Little by Little

Keller leaned down and flecked his pink tongue along the wound. The adults watched as the blood flow stopped. Keller wasn't a strong enough wolf to complete heal the wound and Talon would need a healer to set his broken bone.

Sighing in resignation, Kaylan squatted in front of Talon and bared his canines. Knowing he was going to be bitten whether he like it or not, Talon made one last attempt to attack the man but was hampered by Keller. Talon whimpered helplessly when he felt the strange man's hot breath on his neck and instant later, he felt the Alpha's bite completely obliterate his loyalty to his previous pack.

Many years later...

"Please, Talon? Pretty please? I wanna go!" Keller bounced up and down on Talon's bed, clutching the paper printout of the motor cross show.

Talon came out of the adjoining bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping down his defined chest. "If I got what I wanted, you wouldn't be on my fucking bed. Get off."

"Ta­looon! I've been wanting to go for months and I finally got dad to say yes. The only catch was that you would have to chaperone me." Actually, Keller was lying. His father had wanted one of his sentries to accompany him but Keller had thrown a fit and gotten him to agree to let Talon come with him. With Talon's recent acquirement of a girlfriend, Talon was spending less and less time with Keller and he didn't like that.

"No. Go with Ross. Or Mike. Or Harley." Talon went over to his chest of drawers and took out a pair of black boxer briefs, some old jeans and a black v­neck t­shirt.t.

"But my dad specifically said you had to come with me," Keller lied again. If he didn't know better, Keller might think that his dad didn't like Talon but then why would the Alpha adopt Talon into the pack. Keller had been told that Talon was found abandoned in a decimated pack and his father had taken him in. The alpha had then raised Talon as his son along with Keller.

"No he didn't. If he never had to see me, he'd be over the moon about it," Talon said with no emotion. Keller never understood why his father and Talon were so frosty towards one another but he hated when two of his most favorite people in the world fought.

"Talon, please? I'll do anything, anything for you!" Keller pleaded, watching as Talon dropped his towel and pulled on his underwear. He gulped when he caught a glimpse of tanned buttcheeks that was regretfully covered. Fortunately the jeans Talon wore cupped his buttocks lovingly and Keller licked his suddenly dry lips. He didn't like these butterflies that would suddenly flutter around his stomach every time he saw Talon.

"Yeah? Then leave me alone to my date. I've got a whole box of condoms I wanna put to good use and you are not about to cockblock me, Killer." Ever since Keller could remember, Talon had nicknamed him Killer. Keller lived for those few moments when Talon called him that nickname, a name that Talon had specially formulated just for him. It made him feel special to Talon.

Hearing that Talon had bought condoms put a damper on Keller though. He'd only met Talon's girlfriend few times and barely knew her but it was enough for him to know he hated her. She was overly clingy and her laugh grated on Keller's sensitive ears.

"That's disgusting," he said with complete revulsion.

Talon grinned as he shrugged into his leather jacket and grabbed up his bike helmet. "Those are the words of a virgin who's never gotten under a girls skirt. And let me tell you, little Killer, a girl's pussy around your dick is the best feeling in the world. Well, it's a close second to the feeling of a guys' ass rippling around your dick, but I digress."

Keller's eyes almost popped out of his face at those last words. A guy's ass? Talon liked boys? "You like boys?" he blurted.

Talon just shrugged. "Boy, girl, doesn't matter really. It depends on if I can tolerate them for more than five minutes and girls tend get on my nerves faster than guys do."

Keller nodded dumbly, still trying to assimilate this new information. He'd known he liked boys exclusively for a short while now but he hadn't told anyone, not even his dad. There were a few same sex couples in the pack but they weren't exactly close to Keller. And now to know that the man he'd looked up to his entire life, aside from his father of course, was gay or at least liked boys as much as girls was...mind blowing.

"So how come you're going out with Melissa and not a guy?" And just how many guys had Talon been with, Keller wondered bitterly.

"Cause she's going to put out," Talon smirked lasciviously. "See ya. And if you aren't asleep by the time I get back, I'll even tell you a few details."

Keller watched him go. Dejected, he deflated on Talon's bed. He felt like crying and raging at Talon all at the same time. There was no reason for it but the urge was there. So he did the only thing he could do. He headed towards the mess hall where he knew his friends would be gathered after training with the Alpha or other apprenticeships.

