Halloween Werewolf (The Holiday Shifter Mates Book 1) Page 13

  “Are you really okay with this?”

  “Yeah. I think it’d be good for me to get out of Glasglow anyway. I’ve never been far because this is a safe place, you know? But you’re my safe place now. I want to learn everything about you. You lived with humans for years. It’s my turn to live with shifters.”

  Mateo chuckled. “If you say so.”

  “Gale sees you as family. You have a family in Eurio. I have my students here. I had Matt as a good friend. But I haven’t had a family since Gran died.” Austin placed his hand on Mateo’s chest. “I don’t know. Think I could have a family in Eurio too? With you?”

  Mateo thought about little Ike and how big he was getting. He thought about Lance and Yuri. He thought about Weston and his mate Cary. Mama Blanc and Papa Blanc. He thought about a lot of shifters and what Austin said about them being Mateo’s family. Austin was right. Austin was right about everything, usually.

  Mateo had hoped Austin would be in Glasglow when he came. He hadn’t admitted it at the time, but he did. He also came to put an end to those hunters. Revenge was a very small part of it. He wanted to keep his family safe. He wanted to find a useful outlet for his tendency to bleed things. Mateo didn’t often think things through, but his actions were always guided by deep-seeded truths, and these were his. Family, pack, meant everything to him.

  “You’re already family,” Mateo said. “You’ll see. Everyone in Eurio is waiting for you to come home. They just don’t know it yet.”

  “I love you, Mateo,” Austin said. “So. Very. Much.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Austin rubbed Mateo’s chest until they both drifted off into a dreamless sleep, safe in each other’s arms. Tomorrow could wait a night.

  Mateo and Austin went to the police the next morning. They told the story they rehearsed with Gale. Mateo came into town last week to visit and happened to get caught up in this whole mess since he went to the dance with Austin. He had been chased by another hunter and lost that hunter way up in the mountain, past the lake and into the forest. He just found his way back this morning, and that worked out fine since Gale dumped that hunter’s body in the woods before the morning, making his death look like the result of a wild animal attack.

  To Austin’s surprise, it all blew over easily enough. Mateo said he wasn’t shot, and the cops believed him. Mateo had limped, but he said he twisted an ankle out in the woods. That was why it took him so long to get back. The police accepted that too. Austin killed the other hunter in self-defense, and that was where the blood on his hands came from. Everyone believed them. Timothy didn’t discount anything they said, and the other students followed his lead, trusting their teacher and their teacher’s boyfriend implicitly. The cops sent a search party out into the woods to see if they could find the other hunter. That was it. It was over.

  When they left, Austin was able to breathe again. He was surprised he didn’t have nightmares over the whole thing last night. He had never seen anyone get shot and killed before. It disturbed him greatly when he thought about it, but those thoughts disappeared whenever he looked at Mateo. He was just grateful the love of his life was alive. And he found no fault in him. Those hunters were insane, and Mateo was right. They deserved everything they got. But Austin would still do his best to be a law-abiding citizen. That was the way he was. He’d never be an intentional lawbreaker.

  Gale took Mateo back to Eurio, Alaska after that. Austin asked him too. He told Mateo he had to go. Mateo was already acting better than he had when he first woke up—after Gale had removed the bullets and Austin had nearly fainted at the sight—but Austin wanted to make sure that poison wouldn’t result in any complications. He wanted to make sure Mateo was healing the right way. He wanted to go with them, of course, but he still had things he needed to take care of before he could leave Glasglow.

  He spent the following days figuring out his life, his house, his car, his job, everything. Being separated from Mateo was hard, but he could hold on, knowing he’d soon get to live the rest of his life with Mateo. It didn’t help that Eurio had poor to nonexistent cell reception, but Mateo still made sure to check in with the single public landline phone Eurio had. Austin wondered what he was getting into, moving to a place with a single working phone… But he trusted Mateo, and he wanted Mateo happy. If he had him, he could make anything work.

