Page 43 of Wolf's Claimed Mate
So she did.
A thought flashed in my head. My father coming home at least once a month, reeking of alcohol, and another woman, drenched in the smell of sex. The first time I’d come home smelling the same, Declan had wrinkled his nose at me, likehe just had done. I knew the smell only reminded him of dirty affairs, but this was anything but.
“Drama queen,” I muttered.
“Yeah, well, you didn’t deal with the drama for long, did you, Conall?”
I dismissed him, shaking my head, already done with him.
“Let’s just focus on the task, yeah?” I asked.
“Sure. Go ahead. What are we working with?”
“Sasha went to meet with her ex-boyfriend yesterday,” I explained, feeling her glare on me. “And we know who he is. Jackson Trent. But he turned up with another man who I saw with him in the diner yesterday, but the same man was holed up in a cabin in the woods of Fayetteville with someone else I recognized from the fight when Kato died.”
“And he’s not on social media? I’ve been scouring for anyone I can based on what Fenrys gives me.”
“Not to any of our knowledge. But if he’s in Silverlake Valley, it’ll be helpful to know what he looks like on paper so we can keep an eye out for him. He’s never been seen with more than one other person. He could be important.”
Declan nodded. He reached for his sketchbook and pencil, spinning the charcoal around his fingers. It was a sight so familiar from my childhood that my chest ached to look at it. I missed my brother. I missed him looking at me with anything but anger in his eyes.
I’d nursed this damn kid to health when he caught pneumonia when he was ten years old after his first shift, getting lost in the woods and unable to find his way home. I’d sniffed him out, dragged him back, shivering, into our house. Our dadhad loved us, just not our mother, the way parents could. He’d dumped Dec in the bath to warm up while I’d then nursed him properly with soup, blankets, and stayed with him to check his temperature every hour.
“Con?” Sasha murmured when I didn’t say anything.
Declan only glared at me. In the years we’d not talked, he’d grown up. I had missed it all. I was three years older than him, yet the distance felt much bigger.
I started to describe the man from the pack. I tried to remember everything, from his shaved head to his stature and broadness. I remembered he had some scars on his face, slashes through his eyebrow and lip, that would make him pretty recognizable.
“All right, what eye color?” Declan asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. I wasn’t that close.”
“How can you not see someone’s eye color?”
“I just said, I wasn’t close enough,” I snapped. “That’ll hardly make a difference.”
“You have enhanced eyesight! Don’t fucking waste my time here, Conall.”
“Don’t fucking swear at me, asshole.”
Declan dropped his supplies to the floor and stood towards me. He’d shot up tall, looming down over me. But I was still taller. I stood up, my height gaining on him by two inches.
“You finally want that fight?” Declan asked through gritted teeth.
“No,” Sasha shouted, standing up and trying to shove between us. She only got in because I wouldn’t resist her. “No fighting.Please.” She shrugged. “This sweater is new, I don’twant any blood sprayed on it if you two actually injure each other.”
I met Declan’s hard stare. “Rain check, then, if you stop ignoring me.”
“Fuck you.”
“Find a new comeback, that’s getting a little boring.”
“Because youalwaysknew what was better, right? What Conall says goes. What about now, big brother? Where do you get your power from now?” His eyes flitted to Sasha. “From her?” A cruel smile slid over his mouth. “Do you get her to roleplay at calling you alpha? Does it make you feel powerful, Conall?”
I saw red, not thinking, until I punched my brother in the mouth. He stumbled back, falling over the coffee table, and collapsing to the floor. He scrambled back, glaring up at me.
“Watch your mouth,” I spat. “Donotspeak about her that way.”
