He didn't think he was cut out for all the mate stuff. It felt amazing having his touch lull him to sleep, and what had happened the night before will be etched into his mind forever. He was sure that his mind would use it as ammo whenever it tried to rebel against him again. His scent was lovely, and soothed him to the very core. It was an earthy smell that reminded him of times when he would roll in the dirt when he had first transformed into a wolf. He always seemed to bring out that part of him: the child that he had pushed down a long time ago.

But now he didn't think he was cut out for this because of one thing:

He was stuck.

Why did the Valor Pack have to be the strongest? Why did those strong arms have to hold onto him so tightly? He was thinking about trying to be polite and making him something to eat for when he woke up, but that didn't seem to really work out. Every time he moved in the slightest, those heavenly arms would pull him closer. He was glad that he could heal so easily, or he was sure that his back would be killing him. Whatever that man had seen before was most likely completely gone now.

Which reminded him: he was also half naked with a man that he was supposed to mark. All it would take was a few more kisses and he would probably be too weak to fight him on it. But he had to come and meet him last night, even with the potential danger that it brought. He needed to apologize for what had happened. He had taken it too far when his father came. He had put all of his frustrations that he had on his father onto Jett during that fight. It wasn't until Jett told him to stop that he realized just how much he had pushed himself as well as his mate.

And now he had let himself be convinced to spend the day with him by themselves. Jett was too good at tricking him into doing these things. It was too easy to fall for those sweet words. He was quickly falling in love with him more every second that he had with him. Shiro hadn't opened up to him at all, yet he understood him in a way that no one else could. He didn't blame him for everything like his father did. He barely put any expectations on him, and he knew his boundaries. Perhaps that was why he allowed him to take things a little farther than he normally would. Perhaps that was why he was so willing to go to him when he asked.

His smooth chest was absolutely beautiful as the sunlight glistened on it. He couldn't help but run his hand across it again. It felt right at that moment. He could probably get over his want to get up as long as it meant that he got to enjoy the feeling of that sculpted chest. It was broad, and he felt as though it was a pillow when he slept on it. He never wanted to sleep on anything else again. It was like he had died and gone to heaven.

"Shiro? Where are you?" his sister disrupted his thoughts with a mind link. He groaned internally at hearing her voice. He was trying to enjoy something.

"In one of the sheds," he told her. "I'm going to be spending the rest of the day with Jett."

"Do you need me to bring any food?"

"I can handle it on my own, thanks."

"Why are you so grumpy?" she giggled in his head. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No," he lied. He wasn't going to tell her that he was stuck in his mate's arms that he had decided to spend the night with. If she found out that they had even shared the same bed, he was sure that she would come marching over to try and give both of them an earful.

"Go and spend the day with him, then," her soft voice soothed his thoughts. "I can handle father for the day. He won't even know you're gone."

"Thank you," he sighed at hearing that. After that fight he had gotten yelled at by him for the rest of the day. Then he had decided to help the workers with chores just to get away from him. He felt bad for those servants. Whenever his father was angry, he would put more on their plate and make it to where they had to stay up all night just to get it all finished. Shiro helped so that they didn't have to spend the whole night doing it. They kept telling him that he shouldn't. That it wasn't his job. But a leader always helped their people.

Due to that, however, he wasn't able to go and see the pack doctor. He knew his back was hurting from the times he had been flung to the other side of the room, and the ceiling, but he didn't know how bad it was. All he had known was that he wanted to see Jett to talk to him. And, when he had finally been able to check his phone, he was happy to find that he wanted to see him as well.

A shift in bed got him out of his thoughts. The bulky man shifted into his side, taking Shiro with him. He wasn't exactly fond of being treated like a body pillow, but then he buried his face in his shoulder. Being able to feel those light breaths on him calmed him to his very core. He had never felt so relaxed in all his life.

Then heat erupted as he felt those lips meet his skin, and those hands slowly coming to life to rub his back.

"Morning," Jett smiled into him. So much for trying to be courteous and making him something to eat. Now Shiro was hungry and had stayed in bed for much longer than he normally did. His body wasn't used to resting, even when he was wounded.

