Page 40 of Broken

Cole sighed. “Don’t blame me, blame Thanatos. He was going to bring her back here no matter what either of us thought about it. And you know there was no other choice. If those Retrievers found her once, they could do it again.”

“Yeah,” Sanchez said. “So that means they’re probably going to come here. Thanks for that.”

That was it. He was still worried about Madison. Anything or anyone that endangered Madison was always going to get a raft of shit from Sanchez, up to and including death.

“I’m sure Thanatos is strengthening the wards,” he said. “But I’ll talk to Gunn, and see if we need to bring in those dragon friends of Mikey’s.”

“Or maybe your Fae wolf needs to leave.”

Boomer spoke up. “When Madison came here and you bonded her, we all were ready and willing to stand up against everything her fucked-up family threw at us. I hope you’re willing to do the same for Ireland.”

Sanchez turned to Cole. “Are you saying she’s your mate?”

Of course she wasn’t. He wasn’t built to have a mate. He said, “It doesn’t matter. I’m bonded to her for the moment, however it happened, and so she’s my responsibility. I’d like to think I can count on you to help keep her safe.”

Sanchez stared at him, and then said, “Sanchezes don’t run from a fight. We lead the charge. Anybody says different, I’ll punch his lights out.”

That was about as good as Cole was going to get from him. “Thanks,” he said.

Sanchez nodded and walked off with Madison.

Karisma gave Cole a big hug, and then walked down the steps, tactfully leaving Boomer to talk to him alone.

Boomer said, “You going to be okay? I don’t like leaving you—not without knowing what that thing does.” He nodded toward the bracelet on Cole’s wrist.

Cole realized he was rubbing it absently with his other hand.

“I’ll be okay,” he said. “Thanks. For everything.”

Boomer knew what he meant: Thanks for coming to rescue me. Thanks for having my back. Thanks for bringing me food and giving me someplace to sleep.

“I always have your back,” Boomer said.

“I know that. It’s just… sometimes…” He didn’t know how to put it into words. Some things he couldn’t talk about, even to Boomer. Just like, some people he had to kill by himself.

“I know,” Boomer said. And even though he didn’t get all of it, he got enough.

It was why Cole missed him so much, now that Boomer had a mate. They still lived in the same house, but everything was different.

He was trying to fit in, to do the family thing, but he really didn’t know if he’d ever be able to.

And that made him sad, and he hated being sad. He hated feeling anything, because if you let one feeling in, then it opened the door for the rest of them, and they crowded in and piled on until you suffocated.

But Boomer got that too.

His brother gave a wry smile and clapped him on the shoulder. “Call me if you need me. For real, this time.”

“I will.”

Karisma called up from the path, having clearly been listening to their entire private exchange. “And say you’re sorry for making Boomer worry, and not letting him have your back. He was really concerned about you.”

Boomer said, “It’s okay. He already did. And I forgave him.”

“He did not,” Karisma said. “When was that?”

“Just now,” Boomer said. “It was very touching. We did it in secret manly-man speak, though, so that’s why you didn’t notice it.”

Karisma just shook her head. “Men.”