Damian's Wolf - 30. Meet the Parents

The drive through the mountains was made in painful silence, Jordan thinking of the time he had spent as Blanche’s employee. She had been one of the nicest people he knew. Was she dead because he had come out as a wolf? The very thought was unbearable.

He didn’t want to turn on the radio to drown out his thoughts though. It felt disrespectful to the dead. No, suffering in silence seemed the right way to handle this.

As soon as that thought came into his head, Lysander’s phone began ringing, the cheerful tones of an Elven folk song playing through the car. The elf tugged the phone out of his pocket, handing it to Jordan as the car turned along the road.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Lysander?”

He recognised the voice of Ryan Corius on the other end of the phone, the wolf sounding grim.

“No, he’s driving at the moment. This is Jordan.”

“Okay, can you pass along a message for me, please? There have been a lot of wolf-related crimes lately. I am advising that all wolves leave the pack complex with another wolf if you have to go out.”

“Yeah, I can tell him that. Do they know who’s behind it?”

“At this point, we’re thinking it’s a gang of anti-wolf terrorists. They’ve been working to get the king to ban wolves from the city for years.”

“And so they start burning shit down and murdering people…” Jordan growled.

“It was only a matter of time before things got violent. If confronted by any of them, just walk away. Do not go picking a fight.”

“I understand. And I’ll make sure Lysander does as well.”

“Good. And Jordan? I am officially granting you and your mate the protection of the North Astaran pack.”

“Thank you,” Jordan said, the phone going dead as soon as the words left his mouth.

He wasn’t sure what protection the pack could offer if any of them got in trouble, but at least they had someone behind them.

“So, Ryan is encouraging everyone leaving the complex to travel in a group,” he said, setting the phone on the dashboard.

The elf nodded, passing a truck carefully.

“I don’t know that I want you and Damian working right now,” he said. “Someone was at the bake sale yesterday. Someone had to be if this is wolf-related.”

“I did see someone leering at Damian, but he isn’t a wolf.”

“Yet. We’re about thirty minutes from Ceos.”

“Should we stop for dinner?”

“Well, we’ll probably have to change Dylan soon. I’ll call my esul and see what she suggests. There’s a rest stop just up ahead,” Lysander said.

The mountain air was chilly, Jordan’s arms filling with goosebumps almost as soon as he stepped out of the car. Damian silently made his way to the restroom, Jordan unbuckling Dylan so the neko could be changed.

“Etul? Neya, enu ek geyn du enarl ey. Nela, zi avor sutalan, eim lanela. Zi avor deculo Mydara, teren zi eguln aenfer zi gelu keir?” Lysander asked into his phone.

Jordan looked down at Dylan with a small smile.

“You know, you are going to be one spoiled kid,” he said. “You have three dads who love you, an entire pack who will probably look out for you… I kind of envy you.”

“Sutalan, zi eln aen keir falv. Geyn yal Etul.”

Lysander hung up as Jordan pulled Dylan’s clothes back on the neko.

“My esul is making an early dinner for us so we have plenty of time to talk before the moon hits,” he said. “How are you doing?”

Jordan shrugged, his hand closing over the amulet that hung from his neck.

“Why are people dying around me? Who’s next? You? Damian? Is this all that I will have to remind me of my love?” he demanded, holding up the necklace.

“It isn’t your fault. None of this is. And you shouldn’t think that it is. Whoever this is seems to have gotten it into their mind that they should hunt all wolves, not just you.”

“She wasn’t even a wolf. That’s what I don’t get. Did they kill her just because she ran a store where wolves were welcome?”

“I don’t know. And we can drive ourselves crazy wondering why an innocent woman was murdered without ever figuring out the reason. That isn’t really a road I want to go down.”

Lysander let out a quiet sigh, leaning against the car.

“I did my share of wondering after Jacob’s murder. I don’t want to go back there. I would much rather remember Blanche Reyla as she was, a kind-hearted woman who meant a lot to both you and Damian.”

Jordan picked up Dylan, bouncing him lightly in his arms. The neko gurgled quietly, the wolf wiping drool from his mouth. Damian approached them, his eyes red and blotchy.

“Come here mei Kalael,” Lysander said, taking the neko in his arms. “I love you both. You were here for me with Sara, and I’m here for you now.”

“I just… I can’t believe she’s gone…” Damian hiccoughed. “She was so nice to us.”

Lysander just held his mate, letting Damian get all his grief out.

An hour later, they pulled up to a large house, Jordan and Damian staring at the building in surprise. Kneeling in the front yard, an elf was pulling weeds, separating dandelions from the rest of the grass. He stood up at the sound of the car, his amber skin glowing in the mid-afternoon sunlight.

“Lysander, mei serael!” he called with a smile as Lysander stepped out of the car.

Jordan followed Lysander out of the car, standing nervously beside Damian, who ducked into the car to get Dylan’s bassinet out. He had never met his lover’s parents before. And meeting the parents of one of his mates seemed even worse than meeting a normal lover’s parents.

“Ek tel mei sael serael?”

“Neya. Etul, this is Jordan and Damian,” Lysander introduced. “And this is our son.”

The older elf peered into the bassinet, staring at Dylan with a big grin on his face.

“He is adorel,” he announced in a thick accent. “It is a pleasure to meet both of you.”

“You as well, Evuna,” Jordan said with a slight head bow.

“Mei areula is getting krieguln ready,” the elf added, motioning toward the front door.

Jordan helped Lysander pull their bags out of the car and followed Damian into the house. They found themself in a short hall, a staircase straight ahead. Two openings sat on either side of the hall, and a third led to a back door beyond the stairs.

“Esul? Zi avor enarle!” Lysander called.

“Eim me erl te egulen!” a high pitched voice replied, coming from the room to their right.

