His caged wolf mm wolf s.., p.1
His Caged Wolf: MM Wolf Shifter Romance (Shifter Falls Book 1), page 1
HIS CAGED WOLF
By
Alex Anders
McAnders Books
Copyright © 2023
*****
His Caged Wolf
Chapter 1
Quin
I can’t believe Lou talked me into doing this. At one point he’s talking about how I’ll go feral if I don’t get out and meet somebody. And the next thing I know I’m yelling at him about how that’s not how going feral works. He then tells me that that is exactly how it works and makes up a story about a dog that went crazy because it was tied up all day.
As insulting as it was to compare me to a dog, I have to admit that he’s not entirely wrong. I’ve struggled figuring out who I am. Am I my father’s miracle son as my father always say? Or, am I the thing that the rest of the world sees me as and that I’m always trying to suppress?
Either way, my life sucks. I mean, I have everything in life anyone could ask for thanks to my father’s wildly successful genetics research company. But, it comes with a trade-off that makes it not worth it.
My father thought he was doing the world a service by curing infertility. And since my mom was infertile, she became the first test subject. I’m proof that it worked. But it had a side effect that no one could ever have imagined.
I lock myself away because of that side effect. And, because of it, I’m scared as hell of the full moon.
It’s not that I think anything is going to happen to me during a full moon. There’s been a lot of full moons since the first time, and I believe in science.
What terrifies me about it is what other people think will happen. If they’ve heard of me —and who hasn’t heard of me thanks to my showboating father — and they see me out in a full moon, every crazy story they’ve read turns me into a monster in their eyes.
I don’t want to feel their judgement or terror. What’s more, I don’t want to smell it. I’ve been told that I’m the only one who notices it, but people’s scents are overwhelming. That’s part of the reason I lock myself in my dorm room when I’m not attending class. Well, that and fact that no one at East Tennessee University has recognized me yet and I want it to stay that way.
The only one so far who knows about my condition is Louis, my roommate and first actual friend. I told him after the University matched us and I decided that this was the year I would attend.
Lou also happens to be the gayest guy I’ve ever met. Not only that, he has skills. He can scan a room full of boys with their girlfriends and have a date in 20 minutes. I thought I liked guys, but he is boy crazy.
I was far from that. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted sex. During a certain time of the month, it is all I can think about. The full moon might not turn me into a snarling, half-human beast. But, it makes me think of sex like I need it to breath. The older I get, the worse it gets.
Is there a chance not leaving my dorm will make me go feral like Lou casually suggested? I don’t think so. I’ve had a lot more control over things compared to when I was a kid. If this was an alcohol problem instead of what it is, I could say that I haven’t had a drink in years.
But, whether Lou was joking or not, I didn’t want him thinking that me going feral was a possibility. So, after some yelling and fighting, I looked up the only party on campus happening tonight, and dressed for it.
“Finally,” Lou said as I headed to the door.
What killed me was that after all of our arguing, as I left he had a smirk on his face. It was like this was his plan all along and I was the only one who actually got upset. He had manipulated me into going out and getting a life. That sneaking little bastard!
“And I want proof that you didn’t just go to a park and chase squirrels or something.”
“I don’t chase squirrels!” I protested strongly.
“Whatever! But, when I get back from my date, I want to see a naked guy in your bed and I want to see some shame, Mister. Plenty of it.”
“There will be! There will be plenty of shame, for you. Because of how wrong you were about me… and stuff.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
“I mean it, Quin.”
“Me too.”
So now, here I am marching across campus to the only party that my last-minute research turned up. East Tennessee University’s football team won against West Tennessee University their cross-state rivals earlier in the day and the football fraternity was throwing a party. Nothing about any of that sounded fun, but I’m going… because Lou tricked me into it.
Fine. I’ll go. I’ll get proof that I was there. Then I’ll go to a coffee shop and read a book on my phone.
I know he mentioned that thing about finding someone naked in my bed, but there’s no way that’s going to happen. I couldn’t lose my virginity in a pool full of dicks. Believe me, I’ve tried. But as soon as anyone gets a good look at me and realizes who I am, they either talk about leashing me in case I turn on them in the middle of sex, or they run for the hills.
Nope. It looks like I’ll just have to spend the rest of my life as a sad, lonely virgin. Did I just bum myself out? I think I did. Now I’m really not in the mood for a party.
Rounding the corner, I could hear the music before the fraternity house came into view. It was intimidating. I had to tap into my anger at what Lou had said to keep me going.
Face-to-face with my impending doom, I almost froze. I’m just not very good at human stuff. There is no way I was going to be able to mingle or cohort or whatever it was that people my age did.
New plan. I wasn’t going in. I would get my proof that I was here, though. I was going to walk up to one of the half dozen people standing outside, ask to take a selfie with them and then get out of there as quickly as I could.
