We sat in silence. It hurt to divulge my past, but now that it was out there, I felt better. If Angie could handle this part of me, she could handle the rest.
And I was going to tell her. Soon.
Not now, while she was shivering violently. I needed to get her back to the house.
I stood, tucking my arms under her knees and carefully carrying her back through the trees.
“Wait, your shirt!”
“I’ll get it later. I’m pretty sure your toes are turning blue.”
Yellow light splashed across the snow as we neared the house, making it glitter and dance. I set Angie on her feet by the sliding door, and she hefted it open.
All three of my brothers were in the kitchen. They appeared to be arguing, freezing with their hands midair.
“I was just telling Tyler we should go looking for you guys—A" Dustin was cut off by an angry finger stabbing into his chest.
Angie poked him again and said, “You owe Rhett an apology.”
“Please don’t touch him.” My voice came out rougher than I meant it to.
Angie backpedaled until her shoulders bumped my chest. Dustin blinked, taken aback by the firm tone. We all were.
“Apologize.” She said it slowly this time, like my brother was too stupid to understand the simple word.
“Fine. Yes. I’m sorry, man. I was just playing.”
“I know,” I told him. “I’ll kill you if you do it again.” I was going to let him decide how serious he thought I was.
“Anyway,” Ross drawled, completely uninterested in the drama, “who wants to go to the cantina?”
“You’re not old enough,” Tyler and I said at the same time.
“Relax, Dad.” Dustin made a placating gesture at both of us. “He can go as long as he isn’t drinking.”
“Aw, c’mon. I can have one beer.”
Tyler shook his head. “It’s the real stuff, not human beer.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m staying here,” Tyler told us.
“What’s the cantina?” Angie asked, and I could tell by her curious expression that I was in trouble.
Chapter 8
Rhett
Thecantinawasoneof many amenities in the pack house. Like all parts of the house, the cantina had certain expectations for good behavior. They were shifter expectations, of course, so as long as no one was brawling, it was anything goes.
It wasn’t the type of place I wanted to take Angie. Hell, it wasn’t the type of place I wanted to takemyself.
Under my current circumstances, it was downright stupid. My wolf was still pacing, sitting so close to the surface of my skin I was surprised I wasn’t sprouting fur.
If I was prepared to tear my own brother’s throat out, what was I going to do if some random unmated male approached her?
“We won’t drink. I just want to see it! I’ve never even heard of a pack house.” Angie clasped her hands beneath her chin.
