dropping at an alarming rate, the likelihood of anyone making it into the valley alive to disturb him had been minimal. And he had no intention of leaving his warm little nest on a wild goose chase for a corpse. But when the wards at the top of the ridge had been breached, Cy had found himself compelled to focus his senses—to brush against the presence approaching his home. And from that point on he’d been lost. Something about the soft whine he’d discovered as he stretched out with his magic called to him. He’d almost felt as if someone was shoving at him, forcing him along as he tracked down the intruder. And he was so glad he had followed the insistent demand. The boy was fascinating. Cy had never seen anyone like him. Fur covered the boy’s whole body in a soft, silky pelt of brown and black, but it did little to distract from the firm, toned body beneath. A thick bushy tail sprouted from the base of his spine and currently lay limply across the floor. Cy longed to reach out and caress along its length—investigating where it rooted into the boy’s body. He wanted to explore what lay beneath too—nestled between the boys tight ass cheeks. But truly, it was the boy’s face that was the most captivating. He had a wolf’s pointed muzzle and sturdy head that tapered down to a very human, very male body. A thick brown ruff of fur protected his nape and upper shoulders. His ears where sharp triangles. His nose a very canine soft black flare at the tip of his snout. In other words, he was mesmerizing. Cy could see wet tracks down the boys muzzle. It was obvious at some point he’d been crying. Cy loved tears. And something about the wolf-boy made Cy want them. He wanted the soft whine again too. But this time they needed to be edged with arousal and desperation for release. A release Cy wouldn’t grant until the boy was begging—crying out for his cock. As Cy knelt down beside him, the boy began to stir. A low moan escaped the long muzzle as the pup stretched out his neck and slowly regained consciousness. It ignited a tiny flame of awareness in Cy’s belly—a very primitive, very aroused awareness that called to something deep and instinctual. It demanded possession. Cy tamped it down, but didn’t dismiss or push it away completely. “Hush. You’re safe, little wolf.” With a gentle brush of his magic, Cy began checking the boy over. The boy slowly open his eyes and raised his head to focus on Cy as he worked. But after a moment of stunned silence, the wolf-boy gasped and pulled away. Cy instantly raised his hand to the deep scars that ran from his hair line down the left hand side of his face in three thick, ugly gouges. Damn it all! How could he have forgotten to cover the scars? It had been so long since he had been in the company of others he had almost lost sight of why he shunned the outside world. The wolf-boy ducked his head and cowered away. Cy felt every muscle he possessed clench in anger and humiliation. “You needn’t be afraid. My scars are not contagious,” Cy snapped as he very purposefully lowered his hand away from his face. He didn’t want to frighten the boy, but he refused to hide in his own home. The boy cringed further away from him and a tiny whine escaped. Something about the reaction gave Cy a moment of pause. He’d spent most of his adult life being ostracised for something completely beyond his control until he’d simply given up on society in disgust. But something about the way the pup whined and bared his throat made Cy feel like he’d kicked a puppy. Cy studied the Wolf-boy cowering in front of him. He looked…frightened. Cy couldn’t help himself. He reached out to touch the boy's head. But again the pup jerked away, whining softly—his ears collapsing down against his head and his beautiful thick, bushy tail tucking in between his legs. “Hush,” Cy commanded firmly, but not unkindly. He reached out and very gently ran his hand over one