Chapter 9
Dorian
Would it be rude to say he needed a keeper?
“We’ll come back to that.” I couldn’t make boundaries until I’d started meeting more people. “For now, you need a shower and I need something to sleep in.”
Ignoring the heat in his eyes, I nodded toward the door to the junk room that was supposed to be an upstairs office or lounge. “I know where the master bedroom is, but it would be rude for me to go in first.”
The heat was fading but I wasn’t sure the laughter in his eyes was any better. “You’d never do something like that. You have good manners, Wolfchen.”
How he made that sound wicked I’d never know.
“Thank you.” Ignoring it seemed like the best way to handle it since I had no idea what he meant by it. “After you.”
And the smirk was back.
“If you wanted to see my ass, you just had to say so.” Looking very pleased with himself, he headed toward his bedroom going slower than I thought was necessary and exaggerating his walk. “I enjoyed the view going up the stairs, so you don’t have to worry about enjoying this one.”
He was lucky he had a wide enough body to fit his big head.
Good grief.
He liked my ass?
No. That wasn’t the point.
“Thank you for keeping those thoughts to yourself around Emeric.” When Braun glanced back over his shoulder looking curious, I tried to sort some of my thoughts into a reasonable explanation. “He seems incredibly impressionable when it comes to you and you’ve been a very good influence on him.”
So far.
We’d see how that siding with Alpha thing worked out in the long run.
“I like the pup.” Braun shrugged as we walked into his room and he immediately went over to empty his pockets on the nightstand closest to the door. “I just wish I understood what happened.”
“I’d also like to know how he got here.” I had practical questions that could probably wait, but I couldn’t help thinking about that part of things. From everything I’d read about children and trauma we were supposed to let him open up to us. “The bigger picture is more important, though.”
“Yeah. He’s safe now and nothing seems to have happened on the trip here.
” Braun went over to a large dresser as I stood in the doorway, taking in the room that was done in dark wood and cream walls.
The deep blue comforter and curtains looked like he’d bought them in a set but they matched his personality and just looked right for some reason.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t use some throw pillows or something like that to tie it all together, though.
“He’s ignoring most of it for now and just seems to be living in the moment. ”
“He’s safe now. That’s what we need to focus on.” Everything else would come in time. “Hopefully, he’ll feel more like talking in the morning after a good night’s sleep.”
He wasn’t as good as Braun at hiding how tired he was, and I could see the exhaustion sneaking up on the pup. Getting food and playing with the other kids had given him a second wind, but it wouldn’t last much longer.
Neither would Braun.
The overly busy Alpha had too much practice hiding it, but he’d tighten his jaw when he was suppressing a yawn and I wasn’t sure how long it’d been since he’d gotten a full night’s sleep.
If either of them lasted through a full chapter of the adventure story I’d found, I’d be shocked.
“I hope so.” Letting out a long breath I thought was hiding another yawn, Braun dug through a drawer for pajamas for me. “We’ll figure it out.”
Yes, once both of them had clear heads.
“Here you go.” Picking out a pair of dark blue and green cotton-looking pajamas, he blinked a few times and glanced around the room as he turned back to me. “I think…”
He was too tired to think.
“You’re going to go get a shower and that will give me privacy to change and snoop.” Might as well be honest about that so he couldn’t complain and act shocked later. “And you’re going to close the bathroom door completely.”
No shenanigans at the sleepover.
That smirk.
“I never thought bossy men were sexy, but you’re changing my mind.” Feeling full of himself, Braun headed toward the bathroom.
Empty-handed.
Good grief.
“You’d better come out of that bathroom with pajamas on…werewolf or not.” Their casual nudity would send mixed signals if he wasn’t careful.
I was back to ignoring him as his laughter echoed in the bathroom, but it probably covered up the sound of me wandering around his room, so I wasn’t going to complain. I was, however, going to quickly snoop and then change into the clothes he’d found for me.
Sleeping in jeans wasn’t an option, but this would fix that problem.
Okay, where to start?
Do a circle.
Starting at his closet, I quickly flipped through a row of nothing but jeans, T-shirts, and button-downs.
And one suit.
“More variety is necessary.”
Shaking my head as I heard the water start in the bathroom, I went over to the dresser and found a few sweaters and some nicer casual shirts, but it seemed like all his button-downs had a relaxed look to them and had never seen an iron. “Not bad. But he’s going to need at least one more suit.”
His clothes were organized in the most random way, though.
“Oh.”
His nightstand drawer was a more curious place with good quality lube, a small plug, and even a cock ring that was still in the packaging.
Why hadn’t it been opened?
I was not going to ask that.
I was, however, going to get our phones ready for the night and steal the other charger he had beside the cock ring package.
“Now pajamas.” Glancing around the room, I couldn’t decide if changing in there would be a bad decision or not…or what the manners rule for something like that was. “Guest room. There are four other rooms on this level. One has to be a guest room.”
No.
He had an empty office with basic furniture, a room he was using as a mancave since the actual lounge was a mess, and two that were completely empty.
How did he only have one furnished guest room?
I wasn’t going to wander through the whole house looking for a closet he’d somehow turned into another guest room. That left me to quickly get changed in the empty room before going downstairs and tossing my clothes in the washing machine before going back to the master bedroom.
To find Emeric waiting on Braun’s bed.
“I’m ready.” Bouncing, he flopped back on the pillows and sighed like it was the best thing he’d ever felt. “Where did you go?”
“Well, at first I was trying to find another guest room but there isn’t one.” As I set my phone down on what I thought to be my side of the bed, Emeric decided to give me a heart attack.
