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rsadelleSummary: Mike and Jeff are a pack, and for a long time, that's all it is.
Notes: This was written entirely in emails to entertain![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lakeeffectgirl. What you will find here: lots of touching, talking about their relationship, sex. What you will not find here: plot.
Story on AO3
1. Best Friends
I've known Jeff since we were 16, probably best friends since we were 18.
-Mike Richards
Jeff wakes up slowly from his nap. He's on early practices today, which means the only thing he has to get to now is dinner. He opens his eyes at a slight chuckle to find Richie sitting cross-legged on the bed across from him.
"Hey."
"Hey." Richie slips off the other bed and crosses the room to stretch out next to Jeff.
"Dude," Jeff says. "What?"
Richie sort of shrugs. "I just wanted-" And then he frowns at Jeff. "I thought- Jeff didn't tell you?"
Jeff's still waking up, so it takes him a minute to realize Richie means Jeff Richards, not him. "Tell me what?"
Richie lets out a frustrated growl that wakes Jeff all the way up, because he knows that sound. That's a werewolf sound.
Jeff sits up, folding his legs under him, and looks down on Richie, who takes it for just a moment before he sits up too.
"You're a werewolf."
"Wolf," Richie says. "Not werewolf. Werewolf is-" He shrugs. "It's not the wolf word."
Jeff doesn't know what to say for a moment, a very long moment, where Richie, who is always so sure of himself, looks uncertain.
The moment breaks when Richie stands up and heads for the door.
"Okay," Jeff says, before Richie can leave.
Richie stops, but he doesn't turn around.
"Hey, we're cool, right?" Jeff says.
Richie says, "Yeah, we're cool," but when Jeff makes it to the dining hall, Richie's at a full table and won't even look at Jeff.
He sure fucked that one up.
*
Richie disappears after dinner, and still won't look at Jeff the next day, so after late practice and a shower, Jeff goes to Richie's room. He can't really sneak in, not if Richie's a wolf, but he can get in while Richie's asleep and let Richie wake up to Jeff sitting on his bed.
Richie sits up and scowls at him.
"Don't be a dick," Jeff says, before he remembers he needs to apologize. "Sorry about yesterday." He shrugs. "I don't know a lot of wolves."
Richie nods, and his scowl lets up, but he's still holding himself tight, like he's watching someone else take a playoff overtime faceoff.
"That was a wolf thing," Jeff hazards.
"We're not meant to be solitary creatures," Richie says.
"Okay," Jeff says, and he breathes evenly, because Richie will hear it if this is freaking him out. "So, you want to?" He gestures at the length of the bed.
"It won't be too weird for you?"
Jeff shrugs. "I've roomed with goalies. A little wolf contact isn't going to freak me out." When Richie doesn't move, Jeff takes the initiative and lies down.
Richie huffs out a noise that isn't quite human and lies down behind Jeff. He hooks his chin over Jeff's shoulder and turns so his nose is against Jeff's neck and Jeff can feel his breath. "Okay?"
Jeff says, "Sure." It's a little strange, but not so strange he won't do it. It's a little enough thing to do for Richie. "Don't sleep through dinner."
Richie's laugh is only half human, and Jeff feels it as much as he hears it. "We might be late, but we won't miss it."
2. Pack
We lived together and probably spent every day together for a couple years.
-Mike Richards
Jeff's awake from his nap, TV on but not really paying attention to it, when the lock clicks and the door opens. Jeff hesitates for a second, but that's stupid. Richie's a wolf; he probably already knows how glad Jeff is to have him here. Besides, Richie's dropping his bags by the door with a giant smile on his face.
"Cartsy," he says, and it's enough to pull Jeff off the bed he's been sitting on to go meet Richie in the middle of the room.
He's used to Richie's hugs now, has even missed them in the time since they last saw each other, and being in a hotel room alone means they can hang on for as long as they want while Richie buries his face in Jeff's neck. Jeff doesn't have wolf senses, but the familiar scent of Richie's shampoo is comforting all the same.
"So," Richie says when he lets go but doesn't go far, "we going to win this thing?"
"We are now." Jeff turns away enough to look at the clock. "We're supposed to have dinner with Sharpy."
"Where are we going?"
"His place. Abby's cooking."
"We get to meet the famous Abby?" Richie brings his bags all the way into the room and starts rummaging through them.
"I guess so." Jeff stretches out on his bed. "It sounds like most of the guys have met her. She sounds cool."
"That makes sense," Richie says, "knowing Sharpy."
"We've got some time," Jeff says, "if you want to take a nap or something."
Richie stands between their beds and looks down at Jeff. "Can we?" He makes a gesture Jeff takes to mean Richie's wolf need for contact.
"Yeah." Jeff scoots over, making a little more space for Richie. "Come on."
Richie shifts them around, so Jeff ends up on his back with Richie mostly on top of him, Richie's chin on his collarbone, and Richie's face in his neck.
"Comfortable?" Jeff asks.
Jeff feels as much as hears the contented, not-human sound that rumbles through Richie. "Not too heavy for you?"
It might be too much for any real length of time, but they have to leave in an hour anyway, so Jeff says, "I'm a hockey player. I think I can take it."
*
Sharpy answers the door when they knock, and makes three jokes about them not being old enough to bring wine before he takes them into the kitchen to meet Abby. She's a pretty girl in jeans and a t-shirt with her hair pulled back into a ponytail who says, "We have enough wine for your whole team," to Sharpy, "Nice to meet you," to Jeff and Richie, and then, "You're supposed to be making a salad," to Sharpy.
Sharpy scrunches up his face, which only makes her lean over the counter and brush her nose against his.
Sharpy makes the salad, they break out a bottle of wine, and they all sit down at the table in the dining area.
"We like to call it that," Sharpy says, gesturing at the table in one half of a room divided between it and a living room area, "to pretend we live in a bigger place."
"Mostly," Abby says, "I do my homework on half the table and we eat on the other half. We cleaned it off special for you."
Richie grins at her and says, "You're not the hideous shrew I was led to expect."
Abby laughs, because Richie knows how to gauge that sort of thing - Jeff's never been able to figure out if it's a wolf thing or a natural talent - and Sharpy says, "If I told people the truth about you, they would all want you."
Abby puts her hand over Sharpy's and says, with a sharp look at Richie, "You'd better not be about to suggest he marry me as a safeguard."
Richie closes his mouth.
"You don't want to get married?" Jeff asks. They fit so well that it doesn't make sense.
"Oh, someday," Sharpy says.
"I'll need to be on his health insurance before I get pregnant," Abby says, and Sharpy doesn't even blink, both of them treating it like that's a given, "but there's no rush. We don't need to be married to belong together. Just because you two aren't officially related doesn't mean you aren't family."
Richie goes completely still, just for a few seconds, and it's enough to raise the hair on the back of Jeff's neck.
Abby and Sharpy don't seem to notice, and the conversation shifts to Abby's classes, and then stories from Abby and Sharpy's time in college, and eventually hockey.
It's fun, even if they don't stay late because they have practice in the morning. Abby hugs both of them when they leave, and she and Sharpy stand in the doorway, arms around each other, to wave goodnight.
Jeff goes to sleep alone when they get back to their hotel, but he isn't surprised to wake up in the morning with Richie tucked around him. It takes ten minutes of negotiation that mostly consists of Richie growling at him and Jeff pointing out that they have places to be today before Richie will let him get up.
*
They win. They win a lot. Jeff knows it's not just because of Richie - hockey is never just about one person - but there's no doubt in his mind that Richie is a big part of it.
They win in the third round at home, and after going out with the rest of the guys - between them they have enough fake IDs and people over twenty-one to get all the humans drunk and Richie a little buzzed - Jeff and Richie go back to their room where Richie pulls Jeff down onto his bed.
"We're going to win this," Jeff says. "We're going to win the Calder."
