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kathierif_ficTitle: Skin and Bones. (1/5)
Author: Kathie
Fandom: Hockey/NHL (Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres)
Word Count: 19,383
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: This is absolutely not true. The names of real people have been used, but this is just my imagination and done with lots of adoration and love for the guys and my mind isn’t affiliated with them anyways. The chapters are named after songs that don’t belong to me either.
Pairings: Henrik Zetterberg/Ryan Miller, Steve Yzerman/Tomas Holmstrom/Nick Lidstrom/Chris Osgood/Brendan Shanahan and Henrik Zetterberg/Pavel Datsyuk in the background
Warnings: slash, supernatural things, real people, polyamory
Summary: Adulthood, mates, packs, the life of a werewolf is never boring
Author’s Notes: My neverending thank you goes to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nerfgunqueen and mer5, who checked this over for me, and especially Ginny, who held my hand while helping me getting this thing in order, including the summary. Also to chosenfire28 for the artwork, thank you so much! (Link to artwork: http://chosenfire28.livejournal.com/91667.html)
Written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
rpf_big_bang
I. Chapter 1: Crossroads. Summer 2005
The second the ringing started, Ryan had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
It didn’t stop him from carefully putting down his guitar and reaching for the phone. Flipping it open, he asked, “Hello?”
His voice probably sounded a bit sharper than he’d intended, but there was nothing to be done about it now.
“Ryan, it’s me,” Drew’s voice greeted him enthusiastically. “Your brother.”
A teasing smile broke out over Ryan’s face as he saw the opportunity to tease his brother, and it pushed the dreadful feeling to the back of his consciousness. “Bryce.”
“No! Ryan…” Drew sighed. “It’s Drew!”
Ryan laughed. “I know, man,” he admitted. “What’s up?”
Drew took a carefully measured breath. Ryan could hear him shift from one foot to the other, and his heartbeat accelerated slightly.
“There is,” Drew said, “a pack meeting next week.”
A frown started to form on Ryan’s face. “A pack meeting? So?” he asked and shifted the phone from one ear to the other. “Why are you telling me that? You know that only adults go to these.”
“I know.” Excitement bubbled over in Drew’s voice. “They asked me to come!”
Ryan felt as if his heart stopped beating. It clenched tightly in his chest, and for a long moment, he struggled for breath and his composure. “Really?” he asked faintly.
Drew being asked to come could only mean one thing, his brain supplied. He couldn’t stop his thoughts – he felt too numb to force himself to think of anything but the words he’d just heard.
They’d asked Drew to come to an official pack meeting. Drew had reacted to the moon the way only adult werewolves did. He was an adult werewolf now. They’d asked him to come to the meeting.
“Yeah! Isn’t that great?” Drew asked with a small laugh, unaware of Ryan’s thoughts.
Ryan bit his tongue until he tasted the coppery tang of blood and the urge to growl at his little brother almost went away. It wasn’t Drew’s fault that he, the younger one of the two of them, was invited to an adults-only meeting whereas Ryan, four years older than him, was still considered an adolescent by their standards.
“Congratulations,” he said weakly. “When did you…you know.”
“Feel the moon? A week or so ago. I’m telling you, Ryan, it’s awesome…” Drew trailed off as he really realized who he was talking to and what they were talking about, and which affects it had on Ryan.
It wasn’t Drew’s fault, Ryan thought again, that he was a freak. He shouldn’t growl at him.
“I’m sorry,” Drew’s voice came over the phone line, thin and tinny, and Ryan knew – with the perfectly honed instincts of a werewolf – that his brother meant what he said. In his excitement about getting invited to a pack meeting he’d forgotten about Ryan’s predicament.
“I’m sure that you’ll…”
“Drew.”
The single word stopped Drew’s awkward attempt at apologizing for something he wasn’t responsible for after just a few syllables, and Ryan felt his lips twitch into a bitter smile. It was good to know that Drew’s instincts still ran toward obedience toward his big brother – at least over the phone, where he couldn’t tell that the person bossing him around still smelled like a cub. He didn’t know if Drew would still defer to him or not, and he didn’t feel like thinking about it right now. It only drove home the fact that he was really a freak.
Normal werewolves didn’t have to worry about things like that.
“It’s fine, really,” he muttered, pushing away the stabbing pain that threatened to overwhelm the numbness he was feeling. “Congrats for the invite. You deserve it.”
“Yeah,” Drew said. “I’m sorry, Ryan. It’s just, I wanted you to hear it from me and not, you know, over the werewolf grapevine or something like that.”
Ryan swallowed. Disappointment was still closing up his throat, like a big ball of bitterness, but he was an adult, in all but that one, defining characteristic, and he could be happy for his little brother, for undergoing the changes that turned him into an adult werewolf.
He could be happy for Drew, even if it meant that Ryan truly was a freak – a werewolf that wouldn’t grow up was highly uncommon. As long as Drew hadn’t changed either, Ryan had been able to tell himself that it ran in their family, but now, even that excuse had been taken away from him.
“I’m…happy,” he said. “Did you tell Mom and Dad?”
