“No, I don’t think I will, brother.” He sits forward, resting his elbows on his knees, staring right at Camo.
I look at Skyla, who looks a little worried, biting her lip. She knows deep down that Camo will not let anything happen to her, but also that Thorin would never hurt her.
“I know what I did wrong, all these fucking years, and I own it, Reece.” My eyes widen at Thorin using Camo’s birth name, and Skyla mirrors my shock. “We are not saints, far fucking from it, but I am here now. I’m trying to do what is fucking right and making a future for Delaney and me, but with my past being the hot topic of conversation, we will never move past it.Shewill never move past it.”
He looks at me over his shoulder, his eyes dark, looking into my soul. I understand what he is saying— he knows that I will not forgive or forget any time soon. There is too much damage and memory there between us.
I know that I need to speak up, to help simmer this conversation. The room has gone quiet, people sensing the tension between the two men. Setting my hand on Thorin’s back under his clothing, he leans into my touch, making my heart happy.
“We know we have a lot to deal with, to work through. I love you both for having my back.”
“Always, babe.” Skyla beams at me.
“Thank you.” I smile.
“Hey, where is the ‘Not your babe’comment? I get grunted at, but my girl gets a smile,” Camo gripes, but humor is in his tone.
“She is prettier than you,” Thorin replies, making people laugh, and just like that, the tension eases.
I look to the two people who helped me when my heart was broken and in pieces.
“You will always be my family, but both Thorin and I need to figure out what is going to happen. Some things will take longer to forgive and that hurts, but I sense a change in him, so I now finally have hope that we will get to where we were supposed to be at the beginning.”
No one says anything for a short time, and my heart rate kicks up a notch in my chest. These people were my family for so long, and they saw what Thorin was doing to me. They did nothing most of the time, but they did make him hide his activities from me thinking it would hurt less, but in all honesty, it did not.
I also know that it was never their place to force a mating, to make Thorin do what he clearly did not want to do.
Looking around the room over Thorin’s back, I make eye contact with Winger. He nods with a genuine smile on his face, then Oryn and Halen both nod to me.
“After this, he hurts you again, I will slit his throat,” is mind-linked from Cotton.
Giving him a subtle nod, my gaze moves to Shift and Rush, and both men are watching me. Both have made it very clear that they hate what Thorin did to me, often making a show by taking me from the room, which only pissed my man off even more, but at the time, I did not care.
They both offer their acknowledgements in the form of dipped chins, letting me know they still have my back and are happy that this is happening.
“You fuck this up, brother, and I am coming for you,” Rush calls out into the room, but we all know that it is aimed at Thorin.
My man sits back.
A smile slips across my face thinking that I can finally call him ‘my man.’ It has taken a long time and a lot of heartache, but we got here.
Raising his beer to his brothers, no words are said.
“Fuck, that was intense,” Skyla admits, making me giggle. She winks at me and takes a sip of her drink.
“These men know all about intense.” I laugh.
“Hey, we can be funny when we want to,” Camo adds.
I look to Skyla, who looks to me, and we both burst into a fit of laughter.
“You are forgetting I lived with all of you for years, Camo. You are all broody fuckers, unless you are drunk or high,” I tell the man.
He scrunches up his nose. “I am funny, ain’t I, baby?” He kisses Skyla’s cheek, making her giggle louder.
“If you say so, dear.” She pats his thigh, but you can hear the cheeky condescending tone in her voice.
“Fucking minx,” Camo mutters, pulling her lips to his in a heated kiss.
