Howl for Me

by Dana Marie Bell

  Fen pulled Jeff into their condo and slammed the door behind them. “All you have left? What of me?”

  Jeff sighed and ran his hands through that fiery hair. “Grimm took everything from you. I know that. But he took almost everything from me too.” Fen watched, his heart breaking, as his mate began to pace through the living room. “He took my grandmother. When she was on the happy juice she was the sweetest person you’d ever want to meet. God, I adored that woman. I used to help her plant flowers, for fuck’s sake. Now that she’s off it, she wants nothing to do with us because we chose to allow Logan into our lives. She’s turned into this cold-as-ice bitch queen who takes no prisoners and would rather hand out grenades than cookies.” Jeff’s arms were waving through the air as he yelled at Fen. “He took my sister and tried to turn her into a piñata.” Fen blinked and made a note to ask his father what that might be. He had the feeling it was nothing good. “He took away my faith that the world has certain rules it follows and turned them fucking upside down. And he took my belief that he loved me and made me realize we’re nothing but tools in his stupid power games.” Jeff squared off against him. “The only things I have now are those people in there, Uncle Val, Magnus and Morgan. I even lost my father because he follows Grimm like a fucking puppy dog. Jordan lost both our dad and hers. Grimm’s hurt all of us.”

  He collapsed onto one of the chairs that faced the huge television. “I watched Travis sitting there, staring at my sister. She was bruised, broken. Covered in bandages and IV drips with monitors beeping constantly to let us know she was still alive because she couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. She had burns and scars all over her from what Grimm did. Fuck, Fen. He crucified my sister.” Jeff looked up at him, and only then did Fen realize the depth of rage in his mate. “Travis is the one who fetched Gungnir and gave it to Kir, making him the leader of the Aesir and Vanir instead of Grimm. He’s been working alongside us to bring Grimm down now that he’s no longer under the influence of the apples. And because he did that, because he let it be known he loves my sister, Grimm took her and tortured her again. Only that time we all knew he planned on killing her. Travis fought him hand to hand both times, and both times Grimm got away.”

  His mate was truly upset, on the verge of tears and shaking with fury. Fen decided that, for now, he would soothe his mate the only way he could. With trust. “How? When Tyr wields the blade for justice none can stand against him.” Fen approached his mate cautiously, uncertain of his welcome. He was infinitely relieved when Jeff did not object to him taking a seat at his feet. He rested his head against Jeff’s knee, taking in his mate’s scent.

  “I don’t know. They told me that Uncle Val got behind Grimm and slit his throat, stabbed him in the back, severed his spinal cord and cut his femoral artery, any of which should have been fatal.”

  Fen stilled. Vali was the Avenger, the one who had killed Hodr for the murder of Baldur and would kill Fen after Fen killed Grimm. He was born for the sole purpose of avenging Baldur’s death, or so they’d all been taught.

  Grimm somehow survived the Avenger’s wrath? “How is that possible?”

  “We don’t know.” Jeff’s fingers tangled in his hair. If he’d been a cat he would have purred. “It might be because Baldur hasn’t really died.”

  “This is confusing to me. Everything I’ve ever believed has been tossed into the air to fall where it may.” He closed his eyes, weary beyond belief. He hated it when Jeff was angry with him.

  “Welcome to my world.” They sat there quietly, each lost in his own thoughts, but the simmering rage had dimmed within his mate, tamed for now by the quiet. Fen felt at peace, the hand in his hair lulling him almost to sleep.

  Jeff tugged at one of his curls, waking him from his light doze. “Want to go back for pancakes, sleepyhead?”

  He stared up at his mate and saw the peace offering for what it was. “I would like that very much.”

  Jeff smiled, and nothing had ever looked so beautiful.

  “So. How was your trip to Helheim?” Jeff grinned at Logan, hoping the man would get it. God, you still needed a bazooka to cut through the tension in the room.

  Fen was very careful to keep on Travis’s right side at all times. He might pretend that he believed Jeff, but every time Jeff got too close to Travis the wolf’s eyes would track him, ready to spring to his defense at a second’s notice.

  It would have been cute if it didn’t make Jeff feel like a wimp.

