147 Rushing forward (2/2)

”It was her fucking curse that killed them, not Jos.” Russ argued.

Ry shrugged, ”Calypso has never seen it that way.”

Russ's expression turned to raw anger. ”Then you've all but said it, she'll never be willing to lift the curse.”

Ry turned toward the door and placed his hand on the handle before answering, ”She will for the right price...” He opened the door and turned back to Russ. ”Go on I'm sure you're dying to see her, though she's probably asleep by now.”

Russ nodded as he pushed himself up from the chair. ”And I'll probably have to run both of our siblings out of her room.” He said as he lumbered to the door. He stopped and patted Ry's shoulder. ”Sorry your history lesson was useless in dissuading me, better luck next time.”

Ry arched his brow as irritation returned. ”It wasn't meant so much to dissuade you as properly inform you. As you said yourself, at least now you understand her point of view better.”

Russ shrugged, ”As I've told her, I don't see my people being all that upset that I decided to 'breed' with a demi-god instead of a full-blooded werewolf. And knowing now exactly what her lineage is, I really don't see them resisting the information.”

Ry shook his head. ”You just don't understand do ya, kid...” He pulled the door closed as they both moved out into the hall. ”But I guess you'll have to learn the hard way. I just hope your hardheaded shit doesn't negatively affect Jos and Shelly.”

Russ turned back on Ry quickly. ”Why would any of this affect Shelly?”

Ry arched a brow. ”You really have to ask? She's carrying the child of her deceased Gin husband... a marriage they may not even choose to recognize considering it's short duration.”

Russ frowned as the possibility of Shelly and her baby being shunned invaded his mind for the first time. ”I hadn't really given that much thought...”

Ry rolled his eyes. ”Not even surprising...”

Russ pushed open the door to Jos's bedroom as he rapped lightly on it. He wasn't surprised to find the mirror image of the man he'd spent the last several hours arguing with sitting by the fire, a drink in hand.

”Come in.” Arei's voice boomed through the quiet room even though it was meant to be a whisper. ”She's asleep, but I figured you'd come in at some point.”

Russ nodded. His eyes trailed over to the bed where Jos was snuggled to the large wolf that was his sister as he shut the door behind him.

”Might as well pull up a seat. I doubt either of them will be waking up tonight.” Arei stated as he continued to stare into the flickering flames of the fire and swirl the whiskey distractedly in his glass.

Russ did as the man said, sitting in the armchair across from him. This was the first time he'd been alone with the man since their car ride here several weeks ago. He glanced back at the bed, not taking his attention from Jos's sleeping face until a cold glass brushed his hand.

”Here, you probably need this after spending nearly three hours holed up with my brother.” Arei said. His voice was stoic despite the stab at Ry. He waited for Russ to take the glass. He lifted his own glass for a long drink as Russ did the same. Arei trailed his every move from above the brim of the glass, his gaze not wavering even after the drink was lowered. ”Fair warning, treat her right from here on out. I'll not step down again.” With that he went back to watching the flicker of flames not acknowledging Russ's presents.

Russ finished off his drink and set the glass beside Arei on the table leaning down close to the other man. ”I'm not afraid of you.” He growled before standing and walking back toward the door. ”I'm going to go shower. I'm sleeping here tonight so unless you want to be little spoon I suggest being gone before I get back.”

Arei narrowed his eyes at the flames not giving the kid the satisfaction of knowing how angry his words were making him. He let out a heavy sigh as the door shut quietly, Jos's words from earlier replaying in his head.

”I know you'll leave, whether it's what I want or not.”

Her tear-filled words tore at his aching heart. No doubt there was still a part of her that loved him after all this time. He hadn't let himself consider the possibility before... hadn't wanted to relive the pain that was losing her again, but it was way too late for that now. Only thing left to do was wait out the kid, whether that meant the next time he physically or emotionally abused Jos or another 500 years down the road when the boy was long past gone. He'd waited this long after all, what would another 500 years hurt. His eyes moved back to the bed and another painful thought hit him. In another 500 years the sweet wolf on the bed with Jos would also be gone. The thought pained him more than he ever would have expected. Somehow, in the past weeks, the girl had worked her way into her own small chunk of his heart. Granted he could never love her the way he did Jos or as anything remotely romantic... he did love the girl. The corner of his mouth lifted. Jos's influence was evident in the girl even in her wolf form.

Remembering what Russ had said, Arei set his glass down and walked over to the bed. He brushed the hair back from Jos's face and bent to kiss her exposed cheek before gently shaking Shelly awake. ”Your brother will be back in here in a few minutes. I wasn't sure if you wanted to stick around for that, I know I don't.” When the wolf made a groggy but disgusted face, he laughed and held his arms out for her. ”Come on, wanna keep me company? We can binge some anime and eat weird ass pregnancy foods, what do ya say?” The wolf nodded and he helped her down from the bed. ”After you.” He said holding the door open for her.

An hour later Arei, Shelly, Raven, and Ry were piled up in the spacious reclining chairs of the home theater. Raven, Arei, and Ry were taking turns abridging an anime they'd found, making it as funny and dirty as possible.