by R. J. Blain
Dante released his hold on the back of my neck and systematically cracked his knuckles. “I may have asked Evelyn for a favor before I left. She may have agreed.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I shift faster than you.”
“Fucking witch!”
“One.”
“Don’t you even, Dante.”
“Two.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Three.”
“Dante!”
“Apologize.”
“He attacked me!”
“Four.”
Richard dropped me. Unprepared to land, I hit the floor hard enough I yelped. I scrambled away from the fighting pair. Dante towered over Richard, and he had his teeth bared in a snarl.
The werewolf growled back. “Come on. Give me a break here. I wasn’t serious.”
Dante pursued Richard across the sitting room to the couch. “I don’t care. He has no way to know that. Apologize.”
“No.”
“Five.”
Richard tensed. “What are you counting to, Dante?”
“Three.”
“Oh shit.”
Dante grinned.
Chapter Twenty
Clothes littered the sitting room floor and, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why Dante and Richard were stripping.
Dante attended to each button of his suit as though he had all of the time in the world. The werewolf tore his shirt in his effort to pull it over his head, snarling curses at the tall man.
I wasn’t sure why Richard was pacing and keeping his distance from Dante, who laughed. The sock Richard flung across the room fell short, which only made Dante laugh harder.
“You could just apologize. Then I won’t have to put so much effort into this. Thirty-six hours without sleep, Richard. I know you’re cranky and you’re tired, too, but you didn’t get grabbed by Amber fresh off her beating the shit out of six SEALs. I put up with that to come out here and chase after your tail.”
Richard hissed like a cat, and I twisted my ears back. Confusion kept me frozen in place when I should have been turning tail and making a run for the safety of the higher peaks.
“You’re really going to make me do this, aren’t you?”
Bolting to the kitchen, Richard put the island between him and Dante and howled, “I’m not making you do anything!”
With delicate care, Dante draped his suit jacket over the back of the couch, smoothing the material. “Really?”
“Damn it, Dante. I said fine.”
“Fine is not an apology.”
Richard spat curses, hissed again, and ducked behind the island. Sighing, Dante turned to me, working his way out of his shirt, which joined his jacket on the couch. “It’s your first time seeing a Fenerec transform, isn’t it? Go on. Have a look. Unlike him, I have dignity, so I will not be leaving my clothes scattered all over your floor.”
I cast a longing stare at the closed front door.
“He’ll be five or ten minutes. I cheat.” With a soft laugh, the man tossed the rest of his couch. “Not as good as you do, though. That was damned impressive. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone shift so fast, not even Richard, who is the only wolf I know crazy enough to risk his life to do it.” Dante pointed to the kitchen. “Go have a look.”
My wolf’s curiosity goaded me into creeping to where the hardwood met the tiles. Hesitating at the island, I glanced over my shoulder at Dante.
“If I thought he was going to be stupid, I wouldn’t suggest you watch. And if he does decide to do something stupid, I’ll come over and kick him until he stops. He’s not going to hurt you if he knows what’s good for him.”
On the other side of the island, Richard growled, and in the deep sound, I heard pain. Alarmed, I jerked in the direction of the other werewolf.
Richard was curled on the floor, his body shaking. Bone and muscle shifted under his skin. Fur replaced flesh in chunks, leaving bare muscle open to the air.
I shuddered. When I transformed, it felt like it took forever to force my body to accept another shape. In reality, it was only a few seconds.
For Richard, the seconds stretched into minutes, and the longer it took, the more it alarmed me and my wolf. Whining, I backed away, tucking my tail and flattening my ears.
“Desmond was right. You really haven’t seen another Fenerec before, have you?” Dante crouched beside me to watch Richard. “Ah, he’s being slow about it today. He’s really worn out. Alas, I’m a man of my word. Nicole’ll forgive me. Probably. Who the hell am I kidding? Once she finishes with Richard, she’s going to beat me black and blue. I better shift, too. I don’t know how you Fenerec deal with this all the time. It hurts like hell.”
The scent of damp forest filled the air, and unlike Richard, who fought his way from man to wolf, Dante flowed like water over the ground. White fur blanketed him without exposing his muscle. He dropped to the floor on all fours, his body shrinking and condensing.
