Patience Read online

  “Maybe it’s time I go do that, huh, Murray? At least getting a blowjob from a hot guy might keep me from talking to you as if you can understand me.” He shook his head at Murray’s whine, reminding himself that Murray could not have understood, went to the refrigerator, and took out the steaks he’d bought the day before. He turned on the oven and got one of them ready to broil. Then he grabbed a baked potato and stuck it in the microwave before pulling out the salad ingredients. Within a few minutes, he had most of the meal put together.

  Murray lay quietly at the other end of the kitchen, watching the whole thing.

  Chad considered his dog again, not knowing what to think about him. There was definitely more to Murray than domesticated dog. There was too much intelligence—even if he didn’t understand exactly what Chad was saying, there was definitely more than any basic canine had. He was either trained really well—possible, but Chad didn’t think likely—or there was something else going on. Aside from smelling like the alley he’d been in earlier, Murray’s coat looked healthy and his teeth were clean. So he was sure Murray belonged to someone.

  He had checked for missing pets in the area, but none of them sounded even remotely like Murray. It was possible someone had dumped him. Chad glanced at Murray now and shook his head. Who would want to dump a beautiful animal like that?

  He could admit he wasn’t looking too hard for the owner. Something about Murray called to him, and Chad knew he’d have a damned hard time giving him up if someone tried to claim him. It was terrible of him and he knew it. But Murray belonged to him.

  “Murray,” he called, and Murray immediately stood and crossed to him. Yeah, there was more to Murray if he’d learned his name that quickly. Chad squatted and started petting him. “Nope, don’t care if someone’s missing you. Don’t know why I’m being like this, but I just can’t give you up. If they let you go, they’re idiots.”

  Murray’s response was to lick Chad’s cheek.

  Chad laughed and hugged Murray’s neck. “Glad you agree.”

  The timer went off, telling Chad his steak was done. He turned back to the stove and went about putting the rest of his meal together. He set his steak and potato on the table, dug out silverware, and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. He smirked down at Murray’s expectant look. “Think you’re getting some of this?” He held up the bottle.

  Murray wagged his tail.

  Chad laughed. “Beer isn’t good for dogs. Even part-wolf dogs,” he said, shaking his head. He smirked when Murray’s ears drooped a little. “Here, how about this?” He set the bowl of salad on the floor.

  Murray sniffed at it, looked up at him, blinked, then looked back at the bowl. Then he nudged it back to Chad, huffing.

  “What? Not a salad kind of guy?”

  Murray huffed again.

  With another laugh, Chad picked up the salad and set it on the table. “Yeah, I guess not. How about this, instead?” He grabbed the other steak he’d pulled out but hadn’t bothered to cook and set the plate on the floor.

  Murray sniffed it, then jumped up at Chad.

  Before he realized what Murray was going to do, he had a face full of dog slobber as Murray licked him over and over again in thanks. “Okay! That’s enough thanks.” He laughed, watching Murray go for the steak. “Don’t get used to it. I can’t feed you steak every day.”

  Murray looked up and barked, then went back to his steak.

  Chad sat to eat his own, still chuckling.

  CHAD STILL hadn’t heard from Panther by the time he got ready for bed. He plugged his phone in on his bedside table—Panther had been known to keep weird hours—and settled under the blankets.

  Murray sat on the floor next to the bed, resting his head on the side of it by Chad, eyes looking sad and pathetic.

  “Oh no, you are so not sleeping up here and getting dog hair everywhere.”

  Murray whined, and Chad swore those damned eyes turned even sadder somehow.

  “No. It’s not cold. The floor isn’t cold. And I put a damned cushion down for you.”

  Another whine.

  Chad sighed, looking up at the ceiling. This dog was going to be the death of him, he just knew it. “So help me, if I wake up covered in hair, well, one word: balls.”

  Murray barked and jumped up onto the bed. He circled once, then curled up against Chad’s side. He looked up, then sniffed at Chad’s neck.

  Chad blinked at him in amusement. “Like what you smell?”

  Murray chuffed, then laid his head back on his paws.

