Chapter 21
Foster
Pain was a funny thing when you were a werewolf. It came in blinding bursts of agony, then vanished like smoke once the healing kicked in.
But Devil’s Breath? That shit lingered and left scars.
I’d spent nearly a full day sprawled on the Cimmerians’ med bay floor, slowly knitting together seared flesh and singed fur while my pride took an even worse beating.
Nothing like being rescued by a tiny slip of a witch to make an alpha wolf feel like a goddamn damsel in distress.
The dire wolf pup, Brumous, hadn’t left my side for more than a few minutes since I woke up. He’d circle me, sniff at my healing burns, then plop down with his head on my flank, linking me these weird, jumbled thoughts.
Alpha Toast better? Smell better. His mental voice was young, almost childlike, but there was intelligence behind it. Just scrambled, like someone had taken the wires in his brain and crossed them all wrong.
Stop calling me Alpha Toast, I linked back.
You toast. Black and burned. Alpha Toast, he teased, followed by an image of bread popping up charred from a toaster.
Real funny, I muttered.
Finally, I felt strong enough to shift back.
The familiar ripple of magic washed through me, bones cracking and reforming, fur receding into skin, Brumous yipping in worry the whole time.
The sensation wasn’t painful, but it always felt like being turned inside out and then right side in again.
Back in my own body, I lay on the cold med bay floor, blinking up at the lights.
The door swung open, and four sets of footsteps entered. Perfect timing.
“Brummy? Is he—” Seri’s voice cut off abruptly as her wide gray eyes landed on me and her cheeks flushed a deep crimson. “You’re so big!”
Zane stepped in front of her, his expression murderous.
“Put your damn dick away, dick!” He snapped.
“I can’t help it shifters shift back naked!” My voice sounded like I’d been gargling gravel, but at least I could talk.
Casimir’s face remained as unreadable as ever as he tossed a white sheet in my direction.
I caught it one-handed and wrapped it around my waist while Koa stood there with his arms crossed, muscles bunched like he was ready to throw me through a wall if I made one wrong move.
Brumous, meanwhile, danced around excitedly, nosing at my legs and sending me images of his confusion at me shifting.
Where wolf go? Man now. Smell like Alpha Toast.
“I meant, you’re so tall and muscley!” Seri clarified, her cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink. “I saw you on the video calls, of course, but there was nothing for scale! I didn’t realize you were enormous!”
I couldn’t help myself. I smirked as I adjusted the sheet around my hips.
“Enormous everywhere, too, as you just saw.”
Damn, white girl could turn red! Her face flushed so quickly, it was like someone had flipped a switch, and she ducked her head as her three mates let out growls that rattled through the room.
I growled back instinctively. Alpha to alpha, or whatever the hell dhampirs considered themselves. I wasn’t looking for a fight, but neither was I going to be cowed.
Brumous’ confusion at the sudden tension warred with his belly-scratch agenda, and it was enough to help me chill.
“I ain’t interested in married ladies,” I assured them, “especially one with three husbands.”
I might have alpha blood, but I wasn’t stupid. The Cimmerian brothers were the shadows other monsters feared. Even in peak condition, they could turn me into wolf burger without breaking a sweat. And I didn’t have a death wish.
At least, not today.
Brumous apparently decided I’d passed some test of his own making, because he suddenly reared up on his hind legs and slurped his tongue up the side of my face, leaving a trail of warm drool from jawline to temple.
Alpha Toast done! No more burning! Good!
“Stop with the roasts already,” I rumbled, wiping my face with the back of my hand.
Roast? Where roast? He sent me a picture of a cooked steak, juicy and rare, that made my stomach growl. Is nom noms?
“There’s no roast, you little monster. It was a…” I trailed off, realizing everyone was staring at me. “What?”
“You can understand him?” Seri asked, her earlier embarrassment forgotten as she stepped closer, eyes wide with wonder. “You can hear what Brumous is thinking? Saying?”
“Yeah?” I glanced between the dire pup and their stunned faces. “He’s been chattering nonstop since I woke up. Little comedian keeps calling me Alpha Toast and sending me pictures of food.”
“He speaks with me through my telepathy. Now you, too?” Zane leaned forward, curiosity written across his features.
“I can hear him. Pain in my ass, this one.”
I didn’t mean it, of course. The pup was total soft chaos energy. Little voice. Big feelings.
“That’s incredible,” Seri breathed, her eyes shining with what looked suspiciously like tears.