He saw his father, Alpha Kaylan sitting at the head table with a few of his sentries and his mother chatting happily away on her mates lap. He gave the happy couple a wave before hurrying towards his friends. He didn't want his dad to call him over before he asked his friends a few questions.

"Hey Killer!" Bethany, his best friend from sentry training called out to him. Of all his friends he had to say she was the most manly, but he could understand her persona. As the youngest female sentry in training, she had to act more tough than any of the other boys to belong. Only Keller got to see the softer side she reserved only for close family and friends.

"I told you not to call me that!" Keller huffed as he playfully shoved Bethany to the side to make some space for himself.

"Aw, did your big brother leave you again?" Jared, the betas son piped up. He too was in sentry training. The rest of his friends Harold, Raze, and Persephone or Percy as she preferred were in healer, enforcer, and hunger training respectively.

"He is not my big brother, he's not related to me by blood," Keller felt the need to explain that fact for the hundredth time. Though Keller might think the sun and moon set on Talon, he definitely did not see the older wolf as his brother. What he felt for Talon was decidedly less brother like and it started to disturb his sleep.

"God I wish I was being raised by the Alpha too," Percy practically swooned.

"What for?" Raze asked with a raised brow. Seeing that Percy was distracted with her daydreaming, he snatched up a piece of meat from her plate and shoveled it inside his mouth. Keller smirked, making Raze glare at him and silently warn him not to say a word to Percy. Everyone knew not to mess with a hunter, they were trained to take down big game. But Raze, who was denser than the planet Earth thought he could, outsmart Percy.

Percy looked around at them with an incredulous look. "Uh, have you guys not seen Talon? He's fucking hot. He is worthy to be my very first crush ever. Man, when my sister was dating him I thought I'd almost swoon. He always used to give me the biggest smile when he came over to pick her up."

Keller head spun with this new information. "Wait, Ionia dated him? For how fucking long?"

Raze rolled his eyes and sneaked another strip of meat off Percy's plate. But this time she jabbed her fork right between his marauding fingers without even sparing him a single glance. The rest of the table roared with laughter at Raze's hurt look but Keller's glare remained steady on Percy.

"Dude, chill. Talon dated my brother a while back, too. They're best buddies now," Gage added. Since he was sitting next to Raze, he barricaded his own plate with his arm so Raze wouldn't be tempted to steal any food from him.

"Dillon? But they like hang out every day! That bastard ignores me to hang out with that tool!?" Keller screeched, thumping his fists on the table. A few of the older pack members around them gave the group questioning and annoyed glances but when they saw it was the Alphas son making the noise, they quickly looked back.

"Oi, that's my brother!" Gage protested.

"Fuck your brother!" Keller snarled.

That made Bethany snicker. "Talon sure did," she retorted, sending the others at the table into peals of laughter.

Getting disgusting with their cavalier banter towards his Talon, Keller abruptly pushed off from the table. He almost made it to the door before Percy caught up to him and threaded her arms with his. She led him out of the mess hall and towards a more private spot. He let her, curious as to what she wanted from him. He wasn't particularly feeling friendly towards her after learning she had a crush on Talon.

Percy found a secluded spot in the shaded area near one of the seemingly empty cabins. Crossing her arms in front of her, she raised a defined brow and looked down at him.

"So, finally realized that you have a crush on big bro?"

"Wait, what?" Keller spluttered, taking a step back as if to physically escape her accusation. "What, eww, no! That's weird and gross­and I so do not!" But all his protests fell on deaf ears as Percy began snickering. "and he's not my brother!" he added in an afterthought.

Wiping a stray tear from the corner of her eye, Percy smirked. "He doth protest too much, me thinks."

"Ugh, you've been paying too much attention to those human classes you keep going to," Keller complained.

Percy rolled her eyes. "Ok, that is so not the point. We're talking about Talon here. Hot and sexy nine inch dick­"

Percy didn't even get to finish her sentence before she was on her back on the ground with a very pissed off were on top of her. Keller snarled at her, his teeth bared and saliva dripping from his elongated canines. Though he was stronger than her, Percy was trained in hand to hand combat. She quickly flipped him off her and scooted back a few feet. She held her hands out in surrender trying to let him know she was no threat.