“Yeah.” Drew chuckled softly. “I did. But I wanted to let you know too. Because, you know.”
Ryan snorted. “Yeah, I know,” he replied.
Growing up, he and Drew had always been tight. They’d been the best friends when their family had moved to places where no other werewolf packs lived, and their mutual love for hockey had only tightened their bond. Ryan couldn’t remember how many days they’d spent in the basement, shooting tennis balls and pucks at each other or chasing them around until they ended up in an exhausted heap of giggling kids. With just the two of them, and later their younger siblings, nobody had cared about the teeth marks that adorned the rubber disks and, for a long time, a hockey glove that Drew had inherited from Ryan.
If he had been a normal werewolf, Ryan thought quietly while listening to Drew’s breathing, and if he’d managed to go through the transformation like everybody else, he would have called Drew, too.
It was just his luck that he was a freak. The moon didn’t speak to him, and he was doomed to stay a kid for the rest of his life.
“Anyways,” Drew interrupted the silence that had fallen between them, “I’m going to be home, and I thought it would be cool if you could come too. If you want, that is.”
“I don’t know, Drew.” Ryan frowned and glanced at his watch. “The season will start soon…”
“Training camps start in three weeks,” Drew corrected him. “You could come home and meet up with us. With me. Come on, Ryan, it will be fun.” He put as much of a whine into his voice as he knew he could get away with. “Come on, Ryan. I promise I’ll make Mom not put you at the kids’ table for dinners.”
Ryan sighed. “I don’t know yet,” he tried to evade the question. “If there’s a meeting there, Mum and Dad will have enough to do without me getting underfoot.”
“When did you ever get underfoot?” Drew asked. “Knowing you, you’ll bring your camera and disappear as soon as the sun gets up anyways.” He sighed. “Think about it, please?” he begged. “I have to go now…” He laughed in excitement again. “A pack meeting, me, can you believe that? I don’t have anything to wear.”
This time, Ryan managed to laugh with him. “You’ll figure it out,” he promised.
“Yeah, sure,” Drew said. “Talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Oh, and Ryan? If you don’t come here, I’ll come up to Buffalo,” Drew playfully threatened, and Ryan scrunched up his nose.
“I’ll make up the guest room for you, then.”
Drew laughed, and on that note, they ended the call.
Ryan shook his head as he leaned back into the couch cushions and grabbed the guitar, but slowly, the weight of Drew’s words started to sink in.
Drew was an adult. He’d felt the call of the moon, and he had responded to it, like every young werewolf around the age of twenty-three should, and now he was all grown up and a real werewolf.
And here he was, still unchanged, and while the blood of his ancestors ran hot in his veins – the same blood that ran in Drew’s, he knew – there hadn’t been a single sign yet that he, himself, would manage to take the step into adulthood soon.
He could just as well be an ordinary human being.
Briefly, he wondered if he was going to stay a cub for the rest of his life, but he brushed the thought away quickly. Even if he was, there was no use in thinking about it and driving himself even crazier.
There were a few big packs around, he thought while his fingers plucked gently at the strings of his guitar. Certainly, there had been cases where cubs had taken their time to develop enough to hear the moon properly.
“Patience,” he told himself, but restlessness had settled deep in his bones. Suddenly, he couldn’t sit still anymore. The need to stretch his legs and run almost overwhelmed him.
He went to the gym instead.
The season would start soon and he wanted to make a good impression on the Sabres’ coaching staff.
~*+*~
“I tried to call you.”
“Hi Mom.” Ryan pressed the phone in between his shoulder and ear and stirred his dinner carefully.
“Where have you been?”
Ryan pulled the pot off the stove and sighed. “Gym.”
“Did you talk to Drew?” The careful tone his mother used made Ryan chuckle briefly.
“Yes, I did,” he confirmed. “You must be really happy that not all your kids are freaks.”
“Ryan, you’re not a freak,” his mother insisted before sighing softly. “Here, talk to your father.”
Ryan heard the rustling as the phone was handed over to his father, and his sharp ears picked up his mother’s whispered, “Tell him he’s not a freak,” and before he knew it, Dean Miller’s voice filled his ear.
“You’re not a freak, and you know it, Ryan,” he said calmly. “Why do you keep on saying that?”
“I don’t know,” Ryan muttered.
“You’re just a late bloomer, don’t worry about this.”
“I’m not worrying,” Ryan sighed. “It doesn’t affect my life at all. It’s okay. I’m happy for Drew.”
“I know you are.” Dean hesitated briefly. “Listen, Drew told us you don’t want to come visiting because of the pack meeting.” There was another pause and Ryan heard the faint sounds of his father scratching the back of his neck briefly before continuing. “Your mother and I would be very happy if you could make it. It’ll be a while until we’ll get all of you together again, with Drew and you all grown up and all over the map.”
“I don’t know, Dad,” Ryan said. “I know you have a lot to do…”
“Ryan,” Dean interrupted calmly. “It’s always great to have you guys home. Drew would be very happy if you were here. And your mother, too. You’re part of this family. We don’t care about the moon, kid. We only care about you, as a person.”
