Brothers - 50. Chapter 50

DEVYN

The wolf’s tongue played with his teeth, trying to dislodge a piece of food Jason had missed the night before. Flashes of pain shot through his mouth, always radiating out from a tooth on the bottom of his right cheek, and Devyn bit back a whimper as he pushed at the strand of food that seemed stuck around the tooth.

He remembered something about his teeth rotting, a warning his mother always used against him, but the thought was ridiculous. His teeth had been cleaned daily for the last two weeks. Why would his teeth be rotting if he cleaned them?

Devyn grumbled as he limped out of the bathroom. A clean kilt slid up his legs, and the wolf paused as Jason’s scent flooded out of the drawer where his shirts were kept. His hands pulled a blue shirt out, a piece of tissue paper crinkling against the side of the drawer. Jason’s smell intensified, hanging in the air even after the wolf had closed the drawer.

Somehow, the neko had put his scent in Devyn’s shirts. The wolf’s eyes teared up as he pulled the shirt on, and he took a deep breath, the perfume filling his nose, as strong as if his brother had just sprayed it. He’d be smelling his mate all day.

“Come on Devyn, Dylan’s already waiting for you,” Richard said, standing on the other side of the open door.

The wolf sat on his bed, pulling on his sandals. A strap went across the top of his foot, his toes wiggling free in the air. Setting his heels on the ground, Devyn grabbed his cane and stood up. His bag went on his back, the weight pulling at him as the fragrant stench of sausage fought with the perfume in his clothes.

“We’re going to need to wash your bag this weekend,” Richard frowned as Devyn limped past him. “Were you hiding another sausage in there?”

Devyn shrugged, making his way downstairs.

“You don’t need to be hiding food in your bag. You never go hungry, right?” Richard pressed, following his son.

“No,” Devyn muttered, his tongue toying with his tooth again.

The wolf let out a quiet whimper as a stabbing pain flooded from his tooth. Ignoring his father’s look of concern, he pushed into the kitchen, where Jason was scribbling notes into a book while Dylan signed.

The calico’s ears flicked uneasily and he dropped his hands quickly, staring between Devyn and Richard.

“Oh, don’t stop on our account,” Richard frowned. “Devyn, I’m going to get you a dentist appointment tomorrow. What time does your bus get back?”

Jason held up three fingers when the wolf wouldn’t answer, and Richard sighed quietly.

“Okay, it will have to wait until Ordya then.”

“I don’t want to go to the dentist. They always hurt me,” Devyn scowled.

Jason was staring at his feet as he leaned against the table, the neko’s mouth drawn down. His brother suddenly pulled out his phone, typing quickly as he stood up.

“Dad, did Margaret leave any heels when she left?”

Richard frowned, nodding slowly.

“Why? You can’t run in heels,” the man pointed out.

Jason hurried from the room without comment, the sound of his feet thumping through the second story filling the house.

“Gods, I wish he wouldn’t thump like that,” Richard sighed quietly. “Devyn, this is non negotiable. You need to go to the dentist if your teeth are hurting.”

The wolf fought back a growl, sitting at the table as they waited for Jason. His face screwed up as he felt the tooth wiggle under his tongue, and Devyn kept prodding at it, trying to figure out why that tooth was wiggling so much. It didn’t feel loose.

A pair of wedges suddenly thumped on the table, startling the wolf. He stared at the open shoes with a frown, trying to figure out why Jason wanted to wear them. The frown deepened as Jason began pulling off Devyn’s sandals.

“What are you doing Jason?” Richard asked.

The neko made no attempt to reply, trying to shove Devyn’s foot into the tall shoe. He pulled Devyn to his feet, and the wolf frowned as his body tilted slightly. Raising himself on his toes, Devyn took a stumbling half step, balancing on one foot until Jason shoved the other heel under his foot.

“Wolves walk on their toes,” the neko’s phone said a moment later.

Devyn relaxed slightly, his weight remaining on his toes as his heels rested. A cautious step found him still on his feet, wobbling slightly as the other heel fell away. The shoe felt too tight; he could barely walk in it. But he could walk, and he didn’t even have his cane.

“We’ll look into getting you some if you want,” Richard sighed quietly. “I always thought toe walking was bad for you. We spent so long trying to teach Devyn to walk on his heels.”

“If the heels are supported, is it really toe walking?” Jason’s phone asked as the neko typed furiously. “I can’t find anything at a glance, but I don’t think toe walking is too much of a problem. Devyn does it regardless; I’ve noticed his heel rarely touches the ground as it is, but it shifts his weight back in a way that wouldn’t be natural for wolves.”

Devyn frowned, staring down at his feet. He pulled the shoe off his foot, replacing it with his sandal before standing again. The wolf wobbled slightly, and grabbed his cane for support.

