Chapter 21
21
S itting next to Ariana at my dining table and pretending like there’s nothing between us as Doug details his woes is torture. Between trying to maintain the lie and Ariana squirming in her seat every time I look over at her, I’m doing a terrible job of keeping track of what he’s saying.
The bath bomb must’ve worked its magic, because Ari is flushed and I swear I smell a hint of her arousal whenever she shifts. It’ll be a miracle if Doug doesn’t notice with his keen sense of smell. Gods, that would turn this mess into a full-blown nightmare. Poor Ariana would probably die from embarrassment and I’d die from being disemboweled.
That’s an exaggeration. The more Doug talks, the more I realize that he’s not at risk of bursting into a rage. Instead, he’s… defeated. That makes me wo rry about him more than any anger would. I push away thoughts of our deception and will myself to focus on his distress. Not being there for him properly right now is worse than any guilt I feel for not confessing the truth about Ariana’s presence here tonight.
“So then she told me, ‘you’re good for some fun, but not serious relationship material.’ Like we didn’t spend the last month looking at apartments to move in together. I was putting aside money to buy her a goddamn ring. How could I be so blind?” Doug rests his face in his hands with a heavy groan.
“Say the word and I’ll go over there right now and give her a piece of my mind,” Ariana says, her eyes blazing with indignance.
“With what car? I’m not driving you over to go yell at my girlfri—” His expression grows even more pained. “Ex-girlfriend. I doubt Wesley condones that, either. Better to let it go and pretend she never existed.”
Gods, the way his girlfriend treated him is abhorrent. Cheating is awful, but making it seem like it was your partner’s fault… I have to suppress a growl of anger. My thirst for vengeance is as high as Ariana’s, but I need to be a grounding presence in this conversation, so I don’t voice my wishes that she gets tortured for eternity in the demon realms when she dies.
I’m also worried about his veneer of calm and the utter defeat in his words. “I don’t think Ari should go yell at her, no. But dude, you have every right to be furious and hurt. This is the time to feel those feelings.”
Doug’s eyes are glassy when he looks up at us again. His hand shakes a little as he reaches out for his fork, and he grips it so hard his knuckles turn white. “I can’t.”
Ariana reaches from her side of the table and places her hand over his clenched one. “Doug… it’s natural for you to be upset.”
“No, it’s not! If I let myself be angry, I’ll… I’ll break.” A tear slides down his cheek, and he furiously swipes it away with his free hand.
I shake my head. “I know you’ve worked so hard at controlling your wolf’s rage, but maybe you’ve gone too far.” He opens his mouth to argue, but I hold up a hand. “If Nik were here, you know what he’d say. It’s not about removing all traces of the monster in you. It’s about finding a balance between the monster and the man.”
“That’s a lot easier said than done.” Doug laughs humorlessly, but lets Ariana continue to hold his hand. “Thanks, Ari,” he murmurs, giving her a soft, slightly pained look. One I recognize from the very first time I met the two of them.
The love and concern bleeding out of her is palpable, and my chest aches when I dare to glance over at her.
This wonderful woman. She’d do anything for her brother. Hell, she’s already done it. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think I fell for her when she hauled her brother to his first monster support group meeting. Sure, I thought she was gorgeous, all decadent, soft curves that begged for me to sink my fingers into them. But it was more than that. Doug was worried about getting too emotional, so Ariana sat outside the meeting room the whole time, waiting in case he needed her. A few times he got up and left the room, excusing himself to grab water or go to the bathroom, and though I didn’t intend to, I overheard her whispered reassurances. He made it through the meeting because of her. She gave him the courage and support to ask for help.
Now more than ever, I swear to myself that I’ll give her that same level of care. She deserves everything. Doug will be able to return her support someday, but he needs to find stable ground and ease with his wolf first. So I’ll be Ariana’s rock.
She holds my gaze for a moment, lo oking confused by my sudden intensity, before flushing even more and snapping her eyes back to her brother. She squeezes his hand tighter. “You’re not going to lose control. You’re so much stronger than you think you are, and I’m here with you.” She looks back over at me and there’s so much trust and affection in her eyes that it makes my heart skip a beat. “ We’re here with you.”
Ariana is right. Doug’s anger spills out of him like a dam has broken. There are a few moments as he gives voice to his hurt that he starts to snarl, his eyes flashing gold, but he pushes it back down. Not for the first time, I wish for a pack in Moonvale that he could spend time with. I do my best to support the monster side of him, but I’m not a werewolf. I’ve always been a minotaur, so the monstrous parts of me feel as natural as breathing. He was ripped from his human life and forced to be something that terrifies and confuses him. He needs a safe space to shift and get used to his wolf, so it’s not a constant sword hanging over his head.
By the time he’s released all his tangled thoughts, hours have passed and his voice is so hoarse it’s barely more than a whisper. Both siblings’ cheeks are ruddy and chapped from tears. I shed my fair share too, and I’m pretty sure I’ll have bruises from when he crushed me in a hug and sobbed about how he was sorry he’d missed so many workout sessions because of prioritizing his ex over our friendship.
