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“I’m not sure I would have believed you six months ago. But damn if spending all this time with you hasn’t taught me that anything is possible.”
“I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or not.”
“Just a fact.” He smiled, and in spite of how tired he clearly was, it lit up his eyes, making his whole face look bright and warm. My stomach did a flip-flop. God, how was it even possible or fair for him to be so bloody beautiful? A man like that should come with a warning. Danger: do not look directly into his eyes if you have a weak heart.
I was almost willing to allow myself a moment of happiness, when I saw my brother Ben tromping across the yard towards us. He was dressed impeccably, in a tidy sweater and jeans, without a trace of ash or soot on him. I hadn’t seen him at all through the night, so he must have been off with one of his many lady friends.
He pulled up to a stop beside us and gave me his best approximation of a withering glare. Too bad I’d stopped being intimidated by my twin several years prior.
Now I saw him for what he was: a man who wanted power, and was willing to step on his own sister to get it. He was pissed that Callum had made me the Alpha of the New Orleans pack. He was pissed that I was with Wilder even though Wilder and Ben had a history, and Ben thought the Shaw brothers were no good. In general, Ben was just pissed, and I seemed to bring out the worst in him these days.
He glowered at the two of us, but when Wilder went to move his hand from my waist to give space, I grabbed hold and held firm. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Wilder wasn’t doing anything wrong. Our relationship wasn’t forbidden, and wasn’t even a bad idea: we were both strong wolves, after all, and most werewolf families would rejoice over the potential for Alpha pups.
Not that I was planning on having Wilder’s babies any time soon.
Yikes, how had babies suddenly factored into this?
“Ben,” I said coolly, trying to regain my composure.
“Eugenia.”
“Genie.” I might let Callum get away with calling me by my proper name, but Ben could get over himself.
He rolled his eyes. “What the hell is all this?” He motioned to the disaster scene smoldering at our feet.
“Someone burned down the bar,” I said.
Ben stared at Wilder, trying to figure out how to pin it on him, thanks to the soot and smell of smoke, I was sure.
“Wilder was here saving people’s lives. What were you up to last night?” I narrowed my eyes meaningfully.
I wasn’t even mad at Ben for not being home. He was a grown adult the same as I was, and he wasn’t required to tether himself to the mansion all the time if there were no major pack activities going on. Honestly, I barely came home myself these days, but that was because I had my own pack to deal with.
A topic I’d be better off avoiding in front of my brother.
“I was out.” He said it in a way that told me he was completely uninterested in discussing this any further. Fine, whatever Ben. Who even cared whose house he’d been shacked up at?
My brother had a sense of self-importance that was entirely too royal for his own good. We might be royalty, but it didn’t mean he had a free pass to act like a shithead, especially not with me.
He and Wilder continue to stare at each other, and I had to admit I was secretly a little proud of Wilder for not backing down under Ben’s cold glare. The two of them would probably end up at each others’ throats in the future, but today would not be that day. I had too much other shit to deal with right now without them getting into a dick measuring contest about who was the tougher Alpha.
I could tell them who was tougher.
Me.
I wasn’t entirely sure what had brought that thought into my mind, but it made me smile to myself, though not enough for anyone else to notice. So much had changed for me in the last year. I’d gone from being a background character in this drama to being a star player, and apparently I wasn’t interested in hiding in the shadows anymore.
I was just as smart, tough, and capable as any of these boneheaded alpha-dogs, and that was the reason Callum had chosen to give me the New Orleans pack. To be honest, I’d doubted his reasons ever since it had happened, but not anymore. He had seen something in me he trusted and respected, and I was finally seeing that same thing in myself.
This newfound confidence, even in the face of the disaster lying around our feet, had me suddenly giddy with purpose and motivation.
Mercy was out there somewhere, plotting God knew what, and probably thinking of a dozen other ways to mess up our happy little world. I wasn’t going to let her. I had no idea why my mother was back from the dead, but I would find out.
And I’d put her back in that goddamn grave myself.
Chapter Four
We stayed as long as we could, helping Callum and the others at the compound clean up most of the sopping wet remains of the bar. It had taken several hours before we were even able to touch the wood safely, but once we felt we could, we hauled it off onto a back lot of the property where it could be burned down to ash at a later date.
