“If it works?” Sam asked quietly. “If the other alphas agree? I’m not the military expert, obviously, but it’s an awful lot of fronts to fight a war on.”
Keith shook his head. “We don’t fight on all fronts. Matthews is insane. We have to deal with him and his pack first, because we can’t have him at our backs. But after that…Minneapolis. That’s the key. Most of the alphas in the Midwest answer to Simon Brown in one way or another.”
Joe managed not to choke on his beer, but just barely. “Jesus, you’re not messing around, are you?”
“No. No, I’m really not.”
Gavin straightened and squared his shoulders. “Joe, see if Brynn will help. Keith, you and Sasha can talk to her, as well. Let her know how important this is.” He glanced at his wife. “Whether or not the other alphas join us…we fight.”
Sam frowned. “If the other alphas don’t join us, will there be enough of us left after the fight to make victory worth it?”
“Maybe not,” he admitted. “But if we just sit here…”
Keith glanced at Joe, and Joe saw his own understanding reflected in his friend’s eyes. “We can’t assume we’ll be any safer here, Sam. They attacked Brynn and Abby in our town. In my house.”
“I know. I know. But that won’t make it easier to watch my pack fight and die.”
“Nothing will, except fighting and not dying,” Gavin said resolutely. “So talk to Brynn, and let’s get this shit done. I, for one, am tired of sitting here on my ass while the rest of the world falls apart.”
Joe nodded. “Got it. She’ll do it.” She had to.
Brynn watched Abby fit another piece into the gigantic puzzle spread out over the table and wondered, not for the first time in the last hour, if her sister had lost her mind.
Puzzles had never been particularly soothing to Brynn. A few minutes of trying to differentiate between eight different shades of sky blue was enough to frustrate her, so she’d spent the last half hour sorting the pieces by color while Abby quietly turned the disjointed piles of cardboard into a picture of the Rocky Mountains.
Maybe they were both losing their minds.
Brynn picked up a purple and blue piece and studied it for a moment before breaking the silence. “I want to tell you something, but you’re going to get mad at me.”
Abby looked up from the solid white puzzle piece in her hand and arched an eyebrow. “Mad enough to kick you out of the house and finish this puzzle by myself?”
“Mad enough to make me finish it myself as punishment.” She tried to make it a joke, but it came out sounding a little desperate.
Her sister fastened a level, serious look on her and waited.
Brynn set the puzzle piece down and took a deep breath as she tried to summon the careful, considered words she’d rehearsed in her head a dozen times. She’d taken classes in public speaking, had studied diplomacy and debate with an eye at getting involved in government. She was coherent. Eloquent.
Except when she opened her mouth, the worst possible words tumbled out. “I want to be a werewolf.”
Abby stared at her for what seemed like hours. “You what?”
Shit. “Don’t look at me like that, Abby. I’m not saying I think it will be fun and romantic, but it’s practical. It’s logical. If I do it, it’ll make me safer.”
Brynn expected her to yell. A month ago, she would have. Instead, she picked up two puzzle pieces and studied them. “I’m glad you’ve given it sufficient thought. What do you think? Are these two part of the rock face or the soil at the base of this foothill?”
“Abby…” She reached out and covered her sister’s hand. “Is that it? You’re not mad?”
Abby hesitated, then grasped Brynn’s hand. “I haven’t done a very good job of protecting you lately.
The truth is, I don’t how anymore.” She exhaled a shaky breath. “You’ve seen the worst of it, I guess. If that didn’t make you want to run screaming, I don’t know what would.”
It made her want to run screaming, but telling Abby that wouldn’t make her sister feel better. So she forced a smile and squeezed Abby’s hand. “You protected me more than you ever should have had to. You raised me when you were barely more than a kid. You helped me get into college. You walked into a trap for me. But I don’t need you to protect me. Especially not if you’re going to get yourself hurt doing it. You think I can live with that?”
“I think you shouldn’t worry so much about me,” Abby countered. “I’m not hurt. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, Abby. You’re sitting here staring at puzzle pieces like they’re the most important thing in the world.”
She dropped the small pieces of cardboard on the table. “What do you expect me to do, Brynn? Focus on the fact that a crazy werewolf sent someone after us? Someone who’s probably dead now, judging from how enraged Keith was?” She bit her lip. “I’d rather put it out of my mind for now. Keith and Joe will be back from Gavin’s soon enough, and then we’ll all have to talk about what they discussed.”