Looking around, I saw people smoking, people talking in a circle with red cups, and one guy standing by himself. That made the selection easy. All I had to do was walk up to him, ask to take a selfie, snap it, thank him and go. I could manage that. I wasn’t a complete freak. I could talk to one person.
Tightening my lips, I hardened my resolve and charged over. I wasn’t going to overthink it. I was just going to do it and be done.
“Excuse me, can I get a selfie with you?” I asked the guy with his back to me.
“You want a selfie with me? Why?” The guy said with an edge to his voice as he turned around.
Woah!
Do you know that feeling when you see something that takes your breath away? Warm prickles start at the back of your hands and shoot up your arms before settling in your face as the heat makes you lightheaded? That was what happened when our eyes met. The guy was beautiful.
His creamy skin contrasted with his jet black hair and pool-blue eyes. His jawline was carved out of marble. There were dimples, so many dimples, in his cheeks, underneath his bottom lip, on the tip of his chin. They were everywhere.
He was also big. He was inches taller than me and twice as wide. That isn’t saying much considering how slight I am. But his rippling muscles looked like they had muscles. God, was he gorgeous.
More than that, he smelled amazing. There was a sweet musk to him that I had never smelt in my life. It made me drunk just standing there.
As his scent wafted off of him, it stripped me of my will. It was like he had leashed me while at the same time awaking the part of me I fought so hard to restrain.
I couldn’t speak and he was clearly waiting for me to. He had asked me a question. What was it? Oh yeah! It was why I wanted a selfie with him, and he seemed upset about it.
Had I made him angry? Was it weird to ask to take a selfie with a complete stranger? It probably was? Shit! What the hell was I thinking?
“Sorry,” I sputtered before forcing my legs to move in the opposite direction.
I got two steps away before he spoke again.
“Wait! Don’t go.”
I stopped.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. If you want a selfie, I’ll take one with you.”
“No, that’s okay,” I said wanting to look at him again but scared that if I did I wouldn’t be able to breathe.
“No really. It’s fine. You can get one. I don’t know why anyone would want one. But, it’s fine. I’d be happy to take one with you.”
That was when I looked at him again. I recognized what he was saying. He was talking like a guy who was used to people asking to take pictures with him. I knew a little about that. That was in part why I chose a university in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to be where I wouldn’t be recognized as Quin Toro, the only wolf shifter in existence.
That was me, though. Why did people ask him for selfies? He was the most amazing-looking guy ever. Did random strangers approach him dazzled by his beauty? It wouldn’t surprise me if they did.
“I, um, wasn’t asking for a selfie because I know who you are. I don’t recognize you. I don’t know who you are,” I explained.
The guy jutted his head back startled. As I stared, his fair skin turned pink.
“Oh! Okay. Then…” he shook his head as if trying to shake something loose. “I’m sorry, why do you want a selfie with me?”
“It wasn’t you. It was anybody,” I told him.
“You wanted to get a selfie with anybody? Why?”
I huffed as my predicament reentered my mind.
“It’s my roommate. He told me that I n
“And the selfie was going to be the proof?”
“Yeah.”
“So, after you took the selfie…, what? You were gonna go?”
“Yeah,” I admitted suddenly deflating.
The gorgeous guy looked at me like I was the freak that I am. A smile crept across his face. It would have made me feel bad about myself if it didn’t make me want to melt into a puddle in the grass.
“This is going to sound crazy, but you’re here. Why not go in and actually have fun?”
“I’m not good at this type of thing. You know, the social thing.”
“Luckily, that’s something I’m very good at. How about we make a deal? I’ll give you your selfie as proof for your roommate, but you have to come in and actually try to have a good time. I’ll introduce you to a couple of people. That way, when your roommate asks you about the night, you won’t have to lie,” he said his face exploding into dimples.
I stared at him. “Why would you do that?”
He looked at me twisting his head in confusion.
“Maybe I’m just being nice. Maybe I think you’re a cool guy and that it would be cool to hang out. Maybe I’m flirting.”
A chill shot through me upon hearing the word “flirting”. What was going on? Did this guy like me? Was there something happening between us? Was there going to be a naked guy in my bed full of shame when Lou got home after all?
Wait, was I getting hard? I think I was. No, I definitely was.
“Um, okay,” I said sure that I was turning beet-red.
“Cage, by the way?”
“What?”
“My name.” He stared at me. “And your name is?”
“Oh. Quin.”
“Cool. I like that name.”
“Thanks. My parents gave it to me,” I said losing control of my tongue.
Cage laughed.
“I mean, of course my parents gave it to me.”
“Not of course. My parents didn’t give me the name Cage.”
“Who did? An uncle or somebody?”
“No, I did.”
“So, what’s your birth name?”
Cage looked at me with thoughts rushing through his head. “How about I take you inside and show you around?”
“So, I guess we’re going to let that question go?”
Cage chuckled uncomfortably. “You don’t have much of a filter, do you?”
