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Elle shrugged and sipped her gin. “It was the only thing I could think of that would distract you from painting. My arms are killing me.”
Bree rolled her eyes. “Weak, weak, weak.”
“Blame the Antichrist,” said Elle. “I’ll swear he uses the dark gifts imposed upon him by his true father to slowly sap me of my strength and, in doing so, make himself infinitely stronger, because no amount of eating or working out seems to improve my fitness level. I’m telling ya, he’s draining me slowly but surely.”
Staring at her friend, Bree shook her head. “Sometimes I think you’re joking when you refer to Damian as the Antichrist. Other times, I find myself wondering if you believe he is in fact—”
“A vessel in which evil incarnate dwells? I have no reason to doubt it. Do you?”
Well, yeah, because Bree was normal. Sort of. But she simply sipped at her gin and said, “No.”
“Then let us pray the Apocalypse does not occur until after our generation has passed on, because all on the Earth are prophesized to perish—that doesn’t sound fun to me.”
Bree could only snicker.
CHAPTER FOUR
“I never asked you to come here! Get out of my home! All of you!”
“We can’t do that until you get yourself under control, Devlin,” said Tate.
“We’re here to help,” Dani told him, her voice as soothing as a lullaby.
“I don’t want your damn help, bitch!” Devlin growled.
Bree winced, remaining outside the open door of her pride mate’s apartment as she tried to get a feel for what was going on inside. She’d been sitting in her pjs on the sofa, fighting to keep her eyes open as she watched a movie, when she’d received a call from Devlin’s neighbor. The old woman hadn’t said much more than that she’d taken his mate and children into her apartment because he’d “lost his damn mind.”
“You don’t give a shit how I’m feeling, Dani!” he accused. “You just want to calm my ass down with your omega voodoo.”
“Your children are frightened,” said Dani, still calm. “Your mate is worried for you.”
“See? For you, it’s all about how they feel, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s not. I’m just trying to remind you that although you had a hard hit today, you still have a lot to be grateful for. Your family needs you.”
“I let them down,” Devlin said, bitter as tart. “Why would they need me? Tate will tell you all about what a bad enforcer I’d make—after all, he’s the one who told me I didn’t pass the training.”
And now Bree understood. Devlin’s older brothers and father were all enforcers. This was the third time he had failed to make the cut, and it had to hurt like a motherfucker. His pride was probably in tatters. Devlin wasn’t a guy who’d respond well to someone trying to baby him—it would just prick his pride more. Dani should know that.
Feeling bad for the guy, Bree strolled into the apartment and followed the sounds of voices into the kitchen. All heads turned as she entered. Devlin was standing near the sink with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. Tate, Dani, and Luke were at the other side of the room, giving him space, ensuring he didn’t feel crowded or trapped—that would only send his inner cat into a frenzy.
Keeping her expression bored, Bree folded her arms as she looked at Devlin. “So … what the fuck crawled up your ass and died?”
Dani gasped and made a move toward Bree, but Tate held her back.
“Oh, you didn’t hear?” asked Devlin, a fake grin on his face. “I didn’t make enforcer. Again.”
Bree blinked. “That’s it?”
He paused with the bottle halfway to his mouth. “That’s it?” he echoed.
“Don’t get me wrong, I get that that sucks mega balls. My dad failed the training, too, you know. He didn’t try again. It hurt his pride too much, I think. So I respect you for not giving up. I’m not blowing smoke up your ass here, I’m being honest. Many dominant males would give up.”
Devlin slowly lowered the bottle but didn’t speak.
“I remember the night my dad was turned down for the position. He came home pissed. I’ve never seen him that angry. He got drunk. Smashed a bottle against the wall. My mom freaked. She told him to get out and not come back until he made his peace with one simple thing.”
Devlin frowned. “What?”
“See, she felt that he’d only failed the training because his heart wasn’t in it; that the sole reason he’d trained to be an enforcer was that it was expected of him by his family.”
Devlin’s eyes briefly slid to the side.
“Maybe it’s not what you really want for yourself and so it’s subconsciously holding you back during training. Or maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know. If it is truly what you want, there’s no actual sense in you giving up. But, of course, you can drown in alcohol, whine like a girl, and lose the respect of your family. That’s always an option. Or you can build a fucking bridge and get over it. Ask Tate what it is that you failed at, work on it, and then begin training again. I’ll leave you to decide.” She turned to leave. “It’ll be interesting to see what you do.” She only made it three steps when she heard his voice.
