CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER TWELVE

Eli stood as a familiar car drove into the lot. Like last time, he’d sat on the porch step of the main lodge as he’d waited for Casey to arrive. He’d texted her the moment he crossed the border of his territory, asking her to come to him. Despite that Cassidy was tucked up in bed, completely fine, his stomach was still in knots, and the chill hadn’t yet fully left him.

His wolf hadn’t calmed either. He kept pacing, snarling, and raking at the ground with his claws.

She slipped out of the car and said goodbye to the baker who’d given her a ride. Eli gave a brief nod to the driver and then cut his gaze back to his mate, who was ascending the porch steps. “Over here, baby,” he said. “Need to hold you right now.”

He closed his arms around her and breathed her in, letting the feel and scent of her settle into his system and chase away the chill. Slowly, the knots in his gut fell away, and the fury lost its sharp grip on him. His wolf pushed up against his skin, wanting to be nearer to her.

“What happened?” she asked. “I’ve been imagining all kinds of messed up scenarios.”

Guilt twisted his gut. Pulling back only slightly, he told her of the shooting. With every word he spoke, she got stiffer and stiffer in his arms. By the time he was done, she looked ready to burn shit down.

“I’ll kill him,” she said softly, her voice vibrating with suppressed rage. Then she was gone from his arms and pacing up and down, her neck corded, her nostrils flaring. “We need to go pay that motherfucker a visit now.”

Yeah, he’d been right not to tell her over the phone. “We don’t know for sure that Ignacio is behind this,” said Eli, knowing it was who she meant.

“It has to be him. You must have been the real target.”

“From what Derren gathered, someone got themselves comfortable on the rooftop opposite the store we were at, and then they took their shot. But they didn’t take it until after the others filed out of the shop. That tells us there’s a strong possibility that Cassidy was deliberately targeted.”

Pausing in her pacing, Casey licked her lower lip. “Ignacio wouldn’t try striking out at me through the pups.”

“No, he wouldn’t. He played the innocent card when Nick called him. The bastard truly did sound pissed that Cassidy had been shot—apparently, he doesn’t like kids being hurt. Also, according to the contact that Nick’s friend has within the pride, Ignacio’s also maintaining that innocence to his pride. Maybe it’s an act, maybe it’s not. But if we follow the theory that Cassidy was in fact the real target, we can’t ignore the possibility that one of Nick’s enemies was striking out at him through her.”

“But you said the shooter kept on firing. Why would he do that if he’d hit his target?”

“Maybe he was also supposed to shoot Willow.” Crossing to Casey, Eli relaxed her fists and massaged her palms with his thumbs. “There are a lot of maybes. We have to be positive that Ignacio is responsible before we go invading his territory, Casey—you know that.”

She ground her teeth. “So how do we find out if it was him?”

“That I don’t know. We have no clue who the shooter was. Derren said he smelled fox on the rooftop—that’s all we’ve got. The scent led him to the mall’s parking lot, where it abruptly disappeared.” Eli slid his hands up her arms and then began to massage her shoulders. “It was probably a lone shifter acting as an assassin-for-hire.”

“I get that there are other suspects to consider, but it seems far too coincidental to me that this would happen now, while shit’s going down between us and Ignacio. Especially when I had a little altercation with his mate last night. Did he mention that to Nick on the phone?”

“Only to apologize on Dahlia’s behalf, calling her indirect challenge a ‘drunken mishap.’” Eli had growled at that. “Zander quite rightly pointed out that an enemy of Nick’s might have found out about that little scene between you and Dahlia and then decided to act on their own grudge now, assuming we’d blame Dahlia. That kind of thing happens.”

Eli kept on rubbing her shoulders until the tension finally ebbed out of them. Her anger hadn’t yet left her, but it was no longer burning so hot that she wasn’t thinking straight.

“Now I get why you didn’t tell me this on the phone. You were worried I’d storm over to Ignacio’s territory with the intention of slitting his throat, weren’t you?”

“Something like that,” Eli admitted, tugging her close. His wolf rubbed against her again, giving comfort this time.

“Tell me the truth. Are any of your pack mates angry with me?”

