Title: Wolf

Summary: Liam's just trying to save his best friend, Wolf, when he meets the guys of his dreams - Wolf's vet. Unfortunately, it's not always wise to have a one-night-stand with your dog's doctor. YAOI M/M

Warning: Offer prayers for my mortal soul; this contains yaoi. But what can you expect from a guy named Mackenzie? Get real, here.

Liam opened the door to his car. To him, it was juts a means to an end - a black sedan that got him from Point A to Point B. To his former lover, it had been a status symbol - a brand new, limited edition car with leather interior, fancy gadgets, and a monthly payment that could make even a hardened man break down into helpless tears. Actually, helpless tears would be the best he could have hoped for if Vic caught him letting that dog into the front seat again. Victor could be… creatively ruthless and punishing. He wouldn't need to worry about that anymore; both he and the dog were banished. Besides, with the meager amount of belongings he'd been allowed to take with him, the backseat was full. Wolf had no choice but to sit in the front seat.

The corner of Liam's mouth quirked. He hopped into the car and grinned over at his co-pilot while rolling the window down to allow the animal to stick his head out. Although Liam could never understand, nothing he did for the dog could compare to the head out of the window, mouth open, tongue lolling out to the side, wind rushing by joy that the pup experienced during car rides. Even in the dead of winter.

Liam turned up the heat, put the car in reverse, and started to pull out of the driveway. He was still grinning…at least up to the point when he noticed his former lover in the driveway, arms folded across his chest as he glared at the Scottish man.

Wolf, a true dog at heart, wagged his tail and woofed goodbye to Victor.

Victor didn't look even slightly amused.

Liam would have very much liked to flip him off, but rose above it. Barely.

Wolf didn't look very doglike. He looked like what his name suggested - a wolf. Liam didn't know what breed he was, but he certainly wasn't a Labrador - as his pen in the shelter had proclaimed when Liam had decided he wanted a dog a year and a half ago. Victor hadn't been pleased with that; he hated dogs. But, knowing a losing battle when he fought one, he agreed to take the "Labrador" home. The "Labrador" was now a German Shepherd sized, long furred, black and fluffy thing with bright honey colored eyes.

And the "Labrador" needed to see the vet today. His appointment had been scheduled a few weeks in advance, well before Liam knew he was being kicked to the curb for an older, wealthier model who was more accommodating.

Liam had never understood how a man find it pleasing to pay an astronomical fee for a vehicle that lost over half its value the moment it left the lot, and yet find it distasteful to pay any amount of money at all on a sick animal. The relationship had ended over that; over the dog.

The Scottish man closed his eyes for a moment, his fingers gripping the leather steering wheel. Emotions ran through him like wildfire. Anger. Rage. Disgust. Resentment. Fear. Pain.

Just put the damn thing down, Liam. We can get a new one.

He ran a hand through his hair and glanced in the mirror. He'd always wanted a dog - a nonjudgmental companion who liked to fetch squeaky things and who loved to go hiking. Instead, he'd wound up with an uptight, demanding, materialistic lover who refused to get his hands dirty. He didn't cook, didn't clean, didn't do much of anything.

Victor was wonderful, in his way. He was kind, loved art, and appreciated even the smallest things. He was dependable, sweet, and the best listener Liam had ever met. And despite the fact that he despised dogs - they were dirty and left fur everywhere - he'd given in and allowed his lover to bring one into his home.

Victor - bless his soul - had forgiven every potty accident, chewed piece of furniture, knocked over trash can… He'd even forgiven, with grace, the digging up of his flower beds in the spring.

He tolerated "the dog" very well, but he'd never wanted him.

Liam was the kind of man who didn't do well to like other men. He wasn't manly, per se, but he found it hard to tolerate girly things, like boys dressed in too-tight pants who dyed their hair pink and that sort of thing. He liked his men to act like men, same as he did. He was the kind of man who didn't cry.

Or at least, he had been…before he'd heard Victor say….