Richie's face breaks into a bright smile. "Of course we are." He slings his arm over Jeff's waist and just looks at him for a long time.
Jeff's laugh quiets the longer Richie stares at him. "What?"
"Do you remember what Abby said? When I first got here?"
Jeff is too drunk for this conversation to make sense. "No."
"She said we were family." Richie's hand creeps under the edge of Jeff's shirt to make a patch of warmth on his back. "Wolves don't have- We have families. But we also have packs."
Jeff lets his eyes fall closed. "Okay."
Richie makes a frustrated noise that's more human than wolf. It's weird, but not enough to make Jeff open his eyes. He could fall asleep right here.
"I don't- Technically, I'm still part of my parents' pack," Richie says. "But I'm not- That's not it for me. I'm an alpha." He stops, like that's supposed to be enough for Jeff to know what he's talking about.
"I don't know what that means for wolves."
This time Richie's frustrated noise is more of a wolf noise than a human one. "Alphas are leaders."
Jeff laughs and opens his eyes to grin at Richie. "That's you."
Richie grins back at him. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah." He's quiet for a while, long enough that Jeff closes his eyes and starts to doze off. "You could be my pack."
"I'm not a wolf," Jeff manages.
"You don't have to be," Richie says. "Humans can be part of the pack."
Jeff just hums a little, to show he's paying attention.
Richie hitches himself closer to Jeff; Jeff can feel his warmth everywhere, not just under the hand still on his back. "You could be," Richie says again. He sighs, his breath ghosting over Jeff's neck. "I'll explain it tomorrow."
Jeff agrees, as much as he can while half asleep, but Richie seems to know what he means and stops talking.
*
Jeff wakes up with the worst hangover he's ever had in his life. He stumbles out of bed, into the bathroom, and then around the room until he finds the Tylenol. He tips a few of them into his hand and washes them down with a couple of glasses of water. Then he gets back into bed and lets Richie pull him close. Richie's solid warmth is comforting, and he falls back to sleep easily.
The second time he wakes up, he doesn't feel quite so much like he wants to die just to stop the pain. Richie's already up, and he has coffee ready when Jeff gets out of the shower.
Jeff's halfway through his cup before vague memories of last night's conversation start to seep into his conscious mind. "Pack," he says. "You were going to explain."
"It's kind of like family," Richie says. He sits on his own bed, halfway across the room from Jeff. "But there's other stuff. There's a hierarchy. The alpha is the leader, and everyone else is below that. And being pack isn't like being humans. There's a connection between pack members." He frowns. "I don't really know how that works with humans. You might not be able to feel that."
Jeff sips at his coffee while he processes all of that. "So you'd be like my captain."
Richie laughs a little. "Yeah, something like that."
"Okay," Jeff says, "as long as I'm your A." There are probably other things he should ask about or think about, but he trusts Richie.
"Yeah," Richie says. "You can be my A." He shakes his head. "You're going to be my only pack member for now, anyway."
"Okay. Do I have to do anything?"
"Agree to it. Believe you're part of the pack." Richie looks away. "Let me bite you. I won't hurt you," he rushes on. "I won't even break the skin. I just- It's a wolf thing."
"Okay." Jeff puts his coffee down so he doesn't spill it, and Richie comes across the room to sit next to him.
"Tilt your head," Richie says.
Jeff does. "Really?"
"Wolf thing, baring your neck." Richie tugs the collar of Jeff's shirt to one side. He bites down at the place where Jeff's neck meets his shoulder. He bites hard, but it doesn't hurt, not really. When he lets go, he skims his teeth all the way up Jeff's neck to the underside of his jaw.
"Okay?" Jeff asks.
"Yeah." Jeff can feel Richie smile into his neck and then lick over the places his teeth just were.
"Richie!"
Richie pulls away with a grin. "Wolf thing," he says. "Get used to it."
Jeff picks up his coffee. "I guess this means we'd better both make the team for next season, stick together."
Richie drapes his arm over Jeff's shoulders. "We're going to win the Calder," he says. "We'll make the team."
*
They win twice in Chicago, and then they get a few days between games. There are still workouts and practices, but they get a little time to themselves. Richie drags Jeff out to take long, wandering walks through Philly's neighborhoods.
"We're going to be here next year," he says. "We should know the place. We'll have to figure out where we want to live too."
"You're a lot bossier now that I'm part of your pack," Jeff says.
"I was always this bossy," Richie says. "You just do what I say more often now. And," he adds after a moment, "we haven't ever spent this much time together before."
"True." Jeff follows Richie into a deli where they order sandwiches that turn out to be almost too big to bite into.
"Does it bother you?" Richie asks when they're halfway through their food. "The alpha thing?"
Jeff shrugs. "No. I'll just say no if you want me to do something I don't want to do." He laughs at the frown that puts on Richie's face. "You're not going to do that."
"You don't know that."
"Sure I do." Jeff steals a handful of Richie's chips. "I trust you."
A couple sits down at a table so close to theirs that they're almost bumping elbows. Richie flashes them a smile and changes the subject.
It's only when they're done with lunch and walking back toward their hotel that Richie says, "You don't really know a lot about being a pack."
"No." Jeff bumps his shoulder against Richie's. "But we are one. I'll figure it out as we go." Richie doesn't answer that, and Jeff looks at him as they walk. "What are you worried about? Are there secret wolf rituals you think are going to freak me out?"
"Not rituals," Richie says. "There aren't many other wolves here, but you'll probably run into some. They'll know you're part of a pack. Part of my pack. They'll be able to smell it on you."
It makes sense, and then it makes even more sense. "The sleeping thing. That's about making me smell like you."
"That's part of it," Richie says. He shrugs. "We really don't like being alone."
Jeff walks a little closer to him, so their shoulders bump together with every other step. He thinks it should make Richie relax, but it's not working that way.
"Other wolves," Richie says. "Other packs." He makes a frustrated wolf sound. "Sometimes it's about sex," he spits out. "Some packs, that's part of it. They might think that about you. But we don't- That's only one kind of pack. We won't ever unless you want to. And not all packs are like that. They won't all think that." Richie half-smiles without looking at him. "Some of them will just think I'm a shitty wolf who can't get anyone other than a stupid human to be part of my pack."
"I'm not stupid," Jeff says, leaving the rest of it alone. Richie obviously doesn't want to talk about it, and neither does he.
"Some wolves think any human is stupid." Richie shrugs. "You didn't really know what you were getting into."
Jeff says, "I'm not going to change my mind," and gets a smile out of Richie.
They've been napping together more often than not, but Richie doesn't climb into Jeff's bed or pull Jeff into his when they get back to the hotel. Jeff worries about that for a minute, but Richie acts like nothing's different when they go for dinner, so he probably doesn't have to do anything about it. He knows he doesn't when he wakes up with Richie in his bed in the morning and has to do the usual bit of negotiation to get Richie to let him up.
3. Reunited
Reunited and it feels so good...... Excited to be back playing with carts #needaroommate
-Mike Richards
The first thing Richie does when he shows up at Jeff's hotel room is bury his face in Jeff's neck. Jeff takes a step backwards, and another, so they're out of the way and the door can swing shut.
"I thought we were going out," he says when Richie shows no signs of letting go.
"You live here now," Richie says with a growl. "We can do that later."
Jeff tips his head to give Richie room to set his teeth against Jeff's neck. He doesn't break the skin - never does - but he does bite.
"Don't give me a hickey," Jeff says. "I don't want to have to explain that when I meet the team tomorrow."
Richie chuckles and finally backs off, not far, but enough that he can look Jeff over. "Fuck," he says, and then Jeff's wrapped up in him again, more of a human hug this time. "You're here."
"I know." Jeff grins just as hard as he knows Richie is and hangs on until Richie lets him go. "Can we at least order room service? I've eaten shit today, and I'm starving."