He frowned, jerking his head back slightly. “Why would they be angry at you?”

“Because what Kathy said a few weeks ago was right: I brought Ignacio into your life. It would be easy for someone to blame me for this when their emotions are running high.”

Eli narrowed his eyes. Ah, so that was the reason for the niggle of guilt he could feel pecking at their bond. “You hold no blame whatsoever in this, and you know better than to take any responsibility for another person’s actions. To answer your question, no. None of their anger is directed at you.” Or if it was, nobody had voiced it. He’d chew a metaphorical chunk out of the ass of anyone who dared to.

Casey rubbed a hand down her face. Intellectually, she knew he was right; knew the blame belonged solely to whoever the culprit might be—and she was leaning toward Ignacio, despite that Eli’s points were valid. But the guilt was there all the same.

“I’m not the only one feeling guilty, though, am I?” she challenged without heat. “It was faint at first, so I didn’t pick it up through the bond until your anger, shock, and fear faded.” The emotions were still there, but they were no longer so intense.

He exhaled heavily. “She was shot on my watch, Casey.”

“Not just your watch. It was Zander’s, too. In total, you had five other adults with you. Granted, Derren’s attention would have been mostly on Ally. But he’s a Beta—his instincts will have had him sweeping rooftops with his eyes and constantly studying his surroundings, watching out for threats. Nick will have been doing the same, even though his attention will have also been divided between his mate and pups.”

Eli’s jaw hardened. “He trusted that I’d protect them.”

“You did exactly what you were supposed to do. You acted fast. You got Cassidy out of harm’s way. You have nothing to feel guilty about. And if anyone tells you differently, I’ll shatter their fucking kneecaps.”

His mouth twitched. “You will, huh?”

“I will.” Casey puffed out a breath. “God, this has been one weird day.”

“What do you mean?”

“Adrian called me when I was on my way here. He spoke with Sherryl’s aunt. It seems that Sherryl was attacked last night.”

Eli blinked. “She was attacked, or she just claimed she was attacked?”

“She was attacked. Her aunt visited her. Said she’s in a bad way. Vera wouldn’t lie—especially about something like that.”

“Adrian thought you did it, didn’t he?”

“That or you sent someone to hurt her on my behalf. But I told him that you promised to let me deal with her.”

“I’d never undermine you by sending somebody else as if you couldn’t deal with the bitch yourself.”

“I know. I just don’t know who did hurt her.”

Eli rubbed at his jaw. “It could have been Mallory. Maybe even Preston.”

“Possibly. Adrian said he’d speak to them about it. Right now, it’s Cassidy I’m worried about. I don’t mind admitting I was scared when I felt your fear. It rushed down the bond so hard and fast it almost knocked me on my ass. Seriously, if I hadn’t been on my knees at the time, I probably would have lost my footing.”

“You were on your knees?”

“Yeah, I dropped my bottle of lotion on the floor. It burst.”

“Burst?”

“Just erupted. Like a fountain. Spurted cream everywhere. I had it all over me—even in my hair. A big dollop of it landed on my lip—if my mouth had been open, I’d have had to spit it …” Seeing his mouth kick up into a smile, Casey pressed her lips together. “Forget I said anything.”

The front door opened, and Kathy stuck her head out. She frowned. “What are you two doing out here? Come in, I’m making sandwiches.” She disappeared into the lodge.

Casey looked at Eli and echoed, “Sandwiches?”

“Mom makes them when she’s mad or anxious. It’s just her outlet, I guess.” He kissed Casey’s head, curved his arm around her shoulders, and steered her toward the door. “Come on. Quick warning: the mood is not good inside. Cassidy’s in bed. Willow and Shaya are in her room with her. I think most of the other females would be up there too if they weren’t busy trying to keep their mates calm.”

Walking into the living area a few moments later, Casey saw what he meant. Gwen was hugging Zander tight as he stared out of the window. Ally was leaning into a rigid Derren on the sofa, stroking his thigh. Madisyn was sitting behind a scowling Bracken on the armchair, massaging his neck and shoulders. Caleb and Kent were holding hands as they watched Nick pace up and down in front of the fireplace. The Alpha looked close to exploding.

