Chapter 3 Fears

• That night at dinner, Parker was eager to share his good news with his parents.
• "Guess what happened today at school."
• "What, honey?" his mother asked.
• While Kate Montgomery looked up across the table at her son, Barney Montgomery's face was buried in his BlackBerry reading his never-ending stream of emails.
• When Parker realized that his father wasn't going to look up, he continued. "I tried out for the mascot auditions today. I won the vote. I'm the new Timo the Timberwolf."
• "Good for you, Parker. Isn't that right, Barn?"
• Barney looked up from his BlackBerry for a split second. "Hm? Uh-huh." Before the grunt was out of his mouth, he was already looking back down at the screen, his thumbs tapping away at the keys.
• "I'll be with the cheerleaders at every game. I have to go to the away games, too. Maybe you guys could come and see one of the home games?"
• A cell phone started to ring. "Clear the table and take care of the dishes," Kate told Parker as she pulled out her phone and got up from the table and walked away.
• Barney got up and walked out of the room, mumbling and cursing to himself as he typed away at his phone.
• Parker sighed and finished up his dinner alone, though he didn't have much of an appetite anymore.
• He cleared the dishes, putting them into the dishwasher. He tossed the last bits of food into the garbage, which was full. Deciding to go ahead and take care of it before his mom or dad yelled, he pulled the bag out of the garbage can and tied off the top. He dragged it outside and dumped it into the big plastic bin just outside the back door.
• The night had cooled down some and there was a light breeze. Parker closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. It was so quiet and peaceful outside. He loved that the suburban subdivision they lived in was set against a forest.
• Parker walked over to the edge of the kidney-shaped in-ground swimming pool. He looked at the moon's reflection in the still water, then dipped his toe into the pool and watched the ripples distort the reflection.
• He stared up into the sky, wishing that his life could be different.
• There had to be more out there than this pitiful existence. It would be nice to matter, to be important, to someone somewhere.
• * * *
• When the back door opened, the black wolf dropped to his belly. Though he was hidden at the tree line, on the other side of the black iron rail fence that surrounded the back yard, he didn't want to take any chances.
• A sweet scent wafted through the clear, night air. That scent was forever blazed into his memory from the very first time he smelled it. It smelled like heaven. It smelled like his.
• He watched the boy toss the foul garbage into the trash bin. He moved over to the swimming pool, then stopped to stare up at the sky longingly.
• Soon, the boy would be his. He was tired of watching.
• The wolf would no longer be denied what was his. He would no longer be denied his mate.
• Very soon...
• * * *
• The next day at school sucked ass.
• Parker totally regretted taking phys ed. His reasoning was that it'd help him keep in shape and it would be an `easy A'. He didn't factor jock abuse into his reasoning.
• "Keep your eyes to yourself, faggot," Seth muttered as he walked by, knocking Parker with his shoulder.
• Parker rolled his eyes and closed his locker. As if he was interested in Seth Forrest. "Asshole," he mumbled under his breath.
• Seth stopped and turned back around. "You got something to say?"
• "No."
• "I didn't think so. Don't you got some cocks to stroke or something? Get the fuck outta here."
• "You would know," Parker mumbled.
• Seth froze in his tracks and made a grunt sound. A very pissed off grunt sound.
• Parker quickly walked past Seth. He knew that statement would get him into trouble, but he didn't care. Seth was an asshole.
• When Coach Carswell, gym teacher and head football coach, announced they'd be playing dodgeball, Parker groaned along with half of the class. The bigger guys were ruthless at dodgeball and it would quickly degrade into a pain-fest for everybody else. As Coach went over the rules they all knew and hated, Parker took the time to check out Colton like he always did, taking extra care not to get caught staring.
• Damn, he looked good in that tanktop and those shorts. He had very well-defined biceps and pec muscles. The tank showed off his ripped hairy chest in the nicest way.
• When Coach blew the whistle to start the game, Parker had to finally peel his eyes away from Colton so he could keep from getting creamed.
• "Hey, Parker."
• Parker turned towards Seth, who was holding one of the damned red balls, bouncing it between his hands. The smile on his face could only be described as evil.
• Shit.
• Seth looked over at his buddy, TJ, and grinned. "Smear the queer."
• TJ threw the ball using every one of his beefy muscles and Parker jumped out of the way in the nick of time as the ball went whizzing past his head. Parker looked up to get his bearings, but it was too late. Seth threw his ball and it slapped the side of Parker's head hard enough to knock him backwards. He slammed onto his back hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs.
• Parker bit his lip to keep from crying out in pain as he grabbed at his eye and tried to pull air into his lungs. With his good eye, he saw a pair of muscular, hairy legs leap in front of him. He looked up, and oh god, he was faced with Colton's perfect ass. The big teen grabbed the ball laying at Parker's feet and with a loud roar, he launched the ball. It whistled as it soared through the air, slamming into Seth's face. Hard. The slap echoed throughout the gym as Seth clutched his nose and went down with a whimpering cry.
• Colton quickly turned and pulled Parker up off the ground. "Are you okay?" he asked.
