Arrow Inferno
Chapter 61: Stanley ‘STAN’ Norris vs. Ian ‘WILL’ Williams ~ Hear him out!

***

Will came back with a plateful of yangzhou fried rice and mu shu pork and a glass of water. He went back to sit beside Gaia on the couch. "Know what pisses me off?" Will asked as he dug in. "Tell me."

"You lot patronizing me as I made a fool of myself."

"Permission to be blunt," She asked in a firm voice. "Go ahead."

"Before I say anything, know that none of this is your fault and no one thinks it is." At Will's nod, Gaia went on. "Good. We did the best we could to prepare you under the circumstances," she said. "Even though you didn't believe a word, it didn't stop me. Stan told you what he was when you asked. Did you believe him? Nope."

"The guy jokes with everything." Will snapped. "How the fuck did you expect me to believe him? There's something that I'm struggling to understand." He frowned. "The very first time I met the wolf, it wanted to attack me. Why would Stan want to hurt me?" He turned to look at Gaia, his eyes filled with vulnerable curiosity.

"That wasn't an attack." She scoffed. "Neither Stan nor his wolf would ever want to hurt you. You're silly to think that. But then only a silly person would take this long to talk to someone they're yearning for." She drawled. "Well, you were not there. And I know what I saw."

"That wolf wanted to turn you and make you his. Stan prevented that. On more than one occasion."

"But he's the wolf."

"I taught you better," Gaia growled. "Please tell me you were paying attention at least. Even though you thought I was merely telling you stories, you were intrigued by how detailed I was and even asked questions." "I remember everything you said." He sighed. "But I hope you don't expect me to be grateful to the idiot for talking himself out of biting me?"

"I've told you the wolf is a different entity. It would have bitten and turned you that first time it saw you in that jungle, my dear. Then there was that day... you flaunted your woman in front of Stan at some party..." She waited till she saw the look of recollection on Will's face. Then with a knowing smirk, she went on, "That wolf was hell-bent on turning you that night just to show you who you belonged to."

"Who I belonged to?" Will growled. "I belong to no one."

"Oh, but you do. Don't worry, that wolf belongs to you too." She chuckled. "Back to what I was saying. Stan knew what that wolf wanted to do so he fought to stay human. But then you rushed into the jungle looking for your pet. Then he didn't have any choice but to shift because..."

"The wild boar would have..."

"Exactly." Gaia breathed. "So yeah, he needs to be commended for all those times he prevented that bite."

"Why would the wolf want to turn me anyway? Why does he even think I belong to him?"

"You're his mate, silly. Pay attention."

"Oh, fuck!" Will placed his plate on the center table and leaned back, his expression one of shock.

"Remember all that I told you about mates?" Gaia asked. At Will's nod, she chuckled. "There you go. That wolf didn't mean you harm."

"But Stan bit me that day," Will whispered. "Does that mean..."

"Yeah, that couldn't be helped. Quick summary: You wanted to fuck, he wanted to please you. Idiot threw caution to the wind and sent you to the seventh heaven. Before he could descend from the clouds, the wolf decided to make you his... which was his right anyway. So..."

Will couldn't stop his blush. "He told you."

"He was desperate after that bite," Gaia explained. "So yes, he told me."

"Didn't I have a say in all of this?" The anguish in Will's voice gave Gaia pause.

"Aw sweetheart, you do. You have to give your consent before you are marked. That's what scared him into..."

"Knocking me out." Will breathed.

"Yes. He was supposed to tell you about what he was, ask you for permission to turn you into a wolf too, turn you, and then mark you. In that order."

"And yet he marked me first." Will rubbed on his mark, a lot of things beginning to make sense.

"He shouldn't have agreed to that fuck," Gaia mumbled.

"I kinda guilt-tripped him into it," Will muttered.

"Well, I don't blame you. The man is too fine." She grinned, drawing a chuckle from Will.

"You sure you two have never..."

"Nope. Never been with a werewolf. Just one bite from those brutes and I'm dead for real." She chuckled. "They love to bite during sex. Good sex. Just give them a good fuck and you'll get it. And trust me...I'm gooood." She wriggled her eyebrows.

"Kwame is a lucky man. Wait, is he..."

"A vampire? Yep."

"Jesus Christ! Was I surrounded by predators all that while?"

"Hey, we're nice predators." She gave a mock scowl. "You've already referred to me as a walking corpse once. Don't add more names."

Will went blank for a second. Then his eyes went wide when he remembered. "Oh god, hey I'm sorry." He laughed despite the seriousness of the conversation

"Don't worry about it, I've been called worse," Gaia chuckled.

"Good. So was I always the butt of your jokes?"

"The only thing we joked about was you referring to Stan's wolf as your pet."

Will groaned and threw his head back. "I don't think I can ever live all this down. When I think of all the..."

"Don't worry about that shit. It was fun teasing Stan with the pet bit. Why didn't you ever give the pet a name though?"

"You're going to find this ridiculous but...the idiot told me he'd read somewhere that wolves hated being named."

Gaia erupted with laughter. "And you believed him?"

"Of course not but... Truth be told, the name thing didn't even occur to me till he brought it up. And when I decided to give the wolf one, he told me that crap. Even though I didn't believe him, I just didn't want to offend the wolf in case there was some truth in it...fuck, I feel so stupid now."

"Don't. For what it's worth, none of us ever thought you were stupid. We just enjoyed teasing Stan, that's all. You did walk in on us teasing Stan that day."

"And there I was, talking about getting Game and Wild Life to bring the wolf to the states, Jesus Christ."

"That was so adorable." Gaia smiled. "Well, Stan definitely didn't find that adorable. Not when you were planning on sticking needles in his wolf and..."

"Don't remind me please." He groaned. "I can't believe I was talking to that wolf about Stan all the fucking time. Telling him how much I liked him and how much he pissed me off sometimes. Have any idea how it feels to know I was making a fool of myself all that while?"

"Want to shoot him again?" She grinned.

"Well, apparently that bullet wouldn't have done shit to the idiot." He muttered.

"It would have given me a lot of work though." When Will raised a curious brow, she added, "I'd have had to compel everyone who was there to forget they saw anything."

"Christ! You lot are deadly."

"We are. You'll be part of us real soon."

"Wait, did you ever compel me to do anything?" Will scowled.