Cole

Cole sat staring into the oversized fireplace, watching the flames lick the logs. He swirled the whiskey around in his glass, listening to the liquid slosh against the ice. Christmas had been a complete bore without Liam around. But he wasn’t comfortable leaving the castle; it didn’t seem right. It wasn’t their first holiday since Bianca had passed, but everything still seemed amiss. He understood why Liam wanted to be surrounded by family, especially when it became evident that their parents weren’t coming home for the holidays, but he liked the solitude, and the quiet crunch of the snow underneath his paws as he ran through their own little piece of the forest.

Everything was quiet and content, just the way he liked it. Crescent Valley had been quiet for years prior to Bianca’s death, and it seemed as though it would go just back to the way it was even without her.

But he couldn’t.

Bianca was his baby sister, he was the eldest. It was his responsibility to take care of her, and yet, he’d failed. And in his failure, his parents had deemed him responsible for taking care of the entire clan. He still didn’t understand that move. Sure, he was the eldest and next in line to be alpha, but wasn’t it clear to them that if he couldn’t even take care of his own family, he wouldn’t ever be able to take care of the clan? To keep them safe?

He laid down several new laws in the past year to try to keep others like Bianca safe. Protected by their own family members as well as the rest of the clan, and he was getting pushback for it. He knew that several clan elders were questioning him, but he wouldn’t listen to their responses.

He took another swig from his glass. Whatever pushback he was getting was worth it if it would keep even one more clan member safe. That was just part of being in charge, having to deal with people who disregarded authority. But they would learn, eventually.

“You know I can sense you, right?” he said without even turning around.

Olivia stood with her arms crossed, leaning in the doorway. “Yes, I know you can do that. But you didn’t say hello, so…”

He turned around to face her, looking over the satiny red chair at his younger and now only sister, and took a final swig from his glass. “Hello, Olivia. Is there something I can do for you?”

She sighed heavily, dragging her feet as she walked into the room. “You’ve been in here for days. Ever since before Christmas. Are you ever going to come out and do anything fun?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, setting his glass down and fixing his tie. “Do you always whine this much, or is this new? Like your boyfriend?”

Olivia set her lips into a thin line when she was annoyed, which always made him laugh. She tried so hard to be tough, but deep down, she was the softest one of them all. It wasn’t that she wasn’t strong, because she could be tough as nails when she wanted to be, but at the end of the day, she was his adorable and lovable little sister. “Are you ever going to get over the fact that I brought a boy home? Or is this something deeper?”

He adjusted his cufflinks, avoiding her eyes. He would never admit to her that it bothered him that she’d found a mate before he did.

“Cole, you have to talk to me. I feel like ever since I’ve been home, you’re just shutting me out.”

He stood and ran his hand through his dark hair, turning his back on the fire and feeling warm through his jacket. “I’m not freezing you out. It’s winter, cold enough outside for both of us. I just want you to be careful is all. We don’t know hardly anything about Sam, and he’s only been staying with us for a couple months. Not to mention that it’s my job to keep you safe. I’m your big brother.” Olivia had gone on a mini vacation down south and had brought back a guy. That was a first, and all that Cole knew about him was that he was a nomad from the west. Sam hadn’t been forthcoming with any other information than that. But nomads always had more to their story than just not liking to be a member of a clan. Not to mention he was now staying at their residence, he was quickly becoming a Bradwick clan member, whether he liked it or not.

She folded her arms again. “So that’s what this is about? Bianca. It’s always about Bianca.” Her arms separated as one raised up into the air like they always did when she was exasperated. Olivia’s flair for the dramatic was never unnoticed.

“It’s not always about Bianca, Olivia. It’s about you. I just want to be sure that you’re making the best choices for you.” Sam seemed like a nice enough guy, but Cole couldn’t trust him, not until he knew everything about him.

“I am, Cole! I’m happy! I think that it’s making everyone so annoyed around here. You all want to be miserable about Bianca, and I’m ready to move on and no one wants me to do that. It’s not fair!” She folded her arms once again, looking like a child about ready to throw a tantrum. Cole knew what that meant; she could throw herself into a full-blown meltdown at any moment, and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with it.

He strode over to her, placing his hands on either shoulder, squeezing her just slightly. “This has nothing to do with Bianca, it has to do with you. If you’re happy, then I’m happy for you. But it doesn’t mean that I have to stop being your protective older brother, does it?” He spoke to her in a soothing voice that he knew she couldn’t say no to.

“Fine. You’re right.” She sighed, and he felt her relax beneath his fingertips. “I just wish that you guys would give him a chance, I feel like you and Dax have been the worst. You both could lighten up a little bit, no?”

Cole raised an eyebrow at her. “I could lighten up, sure. But I think that if Dax lightens up anymore, or with anyone else, we’re going to need more bedrooms in this house.”

Olivia smirked at him, pushing him playfully off of her. “Yeah. Though I know you’re right, what was the last girl’s name? Candy? How many humans is he going to bring here? I mean, that’s got to be what, like seven in the past six months?”

“Something like that. I don’t know, I guess we all have own way of dealing with things. Though sometimes I think that Liam had the right idea.”

Cole placed his hands in his pockets and walked back over to the fireplace, leaning on the mantle and watching the flames again.

“What you mean?”

“Spending time with family. Maybe that’s what we all should have done.”

“Well then, I guess you’re all very lucky that I’m here.”

Cole spun around to see someone he hadn’t seen in years standing in the doorway of his study. Their cousin Ally, a younger, more bubbly, blonde version of Olivia. Within seconds, she and Olivia were both squealing and in each other’s arms. Then Cole noticed something else, or rather someone else. A shifter in a leather jacket stood waiting at the door, averting his eyes. Apparently, everyone had found someone—everyone except Cole.