by Rosko, Mandy
She smiled. “Yeah, you need a few minutes for my smell to fade away, right?”
She hadn't been here long enough that her scent would last. He hoped. Regardless, Dennis was trying to keep his mood a positive one when he felt like smashing the walls around him to dust and roaring to the moon.
“Right, you should get going now before your brother has one more reason to murder me.”
“I have reason enough to murder you already.”
A ballroom piano could have dropped on Dennis’ head and he wouldn't have been as put off as he was by that growling voice.
Ah, fuck.
24
Anna quickly stepped in front of Dennis, as if she could protect him from her own brother, who looked at them as though he was trying to murder Dennis with his stare.
“Garret, don't.”
Garrett clenched his teeth, his fists trembling at his sides as he observed them.
Or rather, as he death glared at Dennis. “Are you fucking kidding me? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you apart. And why aren't you in chains?”
Dennis shrugged, knowing there wasn't much he could do to make the situation any better. “What can I say? The bear shifter isn't as reliable as you thought he was.”
“Dennis, please.” Anna looked back at him, a note of desperation in her eyes. She clearly didn't want any fights happening right now. Or ever.
But he couldn't guarantee her that. He could make a small promise to her that he wouldn't try, too hard, to rile things up. At the very least, he could comfort her by making sure he wouldn't be the one to throw the first punch. But if Garret decided to come after him first? All bets were off. Dennis would only allow the man to try to beat the hell out of him for so long before he had to give up and defend himself, after all.
Dennis knew he owed the guy something, the chance to bloody him up a little bit, but he wouldn't lay down and let the guy kill him either.
Garret growled, stepping farther into the room. “Anna, step away from him right now.”
Anna shook her head. “No.”
Garret growled a low sound. “Anna.“
She steeled herself, her shoulders straightening, her spine stiffening, and it looked as though she grew an inch taller in that moment. Dennis was proud of her.
“I'm not moving. Not until you can promise me that you won't do anything.”
Garret growled, the sound becoming meaner in the air as he took another step forward.
And Anna still refused to move.
That prideful feeling he had for his mate swelled a hundred times over.
Anna was a sheltered princess. She might not like that, but it was the truth.
But she was his princess. Better than that, she was a warrior princess. Xena could fuck off; this was the real deal right here. Anna had just been waiting this whole time to come out of her shell.
She was doing an amazing job all on her own.
“Garret, stop it,” Anna growled at him. Her small claws formed at her fingers. “Right now.”
He jerked back, those red eyes taking on a look of disbelief. “You…” Garret seemed to recover. “You can’t be serious. You really think he’s serious about you?”
Anna growled. Even Dennis could see why that was a bad thing to say, and he wasn’t the best when it came to being tactful.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Of course Garret didn’t pick up on her meaning right away. He kept glaring at her, though there was a sudden note of confusion in his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“You think no one out there would ever want to be with me?”
“What?” Garret suddenly looked horrified. “No! I never said that!”
“Well, it sounded like you did!” Anna wasn’t faking her outrage. She stepped forward, and her much taller and thicker in the shoulders brother actually stepped back.
And Dennis had to do everything in his power to keep from laughing at the ridiculousness of it.
This was too much. It really was.
“I never said that, and that wasn’t what I was getting at. You’re putting words into my mouth.”
Anna crossed her arms. “Uh huh, and magically you think and conveniently believe I don’t know what I’m talking about when I say I’ve found my mate.”
Garret rubbed his hands through his hair. “Anna, you’re just a baby. You’re a kid.”
Anna blew up on him; even Dennis flinched at the sound of her rage. “Stop calling me a baby! I’m not a baby! I’m a grown woman!”
Garret raised his hands. “All right, we can talk about this later—”
“No, we’re not going to talk about it because there’s nothing to discuss. I’m not a child, and you’re going to stop treating me like one. Period.”
Garret looked at her. He seemed to be thinking about something, but then his tone changed to something just as cool as the look in his eyes. “You want to be treated like an adult when you still live here with me and have stuffed animals on your bed?”
Anna tensed. She briefly glanced over her shoulder, looking back at Dennis, as though wondering if it was at all possible he could be standing there and somehow not have heard what Garret just said.
Dennis shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me what you keep on your bed.”
Anna smiled at him, though her face was still pink with an embarrassed blush when she turned back to face her brother. “If you’re so worried about what I’ve got in my room, then fine, I’ll get rid of them. You’re right. They shouldn’t be there.”
“I never said that. Will you stop putting words in my mouth?”
Anna shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what you said. I know what you meant.”
“You’re not a mind reader either, but all right.”
Anna growled again. “I’ll donate them all to a kids hospital, or even a thrift store.”
“Anna, don’t get rid of your stuffed animals so you can feel grown up.”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want them there anymore anyway. I’m too old for them. And I’ll move out.”
