Page 69 of Reclaiming Home

Rian laughed. “That he is.” Then he smiled at me. “He’s the best guy I’ve ever known. I’m glad he found his mate and I’m even more glad it’s someone like you.”

He didn’t specify what he meant by that and I wouldn’t dare ask. “You set here?” I asked, gesturing around.

“Yes. This is amazing, Kye.” He hesitated for a moment, then held out his arms.

I chuckled and went to hug him. “Hey, you’re not only family, you’re pack, right? Same as the rest of us.”

“I guess. It’s just….” He sighed a little and let me go. “I wasn’t sure what you’d be like.”

“What do you mean?”

“When a wolf finds their mate, that’s it for them. Whether you were a horrible person or not, that would be it for Brodie.” His expression changed into something tighter.

“And therefore for you, because he’s your best friend,” I murmured.

“Bingo.” He relaxed again. “But you’re a good person. Brodie called you fierce and protective.”

My insides warmed hearing that assessment. “I try my best.”

“I’m not sure if I believe in fate or anything like that, because sometimes things that happen are too fucked up to feel worth any sort of end result.”

“Oh I know. I can’t really accept that what my sister went through and what Brodie had to do to end up where we have was worth it. Taking a life….” I grimaced.

Rian shook his head. “I don’t think he’s truly processed it yet. You know how vampires and werewolves are different about this stuff, right?” At my nod, he said, “But Brodie is a good man. Iknow he saw it as something he had to do and he would do it again, too.”

“I would as well. To protect anyone in this house? Absolutely.”

Rian chuckled. “And that’s the fierceness he was talking about.” Then he got serious. “I’ve killed, but it’s not something I even remember details of, it was so long ago. Then when it mattered the most, I couldn’t do it and….” He winced, the same grief from earlier suddenly filling his eyes.

I put a hand on his forearm and squeezed. “There’s hopefully no need for any of that anymore.”

He gave me a wavering smile. “Like you said, I would to protect the pack. To save someone.”

“Guys? We need to talk dinner!” Carys called out.

“Be right there!” I called back, then looked at Rian. “What about your dinner?”

“I’m fine for today, but I’ll check up my app for tomorrow.”

“Finding someone locally would be ideal, right?”

“Yeah. At my age, I need to feed about every two or three days. Normally the official donor apps have people spread all over the country. Don’t know about middle of nowhere Pennsylvania, though.”

“Well, we have people we know, the pack will help in a pinch, I’m sure,” I said, then added, “Probably not Carys, but….”

His nose wrinkled. “I would never even ask her. She’s been through enough and since it’s so intimate….”

“Right.” I knew he’d fed from Brodie before and wondered why exactly that made me mildly uncomfortable. “Here’s hoping the app works in your favor!” I quickly said as I turned to the door.

“I’ll start unpacking and join you guys downstairs later.”

“Okay!” I tried not to speedwalk to the stairs.

“Wait, you have apps for finding donors?” Carys asked that night when we were all gathered on the couch that was perfectly sized for all of us with some room to spare.

“Uh-huh, it’s called DonorMatch and it’s a government approved thing,” Rian said as he cuddled under a blanket.

The chimney sweeping service couldn’t get here fast enough, we all huddled under various blankets and/or against one another.

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