by DJ Bryce
The doctor left me alone as I walked inside, stopping just over the threshold as I took Brick in.
He was hooked up to machines, with an oxygen mask over his face, dark soot covering him from head to toe. But, I could see the rise and fall of his chest, and couldn’t see any burns on his skin, so I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped up to the bed.
Lifting my hand, I gently brushed his hair off of his forehead, not caring about the black smudge covering my fingers. I leaned forward and closed my eyes, letting my wolf tune in to the sound of Brick’s heart beating, of the oxygen pumping and the machines working.
I felt his restless ease, and opened my eyes to look down at my mate.
“I’m here, Brick,” I whispered in his ear. “You’re going to be fine, a little sore, but just fine. I’ll take you home tomorrow and wait on you hand and foot. I’ll be the perfect nursemaid, I promise.” I felt my throat clogging and choked back tears. “I’m so sorry they hurt you, but I swear to you, they will pay for this. I love you.”
I rose, my eyes on Brick, but he didn’t respond.
Looking around the room, I found a chair in the corner and moved to bring it over to the side of the bed. Once I had it there, I sat and waited.
One by one, Gilly, Tasha and the pack came in to see how he was doing, whisper words of encouragement and give me updates. Unfortunately, there was no good news for me. The Threehorn pack hadn’t gone back to their ranch yet, and there’d been no sightings of them in town.
I got a couple curious glances, but I guessed most people assumed I was just acting as Alpha, watching out for a member of my pack.
They’d know the real reason soon enough, though. The fear I’d felt at the thought of losing Brick, had opened my eyes to how selfish and childish I was being.
Max was there for Gilly, and Logan was there for Tasha, and it was known to the pack that they were mates. Although Max was my Bravo, and Logan was a bear shifter, the pack accepted their claims on Gilly and Natasha with no judgement or question.
Why did I doubt that they’d do the same for me?
And, how could I be so callous as to expect Brick to live in the shadows, like a dirty secret I was ashamed to tell the world?
No, as soon as he was able to come home, he’d be coming home with me and I’d be telling the pack the truth about who I was, and who Brick was to me. They’d either accept it or they wouldn’t, but I was willing to deal with the consequences either way. Even if it meant stepping down as Alpha, leaving the pack and my home, or even, facing my death.
I refused to live my life as a lie any longer, I’d been it for far too many years. Brick deserved better, and, hell, so did I.
Chapter 18
Brick
Pain.
I felt a tremendous amount of pain… in my head, and in my chest, mostly.
I also felt tired. More tired than I’d ever been.
I sluggishly opened my eyes, slowly becoming aware of the cover over my mouth, the needle in one arm, and a blood pressure cuff tightening around the other.
“Brick, can you hear me?”
I shifted my eyes toward the source of the voice, and say a young man in a white coat standing over me, his glasses covered eyes searching my face with concern.
“Are you in pain?” he asked, and I did my best to nod in affirmation.
He motioned to someone, and a few seconds later, I felt the pain begin to dull. I wanted to moan in appreciation, but even that small sound felt like glass cutting my throat, until that too, began to dull.
“He’s awake,” I heard someone say, and after a moment I realized it was Gilly.
“Oh, thank, God!” Natasha exclaimed, then I saw both my sisters leaning over me, their eyes glistening with tears.
“You scared the shit out of us,” Gilly said, her voice cracking.
“I’m gonna take care of you,” Natasha said hurriedly, and I wondered briefly when she’d gotten back. “We’ll move you into my house and I’ll feed you and coddle you and watch John Hughes movies with you, it’ll be great.”
I think I smiled at her, although, I couldn’t be sure.
I lifted a shaky hand to pull the mask off of my face and asked, “Logan?”
Shit, that hurt…
I quickly put the mask back on and decided not to try and talk again, at least not for a while.
“He’s here, and I’ll talk to him. We will eventually go back and live with his clan, but he’ll understand that I can’t leave here until you’re better, and then, you can stay in my house… for as long as you’d like.”
My brain was a little fuzzy, but I felt like I was missing something.
“Do you want us to get you something from the cafeteria? Maybe ice cream or something for your throat?” Gilly asked.
I wasn’t really hungry, but I needed a little quiet and didn’t want to hurt my sisters’ feelings, so I nodded.
“Great, we’ll be back,” Tasha said, squeezing my hand gently before they both disappeared from view.
I felt myself starting to drift, when I felt another, larger, stronger hand on mine.
I looked up to see Mateo above me, a strange expression on his face.
There he was, I realized, as happiness and comfort seemed to coat me. My missing piece.
“Hey,” he said softly. “How are you feeling?”
I tried to smile, but it felt goofy.
Mateo grinned.
“Good meds?”
I attempted a nod.
“Good,” Mateo said, then his smile turned down. “I’m so sorry this happened. I’ll find the men who did this and make them pay, I promise. I love you.”
I wanted to tell him not to worry about it, that I wanted him to stay far away from the men who did this, and that I loved him, too, but I drifted off before I could say any of it.
