Page 115 of Fragile Heart

Melissa’s sobs grow louder. I swallow around the lump in my throat, choking on my heart. How in thehellcould this be happening again? I hadn’t even gotten to claim her. Fuck, I should have brought it up this past weekend after she surfaced from her heat. I should have reiterated just how serious I am about her. Especially with Ethan still so resistant to everything. She deserved to have it clear as fucking daylight just how in love with her I am.

I climb into the rental car.

“Melissa, listen to me,” I say, pushing as much of that innate soothing into the words. She sucks in a breath, and her sobs quiet. “If she wants to leave, let her leave. Get Emily to calm her down before she does, though. It’s nearly dark. I need her to be safe while she drives.”

Brett was an asshole through and through, but there’s no way I can stomach the idea of her getting hurt the way he did.

“I don’t think she’ll listen to Emily,” Melissa whispers.

“She doesn’t need to listen to her for it to work. It’s something that Alphas can just do.” I tilt my head back and groan. “Emily will know what I mean. Just tell her to calm Brielle down before letting her leave, all right? Don’t go to the house. I’ll be there in a few hours.”

It’s nearly four hours after the call from Melissa that I have my plane stowed and I’m rushing to where my truck waits just outside the hangar. It’s another hour to town, a little less than that to our place. I drop into the driver’s seat and turn on the engine, trying to calm my racing heart. My phone vibrates like crazy the moment I turn it on. I’m bombarded by texts from Melissa.

She’s leaving. Emily can’t convince her to stay.

Emily got her to stop crying. She’s calm.

I’m sworn to secrecy over where she’s going.

She’s laying low in Jackson. I didn’t tell you that, though.

Ok. She’s where she’s staying for right now. She’s safe.

Still nothing from Ethan. Lynn has Cam.

A single text from Emily greets me after Melissa’s filter through.

He’s alive.

There’s no way to know when she sent it originally. It must have been after Brielle left for Jackson. An hour, maybe? Two? I toss my phone onto the passenger seat and start the drive toward the house, emptying my thoughts the same way I’ve done the last several hours.

Or try to, at least. The questions swirl, so loud it’s impossible to ignore them.

What the hell happened? They’d been fine.Betterthan fine. She’d been wrapped up in him, sporting his own hickeys, smelling of him when I interrupted them on Wednesday. Hell, they’d been half a second from fucking on the damn island. Even this afternoon, she’d been willing to give him time, had been way more understanding than I’d manage in her position.

Had Camden seen whatever fight had happened? Had he been scared? Or worried? Fuck, helovesBrielle. Does he realize she’s left?

I need to find her, need to comfort her and calm her and make sure she knows just how much Camden and I love her,needher. God, it had felt like something was missing for months, something other than the holes left in our little pack by losing Brandon and Kayla. Just a couple months ago, I’d known in my bones that something needed to change.

And I hadn’t told her any of it, hadn’t laid it out so explicitly. Sure, I’d given her actions, had given her the smallI love yous, but so had that bastard who’d cheated on her.

I grab my phone, risking a ticket. I need Melissa to tell me where she is so I can find her. I’ll buy a different house. I’ll figure out a true co-parenting schedule with Ethan. I’ll move anywhere in the world for that woman. Camden’s still little, not yet in school. He’ll adjust to whatever happens. He’s so damn resilient.

Emily’s text is still on the screen, though, and it has reality slamming back into me.

He’s still alive.

Fuck, I’m getting ahead of myself.

None of that even fucking matters if Ethan’s dead. God, I don’t want to have to bury another person, another friend that’s practically a brother. We’d managed to survive two separate deployments without losing Hudson. If this little town takes both of my brothers by choice, I might just lose it.

I swallow the growl that’s building. Fuck, I don’t want to have to explain to Camden that Ethan’s dead just like Brandon and Kayla.

It’s nearly midnight when I finally pull onto our quiet street. My heart hammers in my ears, so fast I’m nearly dizzy. Adrenaline has my hands shaking.

The house is dark and silent. I pull up to the curb, not bothering with the garage at all. I stash my phone in my pocket and grab my keys before heading toward the house. I’m sprinting by my third step, ripping open the front door that hadn’t even been locked.

The burn of alcohol hits me first, cutting through all the other mundane smells of our home. There’s not a trace of Brielle’s lavender anywhere. A near empty bottle of whiskey sits on its side on the island. It had apparently already been mostly used by the time it fell because only a couple drops of the liquid are on the white stone.

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