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“You don’t have to. But it’s obvious what’s happening between you and Amelia. No matter how much you’ll try to fight that for the sake of some stupid sense of loyalty.”
“Loyalty isn’t stupid. Stone’s a good man. A good alpha. A good friend.” Cole’s gaze would have been withering if I’d cared what anyone thought of me. “And even if none of you appreciate him, I’d say he’s a good brother.”
I wasn’t sure I had ever heard Cole say so many words all in a row. Amelia really was changing all of us.
“That’s all true,” I agreed. Surprise flickered across Cole’s face before I went on, “And it’s also true that he fucked up colossally, and hurt her, and she doesn’t need to see him until he’s ready to make things right and she’s ready to hear it. But in the meantime, he needs her safe. I’ll find her, and I’ll keep her safe.”
Cole gave me a skeptical look. He would never say it, but he no doubt thought that I couldn’t take care of myself, forget taking care of Amelia and Dylan.
“I will,” I said quietly.
I needed this.
Not to be the wolf who hid in the woods.
But to be the man who stood between the ones I loved and the fiends of hell.
And hell was coming for us.
I wasn’t sure what he saw in my face, but he said, “You’re a grown man. You can make your own decisions.”
Stone would not agree with that assessment. I was curious if Cole would lie to him or if he would admit that we met out here in the woods.
But then he answered my question by planning his feet and letting his arms dangle to the sides, loose and ready for a fight. I was very familiar with that posture. Stone had made Cole train me the same way Cole had begun to train Amelia. I’d regained the strength in my body even if they hadn’t managed to quite bring the fight back into my mind.
But now it felt like I had plenty of fight.
“I’ll have to tell him you got past me,” Cole said. “If you do.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Cole.”
Cole looked skeptical that I even could. Then he added, “And what is your plan here, anyway? You’re going torunto Amelia?”
I stared at him.
“You should steal a car,” he prompted. “If you can.”
“Oh. Right. Makes sense.”
He raked his hand through his hair, though it was so short it couldn’t be very satisfying. I missed running my hands through my long hair or tugging on it when I was frantic; it felt like part of me was missing.
“Let’s move this discussion to outside the garage,” he said. “I’ll fight you for the keys.”
“Why?” I demanded, although the two of us were already walking. “You’re still disobeying Stone. Just with more steps and more bruises.”
“I don’t see it that way,” he said. “If you can fight your way past me, you’re ready to go out there. On your own.”
Those five words.Out there. On your own.
They rocked me.
But they didn’t stop me.
“Right,” I said, suddenly realizing that Cole felt protective toward me as much as he felt loyal to Stone. I hadn’t realized he cared on a personal level.
Along with the memory of Shaw staying beside me, grounding me, while I went into Nathan’s head, I felt a sudden rush of warmth.
Until Amelia had come along, I hadn’t realized how much these men cared about me. I’d been too locked in my own head.
