Desired by Wolves [Call of the Wolf 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

When he’d come to the club night before last, Joe had seen a glimpse of the old Alex, but once they’d realized that Lena was there, he saw Alex’s courage fail him, and big brother had metaphorically turned tail and run. But now he was sitting out on a patio in the center of town and making small talk with a regular trickle of people who wanted to stop and say hello.

He was eating, too. Penelope had taken away one plate, but when she’d delivered three Big Breakfasts, Alex had tucked into his with a gusto Joe hadn’t seen since he got home. Whatever he’d been up to this morning had put him in a really good mood. Joe thought about how to word his question.

“So, where the hell did you go so early this morning?” asked Will. Joe laughed. His twin had no worries about tactful phrasing.

“I met Lena down at her clinic. She took some X-rays of my leg in human and shifted form. She knows a doctor who treats shifters, an orthopaedic specialist. No guarantees, but she thinks he may be able to help me.”

Joe had just taken a sip of coffee and now found himself choking on it. Will not so helpfully pounded on his back while Alex smirked at him. The bastard had known the impact his words would have.

“Seriously?” Will’s tone was incredulous, reflecting Joe’s own emotions.

“Bro, we’ve been trying to get you to see someone since you got home. What changed your mind? Not that I’m complaining, but what happened?”

“Lena.”

“You know, Alex, Lena’s a vet, not a people doctor.”

“Yes, Will, I know what kind of medico Lena is. But I’m not always people. Besides, she didn’t give me a choice. She said that if I didn’t show up this morning, she was coming by with a leash and dragging me down to her clinic.”

“She’d have done it, too.” Will laughed. “And I’d have paid good money to see that. I was disappointed that I missed the spectacle of Samantha walking Gabe, but seeing Lena walk you on a leash would have totally made up for it.”

“Sorry to have to disappoint you, baby brother. Another time, perhaps.”

“Yeah, well, if it ever does happen, I’d better get to see it. The big bad Alpha on a leash. I’ll get a photo, and it’ll be my Christmas card.”

“Shut up, Will." Joe's tone was annoyed. "Alex, seriously, how did you end up at Lena’s clinic? You didn’t even want to face her last week.”

“Long story. Short story is that she’s sent off my X-rays and now we play the waiting game.” He put down his fork. “Now that hit the spot. I think I’m going to head over to McAllisters and see if Gabe’s around. See you later, boys. Maybe I’ll drop into Lupo’s tonight. I can help behind the bar if you like.”

Without waiting for a reply, Alex levered himself out of his seat and picked up the cane.

“Where did you get that? We tried to get you to use one…” Joe’s voice trailed off. “Lena.”

Alex grinned. “Yeah, she can be kind of bossy sometimes.”

Will and Joe looked at each other and then at Alex’s departing back. He was limping and a bit awkward with the cane, but he was moving well.

“Well, that was interesting,” offered Will.

“Yeah, I wonder if that’s really Alex or another shifter borrowing Alex’s face. Big brother has not been that upbeat since he’s been back. We should have forced him to see Lena when he arrived.”

“I wonder how this is going to impact us?” wondered Will.

“It isn’t all about us, you know.”

“I know, and I’m happy that Lena and Alex seem to have reached some kind of detente, but I’m also afraid of what that means for us. She’s been back two years, and it took us almost a year to get back in her bed. Right now, we spend part of the week together, but that's not enough. I’m hoping this will be the first step in the four of us becoming a mated family, but I also don’t want to scare her off. What if she doesn’t want him back and then decides to break up with us?”

“Don’t borrow trouble, Will. We’ve already arranged to go over to her place on Sunday for brunch, and you know if Alex wasn’t here that would mean spending the afternoon in bed with her. I say that when we get there tomorrow, we whisk her straight to the bedroom and fuck her brains out and remind her just how good it has been between the three of us this last year.”

“What about Alex?”

Joe had been pondering that question ever since Penelope called and told them that Alex was at the cafe with Lena. He loved his big brother and sincerely hoped this was the first step in him getting back to normal and taking up his rightful place in the family, but he also wasn’t willing to jeopardize his and Will’s relationship with Lena again.

“We don’t tell Alex. I think we need this time alone with her. We may not get another opportunity.”

Before Will could reply, Penelope approached the table and set down the check. Will picked it up and checked the total.

“Isn’t this a bit high for two big breakfasts?”

“Three big breakfasts, bacon and eggs, toast and fruit, and about twenty cups of coffee. Alex said you’d take care of it.” Penelope chuckled. “Have a nice day, boys.”

Saturday passed quickly for Lena. The clinic was packed as usual since Saturday was an easier day for most people to get to the vet’s, but also because people kept dropping by wanting to talk about Alex’s return. Once she’d realized just how long the day was going to be, she’d begun worrying about Otis. In the end, she’d texted Alex and asked him to collect Otis and take him home with him and bring him back on Sunday. Not surprisingly, Alex had agreed.

And that was when she’d seen the text from Joe confirming that brunch was still on for Sunday. She immediately texted back that it was. She hadn’t seen them the previous week because of the full moon. She always avoided wolves when she could at that time, just on principle. She’d made an exception for Ginger and Penelope, and mostly because she wanted the chance to hang out with Samantha. Anyone with the nerve to leash an Alpha was okay in her book.

Since the full moon was well past, she really couldn't use that as an excuse to avoid them, but those days when they couldn't be together always made her realize just how much she wished things were different and it was getting harder and harder as time went on to spend those days apart. Sometimes she wondered if it would be better not to see them at all than to live this half life.

