Wolfsbane (Dark Hollow Wolf Pack 5)

Nicky made a fist and tried to get to Rory, Marco’s nephew, and a young man with whom he’d always had a close, but somewhat contentious, and teasing relationship. Marco held onto Nicky and raised his eyebrows at Rory in censure. Rory smiled and dropped his gaze.

Nicky turned back to Marco. “You can’t say anything, Marco, or Gabe will know I told you. ”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but this is too important. I won’t tell him how we found out, okay? Zack should have told us months ago. Any information we can have about the ferals is vital now. ”

Ian jumped up from the table. “I’m on it—I’ll call Zack right now. ”

“Just tell him we heard about it, and ask them to come prepared to stay a few days,” Marco called after him. He finally released Nicky, who tried hard to catch Rory’s eye. Failing, he sat down at the counter, somewhat subdued.

Rory spoke to Marco as he sat back down at the table. “Since Nicky went feral once, why not let him go again?He’s always wanting to fight, so this would be his big chance. He and I could finally face off in the ancestral ring, man to man. ”

“Oh yeah?” Nicky asked. “I could do that but where would we find the other man in your little scenario?” Nicky sneered at him as Rory started out of his seat, and this time it was Casey’s turn to pull his mate back down.

Marco frowned at both Rory and Nicky. “Will you two stop it?In fact, let’s just adjourn for now and meet later when we know for surewhen Zack and his mate are coming. ”

Everyone got up and filed outside, including Logan and Evan, who called out a promise to Nicky they’d help him clean up later on. As the door closed behind them, Evan heard Marco telling Nicky he needed to “take him back to bedroom for a while to have a little talk. ” Chuckling, he walked down the hallway to catch up with Brett, who’d gone ahead to check the little box that held their incoming mail. He found Brett standing thoughtfully in front of the box, holding a letter in his hand.

“Hi, babe. Are you ready to go back to our room?”

“Oh, I’m ready, all right,” Brett turned a furious face toward him. “Ready to find out why this son-of-a-bitch thinks he can keep sending letters tomy mate!”

Chapter Six

“What are you talking about, Brett? Is that my mail? Let me see. ” Brett turned his back on him and walked quickly down the hall to their room, Evan behind him, half running to keep up with him. Brett slammed the door back on its hinges and threw himself down on the sofa, glaring up at Evan. He held up the letter and then flipped it over to him contemptuously. “Here. Read it if you want to, and then I’m writing a return. ”

Evan caught the letter, shaking his head at the display of jealousy. “You have no reason to act like this, you know. Ididn’t do anything. I certainly didn’t ask him to write to me again. ”

“I know,” he said through gritted teeth. “That’s why I’m so calm. ”

Evan raised his eyebrows. “This is your idea of calm?”

“He knowsyou’re with me, damn it. Why does he keep writing?”

“I have no idea. Eric is flirtatious and thinks he’s charming. ” Evan opened the letter and sat down beside him so he could read it along with him. “Look, let’s read it together—you’ll see I haven’t been secretly corresponding with him. ”

“No, I don’t need to do that. I trust you—it’s this guy I don’t trust. ”

“I’m sure it’s nothing. ” Evan ripped into the back of the letter and began to read. “Dear Evan—I know I should have thought of this sooner, but since I got your mother’s letter, all I can think about. . . ” Evan’s voice trailed off, and he got a dumbfounded look on his face. “Oh God. . . ”

“What?” Brett pulled the letter out of Evan’s hand and continued to read. “. . . since I got your mother’s letter, all I can think about is you, sweetheart. I made the biggest mistake of my life letting you go, and I know it now. Please come back to me. . . ” The timbre of Brett’s voice dropped at least an octave as he read, and his eyes started to glow. He crumpled the paper in his hand and glared unbelievingly at Evan. He turned slowly back to the letter, straightening it out, then holding it up out of reach and pushing Evan back as he made a dive for it. “All I can think about are your luscious lips, and your sweet little ass I fit into so perfectly. You were mine first, and you’ll be mine again. All you have to do is get away from him and then call me and tell me where to meet you. Waiting for you, my little bunny. ” Brett turned an incredulous, stunned gaze on Evan. “His little bunny? His fucking little bunny!Oh my God! I’ll show that motherfucker whose goddamn bunnyyou are!”

He jumped to his feet, murder in his eye, and began to pace back and forth like a wild animal. Evan had seen him shift once before and he thought he was near that state again. His claws came out as he gripped the letter and hair began to sprout on his chest and face. With his already glowing eyes, he was a frightening sight to behold. He picked up a vase from beside the sofa and threw it against the wall and then he put his fist into the wall next to it, shattering the drywall and causing bits of plaster and insulation to float around the room. He picked up a chair next and bounced it off the door, splintering the legs and looked around for something else to throw as the door suddenly flew open, and Casey and Rory stood looking in with concern.

Evan knew what they must be seeing—him cowering on the couch with his arms over his head to avoid the flying debris and Evan, half-shifted, wildly looking around for more objects to toss around the room. They only hesitated a fraction of a second before Casey made it over to Brett and put him in a headlock, while Rory, ignoring pack law, threw Evan over his shoulder and ran out of the room with him. He put him down outside when he saw Logan hurrying toward them.

“Logan, watch out for Evan!” Then he rushed back in to help subdue Brett. Evan made one attempt to go back in, worried that Brett might be hurt, before Logan took him out to the main room and sat him down.

“They won’t hurt him. They’ll just stay with him until he calms down. Did he shift?”

Evan nodded. Logan smiled and patted his arm. “A wolf in full tantrum mode is pretty scary. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Shaking his head, Evan folded his trembling hands together. “No, the furniture and walls got the worst of it. ”

“What in hell happened?”

Evan put his head in his hands. “I got a letter from my stupid ex-boyfriend asking me to come back home to him. ”

Logan’s eyes opened wide. “Oh, shit. ”