by Rider, Liv
Martial dominants could be fiercely protective, but if they weren’t balanced by a pack, they could be dangerously aggressive. And since Dev hadn’t accepted BlackEdge as his pack, Sabas’s dominance would antagonize Dev rather than reassure him. But Aidan’s status wouldn’t irritate a martial in the same way. Plus, Aidan had experience dealing with martials—his twin was one, after all.
“All right then; I’ll put my feelers out and meet you at yours tomorrow for a proper debrief. Let me know if you need backup—I’ll trust your judgement on this one.” There was an indistinct sound of inquiry in the background. “Yeah, yeah, hang on, I’ll be there in a sec. No, do not send Ray out; do you want the pack to have to pay for broken windows?” Sabas said in an aside before returning, full-volume. “Sorry, Aidan, got to go. I need to clone myself. See you tomorrow.”
Aidan stared at the phone for a few blank seconds after hanging up. His Alpha trusted him to get through to Dev, to stop him from becoming an out-of-control rogue werewolf at full moon. Which didn’t include seducing him, although a sly voice pointed out that it didn’t technically exclude it.
Chapter 11
They went back to the house via the grocery store for human food, since Aidan hadn’t exactly stocked up for houseguests. The whole time they were in public, he felt itchy. What if he lost control of his shape unexpectedly? So far that hadn’t happened so long as he stayed close to Dev, but Aidan couldn’t trust that not to change. He hadn’t expected to lose control of his shape at ten years old either. What if Dev’s magic aura or whatever stopped working? If only he could figure out how Dev was doing it. Then he wouldn’t have to worry that Dev was only here because he was keeping Aidan human.
Despite his worrying, they got back to the house without him mooning anyone. Dev went to dump his stuff in the spare room while Aidan unpacked groceries and got out Marshmallow’s food. The invisible leash between them that kept Aidan human stretched nearly—but not completely—over the whole house, as they’d discovered before. Dev remembered the limits, right?
He shivered and opened the kitchen cupboard where Oscar kept the cat food.
“Here, kitty kitty!” He shook the food. A small ball of fur torpedoed into the kitchen, caught sight of Aidan, and came to a screeching halt. Marshmallow’s hackles went up. “It’s just me,” he told her. “You know me.” He extended his fingers towards her. She gave them a suspicious sniff, huffed, and went and sat meaningfully by the food bowl. Did that mean she recognized him or that she just wanted food? He shrugged and poured out some dry food. Marshmallow didn’t move. “I’m not giving you canned food again today. Oscar will kill me if I overfeed you.”
“Mrow,” Marshmallow said, eyes huge and sad.
“Don’t give me the puppy-dog eyes. Trust me, I’ve seen plenty.” The wolf cubs certainly knew how to ramp up the guilt levels.
“Talking to yourself?” Dev strolled into the kitchen, and everything in Aidan went simultaneously loose and tense.
“Mrow.” Marshmallow turned her big pleading eyes in Dev’s direction. He chuckled, and the sound went straight to Aidan’s groin.
He swallowed. Rub your scent all over him, his inner wolf suggested. That way everyone will know he’s yours. He’d taken half a step towards Dev to do just that before realizing that definitely wasn’t acceptable human behavior. Was it worth pretending he’d lost control of his form just to have an excuse to snuggle up to him again? But did he want Dev to see him as inept yet again?
A fluttery restlessness rose in his stomach at the memory of the kiss from the car. He was so far out of his depth he couldn’t even see the surface. His long-ago shifter sex education classes were only a vaguely remembered, completely unhelpful collection of cold facts. He made a private vow to do some intense Googling as soon as possible.
“Security has sent me footage of the building. No shots of our mystery guy that they could find,” Dev said, starting to unpack the grocery bags on the bench.
“If you forward it to me, I know someone who might be able to get more from it. A guy called Zeke.” Zeke was an incubus who dealt in information, a technically neutral party between the different supernatural factions, but he’d done sub-consulting for Mahon’s security firm before. If there were any clues to be found, Zeke would spot them.
“Sure.” Dev cursed as Marshmallow twined hopefully around his legs, mewing in demand.
