"So, what," Shane was saying the next morning. "This guy Dill turns into a dolphin?"

They were gathered in Ninja Ops for an emergency meeting, prompted mostly by Hunter's alert the night before when Tori went missing. Cam had managed to follow and find her while Hunter and Blake were circulating among the wolves, looking for information, and he'd let Hunter know where she was only minutes after Hunter had contacted the rest of the team. In time to calm everyone down, but not in time to stave off their curiosity.

"He's an encantado," Tori explained, looking a little too awake for someone who had been out late getting kidnapped, and then rescued, and still insisted nothing had gone wrong. They were overreacting, according to her, because she had gone with Dill "of her own free will" and she had been about to call them when Cam found her.

"Yeah, so, he turns into a dolphin?" Shane repeated. He and Dustin seemed more confused than upset, like they still hadn't figured out what Tori had been doing out without them to begin with.

"No, Shane." Cam didn't look away from the computer because he knew that if he did he would see Blake, hovering protectively around Tori, and he wouldn't see Hunter at all. Both things would irritate him for no logical reason, so he didn't look. "He turns into a human."

"Dude, he's already a human," Dustin put in. "I mean, I saw him with my own eyes, and he was totally a human being."

Cam sighed, but Shane was agreeing with Dustin like they had actually thought about this, which they obviously hadn't. "Yeah," Shane said, "two legs, two arms, a head, and bad clothes. Definitely human."

Shane didn't seem to notice that he'd just made "bad clothes" a defining characteristic of humanity. But then, Shane apparently wasn't at his most logical today. Cam stood up, turning around just in time to see Shane and Dustin exchange smirks.

He didn't draw anyone's attention until he turned into a wolf right there in front of them. None of them had actually seen him change yet, except for his father, who was watching the scene without comment from his place beside the mainframe. And Hunter, who had refused to get out of bed for a meeting without coffee, and so wasn't present.

"Whoa!" Shane took a step back.

"Dude," Dustin declared. "That is sick."

Blake just folded his arms, looking annoyed, and Cam curled his lip at him. Tori gave him an odd look but didn't seem surprised. His dad was the only one who got it, and he broke his silence to become Cam's voice.

"How certain are you that he is a wolf?" Sensei inquired mildly.

"What--" Shane began.

"Well, he's not a wolf, right?" Dustin said without taking his eyes off of Cam. "That's why it's so cool!"

"No," Sensei agreed. "He is not a wolf."

"And Dill isn't a human." Tori had her hands on her hips, looking just smug enough to suggest that she had known where Cam was going with this from the beginning. "He's a dolphin who turns into a human. That's what encantados do."

The sound of footsteps on the stairs didn't distract anyone until Cam glanced in that direction, alerted by the weight of the tread and the scent that came with it. Hunter came skulking into the control room, a paper coffee cup in each hand, and he paused when he realized they were all looking at him. "Hey," he said after a moment.

Then, without waiting for a response, he strolled up to the wolf and offered one of the two cups he held. "Coffee?"

Startled, flattered, and a little bit awkward in the face of everyone's sudden interest, Cam was relieved to make the transition from wolf to human without tripping or otherwise losing his balance. He accepted the cup with a mumbled thanks, trying not to stare at Hunter. He hadn't really expected Hunter to show up at all, let alone with--

"What?" Hunter demanded. Cam looked up in surprise, but Hunter was looking at Blake.

Blake was frowning back at him. "What are you, the coffee fairy now?"

Cam narrowed his eyes, but Hunter just shrugged. "I asked if you wanted any," he told his brother. "You said no."

Blake didn't answer, but Cam got the distinct impression that he might have responded differently if he'd known his coffee would go to Cam. The thought was troubling, because the Rangers were held together by a fragile truce established in the early days of the team and unquestioned since then: the Winds and the Thunders didn't interfere with each other. Period.

This unspoken understanding had brought an end to the constant squabbling between Hunter and Shane and allowed all of them to work together. It kept everybody on relatively good terms without threatening anyone's equilibrium--because at the end of the day, Hunter and Blake were a team apart. They didn't outrank the Wind Rangers, but they didn't answer to them either.

The same went for their relationship with the Watanabes, and part of him knew that if Blake thought Cam was going to come between him and his brother, there would be trouble.

Unfortunately, the other part of him wanted to gloat. Because he had come between Hunter and Blake, he was coming between them even now, and he would keep on doing it until Hunter acknowledged that he was more important. Until he had won.

