Callum sat curled up on the beanbag he had dragged from the living room area, facing the window and watching the city slowly gain a coat of snow. The snow was early this year by about a month but Callum didn't really care. It was pretty when you were high up in a warm, cozy apartment with a floor length, panoramic window and a hot mug of your favorite tea to calm your nerves. Though Callum's nerves seemed to be uncontrollable.

It had been a bit more than a year since he had officially moved in with Mason and about a year and a half since he and Mason became an official couple. Holidays, celebrations, anniversaries, and milestones had gone by, from Callum's first webcomic suddenly receiving a surge of views and alerts at one point that still amazed him to Mason's 26th birthday party that no one really remembers to Martin and Dean's and Georgia and Evelyn's respective mating anniversaries. Martin and Dean's was the most recent one, having been just a few days after Callum's 27th birthday a couple weeks ago.

The mating anniversaries really hit Callum hard. He saw his friends at their happiest and saw how Mason watched. Each day over the past few months, Callum's hand had strayed to his marked neck more often than not. He hadn't been ready then. He knew that. Mason knew that.

Callum flushed in shame, remembering when the guilt of making Mason look so longingly at mated couples had driven him to trying to mate with his wolf even though the thought of permanently tying himself to another person, no matter how much he knew he loved him, was still terrifying. Logically ridiculous as it was, he had still been afraid that Mason would realize that he could do so much better than a college dropout who liked to draw.

But more than a year had passed and if anything, Mason's love seemed to only grow without end, much like Callum's own feelings for the shifter. And a passionate rant from Georgia, accompanied by firm words from Martin had helped Callum finally realize that the fear may never leave, but neither would his and Mason's feelings for one another which he knew would constantly grow. They'd have their fights and disagreements - Mason still annoyed the hell out of him when he was too possessive or grope-y in public - but that was how people worked.

But, logic and rational thought aside, how the hell was he supposed to act unsuspicious and convince Mason that he was finally, finally, ready?

Callum sunk down, shoulders hunched in as he sipped his tea that was doing a poor job of being relaxing. It was some special lavender blend he had gotten as a birthday gift from Grayson. Lavender was supposedly a good de-stress tea but it wasn't really working at the moment. He had about ten or so minutes before Mason was to come back home from the club. Callum's shift had ended a while ago and even though Mason had more or less given the position of stand-in owner to Celeste, the wolf popped by the club to check in now and then. Yes, more often than not those visits would be during Callum's shifts but the jokes had long since stopped making Callum turn bright red. Now he would just turn a pale pink.

It wasn't long before the door jingled and Mason was calling out, "I'm home."

"I'm over here," Callum replied, craning his neck around to smile at Mason who closed the door and made a beeline straight for the halfie. Mason stopped right behind the beanbag and braced his hands on either side of Callum who tilted his head up to meet the shifter halfway for a soft kiss.

"How was everything?" Callum asked once they pulled apart, shifting in the beanbag so that Mason could squish in. Mason, however, decided that the giant beanbag that could fit two and a half people if they tried was too small and Callum found himself nestled in Mason's lap while the shifter sunk into the polystyrene filled chair. The wolf took a sip from Callum's mug, nose twitching slightly. The two would never be able to agree on their preferred caffeine, although Mason did put more effort to not cringe as much at tea as Callum did at coffee.

"Everything was good as usual. I just wanted to check on how Brian's newbie was doing."

Callum rolled his eyes, "I could have told you that she's doing just fine. She took care of those rowdy drunks easily on her first day."

Mason shrugged, "I know, but it's part of my job. So, you just been sitting here?"

Callum nodded and looked back out the window, relaxing into Mason's body, "Mhmm. Snow's early this year. Might have some for Christmas."

"Speaking of, what do you want to do? We've been invited to a few parties. Ev and Georgia are going to be at Ev's parents' place, Grayson's going home with Alex, and Dean and Martin..."

"Martin's taking Dean on a surprise trip to Switzerland. They're leaving the day after tomorrow, I think."

"Right, I remember. So back to the question, what do you want to do this year?"

Callum shrugged, "I don't really have anything in mind. What about you?"