"Good morning," he smiled back at him. His hands immediately went for the man's curly hair to thread his fingers into. Jett sighed at his actions. It seemed like he hadn't gotten much sleep lately. Everything about him was sluggish.

After a second, though, he started to gently try and move those arms away. He didn't want to seem rude, but his stomach was screaming for him to get up. Thankfully Jett let him. He sat up, those hands gliding down him as he went. He was sure that he would never get used to that touch, they made him shiver with how gently they slid down his body. It wasn't until he sat up that he realized that his robe had completely fallen off him during the time that they slept. Shiro was glad that Jett's eyes were still closed. His face was completely red as he quickly grabbed the thin fabric and threw it on.

He was definitely not used to this. He had never even had someone sharing a bed with him. As much as he had learned about everything else, he never looked into love or relationships. There were so many other things in which he needed to focus his attention towards.

"Where are you going?" Jett mumbled, his hand held him back ever so slightly. Those orange eyes looked sad when they opened to see him getting off the bed. He had looked so peaceful that Shiro didn't want to interrupt him, but, at the same time, he needed to get up.

"To make something to eat," he told him. For some reason, his voice was different with Jett around. It always sounded gentle, like the man's hold on him. He had no clue that this man could even affect how he talked, but he did.

Jett let him go with that and rolled around in the bed. Shiro quickly left at that to go and make breakfast. These sheds were meant for emergency use if need be, hence why there were beds and a bath. They stocked them with simple things that wouldn't go bad that quickly. Shiro quickly grabbed a few ingredients and moved towards the stove.

"You know how to cook?" Jett surprised him when he put his arms around him. Shiro quietly leaned into his hold, letting his instincts finally take over. Jett had told him that he wanted to see more of the real him. Shiro didn't exactly know how to bring that out, for it had been buried a long time ago. But he figured that his instincts were the first step towards bringing it back.

"Another thing that I had learned," Shiro nodded. "Only it wasn't from my grandfather."

"Oh? That's pretty shocking," Jett smiled. His head was now resting on his shoulder. "Where did you learn it then?"

"From one of our cooks," he told him. "I had wanted to figure out how he could make his amazing dishes."

"Jeez, Shiro," Jett laughed. "What haven't you learned?"

"Plenty," he sighed, looking down at the food that was almost ready. "There's still so much that I haven't learned." Like love. He hadn't known much about the subject, or even the emotion. He didn't know what it felt like, or even how to begin to learn about it. For he had his family in which he loved, but every other kind was a mystery to him.

All he knew was that he loved Jett. He would be an idiot for denying that. He just didn't know what it meant or what to do with it. He was probably going to be the most awkward person about it. He already felt awkward. He didn't know whether this was normal to want to get out of his grip in the morning. He had heard that mates had always wanted to stay locked in embrace for as long as possible. Was it strange that he wanted to get up and eat?

"Earth to Shiro?" Jett snapped him out of his thoughts. He had been so lost in them, he hadn't even noticed that those hands had moved inside his robe to rub his torso. "I can see the steam coming out of your ears."

"Sorry," he shook his head. He really must be bad at this. Weren't mates always supposed to be aware of each other? He shook the thought away and poured the food onto a plate. It was just something simple, as there weren't too many ingredients to work with. "Here," he handed Jett a plate. The absence of his hold left him feeling cold, he missed it already.

They sat at the small table that was there, just across from each other. Shiro could still feel those hands rubbing his stomach.

"So," Jett shoveled food into his mouth. It was funny watching him eat. Shiro was glad that he seemed just as hungry as he was. "What do you want to do today?"

He froze. Was he supposed to be the one to figure out what they did? He wasn't used to having a whole day to himself. How was he supposed to figure out what they should do? It was a whole day! You know how many things he could do in a single day?

This was more difficult than he thought it was going to be.

"You don't know, do you?" Jett smirked at him. He looked handsome when he did that, even though it was to Shiro's expense.

"I'm not used to having a whole day to myself," he admitted, looking down to his food.

"What?" Jett sounded baffled by that. "Shiro, even I get a day or two to myself. What do you have to do all the time that keeps you from taking a day to rest?"

