Page 21 of Midnight Rain

Duncan jerked his head back, frowning as he stared at Cormac.

Someone gasped behind Cormac, making him look over his shoulder. Except for Austin and Paloma, the entire household stood there, staring wide-eyed at them.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Orion asked. “I thought you two were just…”

“Because I haven’t even told Austin yet.” Cormac forced the snarl out of his tone. As pissed as he was right now, he didn’t want a rematch with Duncan.

“That doesn’t excuse you from snarling at Orion,” Duncan said. “That shit was beyond not cool, and I was ready to kill you.”

“And saying Cormac was taking advantage of Austin wasn’t cool, either,” Orion said. “I was out of place accusing him of that.” Orion looked at Cormac. “I’m really sorry I said that to you. You’re not that type of guy. You have just as much honor as your brothers. I’m just worried about Austin.”

Cormac wanted to tell them about Austin’s situation, but he wanted his mate’s permission first. “Thank you, Orion.”

Duncan growled when Orion hugged Cormac. “I hope this doesn’t change things between us.”

“If you don’t stop hugging me, Duncan is going shift and try to kill me.” Cormac patted Orion’s back.

“We cool?” Orion asked, ignoring Cormac’s warning.

“We’re cool.” Cormac was glad when Orion let him go. They might be family, but Duncan was newly mated, which made him lethal right now.

“I told you!” Milly smiled. “I knew you would find your mate soon, though I had no idea it would happen the same day I said it.” She laughed.

“The mighty Cormac has fallen,” Beckett teased. “Now maybe that stick will fall out of your ass.”

Although Cormac knew his brothers loved him, it always hurt a little when they said things like that to him. It wasn’t as if he wanted to be a major prick. It had been engrained in him for centuries, and he didn’t know why his siblings didn’t see that.

“If any of you breathes a word of this to Austin before I’ve had a chance to tell him, I’ll smother you in your sleep.” He gave them the look that Austin had called his dad look.

“One that I agree with,” Hayden said. “It’s Cormac’s right to tell Austin.”

Bran eyed Hayden. “If you spill the beans to Austin, you can sleep on the couch for a month.”

“Same goes for you, Duncan,” Orion said. “I’ll just give Izel all my attention.”

Izel grinned. “Please have a big mouth, Duncan.”

Duncan flipped Izel off. “Not on your life.”

Everyone filed out of the kitchen, but Cormac grabbed Duncan’s upper arm and stopped him. “We cool?”

His brother’s nostrils flared. “Just don’t ever let that happen again, Cormac. Orion and Izel are my entire goddamn world, and Orion has been through enough without you scaring him.”

“It was never my intention to scare him.” He released Duncan’s arm.

The guy smirked at him. “I hope Austin turns you on your ear. I’ve always said you need to loosen up and have some fun.”

Cormac scowled. “Go play in traffic.”

“There’s the brother I know.” With a chuckle, Duncan walked out.

Cormac grabbed a bottled juice and went to Austin’s room. He wanted to make sure his mate was settling in and wanted to make sure he was okay. It had to be frightening to move into a house full of strangers. Austin was already dealing with a lot, and if Cormac could do anything to make his mate feel more at home, he would.

Austin was leaning on Lila to make him feel better, which told him this situation was scaring him. Cormac wanted to take that fear away, but nothing would until Jaycee finally left Austin alone or Cormac killed the son of a bitch.

He knocked on Austin’s door, wondering if his mate had gone to sleep after the day he’d had.

The door cracked open, and one pale green eye was visible.

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