Brothers - 44. Chapter 44

DEVYN

“Hey buddy, can you help me with meal prep for the week?”

Devyn frowned at his father as Jason vanished upstairs. Richard was already heading into the kitchen, and the wolf followed a moment later, casting uncertain glances after his brother. He’d wanted to spend time with the neko. And Richard never cooked; that had always been Margaret’s job, when Devyn wasn’t doing it.

Still, he set his cane aside in the kitchen, listening to the water running upstairs. Devyn could almost imagine Jason undressing, letting the water steal his musk, his small length throbbing as he massaged it… or was it longer than that?

The wolf grunted, opening the fridge door to see what kind of food they would have for the week. He needed to check Jason again; Devyn was having issues remembering his brother’s body. It just meant an excuse to check on the neko after helping his father.

“Devyn, you understand you will not see Jason tomorrow, right?” Richard said, leaning back against a counter.

“Yes…” the wolf muttered.

He knew it was a neko holiday the next day. Dylan would be staying home, and so would Jason. It was why he was trying to spend as much time as possible with his brother tonight. But his father didn’t seem to want that to happen for whatever reason.

“This is important to Jason, Devyn. You cannot try to see him. He will stay in his room, and on Ferya, he will be back again. I don’t need to head out again until Urdya, so I’ll be here to make sure he’s okay. I don’t want you to worry about him, okay?”

Devyn nodded silently, his eyes glancing up as the sounds of the shower cut off.

“I know he’s been helping you get ready for school. You’ll have to show him you can do that yourself tomorrow. I’ll remind you if you forget,” Richard continued.

“Are you walking me to school tomorrow?”

“Yes, but I’ll make sure the house is properly locked up when we leave. The locks were all changed this afternoon; Margaret cannot get in here any more.”

Devyn nodded absently, reaching for a chair. His legs buckled as he sat, and the wolf let out a quiet sigh, his body folding slightly into the table in front of him.

“Why can’t I go see him now?”

“Because he’s starting his seclusion a little early. He asked me to keep you company. Apparently the two of you have become quite the bed sharers,” Richard smiled. “Oh, before I forget, Ferya after school, I need to take you two to get suits for the dance next Urdya. Jason said he wanted you to go to at least one dance, and I agree with him. It’s a big part of being a teen.”

Devyn grunted noncommittally.

“I don’t know how to dance.”

“That’s okay. I don’t know how to dance either,” Richard chuckled. “The important part is to have fun.”

“Can I go say goodnight to Jason?”

“You can try, but he might be in his room already. I want you back downstairs in five minutes, okay? Maybe we can bake some cookies for when his thing is done.”

“But I need to say goodnight…”

The wolf grabbed his cane and stood up, limping toward the stairs as fast as he could. He pounded up the stairs, bursting into his bedroom a moment later. Pushing through the bathroom between their rooms, Devyn bounced off his brother’s door, rattling the handle fruitlessly.

A harsh whimper escaped his throat, and he turned to race out of the room, trying to get to his brother’s other door before it could be locked.

Again the doorknob rattled, Devyn’s hand slapping ineffectively against the door. If he could just see his brother one more time, he could get through the next day.

“Devyn! Come down here!” Richard called.

The wolf’s head turned toward the stairs, and he started toward them dejectedly. A scent hit him suddenly… Jason’s scent… in his room?

Devyn’s eyes picked up a stuffed animal on his neatly made bed, and he hobbled into the room, staring in confusion at Jason’s wolf. The neko’s smell covered the animal, drifting into Devyn’s nose. He carefully lifted the plushie, tucking it into his chest as he took deep inhales of his mate’s scent.

“Goodnight Jason…”

A knock at his door startled the wolf, and he spun around, finding his father watching him.

“Come on Devyn. Let’s go get started on those cookies, okay? I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

The wolf nodded, setting Elroy down gently before limping after Richard. He knew he couldn’t sleep with the stuffed animal; he didn’t want to take the risk of destroying it in his sleep. But still… he had Jason’s scent now, to keep him company while his brother was gone. And Devyn was grateful for his mate’s thoughtfulness.

“Why don’t we make some nice chocolate?” Richard smiled as they entered the kitchen. “We haven’t had chocolate chip cookies in ages.”

Devyn’s butt wiggled at the thought, his lack of a tail not stopping the wolf’s happy dance at the thought of actual cookies in the house. A hand ruffled his hair lightly, fingers scratching behind his ear, and Devyn let out a sigh of contentment.

