DISCLAIMER: This story is fiction, any reflection of real life and any description of an area or person is purely coincidental.
This story is about a young man who discovers himself and love as well as a few supernatural surprises along the way. There is death, love, hate, friendship, and bigotry.
There are potentially scenes of M/M sexual contact in each chapter, do not continue reading if reading text of this nature is illegal where you are located, likewise if you are under the legal age to read pornographic material.
Please enjoy and feel free to send comments. This is my first story being submitted to Nifty.
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Chapter 09:
Well, it was time I suppose. Knowing I was about to meet not only my fathers' employer but John's (and soon my) Alpha werewolf for the first time even though I've spoken to him on the phone on and off for the past 11 years, was becoming an unexpected weight on my chest. I wasn't nervous about the asking for an accounting job or meeting my fathers' employer. I was as qualified as anyone else in this town for the job, more so than many in the town, and he always seemed to separate me from my father which I was thankful for. It was more the fact that he'd know instantly that John and I were lovers and that I should tell him I'm changing soon, if he didn't pick up on that too. Those were my biggest concerns as I stood there staring at the house.
William walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Go on ahead and knock, he normally eats lunch at 11:30, so he should be done lunch and still in the house by now. Don't worry, from what I've heard no one else has even shown interest in the job so it should be all yours."
Apparently he could sense my apprehension but was incorrect about why I was apprehensive. As he walked towards the barn to begin his work day I slowly made my way up the steps and knocked on the door. A woman, I assumed to be Mrs. Davies, answered the door. "Yes? Can I help you son?"
"Mrs. Davies? I'm Jake, Rick's son. I was hoping I could talk to Mr. Davies."
"Oh, Jake my-boy! Of course, c'mon in boy, he's over in his office, follow me. Don't worry about your shoes, after 30 years, I've basically given up." I liked Mrs. Davies, she was bright and happy.
knock knock
"Richard, Ricky's boy, Jake, is here to see you." I could hear the dragging of a chair behind the door before it opened to reveal a very well maintained man who was clearly in middle-age but on the good side of it still. He had a strong, worn and fierce but calm look to his face, he was a big man who could clearly hold his own.
His voice was strong and commanding, "Jake! Pleasure to finally meet you, please come in." I entered and he shut the door before shaking my hand. While shaking hands and looking into his eyes I noticed a seconds hesitation as he seemed surprised by something and looked me over. Then there was the nose twitch, a moment of a calculating look and then back to calm and impassive.
"Jake. What brings you here?"
"Well, Mr. Davies, -" he interrupted me, "please Jake, call me Rich or Richard, not Mr. Davies."
"Ok, Rich, first of all, I have been told that you're on the look out for a new accountant to handle the farms' finances and books. I've got an associates degree in accounting and worked for two years at an accounting firm in the tax department so I think I would be qualified to help you and your farm out."
"I see. Well, you heard correctly, I am looking for a new accountant, my brother would like to retire. How about we get to that a bit later, I assume I'm correct that you have something else you wish to discuss."
"Well, yes. You've smelled me, so you know, and I'm sure you have something you want to say to me about what you've smelled."
"I see John's been telling you some things..."
"He gave me details about the what, no who's, but it was William that explained that you'd pick up on it and I'd have to talk to you, though, not in so many words, I kind of pieced it together from reactions."
"I see. Well, I guess, first of all, what do you know?"
"I know that John, Simon, William, Duke and yourself are werewolves. John explained how werewolves are born, that there's a little over 100 of you in town, there are packs across the state, Dukes the Beta and you're the Alpha, though he didn't explain the intricacies of those terms. The Moon is an unofficial public hang-out spot for your pack, and that from now until should he and I stop seeing each other, every werewolf I come across, whether I know they are or not, will know that John and I are lovers. And from talking with William this morning after deducing that you were a werewolf, that you and Duke are going to want to speak to me regarding my relationship with John. Also, I'm not sure if it's something you can sense or not, but John and I discovered that I will be shifting shortly myself."
"You will be shifting?! I had suspected it was a possibility for a number of years now. Succinct and accurate information, if a little detail-void. Yes, William was correct. We typically wish to speak with those who are newly told about who we are and entering into a new relationship with someone in the pack. You seem to know more than we typically tell people wolves are only dating. The only thing we'd add from a general perspective is that, now that you know about us. You can never tell anyone who doesn't already know. If you do and we find out, we will have no choice but to kill you and anyone you tell before it gets out of hand in order to protect ourselves. However, that's not a problem if you'll be shifting yourself soon. Good. There's some more I'd like to say and ask about, but I think John should be here for this part, I'll go find him, wait here."
