him away from all that he loved without some serious talking on
both their parts. They would have to move one day, that was a
given because of their lifespans and lack of aging. But Terry had
only just found his feet in Houston and he didn’t want to give
that up.
Chapter Twenty Four
Zander really didn’t want to let his little Omega out of the house
the next morning, his wolf was still in high protection mode.
Unfortunately he hadn’t counted on Terry’s amazing powers of
persuasion. Apparently Zander would agree to just about
anything when he was getting his brain sucked out of the slit in
his dick. He’d never known that about himself until he had met
his mate and he knew from the chuckle Terry had given him as
he skipped out of the door, that he would have to be a bit more
careful about his mate’s powers of manipulation. Or not, he
thought with a grin. It was a damn good blowjob and Terry
assured him he would be with friends all day.
Hitting the coffee pot for a refill, Zander tried to relax. His
Captain had given him a day off, something about not following
established procedures in a hostage situation or some other such
crap, and he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with himself
until lunchtime, which is the earliest possible time Terry had said
he could see him. Now that all of Terry’s client’s had seen each
other’s costumes, apparently he had more than a few ruffled
feathers to smooth down. Zander didn’t envy his mate at all.
He was just about to sit on the couch, now complete with multi-
colored cushions and blankets, when someone pounded at his
front door. Zander frowned. He wasn’t expecting anyone. The
only visitor he used to get before Terry, was Sully and Sully had
a key. Fixing his face to give the Jehovah Witnesses a damn good
fright, because who else could it be, Zander felt his mouth drop
open when he opened the door and found Sully standing on his
porch. He quickly shut his mouth again, no point in looking like
an idiot, especially when he wasn’t sure what his ex-friend
wanted.
For a long moment the two men looked at each other. Sully
seemed nervous, which was not something Zander was used to
seeing. But he didn’t seem angry or aggressive so finally Zander
stepped back, letting Sully go past him into the house. He didn’t
want a knock-down drag out fight on his front lawn if he could
help it. Although…nope, he had no idea why his friend had
decided to turn up after damn near three months of shunning
him and trying to wreck his career. Only one way to find out.
Plunking himself back on the couch, Zander nodded to the chair.
He didn’t want to say anything, although he had a lot he could
say. He’d been in wolf form the last time Sully had confronted
him and the memory of Sully pointing his gun at his mate, still
caused his wolf to growl in his chest.
Sully sat, and looked around, a half-smile on his face. “Wow, I
see Terry must have rubbed off on you.” Zander shrugged
although he had to admit that Terry had turned his house into
something far more comfortable. There was art work on the
walls, cushions and rugs on the floor, plants on the window sill
and even flowers in a gaudily colored vase on the dining room
table. Terry had managed to unearth some old photos of him
and his father, and had placed them discretely on his television
stand. Freshly printed, no one would know the pictures were
almost a hundred years old.
“I’m sure you didn’t come here to talk about interior decorating,”
Zander said. “Besides Terry is the one you would have to talk to
about that. I just let him get on with it. I like it.”
“So you two are living together?”
“Since the last time you were here,” Zander replied, still not sure
what Sully actually wanted. “It’s good. We fit. I protect him, and
he looks after me. I’m not about to give him up.”
Zander wasn’t used to feeling unsure around his friend. He and
Sully had always got on together and Zander could admit to
himself that he really missed their camaraderie. Sure, he’d met
all accepted him with only a few reservations. But Sully had been
a big part of his life for a long time, and his absence still hurt.
Sully’s shoulders were hunched, his fingers were meshed
together as though he didn’t want to fidget, and the overall look
was tense.
“Yeah, about that,” Sully said at last – Zander more than happy
to wait the man out. “I’m sorry, okay. I…I…handled things badly.
The business with the gun. Making a false complaint to the
Captain.” Sully jumped up and started pacing the floor, a move
Zander had seen a hundred times. Long strides, hair being
punished by hands that didn’t seem to know what to do with
themselves. Sully was going through some deep shit.
“I panicked okay,” Sully said. “I panicked and then I opened my
mouth and crap came out…”
“My wolf?” Zander thought he’d better address the elephant, or
wolf in this case, in the room. He wanted Sully to feel
comfortable talking about that at least. But Sully surprised him.
“No, not the wolf thing. So you can turn into a wolf, big deal. If
I hadn’t have been so freaked out about the jealousy thing, I
probably would have sat down and learned more about it all.
You’re hiding some wicked shit there.”