Reaching into a cabinet, the wolf pulled out a steel bowl, moving around his father to grab eggs and flour. They got in each other’s way occasionally as they worked, until Devyn remembered he had to talk around his father. Richard couldn’t understand his body language, not when he was in human form.

“Behind,” the wolf muttered, stepping around Richard to grab a bottle of vanilla extract.

“Coming through.”

Richard tossed a spoon into the sink, dodging a bit of dough that flew from the bowl Devyn was whisking.

Before long, the two had their dough ready and waiting on a pair of sheets, the kitchen looking like a tornado had hit it.

“Alright, now what do you say to a little cleanup?” Richard smiled, watching Devyn as the wolf slid the trays into the oven.

Devyn was already reaching for a rag as the oven closed, and together, the two attacked the kitchen, scrubbing up the mess they had made.

JASON

Sleeping without Elroy was incredibly hard. And it was made even worse by Devyn’s absence. Jason barely got any rest during the night, and when his alarm went off at six in the morning, the neko had to force himself to get up.

His stomach roared at him, demanding food, but Jason ignored it, silently moving around his room to collect the supplies he had bought with his allowance the day before.

Jason placed a blue lotus flower in the window, setting it perfectly in the center of the open screen. Askani chimes hung above the lotus, each carefully designed to catch the spirit of the wind.

Checking his phone, the neko set out four bowls around him, placing a yellow votive to the east, a red votive to the south, a blue votive to the west, and a green votive to the north. He knelt in the middle of them, taking a deep breath before walking through the ritual he’d planned the day before.

A match struck, a flame lighting the yellow candle of the lost god. He deserved his presence as much as the nekos themselves, another victim of the elven genocide.

South came next, reigniting the fire of the Niwo, their passions and vengeance reborn for a day. Jason’s head bowed for a moment, reflecting on his own people, on where he had come from, and what his ancestors had been through. At times more human than neko, exiled for interbreeding with the Astarans, the Niwo had held strong, and found their own place in the world as farmers and cultivators, only to have the elves steal their women and children to hurl at the walls of Sarelin.

West followed south, a reversal of the Ythin’s influence. The father of all nekos, the nekos of Khorsa had stood long and proud; inventors, innovators, and masters of the desert around them until the massacre of King’s Crossing brought them low in the face of their own cannon.

North closed the circle, the Askani nekos. Born of Ythin and elf, the coastal nekos were often forgotten in Astara, but they had not been forgotten in the elven quest for domination. Stories were still told of the rape of Sami, of nekos cut down in the streets as elves and wolves ran wild. They would not be forgotten by Jason.

All three cultures combined as the Niwo knelt in his circle. Jason felt the tension of the past month slowly leave him, a sense of peace and calm washing over his mind and body.

His thoughts moved briefly to the Red Ghost, the neko who had tried to reverse the genocide, to make the elves feel the anguish they had caused. From his research, Jasper would have scoffed at all the modern nekos did. What did they do, hide themselves away for a day to remind the elves of a war they had lost? Where was the threat in that, the promise of retribution? Why were the nekos cowering from the elves yet again?

Then he thought of Dylan, of Damian, and the courage the calicos held, to still follow their god, even if such devotion had to be hidden. There was still rebellion today, quiet, peaceful, but rebellion all the same.

And the sun rose slowly through the window to the east, shining on the neko.

Jason refused to move, facing the eastern votive, the candle of Tareth. The light burned bright, shining down on a god who was gone, but not forgotten. He wasn’t Jason’s god, but he was the Niwo’s god, and Jason would honour his ancestors and their god.

Around him, the house came to quiet life. Richard knocked on Devyn’s door, rousing his brother, and minutes later, the smell of bacon and eggs wafted into his room. Jason’s stomach roared its displeasure, demanding food, but the demands went unheeded as the sun rose higher in the sky.

A cold breeze pushed through the window as the front door opened. Chimes rang quietly as candles flickered, and the neko listened to a car pull out of the drive. Devyn was on his way to school. And still Jason sat, listening to the world around himself.

His candles would only last until noon. At that point, Jason would turn to service, working through the notebook he had found in Devyn’s bed the night before. He was grateful to have the book back, even if some of his notes had been torn out by a human hand. Jason could not blame Devyn for that; it was obvious who was behind that.

A deep breath calmed his anger at the thought of Margaret destroying the notebook. Jason took another breath, watching the candle wax melt and pool in the bowls. Cleaning the wax out would be difficult, but that was an issue to worry about later.

A door closed in the house; Richard had returned. Jason’s ears swiveled as a bird sang loudly outside the window, and his eyes blinked in the sunlight of mid morning. The candles burned merrily in their bowls, the chimes sang sweetly, purifying his mind and heart, and the lotus guided his heart to heal. Slowly, the wounds of the past healed just a little more.

