Forever Our Ever (18 page)

“Exactly what I wanted to do, although I only wanted her to do it in her mind. This actually worked out better because I made her take control of her flesh. I just didn’t account for the fact that you made the wolf in her more powerful. It was harder to get her back than I expected.”

“Ever, next time you have to listen to me when I tell you to do something. You ignored me and forced Kris to turn to get you off Daisy. I didn’t think about the fact that, in wolf mind, she would be a threat to you.”

Ever looked around, but didn’t see the woman. “Where is she?”

“On the floor on the other side of the bed. Is she okay, Liam?”

“Ever left teeth marks in her arm, but they are healing,” replied Liam as he looked up over the bed.

“Oh shit. Demetri, tell her that I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I didn’t know that my body had turned.”

“It’s okay, Ever. Well…biting Daisy was not okay, but changing means that you still have a connection with your flesh. You are not as displaced as I had originally feared. Daisy, Ever is horribly sorry for biting you. Her spirit was locked in a cocoon of silence so she didn’t hear what was happening around her. I’m so sorry. I had no idea that she would go after you.”

Daisy rose to her feet. Her arm was covered with blood, but the wound appeared to be healing. Her face appeared drawn and lacking in coloration. Ever had obviously scared the shit out of her. “I’m okay. Please tell me if you intend to do that again so I may leave the room first.”

“I will. Again, I’m sorry.”

Ever was mortified that she had done such a thing. She had attacked as a wolf before, but she had simply been protecting herself. Ever wondered if she were actually safe from that particular danger, at least. There had been no attempts on her life, but it might take them a while to find her. It was not a thought that gave her comfort or made her feel even remotely better.

Mick walked into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. The note that had been firmly taped over Ever’s food was missing, and some of it was gone. Who the hell had eaten her food this time? He took the bowl out, dumping some into a pan and growling. They were out of venison and he had no idea if one of the women had picked her up some buffalo or bison steaks as he had asked.

As he warmed the food, he dug out the food processor. He wanted to make sure that the gruel was thin enough and if he added some more water, it would slide down easier. Even as it heated, it was still a bit too thick for his liking. It would be a bad thing to have it get stuck in the tube. He removed it from the pan, adding spring water, and then ran it through the food processor again. Mick grabbed the strainer, using a press to push it through to make sure there were no lumps or strings of meat. Once it was strained, he carried the bowl into the bedroom.

The sight before him was stunning. Obviously, something had happened while he was gone. Daisy was sitting in a chair with noticeable teeth marks on her arm. The outer skin was covered with congealing blood. He put the bowl down and walked over to her, lifting her arm gently. The wound was healing well and it didn’t appear as if she was going to continue bleeding. “Who bit you?”

“Ever. It was an accident, she didn’t know what she was doing.”

Mick was stunned and horrified. Was she becoming vicious, her mind decaying, yet becoming more lucid so she could turn? That was a very dangerous combination. He glared at Kris. “And you let this happen?”

“No. I stopped her. She does listen to me, but I had to shift myself. In that time, she bit Daisy. Everything is fine now. She’s not going to shift again and if she does, we will make sure that no one is in the room who will threaten her.”

“Like you really have any control over it.”

“Actually, it was my fault,” said Demetri.

Demetri stood. The man had shown up after all. It had stunned Mick that his father believed in witchcraft. When Mick had explained the dilemma at home, his father had instantly picked up the phone. An hour later, Demetri had shown up at the front door. Mick remembered seeing him in the photo album, an unassuming presence at their parents’ commitment ceremony. He had never thought to ask who the man was, but now Mick knew. Demetri gave him the creeps. “What do you mean it’s your fault?”

“I was working with Ever and asked her to envision turning into a wolf. She did and her body responded. We need to find a way to animate her flesh so we can equalize out the energy between her spirit and her body. We now have another option. I have also discovered that I can meld my power with Ever’s to make us both stronger, and that is a very good thing.”

Wasn’t this just fantastic? Mick had assumed that Demetri would come to the house and tell his brothers that they were hallucinating. “Ah, so rather than disprove my brothers’ theory, you have now jumped on the bandwagon. How sweet is that? Did you explain to them who you are? Did you tell Kris specifically?”

