*Warning: Strong language*

The sun was just starting to set when he blinked open his eyes. Deep sleep had quieted his volatile emotions and left him feeling slightly positive. Throwing on comfortable shorts and t-shirt, his stomach told him to go to the kitchen.
He headed down stairs to get a snack. There was some soreness in his legs as he took the steps.
Again, on the fridge shelf, was a plate with a sticky note.
FPS later?
He frowned, trying to figure out was ‘FPS’ was. Giving up trying to fit a meaning to it, he sat down at the table. In pleasantly blank thought he stared out at the darkening sky as he ate.
Scent before his voice.
“Hey, you're up,” Danny plopped in the chair across from him, “Sleep okay?”
He nodded, “Yeah. Did…you sleep?”
“A little, I was on still too much of a high from earlier.”
Danny's smile was wide.
“It was that exciting?” He asked through his chewing.
“Yeah! I really liked that I was able to help you out at the end.”
“I'm glad. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. Plus, it was a lot of fun to play with you. Dad stopped doing that after Mom passed away,” He sighed, “I miss it.”
He stopped chewing when his face fell. The soft hurt on his face pulled at his heart. His light scent got heavy.
“We can…play after territory rounds in the morning.” He slowly offered.
He shouldn't have even suggested it, but his sadness was eating at him.
His face lit up again.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Sweet! That'd be awesome!”
That smile was brilliant, he savored it for a moment. It was difficult to suppress the excitement he felt as well.
Shifting in his seat, he picked up the sticky note he's set aside.
“What does this mean?” He asked, letting his curiosity show through.
Danny furrowed his brow and then looked at him in confused amusement.
“You really don't know what ‘FPS’ means?” He was almost laughing.
He shook his head, “No.”
“Oh common, you're not that old. It means ‘First Person Shooter’.” Danny chuckled.
“Oh…right.” He mumbled.
“You don't play games very much, huh?”
“Not really, never had the time or resources to get into them.”
“Well, I got everything you need to start a bad habit.” He joked.
He looked him over, debating if he wanted to take him up on the offer.
Danny hoped up from the table.
“Common, you should try it out. You seem to be extra stressed today. It'll help you relax.”
He stopped in the kitchen doorway.
“Well?” His tone was hopeful.
He couldn't say no to that. He stood and followed him.
When Danny flicked on the light, he took in the space. It was lightly cluttered. Mostly cords and what he could only assume were more gaming consoles dotted across the floor. Endless game cases were stacked up against one wall. Worn out bean bag chairs faced a television.
“Pick a chair, any chair.” Danny said in a show man's voice, gesturing to one of the bags.
After a bit of hesitation, he dropped into one. He found himself enjoying the way it molded to him as he settled into it. Already he could feel his body relaxing.
A controller was shoved into his hands.
“This is the trigger, this knob to rotate your view, this one to move, that button to reload. You can hit that one if you wonna scroll through the weapons you pick up.” Danny explained.
He suddenly felt out of his element and overwhelmed. When he looked up at him, his smile was encouraging.
“Don't worry, you'll pick it up quick.” He said lightly.
With a swallow and a half nod he waited for further instructions.
At first it was infuriating. His fingers were so dis-coordinated and jerky. He felt like the buck from this morning. Things were moving so fast on the screen, he couldn't process the visual input correctly.
The only thing that kept him pushing through was Danny's delighted exclamations of praise and further encouragement. Every bit if it made him feel good, made his heart glow.
It dawned on him after a while that he was now the student, and Danny was the teacher.
Finally he got the gist of the mechanics. It quickly became rewarding and addictive. Now he understood how people got sucked into these things.
“Damn Chris! Another head shot. How the hell did you get so good so quick?” Danny said in shock.
He found himself just barely grinning.
The game ended. Danny's happy laugh echoed in his ear.
“Nice! Look! You're in the top twenty for most kills.” He said, pointing at the screen.
A strange sense of pride filled him.
Map reset. Timer countdown.
“So, why is it so bad to be…gay…in your pack?" His timid question broke the quiet moment.
His fingers twitched. He missed a good shot.
Clearing his throat as his heart started speeding up, he tried to focus on his thoughts as well as the screen.
“It's…considered a weakness…”
“Okay?”
“If you...can't create offspring, you're a parasite.”
“Well that's bullshit. You're a good hunter, that's useful.”
“Still isn't good enough.”