She was finally able to turn the sign on the door to closed and start to lock up at seven, an hour later than usual, when she saw a car pull into the vacant spot in front of her practice. She saw Sally and Wayne Morris and their son Blake. In Wayne’s arms was their small dog, Chewy, named for his penchant for chewing up everything in sight. It looked like this time, he’d overdone it and there was something lodged in his throat causing him breathing difficulties.

Her assistants were long gone, so she drafted Wayne into nurse duty while Sally comforted Blake. Luckily, she could see the obstruction and it wasn’t long before she’d extracted the toy Chewbacca, and Chewy bounced right back and immediately tried to swallow it again. Extracting it a second time, she handed it to Blake with firm instructions to hide all of his Star Wars figurines from the feisty pup, and then she sent the grateful family on their way.

As a result, it was almost midnight when she let herself into her darkened home. The place felt lonely without the little guy running up to greet her, but she’d done the right thing. She thought about driving over to collect Otis, but she knew how much Alex loved the fur ball, too, and it was late, so she decided to just turn in early. It had been a tiring day, and she had a lot to think about.

She’d e-mailed the X-ray films to her friend Oliver, and she desperately hoped he could do something for Alex. Even if he could just help with the chronic pain, Alex could learn to live with the limp. It didn’t make him less of a man in her eyes, and she’d make him see that. She signed onto her e-mail and was thrilled and scared that she had a reply already. It could mean it was either really good or really bad news because he’d been able to reply so quickly. Or maybe it just meant that he needed more information. Maybe he couldn’t read one of the X-rays.

Lena gave herself a mental shake. She usually wasn’t given to flights of fancy. Instead of useless speculation, she just had to open the e-mail. That was all.

With shaking hands, she clicked on the mouse and the e-mail popped open. She was glad she was alone as the tears started flowing. Oliver was confident he could help. He still wanted to see the VA file, and he needed her to take a couple more films from different angles, but he said that Alex’s leg looked a lot like that of a wolf-shifter he’d worked on last year, and that fellow was now running marathons.

He was planning on doing the first part of the operation when Alex was in human form and the second part after he shifted, so they needed to do the surgery in a veterinary hospital since he’d be in recovery in wolf-dog form. Her clinic was set up for X-rays and basic surgery, but not something like this. But Oliver advised her not to worry as he was friends with the owner of a suitable facility less than fifty miles from Harmony. And he knew someone at the VA, so getting that file prioritized wasn’t a big deal. If everything came together, they could plan on doing the surgery a week from Sunday.

Really, does Oliver know everyone?

She just had to get the new X-rays done and sent to Oliver, preferably by Sunday evening so he could study that night because he had a pretty full week in front of them and that would be his best chance to give them the proper attention. Immediately, she texted Alex.

Preliminary news is positive. More X-rays required. The clinic, Sunday, noon?

Minutes later she got her answer. It was short and to the point.

Yes.

She stripped off her clothes and dropped them on the bedroom floor, too exhausted mentally and physically to put them away. She forced herself to have a quick shower and wash her hair. After spending the day with her four-legged patients, she had to freshen up before sliding into bed.

She found that no matter how tired she was, she couldn’t get to sleep, so she powered the computer back up and went over Oliver’s note and then did some research of her own. She could see how his plan should work provided that the results of the next X-rays she was going to take tomorrow were as expected.

Finally, she fell into an exhausted sleep at two a.m.

* * * *

That night she dreamed of the last night she’d spent with Alex and his brothers. It was so real to her that she it took her a moment to realize that it was a real man kissing her.

She opened her eyes.

“Joe?”

“And Will.” The voice came from the other side of her bed, and she turned her head to see Will sitting on the edge of the bed fully dressed. She looked over at Joe who had rolled off her and was lying beside her. He was fully dressed too. “We’re a bit early.”

“What time is it?”

“Nine.”

“Weren’t you guys at the club until like four?”

“Couldn’t sleep so we thought we’d come over early and wake you up.”

“And a pleasant wake-up it was, too.” She looked at the brothers. She seemed to be anxious about their reception. Normally they’d be naked and fucking her by now, but it was like they were waiting for an invitation. She sighed. Alex’s return had changed a lot of things.

She lay back and spread her arms.

“But it could be a lot more pleasant if you two weren’t so overdressed.”

* * * *

Will looked down at the beautiful woman on the bed, lying back and waiting for them to love her. He didn’t need a second invitation, shedding his clothes so quickly he lost a couple of buttons in the process, but it didn’t matter when he crawled on top of Lena and pressed his mouth against hers. For long moments, he just kissed her, alternating sweet, slow, soft kisses with deep, forceful ones, his tongue pushing into her welcoming mouth, dueling with her own.

It was a few minutes before he realized that Joe wasn’t beside them on the bed impatiently awaiting his turn. Reluctantly, Will pulled back and looked at his brother, who was leaning against the wall, still fully clothed.

“Tonight, I need to be alone with her, to be the only one inside her body bringing her pleasure, so, if it’s okay with you, I’ll wait my turn.”

Will had never considered that option before. He was the youngest of the three and was always getting bossed around, even by Joe who was only twenty minutes older. However, once he heard Joe’s words, he realized that it was something he very much wanted as well.

“Sounds like a plan.”

He turned back to Lena, who was looking at Joe with an annoyed expression on her face. Will laughed but stopped when she turned her gaze on him.

“What about me? Do I get a vote?”

“No.”

“But what if I want you both?”

“You are getting us both. Just not at the same time.”

She slapped him on the chest, and it hurt. He leaned down and nipped her right nipple and smiled at her squeak of pain.

“Behave! And if you are very, very good to the two of us, later you can have us both at the same time in any combination of holes you desire.”

Lena’s eyes opened side. “Well, aren’t you the sweet-talker?”