Page 158 of Unhinged
But Gears speaks up, “We still have questions.”
Marcus doesn’t even flinch. “Ask them.”
“How did you find Gidge?” Gears says.
“I saw them carrying her out of the clubhouse,” Marcus says. “Once I made sure they hadn’t hurt Judge or your sister, I followed. I was a Ranger before I left the service. I used my tracking skills to find where they took her.”
“Why?” Gears narrows his eyes.
“Why what?” Marcus fires back.
“Why follow them alone instead of coming to us?”
“I care about Brydgett. About Judge,” he defends.
“If you cared so much,” Acid growls, “why didn’t you come get her alphas?”
Marcus slams his hand on the table. “Because I didn’t know if she was fully in. I didn’t know where she stood with you. I just wanted her safe.”
“You wanna fuck her?” Acid snaps.
“Absolutely not,” Marcus says immediately, looking horrified.
“What the hell, Marcus?” I shoot him a glare. “That’s rude.”
Marcus rubs a hand over his face. “Brydgett, I—I…”
“Spit it out.”
“When I got out of the service, I went home. Michigan.”
I freeze. “That’s where I’m from.”
“I know.”
“How?” My whole body is tight now. Ready.
He holds up a hand. “Just listen. I went home, started working odds-and-ends jobs for this little construction crew. One night, I saw one of those DNA ancestry ads. I always knew I was adopted. My parents—my adoptive dads—were amazing. I didn’t want to go digging until after they passed. But I did the test. Found out who my birth parents were. They were already gone. But I had a sister. She’d been adopted at fifteen.”
“Don’t.” My voice is a growl now.
“She was adopted by Tina and Earl Osbourne.”
“No.” I stand up so fast my chair scrapes back hard.
He stands too, hands raised but not close, not stupid. “You’re my little sister. I called in every favor I could. I found you. I didn’t know how to tell you. So I stayed close. I played homeless. I wanted to be near you. To watch your back. I figured Judge had to be from something bad; a single omega doesn’t just happen. I didn’t know what to do except protect you the only way I knew how.”
I don’t think. Imove.
I walk those last steps and slap him across the face. Loud. Sharp. Everything in the room goes silent.
“Get out.”
“Brydgett—”
“I saidget out. I need to process this. Right now, I’m thinking about stabbing the shit out of you. I want a DNA test to confirm it. But if you are my brother, I’d like to not kill my only living relative.”
His face crumbles, and he nods. “Okay,” he says quietly.