DEVYN

The wolf hugged his bag against his chest, not letting it out of his sight. Elroy was tucked safely inside, nestled carefully between his squid jerky and a piece of sausage Devyn was saving for a rainy day. He wouldn’t let anyone take Jason’s wolf away.

“With the Autumnal Dance fast approaching, I hope everyone is remembering to let their wolves out,” Dr. Marin said, looking around the WolfRoom. “It is far easier to control your disease when you let loose occasionally. We can’t all be in control constantly.”

Charlie smirked from across the room, and Devyn watched the human’s shadow grow across the wall before making several lewd gestures. Dr. Marin let out a sigh.

“Yes yes, masturbation is letting loose. But I am referring to your wolf, not your teenage immaturities. I’m sure you all remember that if you turn someone just before the full moon, there is a serious risk of death involved in their first shift. One week is the minimum safe period for a full transformation. I also feel the need to remind you that you are all still teens. It is too early to turn anyone, whether or not they ask you to do it.”

Devyn let out a quiet huff, wondering about Jason. Would Jason let the wolf turn him? Did Devyn even want to turn him? The lycanthropy within him certainly did, or so Dr. Marin kept saying. But the thought of another wolf topping him… no. No, Devyn didn’t want that. Jason taking control was amazing; Devyn could feel his spirit soar at the thought of the neko on top of him. But not another wolf.

The wolf grunted, shaking his head as he picked himself up. Limping into the small room to the side, Devyn sniffed around in the dim light, finding a small box of grey packages. Grabbing a handful, the wolf carried them back out, shoving them into his bag.

“If you do feel the need to sow your oats, and I am actively recommending you do not, take Devyn’s example. Play safe,” Dr. Marin said, motioning toward the wolf. “Eventually you will all find a mate, and will have to make the choice. Do I change the one I love to become more like me? It is a struggle many wolves face. An important question. And certainly a risk you do not want to take right now.”

“But we can’t change anyone unless they are our mates, right? The lycanthropy is specifically designed to find a perfect match,” Silas pointed out.

“Not true. Yes, it is easier for your lycanthropy to affect your mate, which is the whole point of the mate bond, to draw your lycanthropy’s perfect victim to you. But it can very much still affect anyone a male sleeps with.”

Not Jason. Devyn needed to keep the lycanthropy from his mate.

The bell chimed through the school as he zipped his bag back up, and the wolf slid into the shoulder straps, pulling himself up with his cane. Limping toward the door, Devyn scowled as Dr. Marin stepped in front of him.

“I need to speak with you please,” the man said.

The wolf grunted, stepping back to his bed.

“You are planning on completing your bond with Jason.”

Was that a question? It didn’t really sound like one. He nodded, just to be on the safe side. People always seemed to want an answer.

“And he is okay with you topping him? Have you discussed everything with him?”

Devyn shook his head. That answer earned a frown.

“Then I trust you are just being hopeful here,” Dr. Marin said sternly. “You cannot take what you want, Devyn. You need to know what Jason wants too.”

“He wants me though,” the wolf said in confusion. “His penis gets hard around me, he likes to rub against me in the shower. He wants to breed me.”

“Has he verbally told you he wants to have sex with you? I know he’s mute, but he has ways of communicating with you I assume.”

Devyn nodded, thought for a moment, and then shook his head. What question was he supposed to answer?

“He hasn’t told you what he wants?” Dr. Marin asked. “Devyn, have you tried asking him? You need to communicate with him if you want to make your mate bond work.”

The human took a deep breath.

“And on another note… If Jason chooses to top you, you need to be careful. Neko semen is an addictive substance. It can make you feel euphoric, excited, and more than that, it can drive you to have sex repeatedly in a short period of time, seeking to keep that high going.”

Devyn frowned at Dr. Marin, shaking his head.

“Jason won’t hurt me,” he denied. “He’s my brother, and he’d never hurt me.”

“I know he wouldn’t do it on purpose. But you both need to be careful, okay?”

“What about Blake?” Devyn asked.

“What about Blake? He was pulled from the wolf classes. It’s too early for him to hear the subject matter,” Dr. Marin said. “Don’t worry, he’s being well cared for.”

The man stepped aside, and Devyn stood up again. The wolf hobbled to the door, pausing just before leaving.

“We love each other. I won’t let anything ruin that.”

“I know you won’t,” Dr. Marin said. “Go on ahead to your next class.”

Devyn hurried from the room, conflicted emotions following him.