Forever

  She tripped once getting up the stairs.

  4

  Devin drummed his fingers on the side of his kitchen table. Lena hadn’t shown up. Every night for the last two weeks, she had come to him late at night for the most heated sex he’d ever experienced. But tonight she wasn’t there. He scratched his head. In fact, he hadn’t seen her all day, which really bothered him.

  Where had the little Wolf gone?

  Had he done something to her? Well, yes he had. He stood up and walked up to his room. Technically, Devin had done a lot of things to her. He slammed his bedroom door behind him.

  In fact, they’d done so much outstanding sexual play over the last few weeks he’d come to crave her body more than he’d ever thought possible.

  He closed his eyes as the image of her sucking his cock filled his mind. Her hot, tight mouth had slid over his penis so perfectly he’d practically come on her first stroke.

  Gods, she’d taken all of him down her throat, all at once. He reached out and pulled his dick out of his pants. He could almost smell her in his imagination.

  Cherries. When had they become such a sexy aroma?

  His cock hardened in his hand as he stroked it, pretending it was her hand doing the rubbing. He could see her grip in his mind, wishing he’d spent more time watching her stroke him so he could recall the image with more certainty. Still, just picturing her face was enough. Her violet eyes regarding him with such passion, such trust, such…love. He spurted into his hand as his eyes flung open at the thought.

  Gods. Did she love him? He grabbed a tissue to clean himself up as he contemplated the problem. Maybe it was better she hadn’t come over. Maybe she protected herself in doing so.

  He’d never promised her anything other than sex, and she hadn’t brought up mating since their conversation at her house. Did she still feel that way, or had she gotten over it?

  “Devin.” His mother’s call up the stairs put an end to his musings. As soon as he could figure out what he could do since he could no longer fight in an endless war, he would move out of their house. At forty years old he shouldn’t be running to his room to jack off to avoid getting caught by his parents. Plus, they really deserved their own space.

  “Yeah.” He answered her as he zipped up his pants. “I’ll come down.”

  His leg worked a little better on the steps. There was less strain and pull when he moved, which meant he managed the small trip in half the time it had been taking him.

  Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, he smiled. His mother had just gotten back from a run in the woods. He could smell the forest on her. Devin sniffed the air. Yes, he actually could smell it. He still didn’t feel his Wolf inside of him, but like his leg, scents were becoming more vivid had to be a good sign.

  His mother’s hair had turned gray, and unlike a lot of females, she had no apparent interest in dying it back to its original brown. He liked the natural look about her. She still appeared beautiful to him, her silver hair shining in the moonlight coming in through the kitchen window.

  “Where’s Dad?” He stepped forward.

  “Still running. He needed more time tonight.” She smiled.

  “Gotcha.” His parents used their Wolves as he would have used his own if he could have: to forget. The moments when Werewolves ran on all four legs were primal. Nothing existed outside of simply living.

  Where was his Wolf, and why wouldn’t it come back to him?

  “You look so much better.”

  He touched his hair. Prompted by a desire to look more like he used to, he’d shaved his head. “Less shaggy, I know.”

  His mother stepped forward. “I don’t mean the hair. I hated it long, but it’s just hair.” She touched both of his cheeks. “I meant you look better all around. There’s a glow to you, a life back in your eyes that’s been missing. What put it back?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but if you think I seem better, I’ll say thank you and be glad you feel the way you do.”

  His mother’s words made him uncomfortable, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Only one thing had changed for him and she wasn’t a thing at all. It was Lena Knox. He certainly couldn’t tell his old-fashioned mother her third son had taken up fucking the girl next door who happened to be eighteen years younger.

  His mother sighed and dropped his hands. “I saw Vera Knox today down at the post office. She said you’ve really made a difference over there fixing all of their stuff. That’s tremendously generous of you.”

  Devin sat down at the kitchen table. “I saw they needed some help.”

  “You’re putting it mildly.” His mother sat next to him. “Would you believe they are back again?”

  “Who is?” Sometimes Devin wondered if Females spoke the same language he did. Was he supposed to know what she talked about?

  “The daughter, Elizabeth, and that son-in-law Fergus.” His mother shook her head again.

  Lena never spoke about her family. He knew her father was in Decline. He’d take on his Wolf form soon and leave. She’d be responsible for her mother, and the one time she’d said anything about it, she’d said they’d have to leave the house. None of what she explained had made much sense to Devin. Lena’s father, if he recalled correctly, had been a doctor. Shouldn’t he have left his family in pretty good financial shape? Maybe he didn’t understand everything there was to know about money. He’d gone off into the wars when he was young and now he had five years of back pay plus everything he hadn’t spent from before he’d been held prisoner. “Is there something wrong with Elizabeth and Fergus?” He didn’t know Elizabeth, which meant she must have been one of the young ones like Lena.

  “They’re complete drug addicts.” His mother took his hand. “Fergus came back from the wars a changed Wolf. Before they knew what happened, he’d taken Elizabeth down the road with him. The Knox family tried everything. I think— although Vera would never say—they robbed them blind and then took off.”

