Page 101 of Bad Wolf

He’s quiet as we drive, and if he squeezes the steering wheel any harder he’s going to rip it clean off.

“I’m really sorry,” my words grate on my own nerves, but I don’t add to them. I just wait. His fingers flex, but he says nothing.

“I’ve done a lot of damage over the last few months, and I know I’ve hurt Coralie. I felt…” I scrub my hands over my face and shake my head.

“No. Fuck that. It doesn’t matter how I felt. I’m leaving it at I’m sorry and that I know I’ve been a shitty teammate and friend to you, and a terrible brother to Coralie.”

His grip on the steering wheel loosens and he sighs, blinking away the hostility that was written across his face.

“You’ve really done a number on her, Knox. She’s upset that you’ve frozen her out. She wanted you to lean on her. You never had to do this to yourself.”

“I know. I handled this whole thing really badly. I don’t know if she told you but it’s kind of my MO when it comes to my feelings about Wren.”

He nods.

“While it’s just us, I also want to say,” I turn in my seat to fully face him while he concentrates on the road.

“The way you’ve stepped up for her and Jack. The way you love them, it’s… it means everything to me. We are so lucky to have you in our family. And for what it’s worth, I don’t need any more brothers, Christ knows there’s enough of us. But I need you. For them and for me.”

He turns to face me, just for a second, and nods. Hopefully accepting my apology.

We pull up to his gates and they open automatically so he can park, his face erupting with a smile as he scrambles out of the car to meet my sister and Jack, who are waiting for him at the front door.

He picks them both up, hugging them close to him, and then places them down, gently kissing Coralie and cupping Jack’s neck. The dog starts bounding around, happy to see his master and as he rushes Biscuit and Jack inside, Coralie turns to stare at me.

A lesser man would have perished on the spot.

I get out of the car and walk a few feet to join her in the doorway.

“Sis, I’m so fucking sorry,” I blurt out before she can even blink.

God, I hate myself right now. For the look on her face and the words I’m throwing out like confetti. So many apologies. So many people hurt, just because I couldn’t get my head out my ass long enough to look at the situation from the outside.

If I’d have just stopped for one second to see what my siblings were trying to do, I’d have saved myself all these regrets.

“Jack’s eaten. Gunner will probably want to shower and put Jack to bed himself. Let’s talk in the kitchen.”

She sends me a withering look, and I nod while gulping over the knot in my throat. If you know Coralie at all, then you know this is a far cry from the warm and fuzzy, nurturing sister we all love dearly.

No one ever sees this side of her. I don’t think even her fuck of an ex saw this version of her. No, this is an edge only reserved for six people in this world, my brothers and my cousins.

Because she expects more. She expects the love and support she freely doles out in heaps to be given right back. She can’t ask that of anyone else, but she has the right to ask it of us.

Coralie leads me to the kitchen and gets a bottle of water, leaving me to fend for myself. I skulk to the fridge and take one, then join her at the counter.

I go straight in for the kill, the only person who has any explaining to do here is me.

“I’ve missed you and I’m sorry I’ve been so cold. When I look back on my behavior, it makes me want to kick my own ass. You don’t ever deserve to be treated like that.”

She shakes her head, acknowledging that she does not, in fact, deserve to be ignored in her own home and have texts and calls left unread.

“So I’ll do anything to make it up to you. Name your price.” She squints at me and I continue.

“As you know from my lame-ass attempt at getting Wren to talk to me, I’m trying to get to know her better, and between me and you, I’d like us to try and work it out—”

“We went to see her,” she interrupts, unscrewing the cap on her bottle.

I frown, “When?”

---