Page 22 of Brandt's Rule

“So, that’s her, huh?”

“Her, who?” Brandt asked.

“Your mate. Why else you think you all off kilter?” Barron asked.

“She’s not my mate. Will not be my mate,” Brandt said.

Barron raised his eyebrows and did an almost perfect impression of his father’s questioning look when he knew something someone else was denying. “I think maybe you might want to reconsider that. I hear life after denying your mate is a bitch.”

“She is not my mate,” Brandt insisted again.

“But I’m pretty sure she is. At the least, she’s affecting you.”

“We don’t even know what her beast is!” Brandt exclaimed.

“Dragon. That much we know. The other… I’m thinking something old and ancient. Something that doesn’t age like we do,” Barron said. “And for the record, my Dad didn’t have a clue what my mother’s beast was for quite a while. Nobody did, and that didn’t stop them from accepting her.”

“I know that,” Brandt said.

“Doesn’t matter. Whether she’s your mate or not, she’s affected you just by being here. If I were you, I’d be looking into it.”

“You should be looking into your own damn mate and figure out why she’s not here, instead of worrying about me and mine.”

Barron’s eyes flashed a second of hurt, then he covered it quickly and shrugged nonchalantly. “Not much to look into. I know who she is. I know where she is, and it’s not here.”

Brandt noticed the hurt he’d caused Barron and instantly felt like crap. “I didn’t mean it that way. You know that. I’m just not myself.”

“We’re gonna pick up around here and head home. You do whatever you need to. Might want to figure out how to stop trying to control shit you can’t control and just roll with it.”

“Barron…”

“Don’t care how strong you are, Brandt, you can’t control those who don’t want to be controlled.”

“And Mav. Nobody can control Mav, except maybe Valerie,” Remi said, as he went off to start picking up for the day.

Brandt remained where he was for a few moments more, gazing out in the direction the two bikes had gone. He turned and began to follow his clan mates toward the work site to pick up their tools and lock everything away for the day.

“Where are you going?” Barron asked, looking back over his shoulder and seeing Brandt following them.

“To help.”

“We got this,” Barron said.

“I’m not leaving it all to y’all.”

“Suit yourself,” Barron said, walking away from Brandt, leaving him to follow or not.

After all their equipment and tools were safely picked up and stored away for the night, everybody walked back toward their vehicles. Brandt was acutely aware of the uncomfortable distance between himself and Barron since he’d made the comment about Barron’s mate.

“Want to throw something on the grill and have a few beers?” Brandt asked the lot of them as they walked to their trucks, hoping to repair the damage he’d done between himself and Barron.

“I have to meet Tempest’s friend for dinner so she doesn’t think she’s been stood up,” Remi said. “Next time?”

“Sure,” Brandt said.

“Jobe?” Brandt asked.

“Got the wife and kids waiting for me,” Jobe answered.

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