Page 24

Aiden

“A nd how do you feel about your brother’s death?” Helene asked me.

I stared at her. The glasses and mussy bun were in place, and no wings were in sight, but once I had seen her in a different form, it was like I couldn’t unsee it.

I shrugged, trying to focus. “I mean, I feel sad, but it kind of doesn’t feel real? And I’m ok with that. I’m ok with remembering the kind but detached brother, and not the one who was planning to kill me in a warehouse. I’m ok with not really thinking about him at all, honestly. Maybe that seems harsh, but I’ve survived a lot in life, and weirdly, him drugging me in a warehouse isn’t the worst of it.”

Helene nodded. “I’m glad this trauma didn’t set you back on your journey of healing, Aiden. I’m also very glad you won’t need to worry about your family anymore.”

I tilted my head at her, reaching to pet Fluffy, who’d come with me. It occurred to me that the head tilt probably looked like Atlas, and I almost chuckled. She seemed to understand the gesture, though.

“Yes, you really won’t have to worry about them anymore,” she reassured me.

“But what about my grandfather? All the guys are talking about him. He’s a definite loose end,” I said.

“He’s not your loose end, though. He has no interest in you, and he isn’t your responsibility,” she assured me.

“Is he your responsibility?” I asked, curious about her.

She took off her glasses and looked at me. “I feel like our time together is almost done, Aiden. You’ve grown so much and come so far.”

I nodded, but there was a lump in my throat. “Are you leaving?” I asked, sad at the thought.

She looked off into the distance, as if she was thinking. Hell, maybe she was seeing the future. I didn’t know.

“What are you?” I asked, unable to help myself.

She looked over and smiled. “Fury,” she answered.

I was confused for a moment before I remembered my ninth grade mythology lessons. “Like the furies? Weren’t they all about vengeance and punishing those who broke oaths or hurt family members and loved ones?”

“Aiden, what better way to achieve retribution against someone who harms you than to go on to heal and live a full, rich life? That is the best vengeance against the monsters in the world—to not let them win,” she said.

Huh. I had never thought of it like that. Maybe she was right. Every day I wasn’t afraid, and I got out of bed, and I loved Atlas, I wasn’t letting my kidnapper win. I was defeating him, even in death.

“But no, I’m not leaving just yet. My work here isn’t done. This is such an interesting town, after all. We’ll see each other again, Aiden,” she assured me.

I breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. Our time was up, and I was expected for a “gathering” at Toby’s house. Oh boy.

As Helene walked me to her office door, I could almost swear I saw the woman from my dream, wings and writhing hair, and she said, “Don’t worry, though, Aiden. Helping people heal isn’t the only way I achieve vengeance.”

Well, that was a scary as fuck thought. I just smiled, though, and left the office, taking a deep breath when we got outside. Corbin had driven us, and he was sitting in the car with a crow perched on his shoulder.

It was a quiet ride back, and we were pulling up to Toby’s before long.

We got out of the car, but Corbin stayed in the driver’s seat and stared at the house for a moment, almost like he was in a trance.

“Coming inside?” I asked.

He shook his head and looked at me. “Not yet,” he said. “It isn’t time.”

With that cryptic statement, he pulled out of the driveway and drove off.

“Ok then. That was weird,” I said.

Fluffy just shrugged, which was a bit weird in dog form.

When we got inside I may have clutched onto Atlas a bit, mumbling, “I like how you get to be a dog so you don’t have to talk to anyone.”

I looked down, and he panted up at me. The smartass. I smiled, because it was still easier to be here with him by my side, whether or not he talked.

“Holy shit, that’s a huge fucking dog!” Sebbie exclaimed, coming over. He held a hand out, but of course Fluffy turned up his nose, like the very thought of greeting someone like that was offensive. I chuckled.

“Come have a drink!” Sebbie gushed, leading the way in.

Jude, Dexter, Liam, and Q were all sitting at the table, and they were staring at Toby, Josh, Cass, Kushiel, and, surprisingly, Ser. Apparently she knew Cass and Kushiel, because they were chatting away. Toby and Josh were chatting, too, and Wilder was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

“Why am I getting middle school dance vibes with two separate groups?” I murmured to Atlas.

Jude must have heard, because he snorted in amusement. Wilder took that moment to come in the front door, and he stopped to look at everyone, eyebrows raised.