"Okay, so the point here is what, again?" Shane was asking. "Tori got kidnapped by dolphin people?"

"I wasn't kidnapped," Tori reminded the room at large. "I went of my own free will."

"Yes, well, in the future," Cam said, somewhat testily because Blake was still glaring at him and he had to look away to address Tori. "Maybe you should tell us that before you leave a party with someone other than the people you came with."

"Look, she said she meant to," Blake pointed out.

That gave Cam all the excuse he needed to frown at Hunter's brother again, but Blake was looking at Tori. "And you're okay, right," he said, ignoring Cam, "so that's the important thing."

"Yeah," she agreed, but she looked chagrinned. "I should have let you guys know, though. Sorry about that."

"That's the important thing," Cam said, glaring at Blake even though he was nominally talking to Tori. "You shouldn't have had to let us know. That was a dangerous place to be, and none of us should have been left alone. Especially not with someone we barely knew."

Blake frowned, obviously not missing the implication that he had failed in his responsibility. Before he could answer, though, Tori protested, "I said I was sorry. And I wasn't alone... I know Dill, even if you don't."

"Cam," Hunter warned. "Cut it out."

Cam saw Blake smirk, and he bristled. "Stay out of this," he snapped without thinking. "You don't get to decide."

"Oh?" Hunter's tone was calm and slightly amused, but he didn't challenge that assertion. All he said was, "I wondered about that."

He lifted his coffee cup, like he really didn't care, but he paused just before it reached his lips. "Sorry Blake," he added. "Guess you're on your own."

"Uh, guys?" Shane was looking at them like they'd lost their minds. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, what's going on?" Dustin wanted to know. "Are you talking in some kind of secret code? Because I totally didn't get a decoder ring."

"Ongoing argument," Hunter said smoothly. This time he split his warning look between Cam and Blake before he added, "Apparently it's none of our business, so maybe you guys could have it somewhere else."

"Hey, hey," Blake protested. "What did I do?"

"If there is some kind of dispute, perhaps it would be better to settle it now," Sensei remarked, observing the scene from the top of the computer monitor.

"There isn't a dispute," Cam said firmly. "There's just Tori's minor lapse in judgement and Dustin and Shane's compulsive curiosity concerning something they could have asked her about over the phone."

"Whoa, dude, you were the one who wanted us all to stop by this morning," Shane reminded him. "Hunter could have just told us what was going on last night."

"I didn't know," Hunter defended himself. "Tor vanished, Cam found her, that's it. That's all I knew."

"And now we all know more," Sensei interjected, in that calm way he had. He managed to keep anyone else from speaking just by opening his mouth, and that was one skill Cam would really like to have.

"Tori," his father continued, "perhaps next time you will remember that people are not always what they seem, and that your friends are only trying to look out for you."

Cam thought they were all pretty clear on what Tori thought about the situation, but she managed to school her expression to an appropriate level of respect. "Yes, Sensei," she agreed.

"And now," he continued, "I hope you will enjoy a Saturday without ninja training."

"Are you serious?" Dustin exclaimed.

At the same time, Shane burst out with, "Sweet! Thanks, Sensei!"

"It has been an eventful week," their very small ninja instructor said, tolerant humor in his voice. "And I believe you will all benefit from some well-deserved time off."

Cam couldn't help reading into the words with some amount of cynicism: his father could see how close the group dynamic was to disintegration, and all training would do was push them over the edge. Blake was annoyed every time Cam spoke, Tori was resentful that her judgement had been questioned, and even Shane and Dustin, who were the least affected by what was going on, knew they were the least affected and were feeling left out. Hunter hadn't been allowed to train since Tuesday and probably had an alarming amount of unleashed energy, so he was basically a time bomb in an already unsettled situation.

Then there was him. Cam wasn't sure he trusted himself in a sparring situation with any of the Winds, because who knew how the wolf would react to even a simulated threat? He already knew he couldn't spar with either of the Thunders, Blake because he would take any excuse to best him, possibly to the point of violence, and Hunter because--

Well, because he already knew perfectly well how the wolf would react to anything from Hunter: simulated threat, real threat, proximity, distance, a long look, a quick look... anything involving Hunter was dangerous in the presence of others.

"Will you also take the day, Cameron?" His father's voice was quiet now, clearly aimed at him while the other Rangers bantered and planned and Shane and Dustin tried to lure Tori toward the stairs.

"I've been 'taking the day' all week," Cam muttered. He was trying to answer the question discretely and listen to Blake and Hunter at the same time. "I can't leave CyberCam to do all the work."