  Austin decided to go with a version of the truth when he told people why he was leaving. He and Mateo were getting married, and Austin was going to move in with him. Some fellow teachers felt Austin was being rash, others didn’t say a thing. He let it all slide off his back. But they said they’d miss him, and their words felt genuine. That made him happy.

  Then there were his students. He waited to tell them until he absolutely had to because he didn’t know how to.

  “I heard Ms. Trundy talking to the principal. She said you’re leaving,” Timothy said during class one day.

  Austin stopped his lesson, setting down the marker he was using to write on the whiteboard in front of the classroom. He said, “That’s right.”

  “Why?” Katey blurted. “And what happened to Mateo?”

  Austin did something he never did. He sat on his desk. The students looked vaguely horrified since Austin always followed the rules and always did things right. He presented himself professionally. But right now, he needed to talk to them as a friend, and so he sat on his desk like any student would sit on their own.

  “I think Mateo is a bad influence on you,” Katey said, and that made Austin crack a smile.

  “Is it because of what happened on Halloween?” Timothy asked.

  Austin frowned. Timothy hadn’t quite been himself since that night. Neither had the students with him, since they had been more directly involved with the hunters and their madness. They were okay, just… quieter sometimes. Older.

  “Are you running away?” Timothy asked. His face was red. His lips trembled.

  “I’m not running away. You didn’t run away either, Timothy. I’m very proud of you.”

  Timothy stared at his desk and started digging at the pink eraser of his pencil. “I don’t want you to leave.”

  And there it was. Austin’s heart nearly broke. He worked hard to become a teacher. He made it, and he did his best to give his students what they deserved, to be their teacher, to be their friend. and now, looking at the wet eyes all across the room, he didn’t want to leave.

  Austin cleared his throat, trying to hold back the emotion threatening to overwhelm him. “I’ve loved teaching all of you. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Saying goodbye is rough, but I know you’re all going to be okay. You’re going to make me proud. You already have. And I’m going to keep teaching. It’s just going to be where Mateo lives.”

  “Why can’t he just stay here with you?” Timothy asked.

  “It’s… it’s complicated, Timothy. Mateo and I talked about this, thought a lot about it. The best thing for us is to move to Alaska.”

  “That’s so far away,” Katey said.

  “Yeah, but we live in an extraordinary world. I actually have the opportunity to go somewhere so far away, so different. I’ll get to see an aurora in person! Isn’t that amazing? Imagine how different it will be.”

  “How are you going to teach in Alaska? Or are you going to start teaching a bunch of wolves or bears?” Timothy asked.

  “Hey, there are big cities in Alaska. It’s not all wilderness. I’ll be living close to Fairbanks,” Austin defended—though Timothy didn’t realize how close he was to the truth. Sort of.

  “Will you miss us?” Katey asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll miss you. But maybe we’ll see each other again someday. You never know what could happen.”

  Farewells truly were bitter-sweet.

  In the end, Austin ended up selling his house, car too. It all went quickly which was a spark of good luck for him. And, finally, it was time for him to fly out to Fairbanks. Mateo and Gale would meet him there. He was excited and
nervous to start this new life with the man he loved more than words could describe. It had all felt like a dream before, a blur of emotions and changes, but now it was real. God, it was real. He was leaving Glasglow. He was leaving Utah.

  “So this is it, huh?” Matt asked. Austin had been hesitant to contact Matt, but he ended up doing it after all. Matt took him to the airport in Salt Lake City, and Austin treated him to dinner. Matt had been willing. And he had been perfectly friendly. He kept a respectful distance and didn’t bring up their time dating. He was a gentleman through and through.

  “Yep, this is it,” Austin said. He was standing at the terminal with his carry-on and his backpack. He had a couple check-in suitcases, but that was it. He wasn’t bringing much. “Thanks, Matt. I really appreciate it.”

  “Sure.” Matt’s eyes flitted to the floor. “You… you trust this guy, right?”

  “I promise I’m not making the biggest mistake of my life and eloping with a guy I barely know,” Austin said.

  “All right, just making sure. You have a level head, so I’m inclined to believe you.”

  “I’ll keep in touch—if you want.”

