Page 31 of Midnight Hunt

Without a word, Reid turned away and left the field.

“Reid, wait!” Vi called and started after him.

“Vi, let him—” I began, reaching for her arm.

“Don’t!” she snapped and jerked her arm out of reach. “Just don’t.”

She whirled and took off, but not before I saw the tears in her eyes.

I watched her go for a moment, then started after her.

“Griff,” Kolton said, with such authority that I had no choice but to stop. Curling my hands into fists, I obeyed my alpha, albeit begrudgingly. “Everyone, back into the house. Griff and I need to talk.”

I bristled at the words, but I’d known they were coming. It was my own fault for getting too close.

As the others silently filed toward the house, I picked up the football Vi had dropped. Turning it over and over in my hands, I waited for the others to pass out of hearing range. The second they were all inside the house and the front door closed, Kolton released a pent-up sigh and turned to me.

“What were you thinking?”

A wry smile tugged at my mouth. Cocking back my arm, I threw the football as hard as I could. It soared over the expansive front lawn and disappeared into the woods surrounding the property. “I wasn’t.”

Kolton grunted. “That’s obvious. What’s changed? You’ve been different the past few days.”

With a shrug, I started walking in the direction I’d thrown the football. Kolton joined me as I replied, “She said she needed me. She hasn’t needed me since . . . Well, you know when.”

Kolton was silent for several beats, walking beside me in contemplation. Then, “I know my sister’s gone to you for comfort ever since she was little. You two have always shared a close bond, one that I know you both still share. It’s the only reason why I’m not mad right now. Over the past few days, she’s needed comfort, and she naturally sought out that bond. It was instinct, a reaction from years of relying on you for help. But she’s taken, Griff. She needs to seek comfort fromhimnow, to rely on him when she needs help.”

“I know,” I quietly said, my voice strained.

“Reid is a good male,” he went on, “but even an easygoing one will eventually snap if another male threatens to take what’s his.”

“I know,” I repeated, then couldn’t help but add, “It’s been eight months, and he hasn’t claimed her yet. They haven’t even hadsex.”

Kolton uncomfortably cleared his throat, as if talking about his sister’s sex life was his least favorite topic. “I’m aware, but that doesn’t give you a right to have sleepovers in Vi’s bedroom.”

“It was an accident,” I quickly defended myself, even though I understood his point.

“That may be, but she’s obviously struggling to accept this new chapter in her life—one that is drawing her away from her family and everything she’s known. In order for her to properly pursue this new chapter with Reid, she can’t fall back into an old one. Namely . . .”

“Me,” I bitterly finished, barely able to stop myself from punching a tree as we entered the woods. “Don’t worry. What happened this morning won’t happen again. The last thing I want to do is hurt her.”

“I know,” Kolton said, reaching out to clasp my shoulder. We fell into companionable silence after that, but his words plagued me for hours afterward.

A new chapter. Vi was pursuing a new chapter.

One that didn’t include me.

10

VIOLET

I watched the black town car disappear out of sight down the private drive, then reentered the house with a dejected sigh.

Reid knew everything now. I’d explained it all, sharing with him every detail I could think of. He deserved the truth about what had happened between me and Griff this morning, and I’d made sure to be totally honest.

Yes, I still had feelings for Griff, but we had a complicated past. We’d been sexual partners foryears, and I couldn’t just make my body forget that. Ever since my first heat at the age of fifteen, I’d gone to Griff for help. Twice a year for the past seven years, we would become locked together in heated passion until my raging pheromones faded. Outside of those times, though, we rarely had sex. Only when wereallyneeded each other did we give in to our passions.

I’d explained all this to Reid because the physical intimacy Griff and I had shared didn’t mean we’d ever been a mated couple. He’d never claimed me, and I’d never asked him to. We were justfriends. Well, friends with benefits, but that was over now.

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