Richie makes himself comfortable on the bed while Jeff orders steaks for both of them, medium for him and rare - "as bloody as you can make it," he says into the phone - for Richie. He sits down with Richie, slouching so Richie can hook an arm around his stomach, his chin over Jeff's shoulder.
"I missed you," Richie says, soft and low into Jeff's throat.
"I know," Jeff says after a moment. "I could feel it."
They're close enough for Jeff to feel the hitch in Richie's breath. It's back to normal by the time Richie says, "There are a lot of wolves here. A lot of packs."
Jeff doesn't even have to ask to know what Richie means. "You're all over me." He puts his hand over Richie's. "I think they'll know I'm yours."
Richie's teeth scrape against his neck again, skim from one side to the other, bite down lightly over his spine at the back. Jeff keeps his head down, neck bared, until Richie decides he's done.
"You're moving in," Richie says. "There's a room for you. It even has furniture."
Jeff could protest, assert his independence, but they've been through this, both know how much of Richie's alpha control Jeff will and won't put up with, and Jeff doesn't want to be too far from Richie anyway. Maybe next season, if it feels permanent then. If it ever stops feeling like it did the few times he's seen Richie since the first trade, like they're storing up the feel of each other for when they're apart. Wolves aren't meant to be solitary creatures, and Jeff knows, can feel it even if he didn't know Richie would tell him if it changed, that he's still the only other member of Richie's pack.
Richie lets Jeff up to answer the door and sign for the food. Jeff takes the trays from the waiter at the door rather than let him into the room; no need to do anything that will trigger Richie's territorial issues. He does put it on the table instead of taking it to the bed, because the table is small enough that they can stretch their legs out under it and still touch, and eating room service on a bed is not as much fun when you've been in as many hotels as they have.
They break into the minibar after dinner, despite the fact that Jeff is the one who has to go to the rink tomorrow and Richie is the one who has an increased tolerance. Jeff ends up drunker than he means to be, which is probably what makes him cling so hard to Richie when they collapse into bed. And what makes him say, "I would have let you stay even if we weren't drinking," even though that should be a given, not something he has to say to his alpha.
*
Richie's still asleep when Jeff wakes up to the blaring of his alarm and a hangover he blames entirely on Richie. He shoves at Richie's shoulder as he gets out of bed. "Set an alarm for whenever you have to be up."
Richie just grunts at him and rolls over to bury his face in Jeff's pillow.
Jeff takes a shower and a couple of painkillers, which leaves him feeling well enough to head to the rink. He flips Richie off from the doorway anyway, because he knows that Richie's just wallowing; he's barely going to feel it when he wakes up. Richie can't see him, but he must know Jeff's being disrespectful, because he growls without moving.
That cheers Jeff right up, enough that he barely needs the coffee he has the cab stop for to smile at the people who meet him at the rink.
The front office is fully human, but he watches for the signs when he meets half the team and picks out the wolves. It's subtle, but he's spent enough time with Richie to see it, the way they look at him differently, the way a few of them do half-double takes when they realize they're smelling Jeff not Richie, the way they stare at Jeff and then incline their heads when he refuses to back down and drop his gaze. It's not the first time he's dealt with other wolves, and they might as well know from the start that just because he's human doesn't mean anyone other than Richie outranks him.
*
Despite Richie's grumbling about it, Jeff heads back to the hotel after the next day's game. There just isn't enough time for him to relax if he tries to move, no matter how little stuff he has or how easy Richie says the drive is. He doesn't have to adjust to staying in a hotel the way he's going to have to adjust to living with Richie, and he needs to keep his energy up for traveling and games.
"Go home," he tells Richie, pushing him away as much to get Richie to back off as to leave his scent on him. "Sleep in the bed you're giving me if it'll make you feel better. I'll move in when we get back."
Richie curves his hand around the back of Jeff's neck, in a way that means he really wants to use his teeth but won't because they're in a public hallway at the rink. "Pack your stuff. I'll pick you up, and we can leave it in the car."
Jeff nods, lets Richie take what he needs from his body language - both what he's doing on purpose to put Richie at ease and what he doesn't know he's doing - and goes back to his hotel where he packs everything instead of just what he needs to travel tomorrow.
*
They don't have a chance to talk again until they're on the plane, where Richie herds Jeff into a window seat and takes the aisle next to him.
"You've met all the wolves," Richie says. "How many packs?"
"Three," Jeff answers, "besides us." He knows what Richie's doing, that as quiet as their voices are, every wolf on the plane can hear them. Jeff figures it's half about showing off and half about making sure they know what it means that Jeff is a human pack member, not just a human who knows something about wolves.
"You figure out the alphas?"
"Brown." That one's easy; Jeff's never met a wolf captain who wasn't an alpha. "Doughty." Also easy, even if he hadn't been the one to take the longest to accept that Jeff wasn't going to bend to him. "Quick's wife."
Richie's been half watching him with half his attention somewhere else, but that makes his whole attention snap to Jeff, and there's a sort of stillness in the air that makes the hair on the back of Jeff's neck stand up.
Jeff raises his eyebrows. If he speaks the wolves will hear, but the humans across the aisle won't have picked up on it, so movement is safe.
Richie stares at him, considering, slight growl in his throat, before he nods and says, "Most people wouldn't get that."
Jeff answers carefully, not entirely sure what the fuck is going on with the wolves and not willing to do anything that will unbalance things or cause problems for Richie. "I spent enough time around Lauren Pronger to recognize the feel of an alpha mate."
There's something like an exhale, but Jeff doesn't fully relax until Richie squeezes his wrist and nods at him.
*
Jeff doesn't have to do more than look at Richie the next time they're alone out of wolf hearing range to get an explanation.
"Female alphas are rare," Richie says. "You couldn't have guessed that. Most people would have picked Quickie as the alpha."
Jeff crosses his arms over his chest. "So what was that on the plane?"
"That," Richie says, putting his hand at the cross of Jeff's arms, "was a lot of wolves learning not to underestimate what a decade of being the only other member of a pack can do to a human." He squeezes Jeff's arm. "You already make them nervous."
Jeff doesn't quite laugh, but he does let his arms drop to his sides. "The human makes them nervous."
"Yes." Richie pats Jeff's shoulder. "They'll have to come through me if they want to do anything about it, but they should know enough to leave you alone."
Jeff rolls his eyes. "I'm pretty sure even the humans know I'm yours."
*
When they get home, Richie takes them straight from the rink to his house, where Arnold slobbers all over Jeff and Richie gives him the tour. Jeff unpacks into his room, changes into jeans and a t-shirt, and wanders downstairs just in time for Richie to say, "I'm taking Arnold for a walk. Want to come see the beach?"
Jeff slips his feet into a pair of shoes and goes with them. The sun is in the wrong place and the water's different, but it smells like the ocean he's used to, salt and sand.
"Nice."
"Yeah." Richie grins at him and throws a tennis ball into the waves for Arnold. "It's pretty nice here. Laid-back, nice weather." He leans his shoulder into Jeff's. "Both of us here."
"Yeah." Jeff puts his arm around Richie's shoulders. "Didn't think that was going to happen." He takes the ball from Arnold and throws it out into the waves.
"Yeah," Richie breathes. "Packs aren't supposed to be split up."
Jeff squeezes Richie's shoulders in a sudden burst of panic that isn't just his. "So we won't let them do it again."
*
Jeff rummages through the fridge when they get home and pulls out dinner makings.
Richie growls, not threatening enough to make him stop. "You don't have to-"
"If it's the alpha speech," Jeff says, "save it. You're letting me live here. I'll cook."
He doesn't get the speech, but Richie growls again.
"Making me feel useless isn't taking care of or protecting your pack," Jeff says. It's playing dirty, but sometimes that's what has to be done to get his own way with his alpha. "I'm a better cook anyway." He can almost see the wolf recede enough to let Richie laugh.
