Without Reservations

see how much Aubrey looked like Keaton. He had the same platinum curls, the same pretty blue eyes. His face was shaped the same, but he had a different nose, not near as nice as Bit’s cute little upturned one.
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    He walked into the kitchen to find Bit at the table with a hamburger in one hand, feeding Pita fries with the other.
    Bit held the burger up. “Sorry. I just… Sorry, I should have waited for you to come eat. I poured you some tea.”
    Chay sat across from Bit and took a swig of his tea. “No problem.
    Thanks for picking up food. Everything I tried to cook, we didn’t have. We are going to have to go to the grocery store tomorrow.” He pointed at his mate and glared. “Speaking of which, you cheated. You brought food so I’d have to cook tomorrow.”
    Keaton grinned, his eyes twinkling, and ate another bite of his burger.
    Chay chuckled and unwrapped his own burger. He grabbed the ketchup and put some on the wrapper for his fries. He too had tried to cheat and make dinner, but he wasn’t going to point that out. “I’ll make you a deal. How about we both cook tomorrow?”
    “We could do take out.”
    Chay shrugged. “Yeah, I guess we could. But one of these days we are going to have to start cooking.”
    “Nah, we should just hire a cook and be done with it.”
    Wouldn’t that be the life? Chay drank some tea and watched Bit frown at his burger.
    Pita barked, wanting another fry.
    Chay rolled his eyes when Bit tossed Pita several. It was an ongoing argument. He told Bit over and over not to feed Pita from the table. The dog was going to think it was okay to beg when they ate. But he valued his life too much to correct Bit tonight.
    “What do they want, Chay?”
    He wished he knew. It was anyone’s guess as to what Bit’s family wanted. “Don’t know, Bit. Why don’t you call them and see?”
    Keaton shook his head. “I don’t get it. I mean what makes them think they can just pop back into my life after turning their backs on me?”
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    “Maybe they’re sorry for the way they treated you. Maybe they’ve realized what a big mistake they made. What if they want to make amends?”
    Bit looked up at him, his blue eyes troubled. “You think I should forgive them?”
    “I don’t know, Bit. It’s not up to me. I’m not sure what I’d do in your position. I’d like to think I’d at least call and see what they wanted, but I didn’t go through what you did. I know I’m still hoping my mom will tell me she’s sorry, but she didn’t exactly abandon me. She just got pissed and yelled. She never actually disowned me or anything.”
    Keaton nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I should at least call and see what they want. But not now. I think I need to go for a run. You wanna shift and go with me, after we eat?”
    “Sure, we can drive down to the rez. It’ll be good to get away for a few hours.” There was nothing quite like running in wolf form to help clear your head.

    Û

    Returning from their nice hour-long run, they pulled up in the drive.
    The headlights of Chay’s truck illuminated Remi’s motorcycle parked close to the garage door. Keaton looked around but didn’t see Remi anywhere. “Okay, where is he? That is Remi’s bike, isn’t it?”
    Chay frowned. “Yeah.” He put the truck in park. “He has a key to the back door—I forgot to ask for it back—maybe he’s inside.”
    Keaton snorted and made a mental note to buy a lock for the back gate and a new lock for the back door. “What does he want?”
    Chay shrugged. “Only one way to find out. Come on.”
    As soon as Chay opened his door the coppery smell of blood hit them.
    Chay’s eyes widened. “Fuck.”
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    That pretty much summed it up. Keaton hoped it wasn’t Remi’s blood he detected. He may not like the guy, but he didn’t want him dead.
    Whoever the blood belonged too it would be a miracle if they were still alive. Keaton could tell by the strength of the scent that it was a large quantity of blood. He reached for his own door but Chay’s hand stopped him. He turned, peering into those deep brown eyes. Chay didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. The look in Chay’s eyes said it all. I’m scared. I love you. Be careful.
    Which virtually mirrored Keaton’s feelings. He leaned forward, brushing his lips across Chay’s, and got out of the truck. He