by Celia Kyle
“’Lo?”
Isaac launched at Ty the moment he answered. “Your mate,” he snapped.
Ty just sighed. “What’d she do and is it just an annoyance or did she break a clan law?”
“She…” Annoyed the hell out of him, but she hadn’t actually broken a law. He’d asked her to go to his home which meant she, as well as Lauren and Trista, were left to their own devices. And none of them wanted Isaac to leave. “She unpacked my house, Ty. Everything.”
He heard rather than saw his brother’s shrug. “And? The family doesn’t want you leaving the clan. You know that.”
“I didn’t expect her to tear my place apart.”
“You know she didn’t do that.”
Isaac narrowed his eyes even though his brother couldn’t see the glare. “And how do you know?”
“Hypothetically?”
He groaned. “God, you suck.”
Hypothetically was a game they’d played with their parents.
Who brought a dead rabbit into this house?
Hypothetically, it may or may not have been…
“You’ve got Kira now, Isaac. Did you just assume she’d pick up her new life and follow you around?”
Yes, he had. “Mia still shouldn’t have—”
“She wanted me to tell you that your porn collection is outdated and lame. You should get a subscription to—”
“Seriously? The woman who doesn’t allow cursing is commenting on my porn collection? Really, Ty?”
Ty snorted. “You’d be surprised. Beneath that sweet exterior—”
“These are thoughts I don’t need. Tell your mate to leave my crap alone and the decision to move, or not, is up to Kira and me.” Dammit.
“She’s it for you though, right?” His brother grew serious. “I mean… it.”
Isaac thought of her smile, the radiant joy that lived inside her when he wasn’t being an ass and she wasn’t being attacked. Hell, even when she was healing, she still smiled wide and got her dander up at the drop of a hat.
“Yeah, yeah she is.”
Silence stretched between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry, you know. For being such a dick.”
“I know.” He nodded and fought the tightness in his throat. This wasn’t a tossed aside apology. He sensed the truth and conviction in Ty’s words.
“I gotta talk to Van and Keen. Fuck, we fucked over Keen. I fucked over Keen.”
Isaac hadn’t been around then, still with Mia’s dad taking care of Cutler, but he’d only had to hear the story once. He wished he’d been there for his youngest brother. Maybe he could have talked some sense into Ty and Van. Maybe he could have…
Ty sighed. “How drunk do you gotta be to talk about the fight?”
The fight. It’d felt like World War Five Hundred at the time. Wolf after bear after wolf after bear… all struggling for breath and dying before his eyes. No one really knew how hard he’d fought for them. Every single male that walked away was because of him. Wolves, bears, he didn’t give a damn when he patched them up.
“A fuck-ton drunker than I am now.” Drunker than he could ever be.
“How’d I become a self-absorbed asshole?”
Isaac chuckled. “Practice.”
“Dick.”
“Bigger than yours. Don’t be jealous.”
“Don’t make me kick your ass.”
“You and what army?” It was familiar ground, a bickering that they’d shared for years.
“Was it bad, Isaac?” Ty was subdued, the chuckles no longer filling his voice.
He ran a hand through his hair and slumped onto his couch. “It was…”
The soft click of his front door, the squeak of the hinge, told him someone entered his space. The click-clack of nails on wood clued him into his visitor, and Kira eased into the living room behind Ebenezer.
Without a word, she padded toward him and he held out his arm, welcoming her onto his lap. With her there, cuddled against him, he could push through the story. Get it out once and for all and never talk about it again.
Kira drew her knees up and pressed her head to his shoulder, giving him the strength to talk.
“You remember the burn, huh?” he murmured, not waiting for an answer from Ty. The hyena alpha got his eldest brother first. The two leaders facing off before all hell broke loose. “The burn and the way your blood flowed like it wouldn’t stop.”
How many pints had he replaced in body after body by the time all was said and done? At some point, sterilization became secondary to saving lives. He could heal an infection. He couldn’t bring someone back from the dead.
