Fraudulent Death, Draft 01, CH 04 (Patreon)

The mouse escorted Trembor through the precinct, where the officers they passed offer him their support and well wishes. He took them in the spirit they were meant. To them, he was a friend in a bit of trouble. As those who’d visited him during his few hours in the cage expressed, they knew he hadn’t done what he was accused of. It was all some frame job, or a mistake and they’d have it cleared up in no time.

The doors to the lobby opened, and almost before Trembor stepped through, the lioness had her arms around him. “Trem, I am so happy you’re out of there.”

“I’m fine mom.” He hugged her back. “It’s just a cage, nothing dangerous. The only others in it were drunks, and they were sleeping it off.”

His father waited for his turn. Then it was Cerek, Baytil, and Vexori. Once his siblings had their turns, Dayra extended her arms to be picked up.

“Was it bad?” she asked, looking at his face, pulling his lips up to study his teeth.

“No, it wasn’t,” He answered. “You guys didn’t have to come.”

“Did you think we’d leave you alone?” Torim asked. “How was Barany?”

“He was fine.” More hoped. Now they’d get their hopes up.

“Did you brush?” Dayra asked, either not noticing, or not caring about the tension.

“I did.” He handed her back to her mother. He didn’t want to risk bring brusque with her, and his patience was thin right now. “I hope you don’t mind, but I just want to go home, eat and—”

“Nonsense,” Torim said. “You’re coming with us. We’ll make sure you can rest after this.”

“No, dad. I’m going to my home.”

“Trem.” His mother took his hand. “You shouldn’t be alone. This is something you get through with your family.”

There was nothing to get through. He wanted to tell them, to yell, but Dayra was here so he kept his thought to himself. “Mom, I just want to be alone.” And get ready for Marlot’s visit. The message that had been waiting on his pad when it was returned to him warmed his heart. Not that he was telling his parents that. After the ranting he’d done, Serene would show up to protect him from Marlot. Of his parents, she’d taken their breakup the worse.

“Trem, you—”

“I’ll drive him,” Cerek said, cutting her protest. “I know you mean well, but he probably just needs to process what happened.”

She studied Trembor. “Alright, but you pad us with anything you need. We’ll help you beat this.”

“Sure mom.”

Torim stayed silent. But he knew his father well enough. In a few hours, or tomorrow, he’d get a visit or a call, and Trembor would have to either tell his father the truth or lay down careful scents to appease him.

They stepped outside, and the cold seeped through Trembor’s light jacket. Fortunately, Cerek had left his car running, so it was warm when he sat in it.

“You okay?” Cerek asked once they were moving.

Trembor glared at his brother, who ignored it. “I’m fine. At least they didn’t bring the whole family.”

Cerek chuckled. “Not a lot of us have jobs that let us take a few hours off.”

“How are Herelex and Isenson?” since he’d have no choice but talk, Trembor wasn’t to control the conversation.

“They’re fine. Bo’s home. He won’t talk, but Vex dropped of meat this morning and said other than being lackluster, he looked okay. What happened? Don’t give me that look. I’m not Dad. I’m not cross-examining you. I just want to know how Bo gets kidnapped, not to mention accused of underage predation.”

Trembor sighed. “How much did you hear about the hunter Marl caught?”

Cerek smiled. “Back to Marl, are we? And I heard what the newsies have been saying for the last few days. Lots of death, Marl’s a hero, you know how they are.”

“What they don’t know is that it was more personal. The hunter targeted Marl. Forced him to hunt him. Wanted Marl to kill him. For some reason, he decided that one way to make that happen was to frame Bo for the killing of a cub. That’s been cleared up.”

“And frame you too?”

“When that wasn’t enough,” he continued, ignoring the uncomfortable question, “he kidnapped Bo, I went after him so did Marl. We caught him, and Marl made sure to leave us out of it.”

“And you two patched things up over capturing a hunter.” His brother grinned. “Pretty romantic.”

“I guess so.” Trembor smile died as he thought about the crimes he’d committed. He’d barely hesitated. Even now he didn’t care that he’d broken the law. It was everyone coming to his defense that was getting on his nerve.

Cerek stopped the car by the curb in front of Trembor’s house. The yard was covered in at least an inch of snow. If it kept going, he’d have to take out the shovel.

“Are you sure you want to be alone? I get not wanted to be at Dad’s, but Palinox would love to have his favorite uncle staying with us for a few days.”

Trembor looked at his pad. At Marlot’s message. The thought of declining popped up. Maybe this wasn’t the right time for them to be together. Maybe the best thing was to wait until he paid for his crimes. Only he’d been away from his wolf too long, he wanted to bury his muzzle into the fur. Breath in his scent. “I’m not going to be alone.”

Cerek peeked at the pad. “So it’s not just being back to calling him Marl, you two are spending the night together?”

“I don’t know about the night.” Did he want a night with him? Without hesitation, but was that what they needed? “Things happened. I understand some of why he acted the way he did. He knows about Gorrek.”

Cerek cursed. “How?”

Trembor shook his head. He wasn’t ready to address that yet. “So we need to talk.” And touch. He needed to run his fingers through his wolf’s fur.

Cerek sniffed the air.

“I better go.”

His brother chuckled.

Trembor hurried inside, to get out of the frigid weather, away from his brother and the knowing look he gave him. Sex was not on the table. Not tonight. The door closed, he leaned against it and let the silence soak in. His first moments of it in almost a full day. The precinct was not a quiet place.

His breath continuing to fog reminded him the house wouldn’t warm until he switched the heat on, and since he wanted it to be comfortable for Marlot’s arrival, he did that, then took a long shower.