It’d been over a year since I last saw the dirt track that we called a driveway. A twinge of homesickness pulled at me as I turned the truck onto the rutted path. Werewolves weren’t meant for solitary lives. We needed to be around our own kind. To belong to something. The Army had filled that void at first, but the longer I’d stayed away, the more I’d missed the woods and running in my fur.
Michelle fidgeted, drawing my attention. She was nervous. I’d smelled the change as soon as she’d said to drive on and had hoped that seeing the place would ease her concerns. However, the branches scraping the roof of the truck probably weren’t giving a good first impression.
But, my home was more than a building and overgrown property. When the house came into view, some of the tension in me eased because, inside were the two people who made this place home. Jim and Winifred. Mom had once told me Winifred had helped her understand our ways. I hoped Winifred would be able to do the same for Michelle.
I looked at the three-story plantation style home with a sense of pride. Michelle and the boys would have plenty of room. The house was meant for families.
I parked near the back porch and cut the engine. Liam’s inquisitive study of the place made me smile.
“Welcome home.”
I looked at Michelle and found her watching me. She was scared.
“Everything will be fine. I promise you’re safe here.”
She nodded, but her scent didn’t change as she opened the door and started helping the boys down.
I watched the three of them study the yard as if it were the first one they’d ever seen. Most of the grass had just been cut. I hadn’t exaggerated when I’d said there was a lot of it. As big as a baseball field, at least. And all surrounded by woods. Closed in and safe.
From inside the house, I heard Jim’s “about time” a second before the back door opened. He strode out with a goofy grin on his face. I couldn’t help but return it. I’d missed my brother.
“Emmitt! About time they let you go,” he said as he jumped off the porch.
I met him halfway, hugging him with a slap on his back. He grunted and gave one back. I pulled away before he started something and grinned at him.
The wind shifted just then, and I breathed in the scents of the trio’s fear. Jim inhaled, too, and gave me a knowing look before I turned toward Michelle.
“Jim, this is Michelle and her two brothers, Liam and Aden. Michelle, this is my brother, Jim.”
Winifred came out of the house just then, looking the picture of a human’s grandma. She’d even twisted her hair back into a bun. I heard Jim chuckle under his breath and elbowed him.
Winifred came to give me a hug. There was no backslapping.
“It’s so good to see you,” she said. Then she turned to Michelle and the boys. “I’m Winifred, but everyone calls me Nana Wini.”
“This is Michelle,” I said.
Michelle held out her hand, and Winifred shook it.
“I’m so glad Emmitt brought someone with him,” Winifred said a second before she bent and pulled both boys into a brief, tight hug. The two of them looked like their eyes would pop as they stood, staring up at her.
“I have to say, I always thought it would be Jim who brought someone home first.”
What was she doing?
“Nana—”
“But, I’m very happy. How long have you two been together?”
Michelle looked at me, her face flushed scarlet.
“Two blissful days, Nana,” I said. She knew darn well how long. You’re not helping, I sent to her before speaking aloud. “Michelle and her brothers need a place to lay low.”
Nana looked over her shoulder at me. I knew that deadpan look. It was a warning to keep my mouth shut. She didn’t understand just how scared Michelle was, though.
“She needs us,” I said. She just needs time to understand that, I added over our mental link.
“Of course she does,” Nana said aloud, turning back to Michelle. “Since you’re not with Emmitt, would you be interested in going out with my nephew Cameron?”
“Nana!” I said. You don’t have a nephew.
She laughed.
“It’s good to have you home, Emmitt. Jim’s been good company, but these young men are going to be a welcome distraction from the monotony around here.” She held out a hand for each boy. “Let’s go in and have dinner. After that, I’ll see if I can find any of Jim and Emmitt’s old toys. Believe it or not, they used to be small like you two, and loved playing. Still do. So, you better keep an eye on the things I give you. They’re likely to try to convince you to let them play, too.”
The boys looked back at Michelle, clearly not ready to trust Winifred.
“We’ll follow you in,” Michelle said.
They’re this reserved all the time? Winifred asked silently.
Yes.
Nana led the way to the house, and Jim stayed back with me to study the three as they went inside.
“We tried to clean the place up a bit,” he said softly.
I nodded, knowing they’d done what they could. When I’d left, the place had been a huge, run-down old house. Now, it was a little less run-down and split into six apartments, two on each level.
Stepping inside, I looked around. The oversized door opened into a large entry, where Winifred and Jim had refinished the wood floor. There wasn’t much in it, so each step echoed. The grand staircase helped divide the house in half. At the bottom of the stairs, the door on the left led to Jim’s place and the door on right stood open.
