Cold Feet (Empathy in the PPNW Book 3) Page 7

  “But I want to run!” Mel whined. He dropped his arms to the side and I found myself noticing that the button on his jeans was open, revealing a hairless belly button. Come to think of it, all of his chest and belly were smooth as Christian’s bald head, pre-Mohawk.

  “Can you loosen it?”

  “It’s not a long cord; I don’t think it’ll fit around my neck.”

  “Well, then you’re grounded, Mister,” Sarah said matter-of-factly. Mel looked between us, before his lip pulled up in a snarl. Julian appeared behind him, silent despite his nails and the wooden floor. Mel seemed to sense something only just before his brother tackled him, knocking him to the ground. They wrestled and growled and I jumped back to avoid getting caught by one of Mel’s bare feet. Sarah sighed, a grin creeping onto her face.

  “Boys,” she said once again.

  “If you get far enough away before you, um.” I paused, unsure what to call it. “Are…wolf-shaped? It probably won’t bother me.”

  Mel put a hand to the floor and tried to get up, but Julian grabbed his arm between his teeth, worrying it until Mel toppled. More growling ensued before Julian managed to hop out of Mel’s reach and bound toward the back doors, not silent at all this time.

  “I’ll do that.” Faster than I could protest, Mel dropped his pants and turned to run naked after his brother. I stared after them in shock before turning to face Sarah.

  “That may have been the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced.” Amending, I shook my head. “Maybe not weirder than being attacked by a vampire.”

  “Well, get used to it. They turn into big puppies when they’re together. You get Colter around and it somehow doubles in intensity.”

  “Colter?”

  “Their younger brother. Don’t even ask about Lyla. She’s…well, think Lorelai, but bigger and much meaner. Come on, let’s sit.” Sarah jerked a thumb toward where the boys had run off. “Mel hasn’t told you anything about the family?”

  “We don’t…talk.”

  Sarah lifted a brow and I got the impression she was wondering if we did other things to each other with our lips. I elaborated before she could get any wild pictures in her head.

  “We’re mostly friendly, but he’s hard to have around for all sorts of reasons. I try to stay away from him as much as possible, honestly.”

  “That’s too bad. He seems fond of you.” She pushed the door until it was wide open enough that it wouldn’t swing closed and we stepped onto the covered deck. I heard a sharp yelp from the forest beyond the wide porch and tried to discern if I could see anything in the trees. Sarah took a seat on a fat, wicker chair and tucked her legs under her. I took a seat on the couch across from her, avoiding the sunny side.

  “He’s fond of terrorizing me, that’s about it.”

  “Hmm,” she said, turning to look out in the forest. I noticed her right ear twitch as she stared. A smile spread over her mouth and she turned back to me. “When he was here the last few weeks, he talked a lot about you.”

  “That’s because I got his fake mate killed. He was here?”

  “Yeah, he showed up on our doorstep out of his mind with grief, babbling about losing the one woman he’d ever loved. Once he got out the whole story, we realized what had happened and Julian gave him the appropriate amount of shit for sleeping with a succubus. He recovered, things are good.”

  “Ah, wow. I just figured he’d flown himself to Hawaii to drown his sorrows in coconut shell covered boobs.”

  Sarah let out a giggle and shook her head.

  “We are the worst before we settle down, aren’t we?” she asked. I tipped my head, confused.

  “We? It’s not just the men?”

  “Oh, god no. Oh no.” She laughed, shaking her head and waving her arms as if the concept needed to be swatted away heartily. “No, no. Definitely not. You haven’t met Lyla, right? No, of course not. Or their mother! She has stories that would make your vagina throw up a white flag and surrender.”

  “Not his father?”

  “Oh, their father is human. That’s why they’re different ages. Much less chance of multiple births with one human parent.” Sarah’s lip quirked and I felt something fizz out of her that made me nervous. When she spoke again, I knew I was right to be. “So you don’t have to worry about him knocking you up with a dozen babies.”

