Theirs (9 page)

My muscles suddenly ached. Pressure built fast. Too fast.

—

Chapter Fifteen

JEREMIAH

Dammit!
I knew she’d been running from something, someone, but a year? My wolf was crouched, ready to spring at any moment.

Fury blazed through my veins, burning, pushing me closer to the threshold, the point of transformation.

“
How was I supposed to deal with him, Billy? It was one thing for me to lose my freedom, but I wasn’t going to drag anyone else into this. I tried the police, and when that backfired, I just resigned myself to a life of misery, if that’s what it took to keep others safe.”

“
Are you crazy?” Ellie blurted. Her irises crackled with lightning, flashes of gold in a blue summer sky. It gave away her supernatural heritage. Luckily, no one was focused on her right now. “Using yourself as permanent bate is stupid, Kate, and you know it.”

Kate cracked under the pressure. Her eyes, previously glossy with tears, could no longer contain them. The salty droplets trickled down her cheeks. She threw up her arms in exasperation. “What else was I supposed to do?”

I closed my eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. She was trying, but it wasn’t enough. How did you tell someone that doing their best still wasn’t enough?

Fire scorched my chest. My ligaments throbbed as my wolf pressed for freedom. He knew he was the better defender of our mate.

The fight left Billy as he slowly shortened the space between he and Kate. He cupped her face. “Come to me. But clearly I’ve already failed you if you don’t feel like you can trust me, especially with something as important as this.”

Fuck.
I hated that he was as passionate about loving and protecting Kate. I wanted to hate him for it, but on some jarring level, I was grateful she had one more person to keep her safe.

“
I just wanted to protect you from my hell.” Kate relaxed, giving up her wall of bitterness. “I know how hard you’ve worked for all you have. I would be broken to know I’d cost you all of it.”

My lungs constricted. This was a heavy burden to have carried for so long. I wanted to cocoon her, to forever be her buffer between the harsh world outside.

Whether she chose me or not, I would always choose her. I would give up my last breath to keep her safe, because I couldn’t live in a world where I was and she wasn’t. I didn’t have the deeper bond with her like Ellie, but instinct drove me. The notion of knowing it would come, that I was already close to loving her, propelled my determination, increased my endurance.

Suddenly, Billy spun towards me. “Is this a backwards ass town capable of keeping a deadly secret?”

“
You’re not serious, Billy.” Kate was stricken. Her eyes were wide as she stared open mouthed at his back.

“
Dead
serious, baby girl. I want this…prick eradicated. I want him in hell forever, not you.”

My wolf damn near purred. Again, I wanted to hate him, but I just couldn’t.

“
We don’t make a habit of killing people.” I studied Billy’s dark eyes, brown like Kate’s, possessing the same shadows that often shaded hers. “But, when someone threatens one of our own over and over, things sometimes happen. Some people don’t realize they’re not strong enough to be a predator in the food chain.” I wouldn’t feel any remorse for a wimp who cyber bullied people for a living. He couldn’t hide behind a machine forever, and given the chance, I’d see that he never could again. Not on purpose, but I wouldn’t stop my wolf if he got a hold of him. I knew that made me dark and dangerous, the epitome of a beast, but I didn’t know any man who wouldn’t do what it took to keep his family safe.

“
We could just torture him and save ourselves from breaking the law, Jer. You know, leave him armless so he couldn’t build or type again.” Ellie smiled, enjoying the idea a little too much.

“
Won’t be breakin’ any laws since the feller’ll be trespassin’ on my property, boss.” Andy puffed his chest, his hands stuffed in his greasy blue coverall pockets.

“
I- Don’t you think all of this is a little…extreme?” Kate shuffled uneasily, wringing her hands. She had a heart of gold. Even after all he’d done to her, she was trying to spare him.

“
Think about it, sweetie. If we let him go, we run big risks. He could do this to some other woman who doesn’t have the support you do. Hell, she could even have kids,” I reasoned.

She shuddered.

“
I’m not trying to scare you, sweetie, but you’ve lived with his threats.”

The weight of the truth shone in her eyes as she regarded me. “Promise no one will get hurt except Donovan?” She meant Billy. She was tasking us with protecting him.

“
If you tell him the truth about us,” Ellie jumped in.

I cut my eyes at her, issuing a low growl. That wasn’t how I wanted Kate. I wanted her to come willingly; I wanted to be her first choice, not her last resort.

Kate shook her head. I was surprised when she didn’t hesitate. “We don’t keep secrets from each other, right, Billy?”

He glanced back at her. With a curt nod, he agreed. “No secrets.”

I hoped she wasn’t doing this because she thought we wouldn’t protect him otherwise.

Dammit, Ellie
. She better not have fucked things up for us.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to worry about it that minute.

I focused on Billy. “Get rid of your suits and then we can strategize.”

