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“Confront him,” I said as the anger surged within me. “Demand answers.”
“And what? Challenge him?” Kris paced. “I can’t do that. I know nothing about him. I need to be smarter. I need to be patient.”
“Then we’ll be smart,” I assured him, brushing the spilled tears away. “If he or his pack have answers, we’ll get them.”
Kris stopped pacing and looked at me. “You’re being impulsive,” he scolded. “It’s not a five-minute fix. I need to talk to Bale.”
“Fine, we’ll talk to Bale.”
Kris gave me a flat look. “I’ll talk to Bale. You’re just a child.”
“A child? My heat is what? Days away?” I snapped, pulling my braid off my neck. It was so hot in here.
“Fuck!” Kris rubbed his hand over his face. “Your heat,” he muttered as he resumed pacing. “I can’t let you go.”
“Okay, first, you don’t let me do anything, second?—”
“You need to stay in the house,” Kris spoke over me, but when he saw my frustration, he sighed. “Promise me you’ll stay out of his pack’s way. Stay out of his way. We’ll get you past the first heat,” he said, almost to himself. “I can talk to Bale, form a plan, keep you safe.”
“And who keeps you out of his way?” I asked him scathingly. “Or am I the only delicate one in this cottage?” I added with a sneer.
“Why are you fighting me on this?” Kris demanded suddenly. “Everything that I do is to protect you. Why must you make it harder?”
I was stunned for a moment, and then I was furious. “I don’t ask you to do that! I can keep myself safe. No matter what you think or how you treat me, I am not the child you think I am!”
“Then stop acting like one!” he shouted.
His anger silenced me. My brother was often annoyed with me, as I was with him, but he rarely raised his voice to me.
Kris tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling. “I’m sorry. I’ve got a lot to think about, but I shouldn’t shout at you.” Lowering his head, he looked at me. “This time, it isn’t your fault.”
A small laugh escaped me, and I saw his relieved smile. “If you let me, I can help,” I told him.
“Help me by staying out of trouble,” Kris said seriously. “Please?”
It was the please that got me. For all his faults, my brother rarely asked me for anything. Other than trying to fit into the pack, he expected nothing from me.
“I’ll stay in the area around the meadow,” I told him reluctantly. “I won’t go into town.”
His shoulders loosened with relief. “If you feel any change…”
“I’ll find you.”
“Come home and send for me. Or go to the shaman’s. Don’t come into town. Promise me.” Kris looked at the duffle that lay discarded on the floor. “Kez?” he glanced at me quickly.
“I promise.”
“Okay.” Stooping, he picked up the bag. “I’ll source a better one of these,” he told me. “Just in case.”
I chose not to comment. What else was there to say? There was plenty, but I also knew my brother. He had dug his heels in, and I knew better than to talk to him when he was in this mood.
It would be better to wait. Let him think on it, remind him I was perfectly capable, and in time, he would see what I already knew. I could help him. He wasn’t in this alone, just like I knew I wasn’t.
“Have you made supper?” Kris asked me, jolting me out of my thoughts.
“No.”
He gave me a level look, then with a heavy sigh, he walked past me to the kitchen, grumbling the whole way.
