It was the way his father spoke Will's name that finally sealed the deal. Dean had no choice. Every fiber in his being rebelled against going through with the older werewolf's plan, but even if he tried to break free from here, he'd never get to his mate before the silencers did. And if by some miracle, he managed to save Will, Will's family would not be so lucky. Dean couldn't be in two places at the same time. Not to mention that the silencers would be waiting for him, with weapons that could easily incapacitate him.

  There was no other way. He'd made a serious mistake. He should have left days ago instead of waiting. He'd thought he was doing the right thing by giving Will time to say his goodbyes, but he'd underestimated his father, and now, he was paying the price.

  Dean straightened his back and braced himself for the unavoidable. "Very well, Father. I will obey. But one day, you will regret this."

  If the older werewolf registered or cared about the threat, he didn't show it. Instead, he led Dean the rest of the way to the waiting werewolf female who seemed about as enthusiastic as Dean felt. That night, when Dean claimed the woman who would be the mother of his pups, he could only thank the moon he'd never gotten the chance to bind him and Will together. That way, Will might, at least, forget about him. He might still love one day. He might leave behind the memory of the werewolf who'd fallen for him so desperately and had failed him so abysmally. On his part, Dean would never forget, and his recollections would have to be enough to carry him through the years to come.

  ****

  Will wouldn't lie to himself. He'd been anxious ever since he'd agreed to leave with Dean. Still, he knew it was the right thing to do, and that Dean would make him happy. As such, the night they'd agreed upon as their departure date, he traveled to the cabin.

  He half-expected the werewolf to already be there, but he wasn't. It didn't unsettle him too much. Dean had taken care of everything. They had maps and money inside, safely tucked away. But perhaps something else had come up that had delayed him. So Will waited... and waited... and waited. The more time passed, the less certain he felt of what he'd deemed so sure. He took refuge behind closed doors, the shadows of the forest suddenly seeming threatening.

  He told himself it was only a slight delay, and sat down on the loveseat, doing his best not to think about everything that could have gone wrong and instead focusing on the memory of Dean's voice and his touch. It calmed him, almost ridiculously so. Dean had promised him they'd be together. It was silly to worry.

  He must have dozed off at one point, because when he stirred again, the room was suspiciously bright. Will shot to his feet, several things passing through his mind at the same time. He'd slept the whole night away which meant that he could be in big trouble if his parents discovered his absence. And maybe that would have scared him, but most importantly, his waking up at this hour clearly pointed out Dean had never arrived.

  Will very carefully didn't panic. Instead, he left the cabin and headed back to his family's house. It was very early still, and he was lucky in that no one had woken up yet. He cut it pretty close, because no sooner had he stepped inside the courtyard than his brother emerged from the house.

  "You're up early," Karl commented idly.

  Will shrugged, affecting a nonchalance he didn't feel. "Couldn't sleep so I figured I'd start on the chores."

  If Karl found that odd, he didn't address it. Maybe he should have, or would have, had Will been any of their other brothers. But he wasn't. For Karl, Will remained the baby brother, the one who'd never dare to sneak out and do something even the slightest bit unusual and improper. So Karl believed him—and for some reason, Will resented him for it.

  He resented everyone that day—resented his father for his loud laughter and his mother for her gossiping, for the way she whispered about 'That Boy' who had been seen with a colored girl. He resented Karl for enthusing over his fiancée and Louis and George for their leering and encouragement. Most of all, he resented himself. He wanted to go find Dean so badly, but he was afraid, and he didn't know how he'd be able to explain something like that.

  He hoped Dean would meet him that night, but Dean never did. Dean's absence made Will's decision for him, and the next day, Will found his chance when Karl went to town to buy supplies. There was a moment, though, a moment when he wished he never would have gone.

  The woman at the bed and breakfast where Dean had been staying—an old lady Will had only ever known as Mrs. Fisher—smiled at him when Will asked about Dean. There was no judgment in her rheumy eyes, and she seemed to believe Will's explanation about Dean being a friend he'd met at the carnival—believable, since it was, in a way, true. "I'm sorry," she told him, "but he left yesterday at noon with his wife."

