*Warning: Graphic Imagery*

Exhaustion had an strong hold on his bones. Just a month on the local farm was taking it's toll. He wasn't as young as he used to be.
A snorted laugh.
He wasn't even that old yet.
Evening twilight snapped his headlights on. He cruised the winding roads. The seat of his truck cradled the changing momentum of his body.
He was looking forward to being home. To being enveloped in Danny's scent.
The acid had completely dropped from it. As much as he shouldn't like it, he couldn't help but revel in it. Danny was finally comfortable with him. He loved it. There wasn't fear in his eyes anymore when they were together. The mornings he could join him on rounds were like precious morsels for his mind.
It was irresponsible what he was doing. Allowing himself to let feelings grow. He knew it was wrong. His selfish desires were going to get them both killed. But for now, while there was no immediate danger, he let himself foolishly bathe in it.
When he pulled into the drive, he let out a sigh. Two other cars were pulled in behind Danny's.
He'd forgotten it was game night.
It instantly irritated him that the beautiful light scent was ruined by the heavy salt of his human friends. He didn't mind his buddies coming over. He just wished he could tune out their smell.
Muffled profanities and hollered congratulations echoed down the stairs. With a growling stomach, he entered the kitchen. A grateful relief filled him when he saw a plate sitting on the top shelf of the fridge. Broken down bits of liver and meat were covered in plastic wrap. He looked at the sticky note attached to it.
TGIF! Enjoy!
That brought a smile to his face. It melted the irritation right off.
Danny would never know how much it meant when he took the time to do things like this. He knew he was just being nice, but it made the end of his day so much easier. He wished he could do more little things to make up for his attentive generosity.
Danny was going to be a good pack leader. His skill of being in tune with other's needs was admirable.
Grabbing the plate, he strategically kicked off his boots as he walked by the front door.
He sunk into the cushions of the living room couch. Resting the cold plate on his chest, he closed his eyes and started to lazily eat.
He wondered what role he'd assign Danny to tomorrow. Herding had come incredibly natural to him. Maybe he should let him stick with that again, get more confidence under his belt. Become more familiar with the pack hive mind.
Tomorrow's hunt was a promising one. Bucks were starting to filter in for the height of mating season. He liked the challenge of big game. More meat. More he could provide for Danny.
Even if he didn't see him as a proper mate, he'd still treat him like one.
The empty plate and full belly had him dozing. Only sporadic echoes of testosterone laden noise poked at his ears. They were quickly tuned out.
“Hey…”
His soft voice played in his ear. Charming scent swamped his nose.
Struggling to shove off the heaviness in his body, he forced one eye open.
Even through the blur of his vision, he could see Danny was bent over at the waist. Hands on his knees as he stood next to the couch. He was wearing his sweater and pajama pants.
His heart kicked started.
Forcing the other eye open, he tried to get his face into focus. A soft smile was on his lips as his chocolate eyes shown at him. A melting feeling dripped along his ribs.
“The guys are gone now if you wonna go to bed. Sorry that we're so loud.” His voice was quiet.
He swallowed to wet his dry tongue as he moved to sit up.
“It's fine.” He groaned.
He suddenly noticed the plate was gone. Absentmindedly he pressed his fingertips to his chest.
Danny lightly chuckled as the smile went to his eyes.
“You polished that plate off. Musta been hella hungry. Tried to make the pieces all the same size, but I'm no laser guided cutting machine.” He joked.
He looked him over. Trying to get a handle on the soft emotions was a battle.
“You didn't have to do that, but thank you.” He said in quiet gratitude.
Danny straightened as his grin got sharper.
“It's not a problem. I figured that you probably don't want to struggle with a dull knife after dealing with cows all day.” He said matter-of-factly.
He nodded, repressing a smile.
Danny's stance shifted, and a bit of acid pushed through his scent. His eyes glanced across the living room as his smile faded. A hand rubbed the back of his neck.
He resisted frowning at his sudden change of demeanor.
“Can, uh…Can I herd again tomorrow? I know I'm supposed to know all the pack roles, but…I liked it a lot.” Danny's question was hesitant.
“Yeah, that's fine. I was thinking the same thing.”
Acid gone. Eyes back on him.
“Awesome! But I really want to try to help you get our portion. I wanted to last time, cause I was feeling…,” A wrinkle went across his brow as he thought, “…aggressive? But I didn't want to be a dick about it, since it was my first time and all.”
That instantly had a floating in his chest. Danny's alpha instincts had kicked in. That was a good sign.
“Sure, just try to stick near me at the end.”
He vigorously nodded, “Okay, Sweet!”
Surprise hit him when Danny tapped his shoulder with a fist.
“See you in the morning, alright? Hope you sleep well.” His voice was cheerful.
“Same to you, see you then.”
Danny nodded then pranced out of the room. He watched him walk up the stairs.
His body automatically followed his smell. Sadly he had to deviate from it when he went to his room.
The second his head dropped to the pillow, he was out.
It was the same routine as the month before. Only this time Danny's scent wasn't burning with acid.
But it was still a nightmare to not stare at him in those flattering compression shorts. He was glad it was too dark to properly see him. With large amounts of self discipline, he forced himself to stay focused on the road. Then onto Byron to keep himself from stealing glances.
He did keep an eye on him once they'd transmuted. Danny kept bouncing between him and Quinn. He was partly jealous, as he wasn't strictly sticking to him like he had before. But it was overshadowed by how happy he was to see how confident Danny was this time.
It was a buck. A young one. Just like he'd guessed. When the pack split, he felt the raw energy building. His animal need was starving. Viciously it growled at his mind. He was going to cut this one down faster than the first. Prove to Danny he had the rust out of his system.
