“I mean, I don’t like having a door between us.” He had trouble with closed doors. Thanks to Aunt Janice who used to lock him in a closet when he got too weird or annoying. Strangely, he’d lasted with her the longest. Three years. That was just after his stay with Clara.
“Wolfe, we’ve talked about this. People need privacy sometimes, remember?” Caleb said patiently. “Particularly in the bathroom.”
He frowned, pacing back and forth. “I don’t like her hiding things from us.”
“She’s not hiding anything. Would you want someone watching you right now?” Aleki asked.
Use your logic.
He was working on emotion. Not something he dealt with well.
It was difficult for him not to be around her. He’d had to work hard to let Aleki and Caleb be the ones to steal her earlier while he took care of everything else.
In fact, he had deliberately forced himself to walk away to give himself time to think. To clear his head.
“We can’t smother her, we talked about that too, remember?” Caleb said gently.
He nodded. He got it. He remembered their talk. They often had talks like this. About what Wolfe should and shouldn’t do.
No smothering your bunkmate for snoring.
No strangling your commanding officer for making a stupid call.
No shooting the guy at the corner dairy for short-changing you.
So. Many. Rules.
But he knew he worked best when he understood what he could and couldn’t do. Coming to Escana had been an adjustment. But he liked their culture and traditions.
“I just don’t like that she’s hurting and I can’t do anything.”
“None of us do, man,” Aleki said worriedly. “She never used to get sick. She was always so healthy. So strong. And now . . .”
“Her asshole father has a lot to answer for,” Caleb said grimly from where he sat on the edge of the bed. “I cannot believe he forced her to break up with you then married her off to that dick, Davidson. We need to make sure he doesn’t find out where she is.”
“The doctor said she can’t be stressed,” Aleki warned. “She’s exhausted, mentally, and physically. Her reserves are depleted.”
“And we’re probably pushing too hard too fast,” Caleb said. “Maybe we should ease back.”
Wolfe disagreed. He thought they should step things up. “No.”
“Wolfe—” Caleb started to say.
“We’ve been apart eight years.”
“Which is why we should take time to get to know each other.”
Wolfe shook his head. “No, we abandoned her once. We can’t do that again.”
“We didn’t abandon her then.” Caleb frowned at him.
“Didn’t we?” Wolfe mused. “We didn’t question her, didn’t try to change her mind. Not really.”
“Wolfe is right. I should have fought for her,” Aleki agreed. Wolfe noticed that he looked ill. “It’s my fault. I should have done more.”
“This is no one’s fault. We’re not abandoning her now, we’re just slowing down,” Caleb told them.
“She might not see it that way,” Wolfe pointed out. “She might believe we don’t want her.” He knew all about not being wanted.