While the seconds ticked away into a minute, it wasn’t long until a small canine regarded me with bright green eyes. No wolf I had ever seen had such a vibrant shade of eyes. Dante’s paws were red, as were his chest, tail, and tips of his ears. Something about his body and coloration reminded me of a fox.
Shaking himself off, Dante stood on his hind paws to bump my muzzle with the top of his head. The difference in our size astounded me. On all fours, he barely came to the bottom of my belly.
While my eyes told me fox, my nose informed me the tiny canine was a wolf.
Richard huffed in front of me. Startled by the noise, I yipped and bolted across the room, hopping up on the couch with my hackles raised and my teeth showing.
Silver fur gleamed with a metallic shine over a body far larger than mine. Like Dante, the werewolf shook himself, making huffing noises. Dante barked once and lunged for Richard.
The wolf masquerading as a fox closed his teeth around Richard’s throat and dangled, his paws at least a foot off the ground. With a long-suffering sigh, Richard stood still.
I lifted my nose and snuffled to breath in scents.
All I could detect was the cinnamon and spice of wolves and the sweet undertones of pleasure. Puzzled, I stared at the two. Dante paddled his hind paws and growled without releasing Richard’s throat.
If Richard wanted to dislodge Dante, all it would take was a full body shake. Yet he stood with infinite patience until the smaller canine dropped back to the floor.
Warbling so loud I flinched at the sound, Richard dipped into a play bow, lifted a paw, and batted Dante across the room. Rolling to a halt, the tiny canine surged to his feet, tossed his head up, and howled.
The two howled and warbled at each other before tearing around the cabin. I winced at the crash from the other room. With my ability to cope with the absurd crumbling, I curled on the couch, grabbed hold of Dante’s jacket and shirt with my teeth, and hid under them.
“What is going on in here?” Desmond bellowed.
There was an art to peeking out from beneath a pile of another man’s clothing without revealing myself, and I pulled it off with as much dignity as pink, glowing wolf could.
The two insane canines running around my cabin helped to distract from my presence.
Desmond stood in the doorway with his daughter hovering behind him. Behind them, Amber and the other werewolf male, Sanders, waited.
A thud down the hallway made me wince. Judging from the volume of the noise, Richard had come to an unexpected halt with the help of a wall and a fox far less than a quarter his size.
Twin warbling howls answered Desmond.
“It seems you were correct in your assessment, Amber. As such, you—”
Anthony laughed. “Were you aware there is an overgrown wolf being attacked by a… is that a fox? I think it’s a fox. Foxes are a lot smaller than I thought they would be. Huh.”
“Do I need to shoot them?” Lane asked.
SEALs. At least I could trust them to
come up with direct solutions to obstacles.
“I already told them, Dad. They didn’t believe me.”
“You told them.”
“I told them I would disembowel them if they did something stupid like tell anyone. When they told me I was lying and Fenerec didn’t exist, I may have zapped them both, transformed, and sat on them. They took it really well. You were sleeping in the hotel. I didn’t think I needed to bother you about it, and they’ve been doing a great job pretending they don’t know anything.”
“You assaulted a pair of Normals?”
“I didn’t want them panicking if Declan shifted during the full moon.”
“I told her he doesn’t. She didn’t believe me. I mean, I knew he was weird, but I figured he was superstitious. If he’s in New York, he’s always underfoot once a month. I only noticed it was around the full moon because he’s always been a bit superstitious. But, he was usually cooking so I didn’t really think anything of it. I don’t mind. I get fed and it makes him happy.” Anthony chuckled. “Where is Declan anyway? And which one is Richard? Where’s Dante?”
Nicole shoved her way past her father and pointed at the large silver wolf. “That’s Richard. The fox is Snowflake. Sorry, Dante. The fox is Dante. Sorry!”
Richard and Dante sighed.
“What about Declan?”
“I’m going to guess he’s the lump under Dante’s clothes,” Nicole replied.
