Chapter 161 Chapter 161
“How’s your vacation going?” That is how Cooper answered the phone.
Blair hissed out a breath. “It’s going.”
“Gage shared some bits with me.”
He sounded fine, that made Blair feel better. “Which bits?” He pictured Coop laying there propped up in bed with his hat on.
“The trip, the females, the trouble, and your mate.”
Blair nodded and then closed his eyes. “There’s been some recent developments.”
“I figured by the tone of your voice.”
“How are you feeling?” Blair was stalling.
“I’m fine. You didn’t call to talk about my leg, what’s going on?”
Blair stopped beside the same tree Annamarie had earlier. Sitting down, he leaned back against it. “You know about my family and clan?”
“I do.”
He shrugged, “I figured you probably did.” He glanced at the field and wished for a run, like a long, long one. “You know how badly injured this clans’ last male is.”
“Yeah, Gage told me that too. How’s he doing?”
Blair rubbed his thumb between his eyes, “they don’t even know if he’ll ever be able to shift again. He’s,” he paused before saying out loud for the first time, “my mate’s twin brother, they’re the last of the Alpha family.”
“That’s a mess.”
Blair snorted, “that’s not even the worst of this fucking mess, Coop.”
“I won’t know until you tell me, and if you don’t tell me, I can’t help straighten your head out.”
Blair blew out a breath, “okay, so my brother was there when their Alpha-my-mates-father,” he said slowly, “was killed. Her twin put two and two together and asked if we were related…”
“Well, shit.”
“Right. She doesn’t know—but I have to tell her about my original clan and all of it…”
“You definitely should at that.”
“She hasn’t decided if she wants to be mated, Coop. What the fuck do I do with that?” He knew it was all going to spew out of his mouth like a dam had just broken, but he couldn’t stop. “The king has approved her clan to move to that big property down the road. It was Gage’s idea. I think it’s a good one. But they can’t stay unless they have an Alpha or merge with Ed’s clan—and the last thing Ed needs is nine more females,” he shook his head, “I’m pretty sure Kobie doesn’t want to be the Alpha and her brother may never be capable of it again—so the king says I should be, and I don’t even know, Coop.” His teeth clicked together as he stopped talking abruptly.
“Just hold on two shakes while I process all that,” Cooper said thoughtfully.
Blair nodded and forced air back into his body.
“That is a lot. Here I was thinking you, our pretty boy was having cold feet about finding his mate.”
Blair rolled his eyes, “I wished that was the only thing happening here.”
“Yeah, I get that now.” Cooper paused, Blair pictured him taking off his hat and rubbing his hand over his brush cut vigorously, which was Cooper’s thinking move. “Okay, let’s try this, take a deep breath, close your eyes and answer me one question.”
Blair sat forward, “okay.” He waited for the question.
“I said close your damn eyes.”
He had no idea how Cooper knew he was staring straight ahead, but he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and breathed it out.
“How do you feel about them—the whole lot of them?” Cooper asked softly.
Blair didn’t even hesitate. “I would die for any fucking one of them, Coop. Strongest women and kids I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s your answer, kid.”
Blair’s eyes popped open, he scowled at the ground. “How’s that my answer?”
“Sounds like you’re what they need, Blair, so go fight for them.”
Blair got up slowly. “So what you’re saying is tell Kobie everything, and lay it out for the rest of the clan?”
“That sounds about right.”
“Fuck, Coop, this is going to suck.” Blair hissed out a breath.
“Of course, it is. Anything worth having is fucking hard to get.” Cooper chuckled. “And, Blair?”
“Yeah?” He held his breath waiting for some clue on how to go about it.
“I look forward to meeting them. I’ll even stand watch over them for you when you’re busy.”
A lump formed in Blair’s throat. “I know you will, thanks. And Coop? Try to behave just a bit for Beth.”
Cooper laughed, “that’s not going to happen. Now stop stalling and go get it done.”
Blair ignored the looks Calum and Jesse gave him as he walked past them and went into the house. He went straight to where he knew Kobie would be, beside Jay’s bed. “Kobie?” He stood at the door, “you have a few minutes?”
Jay gave her a slight nod. “I’m going to try to sleep before Shaelan comes and stabs me again.”
Kobie nodded and got up. “You better try harder to eat that soup or Rayne is going to pour it in you.”
Blair led her outside and kept walking.
She walked alongside him without saying a word until they reached the end of the fenced-in area. “This must be pretty serious if we’re moving out of hearing distance.”
“It’s complicated.” That was all he could manage. His mind was processing a hundred different ways to start this. He didn’t stop until he was back at the same tree he’d just left. He motioned to the ground, “Might as well grab a seat, this will take a minute.”
She gave him a cautious look. “Okay,” she said slowly, “one thing first, though.”
He was just about to ask what that was when she stretched up and kissed him on the mouth, lingering for a second. “Thank you.”
He glanced at her, “for what?” His cat, even knowing why they had brought her out here wanted a real taste. He jammed his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t touch her.
“What you did for Annamarie.”
