The Burning Claw: Book 10, The Grey Wolves Series (5 page)

“What about me?” he asked as he started to follow her.

She chuckled. “Take a picture, no wait, maybe a video. Then just look at them when you miss me. But please try not to attempt to feel up the screen when you’re watching the video.”

He growled at her and smacked her on the rear. “You’re twisted.”

“And oh how you like it. Now come on. Gavril is going to play with Thia since Rachel is sort of tied up in keeping wolf-man and Red alive. Let’s take a run and head to the Romanian pack mansion. We can drop in and see history boy while we’re there.”

“Does Wadim know we’re coming to see him?” Decebel asked her.

“Depends on your definition of know,” she answered with humor lacing her voice.

“Jennifer,” he warned. “How many definitions can there be?”

“You’d be surprised.”

Decebel ran a hand through his hair and then pinched the bridge of his nose. His mate could take him on a verbal roller coaster ride if he continued to ask her questions she didn’t want to answer. Some days he loved it. It was kind of a hunt of sorts, which his wolf loved, of course, But other days it was as frustrating as her disregard for the need of clothing in all situations outside of their bedroom. Okay, so maybe the clothing thing was actually a lot more frustrating.

“You go on ahead. I need to speak with Costin,” Decebel said and he felt his wolf tense inside of him.

Jen stopped and turned fully toward her mate. Her eyes, which held so much emotion, were wide and staring at him. “Is he okay? Has he gotten worse?”

“He’s,” Decebel began and then stopped, gritting his teeth against the darkness he was feeling in the pack bonds, specifically emanating from Costin. “He’s the one we need to worry about.”

Jen sucked in a breath. “Even more than Drake?”

“Way more than Drake,” he confirmed.

Jen walked over to Decebel and wrapped her free arm around him. She squeezed and held him. Decebel loved these moments because with his mate they were few and far between.

“Be gentle, he’s hurting,” she pleaded.

“A feral wolf doesn’t need gentleness, baby, he needs control. I am the Alpha and the only one who will be able to control him if he loses it completely.”

“It’s totally inappropriate, but I feel like there should be some music with the whole
dun, dun, duuuuuuuun
sound and then some deep voice that says ‘will our hero succumb to the dark side or will he fight for all of mankind.’”

“He’s not fighting for all mankind, just himself and his mate,” Decebel pointed out.

Jen huffed. “That’s not the point. It’s a funny, haha, referencing all those superhero cartoons and the voi—” Her words broke off as she noticed Decebel wasn’t really paying attention. “Oh, forget it. Don’t get blood all over his suite, Sally would be as angry as a tom cat that wakes up and realizes he’s only half the tom he used to be. Oh my gravy, I
am
on fire.” She held up her hand. “But totally inappropriate. See you in a few.” She reached up on her toes, gave him a quick kiss and then scurried out of the room.

Decebel walked toward the door as slowly as possible. Possibly, if he walked slowly enough, someone would find Sally before he made it to Costin’s room. Then everything would be fine and the coming conversation would be entirely unnecessary. He knew why he was walking slow. He was dreading having to see his friend in such a state over something he, his Alpha, couldn’t fix. Not to mention, he was likely going to have to issue Alpha commands to an old friend. He hated having to do that.

When his brain finally got his feet to move, he let his wolf out just enough for his eyes to change and placed his emotions toward his friend aside. Now he was acting on the instinct of the animal but with the words of the man. The animal was on his way to deal with a pack member that needed discipline. The man was going to deal with his friend. Two different beings, two different motivations, working in tandem. It was very hard to explain, but Decebel understood it and his wolf understood it and that’s all that mattered.

When he reached the door to Costin and Sally’s suite, he lifted his head and scented the air. The smell of pain, anger, confusion, and something else that he couldn’t place were all seeping through the cracks in the door frame. When he pulled the door open the smells hit him full on. Decebel ignored the odor and focused on his friend who was sitting in the floor doing a puzzle with Titus.

“You didn’t knock,” Costin growled without looking up.

Wrong move, Beta
, Decebel thought. “I am Alpha. I don’t have to knock. You are my friend, but you are also my Beta, and that means you will look at me when you address me.” Decebel’s growled words held his power in them, the force of his will. Costin had no choice but to raise his head. Decebel thought he’d see anger, pain, or the other things he could smell, but instead the hazel eyes of his Beta met his with complete submission. This at least meant that the man was still in control. His head tilted enough that his neck was vulnerable and his stare had shifted to something over Decebel’s shoulder. No eye contact, no challenge. Good.

“How is your son?” Decebel demanded, glancing at Titus. He looked back to Costin and an unspoken question hung in the air.
Are you a danger to him?

“It’s not bad enough for that, not yet,” Costin assured him.

Costin knew that Decebel would place Titus’ protection as his highest priority. As one of the youngest pack members, the boy would need to be kept safe, even from his own father if necessary. And the time might come when Decebel would have to remove Titus from Costin’s care, at least until Sally returned.

“I apologize for not knocking. I wasn’t sure what I’d find in here and my wolf was already on edge. But you are my Beta and such a position is not without honor in the pack. I would not have placed you in that position if I didn’t trust you. And I trust you to know how to control your own wolf. But more importantly, I trust you to tell me if he becomes too much for you to handle.”

