Our Hearts Collided (MxM)

Chapter 17

A/N: I'm looking forward to writing the next part. ☺️ Isn't Simon's wolf the cutest?

Vince's POV

It felt like forever ago that Simon's wolf had been in front of me, and although the thought of letting both of our wolves out was frightening, hiding them away was a disservice to them and the number of years of waiting.

Simon was eager to get into his wolf form, practically dragging me by the arm to the rogue center after leaving Xavier's place. Flecks of his wolf's amber eyes flashed briefly in his when he turned to look at me, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't encourage my wolf to the surface. As our feet carried us closer and closer to the forest edge, my wolf was pawing at the surface, begging to be released.

But upon reaching the edge of the pack line, Simon turned to me with the same warm brown eyes. He smiled, his hand not leaving my arm as his other hand pointed to the rogue center. "Ready to shift?"

I nodded and followed him inside, greeting the new guards Xavier had instated. Simon was better at remembering their names than I was, even making small talk about the guard's families. A couple of the younger ones bowed to us as we neared one of the vacant shifting rooms.

"It's alright," I said, raising my hand to stop them, but they insisted.

"You're the alpha's brother. The previous alpha."

Simon held back a chuckle as I glanced at him for help. He shrugged, walking away from the guards and me to open the door to the room. With a sigh, I turned to the two guards. "Really, it's okay. Not even Xavier expects this. Please, don't bow."

They didn't budge, still hunched over, replying, "if you insist."

Slowly, they adjusted their postures, their heads still downcast as I sent them a parting and followed Simon inside. "That was beyond awkward."

He laughed as soon as we walked into the room. "It was hilarious. It seems you still have some power around here."

"Technically, I've been demoted to a beta, if you could even call me that. I don't do half of what our betas do."

He hummed, peering up at me. "Still a pretty hefty title if you ask me."

My face scrunched. "If you ask me, I think you hold more power over me than I do over anyone in this pack."

He tilted his head, eyes widening. "Oh, is that so?"

"I think you've proven that more than once." I gulped. "Definitely stronger, and faster, and of course, smarter."

The corner of his lips lifted, his eyes twinkling even in the afternoon glow. "I love this new giving-compliments-Vince. Don't stop now with the flattery."

I blinked, feeling the blush work its way back to my face. If Simon kept saying things like this, the blush was about to be permanent. "Weren't we going for a run? Shifting—yeah, we were shifting."

"Totally," he mused. "You want to shift first?"

I nodded, even though it felt like his eyes were stripping me bare before I could even remove my jacket. It was almost childish how I turned around to avoid seeing his face as I stripped the shirt and pants. He didn't say anything as I placed the clothes atop a cabinet, lowering myself to the ground to shift.

Shifting was something anyone should have been comfortable with doing around others; it was normal for werewolves. Yet, shifting in front of my mate was a different experience than in front of a practical stranger, but we weren't exactly the average pair of mates. We hadn't been in our wolf forms together since the attack Michael had led, and before then, I think I could count on one hand the number of times we've been near each other in our wolf forms.