Thump.

Thump thump.

I heard a whine, then felt another annoying thump. Darn it, something was smacking my chest.

Mmm, go away.

I was still really tired. Which meant a certain big-pawed butthead needed to go away.

Coleee, the bus will be here soon, woof!

Okay, the woof his wolf added to his thoughts was almost cute, but not enough to make me wanna get up yet.

I can just trudge up the stairs when it gets here, can't I?

But Coleeeeee.

Noooo.

Woof woof woooooof.

He added a few extra whimpers and an audible woof for good measure.

"Darn it, fine."

I rolled over and slowly let my eyes blink open. When my vision finally cleared, I noticed that I was nearly nose-to-nose with a fuzzy pup, and okay, I couldn't help but let my tongue dart out and lick the tip of his wet nose. He actually looked surprised at the gesture as his ears flattened and he took a step back, tilting his head in confusion.

"What? I can't play a little, too?"

He gave a slight tail wag and a quiet bark, which made me grin before getting myself up into a sitting position. I was in the middle of stretching, arms over my head to loosen up my back when he suddenly jumped into my lap.

"Wh-What are you doing?" I asked, glaring at him. Tanner gave another grunting bark and nuzzled my cheek before I shoved him off.

"You weigh a ton, ya big oaf."

He dropped to his front paws on the bed right as he landed. Oh no, no playing right now. I might have messed with him a bit, but my energy was definitely low upon just waking up. The only reason I'd gotten him running around the day before was because I had been awake for a while and wanted a fuzzy outlet for my energy.

When I ignored him, he nudged me again, but I just scooted to the edge of the bed, still kind of asleep. Well, that was until his wolf got up on my shoulders and started doing something that had my former alpha wolf bristling with anger. It took over immediately and threw Tanner off into the headboard, then tackled him with a loud snarl of anger. I was about to let my wolf bite him a few times to teach him a lesson... but then I remembered what his mother had said. He doesn't know how to control himself yet. Hmph. I guess I can't really attack him for that then. His teeth were bared, but he wasn't moving to attack me back, so I carefully got off of him and he immediately rolled over onto his belly to show that he wasn't submitting; obviously, I wasn't either.

Mate, woof!

I want to speak with Tanner, let him have control again, I told the wolf with a sincere voice.

Woof!

I know you can. Now be a good boy and let Tanner come back.

His pup whimpered as I padded over on the blanket and licked his nose gently.

I'll play with you soon, I promise.

He thumped his tail hard against the blankets a few times, then quickly let Tanner have the reins back. The pup had the cutest look of sadness I had ever seen on his fuzzy face.

I'm sorry. That was really rude of me, Cole.

His voice was nearly whimpering in my mind. Poor guy, at least he understood that humping the back of someone's head was wrong. While I nuzzled his muzzle to tell him it was okay, I thought back to how his wolf had acted yesterday. We ran around a lot, and then he was stimulated with that peanut butter toy for a good while. Maybe that was it. Maybe his wolf just needed more exercise to be controllable. If the bus was going to be there soon, we might want to get his hyper pup a little worn out.

Hey, Tanner, let your pup out a little, okay? Just a little so we can play a bit.

He seemed confused again but did as told. When I heard a playful Woof in my mind, my wolf grinned and darted off the bed, through the living room and out into the backyard. He was quick to follow, and already I could feel the joy his pup got from chasing after me. Right as he caught my tail between his teeth and we both tumbled into the thick grass, we heard the doorbell ring. Our heads popped up, ears straight. Crap, the bus was already here.

With two quiet grunts, we got ourselves up and ran inside to the master bedroom in time to get dressed as his mother went to open the door. We stumbled out into the living room just in time for Tanner to grab his suitcase, which I suppose he'd managed to get at some point... although I couldn't remember, and run over to his dad.

"I, Tanner Royal, hereby pass my alpha status to my father to do with as he wishes."

I wasn't exactly sure that was how it worked, but when a sudden shift of power fluctuated through the room, my jaw dropped. Tanner didn't seem to notice, or at least care, as he ran up to his bandmate and gestured inside to me.

"Ryder, Cole. Cole, Ryder. Let's go."

I paused near Ryder as we both watched Tanner run onto the bus. He still had quite a bit of energy left, but at least we got a little bit out. Turning my attention to his friend, I offered my hand and a smile.

"Hi, I'm Cole. Hope you guys don't mind me hanging around for a while."

He seemed to be eyeing me up for a second but quickly shook my hand.

"Ryder. We're a bit behind so let's get going."

I nodded and quickly followed him onto the bus. The inside was freaking huge and actually well taken care of. There was a dark red couch against one side, a small brown table with three chairs a foot or so away from it, a small kitchenette near the front, and what looked like three bedrooms in the back. One was on the left, one in the far back, and another on the right before the tiny bathroom. All the doors looked odd, but I figured they were probably just custom to give some type of privacy.

"I'm gonna go catch up on some sleep, there's food in the mini fridge on the counter," Ryder said before heading toward the room on the left.

"O-Okay."

I began to head for the kitchenette, but then Tanner came out of his room without a shirt. Mmm, okay, he looked yumm—huh? Ryder reached out to him suddenly, and Tanner walked right into his arms for a nice, long, juicy kiss.

What the...hell? I growled to myself. Before I could even think about what to say, they both ducked into what I would assume was Ryder's makeshift room and shut, then locked the door. That lock felt like it was fastening on my heart, not just that door.

Woof.

I didn't even notice the sad thought my wolf sent to Tanner as I turned and sauntered back to his room and dove beneath his blankets. He had at least six on his bed, which honestly didn't surprise me one bit... but each and every one smelled just like him.

"You stupid pup..."

