Sleeping was so nice. He never had to deal with his father yelling at him when he was asleep, or all the worries that he had about Shiro as well as the rest of the pack problems. He didn't have to deal with hiding himself from everyone. He could simply be himself in the black pitch void that was his slumber. Sometime, when he was angry and couldn't find a way to get it to go away, he'd just sleep. Was he really getting rid of the problem? No. It would still be in the back of his head. But that was how life was. That was how his life was at least. Sleeping was just a better alternative to punching someone in the face.

Having a completely soundproof room, with curtains that could block out the sun as well as the heat, he could sleep for days in that room of his. It was his cave and his safe place. And he needed it the most right then.

How on earth did Shiro contain the symptoms of the curse? He was only half way through the month and it was already eating him up. He supposed it was karma for making fun of Miki when her cycle came by. Now he completely understood why she was so cranky. And he couldn't imagine trying to last as long as she had with it. He would probably die if he had to last as long as Hiroko. There was a dull pain that he could feel every time they were apart. It liked to travel too. He had gotten stomach pain, heart pain, headaches. The stomach was the worst one, though, because he could barely eat anything. And trying to make it unsuspicious to his family was the most difficult thing.

So, with Shiro gone, and his summer days getting long and boring, Geo mainly slept through most of it. He would sleep through the week if his damn phone would let him.

Alex: Hey

Alex: Hey

Geo groaned into his pillow, trying to bury the phone in his sheets so he wouldn't hear the buzzing. He couldn't leave his phone on silent because he might need it if Shiro or someone else decided to call him. So, he had to deal with the most annoying mate he could have ever gotten.

Well, he could have gotten Jimmy for a mate. That would have gone down like a fart in church.

Alex: Answer me, Puppy, or I'm going to go and find you myself.

He really just wanted to hit his head against the wall until it broke. He was going to have to answer him whether he liked it or not. Having him come over was an absolute no. But holy crap, was this guy clingy!

Geo: I was asleep, Hound dog. What do you want?

Alex: How can you sleep?!

Geo: By closing my eyes?

Alex: Very funny. I meant how can you sleep with all this pain?

Geo: Wait. You feel it too?

Alex: Yup. So, is this just a prewarning of the curse or something?

Geo: How would I know? This isn't exactly something I do for fun.

Alex: Your pack seems to have the most knowledge on this stuff. Thought you would know.

Geo: Well, I don't.

Alex: Fuck

Geo: What?

Alex: I need to learn your secret on sleeping through all of this.

Geo: Close your eyes and there you go.

Alex: You make it sound so easy.

Geo: It is easy.

Alex: You must be a hibernating Puppy if you can fall asleep so easily.

Geo: Is this why you're in a weird mood?

Alex: That and I'm horny and you're the only one I can fuck.

That didn't settle well in his stomach. Was that all Alex saw them as? Geo remembered when they first found out they were mates, and how he had seemed like he had wanted to fuck him right then and there. But was this all just because he couldn't fuck anyone else? Did he want to have sex with other people? Because that wasn't what Geo wanted. He wanted him to be his and only his. That's kind of what mates were supposed to be. They mated for life.

Then he remembered how he looked at that one warrior when they were fighting the hunters. What was his name? Luke? He was basically eye fucking him right when he saw the man run up to them. Red flashed in his eyes at the very thought of that. Out of all the people that he could have been mated to, it had to be the player? The guy who stuck his dick in everyone he could? He hated it. Why couldn't he have one nice thing? Why couldn't he have at least had a mate that had only had one or two relationships? Geo would have been completely fine with waiting too, considering the consequences he was dealing with now.

So, that's all he wanted him for? Just to mark him and then fuck around?

This was getting too much. He'd much rather sleep. His mood was only getting worse and worse with every second that he spent thinking about all of this. Geo turned his phone on silent and tossed it on the ground a little bit away from his bed. He had carpeted floors so he wasn't worried about it getting cracked. He turned the opposite way of the phone and pulled the blanket completely over him.