Aidan scooped up the angry furball and pulled himself onto a stool. Marshmallow began to grumble, a low, unhappy grinding sound, glaring at Dev. “If you’re not going to eat your kibble, then you can sit on my lap till Dev’s out of the kitchen,” Aidan told her. He needed something to distract him from Dev’s closeness, his scent, and the deepening stubble on his jawline.
“Your cat doesn’t seem to like me much.”
“Don’t worry—she hates everyone. But she’s not mine. Marshmallow belongs to Oscar, my brother’s—Mahon’s—mate. They’re out of town for the week.” Or longer, if they were unlucky. How were Oscar and Mahon getting on in DC? Aidan felt guilty that he hadn’t thought about them for nearly the entire day.
“Mahon’s your older brother?” Dev asked.
“He likes to pretend he is, but technically I’m older. By six whole minutes. I’m also the better-looking twin, in case you were asking.” He picked at the shirt he was wearing—Mahon’s shirt—with a sigh. “Though turns out he’s the tall one. I had to roll up his jeans.”
“We should get you some shoes and clothes that actually fit.”
Aidan liked that word we, if not the reminder of how much he needed Dev to stay. Because there was no point buying stuff for his human self if he didn’t have one. He made a noncommittal noise.
Dev rolled up his shirt sleeves, exposing muscular forearms, and started putting groceries into the fridge. He’d changed into jeans and lost the tie from earlier, the top two buttons of his shirt undone. Something about the combo…Aidan swallowed, unable to take his eyes of the square of exposed brown skin at the base of Dev’s throat, the hint of dark hair.
“You like steak sandwiches, right?”
“Ngh,” Aidan said hoarsely. He licked dry lips. “I mean, yeah. Sounds great.”
Dev cocked his head. “You all good?”
“Yup. I’m grand. Completely grand. Grand as can be.”
Dev grinned. “That’s very grand.”
“So, how does a wolf end up in a family of dryads?” Aidan asked, desperately changing the subject.
Dev frowned at the W-word and began pulling out chopping boards and a frying pan. “After my biological father…well, after the divorce went through, Mom and I moved out of the city. Next to an apple orchard. Guy who owned the apple orchard was—is—James Morimoto, my stepdad. Mom and I took his name when they married. A few years later I’ve got a baby half-dryad sister and a bushel of dryad in-laws. I still go out there to visit them whenever I get the chance.”
Aidan laughed. “Seriously? You grew up in the country?” Dev looked every inch the city slicker.
Dev grinned. “Well, it wasn’t exactly my natural habitat, but, yeah, I did.” His expression softened. “You should see my sister Yuka climb a tree. I call her Squirrel.”
“You never thought about taking up apple farming?” Aidan tried to imagine it and couldn’t. Though he could get behind the idea of Dev chopping wood or some other farmly activity, taking off his shirt on a hot day…he hauled his thoughts away, petting Marshmallow more fiercely.
Dev shook his head. “Nah, I’ll settle for keeping houseplants. That’s where my farming abilities begin and end.” He turned away and began busying himself with cooking. Soon the kitchen filled with tantalizing scents. Aidan could barely stop himself from drooling, and it wasn’t all the food. He gave himself a shake and Marshmallow meowed in protest, beginning to wriggle. Eventually he had to let her down or risk getting clawed to bits. He dumped her outside the kitchen, hurrying to shut the door before she could shoot past him and trip up Dev again.
Can we try the making out thing again? He desperately wanted to ask, but he’d never felt less suave, watching Dev move so confidently around the kitchen. It was yet another reminder of all the things Dev knew that he didn’t.
“What about you?” Dev asked. “You grew up in Ireland, right?”
“Yeah.” Aidan considered how to tell the story. “Like I said before, I grew up with my father’s pack after my mother’s court kicked me out.” He shrugged. “There’s not much more to tell. Mahon lasted longer at court, but he got kicked out too, around the same time my father got sick of me. So, we joined forces, went out on our own for a bit. Eventually came to America, joined BlackEdge.”
Dev canted his head. “You ever think about joining a fae court rather than a wolf pack?”
“You know I was stuck in wolf form, right? What fae court would take that? Plus Mahon looks more wolf than fae, and he doesn’t have much magic.”
