"I'm not talking about that." She pulled herself up on the bed until they lay face to face, side by side. "Sascha said that Brenna's will was a steel flame, so strong, so beautiful."
Violent pride in Riley's eyes. "I know."
"But, Riley" - she cupped his face in her hands - "where do you think she learned that strength, that will? Who do you think taught her that she was that tough, that she could beat anything?"
Flickers of understanding in his gaze, but he shook his head. "I always protected her."
"But you didn't cage her," Mercy said, knowing he'd only tried to do that after the rescue. "You brought her up to be a proud, strong wolf. You gave her that foundation, Riley."
A long pause and the wolf glimmered in his eyes. "I need to think about this."
She smiled. "You do that, wolf." Part of him would always worry after Brenna. That was normal. But perhaps, in time, he'd stop being haunted by a monster's crime. "And remember, Brenna made it." A brush of fingertips against his lips. "She'd probably like her big brother back."
He dropped his forehead against hers in unspoken affection. Stroking her hand through his hair, she decided that was enough for one night. But she didn't want him to fall asleep with such solemn thoughts on his mind - she wanted to give him a smile, guarantee his dreams would be pleasant. "Still want to know about the Bikini Babe contest?"
Chocolate brown eyes that were suddenly alert. "Hell, yes."
She came so close their breaths mingled as they spoke. "Needless to say, you repeat this, I'll sharpen my claws on your ribs."
A slow blink. "It won't leave the room."
"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "When I was fifteen and very stupid, I had a crush on this other cat."
"Who?"
"Not important. And I mean that," she added to make sure he'd drop it. "I was already stronger and faster than most boys my age. I thought this boy could handle that - he certainly seemed confident. Turned out he was a snotty-nosed twerp."
"You going to tell me what he did?"
"If you stop growling."
A startled pause. "Sorry."
"It wasn't that big a deal," she said with the maturity of age, though it had devastated her at the time. "I gave him a Valentine's Day card - he opened it in front of his friends, and made sure my friends and I were nearby, too. He laughed after he read it out, said he'd never go out with another boy." The insult had spread through the school like wildfire, savaging Mercy's fledgling feminine confidence.
"I'll kill him."
She nipped at the wolf growling in her bed. "No need. I took care of it."
A gleam of interest.
"At first I was humiliated." She'd cried on her mom's shoulder until Bas and Dorian had both been ready to do murder. "Then I got mad. I decided to show him exactly what he'd missed out on."
Amusement had his mouth curving. "I'm liking this story."
"Knew you would." It released the tension in her soul to see laughter in him again. "You can guess this part - there was a Bikini Babe contest that summer to publicize this new line of swimwear for teens. You had to be sixteen to enter and then only if you had parental permission - I was a few weeks too young, but Dorian hacked into the computers to get me entry."
She couldn't help the truly gleeful smile that spread across her face. "After I won, I printed up this poster of me wearing the winner's sash - and a truly tiny bikini - and pasted it on the twerp's locker, with the words 'Dickless wonders need not apply' at the bottom."
Riley burst out laughing. "You're fucking amazing."
"Thank you. I was also grounded for months, along with Dorian. And I got detention for the poster prank, too." She grinned. "I didn't care. I was the hottest property on campus. You've never seen a more miserable face than the twerp's - he looked like he was about to cry every time he saw me at the beach that summer. And I made sure to be at the beach a lot."
Riley's smile hadn't faded. "Why don't you like people knowing about this? He messed with your cat, you took care of business. Where's the shame in that?"
"I was an idiot, Riley - I let that moron influence how I saw myself. I lost interest in tormenting him pretty fast once I saw how weak he was. Then I was mad at myself." A pause, and without warning, the wickedness in her took over. "You know, I can still fit into the winning bikini . . . though it's gone from tiny to microscopic."
"You're tormenting me now."