"We should get in some laps," Blake was saying. "See how your arm does, maybe schedule some practice time before the kids' promo tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure." Hunter agreed without hesitation, possibly sensing Blake's effort to hustle him out of Ninja Ops before Tori disappeared completely. "Hey, Cam, you want to come to the track with us?"

Cam looked up in surprise. Funny how something that had never held that much appeal before suddenly seemed like the best way to spend the morning. Hunter was obviously waiting for him to agree, which probably would have been incentive enough, but Blake looked irritated, which only made him want to agree more.

What else was CyberCam was for, after all?

Going out in public with Hunter turned out to cause more problems than he'd expected. The wolf had been ready to defend Hunter from any threat for days, of course. Now it turned out that the human was no different--and thanks to Akeelah's visit the day before, his definition of "threat" had expanded considerably.

So Cam found himself watching everyone who came near Hunter, assessing their interaction, and intervening if it went on too long. Where "too long" became "more than a sentence each." It seemed to surprise Hunter at first, then amuse him. Finally he just accepted Cam's constant presence and started introducing him to anyone they ran into at the track.

Cam was pretty sure that was the way it should be. Besides, it was driving Blake crazy. More than an hour after they all descended on the track, Hunter was still standing on the sidelines--suited up, yes, bike beside him, always, but he hadn't done a single lap. He was just hanging on the handlebars, chatting with Cam, while Blake kicked up dirt on the track and the others mostly left them alone.

Cam actually wasn't paying any attention to the others until Kelly wandered by, and it occurred to him to wonder what was going on this morning. Hunter and Blake had some event tomorrow, right? Was there something else going on today, or was Kelly just getting ready for the next day?

Her greeting drove the questions from his mind.

"Hi Hunter," she called, smiling as she swung by. "Heard you got a dog!"

Cam's eyes went to him immediately, and he found Hunter looking back at him. The newspaper article. He hadn't even seen it. Had the reporter printed a photograph, or had it just been that terrible story about him and the kelzaks?

"Few days ago," Hunter agreed warily, when Kelly turned and seemed to be waiting for an answer. "It was kind of... unexpected."

"Oh?" Kelly looked curious. "How did that happen?"

"A friend had to move suddenly," Hunter said. He barely even paused. "He couldn't take the dog with him. I sort of agreed to... take care of it for him."

"Oh, is it a temporary thing then?" Kelly guessed. "That's really great of you. I didn't know you could even have dogs in that apartment of yours."

"We can't," Hunter agreed smoothly. "The dog's been staying with Cam the last few days. I come over and, uh... walk him, feed him... y'know. That kind of stuff."

Cam was staring at him in surprise. They hadn't come up with any sort of explanation for Hunter's sudden "dog," yet here he was, reeling off a story like he'd been practicing it for days. A not entirely inaccurate story.

"That's great," Kelly repeated, including Cam with her smile this time. "You should bring him by the shop sometime."

Hunter hesitated for the first time, glancing at Cam. "Yeah," he said at last. "Maybe. It's--kind of up to Cam. He's my, uh, dog expert."

"Oh, really?" Kelly gave him an interested look. "I didn't know you were a dog person, Cam."

Cam did his level best not to roll his eyes. "I'm learning," he said curtly. Then he really felt like he should step up a little and not leave Hunter all alone in this, so he added, "Hunter's dog isn't very well socialized. It's better if it's--if he's not around large groups of people. At least not right now."

"Yeah, the beach thing was kind of an accident," Hunter agreed. "You saw that article in the paper? We--I didn't really expect to run into anyone else there."

Cam couldn't resist. "I told you not to take him to a public beach," he muttered.

The look Hunter turned on him was startled and unamused. Fortunately, Kelly spoke before he could. "Yeah, I saw that," she said. "Once I got over my surprise at your sudden state of dog ownership, I noticed the part about the kelzaks."

"Well, it's been kind of busy lately," Hunter hedged. "Stuff just kept coming up. I guess I, uh, forgot to mention it."

"Well, bring him to visit me and we'll call it even," Kelly said, smiling up at him. And Cam knew Kelly was harmless, he knew she would never hit on one of her own employees, but that smile was just irritating.

"Once he's better socialized," she added belatedly. The glance she threw in his direction was probably supposed to be an acknowledgement, but as it was the look just annoyed him more.

"If Cam okays it," Hunter repeated. The qualification only narrowly staved off Cam's sharp comment about boss socialization, and later he might even be grateful. Now he was just frustrated.

