“You’re not going to do it, are you?” The utter defeat transformed her from bitch to almost sympathetic harridan. Emphasis on the almost.
“No.” Having reached his sister, he cupped her cheek. “I came home for my friend—my Alpha and yours. I came home for my family. What you are doing here…this doesn’t help, Sam.”
“I just want it…I want it to go back to the way it was. Before everything went so crazy.” Was she crying?
Colby retreated until she hit the edge of the stone porch.
“Luc, he isn’t even letting the healer fix you all the way. If he were any kind of Alpha still, he would have done that.”
The healer.
The Alpha.
Luc’s gaze flicked to her. “Sam, shut up.”
His sister twisted and then they were both staring at her. Colby slipped off the porch and bolted. Acid flashback or not, the woman was crazy and Luc was the impossible, and she was so out of the loony bin.
“Colby.” Luc’s gruff voice carried a note of breathlessness as he caught her arm and spun around. She slapped her palms against his chest to try and shove him away. She didn’t give a damn what the crazy man had to say. She was done. Done with Hudson River. Done with him—and definitely way done with the vicious bitch out back.
“Save it.” Fuck, he was built like a rock. All shoving him did was send her boots sliding in the dirt, not that she got far because he’d locked his hands onto her arms and hauled her to him. Her mind couldn’t even comprehend how it was possible. One of his legs was still broken, right? All she had to do was kick it. Even as the thought flashed across her panicked mind, she couldn’t follow through.
“That’s exactly what I’m doing, darling. Remember, I’m asking for what comes next, so don’t worry about me.”
Outrage boiled through her. She was not remotely worried about him, so what the hell was—oh. Luc dipped his head and his mouth closed over hers. Thoughts stuttered on the idea he planned to kiss her and couldn’t catch up to process the feeling of his lips moving against hers. Shocked, she opened her mouth and his tongue delved inside.
The grip he had on her arms relaxed. Then with a jerk, he vanished as though she’d imagined the force of his mouth and probing strokes of his tongue. Brett had Luc by the throat and lifted him in the air.
“Get the fuck off her,” Brett growled, rage seeming to shimmer the air. Colby retreated a step, then another. Oh shit.
Instead of looking terrified—as she was—or even worried—as he should be—Luc smiled, gripped the man’s arm and said. “Make me.”
The smirk on Luc’s face demanded a dislocated jaw or, at the very least, a broken nose. First, he’d grabbed Colby. Second, he’d kissed her. Third and finally, his ass was out of bed when he’d been told to rest. Despite the smart ass remark, Luc wasn’t struggling against Brett’s hold. If anything, he’d gripped Brett’s forearms for balance. Understanding borne of a long friendship burned within him.
“Brett.” Colby’s shaky voice washed over him. “Just remember, he’s already hurt and, as much as I wanted to kick him in his broken leg, I didn’t.”
Fair point. He nodded his head to her and flexed his fingers cutting off Luc’s air enough to wipe the stupid smile off his face. “Are you all right, Colby?”
The only fear burning his nostrils belonged to the beautiful woman who stood trembling three feet away. In addition to fear, he tasted a wild anger, fury tinged with fur…and blood. Luc’s gaze dipped and Brett glanced at Colby. She had as yet not answered his question.
Her pupils were huge and her scent vanished the moment their gazes collided. Inside, his wolf uncoiled even as his power washed out. All around the area, the wolves nearest him had begun to answer his call. They had an audience. Samantha Danes leaned against the corner of the house, her expression dark and wild. Enough was enough.
Relaxing his grip to allow Luc to breathe, he held Colby’s gaze. “Go sit on the porch, sweetheart.”
Wolf eyes stared at him dauntingly. Whatever latency she possessed, it had surfaced. Several hours spent with Babette gave him some insight, but his call to Salvatore revealed more. The Italian Alpha had every right to deny Brett’s request after Brett had ignored his. The wolf hadn’t, however. He’d told Brett about the two latents in his packs instead.
Tipping her head to the side, the wolf ignored the order. Her teeth bared in a grim, mockery of a smile.
“I’m going to put you down, Luc, and you’re going to stay where I put you, understood?” It wasn’t about the fight with his idiot best friend anymore. Colby’s wolf didn’t want to be caged anymore, and she had no idea the girl was in there. A latent’s disconnect from their wolf, Salvatore warned, wasn’t only lack of training. In many ways, if a latent’s wolf began to express it was because the wolf wanted out and the wolf might possess all of the latent’s intelligence, but none of her experience. The animal side’s rise could completely supplant the person.