Between a Bear and a Hard Place(13)

“She’s smart,” Draven said, taking another puff. “Very smart. And you should listen to her.”

Rogue nodded. “I do. If I don’t, she gets angry, and makes me do things.”

Draven cocked an eyebrow.

“Dishes, mostly,” Rogue said with a slight slump to his shoulders. “King, he won’t ever wash the plates after he eats, so there’s always some kind of meat juice, or potatoes mashed against the bottom of the plate. And then sometimes he has cereal and he won’t dump the milk out. He’ll get the cereal, watch TV while he eats it, and then leave the damn thing sitting. It starts to smell after a while, and he—”

Draven was patiently watching Rogue’s face, and having a hell of a time not laughing at his better-than-six-five nephew who probably outweighed his mate by a good two hundred pounds of pure muscle. “Tell me,” he said with a sardonic grin. “Do you wear those gloves? The thick, yellow ones? Maybe pink? To keep your hands soft and safe from the dish soap?”

It was Rogue’s turn to glare. The bear’s dark brown eyes bored into his smaller – though not by much – uncle. His wavy, brown hair hung in a frame around his sharp cheekbones, and square jaw. “Of course,” he said, sounding genuinely confused. “Who the hell wants rough fingers?”

After he laughed for another second, Draven finally let down his guard. “I’m glad you’re all safe. I’m glad you have Jill, to put it another way. I can’t imagine the trouble you and King would get yourselves into if left on your own.”

“You never answered me,” Rogue said, diverting the conversation back onto topic. “How did you escape?”

“Same way I always do. I know the country better than most anyone I’ve ever met. Spend enough time searching for people who don’t want to be found, and you’ll do the same. Keep on the move, you know. And I never stay in the same place for more than a few nights.”

Rogue ground the toe of his boot into the asphalt. “Sounds rough.”

Draven shrugged. “We don’t have much in common, nephew. You’ve got a family. I’m looking for mine.”

“You could come back with me,” Rogue said. “We’re as much your family as anyone else. We’re the clan, Draven, that’s stronger than anything else.”

The old man smiled. “It’s supposed to be, anyway, huh? I appreciate the offer. I’ll think about it, but I can’t imagine I’ll accept.”

“You shouldn’t live like this. Alone, running around, doing,” Rogue waved his hand above his head, “whatever you do.”

“I don’t need a nursing home,” Draven said with another wry laugh. “Tell me. What would you do if someone took Jill? If you went home one day and found King, all the cubs, and Jill, all missing?”

Rogue’s lip curled in a sneer. “I’d hunt the motherfu—er, kill whoever did it.”

“Mate got your tongue?”

“She says I have to watch it, on account of the younger cubs. Apparently it’s bad to say things like that at school.”

“Bear cubs in public school,” Draven said. “That’s something I’d like to see. Blending in and all though, I suppose?”

Rogue nodded. “Blending in.”

“But you see my point?” Draven finished his smoke, and it joined the other in the baggie. He noticed Rogue’s confused look. “Littering is no good.”

With a laugh, Rogue nodded. “I see your point. But if you ever want somewhere to go, you know where we are.”

Draven smiled, and watched his nephew’s face. “Thank you,” he finally said. “For coming out here, meeting me like this. I know it’s a trip, but I needed to know that you were all okay. I’ll be in touch if I find anything.”

Something in Rogue’s pocket buzzed for a moment before falling silent. A half-second later, an extremely loud dance beat, accompanied by a veritable light show, broke through the denim of the big bear’s jeans. He shook his head. “Jill makes me carry this. I don’t know how to change the ringing song, and she won’t tell me. Says it’s like putting a bell on a cow.”

Draven kept his mouth shut as Rogue exchanged some hushed words with the phone. When Rogue hung up and returned his attention to his uncle, Draven mooed at him.

Rogue rolled his eyes, exhaling sharply. “I’d love to stay and chat. Actually I’d love to do anything in the goddamn world instead of getting back on that motorcycle for another eight hour trip, but something’s come up.”

“Nothing serious?”