He bobbed his head, “that’s kind of part of what I wanted to talk to you about—after I talk to you about some other stuff. Not just Annamarie—” Oh yeah, this was going brilliantly. He shook his head, “I wished you hadn’t kissed me—” He almost choked on his tongue fixing that when she looked hurt. “Not that,” he touched her shoulder, “I don’t want you to kiss me,” he tilted his head, “I do. It’s just now—” Dropping his hand, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at her again, “any time I’m near you I can’t focus so…”
Kobie smirked, “okay, I get it.” She motioned to the ground, “sit down and behave so you can focus.” Sitting down, she clasped her hands in her lap.
“Yes.” He wanted to sigh in relief and would have if he didn’t know what he had to do next. He sat down, keeping several feet between them. “Okay.” He watched her looking at him. “I don’t even know where to start this.”
“At the beginning?” She offered with a serious look on her face.
He nodded, “yeah. Okay.” He blew out a breath, “my clan, the one I’m with now, isn’t the clan I was born into.” Blair didn’t even want to blink; he wanted to watch her eyes and see every reaction she had. Needed to, his cat prodded. This was as important to his animal side as it was to him. “My mother sent me to live with Ed’s clan when I was two.”
A compassionate look appeared in her eyes, so he continued while it was there. “I just found out all of this,” he motioned between them, “when we met up with Calum on that mountain.”
“You never asked before?”
He shook his head, “I wanted to know but didn’t, you know what I mean?”
She nodded.
“My father was the Alpha and was killed,” he frowned, “I believe it was orchestrated by his own people—because my mother sent me away to keep me safe after that.”
She put her hand over her mouth, “that’s awful, Blair.”
He nodded slowly, then touched his chest, “I don’t feel it, I was two, so it just doesn’t register.”
“That’s probably a good thing.” She said softly.
He hoped, really, really hoped that compassion in her voice didn’t change. “Yeah, so,” he swallowed because his mouth suddenly dried out, “Calum told me my clan—or the rest of that clan had agreed to work with Alberto Tomas, and that’s why they killed my father because he was trying to move them away to stop it from happening.”
Her expression changed, but she didn’t look appalled—yet.
“He told me I have an older brother.”
She sucked in a breath, “your brother killed your father to become Alpha and help those horrible people?”
Pausing he considered her words, they weren’t against him, so he kept going. “I guess that’s what happened.” He shook his head, “I don’t remember a brother, and I don’t remember my mother either.”
Her expression changed to one of those ones that women made when they went ‘aww’.
“Your brother told me that mine was among those that ambushed them. I wanted you to know that.” The last word was barely a whisper. Blair watched what he’d said register, and the emotions went through her eyes. It was only a few seconds, but it may as well have been a year before she spoke again.
“I can’t blame you for what a brother you didn’t even know you had, has done.” She finally looked at him once more, “or for a traitorous clan you’re not part of.”
He wanted to jump up and down and cheer, but his cat was still silent, so that reminded him he wasn’t finished yet. “I’m going to find him.” She sat straighter. “My brother. One day, somehow. I’ll find him and it won’t be for a family reunion.” He clarified.
She nodded but offered him no comment.
He sat there, trying to figure out how to tell her the next part. If he knew anything about women, they didn’t like to feel forced into anything.
“There’s more?”
He tilted his head, “not to that part, but there is more.”
“Okay, tell me.”
Nodding, he studied her for a moment. “There’s a huge property close to my Alpha’s property that I want to move you guys to.” She raised her eyebrows. “Devin’s father approved the plan,” he needed to make it sound amazing, “it’s huge with amazing terrain for runs. Total privacy. Big house, with a few smaller ones some of my team from work could stay at to help watch over the girls.” Her expression was guarded, making it hard to tell what she was thinking.
“You’re selling this pretty hard, what’s the catch?”
Rubbing his hand over his hair, he looked at the ground before meeting her look again. “To stay there permanently, your clan has to either merge with another—” he shrugged, “we don’t know if Ed is willing yet, we already have a problem with more women than males…”
“What’s the or? You said either.”
He nodded his head slowly, “or your clan needs a new Alpha of their own.” As he finished the last word, it was like every insect and bird in the vicinity paused. The silence was harsh.
“My brother can’t be, can he?”
Blair shook his head, “the healers don’t know if he’s ever going to fully recover or—shift again.” He said it quietly, afraid that she may not have thought of that yet.
“And that leaves me as the last option in the Alpha family.”
Blair nodded slowly, stiffly.
Kobie shook her head, “I don’t want it.” She shook her head again, “I can help, but I’m a hunter, I train the young ones. I’m not a leader.”
He wanted to object. That was exactly what she had done, hold her clan together and lead them to safety. If his cat could kick him, Blair knew this was when it would have. “The king has another idea.”
Her eyes went wide. “Please don’t tell me he’s going to bring in some old Alpha shifter or something.”
“No.” Blair cleared his throat, “he knows we’re mates…” When her head snapped back so she was looking at him, he tried to look innocent, “I didn’t tell him.”
“Calum?”
He nodded.