Page 13 of Love, Clumsily (Fur Real Love #2)

As we rejoined the others in the living room, I found Mason deep in conversation with his father and Alex, something about property boundaries and running trails. He looked up as I approached, his face lighting up in a way that still made my heart skip.

He held out his hand, and I took it, allowing him to pull me down beside him on the floor. “Everything okay?” he asked quietly. “You look thoughtful.”

“Just had an interesting conversation with your mom,” I replied, equally quiet. “Did you know she wasn’t born a werewolf?”

He nodded. “She took the bite for me, essentially. So I could be born safely.” There was a reverence in his voice when he spoke of it, a deep appreciation for his mother’s choice.

“She said it was worth it,” I murmured. “Despite how difficult the transition was.”

Mason studied my face, understanding dawning in his eyes. “Julian, are you thinking about—”

“Not yet,” I interrupted. “Just… thinking. About possibilities.”

He squeezed my hand, his expression serious. “That’s not something to consider lightly. It’s dangerous, painful, and irreversible.”

“I know,” I assured him. “It’s not a decision for today or even tomorrow. Just something to keep in mind for the future.”

He nodded, bringing my hand to his lips for a brief kiss. “Whatever you decide, whenever you decide it—I’m with you. Human or wolf, you’re my mate either way.”

The simple declaration warmed me more than I could express. Before I could respond, Riley flopped down beside us, breaking the intimate moment.

“Are you two having serious conversations at a pack gathering?” she demanded. “That’s against the rules. Pack time is for fun and food, not existential werewolf discussions.”

Mason rolled his eyes. “There are no such rules, Ri.”

“There are now. I just made them up,” she declared. “And as enforcement, I’m kidnapping your mate for a walk. Jess wants to show him the new trail we found.”

Before I could protest, Riley had grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet with her werewolf strength. Mason made a token noise of objection but didn’t actually try to stop her, knowing his sister well enough to recognize when resistance was futile.

“I’ll bring him back mostly intact,” Riley promised, already dragging me toward the door where Jess waited.

“You’d better,” Mason called after us. “I’m kind of attached to him.”

The fresh air felt good after the warm, enclosed space of the cabin. Riley, Jess, and I set off down a narrow trail that wound behind the cabin and into the forest. The day was perfect for a walk—sunny but cool, with a gentle breeze carrying the scents of pine and wildflowers.

“So,” Riley said once we were a little way from the cabin, “moving in with my brother, huh? Brave move.”

“It feels right,” I said simply. “We practically live together already.”

“You’re good for him,” Jess said, echoing Evelyn’s earlier comment. “He’s less… broody since you came along.”

I laughed. “Mason? Broody? I can’t imagine.”

“Oh my god, he was the worst,” Riley confirmed. “Always lurking around, growling at people, disappearing into the woods for days when he was in a mood. Such a stereotype.”

“The classic tortured werewolf,” Jess agreed. “All ‘woe is me, I’m a monster’ and ‘I can never have a normal life.’”

I tried to reconcile this description with the Mason I knew—my goofy, affectionate, occasionally clumsy boyfriend who brought me coffee in bed and texted me dog memes throughout the day.

“He’s changed, then,” I observed.

“Because of you,” Riley said, her usual teasing tone replaced with something more sincere. “You don’t know what it was like before. He was… lonely. Isolated. Even within the pack.”

“Why?” I asked, genuinely curious. “He seems so integrated now.”

Riley was quiet for a moment, considering her words. “Mason’s always been different. Even for a werewolf. His wolf is… stronger than most. More present, even in human form. It made it hard for him to connect with others, especially humans.”

“He was afraid of hurting someone,” I guessed, remembering Mason’s initial hesitation with me.

“Or scaring them away,” Jess added. “According to Riley, he tried dating a few times, but it never lasted. Either he kept his wolf nature hidden and felt like he was living a lie, or he revealed it and watched them run screaming.”

“Literally, in one case,” Riley said with a grimace. “This guy Mason was seeing in college—Mason shifted in front of him, thinking he was ready, and the dude ran out of the apartment yelling about monsters. Campus security got involved. It was a whole thing.”