“And what about now?”
“Now I’m sworn to BlackEdge.” And even if I wasn’t, I’ll be stuck back in wolf form again when you leave.
As if Dev could hear him, he reached across the table and took Aidan’s hand. “I’m not going to leave till we figure this out.”
“Well, I do still have a lot of wolf lessons left to teach you.”
Dev rolled his eyes. “How are you with knives?”
Aidan blinked at him. “That’s…a much kinkier question than I was expecting.”
“Come here,” Dev ordered, setting out the chopping board and knife. “You’re on slicing tomatoes. Like this.” He demonstrated, showing Aidan how to protect his fingers.
It was weirdly satisfying, the combination of skill and dexterity, and Aidan had cut up half a dozen tomatoes before he realized they probably didn’t need that many.
Dev shrugged. “We can use them tomorrow for salad or something.”
They sat at the breakfast bar to eat, and Aidan struggled not to moan aloud as he took his first bite. “Oh my god. This is so much better than coffee.” And so much better than meals as a wolf. “Human tastebuds are amazing.”
He looked up to find Dev watching him with scorching intensity. A jolt of excitement went through him. Would it be worth it to suggest they try the kissing again and maybe a lot more than kissing this time?
Yes, he decided in a rush of heat. He didn’t want to regret not making the most of being human when he went back to being trapped as a wolf again.
He just needed to find the right words. Sexy words. Except his brain was completely blank and he couldn’t think of any words at all. Time for Plan B. He leaned towards Dev….
…and promptly fell off his stool with a crash.
“Fuck!” Aidan tried to extricate himself and just ended up compounding the problem, managing to take out the stool next to him as well.
Dev stood up, pulling stools off Aidan and setting them out of the way. “You all right?”
“Yeah. Bloody legs.” Aidan glared at the offending limbs. “I keep forgetting where my center of balance is.” He tried for a careless grin. “Well, it’s only Day One. I get a free pass on coordination for at least another week, right?”
Dev sucked in a breath. “Yeah. Day One. Right. Um, I need to get some work done.” He left.
Aidan stared after him in frustration. His game needed so much work.
Chapter 12
Later that night, Aidan lay on his bed, excruciatingly aware of Dev’s presence in the house even though he was still downstairs in the living room. Dev had buried himself in work after Aidan’s failed kissing attempt earlier, uttering monosyllables when spoken to, which Aidan was pretty sure meant he wasn’t interested in trying anything else. It didn’t stop his inner wolf’s ears pricking hopefully at every creak of floorboards. It’s just the house settling, he told himself. Not Dev coming to snuggle.
He rearranged his limbs for the fiftieth time, trying to resist the urge to turn in a small circle. Sleeping with your snout resting next to your tail worked as a wolf; it didn’t work as a man. How had he slept as a kid? The sheet twisted as he tried to bend his spine into something approximating its usual curve. It didn’t work.
He got up and opened his window, hoping fresh air might help, and lay down again. The wind brushed softly through the trees outside, rustling his curtains. An owl hooted. Dev had to go to bed at some point, right? What if Aidan just happened to stumble into him when he came upstairs?
With a groan, Aidan levered himself off the bed. He needed help and there was only one person he could ask for it.
He went to Mahon’s office, found his brother’s tablet, and scrolled through the contacts. He’d never used it to call anyone before. Hands made everything so easy. Would he ever get used to the freedom? He thought briefly about calling his twin, but Mahon didn’t need a distraction right now. More importantly, there was no bloody way he was going to ask his brother about certain…things.
“Hello? This better be good, Mahon. I was…busy.” The male voice on the other end didn’t sound like it had just woken up. It sounded low and sultry, and Aidan didn’t have to guess what ‘busy’ meant, not when he could hear a background murmur from someone—wait, no, at least two someones, both a man and a woman from the sound of it—one of them suggesting Zeke put down the phone so they could do something anatomically unlikely. Of course Zeke wouldn’t sleep alone. Incubi needed sex the same way vampires needed blood.
“Can’t have been a very good orgy if you’re picking up your phone in the middle of it,” Aidan pointed out. “Also it’s Aidan, not Mahon. Surprise, I’m a human again!”
