by Odessa Lynne
“Goddammit, Ian. I hate you sometimes.”
“Sorry!’ Ian put his hand up palm out. “It didn’t mean anything. I didn’t want you to find out later and get pissed, you know, because of—”
“I’m pissed!” Devon interrupted, not wanting to hear Ian’s unwarranted pity.
“Craig made him submit, if it makes you feel better, and honestly, he made me nervous. He kept looking at me with those cold eyes of his.”
“He does have a cold-eyed stare that can get to you if you let it.” Devon narrowed his eyes. “So when was it? When was the first night you were there? When did he have his hand on your dick?”
“Probably the same night he took you for a heat mate. At one point, Craig told them to pick a human to mate before the drugs wore off and somebody got killed in a heat fight.”
“Goddamn alpha,” Devon muttered, but then he looked up and caught sight of Kem’s shirt from last night hanging over the edge of the chest of drawers and he thought, fuck it, Kem had seventeen kids. He’d better get used to the guy having a past or the future was just going to be one long jealous moment.
“Kem has seventeen kids. How many kids does Craig have?”
Ian gave Devon a strange look. “Seventeen kids?” As if he was trying to figure out if Devon was joking with him.
“Seventeen,” Devon repeated, with emphasis. “The alpha’s older and probably gone through a lot more heat seasons. So how many?”
The expression on Ian’s face said he didn’t know what the hell Devon was talking about. Devon grinned. Served him right for having had Kem’s hand—hands?—on his dick.
“He hasn’t mentioned kids.”
“Ah.” Devon nodded as if he knew something.
Ian’s frown turned to a scowl, directed at Devon. Ian kicked him under the table. “You’re a real asshole.”
Devon grinned. “Yeah. I am.”
Ian scratched at the skin above the brace on his wrist again, this time more vigorously. “Damn thing is killing me.”
Devon’s grin fell away. “The alpha said you were hurt trying to catch Brendan. Can’t believe you gave him up.”
“It was a plan to catch the renegades who attacked the last den, not Brendan. A wolf broke the wrist. I heard it crack. He had me on the ground. I thought I was dead. Then Craig showed up, just in time.”
“Shit.”
“Brendan’s done, Devon.” Ian tapped his temple. “Honest to God, I thought about shooting him once. He said some things I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive him for saying. I don’t know. I hardly recognized him.”
“I know.” Devon was quiet for a moment. He stared down at his knuckles, all the scrapes and bruises he’d gotten over the last week and a half almost completely healed. “I told Kem he didn’t used to be like that.”
When he looked up, Ian caught his gaze. “He’s always been a bit of an asshole, Devon, and you know it. He just hid it really well when he wanted something.”
“I know.” Then, a few seconds later, after neither of them seemed anxious to continue, “But he has his moments. He’s in real trouble.”
“I don’t care this time,” Ian said. He rubbed the bottom of his nose and looked down at his boots.
Devon was sure Ian was lying. “I’m going to talk to Kem and ask him to at least try to talk to somebody for me. Tell whoever will listen that he deserves a fair trial. I don’t know for sure what he did, or what part he played in some of the attacks.”
“Devon. You know he’s been leading a group, taking tech—”
“No, I don’t know that,” Devon said. “And neither do you, not really.”
“Damn it, Devon.” Ian sighed, was quiet for a moment, and then said, “I’ll talk to Craig too. I hope to God they’re as peaceful as they’ve always claimed to be and don’t execute him on the spot or something. I was there this time. He had a gun and I saw one of the wolves get shot. She made it, but what if she hadn’t? He’s guilty. I don’t know how he can’t be.”
“Something happened,” Devon said softly, leaning in over the table. Then he thought about the technology the wolves had and decided not to waste his effort. The alpha or Kem or both were probably listening to every word they said. “The First Alpha and the alpha—Craig—were supposed to question him and then the First Alpha up and leaves and the alpha comes in and says something about a complication and ‘the prophesy,’ whatever the hell that is. The alpha then said something about signs and it all sounded ridiculous to me, but Kem seemed really disturbed.”
