Sam

Sam was burning up, the pain on his shoulder was throbbing with every movement. He didn't expect the wound to take so long to heal. It had been at least three days since Rick's wolf bit him in the forest, and he could still feel it's sharp teeth breaking through his flesh. He shivered at the memory. He should have been scared but all he felt was a hollow tug in the pit of his stomach. A fluttering that he couldn't really explain. He couldn't remember much of the night except for the pain and the horror of being caught between those rogues.

He studied his reflection in the murky mirror of his bathroom, leaning down to peer at the obvious red marks of the teeth. There was no blood or infection, visually it looked healed but the pain said otherwise, not to mention the fever that had not left him in the past three days.

Sam put on a thick full-sleeved t-shirt and gym shorts before taking his bike(*bicycle) and riding to the Yoda pack property. He threw his bike at its usual spot under the tree and ran inside the training area. He was slightly late and so was Rick. He dashed to the locker to keep his stuff. The sound of the metal locker door echoed in the empty room.

"Yeah, I saw him." Sam heard a girl say from the women's locker room.

"Are you sure?" another girl said.

Sam wasn't the kind of boy to give heed to gossip but he stopped hearing a familiar name. Rick's name was spoken in a hushed whisper.

"Those are just rumors." the second girl said dismissing the girl who spoke first.

"Rumors hold some truth, you know. Why would he sit with David in the middle of the night by the lake? David was his best friend and he stopped talking to him ever since David got married. What does that tell you?"

"No way!" the other girl said, shocked. "That is so...scandalous. Were they fucking?"

"The way they looked at each other, it looked like they did.'' The girl's laughs pierced Sam's chest like tiny spears. He had to hold on to the locker so as not to lose his footing. He remembered all those times begging for Rick's attention as a child while Rick remained mesmerised by David. They were inseparable as teenagers, how did Sam not see it before? Of course, Rick was single. Of course, his love life was a mystery. He loved David.

Sam slammed the locker door shut with a loud thud and the girls gasped, going silent in the opposite room. When he came out, Rick was standing before the students, wearing a tank-top. His arms were slick with a layer of sweat as if he had been working out.

"Today we will learn to summon our wolf's in a controlled environment." Rick said after everyone formed a circle around him.

Sam's blood ran cold at the prospect of summoning his wolf. Not only was it impossible to command his wolf. He wasn't willing to show Rick his wolf, especially not after what he learned in the locker. It could be a rumor for all he knew, but for some reason it didn't seem like one.

"We will start by closing our eyes and taking deep breaths." Rick walked out of the circle and strolled outside it, passing each student. Everyone including Sam closed his eyes and did as Rick said.

"You will count to ten between each breath." Rick said. "You control your wolf and not the other way round. Remember your training, believe in yourself. You are stronger than your wolf."

"Carl, you are doing great." Rick yelled for everyone to hear. He went to each student and praised their efforts. "Jeena, I know you can do it."

"Let the wolf out. Give it the physical power but you are the one who holds the mental rein."

"You will feel your body morphing, your temperature rising." Rick sounded far, as if he was standing at a distance.

There were sounds in the air of grunting, of ripping clothes, of animalistic growls. Sam opened his eyes a few minutes later and saw most of them had changed to beautiful wolves except for him and a girl. The girl's eyes were closed still, her brows furrowed in concentration.

"Laura, don't force it. It's not something you can force out." Rick said, standing behind her, a hand on her shoulder. For some reason Sam was jealous of the girl, jealous of the shoulder Rick has put his hand. The pain on Sam's shoulder was tingling and spreading all across his body.

The girl frantically nodded at Rick's word. She shook her arms by her side and tried to concentrate again. With a loud pop she transformed into a sleek looking wolf.

"Sam, it's your turn now." Rick's eyes met him across the room.

"I can't," Sam said, gritting his teeth.

"But you haven't even tried yet." Rick walked closer, and Sam backed off almost as if branded by a hot iron.

"I did try. My wolf won't cooperate."

"Let me help," Rick tried to come closer and Sam took a few steps back again.

"I will try later." Sam said sternly.

