His Wolf wasn’t too thrilled with that, but as much as it pouted and grumbled, Jim knew it was the right way to go. He’d hurt Chloe badly, and he needed to make sure she knew that he valued her just as much as he did Spencer. If he rushed things he might never gain her full trust.
“Ahem.”
Jim rolled his eyes. Oh, joy. He recognized that voice. In fact, he’d been expecting this for a while now. “Hello, Ryan.” A tap on his shoulder had him turning. “And Alex.”
Ryan Williams and Alexander “Bunny” Bunsun stood behind him in line, wearing identical scowls. Ryan was the first to speak. “I hear you’re dating my sister.”
A snicker from the front of the line and an oh shit, dude’s dead had Alex smirking. “You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to kick your ass.”
It was no secret that Alex was very protective of his female cousins, Chloe and Heather especially. “Chloe told you not to?”
Alex growled, while Ryan simply glared.
“Did she explain what’s been going on?” Jim pushed his cart forward as the line moved, hoping the two weren’t planning on putting on a bloody showdown in the middle of the Super Foods.
“Something about a bastard, but I figured she was talking about you.” Ryan’s smirk was annoying. Jim had the urge to wipe it from his face, but the Grizzly could probably mutilate him with his pinky finger. While Jim could take on a human, a Grizzly Bear was a whole other matter.
Besides, even if there was a chance he could win he wouldn’t hurt Chloe’s brother. She might be willing to forgive him for a lot of things, but he doubted even she would forgive Jim for making Ryan bleed.
“She was talking about my half brother.” Jim started emptying his cart onto the conveyor belt as the person ahead of him moved forward. “My dad cheated on my mom and wound up having a son out of wedlock. Spencer is living with me now.” He wasn’t going to go into details with these two until their attitudes changed. He understood how they felt, but while Chloe was Ryan’s sister and Alex’s cousin, Spencer was his brother.
“And you think that makes what you did to Chloe okay?” Alex flexed his hands, almost making fists.
“You want to tell me what Chloe said, or do you just want to threaten me?” Jim wasn’t about to allow these two to intimidate him. They might maul him, but he’d get a few good licks in himself. Besides, he was pretty sure that if they damaged him Chloe would be on their asses like a burning rash. “Because I’m not telling you jack shit unless you back off.” While he wouldn’t get himself in trouble with Chloe by starting a fight, he sure as hell was willing to defend himself if need be.
The two exchanged an angry glance while Jim finished unloading his groceries. They spoke quietly while the cashier rang him up, then followed him out of the supermarket to his car.
“Fine. Chloe said Spencer was in a wheelchair, that he had something wrong with his nerves.”
Jim quickly explained CIDP. “He’s got a rare inflammatory disorder that’s eating away at the myelin sheath surrounding the nerves that deliver the signals to his arms and legs. Because he went so long without a correct diagnosis, he’s wheelchair bound. It’s still better than when we thought he had Lou Gehrig’s disease or MS, though. CIDP isn’t fatal.”
The two men looked shocked.
“Worse, the sperm donor wants nothing to do with him, so I’m the only family Spencer has left.” Jim finished loading the groceries into his car and slammed the trunk shut. “So he’s agreed to move in with me while we look for a wheelchair friendly place for him to live.” Something Jim no longer had a problem with now that he knew Spencer wasn’t terminally ill. If Spencer had been dying Jim would have done his level best to give his brother the best final days possible, and that meant living with Jim for the rest of his life.
Ryan’s shoulders sagged. “Damn it. I really wanted to beat the snot out of you.”
Alex cursed softly. “Fuck. That we can understand. Family comes first.”
Ryan held out his hand. “I’m sorry I called you an overused, undersized douche-nozzle.”
Jim took it, shaking Ryan’s hand firmly. “And I’m sorry I hurt your sister. I’m going to do what I can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Just…” Alex looked at him, and Jim could see the war going on inside him. His hazel eyes were browner than normal. Part of Alex was still pissed at him. “Talk to her from now on. Don’t leave her like that again.”
“Yeah. I don’t think you understand exactly how bad things were.” Ryan grimaced. “She was dying, and there was nothing we could do about it.”
“Wait.” Jim held up his hand as a cold chill went through him. “When I got the call I was told she was stable and in the best possible care.” Jim watched the cousins exchange grimaces. “Seriously? Dying? Why was I told she was going to be all right?”