*
Jeff sleeps in his own bed for the first two nights, jerks off in it one of them, because he wants to and because he knows it'll make the place smell more like him. The third night, he bypasses his door and climbs in with Richie. Instead of Richie curling up against him like he did in the hotel, Richie pushes him onto his back and lies mostly on top of him, nose in the crook of Jeff's neck.
Jeff puts the arm not trapped under Richie around him, thumb stroking across the small of Richie's back, trying to remind Richie that he's here, their pack is together.
Richie rumbles into his neck, a wolf sound like a growl but without the menace, and Jeff tips his head so Richie can bite down. He licks over the bite, and just laughs unrepentantly when Jeff pinches him for it.
*
Arnold jumps on them when they get in after Saturday night's game. Richie calms him down enough that Arnold will let them change before they take him out for a walk down to the beach. It's quiet, for a Saturday night, barely anyone passing them by while they stand at the edge of the water and watch Arnold race up and down the sand.
Richie hands the tennis ball to Jeff, who throws it again for Arnold, and when he turns around, Richie is stripping off his clothes and dropping them onto the sand. Jeff raises his eyebrows, but doesn't get more of an answer than a wolfy grin.
Richie shifts, going from human to wolf in a transition Jeff doesn't find unsettling anymore.
Jeff shakes his head and watches Richie and Arnold tussle for a bit before they both rush up to him. "You're going to play catch?" Jeff throws the tennis ball into a high arc into the surf. Richie's just a little faster than Arnold, and he brings it back to Jeff to throw again.
They play catch until Arnold flops down on the sand at Jeff's feet. Richie joins them more slowly, and Jeff crouches down to rub behind his ears. Arnold perks up after a minute and butts in to demand his turn. By the time Arnold is halfway satisfied, Richie is human and dressed, and resting a hand on Jeff's back.
"That was fun," Richie says as they walk up the beach to the street. "I've been wanting to do that."
"You should have said," Jeff says. "I would have taken you out there." He walks shoulder to shoulder with Richie, Arnold trotting ahead of them.
"Too many neighbors," Richie says.
"If anyone asks, I'll tell them I'm dogsitting."
"Asshole," Richie mutters, but he slings his arm around Jeff's shoulders.
*
Richie growls when Jeff tries to get up on Sunday morning. Jeff rolls his eyes even though Richie has his eyes closed and can't see him and pushes at Richie's arms. "You can sleep. I'm getting up."
Richie finally lets go with another growl.
Jeff goes downstairs and starts the coffee while he takes Arnold out for a quick walk around the block. He's back, sipping coffee and talking to his mom on the phone, when Richie stumbles downstairs. Jeff gets up, pours Richie a cup of coffee, and pushes Richie toward the couch.
"Tell Mike we said hi," Jeff's mom says at the end of the call, "and we're looking forward to seeing him when we come out there."
Jeff hangs up and collects Richie's empty coffee cup to put in the sink with his. "Beach? You and Arnold can run around."
"It's Sunday," Richie says. "There'll be a lot of people out."
"You're well-behaved," Jeff says, "and you can keep Arnold under control."
"If you're up for it," Richie says.
Jeff shrugs. "Nothing else going on."
Richie goes upstairs to leave his clothes in some sort of order, and pads back down as a wolf, which makes Arnold jump at him and bark his head off. Richie does the wolf equivalent of a chuckle and lets Arnold get away with it while Jeff grabs a beach towel, a Frisbee, and Arnold's leash.
Richie stays at Jeff's side on the way down to the beach, where Jeff can reach down and rest his hand on Richie's neck when they stop at the corners, so it doesn't look like he's just letting an unleashed wolfhound wander the streets of Manhattan Beach.
Jeff lets Arnold off his leash on the beach. He tosses the Frisbee for Richie and Arnold for a while before he spreads out his towel and sits down to watch them tussle and race the waves.
Jeff gets up when a couple of kids get too close to Richie and Arnold, goes over to supervise.
"Can we pet them?" one of the kids asks.
Jeff crouches down to their level, catches Arnold by the collar; Richie can be trusted not to be too rough. "Careful. First you want to hold your hand out and let them smell you. This is Arnold. That's Richie."
The kids hold out their hands, and Jeff guides them through making sure Richie and Arnold are comfortable and willing to be touched before the kids pet them.
Arnold gets so excited that he licks the little girl's cheek, making her laugh and squirm away from it. "He's slobbery!"
Jeff just laughs. "He can be."
A man comes over and hovers behind the kids. "Are they bothering you?"
Jeff stands and smiles at him. "No, they're fine."
Richie crowds up against Jeff's leg. Jeff puts his hand down on Richie's head.
"We're playing," the boy says, looking up at the guy who must be the kids' dad.
"Those are very big dogs," the guy says.
"They're very careful," Jeff says. "They're not going to hurt the kids."
"They're nice," the girl says. She throws herself forward and flings her arms around Richie's neck. "Can we get a dog like this?"
Jeff exchanges a smile with the kids' dad. "That's the real danger."
"I can see that." The dad puts his hand on top of the girls' head. "We can talk about dogs later. Your mom's getting lunch ready."
Both kids linger, getting in last chances to pet Richie and Arnold before they're willing to leave with their dad.
Richie looks up at Jeff with an expression that's not hard to read.
"Okay, us too." Jeff shakes sand out of his towel and whistles for Arnold.
"Thanks," Richie says when they're home and he's shifted back. He looks relaxed, something softened in his face, a little like he looks when he's been in Kenora where he can shift and run all he wants. He presses his smile into Jeff's neck. "I missed that."
Jeff curves his hand over the back of Richie's head, rubs at his head the same way he does when Richie's a wolf. "Any time you want to go out there, I'll take you."
*
In the afternoon, Richie puts in a disc of Entourage and pulls Jeff down onto his lap on the couch. Jeff's used to it now - he used to protest that he was too heavy for Richie, until Richie growled at him and said, "Werewolf. I can handle it." - and he knows to just make himself comfortable. Arnold wanders around the house a bit before settling down at their feet.
They're halfway into a second episode when the doorbell rings, and Richie calls out a lazy, "It's unlocked," too quiet for anyone who isn't a wolf to hear.
"Let me up," Jeff says when trying to move doesn't do anything to get him out of Richie's hold.
"It's just Stolly and Quickie," Richie says.
Arnold perks up his head, but doesn't go rushing to greet them, so Jeff sighs and gives up trying to move.
"This is a sad little pack," Stolly says when they come up the stairs. "One human and a black lab."
"You need some pups," Quickie says. He takes the other end of the couch and drapes his legs over Stolly's when he sits down.
"We'd have to have more pack members first," Richie says.
"Or hire a nanny," Stolly suggests.
Jeff gestures at Richie's arms wrapped around his chest and hip. "You really think Richie's going to let an out-pack nanny raise his kids?"
Quickie laughs, more wolf than human. "It's an alpha thing. You should see Jaclyn when someone suggests we get an out-pack babysitter."
Stolly shudders. "I've seen it. It's not pretty."
Quickie tips his head, and looks at Jeff and Richie with a look too speculative for Jeff to be comfortable with. "We know a lot of wolves and wolf-friendly humans, if you're looking for more pack members."
There's one of those wolf shifts in the air that makes Jeff freeze and keep still.
"They aren't all from our pack," Quickie says mildly.
Richie's voice is calm when he says, "I'll keep that in mind," but his grip on Jeff tightens to something just below painful and Arnold lifts his head and whines.
Jeff puts his hand on Richie's arm, slides it down to his wrist, trying to get him to calm down without undermining his authority in front of other wolves.
Richie's teeth scrape over his neck.
Quickie laughs, and his reaction makes Stolly relax too. "Fine," Quickie says. "I'll stay out of it. No promises about Jaclyn, though."
Richie relaxes, and his hold on Jeff goes from constricting to comfortable. Jeff lets go of his arm and reaches down to scratch behind Arnold's ears.
