Marked Northern Shifters 1

lifted.
They shifted simultaneously, though Ira’s change, with the greater flexibility of his young body, went faster. In the early days, Liam had always shifted first, afraid Ira would take off without him. But Ira had proved trustworthy and the boy found waiting his turn difficult. Especially when it could take Liam up to fifteen minutes—and he was unusually fast for an adult wolf, probably because of all his feral years.
Ira was already rippling from human to wolf, his dark skin furring, his face elongating, before Liam lost awareness. When he came to, Ira licked his face, whining, Get up, get up . Grumpily Liam growled—he could growl now without Ira flinching— then rose and shook himself out. The bones felt new, the skin stretched, but the moon shone down and Liam’s wolfish soul leapt at the thought of night running. Even with a young one in tow. He woofed permission and Ira cut a dark streak across the moonlit lawn. Liam loped after him.
At their easy pace, Liam took in the late autumn scent, sharp and fresh, invigorating. Leaves had fallen, begun to rot, but the October winds cleansed the air and Liam’s blood sang as it rolled through his muscles, urging him on. He always let Ira wear himself out during their first outing so the pup didn’t push hard for late nights all week long.
Eventually Ira allowed Liam to overtake him without a fuss. They ran towards the field, Liam leading. It took them a good hour. As expected, Veronica was already there, restless under the moon. She would have moved fast and hard once she left her house. At the sight of her, Ira yipped a greeting, bounded past Liam and met Veronica in a tumble. They wrestled while Liam took off for a hard run of his own. When he returned, all three played tag until Ira began to tire. Late into the night, the three returned to Liam’s to rest and in the morning David picked Veronica up.
The next evening, Liam and Ira ran on their own. Worn out from the night before, Ira didn’t last long and Liam returned him home to Casey before taking off on a solo run. He had a destination. He shouldn’t venture into the city—it made him uneasy and his wolf self was drawn to the wild, not concrete and asphalt—but Liam felt compelled to check on Alec. Thirty-six hours ago they had made love. Alec was not yet ready to appreciate the white wolf who now headed towards his apartment, though Liam hoped that would change in time.
Furtively, under a cloudy sky, clinging to dark shadows, Liam made his way through streets and alleys until he reached Alec’s building. At three in the morning, the windows were dark and, from among the smells of exhaust, pollution and humans, Liam teased out Alec’s particular scent. Not from the apartment itself, but from the trail Alec had left when he’d come home hours ago.
Something within Liam eased, but he decided it was necessary to keep up this nightly check. Alec was marked and needed to be kept safe.
    Two days after Liam—that’s how Alec thought of their night together, just Liam — Alec walked home from work in the morning. Well, technically he just walked. Aimlessly. As of this day, Friday, the library was no longer work, and he wasn’t near ready to go home to his shitty little apartment and stare at the dirty, crooked walls.
    He’d been fired for being hired under false pretenses and while he could see a certain irony to that, he couldn’t appreciate it. He’d done a good job for eleven months, keeping his head down and smiling at Sharon because he owed her. Sharon had looked on apologetically, even guiltily, while Alec left the library, but she hadn’t said a word.
    He should have been more circumspect. Even if he didn’t believe in closets, his precarious situation should have inspired him to be smart. He blinked up at the red light, waiting for it to change. Didn’t matter that he’d lost his job. He’d saved some money. Enough—just—to book a flight and fly to Vancouver. Start over in a new city. The wolves wouldn’t follow him there. If they even existed outside his crazy mind.
    Didn’t it just figure he’d become involved with Liam days before? The regret made Alec’s chest ache. Even if he was more than a little put out that Liam had so thoroughly stormed his defenses only to disappear for an entire week.
    He wanted to tell Liam about the job situation, or lack thereof, but couldn’t bring himself to phone the golden boy who wore expensive clothes and lived in a house in a suburb.