I sat at in the chair behind his desk looking around the office. There were lots of pictures. They seemed to be of him and his wife throughout their life together. A number of Duke and a woman whom I assumed to be his wife. Many of what appeared to be Rich's children; they all looked happy. It had been nearly 10 minutes when John and Rich walked into the office. Neither was speaking, apparently they'd been talking before or had nothing to say to each other, I figured the prior. John sat in a chair next to me and grabbed my hand and smiled at me, I couldn't help but smile back despite my confusion. Rich sat down in his chair behind his desk.
Rich sighed. "Ok, Jake. You've got a wolf in you as you said, and John informs me you have agreed to accept the transformation. I'm happy for this."
"Thank you sir. Everyone I know now is werewolf or a soon-to-be werewolf mother. I am hoping to work for a werewolf. I might as well embrace the one within me. I would have done my best to integrate as a human amongst wolves, but as a wolf myself integrating will be easier, won't it? Besides, I'm intrigued and excited by it. It was surprising and completely unknown at first, and now I still don't understand the history of my family, but apparently the gene's been there and the knowledge wasn't."
"Well, your family history isn't entirely lost. I knew your mothers' parents for a few weeks before they died. Your grandfather was certainly a werewolf, I knew that much, I was there when he was initiated into the pack, they'd been in town for nearly a month and the pack agreed to initiate him. I did not know for sure if your grandmother was a were-mother, her parents had died when she was young too and she was not from our area, or, if I remember correctly, even from this state. I sort of suspected you would be, but your father would not bring you around for me to find out for sure. I kept asking to meet you and hoped to bump into you often enough before you moved. But, anyway, ok. So you're going to accept it. Good, we'll be happy to have you join us. John's been through this before, he'll be able to help you out with dealing with the change. The next full moon is less than two weeks away. This is going to change a lot of things for you guys, you are both aware of that aren't you?" He asked while looking at both of us with intense stares. We both nodded yes. "Good, now that that's done. As pack Alpha, assuming Jakes' transformation goes smoothly, we can bring him into the pack at a pack meeting the week after his first transformation. John you can get back to work, and Jake you follow me and I'll take you out to the office in the barn where my brother works and does the accounting, I'll have him talk to you for a bit and see if he agrees with teaching you what you need to know to start taking over so he can retire in a couple months."
"Thank you Rich, thank you very much." I kissed John good-bye.
"Jake, I'll be back around 4:30, we can talk more then, we have some stuff to talk about I guess."
I followed Rich out to the barn while John broke off heading toward the stables. I could see Simon there working and John heading straight for him. "Rich, are wolves able to smell that I'm a, transforming, wolf?"
"No. Though, by the way, it would be ill-advised to leave the town until after your first shift and you've adjusted to the new you and learned a little more about our ways. You'll be safe staying within our town limits though."
"Ok, I have no plans on leaving anyway."
knock knock
"Billy, it's me." A gruff `come in' could barely be heard behind the door. "Billy, this here is Jake, Rick's boy. He's asked about taking over for you, he's got an associates degree in accounting and worked in the tax department of an accounting firm for a little over a year. I'll let you two talk a bit, send him back to me or send him home." Billy just nodded and stared at me as Rich left.
"So, ya wanna take o'er this shit-hole accounting crap-heap?"
"Heh, yes sir. I'd be happy to. I've always had a knack with numbers and I've got a starting understanding of tax code, with a little studying I'm confident I could learn enough to maybe provide the farm with a little more edge during tax season."
"Well den. I was sacrificed ta do this, neva really wa-ned ta, bu' the pay was good an' it helpta keep the farm in family control before me brother was able ta take o'er full ownership. I'm mor'en ready ta pass this crap off ta someone who dun actually likes it an' retire, s been a good nuff job, but I won't care none if I never seen nother number in my life. Git back ta me brother, tell'm `50, 5, 4, full'."
"50, 5, 4, full. Got it. Thank you sir." I received only a grunt in acknowledgement. So I stood up and made my way back to the main house where I knocked and it was once again answered by Mrs. Davies. She seemed very pleased to see me.
