Chapter 41 — Rainn
“I don’t understand.” Bree is frowning at my dad. Her eyes are worried, and her entire demeanor is one of concern. I know now that she wasn’t spying on my pack or working for Gage, but I still feel hurt, betrayed, and foolish whenever I look at her.
“When Leonidas Gage was a young shifter,” Dad continues. “He used to go on about how shifters should dominate humans instead of hiding.” He looks at me. “Your mother said it made many other wolves wary of him. He wasn’t alpha then. He didn’t become alpha until after your mother died and he defeated the old alpha in a challenge. Who knows? Maybe he has been looking for a way to bring his old ideas into fruition.”
“You mean like…genocide?” Caleb looks like he might vomit.
“I hope not, but it’s not impossible.”
“All the more reason to stop him…and Hugo,” Bree says. “We have enough to go to the other packs. We can tell them our suspicions about Gage and how Hugo is deceiving and isolating the Falling River wolves…right?”
“Right.” Dad looks grave. “Bree,” he says gently. “I want you to tell us again what happened to your father.”
Bree’s face falls, and Derek shoots her a look of sympathy. Emily-Rose places one hand over hers in a supportive gesture. Whatever she’s about to share, she’s told them before.
And it’s something that causes her pain.
I resist the urge to reach out too, to absorb her pain so she doesn’t have to carry it. It’s almost as if I can feel the pain in her thoughts, though that would be impossible. Even if she’s a wolf, she doesn’t belong to my pack. It’s just my imagination.
“My dad suspected Hugo was hiding something,” Bree’s voice is soft as she looks down at her hands on the marble top of the kitchen island. “He and my mom were among the few wolves in our pack who’d been outside Falling River, and even though they didn’t know about other packs, they didn’t trust Hugo.”
She smiles a small bitter smile, then her gaze meets mine. There’s a sheen of tears in her eyes.
“Bree,” I say her name, reaching out before I can think or stop myself. All the other eyes in the kitchen turn to me.
“It’s okay,” Bree says, smiling at me. She wipes her eyes, then continues. “One night, my dad told my mom he was going to track where Hugo went after he trained some of the young wolves. He never came back. Hugo told the pack that my dad was a traitor and had tried to prevent Hugo from killing a packless wolf, so he’d killed them both. Me and my mom became outcasts. Nobody stood up to Hugo. Even people who’d been my dad’s friends.”
“Tell us again the exact date this happened,” my dad prompts.
She looks from me to him, then back at me. There’s a small frown on her face as if she’s wondering why my dad thinks it’s important. Then she says the one date that’s imprinted on my brain like a brand.
The date of my mother’s murder.
“What did you say?” Caleb and I ask at the same time.
Bree only stares at us in confusion. “What?”
My dad’s eyes are on me. “The same night,” he says quietly.
“I don’t understand,” Bree says again.
In a quiet tone, my dad fills her in on what happened that night. As he speaks, her eyes widen, then fill with tears.
“Oh, Rainn,” she says. Her voice is soothing and painful at the same time.
I’m still angry enough to reject the sympathy I see in her eyes. Or maybe, if I’m being honest, I just don’t want to fall to pieces in front of everyone. With a muttered curse, I stride out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind me. Almost immediately, it opens behind me, and Bree follows me out into the hallway, closing the door behind her.
“Rainn.” Her voice is soft.
“It was a long time ago,” I say gruffly. “I don’t need your pity.”
“You think this is pity?”
“It looks like that to me.” I shrug. “Look, can I leave now, or is there something more you want to say?”
“You want to leave? Or you want to run away?” She shakes her head and makes a sound of frustration. “I know you’re supposed to be this tough, unflappable alpha who doesn’t need anyone, and that’s why every single time you find yourself on the cusp of opening up to me, you push me away—”
“I don’t—”
“No, let me finish,” she glares at me. “You can keep doing that, Rainn, if that’s what you want. Be mad at me, even now that you know the truth. If you want to keep pushing me away, at least be honest about why.”
I swallow. “And why would that be?”
“Because you’re afraid.”
Afraid.
There’s a part of me that wants to laugh, to leave her standing there and go somewhere I can be alone. It’s the part of me that’s afraid and still wants to hide from what Bree means to me.
For a long moment, I stand unmoving. Bree’s eyes tell me she expects me to leave her standing there. She expects me to choose my ego over my heart because that’s what I’ve been doing all along.
“I’m sorry,” I breathe. “There’s a lot going on, and I’m making it all about me.”
“Rainn.”
I exhale. “And I’m not mad at you, Bree. The truth is, I’m mad at me. I told myself there was something special between us that defied explanation or even logic. And now, it feels like that was just a fantasy I made up in my head. I should have been able to tell that you were a shifter.”
“Is that why you’re mad? Because you couldn’t see things that no one in your place could have seen? How can you be so hard on yourself? And how can this be a fantasy you made up when I feel the exact same way?”
“Bree…”
She holds up her hands. “No. Rainn. I won’t do this anymore. Especially not right now. Just know that I’m with you. Against Gage, for your mother, to help your pack, and even if I didn’t need you to help my pack, I’d still fight for you. That’s all that matters for now.”
She turns to walk away, but I stop her, reaching for her hand. She turns to face me, but she doesn’t say a word.
“It’s not enough.” My voice is firm.
She frowns. “What?”
“I’m with you too,” I tell her. “For your pack, against Hugo, and even if nothing else existed, I’d still be with you.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “I’m sorry, Bree,” I whisper. “For everything.”
She chuckles and takes a step toward me, and I pull her all the rest of the way into my arms. “So, what now?” she whispers.
I sigh. “No more secrets.”