scratches his belly.
It doesn’t take Jamie long to follow his lead. Dylan rummages through their things in order to find his jeans, and tosses the other pair to Jamie. “I want to hunt today,” Dylan says. “With you.”
Jamie smiles and nods his head, obviously pleased. “I would enjoy that,” he says, and Dylan nods.
The human sides of their nature are content with meat from the grocery store or the farmer’s market, but the duality of a were’s nature means that the animal side must also be assuaged to keep an individual happy, healthy, and well-rounded. It is only natural for them to run and hunt, to stalk their prey and pounce, to tear flesh from bone. It is an exercise in bonding - mere humans do it as well. Sharing a meal relates to the primal instincts of many species, bringing them together in ways that cross certain boundaries without words ever needing to be spoken.
“Did you have anything else you wanted to do today?” Dylan asks, and rubs against Jamie’s side when his mate presses in close to his body.
“I admit that I had been hoping for more of your company alone,” Jamie admits, and waggles his eyebrows playfully.
Dylan stifles a giggle, and without speaking a word, he reaches over with one hand to pinch his alpha’s nipple.
“Tease,” Jamie growls.
Dylan pinches him again.
*
They weren’t going to go after large prey. It wasn’t that they couldn’t take down a deer, it was only that it was more dangerous without the aid of a larger pack, and they were hunting more as a means of relaxation than out of any particular need.
But then Dylan picks up on the scent.
The buck is injured - probably from some sort of scrabble during the Run. It doesn’t smell like an infection is setting in - yet - but the creature isn’t walking very well, and aside from the aspect of an easy kill, it seems cruel to let the animal stay in pain when his chances of survival are so weakened.
Dylan signals to Jamie his intentions, then trots off around the other side of the brush the buck is hiding in. The animal knows that they are present now, and when Dylan catches Jamie’s eyes for a brief second, they share a look of grim determination.
The buck will try to run; it’s a given. When he bounds out a few seconds later, using the last of his strength in a desperate play for freedom, Jamie and Dylan spring at him, one on either side, their paws scrabbling for purchase the animal’s sides while their jaws lock at his throat.
The buck doesn’t go down without a fight, but it is mercifully short, and Dylan offers a silent prayer of thanks for the creature’s life when he breathes his last. They’ll be able to eat their fill before bringing the rest of it back for the freezer, and the hide will go to a leather-worker friend of his father’s.
*
Jamie is shocked when Dylan tells him that there won’t be any bonfires to celebrate the third day of Samhain.
“What do you mean, the third day of Samhain?”
His mate looks at him in disbelief. “Your generation has forgotten the old ways?” he says. “The three days of Samhain, the rituals, the purifications?”
“…I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Dylan admits.
Jamie hoists the deer higher on his shoulders and continues walking. It’s clear from the expression on his face that he is far away, and Dylan wishes he could understand what Jamie is clearly upset about.
“You say that you didn’t know anything about the ceremony you used to bring me back?” Jamie asks him, and Dylan nods.
“I searched for weeks to find anything that would get me out of the run,” he says. “That guy you stopped from touching me earlier? He was one of the ones who wanted to force-mate me. Someone gave me a tip about a magic book and I ordered it off the Internet without even knowing if it would work.”
“The Internet?”
“Um…” Dylan bites at his lower lip. “It’s like a telephone, but you can see words and images on a screen? Or kind
It doesn’t take Jamie long to follow his lead. Dylan rummages through their things in order to find his jeans, and tosses the other pair to Jamie. “I want to hunt today,” Dylan says. “With you.”
Jamie smiles and nods his head, obviously pleased. “I would enjoy that,” he says, and Dylan nods.
The human sides of their nature are content with meat from the grocery store or the farmer’s market, but the duality of a were’s nature means that the animal side must also be assuaged to keep an individual happy, healthy, and well-rounded. It is only natural for them to run and hunt, to stalk their prey and pounce, to tear flesh from bone. It is an exercise in bonding - mere humans do it as well. Sharing a meal relates to the primal instincts of many species, bringing them together in ways that cross certain boundaries without words ever needing to be spoken.
“Did you have anything else you wanted to do today?” Dylan asks, and rubs against Jamie’s side when his mate presses in close to his body.
“I admit that I had been hoping for more of your company alone,” Jamie admits, and waggles his eyebrows playfully.
Dylan stifles a giggle, and without speaking a word, he reaches over with one hand to pinch his alpha’s nipple.
“Tease,” Jamie growls.
Dylan pinches him again.
*
They weren’t going to go after large prey. It wasn’t that they couldn’t take down a deer, it was only that it was more dangerous without the aid of a larger pack, and they were hunting more as a means of relaxation than out of any particular need.
But then Dylan picks up on the scent.
The buck is injured - probably from some sort of scrabble during the Run. It doesn’t smell like an infection is setting in - yet - but the creature isn’t walking very well, and aside from the aspect of an easy kill, it seems cruel to let the animal stay in pain when his chances of survival are so weakened.
Dylan signals to Jamie his intentions, then trots off around the other side of the brush the buck is hiding in. The animal knows that they are present now, and when Dylan catches Jamie’s eyes for a brief second, they share a look of grim determination.
The buck will try to run; it’s a given. When he bounds out a few seconds later, using the last of his strength in a desperate play for freedom, Jamie and Dylan spring at him, one on either side, their paws scrabbling for purchase the animal’s sides while their jaws lock at his throat.
The buck doesn’t go down without a fight, but it is mercifully short, and Dylan offers a silent prayer of thanks for the creature’s life when he breathes his last. They’ll be able to eat their fill before bringing the rest of it back for the freezer, and the hide will go to a leather-worker friend of his father’s.
*
Jamie is shocked when Dylan tells him that there won’t be any bonfires to celebrate the third day of Samhain.
“What do you mean, the third day of Samhain?”
His mate looks at him in disbelief. “Your generation has forgotten the old ways?” he says. “The three days of Samhain, the rituals, the purifications?”
“…I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Dylan admits.
Jamie hoists the deer higher on his shoulders and continues walking. It’s clear from the expression on his face that he is far away, and Dylan wishes he could understand what Jamie is clearly upset about.
“You say that you didn’t know anything about the ceremony you used to bring me back?” Jamie asks him, and Dylan nods.
“I searched for weeks to find anything that would get me out of the run,” he says. “That guy you stopped from touching me earlier? He was one of the ones who wanted to force-mate me. Someone gave me a tip about a magic book and I ordered it off the Internet without even knowing if it would work.”
“The Internet?”
“Um…” Dylan bites at his lower lip. “It’s like a telephone, but you can see words and images on a screen? Or kind
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