Chapter Seven
Eli wished he could read Kinley’s thoughts.
She’d pulled back into her protective shell, much like a hermit crab afraid to poke its head out lest it be eaten.
“No one here will hurt you.” He figured if he kept repeating it, she might begin to believe him .
.. or not. She wasn’t a trusting sort. Not that he blamed her.
From everything he’d learned, she had no reason to be.
Freshly showered and dressed, they made their way to the kitchen. All eyes turned in their direction. Spine straight, shoulders squared, and chin tilted up, Kinley looked as though she was going to war, not breakfast.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, his wolf was excited, and so was he.
It was the first time all seven of them had been home at the same time in well over a year.
Success in their business meant their services were in high demand.
Some of them were always out on a job. They never all went at once.
At least two remained at all times, keeping an eye on the homestead and tracking the brothers in the field, on the off chance something went wrong and they needed backup.
Relief and a sense of belonging settled over him. He’d needed them and his brothers had come. Whatever happened, they’d handle it together.
“Eli.” Slightly shorter, but broader across the shoulders, Josiah dragged him into a rib-crushing hug. “Good to see you, man.”
Kinley had positioned herself with her back against the wall and everyone in full view. It was a defensive posture. For as glad as he was to see his brothers, it added another layer of fear for her. First step was introductions.
“Kinley, this is Josiah.” She gave him a nod of greeting. Deciding to get it all over with at once, he canted his head toward the kitchen. “The one cooking breakfast is Noah.”
It was no surprise that Noah was manning the stove. Out of all of them, he loved food the most, and was one hell of a cook, constantly trying new recipes and whipping up mass quantities of deliciousness to keep them all fed. Noah waved a spatula in their general direction.
“The one slouched at the table is Silas.” His youngest brother grinned and offered a mock salute. “And you already know Cyrus, Zach, and Levi.” They were helping Noah in the kitchen.
Rather than put her at ease, the introductions increased her uneasiness. It couldn’t be comfortable for her to be around seven unfamiliar wolves.
“Thank you for having me in your home.” The formality made his brothers frown, except for Silas who kept right on grinning.
He expected Cyrus to say something about not having a choice, but his brother held his tongue, for which Eli was grateful.
“Has to be overwhelming to have us all together like this.” Levi pulled out a chair and offered it to her.
“We are the Seven Deadly Sins,” Silas quipped.
Eli took the chair beside her before Levi could park his ass there.
Kinley shoved her thick auburn hair over her shoulder and tugged at the hem of clean blue shirt he’d dug out of the back of the closet for her.
“You say that like there’s a deeper meaning than there being seven of you and having the last name Sin. ”
“Eli hasn’t told you?” Silas straightened in his seat.
“Told me what?”
There was no getting around it. Eli only hoped it didn’t freak her out more than she already was.
Outwardly she appeared calm, but her composure was hanging by a thread.
Tension radiated from every pore of her body.
This close, the scent of her fear burned his nostrils.
“The seven deadly sins are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth.”
“I’m familiar with them.” Her eyebrows pulled together forming creases on her forehead. “What does that have to do with you?”
Cyrus ambled over and took his normal seat at the head of the table. “Our daddy used to say they might be sins, but they could also be strengths.”
Kinley shook her head. “I’m totally confused.”
Eli took her hand, surprised at how cold it was. “Pride is a sin, but the flipside is confidence, leadership.” He pointed at Cyrus. “That’s big brother. Next up is greed.”
Josiah raised his hand. “That’s me. I’m the moneyman. I handle the finances for the family.”
“I’m justice and punishment, the positive side of wrath.” Eli brushed his lips over her knuckles.
“It’s fitting you found Eli and not one of us,” Cyrus pointed out. “He’s an arbiter of righteousness.”
“I’m envy,” Zach offered. “Rather than coveting what others have, I go out and get whatever we need—information, tech, supplies. You name it, I find it.”
“And you’ve met Levi.” Eli pointed at his brother. “Care to guess which sin is his?”
A tiny smile played at the corners of her mouth. “Lust.” All of them laughed.