Someone called for Kelly's attention, which was excellent timing as far as he was concerned. They could have called for her before she'd even had a chance to stop and talk, but failing that, the faster she left the better. He'd never really noticed how pretty she was before.

"Sorry," Hunter murmured as she left. "Best I could do on short notice. Thanks for... y'know, playing along."

"Is she seeing anyone?" Cam asked bluntly.

Hunter stared at him like he'd just turned into a wolf in front of the entire track. Cam glanced down quickly, but no, he was still human. The look must be for the question, not his appearance.

"What?" Cam frowned at him. "She pays a lot of attention to your life, that's all."

"Cam, it was in the paper." Hunter hadn't stopped staring at him. "You can't seriously think that Kelly would--that she's--"

Mine. The word had been in his head since yesterday, and it wasn't going away. He only barely stopped himself from saying it aloud. He thought Hunter probably saw it in his eyes anyway, because he didn't finish his sentence.

"Okay," Hunter said at last. "Are you gonna... I mean, seriously? Are you really gonna be like this with everyone, or is it just a--phase, or something? Is it 'cause of the thing with Blake? What's going on?"

Cam frowned at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hunter narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe that," he said bluntly. "You haven't let me talk to a single person since we got here. Not without glaring or muttering or practically warning them off. What's the deal?"

Cam looked away, giving the ground an angry look because he knew Hunter wasn't in the mood to take it right now. "No one shares," he said under his breath. He had to trust Hunter to get it, because he couldn't say any more than that.

Hunter got it. "What I said to Akeelah."

Cam didn't bother to nod.

"So this isn't about Blake," Hunter said, like he wasn't totally sure.

Cam gave him a disgusted look, then threw it at the ground again when Hunter frowned in response. "Okay," Hunter said. Through clenched teeth, Cam was sure. "Fine. Nothing to do with Blake. You can't seriously think I'm gonna--that everyone who says 'hi' is coming on to me?"

He sounded so skeptical that Cam folded his arms, wishing he could walk away and regain his composure. The wolf was so much harder to recognize around Hunter, so much more real, more a part of him--he had trouble knowing where he ended and the wolf began.

When he was alone, he could be just Cam again. Or at least pretend. He knew who he was, and he could identify the wolf when it responded to something in a way he normally wouldn't. The problem was that when the wolf did make its presence known, without Hunter, it was completely out of control. What good did it do him to recognize it if he couldn't control it?

What good did it do him to control himself if he didn't know who he was?

"Cam." Hunter had that look again, the one that said I want you like nothing else. It wasn't a happy look. He only wore it when he was totally lost and obviously wished he was anywhere but here, with Cam. But he was with Cam, and he was staying with Cam, not because he wanted to but because he wanted Cam.

"I don't know what you want from me," Hunter muttered, voice low enough that hopefully no one nearby would overhear him. "But I figure it's pretty clear what I want. You don't have any reason to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous," Cam snapped. And his voice wasn't quiet enough, because he saw more than one glance come their way. Strangely, he found himself torn between embarrassment and satisfaction, because if people thought there was something going on they'd be more likely to leave Hunter alone.

Hunter definitely wasn't satisfied. "Then tell me what this is about," he growled, still quieter than Cam. "If it's not Blake, and it's not me, what is it?"

The fact that Hunter still cared was enough to bring the embarrassment back full force. The man just didn't give up. Ever. And maybe Cam didn't know exactly who he was right now, but Hunter had said over and over that he was exactly who he'd been before. And he wanted Cam. That didn't make it safe, but it definitely made it... something.

"It's you," Cam told the ground. He opened his mouth before he knew how he was going to continue and he blurted out, "You're mine. They can't have you."

Okay. So maybe he was a little jealous.

There was no answer, and when he looked up, he found Hunter staring at him. He couldn't interpret that expression, but he thought Hunter was probably angry when he demanded, "Do I get any say in this?"

"Obviously," Cam retorted, and he knew he sounded defensive because when he said obviously he really meant obviously not.

"Okay, then obviously," Hunter mimicked, "you don't have anything to worry about. So cut it out."

"Hey, guys." Dustin had never been able to sneak up on him before, and Cam was a little alarmed that even with super wolf senses he had been too distracted to notice him this time. "News from the secret tipline."

That got his attention, and Hunter's too. "Are they here?" he demanded.