Part Two
Notes: This was written entirely in emails to entertain
lakeeffectgirl. What you will find here: lots of touching, talking about their relationship, sex. What you will not find here: plot.Story on AO3
1. Best Friends
I've known Jeff since we were 16, probably best friends since we were 18.
-Mike Richards
Jeff wakes up slowly from his nap. He's on early practices today, which means the only thing he has to get to now is dinner. He opens his eyes at a slight chuckle to find Richie sitting cross-legged on the bed across from him.
"Hey."
"Hey." Richie slips off the other bed and crosses the room to stretch out next to Jeff.
"Dude," Jeff says. "What?"
Richie sort of shrugs. "I just wanted-" And then he frowns at Jeff. "I thought- Jeff didn't tell you?"
Jeff's still waking up, so it takes him a minute to realize Richie means Jeff Richards, not him. "Tell me what?"
Richie lets out a frustrated growl that wakes Jeff all the way up, because he knows that sound. That's a werewolf sound.
Jeff sits up, folding his legs under him, and looks down on Richie, who takes it for just a moment before he sits up too.
"You're a werewolf."
"Wolf," Richie says. "Not werewolf. Werewolf is-" He shrugs. "It's not the wolf word."
Jeff doesn't know what to say for a moment, a very long moment, where Richie, who is always so sure of himself, looks uncertain.
The moment breaks when Richie stands up and heads for the door.
"Okay," Jeff says, before Richie can leave.
Richie stops, but he doesn't turn around.
"Hey, we're cool, right?" Jeff says.
Richie says, "Yeah, we're cool," but when Jeff makes it to the dining hall, Richie's at a full table and won't even look at Jeff.
He sure fucked that one up.
*
Richie disappears after dinner, and still won't look at Jeff the next day, so after late practice and a shower, Jeff goes to Richie's room. He can't really sneak in, not if Richie's a wolf, but he can get in while Richie's asleep and let Richie wake up to Jeff sitting on his bed.
Richie sits up and scowls at him.
"Don't be a dick," Jeff says, before he remembers he needs to apologize. "Sorry about yesterday." He shrugs. "I don't know a lot of wolves."
Richie nods, and his scowl lets up, but he's still holding himself tight, like he's watching someone else take a playoff overtime faceoff.
"That was a wolf thing," Jeff hazards.
"We're not meant to be solitary creatures," Richie says.
"Okay," Jeff says, and he breathes evenly, because Richie will hear it if this is freaking him out. "So, you want to?" He gestures at the length of the bed.
"It won't be too weird for you?"
Jeff shrugs. "I've roomed with goalies. A little wolf contact isn't going to freak me out." When Richie doesn't move, Jeff takes the initiative and lies down.
Richie huffs out a noise that isn't quite human and lies down behind Jeff. He hooks his chin over Jeff's shoulder and turns so his nose is against Jeff's neck and Jeff can feel his breath. "Okay?"
Jeff says, "Sure." It's a little strange, but not so strange he won't do it. It's a little enough thing to do for Richie. "Don't sleep through dinner."
Richie's laugh is only half human, and Jeff feels it as much as he hears it. "We might be late, but we won't miss it."
2. Pack
We lived together and probably spent every day together for a couple years.
-Mike Richards
Jeff's awake from his nap, TV on but not really paying attention to it, when the lock clicks and the door opens. Jeff hesitates for a second, but that's stupid. Richie's a wolf; he probably already knows how glad Jeff is to have him here. Besides, Richie's dropping his bags by the door with a giant smile on his face.
"Cartsy," he says, and it's enough to pull Jeff off the bed he's been sitting on to go meet Richie in the middle of the room.
He's used to Richie's hugs now, has even missed them in the time since they last saw each other, and being in a hotel room alone means they can hang on for as long as they want while Richie buries his face in Jeff's neck. Jeff doesn't have wolf senses, but the familiar scent of Richie's shampoo is comforting all the same.
"So," Richie says when he lets go but doesn't go far, "we going to win this thing?"
"We are now." Jeff turns away enough to look at the clock. "We're supposed to have dinner with Sharpy."
"Where are we going?"
"His place. Abby's cooking."
"We get to meet the famous Abby?" Richie brings his bags all the way into the room and starts rummaging through them.
"I guess so." Jeff stretches out on his bed. "It sounds like most of the guys have met her. She sounds cool."
"That makes sense," Richie says, "knowing Sharpy."
"We've got some time," Jeff says, "if you want to take a nap or something."
Richie stands between their beds and looks down at Jeff. "Can we?" He makes a gesture Jeff takes to mean Richie's wolf need for contact.
"Yeah." Jeff scoots over, making a little more space for Richie. "Come on."
Richie shifts them around, so Jeff ends up on his back with Richie mostly on top of him, Richie's chin on his collarbone, and Richie's face in his neck.
"Comfortable?" Jeff asks.
Jeff feels as much as hears the contented, not-human sound that rumbles through Richie. "Not too heavy for you?"
It might be too much for any real length of time, but they have to leave in an hour anyway, so Jeff says, "I'm a hockey player. I think I can take it."
*
Sharpy answers the door when they knock, and makes three jokes about them not being old enough to bring wine before he takes them into the kitchen to meet Abby. She's a pretty girl in jeans and a t-shirt with her hair pulled back into a ponytail who says, "We have enough wine for your whole team," to Sharpy, "Nice to meet you," to Jeff and Richie, and then, "You're supposed to be making a salad," to Sharpy.
Sharpy scrunches up his face, which only makes her lean over the counter and brush her nose against his.
Sharpy makes the salad, they break out a bottle of wine, and they all sit down at the table in the dining area.
"We like to call it that," Sharpy says, gesturing at the table in one half of a room divided between it and a living room area, "to pretend we live in a bigger place."
"Mostly," Abby says, "I do my homework on half the table and we eat on the other half. We cleaned it off special for you."
Richie grins at her and says, "You're not the hideous shrew I was led to expect."
Abby laughs, because Richie knows how to gauge that sort of thing - Jeff's never been able to figure out if it's a wolf thing or a natural talent - and Sharpy says, "If I told people the truth about you, they would all want you."
Abby puts her hand over Sharpy's and says, with a sharp look at Richie, "You'd better not be about to suggest he marry me as a safeguard."
Richie closes his mouth.
"You don't want to get married?" Jeff asks. They fit so well that it doesn't make sense.
"Oh, someday," Sharpy says.
"I'll need to be on his health insurance before I get pregnant," Abby says, and Sharpy doesn't even blink, both of them treating it like that's a given, "but there's no rush. We don't need to be married to belong together. Just because you two aren't officially related doesn't mean you aren't family."
Richie goes completely still, just for a few seconds, and it's enough to raise the hair on the back of Jeff's neck.
Abby and Sharpy don't seem to notice, and the conversation shifts to Abby's classes, and then stories from Abby and Sharpy's time in college, and eventually hockey.
It's fun, even if they don't stay late because they have practice in the morning. Abby hugs both of them when they leave, and she and Sharpy stand in the doorway, arms around each other, to wave goodnight.
Jeff goes to sleep alone when they get back to their hotel, but he isn't surprised to wake up in the morning with Richie tucked around him. It takes ten minutes of negotiation that mostly consists of Richie growling at him and Jeff pointing out that they have places to be today before Richie will let him get up.
*
They win. They win a lot. Jeff knows it's not just because of Richie - hockey is never just about one person - but there's no doubt in his mind that Richie is a big part of it.
They win in the third round at home, and after going out with the rest of the guys - between them they have enough fake IDs and people over twenty-one to get all the humans drunk and Richie a little buzzed - Jeff and Richie go back to their room where Richie pulls Jeff down onto his bed.
"We're going to win this," Jeff says. "We're going to win the Calder."
Richie's face breaks into a bright smile. "Of course we are." He slings his arm over Jeff's waist and just looks at him for a long time.
