River Wolf(85)

“Understood…and thank you.” He wavered on his feet.

“Luc, I don’t care what magic you have,” Colby said suddenly. “You’re an idiot.” Brett released her and caught the man before he collapsed. Three times in a week. It was getting to be a bad habit.

Next to him, Colby helped brace Luc’s arm. With a faint charming grin easing his grimace, Luc leered at her playfully. “I’m only the second idiot, the first idiot is really in charge.”

Thumping him on the back of the head, Brett earned a laugh from both. “Colby and I need some time.”

A lot of it.

Luc nodded. “Someone come give me a hand.” His voice carried, and the gathered all began to applaud.

Colby’s sudden burst of laughter was well worth Luc’s glare. Then Ravyn, the laughing Hunter, loped toward them.

“I got him, Brett.”

Releasing him to her care, Brett murmured. “If you have to tie him to that bed, do that. People can come to him.”

The Hunter’s wicked smile seemed to intrigue Luc. Rolling his eyes, Brett turned away from the laughter and the wolves around them eased away, including Sam. Luc’s sister was gone. Whether she left for good or stayed was up to her. Colby’s smile softened a notch when she glanced at him, then faded.

“I don’t suppose you do keep liquor in your house?” They hadn’t really drunk much.

“Whiskey all right?” He held out his hand.

“Oh, yeah. I think this conversation is going to need it.” She still hadn’t run. His wolf raked his claws along the inside of his skin. If she ran, they would catch her. They would always catch her.

Drinking wouldn’t really be advisable. Not until she understood. “Maybe after.”

She sighed. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” Closing her eyes, she ran a hand over her face. The bloodied knuckles drew his attention.

“Who did you hit?”

“Sam.”

Approval flooded his wolf. She’d belted Sam and was still on her feet? In so many ways she was stronger than she knew. Extending his hand to her, he said, “I know you have a thousand questions.”

For a long moment, he worried she would refuse him. When her palm glided over his, he relaxed. The surge remained, the contact heightened his awareness of her wolf. “I really only have one.”

Walking with her toward the house, he raised his brows. “Only one?”

“Is this an acid trip?”

Understanding funneled through him. “No, sweetheart. It isn’t.”

“Damn.” The vehemence in her tone begged for him to fix it.

“I’m glad it isn’t,” he told her. “No matter what happens. I’m here for you every step of the way.”

Inside, he closed the door and leaned against it, when she would have kept going he tugged her back to him. She answered his unspoken question by sliding her arms around him and hugging him. Locking her in his arms, he settled his chin against her hair.

“You’re a wolf?” Her question was muffled against his chest.

As good a place as any to start. “Yes.”

Her trembling increased, and a half-strangled note worried him. Was she sobbing? Pulling away slightly, he studied her face and her laughter caught him off guard. “It’s funny?”

Wiping away the tears at the corners of her eyes, she said, “Only if you understand that I graduated from bad boys to big bad wolf.”

He chuckled. His wolf could handle the humor better than the tears. “All the better to eat you, my dear.” It set her off all over again and she clung to him. They would be all right. She would be all right.

No other outcome would be acceptable.





Chapter Fifteen





Colby’s ears buzzed. They were sitting in the kitchen, a banal location for a discussion of the impossible. The brightly lit breakfast nook seemed too cheerful for tales of supernatural. “I’m sorry,” she murmured as he finished applying antibiotic ointment to her hand. “I think I blurred out what you were saying.”

“It’s a lot to absorb. As a rule, we try to avoid shock when we reveal our presence to humans who don’t know.” Which implied there were humans that did. Fan-freaking-tastic.

“How the hell do you avoid shocking people?” She winced as he inspected the scrapes and broken skin. Fortunately, she didn’t need stitches and Band-Aids would be annoying, not to mention hard to keep in place. “Do you say, honey, I’m sorry, they just outlawed coffee, but that’s okay because I’m a wolf? Oh, wait, I know. I went to the doctor today, and he told me I only have six months to live. No wait, it’s okay I’m just a wolf!”