My heart ached thinking of Mason facing that kind of rejection. “That’s awful.”

“Yeah,” Riley agreed. “After that, he kind of… gave up. Decided he’d be alone rather than risk it again. Until you came along and he literally fell into your lap.”

I smiled at the memory of our first meeting. “And then proceeded to run away.”

“Classic Mason,” Riley laughed. “But he came back. That’s the important part.”

We walked in comfortable silence for a while, the trail winding deeper into the forest. The trees here were old and tall, creating a cathedral-like space of dappled light and shadow. In the distance, I could hear the sound of running water—the stream that bordered the property.

“So,” Riley said eventually, “Mom told me you two had an interesting conversation.”

I shot her a look. “Do werewolves have any concept of private conversations?”

“Not really,” she admitted cheerfully. “Super hearing plus pack mentality equals everyone knowing everyone’s business. You get used to it.”

“Great,” I muttered.

“For what it’s worth,” Jess chimed in, “I’ve considered it too. The bite.”

This surprised me. “You have? But you and Riley have been together for years.”

She nodded. “Three years, two months, and about seventeen days. And yes, I’ve thought about it pretty much the whole time.”

“What’s stopping you?” I asked, genuinely curious about her perspective as another human in a relationship with a werewolf.

“Timing, mostly,” she said with a shrug.

“It’s not something you rush into. And there are practical considerations—I’d need to take at least a month off work for the transition and adjustment period.

My parents would need some kind of explanation for why I suddenly can’t eat garlic bread without vomiting—”

“Wait, what?” I interrupted. “Garlic?”

Riley burst out laughing. “She’s messing with you. Werewolves can eat garlic just fine. You’re thinking of vampires.”

“Which, thankfully, don’t exist,” Jess added. “As far as we know, anyway.”

I shook my head, feeling foolish for falling for it. “Very funny.”

“The point is,” Jess continued, “it’s a huge decision. Life-changing in the most literal sense. But if you’re wondering if other humans in your position think about it—yes, we do.”

We reached a small clearing where the trail split in two directions. Riley pointed to the left fork. “This way leads to a really pretty overlook. Worth the extra walk.”

As we continued, I found myself appreciating the easy camaraderie that had developed between me and Mason’s family. Riley, for all her teasing, had become something like the sister I’d never had. And Jess provided a valuable perspective as someone who had walked this path before me.

“Can I ask you something personal?” I said to Jess, echoing my earlier question to Evelyn.

“Shoot.”

“How do you handle the… intensity? Of being with a werewolf? Sometimes it feels overwhelming—in a good way, mostly, but still.”

She nodded in understanding. “The possessiveness? The heightened emotions? The way they always seem to know exactly what you’re feeling?”

“Yes, all of that,” I confirmed. “And the physical aspects too. The strength, the stamina, the… enthusiasm.”

Riley made a gagging noise. “Please don’t talk about your sex life with my brother while I’m standing right here.”

“You brought it up last time,” Jess reminded her. “In great detail, if I recall.”

“That’s different,” Riley insisted. “It was relevant to the conversation.”

“How is this not relevant?” I asked innocently.

Riley just made another disgusted sound and walked ahead, giving us a moment of relative privacy.

“Honestly?” Jess said once Riley was out of immediate earshot (though I had no doubt she could still hear us if she wanted to). “I love the intensity. The absolute certainty that I am loved, desired, protected. There’s something… primal about it that speaks to something deep inside me.”

I nodded, understanding exactly what she meant. “Like they’re tapping into a part of us that modern life has buried.”

“Exactly,” she agreed. “As for the physical aspects… well, that’s just a bonus.” She winked, and I laughed.

“A significant bonus,” I agreed. “Though explaining the occasional bruises and bite marks to my doctor was an interesting conversation.”

She laughed. “Just wait until you try explaining why your neck looks like you lost a fight with a vacuum cleaner the day after a full moon.”

We continued walking, the trail gradually sloping upward. Riley rejoined us, apparently deciding we’d had enough private conversation.

“Almost there,” she said, pointing ahead. “Just around this bend.”

