Dana Bell - Howl for Me

His body wanted him to tap on Fen’s zipper and ask if his new friend could come out and play. “Then if you trust no one else, I need you to trust me .” He stared into Fen’s eyes, willing the man to believe him. “Jamie is my twin. My baby sister. I would no more hand her over to a true betrayer than I would hand you over to Grimm. Got it?”

He kept his gaze locked onto Fen’s, the two battling it out. Jeff knew if Fen really chose not to trust him there was nothing he could do about it, so he allowed his plea to show on his face. He used the only weapon he felt would work, and prayed it didn’t backfire on them all. “Fen. Don’t make me give up my family. It’s all I have left.”

Fen reared back as if he’d struck him. He looked away, blinking rapidly. Fen grabbed Jeff’s hand and dragged him toward the door. “We’ll be back.”

Jeff knew from how thick Fen’s accent had gotten that he was in for an interesting time. Either the big bad wolf was going to eat him or… eat him.

Fen pulled Jeff into their condo and slammed the door behind them. “All you have left? What of me?”

Jeff sighed and ran his hands through that fiery hair. “Grimm took everything from you. I know that. But he took almost everything from me too.”

Fen watched, his heart breaking, as his mate began to pace through the living room. “He took my grandmother. When she was on the happy juice she was the sweetest person you’d ever want to meet. God, I adored that woman. I used to help her plant flowers, for fuck’s sake. Now that she’s off it, she wants nothing to do with us because we chose to allow Logan into our lives. She’s turned into this cold-as-ice bitch queen who takes no prisoners and would rather hand out grenades than cookies.” Jeff’s arms were waving through the air as he yelled at Fen. “He took my sister and tried to turn her into a piñata.” Fen blinked and made a note to ask his father what that might be. He had the feeling it was nothing good. “He took away my faith that the world has certain rules it follows and turned them fucking upside down. And he took my belief that he loved me and made me realize we’re nothing but tools in his stupid power games.” Jeff squared off against him. “The only things I have now are those people in there, Uncle Val, Magnus and Morgan. I even lost my father because he follows Grimm like a fucking puppy dog. Jordan lost both our dad and hers. Grimm’s hurt all of us.”

He collapsed onto one of the chairs that faced the huge television. “I watched Travis sitting there, staring at my sister. She was bruised, broken. Covered in bandages and IV drips with monitors beeping constantly to let us know she was still alive because she couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. She had burns and scars all over her from what Grimm did. Fuck, Fen. He crucified my sister .” Jeff looked up at him, and only then did Fen realize the depth of rage in his mate. “Travis is the one who fetched Gungnir and gave it to Kir, making him the leader of the Aesir and Vanir instead of Grimm. He’s been working alongside us to bring Grimm down now that he’s no longer under the influence of the apples. And because he did that, because he let it be known he loves my sister, Grimm took her and tortured her again . Only that time we all knew he planned on killing her. Travis fought him hand to hand both times, and both times Grimm got away.”

His mate was truly upset, on the verge of tears and shaking with fury. Fen decided that, for now, he would soothe his mate the only way he could. With trust. “How? When Tyr wields the blade for justice none can stand against him.”

Fen approached his mate cautiously, uncertain of his welcome. He was infinitely relieved when Jeff did not object to him taking a seat at his feet. He rested his head against Jeff’s knee, taking in his mate’s scent.

“I don’t know. They told me that Uncle Val got behind Grimm and slit his throat, stabbed him in the back, severed his spinal cord and cut his femoral artery, any of which should have been fatal.”

Fen stilled. Vali was the Avenger, the one who had killed Hodr for the murder of Baldur and would kill Fen after Fen killed Grimm. He was born for the sole purpose of avenging Baldur’s death, or so they’d all been taught.

Grimm somehow survived the Avenger’s wrath? “How is that possible?”

“We don’t know.” Jeff’s fingers tangled in his hair. If he’d been a cat he would have purred. “It might be because Baldur hasn’t really died.”

“This is confusing to me. Everything I’ve ever believed has been tossed into the air to fall where it may.” He closed his eyes, weary beyond belief. He hated it when Jeff was angry with him.

“Welcome to my world.” They sat there quietly, each lost in his own thoughts, but the simmering rage had dimmed within his mate, tamed for now by the quiet. Fen felt at peace, the hand in his hair lulling him almost to sleep.

Jeff tugged at one of his curls, waking him from his light doze. “Want to go back for pancakes, sleepyhead?”

He stared up at his mate and saw the peace offering for what it was. “I would like that very much.”

Jeff smiled, and nothing had ever looked so beautiful.

“So. How was your trip to Helheim?” Jeff grinned at Logan, hoping the man would get it. God, you still needed a bazooka to cut through the tension in the room.

Fen was very careful to keep on Travis’s right side at all times. He might pretend that he believed Jeff, but every time Jeff got too close to Travis the wolf’s eyes would track him, ready to spring to his defense at a second’s notice.

It would have been cute if it didn’t make Jeff feel like a wimp.

“Eh. You know. Dark, depressing. Very emo.” Logan shrugged. “The espresso was good, though.”

Kir laughed. Jeff had never met anyone who found joy in everything the way Kir did. Damn them for noticing Jordan first. Jeff would have loved to be the meat in their sandwich.

He didn’t realize Fen had started growling until Logan sat up, all the humor gone from his face. “Fen?”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “Down, boy.”

“I told you, I am not a dog.”

Jeff frowned at him. “Then what are you growling about now?”

“What’s going on?” Jordan’s sharp eyes were watching them, seeing far more than Jeff was comfortable with.

“My mate wishes to have sex with your mates.”

The entire table went quiet.

Jeff stood. He knew he’d gone beet red, but whether it was from embarrassment or anger he wasn’t sure. “Well. That was humiliating. Someone fill Fido here in on a little thing called discretion, hmm? I’m outtie.” He shook off the hands that grabbed for him, too angry to sit and listen to another word. “For the record, yeah. Logan and Kir are hot. But I’d never hurt my sister like that, even if they waved their cocks at me covered in chocolate sauce. Asshole.” He slammed the door shut behind him with a bang and almost headed back for the condo.

Shit. He didn’t want to go there. Fen would head there within seconds. Jeff sprinted for the elevator, hoping it would arrive before Fen did. He had to get out of there for a little bit, get to somewhere where his head wasn’t quite so fucked up. Too much had happened way too fast and he was rapidly going into overload.

He needed to go home.

Jeff made it into the elevator just as Logan’s door shot open. He glared into Fen’s startled face and gave him the finger as the elevator doors shut.

Jeff leaned back against the wall and sighed. He couldn’t be gone too long.

He knew how dangerous it was to be on his own. He wasn’t a god, or even a demi-god. He was just Jeff, a human with a brain that seemed to have turned to mush and a libido that was sniffing after a man who didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. There was only one person besides Jamie he felt he could talk to about any of this, and that was exactly where he planned on heading.