“Brandon, what’s the next step? Are we still searching?” someone spoke up in a meek voice.
Right, we were searching before this big blowout.
“Let’s head back and regroup.” Brandon tilted his head as he looked at me. “Does that sound good? We’ve been out here for hours, and we didn’t exactly come prepared.
I nodded in agreement.
We headed back to the pack, and everyone was quiet. No one spoke, and I was left with my own thoughts. I kept looking at Brandon, wanting to thank him for standing up for me, but I couldn’t. I felt broken.
I knew my father, and I had a rocky relationship, but it seemed like it had just shattered into a million pieces, and there was nothing I could do to fix that.
We arrived back at the training ground, and Kaleb’s group was already waiting for us. Brandon and his team spoke together for a few minutes, and I made a quick call to Noraasking if she could pick up Ilsa from daycare and watch her until we were done.
By the time I got off the phone, the guys were done talking and had called us all back to the group. Brandon had his arms crossed as he stood in front of us all. Kaleb stood next to me on the right, looking tired. He yawned, placing his hand over his mouth.
“Since we didn’t catch the hybrid, we are going to branch out and travel, but since we are going outside our pack border, we will be gone for a few days. During this, I’m leaving some people behind to watch the pack.”
I frowned as everyone started talking at once. I turned to Kaleb. “Wait, you guys are going to go search more?”
Kaleb nodded. “Brandon decided sitting and waiting wasn’t getting us anywhere, so we needed to start taking action.”
“And what about me?”
Kaleb raised an eyebrow at me. “What about you?”
I knew that indicated that I was staying, which wasn’t going to fly. Without me, they wouldn’t even know where to look. I turned, walking toward Brandon. I didn’t even give myself a second to think before I spoke. “I’m coming with you.”
He shook his head. “No, Jade. You’re staying here. I need you safe.”
“You go out there without me, you won’t even know where to look. You wouldn’t even know one was close unless it was for me.”
Brandon wet his lips and sighed. “Jade, it’s safer here. And someone has to stay back and watch after Ilsa.”
“Nora can. You aren’t going out there without me. You just said that I was useful and that no one should underestimate my ability, yet you want to leave me here? How does that make sense?”
Brandon’s expression softened. “I’m not saying you aren’t useful, Jade. I just want to keep you safe. Out there, I don’t know what could happen. We could be out there late into the night.”
“And I don’t need you to keep me safe. I can protect myself. You saw that.”
I walked closer to him, placing my hands on his chest. “Brandon, you have to trust me that I can protect myself and don’t need a savior.”
He lowered his head, his voice barely a whisper. “I know you can, but I will never stop saving you, Jade. I won’t let you walk into a fight if you don’t need to.”
I was grateful for that because it just meant I had someone in my corner, but I didn’t need that right now. I need to believe in myself, to know that I am more than capable of protecting myself and the people around me.
“Let me go. Either you let me go, or I’ll follow you.”
I watched him work his jaw, his eyes remaining on me, seeming to think it through. He ran a hand over his face and sighed. “Fine. But you are to remain near me at all times.”
I smiled, curling my fingers around his shirt. “Really?”
He nodded, his eyes stopping on my lips. “Near me at all times,” he repeated, his hand reaching up to cup my face. “If you can’t do that, then do not come.”
“I can do that,” I said, nodding my head.
Someone cleared their throat, and we both pulled our gaze away from each other toward Kaleb, who looked ready to hurl. He waved a hand between us. “This is beautiful, truly. I’m imagining how my niece was conceived, but we still have shit to get going on, so if we could get a wrap-up on this and move on.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a child, Kaleb.” But even though our moment was over, I could still feel the happiness deep in my chest. Once this was over, Brandon and I needed to talk because it was clear I was holding him at a distance for no reason.