Ryan swallowed thickly. He didn’t want to admit it, but his father had said exactly the words he’d needed to hear. “I’ll…I’ll see what I can do, okay?”
“That’s all we’re asking, Ryan,” his father simply said. “Nothing else.”
Ryan sighed as they ended the conversation. The decision had already been made, he knew. It didn’t matter if Ryan was an adult or cub, Dean Miller was still the Alpha of his little pack, and if he requested that his sons came home, they would.
~*+*~
“So?” Ryan asked and handed Drew the bottle of beer. “How is it?”
Drew looked up and accepted the bottle with a small twist of his lips. “How is what?”
Ryan shrugged and looked at the ground by his feet before sitting down next to Drew. “You know,” he mumbled, “The whole…changing thing.”
Drew smiled faintly. “It’s…weird,” he said thoughtfully. “Like an itch under your skin. The first time, it’s almost painful. You suddenly feel like the number of your teeth doubled or something. But you know what?” He chuckled ruefully. “They don’t. I checked. Stood in front of the damn mirror for half an hour and stared at my open mouth.”
He fell silent and, after a moment of hesitation, nudged Ryan’s side gently. “Come on, man. You’re gonna change soon, too. I know you will.”
Ryan’s thumb wiped the condensation off the cool glass of the bottle he was still holding. He didn’t know what to reply to Drew’s words, and so he just shrugged.
“Ryan…”
“What if I don’t?” he interrupted Drew quietly. “What if I never…you know. Grow up.”
Drew was silent for a long moment. Ryan bit his lip sharply as he debated if he wanted to apologize for his childish outburst or just change topics and pretend it never happened.
“You know,” Drew said before he could come to a decision, “it really doesn’t matter. You’re still Ryan. And it won’t change that you’re a great brother and hockey player and photographer and friend. The only difference is that you don’t get the overwhelming need to order your steak bloody every four or so weeks.”
Ryan shrugged miserably, and Drew acted on instinct as he wrapped his arm around his brother and pulled him in a one-armed, protective hug with a quiet growl.
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it,” he ordered firmly, and with a surprised tingle deep in his stomach, he noticed that Ryan submitted to him and tried to think of other things.
He hugged Ryan again and took a sip of his beer, not removing his arm from around Ryan’s bony shoulders.
After a long moment, Ryan laughed weakly. “Don’t get used to this,” he murmured. “You can’t boss me around.”
Drew laughed. He knew that submitting to an adult was instinctive for an adolescent werewolf, and right now, he counted as an adult while his big brother, for reasons he couldn’t even guess at, hadn’t taken that step in his development yet.
“Don’t worry,” he promised. “One day, I’ll have my own pack and I’ll always have a place for you, if you want it.”
Ryan swallowed. “Thanks,” he managed. “But I was serious. You can’t boss me around.”
“Right.” Drew laughed. “Besides, hey? Goalies do develop slower, don’t they? Maybe it’s really a genetic thing.”
Ryan frowned. “You think?”
Drew shrugged. “Yeah, sure, why not?” He swallowed another mouthful of beer. “Hey, Ryan?”
“Hm?”
Drew smiled his brightest and most adoring smile. “There’s this meeting tonight, for young adults, you know, and I need someone to pick me up later.”
“So?” Ryan replied, a slow smile forming on his face. “Take a cab.”
“Ryan,” Drew whined, “Please?”
Ryan laughed at his tone. “Yeah, sure,” he teased and lifted his beer back to his lips. “I’ll ask Dad to extend my curfew so I can come and pick you up from your meeting.”
~*+*~
Ryan squared his shoulders defiantly before entering the small bar. He knew it didn’t impress anyone watching him; he was way too scrawny for that, and he didn’t smell like an adult. However, it helped him keeping his composure, which, he thought, wasn’t a bad thing at all, considering the fact that he was planning on stepping into wolf territory, even if it was just to pick up Drew, who, in a fit of genius, had forgotten his cell phone at home when he’d left earlier.
The smell of werewolves was strong enough to make him hunch his shoulders, but he quickly caught himself doing it and straightened again. Struggling against his instincts, he waited a few heartbeats until his eyes got used to the dim light in the bar and glanced around quickly until he saw Drew, who was wrapped up in a game of pool. Ryan could only see the back of his head, but he would recognize Drew’s taste in shirts anywhere.
Relieved, he took a step into the room, toward Drew, when someone stepped into his path.
Ryan breathed in sharply. The man before him was an adult; his smell gave that away without the shadow of a doubt. And if the way he lifted his chin challengingly and smirked at Ryan was anything to go by, there soon would be trouble.
“Look what we’ve got here,” the man said with a grin. His teeth gleamed in the light, a stark contrast to this dark skin, and Ryan forced himself to stand up even straighter and not give in to the instincts that yelled at him to submit to this wolf.
The man’s nostrils flared slightly. “A brave one,” he smirked. “But still a cub. Why don’t you come here, pup?”
The tone of his voice was sharp enough to make it an order, but everything in Ryan revolted against obeying. He bared his teeth in a quiet warning, but it only made the man’s smirk widen.
