Chapter 15
“Good boy.” Will ruffled Barney’s ears and took hold of the stick. He tugged a little, but it was firmly latched in the dog’s teeth. “You have to let go of it if you want me to throw it again.”
Barney lowered his front end and wiggled his butt in the air, growling playfully.
“I’m not going to wrestle you for it,” Will warned.
He’d come out to the beach to think, not to enjoy himself, and he’d thought some time with Barney would be a good cover for that.
He really missed his dog while he was out at sea, even if Barney truly had a much better life there with Carol and the rest of the clan versus living on the boat.
He was enjoying himself much more than he’d planned, though.
The dog kept a firm hold on the stick, watching Will’s hands as he tried once again to grab it. He leaped backward, enticing his human to come along with him.
“Fine!” Will took off after the dog, racing down the beach. He didn’t even need to go full speed, and he could tell that Barney wasn’t, either.
Barney’s ears flapped as he bounded along, and he kept looking over his shoulder to make sure Will was following him. The little scamp wanted to be caught!
Will finally overtook him, grabbing his shoulders just enough to make Barney turn around. The dog dropped the stick, and Will seized it. He scooped it out of the sand and threw it back down the way they’d come.
As he watched it arc through the air, his mind instantly returned to the real reason he was there.
Will had been cooped up on the boat with his thoughts long enough.
After playing the jerk up in Julie’s room the night before, he’d retreated with the idea that he’d wait it out until she left and everything blew over.
But, of course, this wasn’t the middle of Boston.
Julie couldn’t just hail a cab and be on her way.
She was subjected to the ferry—if it was even running at the moment—and the kindness of Dylan and Stacey.
They were great people and would probably do anything for her, but she’d never ask them to whisk her away in the middle of the night.
Now, he waited anxiously for a sign that she’d gone.
Chasing her away was only the first part of his plan, and he needed to organize the rest of it.
Even if Julie was out of harm’s way, Will still had to figure out how to deal with the Malones.
Unable to help himself, he glanced up at her bedroom window.
Was she still up there? How big of a dick did she think he was? When would she leave?
“I know what you’re doing.”
Will turned, surprised to see Dylan coming down the beach toward him.
Usually much more aware of his surroundings, he should’ve sensed him as soon as he stepped out of the house.
He bent down as Barney raced up to his feet.
“You do? Congratulations. I thought I was really being sneaky out here, but you’ve caught me. I’m playing with my dog.”
Dylan put his hands on his hips. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Did you know you have a remarkable resemblance to Dad when you talk like that?” Will retorted.
“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Dylan cracked back. “Seriously, though. We need to talk.”
“Fine.” Barney was willing to give up the stick this time, so Will once again hurled it through the air. “I’ll talk, but only if you’re going to be helpful.”
“That’s usually my goal.”
Dylan was so damn altruistic. It could be annoying, but Will knew now that it made him perfect for the position of Alpha.
Regardless of who was originally slated to be born first, fate had stepped in and made things work out the way they were supposed to.
Now, if only fate would be a little kinder to Will when it came to his mate.
“All right,” Will began. “I still haven’t figured out what to do about the Malones.
I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, wondering when they’re going to rear their ugly heads.
Granted, I’m only in Truro a few times a year, but now that they know I come back, they’ll be on the lookout.
I’m sure they’d love it if I weighed anchor and shoved off, but at this point, I don’t think that’s enough to satisfy them.
I won’t be able to forgive myself if they come after the clan. ”
Deep lines formed in Dylan’s forehead as he regarded his brother. “The Malones aren’t my primary concern at the moment.”
“Hey, I know they’re not a big clan.” Will coaxed the stick out of Barney’s grip once again.
He didn’t know how the dog had so much energy but was glad to have something to do while they talked.
“Hell, the Malones probably aren’t even that powerful.
I saw their clanhouse, and Tony told me his father had passed.
It sounds like they’ve really fallen apart over the last twenty years or so, and they’re happy to pin the blame on me. That means you, by proxy.”
“I’m not—Wait. You went to their clanhouse?” Dylan asked.
