Chapter 9
Ethan
The look on Millie’s face was a mix of surprise and confusion.
“I didn’t know you had a brother,” she spoke, her hand reaching out and softly touching my arm.
I didn’t talk about Logan much. He was older than me and had never lived at Cascia House.
Not that Laurence hadn’t offered him a place to stay.
Of course he had. But Logan hated the very idea of the group home and ran away every chance he got.
After a while, Laurence stopped looking for him.
There’s only so much you can do to keep someone in your life.
If they don’t want to be there, you can’t trap them or force them to stay, especially not a ware.
Laurence liked to say he was the one boy he could never reach.
I liked to say my brother was an asshole. But, hey, potato, potato. Right?
“He’s my older brother,” I coldly explained.
“He was seventeen when my parents died, and he hated the idea of living at the group home. No matter how much Laurence tried to welcome him in, attempted to bring him into the fold, my brother rejected the help. Eventually, he disappeared into the Alaskan wilderness and I didn’t see him for over a decade. ”
“That’s terrible,” Millie sympathized, as I threaded my fingers through hers.
“It was. Growing up, I’d idolized my older brother. When my parents died, he was all the family I had left. Then he disappeared without so much as a goodbye, and it felt like I was grieving their loss all over again.”
Millie’s beautiful blue eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Ethan. That must have been just awful for you. Were you ever able to ask him why he left?”
I shrugged. “By the time I saw him again, it no longer mattered. The damage had been done, and I’d stopped caring. Laurence had filled the void Logan had left behind.”
Millie bit her bottom lip in a clear attempt to keep her thoughts to herself. “Thank you for sharing that with me, Ethan. I know it must have been hard.”
Though she may be young, Millie, like all of us in my strange not-a-pack, was no stranger to loss.
In her short years, she’d mourned both her parents’ deaths and had to pick up the pieces of her shattered life without any other support.
Of course, I’d always been there, but I’d stayed in the shadows, watching over her from afar.
Millie hadn’t known about my involvement.
She’d been unaware that I’d been in charge of her estate before she’d turned eighteen.
Calvin had tasked me in his will with her safekeeping in the event of his passing.
I couldn’t make myself visible in Millie’s life because we’d feared it would draw the wrong kind of attention to her with other shifters.
So, painful as it might have been, I’d watched from a distance.
But Calvin had always worried about the Tupilaq pack catching wind of her existence one day, a nagging fear he’d held since she was born. Millie’s father had foreseen the pack would try to take her back to Alaska to add to their “brood” of omegas. Now, that was my fear as well.
When we pulled up to the cabin, I could see that the living room lights were all on.
That must mean everyone had arrived. Everyone but Logan.
Hell, calling him had been a long shot at best. I don’t even know why I’d bothered.
He’d never been there for me in the past. Why would I expect that to change when it concerned my mate?
Coming through the front door took me back to another time and place. The lively hustle and bustle of the men inside reminded me of my days at Cascia House, a home that had hosted both the best and worst memories of my formative years.
The minute we stepped into the house, Flint tossed me a beer and I caught it in my outstretched hand.
When Millie said, “I’ll have one too,” the asshole shook his head.
“I don’t think so, jail bate. You’re under twenty-one. What kind of man would I be to corrupt a minor,” he teased with a shit eating grin on his face. “I’ll leave that up to Ethan!”
“Flint,” I growled, not in the mood for this shit. Handing Millie the beer, I caught another two seconds later, this one from Stark. “Thanks,” I said, shutting the door behind me and driving the bolt lock into place.
The house might be electronically controlled, but I still enjoyed good old-fashioned locks as a back-up in case the first line of defense ever failed.
“It’s good to see you, Ethan,” Stark spoke, bobbing his head in Millie’s direction. “You too, Millie. I knew your dad. He was a great guy.”
I think that was more words than I’d ever heard Stark say in a row. Of course, Flint had to be an asshole and mention that fact out loud.
“He can speak! It’s a miracle!” He shouted, as he opened a fresh bottle of beer.
Great, just what this tense situation needed: copious amounts of alcohol. It took a lot to get a ware drunk, but it could be done. Flint, it would seem, was willing to give it a try. I could see a few empties already scattered around him and knew this was going to be a long night.
“I can speak, jack-off. I just don’t have anything to say to you,” Stark shot back.