“You’re jealous about my wolf? I got to tell you Sully I was born
this way. It’s not something you can pick up or learn.”
“Not the wolf thing. Terry!” Sully had stopped pacing and was
standing there, facing him, but Zander still had no idea what
Sully was talking about. Then a horrible thought crossed
Zander’s mind and he glared at his friend.
“You fancy Terry?”
But Sully shook his head. “Not Terry, no, although he’s sweet
and sexy and all, but no. What you have with Terry.”
Right. A relationship. Zander cocked a grin. “You could have a
relationship with any of the women you go out with, if you just
tried dating them more than once.”
“I don’t want any of the women I’ve been out with. That’s why I
don’t go out with them more than once.”
“Well keep looking. That Suzy seemed nice and you went out
with her a couple of times.”
“Suzy’s lovely,” Sully said distractedly, “But you’re not getting
it. I don’t want a woman in my life. Emphasis on woman.”
Zander eyes widened and then he narrowed them again. He
wasn’t going to make any assumptions about something so
important.
“Spit it out. Tell me the truth.”
For one moment it looked like Sully was going to bolt. Zander
could see the man’s leg muscles tensing, his eyes wild, his hands
clenched. But then, just as suddenly, Sully seemed to collapse
in on himself and he sat with a heavy thump on the nearest
chair.
“I’m gay, okay? I’ve always been gay, but I’m not allowed to be
gay, so I hide it.”
“How long?”
“I’ve been hiding it?” Sully shrugged. “Since just before the
academy. My Dad caught me in a compromising position with a
guy I really liked, a lot. Threatened me with everything he could
think of – disowning me, not giving me any support while I was
at the academy, even threatened to get me kicked out of the
police training program before I had even got there. I crumbled,
told my Dad I could go either way and that I would stick to
women from then on. I didn’t want to lose contact with my
mother.”
“Your Mother wouldn’t have let you go, she adores you and you
know that.” Zander had only met Sully’ parents a few times and
while he could agree that Sully’s father was an asshole of the
highest order, Sully’s mother was kind and caring and seemed
to love everyone, no matter who they were.
“I didn’t dare take the risk,” Sully continued. “But my Dad was
friends with the Chief at the academy, so I knew all my exploits
with women would get back to him and that would keep him off
my back, which it did. Then when we graduated and I couldn’t
seem to stop. My folks were happy, I could go home for
Christmas. I’ve never had trouble attracting women. I guess I
got so caught up in my own lie, I couldn’t help myself. But I
could never feel anything for any of them if you catch my drift.”
“But why, why attack me? Why the fucking slurs, the lies? Why
the attitude? You pointed your gun at my mate.” Zander wanted
to be understanding, he really did. He knew only too well how
hard coming out could be, but Sully had done some stupid shit
to try and hide who he really was. Had been doing it for years
as the most rampant homophobic idiot on the force and Zander
was still paying for some of the fallout from that.
“I pointed the gun at you. You turned into a freaking wolf, man,
what did you expect me to do? I wasn’t going to shoot or
anything. It was just instinct. You’re fucking big in that form and
I didn’t know those teeth of yours weren’t going to tear me to
bits.”
Zander chuckled even though he didn’t mean to. Sully was a
good detective, homophobic bent aside, and yeah, he probably
would have done the same thing in similar circumstances.
Besides, at the time he did want to tear his friend to bits, not
something that Sully needed to know while he was in confession
mode.
“My old man’s been putting the wedding pressure on me. Get
married, have kids, carry on the family name,” Sully went on,
shaking his head. “It’s been going on for months. I tried to tell
him I still liked men, and that I couldn’t get it sorted with a
woman. I told him that my sexual orientation didn’t matter in
the department, that I was a grown man and could live my own
life. That just set him off again, ranting and raving at me that no
son of his will be seen to be gay. I was a fucking mess I tell you.
Then I came here to find you in bed with the prettiest man I’ve
ever seen…”
“And you snapped.” Zander could understand that too. Sully had
clearly been under a lot of pressure and wouldn’t have been able
to share his secret any more than Zander had.
“I’ll apologize, I will. To Terry I mean. I’ve already admitted I
misread things during my visit here to the Department and I’ve
been temporarily transferred to Armed Defenders squad because
they think I’m gun happy and need more training. But after last
night, working together again for such a tiny minute just the way
we used to…and then seeing the way you were with him…no
shame, nothing but caring for your man. Fuck Zander, I didn’t
think it was possible for love to be like that. I’ve never felt that
with a woman.”
