Page 6 of Midnight Bond (Wolves of Midnight #5)

brIELLE

I didn’t expect my brothers to be here.

Neither of them lived in Albany anymore and hadn’t been home for Thanksgiving in years. Mom and Dad must have told them I was coming shortly after I’d called last night.

Sawyer was the first to greet me, answering the front door before I could even knock.

“Ellie!” he exclaimed, sweeping me into a bear hug.

I froze in his arms, my senses firing off on all cylinders.

I’d never paid attention to his scent before.

Not the smell of cologne or shampoo, but the scent that was distinct only to him.

As it washed over me, the wolf trapped beneath my skin perked up in a way that made me stiffen even more in alarm.

Prey.

He smelled like prey.

And my wolf wanted nothing more than to take a bite out of him.

I squeezed my eyes shut and stopped breathing, willing the urge to fade away. After what felt like an eternity, Sawyer finally released me, only for my eldest brother to take his place.

The more serious of the two, Zeke hugged me more formally, patting my back almost awkwardly.

I hadn’t seen either of them since I’d graduated college, and we didn’t have a super close relationship like Kolton did with his sisters.

Still barely breathing, I tentatively hugged him back, relieved when he released me only a few seconds later.

“See? You guys worried for nothing. She looks perfectly normal,” Sawyer said before reaching a hand up toward my mouth.

I jerked my head back and slapped his hand away. “What are you doing, weirdo?”

“Seeing if you have fangs.”

“Dude, I told you not to do that,” Zeke muttered with a disapproving frown.

“Well, someone had to.”

“All right, leave your sister alone,” a feminine voice scolded, and a lump formed in my throat when a middle-aged woman with honey-brown hair similar to mine squeezed past my brothers.

“Hi, Mom,” I managed to say, my voice strained.

She looked thinner since the last time I’d seen her, the age lines on her face more pronounced. As she took me in, her emerald green eyes filled with tears. Mine did the same until I could barely make out her familiar features.

“Can I . . .” she croaked, then cleared her throat and tried again. “Can I hug you?”

A laugh that sounded a lot like a sob left me, and I nodded my head.

She immediately stepped forward and enveloped me in her arms, making the tears spill down my cheeks. I hugged her back fiercely, trying not to burst into uncontrollable sobs. I’d missed my family terribly this past year, but I hadn’t realized how much until now.

“Praise Jesus, you’ve finally come home,” she whispered with a shaky exhale, sniffing back her own tears. “I told your father again and again that you would. He didn’t believe me, but now that you’re here . . .”

As I sensed another body join us in the crowded doorway of my suburban childhood home, I reopened my eyes and spotted my dad. His hair was dark and wavy like my brothers’, but it had grayed considerably over the past year. Certain that I’d been the cause of it, guilt hit me hard.

“Daddy,” I said. His back went ramrod straight, as if the sound of my voice had struck him like a bullet. Before I could say more, he stiffly turned and disappeared back inside the house.

Shocked, I stared at the spot he’d vacated, trying to grasp what had just happened.

“It’ll be okay,” my mom quietly reassured before releasing me. “Your dad is happy you’re here. He’s just . . .”

“Hurt,” Sawyer finished for her.

Mom frowned at him.

Sawyer shrugged. “What? You raised us to speak our minds. Brielle should know how her actions this past year have hurt this family. Dad especially.”

“N-no. I know,” I said, wiping the tears from my face. “I’ve hurt you all with my absence, and I’m sorry.”

Mom turned back to me with a sympathetic look. “I’m just glad you’re here, sweetheart. Your dad will come around, and we’ll all be back to normal in no time. Let’s head inside now. It’s freezing.”

She shivered, reminding me that things wouldn’t be going back to normal, as much as I wanted them to. I hadn’t even felt the cold.

Zeke carried my suitcase up to my old bedroom on the second floor, and I allowed myself a nostalgic moment in my childhood room before heading back down again.

Everything in the house looked the same.

Even my brothers’ rooms still held their old trophies and hockey paraphernalia from when they’d played in high school.

My clothing, purses, shoes, and wide array of accessories had gone with me to college, but I’d left behind my cat figurine collection.

I’d been obsessed with cats from a young age but had never owned one on account of my mom’s allergies.

I’d been about to adopt one after graduating college—since living in an apartment by myself was kind of lonely—but I’d become a werewolf before I could.

Now, my obsession with cats was more on a primal level. As in, I wanted to chase and eat them. Probably not a good idea to adopt one.

A shout caught my attention as I finished descending the stairs, and I turned the corner to see my dad and brothers in the living room, glued to a football game.

Thankfully, Reid’s team wasn’t playing today.

Desirae deserved a few uninterrupted days with her famous quarterback husband.

I paused behind the couch to watch the game, but when all three men shifted in their seats as if suddenly uncomfortable, embarrassment flushed my face.

They could sense me. They could sense that a predator was near.

Not consciously, of course. They still didn’t believe I was a werewolf.

But when my dad glanced over his shoulder and saw me standing there, only to frown and look away, I suddenly felt like a stranger in my own home. An unwanted one. Tears stung my eyes, and I quickly left the living room before anyone could see.

I couldn’t really blame him for his reaction.

I was no longer his precious little girl who could do no wrong.

I’d hurt him. I’d left him. In his eyes, I’d turned my back on my family.

Still, I’d tried to keep in touch with my parents the only way I could, faithfully calling them every week for the past year.

The only one who’d ever picked up though was my mom.