Dustin shook his head, running his fingers though his hair in a way that made him look typically absent-minded. He was covered with dirt, and he had his helmet in one hand. He'd clearly been riding, but he wasn't out of breath and he wasn't ridiculously hyper, so he must have been off his bike for a while before he'd caught up with them. "Nah, just the one.

"She says you're a surprise," Dustin added, glancing at Cam.

It was weird to see Dustin so serious, so casual, so good at playing his part. No matter how long it had been since Cam found out about Dustin and Marah, the fact that they managed to play the double-double-cross game so convincingly was still a surprise. Dustin claimed Lothor had no idea Marah wasn't really double-crossing them, or even that Dustin was supposedly double-crossing her... let alone that he was only pretending to.

Cam had found it was easier not to believe anything either of them said, lately. All he knew for sure was that so far, this thing hadn't blown up in their faces, so Sensei was letting it go. For now.

"What kind of surprise?" Hunter was asking. "The kind that means it's about time for a fight? Or the kind that means it's past time?"

Dustin looked confused, which was normal, but he also answered immediately, which wasn't. "Past time," he said vaguely, and Cam gave him a hard look. That made sense, and if he gave Dustin any credit at all, he would assume Dustin knew that. Which meant that his apparent confusion was just an act.

He's dating my evil cousin, he reminded himself, and he hasn't been caught yet. That implied either an insane amount of luck or some amount of acting skill. And Cam still couldn't shake the feeling that he might have been underestimating Dustin since the day they'd met.

"Okay," Hunter agreed. He'd never had that problem, Cam admitted silently. Hunter had always listened when Dustin spoke.

Was it just the wolf, then, respecting the people to whom Hunter accorded respect?

"They didn't think you could turn human again," Dustin was saying. Then, with an utterly innocent expression, like he had no idea what he was saying, he added, "Surprise."

Hunter's mouth quirked, and suddenly jealousy threatened to overwhelm all other concerns. He really couldn't handle the loss of Hunter's attention, even for a moment. That wasn't a good sign--particularly when it came to team relations. He'd already alienated Blake, possibly beyond repair, and he couldn't afford to do the same to Dustin.

"You're thinking," Hunter remarked, and Cam looked at him in surprise. Hunter was studying him, and Cam hadn't even noticed when that attention was turned on him again. He had been thinking. He'd been very... human, there, for a moment.

"Not about anything relevant," Cam admitted reluctantly. "Just--thinking." He held Hunter's gaze, and he knew he was understood. Thinking. Such a simple thing, yet worthy of comment now, and somehow Hunter had known.

The expression on Hunter's face lightened a little further, and now Hunter was smiling at him. Not Dustin, but him. And Hunter said he didn't have anything to worry about. He doubted that would convince the wolf, but maybe it would at least make the human part of him a little less snappish.

"Yeah, well, don't go thinking anywhere alone," Dustin was saying. "The dude upstairs is really, really interested."

"You're thinking possible kidnapping?" Hunter asked, giving Dustin a sharp look.

"I'm thinking that scene at the beach could happen again," Dustin said absently. At least, apparently absently. The words might be vague but the intent was very clear. "Anytime."

"Let him try," Cam growled.

Dustin gave him a sort of confused look, which was typical, but Hunter's expression was more guarded as he tapped his own cheek just below his eye. Cam frowned at him. "What?"

Hunter just raised an eyebrow. Then, without a word, he reached out and pulled his sunglasses off of Cam's head and offered them to him. Pointedly.

Cam got it. "That won't hide the glowing anyway," he muttered, sliding them on again. He was more embarrassed than resentful. He'd taken the sunglasses off to talk to Hunter and then completely forgotten about them. Which meant that everyone who had interrupted Hunter since had seen Cam's unshaded yellow eyes.

No one had said anything. Were they just not looking?

"Better than nothing," Hunter told him. "Just don't stare at anyone for a few minutes and you'll be fine."

Assuming that a few minutes was all it took. He still had almost no control over his eyes--mostly because he couldn't see them, and Hunter had stopped telling him when they were glowing and when they weren't. Did it usually fade after a few minutes?

"Or, hey, a few seconds." Hunter was still studying him. "You're good."

Cam opened his mouth to say he hadn't done anything. At least, he thought he was probably going to admit that, because he needed to get Hunter to help him with it--he couldn't keep walking the streets with eyes that would spontaneously start to glow. But Dustin beat him to it.

"What's with the glowing thing, anyway?" the Earth ninja wanted to know. "Why do they do that?"

"I don't know," Cam said. He gave Hunter a warning look, but Hunter had on his most bland expression and hopefully that meant there wouldn't be any embarrassing disclosures regarding... intense emotion.