Now Garret’s eyes blazed with a fire that was almost enough to make even Dennis shrink back. And by almost, he meant not even close. He stood up tall when the man glared accusingly at him.
Anna waved her hand in Garret’s face, grabbing his attention. “Will you stop that? I’m the one making this decision here, not you!”
“You don’t know how to live on your own.”
“I’ll learn how. I’ll make a budget and get a job. I can take care of myself.”
Garret really looked as though he wanted to question her some more about that. Dennis happened to think it was one of the few smart things the man ever did when he kept his mouth shut.
“You don’t have to leave the house to prove to me you’re an adult.”
“Apparently, I do. You seem to think I’m twelve.”
Garret inhaled a deep breath through his nose. He clenched and unclenched his fists. He looked back at Dennis one more time. “I’m not ever going to tell you that I accept you as a brother or even a friend.”
Dennis nodded. “Fair enough.”
“You attacked Miranda. Because of you, her life was put in danger, and she was turned against her will.”
“I know.”
“Dane wants a piece of you, too, and for some reason I can’t even fathom, Katie is deciding to forgive you.”
“Because he wasn’t involved in what happened to her,” Anna cut in.
All it took was a look from her brother to quiet her. Even though she wanted to be her own person, and was willing to take the risk to get that far, her brother still had a fair amount of control over her.
“If I ever find out you’re using her—”
“You won’t.”
“—I will cut you a thousand times over just to see if the saying is true. You got that?”
Dennis nodded. “Yeah, I got it. And for the record, I don’t want her to leave your house.”
>
Garret raised a brow at him.
Dennis was forced to ignore the betrayed way Anna looked at him when she spun around on him.
Dennis inhaled a sharp breath. “I know it’s safer for her here. She doesn’t want to admit that, and she thinks it will be a romantic idea to be on the run with me, but it’s less romantic when I don’t have so much as an apartment to offer her to sleep in. I would rather she stayed here where it is safe.”
“I want the same thing.”
“But I don’t want that! Dennis, how many times do I have to tell you that I’m all right with being with you as you are?” She grabbed onto his shoulders, and even the touch of her skin against his own was enough to make his resolve waver.
All he had to do was think about Laurence and the look on his face when he tried turning Dennis’ pack on both him and Anna.
They would rip her to pieces.
That was all it took to harden his heart to the betrayal in her eyes.
Dennis turned his attention back to Garret. “Promise me that Derek can stay here, that he can be part of your pack, officially, that you won’t kick him out, and I will do everything I can to dissuade her from wanting to follow me when I go.”
Both of Garret’s brows shot right up into his hairline.
Any other time, Dennis would have gotten a lot of pleasure out of putting a look like that on the man’s smug face. Not now. He was trying too hard to not to feel any guilt for the way Anna’s heart was likely breaking. She must think he was such a coward. A weasel for sure, but he was not going to take the risk. Not in any universe would that be happening.
“Do we have a deal?” Dennis asked when Garret said nothing to him.
It felt nice to render the guy speechless for once, but there was only so much of that Dennis could take.
Garret pressed his lips together. He was probably loathe to give into anything Dennis wanted, but even he had to see the logic and reason behind the request.
“Derek will be welcomed into the pack, and you will go, without Anna.”
“No!” Anna snapped, her eyes brimming with tears as she glared at Dennis. “You can’t make this decision for me.”
“You want to be treated like an adult? This is it. Laurence is out there, and he will rape you and then kill you and Derek if he gets his hands on either of you. Don’t think for one second that I can keep you safe from a whole pack of people like that. I’m not invincible.”
She pulled away from him, looking at him as though she didn’t recognize him.
He stared back coldly, letting himself feel it. He would be heartless if that’s what it took. He would make her stay here where it was safe. She wanted her independence, and that was a noble thing, but not everyone got what they wanted. Especially not in times like this. She would have to make Garret see her as the adult she was within this house, not while making a statement before walking out of it into danger.
All in the hope that love would find a way.
No. He wasn’t about to take that kind of risk.
“Garret, Derek isn’t just to be welcomed into the pack. You are to never kick him out of it. He’s a good kid. He won’t cause trouble, and he won’t get anyone hurt or killed, so I don’t want to hear that he got banished two weeks after I’m gone for some bullshit reason.”
Garret growled at him. “You can’t just demand that I don’t throw someone out of my pack who misbehaves.”
“I can, and I am. I’m pretty sure Anna doesn’t want to be near me right about now anyway, but I’m still her mate. You have a pack, a good one, and land, and a fortress of a house. Derek gets to stay here where he will be taken care of, for the rest of his life, or I won’t try to talk her out of doing anything.”
Anna trembled with a clear rage. He thought she might cry angry tears, too, but he doubted that would happen. She was acting too proud. She wouldn’t want to give anything away that might show her as being weak.
Dennis doubted he had the power to do anything right about now, to convince her to so much as take a sip of water even if she happened to be thirsty, but Garret knew the power that came with being someone’s mate. Dennis couldn’t make Anna do anything she didn’t want to do, but if he so much as hinted that he wanted her to come with him, enraged or not, she would likely jump at the chance.
