by R. J. Blain
“You won’t need witchcraft. You just need to be you and let him look you over. That’s it. Richard’s unbonded anyway. Good luck finding a witch capable of pushing him around. Anyway, since you’re mated to a Fenerec now, you’ll figure out the trick of it soon enough.”
“Richard seemed to think Evelyn and I were bonded,” I admitted.
Amber paused, staring at me as though seeing me for the first time. “Maybe? You earth witches have odd auras to begin with, and yours is odder than most. Then again, earth witches are just strange beasts in a class of their own. I know one who is bonded to four Fenerec. I don’t know how she does it. All I have is Nicole, and she’s a handful on a bad day. Four Fenerec? I’d go nuts.”
“I don’t suppose you can give me a few hints, can you?”
She chuckled, shooing me down the staircase. “You’re about to get a crash course in Fenerec volatility.”
I winced.
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Jackson. Taboo subject right now, isn’t it?”
“How volatile are we talking about here? I think I’ve hit my quota of hospital stays for the next year.”
“If I thought he might hurt you, I wouldn’t be bringing you to him. Let’s get this over with. I’m going to stay up here; I don’t want him thinking I’m infringing on his territory. I’m not really part of the pack, not like you are—witch and wolf bonds are finicky, but mates are always brought into the pack proper, even if you aren’t aware of it yet. As soon as he sees you—or smells you—he’s going to head right to you. I don’t want to get flattened.”
“All right.”
I made it three steps before I heard the growling, which warned me against going down into the basement at all. Amber closed the door, cutting off my route of escape. Sighing, I limped down the steps, halting at the bottom. Gerald’s basement was split into two areas; a sitting and entertainment suite and a gaming lair. The lights over the pool table, ping-pong table, and the poker table were dark. At the boundary between the two areas was a cluster of couches, armchairs, and several tall bar tables and stools.
Nicole had Richard pinned to the couch, and she was the primary source of the growls, which were answered by her husband. Alex sat on the arm of the couch, shaking his head.
When he saw me, he stood. “Jackson!”
At the sound of my name, Richard twisted out from beneath his wife, knocking her to the floor. Nicole spat curses at her husband, scrambling out of his way. Instead of going around his brother, Richard launched off the couch, plowing Alex over.
Before I could do more than realize he was headed towards me, Richard slammed into me. His hand seized the back of my head, cushioning my skull. I hit the wall hard, my breath whooshing out of my lungs. Richard’s teeth scraped against my throat, and I felt more than heard his growls. Tightening his grip on my head, he held me still.
With my neck in his teeth, I wasn’t about to move.
“Stay still,” Alex ordered.
I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. From my position pinned to the wall, I couldn’t tell which arm Richard had broken. There was nothing weak about his grip on my head. Without shifting his teeth from my throat, he grabbed at my left hand, pulling at the brace.
“Don’t move, Jackson,” Amber said from the top of the steps, her back pressed to the closed door.
“Believe me, I’m not going anywhere,” I replied, amazed they thought I was capable of pulling free of Richard when he had his teeth against my throat.
“Stupid Richard,” Nicole grumbled, sitting up. “You okay, Jackson?”
“I’m—”
Richard bit me and jolts of electricity stabbed into my head and down my spine. What I had meant to say was lost in a yelp. My legs collapsed under my weight, but Richard kept me pinned to the wall. His hand shifted to my neck, pulling me to him. I slumped against him, unable to force my tingling body to move. He secured his hold on me before sliding me down the wall, all without removing his teeth from my neck.
At least he had stopped growling.
“Nicole?” Amber asked.
“Stay there,” Richard’s wife replied. “You okay, Jackson?”
I both was and wasn’t; little jolts of electricity was zapping up and down my spine from Richard’s bite. Despite being aware of him as a predator, all of my muscles relaxed, leaving me limp in his grip.
A sane man would’ve been frightened.