  The latter word echoed in Will's mind, like every thought flew out of his brain and only that concept remained, assaulting his synapses, cutting off his breathing. He gripped the counter to keep himself from swaying and dumbly repeated, "Wife?"

  "Yes." Mrs. Fisher smiled. "Lovely young woman, she was. And they were so in love. Don't you think love is beautiful?"

  Actually, right about then, Will thought any sort of emotion sucked. And if he heard the word 'love' again, he'd probably scream. Since Mrs. Fisher seemed to be particularly fond of it today, Will quickly thanked her and stumbled out of the bed and breakfast.

  A wife. God, Will felt so stupid. He'd fallen for Dean and believed everything Dean had told him, and it had obviously been a lie. All this time, Will had meant nothing to Dean. He'd probably been just a bit of fun on the side, a filthy little faggot with whom Dean had scratched an itch.

  He might have fallen to his knees right then and there had Karl not walked up to him, carrying a couple of bags. This time, he did notice something wasn't right. "Hey, are you okay?"

  Will forced a smile. He wasn't. He might never be okay again. But he could never tell Karl that. He could never reveal the fact that his heart had shattered into a million pieces at one word from an old woman. "I'm fine," he told his brother instead. "Come on. Let's go home."

  ****

  Will had hoped that, with time, he'd be able to forget about Dean. He'd hoped that as the days passed, the memory of Dean's smile would fade, or at least grow less painful. It never did.

  If anything, Dean's absence became harder and harder to withstand. Will almost felt like he was missing a limb, and he knew it was a poor comparison, but he simply couldn't think of anything better. In fact, he couldn't focus on anything at all. When he tried to read, his mind flew to the image of stormy gray eyes. When he attempted to do his chores, he dropped the tools and stumbled, almost expecting Dean to catch him. It would have been laughable had it not been so sad.

  His family grew concerned, but neither them, nor the doctor could figure out what was wrong with him. His mother was happy, though, when, after a few days of not being able to stomach much of anything, Will started to eat everything he could get his hands on.

  All things considered, when Will first noticed the lump in his belly, he rolled his eyes at himself. Seriously, he needed to lay off on the snacks between meals. All the meat he'd been eating was starting to show.

  And he did try, but he simply couldn't help himself. George was the one who noticed next—shocking since the man wasn't the most observant of people. "You're putting a bit of weight on," he said, patting Will's stomach. "Careful or you won't be able to find a gal."

  Something strange and frightened rose within Will when George touched him. He abandoned the sandwich he'd been preparing with a light, strained laugh. "You're right. I should...umm... I'll probably follow your advice."

  He didn't even know what he was saying, and he fled the kitchen before George could reply. He ended up in the barn, hyperventilating and not knowing why. And then all the food he'd eaten finally rebelled in his stomach. A heavy sense of nausea flowed over him and he leaned over a stack of hay and vomited. It wasn't pretty, but at least no one had seen him.

  If that had been the last of it, Will would have been very relieved—but that wasn't the case. The lump grew bigger, and the nausea was soon joined by dizziness. A niggling thought nudged at the back of Will's consciousness, but he banished it because it simply made no sense. He took to staying in bed and covering himself so that his parents wouldn't see the girth he'd taken.

  Of course, it was only a matter of time until they'd notice, but Will simply didn't know what to think and what to do. In the end, this confusion and despair led him to go to the one place he'd sworn not to step into again—the cabin.

  He put on the loosest clothes he had to disguise his growing stomach. It worked, although Will suspected that wouldn't be the case if things continued as they were. Still, he ambushed his mother when she was alone in the kitchen and made sure she didn't have her glasses. "I'm going by uncle's cabin. I think I need a breath of fresh air."