Liam forced his hands to unclench the steering wheel and switched to drumming his fingertips, thinking. It was that he'd called Wolf a "thing" and suggested that he was replaceable, as though he didn't deserve the medical care that they could afford him. And they could afford it, easily.

Wolf brought his head back into the car as they rounded the turn that would take them to the veterinary hospital. It was with narrowed eyes and a look that could only be defined as suspicious - one ear back while the other stood erect, glancing at Liam through the corners of his eyes - that he "boh-wuff"ed once.

Liam agreed. He didn't particularly like the vet's office, either. But Wolf shouldn't have known where they were going; this was a new vet, close to their new home.

He'd switched doctors for Wolf any number of times, becoming very wary of anyone who proclaimed that they knew why Wolf was always sick - or that he should put his dog on that diet that with "science" in the title. He knew enough, at least, to know that anything with corn of wheat gluten - especially as the first ingredient - was inferior and would not be fed to his best friend. That nixed just about any food that could be found in his local supermarket, but he didn't mind.

He just hoped that, with this doctor, they'd finally find some answers.

If Liam had expected things to be different with this vet, he hadn't been prepared for what "different" even meant. Upon entering the building - a cute little establishment in a plaza of dog-related businesses, from groomers to daycare - the atmosphere just didn't put him in the frame of mind he'd been expecting.

The floor was colorful, welcoming. So, too, were the cubicles - he couldn't think of what else to call them - that lined the walls on either side. They were like miniature rooms with half-walls to separate them from the floor, each equipped with comfortable chairs for the people, and comfortable-looking beds for the dogs. They even had baskets of toys.

Soft music played in the background.

Wolf, who had initially slinked into the place, put his ears up and un-tucked his tail, giving a tentative wave to the approaching vet tech.

"I…am I in the right place?"

She smiled understandingly. "Wolf, yes?" she asked the dog. "And you brought your daddy with you. Liam, right?"

Liam grinned. "That's us."

"You are indeed in the right place." She led him to a cubicle near what looked like a gigantic, half full aquarium with a dog in it. The dog casually walked, as though on a treadmill, serenely staring straight ahead.

Liam watched as another vet tech, his scrubs dark blue to the female's pink, gently coaxed the dog to continue walking on its imaginary trail. The guy was chubby, but not fat, with a decently handsome, boyish face and gentle demeanor. Not his type at all. Though why he was thinking about things like that, he didn't know.

Wolf watched the dog in the water tank for a few moments, his head tilted slightly to one side, as though considering the state of the perpetual walking without forward movement. He was calm, something that Liam wasn't used to. Wolf… Wolf really hated going to the vet. He would conveniently forget about the party attached to the other end of his leash, would jump on anyone or anything that came near him, and often resorted to barking and snapping at whoever was stupid enough to try and handle him be it for shots or a simple hello.

It came as something of a surprise to see the fluffy creature lie down - and on the dog bed, no less - and let out a sigh of contentment. He even closed his eyes.

Liam smiled, relaxing in his chair. This…might not turn out so bad after all.

"He's beautiful." The voice belonged to a male, who Liam assumed to be the water tank attendee, but when he turned to face the speaker, he found someone else.

"God, you are fuckably cute."

Standing just on the other side of the half-wall stood what Liam would call a "twink." Aka: So ridiculously far from his type that he'd usually sneer in disgust. But this boy - well, man, he hoped; if it was "bring your son to work day," he was really in trouble - had his loins responding before his brain had a chance to stop him from opening his stupid mouth.

His blonde hair was feathery and fell into his eyes, which were a brilliantly sapphire hue, half hidden behind his hair and a pair of black-framed glasses He was small in stature - just a hair shorter than average - and thin, but if the muscles on his arms were any indication, he wasn't skinny. His left arm was sleeved in an artistic tattoo that even Victor would have approved of, but Liam did notice that the ink hid scars that - thankfully - didn't look self inflicted.

He was gorgeous. His face was boyish, he probably didn't need to shave, and he had full, kissable lips. And despite the fact that Liam considered him a "twink," he didn't have that gay look about him. He was probably straight; he certainly looked like a straight guy.

