Page 25 of Grin and Bear It

I’d driven over every inch of the city I’d grown up in, from the moment I first got my licence and me and the boys used to escape the eagle eyes of the various bear clans by taking off in my shitty Datsun 180B, to doing jobs on houses in every suburb. My fingers flexed around the steering wheel. It was as natural as breathing, driving.

So why was I sitting here in the driveway, engine idling, when I had somewhere to be?

Pick the kids up, I told myself sternly.Take them to Ellie’s.

Fuck.

Just saying her name in my head created a burst of warmth in my chest, but for some reason that fucking ached. I scratched at my sternum, that bloody feeling spreading, spreading until I started to worry I was having a fucking heart attack or something.

And I guess it was one of a sort.

I’d been lying in bed, just staring at the ceiling when she called. I hadn’t even wanted to answer it. I thought it was one of my dads again, nagging me about coming over or the boys or something, so I’d snatched it up, ready to unload on whoever was dumb enough to ring me.

When I heard her.

Her words came out lightning fast and they hit me like a bolt, electrifying my whole fucking body. My cock was hard, my heart thumping and suddenly I wanted nothing more than to hear her talk. I listened to her tales of woe, trying to read between the lines and work out what the fuck had happened, ready to lay waste to her enemies, when I realised what was happening.

Ellie Jennings was mine.

My mate, the other half of my heart. The only woman I’d ever love and right then I’d do anything to keep her on the line. She hadn’t meant to ring me, that was clear, and when I heard what the boys had been up to, I worked out why she had my number. White hot fury had licked through me, burning away all the apathy that hung over me like a heavy black cloud since I’d got the news…

“Take a breath,”I’d told her last night, and I took my own advice this afternoon, grabbing my phone out before I put the car in gear.

I’m picking you up, I sent as a group text to both boys.

We’ll catch the bus, came Knox’s reply.

I shook my head slowly and then forced my jaw to unlock.

Meet me out the front of the school. I’m on my way.

I tossed the phone in the front seat, ignoring the answering buzz. The boys would be there. They’d better fucking be there, or we’d be having words. I eased my foot off the brake and then put it on the accelerator, pulling away from the house and towards her.

“We don’t need you to—”Knox started to say as soon as he opened the car door. Who fucking knew picking up your kid was such a difficult thing? There were cars for miles, it felt, when I pulled up out front of the high school, but when I got to the front of the school, the twins disengaged from their pack of ‘bros’ and Knox stuck his head in the open passenger side window.

“Get in the car,” I growled.

“We can catch the bus.” Maddox tried for a more reasonable tone. I knew it well. He’d used it often enough in the past few months when he came to my room. “We’ll be home on time and get our homework done.”

“You’ll get in the car, is what you’ll do.” I shot them a hard look. “Now. Cars are backed up behind us.”

The two of them let out frustrated little hisses, but the back door was wrenched open and the two of them clambered in without a word.

Good.

But as I pulled away from the curb, getting out onto the road, Knox piped up.

“So she’s the one?”

There was no need to clarify what that meant. All of my pack took fur when it pleased them and the boys would too, when they reached maturity. They knew exactly what a fated mate was, because their own mother had been my brother’s. My focus shifted to the rear vision mirror and both boys stared back at me, their eyes flat and angry.

It was a look I was very familiar with right now.

“Ty and Lin, Cole, they confirmed it?” Maddox asked, much more cautiously. “Ms Jennings—”

“Ellie belongs to us,” I said, feeling that rush of satisfaction again and savouring it for just a moment, before they flopped back against the seat and then stared at each other.

Twin ESP, that’s what Adam, my brother, had called it. Maddox and Knox were identical and they’d shared something that none of us could touch since the moment they were born. If you took one away from the other when they were babies, they’d cry until they were reunited, making things tough on their poor mum.Sharney…I shook my head and focussed back on the road.

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