That smirk. Ryan was sure that he’d seen it before, even if he couldn’t remember where.
“I love it when the pups show some spirit,” the man murmured and took a step closer to Ryan. Their chests almost brushed against each other, and Ryan couldn’t stop the almost violent shudder from running through his entire body.
The other man leaned even closer. His breath brushed hotly against Ryan’s cheek, smelling like beer and mint. His close proximity kept Ryan frozen in place, unable to move a single muscle.
“What’s your name, pup?” the man breathed into his ear. “Tell me. Maybe I’ll go to your pack leader and request you as my bitch.”
His chuckle roused Ryan out of his stupor, and he stumbled back a step. He immediately regretted it – he couldn’t have been more obvious if he’d tucked his nonexistent tail between his legs and had rolled onto his back, or bared his throat – but it had the desired effect of bringing some space between them, and he could breathe again.
He was still trying to decide on a course of action when suddenly, an arm was slung over his shoulder.
“Leave the kid alone, Ray,” a new voice said sharply. Ryan thought he detected some kind of accent in that voice, but his heart was beating loudly in his chest and the blood was rushing in his ears, and he couldn’t be sure. One thing he registered was that this man smelled definitely like an alpha, and he realized that, even if he’d been able to resist that Ray guy, he couldn’t do the same to an alpha. He knew he couldn’t.
“Oh come on, Hank, I was just having a little fun,” Ray laughed. “You know what fun is, right?”
“It’s not fun to scare kids to death,” the alpha said firmly. “Go find someone else to have fun with.”
It was an obvious dismissal, and Ray nodded with an eye roll before disappearing back into the crowd.
“Are you okay?” the alpha asked quietly. Ryan released the breath he’d been holding and nodded jerkily.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
His savior released him from his grip. Finally, Ryan had the chance to take in his physical appearance: he was a bit smaller than Ryan himself, but he was built stockier. As far as Ryan could tell, he was hiding a very muscular body under those washed-out jeans and the shirt. His hair was combed back from his face and fell almost to his shoulders. His chin and cheeks were covered by stubble. Ryan couldn’t tell what color his eyes were, but he could see the amused twinkle in them, and when a wide smile appeared on the man’s face, he realized that this werewolf wasn’t much older than he was himself. Even more, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen this man a few times before.
“I’m Hank,” the man introduced himself. “Henrik. But everyone around here calls me Hank. Or Z.”
Ryan lowered his eyes. “Nice to meet you,” he murmured.
“What about you?” Hank asked and nudged him gently.
Ryan shrugged carefully. Hank seemed like a nice guy, but he had enough excitement with adult werewolves for the day. All he wanted to do now was grab Drew and drag him home.
“I’m here to pick up that one,” he said and nodded in the vague direction of where he’d seen Drew last.
Hank’s smile widened even more. “You must be Ryan, then,” he said, delight filling his voice. “Drew has talked a lot about you.”
“Did he, now?” Ryan couldn’t help the wave of suspiciousness that crashed through him. “What did he say?”
“Just good things,” Hank promised. “Told me I’d never score on you. And that you’re playing for the Sabres.”
Ryan groaned quietly as realization hit him like a wall of bricks. Of course he’d seen Hank before, he told himself angrily. Henrik Zetterberg was one of the young stars of the Detroit Red Wings. Ryan felt like slapping himself for not realizing sooner who he was talking to.
“I think he’s overestimating me,” he murmured when he noticed Hank’s curious glance and felt Hank’s hand on his shoulder. “I’ve seen you play.”
“I’ve seen you too,” Hank replied. “And you’re really good.”
Ryan felt a blush creep up his neck and into his cheeks, but before he could reply, Drew had seen him and stepped up to them and between them with a quiet growl that was directed at Hank.
“Drew,” Ryan hissed. “Stop that!” He didn’t reach out to pull Drew out of the way, knowing perfectly well that it would be seen as a sign of weakness. It would undermine Drew’s position among his peers, and Ryan knew perfectly well that he couldn’t do that to his brother. Even more so, he didn’t want to do it to Drew.
Drew didn’t turn away from Hank. “Did he make you feel uncomfortable in any way?” he asked Ryan, his hands clenched into tight fists by his sides.
Ryan rolled his eyes. “No,” he said. “Leave the man alone, Drew. Let’s go home, before Dad starts worrying.”
Drew nodded, and when he finally looked away from Hank, who, to Ryan’s great surprise, hadn’t moved a single muscle the whole time, he grabbed Ryan’s arm and tugged him outside with gentle force. Ryan only managed to shrug in apology and mouth “sorry” to Hank.
Hank only grinned and shook his head slightly. Apparently, he wasn’t angry about Drew’s behavior, which, Ryan thought uncomfortably, wasn’t the norm among young adult werewolves. He was sure that Ray would have reacted differently to Drew’s challenge and he had no idea how he could have explained to their parents that Drew had been involved into a fight for dominance, just because of him.
“Seriously, are you okay?” Drew asked and sniffed slightly. “You don’t seem to be happy.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ryan sighed, refusing to think about what had happened in the bar. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter 2.