I twisted my body up in all of the blankets, wanting to hide myself from him but making it impossible as I became surrounded by his strong, masculine scent.

"You're so mean."

Woof.

Wait a second... that wasn't my wolf.

Cole?

Go away! I shouted back at him through my thoughts as I dug myself deeper into his blankets, knowing darn well that he couldn't exactly go away since we were on a moving bus and I was kinda in his room.

Woof.

Woof.

I kept ignoring him, but his feelings through our bond were beginning to make me feel terrible.

I don't understand. I'm sorry, Cole! Please! Tell me what I did.

I snarled as I sat up, shoving the blankets aside to glare at Tanner, who had just slipped inside and shut the door.

"What you did?" I shouted, unable to believe that he was actually standing there with mussed up hair, his boxers askew on his hips, kiss marks on his neck...

Dammit! He was like a darn kid just learning about how to like someone. Why did he come after me now? Why when he didn't understand what cheating is? How to get someone to like you.

I grabbed his blankets and yanked them back over myself.

"I want off this bus. The next town, I'll find somewhere to go, but I can't stay here."

There was a long silence filled with pain from both of us and our wolves. I knew that I was hurting him, but going in that room with Ryder without so much as a word to me? You can't just do that.

"Cole..."

I heard him walk closer and curled up beneath the blankets.

"Please go away."

The blankets slowly began to peel away as he removed one after the other. When fresh air hit my face, I squeezed my watery eyes shut tight and whimpered.

"I can't, Cole... My mate is hurting so badly. I didn't know touching Ryder would make you upset. I won't do it again, ever, but p-please, don't leave."

His hand pressed against my shoulder and gently turned me onto my back. That had my eyes opening to see his soft blue ones staring down at me as he leaned over from where he sat by my side.

"Tanner."

If he was in his wolf form, I swear his tail would've been wagging at the mention of his name on my lips. He perked up so quickly and even smiled slightly with hope.

"I... don't think you're ready for a mate."

I couldn't look at the broken face he made after I'd said those words, so I forced my eyes shut again. Another blanket of silence fell upon us, but what Tanner said to break it had my eyes widening in shock.

"Alpha. Please don't leave me."

He had just, but...

I felt him roll over next to me, and when I looked, he was on his back, neck bared in complete submission. He looked... nothing like my happy-go-lucky pup. I rolled over carefully, moving my left arm over his chest to rest on the blankets and hold my weight off him just enough so that I could lean over without touching... without accepting the submission.

"Tanner, look at me."

His eyes blinked open, and he sniffled.

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry. T-Tanner is sorry."

His wolf joined in, adding a whimper to his bawling. Oh man.

"T-Tanner, calm down."

"I-I'm s-sorry. I-I don't understand s-so many things, e-even after trying s-s-so h-hard. I-I want to be useful to m-my m-mate. I w-want to make y-you happy, b-b-but I just k-keep messing up."

I was trying to keep him from howling as he panicked, but it began pretty quickly, as a tired barking cough started up from him. Without thinking, I did the only thing I could think of and lowered my mouth onto his. The kiss had only been to keep our secret safe and try to calm him down, but it slowly turned into more, and more, and more. I don't know how it happened, but I was soon on my back, naked from the waist up as Tanner trailed delicate kisses from my chin to my chest. His tongue swirled around one sensitive nipple before letting his wolf take over his human body and lick its way down to my pants. I was about to tell him to stop, but when I was suddenly flipped over and a warm tongue pressed against the sensitive bend in my back near the waist of my jeans, I actually moaned into one of his pillows.

I felt fumbling fingers tug at the button on my jeans before managing to get it undone. Once the zipper was slid down, Tanner's hands returned to my hips, and slowly, ever so slowly, he slid my pants down to my knees. That left only my boxers, and god my wolf wanted the useless things off so badly. I was about to open my mouth to allow my pup to whine for more, but right then there was a loud knock on the door.

"Hey, guys. We're stopping soon for dinner, be ready in fifteen."

We were both panting as the sound of his footsteps moved away. I don't remember being introduced to the owner of that voice yet, but that wasn't really my focus at the moment.

"W-We need to get up..."

My voice was deep and rough but nothing like the insane, sexy baritone that answered.

"We can skip."

Tanner nuzzled my neck, making me sigh with contentment and want to rub against him. No. No, we had to stop. This wasn't supposed to happen to begin with. I was telling him I was going to leave, and then he cried and this happened. A nudge caught my attention before he licked my sweaty cheek and then tugged on my ear with a deep, rumbling growl.

"Tanner, get off."

"No."

What?

"Tanner, now, get off."

I added a little growl to show that I was serious, but he just hunkered down on top of me and growled quietly too.

"No. You'll leave."

"Of course I'll leave. I'm hungry."

I hissed the words out quietly to keep anyone else from hearing, though I wasn't sure why it mattered now.

"You won't leave me...? You'll come back on the bus after?"

He sounded so panicked about such a simple thing. It wasn't like we wouldn't see each other again...but I guessed I'd have to explain it to him.

"No, I won't leave... and yes, I'll come back to the bus. But we aren't going to continue whatever... this was. Got it? If you start trying to get some while I sleep, I'm gonna put you on the floor."

Even though this was his room to begin with, he just sat up and chuckled. "Alright. I've had enough for now so I can wait."

He pulled me up and into his lap, then devoured my mouth for a good minute before finally letting me pull away, panting for breath.

"What happened to 'I can... wait'?"

Tanner gave me a sheepish grin, letting his wolf shine through a bit, making me roll my eyes.

"You are such a darn puppy sometimes."

His eyes lit up before he leaned in to give me one more peck on the cheek.

"This puppy loves you so much, though."