  “I don’t have to worry because I would never sleep with that the stupid—er—I mean—”

  “No, it’s okay,” Sarah said, laughing. “He can be kind of a dick. I love him and he’s incredible with the kids, but he loves to tease. It’s why I don’t mind Julian knocking him around when they roughhouse.”

  “You don’t roughhouse?”

  “Oh, I’ll get in there with them, occasionally. I’ve kicked Mel’s ass a time or two.”

  “Do tell!” I demanded gleefully. Sarah threw back her head and laughed before launching into a story about the first time she’d spent the night at Julian’s, when he was still living at home.

  “So, little did I know that Mel’d woken up early and I’d left the bathroom door cracked open. He was fifteen, he was gonna look, you know?”

  “He hadn’t seen you, like, go wolf?”

  “He had. Modesty isn’t the same as with humans—as I’m sure you’ve noticed. It’s just a…different… Well.” Sarah squinted, like she’d been confronted with a question with an answer so obvious she’d never thought she’d have to answer. “It’s not the same, right? Like how a doctor would look at a patient versus how that same doctor would look at a significant other? Maybe? Man, I don’t even know if that makes sense.”

  “I think I get it. Like lingerie versus a bathing suit? They’re both revealing a lot, but one’s presented in a specific context.”

  “Yeah, that’s kind of it. So, I was showering, and he was being a teenage pervert. I smelled him of course, as soon as the water was off, and it wasn’t that I minded him seeing me naked exactly, because it was all stuff he’d seen before, but I still felt he needed to be smacked around. Mel was still skinny, hadn’t grown into his giant head yet.”

  I started laughing at that image, picturing Mel with a big fat parade-float head, and Sarah paused to let me catch my breath.

  “You okay?” she asked with a chuckle. I clapped a hand over my mouth, stifling the laughter that still wanted to come out, and she continued. “Well, I whooped him and he was yowling, crying, begging for mercy. Woke up the whole house, and I was still naked but no one noticed or thought I was in the wrong. I think Lyla set on him after I finished, just because he was weak and she saw a chance to strike. Their mother went and made coffee, their father started breakfast. It was awhile before Mel would even look my way unless I was covered in either clothing or fur. Sometimes I swear he still flinches if I turn the shower on.”

  This was turning into the best afternoon of my life.

  Chapter Six

  An hour passed, during which I learned many amazing and embarrassing things about teenaged Mel. Sarah promised to show me pictures that would be just as humiliating but wanted to do so while he was around for maximum effect. As Sarah shifted in her seat to untuck her legs and sit up straighter, Oliver appeared at the door, rubbing his knuckles against his eye. Without a word, he moved to his mother, climbed into her lap and hooked a hand into her shirt. She kept talking as if nothing had changed, and Oliver yawned and promptly passed out.

  As his hand dragged the neckline of her shirt down, I found myself inappropriately curious about things that were none of my business. Remembering that she’d had no issues with me seeing her husband naked, I decided I might as well ask.

  “How did you nurse so many kids?” I asked, when she finished speaking. She shrugged a shoulder.

  “Like any mother who has multiples. I don’t gain any more teats in wolf form, but they seemed to be hungry on slightly different schedules so it was fine.”

  “Is it rude for me to ask?”

  Sarah just shook her head. “Nah. I’d rather
you ask questions than make stupid assumptions.”

  One of the puppies stumbled through the door, yawning hugely, before moving to her mother and sitting down at her feet. When Sarah didn’t immediately address her, Lorelai gave a sleepy bark that trailed into another yawn.

  Out of nowhere, Julian came bounding out of the forest, hopped the two stairs onto the deck and barreled toward his wife and kids. Lorelai glanced over, letting out a shocked yelp and dropping backward as her father came to a stop, ears forward, tail wagging. Oliver stayed sound asleep, mouth open against Sarah’s chest. Julian stood poised over his daughter as she struggled to right herself, tail and legs flailing wildly. She gave an angry growl and he promptly dropped to his belly, licking along her face and neck. This only made her struggle harder, trying to bark through the onslaught of slimy love. I couldn’t help but laugh at the tiny explosions of frustration coming from her wiggly limbs.

