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1
COLE
“Sir, excuse me.Ineed to speak with you.”
“Notnow,Kurt.”Iwaved a hand at my second in command without looking up from my laptop.
“But,Sir—”
“I’mtoo fucking busy—theCouncilwants this report by tomorrow,”Igrowled, glaring at the screen.
“Cole,Ireallythink you need to hear this.”
Hisuse of my first name made me look up at last.Kurt’svery good about keeping things professional.I’mhisPackmasterand he treats me with respect—the first name never comes out until things get serious.
“Whatis it?”Iasked.
Kurttook a deep breath.
“It’saboutDelilah.She’s…”Hestopped talking, seeming to be at a loss for words.
“WhataboutDelilah?”Iasked warily.
Mylittle sister is a pain in my ass andIwondered what the hell she’d gotten up to this time.Latelyit seemed like she wasalwaysin trouble.
Lastmonth she’d gotten a speeding ticketIhad to take care of.Themonth before that, she got into aMLMandIhad to extract her before she sank every cent in her savings account into worthless yoga clothes she was supposed to resell to women even more gullible than she was.Themonth beforethat, she was arrested for protesting against animal cruelty, even though she’s deathly afraid of dogs.Sheand some friends fromPETAstaged a sit-in at a local medical testing facility and when she got arrested, guess who had to bail her out?
That’sright—me.Thebig brother.Theone who’s always there to fish her out when she swims out too deep.
Thething is,I’mnot even really her brother—not by blood anyway.Thoughin a very real and important way,I’mas much her sibling as if we’d been born to the same parents.
Ifthat sounds contradictory, well—it is.Letme explain.
Delilah—or just “Lilah” which is whatIcall her when she’s not being a pain in my ass—came into our family when she was eleven andIwas seventeen.Herparents were part of our pack.Theyhad both been killed in a burglary attempt gone wrong and she had nowhere to go.MyDadwas thePackmaster—a titleIhave since inherited from him—and he felt a deep sense of responsibility to ourPackmembers.Also, my mom had always wanted a little girl, so we took her in.
Iwas a teenager at the time, which meantIwasn’t thinking of anyone but myself.Iwas out of the house more thanIwas in it, soItold myselfIdidn’t care about my new little sister.Butthere’s something aboutDelilah—she just sucks you in.
Shehas this curly, strawberry blonde hair that’s always all over the place and this cute little nose with freckles right across the bridge of it.Also, she has these big, mismatched eyes—one blue and one gold—which means she’s gotRoyalblood somewhere in her family tree.Probablyone of her grandparents or great grandparents slept with one of theFirstWolvesand that one golden eye is the result.
Anyway,Iremember one of the first nights we had her in the house.Herroom was right beside mine andIwas trying to get to sleep whenIheard her crying.Notbawling, you understand—it was just this quiet sobbing that tore at my heart.EventhoughIwas a selfish little fuckwit back then, my new little sister’s misery affected me.
Iwaited for a while to see if my mom would come and comfort her—then remembered that my parents were both out at aPackmeeting that night.Soit was up to me.
I’venever been much good with kids, butIcouldn’t just lay there.IthinkIhad some vague idea that maybeI’doffer her a glass of water and she’d drink it and go back to sleep or something—Idon’t know.
Iwent into her room and saw she was curled on her side in a ball with just her long, curly hair sticking out from under the covers.Shewas the picture of misery, huddled up like that with those low, choked sobs shaking her little body.Ifelt my heart go out to her, even thoughIwanted to be annoyed that she was keeping me from getting to sleep.
“Hey, uh,Delilah?”Isaid uncertainly.
Ifelt awkward around her, even though she’d already been adopted into our family.Infact, the adoption ceremony had happened just that morning.It’saPackritual, involving blood and fire and it’s very serious.
SomePacksuse a brand to mark the new member of the family, but my mother had objected that branding would be too traumatic—especially for a little girl who had just lost everyone she loved.Sowe all pricked a finger instead and let a drop of blood fall into a candle flame while my father repeated the ancient words.
“Firstby blood
Andthen by flame
Weclaim you now
