Chapter 25 #2
It was late evening, and the sun was already behind the trees as I stacked firewood neatly into the pit.
I’d been collecting and chopping it all week, so we’d be able to have a fire every night while Darryl was visiting.
Roscoe was in the kitchen, and Adam and Darryl were still going at it so loudly that even being outside did little to dampen the noise.
Austin hadn’t come out of his garage, and I’d need to check on him a little later. Knowing how much bad blood was between him and Darryl, I wasn’t going to force him to be social.
After pouring half a tin of lighter fluid on the logs and tinder, I lit a match and threw it in. I kept the flames stoked with the dried Spanish moss I’d gathered from the oaks on the outskirts of the forest.
The back door opened, and Roscoe trotted outside while holding a bottle of beer.
“Let’s have a barbeque!”
“Where the hell did you get beer, Roscoe?” I sprinted toward him to snatch it away, but he kept it out of reach.
“Relax. It’s only one beer. I’m gonna cook with it.” He put it to his lips and gulped half of it down. “Don’t need the whole bottle, and I wouldn’t want it to go to waste.”
“You’re so full of shit,” I said, sitting back down on the lawn chair and using a poker on the burning logs. “I’m the one that’s going to get in trouble.”
“The mayor ain’t gonna do nothin’ to you while Darryl’s here. Two alphas cancel each other out.”
“Mosavi’s an elder, Roscoe.”
“So? I’d like to see that fancy ol’ sourpuss scrap with someone like Darryl.”
“I don’t think that’ll go as well as you think, especially since his wife’s a witch.”
“Ooo, I forgot about her,” he muttered, setting the beer on one of the plastic tables before plopping down next to me. “If I just use it fer flavoring, I don’t think he’ll have a problem with it.”
The door opened again, and this time, Austin stepped outside, looking at both of us before turning away.
“Get yer ass out here,” Roscoe called out jokingly.
Austin let out a huff of air and slowly backed outside again. He turned and sniffed.
“How did you find that beer?”
“That beer?” I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
His ears flattened and he looked away.
“I mean, beer, you know? It’s illegal and stuff.”
“Mmhmm.” I grabbed the bottle and dumped it on the ground.
“Hey!”
“Cooking with it, my ass.” I tossed the bottle into the metal trash can next to the shed.
Austin sat across from Roscoe on the other side of the pit.
“This is gonna be a long week,” he growled out. “Why did you invite Darryl of all people?”
“Ask yer kuu mate,” Roscoe replied. “Darryl’s a good friend, and I didn’t mind.”
“Why don’t you two get along?” I asked.
“Don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Maybe you should, especially if it has to do with Adam.” I sat next to Roscoe again, turning toward their bedroom window as the moans grew louder. “Have they always done this?”
“The sex shit doesn’t bother me,” he said. “It’s the guy’s better-than-you attitude. Every time they’re together, Adam won’t shut up comparing me to him. Plus, I know there’s more going on. I’m not stupid, I just ignore it.”
“The kid’s not too bright when it comes to, you know, anyone else but himself,” Roscoe said.
“That’s the problem. He’s twenty years old and still acts like a kid, and he doesn’t listen. It’s not gonna work out when this is over, and I don’t think he’s worth hanging on to.”
“You don’t know how he’s going to end up after—”
“We’re not right for each other,” Austin said louder, holding up his hand. “I’m too fucked up, and he’s too selfish.”
“He told me he wants to stay with you after this is over.”
“He’s only saying that because he’s afraid he’ll be alone.
I’m just his sure thing.” The moans from the bedroom died, and Austin wrinkled his nose.
“Okay, the sex bothers me a little, but I can’t exactly tell him to stop, especially since I can’t even get it up without being told to.
” He pulled at the mane on his head. “Why am I so pathetic? Even Roscoe’s geriatric dick still works. ”
“I’ll… take that as a compliment,” Roscoe grunted, patting the other werewolf on the back. “Don’t be too upset. At least it does work.”
“I was talking with”—I paused, carefully choosing my words—“someone who understands more than I do about your condition, and the good news is, it’s temporary. The bad news is, I have to keep doing what I’m doing until you get better.”
“I visited the mayor,” Austin said, catching both of us off guard. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“When the heck did you do that?” Roscoe asked.
“A couple days ago, and again yesterday,” he admitted, his ears drooping.
“He’s a monster, and he uses all kinds of weird shit on me, but he knows what I like.
I hate myself after it’s over, but it feels good when he’s doing it.