  More werewolves approached, the kids from the house and Mel from the forest. He strolled by, back in human form, completely naked and almost hairless. I tried my best not to stare, but he was pretty good looking so I wasn’t at all successful. Julian stayed on the ground, repeatedly grabbing Lorelai when she’d escape his grip and pulling her back to the ground so he could kiss her more. Walter snuck in, tucking himself timidly between his father and sister, which seemed to appease the bigger wolf.

  The commotion died down as Mel appeared on the porch again, wearing cotton pants low on his hips. He stood near me, hands on his hips, and surveyed the situation. Abruptly, as he opened his mouth to speak, Sarah sat up.

  “Potty! Let’s go! Julian,” she said, her voice an order. He pushed to his feet, let out a commanding bark and turned to lope toward the forest. Lorelai, Walter, Christian and Clara followed him, still half-asleep, while Oliver and Jeremy stumbled back into the house after their mother. I frowned as I watched them go, turned to look up at Mel.

  “Is it a thing to teach them to…go in the woods?”

  “No, but it’s kind of strenuous changing back into a person,” Mel looked down at me and his forehead creased slightly. “You don’t want them straining when they have to poop. It can get messy. So, until they’re older, it’s the woods for the pups.”

  “Ah,” I said, uncomfortable. To distract myself from talk of baby werewolf poop, I reached up and ran a hand along Mel’s arm. It was smooth, hairless. He watched me passively, not saying anything until I dropped my hand away.

  “You have to concentrate every time you want hair on your body, or does it grow on its own?”

  “Little of both.”

  “That’s so much easier than waxing,” I observed. Mel laughed, shrugged a shoulder.

  “It is handy. Especially if you find a lady with a preference. I can be Grizzly Adams in two seconds flat, if that’s what you’re into.”

  “And you can just make yourself grow hair anywhere?” Immediately, I regretted the question. Mel watched me, a smirk on his face indicating his mind had gone straight to the gutter. Surprising me, he made a joke without working blue.

  “I’ve never been to Denmark, but I assume I could grow hair there, too.”

  “Ah. Well…” I shook my head but, before I could stop myself, another question popped into my head. “And the hair all just falls out when you’re person-shaped? You can’t control it?”

  “No, that we can’t control. But, it biodegrades pretty quickly on its own if left out in the elements.”

  I snorted, shook my head. I had been picturing mounds of werewolf fur covering the forests of the Pacific Northwest, but apparently I didn’t have to worry about such things. It occurred to me that this all explained why Mel had been missing his eyebrows when I’d tricked him into coming to my house to kill a succubus. Glancing up, I considered he’d managed to grow his hair to its normal length and fill in his brows until they were attractively thick. He didn’t seem to think anything of my staring, so I said nothing.

  Julian was the first to show up, the puppies trailing behind him. They were running in circles, nipping at each other and wagging tails. All the biting reminded me that I hadn’t eaten in several hours. I slapped the back of my hand into Mel’s leg.

  “When do we eat?”

  “Soon, I’d assume. Julian makes a mean venison steak—though not as good as mine.”

  Deliberately, Julian charged his brother, slamming his shoulder into Mel’s gut and almost knocking him over. Lorelai attempted to copy the maneuver, but it wasn’t nearly as effective; Mel just watched her with a grin as she rammed herself against his shin, whining and compacting with the impact.

  Everyone filed back into the house where the kids spread out in the living room and Julian disappeared into the back room. When Sarah appeared, so did he, human and fully clothed.

  Mel was true to his word; Julian cooked up a proper meal and everyone sat around the table, yelling, chatting, and eating. By the time it was over, the sun was dipping low and Sarah was bringing out the pictures she’d promised.

  “Behold: Fifteen-year-old Mel.”

  “Gimme,” I demanded, grabbing the photo album. Twenty-year-old Julian looked good, but I couldn’t say the same for his younger brother. Mel didn’t grab the book out of my hands and burn it, but he sat off to the side, rolling his eyes and glaring his sister-in-law down. Skinny with a big head, young Mel stared out of the picture next to his attractive, lean older brother. His hair had been longer, just about shoulder length, but thin and shapeless. His fashion sense had left a lot to be desired, as well.