Unprepared for how painful my dad’s rejection felt, I stumbled into the kitchen on autopilot, not noticing I wasn’t alone until I nearly ran into my mom.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, placing a hand over her heart as she turned to me with wide eyes. “You scared me, Brielle.”

I opened my mouth to apologize, then froze when I heard her heart skip several beats. Seconds later, a scent hit me. An unmistakable one that excited me as much as it filled me with dread.

Fear. I’d actually scared my mom.

As her heart continued to nervously flutter, heat flushed through my insides, a reaction that instantly made me feel sick to my stomach. Intrigued, my inner wolf eagerly sat up, anticipating what would happen next.

I immediately knew what she was waiting for. She wanted my mom to turn tail and run.

For the first time since making the decision to come here, it hit me how dangerous this situation was.

I was a predator. A wild animal lived inside me now.

Her instincts were to hunt and kill prey, and at the moment, her sights were set on my family, on the people who’d loved and protected me my entire life.

But she didn’t see them that way, and if she managed to slip past my control, God only knew what she’d do to them.

Even if I kept her from attacking them, I knew just how easily werewolf toxin could infect a human. One little scratch was all it would take.

Suddenly terrified of the danger I’d put my family in, I backed away from my mom.

“Brielle?” She took a step toward me, concern replacing her fear when she saw my expression.

I shook my head and continued to back away. “I just . . . I-I need some fresh air.”

Without another word, I whirled and left the kitchen, hurrying through the living room and out the front door before anyone could stop me.

“Brielle, your coat!” my mom shouted after me, but I scurried down the sidewalk without a backward glance, my heart about to explode from my chest.

Chase, chase, chase, my inner wolf chanted, still hyped up on my mom’s fear. I took off running, barely aware of the snow that had begun to fall.

Away. I needed to get far, far away. But where would I go? There was nowhere left for me to flee.

I was alone. Lost in a way I’d never felt before.

I couldn’t move forward, and I couldn’t move backward, so where did that leave me?

I didn’t know, but I did know one thing for certain.

I needed to run.

* * *

Hours later, when the sun had begun to set and my wolf was firmly under control again, I returned home. The second I opened the front door, though, I could sense something had changed.

Mom jumped up from her wingback chair in the living room, the lines on her face deeply etched in worry. But when she came toward me, my dad stopped her with one word.

“Elaine.”

She glanced at her husband who’d risen from his spot on the couch, then back at me, her expression growing pained. “But, Michael . . . it’s Brielle.”

My brothers had risen as well, quietly looking on as Dad crossed his arms over his chest, a hard glint of suspicion entering his eyes.

“Something’s off about her. She’s different.

We all know Brielle doesn’t go out in the cold unless absolutely necessary.

Yet, despite the freezing temperature and snow, she was outside for hours without a coat.

And look at her now. She’s not even shivering. ”

I swallowed with difficulty, saddened that he was still in denial about who I was. Not knowing what else to do, I said, “It’s because I’m a werewolf, Dad. My blood runs hot, and I don’t get cold anymore.”

Sawyer swore under his breath.

Dad’s eyes hardened even more. “Brielle Victoria Lacroix, I will not tolerate this fantasy any longer.”

“It’s not a fantasy, Dad. It’s real. I was infected with werewolf toxin and transform into a wolf every month. Why won’t you believe me?”

“Because it’s a lie,” he snapped, so vehemently that I blinked at him in shock.

This wasn’t the man who’d raised me. The man who’d raised me hardly ever raised his voice, even when one of his children did something stupid.

When I didn’t respond to his accusation, he went on, “I have been very patient with you this past year, Brielle, but you refuse to get the help you need. As a father, it is my duty to look after my children’s welfare, even when they don’t want it.

Zeke. Sawyer. Escort your sister up to her room. ”

I gaped at him like he’d lost his mind. “Seriously? You’re grounding me? I’m twenty-three-years old, Dad. I don’t even live here anymore.”

My dad’s expression didn’t change. “Boys, do what I told you. And make sure you confiscate any electronics she brought with her.”

“Michael!”

“Dad!”

My mom’s cry of protest and mine melded together, but my dad ignored them, staring at his sons until they moved forward to do his bidding.

As they approached me, I stiffened, my fight or flight instincts kicking in. Both were around six feet tall and outweighed me by far, but I wasn’t a frail little human anymore. If I fought them, I’d probably win. Still, the thought of hurting them kept me from bursting into action.

I glanced back at the door, hating the idea of fleeing my family again, but what other choice did I have?

“Don’t do it, Brie,” Zeke quietly said, and I turned back to him. His words were imploring, and he almost looked afraid. Not of me, I noted in surprise. More like afraid he’d never see me again if I left this time.

I hesitated, stuck between love for my family and my own self-preservation.

“We’ll get through this, Ellie,” Sawyer said, his expression one of sympathy. “Together.”

I hesitated a moment longer, and they reached me before I could listen to my instincts screaming at me to run.

Boxing me in, they both placed a hand on my back and guided me toward the stairs.

I allowed them to nudge me forward but not before giving my dad a pleading look. “Daddy, please. Don’t do this.”

His expression wavered, and for a split second, I was certain he saw his little girl again. But in the next instant, he turned away and gave me the cold shoulder.

My heart splintered, and I struggled to draw in air past the pain.

A small sob left my mom, and she weakly whispered, “It’s okay, sweetheart. E-everything will be okay.”

But as my brothers escorted me to my bedroom, making sure to secure my phone before shutting me inside, I knew that was the furthest thing from the truth.

It wasn’t okay. And I didn’t think it ever would be again.