Page 19 of The Healer

Rhys frowned. Responsibility had dampened his spirits, but he hadn’t realized how bad it was. “I’ll try.” That was all he could promise.

“Good. Jase is packing your bag, and you can check it before you leave, grumpy.”

At his childhood nickname, Rhys grinned. “I will check.” He ended the call with his heart lighter than it had been in months.

Jase and Noah waited on the lawn with Rhys’s bag in hand. Both males beamed with restrained energy, looking like eager teenagers whose parents were going away for the weekend.

Rhys stopped beside them and slid his window down. “Why do I feel as if my lodge will be covered with toilet paper, my rugs stained with something sticky, and a police report pinned to my door?”

Jase chuckled. “Very funny.” He popped the trunk and tossed in the bag.

Rhys winced and put the SUV in park before darting around to unzip the bag. Jeans, T-shirts, socks, toiletries, his phone charger, and a roll of cash were thrown in haphazardly.

Grinning, he slapped Jase on the shoulder. Stress drained from Rhys’s body, and his blood bubbled with excitement. In three hours, he would be sipping a beer with his brother. He waved out the window as he drove off, picking something jazzy on the radio while he merged with traffic heading north out of Inner City. With the city’s skyline behind him, a cool breeze toying with his hair, he scratched his beard and allowed his thoughts to drift.

By the time he drove along Coedwig’s main road, the sun had set, a chill penetrated the car’s exterior, and he had suffered through too much jazz and gas station coffee. He hadn’t visited in years, but nothing much had changed. The white lights of Mo’s Diner shone like a beacon, and he suspected Mo slept on the premises. Tuesdays was to his right, and Cozy Cromwell’s was a little past Mo’s.

After parking his SUV, Rhys climbed out, inhaling a deep breath of crisp air with drifting snow flurries glowing in the streetlights. He tugged his jacket closed but didn’t zip up. His bear generated enough heat for the cold weather not to bother him. Slamming the car door, he strode across the busy parking lot, raucous laughter and blues calling him.

As he approached the front door, it opened, and a cuddling couple stumbled past him. He sniffed and chuckled. A pair of wolves were finding companionship before the festival, and he couldn’t fault them for it. Shifters were sexual creatures, needing affection and sex often. Which didn’t explain why he hadn’t had either in a while.

He threw out his hand to slow the door’s journey, then let it click shut behind him. Warmth engulfed him. He hurried to remove his jacket, hooking it between many others. The bar sprawled on either side with the pool tables left and the tables and chairs to the right. To the rear, a mirrored shelf held a variety of liquors, rums, whiskeys, and brandies. Filling beer glass after glass was his brother, tall and lanky with matching brown hair and blue eyes. He had more of their mom in him with his devil-may-care charm.

Aiden had lived under Rhys’s shadow for most of his life. When he had suggested Aiden leave Inner City for an indefinite stay in Coedwig, he had snatched the opportunity, preferring the less stressful life in the wilds.

“Rhys.” He leaped over the counter and bolted across the crowded room to throw his arms around Rhys. In the months apart, Aiden had grown, filling out across his shoulders and chest.

“Hey, cub, miss me?” He hugged Aiden, lifting him off the floor.

Warmth from his happy bear and love for his brother swelled his chest. How he had missed him and his wise counsel. Noah was a wonderful beta and brother-in-pack, but Aiden was blood.

“Come, have a beer.” He thumped Rhys on the shoulder and slipped behind the bar. Within seconds, he placed a chilled bottle of beer on a coaster while Rhys claimed a bar stool. He grinned, delighted Aiden remembered how he liked his beer.

“How’re things? You happy?” Rhys took a long drag from the bottle and sighed. The smoky bitterness coated his tongue and stripped the remnants of tension from his body. His bear hummed with contentment. “The occasional texts from you don’t say much.”

Aiden shrugged. “I like it here.”

Rhys scanned the bar and the friendly faces. “I gathered as much since you didn’t come home.”

“Why the visit, though?” Aiden threw up a palm. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Needed a break. Life’s been a little…crazy.” Rhys clenched his jaw against mentioning he’d almost found his mate.

He was hoping a woman might tempt him during the festival. Even better, trigger the mating bond. Twisting on the barstool, he scanned the room with purpose, resting his attention on a few potentials. When he realized they had variations of red hair, he faced Aiden to sip his beer, keeping his scowl hidden. His next lover would be a blonde, dammit.

His bear chuffed, mocking him.

“Told Dane you were heading up.” Aiden laughed, and the sound, so similar to Dad’s, twisted a dagger in Rhys’s heart. “He said seeing is believing.”

“Well, here I am.” Rhys ran his thumb down the bottle, rubbing off the condensation.

The exhaustion that had hounded him for who knew how long softened him until he expected his ass to swallow the bar stool. He downed his beer and declined another.

“I’m off to bed,” he called, dropping notes on the counter. “Will pop in to see you tomorrow.”

He slid his jacket off and hooked it over his arm before striding out of the bar. A warm bed, a good night’s sleep, then he would reveal all to Dane in the morning. Perhaps his old friend could steer him along a sane path.

Mrs. Cromwell opened the door to Cozy Cromwell’s Bed and Breakfast. Rhys swept her into a spinning hug. She giggled like a girl but returned the hug, patting him on the shoulder like she always did.

---