“She’s got your number, Levi.” The tightness began to ease from Eli’s chest. “He’s the adventurer and the ladies’ man. The thing is, he genuinely likes women. Young, old, and in-between, they all love him. It’s surprising how much information he can get simply by asking.”
“Don’t pay them any mind, Kinley,” Levi told her. “I have skills the rest of them can only dream about.”
A bemused expression crossed her face. “Unbelievable.” She shook her head. “That leaves gluttony, a love of food and cooking. I guess that’s Noah.”
He pointed his spatula at her. “Correct.”
Arms crossed over his chest, Silas slouched in his chair. “I was born last, so I’m stuck with sloth. I prefer easygoing. Why work harder when you can work smarter?”
“If there’s an easier way to do something, Silas will find it.” Eli released her hand, sat back, and let her take it all in. “I’m not sure how much your friend’s contact told you about me.”
“Nothing other than that you were a paid mercenary, which wasn’t quite right, was it?”
Cyrus rapped his knuckles on the table. “He wasn’t wrong. That’s what we do, it’s who we are. Fugitive apprehension, tracking, abduction rescue and retrieval, bodyguard, we do it all and then some ... if the price is right.”
What little color had been in her face drained away. Eli clenched his fits and glared at Cyrus. He was purposely trying to scare her when Eli was trying to get her to trust him.
“So, what you’re saying is if my uncle’s price is right, you’ll hand me over to him.”
****
Eli might be willing to protect her, but Cyrus made no bones about the fact he viewed her as a threat to his family. He wasn’t wrong. Everything they’d built here, their very lives were in jeopardy as long as she remained.
“No, that’s not what he’s saying,” Eli insisted. He pointed at his brother. “Tell her.”
Cyrus huffed out a breath. “I said she was safe here.”
“She is sitting right here, and she dislikes being talked about as if she wasn’t.” Her position might be precarious, but she was no pushover.
“Burn.” Levi chuckled and shook his hand as if it was on fire and he was trying to douse the flames. “Don’t mind Cyrus. He’ll bluster and bellow, but underneath it all he’s a teddy bear.”
“Levi.” The warning was clear. Yeah, Cyrus might show a softer side to his brothers, but she wasn’t related to him.
There was only one solution she could see that might fix this where they’d both win.
Or rather, the Sin brothers would win and she’d still be free.
“Call Uncle Duke. Explain there was a misunderstanding and that I took off when we stopped on the way here. I’ll leave and you can forget we ever met.
” The bottom dropped out of her stomach at the reality of being alone and on the run, but it was the best option for all of them.
“No.” Eli’s jaw was rigid, his hands fisted on his thighs. “You know what will happen when Holden and his buddies find you.”
“You’re assuming they will.” Considering her limited resources, they’d eventually catch up with her unless she left the country.
“They definitely know where to find me as long as I’m here.
If they tracked Cyrus from the beginning, I guarantee they know where he lives.
Uncle Duke would make it a point to know.
” Even now there could be wolves from her former pack on their way to Kentucky.
“I’ll go back to my original plan and hire a mercenary to get me out of the States.
Once I have a new ID, I’ll be fine.” And all alone in a foreign land surrounded by strangers.
For a wolf, a pack animal at heart, it was a chilling thought, but better than the alternative.
“Then what?” Accusation blistered in his eyes. “Live among humans? You can’t hook up with another pack. What if they’re worse than the one you’re running from? There’s also the risk they’d send you back to your uncle.”
It wasn’t anything she hadn’t considered.
It was a chance she had to take. “I don’t have a choice.
” There it was—the bleak truth. “I don’t have a choice,” she repeated.
Although resistant at the start, Eli had tried to help her.
If not for him, she’d likely already be back in Alabama.
“Thank you for everything.” She met Cyrus’s gaze, reading his determination to protect his brothers.
While it put her in a tenuous position, she respected him for it.
Still, there was a favor she was hoping he’d grant.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d give me a few hours head start before you call my uncle. ” She pushed back her chair.
Eli grabbed her hand. “You’re not leaving.”
Eli.” She swallowed heavily. Her wolf whined inside her, not wanting to leave anymore than Kinley did. There was something between them, something they’d never have the opportunity to fully explore. It was yet another example of the unfairness of her life. “You have to let me go.”