“The wolf that broke my wrist said something about a prophesy too. Craig’s even mentioned it.”
They sat there for a moment and Devon contemplated what it could all mean, but he couldn’t come up with any answers. Apparently, neither could Ian.
Ian scratched at his arm again. “Brendan didn’t treat you right. I’m sorry I never said that before. You deserved better than that.”
Devon laughed, a short, soft sound. “Yeah.”
“I’ve been worried about you.”
“Yeah, well I’ve been more worried about you. I know how to take a dick and enjoy it. No intimate connection required.” Devon kicked back in the seat and then let the front legs clop hard against the floor. As soon as the impact vibrated through his ass and up his spine, he winced.
“Goddammit.”
Ian winced on his behalf.
“Seems like you’ve got one now.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe, my ass. Craig said he wasn’t leaving Third in here with us while we talked because he didn’t think I would be safe if I started to smell like I wanted you. Of course, I tried to convince him that was stupid because there’s no way in hell I would ever want to have sex with you.”
“Now who’s being the asshole?”
Ian grinned. “He didn’t believe me. He even admitted he was jealous. He’s weird with the feelings, open. I don’t know if I’ll get used to it.”
“But you like it.”
“Yeah, I do. I like not having to guess how he feels.”
Why couldn’t Devon trust Kem’s declaration to him the way Ian seemed to trust Craig? It was killing him worrying about what might happen if things went bad after the end of heat season. He might as well already have his heart broke because he had the same damn tight burn going on behind his chest and in his throat every time he thought about it.
“I’m planning to stay,” Ian said. “After heat season. Not that I know if Craig would willingly let me go if I didn’t want to stay, but I’m not sweating it. I want to stay.”
Devon leaned forward. “Do you really think this is going to last past heat season?” he asked quietly. “Do you think they won’t suddenly decide they can live without us once the scent trigger stops affecting them up here.” Devon poked his finger at his forehead. “I don’t see how they can know.”
“Craig says the true mate bond isn’t some chemical, hormonal thing. That it’s…” He shrugged. “It’s what they think of as love.”
“Just like that? They know they’re in love? They don’t even know us.”
What a hypocrite he was, saying that, knowing he was already in love with Kem and he barely knew him. But his momma had always said it was easy to fall in love; staying in love was the hard part.
“Why don’t you talk about this with Third—”
“Kem.”
“Okay, Kem, then. Talk to him about it. He mated you for God’s sake.”
Devon eased back in his seat again. Ian wouldn’t understand his worry. Ian had never had to worry about whether or not someone loved him back or if they just wanted an easy fuck.
“I needed money,” he said, changing the topic abruptly. “Geoff this time. All that money I had when I met Brendan, she wants it back.”
“Damn.”
Ian knew enough about Gran that Devon didn’t have to go into details.
“I didn’t want to ask Brendan for help this time, and you don’t have any real money, so I’ve been doing stuff to
get together as much of it as I can. That’s what happened. I saw a chance to get my hands on two hundred gold ten-dollars and I took it.”
“What does she have on him?”
“Remember the story about the kid who buried the body in the old battery factory?”
“You’re kidding?”
“It was Geoff. I helped him dig the grave.”
“How’d she find out?”
“Geoff isn’t sure. For all I know, she’s guessing and figured it out by how he reacted when she started poking around. She’s good at that.”
“You always said she was scary smart.”
“Goddamn bitch is crazy. I swear to God no one knows what happened to my grandpa. He just disappeared off the face of the Earth when I was a kid. Momma never would say if he left or what. They never were married though so he could do what he wanted I guess. His kids were grown so the state wasn’t coming after him.”
Ian rubbed his fingers where they stuck out of the brace. “So what are you going to do?”
“Kem says he’s going to help me.”
