Page 11 of Swipe Right on the Alpha (Fur Real Love #1)

Three days.

That’s how long it had been since Dylan had rushed out of Aiden’s apartment with a cryptic explanation about “territory disputes.” Three days of increasingly brief text messages:

AIDEN: What’s going on? Are you okay?

DYLAN: Handling the situation. I’m fine. Stay in the city.

AIDEN: It’s been two days. Can we talk?

DYLAN: Soon. Still resolving things. Miss you.

AIDEN: Dylan, I need to know what’s happening.

DYLAN: I’ll explain everything tomorrow. Promise.

Now, as Aiden drove his car along the familiar route to Dylan’s cabin despite explicit instructions not to, he questioned his own sanity. The LunaLove app’s description kept replaying in his mind: Connecting supernatural beings with their perfect mates across species boundaries.

“This is ridiculous,” he muttered to himself, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Werewolves aren’t real. There’s a rational explanation for everything.”

Yet the evidence had been accumulating for weeks: Dylan’s heightened senses, his territorial behavior, the full moon restlessness, the way his friends referred to themselves as a “pack,” how his eyes sometimes seemed to reflect light differently, the inhuman growls during passionate moments…

“Even if—and this is a massive if—supernatural creatures exist, why wouldn’t he just tell me?” Aiden argued with himself as the road narrowed into the forest. “We’ve been dating for a month. That seems like relevant information to share.”

As he approached the turnoff to Dylan’s cabin, Aiden slowed, anxiety gnawing at his stomach. What exactly was his plan here? Show up unannounced and demand to know if his boyfriend was secretly a mythological creature?

Boyfriend. The word caught in his mind. They hadn’t used labels yet, though the intensity of their connection made conventional terms seem inadequate.

The sun was setting as Aiden parked outside the darkened cabin. Dylan’s SUV wasn’t in its usual spot, but there were fresh tire tracks in the dirt driveway. Gathering his courage, Aiden approached the front door and knocked.

Silence answered him.

After a moment’s hesitation, he tried the handle and found it unlocked—unusual for security-conscious Dylan.

The interior was dim and silent, but showed signs of recent occupation: a coffee mug in the sink, a jacket tossed over a chair, boots by the door that hadn’t been there during Aiden’s last visit.

“Dylan?” Aiden called, moving further into the space. “It’s me. I know you said to stay away, but I was worried.”

Only silence responded. Aiden checked his phone—no service, as usual in this remote location. With a sigh, he settled onto the couch to wait, the last rays of sunlight fading through the large windows as twilight descended.

As darkness fell completely, Aiden became aware of sounds from the forest—not the usual gentle nighttime noises, but something more purposeful. Movement. What sounded almost like voices, though too distant to make out words.

Curiosity overcoming caution, he moved to the back deck, peering into the darkness of the trees. In the distance, what appeared to be flashlight beams moved among the trunks, accompanied by occasional shouts that didn’t quite sound… human.

Before he could reconsider the wisdom of his actions, Aiden was heading down the deck steps and toward the forest edge, phone flashlight illuminating his path.

The rational part of his brain screamed this was how horror movies started, but the need to understand—to finally get answers—pushed him forward.

The forest was disorienting at night, but Aiden followed the distant lights and sounds, grateful for the nearly full moon providing additional illumination through the canopy.

He’d been walking for perhaps ten minutes when the voices grew clearer, and he could make out what sounded like an argument.

“—can’t just claim territory without proper channels!” A voice that sounded like Theo’s, though distorted somehow.

“We don’t recognize your authority here.” This voice was unfamiliar, aggressive.

“Then you leave us no choice.” This voice Aiden would recognize anywhere—Dylan’s, but deeper, almost a growl.

Aiden moved closer, careful to avoid stepping on twigs or dry leaves. Through a gap in the trees, he could see a clearing illuminated by several lanterns placed on the ground. What he saw there froze him in place.

Two groups faced each other across the small meadow.

On one side stood Dylan, Theo, and several others Aiden recognized from the barbecue.

On the opposite side, a group of strangers with hostile postures.

But it was their appearance that had Aiden’s mind struggling to process what his eyes were seeing.

They weren’t entirely human.

Dylan stood at the front of his group, his body transformed in ways that defied explanation.

