Howl for Me

His mate grabbed a brush and left without a word.

Fen hurried through his routine, wincing at the taste of the toothpaste. He left the bedroom and walked into the living room, the scent of the coffee strong.

He found the twins seated on the sofa, Jeff running a brush through his twin’s curls, his own sticking up all over his head. Fen would dearly love to watch those curls grow down to Jeff’s waist. It would be glorious and wild and strong, just like his man.

Right now? Fen stifled a laugh. Jamie was right. It did look like his mate’s head had been attacked by an animal.

“So he thinks we made the wrong decision.”

Jamie nodded. “He got really upset and said he needed to go save Mom from Dad. But Dad wouldn’t hurt Mom, would he?”

The brush paused. “Only if he’s still on the juice and Grimm orders him to.

But he might fight it.”

“Oh God.” Jamie buried her face in her hands. “Maybe we shouldn’t have told her.”

The brush resumed its path. “No. She deserved to know.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Fen watched the twins together, the one grooming the other, soothing each other with their presence, and knew he’d never be able to take his mate far from her. It would kill them both to be separated. They needed each other in ways only another wolf could understand.

They were a pack of two trying to become a pack of four. What made it more difficult was that all four were alpha and bound to clash.

“What are we gonna do, Jeff?”

The whisper was so soft Fen wasn’t sure he was supposed to hear it.

The brush moved smoothly through Jamie’s hair. “Trust what’s left of our family to get us through this.”

The soft knock on the front door shouldn’t have surprised him, but he’d been so caught up in watching the twins together that the rest of the world had faded away. He answered and allowed Travis into his home. “She’s getting her hair brushed.”

Travis sighed. “Then they both must be upset.”

Fen nodded and shut the door, lulled by the soft voice of his mate. He watched the twins together and accepted the fact that Travis would be a part of his life from now on. “I’m going to mark him.”

“You haven’t already?”

Fen shook his head. “We’ve mated, but not bound ourselves. It will change him.”

Travis nodded. “Let him share blood with Kir first.” Fen snarled quietly, not wanting to interrupt his already upset mate. “Listen to me. Kir wants to do this so that Jeff will be immortal.”

“He’ll be immortal when he bonds to me. My father was immortal when he fathered us—that passed down to us.” He’d heard the lie about how the apples of Idunn supposedly conveyed immortality. How could the Aesir have been so stupid as to believe it?

“Are you sure marking will pass that immortality down to Jeff?”

Fen nodded. “Yes. It’s a gift I’ll willingly share.” Jeff was not sharing blood with the man he’d lusted over before Fen arrived. Fen wouldn’t be able to stop himself from attacking Kir.

“Then how do you explain all the werewolves that aren’t immortal?”

Fen froze. “Other werewolves?”

The two exchanged a long, thoughtful look. “How did we get other werewolves while you were locked away?” Tyr stroked his beard, his expression thoughtful. “There are other pantheons out there. We don’t associate with them too much. Grimm preferred us to stay away from them.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Fen muttered. His gaze once more locked on his mate as one of the twins muttered the word Vincente. “Who the fuck is Vincente?”

Tyr’s lips twitched. “I’ll let you discover that for yourself.”

Fen growled again.

The hairbrush Jeff had been using flew through the air and smacked Fen right in the chest. “Quit it.”

Fen bent down, picked it up and tossed it back to his mate. “You quit it.”

Two pairs of twinkling eyes peeked over the back of the sofa. Jamie glowered at her mate. “I’m not giving up Vincente, Travis.”

“I never asked you to.” Travis crossed his arms over his chest and glowered right back.

“You share?” Fen was shocked. Tyr had never struck him as the type to enjoy sharing his woman with someone else, let alone someone who might or might not have slept with his woman’s brother.

All three began to laugh. “Would you trust me if I told you there’s nothing to worry about?” Travis moved to the sofa and pulled his mate to her feet. Jamie went easily despite the argument they’d had earlier. “Because there isn’t.”

He’d have to think about that. Trusting Tyr again wasn’t going to be easy, but he’d have to try, if only for Jeff’s sake.

“I still think Jeff and I did the right thing.”

“What did you do?” Fen watched the twins, saw the identical winces that crossed their faces.

Jeff stood. “When we were at my mom’s we told her everything. Your dad, Kir, Jordan, what Grimm did to Jamie. All of it.”

“And?” Fenris failed to see the problem.

The twins exchanged another speaking glance. “Thor is our father, remember?”

“How weird is it to say that?” Jamie added softly.

“Very.” Jeff was studying Fen, gauging his reactions. “Travis thinks we shouldn’t have told her, that we’ve endangered her. I—” he darted a quick glance at his twin when she elbowed him “— we disagree.”

Fen immediately shook his head. “No. I think the danger was in keeping your mother ignorant. Now that she knows what Grimm is capable of she’ll be on the look-out for him.”

“But she’s mortal. She can’t fight Grimm. Hell, she certainly can’t hold him off mentally.” Travis sighed. “I don’t wish ill on her. She’s a wonderful woman.

But there’s no way she can confront Grimm in any way and hope to win.”

Fen shrugged. “Then we bring her here. She may not be capable of taking him on, but we are.”

The relief on Jeff’s face was worth any problems bringing Jeff’s mother into the situation would cause. Going against Thor would be an unexpected, and pleasurable, bonus. “That’s an option, but Mom wanted to confront Dad over his lies.”

Fen grimaced. “That could be problematic.”

“Indeed.” Travis took hold of Jamie’s hand. “We need to let Jordan know what you told your mother. Okay? Can we agree on that?”

Jamie nodded. “Yeah. She needs to know.”

Jeff picked up the brush and ran it quickly through his unruly locks. “We’ll be there in half an hour.”

Fen’s brows rose. It would take much less time to throw on some clothes and walk down the corridor. Perhaps his mate had something in mind? A way to reward him for offering to bring home Jeff’s mother?

Fen was all for that idea.

From the wicked gleam in Jamie’s eye she was thinking the same thing.

“We’ll see you over there.” She waved jauntily. “We’ll see ourselves out.” Before the door shut behind her he heard Travis’s dark chuckle. “Have fun!”

“Fun? I don’t have time for fun.” Jeff ran back to the bathing room—no, bathroom —, shedding clothes as he went. “I only have half an hour.”

Huh? Fen followed his mate, confused but happy about the overall level of naked he was seeing. Jeff was bending over the tub, starting the shower. Jeff saw the expression on his face and pointed up. “Bed head.”

What? Jeff bent over again, the position displaying his fine ass. Fen tilted his head and tried to picture one of the many toys he’d seen online plugged into Jeff’s ass, spreading him. Preparing him. For the first time Fen realized exactly what a butt plug was for. He’d be able to enter his mate with very little preparation, almost like entering a woman. All he’d have to do would be to…unplug the plug.