She frowned, the look fiercely protective. “Then why is he out of bed?”
“Because you came to claim his father’s body.”
Grief tightened her features. “Whatever else he did, Fred Grimm was the love of my life.” Tears pooled in her eyes, eyes the same exact shade as Jeff’s. She tsk’d. “Put him on the sofa before you drop him.” She led the way, pointing to where she wanted her son. “I gather you’re Fenris the werewolf?”
He nodded, watching Jeff’s face closely as he lowered him to the cushions.
“Better, elskede?” He touched Jeff’s cheek, smiling when his mate nodded. He straightened and faced Jeff’s mother once more. “Yes, I’m Fenris Saeter. Your son’s mate.”
She smiled at him and nodded. “Good.” His brows rose in surprise. “I can already tell you’ll take good care of him.”
“Mom,” Jeff whined behind him. “I’m not twelve and he’s not my first boyfriend.”
Fen held back his snarl. His mate hadn’t come to him a virgin, but the man didn’t have to mention it any more than necessary.
Jeanne wiped her tears away and smiled again. It was easy to see where Jamie got her beautiful smile. “I’ll decide how I speak to my new son-in-law, young man.” She eyed Fen again. “You’re the one who’s supposed to kill Oliver?”
Fen nodded. “I believe so, if Oliver is Odin.”
The fury and determination that lit her face startled him. “Good. Get a bite in or two for me, will ya? And make sure it bleeds a lot.” She tilted her head, a speculative gleam in her eye. “Maybe the groin area?”
Behind him every man in the room choked or coughed. He was pretty sure at least one of them had cupped himself.
Fen nodded, unfazed by the request. “It will be my pleasure.”
She smiled sweetly again and patted his cheek with a maternal hand.
“You’re a good boy.”
“Will he get extra cookies if he bites Grimm’s dick off?”
She frowned over Fen’s shoulder. “Language, Logan.”
“Yes’m.” Fen could hear the suppressed laughter in his father’s voice.
Jeanne settled on the ottoman where she could easily reach Jeff without jarring him. She took her son’s hand in her own. “Tell me everything.”
Fen carefully settled himself behind Jeff, his mate cradled between his thighs, Jeff’s head resting against his chest. Jeff told her everything that had happened to him, only interrupted by Jordan when she told her mother how Fred had passed away. By the time he was done Jeanne Grimm was pale and shaking with fury. “I take it back. I don’t want just his dick bitten off.”
Logan wisely kept his mouth shut.
“I want him where he can’t hurt anyone ever again.” She glared up at Kir and Logan. “Tell me about the prophecy.”
Logan groaned. It was Travis who stepped forward and quoted the prophecy they all knew and feared:
Jeanne blinked. “One of you is going to translate that into English for me, right?”
Jeff laughed, groaning in pain at the same time. “Preaching to the choir, Mom.”
She leaned forward. “Easy, Jeff.” She reached for Jeff’s shirt but pulled her hand away before she could make contact. “I want to see how badly he hurt you.”
Jeff nodded. “Fen?”
Fen carefully lifted Jeff’s shirt, revealing the healing wounds to his mate’s mother. She hissed in anger when she saw them, her hands shaking in her lap.
Her foot began to tap a rapid tattoo on the hardwood floor. “Tell me you hurt him.”
“I hurt him.” Fen lowered Jeff’s shirt, wincing along with his mate when the fabric caught on one of the stitches. “Grimm bled before he got away from me.”
She sat back on the ottoman, but her foot kept tapping. She blew out a breath and frowned, her thoughts turned inward. “Has Heimdall blown his horn yet?”
The room went still. Kir’s brows rose nearly to his hairline. “You know, I have no idea.”
Jeanne eyed her son-in-law. “Call him and find out.”
Logan shook his head. “Can’t. No cell phone service on the Bifrost Bridge.”
He smirked at Kir. “We need to fix that.”
Jeanne shrugged. “How did you use to communicate? Smoke signals?”
“Shank’s mare.” Logan held out his leg and wiggled his foot. “Pretty much what we were trying to do when Heimdall told us to turn around because Grimm had Jeff.”
“So you were on the bridge? Recently?”
Logan sighed. “Yeah. It blew all of our magical protections to get there too.
That’s how Grimm got in and managed to kill Fred and get to Jeff.”
“He thought I was Fen.” Jeff shuddered and Fen stroked his mate’s hair, hoping to soothe him. Jeff turned his head so that his nose was buried against Fen’s neck. “God, you smell good.” Fen understood how close Jeff’s wolf was to the surface as Jeff, despite his injuries, tried to burrow his way further into Fen’s arms. His mate tried to wallow in Fen’s scent, and Fen smiled, stilling him.