Page 42 of Healed
“Hi!” Addie said.
“Hey, Addie. Thanks for calling in, I know how important grabbing some sleep while you can is, but this really couldn’t wait. We’ll be quick, though. I’m going to put y’all on speaker so you don’t miss anything,” Brandt said. He set his phone down on the table, then looked at Havoc and gestured toward Havoc’s phone.
“I got Ronan on my phone. He’s going on speaker, too,” Havoc said. He swiped the necessary buttons on his screen then set the phone down near Brandt’s. “You hear me, Ronan?”
“Loud and clear. I’m in my dorm while everybody else is at class, so no distractions,” Ronan said.
“We didn’t make you miss class, huh?” Brandt asked.
“No, I always schedule a couple of my classes in the evenings instead of the middle of the day. That gives me a few hours of peace and quiet while everybody else is in class,” Ronan said.
“Smart,” Havoc said.
“Alright, well, let’s get started,” Brandt said.
“What about Remi and Angelle?” Analise asked. “They’re still not here.”
“I’m pretty sure Angelle already knows, and I know she hates these get togethers anyway, so I didn’t make her come,” Brandt said. “Remi, is why we’re all here.”
Everyone focused on Brandt.
“Let me first say, this isn’t something I’m happy about. But it played out this way, and unfortunately, it’s just the way things are. The reason I waited so long to tell you, is that I was hoping this would all be cleared up. That’s not happened, so, here we are. Remi is no longer a member of this clan.”
Shock, surprise. Questions, and concern came from everyone gathered there.
“I know that you all love him. I love him, too. I’ve always admired Remi and looked up to him, but his recent behavior is not secret. If you don’t know, you’ve intentionally ignored all the signs. Unfortunately, my attempts to rein him back in and get him thinking straight backfired. I told him to get his shit together or he was out of the clan. He said he didn’t want to be a part of it anyway, and was out. I gave him three days to get off our land. That was two days ago. I don’t want this, but he apparently does.”
“Tell them what caused the break,” Tempest said softly.
“We had a confrontation. He shattered the window in my truck, I hit him. And before you ask me what led to it, his drinking, shirking his responsibilities, his latest girlfriend draining his bank account, and the total disrespect he’s shown all of us since he found out Cristie is his mate. I can’t have his behavior affecting the rest of the clan, and I will not have his choice of significant other on our property. She’s not the type of person we want around this clan, and she’s not the type of person we can trust with our secrets. And just to reiterate, I did threaten him with putting him out if he didn’t get his shit together, but I was hoping it would shock him into looking around and seeing the state of things. Instead he said he was out.I’m sure there could have been better ways to handle it, but we were both angry and shit happened. I do regret my part in it, but regardless, his behavior couldn’t be allowed to continue.”
“Is he okay?” Analise asked.
“I don’t know, but I hope so. This morning I went to let Aunt Avaleigh and Uncle Daniel know what happened, and when I left, Uncle Daniel was going to look for him.”
“I’m sorry it came to this, too, but I appreciate you standing up for the rest of us it was affecting,” Kiernan said. “I didn’t expect it to make him leave, though. I feel bad about that.”
“Same,” Christian said.
“I would not have allowed anyone to continue with behavior that is disturbing the rest of our clan. He’s gotta show respect while he’s working through his shit, and he didn’t. Plain and simple. He’s the one who made the choice. I drew the line, he crossed it.”
“So now what?” Ronan asked.
“We move forward. Hopefully at some point, sooner rather than later, Remi will come back to us. He’ll always have a place here, in fact, his house will remain his house and waiting for him when he comes back. I didn’t get you all here to tell you he’s ostracized or you can’t interact with him. That’s bullshit. He’s family. He’s just not welcome to live among us while he’s showing his ass. I brought you all together so I could just say it once and be done. I’ll be honest with you. I’m not happy about it, but until he wants to be here, there’s nothing to be done for it,” Brandt said. “But I will greatly appreciate none of you getting involved. Stay out of the subject of what’s going on between him and me. Do not make things more difficult. You don’t have to ignore him, but do not make things worse.”
“He was pretty vicious the last time I tried to talk to him,” Havoc said.
“He’s pretty resentful of those of us who have mates, since he doesn’t. Don’t take it personally,” Brandt said.
“I’m sorry to hear all this is happening,” Ronan said. “If there’s anything I can do from here, let me know. Hell, if you need me to come home and do something there, let me know.”
“Only thing I want you to do is to keep making the presidents list each semester. We’re proud of you,” Brandt said.
“Thank you,” Ronan said.
“Christian, same for you, nothing to be done by any of us that are here, so no reason for you to feel like you should be doing anything different than you are. Just keep doing you and we’ll see you later.”
“Oh, God, I’m gonna puke again,” Emmalyn mumbled as she got up and ran across the porch to Brandt’s front door. She threw the screen door wide and bolted inside.
