Chapter Nineteen
Brady
Brady looked out the window again, searching the tree line for his men. He'd passed worried about an hour ago, and traveled firmly into panicked mode and remained there for so long he was circling back to being numb. Something was wrong, he could just feel it. He thought about calling the police, but what would he tell the sheriff? To go searching for a huge wolf, but please don't hurt him when you find him?
He pulled on his boots and grabbed his jacket. He'd just have to go out there and find them. If they were in trouble, he would save them. Brady grabbed his rifle and slung it over his shoulder. He was outside halfway across the yard when Glenn came out, completely naked, holding a still, also naked Parker.
"Oh my God, what happened?" Brady asked, breaking into a sprint to get to them.
"He's alive," Glenn barked. "I'll tell you the rest when we get inside."
Somehow, Glenn's words did nothing to calm him.
"Why do you have the rifle?" Glenn asked, his eyes narrowing in first on the gun and then on the boots Brady had slipped on.
"I was...I was going to rescue you."
"I see," Glenn said, snapping his mouth shut. "I'll deal with what a colossally bad idea that was later. Do you have any rope?"
Brady stopped following alongside. Glenn kept going forward, leaving him a few steps behind. "Rope? Why?"
"To tie up Parker."
"I mean, I like bondage games as much as the next person, but shouldn't he at least be awake? Oh my God he's bleeding! His nose is bleeding. What happened?"
"I punched him," Glenn said grimly. They walked inside and Glenn laid Parker gently down on the couch. He disappeared into the kitchen and came back with some surgical tape. "This will do for now, probably won't chafe quite as bad," Glenn said more to himself.
That Glenn was still concerning himself with Parker's comfort was a relief, but that was about the only thing. "Please tell me how this all happened," Brady said, trying hard to keep his calm in a crisis tone. He was used to responding in emergencies, he was expected to keep a cool head. This moment was no different.
Except it was, it was so totally different.
Brady was quiet as Glenn secured Parker. He sensed that the man was going through something. He got up to grab a towel and an ice pack for Parker's nose, operating more on autopilot at this point than anything else.
"Where are you going?" Glenn snapped.
"To the kitchen," Brady replied quietly, slowly. "For ice. His nose is going to swell."
Glenn looked down at Parker. His eyes were closed and if it weren't for his bound legs and arms, and his bloodied nose, it would look like he was sleeping. When Glenn looked back at Brady, his eyes were full of tears. "I hurt him," he said, his voice breaking.
Brady couldn't stand seeing Glenn cry. He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around the man. He collapsed into his embrace, sobbing into his chest. Still, Brady knew he was holding back because if he had really dropped his whole weight, Brady would not be able to stay standing. Even in sorrow, Glenn looked out for him. That fact alone had his heart racing. If he had punched Parker, he must have done something very, very dangerous.
Parker moaned then, and Glenn and Brady broke apart, rushing to his side. Brady's heart broke the moment Parker came to enough to realize he was tied up. He panicked, his eyes flying open in fear before they landed on Glenn and then Brady. The sight of them didn't calm Parker as much as Brady thought it would.
"Why didn't you just leave me in the forest to die?" Parker asked.
"Don't be stupid," Glenn replied.
"Someone needs to tell me what has changed," Brady said clearly.
Parker's eyes flared. "You didn't tell him yet?"
Glenn wiped at his face. "No, I didn't tell him that you are a coyote."
"We knew he was a coyote, Glenn, we've known--"
"No. He's one of those coyotes, the pack that lives on the mountain. We've been sleeping with a spy, with the enemy. Not just any coyote spy either. We've been fucking the next alpha, if the current one dies."
"What? Spy? Why would he spy..." As he spoke, the pieces were falling together. The sick coyote pack, the deadbeat father... Brady had thought it odd when Parker had shown up out of the blue but he'd disregarded any of those feeling in all the excitement. Glenn had shown up so soon after Parker and had woken up his libido in a way that had made any questions he had had, disappear.
"You should have left me in the woods. I can't stand the way you look at me now," Parker said, his voice little more than a croak.
Brady crossed his arms over his chest. "You lied to us."
"Yes, I did."
"You were planning a coup, your pack. You wanted my home, my land."
"Yes," Parker confessed.
"The money? Was that--"
"The last of what our pack has."
"And...Susan? Did she even get out on her own?"
"No, I unlocked her door. Her timing was perfect though."
Brady couldn't believe what he was hearing, and yet, it all made sense. He turned away from Parker, unable to look at him without bursting into tears. He was angry and unbelievably sad. His mate had lied to him. Lied to both of them. Their bond was supposed to be his one constant. He'd been thinking about what it meant to be a shifter and mate and had come to the conclusion that becoming pregnant wouldn't be so weird if he had Parker and Glenn by his side, helping him through it. It wasn't as if he was going to run into a lot of townspeople. None of them would use his services still.
Worse than all of that, was the fact that he still cared for him. He still wanted to get the ice for his face, to untie him and kiss every red spot and injury on his body. Brady took a deep breath and held it in. "When are they coming?" he asked quietly.
Hurt flashed in Parker's face. "I told them that you were off limits. I wanted to give them Foster's land. That would solve so many of our problems, but he makes moonshine for the pack. He's been making the moonshine for a long time apparently. He's untouchable," Parker spat, clearly upset by this fact. "I told them to just wait, that I would figure something out."
Brady watched Glenn's face, making sure that Brady was telling the truth. Glenn nodded slightly as if to indicate that he was. "And will you figure something out?"
Parker jerked like he was trying to sit up. "Yes. I'm going to fix this. Fix my pack, fix everything."
"How will you fix losing my trust?" Brady asked. Even while he spoke he knew it wasn't true. Sick as it was, Parker was still his mate in his heart. But he'd wanted to hurt the shifter and so he'd spoken from a place of anger.
It had worked. Parker flinched from his words like they were a physical slap.
"During what point did Glenn have to hit you?"
"He was going to shout for help. I couldn't have the big coyote come back. He was one of the ones that hurt the runt. I think he was the one who did this," Glenn said, sticking his arm out. The cut there had long since healed, but Brady remembered what it looked like.
"I wouldn't do that," Parker said thickly. "I would never hurt either of you. Not now. Yes, I came to Riverside to deceive you and I did. But ever since that first day I've been having doubts. I wanted out right away, but my pack is dying. Not all of them are like Clyde. Some of them are just scared and wanting all this death and pain to stop."
Brady let himself sit down beside Parker but he would not allow himself to reach out and touch him. Despite how much he wanted to comfort the other man.
"What are we supposed to do?" Brady asked Glenn who still stood at the other side of the room. He was as still as a statue and Brady got the impression that if he moved, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from untying Parker and pulling him into his arms. It was an affliction they both suffered from.
"I don't know what we should do. But, I know what I want to do."