Author: Kathie
Fandom: Hockey/NHL (Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres)
Word Count: 19,383
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: This is absolutely not true. The names of real people have been used, but this is just my imagination and done with lots of adoration and love for the guys and my mind isn’t affiliated with them anyways. The chapters are named after songs that don’t belong to me either.
Pairings: Henrik Zetterberg/Ryan Miller, Steve Yzerman/Tomas Holmstrom/Nick Lidstrom/Chris Osgood/Brendan Shanahan and Henrik Zetterberg/Pavel Datsyuk in the background
Warnings: slash, supernatural things, real people, polyamory
Summary: Adulthood, mates, packs, the life of a werewolf is never boring
Author’s Notes: My neverending thank you goes to
nerfgunqueen and mer5, who checked this over for me, and especially Ginny, who held my hand while helping me getting this thing in order, including the summary. Also to chosenfire28 for the artwork, thank you so much! (Link to artwork: http://chosenfire28.livejournal.com/91667.html)Written for
rpf_big_bang
I. Chapter 1: Crossroads. Summer 2005
The second the ringing started, Ryan had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
It didn’t stop him from carefully putting down his guitar and reaching for the phone. Flipping it open, he asked, “Hello?”
His voice probably sounded a bit sharper than he’d intended, but there was nothing to be done about it now.
“Ryan, it’s me,” Drew’s voice greeted him enthusiastically. “Your brother.”
A teasing smile broke out over Ryan’s face as he saw the opportunity to tease his brother, and it pushed the dreadful feeling to the back of his consciousness. “Bryce.”
“No! Ryan…” Drew sighed. “It’s Drew!”
Ryan laughed. “I know, man,” he admitted. “What’s up?”
Drew took a carefully measured breath. Ryan could hear him shift from one foot to the other, and his heartbeat accelerated slightly.
“There is,” Drew said, “a pack meeting next week.”
A frown started to form on Ryan’s face. “A pack meeting? So?” he asked and shifted the phone from one ear to the other. “Why are you telling me that? You know that only adults go to these.”
“I know.” Excitement bubbled over in Drew’s voice. “They asked me to come!”
Ryan felt as if his heart stopped beating. It clenched tightly in his chest, and for a long moment, he struggled for breath and his composure. “Really?” he asked faintly.
Drew being asked to come could only mean one thing, his brain supplied. He couldn’t stop his thoughts – he felt too numb to force himself to think of anything but the words he’d just heard.
They’d asked Drew to come to an official pack meeting. Drew had reacted to the moon the way only adult werewolves did. He was an adult werewolf now. They’d asked him to come to the meeting.
“Yeah! Isn’t that great?” Drew asked with a small laugh, unaware of Ryan’s thoughts.
Ryan bit his tongue until he tasted the coppery tang of blood and the urge to growl at his little brother almost went away. It wasn’t Drew’s fault that he, the younger one of the two of them, was invited to an adults-only meeting whereas Ryan, four years older than him, was still considered an adolescent by their standards.
“Congratulations,” he said weakly. “When did you…you know.”
“Feel the moon? A week or so ago. I’m telling you, Ryan, it’s awesome…” Drew trailed off as he really realized who he was talking to and what they were talking about, and which affects it had on Ryan.
It wasn’t Drew’s fault, Ryan thought again, that he was a freak. He shouldn’t growl at him.
“I’m sorry,” Drew’s voice came over the phone line, thin and tinny, and Ryan knew – with the perfectly honed instincts of a werewolf – that his brother meant what he said. In his excitement about getting invited to a pack meeting he’d forgotten about Ryan’s predicament.
“I’m sure that you’ll…”
“Drew.”
The single word stopped Drew’s awkward attempt at apologizing for something he wasn’t responsible for after just a few syllables, and Ryan felt his lips twitch into a bitter smile. It was good to know that Drew’s instincts still ran toward obedience toward his big brother – at least over the phone, where he couldn’t tell that the person bossing him around still smelled like a cub. He didn’t know if Drew would still defer to him or not, and he didn’t feel like thinking about it right now. It only drove home the fact that he was really a freak.
Normal werewolves didn’t have to worry about things like that.
“It’s fine, really,” he muttered, pushing away the stabbing pain that threatened to overwhelm the numbness he was feeling. “Congrats for the invite. You deserve it.”
“Yeah,” Drew said. “I’m sorry, Ryan. It’s just, I wanted you to hear it from me and not, you know, over the werewolf grapevine or something like that.”
Ryan swallowed. Disappointment was still closing up his throat, like a big ball of bitterness, but he was an adult, in all but that one, defining characteristic, and he could be happy for his little brother, for undergoing the changes that turned him into an adult werewolf.
He could be happy for Drew, even if it meant that Ryan truly was a freak – a werewolf that wouldn’t grow up was highly uncommon. As long as Drew hadn’t changed either, Ryan had been able to tell himself that it ran in their family, but now, even that excuse had been taken away from him.
“I’m…happy,” he said. “Did you tell Mom and Dad?”
