Page 63 of Ignited

But of course she had to know, he realized. She’d tracked them down after the fire, talked to the neighbor, read the news reports.

And she hadn’t said anything until now. She’d respected their need to erase those identities, to the point that they never even used their names between themselves. He’d trained himself never even to think his brother’s name, so he wouldn’t slip up.

He was always just ‘Bro.’

He said to Karisma, “We haven’t been those people in a long time.”

She nodded. She got that. So did the rest of the guys on the Ridge. Hell, half of them went by nicknames. But somehow, he wanted her to know why. “After my dad… Special Ops made a deal with my brother. To get the case shut down, if he’d join a special team. They scrubbed our trail, too, so no one could find us.”

And then they found out that Special Ops, the branch that made deals with desperate shifters, was worse than anything the cops could have done.

“After he deserted from Special Ops, we knew we had to disappear. No names, no trace.”

“Mmm.” He knew she understood that, too. “But… why not other names? Aliases? Why no names at all?”

Good question, and one he wasn’t sure he could completely answer.

“I don’t know,” he said slowly, thinking it through. “For me, Bro always called me Boomer, because all I wanted to do was blow shit up. I liked it. And Bro…” He sighed. “Bro was in a dark place after Special Ops. Even I don’t know what happened to him, but it was bad. So bad I think… I think he just wanted to disappear. I mean, not exist anymore.”

Karisma turned her head and kissed his chest. “I’m sorry.”

Boomer nodded, his arms tightening around her. “So he erased himself. And when we came here, I think he tried to become just the job, you know, not really a person? Which is why I always joke with him, make him watch teen soaps with me. To remind him that he has some kind of… self.”

She kissed him again.

“And also, the Boomer’s Brother thing got to be kind of a joke. When people would ask his name. I think he enjoys it, being a man of mystery.”

Karisma reached up, running her fingers through his hair, untangling it. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep his secret. He’ll just be Bro to me.”

Boomer kissed the top of her head.

After a while he said, “I wish you’d let me find you. In Colorado.”

“You couldn’t have helped me. Not then. And you might have died.”

“I know,” he said. “But I still wish it.”

She raised her face to his and kissed him, slow and lingering. “I’m here now.”

And he lost himself in making love to her, one more time.

Near morning, Boomer’s brother let himself into the cabin, listening to see if Boomer was awake. He knew his brother was usually waiting for him to come in.

Worrying about him.

But tonight he was dead asleep. Bro could feel Boomer’s wolf, sleepy and contented.

Softly, like a hunter, he walked to the bedroom door. It was open, and the smell of sex permeated the air.

Boomer and Karisma were lying entwined, and a faint blue light flickered around them, outlining their bodies.

Mates.

It had happened, whether they knew it or not. When wolves found their true mates and started to bond, you could see the magic around them. He’d seen it when Sanchez claimed Madison, right in front of her ex-fiancé, and again when he proved the bond for the Shifter Council representative, making it official.

This bond wasn’t fully formed yet; they probably didn’t even know it was there.

But for Bro, it changed everything.