Chapter 11
Jared woke, his eyes gritty and head snuffly but feeling well rested nonetheless.
His bladder was complaining but there was no way to get to the bathroom without disentangling himself.
He carefully slid his feet out from between Steve's and gently lifted the arm that was draped across his waist. That actually was the worst of the issue as the weight of Steve's hand was pressing against his bladder.
He knew immediately that Steve had awoken, as he felt Steve's arm stiffen as he lifted it.
This was quickly confirmed when a sleep roughened voice asked, “You okay?”
“Yeah. I just gotta pee.”
“M'kay.” Steve finished releasing him. “What time is it?”
Jared glanced at his bedside clock. “Uh... it's nearly ten o'clock already!” he said in disbelief. His bladder spasmed in annoyance at having waited so long, and he he hurried out of the room. Steve stretched.
“Guess we'd better get up and go see about getting something to eat.” He grimaced at the thought of the stench pervading the main rooms of the apartment. “Definitely eating out and getting maintenance to figure out what died and stank up the place.”
“What?” Jared asked, re-entering the room.
Steve got up and crossed to where Jared stood by his dresser, eyeing a drawer of t shirts. Jared shivered as gooseflesh made itself known as Steve's warm breath tickled the hairs of his neck.
“I was just saying we should eat out while maintenance comes and fixes what ever is causing that stink. Smells like something died in there.” Steve kissed the back of Jared's neck gently. Jared's breath caught.
“Yeah,” he agreed, once he could speak. “We should do that. I, uh, should get dressed.”
Steve stepped back. “You do that. I'll go back to my place and shower and change, 'kay?”
Jared nodded. Steve gave him a wicked grin and went through the door. As he passed trough the living room, he encountered a a rumpled looking Desmond staring blearily into a cup of coffee.
“Hey, we're on our way out in a moment to go grab something to eat. You wanna come with?”
Desmond brightened. “Yeah, that sounds great. I, umm..should probably clean myself up a bit first.”
“I'm on my way up to take a shower and change, so you've got time,” Steve reassure him. “I'm going to call maintenance about that odor too. Smells like something died.”
Desmond looked green. “It is pretty bad.”
“Yeah, it is. Okay, I'll catch you in a bit.” Steve hurried on out of the apartment and made for the elevator. He pushed the button to call the elevator. A few moments later, the elevator doors opened to reveal his mother.
“Steve!” she beamed. “I was just on my way to see Jared. He in?” She excitedly waved a small hard-backed book as she spoke. The elevator door began to close, startling her. Steve caught the door with his hand, allowing her to step through.
“Yeah. He had a rough night, nightmares about that night at the club. Desmond called me.”
His mother smiled knowingly. “And your mate bond, though incomplete, helped soothe him.”
Steve quirked his lips into a small smile. “He managed to get a good night's sleep once I was there, yeah. So what you got there?”
She gave a delighted giggle. “It's just the guide Jared asked for.
I spoke to various of the non-wolf mates, human and otherwise.
I took notes on what they'd wished they'd known from the beginning and combined it with the lore we teach the cubs.
Rafe's brother, Mateo, is mated to a lovely young woman who writes children's fantasy adventure novels.
She suggested I package it together so it looked like a fictional field guide type thing for young adults and helped me put it together.
She then published it under her pen name and published it using a print on demand service.
It's not for sale or anything, so only ourselves can place orders for a copies as and when we need them, but if someone accidentally comes across one of these, it looks like a kid's book.” She handed him the bound volume.
“The Care and Feeding of Werewolves and other Supernatural Creatures by A. Growler,” he read.
The cover had been designed so that the graphics depicted what looked like a field journal.
“That's a really clever idea. You want to go give it to him, or I could?
I'm just grabbing a quick shower before we head out to breakfast. There's an unholy stench, like bad meat, from somewhere. I think something died in the vent.”
“Ugh, I hope it's not a rat,” his mother shuddered. “We'd have to do the whole building.” She gave a small frown. “Best get it seen to.”
“I'm going to request an emergency work order on our way out.”
“Good, and you go ahead and give it to him. Just please explain why it's presented this way. I don't want him to think we're belittling him or anything like that,” she said, a worried expression crossing her face.
“I'm sure he won't. He'll probably find it as smart an idea as it is funny. Can't be too careful!”
“Great!” She bounded on her heels. “I best get going myself, I told Rose we'd meet for a game of doubles. Oh, and Carla, that's Mateo's wife's real name, she's going to write a young adult series and publish them, so that the book looks like a real tie in. I bet our older cubs will love them!”
His mother's enthusiasm was infectious. “I bet they will too.” he pushed the button to call the elevator again.
“I best actually get going!” she gave a small wave and began to walk away.
“Um, Mom? You taking the stairs?”
“Oh, yeah, not my floor. I am just so excited about the book and in a rush to get back upstairs to grab my bag. I should have brought it with me. I don't think I had enough coffee this morning,” she giggled.
“Me neither, but I best get showered and changed so I can fix that.” The elevator arrived once more and the two got in. Steve pressed the button for their floor.
“I hope the book answers all his questions and you two get your mating finalized,” she told him, a serious expression crossing her face.
“Me too.” And if it does, hopefully the completed bond will help him with his nightmares, maybe even make them go away.
He snorted mentally at himself. Yeah, like that's going to happen anytime soon with those guys on the loose and the two “MIBs”, as he calls them, trailing him and Desmond.
Just another couple of things I gotta deal with, but first, a shower, change of clothes, a nice breakfast-y brunch with my mate and his best friend, and getting that stench taken care of.