Page 12 of How to Trust a Hellhound
“Why would you think that? And call him Wilder. Sure, he raised them, and heislike a dad to them, but really, they’re all just pack.” Aiden paused, then added, “Like, a pack of family members.”
I ignored the weird phrasing to answer his question. “Well, I was sort of a mess yesterday. I wasn’t myself.”
Aiden just shrugged. “I’m sure Wilder has seen worse. He raised this crew, after all,” he said, making a vague gesture toward the dog. I guessed maybe the dog belonged to his boyfriend. I could totally seeWilder as having a house full of teenage boys and pets to take care of. He seemed like he’d be good with animals.
I got up and walked over to the couch, finding my phone fully charged. There were only two unread messages, which made me sigh in relief. Rick must not have come home last night. He did that sometimes, and for once I was grateful. I was sure after his work shift today my phone would start blowing up, but I at least had a few more hours before I had to deal with him.
One message was from Barb, and I saw that Wilder must have texted her about me being out sick. I vaguely remembered asking him to do that. It was just her saying I should feel better and take the rest of the week off. I typed out a quick reply, saying that I was doing better, but I would take the week off, and if she needed me to do any work from home to let me know.
The other message was from Toby, saying we needed another guy’s night. I didn’t know what to reply, so I just put a thumbs up emoji in response. I’d have to deal with my friends at some point, but they could wait, too.
I put the phone down, and then I just sort of stood there. What now?
“What do you do to relax?” Aiden asked from the table. “I think you should take the day and do something that is totally stress free and lets you not think. Sometimes we need that, you know?”
I blushed, thinking of Rick talking about my hobbies and how stupid and juvenile they were.
“Oh, what is it?” Aiden asked, looking intrigued. “Do you watch trash reality tv or something?”
I laughed. “No, nothing that exciting. I like documentaries. And I like to build things. Like models and Legos and stuff. I find it soothing,” I admitted.
“Ok. Do you have any at your apartment that the guys could pick up for you? I think they’re planning to go there and grab the rest of your stuff later.”
“No,some furniture and most of my hobby stuff is actually in a storage unit. Rick thought it was stupid, so… Yeah.” I hadn’t built anything or watched a documentary in ages because of Rick.
“What should they pick up?” Aiden asked.
“Umm… I guess just the rest of my clothes. And anything out of the office. Everything else they can leave. I don’t want furniture or dishes or anything,” I answered. I didn’t want to fight with Rick over the little things, and honestly most of it was stuff he’d picked out anyway. The place was mostly his style, not mine. He didn’t like my “nerdy shit” cluttering up space.
“Ok—that’ll be easy,” Aiden said, getting up.
“Do you think the guys could do it before five? Or maybe if someone wants to drive me, I can take care of it. I don’t have a car, because I didn’t need one, but I could even call a rideshare…” I trailed off, feeling bad about someone doing it for me.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Josh. You’re staying here and relaxing, and the guys will take care of it. They’ll have it done in like ten minutes. There wasn’t that much stuff left, anyway,” Aiden said, heading toward the door with his dog. “I’ll have them call if they have any questions about what to pack. Until then, find a good documentary to watch and just veg out on the couch or something. I put in all the streaming service info on the television already, so that’s all set. I left some cookies and snacks in the pantry, and the fridge has some stuff stocked, but if you make a list we’ll get more groceries.”
I almost got teary again. I hadn’t felt this taken care of in ages. I nodded my head, and Aiden headed out, locking the door behind him.
I went over and grabbed the remote, turning the tv on and flopping on the couch. As I scrolled through the streaming apps, I saw all sorts of new documentaries. Plane crashes, financial fraud, true crime, impersonation, major world events, medical breakthroughs and scandals, history, famous families… I settled in to get lost in some drama that wasn’t my life.
Chapter 6
Wilder
Despite wanting to stay with Josh, I’d left him sleeping and checked in with the boys, then grabbed a couple hours of sleep. I didn’t technically need to sleep, but it had become a habit that I enjoyed. Once it was a reasonable hour, I had sought out Aiden and Atlas to see what the plan was for Josh’s morning. As much as I wanted to see Josh, I had to remember that he didn’t know me that well. I could be patient and give the man some space. Also, he’d called Aiden for help, so perhaps it was best if Josh saw him first thing in the morning.
Aiden had already had food and a coffee maker packed up, and he was heading to the cabin with Fluffy. I told him we’d go to Josh’s to get the rest of his stuff later, so he should find out what Josh needed, then I headed off to the main house to find Quinton and Liam. They were already in their computer room, deep in a search on Aiden’s grandfather, who was a bit of a problem. I stared over Liam’s shoulder at one of the computer screens in his office as he talked, going over what we already knew.
“So Aiden’s grandfather is a descendent of Cain, and he runsdown the line of firstborns, so when he killed his younger brother in some sort of ritual, he got the mark of Cain. This protects him from dying, and it also takes him out of god’s sight,” Liam said.
Quinton, his mate, was sitting in an office chair next to him, tapping his foot restlessly. I didn’t blame him. We knew all this, but Liam was processing information, so I just hummed in agreement. Aiden was no longer in danger since his evil brother was dead, but Liam and Quinton still worried about the missing grandfather.
“So that means that he isn’t quite mortal anymore, and he’s obviously evil if he told Aiden’s brother that he should kill Aiden and claim eternal life as well. Plus, you know, he murdered his brother,” Liam said. “So far, we can see that Aiden’s grandfather withdrew all the money he set aside for his fake death, and then he seems to have disappeared. I’ve tried tracking deposits in large amounts within 48 hours after the withdrawal, but so far I’ve had no luck.”
Quinton stopped tapping and looked at me. “But he won’t be coming for Aiden, right? He has no reason to? Aiden is safe?”
“Yes, Aiden is safe from him,” I reassured Quinton. “He has absolutely no reason to come for Aiden. My guess is that he probably doesn’t know or care that his grandson is dead. It wasn’t like they had plans to work together or anything. He clearly had a plan set up for after his ‘death,’ and it didn’t involve his family.”
“So how do we get the fucker?” Quinton asked.