Well, he was only going to hide that for so long. “I tried to talk to them. You should be proud of me for attempting to reason with the enemy. I mean, it didn’t work, but I tried.”
Those lines in Dylan’s forehead got even more pronounced. “Is that where you went when you borrowed the car? What did you say to them?”
“I tried to make it better,” Will reasoned.
“Don’t give me that Dad look again. I know you’re the Alpha, and you want all this kind of stuff to go through you.
Diplomacy and all that. I get it. But trust me, man, there’s just no reasoning with them.
I offered them an apology. A real one. I offered to help them get jobs with the company I work for.
They didn’t want to hear any of it. They only wanted revenge. ”
“That’s what I actually came out here to talk to you about,” Dylan said. “I take it they want revenge by coming after Julie.”
Barney had returned the stick, but Will held it limply at his side. “What makes you think that?”
“Come on, man,” Dylan sighed. “Julie says she’s leaving after a rather nasty rejection from you.
I saw those puppy dog eyes you were making at her and how much effort you were putting into that relationship.
That’s not the kind of thing Will Brigham does for just any woman.
She means something to you. Then, there’s the fact that the Malones have seen you out with her twice now,” Dylan continued.
“You had to bring Julie home and pour her into bed after she saw them shift because it scared her so badly. Suddenly, you turn around and say you don’t want her?
It doesn’t take much to put two and two together here.
You’re chasing her away because you don’t want the Malones to come after her. ”
Anger and frustration rose in Will. He was ready to take it out on his twin, but he knew this wasn’t Dylan’s fault.
“So what if I am? Isn’t that the best thing?
It’s not like we can risk having a human…
” He faltered, not wanting to finish that sentence and be forced to think about what the Malones would do to Julie if they had the chance.
“Dude.” Dylan stepped closer and laid his hand on Will’s shoulder. “I’m telling you this as your brother, not your Alpha. Things with Julie are complicated, and I’m not saying any of it will be easy. But trust me. You need to get back in there and tell her what’s happening before it’s too late.”
“Shit.” A noise had caught Will’s attention, and he turned to look toward the water. “It’s already too late.”
“The Malones,” Dylan growled. He rolled up his sleeves and put his hands on his hips, standing his ground.
“Give me one more chance to handle this,” Will pleaded. His bear was angry and ready to fight, but it was also terrified of just what might happen to his family now. The Malones were scrappy and downtrodden, but he knew what a motivator that could be. “I’ve got to try to make this right.”
The tendons in Dylan’s neck rolled as he tightened his jaw. “You can give it a shot.”
Tony, Dan, and Aaron were swimming in, and they strode up onto the beach with confidence. Their clanmates were hot on their heels, and Will was glad that Dylan had his back as he approached their Alpha. “Tony, I’d like to have a word with you before this gets too far out of hand.”
“Fuck off,” Tony snarled, stepping up to Will and getting in his face. “I’ve had enough of you trying to dance around this, thinking you can just shrug it off and everything will be fine.”
“I may have been like that in the past, but that’s not who I am now.
” Will pushed back the angry words that wanted to come flying out of his throat.
Who was this jackass to tell him who he was and how he felt?
“I know you’re angry with me, and you have every right to be, but this doesn’t need to go any further. ”
“Fine. You don’t want it to go any further? Then just bring the human out here, and we’ll call it done.” Tony’s dark eyes challenged him.
Will’s bear roared to life, and he felt the fur emerging on the back of his neck. “You know I’m not doing that.”
Tony puffed out his chest. “Then I guess you’re ready to fight. That’s fine. I’ll take you down, and then I’ll take your human, and then I’ll take the rest of your clan.”
Dylan stepped forward. “There’s no reason it has to be like this, Tony. You and I are both Alphas, and there’s a reason we have these positions. Let’s talk.”
“What the fuck is it with you Brighams and all your talking?” the oldest Malone roared. “There’s nothing to talk about. You know what I want. It’s time for Will to pay for the damage he caused. You shouldn’t even bother getting involved.”