Gilbert (12 page)

“The entire lepe, their homes and…and everything, gone,” Bae whispered. “Isaiah, I have to go. I have to see if any of my family made it out…somewhere. They haven’t been answering my calls. I thought they were just, I don’t know, but they could be—”

Isaiah took Daniel from Bae and gestured Jihu over to get his son. “Bae, we won’t be allowed in the area, you know that. And shifting then showing up as leopards, that’s out of the question. I’m sorry, but we can’t go yet.”

Jihu’s eyes were burning again, but this time it wasn’t for himself. He could see the pain etched into Bae’s features, and Bae didn’t pay any attention to the tears running down his cheeks. Jihu wanted to comfort Bae but wasn’t sure he’d be welcome to do so.

Daniel snuffled and yawned, and Jihu was going to go make a bottle for him when Gilbert handed him one. “I can hold him, if you want to go to Bae. Maybe you can suggest that we try to get closer to the area. If there are survivors…”

Jihu saw that Isaiah was hugging Bae, rocking him gently as they stood.

“Go ahead,” Gilbert urged him, taking Daniel from Jihu. “No one will be upset that you offer to comfort your brother.”

With Daniel settled and nursing at the bottle, Jihu had nothing to use as an excuse for his cowardice. He tipped his chin up and walked to Bae and Isaiah, if not with confidence, at least with affection and concern.

“I—” he started, only to completely blank out on what he would have said. Isaiah lifted an arm and the next thing Jihu knew, he was being hugged by Bae and Isaiah both. “We can…we can maybe go to the nearest town to the area, wherever we’ll be allowed that’s close.” Jihu wished he didn’t sound so stupid, but Bae’s pause, his blinking and looking at Jihu with hope, encouraged Jihu as few other things could have. “We could get a hotel room, or, or use the vet thing you drive. I don’t know if there’s room for all of us, but if there is, as soon as we are allowed to, we can scour the area. We’ll have to stay in human form, because of helicopters and news cameras.”

“Josiah,” Gilbert piped up with. “He’s a wolf shifter. And Lyndon’s cougar, neither would be out of place in the area, but it might be odd with the wildlife fleeing the fire. I don’t know if they’d come roaming back.”

“I doubt they’d be noticeable, or that their presence would merit much attention,” Isaiah said. “And Josiah has brothers that might help, too. Gilbert, can you call them?”

“If by them you mean Grandma again, yeah, as soon as Daniel gets done and is burped.”

“I’ll call her. I’m the one asking for help now.” Bae sniffled and wiped at his eyes. “Jihu has already talked to her, so me and Isaiah can take it this time.” Bae touched Jihu’s cheek, drawing his gaze. “Thank you, brother.”

Jihu stared into eyes so much like his own, except Bae had flecks of lighter brown or gold in his dark eyes. The shape, the basic colour, was the same, though. “You’re welcome.” Jihu reached for Bae at the same time Bae reached for him. As he put his head on his brother’s shoulder, Jihu felt the bonds of family growing stronger. If he was already attached to Bae, how must Bae feel over the danger to
his
family? Jihu held his brother tighter and wished he could do something more to help ease his pain.

Chapter Ten

“He’s a beautiful boy,” Grandma Marybeth said as she rocked Daniel. “You boys—you young men,” she corrected herself without looking away from Daniel, “go do what you have to. Cheryl and Henry will probably fight me for Daniel.”

Cheryl, Gilbert’s aunt, snorted and looked at her husband Henry. “Right, Mother. Like either of us are stupid enough to fight with you.”

Jihu was watching the interaction between the family members, and Gilbert was watching Jihu. He’d been very quiet since arriving at the family property outside of Holton.

“Bae, you still haven’t heard anything?” Henry asked. Henry and Cheryl’s sons, or two of them at least, frowned at the question.

“I’d think he’d have said so,” Levi, the older son, muttered.

“Don’t make me thump you,” Henry told him. Oscar, his youngest child, and mate to Josiah, the wolf in the family, smirked at Levi. “I should just thump you both.”

Oscar turned big eyes on his dad. “What did I do?”

Henry pointed at him. “You’re goading your brother with that look and you know it. And Levi almost always falls for it.”

Levi glared at his dad. “Well, that doesn’t make me sound smart at all.”

“If the implication fits…” Oscar danced away when Levi lunged at him.

“They’re playing,” Gilbert whispered in Jihu’s ear when Jihu tensed. “Wait’ll you see how rough it gets at the family reunion. Wrestling matches, a few fights, macho posturing everywhere.”

