He hated everything. He hated life. He hated his room. He hated this car, even though it was brand new. He hated how the damn night was mocking him with how clear it was. It was the best time for a party, yet he couldn't enjoy it. Instead, he had to fake being happy at the party that his family had for him just so he could get through the day.

"Miki," Geo called for his friend. "Please tell me you're up for some practice. I need to beat someone up."

"Like hell you'd be able to beat me up," she teased. "But this late at night? Aren't you going to be trying to stay in your room and hide out as soon as it hits midnight?"

He was planning on doing that. And it was already 11pm. But there was no way he could be at the packhouse right then. Not with him still there.

"It's just going to be the community center, and then back home," he told her. "Please, Miki? For my birthday?"

"Alright," she said. "But you better tell me what the hell pissed you off this close to your birthday. I need to know who to beat up after I finish pummeling you."

Geo sighed and rested his head on the seat of the car. It had started out as a great day. He was happy. His whole family had planned on going out to a buffet for an early birthday party for him. The real party was going to be with Shiro and the gang on his actual birthday. He was planning on bringing out all of his games and buying a bunch of junk food for them all to lay back and have some fun the whole day. Shiro even made sure that he didn't even have anything to do tomorrow.

And then something had to go and sour his mood. And by something, he meant someone. Jimmy had decided to go up to Shiro's office. And the shit he overheard him say made him want to throw him out of their territory. It would be everything he always wanted, only without him being a part of it.

"I think that there's something wrong with him," he told Shiro. Geo didn't want to pry, but when Shiro noticed him by his office he told him to stay. He wanted him to hear this.

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked.

"Well, it's just," Jimmy seemed nervous. Geo knew how he sounded when he was nervous. He had to try and help him through his anxiety a lot in their relationship. "I just think that he might think of you as more than a friend or leader."

"And why do you think that?" Shiro's voice held no emotion.

"Because he's always around you," Jimmy said. "He always talks about you and he's always eager to go to you whenever he thinks you need something. It just seems like he's interested in you. And I just thought you should know."

"Jimmy," Shiro told him. "I am the next leader. He is my second. I understand you might not be on good terms with each other at the moment, but that, in no way, means that you make up stories to tarnish his name."

"But I'm not making up stories!"

"I can tell when you're lying, Jimmy," Shiro's voice got stern. He may have still been recovering from a wound, but he could still be intimidating when he needed to. "The next time you lie to a superior you will not like what happens. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"You are dismissed."

He couldn't believe he would have the fucking nerve to try and go straight to Shiro with that crazy rumor. If Shiro hadn't ordered him to go into the office next, he would have punched him. He actually wanted to punch him. He had never, in the whole time he was dating him, wanted to punch Jimmy. But he was seeing fucking red when he heard him do that.

Because that wasn't just petty revenge. That could have ruined his whole reputation. He could have gotten thrown out of the pack for something like that. And that was the nicest of all the punishments that Geo could think.

Fuck. He could have gotten him killed.

"Geo," Shiro mind linked with him. "Where are you?"

"The Community Center in the city," he told him. Shiro had been checking up on him the whole day, making sure that he didn't get into a fight or something. "I'm going to blow off some steam with Miki."

"You should spend the night over with her and her father tonight, then," Shiro said. "We could always move the party to her place tomorrow."

"I'll be fine, dude," he told him. "Just have to blow off some steam tonight and I'll be perfectly fine for tomorrow."

"Alright."

Of course, he wanted to bring Shiro to the community center to practice. They always practiced together. Shiro was the one who taught him how to strategize and lead the rest of the warriors. His uncle helped him a lot, of course, but it was Shiro that he practiced the most with. It wasn't like his father wanted to help him at all.

But Shiro was still recovering. He liked to say that he had healed from those bullet wounds completely, but Geo didn't want to take his chances. If he strained himself while practicing that would mean that he would be out of commission for even longer.

And Jimmy thought that he wanted him...his best friend...

Why do people do this?! They think that if you're around someone enough that all of a sudden you want to fuck them. They don't even think about all the shit that both Shiro and him had to go through, and how many times they both had to pull each other up from the depths of their own depression.

But, no. That for some reason translates into wanting to fuck them.

Geo shuddered at the thought.

"Miki!" he whined through the mind link. He was already at the community center. And Miki lived closer to it than he did. "Where are you?!"

"Helping my dad with something," she told him. "Calm your man tits. I'll be there soon."

Geo groaned. He was getting tired of waiting. He quickly got out of his car and started walking towards the building. He knew it would be open, even if it was this late. The janitors always let them in just as long as they cleaned up after themselves. Geo had a few birthday parties there late at night. It was a blast.