Successful kill.
“But why punishable by death? I mean, can't they just exile you?”
A pain in his heart.
“They…usually do…” He sighed.
“Then why is it different for you?” His question was so innocent.
There was a tightness in his jaw. He got couple more good shots in before he spoke.
“They found out I was sleeping with humans.” He quietly replied.
He could feel a heaviness in the silence. Only the sound effects filled it.
“So…that's…not okay?”
Deep breath.
“No, it's one of the highest offenses.”
“There weren't any other gay wolves?”
“I don't know. If there were, they were never outed.”
“Why didn't you just out yourself and just live in exile? I mean, I'm sure you weren't happy there.”
Another sharp hit to his chest.
“I was slated to be Pack leader. My mom was pushing me into that position. Pack politics and power plays.”
“Oh…that sounds…really shitty...” Danny said in thought.
“Yeah…”
“Well, I don't get why they still want to kill you. You're not bothering them anymore.”
“They have to make an example of me. No one escapes punishment of breaking Pack law.”
His throat was getting tight. Anxiety was making him dizzy. It was getting exceptionally difficult to keep his mind in one place.
“I know…we're not a really strong pack. But we'll protect you. I don't want you to die.” Danny's tone was vulnerable.
“I don't think your pack will when push comes to shove…” He admitted in honesty.
“I think they will.”
“I don't know.”
“I'll convince them.”
“I don't think they'll listen to you.”
Another lull into silence as the game ended and started loading into another.
“Do you think…imprinting would make a difference?” His voice got so small.
Heart leapt into his throat. He tried to swallow it down. He dare not look at him.
“I don't…know…”
“I mean, it's about time we did that,” He heard his voice cracking, acid rising, “We've been mates for a month now.”
His stomach was awash with twisting heat.
“We shouldn't rush it…” He choked out.
“Why?”
“It's…”
“It's not that big of a deal. Just bite each other's necks and it's done.”
He snapped his head to look at him, game completely ignored. Danny's focus was still glued to the screen.
“It's a serious decision, Danny.” He found himself stating in deep intensity.
“You think so?” He replied, eyes still on the game.
“Yes, it's permanent. And when they kill me, you'll be unable to take another mate. What if you want to find a female and raise a pack of your own?”
Danny suddenly dropped all attention from the screen. His brow furrowed. Face drawn in stern intensity.
“They're not going to kill you.” He said in certainty.
“Yes they will, and if we're imprinted, they'll come for you too.”
“So what? I'll defend you…”
“No, Danny, I don't want you to get hurt.”
“Well I don't want you to die!” He exclaimed in an emphatic whimper.
Stunned.
That hit hard. He found he was shaking. Setting the controller down, he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.
“We're not imprinting, Danny. I couldn't live with myself if they…” He couldn't finish his sentence.
Pause in the air. His face rested into his palms.
A hand gently pressed into his shoulder. It made him shiver.
“Chris…” His voice was appeasing.
“I care about you too much, okay? Way too much. So don't make this sound so trivial.” He croaked.
“I didn't mean to…”
“It's fine.” He said through a rattled sigh.
He took a deep breath.
“I'm going to…go.” He said quietly.
“Okay…”
He hated hearing and smelling how sad he was. It made him angry and distraught.
His voice made him pause at the door.
“Thanks for gaming with me. It was a lot of fun.” Danny nearly whispered.
Looking back over his shoulder, a final blow hit his chest.
Danny's brows were upturned. Chocolate eyes muted. He was almost sure he saw tears pooling at their corners. The edge of a forced smile was trying to twitch down.
His mind screamed at him. Begged him to take that hurt off his face.
But there was nothing he could do. That fact was pounding him into the floor.
“You're welcome. I had fun too. Let's do it again tomorrow, okay?” He said as gently as he could.
Danny slowly nodded.
Softly closing the door behind him, he ground his teeth. The sound filled his ear drums.
He wanted to run. Get the insane emotions out of his body.
Not caring that his lose clothes would drop off of him, he transmuted at the front door.
He ran. Aimlessly.
Kept going until his muscles ached.
Then burned.
Went numb.
In exhaustion his legs gave out.
His head crashed into a tree. The pain was a welcome distraction from the internal torment.
Laying in a crumpled heap, he no longer had energy to stay transmuted. The cold, scratchy ground cover dug into his skin.
And there he lay.
A broken, naked, emotional mess of a wolf.