I was dimly aware that I should have done something other than allow Richard to situate me to his liking, leaned against the wall with a hand on my shoulder to keep me upright. He let go of my throat, pulling back to stare me in the eye. His nostrils flared as he breathed in my scent. His gaze drifted to the stitched gash across my brow. His touch was gentle. With the attention span of one of Gerald’s girls, he turned his attention to my brace. Poking and prodding at it didn’t satisfying him. He lifted my arm, gripping me below the brace. With precise motions, he ripped open the velcro and tossed the brace aside to inspect my wrist.
“Broken?” His question emerged as a snarl.
“Shouldn’t you ask that before you take off the brace? It’s sprained,” I replied. When he applied pressure to my wrist, I hissed. After another minute or two of rubbing and investigating my arm, he lost interest, letting go of me.
I managed to exert enough control over myself to keep my hand and wrist from flopping.
His eyes focused on my stitches once again. “Stitches.”
“Messy,” I concurred, a little startled and concerned at how slurred I sounded.
“Be gentle,” Amber chided, although she didn’t leave her position on the top step. “He’s got a concussion, Richard.”
“Concussion,” he echoed, trailing his fingers across my brow. He sighed, leaned forward and rested his forehead against my shoulder. “I thought I had killed you,” he whispered.
“Did you crash the plane on purpose?”
“No!”
“Then you’re not responsible.”
“How did you live?” he asked, his tone awed. Once again, he touched my brow, all of his focus on my head injury.
“It took the rescue folk two hours and three chainsaws to get me out after they found me. From my understanding, it was about twelve hours in total,” I informed him, a hint of pride in my voice.
True to Amber’s warning, Richard was aggressive in checking me over, with zero regard for my privacy and personal space. After about ten minutes of putting up with him handling me, the tingling in my neck faded. I rubbed the spot, wincing at the soreness in my muscles. “You hit like a truck, Richard.”
“Sorry,” he replied, slumping against the wall next to me, once again resting his head on my shoulder.
“I don’t suppose you’d care to fill me in on what happened, would you?” I asked, not certain of what to make of Richard, who seemed determined to remain in physical contact with me.
“It’s a bit of a blur. I remember the engine cutting out and dropping the bird in a lake, but it’s bits and pieces.”
“Hit your head, too?”
“Apparently. I was out for twenty minutes, according to Vicky. Evelyn was out for longer. She lost her shit when we realized we had no chance of getting you out. It was Vicky who came to the conclusion that if you weren’t already dead, you would be soon enough, and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it.”
I tensed at the thought of Evelyn having been forced to face the reality of my mortality. “You brought them into the pack to get them away from the crash.”
He nodded.
“Thanks for taking care of her, Richard.”
He patted my knee. “Any time.”
“Amber told me Evelyn got hit by a car crossing the highway.”
Richard sighed. “At rush hour. It’s true. I’m sorry. I was responsible for her.”
The thought of Richard being arrested while naked trying to protect Evelyn from herself dissolved what little grip I had on my dignity. I laughed until my sides hurt. “Indecent
exposure and possession of exotics,” I choked out.
“It’s true.”
I clapped my hand over my mouth in an attempt to contain my mirth. It didn’t work. “How did you get out?” I gasped out between fits of laughter.
“I threatened to eat them if they harmed so much as a hair on my wolves.”
“He actually tossed out the names of some officials between the threats,” Nicole said, wrapping her arms around her knees. “They eventually got a hold of Gerald, who called me. I busted him out. By busted out, I handed the nice police officers my phone and let them talk to one of Gerald’s coworkers, who told them it wasn’t wise to keep a panicked Fenerec in general holding. They were rather quick to release him at that point.”
“I’m surprised Gerald didn’t take care of it himself.”
“It was during one of your MRIs today,” she replied.
“Ah, no cellphones.”
“Bingo.” She sighed, resting her chin on her knees. “It’s been a long day.”
“You’re telling me,” Richard complained without lifting his head from my shoulder. “What she isn’t telling you is that while they released me from general holding, they moved me up to an officer’s cubicle—the arresting officer’s. Most of them were cowards, but that feisty little blonde…”
“Richard,” Nicole snarled.
