Page 70 of Hunter Moon

44

Brook

Iopened the door of the Mustang, the handle clicking under my thumb and the door budging toward my hip, but my eyes were caught on Aspen, jogging across the street on long legs and putting himself at Cliff’s side, subtly between the two.

Cliff was more than half a decade younger than him—maybe young enough that Linden or Juniper would’ve babysat him—but right then, he looked formidable. His eyes flashed, reflecting light in a way that wasn’t quite human.

Cain Reid stood opposite him, baring his teeth, weighing his options. That was what you did in the Reid pack—fight first, talk never. My gut twisted up seeing him size Aspen up at Cliff’s side, like he was sure he could’ve taken one of them, but was thinking about going for both.

With the door of the Mustang open, I convinced myself it was fine to stand there pressed against the cab. If I had to, I could dart inside and lock myself in, like Aspen wanted.

But it wasn’t that easy to lock myself inside and pretend Aspen wasn’t out there in danger, protecting me. I wanted to be able to move, to defend him if I had to, not stick my head between my knees, squeeze my eyes shut, and wait for the worst. For the first time, running from trouble felt like the wrong call.

The only thing I knew for sure was that a storm was coming, and there was no way I could prepare for it if I closed my eyes.

Aspen’s arms raised out from his sides, just a few inches, but enough to make the man seem that much bigger as he bore down on Cain Reid, Cliff Reynolds growling at his back.

“My kindhearted doctor of a brother put your last alpha down in the street. What do you think I’ll do to you?” Aspen didn’t raise his voice. It was a low threat, but hardly a growl like the one still rumbling in Cliff’s chest beside him.

Finally, I saw Cain blanch. His eyes darted between Aspen and Cliff, weighing the likelihood of victory and finding his chances slim. His shoulders shot up around his ears and he rocked a step back. He didn’t run away, exactly, but he wasn’t willing to turn his back on Cliff and Aspen either. Instead, he cut a long, sideways gait across the street.

When he finally hit the far sidewalk, he looked away from the imposing alphas, his eyes slid over me. I saw the hint of a sneer on his lips, could’ve sworn he winked, but that fast, he was pulling his keys out of his pocket and sliding into his own car—a run-down kind of thing that kicked out smoke and burnt rubber as he sped into the street haphazardly and rushed past me.

It was like the air came back to my lungs all at once. I gasped, searching for Aspen’s eyes, but he had his hands on Cliff’s shoulders, had moved to stand in front of him.

“You okay, man?” Aspen asked.

Cliff shook his head. His shoulders were rising and falling dramatically with each breath, and I knew there was no way another alpha was going to be enough.

That was a thing with werewolves—alphas could kick up each other’s violent impulses. An omega in distress could send their mate howling and feral. But surrounded by a happy, satisfied pack, alphas could clear their heads—even be great leaders and defenders when we needed them to be.

Maybe I couldn’t put off happy, satisfied, totally contented vibes right then, but I was still an omega.

Shaking off some of the tension that’d made my whole body rigid in Cain Reid’s presence, I shut the door of Aspen’s car and jogged across the street—as eager to get close to Aspen and check on my mate as I was to calm Cliff down.

“It’s okay now,” I said quietly.

As soon as I was close, Cliff’s intense eyes locked on me like the only words that mattered the whole world over were the ones about to come out of my mouth.

“The Reid is gone. You protected us. Me and the whole pack.” I reached out and touched Cliff’s wrist. A shiver worked through his whole body, but his claws disappeared. His eyes lost their inhuman luster. His lips closed, and when he let out a breath, there were flat, unassuming human teeth again. “Thank you.”

I knew he wouldn’t want to hurt me, but that didn’t mean Aspen wouldn’t want to hurt him. The big guy pressed against my arm, that closeness we’d shared the last few days during my heat putting his wolf close to the surface, encouraging him to mark his territory.

Quickly, I dropped my hand from Cliff’s wrist and glared up at Aspen. “I love you. Don’t be a dick.”

And that was it—no matter how long had passed or where Aspen had been, I still loved him. My wolf still pushed me across the street and to his side, even when I was terrified, because it recognized him as mate before I stopped to think about it.

But I hadn’t said it yet, and Aspen stared down at me with wide, shocked eyes, almost like he thought it was impossible that anybody could still love him. Hell, I contained fucking multitudes. I could love him and be furious at him for leaving and also want to weld myself to his side all at once. I could want to shove him and mark him and hold him every night.

I gave him a brief nod and turned back to Cliff. “Do you want us to get Rowan?”

Tightly, he shook his head. “He shouldn’t have to see me like this.”

He’d bent his neck, was staring hard at the sidewalk. And—

I got it. I really did. Rowan would want to help, but there were some instincts he couldn’t soothe. Cliff didn’t want to take it out on Ro, make him feel like he wasn’t enough just because he was a beta.

That left Cliff trying to hold an awful lot of frustration on his own.

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