4 Chapter 3

Someone was singing was Xavier s first thought as he woke. The second was that he was probably the most comfortable that he had ever been in his entire life. Axl had tucked him up tight so that both men occupied only one of the bunks, and the big Lycan lay mostly over Xavier. The blanket definitely wasn t required.

F-k, Xavier thought, and he was f-king turned on again, his c-ck standing proud and throbbing.

"Good morning, good morning, good morning," the singer warbled as he made his way down the walkway.

Morning guard duty, Xavier thought, and grimaced, because he was f-cking bare-arsed with an equally naked Lycan wrapped around him. There was no f-king way that it wasn t going to go around the entire site and into every ear there was to listen to gossip before the midday meal was served.

"And good morning," the guard leered as he paused in their door. "Slept well, hey, 12412? Looks cosy. Broke in the new guy, did you? Hope you didn t wear him out too much. I hear he s going bush with you today."

Axl did not respond and after a moment the guard began to whistle and continued on. Xavier heard him chattering to other Lycan s as he made his way along the cells, but none of the Lycans responded.

"The not-guard called James," Axl murmured into Xavier s hair. "Does not need another person to hold a conversation. He talks to himself."

"Yeah, I noticed." Xavier wondered if the Lycans ever responded, to James or anyone, and wondered why Axl had decided to speak to him.

"It is time to shower," Axl released him and sat up, stretching luxuriously like a giant cat, before stepping over Xavier and walking to the bathroom, using the toilet without any indication of embarrassment, scratching his arse cheek before dropping to the floor and beginning a round of push ups.

Xavier had been in enough army camps and on enough rough missions to not care where he pissed, or who in front of, so he used the toilet and shrugged before dropping down next to Axl and doing his own push-ups.

The Lycan slid him a look out of the corner of his eye and grinned. "Not bad, not-guard."

"You guys work out a lot," Xavier was a Hunter and keeping fit was part of the mandates of the rank, but the Lycans put his routine to shame.

"Mhm. The Maker says that Lycans must do these exercises twice a day, every day," Axl replied.

"The Maker?" Xavier repeated. He was doing one push up for every three of Axl s he noted ruefully.

"The Maker," Axl repeated as if the answer was obvious.

"Adriana Thornton?" Xavier guessed.

"I do not know this designation," Axl replied and changed push ups to one handed. Xavier matched him, though he was getting shaky by this stage and thought that he would be feeling the work-out by the end of the day. Axl chuckled, indulgently amused by Xavier s efforts. He effortlessly switched hands. "You are weak this side," the Lycan observed.

"Shot in this shoulder couple of years ago," Xavier admitted. "Still gives me some trouble."

"Hmm," Axl switched to sit ups and Xavier did likewise with relief.

They moved through the rest of the workout without speaking, and Xavier could see that all the Lycans in the cells within his eyesight did likewise. When Axl stopped, the other Lycans did too.

"How do you know when to stop?" Xavier asked him as the Lycan started the water in the shower.

"Follow lead alpha," Axl shrugged.

"Which lead alpha?" Xavier followed the Lycan into the shower.

"This one," Axl s smirk was cat-like smug.

"How is that established?" Xavier was intrigued.

"Who is strongest, fastest, leader," Axl arched an eyebrow. "How is a human leader determined?"

"In the military?" Xavier considered. "Rank. You rank up, through education and training. Sort of the same, I guess. Strongest, fastest, with the most skills."

"Hmm."

The morning shower was more perfunctory than the evening one had been, maybe because the Lycans were hungry, Xavier thought as he dried and dressed. Knowing from Commander White that the Lycans would leave for the forest immediately after the morning meal, he strapped his water skin across his chest, and put his knife onto his belt before stepping out with Axl into the queue.

It was very similar, Xavier thought, to training in the military as a cadet, when everything was regimented and orderly as the raw men were moulded into soldiers. The Lycans moved with habitual precision, unquestioning routine, as it was what they had always done.

Breakfast was the same as dinner – almost raw meat and vegetables. He wondered how they would react if he introduced pancakes and berries. And cream, he thought, his eyes falling to Axl. He could, certainly, find an alternative use for the cream.

Xavier wasn t a fussy eater, but he was going to miss coffee, he thought, and wondered if he could bribe someone to include it in the morning banquet. And cream, he added. Because now the thought had taken root, and he could almost taste Axl through the milky foam.

F-k it, he tried to adjust his hard on without drawing notice to it as he made his way to his place next to Axl.

The Lycans around the table blatantly stared at him as they ate, so he stared back.

"Blunt teeth and claws," Axl commented.

"Yeah, not as sharp as yours," Xavier peeled his lips back from his teeth. Axl returned the expression revealing the strong line of his teeth. The canines and premolars were elongated and sharply pointed, but the molars behind were also more jagged and sharper, Xavier thought. "Predator," he observed.

Axl s smile was predatory. "Yes. Prey," he nudged Xavier slightly.

"Not easy prey, thought," Xavier joked.