  “Eh. You know. Dark, depressing. Very emo.” Logan shrugged. “The espresso was good, though.”

  Kir laughed. Jeff had never met anyone who found joy in everything the way Kir did. Damn them for noticing Jordan first. Jeff would have loved to be the meat in their sandwich.

  He didn’t realize Fen had started growling until Logan sat up, all the humor gone from his face. “Fen?”

  Jeff rolled his eyes. “Down, boy.”

  “I told you, I am not a dog.”

  Jeff frowned at him. “Then what are you growling about now?”

  “What’s going on?” Jordan’s sharp eyes were watching them, seeing far more than Jeff was comfortable with.

  “My mate wishes to have sex with your mates.”

  The entire table went quiet.

  Jeff stood. He knew he’d gone beet red, but whether it was from embarrassment or anger he wasn’t sure. “Well. That was humiliating. Someone fill Fido here in on a little thing called discretion, hmm? I’m outtie.” He shook off the hands that grabbed for him, too angry to sit and listen to another word. “For the record, yeah. Logan and Kir are hot. But I’d never hurt my sister like that, even if they waved their cocks at me covered in chocolate sauce. Asshole.” He slammed the door shut behind him with a bang and almost headed back for the condo.

  Shit. He didn’t want to go there. Fen would head there within seconds. Jeff sprinted for the elevator, hoping it would arrive before Fen did. He had to get out of there for a little bit, get to somewhere where his head wasn’t quite so fucked up. Too much had happened way too fast and he was rapidly going into overload.

  He needed to go home.

  Jeff made it into the elevator just as Logan’s door shot open. He glared into Fen’s startled face and gave him the finger as the elevator doors shut.

  Jeff leaned back against the wall and sighed. He couldn’t be gone too long. He knew how dangerous it was to be on his own. He wasn’t a god, or even a demi-god. He was just Jeff, a human with a brain that seemed to have turned to mush and a libido that was sniffing after a man who didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. There was only one person besides Jamie he felt he could talk to about any of this, and that was exactly where he planned on heading.

  Jeff darted to his car, knowing the odds were good one of his relatives was after him. Whether it was one of the good ones or bad ones he wasn’t sure, but his radar was rarely off. Someone was on his ass, and it wasn’t Fen.

  He made it to the car and hopped in.

  “Hey, Jeff.”

  For the first time in his life he screamed like a little girl.

  Jamie giggled in the seat next to him. “Man, I love these new powers.”

  “Fuck you.” Jeff peeled out of the spot and almost ran Travis over. “The Samantha Stevens act is gonna get old after a while.”

  Jamie wriggled her nose at him and he almost laughed. Almost. “Did you honestly think you’d get to go out by yourself?”

  “Being three and all, I’m surprised you let me take out my Big Wheel.”

  “Fuck you too, ya big asshole.” Jamie punched him in the arm, and it wasn’t a little love tap, either. “Who’s gonna do the deed?”

  Pictures of Fen topping him danced through his head. Not something he would ever discuss with his baby sister. “What deed?”

  “Gutter, meet mind. Mind, gutter.”

  Jeff was about to pop open her door and shove her out into Center City traffic. After all, she’d heal, thanks to the blood she’d shared with Logan. He contented himself w
ith a low growl, knowing his mom would cap him one if he hurt Jamie. “Could you answer the question, please?”

  She turned on the radio and began bopping her head to the music. “Who do you want to share blood with?” He almost missed the turn-off for Broad Street. “Think carefully. You share with Logan, you could get fire magic, like Jordan, or healing, like me. Or shapeshifting. You share with Kir, you’ll be immortal. You share with Tyr, you might get light magic, or whatever the hell else he can do that I’m still trying to pry out of him.”

  “Use more sex.”

  She stared out the car window. “Wow! Look at your brain roll down the street! Wonder what’ll happen when it lands at City Hall.”

  “Please. You know how many brains are in the gutter over there?” He almost smiled when she giggled. “Why did they pick you to bodyguard me? All out of Hel-hounds?”

  “Har-de-har-har. Dickhead. Just for that I’m deleting all your saved Vincente pictures.”