"Okay." Dustin was either bored or more on top of things than he looked, because he took the hint without letting on that he'd noticed it. "I'm gonna go try and get in a few more jumps."

"Sure," Hunter agreed, still utterly nonchalant. "Watch your back."

"Watch your head," Cam muttered under his breath. With the way Dustin threw himself around on that bike, he should have a full-body helmet.

"Same to you." Dustin gave them both a somewhat distracted wave before wandering off, and Cam wondered once again just what was going on behind that absent-minded stare.

"That glowing thing's no good," Hunter said, and when Cam looked back at him he realized Hunter had been watching him watch Dustin. "You gotta work on that."

That didn't even deserve a response, so Cam just looked at him. Hunter stared back. Slowly, though, his cheeks flushed, and Cam felt his lips quirk in response. Hunter made a passable alpha wolf, but at the end of the day he was still human. He might not look away, but it was obvious he realized how stupid that remark had been.

"Wolves don't blush," Cam said quietly, holding his gaze with no intent to challenge. All he wanted right now was to see what Hunter would do.

Hunter didn't bat an eye. "Guess you need a new alpha, then."

"I don't want a new alpha," Cam countered.

Hunter just looked at him for a long moment. "Your eyes are glowing again," he said at last. "You're right. The sunglasses don't help."

Which Hunter knew perfectly well, since he was the one who'd first noticed that. He really was uncomfortable, Cam thought, a little surprised and a lot curious. What had him so suddenly off-balance?

"You're nervous," he said aloud. He didn't give it much thought before he said it but he didn't just blurt it out, either, and that had to be an improvement. "Why?"

Hunter blinked, but they were still staring at each other and he obviously didn't like it. "I'm facing off with a ninja werewolf," he said. His voice was low, but the hostility was unmistakable. "Yeah, no reason to be nervous there."

The wolf demanded that Cam lower his gaze, that he respond to the aggression with some sort of submissive gesture. Cam told it to shut up. "You never were before," he pointed out.

Hunter snorted. "Yeah, you know me really well," he muttered, and the sarcastic tone made Cam bristle.

He managed to keep his mouth shut just long enough to recognize the sarcasm as deliberate. Just like the hostility. Hunter was doing it on purpose, Hunter was trying to make him back off. To make him let it go.

Being aware of the manipulation should have made him angry, but for some reason it was only making him more curious. "Why won't you tell me?" he asked, studying Hunter's expression. "There can't be anything more embarrassing than what you already know about me."

Hunter's face relaxed just enough that changing the subject was almost convincing. "The wolf thing didn't level off," he said gently, and the warm look he gave Cam was almost as sweet as it was irritating. "It's still fading. Think you're getting more human every day."

"Hunter." Cam refused to roll his eyes only because it would have meant looking away. "I can out-patronize you any day of the week, so I advise you not to try. If you don't want to talk about it, just say so."

Hunter opened his mouth, then frowned and apparently changed his mind.

This time Cam did roll his eyes because there was only so much of this that he could take. Yes, okay, he was thinking again, possibly reacting more normally, questioning behaviors that until now had gone unchallenged. But he had gotten this far on utter, often painful, honesty, and he wasn't about to see that change.

Cam turned to walk away.

The wolf howled. Silent, unnoticed by anyone else, it was still enough to make him flinch and draw up short before he'd taken a single step. He wasn't used to the level of concentration it took to turn his back on Hunter, even now.

Luckily Hunter spoke at the same time, words falling over themselves with the things he hadn't said. "Wait, Cam, don't--geez, I didn't... I'm sorry, okay? I don't know, uh, how to deal with this. I don't know what to do."

"Answer the question," Cam said. It took everything he had to stay where he was, to keep from turning around, to not actually throw himself at Hunter.

"Your eyes," Hunter said quickly. He was obviously more convinced of Cam's intent to walk away than the wolf was, and his alarm was oddly reassuring. "When they glow it makes me think of... well. Y'know."

"Of course I don't know," Cam said. He turned back with a sigh. "I never see them glow, so how do I know what it makes you--"

He wasn't sure if it was the look on Hunter's face or his own brain finally catching up with him, but he got it. He really did get it. It was strange to think that something so creepy could be any kind of turn-on, but Hunter had never been one for flowers and valentines.

At least, not as far as Cam knew. That was twice in as many days that Hunter had implied Cam didn't know him, and the accusation was possibly fair. But every effort Cam made to fix that seemed to get derailed by wolves or birds or inconvenient siblings, so he might not be getting anywhere but it wasn't like he wasn't trying.