“Trent went down first. He fought at my side and some fucking hyena got him in the goddamned throat.” He closed his eyes, recalling the flash of claws, the shine that coated them before they were embedded in Trent’s neck.
Surprise flitted across his friend’s face a split-second before pain suffused his features. Then… then death. The fucking hyena looked at him, eyes crazed, irises golden in the dim light, and Isaac lost it.
He went after the male, meeting strike after strike, taking a few and giving a few of his own, but his body wouldn’t heal. Blood pumped and pushed at the wounds, soaking his clothing and sliding down his body.
But he kept going. The asshole killed Trent. The fuckers were going after others in their clan and the Redby pack.
The next swing caught his face, claws barely missing his eye, but the bastard might as well have taken it. Blood filled his vision.
He couldn’t see, couldn’t meet the threats to him, to his Itan. He stepped forward and…
“I tripped over Trent’s body.” He knew his friend was dead. Knew it in his heart. But still he tripped over his friend and immediately felt guilt. What if he’d hurt the bear, what if he’d…
Right. Trent was dead.
“He was gone, but I did. Tripped and fell.” Isaac remembered the fall. Even through his bloody haze, he met the bear’s stare. Expect it wasn’t a stare, was it?
“What about after?”
After. “After was worse.”
Kira nuzzled him, easing closer and pressing her face to his neck. He lowered his head, buried his nose in her hair and breathed deeply. He was surrounded by her, filled with her, and it gave him the courage to continue. Even Ebenezer joined in the soothing touches, the dog hopping onto the couch and cuddling next to him.
“We treated them on the fly, Ty. You went back to the house. It was right. You needed to get Parker back and save Mia. But you didn’t see.”
Bears didn’t whine, they didn’t cry out in pain. No, they silently eased toward death. Funny how wolves were the same.
“Do you know it was a hyena that saved us?” He released a flat laugh. “Fucking assholes hurt us, nearly killed us, but one of their own told me how to help the males dying around me.”
At the time, the hyena’s hands shook as he dumped the baking soda into the water, stirring the container to mix everything together. He didn’t bother testing it on himself. He had patients who needed him. Patients who were closer to death than he was and they were more important.
“I managed to shift my hand to claws. Fuck, it hurt. The bear was trying to heal everything while I’m trying to heal everyone else and… it nearly brought me to my knees.” He took a calming breath. His bear fought him, scratched and scraped at him for revealing their vulnerability with their mate nearby. It didn’t want to risk her turning them away if she knew how weak they were. “But I did it. I wrapped a paw around that male’s neck and watched him pour the mix over Lochlan. He was,” he shuddered. Lochlan was so, so young. “At that point, he couldn’t get any worse. I was on the edge of losing him. Losing the boy in the middle of hyena territory, surrounded by their stench and lying in the middle of the fucking street.”
He took a calming breath, but it did nothing for the bear. It twitched and stretched inside him, hating him for reliving the pain of that day. Not the physical agony. I
t could tolerate that without a problem.
But recalling the faces…
Faces…
“It saved Lochlan. And Steven. And Jack. And…”
“When did you treat yourself?”
Him? Isaac barked out a mirthless laugh. “It was over by then, I think. You had Parker back. You’d already taken care of Mia’s uncle and Keen called me in a panic because you weren’t healing. I told him how to take care of you and then I collapsed.” He huffed out a breath. “I finished dousing Callen and watched for healing. He was the last one. I managed to hang on and make sure he was improving and then I just fell over.”
He was done. Out of it, ready to die because of the pain. Fuck, the pain, had him ready to slit his wrists.
“How’d you survive? Who treated you?”
“All of them. They…”
At the time, each twitch brought him more pain, each jarring movement sent agony down his spine. Why wouldn’t they let him die in peace? He saved who he could and now it was his turn. Leave me be.
