A Kink in the Tail

Chapter 2 - Little Red Pills

Image is Constantine.

Adam was about to leave for Uni to hand in the written section and storyboard for his Major Work when Constantine appeared and stood beside the front door. The sight of the enormous oaf instantly annoyed him. He knew the routine, every day ran like clockwork but it angered him anyway. Dragging his backpack higher on his shoulder he stopped at the door in front of Constantine.  He had his hands out, in the palm of one were two small red pills, and in the other a small metal pill box. Adam eyed them both, then took the pills and swallowed them quickly.

"What are the odds that I will encounter another wolf today?" He asked.

"Infinitesimal."

"Then why do you persist in giving me these every day?" Adam was very good at keeping his voice level and not showing his feelings. But that was only with humans. Between wolves, it was a different thing. Constantine could feel the Alpha's voice twisting in his gut and wanted to cower in front of him. He fought that urge. Over the last year, Adam's alpha voice and general bearing had changed. He was a late bloomer but was now growing stronger, and more confident. Constantine wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to control him.  Although he was a big man, well over six foot of solid muscle and well trained to read and control most situations, there were limits to what he could do.  He was a beta and a bound wolf to boot.  As a weak and insecure 18 year old alpha Adam had been easy to handle but he'd become more confident over time.

"Even so, we can't take the chance of you going into a rut, can we?" He replied blandly. Constantine's accent became stronger the more he tried to control his impatience.  The subtle rolling of vowels wasn't unpleasant.   "We've been through this before, you need to take your suppressants daily."

Adam glared at his keeper.  The oaf was an eyesore. He hated the long dreadlocks tied back in a loose pony.  When they arrived in Perth he had had thick dirty blonde, that fell in tight ringlets but lack of care turned it into a rats nest.  Even more he hated the smug face unkept face that always needed a shave.  "I'm surprised my parents didn't castrate me, one less problem. Instead, I got you, feeding me these every day for the rest of our lives. Luck you."

He had learned to think carefully before he spoke. Humans, he found out early on, got hurt, angry, or worse still, burst into tears if he said the wrong thing. When Adam first arrived, he had caused a number of embarrassing scenes and outright punch-ups by being himself and speaking his mind.  He had found humans stupid, they smelt strange and didn't instantly comply with his wishes.  Three years on he felt the same way but could hide his contempt for most of them, there were exceptions.  In the process, he'd acquired a bad reputation for being cold and arrogant. His upbringing as an entitled Pureblood in the Homeland hadn't prepared him for interacting with humans and their bewildering array of emotions or their lack of understanding he was superior to them in every way.  Wolf and human brains work in very different ways.

However, between Lycan and werewolf, there was no need to care about injured feelings. Especially a wolf bound to a Pureblood family, as Constantine was. Adam knew he could cut him down at the knees with a few words. "Luckily you don't have to worry about ruts." Adam looked straight into his eyes and saw him flinch.

Constantine had found his mate soon after coming of age. She had been a delicate omega and within the year was dead from complications during labour. The pup had died as well. Adam knew what he said was cruel by anyone's standards but that was the level of dislike between the two, between prisoner and jailer.

He watched as Constantine's Adam's apple worked its way up and down his throat and was grudgingly impressed with his self-control. "Take these as well. Just in case."  The words clear through the thickening accent.