Keller finally came back to himself and gasped when he saw the few scratches he'd left on Percy. "Oh god, Percy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that. I don't even know what came over me."

Instead of screaming at him like he'd expected after that unwarranted attack, Percy just grinned in satisfaction. "Dude, no worries I didn't expect any less of you, you're his mate after all."

Keller's mouth dropped open at that statement. "M­mate?" Keller stuttered. He'd only recently consoled himself with the realization that he liked boys instead of girls and now this.

Percy nodded enthusiastically. "I suspected a few years back when I saw how clingy you were with him and he was equally protective of you in big groups. The others didn't believe me but I am always right," she crowed gleefully. "And now Raze and Bethany each owe me a juicy carrion."

All concern for his friend vanished. "Okay, one­you made a bet on me. Two­ you knew I was gay? And three­do you really think we're mates?" Keller blushed when Percy smirked. "I mean, how do you know?"

Percy shrugged at that. "As mates, only you and Talon would know. But honesty, Talon is a lot more thick headed and stubborn, so I'm relying on you to do the chasing."

"Hey," he frowned. He didn't know whether to be affronted for himself or Talon. But really, he had no comeback for her truthful words.

"Shut up, you know I'm right, I'm always right."

Keller folded his arms in front of him and glared petulantly at her. "I'm getting a little tired of hearing that."

"Then stop being wrong all the time and listen to me when I say things the first time around," Percy explained as if that were the most obvious thing.

"Said the blood crazed disaster," he mumbled.

"Thank you," she beamed. "Look, I'll say this once and as many times needed after until you have little Talon and Keller babies."

"Oh, are we finally discussing Keller's massive crush on Talon?" Gage asked from behind them. Keller turned and saw the whole gang behind him and from their shit eating grins, he assumed they overheard enough to know his little secret.

Keller face-palmed himself and shook his head. It was impossible to keep a secret in his little pack of friends.

"You knew?" Percy asked and Gage nodded in confirmation.

"I suspected," he admitted.

Raze and Bethany were grumbling about going hunting and Percy expounded on how big she wanted her carrion.

"Guys!" Keller yelled, getting all of their attention. "This cannot leave this little group. No. One. Can. Know. Especially Talon. And my dad. But especially my dad. But more so Talon."

"Chill, man," Bethany slung her arm around his shoulder. "We-well, at least I know how to keep a secret," she corrected as she sent a glare Arthur their little group. Percy snorted in affront.

"I am the queen of secret keeping," Percy said as she glared back at Bethany. "You don't hear me going on about the time you took down a wild boar and started crowing about it like a jackass before slipping in its blood and face planting unit its behind." Bethany squeaked in indignation, making Raze snicker in amusement.

"So that's why you isn't eat pork!" Raze exclaimed before dissolving into loud guffaws. Bethany narrowed her eyes at him and swiftly pulled back her fist to punch him in the arm. Keller knew how much those punched him hurt but Raze just fell down laughing.

"Why don't I call up that girl that kicked your ass after finding out your badass tattoos were drawn with pen and that you weren't sixteen, hmm?" Bethany taunted as she stood over Raze with her arms crossed in front her looking extremely agitated. That finally got Raze it stop his maniac laughing as he groaned up at Bethany. Gage just shook his head at their antics before holding a hand out to Raze to help him.

"Okay, okay, guys enough. We're focusing on making Keller uncomfortable," Raze deflected as he stood with with Gage's help and dusted off the excess dirt on his clothes. "And for the record that girl did not beat me up, she gave me a black eye. And before it started raining she was totally about to put out," he huffed, puffing up his chest and looking smug.

Bethany looked unimpressed. "Right," she said disbelievingly. "But now we gotta focus on getting Talon to put out."

Percy snapped her fingers. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "We must come up with a plan to make Talon notice Keller as something more than the Alpha's untouchable son to a very touchable mate."

"Oh god," Keller groaned. His friends were going to ruin his life.

"I'm in. Guys, we are so like his fairy godmothers!" Bethany squealed, her fisted hands tapping together in anticipation.

"So what, that makes Keller Cinderella?" Raze teased.

