Brandon stopped, his dark hair falling over his hair. A feral gleam shone from the dark brown gaze. “Rumors?” His laugh grated against Matthew’s nerve endings, making him pull Naomi a bit closer, under his protection. Brandon flashed a quick toothy smile.
“Yeah, Anderson County’s rep was paid for in blood and flesh, long before you were born.” He shook his head and returned to leading the way, nowhere near as calm as before. Animal rage stirred in the air. The emotion that seethed under the werewolf’s skin called to Matthew’s own barely contained urges.
“Let it go, my Lia,” Nathan advised. “He can’t help it. Brandon was born that way. Besides he missed this week’s AA meeting.” Mathew concentrated on just moving. Living with the effects of his father’s alcoholism made him respect the other man’s decisions a bit more.
Naomi nearly stumbled, embarrassment rolling off of her. “Oh.” The small sound of surprise and compassion exposed her tender heart. She paused dragging them back further from Brandon’s retreating back.
“He means Asshole’s Anonymous,” Brandon called back. Laughter at their gullibility thickened the wolven’s voice. Morrow snickered from Matthew’s opposite side.
“Grrr. You’re all jerks. Every one of you.” said the lioness as she ushered Matthew forward with a new determination. Apparently, she’d finally used up all her sympathy for the day.
* * * *
The trip up to the street through a relatively new sewer addition was anticlimactic. No goons with tranq guns. No police wondering why they were wandering under the street. No aliens from space waiting to put them in a galactic petting zoo. If he hadn’t been so exhausted, Matthew would have been suspicious. As it was, he waited for Brandon to hot-wire a van to take them to a safe house.
Matthew would have liked to go to his house, but any idiot who’d ever seen a spy or gangster movie knew that the first place the bad guys checked was your home, followed by your family. It said something about his relationship with his father that he was more worried about his cat than Richard.
Chapter Seven
Bradley Starr smoothed the crease flat on the shirt he was folding. Laundry, as mundane a task as it was, offered him a break to settle his thoughts without the intrusion of the Pack. His twin brother’s disappearance, then the strange phone call he’d intercepted last night worried him. The others might assume that Brandon was feeling the need to run free, but Bradley knew better.
His brother would never leave his mate to cope with their litter of rug rats on her own. On top of that, Brandon’s phone went straight to voice mail and he’d closed himself off from the bonds of the Pack.
It reminded Bradley of the past, before Adam took over the Pack. Everyone had been so messed up, especially Brandon who’d suffered as omega in a Pack run by a sadist. His twin had to isolate himself to rebuild his core self. Brandon Weis was no omega now.
Bradley folded another shirt, pausing at the slight sound in the unfinished kitchen beyond the mud and laundry room. Six months after the fire that burned down Packhome, construction on the new house was coming along steadily, if not swiftly. Adam Weis, alpha of the Anderson County Pack, might own his own construction company, but that didn’t mean they could stop earning a living to rebuild. They’d had to take time to grieve for the loss of their home.
Then there was moving past Rick’s death. Bradley blamed himself. He should have known their Pack brother would have put his students’ needs first and gone around the alpha’s edict to stay home. Bradley had been so sure that the Hunter was stalking other game than the Pack that he’d overlooked the possibility that they had two enemies, not just one. Rick, the kid he’d helped protect and raise, paid for that mistake with his life.
The Hunter may not have killed him, but the fanatic who’d followed him to town had. In that respect, Bradley felt that Carter Hunter, ex-Hunter and brand new Pack member should share in the blame for Rick’s murder. He had no intention of welcoming Carter with the same open arms and forgiveness that the alphas seem to have.
“I can’t believe he just took off like that,” commented Diana, the undisputed alpha female of the Pack and Adam’s wife. “Especially now that Karen has her hands full with the babies. There’s plenty of work here.”
“Brandon has to have space,” the Pack leader returned. The opening and closing of the brand new refrigerator punctuated the sentiment. “He’s made a name for himself as a damn good architect. He’ll be back soon. And it’s not like you weren’t foaming at the mouth to move them into the temporary guest house and to keep an eye on our little girl.”
