Axel's Pup by Kim Dare

as an alpha human, Axel really was it.
    As the gap between them narrowed, Bayden forced himself to study Axel as objectively as possible, to look past the dominance and see what else Axel’s body language and scent could tell him.
    He didn’t look angry or inclined to lash out. More importantly, he didn’t smell disgusted, or appalled, or any of the other things Bayden had imagined he might be when coming face to face with the wolf side of him. He smelt…curious.
    Griz stepped past Axel. He reached out to touch Bayden’s head.
    Forcing himself to neither pull away nor snap at his fingertips, Bayden remained motionless until he knew for sure what Griz intended to do.
    “No,” Axel said. “The deal was for you to see him, not touch him.”
    Griz looked over his shoulder, his fingers hovering in the air a few inches from Bayden’s head. “What?”
    “You want to lay a hand on him, ask him when he’s in a position to answer you.” Axel’s tone allowed for no argument.
    Griz stepped back. He said something to Drac and Hale, but Bayden kept his attention on Axel. Crouching down in front of him, Axel stared into Bayden’s eyes.
    Instinct kicked in. Bayden looked down. It took every bit of self-control he could scrape together not to acknowledge Axel’s obvious dominance in any more overt way.
    He didn’t dip his head low to the floor; he didn’t try to creep closer to Axel in the hope of being allowed to nuzzle and lick him. He didn’t roll over on his back in a blatant display of respect either, but it was a near run thing.
    All he did was stand as still as possible and wait for an order. His tail twitched, but he managed not to wag it too much.
    “You’ve won your bet. You can change back whenever you want.” Axel sounded completely calm.
    Bayden waited for Axel to go back to the others, but he stayed crouched down in front of him.
    He remained there as Bayden reached for the human side of himself and pulled it to the front of his world. His mind spun as he changed back before his body had even had time to properly settle into his wolf form, let alone build up the appropriate momentum to shift back.
    The air turned cold. His bones lengthened and shortened by turn, forming an entirely different skeleton within him. The colours around him swirled until they settled into a far brighter version of themselves. Bayden gasped as his shift completed.
    He wanted nothing more than to lower himself to his knees and rest there on the bare floor. But he was human shaped again, and wolves who looked human weren’t supposed to be naked on the floor. He pulled himself to his feet as quickly as he could, doing his best to control each pair of muscles and appear neither clumsy nor weak in front of men who might still prove to be a threat.
    He blinked open his eyes just in time to see Axel rising to his full height in front of him. Without warning, Axel blurred. The room tipped sideways.
    Axel caught hold of Bayden’s shoulders and steadied the world. “Easy now.”
    Bayden only realised that he was being nudged back to sit on something when he felt it behind him. Axel’s hands stayed on his shoulders, supporting him. Bayden kept his eyes closed for a few seconds. When he opened them, Axel was right there in front of him.
    Bayden stared up at him for several seconds, disorientated enough to be able to meet his gaze far more easily than he usually could. Axel’s eyes looked very blue as Bayden’s vision settled back into human clarity.
    “Okay?” Axel asked.
    Not sure his voice would come out as anything other than a growl if he tried to speak, Bayden nodded. He took a deep breath to clear his head. His sense of smell was still heightened. Axel’s scent was changing again, now that Bayden was back in his human form.
    Curiosity was fading away to be replaced with a different kind of interest. Bayden dropped his gaze. He was still naked. In a few moments, no one would need scent to know that Axel’s interest in him was