Everything Carries Me to You (Axton and Leander Book 3) (58 page)

"I'm sorry," Helen said again, looking at Dana, and Axton understood who she was apologizing to.

"Helen--!" Dru said.

"On the matter of succession," Leander said loudly, cutting him off.

"Yes," Ilias said, eyes glittering. "What of it? It should be settled."

"Helen?" Leander asked.

She shook her head and took a step back. It had not been easy for her to come here, Axton understood, and he knew she ached to turn and run on all fours and return to the wilderness.

"No," she said.

"That leaves only one real option," Leander said. "Doesn't it?"

"I think so," Ilias said gravely, turning to him. "Any suggestions?"

That's not right
, Axton thought,
he's not part of this pack, he's not even a werewolf
.

"I nominate this man right here," Leander said, clapping Dana on the back.

"Uh," Dana said.

Oh thank god
, Axton thought, relieved. They were sticking to the plan after all. Leander had just cut the physical confrontation part out altogether, but it was still their plan.

"I'm in favor," Jack said quickly. Then, lightning fast: "Trevor?"

"Um, sure," Trevor said. "That's kind of sudd--you know what, yeah. Dana wants it. He'll do good."

"May?" Jack asked. "December? Frank?"

Murmurs of assent, some cautious, some enthusiastic.

"Helen?" Ilias asked. "You have a right here, if you want it."

"No," Helen said again, shying her head to the side in a gesture more wolf than woman. She really didn't want it.

"Well then," Ilias said. "As the neutral party and also as the wolf with the largest territory in a several hundred mile radius, I agree with the will of this pack. I'll see your exile off your land and then turn him loose. I welcome the new leader and extend my well wishes."

Leander beamed at Dana.

"Congratulations!" he said.

"What," Dana said, dazed.

Leander shoved Dana to the front.

"All hail the new guy in charge," he said vaguely, and then he started clapping and shot Jack a look.

Jack looked faintly bewildered but started clapping gamely. Trevor grinned and joined in. The rule of crowds was such that nearly everyone else joined in out of sheer polite inertia.

"Oh," Dana said.

Ilias looked at him.

"Do you accept?" he asked.

"Yes," Dana said quietly, but then he shook himself free of his fog again and said clearly, "Yes."

He stood still, and let the applause wash over him.

Dru was bound and put away for the time being.

Once that was decided, no one else seemed quite sure what to do.

"Celebratory feast!" Leander suggested cheerily.

Axton shook his head and went off to change shapes and find clothes.

The kitchen was warm and well stocked, and felt much like every other kitchen Axton had seen Leander inhabit for any length of time.

"How do you even know how to do this?" Axton asked.

"The secret is prep time," Leander said.

"Are we still talking about the food?" Axton said, raising an eyebrow.

"Everything is prep time," Leander said. "So in a way--"

"So no," Axton said. "We're not just talking about the food."

"Yeah, but I've been saving this bison chili recipe for just this occasion," Leander said. "So we're also talking about the food."

"We have a lot to talk about," Axton said.

"Yes," Leander said, "but not now. Because we're still performing."

"
You're
performing," Axton said, "and I had no idea you'd be so good at it."

"What, I'm from LA," Leander said. "We've all taken acting lessons at some point."

Axton sighed.

"You scared me," he said. "For a moment there I thought you meant to fight Dru yourself."

"I wouldn't go that far off script without checking in with you first," Leander said.

"Again with the performance metaphor," Axton said.

"The plan was coup d'état," Leander said. "This was largely
your
plan. I just helped you pull it off. What are you angry at me for?"

"How'd you cozy up to my dad so quick?" Axton asked, voice sharp.

"Is
that
the issue?" Leander asked.

They exchanged loaded looks, the air between them heavy with water and hinting of ozone, thunder and lightning ready to erupt between them.

Frank padded into the kitchen unannounced.

"Hey, is the food ready yet?" he asked.

Axton bit back another sigh.

"I'll be outside," he said.