“You shouldn’t be dealing with her on your own but I don’t know how he’s going to help. Craig says the wolves can’t leave their territory during heat because it would be too dangerous for everyone. It’s a rule they follow.”
Devon rolled his shoulders back against the seat and stretched out his arm. “I can handle the bitch. It’s the money that’s the problem. I lied to her, told her I had it. I need Kem to make up the difference. I never got to collect on the goddamn bet with Brendan’s guys so I’m short, but I was short to begin with. All I need is for him to give me the rest of the money.”
But Ian was already shaking his head. “Craig says I can’t leave right now because he’ll just come after me. I don’t think Third—”
“Kem.”
“Let it go, Devon.”
“Not until you start calling him by his name.”
“That’s not—you know what? Never mind. He won’t let you go. I’m telling you.”
“We’ll see if you’re right. He said he’d help me. I can’t wait too much longer. I was supposed to meet her two days ago with the cards. Shit.” Devon rubbed his hand over his face and then through his hair. “I forgot to ask Kem about the lockbox.”
“The one you keep under the bed?”
“Yeah. Every gold ten-dollar I have.”
“How did you get—”
“Long story. I’ll tell you later. An interesting thing happened. Turns out Gerald’s not such a sleaze after all. Maybe I was being too hard on him.”
Ian’s eyes flickered with surprise. “That’d be worth a beer to hear.”
“If I’m still here after this heat season is over, maybe I’ll tell it. Or maybe you can just look up Gerald. He’s here somewhere.”
Ian’s eyebrows rose. “Here?”
“Oh yeah. Didn’t the alpha tell you how I got here?”
“He said you showed up sick, that’s all.”
Devon patted the table top with the flat of his hand. “Got firsthand experience seeing just how hard it is to kill one of those wolves now,” he said. “It’s goddamn hard.”
“Shit,” Ian said. “Craig didn’t tell me any of this.”
Devon huffed. “Did he tell you he wants to see my dick?”
Ian scoffed and crossed his arms, his brace making the move look awkward and uncomfortable. “Bullshit.”
“Unh uh,” Devon said. “God’s honest truth. He told Kem he was going to have to show him my dick sometime. Kem said it’d be up to me.” Devon tapped the table again. “I might do it too. Apparently they’re fascinated with the idea of the tattoo. Or at least I know Kem’s fascinated by it.”
“You better keep your dick in your pants around Craig or I’ll use some of those moves grampa taught me to break your damn nose. It’s not my fault Third fondled me or that Brendan thought he was in love with me. And you’re better off without him anyway.”
“I know.” Devon stretched his arms back behind his head and stared at Ian. “But I still don’t like it.” He wasn’t talking about Brendan, either, and he was pretty sure Ian understood that.
“I told you it was probably before he even touched you the first time. It’s not like he wanted me. I told you what happened.”
Devon stared at Ian for a moment, taking in the gaze that flickered away from his and the slightly parted lips as if Ian were tempted to add to what he’d said but thought better of it.
Devon ground his teeth together. “Goddammit, Ian. You do think he wanted you.”
“No, I don’t,” Ian said, but the way he held his head and the way his arms seemed to tighten across his chest—all were clear signs that Devon had gotten used to noticing whenever Devon tried confront Ian about the way Brendan felt about him.
A common trait of Ian’s. Deny, deny, deny.
“Well, Kem didn’t want you first, so you can quit worrying over it.” Devon didn’t feel as sure as he sounded but he certainly wanted to believe it.
Ian’s shoulders relaxed a bit. “Good.”
Time to change the subject.
“I’ve seen Brendan,” Devon said. “I can’t remember a lot but I remember being in a room with him and him telling me you turned on him.”
Ian scowled. “I didn’t turn on him, I just didn’t go along with what he wanted.”
“I figured.”
The sharp curve of Ian’s mouth eased. “Is he okay? I haven’t tried to see him since. I doubt Craig would let me anywhere near him anyway.”
“He seemed fine, what I can remember. He was hopping around on a crutch.”