Garret growled, glancing towards his sister before finally giving in. “All right. All right! You win.”
Dennis almost couldn’t believe it. He blinked widely at the other man, waiting to hear that this had all been some kind of joke.
That Garret was having one over on him.
Until the man presented his hand.
It had been so long since Garret held his hand out for Dennis to shake it—decades. For that, Dennis almost forgot what he was supposed to do in that moment.
He cleared his throat, reaching his hand back and gripping Garret’s tightly. The other man shook his hand as though they were in a competition to see who could squeeze the hardest, or hold on the longest.
Anna watched them both with hate in her eyes. Such an odd look for a woman who clearly was made to hate no one.
“I hate you both,” she said when they let go, confirming her thoughts.
Only she could get him in the heart with a thin, hot, metal spike, but he had to ignore it.
“I’m not going to risk the safety of my son or you.”
Since she clearly didn’t care about her own well-being; the sagging of her shoulders had to be because of Derek.
“I know…but…”
A loud bang upstairs made the three of them tense. Heavy boots stomped through the house before rushing downstairs.
Jax appeared in the doorway, his eyes wild, scales forming across his arms and even his face. His golden eyes shone like a snake’s.
“We’ve got a problem. You need to get upstairs right now.”
25
If it wasn’t for the wild look in Jax’s eyes, Anna might have stayed way too pissed off about the conversation, and agreement, Dennis and her own traitorous brother had around her.
Who was she kidding? They were both filthy traitors, but there wasn’t much she could do about that now when Garret ran for Jax as the dragon shifter turned and fled the basement.
“That looked serious.”
“It did,” Dennis said, his eyes a shocking shade of red when she looked at him. He walked passed her, heading for the door that Garret and Jax had conveniently left open for him.
As Garret rushed to see what the issue was, he seemed to forget that he’d left his sister behind with someone he didn’t trust.
Someone not in chains.
It either meant Garret had a little more trust for Dennis than he wanted to let on, or maybe he’d picked up on something, knew something just from that look on Jax’s face.
Which was why Anna followed after Dennis when he went to the door and started climbing the stairs. He knew she was behind him without even looking.
“Stay down there.”
“Nope.”
He rounded on her when he made it to the top of the stairs, blocking the way. She stopped. “This is Laurence. It has to be.”
“Fine, so let me get by, and I can go and hide in my room like a good little girl.”
Dennis rolled his eyes. “I know you well enough to know by now that’s the last thing you plan on doing.”
“Well, if you think I’m going to hide under my bed and shiver with fear, yeah, you’re out of your mind, but you’re also crazy if you think I’m going to go outside and do any fighting.”
He stared at her blankly, as if his brain wasn’t quite letting him believe those words.
“I’m serious,” she said. “I get that you’re just as bad as Garret is, but I’m not stupid. I know I can’t fight. I’m not as big or fast as the people are out there. I won’t go outside. I’ll stay with Katie.”
Dennis pressed his lips together. She almost had him; he looked as though he wanted to believe her, and that was the only seed sh
e needed.
“I’ll make sure Derek stays with me if you want. Keep an eye on him.”
Since she and Derek were basically the same age, she didn’t know what exactly she would be able to do to stop the other guy if he wanted to go out and fight with his father. She didn’t have time to think about it when the roar that came next shook the walls around her.
Anna pressed her hands to the walls on either side of her. She felt that trembling all the way up her legs and through her hands when the noise echoed through the walls.
It seemed to take forever before it finally stopped. When it did, even Anna couldn’t help but be a little freaked out.
Okaaaaay, if she had been planning on secretly rushing out to see the fight, she definitely wasn’t going to do it now.
Dennis looked at her. She looked at him. He reached for her in that way she was getting used to, so Anna leaned into it when he grabbed her by her face and pulled her forward, kissing her hard on the mouth, his voice hoarse when he pulled away.
“I’m sorry to leave you like this. I need to get out there.”
She gripped Dennis’ wrists. “Come back.”
He looked at her as though he wanted to say he would, but then he said nothing at all as he released her and ran away.
Anna reached out for him, but then pulled back as he left her standing there.
She couldn’t chase after him, and she couldn’t force him to stay. He was still an alpha, and he was going to want to confront the people who had made an attempt on his life, her life, and who would probably hurt Derek if they could.
That didn’t mean she was going to sit back and do nothing.
Just because she couldn’t follow Dennis out onto the battlefield didn’t mean she was entirely helpless. There were guns in this house, after all, and some pretty high windows.
In fact, Anna had a pretty good idea of where she would find Katie and Miranda.
First, she needed to make sure Derek wasn’t about to do anything stupid. She set off to find him. He would be with Joey.
Then she could take them up to the attack where Katie, Miranda, and likely the new girl, Lois, would be staying.
