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“Not a word,” I warned Liam.
We passed Teresa working with the teenage cubs along with several other older shifters. At least if we all died in our alpha wars there would be a younger generation ready to take up the fighting.
“Isn’t there some part of you that thinks it’s sad?” Liam asked.
“I said not a word.”
“I have words to say. This unending cycle of violence isn’t going to stop.”
“It will stop.” I wished I could get him to stop feeling so guilty. “Eventually, we will be too powerful for anyone to mess with us. And then the pack will be safe. You’ll all be safe.” That was all I wanted, for my family to be safe.
“It won't stop unless someone stops first,” Liam responded. “Until then, we’ll just keep going. The kids in the Longroad pack will grow up to hate the King pack. We’re already training our kids to kill their kids one day. It’s all insane.” He gave me a rueful smile, a hint of humor sparking in my brother’s eyes. “And remember, I know insanity.”
“You’re not insane,” I said. “you’re just different.”
“It’s one and the same really, as far as most are concerned,” Liam said. We walked in silence for a few long seconds, and then he said, “Amelia's dreams saved me when I was trapped in that cellar. But you saved me too. I never stopped remembering how you had fought for me, and I knew that sooner or later, you and Brennan would come for me.”
Our father had treated Liam like shit since he was five years old. Sometimes his strange behavior had been the catalyst for our father smacking our mom around too. He blamed her for making him into such a weird kid. For coddling him.
It was strange to have thought of my brother as being helpless, and then to discover he had so much power. But there was one thing I knew. “I’m glad you made your way back to us. No matter what it took.”
* * *
When I leftthe house later, Amelia and Cole were practicing on the lawn. My heart lifted the second I saw Amelia, even before conscious thought. Then I saw the way Cole was looking at her, the way he adjusted her stance, and jealousy jolted through my heart.
It seemed to be so easy for everyone else with Amelia. They knew how to care for her the way she wanted to be cared for.
I would continue to do whatever it took to protect the people I cared about. I would be happy if my brothers and Amelia liked me, perhaps loved me, but if I had to choose between their safety and their approval, I would accept them being safe and resentful.
Amelia was not the only one there for that afternoon training session, although she was the one I could barely take my eyes off of. A dozen other shifters were training on the grass. Amelia must finally have grown good enough to train with the others—though I noticed Cole watched her constantly.
We had that in common. For now, I just watched her. She was so beautiful, with her hair pulled back into a tight high ponytail that brushed against her shoulders and her tight top. She was wearing a crew-neck t-shirt that hid her shoulders—and her marks—but it clung to her tightly. She’d grown more muscular over her time in our pack, no longer so skeletal as if she were trying to make herself disappear from the world. Her eyes flashed, and she grinned at Cole as the two of them bumped fists. She was sweating, and there was a bruise on her cheek. She had sparred with other people, but it was obvious from the look on her face that she was glad to come back to Cole.
The two of them sparred. I glanced around the pack, curious if it was obvious to everyone watching them that they desperately wanted to have their hands on each other in other ways.
As soon as their fight was over, I told Cole, “Enough! Play times over. We have work to do.”
I let my simmering jealousy be on full display. As I had warned Amelia before, an alpha’s no was a full sentence, and anything between Amelia and Cole was anofor me.
As Cole reached me, I told him, “What are you doing with her?”
In the distance, I could see Amelia was listening. So was the rest of the pack.
“I’m training her. Like you told me to.” Cole seemed purposefully oblivious. “She's coming along so quickly. She’s doing really well.”
“Just make sure you keep it to training. Am I making myself clear?”
In the distance, Amelia's face fell. Anyone might think that it was because she was disappointed to lose Cole. But I could tell that it was disappointment in me. I’d fallen even further in her eyes. Regret seared through my chest.
But I would do what had to be done.
“She belonged to Brennan, and so she can bond with us. It’s hard enough for me to imagine sharing her with my brothers. But you’re not one of us.”
Cole’s face shattered. “I’m aware. I haven’t done anything inappropriate with her.”
“So you haven’t kissed her?”
His face was answer enough. I was sure that the others in the pack could see it too.
