RILEY
Riley didn’t speed on the way home. She had plenty of time til dawn and she wanted to clear her mind a little. She could still smell the wonderful smoke and fear. It was enough.
She stopped and got breakfast at a Jack In The Box in Denver, eating at a relaxed pace. She was content in a way she hadn’t been in ages. It was enough.
She cruised into the driveway, moving much faster than she should have been, but she was able to stop without going into the wall of the garage. That wouldn’t have been good.
When she didn’t see the file on the bar, she grinned. They would be in the den, and they would be mad. That was okay, she was ready for it.
She stepped in and saw them all waiting for her, looking tired and furious. Oh, the worry and dismay were there too, have no doubt.
She said nothing as she walked to her couch, pulled off her black riding jacket, and laid it over the back.
“Well?” Brenton finally growled.
“I’ll say this once and only once,” Riley whispered, “leave me out again and I will just leave.”
She sat down, kicking her legs up onto the coffee table in the center.
“What?” Andrew’s eyes were massive. Gentle, loving Andrew.
“You heard me,” Riley looked to him, feeling bad for this. “I won’t be coddled. I won’t be protected. I’ve asked you since this all started to either trust me or don’t, but do not make me ride the fence of being an almost. And what happened when we got back? I became an almost pride member. You all pushed me out.”
“We were trying to keep you-” Brenton started but she was not listening to that line again.
“Safe. Yes, I know, Brenton.” She growled. “Maybe you should just trust that you trained me well enough to do that myself or be a member of the team.” She wasn’t scared of him anymore. She wasn’t scared of any of them, and someone like Abel Cartona would never inspire fear in her again. “You’ve spent months training me, before and after the kidnapping. Same with the attempted murder. Let’s not forget the hunters in the diner or the hunters in the fucking house!”
“Riley-”
“No, I’m not fucking done yet. I’m the one who went through hell in the compound, you guys just got to watch it. And then I came fucking back for you!” Riley took the file and tossed it. “But none of that fucking mattered the moment we got back to the goddamn house.”
“You were a wreck after we escaped for the entire trip home!” Brenton roared, standing and pointing down at her in fury. “The entire fucking trip!”
“I was shell shocked! Of course, I was! But when I woke up that night, you should have accepted me back in! Instead, you guys ignored my simple request to even know what was going on!” Riley roared back, standing up and meeting Brenton head on. “You pushed me out and left me out in the cold on what was happening. So, I took the initiative. I needed it. I needed my own closure and it was so fucking easy to make happen, I want to laugh now that it's done. The hunters haven’t been the only thing in the last month to completely underestimate me.”
She watched Brenton pale, but he didn’t break eye contact. Neither did she.
“You went behind our backs,” he snarled. “You didn’t trust us--”
“You didn’t trust me, either, Brenton. I did what I needed to do, and if I didn’t feel you would have taken it away, I would have told you everything.” She blinked back the tears that came from that statement. “Attitude reflects leadership, Brenton Kingson. You want me to act like a member of the pride, you and everyone else here needs to treat me like one.”
One would have thought she slapped him with that statement. She finally looked away and he staggered back a few steps. The other guys avoided her gaze, guilty and upset. Angry at her? Definitely. Angry at themselves? Probably.
“Why did you do it this way?” Zachary asked. She wondered what he would think of her when she answered. “Why not just send it to the SSTF or any other alternative?”
“He made me feel the fear of an inescapable fate. The fear of being truly helpless. I returned that feeling in kind by making it nearly impossible for him to get out of this. I was nicer in a way, too. I gave him an hour to make a run for it where the hunters only gave me five minutes. He’s going to prison for a very long time, and I got to see his face when he figured it out. It was enough.”
“Jesus Christ. I hope it was,” the white tiger whispered, pale himself now. “I fucking hope it was.”
“You three over there have any questions?” Riley turned to Andrew, Troy, and Gabe, all a bit freaked out.
They all shook their heads.
“Don’t hold this against yourselves. Even if you had figured it out first, I would have found a way to do it myself. At the end of the day, I needed it. And I wasn’t going to let you all take it away from me.” Riley shrugged.
“Riley, we love you and we just wanted you safe,” Brenton finally whispered.
“And I love all of you. More than you can understand,” Riley let the tears roll down now. “It was that love that kept me going during the hunt. But love needs trust Brenton. You all need to trust me, not just love me, or this will never work.”
“You love us?” Gabe whispered, looking at her like she offered salvation.
“I love you, Gabe. And Troy, and Andrew, Zachary, and yes, Brenton, you too.” She looked around at all of them. “But leave me out again for my own safety and I will just leave because I won’t have a life of being almost in this family. Almost doesn’t cut it for me.”
Brenton swooped in, held her cheeks and gave her the kiss of a lifetime. She could only hold onto his arms as he devoured her mouth like a starving man. When he pulled back, she saw tears in his eyes, too.
“We’ll trust you. Damn it, Riley, we’ll trust you. We won’t push you out again, I fucking swear it.” He whispered passionately, holding her amber eyes with his gold ones. “You started a wildfire by the way.”
“Yeah,” Riley laughed, “I did, didn’t I? I do feel a bit bad for that.”
“In more ways than you could know,” Zachary smiled at her, his blue eyes glittering as he stood up. “Now, leave Brenton and come here so I can hold you for a second, and then the rest all get a chance.”
Brenton released her, and kisses were given to her by all of them. They walked out for Andrew to begin making breakfast. Troy called down Finn and the wolves. When Thomas walked in, she smirked at him.
“I got mine,” she told him as he walked in. It made him stop, still and cautious.
“Was it enough?” He asked softly.
“It was enough,” she grinned. “It was more than enough.”