Bain #3
Gage finally takes a bite and chews twice before his jaw stops moving. His nose scrunches, and he swallows it down, making it look like a chore before he grabs his glass of water and chugs half of it down.
“I guess the recipe could use a little work.”
“I’m ordering pizza,” Chase declares, and he pulls out his phone and jumps up from the table.
“It was a good try,” Maddox says as he stands and starts grabbing plates. “Just maybe try something a little simpler next time.”
Gage just stares at the table, looking annoyed as I stand and lift up Red’s plate and my own, helping Maddox to toss out all the chicken before someone eats it by mistake.
When I turn around, I stop in my tracks at the sight of Gage smiling. I realize Red has moved to his side and is licking his hand. Leave it to her to cheer him up so fast. He normally sulks for a full day after a failed attempt at cooking.
After the pizza arrives and we’ve all had our fill, Chase and I head out to do patrol on the pack grounds. He waits for an entire three seconds after we enter the forest until he starts yammering in my head through our pack bond.
“We’re gonna find Blaze and kill him, right?”
“He came by vehicle. His scent ended in the drive,” I tell him as we move through the trees, our ears, eyes, and noses on alert for anything strange.
He growls in frustration, but otherwise remains silent.
My body is full of energy today, and Chase might feel the same as we move at a faster pace than usual.
We run in silence for a while. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy patrolling with Chase’s wolf.
In person, he can sometimes be loud, but his wolf is deadly.
Although he and Hunter share their sense of humor, Chase has more darkness to him. I think he started working out when he was younger so he could better protect his twin, whom he viewed as younger, since Hunter was born five minutes after him.
His protection allowed Hunter to be more gentle and more level-headed. He’s a gifted negotiator and was often the one to calm everyone down and see all sides of a situation. He joins our patrols on occasion, but I think it’s good for the two of them to do some things without one another.
When they first moved in with us, they were practically glued at the hip, and we had trouble telling them apart sometimes. Now I enjoy seeing how they've grown into individuals within our pack. It makes me proud to be a Silverstorm wolf.
We find nothing on the run, and by the time we get back, Hunter has dinner ready for us. Everyone eats with enthusiasm, especially after Gage’s over-cooked chicken at lunch. Red lies by the fire while we watch True Blood until it’s time for bed.
I take Red outside one last time before we head upstairs and find Hunter and Maddox coming out of her room.
“We changed the bedding for you,” Maddox tells her.
Smart. I should have thought of that.
She steps into her room as everyone heads to theirs to get ready for bed. But something about the way Red stares at her bed has me hesitating to leave. I step in behind as I call her name. “Red?”
She doesn’t move, so I step up to her side and touch her head gently. “Red?”
My wolf whines when she still doesn’t respond, her eyes glued to the bed. I step in front of her, blocking her view as I sink to my haunches and grip her face. “Red? Come back to me, angel.”
It’s as if she’s in a daze, and my wolf claws at me to get out. Wait, I tell him as I push him back a little so I can maintain control.
Deciding I need to get her out of there, I scoop her up and carry her down the hall to my room, gently placing her in the middle of my bed. When I step back to look at her, she blinks. I quickly shed my clothes and let my wolf take control as I climb on the bed.
As soon as my wolf takes the reins, we start to nuzzle her, offering our scent to her to help calm her down.
After two minutes, I feel her head start to move, then she rubs her face against my side.
I pull back so I can see her properly, and when I see her bright blue eyes, no longer haunted by her past, I lick her cheek and lower my head as she lowers hers, pressing our foreheads together as we take a moment to breathe.
Eventually, I encourage her to get comfortable, then I curl up around her, making sure her head is tucked into my neck.
It doesn’t take long for the others to find us.
Chase and Hunter in wolf form, curl up around Red as Maddox, in human form, lies beside me, his head on the pillow.
Gage sits in my armchair with his laptop.
I close my eyes and let my wolf bask in the presence of our entire pack.
Although the connection with my brothers is purely platonic, the wolf side of us craves this sort of pack closeness.
Before Red arrived, we never slept in the same room, and I worry about what will happen when we find out who her mate is.
Will we still be able to sleep as a pack?
Because my wolf is convinced we never need to sleep alone again, and after my lonely upbringing, I’m starting to agree with him.