Marcus seemed less tense than the others, but perhaps that was because Roni was perched on his lap, rubbing his chest. The only person speaking was Harley, who was snuggled into Jesse’s side, sifting her fingers through his hair. But the margay was talking so quietly to him that Casey couldn’t make out the words.

The males weren’t so caught up in their own anger that they weren’t aware of their mates’ fury, though. They were touching the females just as affectionately—stroking their hair, giving their hands a comforting squeeze, or pressing a kiss to their temple.

“You’re going to wear a hole in that carpet,” Kathy told Nick as she brought in a tray piled with sandwiches. Instead of setting it on the coffee table and leaving people to help themselves, she circled the room, stuffing sandwiches into people’s hands and insisting that they eat.

Everyone offered Casey faint smiles, nods, or quiet hellos as she and Eli sat on one of the sofas. If any held her to blame, none showed it.

“Have you and Derren finished writing your list of potential suspects?” Eli asked Nick.

The Alpha gave a curt nod. “It’s not a short one. We wanted to be thorough, so we didn’t just note the people we’ve warred with over the years such as the jackals, black bears, and Miranda’s pack. I made enemies in juvie. I made some when I challenged and drove out the Alpha of our old pack. I made more each time I backed one of our allies in a battle.”

He’d also made enemies when he helped crush the illegal fighting ring that Eli was forced to fight in, but Eli didn’t mention that. He hadn’t yet told Casey about it, and he wasn’t looking forward to doing so. “Is your gut pointing you in any particular direction?”

Grinding his teeth, Nick shook his head. “Given that the people we most recently had problems with were the black bears, I might have leaned toward them if we hadn’t wiped out the whole clan and its allies. Claudia’s pack could be seeking retribution for her father’s death,” he added, referring to a male who’d partnered with the bear clan to fuck over Bracken, “though I highly doubt the new Alpha would do so—he’d never liked her father, from what he told me.”

“We also have to consider that shifters are renowned for biding their time,” said Derren. “That’s why we included Nick’s enemies from juvie. Someone might have wanted to wait until he had something to lose before they pounced. Those bullets could have been meant for Shaya, Willow, and Cassidy.”

“Shouldn’t we also be considering the possibility that the anti-shifter extremists could be behind this?” asked Gwen. “It wouldn’t be the first time they’d hired shifters to do their dirty work for them.”

“And we know just how far the sick fuckers are willing to go,” added Bracken, balling up his hands. Casey wondered if he was recalling what had happened to his family. Pretty much all shifters had heard the story of how his family died and what he did to avenge them.

“It’s possible that—” Nick frowned and cocked his head. “I hear an engine.”

“It might be some of the Phoenix wolves,” said Harley. “I’ll be surprised if Shaya hasn’t already called Taryn.”

But if the male who came stalking through the house and into the living room without first knocking on the front door was in fact a Phoenix wolf, it was one who Casey hadn’t met before. He was a good-looking guy, she noted absently. He was also thoroughly pissed. Even as he appeared coldly composed, there was a manic energy about him.

Lips clamped shut, the male glanced around the room and then looked at Nick. “Where’s Cassidy?” It was a demand, and it clearly rubbed Nick the wrong way.

Bristling, Nick narrowed his eyes. “I’m guessing you know what happened. How do you know?”

“I called him,” said Shaya, trudging into the room. She gave the visitor a weak smile. “Hi, Cain.”

Ally huffed at him. “I don’t even get a hello?”

Cain only inclined his head at her, though his expression did soften slightly.

Confused, Casey raised a questioning brow at Eli, who said quietly into her ear, “It’s Ally’s foster brother.”

“Where’s Cassidy?” Cain asked Shaya.

It was Nick who answered. “She’s in her room, resting.”

Cain’s gaze sliced back to Nick. “I need to see her.”

The Alpha male stiffened from head to toe, and the tension in the air strangely quadrupled. “Why?” The question was a whip.

“You know why,” said Cain, meeting his gaze head-on, not in the least bit intimidated by the vibes of menace radiating from the Alpha.

“And how long have you known?” Nick asked him.

A muscle in Cain’s cheek ticked. “A while.”