If Alex just wanted to fuck him and toss him to the side, then why should he bother with answering his messages? Why should he care if he's in pain? If that's all he wanted, then Geo wasn't going to give him shit. He was just going to sulk in his room and sleep all his problems away. It's not like he ever cared. All he ever wanted to do was cause him trouble. He noticed every single detail like he was some kind of detective looking for the case that would make him. And he just couldn't seem to understand when Geo told him that he couldn't answer him. Did he understand anything? It already hurt him as it was to have to keep things from him. But an Alpha's orders were final. He couldn't go against it.

Great. Now he couldn't sleep. Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to get more on his plate? He just wanted this to all be over with already. He wanted to be free from all this hiding. He wanted to be happy for once in his life. That was one thing that he and Shiro had in common. Only Shiro got mated to the one who actually cared about him. Geo just got to suffer more.

He'd rather just die.

He was thrown out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of his window opening. Geo sprung out of bed, ready to attack as soon as the person got through the window. But then he recognized the scent. It was the scent that had been driving him mad for two weeks. His whole being was dying to have that scent around him as much as possible.

Except for right now.

"Alex!" Geo looked at that dazzling smile. "What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"You weren't answering your phone," Alex said, closing the window. Those blue eyes were lying to Geo. They sparkled with a happiness to see him. "So, I figured I'd try to learn your secret to sleeping through all the pain."

"Yeah," he rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it was just that."

Why did mate pulls have to be so strong? It was hard not to just run up to him right then. He was supposed to be mad at him, dammit! Why couldn't this stupid bond understand that?

"Look," Alex said. "I think you took me the wrong way over the phone."

"How did you find my room from the outside?" he crossed his arms. Like hell, he was going to let this man silver tongue his way out of this.

"Well," he shrugged. "There's only so many rooms that don't have a scent to them. Besides, I can always find you Puppy."

"Stop. Calling. Me. That." He growled. He hated this. He hated this situation. Of course, the mate that would probably just toss him away like he was nothing would be the one that could always find him. He wasn't going to be a damn booty call.

"Why are you so pissed at me?" Alex asked. Those blue eyes were looking at him in shock. As if he had done nothing wrong. They could fool a damn nun if they wanted to. But they weren't fooling him.

"Just leave, Alex," Geo sighed. He didn't want to go off on him. He'd much rather sulk in his bed. It was bad enough that he had to turn the lights on for this whole endeavor. "I just want to be alone."

"Not until you tell me what I did wrong," Alex said. His voice changed. For the first time since he met him, Geo could have sworn he heard hurt in his voice.

Geo stayed silent. He was still pissed. Pissed at him. Pissed at his shitty life. Pissed at the world. He didn't want to try and calm himself down or try and decipher all of it and figure out what he could do to feel better. He just wanted to be pissed by himself so he could just mope around like the worthless person he was.

Alex sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Look, Geo," he sat on one of his gaming chairs. "I'm not going to say I was the best person, even to you, but can we talk things out rather than whatever we're doing right now?"

"How do you even know I'm mad at you?" Geo asked him. "For all you know, I could be mad that a bird shat on my head earlier today."

Dammit, he made him smile. Geo was bad at pissing him off it seemed. Everything he ever did to try and piss the guy off only seemed to make him laugh.

"Because you left me on read," Alex answered. "And I didn't exactly realize just how bad that text sounded until then."

"I don't care," he shrugged. "The truth is the truth: I should have known that all you wanted was that anyway."

"All I wanted was what?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "To fuck?"

"Yeah," Geo answered, his voice sounding as sickly sweet and condescending as he could make it. He had learned enough on how to do that from his parents. "Oh, but that's okay. I'm completely fine with you just fucking me and moving on."

"Geo," those blue eyes got harder as he said it. "Stop the bullshit. You're playing with fire."