* * * *

Demetri’s eyes turned darker as Ever watched, his expression flashing with fury. “No, as a matter of fact, I only gave them rudimentary details. I had no intention of telling the rest. It serves no point.”

What the hell was Mick talking about? Was Demetri dangerous, as Tella had been? No. There was nothing menacing or in the least bit threatening about Demetri. Was it simply that she found herself attracted to him? Was that slanting her opinion?

Kris glared from Mick to Demetri. Now that the subject had been breached, he obviously wasn’t going to sit back and let it go. “I have entrusted you with the love of my life, and you are deceiving us?” asked Kris.

Demetri got up, walking across the room and sitting on the bed. He absently began to massage her physical arm. “I’m not deceiving you.” He sighed, as if the information he was about to impart was causing him mental anguish. “Daisy, I know that you are now a member of this family, but this is not something that should be discussed outside of the immediate family pack. Would you mind?”

She shook her head and stood. “I need to go wash my arm off anyway.” Daisy hurried from the room, shutting the door behind her.

Demetri smiled as Ever took a place between him and Kris. She touched Kris’s arm to let him know that she was there. He shivered.

“Let me ask you a question, Kris. Have you ever wondered why Rick wasn’t born the alpha? Why he was unable to defeat you?”

Mick promptly sat down in the chair that Daisy had just vacated. He appeared completely shocked. That she knew of, Mick didn’t know the truth behind Rick’s death. Obviously, Mick knew some truth about Demetri and Rick, but this particular line of thought wasn’t it.

Liam got up and took a place between Mick and Kris as if to set up a defensive line between the two brothers. She already knew that if it came down to taking sides, Liam had Kris’s back. Mick truly was the displaced one.

“Of course I have wondered. That wasn’t my fault. Rick attacked me. I had no choice but to defend myself.”

Mick’s face blanched of color. Ever had to assume that she was right. She listened attentively, wanting to know what details were missing in Mick’s mind.

“I know that. Your mother told me everything. She also begged me to take him before the two of you reached puberty. I loved him, but I convinced myself that he was better off with his family. I knew the risks, but I didn’t see where there was a place in my life for a child. I was young and unwilling to relinquish my independence. I gave up my son and he died because of it. I guess you can say that I’m helping you as penance for that mistake. I don’t want you to make the same one.”

Ever was astonished by the implications of his words. Demetri was Rick’s father. Was the man honestly that forgiving that he could help them after what Kris had done? Could he really have that good a heart that he would seek penance, rather than revenge? Did he hate Kris for being the underlying cause of his son’s death?

Kris was analyzing Demetri with wary eyes. “I can see where you hesitated to tell me. So why should I not consider you a threat, knowing that I caused the death of your son?”

Ever was very glad to hear the question. She put a hand to Demetri’s leg. In her current state, she had noticed that she felt emotions stronger. Now she was looking for the full truth of Demetri’s words. She was surprised to feel that Demetri was mournful, but not tense as one would be if filled with hate.

“Because it is equally my fault. As you said, you did what came naturally to the alpha male when challenged by a lesser wolf. Mine was a conscious, selfish act, yours was simply an animalistic need for defense. As I said, your mother explained in great detail. She made me see the truth of your actions and I have spent time since then studying animal behaviors. I know you find this hard to believe, because I would not believe it myself. My only goal is to protect your children and help their mother. I need to help your family to put my aching heart at rest. It won’t bring Rick back, but…”

Demetri gave a slight shrug of his shoulders, shaking his head. To Ever, he appeared lost, honest grief flowing through against her palm like a cold wave of tears. “I have spent so many years, so many wasted years hating myself for not doing what needed to be done for my son. If I had taken him ten years ago when your mother asked, he would still be alive. Your mother would still be alive. I came here seeking answers, and I think that I already know this, but I have to ask anyway. Did you mean for him to die?”

