Slow Shift by Nazarea Andrews (best summer reads of all time txt) 📕

seen Tyler or Lucas with someone they’re courting, he’s read libraries worth of lore and bestiaries, and he knows what this is.

It’s why he leans down and kisses Tyler soft and sweet, then reaches for the bacon and bites into it. Tyler sits quiet and still, watching him eat, and his breath catches when Chase lifts a bite of eggs, cheesy and warm, and offers it to Tyler.

He’s quiet as Tyler chews, doesn’t comment on it or the cooking for him, but he watches the way Tyler’s eyes get darker and hungrier with every bite he offers, the way Tyler licks his fingers when he takes bacon from them, the way he sucks strawberry juice from them—the avid way he watches Chase.

By the time he’s done, his belly is pleasantly full, and he feels like he’s a few strokes away from coming all over himself.

“Still hungry?” Tyler asks, and Chase whines.

The smile Tyler gives him is all wolf and promise.

~*~

Tyler fucks him hard and fast this time, panting dirty and hot in his ear while he pins Chase’s hands to the bed, holding his hips up as he fucks him so that Chase gets no friction, nothing at all to rut against.

“Want you to come on my dick,” Tyler groans, “Just that, sweetheart, you can do it, c’mon. Come for me.”

Chase wails when he does, shaking and trying to claw away, even while he’s pushing back into Tyler, grinding against him.

Tyler pins him and pulls out, stroking himself off with quick, brutal strokes, snarling when he spills messy and hot across Chase’s back.

Chase smiles, warm and content, when Tyler rubs it into his skin, then smears his own spunk onto Tyler’s throat.

Tyler’s eyes gleam and Chase giggles. “Fuckin’ werewolf courting.”

~*~

They emerge late that evening after the sun has gone down, when Aurora taps imperiously on their door and summons them for dinner. Chase is come-drunk and giggling with Tyler is pressed close to him, nosing into his hair.

Aurora perches in Lucas’s lap, picking at the roast on his plate. Her eyes are knowing and warm as Tyler settles into his seat and loops an arm around Chase's shoulders, stopping just shy of dragging the boy into his lap.

Chase smirks at her when she feeds Lucas a piece of carrot and sips his wine, and she smiles back serenely, content with the blue-eyed werewolf pressing kisses into her throat.

“Well,” she says, her sharp voice at odds with her fond smile, “It’s about fucking time.”

Chapter 23

It’s not that Tyler is afraid of John, exactly.

He’s not. John is Pack. Not quite the way Aurora is, and never the way Chase is—the burning center of them—but Pack. He likes John, and respects him. There’s always been a healthy respect for him.

He all-too-clearly remembers that endless summer with John’s burning fury, the gaping distance between him and Chase, when his wolf would run and run and run, never finding it’s packmate.

He isn’t afraid, but he is very aware of who John is and how important he is to Chase.

“Stop worrying,” Chase says, watching him as he drives, and Tyler scowls. “Dad loves you.”

Tyler isn’t sure that’s true, but he knows that they get along far better than he ever expected.

“I’m fucking his only son, who is also ten years younger than me,” Tyler says flatly.

Chase nods happily. “Yeah, maybe don’t put it that away, ok?” He squeezes Tyler’s fingers.

Tyler sighs and continues quietly worrying.

~*~

John arrives when Chase finishes the pan-seared chicken breasts. There’s baked potatoes instead of salad, because Tyler felt the man deserved that much.

Tyler wipes his hands on his pants and fidgets nervously as John enters the kitchen. The Chief freezes, watching Tyler for a moment, before his gaze flicks to his son.

He sighs, this long-suffering thing that makes Tyler cringe. “Chase,” he says, “If you’re going to tell me your dating Tyler, I definitely deserve red meat.”

Chase plates the chicken while Tyler stares at him, startled. “Good thing I didn’t tell you shit, huh, Dad?” He kisses Tyler on the cheek and says, “Get Dad a beer and come sit down, baby.”

Tyler flushes and does as he’s told. He eyes the Chief as he sits. “How’d you know?”

John shrugs. “I’ve been watching you with my son for years, Tyler. If something changes between you two, did you really think I’d miss it?”

“Oh my god, Dad. Lucas totally called you, didn’t he?” Chase snaps.

John smirks.

Tyler nods and says faintly, “I’m going to strangle him.”

~*~

John is quiet at his side as they wash dishes while Chase changes upstairs.

“I didn’t plan this,” Tyler says honestly. It’s not an apology, not quite—he doesn’t think he could apologize for loving Chase—but it’s...something.

“I know,” John says. He huffs, dipping his hands back into the soapy water. “I’m not surprised. I’ve been expecting this for years.”

“But—”

John looks at him. “Chase has never been a normal kid. If my son thought you and your Pack were worth protecting when he was sixteen, and worth magically binding himself to when he’s eighteen, he’s never going to change his mind about you. I’m just glad you both waited until he was old enough to be legal.”

John pulls the drain, turning to face him, and the look he gets reminds Tyler that this man faces down criminals every day.

“I’m not going to tell you I’ll shoot you if you break his heart. You already know he can do it, and I think Lucas would rip your throat out before I could get my gun. So that’s out. But I will remind you of this: he trusts you not to hurt him.” He studies the other man. “You’re one of the only people in the world who can. Me and Ben and the Pack—that’s it. No one else matters to my son. You sure as hell better be worth his love.”

~*~

Summer settles into Harrisburg like a lover, easing deep. Chase adores it. He loves having Aurora close again, loves waking in Tyler’s bed with nowhere else to be.

He spends days with Ben playing video