"Hmm," the Lycan replied in the tone of we shall see. His hand fell beneath the table surface to rest on Xavier s thigh, and Xavier was sure that his c-ck pointed that way as it throbbed, seeking the Lycan s touch.

Xavier watched closely, and noted that when Axl finished eating, the Lycans around him did likewise, and they rose with him. Well, he thought, whoever had identified Axl as the leader had not been wrong.

He followed the queue out into the daylight, blinking a little at the glare.

"We run now," Axl said to him, and the Lycan s scattered, running with impressive speed into the greenery.

"Oh, shit," Xavier s jaw dropped as he realised what he was up against and the Lycans disappeared around him. "F-k it," he broke into a far less impressive run, and plunged across the crushed grasses until he felt the slap of the greenery as the forest undergrowth gave to him.

He paused crouching, listening above the race of his heartbeat and the drag of his breath. In the distance, he heard the rustle of a large creature moving through the undergrowth and gave chase.

For a moment, he glimpsed Axl as the Lycan cast a grin over his shoulder, and then he was gone.

Xavier crouched again bellying his way forward, trying stealth seeing that he could not match them on speed. He met the eyes of a Lycan he had not seen before through the greenery and heard laughter as the Lycan sprinted away.

Not the Lycan he was after, Xavier thought as he slid around the base of a tree. He could hear water. A bird called somewhere overhead, the song lilting. He paused breathing in the scent of the forest, the pollen heavy flowers, the crushed greenery, and the mulch underfoot. Paradise, he thought.

He sensed more than heard the movement, and instincts that had saved his life many times in battle, shifted him to the left as Axl appeared suddenly beside him.

"You are good," Axl said with approval.

Xavier caught him against him and threaded his fingers into the heavy dark blonde hair, pulling the Lycan s mouth to his.

Their tongues tangled. Axl s mouth was warmer, Xavier noted, and his tongue had a rougher surface, like a cat s. For a big, strong man, Axl was gentle, his hands cupping Xavier s skull as he kissed him back tenderly.

Xavier dragged the Lycan s t-shirt up so that he could feel his skin, and Axl moaned as Xavier stroked his hands over his back.

"Soft," Axl commented. "Your hands are so small and soft."

It was, Xavier thought, the first time anyone had described him as small and soft. He was not generally a soft or small man, was, in fact, large and rough for most humans, but, compared to the Lycans, the callouses on their hands, their bigger size and strength, he could see how he would seem to be a small, soft man.

Their size and strength difference were a turn on to the Lycan he noted as Axl stripped him of his clothing and lowered him onto the undergrowth, taking his time to explore Xavier s body in a way he hadn t the night before. The Lycan undressed and lay along Xavier s side, running a comparison between them.

Whilst the Lycan had body hair, it was finer than Xavier s, and did not curl and bulk around the Lycan s c-ck but sat flush to his skin. Axl ran his fingers through Xavier s wiry and curly pubic hair with a purr, and then brought Xavier s hand to stroke through his softer version.

"My first human," Axl told him. "Others have f-ked with the guards, but they were never," he wrinkled his nose. "Attractive to me."

"You find me attractive?" Xavier asked out of pure vanity.

In answer Axl closed Xavier s hand around his c-ck and leaned over to kiss him, before sliding his way down Xavier s body, the coarse flicks of his tongue against Xavier s skin exotic and exciting, causing him to moan and arch into the Lycan s kisses.

"F-k," Xavier s hand clenched in the Lycan s hair as Axl ran his tongue up the sensitive underside of his c-ck, exploring the smooth stretch of skin over his tip.

The Lycan chuckled and lifted Xavier onto his knees. "You do it this way?" He breathed into Xavier s ear as he fit his body against him.

"Normally with some lube," Xavier replied with trepidation. The Lycan was sizeable.

"I won t hurt you," Axl assured him and began to ease himself in. The excessive pre-cum, Xavier thought, provided the necessary lubrication. He breathed through the stretch and groaned as Axl seated himself fully and curled his arm around Xavier, gripping his c-ck and stroking Xavier as he rocked into him.

"Ah, yes," Axl s other hand came to rest next to Xavier s in the undergrowth. "You feel good, little not-guard. Tight and warm."

"F-k," the angle of the Lycan s body over his rubbed directly against his prostrate and Xavier could feel the drag of his balls towards his body as the orgasm built.

"Not yet," Axl closed his fingers tightly around the base of Xavier s c-ck, preventing his orgasm, and Xavier dragged in a ragged breath, suspended on the edge of pleasure and pain, and unsure which direction he was going to fall.

The Lycan was not quiet about his pleasure, grunting and moaning, and the sounds of the other man s enjoyment drove Xavier s urge to come higher until his mind wiped of anything beyond his arse, and his c-ck.

"F-k, Axl," he pleaded, and the Lycan released his grip and stroked Xavier s c-ck as he came, jerking within Xavier, the pressure against Xavier s prostrate causing him to come hard and fully, the stream seeming without end and Xavier writhing beneath the pleasure of it.

The Lycan chuckled as Xavier moaned and panted. "Little prey comes hard for his alpha."