Despite his reassuring words, the exchange troubled Decebel deeply. If Costin’s wolf was reacting to the Alpha out of instinct, and that instinct was telling Costin to challenge Decebel instead of submitting, then the darkness was spreading, fast.

“Please, Alpha, just give me a few more days.”

Decebel could see the sincerity in his Beta’s eyes. The wolf was telling him no, but the man wanted to show some compassion. “Costin, you are still very young. You found your mate much quicker than most of us. I lived over a century before I found my Jennifer. Perhaps, no wolf was closer than I to the darkness before I found her. I’ve wrestled with it, Costin. Day after day, year after year, I fought off the darkness. I know what it’s like. But you…you don’t know how lucky you were to find your Sally at such a young age. You haven’t spent the lifetimes fighting it like most of us have. Now it seems like centuries of darkness are falling on you all at once. They say that having a treasure and losing it is much worse than never having one at all. Can you really control your wolf, Beta?”

Costin breathed heavily as he looked down at Titus. The boy was quietly examining the pieces of the puzzle before putting them in their respective places. “Promise me something, Alpha. If the time comes…promise me you’ll—” Costin’s words choked in his throat. “Promise me that you and Jen will—”

“You know that we would,” Decebel responded. “The boy is pack. We would care for him just as we do for Thia.”

Titus looked up from where he sat on the floor and stared into the Alpha’s eyes without blinking. “You growl an awful lot,” he said pointedly.

Decebel nodded his head. “I do growl a lot, but sometimes people just need to be growled at.”

Titus’ head tilted slowly to the side and his eyes narrowed on Decebel. It was a good thing he was a pup or Decebel’s wolf would be dishing out more than a growl.

“What if growling doesn’t work?” Titus asked.

“Well, it usually works,” said Decebel. The large Alpha crouched down so that he was eye level with the boy. “But if it doesn’t work…you know what wolves do after they growl don’t you?”

Titus’ eyes went wide.

“They bite,” Decebel said jumping at the boy and grabbing him, tickling him under his arms and in his ribs. Titus squealed in delight for a moment, then become suddenly serious.

“Are you going to bite my daddy?” the boy asked.

“You love your daddy, don’t you, Titus?”

The small child nodded his head slowly.

“Well I do too. You see Titus, here in this house, we are more than just mommies and daddies, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors. We are something called a pack. And every member of the pack is very special. The pack looks out for each other and cares for each other. Your father is part of the pack, and now
you
are part of the pack too.

“But all packs have a leader. And the leader’s job is to protect his pack at all costs. And guess who’s the leader of our pack?”

Titus pointed at Decebel’s chest slowly, clearly digesting the Alpha’s words.

“That’s right. That means that I’m going to protect you and your father, no matter what. And I’m also going to do everything I can to find your mother. Does that sound good?”

The little boy thought about it and then nodded his head. “Okay. I guess I understand that Daddy needed to be growled at, but it’s only because my mommy is gone. So if you get her back, no more growling… and no biting!”

“You got it,” Decebel said with a nod and small smile, standing up again.

Decebel turned to go but stopped when he heard Titus again.

“Alpha,” he called.

Decebel turned to face him once more.

“Maybe, if you have to growl at Daddy again, maybe you should growl at me instead.”

Decebel looked over to Costin who was staring at his little boy, his eyes wet with unshed tears. “Why would I need to growl at you instead?” He asked.

“Because Daddy is broken and I don’t think your growls could fix him. But you can growl at me.” Titus was completely serious and believed every word coming out of his own mouth. The boy was smart, that was certain. But the boy’s intuitiveness, very much like a wolf, interested Decebel even more.
That’s not something you learn, it’s just a part of who and what you are
, the Alpha thought.

“Take good care of him,” Decebel told Titus.

The little boy nodded and straightened his shoulders, proud he’d been given a task.

“Yes, Alpha,” he repeated the words his dad has spoken a few minutes ago.

He gave Costin one more pointed look and then turned, leaving the same way he came, only this time he didn’t wonder what he was dealing with—he knew. If they didn’t find Sally soon, Costin would not be able to fight the darkness. He would become fully feral.

C
ostin looked down at the crushed puzzle pieces he’d been holding. That’s just about what he felt like, crushed. He looked across the puzzle at Titus who had gone back to searching for the correct placement of the pieces as if he hadn’t just offered to take Costin’s punishment for him.

“Titus,” Costin waited until he looked up.

“Yes, Daddy,” he answered and then looked up at him.

“I’m sorry,” Costin’s voice broke and he paused, wrestling with so many emotions. “I’m sorry that all this has happened and just after you got here too. I’m sorry your mommy isn’t here and I can’t seem to fix it. I’m sorry that you feel you should take my punishment for me.” Titus had become blurry because of the tears flooding Costin’s eyes. His heart wasn’t just broken for his mate; it was also broken for the child they’d been given.

“You’re my daddy. That’s what sons do for their daddies, and you would do it for me because I’m your son.” Titus answered sincerely.

Costin reached across and picked his son up and placed him in his lap. He wrapped his arms around him and held him close. “You’re right, I would do that for you. I will always do what’s best for you.” Costin didn’t tell the boy that there might come a time when what was best for him would be to be as far away from Costin as possible.

If he went feral, Costin would run, as fast and as far as possible away from the people he cared about. He would not let his wolf destroy what he loved.