There was music. That was probably also Leander's fault. There was a general party atmosphere. Axton did not like it one bit. He skulked around the edges of the crowd, shooting mistrustful looks over his shoulder.

Everyone was being a
little
too nice to him now. Nice, but not necessarily warm. It wasn't that the people who looked down on him thought any better of him; it was just that, hey, the fag turned out to have a high status alpha backing him up. Stupid.

May and December had come up to him and given him hugs. Axton was a softer sort of confused about this, but he was still not sure what was happening.

"Hey!" someone called out.

Axton tried to blend into the background, willing himself to disappear.

"Hey!"

Fridge Guy was jogging over, with a grin on his face.

"Hey," Axton returned, with a marked lack of enthusiasm.

"Can we talk?" Fridge Guy asked.

"What are we doing now if not talking?" Axton asked.

"I meant, like--" Fridge Guy wiggled his fingers in the direction of the woods vaguely, "discreetly."

"I swear to god, if you try to jump me I will rip your face off," Axton said, but he turned to the trees and began walking. "I've had enough surprises for one night."

"You are
so
hostile sometimes, dude," Fridge Guy said, falling in step beside Axton. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Nothing, I guess," Axton said.

"I got you kicked out of the house," Fridge Guy said, "and I acted like a dick. All of which I'm still sorry for, but I've never raised hand or tooth to you."

"Fair enough," Axton said. "All right." Then, quietly and somewhat guiltily, "I forgot your name again."

"Dude, really?" Fridge Guy said. "After a certain point that shit is downright disrespectful."

"Sorry," Axton said. "I keep on expecting to never see you again."

"Trevor," Fridge Guy said. "My name is Trevor."

"Trevor," Axton said. "Okay."

"So, uh," Trevor said, with a bounce of his eyebrows, "that your dude back there?"

Axton glanced over at him and raised one eyebrow but stayed silent.

"Leander," Trevor asked. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Axton said. "I thought that would be pretty obvious."

"Maybe now," Trevor said, "but not when he came here. Dana said he was some kind of blogger that stumbled onto proof of werewolves."

"And Dru didn't have him executed?" Axton asked.

"I think the idea was that killing him would just draw more attention," Trevor said, "but just letting things cool off for a while might work. Besides, everyone liked him. We would've kept him around."

"Still," Axton said, "you have a wolf prisoner for loving a human male and then a human male just shows up? How is that not obvious?"

"I think a lot of people just tried to forget that you happened," Trevor said.

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Axton said.

"I didn't think it would," Trevor said.

"So is that all? Anything else I can do for you, now that your curiosity is satisfied?"

Trevor shook his head.

"Unfriendly," he said.

Axton shrugged.

"It's been a rough night for me," he said.

"I know." Trevor looked off into the snowy trees. "That's part of what I wanted to talk about."

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to say thanks," Trevor said, "for--righting our wrongs, I guess. You got out. You were free to stay away but you came back to help us, even though we weren't very nice to you on the whole. And that's…brave."

Axton blinked.

"Okay," he said. "That was a surprise."

"You gonna rip my face off now, man?" Trevor asked wryly. "Since I surprised you and all?"

"No," Axton said. "Uh. Well. Welcome?"

"Other people have come and gone, the past few years," Trevor said. "A few other people could tell the pack was sick, that something was wrong. But no one ever did anything. No one tried to figure it out."

"Well," Axton said, because he was terrible at accepting thanks, "uh, someone had to, I guess."

"So just--thanks for setting us free," Trevor said. He stopped, which made Axton stop automatically, and then he gave Axton a hug.

Oh god
, Axton thought, as he often did when it happened to him,
I'm being hugged
. He patted Trevor on the back, gently bewildered.

"You might not want to thank me," Axton said, "until you find out what kind of leader Dana turns out to be."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that," Trevor said lightly, as they turned around and started to walk back towards the party, "about how Dana seemed like he'd known Leander for a while, how he was angry but not disgusted."

Axton stayed silent.

"He knew, didn't he?" Trevor asked. "He knew that the human you'd been with was a man."

"Yeah," Axton said, "he knew."

