Page 15 of In Plain Sight

“Bran, there’s a hamper right next to your dirty clothes. For the love of all things holy, just put them in the hamper. How hard is that?”

“Sorry, Ruby. I’ll try to remember.”

Gah, it was those little things that were going to drive me insane.Tomorrow life would return to some semblance of normal, I kept reminding myself.

There was a pounding at the door.

“Ruby, open up,” I heard Thomas yell.

Bran immediately went on the defense, but I waved him off.

“I got this,” I assured him.

I opened the door, but refused to let him in. “What are you doing here?”

“This is the fourth day, Ruby. Don’t you think he should at least talk to the Alpha?”

“Five days, Thomas. He has five days to sort that out. I took a few days off so we could spend time together, so back off. I don’t care who you are, you’re still my little brother and you aren’t going to barge into my home demanding shit!”

“You’re infuriating, you know that,” he yelled back. “Tomorrow’s your fifth day. You can’t hide him forever.”

“I’m not hiding, jackass!” I yelled to his retreating back as he headed down the stairs. I slammed the door shut with all the frustrations that had been building over the last few days.

“That was your brother?”

“Yes.”

“He’s right, you know. It’s disrespectful that I haven’t introduced myself and sought permission to be in Collier territory yet. I thought you’d be returning to work today and had planned on seeking a meeting with your Alpha to get that sorted.”

“Really? You want to see the Alpha now? You couldn’t have told me that before I yelled at him?” I could see the confusion on Bran’s face and it dawned on me that I’d never mentioned my family in regards to our status here. Did he really not know Thomas was my brother? I walked over to the window and opened it. Thomas was talking to Lily by his truck just below. “Thomas, get your ass back up here already. He wants to talk to the Alpha,” I said sarcastically.

“Can I come too?” Lily hollered up.

“You better,” I yelled back down.

Bran

Chapter 7

Reality was slowly sinking in. Ruby wasn’t just a Collier wolf, she was a Collier.

“Thomas Collier is your brother?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yeah. I thought you knew that. I’m Ruby Collier,” she said.

“And you never mentioned that?”

“Sure I did. Didn’t I?” She shrugged. “I thought you knew. Does it matter?”

Yes, I wanted to say. It mattered a lot to my mission. I had vowed not to use Ruby in any way, and yet, just by mating her, I had. It escalated my position here and gave me a direct line to the Alpha.

“It doesn’t. I’m just surprised is all,” I finally managed to tell her, still in shock from the bomb she’d just dropped on me.

The door flung open and there he stood. The young Alpha I was planning to use and manipulate, Ruby’s brother. It made me sick to my stomach just thinking about it. This man was supposed to be my enemy, not my brother-in-law. This changed everything.

Thomas Collier is Ruby’s brother.That one thought kept playing on repeat in my brain. There he stood, a real-life version of the pictures I’d studied. I had researched his family extensively. I knew he had sisters. Why hadn’t I noted their names? Probably because I was focused solely on Elizabeth, who I knew went by Lizzy, and Madelyn, whom they called Maddie.

Why those two only? Because they were both mated into Westin Pack with strong alliances and easy access to my target. I hadn’t thought the remaining sisters would be all that beneficial and had never even entertained the idea of mating into the family.

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