doing what you’re doing. You won’t win. You’re going to end up dead and so are those with you.” He lifts his hand and snaps, teleporting away without any explanation to his words.
The second he’s gone, I can’t hold myself upright. I drop to my knees. My hands hit the ground.
What just happened? Why did he come here? To tease me and say he knows things I don’t? To rub it in my face that I may never know what happened to our parents?
A hand gently touches my back. I know instantly it’s Whit’s. He’s not someone I’ve ever seen be aggressive. Everything Whit does is with love and kindness, just as his touch is right now.
“I tried reading his mind,” he says. He’s close to me. On the ground by my side. “I couldn’t get anything. There was a wall up I couldn’t break through, no matter how hard I tried. I wanted to find out for you. I wanted that closure so you knew what happened. I’m sorry I couldn’t get it.”
“No,” I choke out and shake my head. “It’s not on you. You didn’t do anything wrong.” My words come out stilted and raw. That’s what seeing my brother after a century does to me.
My brother was here before my eyes and he talked to me like I didn’t matter. There was no love when he looked at me. And the fact he said I was alive because he deemed it so… I can’t wrap my head around that. He’s my blood. The only one left in my family.
And to imply I’d take advantage of Whit. He has to be the nicest paranormal I know. I could never use him. Freaking Caiden and his bunch of lies.
“Zion, can you patrol for me?” Whit asks. I forgot he was here. My world narrowed down to my brother and Whit. “I’m going to take Cam home.”
I don’t hear anything, but the wolf must agree. The next thing I feel is magic prickling my skin as Whit opens a portal in front of us.
“Come on, Cam.” He hooks his arm under mine and helps me stand. We exit into my bedroom at the pack house.
My door is shut. The curtains over my windows drawn. The sun hasn’t begun to rise yet. I can still make out the paintings on my walls. The ones my mom made for my dad. Ones I’ve never been able to part with. I’m not sure what time it is but all of a sudden my body is drained. Like all the fight has left me at seeing my brother.
“Get on the bed,” Whit says softly. I amble over and drop down. My eyes go to the small stuffed wolf that sits on my dresser. The one I saved for Caiden.
Whit takes off my shoes and socks then lifts the covers over me, drawing my attention back to him. I should tell him to stop. That I can do this myself, but there’s something nice about him helping me, caring for me.
He comes over to stand by the bed near my side. “You need rest, Cam. You think you can run forever, but eventually your body will give out. No amount of shifting will help. No matter what kinds of beings we are, we all need sleep. We need to rest our bodies and our minds, too.”
I peer up at him. “When did you get so wise?”
He shrugs. “It happens when you spend more time observing than participating in things.”
I don’t stop and think before the next words are out of my mouth. “Lie with me.”
Whit rubs the back of his neck as a slight blush rises over his cheeks. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Shifters sleep in the same bed all the time. You’ve seen how often Wake, Paige, Ari, Orion, and the others end up sharing a bed.”
“That’s different. They’re mated.”
“We’re just two males who are friends. I don’t want to be alone right now. Please.” I’m begging. I shouldn’t be. I should be able to handle things alone, but I can’t. Seeing my brother has rocked me to my core. Add on the fact that the team and I spent countless hours rescuing a group of paranormal children from holding cells in three towns across the United States in the past few days and it’s enough to keep me unsettled.
I will never understand how someone can sell their child. Or adopt a child only to find out they are paranormal when they