Broods Of Fenrir - By Coral Moore Page 0,58

to need help if it comes to a fight.”

“If it comes to a fight, I don"t want you on my side.” He made his voice as harsh as he could.

Gunni"s face, ruddy from his battle minutes before, fell.

The dejected expression tugged at Brand"s heart, just a little.

Fenrir"s teeth and claws, what was wrong with him? He didn"t need that pup chasing around after him, thinking he was helping and getting himself killed, especially not when Alice so clearly cared about him.

Alice fixed Brand with a distinctly disapproving glare.

He stomped toward her through the snow. She stared up at him, expression cold.

Forcing an even more harsh tone, he said, “I suppose you"re going to come up with some excuse why I should bring you as well. This is going to be difficult enough; I don"t need two anchors tied to me.”

Her eyes didn"t waver at all. “You"re an arrogant bastard.”

He managed to restrain the smile that threatened because of her act of defiance. She"d changed so much recently.

“So I"ve been told on more than one occasion.” Though never by her. Tension tightened his belly in knots.

He needed to ensure their safety, and the best way to accomplish that was for them to be far from him. Ingrid, he thought, could be trusted to protect Dagny if the confrontation went badly, but she wouldn"t inconvenience herself for Gunni or Alice. In fact, she would probably offer them up as a sacrifice to save her daughter. He couldn"t let that happen.

Gunni reached for Alice"s hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. He pulled her close to him and whispered, “Let"s get out of here.”

Her eyes searched his face for a few seconds and then 162

she nodded. She dug in the pocket of her jeans. Coming up with her keys, she tossed them in Brand"s direction without looking at him. He caught them one-handed and turned away.

Brand manhandled Fari into the backseat of Alice"s car.

The male groaned with each impact to his battered ribs which Brand made sure happened enough keep his attention. Dagny watched him with a tight-lipped expression.

Brand got behind the wheel and wrestled with the seat, lifting his gaze to her afterward. “Go ahead and say it.”

“Oh, no. I"ve got nothing to add to that stellar performance.” She glowered at him. “I"m wondering if you"re stupid enough to try that on me? Or are you going to Compel me to go hide somewhere, like Erik did to Bera?”

“If I thought pushing you away had a chance of working, I might try it.” He grumbled and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “As to Compelling you, I can"t anymore.”

“You… what?” She leaned closer, looking more than a bit shocked.

“I changed the bond so I can"t Compel you anymore.” She closed her eyes for a few seconds. “Why would you do that?”

“I wanted to give you something no one else has.” He paused to smile. “I don"t want to make you do something you don"t want to, as crazy as I"m sure that will make me sometimes.”

A tear streaked down over her right cheek. He reached for her, but she leaned away, wiping at her face irritably.

“Shouldn"t you give Alice that same respect?” Her words stung like a slap. He faced out the window toward where Gunni"s car sat rather than confront her accusation. Alice leaned against the fender. “You don"t understand.”

“I understand that you"re caught between your need to protect and your sense of honor. I can feel how tortured you are by that choice.” She touched his arm with hesitant fingers.

He turned back to meet her eyes. “She"s not like you.” 163

“No, she"s not, but she cares for you, too.” She sighed.

“The choice isn"t yours to make, Brand.”

“You"re both going to be the death of me.” He got out of the car and stalked across the space between the vehicles.

Alice watched him crossing the distance, eyebrows drawn down. Gunni scrambled out of his car and got between them.

Brand hadn"t expected that reaction, but he approved.

He remembered how difficult it had been to stand up to his sire that first time. Fixing Gunni with his most fierce glare, he stopped. “Get out of my way unless you want me to knock you on your ass in front of her.”

A low growl came from between Gunni"s clenched teeth. Brand stopped, pulling up his sleeves one at a time.

“Listen, pup, step aside, or I"m going to move you.” Gunni wasn"t small, but Brand topped him by three inches and at least twenty pounds of