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“What?”
“Look,” he sighed heavily, “you don’t know a fucking thing, got it? Not a fucking thing.”
“Got it,” I replied slowly, completely intrigued by whatever the fuck he was about to say.
“The two of them have been hate fucking each other—”
“What?” I exclaimed. There was no fucking way. My gaze snapped back across the lawn where Axel and Alice were glaring at each other. “You’re fucking with me.”
“Nope, I’m not. They think I don’t know. They think no one knows. It started… what? Five years ago? Six years ago? Remember that fucking blowout they had? Almost set the fucking bar on fire?”
“Six years ago. She hit him in the head with a beer bottle.” Shit. I remembered that night clear as fucking day. The two of them rarely actually hit each other—it was always a lot of yelling—but that night he took a fucking swing at her, and she took him out.
“Yeah, well, they ended up in a bathroom and took it out on each other by fucking,” Maverick said. “It’s been like that ever since. Every Fall Games, every stop, the two of them yell and scream until they hate fuck each other in a bathroom, and then they’re good.”
“Wait,” I faltered. No fucking way. “Every stop? The Stone clubhouse too?”
“Yeah. Night of the scavenger hunt. Always a bathroom though. I think they’d combust if they got into a fucking bed together.”
I bit back a pathetic groan. Jesus fucking Christ. I’d jerked off in the bathroom while Axel and Alice hooked up right outside the door. What the ever-loving fuck was wrong with me? Was just adding that to the list of fucking things they couldn’t find out. Ever.
“Why the fuck do they hate each other?” I asked. “I know it started when they were kids, but why? Does anyone know why? Do they at this point?”
“Fuck,” Maverick growled. He scrubbed a hand over his face and stole my cigarette again. “The first time he got cancer, the chemo wrecked his hair. Dad ended up just shaving him bald because of how patchy it was. Axel was fucking broken over it. Hats, scarves, none of it. He wanted nothing to do with any of it.”
“I remember that.” Mom had sat us all down to have a serious conversation about what it’d be like seeing Axel that way, going through what we should and shouldn’t say to him.
“Well, Alice and her sisters were over once, and she made fun of him being bald,” he told me. “And Axel just lost his shit—poor kid. He was already in such a fucking mood that day, and she was the cherry on top with her comments. He shoved her down the stairs.”
“Yes!” I exclaimed as the memory dawned on me. “Didn’t she get hurt?”
“Broke her fucking arm, fractured two ribs, and broke her ankle. She was on a traveling soccer team but had to quit. She turned into the queen of grudges,” he replied. “Two and a half years later when the cancer came back, Dad shaved his hair off right from the start. When she caught wind, she fucking poked the bear. Problem was, even though he felt like crap, Axel hadn’t dropped weight yet, and she didn’t know how to fight. So, his dumbass pinned her down and fucking shaved her head.”
“She made fun of a cancer kid and none of you thought to fucking tell her?” I demanded. Jesus fucking Christ. Talk about a fucking disaster. That poor woman would feel like shit when she found out.
“The Stones don’t know what he went through,” Maverick said, and I frowned. “Cole was too busy trying to raise his sisters to help out much when we were kids. Fuck, he was barely an adult raising three little girls and running a fucking pack because his dad was a drunken dick who didn’t want kids. I couldn’t have done that shit. Dad relied on your Mom for shit. We spent a lot of time with you while he went through treatment. It was the only reason you furry fucks even know.”
“Fuck,” I mumbled. That made sense. “Someone has to tell her.”
“You fucking tell her and I’ll make you eat your tail, Byrne.” Shit, feisty little fuck. I knew better than to cross Maverick though. He was calm and collected, sure, but I’d seen under his mask a few times. He was those things intentionally. Set him off, and he’d hand you your ass… in pieces.
“Still a shitty thing to do, not telling her,” I commented. Okay, yeah, I liked to poke the wolf. Before I could say more, Declan motioned for me to follow him. Fuck. This was it. I dropped my cigarette and took my time putting it out. I muttered, “Time to feed me to the fucking wolves.”
“Were you always this dramatic?” Lucas chuckled as he threw an arm around my shoulders. “I feel like you weren’t this dramatic.”
“No, he definitely was,” Finn said as he closed in on my other side.
“Two against one, I could still take you, you little shits,” I replied without a single drop of malice in my voice. I fucking loved them, even if they drove me up a fucking wall.
My brothers and I took our spot on the back steps—even Sam padded over and flopped down near us. The Ironwoods and the Stones joined us, leaning back against the wrap-around porch rails to make themselves comfortable. We waited quietly as the pack gathered and got comfortable.
“What happened to Cade and Isla?” Nolan asked quietly as he scanned the group.
“We used the front door like normal people,” Cade announced obnoxiously. He came out the back door with Raven on his back.
“Mo bhràthair,” Isla chastised. She strolled out casually behind him, arm in arm with Genevieve. I shoved my brothers off as I stood a little taller around her.
“What?” he shot back, and Raven slapped him in the shoulder. “Normal people use the front door! That’s all I’m saying! They don’t go screaming across the lawn like heathens.”