He came up next to me, sniffing the air, and he draped an arm around my shoulder. It made me feel good that he was so casually affectionate, like I was just part of the family.

I mean, I guess I was, but I still didn’t feel like I knew Wilder all that well, and his unconditional acceptance was… just not something I was used to.

“This is like a bad joke. An angel, an oracle, a Nephilim, some hellhounds, and… huh… that’s interesting…” he said quietly, sniffing and trailing off.

“Well, they aren’t walking into a bar, but a bloodthirsty writer’s house may be an even better punchline,” I said. “And I don’t want to know who’s what. I already found out my therapist is a fury, and that’s enough for today.”

Kushiel and the hellhounds all looked over at me, varying degrees of surprise on their faces, but they must’ve quickly realized how odd that was because they all went back to their conversations.

Hellhounds and their good hearing. Apparently Kushiel fell into the good hearing category too. I still didn’t want to know. Head in the sand—that was me.

“Huh,” Wilder said, squeezing me a bit with his arm. “This town really is so very interesting. I had forgotten about furies. She’s right, there were more than hellhounds that chose to leave hell. My boys have picked up quite the interesting mix of afterlifers and almost-mortals.”

“Almost-mortals?” I asked, then I held a hand up. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. I like just thinking of everyone as just… everyone.”

Wilder laughed, and Josh looked over. Wilder seemed to sense it, because he looked directly at Josh, making him blush and look away quickly.

Interesting.

My eyebrows were up when Wilder turned back to me, and he smiled softly. “Not time yet, I think,” he said.

“Corbin said the same thing,” I told him.

“Did he, now? That’s interesting. Very interesting, indeed,” Wilder said. “This town is really going to be an adventure, I can already tell. The universe may be unbalanced, but this place is working to fix things. It’s a good choice.”

He patted my back then and walked off toward the table, avoiding Josh, despite Josh sneaking looks at him. I pet Fluffy’s head. Very interesting, indeed.

“I think our pack might get bigger,” I murmured, and Fluffy licked my hand in agreement.

With that, we waded into the fray, ready to socialize. I could manage an hour, at least, before Fluffy and I snuck off for some peace and quiet.

* * *

Unfortunately, it wasn’t even a half hour before Jude looked utterly ecstatic and we heard a car coming up the driveway.

“Well, shit,” muttered Liam, and I figured we were about to get a visit from Sheriff Paul.

Since my brother was gone, I didn’t feel the same level of panic or dread about him, and he had really proven himself to be a good person. He had warned us about the photo, after all.

By the time he was at the front door, Jude was already throwing it open. Thankfully we hadn’t all crowded around the door like movie characters hiding something this time.

“Walrus! Come in!” Jude announced, and then he was leading the sheriff in. The sheriff glanced around at the group, blinking twice.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were having a party. I can come back another time,” he stated. Then his gaze found Ser.

“Seraphina Caelius?” he asked, looking at her.

She strode over, smiling. “Well hello, sheriff,” she said flirtily, and I think Jude actually growled at her.

“I’ve been looking for your brother, Michael Caelius. He was on the force before I took over as sheriff, and I’ve been hoping to speak to him,” the sheriff stated.

“Ah, yeah. Michael and his partner are hard to pin down. They’re out causing chaos most of the time,” she said, and for some reason that made Cassius snort in amusement. “I’ll tell him you’re looking for him, though,” she said.

“What can I help you with, sheriff?” Jude asked, and even I couldn’t miss the suggestive tone.

Ser obviously didn’t either, because she rolled her eyes and walked back over to chat with Q.

The sheriff looked at me, though. “How are you, Aiden?” he asked.

“I’m good,” I answered, feeling a little weird.

I could tell pretty much everyone was watching us while pretending not to watch us, which was kind of weird. The sheriff looked around, and he must have noticed it, too, but he didn’t comment.

“I wanted to check in on you. I heard something rather concerning,” he said.

“Aww, isn’t that sweet, you looking out for our Aiden,” Jude said. I swear he actually fluttered his eyelashes at the man.

The sheriff just blinked at him, then he looked at me and added, “I’m glad you’re ok. The agent who circulated that photo is… no longer with the FBI,” he said. “And apparently the man in the photo was found and… acquired, and I worried that perhaps someone else had mistaken your identity for that man’s. The person looking for that man seems to have disappeared as well.”