She squealed a little bit before talking, "Jake! So glad old Billy-goat liked you. Sometimes he can be as stubborn as a real billy-goat. Go on through then, Richard's in his office and the door's open, go on right in."
Rich smiled up at me as I entered. "Jake, good, I was hoping Billy wouldn't be a grump about it. Did he give you anything to tell me?"
"Yes, the message is; 50, 5, 4, full"
"Good good. Ok, lets talk about you getting started. How about this. 12 to 4 Monday through Friday for 4 weeks to get to know everything he does and ease into the system, and that will start 1 week after you shift for the first time." Then over the next hour or more we talked about hours, wages, benefits, vacation, and sick time, which I obviously won't need. "I just ask that things are taken care of for the duration you're gone and that the farm won't be hurt by you going, otherwise you can use your time off however you want." Then more benefits and expectations. Finally, "as for the pack, you don't have to worry about anything to do with them until a week after your first shift into wolf. The day after you successfully shift, call me up and let me know. I'll call a meeting of the pack for a week after that to introduce you as a pack member. Simon, Willy and John all asked that I accept you. The pack can ultimately decline you, but given you'll have those three, and mine and Duke's support, there won't be many negative votes, if any at all, to keep you from getting in. Any questions?"
"No sir, thank you very much. I'm excited for the new job as well as the becoming a werewolf. I'll go wait out on your porch for John and Simon to finish for the day, if you don't mind, since William drove me in. It's 3:30, they shouldn't be long."
"That's fine with me son, just remember I employ a lot of werewolves on this farm, so if any get close before you leave, they'll know about you and John, though he told me he's already broken the news to his father so you're not hiding your relationship, I'm glad. Pleasure talking with you and I look forward to accepting you into the pack. Best of luck to you and John too. He's a good young man. Take care of him for me please."
"I will. Good-bye sir." I stood and shook his hand before I walked slowly out to the porch and sat there looking over the farm. I had a clear view of the paddock and the barn, I could see John's truck and see a couple guys riding horses back toward the barn. Likely John and Simon on their way back in to finish up for the day. I watched the two men ride into the barn and 20 minutes later, as I suspected, John and Simon walked out, they noticed me sitting on the porch and waved me over. John kissed me, "Jake! you're still here. So everything went well then? Did you get the job?"
"Yup! I start the Monday after my first shift, noon to 4pm for the first 4 weeks then full time, 7am to 4pm with an hour for lunch, same as you guys." I said while climbing into the middle seat of the truck, leaning slightly against John.
Simon spoke up, "I didn't say much last night but, it'll be nice to have another wolf to run with on a regular basis Jake. Also, I was wondering. Henrietta and I are looking to build a house, we talked during lunch and we're kinda thinking somewhere around where your place is. Do you know who owns the land along the road there between you and The Moon?"
"Yup! That would be me. I was just going over the documents last week actually. It seems when my father bought the land way back when, he never paid attention to just how much he was buying, or he never mentioned it at any point to me anyway. I own a little over 100 acres, 99% of it forest, along both sides of the road between the end of Mr. Davies' property up to the edge of The Moon, the road splits the land basically in half."
"Wow! Do you think Henrietta and I could buy a couple acres off you to build a place? We're thinking maybe across the road from you or a little down the road on either side. With Jake and you nearby, and the farm and Moon too, it'd be a perfect place we think."
"We can definitely work something out. It'd be nice to have you guys close by. I wonder if William would want some land to build a place?"
John replied, "not likely, at least not until he finds himself a mmm..er, someone to be with."
"I see, ya, he'd probably want to wait until he finds himself a boyfriend at least before building a house huh?" I replied with a grin.
"Boyfriend?" Simon replied, as if it was a mistake on my part.
"Ya, he and I had a talk this morning after breakfast until we got to the farm. He told me he's gay." I looked at John, "he also mentioned a little something about you." I smiled big and gave a small laugh to make sure he knew I wasn't upset.
"He, uh, he did huh?" Jake replied, clearly uncomfortable since he didn't take his eyes off the road to see my smile. Simon burst out laughing.
"Ok, you two, leave this conversation for when the truck is not in motion. I rather enjoy being alive." Simon could barely contain his laughter.
"Ya, Jake, we'll discuss this later. He may have told you already but I do want you to hear it from me." John gave me a quick glance before continuing his driving.