Nick cursed and raked a hand through his hair.

“You’re thinking she deserves better than me, and you’re right,” said Cain. “But it changes nothing. Cassidy was meant for me. She’s mine.”

Ah, now Casey understood.

“You could walk away,” Nick said to him.

Cain snorted. “Like you walked away from Shaya? Remind me again how that worked out for you.”

Shaya winced.

Nick clenched his fists. “You can’t take Cassidy—can’t take anyone—as your mate, Cain. You’re a member of the fucking Movement.”

“When she’s old enough for me to claim her, I’ll leave the group and take her to live with me and my pack.”

Nick’s spine snapped straight, and he bared his teeth. “You’re not taking my daughter anywhere.”

“She can’t stay here with you indefinitely. In seven years, she’ll be eighteen. Two adult Seers can’t exist within the same pack. You’d have to choose between your adopted child and a Beta female who has bled for you and your pack. You know that, Nick. You’ve always known that.”

Muscles bunched, the Alpha scrubbed at his jaw.

“But it won’t come to that, because I will claim Cassidy when she’s old enough. You won’t keep me away from her in the meantime, Nick, so don’t even try it.”

Shaya held up her hands. “No one intends to do that, Cain. We trust that you’d never hurt her. Plus, she’d only hate us for it—she loves you. We’re all just a little on edge, so it’s hard for us to be rational.” She waved a hand toward the hall. “Come in, I’ll take you to her.” When Nick looked as if he’d object, Shaya shook her head and said, “He has every right to see her. Don’t be an ass.” She and Cain then left the room.

Nick cursed again and turned to face the window.

“Well, I guess that confirms what I think most of us suspected,” said Zander.

“I never suspected it.” Kent put his hand to his throat. “She’s just a little girl. She shouldn’t have to worry about keeping a sociopath stable.”

Ally frowned. “Hey, it’s not like he’s a serial killer or something.”

“But he’s not exactly good,” said Kent, his voice gentle.

Caleb put a hand on his mate’s thigh. “I think what Kent’s trying to say is that Cain is someone who … lost his way.”

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve a mate like everybody else,” said Ally. “Juvie messed him up, but he’s not cruel or sadistic.”

“We know that, baby,” Derren softly assured her. “Everyone’s just feeling hyper-protective of Cassidy right now.”

Ally looked at the Alpha. “I can tell you one thing, Nick: Cain might not be your first choice for Cassidy, but you’ll never have to worry about her safety when she’s with him. He’ll never let a single thing harm her. Knowing that she was shot … this will have hit him hard. He’ll want blood as much as you do.”

A short while later, Cain and Shaya returned to the living area. Eli studied the male carefully. Cain’s expression was hard, and his eyes were like glaciers, but he seemed slightly … well, not calmer exactly. But it was like his anger had switched from hot and manic to cold and controlled. As if seeing that his mate was alive and well had eased his fury just enough for Cain to find some reason and rationality.

“Is Cassidy sleeping?” asked Eli.

“No, she said she’s bored of sleeping,” said Shaya, one corner of her mouth kicking up slightly. “She’s watching a movie with Willow.”

“I’ll go sit with the girls while you all talk,” said Kathy, who then swanned out of the room.

Cain looked at his foster sister, his eyes still glacier cold. “Thank you for healing Cassidy.”

Ally rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to thank me, dumbass.”

Cain’s gaze cut to Eli. “And thank you for shielding her and getting her to safety. I didn’t realize you’d met your mate,” he added, his eyes flitting from Eli to Casey. “Your bond is strong. Congratulations.”

Eli inclined his head. The latter word might have been tightly spoken, but there was sincerity behind it. “Thank you.”

Cain turned to Nick. “Shaya gave me a brief summary of what happened. I want the whole story.”

So Nick gave it to him. “We have a list of suspects, but none stick out at me.”

“I’d say Ignacio is the likeliest culprit,” said Jesse, to which many people nodded.

Cain’s brow furrowed. “Ignacio?”

“Ignacio Rodriguez,” Jesse expanded. “The Alpha of—”

“The Rotunda Pride,” finished Cain. “I’ve met him.”

