***

This part of the city seemed strange. It appeared to be dedicated to a row of dens of iniquity by the way the flashy signs in front of each shop tried to lure in the passerby with promises of pleasures of the intoxication kind. Ryder never drank the alcoholic concoctions humans came up with; although he had progressed a great deal in controlling his wolf, at twenty-eight years of age he still needed to work more on that part of himself. If it hadn’t been for the impending necessity of finding his mate, Ryder wouldn’t have left his pack for a trip to this cesspool of smells and noises that was the city.

Another thing that made this place different from the other streets he had traveled so far was the sort of people mingling hereabouts. They were mostly males and, more than once, Ryder had caught one or two of them at the same time giving him what seemed to be assessing looks. When a member of the pack did that, it was for two reasons: they intended to provoke Ryder into a fight or they wanted to offer themselves up for a night.

City dwellers were different. They were humans, to begin with, which made them strangers to Ryder. They were to coexist with, but without getting too close. The assessing looks he kept getting made his wolf restless. He looked down in an effort to avoid them altogether.

“Excuse me?” a feeble voice called out to him from his right.

He looked up, and for a moment the street noises faded. A clean scent tickled his nostrils. A pair of brown eyes was looking at him, but not in the unclean assessing way he had sensed until now. The eyes were honest.

“Hi,” the stranger extended his open hand, “I’m Average Joe. Would you sleep with me?” The words trembled, unlike the eyes.

Ryder stopped and let his gaze move over this human. Brown hair, cut short. Regular features, smooth skin. A young male who appeared to lack strength. Most likely, someone on the bottom rung of this large human pack. He wore a gray t-shirt and a pair of jeans, both plain, without any of the adornments that some of these city dwellers seemed to prefer.

He was offering Ryder exactly what he had been looking for: a roof over his head for the night. Could it be that the human had understood that only by looking at him? It seemed unlikely, unless the human was a clairvoyant like Cassandra.

Whatever the reason he had to ask Ryder such a question, a good opportunity couldn’t be allowed to go to waste. In the city, Ryder couldn’t sleep under the naked sky or the authorities could jail him. He took the offered hand and shook it.

“Hello, Average Joe. Yes, I will sleep with you.”

***

The sound of Vince’s whistle from behind brought him out of his stupor. The handsome man in front of him had just said—

“Where is your lair?”

Daniel opened his mouth, but it looked like no words were able to come out. The hand holding his was strong, large, and rough. It felt like they were sharing the sort of dependable handshake people talked about in books. The man had wild medium length black hair and eyes to match, although it was hard to make out every little detail in the street lights, no matter how bright they were. Daniel could see, however, the scar of a cut that went from the man’s right eyebrow halfway to his cheek. It made the guy look dangerous, and obviously alluring. He couldn’t be older than thirty, but he looked like no other thirty-year-old Daniel had ever met. His leather jacket smelled of sap and wood, strong and pleasant; he was at least a head taller and had to outweigh Daniel by a good forty pounds if not more.

“Go get him, tiger,” Vince yelled from behind.

Daniel shook his head, trying to clear it. Good thing he hadn’t drunk a drop tonight, or else he’d be forced to blame it on alcohol. No chance of that, and he had to be happy for it. Exposure to the unpredictable, Mr. Wilson, he told himself, trying to gather up the courage to continue this strange conversation.

“Um,” he began and blinked. “What’s your name?”

“Ryder Asherman,” the tall man replied. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you,” Daniel mumbled his reply. “Are you coming with me? To my home?”

“Yes.” The thick eyebrows furrowed, signaling that the stranger – no, Ryder – was losing his patience.

Daniel stole a look at Vince, who was busy taking a picture of him with this man who might just become his hookup for the night. At least, if he ended up on the six o’clock news, his friend had something to give to the police.

He shook his head again. If he kept seeing dangers in every corner, he’d never do anything in life. And Vince was right; this was where gay people came to mingle and get to know new people. There was nothing weird about getting to know a stranger and taking him home for a quickie.

