Still, I kept an eye on them as I backed toward the porch, where my brother waited with a beer. “They like you.”
I grinned and saluted him with it. “That’s what uncles are for. How’s life going with two of them?”With your new wife. I didn’t say it, but my twin winced.
“It’s been really nice having them both here, don’t get me wrong. Milo is like the piece that was missing from our lives.”
“I thoughtIwas the piece missing from your lives.”
Korrad gave me a glare. “You’re notmissing, you just don’t live with us anymore. I see you at work every damn day.”
Since he was right, and I’d been teasing, I merely sipped the beer. “And Kesha?”
This time, my brother didn’t answer right away. He stared down at his cold bottle, rolling it back and forth between his palms. Finally, he blew out a breath.
“I was lucky enough to find my Mate,” he said in a voice so low I couldn’t hear him. “I know that. Sharra and I might not have been completely compatible”—an understatement—“but she was mine.”
“You weren’t more than kids.” I’d always been uncomfortable when Korrad got to talking about his dead lover. “You would have figured out how to live together.”
“Yeah.” With a sigh, he lifted the beer to take a hefty swallow. “But these last two weeks, having Kesha around, seeing how well wedofit together…” His gaze was locked on the beer bottle again. “Makes me wish the gods had chosen her for me, instead.”
Damn.
Damn.
Unlike me, my twin brotherdidbelieve in Mates. He believed that Sharra had been his, the same way he believed that Garrak had found his Mate in Stevie, and Sylvik had found his Mate, Brooke.
I’d spent my lifeknowingthat Mating was bullshit; just a convenient title assigned to perfectly natural biological urges.Hunt. Catch. Fuck. Ofcourseit was going to do something to our brains andKteerswhen we found a female we wanted to be with. I’d felt that urge—the urge to make a female mine—plenty of times.
Not like this.
The whispered words in the back of my mind seemed to come from my very blood.
Not like this.
They were the truth, I could admit.
This itchy irritation clawing at my chest? This intenseneedto be around Jocelyn, and the way all my senses were attuned to her, even after she’d dropped off the veggie platter and gone inside? This fuckingobsessionwith bringing her pleasure, and the way she tasted when she came?
It was like I’d gone godsdamn feral over a female.
Not just any female.
Scowling, I scooped up a handful of baby carrots and shoved them in my mouth, not even caring they tasted like shit with the beer.
“Sooo….”
When I glanced up, Korrad was watching me with amusement in his gaze.
“What?” I accidentally spat carrot pieces everywhere.
His lips curled into a rueful grin. “I’ve been meaning to say something to you, Brak, and you’re not going to like it.”
I swallowed with an audiblegulpand straightened, dread pooling in my stomach. “What?” I asked again, more cautiously this time.
My twin brother took a deep breath and held it, then shifted so he was looking at me head-on.
“This is the kind of thing that normally, I would just sort of hint at. Point out the obvious signs and let you figure shit out yourself. But in this case, I know you’re a stubborn bastard, and this isn’t going to be easy to convince you, so I’m just going?—”
“Korrad, you’re scaring me.” My scowl hid how hard my heart was pounding. In fear? “Just tell me.”