  She smiled at him, and Will felt a pang of guilt at everything he'd been hiding from her. "That's a good idea, Will. You've been cooped up in there for so long... We were getting worried about you, especially since you refused to see the doctor again."

  "I'll be fine, I think," Will said. "It's just..." He braced himself for what he was about to say, even if he'd been planning it ahead of time. "It's hard for me to see Karl so happy with Peggy."

  His mother's eyes widened. "Did you... Oh, dear. Don't tell me you fancied her. I never realized..."

  Will shrugged. He hadn't actually wanted to say that, more like to suggest he was in love with someone who didn't feel the same way—which was true. But maybe this was better. "I didn't realize it either," he told her. "But Karl loves her, and they make a good couple. I wouldn't want to stand in their way."

  His voice grew a little choked as the image of Karl and Peggy blurred into that of Dean and his unknown wife. His mother patted his hand. She would have probably reached over to hug him, but Will had been careful to put the table between them so that she couldn't do it. "You're a good boy. I'm sure you'll find the right girl for you, even if Peggy wasn't the one."

  "Thanks, Mom. I'm off."

  She didn't ask for further explanations. Perhaps she was relieved, because he'd been acting so strangely, and none of them knew how to handle it. They hadn't even pressed him to do his chores, which was fortunate, since he wouldn't have been capable of it. Finally having an explanation helped her, even if it was one she hadn't particularly liked or wanted to hear. She let him go without another word, and Will wondered if she would tell Karl, and if so, what his brother would do.

  That was a problem for another day, though, as Will soon learned that the trek to the cabin no longer seemed as effortless as before. By the time he reached his destination, he was breathing hard, sweating and exhausted. He collapsed on the very same loveseat where he'd once waited in vain for his so-called mate to arrive.

  What was he doing here? What had he hoped to find? The cabin reminded him so much of Dean it was painful to even breathe. Will got up and went to one of the shelves, where he'd stashed the best gift he'd ever received for his birthday.

  His copy of Animal Farm was waiting for him, but so was the picture he and Dean had taken the night of the carnival. Will took in his lover's face, immortalized in the image, and wondered how things could have gone so wrong.

  He didn't have the heart to leave the cabin that day, and no one came to find him. The place was still stocked, so he didn't need to go looking for food. Distantly, Will wondered if his mother had believed him after all, or if she suspected something. That was a question he never got the answer to.

  It was Karl who dropped by the cabin, two days after Will had left his family home. Will opened the door for his brother, feeling more exhausted than he ever remembered being. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep forever, to not have to deal with the ominous truth that kept battering the edges of his consciousness.

  "Is it true?" Karl asked without preamble. "Are you really in love with Peggy?"

  The confirmation was on Will's lips. It would be easy to say. He could assure Karl he had no intention of making a move, and then his brother would hopefully leave him alone. For some reason, though, the words didn't come.

  Maybe it was just the strain of Dean's absence or the near hysterics he'd worked himself into more than once during the past few days, but he shook his head. "No, I'm not."

  Karl blinked, having obviously not expected that reply. "But you told Mom—"

  "I lied," Will cut him off.

  "You lied." That seemed to befuddle Karl more than anything, as if he simply hadn't expected Will to lie.

  Will would have laughed if he'd had the energy. "Indeed. Shocking, isn't it?"

  "But... Why would you say something like that if you didn't mean it?" A sense of understanding filled Karl's eyes. "Unless... You were hiding something else. What is it, Will? What are you hiding?"

  Karl gripped Will's arms in a strong, almost painful grip, and Will pushed his brother away. "You don't want to know," he told Karl tiredly.

  "Of course I do," Karl insisted. "I'm your brother. I can help you. Maybe... Are you in love with someone else?"

  Will had no idea how Karl had managed to hit the nail on the head. Then again, his brother could be perceptive at times. Besides, Will's heartbreak was at this point pretty clear to see. He didn't try to deny it and wordlessly nodded.

  "Who is she?" Karl asked. "Is she... you know... colored?"

