Demetri gazed down at Justin’s fevered form and felt his chest tighten. Could he make this slip of a man his mistress? Could he make Justin happy? Demetri was not the easiest person to get along with. He was moody, demanding, dominant, and had very little patience for things. But his heart beat an extra rhythm when he thought of Justin at his side.
Wulf pulled into the hospital parking lot and opened the back door. Demetri crawled out and took the human in, instructing the doctors to take damn good care of the man. He loathed letting Justin go but knew he couldn’t hold on to him while the tests were being done. As soon as Demetri laid Justin on the bed, his arms felt empty and cold. He brushed the human’s beautiful red hair aside and gazed at Justin’s delicate features.
The human really was quiet stunning, even though he was too thin for Demetri’s likings. But he knew that was from the sickness.
He turned to Caleb. “You need to go home.”
Caleb visibly balked. “I’m not leaving Justin.”
“You’ve done enough damage.” Demetri pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please don’t fight me on this. I really don’t have the patience right now. “
“I’m not leaving,” Caleb argued. The boy was definitely alpha material. He was strong, proud, and extremely stubborn. All good qualities when they weren’t aimed at Demetri.
Demetri decided to use those qualities to better protect Justin. He hadn’t told Caleb that Elron still existed. His son thought that his uncle had died long ago. It was better that way. Caleb was fierce when it came to family, and he would have sought Elron out to reason with the beast. That would have ended with Caleb dying. He hadn’t told his son about Hans either. The old man was evil to the core, and Demetri didn’t want his son exposed to such darkness.
It was a sad day when Demetri couldn’t trust his own family around his son. But it was better if Caleb never found out they existed. “I have an idea.”
One of Caleb’s brows rose. “What idea?”
“You and Justin are inseparable, correct?”
Caleb smiled. “You got that right.”
“Good,” Demetri said as he pulled his son closer to the door of Justin’s room and out of hearing of the people passing them in the hallway. “I want you to keep an eye on Justin.”
“What, like spying?” Caleb shouted. “No way! I’m not that underhanded. I like that J trusts me, and I’m not going to snitch on him. I can’t believe you would even ask me that.”
Demetri gritted his teeth. “Boy, you really do test my patience. Keep your damn voice down, or I’m going to take you out back and teach you a lesson.”
Caleb grew quiet, but his eyes said that he was pissed as hell. Demetri shook his head. “You have your mother’s temper.”
“No,” Caleb said, “I have all of my dad’s qualities.”
That should have made Demetri proud, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Caleb was insulting him. His son was the only person who riled Demetri. Normally, he was in complete control of his emotions, but he and his son bumped heads constantly. “I’m talking about you being Justin’s bodyguard. I think that you are old enough to handle such an important task.”
Caleb beamed at him. The King werewolf giving any of his members a task was the highest compliment. And asking his son to guard Demetri’s mistress was top honor. Okay, Demetri finally admitted to himself that, yes, Justin would become his. He wasn’t going to keep fighting his fierce attraction and what his wolf wanted. And it had apparently chosen Justin.
“Take a few men with you and pack Justin’s apartment. I want him moved into Frost Manor tonight.”
Caleb gave a slight bow, and Demetri was glad that his son was taking this seriously. Maybe the young werewolf would mature after all. Demetri watched as his assistant rounded the corner and headed their way. “Aberdeen, I want you to take Master Caleb where he needs to go. Also, when you get back to the Manor, ready a room for Justin.”
Demetri wasn’t ready to announce to the rest of his pack that he intended to take Justin as his mistress. He wanted Justin to accept the position before he announced anything.
Aberdeen bowed before he turned on his heel. “Let’s go, trouble.”
Caleb bumped shoulders with Aberdeen. “You love that I’m so rough around the edges.”
“What you need is a firm hand to your backside,” Aberdeen said as the two disappeared.
Demetri shook his head as he let out a long breath. He was going to have to think of a way to stop Justin from running headlong into trouble. Maybe it was high time he told the human a little about his best friend, Caleb.
He gazed at Justin’s door and then stepped inside the room.
Chapter Three
Justin counted the spots on the ceiling for the hundredth time. He was bored out of his mind lying in the hospital bed. He’d woken hours ago, and the doctor had checked him over, declaring that he was fit to leave. But Demetri’s bodyguard had come in and told Justin that he wasn’t to move from the bed until Demetri arrived.