Brogan awoke with a start, rolled over and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. One thirty in the morning. He groaned and sat up startled for a second at the unfamiliar room. His head swam letting him know he was still mostly drunk as he climbed to his feet and headed out of the room.

He stumbled his way down the hall and opened Rook and West’s bedroom with a loud yawn and a scratch of his belly. “Rook.”

His friend sat up and squinted at him, “What time is it, man?”

“Early.” Brogan replied with another yawn which was quickly followed by a hiccup.

“What’s wrong?” Rook asked as he propped himself up on one elbow.

Brogan shrugged, he didn’t know what to say. He turned to leave when Rook’s soft voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Puppy pile?”

Brogan smiled, “Yeah, puppy pile.”

“What in the hell is a puppy pile and why are you two awake?” West grumbled from the other side of the bed.

“It’s what we called it when we were kids.  All of us would run and play until we were exhausted and then we’d collapse into a pile and sleep and then we’d wake up and do it all over again.” Rook explained as he pulled up the sheet and gestured for Brogan to get in the middle. “Come on Brogan, for tonight you can be the middle spoon, just no forking, okay?”

Brogan laughed and jumped onto the bed with a contented smile as he snuggled in. “Thanks, I …” he trailed off and shrugged.

“I get it, bro. Just go to sleep, we can talk in the morning.” West growled. “The room’s still spinning and I’m tired as hell.”

He didn’t have to be told twice, he yawned snuggled in deeper and fell right back to sleep.

 

***

 

He could feel their eyes on him, hear their laughter and taunts as he struggled fruitlessly against the bond that held him fastened tight. He was so tired of fighting already, no matter what he did nothing changed.

“That was a nice break, ready for some more fun?” He knew that voice all too well, the sadistic bastard was back.

“Nice to see you too Aeron, what’s it been a couple hundred years? What a shame it couldn’t be a few thousand more.”

Aeron smirked, “I’ve been waiting a long time for you to come back, I owe you a debt I simply must repay. This time there will be no mercy for you.”

“Mercy? Since the day I was brought down to this realm I’ve never had a moment of mercy from any of you. Why should today be any different.” Jericho replied with anger and hatred dripping from every word. “Mark my words, brother, one of these days I will repay all your years of kindness.”

Aeron rolled his eyes, “Let the fun begin in that case.” A whip manifested in Aeron’s hand. The demon smiled as he studied the tool, before glancing up to Jericho. “What think you brother mine? Would you like to feel the bite of the whip or should I jump right to the fun toys?”

Jericho refused to show any emotion as he maintained eye contact with the fetid creature a few feet away. He’d learned centuries ago that no matter what he said or did his fate had already been decreed.

“You’re right, too soft. I wouldn’t want you to think I’d gone soft after all.” Aeron winked as he manifested a new whip. “This one, I made especially for you.” He held the toy up so Jericho could see it up close. “Yes, that’s right brother, eight tendrils of whips each covered in spikes, chain and wire.  For added measure I had some it dipped in holy water so it’ll make your skin boil and blister.”

Aeron stepped back and smiled, “Ready or not brother, your time to regret escaping has come. This is your forever, but don’t worry I’ve got even better toys lined up for us to play with later.”

Jericho watched as Aeron pulled his arm back to unleash his first hit. “I’m sorry.” He whispered just as the whip landed.

***

 

Brogan bolted up with a scream as he searched the room. No one was there, no Aeron and no Jericho.

“What’s wrong?” West asked as he jumped out of bed eyes scanning for the cause of the screams.

“Nightmare, I think” Rook called from Brogans other side. “Get a towel, he’s covered in sweat and shaking.”

Brogan couldn’t catch his breath; his adrenaline was coursing through his veins as he heard the crack of the whip and Jericho’s whispered words. This time he understood. Jericho was saying good bye. Brogan blindly groped at his chest looking for blood or torn flesh, but to his surprise there was nothing there. He’d felt the searing pain, the blistering skin as each whip made contact and left burned and torn flesh behind.