“Eli’s mate, Casey, has been having trouble with him.” Nick brought Cain up to speed on the matter, including the altercation between Casey and Dahlia. “Considering someone hired a bunch of falcons to attack Eli not so long ago, it wouldn’t be a stretch to conclude that that same person also contacted a hired gun to take care of him. It’s possible that the bullet accidentally hit Cassidy, but we’re not sure.”

Cain’s lips pulled back slightly, baring his teeth, as his jaw clenched so hard it had to hurt. But then a cold calm seemed to once more descend on him. “The shooter probably followed you around the mall, though they may have stuck to the rooftops. I’m guessing you kept the children shielded at all times.”

Derren nodded. “The rest of us gathered around the pups and Ally as we walked.”

“Yet, the shooter didn’t open fire until the pups were exposed,” said Cain, his voice carefully controlled. “I can see why you doubt Ignacio’s guilt. He targets people’s loved ones. The pups are technically Casey’s nieces, but I’m not sure he’d consider that good enough. Then again, this whole thing could have been an attempt to strike at Eli through Cassidy. After all, he’s no doubt pissed Ignacio off purely by protecting Casey.”

Shaya’s brows lifted. “That’s true. I never thought of that.”

“We need to have a little talk with Ignacio,” said Cain, and Eli sensed that there would be nothing civil about that “talk.”

“I already have.” Nick told him about the phone call, adding, “Not that I believed he’d admit to any involvement even if he was responsible for it. I can only tell you what he told me.”

Eli wasn’t in the least bit surprised that his brother didn’t mention Donovan’s contact. Cain would demand to know the name of the source so that he could go question him—which he wouldn’t do calmly or cleanly, since torturous interrogations were more Cain’s style—and there was no way that Donovan would reveal the source’s name anyway.

“We need to arrange a face-to-face chat with Ignacio.” Cain licked his front teeth. “I want to look into his eyes when he says that he has no connection to the shooting.”

Nick gave a slow shake of the head. “You can’t, Cain. You’re known as a person who only gives a shit about The Movement. If you confront Ignacio about what happened to Cassidy, he’ll suspect that she’s someone to you. If that somehow becomes common knowledge, your enemies will target her. We can’t risk that.”

Nostrils flaring, Cain spat a curse. “You can’t ask me to sit back and do nothing.”

“I don’t like it any more than you do. But we have no proof that he’s behind the shooting. I have plenty of enemies, Cain. You know that.”

“You don’t want to start a war with someone unless you’re positive they bear guilt in the situation. Understandable,” said Cain, though he didn’t sound as though it would particularly bother him if he accidentally targeted the wrong person. “But I won’t stand back and do nothing.”

“Neither will I, which is why Derren and I made a list of potential suspects. We’ll have Donovan help us look into each of them and see where they are and what’s going on in their lives. It might help, it might not, but at least we’d be doing something. Focusing too much on Ignacio would be a mistake when we have no proof that he’s the culprit.”

“But like I said, it would make sense that it’s Ignacio if the whole thing was a bid to get at Eli.”

“There is another angle to consider,” said Casey. “The loss of a pup impacts everyone. You would all have been an emotional mess if you lost Cassidy, and you’d have been looking for someone to blame. You might have pointed the finger at me. Might have wanted me gone from your pack and your lives. That could have been what Ignacio had hoped for.”

Frowning, Shaya shook her head vigorously. “We would never have blamed you.”

“Damn fucking straight,” rumbled Eli.

Casey gave a wan smile. “You can’t know that. Not for sure. People aren’t always rational when they’re grieving. They say things they don’t mean, and they look for someone to blame so that they have an outlet for all the anger and grief. As someone who brought Ignacio into your lives, I’d have been the most obvious target.”

Madisyn sighed. “Casey’s right. I’m not saying I would have felt that way,” she hurried to add. “But I’ve seen a lot of grieving people at the shelter. They’re not always in their right mind. Their grief clouds the situation, stopping them from seeing it clearly.”

Jaw clenched, Eli shook his head. “I would never have turned on you, Casey. Never. You have to know that. You have to know you come first to me.”

