Page 65 of In This Iron Ground
“That’s Gonzalo,” Koko piped up. “Damien’sboyfriend.”
Damien gave her an incredulous look. “What the hell are you talking about?” Damien asked. Koko made kissy faces at him as Hakan frowned. “You are more insufferable every day,” Damien told her.
“Damien and Gonzalo, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S—” She yelped as Damien pinched her on the side.
“Wait. So is he—” Hakan started, but Koko was already chasing Damien through the house, half-moon shifted as Damien laughed.
The full moon run was one of the best that Damien could remember. There was something celebratory in the warm air filled with the sounds of crickets and howls.
Hakan was especially full of energy, playful like he used to be when he was younger. He hopped around Damien and stuck with him the whole night. Damien could barely run from laughing, but it didn’t matter.
He could feel the Ousía of the pack in the full moonlight.
They arrived back at the house in the watery sunlight of dawn. A thick spread of cushions and pillows was waiting for them on the living room floor. The transformed and clothed werewolves collapsed on the soft pile, tangling with each other in what Damien secretly called a puppy pile. Damien was always pulled into the mix. In truth, it was his favourite part of the full moon.
Damien stretched on his side on the soft nest and Lallo immediately curled up as close as possible, pressing his face against Damien’s chest. A moment later, Hakan was at his back, smelling of earth and snuffling into Damien’s neck. There was no awkwardness or heat. It was family. Pack. Comfort. Damien had come to realize how important scent and touch was for werewolves, how they came hand-in-hand. It was their way to build bonds, to show affection, to feel at peace in a world in which they weren’t alone.
Damien closed his eyes and wasn’t alone.
**********
“Man, I love how W.W. reflexes don’t translate into video games. Or arcade games. Sucka!” Damien laughed as Hakan lost again atSpace Invaders.
“W.W.?”
“Werewolves,” Damien whispered. Hakan rolled his eyes at Damien’s attempt at subtlety before turning back to grumbling at the game.
“I don’t know why not. My reflexes and eyesight are better!”
“Oh my God, you big baby. It must be so hard for you not to have a physical advantage in this one area of your life. Really, I’m crying for you. Look at me. I’m crying.” Damien pouted dramatically.
Instead of scowling like Damien had expected, Hakan grinned at him. Damien frowned.
“What’s with the smile? What are you plotting?” Damien asked suspiciously.
“What, I can’t smile?”
“Not like that.”
“It’s nothing. I’m just…I don’t know,” Hakan turned away, starting another game.
Damien moved, leaning a hip on the machine so he was looking more at Hakan than the screen. “No, what? What is it?” he insisted.
Hakan shrugged, fingers moving on the controllers for a few seconds. “It’s nothing. I just like seeing you so…I don’t know. Open.”
“I’m always like this.”
“You weren’t before,” Hakan said, more quietly now. Damien tensed before letting out a long breath.
“Yeah, well. I guess you bring out the sass in me,” Damien said. Hakan snorted, but his smile was so genuine that it made Damien ache.
The tinny sound of another loss rung out from the machine. Hakan sighed.
“Let’s go get some food,” Damien suggested. Hakan nodded.
They settled in one of the booths with their burgers, one for Damien and two for Hakan’s werewolf metabolism.
“I thought for sure he was gonna throw up. He wasgreen. It was gross,” Damien laughed. Gonzalo had been sick for days after attempting a steak-eating offer at some diner where you’d get your meal free if you could finish an absurd amount of food. Gonzalo had not won.
