Chapter 14

Antidepressant… check. Mood stabilizer… check. Make sure Nolan didn’t fucking see me taking these damn things… check.

My baby brother was passed out on the top bunk after a rough night of sleep. He’d tried to talk the whole Genevieve situation out with me. That fight with her had put me the fuck out. I’d been riled up and turned on—a bad fucking combination for me. What started as a cold shower to cool my head turned into me jerking off to memories of my wife on her knees with my dick in her mouth as a means to shut her the fuck up. What a fucking thing to think about.

Id been in no mood to ease Nolan’s mind and had been a dick to him. I owed him one. Especially because the kid took my snapping in stride and didn’t say a damn thing.

“Hey,” I whispered as I gently shook his shoulder. He groaned. “Come on, kid. It’s breakfast time, and then the six of us are going hiking.”

“Drunk hiking,” Nolan corrected around a yawn. “Declan will probably be sober.”

“So responsible.” I chuckled. Granted, I hadn’t seen Declan let go like he had last night so who fucking knew what that man was capable of anymore.

“Sam will be hungover and cure his hangover with more alcohol,” he continued. Accurate. I stepped out of the way as he dropped off the top bunk. “Lucas will nurse it because of the wilderness, and Finn will be flat-out drunk because of the Fall Games.”

“That sounds about right,” I said. “Get ready and meet us downstairs. I’m going to wake up Roan. Fucker would sleep the damn day away if I don’t wake him.”

Leaving Nolan to do his own shit, I went down the hall to find Roan. His room was unlocked, making it easy for me to let myself in, but I stopped dead in the doorway. Roan was passed out and completely naked in his bed—uncovered in all his tattooed glory.

Thatwasn’t the issue.

No, the fucking issue was Violet fucking Atwater asleep on top of him. Half-naked. At least the girl was wearing shorts—even if they were itty bitty, made of fucking silk, and I could still see her ass.

“Jesus fuck,” I grumbled. One fucking night. I left the man for one fucking night, and he got himself into something he shouldn’t have.

Closing the door silently, I decided to do the one thing I knew would scare the shit out of him. Why? Because I was an asshole like that. Also, it was a skill I’d learned and I liked to use it when I could.

I kicked the fucking door in. Violet screamed, Roan damn near lost his shit as he flew out of bed, and it was fucking worth it.

“What the fuck?” Roan hollered, glaring at me. His chest heaved in his wild state.

“What happened to you not being a fucking cradle robber?” I demanded and pointed to Violet. Roan stared at her, and fuck, it took him a solid minute to realize what was happening.

“What the fuck?” he damn near screeched. “Where the fuck are your clothes, woman?”

“We’re wolves,” Violet stated as if it was an acceptable answer.

“Why are you here?” The volume on this man. Fuck.

“What? Don’t look at me like that,” she shot back. “You punched some guy out last night for talking to me, and then you dragged me back here with you! It’s not like I made this happen.”

“I did not!”

“You did!”

“I don’t remember any of that!” he said.

“That fucking sucker of hers had better be the only thing she put her goddamn mouth on last night, you furry fucker,” I warned. Shit. Sawyer would straight up murder Roan if he found out.

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” Roan exclaimed, clearly distressed. Served him right. “I don’t remember a fucking thing!”

“If it helps, he couldn’t get it up last night.” Violet shrugged as she slid out of bed. She fluffed her hair as she wandered across the room toward her clothes. “It just kept on dangling—”

“No! We don’t need to talk about it like that!”

“Don’t worry, you old fuck, there’s pills for that,” I teased. “It’ll fix your dick right up.”

“I swear, Byrne, I’m going to fucking kill you,” he growled. He wouldn’t. I leaned against the doorframe, laughing as he struggled to get into his damn pants. “One of these days, Byrne.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’d have to catch me first,” I taunted and darted from the room when he made a grab for me.

I made my way downstairs. A buffet with breakfast food was set up in the dining hall area. My brothers and Raven took up a whole table by themselves. Axel sat with them, head down in the crook of his arm and probably asleep next to his food.

“What’s so fucking funny?” Maverick asked when he joined me at the buffet. He looked worse for wear with his hair a mess and sunglasses high on his nose. And I was fairly certain he was still drunk from that slight slur in his voice.

“Roan.”

“What the fuck did he do now?”

“Not so much a what,” I replied. “More like a who.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” He dropped the egg spoon back in the pan and rounded on me. “Don’t tell me that fucking moron slept with Violet.”

“She says he couldn’t get it up, but I don’t know for sure,” I said. “The girl would do fucking anything for him.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Maverick grumbled. “Fuck, I have to handle this. If Sawyer finds out… fuck.”