"This is weird," Hunter muttered. "I mean, it was weird before, but now..."

"Would you have said anything if this hadn't happened?" Cam asked abruptly.

Hunter just stared at him. When he opened his mouth, it became clear that the look was not indecision but incredulity. "I didn't know anything before this happened. What do you think I was gonna say?"

"Traditionally, one asks a person they're interested in out on a date," Cam snapped.

Hunter's incredulous look only got more so. "Okay, maybe you hadn't noticed? But this isn't a part of my life I'm really comfortable with. I don't go around asking guys out for the hell of it!"

"You think I want you to ask me out for the entertainment value?" Cam demanded.

"I don't have a clue what you want!" Hunter shouted at him. "You asked me a question! I answered it! Stop trying to get me to say something when I don't have any idea what it is!"

They were definitely drawing attention now. Cam let his gaze slip from Hunter's long enough to glare at anyone who seemed to be a little too close, more than a little too interested, or otherwise anywhere in the vicinity. It made two passersby pick up their pace and one person look away. He glared at the rest of the track in principle.

"Okay, yeah," Hunter grumbled, his voice no less angry for all that it was quieter now. "Great. Thanks for outing me to half the population of Blue Bay Harbor. That makes my life better. Anything else I can do for you while you're at it?"

"I should have said something," Cam decided. He wouldn't have, of course, that was the whole point. That was why whether Hunter would have asked him out or not mattered. Without the wolf, they wouldn't even be standing here now.

"Let me take you out," Cam continued, determined to make this happen in as human a way as possible. "Lunch, dinner, whatever you want. It can be my way of saying thank you."

He'd just tacked that last part on because about halfway through he'd realized what he was doing and Hunter wasn't looking any happier about it than he had before. This might not turn out to be one of his better ideas. Too bad he now had less reason than ever to blame it on the wolf.

"I want to," Cam added uncertainly. He wasn't sure whether this was the right thing to say or not, but standing there staring at each other didn't seem to be helping anything either.

"Yeah, well," Hunter said after a moment. He seemed just as confused, which was at least a little better than openly hostile. "I want to kiss you in front of people who already know way too much about me, so... good thing we don't always get what we want."

He had no idea what made him do it. Wolf, human, brief moment of insanity, he didn't know at the time and he never figured it out afterward. But he hooked his fingers through Hunter's moto gear and took a step forward, entirely too self-conscious as he lifted his head for a kiss and wondered if he looked as much like a girl as he thought he did. He'd never kissed anyone taller than he was until Hunter.

Hunter looked almost comically startled. Something fought the instinct to jerk away, though, and he just stood there, letting it happen. He didn't quite get it together enough to kiss back. Cam couldn't meet his eye afterward, either, and somehow Hunter was the one who managed to break the silence.

"Okay," he said at last. "A little warning would have been good."

"It was your idea," Cam muttered. So Hunter hadn't pulled away. So what? Had he really been embarrassed so much over the last few days that he'd figured a little more wouldn't matter?

"Yeah," Hunter agreed, an odd note in his voice. "Which means that I should've, I dunno... been able to enjoy it. Right?"

Cam frowned, trying to figure that out.

"Do over," Hunter continued. "Seriously. We've already advertised this to the entire track, so let's make it stick."

This time it was Hunter who kissed him, possibly because Cam was still trying to decide whether Hunter meant what he thought he did. Let's make it stick? What was that supposed to mean? No backing out now, no going back, no sharing... that was all he could come up with as he felt the press of Hunter's mouth and the weight of every stare that had to be on them now.

He was with Hunter. Indubitably, irrevocably, at least as far as anyone who heard about this would care, Cam Watanabe and Hunter Bradley were gay. Dating. And didn't care who knew it.

"We're so screwed," Cam muttered, unconsciously imitating Hunter.

Hunter's face was still very close to his, and he could feel breath on his skin as Hunter whispered, "I wish."

He blinked once and found Hunter smirking at him, with a look in his eyes that invited Cam to share the joke. The silly, halfway crude, very private joke. No matter what he did or didn't know about Hunter, he understood that the brief remark was perfectly him. And Cam found himself very close to smiling back.

"Lunch," Hunter added, in an apparent non sequitur.

Cam searched for an explanation and found none. "Now?"

Hunter just shrugged. "Sometime today."