When I woke back up, I felt less groggy, and a little less pain than I had before. I turned my head to look around the room, and saw Mateo slumped back in a chair next to my bed, asleep.
The door opened, and I shifted to see Natasha coming in with a cup of coffee in her hand.
She smiled at me and placed the to go cup on the table. “That’s for Mateo,” Natasha said. “When we came back last night with the ice cream, you were knocked out. You needed your sleep, so we went home, but he stayed all night.”
She tilted her head, indicating Mateo, then asked, “How are you feeling?”
I lifted the mask off of my head and said, “Better,” then winced. My throat still hurt like hell.
“Good. The doctors said as long as everything checks out, you can go home today… I talked to Logan, and he agreed that you should stay with me…”
“He’s going home with me.”
Tasha and I both turned our heads to see Mateo sitting up in his chair with a yawn.
“But…” Tasha began to argue, but Mateo’s look brokered no argument.
“He’ll come home with me, where he belongs.”
I blinked, shook my head slightly, and wondered if I was hallucinating.
“So, you’re admitting it?” Tasha asked gently, and I swung my attention to her.
Did she know? About Mateo and I? I wondered, then I realized… Logan.
That secret telling bastard.
“Admitting that Brick is my mate, and that he’ll be coming home with me where he belongs, so I can take care of him?” Mateo asked, and my jaw dropped beneath my mask. “Yes.”
Seriously, if my throat didn’t hurt so much, I’d swear I was dreaming. But, not, it hurt like hell, so this had to really be happening, right?
Natasha smiled broadly and her eyes filled with tears, this time, happy ones.
“That’s wonderful,” she cried.
“What’s wonderful?” Gilly asked as she walked in, her gaze swinging to me as she added, “Did you know that this one is Logan’s mate?”
I followed her pointed finger to Natasha and nodded.
“Did you know this one is Mateo’s?” Natasha as
ked, pointing at me and grinning happily when Gilly gaped at her, then me, and finally, Mateo.
“What?” Gilly screeched. “How? When? What?”
Natasha nodded happily. “We’ve all found our mates and been claimed; can you believe it?”
Gilly’s expression changed from shocked to happy, and she clutched her hands to her chest.
“Oh, my gosh, you guys, we could have our claiming ceremonies together,” she gushed.
“First, I need to come out to the council, and to the pack, so please, let’s keep this between us. Second, we need to find Josiah and the Threehorns. Then, we can talk claiming ceremonies,” Mateo said, rising from his chair.
My sisters nodded in agreement.
“This is for you,” Natasha said, picking up the coffee cup and handing it to him.
“We need to talk,” Gilly said, and Mateo nodded in agreement.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Mateo said, leaning down to brush his lips gently across my forehead. “Rest and do what the doctors say.”
I nodded, then lifted my mask and said, “Good luck.”
I was worried for him, knowing how anxious he’d always been about the pack finding out that he was gay, but Mateo didn’t look worried at all when he replied, “Thanks, but I think it’s going to be great.”
Chapter 19
Mateo
“How long have you known?” Gilly asked when we stepped out into the hall.
“Since the second I met him at your house when we were kids,” I replied honestly.
I expected her to get mad, yell at me, chastise me for lying all these years, but instead, she stepped in to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. The gesture was familiar, comforting, and I enveloped her in my embrace.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered.
“I miss you, too,” I admitted. “But, there’s no greater man out there than Max.”
Gilly tilted her head back and looked up at me with a smile.
“I’m happy for you and Brick, and you know what, now you’ll be my brother-in-law, so you’ll never be getting rid of me.”
“Bonus,” I replied with a grin, then patted her on the back and said, “I need to go and talk to my council, can you and Tasha give it a minute before you come back to the waiting room?”
Gilly nodded, then she and Natasha walked off toward the elevators.
It’s funny, with as much as I’d always stressed over it, when I walked into the waiting room and looked at the members of my council, and Logan, I felt utterly calm.
Either they’d accept me, or they wouldn’t, and there wasn’t much I could do to change that.
“Hey,” I said in greeting.
Max stood and walked to stand next to me.
“How’s Brick?” he asked.
“Better,” I replied, “he should be able to head home today… and I need to talk to you about that.”
Max stayed at my side, standing shoulder to shoulder with me, as if instinctively knowing that I needed my Bravo’s support.
“What’s up, brother?” Calin asked.
I figured the best way to say it, was just to say it, so I replied, “Brick will be coming home with me, because that’s where he belongs. Not as my roommate, or just because he’s been injured, but because he’s my mate.”
My gaze swept the room as I waited for protests, looks of betrayal, or at least a murmur of disbelief, but I found none of that.
“Sounds good,” Gregory said.
“Let us know if you need help moving him in,” Kevin added.
“Glad he’s going to be okay,” Bryan put in.
“Guess that means I have to back down and let you tear Josiah’s throat out,” Logan joked, although I knew, he wasn’t really joking.
Calin walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder, “Congrats, I’m happy for you.”