"You can't just give up." Rick frowned, the look of confusion apparent on his face. "Is everything alright?"

No, nothing was alright. His wolf was miserable. His shoulder throbbed and most of all...Most of all his heart hurt.

You were gay all this time, Rick. And you love your friend. Why didn't you see the lovesick little boy craving your attention all those times? Sam wanted to say all this but he couldn't.

"I am not giving up, I just want to try later." Sam said almost defeated. He didn't know why he was feeling so shaky all of a sudden. His body was warmer than before. His heart pounding like a stallion at a race.

"Your face is red." Rick said, a look of concern on his face.

"I am fine." Sam said with little too much fire in his voice.

"Everyone go take a run outside. Meet me here in half an hour." The wolves didn't need further instruction, they were wild animals, creatures of the wild. They took off in the next breath.

"Are you sick?" Rick placed his palm on Sam's forehead and he jerked it away.

"Don't touch me!" Sam yelled.

"What is it! Why are you acting this way?" Rick's face hardened. "If you were not feeling well you shouldn't have come."

"You would have loved that, wouldn't you?" Sam's anger poured out of him like lava. There was no reason for him to get angry. It's not like Rick ever promised anything to him. If anything, he was trying to maintain healthy boundaries. It shouldn't matter to Sam who Rick loved, he could love a girl, a boy or his best friend. Sam had never mattered to him. And he never would.

"What?" Rick barked.

"I don't want to be here," Sam turned and started to leave.

"No, you are not. You are not leaving when I am talking to you!" Rick took his arm and stopped him from leaving.

"Let me go!" Sam yelled, trying to pry his hand away. Lightning shot through his arm where Rick touched. His eyes must have shown vulnerability, because the next moment Rick's grip loosed but he didn't let go.

"No." Rick said in a whisper. "You will tell me what is wrong."

"I hate you. I hate to be in your class. I hate to see your face every Saturday. You remind me of a time I so desperately want to forget. Your parents loved you, Rick. Your family is so accepting. They will never judged you for who you are. You are older. You are free. You can love anyone you want, and yet...." Sam panted feeling the words stuck in his throat like tar. "Yet you choose to stay closeted, hiding your true identity. If you can't break your own metal boundaries, how do you expect your students to do that with their wolves?"

Rick's face turned red, harsher than Sam had ever seen before. Rick shoved him to the wall at the back, pushing his body forward and glaring at him from above.

"I will not be bullied by a child into coming out!"

"A child who accepts who he is and is proud of it. I am not a coward like you," Sam's anger wasn't going down but something more dangerous lurked at the edge. Lust. Pure unadulterated lust. He needed Rick, like he didn't his next breath. Rick was too close, every hard inch of his body flushed on Sam's body. He could practically feel the rising and falling of Rick's chest as he took his own labored breathing.

"My sexuality doesn't define me, Sam. And it doesn't define you either. You will understand when you grow up." Rick's voice lowered, he said the words right on his ears.

"I am not a child," Sam said, his own breathing a little out of control.

"Yes, you are." Rick replied.

"Is that why you are hard right now?" And as if to prove his point Sam rocked his hips against the rock hard cock that was poking him in his stomach for the last ten seconds.

"Sam," Rick groaned almost in pain and jerked away. He faced away and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I am sorry," Rick said, sounding way more upset than Sam would have expected.

"What are you sorry for?" Sam begged. He needed to hold on to that ray of hope. Maybe, just maybe Rick was attracted to him.

"I know what it looks like." Rick said. "I don't want to give you a wrong impression. It's just a natural reaction of my body and nothing else. You are my student, I can't..." Rick made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. "I have a mate, Sam." Rick said in a single breath.

If Sam thought his heart was broken before he was wrong. It was nothing like what it felt hearing Rick say the thing. Sam was numb, even the pain in his shoulder was gone. How did he ever think he would have something in life. Didn't his life shoved him down every time he tried to stand up? Didn't his father leave him when he was just a baby? Didn't his mother abandon him to fend for himself? Didn't his people discard him like a rotten fruit? He should have known. He should have fucking known.