“Brogan. Talk to me.” He could hear Rook talking to him, but the words weren’t making any sense. His mind was trapped in Hell with his mate, who was giving up.

“I was with him, he’s being tortured. He said he was sorry. He can’t fight or escape this time. He’s going to die there he thinks. He’s saying sorry for leaving just when I found him.” He wasn’t sure how much time passed before he slowly became aware of his two friends again.

“Are you with us now?” West asked softly as he brushed a damp cloth across Brogan’s sweat soaked face. “Roll over so we can dry you off better.”

Brogan did as asked without comment. He was exhausted mentally and physically and hung over on top of it. “I’m sorry, guys.”

“Don’t say that to us ever. We’re glad you weren’t alone for this. We’re pack, that makes us family. Family takes care of one another no matter what.” Rook winked and laid down behind Brogan, “Besides I won’t admit this later but I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to wake up with you in my bed.”

Brogan chuckled softly knowing his friend was teasing him for all the times he’d flirted with him over the years. “Funny, I never wondered.” Brogan replied with a small smile.  “Thanks.”

West grunted at their antics and laid down facing Brogan, “Want to talk about it?”

“Can we wait till morning? I just want to go back to sleep. Is it okay if I stay in here though? I don’t think I can handle being alone right now. Especially after….” He trailed off as a shudder ran through his body as he again felt the phantom pain of the barbed whip make contact.

It was a long time before Brogan could relax enough to fall back asleep, fear of what was awaiting him in slumber kept him restless.

 

***

 

The smell of frying bacon roused Brogan a few hours later, he rolled over and grunted as his head pounded from the combination hangover and nightmare.

“If we have to wake up at least it’s to that amazing smell.” West grumbled from the other side of the bed. “If you hurt half as bad as I do I promise you that his breakfast will make it worth getting out of bed.”

Brogan grunted and climbed to his feet. They both groaned in pain as their heads pounded and their stomachs rolled. “Holy shit,” he mumbled as he sat there trying to regain his nerve to stand.

West huffed out a laugh, “I’m strongly thinking that shit should be outlawed.”

“I’m out here cooking breakfast for you too lazy asses, least you could do is get up and come to the table. I’m not even asking you to put on clothes. Just quit your moaning and get your asses out here before I eat it all. Besides it’ll help, I promise.”

“How would you know babe? You’ve never been hung over a day in your life. Shifters don’t get them remember.” West stood and wobbled slightly. “I forgot how much I hate this feeling.”

Brogan didn’t reply because he had nothing to say. It was true, up until last night he’d never been like this before and had nothing to compare it too. Breakfast did sound pretty awful though, the bacon may smell wonderful, but he wasn’t sure his stomach was going to be able to handle it.

The two men followed Rook back to the kitchen with slow measured steps. They gingerly pulled out their seats and sat down in bleary eyed shock at the amount of food on the table.

“Rook, when did you have time to cook all this?” West froze as a new smell reached his nose and he blanched in fear. “She’s here now?”

“When your mate called me this morning asking for help I couldn’t resist rushing right over.” Barbara Wolfe announced as she carried a pitcher of orange juice out from the kitchen. “Not that I knew what to do for hangovers exactly but I had an idea of course.” She sat down and winked. “Besides it’s been years since I’ve had the chance to have breakfast with three gorgeous men in their boxers.”

Brogan bit his lip to try to contain his laughter at the horrified look on West’s face that only grew worse the longer the woman spoke. The man really needed to get over his fear of her. She was Alpha along with her husband Tristan after all.

“I must admit I expected you two to look far worse than you do, though I imagine you’re not feeling so great. Deader from what I hear is in much the same predicament, but he has to contend with a mate who is taking delight in tormenting him.” Barbara winked at Rook. “You’ve taken a bit of a different path, haven’t you?”