"So he lied," Trevor said. "Why would he lie about knowing?"

"Maybe he was just looking out for his future chances," Axton said. "Like he thinks it'll ruin his chances as alpha if people think he's soft on the gay thing."

"And he'd beat you up," Trevor went on slowly, "just to uphold that kind of lie?"

"I'm not comfortable with this line of questioning," Axton said.

"Unfriendly, unfriendly," Trevor said, shaking his head.

"Friendly has nothing to do with it," Axton said, "but some things aren't mine to tell."

"That's an answer, then," Trevor said. "Wow."

"It's not," Axton said sharply. "It's not an answer at all, so I'd keep my suspicions to my fucking self, if I were you."

"Okay,
that
reaction was an answer," Trevor said.

"Don't you dare ruin this for him," Axton said fiercely "Don't you dare ruin this for
me
, for Leander. But don't ruin it for Dana, either."

"You would defend him," Trevor asked. "Even now?"

Axton stopped walking and stayed silent, staring Trevor down.

Trevor held up his hands for peace.

"Don't give me the death stare, man," he said. "I get it. I'm not gonna talk. I didn't squeal last time I promised to stay quiet, right?"

"Don't hurt him," Axton said.

Trevor shook his head and then resumed walking.

"What?" Axton asked.

"Just," Trevor said, "I don't think anyone's ever loved me like that. Where they'd defend me despite--everything."

"You should see what I was willing to do for Leander's sake," Axton said, as they came to the edge of the treeline.

"I think I'd rather not," Trevor said. "But you know, my offer still stands."

"What?" Axton said again.

"From forever ago," Trevor said. "We could be friends."

Axton tilted his head to the side.

"Why would you want to be my friend?" he asked.

"Because you're a fucking badass?" Trevor asked. "And loyal as hell? That's pretty cool."

"I guess that is pretty cool," Axton agreed, "when you put it that way."

"What other way is there to put it?" Trevor asked.

"Okay, Trevor," Axton said, offering his hand. "Friends."

They shook and emerged into the light.

Later, Axton slipped away from the festivities to find his father and his lover amiably reviewing the events of the day while nursing brandies. He lingered in the shadows, eavesdropping.

"You bound him," Ilias said. "You bound him with the only thing he cares about more than killing you and having Axton."

"I bound him with the thing that's only slightly less binding than death," Leander said. "I bound him with duty."

"You prefer to not kill," Ilias said. "Even your enemies."

Leander shrugged.

"Whenever possible. Winning's not all about killing. Don't solve with blood what you can solve with cunning. Blood begets blood. If you can afford to be above that, you should."

"It really wasn't subtle, though," Ilias observed.

"Eh," Leander said. "Subtle enough. You only need to be more cunning than your quarry. Dana was surprised."

"Bringing his mother into it was a nice touch," Ilias said, before turning and saying, "Hello, Axton."

Goddamnit. His father was never caught off guard.

"Well I'm fucking thrilled you two are getting along," Axton said in one big breath, which hadn't been what he planned on saying at all. The resentment erupted forward and Axton couldn't, wouldn't stop it. "And
you
," he turned to Leander, "you let me think you were off to get yourself killed, going off script like that. Even if you got rid of the physical fight entirely."

"I told you," Ilias said to Leander, with infuriating calm. He had never let Axton talk like that to him before in all their lives. "I told you he was going to be upset."

"Yeah, I hadn't really planned this far," Leander said thoughtfully. "I just planned as far as not dying. Now I'm hoping to weasel my way out with my good looks and charm."

Axton sat down next him, took his glass, and downed all the brandy in one gulp.

"Fuck you," he said vaguely. "Oh, god." He shuddered. He felt sick.

"C'mere," Leander muttered, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"You could have been ripped to shreds," Axton said.

"But I wasn't," Leander said cheerfully.

"Jesus fucking christ," Axton said.

"Language," Ilias said, too seriously.

"My god, I had
forgotten
how sarcastic you are all the time," Axton said, shoving away from Leander and throwing his arms up. "How does anyone ever handle it?"