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He idolized Nathan and enjoyed knowing Nathan would punish me. Sooner or later, he’d hurt her.
“I’m not going to ruin anything,” I said bitterly. “You still have an extra toothbrush and clothes for Dylan, right?” A familiar, obstinate look had come over her face, and my heart sank. “Mom. Come on.”
“You need to work things out with Nathan. You always drop Dylan over here when you two are fighting.”
“We’renotfighting,”I said.“He’sbeating the shitout of me, Mom.”
She put her hands over her ears, as though she refused to hear I was in trouble. But all she said was, “I hate when you use that kind of language. You’re so crass.”
“Don’t you care? Don’t you care about me? About Dylan?”
“Of course, I do. Don’t be ridiculous. That’s why I’m trying to help you do the right thing. I’m not getting involved. You need to work out your issues with Nathan.”
“I’m not asking you to get involved. I’m asking you to take Dylan, so he doesn’t see—” I broke off. She’d pressed her hands over her ears again, and I grabbed one wrist, jerking it away from her ear. She gave me a startled, affronted look, but I went on. Maybe I couldn’t make her listen, but I was going to try. “So Dylan doesn’t watch Nathan murder me!”
“You’re always so dramatic,” she sniffed.
“And you’re always so selfish.”
But I couldn’t make my mother love me, take care of me.
In the end, Dylan and I went home together, to that big, beautiful, dangerous house.
CHAPTER6
Stone
Twilight was fallingas Shaw and I headed across the open yard toward our house. The sun seemed to brush the pines, casting long shadows across the grass, and the night felt peaceful.
“Liam is going to have questions when we all disappear on this mission,” Shaw said.
No matter how peaceful the nightseemed, there was usually little peace when my siblings were involved.
“Liam doesn’t need to know about any of this,” I replied.
“I think he’s going to figure it out. He’s crazy, not stupid.”
I whistled. “Don’t let Karissa hear you say that. You’ll wish she was the pacifist.”
Our oldest brother was a pacifist, which was weird as hell for a shifter. But he was generally weird as hell, even by human standards. On the other hand, our sister, Karissa, was definitely not the non-violent type.
“What don’t you want me to hear?” A feminine voice drifted out of the shadows from the front porch.
I jumped despite myself. I wasn’t afraid of much, but my mother and my sister had always been the exception to the rule.
As I strode up the steps to the expansive front porch, I glanced around. “We were discussing protecting Liam from the raid on the Longroad pack.”
She quirked an eyebrow at me before turning on her heel. Her long, dark curls tumbled over her shoulders. “You didn’t answer my question, oh mighty alpha.”
“It’s been a rough day, Karissa. Could you not?”
“Aw,” she crooned. “Don’t worry. I made a nice dinner. Take off your shoes and I’ll bring your slippers.”
“I need a wife,” I muttered, heading for the door.
“I’d tell her she didn’t need to take your shit, either,” she promised me.
But when I walked in the front door, the scent of a fresh-cooked meal hit me.
