't doing it on sports bar money. I used the code Lucia had texted me to make the elevator go up to the penthouse, and stopped right inside the place as soon as I stepped out. From this high up, the view was even better than it had been in the lobby.

Lucia appeared at my side. "You made it!" she enthused, hugging me.

"Yeah. Lucia, who is this guy?" I asked, gesturing at the massive apartment we were in that was already full of people.

"His name is Gabriel," she said. "I asked what I need to do to afford a place like this, and he said it's family money. Must be nice."

I hummed in agreement. There was even a grand piano in the living room near a wall of windows.

Swanky.

Music played and some people moved to the beat, but there wasn't really a dancefloor. The kitchen was in full view of the entryway with a big bar top and a bartender working.

A man joined us and Lucia smiled brightly at him. "Gabriel! This is my friend I was telling you about, Cole. He's my bestie."

I awkwardly held out my hand, and Gabriel shook it. "Thanks for having me," I said, and he waved it off.

"The more the merrier, right?" He smiled warmly at me, showcasing a set of straight white teeth. I tried to place his ethnicity and thought he was Italian, perhaps, or Greek. There was an olive tone to his skin, and his green eyes popped against it. Defined brown curls hung over his forehead, somehow looking deliberate and attractive instead of messy.

I looked around and nodded; "the more the merrier" really did seem to be his philosophy. The place was both huge and crowded. "Yeah. Um, nice place."

Gabriel shrugged. "It's okay, I know it's excessive. My parents are a bit extra."

"We should all be so lucky," Lucia said.

"Well, why don't you come in and get settled. Can I get you a drink?" Gabriel offered as we followed him deeper in.

"I'm okay for now," I said. I needed to get my bearings here and didn't feel good about eating or drinking while I was here. Lucia liked him, but even she didn't know him that well. Besides, I didn't plan to stay super late and needed to be able to drive back to Ares' place.

"Martini?" Lucia asked hopefully.

"Vodka or gin?"

While they worked out the details of Lucia's drink, I looked around some more. My first impression has been that the apartment was sterile - too put together to feel like a home. Now that I paid attention, I could see details that made it look more lived in. There were framed photographs hung artistically on the wall, full of smiling faces and with some of the faces repeated across multiple pictures. Gabriel was in most of them. He also had built-in shelves full of pottery. I moved closer to check them out and noticed some imperfections. The pieces - plates, mugs, vases, and even a flowerpot with a succulent in it - were stunning and all very different from each other. Still, there were a couple of edges that weren't perfectly straight, a couple of places where the glaze wasn't applied evenly. Just a couple. They were still beautiful. I moved closer to get a better look.

"You like pottery?" Gabe asked, coming up behind me.

I nodded. "Yeah. I mean, these look great. Have you been doing pottery for long?"

Gabe squinted, thinking. His eyes widened in surprise. "I guess it's been about thirteen years," he said. "Man, aging is a mindfuck."

I had to smile at that. "It really is."

Gabriel looked over my shoulder and smiled. "Looks like Lucia found Daisy."

I glanced at him too quickly to be casual. Did he know how Lucia felt about Daisy?

"If Lucia thinks she's subtle about it, she's wrong," Gabriel said with a smile. "But it looks like she and Carson are hitting it off."

"Carson?" I asked, running through all the names Lucia had mentioned to me from her workplace and coming up blank.

"Daisy's boyfriend."

Well, now I had to look. Lucia was perched on the arm of a loveseat that held a cozy-looking couple on it. The woman, who had curly blonde hair, was sitting in an intimate-looking hold on the man's lap. Yet, they were both focused on Lucia, wearing expressions that looked flirty. Maybe I was misreading the situation, but...

Nope.

I wasn't misreading anything.

I choked on my own spit when I saw Carson reach up and pull Lucia down for a kiss. Not a quick one, either. It looked slow, almost languorous, and Lucia sank into it. Then, Carson leaned back while Daisy leaned in and kissed Lucia just as deeply.

What?!

