Wyatt
“That is concerning…and unfortunate.” Great. And here I thought the goddess had thrown me a bone by giving me my body back the easy way. Nothing is ever easy, though, is it?
We’d climbed up Beacon Tower and stood in front of an unconscious shifter. Although now that I look at him, he seems young—too young. His proportions were disturbing, as if they’d stretched his shoulders and limbs to force him into an Alpha shape. But his face?
He had a baby face. Probably wasn’t older than 13 or 14.
“He smells familiar…he has some of your familial traits in the face, but his torso’s too wide. Limbs too long, like he’s been an alpha his whole life,” Noa commented, squatting down next to the body and lifting an arm.
“Familial traits…same eyes. Same nose, but the mouth isn’t mine. It reads more like—” I couldn’t say his name but I knew who it was immediately. Noa nodded, catching on just a second after me. Guy looked between us like the lights were on but the building was empty.
“So I take it you two know this dude?” He questioned, yawning.
I glanced at his slow-healing wounds and furrowed my brows. “Guy. Why aren’t you healing?”
He blinked and winced once his face moved, as if the pain was lagging. A few red claw ps on his cheek were closing, but not fast enough. He touched his cheek, eyes widening at the blood on his fingertips.
“Shit. I don’t know. Maybe that wolf did something to me? It was pretty freaky, so—”
“Freaky how?” I cut him off.
“It bounced off the walls like an anime character. But look, when he was in wolf form, he was just as big as the one in your family photos—if not bigger. I might not be a genius, but unless he's got a bouncing superpower, something ain’t adding up.”
“Dante couldn’t bounce off walls.” Noa mumbled, scratching his chin. “But then again, we hardly spent any time with him after the island.”
“Wait—Dante, as in; Dante, that's your older brother?” Guy questioned. I had to rein in my disappointment that he’d taken so long to get to this logical conclusion.
“Nah, Dante from the Inferno—of course we’re talking about our brother, airhead.” Noa reached over and ruffled Guy's hair, smirking at the grumpy face he’d taken.
I was still trying to process how this was not only not my wolf; it was possibly a relative as well.
“This isn’t Dante. My best educated guess is that this might be his grandson. He doesn’t look that old—” I reached down, touching the boy’s temples. His eyes flew open, and he snapped at my hand. Luckily, either he was too sluggish after fighting off that acid or I’d gotten faster somehow, but my fingers remained attached.
“Easy there! My name is Wyatt h—Jones. Wyatt Jones.I’m Dante’s younger brother” I tried to calm him down. I thought that by mentioning my old family name he’d recognize something. All I managed to do was piss him off though.
Growls cascaded out of his mouth, demanding we sit up and pay attention. He was trying to shift forms and display dominance but all it did was exacerbate his wounds. If he kept going like this, he’d kill himself and there goes my lead. And possibly my only living relative.
Dammit. No other choice then.
“Noa…bare your neck in submission.”
He bared his fangs at me for the audacity of offering that idea.
“Have you lost your mind?!” Noa hissed.
“He’s more wolf than man right now. Do it! Otherwise we lose another link to the past.” I’d already moved my neck to the side and lowered my head, showing Guy what to do. He was as confused as Noa was offended but he complied.
Eventually, after a growl that shook the building, Noa did as well.
The growling stopped. Air rushed away from my neck as the young wolf walked around us, sniffing inquisitively. He’d checked mine and Noa’s, concluding that we were acceptable. Guy on the other hand, the wolf distrusted him, snapping his jaws at him twice. We all waited to see if he would try and rip out Guy's throat but it didn’t happen. Instead, he now sat in front of me on all fours, still trying to shift.
“Stop that. You’ll hurt yourself if you keep doing that.” I cautioned, stepping closer to him. His eyes were the same amber as mine. A family trait. He squinted, not trusting me but not fighting either.
“Need to heal,” he clipped out, halfway between a growl and a hoarse command. Now where had I heard that tone before?
“Shifting won’t heal you any faster.” My hand raised up like I was adjusting my glasses…I was still annoyed with Noa that they weren’t there anymore.
“It’s not like you even need them, you just wear them for aesthetics!” Noa spread my secrets out like a forest fire in a dead forest. The vein in my forehead throbbed…and then dulled.
The area was quiet, yet something shifted outside. A rock fell down. Its impact echoed throughout the area and put my senses on alert.
Someone was still watching us.
“No. I wear them because Sapphyra likes to see me in glasses.”
Couldn’t let them know we were on to them yet. Not yet.
“Of course she does.” Guy mumbled. “Can I get up now? This is humiliating.”
Noa stretched one of his impossibly long limbs to help Guy to his feet. Something bitter and hot twisted in my chest at the way they looked at each other. Trust and longing, the same way Sapphyra and I often gaze at each other, yet we have years of history. Guy and Noa have days, weeks at best.
The mate bond is stronger than I give it credit for…or Noa is just grafting himself onto the kindest person he can get his hands on. Not that I blame him. I would too after decades of being ignored.
“Hurts.” The wolf whined, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“I know. We can help you, but you must answer a few questions first. Do you agree to these terms?”
Noa’s disdain was loud and clear. The way I was talking to him might be cold but we didn’t have time for niceties. I wish Sapph was here, that would be her thing. She could comfort a blind man with sunglasses.
The wolf nodded.
“What is your name?”
“Ezekiel. Ezekiel Jones.” He rasped out, rubbing his throat.
“Dante Jones, he’s my older brother. Is he your father?”
He shook his head. “Grandfather.”
Good, that proves one theory. I would ask about my brother’s whereabouts later, though I had the sinking suspicion that I would hate the answer.
“Where did you come from? There were no wolves in this area when we first woke up. So either you were hiding or—”
“I was released.”
“Released from what and by whom? Rupert?” Ezekiel didn’t answer; the exhaustion must be settling in.
Why he would release his pet wolf now, all of a sudden, I had no idea. Unless it was a distraction.
Noa and I shared a look, no doubt coming to the same conclusion. It's amazing what we shared without a telepathic bond.
“Guy.” His head snapped towards me. “Yeah?”
“What did you come here for, anyway?”
Guy put his hands in his pockets, clenching his jaw like a vault door locking.
He didn’t answer right away, but his body language did. Guy was hiding something. From us. That’s a little shocking, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he started keeping secrets.
“Guy…?” Noa encouraged softly.
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean? Why are you here?”
“It’s not why he’s here,” I offered. "It's why he’s here and not with Sapphyra. Where is she, Guy?” I crossed my arms, scrutinizing him.
“I’m right here.” The voice of an angel floated down from above us. My pulse spiked up as I watched her float down into the room with us. The three of us relaxed, yet stood at attention with her arrival.
My beloved. She looked…exhausted.
But then I noticed the sling her arm was in, and something feral in me snapped. My canines elongated, as did my nails.
“Who hurt you?!” Noa and I said together, threatening to tear everything in that city apart.
“Isn’t it obvious?” She answered, sadness baked into her eyes. “You did.”
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