“Yeah.” Drew chuckled softly. “I did. But I wanted to let you know too. Because, you know.”
Ryan snorted. “Yeah, I know,” he replied.
Growing up, he and Drew had always been tight. They’d been the best friends when their family had moved to places where no other werewolf packs lived, and their mutual love for hockey had only tightened their bond. Ryan couldn’t remember how many days they’d spent in the basement, shooting tennis balls and pucks at each other or chasing them around until they ended up in an exhausted heap of giggling kids. With just the two of them, and later their younger siblings, nobody had cared about the teeth marks that adorned the rubber disks and, for a long time, a hockey glove that Drew had inherited from Ryan.
If he had been a normal werewolf, Ryan thought quietly while listening to Drew’s breathing, and if he’d managed to go through the transformation like everybody else, he would have called Drew, too.
It was just his luck that he was a freak. The moon didn’t speak to him, and he was doomed to stay a kid for the rest of his life.
“Anyways,” Drew interrupted the silence that had fallen between them, “I’m going to be home, and I thought it would be cool if you could come too. If you want, that is.”
“I don’t know, Drew.” Ryan frowned and glanced at his watch. “The season will start soon…”
“Training camps start in three weeks,” Drew corrected him. “You could come home and meet up with us. With me. Come on, Ryan, it will be fun.” He put as much of a whine into his voice as he knew he could get away with. “Come on, Ryan. I promise I’ll make Mom not put you at the kids’ table for dinners.”
Ryan sighed. “I don’t know yet,” he tried to evade the question. “If there’s a meeting there, Mum and Dad will have enough to do without me getting underfoot.”
“When did you ever get underfoot?” Drew asked. “Knowing you, you’ll bring your camera and disappear as soon as the sun gets up anyways.” He sighed. “Think about it, please?” he begged. “I have to go now…” He laughed in excitement again. “A pack meeting, me, can you believe that? I don’t have anything to wear.”
This time, Ryan managed to laugh with him. “You’ll figure it out,” he promised.
“Yeah, sure,” Drew said. “Talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Oh, and Ryan? If you don’t come here, I’ll come up to Buffalo,” Drew playfully threatened, and Ryan scrunched up his nose.
“I’ll make up the guest room for you, then.”
Drew laughed, and on that note, they ended the call.
Ryan shook his head as he leaned back into the couch cushions and grabbed the guitar, but slowly, the weight of Drew’s words started to sink in.
Drew was an adult. He’d felt the call of the moon, and he had responded to it, like every young werewolf around the age of twenty-three should, and now he was all grown up and a real werewolf.
And here he was, still unchanged, and while the blood of his ancestors ran hot in his veins – the same blood that ran in Drew’s, he knew – there hadn’t been a single sign yet that he, himself, would manage to take the step into adulthood soon.
He could just as well be an ordinary human being.
Briefly, he wondered if he was going to stay a cub for the rest of his life, but he brushed the thought away quickly. Even if he was, there was no use in thinking about it and driving himself even crazier.
There were a few big packs around, he thought while his fingers plucked gently at the strings of his guitar. Certainly, there had been cases where cubs had taken their time to develop enough to hear the moon properly.
“Patience,” he told himself, but restlessness had settled deep in his bones. Suddenly, he couldn’t sit still anymore. The need to stretch his legs and run almost overwhelmed him.
He went to the gym instead.
The season would start soon and he wanted to make a good impression on the Sabres’ coaching staff.
~*+*~
“I tried to call you.”
“Hi Mom.” Ryan pressed the phone in between his shoulder and ear and stirred his dinner carefully.
“Where have you been?”
Ryan pulled the pot off the stove and sighed. “Gym.”
“Did you talk to Drew?” The careful tone his mother used made Ryan chuckle briefly.
“Yes, I did,” he confirmed. “You must be really happy that not all your kids are freaks.”
“Ryan, you’re not a freak,” his mother insisted before sighing softly. “Here, talk to your father.”
Ryan heard the rustling as the phone was handed over to his father, and his sharp ears picked up his mother’s whispered, “Tell him he’s not a freak,” and before he knew it, Dean Miller’s voice filled his ear.
“You’re not a freak, and you know it, Ryan,” he said calmly. “Why do you keep on saying that?”
“I don’t know,” Ryan muttered.
“You’re just a late bloomer, don’t worry about this.”
“I’m not worrying,” Ryan sighed. “It doesn’t affect my life at all. It’s okay. I’m happy for Drew.”
“I know you are.” Dean hesitated briefly. “Listen, Drew told us you don’t want to come visiting because of the pack meeting.” There was another pause and Ryan heard the faint sounds of his father scratching the back of his neck briefly before continuing. “Your mother and I would be very happy if you could make it. It’ll be a while until we’ll get all of you together again, with Drew and you all grown up and all over the map.”
“I don’t know, Dad,” Ryan said. “I know you have a lot to do…”
“Ryan,” Dean interrupted calmly. “It’s always great to have you guys home. Drew would be very happy if you were here. And your mother, too. You’re part of this family. We don’t care about the moon, kid. We only care about you, as a person.”
