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Chapter Three

Travis

Terrick stared me down from the other side of the room. His arms were crossed over his chest and his eyes glowed blue in the dim light shimmering through the living room window. Scott was taking a nap and Terrick had only let me in because he wanted to see Scott ‘tell me off when he woke up.’ That was my brother-in-law’s exact words.

He huffed like the hound who lived inside him and inside his inner sanctum my wolf rolled his eyes. One canine is just like another. He might be an overgrown canine, but he was still more bark than bite. If Terrick wanted a stare off, he could have it. I wasn’t here for him.

“If you two stop staring at each other you could come help in the kitchen,” Duke called from beyond the door that divided the living room and kitchen.

“What are you doing in there?” I asked.

“If you whip out that phone, I’m going to eat it!” Duke called back.

He was right. Out of instinct I reached for my pocket to grab it.

“What are you doing in there?” I called again.

“My mate and children are sleeping. Use your links,” Terrick said, not even adding a please.

Ignoring the overgrown pup with glowing eyes, I made my way into the kitchen. Duke and Blithe worked at the counter kneading dough that smelled too salty and a bit like the incense they were always burning at the temples.

“Who are we feeding that to?” I asked, leaning against the counter next to Duke.

“The spirits. We’ve set up a shrine,” Blithe answered before Duke could.

“A shrine for who?” I asked.

“Dead animals,” Duke shrugged. “They like it and if we leave it on the shrine or out and about, they don’t try to break into the house or Scott’s supply shed. It’s Scott’s recipe but we’re helping because he’s feeding four pups.”

“He’s feeding four pups,” Blithe echoed Duke.

“I know. If the hint is I should leave, say the quiet part out loud.”

“I wasn’t saying that,” Duke said.

“He’s feeding four puppies. Don’t expect him to be cheerful and grateful for an uber late apology,” Blithe said.

“And don’t expect Terrick to turn off his flashlight eyes,” Duke said.

“So, you guys aren’t mad at me anymore?” I asked.

“I am,” Blithe said. “Only I have kittens at home and a mate and a brother who sleeps most of the time now because he has four puppies. I don’t have time to hold grudges. Pack up. Be pack while you’re here. That’s all we’re asking.”

“I’m not angry,” Duke said, smelling like the truth. “I am at Trista. She really upset Syre. I’ll talk to her alpha-to-alpha when I get the chance.”

“The way we figure it, you weren’t in the film. You were behind the camera. You’re always behind the camera,” Blithe said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, stepping back.

“That Trista told me that she told you I was in on the joke,” Scott yawned behind us.

“Damn!” I startled. “Didn’t even hear you come in.”

“Trista said she told you I was in on the joke and thought it would get me more views,” Scott said, again heading toward the fridge.

“Bloodshakes are made up, mate,” Terrick came through the other kitchen door. “I’ll get it for you.”

“I need to move around. My legs are jelly,” Scott yawned again.

“Do you want me to put on coffee?” Blithe asked a second later.

“No, not while I’m still feeding the puppies,” Scott shook his head before turning to me. “She’s gonna get you killed or castrated one day, brother.”

I opened my mouth to call Trista a liar. Only she wasn’t. This wasn’t how things went. We were in everything together.

“Not Starscale Search. That’s just going to be our job,” my wolf chimed into my thoughts.

He wasn’t wrong either.

“Sit down and talk to him,” Duke said, motioning to the table with sticky, dough-covered hands.

I sat down at the table and Scott sighed before taking a sip of his shake. Terrick stood behind him, hands resting on his shoulders as if I meant to attack my own brother at any second. I didn’t blame him for being overprotective, but his nose must’ve been broken.

“How about we give them a minute?” Blithe asked, washing the sticky dough off his hands.

“I’m staying,” Terrick said.

“Then I’m staying,” Duke said.

Duke was never one to leave one of the pack alone in a tense situation.

“Not for you,” Duke picked up my thoughts over the pack link and glanced at me. “If a vampyric wolf and a vampyric hound want to fight, so be it. You’re just not going to do it around a man who is exhausted from keeping his pups fed.”

“Maybe I should give you four a minute to work it out,” Scott sighed.

“I can go, if you want me to,” I said, bracing my hands against the side of the table, ready to push my chair back.

“No, I don’t want you to go. Not if you don’t want to,” Scott sighed again. “Terrick, give us a minute, Alpha. It’s okay. I think it’s best if we talk now and get it out of the way. Why don’t you and Cardian do a sweep, or you could call Salta for a chat or---”

“I’ll be listening in over our link,” Terrick said and kissed the top of Scott’s head.

My brother smiled like I’d never seen him do before. He was the quietest of us older kids and usually did his own thing without much input from us.

“I’ll be listening too,” Duke said, meeting my gaze as he left the kitchen with Blithe.

I didn’t say anything until they were gone. There was no privacy in a pack setting. Everyone knew everyone else’s business and we all pretended to believe in the illusion of privacy.

“Can I ask why now?” Scott asked me.

“There’s a lot going on around Starscale Search that I can’t talk about. Nothing that will blow up the world or anything, but it’s made me think a lot. I don’t want to leave things like they were. I can’t change Trista. Fuck, Scott, at this point I’m not even sure Trista can change herself. I’m sorry we made that video. I should’ve known better than to listen to her and—”

“Did you really think a spoof would get me more views?” Scott interrupted.

“Yeah,” I nodded, leaning back in the chair. “It works like that sometimes. Someone sees something funny or something adjacent and they want to see the original. I thought some of the jokes were harsh, but since she said you knew them, I figured maybe you even wrote them. We’re all our own worst critics.”

Scott took a drink of his blood shake. Dark, heavy bags hung under his eyes making me even more of a selfish prick for coming at the current time.

“Don’t,” he shook his head. “I’m tired, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk. I mean, there’s a lot to unload with everything, but are you okay? I thought you were off filming people watching stars.”

“I am or was and will again. I just took some time off.”

“Is Trista back there?” he asked.

“Yes and no. We’re not really talking. Not in person or aloud at least. Hell, not even on purpose over our twin link. I love the internet. I love live-streaming and blogging and mini-documentaries, but I can’t with her anymore. I wanted to enshrine memories. I’m not sure what she wanted to do now that I think about it.”

“Me neither. Hell, she probably doesn’t know. I hope she figures it out soon, though. For all our sakes.”

“I don’t think she’ll come back here any time soon,” I shook my head.

“That doesn’t matter. I’m not in the mood to see her, but I hope she’s okay. If not for me – for you and our parents.”

“Yeah, it hasn’t been easy on them.”

“Have you had this talk with them?” Scott asked.

“Yeah. I talked to them before I came here.”

“Bobby said you arrived in a nice car.”

“It’s an airport rental. A perk of my new job,” I nodded. “Are you wanting to go for a ride?”

“Yeah, actually,” he smiled and for the first time since my arrival it reached his eyes.

Then he bit his lip and my heart sank into my stomach.

“Terrick said no?” I arched a brow.

“He’s not my damn daddy,” Scott shook his head. “Could you wait for me to feed the pups before we go? I know you probably need to get back and –”

“I’ll wait,” I nodded.

“Thanks.”

“Some fresh air will do you good,” I patted him on the shoulder as he walked by on his way out of the kitchen.

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