Riley’s Downfall(28)

“Pa sent me to ask how bad the attacks are. He wants to know if you need Maverick to send some of his sentries.” Bryce hadn’t been looking forward to giving that bit of news to Riley. The man prided himself on taking care of his family, and Bryce wasn’t sure if Riley would be pissed that help was offered. Sometimes Riley could be too damn proud.

“I’m not sure, Bryce. There was an attack last night, but Max, Eagle, and I handled it. Until I see how bad it really is, tell Maverick to hold off on help. I don’t want shifters crowding the village and making the fey feel as if they are being taken over.”

Bryce blinked at Riley. Had the man just talked calmly to him about having help? Maybe being mated was a good thing for Riley, or maybe the man was a clone. This new Riley was scaring Bryce. He wasn’t used to his oldest brother acting this way.

He was going to have to tell the twins, just as soon as he got over his goddamn heart attack.



* * * *



Riley couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth as he watched Bacon follow behind Sterling with a happy bounce. There was a gentleness in Sterling that even the animals could detect, and Riley was starting to see it as clear as day. He had been so busy running from his mate that he had never taken the time to get to know what made Sterling tick.

The man looked at the world with an amused wonder, and he was starting to make Riley do the same. Who would have thought that Riley would have been the one to change? He had sworn that he wouldn’t give his heart to his mate once he found him. He had sworn that he would never fall in love. And Riley had also sworn that his mate was going to do what he said and that was final.

Oh, how wrong he had been.

He was starting to see what his pa meant when he had told Riley that he would understand when he found his mate. Riley had thought his pa foolish at the time, but now he was seeing that his pa knew what he was talking about.

He was starting to see why his brothers acted like goobers for their mates. Sterling had Riley’s heart in the palm of his hand, and Riley hadn’t even realized his mate had taken it. A grin overtook his features as he watched Sterling talking to Warrior. His horse was probably just as confused as Riley felt, but the damn horse looked like he was listening. The grin on Riley’s face was so wide that his cheeks began to hurt.

“Oh, my god. Is that a smile on your face?” Bryce asked in mock astonishment.

“Shut the fuck up.” Riley glared at Bryce, but couldn’t hold the expression. Sterling was definitely getting to him. He chuckled as he turned his back to his brother. “Go harass an elven.”

Riley started when a tall and elegant fey appeared right in front of him. He hated when the fey or vampires did that. It was creepy as hell.

Before Riley had a chance to ask the elven man what he wanted, he heard a quick intake of breath and glanced over at Bryce to see his brother’s eyes grow wide and then narrow as he growled.

“Whoa!” Riley shouted, but was too late to stop his brother as Bryce punched the fey square on his jaw. The fey flew off of his feet, hitting the dirt hard.

“You bastard!” Bryce shouted as Riley grabbed his brother, pushing him back from the fallen man.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Bryce?” Riley asked as he blocked Bryce from getting another shot in. “Calm the hell down.”

“You fucking knew and you kept it from me!” Bryce stabbed a finger at the man as he took a step back, his eyes becoming flat and as unreadable as stones.

The fey pulled himself up from the ground, his jaw clenching as he raked his eyes over Bryce. It wasn’t a friendly look. “It was better this way.”

“For you!”

Riley watched as Bryce’s grey eyes went from unreadable to pain filled in under a second. They were glowing with hurt as his brother spun around and headed for his truck.

Riley turned toward the fey, totally lost. “Who the hell are you?”

The man’s eyes were fixed on Bryce, but he answered Riley. “Ahm.”

This was Ahm? He wasn’t blue. He was white. Riley could have sworn he was told that the leader of the shadow elves was blue.

“What in the hell is going on?” Riley asked Ahm.

“That is between Bryce and me.” Ahm disappeared, leaving Riley to scratch his head. Bryce’s truck tires spun, the truck leapt forward, and then his brother was hauling ass out of the village.

What in the hell had he missed?

He hadn’t even found out why Ahm had appeared in the first place.

“Is everything all right?” Sterling asked as he neared Riley, a worried expression on his face.

“Hell if I know,” Riley answered honestly. “But it has nothing to do with me.” Even though he didn’t like the hurt he had seen shining in Bryce’s eyes. He would do anything to protect his family, but he had a feeling this was out of his hands.