“And he’s not making any of that up,” Grandma Marybeth added. “At the last one, Levi and his cousin Esau had a little too much—which means a lot for a shifter—and fought like the fools they were.”

Levi stopped chasing Oscar and rubbed at his jaw. “Yeah, I don’t even remember how it started, but Esau sure packs a punch. I always thought he was a nice guy.”

Lyndon, Levi’s mate, snickered and held his hand out to Levi. “He is, but you called him an old geezer a few too many times.”

“So you say,” Levi huffed. “I don’t remember any of it. Except feeling like a damn eighteen-wheeler ran over me the next day.”

“Probably because you laughed and told him he hit like a little old man,” Oscar pointed out.

“You really did,” Gilbert agreed. “Then it got ugly.”

Levi hung his head. “That’s why I shouldn’t chug a couple dozen beers.”

“Esau, either, because he normally wouldn’t have been goaded, but nooooooo,” Lyndon drew out, “you two thought it’d be fun to see who could drink the most the fastest, then y’all turned on each other like a couple of dummies.”

Levi peeked up at him. “But you still love me.”

“More than ever.”

Oscar rolled his eyes. “Gack, enough mushy stuff. We have plans to make.”

“Like you never get ‘mushy’ over Josiah,” Lyndon said and Oscar flipped him off.

“If the four of you are done acting like twelve-year-olds…” Isaiah arched his brows and waited.

“Sorry, Bae,” Oscar muttered right before Levi. “You know we’ll do anything to help.” Oscar glanced at Jihu. “We really aren’t the idiots we pretend to be.”

Jihu didn’t seem to know what to say, so Gilbert helped him out. “Yeah, they are, but they’re also pretty awesome. You’ll love them like I do in no time at all.”

Jihu’s tentative smile just about melted his heart. “Okay.”

“Bae, have you got the map up?” Lyndon asked, all business. In short order, the joking stopped and everyone gathered around the laptop to look at the various maps Bae had pulled up. Gilbert kept his arm around Jihu, knowing this many people, which was only the tip of the family iceberg, had to be intimidating to him.

But when Jihu watched the interaction between Levi and Oscar with a warm smile a few minutes later, Gilbert tingled with happiness for his mate. Granted, Levi and Oscar were huddled close and instead of picking at each other, were bouncing ideas back and forth. It was easy to see the love between the brothers.

Gilbert also didn’t miss the shy glances Jihu shot Bae. The hunger for a relationship with Bae was plain to see, and Gilbert knew Jihu wouldn’t be disappointed. He’d have Bae, and more family than he could shake a stick at.

“Do you think Chul was alive when you last saw him?” Bae twisted in his chair to ask Jihu.

Jihu closed his eyes, as if replaying the scene in his mind. “Yes. And Ye-sun, he didn’t seem to be mourning his father, unless they weren’t close?”

Bae gave a clipped nod. “They were as close as anyone could be with Chul. Our father isn’t the easiest man, but he was—
is
—coming around. Ye-sun, we aren’t very close. I’ve been away from the family for half his life, but he’s a smart kid.”

“How old is he?” Jihu asked. “I thought he was around my age.”

Bae rolled his eyes up as if counting years on the back of his eyelids. “He’s…eighteen, I think. No, twenty. Same as you.”

“Okay, so we need to see how close we can get to Sheridan, which is on the safe side of the forest fire, unless, you know, the winds shift,” Oscar qualified. “I doubt there’ll be any rooms available anywhere, so we can take Bae’s vet van, which may be needed, anyway. Also might give us a way to get closer to the area we need to check out.”

“Yeah,” Levi said, taking over when Oscar paused. “We have two travel trailers, one here and Esau has one. I’m sure he’ll lend it to us, or, more likely, come help us. Good thing he doesn’t hold a grudge.”

Bae nodded. “So between those three vehicles, we should have a place to sleep, even if it’s cramped. We also might be able to park at one of the rest areas outside of Sheridan. I’d really rather do that unless the rest areas are packed. We might have more privacy than we would in an RV park or…or the parking lot of some store.”

Jihu spoke up then. “What if we run into Chung-Hee? Or his guards?”

Gilbert growled and he wasn’t the only one. “Then I’ll make sure he never bothers you again. Same for his guards.”

“They won’t get to you, or to Bae,” Isaiah grumbled. “They’ll be lucky if we don’t tear their heads off.”

“At the least,” Levi added. Then he put a hand on Oscar’s shoulder. “You’ll be okay?”