“You’re a wolf; you’re supposed to move in a trot that allows you to be on your toes. I bet if you ran in this form, you wouldn’t have as many balance issues, but that’s not realistic,” Jason continued, his face frowning slightly. “The heels should let you balance naturally while still walking. If they have a bit of weight to the heel, it might pull you back naturally and adjust your balance to a more human form.”

“But I’m not human,” Devyn scowled.

“Which is why you need help in human form,” Richard explained. “I’m not ecstatic at the thought of you wearing heels, but if it helps, maybe we should try it. We can stop by a store on the way to your appointment on Ordya.”

The wolf let out a grumble, hoisting his bag over his shoulders again as he headed for the door. Shopping for shoes and a dentist appointment? The weekend was not looking good.

JASON

“What the fuck did you do?!”

Jason frowned as he slowly jogged around the football pitch. Dylan kept up easily, the calico’s ears pinned back as he snarled at the marble neko. The two passed the track team, Jason glancing at Connor as the human lept from the starting blocks.

‘What are you talking about?’

The nekos fell into a walk as Jason signed, the motion of his hands making running next to impossible.

“Halor,” Dylan snarled. “He was arrested last night. It’s all over the school!”

‘Really? That’s good, isn’t it? He won’t bother you any more.’

“No it’s not good! What if he tells someone about us?!”

Jason sighed, stepping off the track. He headed toward a water fountain, taking a long drink before finally replying.

‘Dylan, I was hired by the queen. That would only happen if I passed a background check, right? So what would Halor have to say that the Queensguard doesn’t already know about me?’

“Oh sure, you’re safe. But what about me?”

‘I highly doubt the queen will do anything visible that might let the elves know what you believe. After spending so long making it seem like he is forgotten, it would be stupid to let everyone realise there are still followers. But you should probably lay low anyway.’

The calico scowled at Jason, his claws slowly retracting back into his fingers.

“I told you not to mess with him. I told you I would deal with it. But no, you had to go blab to someone and now we’re both going to be fucked.”

Jason sighed silently as the track team broke apart. He hurried over to help Brienne with the starter blocks, watching Dylan storm away in a cloud of puffed fur.

“What did you get him all pissed off about?” Brienne frowned, pulling the spikes out of the track.

The neko shrugged, carrying the equipment toward a small shed. Setting them aside, Jason pulled out his phone.

“I’m sure you two will have great makeup sex though. And you didn’t even have to get him angry with you.”

Brienne cackled, her head shaking in disbelief.

“Really? Did you set this up all for me? Maybe you should have waited until the dance,” she snickered as they left the shed.

“Hey, I’ll always support you two, even if I can’t be your third wheel. I’ll see you later; I need to get Devyn from his second class before he hunts me down.”

Jason slipped his phone into his pocket, hurrying off the track. He skipped through the locker room, dressing in his normal clothes without bothering to shower. Devyn liked his scent; he’d love the smell of his sweat. Not that he’d even worked up that much of a sweat.

The chime rang before he could get out of the locker room, and the neko let out a quiet sigh. So much for finding Devyn before he could leave class. Jason sped from the locker room, wondering why he was still struggling with the time between bells. It had been two weeks, he should have this down by now.

A hand grabbed him from behind as he passed a classroom, and the neko was guided into a bathroom, the tapping of a cane his only clue as to his captor. Turning around, Jason sucked in a breath as lips pressed into his. Devyn leaned into the neko, and Jason fought the rush of blood between his legs as the wolf wrapped his arms around him.

Their tongues duelled briefly, until the taste of copper flooded Jason’s mouth. He pulled away from Devyn, the wolf letting out a pained whimper as his hand covered his mouth. A hard object ran under Jason’s tongue, and the neko grimaced, spitting a broken tooth into his hand.

“My tooth fell out…” Devyn breathed in horror. “But… but I was a good boy. I brushed my teeth…”

No, Jason brushed his teeth for him. Not that the neko was going to point that out to the heartbroken wolf. He slipped the tooth into a small pocket in his backpack, rubbing Devyn’s head gently as his phone came out.

“It’s just broken,” he typed one handed. “It should be easy enough to fix on Ordya, at the dentist.”

Another whimper escaped his brother, and Jason wrapped his arms around Devyn, holding him carefully.

“But Mom said if I brushed my teeth, they wouldn’t fall out…”

The neko sighed, pulling away. He dunked his mouth under a faucet, spitting out Devyn’s blood before pulling out several paper towels. Wadding them up, Jason carefully squeezed Devyn’s mouth open, the wolf letting out a gargled growl as the towels were stuffed against the broken tooth.

Releasing his brother’s jaw, Jason patted Devyn’s head gently.

“Just keep it in there for a bit,” his phone commanded a minute later, Devyn staring at him dubiously. “We’ll stay in here until the bleeding stops, then we can go turn in our homework together.”