  Unable to resist, I snapped a picture with my phone, vowed to send it off to Chloe. As Mel announced that one picture was enough, I realized I’d somehow missed the sound of my brother’s text message.

  “Oh, he’s already emailed me the results!” I announced. Mel, seeming relieved, nodded, pulled the giant album out of my lap. I grabbed for it, intending to keep it, but Mel was quicker. He set it on a high shelf at the far end of the room and then came back to me, reaching down and grabbing my hands. Without asking, he yanked me to my feet, dragged me toward the guest rooms.

  “Well, let’s see ‘em, come on,” Mel insisted, eager to use any excuse to get me away from the album. From behind the bar, Julian looked up from washing dishes as we passed, grinned at his brother.

  “You have Wi-Fi?” I asked. Julian nodded, but didn’t say anything.

  Mel poked me in the ribs when I paused and Julian snorted, went back to cleaning up.

  “Come on, come on,” Mel chided. “The further you are from those pictures the better.”

  “I’m coming back for them,” I said as he continued to shove gently at me. I pretended to fight, making him twist and block like how I imagine a really good game of basketball would be. Finally, he realized he had the advantage: he wrapped an arm around my thighs, tossing me over his shoulder, and carrying me through the door of the bedroom. The action shocked me enough that I wasn’t really sure how to react. Sure it was probably demeaning to be carried around like a sack of potatoes, but I’d never actually had it happen to me before, so I let it go.

  The last thing I saw as we crossed the threshold was Julian smirking at me, like he knew something I didn’t.

  Mel set me down next to my bag, which was open on the floor at the foot of the bed, and stood between the door and me, arms crossed. I sighed, looking up into his blue eyes, considered making a break for it, just to annoy him. The look on his face made me think he kind of wanted me to try it. Rather than risk being trapped in his arms again, I dropped down, yanking my laptop out of the duffle, leaving its padded case on top of the pile of my clothes. I set it on the desk and waited for it to boot up as he came up behind me. I twisted enough to look up and really consider him.

  “Are you really that embarrassed at pictures of you with a big head and bad hair?”

  “Hey, my hair looked great.”

  “No, it didn’t.”

  Mel rolled his eyes, gestured when my login screen came up. I typed in the password and
then turned back to him.

  “So I shouldn’t send Chloe the picture? She and I shouldn’t call you Big Head for the rest of your life.”

  “Do whatever you feel you need to do, Chipmunk.”

  I glowered but figured we were on even footing; it was mutually assured destruction. Mel spoke again as I saved the files from my email to my desktop, opened Photoshop.

  “I just didn’t get much—well, any—action back then.”

  “No!” I said sarcastically. “Really?”

  “Hey, I get more than enough now to make up for it, now. More than more than enough, even. I mean, there’s enough, and then—”

  “I get it, you’re a big slut.”

  “Damn straight.”

  I had to edit out my brother’s weight and height and fix them to match Mel’s, but I was pretty proud of the results after I was done. Mel sat behind me—giving me personal space, surprisingly—and ruthlessly critiqued when he didn’t think something I was editing in looked natural. By the time we were done, we had printed the form out and I personally couldn’t tell the difference from what Thomas had emailed me. Leaving the papers on the shelf next to my bag, I turned to face Mel.

  “So what’s the plan for the rest of this sham?”

  “We get in there tomorrow, answer some questions, and hope we can get the guy to give us a tour.”

  “I don’t think the tour will include the dungeon where he’s keeping these people.”

  “No, but I’ll be able to smell where they’ve been.”

  “How? You don’t even know them.”

  “I have my ways,” he said haughtily, nose to the sky. I rolled my eyes, glanced at the time and realized I’d been up for fifteen hours. I felt like I should have been more tired, but the puppy energy was still high and apparently getting to me.

  “We should probably talk more about what we’re saying in therapy,” I said after a moment.

  “Meaning?”

  “Well, we got away with generalities today, but if he’s even halfway decent, he’s going to know there’s nothing going on between us other than a general sense of disgust from me to you.”