Brothers - 32. Chapter 32

DEVYN

He stared at the phone in confusion, not sure what Jason wanted him to do with it. The neko’s signing wasn’t helping, and Devyn had no idea who he was supposed to call.

Jason let out a heavy sigh, pulling the phone out of his hands. The neko scrolled through it, tapping a couple of times before shoving it back into the wolf’s grip.

Devyn frowned as he held the phone to his ear, his nose wriggling at the sudden scent of spices. He glanced at Jason in alarm as a voice came through the phone.

“Devyn? I thought you were still with Etul and Papa,” Dylan said.

The wolf scowled at the neko, Jason’s mouth moving silently as he pointed toward the phone.

“Devyn?”

“There was an accident. Lysander was hit by a car. I don’t know if he’s okay, but he told me to go home.”

He winced at a thump that echoed through the phone, holding it away from his ear. There was a sudden beep, the connection ended from the other side, and he frowned at Jason in confusion. The neko signed with a strange smirk on his face, Devyn wondering why he was smiling at a time like this. He was almost certain Margaret was cooking downstairs when she wasn’t even supposed to be in the house, Lysander was paralyzed, and Jason was smiling. It made no sense.

But before he could question his brother, the phone rang again, Devyn fumbling with it as he tried to figure out how to answer it.

“Jason?”

Richard’s voice came through the phone, strained with worry.

“No?” Devyn frowned, his head starting to hurt.

“Oh, Devyn, good. Look, I just got off the phone with your mom. She’s going to take care of you and Jason for a while.”

The wolf growled through the phone, Richard’s voice sharpening.

“Don’t take that tone with me Devyn. There’s nothing I can do. Lysander’s hurt, and I can’t leave you and Jason home alone. I won’t be back until late next week; I’m on my way to Mydara right now and there’s no way I can get home. This is the only thing I can think of. Besides, Margaret said she’s going to therapy. I’m sure it will be okay.”

“She pushed him down the stairs. She hurt him, Dad. I don’t want to be around her.”

“What do you want me to do Devyn? I can’t not work, and you can’t go out on your own.”

“Why not?”

“For the love of the gods Devyn, you were almost hit by a car tonight, and they just drove off free! There’s literally no way to find them! You’re in danger, and you need someone around you who can keep you safe. I can’t make Jason do that, he has his own life to live.”

“I’ll go stay with Dylan-”

“No you will not. You will not intrude on the Ethises right now, not when they’re dealing with their own issues. Just… give me the week and I’ll figure something out. Until then, listen to your mom.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Do it anyways. Please Devyn, none of us like this, but it has to happen. Come up with a better solution and I’ll be glad to talk about it-”

“To tell me why it is bad,” Devyn grumbled.

“Look, I’m not arguing with you right now. I don’t care if you like it or not, this is the best solution I have to this problem and you’re just going to have to deal with it.”

“Jason said she did it,” Devyn protested. “He said she wanted back in and she made it happen.”

“Jason has a good imagination,” Richard said. “Tell me something, why would your mother try to hurt you if she wanted to keep you safe? It makes no sense.”

The wolf looked at his brother, blinking rapidly to try to clear the memory of Jason lying broken on the ground from his mind.

“I need to go, Devyn. I have to log another five hours tonight before I can take a break,” Richard said through the phone. “I promise we’ll figure this out later. I love you both.”

The phone went silent, and Devyn pulled it away from his ear, scowling at the screen. Tossing the device on Jason’s bed, the wolf let out a low growl, dropping to the ground and curling up.

Jason was by his side an instant later, a hand running down his brother’s bare back. Devyn was grateful for the touch, a pet was a pet no matter the form he was in.

“We’re stuck with her,” he muttered. “He wants us to live with her for the next week.”

Jason winced at the news, his eyes travelling to the door. Sighing quietly, the neko stood up, and began gathering his things into his bag. Devyn frowned at him as his brother threw a blanket around his shoulders before grabbing his bag and Elroy.

“What are you doing?” the wolf asked uncertainly.

Jason motioned to the ground floor, squaring his shoulders with a deep breath before opening the door.

Devyn grabbed his cane, following his brother from the room as the neko headed for the stairs. Taking the treacherous path one step at a time, they paused on the ground floor, Devyn’s nose picking out a relatively bland dinner cooking in the kitchen. Jason turned away from the kitchen, stepping into the living room to set his bag beside the couch. The blanket went over the furniture, and he dropped down on it, adjusting his body until the new bed was comfortable.

“Oh. I’m staying here with you then,” Devyn said.

The neko motioned toward him, pointing back upstairs before ruffling his clothes, and the wolf let out a sigh. No more nudity. He couldn’t give his mother something to complain about.

“Fine,” he muttered, limping back toward the stairs. “But I’m sleeping down here with you.”

JASON

The neko closed the front door loudly, body tense as he prepared to come face to face with the woman who had paralyzed him. Devyn was gone for the moment, and it was better to deal with this now without the wolf trying to defend him.

“Dinner’s almost ready.”

He nearly jumped out of his fur at her voice, taking a deep breath as he turned toward the kitchen. Jason glanced away from Margaret warily, and she let out a sigh.