Jeff's laugh quiets the longer Richie stares at him. "What?"
"Do you remember what Abby said? When I first got here?"
Jeff is too drunk for this conversation to make sense. "No."
"She said we were family." Richie's hand creeps under the edge of Jeff's shirt to make a patch of warmth on his back. "Wolves don't have- We have families. But we also have packs."
Jeff lets his eyes fall closed. "Okay."
Richie makes a frustrated noise that's more human than wolf. It's weird, but not enough to make Jeff open his eyes. He could fall asleep right here.
"I don't- Technically, I'm still part of my parents' pack," Richie says. "But I'm not- That's not it for me. I'm an alpha." He stops, like that's supposed to be enough for Jeff to know what he's talking about.
"I don't know what that means for wolves."
This time Richie's frustrated noise is more of a wolf noise than a human one. "Alphas are leaders."
Jeff laughs and opens his eyes to grin at Richie. "That's you."
Richie grins back at him. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah." He's quiet for a while, long enough that Jeff closes his eyes and starts to doze off. "You could be my pack."
"I'm not a wolf," Jeff manages.
"You don't have to be," Richie says. "Humans can be part of the pack."
Jeff just hums a little, to show he's paying attention.
Richie hitches himself closer to Jeff; Jeff can feel his warmth everywhere, not just under the hand still on his back. "You could be," Richie says again. He sighs, his breath ghosting over Jeff's neck. "I'll explain it tomorrow."
Jeff agrees, as much as he can while half asleep, but Richie seems to know what he means and stops talking.
*
Jeff wakes up with the worst hangover he's ever had in his life. He stumbles out of bed, into the bathroom, and then around the room until he finds the Tylenol. He tips a few of them into his hand and washes them down with a couple of glasses of water. Then he gets back into bed and lets Richie pull him close. Richie's solid warmth is comforting, and he falls back to sleep easily.
The second time he wakes up, he doesn't feel quite so much like he wants to die just to stop the pain. Richie's already up, and he has coffee ready when Jeff gets out of the shower.
Jeff's halfway through his cup before vague memories of last night's conversation start to seep into his conscious mind. "Pack," he says. "You were going to explain."
"It's kind of like family," Richie says. He sits on his own bed, halfway across the room from Jeff. "But there's other stuff. There's a hierarchy. The alpha is the leader, and everyone else is below that. And being pack isn't like being humans. There's a connection between pack members." He frowns. "I don't really know how that works with humans. You might not be able to feel that."
Jeff sips at his coffee while he processes all of that. "So you'd be like my captain."
Richie laughs a little. "Yeah, something like that."
"Okay," Jeff says, "as long as I'm your A." There are probably other things he should ask about or think about, but he trusts Richie.
"Yeah," Richie says. "You can be my A." He shakes his head. "You're going to be my only pack member for now, anyway."
"Okay. Do I have to do anything?"
"Agree to it. Believe you're part of the pack." Richie looks away. "Let me bite you. I won't hurt you," he rushes on. "I won't even break the skin. I just- It's a wolf thing."
"Okay." Jeff puts his coffee down so he doesn't spill it, and Richie comes across the room to sit next to him.
"Tilt your head," Richie says.
Jeff does. "Really?"
"Wolf thing, baring your neck." Richie tugs the collar of Jeff's shirt to one side. He bites down at the place where Jeff's neck meets his shoulder. He bites hard, but it doesn't hurt, not really. When he lets go, he skims his teeth all the way up Jeff's neck to the underside of his jaw.
"Okay?" Jeff asks.
"Yeah." Jeff can feel Richie smile into his neck and then lick over the places his teeth just were.
"Richie!"
Richie pulls away with a grin. "Wolf thing," he says. "Get used to it."
Jeff picks up his coffee. "I guess this means we'd better both make the team for next season, stick together."
Richie drapes his arm over Jeff's shoulders. "We're going to win the Calder," he says. "We'll make the team."
*
They win twice in Chicago, and then they get a few days between games. There are still workouts and practices, but they get a little time to themselves. Richie drags Jeff out to take long, wandering walks through Philly's neighborhoods.
"We're going to be here next year," he says. "We should know the place. We'll have to figure out where we want to live too."
"You're a lot bossier now that I'm part of your pack," Jeff says.
"I was always this bossy," Richie says. "You just do what I say more often now. And," he adds after a moment, "we haven't ever spent this much time together before."
"True." Jeff follows Richie into a deli where they order sandwiches that turn out to be almost too big to bite into.
"Does it bother you?" Richie asks when they're halfway through their food. "The alpha thing?"
Jeff shrugs. "No. I'll just say no if you want me to do something I don't want to do." He laughs at the frown that puts on Richie's face. "You're not going to do that."
"You don't know that."
"Sure I do." Jeff steals a handful of Richie's chips. "I trust you."
A couple sits down at a table so close to theirs that they're almost bumping elbows. Richie flashes them a smile and changes the subject.
It's only when they're done with lunch and walking back toward their hotel that Richie says, "You don't really know a lot about being a pack."
"No." Jeff bumps his shoulder against Richie's. "But we are one. I'll figure it out as we go." Richie doesn't answer that, and Jeff looks at him as they walk. "What are you worried about? Are there secret wolf rituals you think are going to freak me out?"
"Not rituals," Richie says. "There aren't many other wolves here, but you'll probably run into some. They'll know you're part of a pack. Part of my pack. They'll be able to smell it on you."
It makes sense, and then it makes even more sense. "The sleeping thing. That's about making me smell like you."
"That's part of it," Richie says. He shrugs. "We really don't like being alone."
Jeff walks a little closer to him, so their shoulders bump together with every other step. He thinks it should make Richie relax, but it's not working that way.
"Other wolves," Richie says. "Other packs." He makes a frustrated wolf sound. "Sometimes it's about sex," he spits out. "Some packs, that's part of it. They might think that about you. But we don't- That's only one kind of pack. We won't ever unless you want to. And not all packs are like that. They won't all think that." Richie half-smiles without looking at him. "Some of them will just think I'm a shitty wolf who can't get anyone other than a stupid human to be part of my pack."
"I'm not stupid," Jeff says, leaving the rest of it alone. Richie obviously doesn't want to talk about it, and neither does he.
"Some wolves think any human is stupid." Richie shrugs. "You didn't really know what you were getting into."
Jeff says, "I'm not going to change my mind," and gets a smile out of Richie.
They've been napping together more often than not, but Richie doesn't climb into Jeff's bed or pull Jeff into his when they get back to the hotel. Jeff worries about that for a minute, but Richie acts like nothing's different when they go for dinner, so he probably doesn't have to do anything about it. He knows he doesn't when he wakes up with Richie in his bed in the morning and has to do the usual bit of negotiation to get Richie to let him up.
3. Reunited
Reunited and it feels so good...... Excited to be back playing with carts #needaroommate
-Mike Richards
The first thing Richie does when he shows up at Jeff's hotel room is bury his face in Jeff's neck. Jeff takes a step backwards, and another, so they're out of the way and the door can swing shut.
"I thought we were going out," he says when Richie shows no signs of letting go.
"You live here now," Richie says with a growl. "We can do that later."
Jeff tips his head to give Richie room to set his teeth against Jeff's neck. He doesn't break the skin - never does - but he does bite.
"Don't give me a hickey," Jeff says. "I don't want to have to explain that when I meet the team tomorrow."
Richie chuckles and finally backs off, not far, but enough that he can look Jeff over. "Fuck," he says, and then Jeff's wrapped up in him again, more of a human hug this time. "You're here."
"I know." Jeff grins just as hard as he knows Richie is and hangs on until Richie lets him go. "Can we at least order room service? I've eaten shit today, and I'm starving."