Gage nodded his head solemnly. "Technically, yes. And since there is only one fairy godmother, I suppose the rest of us are mice."

"Dammit, I don't wanna be a mouse," Bethany groused.

Percy looked Bethany down her now. "I am the godmother, so ha! I get to be badass while you mouse around."

And from there, their bicker just descended further down into the indistinguishable. And these were the people he counted on to control of his love life. Keller thought it just might be easier, not to mention less painful, to douse his non existent love life with kerosene and set it on fire rather than let these idiots do anything.

"First things first, let's get Keller a pretty dress," Raze shouted above the din. That instantly got the girls' attentions.

Percy tapped a finger to her pursed lips and looked thoughtful. "You know, Talon might just be into that kink, you never know."

"I wasn't serious!" Raze looked disturbed.

Ever the serious one, Gage added in his own thoughts. "I know this boutique in town that specializes in costumes."

Keller sighed as the group got into the semantics of what to dress him up as. Great, just great. He took a step back and when they didn't notice, he quickly turned on his tail and walked as far away from them as possible. He wasn't retreating...no, he was just tactfully avoiding some certifiably crazy people. It was called self preservation. And there was no way in hell he was wearing a bloody dress.

Later that night...

Keller don't know what had woken him up but as he blinked away the sleep in his eyes, he heard the distinct sound of shuffling and muffled cursing. Jolting up in bed, he tried to hone into the source of the noise and figured it came from Talon's room. Getting up as quietly as he could, he pushed open his door and headed towards Talon's room on tip toes. It was fortunate and convenient that the rooms were across from each other. Pressing his ear to the door, he wondered if Talon had barely come in.

Like the idiot he was, he'd waited up for Talon as long as he could until sleepiness pulled at him around one in the morning. When he heard a small, distinctly feminine giggle he growled and shoved the door open. His senses were what allowed him to see through the dark, unfortunately for Talon and his female companion.

On the plain single bed lay Talon and a naked girl bouncing up and down on top of him. The smell of sex, heavy daisy perfume, paired with Talon's unique mix of bergamot, ginger, and leather assaulted his nose. On their own, the smells would have been perfectly fine but mixed together it was sickening and Keller felt his wolf push to the surface.

The girl shrieked when the door slammed open and Talon quickly rolled them over and pulled out of her to face the unknown danger. He quickly got up off the bed, just as naked as the day he was born and faced Keller with a thunderous frown.

"Keller what the fuck did I tell you about coming into my room?" But when Keller didn't answer with anything other than a low, gravelly growl Talon grew suspicious. He peered into the shadows keeping Keller just out of sight and stepped forward a step. "Keller?"

But before any of them knew it, Keller lunged towards the bed in a form they'd never seen him adopt. Half wolf, half man he was the image of all those werewolves depicted in Hollywood movies only a hell of a lot more vicious and deadly. Talon could only stand still in shock as the image of the seven foot body crouching on the ground morphed before him. Keller's upper torso was covered in black fur with his hind legs transforming into that of a wolfs.

All Keller felt as he jumped towards the offending cacophony of smells was pure rage and a need for revenge. He was angry at Talon but first he wanted to get rid of the slut on the bed. He bit into her arm with a savage satisfaction and relished the high pitched scream. Snarling like the animal he was, he pulled at the skin and swallowed down the chunk of muscle he took.

Keller felt arms wrap around his midsection and pull him off the bed. He snapped at Talon and scratched at his thighs in an attempt to free himself. The pain in his thigh from the shallow gashes, Talon dropped Keller but placed himself between the girl and this murderous boy­wolf.

"Move!" Keller growled out, the words barely discernable demonstrated his new unused voice. Talon held out his hands in supplication, watching him warily. The only kind of wolves he knew that could partially shift were alphas but for Keller to present at such a young age was surprising.

"Kell, you mind calming down a bit first?" Talon tried to ignore the shrieks of his girlfriend but they only seemed to goad Keller further in his self induced bloodlust.

"He fucking bit me, Talon! Oh my god, I'm losing so much blood," the girl screeched, holding the sheets to her wound. She's withstood the pain for so long because she was a fox shifter.

Keller pawed at the ground and circled around Talon. His protective stance in front of that bitch only served to add kindle to his anger. "Get the fuck away from her," he warned lowly.