Flesh and Blood

  ***

  I sat between Oliver and Lorelai, trying to figure out what the look my brother kept throwing me meant. It certainly wasn’t a supportive expression; it didn’t say, “hey, little brother. You’re okay.”

  If anything, it said, “hey, asshole. You’re a total moron.”

  I chose to ignore it and focus on my nieces and nephews. Jeremy had nearly finished all his food, despite the fact that Sarah was usually telling him to slow down and eat like a person instead of a starved pup. I didn’t blame him, honestly; Julian’s a good cook but when you’re a kid there are more fun things to do than sit around a table and watch your unhappy uncle try to ignore your father’s shit-eating grins.

  “So tell me about Gwen, how she’s taking all this,” Sarah said, giving Julian a look that said, “Stop being a jerk.” I glanced over at her, frowned.

  “Why?”

  “Because she said so,” Julian answered, his tone making it a threat. I glanced over at him, considered wolfing out and picking a fight right on the dining room table. I wouldn’t normally consider myself short-tempered but it had been two weeks of his attitude and my fuse was frayed and flammable.

  I’ve got him when it comes to muscle but he can be pretty damned agile, I reasoned after a tense moment. Instead of disrupting dinner, I ate a forkful, though it was more out of spite than hunger.

  “She’s just a—you know, a work neighbor, that’s it. I don’t know how she’s doing.” I shrugged, looked away from Julian to my sister-in-law. Sarah is petite, blond, and a force to be reckoned with. She’s kicked my ass a time or six, but she was naked when it had happened so I can’t say it was an altogether unpleasant experience.

  Glancing around at the pups as if searching for a change in subject, I noticed Christian in particular had sprouted some pretty big feet since the last time I’d been by. He has my brother’s coloring, like the other kids. Though if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll look like me instead of Julian.

  “What was she doing there in the first place? If she’s just a work neighbor,“ Sarah looked to Julian with a look that said she didn’t believe her own words, “then why was she there to get involved with the succubus in the first place?” Without even needing to look over, Sarah reached out to flick Lorelai’s finger out of her nose. Lorelai let out a little growl but hadn’t quite mastered the sound in human form yet. Adorable.

  “Oh. I’d called her a few times over the week and she…” I thought about it for a second, realized exactly how it had gone down. “Son of a bitch, I think she was bait.”

  “Master bait? For you?” Julian asked, thinking he was being clever. I ignored him.

  “I think Chloe and the guy who knocked me out must’ve put her up to it. They were after…” I paused, still feeling it hard to say her name, despite the fact that it’d been two weeks since her death. “They were after the succubus. Gwen called, offered me sex and then, once I got to her place, asked me to bring her to—to the house. I wasn’t thinking straight or I probably would’ve figured it was a trap.”

  “She offered you sex?” Julian asked; I couldn’t tell if he was angling for another burn or genuinely curious. I squinted his way, popped another bite of salad into my mouth, tried to decide.

  “I’d already called her, begged her to sleep with me. I was desperate,” I added, thinking on the sinking feelings that had been pulling me under. “Chloe and her partner must’ve figured out I wasn’t myself, made Gwen call and bullshit me into taking them to the house.”

  “So, she’s not just a friend,” Sarah stated. I frowned over at her. I really didn’t know what she was expecting me to say.

  “What?”

  “You mention her a lot, I’m just curious what she’s like.”

  “I’ve told you about her.”

  “You’ve told us she’s stubborn and complained that she’s mean to you,” Sarah said, her tone reminding me of when I’d watched her negotiate peace between the pups.

  “Well, I—she—I haven’t slept with her,” I stammered, unsure what she thought she was proving.

  “She sounds like my kind of girl then,” Julian said. I rolled my eyes.

  “What the hell does that mean?” I asked.

  “Clearly she’s smart enough to refuse your sloppy advances and brave enough to take on a succubus.”

  “My advances are not sloppy,” I growled, stabbing a fork into my rabbit. I stuffed the bite into my mouth, glanced around as I noticed the kids had all mostly finished their meals. Sarah shifted her posture, her chin lifted, her shoulders going back. It was just enough of a display of power to get the attention of all the kids. Spines straightened, eager eyes stared her way, small bodies tensed. They knew she was about to either give an order or set them free. Without even looking at them, she gave a small nod; they bolted. She reminded me of my mother sometimes, and I wondered if Julian realized he’d married a woman so similar to the one who’d raised him.

  Then again, most female werewolves have an alpha streak a mile wide, so maybe I was just missing my parents in my time of weakness.

  “I’ll bet, if I wasn’t happily married, I could get her to sleep with me,” Julian said once the kids had cleared the room. I rolled my eyes.

  “Doubtful. She’s plenty into me but she’s an empath, so it’s a no go.”

  “Ah,” Sarah said, her tone mild.

  Julian glanced between us, clearly confused. I smirked over at him, considered keeping him in the dark. When it was obvious I wasn’t going to answer, he looked to his wife at the end of the long table.

  “Our emotions are a bit much for them to handle,” Sarah explained. Julian gave a small nod, made a face like she’d reminded him of something obvious.

  “Ah. Well, that doesn’t get you off the hook, baby brother.”

  “Meaning?” I asked, knowing exactly what he was hinting at and not liking it one bit. Julian smirked, set his fork down.

  “Meaning, if you had even an ounce of charm, you’d be able to persuade her anyway.”

  I felt my chest rumble with a growl, saw Julian tense in preparation. I was across the table and on him before Sarah could even sigh.

  “Take it outside, you big oafs.”

  Julian kicked up, tossed me over his head. He had his clothes off and his wolf on in the time it took me to catch my breath from the impact. I heard nails scrabbling on the wood floor and it made me realize how off my game I still was. Sarah just jerked her chin toward the door.

  “If you don’t at least catch up to him, he won’t ever let you live it down,” she said. Baring my teeth in another failed smile, I nodded, yanking my shirt off.