“Ah, yeah, we killed him in a warehouse because he was planning to kill Aiden to achieve immortal life, and we obviously couldn’t let that happen. But don’t worry, because he was evil, and we got rid of the body and didn’t even take him to the torture basement. We still have to track down the evil, immortal grandfather, though,” Jude said.

Everyone literally stopped what they were doing to stare at Jude and the sheriff. The sheriff stared at Jude.

“You’re lucky I don’t drag you down to the station one of these times,” he finally muttered.

“Oh, Walrus, I thought you’d never ask. Would you like to use handcuffs on me?” he asked, holding his hands out and winking.

“Where’s my notebook?” Toby mumbled from the other side of the room. “I think there was a meme about this, and you know, it’s a great story idea…” he trailed off as Dexter handed him a notebook and pen.

“Sheriff, ignore my idiot brother, and why don’t you have a snack while you’re here,” Liam said, coming over and smacking Jude upside the head. “Aiden’s cookies are really the best.”

He led the sheriff off to grab a cookie, and Jude sighed dreamily next to me. I just looked at him, shaking my head. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to stop throwing himself in the sheriff’s path. Either he’d end up arrested or mated—I wasn’t sure which way I was leaning on that one.

I looked at Fluffy, and he licked my hand, smiling. I took that to mean he was voting for mating.

We managed another half hour after that, but only because I’d promised myself an hour of socializing. I loved people, especially all of these people. Heck, even Josh, Sebbie, and the sheriff were growing on me, but it was still a lot, and Atlas was all too ready to head out when I gave him a look.

I snuck out without any goodbyes—they all knew where to find me, anyway, although I did walk by Josh and give him a nod. He looked like he was having fun, but I could see the shadows beneath his eyes. I didn’t know him well, but I still worried.

Fluffy and I headed out, taking the long way home through the woods. We walked silently for a bit, just decompressing after all the people.

Finally, I said, “You know, I may have lost my brother, but I gained all of you. That whole crazy crew in there is like family, or they could be, at least. And I know they aren’t all pack, but they still all feel like family.”

Fluffy licked my hand in agreement. I guessed that they didn’t need to be mated to a hellhound to still feel like family. After all, Cass and Q had been my family way before I was mated to Atlas.

“We make our own family,” I announced. “I guess you know that, because that’s what you did with Wilder and your brothers. I’m so glad Wilder found you, Fluffy. I’m so glad you didn’t have to be alone. I feel sad thinking about you without them.”

We reached the door of our house, and Fluffy turned into Atlas as we walked in. He grabbed me and kissed me, his lips firm yet soft beneath mine. It was a gentle kiss, sweet and slow, and I sighed against his mouth.

He lifted his head and pressed his lips to my forehead, holding me.

“I don’t regret the time before Wilder,” he said softly. “I learned what unconditional acceptance in a pack meant before I ever had to deal with people. It was lonely, yes, but it made me more thankful for what I later found.”

“Still, I wish you were never lonely,” I said.

“I wish you were never raised the way you were, and that you were never kidnapped,” he said. He gripped me tighter. “But I also understand that those things made you who you are, and you’re the strongest, bravest person I know, and I love you just as you are.”

“I love you too, Fluffy,” I said, feeling teary.

“If I hadn’t been lonely and learned how to be a wolf, then I never would have gotten to know this strong, resilient man who liked to take walks in the woods,” he continued. “You fill all the lonely parts of my soul, my mate.”

I leaned up and kissed him, then I snuggled into his bare chest. Atlas didn’t talk much, but when he did, he really said the best stuff ever. I breathed in the smell of my mate, and I felt his naked body against mine. He breathed in as well, and I knew he could smell the arousal running through me.

I wasn’t dead, after all, and Atlas was all naked and hugging me and saying romantic stuff. I only had so much willpower. I thought maybe I’d like to try taking a lick of his lollipop again (and god, wasn’t that corny—I almost grimaced at myself).

I didn’t worry about what would happen next, though. I purposely cleared my mind and just breathed in the warm, comforting scent of Atlas. We’d get to the fun stuff, and we’d do it at whatever pace worked for us.

After all, I had forever with my mate. There was no rush. The joy was in the journey, and we were taking it together.