Page 51 of Colton’s Mate

“This is a crew,” Brandon said finally. “And you two are fucking morons.”

Jason muttered, “I think I’m seeing a correlation there.”

Brandon ignored him. “This isn’t like at home with the Bad Bloods. That was our parents’ crew. You were born into that bond, and you could do whatever the fuck you wanted because you hadn’t pledged to it. You weren’t responsible for maintaining it. None of us were.”

He went on, “That crew is what it is because of the people who made it. Damaged, fucked-up people who still managed to pull together and make themselves a family. They had each other’s backs.”

Colt stirred and opened his mouth. Did Brandon really think they didn’t have his back?

The alpha pinned Colt with his gaze. “I’m not done,” he snapped. Alpha power rolled out from him, and Colt found himself shutting up. That was a first.

“They also trusted each other. They relied on each other’s strengths and shored up each other’s weaknesses. When somebody was having a really fucking bad day—when they lost their shit or needed to be locked in the crazy shed—they were still there for each other, picking up the pieces.”

He looked from Colt to Remy, and back again. “I’m not doubting your loyalty,” he said. “But you have to start trusting people besides each other. Namely, us. Otherwise this will never really be a crew—not like the Bad Bloods. And eventually, your damn secrets will tear us apart.”

There was a silence as that settled into their brains. Finally Remy gestured to Sasquatch. “He hasn’t even told us his fucking name, let alone anything else about himself. What about his secrets?”

Brandon turned his gaze on the big, silent polar bear shifter. “His too. We’ll get to that one day.” He turned back to Remy. “But he’s not the one I found in the woods today looking like a fucking alien mutant because he couldn’t sustain a Change.”

Brandon did the impaling-with-his-eyes thing on Colt. “And I understand that’s happened to you too.”

“Dammit, you told him,” he muttered to Remy. He’d spilled it to his brother, just like he’d known he would. But he hadn’t thought Remy would tell Brandon.

Brandon rolled his eyes. “Did you not hear what I just said?” he said. “I’m the fucking alpha, and I need to know this shit. You two boneheads are endangering all of us. And not just if a human sees you Change, although that’s enough of a nightmare.”

He glared at them. “When the fuck are you going to figure out that this crew is bonded together? What happens to you happens to all of us. You’re not in your own little world anymore. You need to fucking deal with that and start trusting us.” His voice dropped. “And no one can make you do that. Not even me.”

We should trust him. He is the alpha, Colt’s leopard said. It sounded upset and forlorn, and Colt suddenly wished he could hug his animal—something he hadn’t wished since he was a kid. His leopard had always looked up to Brandon and his panther, always followed them, always wanted this crew and this alpha.

Colt was messing it up for him.

He and Remy looked at each other for a long moment. Brandon was right. If they were going to be part of a crew—a real crew—they had to fucking step up.

Remy inclined his head, as in: We might as well accept it.

Colt sighed. Already this adulting thing was getting out of hand.

“Okay,” he said. “Long story short: we thought it would be cool to see if we could manifest our recessive animals.”

Remy chimed in. “We figured, Sophia Travis of Silverlake had wolf and tiger parents, and she can be both animals.”

“So why not us?” Colt said.

“Especially because, we have identical DNA, but one of us is an owl and one is a leopard.”

“So we should both be able to be both, right?”

“And we could.”

“Except, our recessive animals kind of hate us.”

Remy frowned. “Hate’s a little strong.”

“Dislike us?” Colt said.

“They think we’re morons.”

Brandon and Jason said simultaneously, “They’re not the only ones.”