I couldn’t blame his frustration. There was a reason I was telling him in the first place, and it sure as fuck wasn’t to gossip. Sawyer Atwater was a bit of a beast… in that… he’d gotten away with murder twice. There was no one in the world he cared about more than his baby sister. Hence why we all fucking cared about what Roan did with Violet. It wasn’t like Roan planned to marry Violet—no, that would’ve made it fine by Sawyer. But fuck around with Violet? More like fuck around and find out just how violent Sawyer could be. The guy had a weird heart of gold—a real loyal streak and a kind heart. He just had a fucking switch inside his head. And when it flipped, Sawyer scared the shit out of all of us, which was saying something.

Great friend to have but worst fucking enemy to piss off.

So, at this point, we were all just trying to keep Roan from ending up dead over poor dick choices.

“Let me know if you need help,” I told him. Somehow, I’d become the resident Roan-wrangler—not that I wanted that title, but Roan listened to me better than he listened to his brothers. And if I really wanted to bring in the big guns all I had to do was get Declan involved. Declan could tell Roan to roll over and the furry fucker would because Declan had never steered him wrong.

I made my way to where my brothers were eating. All of them looked a little worse for wear except Declan and Nolan. Even Raven curled over an obscenely large cup of coffee. Cup was an understatement. She had a fucking tumbler of coffee—and not a small one. I dropped my plate to the table, grinning as Sam flinched.

“Do you have to do that?” Sam muttered. “Fuck me.”

“How you feeling there, Sam?” I laughed as pulled up a chair between him and Finn.

“Go to hell,” he retorted. Still, there was a smile on his stupid face as he raised his glass in my direction. From the smell, he was hitting the vodka early—just like Nolan said. At least he put it in orange juice.

“Come on, you lazy shits, we have a full day ahead of us—”

“Has anyone told you just how loud you are?” Finn interjected. He leaned over, resting his head on my shoulder. His eyes closed with a tired sigh. When did I sign up for morning cuddles with Finn? “I don’t remember you being this fucking loud, douchebag.”

“I can be louder,” I damn near shouted just because I could.

“No,” he whined. “I don’t like that.”

“We should put them outside with the bikes and see how they do,” Declan suggested. Oh, I liked that thought. That’d wake them right the fuck up.

“You’re mean, baby,” Raven commented. She gave him a playful smile. “I like it. We should buy foghorns for tomorrow.”

“Aren’t you on the still drunk boat too?” I asked her.

“No.” She shook her head. “I just don’t function until I have my morning coffee. You should ask him about the time I chucked my coffee at him because he startled me. We went to bed pretty early, and he made me drink a whole thing of water before bed. That was a bad idea, wasn’t it, baby?”

“Fuck.” Declan rolled his eyes.

“He tried putting me in the corner to maybe stop the whole… you know,” she corrected herself sheepishly. “Anyway, I can’t drink twenty ounces of water before bed without having to pee a million times. And that meant waking him up a million times just so I could get out of bed.”

“Lesson learned,” he murmured. Problems I was glad I didn’t have.

Whatever else anyone said was lost on me as Genevieve appeared at the dining hall door. One sweep of the room and her gaze locked on mine. The world stopped. Those pretty eyes narrowed and that sassy mouth of hers pressed together tightly. Under the edges of her sleeves, her hands balled into fists. There was that anger I fucking adored. Was I a sick motherfucker for enjoying the fight with her? Maybe a little.

But somehow, that was an improvement over three years of nothingness. I hadn’t realized just how much I missed her until I saw her again. I had no illusions we could reconcile shit. That fucking ship had long since sailed. Somehow, getting a rise out of her and fighting with her was an alternative—maybe not a good one, but it was something.

Her attention drifted away as Cade appeared behind her, his hand falling to the small of her back. I scowled at the brilliant smile she gave him while he talked. There was a fondness that passed between them, and I fucking hated it. I knew about Gary the fucking business manager she’d briefly dated. Yeah, I might’ve stalked my wife a little bit. Not my proudest moment.

But Cade? There was no fucking way.

“What’s the issue with that guy?” I asked. I knew enough of Cade to know he had a hell of a reputation. Being one of Cade’s girls was a fucking influencer thing in some circles. The last thing I wanted was for him to sink his fucking teeth in Genevieve. Screw pack politics. I’d start a fucking war if I found out he’s put his hands on my wife.

“Cade?” Raven frowned as she glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, don’t you worry about him. He’s dating us. He and Declan are just adorable together.”

“What?” My attention snapped to Declan while Sam chuckled next to me. What the fuck?

“Honey, you need to stop explaining us to people that way.” Declan sighed in exasperation. “They’re going to believe you, and that’s not at all how our relationship is.”

What relationship?I glanced between the two of them, confused as fuck. Obviously, I knew my brother wasn’t fucking Cade, but there was more to it. My gut told me that much.

