In three strides, I’m right up in his face. “You know nothing about her.”
“Neither do you, cousin.”
“Don’tcousinme.”
He pins me with a glare. “You’re not going anywhere, Garrett.And that’s an order. Debriefing’s in one hour. Don’t make me send Frank after you.”
“Wouldn’t want that.” Fuck the briefing. I’m going after Angelina.
As if he read my thoughts, he whirls around, eyes narrowed. “On second thought, you’re coming with me. Now.”
Fuck this. Fuck my alpha. Fuck this whole damn pack.
Before I can shift, Damien’s hand clamps down at the back of my neck and he essentially drags me to his house like I’m a wayward teen. As if it’s not embarrassing enough to be led by the scruff of my neck, he takes the long way to the where his house is, at the center of the compound.
“Hey, Garrett,” Sadie Lynn calls out to me from where she’s sorting through the Christmas decorations. “You okay?”
“Peachy.” My wolf bites me because I’m being an ass. Can’t disagree. I meet Sadie Lynn’s eyes, trying to avoid looking at the still-bare Christmas tree. “I’m hanging in there, Sadie Lynn. Thanks for asking.”
With a shove in the direction of his house, Damien finally releases me. Probably because I’m talking to a female, something I typically avoid. I’m not mating material. Not anymore.
“You can come by and visit. I moved in with Hazel and Piper.”
“Thanks. Maybe I will.”
“You won’t,” Damien whispers, because he knows me too well. “But at least you’re being civil now.”
When we step inside his house, I immediately catch Tess’s scent. It’s everywhere. Suffocating. Not because I have anything against her. She’s smart when it comes to people. More importantly, she can keep Damien in line. Despite her trouble shifting, she’s a strong shifter…
And a reminder of what I lost.
“Here.” Damien shoves a pair of sweatpants at me, since I shredded the jeans in the woods when I shifted without undressing first. He reaches into the bin of clothes he keeps atthe door and retrieves a pair of jeans and top for himself. “Hayden gave me the basics. I want to hear your side.”
“I know he’s no traitor. The words just came out.”
“Seriously? You called Hayden a traitor?” Damien scrubs his face. “Fuck, Garrett, I don’t need this trouble right now. Neither does Hayden.”
“He didn’t tell you?”
Damien shakes his head. “You really don’t know him. Maybe you should give him a chance. Better yet, give yourself a chance. We all know you’re hurting.”
“What the fuck do you know? Tess is alive. Hayden’s about to have a kid. Kate practically jumped Callen’s bones in the center of camp when we returned, and Frank?—”
“Jealous we all have mates, Garrett? And here I thought you were grieving.”
“I am. And you fucking well know Marla turned me down.”
“Then what’s eating at you? The fact that she’s gone or that you never mated her?”
“This has nothing to do with Marla. We just walked away from a female who needs our help.”
“This has everything to do with Marla. Your entire fucking attitude, disobeying orders, lashing out at Hayden, me… anyone who dares talk to you is all about your fucking guilt over Marla. Maybe you should have blood-bonded her and then she?—”
“What? Wouldn’t have gone out there, against orders? You blaming this on me?”
“No, you’re doing that well enough all on your own. I was going to say blood-bonding might have… settled her.”
I swallow. Marla and I had been best friends since we were teens. I’d brought up the idea of blood-bonding her, but that conversation had grown awkward real fast. She didn’t want it. Neither of us did. “Just because I didn’t blood-bond her doesn’t mean I didn’t care for her.”
