19
HUNTER
As soon as Robert climbs into my truck, I speed off. He fastens his seatbelt and rests back as the engine revs and the tires spit up leaves and gravel in our wake.
“You gonna drive like you have a death wish?” he asks calmly. For whatever reason, when traits were being handed out between us, Robert took all the patience and left me with all the frustration. Not for the first time in my life, I resent the intensity of feeling that comes with being the alpha.
“I’m gonna drive like we have somewhere to get to,” I say. “An urgent errand for our mate.”
“You could just call her Goldie. It is her name.”
I turn to him, grimacing. There’s never been a time where I’ve felt more at odds with my brother. Why did it have to happen now and over something so important?
I grit my jaw as all the angry, vitriolic things I could shout at him pound through my head. The disappointment I feel about this situation is a boiling furnace in my gut.
We’ve been waiting for so long, and this is how our mate comes into our lives? I don’t understand why.
All the stories we’ve been told about the generations who’ve gone before are worth being told. Our parents met by chance at a crossroads. They were supposed to pass each other and head in different directions, but they ended up walking together, and from that day on, they were always side by side. Our father’s parents met at a bakery. He was in search of apple cake, something his momma used to make for him before she passed away. His mate was working behind the counter, and her baking specialty was apple cake, just the way he liked it. Our momma’s parents met when our grandfather passed a woman whose bag had split open. Her groceries were scattered across the sidewalk, and our grandfather stopped his car to help her. The rest was history.
And what do I get? A mate who’s fixated on my brother and hates me. A brother who thinks it’s okay to fuck our mate alone.
I feel like our destiny is spoiled. It feels like everything I was promised has been stolen. And I don’t understand how Evan is so cool about it. He’s as on the outside as me, but he’s as placid as a lamb. Happy to take the time to woo our mate while our brother has her in his bed.
I’m losing my mind.
“The wolves are behind this,” Robert says. His fingers tap his knee as he tries to change the subject. Maybe it’s a good thing to focus elsewhere. I have nothing to add to what I said in front of Goldie. I’ve made my feelings perfectly clear.
“They are. ”
“How did they find out about her?”
“The bar,” I say. “It’s the only place they saw us together.”
“The supermarket?”
“I would have smelled their stink if they were browsing for groceries at the same time as us.”
Robert snorts. The wolves must have hidden themselves downwind of the bar. They follow us sometimes, like we follow them. It’s a stupid game, but the rivalry is too deeply embedded to alter.
“So, they’re trying to flush her out by destroying her business?”
“Or acting with their usual level of immaturity.”
“War is ugly from both sides.”
Robert’s right. I’d rather not be forced to live at odds with others. It’s tiring and fruitless, but I’ll do what needs to be done for the sake of my family.
“Retaliation is necessary.”
Robert groans, running his hand over his face. “All I want to do is concentrate on Goldie. We need time to settle. We have to do what it takes to make her happy.”
“What about our happiness?”
He stares at me, his eyes studying my profile. I can feel his attention. “Those two things are linked.”
Stating the obvious! I’m just being an irritable asshole because I can be. Mostly, I’m just impatient. I want to start living our future, not lingering in a present where our mate is still a separate entity.
“So, what makes her happy will make us happy.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
“Then deal with it.”
I scowl, hating that my brother’s right. I flick on the radio and suffer through whatever music is playing, desperate for a distraction. When we reach Main Street and Goldie’s store, we come face to face with the reality of our war and the impact it’s had on our mate. There’s nothing left. It’s a charred shell. The keys Robert has stuffed into his pocket are pointless. There isn’t a door, let alone a lock.
The ground is still wet from the hoses, and the front has been taped up by the police. It’s open to the elements, although there’s not much left for the elements to destroy.
“Jesus,” Robert says, shaking his head. “They went to town.”
“I’m going to destroy them for this,” I growl. My hands tingle, itching to change. My throat is tight, craving the rumbling growl I make as a bear. My teeth ache to bite. Revenge is a sharp taste on the tip of my tongue.
“We need to take a closer look,” Robert says. “And maybe board it up. Make sure we’re not missing anything.”
“Okay,” I say. “Let’s do it. And then we should call Evan. Maybe he can soften the blow.” Our brother is good at many things, and making people feel better is at the top of his attributes. I missed out on those qualities, too.
I pull up to the curb and put the car into park. We both look around, cautious that this could be a trap. It’s been a long time since we’ve fought in plain sight. The risk of exposure is too great for wolves and bears alike, but this situation is new. The wait for our mates has been long, and ours arriving first is the catalyst for the escalation. The local wolves are waiting, and their extended clan is gathering. I don’t want to call outsiders to swell our numbers. Risking an all-out war won’t just result in more property destruction. We’ve waited too long to die before we get to fulfill our destiny.