“You’re not surprised?” I asked my brother.
“Not really,” he said. “Not that it would matter if I was, you’re my brother, and I’m happy that you’re happy, no matter what.”
“Welcome to the club,” Max said, slapping my bicep. “Now, you, Logan and I will be family for life, even though we kind of were already. Brothers of the heart…”
My heart swelled, even as I felt like a total asshole for underestimating my pack, my brother, and my friends. I should have known they’d love me the same way I loved them, unconditionally.
“I plan to tell the pack as a whole, but I think it can wait until after we finish with the Threehorn pack, and I should warn you,” I said to Logan and Max. “They’re already planning a group claiming ceremony, and you can bet they’ll want that done as soon as we have this mess cleaned up.”
“Sounds good to me,” Max said.
“I’ll tell Natasha to include my Clan,” Logan added.
I nodded, then said, “Then, let’s go find these assholes and finish this once and for all.”
We decided to start at the beginning, so we drove out to the silo, parked in the gravel lot and exited our vehicles.
“I can shift and head out first,” Logan stated. “It’s not that I think we’ll run into any issues, or my bear will hurt any of you, but now that I’ve claimed Natasha as my mate, my bear is out for blood. It’s going to take every ounce of will I have not to tear into Josiah on site, but I’ll do my best, in deference to your Alpha, and his protection of his own mate.”
I nodded my appreciation and acquiescence, understanding his animal’s need for revenge, since I felt the same way.
Logan shifted and his bear charged off, following the last scent the Threehorns had left behind. Just as we were about to shift and follow, the load roar of vehicles sounded and I looked west to see a motorcade of trucks headed our way.
Looked like the Threehorn pack were ready to do battle after all.
My pack members flanked me as we watched Josiah and his men jump out of their trucks and form a line in front of us.
“The time has come, young Alpha,” Josiah began, being a condescending prick as usual. “Admit defeat, bow to me, and no harm will come to you and your council. Or, you can deny my claim and fight me, and the living Alpha will rule both our packs.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Max shouted, his voice filled with rage, and I knew there was no way my pack would ever accept Josiah as their Alpha. So, either we fought and won today, or we’d all die before bowing.
And, since there was no way I was going to allow any member of my pack to be hurt by this asshole again, there was only one thing I could do… Win.
“You made a grave mistake, old Alpha,” I taunted.
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” he asked, poised and ready to strike.
“One of your men bashed my mate in the head with a tire iron, then left him for dead in that fire, and now… you all have to pay.”
Josiah’s eyes widened. Mates were sacred, and no pack member would knowingly hurt a mate, because they knew it meant certain retribution from the mate’s wolf.
Before he could protest, or argue that they didn’t know I had a mate, I shifted and charged. My pack followed my lead and shifted as well, and within seconds, the wolves were in battle.
Full of fury, I leapt at Josiah, growling when one of his members stepped in front of him and stood between us. Without hesitation, my wolf clamped its teeth around the junior wolfs throat and whipped its head back and forth until it was broken and bleeding at my paws.
I bared my bloody teeth at Josiah, who howled in rage, then jumped over the dead wolf’s corpse and stalked toward him.
A crash sounded, and Logan’s roar sounded across the field.
I noticed Josiah take a couple steps back, and realized they’d been watching us and waited for Logan to leave before showing themselves, because he was frightened of the bear. Unfortunately for him, it was me he should have been afraid of. While his attention was rapt on Logan, I closed the gap between us and took my opportunity to attack.
I was on him before he realized what was
happening, and pinning him to the ground. His pack tried to come to his aid, but I saw Max’s wolf blocking their path, as Logan’s bear began to tear through the remaining wolves, tossing them around like they were merely pups.
I stood on top of Josiah, my nails digging into his fur and breaking flesh, and kept my eyes locked on his as I lowered my snout to his throat and opened as wide as I could, savoring the moment when I clamped my jaw around his neck and paid him back for everything he’d done to my pack since I’d generously welcomed him and his pack into our home.
Burning our fields, messing with our equipment, holding Natasha and Heidi against their will, burning down Howlers, and putting Brick in the hospital…
I loomed over Josiah until the last bit of life left him and all of his transgressions were avenged.
The Threehorn pack wolves that refused to follow any Alpha but Josiah, fought to their deaths, while the ones who wanted peace and a place to live out their lives, stepped back and bowed in submission.
When it was done, I sat back on my haunches and howled… in victory, and in grief that it had come to this.
Chapter 20
Brick
“Lay down and get comfortable,” Mateo said.
He was standing by his bed, and I was standing just inside the bedroom.
Through the open closet door, I could see my things hanging inside. The book I’d been reading in my dorm room was sitting on the end table next to the bed. And, when I’d walked through the living room, I’d seen my laptop next to his on the desk, with my planner laying on top of it.
I’d officially been moved in.
“When did you guys get my stuff?” I asked, because these weren’t just the items that I’d fit in my duffle bag, this was everything that had been in my dorm room.
