Chapter 37
The Future Leader
The last time we’d seen Austin or Adam had been early yesterday when they’d come out for the free barbecue.
While Adam had engaged in some small talk with Roscoe, the scratched-up Austin had kept quiet, grabbing as many bags as he could carry and scurrying into the hallway like a raccoon on a nightly garbage binge.
Adam snatched a whole rotisserie chicken in his mouth before following, giving us a wave as he disappeared around the corner.
Austin was obviously into whatever they were doing, and Adam’s erect ears and swaying tail meant he enjoyed his new role in their relationship. Great sex was only sex, though. It didn’t replace the need for further compatibility, but if Roscoe and I were any example, it was a great place to start.
Speaking of Roscoe, he was still comatose from the ungodly amount of food he’d devoured last night.
He reminded me of a hibernating bear, his belly distended like he’d put on fifty pounds of fat in just a couple hours.
However, I knew that when he eventually awoke midday, it would be as though he hadn’t eaten anything at all.
Werewolf physiology was an enigma, but perhaps I’d understand it more once my time came.
As I crept through the hallway toward the kitchen, the irresistible scent of fresh, expensive coffee caught my nose, followed up by the rush of water and clanking dishes in the sink.
“It’s a damn miracle,” I said, strutting into the kitchen as Adam slipped a plate into the dish drainer.
He turned and opened his mouth to speak, his new rows of sharp teeth glinting in the dim light above the stove.
“This kitchen’s a mess, Cody. Aren’t you supposed to be keeping it clean?”
“Nope.” I brushed past him to grab my new favorite coffee cup from the cabinet. “Did you see what Roscoe gave me?”
Adam held out his larger clawed hands, and I sat the glass mug into his palm.
“This would be really cute if I didn’t know the story behind it.”
“What story?” I said, eyeing him intensely before snatching the mug and filling it with fresh coffee. “There is no story.”
“It was just piss, Cody. If I had a dollar for every werewolf that peed on me—”
“Change of subject,” I interrupted, giving him a sniff. “Someone’s actually using the oatmeal shampoo I bought over two months ago.”
“This stuff is amazing! My fur is so soft, and look.” He rubbed the shorter fur on his arms. “No dander! Shit, I should have used it on my ashy elbows when I was a half-turn.”
“You’re actually strong now, so this changes things,” I said, eyeing Adam with excitement. “I need your help holding Roscoe in the bathtub so I can give him a good scrub-down with that shampoo.”
“I have a better idea. I bought something online that you can borrow. I’m going to use it on Austin when it arrives because he’s just as bad as Roscoe.” He picked up his phone and began scrolling.
“Now I’m intrigued.”
“Here,” he said, handing me the phone. It was a werewolf-centric website with grooming products. “The harness.”
“Werewolf washing harness.” I scrolled through the text and read more. “Unbreakable material with a lock to hold even the most unwilling werewolf in place. Holy shit!”
“How much do you want to bet a half-turn runs this online store?” We both laughed but stopped as the bathroom door closed. “I think Roscoe’s up.”
I looked over at the microwave clock. “Not for another five or six hours. It must be Austin.” I leaned closer. “What did you do to him last night?”
“Oooo.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “This thing right here.” He looked down and grabbed the enchanted chain he wore that Willa had made for him.
“I can feel everything I do to him while we’re fucking.
It’s like sensory overload. Whatever spell Mosavi’s wife put on this, it works differently now that Austin’s better. ”
“I think that witch should be running an adult outlet and not a restaurant.”
“Make sure to thank her for me when you go to their house today.”
I put the coffee cup against my lips but stopped, narrowing my eyes at Adam. “What?”
“Oh. I knew I was forgetting something. You left your cell in the living room, and she called while you were sleeping. Mosavi wants to do something to you, or something like that. I didn’t catch all the details.”
“Details are fucking important when it comes to Mosavi, Adam! Can you not answer my phone if you’re not going to at least write this stuff down?” I muttered. “Did you happen to catch a time, or does this all fall into a vague ‘at some point?’”
“Around noon.” He went back to scrubbing the caked-on food from one of the plates. “You’re actually gonna go?”
“It’s either I go there or he shows up here. Would you rather that?”
Adam shook his head.
The toilet flushed, and the bathroom door opened. Austin’s heavy footfalls creaked along the floorboards toward the dining room before stopping at the entrance to the kitchen.
