Page 13 of Nita's Redemption

“What do you need to do, baby?” Tank asked.

A deep exhale of air whooshed out of Nita, and as it did, Abe recognized the relief that came with it. Their female had obviously been expecting a fight and was preparing for one.

“I just need a little time to come to terms with all of this.” Nita swept her arm in an arc, indicating the four of them.

“Whatever you need we can give.” Link agreed, his jaw tightened after he spoke.

Abe could tell their words were what she needed. And fuck it all. He was glad his brothers were as on board as he was with what was right for her, yet the strain was clear on each of their features. The same as he was sure that was etched on his own. They all did their best to hide it from Nita, giving their female what she requested was only slightly less painful than getting kicked in the dick.

Abe nodded, his throat thick with emotion he didn’t want to express by deed or word. Sheot, he had to be the best damn actor ever born. His mouth was dryer than a desert in the middle of a heatwave. He gave a nod of affirmation since he wasn’t sure his voice wouldn’t betray his true feelings.

“We will walk you home,” Tank said with authority.

Nita shook her head and held up her hands, backing away. “I can get myself home. Remember, I can flash from place to place.”

Abe swallowed, nodding while anger churned in his gut. He and his brothers watched her take several steps backward before she disappeared, showing that she could, in fact, flash from one place to another. He was glad their female could do so, yet it was another thing they couldn’t do that she could, so he wasn’t sure how that would affect their mating. Would she feel they weren’t good enough for her?

“Stop thinking that, bro.” Link slapped his shoulder with one meaty palm, rocking him forward slightly.

Tank gave a grunt, his way of agreeing. While Link and he were brothers by blood, Tank was their brother by choice. Some in their pack didn’t understand their deep bond and had even made comments about their connection being more than friendship. However, none of them had ever looked at one another as anything other than a friend or sibling. A shiver wracked his frame at the thought of touching a male, even one he loved like a brother. Not that he thought male on male, or female on female was bad, it just wasn’t something he found attractive.

“I’m glad you never wanted to get it on with me, Abe. I would’ve hated to hurt your feelings with my swift but brutal shoot down.” Tank made his fingers into a fake gun and began making shooting sounds.

Abe shoved him in the side with his shoulder as he continued the few yards to their home. He stared one more time at the spot Nita had been only moments before, taking a deep breath to see if he could catch a hit of her sweet scent. The lingering smell of honeysuckle and berries soothed his ragged soul. It would have to be enough, for now.

“She has the sweetest smell. It makes my mouth water in need and my dick hard enough I fear my zipper is going to have a permanent tattoo of it on the backside,” Tank grumbled.

The imagery was too funny not to laugh. Poor Tank was in the same state as he and Link, but he was the only one who put it so eloquently.

“How about we go shoot some bad guys?” Abe asked from the wrap-around porch of their place.

Link tilted his head to the side as if he was listening to something. A couple seconds pass before his twin finally speaks. “I think I’ll go for a run. I’ll steer clear of Nita’s place, but I feel unsettled.”

Abe dropped his hands from his hips, staring down at Link. “What’s wrong?”

Out of the three of them, Link tended to sense things before they did. His brother being unsettled could be nothing, or it could be something huge.

“I don’t know. There’s a vibration in the air that doesn’t feel... right. I’ll just do a quick run of the perimeter and reassure myself and my wolf that all is right in the world and return. You know how he gets sometime, kinda pissy.” Link shrugged, his stare aimed toward Nita’s side of the huge trailer park.

He and Tank nodded, each shedding their human skin to a wolf in seconds. Link sighed and shook his head. The three of them were a well-oiled team, none of them willing to let one go out alone when one is feeling something was off.

‘You two realize I can go by myself without you coming to babysit me, right?’ Link’s wolf had his voice going deeper through their mental path.

Tank’s gigantic wolf walked up to Link’s wolf and rubbed along his side. The male wasn’t big on expressing himself in words, but that action was telling. Abe stepped to Link’s other side. In wolf form, the same as in human, the two of them were identical. Their mother had been the only one who could tell them apart until Tank came along. He wondered if Nita could tell who was whom?

Without a word, Link took off. Tank followed close while Abe stayed back a little, watching to see if they had anyone looking at them. The hair on the back of his neck didn’t rise like it normally would if there was danger, which he counted as a blessing. A half hour passed and then an hour. Their little reconnaissance became more like a small pack run as several of the other members joined them. Link led the way around the woods surrounding the property, showing the younger wolves how to search for scents of intruders while Tank instructed them how to watch each other’s back while still enjoying the run. He took the distraction as a chance to ease away and focus on what his brother had sensed. He’d picked up on the strange vibration within fifteen minutes of their run.

The echo of the interruption into their pack protection appeared to aim toward the back of their property, right where their female resided. Abe didn’t want to get too close to Nita’s place and risk their female thinking they’d broken their promise to give her space. Of course, the moment he was within sniffing distance the smell of honeysuckle hit him.

His wolf came to a halt, his nose in the air sucking in the sweet smell of their female. It took a lot more effort than he’d expected to rein in the beast when they both wanted to charge right over to where they knew Nita was and... do more than sniff her. Fuck.

Looking around, he tried to see the different auras like some of his pack could. When all he could see was what his wolf eyes could, he gave a huff of anger.

‘Are you trying to get a bead on the ones who shouldn’t be here?’ Nita’s sweet voice floated to him on the wind.

It took him a second to recognize her words were spoken in his mind. He looked toward her trailer, then around him, searching for her gorgeous wolf form.

‘Look up, silly wolf,’ she whispered.

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