Chapter 71: Inseparable

Nash

Daphne was a werewolf.

How the hell had it taken me this long to figure it out? All the evidence had been staring me right in the face, but I’d been in heavy denial.

She lied to me. Or at least, she’d omitted the truth. I wanted to be angry about that, but I was lying to her too. She turned on me then, her blue eyes blazing.

“You could have been killed, too. I don’t care if you are a Navy SEAL, or an Army Ranger, or a Green Beret, or whatever the f.uck kind of GI Joe, a shifter will tear you apart.”

I wanted to argue that I was perfectly capable of holding my own. Hell, I’d wrestled with Josiah and his warriors on plenty of occasions. But always in human form, never against their wolf. And, to be fair, she’d come upon me when I was about to get my ass whipped the bear-shifter. “I was caught off-guard,” I said lamely.

Hell yeah I was caught off guard. And not only by the blue-haired bear shifter. I’d been caught off guard by my roommate too. Daphe had thrown me off balance from the moment I’d met her, and I was still reeling. I couldn’t even stand close to her without wanting to kiss that damn mouth.

It was time to come clean… as clean as I could come without compromising my client. “Look, Daphne, we need to talk. There are some things I need to tell you before–”

There was a noisy disruption downstairs, some rumbling in the foyer, and then the sound of pounding feet on the stairs. Without thought, I jumped between the door and Daphne, pulling the handgun from my waistband and aiming it at the door. I barely heard Daphne’s gasp behind me, or her shout of “Nate, No!”

The door slammed open as if there wasn't a doorknob that was securely locked before. Two large men stood shoulder to broad shoulder in the opening, almost complete mirror images of each other. They were tensed and ready to fight, and their angry blue eyes fell on me like I was the cause of the f.ucking apocalypse. My hands tightened around the gun as I sized up this new enemy.

Daphne’s hand fell softly on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Nate. These are my brothers.” She boldly put her hand on my forearms and pushed gently, urging me to lower my weapon.

“What in the actual hell, Daphne! This is where you’ve been staying? In an frat house?”

“Well, technically it’s not a frat house,” Daphne began to correct them diplomatically, “It’s just off-campus housing which is now supposed to be co-ed. Um, guys, this is my roommate, Nate.” She slid in front of me, reversing our positions, so that she was now protecting me from her very large and very angry werewolf brothers. If there was any doubt about which species they were, the low, rumbling growls pretty well cinched it. “Now what are you doing here? I told you to stay home.”

One brother, the one with the shorter hair relaxed slightly, but the one with the pony-tail was still giving me a stink eye. “No can do, baby sister. Not with Cody running loose.”

“What happened? You are injured!” The short-haired brother pointed an accusing finger. Standing on her injured leg and moving around had pulled open the butterfly stitches, just as I had warned her it might. Fresh blood was oozing through her baby-blue pajama pants.

The brother pushed forward and scooped her up, and I felt a surge of jealous rage. If someone was going to carry her, it should be me, only me. I didn’t care if the dude was her brother. He brushed past me to deposit her carefully on the bed, with her protesting the whole time, “I’m fine Wyatt! Put me down!”

Wyatt with the ponytail stood with his fists on his hips. “What the hell, Daffy? You went out there and tangled with a bear by yourself? Not just a bear, but a goddamned assassin?”

“What do you mean assassin?” I asked. But the brothers ignored me. “It’s my fault,” I said, stepping up. Her brothers were big and intimidating, but I wasn’t afraid of them. Even if I was, I still wasn’t going to back down. “She followed me into the woods.”

Daphne rolled her eyes. “I told you I wasn’t following you, I was following her. And I wasn’t going to confront her.” She made a face that was meant for me and me alone. “But things got complicated.”

“And you got hurt,” The brother called Wyatt spoke the words for her, but it was like he was making an accusation to me, blaming me for Daphne's injuries. And he was right, she wouldn't have gotten hurt if she hadn't been trying to protect me.

The other one, the guy with the shorter hair, stepped into my personal space and glared at me. “I suppose you have something to do with this?”

“Leave him alone, Byron!” Daphne’s voice was surprisingly commanding. In fact, there was an aura of authority rolling off all three of them. That’s when I understood, I wasn’t just dealing with any common-place werewolf, I was dealing with high-ranking individuals. I’d bet my last pair of boots that those brothers were Alpha’s, and that meant Daphne was also an Alpha’s daughter.

I raked a hand through my hair, “I didn’t mean to get her involved,” I said, keeping my voice level and calm. “I told her to stay out of the woods.”

Byron looked up at the ceiling and huffed, “As if she’d listen!”

“You are coming home,” Wyatt said. “What do you need us to pack?”

“I don’t need to go home–”

“This isn’t up for discussion, Daphne. We’ve put a message through to King’s, but until she’s been neutralized, you can’t stay here. Especially now that you’ve tangled with her directly. If she’s marked you, she could come after you.” He glanced over his shoulder at me with an expression of distaste. “And your friend.”

Daphne sighed, and I saw some of the fight go out of her. “Yeah.” She looked up at me with a pleading expression. “You should probably lay low for a while too. You could come back with us–”

“Daphne!”

“What? He already knows about werewolves, Wyatt. And no, I didn’t tell him. He figured it out for himself. She’s seen him now too, he could be a target.” She leaned around her brother to look me in the eye, “Come to our pack, Nate. You’ll be safe there until this is settled.”

“Daphne!” Her brother objected again.

“What? He’s my friend, I will vouch for him,” She continued stubbornly.

“No,” I interjected, stepping away from the suffocating aura of the man that was still standing uncomfortably close to me. “Thank you, Daphne, but I’m okay. I have other things I need to take care of.”

I saw the hurt flash across her face, quickly chased by worry, and I hated that I put that look in her eyes. “I’ll be fine. Now that we know, I’ll stay out of the woods and watch my back.” I shrugged. “Besides, I have work I need to take care of…” That much was true. I managed a half smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll make myself scarce.”