Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

“ W hat the hell are you talking about?” Rory’s brother Liam did not sound amused.

“I’ve mated with one of the wolves.” There wasn’t any easy way to put this. Maybe he wasn’t a wolf. Nobody was saying he was a wolf. Well, okay, Fen was saying that he was a wolf.

But he wasn’t saying that. He was just saying that he was staying, which everybody down at the trading post knew. He’d built himself his own home. And he had settled in and…mated.

“You do know that’s impossible?” Liam asked. “You’re human.”

“Don’t start. Are you going to help me bring the stuff to the pack or not?” Rory wasn’t gonna argue about this. Not with his brothers, not with the alphas, not with anybody. Fen and he were together.

Rory needed to get Fen his tools. Hell, Fen needed a coat, clothes, shoes. Things. His mate needed things. A hairbrush of his own. His own pillow. Books. Wood to carve interesting things out of.

Timothy had come to the house and had supper, and he and Fen had hit it off immediately. The huge, rough woodworker with the ready smile had immediately taken to his mate. It was a joyous thing to see.

“Of course I’m going to help. Just because you’ve lost your mind doesn’t mean that I’m going to slack on my job.” His brother clapped him on the shoulder. “Look, if you want to go native, go native. I don’t mind. You’re happy up there. You make it easy, and it helps with communication. I can’t wait to meet him.”

Liam’s words went a long way to relaxing the tension inside of him. “Thank you, I needed someone to understand.”

“Oh, I didn’t say I understood. I absolutely do not get what you’re talking about. And I do not care to know about anything intimate between you and anyone. Human, dragon, wolfen, male, female—I don’t care. You are my little brother, and I don’t want to know. Fair?”

“Yeah.” He could go with that. He didn’t wanna know anything about Liam’s…whatever either. “Sweet.”

“So tell me what you need, bro.” Liam sat with him, and they started making lists.

“So, you need all this by Yule?”

Rory nodded. “I need the basic foodstuffs ASAP, and then the baking materials at least a week before. And the bedding, clothes, and personal items I need with the food. Fen came with nothing, not even a pack. He was in wolf form and on the run.”

“That sucks, Rory. It really does.”

Rory nodded, his shoulders creeping up around his ears when he thought about Fen’s life before he’d been shot. “And then the banished pack shot him.”

Liam’s lips pressed into a hard line. “You sure it was them and not a hunter or something?”

“I’m pretty sure. He says he was up by the tree line. Where the dragons used to—” Rory sighed. “It’s so weird, huh?”

“That they’re gone?” Liam nodded. “Yeah. I mean, the pack is great, but I miss those guys. It’s a weird hole in time, you know?”

“I do.” He grinned, though. “I just hope, wherever they are, that they can fly.”

“Yes. I believe that they can. I have to.” Liam shook his head and sighed. “I used to feel special, like you know…like they wanted us. They needed us. Not any other humans, just us. Now I feel lost. It sort of sucks.”

Rory nodded, a little shocked that his brother would be so honest with him, but he got it. Before, they’d been these very important people who negotiated things between werewolves and dragons. Rory didn’t feel like he wasn’t important, but he did feel like they’d lost something huge with the dragons going away. “Niall says that everything’s going to be fine. That the dragons are great.”

“I never see him. Loyal, yes, but not Niall.”

“He comes to the pack.” Rory didn’t mention the fact that Niall was capable of appearing to the pack without actually showing up. Or that Niall was in touch with the fae or that he was in touch with the dragons, for that matter. Because that seemed like something that his brother didn’t need to know. The seer was sacred to them, and all of them, and most specifically Loyal, was going to protect him with all their power.

“I’m thinking about going up to the dragons’ compound,” Liam said. “I want to see what’s up there. I’m going to see what I can find. I’m curious.”

Rory tilted his head. “Aren’t you worried?”

“Nope, if there’s somebody living up there, I want to know. If the other wolf pack is living up there, I need to know who they are. This is our land too, and I want to know who’s on it and whether or not they’re good or not.”

Rory stared at his brother, more than a little concerned. “You know you can’t find a wolf pack, right? Not even a small one.”

What did Liam hope to see up there? Was he going to try to discover a way through to the dragons? Was that safe? Possible? Smart?

“We don’t fight; we negotiate.” There was something just a little hard in Liam’s eyes, a little cold. Not mean, just chilly.

“You shouldn’t go alone.”

“Do you wanna come with me?” The question didn’t surprise him at all, but…okay.

Did he? Did he really want to go up there and see the dragon home empty? Or worse as if it had just gone, like they’d never even been here, like it had all been some weird dream. Did he want to go up and explore? Did he want to fight with other wolves?

He knew he smelled like pack now. And they would know. And even if he wasn’t a werewolf, they would be able to smell Fen on him.

“I—”

“You don’t have to. I understand. It’s a lot to ask. I just want to see if things have changed from the last time we were up there. After all, it’s more our land than anyone’s. We’ve spent the most time up there. We’ve outfitted the place, not the wolves. Only the alphas and Gareth have ever even been up there.” Liam blew out a hard breath. “They don’t have a claim to the land.”

“Neither do we. Do we?”

Why did Liam even care? Why did they have to talk about it? Couldn’t they just ignore it? Couldn’t it just stay a shrine to a magic that had left the earth and wasn’t coming back?

“I just don’t know, Rory.” Liam sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Well, if you’re determined to go, I’ll go with you.” He would. And maybe Fen would, too. He was alpha-y, right? He’d gotten shot, but that was because he hadn’t expected anyone to be up there.

“Thanks, brother,” Liam said, grinning finally, and it went all the way to his eyes, thawing out their expression.

“You know I won’t leave you hanging.” Not that any of the others would. In fact, if Liam mentioned it, he would bet his brother Dean would come up too. At least that way, he’d get to introduce some of his family to Fen.

He scratched his chest, the tightness there and the itchy skin starting to make it harder to breathe.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Liam stared at him. “Did you get into poison ivy or something?”

“No.” He found himself growling, rumbling deep in his chest. “It just itches.”

“Don’t growl at me. I was just asking.” Liam was simply staring at him like he’d grown a new head.

He blinked at his brother, more than a little confused. “It’s like it’s wrong, like something terrible is happening.”

“Why don’t you come in and lie down?” Liam suggested. “Have a sleep just for you know, ten or twenty minutes. No big deal. Then, you can get on the road. I’d feel more comfortable with you driving after that.”

Liam smelled funny, as if he needed a bath or something. Rory panted softly, his mouth so dry, his tongue sticking to the roof.

“Maybe, maybe that’s a good idea,” he admitted, and Liam nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, man, you wouldn’t want to crash on the way up there. That would be a pain in the ass.” Liam walked him back into the house, offering him one of the guest rooms. “Just lay your head down for two shakes. Uh, I’m sure everything’s gonna be great.”

The bed was warm, and it smelled fine, so he curled up in the blankets, growling a little bit. This would work. He was safe here. It wasn’t home, but it was close. He was so exhausted. He would have a wee rest, then he needed his mate.

After a nap, just a little nap.

He heard the door lock as it closed, but he didn’t even have the energy to look up.