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“BackoffCole,” Tommy says, his voice working hard to be gentle. “She’s clearly not happy with you. Just…let’s go, all right? Let her have a minute.”

Silence reigns for a second, then footsteps crunch on dirt. “Why don’t we get her in the car?” Tommy murmurs to Shay. “She can sit in the middle – have one of us as a buffer on either side.”

Shayne nods and loosens her arms. Together they guide me toward the car, helping me into the back seat. I work very hard to pull myself together as Shayne hops in on the other side and makes quick work of my buckle.

I glance up once, seeing Cole’s eyes in the rearview mirror, watching me, his expression tense and devastated.

I look away, not wanting to face him right now. Half because I don’t want him to see me cry – half because I’m…furious.

The jeep rumbles again through the woods, though the wind on my face is far less pleasant this time – every gust of it a slap on my cheeks. I lean against Shayne as I stew, trying to sort through my complicated feelings, figure out why I’m so damnmad.

In the end, I figure out that it’s because the Children of Solace is horrible and needs to be destroyed, but also because…fucking Cole. Everything is always onhisterms. He let me boss him into attending this trip, but he was the one who decided that I could go and decided when we stopped. He’s the one who decides when, conveniently, Igetto know details about the Children of Solace. He’s pretending that he’s my protector, but he’s holding mebackfrom information that Ineed–

And as much as I will admit that he gets to make those calls because this is a military operation and he’s trained in military stuff, we’re both aware that this is deeper than that.

Cole – he’s got all the power in this, and he’s playing the good guy, doling out power to me when he sees fit.

But in the end, he’s always in charge, whether or not he’s letting me pretend that I am.

And I am…not fucking having it.

“Nadi,” Shayne whispers as we pull back into camp. She leans close, wrapping her hands around my arm, looking me over. “You okay? You’ve got…steam coming out of your ears.”

I snap my head to her, confused.

She shrugs. “It’s a clichéd old metaphor. But…it fits.”

I don’t say anything, snapping my head to the front, glaring at nothing.

“Is she good?” Tommy asks, wary.

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” I mutter, not looking at him.

“She’s fine,” Shayne says quietly. “She’s just about to go Nuclear Nadia. Best plan in this situation has traditionally been to duck and cover. Or run.”

I snap my head again to the right, glaring at Shayne as the jeep comes to a stop.

“Go ahead,” she says, raising her eyebrows at me. “Tell me that I’m wrong.”

I turn away again, knowing that she’s not. But my fight’s not with her – Shayne’s been good to me tonight.

No, as I climb out of the car, my eyes fix on the big dark-haired wolf with whom I intend to pick a fight.

“Come on,” Shayne whispers, tugging Tommy away. “Let’s get out of the blast zone.”

“But shouldn’t we…” he hesitates, looking between us as Cole turns.

Shayne just grimaces and shakes her head, pulling Tommy about twenty feet away, giving us privacy – at least by human standards.

Rose has no such grace, flouncing around the car and looking between Cole and me as we glare at each other. “So, what’s up?” she asks, all cute, clearly knowing precisely what she’s doing.

“Give us a minute, Rose,” Cole growls, not taking his eyes from me.

“What iswithyou two?”

“Rose!” Cole snaps, spinning his head to glare at her now. Her eyes go wide as she steps back, clearly surprised. I get the impression that Cole has never spoken to her like that before.

All I know is that if he barked at me like that? I’d smack the snarl right off his face.