Bloodlines

by Alex Kidwell

  Most people listening to this, Redford was aware, would give Edwin a sympathetic I can’t imagine. But Redford could. He’d been through it himself. Filtiarn and his wolves hadn’t been kind.

  “I’ve been kidnapped before,” he offered. “It was the most scared I’ve ever been in my life. So I know how you feel.”

  Edwin seemed to absorb that, his gaze wandering again back out to the lake. Silently, he scooted a little closer to Redford, shoulder resting against his. “They’re skinning them,” he whispered, horror in his tone. “The wolves they catch. They liked my coat, so they didn’t kill me. They were going to make a rug out of me.”

  What could Redford say to that? He shook his head, disbelieving at first, everything in him wanting to deny that that was what the hunters had been kidnapping the wolves for. It seemed preposterous, like something out of a bad horror movie.

  But the hunters had spoken to Edwin, and they would have had no reason to lie.

  “God,” Redford whispered, stunned. He couldn’t think of anything to say.

  Perhaps luckily for him, he was saved, not by the bell, but by the sound of Victor groggily stumbling out of the guest cabin, his glasses held in his hand. “Does nobody sleep around here?” he grumped and parked himself on the end of the log on the other side of Edwin, still looking half asleep. “Why are you two not in bed?”

  “Why aren’t you?” Edwin returned, eyebrow raised.

  “Because we can hear you two out here.” Randall came next, following after Victor, winding up shoved up next to him, head resting on Victor’s shoulder with a yawn. “Sound carries, little brother. And I could smell the wolves leaving, so I was awake already. What’s going on?”

  “Apparently nobody can sleep,” Redford replied, bemused despite the horrible realization still circling around in his thoughts. Any second now he was expecting Anthony and Jed to join them. It seemed to be that kind of morning.

  “What are you two talking about?” Randall asked, absently taking Victor’s hand in his own, playing their fingers together.

  Edwin hesitated, expression going a little blank as he ducked his head. Apparently he was more comfortable discussing it with Redford than with Randall. “I, uh—”

  “What the fuck is going on?” As if summoned by Redford’s thoughts, Jed was shuffling down toward them, hair all stuck out at ends, rubbing his eyes in sleepy confusion. “Redford? What’s wrong?” He made it to the log, collapsing into Redford’s lap and yawning hugely. “It’s a fucking party and no one invited me?”

  “God, can’t a guy get any sleep?” Anthony came up behind them with a tray of mugs and a coffeepot. “What the hell. Are you all insomniacs?”

  They passed around the coffee in companionable silence, the clink of mugs loud against the gentle lap of the lake’s waves. When they all had their mugs, the steam rising from them to join the mist, Redford looked at Edwin again. He’d seemed hesitant to speak when Randall had arrived, so Redford decided to make the announcement for him.

  “Edwin discovered what they were doing to the kidnapped wolves,” he said.

  Jed went absolutely still on Redford’s lap. It only took a quick glance up for Redford to know that Jed had probably already known that particular answer. Shifting his weight, Jed cleared his throat, looking guilty. “Yeah, about that.”

  “They skinned them, okay?” Edwin was scowling now, hunched in on himself, practically disappearing into nothing but a pile of quilt and messy blond hair. “New topic, please.”

  Anthony was the only one not sitting on the log, Redford noticed. He was standing near the lake’s edge, and where the mist was merely passing over the rest of them, it seemed to embrace Anthony, gathering and curling around his legs. Redford wasn’t sure if it was a mystery of nature or a trick of the eyes, but he recalled the story Anthony had told them about his mate, and he thought it might be something much more than just randomly shifting fog.

  “That’s over now,” Anthony said firmly. He looked nauseous at the revelation, but determined to help Edwin move past it. “They’re not going to be kidnapping anybody else.”

  “You don’t know that.” Edwin’s voice was quiet, something ragged in the edges. “We keep killing these guys or scaring them off, but more just keep coming. And they’re all doing the same thing.”