Gilbert wanted to smack himself then. Oscar had been forced to kill another shifter over a year ago, when Lyndon’s life was on the line. From what he knew, it had really messed with Oscar, taking another’s life. That right there reminded Gilbert not to be so flippant about what might happen.

Jihu gave him a questioning look and Gilbert started to shake his head, but Oscar spoke up, perhaps having seen the exchange.

“I killed a man who was going to murder Lyndon,” he said with no emotion in his voice or expression. “I would do it again, for anyone in our family, but I prefer not to have to, if I can avoid it. But my family, and that includes you, Jihu, comes first, before my own qualms and preferences.”

“Oh.” Jihu sucked on his bottom lip and looked through his long dark lashes over at Oscar. “I don’t—I mean, thank you.” He turned those big eyes to Gilbert, who nodded and smiled.

“That’s perfect, baby.” Gilbert was so proud of Jihu, was buzzing with it, which was why it took him a few seconds to realise the soft “Thank you,” he heard wasn’t spoken, but was Jihu’s thought sent through their mental link.

“Jihu?”

“Yes, Gilbert. I’ve tried, and tried, and I can…I can feel you.”

“I can feel you, too,” Gilbert said except he spoke out loud, lost in the sensation of Jihu opening himself to him.

“You can what?”

Gilbert ignored the question from one of his cousins and instead marvelled at the closeness growing between him and Jihu.

Well, he tried to, but Bae was insistent, appearing almost between them as he cupped Jihu’s shoulder. “Jihu? What’s happening? Are your senses coming back?”

“Honey, maybe we should give them some space.” Isaiah pulled Bae back and still Gilbert couldn’t look away from Jihu.

“The last bedroom upstairs on the right’s a good place to
talk
,” Oscar murmured as he walked past Gilbert. “Farthest away from the living room, too. We’ll take care of packing and all the other stuff.”

Jihu’s cheeks darkened and he averted his gaze then.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Jihu. I doubt we’ll be the only ones…talking. Can you smell it?”
It wasn’t just his and Jihu’s arousal that was heavy in the air.

“Yes, and…I need you so much, I don’t care who knows or hears.”
Jihu grabbed his hand and tugged.

Gilbert knew he was staring, mouth open at Jihu’s forwardness, but damn, it was hot, too. He was on Jihu’s heels all the way to the bedroom. Grandma Marybeth had shushed them as she cuddled Daniel and rocked him, so they’d been as quiet as possible.

But now, with the door shut and locked, both of them having quickly shed their clothes, all Gilbert could think about was getting closer to Jihu, of making love to him and sharing their feelings, their pleasure, mentally as well as physically.

“Jihu—” was as far as Gilbert got before Jihu moaned and leapt on him, literally winding his arms and legs around Gilbert’s neck and hips.

“Kiss me,” Jihu pleaded. As if he needed to. Gilbert couldn’t resist those full, parted lips if his life had depended on it.

“Always, any time you need me, want me,”
he thought, and Jihu whimpered, kicking himself up, his heels digging into Gilbert’s butt as he surged up to seal his mouth to Gilbert’s.

“Fuck yes!”
Gilbert’s thrill at Jihu’s assertiveness was undeniable and he certainly couldn’t hide it.

Jihu speared his tongue into his mouth, his sharp little teeth were used to scrape Gilbert’s lip. Jihu’s thoughts were a jumble of feelings, rather than words, need pulsing through him and only growing stronger. When Jihu fisted his hands in Gilbert’s hair, a hundred tiny pains blossomed over his scalp, and Gilbert’s cock grew harder, his nipples aching for a touch.

Jihu growled as he dragged one hand down— nails catching at Gilbert’s skin, then Jihu plucked at his nub, pinching and marking with his nails. Gilbert’s pecs felt hot with streaks left from Jihu clawing him.

“You like this, the pain.”
Jihu curled his fingers, and Gilbert hissed as he looked down to see not nails, but as he’d thought, claws, black and sharp, piercing his skin just the slightest.

“Yes,” he admitted, having to tip his head back and gulp. If he kept watching he was going to come in record time.

“Do it,” Jihu demanded, timid no more as he felt the power and effect he had on Gilbert. “Come for me, just from this.” Jihu tightened his legs and ground against him at the same time he bit Gilbert’s nipple hard enough to make him yelp.

Gilbert stumbled back, hitting the door as he jerked. Jihu pinched his other bud as he bit again, and Gilbert slid down the door as he came, slamming his eyes shut and keening, mindless in his release. He came out of it slowly to find Jihu staring at him in wonder.