Rook smiled evilly and it instantly set Brogan’s hackles up. “I was just waiting for the perfect time to remind them of all that transpired last night.”

He remembered meeting Deader and West for drinks last night, but he didn’t remember anything too bad happening. What was he missing?

“From the blank looks on their faces I assume they don’t recall much.” Barbara smirked, cocked one eyebrow and waited for the two men to say something.

“We got drunk, but I don’t remember anything significant happening.” West offered hesitantly, “But by the smug look on my mate’s face and you being here delighting in this, I’m going to assume it’s something very embarrassing.”

“You really do have the worst opinion of me, don’t you? Take the man shopping one time and he’s marked you for life. But you bet your furry ass I’m delighting in this.”

Rook finally took pity on the two men and attempted to explain between bouts of laughter. “It would seem that you, West and Deader decided to educate Brogan here on how to have sex with a man. You were all so cute, with your heads pressed close together so you could whisper.”

Brogan groaned, this wasn’t going to be good at all. No wonder the two of them were smirking. This was prime embarrassment, never let you forget or live it down material.

“Thing is, you were too drunk to realize you weren’t whispering, add in the place was shit full of shifters and yeah they heard every word you all said. I got there in time to stop the more intimate details, but they still heard more than most of them ever wanted to know about anal sex.”

“I blame them for all of it.” Brogan muttered as he closed his eyes and hoped the floor would swallow him whole. Besides, why would they wait till he was drunk to explain that shit, he needed to remember it after all, the assholes.

Barbara laughed, “I hope to be there when you two emerge into the daylight today and see some of your friends from the bar last night. This is so much better than I could have planned. I’ll have to remember how potent that new drink is. It has some fun possibilities. Now I’ve got to go meet Ellie. You three be good.”

He’d only been awake about an hour and already the day was wrapping up to be shitastic. Add in the nightmare or vision, or whatever it was he’d had last night and he was already done. But that at least did remind him of something.

“Last night before I came in to your room like a kicked puppy, I woke up with a realization. Something that may help get Jericho back. When Tallulah Mae summoned the demon, she had to have used a spell or incantation or something, right.” He waited for the other two men to nod in agreement before he continued. “What if we searched that house and found whatever it was she used and use it ourselves to summon Jericho.”

“I think that’s something we should definitely ask Cadence about. The idea has some merit and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get him back for you.”

“I agree with West. And while we’re on the subject, what happened last night? Can you tell us?”

Brogan closed his eyes, took a deep breath and relayed the nightmare, the things he heard, the sights he saw, and the feelings he felt as if he was Jericho, but at the same time separate. Why Jericho was saying he was sorry and what it meant too. He told them everything he could remember.

When he was done the room fell silent as the two men stared at him in shock and sympathy. Brogan pushed his chair back and shrugged. “I’m gonna head out to see Cadence, maybe she’ll be able to make some sense of all this.”

Five minutes later he was dressed and sitting on the side of the guest bed staring into space lost. He blamed it on the hangover but knew that was only part of the reason. The nightmare from the night before had left a gaping, oozing hole of self-doubt that was slowly crippling him. What did it say about him that his mate, the one person made for him was giving up. They’d had a few chance hours together and now Jericho was saying he couldn’t do it, he wasn’t going to be back. Brogan felt so defeated, he’d lost before he’d even begun.

“Why are you dressed?”

Brogan glanced over to see Rook in the doorway and he shrugged because he didn’t know what else to say.

“Come on, West is out back shifted and waiting on us. Let’s go, we could use the run to help burn off that alcohol and get back to normal. I bet you didn’t even notice your wolf is silent this morning, did you?”

He was shocked to realize it was true. “What the fuck?”

“West is the same way, he struggled to shift a bit, but already he feels a hundred times better. I think you will too.” Rook walked in and pulled Brogan to his feet. “Let’s go, you and your wolf need some exercise. Then West is going to work and you and I are going to see Cadence.”