"Oh, I'm playing with fire?" he asked. "You're the one who literally said that you were upset that you could only fuck me, but I'm the bad guy here?!" Now he really was seeing red. That headache had decided to come back full blast now too, which made things even worse.

"No, Geo-!"

"Oh, no that's perfectly fine, Alex!" he put his arms in the air. "Just put all the blame on me! You wouldn't be the fucking first."

"I'm not putting the blame on you!" Alex hollered over him. He was so glad that his room was soundproof at that moment. "Fuck, Geo! If you really think that all I wanted to do was fuck you, why wouldn't I have just fucked you in that community center?!"

"Because you had your other fuck buddies outside, maybe?" Geo glared at him. "What, was Luke one of the guys you were with that night?! Just trying to catch some tail, like the notorious Alex from Valor Pack always does!"

"When did Luke get brought up in this?" Alex looked confused at him. He was enjoying just how much of a mindfuck he was giving him at the moment.

"When you were eyeing him up when we were all supposed to be fighting for our lives!"

"That was before I found out you were even my mate!" he yelled back at him. "And it was me who went looking for you in downtown!"

"I could have handled it on my own."

"Please, Geo," Alex rolled his eyes. "You didn't even know there were bombs there."

"Oh, yeah, let's all praise the amazing Alex for figuring it all out," Geo's tone went back into a sarcastic one. He didn't even know where he was going with this. He was just trying to rile him up to release all the anger that he had. He just wanted him to be just as pissed as him. "I should just crawl into your bed. Because you're my fucking savior!"

This wasn't getting anywhere. This was the reason why he didn't want to have anyone near him at the moment. He was so mad about so many different things that he didn't have an outlet for. He hated lashing out on people. It wasn't how he was raised. But sometimes it just happened. It was one of the main reasons why he was such a loner. Because some people didn't know when to give him space while he was fuming and it caused him to do this.

More silence filled the room. He hadn't seen Alex like this before. He didn't look like his normal happy self. There wasn't that hint of mischief in his eyes or that handsome smirk on those lips of his. If he had a level head, he would be feeling guilty.

"Okay," Alex sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I probably deserved that."

"What?" All of the anger was starting to seep out of him at that moment.

"I told you I haven't been the best person," he told him. "It's not like I'm denying that. I slept around a lot and flirted with a lot of guys. I'm not going to stop you if you need to let all of it out now."

"Let all of what out?"

"This," he gestured at him. "All of the anger and stuff. I'd rather get it out now rather than later."

He was...agreeing to be his verbal punching bag?

Geo collapsed on his bed, rubbing his head. He didn't have enough energy for this.

"Just leave," he told him. "I'm not exactly in the right mind."

"I'd rather not leave until we figure out us, Geo," even his voice sounded softer now. It stung now just how much he might have hurt him.

"There's nothing to figure out," Geo sighed. "Just go and do whatever you want to do."

He didn't talk after that. Geo waited for the sound of the window opening, but it never came. He thought that he had hurt Alex enough for the man to at least get some fresh air.

Instead, he felt a weight on his bed, and arms going around him.

"Well, since I get to do whatever I want," Alex's voice held a hint of mischief in them. "Then I guess you're going to be stuck with me."

"You don't want to stay here," he tried to turn away from the man to no avail. "I'm not exactly the most fun person right now."

"I'd say you're pretty fun," Alex smiled. He missed that smile already. "I mean, it's not very often I get to see anyone from your pack lose their temper."

"Pfft," he rolled his eyes. "You should just listen in on my dad."

"That argument you had on the roof with him was pretty funny."

"He's picky about the dumbest of things," he was slowly turning more into the man. He couldn't fight the need to have him close. "It's annoying."

"I had a feeling you were the kind that needed to vent," Alex pulled him closer. "But there's one thing you should know about me."

"Hmm?"

"I'm not ever going to just move on from you, Puppy," he leaned in close to his ear when he said that. The sensation of his breath hitting him was enough to give him goosebumps. "You're stuck with me until the very end."