“Karen’s a grown woman. But still, Adam.” Diana protested. The refrigerator door slammed shut again, more forcefully this time. “Stay out of the icebox. Dinner is in a couple of hours. But still, Brandon wouldn’t just go off like that. And he already has a good business selling the furniture he makes. I know my sons, all of them. And he wouldn’t do that.”
A low growl of frustration drifted in the air. “Lunch was a couple of hours ago and I’m hungry now. So unless that ham is supposed to be saved for something special, I’m claiming it before my stomach decides to secede from the rest of my body and find a fast food restaurant to move into.”
“Adam.” Diana sighed. “Fine, take the ham. I want to talk about Brandon.”
Bradley had to strain to hear the next words as the Pack leader mumbled around a mouthful of food. “Leave it alone. The boy has a right to build both his businesses. He can go where he wants,” the next words were distracted. “and meet who he wants.”
“What do you mean by that?” Diana’s voice rose several octaves. “No. don’t try sneaking out now, Furface. You said something you didn’t intend—and now I can feel you hiding something from me. The alpha’s bond works both ways buddy, so spill.”
Diana Weis may not be able to shift into a wolf, but her temperament and her loyalty were as ferocious as any wolven born. She was a natural mother.
From the moment Bradley and the rest of his teenage Pack brothers met her, they’d wanted her for their own and they’d conspired to that end until Adam had finally fallen in line and gotten the message. They’d known Adam wouldn’t be able to resist her. Hell, Rick, Seth, Mark, and even Brandon called her Mom as soon as they could get away with it. Their adoption had been the highlight of their miserable existence.
Except for Bradley. He alone refused to be adopted. He’d never needed another set of parents. Been there done that. He was a wolven. He needed alphas, strong leadership, and unconditional acceptance. That was what he needed.
“Well,” Adam hedged. Bradley could practically see his alpha running his large hands through his pale, almost white hair. “Who knows when we’ll get a visitor? Right? We’ve got Pack members who were born elsewhere. Someone might come to say hi. Right? And we can’t just say no. That would be rude, if say, Tamara’s parents wanted to visit.”
Diana snorted in derision. “For starters, Tamara’s parents are both wolven born. Neither one of them would dare set a foot in our territory without first asking permission. And since any mating of Tamara’s wouldn’t benefit their Pack, they haven’t had any contact with her since she joined us. Good try, but no cookie.”
“Raymond Reys has family in Jacksonville?” Adam sounded unsure. The alpha had many heroic traits, but pulling excuses out of his ass to keep himself out of trouble with his wife had never been one of them.
“My love, you are a horrible liar.” She sounded more amused than angry, but ready to be pissed if necessary. “We still have to come to some kind of agreement with the other supernaturals. The werecoyotes and the rest of the Reys family should be handled on a case-by-case basis. I wouldn’t disallow Raymond visitation with his mother.” Her voice turned quieter, sad and grieving. “Raymond missed out on knowing Rick as a brother. Everything was so crazy when we met…adopting the boys. Neither one of us thought that the coyotes were so closely related to the old Pack that Rick had a mother and a full brother out there. It’s no
t a mistake we’ll make twice.” She took a breath. Silence hung heavy in the air as the past raised its ugly head. “But I know that’s not what you’re keeping from me, is it?”
“It’s Victoria Hunter.” Adam said without artifice, though he sounded braced for the inevitable explosion.
“Carter’s mother?” Diana’s voice held a note that Bradley couldn’t truly identify. He didn’t dare probe the Pack bond to clarify. Already he’d lowered his breathing to very shallow breaths and hoped the noise from the washer and dryer would cover his heartbeat while he eavesdropped. “Why would she do that? Once a psychic is bitten and turned, the others turn their backs on him. Bailey chose Mark as her mate and her family considers her dead. Why would Victoria Hunter be any different?” By now, Bradley could hear and feel the fear in Diana’s voice. It resonated in his soul.
“Now, baby.” Adam soothed. “She helped when we needed it. We wouldn’t have figured the connection between Carter’s assistant and that crazy bunch of psychic zealots from the Church of the Clean without her input.”