Actually, he looked like a very shocked guy, standing there with his mouth slightly opened and eyes widened. He tried to say something, but stopped. Twice.

"Oh shit." Liam could have strangled himself. He ran a hand over his face and wondered if bolting for the door was an option. "I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry."

The guy reached his left arm over the half-wall, toward Liam. "Hi, I'm Dr. Micah David." He pronounced his surname Dah-veed. "You can call me Mike."

Liam took his hand and shook it. Apparently, they weren't going to talk about the elephant he'd just dragged into the room. "Liam Kendrick."

The vet's hands were soft and cool to the touch. He had a firm grip and a very professional handshake.

Wolf growled. He knew a vet when he saw one, but it seemed that he was too busy being comfortable on the fancy dog bed to really put much in the way of effort into his warning.

"Is that so?" the doctor asked the patient. Tentatively, he opened the half-door and stepped into the makeshift room.

Wolf growled from his perch on the dog bed, but didn't move. Liam kept a firm grip on his leash, just in case.

He was grinning by the end of the consult.

Micah David sat on the ground near Liam with a gigantic, fluffy gray and black dog all but purring in his lap. He must have used some weirdo psychic power to convince Wolf that he was a good guy, because the dog had gone from growling to tail wagging and thinking that his doctor was his new playmate and best friend. The vet had done all of his work without Wolf even realizing it - sliding his hands over the dog's body and talking to Liam about what his symptoms could mean, their options, and defining this and that as he went.

He was good. He never talked over Liam's head and he kept his patient and his client happy and feeling like they mattered to him. Everything went well. Liam felt as though Micah actually listened to Wolf's strange symptoms without dismissing anything, no matter how silly it sounded coming out of Liam's mouth. He took notes here and there, and asked relevant questions about symptoms Liam hadn't even considered symptoms.

He felt…listened to, as though Micah considered him the expert on his own dog, rather than making it clear that he was the one with the PhD.

The consult went so well that Liam became convinced that something had to go wrong.

It happened as they were leaving. Liam was leafing through some reading materials that the doctor had given him while the vet tech processed his payment. Micah stood a few feet away, charting things on a clipboard. He happened to look over at Liam, smiled, and then his face just went blank. Blank.

It was the strangest kind of look, really. He couldn't really call it blank, but the expression was something ineffable. If he'd been able to take a snapshot and really look at it, he might have called it something close to "horror".

The clipboard dropped to the ground and Liam was still reacting to something he didn't even know was happening when he noticed Wolf - or more specifically Wolf's teeth - going for his arm. His blood ran cold and he pulled his arm back instinctively, somehow knowing that he wouldn't be able to move away in time to avoid a bite.

A bite?

From Wolf? Liam's brain sputtered. Couldn't be. Not Wolf; not his dog. Victor would make him put him down. He couldn't. Wait. He wasn't with Victor anymore. Not Wolf. Not Wolf.

His heart was pounding.

Not happening.

This wasn't happening.

The noise Micah made snapped Liam back to the here and now. Wolf's teeth weren't attached to Liam, they were attached to Micah, who was swearing viciously. His voice was soft, still, despite the viciously creative things that spilled out of his pretty mouth.

The fluffy dog let go, staggered, and looked bewildered.

"Shit," said the vet.

Liam fully agreed.

Those scars on his arm, they weren't self-inflicted. Not as such, Liam reasoned. He wondered how many times the man had been bitten.

Micah gave him an expression that mimicked Wolf's suspicious look. "Once," he said after a pause.

Liam really felt like shit. He closed his eyes. He should have been reacting, scolding Wolf, doing something…but he just stood there, stupidly. He watched as the veterinarian studied his dog, who stood there looking as if he was suffering from shock.

"Are you back yet, baby?" Micah's voice was husky. It flowed over Liam and warmed him all the way to his toes. A voice like that…in bed…Ye, gods.

Liam shook it off. His vet was talking to his dog, not to him. How long had it been since he and Victor stopped sleeping in the same bed? A couple of months?

"There we go."

