Bryce’s eyes were stern. “Don’t push me, Tristan. I need to know what’s between the two of you.”
Tristan sighed, the last of the lightness from their kiss leaching away. He moved away from the door, not wanting Colby to overhear. Not about this, when he didn’t even know what it was yet.
“I like him, Bryce,” he confessed when they were standing at the door of the barn, watching Christian circle the place, having taken over from Karl. “I really like him. And I think he likes me—I mean, he kissed me, and he hugged me, and he didn’thaveto do either of those things, so that’s got to mean something, right?” Tristan felt like a kid all over again, needing Bryce to check his homework.
“It’s usually a pretty good indicator,” Bryce said, but there was no humor in it. “Who made the first move?”
“Does it matter?” Tristan asked, then paused as the reason for Bryce’s question sank in. “You still think he’s trying to manipulate me into vouching for him?”
“Until we know for sure otherwise, he’s an enemy combatant,” Bryce said calmly. “So yeah, I’d like to know. I’ve seen what happens when someone good and trusting gets used, and it isn’t pretty. And just in case you missed getting this through your thick head, Tristan James Howe, I’m kinda fond of you, and I don’t want to see you hurt.”
That last part landed low and warm in his chest. Bryce had always been his anchor, his north star. So much of the man he was now was built on Bryce’s steady strength and quiet, unstinting love.
Tristan looked down at his hands. “I started it. I made the first move. I mean, he kind of hugged me when he was covering my scent, but that was tactical more than anything else, so I guess that doesn’t count? So, really, just the one time. And then the kiss.” He couldn’t help the smile that dawned just at those words, at the memory of kissing Colby.
It had been so different from the other guys—and one girl—he’d made out with. Kissing Colby had been in an entirely different solar system.
“That’s something,” Bryce said, and he sounded relieved. “But if he’s telling the truth, and Karl said he was pretty convincing, you need to take a step back.”
“Karl waslisteningto us?” Heat flared under Tristan’s skin, embarrassment turning rapidly to betrayal. “And hetoldyou what Colby said?”
“You expected him not to? We need to know if Williams is to be trusted or if he’s playing us. Though it sounds to me—” He hesitated for a long time, then he reached out and gripped Tristan’s shoulder, anchoring him. Bryce might be worried about what he’d walked in on, but he was still in Tristan’s corner.
“Look, Tris. If he’s one of Cale’s, trying to play us, you sure as hell don’t want to be anywhere near him. And if he’s not, if he’s who he says he is, then you still don’t want to be that close. You need to give him space.”
Tristan frowned. He didn’t follow the second part of Bryce’s statement. “Why?”
“If he’s telling the truth, choice was the one thing he never got in Cale’s pack. He doesn’t know that if he said no to you, all that would happen to him would be your puppy eyes looking all sad. It probably never even occurred to him that hecouldsay no.”
Tristan’s stomach lurched, something sour burning his throat as he realized the horror of what he’d done. “You mean I forced him? He didn’twantto kiss me?”
“Breathe, Tris, for God’s sake,” Bryce said, his hand tightening on Tristan’s shoulder, calming him. “I’m not saying that, not exactly. I just want you to be aware, is all. And to be sure you’re not getting confused about a case of hero worship. He saved you. That’s a powerful bond, and it can feel a lot like love.”
Tristan cheeks heated. “It’s not like that. Colby’s different from anyone I’ve ever met.”
Bryce studied him, quiet for a moment. Then he nodded. “Okay. But you need to give him space, all the same.” He rubbed his nose, his usual betrayal of uncertainty. “And you need to remember, Tris—if he’s lying, if this is all an act, he’s dangerous. You can’t afford to forget that.”
Tristan nodded, more to show he’d heard than because he agreed. Bryce was wrong about Colby putting on an act, but arguing wouldn’t help right now. It might even get him barred from seeing Colby again.
And more than anything, Tristan needed to see him. To get back to that moment, when the world had gone still, and all that had mattered was them.
“Karl’s going to take him to Matt,” Bryce said.
His heart stopped. For all his trust in Matt, Tristan was scared that he wouldn’t see the truth about Colby, that he’d treat him like any other member of Cale’s pack.
He looked at Bryce, and the words jammed in his throat.Please, he wanted to say.Please make him understand. But there was nothing he could say that wouldn’t sound like begging for someone who Bryce had just accused him of having a hero-worship crush on.
“You should get cleaned up,” Bryce said gently. “You haven’t had a chance to settle since coming back. Things will be clearer when you haven’t got the stink of that place all over you, and you’re back in the middle of us all.”
“Yeah. I probably smell like despair and wolf piss.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair and sighed. “Sorry. That was gross. I just... I don’t know. I’m not thinking straight. Part of me’s still back there, part of me’s with Colby, and the rest, the bit that’s home, that’s safe... I don’t think it’s even caught up yet.”
Bryce tugged him close for a hug. “You’re safe,” he said, holding him tightly. “Let’s just get back to normal, yeah?”
As they made their way toward the house, Tristan kept thinking about Colby—still locked in that stall, still waiting. He told himself Matt wasn’t like some alphas. Matt was fair. He didn’t punish because he could. He wouldn’t hurt someone who didn’t deserve it.
But the safety of the pack was Matt’s responsibility. Then there wasJesse’ssafety—Matt’smate.And Tristan wasn’t supposed to know this, but when he was younger, he’d overheard a late-night conversation when both Matt and Bryce had been hitting the whiskey. It had been the anniversary of something terrible in their past. He didn’t know much, but members of their previous pack had been killed. And they’d never told Tristan why they’d left Cheyenne, other than they’d been looking for something new.
So yeah, Matt wasn’t cruel or vicious, but there were things driving him. He might think he had no other choice when it came to Colby.