“I do know that,” Casey assured him. “But Ignacio isn’t properly mated to Dahlia. He’s never experienced the depth of loyalty that mated pairs have toward each other. He can’t conceive of the kind of bond you and I have or how firmly it connects us. It would be easy for him to misjudge how you would react in such a situation.”

“It’s a good point,” said Cain. He turned to Nick. “You need to up your security ten-fold and close the motel until this is over. I’ll stay here—no, don’t tell me to leave. I have a right to be here to protect my mate. You won’t stop me, so let’s not waste time with bullshit. Besides which, I promised her I’d stay—I won’t break that promise.”

Nick swore. “Fine.”

“Run me through your list of other suspects, tell me about them,” said Cain.

“It’s a long list, so it could take a while.”

“I have time.”

“Dude, you really have to stop brooding.”

Eli did a slow blink and looked down at his mate, who was lying on the sofa with her head pillowed on his thigh. “I don’t brood.”

“Then what have you been doing for the past half hour?” she challenged.

“Watching TV with you.”

“You’ve been lost in your own thoughts. You didn’t even notice when I pressed mute.” She sat up and straddled him, her far-too-knowing eyes raking over his face. “Talk to me.”

He settled his hands on her hips and shrugged. “You can already sense what I’m feeling.”

“Your emotions only hint at what’s going through your mind.” She tilted her head. “The guilt you were feeling earlier is heavier now. Like a weight on your shoulders. Please tell me you’re not tormenting yourself with what could have happened earlier. That doesn’t help.”

He sighed. “I know. I know it’s senseless. But I just keep thinking that if Ally hadn’t been there at the mall—and she almost wasn’t, because Derren tried ordering her to stay behind—Cassidy would be dead right now.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“I do. I saw the wound. It was fatal, Casey. The bastard shot to kill. If it weren’t for Ally, my niece would be gone. She would have died in my arms.”

“But she didn’t. She’s tucked up in bed, safe and well. Because you shielded her from the other bullets and got her to safety. If you hadn’t done that, it wouldn’t have mattered that Ally was there. You didn’t fail Cassidy, Eli. Just like you didn’t fail Roni, despite what you tell yourself.”

He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Fuck, I let Roni down in too many ways to count.”

“It’s hardly your fault that you weren’t there the day those humans tried assaulting her.”

“Maybe not, but …” God, he did not want to talk about this. He really didn’t. But Zander was right that secrets could block the mating bond. What if Eli was the reason the bond was incomplete? In any case, she deserved to know everything. She’d been honest and open with him from the start; she was entitled to that same courtesy.

Eli took a deep breath. “Just before Nick left for juvie, he told me to look after Roni. I didn’t even manage to make sure she had the time and space to heal from the attack.”

“She did heal. Well, she’s about as healed as anyone who’s been through that kind of hell could be.”

“That’s mostly thanks to Marcus.” Eli slipped his hands under his mate’s shirt, needing the feel of her skin beneath his palms. “I mentioned my old Alpha, Floyd, to you.”

“You did. You said he was an asshole.”

That had been an understatement. “Floyd didn’t have a mate. He had a harem. And if someone didn’t do as he asked, he’d threaten to add one of their female relatives to his harem.”

“And he wanted you to do something for him?”

“He wanted me to duel in an illegal fighting ring. It didn’t matter to him that I was only a juvenile. He threw me in that pit over and over. Every battle was a fight to the death. There were no rules, referees, or healers. They didn’t give you weapons. Not even when you were pitted against multiple opponents.” He ground his teeth, preparing himself for the pity that would no doubt ripple down their bond. But it wasn’t an echo of pity that touched him. It was sheer rage.

“That motherfucker.” His mate looked ready to go on a killing spree.

To Eli’s shock, he almost found himself smiling. “Floyd kept Roni in the main house with him as ‘insurance,’ just as he did the relatives of others he had do ‘favors’ for him. That’s what he’d call it. A favor. He only forced the most dominant young males in the pack to fight in the ring, but it wasn’t because we were the toughest.”

“It was a twisted form of domination,” Casey guessed. “He was keeping you all in line by using your love for your relatives against you. Making you feel helpless. Making you feel powerless against him.”