“Any wolf can talk to another wolf, pack or not, but I don’t know why I can hear him. Maybe it’s an alpha thing.” I shrugged, uncomfortable with their focused attention, and reached out to ruffle Brumous’ ears, earning a whine of contentment.
“Or maybe it’s a Foster thing,” Casimir suggested, his green eyes studying me.
I hummed thoughtfully. Brumous’ mind was a jumble of scents and emotions and half-formed words all tangled together, but there was a pattern to it that I could follow if I concentrated.
“I might be able to help him with that,” I offered. “Help him sort it out, make it easier for him to communicate.”
“Really? You’d do that?” Seri’s eyes lit up, hope and gratitude shining in their gray depths.
“I can try.” I shrugged again. “No promises, though.”
And that was the crux of it, wasn’t it? I didn’t make promises, not anymore.
Promises were dangerous things, fragile and easily broken.
I’d learned that lesson the hard way, and I had the scars to prove it.
But looking at Seri, at the way she cradled Brumous close, the way the pup nuzzled into her touch like she was the center of his universe, I felt something in my chest crack open.
Just a tiny fissure, but it was enough to let a sliver of light in.
“How are you feeling now?” Seri asked.
The concern in her eyes seemed genuine, which caught me off guard. I’d grown so used to people wanting something from me that simple kindness felt almost suspicious.
“Like I got chewed up and spit out by a demon furnace,” I admitted. “But I’ll live. Thanks to you.”
“You’ll stay here until you’re fully recovered,” she said, as if it had already been decided. “We have plenty of room, and you need time to heal properly.”
I glanced at her mates, expecting protest, but found different reactions from each.
Koa watched me with a concerned look in his dark eyes, the way you’d assess a wounded animal that might still be dangerous.
Zane smirked, silently daring me to resist the kindness she handed out like mints at a restaurant.
And Casimir looped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his side with a grumpy grunt.
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you need,” he said, his tone polite while his eyes told a different story: Welcome, but with conditions.
Message received, loud and clear. Keep my paws to myself. Couldn’t blame them. They had a precious treasure here.
“ ’preciate it. I won’t wear out my welcome.”
“Nonsense,” Seri said. “You stay as long as you need to. You’re safe here.”
Most people kept their distance from me.
Lone alpha wolves weren’t exactly known for their social skills or restraint.
But here was this tiny witch and her three deadly husbands, offering sanctuary without hesitation.
It stirred something in me I’d thought long dead, something warm and too close to hope for comfort.
“Has Arabesque made a move yet?” I asked and got a fierce growl from Brumous.
That surprised me. I hadn’t picked up on a hint of aggression from the lil guy before this moment, but now his teeth were bared, his muzzle wrinkled and quivering as he crouched low.
“Yeah, Brummy doesn’t like hearing that name,” Zane said. “Turns our sweet boy into a murder machine. Just say Harrow bitch when he’s around.”
Bad Hurt Witch comes? the pup snarled. Bad Hurt Witch took Seri worms! Hurt Seri with wrong words!
Then he sent me an image that seemed to be Arabesque siphoning Seri’s lunar magic, which Brumous had translated to silver worms.
See, Alpha Toast? Bad Hurt Witch hurt Seri!
Not this time, pup, I told him. Not if I can help it.
#
Evermere’s security room was a tech lover’s wet dream.
Wall-to-wall monitors displaying camera feeds from every corner of the property, holographic terrain maps, and enough blinking lights to satisfy a Christmas tree enthusiast. Casimir was bent over a keyboard while Zane lounged in a chair with his feet propped up on a desk.
The only sign that he was actually alert was the way his eyes kept flicking between screens, missing nothing.
Seri sat cross-legged on a leather couch in the corner, Brumous curled up beside her, both watching me with curious expressions. I gave her a nod, which she returned with a small smile and patted the space beside her.
“Feel up to filling in some intel gaps?” Casimir asked without preamble, his green eyes assessing me.
“Sure.” I sat next to Seri just to see him stiffen.
“Gravewrought.” Zane stretched and nearly fell out of his chair, an act to make him seem silly and harmless, just like his “I don’t need a recipe for disaster; I just eyeball it” t-shirt. “What can you tell us about how to actually kill those things?”
“You can’t kill them by destroying their bodies. Arab—” I stopped myself before I triggered Brumous again. “Harrow bitch keeps their hearts bound in black thorns inside glass cases. Like trophies. She displays them in her living room.”
“Knew that bitch decorated in murdercore,” Zane muttered.
“So we destroy the hearts, we destroy the monsters?” Koa asked.