Page 96 of A Wolf's Wound
“Thanks.”He beams, and it kills me a little, how much my approval seems to mean to him.I had no idea Brian was capable of anything even remotely like this.I wonder what else I’ve missed.
“And I promise,” Brian adds, “I’ve figured it out now!I want to help!”
“Help?”I echo.
He nods, still grinning.“Oh, yeah.And you’ll want my help, Ryder.I know you will.”
“I’m sure I will,” I tell him.
“Not just you!Your brothers will want my help too.And your mother.The whole pack will.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right.But you’ll have to give us more details about what you did, Brian.About what you tried with the councilman, and what you figured out.”
“Sure, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” Brian says.But something in the way he says it makes me think that he means the exact opposite.I wonder if he knows I’m stalling and if this is all just a game to him.
“That’s great, Brian.That sounds really great.”
“But I gotta say, I didn’t know the attacks on Hannah were going to happen.”
I stare at him.“You didn’t?”
“Nope,” he shakes his head.“But it’s like my experiment.Right?You can plan as much as you want but sometimes, shit just happens.”
Hearing him describe the attacks so cavalierly makes my blood boil.I want to lunge at Brian and rip his throat out.But I can’t.At least, not yet.
“Well, the important thing is that she’s okay now,” I say as calmly as possible.
“Definitely.You know what’s weird, though?”
“What?”
“One of the attackers was actually following you,” Brian says.
“How do you know this?”I ask.
But Brian just shrugs.“I have my ways,” he says.
“You’re not going to tell me anything more than that?Come on, Brian.I thought we were friends.”As his face falls, I quickly add, “I mean, I thought wearefriends.”
“Oh, we’re going to be a lot more than that,” Brian says.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, now that all of the trial and error is done, everything is perfect.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, all of the mistakes, all of the false starts,” Brian says thoughtfully, “I think it was all worth it.”
“Why?”
“Because it brought us together,” Brian says.
“You and me?”
“Yeah, but also,allof us.You know?You and me, sure, but also Hannah and Gavin and Michael.Thomas and Jackson and Evan.Even Hannah’s roommate April and your mom.”
“Brought us together how?”