Kris closed his eyes, lowering his head. Ever knew that he regretted injuring his brother with all his heart. “Of course not. I loved him. He was my brother. It was never an issue of wanting to take his life. I didn’t want to fight him, but he gave me no choice. He came after me when I was running as a wolf. How was I supposed to know that he would get an infection because he was half-human? I didn’t know. That’s why our mother gave him antibiotics, isn’t it? She thought that because he wasn’t full were, it would be safe.”

“Yes. She came to me after his death. I was angry and lost in my grief. It was my fault for ignoring her warnings. She told me that a fight would come someday. She knew that Rick could never win. Of course, I didn’t believe that either. I actually had an idea that my son would be stronger because he was part warlock. It was such a ridiculous thing to believe, because he didn’t know that he was magic any more than Ever did. Rick believed that he was full were, and he wasn’t.”

“Why didn’t our mother tell him?”

“She said that a part of her was afraid to admit to Rick what he was. She feared that it would destroy his self-confidence, and that he would hate her. I guess we both had our illusions, and we were both wrong. I have relived the night that Rick died in my mind a thousand times. Your mother blamed herself and blamed me. I knew as I stood watching her sob that what we had once had was dead and gone. She wasn’t coming to me as a lover. She just wanted me to know that my son had died.”

A flash of lament flared through him. Ever sensed it as sadness, but his face was equally expressive. Demetri had ghosts in his heart that had nothing to do with magic. “I so regret the cool indifference that I showed her. I should have been supportive, but I wasn’t. I still loved her and your brother was the only connection that was left between us. I didn’t know that she was going to kill herself. I swear it. I would have stopped her if I had known.”

He looked up from his consideration and stared directly at Kris. “When your father called me to say what was happening, I knew what I had to do. This time I would not hesitate to do whatever I could to make things right. I never want you to feel the guilt that I have felt because I deserted my child.”

“Rick died from the painkillers,” insisted Mick. “Our mother would never give him antibiotics. Weres don’t get infections.”

Kris slowly shook his head. “No, Mick. I know that is how the story has been told, but it isn’t the truth. The reason that Rick’s hip didn’t heal was because an infection set into the joint. Yes, she gave him painkillers, which probably didn’t help, but it was the antibiotics for the infection that put him into the coma. Rick didn’t have an accident with his bike. I tore him up, because he challenged me. He tracked me down, and I knew as only a wolf knows, that he intended to kill me. I fought back and when he became submissive, I walked away. The damage was already done and he was not strong enough to fight it. I’m sorry that I have never told you the truth. It was a secret for so many years, and by the time I admitted that I was alpha to you, it no longer seemed important to tell you.”

“Did Father know?”

Kris nodded and Mick turned angry eyes to Liam. “Did you know?”

Liam nodded solemnly. “Kris told me last year after we met Ever.”

Mick stood, his eyes narrowed in fury. “What the fuck? I have become an outcast in my own family. My own fucking mirror-image brothers have seen fit to cast me from their lives. You hide things from me and exclude me. I can’t believe that you have allowed a woman to come between us. I thought that Ever had improved our lives and brought us closer together. I was so wrong. What she did was turn you and Liam against me. Fuck you both! Figure out how to feed her body yourself. She can die for all I care. I’m fucking done.”

Mick stormed out the door. Ever wanted to jump up and run after him, but it would do no good. She wanted Kris or Liam to go after him, but knew that it would end in a physical altercation that would get one or both of them hurt or killed. It was so wrong to allow him to storm out without so much as a word, and Kris and Liam’s inaction also seemed to verify Mick’s accusation. Did his brothers not care if he left? They hadn’t really said much about Mick’s absence. Maybe Mick was right, and this was her fault. She had driven a wedge between them with her presence and now their family was divided because of her.

Her neck went into spasms, her head jerking in reaction to the overwhelming emotional strain of the last few minutes. She turned to Kris, but he sat with his eyes closed, his head down.

Liam appeared stunned, but he was not moving from the seat to go after Mick either. She touched his arm, but he simply sighed. Demetri ran his fingers across the back of her neck. It was a very real caress that felt as if she hadn’t been touched in years. Her neck immediately stopped twitching. He wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m so sorry.”