Richie makes himself comfortable on the bed while Jeff orders steaks for both of them, medium for him and rare - "as bloody as you can make it," he says into the phone - for Richie. He sits down with Richie, slouching so Richie can hook an arm around his stomach, his chin over Jeff's shoulder.
"I missed you," Richie says, soft and low into Jeff's throat.
"I know," Jeff says after a moment. "I could feel it."
They're close enough for Jeff to feel the hitch in Richie's breath. It's back to normal by the time Richie says, "There are a lot of wolves here. A lot of packs."
Jeff doesn't even have to ask to know what Richie means. "You're all over me." He puts his hand over Richie's. "I think they'll know I'm yours."
Richie's teeth scrape against his neck again, skim from one side to the other, bite down lightly over his spine at the back. Jeff keeps his head down, neck bared, until Richie decides he's done.
"You're moving in," Richie says. "There's a room for you. It even has furniture."
Jeff could protest, assert his independence, but they've been through this, both know how much of Richie's alpha control Jeff will and won't put up with, and Jeff doesn't want to be too far from Richie anyway. Maybe next season, if it feels permanent then. If it ever stops feeling like it did the few times he's seen Richie since the first trade, like they're storing up the feel of each other for when they're apart. Wolves aren't meant to be solitary creatures, and Jeff knows, can feel it even if he didn't know Richie would tell him if it changed, that he's still the only other member of Richie's pack.
Richie lets Jeff up to answer the door and sign for the food. Jeff takes the trays from the waiter at the door rather than let him into the room; no need to do anything that will trigger Richie's territorial issues. He does put it on the table instead of taking it to the bed, because the table is small enough that they can stretch their legs out under it and still touch, and eating room service on a bed is not as much fun when you've been in as many hotels as they have.
They break into the minibar after dinner, despite the fact that Jeff is the one who has to go to the rink tomorrow and Richie is the one who has an increased tolerance. Jeff ends up drunker than he means to be, which is probably what makes him cling so hard to Richie when they collapse into bed. And what makes him say, "I would have let you stay even if we weren't drinking," even though that should be a given, not something he has to say to his alpha.
*
Richie's still asleep when Jeff wakes up to the blaring of his alarm and a hangover he blames entirely on Richie. He shoves at Richie's shoulder as he gets out of bed. "Set an alarm for whenever you have to be up."
Richie just grunts at him and rolls over to bury his face in Jeff's pillow.
Jeff takes a shower and a couple of painkillers, which leaves him feeling well enough to head to the rink. He flips Richie off from the doorway anyway, because he knows that Richie's just wallowing; he's barely going to feel it when he wakes up. Richie can't see him, but he must know Jeff's being disrespectful, because he growls without moving.
That cheers Jeff right up, enough that he barely needs the coffee he has the cab stop for to smile at the people who meet him at the rink.
The front office is fully human, but he watches for the signs when he meets half the team and picks out the wolves. It's subtle, but he's spent enough time with Richie to see it, the way they look at him differently, the way a few of them do half-double takes when they realize they're smelling Jeff not Richie, the way they stare at Jeff and then incline their heads when he refuses to back down and drop his gaze. It's not the first time he's dealt with other wolves, and they might as well know from the start that just because he's human doesn't mean anyone other than Richie outranks him.
*
Despite Richie's grumbling about it, Jeff heads back to the hotel after the next day's game. There just isn't enough time for him to relax if he tries to move, no matter how little stuff he has or how easy Richie says the drive is. He doesn't have to adjust to staying in a hotel the way he's going to have to adjust to living with Richie, and he needs to keep his energy up for traveling and games.
"Go home," he tells Richie, pushing him away as much to get Richie to back off as to leave his scent on him. "Sleep in the bed you're giving me if it'll make you feel better. I'll move in when we get back."
Richie curves his hand around the back of Jeff's neck, in a way that means he really wants to use his teeth but won't because they're in a public hallway at the rink. "Pack your stuff. I'll pick you up, and we can leave it in the car."
Jeff nods, lets Richie take what he needs from his body language - both what he's doing on purpose to put Richie at ease and what he doesn't know he's doing - and goes back to his hotel where he packs everything instead of just what he needs to travel tomorrow.
*
They don't have a chance to talk again until they're on the plane, where Richie herds Jeff into a window seat and takes the aisle next to him.
"You've met all the wolves," Richie says. "How many packs?"
"Three," Jeff answers, "besides us." He knows what Richie's doing, that as quiet as their voices are, every wolf on the plane can hear them. Jeff figures it's half about showing off and half about making sure they know what it means that Jeff is a human pack member, not just a human who knows something about wolves.
"You figure out the alphas?"
"Brown." That one's easy; Jeff's never met a wolf captain who wasn't an alpha. "Doughty." Also easy, even if he hadn't been the one to take the longest to accept that Jeff wasn't going to bend to him. "Quick's wife."
Richie's been half watching him with half his attention somewhere else, but that makes his whole attention snap to Jeff, and there's a sort of stillness in the air that makes the hair on the back of Jeff's neck stand up.
Jeff raises his eyebrows. If he speaks the wolves will hear, but the humans across the aisle won't have picked up on it, so movement is safe.
Richie stares at him, considering, slight growl in his throat, before he nods and says, "Most people wouldn't get that."
Jeff answers carefully, not entirely sure what the fuck is going on with the wolves and not willing to do anything that will unbalance things or cause problems for Richie. "I spent enough time around Lauren Pronger to recognize the feel of an alpha mate."
There's something like an exhale, but Jeff doesn't fully relax until Richie squeezes his wrist and nods at him.
*
Jeff doesn't have to do more than look at Richie the next time they're alone out of wolf hearing range to get an explanation.
"Female alphas are rare," Richie says. "You couldn't have guessed that. Most people would have picked Quickie as the alpha."
Jeff crosses his arms over his chest. "So what was that on the plane?"
"That," Richie says, putting his hand at the cross of Jeff's arms, "was a lot of wolves learning not to underestimate what a decade of being the only other member of a pack can do to a human." He squeezes Jeff's arm. "You already make them nervous."
Jeff doesn't quite laugh, but he does let his arms drop to his sides. "The human makes them nervous."
"Yes." Richie pats Jeff's shoulder. "They'll have to come through me if they want to do anything about it, but they should know enough to leave you alone."
Jeff rolls his eyes. "I'm pretty sure even the humans know I'm yours."
*
When they get home, Richie takes them straight from the rink to his house, where Arnold slobbers all over Jeff and Richie gives him the tour. Jeff unpacks into his room, changes into jeans and a t-shirt, and wanders downstairs just in time for Richie to say, "I'm taking Arnold for a walk. Want to come see the beach?"
Jeff slips his feet into a pair of shoes and goes with them. The sun is in the wrong place and the water's different, but it smells like the ocean he's used to, salt and sand.
"Nice."
"Yeah." Richie grins at him and throws a tennis ball into the waves for Arnold. "It's pretty nice here. Laid-back, nice weather." He leans his shoulder into Jeff's. "Both of us here."
"Yeah." Jeff puts his arm around Richie's shoulders. "Didn't think that was going to happen." He takes the ball from Arnold and throws it out into the waves.
"Yeah," Richie breathes. "Packs aren't supposed to be split up."
Jeff squeezes Richie's shoulders in a sudden burst of panic that isn't just his. "So we won't let them do it again."
*
Jeff rummages through the fridge when they get home and pulls out dinner makings.
Richie growls, not threatening enough to make him stop. "You don't have to-"
"If it's the alpha speech," Jeff says, "save it. You're letting me live here. I'll cook."
He doesn't get the speech, but Richie growls again.
"Making me feel useless isn't taking care of or protecting your pack," Jeff says. It's playing dirty, but sometimes that's what has to be done to get his own way with his alpha. "I'm a better cook anyway." He can almost see the wolf recede enough to let Richie laugh.