There was a long silence, followed by rustling sounds, voices raised in complaint, and Zeke issuing a sharp command not to follow him. The background sounds shut off suddenly, as if Zeke had gone into a different room.
“Aidan? For real?” There was so much delight in his tone that Aidan felt suddenly guilty that he hadn’t called Zeke earlier. He was the closest thing Aidan had to a best friend.
“Yeah.” Aidan had originally met Zeke through Mahon’s security business, since Mahon sometimes needed additional digital security expertise, and Zeke was a scary-good hacker. Between their similar senses of humor and Zeke’s casual and non-pitying acceptance of Aidan’s shifting issue, they’d become quick friends. Zeke could relax with Aidan in a way he couldn’t with anyone else, since incubi powers didn’t work on his animal form.
“How? When? Hang on, I need to see this. Can you video call me?”
There was a brief pause while Aidan figured out which button to hit and then Zeke’s face stared out at him from the screen. The incubus’s eyes shone a bright metallic gold, if Aidan had needed any more confirmation of what he’d been doing. Zeke’s eyes only turned gold when he used his powers—or when he fed. He wore a bathrobe—thank Oberon—and he sat propped up by pillows against a headboard. They were surprisingly ordinary pillows, which was slightly disappointing. Aidan had always imagined Zeke’s apartment would be some sort of gothic brothel.
“Holy shit.” Zeke scrutinized Aidan’s face, turning the tablet as if he was trying to see him from different angles. The gold in his eyes began to fade. “You are Aidan. It’s like Mahon: the fae edition.”
“The hotter edition, I think you meant.” Aidan pursed his lips and posed. “Worth kicking everyone out of your bed for, right? Unless you’re hiding your orgy under the pillows. Please tell me they’re not all still in there with you.”
Zeke gave a wicked grin, the last fleck of gold disappearing. “No, they’re still in my bed, entertaining each other,” he purred.
“Not to burst your bubble, but I can see enough of your bedroom to make me doubt that.”
Vulnerability flickered in Zeke’s expression for a moment. “Oh. This isn’t my bedroom. This is just…where I sleep.” He hurried on so fast Aidan wondered if he’d imagined the vulnerability. “Though for the record I wouldn’t kick either of you two out of bed for eating a jelly donut.” He gave an exaggerated leer. “I can’t believe y
ou’re human! What happened, man?”
Aidan told him.
Zeke shook his head when Aidan got to the part about someone maybe deliberately turning Dev into a werewolf. “I haven’t heard anything, but I can put some feelers out, if you want. Send me the security footage.” He paused. “Would Alpha blood trigger a latent?”
Aidan frowned. “I don’t know. It wouldn’t make a new werewolf. That has to be a bite, in person. But a latent? Maybe. Why? Where would you even get Alpha blood from anyway?”
Zeke shook his head. “I don’t know. It was just a thought. I heard a rumor about black market Alpha blood…but nothing substantive. I’ll see if I can chase the rumor back to its source.”
“Are you taking heat from the fae for your association with BlackEdge?”
Zeke shrugged. “I take heat from everybody for not taking sides, but it hasn’t stopped anyone hiring me.” Despite his sub-contracting for Mahon, Zeke was always adamantly neutral in the local fae/wolf/vampire politics. Or at least he had been—Aidan knew he’d gotten his hands dirty in the Lord Piron incident, though he hadn’t advertised the fact.
“You know Sabas would probably let you join the pack if you wanted. And we protect our own.”
BlackEdge had made exceptions before, though usually they were for other types of shifters or shifters’ human mates. Shifters generally preferred to be in packs of their own kind, but that wasn’t always an option if they were a rare type, or a type not common to the area. Werewolves never had that problem, since they were by far the largest shifter group. A few weeks ago, Aidan wouldn’t have thought a pack would include non-shifter supernaturals, but that was before Sabas had accepted his brother’s fae mate as pack.
To Aidan’s surprise, Zeke didn’t immediately dismiss the idea. He hummed thoughtfully, and his gaze grew distant. That wasn’t a good sign. Zeke valued his independence, and if he was seriously considering seeking pack protection, then he was coming under more pressure from other supernaturals than he’d let on.
