Cronan is angry. Angry that after years of waiting, he's mated to the one wolf he never wanted.
Fen is stuck. Stuck in a state of purgatory that he doesn't know how to escape from.
After learning of his mate's crimes, Cronan never expected to see h...
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I loved my brother, I did. Despite not sharing the same blood, Reed was my best friend. We'd grown up together; he'd seen me at my best and worst. That being said, if there was one thing I couldn't stand about him, it was his inability to call before showing up.
"What are you doing here?" I questioned when I saw Reed digging through my fridge.
"You have no food," he frowned. "How have you been surviving?"
"Grocery day is on Monday," I rolled my eyes. "Had I been expecting guests—which I wasn't by the way—I would've gone shopping. Now answer my question. What are you doing here?"
"Since when do I need a reason to see you? You're my brother and I miss you. Isn't that reason enough?"
"So you're hiding from Mom and Dad," I filled in the dots and he grinned.
"Hide makes it sound like I did something wrong. I just...needed a break, that's all. You know how they can be."
After years of living with them, I knew exactly what he meant. Our parents, for lack of better words, were one-track-minded. Once they made a goal, they were often unwilling to change it in any way. It was a philosophy they adopted when they became pack official and continued when they became parents.
It was clear from a young age that they expected great things from us and would do anything to make their ideas come to fruition. Whereas I pulled away from their ever-present ideals, Reed stayed. He always had been better at tolerating them than I was, but even he needed a break every once in a while.
"And your idea of taking a break from them is coming to bother me?" I asked, but my words were light at playful.
"You like when I come to visit," he argued.
"If I wanted something that would raise my cost of living and not contribute in any way, I would get a cat."
"You hate cats."
I did hate cats.
"My point still stands."
"I bring joy to your life," he retorted cockily. "Anything new happened since I was last here?"
"No," I lied.
Something told me telling Reed about Fen wasn't a wise decision. Reed and I had always been protective of each other. If he knew about my frequent encounters with Fen, plus his spontaneous sleepover then I was sure he'd think I had a screw loose. I wouldn't blame him though. Honestly, I was starting to think I did too.
It had been two days since he slept over. Two days since he left and it was embarrassing to admit, but I couldn't stop thinking about him. Maybe it was because of how differently he'd acted the night before and in the morning, but it made him seem more human. Sure, he was a clumsy mess, but it was still better than the robotic personality he typically liked to portray.