He straightened defensively. “No.”

Kate mouthed an apology. She sidled up to him. “Do you trust me, Billy?”

“
I trust you, but I still don’t know about them.”

I arched my brows. He’d just openly spoke of murdering someone in a room full of witnesses, including the uniform, badge-carrying kind, but he didn’t know if he could trust us? I purposely held my tongue, allowing him more time to explain on his own.

It was Kate’s turn to be patient. “Well, I’m asking you, as your sister, that-”

My head snapped up. My wolf was at attention in a split second. “Sister?” Ellie and I exclaimed at once.

Kate’s brows dipped inwards; she gave us a sheepish grin. “What did you think?”

Ellie surged forward, capturing her lips before any of us had a chance to react. My cock immediately responded to the scene. The telltale tightening in my groin kept me in place. Moving would only draw attention to it.

Billy’s brows damn near kissed his hairline; the way his jaw relaxed as his eyes widened conveyed his shock.

Ellie released Kate’s mouth with a smack, but put a strong arm around her hips, jerking her against her side.

Kate flushed as her gaze skittered first to me, probably waiting for me to scold them again like an asshole, then to her brother.

Her fucking brother.
My wolf and I celebrated that news. I probably would have responded like Ellie if we didn’t have more important things to tend to.

“
Uh, when did you switch teams, Kate?” His expression was tight. “And when were you planning to tell me?”

“
Later, Billy. Before bed.”

He glared at Ellie. Ellie continued to wear a shit-eating grin. Her joy probably pissed him off even more. I was prepared to step in but only if I needed to. I always tried to give my pack the opportunity to work through and solve their own problems before butting in.

“
We will definitely be discussing this later,” he stated.

“
Fine.” She nodded her agreement. “Now, please trust me. You won’t need the hired muscle in this town.”

He studied Kate, looking her up and down for a solid minute before conceding. “Guess your car picked a good place to crap out,” he muttered.

He waved the guys off. “Tell Bernie I’ll pay for the full day as agreed.”

The guys exchanged glances before shrugging.

“
It’s your grave,” one of them said.

“
Let’s hope not, right sis?” Billy’s tension was visible. His lips were pressed together; his jaw tight and the vein in his neck pulsating, showing his concern. His muscles were flexing beneath his clothes and, for one brief moment, I questioned if he was one of us, a rogue wolf perhaps.

“
I can’t promise that Donovan won’t hurt you from cyberspace, but I can promise that Ellie and Jerry will protect you physically.”

“
And you?” His tone said he only cared about Kate’s safety, not his own.

“
Before you,” I stated, my hormones under control enough to slip into their little circle.

He still didn’t trust us, but he didn’t have to. The most important person did: Kate.

She smiled up at me, taking my hand in hers.

Billy honed in on our joined hands. He ground his teeth, practically seething.

“
Later,” Kate said.

He met her gaze; I knew he wanted answers now, but he relented. “Later.” He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes on first me then Ellie.

My wolf was crouched, daring him to force the issue now.

But he didn’t.

—

Chapter Sixteen

KATE

Jerry’s warmth slipped around me. Somehow he and Ellie, as protective as they were – just like Billy – they still empowered me. I sensed that they wanted me to rise up and fight my demons beside them whereas I felt like Billy preferred to do it all for me, so he knew it was done right. If I had to highlight one flaw with my brother, it was that he was good at delegating but horrible at letting go.

Ellie stood unfazed beside me. She stared at Billy, but it was obvious it was out of curiosity with no harm intended.

Abruptly, she beamed with mischief. Out of the corner of my eye I caught movement. My eyes shot open, honing in on Billy’s reaction, as Ellie grabbed my ass.

“
Remind me to clean my rifle when I get home, Kate.” He glared openly at Ellie as he made the statement.

She laughed. “You’re gonna be fun to fuck with.”

Billy stiffened, not amused in the least. His features mashed and his hands fisted as he looked to me. “Out of all the women in the world, you had to pick her?” His voice was tight.

I bit back a smile. It seemed that Ellie would give him the sisterly hell I never did. “It’s more like she picked me.”

Whoa! What was I doing? Why was I allowing anyone to stake claim to me in front of my family? Stress, I assumed. The stress must have caused my guard to slip, otherwise, why was I allowing everyone to slip into a zone of acknowledgement and banter?

I frowned. Or maybe I really did want this. I kept flip-flopping at every turn. I wanted this, for some twisted reason. I wanted them. But I was afraid of what the world would think. I was scared of the long-term opposition we could possibly face. Or was it I myself that posed the opposition I was concerned with?

Billy glanced at Ellie again before taking a deep, meditating breath. “Later,” he mumbled to himself.

His response surprised me. Had I misjudged my brother all this time?

Jerry angled himself, peering through the window to the bay space. “We need to get down to business. He could get here at any time.”