  “Why didn’t you say something before?” Randall’s expression was one of pure horror. “While the Gray Lady was here? She should know—”

  “You weren’t there when they attacked.” Edwin shuddered, gaze flicking up to Anthony and then away. “I could smell them. One more push and they’d be in full-on bloodlust and I just…. I didn’t want to see that. I didn’t want to know what they’d do.”

  “And you were right to do so,” Anthony replied. He turned from the lake’s edge. Randall slid off the log to rest against Victor’s legs, giving Anthony his spot to sit. “They didn’t need another reason to keep slaughtering.” Anthony gripped his mug tighter, looking regretful. “I do wish we could have told them, though. Now we don’t have the chance.”

  “What good would it do?” Jed had finished his coffee and had started in on Redford’s. “Who cares what they’re doing with them. I mean, no one thought these guys were taking the wolves to go live on a nice farm in the country. If they knew that the vamps are redecorating in furry style, there would have been no stopping a war. At least now we have time to check things out, make sure we’re ready. Make sure we know who we’re actually fighting.”

  “You don’t think it’s vampires?” Randall glanced at Victor, an unreadable expression on his face.

  “I think we don’t trust slippery guys in offices who pay people like me to go out and kill. The whole skinning thing is very Hannibal Lecter, liver and fava beans, yeah. It’s sick. I’m not saying it’s not. But it’s also a detail that doesn’t really matter, big picture.” Jed reached out, gripping Edwin’s shoulder. “You’re alive. Let’s count that as a win.”

  “I really wasn’t scared,” Edwin told Jed. “I mean, I wasn’t doing a jig or anything. But I was more upset over what they were saying had already been done. I knew I would be okay.” Edwin took a sip of his coffee, wrinkling his nose at the taste. “Anthony wouldn’t let anything happen to me.” He said it with such confidence, as if he were simply stating that the Earth was round, that the sun rose every morning. Not an ounce of anything but absolute faith.

  Anthony looped an arm around Edwin’s shoulders to pull him in close against his side. He seemed at a loss for a response, choosing to reply with actions instead of words. They all sat there, close and tightly packed together, a family in every way Redford understood it to be. Not all by blood, no, and not all the same, but just as important.

  They watched the sun rise over the lake, burning away the last tendrils of mist, chasing the ghosts off in favor of a blaze of brilliant light. Today they would be moving into Victor’s mansion, and Redford smiled at the thought of it.

  He had a pack, now.

  REDFORD HAD always known Jed was particularly picky about where he stored his weapons—he just hadn’t thought Jed would actually search through each of the forty-six individual rooms in the mansion to find the perfect spot, before they’d even moved anything else in. Victor wasn’t happy with the idea of guns and explosives being stored in his house, but after a fight with Jed in front of the furniture truck, Victor had eventually given in out of sheer exasperation.

  There were three trucks crowded into Victor’s driveway. Two were the Lewises’, and one was Jed and Redford’s. Though the mansion came complete with furniture, Anthony especially hadn’t wanted to part with the chairs and the bed frames he’d made, and Jed had given Victor a twenty-minute lecture on how his couch was perfectly broken in to his ass specifications. He even demonstrated, pointing out the groove in the cushion. Victor didn’t seem as interested in the subject as Jed.

  Over the course of the day, Redford had figured out that he was best utilized helping with the heavy lifting.

&
nbsp; “Jed?” Redford attempted to look over the chair he was carrying. He wasn’t even sure where he was—the mansion’s hallways looked very similar. He hoped he was going the right way. “Jed, if you’re near me and if I’m not lost, can you tell me where you want this chair?”

  There was a faint laugh and then Jed was behind him, wrapping arms around him, hands grasping the chair along with Redford’s. “You are so hot when you’re being all manly and strong,” Jed murmured, kissing just under Redford’s ear. “Come on. I’ve got the other chair. We’re just down the hall.”

  At least Redford hadn’t wound up totally lost. Relieved, he followed Jed and did his best to memorize what the hallway looked like and smelled like so he’d remember later. Earlier, Edwin had been telling him all about the best places of the mansion to sniff—Redford hadn’t passed by any of them so far, but all of it smelled pretty interesting, like Victor’s blood, only so much stronger.