Mason shrugged as well and nuzzled his face into Callum's neck, over the fading marking bites, "As long as I'm with you, I really don't care."

Callum rolled his eyes but turned his head so Mason was kissing his lips instead of his neck. His mug was placed on the floor and his body turned so he was fully straddling the shifter, his hands in Mason's brown curls and Mason's hands slipping under his shirt and roving his back.

"Your mark is fading," Mason murmured against his lips.

"Mmh, yours too," Callum replied, pulling back so their lips just barely brushed together.

"Where would you like to renew them?" Mason chuckled. "I don't think this beanbag is that comfortable."

Callum pulled back completely and gnawed on his lip. This was an opening if anything was. "I don't want to," he murmured.

Mason cocked his head to the side, "What?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Callum freed his hands from Mason's hair and slid them down to his lap, fiddling with the bottom of his shirt. He cleared his throat, "I don't want to renew our marks."

Mason's face fell and Callum could hear the shifter's heart being completely obliterated.

"No, no, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Callum hurried to correct the horrendous misunderstanding once he realized how Mason had taken his statement. "I don't want to renew our marks because I want us to have a permanent bond, you idiot! I was not breaking up with you. Why the hell would I do that?"

Mason blinked in shock before stuttering, actually stuttering, "Y-you want to...r-really?"

Face bright red, Callum nodded, once again wringing the fabric of his shirt nervously. This wasn't really how he had planned it to go. Well, he hadn't planned it at all but knew he didn't want this awkwardness. He just kind of wanted Mason to grin happily and pull him into a kiss that would lead to tangled limbs in their bed.

"Are you sure?" Mason asked, almost fearfully. His hands were tight on Callum's waist, fingers tense and digging almost painfully into Callum's sides.

Callum leaned forward and kissed both corners of Mason's mouth, looking directly into his dark blue eyes that were the same shade as the fan (and his personal) favorite character in his comic, "I don't want temporary anymore. I want-need a forever. And only with you. I'm scared, I'm always scared, but I love you and I know you love me too."

Mason remained silent, staring at Callum like the halfie were some creature that shouldn't even exist. Callum just grew more and more awkward and nervous as each second passed.

"Um...Mason?"

Callum's words seemed to snap Mason out of whatever daze he had been under, and he found himself being crushed into the shifter's body in a fierce hug. Mason pressed his face into the side of Callum's neck and his hold only tightened.

Callum returned the embrace cautiously, not quite sure what was going on with Mason. "Mason? Is everything okay?"

His boyfriend finally looked up and he was beaming, "Yes, everything is more than okay. It's wonderful and fantastic and do you have any idea how much I love you?"

Callum chuckled, "Well, considering you tell me every day, even before we officially got together, I have a bit of an idea."

"Then how about I show you a little more," Mason grinned, tilting his head up to peck Callum's nose before lowering to catch his lips.

They didn't kiss for long, mostly because they were physically unable to. Mason couldn't stop giggling like a child, which only fueled Callum into a fit of his own.

"Why are you laughing?" Callum finally asked, pulling back with a beginning of a pout fighting with his smile.

"I'm happy," Mason replied, eyes bright and gazing up in adoration.

Callum's expression softened as he twirled a short lock of Mason's hair around his finger, thumb rubbing against Mason's ear. "You know, I was expecting you to waste no time getting to bed and mating once I finally came to terms with it."

"First off, quit it with the 'finally's. You're ready when you're ready. There's no one you have to catch up to," Mason stated somewhat sternly. His expression melted back to its previous gentle, affectionate, happiness with a touch of mischief, "Secondly, I was just basking in the afterglow of your lovely words and was just about to meet your expectations."

Callum barely got his mouth open to reply when Mason was gripping him firmly and clumsily getting out of the beanbag. Callum squeaked, wrapping his limbs tightly around the shifter in fear of falling as Mason swayed and stumbled for a good bit until he was firmly on his feet.