  Devin tapped his fingers on the table so hard they burned. Somewhere in the middle of his mother’s story, his gut had started to do the same. “And they’re back now?”

  “I smelled them this morning before Vera mentioned they were here.”

  At least the sister showing up explained why Lena hadn’t come over. “Are they dangerous?”

  Why by all the gods sustaining them would Vera Knox let them back in the house if they’d robbed her already?

  “They still stink of the drugs. I don’t know if they’re dangerous. I know at the time Vera wouldn’t even report them to the authorities. Not that the police do anything anymore. They’re made up of bruised and battered Wolves. No one left to really do any policing…”

  Her mother’s voice trailed off as he stood up. Maybe it was the way the chair flew backward from the force of his shove, which halted her speech.

  “Devin, are you okay?”

  He breathed hard. Unlike him, his mother’s nose worked fine, which meant she would know quite well he was not fine. “I’m good.”

  “Would you like to try to shift, dear? Maybe a good run in the woods would do you some good.”

  “I wish I could.” But he still had no damn Wolf to call.

  “It’s nice you’ve taken such an interest in the Knox family.” She stood up. “But this really isn’t our problem. You know all about Wolf pride. Your father would hate it if someone came over here and tried to interfere in our business.”

  “Mr. Knox is in Decline.”

  His mother gasped. “How do you know?”

  “Lena.”

  He scratched his face, wishing he could call on his claws. Yes, his Wolf would be really nice right now.

  “You and Lena have been talking?”

  “I’ve got to go.”

  In two seconds, he was out the door and crossing the small distance to the Knox house. She hadn’t come to him when her sister and thieving brother-in-law returned to her house? He wanted to growl. Nothing deserv
ed a growl more than that fact. Of course there was the little nagging voice inside of him, reminding him he didn’t have any hold on Lena. They were nothing, fuck buddies at best.

  Sure they laughed together all the time, a real feat for him, and he’d told her all kinds of things he never shared with anyone else. But he wasn’t her mate, not even her boyfriend. Why should she think she could come to him and he’d help her with her problem?

  Maybe she didn’t think it was a problem. Maybe he should mind his own damn business.

  He pounded on the door and was relieved to see it didn’t collapse upon his assault. It had held up, which meant his work on it remained sound.

  The door opened slowly. Vera Knox stared out at him with tired eyes.

  “Tonight isn’t a good night for you to fix anything, Devin.”

  “Hello, Mrs. Knox.” He smiled although he wanted to holler at her. “I’m here to see Lena.”

  “Well.” Vera Knox appeared behind her. “It’s not a good night for a visit either.”

  He could easily get in the house by force if he had to. Of course, he’d really rather not have to pound through his neighbor’s door.

  “Why not?” He gritted his teeth as he spoke.

  “She’s involved in something right now.”

  “Mrs. Knox.” He lowered his voice. “I need to see for myself Lena is okay, right now. If you don’t let me in, I am going to break the door I spent all of that time fixing. I realize this might be construed as rude, but that is what I’m going to do if you don’t let me see Lena, right now.”

  Devin hadn’t felt particularly crazy for the last couple of weeks. He’d decided it was because he was regularly getting sex. But then he crossed some line, which might qualify him as truly nuts. In his wildest dreams, he couldn’t have imagined picking up an old woman and shaking her, but he was afraid he might actually do so if she didn’t move.

  She opened the door, which spared him having to do anything he might regret later. “This is family business, Devin.”

  He shook his head. “I have a vested interest in a member of your family.”

  When had his caring become true? He wasn’t sure, and he couldn’t deal with it. He just had to be sure she stayed fine and then he could leave.

  Devin stalked into the house, his leg not bothering him.

  He sniffed the air and a twinge of satisfaction passed through him when he picked up her scent. The smell didn’t hit him as strongly as it should have. Leg better, nose still damaged.

  As he took the stairs two at a time, he wondered how he’d explain barging into the house. He reached the top and followed the cherry aroma until he found his way to what he guessed was her bedroom.

  Devin raised his hand, ready to knock, when he heard her voice.

  “I won’t let you take it.” A growl answered her declaration. “I don’t care how angry the two of you are. I’ve worked like a lunatic for this, and I won’t let you have it.”

  This time the growl which followed didn’t leave any question about the Wolf’s intention. Devin could hear the threat contained in it. He pushed open the door, grateful when it bounced against the wall with a loud thud.

  Two Wolves snarled at Lena, who clutched a box in her hands so tightly her knuckles whitened from the strain.

  “I take it this is your sister and your brother-in-law.” Time was he would have been able to sniff the air and know which one was the female and which one was the male. That ability still eluded him at the moment, which was fine. Anyone who threatened Lena got a beat down.

  “Devin, please don’t involve yourself in this. It’s a family matter.”

  Her words stung him a little bit, but he pushed it aside. He’d given her no reason to think she could trust him with this delicate a situation.

  “I’m here, Lena. I’m not leaving until they’re no longer threatening you.”

  Both Wolves turned on him, snarling. Their mouths open, saliva pooled out of their tongues onto the ground. Yep, they were doped up, no question.

