Page 14 of Forsaken Fate

I shrugged. “If the party and the coven think he can beat whoever they run on the other side, none of what he does tonight matters. He’s still got a name.” Indeed. He had my name.

My heart skipped as Brynna came back into the room. Her hair was perfect, her dress impeccable. Her pale green eyes glimmered under the lights as she stole a furtive glance at me. She came to Grayson’s side and put a soft hand on his elbow, steadying him as he swayed. His smile broadened when he saw her. He put a clumsy arm around her shoulder, and she had to brace herself to keep her balance as he leaned on her. She was cool, though: smooth, small but strong. She kept him level with a smile on her face. Only I knew the lie she concealed, and it made my blood quicken and my balls tighten to think about it.

“I think I need to get the hell out of here,” I said. “You ready, Doyle?” He nodded and set his drink on the nearest end table.

“I’m right behind you,” Adam said.

The three of us walked up to Grayson together. If I’d been alone, I wouldn’t have bothered to say goodbye.

“You’re leaving?” Grayson said. His arm was still heavy around Brynna’s shoulder, and she kept her smile frozen in place. I held my hand out so he would have to let her go and shake it. I put a smile on my face and hoped I was as good as she was at concealing what was going on behind it. Her smile warmed for just an instant and I knew it was for me.

I took Grayson’s hand in both of mine and gave it a firm shake. “I’ll see you around.”

“You’re not leaving,” Grayson said. “You’re not leaving town, I mean. You can’t yet.”

“I can’t stay forever,” I said. I couldn’t take my eyes off Brynna. It was risky as hell, if someone besides her noticed. She kept that perfect smile on her face. Only her eyes betrayed the turmoil going on behind them. They flashed green fire.

“You’re my second,” Grayson said.

Brynna’s smile dropped for a split second, but she recovered. My own smile widened. “Your what now?” I said.

Grayson put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me away from the rest of the group.

“I wanted to talk to you about it earlier,” he said. “I was going to call you. At The Gathering. Brynna has no family. She’s all alone. You know the tradition. I need someone to give her away. I want that someone to be you. You have to, man. You’re my brother, right? You’re my only brother.”

Shit.

“I, uh ... I’m honored Grayson, it’s just really fast. It’s short notice. I can’t stay away indefinitely. I have my own business to run.”

“You have to!” Grayson’s voice took on an almost childish tone.

“When again?”

“You know when. The Gathering,” he said. “Samhain. We’ll do the marking ceremony on the night of the full moon. It’s important, Theo. The packs will notice if you aren’t there. You matter to them. You have to stand up with me. You have to be the one to give Brynna away. We’re all that’s left, you and me. We’re the last of the Dorrans.”

I flinched when he said it. Nothing about that had changed. “Right,” I said. “But, Grayson, don’t you have a best friend or something? Someone from your mother’s coven? There’s gotta be ...”

“You!” Grayson said. He was starting to sway on his feet and his outburst was starting to draw attention. The idiot was in danger of revealing himself for a fall-down drunk or a spell-head. Jesus. I had no idea he’d gotten bad like this. How had it gotten bad like this? Unless… I got closer to him. Scented him. Christ. There was something else at play. The sickly-sweet smell of dark magic clung to him. Adam was right. He was using something he shouldn’t be. Something dangerous.

“It’s got to be you. And, Theo ... you do this for me and I’ll see what I can do about finding that shit of your mom’s.”

My blood boiled. “I thought you said you were sure there wasn’t anything else? You said you already looked.”

Grayson laughed. “S’ a big house. I might get lucky.” He laughed again and started to stagger away from me, but Brynna was there. She put her arm under his.

“We’re really so glad you could come out and support Grayson tonight,” she said. “It means so much to him ... so much to us.” Her smile was there but her eyes bore through mine.

“It was my pleasure,” I said, shooting her a wink and loving the hint of a blush that crept into her face and dotted the smooth skin of her chest. Then I gestured to Doyle and Adam and got the hell out of there as fast as I could.

* * *

An hour later, I was back in my hotel room downtown. I was alone finally, but I couldn’t get Brynna Carrington out of my head. Her scent was on my clothes, in my hair ... a mixture of her perfume and the intoxicating fragrance of her arousal. I hadn’t planned to fuck her. I swear I hadn’t. I was still trying to decide if I regretted it.

She called to me. Her pulse. Her blood.

Mine!

My wolf stirred. There’d been something primal in fucking her. It felt good to take something Grayson thought belonged to him. But it was careless of me. It was like I dared Grayson to scent me on her. So he’d know. Only…he hadn’t. Maybe it was that his senses were dulled by whatever spell he’d used on himself.

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