Broken Chains

Part 24

Chapter 24

I growled in irritation as I roughly washed the thick shampoo lather from my hair. The knock boomed on the door again. I leapt from the shower hastily turning it off as I tried to shove myself into a bathrobe.

"Yeah yeah yeah." I snapped, hurrying over to the door that I yanked open savagely.

"Hello." Bryce said calmly holding up what looked suspiciously like a hot fudge sundae.

"What do you want?" I tried snap but couldn't my eyes kept being pulled as if magnetically to the sundae gripped in his hand. He smiled clearly noting my lack of true resolve and shoved past me into my room. "Bryce I'm not dressed." I said pathetically. He shrugged

"Doesn't bother or interest me in the slightest." He said flopping down onto my bed. "Anyway I come bearing gifts." he said holding out the sundae. I smiled I couldn't help it. I closed the door walked over and snagged the sundae sliding down onto the floor to sit placidly at his feet. Bryce shrugged and slid down onto the floor next to me. "It does stink of you two up there." Bryce said calmly "I think you majorly freaked them out by the amount of blood you left in here." I just shrugged,

"They really did hurt him." I said gently

"Yeah I know he showed them how to do it on me." He said a note of bitterness in his voice. I stabbed and stirred at my sundae suddenly not fancying as much as I had.

"I'm sorry." I said gently addressing my rapidly melting Sundae. Bryce just smiled.

"Mates actions feel like our responsibilities," he said noncommittally.

"He's ...he's a good guy." I said continuing to stab my sundae, "he just... they ... he had to do...bad things to protect the pack... he had to do ...it ...it hurt him it... it started to kill something in him."

"I'm a pack wolf Jessie I've done not pleasant things to protect my pack and I will never regret them. But that doesn't mean I'm ever going to like your mate." I smiled,

"So what happened?" Bryce asked I frowned over at him he shrugged. "Figured you might want to talk. Carl and Derek were out there shouting the fucking odds and Derek kicked the crap out of the hallway and now the pair of them have gone to get drunk." I smiled,

"So I thought you might like some company." I shook my head,

"Not really,"

"You're the centre of the packs world, you never had to deal with anything on your own."

"I guess your right." I said too late trying some of my sundae it was half melted but still surprisingly good, so sweet.

"So what happened with your boys?" he asked, "no pack agenda." He prompted when I didn't answer, "I'm just nosy." I smiled,

"I fucked Carl," I said plainly stabbing my sundae.

"Aaah yeah I can see how that might make the bothers a little err competitive. But then again it hardly surprising I mean Carl's in love with you and probably has been for years."

"What? No he hasn't he doesn't it was just?"

"Just?" Bryce prompted,

"It just happened." I said

"No things like that don't just happen." Bryce said gently he reached out and stroked the hair back from my neck he gently drew a single finger along the vivid red burn mark which was healing but clearly would leave a clear scar in its wake. "You did it for a reason." I bit my lip, "why did you do it?" I lifted a lock of my hair and began to twiddle it around a finger absentmindedly in a way I hadn't done for a long time.