“And she killed them. An entire pack.” His voice cracked. “She ordered it. And she looked me in the eye every day and made me think we were on the same side.”
Bryce didn’t hesitate this time. He folded Tom into his arms, strong and sure, and held him as tightly as he needed.
Tom sagged into him, the last of his resistance finally breaking.
“I didn’t see it,” he whispered. “I didn’t see her. And if I could miss that… what else have I been wrong about?”
“Not this,” Bryce murmured. “Notus.”
Tom let out a broken laugh that ended in a choked sound. “I want to believe you.”
“You can,” Bryce said softly, not letting go. “You’re not alone. Not anymore.”
Tom let his head drop onto Bryce’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
Maybe not everything was broken. Maybe some things could still be put right. For now, he let Bryce hold him and take the weight. Just for a moment.
BRYCE
Bryce didn’t go far after Tom crumpled. He’d helped him to the couch, pressed a coffee into his hands, and sat beside him quietly, hoping his support, his presence, would help.
And slowly, Tom had… relaxed was too strong a word, as was recovered. How could he get past knowing someone he knew so well, someone he’d worked for and admired, hadordered his murder like it was a pizza? She hadn’t even known for sure but had been willing to do it just in case Tom knew something. Tying up a loose end, like Tom’s life was nothing more than an unruly ball of twine.
Slowly, the tension had left Tom’s body. Now, they were propped against one another, legs stretched out, and the coffee forgotten on the table. The TV murmured softly in front of them, the chyron scrolling quotes from Councilor Bennett’s office as Matt and Jesse gave a press conference. Bryce didn’t care about the spin. He was watching Jesse.
He was at Matt’s side, but he looked like stubbornness and sarcasm were the only things stopping him from running. Bryce knew the signs.
“He looks like he wants to throw something,” Tom said hoarsely, his first real words in a while.
Bryce nodded. “Probably Bennett.”
Tom let out a breath that could have been a laugh.
The press conference had been going for a while, but it looked like it was about to come to a very swift end, because some clueless journalist was asking Jesse about fathering pups. “Don’t you think it’s your duty to ensure the survival of your line?”
“Don’t you think it’s your duty to switch your brain on before you leave your house for the day?” Bryce muttered savagely, seeing the expression on Matt’s face. And Tom actually growled at the TV, low and threatening.
“You askin’ me to cheat on my mate?” Jesse asked her. “Real sorry to disappoint you, especially in front of all these folks, but you ain’t exactly my type.”
His laconic put-down had the rest of the room laughing, thank God, because the fury burning in Matt’s eyes meant things were an instant from going to hell.
A woman sitting in the front row, from one of the more serious papers, asked, “What’s next for the shifter community in the light of this revelation?”
Bennett, whose smugness practically radiated off the screen, had opened his mouth to answer, but Jesse’s scratchy drawl slipped in first.
“Well, I’m hopin’ there’s some more Argents out there. Ones maybe thinking it’s safe to come out now, knowing they’re not gonna get hunted down.”
And then Matt was standing up, his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Thank you all. Councilor Bennett will take any further questions.”
Jesse got to his feet and Matt guided him out of a curtained door at the back of the room, ignoring the questions called after them. Bryce wasn’t surprised at Matt’s decision to leave. Hell,histhroat had ached at the soft, plaintive hope threading through Jesse’s voice.
He glanced sideways to see Tom had buried his head in his hands. To think of all that Steadman had wrenched away from Jesse, all those lives…
Tom raised his head, rubbing at his eyes. “I don’t know how he does it. Keeps standing.”
“Yeah,” Bryce said, because he didn’t know either.
Tom moved to press against Bryce, their shoulders touching lightly.
