Chapter One
Itshouldn’tmatter,butit did. That was all Yuri could think as he paid for his own food and bought a new pair of jeans. He had never really had any human money of his own. As the son of an alpha, everything had been provided for him. Then the pack had torn his parents to pieces and Yuri had become a refugee in a new pack. At first, he had sung for his supper in a way. Talking shit was actually a forte of his that he didn’t much use any longer. But when he had first come to town, he had used that skill to try to challenge the pack’s alpha. That hadn’t worked for him. In fact, that had pretty much destroyed what was left of his life. Now Yuri was a pariah who lived in Hell, literally. Except today, everything felt weird and different. It shouldn’t matter, but it did.
While Yuri hadn’t made it to alpha, his overwhelming moronic behavior had somehow landed him in a higher position: guardian wolf to a godling. It was the highest position a wolf could achieve. In another odd twist of fate, that promotion andthe change in location had given him a human bank account filled with the entire profit from the sale of a house in the mountains. The money should have gone to his godling, Riku. The house had actually been his, after all. Yet somehow fate kept handing Yuri all these blessings he didn’t deserve, and Yuri felt like he held his breath all the time. Surely the other shoe would drop soon, and he would get his comeuppance, but no. He stood at the counter of the diner, inside a town of people who hated him, and paid for his own dinner. Yuri felt all the eyes upon him and the entire situation was eerie as hell. Reverence rolled from the pack rather than hatred, and really. It pissed him off because it shouldn’t matter he was a guardian. He was the same wolf he had been before leaping into a fire to save Riku—who didn’t even need to be saved, by the way. Yuri was the same wolf they had shunned even after he swallowed all the pride and submitted to their pack leader, Waylon. Now he outranked Waylon, and his family was a hodgepodge of a godling, the literal devil, and a sexy-ass hellhound he couldn’t shake. The longer he waited to pay, the more the entire situation frayed his temper.
“Hey.” The breathless-sounding greeting pulled Yuri from his growing black mood. A young wolf he had briefly met but couldn’t recall slid between the counter and him, leaving less than a centimeter between their bodies.
“Kyrie,” he said, reminding Yuri of his name.
Yuri nodded. “I remember.” Of course, that was total bullshit.
Kyrie’s yellow eyes flashed with interest as they slid down Yuri’s body. Yuri wondered how the guy didn’t draw the attention of the humans in town with those eyes. They were definitelyunnatural. Maybe he told everyone he wore contacts. Sometimes Yuri’s mind wandered off-topic. Kyrie still waited, as if he expected something. Yuri waited him out. He had nothing to say.
Kyrie broke first. Yuri had known he would since Yuri literally had nothing. “It’s a full moon tonight.”
“Okay.” Really. What did he want Yuri to say? He knew it was a full moon. All wolves did. They couldn’t resist the lunar pull.
That yellow stare slowly slid down Yuri’s body again. Yuri fought the urge to shift uncomfortably. He was a guardian. Yuri had to stand tall and proud without fidgeting. Finally, Kyrie’s gaze returned to holding his stare.
“Are you coming to tonight’s full moon run?”
Oh. He was slow on the uptake, but not completely dumb. Yuri also wasn’t interested, but he didn’t want to hurt the guy’s feelings. It wasn’t Kyrie’s fault. Until very recently, Yuri hadn’t felt any attraction to anyone. He had always wondered if he was broken in some way. Honestly, he didn’t have to wonder. He knew he was broken, but Brownie made him feel just a little less strange.
“Are you ready?”
There it was. Yuri fought the urge to close his eyes and lean back against the solid chest behind him. He felt the heat radiating from the huge hellhound at his back. The moment he had seen Brownie for the first time, he had come alive. In a singleunguarded moment, he had never been more aware of every inch of his body. Brownie made everything about him sing.
Kyrie’s gaze moved from Yuri to Brownie and back again. He didn’t look worried. In fact, his eyebrows rose as if reminding Yuri he had asked a question.