“You can just sleep with Alpha.” He snuggled down into the pillows and closed his eyes as I tried to figure out a good response. “He’s got a nice bed.”
“I’d better.” Braun’s voice coming from the bathroom had me rolling my eyes. “That mattress was so expensive it was offensive.”
Giggling through a yawn, Emeric seemed to melt into the bed. “It’s worth it but the guest room’s is nice too.”
“Good to know.” Braun smiled as he came out of the bathroom, thankfully wearing pajamas that were very similar to mine but had to be at least a size bigger…maybe two.
He was entirely too built for a standard large.
“You’re welcome.” Barely keeping his eyes open, Emeric seemed to be fully committed to pretending to be awake. “Mr. Dorian needs a place to sleep, Alpha. I told him he could share with you. Do you wiggle? I do. My mother said sleeping with me is like sleeping with an octopus.”
Oh.
What?
“Good plan. I don’t wiggle.” Making it sound like that was decided, Braun headed over to the bed and climbed up. “Scoot over, octo-pup. I’m going to fall off the bed.”
Well, he might not fall off but one cheek definitely wasn’t fully on the bed.
“Here you go.” Emeric’s giggle was cut off by a yawn as he wiggled and curled into a ball in the middle of the bed. He wasn’t quite resting on Braun but he was close. “This is better than the bonfire you did last time. I won’t get swatted again for getting too close to the fire.”
Oh no.
“You shouldn’t have gotten swatted last time.
” Braun took the whole thing like it was a casual conversation but I could see anger and something I thought was his wolf flashing in his eyes.
“You got distracted but I caught you. It was an accident and a learning experience. We need those when we’re young so we don’t fuck up big when we’re an adult. ”
Well, that wasn’t the way I’d have put it but he wasn’t wrong.
“I’ve…” Yawning again, Emeric’s lids drooped further as I did my best not to react as I came around to my side of the bed. “I’ve had lots of those. I’m going to be a great adult.”
I didn’t like the sound of that either, and neither did Braun because he scooped the octo-pup closer and wrapped his arms around the tired boy.
“I think so too, but you’ve got a while before you get there.
So don’t try to do it too fast. The other pups would miss having someone new to play with and my mother needs pups to help her make questionable decisions. ”
At least she’d fed them fruit with the chocolate?
“I think…I think she can do that on her own, Alpha. She’s kinda sneaky.” Emeric faded even more as I sat down beside him on the bed. “You’re the Alpha, though. I won’t forget.”
The Alpha in question scoffed. “Damn right. You side with me. That’s the deal.”
Emeric’s smile said, at the very least, he didn’t mind the tone. “Yeah…that’s the deal.”
He was barely hanging on but he reached out and patted my arm as I settled in and opened the book. “You too…I’ll side with you, Mr. Dorian.”
“Thank you, Emeric.” I wasn’t sure what else to say, so I just started in on the first chapter.
Two pages.
I’d overestimated how long he’d last because I’d thought we’d get halfway through the first chapter before he dropped off. But he was down for the count, as my mother would say, before we’d finished the first scene and he didn’t twitch when I stopped reading the book and set it on the nightstand.
Braun wasn’t far behind, but his eyes were technically open. “I’ll carry him downstairs.”
I wasn’t sure that was a good idea but there didn’t seem to be a better one. “Are you awake enough for that?”
His eye roll wasn’t an answer.
“I can be up for three days before I start doing stupid shit like falling down the stairs.”
That wasn’t an answer either, no matter what he seemed to think.
“You answer questions like you’re Emeric’s age.” That got a smile out of the exhausted man but he didn’t defend himself as he scooped up Emeric. “Be careful.”
He rolled his eyes, but his smirk said he wasn’t frustrated with me yet. “There’s a new toothbrush underneath the left sink.”
“Thank you.” Getting off the bed, I headed in and took advantage of a lightning-fast shower and the offered toothbrush as Braun tucked Emeric in.
I had to admit that I was starting to fade by the time I was done and Braun was back, and that was what I was going to blame my questionable choices on.
“Did he wake up when you put him to bed?”
Chuckling, Braun shook his head as he climbed back in bed, room not quite dark enough to hide his yawn that time. “No, he rolled over once and then spread out across the mattress. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t exaggerating that octopus comment.”
As I walked around to the other side of the bed, I couldn’t help frowning. “He talks nice about his mother but he doesn’t mention his father much.”
Braun sighed as he shifted his pillow and closed his eyes. “I should’ve asked more questions when his aunt left to go down there but nothing seemed fishy at the time. The way she worded it made it sound like an accident.”
Hindsight was twenty-twenty.
“You wouldn’t have ignored something that made you worry.” He would, however, make ridiculous decisions like wrapping one arm around me and tugging me closer. “Behave.”
Scoffing wasn’t a good response but it was apparently going to be all I got as he let out a long, deep breath and shifted me so my head was on his chest. “I don’t know much about grief in kids, but it’s like he skipped most of the steps and went right to acceptance.”
Neither of us was an expert in that but I was going to fix that going forward because there had to be online classes I could take.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll start over at the beginning at some point.” I remembered hearing that people would jump around between the different stages, so it was likely Emeric would too. “We’ll be there for him when it happens.”
Whatever Braun was going to say was lost in a yawn and disappeared completely as he finally fell asleep, but I wasn’t so lucky and lay there stuck against his warm body and rolling over everything that had happened in my head until at some point I must’ve followed him.