Page 302 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

Chapter 4

Noah

After dropping Mia at the Whitcome property, I slid the truck to a halt in front of Ash’s place. My place.Ourplace.Whatever. Ever since the…incident, I’d slept upstairs at the bar. I’d rather that than face my brother’s disappointment every fucking day.

I got out and slammed the door as a warning to Ash in case he didn’t hear the truck roar down the drive. As I marched to the steps in the pouring rain, the front door opened. My older brother stepped out, followed by Liam. Both of them.

Just fucking great.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” I roared at them. Though, Liam probably just found out. He was guilty by association.

Ash stepped forward. “I told you I found who Joan left her estate to.”

“You said a woman from the city. You never said it was her granddaughter,” I yelled, remaining under the deluge so I didn’t punch Ash in the face. Every inch of my clothing clung to my skin, but I didn’t give a shit.

“No fucking way,” Liam muttered.

Ash raked a hand through his perfectly styled hair. He peered at the rafters, inhaling a deep breath while I mentally counted to ten.

“I didn’t know, I swear. The will had her name, no relationship. Given she has a different surname and isn’t married, I assumed they weren’t related. You know how long it took me to find her.”

I threw my hands in the air. “It’s her. Don’t you get it? She’s the girl. It’s Joan’s fucking granddaughter.”

I sensed a connection to Mia the moment she strolled into the bar but didn’t want to acknowledge it. Or hope. It explained why my wolf stirred, and when she cried, a sudden need to protect her nearly floored me.

I glared at Ash, trying to control the urge to knock him on his ass. I never used my fists to take out my frustration, but right now I reassessed that life choice.

“What the hell did you say to make her cry?” I growled.

Ash crossed his arms over his chest, his lawyer expression fixed into place. “You know I can’t tell you that. Besides, I didn’t intentionally make her cry.”

“Argh!” I shouted, turning to the forest.

The same forest that connected Joan’s place to ours. The same forest our wolves ran through. The same fucking forest where that sick psycho hunted.

Mia was on the other side of those woods in Joan’s house for the first time in fifteen years and I couldn’t even stomach going there.

Liam and Ash remained silent as I tore a track in the muddy grass. The rain slowed to a drizzle, dripping down my face. For so long, I prayed the girl would return or the universe would give me a clue how to find her. We had one summer of fleeting moments where each afternoon, I shifted and crept into the forest to wait for her. Even now, my damn wolf purred at the memory of Mia running her fingers through his coat.

Then one day she never showed. But I still held onto hope. Now, all that hoping blew up in my face.

Mia was a Whitcome.

I spun to face my brothers. Liam sat on the porch swing, while Ash leaned against the closed front door.

I trudged up the stairs out of the rain and lowered my voice. “Don’t you think it’s screwed up that the universe fated me with a Whitcome?”

With the heel of his sneaker, Liam rocked the swing back and forth. “Let’s hope she’s like Joan.”

“What if she isn’t?” I looked to Ash. He always had the answers. “What the hell do I do then?”

“If she’s your mate, things will work out as they’re meant to. If not…we should prepare ourselves.”

I glared at the idiot. “She is my mate. Don’t ever doubt that.”

Ash was the responsible one, but also the most cynical.

This situation was beyond screwed up.

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