  “Night, boy. I’m glad I found you.” Chad petted Murray a few times, laid his arm over Murray’s back, then gave in to sleep.

  Chapter 3

  I’M GLAD I found you. Jamie wondered if Chad would still feel that way when he found out his new dog turned into a guy. Then again, maybe he would. Jamie hadn’t liked hearing about Chad going to get a blowjob, but it had certainly relieved him to at least know his mate was gay. Still, he wasn’t sure what to expect when he finally told Chad what was going on.

  He still had no idea how to deal with all of this in general. The more he stayed with Chad, the harder it was to think about leaving. In one of his more frustrated moments the day before, he’d seriously considered simply staying in wolf form and being with his mate that way.

  He couldn’t do that, though, if for no other reason than that Finley and Tanner would worry about him when he didn’t show up. In fact, he’d bet by now they’d already be worried. There wasn’t anything he could do about it yet, so he tried to just focus on the problem at hand.

  The mate bond wouldn’t handle them not being lovers for long. The misery Finley had gone through told Jamie it wasn’t something he wanted to contemplate. So that wasn’t an option.

  He also couldn’t just run away, not anymore. Based on the things Chad had said the night before, his mate felt the pull, just as he did. Even human, Chad recognized something was there. If Jamie left, he could damage that, especially since Chad didn’t know what it was. On top of that… he just didn’t want to hurt his mate that way. So that left out leaving now, shifting when the full moon was over, and coming back human.

  Which left… almost no options. Jamie couldn’t do much of anything, anyway, until he could shift into human form. Maybe, at that point, his best bet would be to shift, slip out the door when Chad was asleep, then come back right away. It was all he could come up with. It still wasn’t perfect, but Jamie was out of ideas.

  Chad lay next to him, asleep. The sun had only risen a short while ago, the light barely peeking through the blinds. Jamie’s sense of time was always off in wolf form, where he was ruled more by instinct and light rather than a clock. Not that he couldn’t read a clock or understand time. He could. His wolf didn’t take over that much. But unless he focused on it, its passage ended up skewed.

  He stretched and rolled to face his mate, laying his head on his paws. One thing was for certain: he couldn’t wait to see Chad in color. Even in grayscale, he was gorgeous, with a strong jaw, Roman nose, and high cheekbones. And built. Chad obviously worked out or something because he had a muscular chest and tight, six-pack abs. It took all Jamie had to not get a wolfy hard-on just looking at the man.

  How embarrassing would that be?

  Thankfully it hadn’t happened. Still, he knew he had at least one more night in his fur before he could shift back. Lots of opportunities during that time to embarrass himself.

  His enhanced hearing told him Chad’s heartbeat was speeding up, and Jamie was actually quite grateful for it. He needed to go out. He’d actually considered trying to use the toilet, even in wolf form, but he had no idea if the flush would wake Chad or not and he didn’t want to know how his mate would react to seeing him use a toilet.

  Talk about setting off alarm bells. Chad already knew he wasn’t a normal dog. Jamie didn’t think it wise to tip him off to just how not normal yet. He didn’t think Chad would take him to the humane society or anything, but he couldn’t take any risk
s.

  Chad chose that moment to yawn and stretch. He rolled and looked at his phone before turning back to Jamie. “Morning, boy. You didn’t pee on the floor, did you?”

  Jamie huffed. He knew he shouldn’t feel offended—Chad had no way of knowing Jamie wouldn’t do that—but he couldn’t help it.

  Chad laughed. “No need to look so annoyed. Besides, it’s not the worst thing in the world. At least I have wood floors, not carpet. Come on. Let me take care of business. Then I’ll take you out for yours.”

  A short while later, Jamie lay on the kitchen floor with an empty bladder and equally empty stomach. The smell of frying bacon and eggs made him even hungrier, but he didn’t whine. It wasn’t Chad’s fault he had an extra mouth to feed now.

  What got him more was the smell of coffee. Even if he metabolized the caffeine faster than humans, he still liked his morning jolt. Not having it for two days in a row—and not by choice—was more annoying than any other part of being stuck in wolf form.

  “Here you go, boy. Hope you don’t mind scrambled,” Chad said, laying a plate on the floor in front of Jamie.