“Oh stop acting like I’m going to beat you. It was an accident. I’m sorry. Where’s Devyn?”

‘Upstairs getting dressed.’

“Well tell him to hurry up. You two need to be in bed early tonight.”

Jason shrugged, looking toward the stairs with his fur puffing out. He was not about to go up them with Margaret here.

Instead, the neko pulled his phone out, turning back toward the door as Margaret retreated back into the kitchen. He stepped outside, light shining on the pavement as he looked around. If he could find Devyn’s money, they could still visit Lysander tomorrow. Somehow he doubted Margaret was going to drive them to the hospital.

But there were no coins. Granted, he didn’t know where Devyn had run into Erith. It was entirely possible he was completely missing the spot, but it still left a bad taste in his mouth. He couldn’t help blaming everything on Margaret, and while Jason knew that was probably unfair, he wasn’t exactly sure how to stop.

“Jason?”

The neko glanced up in surprise, finding Brienne standing on the sidewalk. Hurrying toward her, Jason switched apps on his phone, typing quickly.

“What are you doing here?”

“Dylan told me about his father. I… wasn’t exactly sure where to go, but I figured he probably wouldn’t want me around right now.”

She looked small, uncertain, nothing like the Brienne Jason knew, and the neko threw his arms around her, hugging her even as he continued typing.

“I’m so sorry Brienne. For everything.”

“Yeah, tonight’s been kind of a shit show,” the girl chuckled quietly. “Not that I’m blaming you. I mean, I get it, you didn’t really seem that into me anyway.”

Jason shrugged, pulling away. He didn’t really know how to reply to that. Was he into her? It was irrelevant now; Devyn had claimed him.

“Is Devyn okay? Dylan said he was with his father when it happened,” Brienne said.

“Yeah. He doesn’t seem to be too affected by it. Probably forgot it to be honest.”

“Why would you think that?”

“He’s a wolf. They don’t have good memories,” the phone replied in its monotone.

“Oh… I guess that makes sense. Look… I don’t think I’m going to make it to the meet tomorrow. I want to check on Dylan.”

Jason nodded.

“Devyn and I are planning on visiting Lysander tomorrow afternoon, if we can figure out what he did with his money.”

“Will he be able to visit? I thought the new moon was tomorrow, and he always seems to be a wolf during the moon phases,” Brienne frowned.

“He should be able to. The moon won’t hit until nearly six tomorrow night, from what I’ve read.”

He frowned slightly, staring at his phone before typing again.

“Do you want to come in and have dinner? I made sure Devyn got dressed.”

“Are you sure?” Brienne asked dubiously. “Won’t it be weird?”

“Why? You’re still my friend, right?”

Brienne nodded slowly.

“Yeah… but I think maybe some other time,” she said. “Thanks though. I’ll let you get back to your dinner.”

She hugged Jason again, before walking away, and the neko let out a quiet sigh, setting his phone in his pocket. Stepping back inside, Jason headed into the kitchen, grabbing a trio of plates and carrying them to the dining room.

Devyn joined him a moment later, the wolf helping the neko set the table. Within minutes, the table was filled with pasta and fruit, Margaret setting small plates in front of them both.

“So Devyn. I heard you got a job,” she said, sitting down across from the two.

The wolf nodded, pasta already disappearing in his mouth.

“Sounds like you want to be treated like an adult. A human adult,” Margaret added. “And adults have to pay rent. For the pack house, it’s five gold a month. So I think four is reasonable since we’re family.”

Instantly Jason’s ears flattened, the neko staring down at his plate. This was not going to end well. With every moment that passed, Margaret just made things worse.

Devyn shrugged, still chasing his food, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his mother had just claimed every copper he would be earning at his job. Jason wasn’t the most knowledgeable about rent, but he could have sworn the highest was four gold a month for the rich part of town. Margaret wasn’t even trying to be subtle.

“And the bedding on the couch, that has to go.”

“We’re sleeping downstairs,” Devyn said around his food.

“No, you have bedrooms and you will use them.”

“Jason is scared of the stairs. He hasn’t gone upstairs since you left.”

The neko frowned, picking at his pasta as the two argued over him. He knew this was going to happen. Devyn had a taste of freedom, and he was not about to give that up easily, even if it was just over where he was sleeping.

“Jason needs to get over his fear,” Margaret scowled. “It was an accident, it could have happened to anyone.”

“He’s been afraid of the stairs since he got here. Getting pushed down them only made the fear worse. I helped him though; he can sit on the fourth step now,” Devyn said proudly.

“Really. And how is he showering, if he can’t go upstairs?”

‘School,’ Jason signed. ‘I shower after my practices.’

He refused to meet the glare he knew was aimed at him. It was a dangerous game they were playing here, but he prayed that it would work. The neko did not want to deal with the stairs while Margaret was in the house. Eventually, he had no doubt their lie would be caught-

“I can smell you lying,” the werewolf said suddenly. “Both of you. And I don’t know why. If you want to sleep on a couch instead of your bed, fine. But don’t you dare sit there and lie to my face. Devyn, you are not sleeping with Jason. I’m not having you turn him.”