Liam shivered. They hadn't been together for a long time, despite the fact that they'd still lived together. He'd lost Victor a long time ago. He could handle that; he wasn't so sure about losing Wolf…

"Oh, shit."

His vet liked to swear.

Micah stood up slowly, staring at Liam. He cautiously reached out and grabbed the man's arm, leading him across the room, toward the cubicle they had just vacated. The vet had one hand on his arm and the other around his back. It would have been around his shoulders if he'd been tall enough.

"Hey," he spoke softly, as though he were talking to a crazy person. "Why don't you sit down for me?" He gently pushed the larger man into a chair and stood up straight.

Liam looked at him. He couldn't even begin to describe how he felt. His brain wouldn't work. He didn't know what to do. "What am I gonna do?" He sounded like a small, frightened child, even to himself. He put his face in his hands.

"Mike?"

Micah looked around at the vet tech, who was walking over with Liam's credit card and receipt. "Yeah, I know," he said. "Go. I'll finish up here and close up. Go." Micah took the card and the piece of paper and set them on the small table next Liam's chair.

"You sure?" she asked.

Liam glanced at his watch - a gift from Victor. He didn't particularly believe in watches, but he wore it anyway. It was almost six in the evening, and he was fairly certain that the vet was only open until five. He kept his face in his hands. Today sucked. Just sucked.

He heard shuffling and then the opening and closing of the door that led outside.

Micah pulled up a chair and sat down. He was so close that one of his knees touched Liam's leg. Liam was silently comforted by that; he wanted to reach out and touch him… Wanted to push him onto the ground and be rough and…

"How long has he been having seizures?"

Liam's head snapped up. "What?" He looked over to see that Wolf had taken up residence in the dog bed. He didn't looked dazed anymore; he looked as though nothing had happened.

"S-sei…" Liam swallowed. "I don't understand." He heard a note of panic in his voice and took a few deep breaths.

The vet explained what he'd seen before abandoning his clipboard and yanking Wolf away from Liam before he bit him. "…I assisted in a study on Springer Rage Syndrome, where the spaniels would become suddenly and violently aggressive without warning. I noticed, in some of them, a pattern to their movements. We called it 'idiopathic aggression' because we couldn't find a cause, but a great number of them improved with Phenobarbital - an ant seizure medication."

Liam looked at Wolf. "But he's never done that before."

"Bitten, you mean?" Micah looked at him curiously. "Has he ever suddenly stopped what he was do-"

"No," Liam answered before the vet could finish.

Micah leaned back in his chair, incidentally slouching down. His knee pressed harder into Liam's leg. "Hmm," he said, thoughtful. "Maybe it's a fluke. It could be something that …" He stopped.

"It's like I said. He has sudden, random symptoms. There and gone again."

They talked back and forth for a while.

When Liam finally calmed down, he almost wished he hadn't. The feel of Micah's knee pressing into his leg was making his concentration waiver. Ye gods, he needed to go to a bar, get drunk, and take someone home with him. He couldn't shake off the need to find some small, innocent thing and be rough and demanding with it. He didn't even like small guys.

Liam shook his head.

Micah leaned forward. "Liam?"

He wished he wouldn't say his name. Jesus. Was sex all he could think about? Really? Liam tried to shake it off. His dog was sick and had just bitten his vet, yet he was thinking about dragging the man out of his chair and…

"Are you okay?" Micah sounded worried. "Liam." He reached forward and touched his face.

"M'sorry. I need a drink; it's been a really long week." He hadn't meant to explain the past few months to the vet, but it spilled out of him before he could stop himself.

Micah leaned back in the chair, swiveling it slowly from side to side. His knee kept lightly touching Liam's, but neither of them mentioned it. "So what you're saying is that your boyfriend cheated on you and then kicked you out. You haven't even moved into your new place yet and you're sex deprived, have a sick dog, and seriously need some alcohol."

Liam put his face in his hands again. "Yeah, basically."

"Shit."

Liam glanced up. "You really like that word, don't you?"