  Jamie barked in thanks. The pile of eggs and bacon looked so good, he didn’t even bother being embarrassed by how messily he was eating. He practically dove into the plate.

  Chad laughed. “Hungry, were you? Well, glad you enjoy it.” He sat at the table with his own plate and a cup of coffee next to it. Just as he was sitting down, his phone went off in the other room.

  Jamie watched him go, then looked over at the table. Not giving himself a chance to second-guess, he jumped onto the chair, stuffed his muzzle in the coffee cup, and slurped it down greedily. He usually had a little milk in it, but he’d deal with his mate’s preferred black. It was coffee, and he didn’t exactly have the ability to ask for cream.

  He was interrupted by a laugh. “Murray! You could have just asked for some,” Chad said, crossing the kitchen. He took out a small bowl and poured coffee into it. “I’m not sure it’s good for you, but I guess without sugar it’s okay.” He shook his head, staring at Jamie. “Yeah, not sure what’s up with you, boy, but there’s definitely more than dog going on here.”

  Jamie got down, feeling a little sheepish, and padded over to the bowl Chad had set next to his plate. He barked a thanks and drank the coffee before going back to his eggs.

  “Coffee-drinking dog. Yeah, that’s normal,” Chad muttered as he picked up his fork.

  JAMIE CLEANED the plate and bowl both, then sat at Chad’s feet, resting his head on Chad’s leg, while his mate finished eating as well.

  “Not giving you any more. You don’t need it,” Chad said, pointing at him with a fork.

  Jamie snorted. He’d love to show Chad just how much he could eat when he hunted in the forest.

  That thought gave him pause. Chad wasn’t a wolf. What would happen on full moons? Would Jamie have to run without him? Would he have to be without his mate on the biggest night of the month?

  Assuming, of course, Chad even wanted him when the truth about him came out. What if he didn’t? He knew Chad felt the pull, but since he wasn’t a wolf, he might not understand what being mates meant, how huge it was. What if Chad didn’t like Jamie as a person? How would he handle being rejected? He remembered what Finley went through, and the fear of that happening to him exploded in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

  “Hey, boy, what’s wrong?” Chad asked, petting him.

  Jamie looked up at Chad and blinked, not realizing he’d been whining. Only… he hadn’t. He didn’t think he’d made a sound. Had Chad picked up on his emotions? He supposed that was possible. They were destined mates, and destined mates could feel strong emotions from early on. He didn’t know how to take that. If they were already bonded, even slightly, and Chad didn’t want him, what was he going to do?

  “Hey, hey. I don’t know what’s going on, Murray, but you seem awfully upset.”

  Yeah, he knew for a fact that he hadn’t made any noise this time. Chad didn’t seem to realize it, though. Jamie jumped up, bracing his forepaws on Chad’s leg. Chad wrapped an arm around his neck, petting him with the other hand. Jamie took the comfort, working to calm himself down.

  He didn’t know if Chad would accept him, and worrying about it now would only cause problems. He hoped it would work out, but in the meantime, he had to let go of the fear.

  He inhaled Chad’s scent, taking deep breaths of it. Combined with the petting and the arm around his neck, he managed to calm down. He pulled back and licked Chad’s face a few times, then, for show, stole a piece of bacon to try to cover up what had happened.

  “You little bastard,” Chad said, snorting. “I don’t buy it. Smart or not, you didn’t do all that just to steal a piece of bacon.”

  Okay, so it didn’t work, but Jamie still got an extra piece of bacon. He sat on the floor at Chad’s feet and pointedly ignored the stare from Chad until his mate turned back to the plate. Then Jamie breathed a small sigh of relief that Chad let it go.

  “I KNOW you don’t need this, but I don’t need another ticket. I can let you off at the park, but until then, you gotta wear it,” Chad said as he hooked the leash onto Jamie’s collar.

  It still felt weird to have something around his neck like that, but he was getting used to it. When Chad stood, Jamie shook and let himself be led out of the apartment building. He really didn’t like the feel of concrete under his paws. He trotted along next to Chad, though, focusing on enjoying being with his mate, even if they were, currently, different species. They got a few interesting looks, undoubtedly because Jamie was as big as he was, and one woman actually crossed the street when they approached.

