The loss of sunshine bothered many, but with enough activities and happy lights, they made it through. Hiking through the snow with his oldest brother Frank, Danny missed his college days in the lower forty-eight. There, he could be himself fully. Moving back to Alaska had been very hard, but there had been no choice when his dad had gotten sick. His family was close and they needed him.

Sometimes, he felt his family was too close. Fairbanks was a large city but also tight-knit. His being gay would shock his family and send ripples through the circles in which they ran. He was the one they all turned to when things went wrong. He was the good one. The youngest who was always there when needed.

"Where the hell are you, Danny?" His brother snapped his fingers. "Damn. A juicy kill could walk right out in front of you and you'd miss it."

"Hunting isn't my thing," Danny said.

"You do great at target practice. Always have. Good thing you're a pilot and not a hunter." He looked around. "Fine. I don't smell anything. No luck today. I'm heading home. Think about the business idea I mentioned. With your helicopter skills and my hunting skills, we'd be a hell of a team."

Danny sighed. "Okay, I'll think on it. See you Sunday." His sister-in-law had taken over the Sunday dinners with Mom busy looking after Dad. Even with Dad recovering, more things changed. As much as Danny loved his family, he felt alone in a crowd. They didn't know the real him. Maybe he'd never get up the courage. Not that they'd believe him anyway. All the men in his family were the same. They charmed women and hunted animals with big muscles and macho attitude. Danny looked the part, but he didn't go after animals or women.

After hiking over a mile or so, Danny arrived back at his house on the edge of the woods. The exercise felt good, but his big brother's idea left him flat. Aerial hunting? It was big business but hardly sporting. Where was the challenge? It would be like those lavish wildlife hunting grounds where they fed the animals so they trusted people then trotted them out for rich guys to hunt. No tracking or skill involved. Wolf hunting, what his brother meant to do from the air, wasn't even for food. Feeding a family was one thing; hunting only to kill was another.

Luckily, Danny had skills and an education. Pilots were always in demand--especially in Alaska. Bush pilots were good. He could fly small planes, but helicopters were his specialty. He was the pilot on the medical crew for Fairbanks Medical Centers. Getting in and out of impossible places to rescue people and get them to the hospital was a challenge. The adrenaline rush kept him going but offered no personal life.

Flying was his love. But now his brother wanted him to use that skill to make money off hunting and tourists. Danny wasn't interested, but it was family.

Frank would be doing the hunting part. Danny just had to fly. His brother had been out of work for over a year and struggled to make ends meet. The whole family helped as much as they could. A mortgage, two kids and no work was hard to deal with. If they didn't have a freezer full of Caribou meat from a recent, flash-frozen road kill, Danny would feel even more pressure to help.

He paused and surveyed the back of his property. Normally, there were plenty of animals around. Even when he hiked, he'd see a moose, jack rabbits, a fox, a wolf or two. He didn't bother them, and they generally ignored the human. Now, there was nothing.

Danny knew that meant something more dangerous was around. He looked around more carefully. The snow on the ridge didn't look avalanche prone. He didn't smell any fire in the air. Possibly a bear had moved through and flushed all the other animals away. He shrugged it off. He was only yards from his back door. A nice cozy fire, a little gay porn and he'd feel a lot better.

The gay scene in Fairbanks was decent enough, if you dared to be "out". But there was no going back. Once you entered, word got around and everyone knew.

Danny was ashamed to be in the closet. It felt so complicated. He hated living in fear of his family finding out he was gay. He could hear his brothers now. "How could you do that? And with Dad sick? Mom doesn't need this stress. You need to get over this phase and get yourself a girlfriend!"

As the youngest, Danny felt as if he had to go along with the majority to keep the peace. Illness and joblessness plagued members of his family. He was healthy and employed. He had no right to complain or burden his family further. Maybe, someday, the time would be right. If only his sister-in-law would stop trying to set him up with women. A good wife and mother, Christy tried to arrange Danny's life since he was the single one left. His brother needed her type of pushing to keep him in line and his life in order.

Danny didn't. He just got lost in dreams of his past, being back in college where he was at ease with himself and free to date men. Now, he hid away in his house and lost himself in fantasies of being sandwiched between two hard men. Nicknamed the lumberjack because he was from Alaska, Danny had been very popular in college. A very manly man with a big axe. Currently, the only one admiring his tool was Danny himself.

Kicking the snow off his boots, he heard a rustling in the trees. Maybe the animals were returning? He wasn't a hunter, but on a quiet evening, he could sit on the back porch on his house and watch the wilderness for hours. Nature proved very soothing when it was calm. Those periods were rare and things could turned dangerous is seconds.

Danny never wanted to hunt but felt naked without a rifle in the woods. One couldn't underestimate Mother Nature. Not here and not with that big full moon looming over the day.

He turned the doorknob and heard a growl. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted two wolves staring him down. Big ones. The pair were both large males. One nearly black and one a lighter gray.

Instantly, Danny froze. Warning shot or dart inside? It was a close call. The wolves could lunge the distance and attack before he got inside. But turning to shoot left him vulnerable, and with his hands occupied, one could get to him. He couldn't shoot them both. They watched his every move, so going slow would only provoke them.

Yanking open the door, he darted inside. The thud on his back was a wolf knocking him to the ground. Danny felt the adrenaline kick in. Its front paws held his shoulders as the canine bit at the back padding of Danny's jacket.

Danny was reaching for the knife on his ankle when the other wolf pounced on him. Claws pressed to his lower back. Wolves tore their prey apart, living or dead. He'd be dead in seconds.

With all his muscle, Danny managed to turn over and made a last grab for the gun. But the wolves jumped on him. The animals were dominant, but this wasn't normal behavior. They should be tearing him to shreds by now.

The wolves were a blur of black and gray fur then he was dragged into the house. He blinked as they kept going until he was on his bed. The house looked normal, but the wolves were changing before his eyes. Now, the pair were naked men. Hot, naked men and Danny knew them.

If he'd been drinking, he would've sworn his brother had made a bad batch of Alaskan moonshine. But they never drank while hunting. Danny was totally sober. It felt like a dream with two men lying on him, but it wasn't. He knew them, Brandon and Justin. They'd been in his dreams, but he'd never fanaticized about wolves. It'd been so long, he wanted to just give in and enjoy the hallucination.

One of them got up, slammed the door closed and looked around. "We need to talk," Justin said.

The other guy pressed to Danny and grinned. "Relax, Danny, we're going to be here a while."