Betrayed Forced Mate (Rosecreek Special Ops Wolves #4)

“You ever tried therapy, man?” Percy asks on a laugh. “Bigby hooked me up with this great paranormal therapist, and—”

“I’m not opposed to therapy,” I say, even as my stomach sours at the thought of sitting down and laying out all my shortcomings for some random person. “But I just—I can’t do it. Be the person someone depends on. Especially now that Olivia and I had the blood bond? What if I die while I’m out in the field? And leave my kids with nothing? And nobody to take care of them, just like—”

I come to a skittering halt, realizing that I can’t breathe and my vision is swimming. Percy stops beside me, and tells me to tip my head up, to put my hands on my head, look to the sky, breathe, breathe.

As my vision clears again, I realize we’re on the outskirts of town, near the woods. Percy doesn’t look too happy about the location, as it’s where he was for years while suffering from the effects of the serum.

And here I am, having a panic attack, when I should have been thinking about my friend.

“Shit,” I say, shaking my head, trying to walk through the dizziness. “Sorry.”

“By,” he says, taking my shoulder a bit forcefully and pulling me back so we’re face to face. “I know the blood bond isn’t ideal. I know it sucks. But here’s the thing, man—”

Percy pauses, looking out into the woods, his throat working.

“Let’s say something happened to me. Something happened to Veronica. Dude—I fully expect you to raise this fucking baby like it’s your own. And you know—”

“We all would,” I say, shaking my head, “you know Linnea would never let—”

“That’s exactly my point,” Percy says, his eyes sparkling when I meet them. “Your kid isn’t just your kid. They’re our kid. Our kids. All of our kids. Don’t you love Araya?”

“And Bubba,” I say, rolling my eyes, “and Kaila. And yours.”

“Right,” Percy says, nodding, pulling back. “Clearly, something shitty went down when your parents died. The pack should have been there for you. Should have taken care of you and your brother. But you’re not in that pack anymore. You’re in the Rosecreek pack. And things are different here.”

“Sometimes too different…” I mutter, and Percy punches me in the shoulder playfully when a figure emerges from the trees, dark and shadowed. The two of us tense immediately, but it only takes me a second to recognize him.

“What are the chances?” Zane says, pulling an earbud out and coming to a stop in front of us. Of course, the one morning I want to go for a run, my brother is out here, too.

I can feel Percy’s curiosity practically rolling off of him. Apparently, news of my brother’s arrival hasn’t spread through the entire pack just yet, despite Linnea meeting him and inviting him to the Christmas party.

“Hey,” I say, clearing my throat, unsure what to say to him. Olivia said he was staying in a motel. When I look at him, I just think about his hands on her, touching her back and her hands, and rage flushes through me, head-to-toe. I want to launch myself at him, fight him.

But maybe that wouldn’t just be about Olivia.

“Calm down, brother. We wouldn’t want you to have an attack, right?” Zane says, rolling his eyes and taking another step toward us. “I was just trying to get a rise out of you.” Then, his eyes sliding to Percy, he says, “Nice to meet you. Surely, Byron’s told somebody around here that I exist.”

“No,” Percy says, glancing at me quick when he reaches out to shake Zane’s hand. I hate everything about this, just want to get away.

“Listen,” Zane says, when he’s standing in front of us again, his hand on the back of his neck. “You got any free time this week? I want to sit down with you somewhere.”

“Oh, you don’t want to take Olivia out again?” I spit, surprised at the venom in my voice.

“Oh, gladly,” Zane says, his eyes flashing, that familiar sibling rivalry rearing its ugly head between us. “But if you can believe it, brother, I actually came here to talk to you.”

I stare at him, his casual posture, how everything is just so easy for him. After years of not talking, he comes to see me and knows I’ll give in. I’ll sit down with him and listen to anything he says. Because he’s my brother.

“Fine,” I say, swallowing and looking away from him. “Sure.”

“Okay, great,” he says, nodding and holding his earbuds up to his head, readying to put it back in. “You have my number.”

With that, he puts the bud back in and jogs past us, disappearing into the tree line again. I swallow, trying to think about what I’m going to say to Percy, and how I can possibly encompass my entire experience with my brother in a few words.

I feel emotionally exhausted. I’m not sure if I can get into it right now.

“It’s way too cold to be standing here,” Percy says, clapping his hand on my shoulder, “and, also, can we please get away from these fucking woods?”

I nod, turning with him and running back the way we came, grateful he won’t push it right now.