Daniel felt hot as he continued to look at Ryder. That was a handsome face. And a strong, muscular body, barely concealed by that leather jacket and dark jeans. He hoped for more than a quickie, but he’d settle for one, anyway, if that was all that was in the cards for the night.

“Let… I mean, let’s go,” he whispered.

“I will follow you,” Ryder said politely. “Please, lead the way.”

Daniel let out a short nervous laugh. “We’re going to take an Uber. You don’t have to, um, walk behind me like that.”

“Very well,” Ryder replied.

***

He had tried to get himself acquainted with all the novelties of city life by reading intensively about them on the phone provided by one of the younger members of his pack. Uber was a means of transportation. Ryder disliked entering the contraptions humans used, because they were cramped and stifling. Their artificial smell was nothing like the pines of his home, even though it came from a pine-shaped thing dangling in the front, and made his head hurt.

But, in order to blend in with the city dwellers, he needed to behave like them. His fated mate appeared to be well guarded, which meant that Ryder had to bide his time to be able to meet him. This generous human, who offered his abode, was a godsend.

Of course, all humans required payment for their services, so he would have to discuss the terms of his lodging, seeing how he didn’t carry a lot of what city dwellers used as currency. He didn’t need it often, although there were people in his pack who regularly visited the world beyond their forest. That was how they got their access to new technologies and clothes like the ones he was wearing now. Limiting their interaction with the outside world was essential if they wanted to maintain their pack’s way of life.

Some things couldn’t be avoided, such as accepting the help of this human offering up his lair so Ryder had a roof over his head for the night.

As they sat in the backseat, Ryder leaned closer to the human called Average Joe. It was a strange name, but Ryder wasn’t one to question the choices city dwellers made. Since Average Joe smelled clean and pleasant, it made it easier for him to survive the trip by Uber.

Joe – Ryder had to call him that – chuckled and turned his head. “Are you, like, sniffing me?”

Right, humans didn’t share the same method of getting to know each other, and it was most likely awkward for his host to observe Ryder acting this way.

“I don’t mind,” came the whispered follow-up.

“Are you sure you’re all right with this?” Ryder asked, as he had learned to do when he wasn’t sure what humans thought or intended.

“Yes, I believe I quite like it.”

Ryder looked at the pine-shaped triangle dangling by the driver’s side, exuding its offensive smell. Since the human wasn’t bothered by his wolfshifter’s ways, he could very well take advantage of his generosity until he had the chance to repay him for it.

He moved closer and stuck his nose into the side of Joe’s neck. The human made a squeak-like noise but relaxed as Ryder went on to nuzzle his skin. For a city dweller, Joe definitely smelled nice. There was none of that unpleasant, fake scent that seemed to pollute everything as soon as so-called signs of civilization were in sight.

“Do you mind if I do this?” Joe asked and moved his arm to wrap it around Ryder’s shoulders.

“No.” There was more for him to gain if he allowed them to sit like this.

He had no idea he was hungry until he got more of the human’s smell. He stuck out his tongue to have a sample. Not that wolves ate humans; that was a misunderstanding that had been souring the relationships with the packs living in the forests north of Glasstone since times no one remembered. Of those days only the distrust remained, but it ran deep.

Ryder didn’t want this human to believe that he was about to be devoured. Average Joe didn’t know he was sitting next to a wolf, anyway, like all of the other humans that surrounded them. Their existence was concealed in a shroud of secrecy, and Ryder wasn’t about to give himself away.

Joe moaned softly and exposed his neck more. Ryder blinked, as the fire of his blood ignited. Would the human accept him as a partner for the night? That went beyond simple generosity. How would he ever be able to repay him?

His hunger won and he let his fangs move slowly over the offered skin. How would his mate taste? He wasn’t supposed to taint himself with the flavor of a human, no matter how appealing, when he was bound to meet his fated love.

“Can you wait until we get back to my place?” Joe asked in the same unsure voice that marked him as a feeble human. “I don’t want to scandalize the driver.”

So, that was the offer. Ryder would accept it. For now, however, he needed to control his hunger.

TBC