Weathering the storm of Doug’s emotions leaves us all battered, but in the aftermath there’s also a sense of calm. The release is cathartic, and while he’s going to be angry and devastated for a while, there’s a lightness in Doug’s eyes that gives me hope.
He agrees that it’d be better for me to drive Ariana home instead of him, since he’s so drained. We both give Doug a huge hug, and there’s a pang of guilt that I’ll be causing him more pain when I tell him about my lies. I almost break and blurt it out as he gives a weak smile and heads out the door.
Despite my guilt, when the door closes behind him, I breathe a sigh of relief. The second I turn around, Ariana is on me, wrapping her arms around my waist as far as she can reach, and pressing her cheek to my chest. “Thank you. I don’t know what we did to deserve you in our lives, but thank you.”
I squeeze her back, then stroke a hand through her hair. “You don’t need to thank me, Ari. You two are the best part of my life. I’d do anything for you.” I want to tell her that my monster side has claimed both of them—Doug as the brother I never had, and her as the woman I want to cherish and worship for the rest of our lives. That I love her.
“I don’t want to hide anymore. Doug deserves to know about us. It was wrong of me to think he couldn’t handle finding out.” She sighs heavily. “My brain is still stuck on how he was after the attack, not who he is now. I told him that he wouldn’t lose control, but inside there was a part of me that doubted my own words. I’m ashamed that I didn’t realize how much he’d changed until tonight.”
I pull back a little so I can look down into her eyes. “You spent a year of your life worrying about Doug non-stop. Of course you were concerned. Shit, I was worried and I’ve directly seen his progress in our group. What matters is you were here for him, even though you weren’t sure what would happen.”
I stroke her cheek, attempting to soothe away her sham e. Her eyes well with tears, but she nods and gives me a soft smile. “What would I do without you?”
“Oh, you’d be fine,” I say with a grin. “Me, on the other hand? I’d wither away without you in my life.”
She laughs. “Well, we can’t have that, so I guess I’m stuck with you.”
“Damn right you are. That’s what you get for dating a minotaur. We don’t let the ones we… cherish go.” Once again, I want to say love, but after everything that’s happened today, I think it’s better to save that weighty proclamation for a calmer moment.
“Now that that’s settled, when do you want to tell Doug? I can text him to come back now if you want.” I chuckle as her warm expression shifts into alarm.
“Don’t you dare! I’ve had enough drama for one evening. Let’s tell him tomorrow. I’ll want to check in on him, anyway. Maybe we could go together in the morning?”
I pull her closer and press a kiss to her hair. “Anything you want, baby girl.”
Ariana’s eyelashes flutter at the pet name, and she wets her lips. She’s clearly exhausted, but there’s still a spark of arousal in her reaction that makes my dick perk up.
Even after this rollercoaster of a night, I want her. It’s late and I really shouldn’t, but when I stroke my hand over her hip and her breath hitches, I can’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth. “Tell daddy what you need, sweetheart.”
She takes a moment to reply, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. I want to tug that lip into my mouth and soothe away the indents she’s making with my tongue. I don’t rush her, because I don’t want to pressure her, and chances are she won’t want to do anything tonight.
“I know I should get some sleep… I shouldn’t want…”
“Want what?” I prompt when she doesn’t continue.
She wets her lips. “Maybe it’s still the effects of the bath, but I ache .”
My arousal flares to life, and my voice thickens with desire. “Mmm, we can’t have that. What kind of ache, baby? Where do you feel it?”
She presses in closer, and I feel how hard her nipples are as her breasts brush against my chest. “Somewhere naughty,” she whispers.
Fuck me. My cock surges fully to life. “No secrets between us. How can daddy take care of you if he doesn’t know what’s wrong?”
“It’s…” She looks down, then back up at me through her lashes. Gods damn, she’s sexy. I love that we can indulge in this play together and that she wants it as much as I do. “It’s… my pussy. I feel so empty. I need…”
I groan at her shy words and rock my hips so she can feel my erection against her stomach. “You need daddy’s cock. You need it to stretch you open and fill you up like no one else can.”
“ Yes ,” she says in a breathy exhale.
I echo the enthusiastic sentiment in my mind, and I bend down to kiss her, but stop when she stiffens.
“Shit, should we wait until after we tell Doug?”
Screw Doug. I care about him, but he’s kept me from Ariana long enough today. “There’s no fucking way I’m leaving you wanting, baby girl. Now, let’s go to the bedroom before I lose control and try to fuck you against the wall.”
She rubs herself against my thigh with a little whimper that makes my dick jerk. “That doesn’t sound too bad to me.”
“I want to fill that needy pussy up until you pass out from pleasure, which means we need that magic lube. Get in the damn bedroom, Ari. Now .”