Page 88 of Big Bad Bully
Now Nickel and Sully are holed up in a comms room. Nickel is on the phone with his family, using his personal connections to smooth things over with the pack here. Sully is adding layers of security to make sure our pack is safe. Everyone else is getting some sleep, worn out from all the excitement.
Except me and Brick. He wants answers.
“They insulted Madi,” I tell him, and his eyes go flinty. He’s not happy about the way things turned out, mostly because the humans could’ve been hurt. But he understands the need to defend our luna. He would do the same. “And humans in general. Are we getting kicked out of Monaco?”
“It’s up in the air, but I think we can smooth things over long enough to finish out our trip. Nickel’s connections will help us appeal to reason. Luka is a known hot head, and even though he’s the king, he’s still guided by the wiser members of his family. We’ll want to avoid this country in the near future, but I doubt Luka wants it getting around that we beat him on his own boat.”
I snort, remembering his outrage as he fell into the water.
“You’re usually more controlled than this,” Brick observes. I’ve been waiting for him to read me the riot act for starting something, but he looks less angry than thoughtful.
“He got to me. He was spouting the same stuff my father says.” Brick is one of the few people who knows how bad my father was. “And…he mentioned Aubrey.”
“Ah.” There’s a lot of weight in the syllable. I wonder how much I’ve revealed–or if my guardedness is announcing my deeper feelings for the chaos human. “A year ago, you wouldn’t have lifted a finger to defend a human.”
I inhale, my cheeks burning with shame. I treated Madi like shit because I thought she was going to tear our pack apart. I didn’t trust her, and I thought she’d end up being a weakness we couldn’t afford. And, yeah, my dad’s fierce anti-human prejudice played a part in this. “I’ve changed.”
“Yes, you have.”
Brick leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “Aubrey is Madi’s best friend. Like a sister. I need to know what this human means to you.”
I feel like a kid getting grilled by the father of my prom date. I promise to get her home before ten pm.
“I’ve treated her well,” I say defensively.
“That’s not what I’m asking. I know that, when it counted, you treated her with respect. If you hadn’t, she would’ve chopped your balls off. And Madi would’ve helped.”
This is accurate, but I wince.
“And then I would kill you,” he continues in that even tone. “I wouldn’t want to, you’re pack second, and my closest friend, but–”
“I understand. If I hurt her, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”
“Hmm,” Brick murmurs again. He narrows his eyes, studying my face. I’ve given myself away.
What does Aubrey mean to me? I can’t answer because I don’t even know. She’s chaos to my control. Bright splashes of paint on a monotone palette. The scent of orange, cinnamon, and nutmeg filling the back of my limo.
What can I say? She has a silver nose ring that burns my skin. Kissing her is better because it hurts a little.
I can’t tell Brick any of this.
“She’s special,” I say.
“What does your wolf think?”
“He wants to protect her.” He wants me to do more than that.
Brick tilts his head as if waiting for me to confess the rest. How my fangs have sharpened when she’s in my bed. How feral I get near the full moon. How I imagine claiming her and keeping her in my life…forever.
I’m not ready to admit what she could be to me. Mate.
Brick seems to understand this. He nearly went moon mad trying to avoid claiming Madi. Of all the wolves, he knows what I’m going through.
After a long pause, he nods. “Your punishment is patrol duty for the rest of the trip.” Not much of a punishment; we’re all taking security posts to make sure Luka doesn’t have an opening to retaliate. “Let’s get some sleep. We’ll take the dawn shift.”
“Are you punishing yourself, too?” I follow his lead and rise from my seat.
“It’s my fault we were on that boat in the first place. I should’ve made sure I knew his stance on humans before allowing him so close to ours.” He claps my shoulder. “I’m grateful you stood up for Madi and Aubrey.”