Ryan swallowed thickly. He didn’t want to admit it, but his father had said exactly the words he’d needed to hear. “I’ll…I’ll see what I can do, okay?”
“That’s all we’re asking, Ryan,” his father simply said. “Nothing else.”
Ryan sighed as they ended the conversation. The decision had already been made, he knew. It didn’t matter if Ryan was an adult or cub, Dean Miller was still the Alpha of his little pack, and if he requested that his sons came home, they would.
~*+*~
“So?” Ryan asked and handed Drew the bottle of beer. “How is it?”
Drew looked up and accepted the bottle with a small twist of his lips. “How is what?”
Ryan shrugged and looked at the ground by his feet before sitting down next to Drew. “You know,” he mumbled, “The whole…changing thing.”
Drew smiled faintly. “It’s…weird,” he said thoughtfully. “Like an itch under your skin. The first time, it’s almost painful. You suddenly feel like the number of your teeth doubled or something. But you know what?” He chuckled ruefully. “They don’t. I checked. Stood in front of the damn mirror for half an hour and stared at my open mouth.”
He fell silent and, after a moment of hesitation, nudged Ryan’s side gently. “Come on, man. You’re gonna change soon, too. I know you will.”
Ryan’s thumb wiped the condensation off the cool glass of the bottle he was still holding. He didn’t know what to reply to Drew’s words, and so he just shrugged.
“Ryan…”
“What if I don’t?” he interrupted Drew quietly. “What if I never…you know. Grow up.”
Drew was silent for a long moment. Ryan bit his lip sharply as he debated if he wanted to apologize for his childish outburst or just change topics and pretend it never happened.
“You know,” Drew said before he could come to a decision, “it really doesn’t matter. You’re still Ryan. And it won’t change that you’re a great brother and hockey player and photographer and friend. The only difference is that you don’t get the overwhelming need to order your steak bloody every four or so weeks.”
Ryan shrugged miserably, and Drew acted on instinct as he wrapped his arm around his brother and pulled him in a one-armed, protective hug with a quiet growl.
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it,” he ordered firmly, and with a surprised tingle deep in his stomach, he noticed that Ryan submitted to him and tried to think of other things.
He hugged Ryan again and took a sip of his beer, not removing his arm from around Ryan’s bony shoulders.
After a long moment, Ryan laughed weakly. “Don’t get used to this,” he murmured. “You can’t boss me around.”
Drew laughed. He knew that submitting to an adult was instinctive for an adolescent werewolf, and right now, he counted as an adult while his big brother, for reasons he couldn’t even guess at, hadn’t taken that step in his development yet.
“Don’t worry,” he promised. “One day, I’ll have my own pack and I’ll always have a place for you, if you want it.”
Ryan swallowed. “Thanks,” he managed. “But I was serious. You can’t boss me around.”
“Right.” Drew laughed. “Besides, hey? Goalies do develop slower, don’t they? Maybe it’s really a genetic thing.”
Ryan frowned. “You think?”
Drew shrugged. “Yeah, sure, why not?” He swallowed another mouthful of beer. “Hey, Ryan?”
“Hm?”
Drew smiled his brightest and most adoring smile. “There’s this meeting tonight, for young adults, you know, and I need someone to pick me up later.”
“So?” Ryan replied, a slow smile forming on his face. “Take a cab.”
“Ryan,” Drew whined, “Please?”
Ryan laughed at his tone. “Yeah, sure,” he teased and lifted his beer back to his lips. “I’ll ask Dad to extend my curfew so I can come and pick you up from your meeting.”
~*+*~
Ryan squared his shoulders defiantly before entering the small bar. He knew it didn’t impress anyone watching him; he was way too scrawny for that, and he didn’t smell like an adult. However, it helped him keeping his composure, which, he thought, wasn’t a bad thing at all, considering the fact that he was planning on stepping into wolf territory, even if it was just to pick up Drew, who, in a fit of genius, had forgotten his cell phone at home when he’d left earlier.
The smell of werewolves was strong enough to make him hunch his shoulders, but he quickly caught himself doing it and straightened again. Struggling against his instincts, he waited a few heartbeats until his eyes got used to the dim light in the bar and glanced around quickly until he saw Drew, who was wrapped up in a game of pool. Ryan could only see the back of his head, but he would recognize Drew’s taste in shirts anywhere.
Relieved, he took a step into the room, toward Drew, when someone stepped into his path.
Ryan breathed in sharply. The man before him was an adult; his smell gave that away without the shadow of a doubt. And if the way he lifted his chin challengingly and smirked at Ryan was anything to go by, there soon would be trouble.
“Look what we’ve got here,” the man said with a grin. His teeth gleamed in the light, a stark contrast to this dark skin, and Ryan forced himself to stand up even straighter and not give in to the instincts that yelled at him to submit to this wolf.
The man’s nostrils flared slightly. “A brave one,” he smirked. “But still a cub. Why don’t you come here, pup?”
The tone of his voice was sharp enough to make it an order, but everything in Ryan revolted against obeying. He bared his teeth in a quiet warning, but it only made the man’s smirk widen.
