**I have had this idea for a while. I would love to explore another genre with the character of His Woods, but I didn't want to interrupt the original story. Check out this experimental chapter for a sequel and let me know what you think. The storyline moving forward for the sequel would have no impact on the original. So, if the new genre isn't your style, Jack and Tyson's OG storyline will be untouched. This new twist in the sequel could be really fun to jump into. Let me your thoughts in the comments. Thanks, y'all! **
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I peer out into the slowly darkening woods. It's hard to believe how quickly the leaves turned this year. One moment the foliage around the cabin was green and the next it was a blaze of reds, oranges, and yellows. I smile at the thought of cuddling up next to Jack by the fireplace.
Plate in hand, I turn from the kitchen window and take a seat at the table across from my lover. His eyes tell me something is on his mind. All day, something has been rolling around in that noggin of his. But instead of pushing it, I giggle at the mashed sweet potato morsel caught in his beard.
"You're a mess, Tier," I say reaching across the table and pinching the yams out of his facial hair.
Before I can return to my seat, he catches my hand in his. His gaze meets mine.
"I've been thinking," he starts.
Ah oh. Nothing good ever comes from a conversation that starts with "I've been thinking."
"The last six months have been heaven." He pauses.
"But," I say, taking my hand from his.
"Maybe you should look into getting your own place. I am just an old guy–"
I don't let him go any further. "No."
"Ty," he tries.
"Jack. I go into town when I want. School is ramped up right now, so I can't even wrap my head around moving at the moment. And most importantly, I love living here with you."
My body plops back into my seat as a way to say the conversation is over.
"Tyson, I know I suggested you move in here. But I think I'm holding you back. I want you to go and do your thing."
"You are my thing, Jack." It's a bit corny but true.
"I just think that maybe..." he looks down to his plate.
I stand. All the blood rushes to my face as I grab the edge of the table. "If you want me out of here, then come out and say it. But this sudden change of heart should have come before you fucked me in the shower this morning. Mixed messages much?"
"No, it's not that–rahh," he searches for the words. "I love you, Tyson. I do. I wasn't sure I would ever be able to open my heart again. Then you came along."
Though I note that Jack just told me he loves me, I am already in let's-get-ready-to-rumble mode.
"So you love me, but you are telling me to go away?"
"Yes. No! Fuck!" Jack puts his head in his hands, but I am already moving toward the door.
I grab my sweatshirt off the hook and turn to him. "I am going for a walk. I can't take this. You can't tell me you love me in one breath and tell me to move out in the next. How about you get your thoughts and feelings together and let me know what is really going on here when I get back."
I can hear him throw his plate in the sink as I step off the back porch. My mind and heart are tumbling around each other as I hike deeper into the forest. I pull the headlamp I use for running from my pocket and mount it on my forehead.
Of course, I love Jack, too. Duh! I have been waiting for the perfect time to say it, but I feel him saying it as he did was a big misfire. It's hard for me to believe he means it in this case.
My attention is sidetracked for a moment as the old art shed comes into view. I haven't been back by it since Claire was killed. I ignore the ugly thoughts about understanding why Claire needed to hide away from Jack. I know he and I butt heads sometimes, but I have felt his care for me over the past few months.
Until tonight, that is.
I step into the little shack. I make a joke to myself about moving in here. I could fit a bed and a mini fridge.
It's in visualizing my new abode that I notice some weird marks on the wall. I step in to take a better look. Parallel lines swiftly scraped into the wood. They are clearly claw marks. The size of them sends chills up my back. A bear.
I excuse myself from the mini cabin immediately. Stepping back into the woods, I shine my light both ways to make sure no black bears are waiting for me. Then I take off at a speed walking pace.
Our conversation is put on the back burner of my mind because I need to warn Jack that we have bears on our property. Before I reach for the screen door, I notice a mysterious SUV in the drive.
Weird. Jack never gets visitors.
"Tier, he is out," I hear a deep voice of a stranger say in the kitchen.
Surprised, I turn and press myself against the side of the house to not be seen.
"Santos called to tell me that Rogers was found dead in his house two nights ago," the voice continues.
"He warned us. The moment he got out of jail. You know he is going to come looking for us."
"Kirk. I think you are worrying about nothing. Rogers was a drug addict."
Oh. The mystery man is Jack's friend, Kirk.
"Tier, he is our alpha."
"The fuck he is," Jack replies.
"I left his pack and am not going back to that life. I have complete control over it all now."
Control over what?
"That's not how it works, Tier. Plus, the winter solstice is also a full moon this year. It will be the night that has the strongest pull--"
"I know, Kirk."
The kitchen goes quiet.
"I have already suggested to Ty to move into the city. Just in case."
"Does he know?" Kirk asks.
"No, only Ray does. Considering the few times he had to chain me up in his basement."
Flashes flow through my mind: the bear marks, Jack's scratches from his run-in with Claire, his strength when fighting those assholes at the bar this summer. Now chains and full moons–packs and alphas."
"No one else knows our secret. Just our small circle knows what we are," Jack tells his friend before going quiet again.
The only logical explanation hits me in the face. And logical is loosely used in this case.
"They're werewolves," I whisper to myself, hoping my pounding heart in the quiet night doesn't give me away.
YOU ARE READING
His Woods (MxM)
Romance(Previously known as Breaking the Beast) Tyson knows he isn't perfect, but he doesn't think he deserves a summer stuck at the old holiday cabin with his dad's friend, Jack. After he gets kicked out of college and assigned probation, Tyson has to lea...