"And what about all the other one's you fucked?"

"There's a reason I never stayed with any of them," he started lightly kissing his neck. It felt good. "It was a bad way to cope with waiting to find my mate, I'll admit, but that's how I did it."

"And you wouldn't be tempted by any of them?"

"You're adorable when your jealous," he used his nose to nuzzle into the side of his neck. "You know that?"

"Don't say that," he groaned. "Now you're going to try and make me jealous!"

"Oh, fuck no," Alex laughed. "I never want to piss you off that bad again."

"You still didn't answer the question."

"You mean if I'd be tempted by any of them?"

"Yeah."

"Geo," Alex propped his head on his hand to get a better look at him. "Do you realize just what you do to me? How the hell would I ever be able to look at anyone else in that way when I have you?"

He wasn't expecting that kind of answer. It looked like it had come straight from the heart. And that completely threw him off. Geo merely thought he was going to give some kind of silly answer or try to just hold him to make him feel better.

Alex didn't hesitate to kiss him when he didn't reply. His lips were surprisingly soft, even when the rest of his body was a boulder. It felt nice to merely slip into his hold. It was as if he just fit right in, like a puzzle piece.

"Of course," Alex broke of the kiss, his hands moving to his sides. "I could prove to you that I'm not just going to use you."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" He asked, enjoying the feeling of those hands on his skin.

"By doing something I've never done before," Alex said, his voice low and alluring. It tempted him in a way he hadn't been tempted before.

"And what's that?"

Alex didn't reply. Instead, he started to move his hands closer to his pant line. Geo wasn't entirely sure what it was that he was planning, but it felt too good for him to stop. He quickly lost all logic when in those arms.

"You're going to have to trust me on this," he moved to be on top of him. Those hands slowly sliding into his pants. He kissed his neck while his hands were already taking control over him.

"Alright," Geo smirked at him. "Do your worst, Hound Dog." As much as he didn't just want to jump right into bed with him, he was curious as to what he was going to do. What had he not done before in the bedroom? One would think that if you do it enough times then you try quite a lot of things.

This damn curse wasn't helping things. It made him cave to the man easily. He was like putty in his hands as soon as they slid down his pants and got to his pleasure point.

"You've never given someone a handjob before?" He asked Alex. That was like the first thing he ever did when he was first experimenting. He had to admit that it felt good, though. Better than any other time he had gotten one. He just wasn't expecting it.

"No, I've done this before," Alex smirked at him. "This is just a warm up."

Before he could even ask what for, Geo watched as Alex started to kiss his chest, slowly moving lower. Every kiss sent sparks all throughout his body. He couldn't help but enjoy this. He didn't have many things that he could enjoy at the moment. It left him helpless when it came to his mate. It took those lips going much lower for him to fully understand what he meant.

"This is mine," Alex kissed up and down his shaft, freeing it of his hands. His eyes meeting Geo's with every word he spoke. "Mine to hold; mine to please. No one else can please it other than me." The look in his eyes showed Geo a possessiveness that he hadn't seen in anyone other than himself. And the kisses were like electricity. Every kiss, from the head down, drove him closer to the edge. He was on the edge for longer than he had ever been.

Geo had gotten this done to him before. But it had never been this great. As soon as that mouth fully took him in, he felt like he was in heaven. The electricity that it gave him went through his system, blinding him to all senses other than the one's solely focused on this. He dug his hands into that light brown hair, moving his hips into him. Alex let him, rubbing his sides and his ass as they both allowed their instinct to take over. He needed release, and he was getting closer and closer. His hips only got faster. And that mouth only got tighter as he kept going.

He gave a long moan as he finished. He expected Alex to spit it out or something, but he kept going until he was completely finished. He sucked him dry before finally taking him out of his mouth and laying by his side.

If Geo hadn't been putty in the man's hands then, he sure was now. He was practically melted into him as those arms went around him again.

"That's something I've never done before," he told him, nudging into his neck. "Congrats, Puppy."