  “Sure. Pictures would be cool. I’ve never seen the Northern Lights, but you’ll get to see those, won’t you?”

  “I’ll get you pictures,” Austin promised. It was time for everyone on Austin’s flight to get seated. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and was about to roll his carry-on across the floor behind him, but he stopped. He released the handle and said, “Thanks, Matt. I know I screwed up. I know I was a crappy boyfriend, but I really do appreciate you. You were important to me. You still are. Always will be.”

  “Yeah,” Matt smiled, that sunny smile of his, “I know, Austin. You’re too genuine to do anything crappy on purpose. I forgive you already. And I’ll miss you. I’ve never seen you this happy though, so it’ll be worth it. This is the right choice for you.”

  Austin gave Matt a quick hug. Matt was hesitant at first, but he gave Austin a quick squeeze in return before turning him around and pushing his back to propel him forward. “Go on. Your flight awaits.”

  “Thanks, Matt.”

  And so, Austin moved. He thought about looking back one last time, but he didn’t. He would say those last goodbyes on the plane when he could see Utah disappear far below him. These weren’t forever goodbyes anyway. Anything could happen. But for now, he was going home.

  EPILOGUE

  AUSTIN’S NERVES WERE OFF the charts when his plane landed in Fairbanks. He found his way through the airport and waited near the portal he was told he’d be picked up at. He thought he’d need to wait a while. He was about to call to tell Mateo and Gale he was here, but he caught sight of them at the same moment. He put his phone away, and a smile overtook him. It had been a few weeks since he had last seen Mateo face to face. His chest swelled. His heart beat faster. He dropped his stuff and ran. Mateo caught him around the waist as Austin jumped and wrapped his legs around Mateo’s waist, holding him close. Mateo didn’t even stumble. His wolf shifter strength was crazy. Austin laughed, giddy. They pressed their foreheads together, and then Mateo kissed him sweetly.

  “I missed you,” Mateo said.

  “I missed you, too,” Austin said back. “So much.” Then he gasped and scrambled out of Mateo’s hold. Mateo let him, but he cocked his head in a question. “Aren’t you still hurt?” Austin asked uncertainly.

  Mateo shrugged. “Not really. Mostly healed now.”

  “So fast.”

  “Hey, Austin,” Gale said with a wave. There was a smile on his lips, too. “Good to see you again.”

  Austin nodded. “Good to see you, too.”

  “Ready to see your new home?”

  “Yes!” Austin had been nervous. He still was, but he was also excited. He took Mateo’s hand and squeezed out all of that excitement. Mateo chuckled in response and gently pressed a hand to Austin’s neck, to the bite Mateo had given him, like he needed to check if it was still there.

  “It’s like an hour-and-a-half drive to Eurio from here,” Gale said. “You won’t have to wait too much longer.”

  They left soon after. Austin was done with airports for a while. He was taken to a silver SUV. Gale hopped into the driver’s seat and Mateo sat in back with Austin. They both wanted to touch. They were just holding hands, but it was more comfortable to do it in the back, when they were sitting side by side. Austin couldn’t explain how much he had missed Mateo’s touch. He had never been an extremely physical person or anything, but there was something magical in Mateo’s touch. It was right. It was home. More than anything else, Mateo was Austin’s home.

  Austin stared out the window at the city. Fairbanks was smaller than Salt Lake City, but it was bigger than Glasglow. The city began to fade as they drove down a long, winding stretch of road, and wilderness dominated the scenery. There was a river on one side of the road; it could be seen through the trees at times. Alaska was quite different from Utah. It was far colder—as was expected; Austin prepared for that, and the SUV had a good heater. There were a few inches of snow on the ground, so everything was dusted in sparkling white. Glasglow had been surrounded by mostly nothing, a small stretch of desert separated it from the next city, but Eurio was much more isolated than that. All the trees probably made it easier to get lost too since visibility was bad. Austin felt reassured knowing he had shifters to rely on.

