Chapter 88: An Honest Day's Work

Dee Clark's General Store, West Point Drive, Fallon Creek, Michigan...

Sweltering heat seemed to be getting the better of a rather shirtless and sweat-drenched Alarick Michael Channon as he continued his mundane task of lugging wooden crate after wooden crate in a bid to finish up the stocking of his Aunt's general store. She had been upfront calculating the number of items and running the main part of the store while Rick did all the heavy lifting. He never said out loud how much he loathed her so-called husband who never seemed to want to be around when the stocking had to be done but always shot off at the mouth when he'd been home and it came to Rick's life in general. Rick rolled his eyes as a bead of sweat dripped from his brow and onto the top of the box as he moved them lifting them with ease due to his wolfish abilities but struggling to stay within the aspect of mortality so as not to alarm anyone who might have seen him at work and were prone to asking unwanted questions.

Rick sighed as he moved the crates and numerous boxes alone cataloging them and stocking the shelves amid the heat and annoyance that filled him. He'd been so busy with the work that he hadn't noticed that Casey had arrived with a look of concern filed across his face and fascination when it came to Rick doing a bit of heavy lifting.

"What the hell brings you by?" asked Rick lugging a crate with an arched brow as his well-toned tanned body glistened with sweat.

"Y-your Aunt told me where to find you," said Casey evenly as he opted to compose himself for a moment or two. "I have something to tell you, well warn you about and I don't know what we can do about it."

Rick sighed as he placed one of the crates onto the ground and turned to give Casey his full attention.

"Alright, lay it on me," he said wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"You remember that asshole that trapped you in the woods and infected me?" asked Casey with an arched brow.

"What did he show up again?" asked Rick narrowing his dark eyes at the memory of the old brute. "Because I owe him an ass-kicking."

Casey sighed.

"He was at my house talking to my Mom as if he'd been a causal citizen," said Casey annoyed. "He threatened us both and did something, when I attempted to confront him, it's like he can control us with his sheer will."

"Fuck." growled Rick in annoyance. "Just what I need an Alpha dickhead trying to tell me what to do...like I don't have enough of that at home with the Beta dickhead."

Rick slicked back his hair and approached Casey. He could tell he'd been nervous and unsure about what to do with this newfound information.

"Just relax Case," said Rick. "We'll find some way to deal with this bastard and then we can go back to our lives."

Casey nodded trusting Rick to come up with a solution, he'd been more experienced in terms of being of beast blood after all, and domineering in his own right.

"Okay," he said taking a breath as Rick placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

Seeing that he'd been calmed Rick turned his attention back to the crates and boxes before him.

"You know since you're here and all that, I could really use a hand," he remarked.

Casey shook his head and took off his shirt revealing a white men's tank top as he moved toward the boxes after tossing his shirt over a metal railing in a bid to help out his boyfriend.

Rick immediately took charge instructing Casey on how to properly do inventory and stock the shelves while he lugged a few crates reminding Casey not to overdo it with his displays of strength lest his Aunt walk-in or worse.

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Sometime Later...

Both Rick and Casey had managed to get a lot done and ended up taking a break in the store room panting from exhaustion and drenched in sweat. Rick tossed Casey a cold bottle of water and turned one up for himself as they looked around at the progress they'd been making together. His Aunt Dee seemed pleased when she ventured into the storeroom and inspected their progress.

"Good work boys, place will be neat and tidy in no time," she said with a smile.

"If only," muttered Rick as he sipped his water.

"I heard that," replied Dee before smiling in Casey's direction. "Don't mind him, Honey, he always likes to play the crude sort, but I knew him when he was in diapers, you boys keep up the good work."

Dee took her leave of them and Casey smirked looking over at Rick trying to imagine what he'd been like in diapers.

"I had a massive dong even then," replied Rick not at all amused by his younger lover's thoughts. "Could hardly fit in the creases."

Casey rolled his eyes.

"Asshole," he muttered.

Rick smirked and drank down a bit more of what remained of his water before tossing the rest onto Casey who responded in kind with his own bottle. The two of them enjoyed a bit of roughhousing for a moment or two before eventually getting back to it, lugging boxes and crates and stocking shelves for the remainder of their time in the storeroom.

They seemed to have little to worry about as their time together seemed to do them both a world of good even with Rick being as abrasive in his manner as always. Casey for the most part couldn't see himself without him in his life, possibly due to the moon bond between them but he'd been unable to imagine life without Rick Channon even before he became moonborn.

Rick finished up and led Casey out of the storeroom while Dee did an inspection and they headed out the door more or less drifting for the remainder of the afternoon but pleased to share in each other's company despite everything else that had been going on.