Chapter Twenty-Nine

Kassian

“Well, it’s certainly no motel on the side of the road,” he pronounced, looking out over their new “base of operations.”

“No, I’m pretty sure that would be an upgrade over this. That at least had electricity.”

Kassian glanced over at Maximus.

“Aw, come on now, don’t get too worked up over it. There are beds,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Made of itchy hay,” his older brother muttered, angrily pushing by him.

Kassian frowned, watching the elder Koche storm off into the gloom at the back of the building. It was no five-star hotel, or even a one-star motel, that was for sure. But until they could figure out what to do, and where to go next, it was effectively undetectable. It wasn’t going to be as rough as if they had gone camping with tents, so he didn’t see what the big deal was.

“We could always give you back to the Institute,” he retorted, careful to say it under his breath.

Something hit him in the arm.

“Ow,” he said with a wince, rubbing the spot.

“You know that didn’t hurt,” Rosie said, rolling her eyes as she came up to stand next to him.

“It was the emotional damage that I was complaining about,” he joked.

“Rigghhht,” she drawled. “Well, tell your emotions to suck it up.”

“Done,” he pronounced, straightening his spine.

“Men,” Rosie sighed. 

He glanced over at her, but the smile died on his lips as he saw her expression tighten.

“What is it?” he asked, his hand slipping into hers automatically, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“He’s not taking it too well, is he?”

“Who?”

“Maximus,” Rosie answered, jerking her chin in the direction his brother had gone off in.

“No,” he replied darkly. “Not at all. I don’t know if it’s the fact that we’re mated, or that we’re on the run, or something the Institute did. But he’s not having a good time of it.” He turned to look at his mate. “I’m scared that he might do something stupid.”

In the past, Kassian would never have started a sentence with those two words. But now, with only his mate around, he didn’t think twice about it. She knew him, knew who he was and what he was. There was nothing he could, or would hide from her. Rosie knew everything about him, and what she didn’t know, he told her if it came up. There were no secrets. Besides, she knew him well enough to realize when he was scared, it didn’t matter what he said.

After the group had abandoned the motel, knowing full well that the Institute would return with numbers, just in case they were stupid enough to stick around, they had searched for a new place to operate from. Their search had mostly been in vain, so for the time being, they had settled on their current location, at least as somewhere to stay for a short period of time.

The owner of the land had given it over to them, and in exchange the brothers had agreed to help out with the manual labor. As that seemed to be considerable to a human, but likely little to him and his shifter brothers, Kassian had agreed readily.

That’s where it had begun. He hadn’t realized until after he’d done it that he’d begun to make decisions on behalf of the group. Even as he’d been shaking the farmer’s hand, Kassian had seen Maximus’s reaction to what he must have seen as the usurpation of his authority. Throughout the rest of the day, as the women got settled in the old barn and the men worked on the farm, Kassian had been careful to let Maximus lead, like it had always been.

Internally though, he knew that times were changing. None of them were willing to let themselves be led around blindly anymore. From Pierce up through him, they were all changing, becoming something different. They would always be family, of that nobody held any doubt. But previously there had been no one else. Now the four younger brothers all had mates that they had to look out for, to care for, and to provide for. This meant they needed to branch off on their own to a certain degree. The fight against the Institute was their priority, but they were no longer going to blindly follow Maximus, or even Kassian, against it.

Things were shifting rapidly to more of a democracy, and it remained to be seen if Maximus could adapt. For the good of their family, Kassian hoped he could.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Rosie said from next to him, giving his hand a return squeeze, helping to reassure him that she believed what she was saying.

Kassian could only hope that she was right, but he didn’t think it was going to be that easy.

He took a deep breath in, and tried to let some of the worry fade.

“You’re tense,” his mate pronounced.

“Very.”

“Not good. Plus, you worked a long day today, didn’t you? Using your muscles, being all big and strong-like.”

He arched an eyebrow in her direction. “I’m not sure the mocking tone is necessary, but yes, that is all correct.”

Rosie grinned. “Well, I’ve spent the day setting up our bed. Why don’t you come and check it out?”

He looked around. “It’s an open barn. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

Now it was Rosie’s turn to raise her eyebrows. “With what? Giving you a back massage? Why wouldn’t I be okay with that?’

Kassian coughed. “Right. A back massage. Yes, of course. No reason not to be.”

“Good answer,” she said sternly, and then tugged on his hand, forcing him to follow her. “Come on now. Stop dawdling.”

He grinned.

I am so in love.

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This concludes Book 4 of the Koche Brothers. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Although this story is over, there are more adventures to be had. To get access to my newest stories at the introductory price of just 99c, and for other exclusives, sign up for my newsletter!

 

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