Isaac was sure he’d yelled those words, roared them at the top of his lungs, but no one listened. They’d run out of baking soda. He knew that. The males remaining upright went from home to home, announcing the impending purge of hyenas while also demanding baking soda. Strange, yet necessary.
Only one thing neutralized the acid.
It’d be funny if he weren’t dying.
But he was. So it wasn’t.
Kira nestled closer, Ebenezer pressing against him as well, and the two of them gave him strength.
“They found two boxes at the end of the block. Men who’d been at death’s door five minutes ago hunted for me and then refused to let me die.” He’d never forget the stinging stench of his own blood mixed with the aromas in the hyena household. “Even a few wolves helped. They busted down a few doors, elbowed a path into the house and dropped me in a fucking bathtub smaller than a toilet. But I was in there.” The men were working so fast, hands shaking from their own healing. In a rush to slice his clothes away, they added to his wounds. He never told a soul and he wouldn’t start now. “Tore my clothes off and drenched me in baking soda. They said I was a red powdered sugar cookie.”
“I thought it had to be diluted…”
Isaac ran his hand along Kira’s spine, recalling the way she’d mixed and poured the liquid on him. “I was barely conscious and they just coated me in the stuff and turned the shower on low. It had a detachable head, so they’d dump a bunch and then added water. They were…”
Screaming at him to live. Roaring at him and telling him they’d bring his ass back to life and gut him if he didn’t wake the fuck up.
“When they realized I’d live, they hauled me home.”
Another wave of quiet, the silence broken by the occasional sniffle from Kira, and he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. He’d soothe her, cradle and kiss her once he ended his call.
“Where was I?” Ty’s words were barely audible.
“With Mia. As you should have been. Both of you were healing and needed each other.” He’d never begrudged his brother the events of those days. Ty had been half-crazed when poisoned and then even worse when healed and had to deal with an injured mate and the Southeast Itan invading the clan den. Ty couldn’t have dealt with Isaac’s wounds on top of it all.
“Isaac…”
“It’s fine. I’m alive and so are most of the men I treated.” He’d never forgive the hyenas for those lives. Never. Unfortunately, Ty already visited vengeance on the males responsible for all that pain.
“Was there ever a time I wasn’t a self-absorbed asshole?”
Isaac grinned. Well, almost. The pain of the past still rode him hard, but he managed half a grin. “Yeah, I think you were five.”
“Fuck you.”
They were back on even ground, tugging themselves out of the tar pit of agony and back to the present. “Nah, I’ll let Mia take care of that.”
Ty snorted and a pregnant pause stretched between them. “I’m glad you didn’t die.”
Isaac sighed. “Yeah, me too. If I had… If I had, I never would have met Kira, and damn, Ty, she’s worth living for.”
*
Kira had come looking for him, lasting all of a minute in her empty house alone. Vanessa’s attack left her on edge and uneasy in her own home. She figured she’d just wait for Isaac at his place.
It wasn’t because she was a big scared-y mole or anything.
And then… he broke her heart. He shattered and stomped on it and ground it into the dirt, his words spearing her with the truth that lived in every syllable.
More than anything she wanted to pick his heart up, dust it off, and put it back together. She could do it too. She would do it.
She listened as the call ended, Ty murmuring in Isaac’s ear and Isaac’s soft responses until it was only the two of them making sounds in the large house. She didn’t say a word and neither did he. They simply sat, their breaths perfectly matched.
His lips remained pressed to her skin, his gentle kisses eventually making their way to her forehead. “What are you doing here?”
I wanted to be with you.
I was scared without you.
“Ebenezer Hopplestopple doesn’t like my house anymore.”
It was close to the truth. If she substituted Ebie with her it’d be the full truth.
She refused to tell him so.
“No?” Isaac reached out and rubbed her dog, scratching behind his ear, which had the pup’s leg twitching. “That’s okay. I like Ebenezer Fiffleflam in my house.” He gave her forehead another soft kiss and she tilted her head back, offering him her mouth. He brushed his lips over hers. “I like Kira Kolanowski, KK to her friends, in my house, too.”
