Page 33 of Wind with a Chance of Wolfsbane

That was crazy. How would his wolf possibly know that? She was long gone by now, doing who knows what.

Try as he might, Jonathan hadn’t been able to find out anything about her or her sister. It didn’t matter that he had her diary. So far, there hadn’t been any viable leads from it. But, should he locate her, he’d handle Creepster for her.

Danger.

Protect.

Jonathan had to take a second to clear his mind before continuing to speak to Dwayne. “Marjorie wanted to meet me for lunch two weeks back, right after I arrived in the city, but I’ve been so busy I’ve had to keep rescheduling. I’m guessing it was to talk to me about paving the way for Kellan to start at Grimm Cove College and to be sure Bram is kept away from him.”

Dwayne’s brows met. “My wife reached out to you?”

“She did,” said Jonathan, unwilling to admit that what little free time he’d had since his arrival had been spent reading a young woman’s diary. “I’m sorry that I’ve not gotten back to her. Time sort of got away from me. I’m not, um, sleeping right, and with the issues here in Detroit, well…my apologies. I’ll see to it Kellan can start at Grimm Cove College before the week is out.”

“Thanks,” said Dwayne, appearing tense.

“In the meantime,” said Jonathan. “You can use my office to call your wife and eat crow. Might I suggest you do it soon? I can’t imagine Reggie’s sofa is the least bit comfortable.”

“It’s not,” said Dwayne with a nod as he headed for the door. He glanced back at Jonathan. “Thanks.”

“Thank me by fixing things with your mate,” said Jonathan, trying with all his might to ignore his wolf, which was still acting up. “Take some leave and go with Marjorie to Grimm Cove to see Kellan off and get him settled in. Then take her for a romantic getaway. Spend a few days working on your relationship. You’re no good to any of us here if your head is on backward.”

“He poured orange juice on his bran flakes this morning,” said Reggie. “The man then proceeded to eat some before he noticed his mistake. They’re nasty on their own. With orange juice—” Reggie did a whole-body shudder. “Yuck. He’s a hot mess when he’s on the outs with Marjorie.”

“Dwayne,” said Jonathan.

Dwayne paused. “Yes?”

“Areyoupushing Kellan so hard about Division I schools because you think he really will want it, or is it because you played for one and wanted desperately to play professionally?” asked Jonathan, knowing the man well. “Are you hoping he does what you couldn’t? That he goes pro?”

“Playing professionally was never a real option for me, was it?” questioned Dwayne, a knowing look in his eyes. “This was always my calling. My duty.”

“If you really believed that, you wouldn’t bother pushing Kellan to accept the other offers, seeing as how his future is preordained—according to you,” said Jonathan before taking another sip of his coffee again. “I told you back when you were at university that I’d support whatever decision you made. Bram would have backed me.”

“I know,” said Dwayne, sadness touching his voice. “Marjorie was pregnant. Ineededto be sure my family was taken care of.”

“Again, we’d have made sure of that,” said Jonathan, wanting the man to understand what had brought him to this point.

“Yeah, but that life wouldn’t have prepared Marjorie for what would inevitably come calling,” Dwayne said. “You know how it is. Like attracts like. I’m a magnet for the supernatural. We all are. And my control back then—when I was worried about her, about the baby—was shit. I could have slipped up and really hurt someone on the field. I could have killed them by not minding my own strength.”

And there it was—the truth of the matter.

Control.

Back then, Dwayne had lacked it. With time that changed, but back then, he most certainly would have killed someone on the field and probably off too.

Reggie kept his opinions to himself and shoveled more cheese into his mouth.

Leo folded his arms over his chest, silently observing it all.

“Yes,” said Jonathan. “You could and probably would have seriously injured a fellow player. You had an unfair advantage over them, as does Kellan. He’s aware of as much. He struggles with that daily. And he struggles with what being a shifter means. He also has far less control over his wolf side than you did at his age. Never forget that, Dwayne. Do you think he’d be okay if he killed an innocent? If he lost control on that field and someone didn’t walk away? He’s got Marjorie’s heart. He’dneverrecover from it.”

Dwayne drew in a deep breath. “He’s so angry with me right now. He blames me for having to leave New York. For having to cut ties with his girlfriend. He’s leaning heavily on his mom right now. He’s always had a closer relationship with Marjorie than with me. She’s always been there for him. I’ve spent the whole of his life fighting monsters. Fighting whatweare. How can I ask him to be okay with being a shifter when I kill monsters for a living?”

“I don’t know, ask with a smile or something,” Reggie suggested with a smirk and a wink. “And I don’t know what you see yourself as because, buddy, we don’t see you as a monster. Just a guy who can lick himself. Frankly, I’m jealous.”

“Ditto,” said Leo with a grin, making Dwayne chuckle slightly.

“Thanks,” stressed Dwayne, his hand finding the handle of the conference room door. “I need to fix things with my mate and my son.”

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