I ripped my eyes away and found Gabriel already looking back at me. He laughed, probably at how my mouth was gaping open in shock. I closed it and tried to wrap my head around it. Once the surprise faded, I was worried about Lucia. She had a crush on Daisy and now she was jumping into, what, a threesome? Yeah, a threesome with Daisy and her boyfriend. Lucia clearly wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. How would she feel about this in the morning, though? It seemed like a recipe for disaster since her feelings were involved.

I decided to hang around a little longer, just to make sure Lucia wouldn't need me tonight. I turned back to Gabriel, who was leaning against the wall and watching the crowd. "You don't seem big on parties," I observed. In fact, he looked tired despite the small smile he wore.

Gabriel shook his head, denying that. "I love them. But I want to take them all in, and you can't do that from the middle of the room. From here, I see everything and I can really appreciate it."

I looked around and tried to imagine what could put that wistful look on his face. To me, it just looked like a bunch of grown-ass adults getting progressively drunker, stupider, and louder.

"The parties my parents hosted when I was growing up were far from this. Everything was very controlled and elegant, and I hated every minute. Now, I've learned to appreciate that kind of event, but it can't hold up to the wonder of seeing so many people collectively abandoning their inhibitions. Look at them. It's beautiful," Gabriel explained.

I looked at the crowd again and tried to find the beauty in it, but I still saw a bunch of people making decisions they were going to regret in the morning, if they remembered what happened at all.

Gabriel correctly interpreted my silence, because he chuckled and said, "That's alright. I don't mind if you think it's silly."

"Not silly," I corrected. "Just different."

He nodded and raised his glass to me in a salute before taking a small sip. Not a heavy drinker, then. At least, not now.

Lucia, Daisy, and Carson walked right past me, heading for the door. I caught Lucia's wrist, and she didn't seem thrilled at the interruption.

"You heading out?" I asked softly.

She seemed to realize she was abandoning me at a party that she had insisted I attend with her, because she looked guiltily over her shoulder. "Will you be okay?"

"Don't worry about me. But I want you to text me before you settle in tonight, okay? Let me know you're crashing somewhere safe."

She smiled a little. "Yeah, no problem. Thanks for coming tonight, Cole." And for understanding. I knew she was thinking it, though she wouldn't say so with our audience.

I nodded and she squeezed my hand, then followed Carson and Daisy onto the elevator. At least this meant I was free to go home. Though, the party hadn't been as bad as I expected. You know, for the ten minutes I was here.

"Well, that's it for me," I said to Gabriel, who was still leaning back against the wall. "Thanks again."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

I felt my neck get hot. Was he... interested?

No.

No way. He was just friendly, and maybe happy to have found someone else to talk to on the periphery of the party. "No, I should get back. It was good meeting you, though."

"Same."

I didn't have anything else to say, so I turned and headed for the elevator. I was looking forward to being home.

--

Lucia and I met up for lunch the next day. While I didn't want the intimate details, I was itching to hear how she went from meeting her crush's boyfriend to having a threesome with them so quickly. Also, where would it go from here? Was she going to see them again? Was she prepared for her next shift with Daisy to be really awkward?

I didn't want to leave Blaze at home and Lucia was understandably curious to meet my new baby hell hound. So, we coordinated a picnic between the two of us and met on pack lands, where Blaze's obviously supernatural eyes wouldn't be an issue. Ares had to work again today, and anyway, I wanted some one-on-one time with my best friend.

It took an absurd amount of packing before I was able to get out of the house. Pets were so much work. For myself, I needed the sandwiches and picnic blanket I'd promised Lucia I would bring, and my water bottle. Then I had to grab bowls for Blaze's food and water, food for him, extra water, a safety harness for him to use in the car, and a special ball Ares had gotten for him. It was slightly heavier than I was used to, and I had been promised it could withstand Blaze's dagger-sharp teeth.

By the time I was finally on the road, I was running late for our picnic. Lucia was laying in the grass cloud-watching when Blaze and I made it to our favorite clearing.