“You forgot—” She was gonna tell him what he forgot, but then his lips really were there. His lips and tongue and his taste invaded her mouth until her entire world revolved around Isaac, his body, his touch, his flavors…
She was a big ball of Isaac-loving mush.
Without the loving and with the extra mush.
He pulled away as quickly as he’d darted forward. “I didn’t forget the rest of it because, whether it pisses you off or not, you won’t have anyone being mean to you again. Next time you talk to your friend Zoey, you tell her I’ve got this.” The kiss was gentle and sweet. “I’ve got you.”
Yup, extra, extra mush.
“That’s… You can’t say things like that and expect me not to melt.” She sighed. Stupid man with his stupid sexy words.
“If you melt, I’ll just put you in a cup and pop you back in the fridge. You’ll be back to—”
Kira elbowed him. “Way to stomp on the cuteness.” She wriggled in his grasp, pushing so she could climb from his ungrateful lap. “C’mon, Ebenezer Clipcrabapple.”
Isaac just chuckled and tightened his hold, tugging her back onto his lap. “Your dog is gonna end up with a complex. Today dog bones, tomorrow doggie therapy.”
She froze and slowly panned her attention to him. “That’s a thing now? Really?”
And if it was a thing, should she send Ebie? She didn’t think talking things out hurt anyone, hell, she had a therapist before she left town. A werewolf therapist, which meant Kira couldn’t talk about why she was actually in therapy, but still…
“You’re adorable and I’d tell you I loved you if it didn’t scare the shit out of me, but no, it’s not a thing. I mean, there are behaviorists that specialize in pets with… You know, never mind.”
“Oh.” She froze and he did the same. When she spoke, she didn’t address his animal behaviorist rant. “I’d tell you I care about you a lot, but it’s been a handful of days, right? Like, two. Two is fast. Really fast. Even for shifters, it’s fast, right?”
Kira reached for his face, hands stroking his skin and exploring his expression. She could see some of his movements this close, but her palms would tell her more.
He smiled. He was smiling big, bright, an
d wide and… “Ty mated within a day or two. Same with Van. I think Keen was within twenty-four hours.” Isaac nuzzled her palm, his scruff scratching her fingers. “I’d say we’re behind.”
“I’d say you’re crazy.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Why don’t I feel like you’re agreeing with me?”
“Dunno.” He shrugged. “Still hungry?” He gripped her hips as if he were ready to lift her from his lap.
That wasn’t happening. “Slow your roll and back that truck up.” Isaac froze. “Just an FYI, two weeks is fast.”
“Okay.” He nodded, his scent told her he didn’t agree.
“I mean it.”
“Of course you do.”
He was humoring her, the bastard.
Kira tried to sound stern. “I’m really super serious here.”
“Right.”
She had obviously failed.
Kira didn’t whine, didn’t plead, didn’t even joke. She merely said his name. “Isaac?”
He relaxed back against the couch and squeezed her gently. “Yeah?”
“It really is… I mean… It’s just…”
“Hush.” He stroked her arm, sliding over her skin until he got to her hand. He entwined his fingers with hers and she let him, enjoying the comfort of his touch. “I need you to know that I’m here. I want you. I’m ready for you.”
Kira swallowed past the growing lump in her throat. “What about leaving? Moving? You have plans and—”
“And now I have you. That’s all that matters to me.” He stroked her palm with his thumb. “I wanted to die that day. I wanted them to let me die in the middle of the goddamned street and I would have been thankful that the pain ended. I didn’t fight for my family. I didn’t fight to see my parents again. I didn’t care about anything but the end to my torment. But you, Kira Kolanowski, KK to your friends… I would have come back from hell for you. And because of the pain, I’d smile.”
Chapter Twelve
Waiting had never been Isaac’s strong suit. Not when he was a kid, not when he’d been in school, and sure as hell not when he waited to sink his teeth into Kira.