Page 23 of Home: Posy 5

"No, I'm not mad at you." He cut his eyes to Wayne, and I wondered if he was mad athim.

Before I could ask, Mom Evie told Wade to go get dressed and Dad Nathan took his place. Crouching down next to me, Dad Nathan raised his tattoo-covered hands, and I closed my eyes again, bracing for a smack.

"Reau, can I hug you?" he asked in a soft voice.

Cracking one eye open, I looked at him and saw tears in his green eyes.

"Why are you sad?" I asked, tilting my head to one side.

"I scared you, and I didn't mean to do that."

"Don't be sad." I went into his open arms and snuggled against his chest.

No one's hugs were as good as Mama Bubba's, but I had to admit that Dad Nathan's were pretty good.

"Reau, I want you to listen carefully," he said as he rubbed his hands up and down my back. "You have no reason to be scared at our house. No one here will ever hurt you. This is a safe place for you. There are no cages here. There never have been and there never will be. You will never be put in a cage again. I won't allow it."

I nodded against his shoulder to show I understood and listened to his slow, steady heartbeat until I stopped shaking. When I did, he leaned back and stared at me, and I looked at his chin. It made me feel weird to hold someone's gaze, so I didn't do it too often. Finally, he stood up, patted my head, and went to his seat at the head of the table.

Then Archer and Wayne squished me between them, and I giggled as they smooshed their cheeks against mine, making my lips pop out. I probably looked like a fish!

"You boys are on dish duty tonight," Dad Nathan said, "and apologize to your brother."

"Sorry, Wade," my besties said together.

"Sorry, Wade," I echoed.

"You know what they say about revenge, right?" Wade smirked as his eyes darted from Archer to Wayne as they sat up and away from me.

"No, I don't." I shook my head. "What do they say? And who's they?"

"Don't worry about it." Wayne picked up my plate and passed it to Mom Evie, who put a slab of lasagna on it. "He won't bother you."

"Okay." I shrugged, not too concerned about it.

Even if Wade did 'bother' me, whateverthatmeant, I doubted he'd come up with anything as horrible as being locked in a cage in the dark for the night.

#

Wayne Black

I woke up with a start.

Something was wrong.

Sitting up quickly, I looked around my bedroom. Didn't see or smell anything unusual. Ocean was still asleep, and I knew my wolf would have woken up if there was danger nearby.

Beta wolves had a sixth sense for it.

Plus, Archer and his wolf, Firth, were still snoring on the other side of the bed, so I flopped back down with a sigh. I'd probably heard the creak of the floorboard as Wesley or Wade got up for a drink or maybe one of the heathens had called for Mom or Dad.

Rolling over, I reached out to pull Thoreau's body back into the curve of mine - and found only pillows and sheets. Instantly, I knew why I'd jerked awake. He'd gotten up and left the bedroom and had been gone long enough for my sleeping brain to notice.

Throwing the sheet off, I leapt out of bed and saw that Spring was gone, too. At least, his bed at the foot of mine was empty.

"Arch!" I hissed. "Arch, wake up!"

"Wha?" he groaned groggily and half-opened his eyes.

---