  Karl thought Will had fallen for a black girl. Perhaps Will could have dropped it there, convinced Karl that yes, that had been the situation, but he'd decided against pursuing anything. Yet again, his heart hijacked his vocal cords. "She is a he. I'm in love with a man."

  Silence fell between them. The color drained from Karl's face as he stared slack-jawed at Will. He seemed to be waiting for Will to laugh the whole thing off, perhaps tell him it had all been nothing more than an elaborate joke. But Will didn't, and Karl clenched his fists as anger replaced surprise on his familiar face.

  "No."

  Despite the tempestuous look on Karl's face, Will suddenly felt angry. "I think I would be able to tell, especially since, you know, it wasn't exactly a chaste relationship."

  Antagonizing his brother proved to be a poor idea at best. Karl's face went purple with fury. He lunged, perhaps planning to beat the gay out of Will.

  Thankfully, Will had been expecting it and he dodged his brother's attack. Karl's momentum led him to trip over the carpet and fall onto the floor. And that was when Will felt it.

  Something moved inside him, like butterfly wings beating against his insides. It wasn't a butterfly, though. It was a baby. It seemed insane, but Will couldn't deny it, not anymore. His symptoms had fit pretty much the ones he'd read about in his books about pregnancies. It had been too mind-numbing to even consider, but the thought had slowly wormed its way into his mind, and now he had to accept it, at least as a possibility.

  God only knew how Dean's physiology worked. Will had never really asked, which in hindsight, had been stupid. Either way, Will couldn't just wait around for his family to realize he might be carrying a child. Even if he hadn't stupidly spilled his secret to Karl, he would have had to leave.

  The knowledge that he might have a little person inside him, relying on him, kicked him into action. Before his brother could recover, Will snatched Karl's keys and made a beeline for the shelf. He grabbed his book, along with the small package beneath it and rushed toward the door.

  By the time Karl got to his feet, Will was already out of the cabin and entering the truck. Karl burst outside angrily, but Will closed the door of the car behind him. "Get back here, Will," his brother shouted.

  Adrenaline flowing through his veins, Will focused on going through with his escape. He dumped the book and the package on the seat next to him and inserted the key into the ignition. He had one moment when he thought Karl would catch him, as his brother stumbled far too close to the door for Will's comfort. Despite the panic threatening to choke him, Will didn't lose his head and instead, quickly drove back, avoiding Karl.

  Karl continued to shout his name, which naturally, Will ignored. He didn't look behind as he thanked God that the cabin actually had a forest road leading up to it. He didn't think he could have fled on foot.

  The panic dulled into a sense of decision. His life might have taken a crazy turn, but that didn't mean he could crawl back into his family's barn and start hyperventilating again. No, he still had Dean's money and maps. Sure, Dean could have lied when it came to that too, but at this point, it was Will's only hope, as flimsy as it might have seemed.

  With that in mind, Will drove straight to the bus station. Less than an hour later, while he was watching the scenery of his home town fly past, he wondered if he'd ever see his family or Willow Cove again. Absently, he set his hand over his belly and thought about the man who'd landed him in this predicament. Why, Dean? Why did you lie to me?

  ****

  Two weeks later

  Will absently scratched his neck as he descended from the bus. Damn it, he hated having to wear a wig. It was necessary for his disguise, but that didn't make it comfortable.

  Will knew he was lucky. Since the weather had taken a turn for the worse, he'd managed to dress up as a pregnant woman, and actually be pretty convincing. Nothing else could have worked, since his originally small lump was growing at an alarming rate, while Will had, for the most part, maintained his slender build. Most people would have probably assumed that he had some sort of strange disease, but he would have drawn attention, and that was something Will couldn't afford.

  And now, here he was, in a small town close to the Canadian border. He would have probably been on the other side by now, but unfortunately, there was a little problem with that. He had no documents that would get customs to let him pass. The day before, while out shopping, he'd heard two strangers talking in French about a man who could solve such problems, and so, he'd come here.

 

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