Winifred led them into her cozy apartment. The living room was decorated in the same familiar rose and cream colors. Knickknacks adorned the bookcase, and pictures of nature scenes hung on the walls.
She waved for Michelle and the boys to follow her into the yellow kitchen. Jim inhaled deeply, as if trying to use his nose to vacuum in the cookies Winifred was baking.
The boys sniffed the air too, eagerly looking around.
Nana laughed at their expressions and handed Aden forks.
“If you help set the table, I’ll give you the big cookie I made for Jim,” Nana said to Aden. Then, she handed Liam the plates with a promise that he’d receive the other big cookie she’d made for Jim.
Winifred, I—
Emmitt, I know what I’m doing. Giving them tasks will help them feel like they belong.
Liam and Aden looked to Michelle for approval before doing as Winifred asked.
Jim elbowed me then moved to sit at the table. I followed, knowing he was up to something that would probably get us both into trouble.
Aden and Liam eyed us as they quietly set plates before each chair. Jim openly studied the pair in return. He didn’t have a serious bone in his body so the boys didn’t seem to mind him. But, they still tensed around me.
When Aden set a fork next to my plate, Jim reached over and moved it so it was at an angle. He did the same with the spoon so my plate looked like it had a set of ears. I turned Jim’s plate upside down.
Jim put Michelle’s silverware outward so they were like arms.
Liam tentatively reached out to straighten the fork.
“Can I help with anything?” Michelle said, turning back toward Nana.
Winifred shook her head. “You just sit.”
I immediately scooted the chair next to me out from the table. Michelle glanced at the open seat, clearly uncomfortable. Her blue eyes darted to me. I smiled, trying to reassure her.
Her scent changed ever so slightly as it had back in the hotel room. Then, she blushed.
I tried to stay calm. I tried to play it cool. But, now I knew. When she smelled like pancakes with syrup, she was noticing me. Thinking of me. As a Mate.
I didn’t realize I was staring at her until Jim kicked my chair. Clearing my throat, I looked away.
Winifred removed a pan loaded with baked chicken pieces from the oven, along with a side of rice and buttered corn. Michelle gave the large portions a double take.
“If you’re lucky, they’ll leave some for you,” Winifred said with a laugh.
“Maybe not,” Jim said, giving Aden a wink when he saw he had the boy’s attention.
“Liam, Aden, you had better pass your plates down. I’ll fill them before Jim fills his,” I said.
“More,” Jim said, under his breath, when I would have stopped serving up Aden’s plate.
I added extra, already knowing what he would do.
As soon as the boys had their food, Jim reached over and stole a chicken wing from Aden. Jim had been stealing foods off plates since he was old enough to reach them. Stealth was the key. And, he had it. One minute Aden was forking in a bite of corn, the next he was staring at his plate in puzzlement.
He glanced at Jim, who was happily munching on a chicken wing. A second later, the boy nudged his plate further from Jim.
I wanted to laugh. The meal was perfect, just like the company.
When we finished everything on the table, we worked together to clean up. Winifred insisted on washing so Michelle and the boys could get settled in. Jim offered to give a tour of my apartment.
“You don’t want to give the tour?” Michelle asked, looking at me.
“I haven’t seen it yet. The last time I was here, it wasn’t finished.”
Jim led the way out to the main hall.
“All the way at the top,” he said to the boys. “Penthouse suite.”
The boys jogged up the stairs, never going too far ahead of their sister. At the top, the pair turned and watched us, their guilty expressions not making sense. My new family was complicated.
Jim opened the apartment door with a flourish. Michelle tried to step back to let me in first, but I shook my head.
“You and your brothers can stay here. I’ll stay downstairs with Jim. So go ahead and have a look around.”
She seemed shocked by the offer. Had she thought I would stay with her? I wanted to kick myself. Was it too late to take it back?
Before I could say anything, her scent sweetened with excitement, and she nodded and stepped through the door.
Damn.
Jim grinned knowingly at me. I gave him a light shove and stepped inside to follow her.
The main door led to a living room similar to Nana Wini’s. Unlike Nana’s place, no wall divided the kitchen and the living room.
“I decorated,” Jim said with false pride. The humor wafting from him made me want to groan as I eyed the battered sofa and the lamp that was on the floor beside it.
“Where’d you shop?” I said under my breath. “A dumpster?”