  “Hey! No need to be mean.” Jeff grinned, already beginning to feel better.

  “You could share with Fen.”

  He shot her a look. “Sure I could. I could also introduce his furry ass to an Epilady.” She sputtered, choking on a laugh. “Seriously. I was watching Animal Planet and they showed this really ugly dog. It only had hair on its head and its tail. I bet Fen could rock that look. It would be like the doggie version of a reverse Mohawk.” He allowed an evil grin to cross his face. “You should have seen the look on his face when he saw it. Horr-i-fied.”

  She laughed so hard she started crying.

  He pulled up outside the brownstone his parents owned. For all Grimm and Sons made shit-tons of money, his parents had never lived rich. His mom hadn’t wanted to move out of her neighborhood to the ’burbs, and his father had agreed to accommodate her because he adored the ground the woman walked on.

  He wondered now how much of that was because he knew she’d die long before he did.

  Jeff found a parking spot and slid in neat as a pin. Together, the twins headed for the most important woman in their lives.

  Jeanne Grimm, aka Mom.

  Fen was still staring at the front door of his father’s condo an hour later, waiting for his mate to come back. He’d been a fool, and his father had let him know it in no uncertain terms. The glowing terms Loki—no, he was Logan now, and Fenrisùlfr was proud to call himself Fenris Saeter. The glowing terms Logan had painted Jeff in would have made things worse if he hadn’t sensed the underlying affection was more filial than anything.

  Then Baldur, or Kir as he now preferred to be called, had taken over, telling him about how Jeff had stood by them, human though he was. He was the weakest among them, but he stood at their sides, insisting he be included in the fight for their lives and the lives of their children. Kir let it be known he had every intention of sharing blood with Jeff as soon as the man returned.

  When he was done Jordan had just shaken her head at him. “You know, he wouldn’t be this pissed if he didn’t care what you think about him.”

  She’d walked away, not knowing that with those words she’d been the one to fire the fatal shot. Or perhaps she had. She was a smart one, his father’s wife.

  Now he sat alone on the big white sofa, his only company the one person he thought he’d never want to be alone with again, and waited for forgiveness that might not come.

  “He likes you.”

  Fen turned toward Tyr—no, Travis—and did his best to keep his expression neutral. “How do you know?”

  “I’ve known him since he was sixteen years old. He and his sister have always been a handful.” Travis shook his head, lost in memories. “I once thought that Jeff followed where Jamie led.”

  “And now?”

  Travis smiled, his eyes misting over. “He’s pure alpha.” Travis leaned forward, his hand dangling between his knees. “He followed because he wanted to protect her and he knew only a force of nature could stop her.”

  “Because she’s alpha too.”

  Travis nodded. “Do yourself a favor. Don’t cut him out of the loop. Don’t order him around. If you want him as badly as I know you do, make him want you. But most of all, never, and I mean never, get between Jeffrey Grimm and his siblings or he’ll root out your balls with a dull spoon and feed them to an alligator.”

  The intensity of Travis’s stare almost unnerved him, but Fen had stared Odin himself down and laughed in his face. “They are his family.”

  Travis nodded. “Yeah. We are. And now we’re yours, too, if you’ll let us be.”

  Fen laughed, the sound bitter. “I thought you were once before too.” He closed his eyes, still trying to reconcile the man he’d hated for centuries with the urbane, twenty-first-century Travis who ate pancakes and loved the crazy redheaded twin of his mate. “I’ll try.”

  It was the best he could do at the moment.

  “Thank you.” When Fen opened his eyes he was startled to see tears in Travis’s. “I know you don’t believe me, but I loved you like a son. It’s why I volunteered to save you, even though I knew you’d probably try to kill me the moment you were free.”

  Fen couldn’t look at him anymore. He had thought about killing Travis more than once since he’d been freed. Only Jeff’s presence, his trust in Travis and his twin, had stayed Fen’s hand.

  “Like I told your fathers, justice has been a long time coming for you and your siblings, but I’m going to do my best to fix that. If you’ll let me.”