"Finally!" she said, propping herself up on her elbows to glare playfully at me. Then, her eyes caught sight of Blaze and her whole expression went sappy. He was running to keep up with me and got his feet tangled up. He barely caught himself before he could fall to the ground again in a cute little puppy puddle. Those floppy ears bounced while he ran and his tongue lolled out one side of his mouth.

He was freaking adorable.

"Oh my goodness! You must be Blaze! Oh, you're a precious boy, aren't you? Yes, you are!" Lucia cooed. He approached her cautiously, looking to me for guidance.

I smiled at him and said, "She's a friend." Then, I gave her a hug to hopefully show him that I trusted her.

Blaze's tail wagged in response, and he ran over to sniff at her eagerly.

Lucia seemed to forget the warnings I had given her - that he wasn't trained yet and already could do some serious damage with his bite. She rubbed him all over, still cooing silly little baby talk.

I huffed a laugh since it was obvious she wasn't in any danger from him - Blaze was loving the attention. While they got acquainted, I set up the blanket, including pulling the fruit and chips Lucia had brought out of her bag. The fruit salad she had brought included mango, my favorite.

"We forgot forks and plates," I said.

"Damn, again?" She and Blaze joined us on the blanket. He immediately went for his food. Lucia unwrapped the sandwich I'd brought for her - pastrami and cheese - but didn't eat it yet.

I set down my own sandwich, since it seemed like she wanted to talk first. "How are you?"

"I have no idea. Confused, I guess?" I gestured for her to go on, and she took a moment to think. "Yeah, I'm confused. You know how amazing I think Daisy is? Well, double that now. Triple it. I don't know. She's a fucking goddess. And Carson is amazing, too. So thoughtful. They really made me feel included. We went back to their place last night and it was so easy, being with them. Even just chatting in the car. I thought it would be awkward, but they made it fun and relaxing. Turns out, they do a lot of threesomes."

I raised my brows at this. "How long have they been together again?"

"Five years."

I remembered Lucia telling me that they were werewolves, and that they hadn't formed a mate bond in all that time together. How sad, to be with someone for so long and be so happy with them with no bond. Not that you needed one, but bonds were their own source of joy. I loved being mated. Ares was amazing, yes, but there was also a lot of security and joy from the bond itself. I liked having him in my head. I liked being able to be in his, whenever I wanted. I liked the affirmation that we were meant to be together. It was something real and true, something no one could take away from us.

Sometimes, bonds took a long time to form. But after five years, the odds were very low for Daisy and Carson.

Lucia went on to say, "Cole, I don't get it. They're both incredible but they're also incredible together. You know? And how many people do you think would be so happy bringing others into their bed like that?"

"Not many. What happens next?" I asked.

She sighed and took a bite of her sandwich. "Wish I knew," she said after she was done chewing.

I didn't need to ask the question, "Do you want to see them again?" The answer was obvious.

I ate my sandwich, too, and after a couple minutes of silence, Blaze finished eating and came over to play. Lucia and I kept eating and chatting while we threw the ball for him. It wasn't super sanitary, since we were both eating directly out of the fruit salad bowl with our fingers, but I couldn't find it in myself to care.

"They asked me to come over again sometime," Lucia said out of nowhere a while later.

"What?"

"Daisy and Carson. They want me to join them again."

"Are you going to?"

Her mouth twisted into a grimace. "Yeah. I mean, I know it's going to end badly. I can already feel myself getting too invested in them, and I know it's only going to get me hurt. But I can't imagine myself saying no to them. I think... I think it'll be worth it in the end."

I exhaled slowly. I knew the feeling. I had a limited dating history, but would never forget how I had felt with Ares that night. I didn't know him at all, had no idea where he was taking me, and wasn't remotely educated on or prepared for sex with another man. Yet, denying him never really felt like an option. Maybe it was the same for Lucia.

My eyes went wide at the thought. What if-?

What if...

What if there was a reason for how Lucia was feeling about the other couple? What if it was the same reason they had been so happy together for so long with no mate bond?

I didn't voice that thought. No sense getting Lucia's hopes up yet. It was a kind of crazy idea.

But maybe...