“You’d be a total bottom,” Axel mumbled, his head never coming off the table.

“He’s in the closet for most people,” Finn said. When Declan glared at him, he added, “Cade, not Declan. He’s a little more comfortable around wolves because no one is snapping pictures, but he’s not out-out. You know what I mean? Like he’ll go to town making Declan lumbersnack jokes—”

“Excuse me,” Maverick interrupted, dropping into a chair and inserting himself into the conversation. “What’d you just call him?”

“Jesus fuck,” Declan grumbled.

“He’s a lumberjack, and he’s a total snack,” Raven replied happily. She grabbed his chin and squished his cheeks. “He’s a lumbersnack. Just look at this face! He’s so handsome. I could just eat him.”

She growled and bit his cheek. I chuckled at the way my brother blushed, his face damn near matching his flannel.

“God, where was this piece of information all our fucking lives?” Maverick demanded, laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

“We need t-shirts,” Axel chimed in.

“Birthday party t-shirts,” Lucas suggested, tipping his drink in Sam’s direction.

“No,” Declan cut in.

“Fuck yes,” Sam said. “Wear them underneath flannel.”

“Fuck no,” he insisted. “You leave my flannel alone.”

“What if it’s an itty bitty flannel skirt?” Raven smiled, fluttering her lashes at him.

“That damn skirt,” he growled.

“We’re throwing him a birthday party,” Sam whispered. “It’s flannel-themed. And on Mondays we wear flannel.”

“Sometimes Wednesdays,” Finn said.

“Fridays too,” Lucas stated.

“Or the weekends,” Nolan joined the conversation finally. “It’s an all-the-time thing.”

Fuck, that was new.I just smiled. How much had I missed? All the banter and back and forth was shit I couldn’t even weigh in on. Sure, Declan had always been a flannel guy, but when had it become a thing?

“Guess I need to invest in some flannel,” I replied finally.

“It’ll go well with your leather pants,” Lucas teased.

“I don’t wear leather pants.”

“You should. I bet they’d make your ass look great,” Raven commented.

“Raven!” Declan exclaimed, and I shrugged. She wasn’t wrong. They were just a bitch to get in and out of.

“I have no filter!” she shot back. “Do you remember the pierced dick thing? Or the chocolate? Or the—”

He shoved half a waffle in her mouth to shut her up.

“There’s your filter,” he said, chuckling. Her cheeks turned red as she tried to swallow.

“I don’t think she’s used to something so big in her mouth,” Sam commented. She shook her head, only fueling the laughter. Yeah, I liked her. Raven gestured wildly over her shoulder as she hurried through finishing the half-a-waffle.

“Go. Have fun. Be safe,” Declan whispered and kissed her temple. Watching my brother be downright domestic was an interesting experience. “Don’t get into too much trouble, please.”

“God, it’s like you don’t even know me,” she scoffed, grabbing her coffee and hurrying away. She snapped her fingers once, and Holly scampered out after her. Shit, how long had that dog been there? She called over her shoulder, “Male strippers, burn the town down, lots of dick piercings. It’ll be a hell of a day. Love you, baby!”

“How in the hell are you going to survive her?” I asked, bewildered, when she disappeared with Genevieve in tow.

“Better question,” Declan began, “how will these idiots survive hiking today?”

“Should we hike or run?” Nolan replied.

“Might I remind you what happened the last time you took my drunk wolf ass running?” Sam interjected. Lucas folded over damn near giggling while the others followed suit to some degree. I just glanced between them, waiting to find out the story.

“He got adopted!” Lucas exclaimed. “His drunk ass got adopted by the Maxwell family for two fucking weeks!”

“We thought he went missing,” Finn said.

“What?” Sam retorted. “It was warm, I got cuddles, and they fed me!”

“Jesus fuck, Sam.” I chuckled. “You’re a wolf, not a pet.”

“Well, my drunk wolf didn’t know the fucking difference.”

“What’d they name you again?” Nolan asked.

“Kip.” Sam snorted into his drink.

“You know, they’re still looking for Kip,” he replied. “They come by the store every once in a while to use my printer. I go above and beyond helping them print fliers with your ugly face on the front.”

“But do you call in tips at any point saying you saw him?” Declan said.

“Oh, that’d just be mean,” Nolan told him. “They have two little girls! Those girls miss their dog.”

“You hear that, Kip?” I teased. God, this shit was fucking gold. I’d missed too much. “They miss their dog, Kip.”

“Time for you to go home, Kip,” Axel chimed in.

“Time for Kip to go get another fucking drink,” Sam muttered. “Next round is on me.”

“The drinks are free, asshole,” Maverick yelled after him.

“That’s why they’re on me!”