Page 16

Chapter 16

A dler had been signed up to take care of a little wolf, and he had expected difficulties. What he had not expected was having to deal with both his mate and the little wolf in question breaking out in tears for no good reason at all on the vampire’s part, and possibly sympathy mixed with her own pain in Mil’s case.

“Sweetheart?” he said, still sitting behind the wheel but pulling Gordon close after unbuckling the vampire’s seat belt. “Mil, calm down. You’re fine. You’re both fine.”

“Sorry,” Gordon sniffled even as Adler cradled Gordon’s head against his own neck and savored his mate’s rose scent, mixed with the bitterness of stress. “I just hadn’t thought—”

“Is Gordon o-okay?” Mil said from the back seat, wiping away her own tears and confirming this was a sympathy cry with a pack member.

What an excellent question, Adler thought, but instead turned as best he could and looked to Mil. “He’s fine, Mil. Just overwhelmed. And I didn’t mean to tell you to stop crying. Obviously, cry when you feel like crying.”

“I’m fine if G-Gordon’s okay,” Mil said, cradling her book and bunny close.

Adler sighed. At least, Willa had made sure he didn’t have to cook, and so Adler had ample time to deal with the two of them. He rocked his mate against him while Mil calmed down and reached forward to stroke Gordon’s blue and white-tipped hair.

Gordon was left to feel properly ridiculous while Adler was busy getting Mil fed and then putting her to bed in his guest room. The case file Gordon had open on his laptop barely kept his attention.

I started crying like a goddamn baby just because those two wolves think of me as their pack, just because they simply accept me as their own. Gordon stared at the photos of the empty chest cavities from which the hearts were absent. I mean…it’s not like I was that alone before I met Adler. And when I met him, I almost messed things up, then got together with him and almost messed things up a second time . Then he swallowed hard. Maybe I was a little bit alone? Maybe I’m really fucking glad I have his mate bite?

He took a deep breath, tore his eyes away from the screen to look around Adler’s living room. He ended up staring at the statue of a wolf Willa had carved for her second. I’m mostly sure I chose being alone, Gordon thought.

He picked out sounds from the hallway. Adler was moving the little wolf toward the guest room. Gordon considered the perfectly embarrassing scene in the car earlier, then wondered how it was Mil had seemed relatively composed all day and then had only cried with him. Even then, she’d calmed down well before Gordon’s own outbreak had subsided.

On a likely silly whim, he pulled out his phone—not the burner Heath had given him, his regular one with the cute Kawaii Demon Hunter case—and called Maxim. He got up and closed the door so Adler and Mil wouldn’t hear.

“It’s my darling corpse whisperer,” Maxim answered on the third ring. “Gordon, did you miss me? My advice and esprit, my flair?”

“Erm, I don’t mean to interrupt your evening. If you’re busy…?”

Gordon heard Maxim’s soft laughter.

“Gordon, you’re not interrupting. You calling so late means my wisdom is needed. Or my blades? Most nights, it is my blades that are called for.”

“Okay, uh, no. I mean, I just…I had a question about werewolves,” Gordon blurted out. He felt his cheeks heat and was lucky his two werewolves were busy elsewhere.

“Werewolves? My understanding is you had figured out all the relevant parts by now. During the full moon shift, the locales pretty much stay the same, and if you can handle the fur, a good licking—”

“Fuck, Maxim,” Gordon said as he started pacing. “I mean how come Mil seemed to be pretty, I don’t know, composed today even though her grandmother is still being monitored in the stroke unit? How come she started crying when I cried in the car because I turned into a teary-eyed, sentimental fool when Adler said something about me having a pack?”

“Aaaaaw,” the hunter crooned. “Gordon! Your harrowed heart found succor in the strong embrace of your werewolf mate! It’s a tale for the ages. Tell me all about it.”

Gordon ran a hand through his hair. “I—it’s not that cheesy. It’s probably because of the bite, right? Is the mate bite making me weird?”

Maxim clicked his tongue. “Gordon, dear. You were weird long before that. You talk to corpses.”

“Fair enough.”

“And I doubt your mate bite makes you emotional. It mostly makes you Adler’s.”

“Right.”

“Which is delicious! Auspicious! If you two ever want a proper handfasting, I will speak for you, Gordon.”

Gordon nearly stumbled over. “What! No. I mean…that’s not why I called.”

“It’s not? What was it then?” Maxim chuckled.

“They said I had pack, and that took me by surprise.”

“Yes, I will have to talk to Adler about that. Surely he knows I am part of your pack as well. At any rate, you were concerned about the little wolf?”

Kind of. “Yeah.”

“Well. I’m sure it helped she spent the day with the bar Lar and not at the hospital where all the strange and scary smells are. Young werewolves especially have an easier time with their emotions when they are around pack to guide and support them. Crying with you is expressing sympathy.”

“Oh.”

“Because you are pack.”

“I mean…”

“Interestingly, while I have been in this city for such a long time, I’ve never had that direct a connection with a pack. Gordon, do you realize? Through you, I could become the pack grandfather. Ah! I can see it, the pack’s grandfather who is beloved by all! Gordon. You mustn’t tell Heath right away. It might be difficult for him to share my attention with anyone.”

Hot granddad hunter? With a sudden pang, Gordon realized that Kawaii Demon Hunter wasn’t all that different as far as being immortal went, and that he had been a fan for a long time. No, he can’t be a grandfather. Not in his hunter outfit, not happening.

“I don’t think it works that way.”

“Don’t be so negative now, Gordon. Be positive, be downright optimistic for the good of your pack.”

“Fine, whatever. Be a grandfather to the pack. Mil’s going to be fine if we don’t abandon her, that’s what you’re saying, right?”

“Sweet Gordon. Yes, that’s how caring for another works. And you are going to be fine too. You know that, right?”

“I am fine,” Gordon said, but stupidly, annoyingly, he was tearing up again.

“Yes, yes. What should we chat about now, hmm? How’s the morgue?”

There were noises from the hallway again. “New interns, barely broke them in. Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to go. And thank you.”

“Anytime, Gordon. Take care.”

Gordon hung up the phone and wiped his eyes. He felt so silly, not that he was crying again, but he could just feel Adler approaching, knew his mate was on his way to him.

When Adler opened the door to the living room, there was just nothing Gordon could do to keep the tears inside.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m right here.”

Gordon found himself in his mate’s arms, held tightly. Loved. Protected. Home.