Page 23 of Kendrick

“I’m a bit nervous. What if he doesn’t like me?”

“It’s impossible not to like you.”

“I’m sure plenty of people don’t like me. I don’t need to impress them, but I do need to impress Ryan. What do I do?”

“Be yourself. There’s no reason for you to panic. Even if Ryan doesn’t like you, Kendrick is your mate, and he knows how important your bond is to you. He won’t let you down.”

Jonas hoped that was true. He didn’t want Kendrick to have to choose between him and his brother, so he prayed Ryan was as nice a person as he seemed on the phone. Even if he disliked Jonas, he should be able to tolerate him enough that they could be in each other’s lives.

There was only one way to find out.

Jonas needed to go, and he needed to go before Kendrick left his ass here.

* * * *

Kendrick was already in the car when Jonas arrived. Kendrick was relieved to see that his mate had only brought a small backpack, although he was also holding a second bag. He kept that one with him when he climbed into the passenger seat after dropping the backpack into the trunk.

“I brought snacks,” he announced, raising the bag as if Kendrick hadn’t seen it.

“Thank you. I didn’t think of it.”

Jonas’s smile was gentle. “I didn’t expect you to. I know you’re overwhelmed, so the more I can take off your hands, the better.” He set down the bag and settled in his seat. “So, where are we going?”

Kendrick wasn’t eager to see his father again. He disliked both his parents, and he wasn’t planning on having conversations with them. He hadn’t talked to either of them since he waseighteen, and they hadn’t tried to reach him. His life was perfectly fine without them, and he hoped things would continue that way.

“It’s not very far, just over an hour of driving,” he explained. “We probably could have asked a Nix to shimmer us there, but I don’t know how much stuff Ryan is bringing along, and I feel he’s going to need the time of the drive back to decompress and wrap his mind around what’s happening.” There was also the fact that Kendrick liked driving, so he didn’t mind.

“So the snacks weren’t needed,” Jonas said, sounding a bit sad.

“It doesn’t mean we can’t eat them. Besides, I don’t know when Ryan last ate. He said that our father doesn’t want him to eat the food in the house if he doesn’t pay for it, so there’s a good chance he’ll be hungry, especially at his age.” Ryan was still growing, and Kendrick felt humbled by the fact that he’d be there to watch him do so.

He’d missed so much over the past ten years. He hadn’t been there for the transition that Ryan had made from being a child to a teenager and now an adult. He was glad this was it, though. Whatever happened in the future, he’d be with Ryan, and he could watch him become a man he would be proud of.

He couldn’t deny he was a bit scared. The village was vulnerable, and there was a good chance it would eventually be attacked. He also didn’t want to drag his brother into the hunters’ mess. He hoped Ryan wouldn’t be drawn to it. He wanted his brother to have a different job, something that wouldn’t put him in danger. He wouldn’t try to stop him if he wanted to be a hunter, but he would try to talk him out of it if he could. No one should live that life. If Kendrick could turn back time, he wouldn’t choose it for himself.

Kendrick had been a hunter for the past eight, almost nine years now. He knew what the job was like. He knew how it feltto kill someone, to see their blood on his hands, to see their eyes grow glassy. He knew what it felt like to be stabbed and bitten. Like all hunters, he bore the scars of what he did. He was one of the lucky ones because he was still alive and in one piece, but many hunters he’d worked with over the years were gone. He couldn’t even think about finally getting his brother back after ten years, only to lose him to a Kudlak.

“You’re still worried,” Jonas said.

“I don’t want him to become a hunter.”

“He doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of things to do in the village. I’m not a hunter, even though I’m a Krsnik. Why should he be one?”

“He shouldn’t be one, but he might choose to be.”

Jonas reached over and squeezed Kendrick’s thigh. “And if he does, he’ll be surrounded by people who will keep him safe. We both know that it’s a dangerous job, but your brother is an adult. He can make his own decisions, including what job he wants. I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you, though. Being a hunter would be horrifying to a lot of people. It takes a special kind of person to be able to do that, especially for as long as you’ve been doing it.”

“You always know what to say to make me feel better,” Kendrick said as he reached down and quickly squeezed Jonas’s hand.

Jonas grinned. “That would be because I’m your mate.”

“Or maybe it’s just how you are.”

“I don’t know. I’m convinced that we’ll manage to defeat the Kudlaks, though. I have no idea how long it will take, but we will, and once that happens, we’ll be safe, and we’ll finally be able to live our lives. We just have to believe and keep faith.”

Kendrick wished he could have as much faith as Jonas, but he’d seen too much too many times. He wanted to hope, though.

For more than eight years, he’d lived in abandoned buildings, killed Kudlaks, and fought to survive. The only thing that mattered back then was to put one foot in front of the other and to get through another day. Now he actually had things to live for, and he wanted to enjoy his life. He wanted to watch Jonas grow old, sit on the porch with him and watch the sunset, and wake up for thousands of mornings with him in his arms. He wanted to have fun, to finally start living instead of merely surviving, and he wanted the same for his brother.

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