He was still recognizably himself, but with significant alterations—his face elongated into a partial muzzle, ears pointed, hands ended in claws, and his posture more animalistic, though he remained upright.

He was shirtless despite the cool night, his powerful chest and arms covered in a light dusting of dark hair that seemed thicker than Aiden remembered.

The others showed similar transformations in varying degrees. Theo beside Dylan looked nearly as wolfish, while some of the others displayed more subtle changes.

The opposing group exhibited the same unnatural features, though their transformations seemed less controlled, more aggressive in appearance.

“This territory has been Silverwood pack land for generations,” Dylan was saying, his voice deeper and rougher than normal. “Your challenge is noted but rejected. Leave now, and we’ll consider this settled.”

“The old ways are changing,” responded what appeared to be the leader of the other group, a massive man with an even more pronounced muzzle than Dylan’s. “Unclaimed humans in established territories are fair game now.”

Dylan’s growl was audible even from Aiden’s hiding place. “He is not unclaimed. He is mine.”

With a shock, Aiden realized they were talking about him.

“You haven’t completed the mate bond,” the stranger countered. “Our scouts confirmed it. That makes him available under the new council ruling.”

“Those rulings haven’t been ratified,” Theo interjected. “And even if they were, Alpha Silverwood has initiated the courting process. Interference is forbidden under even the new provisions.”

The tension in the clearing was palpable, both sides poised on the edge of violence.

Aiden’s mind raced to process what he was witnessing—not just the physical transformations that confirmed his wildest theories, but the apparent fact that he himself was somehow the center of this territorial dispute.

Without conscious decision, Aiden stepped forward, a twig snapping beneath his foot. Every head in the clearing whipped toward the sound, enhanced senses detecting his presence instantly.

“Aiden!” Dylan’s voice was a mixture of horror and concern. “What are you doing here?”

Stepping fully into the clearing, Aiden struggled to keep his voice steady. “Getting answers, finally. Though I have to say, this is a lot more dramatic than just telling me you’re a werewolf.”

A ripple of surprise moved through both groups. The leader of the opposing pack recovered first, a predatory smile revealing too-sharp teeth.

“The human knows,” he said with evident satisfaction. “That changes things.”

“It changes nothing,” Dylan growled, moving with inhuman speed to place himself between Aiden and the strangers. “He is under my protection. Under pack protection.”

Up close, Dylan’s transformation was even more startling. His amber eyes now had a pronounced glow to them, pupils elongated rather than round. His teeth were visibly sharper when he spoke, and his entire body seemed coiled with barely restrained power.

Against all logic, Aiden wasn’t afraid—at least not of Dylan. Shocked, certainly. Overwhelmed by the confirmation of his suspicions, absolutely. But the protective stance, the familiar presence despite the unfamiliar form… this was still Dylan.

“This is what you couldn’t tell me?” Aiden asked quietly, for Dylan’s ears only. “That you’re a literal werewolf?”

Dylan’s transformed face showed a complex mixture of emotions—fear, shame, hope. “I wanted to. I was going to. Tomorrow.”

“Touching,” interrupted the other pack leader. “But knowledge of our existence without a completed mate bond violates the primary law. The human must either be claimed officially or…” He let the alternative hang unspoken in the night air.

Theo stepped forward, his own transformation slightly less pronounced than Dylan’s. “Conrad, don’t start something you can’t finish. Our pack outnumbers yours, and challenging an alpha on his territory over his potential mate isn’t just bad form—it’s suicide.”

The standoff continued for several tense moments before Conrad, the rival leader, seemed to reassess the situation. “The council will hear about this,” he said finally. “Your grandfather’s influence won’t protect you forever, Silverwood.”

“File a formal grievance,” Dylan replied coldly. “In the meantime, get off my land.”

The rival pack retreated slowly, maintaining eye contact in what Aiden recognized as a dominance display even with his limited understanding of wolf behavior. Only when they had disappeared into the trees did the tension in Dylan’s body slightly ease.

“Get him back to the cabin,” Dylan instructed Theo without turning. “I’ll make sure they’re actually leaving.”

“Dylan—” Aiden began, but was cut off when Theo gently took his arm.

“Let him handle this,” Theo said, his features already beginning to shift back toward fully human. “We need to talk anyway. I believe I owe you an ‘I told you so’ about paying attention.”