Jordan turned to Lysander’s father as his mates went into the room.

“Where would you like me to put our bags?” he asked.

“We made a room for ey ena. Follow me.”

The man followed the elf upstairs and into a room with a nice view of the mountains and a rather small bed. He wasn’t sure the three of them would fit in it, but Jordan supposed they’d handle that problem when they got to it.

“Terna ey,” he said with a small nod toward the elf, setting the bags beside the bed.

“You are welcome. Has mei serael been treating you well?”

“He’s been amazing,” Jordan replied honestly.

“Geyn. We never thought he would find his mate this early. And to be av etul at this age too. It is not believable.”

“Yeah, I was rather surprised by it too. We love our little Dylan though.”

“You are very kind to put up with his evoen.”

“His what?”

The elf frowned.

“His… other person? The neko. I do not know what Lysander is thinking, living with him.”

“Sir, Damian is his mate,” Jordan said. “And if anyone is responsible for Damian living with us, it’s me.”

“He is not seidur. Nekos can not have mates. It is not reina.”

“Sei ek mei areula.”

Jordan spun around. Lysander was standing in the door, glaring at his father.

“Serael-”

“Eim areul sei avan eim areul Jordan. Ey eln weirlen san du vey belev,” Lysander growled.

“Eyn esul veig eim eto skeil ek geyn-”

“Apologise!”

Jordan flinched at Lysander’s yell, his mate slapping his hand on the wall.

“Cal nela weirlen du eim aral tel-”

Lysander pushed past Jordan, grabbing the bags the man had just set down.

“Get Damian and Dylan. We’re leaving,” he said.

They drove in silence through the city, neither Damian nor Jordan wanting to disturb Lysander. The elf was pissed, and it scared Jordan, so much so that the human was the one behind the wheel, his mate glowering in the seat beside him.

“Turn here,” Lysander growled.

Jordan frowned at the gated complex, a sign proclaiming the place the Esan Seidur Heyno.

“Is this a pack-”

“It is a pack house. We’ll request sanctuary here for a night. They’ve offered it to me before.”

His tone made it clear he would not allow an argument. And looking up at the sky, Jordan figured they had at best one more hour before they wolfed out. He certainly didn’t know the city like Lysander did.

Pulling up to the guardhouse, Jordan frowned as Lysander got out of the car. The elf walked around to the guardhouse, talking with an elf inside. A minute later, he reentered the car, closing the door with a quietness that worried Jordan.

“Pull up to the third spot from the wall.”

Jordan did as he was told, shutting off the car. They sat quietly for a moment, no one moving.

“Lysander?” Damian said nervously.

“No Damian, I’m not blaming you for this. You are both my mates,” the elf sighed heavily. “I’m sorry for bringing you two out here. It was a mistake.”

“Where are we going?” Jordan asked.

“They offered us a room for the night. You and I will wolf out in the bathroom, and when we are able, we’ll drive home.”

“I thought rooms were for pack members.”

“My parents are members,” Lysander said. “Letting me stay here is considered a courtesy to them.”

The elf’s phone rang, the sound filling the car. He leaned against the window, ignoring it.

“Your mother-” Damian started.

“Mei esul stood there without saying a word as we left,” Lysander said sharply. “She didn’t ask us to stay, didn’t say anything to mei etul-”

“So you say she’s guilty by association,” Jordan said.

“I don’t want to talk about this! Why are you pushing it?”

“Because I always thought you had a good relationship with your parents. I don’t have that. And I wouldn’t want you to throw that away,” Jordan replied.

“He insulted Damian, and he would not apologise to him. I don’t care if he’s my etul, I will not let him get away with that!”

A cry pierced through Lysander’s words, Dylan deciding he’d had enough of the loud voices. Damian lifted his son out of his seat, trying to soothe him quietly.

“Don’t you care that our mate was attacked?” Lysander said.

“Yes, and if I hadn’t been a guest in your parents house, you can bet I would have been harsher with my words. I guess I picked up a little restraint from you,” Jordan replied quietly.

Lysander’s phone rang again, and the elf sighed, pulling it out of his pocket. He stared at the screen for a moment as it rang, his finger hovering over it. Finally he answered.

“Skeil?”

Jordan opened the car door, motioning for Damian to follow him outside. They stood away from the car, Damian bouncing Dylan gently in his arms.

“You don’t seem that upset by this,” Jordan observed.

“Why would I be? I know we’re probably not true mates,” Damian shrugged.

“Why would you say that?”

“Jordan, do you remember when you saw Lysander? You instantly knew he was your mate. You only claimed me as a mate because I would have been homeless if you hadn’t. His father was right.”

“Damian…”

“No, I know you love me Jordan. I love you too. I just… don’t think we were fated for each other.”

Jordan reached for the necklace he hadn’t removed since Damian gave it to him. This sounded like the neko was breaking up with him, and it hurt.

“Are you leaving us?”

Damian’s eyes widened.

“No! Not at all!” he said quickly. “I couldn’t bear to leave you. I’m just saying that you and Lysander seem to have a bond that we don’t.”

“Listen Damian, I’m only going to say this once. I claimed you as my mate. That makes us mates. And we do not need any magic wolf shit to make it true,” Jordan said quietly. “You are my mate because I love you. I love Lysander because he is my mate. Neither one of you will ever have any less of my love than the other.”

The car opened suddenly, Lysander stepping out with a sigh. He looked up at the sky, then back at his mates.

“Mei esul kicked him out of the house until he apologizes. She says we are all welcome there,” he said. “If we are quick, we can make it back before the moon rises.”

“Is that what you want?” Damian asked.

“At this point, I have no idea. But it would be better than going back to Astara tomorrow,” the elf shrugged.

“Let’s drive then,” Jordan said.