Page 35 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

‘Don’t move,’I instructed to the patrol, and Coyo walked over to the nearest tree with bags of clothes. She receded and I grabbed one of the shirts, pulled it on and walked back over to stand in front of my patrol, facing the rogues.

“What are you doing? Why do you keep trying to cross our borders?” I asked.

Some of the rogues took a few steps back, uncertain.

“Will one of you shift and talk to me?” I called out.

The wolves appeared to talk to each other through grunts and whimpers. One of them finally took a step forward, and my heart raced, thinking I might finally get some answers. But then growling sounded from behind me. A large dark brindle wolf, almost all black, jumped over everyone, standing protectively in front of me and snarling viciously at the rogues.

“Wait!” I called out when the rogues ran away, but they didn’t turn around. The dark brindle wolf turned to look at me, confusion in its crystal blue eyes. “Cade?” I asked it, but by the way Coyo was reacting to his wolf, I didn’t need the nod he gave me to confirm it.

I walked over to the tree and grabbed a pair of shorts. Cade took the hint and shifted back. It took all of my self-restraint not to follow the muscles down to the promised land.

“What’s going on, Bells?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to figure out, but you came in barging like a brute and they ran away.” The words came out harsher than I meant them, and I saw the hurt flash past his eyes before his jaw tightened.

“I was trying to protect you,” he seethed.

“If I needed help, I would’ve asked for it. What I needed was answers and you stopped me from being able to get them.”

“Asked for it? Did you learn how to ask for help in the last ten years? Because as far as I remember, you were too stubborn to ever ask anyone for anything.”

"I’ve made it twenty-seven years without yours,” I spat back.

“You’re right, Luna Bellarose. My apologies.” Cade gave a deep bow and turned to his pack. “Let’s head back. We’ve got to get to work.” He addressed the wolves that came with him before he shifted to his wolf and took off, his pack following behind.

I stood there, looking at the spot Cade just vacated, wondering how the hell I managed to fuck that up so quickly. Not findingany answers, I turned to the patrol to see them waiting for instructions.

“Get back to your patrol. Let me know if they come back.”

I returned the reigns to Coyo as I continued to replay our interactions. Cade and I never had the closest relationship. I was always annoyed by the way he treated me like the little sister while he was thick as thieves with Cory. He liked pushing my buttons and getting under my skin. Despite that, he was friendly and protective. Cade was a kind man, and I just took all of my frustrations out on him. I was so close though... so close to having answers.

I arrived back at the pack house and retrieved a frightened Adam. After I reassured him and Violet that everything was okay, I dropped him off at daycare and went to join the harvest. I was surprised to see both Cade and John working the fields. When they saw me approaching, though, Cade turned away, but not before I noticed his jaw ticking again. John shot me a quick smile, letting me know he wasn’t as mad as Cade. Not wanting to make matters worse, I walked to the opposite end of the area we were processing this morning and got to work.

Chapter Eight

Violet

After Bells came for Adam and assured me the threat of rogues was gone, Chris decided to stay with me in the Luna office.

At first it was awkward. I tried to work while he was sitting rigidly on the chair, but it was so distracting. So, then I made him go get a tablet, phone or book— anything. I needed him to relax a little before I ended up with more anxiety than I started.

With his usual grunt, he left the office, only to return with a freaking newspaper and a book of crossword puzzles.

I said nothing and tried to get back to work, but as I heard the sound of the pages of the newspaper flipping, an image of Chris wearing glasses, peppered hair, a cardigan and a pipe flashed into my head and I burst into giggles.

He startled slightly at the sound, and I guess it was pretty weird for me to giggle randomly into the silent room. When he saw me in stitches, he raised an eyebrow in question, only sending me into another fit of giggles.

“I’m sorry,” I tried to say before the giggles overtook me again. “It’s ju-just. You behave like such a grumpy old man, and I just imagined you like one.”

“I’m not an old man,” he grumbled.

“No, but you act like one.”

“I don’t,” he huffed, before picking up the newspaper again.

I tried to smother the giggles, but they came out as smothered snorts instead. He put the newspaper down and stared at me with an annoyed look on his face. It was a change from his usual stoic face or tight smile, but his grumpy look only confirmed my assessment and fueled my laughter.

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