Page 73 of Ruined Wolfsbane

My oldest brother doesn’t waste any more time standing in the parking lot. He jogs back to Wyldhart Hall, and we all follow like little lost ducklings.

We pile into Kai’s office.

“I’m so sorry,” Rory sobs from her twin’s arms. “This is all my fault.”

“Ror, this is in no way your fault.” Kai’s voice is gentle as he tries to reassure our little cousin. He wraps her up in a hug, and her sniffles quiet. “Patrick would have grabbed her some other time if he didn’t take her today.” By the time Kai steps away, Rory looks more like her normal, albeit not as bubbly, self.

Rubbing his hands over his face, Kai blows out a harsh breath. He pulls out his phone to call our dad and puts in on speaker so we can all hear the conversation. We crowd around Kai’s phone, anxious to know what my dad will say.

“Son!” my father’s jovial voice booms from the phone. His deep baritone is what you’d expect from such a massive man. He’s as tall as Kai, but he probably has an extra thirty pounds in muscle. “How are you?”

“Not good, Dad. We need help.” Kai hangs his head in shame. As the next alpha, he holds himself responsible for the well-being of everyone he considers pack. That now includes Briar.

“What’s going on, Kai?” Dad asks. The joy from earlier is replaced with worry as he waits for Kai to fill him in.

“We met our mate,” Kai starts.

“That’s great news!” my dad interrupts enthusiastically. “Who is it? Do we know her? Abbie! Come over here. The boys have found their mate!”

My mom squeals in the background. “Is that true, Kai? When can we meet her? Oh my gosh, this is the best news I’ve heard in years!”

A grin tugs at my mouth hearing how happy my mom is. She deserves all the happiness in the world after having to deal with my sorry ass for so long.

She and my dad make an interesting couple. Where he’s a massive mountain of a man, she’s comically tiny in comparison. My mom stands at barely five feet tall. With her blonde hair, green eyes, and delicate features, she looks almost like a doll.

“Yeah, Mom, it’s true,” Kai says in exasperation. He’s smiling slightly at our mom’s exuberance. “Her name’s Briar Wylder.”

There’s a beat of silence before my mom shrieks in pure joy. “You’re not pulling my leg, baby? Briar’s your mate?” My mom sounds like she already knows Briar, but that can’t be right. Briar has no idea about wolves or our world. She’s also terrified of Dad.

“I’m not pulling your leg, Mom. We didn’t call you just to tell you about our mate. She’s in trouble.” Kai winces as he bursts my mom’s bubble. What should be a happy call is ruined by the possibility of Briar being hurt.

I scoff internally. It’s more like an inevitability than a possibility. I’m looking forward to making Patrick suffer before I kill him for everything he’s done to Briar.

“What happened? Is Briar injured?” Dad asks frantically. He seems to care an awful lot about some chick he’s never met. That could be explained by her being our mate, but my spidey senses are tingling. Something doesn’t add up here.

“I don’t know if she’s okay,” Kai says, voice breaking on the last word, which is so unlike him. Kai rarely shows weakness in front of anyone. If anyone can bring my imposing big brother to his knees, it’s Briar. “Her stepfather kidnapped her.”

“Patrick took her? Why?”

“We don’t know why,” I answer for Kai, who seems to be having trouble with his wolf. His eyes are flashing amber, and he’s so focused on controlling his beast that he misses the question. When I speak, he’s able to snap out of it. “But he’s been beating her for probably a long time.”

“What!” Dad shouts. “No! No, that can’t be true.”

“It is, Dad,” Kai insists, his eyes flicking between sapphire and amber. “We saw the evidence of it just last week. She was covered head to toe in bruises, had multiple broken bones, and a cut the required stitches. From the way she flinches at loud voices or sudden movements, this isn’t a new thing.”

“How did we miss this, Abbie?” Dad whispers to Mom. I hear him sit down heavily, letting out a long breath that crackles across the speakers.

“I don’t know, Vale. We shouldn’t have stayed away! Or we should have checked with her before we did.” My mom sounds so sad and small and fragile. She’s such a force of nature usually. It’s kinda a requirement with her being bonded to the alpha. It feels so wrong hearing her like this.

“Do you know Briar?” Kai asks the question that’s been knocking around in my head.

“We do, son.” I can picture my dad running his hands through his close-cropped beard. It’s his signature move when he’s frustrated, thinking, exasperated, or any emotion really.

“How?” Kai presses, like a dog with a bone. Ha, get it? ’Cause he’s basically an overgrown husky.

“That’s a long story,” Dad replies with a sigh, “one we don’t have time for right now. What makes you think Patrick took her? And how long ago did this happen?”

“She never showed up to my class. We found her folder in the student lot, and Bastian scented Patrick on it. It’s been almost two hours since he took her.” Xander delivers the information evenly, but I can see the war raging in his eyes. My twin is beating himself up for Briar’s disappearance. He always thinks everything’s his fault. Xander has taken responsibility for Father Simon’s actions, my self-destructive spiral, Kai staggering under the weight of everyone’s expectations, and now this.

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