moment the entire pack, and whoever is here from the extended family, will know Cam and I are mates and that I’m gay. I try to tell myself it’s not a big deal, but it is. I’m coming out to everyone as someone who’s found the one I’ll spend the rest of my life with but also as a gay male.
19
Camden
Whit’s wolf nips at the hind legs of mine as he catches up to us. My wolf turns to retaliate but Whit’s jumps out of the way before he can get him.
This freedom of running through the forest is amazing. It was before I knew we were mates. Now it’s like the patrol is amplified. Our wolves play as they keep an eye on things. They have as much fun as Whit and I do when we’re in our human forms.
Thanksgiving dinner turned out just as I’d hoped. I didn’t think anyone would say anything about Whit being gay. We got a lot of kind smiles and both got pats on the back and words of congratulations on finding our mates in each other. No one made it a big deal like some of the others got when they were mated, and it fit us. Neither Whit nor I are the flashy type. We’re both more subdued and are happy to fade to the background. Though dinner kind of put us on display.
Sawyer and Gage sat with us as did Desmond, Josephine, Sevan, Dalia, and their son, Foster. It was comfortable having others from the team near us. These were the people Whit could be himself around. Titus and Caspian were as well, but Cas wasn’t able to come to dinner and Titus and Imogen were with her mom at her house.
It wasn’t as if we could talk about anything to do with the team, but knowing those around the table as well as I did, it was a sense of home. One I found when I came to the pack. Now, with Whit, I have a feeling that rightness, where I finally found my place, will grow.
The forest is quiet tonight, which I’ll gladly take over any kind of mayhem or threat. With how loud Thanksgiving dinner was, this is a nice reprieve. And while I love my wolf running around with Whit’s, I miss having him beside me where I can reach out and hold his hand or press my lips to his. It’s best that we’re in our wolf forms or neither of us would be alert for anything other than each other.
“I want to kiss you, too,” Whit says, his voice entering my mind.
“Don’t start or I’ll shift and finish it.” I love that I can communicate with him this way. I’m anxious for the other parts of the bond to kick in as well.
“That’s not a threat. If anything, it entices me.”
Someone bumps my wolf’s side, throwing him off balance. He growls and turns to find a red wolf staring at him and kind of smiling. I’m not sure if a wolf can really smile, but if it could, then Cash’s definitely would be.
He shifts to his human form and grins as he peers down at Whit and me. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you both at dinner. I wanted to say congrats on discovering you’re mates. I’m really happy for both of you.”
Cash isn’t as mischievous and boisterous as his brother, Carter, but when they’re together you can easily tell they’re related. I wish I had gotten to meet Cace. I’ve heard so many stories about him. About the amazing male he was.
“You would have liked him,” Whit sends to me.
I decide to shift to talk to Cash since I can’t telepathically like Whit can. Once I’m back in my human form, I reach out and shake Cash’s hand. “Thanks, man. We both appreciate it.”
“If there’s anything either of you need, Carter and I are here for you, as are our mates. And we’re really glad you found the pack, Camden. You’ve been an excellent addition.”
I laugh. “I’m not sure about that. No one has ever described me as overly friendly.”
“I like to think of the pack on a personality scale. Dante is the gruffest and surliest, so he’s at one end. In the middle is probably Orion, who loves the whole pack but also likes to be with his mate and child more. He’s happy, though. It bleeds out whenever you see him with his family. And then on the