*
Jeff sleeps in his own bed for the first two nights, jerks off in it one of them, because he wants to and because he knows it'll make the place smell more like him. The third night, he bypasses his door and climbs in with Richie. Instead of Richie curling up against him like he did in the hotel, Richie pushes him onto his back and lies mostly on top of him, nose in the crook of Jeff's neck.
Jeff puts the arm not trapped under Richie around him, thumb stroking across the small of Richie's back, trying to remind Richie that he's here, their pack is together.
Richie rumbles into his neck, a wolf sound like a growl but without the menace, and Jeff tips his head so Richie can bite down. He licks over the bite, and just laughs unrepentantly when Jeff pinches him for it.
*
Arnold jumps on them when they get in after Saturday night's game. Richie calms him down enough that Arnold will let them change before they take him out for a walk down to the beach. It's quiet, for a Saturday night, barely anyone passing them by while they stand at the edge of the water and watch Arnold race up and down the sand.
Richie hands the tennis ball to Jeff, who throws it again for Arnold, and when he turns around, Richie is stripping off his clothes and dropping them onto the sand. Jeff raises his eyebrows, but doesn't get more of an answer than a wolfy grin.
Richie shifts, going from human to wolf in a transition Jeff doesn't find unsettling anymore.
Jeff shakes his head and watches Richie and Arnold tussle for a bit before they both rush up to him. "You're going to play catch?" Jeff throws the tennis ball into a high arc into the surf. Richie's just a little faster than Arnold, and he brings it back to Jeff to throw again.
They play catch until Arnold flops down on the sand at Jeff's feet. Richie joins them more slowly, and Jeff crouches down to rub behind his ears. Arnold perks up after a minute and butts in to demand his turn. By the time Arnold is halfway satisfied, Richie is human and dressed, and resting a hand on Jeff's back.
"That was fun," Richie says as they walk up the beach to the street. "I've been wanting to do that."
"You should have said," Jeff says. "I would have taken you out there." He walks shoulder to shoulder with Richie, Arnold trotting ahead of them.
"Too many neighbors," Richie says.
"If anyone asks, I'll tell them I'm dogsitting."
"Asshole," Richie mutters, but he slings his arm around Jeff's shoulders.
*
Richie growls when Jeff tries to get up on Sunday morning. Jeff rolls his eyes even though Richie has his eyes closed and can't see him and pushes at Richie's arms. "You can sleep. I'm getting up."
Richie finally lets go with another growl.
Jeff goes downstairs and starts the coffee while he takes Arnold out for a quick walk around the block. He's back, sipping coffee and talking to his mom on the phone, when Richie stumbles downstairs. Jeff gets up, pours Richie a cup of coffee, and pushes Richie toward the couch.
"Tell Mike we said hi," Jeff's mom says at the end of the call, "and we're looking forward to seeing him when we come out there."
Jeff hangs up and collects Richie's empty coffee cup to put in the sink with his. "Beach? You and Arnold can run around."
"It's Sunday," Richie says. "There'll be a lot of people out."
"You're well-behaved," Jeff says, "and you can keep Arnold under control."
"If you're up for it," Richie says.
Jeff shrugs. "Nothing else going on."
Richie goes upstairs to leave his clothes in some sort of order, and pads back down as a wolf, which makes Arnold jump at him and bark his head off. Richie does the wolf equivalent of a chuckle and lets Arnold get away with it while Jeff grabs a beach towel, a Frisbee, and Arnold's leash.
Richie stays at Jeff's side on the way down to the beach, where Jeff can reach down and rest his hand on Richie's neck when they stop at the corners, so it doesn't look like he's just letting an unleashed wolfhound wander the streets of Manhattan Beach.
Jeff lets Arnold off his leash on the beach. He tosses the Frisbee for Richie and Arnold for a while before he spreads out his towel and sits down to watch them tussle and race the waves.
Jeff gets up when a couple of kids get too close to Richie and Arnold, goes over to supervise.
"Can we pet them?" one of the kids asks.
Jeff crouches down to their level, catches Arnold by the collar; Richie can be trusted not to be too rough. "Careful. First you want to hold your hand out and let them smell you. This is Arnold. That's Richie."
The kids hold out their hands, and Jeff guides them through making sure Richie and Arnold are comfortable and willing to be touched before the kids pet them.
Arnold gets so excited that he licks the little girl's cheek, making her laugh and squirm away from it. "He's slobbery!"
Jeff just laughs. "He can be."
A man comes over and hovers behind the kids. "Are they bothering you?"
Jeff stands and smiles at him. "No, they're fine."
Richie crowds up against Jeff's leg. Jeff puts his hand down on Richie's head.
"We're playing," the boy says, looking up at the guy who must be the kids' dad.
"Those are very big dogs," the guy says.
"They're very careful," Jeff says. "They're not going to hurt the kids."
"They're nice," the girl says. She throws herself forward and flings her arms around Richie's neck. "Can we get a dog like this?"
Jeff exchanges a smile with the kids' dad. "That's the real danger."
"I can see that." The dad puts his hand on top of the girls' head. "We can talk about dogs later. Your mom's getting lunch ready."
Both kids linger, getting in last chances to pet Richie and Arnold before they're willing to leave with their dad.
Richie looks up at Jeff with an expression that's not hard to read.
"Okay, us too." Jeff shakes sand out of his towel and whistles for Arnold.
"Thanks," Richie says when they're home and he's shifted back. He looks relaxed, something softened in his face, a little like he looks when he's been in Kenora where he can shift and run all he wants. He presses his smile into Jeff's neck. "I missed that."
Jeff curves his hand over the back of Richie's head, rubs at his head the same way he does when Richie's a wolf. "Any time you want to go out there, I'll take you."
*
In the afternoon, Richie puts in a disc of Entourage and pulls Jeff down onto his lap on the couch. Jeff's used to it now - he used to protest that he was too heavy for Richie, until Richie growled at him and said, "Werewolf. I can handle it." - and he knows to just make himself comfortable. Arnold wanders around the house a bit before settling down at their feet.
They're halfway into a second episode when the doorbell rings, and Richie calls out a lazy, "It's unlocked," too quiet for anyone who isn't a wolf to hear.
"Let me up," Jeff says when trying to move doesn't do anything to get him out of Richie's hold.
"It's just Stolly and Quickie," Richie says.
Arnold perks up his head, but doesn't go rushing to greet them, so Jeff sighs and gives up trying to move.
"This is a sad little pack," Stolly says when they come up the stairs. "One human and a black lab."
"You need some pups," Quickie says. He takes the other end of the couch and drapes his legs over Stolly's when he sits down.
"We'd have to have more pack members first," Richie says.
"Or hire a nanny," Stolly suggests.
Jeff gestures at Richie's arms wrapped around his chest and hip. "You really think Richie's going to let an out-pack nanny raise his kids?"
Quickie laughs, more wolf than human. "It's an alpha thing. You should see Jaclyn when someone suggests we get an out-pack babysitter."
Stolly shudders. "I've seen it. It's not pretty."
Quickie tips his head, and looks at Jeff and Richie with a look too speculative for Jeff to be comfortable with. "We know a lot of wolves and wolf-friendly humans, if you're looking for more pack members."
There's one of those wolf shifts in the air that makes Jeff freeze and keep still.
"They aren't all from our pack," Quickie says mildly.
Richie's voice is calm when he says, "I'll keep that in mind," but his grip on Jeff tightens to something just below painful and Arnold lifts his head and whines.
Jeff puts his hand on Richie's arm, slides it down to his wrist, trying to get him to calm down without undermining his authority in front of other wolves.
Richie's teeth scrape over his neck.
Quickie laughs, and his reaction makes Stolly relax too. "Fine," Quickie says. "I'll stay out of it. No promises about Jaclyn, though."
Richie relaxes, and his hold on Jeff goes from constricting to comfortable. Jeff lets go of his arm and reaches down to scratch behind Arnold's ears.
Part Two