Yuri cleared his throat and glanced over his shoulder. “I’m still waiting to pay.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Brownie snatched the bill from Yuri’s hand and stretched past them. His enormous body had no trouble sandwiching Yuri and Kyrie in against the counter. Brownie smacked the paper on the diner’s counter and then dug a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet. He slapped that on top of the bill, catching the cook’s attention. “This should cover things.” His arm moved from the counter to Yuri’s waist. He kept the zero space between them, making it impossible for Yuri to think clearly. “Let’s go. This town gives me the creeps.”
The claim pulled a laugh from Yuri. “Here? This place? You’re from Hell. It’s filled with demons and shit.”
He let Brownie steer him to the door. Brownie had his full attention. Yuri didn’t even watch where he walked. He simply let Brownie guide him while Kyrie was totally forgotten. Yuri was lost in Brownie’s glowing red eyes. Now he was a beast who couldn’t pass as a man, but goddamn. What a man he was in human form. Just muscle and scars and muscle. Fuck. Yuri ached. That full moon was really pulling at him. He had neverwanted to lick every inch of someone in his entire life. Saliva filled his mouth at the thought of doing that to Brownie.
Brownie didn’t release him—like he worried Yuri might see a squirrel and force him to stay ten minutes longer. A sexy slight smile played on Brownie’s lips. “It’s the people here,” he said, pulling Yuri back on topic. “They’re weird. In Hell, everyone is deceitful, but it’s always on display. Here, they hide behind smiles. Like that kid back there. He wants to fuck you… or for you to fuck him.” Brownie shrugged. “Either way, he should’ve just said that. Instead, he flirts with his eyes and hopes you’ll notice.”
Yuri’s heart dropped. There it was. The thing that weighed on him every second of the day. While Brownie had brought Yuri’s body all the way to life, Brownie didn’t feel the same. As a hellhound alpha, he was probably leagues above Yuri. Yuri didn’t really know how hierarchy worked in Hell. Not that it mattered. Brownie probably had loads of experience and found Yuri boring. Yuri got the feeling Brownie’s life had been way more exciting than his. The only reason Brownie stayed glued to his side was because Lucifer ordered him to do so whenever he was outside Hell. Yuri was a huge prize for any deity who wanted to strike a blow at Lucifer. Since Riku was Lucifer’s mate, and Riku was the only person Lucifer loved, it made sense. Hurting Yuri hurt Riku. So, here was Brownie. Stuck with him: the boring wolf.
Brownie drew him to a stop. His gaze moved over Yuri’s face. “You’re upset.”
Fuck. Sometimes he forgot they could read each other’s minds. Some thoughts he needed to keep hidden. He scrambled for a lie that was close enough to the truth so Brownie wouldn’t feel it was a lie. “I’m a wolf. This is a pack. I’ve never fit in, but I guess I sometimes want to.”
Brownie’s mind was on lockdown. Yuri couldn’t see his thoughts. “You can go back to the kid, if you want.”
Ouch. That one stung. “No.”
Brownie gave him a sharp nod and started walking again.
Yuri wondered if the pains in his chest would kill him. He had lived in Hell for four months. Four months of sleeping across the hall from Brownie each night. One hundred and twenty nights of watching Brownie either go to bed without him or go out to wherever he partied with the hounds. He didn’t invite Yuri. Yuri didn’t fit anywhere. Sometimes, that hurt way more than he could handle. Today, it was heavy as hell.
Being with Yuri when he was in human form was a struggle. Yuri was flawless. The differences between them were on full display. Brownie was this beat-up, scarred hound from the depths. They didn’t match. But he always found ways to touch Yuri because he couldn’t fucking stop. Anytime Yuri let him, he groomed him. Goddess, he tasted like ambrosia. He was the closest to heaven Brownie would ever be. Brownie needed to head to the bar and find someone to fuck. He shouldn’t be here, sitting in the corner and watching Yuri pace.
From the moment they returned to Hell, Yuri had been in wolf form, walking the floor like the trapped animal he was. He had Brownie’s stomach in knots. That young wolf who had been flirting with Yuri earlier was beautiful. He matched Yuri. Was he the reason Yuri paced? Did he want to go enjoy his world with someone who actually matched him? Brownie was scared as hellof his thoughts. Was Yuri angry Brownie had pulled him away from his friend?
“Okay. Spill. What in the fuck is wrong with you? All your pacing has the hair on the back of my neck irritated.”