“I’m sorry. I just… God, Abby. I don’t know what the hell to do. Everything’s fallen apart, and I just—I don’t know.” She hated herself for the faint tremor in her voice. “I think I freaked Joe out.”
Her sister didn’t bother to wipe away the tear that slid down her cheek. “How could you possibly have freaked him out?”
The answer wasn’t likely to please Abby, but at least it would distract her. “I might have propositioned him a little bit.”
Both of Abby’s eyebrows shot up. “And here, I thought you’d wait a while longer. What did he say? What’d he do?”
“Ran away.” Brynn rolled her eyes. “Okay, he kissed me first. But then he ran away, and we proceeded to pretend it never happened.”
“Mm-hmm.” Abby sighed and rubbed a hand over her forehead. “Brynn, if you’re serious about making the change, you should know that Joe won’t do it. He won’t be your Guide.”
She knew that, but she had no idea why Abby did. “We already talked about it. Joe said that Sam thinks Cindy would be good for me.”
Oddly, Abby laughed a little. “A woman. Of course. Conveniently solves the problem of having to watch you make it with another guy.”
“Uh, is there some unwritten rule I’m missing that I’d have to make it with my Guide if it was a guy? Because I asked that pretty specifically.”
“No, but it wouldn’t matter. Seeing you bound to another man would drive Joe up the wall, even if you weren’t sleeping with your Guide.”
Brynn couldn’t keep from frowning as she dropped her gaze to the puzzle pieces again. “I think he thinks that I’m too screwed up to get involved with. That the crap with Matthews unhinged my brain or something.”
“You think it unhinged mine,” Abby pointed out a bit uncharitably. “Listen, I’m going to tell you this, because no one else will. Joe had a bad Initiation. A really bad one.”
“Oh.” It explained a lot, even without knowing why it had gone so bad. “Did he…regret it? Because I kind of got the feeling he did.”
Abby didn’t answer at first. Instead, she rose, unfolding her legs slowly. “Keith and Joe met in the army. They were out alone one weekend on some sort of field exercise. Something went wrong, and Keith got hurt. It was…bad.” A shudder wracked her. “He should have died. Would have, if he’d been human.”
“Joe found out what he was.” She’d guessed it had been something of the sort, but it didn’t answer the most important question. “So why did he make the choice to become a werewolf? Did something happen to him?”
“He met a woman. Here, in Red Rock.” Abby grimaced. “Tamara. He fell in love with her.”
“Oh.” Brynn watched her sister pace and tried to work through the implications. Joe had fallen in love. He’d made the choice to become a werewolf. His Initiation had gone badly. He didn’t serve as a Guide to women he was interested in.
He’s interested in me.
She could think of half a dozen reasons off the top of her head why Joe might feel the need to run from her, not even taking into consideration the fact that she’d all but told him he’d be nothing but an uncomplicated f**k. It had seemed like a good way to reassure him at the time, to make it clear that she wasn’t a damaged girl looking for a hero, but now it just sounded tawdry. Cheap. Insulting.
She braced her elbows on the table and dropped her face to her hands. “God. I sort of messed this up, didn’t I?”
Abby remained silent until Brynn looked up again. Then she nodded toward the kitchen. “I think we need a drink.”
“Yeah.” She dropped her hands back to the table and winced when the impact jarred her wrist. “Shit. This is not my week. Or month.”
“Right there with you.” Abby walked through the doorway and returned a few minutes later with a bottle of whiskey and two tumblers. “If it wasn’t for Keith, I’d have already lost my mind.”
“Then I’m glad you’ve got him. I am, Abby. I really like Keith.” I like that he’s going to take care of you, no matter what.
“He likes you too.” She poured a healthy splash of the liquor into each glass and handed one to Brynn.
“But he’s worried about you and Joe.”
She drank the whiskey without pausing and slammed the glass down with a shudder. “So everyone already knows there’s something going on even though I barely have it figured out?”
Abby smiled a little. “We can hear your hearts pound when you look at each other, sis.”
“Cheater.” She shoved the glass across the table. “I need more booze if I have to consider you being able to hear when I’m attracted to someone.”