  Jed had bitched about leaving the apartment. It had been his for so long. But Victor had given them a whole suite of rooms to themselves, with huge windows and doors from the sitting room that opened out onto the grounds. They’d sat there, the two of them, talking about where they’d put their furniture, painting the walls, making it theirs. And it seemed better then. Jed had seemed more relaxed about leaving his home.

  As he’d put it, the apartment had been for him. This was going to be for them. And Redford liked how that sounded.

  They passed Anthony on the way down the hallway, his head in a blueprint, muttering to himself. Victor, Redford thought, might soon be regretting telling Anthony he could renovate rooms if he wished. Randall passed them, chasing after Edwin, who was carting a box of books away from the library.

  “Bring those back, Edwin Lewis,” Randall demanded.

  “You don’t need more books!” Edwin was laughing, grinning as he turned around to run backward, taunting Randall. “I’m setting them free. Free the books! No more stuffy libraries!”

  From very far off, perhaps the next hallway, came a shout of, “Edwin, if you harm a book on my property, you’ll suffer the consequences!”

  That only served to make Edwin laugh harder, and Redford could see the start of a grin on Randall’s face. “Oh, that’s it,” Randall mock growled, shrugging off his sweater, shifting as his pants hit the floor. And then, Edwin gleefully changing as well, there were two wolves wrestling in the hallway, Randall’s usual reserve fading slightly, enough for him to just play for a bit.

  Redford cringed as they wrestled a bit too close to a side table that held some kind of antique statue on it, but they were obviously conscious of it. Perhaps they’d received the same lecture Redford had a few hours ago.

  When Redford finally got the chair to his and Jed’s room, his arms were starting to ache a little with the strain. He set it down with a relieved puff of air and rolled his shoulders to ease the burn in the muscles. At least they had most of their furniture done already. Hand in hand, they walked back through the hallways to the truck, and Redford found he was unable to stop smiling.

  It was early days, but it felt like the Gray Lady had been right. They did make an odd pack—three wolves, one not-quite-wolf, one human, and one half-blood medusa. And one very pleased cat, who was off exploring all the nooks and crannies she could find. But it was working, and it felt good. Redford couldn’t feel the slightest hint of discomfort from his instincts. Edwin rolled past him on the floor, bumping against his legs, tail wagging eagerly, and Jed started to laugh.

  “Go have fun,” he murmured, kissing Redford’s cheek. “I’m going to find Victor and make sure he’s not having a panic attack from the hairballs.”

  “Have fun?” Redford questioned. “What do you mean? There’s still furniture to get inside.”

  “I’ll handle it.” Jed squeezed his fingers lightly. “You go do wolfy things. Come on, Randall’s got to have, like, a twenty-minute limit on acting like something other than a stick in the mud.”

  The idea of just spontaneously going to do “wolfy things” still didn’t come entirely naturally to Redford, but he was getting there. The shifts were less painful now, and the instincts had calmed. Whether it was any one particular thing that had helped, or the combination of Dr. Alona, Jed’s help, and the wolf pack, Redford still wasn’t sure. The point was, he felt better.

  Enough so that he just shook his head in bemusement and shrugged off his shirt. “I’ll be back in half an hour,” he promised.

  Jed hauled him back for a kiss, grinning against his lips. “Love you,” Jed said, pulling back, studying his eyes. “Happy?”

  Redford nudged his forehead against Jed’s, and he took a second to enjoy the moment. Jed was happy, and they stood alone in the hallway of a beautiful mansion that they now lived in with their own odd little pack. Anthony’s treatment had started yesterday, and already he was showing signs of being able to move easier. Edwin had settled into the place like it was a second skin, and Randall and Victor were bossing them all around.

  Two days ago, the Gray Lady and her pack had disappeared. There had been no good-byes, no closure. Redford was simply left with the vague feeling of unease, as if things had needed to be said, answers given, that had been left undone. He had hoped to find the reason behind Filtiarn, of what he had become. Instead there was only the bent grass where the pack had been, the silent reminders of something gone. They had left to hide, and Redford knew it was entirely possible that he would never see them again. There was still a threat of war. Victor’s prophecy was still something they needed to figure out, though it was clear that Jed had banished all thought of it from his mind. But for now, they were safe. For now, they could live in peace.

