Running Wild

across his face, but Ri strived for a light tone. That’s what he needed to give Seamus now. “I thought that was only if I’d snuck into your house.”
“Funny.” Seamus sat up in bed, cross-legged.
“I really thought you were sleeping.” His breathing had been even.
“I was dozing, in and out. My mind won’t turn off.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “That ever happen to you?”
Ri snorted.
“I’m concerned that wasn’t what you wanted earlier.”
It took Ri a moment to decipher Seamus’s words. “It was,” he said in a low voice.
“Good.” Seamus was clearly relieved. He patted the bed in front of him. “Lie down. If you’re like me, you slept like shit last night, or maybe you didn’t sleep at all.” He paused. “Unless you’d rather sleep on the couch. That’s absolutely fine too.”
Ri shucked his jeans and slipped under the blanket. He felt foolish, unsure of his next move, but he did not want to go back to sleep on the couch. Nor did he want Seamus to think of him as a mistake. He supposed he should have done something seductive now, but it wasn’t in him, not tonight anyway. Not ever, maybe.
Seamus lay down facing him, not touching, one arm pillowing his head, the other lying between them. Ri forced himself to reach for that hand and placed his own in it. Seamus squeezed, and Ri glimpsed his smile in the dark.
“I also can’t figure out how Pete found me by sniffing around the campus. How would he know I’m on campus?”
That threw Ri’s thoughts off track. He was hyper-focused on Seamus and himself and what it all meant, but he needed to remain aware of the bigger picture, remain vigilant.
“Scent, I guess,” said Ri. “Wolves have a better nose than me, maybe a better memory when it comes to smells.”
“Uh, can you elaborate? I know Trey gave an accounting, but I’d like to hear your version.”
“Well,” said Ri heavily. “You know that night you met up with the wolves?”
“I know it.” Seamus’s voice was quiet. He shut his eyes. Ri squeezed his hand back.
“The next night, I let them hunt me, let one of them get very close.” He paused. “Then I smashed his head in. Killed him. The other one ran.”
Ri could hear Seamus swallow. “What happened to the second wolf?”
“He would have gone back to his pack. Pete’s pack.” Ri let out a long exhale. It could have gone so badly. That was the thing. It was a kind of proof Pete as the new alpha was a good guy, because the wolves hunting Ri had stopped. He’d expected a posse to come back after him, and they never did.
“That’s it? That’s your explanation?” Seamus pushed up to sitting and shoved Ri’s shoulder. “I don’t mean to sound dim here, but you have to connect the dots. How did Pete find me when he wasn’t there that night?”
“Through the second wolf,” Ri explained. The moon wasn’t out tonight. There was only some illumination from the streetlight beside the apartment complex. The way Seamus’s thin T-shirt clung to him in places made Ri catch his breath. He’d love to be able to touch Seamus. Of course, that thought meant he couldn’t move.
Seamus groaned, and it wasn’t because of anything sexual. “Ri, this is like pulling teeth.”
Ri focused. “The second wolf led Pete to your scent, I assume.”
Seamus’s fear ratcheted up. “Did he smell the entire province of Manitoba, or only the city of Winnipeg? I mean we’re not a megacity, but I still don’t see—”
Despite himself Ri sat up, and he placed fingers on Seamus’s mouth. It felt daring, like Seamus would flinch away, but instead his eyes, already large in the dark, widened. And he calmed down.
“It would have taken a while, and they would have done some kind of research to try to narrow down who you were and where you’d be. When did you meet Pete?”
“Second year of university,” Seamus said slowly. “They were searching for me all that time?”
“Again, you’ll have to ask Pete. I agree it sounds weird, but there’s lots I don’t know about wolves.”
“It sure as hell feels creepy to know they were stalking me for over a year.”
“I understand.” Boy, did he understand. At that, Ri couldn’t help himself—it was too much not to reach for Seamus.
    It was a relief of sorts, that Ri touched Seamus and not vice versa. Seamus sat very still, trying to understand this strange and unusual man by observing his expression and the way he placed his palms on Seamus’s shoulders. He was still