  Jamie huffed.

  Chad patted him on the head. “You do look a little scary.”

  Jamie looked up at him, huffing again.

  “Well, you are kind of big. Even for a dog. And why am I talking to you as if you can understand me?” He shook his head and turned at the corner, crossing Bellefield Avenue.

  Because I can. Jamie gave a wolfy sort of sigh and sat when they had to wait for traffic on Fifth Avenue.

  “Your reactions are so human sometimes,” Chad murmured. “I’d swear you were a human reincarnated or something.”

  Something, anyway. You’re getting closer.

  Jamie was relieved when they moved into the grass near the Cathedral of Learning and his paws got a bit of a break. The pads were tough enough, but he much preferred grass and the forest floor to concrete. He stepped up the pace a little, tugging on the leash. When Chad didn’t speed up, Jamie looked back at him, tilting his head.

  “Hey, just because I’m in shape doesn’t mean I want to run. Slow it down, Balls.”

  Jamie huffed at him over the nickname but slowed to a walk. He went back to trotting and tried to focus on enjoying the feel of being in his fur, even if he was trapped in it. He really had missed spending time on four paws instead of two legs.

  But when they’d finally crossed the last bridge before the open field of Flagstaff Hill, Jamie couldn’t hold it back. He needed to run.

  “Okay, okay, hold your damned horses. Let’s get on the grass, okay?”

  Jamie slowed begrudgingly. Thankfully only a moment later, they were across the street and on the grass.

  Chad unhooked the leash and Jamie took off like a shot. “Make sure you come back, eh, boy?” Chad said.

  The words had been quiet, but Jamie heard them—and the worry in them. He turned around, ran back, and nipped at Chad’s leg. He bumped his head into the back of Chad’s knees, making Chad laugh.

  “Okay! Okay, I’ll run with you.”

  Jamie barked and took off again, keeping it level, across the hill instead of up it, and surprisingly Chad kept up. He turned sharply when they ran out of grass and went the other way. After getting back to their starting point, Chad was panting.

  “Okay! I give. Go run. Just make sure you come back.”

  With another bark, Jamie ran across the grass, dodging ki
ds and families, then circling around until he got to Chad again. The wind in his fur felt so good. He caught the scent of squirrels and rabbits, but knew he couldn’t get away with hunting, not here, so he quelled that instinct and instead, as he headed back to Chad, got a goofy idea. He was pretty sure there were shifters out there who’d be horribly offended, but since Jamie couldn’t spend the kind of time he wanted to with his mate, this would have to do.

  He dropped a stick at Chad’s feet.

  Chad picked it up and looked at him. “You really wanna play fetch?”

  No. I want to take human form and fuck you. This will have to do. Jamie barked.

  “I’d have thought you’d be more into… chess or something.”

  Jamie chuffed and wagged his tail.

  Chad chuckled and pulled his hand back, then let the stick fly.

  It felt so good to take off and pour on the speed. He grabbed up the stick and brought it back, holding it up for Chad, giving a wolfy grin when Chad made a face at the slobber.

  “Gross,” he grumbled, but still took the stick and threw it again.

  Jamie managed several more rounds before he brought the stick back, dropped it at Chad’s feet, and flopped down. When he could breathe normally, he rolled onto his back, scratching it in the grass. He got a surprise when Chad started rubbing his belly. He groaned at how good it felt. He’d have been a little embarrassed by all the dogness he was displaying if he could have done anything except… be a dog, at least for the time being. Even if he was a wolf.

  “We’ll rest a bit, then head back. Maybe stop for coffee. If you’re really good and stay put when I go in, I’ll see if I can dig up a treat for you. I should probably stop and pick up some food for you, huh?”

  Jamie gave a whine at that. He was perfectly happy eating the human food Chad made. He’d never eaten dog food before and really did not want to start now. The thought made his stomach churn.

  Chad laughed. “I guess you like my bacon and eggs, huh? I know I gotta feed you better than that, though, boy.”