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Now the Luna’s words are playing on repeat too.
You need to bring the family back together.My wolf echoes what the Luna said, letting the words reverberate in my head.Which family?
She vanished before answering my question, and I don’t have an answer for myself. It could be my family, considering I have no idea where my brother is. It could be Paxton’s fractured family who I already vowed to Peter to help seek out. Or it could mean family in the greater sense. All of us shifters are family in a way, permanently bonded by the secret existence we keep.
“Are you okay?”
Paxton appears so suddenly in the doorway that I startle enough to shake the entire bed, the metal headboard banging against the wall behind me.
“You scared me.” I clear my throat to try to clear the lump that’s suddenly stuck there. Paxton Glass is currently very, very shirtless. A pair of black sweatpants hang low on his hips—I have no idea where he got those. Even though I’ve seen him completely naked after shifting more than once now, something about him hovering in the doorway sans shirt knocks me off guard.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, but you kept groaning like you weren’t feeling well or something.”
Oh, great. That’s not at all embarrassing.
“I’m fine.” He stares at me like he expects more explanation than that. “I had a weird dream, and I woke up thinking about all the unknowns. How safe do you think we are here?”
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Tasha.”
His dark eyes hold my gaze with a fierce possessiveness that makes me uncomfortable. I really believe Paxton would risk anything to protect me. There was a time I trusted Jimmy to protect me, and I saw how that turned out. I can’t escape the bitterness I feel knowing Jimmy’s protection came at the steep cost of losing him.
This is different, my wolf insists.Jimmy had to protect the pack. Paxton only has to protect you. He’s all in.
“I think we should start trying to figure out where my brother is today,” I say, changing the subject. “I need to make sure he’s safe and see if he knows anything about the bounty on our heads. It doesn’t make sense that he disappeared without saying anything, we’ve always stuck together. I won’t be able to focus on anything until I’m sure he’s being careful.”
“I’ve already made a few calls. Some of the rogues that I talked to think they’ve crossed paths with your brother. They said he seemed to be traveling with a woman, but no one could actually describe her. One guy said a short blonde, another said a tall brunette. I’ve been keeping a map to mark the sightings. Come look and see if anything stands out to you.”
I try not to think about what it means that he was already looking for Tevin before I asked. I don’t want to get caught up in feelings I’m not ready to untangle. Right now, the only thing that matters is figuring out how to bring stability back to all of us.
Tess needs to be able to begin her life properly with Dominic. Tevin shouldn’t be on the run. And I need to have space to decide what comes next for me without worrying about being kidnapped or attacked in the process.
But one thing at a time.
“It looked like Tevin was heading west but then started to swing around in this direction again. Almost like he was making a circle,” Paxton explains as he leads me out of the bedroom and into the room across the hall. It’s filled to the brim with books.
There’s a map spread across the wood desk and an uncapped marker sitting beside it, making it look like Paxton came to check on me in a hurry.
His phone rings as I move closer to get a good look at the red dots where he’s marked the alleged sightings of my brother. Nothing stands out immediately about the locations besides the fact that they’re all outside of pack territories. If Paxton’s friends are right, my brother has been moving around the country among the rogues, which would explain why there have been so many sightings of him by actual rogues.
Why would Tevin be avoiding pack lands? There are plenty of friendly packs in the areas where people think they’ve seen him.
My brother isn’t a rogue, so why is he moving like one?
Paxton’s phone starts to ring again, and I look up at him. “Why aren’t you answering that?”
“It’s Callie. She called all night trying to apologize.” He wears a deep frown and grips the phone tightly enough that I’m surprised he doesn’t break it. His anger with her is beginning to make me anxious. She’s his family.
“You should answer her.” He jerks his head to stare at me. “I’m serious. She made a mistake, but she’s your family. And considering how upset she seemed, the two of you are obviously close.”
“She put you in danger.”
“So did you.”
His lower lip falls as he stares at me wordlessly. He can’t argue my point considering what happened with Zeke, and we both know it. If Paxton wants me to be able to trust him, he’s going to have to prove he’s willing to hear me.
I keep my lips pressed together and wait to see what he’s going to do as the ringing dies off and then immediately starts up again.
Answer.