He would have done that this year if it weren't for the fact that he could potentially find his mate as soon as he reached the age. He was really hoping that the guy was younger than him. Because he needed to buy time until Shiro got into leadership. But he wasn't going to be taking his chances.

"I thought I saw a Puppy!"

Oh no.

He didn't have the patience for this tonight.

Geo tried to walk faster into the building, but it was too late. Alex had already gotten to him, a few of his friends in tow. He had to suppress a groan. This was, quite possibly, the worst night to deal with this.

"I'm not in the mood, Alex," he frowned at him. The guy looked like he had a few beers in him already. But, knowing him, there was no way that he was anywhere near drunk just yet. "Glad to see you healed up nice, though."

"Why aren't you in the mood?" Alex blocked him from the door again. "What's the puppy all grumpy about?"

A few of his friends were laughing. And Geo was getting more pissed with every second that this kept on. He didn't want to be fake anymore and put on a damn mask to be respectful to him. He didn't want to deal with him flirting with him and joking around. He was already this close to breaking someone's spine and he'd rather it not be Alex's.

"Stop calling me that," he told him. His voice got lower.

"Calling you Puppy?" Alex's eyes shined with mischief. It seemed like he was too drunk to tell body language at the moment. "Why on earth would I? You're even adorable when you're mad!"

Geo took a few deep breaths. He couldn't beat the fucker up. That would cause way too many issues. And he had just saved him earlier that week. A part of him was hurt that he'd even think that, which was weird for him. He thought about stuff like that all the time. Shiro said that it was due to him being so frustrated with his situation.

He couldn't beat him up. But he could do the next best thing.

"Thanks," he smiled at him. He tried to make it look as genuine as it could be. Then he held out his hand. "I suppose you really couldn't be scared of a puppy like me."

Okay, he lied. Alex must have been really drunk. Because even his friends weren't buying what he was saying. But the beta ate it up like a chihuahua that stole a cookie and was trying to not get caught. He easily took Geo's hand to shake. And it made it that much easier to grab his hand and use it to throw him on the ground.

"Better be careful, Hound Dog," he whispered in his ear. He had his stomach on the asphalt and was leaning over him, holding both of his hands firmly in place behind his back. "This Puppy will have you on a leash before you can say 'Woof'."

His friends seemed to hear him, because they were all laughing and pretending to howl at that. They were definitely drunk themselves, of course. What a weird place to walk to when you were drunk: the community center.

Why did this feel weird with him? It didn't feel like he was still angry with him. Instead of sounding threatening, his voice had betrayed him. It seemed more like he was teasing him. What was worse was his smell was more noticeable to him for some reason. It was a mixture of exotic herbs. It made him hungry.

"I don't think there's a careful bone in my body," Alex's tone got darker. It mixed with his scent that had gotten heavier, sending all kinds of strange feelings through him. "Puppy."

Fuck. He was actually getting off on this. He couldn't seem to win today. A part of him didn't even mind that he had called him that nickname. And Geo was having a hard time trying to let go of him.

Wait. What time was it?

Oh no. Oh no, no, no. He wasn't even going to stick around to see if his hunch was correct. Geo booked it inside the large building, using the act of surprise to give him a head start to find a way out of there. He couldn't use his car at the moment, because then they would definitely find him. So, he had to weave through the building and see if he could avoid them all.

Why him? It wasn't even technically his birthday yet! He didn't turn eighteen until...

FIVE MINUTES?!

Man, Miki should have been there by now. What was she doing for her father this late at night? He knew that the Inn didn't really sleep when it had guests, but he didn't think that they would be that busy that close to midnight.

"Miki, I'm fucked."

"Did Jimmy come to the community center?"

"Fuck Jimmy! I think I found my-!"

"Geo!" he heard Alex from the other end of the hall. "Hey, I'm sorry if I pissed you off!"

Oh, now the doofus wanted to apologize.

He really didn't have time for this. He ducked into one of the other rooms that lead to another hallway. He used to play hide and seek in this building all the time when he was a kid, so he knew it all by heart. He swore the only one who could never get found was Miki.

How much longer did he have left? He tucked himself into a dark corner of one of the rooms and checked his phone. His stomach dropped as soon as he looked at it.

Happy fucking birthday to him.

He needed to get out of there. Now. Geo quickly turned another corner and started booking it towards one of the other exits. As soon as he got out, he was just going to shift into a wolf and make a run for it. As long as he didn't follow the smell that was now trying to pull him in the opposite direction, he would be okay.

"Gotcha," Alex grabbed him faster than he could think. With all the training that he had done his whole life, he couldn't seem to get out of the werewolf's strong grip. He pushed him against a wall and held him in place.

"Ale-!" he couldn't finish that word. Geo's senses were soon overloaded as the man kissed him. He could taste the beer that he had been drinking, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was the explosion that blasted through him as he kissed him back. He never knew a kiss would feel as good as this. And the part of his brain that was trying to fight off this was quickly losing.