“Miss Gooseberry isn’t going to like that,” Devyn muttered around the paper in his mouth.

“Miss Elyan will get over it,” Jason corrected his brother. “Come on, let’s take care of your bag while we wait. I know you like to keep food in there, but a sausage isn’t going to smell that good.”

The neko lowered his brother to the floor, pulling Devyn’s bag off his back. He took a deep breath, before opening the bag and letting out the stench of rotting meat.

DEVYN

The wolf stepped into Dr. Aster’s office, his cane tapping quietly as he crossed the room.

“Good afternoon Devyn. I see Mira has let you know today is a human day,” the therapist smiled.

Devyn nodded silently, setting his bag aside. He tried to remember who he was going to see today. Not Erith; he came in on Lenya. Maybe Blake? But no, the young wolf’s smell was from yesterday, not today. Sara, she came in on Urdya, right?

“I got some good news. Today’s payday, so you’ll be taking a gold home today for your work this last week,” Dr. Aster said. “I’ll make sure Mira gives it to you before you go. Now, we have about fifteen minutes in before Paelius comes in. Do you have anything you want to talk about?”

The wolf grunted, his tongue running over his broken tooth. The pain had gone down some, but it still throbbed.

“I don’t know how to eat any more,” Devyn frowned. “My tooth broke.”

“Do you need help setting up a dentist appointment? I know some wolves like to have people talk for them because it makes the world seem more manageable.”

Devyn shook his head.

“Dad said he had an appointment for me. On Ordya.”

“Well, that’s good then. How are you feeling about the appointment?”

“It’s going to hurt. I don’t want to go, but Jason and Dad are making me go.”

Dr. Aster hummed thoughtfully. Her fingers tapped on the arm of her chair in that annoying way two-legs did when they were thinking. It nearly drove the wolf insane, but at least on the chair it wasn’t as sharp.

“You should ask the dentist if he can numb your mouth before working on it. They have a gel that should work.”

“They always poke me with a needle that makes me go to sleep,” Devyn frowned.

A soft knock came at the door before Dr. Aster could reply, and Devyn’s hackles raised at the scent coming through the door. Dr. Shane had been working with his mother when the wolf came in. Why was he at the door?

“Come in,” Dr. Aster called, and the door opened.

Dr. Shane stepped into the room, tonsured brown hair sitting like a ring around his scalp. Wrinkles adorned his face, and he carried Margaret’s scent on him like a flag. It was all Devyn could do not to snarl at the man as he entered.

“Hey, do you mind if I borrow Devyn for a moment?”

“Not at all; my next patient doesn’t come in for another ten minutes,” Dr. Aster replied.

Reluctantly, Devyn followed the other therapist from the room, recoiling as they approached the room he knew Margaret was hiding in.

“Your mother just wants to talk to you,” Dr. Shane said, opening the door.

He ushered Devyn into the room beyond, and the wolf bit back a growl, trying to stay close to the door. Margaret sat on a couch, her face drawn and pale. Her eyes stared at the wolf, not breaking eye contact, and Devyn straightened, his eyes staring back. Neither moved, the challenge sending a thrill of terror through Devyn. He wasn’t going to give in. This woman had hurt Jason, and he was not going to let her continue hurting people.

“Please, this is supposed to be a friendly conversation,” Dr. Shane said.

Still, Margaret refused to look away, and Devyn held his own challenge.

“Margaret, getting into a fight with your son is not productive. You need to stop right now,” Dr. Shane insisted.

“Do you see what a bad boy he is?” Margaret demanded, looking back at the therapist. “Challenging his own mother-”

“I need you to stop and take a breath. We are not here for Devyn, we are here for you. You said you wanted to apologize to him.”

Devyn let out a snort, turning back to the door. The day his mother apologized for anything would be the day the dead walked again.

“Devyn Farin, you stop right there-”

“No. I don’t have to listen to you any more. I don’t want to listen to you any more. You hurt Jason-”

“He was being disrespectful to me!”

“You pushed him down a staircase. You kicked him out of the house. You paralyzed him. You yelled at him and made him panic. You hurt someone you wanted in the house. Why did you want him in the house?” Devyn demanded.

“He wouldn’t behave-”

“Margaret, now is not the time to defend yourself,” Dr. Shane said quietly. “Let Devyn have his say. You can say your piece when he is finished.”

“I don’t want her to say anything,” Devyn growled. “You hurt my mate, and I’ll never forgive you for that. I don’t want to see you again. You might be my mom, but you’re not my pack.”

The wolf turned around and stepped out of the room, trying to calm his pounding heart. Slowly he crossed the lobby, stopping in front of Dr Aster’s office. He couldn’t work like this; he shuddered at the thought of what his emotions might do to anyone in the office. Devyn pulled his phone out of his pocket. A moment’s fumbling had the device up to his ear.

“Dad… Can you pick me up please?”