• Parker still had his right eye covered as he stared at Colton in complete shock. He pulled his hand away and blinked several times. The side of his face throbbed with the pain of the ball's impact. His vision was blurry out of his right eye and he felt an uncomfortable pressure on top of his eyeball. "I think my contact shifted. But I'm okay."
• Parker realized that Jed and Trey had surrounded him, facing out and away from him and Colton. The three huge jocks had boxed him in, keeping him safe from any further hits.
• Coach blew his whistle. "Parker Montgomery! You're out. Get off the court."
• Parker cupped his hand back over his eye in case his contact lens decided to pop out. He stepped back from Colton, turned and ran off the floor and went into the locker room to fix it.
• Parker looked in the mirror and used his finger to lift his eye lid while another maneuvered the lens back into place. He blinked a few times to settle and re-wet the lens. He turned his head to the side to examine the source of the throbbing on his face. The side of his face had a large red mark where the ball had smacked him, but otherwise he was unhurt. Parker splashed some cold water onto his face to reduce some of the stinging, then left the locker room.
• While he returned to the gym, he couldn't help but think about Colton. It was like he had jumped in to not only protect him, but to avenge him. Not only that, but his best friends had moved in like they were guarding him. What the hell was up with that? He didn't think the guy knew him from Adam, but maybe he was wrong.
• Oh god, what if Colton liked him?!
• Yeah, right. You wish. He was just stopping a bully, because that's the kind of guy he is.
• Parker felt someone move behind him and he tensed.
• "You say anything to anyone about you know what, and I'll kill you."
• The whispered words from behind him sent a chill down his spine, making Parker shudder.
• He let his eyes flick to the side for just a second as he watched Seth slip from behind him and walk towards his friends. TJ had his muscular arms folded across his chest as he sneered at Parker.
• Stupid meat-head.
• Parker swallowed nervously and looked back to the floor. He took the opportunity to watch Colton in his element. The muscular teen easily cleaned up the court, ending up the victor when he deflected Trey's ball with one of his own, before hitting him out.
• As he strutted off the court, it was like he barely broke a sweat playing the game. Parker watched Colton shoot Seth a smug grin. Seth's face turned red and he balled his fists. He was pissed.
• Parker couldn't help but feel some satisfaction. Seth was a bully and an asshole. He deserved to be knocked down a peg or two. He used to be the big man on campus. The big muscle-bound jock ran the school and made everyone's lives miserable. That was before Colton transferred in last year. Parker didn't witness it, but he had heard from others that there was a huge fight and Colton kicked Seth's ass, knocking Seth down a rung on the popularity ladder.
• After the fastest shower in history, Parker kept his eyes downcast in the locker room, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to himself. He quickly pulled off his towel and pulled up his boxer briefs and started to get dressed.
• When he heard Colton's loud laughter, he couldn't help but look up. He was walking with Trey, coming out of the showers. He had his towel rolled around his neck, holding each end in his hands. He didn't care that his body was on display. In fact, he seemed to be showing it off, unintentional or not. But god almighty, if Parker looked like that, he'd walk around naked, too.
• Colton had stopped and leaned against the wall while Trey animatedly told him a story. Parker didn't hear a single word Trey said, he was too focused on Colton.
• Colton had curly black hair all over his square pecs. The hair formed a wide T-shape, trailing down to his belly button, where it flared out into the ridges of his six -- no, eight -- pack ab muscles. From there, it led down to his groin. A huge uncircumcised penis hung from an overgrown bush of hair. Even flaccid, it was a most impressive side of beef. Parker didn't need to look around the room to know that Colton had the biggest dick in the school.
• Of course he did. Colton was the biggest and best at everything. He was only eighteen years old, but he had the body of a fully grown man. A powerful, muscular man.
• On Colton's right bicep, he had a large tattoo, a large tribal pattern that formed a circle. As Parker stared at the ink, he noticed a pattern inside the circle. It was the shape of a wolf's head in profile. Their school mascot was a Timberwolf, but Colton's tattoo didn't really look like the Timberwolves logo. It was something else.
• When he looked up at Colton's face, he found that the man was staring back at him. His dark brown eyes pierced straight into Parker's soul. It was like he could see every perverted thought in Parker's head.
• Parker lowered his eyes and dropped his chin to his chest, where his heart was trying to pound itself through his breast bone. He grabbed his things from his locker and fled.
• * * *
• A week later was game day, the first home game of the season.
• After Parker got dressed in his mascot uniform, he walked out of the locker room with the wolf head in his hands and joined the gathered cheerleaders. Everyone's energy was nervous, but excited at the same time.
• "Let's go," Kim called out. She turned back to Parker. "Oh, and Parker? Don't fuck it up."
• Parker turned to Shell and rolled his eyes. "Or what?" he whispered. "She'll make me lip sync for my life?"
• Shell laughed out loud. "Boy, you are stupid."
• "Let's do this," Parker said with a grin. He took a deep breath and put the wolf head on.
• `Timo the Timberwolf' ran onto the field, jumping and pumping his fist, bringing the crowd to their feet.