The overlook, when we reached it, was indeed worth the extra walk.

The trail opened onto a rocky outcropping that offered a spectacular view of the valley below.

The forest stretched out in all directions, a sea of green broken occasionally by the glint of water.

In the distance, the small cluster of buildings that made up Pine Haven was just visible, and beyond that, the blue haze of mountains on the horizon.

“Wow,” I breathed, taking in the vista. “This is incredible.”

“One of our favorite spots,” Jess said, sitting on a flat rock near the edge. “Riley proposed to me here.”

I turned to them in surprise. “You’re engaged? I didn’t know that.”

Riley shrugged, looking uncharacteristically shy. “It’s recent. We were going to announce it at the pack meeting today, but then Alex and Tara had their baby news, and we didn’t want to steal their thunder.”

“Congratulations!” I said warmly, genuinely happy for them. “That’s wonderful news.”

“Thanks,” Jess said, smiling up at Riley with such obvious love that it made my chest ache. “We’re thinking a fall wedding. Small ceremony, just pack and close friends.”

“Mason’s going to be my ‘wolf of honor,’” Riley added with a grin. “Though we’re calling it ‘best man’ on the invitations for the human relatives.”

I laughed at the terminology. “Wolf of honor. I like that.”

We sat at the overlook for a while, enjoying the view and the peaceful atmosphere. The conversation flowed easily between serious topics and light banter, punctuated by comfortable silences.

It struck me, sitting there with Mason’s sister and her fiancée, how completely my life had changed in just a few months.

Before moving to Pine Haven, I’d been lonely without realizing it—going through the motions of a life that felt hollow at its core.

Now I was part of something larger than myself, connected to a community that accepted me despite my differences.

Eventually, we decided to head back, aware that we’d been gone for longer than our promised “quick walk.” As we made our way down the trail, I found myself thinking about the future—moving in with Mason, becoming more integrated into pack life, and the possibility, however distant, of someday taking the bite.

The thought should have terrified me. Instead, it filled me with a sense of rightness, of possibility.

When we arrived back at Riley’s cabin, I immediately sought out Mason, finding him on the back deck engaged in what appeared to be an intense game of cards with Alex and a couple of other pack members.

He looked up as I approached, his face lighting up in that way that never failed to make my heart skip. “Hey,” he said, reaching for me. “Good walk?”

I nodded, settling beside him and peering at his cards. “Beautiful view. And lots of interesting conversation.”

“I can imagine,” he said dryly, glancing at his sister, who gave him an innocent smile.

“I only told him the really embarrassing stories,” she assured him. “Like that time you got stuck half-shifted and had to go to school with furry ears.”

Mason groaned. “I was thirteen! And it was a full moon night.”

“Still hilarious,” Riley insisted, dropping onto a nearby chair and pulling Jess into her lap.

The afternoon continued in this vein—cards giving way to a meal that was somewhere between lunch and dinner, followed by more conversation and eventually preparations to leave. By the time Mason and I were ready to head home, the sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the forest.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Mason asked as we drove back toward town, the truck’s headlights cutting through the gathering darkness.

“It was nice,” I admitted. “I like your family. Even Riley, though don’t tell her I said that.”

He laughed, reaching over to take my hand. “They like you too. You fit, you know? With the pack. With me.”

The simple statement warmed me more than I could express. “I feel that too. Like I’ve found where I belong.”

He squeezed my hand, his eyes reflecting the dashboard lights with a hint of that otherworldly glow. “You have, you know. Found where you belong. With us. With me.”

I looked at him—this beautiful, impossible man who had literally crashed into my life and changed everything—and felt a surge of emotion so powerful it almost took my breath away.

“I love you,” I said, the words inadequate to express the depth of what I felt but all I had to offer.

“I love you too,” he replied, lifting my hand to press a kiss to my knuckles. “My mate. My Julian.”

As we drove through the darkening forest toward home—our home, soon to be officially shared—I felt a sense of peace and rightness settle over me. Whatever the future held—moving in together, pack life, perhaps someday the bite—I knew with absolute certainty that this was where I was meant to be.

Beside Mason. Part of the pack. Home.