Page 38 of Witchblood
The door opened and Dylan stepped inside. He looked good, dressed up like he was going out. His blond hair had even been pulled back into a ponytail. The pale blue button-up looked good with the black slacks and shiny shoes. I couldn’t help the wolf whistle I gave him. “Look at you. Hot date tonight?”
Dylan actually blushed. “Yes, actually. Once I get you home I’m taking my man out for dinner.”
“Yeah? So when do I get to meet him?” It would be nice to know another gay man who had to deal with werewolf bullshit. Was he a wolf too? Somehow I didn’t think so. “We can bond over the dominant wolf lover thing.”
Dylan looked away, smile fading.
“He doesn’t know,” I affirmed.
“It’s law. Mates can’t know,” Dylan agreed. Technically they could know, but they had to meet certain criteria. Being another preter like me was an option, or from a were family in which a wolf was an immediate family member. Couples were more complicated. Like they had to be married for at least five years, had to vow to tell no one, had to have the alpha’s approval, and most often the Volkov’s approval. Since the wolves didn’t recognize homosexuality in their own ranks, I wondered if they would even acknowledge a relationship like Dylan’s. Or like the one Liam wanted with me. I felt my cheer evaporate too.
“Are you married?” I asked, thinking at least that was a place to start.
Dylan ducked his head. “Nah, only together a few months. Figure that’s a little fast.”
“Almost a year,” Liam interjected. “And Dylan is very cautious.”
“I’d still like to meet him,” I said. Even if we couldn’t talk werewolf crap.
“Sure. He knows Liam pretty well. He’ll be tickled to finally meet the guy Liam has been fawning over for the past year,” Dylan shot back like he was trying to goad Liam.
Liam didn’t even have the courtesy to look upset. He just shrugged before yanking me into his arms and kissing me breathless again. When he released me, I stumbled, dazed and hard instead of sleepy. Damn.
“Not fair,” I grumbled. “I’m too tired to fend off your advances with rational thinking.”
“Your rational thinking is more along the lines of survival thinking, fight or flight. Relationships should not be survival training. You’re safe here. Get some rest. I’ll stop by your camper when I get home,” Liam said and walked away as if he hadn’t just kissed stars into orbit in my head.
Dylan chuckled and tugged me toward his car. Unlike Liam’s SUV, it wasn’t new and shiny black. Instead it was an ancient but well-loved Oldsmobile in dark red. Old fashioned steel. Wow. The spells this car could hold for me. I wondered if he’d sell it to me. I’d have to have money first.
“Nice car,” I told him.
“Yeah? Sean keeps her running. She’s his baby. That’s why she’s so clean. Mine is a bit of a mess. So I figured I’d take his car tonight.”
“Sean is the boyfriend?” I clarified as I got into the car. The upholstery was immaculate. In fact, the entire vehicle could have just been driven off the lot for how well it was maintained.
“Yes.” Dylan started the car and pointed us back toward Liam’s. He was quiet for a minute. “Never thought I’d have a chance at love, or even a pack, you know. Spent so long as a lone wolf, fighting to survive every day, that I’d convinced myself love wasn’t necessary.” Lone wolves lived outside packs but only by the sufferance of the packs that surrounded them. The Volkov kept track of them. Part of Oberon’s duties, if I recalled correctly, was to monitor them. Most lone wolves were just men who couldn’t function in a community where rules were strict and the penalty death. Men who hated having someone else rule over them, but weren’t strong enough to be alphas. And apparently gay wolves.
“Did Sean change all that? Meeting him?”
“Partially, but I’d never have met him if it weren’t for the Volkov, Liam and you.”
“Say what?” I glanced his way. “Have we met before?” Maybe Hugo had messed with my head more than I’d thought.
“Not directly. I was brought to the Volkov’s pack not long before you left. I’d been set upon by a group of wolves and badly injured. They tried to kill me, but I’m a tough bastard.” He threw me a wide smile full of teeth. “Spent a long time learning to fight dirty. I survived. Someone dragged me to the Volkov, who set me up in his safe room under his protection and fed me medicinal tea made by his mysteriouswitchbloodson.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. I was healing, slow, but healing. Too much damage…”
I nodded having seen it a time or two. Sometimes even the wolf metabolism wasn’t enough to save them. “I didn’t know.Apamade me stop seeing any of the injured personally years ago. None of them ever hurt me, but the other wolves protested.” I wasn’t pack. Never had been pack, no matter how muchApahad tried to include me. The free access I’d been given to the alpha’s den was enough to set most wolves’ teeth on edge. Not least of which had been his wife.
“I heard a lot of talk of you while I was lying there. Even the Volkov planning the feast in which he was going to find you a mate. I thought that was the answer for a while. That I’d be strong enough to be alpha and mating with thewitchchildwould give me a territory to build my own pack, safety and home. It would make it okay to be a wolf and love men. A stamp of approval from the Volkov himself.”
“Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
He steered us through the pretty countryside filled with trees. “Nothing for you to be sorry about. I wasn’t strong enough to be in the running. Barely able to walk by the first day of the trials. When word rose that you’d run, the whole place was in an uproar. Alphas blaming alphas. Fights and chaos. Yet in that storm of testosterone bullshit Liam stood unfazed. He admitted to seeing you, to feeling you call his wolf, claimed you to one and all, and the world stopped. Not just for me, but for everyone. They all looked at Liam and the Volkov, like they expected the Volkov to attack him for daring to claim thewitchchild.”
“Liam saidApaapproves.”Apahadn’t sounded upset with Liam when he’d called my phone.