Fraudulent Death, Draft 01, CH 22 (Patreon)

Trembor looked at the empty side of his bed. Marlot hadn’t come over last night. Trembor hadn’t asked, and Marlot hadn’t offered. It wasn’t like they’d spent every night together before, but one night with his wolf in bed with him and Trembor found himself missing his body. If not for what he was planning, he’d tell Marlot to sleep with him every night.

He ran a hand on the mattress.

Would it be so bad? He found himself wondering, to work for those criminals if it meant waking up next to his wolf every morning. He’d have to tell Marlot, of course. How would he take it, to have his strong and honest to a fault lion tarnished? To know that Trembor broke the law here and there because he was told to?

Marlot would go on a rampage. He would kill every one of them. Become a hunter, unless he made sure to only kill them as he could afford to pay for them. But that would put him up against the entire organization, and they would end up eating his wolf.

He grabbed a handful of sheets at the idea of Marlot eaten because of him. No. He wouldn’t be the cause, even if it meant never seeing his wolf again. He smoothed the sheet and rolled on his back.

Getting up was becoming more difficult each morning. If he could he’d arranged to go to sleep and never wake up. There were probably pills that caused that. Maybe someone from vice would be able to point him in the right direction. No, they’d ask why, and it was possible that person would tell Maoma, then the mole would just send someone to harass him until Trembor gave up on that.

And did he really want to die that way? With a clear ‘I gave up’ message. He groaned. He’d never considered ending his life would be so complicated. And who paid for his tax if he killed himself? The pharmaceutical company whose pills he used? His family? No, he definitely wasn’t doing that.

And before he did do it, he had things to do. People to say goodbye to. Affairs he needed to put in order. And that meant getting out of bed.

“Any minute now,” he told the ceiling. Twenty minutes later, he was finally up at the insistence of his bladder. With that taken care of, his stomach made itself known and he headed to the kitchen and took the dregs out of the cooler. There was no putting that off anymore. He had to get himself meat today. 

He added that to his list of things to do. Maybe he should pick a big prey and hope that his distracted state would end everything. Only he couldn’t saddle just anyone with his tax. He’d have to ask his father what happened to his productivity rating during the trial. He couldn’t work, so his productivity should drop, but it was an outside cause. Since he hadn’t been found guilty yet, his crime wouldn’t affect it yet.

He added the question to his list and made a note to figure out how to ask it without having Torim realize why he was asking.

He was nearly done eating when someone buzzed his door. Unsure who it might be he answered it and was surprised to see a lioness a decade younger than he was. Before he could greet her, her eyes went wide, and she looked away, hand over her muzzle.

“Do you always answer the door naked, Trembor?” Dania asked.

He looked down at himself and the fog that had been clouding his mind burned away with a curse. He grabbed his jacket from the hook and covered himself. “What are you doing here Sis?”

She raised a bag without looking in his direction. “We got together, and I was chosen to bring you food. Mom figured you shouldn’t have to go through your finances while you can’t work.”

He considered turning her away. He didn’t think she was here to question him, but Dania was one of his smarter siblings. It wouldn’t take much for her to notice things were off. Say, as if he refused help from his family?

Stifling a sigh, he stepped out of the way. “You know where the cooler is. I’m going to go get dressed.”

Returning to the kitchen with pants and a shirt on, he watched his sister looking at the plate on the counter. “As usual, our timing’s good. Were you actually waiting for us to bring you food?”

“No, I just.” He fumbled for an excuse and settled on the truth. “I just forgot. I was going to go hunt today.” Amidst everything else he was planning on doing. 

“Let me warm you some edible cuts. Why do you keep gristle?”

Trembor shrugged. “I don’t like to throw anything away. Normally I’ll put it in the warmer for the day, let the gristle melt off. But I’ve… been preoccupied. How are things with you?”

“Oh, you know how the researcher’s life is. All data and no excitement,” Dania answered, placing a plate with a thick cut of meat in the warmer. Had they brought him the best cuts? “Although that’s not entirely true right now. I’ve lost two assistants. Over the last two days. It’s throwing my time table in shambles, and my bosses aren’t happy about it.” She leaned against the counter. “What about you? It’s not like you to cut us off.”

“I haven’t cut you off,” Trembor answered defensively. “I’ve just been busy.”

The tilt of her ear was all the expression she needed to call him out on it.

“Fine. I’ve been out of it. This sitting at home not doing anything isn’t exactly something I’m used to.”

“You could visit our parents. I’m sure dad would enjoy the company.”

“Right, because right now what I need to another lawyer telling me how I should behave to make sure the lawsuit goes in my favor.”

She chuckled. “Dad does have trouble leaving the law firm behind, doesn’t it?”

“You’d think that after six years he wouldn’t think of it anymore.”

The warmer dinged, and she handed him the plate. “Oh, he’s on the phone with them every day.”

“What? Since when?”

“Since he retired according to mom.”

He frowned, trying to ignore the smell of warm meat under his nose. “Lyria never mentioned that to me.”

“That’s because she’s my mother, not yours.”

Trembor tilted an ear at her. “They’re all out mothers.”

Dania sat opposite him. “Fine, but me and her share the bond of research. I mean, has your mom told you about that’s calls?”

Trembor shook his head. “No, but then I get most of my family news from the cubs and they aren’t exactly on top of what our parents are up to.”

She made a noise and looked at him expectantly.

“What?”

“Really? You’re going to claim you don’t know what I’m waiting on? You brought up the cubs. Bro, you haven’t taken their calls for two day now.”

Trembor patted himself for his pad, remembered it was in the bedroom, and rushed to get it. He couldn’t have turned it off. Marlot hadn’t spent the night. He grabbed it off the nightstand, and it was off. Had he been so out of it, he hadn’t remembered doing that? No, he had left it on, he realized as he tried to turn it on. And the battery had drained. When had he charged his pad last? That he didn’t remember.

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, I’d say that’s the proper reaction to ignoring your nieces and nephews.”