He seemed to get that Cam was still confused, so Hunter continued, "You offered to take me out, remember? Lunch or dinner. My choice. We've already done the dinner thing, so you can buy me lunch."

Cam studied him. For someone who wasn't "comfortable" with dating guys, Hunter adjusted very quickly. Or maybe it was just his "nothing to lose" attitude. Hunter didn't worry much what other people thought of him, and Cam had started to suspect it was because he didn't think anyone liked him. If they didn't like him to start with, what did he care if their opinion of him changed?

Hunter raised an eyebrow at him, and Cam realized he was still waiting for a response. "Okay," he said. "Good. Lunch." He wanted to add, I like you, but there was absolutely no way he was going to say that out loud. He'd have to settle for buying lunch.

They managed to ignore the rest of the track for several minutes, discussing future food options and necessarily being brought back to Cam's unabated preference for meat. He complained about it, Hunter teased him gently--which to his surprise, he found he didn't mind--and they agreed that they needed to find somewhere other than the community center to eat. There were plenty of other places that catered to meat-lovers.

"We've managed to avoid Iza this long," Hunter commented. "The longer that keeps up, the better off we are."

"Better not to draw attention to ourselves?" Cam suggested. Hunter wouldn't get any argument from him on that subject.

"I'm pretty sure," Hunter agreed. "I've never seen her, but no one wants to be on her bad side. There's gotta be a reason, right?"

This time, Cam noticed Blake approaching before he got close enough to stand out from the crowd. Back to the human world, then, and from the expression on Blake's face there was going to be trouble. Cam tried to suppress a smile that was all wolf. I win.

Instead of glaring at his brother, though, Blake gave Cam an unfathomable look. "Tori's in trouble," he said without preamble. "Shane thinks you might be able to help."

Cam glanced at Hunter in surprise and found Hunter looking back.

Apparently, exchanging glances was all it took to set Blake off now. "If you don't cut that out," he said, lowering his voice, "people are gonna talk."

It was impossible to know whether he was serious or not, but after the week they'd had, Cam had about six different replies to that comment. Hunter's laugh stopped him before he could even open his mouth. "Trust me, bro," Hunter declared, "people are already talking."

Then, like he was the one who knew how to prioritize, he added, "What's wrong with Tori?"

Blake gave Cam a suspicious look, but he admitted, "She doesn't know. She just says she feels weird, and her ninja powers are out of control."

"What do you mean, out of control?" Cam demanded. Blake didn't look worried enough for Tori to be giving herself away every time she turned around, but "out of control" couldn't be anything good.

"They're not doing what she wants them to do," Blake said. As explanations went, this one was relatively unhelpful.

"She's in a public place," Cam reminded him with a sigh. "Why is she using them at all?"

"She wasn't," and there was more exasperation in Blake's tone than strictly necessary, "until she realized they weren't working right."

This was not only unhelpful but also contradictory, and Cam was about to give up when Blake added, "You know that trick she does with the water drops, right? Where she throws them up in the air and they catch the light? She tried it earlier and she says it was like they had a mind of their own--they went everywhere."

"Like she had just thrown water up in the air?" Hunter suggested dryly.

"Bro, she can do that trick in her sleep," Blake insisted. "It always works."

Cam had to admit he was right. Tori loved her sparkling water trick, partly because she'd invented it and partly because it was so unobtrusive that she could do it in public without anyone noticing. "Did she try to do anything else?" he wanted to know. Strange as it was, it wasn't really enough to qualify as Tori being "in trouble."

"Yeah, of course," Blake said, rolling his eyes. "You know her. She started messing around with her water bottle and got sprayed in the face. She tried to fill one of those paper cups and Shane got sprayed in the face.

"Nothing happens if she doesn't try to do anything," he added hurriedly. "But when she does--"

"And she always does," Hunter interrupted.

"Things go wrong," Blake finished. "Shane said we should ask you about it."

They should ask Sensei about it. But he was here, he was curious, and he was perfectly willing to tell Tori so in person. So Cam just shrugged and said, "It happens. It's not a good sign, but it's not unheard of. Where is she?"

Blake waved in a way that was completely useless. "Down at freestyle."

Probably right near where Dustin and Marah were having their latest not-so-secret get-together. Great. This was something they really wanted Lothor to hear about: a second secret ninja potentially unable to fight, a third overall on the temporarily disabled list. This week was going well.

When he turned to follow Blake, though, Hunter bumped his shoulder and their eyes met. They fell into step with each other almost by accident, and Cam carefully amended his silent commentary. Parts of this week were going well.