“It’s almost impossible not to love our mates, and Terry – well,
he found his way under my skin pretty quickly. It’s a wolf thing
although it could also have a lot to do with Terry being who he
is. He’s easy to love,” Zander said, his smile genuine for the first
time since Sully had arrived.
“So you knew, from the first moment you saw him? At that bar
brawl?” Sully was leaning forward on his chair now, his face alive
with curiosity.
“From the moment I scented him at the bar brawl,” Zander
clarified. “Shifter’s know their mate through their smell. My cock
got hard in an instant, and the longing I had to take him into my
arms to protect him, and then fuck him through the floor was
unmistakable. There’s no getting away from that for shifters.”
“Cuts through all the dating game rubbish.”
“A lot of shifters don’t find their mates,” Zander said. “So they
play around like I did. Men, women, I didn’t really care although
I’ve always preferred men. You just don’t commit to anyone
though, cos if you find your mate and you’re already with
someone…”
“That could get messy.” Sully looked like he understood. “So this
biting thing, it’s permanent, no more double dating for us?”
“I can’t get a hard-on for anyone else. That night with Rebecca,
when I got sick. I’d only scented Terry and I got sick from her
being all over me like a rash.”
“You’re forced to be faithful? Are you sure it’s not a curse?” Sully
sounded incredulous.
“I want to be faithful,” Zander corrected. “How can it be a curse
when you find that one person in your life who will be everything
you ever need? The one you know was born to be exactly what
you want, who will complement you perfectly in every way so
that you could never think of having anyone else again. You’re
immediately drawn to them, you’re consumed by them and you
don’t want to think of anyone else. And when you make them
yours, fuck the need to protect, to cherish, it never goes away.
Not to mention the sex is off the charts good. Far better than
with anyone else. Terry’s a blessing in my life, never a curse.”
“I want that,” Sully said, slumping back in the chair. “If I had a
relationship like that I could tell my father to fuck himself, and
just be happy with a solid partner in my life.”
“You can tell your father that anyway.” Zander looked Sully
straight in the eye. “The man I know wouldn’t live a lie for a
moment longer. You tell your dad, you stop with the gay-hating
and I’ll…” Zander thought for a moment. “Terry and I will take
you to the clubs I used to go to out of town, and see if we can’t
find someone for you. Or, if you’re really prepared to embrace
your true self, there are plenty of places here we can go.”
“You and Terry would still be my friends?” Sully sounded unsure
and Zander remembered that his work partner was a lot like him
and didn’t have many other people he could count on. Perhaps
that was why h
e had never rebelled against his father’s wishes.
“You can spend Christmas with us. I never wanted to stop being
friends. You’ve had my back for years, as I had yours,” Zander
said. “You put me in the position where I had to choose between
living with my life mate, and being friends with you, and I didn’t
like it, but Terry will always come first. Doesn’t mean I didn’t
miss having you around. Terry doesn’t spend a lot of time
watching sports and more than two beers gives him the giggles.”
Sully grinned and just like that, Zander had his friend back. A
friend who knew all of his secrets this time and who one day
hopefully be back by his side on the force. Looking more like his
old self, Sully said, “So, is there any coffee in the pot?”
Chapter Twenty Five
Terry was tired. Helping twenty odd men go through their
transformations from normal working class males into drop-dead
gorgeous females was hard work. Heel’s split fabric, a couple of
cat fights over who should go first at the makeup table, more
complaints about outfits, that had fit perfectly two days
previously, no longer hugging the men like they wanted the
dresses to. He could hear the faint noises from the crowd as the
winners for the various competitions were announced, and
looked around for his jacket. It didn’t really matter to him who
won the competition. All of the clothing, for the ladies and their
escorts, had been made by him, and that was going to be
acknowledged at the end of the night. It was the Diva’s
personalities and talents that were being judged – Terry’s work
was just part of the show.
In deference to the bright costumes he’d created, Terry had
opted to wear basic black for his evening. Admittedly his
sleeveless t-shirt was skin-tight, as were his jeans. He
completed his look with black boots, but planned to wear his
multi-colored jacket as a confidence booster. He’d met Zander
wearing that jacket, and yeah, Terry could be a bit superstitious
sometimes.
Slipping his well-fitted jacket on over his shoulders, Terry bent
down to check the buckles on his boots. The last thing he wanted
was for one of them to go flying off on stage. A loud wolf whistle
had him straightening up in a hurry and Terry looked over to see
Zander coming into the room, followed by Sully. As pleased as