  Eventually, they turned off onto a dirt road and navigated their way through denser trees. A small town rested deep inside. There were wooden fences and wood-based houses scattered across large amounts of land and forest. It was almost like being in another world. But at least Austin saw cars and generators, electric lights. He wouldn’t suddenly have to adapt to a no-electricity lifestyle or something like that—though he knew Fairbanks was the nearest city with a good internet connection and cell reception. He was sure he’d be going through an adjustment period, but Gale mentioned they were planning on making Eurio more connected because he felt that would be best for the shifters there. Maybe that meant better internet and cell reception. He didn’t go into details. Still, Austin was glad Fairbanks wasn’t too far away. And he had Mateo.

  Gale kept driving until they were next to the river Austin kept seeing on their drive here. People were standing there, near a cabin, on the side of the river, fishing, sitting together. Except they weren’t ordinary people. They were shifters.

  “Hope you don’t mind,” Gale said as he came to a stop on grass and gravel. “Everyone’s excited. They want to say hi.”

  Austin didn’t say anything because some of the shifters were rushing over to the SUV. They were led by a young boy who looked much like Gale.

  When Gale exited the SUV, the boy looked up at him and asked, “Where is he?” His eyes went to the tinted windows. He caught sight of Mateo, grinned, and then rested his gaze on Austin.

  “That’s Ike, Gale’s cub,” Mateo explained. He opened his door and led Austin out his side—which was just as well. Austin was suddenly paralyzed with that innate shyness of his.

  “Mateo, this is your mate?” the boy asked. He had big gray eyes that resembled the deep and dark waters underneath thick chunks of ice. He was a big kid. He had a lot to grow into. He was likely on his way to a growth spurt. Those plump cheeks weren’t going to stick around much longer.

  Mateo ruffled the boy’s dark brown hair. It was short enough that the action left it sticking up in odd places, pulling strands loose from a ponytail holding the longer strands on top of his head. “Yep, this is Austin,” Mateo said.

  “Hi, Austin.” Ike held out his hand.

  “Hi, Ike.” Austin took his hand, shook, and asked, “How old are you?”

  “Seven.”

  Seven! Austin was at least expecting him to be ten. He was very big for his age. He had a strong grip, too. And good manners.

  “Do you like to wrestle?” Ike growled.

  “Probably no wrestling with the human,” Mateo said. “Unless you’re
careful.”

  Ike growled again and grabbed Mateo’s legs like he was trying to bulldoze him over. Mateo was too big and strong for him to do that, but Mateo did have to stand his ground. He grabbed Ike and pinned the boy to the snowy ground, back first. Ike struggled underneath but eventually gave up.

  “So heavy,” the boy said.

  “You’ll get me one of these days,” Mateo replied. He stood and pulled Ike up with him. Apparently, the boy had better things to do after that. He scampered away to the water’s edge and watched it intently as he thrust in his bare hands and caught a big silver fish like it was nothing. There was ice in that water!

  “Shifters,” Austin mumbled to himself. They were a lot like humans in some ways. In other ways, they weren’t much like humans at all.

  “Hello, Austin.”

  Austin nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned to face other grown-up shifters and the guy who just spoke. He was big like Mateo, maybe bigger. His hair was light, almost white. His eyes were a pale blue, and they had a reddish tint. His skin was also extremely pale, almost translucent.

  “Name’s Lance,” he said, holding out his hand as well. “Mateo hasn’t shut up about you since he came back. I feel like I know you already.”

  Mateo had been telling Austin about the shifters here too, every time they had talked on the phone. Austin wasn’t completely in the dark, but just because he was told about them didn’t mean they were exactly as he had imagined them.

  Austin shook Lance’s hand as well and noticed a tattoo peeking out from the long sleeve of the light coat he was wearing. There was another guy standing just behind him. He was about the same height, but his hair was brown. He wore a short beard. His eyes were a light brown with an orange tint.

  “This is Yuri,” Lance said, stepping to the side and pushing the other guy forward.

  Yuri stared.

  “H-hi,” Austin said. And he signed it, holding his hand the way he had learned when researching some ASL and extending the gesture from his ear.

  Yuri’s eyes lit up. “Hi,” he said. “Sorry. Don’t talk much usually. Nice to meet you, Austin.”