"There's always things that need to be done," he told him. He was lucky that most of his food was already gone. He wasn't sure just how much his stomach could handle his honesty. "That and I had my studies when I was in school."

"You're going to wind up working yourself to death," Jett gave him a worrying glance. "Have you ever just done something because it was fun?"

"I went to the carnival," he told him.

"What about running around as a wolf?" Jett asked. "Or hiding in the fog like you always talked about to scare people?"

"I never have time," he shook his head. "I only go in my wolf form to train or meditate."

"Okay," Jett put down his utensils. "That's what we're going to do then."

"What?" he looked at him curiously.

"I'm going to give you your first lesson in having fun," Jett smiled and grabbed him. "Starting with your wolf."

He liked the sound of that, even though it left him a little uneasy. It was easy to shift into his wolf form and head out to the forest surrounding them. He knew that no one would be there. His father only sent out the patrols to this area when they had enemies. The main patrol was for the part that wasn't connected to the other pack territories.

Jett's wolf was much larger than his. He hadn't seen it since the first time he met him, but it was easy to tell that it was him through those bright orange eyes that stared at him as soon as he saw him.

He motioned for him to follow him, and they started running. It felt like a race almost, but as soon as Shiro would try to take the lead, Jett would stop. One time, when he came up to him to apologize in the only way he could, the wolf nipped at him playfully. It surprised him. He hadn't done anything but train with his wolf since he was thirteen. The idea of playing made him excited, but also uneasy again. He didn't know if he could do it anymore.

Those orange eyes looked at him curiously. He must have noticed the uncertainty he had. Shiro used his wolf to try and tell him that it was okay, and rubbed against him a little bit. The giant wolf acted like a puppy as soon as he did that and immediately tackled him to the ground, rubbing and licking all over him. He was sure if he were human, he would be laughing. Instead, he nipped at the wolf so that he could stand once again.

That was how most of the day went. They would play as wolves through the foggy forest, changing to human only when they were too hungry to keep going. He actually did hide in the fog to jump out and scare him a little. It turned both of them into giggling idiots as soon as they changed to their human forms.

He never thought that he could have fun like this anymore. There was no purpose to this other than to simply enjoy yourself. It didn't benefit him in any way, but it brought him joy. And joy was something that he had not felt since he was a child.

Jett grabbed him as soon as he threw his robe on.

"No!" Shiro struggled against him, laughing the entire time. "I'm too hungry! Let me go!" They had skipped lunch at this point, and he was absolutely famished.

"Nope," Jett gave him light kissed all over his neck. It was going to take forever to wash off his scent. "Not until you show me your secret to hiding in the fog."

"Never!" he kept laughing, enjoying the warmth of his hold. The fog had kept the forest cool, even with the hot summer sun out.

"Then you get to starve," he could feel that smile on him as he continued to scatter kisses all over him.

"Fine," he said, continuing to struggle. "I'll tell you if you let me go."

"Oh no," Jett said. "I know a trick when I see one."

"Jett!" he whined. Even though he really wanted to get some food, he couldn't help his arms from reaching up and around his mate's neck, his body leaning into every kiss he gave to him. It was amazing just being able to enjoy him.

Jett laughed and finally released his hold on him. But not before grabbing his face with his hands and kissing him on the lips. The passion was just as strong as the night before, and he couldn't help but meet it with his own. He forgot about being hungry for a moment as he enjoyed the volcanic heat that came from their embrace. He simply enjoyed the moment that they shared, his heart feeling like it was swelling with every second that he stayed in his mates hold.

It ended too early. Jett pulled away when he was still lost in all the amazing feelings that it brought to him. His eyes opened to see those orange ones looking into his with the same warmth that he had felt from the kiss.

"You're beautiful like this," Jett said. "You know that?"

"Like what?"

"Happy," he smiled. His thumb gently rubbed his cheek lovingly. "I don't think I've seen anything more amazing in my life."

Heat rose to his cheeks without his permission. He wasn't used to compliments, especially not ones like these. He tried to move his head to the ground, but those hands wouldn't allow them. So, instead, he used his agility to move out of his hold and ran for inside the cabin, laughing the whole time. It had been a long time since he had laughed this much.

It had been a long time since he had felt this free.