“Yes.”
“Should I go back in there where I’m needed?” He gestured to Wulfric’s bedroom door. “Or are you going to poke me with more useless questions?” The answer was obvious. He needed to go back and stay with Wulfric. He relaxed back on his heels and waited for Laddin to say just that.
He didn’t. Instead, Laddin cracked Wulfric’s bedroom door open and poked his head in.
“Any change?” Laddin asked Nero.
“His supernatural healing is kicking in. He’ll be fine. And even prettier for it.”
Bruce didn’t believe it, so he quickly stepped around Laddin and pushed into the room. Sure enough, the hamburger that had been Wulfric’s face was already sealing shut. Bruce snatched up the stethoscope and listened to Wulfric’s heart. He even gently prodded the man’s body to see if anything had manifested that needed immediate attention.
Nothing. Wulfric was indeed healing fast and healing well. Bruce looked up at Laddin. “Is this normal for a werewolf? Do all of us knit together so quickly?”
Everyone in the room shook their head, including Josh, but Nero was the one who spoke. “This is special to Wulfric and maybe a couple of his other descendants.” He eyed Josh, who abruptly gasped.
“Wulfric is my ancestor?” Josh asked.
Nero nodded, and Bruce had yet one more thing to process. Because if Wulfric was Josh’s ancestor, then he was Bruce’s as well. Nowthatwas something to think about.
He flashed a grin at his brother, hoping for a moment of family camaraderie. No-go. Josh wouldn’t even look at him.
Bruce set aside his stethoscope and studied Wulfric, who was in some sort of meditative trance, his body relaxed and his eyes shut. If he crossed his hands on his chest, he’d look like a vampire in his coffin, but his arms lay lax with the palms upward by his sides.
Laddin came close. “Wulfric’s good? Nothing urgent right now?”
Bruce shrugged. “Nothing I can see, but there’s plenty I can’t see—”
“Good,” Laddin interrupted. “I guess that means we go with option two.”
Bruce frowned, not remembering any options.
“I’m going to poke you with useless questions, and you’re going to answer them all.”
Oh goody. “Somehow I thought becoming a werewolf would be way cooler,” he drawled.
Laddin snorted. “Didn’t we all.”
Chapter 7
LADDIN LEARNS THE FIRST RULE OF A FIREFIGHTER
BRUCE LEARNS THE FIRST RULE OF A WEREWOLF
LADDIN SMILEDas Mr. Grumpy followed him away from Wulfric’s room. Bruce might not want to talk, but he needed a break from Josh, as well as the family drama brewing between them. Because whether he knew it or not, Bruce was wiped. His shoulders drooped every time he forgot to stand at parade rest, and though his jaw remained tight, his head would occasionally tilt one way or another as fatigue nailed him.
Laddin’s goal was to get the man to rest, even though Mr. Macho would probably take a nail gun to his hands rather than admit it.
They swung by the kitchen on the way out the door and grabbed a couple of thermoses he’d set on the counter earlier. After popping his, he took a long swing of coffee, letting the caffeine penetrate his cells. It didn’t happen that fast, but he pretended it did even when he was drinking decaf.
Bruce must have smelled the brew, because he immediately perked up. “That other one for me?” he asked.
“Yup.” He passed it over, trying to hide his smile as Bruce popped the top and started chugging. He was definitely a caffeine addict. Then Laddin grinned as Bruce started gagging. “Spit it out and I’ll force you to drink another one.”
Bruce gave him a dark look, but he did swallow. “What is this?”
“Bone broth. I grabbed it the minute I found out you were Josh’s brother. It was the only thing he could keep down for the first few days.”
Bruce grimaced as he sniffed the thermos. “There’s other stuff in there.”