"Jerk," Callum muttered before ducking down and meeting Mason's waiting lips with his own. There was still the sweetness from earlier, but their bodies were heated, hungry. A good dose of lust and need gathered as they kissed, tongues dancing in a play-fight for dominance, which Callum gave to Mason more often than not, as Mason walked them to the bedroom.

Callum's back met their sheets with Mason's careful weight against his chest. They shifted up the bed without breaking their kiss, hands roaming, grabbing, tugging, smoothing. Clothes slid off skin that was then covered by palms before lips and tongue. Fingers threaded between hair and clasped together. Skin turned flush and damp. Endearments, gasps, and laughter left bruised lips. A drawer opened. A cap flipped.

Mason had really gotten used to melding foreplay and prep, something Callum could definitely appreciate. As the first digit pressed gently before slipping in, Mason mouthed at Callum's nipple, dragging teeth then tongue over the sensitive bud. Callum arched into every touch. Even after a year, he still wasn't sure how to feel about Mason knowing his body so well. The shifter knew the exact places to bite and suck at that would drive Callum completely out of his mind without letting the halfie find release, but also know just how to crook a finger, angle his body, to let loose all the built up pleasure. When Mason was in a teasing mood - often after Callum was in a merciless mood of his own - Callum cursed the shifter to the ends of the earth.

"Mmm," Callum whined silently, grabbing for Mason's face to pull him back up for a deep kiss when one finger became two, and soon after, three.

Mason was nestled between Callum's legs, his hard length grinding against Callum's as the two moved against each other. Callum slipped a hand between them and grasped both their cocks, making Mason hiss and the movement of his fingers in Callum stutter.

Callum grinned into their kiss, moving his hand, squeezing and twisting until Mason stopped him.

"No," Callum protested weakly when Mason withdrew, his fingers sliding out and their erections no longer grinding together, putting a cold halt to the orgasm Callum knew they were both so close to.

"Sorry, love," Mason panted. "But I don't want to come yet."

Callum narrowed his eyes without any real ire. He just pouted until Mason gave in and leaned back down to kiss him firmly on the lips before Mason started travelling downwards, pausing in various areas - jaw, hollow of his neck, collar bone, nipple, bellybutton - before he was nibbling the sensitive area of Callum's lower abdomen, completely disregarding the area where Callum desperately wanted Mason's touch.

"Mason, you tease," Callum groaned, head tossing back into the pillows. His fingers went back into Mason's hair, gripping just so he had something to keep grounded.

Mason chuckled and gave a slightly harsh nip to Callum's skin before licking over the bite, his tongue traveling to the base of Callum's pulsing member and then licking up in a long, languid stroke to the head.

Callum moaned, long and low, the noise and his breath getting caught when Mason barely gave him any time to get used to the sensation by wrapping his lips around the flushed head. Mason sucked on the heated skin, licking and suckling, moving down to gradually swallow down inch after inch of Callum's weeping dick.

Callum was babbling as Mason hollowed out his cheeks and worked his mouth around Callum's cock. A finger snuck back to Callum's entrance, skimming around his hole but not applying the pressure needed to slip inside, teasing.

"Mason, please," Callum groaned, shifting his hips in subconscious desire to get Mason's finger to quit being a teasing bastard.

Two fingers and a harsh suck were his reward, driving him so he was just about to fall off the edge. Then Mason curved his fingers and stroked his prostate and Callum lost all sense of his surroundings as he released down Mason's throat.

Mason milked him for all he was worth, his fingers still probing and coaxing to the point it almost became painful from being so over sensitized. The fingers pulled out again and his spent cock slipped out of Mason's mouth as Callum tried to catch his breath.

Mason scooted back up the bed and Callum pulled him into lazy kisses. Hands went to Callum's hips, thumbs rubbing soothing yet seductive circles.

"Want me to handle that?" Callum murmured when he felt Mason's neglected member press against his thigh.

"Let's wait for you to recover first," Mason replied. "Are you absolutely sure about this? If you're feeling pressured-"

"Mason," Callum cut him off, pulling back so he could meet his eyes without the distraction of addictive lips. "You know me. I wouldn't have clearly said that I wanted to mate with you if I wasn't sure. I want to us to be permanently bonded. I want to be able to call you my mate. I want to be yours and you to be mine, forever. Is that clear enough about how much I want this, want you?"