“I can’t believe you bullied the cops,” I told Richard, prodding his arm.
“Only a little.”
“Who shaved Evelyn’s fur?” I growled. The way the sound rumbled in my throat and chest felt good.
“It was a necessary evil, Jackson,” Amber said, coming down the steps. “Feeling better, Richard?”
“Much.”
“Good, now let Jackson up. He’s still banged up, and you need to let Nicole check your arm.”
“My arm’s fine,” he grumbled. “Mine.”
“Richard, let Jackson up,” Nicole demanded.
“Nope,” I declared, stretching out my legs. “I’m not moving. Too much work.”
“And why not, Mr. Jackson?” Amber asked, standing over me with her hands on her hips.
“He’s high, that’s why,” Richard reply, grumbling as he got to his feet. Taking hold of my arm, he hauled me to my feet, ignoring my protests. When I was standing, he shoved me in the direction of the couch. “You reek of drugs, by the way. What are you on?”
“The drug dealer doesn’t let me look at the hoard,” I complained. “He just shoves them down my throat, like it or not.”
“And where does the drug dealer keep the medicines?” Richard asked, giving me a push. I flopped onto the couch in a sprawl. I sank into the cushions and made a contented sound. He worked his shoulder under me, forcing me upright so he could sit beside me. “Jackson?”
“Kitchen cupboard somewhere,” I mumbled, yawning.
“I’ll go have a look for them,” Amber said, darting up the staircase.
Nicole sighed, shaking her head. “I can’t believe you, Richard. Slamming the poor man against the wall when he has a concussion.”
“I was cradling his head,” Richard replied, stretching out his legs to prop his feet up on his wife’s knees.
Wrinkling her nose, Nicole scooted out of Richard’s reach. “Troublemaking, inconsiderate Alphas do not get to use me as an ottoman.”
“You’re too pretty to be an Otto or a man,” he replied.
“Dork.” Jumping to her feet, Nicole settled on the couch on the other side of me, sticking her tongue out at her husband before turning her attention to me. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“I’m fine, Nicole. Really. If you wanted to tell him to keep his nose and teeth to himself, though, I wouldn’t object.”
“Richard, no more biting Jackson. That’s Evelyn’s job.”
I flushed, which made her laugh.
“No. I’ll bite Jackson if I want to,” Richard replied, leaning against me. He tucked his feet up on the couch. “Mine.”
“I believe Evelyn might have something to say about that, Richard,” Nicole replied.
“She’s mine too.”
“Richard, behave.”
“No.”
Nicole sighed. “It’s like this all of the time. You just have to go posturing, abusing your poor victim, and then you act like nothing happened, cuddling up to the poor person you just traumatized. Do you ever stop to think that you might be making things worse? Jackson’s not a Fenerec. I’m pretty sure he’s not used to being felt up and snuggled by another man.”
Amused by their discussion, I watched them both. If I was supposed to feel uncomfortable by their close proximity, I didn’t. If anything, there was a sense of security in not having to worry about meeting the expectations of others.
They didn’t care I was still wearing a dingy t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
“Are you feeling traumatized, Jackson?”
“Nope. You?”
Richard leaned over me to poke Nicole in the arm. “The cop who arrested me was the feisty blonde, and she gave me a card with her number on it. I’m feeling very traumatized right now.”
“You are traumatized, but not because of the cop. Sorry, Jackson, but I think you’re going to have a Richard-shaped shadow hovering around you for a while.”
“Mine,” he confirmed.
Amber came down the stairs two at a time, carrying the white bag of prescriptions, which she tossed to Nicole. “I think that’s all of them. Richard’s right, mostly. I think high is an understatement. The painkillers are the good stuff, and half of the others cause some sort of impairment or another. How are you still walking in a straight line, Jackson?”
Without opening the bag, Nicole handed them to Richard. “Say hello to your new drug dealer, Jackson. You should see him in Yellowknife. If someone in the pack is on medications for any reason, he’ll make house calls if he has any reason to believe doses aren’t being taken right on schedule.”
