Coming Home:
The old man leaned wearily on the fence. The leaves of the tiny Japanese maple drifted down to carpet the mound with red lace. The dark mulch beneath it was carpeted with the tiny wild violets.
"Don't know how long it'll be, Granny. Not the same without the boy around. Beauty's lad is doing well. He's gonna be a big one. Wolf's doing better. He's healed now, but something's missing. I look in his eyes and the wounds are still there. Don't know how long it will take for him to come all the way back. Or even if he will. I think he will. He's a strong pup, but he's changed, not so happy. He knows the world can hurt now.
"Max came by twice now, but he didn't stay long. His eyes look bruised. He was crying by the pond. Wolf tried to comfort him. But he don't understand why Max won't play anymore. Butch says the boy still wakes up screaming some nights. He said the men were drugged out of their minds. At least they're dead, after what they done to our pup and his man.
"Butch and them wanted to have a funeral for the boy. I told them, he ain't dead, just gone. They think I'm getting old, that I'm just senile from grief. But they're wrong. The boy'll be back. I know it. I'll wait, however long it takes him; I'll be here for him when he returns. I never gave up yet.
"I miss you, Granny. It's awfully lonely here."
He watched the leaves fall slowly. A large shadow beside him whined and nudged his hand. He sighed and cupped the big head in both hands. Pappy stared into the golden eyes. But they were just the eyes of a wolf.
"You can do it, boy. Come home."
The lonely words drifted on the wind long after the man and the big wolf made their way into the dark house. That night as the man slept, the wolf raised his head and stared unblinking into the dying embers of the fire. A spark flickered, reflected in the golden eyes. The ember died. The spark in the eyes remained.
He stood and stretched. The shadows on the wall shifted and elongated briefly, then faded with the dying flames. A silent form padded into an empty room, a heavy weight settled on the bed, dark head on paws, waiting.
'Help Kelly!' Max moaned as he tried to focus his blurry eyes.
'Kelly? Where's Kelly? He's not here, Max. Max?'
'Kelly!'
'Kelly? Oh God, NO!'
Max jerked up as he woke from his recurring nightmare. Sweat beaded his forehead as he stared frantically around the quiet room. A moment later, his door swung open, his uncle moving quietly for all his bulk.
"Max, you okay? Another nightmare?" Butch asked in concern.
"Yeah. I just keep seeing that night again." Max wrapped his arms around his knees. "He's lying there, hurt. I close my eyes, and then, when I open them again, he's gone."
Butch sighed and sat on the bed, watching as his nephew absently wiped the tears from his eyes.
"You know, Max, no one but you ever saw him there. Yeah, I know we found the blood, but that could have been from one of your attackers. Maybe he just got scared and ran."
"No! Kelly wouldn't leave me like that. And even if he did, where is he? No one's seen him for the last two months. Even Pappy says he's not here. I loved him, Uncle Butch. Why would he leave me like that?"
"I don't know, son. I just don't know."
Butch looked over at Max, then back at his hands. "Did I ever tell you that I used to date his Mama?"
Max looked up in surprise. "No."
"Well, I did. All the way through high school, Jenny and me. I thought we were gonna get married right after we graduated, but then, she left. Just disappeared. Six years later, Pappy comes back with this four year old, Kelly, says he's all that's left of Jenny. I never did find out what happened to her. Pappy wouldn't say. That boy was different too; all eyes and hair, didn't even talk. He was too young to be mine. He brought back the first of those wolves, also.
"Anyway, what I was trying to say is that maybe he just took off. Pappy says he ain't dead, there's no body... Maybe you just thought he was hurt. You had a pretty bad concussion there. Doc said that you might have hallucinated."
Max shook his head slowly. "I don't think so. You said you heard the screams, you saw the blood, the knife. Aw hell, I don't know what I think anymore. All I know is that he's gone... and I miss him."
There was silence for a moment, then Butch heaved himself to his feet with a sigh. "Well, it's almost time to get up anyhow. Why don't I make some coffee and you wash up."
"Yes sir," Max sighed as he slid out of bed. Another day. He wondered when it was going to get better. He could feel the aching hole in his heart where Kelly belonged.
Pappy looked out towards the pond and shook his head as he saw the moonlight reflect from the bottle. "Boy's gonna have a headache in the mornin'," he muttered. "That bottle was full when he got here."
He turned and walked up to the porch. There was nothing he could do to help Max.
Max swallowed air with the last drop of whiskey and shook his head, watching with bemusement as the moonlight danced across the two ponds. No, just one, but it was blurring as he vainly tried to focus on it.
He lay back against the grass and moaned, remembering the last time he had laid here, in this spot. Then, a warm wet body had curled up against him, damp hair brushing his legs and stomach, soft lips moving along his erection, golden eyes watching him with desire. He had taken his love for the very first time. He closed his eyes and tried not to cry. He dozed lightly.