That smirk. Ryan was sure that he’d seen it before, even if he couldn’t remember where.
“I love it when the pups show some spirit,” the man murmured and took a step closer to Ryan. Their chests almost brushed against each other, and Ryan couldn’t stop the almost violent shudder from running through his entire body.
The other man leaned even closer. His breath brushed hotly against Ryan’s cheek, smelling like beer and mint. His close proximity kept Ryan frozen in place, unable to move a single muscle.
“What’s your name, pup?” the man breathed into his ear. “Tell me. Maybe I’ll go to your pack leader and request you as my bitch.”
His chuckle roused Ryan out of his stupor, and he stumbled back a step. He immediately regretted it – he couldn’t have been more obvious if he’d tucked his nonexistent tail between his legs and had rolled onto his back, or bared his throat – but it had the desired effect of bringing some space between them, and he could breathe again.
He was still trying to decide on a course of action when suddenly, an arm was slung over his shoulder.
“Leave the kid alone, Ray,” a new voice said sharply. Ryan thought he detected some kind of accent in that voice, but his heart was beating loudly in his chest and the blood was rushing in his ears, and he couldn’t be sure. One thing he registered was that this man smelled definitely like an alpha, and he realized that, even if he’d been able to resist that Ray guy, he couldn’t do the same to an alpha. He knew he couldn’t.
“Oh come on, Hank, I was just having a little fun,” Ray laughed. “You know what fun is, right?”
“It’s not fun to scare kids to death,” the alpha said firmly. “Go find someone else to have fun with.”
It was an obvious dismissal, and Ray nodded with an eye roll before disappearing back into the crowd.
“Are you okay?” the alpha asked quietly. Ryan released the breath he’d been holding and nodded jerkily.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
His savior released him from his grip. Finally, Ryan had the chance to take in his physical appearance: he was a bit smaller than Ryan himself, but he was built stockier. As far as Ryan could tell, he was hiding a very muscular body under those washed-out jeans and the shirt. His hair was combed back from his face and fell almost to his shoulders. His chin and cheeks were covered by stubble. Ryan couldn’t tell what color his eyes were, but he could see the amused twinkle in them, and when a wide smile appeared on the man’s face, he realized that this werewolf wasn’t much older than he was himself. Even more, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen this man a few times before.
“I’m Hank,” the man introduced himself. “Henrik. But everyone around here calls me Hank. Or Z.”
Ryan lowered his eyes. “Nice to meet you,” he murmured.
“What about you?” Hank asked and nudged him gently.
Ryan shrugged carefully. Hank seemed like a nice guy, but he had enough excitement with adult werewolves for the day. All he wanted to do now was grab Drew and drag him home.
“I’m here to pick up that one,” he said and nodded in the vague direction of where he’d seen Drew last.
Hank’s smile widened even more. “You must be Ryan, then,” he said, delight filling his voice. “Drew has talked a lot about you.”
“Did he, now?” Ryan couldn’t help the wave of suspiciousness that crashed through him. “What did he say?”
“Just good things,” Hank promised. “Told me I’d never score on you. And that you’re playing for the Sabres.”
Ryan groaned quietly as realization hit him like a wall of bricks. Of course he’d seen Hank before, he told himself angrily. Henrik Zetterberg was one of the young stars of the Detroit Red Wings. Ryan felt like slapping himself for not realizing sooner who he was talking to.
“I think he’s overestimating me,” he murmured when he noticed Hank’s curious glance and felt Hank’s hand on his shoulder. “I’ve seen you play.”
“I’ve seen you too,” Hank replied. “And you’re really good.”
Ryan felt a blush creep up his neck and into his cheeks, but before he could reply, Drew had seen him and stepped up to them and between them with a quiet growl that was directed at Hank.
“Drew,” Ryan hissed. “Stop that!” He didn’t reach out to pull Drew out of the way, knowing perfectly well that it would be seen as a sign of weakness. It would undermine Drew’s position among his peers, and Ryan knew perfectly well that he couldn’t do that to his brother. Even more so, he didn’t want to do it to Drew.
Drew didn’t turn away from Hank. “Did he make you feel uncomfortable in any way?” he asked Ryan, his hands clenched into tight fists by his sides.
Ryan rolled his eyes. “No,” he said. “Leave the man alone, Drew. Let’s go home, before Dad starts worrying.”
Drew nodded, and when he finally looked away from Hank, who, to Ryan’s great surprise, hadn’t moved a single muscle the whole time, he grabbed Ryan’s arm and tugged him outside with gentle force. Ryan only managed to shrug in apology and mouth “sorry” to Hank.
Hank only grinned and shook his head slightly. Apparently, he wasn’t angry about Drew’s behavior, which, Ryan thought uncomfortably, wasn’t the norm among young adult werewolves. He was sure that Ray would have reacted differently to Drew’s challenge and he had no idea how he could have explained to their parents that Drew had been involved into a fight for dominance, just because of him.
“Seriously, are you okay?” Drew asked and sniffed slightly. “You don’t seem to be happy.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ryan sighed, refusing to think about what had happened in the bar. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter 2.