Alex pressed his body into him, his hips moving to rub against him. And, with that, he was losing all will to fight him on this.

"You're not running from me, Puppy," he broke the kiss. His blue eyes were barely visible with how big those pupils were. It was absolutely fascinating to look at, if he had actually been given the time to. They quickly closed as he started kissing his neck. "Do you know how long I've been waiting to find you?"

"Alex," he gasped. He wanted this so badly. It felt so good to feel this way again. "We need to talk."

"Come on, Puppy," he teased. That voice was getting huskier the longer this went on. "What happened to that leash?"

All of his senses were being consumed by him. His touch, taste, smell, everything was addicting. And it had been so long since he had let himself feel this good. All he needed to do was let it all go.

"Alex," he tugged at his hair a little to try and pull him away. "Can we at least talk before you try and fuck me in the middle of a damn public building?"

"You sound so hot when you get all feisty," he chuckled.

"I mean it, asshole."

"If I do then you're just going to say that I have to wait to mark you," he continued his kissing up and down his neck. "Right?"

"R-right," he was losing focus as those hips of his was rocking him at that point. He could die right then and be happy. "Just for another two weeks."

"Well," he was close to his ear this time. His hot breath was giving him goosebumps. "I'd say it's a lot less than how long Jett has to wait." Then his hips pressed harder into him. "Is this a promise?"

"Yeah, Hound Dog," he said, leaning into his lips. There was no way he was going to wait until the thirty days were up of the curse. He had no clue how Alex would behave like if they waited that long.

Alex moaned and held on tightly to his hips. "You got me too used to that nickname, Puppy."

"I'm not a puppy."

"You're going to have to prove it to me," he could feel his smirk on his neck as he continued to kiss it. He had no will to stop him. All of it was being used to keep himself from trying to mark him. The desire for it was intense.

"Not tonight," he used his face to nudge Alex's up, kissing his jaw as he did it. It felt too good to stop. "I have too much shit to do tomorrow."

"It better be soon," he moaned again as Geo kept kissing him. "I'm going to have a hard time keeping myself away from you."

"It seems like you already have that problem," he smiled this time. He had to admit that this was fun. Even if he didn't think that he was his type at first.

"That's what's going to make this more difficult," Alex said. His thumbs were going in little circles on his hips. "You're irresistible."

"I think you're just saying that because we're mates," he huffed a laugh. His own hands were starting to betray him as they tried to find their way under the man's shirt. He had a very muscular frame.

"You better not be fucking in there, Geo," Miki's voice popped up in his head. "I swear if this is just some prank to get revenge on me for the party, I'm going to kick you into oblivion."

Geo gave a breathy laugh. He had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be on her way. Of course, she picked the worst timing to actually appear.

"I need to go," he rubbed his back, coaxing those arms to loosen.

"Why?" Alex went back to kissing his neck. "There's still a thousand things to talk about."

"I don't think you want to just talk."

"From the smell of it, I don't think you want to either."

"You really are a hound dog," he shook his head. "But I need sleep."

"On one condition."

"Hmm?"

"Give me your number," he told him. "So I don't wind up going on a crazy witch hunt for you every five minutes."

"Fine," he said. Slowly, Alex let him go. It actually hurt to pull away from him at the moment. He almost wanted to be trapped in those arms forever. But, he couldn't. He had to wait until Shiro became Alpha before he even thought of doing something like that. If he didn't, his dad would have his head.

Those blue eyes didn't leave him as he fished through his pockets for a pen and some paper. He used the back of a receipt since it was the only thing he had at the moment. He really needed some fresh air before that scent of his sent him flying back to him. He quickly scribbled on it and handed it to him.

"See you later, Hound Dog," he said, heading out the door. An arm stopped him from walking away at the moment. He turned to see a confused Alex. He looked hilarious when he was confused.

"This isn't a number," he told him. "Why did you give me a math problem?"

"It'll give you something to do while we're waiting to make things official," Geo smirked at him. "The answers my number. Have fun, Big Boy."

He ducked under his arm and into the cool air that was the outside. Now that he was outside and away from the erotic smells of that man, he felt like he could think clearly again.

But all he could think about is wanting to go back to him.

"Why do you smell like the Beta from-?"

"Can it, Miki," he fished for his keys. "I'm going to your place to shower there."

"He's your mate?!"

"Fuck off."

"Damn," she laughed. "I think you found your mate before Shiro did on his birthday. This has got to be a new record or something."

Geo sighed. For some reason, all of that had calmed him down from what he was pissed off with before. But he still felt stir crazy. Like there was something missing that that man took right when Geo left him. He felt more restless than before.

He was not looking forward to the next two weeks.