Most of the guys from Aleksandr's pack and all of Leo's friends had shifted back to their human forms when Leo and Aleksandr returned to the clearing. They had even started mingling with each other since Leo could see his friends talking with unfamiliar faces.
Leo could see a crowd, few of the members seemed younger than Leo while most of them looked similar in age.
"Oh look whooo it isss!" One guy from the pack said while looking in their direction.
"Woohoo, the lovepups are back!" Another guy from Aleksandr's pack said while looking at their intertwined hands. He was one of the younger ones.
"Wait, did you seriously just call your Alpha a pup?"
"No! I called him a lovvvepup, doofus! Like a lovebird but for a wolf, get it?"
"Then why didn't you just call him a love-wolf?"
"Because love-wolf sounds so weird. And dorky!"
"Reeeeally? You're calling it dorky? You literally came up with lovepu-"
"OH MY GOD this is the world's most irritating conversation! SHUTUP SHUTUP SHUTUPPP!!" Some third guy tried to break their banter.
"Heyyy, are you doing that bit from that series you made me watch where that guy said "Shut Up" a lot on the stairs?" Yet another guy had joined in the conversation.
"That series was called FRIENDS! And that guy is named Chandler and can you try to remember at least a single reference from all the series I recommend you?"
"Well, you recommend a lot." The other guy shrugged his shoulders.
Leo whirled to look at Aleksandr with wide eyes, who had chosen to stay silent amidst all that. He mouthed, "What is happening?" to Aleksandr who was barely hiding his amusement at Lev's reaction.
"Welcome to the pack, baby" was Aleksandr's response as left a peck on Leo's lips. Then he shrugged and added, "I just ignore them." Leo smiled seeing his mate so relaxed.
"You made it. Didn't think you'd be coming back."
A voice remarked behind Leo and he turned around to see a guy nearly as tall as Aleksandr with buzz-cut hair, supporting a trimmed beard and moustache that highlighted his stormy grey eyes.
"Didn't wanna miss the camping." Aleksandr grunted as one of his arms draped around Leo's shoulders and pulled him to his side.
The guy rolled his eyes and gave a sly smile that transformed his entire face and made him look wicked. Leo wondered who he was since he seemed to show little respect to his Alpha. Then again, the young ones before had been openly discussing their Alpha's love life and his mate hadn't admonished them.
"Liar! You just probably didn't wanna share the sounds of your mate."
Aleksandr's fierce growl made the hair on Leo's neck stand up before the buzz-cut-guy could even complete the sentence. Leo frowned at the rudeness of the guy as well.
The guy instantly tilted his neck to the side to show his subservience. "Relax, Alpha. You know I'm right anyway." He paused and continued, "Aren't you gonna introduce us?"
Aleksandr glared at the guy one more time before turning to Leo. "Mate, this asshole here is Vlad, my Beta." He turned back to the buzz-cut and added, "Vlad this is my mate, Leo."
"Hi, nice to meet you." Leo said politely.
"Pleasure to finally meet you, Leo. Now that you're here, hopefully our Alpha will stop being a prick for some time." Vlad replied cheekily while Aleksandr just grunted grumpily.
"Doubt it." Leo retorted, laughing at Aleksandr's expense since Leo could see that his mate was used to Vlad's brand of humor.
Suddenly Aleksandr straightened up, as if on alert. His arm around Leo's shoulders tightened and pulled him closer.
Leo looked around for some upcoming threat but could not detect anything out of the ordinary. People were still talking and laughing. Vlad had wandered off to talk someone else.
Aleksandr bent his head to whisper in Leo's ear, "Who is that guy walking towards us and why was he about to touch you when you were howling for your mate?"
Leo whipped his head towards Aleksandr with wide, confused eyes, "Howling for my mate? What?"
Aleksandr just stared at ahead at the guy as Leo noticed Jake walking towards them. His eyes roamed between Aleksandr's blatant display of possessiveness and Leo's face.
"Hey Leo, you okay?" Jake asked.
Leo couldn't help appreciate the concern shown by him, despite them just becoming friends through Lina. So he replied calmly, "Hi Jake, I'm good. This is Aleksandr. He is...my mate."
All three of them noticed the pause.
"Oh okay. Wow. Big news." Jake recovered enough to speak while Aleksandr just stood there, menacingly glaring at him.
Leo rambled on, "Aleksandr, this is Jake. He organizes the runs for us university guys generally, every fortnight. He grew up in the city so his family knows all the places for orchestrating such events."
"Congratulations, man." Jake tried again with Aleksandr.
"Da." Aleksandr grunted.
Leo just rolled his eyes and replied instead, "Thanks. So, wassup?"
"We are actually thinking of leaving and going back to the uni campus. I wanted to ask you if you were coming back with us but I don't think now that you'll be able to...?" Jake drawled off.
"Oh, I don't know. I haven't made any plans yet." Leo shrugged.
That seemed to shake Aleksandr from his stupor. "What? Of course we have plans. You're going camping with us."
Leo looked at his mate challengingly and smirked, "You haven't asked me."
A muscle in Aleksandr's jaw ticked as he conceded, "Will you please come to camping with me, mate?"
Aleksandr continued, "You should know I cannot, will not bear to be without you right now so if you refuse to go camping with us, you will be disappointing all of the pack members here since they will have to return home without having any fun."
"Just them, not you?" Leo asked.
"Silly question." Aleksandr leaned down and stared right into Leo's eyes, making his heartbeat speed up. His voice flowing smoothly like honey in Leo's ears.
"I will be following you wherever you decide to go, be it camping with me or your university campus. Like I said, I am not. Leaving. You. Alone."
All Leo could see, feel, hear and breathe was Aleksandr. His mate. Their breaths exhaled, mingled and became one, much like what Leo wanted to do right now, with his mate.
A cough sounded in the air and Leo startled back, just to remember that Jake was still standing there, waiting for his answer.
"I'm, uhh.." Leo stopped and cleared his throat. "I'll go back later, Jake. Thanks for asking, though."
Jake smirked knowingly and said, "Thought so. Good for you, Leo!" as he headed back.
Leo could feel his mate's eyes still on his face the whole time he was saying goodbye. It hadn't been long since they had met and found each other. Discovered that they were mates. There was still a lot to get to know about each other, Leo knew that already.
But he also knew that nothing made him feel the way he did when he was with Aleksandr. Apart from feeling the adrenaline rush from being in his mate's arms, apart from feeling the sense of belonging and feeling of rightness course through him, he also felt safe. Protected. Cared for. His instinct told him he could surrender to his mate and he would still be shielded and secured, safe and sound.
So he looked back at Aleksandr and said, "Lets go camping."
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