He could feel Quinn move like lightening before he could see her. Like thunder he followed right after her and her herders. Danny was already in his place. He forced himself to cut down on the glances at him.
One opportunity missed was all it would take to lose this meal.
The buck was bluffing. Over and over. His charges were heartless and unsure.
This was going to be far too easy.
The buck backed up from Quinn after another weak charge with a deep bellow of threat. A misstep on a roots caused his hooves to catch against themselves.
Window of opportunity in…
Three…
Two…
His muscles snapped and he left the earth. Temporarily weightless.
In fractions of moments he watched the skull beginning to lift up and back. The buck was shifting weight to keep his center of balance. That soft defenseless neck was presenting itself like a female in heat. Nothing to stop him.
Satisfying crunch under his teeth. Broken horrified bellow blasting in his ears. Violent force trying to fling him loose. Burning in his jaw muscles as he clamped down tight. Hot steaming liquid starting to pour down his muzzle.
The blood sent him into a frenzy.
With all his strength he powerfully swung his body, bringing the desperately fighting bull lower to the ground.
At last his back paws touched the ground.
Time to end this.
As the others started to tear it apart alive, he performed the merciful blow to end it's suffering. More gratifying crunching and cracking.
The blinding red in his vision was suddenly broken by charming scent.
Danny was next to him. Teeth flashing, ears back, tongue flicking at the wolf next to him. A sudden connection to his energy had him doing the same to the wolves around them. Only a couple moments of barks and deep growls between them both left just he, Danny, and Byron over the twitching prize.
Using his body to push and guide his with non-verbal cues, he set Danny to work digging for the liver. He went about using brute force to peel muscle, tendon, and ligaments from under bloody dripping hide.
Finally content with his lot, he propped himself up on the ribs to over look the pack. It took some surveying, but at last he spotted Danny sitting past the omegas. The fresh liver and a whole femur bone lay at his paws. He found himself impressed.
His heart buzzed when Danny instantly started wagging his tail when they made eye contact. It sent a wave of soft emotions over him.
He dropped down and pushed through the compacting fur, bodies, and ripped flesh. As he approached, Danny was whimpering while he started to prance and hop. He could smell the sweet and sour pouring off of him.
“That was amazing! You're amazing! This is all amazing!” He was yipping.
His heart was swelling at how elated he was.
Danny playfully nipped at his neck.
Heartbeat froze.
Danny nipped again.
A weakness came over him. Desire overflowing.
Danny wanted to play.
Dropping down to his forearms, Danny had his tail high in the air. He was still nipping and whimpering.
His tail had a mind of it's own. It wagged in anticipation. He tried so hard to fight it. But he was suddenly unleashed.
He was hot on his heals when Danny burst off into the forest. He didn't realize how fast he was. It was hard to keep up as they weaved in and out of trees. Danny was hopping and skirting his leaps.
His tongue was hanging out as he kept looking over his shoulder. Sparks of brilliance flew through his brain every time.
He was in love with this. He could chase him forever.
Finally he caught him as Danny over estimated the tight curve around a tree. He cut him off and barreled into him. A soft yelp and they tumbled and crashed head over paws. He could feel their bodies intertwined until their momentum was finally spent.
Out of instinct he scrambled to dominate on all fours over him.
Danny was on his back, his tongue still hanging out as he heavily panted. Still in playful jest, he felt him gently pawing at his neck. That wide open raw look in his chocolate eyes sucked him in.
Before he could stop himself he licked at his cheek. The combination of iron blood and that beautiful light sweet scent playing on his tongue instantly incinerated all his will power. Over and over his tongue traveled his face. He couldn't stop.
“I can clean myself up, Chris. I promise I have good hygiene skills,” Danny was chuckling, “Unless you think I did a horrible job last time. You could just give me pointers, ya know.”
That violently snapped him out of his dreamlike state. He leapt off of him. Quickly he turned to walk away. Shame blanketed over his heart, making him immediately start thinking depreciating thoughts.
How dare he not control himself. Take advance of him like that. Let his intense desire to claim overpower his logic.
A soft bump against his shoulder.
He flinched as he met Danny's gaze. There was worried confusion in his eyes.
“You okay?" His voice was worried.
He looked back ahead and nodded.
“Yeah, I'm fine.” He mumbled.
“Sorry, it didn't mean to insult you or anything. I was just playing around when I said that.” There was anxiety in his tone.
“It wasn't that. I'm just…I just realized how tired I am.” He sighed.
That wasn't even a good lie. He could feel his eyes on the side of his head. Already he knew he was smelling the anxiety that he couldn't hide.
“Well, we finished earlier than last time. You should take a nap when we get home.” His voice was back to it's usual peppiness.
He could tell he was trying to cheer him up. Nodding again, he picked up his pace.
“Yeah, that's a good idea.”
With their haul stored in vacuum tight freezer bags, and a bit of it for lunch, he secluded himself in his room.
He stood under the hot water of the shower for a long time. Watching the rust color of the blood flow in swirls down the drain made him wish he could flow down with it.
Disappear.
Avoid Danny and these feelings that he shouldn't have. He cursed at himself. He was supposed to be keeping a distance so when they found him, he could make a clean break. Not feel his heart shatter as it had before.
Danny was getting attached to him. Just seeing his open vulnerability of wanting to play meant he trusted him. He felt safe with him. He felt happy with him. As much as he wanted to glow in that revelation, he couldn't.
It was going to traumatize that pup when he left for a second time.
He fell into bed.