Another head shake. Though she slid back a step or two, she didn’t run.
“Your instincts tell you to flee, but you don’t really want to. Part of the reason you’re waking is you’re here, in Hudson River. With us.” With me. He was as much a part of the problem as anything. Brett understood how to control the wolf, and he had strength a plenty. “We’re a pack. What makes a pack strong is their sense of community. I almost forgot that part. I let something that happened affect me and my pack. That is on me, that failure. I won’t be failing them again. Wolves need wolves.”
Her chin came up, and his wolf rubbed against the inside of his skin. Contact. Trusting the drive, he strode forward and Colby didn’t retreat nor did her wolf. Cupping her face, he let the electricity sizzle against his system. It had been the wolf every single time they touched. He’d shared power with it, and his wolf had understood on a most basic and primitive level. The same way Luc’s had scented the wolf, not wolf. Pack, not pack.
“Trust me,” he whispered to both woman and wolf. “Trust me. I will help you, but you need to sleep now.” She sighed, impatience flashed across her features. One blink. Then a second. Colby’s eyes softened to amber and she glared at him. The heat scorching his skin eased the fist of tension in his gut.
“What the hell is going on?” Pissed. Irked. Vexed. She embodied so many great words for furious.
“A lot,” he told her, continuing to stroke her cheek. When she didn’t flinch away, his heart squeezed. She’d told him only a few hours before she trusted him, and while wary anger inhabited her eyes, she demonstrated her trust. “I have a great many things to tell you, and I’m not sure you’ll believe all of them.”
“Like bitch kitty over there snarling and growling or men who turn into wolves?”
Not glancing in the direction of the aforementioned bitch kitty, Brett nodded. “Yes. I promise to tell you everything, explain it all, and I also swear to you…” he caught her damaged hand in his free one and lifted the torn and bloodied knuckles to his lips. Pressing a kiss to them, he continued, “No one will ever hurt you again.” It resonated. The pack standing present around them would hear and the information would spread.
Dipping her gaze to where his lips brushed her skin, she sighed. “Everything in my gut says run like hell.”
“Everything?” Teasing her worked. The corner of her mouth curved and the hints of arousal in her scent deepened.
“Eighty-twenty.” Not great odds, but he’d take them.
Ignoring their audience, he stroked his thumb against her lower lip and when her mouth opened, he swooped in and kissed her. Gentle at first, but her response ratcheted his blood to fiery. Her tongue swept out to taste his and he wrapped his arms around her. When he allowed them both to breathe, she pressed her head to his chest and he sighed. Her trembling aggravated his wolf, but only because they wanted to soothe her and the wolf within. Neither should be left behind. Stroking her back, he let his gaze roam around the gathered until he settled on Samantha.
To his credit, Luc continued to keep his mouth shut though he leaned heavily on the porch. The man should not be on his feet. Damn fool. Yet even as the thought formed, Brett recognized why Luc was there. Sam had come to see Colby.
He’d put himself on the line for her.
“Luc Danes will stand as second,” he announced and surprise rippled throughout. Not giving his best friend an option, he’d found a way to kill a wolf with two stones. As second, Luc could handle some of the bullshit and it showed his pack they were on the same side. “When he speaks, it will be with my voice…even when he talks like a smartass.”
A shout of laughter escaped one of the Hunters, and she clapped a hand over her mouth, but the humor spread.
“Our isolation is over. We’re a pack. Get used to it. If you want to leave, be gone by sundown. Spread the word. If you have any outstanding grievances or issues you feel need attention immediately, take them to him for the moment. Everyone’s problems will be addressed.” He spared Luc a glance, and his disgruntled expression spoke volumes.
“Gee, thanks, boss,” Luc murmured.
“You should have stayed in bed. Payback’s a bitch,” he told him, then with a glance at Colby, he added, “Thank you.”
Luc’s expression relaxed. “You’re welcome. What about Sam?”
He shook his head. “My clemency stands. She has till sundown. If she’s still here, she will be punished, but I won’t throw her out and I won’t kill her.” This time. He left the unspoken threat hanging in the air. If Sam went after Colby again, Brett would not be remotely forgiving. It was all he was willing to offer.