Thomas Durling escaped his small-town upbringing for over ten years, until a single phone call drew him back. Told his mother has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, he returns to the small northern Michigan town he once called home to find a mute stranger taking care of her in his stead.<br><br>On the surface, Andre seems harmless enough, but Thomas has enough problems trying to deal with his mother’s illness. He doesn’t need a gorgeous young man to distract him, especially in a town that drove him away once already with its homophobia.<br><br>But Andre has nowhere else to go. A wolf without a pack, he’s been on the run since witnessing his father’s murder, always looking over his shoulder, never looking ahead. Taking care of Thomas’s mother has given him a welcome sanctuary, as well as a place he can call home for a couple months. He wants to stay, but more importantly, he wants to help, even if Thomas isn’t ready to accept that they could actually be friends ...

Moon-Touched

He relaxed his hands, letting them skim to the sides, tracing along the firm edge of the denim waistband. Muscles twitched wherever he touched, and Thomas’s ragged breath fluttered through his hair.


“Out here.” Thomas pulled back far enough to meet Andre with a bemused smile. “Unless fucking under the moon brings your wolf out. In which case, we better get inside before I can’t stop myself.”


Andre glanced up. The moon was only now coming out, fat but not quite full where it gleamed like silver against the pinpricked sky. In a few days, it would be much harder to resist the change. Tonight wouldn’t be impossible. Besides, he strongly suspected Thomas’s human touch would help keep him grounded in this form.


To answer Thomas’s question, he let him go, peeling away enough to grab the hem of his shirt. He whipped it over his head and tossed it onto the swing set, his nipples tightening to hard, little points at the cooler rush of air.


Chapter 37