“He made a deal with the wolves. Considering the stuff he’s said over the years, I don’t know why he’d do that.”
“He said they approached him through a contact—an asshole named Jay.”
“Jay? I remember Brendan calling one of his guys by that name. Are you saying this Jay was with the other alpha’s wolves?”
A short knock sounded on the door before Devon could answer.
“Shit,” Ian said. “Time’s almost up.”
Devon leaned in to the table, resting on his elbows. “Stay out of trouble,” he said. “Til we figure out what’s going on with Brendan.”
“I hear you. Try not to run your mouth so much,” Ian said.
Devon grinned. “Not a lot of chance for that. Trouble always finds me.”
“Probably because it can hear you bitching a mile away.”
“Probably.” Devon pushed to his feet, hands flat on the table. “Kem’s in line to be First Alpha. Did you know that? If I stay, I’ll be the mate of the goddamn First Alpha someday. Where’s your alpha fit in the wolves’ hierarchy?”
Ian’s eyes narrowed on Devon. Must not have liked Devon’s smug tone. Devon grinned.
“You asshole,” Ian said. “This isn’t a competition.”
“Who the hell says it isn’t?”
Ian shoved the table toward him, and Devon jerked backward, landing hard on his ass in the chair, just missing a direct jab to the gut. He missed seeing Ian’s foot until it was too late, sweeping under the front leg of Devon’s chair. His chair tipped backward and he grabbed for the table.
He missed that too.
“God—dammit!”
The back of the chair crashed into the floor.
He’d have laughed if he wasn’t trying so hard to catch his breath.
Then the door slammed open and it wasn’t so funny anymore with Ian’s alpha looming in the doorway.
When Devon could breathe, he laughed anyway, even though it hurt like a son of a bitch.
Chapter 27
“It’s too dangerous for us to leave wolf territory during the heat season,” Kem said, trying his best to shut Devon up by overloading his mouth with food.
Devon was sitting at the table, chair turned with its back to the wall and Kem sitting in front of him. After Ian had left, Kem had returned, with breakfast, which had gone quickly because he’d obviously been on
the verge of his next heat cycle, and then they’d spent half the rest of the morning in bed, fucking until Devon had been so worn out he didn’t want to do anything but sleep again. So they’d napped, and then Devon had awoken to another meal already sitting at the table.
Kem had refused to let him take a shower this time and the sniffing had gotten to the point that Devon had said he was hungry just because Kem’s nose at his groin had started heading in a direction he wasn’t that comfortable taking right then.
“Kem. Come on.” Muffled by the huge chunk of hard bread, the words came out nearly unintelligible.
Kem obviously knew what he was saying anyway because he answered with an emphatic, “No.”
Again.
Devon swallowed almost too quickly and then had to grab the water out of Kem’s hand to help the bread get down his throat.
“You said you would help me. You don’t have to go with me. You give me the money, I get this taken care of, once and for all.”
“You said this has happened before, that she threatens those you care about. It will happen again.”
“I’ve got a plan,” Devon said. “It’s a little risky, but—”
“No. I’m taking steps to resolve your problem. You’re going to have to trust me.”
“Whoa,” Devon said. “I damn well already trust you or I wouldn’t have come back here and don’t you forget it. This isn’t about trust. This is about me knowing how to handle Gran and—”
“If you knew how to handle this Gran, you wouldn’t need my help.”
“Now just a goddamn minute—”
“Is this ‘goddamn minute’ any different than a regular minute?” Kem asked.
Devon blinked. By God, Kem was making a joke. It wasn’t the first time Devon had had the feeling Kem was trying out a bit of humor on him, but it was the first time he’d thought Kem might actually have an honest-to-God, fully developed sense of humor hiding in there somewhere.
“You’re just trying to make me forget what the hell I’m saying, aren’t you?”
“Have you forgotten?”
“No, by God, I haven’t.”
“Then, by God, that’s not what I’m trying to do.”
“You’re mocking me now.”