A faint splashing in the pond brought him partially back. He opened his eyes slowly, to see the shadows coalesce into a slender form. Max watched, disbelief suspended in his sleepy gaze. After all the alcohol he had poured into himself tonight, a dream or two was only to be expected. After all, there was a full moon. Wasn't magic supposed to happen under a full moon? So it must be right.
His love's slender naked form moved gracefully towards him, kneeling slowly. His form blurred slightly with the moonlight and the whiskey. As silent as he had been in life, Kelly said nothing as he unfastened Max's shirt, pulling it aside to bare his tanned and furry chest. Max sighed with pleasure as the soft lips brushed against his. He closed his eyes and pulled the other closer. He did not dare say anything. He was desperately afraid that the dream would fade away if he spoke.
Warm lips traced his jawline and trailed down the corded tendons of his neck. Max stroked the hard chest above him gently at first, and then with more urgency. He was vaguely surprised at the warmth he felt. He had always expected that ghosts would be cold somehow.
'No, don't think that. Don't think of anything but having Kelly back. Don't wake up. Please don't wake up. Just a little longer.'
When his hands drifted down to the lean waist, Kelly flinched.
'Of course. That's how he.... If I can't forget it, why would my dream?'
Max forced himself to ignore the ridged line slashing across Kelly's stomach. He didn't want to think about that. He raised his hands to cup Kelly's face, toying with the tiny microchip earring that his love always wore.
Hands unfastened his jeans, then pulled them off along with his boots. He arched his back and gasped as that hot wet mouth closed over his aching cock. He hadn't even jacked off since... Max buried his fingers in the thick dark hair even as he buried that thought. He concentrated on the sensations burning through his body.
Kelly's tongue slid across the head of his cock, both smooth and rough at the same time. Light nibbling bites along the side of his thick shaft left Max arching his back and tensing his flanks. With one last slurping kiss, Kelly pulled off and rolled Max on top of his body into a position achingly familiar to both of them. Kelly had always insisted on being beneath him when they made love.
Max pushed himself up on his arms as he spread Kelly's legs with his knees. He stared down into the golden eyes, moonlight reflecting across their surface. As he probed, then pushed gently into the hot body of his lover, he dipped his head to taste Kelly's mouth. Strong arms wrapped around his neck and held him tightly as he moved slowly at first, then faster as the urgency caught up to him. He could feel the delightful pain as Kelly's fingernails scraped across his shoulderblades.
As his orgasm speared through his body, he dared to whisper, "I love you, Kelly. Please don't leave me again. I love you."
Warm lips pressed against his as he gasped for breath before collapsing on top of the slender muscular body beneath him. He could feel the silent pulsing of the cock trapped between their bodies as Kelly came also, warm cum across his stomach. The combined effects of his exertions and the alcohol overwhelmed him. Max sank into the darkness.
The sun shining in his eyes woke him from his drunken slumber. Max moaned as he rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Cold wetness against his stomach brought awareness surging. He looked around in confusion. He lay naked beside Pappy's pond, an empty bottle alongside his discarded clothing.
Max sat up and shook his head. That was a mistake. He clasped it and held it for a few seconds, trying to make sure that his head would not really fall off.
"What the hell?" he wondered. Then, the dreams of the night caught up with him. He groaned and tried to decide whether he wanted to cry or yell in frustration. Neither, his head hurt too badly as it was. Finally, he decided on just getting up and slinking back home. He stood, wearily stiff from spending the night outside. He must have slept on some sticks; there were scratches across his back. As he dressed, he looked down at his body, noting with disgust the evidence dried on his stomach.
"Great, just great. Not only do I get totally shit-faced, but I must have jacked off too."
Memories of his dream in the moonlight returned. He sighed. "I wish you were really here, love. How could a dream be so warm, so real?"
Max scooped up the empty bottle and glanced around. Wolf stood up from where he lay in the shadow of a large tree and bounced across to him, wagging his tail, and nudging the tall blond man with an enthusiastic damp nose. Max sighed and ruffled his ears, automatically avoiding the microchip tracing transmitter in his ear. Pappy used that to trace the wolf's location and keep track of him.
"Hi boy."
Wolf bounded ahead as Max trudged out to his car, then sat watching as the red convertible pulled out and left. He whined once, then dashed towards the house at the sound of a door opening.
Pappy brushed the leaves off of the small white marker under the red-branched tree.
"Something's different about the pup now, Granny. There's a spark in his eyes that wasn't there before. Pup stayed out all night by the pond with Max. Something happened. I don't think it will be much longer before the boy's back.
"We'll see, my love. We'll see."
Pappy closed the gate behind him and headed towards the empty house. A large black wolf waited silently on the porch for him. He cupped the heavy head in his callused hands and stared into the intelligent golden eyes. The wolf stared back. A slow smile spread across the old man's face and he patted the huge black head. It would not be long now before his boy was home.
"Good boy."
A rough tongue swiped his hand and they went into the house, together again.