“Good morning,” I said enthusiastically, but wasn’t met with the same energy.
“‘Mornin’,” he grunted, eying the coffeemaker.
“Want some coffee?” Adam asked.
“Yup.”
“How do you take it?”
“Black.”
Adam and I looked at one another and shrugged.
“You sure are talkative,” I said, handing Adam a cup from the cabinet.
“Gonna be in the garage,” he said, stepping back out of the kitchen.
“Wait a minute,” Adam said sharply, setting the cup on the counter before folding his arms. “Pour your own coffee, and you’re only allowed in there for an hour. I’m putting my foot down before it goes into your ass.”
“An hour’s not long enough,” he said, turning back around. “Need at least three.”
“Why?”
Austin grabbed the cup. “Just trust me. I need three hours,” he said, pouring his coffee.
The smaller werewolf’s glare softened when Austin gave him a reassuring smile.
“All right. You’ve got three hours, then I want that big, needy ass of yours in the bedroom.”
Austin’s tail sprang to action as he turned to leave without saying anything more.
“Never thought I’d see him so calm and happy,” I said. “So, you saw everything in those visions?”
Adam nodded. “I hated him, Cody. The shit he put me through while we were kuu mates was awful, but after seeing all that…” He turned back to the sink.
“He wanted people he loved to hate him, but he was also desperate for anyone to love him. If I had only known about the hell he was going through, I could have helped him.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think anyone here could have helped him. You saw what happened to him when I tried. He said he loved me, and that was the start of his downward spiral.”
“He said he loved you?” Adam’s eyes shimmered as he gritted his teeth.
“He said a lot of things like that, but I knew he was just clinging to me because he had alienated everyone else.”
The smaller werewolf’s shoulders slumped forward, and I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.
“Austin’s only ever had two ways of looking at people: either with complete disdain, or with devastation. The way he looked at you just now was so different from any of that. He barely even acknowledged me.”
“We’ve got a lot to work on, but at least he doesn’t resent me anymore.
He listens to me now.” Adam rinsed the last of the dishes and pulled the plug on the drain.
“We only had sex for a couple hours last night. We spent the rest of it talking. For as long as I’ve known him, he was a stranger lying next to me every night.
I didn’t know who he was, but now it’s like I get to experience getting to know him for the first time. ”
“And now that you know him, what do you think?”
Adam leaned back against the counter and rubbed the short fur on his chin. “I think we’re gonna be okay. We’re both scared of saying the L-word, but if that time does come, we’ll both mean it.”
“It’s the same with Roscoe and me. We’ve come close to saying it, but the timing just seems off. It’s too soon, even though I can’t ever see myself leaving him. There’s something about him that makes me a better person.”
Adam wrapped an arm around me and squeezed.
“I think we all make each other better,” he said before pulling away. “I actually feel sorry for humans.”
“Why’s that?”
“They’ll never experience what this is like. You don’t feel it yet, but when you turn, something in your brain clicks. As much as I loved my dad, you guys are closer to me than he ever was. It’s like I can feel everyone right here.” He grabbed the fur above his abdomen. “Sometimes it hurts.”
“That I kinda get,” I said. “After those visions, whenever I look at Roscoe sleeping now, my chest hurts. I never want to see him sad again.”
“We need to visit Darryl.” Adam stepped into the dining room, and I followed. “He doesn’t have a pack, you know? He just stays on that beach all alone. I never thanked him for saving my life.”
“He saved us all. All our visions had him playing a vital role in our lives according to that elder. Roscoe may have set the wheels in motion, but Darryl kept Roscoe grounded long enough for him to meet me. He gave me and Roscoe a place to live when he didn’t have to.”
“He let me live with him, too. He also let Austin stay at his house, and got him interested in building things,” Adam added. “A part of me will always love him, even though we were never meant for each other.”
“Thanksgiving,” I said, stepping back. “We’re going down there for Thanksgiving.”
“I think he’ll like that.”
The mayor’s mansion was just as I remembered.
There was an unexpectedly mundane normalcy to the architecture, not quite gothic, but also not quite colonial.
The pillars on both sides of the concrete steps leading to the oversized double doors supported a flattened overhang with granite gargoyles.
It was safe to assume that those and the pointed arch windows were Mosavi’s compromise to Willa for allowing him a more traditional style home.
When I reached the entrance, the doors slammed opened.