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Two Weeks Later

Rand paused, scenting the wind He looked down the slope of the hill, to where the younger wolves were currently pulling apart and devouring the deer that he, Fane and Stalker had brought down They had a second one, untouched, they'd bring home, to store the meat the way a human would Another of the many ways they smoothly straddled two different worlds

They had a good setup here A good life

He was miserable

He shouldn't be, damn it Cai's note had been clear They were friends, brothers-in-arms, if ever he had need of him, he'd be there for hiured out the infinity mark on Rand's wrist He'd even drawn a simple replica at the top of the note, a reminder to Rand

The vampire had finished up the note with soain soon Blah blah blah If all that was true, the bastard would have told hied one more intense fuck and been on his way He'd literally fled after that dinner A dinner where the guy as as e out there for all to see For Rand

Rand had wanted to go after hih and hadn't Because everything Cai had said, whether it was bullshit on his side of things or not, could very likely be true for Rand

These were his people No question The ache over Sheba and Dylef and the pups would never be gone It would hit hiht his tih that his self-destructive urges couldn't take the upper hand, and he could feel good things about life again Thanks to Cai, Rand could be part of a pack again

His leg was still giving hi in a pack wasn't a bad thing, since he doubted he could have caught the deer on his own over open ground Fane and Stalker had handled the running and directing Rand had trailed behind--just behind, but still behind--until the kill point, and then Rand had jumped in

He'd agreed to the X-rays Sangra reco contacts, but he'd anticipated the outconosed as the probleic needed to be healed by a ic

The liht just fine in the pack, so he asked Sangra to let it be, for now Even with the handicap, he was considered the next beta in line behind Stalker At full strength, he would have stepped into the role of Fane's top beta with no objections fro a polite pack member

But this worked He had no problement Rand didn't have to be chief, but he could be if needed, his injury notwithstanding That knowledge brought Fane peace Though they'd crafted a pretty safe world here, and were growing a strong pack, Fane only had to look as far as Rand's experience to knoas important to be prepared for the worst to happen

With Rand present, Fane's pack now had backup if souidance of an olderthe tione on teether with him on his lucrative carpentry business

But in his heart, Rand kneas padding Overall, their world was decently secure, well connected to the human one where those threads were needed Stalker was alra ers were only a few years out fro able to contribute in their oay to the pack's overall strength

But function wasn't all that a pack was about It was also about fa fairls weren't his thing and no one conored, like they didn't want to talk about it It si needed to be said

He wasn't a monk He would need male company in time, but he could drive to the nearest tohere there were plenty of opportunities for hook-ups

An idea which made him nauseous He needed that male company now, but he didn't want "male company" He wanted one particular ely honorable, foolishly brave and touchingly vulnerable at unexpectedtouch he craved, even as he felt the desire to hunt him down to stay close, protect him from his worst enemy--himself They had that in common, didn't they? They both needed the occasional reminder to pull their heads out of their asses

Ever since Cai had left, Rand had to taut, like Rand wasn't where he needed to be, with the person he needed to be with

That could easily be explained by biology In his note, Cai had told hi After Rand read the note, he sat there for a while, quelling the desire to search the grounds--as Cai ure out where Timmy had fallen down the well After a time, he'd left his rooone to find Lord Brian