Laughing, Amber eased her way past Desmond and into the cabin. “To be fair, I’d hide, too. Richard and Dante playing are enough to fray anyone’s nerves. It’s damned embarrassing watching a seventeen-pound fox beat the shit out of a three-hundred-and-fifty-pound wolf.”
“He doesn’t want to hurt Snowflake.”
Amber glared at Nicole. “Woman, that is a man who survived a high-caliber round to the chest at point-blank range. Richard could probably toss him off a cliff without giving him more than a couple of scrapes and bruises. I swear, he’s tougher than a Fenerec. Just admit it. When it comes to Dante, your mate’s a pussy cat.”
“Excuse me?”
“Pussy cat.”
Warbling a complaint, Richard grabbed Dante by his tail and carried the fox over to Nicole, sat on his haunches, and waited. Dante howled complaints back at Richard, paddling his hind paws at the wolf’s jaw.
“You win this time, Amber. Just this once.” Securing a grip on Dante’s scruff, Nicole glared at the large silver wolf and hissed, “Let him go.”
Richard growled.
“I will zap you.”
“She really will,” Desmond muttered. “You should know that by now.”
“Richard, let him go.”
Heaving a sigh, Richard obeyed, turned tail, and headed towards me. He grunted, leaped over the coffee table, and landed on the couch. Two circles later, and he shoved his nose under me and shoved me to the far cushion before taking over the rest of the space.
I yipped and scrambled to stay hidden under Dante’s jacket.
“Dad?”
“Yes, Nicolina?”
“He’s pink.”
“I do believe I saw that.”
“And glowing.”
“Yes, I do believe I saw that, too.”
“Mine!” the woman roared, dropping Dante so she could lunge at her father, reaching for his throat. Lifting my head in alarm, I watched the pair tussle, but before I could move, Richard reached out and pinned me in place with his front paws and his chest. He propped his muzzle on the top of my head.
I froze, my attention focusing on the werewolf using me as a pillow.
“You all disgust me.” Sanders pushed his way into the room, shook his head, and approached the couch, grabbing hold of Dante’s clothing. “Richard, remove your paws from your witch’s clothes. You know how he gets about your fur on his suits.”
Richard huffed, shifting his paws enough Sanders could free Dante’s jacket and shirt. The entire process, the wolf kept me pinned beneath him.
After tossing the clothes on the floor, Sanders crouched in front of me. “Hello, Declan.”
I twisted my ears back and stared at the wall.
“Dad. Dad.” I wasn’t sure how Desmond pulled it off, but he had tossed his daughter over his shoulder, and she drummed her hands on his back. “I need him. I need him. He’s pink. He’s pink and he glows. He’s perfect.”
I was either dead or hallucinating. There was nothing perfect about being pink or having glowing fur. Why couldn’t anyone mention the frosted golden parts of my fur? I liked those parts.
How could anyone like my pink fur?
Bowing his head, Sanders sighed. “Amber?”
“Yes?”
“Could you ask Julie to come over, please?”
“Sure.” Amber leaned out of the door and shouted, “Julie! Sanders wants you.”
Amber’s call brought all seven of the werewolf females to the cabin with Elliot trailing in their wake. They filed into the room, their attention focusing on Nicole and Desmond.
Setting his daughter on her feet, Desmond held her by the shoulders to keep her in place. “I found him first.”
“Dad, come on.”
“You wanted me?” The hard edge in Julie’s voice captured my attention, and I faced her.
“Want him?”
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Him? Him who?”
Sanders pointed at me. “Declan. Cliff diving chef wolf. The one who made the cookies and brownies you bitches were snarling over.”
“Is this a trick question?”
“Yes.”
Desmond barked a laugh, relaxing and pulling his daughter against him. “What on Earth are you doing, Sanders?”
“I’d ask the same of you, Desmond. You’re playing with fire. Your firecracker daughter is going to get tired of your affection and floor you if you’re not careful.”
“I won’t if he gives me Declan.”
“You have a mate,” Julie snarled, whirling to face Nicole.
“This is why I’m holding my puppy,” Desmond said, wrapping his arms around Nicole’s waist to keep her from reaching Julie. “She’s an Alpha female, Julie. She doesn’t want to mate with him, she wants him for her pack. I think she’s hoping Richard will claim him. Why she’s not doing it herself, I’m not sure.”