The physical pain makes me forget all the other pain, and I’ll beg him to beat the shit outta me, choke me, or dry fuck me. ”
Roscoe and I eyed one another.
“You both think I’m nuts, don’t you?”
“Does it help?” I asked.
“I want to say yes, but I never feel like it’s okay. It’s like my brain knows this is wrong, but at the same time, I won’t think twice about going back.”
“I, uh, kinda get what yer sayin’,” Roscoe said. “He’s got a weird way about him. It’s an elder thing.”
“It’s just another reason to keep Adam away,” Austin said. “He’s never going to understand. I’m huge, and that’s the whole reason he chose me. He wants me to be—”
The back door opened again, and Darryl stepped outside naked, of course. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Austin grimaced and stood before walking toward the house.
“Austin,” I called out, but the werewolf didn’t turn around.
He brushed past the brown werewolf, shoving him lightly with his shoulder before disappearing.
Even though they were roughly the same in size and similar in physical appearance, they couldn’t have held themselves more differently.
Darryl had a natural and comfortable confidence while Austin was rigid, like he was a ceramic vase that would shatter if someone accidentally knocked him over.
“Looks like I’m not helping,” Darryl said, walking toward the fire. “I was under the impression Austin couldn’t handle this alone.”
“He can’t,” I said. “But maybe next time you and Adam should go somewhere more private.”
“I’d rather not do this at all.” He sat on the chair next to me, crossing one leg over his knee. “I’m starving,” he added.
“Ooo!” Roscoe shot up out of the chair. “I got yer favorite brats, and I was gonna baste ‘em with beer but…” He shot me a glare.
Darryl looked around. “Where’s the cooler?”
“Werewolves aren’t allowed to drink in Norwich,” I said. “It’s the law.”
“What kind of authoritarian bullshit is this?” Darryl uncrossed his legs and stood up. “You can’t have a cookout without beer.”
“You’d have to take it up with Saddam Hussein in city hall,” Roscoe muttered as he made his way to the back door. “He’s a werewolf, by the way.”
“You serious? How the hell did he manage that?”
I threw another log onto the fire. “He can turn human, so I think only the werewolves here know.”
“Interesting. Only elders can do that.”
“Consider yerself lucky you haven’t met him yet,” Roscoe muttered before walking into the house.
“Now I really wanna meet this guy if he’s got Roscoe riled up.” He looked around, eyeing the edge of the woods. “It’s pretty out here—a little too quiet and creepy for my taste, though.” Darryl settled a hand on my leg. “What did you want to talk to me about earlier? Need a swimming lesson?”
I laughed. “Tempting, but the water level might be a little low after Adam.” He smiled at me, his sharp teeth glistening in the flickering flames of the pit.
He hadn’t trimmed the thicker fur on his face into the usual soul patch; instead, he let it grow out a bit more into a full furry beard.
He still had that old-wolf surfer look about him.
“I know you can do the whole vironoct thing. Are you an elder, too?” I asked.
“Christ, I’m not that old.” His brows furrowed in frustration. “I’m way younger than Roscoe, you know.”
“You smell like the mayor. Plus…” I turned toward him, trying to channel the emotions whenever I’d give Austin a command. My vision brightened as the firelight turned a bluish silver. “I can do it, too.”
“I know,” he said. “And you’d better keep that a secret, or they’ll be after you like they were me.”
“The mayor is the only one who knows, and I think he may be hiding as well.”
“What makes you say that?”
“His wife’s a witch, and she showed me some visions from their past. From what I could see, I think they tried to kill him because of it.”
“Aw fuck. I know exactly who you’re talking about.” Darryl rubbed the sides of his head in frustration. “So Darius is the fucking mayor.”
“You know him?”
“Not personally. He tried to get me to join his little revolution, but I didn’t want any part of it.
I know oppression when I see it, and his was just another version of the bullshit that already exists.
I don’t like politics. I don’t like living in the shadows while pretending to be human.
And I really don’t like witches, even if she claims to be a good one. ”
“They keep the town safe from the witches in the woods. At least, that’s what they claim.”
“So, you met her?”
“Yeah,” I said. “She’s actually kinda cool.”
He looked around and took a deep breath through his nose. “When I arrived, I got a bad feeling. Maybe as soon as Adam turns, you guys should come back to White Dunes. I’ll build an addition to my house.”
“Austin’s not going to agree to that.”
“Then leave him here. He can be just as miserable by himself as he is with everyone else.”
“It’s not that simple,” I said, catching myself. “Never mind.”
“There’s nothing you can say that would excuse the way he treated Adam.”
“There are a lot of really awful things he’s working through.”