Jason flinched at the words, his eyes flicking over to the wolf. A low growl was rumbling from Devyn’s throat, bits of pasta spraying from his mouth.

“I’m not going to fuck Jason,” he snarled. “He’s dating someone else, and I’m not going to hurt him.”

“Well excuse me for treating you like I would treat any wolf. I thought that’s what you were, a wolf,” Margaret growled back at him.

“You called me a human, and now you’re saying I’m a wolf. I don’t understand.”

Jason stood up, carrying his plate into the kitchen as the two argued. He couldn’t handle a fight right now. Washing the plate off, he headed back into the living room, staring at the blanket on the couch. A silent sigh escaped him, and he gathered the blanket up, before carrying everything back upstairs in defeat.

DEVYN

The wolf limped into Jason’s room silently, maneuvering through the darkness as carefully as he could. Margaret had already stopped by, presumably to make sure they were sleeping in their own beds. The benefit of having their rooms connected; he could just come over to Jason’s room whenever he felt like it.

He was still not happy that she was trying to keep them apart though.

A light turned on suddenly, Jason’s phone shining over the neko’s face as he typed.

“We can’t do this, Devyn. She’s going to get pissed at us again.”

“I can’t sleep without you,” the wolf scowled, crawling into his brother’s bed. “I don’t care if she gets mad.”

“I have an idea, but I don’t think you’re going to like it,” Jason typed out.

“Your ideas get us in trouble,” Devyn said, curling up against the neko’s bare torso. “I just want to lay with you. I won’t fuck you.”

“But you claimed me.”

“Yes.”

There was a moment of silence, Jason’s face a mixture of emotions. Devyn sniffed at the uncertain arousal, Jason’s body giving off the best scents he had smelled in a while.

“Do.”

The phone fell silent again, as though Jason was afraid to type the rest of the sentence. But a moment later, the words came out.

“Do you want me to fuck you?”

“Yes,” Devyn said firmly. “I don’t want to turn you, and we can mate just fine if you take me.”

“I don’t know if I can do that, Devyn. It feels wrong to do that to a wolf.”

“But it’s me. I’m the wolf. You were okay with me fucking you, so why can’t you fuck me? We’re talking about it, we both want it, right?”

It was the only reason he could think of that would make it not okay, if Jason didn’t want to mate with him. But the neko did; he could smell it. Why did it matter what form Devyn was in when the neko bred him? His wolf form just felt more natural. He was a wolf, and he wanted to be taken as a wolf.

“But… I guess if you wanted, I could try to do it as a human,” he grumbled quietly.

Jason shrugged helplessly, sharp nerves souring the bouquet of smells pouring from him.

“Not now. Not with Margaret here,” he typed out.

Devyn nodded in agreement. He was not about to have his mom walk in on them. It wasn’t embarrassing; he didn’t care who watched. But the thought of what she might do to them… that scared him.

“Erith likes you,” Jason typed.

“I know, but he said he’ll let me have you instead. I don’t think he wants to claim me. I’m not his mate.”

“You could be though.”

Devyn frowned, trying to think. He remembered the wolf’s scent, not a bad scent, but it didn’t get his blood racing like Jason’s smell did. He felt… almost like Erith was close to Blake. Like someone he needed to help, to protect, but there was certainly no mating urge with him. Maybe it would be nice if Erith claimed him, but it wouldn’t be a true mating.

No, it would be nice to have a strong wolf breed him. And Erith was definitely a strong wolf, even if he was confusing.

“I… think I would let him breed me,” the wolf said thoughtfully. “He’s a good wolf; he just smells a little off sometimes.”

“Like he doesn’t exactly know what he’s doing. Or why,” the phone agreed.

Devyn huffed quietly, wrapping a leg around Jason. His rod poked into the neko’s butt, Jason letting out a silent breath as he shifted slightly.

“Are you comfortable? I don’t mind you sleeping in wolf form.”

The wolf mumbled quietly, pulling away as Jason set his phone aside. A rolling crunch of shifting bones broke the silence of the room, and Devyn stepped over Jason before plopping down in the neko’s arms. He felt his brother wrap around him, Jason letting out a happy breath as the lust faded from his scent, to be replaced with a sedate joy.

His tongue flicked out briefly, licking at Jason’s hands, and the neko laughed silently, pulling his hands away. A soft nip brought one of them back, the wolf holding it in place as he cleaned his mate thoroughly, tasting the salt on his hand, the remnants of dinner and the bitterness of dish soap. Snuffling loudly, the wolf let his tail flop against the neko’s leg, surprised when Jason’s tail wrapped around his own. He was even more surprised when the furred length slipped under his tail to brush against his hole, a low moan escaping him as he squirmed under the neko’s play.

A hand gently brushed over his head, fingers scratching behind his ear as Jason pressed his tail limply against the wolf’s butt. Devyn was pretty sure nothing was going to happen; Jason seemed pretty against breeding him at the moment, but he was going to take his victories where he could. This certainly felt good, and the wolf was happy with the turn the night had suddenly taken, even if he knew it would last only until he fell asleep.