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Her eyes went wide. “Shut the fuck up.”
Everyone turned and looked at us, and I started laughing. “I will not.”
“You’re serious?”
“Trust me. It’s not something I’d joke about.”
Ellie blew out a breath. “No fucking wonder he punched Beau in the face.”
“Yeah.” I swallowed, nerves popping up. “Hey, Warren.”
He smiled warmly as he sat on the couch. “Hey. Thanks for talking with us.”
Ellie swatted his arm. “Stop acting like a lawyer.”
One eyebrow rose. “Iama lawyer.”
“Well, this isn’t a deposition, so chill.”
The living room was packed full of all of us. I ended up between Joel and Rowan, Hawk choosing to stand just outsidethe space, like he was worried he would influence the way I spoke or what Warren thought of me.
“Okay,” Warren said, leaning forward and pushing a hand through his hair. “I want to hear everything. But I’ll tell you a little more than I told Cade and Hawk this afternoon. Beau’s family and mine are friends. His parents are kind of like a second set to me. They’ll be at the wedding too. So when we were kids it was that classic ‘forced together cause our parents are close’ friendship, and we were close all the way through high school. But I went to college on the east coast, and I worked out of the country until I moved back two years ago and met you and Ellie.”
He looked over at my sister and smiled. It was that smile which had told me they were perfect for each other. He looked at her like she was the only thing in the world, and he’d done it from the moment he met her.
“But we honestly weren’t close during those years. He’s my oldest friend, but he’s not my best friend.” He laughed, wincing and taking Ellie’s hand. “I don’t make friends easily. Ellie’s my best friend. The guys in the party are old friends too, but the closest friends I have still live overseas, and it’s impractical for them to come for the wedding.
“I wanted to tell you that to explain a little. I chose Beau to be my best man because I’ve known him the longest, and he did a lot for me when we were younger. But I don’t really know the man he is now.”
I pressed my hands together between my knees. “I don’t really know either,” I admitted. “It’s… there are a lot of things I didn’t realize weren’t normal that I’m now learning. But I’ll do my best.”
It took a while to walk through everything I’d learned about Beau, from the bracelet, to his telling me what he actually wanted from our breakup, to him leaving me alone during my last heat. The guys helped with subtle touches, and jumped inwith examples I’d told them. Like leaving parties earlier or what he’d said about Angela after we broke up.
Warren listened with a straight face, but he didn’t seem angry or outraged. Didn’t break in to defend his friend, he just listened. When I was finally done, and completely tired of hearing my own voice, he sighed.
“Beau and I haven’t talked a lot about you,” he said. “But the little we have didn’t sound like this. I dismissed what he said as hurt feelings and jealousy. But it seems like more than that. I’m sorry I didn’t see it while you were with him.”
I shrugged. “How would you have known if I didn’t?”
“I’m going to talk to him. Because of our family connection, I’m not sure I can pull him out of the wedding.”
The statement was met with growls, and I looked around at them. Warren held out a hand. “I need to talk to him. Because he has a lot to answer for, and I want to see if he’ll tell me the truth. I want to see if the Beau I know is anywhere still in there. I owe him that much.”
“But nothing more,” Ellie said. “Right?”
Warren shook his head. “No matter what happens on Saturday, I can’t imagine us being close after this. But I’ll still have to see him. Our families practically spend every holiday with each other.” He looked at me. “And that’s the only reason I’m trying to preserve any kind of peace. For my parents’ sake.”
“I get that.” Family could be sticky at the best of times, and weddings were hard. I knew more than enough stories about weddings bringing out the worst in people.
“I’m sorry all the same.”
Laughing, I relaxed into my Alphas. “You don’t have to apologize, Warren. You’ve been nothing but great to Ellie. But remember what I told you.”
He smiled then. “If I hurt your sister, you’ll make sure my body disappears off the coast and is never found.”
“Damn right.”
My pack watched me with a mixture of horror and amusement. Hawk choked on a laugh. “I didn’t know you were so vicious, baby girl.”
