A Man’s Worth(Brac Pack 31)(21)

Heading outside, Bryce slipped into his truck and drove down the driveway, steering toward town.

Leaving his mate at home was hard, but so was trusting the man not to break his heart and leave Bryce a shattered mess again.





Chapter Eight




Ahm sat on the window seat, watching as Bryce pulled from the driveway. He rubbed his wrist, hating the fact that he was still wearing the cursed bracelet. What he wouldn’t give right now to go back home and teach his tribe a lesson.

What really had him angry as hell was the fact that they had come to the Lakeland home to attack him. Regardless of how Ahm had felt about his mating to Bryce, he liked the Lakelands. They were a nice and decent family.

But thinking about one bear in particular getting hurt made Ahm want to kill everyone in his tribe. Bryce was not at fault in this.

Ahm was. He had denied his mate and kept his scent hidden, just so the Shadow elves wouldn’t come after the bear. But it seemed he had done all of this in vain. True, he had grown up with lessons in not mating outside his own race, and Ahm had held to those beliefs almost his entire life.

But as soon as he discovered who Bryce was to him, his views had begun to slowly change. Fate wouldn’t give him a male shape shifter if they weren’t meant to be together, and thankfully he realized this before he had lost Bryce forever.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” Steven said as he entered the room with a tray of food. This household would never cease to amaze him. Even after he had put this family at risk, they were still charitable.

“I’m feeling much better,” he said as he glanced back out of the window. Ahm wasn’t sure what he was going to do now. He couldn’t go home. He had no tribe to lead.

He had nothing.

“In that case, you can eat this soup. It’s homemade, so don’t let it go to waste.” Steven set the tray on a small table by the door. “I worked really hard at opening those cans and heating it up for sixty seconds in the microwave.”

Ahm turned, a smirk twitching at his lips. “I thought you said it was homemade.”

Steven waved a hand at the tray. “The can said home style.”

This time Ahm laughed. It wasn’t a full laugh, but even the small chuckle was something he hadn’t done in a very long time.

“Hey, Steven.” Abe walked into the bedroom, his eyes instantly landing on Ahm. “Pa wants you.”

Ahm thought the small Wood elf would bolt from the room. Instead, he stood there smiling. What the hell was up with that? Most people didn’t smile at him. Ahm had been told he looked like he would kill someone without remorse.

But the fey just kept right on smiling. If Ahm wasn’t mistaken—and he hoped like hell he was—the man had a spark of flirtation in his eyes.

Steven pushed Abe toward the bedroom door. “Come on before Bryce kills you.”

Abe glanced over his shoulder and winked at Ahm. What a strange little man. “Wait,” Ahm called out. When Abe turned, Ahm shooed him away. “Not you.”

The guy’s lower lip slid out, but he walked away. Thank goodness. “Where can I find a phone? I lost mine in the fight.”

Steven chucked a thumb over his shoulder. “Downstairs in the kitchen.”

Ahm nodded his thanks as Steven took off. He needed to get a hold of Rakeym. Maybe he could have the Shadow elf bring him the files and items he needed. It would make it a lot easier than Ahm trying to go back to his home and office.

The tray of food was on the table. Ahm took one look at it and decided he didn’t want the soup to go to waste. He polished the soup off and drank the tea, feeling a little better with something in his stomach.

Now he needed to get to the kitchen. After carefully traversing the steps, Ahm stood at the bottom, feeling his thigh pulse with pain. He wasn’t used to feeling pain. Ahm was a damn good fighter and usually deflected any weapons wielded his way. But with the bracelet on and already being wounded, the elf who stabbed him had gotten the upper hand.

He hobbled to the kitchen, resting against the counter as sweat coated his skin. How in the hell did anyone deal with such pain? He was ready to rip his damn leg off just to gain some semblance of relief.

Spotting the phone on the wall, Ahm grabbed it and dialed Rakeym’s cell phone number. He grabbed a chair and placed it by the wall, taking a seat and getting the pressure off of his wounded leg.

“Rakeym.”

“It’s Ahm.” He rested the back of his head against the wall. So much had happened in such a short period. He hadn’t even had the time to absorb it all yet. “Have the people of the village calmed down yet?”

“I’m afraid not, friend. The tribe is livid you have a male shifter mate. They are demanding your life.”