I froze. That wasn’t the first time I had heard that. The previous time was with the last guy I fell for.
“I guess not. Is that bad?”
“Actually, it’s kind of refreshing.”
“Oh. Okay,” I said falling for him more.
“You have a nice smile.”
“I didn’t realize I was smiling,” I told him.
“You are,” he said looking at me with a smile of his own.
“You too. It’s very nice,” I said feeling my heart thump and not knowing what to do about it.
Cage led me up the stairs, onto the porch, and then into the frat house. It was hard to take my eyes off of him, but when I did I was surprised by what I saw. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. The large living room was sparsely furnished but full of people. Everyone had red cups in their hand and they spoke to each other like they were friends.
“It’s still pretty early,” Cage explained.
“What do you mean?” I said raising my voice over the country-pop music.
“There’ll be more people later.”
“More than this?” I asked looking around at what felt like a horde.
Cage chuckled. “Yeah.”
“Damn. Okay.”
“Cage!” A thick guy said throwing his arms around Cage spilling some of his drink onto Cage’s shirt. “Oh, did I get you?”
“That’s okay,” Cage said casually. “Dan, this is Quin.”
Dan turned to me and stared. “Quin!” he finally said removing the awkwardness. “Is he trying to recruit you?”
“What?” I asked confused.
“Is he trying to get you on the football team?”
I stared at him unsure what was happening. Was he being serious? I wasn’t exactly built like a guy who ran full speed into 200-pound men.
“Football team?”
Dan turned to Cage confused.
“We play on the football team,” Cage explained.
“You do?”
Dan threw his arms around Cage again. “Cage doesn’t just play for the football team. He is the team.”
I looked at Cage for an explanation.
He smiled with humility. “I’m the quarterback.”
“This man isn’t just the quarterback,” Dan said mockingly. “He’s the guy who is gonna lead us to a national championship, and then he’s going pro.”
“Ohhhh! Now I get it. The selfie. You thought I was asking for a selfie because you’re a famous football player.”
“I’m not a famous football player,” he said quickly.
“Hell yeah, he’s famous. There ain’t anybody who doesn’t know who he is,” Dan said proudly.
I looked at Cage for his reaction. Cage looked back at me and chuckled uncomfortably.
“Not everyone knows who I am.”
“Name me one person who doesn’t,” Dan challenged.
He gave me a knowing smile. “Quin, you want a drink? I think you need a drink. Follow me.”
“Good meeting you, Quin,” Dan said before wandering off.
“So, you’re a quarterback?”
“Didn’t you hear? I’m not just a quarterback, I’m the team,” Cage said with self-deprecation.
I laughed. “I heard. Are you going to go pro? I have a couple of uncles who played in the NFL.”
Cage looked back at me with surprise. “Do you?”
“Yeah. I mean, they’re family friends. So, you know, “uncles”,” I clarified.
“Did they like it?”
“Playing for the NFL?”
“Yeah.”
“I guess so. You excited about getting drafted?”
“Sure,” Cage said half-heartedly before turning to pump beer into two red cups.
“You don’t sound excited.”
“No. It’s great. I can’t wait for it. It’s, ah, everything I’ve been working towards,” he said handing me a cup and holding up his to cheers with mine. “To new friends.”
I touched his cup and took a drink. “This beer is awful,” I said looking down at my cup.
Cage laughed. “No, tell me what you really think.”
“I mean that it’s not very good,” I explained.
Cage laughed louder. When he stopped he stared into my eyes. God did I want to kiss him.
“I suppose if I ask you if you’re having fun yet, you’ll tell me the truth.”
“I’m having fun,” I said moving closer in case he did want to kiss me.
Cage watched me with a devilish look in his eyes. I could have sworn that he was about to move his lips towards mine when he said, “Why don’t I introduce you to a few more people.”
“More people? I’ve already met two. How many more people can a person meet in a night?”
“Haha. A few more than that,” he said slipping his hand around my shoulders and leading me away.
Feeling his touch made every part of me tingle. I felt like such a little guy in his arms. He was so big and strong. I couldn’t believe that I had met someone like him. I couldn’t believe that he was acting like he was into me. Could a guy like him be into guys?
Thinking about it set something off in me that I could barely control. It was the part of me that I fought to repress. It was fighting to get out. I knew I should have been doing everything to resist it, but I didn’t want to. With it came a sense of power I had never felt before. I liked it. It made me feel… strong.
In spite of how much I wanted to let go, I did my best to stay with Cage in my present form. He was leading me around the party introducing me to people. He wasn’t kidding about being good at social stuff. Everyone he introduced me to hung on his every word. And, when it was my turn to speak, they hung on my every word, too.
I couldn’t tell if they were all just being nice, or if being with Cage had turned me into a more interesting version of myself. Whatever it was, I loved the feeling. These types of interactions had always been so hard for me, but at Cage’s side, I was a different person.