Diana sucked in a breath as realization hit her hard. It was the same reality that was dragging lead weights in Bradley’s gut. Part of his aversion to Hunter. He could accept the guy as a Pack member. But as a brother? A full blood relation? That was a hard pill to swallow.
“That’s why Brandon is gone, isn’t it? If that woman wants to try and take my sons from me, she’ll see what a real bitch is.” Tears in his alpha’s voice made Bradley want to put his arms around her and comfort her. Diana slammed a hand down on the solid wood counter. “Well, you can just send Bradley away too. She isn’t getting them. She may have a biological connection to them, but she wasn’t here when they needed…” her voice broke on Adam’s comforting shush.
“I didn’t send Brandon away, honey. I don’t know where he went. But I know he’ll be back.” Adam didn’t sound quite as sure as he probably thought he did. Brandon was anal about checking in with his mate and his alphas.
Bradley couldn’t take anymore. “They’re not hers.” Diana’s teary voice was muffled against her mate’s chest. Bradley tried hard to pretend that he was a loner. His arrangement with the fairy lord, Morgan was a huge commitment, reinforcing the whole lone wolf image—with special fairy superpowers. But the fact was, the Pack was his life, his family. Bradley Starr was nothing without them all; every Pack member and his alphas meant everything to him.
He didn’t realize he’d made the decision to show himself until he’d left the laundry room. Adam’s ice blue eyes bored into his as he wrapped his arms around the woman he’d always considered the ultimate maternal figure. “Hey, Mom,” Bradley whispered the words in Diana’s ear as he rested his cheek on the crown of her head. “Want me to go find Brandon and drag his sorry butt back? He’s probably just sneaking a cupcake somewhere.”
Diana’s ban on junk food, and sugar in particular, was legendary. They called her the Food Nazi, but loved her to distraction because she cared about their health. Bradley nuzzled his alpha’s hair, hurting for her insecurity and wishing he could take her pain away.
“You called me Mom,” she whispered back, the tears sounded worse, making Bradley want to rip his own heart out and set it at her feet. “You’ve never done that before.”
Bradley froze, edging back. “I’m sorry.” He swallowed. He was such a dumbass. How could he have forgotten that he didn’t have the right to call her that? He refused the adoption. It was his fault that he and Brandon didn’t have their biological parents in the first place—mentally he shut the door on that memory. The old Pack was gone, taking the past with it. Though, it was his fault that Hunter’s mother was nosing around their territory. For their own private reasons, neither Bradley nor Brandon wanted to play meet and greet with Hunter’s mother.
Diana caught him with a small hand on his arm. She smiled up at him with the unconditional love that made him squirm. He wanted that, needed it. But deserve it? No he didn’t.
“Bradley, you are the son of my heart. I fell in love with the five of you the first time Karen dragged you home.” Tears swam in her eyes. “And yes, I’m as possessive and jealous of my children as any wolven born female. But if you and Brandon need to see her.” Diana visibly got a hold of herself. Her rioting emotions of anger and possessives were born of love not selfishness. “If you need to connect with Victoria Hunter, then I understand.”
Bradley shook his head. He had no idea of the stark pain and emotions written across his own face. “I don’t need her.” He’d already abandoned Victoria Hunter once already. He couldn’t do the same with Diana.
“You are the only mother Brandon knows. You took a chance on us when no female of our own kind would bother with us.” Bradley let go, making himself finish so that he could get out before he chanced meeting that bastard Carter, or Victoria Hunter by accident.
“Where ever you are,” Bradley’s eyes met that of Adam, including the man who’d saved his Pack from the degrading rule of the previous alpha. Adam showed him what it was to be a true leader, an alpha and protector. “you are my home.”
Bradley clutched at the fairy magic imbued in his necklace and teleported himself away to his lair in the fairy realm. Morgan, his other master, was easy to work for. The fairy lord just pointed him at a task and he was on it, like the hound he’d sold himself out to be.