Nicole struggled in Desmond’s arms. “Because you’re an asshole, Dad. Let me go, and I will.”
“And that’s why I’m not letting you go. Bad girl.”
Julie’s eyes widened, and her lips parted. “He’s not claimed?”
“I hate Alphas,” Elliot snarled, turning to the wall to bang his head into the wood.
Desmond laughed. “You’re mated to one, Elliot. Give it up. You know you love us.”
“All you do is cause me problems. I hate you all.”
I considered making an escape, but before I could do more than shift my weight, Richard growled, and Sanders grabbed hold of the scruff of my neck. “You’re not going anywhere. I’ve heard you’re a slick wolf when you decide to make your getaway.”
“So, decide for us. Who gets him? We can’t let him run loose. He’s pink. He’s pink, and he glows. My daughter will turn the world upside down if he isn’t safely in a pack, preferably hers. It’s for the world, Elliot. You don’t want the entire world to suffer through my daughter hunting for a new pack mate, do you?”
Elliot slumped against the wall. Dante sat on his brother’s feet and yipped. “What do you want from me, Desmond?”
“The pink, glowing wolf and his two Normals. I’ll take Julie, too. Her Alpha keeps annoying me, and he didn’t work hard enough to find her. He doesn’t deserve her.”
“Dad! I want him. Why do you always have to get in the way? That’s not fair.”
“Wait, what?” Lane blurted.
Anthony fidgeted, eyeing the door like he was seriously considering making a run for it. “I think we’re being auctioned off to werewolves, Lane.”
“Fenerec, not werewolves. Calling a Fenerec a w
erewolf is a good way to have your face eaten. Good thing for you, I’m not the wrong werewolf.” Desmond snickered pausing to drop a kiss on his daughter’s brow. “Okay, I’m lying. I am the wrong Fenerec to push on that issue. It’s fine this time, boys. Don’t worry yourselves. You’ll be under pack protection once we figure out which pack gets Declan. I really hope it’s me. Go into the kitchen and see what Declan made for lunch while we sort this out.”
Lane grabbed hold of Anthony’s elbow and pulled him to the kitchen. Sliding around the island, the pair stopped and watched, whispering to each other.
“Why are you doing this, Desmond?” Elliot crouched, picked his brother up, and buried his nose in the white fur. “Go change and give your mate her wolf back, Dante.”
Dante licked Elliot’s chin before squirming free and leaping to the floor, trotting to the couch to grab his clothes up in his teeth before disappearing down the hallway.
“I’m not getting involved in this,” Sanders announced, turning to perch on the arm of the couch without releasing my scruff. “Richard, get your heavy ass off the poor guy before you break his back. We don’t know how old he is. Go sit with your devil dad and wait for Elliot to make a decision.”
Baring his fangs, Richard growled and snapped at Sanders. Sanders stared until the silver wolf huffed, got up, and stretched out at Nicole’s feet. The woman made a happy noise.
“I’m not letting you go, devil daughter. You’ll try to claim Declan. I want him.”
“But Daddy, I want him.”
“I found him first.”
“Actually, I did,” Dante said, stepping down the hall wearing only his pants. His voice was husky with pain. “How do you damned wolves deal with that? It hurts like hell.”
“You don’t get a say in this, witch,” Desmond hissed.
“You want a pack, and the person who can authorize you forming a pack is my twin. Watch it, fluffy.”
Desmond scowled. “I hate when you do that.”
“And that’s exactly why I do it. That’s for trying to bust into my rings.”
“I love your witch, Richard. He’s such a breath of fresh air. Daddy snarls at him and he doesn’t care at all.”
“Welcome to the family,” Sanders muttered, shaking his head. Sliding down the arm, the werewolf worked his way under my shoulder and front paws. I tensed, but when I couldn’t scent anything from Sanders beyond amusement and resignation, I relaxed. “There. That’s not so bad, right? Despite appearances, Desmond’s really good with puppies, even stubborn ones like Richard. He’ll take good care of you.”