  “Yeah,” Redford said. “I’m happy.”

  “Good.” Another kiss brushed against his lips, and Jed gave him a playful smack on the ass. “Now get out of here. I’m going to drag Victor out of that library if it kills one of us.”

  Redford just laughed. “Good luck,” he replied, and shifted just after he’d finished the second word. On four legs now, the mansion seemed to light up with scents, and after a fond nudge against Jed’s legs, Redford took off down the hallway to find Edwin and Randall. They’d stopped wrestling and had instead started stalking each other through a strange room that was full of nothing but suits of armor. When Redford joined in, he did so by greeting Randall with a flying tackle.

  Randall turned and snapped lightly at Redford’s muzzle, and they rolled end over end across the room. Edwin galloped over, nipping at them both to send them charging after him, darting around the legs of the armor. They ran past Anthony in another room, who still had his nose buried in blueprints, and by the time they wound up outside at the back of the mansion, Redford was ready to have a sleep.

  He flopped down on the sun-warmed grass. As Randall and Edwin did the same, Redford could have grinned with the contentment he felt. He had a pack. Jed found them then, one of the sofas from the back of the moving van on a wheeled trolley. Jed set it out on the grass and collapsed onto it, sprawled out lazily, head tipped back to the sun.

  “Last thing,” he huffed. “I need a cold beer.”

  Redford jumped up to sit on the couch beside him, contemplating something he wasn’t even sure would work. He was going to try, though. Tipping his head back, he howled—quietly enough so that only those in the mansion would hear it. He heard a return from Anthony. A minute passed. Then Anthony came out with an entire six-pack straight from the fridge. There was no specific howl for “cold beer,” so Redford had just tried to communicate the feeling of needing refreshment.

  It had apparently worked. He gave Jed a wolfy grin and howled a second time, not for refreshment or anything in particular, just peace and family and feeling so at home that he almost didn’t know what to do with the enormity of the feeling. Knievel curled up at his feet, finished prowling around the edge of the grounds. Jed had wrapped an arm around him, and Anthony was beside him. Victor was coming down from the house, Randall chargin
g toward him, shifting halfway there, taking the robe Victor had brought him with a grin. Edwin was sprawled out in the sun, tail flicking absently.

  And they were home.

  Epilogue

  Jed

  “YOU KNOW what my apartment had?” Jed told Redford mournfully, shaking out his leather jacket, sighing at the cloud of fur that rolled off of it. “About a thousand percent less shedding. Also, no wolves running through my weapon room and scaring the shit out of me.”

  “Uh-huh.” Redford was sprawled out on the couch in front of their fireplace, paging through a book. And clearly not as invested in this rant as Jed was.

  Three weeks into moving into the commune, as Jed had decided to start calling it, and it was becoming abundantly clear that, however gigantic this mansion was, it was so not large enough. “I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Jed continued, slouching down to sit in the chair opposite, guns out on the table for cleaning. “They’re not half bad.” Which was pretty much the highest praise he’d be willing to give. “But does Edwin need to nap on my jacket?”

  At least he wasn’t using it as a chew toy. Jed should probably be thankful for small favors.

  “Yeah.” Redford nodded, turning a page. And Jed was now convinced he hadn’t heard a word. Which was absolutely a tragedy, because this was a grade A rant!

  “We need a job,” Jed declared, pointing at him, waving his finger around. “I haven’t stayed at my old place this long, much less in kiddie wolf camp.”

  Randall and Victor were positively domestic. Disgustingly so. Cooking dinner, working together, and they along with Anthony were eagerly working on turning the stuffy, dark mansion into something light and open. Hell, just yesterday Anthony had gotten Edwin’s help in knocking out a wall and combining two small, dank rooms into what was apparently going to be a huge, open family area on the second floor.