For the moment, Bradley needed to get as far from the emotional upheaval in his wolven life as possible to regain his composure. He’d lost his sense of purpose. Once he found it again, and he would soon, then, he’d find out how much his brother knew about Victoria Hunter’s visit before the woman could hurt Diana. It didn’t’ matter which brother he dragged the information from. Either brother would do, the one he claimed or the one he didn’t.
* * * *
Diana Weis looked up at her husband with wonder in her face. “He called me Mom,” she repeated, just for the sake of doing so. Adam touched her cheek and smiled down at the woman who meant the world to him.
“I know. Even if he never does again, remember that Bradley doesn’t give his loyalty, or his love, lightly. In his heart, you’re his mother.”
Diana nodded. “And so help me God, if that woman so much as hurts his feelings. She’ll wish she’d never set foot in Texas.”
* * * *
Bradley inhaled, expecting cool, untainted mountain air. He grimaced on a lungful of petroleum-laced city air. “I apologize for the detour,” Morgan didn’t sound sorry. In fact, the fairy leaned against the side of the unknown alleyway Bradley had teleported into. “I have a task for you.”
Bradley shook his head, trying to figure out where he was by peering down the alley. “I have to find Brandon.”
“Your brother is fine, wolf. He can accomplish his task without your help. Better, in this case.” Cryptic as the answer was, Morgan’s statement reassured Bradley. The fairy had his own agenda in most things, but he didn’t lie or try to twist the truth like many other fairy kind Bradley had run across since his indentureship.
“Where is he? I can’t get a fix on him.” That was a cool thing about his fairy powers. They mixed well with his wolven abilities. Really well. Using the Pack bond, Bradley was usually able to get a location, kind of like a magical GPS locator, then teleport to them. It came in handy whenever he had to save some silly fool from his or her own mistake.
Unfortunately, Brandon had some weird ability to block himself completely from the Pack bond. If it weren’t for an odd kind of extra sense the brothers had, Bradley might have believed Brandon dead many times over in the past. It was like his brother just disappeared from existence, much like the effect of going into Morgan’s fairy realm, which was set up in some kind of alternate reality, pocket in space, or black hole. Bradley didn’t know, the place just was, and didn’t exist anywhere on the face of the Earth.
Morgan watched him for a moment. The fairy lord’s eyes shifted from normal human brown to an eerie green color that never failed to weird Bradley out.
Morgan knew it too and messed with Bradley accordingly. Morgan’s mouth twitched with humor. “Dallas, but I need you here,” he finally conceded.
“Dallas, where?” There was more than one city in the US with that name, even though it’d be natural to assume is was the nearest one. And it would be very much Morgan to exploit that assumption for the fairy’s own reasons.
“Texas. So, your brother is only a couple of hours from home and has available backup should he need it.”
“Backup?” Now that sent alarm through Bradley. “Why would he need backup?” He shook his head, aggravated that he’d let himself be distracted. Pack came before the fairys. He had to keep his priorities straight. “I have to help him.”
Bradley pulled on the fairy magic that powered the teleportation ability, only to find it blocked. His hands shifted to claws, clenching with the need to attack as he glared at Morgan. “Let me go. My brother needs me.”
The eerie green eyes fixed on him with clear understanding. “Brandon does not need your help. He never has. He is a warrior of remarkable fortitude and determination”.
The raw truth hurt. Bradley looked away, flinching against the slap. No, he admitted, Brandon did not need him. Adam and Diana loved him, he knew that, but they didn’t need him. The Pack brothers he’d practically raised in their early years, before Adam Weis had stepped in as Pack leader, didn’t need him anymore. Rick too, but his little Pack brother was dead and definitely didn’t need him, even for vengeance. Someone else had taken care of that.
The Pack itself had increased with the Weres being sucked into the Pack bond. They’d acquitted themselves well in the fight with the Church of the Clean that had exposed them to the world. Some of them, like Nathan the werepanther, would make great wardens. It was only a matter of time before Chase, the head warden, convinced Adam to include the Weres into the Pack proper. As for Bradley Starr, no one needed him.
Cat Scratch Fever; Blue-Collar Werewolves V Page 8