  He stared at Travis’s stump and suddenly realized why Grimm had been able to defeat Travis. If his sword hand had still been there Grimm would at least have been damaged. “I’d say we’re almost even.”

  “Almost?”

  The cautious hope in Travis’s voice was something Fen had to respond to if he was ever to heal the breech the way his mate wished. He sat up and stared into Travis’s eyes. “Save my siblings and any bad blood between us will be erased.”

  “Done.”

  The ring of magic in the god’s voice sealed the deal, as the God of Justice glowed so brightly Fen could no longer see him.

  “Damn it. Logan threw out my mistletoe again. Shit.”

  Fen blinked and turned to find Kir, hands on his hips, his bottom lip between his teeth. “Trav? Think you can hook me up?”

  “Planning on committing seppuku?” Travis darted a look at Fen, the look full of cautious affection. “Um. That means ritual suicide.”

  Fen smiled. “Thank you.” Fen tilted his head and, for his mate’s sake, decided to take the first step in forgiving Travis. “Could you tell me something?”

  “What?”

  “What’s an alligator?”

  Kir laughed. For a split second Fen had forgotten his other father was there. “I plan on…hmm.” His eyes narrowed in speculation just before a happy smile crossed his face. “You know, I bet Fen would be fascinated by the Internet, don’t you? Great place to learn about America and history and alligators and stuff like that.” Kir waved his hand absently. “Why don’t you show him how to work the computer?”

  Jordan sauntered into the room and winked at Travis. “Just don’t show him Vincente.”

  This was beginning to annoy him. Who was Vincente, and what did the man have to do with Fenris’s mate.

  “This is such a nice surprise!” Jeanne Grimm tugged Jeff and Jamie into her home, her expression filled with that pure sunshine she constantly seemed to emit. She was what Jordan would look like in her fifties if Jordan had the same kind of sunny personality. The only thing Jordan had inherited from her father, Adam Grey, was her dark eyes. Jeanne’s were the same hazel as Jeff’s.

  If Jeff didn’t know better he’d swear his mother was a goddess too.

  “Your father told me you two had gone on vacation and that Travis sent you to Europe. When did you get back?” She dragged them into the kitchen and pointed at the small table. “Sit.”

  Jeff sat next to his sister and the pair exchanged a look. Their mother didn’t know Jami
e had been in the hospital? “Uh, not long ago.”

  “How was the trip? And why the hell didn’t you call me? What, they don’t have phones in the Caribbean?” Jeanne pulled three glasses out of the cabinet and opened the fridge.

  Oh no. No way was he lying to his mother. That would get him sent straight to hell. But he could deflect her attention. “Jamie got engaged.”

  Their mother gasped and before they knew it Jamie was enveloped in a patented Jeanne bear hug. “Oh, my baby. Travis proposed?”

  “Can’t. Breathe.”

  Jeanne pushed Jamie back. “Ring.” She wiggled her fingers. Jamie held out her hand and showed her mother the two-carat heart-shaped solitaire on her finger. The smile Jeanne wore wasn’t marred at all by the tears that sprang into her eyes. “Oh, sweetie. He gave you his heart.” She enveloped Jamie once more. “Does your father know? And why didn’t Travis come with you today?”

  They exchanged a look and Jamie shrugged. “He’s working.”

  Jeanne tsk’d. “Well. You tell him to come over here to help with the wedding plans or I’ll send your father to fetch him.”

  Jeff tried to keep the horror of that thought from his face. “Yes’m.”

  Jeanne frowned at Jamie. “This calls for a celebration!” Jamie was plunked once more into her seat. “It’s a little early for champagne.” Jeanne opened the fridge, pulling something out. “I’m all out of OJ, damn it. Anyone want apple juice?”

  Both of her children bolted from the table and knocked the open bottle clean out of her hands.

  Grimm couldn’t believe his eyes. What was she doing there? There was no way, no way fate would be that cruel.

  Then again, considering who he was staring at, the point was obviously moot.

  “You think she’s there to consult with them about the prophecy?” Rina’s gaze roamed the park, ever vigilant. She’d taken it upon herself to be his bodyguard, and he’d never had one better. She was a true warrior queen, and Grimm couldn’t be happier with her.