Eli nodded. “I hated that I couldn’t get to her; that I couldn’t protect her.” His sister had been through enough.

“You did protect her. It can’t have been fun for her to live in his house, but I’m damn well sure that life would have been a waking nightmare for her if she’d been part of his harem. I’m just so sorry that you were put in that position, Eli.”

“Each time I fought, I hated myself and Floyd a little bit more. I tried rallying the other fighters into banding against him, but they were afraid of their loved ones being hurt. It was a relief when Nick took over and helped us fix the pack.”

Casey caught his face in her hands. “You didn’t let Roni down. My guess is she feels guilty that you were forced to fight in that ring just to keep her safe from further trauma. You’d tell her that was dumb, and she’d call you that very same thing if she could hear you now.” He only shrugged. “You didn’t tell me about the fighting ring earlier because you thought I’d judge you for the things you’d done, didn’t you?”

“Who wouldn’t?”

She exhaled heavily. “Eli, you didn’t duel in the fighting ring because you wanted to.”

“Doesn’t matter. I hurt a lot of people, Casey. Hurt them bad before I killed them. Real bad. None died easily. Not all of them wanted to be there. I could tell when, like me, they were being forced to fight. But I couldn’t let that matter. Couldn’t help them. Couldn’t even help myself or my sister.”

“You were just a juvenile, Eli, you couldn’t have gone up against him. You did what you had to do to survive, just like the other boys in your pack did, and no one could ever blame or judge you for that.”

Maybe. Maybe not. “Even when life got better, I was as bad as my mom and Nick for assuming I knew what Roni was feeling and what she needed. She used to disappear in her wolf form for months at a time to escape how suffocated we made her feel.”

Casey put her face closer to his. “She loves you. She does, Eli. I see it in every crazy interaction that you guys have.” She slid her hands from his face into his hair. “If you’d really let her down, she wouldn’t feel safe with you. Wouldn’t feel safe enough to tease you, wouldn’t trust that you’d never take the pranks so far that you crossed a line for her. I’m telling you, your sister loves you. How could she not? You’re rather loveable.”

Eli sucked in a breath and swallowed hard. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said, her voice soft.

“You love me?”

“Duh.”

He smiled. “That’s good. It’s very, very good. Because I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything. I genuinely don’t know how I functioned without you.”

“You told your mom you were miserable before me.”

“I was. The night I found you, I’d just heard that my cousin from another pack had found his mate. I couldn’t even be happy for him. I wanted to be, but I was too envious. It just seemed like everyone around me was moving on to the next stage of their lives while I was alone. So I was …”

“Brooding,” she supplied.

He shot her a mock glare. “Contemplating life.” He ignored her little snort. “And then there you were. Even now, when I’m feeling like shit, I’m happier than I’ve ever been purely because I have you. It never matters how much I have on my mind, you’re always up here.” He tapped his temple. “Distracting me. Calming me. Reminding me that I’m a lucky fucker. Making me look forward to getting the day over with so I can get back to you.”

Casey swallowed. “And yet, you kept all that stuff from me because you thought I’d judge you. Such a dumbass.”

A startled laugh bubbled out of him. “A dumbass? I tell you that you make me the happiest I’ve ever been, and you call me a dumbass. I feel so loved.”

“You are loved, which is why it makes me mad when you put yourself through the ringer and start brooding—”

“I don’t brood.”

“I’d ask you to promise that you won’t mentally beat yourself up like that again, but I don’t suppose you will.”

He made a speculative sound. “I don’t know, baby. When you set to work on my cock and do that thing with your tongue … yeah, I reckon you could get me to promise you just about anything.”

Her lips curled. “You’re kind of easy for my mouth.”

“I love your mouth.” He gave her a slow, deep kiss, smoothing his hands up her back.

Breaking the kiss, she flashed him an impish smile. “So … want to help me with something in the bedroom?”

He hummed. “What kind of help do you need?”

“Oh, it’ll be a very hands-on job. The kind you’re best at.”

Chuckling, he stood with her in his arms. “I’m always happy to give you a helping hand. Tell me more about what this job entails,” he said as he headed for the bedroom.

“Well …”