“The fuck is wrong with them?!” Kaid snapped, tossing a dish towel rather forcefully onto the cabinet top. “We have to find her.”
“She’s tucked away at Hellen’s house. Doesn’t want anybody to keep her company. She wants some alone time. She’s angry at Brandt and Barron and doesn’t want to talk to either of them. They don’t know where she is. Or, they didn’t.”
“They do now?” Kaid asked.
“I called Barron on my way over here. Told him where she is but that she especially doesn’t want him or Brandt over there and that they need to give her space. But at least they know where she is and can check on her without her knowing.”
“Good move.”
“Yeah.”
“Want to go over there and talk to her? Brandt may be her immediate Alpha, but I’m his, and while she might try to defyhim because she grew up with him, she won’t defy me. I’ve been her Alpha since before she was even thought of.”
“She begged us to give her until tomorrow. So, we’re going over tomorrow. I was going over today, now, even. But I decided to tell Barron where she is so they can keep an eye on her while she cools off.”
“Alright. Sounds like you thought it through. We just need to keep up our level of concern and awareness and support them when and if they need it, and take that bastard out if we see him first.”
“Yeah,” Bam muttered.
“You good?”
“I will be. Tomorrow. I’m bringing her ass home. I don’t care how damn grown she is.”
Kaid smiled. “I feel ya. Gotta say, I’m proud of you. You’re doing well.”
“Everly keeps saying that they’re grown women and I need to accept that they can make their own decisions and live their own lives. I understand that, I do. But I don’t like it one damn bit.”
“Yeah, I’m not relishing the idea of Tessa getting older, either.”
“Sons are so much easier,” Bam muttered. “Or at least they look like they are.”
“I don’t know about that. I got a son, running around fucking up everything that has to do with his mate. Sometimes I wonder how me and Delilah made that boy.”
“Naw, Barron’s a good kid. They are both just so damn stubborn. They can’t get out of their own damn way.”
“It’s this generation. We took care of ourselves, but we were so focused on taking care of our mates we didn’t do all this damn bickering and game playing.”
“Yeah, it’s all me, me, me, me. I feel, I want. If they paid a little more attention to their mates, they might not have all the trouble they’re having!” Bam said.
“True. Very true. Ours are better than most, though. I mean, we raised them with our values, so they’d have to be. But they do still have a little of the what-about-me entitlement thing going on.”
“Like I said, it’s the generation.”
~~~
“Open the door, Em,” Barron said, careful to keep his voice low, his tone calm. He was leaning against the front door, doing an imitation of Brandt knocking on his own door earlier in that morning. “I’m going to stand here and continue to knock until you open the door.” And he did just that for another five minutes.
Finally having had enough of trying to be reasonable, he raised his voice and shouted angrily. “Emmalyn! Open the damn door!” He leaned against the door again and pressed his ear to it, listening for any sound or movement at all. There was nothing, except the whiff he caught of the roast she was cooking, but not a single thing more.
“Fine! You’re wrong for this! So wrong, Emmalyn. What you heard was only a piece of the conversation and had you bothered to eavesdrop a little longer you’d have heard me tell Brandt there was no way I’d let you go. I said what I did to make you come home with me, but I lied only about letting you go. I’m not letting you go! So, you can sit your pretty little ass right here and pretend you hate me all you want. We both know that’s not true, and when you’re tired of having your little tantrum and shutting us all out - me especially, Em! I hate this shit! — you can comehome. Everybody was supposed to come to our house tonight for a clan get together. But I’m pretty sure because you’re pouting, nobody’s coming anymore. So, thanks for that!”
Barron stood there for a few more minutes. “Come on, Em. Open the door. I’m sorry you’re upset, but it’s not what you think.”
Listening for any sound, and picking up on nothing, he shook his head as he took a step back. “Alright. I’ll leave you alone. But only for a little while. I’ll be back. You can only do this for so long.” He walked backward toward his truck, his eyes darting from the windows to the doors and back, hoping for a glimpse of her. “At least I know you won’t starve,” he grumbled as he got back in his truck.
He sat there for a few moments to give her an opportunity to change her mind, then drove away slowly, every nerve ending he had, and every emotion running through him, tied up in knots.
Chapter 10