Michelle glanced at an old tube television that sat on a worn breakfast cart with wheels, then moved on to the kitchen. There wasn’t much to look at. The area had a breakfast bar with two mismatched stools, a fridge, a stove, and a microwave. The trio quickly moved down the hall.
The first room had a new queen-sized bed.
“I made the master bedroom into a weight room combination office,” Jim said with a huge grin.
“I bet.”
Michelle’s expression was priceless when she saw the free weights on the floor and an office chair in the corner. Nothing else.
I laughed and shook my head at Jim.
“We’ll get better furniture soon,” I told her.
“No, everything’s perfect,” she said.
Her steady pulse told me she really believed her words. Where had she come from that this was perfect?
“I’ll run down and get your things,” I said, pulling Jim along with me.
Jim waved good night to the boys, who stood staring at us.
I purposely left the door open as we left and almost regretted it.
“She’s hot,” Jim said in a normal voice.
I tried to hit him, but he dodged and took off down the stairs. I followed, almost catching him at the landing.
“I would think the two of you would have something better to do than chase each other,” Winifred said from her living room.
“Yes, Nana,” Jim said innocently and without stopping.
He and I reached the truck at the same time.
“So how’d you meet? Any more like her?” Jim said, leaning against the truck as I went to the back to lift my bike down.
“The same day I called you, I stopped at some little diner. She and her brothers came in as I was eating.”
“And was it like Dad said? You just knew?”
I set the bike on the ground and nodded.
“Yeah. One look and I knew. Then her scent…it was like I’d found home.”
“Wow. That’s really sappy.”
“Shut up.” I took the car seats out of the truck bed next.
“Want me to put the bike in the garage for you?”
“I don’t want you touching my bike.”
“Want me to bring Michelle her toothbrush?” he asked, reaching in the bed to grab the plastic bag
“I want you to go steal us some cookies and change the sheets on your spare bed.”
Jim laughed and sauntered away.
After I parked the bike in the garage and stowed the car seats, I brought the bag to the apartment. The door was still open but there weren’t any sounds coming from inside. I tapped on the door as I looked in.
They were just standing in the center of the room, studying the place like it was a palace.
I need to get them decent furniture, I sent to Winifred.
I agree. However, I don’t think you should purchase any for that apartment. The one across the hall is bigger and will work better for a growing family.
The one across the hall isn’t finished.
Do you have something better to do with your time?
She had a point. Now that Michelle and her brothers were here, I didn’t want to leave them every day to go work with Jim. Not until they were truly settled in.
“Here are your things,” I said when Michelle turned to look at me.
“Thank you, Emmitt.”
She came to take the bag from me and our hands touched briefly. It was lightning to my gut. I wanted more. But, she turned away to hand the bag to Liam.
“Can you put these in the bathroom?”
When I had her attention once more, I could see the weary set of her shoulders.
“Good night, Michelle. Come downstairs if you need anything.”
She nodded and shut the door.
* * * *
I stayed up long after Jim went to bed. Our apartment door was open, and I was listening. I figured the first night in a strange place might cause some problems. Maybe one of the boys would have a bad dream, and Michelle would need help.
The truth was that I couldn’t sleep. That touch had started a fire that wasn’t dying down. I wanted to see her, smell her, just be close to her. Instead, I was two stories away, sitting on my brother’s crappy couch.
I sighed and let my head fall back. Jim’s snores drifted from his room, making me grin. He could sleep through anything. Mom said it was because he had a carefree soul. Uncle Grey said it was because Jim knew his path. Whichever it was, I envied him at times.
A slight noise caught my attention. I moved from the couch to the door, tilting my head to listen. Someone was moving around upstairs. I silently sprinted up the steps. Just on the other side of the door, I heard the rapid beat of a heart.
I breathed deeply, smelling Michelle’s terror.
There were no other sounds. No one else was awake.
I tapped on the door.
“Michelle?” I said softly.
The door opened a second later. She was pale, shaking, and still dressed in her jeans and shirt. Her hair was a little mussed so I knew she’d been sleeping before something woke her.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. I heard someone moving around up here and wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
She swallowed, and I could see her try to pull herself together.
“The walls are that thin?”
I shrugged. “I have good hearing and couldn’t sleep either.”
She looked away and didn’t say anything more. I wanted to pull her into my arms and hold her close. I wanted to breathe in her scent and tell her everything would be all right. Somehow, I doubted she’d accept my touch or my words. So, I tried offering what she might agree to.
“Do you want to come down for pancakes tomorrow morning?” I asked.
She nodded, making me happy.
“Okay, then. I’ll see you in the morning.” Reluctantly, I turned and went back down the stairs.
