“I’ve got one that should be cooled enough now. Just one.To test.”
“Then what we need are blankets of your father’s material.”
“Not a blanket. Long jackets like a doggie sweater with a hoodie. It’s too hard for a wolf to flatten out beneath a blanket in twenty seconds.” He should know. He’d tried.
“But your father can make that, right?”
“Of course he can. But he won’t—”
“He will. We’ll pretend to be from the military.”
Josh sighed. “Fine, you work on that.” Let Nero find out the hard way that it was a useless endeavor. His father triple-checked everything and wasn’t one to be duped by fake papers. “I’ll go back to testing—”
“No. We’ll go now. Best if we surprise your father with an urgent demand from a desperate son.”
Ice slid hard and sharp through Josh’s veins. “No,” he said flatly. “I’m not going, and I’m not talking tohimaboutthis.”
“Why not?”
Josh struggled to put his objection into words. Unfortunately, every response was clouded by emotion. As a kid, he’d admired his father’s efficient business discipline. The man was precise and had an iron fist of control that didn’t allow for mistakes. But that was also coupled with constant criticism about how Josh had never measured up. He wasn’t fast enough, strong enough,manlyenough—by his father’s own definition of manliness. He didn’t even want to imagine the guy’s response to finding out Josh was gay. It would probably be something along the lines of how it made sense because Josh had always been a prissy, finicky, indoor boy.
What he’d actually been was a kid with a delicate stomach who didn’t like getting beaten up by his older brother, Bruce, and his friends. “Take someone else if you have to. Believe me, he won’t give me anything but grief.”
“What happened between you and your father?”
“He’s an asshole! He hates everything I am. I’m finallyhappy, and he’s going to find a way to ruin it!” It was a childish reaction, but that didn’t make it any less real. All he’d have to do was step through the front door and he’d be seven years old again, being scolded because he’d let another boy take his new Colts baseball cap. The kid had been two years older, twice his size, and apparently had a real hard-on for a football team that hadn’t found Peyton Manning yet. “I do not want him in my life!”
Of course, Nero had no problem pointing out the ridiculousness of still letting his father destroy him emotionally. “You’re a full-grown adult, Josh. More important, you’re a werewolf now—”
“And a wolf doesn’t let anyone push him around, right? A werewolf stands tall and doesn’t take shit from anyone. And if he does, he makes the bastard pay, right?”
Nero frowned, obviously not understanding Josh’s bitter tone. “Uh… yeah.”
“That’s exactly what my father used to say about being a man, and it’s bullshit. A man ought to be able tothinkof a better way of living than beating up anything he doesn’t like.”
“Sothinkof a better way to deal with your father.”
“You said I could never reconnect with my family. That I should just cut them out of my life. Was that bullshit?”
Nero swallowed and his gaze canted away. “It’s truth, but we need that fabric, Josh. And FYI, I’ve been trying to get it for weeks now. You’re my last hope.”
“Then you’re screwed.” Josh pressed his fists tight to his chest to keep himself from punching Nero in the face. “My father responds to one thing: force. And unless you’re going to let me go wolf on him and scare the shit out of him, then I suggest you start looking for a different way to get the fabric you want.”
Nero’s gaze went cold. “Look at you, Josh. You’ve got more power than you’ve ever had before in your life. More strength, speed, and stamina. You’re a living magical creature. And yet here you are, reduced to a child throwing a tantrum at the thought of asking your father for help.”
“This from the man whose family still thinks he’s in lockup!” Josh leaned in and got straight in Nero’s face. “You told me to ditch my family. You told me that it wasn’t worth the pain—”
“And you said you weren’t going to cut them out of your life entirely. You said you would find a different way.”
Josh shook his head, feeling betrayal cut deep inside. “This isn’t about me at all,” he said. “This is about you getting the fabric. About your revenge and being too impatient for a better—”
“We’re out of time.” Nero’s voice dropped to a deep tone all the more frightening for how calm it seemed. “I’mout of time.” He took a deep breath as he pushed to his feet. “You’re more powerful than you’ve ever been before in your life, but that’s dangerous unless you control yourself. Not just physically but emotionally. Face your demon father, Josh, so I can take out the demon that killed my team.” He tossed Josh his pants. “We leave in an hour.”
“And what if I don’t control myself?” Josh asked. “What if I go wolf and rip out the guy’s throat?” It was a real possibility. There’d been times in his life when, if he’d had the ability to kill his father, he absolutely would have.
“I’ll be there to stop you. And then we’ll have to convert the rest of your family to werewolves to keep the secret contained.”
Josh snorted. “Sure you would,” he drawled. “Because anybody can be a werewolf.”