“Jack-off! Wow, that burns. It really does. Next, you’ll be calling me a jerk-face, and I’ll just have to cry myself to sleep,” Flint jabbed right back.
Colt came forward then, his tanned face sparkling with open affection. “So this is our new sister. It’s so good to meet you, Millie. I’m Colt.”
As was his fashion, Colt approached my mate with true warmth and affection. Gathering her into his arms, he gave her a loving embrace like he’d known her his whole life.
His genuine nature immediately won my mate over and she mirrored his all-encompassing hug. With anyone else, I would have growled. With Colt, the interaction just made me smile. I’d missed the son-of-a-bitch. Even under terrible circumstances such as these, I was grateful to have him around.
“Glad you could make it Colt,” I stated earnestly as my brother turned to me and treated me to his signature bear hug.
Colt grinned. “When my brother calls, I come. No questions asked.”
That statement would have been corny from just about anyone else. From Colt, it was heartfelt. “Same, brother.”
Moving into the living room, we all took seats and Colt and Stark told us about their flights into Montana.
“Gavin isn’t here yet?” I asked, after checking my phone to see if he’d texted that he was going to be late after work.
Flint chuckled. “He is. He ran upstairs when he saw your headlights pull into the driveway. Seems he’s still really embarrassed about the “incident” when he first met Millie.”
His air quotes weren’t amusing. “Knock it off, Flint,” I cautioned him, not liking where this was going.
In fact, I could feel Millie tense beside me as soon as he’d mentioned it. Draping my arm around her, I snuggled her close into the crook of my arm, and gave her a reassuring kiss on the top of her head.
“What incident?” Colt asked, bottle poised at his lips as he awaited an answer.
“Before Ethan claimed Millie, he nearly broke down the shower door trying to get at her. The kid’s a little unpolished when it comes to the ladies,” Flint crudely stated, as he killed yet another beer.
Flint was an asshole on a good day. After a handful of beers, he didn’t improve any.
“The boy’s never been around a female ware before,” I explained.
“His adjustment away from Cascia House has been hard. I’m trying to help him with that, but after how he acted around Millie, I thought it best that he stay in my apartment in the city until we could work things out. They haven’t come into contact since.”
“Yeah, I’m sure those few days away in a swanky apartment have really taught him a lesson he’ll never forget,” Flint quipped, as he popped open yet another beer.
Colt slapped Flint upside the head. He was one of the only people who could get away with that. “Shut it, man. I seem to recall a time when you could barely contain yourself around human females, let alone an omega. Don’t make an already tough situation worse.”
“While it’s true that I’ve always had a love for the ladies, I can’t say I ever broke down a door in pursuit of one,” Flint countered, rubbing his head where his brother had struck him.
“Well, while I don’t condone what he did,” Colt stated directly to Millie, “I think it’s important he doesn’t hide from it. I’m going to go and talk to him. If it’s okay with you, Millie, I’m going to ask him to come downstairs and join us.”
My mate swallowed hard, but nodded. “I think that’s for the best. If we’re all going to be staying together, we have to acknowledge and deal with what happened.”
My heart swelled at her magnanimous response. I loved this woman beyond all reason. And, as soon as she was ready to hear it, I’d tell her as much.
“I’ll be here if you feel uncomfortable,” I whispered into her ear.
Colt jogged off upstairs to speak with Gavin and Flint flopped down onto the couch beside Stark. “So, how’s work going? Kill anyone interesting lately?”
Stark let out an irritated sigh. “I see things haven’t changed much since I left.”
With Colt upstairs, it was my job to act as a buffer between the two fractious wares. “Are you still doing private security, Stark?”
“I am,” my quiet brother answered, kind of killing any further conversation on the subject.
“Fascinating,” Flint said, rubbing his chin. “With such a smooth tongue, brother, I’m sure you have to beat the ladies off with a stick.”
Damn, Flint was in a mood tonight. I was going to have to get down to the bottom of his issue with Stark or else none of us were going to have any peace over the coming days.
“Flint, why don’t you go get some wood for the fire. Millie’s cold,” I told him, when I felt my mate shiver in my arms.
“Why don’t you go and get the wood, and I’ll keep Millie warm?” He countered, giving my mate a lazy grin.
I didn’t respond, only quietly stared at him. After a moment, Flint rolled his eyes and said, “Fine! I’ll get the wood.”