  One of them growled at him and lunged forward in a threatening manner before crouching low. So the bastards wanted to fight. He took a steadying breath, not taking his eyes off the lead Wolf.

  “You want to threaten me, fine. But you stay away from her.” He pointed at Lena. Devin couldn’t shift, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t protect her. He’d fought Dragons in his human form. A drugged up Wolf wouldn’t be much of a problem. The Wolf lunged and Devin scurried out of the way. Lena’s brother-in-law—Devin assumed it was he and not the sister—smacked into the wall headfirst. The Wolf whimpered just as the second Wolf attacked.

  Lena’s sister managed to bite at Devin’s arm before he flung her off. She landed next to her husband, whimpering right next to him.

  “Not so tough, are you, when no one is afraid of you?”

  Adrenaline surged through his blood. Yes, he could kill right now if he needed to. He might even enjoy it.

  “Want to go again?”

  The two Wolves shifted back into their human forms. They sat, side by side, on the floor. If they had been mildly frightening Wolves, they were downright pathetic humans.

  Lena’s sister appeared a little bit like Lena. She had the same blond hair, although her sister’s seemed more like a rat’s nest, disheveled and knotted. Bloodshot eyes sunk into her gaunt face. How the hell had she managed to shift at all—she had wasted away to next to nothing?

  Her mate—well, there was no accounting for taste. He’d lost about three quarters of his brown hair. His face looked bloated and his bulbous nose gleamed red in the dimly lit room.

  “Who do you think you are, interfering in something that is none of your business?” Elizabeth Knox might resemble her sister a little bit, but external was where the similarity ended. Venom filled her voice.

  “I’m Lena’s friend. You’re attacking her. Lena getting hurt makes this my problem.”

  “You’re her friend?” Elizabeth’s words ran together when she spoke. “That’s rich. I can smell her all over you and you all over her. Is friendship what they’re calling it these days, baby sister?”

  Devin wished he could shift so he could teach Elizabeth some manners. He stepped forward, and Lena rushed to put herself between them. Her eyes were huge, pleading.

  “Please, Devin, she’s not well. Neither of them is in their right minds. They’re addicted to drugs. Fergus is a war hero; we need to cut him a break.”

  The rage Lena’s words threatened to unleash in Devin became a living, palpable thing.

  “Let me see if I understand you correctly.” Hands shaking, he took a step back, not trusting himself not to roar at her. “He’s a war hero, so his success in battle gives him the right to come into your home and threaten you after having, apparently, robbed your family blind several times in the past.”

  “Hey, asshole.” Like his mate, Fergus couldn’t string two words together correctly without slurring them. “What the fuck have you ever done?”

  Devin moved forward, placing Lena behind him as he surged toward Fergus. In two seconds, he had him off the floor and pinned up against the wall. “What have I ever done? Nothing. Not one thing of note.”

  “That’s not true. Fergus, Devin is a war hero, too. You have the war in common.”

  He wished Lena would stop talking. Devin couldn’t help himself. He needed to handle this like he needed to breathe.

  “If you were there, you should get it. I need to be able to afford to feel again.”

  Devin roughly turned him so he faced Elizabeth. “Look what you’ve done to your mate. Did you fight all those years to do this?” In his arms, Fergus shook. Good. The man had some sense of the Wolf left in him. “Did you fight to keep her safe from the Dragon-beasts to do this to her?”

  “You don’t understand. If I don’t use, I’m still there.”

  Devin understood better than he could say. “I’m always there. I never left, and I never will.”

  Behind him, Lena gasped. Had
his words shocked her? Good. She could feel relieved they weren’t mated. Then she’d be worse off than her sister because while pathetic Fergus could use to get rid of his memories, Devin knew he’d never stoop so low. He’d just be damaged—a half Wolf—for the rest of his life.

  Devin let Fergus down. The man fell to his knees before slumping onto the floor. His sobs echoed throughout the room.

  Seconds passed before Elizabeth started to scream. She jumped to her feet startling everyone, including her mate who ceased his racket to look up at her. Faster than he would have thought possible for such a strung-out Wolf, she was on Lena, grabbing the box out of her hand.

  “I’m not sorry.” Her sister called over her shoulder before she ran from the room. Fergus rose to his feet and chased after his mate, suddenly losing his sense of shame. Screw that. Devin rushed after them only to be stopped by Lena who stepped in front of him again.

  The female had to learn to stop doing that. She might get hurt. “Let them go.”

  Her eyes were red-rimmed, but no tears escaped her violet depths. “What?”

  “I said let them go. This is a private, family matter, none of your business. You’re not my mate; you’ve told me enough. I finally believe you, because no mate of mine would ever want to humiliate my sister.”

  She had to be kidding. “I was trying to protect you. What was in your box, Lena?”

  “Five weeks of income.”

  “What?” He shouted, unable to prevent the outburst. “Why would you have so much money in your house?”

  She shoved at him, which surprised him enough he took two steps back. Fury was visible in her stance. “In case you’ve had your head up your ass too far to notice, the banks are all closing down. Where else am I supposed to keep it? I suppose I could shift into my Wolf form and bury it in the backyard. Would you prefer I dug holes in the ground?”

  “No, Lena…”