“Hello,” I told Richard.
Richard laughed, nudging me with his elbow. “Damned straight it’s my job. I’ll fight Gerald for the right if I must.”
Alex came up behind me, resting his chin on top of my head. “I’ll keep him from roughing Gerald up, don’t worry.”
When Alex started rubbing at my shoulders, I leaned forward with a groan. “Please don’t stop.”
“I told you, Jackson,” Amber said, sitting at my feet. “Every last one of them is touchy feely.”
“Hey, Alex. Where’s your mate? I haven’t met her yet.”
“Since one of us needs to be functional tomorrow, she’s playing pretend as the family dog. Last I checked, she was curled up between Ruth and Beth, sound asleep.”
“I’m still amazed that Gerald is so accepting of you Fenerec.”
“Accepting? He was the one who suggested one of us change into a wolf and sleep with the girls. We’re humoring him, since it’s his house and he’s in love with the idea of having someone protect his girls through the night. No one is going to get anywhere near them with Lisa on guard duty. She’s a light sleeper, and she adores children,” Alex replied.
“That’s one thing about Fenerec I like; almost all of them love children. I’ve come to the conclusion it’s an instinct,” Amber said, using my legs as a backrest.
“Gerald is a sneaky son of a bitch,” I grumbled.
“You do realize that’s a compliment, right?” Nicole asked.
“I’m rather interested in the fact that he just cursed in front of two ladies,” Richard commented, digging through the bag of prescriptions, taking a bottle out and reading the label. “What the hell do they have you on? Half of the pharmacy? Ah, this one is an anti-nausea medication. Please tell me you haven’t been vomiting. When was the last time you ate?”
“On the way home, which was around one in the morning,” I replied. “I’m pretty sure I’m not because of the medications.”
“Good.” After rattling the bottle at me, he pulled out another one. “Oh, hey. You weren’t ki
dding, Amber. He really is on the good stuff. Lucky.”
“And what about you?” I demanded, jabbing his ribs. “You broke your arm.”
“It’s mostly better. A little achy, but it’ll be healed by morning.”
“Fu—”
Richard clamped his hand over my mouth. “I’ll just stop you there, Jackson. Be quiet. You’re tired, drugged, and need a warm bed with your woman. You’ll end up saying something you’ll regret at the rate you’re going.”
“That’s probably the best idea I’ve heard all night. Evelyn’s fuzzy, soft, warm, and perfect to curl up with right now. Once you go to bed, we can all get some sleep, now that Richard’s convinced you’re actually alive.” Nicole glowered at her husband. “As if Gerald would lie about something like that, you dimwit.”
While I wanted to go upstairs to be with Evelyn, I didn’t want to disturb her and the thought of climbing two sets of stairs made me wince. “She is soft and warm,” I agreed.
“He’d end up on maybe half the bed—if that—in his determination to let her rest undisturbed,” Amber said, shaking her head at me. “When I was fetching him, she was curled up on the pillow still, and the bed looked untouched otherwise. Why don’t we bring her down here? You might act all macho now, Richard, but you’ll end up pacing outside of their room in a panic, like some crazed stalker.”
“She’s got you there,” Nicole said. “All right. I’ll go bring her down. You’ve been up and down the stairs enough tonight, Amber. My turn. She doesn’t even clock in at thirty pounds, so I won’t have any trouble with her at all.”
“As if you’d have trouble with her if she weighed in at three hundred pounds,” Richard mumbled without looking up from reading medicine labels. “Welcome to the pack, Jackson. I hope you’re not shy, because you never know who you might wake up with in the morning. Think about it this way: at least you won’t get cold in the winter.”
Chapter Eighteen
When I had fallen asleep, I had been on the couch with Evelyn on my lap. When I woke up, I was on the floor in the center of an explosion of cushions and pillows. Yawning, I took in the upholstery carnage, coming to the conclusion that the Fenerec’s skewed view on personal space extended to property as well.