Page 25 of Ensnaring Their Rabbit

Brynn stopped when we reached a run down parking lot with a building that looked like it hadn’t seen a renovation in fifty years. Only one street light was working in the lot, and the fluorescent sign that only said “Diner” was mostly out, with only the D and er lit up. There looked to be only two cars in the lot. One was missing all four tires and was balanced on cinder blocks.

Brynn ignored all that and took both our hands. “Stay out of the light,” he whispered, “If old man Johnson sees us, he will pull his shotgun on us, and he won’t think twice about shooting.”

“Lovely,” Reeve muttered sarcastically. But still we followed Brynn, careful to stay out of the dim light of the diner.

The shed was behind the diner, down a bank, and hidden mostly by trees and brush. Though calling it a shed was disrespectful to sheds everywhere.

“You stayed here?” I asked in disbelief before I could stop myself. Both Brynn and Reeve glared at me, and I looked sheepishly down at my feet, cheeks red. I didn’t mean it exactly like that, but the more I learned about my omega’s life the more it hurt.

“Sorry not all of us had the luxury digs of a max security prison to call home.” I flinched. Touché.

“Sorry,” I murmured. “That came out wrong.”

Brynn just sighed, looking a little defeated. “Look, let’s just get inside. It sucks, but the roof is surprisingly solid, and it’ll give us a place to rest for a few hours before we take off.”

Reeve cupped his cheek and kissed his forehead softly. “Sounds good. Thank you for finding this place for us.” Then he walked forward, carefully navigating the terrain on bare feet until he got to the shed.

I flashed Brynn an unsure smile, relieved when he returned it. “Come on, alpha. I think we all need rest.” He took my hand, and despite everything, I was grinning like a fool when we walked to where Reeve was checking out the shed.

The shed didn’t look any better from the inside. It was dark and humid, despite it being kind of chilly. I let my wolf take over my sight so I could see clearer, which was probably a mistake. Cobwebs draped down from the ceiling and covered half of the tight space. And yup, that was a fucking rat. Welcome to freedom.

Brynn ignored all that and headed to a metal chest that was pushed up against the back wall.

“Sweet, it’s not empty.” He pulled out two sleeping bags, a blanket…and two pairs of boots. He glanced at the tongue of the boots. “It’s really our lucky fucking day. They’re alpha sized. Probably not perfect, but at least you won’t have to trudge around barefoot.”

“What is all this?” Reeve asked, kneeling next to Brynn.

“Like I said, it’s kind of a common stopping place for shifters who live on the streets. I don’t know who started it, but one day this chest was filled with blankets, protein bars, and bottles of water. The next time I came here there were old clothes and a sleeping bag. It’s kind of an honor system thing. Take what you need and drop off what you can.” He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed, “I guess it’s our way of taking care of each other.”

I squeezed Brynn’s hand. “I like that.”

We got quiet after that as we helped Brynn set up a little sleep area. The two sleeping bags weren’t big enough for the three of us, so we opened them up, and used one as the blanket on the ground and the other as a blanket for us to share. It would be tight, but with Brynn snuggled in the middle we could make it work. Worst case I’d shift to my wolf to sleep. Once we were settled, I dug the food out that was in the bottom of the bag. It wasn’t much: beef jerky sticks, a jar of peanut butter, a box of protein bars, and a bag of nuts, plus some waters and hydration powders. Brynn grabbed the bag of nuts and the peanut butter and sat crossed legged in the middle of our bed set up, digging in. Shrugging, I grabbed a beef stick.

“So…” Brynn asked after a while, “What’s this place you told Laurent about?”

“Right before we were locked up, we knew shit was getting bad and staying in the city wasn’t an option anymore,” Reeve started, “Riv and I had saved up a bunch of money, and we had our uncle who’s kinda estranged from the rest of the family find us some property in the outskirts. It needs to be fixed up. We never got the chance before we were picked up.”

Brynn frowned, considering. I had a feeling about what he wanted to ask but didn’t know how to bring it up. I was honestly surprised he hadn’t asked us what got us locked up already. But if he was tying himself to us, he deserved to know.

Reeve must’ve felt the same, because he told him, “You can ask us, it’s okay,” his tone soft.

Brynn startled, lost in thought before his cheeks reddened. “Am I that obvious?”

I grinned. “Kind of.”

He shoved some nuts in his mouth. “It’s just…I don’t want to be rude, but I do feel like I should know what happened.”

“You’re right,” Reeve agreed, “We probably should’ve told you before we bit you. I’m sorry. We weren’t trying to hide it or anything, we’re just not used to being around people who don’t already know.”

Reeve sucked in a breath. “Nearly eleven years ago now, we killed our sister’s boyfriend.”

CHAPTER17

BRYNN

“Nearly eleven years ago now,we killed our sister’s boyfriend.”

I couldn’t say the confession was really a shock. I mean, I’d seen them kill already, and Western State Penitentiary housed mostly violent criminals. Still, I wasn’t expecting him to say it so casually.

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