Mason stared for a second before smiling, nodding, "Crystal, love."

"Great, now kiss me again," Callum ordered with a lopsided grin.

"Yes, sir," Mason chuckled, ducking back down.

The kisses started slow, but once again the embers were stoked into a full, raging flame and Callum's body seemed to have decided that it had rested long enough as blood travelled south.

Callum adjusted with Mason, his legs on either side of Mason's hips, ankles locked at Mason's lower back and hips raised.

As Mason pushed in, Callum tensed briefly at the intrusion but relaxed as Mason gently thrust in and out until he bottomed out. The two were flushed, sweaty, and panting from exertion, but there was a certain sense of anticipation in the air amid lust and love. Callum could already feel his fangs throb in his gums, extending on their own. Mason's teeth were also shifting, the hairs on his arms growing slightly longer. His moans and groans took a slightly more beast-like quality.

Callum dug his fingers into Mason's shoulders as the shifter pulled out and pushed in, a rhythm established with Callum meeting him thrust for thrust. They kissed fiercely and sloppily, climbing higher and higher.

"I'm gonna..." Mason groaned into Callum's skin.

Callum could only nod in agreement, his heart stuttering when Mason latched his mouth to the pulse point on his neck, suckling what was going to be a large, obnoxious hickey. Callum tilted his neck so he could reach Mason's pulse point. It throbbed under his tongue, his fangs ached to be buried into the skin and his tongue longed for blood.

Right as Mason hit his peak, Callum felt the sharp pain of teeth breaking skin. The scent of blood, his blood, permeated the air but there was an overriding sense of pleasure that was Callum's undoing. Unable to hold back any longer, he sank his fangs into Mason's neck as he painted their chests and stomachs with his release. Callum experienced a dizzying feeling of sensory overload. It felt like everything had been amplified, like when he had first woken up no longer fully human. Smells were stronger (arousal, sweat, blood, detergent), his skin felt too sensitive (the sheets at his back, Mason's body at his front), taste was overpowering (Mason's blood, salt of skin), sounds were just shy of deafening (panting, gasping, heartbeats, air conditioning, the city outside).

"Are you okay?" Mason asked gently after a moment. He lapped at Callum's neck, speeding up the wound's healing process. Callum did the same for Mason's, enjoying the last drops of blood that felt more revitalizing than they previously had. Probably had something to do with the fact that it was the blood of his mate.

"More than that," Callum answered, tired but undoubtedly happy. Mason kissed him once, firmly, before pulling out and grabbing tissues to clean them up before collapsing on his side in bed. Callum rolled right into his arms.

They were content to remain in silence, breathing evening out as they shared body warmth. Eventually, though, Mason broke the silence. "So...Christmas?"

Callum laughed and snuggled closer into Mason's arms, looking up and pressing a kiss to the shifter's new, permanent mark, "I just want to stay home with you."

"I'm definitely not complaining," Mason grinned softly. "I love you."

Callum returned the smile. He didn't feel an ounce of regret. Instead, he felt complete, in the cheesiest, most clichéd sense of the word.

"Love you too."

---

A/N: Okay. So I have this inexplicable need for a drawing/doodle of the beanbag kiss scene thing but I can't draw for my life. I have an image in my head and I just really need a printer or something to be invented that can print/scan images directly from your brain. But ey, the mating chapter is finally done. I have only one more bonus chap in mind, dunno when that'll be written and posted. It will not involve these two dorks, though, but Dean and Martin instead. But yeah. And ya know those meme writing prompt thingies on tumblr? Some of those look interesting (although the original fic ones are a bit harder to find) and I mayyyyyy reblog some and take (read: beg for) short ficlet/drabble reqs?

Also, how do y'all like the new cover? I made/remade a whole bunch of stuff over my hiatus cuz I downloaded PS CS2 like the week before I went on hiatus.

On my blog, I have a new post that outlines my update schedule for the next two weeks, until the 30th, if you're interested. And I have a twitter as well. Yayyyyy.

Yup.

Laters!