"Eh." Micah grinned. "Ah, well… Usually I say something along the lines of 'Oh, fuck me in the ass', but I feel that may be inappropriate in the particular situation."

Wolf snorted with perfect timing.

"Hey." Micah sat up and pulled his legs up onto the chair, sitting Indian style. "There's a really nice bar a few blocks from here. You wanna grab a beer?"

The Scottish man looked up. "I could kiss you."

Micah smirked. "Take a number; I think your dog would fight you for that privilege."

"Mhm. Knew you were a pompous ass. Damn veterinarians."

Liam had never been hit on so much in his life. The bar was full of girls and guys of any and every sexual orientation. He was almost glad he'd left Wolf at his new place - if anyone had hit on the dog, he'd have had to hurt them.

The bar was just as Micah said - a nice place. The bar was polished oak, they used real coasters, and your feet didn't stick to the floor as you walked through the place. The atmosphere and the people were friendly, the music wasn't too loud, and Jesus H. Christ did his veterinarian look fuckable in jeans and a t-shirt.

He was even wearing skinny jeans.

Liam laughed silently at that.

Of course, after the veterinarian walked up to him, beer in hand, and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him forward and against him, things changed. Micah leaned forward, wrapping one arm around his neck and pushed himself up onto his tip-toes to press his lips against Liam's.

Liam kissed back, softly, contemplating whether or not he should pinch himself to see if this was just a dream.

They talked and laughed, watched the patrons, and tried not to fuss too much when yet another person came over to tell Liam that he was a dead man if he hurt "our Micah".

Micah just shrugged, at that.

His lips were constantly pressed to Liam's neck, biting, licking, and teasing. It was all the man could do not to throw the vet onto the bar and tear off his clothes. When he said as much, he was met with dark, wanting eyes.

"Did I get you with that fuckably cute comment?" Liam asked.

"Maybe," Micah responded softly, his breath hot and right in Liam's ear. Micah pulled back and motioned for Liam to follow.

They made a graceful exit.

If Liam had been using his brain, he might have wondered how he ended up on top of a shirtless, sexy veterinarian in the man's own bed. It was… like a fantasy - the kind of fantasy that never came true.

Micah's legs were wrapped around Liam's waist, pulling him down. Complying, the Scottish man ground his hips against the twink's, grinning at the tiny, lusty noises that kept popping out of his parted lips. With his cheeks slightly flushed, he looked so incredibly delicious. Liam couldn't keep his mouth off of him.

He licked, nibbled and sucked his way from his neck to his hips and back again, turned on by the hot breathy noises that kept escaping the other's mouth. And when he took him into his mouth…Dear lord.

Micah's fingers gripped the back of Liam's head. He gasped and bucked his hips, his whole body arching. Liam wondered if it had been a long time for him, too.

He slipped a finger into him, smelling strawberries - flavored lube? Did he have flavored condoms, too? - and searched for that spot. When he found it, he pulled his mouth away, slipped another finger in, and watched.

Micah's hands held fist fulls of blanket and sheet. His mouth was just barely open, his eyes were closed, and he couldn't stop wiggling. Every time Liam pressed into him, he jerked and moaned. Some times he'd shiver.

Liam pulled his fingers out.

Micah slowly opened his eyes and looked at him. "Condom?" He licked his lips. Ye gods… his voice was even better in bed that Liam had imagined.

"You have a couple, I hope?"

Micah smirked. "Need more than one, huh?" He pointed to the drawer where the lube had been.

"Hmm." Liam prepared himself and started to press into Micah, who hissed. Yeah, it had been a really, really long time. He was so tight, too tight. Liam moaned.

He went in slow, noting the pained face that Micah was trying not to make.

"Maybe just one," Liam admitted. "I'm worried that you're going to break in half."

Do not challenge the vet.

Liam knew that tenant, but he'd never quite considered this application. Of course, the nails Micah pressed into his back in warning had him pulling out and thrusting back in faster than he meant to.

He winced, but the cry Micah had let out had not been in pain. Nails slid down his back, pressing into the small of it as though begging for more.

So, he gave it to him.