Page 26 of Brody
Emmett’s beer sprayed across the counter as he choked mid-swallow.Mack’s hand shot out, a piece of turkey sailing through the air to smack Jasper squarely between the eyes.The tension in my shoulders eased a fraction as laughter rippled through the kitchen.
“Classy, asshole,” Rhett muttered, but he was fighting a smile.
“What?I’m just stating facts,” Jasper continued with exaggerated innocence.“You’re all mated now except for me.”He gestured vaguely in my direction.“I’m thinking my bachelor days just got extended.”
“Make me one of those sandwiches,” Emmett said to Mack, nodding at the impressive construction on the counter.
“Make your own,” Mack replied without looking up from his turkey slapping.“I’m not your mate.”
Quinn lined up six shot glasses, pouring BF Home-Brew into them.BF Home-Brew was a special, potent alcoholic concoction crafted by the Thornbern family for centuries, and I owned Thornbern Brewstillery, the proud maker of the brew.
I tossed back a shot before asking, “Stress eating?”
“Stress drinking,” Emmett corrected, emptying his shot glass.“Eating is just to keep us upright.”BF Home-Brew was the only alcohol that could get Others drunk.
“So,” Mack said, slapping turkey onto bread with military precision, his movements quick and efficient.His eyes locked on mine without flinching.“The doctor is your fated mate that you rejected.”Not a question.A statement delivered with the blunt force of a hammer to the chest.He didn’t waste time with the preamble, never had.
“Yes,” I replied.“And the irony is, we never even exchanged names back then.Just recognized each other as mates before I walked away.When Quinn told me Dr.Rozi Dhahabu was coming to the Ridge, I had no idea she was the woman I’d abandoned in Kenya until I saw her photo.”
Jasper whistled low.“You rejected your fated mate without even knowing her name?That’s cold, even for you.”
“It’s why she didn’t recognize my name either,” I added, the shame burning through me all over again.“For years, she’s been haunted by a nameless wolf who walked away.Now we’re strangers with a history.”
After filling another glass, I downed the contents in one swallow, reveling in the burn as it went down.The BF Home-Brew scorched my throat, actually managing to blur the edges of my consciousness.My hands shook as I set down the glass, the tremors I could no longer hide betraying symptoms I couldn’t disguise.
I continued, “And her breakthrough research could save every unmated male with pre-feral symptoms in the Ridge.”
“The ultimate freedom,” Quinn said.“Like she said, safety without sacrifice.”
“Which is exactly why someone wants to kidnap her,” I said.“Rozi’s research doesn’t just threaten pharmaceutical profits, it threatens complete control over shifter communities.Her grandmother’s empire depends on keeping shifters partially disabled and completely dependent on treatments that steal half their soul.”
“It doesn’t hurt that the doctor is beautiful,” Jasper said, and something in his voice made me look up sharply.“And controlled the town hall meeting like she was born to command alphas.”
The territorial growl that rumbled from my chest surprised everyone, including me.My hands clenched around the shot glass enough to threaten to break it.
“Easy, bro,” Quinn said.“Jasper’s just stating facts.”
“Facts that sound a little too appreciative,” I muttered, hating how possessive I sounded.All this time of separation and my wolf still considered her mine.
“Did you see how she handled Logan?”Mack added, slathering mustard on bread with deliberate focus.“No hesitation.Just moved in and fixed what was broken.”
“The question is whether the Ridge will let her do the same for our pre-feral cases,” Quinn said, his tone shifting to alpha-business mode.“Even after she helped Logan, half the town still sees a Dhahabu and thinks of a pharmaceutical empire.The other half wants to kick her out of the Ridge on principle.”
I felt my jaw clench.“No one is fucking touching my fated mate.”
“Easy, Brody,” Emmett said, topping off my shot glass with a gentle smile that softened his features.He squeezed my shoulder briefly, the gesture both supportive and grounding.“We’re on the same side here.But Quinn’s right.Tonight was just the opening act.Wait until word spreads about who she really is.”He winked, adding, “Though, between you and me, I think the Ridge is more afraid of her than she is of them after that town hall display.”
“It gets worse,” Quinn said, his voice dropping to that authoritative tone that left no room for argument.He placed both palms flat on the counter, shoulders squared like he was preparing for battle.“After the town hall meeting, I got a text from the OIA.Intel says that Tabia is behind the upcoming attempt to kidnap her.And as alpha of this Ridge, I’m telling you right now, we’re not letting that happen in our territory.”
“How much does Tabia know?”I asked.
“Enough,” Quinn replied grimly.“And remember that Dhahabu Pharmaceuticals supplies medications to half the shifter communities in North America.If Tabia cuts off supply, people die.She’s got leverage.”
“And she’ll use it,” I said, ice flooding my veins.“If Rozi’s research threatens her bottom line…”
“Things get messy and bloody,” Rhett said, his usual scowl deepening as he crossed his arms.“And when that happens, I’ll be there to clean it up.It’s what I do.”There was something in the way his jaw tightened that betrayed the protector beneath the gruff exterior.
Rozi was up against a woman who’d built her fortune on shifter suffering and who wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate her own granddaughter.
